News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-10-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. , , , , . For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser 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. Reprinted from Reuters The patter of establishment calls for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to end his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination has built into a hailstorm. "Bye, bye, Bernie," the Washington Post editorialized prematurely, echoing numerous talking heads. Politico reports Democratic pols are quietly urging him to pack it in. Even President Barack Obama suggested to deep-pocket donors that it's time to fold in behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (They already have, Mr. President, they already have). Some of this is sowed by the Clinton campaign. But most is simple foolishness. It would be inconceivable for Sanders to stop now. After all, he still has a chance to win the nomination. Sanders just swept through the West, winning five of six contests by stunning margins. In addition, he isn't just a candidate -- he's a cause. Sanders seeks to build a movement that can make the political revolution needed to transform the country, not simply win the White House. That means a political movement powerful enough to both get big money out of politics and pass Sanders' agenda. His supporters want and expect him to drive that effort right through the Democratic National Convention and beyond. Admittedly, the odds against Sanders winning the nomination are long, but they are far better than when the relatively unknown democratic socialist launched his insurgency. Nearly half of all voters have yet to cast a ballot. Sanders continues to introduce himself to more and more of them. He's already won 15 primaries and caucuses, and lost four more by the barest whisker. And he keeps rising. For the first time, the most recent Bloomberg poll shows him edging ahead of Clinton among registered Democratic voters. Other national polls consistently show her once forbidding lead continuing to narrow. Sanders draws large and mostly enthusiastic crowds and continues to rouse young people across the country. His supporters are eager to fuel his campaign. He outraised Clinton dramatically in February -- $43 million to $30 million, as his 2 million small donors contributed more than her deep-pocket investors. In fact, more than 70 percent of Clinton's donations have come from large donors, who are maxing out in increasing numbers. Bernie Sanders with supporters (Image by Gage Skidmore) Details DMCA The skeptics groused that Sanders would have to swamp Clinton in caucuses and races out West to be competitive, not simply win by 55 percent to 45 percent. He won 70 percent of the vote or more in Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho and Utah. Sanders continues to whittle away at Clinton's lead in pledged delegates. Meanwhile, Clinton, the prohibitive favorite backed by virtually all the gatekeepers, big donors and skilled campaign operatives, isn't exactly sealing the deal. More than half of all voters view her unfavorably; only Republican front-runner Donald Trump ranks worse. No one else in a presidential campaign has come close to those negatives since CBS polling began asking the question in 1984. Americans have doubts about Clinton's honesty and trustworthiness. Her strength has been experience and electability, but polls show Sanders running consistently better than she does against every potential Republican candidate, largely because he fares far better among independents. Add to this the not insignificant likelihood of drama erupting in Clintonworld -- whether from federal investigations, the endless well of stories about the Clinton Foundation, transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street fat cats, her Wal-Mart board meetings or whatever. Sanders still has a shot. His support is growing, his opponent is increasingly unpopular and his supporters will finance his race. No regular candidate would leave the race in such a position. Ohio Governor John Kasich and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), the GOP candidates trying to best Trump, would give their left arms to be where Sanders is. Sanders has no illusions about how hard it is to build a "political revolution." One presidential campaign, no matter how fervent its followers, can offer little more than a Paul Revere call to action. The actual struggles have only begun. So, again, why in the world would Sanders shut down his insurgency? He'll never have this kind of reach to a massive audience again. He's gaining supporters, triggering organizing and activism, spreading his message and agenda. That effort has already reaped benefits. He's proved that presidential candidates do not have to be dependent on big donors. In every race from here on, there will be an insurgent slot waiting to be filled. He's driven the debate in the campaign, forcing Clinton to adjust her positions and recycle some of his rhetoric. On trade, on Wall Street, on corporate tax dodges and CEO pay, on criminal justice, on the minimum wage and unions, money and politics -- his campaign (plus movements like Black Lives Matter and Fight for $15) is opening new ground. The longer Sanders stays in the race, the harder it will be for Clinton to abandon her new populist pledges. Before 1756 the lands west of the Allegheny mountains had conflicting colonial and French claims extending to the Mississippi. Not counting French Quebec, over 958,000 square kilometers were involved (Cornerstone Brief p. 124) in the Colonists' claims. Modern-day France encompasses about 643,801 km . The modern-day UK encompasses about 243,610 sq km. Add Ireland at 70,273 km and you would have the size of Great Britain at the time of the French-Indian of Seven Years War depending on which name you prefer. It is obvious that the British and French were fighting over a fertile land mass larger than each of had in their entire countries. The colonists, in their support of George III, believed that, under their colonial patents from the British Crown, they had first claim to those lands.I would presume, under proper historical research or true investigative reporting, conflict over such a prize was much more important than any anger over some taxes or duties Parliament chose to impose on the colonists before the Revolution to help pay for the prior war with France. Those were more like rubbing salt into the wound left when Colonial claims west of the Appalachian Mountains were forfeited to the Native American tribes in the Proclamation of 1763 , requiring them to be re-purchased through King George III. This was later confirmed by Parliament in the Quebec Act of 1774 . I presume George Washington did not like losing claims to about 60,000 acres of land (the Cornerstone Brief, p. 134) even if he could not tell a lie, and Ben Franklin was not happy with the progress of his plans through the British ministry with the interests of prominent colonial and British investors such as House of Commons member Thomas Walpole, in the new planned colony of Vandalia . Is this the primary reason that George Washington rode off to lead the local army in Boston in revolt a year before the Declaration of Independence, before there was any United States?The fact is there have always been large vested financial interests in how this country developed. But every time the chips are down, these vested interests have to turn to the general population for support and promise them a more just and egalitarian society. This time, contemporaneously with the Declaration of Independence, they promised that the new government would restrain the aggregations of wealth and power. They would do this by no longer creating or supporting the common description of such aggregations at the time evidenced through granting any titles of Nobility, either by the Colonies individually or assembled as shown in the contemporary hand-written notes of the time of the writing of the Declaration of Independence (the Cornerstone Brief, p56-60). To raise and maintain an army, promises had be made, especially where money is scarce. It may be time to reanimate those restrictions to provide some protection against the enormous powers of wealth disparity in out elections and politics. The 2016 presidential campaign is different from many others, in that is unscripted, a true reality show. The candidates offer a stark contrast, between advocates of hatred and violence, and advocates of tolerance and peaceful negotiation. The intense feelings on both sides have polarized this nation as never before. The choices are stark and clear. On the demonic side, we have Donald Trump and the other Republican candidates. Their debates consist mostly of hurling insults at one another. They foment paranoia about minorities of all stripes. They lie shamelessly, saying whatever they think will attract attention and votes. They play to the worst elements in the American psyche- racism, xenophobia, viciousness,- and stir up those qualities with their campaigns. Donald Trump, in particular, is being compared to Hitler and Mussolini, demagogues who practiced genocide, gloried in torture, and used "national greatness" to incite their peoples to wage World War II. Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again" echoes these fascist leaders. He encourages violence; at one event, he said he missed the good old days when protesters were removed from rallies on stretchers. He wants to bring back waterboarding. His campaign has mobilized people who are sick of the current system, and are happy to vent their spleen on foreigners, minorities, and anyone who disagrees with their hero. All the Republican candidates advocate tax policies that would enrich the already wealthy. Trump is a billionaire, the others are supported by and pander to billionaires. They advocate war and militarism. Worst of all, they are all climate change deniers. In this year of accelerating global warming, that is a heinous crime for anyone aspiring to be president of the United States. Ignoring the effects of fossil fuel usage and pollution of all sorts on the biosphere is condemning humanity, and many other species, to a miserable future. It's astonishing that these men get much of their support from people who call themselves Christians! Where is America's soul? Hillary Clinton appears to be somewhere in the middle- down to earth, practical, experienced, striving to improve matters gradually by way of politics as usual. The problem here is that politics as usual has resulted in global warming, vast and increasing inequality between rich and poor, and endless war. Many people in this country are cynical, mistrustful of everyone, seeing all campaign speeches as mere rhetoric. Hillary at least knows the ropes, and is a familiar name, so why not vote for her? She'll get things done. But Hillary's record shows that she has not been vigorous in addressing climate change and her proposals are vague, she is beholden to banks and mysterious superpacs, and as Secretary of State, she has embroiled us in new wars in the Middle East. She appeals to the wealthy, to corporate interests, and to people afraid of change. She is the candidate of the status quo, of corporate capitalism. However, we can no longer afford the status quo. Change is desperately needed, and quickly, if we are to have a habitable planet in the next hundred years. The problem with corporate capitalism is that it is driven by greed and the imperative to make profit for the stockholders. This is incompatible with survival. It's shortsighted, stupid, and downright evil, in 2016. Our heritage as a nation starts with the American Revolution. It was a radical break from the past, a bold experiment in government of, by and for the people. Our country has strayed far from these values. We need a new revolution, to bring back the Bill of Rights, restore liberty and justice for all, and above all, to deal realistically with the huge challenges of our times- climate change, nuclear pollution, vast inequalities of wealth, etc. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). US warship in the South China Sea What is the US doing in the South China Sea? According to New York Times reporter Helene Cooper, "The United States and China are jockeying for dominance in the Pacific" [1] , or in this case the South China Sea, which is of course off the coasts of China, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Supposedly it has to do with keeping the shipping lanes open and freedom of navigation-as if China now poses a threat the US must counter. In truth the US naval presence is just an updated version of the old "gunboat diplomacy" the US exercised in the 1920's made famous in the old Steve McQueen movie, "The Sand Pebbles". The "exceptional" nation believes its Navy has a right to traverse sea lanes everywhere, now even in the "locally" disputed waters of the South China Sea. That's right "locally" disputed waters between China and its neighbors listed above. The islands in the South China Sea have been in dispute for decades where these countries have always peacefully negotiated together; never to the point of engaging in armed conflict. That is until the US "pivot to Asia" put the US squarely into the conflict by the US siding-coercing? China's neighbors to "assist" them against advancing Chinese presence in the area. Sure the Chinese have been building man-made islands off the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea thereby upgrading its military presence. But this is merely a direct response to counter US hegemony in what is clearly a sphere of influence the US has no business interfering with. Put it this way. Suppose the Chinese decided to put a naval presence in the Caribbean Sea, even a small one. Would not the US become apoplectic with such a Chinese presence send a US armada to the area and demand the Chinese leave immediately. Of course it would. No, China nor any other country would even contemplate such an idea. But to the US ALL the seas are nothing more than a US pond for its Navy to sail and enforce US hegemony. That's what it's all about. In the Persian Gulf the US has at least one carrier task force directly off the coast of Iran. In the Black Sea, NATO and US Navy ships sail in waters off the Russian coast line in a direct challenge to the Russian Black Sea Fleet legally stationed in Sevastopol, Crimea. In the propaganda official Washington and its complicit corporate media spews to the world its merely to counter Iranian and Russian aggression, two authoritarian, rogue regimes that must be kept in check. Such nonsense would be comical if it weren't for the ominous potential for war. It is the US that is and has been since the end of WWII the perpetrator of more war, aggression, false flag operations, assassinations, coups of legitimately elected governments and regime change than any other country in the world. Reprinted from To The Point Analyses Part I -- Richard Falk In early March Professor Richard Falk, former United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, wrote an essay explaining that American foreign policy generated by Democratic Party presidents has been much to blame for the disastrous fate of the Palestinians. The Democrats have allowed themselves to be suborned by Zionist special interests for reasons we will explore below. It is Democratic officials who also verbally attack any American who stands up for the rights of Palestinians, and do so, if anything, more strongly than their Republican competitors. Falk worked tirelessly from 2008 to 2014 to bring about justice for the Palestinian people -- something that, if achieved, would have raised the esteem of both the U.N. and the U.S. among millions of Arabs. Officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, including national security adviser Susan Rice and current U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power, repaid Falk for his efforts with insulting ad hominem attacks. For instance, Power celebrated Falk's departure from his post by asserting that, "his publication of bizarre and insulting material has tarnished the U.N.'s reputation and undermined the effectiveness of the Human Rights Council. The United States welcomes Mr. Falk's departure, which is long overdue." It is to be noted that at no time did Professor Falk issue a report, or even make a public statement, that was not based on documented fact and a clear understanding of international law. One suspects that Ambassador Power knew this to be so and that her vitriol against Falk was the act of an amoral political agent of an amoral government. Professor Falk sees much of the U.S. government's policy in the Middle East as a consequence of a State Department long populated by Zionists along with the power and influence of an Israeli-directed bloc of special interests. President Obama's own efforts at Middle East policy formulation began, according to Falk, with the rhetorical assertion that the United States is "different because we adhere to the rule of law and act in accord with our values in foreign policy." Yet this claim too has always been false, and very quickly, the president's words lost meaning as lobby pressure bent policy (with the singular exception of the Iran nuclear deal) to the will of the Zionist cause. Part II -- Hillary Clinton Watching the distressing kowtowing this past week to that same lobby by Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has proven Richard Falk undeniably correct. In her speech to the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an organization which, in truth, functions in the U.S. as the agent of a foreign power (Israel), Clinton proclaimed the following: That as president she will take the U.S.- Israeli relationship "to the next level," which entails lavishing on that state most of America's latest defensive and offensive weaponry and the negotiating of yet another defense treaty -- a "ten-year defense memorandum of understanding." This is allegedly necessary because, Israel "faces three evolving threats -- Iran's continued aggression, a rising tide of extremism across a wide arc of instability, and the growing effort to delegitimize Israel on the world stage." Here she refers to the boycott or BDS movement. These threats make "the U.S.-Israel alliance more indispensable than ever." Juan Cole's rebuttal to Clinton's assertions is particularly good. He points out that when the situation is looked at soberly, Israel has no conventional security threats, including from Iran, that necessitates billions of dollars of American weapons and a binding defense memorandum. Cole accurately points out that the "rising tide of extremism" is, to a good extent, a function of the U.S. invasion of Iraq (which both Clinton and the Israelis supported), and the dissolution of Syria (which has become a national security goal of Israel). Finally, by describing BDS as a movement that must be suppressed, she is endangering U.S. constitutional rights. Clinton extols the U.S.-Israel alliance as one of "shared values." She describes Israel as "a bastion of liberty." This is de rigueur propaganda and, for the Palestinians, has no convincing connection to reality. Clinton then qualifies her dubious assertion by asking, "will we, as Americans and as Israelis, stay true to the shared democratic values that have always been at the heart of our relationship?" She is no doubt including "America" in this question as a reference to the problematic behavior of Donald Trump and his supporters. However, her question, as it applies to Israel, has already been answered. Part III -- Gideon Levy The well-known Israeli journalist Gideon Levy was in Washington, D.C. last week and had an interview with Max Blumenthal. In it he warned of just how far Israel has drifted from "democratic values" as well as how complicit American liberals, such as Hillary Clinton, are in the process of Israeli moral and political corruption. Levy tells us that "American liberals should know ... that they are supporting the first sign of fascism in Israel. I don't call it yet fascism, but [the] first signs [are] very clear. ... And America keeps financing it. This should be known and should be recognized by any American, mainly the liberals, who care where their taxpayer money goes, and so much of it. "I mean, there is no source of hope right now. There's no alternative to Netanyahu. ...The atmosphere, as I said, is becoming less and less tolerant, and the standing of democracy is minimal and many times very twisted." Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Global Vitamin E Oil Market Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2021 Vitamin E Oil http://www.qyresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-vitamin-e-oil-market-2016-industry-trends.html http://goo.gl/xEjF8q http://www.qyresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-vitamin-e-oil-market-2016-industry-trends.html http://www.qyresearchgroup.com Global Vitamin E Oil Industry 2016 Market Size Share Growth Forecast Research and DevelopmentThe Global Vitamin E Oil Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Global Vitamin E Oil 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 Vitamin E Oil 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 Vitamin E Oil market revenue and its forecasts. The business model strategies of the key firms in the Vitamin E Oil 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 Vitamin E Oil 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 Vitamin E Oil 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 Vitamin E Oil 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 Vitamin E Oil Industry Overview1.1 Vitamin E Oil Definition1.1.1 Vitamin E Oil Definition1.1.2 Product Specifications1.2 Vitamin E Oil Classification1.3 Vitamin E Oil Application Field1.4 Vitamin E Oil Industry Chain Structure1.5 Vitamin E Oil Industry Regional Overview1.6 Vitamin E Oil Industry Policy Analysis1.7 Vitamin E Oil Industry Related Companies Contact InformationGet Sample Copy of Report @Chapter Two Vitamin E Oil 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 Vitamin E Oil Manufacturing TechnologyChapter Three Global Vitamin E Oil Capacity Production and Production Value3.1 Global Vitamin E Oil Manufacturing Base3.2 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Capacity and Production3.3 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Production Value and Growth Rate3.4 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value and Gross MarginChapter Four Vitamin E Oil Sales and Sales Revenue by Regions4.1 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Sales by Regions4.2 2010-2016 Global Major Regions Vitamin E Oil Sales and Growth Rate4.3 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Sales Revenue by Regions4.4 2010-2016 Global Major Regions Vitamin E Oil Sales Revenue and Growth Rate4.5 2010-2016 Global Major Regions Vitamin E Oil Sales PriceChapter Five Vitamin E Oil Application Consumption5.1 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Key Applications Consumption5.2 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Key Applications Consumption ShareChapter Six Vitamin E Oil Price Cost and Gross Margin Analysis6.1 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Price and Sales Price6.2 2010-2016 Global Vitamin E Oil Cost and Gross MarginChapter Seven Vitamin E Oil 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 Vitamin E Oil Industry Development Trend8.1 2016-2021 Global Vitamin E Oil Capacity Production Overview8.2 2016-2021 Global Vitamin E Oil Sales and Growth Rate8.3 2016-2021 Vitamin E Oil Production Value8.4 2016-2021 Vitamin E Oil Price8.5 2016-2021 Vitamin E Oil Gross Margin8.6 2016-2021 Vitamin E Oil Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginChapter Nine Vitamin E Oil Marketing Analysis9.1 Vitamin E Oil Marketing Channels Status9.2 Vitamin E Oil Ex-work Price Channel Price End Buyer Price Analysis9.3 Vitamin E Oil Regional Import Export Trading AnalysisChapter Ten Vitamin E Oil Industry Chain Suppliers and Contact Information Analysis10.1 Vitamin E Oil Raw Materials Major Suppliers and Their Contact Information10.2 Vitamin E Oil Major Suppliers and Their Contact Information10.3 Vitamin E Oil Key Buyers (Consumers) and Their Contact Information10.4 Vitamin E Oil Supply Chain RelationshipChapter Eleven Vitamin E Oil New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis11.1 Vitamin E Oil Project SWOT Analysis11.2 Vitamin E Oil New Project Investment Feasibility AnalysisChapter Twelve Global Vitamin E Oil 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:Email: sales@qyresearchgroup.com Explore Global Wind Turbine Rotor Blade Market 2016-2021 Focus on China http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/654904 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ Gen's report, 'Global Wind Turbine Rotor Blade Market Outlook 2016-2021' provides detailed market and segment level data on the Global and Chinese consumption of Wind Turbine Rotor Blade. The report provides historic, forecast and growth patterns by company, country and type/application from 2016 to 2021.This report delivers an extensive overview of Global Wind Turbine Rotor Blade industry with a focus on China. 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Growth, trends and forecast of 2016-2021 Wind Turbine Rotor Blade market and some important proposals for new investment of Wind Turbine Rotor Blade Industry before evaluating its feasibility.Download Sample Copy of this Report atOverall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2011-2021 Global and Chinese Wind Turbine Rotor Blade industry covering all important parameters.Table of ContentChapter One Description1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Findings of IndustryChapter Two Brief Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Industry Chain Structure2.2.1 Upstream Raw Materials2.2.2 Downstream MarketChapter Three Development and Trends3.1 Key Manufacturing Technologies3.2 Issues and TrendsChapter Four Cost Structure4.1 Bill of Materials (BOM)4.3 Labor Costs4.4 Depreciation Costs4.5 Manufacturing CostsMarketResearchReports.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:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Ceramic Polymer Offshore-Coatings: Protection of riser pipes for oil platforms! Riser pipes (black) after 10 months of operation www.ceramic-polymer.de China, Beibu Gulf: Various riser pipes and several water injection pipelines for oil platforms were coated externally with the protection system CERAMIC-POLYMER SF/LF-SRB. The outstanding physical properties - particularly the excellent sea water resistance - were essential for the choice of this coating product.Project No. 1: External coating of numerous riser pipes, 5 jackets -for connected wellhead platforms WZ 12-2 and WZ 11-4, Beibu Gulf, ChinaSeveral riser pipes for the extraction of crude oil were coated externally with the product CERAMIC-POLYMER SF/LF-SRB. After preparation (SA 2.5) the coating was applied in a total thickness of 600 m (24 mils) by airless spraying method.CERAMIC-POLYMER SF/LF-SRB provides long-term corrosion protection in aggressive offshore environments. The coating product passed the test series according to ISO 20340 successfully and the relevant corrosivity categories for the offshore industry (DIN EN ISO 12944-2 classes C5-M and IM1-3) are also completely satisfied.Technical Data:Owner: CNOOC Ltd. /ChinaDiameter of the pipes: DN250 up to DN 400Temperature of the crude oil: approx. 80C (176F)Product Requirements: long-term resistances against weathering,UV-radiation, salt water and abrasionProject No. 2: External coating of several water injection pipelines for platform WZ-12-1,Weizhou Island, Beibu Gulf, ChinaThe casings for the water injection pipelines of the platform WZ-12-1 were coated externally with the reliable product CERAMIC-POLYMER SF/LF-SRB. The coating was easily applied in 2 layers of 500 m (20 mils) each by airless spraying.Technical Details:Owner: CNOOC Ltd./ChinaDiameter of the pipes: DN200 up to DN 450Length of each pipeline: 41 m (from EL -30m to EL +11m)Product Requirements: long-term resistances against weathering, UV-radiation, salt water and abrasionThe Ceramic Polymer GmbH produces high-quality, solvent-free protective coatings for different kinds of industries. Due to the integration of microscopic ceramic and other special particles, coating systems with outstanding physical properties such as excellent chemical resistances, high temperature stabilities and extreme abrasion resistances are generated.The Ceramic Polymer coatings are applied directly on the blasted substrate (e.g. steel, stainless steel, concrete) without the previous use of a primer. In this way extreme adhesion is achieved.The scopes of the Ceramic Polymer coatings are for instance all kinds of storage tanks, pipelines or process vessels for the oil & gas industry as well as different maritime constructions, waste water or drinking water applications.Ceramic Polymer GmbHStephanie WuenschDaimlerring 9DE-32289 Roedinghausen / Germany+49 (0)5223-96276-0swu@ceramic-polymer.de Shale Gas Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth To 2020 by Grand View Research, Inc. http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/shale-gas-industry The global shale gas market is expected to reach USD 67.02 billion by 2020, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Depleting conventional energy reserves across the globe has prompted the industry to shift focus towards developing alternative energy sources which is expected to remain a key driving factor for shale gas demand over the next six years. In addition, regulatory support for developing unconventional gases including shale gas is also expected to enhance commercialization over the forecast period. However, environmental concern, especially excessive usage and contamination of water during shale gas production process is expected to be a key challenge for industry participants over the next six years.Browse full research report on Global Shale Gas Market:Power generation emerged as the leading application market for shale gas and accounted for 30.4% of total market volume in 2013. Environmental concerns regarding power generation via conventional energy coupled with regulatory support for development of unconventional energy sourcesfor power generation is expected to remain a key driving factor over the forecast period. However, transportation is expected to be the fastest growing application market for shale gas at an estimated CAGR of 10.8% from 2014 to 2020. Growing demand for alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and autogas (LPG) is expected to drive the demand for shale gas in transportation industry over the next six years.Further Key findings from the study suggest: The global shale gas production was 10,826.6 bcf in 2013 and is expected to reach 18,211.3 bcf by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 8.3% from 2014 to 2020. U.S emerged as the leading shale gas producing country and accounted for 91.8% of total market volume in 2013. The U.S. shale boom has changed the overall energy scenario of the nation, prior to shale gas development; the U.S. was a net importer of natural gas. However, due to rapid exploration and production activities of shale gas, U.S. for the first time in many years emerged as a net exporter of natural gas in 2012. However, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing producer for shale gas at an estimated CAGR of 66.7% from 2015 to 2020. The Chinese government has also been providing substantial support in form of financial incentives and tax benefits to companies operating in shale gas market in China which is expected to drive the market over the forecast period. The global market for shale gas is highly competitive in nature and is led by top multinational oil & gas conglomerates which are present across the value chain. Conventional oil & gas companies coupled with companies focusing only on alternative energy forms the mix of the market. Shift in focus towards developing shale gas basins in China is expected to remain a key strategy for the market participants. Some of the leading companies in the global shale gas market include Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Antero Resources, BHP Billiton, Cabot Oil & Gas, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Devon Energy, Encana Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Reliance Industries Limited, Royal Dutch Shell, SM Energy, Statoil, Talisman Energy Inc. and Total SA among some other companies.For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global shale gas market on the basis of application and region: Global Shale Gas Application Outlook (Volume, Bcf; Revenue, USD billion) Industrial Power Generation Residential Commercial Transportation Shale Gas Regional Outlook North America U.S. Canada Asia PacificGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Sherry JamesCorporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc Keep yourself updated with Binarynewstoday.com http://www.binarynewstoday.com/ Most of the people confuse Binary option trading with Gambling. The major difference between the two closely related terms is that in gambling, no strategy is involved, rather much things depend on sheer luck and chances. But, in binary option trading, traders rely on more strategized approach before taking any decision. When things are based on strategies than just luck, many factors come into consideration to ensure those strategies meets the investment- need and hence allows the maximum returns.At BinaryNewsToday.com we stay updated with news, promotion, education, charts and market trends. 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We review and trade at numerous Binary Options Brokers in order to provide you with as much information as possible.Binary News TodayAddress:32 Canal St, Manchester, United Kingdomemail:yosig@ipgc.infoWebsite: New Report - Smartwatches Market Study To 2020: Grand View Research, Inc. http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/smartwatches-market http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/smartwatches-market/request http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/emerging-and-next-generation-technologies The global smartwatches market is expected to reach USD 19.62 billion by 2020, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing companion device demand is expected to give impetus to demand for smartwatches. Increasing percentage of health/fitness conscious population has resulted in high demand for wearable fitness monitoring and tracking devices, including smartwatches.Browse full research report on Global Smartwatches Market:The number of industry participants is expected to increase manifold over the next six years. In addition to startups, the expected entry of established companies is estimated to significantly fuel market growth. Ensuring usability and visual appeal is a critical factor for enabling product adoption on a global level. Furthermore, managing the tradeoff between battery life and performance is critical for profitability.Read detailed report or request for sample of this research report:Further Key findings from the study suggest: Global smartwatch shipments were close to 2 million units in 2013, and are expected to reach 135.3 million units by 2020, at a CAGR of 53.5% from 2014 to 2020. High-end smartwatches accounted for approximately 90% of the global market in 2013. This segment is expected to lose market share to the mid-end and low-end segments over the forecast period. This can be attributed to the expected trend of decreasing selling prices with a growing number of manufacturers. Majority of consumers have been reluctant to invest in premium priced products on account of unclear benefits and lack of a value proposition. North America accounted for the highest market share of 35% in 2013; this is mainly due to higher purchasing power as well as increasing demand for fitness tracking equipment. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing regional market over the next six years. The regional market is expected to be driven by high smartphone proliferation and usage of Internet services. Industry participants include Samsung Electronics (Galaxy Gear), Pebble, Sony Corporation, Google Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. among others. R&D activities to drive innovation have been the key growth strategy for these companies. Established companies are expected to benefit from growing smartwatches demand, and drive revenue generation over the forecast period.Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research:For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global smartwatches market on the basis of price segment and region: Smartwatches Price Segment Outlook (Volume, Million Units and Revenue, USD Million; 2012 2020) High-end Mid-end Low-end Smartwatches Regional Outlook (Volume, Million Units and Revenue, USD Million; 2012 2020) North America Europe Asia Pacific RoWGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Sherry JamesCorporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc Bitumen Market Size, Segmentation To 2020: Grand View Research, Inc. http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/bitumen-market The global market for bitumen is expected to reach USD 95.77 billion by 2020, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Bitumen is primarily used in road construction activities and increased road development in high growth markets of India, China and Brazil is expected to be a key driver for the growth of the market.Roadway constructions were the major consumers of bitumen in 2013, accounting for over 80 million tons of global consumption. Other key applications include waterproofing, insulation and adhesives. Water proofing is expected to be the fastest growing application market for bitumen, at an estimated CAGR of 2.9% on volume basis, primarily on account of improved Polymer Modified Bitumen (PMB) quality in water resistance. Environmental issues associated with the extraction of bitumen from oil sands are expected to remain a key challenge for the growth of the market in the near future.Browse full research report on Global Bitumen Market:Further key findings from the study suggest: Global bitumen consumption is expected to reach 135.07 million tons by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 2.7% from 2014 to 2020. The improvement in technology with regards to transportation war mix asphalt from Canada is expected to present market participants with growth opportunities over the next six years. North America was the largest regional market for bitumen; with demand estimated at over USD 21.0 billion in 2013 and is expected to remain the leader over the next six years. The region is expected to be a key market, owing to the vast network of roads in the regions coupled with the implementation of MAP 21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in 21st Century Act) which funds road development program for the U.S. over the next two years. China and Asia Pacific are expected to outpace North America in terms of growth on account of the rapid infrastructure development in India, South Korea and China. The governments of these countries have special focus on road construction activities in their current five year plans, with the Chinese construction spending expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 4.0% from 2014 to 2020. The global bitumen market is fragmented with the top four companies accounting for less than 25% of the global market share. This is largely due to the logistic issues associated with bitumen making the presence of large number of domestic manufacturers inevitable.For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global bitumen market on the basis of application, product and region: Bitumen Application Outlook (Volume, Million tons; Revenue, USD Billion, 2012 - 2020) Roadways Adhesives Waterproofing Insulation Others Bitumen Regional Outlook (Volume, Million tons; Revenue, USD Billion, 2012 - 2020) North America Europe China Asia Pacific (excluding China) RoWGrand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.Sherry JamesCorporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc FMI Releases New Report on the Commercial Glazing System Market 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-ap-175 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-ap-175 www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Commercial Glazing System Market: APAC Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2014 - 2020" report to their offering.Research shows that health, comfort and outputof employees in office are improved by a well-ventilated environment and access to natural light. These benefits are usually provided by strategically-placed windows.However, windows also invite unwanted heat loss/gain and condensation. Therefore, the concept of smart windows has evolved in recent years and has played a major role in reducing the cost of developing and maintaining commercial buildings.This exciting, cutting-edge window technology allows consumers to block either all light or just some by simply turning a knob or pressing a button. This type of light control could potentially save billions of dollars on heating, cooling and lighting costs. These high performance windows reduce energy consumption, minimise pollution sources, offer lower heat loss,and leak less air compared to traditional windows. Sometimes they also offer fire resistance which is an additional benefit. A typical window glazing system comprises of structural frames, sealants, glass panes and spacers.Factors like visuals(privacy, viewand glare), sun control, ultraviolet control, and lighting during the day can be controlled to some extent by optimally designing and implementing the glazing system of a commercial building.A glazing system is typically designed based on the building requirements, and is customised to suitdifferent purposes.Glazing systems are differentiated on the basis of use of structural silicon as a support. The commercial glazing market can also be segmented on the basis of technology into dynamic glazing system, multifunctional advanced glazing system and next generation thermally-insulated windows. All major players in the commercial glazing system market offer a wide variety of structural designs to cater to customer requirements. The market can also be segmented on the basis of product into commercial windows, curtain walling, ground floor treatment and roof glazing.Request Free Report Sample@The global commercial glazing market is highly dependent on construction sector, the developing markets of APAC such as China and India are estimated to be the key demand generator. Emerging markets of the Middle East are also expected to surface as major consumers of glazing systems over the next five year. Automotive glazing is also an upcoming industry in the glazing system market. See-through body panels or rear windows, and transparent sunroofs are new trends in automobile manufacturing.The commercial windowssegment presently dominates the UK marketand is anticipated to be the fastest growing segment of commercial glazing systems market by 2020 in APAC. The commercial window segment is estimated to growat a CAGR of 1315% by 2020. A shift towards urbanisation is spurring the growth of the curtain walling market especially in China. The curtain walling market in China is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10-12% through 2020.Major players in the commercial glazing system market are Saint-Gobain,Solar Innovations, Bayer, DuPont, A.C. Yule and Sons Ltd., and Alcoa.Players are now seen investing more time in tapping into the retrofitting market rather than construction. Retrofitting refers to making an older building more efficient with regard to energy consumption and other credentials. Due to diminishing energy resources, governmentregulations and environment consciousness, the demand for green buildings is increasing. Builders are now understanding the potential savings from retrofit investments.Visit For TOC@Due to stringent government regulations for energy consumption, the expandingconstruction and service sector, the retrofitting trend, and the increasing interest in see through automobiles, the commercial glazing systems market is expected to havemuchuntapped potential, especially in APAC.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, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Mr. Sudip SahaFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: High Temperature Ceramics Market 2014-2020 Shares, Trend and Growth Report http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-179 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-179 www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the High Temperature Ceramics Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2014 - 2020" report to their offering.Ceramics are covalent compounds containing metal and non-metal atoms primarily held in covalent and ionic bonds. Generally, ceramics are made by taking mixtures of earth elements, powders, water and clay. This mixture is shaped into the desired form and is then fired in a high temperature oven. Ceramics are then painted with glazes which are waterproof and decorative. At elevated temperature, ceramics have high hardness, high melting points, excellent chemical corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties. Some ceramics are good dielectrics or insulators, whereas others are good electrical or thermal conductors. Ceramics are widely used in our daily life. Glass, plates, bricks, tiles and sanitary ware are some examples of the ceramics we see every day. Ceramics can also be found in products like automobiles (sparkplug), phone lines and watches. They are even used in space shuttles and aircrafts. Ceramics can be broadly classified into two categories: traditional and advanced. Traditional ceramics include clay products such as cement and glass, whereas advanced ceramics consist of pure oxides, nitrides, carbides and many others.Advanced ceramics are widely used in industrial applications where the operating temperature is generally high or which require hard substances that can withstand great pressure. Ceramics offer various advantages compared to other materials. Ceramics are more corrosion and heat resistant than polymers or metals, stiffer and harder than steel, and have a lower density than most alloys and metals. Raw material for advance ceramics materials are plentiful, inexpensive and display wide range of properties. For automotive applications, they are used in various applications like airbag sensors, spark plugs, valves, vibration sensors, pressure sensors, oxygen sensors, thermistors, catalytic converters, ceramic rotors, ceramic filters piston rings and safety glass windshields.Request Free Report Sample@The different types of high temperature ceramics include ceramic matrix composites and ultrahigh temperature ceramic coatings. Advanced high temperature materials are key components in the emerging material technologies, which are giving impetus to many industries. The global high temperature ceramics market is driven by several factors like replacement of materials for the sake of creating cost effective solutions, the growing demand for energy conservation across various industries, and government regulations to reduce greenhouse emissions.The global high temperature ceramics market is led by AsiaPacific (APAC) which accounts for over 40-45% of the total consumption by volume. The cost of high temperature ceramics in APAC is lesser than that in Europe, North America or Latin America. In terms of revenue, North America is the largest market followed by APAC and Europe. The cost of high temperature ceramics is expected to remain low for the next few years in the APAC region. Due to government regulations and incentives offered for sustainability and energy conservation, North America and Europe are expected to offer significant growth opportunities for the high temperature ceramics market.On the basis of industry applications, the global high temperature ceramics market is segmented into automotive, aerospace, chemical processing, metallurgical, power generation and others. Some of the most common applications of high temperature ceramics are afterburners, boilers, castings, exhaust stacks, flanges, furnaces, headers, incinerators, manifolds, molds and dies, ovens, heat exchangers, pumps, blowers, pipingand ducting. In the aerospace industry, high temperature ceramics are used in cutting edge applications, which require structural and chemical stability at extremely high operating temperatures. On the basis of composition, the high temperature ceramics are segmented into oxides (alumina, zirconia), non-oxides (carbides, nitrides) and composites (combination of oxides and non-oxides).Visit For TOC@There are many global and regional players operating in the high temperature ceramics market especially in APAC. Some of the key participants are Morgan Thermal Ceramics, ZIRCAR Ceramics, Inc., Skamol A/S, Promat International, IBIDEN Company Ltd., Rath Incorporated, General Insulation Europe Ltd., Unifrax Corporation, and Shandong Luyang Share Co. Ltd.In future, the understanding and controlling behavior of the microstructures and properties of high temperature ceramics are expected to be key elements in research activities. This research will further increase the operating temperature limits of existing high temperature ceramics.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, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Mr. Sudip SahaFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Market Research on Hydro-processing Catalysts Market 2014 and Analysis to 2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-182 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-182 www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Hydro-processing Catalysts Market : Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2014 - 2020" report to their offering.In last two decades, the business of refining catalyst has grown from regional to global level. Refinery product values are dependent on process catalysts of refined products, petrochemical products and chemicals alongwith other refinery operations. One of the major concerns in the refinery is to reduce the sulphur content to the required limit. Hydro-processing catalysts (HPC) are primarily consumed in the hydro-processing operation of crude oil fractions. Such crude oil fractions include kerosene, naphtha and diesel. As a common practice, hydro-processing of crude oil fractionsis carried out at an elevated temperature and pressure.Hydro-processing is required to remove pollutants such as sulphur, heavy metals and nitrogen from fuel oils. These catalysts also help in the catalytic hydrocracking process to crack larger hydrocarbon molecules into smaller sizes,to be used as fuel oils. Thus, hydro-processing catalysts enable conversion of heavy feedstock into lighter products for efficient processing. Hydro-processing catalysts market is the fastest growing refinery catalysts market segment in the world. In addition, hydro-processing catalysts supplement the process control and operational efficiency improvement activities. Therefore, it is expected that the hydro-processing catalyst market will dominate the global refinery catalyst market by 2020.The global hydro-processing catalysts market can be categorized on the basis of its product type as molybdenum oxides, cobalt oxides, nickel oxidesand tungsten oxides. These metal oxides are carried on a carrier or matrix of silica, alumina and silica/alumina. Further, global hydro-processing catalysts market can also be categorized on the basis of their applications such as creating cleaner fuels, ultra-low sulphur levels in diesel fuels (ULSD) and others. On the basis of technology, global hydro-processing catalysts market can be segmented as hydro-treating catalysts, hydrogenation catalysts, hydrocracking catalysts, isomerisation catalyst and reforming catalyst. Among these, hydro-treating catalysts are dominant segment at present,accounting for more than half of the global hydro-processing catalysts market.Request Free Report Sample@Refiners are more focusing to maximize residue feed stock yield through hydro-processing catalysts as petroleum product prices are rising globally. This is one of the key supply side drivers of the global hydro-processing catalysts market. Moreover, stringent environmental regulations and legislations are expanding, which, in turn, affects the heaviercrude processing and sulphur elimination process market.Enhanced refinery capacities coupled with the rising oil production are driving the growth of global hydro-processing catalysts market.Environmental fuel specifications regulations introduced by Europe, the U.S.and few Asia Pacific countries have been driving the global hydro-processing catalysts market.Further, developed countries have mandate to reduce sulphur content whereassulphur restrictions are implemented in the developing countries such as India, China and Mexico. As hydro-processing catalysts are advantageous to reduce sulphur content, these countries are likely to open up opportunities for hydro-processing catalysts market.Due to presence of giant oil and gas chemical manufacturers in the refinery catalyst market; the market competition is quite high. Expansion of production facilities in oil producing fields along with the strategic alliances are few of the major market strategies in the global hydro-processing catalysts market.Visit For TOC@Some of the major market participants of global hydro-processing catalysts market include HaldorTopse, W. R. Grace and Company, Albemarle Corporation, Axens, UOP- Honeywell International Inc., Chevron Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc, BASF SE, Criterion Catalysts & Technologies, Criterion catalysts & Technologies and others. Among these, BASF has increased its R&D efforts since it acquired Engelhard. Further, BASF SE has come up with new developments in the processing of residue to increase the quality of yield.W.R. Grace and Companyhas introduced new products inthe hydro-processing catalysts market in the past five years. Thus, it is clear that global hydro-processing catalysts market participants are focused to expand their business through innovative product launches with specific market application. These innovative products include catalyst to eliminate sulphur content upto mandate limits. The worldwide hydro-processing catalysts market stands ready to meet the challenges, where energy costs significantlyfluctuate. However,fluctuating raw material prices, price spike, price collapse along with the governments enact legislation for certain related products or technologies, the demand of hydro-processing catalyst market are expected to undergo fluctuation.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, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Mr. Sudip SahaFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: A 2016 Update Of Product Pipeline Analysis, Amedica Corporation (AMDA) http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressrelease/1198 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ A very detailed and unique market research report has been recently featured on the expanding market research report database of MarketResearchReports.biz. The report presents an expansive account of the portfolio of pipeline products of Amedica Corporation, a U.S.-based biomaterial company that develops, produces, and sells interbody fusion devices made from medical-grade silicon nitride for use in several arthroplasty and spinal applications.The report is titled Amedica Corporation (AMDA) - Product Pipeline Analysis, 2016 Update.The company has headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, the U.S. and has distribution networks that comprise of OEM partners and independent sales distributors across the U.S., Europe, and South America. The companys portfolio currently features facet fixation systems, pedicle screw systems, and interbody fusion devices. It also produces and markets non-silicon nitride spinal fusion products for the treatment of degenerative and deformity spinal procedures.The company is looking forward to expand its business by developing and distributing its trademarked silicon nitride ceramics in medical fields such as pine, orthopedic, and dentistry.View Press Release atThe report is an excellent source of detailed analysis and actionable data pertaining to the companys portfolio of pipeline products and provides other crucial information about the major products, brands, and the company. Comprising exhaustive information, the report helps in enhancing decision making capabilities of the market players. It also helps them in creating effective business strategies to gain competitive advantage in the market. Along with key company data, the report also furnishes details regarding employees, key competitors, subsidiaries, locations, and recent developments.The report analyzes all the products in the companys pipeline and segments the pipeline on the basis of development stage, pipeline territory, device class, regulatory path, application(s), indicator(s), and estimated date of launch. 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Enterprises in the market can gain from the lucrative in-licensing and out-licensing opportunities in the field by identifying the products that are likely to give good returns in the near future. The report also assists in proper planning of business decisions such as mergers and acquisitions by identifying major companies offering the most promising product pipelines.MarketResearchReports.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:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Vacuum Generator Market 2016 Industry Trends, Sales, Supply, Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2021 Vacuum Generator market research http://www.qyresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-vacuum-generator-market-2016-industry-trends-sales.html http://www.qyresearchgroup.com/report/59413#request-sample Global Vacuum Generator Industry 2015 Market Size Share Growth Forecast Research and DevelopmentThe Global Vacuum Generator Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Global Vacuum Generator 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 Vacuum Generator 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 Vacuum Generator market revenue and its forecasts. The business model strategies of the key firms in the Vacuum Generator 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 Vacuum Generator 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 Vacuum Generator 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 Vacuum Generator 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 Vacuum Generator Industry Overview1.1 Vacuum Generator Definition1.1.1 Vacuum Generator Definition1.1.2 Product Specifications1.2 Vacuum Generator Classification1.3 Vacuum Generator Application Field1.4 Vacuum Generator Industry Chain Structure1.5 Vacuum Generator Industry Regional Overview1.6 Vacuum Generator Industry Policy Analysis1.7 Vacuum Generator 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, Stephanie Yao Long 11 fast food chains we wish would come to Portland With Chick-fil-A opening in Tanasbourne on March 31 -- the restaurant's first Oregon location in 13 years -- we started thinking about what other fast food chains we wish would open in the city. Here are our top 11 picks. -- Samantha Bakall, Michael Russell, Jillian Cohan Martin, Molly Harbarger, Kjerstin Gabrielson Don't Edit Spencer Platt/News/Getty Images 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 11. Gray's Papaya This quintessential New York hot dog shop has many imitators, most with "Papaya" in the name, though it's no longer properly a chain -- two of its landmark locations closed in recent years. Head to Broadway and 72nd Street location for the last true Gray's Papaya and order a Recession Special -- two dogs and a drink -- for $5.95. Claim to fame: Intrepid CNN host Anthony Bourdain swears by them. Headquarters: New York City Chance it comes to Portland: None. MR Don't Edit Spencer Platt/News/Getty Images 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 10. Dunkin' Donuts Yes, Portland has good coffee. And it has famous doughnuts. But this is the Dutch Bros. of the rest of the country, and we want it in our backyard. Headquarters: Canton, Massachusetts Claim to fame: Munchkins (known as doughnut holes to noobs) and other Munchkins (known as doughnut holes to noobs) and other wicked pissah treats including maple bars, bear claws and more. Also, enough better-than-average coffee to power most of the Northern U.S. through winter and summer. Theres a good reason their r ecent ad campaign was built on the slogan America runs on Dunkin." Chances of coming to Portland: The lone 24-hour DD outpost in Oregon, located in Salem, dropped the Dunkin' banner in 2008. But they just made a major push into California. It only took 13 years for Chick-fil-A to return. -- JM Don't Edit Forecast outside, 19 degrees and light snow. Forecast inside, warm with 100% chance of delicious Coneys & Ways. Posted by Gold Star Chili on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 9. Gold Star In the world of Cincinnati chili, debate rages between whether Skyline or Gold Star is better. Gold Star inches ahead because the hot dogs are better one of two options to convey the cinnamon and chocolate-spiced meat sauce. The other is spaghetti. Because while the Ohio-based (reportedly via Macedonia) cuisine is delicious and beloved, lets be real, its kind of a weird idea. Headquarters: Cincinnati, Ohio Claim to fame: Chili on spaghetti. Chili on hot dogs. Chance it comes to Portland: A girl can dream. -- MH Don't Edit Spencer Platt/News/Getty Images 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 8. Tim Horton's For coffee and doughnut lovers, there's Dunkin' Donuts, and then there's Tim Horton's. This mostly-Canadian chain, known for its easy-drinking coffee, tasty doughnuts and free wi-fi (when in Canada), was unreachable until recently. Now, you can find locations across the Northeast and in Michigan. Headquarters: Oakville, Ontario, Canada Claim to fame: Great coffee, maple bars and a recent partnership with Coldstone Creamery. Chance it comes to Portland: When there's a blizzard here. -- SB Don't Edit Don't Edit Upping the taco game since 2006. http://torchystacos.com/news/december2015-southpole/ Posted by Torchy's Tacos on Thursday, December 10, 2015 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 7. Torchy's Tacos If they're good enough for the President of the United States, these tacos are good enough for Portland. In Austin for SXSW, Barack Obama stopped his motorcade for, among other things, a breakfast taco with eggs, bacon, green chilies, and cheese. Headquarters: Austin Claim to fame: Breakfast tacos, green chile pork and Diablo Sauce. Chance it comes to Portland: With Voodoo Doughnut opening an Austin location last year, it's high time for a little cross-town reciprocity. MR Don't Edit Spencer Platt/News/Getty Images 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 6. Waffle House Everyone's favorite southern breakfast chain, with bright, stark decor and an open, efficient kitchen designed to sling cheesy eggs and grits with maximum speed. If you time it right, you can sit, order, eat and pay the check in under 10 minutes (weve tried). Headquarters: Unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia Claim to fame: 24 Hours, baby! Chance it comes to Portland: As soon as palmetto trees line East Burnside. MR Don't Edit Spencer Platt/News/Getty Images 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 5. Whataburger Since 1950, its been all about the orange-and-white-striped W, not the Golden Arches, for burger lovers in Texas. Thats when Harmon Dobson opened up Whataburger in Corpus Christi with the singular goal of serving a burger so big it took two hands to hold and, as company lore goes, was so good that with one bite customers would say, What a burger! Headquarters: San Antonio, Texas Claim to fame: The burgers, y'all. Still made to order and easily identifiable by the grease stains marking their take-out wrappings, 100 percent beef Whataburgers are available 24/7 year-round. Perfect road-trip food! Chances of coming to Portland: WhatABurger has nearly 800 restaurants from Arizona to Florida. Since theyre firmly anchored in the South, with most locations in Texas, it would be a real stretch to expect to order a Chop House Cheddar burger here anytime soon. -- JM Don't Edit What's your fav movie? Replace one word in the movie title with "cheese" for a chance to win a free Value Basket! pic.twitter.com/S3TxBwKVwj Culver's Restaurants (@culvers) February 28, 2016 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 4. Culver's Few words sound sweeter together than "butter burger" and "fresh, frozen custard." At this Wisconsin-based fast food chain -- where yes, there are fried cheese curds on the menu -- its the butter-slathered burgers topped with Wisconsin cheddar and the creamy custard -- scooped, blended or sundae'd -- that draw lines. Headquarters: Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin Claim to fame: Butterburgers, fried cheese curds, frozen custard. Chance it comes to Portland: There's one location in Idaho, so it can't be too far off. -- SB Don't Edit Samantha Bakall | The Oregonian/OregonLive 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 3. In-N-Out This beloved California chain finally graced Oregon with its presence last September after expanding through Texas, Arizona and Utah first (ouch). The bad news? It's five hours away. With a second location already in the works for Grants Pass, we can only assume it's a matter of time before those double-doubles crawl their way up I-5 to Portland. Headquarters: Irvine, California Claim to fame: Fresh, never frozen burgers, fries and shakes. And the (worst-kept) "secret" menu. Chance it comes to Portland: Just a matter of time and construction permits. Don't Edit Don't Edit Spencer Platt/News/Getty Images 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 2. Steak n' Shake Its not a hamburger. Its a steak burger at this sit-down, not-quite-fast-food favorite. Founded in 1934 in Normal, Ill., Steak n Shake serves burgers in singles, doubles and triples, alongside a menu of shakes served in glasses so tall the kids might need a booster seat to reach the straw. Beloved for its twice-a-day happy hours across the South and Midwest, Steak n Shakes nearest location is in Seattle. Time to give Portland a try. Headquarters: Owned by Biglari Holdings, based in San Antonio, Texas Claim to fame: 7x7 Steakburger, Chili Mac Supreme and side-by-side millkshakes. Chance it comes to Portland: Anybody looking to franchise? -- KG Don't Edit Spencer Platt/News/Getty Images 11 chains we wish would come to Portland 1. Shake Shack What happens when one of America's top restaurateurs -- Union Square Grill owner Danny Meyer -- gives fast food a try? You get Shake Shack, an 11-year-old burger chain that has maintained quality while expanding to Europe, the Middle East, Asia and throughout America. Headquarters: New York City Claim to fame: Burgers, frozen custards, crinkle-cut fries and ridiculous lines. Chance it comes to Portland: High MR Don't Edit Stephanie Yao Long 11 chains we wish would come to Portland We know there's more out there. Which fast food chains did we miss? The website for downtown Portland's Lechon name-checks "the fiery cooking of Argentina, Chile and Patagonia" and includes a short bio of its chef, whose childhood memories include flavors "commonly found on South African kitchen tables." Turns out, that's not a typo. Jaco Smith, who most recently ran the restaurant at Dallas' boutique The Joule Hotel, grew up in South Africa's Free State. Surprisingly, he says the food there shows strong Argentinian influences, especially when it comes to grilled meats and desserts, which might include flan or dulce de lece. Before opening Lechon, Smith studied Francis Mallmann's influential "Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way," plus whatever other South American cookbooks he could get his hands on. "My wife taste-tested enough chimichurri for a lifetime," he says. Along the way, he kept noticing flavors reminiscent of his mother's cooking. Lechon's menu is similarly global, with identifiably South American dishes -- fried empanadas, crab-stuffed piquillo peppers and an Argentine asado with grilled meats and sweetbreads -- alongside more Northwest-y bistro fare -- foie gras torchon with cherry mostarda, forest mushrooms and a farm egg on toasted brioche. Lechon's empanadas are packed with brisket and golden raisins or butternut squash and fontina cheese then fried crisp; the latter might remind you of a Hot Pocket, not necessarily in a bad way. The ceviche has firm segments of shrimp and pickled mango under a puff of citrus foam, with yucca chips and a little squeeze bottle of chile-lime oil meant for drizzling over the top. "We're just having fun," Smith says. Lechon sits inside a historic building on Southwest Naito Parkway. Both the restaurant and building are owned by Portland financial adviser Russ Kuhns. Bill Hayden, whose mini restaurant empire flamed out famously in the late 2000s, consulted on the project. You can sit on the sidewalk and drink a spicy cocktail garnished with a fraternity-strength cube of booze-soaked pineapple, or post up at a bar backed by an aquarium filled with tiny floating jellyfish. At the end of spring, Lechon plans to launch an open-air sister restaurant, Cocina, on a patio built in the parking lot next door. Once open, Smith and his team will experiment with South American-inspired live-fire grilling. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday; 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday; 113 S.W. Naito Pkwy.; 503-219-9000; lechonpdx.com Read the full story: -- Michael Russell Follow @tdmrussell 403 Forbidden 403 Forbidden Code: AccessDenied Message: Access Denied RequestId: E6AD7A41DC7359DF HostId: 7dPMBUwIHcFaPgd3dVklJz5EAT0xRo8pnuBSPNtj3Em5+Y8qlAqleogS7o1Z9P4kCVRXHIPDBss= An Error Occurred While Attempting to Retrieve a Custom Error Document Code: AccessDenied Message: Access Denied Sen. Jeff Merkley leaned over the armrest of the white SUV he drove east on Interstate 84, recounting the story of how the Columbia Gorge was formed. Fifteen thousand years ago, cataclysmic floods broke the banks of the river, washing them downstream. Every year since, salmon make their way upstream to spawn. For at least 10,000 years, four tribes lived off them. Merkley and Rep. Earl Blumenauer were on their way to Lone Pine, where about 40 members of the Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla and Nez Perce tribes live without ready access to electricity, despite being in the shadow of The Dalles dam. Earlier this month, The Oregonian/Oregonlive detailed how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still haven't fulfilled promises to provide housing for tribal members more than 80 years after flooding their traditional villages to create three Columbia River dams. Many sites are unsafe, unclean and lack facilities for year-round living. Yet the tribes try to fish and live there, as they have for thousands of years. "We were both thinking about the power of the mighty salmon that were able to attack and defeat the falls," Blumenauer said. "We've got to be like these salmon at Celilo and not give up until these promises are fulfilled." The Oregon legislators are the first to tell the tribes they plan to find money to fulfill the promises the federal government made when the dams were built. "I was unaware of the dimension of the villages until the story that has been shared this last year. What better time than now to tackle this," Merkley said. The occasion was significant for the tribes, with one chief saying a sitting U.S. senator hasnat visited the fishing sites since the 1980s. About 30 tribal chiefs, officials and members greeted the legislators at Lone Pine, and even more gathered at Celilo Village -- the one place 15 houses were provided for displaced tribal families. They shared stories about Celilo Falls, the fishing communities their relatives belonged to and how deeply they felt the loss of their ancient fishing grounds. "There's a lot more significance to what's been done here than the infrastructure -- just having a house over your head," said JoDe Goudy, chairman of the Yakama Nation, saying that salmon are part of the four tribes' origins. "Those things go hand-in-hand with who we are as people." Merkley and Blumenauer pledged to push for a number of measures to improve the living conditions of the tribes along the river. In the short term, those include more money for operations and maintenance at the 31 sites. Money set aside by the Corps to help pay for maintenance of the encampments will likely be depleted nearly 30 years ahead of schedule, according to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, which manages the sites for the federal government. Blumenauer said he also plans to insert language in the 2016 Water Resources Development Act, which prioritizes funding for the Army Corps, to start building the houses the tribal fishing families were promised but never received. While many federal agencies are underfunded, he said, the money is there. Perhaps even a small fraction of the money made from the dams' hydroelectric power could be put toward tribal housing. "It's not like it's beyond our capacity," he said. Both told the tribes this will be a long haul, though. "I think both of us will be deeply engaged, not just this year, but for years to come," Merkley said. -- Molly Harbarger mharbarger@oregonian.com 503-294-5923 @MollyHarbarger Update as of 3:15 p.m.: PSU added an audio option for its meeting on Thursday. The governing boards of Oregon's two largest four-year universities meet Thursday, where they will vote on proposed tuition increases and other fiscal policies that will collectively affect nearly 60,000 students across the state. Interested in following along? You'll have to drive to Portland or Corvallis. Neither Portland State nor Oregon State streams its boards of trustees' meetings online, which happen at least four times a year and on special occasion when needed. The State Legislature confirmed the two schools' board members in November 2013. According to a spokesman, Portland State has no immediate plans to stream its meetings, and it doesn't offer a call-in option for interested students, faculty, staff or citizens who can't be there in person. Oregon State's board, which oversees a more than $1 billion budget and has met eight times in the past two years, hasn't "had a chance" to look into setting up a live stream. Debbie Colbert, the board secretary, said the school will this week provide a call-in conference line for the first time. "I'm excited about the call-in at this point," she said. Nearly three years after the state approved independent boards at the University of Oregon and PSU, each of the seven public universities now has its own board and its own approach to transparency. Many board secretaries and school officials interviewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive say they've been slammed setting up new governing bodies from scratch with limited budgets. "We're still sort of putting the infrastructure in place," Colbert said, adding the trustees don't have a dedicated meeting space. The trustees have met previously at OSU's Newport facility and will meet later this year in Bend at OSU-Cascades. They don't have a permanent home. That's a similar issue at other campuses. Ryan Hagemann, Western Oregon University's vice president and general counsel, said his school also doesn't have a dedicated room for the meetings or live streaming or audio available. "While live streams are excellent," he said, noting that he pushed for a live stream at the now disbanded State Board of Higher Education, "I had to focus my attention on writing bylaws." WOU doesn't post meeting minutes to its website at this point, either. That's not required under the state law, but common practice. "We are about to clean up our website and get those up," Hagemann said. Emily Dickens, vice president for public policy with the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, said most boards just wants to comply with the basics of their state's open-meetings law. In the early going, boards prioritize what they need to get done. "Innovation might not be what usually comes out of it," she said, "because they're so focused on compliance." But not all Oregon colleges struggle with technology or finding a permanent home for their meetings. Oregon Tech, Eastern Oregon and the University of Oregon all stream their meetings from set locations. Sandra Fox, OIT's board secretary, said she it was fairly simple. "He comes over and hits record," she said of the university's information-technology guy, "and then I stop it [after the meeting.]" OIT is based in Klamath Falls but has a campus in Wilsonville, as well. "We wanted everybody to be able to participate," Fox said. Tim Seydel, Eastern Oregon's vice president for university advancement, said streaming and archiving past meeting videos "was just natural." "We just built it into our plans," he said. "We serve such a large geographic area." The University of Oregon has the most sophisticated streaming setup. Tobin Klinger, a university spokesman, said the school has two cameras and a director who toggles back and forth between views to change the feed online. The stream also gives viewers access to Power Point documents shared with the board. The UO Board of Trustees always meets inside the Ford Alumni Center. The chic building is adjacent to Matthew Knight Arena "We've always wanted to do anything that we could to have as much awareness and public engagement as possible," Klinger said, noting that media, faculty and students requested streaming service. Southern Oregon University hasn't had a call-in line or live stream in the past, but experimented with a live stream of a recent meeting. "We wouldn't be opposed to considering it," said board secretary Sabrina Prud'homme of making the change permanent. Scott Gallagher, PSU spokesman, said the school invites anyone to attend a trustees meeting in person, and he's not heard any discussion of arranging a video feed in the future. "It just hasn't come up until now," he said in an email," but it's not a bad idea." Gallagher said school officials will discuss the idea with the board, though he didn't immediately specify when that would happen. The OSU board meets at 9:30 a.m. in Corvallis and PSU's board meets at 1:00 p.m. in Portland. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen Lindey Williams.jpg Lindsey Williams, a freshman at Salem's Abiqua Academy, wrote a short story that takes the form of 11 letters her child narrator writes over the course of a year, all but one to the president of France. (courtesy of Lindsey Williams) For the second straight year, Salem teen Lindsey Williams has been named one of the nation's two best writers for her grade, first as an eighth-grader and now as a freshman. Her most recent winning entry is a fresh, surprising and remarkably sophisticated take on Western nations' response to Islamic terrorism, written in the voice of a naive 11-year-old named Nadine. Begun just days after the Paris attacks in November, Williams' short story takes the form of 10 letters from Nadine to the president of France, plus a final letter to another global figure. Read Williams' winning story Read in full . In less than 3,000 words, Williams develops Nadine from a plain, childlike writer who thinks mainly of herself to a young woman who unfurls powerful thoughts and poetic flourishes as she shows remarkable insight into other people's perspectives. The transformation plays out over the course of a year. Much like her character, Williams herself seems to have compressed a preternatural arc of intellectual and literary development into a short span. Only 14, she writes with the skill and insight of an accomplished adult -- something both she and her father attribute to her voracious, careful reading of great authors' work, coupled with fierce attention to the craft of writing. "She is her own toughest critic," Norman Williams, a professor and an associate dean at Willamette University's law school. "She will work tirelessly to rewrite a passage or piece until she is satisfied." Lindsey Williams has attended Abiqua Academy, a small private school in Salem, since kindergarten. She started writing stories in third grade, she said, and loved the freedom in imagining characters, settings, plots and dialogue. Although she was already reading every major novel she could, she said, she didn't get serious about the discipline of fiction until eighth grade, when she began writing every day. As a result of her wide reading, she uses, correctly, terms including "proximal," "archaic," "propagate" and "naivete" in casual conversation. Williams' favorite authors are American novelists and poets from the late 19th and early 20th centuries: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Emily Dickinson, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Ernest Hemingway. She hasn't been assigned any of those authors' works for school. Instead, she's read them on her own, she said, allowing her to get "a much more affectionate and gentle look at them." "I'm only in ninth grade," she added. Asked to name a favorite piece of modern fiction, she said, "that's a toughie," then named "Animal Farm," a classic published more than 70 years ago. "I really enjoyed the political message," she said. Her winning short story this year, unlike last year's, was shot through with politics. That is not surprising, given that she spent most of the fall following domestic and international politics closely as a member of Sprague High's speech and debate team. Her reaction to the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people, wasn't primarily a measured take on current events. It was personal, emotional. "I was terrified," she said. The other national winner also was named one of the nation's two best ninth-grade writers. Read more . That drove her writing. The fact that a person can no longer say for sure that an attack won't visit their family or their neighborhood scares her, and she enjoyed exploring that in her short story, she said. "You can write from pure fear," she said. "I wanted to put the reader in the mind of a young child that does not comprehend the complexities and wants to impose her own logic on the situation, wants to impose a rationality on the world... The complete lack of rationality of the world in the end takes away her childhood." Last year, when she was 12, Williams wrote the national best-in-grade-level work "Light to Dark" about some of life's most important events-- being born, starting school, falling in love, having a child, sending the child off into the world, losing a spouse and dying. What on Earth would a 12-year-old know about almost any of that? Yet her piece is exceptional. "It really comes from reading a lot," Williams said. "I didn't have much of an idea about life from my own so far. But from reading, I can draw from the similarities, from the power of stories, to gain insight about how those powerful experiences are alike for different characters and how they are different." Williams says she absolutely intends to become an author, although she expects she will have another career to support herself. "I like writing non-stop," she said. As for her first novel? Don't look for it soon. "I might want to hold off on that for a while. A novel is so huge and so intricate. I really do need a deeper grasp of life than I have now before I write one." -- Betsy Hammond This is "The Lost Child," a short story written by Grant High freshman Emma Lickey. Judges of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards named it one of the two best pieces written by a U.S. high school freshman this year. It is reprinted here with permission from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. When I first met Hassan, his body was a mural of blood and salt. Under clouds like pale vipers, he came to us in the back of a truck, his head lolling over the face of the dead girl in his lap. He kissed the bones plating her eyes, filling the wells of her cheeks with tears, stroking the broken nub of her knee, tracing the poisoned veins. Honey leaked from the burns dashing his arms, gleaming like beetle's skin. Ash knitted into the seams of his clothing. Consciousness left him with one hand tangled in the girl's hair. Harris, always quicker than me, jumped into action. Cracking clicked from his bad knee as he lifted the girl from the boy's lap and carried her through the camelhair flaps of the medical tent. I picked up the boy, effortlessly, and not from my weeks of exertion. I washed my hands and snapped on gloves, brushing pillars of sand off my clothes onto the thin plastic floor. An older medic told me years ago that you never forget your first child, his lips folding away like the corners of an abused book. Hassan was my first child. I had treated women howling of rape, rough men, rebels who rumbled into camp to get their arms set and spread the good word, spirits still roaring with their linked passion. But Hassan was my first child, and I never forgot his thick hair and pale almond skin, his long fingers that held everything a child shouldn't know. When I told my parent's I was leaving for the Middle East, my father slapped me on the back and my mother burst into tears. "Why?"she snapped. "So you can get shot just like your cousin?" "Don't listen to her, Ellie," my father said. "Go save some lives. We didn't put you through med school for nothing." "Jesus, Matt, she's going to Turkey, not Providence. You could get shot for wearing those shorts!" At first, I hated it. Six months couldn't pass fast enough. I hated the long plane ride, the white sun, the bright colors of cheap plastic that tiled anything worth saving. I hated the long flowing clothes that protected me from the sand. I hated the labyrinth of tents, the ragged allies, the moaning, the poverty. I hated the blustering jets that streaked overhead and the families who'd forsaken hope along with their last few dollars. I hated the plains of gravel and the children who caught a breeze under their feet and seemed to fly. Children finding joy in a joyless place, who thought that the bombers in the sky were nothing more than black birds. Or perhaps they knew better--so awfully aware of their surroundings. Their mothers looked on with horror as their babies witnessed death, poverty, killings, their belly buttons hardened and pushed out like worms. I isolated myself in the medical tent, required by the UNHCR to be as clean as possible. Mesh cots lined one long wall, cabinets and desks the other. Boxy machines whirred between patients. On the end, a yellow curtain closed off a private space for Harris and me, divided again by a translucent parchment screen. I found solace in the clean white plastic and aloe-scented hand sanitizer that reminded me of home. I relished the snap of gloves sealing my hands in latex and the feline chk-chk of electrical equipment. Some things were the same everywhere. Every parallel stitch and waxy bandage reassured me I was doing the right thing and making a difference. Hassan almost didn't survive and it was thanks to my distraction. When I pulled off his shirt to find the puncture holes in his bruised abdomen, I found the pictures sown into the hem. Slipping them from their pockets, I unfolded a lovely young girl. A birthmark branded the slender bone cupping her ear and her small, carefully brushed teeth shined. Her eyes were astonishing even on the washed out paper, phosphorescent green like some kind of undersea being. I knew she had been the girl in the truck bed, no older than six when she died. Others were in the photos, as well. A woman wrapped in a long skirt slit open around the ankle to reveal gold inner flesh. A tall man, handsome with a black beard anchored to his cheekbones. An old woman kneeling between Hassan and the little girl--written in Arabic on the back--Hassan, Nana, and Rima. Rima crushing pomegranate between her teeth. Hassan side by side with another boy, beaming under oiled fronds of black hair and navy uniforms, their legs splayed. Nana, spattered in almond oil as she swaddled Rima. As I tore out the pictures, Hassan woke up and began to scratch at the wounds on his back. Elated with fever, his fingers began to probe, digging into the sores puckering his skin. I watched this happen out of the corner of my eye, grazing the benevolent love of his mother as she held Hassan in her arms. Only when blood began to pour did the photos fall from my hands. +++ Sitting up in a cot, Hassan gave me his name and city, Aleppo. Sand crackled in his hair and checkered his arms. Wind had stressed his skin into a mosaic of flaking sequins like dandelions seeds. "Where is Rima?" he asked, pulling at my shoulder. Rima, the little girl in the picture. Rima, with the splintered leg. Rima, lying in a desert grave, ribbons of sand claiming her as its own. Hassan had been asleep for three days. During that time, his wounds had mellowed in their white linen. Sometimes I liked to imagine myself as a healing spirit, cool blue pluming from my fingertips. With Hassan it was different-- he sparked a need in me I had never experienced before. Something about his limp chin and wise eyes drew it from me to every point of offense, down to the smallest sliver dicing his thumb. I could think of nothing but making this boy whole again. But, no matter how I reaped my memories of medical school, I couldn't sew together an answer to his question. "Rima, sister?" I asked, biting my lip in shame at my tuneless Arabic. "I speak English," said Hassan. "Yes, she is my sister." "Your sister, then," I said, smoothing the crumpled linens on his bed. "I'm so sorry." "She is hurt?" Hassan asked. "She steps on a mine and I pull her away. But her leg is broken." "No, Hassan. Rima died." Each word dropping like cold black pebbles. After a moment of silence, when an impatient wind sliced open the tent, Hassan shut his eyes. Tears speared his palms and he scratched at his scabby burns, ripping them away until they began to spurt blood. I watched in horror as he screamed, crushing his temples between his palms, gummy skin trailing from his nails. Unsure of where to begin calming him, I grasped his hands and felt them wavering to stay upright. I watched the walls rippling around us and felt an ice creaking in my heart that seemed to come from Hassan himself. +++ Harris told me that Aleppo had seen terrible damage, holding up his phone to confirm his words. Snapshot after snapshot of paper and trash sailing through streets in a haunting ballet, bony children and amputated dogs hunting together through bombed apartment buildings, charred elbows, their toes chewed by worms. Run, I thought, thumbing through the pages of snarled lives, just run away Hassan's family had decided to run--flinging Hassan from their tormented flight into the care of a stranger. A stranger prepared for an artery corked by a tumor, not a sweet boy collapsing in sorrow. I watched Hassan from the bed of an old woman, who grasped at my hair in her illusion and prayed to Allah for the fried sujuk and tabbouleh of her childhood. Hassan lay on his back, ripping fronds of skin off his fingernails and laying them on his tongue. I tilted a cup of water to the woman's chipped lips and moved on to Hassan. Though he didn't move his eyes from the fabric of the ceiling, an apology kicked its way off his tongue. "I am sorry for my anger," he said formally. "Mama is not proud of me." "Where are your mother and father?" I asked, too eager. Hassan's eyes dropped askew. "She lives now with Rima." "And your Nana? Where is she?" "Nana is not in my family. She is our women of cooking and cleaning." "Not your mother?" "Women are equal to men." Love fanned in his eyes as he said, "Mama taught at school." "And your father?" "Papa was doctor, like you." Hassan glanced up at me, just as the old woman started gasping again. For a moment, I could have sworn he was my youngest brother Parker, smirking with pride as he capped his latest LEGO tower with a plastic orange flag. I pulled Hassan's covers over his shoulders and turned to pound a wad of phlegm, hard as a nut, from the woman's lungs. +++ Sunrise to sunset, I didn't leave the medical tent. I ate hasty meals of beans and rice from canteens, clay cups or sheets of cardboard. A group of Red Cross women, wearing Capri's and Polo shirts rolled around a big pot and spooned it out with a sparing hand, not a pinto bean too much. Camp seemed to swell every day--their pot feeding smaller portions. I could see their brows warp as they agonized over feeding a screeching baby or a family of five, three tents away. That was the first time I'd ever been for want of food. Back home, Dad would come home every day and grill organic food from the supermarket. Parker, John and I grew up tall and strong on the abundance of chicken, beef, dairy, and the sunflower seeds boiled in our oatmeal at breakfast. Children with skeletal frames, scraped for calcium, muscles withered and flapped away in the wind. Young women of sixteen or seventeen had chests as flat and plated as girls of six or seven. Hassan didn't show the usual signs of malnourishment, though he was much too thin, his hair was shiny and his nails were pinkish pale. I began taking my meals by his bedside, loaning him books from my well-used library, headphones and a CD player, paper for him to unknot his thoughts. Over two weeks, Hassan described to me in his few words, and with his long hands gesticulating, his dangerous escape. When the crisis in Aleppo reached a peak, they didn't make it out of the city before the driver of the human smuggling truck told them they would have to walk on foot, because of soldiers patrolling the roads. During the night the driver slipped away, leaving them alone on the path to Turkey and their father, brutally shot the next morning. After three days of walking in the devastating heat, their mother, dragged away by soldiers as she was catching water in a stream. She had described the way to Hassan and he followed, pulling Rima along with him. A band of guerilla rebels carried them for most of the way before leaving them again to fight. Hassan and Rima were three kilometers from the Turkish border when Rima stepped on the mine. Hassan told me this over our servings of beans, pinching them between his fingers to shell their soft, swollen membranes. As memories of his lost family overwhelmed him and he began to weep in distress, I tried to distract him with stories of the States. "On Christmas Eve, the day before Christmas..." I glanced up at Hassan and he nodded for me to continue. "Parker was worried Santa would crash trying to land on our roof in the snow. So he took a spatula and..." "What's a spatula?" Hassan asked, his pen flicking to attention over his notebook. "A flat spoon," I said, holding mine up for reference. Hassan wrote it down with his methodical patience. "Don't end," Hassan said. "So he went up to the roof with a spatula to clean it off for Santa. But he slipped and fell and landed flat on his back in the middle of our lawn." For effect, I sprawled on the coarse floor of the tent. Hassan laughed so hard a bean plopped into my lap. In my most secret moments, I wondered if that's what it was like to have a child. I compared my relationship with Hassan to the story of his mother and I admonished myself. No one would or ever could take her place. I began having terrible nightmares in which I looked out of a window, saw Hassan's father beckoning to me and followed him around and around a city block until my foot splashed into the asphalt and I heard the click. Suddenly, my mother jerked me off the street, her legs blown away. Next thing I knew, I'm heaved into the bowels of a truck where my arms are rigid and can't move. I ate onion bulbs and kelp. I saw the boots of soldiers splintering the beeswax-golden tiles of the bazaar, the molars of revolutionaries skittering along the street. I saw my parent's tree-lined home blown to shreds. A week before I left for Pennsylvania, Hassan was transferred to a kind of orphanage for all ages, overflowing with people severed from their families. On the day he left, he fell silent at the thought of his big, empty, unnerving future. Eleven years old and alone in the war. Who would fend for him now? I give him three things to take with him. My childhood copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the spine stiff with cracker crumbs, and a box for the photos of his family. Half a pound of hearty trail mix, mostly cashews, though a few precious clusters of raisins. I packed the supplies in my KEEN backpack and gave that to him as well. Hassan slipped the backpack over his shoulders and looked up at me. "Okay," I said. "Thank you, Ellie," he said. "I want you to have a beautiful life. Your family and I want that for you." "I try," Hassan said. "Here's my cell phone number. Call me. I'll pay for whatever you need." "I try," he said again, taking the slip of paper. A woman from Kansas paced around the tent, scuffing her shoe on the floor like the rasp of locust wings. She would be taking Hassan and didn't have much time in her day. "Goodbye, Ellie," he said. "Goodbye, Hassan." I hugged the back of his neck and he folded his arms around my waist. "Goodbye," he said again. Then he followed the woman out of the tent that had been his home for a month. I slumped on the bed of the old woman. Harris glanced up from an IV and gave me a warm smile. +++ Pennsylvania's trees sweep leaves by my window. I unroll the New York Times over my dining room table and scan the headlines for Syria. Hungary building a wall, US closing its borders, Lebanon crushed. And still, children washing up on shore, sleeping under cardboard in alleyways, dying in the streets. Is Hassan selling leather souvenirs in Turkey? Laughing with Rima in heaven? I haven't told anyone about him. I keep a photo of his smile in the pages of my journal. When Mom came to visit after I got home, I turned down her questions, offering instead a mug of smooth lentil soup. Hassan has yet to call me. I doubt he ever will. -- Emma Lickey Winning Writers Lindsey Williams of Salem, left, and Emma Lickey of Portland will be honored in June as the nation's two best ninth-grade writers, burnishing Oregon's literary credentials as home to excellent emerging writers. (courtesy of the teen authors) The nation's two best ninth-grade writers both live in Oregon. That was the judges' conclusion at the nation's longest-running and most prestigious high school literary contest this spring. Judges at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards read thousands of stories, poems and memoirs by high school freshmen, looking for the two most original, most skillful pieces with a strong emerging voice. And they found it in a pair of young short story writers, one from Portland and the other from Salem. -- Betsy Hammond Ladies and gentlemen, start your...red wagons? Portland's two enormous auto swap meets are coming up, and you'll want a pull-behind parts transport if you're among the thousands of buyers who'll peruse the thousands of vendor booths at the Portland International Raceway and Portland Expo Center this weekend. Though they're two distinct swap meets, many automotive aficionados visit both the 52-year-old Portland Swap Meet and the spinoff PIR Auto Swap Meet. And the vendors - PIR meet manager Sandy Bauer estimates 5,000 between the two meets - come from near and far to sell car parts, full cars, and auto paraphernalia. "I'm looking at a trailer from Minnesota," said Portland Swap Meet chair Dave Van Winkle as setup was underway Wednesday. "A lot of these people have been coming for years, so it's kind of a friendship thing." Bauer said the PIR meet also gets vendors from as far away as Canada and Hawaii. One group of men even comes from Australia every year to buy parts, she said. "People are willing to drive," Bauer said. And in some cases, fly several thousand miles. So how do two Portland swap meets manage to pull in car collectors and gear heads from so far afield? "We've worked hard to make 90 percent of our swap meet auto related," said Van Winkle of the Portland Swap Meet, which does allow a small amount of antiques that aren't auto related. The PIR meet, too, keeps cars as its focus. Rule number one on it's vendor rules list is "Only automotive related items are acceptable." Van Winkle said many swap meets around the country will allow just about anything in. By sticking strictly to cars, the PIR meet and Portland Swap Meet have been able to draw crowds looking for an undiluted experience. "It's essentially four days of car stuff," Bauer said. People walk around with cardboard signs advertising specific parts they're looking for, and even a rust-covered bolt can be considered a treasure. *** PIR AUTO SWAP MEET When: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. March 31-April 2 Where: Portland International Raceway, 1940 N. Victory Blvd. Admission: $7; $10 for parking PORTLAND SWAP MEET When: 7 a.m.-7 p.m. April 1, 7 a.m.-5p.m. April 2, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. April 3 Where: Portland Expo Center, 2060 N. Marine Dr. Admission: $4-$7 --Dillon Pilorget 503-294-5927 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. DETROIT (AP) Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law $48.7 million in emergency funding to keep the Detroit Public Schools open through the end of the school year on Tuesday, the same day that more than a dozen current and former district officials were charged with crimes stemming from a federal corruption investigation. The state's largest school district was in danger of starting to run out of money in April. The stopgap spending legislation shows the district's challenges "aren't just Detroit's problem, they are concerns for all of Michigan," Snyder said. The Republican governor is also pressing the GOP-controlled Legislature to enact a $720 million restructuring plan to split the district in two and pay off operating debt over a decade. The Detroit district is under state oversight and has battled corruption for the past several years under a number of state-appointed emergency managers. Another round of federal charges was announced Tuesday after a two-year investigation: allegations of bribery and other crimes against a long-time vendor, an assistant superintendent and a dozen current and former principals. Fraudulent invoices were submitted for chairs, paper and other supplies. Some supplies were never delivered; in other cases, the quantity of supplies delivered was less than what was ordered. The vendor, Allstate Sales, received $2.7 million from the district, while the school officials, who apparently didn't know others were involved in the scheme, received kickbacks of more than $900,000 in cash, gift cards and checks. "Public corruption never comes at a good time," said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, alluding to efforts in Lansing to financially help the district. "This case is not about the Detroit Public Schools. It's not about emergency managers. It's about these individuals. "A case like this is a real punch in the gut for people trying to make a difference," she added. Allstate Sales owner Norman Shy, 74, and Clara Flowers, 61, an assistant superintendent in the Office of Specialized Student Services, are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and tax evasion. The dozen current and former principals also are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery. Five resigned before the federal investigation or due to the investigation, officials said. The Associated Press left a message seeking comment from Shy. No listing was found for Flowers. One of the principals, Ronald Alexander, appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in an episode that aired last month to accept a $500,000 donation from Lowes for Spain Elementary. The charges aren't related to the home improvement store's donation, which was to go toward renovations, computers and other needs at the school. The district has placed the current employees, including Alexander, on unpaid leave; suspended business with Shy and his companies; and suspended all purchases by individual schools. Reviews also will be conducted of all purchases made by the administrators charged and all school-based vendor contracts. "I cannot overstate the outrage that I feel about the conduct that these DPS employees engaged in that led to these charges," said Steven Rhodes, the district's state-appointed transition manager and retired federal judge who handled the city of Detroit's bankruptcy. The investigation started after federal officials received information from the state, which was performing an audit on the Education Achievement Authority, a spinoff system of low-performing Detroit schools. Kenyetta Wilbourn-Snapp, a principal at two high schools, was charged late last year with taking bribes to hire a company to perform tutoring services. "By going down that path, we reached the doorstep of Mr. Shy," McQuade said. A former high-ranking Detroit schools official, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, faces sentencing in Chicago after pleading guilty to helping steer $23 million in no-bid contracts to education firms for $2.3 million in kickbacks and bribes while at Chicago Public Schools. Byrd-Bennett served as the Detroit district's chief academic and accountability auditor, and her responsibilities included conducting academic audits and review of district programs, school-based programs and front offices. Also Tuesday, Snyder signed a bill that would have a largely state-appointed commission review Detroit Public Schools' finances once the district is no longer under state financial management. If Snyder's broader bailout is approved, the state will no longer run the district starting this summer. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate At a recent meeting of the Kiwassee Kiwanis Club, seven members of the Dow High Key Club used visual displays to explain several important aspects of this international service club for high school students. Presenters Samantha Damocles, JoAnna Danielsen, Becca Haines, Chloe King, Anna Mylvaganam, Sarah Naumovitz and Spencer Reay spoke to small groups of Kiwassee members as they rotated from display to display. Each Key Club member explained a specific way the club promotes service, leadership, giving and fellowship. The club completes several projects during the school year. For one, club members participated in the Welcome Home ceremony for Midlands National Guard Troop 1460 in September 2014, organizing crafts and activities; providing pins, goody bags and snacks; and directing people attending the event to appropriate spots in the Dow High parking lot. The club has a strong relationship with its sponsor, Kiwassee Kiwanis Club, attending each others weekly meetings, marching together in the annual Memorial Day Parade and working together on service projects. One such project found adults and teens working together at the House of Mercy Shelter for women and children. They replaced the floor and painted the walls to convert a common space into a needed additional bedroom at the facility. The Key Club raises funds for a variety of organizations that assist communities, families and children both at home and around the world. The club has worked with Youth Empower selling Yuda Bands, bracelets made by villagers in Guatemala, and raised $300 in this effort, enough to sponsor a Guatemalan boy for one year of school. Three events at the Michigan District level provide annual opportunities for members to get to know and work with Key Clubbers from around the state. The one-day Fall Rally includes on-site service projects and a Service Fair, where individual clubs display photos and details of a successful project, along with advice other clubs can use to duplicate the project in their own community. The Key Leader Program is a weekend retreat that helps young students develop their understanding of integrity, personal growth, respect, community building and the pursuit of excellence. Each year the Kiwassee club sponsors two students to attend this powerful event and bring back the knowledge and insight they gain to improve their club, school and community. The Michigan District Service Leadership Conference takes place in the spring and brings together several hundred students from clubs around the state. This weekend event features key-note speakers; on-site service projects; Kids Against Hunger meal packaging; talent, speaking and scrapbook competitions; legislative sessions that include caucusing and the election of district officers for the next year; a formal banquet; and two dances. Each year, the clubs bulletin editor assembles an annual scrapbook that chronicles the clubs activities in categories that include service to school, service to community, fundraising, assistance to Kiwanis projects and participation in Key Club International initiatives. The scrapbook competes for an award at the Service Leadership Conference. This years Service Leadership Conference took place March 11-13 at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Traverse City. Eight Dow High Key Club members were among approximately 400 students who attended this event. Key Club International is a service leadership program for high school students. There are more than 5,500 Key Clubs around the world. Sponsored by the Kiwassee Kiwanis Club, the Dow High Key Club was chartered in 2000 and has been active since then at both the local and state level. For more information, contact adviser Jeff Richards at (989) 923-3827 or richardsjh@midlandps.org or visit www.keyclub.org. For more information on Kiwanis International, contact Bruce Rayce at (989) 837-6447 or bmrayce@aol.com and visit www.kiwanis.org. Do you have a start-up and need some help? The Mid-Michigan Venture Meetup (MMVM) can assist. Various topics are discussed at monthly meetings where members can actively share information, tips and tricks with other members. The MMVM provides a new and energizing way for local entrepreneurs to meet up, network and collectively share experiences over a topic-driven discussion, organizer Nic von Schneider said. The goal of the MMVM is to allow the local startup community to help strengthen each other, and therefore strengthen our community. Each meeting, on the first Thursday of every month, is open to the public and requires no fees or costs. The next meeting on April 7, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., will be at Grand Traverse Pie Company, 2600 N. Saginaw Road. In an attempt to support local businesses, locations for the monthly meetings will vary among different Midland businesses, but will be posted in advance on the MMVM Facebook Community Page. Aprils topic will be, Structuring and Implementing Your Value Proposition. Entrepreneurs will gain a better understanding of organizing a unified culture and direction that guides a ventures business model, business plan, marketing strategy, website content, social media, and even design. Understanding how your audience views your business, allows you to better plan and react around them, von Schneider said. The meetings, which encourage open dialogue, are designed for those thinking about starting a business, actively involved in a startup, seasoned entrepreneurs or any other interested party. Approximately five years ago, von Schneiders life took an unanticipated turn as he helped begin a tech startup with other University of Michigan students and entrepreneurs. The startup demanded that I expand and hone a lot of my marketing, psychology and design skills, but also forced me to learn more about coding, business and general sales strategies. I had never planned on being an entrepreneur but I was instantly addicted to the unique and agile capabilities that most modern ventures require, von Schneider said. Having found his niche, von Schneider continued to provide help for other local student ventures. Now, I have mentored, advised, facilitated and consulted with different startups and businesses, startup accelerators, university incubator programs, and think tanks, he said. After attending various networking events all over Michigan, von Schneider and business partner John Magel realized that no two entrepreneurs are the same and each one has his or her own story, background and set of skills. After conversations with fellow local entrepreneur Dan Tuma, the pair realized the need for a meetup that allowed participants to communally share their skills, experiences and tips over a chosen business topic. I believe the constantly changing topic is what truly makes the MMVM group special, von Schneider said. It allows the entire group to dictate what is helpful for them and their venture. At the end of each meetup, its been clear what members want to discuss next because the discussion uncovered new things for each person. A members question commonly gets answered by three, four or even five different members because each person there has a relevant set of unique experiences. What we have now is a very powerful entrepreneurial community that really cares about each other. Currently, von Schneider is the director for Actualize Labs, an early stage venture development center, and founder of Glyph Collective, a behavioral branding and marketing studio. For more information, visit www.ActualizeLabs.com or MMVMs Facebook Community Page. The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and Central Michigan University archaeologists partnered to conduct field schools at the site of the abandoned Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School. This collaboration between the two groups along with the City of Mount Pleasant to honor and research the history of the site has garnered statewide recognition. Gov. Rick Snyder and Michigan State Housing Development Authority Executive Director Kevin Elsenheimer have announced six recipients of the 2016 Governors Awards for Historic Preservation. Each year we recognize the contributions of people who devote time, energy and money into preserving Michigans historic structures and archaeological sites, Snyder said. These sites are irreplaceable and are important to maintaining a sense of place and our authentic Michigan identity. The Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School operated from 1893 to 1933 and was part of the federal governments efforts to assimilate Native Americans following the Civil War. During that time, 300 native children per year were taken from their homes and reeducated to conform to non-native culture. In 2011, the State of Michigan conveyed separate portions of the boarding school to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and the City of Mount Pleasant. The field school established in partnership with the Saginaw Chippewa and CMU archaeologists resulted in new information about the school and its resident students. In addition, the Saginaw Chippewa undertook outreach initiatives to foster knowledge about the federal Indian boarding school program. The State Historic Preservation Office at MSHDA initiated the Governors Awards in 2003 to recognize outstanding historic preservation achievements that reflect a commitment to the preservation of Michigans unique character and the many archaeological sites and historic structures that document Michigans past. We recognize partnerships, innovation, creativity and excellence with these awards, Elsenheimer said. Good historic preservation projects reflect a desire to connect the past with the future, they involve collaboration, and we are pleased to recognize 26 different organizations this year. The other 2016 recipients are: Mackinac Island State Park Commission for the ongoing archaeological investigation of Fort Michilimackinac. City of St. Joseph, Smay Trombley Architecture, Mihm Enterprises, the Heritage Museum and Cultural Center, the Lighthouse Forever Fund and the Citizens of St. Joseph for the rehabilitation of the St. Joseph North Pier Inner and Outer Lights. Home Renewal Systems LLC, Quinn Evans Architects and Wolverine Building Group for the rehabilitation of Fremont High School. City of Dearborn; Artspace Projects, Inc.; Neumann/Smith Architecture; the Monahan Company; and the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority for the rehabilitation of Dearborn City Hall Complex. Indian Village Historical Collections, City of Detroit, Public Lighting Authority, DTE Energy, Offshore Spars, SS Stripping/CDS Performance Coatings, Corby Energy Services, and Consulting Engineering Associates, Inc. for the Indian Village Historic Streetlight Rehabilitation Project, Detroit. The awards will be presented at a public ceremony in the Michigan State Capitol Rotunda in May, which is National Historic Preservation Month. To learn about previous Governors Award recipients go to michigan.gov/shpo, click on Special Projects and Governors Awards. To the editor: We would like to invite the community to the National Public Health Week April 4-10, 2016 recognition and invite you to stop by the lobby of the County Services Building at 220 W. Ellsworth, Midland. Whats the Midland County Public Health Department all about? Well lets see: Our Vision: Midland County will be a place where every person lives a healthy life, in a clean, wholesome environment, with an absence of disease. We offer the following services: Community Health Nursing Services Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP): Home visiting program for Medicaid eligible high risk pregnant women and infants. Community Nursing: Registered nurses participate in community events and provide health education to the public. Lead Poisoning Education: Registered nurse provides information and follow up to lead exposed children. Childrens Special Health Care Services (CSHCS): Program provides family support and case management for children with qualifying medical diagnoses. Public Health Services Immunization Clinic: Immunizations for vaccine preventable diseases are available for all ages Family Planning: Confidential access to contraceptive and reproductive health services Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP): Offers access to a screening program for early detection of breast and cervical cancers for women 40-64 years of age. International Travel: Travel specific vaccines are available for those traveling outside of the United States. Vision and Hearing Screening: Certified technicians screen children for vision and hearing competency with an emphasis on early detection of problems. Communicable Disease Investigation and Screening: Nursing staff investigates communicable diseases related to outbreaks in the community such as pertussis. Tuberculosis Testing and Monitoring: TB skin testing and verification of the test result is available. Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic: Confidential testing, counseling, treatment and referral. Access to Health Care: Assistance offered for individuals with the application process. Environmental Health Radon/Lead/Hazardous Materials: Radon testing kits are available for home testing Household Hazardous Materials Collection Body Art Facility Inspections Septic System Permit Application Water Well Permit Application Vacant Land Evaluations Food Service Licensing and Inspections Public Health Preparedness: PHP develops and maintains plans and strategies to improve public health response in the event of an emergency or disease outbreak. You are also able to see more about us at the Midland County website: http://co.midland.mi.us/ SANDY LAPRAD, RN Midland County Community Health Nurse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Capt. Matthew Paradise relieved Capt. Kyle P. Higgins as commanding officer USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) during a change of command ceremony March 29. Blue Ridge is currently on patrol in the 7th Fleet area of operations, strengthening and fostering relationships in the Indo-Asia Pacific region. Higgins served as commanding officer for over 14 months, leading the ship and crew through two patrol cycles, one including the rescue of five stranded Filipino fisherman and several inspections and awards with the ship being awarded the Battle E Efficiency Award for the second year in a row. It is obvious that Im stepping into a terrific command, said Paradise, Blue Ridge commanding officer. That is a true testament to the men and women of Blue Ridge, but its also a testament to its commanding officer. Thank you for leaving me such a great legacy. Ill make you proud and build on it. His commitment to the mission and the combat readiness of Blue Ridge has been evident as the ship has been performing magnificent in every occasion, said Rear Adm. John Nowell, Commander, Amphibious Force 7th Fleet, guest speaker at the ceremony. In places like the Peoples Republic of China, the Philippines, or here in Sri Lanka, Blue Ridge has served as host to a multitude of foreign dignitaries, diplomats, high-ranking government and military officials. These engagements are critical as we look at an uncertain and volatile world, one where partnerships really matter. Paradise assumes command as the 28th commanding officer of the Blue Ridge since the ship's commissioning Nov. 14, 1970. Blue Ridge held a reception on the main deck immediately following the ceremony to celebrate and bid farewell to Higgins. This ship certainly reinvigorated me, said Higgins. And, I cant thank everyone on the Blue Ridge and 7th Fleet team enough for what theyve done for the ship. She is 46-years-young and shes got 30 more left in her because of the work that is put into her every single day. Blue Ridge has been forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan for 36 years. As the flagship for 7th Fleet, Blue Ridge is vital in maintaining partnerships in the 7th Fleet area of operations. WASHINGTON (Army News Service, March 25, 2016) -- Right now, the United States and South Korea are in discussions regarding the feasibility of deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD system there, along with its associated radar, while nearby China has voiced objections to the idea. No decision has been reached, but earlier this week Lt. Gen. David L. Mann, commander of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command and Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense said such an emplacement would provide a "huge increase in capabilities," in South Korea to protect against threats posed by North Korea. Mann is aware of China's concerns. "This is a sensitive issue for the partners throughout the region, and we understand the sensitivities that are involved, especially when you look at South Korea is one of the largest trading partners to China in the region," Mann said. "We don't minimize the sensitivity of these discussions." Right now, he said, discussions are about the feasibility of putting a THAAD battery in South Korea. The system is designed to strike down incoming missiles in their "terminal" phase. THAAD missiles don't carry warheads, but rather rely on their own weight combined with the speed at which they travel to strike down the missiles they target. A THAAD battery consists of launcher vehicles with each vehicle holding 8 missiles; a radar system; and a fire control system which serves as the communications and data-management backbone. The THAAD system, he said, is designed to provide greater capability to address "more challenging threat vehicles that are out there." The THAAD system augments existing capabilities such as the Patriot Missile system and the Aegis Combat System. "THAAD, if you look at its performance, especially in past testing, it's just remarkable what its capability has proven to be," Mann said, praising the system's capabilities. Were such a system ever put into South Korea, Mann said, it would be focused not on China, but on threats coming from North Korea. "That radar and that system is not looking at China," he said. "That system, if the decision is made to deploy it, would be oriented on North Korea, quite frankly, and threats posed by the North Korean military. It's a missile defense capability, to make sure we provide our South Korean partners as well as other partners in the region, with protection." SABRE RATTLING In recent months, North Korea has become more aggressive in testing potential weapons technology. In January, North Korea detonated what it claimed to be a hydrogen bomb. Last month, it launched an earth observation satellite into space. Mann said the North Koreans are making themselves a viable threat -- the kind of threat THAAD is designed to address. "I think we need to take North Korea seriously," he said. Recent North Korean activity "shows that they have the capability for long-range flight. And so I would not minimize ... I think we need to take their capability seriously ... I think we need to take their developments very, very seriously." Right now, the Army has a THAAD system in place in Guam, and Mann said that system is likely to stay there long-term. Were a decision to be made to place a THAAD system in South Korea, it could take several weeks to make happen, Mann said. While the system is mobile, site selection and site preparation will take some time. The Army is looking at other locations for THAAD as well, Mann said. In addition to South Korea, he said, he believes Japan and other nations may also be interested in the system, but "to what degree I'm not prepared to say," he said. Mann also said the Army is seeing a "demand signal' from other areas for such a capability, including from U.S. European Command, U.S. Central Command, and other areas "If you look at their operation plan, they see a need ... for this capability," he said. OVERTAXED PATRIOTS The older Patriot Missile System has a mission similar to that of the THAAD system, though there are many more in the Army's inventory. The Army plans to have up to seven THAAD batteries, for instance, while it currently maintains 15 Patriot Battalions. Nevertheless, Patriot systems and crews are overtaxed, and Mann said it's not prudent to look to the THADD system to relieve that stress. With just seven planned THAAD batteries, he said, "you have to be so judicious, so careful as to where you deploy THAAD, because you have so few ... of that defense system. It's complementary, but I don't think you are looking at THAAD necessarily as being able to alleviate the stress on Patriot, just by the sheer numbers and where we have Patriot located throughout the U.S., and the world." Instead, he said, the Army is looking at other options that will enable it to more effectively use Patriot. One solution is purchasing a dismounted command and control system for the Patriot battery to allow for it to serve a wider area -- "instead of deploying a whole battalion we can maximize what that battalion brings to the table by not having to send the whole battalion, but by using the dismounted capability to take different components within the Patriot battalion to different locations and really kind of spread its capability ... on the battlefield." Mann also said that instead of deploying an entire Patriot battalion -- including all the equipment that supports the launchers and missiles, "maybe we can take a Patriot battery to a location and augment its capabilities by leveraging an Aegis radar, or an Air Force radar, or a coalition radar, and really kind of componentize the Patriot unit and optimize its capabilities across a battle space. Leveraging networks to be able to get the best return on investment, in order to have the best sensor, best shooter mix to address a threat." Admiral Aucoin, thank you very much for your kind remarks and thank you very much for bringing this ship and her crew here. It is a delight to have you all here. Im going to be very brief. First of all, in the South Asian context, rain is always an auspicious sign, and we will certainly take it as an auspicious sign tonight. But I will be brief because of the wonderful life-giving rain that might be coming. First of all, I want to welcome you, Admiral Aucoin, and welcome you, Captain Higgins, and the crew of the USS Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge is named for a chain of mountains that is right near my hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. So, I want to thank you for bringing me a 20,000 ton reminder of home all the way here to the Indian Ocean! I also want to say a word or two about the sailors of the Blue Ridge. These are men and women who come from all across the United States, and many of them are 18, 19, 20-years old. Their parents and grandparents came from all over the world. They are united as a ships crew here because they are dedicated to the American values of freedom, democracy and liberty. And so it is truly inspirational for those of us who have had the chance to interact with them to see them here and to enjoy their visit while they are in port. This is the very first visit by a United States ship in five years. We are thrilled to have them here and hope this will be the first of many to come. We are also greatly honored to have the Honorable Speaker, Honorable Foreign Minister and Admiral as well as Ambassador Kariyawasam. Ladies and gentlemen, this ship is here because as Americans we respect and appreciate the values that the Sri Lankan voters voted for in the two elections of January 8 and August 17 of last year. We appreciate the vision of the Sri Lankan people for their country to be a reconciled, peaceful, unified, prosperous, and free democracy that can be a pillar of stability and prosperity for the entire Indo-Pacific region. We appreciate very much the vision of the Sri Lankan people and the American people are reciprocating. John Kerry said when he was here in May of last year, for the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State in 41 years, that we will support the vision of the Sri Lankan people and the Sri Lankan voters. And we are doing so through this ship visit, through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, through the visits by many American senior officials, and by the presence of all of you. So, if you will permit me, I would like to offer a toast on behalf of all the folks on the podium and all of you: I would like to propose a toast to the future of U.S. and Sri Lanka friendship for the good of our two countries and for the entire world. Thank you all very much. HONOLULU, Hawai'i -- Looking to enhance energy security through bilateral cooperation, 24 U.S. and Japanese government, corporate, non-profit and academic professionals gathered at the Looking to enhance energy security through bilateral cooperation, 24 U.S. and Japanese government, corporate, non-profit and academic professionals gathered at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies for a workshop March 21. DKI APCSS partnered with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA in conducting the event titled The U.S., Japan, and the Future of Renewable Energy. Participants explored opportunities for the two nations to develop, prioritize and disseminate alternate energy technologies as part of a future energy mix. Both countries are undergoing profound change in these spheres, driven in the U.S. by the shale gas revolution and in Japan by the March 2011 events that led to the shutdown of Japans nuclear industry, stated Dr. Jeffrey Hornung, Fellow for Sasakawa USAs Security and Foreign Affairs Program. Demand for energy has increased throughout the world, which, in turn, gives rise to a host of associated problems, including increased CO2 emissions, competition for finite energy sources, and climate change. Japan and the U.S. share a special responsibility in this regard given their advanced technologies and high proficiency in science that together can help move economies toward a greener, more sustainable, future. Through such interaction, it is hoped that existing barriers to cooperation can be overcome and development of economically viable renewable technology can be accelerated. The event featured panel discussions on Policy, Production and Economics: Wind, Solar, and Other Renewables, Batteries and Other Energy Storage Technologies, and Smart Grids, Micro-grids and Distribution. During the latter session, Dr. Terry Surles, with the University of Hawaii, led the groups look at challenges facing current power grids, particularly limited ability to accommodate growing residential and business adoption of solar PV systems. The group looked at how to address this and other issues cost-effectively while trying to integrate renewable energy technology. Dr. George Kailiwai III, U.S. Pacific Commands director of resources and assessment, briefed the group on U.S. military alternative energy initiatives such as integrated photovoltaic systems at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, HI, a solar PV farm at Nellis AFB, Nev., and testing or use of wind, hydrogen and wave energy systems. By days end, participants identified potential areas for cooperation and next steps in the evolution of the evolving U.S.-Japan partnership in this arena. The March 21 event was comprised of representatives from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Marubeni Corporation, Japan Renewable Energy Foundation, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Hawaii State Energy Office, and the University of Hawaii. Also represented were Toshiba Corporation, the U.S. Energy Storage Association, Alevo Energy, Unienergy Technology, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd., USPACOM, Rakuten Inc., the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Hawaii Electric Light Company. DKI APCSS is a Department of Defense institute that addresses regional and global security issues. Military and civilian representatives, most from the United States and Asia-Pacific nations, participate in a comprehensive program of executive education, professional exchanges and outreach events, both in Hawaii and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The Center supports U.S. Pacific Command by developing and sustaining relationships among security practitioners and national security establishments throughout the region. APCSS mission is to build capacities and communities of interest by educating, connecting and empowering security practitioners to advance Asia-Pacific security. It is one of the Department of Defenses five regional security studies centers. NORMAL The impact of Heartland Community College over the past 25 years was illustrated by a show of hands from about 200 people who attended a McLean County Chamber of Commerce Business Before Hours event on campus Wednesday morning. President Rob Widmer asked people to raise their hands if they had ever taken a class at Heartland, hired a Heartland graduate, worked with someone who attended Heartland or attended an event at Heartland. Nearly every hand was lifted. Just from this sample, you get a sense of what the impact has been to the community in these 25 years, Widmer said. Heartland offered its first classes in 1991. Former Normal City Council member Sonja Reece, Advocate Health Care's director of health facilities planning, recalled the early days when many people said the college wasn't needed. Well, the community has come to believe that we do. We see the impact all the time, Reece said. We are believers. Amid the celebration of Heartland's anniversary, there was acknowledgment of tough times ahead, starting with the ongoing budget impasse in Springfield. Heartland has received no state appropriations this fiscal year, including funding for Monetary Award Program grants. I know President Widmer would prefer a check for MAP grants. said state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, as he handed Widmer a proclamation recognizing the school. We'll continue to work on that. But the event was generally upbeat. Normal Mayor Chris Koos said the college has been nimble and responsive, adapting to the educational and workforce needs of the community. We're here for the long haul, said Widmer. We've gotten through many challenges. We will get through these challenges. Recently, HCC announced a strategic plan to be presented to the board of trustees in April that will eliminate 23 positions. Widmer said those difficult decisions were made to "build a solid foundation" for years to come. The impact of the national decline in the number of high school graduates is somewhat cushioned at community colleges because they also serve older, non-traditional students. One of those non-traditional students spoke at Wednesday's event: Heartland alumnus Tim Rixstine, president of Molly Maid in Bloomington. Rixstine said, I lost my way at Illinois State University and flunked out, but In my 30s, I realized I needed to learn a few things and began taking classes at Heartland. He described returning to school as very challenging and very scary initially, but he graduated with a 4.0 grade point average. What amazes me about this place is everyone has come together to make this place happen, Rixstine said. COFECE Authorizes Joint Venture between Grupo Gondi and WestRock March 30, 2016 - Grupo Gondi and WestRock on March 28 were authorized by Mexico's Federal Competition Commission (COFECE) to implement the agreement which will allow them to combine their operations in Mexico to form a strategic alliance, creating the leading packaging company in the country. After the closing, which is expected in early April, Grupo Gondi will have 13 plants including three WestRock corrugated packaging facilities in Mexico. WestRock will contribute three plants located in Mexicali, Monterrey and Queretaro, and a cash contribution in exchange for a 25% equity participation in Grupo Gondi. As the majority shareholder in this joint venture, Gondi's management team, led by Eduardo Posada, will be responsible for the management of the joint venture. WestRock will offer technical and commercial support, and will work with Gondi to support multinational customers located in Mexico. With this integration Gondi Group will employ approximately 6,800 people. "With this authorization Gondi expands its presence in the Mexican market by offering better alternatives to our customers with advanced technology and an expanded portfolio of solutions for paper packaging. We have a proven ability to provide our customers with an excellent service level and innovation. Through this partnership, we will continue our growth and expand our national presence, said Eduardo Posada, chief executive officer of Grupo Gondi. We are pleased to join our WestRock paperboard packaging operations in Mexico with Grupo Gondi," said Steve Voorhees, chief executive officer of WestRock. With this new joint venture, WestRock will accelerate the expansion of our business in this region with a partner that shares our commitment to providing innovative, high-quality packaging solutions for our customers. SOURCE: WestRock See related story: Grupo Gondi and WestRock Form Joint Venture in Mexico (Oct. 12, 2015) Majority of college students go back home before they reach their sophomore year. Apparently, it's because they're unable to cope with the challenges of university life -- several students weren't given proper preparation in high school aside from deciding the school they wanted to go to. However, rejection from their top choice schools may better help them cope with the encouragement and support of their parents. Spoon-feeding Can Be A Problem Many do not realize that a high school student's experience can play a part in how they thrive and succeed in college. Huffington Post notes high schools only prepare their students in getting into universities by preparing them for SATs as early as ninth grade, giving them tons of difficult assignments, term papers and pressuring them to get high marks in tests. Parents also unhealthily get involved by helping their children prepare and even go so far as cheating. However, once their child does enter the university life, students often have difficulty coping and transitioning on their own and thus they go back home frustrated with the challenges of college life. Most high school seniors and their parents get anxious about applying for university and it is understandable that rejection can be devastating. Individuals have different ways of coping and the best thing that parents can do is to be the support and encouragement of their teens. College Rejection Letters Are Coming -- How to Cope When They Arrive https://t.co/flCP92SiRw @PsychologyToday Debbie Schwartz (@Rd2College) January 4, 2016 Rejection Can Help Overcome Their Fear of Future Rejections Nevertheless, rejection can be a good thing. While it may be one of the worst feelings in the world, there is a great learning experience behind it and puts another perspective in place. "Rejection can concentrate the mind wonderfully," Phillip Hodson, a psychotherapist for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, told Daily Mail. "It can make you more determined to prove your abilities, it sharpens your competitiveness and gives you an incentive to prove people wrong." Additionally, rejection helps to further push one's self and serve as a reminder that all notable people in the world had to go through being rejected before they succeeded. Parents can also help their teens with their struggle by being a positive role model and letting them struggle on their own for a while without adding any pressure. According to Family Circle, there have been studies that teens that don't channel their rejection well will result in them becoming more frustrated in the future. This can cause mental health issues like depression, anxiety and poor self-esteem. Yoga is not a part of a school's curriculum. When this school started teaching yoga, and had the kids using the word "namaste," and doing the actions associated with it, parents became enraged. The school was quick in issuing an apology. Bullard Elementary School in Kennesaw, Georgia wanted their students to undergo a few de-stressing techniques. Although their intention was quite good, simply thinking of the welfare of students who are deemed as living in a stressful environment, the method by which the students were de-stressed was unacceptable for many parents. According to She Knows, Kennesaw parents were truly upset with their kids having learned and act out "namaste." In addition, the use of "dark things" such as the mandala coloring sheets also irked them. Parents felt that by allowing kids to engage in yoga, they are being indoctrinated into a "Far East mystical religion." When the parents' sentiments reached the school, it was also quick to issue an apology, as per USA Today. The principal said in a note, "I am truly sorry that the mindfulness/de-stressing practices here at Bullard caused many misconceptions that in turn created a distraction in our community." Some parents vent out their anger and frustrations in Facebook. They said that yoga has a religious overtone, which must not be advocated by the school. One commenter said, "No prayer in schools. Some don't even say the pledge, yet they're pushing ideology on our students." The general sentiment was that they don't want their children to engage in religious practices in schools. One teacher explained that Namaste is "the light in me sees the light in you." She said that it is a greeting in India and must be viewed like a "hello." Despite the explanation, parents stood their ground in having the school cease teaching yoga in classrooms. For them, "namaste" is one word that their children must not learn. Schools in Mississippi take pride in the fact that they incorporate arts in their daily curriculum. The state takes this program seriously that aside from including it into their daily class activities, they also have visiting artists that will encourage students to pursue arts. In an article published by WRAL, it all started in 1991 when the Mississippi Arts Commission first introduced this idea of incorporating arts to six elementary schools. It has been embraced since then and now 34 schools statewide are applying arts, as part of their everyday instruction. The cool thing about it is that the subject of arts was not separately taught like what other schools are doing. Instead, they use it as a tool for learning the other subjects. Teachers and other arts instructors work hand in hand to create lesson plans that incorporate arts to whatever subject they are handling. This means that if you visit one of their classrooms, you will see that their teachers are using music, dance and even acting as a method of their teaching. It could be quite challenging for most teachers, especially if they came from a conventional way of educating children. The Sun Herald also featured this dedication to arts that the state of Mississippi has for their students. They also reported that Tupelo is specifically the only school district in this state that has all their schools apply this practice. Not all the district schools in Mississippi are doing it, but it is looking like they are about to follow the footsteps of Tupelo. Thanks to Lauren Wood and the Daily Journal for covering arts in education and capturing a few days with WTHS. Read about it in today's paper. #themblankets A photo posted by Tupelo High School (@tupelohigh) on Mar 21, 2016 at 3:12pm PDT Pierce Street Elementary in Tupelo is among the first six schools from this state that piloted this program involving arts. This is why this district is proud to say that they have taken that leap to be committed to giving their students a more fun and interesting way to learn. A new case of avian influenza or bird flu has been confirmed in South Korea. The presence was reported in a poultry farm in Seoul, according to the agriculture ministry officials. The virus was detected four months after South Korea has been declared bird flu-free. The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency conducted an investigation after the farm reported that dozens of ducks have suddenly died, Tech Times reported. The reported bird flu strain that infected the ducks was identified as H5N8, which is the same train that was found in November last year. In Incheon, there are 10,900 ducks infected with flu have been slaughtered, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs officials. The officials have set up control post around the area to address the issue. They also set up a 24-hour emergency monitoring system to keep the bird flu from spreading to neighboring provinces. Jeju Island has stopped accepting poultry and meat products from Incheon, Seoul, and Gyeonggi Province. The H5N8 is one of the least pathogenic subtypes of Influenza A virus but has increased its pathogenicity in recent times. It was an incubator to H1N1, which is a highly pathogenic subtype of the virus. Quarantine inspections are being conducted across South Korea to prevent future outbreaks of the bird flu and other animal diseases. In February, authorities have disinfected livestock farms and sterilized passenger cars and farming trucks, as reported by Pulse Headlines. The United States has been strict in keeping the bird flu from spreading. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is working together with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, World Health Organization, World Health Organization for Animal Health and the Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in monitoring the bird flu viruses and their effects. "Although avian influenza A viruses usually do not infect humans, rare cases of human infection with these viruses have been reported. Infected birds shed avian influenza virus in their saliva, mucous and feces." said the CDC. A former high school dropout was chosen to become the Los Angeles County's top education official. She will be heading an agency that is designed to provide education to thousands of disabled students and teenage inmates. The county's Board of Supervisors which is composed of five members agreed to pick Debra Duardo among the three finalists after a closed-session interview last week. She is scheduled to take over the position on Tuesday, replacing Arturo Delgado who will be retiring in June, Los Angeles Times reported. Duardo, 53, is a veteran administrator from L.A. Unified School District. She worked there for 20 years and headed the human services and student health division. "Because of her role at L.A. Unified, Debra is uniquely qualified to run the Los Angeles County Office of Education," said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. "I'm thrilled." Duardo dropped out from Hollywood High to work for a fast food. She eloped to Las Vegas and had her first son at 15, according to Fox News. Her son, who has spina bifida (a birth defect where there is incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord), inspired her to begin an educational transformation. Duardo focused on troubled and at-risk students. In 2006, she launched the Diploma Project during the time when the district was battling with high dropout rates. Government agencies, families and the community should be involved in order to help the students, Duardo said. "We fought really hard to make sure that students in foster care are getting support," Duardo said. "We worked hard for data sharing with county children's services so that we know when a child is in foster care. They tell us which students are taken out of a home, when a case is opened, and we give them the child's enrollment history, grades, attendance." "We're all serving the same children and families, and we can all do a lot better if we work together," she added. Most of the teachers believe that the officially prescribed test for the primary pupils will just give these children a hard time. The majority of the teachers who attended the conference would like to cancel it. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) annual conference delegates say that the changes in the exams, which include new grammar, spelling and punctuation tests for 7- and 11-year-olds, have been brought too soon giving the pupils little time to prepare, according to news from Independent. The tests are now harder and their concern is the children as young as 7 might feel that they may become disappointments. They are calling on Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary to cancel all the tests this year. England is implementing the new test. Wales has removed holding primary school tests as a requirement, and Scotland did not even introduce it. The teachers will boycott the exams next year if Morgan refused to cancel it. The pupils are scheduled to take the exams for seven and 11 years old early May. Four-year-olds will have a new baseline test when they start school, and it will be introduced in September. Six-year-olds will take their phonics test by the end of the summer term. According to Christine Blower, NUT's general secretary, teachers believe that the tests are inappropriate for those age groups. The teachers were dismayed and angry at the primary tests, The Guardian reported. "Far from improving outcomes for 11-year-olds, the endless high-stakes testing of such young children could easily switch children off from learning, increase their anxiety levels, and harm their self-confidence," she said. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Department of Education said that the assessments will pursue as planned to measure the progress made by the primary school pupils. "It is disappointing to see that the NUT are taking this approach, which would disrupt children's education, rather than working with us constructively as other unions have. "Parents rightly expect us to ensure that their children are leaving primary school having mastered literacy and numeracy and that is why we have tests at the end of key stage 2," the spokesperson said. "The Late Night" show host Seth Meyers and his wife Alexi Ashe are now proud parents of a baby boy. The couple has yet to reveal more information about their first child, but a source from NBC has confirmed on March 27 that Meyers is officially a dad. According to Pop Sugar, the "Saturday Night Live" alum is now a proud daddy, along with her wife, who is a human rights lawyer. The pair got married in September 2013, but it wasn't until last year that Seth Meyers and Alexi Ashe got pregnant. However, when they did, the couple was more than happy to share the news on November last year. People Magazine got the first dibs on this report when a representative of Seth Meyers told them about the couple becoming new parents this week. The comedian and known late night show host also took to Twitter his excitement and gratitude to everyone who sent their congratulations. Thank you, everyone for the kind words! Mom and baby are doing great!!! Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) March 28, 2016 Seth Meyers and his wife are happy to finally welcome their first child and the excitement cannot be hidden from the comedian's follow-up Tweet. He has managed to throw humor from the whole experience while waiting for his child to pop out and see the world. I can also confirm that when you have a baby in New York you pretty much just sing "The Schuyler Sisters" for the first 12 hours. Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) March 28, 2016 Meyers has not revealed the name of their child, but it is looking like he would share it on his show tonight, March 29. For the past couple of months, the excited-daddy-to-be couldn't help but talk about the coming of their child. He even incorporated segments referring to him and his wife expecting their first baby. One of these segments involved a baby shower where he invited a friend he met back in college to join. The interesting part was that this friend of his was so dark that he contributed dark ideas during the baby shower. It was just a made-up story, but it was definitely hilarious. Watch it below so you could have a good laugh. As for the couple, we would like to tell them congratulations as well. Governor Bruce Rauner proposed to cut school district funds for agriculture education in Illinois despite the state's Board of Education recommendation that it should be increased. The governor believes that it is up to the schools to decide if it should support agriculture programs. The funds should instead go to state aid, which can be used for other projects. Currently, school districts receive $1.8 million in agriculture education funding and the school board is proposing an increase to $3 million in 2017. As it is, some schools also rely on additional aid and donations from the community to improve their agriculture program. However, the governor would like no funds to go to agriculture education next school year. Farm experts and business leaders are saying the lawmaker's decision is a mistake. "Agriculture education programs allow for our young students interested in careers in agriculture to be educated and prepared to enter that workforce. Without that funding, many school districts would completely eliminate their programs," said state senator Andy Manar, per Capitol Fax. About 25 percent of Illinois' economy rely on agricultural business and one in four jobs from this state is related to a career in agriculture. Schools introduce the basics of farming, stewardship and food production as early as kindergarten, and many students eventually leave school to become scientists, innovators or developers, lab experts or researchers, business experts and teachers. These jobs ensure that the industry is sustained and remains progressive. It also guarantees many career options for the students, per Sauk Valley. "There's over 29,000 students enrolled across the state of Illinois in agricultural education programs, and there's more than 300 programs across the state, so this funding cut affects a huge amount of students," said Future Farmers of America (FFA) spokesperson Tim Arnold, per WSIL-TV. However, the governor's office clarified that Rauner recognizes the impact of agricultural education and its importance to Illinois' economy. A spokesperson reiterated that the proposal to divert the funds to General State Aid - the first move in seven years - would give the schools "more flexibility to fund programs that they prioritize." What's your take on this proposal? Should Illinois schools be given the choice to use agriculture education funds for other programs? Will this provide a better answer for students' needs? Hartford public school system has "completely failed" special education students, according to a complaint filed at the Connecticut Department of Education this month. The legal advocates who penned the complaint said that students with disabilities get poor education at the city's alternative program New Visions. Hartford Courant reports that lawyers from Greater Hartford Legal Aid and the Center for Children's Advocacy filed a complaint stating that the Hartford public school system has violated federal and state law for expelling and sending students with disabilities to New Visions, where they get poor-quality education. The legal advocates put the blame on the top city school officials for structuring New Visions into a "dysfunctional" and small-staffed program. The lawyers alleged that Hartford's alternative program for students with disabilities has poor accountability, inconsistent classwork and negligible monitoring of the progress of the students. They cited one high school special education student who completely wasted his time and energy after he did not receive any grade, credit or report about his progress. The advocates also claimed that the alternative program lacks certified special education teacher on staff and intensive help for students' behavioral issues. They also added that the educational rights of students with disabilities have been violated, as most of them are expelled and placed in New Visions without following legal protocols or involving their parents. The lawyers, however, mentioned that the New Visions staff and some special education directors in Hartford are "caring and hardworking." They pointed out that the main problem of the program is its design and resources, and the lack of commitment of Hartford public school system to provide decent education for students with disabilities. According to hartfordschools.org, Hartford's special education programming and support includeaccommodations and modifications of the general education curriculum and environment, coordinated transition activities, individualized goals and objectives, assistive technology, and related services. All services and supports can be availed by students who qualify under Hartford's Individualized Education Program. Educators and schools have different ways of disciplining students. Many parents have criticized and protested against some of the old fashioned school discipline styles, such as isolating kids and incorporating verbal or physical abuse to correct behavior. For these reasons, school discipline continues to evolve. The two kinds of school discipline methods being promoted in many schools nowadays are de-escalation and trauma-informed care, KCUR reports. These new forms of school discipline are preferred by many educators and parents for children. Strong attachment between teacher and student is predictor of success. https://t.co/dzJi9k7QSu pic.twitter.com/2LSnf3EBYO surcey (@surcey) March 22, 2016 De-escalation As A New Form Of School Discipline School discipline has evolved from giving students harsh punishments and zero tolerance into something more humane and empathetic. The goal is to help students understand why displaying good behavior benefits everybody. It tries to move away from scaring students about the potential consequences and punishments of bad behavior. "When a kid is talking with another student or running down the hall, they're not thinking 'I better not do this because I'll get suspended.' So suspending them won't teach them anything," Derald Davis, School Leadership for Kansas City Public Schools assistant superintendent, told KCUR. "We need to help them understand why they shouldn't have certain behaviors at school, teach them how to talk to adults, resolve conflicts with peers and so on." Trauma-informed Care As A New Form Of School Discipline Trauma-informed care focuses on identifying and treating the students' trauma that causes their display of bad behavior. "What is most beneficial is identifying the root cause of the behavior," Truman Medical Center consultant Molly Ticknor told KCUR. "Once you understand how trauma impacts the brain, you begin to develop empathy." Empathy is one of the most important skills to teach children, according to Parent Further. Focusing on empathy in applying school discipline is essential in making kids become more matured and emotionally stable people. On the other hand, many educators feel that focusing on punishments and harsh consequences can traumatize children and worsen their behavior. Dyslexia is identified as a person's difficulty to accurately decode, recognize and spell words. Parents of students with dyslexia are often frustrated by the inability of some schools to give their children a proper education. Changes have to be made in order to provide students with dyslexia the quality education that they deserve before it becomes a hinderance to them in the future. For this reason, a group of parents and supporters are meeting legislators at the Missouri Legislature on Wednesday to propose some bills that could help improve the education provided for students with dyslexia, Springfield News-Leader reports. The meeting will also focus on addressing the many problems and concerns that students with dyslexia face every day at school. The parents and supporters of improving the quality of education for students with dyslexia find it very important that the legislators become involved in this issue. "We want to make sure they are informed, since they don't sit on the education committee, about just how desperately this is needed," Decoding Dyslexia Missouri co-founder, Jennifer Edwards, told Springfield News-Leader. One bill being addressed in the Missouri Legislature is about screening students if they have any learning disabilities. This bill, introduced by Representative Kathryn Swan and Senator Scott Sifton, involves screening all students for learning difficulties such as dyslexia and not just those students with poor grades. Another bill being addressed in the Missouri Legislature and introduced by Representative Eric Burlison is about creating a Legislative Task Force on Dyslexia. This task force will focus on enforcing professional development programs for educators to make them better equipped for dealing with students with dyslexia. The task force will also ensure that there is a specialist on dyslexia for school districts. But before these bills are approved by the Missouri Legislature, there are ways teachers can help students with dyslexia learn better. "In a positive and encouraging environment, a dyslexic child will experience the feeling of success and self-value," Dyslexia.com shares. "An understanding of the pupil's specific difficulties, and how they may affect the student's classroom performance, can enable the teacher to adopt teaching methods and strategies to help the dyslexic child to be successfully integrated into the classroom environment." Gerber, a company popularly known for their baby food, has recalled one of their best selling products. The company said that a packaging defect was the culprit as to why some of their products are at risk of spoilage. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a report on their website saying that Gerber has voluntarily recalled their Organic 2nd Food Pouch products. Customers are now being alerted to contact the company for a replacement coupon should they happen to purchase one of these that are no longer safe to eat. Felecia Bourque StLaurent, Nichole Cheshire Osteen, and any other friends with little ones!!! check this out. Posted by Erin Rosenthal on Thursday, March 24, 2016 In an article published by Pop Sugar, the company warned those who bought it to check for bloated pouches. Another sign that customers have bought a bad batch is if the product smells bad or if it tastes off. Keep an eye on these two specific products along with their best by dates and batch codes, as they are most likely the ones contaminated: Gerber Organic 2nd Foods Pouches - Pears, Carrots & Peas, 3.5-ounce. Best By dates/batch codes: 12JUL2016 51945335XX and 13JUL 2016 51955335XX. Gerber Organic 2nd Foods Pouches - Carrots, Apples and Mangoes, 3.5-ounce. Best By dates/batch codes: 13JUL2016 51955335XX and 14JUL2016 51965335XX. The company made a public apology and is assuring all their consumers that they are maintaining their product's claims on high quality. "Because of our commitment to high quality, Gerber is working to retrieve from retailers and online stores the remaining pouches from the four affected batches of Gerber Organic 2nd Food pouches that fail to meet our quality standards," the company addressed this issue on the FDA's site, as cited by Pop Sugar. There have been three reports involving gastrointestinal symptoms after this incident, but there is no confirmation yet if it is because of Gerber's product. Customers are free to call the company's Parents Resource Center at 1-800-706-0556 for any concerns regarding the product. Amelia Stripling, 71, an award-winning teacher from Georgia was arrested for knocking down a disabled 4-year-old boy on the floor. The special education teacher was charged with a felony and might face between 1 to 10 years of imprisonment. Blocking The Way Daily News reports that the incident was caught by a surveillance video. It showed Stripling walking behind the boy, who was standing and seemed to block the doorway. The teacher then kneeing the boy behind, which made the boy crash on the ground. The boy almost fell onward, close to the classroom door. The teacher then helped him and talked to him with another teacher. She led the boy in the classroom and closed the door. The Arrest Sarah Patterson, the boy's mother was shocked after seeing the incident on a video. She reported the scene to the authorities when the school officials told what happened. She decided then to employ a lawyer. The clash happened last March 17 and Stripling was arrested on March 25. Heavy reports that Stripling was charged with a second-degree cruelty to a child. She was detained in the Tift County Jail and was released afterwards with a bail of $15,000. The charges given to her will lead to felony, according to Georgia Law. She will face a sentencing of 1 to 10 years imprisonment if found guilty of the felony. All About Amelia Stripling Teacher Amelia Stripling resigns after knocking down four-year old special needs student. #specialneeds https://t.co/DvjX6JRC2n #teacher DWLassie (@dwlassie) March 25, 2016 Stripling resigned after the unpleasant incident right away. She is no longer teaching at the Tift County School District. She taught in the said school for 22 years. In 2014, she was given an "Excellence in Teaching Award" by the Tift County Education for Educational Excellence. The awarding ceremony was held at the Tift Rotary Club Banquet. Kids who were enrolled at Maker Space classes in Madison, Wisconsin got to use advanced technology to make crafts for their parents. They were also taught in areas such as art, electronics, sewing, software and hardware. The week-long learning experience was part of Sector67's Fractal Kids Class initiative, in which children from ages 6 to 12 are exposed to fun-filled educational activities. Sector67 is a nonprofit collaborative workspace where children and adults can learn, teach and work, as per Wisconsin State Journal. "You get to meet other people," said McFarland fifth-grader Vivian Zabawa-Lodhol. "It's fun and you get to present to your parents what you've done." Dayna Ball, a librarian at the Great Bend Public Library in Kansas, said Maker Space classes have quickly become a fad in the U.S. since it promotes learning through play. One of its main selling points is letting kids use 3-D printers. Ball told GB Tribune that the machine is safe and user-friendly. Kids have to simply download a desired object from a computer and the 3-D printers will do the rest of the work. The machine heats plastic filament then form them into specific shapes and objects. Aside from the 3-D printers, kids are taught how to use a laser-cutting machine as well as a modern sewing machine. They can also make their very own smartphone app or desktop computer game. Fractal Kids Class founder Heather Wentler said the experience not only exposes kids to new technology, it also builds their confidence. Kids were easily frustrated at first, but they were able to learn quickly with the help of their new friends. "You can see that growth and confidence," Wentler marvelled. "By the time they go home on Tuesday, it's a complete 180 (turnaround). They get to turn into their own community of support as the week goes on." "Nervous Conditions' is a book that explores gender and society through the compelling story of Tambu, who is on a quest to educate herself. The author, Tsitsi Dangarembga, an award-winning Zimbabwean novelist and a filmmaker, presented the many struggles of women as viewed by the society as inferior ones in some nations, especially with regard to education. It must have been a nervous condition"@mailandguardian: After a meeting with Tsitsi Dangarembga, Milisuthando Bonge pic.twitter.com/nNBXK98lyn" Tim B. Smith (@Mzwesoka2) March 25, 2016 The Young Girl From Colonial Rhodesia Bookshy reports that the story revolves around the life of Tambu, a young girl from Rhodesia (presently Zimbabwe) who was deprived of education because her father thought that it was futile for women. On the other hand, her brother, Nhamo, badly treated her and was waggish about the thought of Tambu going to school. Achieving Her Dream Tambu's pursuit of education finally materialized when her brother died and her wealthy uncle, Babamukuru, sponsored her to attend a missionary school in England. The Guardian states that Babamukuru was a respected and a hard-working man who achieved success in life. Tambu lived with Babamukuru after deciding to sponsor her schooling. This starts the journey of the young girl as the true colors of his learned uncle were revealed as she chased for education to fulfill. Babamukuru's household The book presented different representation of women through Tambu and the household of Babamukuru. Maiguru, Babamukuru's wife, who has a master's degree, is a devoted wife and mother. On the other hand, she is suppressed to voice her opinions and is always sad because of this. Her daughter, Nyasha, who is an educated girl, likes to challenge gender stereotypes. She disagrees with his mother for having ideals on how women should behave. There is also Lucia, who is an uneducated aunt of Tambu, who is not afraid to voice her thoughts. "Nervous Conditions" bestowed the life, differences and views of society on opposites such as the man/woman, educated/uneducated, rich/poor, white/black and tradition/progression. These are shown through the struggle of Tambu in dealing with these opposing ideas as she attempts to achieve education and fulfill her dreams. Computer hackers got into the system of the Medstar Health Inc., hospital chain on Monday and was able to access records of patients and doctors at the medical facility. There were reports that the persons responsible for the infiltration are asking for ransom. WBAL TV reported that a virus was used to paralyze the booking process at the hospital and lock the e-mail accounts of its staff. Because of the hack, staff at the hospital were asked to turn off their computers. Federal Bureau of Investigation officers said they are still looking into reports that the people responsible for the hack are asking money in exchange for system restoration. Since the virus got into the hospital chain's computer system, it has already crippled the services for the patients. "We can't do anything at all. There's only one system we use, and now it's just paper," a MedStar employee told WBAL TV. It was noted that the virus made it impossible for staff members to log into their system. The hospital, however, claimed that there is still no evidence that important patient information were stolen from their database. MedStar spokesperson Ann Nickels explained that the patient care of the hospitals was not affected but claimed that they are currently using a "paper backup system. Nickels also told Washington Post that their company was quick to take down their system to avoid it from spreading. "We are working with our IT and cyber-security partners to fully assess and address the situation. Currently, all of our clinical facilities remain open and functioning," she added. Despite the assurance from the hospital chain, the same report said that patients are still concerned that the hack could affect their records at the 10 hospitals and 250 outpatient centers which MedStar runs in Washington. It was noted that they serve "hundreds of thousands" of patients in these hospitals and medical centers. The Abbotsford School Board in British Colombia recently passed a motion stating that Grades 6 and 7 should be removed from a number of elementary schools. Instead, students in those grades are being sent directly to middle schools. This decision angered parents, claiming that elementary schools play a key role in the community. In fact, an education professor at the University of British Colombia told CBC News that elementary school is more important than middle school. This is because even though they have been around since the 1970s, middle school doesn't work for everyone. On the East-side of Atlanta today at Chapel Hill Middle School #GiveBack #InvestInKids pic.twitter.com/VjlmcFSp3L Harry Douglas (@HDouglas83) March 24, 2016 "We don't want to do things to diminish the importance of community schools." Sandra Mathinson said. "That's a very key factor in cohesiveness, parent support in schools." Grades 6 and 7 in elementary school take on the role of leadership. This gives a sense of community for students, which is far more important than the transitional stage of being in middle school. Soon, middle school made its way to the United States. While the some people like Mathinson think middle school is not for everyone, Thomas Armstrong discussed in his book, "The Best Schools" that this stage of schooling is needed to provide children an environment that can help cushion the impact of puberty on their lives. Whether intellectual, social, or emotional, educators have to understand that the developmental needs of adolescents should not be ignored. At this stage, they are neither older elementary school students, nor younger high school students. But as a Rand Corporation report puts it, "The onset of puberty is an especially poor reason for beginning a new phase of schooling." The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) said that this stage of schooling still expects children to fare well in school and get high test scores without taking into account their developmental needs. This then comes in conflict with the reason they exist in the first place, making middle school "essentially nondevelopmental for all levels of education." People are at odds about the importance of middle school in children's development. What do you think of this issue? It has been a controversial topic from both parents and school admins if religion should be taught in public schools. Some parents have a problem with it, but it turns out that kids are completely fine with it. But regardless of the endless debates, only one thing matters: how affects the students. How Children View Religion Gary Laderman of The Huffington Post shared his experience with 8th graders on the subject of religion and its relation to kids. He asked some of the students he met at a middle school in Georgia about how would they define religion. The answers of these students shocked him, especially when they shared deep and philosophical insights. A photo posted by (@makkahx) on Mar 29, 2016 at 11:11am PDT One kid defines religion "as a way of life, how a person lives their life and understand what's important." Another answered saying, "Religion can be whatever you want it to be; everyone has their own individual religious values that give life purpose and meaning." Belief In A God Based on those answers, one can see that children are fine with talking about religion. But one thing that is noticeable when they shared their thoughts about the subject is that they didn't even mention God in their definition. Usually, people -- especially adults -- would define religion as something that is connected to God or a deity whom they should worship. It is interesting how kids see religion as more of a lifestyle and a choice more than just a mandatory belief system. Religion In Schools The topic of religion makes a lot of adults cringe when it comes to incorporating it in schools. Some institutions refuse to include it in their curriculum because they are afraid that they have might teachers who won't be objective in teaching it. But not all schools in America are against the idea of teaching religion to their students. Faith Street shared that a high school in Modesto, California even requires their students to take their world religion class for them to graduate. An elementary school in Wichita, Kansas start teaching their students early with three different religions. It is understandable why not all schools embrace teaching religion in their class. One of its main reasons is that back in 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that public school teachers should not lead and start their class with a prayer. How about you -- what do you think about this subject? Share your own insights in the comments! The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has drawn attention on water safety, and many public school districts still question their water purity. Meanwhile, experts say that schools nationwide have issues with lead contamination. John Schwartz, Patrick McGeehan and Michael Wines, experts in water safety, have shared recently some of the issues found in their reporting. According to The New York Times, John Schwartz explained that federal regulations on water safety apply on narrow issues. For instance, the regulations generally apply only to suppliers of water in case of regulating drinking water. John Schwartz also said that when it comes to lead, it is difficult to assign responsibility for the problem. School districts, state city regulators and the federal E.P.A. have all failed at every level. Schwartz pointed out that another issue is environmental injustice. Complaints about water supply coming from poorer communities are ignored by officials. According to Times, a report coming from an independent task force in Flint, Michigan has focused on this issue. The Congress, through the Lead Contamination Control Act, tried to extend the rules to apply to schools, but the proposal was blocked by the federal courts. Since then, Congress has not done anything on the issue and the compliance with the Lead Contamination Act remains voluntary. Many people are not aware that there is no mandatory testing of water in schools, according to Patrick McGeehan. The results of water testing in towns may not include any schools. However, legislators in New Jersey are calling for mandatory testing for lead in the water supply of schools. Michael Wines added that in the last decade, efforts to rid water lack funding and government support. The federal budget has cut on discretionary spending, and in 2013, it has stopped funding state grants for adult lead surveillance, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The situation is concerning, and drinking a bottle of water would not be the solution to the water contamination problem. According to The Natural Resources Defense Council, even bottled water is not safe as it is not any better than tap water. Student activism and free speech have been circling around the campuses of many universities and colleges. An administrator at William's College fired back at those who argue that students today are too sensitive when it comes to others' language and perceived biases. Ferentz Lafargue, William College's Davis Center director (part of the vice president's Office for Institutional Diversity and Equity), penned his argument in the Washington Post that students should be taught to stand up against the discrimination that has been going on in the real world, rather than shield them away from it. He writes in part, "To be sure, the real world is full of anti-Semitism, homophobia, sexism and racism. The question is: Do we prepare students to accept the world as it is, or do we prepare them to change it?" He explained that those who say students need to have a thicker skin to make it in the "real world" don't really get it. "There are broader questions as well, such as: Is college a place for intellectual exploration? Or is it a glorified worker-training program?" Lafargue wrote his piece after the invitation for speakers to speak in the college was cancelled recently. The invitation was first cancelled by students last spring, and now by the president of the private college in Massachusetts last month. The first event that was canceled was by Suzanne Venker, who co-authored "The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know - and Men Can't Say" and "The War on Men with Phyllis Schafly," because some students think she is misogynistic and homophobic. Some even called her antifeminist. Last month, it was the second speaker, John Derbyshire's event that was canceled by the Williams' president himself. Derbyshire was labeled as racist by a group of students, and thus made the president, Adam Falk send out an e-mail that partially reads, "The College didn't invite Derbyshire, but I have made it clear to the students who did that the College will not provide a platform for him." According to USA Today, Lafargue also pointed out that the real culprit is not the coddling of the students, but the different effects of homophobia, income inequality, misogyny, poverty, racism, sexism, white supremacy and xenophobia. These cause students who are financially distressed to feel bad for using their precious time on things which are not connected to their financial security. Being a commoner and marrying into a Royal family is always difficult especially if the it is the British Royal family. Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William who is the second in line for the throne, is a commoner. It has almost been some two hundred years since a Royal married a commoner and now it seems like the real colors of the Royal is coming out by how they treat the Duchess of Cambridge, who is the mother of the third line for the throne and fourth line for the throne. Last week, Kate Middleton has been caught in a world wind of tabloid headliners when she did not attended Prince William's Irish Day Parade and even not accompanying the whole British Royal family on the Easter holidays. According to the reports, Kate Middleton did not attend the Easter church with Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip and the whole Royal crew because he was livid about Prince William attending his ex' wedding during a trip to Kenya. This Easter holiday was supposed to be the first Easter holiday of Princess Charlotte, the 4th line for the throne. There have also been speculationS that Kate Middleton is saddened about Prince George's education, who the third line for the throne and her first child with Prince William. Prince George, instead of going to a local school ,is now heading to an elite school chosen by Queen Elizabeth. Now, more news are coming out that the British Royals might not approve of Kate Middleton being the Queen in the future through the document movie "The Queen At 90," wherein Kate Middleton was interviewed. A few of the Royals make fun of her for being too talkative during events, specifically these Royals are Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, cousins of Prince William and Prince Harry. Kate Middleton upon saying this during the document series laugh the comment off. However, could it be more than a joke from the Royal sisters? Kate Middleton has been a favorite subject of rumors and criticism ever since she was linked to Prince William. Now, new reports claimed that Queen Elizabeth is remorseful and disgusted that she allowed Kate Middleton to be interviewed for the "Our Queen At Ninety" documentary. Queen Elizabeth mad and frustrated with Kate Middleton's interview Celeb Dirty Laundry reported that Queen Elizabeth is furious when she learned that Kate Middleton was not able to control her mouth during an interview for a tribute to the queen. Kate Middleton was so oblivious that she confessed she has been warned that the talk and spilling of some details must be controlled. Kate Middleton even said that other Royals are making fun of her because she is very talkative, which they think is not Royal enough for the Duchess of Cambridge. Kate Middleton is known to be very vocal about her whereabouts, which pisses off Queen Elizabeth and other members of the Royal family. The incident about Queen Elizabeth getting mad at Kate Middleton came shortly after the ITV documentary "Our Queen At Ninety" aired. Kate Middleton's interview for the TV special is her first ever solo interview ever since she married Prince William. Kate Middleton thinks Queen Elizabeth is a good role model Despite reportedly being a laughing stock among the Royals, Kate Middleton still thinks that Queen Elizabeth is a good role model. As a matter of fact, the wife of Prince William even revealed that Queen Elizabeth has been patiently training and guiding her in her role as Duchess of Cambridge. "[Queen Elizabeth's] been generous and not forceful at all in her views," Kate Middleton said. "And she's really been there in a gentle guidance for me." Queen Elizabeth is said to be very anxious over Kate Middleton's statements in the interview as it may spark reports that she has been controlling the wife of Prince William. With this, fans cannot help but speculate that Queen Elizabeth might think that Kate Middleton is not royal enough to replace her in the throne. Whether or not these reports are true, no one can confirm as of yet. Up to this writing, no official word has been made public yet. Do you think Kate Middleton is not royal enough to replace Queen Elizabeth? What do you think should Prince William do with this? Share to us your thoughts in the comment section below. Follow Jaja on Twitter. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Photo credit: Michael Bulbenko for the Paley Center Cast members from four Wolf Pack showsa nickname for those TV series created by uber-producer Dick Wolfgathered in Los Angeles on Saturday night to salute the boss during the annual PaleyFest television festival. Held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the panel discussion featured Wolf, along with actors from Law & Order: SVU (Ice T), Chicago Fire (Taylor Kinney and Jesse Spencer), Chicago P.D. (Jason Beghe and Sophia Bush) and his latest Windy City-based installment, Chicago Med (Colin Donnell, Torrey DeVitto, Oliver Platt and S. Epatha Merkerson). The audience in the packed theater was the perfect visual representation of why Wolfs shows have traditionally done so well in terms of ratings and longevity. Wolf described his shows as old-fashioned broadcast television that cut a wide swath through the American audience. Younger fans in the theater loudly cheered for Bush, Spencer and Kinney, while OG L&O fans were there to support longtime castmembers Ice T and Merkerson, who began on the original Law & Order series as Lt. Van Buren, and now plays the chief hospital administrator on Chicago Med. The Salute to Dick Wolf was every bit as fun and nostalgic as it should have been. Here are five fun facts we learned on the red carpet and in the theater. The panelists onstage joked about who hadnt appeared on a Law & Order show (check out reruns for guest turns by Sarah Paulson, Julie Bowen, Jim Gaffigan, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and countless others). Wolf then threw out this mind-boggling statistic: His three New York shows and his three Chicago shows combined have featured 40,000 speaking actors. In addition to Law & Order: SVU, Ice Ts appeared on three episodes of Wolfs New York Undercover (1994-98); one episode of the short-lived 1996 series Swift Justice; all 18 episodes of the single-season show Players (1997-98) and Exiled (A 1998 Law & Order TV Movie starring Chris Noth). I played a cop on New Jack City, but I never thought I would be on television, Ice T told Paste backstage. Now Im like the longest-running black male cop in history. Imagine that and Ice T? How did that happen? (Merkersons Lt. Anita Van Buren is the longest-running African-American character on television.) We also learned a bit of good news for fans of Ice Tthe musician. Bodycount did an album last year called Manslaughter, and were doing a new album. Were getting ready to start on that later this summer its just mayhem and carnage, he said backstage. Its called Bloodlust. We asked several actors backstage to give us their best guesses on Wolfs formula for success. If we knew that, wed all be the most successful television producers of all time, Sophia Bush joked. I think Dick really is attuned to what works. He has strong opinions, but is also very collaborative, which so many people, when they get tremendously successful, are not; and then they run their shows into the ground. He really is a pleasure to work for and Im thrilled that his universe keeps growing and [thrilled] to be a part of it. Taylor Kinney said, I think he believes in himself and that permeates to the people he works with. He has vision, and hes an ambitious guy that wants to always move forward, progress and push the envelope. He started off as a writer; hes still a writerhe a great writerand he happens to be a brilliant businessman and producer. Wolf (who skipped the red carpet) dropped a few pearls of wisdom during the panel discussion. He recounted the story of then-NBC President Brandon Tartikoff asking Wolf about the Law & Order bibleTV speak for the official guide to the series. He told Tartikoff, Its the front page of the New York Post... you cant make this stuff up. He went on to proffer another reason for his golden TV touch: I hire obsessive people. We asked Kinney where hed like to see his firefighter character Lt. Kelly Severide go this season. On vacation, Kinney said without missing a beat. It would be fun to do an episode in Hawaii. Wed win a trip, or something and then wed go, and then something will come up where wed have to help with the local fire department there. Something like that would be a really fun episode. Has he pitched it? Im going to now, he said with a laugh. Later during the panel discussion, Merkerson talked about her own history with Dick Wolf shows, including the 1992 series Mann & Machine, in which she played a captain with two detectivesone of which was a cyborg. After the laughs died down, Merkerson said, It was ahead of its time. We start shooting Chicago Justice [spin off] next week, Wolf told the crowd, describing it as the fourth leg of the table in Chicago, complementing the police, fire and medical segments. He also dropped this casting nugget for the PaleyFest audience: Carl Weathers (Rocky) stars as the Cook County States Attorney (the District Attorney of Chicago). Chicago Justice airs later this spring, while fans can catch the other Wolf Pack shows on NBC now. Christine N. Ziemba is a Los Angeles-based freelance pop culture writer and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow her on Twitter. Oscar Isaac will reunite with Ex Machinas Alex Garland for the directors latest highly anticipated sci-fi project, Annihilation. News of Isaac joining the cast follows a previous announcement that Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Natalie Portman would be starring as the films four main protagonists. Annihilation follows a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist and a surveyor on an expedition that brings them face to face with an unknown force that has physically, emotionally and mentally ravaged the exploration crews that came before them. The Star Wars actor will play a rather small part in the film as the husband to Portmans biologist, who joins the aforementioned mission after her husbanda member of the previous teamdies mysteriously. The movie is based on Jeff VanderMeers novel about a team that crosses into uninhabited land known as Area X and is the first entry in Vandermeers Southern Reach trilogy. No release date has been announced yet but audiences should expect to see Annihilation hit theaters sometime in 2017. Boise, Idaho is a small town. Its metropolitan area doesnt even crack 100,000 people. Its city limits span around 60 square miles and its downtown area is around 10 blocks long by seven blocks wide. Yet, Boises five-year-old Treefort Music Festival is enormous. It encompasses nine different Forts and although music is the largest, Alefort, Comedyfort, Filmfort, Foodfort, Hackfort, Kidfort, Skatefort, Storyfort, and Yogafort also run concurrently as part of the festival. Conceived as a way to foster Boises growing arts scene, the festival began in 2012 with a strong commitment to local and Pacific Northwest representation. In fact, the festival is so immersed in its community culture that it works with around 600 volunteers, applies for (and often wins) local culture grants like the Cultural Ambassador award, and just last year received its Benefit Corporation certificationthe very first music festival to earn such designation. B Corporations, according to their website, are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Theyre like, what Fair Trade certification is to coffee or USDA Organic certification is to milk, but for businesses. With more than 400 bands performing and events taking place across 12 urban venues over the course of five days, participating in every Fort is not just a daunting task, but quite literally impossible. We focused our Treefort experience on the music and wrote about some highlights below. Lucy Dacus We met the best new band of the fest not at a show, but in a sandwich shop. After an early flight into Boise, we made moves to Bleubirdwhats generally considered the best sandwich shop in Boise. Lucy Dacus and her band walked in behind us wearing some version of Virginia is for (music) lovers garb, which plays off the states slogan. After some reminiscing about Old Virginny, we made the mental note to catch their set at the Mardi Gras Ballroom later that night. Dacus and her Richmond-based band opened their set by saying that this was the farthest from home theyd ever been as a band. Dacus sings sweetly and often quietly, not letting the hurt, confusion, and self-depreication in her lyrics translate into emotions she wore while singing them. The cool and respect that her band exuded during the more intimate parts of songs belied the ferocity of their ruckus when those same songs picked up in intensity. Dacus debut No Burden dropped back in February. Ballet Idaho with Thick Business Treefort officially began on Wednesday with this collaborative performance with members of Ballet Idaho and Boises own Thick Business. The retro-sounding rock band set up on stage while the dancers performed modern, interpretive, and theatrical numbers on the ballroom floor. Hinds This young Spanish four-piece has been earning lots of love here in the U.S. But seeing Hinds live is a completely different experience than listening to their debut LP Leave Me Alone. The young women (all between their late teens and early 20s) play with more energy and enthusiasm then conveyed on their record. Theyd count off in Spanish and grin at each other and at the packed El Korah Shrine. It was hard not to get excited when they were so clearly jazzed to be there and playing music. Ural Thomas & The Pain Its impossible not to be happy when seeing Ural Thomas & The Pain perform live. He and his backing band of relative youngins perform soul music like it should be heard. If Daptone had discovered the Portland legend, he would have the same recognition as festival headliner Charles Bradley. Thee Oh Sees Everyone knows that Thee Oh Sees were going to melt faces. Going in with that understanding, the El Korah Shrine (the home venue for the Freemason-like fraternity, The Shriners) was packed, and packed with people who were ready for stage dives with running starts, upfront mosh pits, and loud noises. Built to Spill Whats better than seeing Boises biggest band playing a main stage headlining spot in its hometown? Nothing at Treefort, anyway. Slang This just-for-fun side-project filled the time between Built to Spill and Charles Bradley. Comprised of Sleater-Kinneys Janet Weiss and Modern Kins Drew Grow (whose main band also played Treefort Thursday night), the duo played a brief set of ripping covers. Charles Bradley We voted Charles Bradley our best live act of 2015, but it was my first time seeing The Screaming Eagle of Soul. Bradley defied all expectationsshimmying, tap dancing, and even slow-humping the monitors. Near the end of his set, he took a dozen roses and started tossing them into the enormous, adoring crowd from the photo pit between the stage and the audience. Diarrhea Planet This rock and roll band from Nashville, Tenn. always puts on a frenetic show. With limited time at the sweaty Neurolux, Diarrhea Planet sped through old tunes and new ones from their upcoming album Turn to Gold, due out in June. Additionally, Jessica Boudreaux guested for a song, whose band Summer Cannibals had Harrison Rapp from Divers on guitar throughout their show. The band closed out their set with screamin cover of AC/DCs Thunderstruck, featuring vocals from Harry Kagan of Music Band (who performed earlier, as well). Band Dialogue Created by musician Seth Olinsky (whose band Cy Dune played on Sunday), Band Dialogue has been a Treefort mainstay since year one. Olinsky, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, organizes and leads these huge free form, experimental performances across the country. This year at Treefort, the Band Dialogue included 60 musicians from 20 bands, with Olinsky in the middle of the two cordoned-off blocks of Grove Street holding up chord changes on pieces of paper for everyone to see. Magic Sword Magic Sword is like the Daft Punk of EDMmasked, mysterious, a bit kitschy, but still intriguing. The Seattle duo was supposed to play on the tiny Radio Boise Campfire Stage (in a tent at the other side of the Main Stage area), but that just wouldnt do. Instead, Magic Sword rolled up on a platform truck (supposedly named Joule the Art Car), performing behind LED lights in the shapes of crystals while Gertie the Galactic Arachnid and her dragonfly friends (part of Treeforts noted performance art) danced their way through the crowd. La Misa Negra Believe it or not, Boise has the largest community of Basque-Americans in the country. The Basque Market, Basque Museum and Cultural Center, Basque restaurant Leku Ona, and the Basque Center all stand within a couple-block radius. So when Oakland-based La Misa Negra got down at the Basque Center the sound fit the setting. The eight-piece integrates elements of Heartland brass, Colombian cumbia, and Gogol Bordello-style Gypsy punk. With her sashaying, jumping, screaming, and cooing, frontwoman Diana Trujillo proved she is a force in music today. Youth Lagoon It was only appropriate that Trevor Powers played his last show as Youth Lagoon to his hometown Boise crowd. The entire front line of fans was crying by the end of the solo encore performance of 17. Wimps This Seattle pop-punk trio played a loud, fast set of self-described, two-minute tunes to a bouncing audience at the Shrine. But when we stood next to Built to Spills Doug Martsch over by stage left (granted, his band was playing next), we felt validated in our choices of how to close out Treefort 2016. 1 of 74 Ballet Hilary Saunders 2 of 74 Logan Hyde Hilary Saunders 3 of 74 Lucy Dacus Hilary Saunders 4 of 74 Lucy Dacus Hilary Saunders 5 of 74 Lucy Dacus Hilary Saunders 6 of 74 Your Friend Hilary Saunders 7 of 74 Your Friend Hilary Saunders 8 of 74 Acid Mothers Hilary Saunders 9 of 74 Acid Mothers Hilary Saunders 10 of 74 Vaadat Charigin Hilary Saunders It happens just before the first episode of Undergrounds pilot (The Macon 7) cuts to its end credits: Noah, a slave kept in bondage on a Georgia plantation (played by Aldis Hodge), is found out by Cato (Alano Miller), a fellow slave and also one of their masters drivers. Noah is plotting to escape from the Macon farm and thus from the grip of servitude; bit by bit, piece by piece, he has started sketching out a path to self-emancipation, hard though that journey may be. But in a single, tense moment, all his well-laid plans are endangered by the cunning deductions of Cato, who approaches Noah in the foyer of their masters grand estate, leering like the cat that ate the caged canary. And in that moment, Cato presents Noah with a logistical decision, wrapped around a major humanitarian predicament. First comes the intimidation, the threat of having his scheme revealed to his owner, Tom Macon, who has shown Noah mercysuch as it isonce already in the episode, and is less likely to show him mercy again, should he learn precisely how Noah has fooled and deceived him. Then comes the taunt, which is a good deal more cruel than the promise of a hanging. The thing you aint consider, Cato hisses with no small amount of satisfaction, you get caught or not, its gonna be the slaves left behind thats gonna pay the price. All Noah can do is point out the obvious, through gritted teeth. Dont act like you care about nobody else. You only care about yourself. Youre right, comes Catos barbed retort. Thats why I dont mean to be left behind. However you look at this exchangeand you can look at it in any number of waysit is crucial to understanding one of the shows sources of dramatic strain. WGNs Underground is a series about flight, about the risks of flight, about people who willingly shoulder the burden of those risks in the pursuit of their own liberation; its about doing whatever it takes to break free from institutional oppression. Thats the heart of Noahs confrontation with Cato, whose loaded accusation casts a shadow on Noahs intentions. Even cursory research on the fate of runaway slaves shows that the consequences of their actions were usually horriblebranding and amputation are popular keywordsbut occasionally, those consequences would be visited upon slaves who chose not to run, too. Cato uses this knowledge against Noah, and in that moment we can see Noah wrestling with his instinctual response to the indictment. Just one glance at Noahs eyes tells us that he didnt think about the ramifications of running, or, more specifically, the ramifications his running might have on others. Hes trying like hell in the moment to hide his horror from Cato, who with the utterance of a single sentence has thrown a righteous wrench in Noahs designs. But Cato is being tricky, because we knoweven if Cato only suspectsthat Noah means to decamp from Macons plantation with the help of several co-conspirators: Henry and Moses, Zeke and Sam, and, eventually, Pearly Mae and Rosalee. To hear it from Cato, youd think Noah means only to take himself to the North, that he cares solely for his own well-being and not for the plight of all Macons slaves. We know better. And yet Cato, underhanded smugness aside, has a point. Even if Noah and his partners in absconding succeed in evading recapture, whether by Macons men or by roving slave catchers, and even if they arrive safely in the promised land, they will only have spared themselves from further suffering. Meanwhile, countless others remain shackled to the Macon plantation, where they will continue to labor under the whips of their master and his overseers, and where they may be subject to punishment in retribution for Noahs departure. (Say a prayer for poor Pearly Mae, whose brave sacrifice, made in hopes of her and Moses child growing up free, will certainly be repaid with swift cruelty in next weeks episode, Run & Gun.) If this sounds like a form of shaming or an admonishment of Noah and every runaway slave in the history of slavery, well, it isnt. Because, as much as youd like to think youd be concerned with the fate of everyone around you, you have to admit it: If you had even a hint of that fire behind Noahs eyes, along with a map to freedom, you would run, too. Anyone would. The antebellum South was a veritable smorgasbord of gruesome human abuses. Noah can scarcely be blamed for striving to find a way out, whether solo or with others. Let it also be said that the options available to Noah are few. He has precious little access to necessary resources, and as Macons lawful property, he is under close watch by the plantations overseers, more so than most, by consequence of the failed escape attempt he makes in the opening sequence of Undergrounds premiere. (In that regard, perhaps Noah is lucky, if you can call it that; five lashes seems like a rare mercy, compared to straight up mutilation.) Maybe this is why Noah means to make exodus to the North in good company: He learned from his first attempt at getting the hell out of Georgia. He knows that he cant go it alone. Therein lies the crux of Undergrounds portrait of American history. The show is an ode to the group effort, to the necessity of collaboration in combating systemic barbarity. You need someone like Noah driving that effort, certainly, but Noah cant undo slavery all on his own. He needs Henry, Sam, Moses, Rosalee, Pearly Mae, and yes, Cato, who in Undergrounds fourth episode sparks off its most desperate and exhilarating set piece to date. (Its worth noting that in getting his thoroughly badass Django Unchained moment, earned with fire and the steel of his blade, Cato gains instant additional depth as a character.) Cato is smart enough to understand that Noah needs help, and if he appears at first to be motivated chiefly by his personal well-being, Firefly shows him to be just as devoted to the escape plan as Noah. He might be one of Macons drivers, but hes also a slave, or did you never stop to wonder how he got those facial scars? On the other side of Noah, Cato, and their stratagems, we have John and Elizabeth Hawkes, a married couple covertly working as conductors on the Underground Railroad. The Hawkes possess a great degree of privilege that allows them to face slavery and racism head-on in ways that Noah and Cato simply cant. They risk much, though not as much as runaway slaves, and they endure far less than people wholly stripped of agency and denied their own humanity by the function of slavery; it is also necessary to emphasize that Underground is focused more on struggles of Noah and his band of fugitives than with the Hawkes subterfuge. But the fundamental statement Cato makes at the end of The Macon 7 is important for how it unwittingly unifies the efforts of abolitionists like the Hawkes, and individuals like Noah, who do not have the luxury of personal freedom, and whoby striving to attain personal freedombreak inhumane laws and put themselves in immediate danger. Without people fighting to escape the South, and without people fighting to facilitate that escape in the North, you cannot have true freedom. Underground implicitly acknowledges this dichotomy, and in doing so the show emanates hope. But that hope overlays the explicit tragedy Cato lays out before Noah, and before the audience. What happens to the people who get left behind? How do they find their freedom? When do they get their justice? Underground isnt about morally dubious heroes, but it is about painful moral conundrums. The road that lies before Noah and his comrades is a difficult roadphysically, mentally, emotionallyand it is made more difficult by the choice theyre forced to make in planning their getaway. In the context of the shows plot, theyre making the right choice. In context with history, theyre making the right choice. But this series wont let us soon forget that theyre still making the most heartbreaking and impossible choice imaginable. Undergrounds message of collectivity and unityacross state lines, class lines, social linesfeels like a clarion call blaring over the ghastly sideshow that is the United States 2016 election cycle. Were divided within our political blocs as well as without; an outsider unversed in the rites and rituals of Americas civic shindigs might assume were a four-party country. Grant, of course, that comparing America today with the America of Underground is like comparing a combusting hoverboard to a tire fire, and that the 2010s look significantly less brutal than the 1830s. We live in a demonstrably better world today than yesterday, but our nation remains split by discord. And thats the great lesson of Underground, whose portrait of solidarity in the face of overwhelming and lawful inhumanity reminds us how far weve come, how far weve yet to go, and what we have to do to get there. Boston-based critic Andy Crump has been writing about film for the web since 2009, and has been contributing to Paste Magazine since 2013. He also writes for Screen Rant and Movie Mezzanine, and Birth.Movies.Death. You can follow him on Twitter and find his collected writing at his personal blog. He is composed of roughly 65% craft beer. A week ago we posted a report titled "Samsung's Galaxy S7 is Moving Faster than Expected because of Massive Giveaways, Plain and Simple." Samsung pulled out all the stops to move volume for the Galaxy S7 smartphone. The major US carriers all ran special 2 for 1 deals and the result is that it moved enough volume to push Samsung to profitability, according to a new Korean report published today. Global smartphone giant Samsung Electronics Co. is anticipated to post better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter following the better-than-expected performance of the Galaxy S7 series, industry analysts forecast Wednesday. However, much of this news at present is really hype. Industry watchers are expecting the first-quarter operating profit of the tech giant to reach 6 trillion won (US$5.14 billion), and admit that it's simply in line with 5.98 trillion won posted a year earlier. So where are the better-than-expected profits due to Galaxy S7 sales? Considering that their TV sales were noted as being better than expected, how much of 0.02 trillion won gain over last year really came from Galaxy S7 sales7? Sounds like pure hyperbole to me. The report further noted that some of their gains are really from "Samsung enjoying foreign-exchange benefits especially in semiconductor and display segments." When taking that into consideration, where is this great profit's gain? The report lastly hinted that Galaxy S7 sales are a month ahead of schedule, but in context with a massive 2 for 1 sale, it's not really value that's driven the boost, but rather volume; Samsung's famous marketing shell game. Samsung officially reports earnings guidance on April 7 so let's wait until then to hear about any official profits at that 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. One particular Facebook commenter will serve to represent a larger group: He has, he says, lost a great deal of respect for Mitt Romney. But he has lost even more respect for me, because of what he twice terms our hate for Donald Trump. I feel no hatred toward Donald Trump. I strongly disagree with many of his political views, to the very limited extent that its possible to discern what they are, and I deeply disapprove of him as a person, but I dont hate him, and I doubt that Governor Romney does, either. It strikes me as a pretty good illustration of the deep dysfunctionality of American political culture these days that some people seem unable to understand disagreement as anything other than hate. We saw that a few years ago, of course, among advocates of the redefinition of marriage in California, who, even as they destroyed the careers of people who supported Proposition 8 (aka Proposition H8), picketed and sometimes defaced churches, outed people for the entirely legal act of donating to a democratic referendum, and wrote vicious letters to the editor impugning the characters and motives of those who failed to agree with them, denounced opponents of same-sex marriage as haters. And now were seeing the same thing from certain supporters of Donald Trump. Let me turn briefly autobiographical: Ive been a very serious conservative (with libertarian leanings on economic issues), since even before I became a teenager. My beloved half-brother, ten years my senior and my only sibling, was a political science major, and I began to read Eric Hoffer and Frederic Bastiat and Henry Hazlitt and Russell Kirk and Wilhelm Ropke and other such writers from his personal library at a very young age. My parents, scared off by the mainstream medias portrayal of Barry Goldwater as a dangerous extremist, supported Lyndon Johnson in 1964. But I didnt. And, in a sense, I was actually able to vote for Senator Goldwater, because my brother allowed me to go into the polling booth with him and pull the lever. I enthusiastically supported Ronald Reagan for the governorship of California and, later, in his challenge to President Gerald Ford, and, yet again, in his two successful presidential runs. I supported both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz as soon as they declared their candidacies for the United States Senate. With only a few gaps when Ive been living overseas, Ive subscribed to National Review since I was thirteen or fourteen. I was a charter subscriber to The Weekly Standard and The American Spectator. Although I never considered myself an Objectivist and although I find much to criticize in her and in her thinking, I went through a really important Ayn Rand phase during my high school years that has certainly left its mark on my economic views. I helped to host William F. Buckley, Jr., when he visited BYU during my undergraduate studies here including a visit with the First Presidency at the time. I corresponded briefly with him during my mission in Switzerland, where he owned a chalet (in Rougemont). Ive enjoyed fascinating conversations over lunch or dinner with such people Mike Lee (before he was elected to the Senate) and Rand Paul (after he was elected) and John Mackey (the libertarian co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Markets). I won an essay contest in 1976 that allowed me to spend two weeks (altogether) at the Mont Pelerin Societys conference in St. Andrews, Scotland, that year, where I had the astonishing privilege those who know much about conservative/libertarian economics, or, for that matter, of the history of the Nobel Prize in economics, will understand why I found it astonishing of mingling with such people as Milton Friedman, George Stigler, Ronald Coase, John Chamberlain, Gordon Tullock, James Buchanan, Armen Alchian, Murray Rothbard, and Friedrich von Hayek. Among other things, several of us made a pilgrimage to place a wreath on the grave of Adam Smith, the great Scottish Rennaissance moral philosopher and founder of modern economics I participated several times in summer schools of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, where I was able to interact with people like Eric Voegelin, Stephen Tonsor, Gerhart Niemeyer, Tibor Machan, and Edward Teller. Again, people who are acquainted with the history of conservative thought in America will recognize those names. Ive spoken multiple times at the largest libertarian gathering in the United States, the annual Freedom Fest. And so on and so forth. I mention such things only because Im tired of accusations that Im a phony conservative and a RINO (a Republican in Name Only). My libertarian/conservative credentials go far back beyond the rise of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and likely beyond the first birthday of many of those whore currently writing me angry notes, and my conservative/libertarian roots run far deeper, I suspect, than those of quite a few who presume to read me out of the political Right. So why do I oppose Donald Trump and Trumpism? Not merely because I find him a personally repulsive human being, which I do, but because his political views and his manifest authoritarianism run directly counter to the political and economic principles that Ive believed in and advocated since I was a young boy. Opposition to the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump is, to me, a duty and an honor. I cannot support him. I regard it as my obligation to publicly oppose him. I genuinely regret the fact that, as some say, theyve lost respect for me over this issue. Especially when those saying this are apparently members of my church. It hurts a bit when they accuse me of harboring hate, and when they write hateful things to and about me. But I regard such division, now occurring even within the ranks of the Latter-day Saints, as yet another of the divisive fruits of Trumpism. And, much as I regret the disdain and hostility that my public position has engendered in some, I could not possibly respect myself if I didnt publicly, repeatedly, and forthrightly resist the advance of Trumpism. I regard Trumpism as a threat to the principles of conservatism, limited constitutional government, civility, and public morality, and to the security, credibility, and standing of the United States of America. I also see Mr. Trump as, in very large measure, a fraud. Incidentally, the same Facebook commentator whom I cite above contrasts Mr. Trump, who is not a wimp, with Ted Cruz, who is a pansy cry baby. I suppose that hes referring to Senator Cruzs defense of his wife, Heidi, against Mr. Trumps mockery of her physical appearance. I would regard any husband who didnt rise to his wifes defense against such an assault as unmanly. And, likewise, I regard Mr. Trumps attacks against Heidi Cruz, and against Carly Fiorina, and against others like them, as unworthy of any man interested in staking out the slightest pretense of decency. If thats what the commenter means when he praises Mr. Trump as not a wimp, I hope never to be so praised. I would rather be a pansy. But if, instead, the commenter intends to praise Mr. Trumps endorsement of war crimes against women and children in the Middle East, Mr. Trumps encouragement of violence at his rallies, Mr. Trumps unabashed racial and religious bigotry, Mr. Trumps suggestion of unconstitutional actions against disapproved religious minorities, Mr. Trumps attempts to use government power against little people who stand in the way of his real estate developments or who criticize him or who ask him to repay the debts that he owes to them, I must, as a matter of urgent principle, do everything that I can to dispraise such things. Dislike me and disrespect me for it if you will, unfriend me if you must, compare me to a Nazi stormtrooper if the whim so moves you, but I wont back down. The title is somewhat misleading: this book is not a detailed history of the One-Child policy but addresses, instead, various aspects of the policy and its consequences, and its connection to Chinese culture, and attitudes toward family, and toward death. To be honest, with respect to China as a political entity and geopolitical force, its easy to feel schadenfreude about the future of the not-so-rosy country, even if you feel sympathy for actual Chinese people. Unlike many authors of recent half-memoir, half-narratives of China, Fong is not an American transplant seeing the world through the eyes of translators, or growing in understanding of the culture as the authors language skills grow (there were a number of such memoirs a while back); instead, shes an ethnic Chinese who grew up in the Chinese community in Malaysia, so that she can understand the Chinese (and, importantly, can understand Chinese) more deeply, while at the same time having an extensive background in reporting on China for American readers she was a China correspondant for the Wall Street Journal during the time frame which she chronicles in the book, centered around the 2008 Olympics. (How she made it from Malaysia to American journalism isnt specified; according to Wikipedia, she got a graduate degree from Columbia and moved up the journalism ranks after that.) She begins her story with the Sichuan earthquake of 2008, which I recall primarily from reports of shoddy construction killing large numbers of children whose schools crumpled. But it was also an early test case for the one-child policy, and, despite the various exceptions to the policy, it had been implemented there to such a degree that 2/3rd of families are single child families (p. 3), and 8,000 families lost, not just a child, but their only child, and many attempted sterilization reversals. For these families, and others across the country whose only child dies, it is not merely a matter of being dependent on children in old age, or fearing lonliness there is a particular shamefulness about having no children, that makes it all the more devastating. How did the one-child policy begin? Technocrats indeed, rocket scientists proposed it, without the input of demographers (or actuaries!) who didnt exist in China at the time, or were at any rate, after the Cultural Revolution, lacking in the basic tools of the trade. It was officially launched in 1980, roughly a decade after the West began fretting about population growth. (Paul Ehrlich wrote The Population Bomb in 1968, the United Natoins Fund for Population Activities was launched in 1969, The Club of Rome published The Limits to Growth in 1972, and in the 70s, other Asian countries had campaigns such as forced sterilization in India, as well as campaigns in South Korea and Singapore (it seems to me that I remember Singapore having such elements as not just propaganda but limits on maternity leave and other benefits past two children). In China, Mao for much of his time in power took a the more the merrier approach, and the population lept from 540 million in 1949 to 800 million 20 years later (p. 47). But in the 70s, he likewise changed his tune, and the government began a Later, Longer, Fewer campaign, which reduced TFR from 6 to 3 births per women over that decade. Why they they move to the more radical and coercive One-Child policy? Because planners were convinced that it was the only way to bring about economic growth though Fong disputes the claim that it was the radical curb in birthrates that produced its economic growth in any case. Whats been the impact of the policy? Some of the impacts are well-known, often-discussed. The Little Emperors the only children of only children, who were feared to become coddled and spoiled, expecting participation trophies just for showing up, have, really, the opposite problem: their parents have invested heavily in them, and they feel the burden of those expectations weighing them down. The bachelors in rural villages, who cant find wives because at every level of society, its expected that women marry up (and thus, high achieving women have the same difficulty finding husbands all the more so because of Chinese cultural beliefs that women past their late twenties are too old to find a husband). Its also the case that, for all that rural women try desparately to have additional children, and are victims of forced abortion as a result, the increasingly urban population has adapted so well to the one-child norm that, even with the official announcement of a two-child policy (but nonetheless one in which those two children must be in-plan), these urbanites do not want more than one child: the stakes are too high, the investment too costly, in ensuring that your child succeeds (sound familiar), for families to feel that they have the luxury of more than one child. Whats more, the massive numbers of rural parents who have left for jobs in cities, children under the care of their grandparents, are not conducive to larger families, either. And the long-term impacts? A country that will grow old, without having achieved the wealth to enable it to support its elderly. Already, the seemingly endless supply of rural young adults willing to work endless hours in factories, and be roused from their beds for double shifts when Apple makes a design change (that is, the inhumane treatment of workers that were told is necessary for Apple to build its devices, and the reason why this can only be done in China), is decreasing. But heres an element of that demographic transition that was new to me: China, for all its reputation as a place where the old are showered with respect, has had those Confucian traditions sundered by the twin forces of communism and urban migration. Whats more, discussions around end-of-life care and planning are hindered by a cultural reluctance to talk about death, and deeply-ingrained supersititions. In addition, children who have neglected their parents in their old age, often insist on every lifesaving measure possible, even as death approaches, to save face and prove that they have still done their filial duty. For all that China has been rather successful in inculcating atheism in its people, people still look to past traditions for guidance in what to believe about what happens after death, Fong says. But I think the reason for this abohorrence [superstitions about death] stretches beyond materialistic culture and has its roots in the Chinese system of beliefs around what happens after death. Broadly speaking, most Han Chinese hold beliefs taht are an amalgamation of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucionism, with a good dollop of folk religion and ancestor worship sprinkled in. In general, it results in a vision of the afterlife similar to this one: you still need money and crature comforts, you still have bureaucracy and hierarchy, and you must slog on in a more-or-less eternal cycle of rebirth. Unlike the Muslim and CHristian creed, there is very little vision of a soothing Eternal Rest. (p. 162) Offering items for the dead paper representations of goods still continues, and families still believe they need offspring to care for them after death in this way. Fong concludes her book with descriptions of wealthy Chinese families who, believing that it is all-important to have ones child be as talented and successful as possible, have turned to surrogacy, in the United States, with academically-achieving egg donors; and she believes that, as techonology develops to select the best offspring, it will come out of China. But to return to my initial statement as an ever-increasing proportion of its population moves into old age, China will have sigificant problems to deal with. Will it take the soylent green approach? That seems a stretch. Will they try to centrally-plan their way out of it? Or will they bumble around and simply become weaker over time? Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. "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. Khamenei Says Missiles Are Key To Iran's Future, Not Negotiations 03/30/16 Source: RFE/RL Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says that missiles, not negotiations, are the key to his countrys future. Khameneis remark, posted on his official website on March 30, came as Western powers called for the UN Security Council to consider possible action in response to Iran's recent ballistic-missile tests. "Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors, the website quoted him as saying. Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei His comment may have been directed at former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the leader of a relatively moderate Iranian political alliance who tweeted last week that Irans future is in dialogue, not missiles. Khamenei also indicated he is ready to support efforts by Irans hard-line conservative Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to further develop ballistic missiles -- a display of defiance in the face of the Western concerns about missile tests. If the Islamic republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country, he said. Khamenei approved a landmark July 2015 deal with global powers under which Iran is scaling back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. But he has suggested the deal would not lead to a large-scale rapprochement with the West and been adamant that Tehran must maintain and develop its conventional military potential. Iran's test-firing of Qadr surface-to-surface missile in March 2016 (photo by Iran's test-firing of Qadr surface-to-surface missile in March 2016(photo by Mehr News Agency UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on March 30 that Irans test missile launches have caused alarm and concern and that it is up to the UN Security Council to decide what sanctions or measures should be applied. A UN Security Council resolution adopted after Iran sealed the nuclear deal with six global powers -- veto-wielding permanent council members Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France, plus Germany -- calls for Tehran to refrain from launching any ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. The United States, France, Britain, and Germany complained this week that Irans tests in early March of its Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile and Qiam-1 short-range ballistic missile violated UN Security Council resolutions. A report sent to the Security Council by those four countries says Irans ballistic tests are destabilizing and provocative because the missiles are inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons. It asked Ban to report fully and thoroughly on any Iranian ballistic missile activity that is inconsistent with UN resolutions and for the Security Council to discuss appropriate responses. Iran denies that its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons. The IRGC describes its tests as a demonstration of the countrys nonnuclear deterrent power. Russia has dampened expectations of any UN Security Council action. On March 14, when the Iranian test-firings were raised within the Security Council, Russia said the tests did not violate the 2015 resolution because a call is not an obligatory demand. Mikhail Ulyanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministrys nonproliferation and arms control department, defended Irans position on March 30. Ulyanov said Moscow has not seen any evidence proving that Irans ballistic missiles can carry nuclear warheads. The Kremlin also has potentially undermined Western attempts to deal with Irans ballistic tests by refusing to send a delegate to the Nuclear Security Summit that begins in Washington on March 31. Russia is the only country among the so-called P5+1 powers that negotiated the 2015 Iran nuclear deal but is not attending the Washington summit. The deal requires Iran to scale back its nuclear program, which Tehran says is for solely peaceful purposes but Western countries fear has been a front for nuclear weapons development, in exchange for sanctions relief. Irans compliance with its nuclear obligations is one of the items on the summit agenda. With reporting by Reuters, AP, Interfax, and TASS 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 Iranian President Postpones Austria Trip For Security Reasons 03/30/16 Source: RFE/RL Iranian President Hassan Rohani has postponed a planned state visit to Austria indefinitely, citing security reasons, the Austrian presidential office announced. "The visit for March 30-31 by President Hassan Rouhani and his delegation has been postponed by the Iranian side for security reasons," Austrian presidency said in a statement on March 29. It did not give further details. A spokeswoman for Austrian President Heinz Fischer's office said it was not clear what the security reasons were. Rohani had been scheduled to meet Fischer and other Austrian officials. The Vienna trip would have been Rohani's second official visit to Europe since Iran and world powers signed a landmark nuclear deal in July 2015. In January, Rohani visited Italy and France, where he signed a number of major deals, including a $24 billion contract to purchase 118 Airbus planes. Based on reporting by dpa, Reuters, and AFP Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org Iranian reformist party points to corruption as obstacle to "resistance economy" 03/30/16 Source: Radio Zamaneh The head of the Nedaye Iran party says smuggling and corruption are the chief obstacles to implementing the tools toward a resistance economy as recommended by Iran's leader Ayatollah Khamenei. cartoon by Alireza Seddighi, Ghanoon daily Majd Farahani, the secretary of the reformist party, told ILNA on Tuesday March 29 that a number of official bodies in the system are "preventing" the efforts toward establishing an economy of resistance "weaned from oil revenues and reliant on taxes". He stated that when 40 percent of the economy is in the hands of certain bodies and groups that do not pay any tax, an economy of resistance is a pipe dream. He added that these bodies are also propagating corruption, which prevents the private sector from entering any bid for development projects in a healthy and fair competitive atmosphere. While Farahani does not identify the groups, it is the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that handles the majority of development projects across the country. It is also accused of controlling ports of entry into the country which are off the grid. Meanwhile, organizations such as the Mostazafan Foundation (Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled), the Executive Office of Imam and Astan Quds Razavi, the administrative body that manages the Shrine of Imam Reza, are powerful and wealthy organizations that are exempt from paying taxes. Farahani said transparency in the financial activities of these organizations and forcing them to pay taxes could help in "strengthening the national economy and realizing a resistance economy". In his Norooz message this month, Iran's Supreme Leader repeated his recommendation regarding his so-called "economy of resistance" and described it as the best defence against the country's enemies. President Rouhani's "Open-Door" Economic Policies 03/30/16 By Ismael Hossein-zadeh (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency) A number of commentators have compared President Rouhanis policies of opening Irans markets to Western business with those of Chinas Deng Xiaoping following the death of Mao Zedong some four decades ago [1]. A closer look at Mr. Rouhanis open-door economic policies indicates, however, that they are more akin to those of Boris Yeltsins Russia following the collapse of the Berlin Wall than those of China since Deng Xiaoping. This study makes an argument that both in theory and practice the Rouhani administration is following an economic model that is widely known to create indebtedness, warped industrialization and dependent development, which also often leads to a loss of political/geopolitical independence. To this end, the study focuses on the administrations approach to trade and development, to foreign capital, and to industrialization and technological transfer. The opening of China to foreign capital since Deng Xiaoping has been very methodical and highly disciplined. The countrys leaders have been vigilant against allowing their country to become a consumer market for foreign goods and services. They have consciously shunned the deceptive theory of free trade, which tends to punish the economically weak and reward the strong. Instead, they have followed the model of smart or strategic trade, which means protecting ones infant industries against the mature or more competitive foreign producers while, at the same, promoting ones exports where one is competitive. Accordingly, they have been very selective in their choice of foreign capital: while encouraging foreign direct investment, or investment in manufacturing, they have steadfastly resisted importation of commercial or commodity capital, that is, capital in the form of finished goods and services. By contrast, the Rouhani administrations efforts to re-integrate Iran into global markets has been inspired by the doctrine of economic liberalism/neoliberalism and the concomitant theory of free trade which, as just mentioned, tends to benefit the economically strong and hurt the weak or noncompetitive. Threat of Deindustrialization Prior to President Rouhanis open-door economic policies, Iran viewed economic sanctions as an (unsolicited) opportunity, a blessing in disguise, to become self-reliant: to rely on domestic talents and resources in order to become economically self-supporting by producing as many of the consumer goods and industrial products as possible. And it did, indeed, made considerable progress in scientific research, technological know-how and manufacturing industries. Iran became self-sufficient in producing many of its industrial products such as home and electric appliances (television sets, washers and dryers, refrigerators, washing machines, and the like), textiles, leather products, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, processed food, and beverage products (including refined sugar and vegetable oil). It made significant progress in manufacturing steel, copper products, paper, rubber products, telecommunications equipment, cement, and industrial machinery. Iran also produced the largest operational population of industrial robots in West Asia [2]. Most remarkable of Irans industrial progress, however, can be seen in the manufacture of various types of its armaments needs. Irans defense industry has taken great strides in manufacturing many types of arms and equipment. Iran's Defense Industries Organization (DIO) has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, guided missiles, radar systems, a guided missile destroyer, military vessels, submarines and a fighter plane. In 2006 Iran exported weapons to 57 countries. It is also developing a sophisticated mobile air defense system dubbed as Bavar 373 [3]. Irans scientific, technological and manufacturing progress under conditions of war and sanctions shows that, despite the oppressive economic sanctions, it managed to emerge as an industrialized country. Even the proverbial bible of the world financial elites, The Economist magazine of London, recently acknowledged that Iran has a diversified economy, including a significant manufacturing sector [4]. Alas, the Rouhani administrations open-door economic policy and the resulting flood of foreign goods, combined with the neglect of domestic producers, especially of small producers, have greatly undermined these technological gains. Inspired by the free-trade philosophy, the administration has removed or drastically reduced import duties on numerous foreign goods and services, including imports of products for which there are domestic substitutes. According to Mohammed Serfi, an Iranian economics analyst, the degree of import-substitution in Iran could be as high as 70%; meaning that as much as 70% of Irans imports could be substituted by domestically produced products. Yet, due to the Rouhani administrations free-trade policy, the crucially important industrialization strategy of import-substitution-vigorously pursued by all the currently more developed countries at the earlier stages of their development-is ignored. [5]. Complaining about the administrations lack of an economic strategy, Gholam-Hosein Shafe-ei, former chairman of Irans Chamber of Commerce, points out that while relief from economic sanctions is obviously necessary it is not sufficient; perhaps more importantly are government-championed macroeconomic objectives and carefully-guided ways or plans to achieve those objectives. In the absence of clearly defined economic objectives, Shafe-ei further points out, Iran could become a heaven for foreign producers while many of domestic producers would be driven out of business [6]. Sadly, this is exactly what has happened: . . . many of domestic producers . . . driven out of business. According to a recent Fars News report, the excessive flow of foreign goods into Irans markets has led to the idling or closing down of 14,800 manufacturing or production units. The report further indicated that, using budget constraints as justification, the administration has even shut down many research projects [7]. According to Hamid Haaj Esmaili, an Iranian expert on the countrys labor market, 65 percent of workshops or production units in industrial parks have gone out of business [8]. Evidence thus indicates that if these inauspicious developments are not tempered, stopped or reversed, Iran would be experiencing an ominous trend or phenomenon called deindustrialization, President Rouhanis and his economic teams good intensions notwithstanding. Threat of Indebtedness and Loss of Sovereignty: The Rouhani administration has shown a strong tendency to external borrowing for financing its spending needs: to pay for its imports of goods and services, or for its domestic outlays. This tendency to debt financing threatens to burden Iran with unsustainable debt a la Greece, or other south/east European countries. Soon after the formal implementation of the nuclear deal on 16 January 2016, the president took a trip to Europe in which he embarked on a shopping spree of big-item purchases and the signing of a number of business contracts that tend to ultimately commit Iran to a debt obligation of more than $50 billion. The office of the French president estimated the total value of the signed deals during Mr. Rouhanis visit to France would be approximately 30 billion ($32.8 billion). The accord with Airbus alone (for the purchase of 118 aircrafts) is worth 22 billion ($25 billion). President Rouhani and his entourage also signed contracts with Italy worth about $18 billion, which included oil explorations and automobile deals [9]. Details or terms of agreement of these deals are not divulged to the Iranian people. One thing is clear, however: the deals are to be financed through external borrowing. To secure borrowing in global financial markets, however, Iran would need a favorable rating of its creditworthiness by the international rating agencies such as Moodys, Standard & Poor's and Fitch. This explains why the Rouhani administration is actively soliciting credit rating by these agencies. An official says Iran is in discussions to get its first credit rating as the country is emerging from years of sanctions and seeking to put its economy on strong footing [10]. That official turned out to be President Rouhanis Chief of Staff Mohammad Nahavandian, who told Reuters in an interview in London, "We are in negotiations with some of these rating agencies," adding that he expected the agencies to provide a full rating [11]. Borrowing from abroad is not good or bad as such; it all depends on how the borrowed money is spent or invested. If it is invested productively, that is, in manufacturing projects that would yield a rate of return higher than the rate of interest paid for the borrowed capital, then borrowing can play a positive role in the economic development of the borrowing country, without the problem of repayment. On the other hand, if borrowing is to import consumer product, especially luxury products, it can lead to indebtedness and the inability to pay. Sadly, President Rouhani and his economic advisors seem to have been oblivious to the importance of this critical distinction when they devoted the major bulk of the debt undertaken in France ($25 billion out of $32.8 billion) to the purchase of aircrafts that, incidentally, can be accommodated by only one airport in Iran, The Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran. 73 out of the projected 118 Airbus airplanes to be purchased by Iran are the long-haul, wide bodied planes, including 12 A380 superjumbos [12]. Inappropriate Choice of Economic Paradigm: Free Trade vs. Strategic Trade To criticize President Rouhanis economic policies is not to question his or his advisors intentions or objectives of trying to bring about economic development in Iran. It is, rather, to question the means they employ-free trade and economic liberalism/neoliberalism-in order to achieve those ends. They must certainly be eager to pull their countys economy out of the deep recessionary hole. Why, then, do they insist on pursuing economic policies that have proven-time and again, and in country after country-to be resulting in economic problems of indebtedness, deindustrialization and dependence? The answer, in a nutshell, is that the president and his economic advisors seem to be infatuated with an economic paradigm that is regrettably detrimental to the goal of self-sustaining development for the less-developed countries. It is an inappropriate, unsuitable and misleading paradigm, crafted by economic ideologues or theorists of the more developed countries as economic science, whose practical outcome for the less-developed economies has been trade deficit, indebtedness, dependent development, and extreme socio-economic inequality. It is the notorious economic liberalism of the neoclassical school of economic thought, which postulates that free trade and unrestricted pursuit of self-interest lead to economic expansion and prosperity for all; that state-sponsored social safety-net programs or strategic trade policies are costly trade-offs in terms of lost productivity; and that, therefore, government intervention in economic affairs must be avoided. According to this doctrine, solutions to economic stagnation, poverty and under-development lie in unhindered operations of capital and unreserved integration into world capitalist system. Recessions, joblessness and economic hardship in many less-developed countries are not so much due to economic mismanagement, uneven or unfair competition in international markets, or the nature of global capitalism as they are because of government intervention and/or exclusion from world capitalist markets. Free trade is a major component of this school of economic thought. It postulates that international trade would be most efficient and most beneficial to all trading partners if it is grounded on an international division of labor that is based on specialization on the basis of comparative cost advantages. Specifically, it means that since country X, for example, cannot produce all its material needs efficiently, or equally efficiently, it should therefore prioritize its production objectives. It should concentrate on, or specialize in, the production of those products in which it has a comparative cost advantage and, then, trade their surplus with other countries in exchange for those products in which it lacks such an advantage. And if this pattern of trade is adopted by all countries of the world, international trade would be a win-win proposition for all trading partners. There is a prima facie reasonableness to this theory: by forcing producers in the less-developed countries to compete with the producers of the more-developed countries, free trade would lead to increased efficiency and, therefore, economic growth and prosperity for all. Despite this apparent reasonableness, however, this proposition is highly deceptive. It is axiomatic that, to be fair or meaningful, competition ought to take place on a level playing ground. Otherwise, the weak or non-competitive would be crushed. There is yet another superficial or deceptive reasonableness to the theory of free trade. It stems from the fact that the premise, or the starting point, of the theory-that at any moment in time each country has a comparative advantage in producing certain products-cannot be contested or rejected. It is, indeed, a self-evident premise. The objectionable part of the theory stems from the fact that it portrays this self-evident proposition, the short-term or temporary advantage, as natural or inherent advantage that should serve as grounds for long-term or permanent specialization in international trade. Obviously, trade on the basis of this theory of specialization is bound to condemn or relegate the less-developed countries to specialization in, or production of, primary or less-processed products while leaving the production of, or specialization in, high-tech, high-value-added products to the more developed countries. A number of critics of this theory of trade have made a distinction between static and dynamic advantages. These critics do not view a countrys endowments or advantages as inherent, natural or permanent, but carefully acquired through deliberate policies and institutions. This means that a country can and should take advantage of its short-term advantages in order to create dynamic advantages over time. More specifically, whatever endowments and advantages a country might have at a given moment in time are, in large part, products of past policies and developments, and that, therefore, they can be changed over time and new, superior advantages can be created [13]. All of the now more developed countries adopted elaborate regulatory strategies in the early stages of their industrialization in order to gain trade advantages. These included not only the somewhat common protectionist policies of export subsidies and import tariffs but also the more intricate and detailed strategies such as regulation of production methods, control of output quality in export industries, training of skilled labor force in such industries, and the like. The earliest systematic theorizing of international trade in modern times dates back to the classical Mercantilist doctrine of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. As the Protestant revolutions shattered Roman Catholic Europe into competing national states, nation-building absolutist princes embraced Mercantilist policies. The essence of that doctrine is an extensive state regulation of the economy, especially of foreign trade, in order to mobilize economic resources, both domestically and internationally, in the interest of national industrialization and development. Not surprisingly, the emerging European nation-states from the ruins of the Middle Ages viewed this economic doctrine as the cornerstone of their nation-building strategy. Mercantilists relied heavily on trade to bring about development. They viewed trade surpluses as a major source of investment, accumulation and growth. From this followed an active policy of export promotion and import curtailment, as this would maximize the net inflow of funds or investible resources into a country. The impact of trade on development was so important in this view that it is sometimes said that to Mercantilists a nations balance of trade reflected that nations international balance of power, as measured by economic, not military, strength. While free trade has almost always been the bible of the economically strong, self-righteously preached to the weaker trading partners, the fact is that, historically, all of the now industrialized countries initially adopted the protectionist strategies of Mercantilism to jump-start their economic development. They became champions of free trade only after becoming competitive or dominant in global markets by virtue of earlier policies of Mercantilism/protectionism. This includes the UK, the US, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Free Trade vs. Smart Trade: Static vs. Dynamic Advantages-the Case of the UK Before achieving international market superiority in the second half of the eighteenth century, the UK diligently shunned free trade doctrine. It relied heavily on Mercantilist policies for economic gains in global markets. This meant that the British government played an active role in mobilizing and channeling both domestic and external economic resources toward industrialization and development of the country. Colonial policies of territorial conquest and transfer of their economic resources to England was a major part of the Mercantilist theory of industrialization. So were the strict policies of protection of British industries against their international rivals, especially against the Dutch manufacturers who were at the time more efficient than the British. More than two centuries of Mercantilist policies helped England achieve international economic superiority by the second half of the eighteenth century. International industrial superiority, combined with the disproportionately high cost of maintaining a gigantic colonial apparatus, led many of the leading British elite to suggest in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries an alternative to Mercantilism in pursuit of international economic gains. That alternative view (which was most effectively expounded by a number of well-respected economic thinkers of the time such as Josiah Tucker, Adam Smith and David Ricardo) maintained that Britains ability to dominate international markets by virtue of its competitive market forces made Mercantilist policies, as well as most of its colonial military and administrative apparatus, superfluous. The question the British manufacturers and their political representatives in the Parliament were grappling with at this time was how to end Mercantilist policies and the formal colonial ties, and cut its enormous costs, without disturbing the existing pattern of trade specialization that England had methodically established as result of two centuries of successful Mercantilist policies. The essence of that pattern of trade specialization, also called international division of labor, consisted of Britain supplying its satellites of trading partners with manufactured products in exchange for their minerals and raw materials products. Proponents of transition to free trade and economic liberalism argued that, once having achieved economic superiority, Englands continued support of protectionist policies of Mercantilism could actually undermine its economic leadership because such policies provided other countries the opportunity to achieve what England had accomplished as a result of pursuing those policies for two centuries. On the other hand, they further argued, if England switched its trade policies from Mercantilism to free trade and, more importantly, prevailed in having its trading partners adopt such policies it could thereby deter them from nurturing their own industrial independence, that is, from adopting protectionist policies vis-a-vis superior British industries. In other words, free trade doctrine was beneficial to England only if it was adopted internationally. Having achieved worldwide industrial superiority by virtue of Mercantilism and colonialism, England then moved to impose free trade policy on world markets so that it could maintain the existing international division of labor, hence its industrial leadership, through free trade instead of regulated or restricted trade. Whereas proponents of the new doctrine called it laissez-faire, or economic liberalism, always portraying it as freedom or democracy in general, critics called it free trade imperialism, signifying a preference by the economically superior to use its market power for economic gains instead of military power [14]. Free Trade vs. Smart Trade: Static vs. Dynamic Advantages-the Case of the U.S. By the time the United States gained its independence, England had already achieved economic superiority and competitive edge in international markets. Thus as England was gradually abandoning the Mercantilist principles of trade and development in favor of the free trade doctrine, the United States was invoking those principles in pursuit of its own economic development and nation-state building objectives. Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) and Friedrich List offered the strongest policy and theoretical arguments against the emerging doctrine of economic liberalism, which, incidentally, had just received a new publicity boost by the publication of Adam Smiths The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Hamilton set out to prove that the laissez-faire doctrine, promoted at the time by the technologically stronger European countries, was inappropriate for the fledgling, non-competitive U.S. economy. Instead, he invoked the major Mercantilist arguments in support of a state-guided trade and development policy. The arguments that the European champions of free trade counter-posed to Hamiltons views were similar to those of the free trade advocates of our time. They argued that the best trade policy for the United States was to focus on and specialize in the area of its natural endowment or advantage: agriculture, on the account of their immense tracts of fertile territory, uninhabited and unimproved [15]. While acknowledging that, at the time, the United States had a trade advantage in agriculture, Hamilton reasoned that it did not follow from this that, therefore, the advantage in manufacturing should be left to Europe; and that the United States, while taking advantage of its superior agriculture, should and must try to create advantages also in manufacturing industry. Industrialization and diversification of the economy was not only important in and of itself, it also enhanced whatever advantage the U.S. already had in agriculture. Industrial diversification, Hamilton further pointed out, would also reduce the vulnerability of the nations largely agricultural economy to external economic shocks/forces [16]. Hamilton enumerated a number of specific policy measures that would help the United States achieve international competitiveness-measures that were actually followed by the U.S. before it achieved global competitiveness more than a century later. These included: Protection Duties-or duties on those foreign articles which are the rivals of the domestic ones intended to be encouraged; Prohibition of the Exportation of the Materials of Manufactures, that is, the raw materials that are needed for domestic manufacturing; Pecuniary Bounties [and] Premiums, or subsidies to domestic producers and/or exporters; The Exemption of the Materials of Manufactures From [Import] Duty; The Encouragement of New Inventions and Discoveries; [and] Judicious Regulations for the Inspection of Manufactured Commodities [17]. Like Hamilton, Friedrich List (1772-1832) argued that, by throwing the U. S. infant industries into competition with the mature British ones, free trade would impair the process of industrialization and development in the United States. He strongly defied trade specialization endorsed by the British economists Adam Smith, David Ricardo and their co-thinkers as condemning the United States to specialize in agriculture, thereby depleting its soil and mines while stinting its chances of advancing its manufacturing industries. Also like Hamilton, List did not deny the advantages of free trade under right circumstances, that is, a level playing or competing grounds, or comparable technological advancement between trading nations. In other words, both List and Hamilton defended protectionism as a temporary or intermediate stage to nurture fledgling industries: once protective policies achieved their goals and trading partners were on an equal technological footing, free trade could reign. The relevance of Lists and Hamiltons recommendations for trade and development needs of the U.S. of their time to trade and development needs of many of todays less developed countries is unmistakable. But because of the competitive edge the United States now enjoys in global markets, it denies the developing world such recommendations-in essence, telling the developing countries: do what we say, not what we do, or did! Concluding Remarks? The brief overview of the early industrialization policies of the UK and the US provided here clearly shows that, contrary to what they claim today, these countries diligently shunned the free trade paradigm in favor of strategic/Mercantilist policies in the early stages of their development. Not only did the UK and the US follow this pattern of economic development, but so did all of the other presently advanced countries such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea [18]. This overview also shows that the currently more developed countries became advocates of free trade only after they became competitive in international markets by virtue of earlier strategic/Mercantilist policies of trade and development. Despite the relevance and applicability of these instructive experiences to trade and development needs of Iran, they are altogether ignored by President Rouhani and his economic advisors. The president and his economic team are sometimes criticized as West-oriented or Euro-centric. The real problem, however, is not so much that they are West-centric, but that they are West-centric in a misplaced, inappropriate and mistaken way: Instead of drawing logical lessons from these highly educational experiences, which means following trade and development strategies of the presently more developed countries in their earlier stages of industrialization, the Rouhani administration follows their strategies of today, of mature or advanced capitalism. In other words, instead of pursuing the strategic or Mercantilist paradigm of trade and development, they follow the paradigm of free trade and economic liberalism. Irans economy is severely anemic, and the overwhelming majority of its citizens are under tremendous financial distress. Sadly, though, economic doctors of the country tend to insist on issuing wrong prescriptions for the ailing economy: free trade, unrestricted imports, lack of an export promotion policy (except for oil and other raw materials), tendency to borrow from abroad, lack of a serious banking/financial regulation-in short, lack of any economic plan, guidance or direction. Unless these misguided, anti-developmental policies are modified or reversed, Irans economic difficulties are bound to deteriorate: its markets flooded by foreign products, its manufacturing base weakened, its foreign debt escalated and, with it, its national sovereignty compromised. References [1] See, for example, Patrick Buchanan, Is Iran Taking the China Road?; and Pepe Escobar, Iran: The New China? [2] Wikipedia, Economy of Iran. [3] Ibid. [4] The Economist, All that glitters: Assessing opportunities and risks in post-sanction Iran, A report by The Economist Intelligence Unit, spring 2016, p. 3 (of the PDF version). [5] Mohammed Serfi, Gentlemen, the Party is Over, in Farsi: ! !( ). [6] For one of many sources on the unbridled flow of foreign products into the Iranian markets see, for example, . [7] Fars News, . [8] Fars News, 65 . [9] Russia Today (RT), Iran to purchase 118 Airbus planes & set up joint venture with PSA Peugeot Citroen. [10] Presstv.ir, Iran in talks to get first credit rating. [11] Ibid. [12] Russia Today (RT), Iran to purchase 118 Airbus planes & set up joint venture with PSA Peugeot Citroen. [13] See, for example, Pankaj Mishra and Elif Shafak, Worldwide Mutinies against Globalization; or Bela Balassa and Marcus Noland, The changing comparative advantage of Japan and the United States, Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Volume 3, Issue 2, June 1989, Pages 174-188. [14] See, for example, John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson. "The Imperialism of Free Trade," The Economic History Review, Vol. 6, No. 1 (August 1953), pp. 1-15. [15] Alexander Hamilton, Report on Manufacture, reprinted in The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy, by George T. Crane and Abla Amawi, Oxford University Press 1997, pp. 37-47. This quotation is from pp. 37-38. [16] Ibid. [17] Ibid., pp. 44-46. [18] For a thorough discussion of these issues see Michael Hudson, Trade, Development and Foreign Debt, ISLET (2009); for the cases of Japan and other South-East Asian countries see Pankaj Mishra and Elif Shafak, Worldwide Mutinies against Globalization; and for the case of South Korea see Alice Amsden, Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization, Oxford University Press, 1989. About the author: Ismael Hossein-zadeh is Professor Emeritus of Economics (Drake University). He is the author of Beyond Mainstream Explanations of the Financial Crisis (Routledge 2014), The Political Economy of U.S. Militarism (Palgrave-Macmillan 2007), and the Soviet Non-capitalist Development: The Case of Nassers Egypt (Praeger Publishers 1989). Beyond Mainstream Explanations of the Financial Crisis Series: Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy (Book 185) Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (April 14, 2014) ISBN-10: 0415638062 ISBN-13: 978-0415638067 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 At the Build keynote, Microsoft touted new Universal Windows Platform apps that are coming to the Windows Store, including what appears to be a concerted push from Facebook. Microsofts OS chief, Terry Myerson, put up a slide that shows a number of new universal apps coming to the Windows Store, including Bank of America, American Express, the World Wrestling Entertainment, and many more. Perhaps more importantly, Myerson said that Facebooks key apps would be released as universal apps, including the main Facebook app and Facebook Messenger. Facebook will also bring its Facebook Audience Network to UWP, allowing 3 million Facebook advertisers to reach Windows customers, Myerson said. Microsofts UWP apps have been the source of some controversy ever since Epics CEO, TIm Sweeney, complained that with UWP, Microsoft was shutting its app store to third-party software. Microsoft has responded by saying it will allow modifications to UWP apps. The most important appeal of UWP apps, however, is the fact that they will run on all Windows 10 platfoms, including phones, tablets, the Xbox One, the HoloLens, and more. Thats important, given that Windows 10 phones have lacked a number of banking appsthe addition of American Express and Bank of America adds those apps back to those platforms. Microsoft also announced that it had developed a desktop app converter, also known as Project Centennial, to take an existing Win32 appthe format that Windows users are used toand convert it to an UWP app. It will be easy to bring the existing 16 million Win32 and .Net apps to the Windows Store, Microsoft executives said. With Microsofts recent acquisition of Xamarin, users can use the Xamarin toolset to more easily bring Android and iOS apps to the Windows platform as well. A new custom developed backdoor program has been used in highly targeted attacks against organizations from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the U.S. over the past year. Malware researchers from Symantec first came across the program, which theyve named Dripion, in August 2015. However, due to its custom nature and sparse use, it has managed to fly under the radar since as early as November 2013. When their analysis began, the Symantec researchers believed Dripion was a local threat used against organizations in Taiwan, where most of its victims were found. However, since then, they have found computers infected with the backdoor in other countries as well. The programs creators went to great lengths to disguise the malwares activities. It is installed on computers by another malicious program known as Blugger, which uses encryption to hide its communications. Blugger downloads the Dripion backdoor from what appear to be English-language blogs. Its not clear if these are legitimate blogs that have been compromised, or if the attackers intentionally created the sites. After its installed on a computer, Dripion connects to command-and-control domains with names similar to those of several antivirus companies in an attempt to further hide the malicious traffic in victims network logs. Dripion allows attackers to steal information and files from infected computers, as well as upload new files and execute them. Symantec has also found links between Dripion and a cyberespionage group known as Budminer that, until 2014, has used a different backdoor program called Taidoor. Budminer is known for launching targeted attacks since 2009 against international think tanks, manufacturers and defense contractors with interests in Taiwan. Its possible that Dripion is Budminers new malware tool, created after Taidoor was exposed and documented by security researchers. There are no code similarities between the two programs, though, suggesting that Dripion was developed from scratch. The Dripion case shows that custom developed backdoors used in a small number of highly targeted attacks can easily bypass traditional anti-malware defenses and remain undetected for a long time. Defending against them requires a multi-layered security approach. Microsofts Linux love affair continued at the companys annual Build keynote on Monday, with the revelation that popular Linux command-line tool Bash is coming to Windows 10. Whoa. And no, its not running in a virtual machine, Cygwin, or a emulator. Microsoft partnered with Canonical, the company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, to build native Ubuntu binaries directly into Windows 10 that allow Bash to run. And Microsofts already brought SQL Server and Visual Studio to Linux, and embraced Red Hat for Azure servicesthis commitment to open-source is starting to look pretty darn serious. The blog of Microsoft employee Scott Hanselman provided more details about Bash integration than the brief demonstration onstage. Bash in Windows 10. This is a genuine Ubuntu image on top of Windows with all the Linux tools I use like awk, sed, grep, vi, etc., he wrote. Its fast and its lightweight. The binaries are downloaded by youusing apt-getjust as on Linux, because it is Linux. You can apt-get and download other tools like Ruby, Redis, emacs, and on and on. This is brilliant for developers that use a diverse set of tools like me. Developers will be able to write .sh Bash scripts in Windows, and even use emacs to edit code. Look for Windows 10s newfound Bash integration to land with this summers free Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Youll need to enable Windows 10s Developer Mode and add the feature in order to use it. In the meantime, hit up Hanselmans blog for more details. Developers, developers, developers! The ghost of Steve Ballmer past lingers heavily over Microsofts annual Build conference, but despite ostensibly being an event dedicated to code monkeys, Builds always brimming with consumer-friendly news about the future of Windows, Office, and more. This year was no exceptionand it even managed to squeeze in a few eye-opening surprises. Lets dig in to the biggest reveals from Microsoft Build 2016. Hit the links on any slide to dive deeper into the nitty-gritty details for each announcement, and be sure to check out this weeks Build-centric episode of the PCWorld Show for our candid reactions to all the news. Comedian Bill Cosby will be in Los Angeles County Superior Court Wednesday, March 30, after filing a motion to freeze a Canyon Lake womans lawsuit against him, according to the womans attorney. Cosby is expected to arrive about 8:30 a.m. to the Los Angeles County Superior Court at 1725 Main Street in Santa Monica, said Attorney Gloria Allred in a news release. Allred said in the release that Cosby has filed a motion to stay, or freeze, the lawsuit of Canyon Lakes Judy Huth until there is a resolution to a criminal case that is filed against him in Pennsylvania. In the lawsuit, filed in December 2014 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Judy Huth alleged that Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion in 1974, when she was 15. Allred said she plans to oppose Cosbys most recent motion as well as his request to postpone the second of two court-ordered depositions in the suit. Cosby did the first of those two in October 2015 in Boston, but Allred asked for a second session to get Cosby to answer certain questions he had refused to answer. The Press-Enterprise doesnt typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse, but Huth has come forward publicly in the case. RELATED CANYON LAKE: Womans lawsuit against Bill Cosby to proceed COSBY CASE: Second deposition in Canyon Lake womans lawsuit under contention COSBY: Malcolm-Jamal Warner says allegations taint shows legacy Contact the writer: 951-368-9693 or agroves@pressenterprise.com Riverside County will get about $1.3 million in a privacy lawsuit settlement with Wells Fargo that involves four other counties and the states attorney generals. As part of the settlement, Wells Fargo will pay $8 million to Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura and Alameda counties as well as the California Attorney Generals office. The suit alleged that the bank failed disclose that calls between bank representatives and customers were being recorded, according to a news release from the Riverside County District Attorneys office. In California, each person included in a conversation has to be told that a call is being recorded so he or she has a chance to object to. A total of $7.6 million will be awarded in civil penalties and Riverside County will get $64,000 of the $384,000 awarded in investigative costs, according to the release. Riverside Countys share of the penalties will go toward groups that deal with privacy rights and consumer protection, Senior Deputy District Attorney Elise Farrell said. Hopefully because Wells Fargo is such a large company that other companies that may not be in compliance with California laws will be compliant, Farrell said. The release says that Wells Fargo has changed its policies but does not admit liability as part of the settlement agreement. The bank has agreed to notify its customers that a conversation is being recorded when representatives talk with them. The company has also set up a compliance program to ensure that the policy changes are made. In addition to the $8 million the bank will pay in the settlement, Wells Fargo will also contribute $500,000 to two statewide organizations that work to advance consumer protection and privacy rights, the release said. Contact the writer: amillerbernd@pressenterprise.com, 951-368-9567 Inland fire officials had hoped that El Nino storms would delay the beginning of peak wildfire season this spring. But realization that the rainfall isnt likely to meet expectations is setting in as those officials make their annual plea for residents to safeguard their homes from flames. Tom Rolinski, a U.S. Forest Service meteorologist at the Southern Region Operations Center in Riverside, said he expects the fire threat to ramp up in late April to mid-May, as usual. California has a year-round wildfire season, but the peak is usually from late spring through fall. Rolinski said he thought March would bring more rain to the region than it has received during the past several years of drought, which might have helped abate the risk. But that never materialized. Rolinski estimated that winter rainfall was 60 to 70 percent of normal locally. Its not good news as we head into the fire season as far as any kind of substantial recovery from the drought. People should be mindful and be concerned about making sure the brush is cleared away from their homes. Richard Minnich, a professor of earth sciences at UC Riverside, estimated winter rainfall at 80 percent of normal. Ive never seen a great El Nino absolutely fail like this, he said. Minnich believes the drought has actually reduced the fire hazard in lower elevations; where once there were grasses and shrubs, now there is dirt. The Inland mountains are another matter. Those areas that have gone the longest without burning more than 100 years, in some cases are ripe for devastating, quickly spreading fires because of the accumulation of vegetation, Minnich said. He identified those areas as Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear, Idyllwild and an area from Running Springs west to Crestline. San Bernardino National Forest spokesman John Miller said there is high risk of damaging fires on the south side of Big Bear Lake and danger from fires traveling down the Santa Ana River drainage into Big Bear. CLEANING UP FORESTS Crews are thinning the vegetation and removing low-hanging branches that could allow flames to climb trees near the lake and in Idyllwild. And thats something that will go on forever, Miller said. Glenn Barley, chief of Cal Fires San Bernardino-Inyo-Mono Unit, said the agency has received grants that are paying for fuel reduction. Cal Fire is working with Caltrans and local groups to clean up dead trees along highways. Officials at the Cleveland National Forest, which stretches from Corona to San Diego, said Tuesday, March 29, that crews removed 240 acres of dead brush last week. Silvio Lanzas, a Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department division chief, said the Inland area has been fortunate in recent years in avoiding fires on the scale of those that have devastated areas of Northern California. Two fires there in September burned more than 70,000 acres each, killed six people and damaged a combined 2,876 buildings. Lanzas was one of many Inland firefighters who took on those blazes and who were awed by the rate at which flames, driven by wind, raced through extremely dry brush and trees. Those same fuel conditions are here and have been for several years, Lanzas said. The biggest dynamic to rapidly moving fires is wind We have the potential for a fast-moving, non-wind-driven fire. PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY The danger is not limited to the mountain residential areas. Jarrod Adams is a fire-prevention technician for Cal Fire who has been driving around the unincorporated area near Perris, hunting for overgrown flatland properties. He sees fox tails, ragweed Russian thistle and tumbleweeds lots of tumbleweeds. This is a major headache in the county, Adams said recently while traveling along Highway 74. They are a dried nuisance. When a fire starts, it generates its own wind. You then have a fireball of a tumbleweed going across the road. Grasses should be mowed or tilled to 3 inches high, Adams said, and all dried brush should be removed from within 100 feet of structures and 30 feet from roads. Low branches and those that hang over roofs should be pruned, rain gutters cleared and flammable materials such as wood piles and lawn furniture moved away from homes. And keep a shovel or garden hose handy while mowing in case a spark ignites the brush. As Adams gave a tour of the area, a Caltrans crew removed weeds from the shoulder of Highway 74 so a lit cigarette butt or heat from a car pulled to the side of the road would not touch off a brush fire. We are trying to stop accidental starts, Adams said. Adams and other inspectors will be mailing postcards to violators the first week of April, giving them 30 days to clean up their property or notify Cal Fire of their abatement plan. If that doesnt happen, a contractor will be hired at the property owners expense to bring the land into compliance. He stopped to talk with Ron Arnold, who said he plans to clear a vacant parcel with danger on three sides: brush near a chain-link fence that is next to a carport on one side; brush near a wooden barn at the far end; and eucalyptus trees hanging over a cluttered property on the other side. Adams also chatted with Robbie Caywood, an employee of Smith Tractor Service of Wildomar, who was tilling the perimeter of a brushy, vacant lot along Highway 74. I appreciate what you are doing. It looks great, Adams told him. Said Caywood: Theres a lot that doesnt get done. That scares me. Contact the writer: brokos@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9569 A man driving a stolen car was killed in a violent crash on Florida Avenue on Hemets western edge shortly after noon Tuesday, March 29, the CHP said. The driver of the pickup truck he hit was airlifted to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No other people were injured and no other vehicles were involved. UPDATE: Man killed in violent 74 crash identified Authorities shut down both westbound lanes and one eastbound lanes of the road, also known as Highway 74, between Calvert and California avenues. The lanes were reopened at about 5 p.m. The crash mangled the car and caused the driver to lose an arm, said California Highway Patrol Officer Darren Meyer. He was taken to Hemet Valley Medical Center but died. Meyer did not have the mans name, only that he was 33 years old and from Hemet. The incident started about noon with a team of law enforcement officers who deal with people on probation and were in the area to serve a warrant. They saw a gold Chrysler with no plates stopped in the middle of Truelson Avenue, and an apparently asleep or unconscious driver inside, Meyer said. The Chrysler and its driver were unrelated to the warrant being served, Meyer said. The car was later confirmed to have been stolen in November. As the officers knocked on a window to rouse the driver, they saw drug paraphernalia in the car, Meyer said. The driver awoke, put the car in drive and headed south on Truelson, then turned left on Florida Avenue. The officers ran back to their vehicle to pursue the Chrysler, but lost sight of it by the time they got to Florida Avenue, Meyer said. As they drove around a bend, they saw debris from a collision strewn across the road in front of the Four Seasons community. Meyer said the preliminary investigation suggests the Chryslers driver tried to use the center median to pass a vehicle, lost control, slid sideways into the westbound lane and collided with a white Ford pickup driven by Leonel Aguirre, 25, of Long Beach. The force of the impact caused the Chrysler to split apart. One portion of the car came to rest more than 100 feet from the other. The front of the pickup was smashed in. Aguirre sustained multiple fractures and was flown to Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley, Meyer said. The Chargers have finalized their Citizens Initiative to put a downtown stadium-convention center project funded primarily by Other Tourists Money, essentially an increase in the hotel tax on the November ballot. The initiative the draft of which is here will require 66,447 signatures from registered voters in the city of San Diego, or 10 percent of the number of registered voters as of the last city election, to qualify for the ballot. Our goal would be to collect considerably in excess of the required number of signatures to ensure that we will have in excess of what we need to qualify for the ballot, according to the statement released this morning by the Chargers, who posted this list of FAQs on their website. The plan, for a combined project located just to the southeast of Petco Park, calls for the Chargers to contribute $650 million into the project and sign a 30-year lease. Under the terms of the initiative, construction cannot begin until those stipulations were met. The remainder of the funding would come from the increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax to 16.5 percent, according to the initiative. The current hotel tax in the city of San Diego is 12.5 percent. No city or county general funds would be used toward the stadium. A recent state appeals court ruling raised the possibility that, contrary to the assumption that any tax increase in California requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass, a tax increase put on the ballot by citizens initiative would require only a majority. That would seem to make the Chargers task easier, though hardly a cakewalk. And theres always the possibility that opinion from the state Fourth District Court of Appeal might be overturned by the state Supreme Court. But for now, the Chargers have a path to a new stadium in San Diego, in their preferred location. Jeff Houlihan calls it the Disneyland experience. To make history relevant for younger generations, the curator of the March Field Air Museum wants to make every exhibit come alive. To make a museum interesting to the general population, they have to feel like theyre stepping into a different world, Houlihan said. If they feel like they have that, they will be engaged and they will learn. The museum, next to March Air Reserve Base near Riverside, features more than 70 aircraft and 30,000 artifacts including flight gear, simulators, uniforms, photos and letters. It opened in 1980 inside the bases former theater building. Lacking space to house its growing collection, the museum moved to a much larger spot the former commissary building less than a year later. In 1993, it moved to its current 26,880-square-foot site on the west side of the runway, next to the 215 and south of the Van Buren Boulevard exit. A second building opened in 2011 for educational programs and events. Graphic The museum, which attracts about 45,000 visitors a year, is funded by donations and gate receipts. The building chronicles the history of March Field, one of the main Army Air Force training centers during World Wars I and II. Its 78-year active duty military presence ended when it officially became a reserve base in 1996. Aviation pioneers made it a home. Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, performed publicity tours there. Henry Hap Arnold, considered the father of the modern Air Force, was the base commander in the 1930s. Its been at the center of the development of U.S. aviation since it was founded in 1918, Houlihan said. Almost anyone who is anybody in Air Force history has a connection to March Field. Exhibits aim to entertain all ages. A 6 year old can see a stuffed animal gremlin in the window of a commercial airplane while a young teen can sit in a flight simulator. A technology fan can look in awe at the Lockheed SR-71 A Blackbird, a Cold War-era intelligence gathering plane that could fly from Los Angeles to New York in about an hour. A history buff can learn all about strategic bombing attacks during World War II. Aviation has changed the face of warfare entirely, Houlihan said. We want to show how that happened and why it happened. Museum officials are restoring two planes: A B-52D Stratofortress that flew 175 combat missions over Vietnam, and the B-29A Superfortress used in the Pacific region during World War II. They are also creating an Iraq and Afghanistan mobile radar site with sound effects, helicopters, mine-resistant vehicles and equipment from those conflicts. The exhibit is patterned after the museums Vietnam Firebase, an outdoor simulation of the Vietnam experience. The display could open in about six months, Houlihan said. A replica of the interior of the 1944 March Field Officers Club, featuring Mission-style architectural details and restored light fixtures cast in bronze, is set to open this spring. Digital photo screens and audio elements make exhibits realistic, Houlihan said. Were always trying to update everything we do so you get a much more interactive experience, he said. As you go into each exhibit, youre stepping into a different time. Youre not looking at it. Youre part of it. Contact the writer: 951-368-9292 or swall@pressenterprise.com As expected, a U.S. magistrate judge has signed an order lifting a directive for Apple to help the FBI to circumvent data-security protections so agents could get into the iPhone 5c used by one of the terrorists in the Dec. 2 San Bernardino shooting. The order by Magistrate Judge Sherri Pym on Tuesday, March 29, comes a day after the government announced in a court filing that the phone had been hacked using an unidentified third-party to break into the phone, which had been issued by San Bernardino County to Syed Rizwan Farook, who worked as a county health inspector. The one-page order refers to the governments status report filed Monday, March 28, that revealed it no longer needed Apples court-ordered help to assist agents. The order noted the governments request for Apples help and Apples legal move to avoid helping the government were now considered moot. The conversation and legal maneuvering over privacy, national security and encryption are expected to continue in other courts where law enforcement agencies seek court orders to access cell phones for investigative purposes. The government has not described publicly how it accessed Farooks iPhone. There were some media reports last week that an Israeli company that specialized in encrypted device forensics had offered a possible solution to break into the phone. The Paris prosecutor says that a Frenchman arrested last week has been charged with a string of terrorism offenses for allegedly plotting an imminent attack. Francois Molins said Wednesday that the suspect, Reda Kriket, is accused of participating in a terrorist group with plans for at least one attack, possessing and transporting arms and explosives, and holding fake documents. Molins says Kriket is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2014 and 2015 and made several trips between France and Belgium. At least three other people are in custody in the case in Belgium and the Netherlands. Twenty swimmers from Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley were pulled out of the ocean by San Diego-area lifeguards on Tuesday afternoon during a beach training exercise. A fire and rescue official said they were rescued because of cold exposure and that two of the teens had to be taken to the hospital. But a school district spokesman said the reports of a rescue were blown up from what actually happened. Val Verde Unified School District spokesman Chris Wynn said he believed only one child was hospitalized. Thats all weve ever been informed of, is one, he said. Wynn said that student was accompanied to the hospital by her coach, which might be why some media outlets and officials believed there were two hospitalizations. Photos from San Diego-area media outlets show at least one person on a stretcher being wrapped in a blanket for warmth. Its unclear from those photos whether that person is the same person Wynn said was hospitalized. Wynn said the students had gone to the beach in La Jolla as part of their second annual beach training and that those students worked out training routines with lifeguards before entering the ocean in groups. During the time they were there, he said, a girl on the swim team had what appeared to be a panic attack. She and others were rounded up by lifeguards and brought to the beach, Wynn said. The girl was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, he said. He also said he didnt believe cold exposure had anything to do with why the 20 students were taken out of the water. This is a developing story. Check back for additional details. Contact the writer: 951-368-9693 or agroves@pressenterprise.com Patrol volunteers graduate from academy REDLANDS The Redlands Citizen Volunteer Patrol Academy held a graduation ceremony March 16 at Redlands City Hall. The nine-week academy trains volunteers in citation writing, radio procedure, crime scene management, report writing, traffic control, patrol vehicle driving, Emergency Operations Center operations and other areas. The Citizen Volunteer Patrol is a volunteer patrol force. Staff report MURRIETA Ingrid Adams, a junior at Great Oak High School, took the top prize in the Rotary Club of Murrietas Four-Way Test Speech Contest on March 17. Adams won $200 and advances to the Rotary District 5330 competition next month. Second place went to Fares Abdullah, a senior at Vista Murrieta High School, and third place to Murrieta Valley High School sophomore Ashley Gonzalez. Staff report RIVERSIDE Black Book Sessions will host a free creative festival for young artists and their families from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 2 at White Park. Artists between the ages of 9-23 can enter a contest by bringing a completed art work to the festival by 3:30 p.m. Prizes include art supplies and merchandise and in the ages 18-23 category, scholarships. The festival includes music, live performances, giveaways, recycable arts-and-crafts, sponsor booths and Q&A workshops with art mentors. Admission is free. Information: blackbooksessions.org Staff report Low-flow toilet exchange set HEMET Customers of the city of Hemets water department can exchange their old toilets for high-efficiency, low-flow models for no cost from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 2 at the citys corporate yard. Participants will need to show proof that they are city water department customers and be prepared to take a new toilet home. The old unit can be returned to the corporate yard after its been replaced. Hemet residents served by other districts are not eligible to participate. The yard is at 3777 Industrial Ave. Information: 951-765-3712. Craig Shultz REGION Mt. San Jacinto College will hold a Career and Job Fair Friday April 1 in the gym at its San Jacinto campus and on April 8 in Parking Lot C at the Menifee Valley campus. Both fairs are from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. An event notice says attendees should bring resumes and dress professionally. Information: Jessica Rodriguez (Menifee Valley campus) at 951-639-5285 or jrodriguez@msjc.edu or Cynthia Vargas (San Jacinto campus) at 951-487-3285 or cvargas@msjc.edu. Staff report MURRIETA The Commandeers Jazz Ensemble, part of the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West, will give a concert at 7 p.m. April 15 in the theater at Vista Murrieta High School, 28251 Clinton Keith Road. Free tickets are available at the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce, 26790 Ynez Court, Suite A, Temecula. Information: 951-676-5090. Staff report RIVERSIDE Gloria Swift, a teacher at Norte Vista High School, is the author of a new book, Thank You, Ms. Swift Its not about As and Bs. This is Swifts eighth book. Thank You, Ms. Swift is a 21-year collection of letters from students, parents, colleagues and administrators to an eductor, with a focus on grades. The book asks, is education all about grades? The book is for sale on amazon.com. Staff report Send items for possible inclusion in Community Notes to community@pressenterprise.com. A man who was critically injured in a shooting near the Riverside-Perris border that sent he and another to the hospital Monday night, March 29 has not improved as of 2 p.m. Tuesday. The two 25-year-olds were shot before 10:30 p.m. but Riverside County Sheriffs deputy Mike Vasquez said authorities still have yet to determine where exactly shots were fired. Authorities do know, however, that the crime scene was not in the city of Riverside. Vasquez said Riverside Police officers were helping to locate the victims Monday night, but sheriffs officials will investigate the shooting. The second victim was seriously injured but was stable as of Tuesday afternoon. He didnt know whether either victim was capable of being helpful with the investigation. Vasquez did not have any information on suspects, but did say that authorities are still seeking the publics help. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Perris Sheriffs Station at 951-210-1000. Amazon is planning to add more than 1,000 jobs to the region, announcing Wednesday that it will build a second fulfillment center in San Bernardino. The warehouse will be the companys seventh in the state, and third Amazon-related operation in San Bernardino, where the company launched its first California fulfillment center in 2012. San Bernardino has proven to be an important part of Amazons growth in California, and we are proud to continue creating jobs and helping support the economy here in the Inland Empire, said Akash Chauhan, Amazons vice president of North American operations, in a statement. Over the past 3 1/2 years, we have not only built a network of top-notch fulfillment centers across the state, but weve also provided continuing education classrooms on-site, generous paid parental leave benefits and leadership growth for associates in addition to competitive wages. Amazon currently counts more than 12,000 full-time employees at its six California fulfillment centers and plans to create more than 1,000 more full-time positions in the new San Bernardino facility. Outside of San Bernardino, Amazons other California fulfillment centers are located in Tracy, Patterson, Moreno Valley, Redlands and Rialto. Amazon also has a sorting facility in San Bernardino. Amazon employees at the new 1.1 million-square-foot San Bernardino facility will pick, pack and ship smaller items, such as books, electronics and toys, similar to the kind of products shipped from the existing San Bernardino fulfillment center. The Redlands site handles the larger items, such as appliances. Jay Prag, professor of economics and finance at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, said Wednesday the expansion of fulfillment centers by Amazon in the region is consistent with the growing popularity of online shopping over the past several years. From personal observation, I was in a major shopping mall yesterday, and its struck me that it was empty, Prag said. People arent shopping in the traditional brick-and-mortar stores unless they have a specialty. Prag said the addition of another Amazon center is another win for the Inland Empire economy. We will have retail jobs lost and distribution jobs gained, so that will be positive and negative, Prag said. I think its a net win because we got distribution jobs for the whole country because of our location relative to the ports. There will be more distribution jobs gained. Mayor R. Carey Davis of San Bernardino said the city is excited about its continued relationship and is proud to be part of Amazons history and future. The company continues hosting a robust public tours program, donating needed items and volunteer hours to local charities, and supporting local businesses on a regular basis, Davis said in a statement. In making its decision to place another fulfillment center in the state, Amazon indicated to the city that the region is a growing area for their services, said Monica Lagos, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino City Managers office. The arrival will offer residual benefits, too, Lagos said. It will not only create job opportunities but also have a positive impact on the surrounding businesses. (Employees will shop at) restaurants, gas stations and any service in the area. Full-time employees at Amazon, according to the company, receive competitive hourly wages and a comprehensive benefits package, including health care, a retirement plan and company stock awards, in addition to maternity and paternity leave benefits. Amazon offers regular full-time employees an education program called Career Choice, where it will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields of industry. Since the programs launch, employees have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, among others, the company said. At last, the concerns of neighbors of the Riverside Ag Park are being taken seriously. Thats thanks to new leadership in City Hall. City Manager John A. Russo on Monday asked for a public health study of people living in the neighborhoods around the Ag Park to see whether there are cancer clusters caused by PCBs discovered in the soil. Before Russo came to City Hall last year, local officials seemed not to take residents concerns about contamination on the site seriously, or to be content with letting a state agency handle the matter. Soon after Russo arrived, he issued a stop-work order halting construction of a housing tract on the site of a former sewage treatment plant and military installation. That was not an easy call considering that the state Department of Toxic Substances Control had certified the site as clean enough for housing to be built on it. But it turned out to be the right call. Testing last fall revealed that the soil was not cleaned up despite the certification. PCBs polychlorinated biphenyls apparently leftover from military or industrial operations remained in the soil where a 108-home tract was to go in. The Arlanza areas new councilman, John Burnard, also has taken an interest in the Ag Park problems since taking office last June. When I reached him by phone Tuesday, he lauded local residents persistence in seeking answers about contamination they suspected remained in the soil, and how it was affecting their health. The folks that are bringing this up theyre good people, Burnard said. I do respect that they keep bringing this up. Thats a refreshing change from prior administrations. The state Department of Toxic Substances Control flubbed the cleanups in 2009 and 2013. The same agency is overseeing a third cleanup, just getting under way. That does not inspire confidence. Hopefully, DTSC has learned from its mistakes. DTSC Director Barbara A. Lee, who just took the helm last fall, told the City Council two weeks ago that the agency had focused the first two cleanups on parcels where houses will be built. Soil outside the footprints of the lots wasnt tested. That soil was presumed to be clean and was moved onto the home sites as fill dirt after the cleanups, developer Bob Beers told me Tuesday. He believes thats how contamination showed up in spots thought to have been cleaned in 2009 and 2013. Burnard thinks so, too. He said Lee told the council that PCBs are sticky and bind very well with soil. They had to have been mechanically pushed around, he said. The developer has poured $16 million into the cleanups so far, Beers said, adding that it is committed to doing the job right. The expectation was selling the lots would reimburse it for out-of-pocket costs, he said. With cleanup work continuing, that may not pan out. Residents of the neighborhoods around the Ag Park fear that dust blowing off the site during the cleanup operations may have carried PCBs into their homes. They blame it for cancers and other health problems. DTSC doesnt support that claim. Spokesman Tim Reese said air samples were taken daily and tested for PCBs every day for the first two weeks of each cleanup and every week thereafter. No PCBs were detected, he said. I asked him whether air monitoring will be conducted during this third cleanup to make sure dust doesnt carry into homes. He said it will, and the developer must work with regional air-quality regulators to follow proper procedures. Its a shame it took the better part of a decade for the concerns of people living near the Ag Park site to be given the weight that they should have. Residents often have difficulty being taken seriously when they raise environmental concerns, local advocate Penny Newman told me. Her group, the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, was founded 30 years ago when she and other mothers in Mira Loma brought to light contamination from the Stringfellow Acid Pits in their neighborhood. They were treated as hysterical women who didnt know anything, she said. That kind of hubris and dismissiveness should have gone extinct in three decades. Fortunately, some public officials grasp the wisdom of their constituents. Theyre sometimes are more right than the bureaucrats charged with looking out for public health and safety. Contact the writer: 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@pressenterprise.com The FBIs discovery of a way to hack into the phone of one of the San Bernardino killers may not be the master key that allows prosecutors across the country to unlock iPhones in hundreds of more ordinary criminal cases. The FBI may not quickly share the technique it used with local law enforcement agencies, New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said Tuesday. And even if it does, the hack may be too expensive for district attorneys offices, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has said. Also, technology experts said it is not at all certain whether the technique can work with other types of iPhones. While the San Bernardino case involved an extremist attack Dec. 2 that killed 14 people, investigators across the U.S. are seeking access to iPhones in drug cases and other crimes, arguing that encryption features prevent them from gathering valuable information such as the identity of the person a victim last talked to or texted. This is really a victims rights issue, said District Attorney Daniel Conley in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, which includes Boston. A lot of people view this through a national security lens and that is important, but my job is to serve victims of crime, and a lot of them arent going to get the opportunity for justice they deserve. Conley said his office has more than 50 phones it has warrants for but cant crack. This isnt just an issue resonating in California or New York. The decision by these companies unilaterally to encrypt these devices and make them warrant-proof is going to have a significant impact on prosecutions around the country, Vance said in a recent interview. Vance told Congress earlier this month that other district attorneys are facing similar challenges. He cited Harris County, Texas, saying the DA there last year encountered more than 100 encrypted Apple devices in cases involving human trafficking, street crime and sexual assault. Vance said Chicagos Cook County cyber lab received 30 encrypted devices in a recent two-month span, and the Connecticut Division of Scientific Services has encountered 46 encrypted Apple devices. The Justice Department declined through a spokeswoman to comment Tuesday. But a law enforcement official said the FBI would continue to aid its local and state partners with gaining evidence in cases implying that the method used in the San Bernardino case would be shared with them. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to publicly comment. Vance and other law enforcement officials, though, have called for a federal law governing when a company can be forced to help authorities unlock a phone. A workable balance between privacy and public safety can only be set by Congress, he said in a statement Tuesday. Bratton, too, said the FBIs success in breaking into gunman Syed Farooks iPhone without Apples help does not do away with the need for a comprehensive solution. They may have dealt with this one, he said, but there will be others coming down the pike very quickly. A bill that would give prosecutors 20 days notice to petition for state hospital commitments of sexually violent predators unanimously passed the Assembly this week. Assembly Bill 1906, introduced by Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, would close a loophole in the existing law, which has no prescribed timeline to notify the district attorneys office for a commitment hearing. The bill now moves to the Senate Public Safety Committee. Sexually violent predators must be thoroughly scrutinized prior to release, Melendez said Tuesday, March 29, in a statement. Current law is putting every single community at risk, if not corrected. Melendez cited the case of Lake Elsinore killer John Albert Gardner III as a reason behind her legislation. Gardner pleaded guilty in 2010 to killing Amber Dubois, 14, of Escondido, and Chelsea King, 17, of Poway, and is serving a life term. Before the murders, Gardner had violated parole for an earlier molestation conviction. He was not sent back to prison and was not evaluated for commitment as a sexually violent predator, state officials have said. A small percentage of sex offenders are sexually violent predators, which involves a diagnosed mental illness that makes that person a danger to others and the likelihood to reoffend. Inmates suspected of being sexually violent predators undergo a six-month evaluation by the Department of State Hospitals at the end of their prison sentence. If they are deemed a threat to society, the district attorney in the county where the inmate was convicted must petition for a commitment hearing. But many times, prosecutors are not notified until the day before the inmates release, said Sean Hoffman, director of legislation for the California District Attorneys Association in Sacramento, a sponsor of the bill. That doesnt give prosecutors enough time to review and prepare the case and transport the prisoner, usually from Coalinga State Hospital north of Bakersfield, he said. In Los Angeles County between February and October 2015, there were 14 cases of late notice, Hoffman said. All but one of them we were able to pick up the person (for a hearing) even with late notice. There was one case where the filing request was submitted too late for us to file a petition for civil commitment and the person was released, he said. Contact the writer: jzimmerman@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9586 Latino students from throughout Southern California will gather at Cal State San Bernardino Wednesday, March 30, to discuss ways to be more inclusive. Black Brown Indigenous Unity is the theme of the seventh-annual Latino Education & Advocacy Days (LEAD) summit. The group was honored by the White House in 2015. Enrique Murillo, founder and executive director of LEAD and a professor of education at Cal State San Bernardino, founded the summit in 2010 to help tackle the gap that exists between the educational attainment of Latinos and other Americans. Murillo said this years theme reflects the educational disparities affecting both Latino and black students. Even though we say Latino education, were not claiming to be or wanting to be separatists, Murillo said. The crisis is shared equally among black and of course other indigenous people, so we made a special effort this year to talk about that black and brown unity, he added. The conference has attracted big names in education, including university and college presidents and school-district officials. This year, Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles, and Maulana Karenga, professor and chairman of the Department of Africana Studies at Cal State Long Beach, will be the featured speakers. Murillo said organizers are expecting about 1,300 people to attend the event at the Santos Manuel Student Union Events Center. Some of the panels will focus on the similarities between indigenous communities. Another panel will detail how a school district and university integrate ethnic studies in their curriculum. The free event goes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact the writer: 951-368-9462 or amolina@pressenterprise.com If The LAD Bible taught us anything yesterday ( we know ), its that you never know what someone else is going through. (See: their Wentworth Miller meme and subsequent apology.) Its a valuable lesson, to be sure, and one that is already coming into play down here in Oz. Yesterday a 38-year-old hiker had to be winched by helicopter down from Mt Warning in New South Wales, to the cost of thousands of dollars and with the help of 20 rescue workers. Dubbed the unfit hiker by the media, he was widely criticised for his apparent lack of foresight when attempting the climb, and publicly condemned by a Tweed Rescue duty officer as being unprepared for the hike. If the weather didnt clear we were going to have to carry a 115kg man down the mountain, the rescue officer said, describing the job of rescuing him as frivolous. Today, the hiker hit back at these remarks, explaining to the Gold Coast Bulletin that he is an army vet who froze at Mt Warnings peak due to post-traumatic stress disorder and that he was disgusted to hear rescue workers belittling his condition. Identifying himself as Aaron Dogga (the Gold Coat Bulletin agreed not to publish his last name), he said: Once I hit the top, thats when my PTSD really took over and it took all my strength not to take the easy way out and leave it all behind me. I sat up there for what felt like about two hours, trying to relax and compose myself. I tried three times to start going back down but my brain wouldnt let me move. There was a great group of three lads that tried to help me but they insisted I call 000. The last on the phone said possible dehydration but I know the signs and symptoms and peed clear, didnt have a headache, and I still had water with me. Dogga said he was first diagnosed with PTSD in 2006 after badly injuring his spine in a horrific army vehicle crash. He went on to serve two tours in Afghanistan, during which his close friend Lance Corporal Andrew Jones was killed by a sniper in 2011. Dogga, who was medically discharged in 2014, said he was upset that rescue workers assumed hed only got into trouble because he ignored warning signs and was ill-prepared with no food and just a little water. I had plenty of water, a salad wrap, an apple and a muesli bar, he said. I am upset because PTSD is a real condition. Source: Gold Coast Bulletin. Photo: Gold Coast Bulletin. If youre struggling with PTSD and want to chat to someone, call BeyondBlue on 1300 22 4636 or veterans and their loved ones can contact the Veterans and Veterans Family Counselling Service on 1800 011 046. The Living Hope online community has been running for over a two decades and requires a lengthy application process and approval from moderators. Sitting fraudulently behind my keyboard, Im asked about my relationship with Christ and the nature of my same-sex attraction. The terms and conditions are cult-like in their span and vigour; banning private communication between members so as to avoid further relational brokenness and the potential dangers of SSA (their way of making Same-Sex Attraction sound like an illness to be cured). Founded in 1989, the forum is only one of the many services offered by the Living Hope Ministry. Their mission is to help proclaim Gods truth for those who are seeking sexual and relational wholeness through a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. In plain English, its a gay conversion group gone digital and its growing rapidly. There are currently 8,485 members internationally, surmounting over 1 million posts. As mainstream gay conversion and ex-gay therapy groups are slowly forced underground, more young people than ever are moving online to seek healing of their sexuality. It takes 48-hours for my application (made under a less-than-creative pseudonym) to be approved. I first receive an email from DAnne Davis, the Director of Womens Ministry at Living Hope, and an administrator for the forums. Shes quick to lay down the ground rules. Because you assured our gatekeepers of your desire to turn away from Same Sex Attractions and Emotional Dependencies, we expect that you will also be willing to use discretion in how much detail you use when describing the situations surrounding the behaviour and thought life that you are attempting to forsake, she writes. In other words, dont detail your temptations. This kind of detail can potentially intensify the struggle for your fellow strugglers here. Phase One complete Im in. Before immersing myself completely in the digital nether regions, I catch up for a chat with openly gay psychiatrist and author, Dr. Mark Cross. Im interested in learning more about the correlations between mental health and sexuality as well as gaining some insight into why organisations like Living Hope continue to exist. Of course someone who is young and hasnt had any positive role-modelling will be lured or seduced by the notion that they can be normal, given their non-understanding of what normal is, he explains. Anyone can call themselves a counsellor after a weekend course. This group of whack-jobs become semi-legitimised by the view that homosexuality is an ego-dystonic label which is an old freudian concept despite the fact that scientists and psychologists have reached a consensus that sexuality is predetermined. Dr. Mark Cross. (Photo: ABC.) The problems arise when these people have an agenda. Its an insidious and incredibly dangerous thing. Everyone with a mind wants to question who they are and what theyre here for. Theyre taking advantage of that. Lurking on some of the forums recent threads, its quickly apparent that one of the binding beliefs of Living Hope is that homosexuality is always the direct result of childhood abuse. This appears to be a clear source of relief to most active users, considering it abolishes any personal or biological responsibility for their sinful thoughts, feelings and desires. Somewhat conveniently, this abuse can often be so repressed that most members seem completely unable to directly recall their personal experiences, and openly pray for enlightenment. Ricky, the Executive Director of Living Hope, has pinned a list to the top of the message board: The Keys To Your Success. The post appears to be the definitive go-to for those needing instant guidance and reassurance in times of temptation. These keys there are a total of 16 include the following: 1. Accept that its not going to be easy. Change that challenges our known comfort zone is difficult and painful. You are changing not just one isolated habit, but a collection of thoughts and behaviors that have made up your relational pattern for a lifetime. 2. Pursue the right motivation. Making your family happy wont do it; saving your marriage wont do it; not hurting anymore wont do it. The only motivation adequate to see you through recovery from same-sex attraction (SSA) is complete abandonment to that aching need to live continually in an incredibly intimate one-on-one relationship with God Himself. 3. Accept that you must make sacrifices to be free and healthy. Recovery and healing always involve crucifying the flesh (Gal. 5:24), giving up things that are dear to you but which serve to prop open doors to spiritual bondage and repeated failures. God may ask you to give up friends, social contacts, your career, hobbies, dreams, and desires. 4. Trust and obey. There are no shortcuts to these two commands. Homosexual and lesbian lifestyles are built around trusting oneself or depending completely on someone else, not the kind of abandonment to Gods heart and intentions for us that characterise trust. Its troubling to read, especially when considering the age of members (some claim to be as young as fourteen), that the community so actively encourages the severing of all relationships that stand in the way of sexual salvation. The responses are those of overwhelming gratitude, just as one might expect to find in an online support group for alcoholism or quitting tobacco. The only difference is that these people arent battling life-threatening addictions or illnesses. Theyre just gay. A screenshot of the Living Hope community board. You have kids who have been traumatised, who do actually have difficulty working out their own identity, says Dr. Cross. These are the ones who can get caught up in organisations like this. They want to belong somewhere and have difficulty with emerging sexuality issues. Its not surprising that these places flourish. Who doesnt want to fit in? Young people are completely traumatised by rejection and bullying on social media theres a huge pressure to be normalised. Scrolling through a few more posts, I cant help but think of how much these young people wouldve gained from having access to a program such as Safe Schools; a place to learn about sexuality and gender away from familial pressures and religious influences. Instead, theyre now turning their backs on society, typing up long winded monologues detailing shameful slip-ups with P (pornography) and M (masturbation). My attraction to the opposite sex is about as close to zero as you can get, writes one new member in his introductory post. Ive fantasised about guys but dont have the desire to have sex with one or be in a relationship with one. Im hopelessly confused. Its only by the grace of God Ive never actually been physical with a guy. I think He knows that with my all-in personality, Id be speeding down that highway to hell in gasoline soaked underwear. The fact that you can be here is already a miracle and a part of Gods plan, replies one member with 110 posts to his name. Some hours later and there are dozens of responses ranging from short welcomes, to personalised prayers and long-form inspirational success stories. To my disgruntlement, its suddenly a little easier for me to understand the forums broad appeal: this bizarre group of mouse-clicking Bible-bashers truly present as accepting and supportive towards one-another in a way all humans instinctually crave. New recruits are caught at their most frightened and vulnerable; often living in strictly religious households with nobody else to confide in. And with that, its finally time for my very own introduction post something Ive been eagerly anticipating and quietly dreading simultaneously. My chosen name is John Teddy Davis although to them Ill simply be known as John. The message, which is part creative-writing and part lazy-composite of the dozens of posts Ive already read like it, went just like this: Hello everyone. So after a day of nervously reading through the forums (easing myself in, I suppose) I finally feel ready to introduce myself. My names John, Im 24 years old and from Australia (so pretty far away and isolated)! Ive been struggling with same-sex attraction since my teens. These urges were only made worse when my parents divorced unexpectedly, which sent me into a bit of a tailspin. I stopped going to Church I even stopped praying. Even though I hated myself for it, I regularly succumbed to my SSA feelings and began engaging sexually with a number of men. Men became like a drug; they made me feel incredible for a night, but left me feeling sick to my stomach the following morning. Recently I decided enough was enough. Ive started to develop romantic feelings for a guy I once slept with Which obviously left me feeling more confused and conflicted than ever Im so sick of feeling like this and want so desperately to reconnect with my faith and overcome this, the steepest of hills. Any thoughts, prayers, advice or encouragement would be so greatly appreciated. Ive been feeling incredibly lonely throughout it all and am not really sure where else to seek help. Having recently moved, Im no longer familiar with the local church community and am terrified of their possible judgements. John I sit back and wait for what I figure will surely be an onslaught of responses, anxiously hitting refresh in boozy five-minute intervals. An hour passes still nothing. Were they somehow onto me? Was I not repressed enough for the repression club? But then came the first reply, which was soon followed by a second and third: Welcome, John!!!! Im glad you found us! Were here to support you and love you as we walk together towards Jesus. I understand the confusion that comes with having romantic feelings for a guy. This is hard, but the God of the universe is on our side. Cheer up, John. This is just the beginning of something beautiful ( Isaiah 43:18-19)!!!!!! Aside from the forum, live sidebar chat-room, and clear penchant for exclamation points, the site also holds ticketed events. Their annual Youth Retreat costs $240 (Blessed bargain!) and is exclusive to members of the Living Hope community. Forum moderators suggest that members book in advance to avoid disappointment apparently allocations are often exhausted. The emoji-filled excitement that ensues could really only be likened to a 14-year-old girl securing front-row meet-and-greet tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, and Im immediately reminded of the ever-expanding cash-machine Ive found myself caught-up in. These people are providing a service, and you better believe they mean business. Now, if there exists living proof of an alternative to Gay Conversion Therapy, New York-based writer and digital activist Wade Addison might just be it. I met Wade in the Brooklyn offices of Hello Mr magazine several years ago, and have since followed his blogging efforts keenly. My parents were born, bred, and educated in a very conservative environment a form of protestant Christianity called the Churches of Christ which some, such as myself, would label as a cult. He tells me via email. There are a thousand nuances and lessons they originally taught me or at lest interpretations of scripture that resulted in me having negative relationships with not just my sexuality, but also with my money, my body, my time, my energy, and with men. Wade Addison being openly gay and dreamy in New York. (Photo: Nate Poekert.) So what advice does Wade offer to those who are currently participating in (or considering) Gay Conversion Therapy? Move on and tackle other issues. I dont mean to dismiss your hurt and pain its valid and must be recognised yet those elements cannot define you. Trying to heal or cure your sexuality is useless, because its not something that needs healing or curing. Once you realise you are worthy and loveable just as you are, youll see that your sexuality cannot hold you back and that it can no longer suppress you. Its just another beautiful, complex and purposeful element of your being. Im sorry (albeit slightly relieved) to report that my impulsive venture into the digital quicksands of Gay Conversion Therapy ended as abruptly as it began. I was banned from the Living Hope online community less than five days after being initially accepted. Soon after posting my introduction, I was notified of another long-term member who lived in Sydney and despite being aware of the groups strict policies surrounding private contact messaged him directly with hopes of eventually meeting face-to-face. He didnt respond to my message. Instead, he promptly reported me to the forum moderators who issued an immediate ban on my username, email and IP address. Living Hope? More like Living Nope. Apparently this group of self-confessed sinners cant afford to break any more rules. (P.S. Im still pretty fucking gay.) This article has been republished with permission from HeapsGay.com. Samuel Leighton-Dore is the Editor of Heaps Gay. Hes a writer interested in sex, dating and mental health, particularly within the LGBTQI community. His childrens book I Think Im A Poof was released earlier this year, and we had a chat to him about it. Burton Cummings poses for a photograph at Massey Hall in Toronto on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. Reflecting on an industry in which rock legends are constantly tested by their personal highs and lows, the 68-year-old former Guess Who frontman says he's lucky to still be around to witness his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame on Friday in recognition of his 40-year solo career. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Matthew Sherwood FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2016 file photo, Vice President Joe Biden introduces a performance by Lady Gaga at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Lady Gaga and Biden are bringing their act to Las Vegas for an event raising awareness about sexual assault. The pop star and the vice president will hold a rally at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on April 7. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Dukanovic lays a wreath for the victims of the Maelbeek metro station, during his visit to the EU in Brussels, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The death toll from the bombing at the airport and the metro station stands at 32, with more than 60 people still in hospital, some very seriously ill. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Mexico sets in 8pct low local content rule for deep water oil projects The new content minimums for deep water projects are far lower than for onshore and shallow water projects, which top out at 35 percent. MEXICO CITY Petroleumworld.com 03 30 2016 Oil companies operating in Mexico's deep waters must use national suppliers for 8 percent of the projects by 2025, the government said on Tuesday, a relatively low rate meant to encourage foreign and private firms to bid on contracts. Mexico's oil regulator has scheduled its first-ever deep water auction in early December for 10 blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, after constitutional amendments in 2013 ended a nearly eight-decade monopoly by state oil firm Pemex. The low rate would allow companies to rely less on Mexican suppliers, which have limited expertise in the country's largely unexplored deep waters. The rule set a 3 percent minimum in 2015, which covered the few projects operated by Pemex, that would rise to a maximum of 8 percent in 2025, according to a statement in the government's official gazette. The content minimums are far lower than for onshore and shallow water projects, which top out at 35 percent. Luis Miguel Labardini, an oil analyst with Mexico City-based energy consultancy Marcos y Asociados, described the rule as "very reasonable," particularly when compared to those in countries like Brazil. "I think it's a good sign that will give international operators flexibility," he said. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is asking junior doctors to end strike action and the government to suspend its imposition of the new working contract to protect patient welfare. In a statement, backed by all 22 member colleges and faculties, the Academy described a time of unprecedented crisis for the NHS, and called on both sides to step back from the brink by suspending imposition of the contract and the all-out strike and urge a return to negotiations. We believe that this is essential if the current impasse is to be broken and progress made in resolving this extremely damaging stand-off for the benefit of all NHS stakeholders, particularly our patients and trainees. The call comes after the British Medical Association announced last week that strike action was being stepped up to include a full walk-out by junior doctors, including those working in A&E, in April. The Union said further dates of industrial action are planned for April 6 - 8, during which time only emergency care will be provided, and April 26 and 27, when there will now be a full withdrawal of labour between the house of 8am and 5pm on both days. We deeply regret the disruption to patients and our message to patients is clear; this action is wholly avoidable but the government must choose talks over imposition, said Johann Malawana, BMA junior doctor committee chair. Commenting on the situation, Maureen Baker, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: We are shocked it has come to this. We continue to support the vital role our junior doctors play and hope that both sides will get back round the table to find a resolution. The actions of the Government are crucial in achieving this. The 14 community colleges in the state and the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities Wednesday signed a statewide reverse transfer agreement, PASSHE reported. The agreement will allow students who have earned at least 60 total credits to apply for an associates degree from the community college where they started. PASSHE said receiving the degree could immediately enhance a students earning potential while working toward a bachelors degree or other certification or credential. The State System universities and the community colleges are natural partners, said State System Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. This agreement is another example of how we can work together on behalf of students all across the Commonwealth. Its a win-win for everyone. PASSHE said that while many students initially enroll in a community college stay long enough to earn an associates degree before transferring to a four-year college, some students leave before earning that degree, either to transfer or go directly into the workforce. The reverse transfer program would help the latter group still studying at a state university. Several State System universities already have reverse transfer agreements in place with their neighboring community college. This new agreement expands the program statewide, making it available to many more students across Pennsylvania, said Millersville University of Pennsylvania President John Anderson. Students who began their post-secondary education at any community college in the state and earned a minimum of 45 credits before transferring to a state university can participate in the new program. A student must have enrolled at a state university within five years of leaving the community college and have earned at least 15 additional credits at the university to be considered for the program. PASSHE said the university credits will be transferred back to the community college and applied to the requirements for the associates degree. The first degrees could be awarded through the program as early as this summer, and the state universities will identify eligible students once they complete 60 total credits. MEDIA QUESTIONNAIRE Name of Publication Established (Give exact date) ADDRESS TELEPHONE FAX NO NAME OF EDITOR Name of Printer Language Frequency Please attach a copy of declaration certificate Off Days Please specify whether morning, evening or state the date of issue Date on which the first issue was brought out Any special edition Price per copy Annual subscription Editorial Objectives and policy Appeal to any special community, class or section News services subscribed to Special regular features (i.e Womens or Children page etc) & when appearing Out and About Audio Article Atascosa County Anti-Bullying Rally Oct. 19 Poteet Strawberry Festival grounds, main pavilion, 6-8 p.m. Guest speaker Batman & Co. and... JISD Supt. McAllister announces retirement Audio Article The retirement of Jourdanton ISD Superintendent Theresa McAllister was announced at the meeting of the school board held on Oct.... -- -- VS 24-1 (4.0) 24-1 (4.0) Our Divisions Copyright 2022-23 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. Photo: San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office Authorities say a Southern California woman has pleaded guilty to hanging seven mannequins with the names of deputies and bull's-eye targets drawn on them, reports CBS News. CBS Los Angeles reported that San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies responded to calls of seven mannequins hanging in various locations in the Crestline and Cedarpines Park communities on Feb. 18, according to sheriff's spokesman Gil Flores. The San Bernardino Sun reports that Sarah Stewart pleaded guilty to resisting an executive officer by means of threats and violence. Sarah Stewart pleaded guilty to resisting an executive officer by means of threats and violence. (Photo: San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office) According to court documents, the 36-year-old Stewart has an extensive criminal history and was on parole for a burglary conviction when she was arrested in February. The documents say she has ties to local white supremacists and drug dealers. She is facing four years in state prison. James Adam Sherlin (Photo: Catoosa County Sheriff's Office) When he stepped out of his mother's shower and opened the bathroom door Sunday night, police say, James Adam Sherlin found four members of the Catoosa County (GA) Sheriff's Office and a state trooper staring at him, reports the Chattanooga Times/Free Press. He tried to retreat to the safety of the bathroom. But as he shut the door behind him, law enforcement barged forward, forcing themselves inside. Sheriff Gary Sisk said Deputy Keith Cantrell tackled Sherlin, and the two men wrestled in the shower. There, where he had just cleaned himself, Sherlin kept a .22-caliber pistol. "There was water in the tub," Sisk said. "They were scrambling for the gun. Sherlin got a hold of it." During a news conference Monday morning, the sheriff said he was not sure exactly where the two men's hands were during their fight, but Cantrell and Sherlin were both face down. Cantrell was on top. Another deputy deployed a Taser, but the fight continued. Sherlin had reached for his gun, and Cantrell's hands were almost on top of the pistol, as well. Sherlin, 29, reached back and fired. He sliced Cantrell's left ring finger, Sisk said, but the bullet also hit the shooter, just below his own left arm. Other deputies then handcuffed Sherlin, who tried kicking himself free to no avail. They took him to Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, where doctors treated him and sent him back to jail. Cantrell, meanwhile, went to Erlanger Health System. Doctors there treated him and sent him home. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman this morning explained why officers were justified in the November shooting and killing of Jamar Clark. (Photo: Screen shot from live coverage of news conference by KARE TV) No charges will be filed against the two Minneapolis officers involved in the shooting death last November of Jamar Clark, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday morning. Freeman disclosed his decision in a downtown Minneapolis news conference two weeks after bypassing the more common option of letting a grand jury make a charging determination, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports. Freeman said the evidence supports the officers' account of the confrontation, in which they said Clark grabbed one of their guns and that he was not handcuffed at the time he was shot. Freeman said Officer Mark Ringgenberg was trying to arrest Clark and Clark was resisting. Ringgenberg and Clark went to the ground with Ringenberg falling on his back on top of Clark. Forensic evidence, including DNA on the grip of Officer Ringgenberg's gun, corroborate the officers' account that Clark grabbed Ringgenberg's pistol and tried to disarm him, pulling the gun around to the small of Ringgenberg's back where he could not fight off the gun grab. Ringgenberg said to his partner, "He's got my gun." Ringgenberg's partner at the scene, Officer Dustin Schwarze, put his pistol to Clark's face and ordered Clark to release Ringgenberg's pistol or Schwarze would shoot him. Clark replied, "I'm ready to die." Schwarze then attempted to shoot Clark but his weapon would not fire because the slide would not go into battery. He pulled the trigger again and fired a single shot striking Clark in the head. Clark was transported to the hospital where he died. Freeman spent part of his press conference explaining how Minnesota law and federal law justified Officer Schwarze's shooting of Clark. He said, "disarming or attempting to disarm a police officer is a Minnesota felony." He also said Schwarze's use of deadly force was "objectively reasonable" given the totality of circumstances. Clark, 24, a black man, was shot and killed by police on the night of Nov. 15. The shooting led to international attention, widespread local protests, and an 18-day encampment outside the police departments Fourth Precinct in north Minneapolis, near the site of the shooting. Black Lives Matter has announced it will hold a rally at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Elliot Park in Minneapolis, KARE TV reports. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Republicans Ted Cruz and Donald Trump put on such a horrid display at the CNN Town Hall in Wisconsin that they may have just gotten a Democrat elected to be the next President Of The United States. For anyone who thought that Sen. Cruz (R-TX) would be a better choice than Trump, the CNN town hall happened. Video of Cruz: https://youtu.be/zjCX-Y5qsKo?t=4m57s Cruz refused to walk back his call to police and patrol Muslim neighborhoods. Anderson Cooper asked Cruz about his call to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods. First, Cruz tried to change the subject and blame President Obama. Cruz repeated his attack line that Obama wont say fundamental Islamic terrorism. Cruz said that what his plans means is that, we target the enemy, and accused Democrats of playing a politically correct game. Cooper pointed out that the New York Police Commissioner said that the plan Cruz is touting failed in New York and that his claim that it would be a success was complete bunk. What was missing in Cruzs answer was a flat out denial that he would police Muslim neighborhoods in the United States. Later in the same interview, Cruz made it clear that his answer to the drug and opioid addiction was to take healthcare away from veterans by privatizing the VA. Ted Cruz had a rough town hall. At one point, Cruz got his home state wrong. Cruz said that his home state was Florida while discussing the Ft. Hood massacre. Cruz was light years better than Trump, who was a total disaster. Trump began his appearance by proclaiming that he would not fire his campaign manager who battered a reporter. Trump then immediately went birther and claimed that Ted Cruzs home state may be Canada. Trump accused the reporter who his campaign manager battered of possibly carrying a bomb. Donald Trump later delivered the argument of a five-year-old in the words of Anderson Cooper when he claimed that Ted Cruz started their feud. Trump answered a question about protecting the constitutional rights of religious minorities by claiming that he doesnt have, a fast trigger for war, which was a total dodge. Trump delivered no policy substance, but he did manage to lie about his inheritance from his father which was really $40 million, not $1 million. Trump was asked what were the top three functions of government, and one of his answers included healthcare, education, and security then he changed his answer to security, security, security. Cooper busted Trump for lying about his campaign being completely self-funded. Trump rambled on. He avoided questions and discussed absolutely no policy. It didnt seem possible, but Donald Trumps segment was worse than Ted Cruz. Republicans thought that they would be safer holding town halls than presidential debates, and they were wrong. The top two Republican candidates made a great argument for supporting the Democratic nominee. The town hall was a total disaster. Neither of the top two Republican candidates is electable, and there is no sense in discussing John Kasich because he will never be the nominee. Both Cruz and Trump looked like they would be blown off of the stage in a debate against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Between Cruzs extremism and Trumps empty headed fluffibuster, anyone who watched this town hall saw why there is no big tent in the Republican Party. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz were so bad in this town hall that they may have just gotten the Democratic nominee elected in November. President Obama showed Republicans what real moral leadership looks like while striking down Donald Trumps campaign of bigotry and fear at the annual Easter Prayer Breakfast. Video: https://youtu.be/oVM4mJMiZOg The President said: Now, as Joe said, in light of recent events, this gathering takes on more meaning. Around the world, we have seen horrific acts of terrorism, most recently Brussels, as well as what happened in Pakistan innocent families, mostly women and children, Christians and Muslims. And so our prayers are with the victims, their families, the survivors of these cowardly attacks. And as Joe mentioned, these attacks can foment fear and division. They can tempt us to cast out the stranger, strike out against those who dont look like us, or pray exactly as we do. And they can lead us to turn our backs on those who are most in need of help and refuge. Thats the intent of the terrorists, is to weaken our faith, to weaken our best impulses, our better angels. And Pastor preached on this this weekend, and I know all of you did, too, as I suspect, or in your own quiet ways were reminded if Easter means anything, its that you dont have to be afraid. We drown out darkness with light, and we heal hatred with love, and we hold on to hope. And we think about all that Jesus suffered and sacrificed on our behalf scorned, abandoned shunned, nail-scarred hands bearing the injustice of his death and carrying the sins of the world. And its difficult to fathom the full meaning of that act. Scripture tells us, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Because of Gods love, we can proclaim Christ is risen! Because of Gods love, we have been given this gift of salvation. Because of Him, our hope is not misplaced, and we dont have to be afraid. And as Christians have said through the years, We are Easter people, and Alleluia is our song! We are Easter people, people of hope and not fear. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print It has been well over a decade since Americas media actually did their job or practiced even responsible journalism. Instead of reporting the news based on facts and reality, various forms of media design, manufacture, and propagate news the people want to hear. This is not about op-eds or political commentary; it is about not reporting accurately and not holding politicians accountable for their sophistry. Unfortunately, those practices have produced a media more concerned with feeding into their readers fear and hate than informing the populace. This includes giving politicians an open, and free, forum to stoke that fear and hate with more lies, divisiveness and unbelievably fantastic proposals with no explanation of how they will enact them. The only reason politicians and candidates lie profusely and make outrageous assertions is because the media never calls them out or demands they explain how they will put their fantastical proposals into action. Since there is freedom of the press in America, there is little anyone can do to coerce the media towards responsible journalism. As usual, it was left to President Obama to use a journalism award dinner to deliver a stern rebuke of the media and its role in not holding 2016 presidential candidates accountable for unworkable plans. Although some pundits assume the President was alluding to the leading Republican candidates, particularly Donald Trump, one cannot help but believe his unworkable plans remark extended to the Democratic side. The President said, A job well done is about more than just handing someone a microphone. It is to probe and to question and to dig deeper and to demand more. The electorate would be better served if that happened. It would be better served if billions of dollars in free media came with serious accountability. Especially when politicians issue unworkable plans or make promises they cant keep. Im not the only one who may be more than a little dismayed about whats happening on the campaign trail right now. The divisive and often vulgar rhetoric thats aimed at everybody, as well as the deafening silence from too many of our leaders and the sense that facts dont matter, that theyre not relevant, that what matters is how much attention you can generate, the sense that this is a game as opposed to the most precious gift our founders gave us, this collective enterprise of self-government. President Obama is absolutely right, and except for not calling out the offenders by name, candidates and media alike, there is little anyone concerned about the state of affairs in American politics could possibly hope to add. What one can comment on, though, is that the media is giving both sides millions of dollars in free media time without ever questioning how a candidate will keep their promises, or explain how they will ever get their unworkable plans put into action in a fiercely divided political environment. As much as the media helping fueling hatred and bigotry is a giant issue, and it is a giant issue, it is their allowing candidates to avoid in-depth questions where the media is failing; both the well-being of the American people as well as the collective enterprise of self-government. There are far too many Americans voting, or planning to vote, for candidates without a clue as to how they will ever get their proposals put into action. And no; just repeating Im just telling it like it is or parroting we need a political revolution are not valid explanations about how a prospective president will convince a highly-partisan legislature to build a giant wall along the Southern border or give free healthcare and a college education to every American. Those prospects sound marvelous to each candidates supporters, and likely to many Americans, but the media has a responsibility to the American people to demand answers from those politicians regardless their party affiliation. The very least the media could do is ask candidates how they intend to push their particularly partisan proposals through a legislative branch that is fiercely divided by partisan ideology. Politicians are wont to complain about corporate media and this or that bias, but they never mind or complain about the free media time. The President may be a little off on the billions of dollars in free airtime, but it is beyond dispute that on-air face time on Sunday political shows is priceless. In fact, one of the two candidates complaining loudly about the biased corporate media actually has more free, on-air face time on Sunday political shows than any candidate of either party without facing the kind of questions that President Obama cited were lacking in todays media. Of course, not being questioned on the reality of their proposals is not down to the candidates no matter which party they represent or how unworkable their plans are; that is entirely on the corporate media. Always the diplomat, the president did note that unprecedented change has affected journalism with newsrooms closing leaving enormous pressure on journalists to fill the void. But it should not be journalism founded on, as the President noted, instant commentary based on Twitter rumors and celebrity gossip. He also reminded journalists that ten, 20, 50 years from now, no one seeking to understand our age is going to be searching the tweets that got the most re-tweets or the posts that got the most likes. Sadly, those kinds of statistics do drive what Americans have come to expect from the media because it is primarily all they get. Still, admonishing the press against letting social media dictate their political news and campaign coverage will not change anything; this is 21st Century America. It is a place where ignorance, rumor, unfounded and sexist attacks, and blatant lies trump the truth and reality. Sadly, this kind of journalism is going to continue unabated because after over a decade of media dumbing-down the electorate, most Americans are accustomed to hearing and accepting as fact manufactured partisan talking points, Twitter and Facebook rumors, and political insight from wealthy celebrities. With responsible journalism all but dead or dying, Americans cannot be expected to want answers and that is more likely than not exactly what most politicians seeking free publicity want. If a politician really wanted to lay out their plans and explain how they would get them enacted, they would pay for publicity and do what the media refuses to do; tell the truth, lay out all the facts, and offer a cogent plan for how they will lead a divided legislature to actually work for all the American people. There are many reasons and conditions that lead to power outages such as major storms and heavy winds. Usually an area will be on the receiving end of one of these outages a couple of times a year, but you have to wonder what is going on when one town is hit four times in the scope of 36 days. Laughlin, NV, suffered through its fourth power outage on March 26, which fortunately lasted less than two hours affecting 109 customers. The unfortunate part is that the affected area included businesses and resort properties, as well as the Laughlin outlet mall and convenience stores. The only information about the latest incident was that a cable failed. The first instance, occurring on February 19, was due to an explosion and fire at the Big Bend substation, which knocked out power to the entire township for several hours. Weather conditions were the reason for the next outage followed by high winds on March 11. It seems that every possible cause that we see throughout the country hit Laughlin in a matter of weeks, causing as many as 5,000 customers to be without power. When you consider that resorts and convenience stores were affected during the latest outage, you can see the need for a good power backup strategy that includes generators and uninterrupted power supplies (UPS). It is always interesting to see what UPS solutions companies put in place. When power went out at the resort, there were emergency generators to supply lights to the casino area, but hotel floors, including the elevators that access them are generally without lights and ventilation during electrical outages. The businesses in Laughlin that were affected could have lost valuable data and equipment, while the convenience stores could have lost refrigerated items. The resorts reservation system is computerized, meaning that without a solid UPS strategy thousands of guests information could be in jeopardy. As we have seen lately, there are many factors that can cause power outages; the constant is the fact that once the power goes out, individual and business data, as well as equipment is always put at risk. The simple strategy of connecting your more sensitive equipment and data storage devices to a UPS could save a lot of headaches. Edited by Rory J. Thompson The new increased electricity tariff rolled out on February 1 by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, was illegally imposed on consumers, an icirnigeria.org investigation has shown. The agency implemented the new tariff, which increased charges for electricity consumption by 55 per cent to 65 per cent, in defiance of the law setting it up. The federal government may be compelled to pay back to Nigerians the increased rate they have paid to electricity supply since February 1 when the new tariff regime took effect. Specifically, the announcement of the new tariffs breached Section 76 sub sections 6, 7 and 9 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005. Section 76 (6) requires the NERC to gazette any review of existing tariff methodology before it comes into effect. The Act states: Prior to approving a tariff methodology, the Commission shall give notice in the official Gazette, and in one or more newspapers with wide circulation, of the proposed establishment of a tariff methodology, indicating the period within which objections or representations in connection with the same may be made to the Commission. By that section, the regulatory agency ought not only to have given notice in a gazette but also in newspapers with wide circulation and even given room for the public to make comments and objections before the new charges could take effect. In Section 76 (7), the law further reinforces the need for wide consultations before such new tariffs can take effect. Section 76 (7) envisages that in preparing a new tariff methodology, the agency would (a) consider representations made by license applicants, other licensees, consumers, eligible consumers, consumer associations, associations of eligible consumers and such other persons as it consider necessary or desirable. Subsection 7 (b) evidence, information or advice from any person who, in the Commissions opinion possesses expert knowledge which is relevant to the preparation of the methodology. Furthermore, Section 76 (9) states: If it appears to the Commission that a tariff methodology should be changed, the Commission shall give notice in the Official Gazette, and in one or more newspapers with wide circulation of the proposal to change the methodology, indicating the period within which representations in connection with the proposal may be made. Of all these legal requirements, the only one fully complied with by NERC was that it announced the new tariff in the newspaper. It did not give any notice in a gazette as spelt out by the Act. Furthermore, from the outcry and opposition which the imposition of the new tariff generated among the general public, including the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, and the House of Representatives Committee on Power, which passed a resolution barring NERC from increasing tariff, it is obvious that the agency did not do enough consultations. The NERC announced the new tariff methodology in December, 2015 with increased charges for electricity consumption, although it removed a controversial monthly fixed charge on retail consumption. Announcing the new tariff, then chairman of NERC, Sam Amadi, said that the new Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) was for a 10-year period between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2024. But it effectively took off on February 1, 2016. With the new tariff, consumers under the residential classification (R2) in Abuja would have to pay N24.30 per kwh instead of 14.70 per kwh for electricity, an increase of N9.60 or 65 per cent, although they would no longer pay the fixed charge of N702. Customers under Commercial classification (C1) had their tariff increased to N36.65 per kwh from N23.61 per kwh, a difference of N13.04 or 55 per cent. In the same vein, residential consumers are paying more in Eko (N10), Ikeja (N8), Kaduna (N11.05), Benin (N9.26) and other electricity distribution areas. Organised Labour kicked against the new tariff regime as soon as it was announced with the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, saying it is a rip off. Congress considers as illegal, unfair, unjustifiable and a further exploitation of the already exploited Nigerians, the 45 per cent increase in electricity, the labour leader declared, threatening that workers would be called out on a nationwide protest to force a reversal. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, also rejected the new tariffs and said that it would fight it in court. MAN president, Peter Jacob, expressed surprise that NERC went ahead to introduce the new tariff, observing that there is a subsisting court injunction restraining the agency from imposing the tariffs. The icirnigeria.org learnt that a meeting called by NERCs acting chairman, Anthony Akah, with the MAN management to explain the new tariffs, was rebuffed as members of the organisation insisted that they would not discuss a matter that is before the courts. When our reporter spoke to MANs director of communications, Israel Osadipe, last week Wednesday, he said that the association was still opposed to the tariff and had not changed its position because the case is in court. He added, however, that members of MAN were having discussions at an informal level with stakeholders, including NERC, about the matter. The House of Representative too stood stoutly in opposition against the new tariffs and passed a resolution directing NERC not to go ahead with the new charges until it concluded investigations into the activities of the commission and distribution companies, Discos. After the tariffs took effect, the House Committee on Power invited the NERC management to explain why its directives were flouted. It was gathered that the regulatory agency has since explained its stand to the legislative House, telling members that it was doing exactly what the National Assembly set it up to do. In defence of the NERC, a source told this website that the agency had, indeed done its work which is to send the new tariff regime to the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice whose responsibility it is to gazette the information. NERC has done its bit. When the need for a review exits, we consult with all stakeholders and then come up with new tariffs. We then send the tariff to the Ministry of Justice for them to gazette. We did that since the early in the year, the source, who does not want to be named, said. However, the Director of Press in the office Ministry of Justice, Charles Nwodo, said that the impression given by the NERC source was wrong and that it is not the responsibility of the ministry to gazette anything for government agencies. The fact is that if they are going to gaztte it (the new tariffs), it is the government press that will gazette it. It is the responsibility of the Government Press. The Ministry of Justice is to give approval. The process is that they send their proposal, it is vetted by the Ministry of Justice and sent back to them for onward transmission to the Government Press. It is the Federal Government Press that will gazette it. Asked if the ministry had received the new tariffs from the NERC for approval before being sent to the Government Press for vetting, Nwodo said he was not aware that any tariffs sent to the ministry for approval. He asked for time to find out if the ministry ever received such a request from the electricity regulatory agency but had not done so until the time of going to press. Officials of Shell, the multi-national oil firm at the heart of one of the largest oil heist in Nigeria, have been questioned by Dutch investigators for their roles in the deal. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how Shell and Italian oil giant, Eni, agreed to secretly pay $1.3 billion to Malabu through the Nigerian government in 2011. The money was meant for OPL 245, one of the largest oil blocs in Africa which was awarded to Malabu in 1998 when Dan Etete was the petroleum minister under the late dictator, Sani Abacha. After Shell and Eni paid the money into Nigerias accounts in JP Morgan bank, London, the federal government transferred $801 million of the money into Malabu accounts controlled by Mr. Etete in Nigeria. Mohammed Adoke, the former Nigerian Attorney General, and Diezani Alison-Madueke, ex-Petroleum Minister, who both authorised the 2011 deals, have been on the run and have not appeared before anti-graft officials in Nigeria who are investigating the deal. Mr. Adoke has denied any wrongdoing, saying he as Attorney-General only acted as an intermediary to resolve a multi-layered contentious matter. He said he is currently in school for an LLM at Leiden University in Netherlands, therefore, he could not appear before Nigerian anti-graft agency, EFCC. While Mr. Etete later claimed he only got $250 million from the money, PREMIUM TIMES investigations showed the rest was paid as bribes to several officials of the Nigerian government under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, as well as some private officials including Bayo Ojo, a former Attorney General, who got $10 million. Mr. Jonathan, himself, is being investigated for his roles in the scandal, after Italian officials found evidence of his activities. The suggestion from the wiretaps is that Fortunato was implicated and I am told that this was a reference in code (not subtle) to the former President of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan, Justice Edis of the Southwark Crown Court, UK, said in December 2015, while refusing to release the last tranche of $80 million left in the Nigerian government account to Mr. Etete. The OPL 245 deal, which is being investigated by officials in Nigeria, Italy, the UK and the U.S., has taken a new turn as anti-graft officials in Netherlands commenced their own investigations into the scandal. Dutch investigations The Dutch investigations is led by the Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) and the Dutch Public Prosecutor. While some Nigerian media had reported that Mr. Adoke was also questioned by the Dutch authorities in relation to the deal, an official involved in the investigation described the report as untrue. Adoke was not interviewed, the official, who sought anonymity as he was not permitted to talk to the media, said. He, however, said they were aware Mr. Adoke was in the Netherlands and could be questioned as part of their investigations. Shell has, however, confirmed its officials were questioned in relation to the deal. We can confirm that representatives of the Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) and the Dutch Public Prosecutor recently visited Shell at its headquarters in The Hague, a Shell spokesperson said. The visit was related to OPL 245, an offshore block in Nigeria that was the subject of a series of long-standing disputes with the Federal Government of Nigeria. Shell is cooperating with the authorities and is looking into the allegations, which it takes seriously. While the oil firm pledged to work with investigators, it restated its often repeated claim that it was not aware the money it paid was going into Malabu accounts. NAE (Enis Nigerian subsidiary) and SNEPCo (Shells subsidiary) each now hold 50 per cent of OPL 245, with NAE as operator of the block. Any payments relating to the issuance of the licence were made only to the FGN. No payments were made by SNEPCo to Malabu Oil and Gas. Nigerian investigations In Nigeria, the investigation of the OPL 245 deal is being led by the anti-graft agency, EFCC, which is working with the Attorney Generals office, the Vice Presidents office, and the presidential committee on anti-corruption headed by Itse Sagay, a law professor. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the Attorney Generals office recommended that the settlement agreements that ceded the oil bloc to Shell in 2011 be cancelled. It also recommended that Shell and Eni be prosecuted and fined for their roles in the deal. The office also recommended the prosecution of all Nigerian officials involved in the scam. A disagreement between the AGFs office and that of the Vice President, on who the bloc should return to, is one of the factors delaying the implementation. While the AGFs office wants the bloc returned to the original owners of Malabu, a similar resolution to that of the House of Representatives, the Vice Presidents office wants the bloc to return to the Nigerian government based on the fraudulent formation of Malabu. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how Mr. Etete created a fictional character, Kwekwu Amafegha, to own 30 per cent share of Malabu at inception. The other owners then were Sani Abacha (son of late dictator Mohammed Abacha 50 per cent) and the wife of Hassan Adamu (former Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S. 20 per cent). While the EFCC says it is still investigating the scandal, the chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption, Mr. Sagay, recently asked that Mr. Adoke, who is central to the scandal, be declared wanted by Nigerian authorities. Parents from Chibok community in Borno State have denied a girl held by Cameroonian authorities, after an aborted suicide bombing mission, is one of 219 missing female students abducted by Boko Haram in 2014. The girl had claimed she was one of the missing school girls, the Cameroonian government said. The Murtala Muhammed Foundation, involved in efforts to identify the girl, said in a statement on Wednesday that three authorised representatives of the community confirmed the girl was not one the school girls kidnapped on April 14, 2014. Read the groups statement signed by Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, its chief executive. On Wednesday, March 30, three authorised representatives of the parents of the 219 missing Chibok girls arrived the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) offices from Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State to view photos of the girl claiming to be one of the 219 missing students kidnapped by Boko Haram. Mr. Yakubu Nkeki, chairman, Lawan Zana secretary, Mrs. Yana Galang women leader of the Chibok Girls Movement, all of whose children are amongst the kidnapped 219 Chibok girls were upon their arrival shown photos of the girl who was arrested along with another woman on Friday March 25th carrying explosives in Limani, Cameroon. A set of photographs had been sent to the MMF on the evening of Monday 28th of March by Garba Shehu, Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity. A more recent batch of photos, taken at 2pm on Tuesday 29th of March was sent to the MMF by Ambassador Hadiza Mustafa, Nigerias High Commissioner to Cameroon. The earlier set of photos showed the girl partially clothed and squatting on the sandy floor within a low cement wall enclosure, which was surrounded by soldiers and some civilians. In that same batch, the woman was being carried in the arms of a soldier, with her face swollen and plaster covering different parts of her body. She was also partially clothed. In the more recent photos, however, the girl was fully clothed, standing against a wall and looking into the camera. The woman was also standing straight beside what appeared to be a hospital bed, she was fully-clothed. Her face still appeared slightly swollen with dressing on her forehead. The Nigerian government by Tuesday afternoon had already informed the MMF that the girl has clearly identified herself as Maryam Alhaji Wakeel, 12 years old, originally from Maiduguri but abducted from Bama when the town was overrun by Boko Haram a year ago. The woman has identified herself as Aishatu Usman, a 35-year-old mother of two children. However the identification process was still carried out to lay to rest any claims that the girl is one of the 219 girls kidnapped from their school in Chibok on April 14th 2014. Mr. Nkeki, Mallam Zana and Mrs. Galang have confirmed that the girl and the woman do not fit the description of any of the missing daughters from Chibok. We have also made arrangements for other stakeholders to view the photos at the MMF office in Abuja as we are yet to ascertain how the girl came to describe herself as one of the missing Chibok girls. The identity of the girl notwithstanding, the MMF has informed the Nigerian government of its willingness to continue to pursue the matter, and is willing to provide the captured girl and woman any support they may require. These girls and women are merely victims, and must be treated as such by the society. They have already undergone grave violence at the hands of their Boko Haram captors. We must ensure that they are not made to undergo additional violence at the hands of their compatriots. Nigerian government officials have informed the MMF that both Maryam Alhaji Wakeel and Aishatu Usman have been handed over to the Nigerian military this evening and are currently on their way back to Nigeria. Royal Dutch Shell, the worlds second largest oil company, has been put under formal investigation by the Milan Public Prosecutors office for international corruption offences relating to a deal for oil block OPL 245 in Nigeria, according to reports in the Italian press this morning. The headquarters of the Anglo-Dutch company in The Hague were, according to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, raided on the 17th of February by 50 officers from the Italian financial police and their Dutch colleagues, with the raid lasting through the night. The Dutch home of former Nigerian Attorney General Mohammed Bello Adoke was also reportedly searched. Global Witness, together with Nigerian activist, Dotun Oloko, and anti-corruption campaigners at Re: Common and Corner House have been investigating the OPL 245 deal for several years. In June 2015, they filed a complaint with the Milan Public Prosecutor giving evidence of Shells role in the deal. Todays development presents a real threat to Shells shareholders who could see the value of their investment disappear, and the companys reputation damaged as a result of any conviction for complicity in dodgy dealings. Shell and Eni have always denied knowledge of the corruption at the heart of this deal, but evidence we have published shows otherwise. The news of an investigation into Shell shows that their role played in this deal may backfire on them. Shell and Eni exposed their investors to massive risks and have been tainted by this theft from Nigerian citizens, said Simon Taylor, a Director of Global Witness. A Global Witness investigation exposed that when OPL 245 was sold in 1998 for US$20m a fraction of its value now it went to Malabu Oil & Gas, a company secretly owned by the then Oil Minister, Dan Etete. The block was then passed on to Shell and Eni in 2011, with the Nigerian government acting as middleman, for US$1.1bn. This sum is equivalent to 80% of the countrys 2015 health budget, but it never reached state coffers. Shell and Eni have always denied that they knew the money would ultimately go to Etete, despite evidence from Global Witness showing otherwise. The Nigerian House of Representatives in 2014 called for the deal to be cancelled and declared it contrary to the laws of Nigeria. The age of accountability is dawning with this news. Fueling corruption in Nigeria through shady deals like that for OPL 245 will now have consequences, said Dotun Oloko, a Nigerian anti-corruption campaigner. Eni has already been formally put under investigation by the office of the Public Prosecutor of Milan which has named Dan Etete, Eni and its current and former CEOs as suspects. The UKs Proceeds of Corruption Unit within the Metropolitan Police began investigating money laundering connected to the case in June 2013 under Operation Zaphod, however the investigation was discontinued in 2015 due to lack of further evidence becoming available from Nigeria at the time. US authorities also participated in tracing funds connected to the deal. US$190m paid by Shell and Eni for OPL 245 has been frozen in accounts belonging to Etete and middlemen in the UK and Switzerland. This is very significant, the British authorities now have questions to answer about why they dropped their side of the investigation and failed to restrain funds when we originally asked them to, which allowed US$110m to leave the UK until it was restrained in Switzerland, said Nicholas Hildyard of Corner House. Antonio Tricarico of Re:Common said This news comes as a welcome development which has been long overdue since only Eni has been under investigation for this deal in which both Shell and Eni took equal part. It is vital that any companies and individuals involved are held accountable for this corrupt deal. In a statement sent to journalists today a Shell spokesperson said We can confirm that representatives of the Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) and the Dutch Public Prosecutor recently visited Shell at its headquarters in The Hague. The visit was related to OPL 245, an offshore block in Nigeria that was the subject of a series of long-standing disputes with the Federal Government of Nigeria. Shell is cooperating with the authorities and is looking into the allegations, which it takes seriously. Shell attaches the greatest importance to business integrity. Its one of our core values and is a central tenet of the Business Principles that govern the way we do business. All employees are expected to uphold these principles and failure to do so will result in consequences up to and including dismissal. Shell has insisted that they did not pay Malabu and in a response to a request for comment from Global Witness in April 2015 said We do not agree with the premise behind various public statements made by Global Witness about Shell companies in relation to OPL 245. A national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has said the lack of performance that characterised past governments in the country would not be tolerated by the current All Progressives Congress administration of Muhammadu Buhari. He said the government was determined to reverse that trend. Mr. Tinubu stated this in Abuja on Tuesday while delivering a speech at the 8th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium organised to mark his 64th birthday anniversary celebration. The event was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari. The lack of government performance that has for years been a source of pain is no longer tolerable, Mr. Tinubu said. This government is committed to reversing the trend towards a positive and progressive outcome. We have reached the point where we can no longer look the other way because there is longer another way. If we are to experience a new growth and development, we must do it ourselves. Nigerians must become Nigerias lifeline. Mr. Tinubu said the APC-led federal government was aware of the challenges that bedevilled the nation and was working to right the wrongs of the past. According to him, the historic victory of the party had placed on the government a heavy responsibility to right the wrongs of the past years. Our path may be tough at present. But I do not entertain fear because I know our people are more resilient than the challenges we face, he said. The former governor of Lagos State decried the level of corruption sustained by successive governments over the decades. This, he said, they did because they believed in weak governance and strong corruption. He stated, Those who came before us believed in weak governance but strong corruption. They were the authors of the malfeasance and ruthless indifference that enchained this nation and its remarkable people. They acted as if their pilferage would never end. But it was ended by the people of this great country. The APC leader said those who participated in destroying Nigeria in the past would not partake in rebuilding it because destiny does not believe in failure. He noted that it would never ask people like that to correct the wrongs they themselves had instituted, stressing We cant expect the author to burn his own book. That group could no more be the rebuilders of a new Nigeria than wind can turn to rock or mud into gold. Mr. Tinubu also lamented the dwindling oil prices at the international market, saying it has revealed the fragility of the economic system Nigeria operates. The workings of harsh economic reality have revealed the fragility of the economic position we have too long occupied. With the downturn in oil prices, this nation can no longer function as it did. Speaking on the theme of the event, Agriculture, Work, Revolution, Mr. Tinubu said the APC government would soon begin implementation of all the ideas suggested about making agriculture the Nigerias main economic base. He said the party had heard many excellent ideas and suggestions and that he foresaw much of what we heard will soon be implemented policy. The APC leader assured that the nation will soon enjoy a rebirth of this vital economic sector. An Ojo Chief Magistrates Court in Lagos on Wednesday sentenced a 36-year-old dismissed police officer, Okpambe Anthony, to three years imprisonment for parading himself as a serving policeman. The Chief Magistrate, Paul Adedamola, in his ruling, did not give the convict an option of fine. The sentence which has no option of fine should serve as a deterrent to others, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Anthony had pleaded guilty to the charge of impersonation. Earlier, the prosecutor, Uche Simon, told the court that the accused had on March 19 at 2.00 p.m. at Iyana Oba in Ojo area of Lagos committed the offence. He said Anthony, who was dismissed from service in 2015, was arrested in a police uniform. The accused unlawfully parade himself as a police officer by wearing a full police Sergeant uniform. The photographs of the accused in a police uniform was tendered as exhibit in court among other evidences, he said. The offence, he noted, contravened the provisions of Sections 79 (1a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. (NAN) President Muhammadu Buharis Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has threatened to sue the Peoples Democratic Party for accusing him of illegally trading in foreign exchange, except the party apologises to him. Mr. Shehu said the party has up to 72 hours to withdraw its claim and tender an apology. The PDP, through its twitter handle @PDPNigeria, had accused Mr. Shehu of buying USD800, 000 from the Central Bank of Nigeria at official rate, and selling it off the same day at black market rate. Mr. Shehu, in an earlier response, denied the allegation, and said, The day I choose to start trading in FOREX I will resign as a presidential spokesman. He then threatened legal action if he knew the coward and psychopath behind the @PDPNigeria handle. Having verified that the twitter handle in question (@PDPNigeria) is the official handle of the PDP, Mr. Shehu, through his lawyers, Cherish Solicitors, wrote to the national PDP chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, asking him to write a letter of apology and a retraction of the publication within 72 hours of the receipt of the letter. We shall be left with no option than to have recourse to our clients rights under the law, Mr. Shehus lawyer said. We condemn your defamatory and libellous actions in the strongest terms and we state that this is least expected from an organization of your standing which produced past and present crops of leaders, expected to be role model in the country, stated the letter, signed by Aliyu Abdullahi. The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, has denied a media report credited to him that Boko Haram insurgents still control two local government areas in the North-East. The minister stated this in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by Tukur Gusau, Public Relations Officer in his office. He also denied reports in the same medium credited to him that the abducted female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, were being used as suicide bombers. According to the statement, the minister was quoted out of context, as he did not imply what was reported by the online medium. The minister was a guest in the studio of Voice of America, where he spoke in Hausa language, on the appraisal of the successes recorded in the ongoing war against terrorists in the North- East, his statement said. He said that before now, over 60 local government areas were under the occupation of Boko Haram in the North-East, but now only two were having some remnants of Boko Haram activities and not under their complete control. On the issue of the Chibok girls, the minister was not referring to the girls abducted on April 14, 2014 from Government Secondary School Chibok. Rather, he was referring to other girls abducted by the terrorists from the local government areas and environs, the statement quoted Mr. Gusau as saying. (NAN) Police in Bayelsa said they prevented some gunmen from robbing a branch of Stanbic IBTC Bank at Kpanisa, Yenagoa. A statement issued on Wednesday by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Asinim Butswat, said five gunmen scaled through the fence of the bank building at about 10.50pm on Sunday, and opened fire at the policemen on duty. The policemen, according the statement, fired back at the gunmen, killing one of them, while others fled with bullet wounds. Mr. Butswat said the police recovered a locally-made gun from the incident. He said the police was investigating the incident, and that the corpse of the armed robber had been deposited in the morgue at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. Thank you for the kind words of introduction. I am delighted to be here among so many distinguished experts and friends. Let me begin by thanking the National Press Club for providing the venue, the Atlantic Council and the Center for European Policy Analysis for organizing this event. Poland has a long and positive relation with your organizations. We appreciate the cooperation so far and kindly ask for more. Ladies and Gentlemen, Poles and Americans share many perspectives, stand united and speak with the same voice on issues of importance. In this spirit, I would like to share with you today some of my thoughts in regard to our foreign policy and security cooperation. Id like to start by presenting a few principles, which the foreign policy of my country is based on. They are longstanding not motivated by current political opinions, political party affiliation or ideology. They are rooted in the deep historical experience of my Country. Polish foreign policy is based on 3 fundamental pillars: I. The principle of obeying international law. The principle that cannot be violated. This implies the respect for internal sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states. No matter how strong or weak they are. II. The principle of partnership and dialogue among nations. We reject a system based neither on the transaction between the mightiest nor on the balance of opposing powers, in which stability is achieved by means of appeasement and sacrifice of the weaker ones. History teaches us that such a system has never guaranteed a permanent peace in the world. III. The third pillar is the principle of Euro-Atlantic unity in international politics. For the last 26 years Poland has been a consistent and committed advocate of transatlantic bonds. No wonder we are a proud and responsible member of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance. We apply these three principles when assessing the contemporary international situation. Ladies and Gentlemen, Poland appreciates the continuous interest on the side of the American administration, the U.S. Congress, as well as the Washingtonian expert community in favor of strengthening the transatlantic bond in the area of security. Our goals are the same. We need to keep NATO strong and united and the United States engaged in European security, as the leading guarantor of the credibility of the Alliance. It is our goal to significantly strengthen the security of the member states, with particular focus on the Central and Eastern-European countries. For Poland, this implies strengthening the NATOs presence on the Eastern flank. We subscribe to the principle of engagement and responsibility. We realize that every member state of the Alliance is both: the recipient as well as the provider of security. Everyone has the right to expect support from the allies. At the same time, everyone has an obligation to think about the security of others and in fact provide that security. This is what allied solidarity is all about. Poland is taking its security and the Alliance`s obligations very seriously. We have contributed our share to NATO defense capabilities. We stood by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, we are one of few countries in the Alliance with a defense spending of 2% of our GDP and were pursuing the modernization of our Armed Forces. We are also contributing to the Baltic Air Policing mission. We will not withdraw from our obligations in the global counterterrorism efforts. Whenever we speak about strengthening of the Eastern flank, we want this strengthening to be of a regional nature and to cover all the states which feel a real threat. We are led by solidarity and responsibility in saying that NATO Summit in Warsaw must have a UNIVERSAL dimension. It must provide response to all challenges to the allied security, no matter which direction they are coming from. I wish to stress the following in a very clear way: we should avoid dividing the security of the Alliance into South, East or North. There is one Alliance and equal security for all members is a must. We should not waste our energy on debating which is more dangerous: a tank battalion or a bunch of terrorists on the streets. It is natural, that our national positions are often determined by geography and history. We have different experiences and different perception of threats. Yet we are in the same Alliance and share the same values and principles. Warsaw Summit is the place to prove that we are ready to defend them together. Im deeply convinced that the threat to the contemporary security has one basic source and that is why it concerns us all. This threat name is: the violation of human dignity and international law. The law of force has replaced the law itself. We can see this in Eastern Ukraine, we are also seeing this in Syria. We have to counter it because NATO is the alliance that defends fundamental values, freedoms and human rights. It is the aggressive outside political and military posture that has brought the transatlantic security to a turning point. The security environment in Europe has deteriorated dramatically. I wish to say it loud and clear: Poland cares about best possible relations with all its neighbors. What threatens Europe today is neither a particular state nor a particular nation. It is the policy of a certain state which results in permanent violation of the international law. Poland, just like the whole of Europe, does not seek to isolate Russia. We do not want a come-back of the Cold War, which Prime Minister Medvediev talked about a short while ago in Munich. Societies and nations do not want to live in the balance of fear. However, we need to bear in mind that in order to build a partnership and a dialogue, mutual respect for common rules is needed. In other words in order for a dialogue to be possible, law has to be respected. Experience tells us that often what provokes aggression is the vacuum of security, military weakness and unsolved, so called frozen conflicts. This is why we need to give a clear message to the world. Sanctions must be imposed and maintained on every country that violates the international law. Sanctions are universal legal instrument, which aim is to defend the principles of international relations. Ladies and Gentlemen, In order to think about NATO`s relations with aggressive outside countries, we have to be strong and feel safe in the first place. The Alliance should once-again be able to define the security situation in its own territory on its own conditions. We cannot afford to be one step behind. And this is exactly the reason why the Warsaw Summit must demonstrate that we are capable of building an adequate and cohesive DEFENSE potential based on RESILIENCE and DETERRENCE. Today this involves increasing the presence of troops and allied infrastructure on NATO`s Eastern flank. Real deterrence means real presence. The US engagement in reassurance activities has been and will remain crucial. In the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, the US has visibly expanded its military presence in Poland and in the region. The European Reassurance Initiative, announced by President Obama during his visit to Warsaw, has extended the measures adopted by NATO. We welcome with satisfaction the announcement on increasing the presence of the US military equipment in Central and Eastern Europe. We declare our readiness for extensive co-operation with a view to bringing the equipment to Poland and boosting the defense system of both: our own country and that of the entire region. However, as I said before, at the same time, we fully recognize seriousness of challenges from the South. Terrorist activities of the so-called Islamic State pose a threat which undermines the foundations of our civilization. Poland consequently stands by the countries fighting terrorism. Ladies and Gentlemen, There are 3 months left to the Warsaw Summit. We are strong and effective when we act together and stand at each other`s side. Poles and Americans have a history of successful cooperation in this regard. Today, when we face numerous threats and challenges for our security, we need to preserve our strategic partnership which is built on mutual respect. Allow me to sum up this presentation with the words of the US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy: There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction. With this understanding, Poland is looking forward to meaningful results of the upcoming NATO Summit. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Last fall, there was talk about how much harder it might be to get the three-fifths majorities in the Legislature needed to put the proposal for North Jersey casinos on the fall ballot. With Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto disagreeing then on who could own the new casinos and how the tax revenue from them would be distributed, Democratic control of the Legislature seemed like it might not deliver the supermajority needed. Turned out it wasn't hard once Sweeney's proposal prevailed. It was much easier than getting support for bills to help Atlantic City - now held up by what looks like a political dispute between, yes, Sweeney and Prieto. Even before the referendum on North Jersey casinos was set in midmonth, the damage to Atlantic City had begun. Investor Carl Icahn, assuming ownership of Trump Entertainment Resorts as it emerged from bankruptcy, said he would not proceed with a substantial renovation of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort "while gaming in North Jersey remains an open issue." That now means at least until November, and frankly, probably never after the vote. The next damage was self-inflicted. At a panel discussion in Jersey City, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian warned that "casinos are a sin industry" that brings "prostitution and other crimes" - adding to the resort city's already massive burden of bad publicity this year. The American Gaming Association quickly rebuked him for "absurd claims" on what gaming would bring to North Jersey. Geoff Freeman, AGA president and CEO, said, "It's disappointing and disingenuous for Mayor Guardian to recycle tired myths about an industry that serves as the lifeblood of his city." The passage of the casino expansion bill made clear how much would remain unclear until after New Jersey voters decide whether gambling will remain exclusively in Atlantic City. The legislation has a complex formula for determining the share of taxes on casinos that would be dedicated to the "recovery, stabilization or improvement" of Atlantic City. But not only is the market for the expanded casinos uncertain, the percentage of the gambling-revenue tax they'd pay is unspecified as well. Atlantic City area residents can't form a reasonable guess as to how much money would be available to help redevelop the city. Nor will they know what entity or entities would get the funding, since that was left to be decided later as well. The damage to Atlantic City casinos from upstate competition is a sure thing. The amount of redevelopment funds for the city and their handling, however, must look to people in South Jersey like a bet with long odds. Their worry that North Jersey's push for casinos is pushing them aside is legitimate. If the vote on casino expansion looks close, perhaps state leaders will be more reassuring about funding for the city. Meanwhile, those in the region preparing to campaign against public approval of North Jersey casinos should refrain from tearing down the image of Atlantic City while trying to save it. Our view: 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. Country Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. 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 SAN FRANCISCO, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Calypso Technology Inc., a leading provider of capital markets software, announced today it is releasing a packaged solution to address the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's new requirement for Counterparty Credit Risk. The solution follows the Basel directive BCBS 279, or "The Standardized Approach for Measuring Counterparty Credit Risk Exposures," otherwise known as SA-CCR. The new regulation mandates that all banks globally are required to calculate the standardized approach, even if they also use the advanced approach. The implementation deadline is January 2017. To enable their clients to meet this tight timeline, Calypso has built a comprehensive SA-CCR calculation engine. It will produce Potential Future Exposure, Exposure-at-Default and all Capital calculations with the full granularity specified by regulations. The calculations themselves include netting within asset classes as well as collateral effects at the counterparty level. The solution is available across the entirety of Capital Market products. "The many regulatory initiatives specified by Basel have significantly altered the landscape on the Street," said Pedro Porfirio, Chief Product Officer of Calypso Technology. "The changes in capital calculations that these models will trigger mean that banks need a reliable partner to help manage the transition. Not only do they need a robust calculation engine to help them meet the regulatory deadline, but they face an urgent need to determine how the new rules will impact their business." The new SA-CCR solution will be offered as a cloud-based utility service run by Calypso. It can also be installed as an enterprise application on the Calypso platform. "This offering extends our existing suite of utility-based solutions. We feel that the utility business model is the future of finance as the industry continues to standardize," said Charles Marston, Executive Chairman of Calypso Technology. "However, we understand that each institution has a different IT vision, and we want to provide flexible solutions that work for the entire market," concluded Marston. SA-CCR is part of the Calypso Risk & Capital suite which is a comprehensive framework for regulatory calculations across both Market and Counterparty Credit Risk. It builds upon a proven platform for large scale risk calculations to enable financial institutions the clarity they need on capital usage. About Calypso Technology, Inc. Calypso Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of cross-asset front-to-back technology solutions for financial markets. It provides customers with a single platform for consolidation, innovation and growth. With 19 years of experience delivering software and services for trading, risk management, processing and accounting, the Calypso solution helps bring simplicity to complex business and technology challenges. Calypso solutions address needs for the capital markets, investment management, clearing, collateral, treasury and liquidity. Clients can benefit from greater efficiency, improved risk management, better allocation of capital, faster regulatory compliance, quicker time to market and reduced Total Cost of Ownership. Calypso Technology offers solutions that improve reliability, adaptability and scalability. Calypso is used by over 34,000 market professionals in over 60 countries representing more than 200 financial institutions across Asia, Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Calypso Technology has over 800 staff in 22 global offices, with headquarters in San Francisco, California. "Calypso" is a registered trademark of Calypso Technology, Inc. in the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions. Other parties' trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners and should be treated as such. www.calypso.com Media Contacts: Calypso Technology Chris Shayne chris_shayne@calypso.com +1 415 530 4147 Related Links http://www.calypso.com SOURCE Calypso Technology Circum optimizes Definitive Feasibility Study for its Danakil potash project and reduces Opex and Capex; Project will deliver lowest cost potash production in the world Morgan Stanley appointed to conduct a Strategic Review for the Danakil Project LONDON, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Circum Minerals Ltd. ("Circum" or the "Company") today announced the results of the Optimized Definitive Feasibility Study ("Optimized DFS") for its potash project in the Danakil Basin in Ethiopia (the "Danakil Project"). The Optimized DFS improves a number of the project parameters set out in the original Definitive Feasibility Study completed in August 2015 (the "2015 DFS"). The Optimized DFS confirms that the Company's Danakil Project is expected to be a world-class project in terms of size and could potentially become the world's lowest cost potash producer and a major supplier to the Asia Pacific markets. Project Highlights Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources of 4.9 billion tonnes at 18.1% KCl Seismic data suggests a potential total resource of 12 to 14 billion tonnes Proven and Probable Reserves of 107.8 million tonnes of KCl equivalent Expected annual production of 2 million tonnes of MOP and 750,000 tonnes of SOP for Phase I Reserves support 26 year mine life for Phase I, including a three year ramp-up period Development capital for Phase I of US$2.3 billion (including contingency) with peak funding of US$1.8 billion due to early revenue from initial production (including contingency) with peak funding of due to early revenue from initial production Low capital intensity per tonne of annual production at US$838 per tonne per tonne Lowest quartile mine gate cash costs of US$38 per tonne of MOP and US$112 per tonne of SOP per tonne of MOP and per tonne of SOP Total operating costs (FOB Djibouti) of US$81 per tonne of MOP and US$156 per tonne of SOP per tonne of MOP and per tonne of SOP Substantial transportation advantages to India , Southeast Asia and China , and After-tax Net Present Value of US$2.1 billion , at a 10% real discount rate , at a 10% real discount rate After-tax nominal Internal Rate of Return of 25.8% The Company, together with its independent consultants Senet (Pty) Ltd of South Africa and K-UTEC AG Salt Technologies, reviewed the costs in the 2015 DFS. Through their work on the Optimized DFS, development capital costs were reduced by US$276 million and operating costs were reduced by approximately US$3 per tonne. These reductions have had a favorable impact on the project economics. A summary of the Optimized DFS is presented below: Real unless o/w indicated Optimized DFS 2015 DFS Annual Production 2 Mt MOP, 0.75 Mt SOP 2 Mt MOP, 0.75 Mt SOP Operating costs (EXW) US$38/tonne MOP US$112/tonne SOP US$39/tonne MOP US$114/tonne SOP Operating costs (FOB Djibouti) US$81/tonne MOP US$156/tonne SOP US$84/tonne MOP US$159/tonne SOP Development Capital US$2.3 billion US$2.6 billion Pre-tax NPV @ 10% (Real) US$2.8 billion US$2.5 billion Pre-tax Nominal IRR 29% 26% Post-tax NPV @ 10% (Real) US$2.1 billion US$2.1 billion Post-tax Nominal IRR 26% 25% Note: Based on a flat, real MOP price of US$350/t and a flat, real SOP price of US$580/t, assuming 2% inflating factor. The Chairman and Co-founder of Circum, Stephen Dattels, is also pleased to announce that Morgan Stanley & Co. International PLC has been appointed as the financial adviser to conduct a strategic review of Circum's Danakil Project. The strategic review will focus on the potential introduction of third-party strategic investors and joint-venture parties at a corporate or project-level as well as corporate or project-level debt and/or equity investments. Circum has identified a number of strategic and financial parties interested in being involved in various aspects of the world-class Danakil Project's development, given its importance to the potash industry and the Asia Pacific markets. About Circum Minerals Ltd. Circum Minerals Ltd. is a private company focused on the development of a significant potash deposit in the Danakil Basin of Ethiopia. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Circum Minerals Potash Ltd., the Company holds a 100% interest in an exploration license covering 365 square kilometers. For more information visit its website at www.circumminerals.com. For additional information please contact: Chris Gilchrist Chief Operating Officer Circum Minerals Ltd. Chris.gilchrist@circumminerals.com +353419883409 Certain statements in this press release are forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on management's expectations regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, future capital and other expenditures, competitive advantages, exploration and development activity and the results of such activity, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to management. Forward looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward looking statements, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligations to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking information. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349526LOGO Related Links http://www.circumminerals.com SOURCE Circum Minerals Ltd. PARIS, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The General Assembly of the Franco-Russian Dialogue Association has taken place in Paris today. The association, which was established on the initiative of the two countries' presidents and is tasked with expanding cooperation between Russia and France, is deeply concerned by the artificial barrier between them - hindering their joint pursuit of mutual interests. The Assembly is testimony to the clear and consistent desire within business, NGO and political circles in both countries to create an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust within Europe. Today, with terror attacks a tragically regular part of the newsflow, it is more vital than ever that we turn our backs on the destructive policies of division and disunity. The obstacle that the so-called EU sanctions and Russian countermeasures present is deeply divisive, splitting our countries along more than political lines. Two years of mutual accusation have prevented us from setting in place an effective economic dialogue, nullifying the many years of work put in to establishing partner relations between our two countries. The level of bilateral exchange has clearly fallen, industrial collaboration initiatives are on hold, including in the financial, energy, transport and military sectors. And French companies risk losing strategic markets for the long term. Association members - key representatives of business, public, and cultural communities in both countries - in fact see extensive demand for cooperation and the return to mutual trust between France, Russia, and all countries open to dialogue. It is crucial that we finally recognise that the only impact of a policy based on mutual limits will be to destroy the whole spectrum of links between our peoples. Today, it is time to raise the issue of who is responsible for the non-fulfilment of the Minsk Agreement. Russia must not be made to shoulder the full burden of resolving the Ukraine crisis, especially as Russia has never been party to the Minsk Agreement. France and Russia have already made significant headway towards creating Minsk-2, have helped establish dialogue between the parties to the conflict, and have made a great contribution to achieving a ceasefire in South East Ukraine. It is possible to avoid any further extension of the sanctions in June - all that requires is one brave voice calling for them to be lifted. This could be France, which would highlight this great country's sovereign policy. We hope to see a swift return to normal economic and strategic cooperation, which is both in Russia's interests, and in the interests of France and the French people. Statement adopted at the General Assembly of Franco-Russian Dialogue, 29 March 2016, Paris Press contact Alexandra Kamenskaya, +33-1-53-89-60-16 / a.kamenskaya@dialoguefrancorusse.com SOURCE Franco-Russian Dialogue Association OECD and Ford Foundation initiative brings together Mayors championing inclusive growth NEW YORK, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayors from cities across the United States, Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America gathered in New York to launch a global campaign to address rising inequalities and foster inclusive growth in their cities, in their countries and worldwide. The Inclusive Growth in Cities Campaign is a joint initiative of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Ford Foundation, with the support of the Group of Friends of Inclusive Growth led by the US Ambassador to the OECD. The Campaign calls on cities to put economic growth on a more equitable and sustainable footing, ensuring a better future for all. OECD research shows that inequality is at its highest levels in three decades. In 2012, the top 10% of earners in OECD countries made almost ten times the income of the bottom 10%, up from 7 times 30 years ago. In developing and emerging market economies, income gaps between rich and poor are even more stark: in Brazil the ratio between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% stands at approximately 50 to 1, and over 100 to 1 in South Africa. Wealth is considerably more concentrated than income, exacerbating the overall disadvantage of low-income households. Leading the charge with the OECD is the group of 43 Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth, 19 of whom traveled to New York today to launch the Campaign and chart the future work of Champion Mayors. These mayors will work together to advance the agenda put forth in the New York Proposal for Inclusive Growth in Cities. "The New York Proposal is a call to arms and a roadmap for change. It sets out our common commitment to a policy agenda to ensure that cities work for all of us," said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria, at the campaign launch. "Achieving Inclusive Growth in cities means putting people first and tackling the challenges in disadvantaged communities. We need to break the link between one's street address and life prospects. This means changing the way we build and move within our cities. We need more affordable housing, effective transport networks, and quality infrastructure." OECD research has shown that inequality has a strong spatial dimension. In many countries, income inequality has risen faster in cities than in other places, and it tends to increase with city size. While the data on inequalities underscore the scale of the challenge faced by mayors, in many countries local governments also have a hand in key investment decisions that can overcome inequalities. Sub-national governments states, provinces, counties, and cities carry out around 40% of total public spending in OECD countries, of which 60% is directed towards economic affairs and education key areas for inclusive growth. "We know that inequalityin all its formsis a threat to democracy, to inclusivity, and to growth," said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. "We are pleased to engage with OECD and mayors around the world who understand the size and scope of the challenge, and who are working tirelessly and with purpose to make their cities more just and equitable." As outlined in the New York Proposal for Inclusive Growth, more inclusive cities are those characterized by: Education systems that enable people of all ages and backgrounds to improve their life chances. that enable people of all ages and backgrounds to improve their life chances. Labor markets that promote entrepreneurship, access to quality jobs, and policies that make the most of women, youth, retirees, and foreign-born populations in the workforce. that promote entrepreneurship, access to quality jobs, and policies that make the most of women, youth, retirees, and foreign-born populations in the workforce. Housing markets and urban environments that provide quality, affordable housing, in safe and healthy neighborhoods and avoid trapping people in segregated areas with few or no opportunities. and urban environments that provide quality, affordable housing, in safe and healthy neighborhoods and avoid trapping people in segregated areas with few or no opportunities. Transport networks that provide access to jobs, services and consumption opportunities for all, as well as affordable and reliable public services, such as water, energy, waste management and high speed internet. "As we build stronger, more sustainable, and more resilient cities, we must also create more equitable ones. That's what we're focused on through OneNYC and we're proud to join cities from around the world in signing the New York Proposal as we tackle the challenge of inequality here and across the globe," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The New York Proposal will serve as a policy roadmap to shape inclusive growth in cities, contribute to the broader debate on inclusive growth at the national level, and inform the global agenda to advance more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient cities. The Inclusive Growth in Cities Campaign is strengthened by the support of major national and international institutions, including Cities Alliance, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, the US National League of Cities, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and United Way Worldwide. More information: The New York Proposal for Inclusive Growth in Cities signed by Mayors: oe.cd/proposal List of founding Champion Mayors: http://oe.cd/foundingmayors What is the role of a Champion Mayor?: http://oe.cd/champmayor Factsheet: http:oe.cd/igic-fs Remarks by Secretary-General Angel Gurria at the launch of the campaign: http://oe.cd/1jm About the OECD: Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global "do tank" in which governments work together to seek solutions to common problems, share experiences and identify best practices to promote better policies for better lives. For more than 50 years, the OECD has helped forge global standards, international conventions, agreements and recommendations. Co-operation, dialogue, consensus and peer review drive the OECD as it seeks to fulfil its vision of a stronger, cleaner, fairer world economy and society. About the Ford Foundation: The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For 80 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Related Links http://www.fordfoundation.org SOURCE Ford Foundation; OECD GDANSK, Poland, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 5,000 participants, around 100 international speakers, 20,000 Euro for the Startup Contest winner - don't miss infoShare 2016 - the biggest tech and startup conference in the CEE region. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349030LOGO ) Sharing knowledge and experience For the 10th time technology industry and business will meet in Gdansk, Poland. From the 18th-20th of May we will hold lectures, workshops and panel discussions on five stages: Inspire, Tech, Startup, Workshops and Leaders. Jon von Tetzchner - the creator of the Vivaldi and Opera web browsers and Kevin Goldsmith - Spotify's CTO - are among the speakers this year. "Every day we put new names on the list like Jeff Szczepanski, the COO of Stack Overflow, Joerg Rheinboldt, the CEO of Axel Springer Plug and Play, Anthony le Roux, the General Manager for Uber in Eastern Europe," says Grzegorz Borowski, infoShare CEO. Speakers will talk about technology, entrepreneurship and startups. The infoShare conference is the best place to access top innovative projects from the CEE startup community. Visit the website to sign up Networking The program includes side events like a Leaders Event for entrepreneurs and investors at Energa Gdansk Stadium and the Great Networking Party with a live concert from Julia Marcell. On the last day the participants will sail on the Gdansk Bay. Making yourself visible Attendees can participate in the Startup Zone organized by the infoShare Foundation and Gdansk Business Incubator STARTER; an integral part of the conference along with the famous Startup Contest which attracted 160 young companies from around Europe in 2015. "Here startups establish business contacts, gain funding and listen to the best experts," says Malgorzata Jasnoch, STARTER's CEO. What is Startup Zone and why is it unmissable? Startup Contest - Gives the chance to pitch on the Main Stage and win 20,000 Euro in cash plus up to 1,000,000 Euro in possible investments. The contest can lead to business contacts, money and fame! Startup EXPO - Attendees can show their projects to thousands of potential clients and business partners. Speed Dating - Meet international investors and present projects at F2F meetings. infoShare's digital network system will help arrange attendees' schedules. Startup Stage - Learn from the best how to build a global startup. Meet successful people and get inspired by their stories. Book a place now and join the elite from 200 of the best startups from the CEE region. Register for verification till April 6th and get the investors' attention. Media contact: Ewa Siekierska +48-501-858-283 esiekierska@infoshare.pl SOURCE Fundacja Infoshare NEW YORK, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Markets Group's Fifth Annual Private Equity Americas Forum covering the US, Canada and Latin America, takes place May 18th and 19th, in New York City. The Forum brings together the leading illiquid alternative allocators, such as pensions, foundations, endowments, family wealth, sovereign funds, consultants and insurance private market investors, as well as select private equity fund managers and professional service providers including private equity attorneys, accountants, auditors and fund administration professionals to provide the most intimate, closed-door networking gathering available in the industry. To request the agenda click here: Private Equity Americas Forum. Keynote Speakers: Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. , Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, WL Ross & Co. , Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, WL Ross & Co. Volkert Doeksen , Co-Founder, AlpInvest Partners , Co-Founder, AlpInvest Partners Vicente Fox , Former President of Mexico (2000-2006) , Former President of (2000-2006) Andy Unanue , Founder and Managing Partner, AUA Private Equity Partners 40+ Additional LP Speakers Including: Sharmila Kassam , Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Employees Retirement System of Texas , Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Employees Retirement System of Scott Stone , Chief Investment Officer, Pentegra Retirement Services , Chief Investment Officer, Pentegra Retirement Services Kent Kirkpatrick , Senior Principal, Private Investments, Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund , Senior Principal, Private Investments, Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund Gregory Spick , Director, UPS Investments , Director, UPS Investments Brian Hughes , Head of Private Equity, New York State Common Retirement Fund , Head of Private Equity, Common Retirement Fund Josh Stern , Director, Private Investments, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation , Director, Private Investments, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation J. Daniel Parker , Investment Officer, Helmsley Trust , Investment Officer, Helmsley Trust Chris Culbertson , Investments Director, Wake Forest University Endowment If your firm is interested in reserving a place at the meeting, please contact Paloma Lima-Mayland at paloma.lima@marketsgroup.org or +1 646-201-5837. Sponsors: HSBC, BDO, Demarest Advogados, DLA Piper, EY, Fitch Ratings, HighWater Group, Ipreo, and WL Ross & Co. About Markets Group: Markets Group is an executive forum organizer with a track record of 175+ conferences in over 20 countries. Founded in 2009 in New York, NY, Markets Group has grown into one of the largest and most successful conference organizers in the Americas, with over 65 professionals operating out of our headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. We have successfully executed events in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Additionally, Markets Group was recently named one of America's 5000 fastest-growing private companies by Inc. Magazine and distinguished us as the #1 conference organizer and #1 financial services firm based in NYC. Related Links http://www.marketsgroup.org SOURCE Markets Group LONDON, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- South Asia specialists Indigo East has launched its next-generation tour operator model. The London-based start-up has partnered with trusted local travel companies in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan to offer travellers expertly crafted trips at the best-possible prices. Indigo East believes travellers should be able to speak to local experts while planning their trip. When a prospective customer submits an enquiry they're assigned a trusted local representative, whose job is to liaise with the traveller and craft a tailor-made itinerary based on their requirements. The conversation between traveller and local expert is hosted on a purpose-built platform on indigoeast.co.uk. Email alerts prompt travellers each time they receive a new message or quotation. "For travellers the benefits are twofold," explained Indigo East founder Charlie Gilbert. "Firstly, they receive up-to-the-minute travel expertise, based completely on their interests and requirements, from a trusted professional in their chosen destination. This means their trip will be totally unique and truly authentic." "Secondly, they receive the best-possible price because quotes come directly from our local partners - there are no hefty tour operator mark-ups. And because we're members of the Travel Trust Association we're able to offer travellers 100% financial protection." "South Asia is an endlessly fascinating, wonderfully complex place. Trips there are so much more rewarding if travellers get to speak to a local expert rather than a UK-based tour operator representative, whose knowledge will be limited in comparison. Whether you want to stay in a luxury beach hut on a secret beach in Goa or explore Rajasthan's villages by bicycle, our trusted local partners can make it happen - on your terms." Charlie spent months travelling around South Asia sourcing the local travel companies he wished Indigo East to partner with. "In the online age there's no reason why travellers shouldn't be able to speak to local tour operators," he explained. "But researching who to speak to, based on the best service, can be time consuming and confusing. Fortunately Indigo East makes this easy, and with the benefit of complete financial protection. To find out more about Indigo East visit the About Us section of the company's website. IMAGE: https://i0.wp.com/http://www.indigoeast.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Kerala_Backwaters.jpg?fit=1024%2C736&ssl=1 Contact: Charlie Gilbert +44(0)20-3051-9443 charlie@indigoeast.co.uk SOURCE Indigo East STAMFORD, Conn., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinion Insurance Solutions is pleased to announce that the American Bankers Association through its subsidiary, the Corporation for American Banking, has renewed its endorsement of insurance products they market and administer. Affinion Insurance Solutions is a leading third-party marketer and administrator of life, sickness, and accident insurance programs for financial institutions. Affinion's AD&D Customer Appreciation program has been endorsed by the ABA since 1989. Following a review of consumer insurance products and bank member interest, the ABA endorsement was awarded for Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Hospital Accident Protection and Recuperative Care. Additionally, the ABA endorsement also extends to Affinion's new product, Simplified Issue Term Life Insurance. Affinion Insurance Solutions partners with top-rated insurance carriers to produce effective direct mail marketing campaigns, manage campaign implementation and provide award-winning customer service while delivering superior results for their financial institution partners. Affinion collaborates with banks on developing an insurance product marketing calendar and fully funds the direct mail marketing events to bank customers. "These products have been well received in the market and continue to generate interest as banks offer insurance to their customers," said Bryan Luke, chairman of ABA's Endorsed Solutions Banker Advisory Council. "As Affinion Insurance Solutions continues to innovate in offering affordable coverage options through the banking channel, ABA is pleased to continue endorsing these solutions that help our member banks better serve their customers." Luke is also president and CEO of Hawaii National Bank in Honolulu. "Affinion Insurance Solutions is committed to delivering life, sickness and accident insurance programs that provide peace-of-mind for the customers of our bank marketing partners," said Robert Dudacek, president, insurance services at Affinion Group. "We are excited to have our full product suite endorsed by ABA, including our new Simplified Issue Term Life Insurance solution. These valuable products not only deepen customer relationships, they provide non-interest income and increased profitability for the bank." Founded in 1971, Affinion Insurance Solutions currently has a relationship with more than 3,000 financial institutions nationwide. Affinion has a strong commitment to the banking community as a marketing leader, leveraging proprietary analytics and award-winning direct mail creatives. For more information on the ABA/Affinion Insurance Solutions alliance, call 1-800-BANKERS or visit aba.com/Affinion. About American Bankers Association The American Bankers Association is the voice of the nation's $16 trillion banking industry, which is composed of small, regional and large banks that together employ more than 2 million people, safeguard $12 trillion in deposits and extend more than $8 trillion in loans. Learn more at www.aba.com. About Corporation for American Banking ABA endorsed solutions help banks make money, save money, diversify income and improve efficiency. Backed by our comprehensive due-diligence process, these select solutions are analyzed by industry experts, field-tested by bankers and meet stringent quality and customer-service standards. From compliance and insurance to payments and mortgage lending, you'll find products and services to enhance your bank's bottom line. Learn more at www.aba.com/endorsed. About Affinion Insurance Solutions As a market leader with 45 years of experience, Affinion Insurance Solutions ("Affinion Benefits Group") enhances the value of our partners' customer relationships with insurance programs that increase customer loyalty. Affinion Insurance Solutions is one of the largest insurance third party administrators in the country, and is dedicated to planning, creating, producing, and analyzing thousands of insurance marketing campaigns annually. Our time-tested insurance products from top-rated carriers include: Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, Term Life, Hospital Accident Protection, Recuperative Care Plan, and Graded Benefit Whole Life Insurance. Affinion Insurance Solutions holds the prestigious ISO 27001 certification for the highest information security practices and is PCI compliant. Affinion Insurance Solutions is an Affinion Group company. For more information, visit http://www.affinioninsurancesolutions.com. SOURCE Affinion Group Related Links http://www.affinioninsurancesolutions.com STAMFORD, Conn., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircastle Limited (NYSE: AYR) ("Aircastle") today announced that it will host an investor and analyst meeting on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 3:30 P.M. Eastern Time in New York City. A live webcast of the presentation and slides will be available to the public on the Investors section of Aircastle's website at www.aircastle.com. Please allow extra time prior to the presentation to visit the site and download the necessary software required to listen to the internet broadcast. A replay of the presentation will also be available on the company's website. About Aircastle Limited Aircastle Limited acquires, leases and sells commercial jet aircraft to airlines throughout the world. As of December 31, 2015, Aircastle's aircraft portfolio consisted of 162 aircraft on lease with 53 customers located in 34 countries. For more information on Aircastle, please visit www.aircastle.com. Contact: Frank Constantinople Senior Vice President, Investor Relations Tel: +1-203-504-1063 [email protected] The IGB Group Leon Berman Tel: +1-212-477-8438 [email protected] SOURCE Aircastle Limited Related Links http://www.aircastle.com LINCOLN, Mass., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Applied BioMath (www.appliedbiomath.com), the industry-leader in applying mechanistic modeling to drug development, today announced that they will sponsor, moderate, and participate in Cancer Advance Boston 2016. Cancer Advance, being held April 4-5 at Harvard Medical School, brings together distinguished cancer experts from academia and industry, alongside the people who help turn discoveries into therapies for a high-energy, uniquely interactive meeting focused on the latest in cancer research. Dr. John Burke, PhD, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Applied BioMath, will provide opening remarks as well as moderate a Novel Therapeutic Modalities Panel, which focuses on innovative approaches in cancer research. Dr. Burke brings a breadth of experience and appreciation for innovative approaches to this panel, as he has spent over a decade pioneering the application of mechanistic modeling in drug R&D in industry. As a testament to the impact that such innovative approaches have on cancer R&D, following his participation in Cancer Advance Boston, Dr. Burke will present Applied BioMath's recent work in immuno-oncology at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting. Dr. Burke's poster will focus on quantitative systems pharmacology modeling and analysis, which provided biological insights into anti-PD-1 dosing and predicted optimal PD-1 x TIM-3 therapeutic properties for bispecifics and fixed dose combinations in immuno-oncology. "I am privileged to be a part of such a distinguished meeting of cancer researchers. I look forward to sharing, discussing, and learning about recent advances in this important field." Dr. John Burke, PhD, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Applied BioMath About Applied BioMath Applied BioMath (www.appliedbiomath.com), the industry-leader in applying mechanistic modeling to drug development, helps biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies answer complex, critical Go/No-go decisions in R&D. Applied BioMath leverages biology, proprietary technology, high-performance computing, and decades of industry experience to help groups better understand their candidate, its best-in-class parameters, competitive advantages, and the best path forward. Our involvement shortens project timelines, lowers cost, and increases the likelihood of a best-in-class drug. We provide clarity to complex situations, answer otherwise unanswerable questions, and our approach, when validated in the clinic, is 10x more accurate than traditional methodologies. Applied BioMath and the Applied BioMath logo are trademarks of Applied BioMath, LLC. Press contact: Kristen Zannella [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150915/266672LOGO SOURCE Applied BioMath, LLC Related Links http://www.appliedbiomath.com RICHMOND, Va., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Virginia-based Ashbury International Group Inc., a minority-owned defense contractor/systems integrator/manufacturer, filed suit Monday against Vectronix AG, Vectronix Inc., and Potomac River Group LLC in the Circuit Court of Greene County, Virginia. Ashbury is seeking recovery of damages for breaches of contracts, fraud, tortious interference with contract/business expectancy, and conspiracy to injure Ashbury's business and reputation. According to the Complaint, Ashbury had a long history serving as the exclusive distributor for Vectronix's binocular laser range finder products and generated tens of millions of dollars in sales for Vectronix to the US Army, US Marine Corps, US Special Operations Command and other Department of Defense entities. After termination of that relationship in 2009, Vectronix approached Ashbury in 2012 about renewing the prior exclusive distributorship relationship. Ashbury alleges that Vectronix falsely promised Ashbury a new exclusive distributorship agreement and restoration of its distributor of record status so that Ashbury would work diligently to win the highly valued follow-on US Army ENFIRE (now Instrument Set, Reconnaissance and Surveying (ISRS) contract for Vectronix's laser range finder product). Ashbury was the exclusive supplier of the Vectronix binocular laser range finders for the ENFIRE program from 2007-2012. The Complaint alleges Vectronix used Ashbury to support and expand the Vectronix business in the United States while, at the same time, conspiring with Potomac River Group to cut Ashbury out of the lucrative military contracts and commercial shooting sports industry business that Ashbury created, thus damaging Ashbury. As Ashbury's President and CEO Morris Peterson explained: "Ashbury has been a loyal and profitable US business partner for Vectronix for more than 20 years. Our Complaint details Vectronix's deceptive and manipulative conductperhaps borne of discriminatory animusthat induced Ashbury to work to secure for Vectronix source selection awards for the US Army ENFIRE program, all while Vectronix intended to renege on our business agreement and wrongfully redirect Ashbury's business to a competitor. We are extremely disappointed in Vectronix's US management and European owners." Ashbury will ask a Greene County jury to award more than $14 million in damages resulting from Vectronix's and Potomac River Group's misconduct. Trial is expected to be scheduled in early 2017. Ashbury is represented by Robert Angle and Laura Anne Kuykendall of Troutman Sanders LLP and Ashbury General Counsel D. Alan Nunley. To view the lawsuit against Vectronix please visit this link. About Ashbury Ashbury International Group Inc. is a central Virginia based small minority owned business located in Ruckersville, Virginia. The company has more than twenty years of international experience as a prime contractor and systems integrator for government agencies, military, and special operations forces. The company provides logistics, engineering, training, small arms manufacturing, products and services. For more information about Ashbury please visit AshburyIntlGroup.com. About Troutman Sanders Troutman Sanders LLP is an international law firm with more than 600 lawyers and offices located throughout the United States and China. Founded in 1897, the firm's heritage of extensive experience, exceptional responsiveness and an unwavering commitment to service has garnered strong, long-standing relationships with clients across the globe. These clients range from multinational corporations to individual entrepreneurs, federal and state agencies to foreign governments, and non-profit organizations to businesses representing virtually every sector and industry. For more information about Troutman Sanders, visit TroutmanSanders.com. Media Contact: Troy Perry (434) 296-8600 Ext 263 [email protected] SOURCE Ashbury International Group Inc. Related Links http://www.ashburyintlgroup.net STAMFORD, Conn., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Auction House Portal, a startup company and reverse auction service provider to the global auction industry, announced today the launch of www.auctionhouseportal.com to directly connect luxury asset consignors to auction houses worldwide. The company is well positioned to manage a $50 billion inventory supply chain for the global auction industry by connecting sellers with auction houses at scale. The new platform facilitates anonymous, no cost or obligation introductions of sellers to auction houses, providing an easier means of consigning assets to the right auction house with the best expertise at reduced fees. The portal's reverse auction software allows auction houses to competitively bid against their peers for seller inventory, with auction houses gaining online access to a global pipeline of new asset inventory and ultimately, new revenues. Today's beta launch allows user registrations and motorcar listings for sellers, with limited access to the initial inventory of vintage and collector cars for registering auction houses; with all luxury asset categories to follow thereafter. Two minute video "How It Works": https://vimeo.com/154131916 "The seller and auction house relationship is a centuries-old engagement that has yet to be disrupted by technology until now," said Warren Pickard, Co-Founder. "Auction House Portal provides a faster, more intelligent, less expensive way for sellers to consign their assets to auction houses, and may dramatically increase the number of sellers that utilize them. In doing so, we're uniquely positioned to bring billions in assets to market, and create an inventory supply chain for the global auction industry by connecting sellers with auction houses at scale." "With a no cost or obligation anonymous listing, sellers receive competing quotes from auction houses which they compare for the best fees, expertise, ratings and reviews," SVP of Business Development Robert Minnick added. "Sellers save time; up to 50% on seller fees; and they maximize their hammer price with the best expertise. Meanwhile, auction houses save on marketing costs and gain access to a new inventory pipeline for maximum revenues at each auction." Auction House Portal solves the most critical challenges sellers face when seeking to overcome barriers to entry for auction representation. These include: negotiating escalating fees, securing specialized expertise, finding regional firms, access to ratings and reviews, evaluating multiple fee offers and comparing brick and mortar with online houses. CMO John Crawley stated "According to Hagerty, over $1.45B in vintage and collector cars were sold at auction in 2015 just in the U.S., an 18% annual growth in car auction sales since 2009. Given the depth of our team's experience with rare motorcars, our first inventory will be vintage & collector cars, with all other asset categories to follow." About Auction House Portal, Inc. Auction House Portal Inc., provides a unique reverse auction platform to the global auction industry. Our mission is to provide sellers a new, more intelligent way of consigning assets to the right auction house, with the best expertise and at the most competitive fees possible - all to maximize seller's final hammer price. While providing auction houses with a robust, single source, global supply chain of new asset inventory and revenues. Auction House Portal is a privately held startup company with offices in Stamford, Connecticut and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Luxury Trading Club. Additional information: www.auctionhouseportal.com Connect with Auction House Portal: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn & Instagram Media Contact: Mr. Warren Pickard, Co-Founder & CEO Auction House Portal, Inc. 1-877-589-2431 | [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349266LOGO SOURCE Auction House Portal Related Links http://www.auctionhouseportal.com NEW YORK, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BizBash C.E.O. and founder David Adler announced today that Beth Kormanik has been named executive editor of BizBash (www.bizbash.com), the leading trade media for event and meeting organizers and event marketers. She succeeds Anna Sekula, who will be leaving the company for a new opportunity. Kormanik joined BizBash as a senior editor in 2012 and was promoted to news editor in 2014. She has led major projects for both print and online, including the annual list of Top 100 Events in the U.S. and Canada. She has also led coverage of a variety of high-profile events such as the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Art Basel Miami Beach, and the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Additionally, Kormanik has overseen BizBash coverage of venues nationwide, keeping readers informed of topical and noteworthy happenings in the industry by writing the daily Call Sheet newsletter. "With 25 percent of marketing being attributed to events now, BizBash is center stage for a burgeoning industry," Adler said. "Beth brings a new perspective to the live gathering industry with her outstanding insights into areas of interest such as the morphing of B-to-B and B-to-C, the rise of thought leadership events and conferences, the explosion of theatrical journalism at live events, and the power of technology tools in helping to streamline and democratize data, enabling more crowdshaping." "It's exciting to take over this role at a time when the event industry is more vital than ever," Kormanik said. "I love that BizBash is the place where event professionals come together to connect with each other and get inspired for their own events. I'm looking forward to bringing new energy and ideas to our brand." Kormanik has written for the New York Times and was a reporter for the Florida Times-Union and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspapers. She also served as managing editor of Hotel Interactive, a trade publication for the hospitality industry. Kormanik is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. About BizBash In the dynamic live gathering industry, BizBash is the largest media source for both event pros and "hidden planners" with more than 225,000 monthly users. To learn more about BizBash, visit www.bizbash.com. Media contact: Grazia Mohren BizBash Media 646-839-6896 http://www.bizbash.com SOURCE BizBash Related Links http://www.bizbash.com TAMPA, Fla., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLMN) will release results for the fiscal first quarter ended March 27, 2016, on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, at approximately 7:00 AM EDT, which will be followed by a conference call to review its financial results at 9:00 AM EDT the same day. To access the live call, dial (877) 407-9039, or (201) 689-8470 for international participants. A replay will be available beginning two hours after the call and can be accessed by dialing (877) 870-5176 or (858) 384-5517 for international callers. The replay will be available until Tuesday, May 3, 2016. The conference ID for the live call and replay is 13633819. The call will also be webcast live from the Company's website at http://www.bloominbrands.com under the Investors section. About Bloomin' Brands, Inc. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. is one of the largest casual dining restaurant companies in the world with a portfolio of leading, differentiated restaurant concepts. The Company has four founder-inspired brands: Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. The Company operates approximately 1,500 restaurants in 48 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and 22 countries, some of which are franchise locations. For more information, please visit bloominbrands.com. Contact: Bloomin' Brands, Inc. Chris Meyer Group Vice President, IR & Finance (813) 830-5311 [email protected] SOURCE Bloomin' Brands, Inc. Related Links http://www.bloominbrands.com CHICAGO, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new study by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) shows that individuals who enrolled in Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) health plans after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect have higher rates of disease and received significantly more medical care, on average, than those who enrolled in BCBS individual plans prior to 2014. The report, "Newly Enrolled Members in the Individual Health Insurance Market After Health Care Reform: The Experience from 2014 and 2015," represents a comprehensive, in-depth study of actual medical claims among those enrolled in individual coverage before and after the ACA took effect. The study also compares this group to those who receive insurance through their employers. Comparing health status and use of medical services among these three groups, the study finds that: Members who newly enrolled in BCBS individual health plans in 2014 and 2015 have higher rates of certain diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, depression, coronary artery disease, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C than individuals who had BCBS individual coverage prior to health care reform. Consumers who newly enrolled in BCBS individual health plans in 2014 and 2015 received significantly more medical care, on average, than those with BCBS individual plans prior to 2014 who maintained BCBS individual health coverage into 2015, as well as those with BCBS employer-based group health insurance. The new enrollees used more medical services across all sites of careincluding inpatient admissions, outpatient visits, medical professional services, prescriptions filled and emergency room visits. Medical costs of care for the new individual market members were, on average, 19 percent higher than employer-based group members in 2014 and 22 percent higher in 2015. For example, the average monthly medical spending per member was $559 for individual enrollees versus $457 for group members in 2015. BCBS companies across the country have participated in the new marketplaces more broadly than any other insurance carrier. Millions of newly enrolled BCBS members thus provide the largest single group of individuals whose health status and use of medical services can be examined for key insights into the medical needs and costs associated with providing care. "The findings underscore the need for all of us in the health care system, and newly insured consumers, to work together to make sure that people get the right health care service in the right care setting and at the right time," said Alissa Fox, senior vice president of the office of policy and representation for BCBSA. "Better communication and coordination is needed so that everyone understands how to avoid unnecessary emergency room visits, make full use of primary care and preventive services and learn how to properly adhere to their medications." BCBS companies also are expanding patient-focused care programs that emphasize prevention, wellness and coordinated care so that new individual members get healthy faster and stay healthy longer. "Through these programs, BCBS companies around the country have documented reductions in emergency room visits, fewer hospital admissions and readmissions and reduced hospital infection rates," Fox said. "At the same time, there have been measurable improvements in prevention, including improved cholesterol control, better adherence to best practices for treating diabetes and higher rates of screenings and immunizations." BCBS companies serve millions of members through the ACA marketplaces in 46 states and the District of Columbia, with coverage in 89 percent of counties in both urban and rural areas. In addition to offering products on the federal and state-run marketplaces, all BCBS companies sell individual and group health insurance products throughout the country. BCBS companies insured more than 8.6 million individual members through Dec. 31, 2015. This is the sixth study of the Blue Cross Blue Shield, The Health of America Report series, a collaboration between the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Blue Health Intelligence, which uses a market-leading claims database to uncover key trends and insights into health care affordability and access to care. For more information, visit www.bcbs.com/healthofamerica. * The study includes individuals who purchased coverage through both state-based and federally-facilitated marketplaces, as well as individual, ACA-compliant policies sold outside of the government marketplaces. The data were collected from independent BCBS companies and focus on members ages 21 through 64 (excludes Medicare and Medicaid). About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 36 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for nearly 105 million members one in three Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit www.BCBS.com. We encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, check out our videos on YouTube, follow us on Twitter and check out The BCBS Blog for up-to-date information about BCBSA. About BHI Health Intelligence Company is the nation's premier health intelligence resource, delivering data-driven insights about healthcare trends and best practices, resulting in healthier lives and more affordable access to safe and effective care. HIC accesses healthcare claims data from more than 140 million individuals nationwide, collected over nine years, in a safe, HIPAA compliant and secure database. The resulting conformed, reliable data set has the broadest, deepest pool of integrated medical and pharmacy claims, reflecting medical utilization in every ZIP code. Health Intelligence Company, LLC operates under the trade name Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) and is an Independent Licensee of BCBSA. For more information, visit http://www.bluehealthintelligence.com/. SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Related Links http://www.BCBS.com NEW YORK, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- While turning back the hands of time to a more locked down existence is unrealistic, the direction and consequences of sensitive data exposure and breaches are most concerning. Bridging these two is the subject of this week's insight: data access governance (DAG), and the software solutions offered by STEALTHbits to improve and streamline DAG. Among the objectives of DAG is to reduce the exposure of unstructured sensitive data by improving and streamlining the lifecycle management of account access permissions, and appropriate use of those permissions. Ultimately, the goal is to get the right data to the right people without circumventing essential business activities that rely on the exchange and sharing of sensitive data. Introduction Pre-PC (personal computer) and the Internet, data security was a bit humdrum. Sensitive data was neatly packed into relational databases (structured data), located in physically isolated networks; and accessed through customized applications and structured query language (SQL) requests, centrally run by a cloistered few.2 The application output was mostly in paper form, with no digital traces that could expose the sensitive data to anyone other than the intended paper recipients. A nice end-to-end, locked-down existence. How utterly archaic compared to today's operating model. Today, countless digital fountains spew data of unimaginable magnitude to users up and down the organizational chart and across departments. The accessing users, in turn, reconstitute the data into a variety of free-form (unstructured) digital containers (e.g., audio and video files; Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files), which they frequently and electronically share with other employees, business partners, and customers. Unless bound by legal, ethical, or technical constraints, these downstream recipients can re-share with others, or cut and paste portions of the original data into files of their own making, and then share with another set of recipients. Although this unlocking and increased flow of unstructured data has propelled businesses and the economy forward and sparked innovation, the exposure of sensitive data beyond authorized recipients has been and continues to be a growing concern. Furthermore, the prospect of stolen credentials (usernames and passwords) casts doubt on whether all users are legitimate. For example, accounts where users store their unstructured data files are vulnerable to account takeover (i.e., hackers using stolen credential to gain entry). The same is true for the accounts of the file recipients. In the sharing of files, the hacker's objective is accomplished if either the account credentials of either the sender or one of the receivers can be compromised. While turning back the hands of time to a more locked down existence is unrealistic, the direction and consequences of sensitive data exposure and breaches are most concerning. Bridging these two is the subject of this week's insight: data access governance (DAG), and the software solutions offered by STEALTHbits to improve and streamline DAG. Among the objectives of DAG is to reduce the exposure of unstructured sensitive data by improving and streamlining the lifecycle management of account access permissions, and appropriate use of those permissions. Ultimately, the goal is to get the right data to the right people without circumventing essential business activities that rely on the exchange and sharing of sensitive data. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03717452-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com CARTERSVILLE, Ga., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BugBand is proud to announce that its DEET-free, insect repellent products are ready to assist America's families in their ever expanding battle against mosquitoes and other insects that are so prevalent in the spring and summer months. Mosquitoes are well recognized carriers of viruses such as Zika, Chikengunya Dengue Fever, and West Nile virus. BugBand wants to remind everyone out there who either work, or simply love to be outdoors as much as its founder, that there is an environmentally friendly, hypoallergenic, natural line of defense that will keep annoying insects at bay. "I was raised on an Iowa dairy farm where my passion for the outdoors became ingrained to this day. Unfortunately mosquitoes were an agitating reality within that upbringing," says founder Dan Ritter. "I have used so many repellents over the years to counter the nuisance and harm caused by mosquitoes, but the only ones that were effective contained DEET, which troubled me because of its harmful effects to the environment, and became the very reason why I created my own with BugBand." Though DEET-based repellents do provide needed protection, their use comes at an immense cost. Some DEET-based products have been found to be flammable, and many manufacturers of flame-retardant garments have issued warnings to their users not to use DEET-based repellants while wearing their flame retardant suits. Further concerns about DEET are its uses as a solvent, where it can melt or cause damage to plastic, rubber and paint. Things like acrylic sunglasses, fishing line, watch crystals, paint on automobiles and similar materials can be damaged or destroyed if subjected to DEET-based products. "Consumers need to realize what DEET is. DEET is a synthetic, manufactured chemical that is generically well known to repel insects," explains Mr. Ritter. "However, when formulated with any ingredient, even tap water, it is required to be registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a pesticide. DEET does not readily degrade in the environment and has a potential to move through soil and into groundwater. It can be toxic to fish, birds, and aquatic invertebrates. As an avid outdoorsman, that troubles me." The active ingredient in BugBand's insect repelling products is geraniol, a natural essential oil produced from geraniums. When geraniol is blended with other minimum risk, eco-friendly ingredients, you get a biodegradable repellant that is both dermatologist tested and hypoallergenic, safe for the environment, and possesses zero toxicity impact on animals or wildlife. While incredibly safe, geraniol was also proven to be a highly effective insect repellant in a field and laboratory research study led by Dr. Jerry Butler in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida in Gainesville. BugBand products can be worn or simply placed on any proximate pieces of equipment with no flammability concerns whatsoever. Perfect for moms, runners and outdoor tradesman who place them on baby strollers, hat bands or belt loops, and find them to be highly effective when used in this halo manner. The options can be limitless. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) proclaims the mosquito to be the most deadly animal on the planet. It is also well documented that diseases such as Zika are incurable, so the battle against this formidable opponent starts with good defense. While BugBand makes no claims to prevent any of these diseases, BugBand does have scientific studies showing that a wide range of mosquitoes, including the aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) are repelled using our geraniol-based formula. BugBand's repellant products are available in multiple formats, from the original wristband to towelettes, pump sprays, bead bags, and portable diffusers. All products are available online or at a retail store near you. BugBand asks everyone to get their groove on and JOIN THE BAND! Please visit us at www.bugband.net or on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BugBandInsectRepellent/. About BugBand BugBand is a family owned & operated company and is the #1 alternative to chemical based repellents primarily DEET. BugBand provides a safe, non-toxic, naturally derived insect repellent that is effective in repelling, mosquitoes, ticks, flies, gnats, no-see-ums and fleas. BugBand is proudly made in the USA and bears the "Made in USA" brand certification mark. Businesses that meet the accreditation standards are invited to use the Made in USA brand certification mark. When customers see the "Made in USA" brand certification mark, they know they are getting reliable U.S. made and grown products. SOURCE BugBand Related Links http://www.bugband.net "This Hyundai Quantum Grant gives us substantial resources to make progress against the most life-threatening form of leukemia," said CHOP pediatric oncologist Richard Aplenc, M.D., Ph.D. "I'm constantly inspired by the resilience of my patients, and the grace and tenderness of their families, and this grant support is very helpful in advancing new cancer treatments." The Hyundai Quantum Grant, a new category in Hyundai's pediatric cancer grant program, provides each research center $250,000 per year for four years. Focusing on pediatric cancers with the lowest survival rates, the program announced competitive awards to CHOP and three other institutions participating in the Children's Oncology Group. Hyundai Hope on Wheels is the nonprofit organization of Hyundai Motor America, and is in its 18th year of supporting childhood cancer research. This year's awards are Hyundai's largest individual research grants ever for pediatric cancer research. "We are proud to fund Dr. Aplenc, one of this year's Hyundai Quantum winners, and his innovative work in AML," said Dave Zuchowski, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. "We are hopeful for the discoveries to come from his important work in the coming years. No child should ever have to hear the words, 'You have cancer,' and we will continue to support the efforts fighting for that day to come." Overall survival rates for children's cancer have reached 80 percent, but some high-risk forms of cancer have stubbornly resisted this progress. One such example is acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which has a complicated variety of difficult-to-treat subtypes. Even among survivors of AML, intensive chemotherapy may cause lifelong side effects. Immunotherapy, which is currently being studied in other types of leukemia, may provide a more effective treatment for AML, with fewer long-term side effects. The new grant, said Aplenc, will enable his team to identify specific proteins on the outside surface of AML cells that could be the most appropriate targets for immune cells programmed to attack cancers. "New technologies have dramatically altered the research landscape, by allowing scientists to better identify proteins and to make use of DNA sequencing data from AML patients," said Aplenc. "This research grant will enable us to discover more about these specific biological molecules, offering data with great potential to help us design innovative treatments." Stephen Hunger, M.D., chief of the Division of Oncology and director of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at CHOP, added, "This award will help CHOP physicians and their collaborators develop new therapies for children with AML that has not responded to current therapies, or has relapsed despite those therapies." About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 535-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349417 SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Related Links http://www.chop.edu PHILADELPHIA, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In today's volatile and expanding regulatory environment, acting as an independent director of a mutual fund can be a risky proposition. Regulatory investigations, investor lawsuits and advisor claims have steadily increased in recent years and are costly to defend, putting a director's personal assets at high risk. Recognizing a need in the market for broad-based protection for independent fund trustees, Chubb today announced the release of the CODA Premier Mutual Fund Independent Director Liability Excess DIC (CODA Premier Mutual Fund IDL) policy. Unlike typical policies for independent fund directors, which restrict coverage to non-indemnified directors, the policy also offers excess follow form coverage for a fund's indemnification of its independent directors and incorporates privacy and network security coverage to non-indemnified directors via endorsement. "Providing directors and officers with the coverage they need has long been a priority of ours, as evidenced by our CODA Premier policy, which has been and continues to be the market standard for more than 30 years," said Scott A. Meyer, Division President, North America Financial Lines. "Our goal in developing this new policy was to provide the most robust D&O coverage in the market for independent directors and trustees of mutual funds. Chubb's CODA Premier Mutual Fund IDL policy provides unparalleled breadth of coverage, incorporating several market-leading enhancements that directly respond to the evolving business and regulatory environment." Key highlights of the coverage include: Follow form excess coverage for a fund's indemnification of its independent directors; Two free reinstatements of the limits available, subject to underwriting; Additional free six-year insolvency discovery period; Additional free automatic reporting period of unlimited duration for former independent directors; Extra protection via separate funds established for the independent directors, including CODA Access Fund limit, Public Relations Fund sublimit and Enforcement Fund sublimit; Broadened definition of "claim"; Expanded recognition of underlying limit erosion; Automatic policy renewal capabilities; Defense cost advancement within 60 days; and Privacy and Network Security coverage by endorsement for non-indemnified independent directors, including: Privacy Liability coverage for sensitive personal and corporate information; Network Security Liability coverage for unauthorized access to the mutual fund's network; and Coverage for unintentional violations of the mutual fund's privacy policy that result in non-compliance with privacy regulations. Chubb's CODA Premier Mutual Fund IDL policy is available through commercial property and casualty insurance businesses in the U.S. and Bermuda and cannot be cancelled or rescinded for any reason except non-payment of premium. Product highlights are summaries only; please see the actual policy for terms and conditions. Product offerings may vary by location. About Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. The company is distinguished by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength, underwriting excellence, superior claims handling expertise and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 30,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at new.chubb.com. Chubb Bermuda offers insurance products and services through Bermuda and non-U.S. based intermediaries. For more information about Chubb Bermuda's insurance products, please contact your Bermuda broker. A full list of Bermuda based brokers can be found on the Bermuda Insurance Market website at www.bermuda-insurance.org. Chubb Bermuda is regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Chubb Bermuda is not licensed in the U.S. as an admitted insured, nor is it an eligible excess and surplus lines insurer. This is intended for general information purposes. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160121/324916LOGO SOURCE Chubb NEW YORK, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "Increasing adoption of cloud-based applications is a major factor driving the growth of the cloud access security brokers market" The cloud access security brokers market size is estimated to grow from USD 3.34 billion in 2015 to USD 7.51 billion by 2020, at an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.6%. The cloud access security brokers market is driven by factors, such as control data loss to enable uninterrupted business functions, real-time monitoring capabilities, and increasing adoption of cloud-based applications. "Data security solution segment to gain maximum traction during the forecast period" The data security solution is likely to have the largest market size in the cloud access security brokers market as it protects the sensitive data of the enterprise for business operations. Though, organizations are reluctant to move its confidential data on cloud due to the security and privacy concerns, the benefits that the data security solution provides outweighs the concerns of the organizations further supporting the high adoption rate of this solution segment. Threat protection solution among the solution segment is estimated to grow at a high growth rate during the forecast period. "Support, training, and maintenance service to have high growth rate during the forecast period" Online support, live chat, other real-time support options, and community portals are established where clients can exchange ideas with people in other organizations. Support, training and maintenance services segment provides customer support abilities to the industry verticals in case of security threats and privacy breaches. Companies actively provide online training resources such as user guides, blog articles, white papers, video instruction, and forums to their clients. Professional service would have the largest market share in the service segment from 2015 to 2020. In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and sub-segments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews were conducted with key people. Break-up of profile of primary participants is as follows: - By Company Type: Tier 1 (35%), Tier 2 (45%) and Tier 3 (20%) - By Designation: C-level (35%), Director level (40%) and other executives (25%) - By Region: North America (43%), Europe (33%), Asia-Pacific (APAC) (19%), and RoW (05%). The adoption of pay-as-you-go model pricing strategy and high adoption rate in the SMBs offers cloud access security brokers vendors tremendous opportunites for the next five years. As this model provides optimum usage of resources, hence the SMB's are utilizing its benefits as they only have to pay for the services procured. Moreover, due to the lack of advanced IT skills and infrastructure among SMB's, they prefer to adopt pay-as-you-go pricing model for reducing the cost. The major cloud access security brokers companies profiled in the report are as follows: 1. Imperva 2. Bitglass 3. CloudLock 4. CipherCloud 5. Skyhigh Networks 6. Netskope 7. Protegrity 8. Adallom 9. Perspecsys 10. CloudMask The report will help the market leaders/new entrants in the cloud access security brokers market in the following ways: 1. This report segments the cloud access security brokers market comprehensively and provides the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall market and the sub-segments across different end users and regions. 2. The report helps stakeholders to understand the pulse of the market and provides them information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. 3. This report will help stakeholders to better understand the competitors and gain more insights to better their position in the business. The competitive landscape section includes new product launches, partnerships, agreements, collaborations, venture funding and mergers and acquisitions. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03473691-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com BEIJING, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- B2B e-commerce marketplace DHgate.com serves over 10 million buyers every year, with consumer electronics comprising 40% of total sales, making it DHgate.com's top product category in terms of sales volume. The growing demand for quality consumer electronics products at lower prices is enticing more and more business buyers to make the switch to using B2B e-commerce for their product sourcing needs. DHgate.com's popularity among business buyers is growing rapidly; at the end of 2015, DHgate.com reported a 46% year-over-year business buyer lifecycle, and that a transaction had taken place on their site every three seconds. 'CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SOURCING' The American market's hunger for consumer electronics is evident; in 2016, every generation of people is now using tech products, and no one wants to pay a fortune for them. Texas is now the number one state for consumer electronics purchases, with 14% of all smartphones sold off DHgate.com going to buyers in Dallas alone. DHgate.com's number one consumer electronics product in terms of sales is the self-balancing scooter, followed by smartphones, tablets, 3D VR glasses, smart watches, headphones, and TV boxes. 'B2B TRENDS' According to PFSweb, B2B e-commerce is growing at 19% per year, and 74% of B2B shoppers say buying from a website is more convenient than buying from a sales representative. 27% of all global B2B sales are expected to have an online component in the next five years. Global B2B e-commerce will be worth $6.7 billion by 2020, as opposed to B2C which will only be worth $3.2 trillion. 'ABOUT DHgate.com' DHgate is the oldest and the biggest transactional cross border B2B e-commerce marketplace in China. We aim to provide global buyers with quality products at competitive prices. Founded in 2004, DHgate.com has approximately 10 million global buyers from 230 countries and regions, with 1.2 million global sellers offering 33 million product listings. Our business enables buyers to directly access global manufacturers of the world's top brands with rich product selections. DHgate is an all-in-one platform with integrated services for international logistics, cross border payments, internet financing, etc. DHgate.com's US product distribution warehouses allow for 24 hour delivery and convenient product returns & refunds, bringing great convenience to US buyers at http://www.dhgate.com. For more information please e-mail [email protected] or call +86-10-8202-8870 x2398. SOURCE DHgate.com Related Links http://www.dhgate.com Thank you for reading! To read this article and more, subscribe now for as little as $1.99. NEW YORK, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - UK Summary GlobalData, the industry analysis specialist, has released its new report, "CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - UK". The report is an essential source of information and an analysis on the healthcare, regulatory and reimbursement landscape of the UK. The report identifies the key trends in the healthcare market and provides insights on the demographic, regulatory, reimbursement landscape and healthcare infrastructure of the UK. Most importantly, the report provides valuable insights on the trends and segmentation of the pharmaceutical and medical devices market. This report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by GlobalData's team of industry experts. In 2014, the UK`s population was approximately 64.2 million. The major factors contributing to the growth in the population are increase in net migration and decrease in death rate. The UK policymakers are now presented with the problems of a Eurozone crisis, a declining population of the working age group and an increasing elderly population. The pharmaceutical market in the UK was estimated at $28.8 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach approximately $43.2 billion by 2020 with a projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.4%. The medical devices market size was approximately $14.4 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach approximately $17.9 billion by 2020 with a projected CAGR of 4.5%. The positive trends in the UK healthcare market can be attributed primarily to - - Increasing elderly population - Universal healthcare insurance - High degree of access to healthcare facilities Scope The report provides information on the healthcare, regulatory and reimbursement landscape of the UK. The scope includes - - Overview of the pharmaceutical and medical devices market of the UK including the market size, market segmentation, key drivers and barriers. - Profile and SWOT analysis of the major players in the pharmaceutical and medical devices market. The key players covered for the pharmaceutical market are Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Roche and Merck. The key players covered for the medical devices market are Essilor International, GlaxoSmithKline, DePuy Companies, Johnson & Johnson and B.Braun. - Insightful review on the reimbursement and regulatory landscape. Analysis includes details of the healthcare reimbursement process, the regulatory agencies and the approval processes for new drugs and medical devices. - A detailed analysis of the political and economic environment of the UK including the economic indicators, demographics, healthcare infrastructure and healthcare expenditure. - An overview of the opportunities and challenges for growth that exist in the healthcare market of the UK. Reasons to buy The report on the UK comprehensively covers both the pharmaceutical and the medical devices markets of the UK. The report will enhance your decision making capability. It will allow you to - - Develop business strategies by understanding the trends shaping and driving the healthcare market of the UK. - Drive revenue by understanding the key trends, and reimbursement and regulatory policies, pharmaceutical and medical devices market segments and companies likely to impact the the UK healthcare market in the future. - Formulate effective sales and marketing strategies by understanding the competitive landscape and by analyzing the performance of the various competitors. - Organize your sales and marketing efforts by identifying the market categories and segments that present the maximum opportunities for consolidations, investments and strategic partnerships. - Identify, understand and capitalize on the opportunities and challenges in the healthcare market of the UK. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03716476-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com "Our team strives to create a culture of inclusion at Detroit Metro and Willow Run airports and within our community," said Thomas Naughton, Airport Authority CEO. "One way we show that commitment is by creating opportunities for small, minority-owned, women-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises to play a part in our airport success story. Our involvement with AMAC exposes us to a diverse pool of talented partners we may not be aware of if we worked alone." "We are proud of our relationship with Detroit Metro Airport and pleased to bring our forum to the area," said Shelby Scales, AMAC President and CEO. "We hope attendees will leave with a clear understanding of the business opportunities available in our industry, especially in the Great Lakes region, and how to pursue them," Scales said. During the forum, several talented speakers will share their knowledge about topics including the aviation economic forecast, procurement opportunities, construction, concessions, workforce development, access to financing and the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification process. Online registration will continue until April 15 through the forum website, regonline.com/WCAAForum. On-site registration opens at noon April 20. Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are still available. For more information, contact LaVonne Turner at [email protected] or 313-268-6625. See link to Save the Date below. About AMAC AMAC has two primary goals: to eliminate the barriers to minority and women participation in the airport industry and to capitalize on the opportunities available in this multi-billion dollar industry. Since its inception, AMAC has been at the forefront of nearly every national policy initiative impacting the participation of disadvantaged businesses in airport contracting. AMAC works consistently with Congress, the Federal Government, aviation trade associations, and others as a resource for information, education, and guidance on business and employment matters. For information on events, legislative updates and the most up-to-date news pertaining to the aviation industry, visit www.AMAC-org.com or call 703-414-2622. For Forum updates, follow AMAC on Twitter @AMAC_Org and connect by using #AMAC2016GL. About DTW Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) welcomed more than 33 million passengers in 2015 and is one of the world's leading air transportation hubs. With service from 13 scheduled passenger airlines, Michigan's largest airport offers more than 1,100 flights per day to and from more than 140 non-stop destinations on four continents. With two award-winning passenger terminals, six jet runways, and an onsite AAA Four-Diamond Westin Hotel, DTW is among the world's most efficient, customer friendly and operationally capable airports in North America. DTW is operated by Wayne County Airport Authority, which also operates nearby Willow Run Airport an important corporate, cargo and general aviation facility. The Airport Authority is entirely self-sustaining and does not receive tax dollars to support airport operations. Visit www.metroairport.com for more information. PDF - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/ENR/2016_AMAC_Regional_Forum_Save_the_date_Ad_032816_Revised.pdf Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160301/339509LOGO SOURCE Detroit Metro Airport Related Links http://www.metroairport.com SALUGGIA, Italy and MADISON, N.J., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DiaSorin S.p.A. (F TSE Italy: DIA) and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) today announced that they have entered into a purchase agreement under which DiaSorin will buy Quest's Focus Diagnostics, Inc. immunodiagnostic and molecular diagnostic products business ("Focus"). Under the terms of the purchase agreement, DiaSorin will pay to Quest Diagnostics $300 million in cash for all the tangible and intangible assets of Focus used by the Company to develop, manufacture and distribute its molecular diagnostic products and its traditional immunoassay ELISA products, including among other relevant intellectual property, contracts and customer list. Today, Focus' product lines include the Simplexa molecular product line, HerpeSelect HSV serology, and the line of DxSelect IFA and ELISA assays. DiaSorin expects to continue to manufacture Focus products from the company's base facility in Cypress, California, USA with the approximately 180 Focus employees currently employed in manufacturing, research and development, sales and marketing, and administration. The acquisition does not include Quest's diagnostic information service laboratories currently operating under the Focus Diagnostics brand. These labs primarily serve hospital and biopharmaceutical companies, and will continue to be based in San Juan Capistrano, California, USA as part of Quest. The acquisition will be carried out by DiaSorin also through a newly created U.S. affiliate and it is expected to be completed in the second quarter 2016, subject to customary closing conditions. Additional terms were not disclosed. As a result of this acquisition, DiaSorin will have access to a new set of molecular products cleared for distribution both in the US and Europe, significantly increasing its presence in the growing market of Infectious Disease molecular testing. From a geographical point of view, DiaSorin will leverage its global commercial infrastructure to help the Focus business expand outside the US. Furthermore, having access to the current Focus customer base in the US, consisting mostly of large hospitals, will allow DiaSorin to speed up the penetration of this market with its current Immunoassay LIAISON platform. "The combination of DiaSorin and Focus products will create a unique portfolio of specialty products, especially in the clinical area of infectious disease, which will continue to strengthen the leadership of DiaSorin in this segment that today already represents over 50% of DiaSorin revenues. Also, this acquisition offers DiaSorin access to a large number of premier US hospitals that are served today by Focus, a market segment that is strategic for DiaSorin to grow in the future by combining the Focus molecular products with its broad LIAISON product line," said Carlo Rosa, Chief Executive Officer of DiaSorin S.p.A. "As a leader in diagnostic products, DiaSorin is well positioned to build on the Focus platform of innovation to deliver continuing value to Focus' employees, customers and patients," said Steve Rusckowski, president and CEO, Quest Diagnostics. "This transaction reflects our ongoing commitment to re-focusing on Quest's core diagnostic information services business. We remain committed to delivering disciplined capital deployment, the fifth element of our five-point strategy. We return the majority of our free cash flow to investors in the form of dividends and share repurchases, and also have been investing in the business through strategically aligned acquisitions." About Focus Diagnostics, Inc. Focus Diagnostics, Inc., a wholly owned company of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, is a company committed to providing proven and reliable products its customers have grown accustomed to throughout the years. Since its founding in 1978, Focus Diagnostics has grown its business from specialized laboratory testing to manufacturing its high-quality laboratory tests for hospitals and commercial laboratories worldwide. These manufactured tests are built in response to diagnostic testing trends identified and evaluated by Focus Diagnostics and used in Quest Diagnostics' national laboratories. In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Focus products business had revenues* in the range of $80 million, of which approximately 80% were from sales to customers based in the US, with double-digit growth year on year*. The Focus business EBITDA margin* is estimated in the range of 30%. * financial data is unaudited Financial information The price for the transaction is $300 million on a debt free cash free basis, with an agreed normalized level of trade receivables and payables. The cash transaction will be funded through available cash and a line of credit available to the company, assuming its completion, as expected, in the second quarter 2016. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to DiaSorin's ongoing earnings per share upon close. Rationale for the acquisition The Focus products business acquisition is strategic for DiaSorin because: It will allow the Company to compete in the Molecular Diagnostics segment with a set of specialty products, a market which is experiencing rapid growth in the United States and in Europe ; It is an acquisition in the US market in line with the Company strategy to strengthen its presence in this market in the years to come with the aim of making the US 50% of the total Company turnover in the near future; This acquisition brings along access to a qualified customer base in the US made up by approximately 200 large hospitals. Leveraging on the Focus relationship with these customers, DiaSorin wants to increase its penetration in this segment with its current LIAISON products; Focus products also include a competitive catalogue of specialty ELISA assays that can be added to the DiaSorin product line and effectively distributed on DiaSorin's ELISA instrumentation in all countries where these products have a large potential (e.g. Asia and South America ). DiaSorin Conference Call DiaSorin is pleased to invite you to a special conference call that will be conducted on March 30, 2016 at 5.40 p.m. CET, 4.40 p.m. GMT, 11.40 a.m. US Eastern time, to provide an overview of the transaction. Presentation slides will be posted on the DiaSorin website in the IR section. To take part in the conference call, please dial the most convenient telephone number within the following: - from Italy: +39 02 8020911 - from UK: +44 1 212 818004 - from USA: +1 718 7058796 A replay and the transcript will be available after the conference call in the Investor Relations section at www.diasorin.com Should you have any queries regarding any of the above, please contact the helpline at +39 02 8061371. The official invitation is also available on the DiaSorin website in the Investor Relations section at www.diasorin.com For additional information, please contact For DiaSorin: Riccardo Fava - Investor Relations & Corporate Communication Senior Director Tel. +39.0161.487988 [email protected] About DiaSorin: Headquartered in Italy and listed in the FTSE Mid Cap Index, DiaSorin is a global leader in the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) field. For over 40 years the Company has been developing, producing and marketing reagent kits for IVD worldwide. Through constant investments in research and development, and using its own distinctive expertise in the field of immunodiagnostics to deliver a high level of innovation, DiaSorin offers today the broadest range of specialty tests available in the immunodiagnostics market and new tests in the molecular diagnostics markets which identify DiaSorin Group as the IVD "diagnostics specialist". www.diasorin.com For Quest Diagnostics: Wendy Bost (Media) 973-520-2800 (US) Dan Haemmerle (Investors) 973-520-2900 (US) About Quest Diagnostics: Quest Diagnostics empowers people to take action to improve health outcomes. Derived from the world's largest database of clinical lab results, our diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve health care management. Quest annually serves one in three adult Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, and our 44,000 employees understand that, in the right hands and with the right context, our diagnostic insights can inspire actions that transform lives. www.QuestDiagnostics.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150422/200883LOGO SOURCE Quest Diagnostics Related Links http://www.QuestDiagnostics.com SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Boston 2016 announces two industry innovators as keynote speakers: Kipp Bradford, a research scientist at MIT Media Lab, and Benjamin B. Reed, a deputy program manager at NASA. ESC Boston returns to the Boston Exhibition and Conference Center on April 13-14. For more information and to register for the event, visit: embeddedconf.com/boston. ESC Boston will host thousands of technical professionals and embedded systems developers to get exclusive insight into the latest tools and technologies within the embedded systems industry. ESC covers all aspects of embedded systems, including hardware, software, and connected devices, offering training on how to reduce time, cost, and complexity in the embedded development process. Meet the Keynote Speakers: Kipp Bradford, Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab: Well known as a prolific high-tech innovator, Bradford is an entrepreneur, technology consultant, and educator. Outside of his work with MIT, Bradford has founded tech startups, authored multiple books, and has established himself as one of the most passionate proponents of the Maker Movement. Bradford's presentation, Beyond Makers: The Future of American Innovation, will focus on the modern maker movement and the recent innovative thinking that has led to an increase in DIY technology. Sophisticated products have never been easier to create and manufacture, which is reshaping the way companies innovate and create. The Keynote presentation will take place on Wednesday, April 13 at 1:00 pm in room 107. Benjamin B. Reed, Deputy Program Manager, NASA: Reed, who has been with NASA for 13 years, currently works within the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SCCO), continuing NASA's 30-year legacy of servicing and repairing satellites. Reed also spent time as the lead Materials Engineer for the Hubble Space telescope. Reed's presentation, titled The Restore-L Servicing Mission, will discuss the Restore-L robotic spacecraft and its role in extending satellites lifespans and innovating servicing technologies within the industry. The Keynote Presentation will take place on Thursday, April 14, at 1:00 pm in room 107. ESC Boston 2016 will cover pressing industry trends and showcase the best innovative technologies in the embedded development industry. The conference tracks include: Embedded Hardware Embedded Software Connected Devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) ESC Engineering Theater ESC Boston will be co-located with three other advanced manufacturing events, including: BIOMEDevice Boston, Design & Manufacturing New England, and PLASTEC New England. MassMEDIC will also hold its 20th annual conference in conjunction with the four other events. Registration To register for ESC Boston, visit: embeddedconf.com/boston/attend To request a Media Pass, visit: escb.tech.ubm.com/2016/index/registrations/media About Advanced Manufacturing Expos & Conferences UBM's Advanced Manufacturing portfolio is the leading B-to-B event producer, publisher, and digital media business for the world's $3 trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the advanced manufacturing market and leverage our proprietary 1.3 million name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. The Advanced Manufacturing portfolio is organized by UBM Americas, a part of UBM plc (UBM.L), an Events First marketing and communication services business. For more information, visit ubmamericas.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349100LOGO SOURCE UBM Advanced Manufacturing NEW YORK, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Notice is hereby given that Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, case no. 3:16-cv-00921, on behalf of shareholders of Affymetrix, Inc. ("Affymetrix" or the "Company") (NasdaqGS:AFFX) who held Affymetrix securities on the record date, February 18, 2016, and have been harmed by Affymetrix's and its board of directors' (the "Board") alleged violations of Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. ("Thermo Fisher"). On January 8, 2016, the Company announced it had entered into a proposed merger ("Proposed Transaction") under which Thermo Fisher will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Affymetrix through White Birch Merger Co., a newly formed subsidiary of the acquirer. The shareholder vote on the Proposed Transaction is expected to occur on March 31, 2016. The complaint charges Affymetrix and the Board with violations of Sections 14(a) and 20(a) the Exchange Act. If you wish to obtain information concerning this action or view a copy of the complaint, you can do so by clicking here: www.faruqilaw.com/AFFXnotice. Pursuant to the terms of the Proposed Transaction, which was unanimously approved by the Board, Affymetrix shareholders will receive $14 in cash per share for each share of Affymetrix they own. The complaint alleges that the preliminary proxy statement (the "Proxy") filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 12, 2016 provides materially incomplete and misleading information about the Company and the Proposed Transaction, in violation of Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act. The Proxy fails to provide Affymetrix's shareholders with material information concerning the financial and procedural fairness of the Proposed Transaction. Specifically, the Proxy contains materially incomplete and misleading information, including: i) the financial analyses conducted by Morgan Stanley, financial advisor to the Affymetrix Board; ii) Morgan Stanley's conflicts of interest; and iii) information related to Affymetrix's financial projections. Furthermore, according to the complaint, the Proposed Transaction includes a non-solicitation provision, a matching rights provisions, and a $55 million termination fee which essentially ensure that a superior bidder will not emerge, as any potential suitor will undoubtedly be deterred from expending the time, cost, and effort of making a superior proposal while knowing that Thermo Fisher can easily foreclose a competing bid. Take Action Plaintiff is represented by Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a law firm with extensive experience in prosecuting class actions, and significant expertise in actions involving corporate fraud. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, was founded in 1995 and the firm maintains its principal office in New York City, with offices in Delaware, California, and Pennsylvania. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. If you wish to discuss this action, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact: Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. FARUQI & FARUQI, LLP 685 3rd Avenue, 26th Floor New York, NY 10017 Telephone: (877) 247-4292 or (212) 983-9330 E-mail: [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120119/MM38856LOGO SOURCE Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Related Links http://www.faruqilaw.com Jenn Reeves, SVP of Brand for Frontgate, said, "We are thrilled to be collaborating with Carleton Varney. We love him, our consumers love him and America loves him. With this exciting partnership, we are bringing the Dorothy Draper fabric designs and Carleton's colorful flair to an exclusive collection for outdoor living spaces of all shapes and sizes. Over the next two years, we will be delighting our consumers with the beauty and quality you'd expect from Frontgate mixed with the colorful designs you'd expect from Carleton Varney. It's a match made in design heaven!" Mr. Varney's kaleidoscopic vision celebrates color and life, and accentuates the experience of grand living. Mr. Varney said, "Frontgate offered me the opportunity to design and create furnishings and fabrics that expressed my feelings and experiences of design styles from my decorating of hotels and residences around the world. My design consideration centered around comfort, practicality and usability, as well as color and style. I am particularly delighted with the melamine Caning Dinnerware that appears at first viewing to be fine porcelain." In the three furniture assortments, pieces range from a bistro table to deep seating to traditional dining, offering different styling within the thematic whole of Mr. Varney's trademark look. The Hillandale Rose collection presents whimsy in a unique bistro table, Ibis Isle gives a fashion-forward take on Chippendale design, and Giverny updates traditional neoclassic motifs. The breadth of designful offerings is certainly where Frontgate goes the extra mile. With new outdoor gourmet and serving products, tabletop decor and patterned melamine plates, Frontgate enables effortless, graceful entertaining. For more information or to view the new collections from Frontgate, visit: http://www.frontgate.com/carleton-varney About Frontgate: Frontgate is a leading home luxury lifestyle retailer. Frontgate is known for its best-in-class furnishings and enhancements. It outfits America's finest homes through its flagship Frontgate catalog, as well as four specialty collections and one modern aesthetic brand: The Outdoor Book, The Holiday Book, The Interiors Book, Splash and Porta Forma. Frontgate has enjoyed growth by combining a superior level of customer service with quality products not commonly available in retail stores. Frontgate products can be described as being professional grade and authentic, having innovative features yet also timeless design. Frontgate is part of HSN Inc., a $3.7 billion interactive multichannel retailer with strong direct-to-consumer expertise between its two operating segments, HSN and Cornerstone. Cornerstone Brands Inc. (CBI) is a family of direct marketers that ranks among this country's top 10 consumer-direct firms. About Carleton Varney: Carleton Varney is one of the best-known, most accomplished interior designers in the country. He has decorated landmark buildings like the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, and consulted on several functions at the White House, while superstars of film, fashion and finance have hired him to give their homes his inimitable style. Varney's approach is anything but drab. He rejects "vanilla decorating" and opts instead for bold contrast, vibrant colors and theatrical flair. He encourages his clients to be adventurous and regain the "freedom of being a child with the paint box." Twenty-six books bear his name, along with lines of furniture, fabric, wallpaper, paint, carpeting, dinnerware and apparel. Contact: Tyler Thompson Frontgate Public Relations [email protected] 513-603-1457 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/348858 SOURCE Frontgate Related Links http://www.frontgate.com ALLENTOWN, Pa., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fuling Global Inc. (NASDAQ: FORK) ("Fuling Global" or the "Company"), a specialized producer and distributor of environmentally-friendly plastic serviceware, with precision manufacturing facilities in both the U.S. and China, today announced its financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. Mr. Xinfu Hu, Chief Executive Officer of Fuling Global, commented, "In 2015, we succeeded in growing our revenues by 10% and our net income attributable to shareholders by 7%, to $8.0 million, in spite of the continued free fall of crude oil prices. While the 2015 average monthly prices for polypropylene ("PP"), general purpose polystyrene ("GPPS"), and high impact polystyrene ("HIPS") dropped by 26%, 31%, and 29%, compared to 2014 average monthly prices, respectively, we grew our top-line through a 30% increase in overall sales volume. We view the 2015 financial performance as a testament to the robustness of our business and great efforts from our team." Ms. Guilan Jiang, Chairwoman of Fuling Global, added, "We reached a variety of key milestones in 2015. First, our business continued to grow at a solid pace, as our revenues and net income achieved the highest levels in company history, despite continued pricing pressure as a result of lower crude oil prices. Second, our Allentown facility began commercial production in June with fully operational six straw production lines. Last but not least, we successfully raised $20.2 million in our initial public offering (the "IPO") in November, becoming the first U.S.-listed plastic serviceware supplier with manufacturing facilities in both the U.S. as well as in China. Our IPO significantly raised our company's profile in our industry, and our market and financial positions have also improved. We are planning for the future, from the continued ramp-up of our U.S. operations in our Allentown facility to the development of our new factory in Wenling. In short, we believe the future has never been brighter for Fuling Global and we look forward to continuing solid growth of our business in 2016 and beyond." Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Highlights Please note, certain expense items, primarily expenses associated with ocean freight, were previously reported as selling expenses and have been reclassified as cost of goods sold. As a result, cost of goods sold, gross profit, gross margin, selling expenses, and total operating expenses for 2014 have been adjusted retrospectively. For the Twelve Months Ended December 31, ($ millions, expect per share data) 2015 2014 % Change Revenues $91.3 $83.2 9.8% Gross profit $23.6 $22.1 7.1% Gross margin 25.9% 26.5% -0.6% Operating margin 9.8% 11.6% -1.8% Net income attributable to Fuling Global $8.0 $7.5 7.4% Diluted earnings per share $0.65 $0.64 1.6% Revenues grew by 10% year-over-year to $91.3 million for 2015, mainly driven by a 30% increase in sales volume that more than offset the impact of a 16% decrease in average selling price ("ASP"). The Company sold 32,776 tons of products with blended ASP of $2.79 per kilogram in 2015, compared to 25,213 tons and $3.30 per kilogram in 2014. for 2015, mainly driven by a 30% increase in sales volume that more than offset the impact of a 16% decrease in average selling price ("ASP"). The Company sold 32,776 tons of products with blended ASP of per kilogram in 2015, compared to 25,213 tons and per kilogram in 2014. Net income attributable to Fuling Global increased by 7% to $8.0 million , or $0.65 per basic and diluted share, for the year of 2015, compared to $7.5 million , or $0.64 per basic and diluted share, for 2014. , or per basic and diluted share, for the year of 2015, compared to , or per basic and diluted share, for 2014. Gross profit increased by 7% to $23.6 million for the year of 2015. Gross margin decreased by 64 basis points to 25.9%, mainly due to change in product mix with increased revenues share from the relatively lower margin cutlery. Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Results Revenues For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, total revenues increased by $8.1 million, or 10%, to $91.3 million from $83.2 million for the same period of last year. The increase in total revenues was mainly driven by the 30% increase in overall sales volume and partially offset by the 16% decrease in blended ASP. Overall sales volume increased by 7,563 tons, or 30%, to 32,776 tons for the year of 2015 from 25,213 tons for the same period of last year, while blended ASP decreased by $0.51 per kilogram, or 16%, to $2.79 per kilogram for the year of 2015 from $3.30 per kilogram for the same period of last year. Revenues from cutlery increased by $10.0 million, or 22%, to $55.2 million for the year of 2015 from $45.2 million for same period of last year. The increase in revenues from cutlery was primarily driven by a 40% increase in sales volume and partially offset by a 13% decrease in ASP. The Company sold 22,780 tons of cutlery at $2.43 per kilogram for fiscal 2015, compared to 16,302 tons at $2.77 per kilogram for the same period of last year. Revenues from straws decreased by $2.0 million, or 15%, to $11.1 million for fiscal 2015 from $13.1 million for the same period of last year. The Company sold 3,042 tons of straws at $3.65 per kilogram for fiscal 2015, compared to 2,819 tons at $4.63 per kilogram for the same period of last year. Revenues from cups and plates decreased by $1.8 million, or 8%, to $20.9 million for the year of 2015 from $22.7 million for the same period of last year. The Company sold 5,818 tons of cups and plates at $3.60 per kilogram for 2015, compared to 5,744 tons at $3.95 per kilogram for the same period of last year. Revenues from other products, including products for family use, party and other entertainment purposes, increased by $1.8 million, or 82%, to $4.0 million for 2015 from $2.2 million for the same period of last year. The increase in revenues from other products was primarily driven by a 228% increase in sales volume to 1,137 tons for fiscal 2015 from 347 tons for the same period of last year and partially offset by a 45% decrease in ASP to $3.54 per kilogram for the year of 2015 from $6.39 per kilogram for the same period of last year. For the Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2015 2014 Revenues ($'000) Volume (tons) ASP ($/kg) Revenues ($'000) Volume (tons) ASP ($/kg) Cutlery $ 55,242 22,780 $ 2.43 $ 45,211 16,302 $ 2.77 Straws 11,092 3,042 3.65 13,055 2,819 4.63 Cups and plates 20,938 5,818 3.60 22,699 5,744 3.95 Other products 4,022 1,137 3.54 2,216 347 6.39 Total $ 91,294 32,776 $ 2.79 $ 83,181 25,213 $ 3.30 Cutlery, straws, cups and plates, and other products accounted for 60.5%, 12.1%, 22.9%, and 4.4% of total revenues for the year of 2015, compared to 54.4%, 15.7%, 27.3%, and 2.7% for the same period of last year, respectively. On a geographical basis, sales in Fuling Global's largest markets, the U.S. and Europe grew by 11% and 34%, respectively, increasing by a total of $8.9 million. Revenues from smaller markets decreased by an aggregate of $0.8 million, resulting in a net increase in revenues of $8.1 million. The following table provides regional information about changes in Fuling Global's revenues. For the Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2015 2014 Y/Y Change Revenues ($'000) % of Total Revenues ($'000) % of Total Amount ($'000) % U.S. $85,145 93.3% $76,930 92.5% $8,215 11% Europe $2,588 2.8% $1,933 2.3% $655 34% Australia $635 0.7% $1,214 1.5% ($579) -48% Canada $1,082 1.2% $1,198 1.4% ($116) -10% Central and South America $222 0.2% $760 0.9% ($538) -71% Middle East $498 0.6% $683 0.8% ($185) -27% China $1,124 1.2% $463 0.6% $661 143% Total $91,294 100.0% $83,181 100.0% $8,113 10% Gross profit Total cost of goods sold increased by $6.5 million, or 11%, to $67.6 million for the year of 2015 from $61.1 million for the same period of last year, which is in line with growth in revenues. Gross profit increased by $1.6 million, or 7%, to $23.6 million for the year of 2015 from $22.1 million for the same period of last year. Gross margin was 25.9% for the year of 2015, compared to 26.5% for the same period of last year. The decrease in overall gross margin was mainly due to change in product mix, with increased revenues share from the relatively lower margin cutlery. Gross margins for cutlery, straws, cups and plates, and other products were 24%, 26%, 41%, and 39%, respectively, for fiscal 2015, compared to 22%, 27%, 41%, and 38%, respectively, for the same period of last year. For the Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2015 2014 Revenues ($'000) COGS ($'000) Gross Margin (%) Revenues ($'000) COGS ($'000) Gross Margin (%) Cutlery $ 55,242 $ 42,211 24% $ 45,211 $ 35,204 22% Straws 11,092 8,234 26% 13,055 9,500 27% Cups and plates 20,938 12,297 41% 22,699 13,473 41% Other products 4,022 2,455 39% 2,216 1,373 38% Tax 2,449 1,554 Total $ 91,294 $ 67,646 25.9% $ 83,181 $ 61,104 26.5% Operating income Selling expenses increased by $0.4 million, or 6%, to $6.4 million for the year of 2015 from $6.1 million for the same period of last year. The increase in selling expenses was in line with the increase in revenues. General and administrative expenses increased by $2.3 million, or 59%, to $6.1 million for the year of 2015 from $3.9 million for the same period of last year. The increase in general and administrative expenses was due to increases of $0.2 million for IPO-related expenses, $1.4 million related to our business expansion, especially in the U.S., and $0.3 million in rental and insurance expenses in our Allentown facility. Research and development expenses decreased by $0.4 million, or 16%, to $2.1 million for the year of 2015 from $2.5 million for the same period of last year. As a result, total operating expenses increased by $2.2 million, or 18%, to $14.7 million for 2015 from $12.4 million for the same period of last year. Operating income decreased by $0.7 million, or 7%, to $9.0 million for the year of 2015 from $9.6 million for the same period of last year. Operating margin was 9.8% for the year of 2015, compared to 11.6% for the same period of last year. Income before income taxes After adjustment for interest income and expenses, subsidy income and other non-operating income and expenses, income before income taxes increased by $0.3 million, or 3%, to $9.4 million for the year of 2015 from $9.1 million for the same period of last year. Provision for income taxes was $1.4 million for the year of 2015, up slightly from the $1.4 million for the same period of last tear. Net income Net income increased by $0.2 million, or 3%, to $7.9 million for the year of 2015 from $7.7 million for the same period of last year. After deduction of non-controlling interest, net income attributable to Fuling Global was $8.0 million, or $0.65 per basic and diluted share, for the year of 2015, compared to $7.5 million, or $0.64 per basic and diluted share, for the same period of last year. Financial Condition As of December 31, 2015, the Company had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and certificates of deposits of $15.6 million, $2.1 million, and $3.2 million, respectively, compared to $1.4 million, $2.4 million, and $1.4 million, respectively at the end of 2014. Short-term borrowing and bank notes payable were $15.3 million and $2.8 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2015, compared to $19.5 million and $3.2 million, respectively, at the end of 2014. Net cash provided by operating activities was $8.0 million for fiscal 2015, compared to $5.4 million for the same period of last year. Net cash used in investing activities was $8.8 million for 2015, compared to $6.0 million for the same period of last year. The increase in net cash used in investing activities in 2015 was primarily attributable to increased payments associated with the acquisition of property and equipment in 2014 for $2.1 million, as well as increase of investment made for certificate of deposit for $0.6 million. Net cash provided by financing activities was $15.1 million for fiscal 2015, compared to net cash used in financing activities of $0.8 million for the same period of last year. The increase in net cash provided from financing activities in 2015 was primarily attributable to (a) the 2014 Dividend, net of shareholder contribution for $2.7 million, compared to $18.6 million of capital contribution from our initial public offering; (b) offset by repayment of short term borrowings for $3.6 million in 2015, compared to $0.5 million in 2014. Recent Updates On March 8, 2016, the Company provided an update on the use of proceeds from its initial public offering (the "IPO") and announced that it has disbursed approximately $11 million of the IPO proceeds to increase the registered capital of Taizhou Fuling Plastics Co., Ltd. ("Taizhou Fuling") from $11 million to $22 million. Taizhou Fuling is a PRC company that is wholly owned by the Company through Total Faith Holdings Limited. The Wenling Bureau of Commerce had granted Taizhou Fuling official approval for the increase in registered capital. The Company is also investing approximately $8 million of the IPO proceeds in its business in the United States. On March 3, 2016, Gilbert Lee, the Company's Chief Financial Officer, presented at VirtualInvestorConferences.com and provided a comprehensive overview of the Company for investors. On January 12, 2016, the Company announced that it had hosted a team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry ("TIPC") and Chinese Academy of Engineering ("CAE"), including CAE Academician Yicheng Wu, TIPC Deputy Director Yong Huang and TIPC NRCEP Chief Engineer Junhui Ji. The purposes of the meeting were to review 2015 accomplishments and set directions in 2016 for Fuling's Academician and Expert Workstation (the "Workstation") and to further expand the scope of cooperation and collaboration through the Workstation platform in jointly developing new plastics materials and technologies. On October 30, 2015, the Company announced the pricing of its IPO of 4 million ordinary shares at price of $5.00 per share. The base IPO was closed on November 2, 2015 and the Company's ordinary shares commenced trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market on November 4, 2015 under the ticker symbol "FORK". On November 12, 2015, the Company announced that the IPO underwriters had exercised their over-subscription option to purchase an additional 38,423 shares at the IPO price of $5.00 per share. As a result, the Company had raised $20,192,115 in gross proceeds, or $18,594,972 in net proceeds. In total the Company sold 4,038,423 ordinary shares in its IPO. Earnings Conference Call The Company will host its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 financial results conference call at 8:00 am Eastern Time (5:00 am Pacific Time/8:00 pm Beijing Time) on Thursday, March 31, 2016. To attend the call, please use the information below for either dial-in access or webcast access. When prompted on dial-in, ask for "Fuling Global Inc./ FORK". Conference Call Date: Thursday, March 31, 2016 Time: 8:00 am ET, U.S. International Toll Free: United States: +1 888-346-8982 Mainland China: 400-120-1203 Hong Kong: 800-905-945 International: +1 412-902-4272 Conference ID: Fuling Global Inc./FORK Please dial in at least fifteen minutes before the call to ensure timely participation. For those unable to participate, an audio replay of the conference call will be available beginning approximately one hour after the end of the live call through April 8, 2016. The audio replay can be accessed by dialing +1-877-344-7529 within the United States or +1-412-317-0088 internationally, and entering access code No. 10083184. About Fuling Global Inc. Fuling Global Inc. ("Fuling Global") is a specialized producer and distributor of environmentally friendly plastic serviceware, with precision manufacturing facilities in both the U.S. and China. The Company's plastic serviceware products include disposable cutlery, drinking straws, cups, plates and other plastic products and are used by more than one hundred customers primarily from the U.S. and Europe, including Subway, Wendy's, Burger King, KFC (China only), Walmart, McKesson, and Woolworths. More information about the Company can be found at: http://ir.fulingglobal.com/. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains information about Fuling Global's view of its future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from historical results or those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with its application of IPO proceeds, its ability to raise additional funding, its ability to maintain and grow its business, variability of operating results, its ability to maintain and enhance its brand, its development and introduction of new products and services, the successful integration of acquired companies, technologies and assets into its portfolio of software and services, marketing and other business development initiatives, competition in the industry, general government regulation, economic conditions, dependence on key personnel, the ability to attract, hire and retain personnel who possess the technical skills and experience necessary to meet the requirements of its clients, and its ability to protect its intellectual property. Fuling Global encourages you to review other factors that may affect its future results in Fuling Global's registration statement and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please contact: At the Company: Gilbert Lee, CFO Email: [email protected] Phone: +1-610-366-8070x1835 Web: http://ir.fulingglobal.com/ Investor Relations: Tina Xiao Weitian Group LLC Email: [email protected] Phone: +1-917-609-0333 FULING GLOBAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS December 31, December 31, 2015 2014 ASSETS Current Assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 15,573,554 $ 1,399,714 Restricted cash 2,129,162 2,348,170 Certificates of deposit 3,186,892 1,352,716 Accounts receivable, net 14,725,030 13,018,702 Advances to supplier, net 312,328 739,002 Inventories, net 13,493,685 14,935,076 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 425,477 906,705 Total Current Assets 49,846,128 34,700,085 Property, plant and equipment, net 21,556,866 20,517,240 Intangible assets, net 1,778,264 1,650,037 Other non-current assets 2,228,900 356,425 Deferred tax assets 319,252 - Total Assets $ 75,729,410 $ 57,223,787 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Liabilities: Short term borrowings $ 15,264,827 $ 19,524,207 Bank notes payable 2,839,783 3,244,333 Advances from customers 597,226 695,873 Accounts payable 10,972,851 14,194,154 Accrued and other liabilities 1,808,135 1,316,921 Taxes payable 743,147 560,253 Loan from third parties 184,851 195,249 Due to related parties - 38,273 Total Current Liabilities 32,410,820 39,769,263 Total Liabilities 32,410,820 39,769,263 Commitments and contingencies Shareholders' Equity Common stock: $0.001 par value, 70,000,000 shares authorized, 15,732,795 and 11,666,667 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 15,733 11,667 Additional paid in capital 29,722,127 11,108,133 Statutory reserve 2,868,844 1,862,365 Retained earnings 10,182,213 3,147,151 Accumulated other comprehensive income 392,450 1,094,617 Total Fuling Global Inc.'s equity 43,181,367 17,223,933 Noncontrolling interest 137,223 230,591 Total Shareholders' Equity 43,318,590 17,454,524 Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity $ 75,729,410 $ 57,223,787 FULING GLOBAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME For the Years Ended December 31, 2015 2014 Revenues $ 91,293,675 $ 83,181,113 Cost of goods sold 67,646,107 61,103,936 Gross Profit 23,647,568 22,077,177 Operating Expenses Selling expenses 6,436,821 6,064,466 General and administrative expenses 6,149,411 3,879,615 Research and development expenses 2,091,513 2,484,566 Total operating expenses 14,677,745 12,428,647 Income from Operations 8,969,823 9,648,530 Other Income (Expense): Interest income 53,019 41,448 Interest expense (1,115,633) (1,197,986) Subsidy income 901,852 597,122 Foreign currency transaction gain 476,576 36,163 Other income (expense), net 104,942 (28,336) Total other income (expense), net 420,756 (551,589) Income Before Income Taxes 9,390,579 9,096,941 Provision for Income Taxes 1,442,406 1,368,798 Net Income $ 7,948,173 $ 7,728,143 Less: net (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest (93,368) 241,975 Net income attributable to Fuling Global Inc. 8,041,541 7,486,168 Other Comprehensive Income Foreign currency translation loss (702,167) (164,781) Comprehensive Income $ 7,339,374 $ 7,321,387 Earning per share Basic and diluted $ 0.65 $ 0.64 Weighted average number of shares Basic and diluted 12,335,072 11,666,667 Cash dividends per share Basic and diluted $ - $ 0.88 FULING GLOBAL INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS For the Years Ended December 31, 2015 2014 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net income $ 7,948,173 $ 7,728,143 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Stock based compensation 23,088 - Deferred tax expense (benefit) (319,252) 155,705 Depreciation and amortization 2,681,293 1,707,496 Bad debt provisions 36,938 33,252 Gain on disposal of fixed assets - 37,466 Changes in operating assets: Accounts receivable (2,224,191) (4,378,994) Advances to suppliers 364,925 30,592 Inventories 1,184,796 (2,733,597) Other assets 95,350 (255,284) Changes in operating liabilities: Accounts payable (2,737,576) 1,728,498 Advance from customers (66,731) 262,743 Taxes payable 425,412 605,132 Accrued and other liabilities 548,382 468,916 Net cash provided by operating activities 7,960,607 5,390,068 CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Purchase of property and equipment (5,471,455) (4,734,094) Proceeds from disposal of property and equipment - 73,508 Cash invested in certificates of deposit (1,986,668) (1,352,782) Advance payments on equipment purchase (1,047,526) - Purchase of intangible assets (264,577) - Net cash used in investing activities (8,770,226) (6,013,368) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Proceeds from short-term borrowings 42,684,057 39,549,931 Repayments of short-term borrowings (46,039,616) (40,004,616) Proceeds from bank notes payable 5,318,470 3,244,492 Repayments of bank notes payable (5,560,034) (3,267,330) Repayments of loans from related parties (37,764) (183,621) Change of restricted cash 97,928 2,605,466 Proceeds from issuance of shares/capital contribution 18,594,972 7,530,000 Dividends paid to shareholders - (10,274,848) Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 15,058,013 (800,526) EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATES CHANGES ON CASH (74,554) 124,745 NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS 14,173,840 (1,299,081) CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, BEGINNING OF THE YEAR 1,399,714 2,698,795 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, ENDING OF THE YEAR $ 15,573,554.00 $ 1,399,714 SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION: Cash paid during the period for: Interest paid $ 1,136,896 $ 833,401 Income tax paid $ 1,257,004 $ 1,065,518 Non-cash investing activities: Transfer from construction in progress to fixed assets $ 3,913,677 $ - Transfer from advance payments to fixed assets $ 726,445 $ - SOURCE Fuling Global Inc. Related Links http://ir.fulingglobal.com LONDON, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new report "Global Smart Phone Enabled Healthcare Diagnostics Market Assessment & Forecast: 2016 - 2020" by SA-Business Research & Consulting Group, Cardiology and Hematology were largest medical applications for introducing commercial and marketable smart phone enabled diagnostic devices. Continuous glucose monitoring, blood pressure monitoring, ECG and pulse oximetry were the most adopted devices using smart phones as a platform. In 2015 the smart phone enabled cardiology diagnostics market was valued at US$ 1,991.3 million and is forecast to grow to US$ 4,812.3 million by 2020 at a CAGR of 19.2% from 2016 to 2020. Developing economies in regions such as Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe lack required number of medical professionals in certain medical specialties such as respiratory diseases. Smart phone enabled diagnostics for sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and Syphilis can help prevent deaths potentially numbering into millions since most of these diseases are identified too late. The rate of diagnosing diabetes and other chronic illnesses are also very low in remote villages since equipment may be expensive for small clinics to purchase or diagnostic test may be too expensive for people. According to International Diabetes Federation and Routledge Handbook of Global Public Health in Asia, over 50% people may be undiagnosed for diabetes. Innovating affordable, portable smart-phone enabled devices to diagnose and monitor developing regions diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and other major "high-mortality" conditions will open a large revenue generating possibility in coming years. Excellent internet connectivity among developed nations will continue to push market in coming years. Although developing countries such as Brazil, Mexico, India and several others have a high penetration of smart phones, the lack of stable telecommunications infrastructure will prevent adoption to a great degree throughout the forecast period. Asia-Pacific has one of the largest aging populations and also accounts for over half of world's diabetics. As strong scientific evidence suggests diabetics to be more prone to cataracts, SA-BRC anticipates that the market for smart phone enabled diagnostics such as glucometers and lens attachments for smart phones will increase tremendously in coming years and boost the diagnostic rates. The diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, ophthalmology and sexually transmitted infections is anticipated to churn greatest revenue post the technology's penetration into the regions. It is estimated that by 2016 over 2 billion people will have purchased a smart phone and a large percentage of this population use smart phones for functions besides music, calls and clicking photos. Over 550 million are anticipated to use smartphone users worldwide will be using health-related apps. Awareness and increased comfort of technology particularly among aging population has prompted independence in taking care of illnesses at home by patients. The availability of easy to understand smart phone based devices will further propel the adoption. Analysts at SA-BRC anticipate that an additional niche segment is childcare at home wherein parents resort to smart phone enabled diagnostics to routinely monitor fever, ear-nose-throat infections, skin infections among others that affect young children. Smart phones are capable of taking pictures and analysing dermatological disorders or skin disorders and will provide parents with the proper steps to combat the diseases. The market is highly fragmented in all 3 areas of hardware, software and services. This report covered notable companies such as AliveCor, iHealth, Cerora, Philips Healthcare, Glooko Inc, McKesson Israel ltd, Shanghai Berry Electronic Tech Co., Ltd AkibaH Inc, Gentag, CellScope, EyeNetra, Entra Health, SonoStar Technologies, Mobisante, Nonin, OJ-Bio, Mega Electronics, Holomic LLC, MobileODT, CardioSecur, SHL Telemedicine, Welch Allyn, Hera Med, Samsung, and Calgary Scientific among others. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3714413/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com LAS VEGAS, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Helpfreely.org links together online shops, nonprofit organizations, and users through an online platform. Consumers shop online at over 6,000 (and growing) sites and pay standard prices for goods and services so there are no extra funds required from an individual. Shops offer up a percentage of their marketing profits to the users who then have the power to decide which causes they want to benefit from these funds. Currently, Help Freely has over 1,500 nonprofits, charities and NGOs creating a massive donation network. All of this costs the users nothing. The Foundation is responsible for transforming these funds into donations and funneling the money to chosen nonprofits. The platform allows unlimited funding for nonprofit organizations all over the world. "We created this system because we wanted to find a way to massively give back to the world's best charitable and nonprofit organizations," said Guillaume Renault, founder of The Help Freely Foundation and Helpfreely.org. "In doing so, we have started the Free Fundraising Revolution where donations flow from the consumer, through online e-commerce stores, directly to the nonprofit, charity, or NGO the consumer chooses. This way any consumer, anywhere in the world, can conveniently shop at over 6,000 major online stores worldwide, and give right back to a local charity if they wish." Helpfreely.org is supported by The Help Freely Foundation. 92% of the funds received will go straight to the nonprofit organizations that have signed up, while just 8% will be kept for the Foundation's support and organizational costs. In an effort to bring its powerful nonprofit funding platform to the world, The Help Freely Foundation is launching a crowdfunding campaign so it can become a global force for good. Helpfreely.org is the first project of The Help Freely Foundation, a social initiative founded by Guillaume Renault as a result of his 15 years' experience in the marketing sector. After seeing millions being generated in the marketing industry while a very minimal percentage was directed towards charitable causes, he decided to use his marketing experience to create an innovative system that could help fund thousands of social projects while making sure it is simple, social, and completely free for anyone to use. With locations in Las Vegas, Nevada and Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Helpfreely.org will help thousands of nonprofits all over the world. The platform makes it possible for businesses to donate a percentage of their profits to the nonprofits selected by their users. This is the first "Charitable Network" in the world. Find out more by going to: https://www.helpfreely.org Photos: http://www.prlog.org/12545348 Press release distributed by PRLog SOURCE Helpfreely.org Related Links http://www.helpfreely.org Home Chef is a convenient meal kit delivery service that brings a ready-to-cook box of fresh, portioned ingredients right to your doorstep. The meals arrive in recyclable packaging with detailed, simple instructions, along with everything needed to put together tasty home-cooked meals in about 30 minutes. Each week, a new menu rolls out with 13 enticing and affordable meals that include breakfast and dinner options. With new offerings each week, Home Chef presents customers with a large variety of meal selection choices compared to competing services. "In the span of two and a half years, we've grown to deliver 400,000 meals per month. We're excited to broaden the reach of Home Chef and bring the fun of cooking into homes all over the country," said Pat Vihtelic, Founder and CEO of Home Chef. "After a long day on the go, the last place anyone wants to go is the grocery store. We provide a convenient way to get fresh ingredients so that anyone can cook a delicious home-cooked meal." Home Chef's kitchen is proudly headquartered in Chicago, which provides access to some of the best chef-curated cuisine in the country, influenced by the famous Chicago food culture. Home Chef's culinary team releases an original menu every week that provides an assortment of premium meal choices that can be prepared in the comfort of your own kitchen. Pricing and Availability: Home Chef delivers gourmet meals for only $9.95 per serving, unless otherwise specified. With an order of $40 or more, shipping is free. Home Chef's service is available to over 90 percent of the U.S. population. About Home Chef Headquartered in Chicago, Home Chef is a meal kit delivery service providing fresh ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes to households across the U.S. Home Chef offers thirteen meals that can be selected from a new menu every week, with step-by-step instructions for quality dishes made right at home. For more information on Home Chef, visit https://www.homechef.com/ or follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies. Media Contact Catherine Haas FortyThree, Inc. 831-401-3175 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349238 SOURCE Home Chef Related Links https://www.homechef.com Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. TORONTO, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD" or "the Company") announced that its 2015 Annual Report and Financial Review have been filed. IAMGOLD's Financial Review incorporates Management's Discussion and Analysis as well as the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes for the year ended December 31, 2015. The report is available through EDGAR at www.sec.gov and the Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. Canadian and U.S. regulatory filings are available on the Company's website at www.iamgold.com. Printed copies of Management's Discussion and Analysis and the consolidated audited financial statements and related notes are available, free of charge, to shareholders upon written request. About IAMGOLD IAMGOLD (www.iamgold.com) is a mid-tier mining company with four operating gold mines (including current joint ventures) on three continents. A solid base of strategic assets in Canada, South America and Africa is complemented by development and exploration projects and continued assessment of accretive acquisition opportunities. IAMGOLD is in a strong financial position with extensive management and operational expertise. Please note: This entire news release may be accessed via fax, e-mail, IAMGOLD's website at www.iamgold.com and through CNW Group's website at www.newswire.ca. All material information on IAMGOLD can be found at www.sedar.com or at www.sec.gov. Si vous desirez obtenir la version francaise de ce communique, veuillez consulter le http://www.iamgold.com/French/accueil/default.aspx. SOURCE IAMGOLD Corporation Related Links http://www.iamgold.com Stretta is a transoral, non-surgical intervention that uses low power radiofrequency (RF) energy to remodel the muscle between the stomach and esophagus. Studies demonstrate that Stretta resolves reflux symptoms, improves quality of life, reduces or eliminates medications, and decreases acid exposure in patients with chronic GERD. New Stretta data from the UK was presented during the SAGES poster sessions. "A Prospective Study of Endoscopic RF Application (Stretta) for GERD: Early UK Experience," showed Stretta treatment resulted in symptomatic relief in the majority of patients. Mr. Viswanath YKS and co-authors concluded that in selected patients with poor response to medications, Stretta is a safe and effective alternative to surgery. Stretta was featured in an expert panel discussing the problem of GERD in patients after bariatric surgery. In the panel, "What Every Surgeon Should Know about Reflux in the Bariatric Patient," Dana Portenier, MD, Chief, General Surgery, Duke Regional Hospital and assistant professor at Duke University School of Medicine, pointed out that Stretta may be an ideal option for patients with GERD post-bariatric surgery. Noting that revisional surgery for this patient can have significant complications, Portenier and other panel members remarked that Stretta is a less-invasive option that can help avoid revisional surgery while keeping future treatment options open. "GERD treatments were a hot topic at this year's SAGES meeting, Stretta was presented in multiple sessions as well as the hands-on course," noted Mederi CEO Bob Knarr. He added, "It's clearly primetime for a treatment like Stretta. GERD is increasing, which, left untreated can lead to esophageal cancer. At the same time there is a growing awareness of the dangers of long-term PPI use. Stretta fills the need for a non-pharma and non-surgical option. Patients want more choices and with Stretta, physicians are able to provide a versatile option that is widely studied, and proven effective long-term." ABOUT MEDERI AND STRETTA Mederi manufactures innovative devices that use non-ablative radiofrequency (RF) energy to treat digestive diseases. Stretta Therapy has been proven safe and effective for the treatment of GERD in 37 studies from five continents. Stretta studies show up to 10 years of durable symptom relief. More than 20,000 Stretta procedures have been performed worldwide. For more information go to: www.stretta-therapy.com. Media Contact: Amy Phillips 412.327.9499 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130211/NY56794 SOURCE Mederi Therapeutics Inc. Related Links http://www.mederitherapeutics.com LOS ANGELES, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As EDC New York approaches, Insomniac has released a quirky festival trailer, taking fans on a journey from a sterile optometrist's office to the vibrant sights and sounds of EDC NY. With the highly anticipated arrival of the festival, one Headliner's thoughts are completely consumed by her excitement for all of the blooming beats and exhilarating rides that await her on May 14-15. Her vision becomes clearer as the optometrist diagnoses her condition, a classic case of the "E-D-C's." Take a peek at the buzz-worthy short, HERE. EDC New York heads back to Citi Field for a two-day celebration as extraordinary as the city itself. The festival will treat fans to a newly expanded footprint featuring four massive stages including the iconic Crystal Village at kineticFIELD. With the East Coast debut of Carnival Square, local food and beverage favorites, never before seen art installations and extended artist set times, EDC New York is the perfect start to the summer festival season. For Headliners living the VIP life, exclusive food trucks will offer an array of delicious dining options while the authentic Blind Owl Speakeasy will serve up complimentary whiskey tastings. All four VIP areas are the only spots at the festival where fans can enjoy a full bar and cocktail menu while watching the show. Weekend passes for this 18+ event are on sale now, here. Two-day general admission and VIP passes (21 and over), start at $229 and $459 respectively, before service fees. For updates and announcements on EDC New York 2016, please visit Newyork.electricdaisycarnival.com and follow EDC New York on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. About Insomniac: Insomniac produces some of the most innovative, immersive music festivals and events in the world. Enhanced by state-of-the-art lighting, pyrotechnics and sound design, large-scale art installations, theatrical performers and next-generation special effects, these events captivate the senses and inspire a unique level of fan interaction. The quality of the experience is the company's top priority. Throughout its 23-year history, Insomniac has produced more than 1,000 festivals, concerts and club nights for nearly 5 million attendees across three continents. Insomniac's events are held in California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, New York, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil. The company's premier annual event, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, is the largest multi-day music festival in North America, and attracted more than 400,000 fans over three days in June 2015. The company was founded by Pasquale Rotella, and has been based in Los Angeles since it was formed in 1993. Keep up with Insomniac announcements and news on Insomniac.com, Facebook and Twitter. Media Contacts: Insomniac Desiree Naranjo [email protected] 42West Dvora Englefield [email protected] Erika (Gutierrez) Tuzkov [email protected] Anna Miller [email protected] SOURCE Insomniac Related Links http://www.Insomniac.com BEDFORD, Mass., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in delivering robotic technology-based solutions, today announced that it has filed definitive proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with iRobot's Annual Meeting of Shareholders on May 25, 2016. iRobot shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 5, 2016 will be entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. The iRobot Board of Directors strongly recommends that shareholders vote on the WHITE proxy card "FOR" iRobot's experienced and independent director nominees: Mohamad Ali and Michael Bell. In conjunction with the filing and mailing of its definitive proxy statement, iRobot is mailing a letter to shareholders detailing the significant progress and accomplishments achieved under the leadership of the iRobot Board and management team. The letter also addresses Red Mountain Capital, which has not provided an alternative strategic plan to drive additional value for iRobot shareholders, and is only suggesting actions which the iRobot Board and management team have already taken. The full text of the letter follows: March 30, 2016 Dear Fellow Shareholder: Your Board of Directors and management team have taken bold, decisive actions to transform iRobot into the leading global consumer robot company. We are singularly focused on enhancing the value of your investment in iRobot, and will continue to take the right steps to achieve that goal. At our Annual Meeting of Stockholders on May 25, 2016, you will be asked to make an important decision regarding which directors are most qualified to oversee the future of iRobot. Your Board has two new directors up for election who have recently joined the Board and bring extensive software, technology and Internet of Things (IoT) experience that will be critical to our ongoing success. At the same time, a hedge fund, Red Mountain Capital, is insisting on having personal representation on your Company's Board, which we do not recommend. iRobot recommends all shareholders elect the Board of Directors' qualified nominees by voting on the enclosed WHITE proxy card today. To elect the iRobot Board of Directors' nominees, we encourage you to vote today by telephone, Internet, or by signing and dating the enclosed WHITE proxy card and returning it in the postage-paid envelope provided. IROBOT IS A MARKET LEADER WITH A STRONG TRACK RECORD OF GROWTH AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE For more than 25 years, iRobot has been a global pioneer in robotic technology. Our Board and management team are focused on a strategy of growth, innovation and allocating capital to the highest value opportunities for shareholders. As the market for Home Robots continues to grow rapidly, iRobot is poised to take advantage of our leading market share, brand recognition, unique technology, and established global distribution network to quickly and profitably penetrate the market further and expand into adjacent product offerings. Maximizing this opportunity will require rapid development of tightly integrated hardware and software products that exploit the emerging advances in artificial intelligence and cloud robotics. With the successful execution of our strategy, iRobot has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 and its peers in key operating metrics: Home Robot business outperformed revenue growth rate of peers by 2.5 times i ; ; Home Robot business outperformed revenue growth rate of S&P 500 companies by over six times ii ; ; Delivered total shareholder return of 66% over the past three years, compared to 59% for peers and 50% for S&P 500 companies iii ; ; Driven top quartile EBITDA margin expansion as compared to peers iv ; and ; and Trades in the top quartile of its peer group on equity multiple P/E basisv. YOUR BOARD AND MANAGEMENT TEAM HAVE TAKEN BOLD, DECISIVE ACTIONS TO TRANSFORM IROBOT INTO THE LEADING GLOBAL CONSUMER ROBOT COMPANY Our success has always been driven by our ability to identify and execute upon the highest potential market opportunities and take meaningful actions to drive value for all shareholders. Early on, our Defense & Security (D&S) business was key to supporting the growth of iRobot. As our business evolved, growth in Home Robots accelerated while our D&S business slowed due to a decrease in military spending. Your Board and management team determined to take transformative actions to realize the significant opportunity in Home, while ensuring that we effectively deployed capital for growth and returned excess cash to shareholders. These actions included: DIVESTING D&S BUSINESS AND RETURNING PROCEEDS TO SHAREHOLDERS. In the spring of 2014, long before Red Mountain owned a single share of iRobot stock, your Board and management team launched a process to sell the D&S business. In February 2016 , we announced the sale of D&S to Arlington Capital Partners for up to $45 million in cash, with a commitment to return the proceeds to shareholders through share repurchases. In the spring of 2014, long before Red Mountain owned a single share of iRobot stock, your Board and management team launched a process to sell the D&S business. In , we announced the sale of D&S to Arlington Capital Partners for up to in cash, with a commitment to return the proceeds to shareholders through share repurchases. SHIFTING FOCUS TOWARD HIGH GROWTH POTENTIAL HOME ROBOT BUSINESS. Our Home business has experienced rapid growth, with revenue more than tripling over the last six years. In the past two years, Home Robots grew over 30%, reflecting the positive impact of the Company's marketing programs and new innovations, including the successful launch of Roomba 980. By accelerating consumer adoption and strengthening our market leadership, we will continue to develop and grow significant incremental adjacent categories in Home Robots. Our Home business has experienced rapid growth, with revenue more than tripling over the last six years. In the past two years, Home Robots grew over 30%, reflecting the positive impact of the Company's marketing programs and new innovations, including the successful launch of Roomba 980. By accelerating consumer adoption and strengthening our market leadership, we will continue to develop and grow significant incremental adjacent categories in Home Robots. INVESTING TO DRIVE DIVERSIFICATION AND GROW MARKET SHARE. We have a disciplined approach for allocating capital to projects that show the greatest promise for the outsized returns that drive superior shareholder value. Our strong profit and cash flows have facilitated critical investments in hardware, software and marketing, which will drive future revenue diversification for our Home Robot business and accelerate revenue growth over the next three years and beyond. Our R&D and marketing efforts have enabled us to become the leading global consumer robot company, focused on bringing practical, affordable robots to the home market. In September 2015 , we launched our first connected home robot, the Roomba 980, with a unique navigation system that marked our entry into the Internet of Things (IoT) and the connected home market. In the fourth quarter of 2015, we began to reallocate R&D resources from a next generation Remote Presence platform to Home opportunities. In March of this year we launched the Braava jet Mopping Robot as part of our plan to further develop our wet floor care business to generate a material, secondary revenue stream. Going forward, we will maintain Roomba's market-leadership and continue to explore ways to scale the infrastructure to support future connected products. We will continue to invest in critical technologies and the economic opportunities they unlock. We have a disciplined approach for allocating capital to projects that show the greatest promise for the outsized returns that drive superior shareholder value. Our strong profit and cash flows have facilitated critical investments in hardware, software and marketing, which will drive future revenue diversification for our Home Robot business and accelerate revenue growth over the next three years and beyond. Our R&D and marketing efforts have enabled us to become the leading global consumer robot company, focused on bringing practical, affordable robots to the home market. In , we launched our first connected home robot, the Roomba 980, with a unique navigation system that marked our entry into the Internet of Things (IoT) and the connected home market. In the fourth quarter of 2015, we began to reallocate R&D resources from a next generation Remote Presence platform to Home opportunities. In March of this year we launched the Braava jet Mopping Robot as part of our plan to further develop our wet floor care business to generate a material, secondary revenue stream. Going forward, we will maintain Roomba's market-leadership and continue to explore ways to scale the infrastructure to support future connected products. We will continue to invest in critical technologies and the economic opportunities they unlock. EXPANDING SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM FUELED BY CONTINUED STRONG OPERATING CASH FLOW. Your Board continues to balance the ongoing capital needs of the business with a commitment to return excess capital to shareholders. As a result of continued strong operating performance and the confidence in management's plan to create long-term shareholder value, your Board has been able to significantly expand the Company's share repurchase authorization, while funding the ongoing operating needs of the business. In March 2016 , the Board authorized an additional $85 million for share repurchases in conjunction with the announced divestiture of our D&S business, bringing the expected repurchases to approximately $100 million for the year. At current prices, this would enable iRobot to acquire approximately 10% of our total market cap while leaving sufficient cash available for ongoing operational needs and other investments or acquisitions. The Company repurchased $85 million of the $100 million through an accelerated share repurchase program, which was consummated in March 2016 . IROBOT'S BOARD HAS THE RIGHT MIX OF SKILLS AND FRESH PERSPECTIVES iRobot has an experienced and independent Board of Directors that benefits from the right mix of skills to position iRobot for success. Seven of our eightvi directors are independent, and all of our directors bring expertise in areas critical to our business, including experience in consumer technology, innovation and product development, finance, software, robotics, and Internet of Things (IoT), in addition to public company leadership and board experience. We continually assess our Board composition to ensure we have the right experience and skills necessary to help guide and oversee the Company. As such, our Board has evolved in line with our business over the years. In the past three years alone, we added three new directors whose skills match the needs of iRobot as a consumer company, while three directors who had experience more relevant to D&S retired. Two of our newest directors, who Red Mountain is seeking to replace, bring critical experience to the iRobot Board and were identified following a national search conducted by one of the leading director recruitment firms: Mohamad Ali , President and CEO of Carbonite Inc. joined the Board in August 2015 . Mohamad's extensive vision and technology leadership experience in areas including software, cloud infrastructure, and data analytics are key for iRobot as we enter this next phase of our growth story. In fact, Mohamad's strengths were acknowledged by Red Mountain who in a letter to its own limited partners on September 18, 2015 stated, "we are enthusiastic about the recent appointment of Mohamad Ali to the board. Mr. Ali served as Chief Strategy Officer of Hewlett-Packard when HP separated its PC and printer business from its server, services and software business and returned over 50% of its free cash flow to shareholders. HP's share price more than doubled during his tenure. We expect Mr. Ali to bring relevant experience to the board and help to drive shareholder value." , President and CEO of Carbonite Inc. joined the Board in . Mohamad's extensive vision and technology leadership experience in areas including software, cloud infrastructure, and data analytics are key for iRobot as we enter this next phase of our growth story. In fact, Mohamad's strengths were acknowledged by Red Mountain who in a letter to its own limited partners on stated, "we are enthusiastic about the recent appointment of to the board. Mr. Ali served as Chief Strategy Officer of Hewlett-Packard when HP separated its PC and printer business from its server, services and software business and returned over 50% of its free cash flow to shareholders. HP's share price more than doubled during his tenure. We expect Mr. Ali to bring relevant experience to the board and help to drive shareholder value." Michael Bell , Silver Spring Networks CEO, joined the Board in March 2016 . Michael is a pioneer of the Internet of Things (IoT) and brings significant technology development and innovation management expertise to the Board given his product development experience at Intel, Apple, and Palm. Throughout his career, he has been responsible for spearheading expansions into new product categories of connected devices, leading the development of product strategies and bringing new products to market. Both of these directors bring fresh perspectives to our Board and significantly enhance its capabilities as iRobot is now focused on creating connected, technology-based products for the home. Our continued market leadership hinges on our ability to continue to innovate and advance our software capabilities. The experience of Messrs. Ali and Bell will guide the management team as we work to ensure the successful transformation of iRobot and the Company's continued growth. The iRobot Board has also continued to evolve our corporate governance program by implementing best-in-class practices as the business has grown and matured. In March 2016, we announced our latest recommendations to shareholders for corporate governance enhancements to further establish a top-tier governance profile: Adoption of proxy access for shareholders Seeking shareholder approval at the Annual Meeting to declassify the Board of Directors Seeking shareholder approval at the Annual Meeting again this year to eliminate supermajority voting requirements RED MOUNTAIN IS NOT PROPOSING ANYTHING NEW Red Mountain has not provided an alternative strategic plan to drive additional value for iRobot shareholders. We have reviewed and will continue to review alternatives to enhance value for all shareholders with a focus on driving sustainable value. Your Board and management team have been executing thoughtfully on the next phase of the Company's evolution for several years. On December 1, 2015, Red Mountain delivered a letter to the Board promoting changes that were already well underway. iRobot Board and Management Actions Over Past Five Years Red Mountain's December 1, 2015 "Plan" - iRobot is executing a strategy focused on home robotics including the acquisition of Evolution Robotics (October 2012 present) Focus On The High-Growth Consumer Robotics Business - Engaged PJT Partners to sell D&S business (almost one year before Red Mountain purchased a single share of iRobot stock) (May 2014) Divest D&S Business - iRobot announced sale of D&S to Arlington Capital Partners for up to $45 million (February 2016) - Executed multiple share repurchase programs (2013 2015) Return Capital To Shareholders - Expanded share repurchase program to $100 million for 2016 (February 2016) - Committed to repurchasing $85 million of the $100 million through an accelerated share repurchase program (March 2016) - Continuously refreshed the Board, adding 5 new directors since 2011 (2011 present) Refresh Board and Adopt Corporate Governance Best Practices - Removed shareholder rights plan (April 2014) - Announced new corporate governance enhancements, including recommendations to de-stagger the Board, adopt proxy access, eliminate supermajority voting, and codify a lead independent director (March 2016) Red Mountain has also suggested that we reduce R&D expenses to levels we believe will not sustain our market leadership and dramatically impact our growth prospects. In fact, our spending on R&D is in line with other leading consumer technology companies as a percentage of revenue and your Board believes it would be value destructive to cut R&D. We carefully review every project to ensure each of them will provide a significant risk-adjusted return and drive shareholder value. RED MOUNTAIN INSISTS ON A COSTLY AND DISRUPTIVE PROXY CONTEST TO GAIN PERSONAL REPRESENTATION ON THE BOARD FOR WILLEM MESDAG iRobot has maintained an open dialogue and held numerous discussions with Red Mountain since the fund publicly announced its ownership in April 2015. In November 2015, iRobot agreed to have our Nominating Committee consider Willem Mesdag's potential candidacy as a director of the Company well in advance of the deadline for submitting director nominees. Before this process could continue, Red Mountain publicly announced its intention to launch a proxy contest. Even after this announcement, our Board offered Red Mountain the opportunity to add a mutually agreeable candidate to the Board. Instead of continuing a constructive dialogue with the Company, Red Mountain made its public announcement to nominate Mr. Mesdag and Lawrence S. Peiros to the Board. Notwithstanding this disclosure, our Board still evaluated both Messrs. Mesdag and Peiros and reached the conclusion that Mr. Mesdag has no known operating expertise in software development, data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT) or international technology sourcing. We did offer to appoint Mr. Peiros to the Board, a settlement offer that was rejected by Mr. Mesdag who instead insisted that he personally be elected to the Board. Mr. Mesdag's refusal of iRobot's offer to appoint Mr. Peiros to the Board shows that he is unwilling to enter a reasonable settlement and that this proxy fight is instead driven by his personal agenda to be on the Board. Furthermore, in September 2015, Red Mountain announced it was changing from an open end to a closed end fund structure "to address the asset/liability mismatch inherent in our relatively illiquid investment strategy, particularly in the context of an unusually volatile market environment." Red Mountain further disclosed to its limited partners that it would no longer accept new capital or make any new investments, and would return capital to its investors as the fund realized value on its seven investments (one of which is iRobot). Given this dynamic, we question their investment horizon and alignment with that of other shareholders. PROTECT THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT IN IROBOT: VOTE THE WHITE PROXY CARD TODAY Red Mountain's interests are not aligned with all iRobot shareholders, and apart from the actions iRobot was already taking Red Mountain has provided no new ideas to drive value for iRobot shareholders. In contrast, the iRobot Board of Directors has a proven track record of driving growth and taking decisive action to ensure the long-term success of the Company. Your Board is active, engaged and focused on continuing to grow iRobot and providing enhanced value for all our shareholders. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, you have an opportunity to protect your investment in iRobot by voting the WHITE proxy card to vote "FOR ALL" of our nominees for director: Mohamad Ali and Mike Bell. Your vote is extremely important. We urge you to vote today by telephone, online, or by signing and dating the enclosed WHITE proxy card and returning it in the postage-paid envelope provided. Together with the management team, the iRobot Board of Directors has been instrumental in the ongoing transformation of iRobot and our success to date. We firmly believe that we have the right Board and the right strategy to ensure the continued growth and prosperity of iRobot. This is a critical moment in our history, and I hope that we can count on your continued support. Sincerely, Colin Angle Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Your Vote Is Important, No Matter How Many Or How Few Shares You Own If you have questions about how to vote your shares, or need additional assistance, please contact the firm assisting us in the solicitation of proxies: INNISFREE M&A INCORPORATED Shareholders Call Toll-Free: (877) 717-3929 Banks and Brokers Call Collect: (212) 750-5833 REMEMBER: We urge you NOT to vote using any Green proxy card sent to you by Red Mountain Capital, as doing so will revoke your vote on the WHITE proxy card. About iRobot Corporation iRobot Corporation ("iRobot", or the "Company") designs and builds robots that empower people to do more. The Company's home robots help people find smarter ways to clean and accomplish more in their daily lives. Its remote presence robots enable virtual presence from anywhere in the world. iRobot's portfolio of solutions feature proprietary technologies for the connected home and advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence. For more information about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com. Important Stockholder Information iRobot will hold its 2016 Annual Meeting of stockholders on May 25, 2016. The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and mailed to its stockholders a definitive proxy statement and form of WHITE proxy card in connection with the 2016 Annual Meeting. The definitive proxy statement contains important information about the Company, the 2016 Annual Meeting and related matters. COMPANY STOCKHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT, THE ACCOMPANYING WHITE PROXY CARD, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT SOLICITATION MATERIALS WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THESE DOCUMENTS CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The Company and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of the Company in connection with the matters to be considered at the 2016 Annual Meeting. Information regarding the Company's directors and executive officers is contained in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 19, 2016, and definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on March 29, 2016. The proxy statement and other relevant solicitation materials (when they become available), and any and all documents filed by the Company with the SEC, may be obtained by investors and security holders free of charge at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company's filings with the SEC, including the proxy statement and other relevant solicitation materials (when they become available), may be obtained, without charge, from the Company by directing a request to the Company at 8 Crosby Drive, Bedford, MA 01730, Attention: Investor Relations. Such materials are also available at www.irobot.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements made in this communication are not based on historical information are forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements may be identified with words like "believe," "may," "could," "would," "might," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "target," "anticipate" and "continue," the negative of these words, other terms of similar meaning or the use of future dates. This communication contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, iRobot's expectations regarding future financial performance, future operating performance and growth, our strategic actions to continue revenue growth, demand for our robots, strategic investments to diversify Home revenue, the impact of the divestiture of our Defense & Security business, the impact of our strategic actions to enhance stockholder value, and anticipated revenue, earnings per share and Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal year 2016. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. In particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things: our ability to operate in an emerging market, the financial strength of our customers and retailers, our ability to enhance stockholder value through our strategic actions, including the sale of our Defense & Security business, general economic conditions, market acceptance of our products, and competition. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. iRobot undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this communication, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by iRobot, see the disclosure contained in our public filings with the SEC. i Source: iRobot Management, Capital IQ Assumes median growth rate. Peer set is comprised of 3D Systems, AeroVironment, Alphabet, Apple, Cognex, Dolby, Electrolux, Fitbit, Garmin, Intuitive Surgical, InvenSense, Koninklijke Philips, Logitech, Microsoft, Nautilus, Netgear, Plantronics, TiVo, Trimble Navigation, Universal Electronics, and Whirlpool. Excludes D&S peers. ii Source: iRobot Management, Capital IQ, Bloomberg. iii Source: Capital IQ. Market data as of 3/18/2016 Shareholder returns calculated from 1/1/2013 to 3/18/2016. iv Source: Capital IQ. Market data as of 3/18/2016 EBITDA margins are not pro forma for D&S divestiture. v Source: Capital IQ CY2016 E. vi Upon the retirement of George McNamee from the iRobot Board of Directors following the end of his term at the Company's 2016 Annual Meeting. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131104/NE10106LOGO SOURCE iRobot Corp. Related Links http://www.irobot.com FREIBURG, Germany, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This April, Jedox - the Enterprise Planning and BI company - begins its World Tour across 25 cities in 13 countries. At these major events, organizations will experience firsthand how to "Simplify Planning and Analysis" with Jedox 6. They will discover how to optimize planning and forecasting in Finance, Sales, HR, and Procurement, and make data analysis simpler to accelerate decision-making. These half-day events include keynote presentations, practical user demonstrations, as well as real-world stories and insights from Jedox planning experts on how advanced modeling enables organizations to adapt in real time and strengthen financial resilience. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349372 Helping business users Participants will discover how Jedox can help solve their most complex analysis and planning requirements in industry-leading timeframes using Jedox connectors to platforms like Tableau, Qlik, Salesforce, and SAP. Jedox empowers finance, management, and business users across departments who rely on spreadsheets every day. Business leaders can learn the steps required to accelerate planning, strengthen governance, and enhance collaboration across the organization. "The Jedox World Tour is for organizations and decision-makers who want to accelerate planning and forecasting. Nearly 90% of all businesses still plan with spreadsheets - Jedox can help. With practical user demonstrations and real-world examples from some of our 1,900 clients, we show organizations how Jedox quickly returns value to their investment," says Jedox CEO Kay-Ingo Greve. Practical workshops for business users, Management, and IT Departments like sales and HR will see how to simplify forecasting from anywhere, using the tools they already know. Finance users can learn how to connect their spreadsheet models with Jedox so everyone can collaborate with the numbers. Management players gain instant insight from their tablets and smartphones with the Jedox Mobile app. IT will discover how the Jedox platform seamlessly fits into the corporate environment, both on-premises and in the cloud, and understand the steps to rapidly deploy Jedox with immediate ROI, scaled to suit global needs. Authentic stories from the real world Leaders from global organizations will share how they have used Jedox to dramatically simplify planning and analysis, revealing strategies, challenges, and surprising results to go from disconnected spreadsheets to enterprise collaboration. Participants will get answers from Jedox experts to solve their most complex planning challenges today and connect and experience networking opportunities with industry leaders. Participation is free but seats are strictly limited. To register and learn more, visit http://jedox-worldtour.com/ Jedox World Tour 2016 dates and locations include: 12. April 2016 - Freiburg ( Germany ) - Freiburg ( ) 13. April 2016 - Zurich ( Switzerland ) - Zurich ( ) 14. April 2016 - Frankfurt ( Germany ) - ( ) 19. April 2016 - Dusseldorf ( Germany ) - Dusseldorf ( ) 20. April 2016 - Hamburg ( Germany ) - ( ) 21. April 2016 - Berlin ( Germany ) - ( ) 26. April 2016 - Munich ( Germany ) - ( ) 28. April 2016 - Vienna ( Austria ) - ( ) 05. May 2016 - Kuala Lumpur ( Malaysia ) - ( ) 10. May 2016 - Paris (France) - 12. May 2016 - Litomysl ( Czech Republic ) - Litomysl ( ) 12. May 2016 - Amsterdam ( The Netherlands ) - ( ) 12. May 2016 - Geneva ( Switzerland ) - ( ) 16. May 2016 - Prague ( Czech Republic ) - ( ) 17. May 2016 - New York (USA ) - ) 18. May 2016 - Chicago ( USA ) - ( ) 19. May 2016 - San Francisco ( USA ) - ( ) 27. May 2016 - Bern ( Switzerland ) - ( ) 27. May 2016 - Singapore - 02. June 2016 - Tokyo ( Japan ) - ( ) 06. June 2016 - Shanghai ( China ) - ( ) 08. June 2016 - Basel ( Switzerland ) - ( ) 09. June 2016 - Leipzig ( Germany ) - ( ) 26. June 2016 - Jakarta ( Indonesia ) - ( ) 30. June 2016 - London ( United Kingdom ) About Jedox Jedox's unified planning, analysis, and reporting empowers decision makers from finance, sales, purchasing, and marketing. Jedox helps business users work smarter, streamline business collaboration, and make insight-based decisions with confidence. Already 1,900 organizations in 127 countries are using Jedox for real-time planning on the web, the cloud, and on any device. Jedox is a leading Business Intelligence and Corporate Performance Management solutions provider, available globally through over 180 certified business partners. Learn more about Business-Driven Intelligence at www.jedox.com This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE Jedox Related Links http://www.jedox.com According to the article, the motion was submitted to the court on February 9th of this year, indicating that the defendants retained their settlement counsel on February 5th. They asserted that "said counsel needs time to investigate the Cook IVC lawsuits that are pending in the MDL, review information regarding the medical devices, and confer with their clients." If the parties do not reach a settlement agreement when the conference occurs, the bellwether trials are likely to go forward as planned. More than 250 cases are currently pending in the multidistrict litigation (MDL 2570) in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Indiana, and legal experts expect the number to rise. The lawsuits have similar allegations, claiming that Cook Medical Inc. failed to let patients know that the IVC filters break, tilt, and migrate from the initial insertion position and then puncture the lungs, heart, or inferior vena cava. Legal-Bay is actively offering case funding for IVC filter cases. Any plaintiffs with an IVC filter lawsuit claim are advised to go to http://lawsuitssettlementfunding.com/ivc-filter-lawsuit-funding.php if they need lawsuit funding. Chris Janish, CEO of Legal-Bay, commented on the recent IVC filter news, "As we have been heavily involved in this litigation for some time, we have secured capital to begin aggressively funding these cases for plaintiffs who need lawsuit cash advances immediately." Legal-Bay, a law cash advance company, stands ready to assist victims with various lawsuit funding services if they have a lawyer already, including obtaining up to a $30K cash advance today, or with assistance in finding a qualified IVC Filter law firm or IVC Filter lawyer if they have not yet filed a claim. Legal-Bay also provides case funding for B.P. Opt Out cases, GranuFlo cases, Wrongful Imprisonment, Police Brutality, Car and Truck Accident cases, as well as a variety of other cases not listed here. You can inquire directly with us, at: http://lawsuitssettlementfunding.com/contact-us.php For more information on Legal-Bay's IVC Filter lawsuit funding, and for a full list of cases that Legal-Bay is actively funding, please visit: http://lawsuitssettlementfunding.com/ To learn more about obtaining pre-settlement funding on your IVC Filter case, please call Legal-Bay at: 877.571.0405. Legal-Bay's funding programs are non-recourse lawsuit cash advances, also known as case funding. None of the programs should be considered to be a settlement loan, settlement loans, lawsuit loan, lawsuit loans, pre-settlement loans, or a pre-settlement loan. To obtain lawsuit funding you must have retained a lawyer first. Legal-Bay LLC (and their related companies) is not a law firm and cannot provide legal advice on a consumer's case; however, Legal-Bay works with lawyers involved in mass tort litigations who can provide a free legal consultation at the consumer's direction. Contact: Patty Kirby, COO/Head of Client Relations Ph. 877.571.0405 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Legal-Bay LLC SAN DIEGO, Calif., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Libra Coffee announces the launch of their Indiegogo campaign with a mission to bring 10,000 people clean drinking water this year. Libra delivers fresh, small-batch coffee to your door, along with clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations where your coffee beans are sourced. Video - http://youtu.be/BYIe_xMbroM Help us give 10,000 people clean and safe drinking water this year. Libra Coffee has introduced a way to help coffee communities gain access to clean drinking water. Proceeds from every coffee bag purchased goes towards the distribution of powerful water filters for those in need. They call their model "two-for-one" because two people get access to safe drinking water with every bag. "Libra's goal is to make it as convenient to give back to those in need as drinking a great cup of coffee," says Eric Medina, founder of Libra Coffee. "But we don't see ourselves as a charity. In order for our business model to be sustainable, our goal is to source, roast, and deliver exceptional coffee." With unique Indiegogo "perks" like a coffee origin trip to bean hunt with the owner through Colombia, to Libra-branded flasks for your coffee on-the-go, this Indiegogo campaign has something to offer every coffee lover. Eric Medina, who earned his Master's degree in the Science and Economy of Coffee while studying in Italy, is perhaps the biggest coffee lover of them all. "We acquired a roasting facility and have been perfecting our roast profiles for over a year. We are now ready to release some of the best coffee in the world and make a difference at the same time," says Medina. Libra Coffee shows that a positive movement through sustainable practices is possible. Your unique coffee subscription is available to order now at www.libracoffee.com. For more information about Libra's Indiegogo visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/libra-coffee--3/x/13472122#/ SOURCE Libra Coffee Related Links http://www.libracoffee.com WINNIPEG, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Medicure Inc. ("Medicure" or the "Company") (TSXV:MPH, OTCQB:MCUJF), a specialty pharmaceutical company, today reported its results from operations for the year ended December 31, 2015. Year and Quarter Ended December 31, 2015 Highlights: Recorded net revenue of $22.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2015 , an increase of 162% compared to $8.4 million for the comparable period in the previous year 1 ; during the year ended , an increase of 162% compared to for the comparable period in the previous year ; Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) 2 for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $9.0 million compared to $2.9 million for the comparable period in the previous fiscal year; for the year ended was compared to for the comparable period in the previous fiscal year; Net income for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $1.7 million , compared to $463,000 for the comparable period in the previous year; was , compared to for the comparable period in the previous year; Recorded net revenue of $9.5 million during the quarter ended December 31, 2015 , compared to $2.4 million for the comparable period in the previous year1. Financial Results Net revenue from the sale of AGGRASTAT finished product for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $22.1 million compared to $8.4 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2014, an increase of 162%. Revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2015 was $9.5 million compared to $2.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2014. The increase in revenue compared to the previous year and the comparable quarter for the previous year is primarily attributable to an increase in the number of new hospital customers using AGGRASTAT and the increase in market share held by the product. Revenue growth was also aided by favourable fluctuations in the U.S. dollar exchange rate throughout the period. The Company's commercial team continues to work on further expanding its customer base. EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2015 after adjusting for $1.5 million of share-based compensation (a non-cash expense item) and $2.1 million relating to the one-time sNDA filing, was $9.0 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of $2.9 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2014. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $1.7 million or $0.12 per share, compared to $463,000 or $0.04 per share for the twelve months ended December 31, 2014. The increase in net income is primarily the result of significantly higher revenues during 2015, as well as the reversal of a previous write-down of AGGRASTAT intangible assets totaling $788,000 and a recovery of income taxes of $379,000 during the year ended December 31, 2015. The increase was partially offset by higher selling, general and administration expenses, a non-cash finance expense of $3.8 million resulting from an increase in the value of the Company's royalty obligation due to expected increases in AGGRASTAT sales, and investment structuring services income recorded during 2014 pertaining to the Apicore transaction. The increase in selling, general and administration expenses is primarily due to an increased number of staff resulting in higher personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation of $1.5 million (a non-cash expense), and higher selling costs associated with the growth in AGGRASTAT revenues. At December 31, 2015, the Company had cash totaling $3.6 million compared to $494,000 as of December 31, 2014. The increase in cash is due to the $3.6 million (net) private placement financing completed by the Company in June 2015 and higher net income, after adjusting for non-cash items and higher accounts payable and accrued liabilities at December 31, 2015, partially offset by higher accounts receivable. Cash flows from operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2015 were $143,000 compared to $336,000 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2014. All amounts referenced herein are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. Notes (1) In December of 2014, the Company announced a change in its financial year-end from May 31 to December 31. As a result of the change in year-end, the Company filed audited consolidated financial statements for the seven month period ended December 31, 2014. The information contained in this press release for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2014 are considered estimates and are unaudited due to the change in year. (2) The Company defines EBITDA as "earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and other income or expense" and Adjusted EBITDA as "EBITDA adjusted for non-cash and one-time items". The terms "EBITDA" and "Adjusted EBITDA", as it relates to the year ended December 31, 2015 and the twelve months ended December 31, 2014 results prepared using International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), do not have any standardized meaning according to IFRS. It is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Reminder for the Conference Call Tomorrow Conference call details are as follows: Topic: Medicure's Fiscal Year 2015 Results Date: Thursday March 31, 2016 Time: 7:30 am Central Time (8:30 am Eastern Time) Canada Toll Free: 1 (888) 465-5079 (Canada Toll: 1 (416) 216-4169) U.S. Toll Free: 1 (888) 545-0687 Passcode: 6781 009# Webcast: This conference call will be webcast live over the internet and can be accessed from the Medicure investor relations page at the following: http://www.medicure.com/investors.html You may request country specific international access info by emailing us in advance at [email protected]. Management will accept and answer questions related to the financial results and its operations during the Q&A period at the end of the conference call. A recording of the call will be available following the event at www.medicure.com. About Medicure Inc. Medicure is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the U.S. hospital market. The primary focus of the Company and its subsidiaries is the marketing and distribution of AGGRASTAT (tirofiban HCl) for non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome in the United States, where it is sold through the Company's U.S. subsidiary, Medicure Pharma, Inc. For more information on Medicure please visit www.medicure.com. About AGGRASTAT Indications and Usage AGGRASTAT is indicated to reduce the rate of thrombotic cardiovascular events (combined endpoint of death, myocardial infarction, or refractory ischemia/repeat cardiac procedure) in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). Dosage and Administration Administer intravenously 25 mcg/kg within 5 minutes and then 0.15 mcg/kg/min for up to 18 hours. In patients with creatinine clearance 60 mL/min, give 25 mcg/kg within 5 minutes and then 0.075 mcg/kg/min. Clinical Experience In clinical studies with the HDB regimen, Aggrastat was administered in combination with aspirin, clopidogrel and heparin or bivalirudin to over 8,000 patients for typically 24 hours. Contraindications Known hypersensitivity to any component of Aggrastat History of thrombocytopenia with prior exposure to Aggrastat Active internal bleeding, or history of bleeding diathesis, major surgical procedure or severe physical trauma within previous month. Warnings and Precautions Aggrastat can cause serious bleeding. If bleeding cannot be controlled discontinue Aggrastat. Thrombocytopenia: Discontinue Aggrastat and heparin. Adverse Reactions Bleeding is the most commonly reported adverse reaction. For more information on AGGRASTAT, please refer to Full Prescribing Information. To be added to Medicure's e-mail list, please visit: http://medicure.mediaroom.com/alerts Neither the 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 Information: Statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believes", "may", "plans", "will", "estimates", "continues", "anticipates", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions, may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. federal securities laws (such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are hereinafter collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements, including the expectation of continued revenue growth, are based on the current assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management of the Company made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors which the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances. Inherent in forward-looking statements are known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's ability to predict or control that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, and as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, among others, the Company's future product revenues, stage of development, additional capital requirements, risks associated with the completion and timing of clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval to market the Company's products, the ability to protect its intellectual property, dependence upon collaborative partners, changes in government regulation or regulatory approval processes, and rapid technological change in the industry. Such statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about: general business and economic conditions; the impact of changes in Canadian-US dollar and other foreign exchange rates on the Company's revenues, costs and results; the timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals for the Company's research and development projects; the availability of financing for the Company's commercial operations and/or research and development projects, or the availability of financing on reasonable terms; results of current and future clinical trials; the uncertainties associated with the acceptance and demand for new products and market competition. The foregoing list of important factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements or the foregoing list of factors, other than as may be required by applicable legislation. Additional discussion regarding the risks and uncertainties relating to the Company and its business can be found in the Company's other filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities or the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and in the "Risk Factors" section of its Form 20F for the year ended December 31, 2015. MEDICURE INC. Consolidated Statements of Financial Position (expressed in Canadian dollars) As at December 31, 2015 and 2014 and May 31, 2014 December 31, 2015 December 31, 2014 May 31, 2014 Assets Current assets: Cash $ 3,568,592 $ 493,869 $ 234,297 Accounts receivable 9,823,616 1,637,676 947,602 Inventories 2,289,275 1,099,576 765,653 Prepaid expenses 1,767,071 642,976 206,188 Total current assets 17,448,554 3,874,097 2,153,740 Non-current assets: Property and equipment 230,162 33,161 20,681 Intangible assets 1,411,992 1,096,946 1,433,158 Investment in Apicore 1,559,599 1,361,824 - Long-term derivative 227,571 194,491 - Deferred tax assets 379,000 - - Total non-current assets 3,808,324 2,686,422 1,453,839 Total Assets $ 21,256,878 $ 6,560,519 $ 3,607,579 Liabilities and Equity (Deficiency) Current liabilities: Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 7,079,091 $ 3,248,877 $ 2,705,898 Current portion of long-term debt 1,625,191 654,877 - Current portion of royalty obligation 1,648,180 473,744 317,006 Total current liabilities 10,352,462 4,377,498 3,022,904 Non-current liabilities: Long-term debt 2,617,593 4,225,949 4,847,279 Royalty obligation 3,725,272 1,715,310 1,461,572 Other long-term liability 100,000 152,778 152,778 Total non-current liabilities 6,442,865 6,094,037 6,461,629 Total liabilities 16,795,327 10,471,535 9,484,533 Equity (deficiency) Share capital 121,413,777 117,045,763 117,036,672 Warrants 101,618 - - Contributed surplus 6,789,195 5,360,748 4,743,035 Accumulated other comprehensive income 1,104,388 298,329 154,791 Deficit (124,947,427) (126,615,856) (127,811,452) 4,461,551 (3,911,016) (5,876,954) Total Liabilities and equity (deficiency) $ 21,256,878 $ 6,560,519 $ 3,607,579 MEDICURE INC. Consolidated Statements of Net Income (Loss) and Comprehensive Income (Loss) (expressed in Canadian dollars) Year ended December 31, 2015, seven months ended December 31, 2014 and years ended May 31, 2014 and 2013 December 31, 2015 December 31, 2014 May 31, 2014 May 31, 2013 Revenue Product sales, net $ 22,083,128 $ 5,264,395 $ 5,050,761 $ 2,602,700 Cost of goods sold 2,259,867 600,574 868,122 665,896 Gross Profit 19,823,261 4,663,821 4,182,639 1,936,804 Expenses Selling, general and administrative 10,237,116 3,231,392 3,624,695 2,322,840 Research and development 4,865,255 783,130 688,671 1,700,479 15,102,371 4,014,522 4,313,366 4,023,319 Income (loss) before the undernoted 4,720,890 649,299 (130,727) (2,086,515) Other expenses (income) Reversal of impairment loss (788,305) - - - Investment structuring services - (1,385,099) - - Revaluation of long-term derivative (33,080) 81,431 - - Loss on settlements of debt 60,595 - - - (760,790) (1,303,668) - - Finance expense (income) Finance expense, net 4,123,452 729,657 1,808,987 466,273 Foreign exchange loss (gain), net 68,799 27,714 (5,618) 21,516 4,192,251 757,371 1,803,369 487,789 Net income (loss) before income taxes 1,289,429 1,195,596 (1,934,096) (2,574,304) Income tax recovery 379,000 - - - Net income (loss) $ 1,668,429 $ 1,195,596 $ (1,934,096) $ (2,574,304) Translation adjustment 806,059 143,538 86,679 (34,697) Comprehensive income (loss) $ 2,474,488 $ 1,339,134 $ (1,847,417) $ (2,609,001) Basic earnings (loss) per share $ 0.12 $ 0.10 $ (0.16) $ (0.21) Diluted earnings (loss) per share $ 0.11 $ 0.09 $ (0.16) $ (0.21) Weighted average number of common shares used in computing basic earnings (loss) per share 13,461,609 12,204,827 12,196,745 12,196,508 Weighted average number of common shares used in computing diluted earnings (loss) per share 15,765,570 13,843,126 12,196,745 12,196,508 MEDICURE INC. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow (expressed in Canadian dollars) Year ended December 31, 2015, seven months ended December 31, 2014 and years ended May 31, 2014 and 2013 December 31, 2015 December 31, 2014 May 31, 2014 May 31, 2013 Cash provided by (used in): Operating activities: Net income (loss) $ 1,668,429 $ 1,195,596 $ (1,934,096) $ (2,574,304) Adjustments for: Income tax recovery (379,000) - - - Reversal of impairment loss (788,305) - - - Investment structuring services - (1,552,771) - - Revaluation of long-term derivative (33,080) 81,431 - - Loss on settlements of debt 60,595 - - - Amortization of property and equipment 31,544 5,033 7,727 11,500 Amortization of intangible assets 659,390 428,116 553,542 525,482 Stock-based compensation 1,460,316 620,705 295,144 102,993 Write-up (write-down) of inventory 40,920 (80,874) 22,209 19,639 Write-down of intangible assets - - - 62,133 Finance expense, net 4,123,452 729,657 1,808,987 466,273 Difference between fair value of other long-term liability and funding received 47,222 - (14,483) (32,739) Unrealized foreign exchange loss (gain) 111,817 (27,892) 5,303 (3,011) Change in the following: Accounts receivable (8,185,940) (690,074) (514,986) (12,419) Inventories (1,230,619) (253,049) 114,937 (380,113) Prepaid expenses (1,124,095) (436,788) (176,733) 95,629 Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 4,637,217 639,573 407,966 889,981 Other long-term liability - - - 200,000 Interest paid (314,300) (225,459) (299,346) (273,417) Royalties paid (642,768) (156,722) (165,291) (88,105) Cash flows from (used in) operating activities 142,795 276,482 110,880 (990,478) Investing activities: Acquisition of property and equipment (226,570) (16,713) (5,513) (3,108) Acquisition of intangible assets - (7,206) - (4,289) Cash flows used in investing activities (226,570) (23,919) (5,513) (7,397) Financing activities: Issuance of common shares, net of share issue costs 3,630,324 - - - Exercise of stock options 33,165 6,099 2,000 - Exercise of warrants 150,245 - - - Repayment of long-term debt (694,444) - - - Cash flows from financing activities 3,119,290 6,099 2,000 - Foreign exchange gain on cash held in foreign currency 39,208 910 315 145 Increase (decrease) in cash 3,074,723 259,572 107,682 (997,730) Cash, beginning of period 493,869 234,297 126,615 1,124,345 Cash, end of period 3,568,592 493,869 234,297 126,615 Supplementary Information Non-cash investing activities: Investment structuring services $ - $ 1,552,771 $ - $ - Non-cash financing activities: Shares issued on debt settlements $ 624,029 $ - $ - $ - Warrants issued as share issue costs $ 232,571 $ - $ - $ - SOURCE Medicure Inc. Related Links http://www.medicure.com SAN FRANCISCO, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Memorang, a gamified study and test prep tool for every subject, announced that the company has raised $500,000 in seed funding from angel investors. They include Michael Kane, an early investor in SoFi, and Tom Palecek, founding partner at Summit Trail Advisors. The team has also launched a revamped platform that features more games and all new playlists, which allow students to create and share study questions with their peers. Memorang will use the new capital to expand its technology and premium content offerings. The startup is hiring a content team that will create expert study materials for medicine, health sciences, and new subjects such as the CPA exam, CFA exam, and TOEFL English language test. Founded in 2013, Memorang began as the passion project of Yermie Cohen, who was a medical student at UCLA. Yermie had studied mechanical engineering and biology at MIT, where most exams were open note and focused on problem-solving. Overwhelmed by the volume memorization in med school, he couldn't find any effective study tools for students in higher education and approached fellow MIT grad George Courtsunis to build their own. Using their new app, Yermie scored in the 99th percentile on his next medical board exam, and the duo decided to turn the study tool into a company. In March 2014, Yermie and George joined MuckerLab, a top-ranked startup accelerator, launched Memorang, and became profitable immediately thereafter. By the time they graduated from MuckerLab in May 2015, one third of U.S. medical students were using Memorang to study for the MCATs, the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), and board exams. Today, Memorang's iOS, Android, and web apps are used by students in over 100 countries, of which 60 have paying subscribers. The platform recently hit a milestone of 30 million questions answered by users. In total, students have uploaded more than 8 million of their own flash cards, and the budding content team has produced 100,000 expert flash cards and questions. Called "Flashcard Power-Ups" on Memorang, this paid content currently covers nine categories: Medical, Pre-Medical, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, EMT, GRE, Pharmacy, and Accounting. Through a new licensing agreement with academic publisher Elsevier, Memorang plans to launch a suite of anatomy products for the health sciences. Three qualities distinguish Memorang from other study tools. First, Memorang can be used to study any subject, from middle school through medical school. Besides the Flashcard Power-Ups, everything on Memorang is free. Second, Memorang is customizable, meaning students can create their own flashcards and play any game that fits their learning style. Third, Memorang adapts to the student by tracking what learners know and what they need to work on. Like a tutor, Memorang personalizes each game to focus on concepts the student has yet to master. In version 2.0 of their platform, Memorang is introducing six new games and a new user interface that can serve all age groups. The new games include Rapid Response, where students answer questions as fast as possible to keep a "patient" alive. Correct answers slow the patient's heart rate, depicted on an EKG monitor. Incorrect answers speed the heart rate up. Students have to answer questions faster and faster to keep the patient from flat lining. In another new game, Eliminator, students fight off alien space invaders by answering multiple choice questions. The new platform also introduces study playlists modeled on the music playlists that people create and share in applications like Spotify. Memorang playlists enable groups of students to collaboratively make flashcards and share them with their study group or classmates. "Our mission is to make study tools that are affordable and accessible to everyone, regardless of academic or financial ability," said Yermie Cohen, CEO of Memorang. "This is a radical concept in a market where test prep classes and study materials can cost thousands of dollars." "We rebuilt our platform using feedback from more than 10,000 customer support conversations," said George Courtsunis, CTO of Memorang. "As we roll out more games and cover new subject areas, we'll create the first study tool that serves students throughout their education. The first graders who learn multiplication on Memorang could use it to study for their board exams 20 years later. That inspires us." About Memorang Memorang is a web and mobile study tool for every subject. Whether you're in middle school or medical school, Memorang transforms studying into fun, customizable quizzes and games. You can create your own free flashcards, multiple choice, and matching questions, or Power-Up with Memorang's premium flash cards, written by experts. You can also build the ultimate flashcard playlist and share it with classmates. To score higher, save time, and stay motivated, visit www.memorangapp.com. SOURCE Memorang Related Links http://www.memorangapp.com WELLESLEY, Mass., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Babson College announces the appointment of Michael D. Johnson as provost. Johnson comes to Babson from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, where he is the Bradley H. Stone Dean and E.M. Statler Professor. "It is a pleasure to welcome Michael Johnson as the new provost of Babson College," said Babson President Kerry Healey. "Michael is an accomplished academic and administrator who will bring valued leadership to our community. I would especially like to thank all who worked to bring the search process to a successful conclusion." "Babson is well positioned to grow and excel in the years to come," said Johnson. "I embrace the opportunity to help lead this dynamic institution, and am committed to fostering a student-focused environment and building an inclusive community." Since his appointment as the dean of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration in 2006, Johnson has successfully expanded learning and career opportunities for students, increased the school's academic standing, and built a more diverse and inclusive community. Prior to arriving at Cornell, Johnson was an endowed chair on the marketing faculty at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business. In addition to his role as Babson's provost, Johnson will join the Babson faculty as a tenured professor in the Marketing Division. He will officially join Babson on July 15, 2016. About Provost Michael D. Johnson Johnson earned his PhD in behavioral science and marketing from the University of Chicago in 1983, his MBA in marketing from the University of Chicago in 1980, and his BS in economics and psychology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1978. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Competing in a Service Economy: How to Create a Competitive Advantage through Service Development and Innovation, with Anders Gustafsson (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass). Johnson serves as the sixth dean of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration (SHA) after a distinguished 24-year career as a professor of marketing at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business. During his tenure at Cornell, Johnson focused his efforts on investing in faculty, expanding students' learning and career opportunities, increasing diversity, building an effective fundraising organization, and growing the school's global platform. While at Cornell, Johnson has hired more than 60 percent of the School of Hotel Administration's faculty, and increased the diversity of the faculty, student body, and staff. He has championed the expansion of academic programs, including the establishment and development of the Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship. Johnson led the school's capital campaign, raising $150 million for students, faculty, and programs since 2006. He played an instrumental role in developing Cornell's strategic plan, including the Business at Cornell Consortium which is aimed at leveraging the collective impact of management education at Cornell. About Babson College Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds(r). The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action(r) as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu. CONTACT: Michael Chmura, 781-239-4549, [email protected] This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com. SOURCE Babson College Related Links http://www.babson.edu CINCINNATI, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A novel mouse model of a highly lethal form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) offers a new tool for scientists working to better understand this disease and research new therapeutic targets. Scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center developed the model and have already used it to gain important new insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying the disease and to identify promising drug targets. They report their results in the journal Cancer Discovery. "Our goal was to create a model that was faithful to the human form of the disease that can be used for preclinical testing of potential cures," says H. Leighton Grimes, PhD, senior author and professor in the Division of Immunobiology at Cincinnati Children's. In the past, researchers working to understand this particular type of AML have been stymied by the lack of a mouse model that accurately replicates the human form of the disease. As a result, unanswered questions remain about the mechanisms of the disease and few treatments are available. "Previous models were slow, difficult to analyze, and did not accurately represent the human disease," says Grimes. "This model is rapid, fully penetrant, and completely spontaneous. We hope that it will open the way for other researchers to join us in attacking this particularly lethal AML subtype." Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood system that affects both adults and children. About half of all AML cases are classified as cytogenically normal, which means they are caused by subtle DNA sequence mutations in genes. Of those cases, about 20 percent involve changes in the genes Dnmt3a and Flt3 that lead to the deregulated expression of other genes that are normally switched off during blood cell development. Patients diagnosed with mutations in both of these genes face a particularly poor prognosis, with a more aggressive form of the disease and a significantly higher likelihood of relapse after remission. The researchers say they were able to look at the disease in a new way with the help of a powerful new core facility utilizing analytical tools related to single-cell RNA sequencing. Typical genetic analyses look at bulk cell populations, and those bulk analyses can hide rarer cell types. Single-cell methods permit the detailed analysis of those rare cell types, allowing the research team to better understand their functions and to identify unique elements of the tumor cells that may be therapeutic targets. The team used complementary single-cell analyses to quickly identify the core leukemia-causing stem cells of the tumor that divide abnormally and crowd out the healthy blood and immune cells. "Before, researchers were comparing the gene expression patterns of one AML subtype to either normal cells or other AML subtypes," says lead author Sara Meyer, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Grimes Laboratory. "That approach made it difficult to tease out the specific impact of Dnmt3a mutation. Instead, we isolated the variables and studied only human and murine AML with Flt3 mutation. Comparing Flt3-mutant AML with and without Dnmt3a mutation allowed us to more finely identify those patterns that were specific to the Dnmt3a mutation." With that more detailed understanding, the researchers gained new insights into the contributions of the Dnmt3a mutation to the disease. First, their work confirms suspicions that low level Dnmt3a activity is cancer causing. Moreover, they discovered that reduced Dnmt3a function allows genes that are normally expressed only at early development stages of blood cell formation to continue expression at later stages, leading to the development of AML. The authors also found that in mouse tumor cells, rescuing expression of Dnmt3a reversed the leukemia phenotypes and gene expression. Thus, more research is warranted to determine if rescuing normal levels of Dnmt3a function is a viable therapeutic avenue in treating human AML. Further, the researchers identified several potential treatment targets that are unique to the tumor. In future studies, the team plans to proceed with testing potential therapeutics. The research was supported by Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (LAVFW) Postdoctoral Fellowship, CancerFree KIDS (Loveland, Ohio), University of Cincinnati training grant NIEHS T32ES007250, CCTST Just-In-Time Core Grant Program (University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Translational Research Program Award, NHLBI Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium U01HL099997 and NIH R01CA159845 and R21CA186945. About Cincinnati Children's Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center ranks third in the nation among all Honor Roll hospitals in U.S. News and World Report's 2015 Best Children's Hospitals. It is also ranked in the top 10 for all 10 pediatric specialties, including a #1 ranking in pulmonology and #2 in cancer and in nephrology. Cincinnati Children's, a non-profit organization, is one of the top three recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health, and a research and teaching affiliate of the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine. The medical center is internationally recognized for improving child health and transforming delivery of care through fully integrated, globally recognized research, education and innovation. Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org. Connect on the Cincinnati Children's blog, via Facebook and on Twitter. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prn/20110406/MM79025LOGO SOURCE Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Related Links http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org TEL AVIV, Israel, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HexaTier, which offers a comprehensive security and compliance solution for cloud-hosted databases and Database as a Service (DBaaS) platforms, published today a research paper that identifies the top concerns preventing enterprise organizations from moving their sensitive information to the cloud. Database as a Service (DBaaS) Security Research 2016, an extensive study that reflects survey data from more than 500 IT leaders across multiple industries. The paper is structured around the top 10 security concerns of respondents across industries, including financial services, healthcare, transportation, retail and more. These include: Safety of Data Storage DBaaS Provider Can Access Your Data Physical Location of the Production Data and the Backup Data External Users Can Access the Database DBaaS Regulatory Compliance DDoS and Performance Attacks on the Database Hidden Sensitive Data SQL Injection Attacks Data Theft by Authorized Users Neighbor Tenants Can Access Your Data "Enterprises understand the value the cloud offers; nearly half of the companies we surveyed are already evaluating or using DBaaS providers," said Dan Dinnar, CEO, HexaTier. "Yet they need to find new ways to secure their data and comply with regulations. Our database reverse proxy technology offers cloud-ready unified database security which brings agility, scalability and ease-of-use to address these concerns." As the cloud expands, enterprise organizations are hesitant in moving sensitive information to cloud hosted databases. This hesitancy is driven by a wide range of issues: 44% of respondents identified security risks as a main reason preventing their organizations from moving to DBaaS 39% of respondents identified Compliance & Regulation as a main reason preventing their organizations from moving to DBaaS 32% of respondents identified Company Policy as a main reason preventing their organizations from moving to DBaaS 18% of respondents identified Lack of Motivation as a main reason preventing their organizations from moving to DBaaS 15% of respondents identified Migration costs as a main reason preventing their organizations from moving to DBaaS Nearly 20% of respondents stated that it was only a matter of time before they adopted a DBaaS solution. Database as a Service (DBaaS) Security Research 2016 offers guidance on how providers and enterprises can overcome these challenges, as well as charts and comparisons explaining how the three major DBaaS providers, Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), Microsoft Azure SQL Database and Google Cloud SQL, address them. HexaTier bolstered the report with data consolidated from its experiences remediating data breach damage for victimized enterprises. Complimentary copies of Database as a Service (DBaaS) Security Research 2015 can be downloaded at http://www.hexatier.com/database-as-a-service-research/. For more information, visit www.hexatier.com About HexaTier Established in 2009, HexaTier (formerly GreenSQL) sets the industry standard for database security and compliance in the cloud with its unified solution that provides database security, dynamic data masking, database activity monitoring (DAM) and discovery of sensitive data. Utilizing purpose-built, patented Database Reverse Proxy technology, the company protects against both internal and external security threats. Backed by leading investors such as JVP, Magma VC and Rhodium, HexaTier is the first and only company to provide security for cloud-hosted databases and DBaaS platforms through a streamlined and simple solution. Headquartered in Tel Aviv with offices in Irvine, CA and Boston, MA. HexaTier secures databases for nearly 200 organizations globally. For more information, visit www.hexatier.com Media Contact: Dror Haliva [email protected] +972-54-443-7444 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160125/325331LOGO SOURCE HexaTier Related Links http://www.hexatier.com PENCIL connects New York City's businesses and public schools to help prepare students for college and their future careers. PENCIL and its business partners work with students in elementary, middle, and high schools across all five boroughs of New York. Mr. Betheil, a former teacher and assistant principal, has been bringing businesses, schools and students together throughout his career in public education. He has held leadership roles at the New York City Department of Education, as the head of the Office of Postsecondary Pathways and Planning and as Executive Director for School Programs and Partnerships, where he led a team that was focused on aligning programmatic and citywide partner supports toward improved student achievement. He joined the DOE in 2008 to support Mayor Bloomberg's efforts to foster innovation in the city's portfolio of career and technical education options. "PENCIL bridges the gap between what is happening in the business world and what is taking place in the classroom," said Mr. Betheil. "I am honored to lead a dedicated team that connects New York City business professionals with public schools to help students follow their college and career dreams and continue on a path to success." Mr. Betheil has been instrumental in helping to expand and refine PENCIL's core programs. He helped oversee the growth of the PENCIL Fellows Program by 41% and the refinement and diversification of the PENCIL School Partnerships Program. Through the School Partnership Program, PENCIL leverages expertise from the business community to expose students to a vast array of opportunities from learning about different college and career paths to practicing interviewing and networking skills. The PENCIL Fellows Program is an intensive career training program that places students in a six-week paid internship in New York City. Mr. Betheil has also helped PENCIL establish new initiatives, including "Boss for a Day," a city-wide event that exposes hundreds of public school students to actual workplace environments, and PENCIL Points of Engagement, which offers businesses meaningful, one-day volunteer opportunities. "Gregg has been a true force behind PENCIL's success over the past year," said PENCIL Board Chair Howard Chatzinoff, a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. "He understands the needs of both the business and education communities and, most importantly, how they can work together to help New York City's students. On behalf of PENCIL's Board of Directors, I am delighted to welcome Gregg into this role." PENCIL has transformed the lives of thousands of New York City public school students for the past 20 years. In 2015, the organization worked with 1,250 business volunteers to directly serve 1,500 public school students across all five boroughs of New York. Mr. Betheil will succeed David Weiner, PENCIL's President for the last two years, who is leaving to become the principal of The American School of Madrid. "Gregg has been an extraordinary leader at PENCIL," said Mr. Weiner. "I am excited to see PENCIL continue to thrive under his leadership. I know he will do great things for this organization, the city's public schools, and most importantly, its students." "Gregg is a gifted educator and a dynamic leader," said New York City Schools Deputy Chancellor Phil Weinberg. "We look forward to continuing working together on our shared goal of providing an excellent and equitable education to students under Gregg's leadership." Mr. Betheil has been an educator for the past 24 years. Prior to joining the New York City Department of Education in 2008, Mr. Betheil served as Senior Vice President of the National Academy Foundation. While there, he oversaw the operations of a national network of career academies that help young people succeed in high school, higher education, and their careers. He began his career as a teacher and assistant principal at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, where he taught American History and Finance. Mr. Betheil is a public school graduate and holds a B.A. in Government & Law and History from Lafayette College, a M.A. in Social Studies Education and a M.Ed. in Educational Administration from Columbia University. He lives in Maplewood, New Jersey with his wife Karen and two daughters, Jamie and Ellie. About PENCIL Founded in 1995, PENCIL is the leader in creating innovative and impactful models of collaboration between the business and education communities. PENCIL works at the intersection of school needs and business expertise to bring together the best ideas, talent, and resources across sectors to improve public school and student performance and enhance workforce pathways. Visit www.PENCIL.org for more information. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349242 SOURCE PENCIL Related Links http://pencil.org AMSTERDAM, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA) today introduced the first commercially available MR-only simulation solution indicated for prostate cancer radiation oncology treatment planning in the United States. Philips has achieved 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its MRCAT (Magnetic Resonance for Calculating ATtenuation) solution as part of its Ingenia MR-RT platform. This imaging approach supports radiation departments that want to rely on MRI as their primary imaging modality for prostate cancer treatment planning. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men, causing approximately 27,540 deaths annually1. Approximately one million U.S. patients2 undergo radiotherapy annually, and imaging plays a vital role. Current clinical practice often uses a combined approach using both MR and CT images, but this can lead to image misalignment and registration uncertainties that could impact targeting and treatment. It also puts pressure on patient burden, workflows and costs. MR-only simulation not only alleviates additional scans for the patient, but improves physician workflow and could potentially reduce provider costs, as compared to MR-CT workflow. "Successful cancer treatment depends on the quality and accuracy of the radiation therapy plan, making imaging a critical piece in determining course of treatment," said Dr. Rodney Ellis, vice chairman of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center. "The real power of MR-only simulation is that it enables us to develop personalized treatment plans. It can also streamline our workflows, which in turn reduces the burden on prostate cancer patients and the health system. Moreover, it can eliminate the systematic errors introduced by MR-CT registration." As part of its Ingenia MR-RT platform for MR simulation, Philips' new MRCAT solution allows physicians treating prostate cancer patients to adopt a single-modality imaging approach that provides high quality soft-tissue contrast for target delineation, as well as density information for dose calculations. To produce the density information standard for CT, Philips has integrated fast and robust imaging protocols to obtain CT-like images on the MR console. Philips' MR-only simulation solution has also received CE mark and is available globally. "MR-only simulation is a continuation of Philips' commitment to driving image-guided therapy in the market. Where CT solutions have played a leading role in past radiotherapy treatments, MR takes an innovative approach by providing physicians with increased soft-tissue visualization and functional imaging capabilities to help improve treatment plans," said Lizette Warner, Ph.D., manager of clinical science MR therapy, North America, Philips. "MR-only simulation makes MR more accessible for hospitals and physicians, transforming the way care is delivered and supporting our customers in improving care for oncology patients who require radiotherapy." Philips' radiation oncology solutions work along the health continuum to improve patient care, provide excellent value and expand access to care. Through collaboration with clinicians, Philips is able to fully integrate the imaging, simulation, planning and therapy tools required for delivering efficient and personalized radiation oncology care to patients. Philips Radiation Oncology Systems (PROS) allows clinicians to move from scan to plan right at the CT console, with the enhanced Tumor LOC v4.2 virtual simulation and patient marking application enabled by the integration of Pinnacle3 and Brilliance CT Big Bore: Brilliance CT Big Bore Focusing on what matters most in radiation oncology, Philips Brilliance CT Big Bore delivers high quality imaging while enabling personalized dose based on the clinical needs of patients. Designed to meet the specific needs of radiation oncology and CT simulation, Philips' CT solutions focus on accuracy, patient positioning, imaging performance and a radiation therapy process that integrates seamlessly with clinical workflows, keeping the patient at the center of everything. Pinnacle3 Auto Planning Recognized as a treatment planning system for external beam radiotherapy, this system provides accuracy and reliability independent of the treatment delivery system. With enhanced efficiency and standardization, Pinnacle3 Auto-Planning makes the IMRT planning process faster, less labor intensive and more reproducible. For further information, please contact: Adrienne Smith Philips Diagnostic Imaging Tel: +1 781-277-1170 Email: [email protected] Steve Klink Philips Group Communications Tel.: +31 6 10888824 E-mail: [email protected] About Royal Philips Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. The company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' wholly owned subsidiary Philips Lighting is the global leader in lighting products, systems and services. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2015 sales of EUR 24.2 billion and employs approximately 104,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter. 1 American Cancer Society, Key Statistics for Prostate Cancer, 2016 2 IMV, 2014 Radiation Therapy Market Summary Report Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140122/NE50581LOGO SOURCE Royal Philips SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PlanGrid, the leading provider of construction field productivity software, announced today the beta release of their native app for Microsoft Windows. PlanGrid for Windows is the first construction field app available natively on the Windows Surface. PlanGrid's release follows in the footsteps of Facebook, Box, and Netflix (as well as other Windows app partners), who have recently announced the development of Windows 10 apps. PlanGrid, the most popular mobile construction app, for Windows on Microsoft Surface 4 "PlanGrid is an essential part of our businessenabling us to reduce blueprinting costs and to create better efficiencies in the field," said Michael Donaghy, Project Manager of Operations Business Systems at Structure Tone. "We're deploying the new PlanGrid Windows app to all current users to better facilitate access to construction documents, both in the field and the office. The introduction of the PlanGrid Windows App will allow our user community more flexibility around their choice of device to run PlanGrid." With today's launch, construction professionals around the globe can access their project documents using iOS, Android, Windows, and on the web. With a large percentage of construction firms already on Windows and with Surface continuing to gain market share, PlanGrid is excited to invest in this budding platform. PlanGrid's Windows beta app can be downloaded at www.plangrid.com. About PlanGrid PlanGrid is the world's most popular mobile construction app, with five times the number of downloads as its next largest competitor. Its cloud-based construction document collaboration platform has been used by major firms on more than 450,000 projects, including the new 49ers Stadium, and the Hudson Yards project in New York. Contractors, architects, and owners use PlanGrid to collaborate from their desktop or any mobile devices across project plans, specs, photos, RFIs, and punchlists. PlanGrid is funded by leading investors including Sequoia Capital, Tenaya Capital, Founders Fund, and Google Ventures. About Structure Tone The Structure Tone Organization is a global leader in construction management, services, and general contracting, comprised of the independent companies Structure Tone, Inc.; Structure Tone Southwest, Inc.; Structure Tone (UK), Inc.; Pavarini Construction Co., Inc.; Pavarini McGovern, LLC; and L.F. Driscoll Company, LLC. The Structure Tone Organization employs more than 1,400 professionals in the U.S., UK, and Ireland, responsible for more than $3.5B in annual construction volume. Photo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349044 SOURCE PlanGrid Related Links http://www.plangrid.com ROOSEVELT, N.J., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HireLifeScience.com, the premier career networking website for the Life Science industries, will host its 7th annual career fair at The NJ Convention and Exposition Center at Raritan Center in Edison, NJ on September 27, 2016. Novo Nordisk is the event's Platinum Sponsor for the third consecutive year. The healthcare company has nearly 200 open positions listed on HireLifeScience.com and they display an impressive booth for candidates to visit at the Career Fair. Covance will attend the event as a Silver Sponsor for the third consecutive year making this year the fourth year in a row the company will send representatives to the Career Fair. AstraZeneca, a worldwide top five pharmaceutical company, is a second year Silver Sponsor and the company has close to 300 job opportunities throughout the United States. HireLifeScience.com is proud to present Merck as the final Silver Sponsor for the Career Fair. Some other companies who will attend are MedImmune, Acorda Therapeutics, Medidata Solutions, AuroLife Pharma and NYU Langone Medical Center. Additional companies will be added during the spring and summer months, more than 20 notable life science companies attended the 2015 event. Registration is now open and professionals are encouraged to pre-register for the event at http://hirelifescience.com/career/default.aspx. The event is exclusive to Life Science professionals who possess a minimum of two years' experience working for a Life Science related company and a minimum of a four-year Life Science related degree. Doors will open for qualified professionals at 11 a.m. and the event will conclude at 4 p.m. The HireLifeScience.com Career Fair 2016 will be one of the industry's most qualified gatherings of companies and professionals. The objective of the event is to bring the HireLifeScience.com client companies and network of professionals together in one place expediting the hiring process. This annual career fair is exclusive to hiring companies and no third-party recruiters will participate in the event. Professionals with a background related, but not limited to: Bioinformatics; Clinical Research; Laboratory; Quality QA & QC; Medical Communications; Manufacturing; Medical Device; Regulatory Affairs; Research & Development; and Pharma/Biotech Sales & Marketing should attend. "The event has taken on a life of its own and continues to grow year after year. The attending companies represent the titans of the life science industry and each year the candidates bear impressive resumes. This year's event promises to be one of most successful Career Fairs we've coordinatedwe have excellent companies with diverse hiring needs," stated Rob Masterson, President of HireLifeScience.com. Since 2005 HireLifeScience.com has provided Life Science professionals with the ability to apply directly to Life Science companies and avoid third party recruiters during the hiring process. HireLifeScience.com is designed to help Life Science professionals personalize the job search by: building professional profiles; following and connecting with individual HR representatives; and applying directly to thousands of jobs in the Life Science industry. For more information on this event or any of our services please visit www.HireLifeScience.com SOURCE HireLifeScience.com Related Links http://www.HireLifeScience.com TORONTO, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - eCompliance Management Solutions Inc. and Convergence Training announced today that they will be joining forces. Both groups share a common goal: to help provide employers in at-risk industries with a more convenient and cost-effective way to train employees and improve workplace safety. Training is an integral part of workplace safety, and ensuring that all employees are properly trained plays a significant role in preventing workplace incidents. Statistics released by Ontario's Ministry of Labour and OSHA in the US indicate that proper safety training can reduce workplace incidents by 70%. "We are really excited about the new partnership," said Adrian Bartha, CEO of eCompliance. "By partnering with Convergence Training, we are now able to offer an extensive library of over 150 training courses to customers across Canada and the US. This allows us to play a crucial role in ensuring that all employees in at-risk industries are able to easily access and complete training as and when they need to." eCompliance Safety Software offers a subscription-based model that allows employers to secure annual licenses allowing their employees full access to a library of eLearning or online training courses. Convergence Training, a US-based company, is a division of Capstone Technology, a global provider of a wide range industrial and manufacturing technology solutions. Specializing in development of eLearning content and enterprise-level learning management software, Convergence Training is a major producer of occupational health and safety training courses serving many industries, including construction, energy, mining, paper, and utilities. Through the partnership with Convergence Training, eCompliance is now able to offer very popular, in-demand training for a number of industries including: Bloodborne Pathogens, Fire Safety, Personal Protective Equipment, Lockout Tagout, Ladder Safety, and Forklift Safety. Randy Kohltfarber, owner and president of Convergence Training, further explains: "Our relationship with eCompliance represents some of our strategic strength as an eLearning producer. Convergence has always focused heavily on the quality of our training content to ultimately provide a superior learning experience. And we feel that eCompliance shares those values." Online training allows employees to take training as soon as they require it, from the comfort of their computer. Since eCompliance's partnership with Convergence Training significantly increases the variety of courses available through the eLearning subscription, employees using eCompliance safety software will be able to take their required training immediately; therefore, eliminating the gap between when training is required and when training is received. Employees in at-risk industries often require multiple safety training courses before they are prepared to start work. eLearning courses are typically purchased on an individual basis, and while they tend to be more economical than traditional classroom training, the cost of multiple courses for multiple workers can add up. By partnering with Convergence Training and broadening the selection of courses available, the subscription model will have the ability to start helping more companies significantly reduce their training budgets and strengthen their safety programs. About eCompliance: eCompliance is an innovative, mobile and cloud-based platform, designed by health and safety experts for health and safety experts. eCompliance was founded to reduce workplace incidents by digitalizing company's safety programs and providing a better means of collecting, sharing and reporting on real-time safety data. Not only does eCompliance reduce the administrative burden on safety professionals but it also provides a 360 view of safety performance so safety leaders have immediate access to the information they need to make important decisions to reduce employee and corporate risk and drive business forward. About Convergence: Convergence Training is a leading producer of custom and off-the-shelf eLearning media as well as proprietary web-based, desktop, and mobile training management systems designed for the demands of industrial and manufacturing operations. SOURCE eCompliance Management Solutions Inc Related Links www.ecompliance.com WASHINGTON, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was joined today by a group of leading technology companies to announce the formation of the Small Business Technology Coalition, a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership that will provide America's small businesses a streamlined interface to connect to innovative technology platforms as well as digital education and enterprise training. Through this coalition, the SBA will collaborate with a group of the world's most iconic technology companies to educate entrepreneurs on the range of resources and technology available to help them connect to customers, scale, and do business safely anywhere. This collection of resources will cover areas important to entrepreneurs including online commerce and payment platforms, efficiency of back-office operations, productivity solutions, cybersecurity protection, and improved customer service and shopping experiences. In announcing the initiative, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet stated: "On behalf of America's 28 million innovators, entrepreneurs and small businesses, welcome and thank you to the companies that have joined SBA's groundbreaking initiative. I'm heartened by the quality of companies stepping up to participate in this coalition. The success of these industry leaders and their countless customers and partners is living proof of the transformative power of technology and innovation. "This first of a kind public-private partnership will empower a new generation of entrepreneurs to build businesses that are ready to compete from day one. SBA started this effort with our 'Startup in a Day' initiative in mind, coordinating across federal state and local government to cut red tape and simplify the process of starting a business. Now, with the launch of this coalition, America's startups will also have the digital tools they need to take their first steps toward success. "I remain fervently committed to finding solutions for our nation's job creators--our entrepreneurs and small enterprises--and look forward to adding new members to this coalition as we work to further strengthen this small business resource." Participating companies helping to introduce the coalition today include Amazon, Box, Facebook, LegalZoom, Microsoft, Salesforce and Zenefits. Each member of the coalition has affirmed its commitment to assist small businesses across the United States through the adoption of modern technologies. "Amazon's marketplace, innovative ecommerce tools, and cloud services enable small businesses to grow and expand their reach," said Brian Huseman, Vice President of Public Policy for Amazon. "Today, we are excited to build upon that partnership through the Small Business Technology Coalition, and demonstrate further how technology can help small businesses to innovate, focus resources and grow." "Small businesses play a vital role in the U.S. economy, but without IT departments or dedicated resources they often don't have access or expertise to deploy the best technology to grow and scale their business," said Karen Appleton, Senior Vice President of Industries at Box. "By joining the coalition, Box is committed to providing modern, cloud technology tools and education that will empower small businesses across America to achieve their greatest ambitions." Erin Egan, Facebook's Vice President of U.S. Public Policy noted, "Facebook is proud to join the Small Business Technology Coalition to help America's small businesses establish and grow their online presences and connect with customers where they are most engaged." "Technology is a core enabler of consistency of quality, efficiency, and reach," said John Suh, CEO of LegalZoom. "Small business owners now have unprecedented access to affordable technology-enabled solutions that are better suited for their most common legal needs. LegalZoom is truly committed to empowering America's small businesses and proud to be a part of the Small Business Technology Coalition." "Microsoft welcomes the SBA's leadership in establishing the Small Business Technology Coalition. We firmly believe that small businesses are at the core of economic growth and innovation for our nation and therefore are a focal point for our company as well," said Cindy Bates, Microsoft Vice President, Small and Midsized Business. "Studies show that businesses that leverage modern technology grow 15% faster than those that do not. We look forward to sharing how small businesses can harness the power of technology such as the Microsoft Cloud to grow and succeed in business." "We are in the midst of a sweeping digital transformation. Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy and equipping them with technology and innovation will be vital in fueling their future growth," said Leyla Seka, SVP, Salesforce, Desk.com. "We are honored to be joining this initiative and helping small businesses go digital." "Our goal at Zenefits is to make it easier to start, manage and grow a small business; from day one, our technology has been designed expressly for that purpose," Zenefits CEO David Sacks said. "We're thrilled to serve as a founding member of the Small Business Technology Coalition and to partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. We look forward to providing educational, technology and other support through the SBA to help the small business community thrive." "Whether they are selling quilts or cloud solutions, businesses need access to digital tools and capabilities to be competitive," added Tracy Terrill, Chief Digital Officer at SBA. "Our goal at the SBA is to ensure that entrepreneurs and small business owners are aware of digital resources designed to simplify administrative, legal, and technology challenges required to scale their businesses." A key element to the coalition's scope of activity will be the ongoing schedule of hosted knowledge-sharing sessions to increase technology awareness on topics of interest to small businesses and entrepreneurs including cyber security, social media marketing and brand awareness, mobile content management, productivity solutions, online/ecommerce, mobility and field operations, and payments. More information on the Small Business Technology Coalition is available at: www.sba.gov/techcoalition. About the Small Business Administration The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and since January 13, 2012 has served as a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. www.sba.gov SBA's participation in this cosponsored activity is not an endorsement of the views, opinions, products or services of any cosponsor or other person or entity. All SBA programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Cosponsorship Authorizations #16-3010-67 & #16-3010-99. Release Number: 16-23 Contact: Miguel Ayala (202) 205-6420 Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110909/DC65875LOGO SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration Related Links http://www.sba.gov SEABROOK, N.J., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Seabrook House's Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Alberta Montano-DiFabio, SCD, LCADC, CCJS, and Director of Clinical Operations, Michele Smith, ICADC, WTS, will be honored at the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA) Courage and Compassion Awards and Networking Reception on April 13. Montano-DiFabio is awarded with the Outstanding Leadership in Substance Use Disorder Services Award and Smith with the Outstanding Peer Leadership Award. The NJAMHAA Awards are presented to employees of member organizations of NJAMHAA who have shown courage, compassion and leadership in their roles. The honorees impact and improve lives of individuals through their work, which Montano-DiFabio and Smith both do at Seabrook House. Dr. Montano-DiFabio has spent the last thirty years leaving her mark on the addiction recovery field. Through her research, she found that those with a substance use disorder often had experienced trauma. She began the conversation on addiction, abuse and sexual assault, and years later she is still educating others on the topic. According to her colleagues, Dr. Montano-DiFabio makes everyone feel respected and special. Her compassion and concern for each patient shines through her work as Chief Clinical Officer. Smith has changed countless lives since she began her work at Seabrook House in 1999. One of her accomplishments at Seabrook House has been the development of our young adult program. This program allows young adult opiate addicts to receive individualized care. Smith also fights for rights of patients through her work as a member of the National Council of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD). She does everything in her power to make sure that patient rights are not infringed upon and that insurers are held accountable. Along with other members of NCADD, Smith is currently laying the groundwork for the New Jersey Parity Coalition. Seabrook House congratulates Dr. Montano-DiFabio and Smith on their awards. For more information on the Courage and Compassion Awards Ceremony, please visit www.NJAMHAA.org/events. Seabrook House is a non-profit, internationally recognized, private CARF-accredited behavioral healthcare organization, with treatment locations in Bridgeton, NJ, Cherry Hill, NJ, Northfield, NJ, Morristown, NJ and coming soon to Freehold, NJ. Founded by Jerry and Peg Diehl in 1974, Seabrook House has been helping families find the courage to recover from alcoholism and drug addiction for over 42 years. For more information on Seabrook House, visit the company website at www.SeabrookHouse.org. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151222/317773LOGO SOURCE Seabrook House Related Links http://www.seabrookhouse.org The world of online media marketing can be tedious, burdensome, and downright confusing. Before Meni, owner of Prestige California Builders , reached out to AskAnny, he spent $3000 on Google AdWords trying to boost his company's online visibility. But it did not help his business. Since his free consultation and data analysis with AskAnny, Meni implemented his personalized marketing strategy and his company's search engine visibility increased by 300%. "Today my company is thriving," Meni said. "Business is great! Customers are flocking in and out, and my site's page ranking on Google is higher than before. I wouldn't have done this without AskAnny's help." AskAnny.com provides affordable rates and flexible plans for businesses on a budget. The staff at AskAnny will work around your budget and needs. From creating your website and handling email marketing to implementing social media strategies and increasing your SEO ranking, the hard working and dedicated staff of AskAnny.com is ready 24/7 to help grow your business. With AskAnny.com's services, you will: Have a personalized marketing packet that fits your business' needs and demands Own a sound, healthy, and well-designed website packed with SEO and SMO implemented strategies to drive traffic to your site and storefront Have a 24/7 live support ready to answer all inquiries about your business Gain additional customers through our systematic email marketing strategies Increase your business' search engine visibility by 400% by 400% Improve your page ranking on google.com Have an assigned social media engagement team to manage your social media accounts and other marketing needs, so you can have stress-free days For more information, visit our website AskAnny.com or email us [email protected]. AskAnny.com is located at 1945 Gardena Ave., Glendale, CA 91204. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160328/348625 SOURCE AskAnny.com Related Links http://www.AskAnny.com NEW YORK, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TBWA Worldwide CEO Troy Ruhanen today announced the appointment of Anaka Kobzev as Global Head of Communications, tasked with further developing the collective global communications strategy for TBWA and promoting the company's vision for Disruption in key markets around the world. Anaka brings with her a wealth of high-profile marketing communications experience, having led both internal and external PR for top agencies over the last 14 years. She joins the global executive team at an important time in TBWA's history in which the company has publicly pledged to achieve a more balanced representation of women in senior leadership roles across the board over the next few years. Beginning April 18, Anaka will be based in TBWA's New York global headquarters and will report to Ruhanen directly. "I'm thrilled that Anaka is joining TBWA and taking a seat on our global executive team," said Ruhanen. "She is extremely well-versed in the art and architecture of agency communications, and has a keen understanding of our need to market ourselves, our work and our points of view more aggressively to standout in the global marketplace. Communications is a crucial role for our brand, and having reviewed several candidates from both within and outside of our industry, I am confident there is no one better suited to lead us forward." Anaka comes to TBWA from J. Walter Thompson (JWT) where she served as Director of Communications for North America, responsible for creating and implementing communications strategy and messaging, as well as spearheading media relations, executive visibility and partnerships for the agency's U.S. and Canadian outposts, including the flagship New York office. Anaka developed a number of successful communications programs to enhance agency presence at major events, including the Cannes Lions Festival, SXSW and Advertising Week. She managed integrated marketing and communications campaigns for national and multinational clients, and was a key part of the team that won Gold for Best In-House Team at the 2015 Global PRWeek Awards. Prior to JWT, Anaka held a dual role with Interpublic Group (IPG) as Communications Director for McCann Erickson and twofifteenmccann offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit, while also providing support for IPG's west coast units. She oversaw media relations, speaking engagements and events, while also working closely with blue-chip clients including HP, Nestle, Xbox and Under Armour to amplify campaign publicity. While there, she also helped to launch Interpublic's Emerging Media Lab. She started her career in corporate communications at IPG's Initiative. A graduate of Pepperdine University, Anaka is a member of Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) and New York Women in Communications. About TBWA Worldwide TBWA Worldwide (www.tbwa.com) is a top ten ranked global advertising network that holds Disruption at its core to develop business-changing ideas for the brands it works with. TBWA has 11,500 employees across 301 offices in 97 countries and also includes brands such as AUDITOIRE, BEING, Digital Arts Network (DAN), eg+ worldwide, The Integer Group, TBWA\Media Arts Lab and TBWA\WorldHealth. TBWA's global clients include Accenture, adidas, Apple, Gatorade, GoDaddy, Henkel, McDonald's, Michelin, Nissan, Pernod Ricard, Pfizer, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore Airlines, Sotheby's and Vichy. Follow TBWA on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook. About Omnicom Group Inc. Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries. SOURCE TBWA Worldwide Related Links http://www.tbwa.com CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprises will need to make difficult choices about data center infrastructures as changing technology and business models impact storage and networking, according to experts at Permabit Technology Corporation, the leader in storage efficiency and data reduction technology. As organizations move more data to the cloud, hybrid cloud and hyper-scale cloud providers will make massive share gains, fueling adoption of white-box compute and open-source software for storage, computing, and networking. Tom Cook, Permabit CEO, believes the branded storage vendor business is in a permanent state of decline, requiring end users to make long-view decisions today. "Flashy startups and storage incumbents are engaged in a race to solve what is essentially yesterday's problem by building better, faster and cheaper on-premise disk arrays," said Cook. "Buyers must beware of the disruptive impact cloud adoption is having on those vendors' market share and profitability." Cook advises midsize and large storage consumers to heed the following factors that will inevitably influence their future purchases: White Box is Winning Hybrid cloud and software-driven environments are a goldmine for standards-based, commodity-class white boxes for compute, networking and storage. The reliability and features that branded vendors traditionally offered are instead delivered through commodity component redundancy and intelligent software, while inexpensive flash devices yield performance and efficiency. Since enterprise-shared storage can be built from unbranded commodity components, it's easy to compare acquisition costs from different suppliers and the branded vendors won't come out on top. White-box vendors operate at 10 percent margins versus the 55 percent margin of branded vendors. As branded vendors lose sales, their R&D suffers, and they will struggle to bring new-and-improved products to market. Cost Structures are Changing Moving data to the cloud changes compute, networking, and storage costs from a capital expense to an operating expense. Converged and hyper-converged architectures orchestrated by more capable, feature-rich software can use hybrid cloud seamlessly, so data is migrated offsite regularly. Budgeting for "hardware refresh" becomes passe as specialized platforms are no longer needed. Support and Maintenance Dollars are Shifting When the real innovation is in software, not hardware, and cloud data centers deliver enterprise-class QoS, software systems become mission-critical and so does their support and maintenance. The quality and performance of open source software keeps raising the bar and its business value continues to go up. Users will siphon budget away from keeping their hardware running to keeping software in tip-top shape. The Storage Admin's Influence is Declining As branded vendors lose their influence on decision-making, their incumbency advantage disappears, and purchasing relationships change. Storage admins, storage managers, and other storage-specific personnel may find they also lose influence on the overall data center budget when compute, networking, and storage is consolidated into one entity and capacity is no longer the biggest line item. The Wealth Is Shared As the stock of branded storage vendors wanes, it's not just one industry sector that will wax. Rather, a whole ecosystem of hardware suppliers, software suppliers, open-source support organizations, managed service providers, and hyper-scale providers like Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, and Google all stand to gain. Vendors like these that can capitalize on value-add applications and services like analytics to subsidize free or near-free storage will further drive critical apps and data to the cloud. In the long run, cloud and software-driven architectures deliver cost, scale, and agility advantages, all of which benefit the end user. "There's no denying the cloud business model is winning, driving the economic transformation of infrastructure," said Cook. "With hybrid cloud gaining share, the branded storage business is under severe pressure, and legacy players are in a fight for survival." About Permabit Permabit pioneers the development of data reduction software that provides data deduplication, compression, and thin provisioning. Our innovative products enable storage OEMs, ODMs, Cloud Service Providers, and Software-Defined Storage Vendors to get to market quickly with solutions that cut effective cost, accelerate performance, and gain competitive advantage. Just as server virtualization revolutionized the economics of compute, Permabit software is transforming the economics of storage today. Permabit is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts with operations in California, Korea and Japan. For more information, visit www.permabit.com. Judy Smith JPR Communications 818-798-1475 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120620/LA27917LOGO SOURCE Permabit Technology Corp. Related Links http://www.permabit.com ATLANTA, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta-based technology company, TekStream Solutions, is excited to announce that it has been named one of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Top Workplaces in 2016. This esteemed award comes just five years after Rob Jansen, Judd Robins and Mark Gannon left major firms and pursued a dream of creating a strategic offering to provide enterprise technology software, solutions, services and sourcing from right here in Atlanta, GA. "This year there were more than 100,000 surveys distributed and right around 2,500 companies nominated as finalists for the AJC's Top Workplaces. When you consider all of the amazing talent that this city and state have to offer, it is an enormous honor for TekStream to be recognized as the 64th Top Small Workplace in Atlanta in 2016," said TekStream Chief Executive Officer, Rob Jansen. TekStream has seen a three-year growth of over 337% and added over 50 jobs in the last 12-18 months. The company's impressive rise has allowed it to receive accolades from groups like the Atlanta Business Chronicle Pacesetter Awards and Inc. 5000, but this employee-based recognition is something very special. "One of the top priorities of TekStream's leadership team is to make sure all employees not only enjoy coming to work, but that they also feel valued," stated Judd Robins, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "From the weekly catered breakfasts or monthly birthday celebrations to company-wide volunteer days, TekStream gives its team members a fun and flexible work environment." "This prestigious recognition is quite an honor and a strong reflection of the team that we've been able to put together at TekStream," mentioned Mark Gannon, Executive Vice President of Recruitment. "We will continue to grow our recruiting solutions in close alignment with our technology offerings and hope to see a similar trend of employee engagement & satisfaction in the coming years," Gannon added. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published the complete list of Top Workplaces on March 22. For more information about the Top Workplaces lists and Workplace Dynamics, please visit www.topworkplaces.com and www.workplacedynamics.com. About TekStream Solutions TekStream Solutions is an Atlanta-based technology solutions company that specializes in addressing the company-wide IT problems faced by enterprise businesses, such as consolidating and streamlining disparate content and application delivery systems and the market challenges to create "anytime, anywhere access" to data for employees, partners and customers. TekStream's IT consulting solutions combined with its specialized IT recruiting expertise helps businesses increase efficiencies, streamline costs and remain competitive in an extremely fast-changing market. For more information about TekStream Solutions, visit www.tekstream.com or email Britton Clark at [email protected] This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE TekStream Solutions Related Links http://www.tekstream.com The IBIT Executive in Residence program facilitates interaction between industry leaders and the faculty and students of Temple University's Fox School of Business . In his role as IBIT Executive in Residence, Danilewitz will visit the Fox School Monday, April 4, and engage with faculty and students on topics and projects of mutual interest, while also promoting the activities of IBIT, the Fox School's Management Information Systems department, and the Fox School of Business. Additionally, AmerisourceBergen recently became a member of IBIT, and Danilewitz has joined the Fox IT Advisory Board. "Joining the Fox School's IBIT community as an Executive in Residence is an exciting opportunity to invest in the next generation of IT talent," Danilewitz said. "I'm inspired by the passionate faculty and students at Temple and the Fox School, and I look forward to contributing to a dynamic academic experience." Danilewitz is Executive VP and CIO of AmerisourceBergen, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical services companies. Based in Chesterbrook, Pa., AmerisourceBergen serves global markets with a focus on the pharmaceutical supply chain. Danilewitz has more than 25 years of experience in senior information technology positions, and his background spans manufacturing, hospitality, supply chain, and healthcare. He previously worked for Whirlpool and American Airlines/SABRE Group. He holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Advanced Technology from Imperial College London, and Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science from Rhodes University and the University of the Witwatersrand. "Dale is an inspiring role model for our students," said Laurel Miller, Director of Temple IBIT. "He has been incredibly successful in his career, and continues to give back and make the effort to connect with students. Our students can learn from Dale on how to succeed with great values, composure, and concern for others." Contact: Christopher A. Vito Temple University 215-204-4115, [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349423 SOURCE Temple University's Fox School of Business The program, called Restorative Teachings, was funded with a $1.5 million grant for two years from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to address the critical needs of vulnerable tribal populations while strengthening family, teachers, and community engagement in health and wellness, economic security, and culturally based education. Participating tribal colleges include: Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Northwest Indian College, Bellingham, Wash.; Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College, Baraga, Mich.; and Sitting Bull College: Ft. Yates, North Dakota. A fifth tribal college will be selected to participate in the program in 2017. About the American Indian College Fund Founded in 1989, the American Indian College Fund has been the nation's largest charity supporting Native higher education for more than 25 years. The College Fund believes "Education is the answer" and has provided more than 100,000 scholarships since its inception and an average of 6,000 scholarships per year to American Indian students. The College Fund also supports a variety of academic and support programs, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349208 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160127/326532LOGO SOURCE American Indian College Fund Related Links http://www.collegefund.org SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The John Wayne Cancer Institute Auxiliary will honor internationally recognized surgical oncologist Mark B. Faries, MD, with "The Duke" Special Service Award and Institute benefactor Ruth Weil with the inaugural Dr. Donald L. Morton Legend Award at the 31st annual Odyssey Ball, April 9, 2016 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The yearly fundraising event benefits the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center and is organized by the John Wayne Cancer Institute Auxiliary led by co-chairs Martha Harper, Colleen Pennell, Elizabeth Rawjee and Jessica Royer. The Morgan Leigh Band will provide entertainment for the "cowboys and legends" themed gala and KTLA's weather anchor/reporter Kaj Goldberg will emcee. Mark B. Faries, MD, director of the Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship, director of the Donald L. Morton, MD Melanoma Research Program and director of therapeutic immunology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute supervises clinical trials that include more than 6,000 patients around the world. He is the first surgeon in California to perform minimally invasive inguinal lymph node dissections, resulting in improved patient outcomes. Philanthropist, active board member and hospital volunteer, Ruth Weil will be honored with the inaugural Dr. Donald L. Morton Legend Award. As a friend and early supporter of Dr. Morton's work, she has raised more than $2 million dollars for the Institute. Since 1981, the family of John Wayne has been committed to pioneering cancer research in memory of their father, who died of cancer. For more than 30 years, the courageous and dedicated researchers at the John Wayne Cancer Institute have made groundbreaking discoveries that have changed the way cancer is detected, diagnosed and treated around the world. Today the tradition of excellence continues as the Institute spearheads new research advances, while training the next generation of leaders in the fight against cancer through its renowned Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program. The Institute's programs focus on melanoma, breast, neuro, prostate and gastrointestinal cancers, as well as innovative research in cancer genomics, molecular biomarkers, and chemo- and immunotherapies. Established in 1982, the John Wayne Cancer Institute Auxiliary is helmed by president Anita Swift, granddaughter of John Wayne. The Auxiliary has raised more than $19 million to fund a wide array of the Institute's programs. Visit www.JWCIgiving.org. SOURCE John Wayne Cancer Institute Auxiliary Related Links http://www.JWCIgiving.org CHICAGO, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MRSA is fueling the global antibiotic-resistant public health crisis due to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in humans and in animals. Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is resistant to most antibiotics due to overuse. "There is a serious lack of transparency in public reporting of MRSA infections, colonization and contamination rates along with lack of positive action," states Jeanine Thomas, founder of the Chicago-based nonprofit MRSA Survivors Network. The approach of if we don't test for it, then we don't have it has prevailed for far too long. MRSA has been a secret and silent killer for decades. "International MRSA Testing Week, April 1-7th" is a global campaign and its slogan "Prevention Saves Lives" draws critical attention for the need of healthcare facilities worldwide to adapt a comprehensive approach to stop MRSA and healthcare-acquired infections (HAI's): Screen high risk patients for MRSA upon admission with continued surveillance and testing - active detection and isolation (ADI). Strict adherence to hand hygiene with monitoring and continual training. Decontamination of frequently touched surfaces and thorough cleaning of equipment, environment, etc. Strong antimicrobial stewardship program with prudent use of antibiotics. The VA Health Systems have been screening their patients for MRSA since 2007 in all of their 150 facilities and have reduced MRSA infection rates by 66%. Why does the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) not routinely recommend this when the VA has been so successful? Sponsors: Roche, Xenex State and county health departments and municipalities must test water, treatment plants and soil for MRSA along with other pathogens and trace antibiotics. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO's factory farms) must be held accountable for polluting water, soil and air. "The continued overuse of antibiotics in livestock agriculture has the resulting effect of potentially increasing cases of MRSA and affecting the communities where we live. Food, water and soil samples have shown that antibiotics are persistent in our environment and have the great potential to create widespread antibiotic resistance, which threatens us all," states Lynn Utesch, founder of Kewaunee CARES and an organic farmer from Wisconsin. It is imperative that World Health Organization (WHO) set up a worldwide MRSA surveillance and reporting system. Such a system would facilitate the collection of data on MRSA infections and colonization with a public release of such data on a designated website. This would illustrate the true magnitude of the MRSA epidemic and public health crisis worldwide and also facilitate the implementation of active detection and isolation (ADI). World MRSA Day, October 2 and World MRSA Awareness Month, October The 8th Annual World MRSA Day Kickoff Event and Global C. difficile Summit will be held Saturday, September 24, 2016 at the Community House in Hinsdale, IL. Leading MRSA experts will be speaking and survivors sharing their story with a town hall meeting format for the attendees to ask questions. Mr. Rob Stafford, evening news anchor for NBC5 Chicago is the emcee. Sponsor: Roche Other events and programs will be held in other U.S. cities, the U.K. and other countries throughout the month of October. Downloadable posters, brochures and banners will be available at www.WorldMRSAday.org and our public service announcements are on our YouTube channel. "So many people have died from this preventable disease or have become permanently disabled, bankrupt and even homeless - entire families have been shattered," states Jeanine Thomas. We need to work together to stop this public health disaster. For information on how you can become a Corporate Sponsor (sponsorships and donations are tax deductible), advertise, organize an event, donate, volunteer and get involved to make a difference, contact us at: 630 325-4354, www.MRSAsurvivors.org , [email protected] , follow us on Twitter.com/MRSAsurvivors and at Facebook.com/MRSASurvivorsNetwork. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150624/225546LOGO SOURCE MRSA Survivors Network Related Links http://www.mrsasurvivors.org BEDFORD, Texas, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The President made history this year by opening relations with Cuba for the first time in decades. Previously, the only way for a U.S. citizen to travel to Cuba was with a license, which was both restrictive and expensive. Now, changes allow travelers to visit Cuba independently and without the special permissions previously required. While the restrictions for travel to Cuba by U.S. travelers are lessened, the "people to people" educational trips still must meet certain requirements. Anyone making such a trip is required to document the trip in writing as to itinerary and keep records for five years. Trips must also be for the purpose of such things as family visits, journalistic, government business, educational, public performances, clinics, sporting competitions, religious activities, private research, humanitarian efforts, import export activities, or to support the Cuban people. In the next months and years it is expected that travel restrictions will be further relaxed, making it even easier and more affordable to visit this once forbidden island nation. Once opulent buildings remain intact, but like much of the country, are in need of repair. The rich sights and busy streets filled with cars from the 50's and 60's, make travelers feel as though they have stepped back to a time long since past. Tourists are able to sightsee, visit restaurants, museums and beaches, so long as they keep a daily record of activities. These changes in travel are part of the attempt to repeal the American embargo against Cuba. Travel is stilled banned by law, but the new rules finally allow American citizens to visit Cuba for much more "main stream" reasons. Up until 1959, the Cuban economy relied heavily on American tourism and in the decades since, the infrastructure has deteriorated dramatically. Lifting travel restrictions might be the first step in bringing prosperity back to the Cuban people and normalizing relations. Ultimate Excursions Travel is a leader in the resort marketing and development industry. SOURCE Ultimate Excursions Related Links http://www.ultimateexcursions.net Avvo provides a selection of offerings from Avvo Legal Services through the app in five practice areas: family, immigration, business, estate planning and real estate. Individuals can choose $39 advice sessions delivered by the attorney of their choice within 24 hours, or the first available attorney within 15 minutes. A selection of full-service legal offerings, including uncontested divorce, LLC creation, U.S. citizenship application, and last will and testament creation are also available through the app. "We've found that more than half of people who are seeking a lawyer on Avvo are doing so via their mobile device," said Sachin Bhatia, chief product officer at Avvo. "By adding Avvo Legal Services to our app, and adding the simplicity and purchase confidence that comes with Apple Pay, we hope more people will actively take control of their legal issues." The Avvo app with Apple Pay is available for iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. It is available on the App Store. Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay. When you use a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code. To learn more about the Avvo app for iPhone, Avvo Legal Services and to explore helpful legal content, visit www.avvo.com. About Avvo, Inc. Avvo helps people find and connect with the right lawyer through industry leading content, tools and services. Founded in 2006 in Seattle, Avvo provides transparent information about attorneys, with Avvo-rated profiles for 97% of practicing lawyers in the United States. A free Q&A forum with more than 8 million questions and answers and on-demand legal services that provide professional counsel for a fixed cost, make legal faster and easier. For more information on how Avvo helps people through legal issues from research to resolution, visit www.avvo.com. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349506 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349505 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349508 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349507 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130404/SF88839LOGO SOURCE Avvo, Inc. Related Links http://www.avvo.com MISSION, Kan., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- VinSolutions announced today that its VinLens behavior tracking technology now integrates with Dealer.com websites. Currently part of Connect CRM, the core product in VinSolutions' Connect software suite, VinLens tracks critical customer activities online and ties that data directly to customer records. The new integration with Dealer.com will allow customers of VinSolutions and Dealer.com to generate more value from their website by delivering the exceptional customer experience Dealer.com specializes in while gathering the deep customer insights VinSolutions products provide. "Our main goal in every one of our software solutions is to provide critical insights at critical moments, so dealers stay connected to customers throughout the lifecycle. VinLens is no exception," said James Maynard, vice president of product at VinSolutions. "What we've built is a tool that tells dealers everything they need to know about a customer before they even walk into the dealership what vehicles they're interested in, what devices they use, what their preferences are. And by integrating it with Dealer.com, which the industry has acknowledged as the best dealership website platform, we're essentially giving dealers the best of both worlds: the experience and the visibility." Because VinLens tracks both known and anonymous customer activity on the website, dealers can continually evolve their understanding of known customers' vehicle needs and preferences, as well as to begin new relationships with customers with the advantage of historical website activity all automatically displayed in VinSolutions' Connect CRM. "VinLens serves as an outstanding example of what VinSolutions excels at: constantly sharpening the dealer's understanding of the customer with relevant data in a simple, intuitive delivery," said Keith Jezek, president, Cox Automotive Software Group. "The integration with Dealer.com is another step toward our ultimate goal at Cox Automotive, to make more of our solutions work together in a way that allows our dealers to work better." Other newly announced additions to VinSolutions' dealer services are enhancements to its data mining tool, Target Pro, which helps dealers create compelling campaigns based on smart segmentation of their CRM and service databases, and all-new Enterprise Reporting, which introduces much-needed operational analysis to dealers managing multiple departments and multiple rooftops. VinLens will be featured at the 2016 NADA Convention & Expo, March 31April 3, at booth #1323C. About VinSolutions VinSolutions helps make every customer connection count by providing individual dealers and dealer groups with sophisticated yet easy-to-use software solutions that span the scope of dealership operations. With its cloud-based system, VinSolutions' all-in-one internal management, sales and service marketing solutions platform is accessible from anywhere an Internet connection is available, including mobile devices. VinSolutions has been named to the Inc. 5000 every year since 2011 and has received numerous industry awards for its innovative products. VinSolutions is OEM certified by every major manufacturer and is Autosoft, CDK, Reynolds & Reynolds and Dealertrack DMS certified. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Mission, Kansas, VinSolutions is a Cox Automotive brand. Visit VinSolutions online at vinsolutions.com. About Cox Automotive Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, software, financial, wholesale and e-commerce solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, vAuto, Xtime and a host of other brands. The global company has nearly 30,000 team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues of $18 billion and approximately 55,000 employees. Cox Enterprises' other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130507/CL08466LOGO SOURCE VinSolutions Related Links http://www.vinsolutions.com If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Chennai, March 27 : The government is seeking to reduce its stake in IDBI Bank to less than 50 percent as a test case owing to the institution's peculiar employee profile, said a leader of the trade union that is calling for a four-day strike in the bank. "The reason for central government to take up IDBI Bank first to dilute its holding to less than 50 percent could be two. Firstly, the bank has more number of officers than clerks unlike in other nationalised banks," Amara Venkata Vithal Koteswara Rao, general secretary, All India IDBI Officers' Association (AIIDBIOA), told IANS on Sunday. "The other reason is that the bank falls under the IDBI Repeal Act -- or Industrial Development Bank (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal) Act, 2003 -- and not the law under which the private banks were nationalised in 1969," he added. Rao is the convenor for United Platform of IDBI Bank Unions (UPIDU) that has called for a four-day strike from March 28 to 31 in IDBI Bank. The UPIDU consists of AIIDBIOA and IDBI Employees Association-Eastern Zone. The four-day strike should mean that the IDBI Bank would be shut for nine days from March 24 to April 1. March 24 was Holi, March 25 was Good Friday, March 26 being fourth Saturday was a closed day, and April 1 being the beginning of the new financial year is a closed day too. Rao, however, said it would not be an unbroken nine-day off because the bank was open on March 26. "There is no closure of bank for nine consecutive days. We had worked on March 26, which was the fourth Saturday of this month. Normally second and fourth Saturdays are bank holidays." Though the IDBI Bank has far more number of officers as compared to clerical and other cadres, they cannot remain silent when the survival of the bank and its employees are threatened, Rao said. "Many people have joined IDBI Bank recently, leaving their jobs in other nationalised banks," Rao said. Earlier, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) clarified that it has called for only a day's strike in IDBI Bank - i.e. on Monday. Employees of only IDBI Bank would strike work to protest the government's proposal to reduce its equity in the bank to less than 50 per cent, AIBEA said. Rao acknowledged that AIBEA -- as well as All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) -- has called for only a day's strike on Monday while United Platform of IDBI Bank Unions has called for a four-day strike. "There is no conflict with AIBEA and AIBOA, nor is there any split in the IDBI Bank officers association," Rao said. "We will change our agitation programme if there is positive news from the government side," Rao added. According to him, the union is reaching out to all its members to make the strike a total success. Panaji, March 28 : The defence ministry has asked the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to provide all assistance to a former navy officer arrested in Balochistan, Pakistan, on charges of alleged spying. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said here on Monday that the defence ministry has asked that the former naval officer, identified as Kulbushan Yadav, be given "all assistance required". Asked about the arrest, Parrikar said: "He is an ex-navy officer, other than paying him OROP (One Rank One Pension) pension, I cannot do anything." "We have indicated to the MEA that the ex-officer must be given all assistance required," the defence minister said. "Sushma-ji (External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj) has been working vigorously to help Indians abroad who are in problem. In this case, since the other country has made allegations, it may take a longer time," he said. Yadav was arrested in Pakistan last week on charges of spying. The Indian government has denied any links with him. New Delhi, March 29 : A Delhi Jal Board employee's 30-year-old son has been arrested for stealing vehicles, police said on Tuesday. Surjeet Singh, a resident of Jhangola village in west Delhi, was arrested on Monday. "Surjeet's father is a government employee and works in Delhi Jal Board. He is a Class 4 dropout. He learnt auto repair and worked as a mechanic for around 10 years. Meanwhile, he got addicted to drugs. "To meet his expenses, he started stealing articles from the neighbourhood. He used to inject a narcotic which helped him overcome fear," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav. Surjeet was arrested and also convicted earlier too. "After coming out of jail, he met an auto thief Shahid and asked him to buy stolen vehicles from him. He then started supplying him stolen bikes." Police have recovered five stolen vehicles from his possession. London, March 30 : A man who posted a smiling selfie with the EgyptAir hijacker and which went viral on the social media has been identified as a 26-year-old Briton, the media reported on Wednesday. Benjamin Innes, who is from Leeds but lives in Aberdeen, was held hostage along with 56 passengers on EgyptAir MS181 flight by Seif El Din Mustafa. Mustafa had personal motives to hijack the plane and his action was later linked to his ex-wife, who is a Greek-Cypriot and lives in Larnaca. Innes, seen in the selfie with Mustafa, posed it to his friends on Twitter with a message: "You know your boy doesn't f*** about. Turn on the news lad!!!"A friend replied: "Is that a bomb attached to the guys chest? You ok? Let us know when you get off." According to Daily Mail, Innes is believed to have approached Mustafa while being held hostage on the tarmac and sent the photo to one of his flatmates as well as other friends. "I have no idea why he took the selfie but I imagine he probably volunteered to take it as he's no afraid to shy away from anything," Innes' friend Chris Tundogan told MailOnline. The social media went wild over the photo with the hijacker and several Twitter users lauded the British man for the daring "selfie. Later, the Cyprus foreign ministry announced the arrest of the hijacker, who had taken charge of the Airbus 320 when it was on its way from Alexandria to Cairo saying he was armed with explosives. The plane was flown to Larnaca in southern Cyprus. Cyprus officials who had held intense negotiations with the man said he would be interrogated at length. One Egyptian officer dubbed him "mentally unstable". Soon after it landed in Cyprus, the hijacker freed most of the passengers, holding back only four crew members and three passengers whose nationality was not disclosed by officials. As the negotiations continued with the man, the seven escaped -- six of them simply walking out of the step ladder and the seventh hurling himself out of the cockpit window. Earlier, the hijacker was mistakenly identified as Ibrahim Samaha, also an Egyptian. Samaha, however, turned out to be an innocent passenger. Washington, March 30 : Meeting in the shadow of Brussels and Lahore terror attacks, leaders from 50 nations including Prime Minister Narendra Modi are gathering here to discuss how to reduce the threat posed by nuclear terrorism. The 4th and last Nuclear Security Summit here under President Barack Obama's watch on March 31 and April 1 caps off a six year long effort to prevent terrorists and other non state actors from gaining access to nuclear materials and technologies. A senior administration official said here Tuesday that the US looked at Modi's presence "as a chance to highlight steps that India has taken in its own nuclear security to go beyond, perhaps, some of the activities that it has done before." "We really would like to see an even deeper bilateral cooperation with India proceed going forward out of the summit," Laura Holgate, special assistant to the President told foreign media in a preview of the summit. "So I hope that that will be something that we can work on more closely going forward," said the official who also serves as senior director for weapons of mass destruction terrorism and threat reduction at the National Security Council. Asked to spell out what more the US expected India to do in the coming days to secure its own nuclear facilities, Holgate said: "I'll let India speak for itself on those points. It's not for me to characterize their steps that they're taking." "But we - every country can do better, and we're eager to work with any country who wishes to work with us to improve nuclear security," she added. In response to a question about concerns expressed to US Congress about Pakistan's deployment of weapon-grade nuclear weapons, a senior official said the US has "a very solid cooperation with Pakistan on nuclear security." "They have developed their own Nuclear Security Centre of Excellence in recent years," said Rose Gottemoeller, under secretary of state for Arms Control and International Security. "We continue to work with them on the nuclear security front." "Our concerns regarding the continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan relate to a reality of the situation: When battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed forward, they can represent an enhanced nuclear security threat," Gottemoeller said. "It's more difficult to sustain positive control over systems that are deployed forward. We found this lesson ourselves out in Europe during the years of the Cold War," she said. "And so I do think that that is a reality of the situation. It's not related particularly to any one country," Gottemoeller said. "Wherever battlefield nuclear weapons exist, they represent particular nuclear security problems." On Friday, Pakistan's top nuclear security adviser, Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, rejected calls from the US to curb Pakistan's reliance on tactical nuclear weapons. "We are not apologetic about the development of the TNWs [tactical nuclear weapons] and they are here to stay," he said at a seminar in Islamabad following Gottemoeller's testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "So, we are really quite concerned about this, and we have made our concerns known, and we will continue to press them about what we consider to be the destabilizing aspects of their battlefield nuclear weapons programme," she told the panel. Modi who is making his third visit to the US in two years reflecting the transformation in India-US ties is expected to have a separate bilateral meeting with Obama on the sidelines of the summit. He was also expected to meet with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, but the latter has cancelled his Washington visit in the wake of Lahore attacks. (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) Nay Pyi Taw, March 30 : Chairperson of Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed on Wednesday as the country's new minister of foreign affairs. Suu Kyi will concurrently hold three other portfolios in the new government led by President-elect U Htin Kyaw, Xinhua reported. The appointment was announced by Speaker of the Union Parliament U Mann Win Khaing Than at the government cabinet swearing-in ceremony. Approved by the Union Parliament, the three other ministries to be headed by Aung San Suu Kyi are the Ministry of President Office, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Electricity and Energy. Nay Pyi Taw, March 30 : U Htin Kyaw of the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, was sworn in on Wednesday as Myanmar's new president. Military-assigned First Vice President U Myint Swe and second vice president U Henry Van Thio of the NLD also took the oath of office in the presence of parliament Speaker U Mann Win Khaing Than, Xinhua reported. The swearing-in of the president and the vice presidents was followed by that of a nine-member Constitutional Tribunal, led by U Myo Nyunt, a five-member Union Election Commission, led by U Hla Thein, and 18 cabinet ministers named by President U Htin Kyaw. Among the ministers, six were from the ruling NLD, two from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), three were military members of parliament and seven were non-parliamentarian experts. NLD chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi became the country's new foreign minister, who will concurrently hold three other portfolios in the new government. In addition to the foreign ministry post, the 70-year-old Suu Kyi will be the president's office minister, education minister and minister of electricity and energy. President U Htin Kyaw delivered his first address to parliament before heading to the presidential palace for a ceremony of transfer of power from his predecessor U Thein Sein. New Delhi, March 30 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Punjab and Haryana to constitute their respective search committees to be headed by their law secretaries to select government law officers in a fair and transparent manner. The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur in its order said the names selected by the search committee would be sent to the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court who, in turn, would get it examined by a committee of the high court judges. The court said two State governments would take into consideration the comments of the Punjab and Haryana High Court chief justice before making appointments. Without disturbing the existing appointments of the government law officers, the court said the entire process of selection and appointment of government law officers would be fair and transparent based on merit, performance and the standing of the lawyers. The court said the search committee would make an assessment of the performance and standing of the lawyers while considering them for appointment as law officers. However, the court allowed Advocate Generals of Punjab and Haryana to appoint law officers of merits. Having laid down the procedure for the appointment of the government law officers, the apex court said that other states "will well reform their system (for the appointment of law officers) by amending their rules and regulations". The court verdict came on the plea by the Punjab government which had challenged the high court order putting on hold the removal of Brijeshwar Singh Chahal, who was appointed law officer by the earlier government. In the course of the hearing, the issue of the appointment of law officers in Haryana too was raised by Pradeep Kumar Rajria. New Delhi, March 30 : The Supreme Court was told on Wednesday that beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya has offered to pay Rs.4,000 crore to settle outstanding dues against the grounded Kingfisher Airlines on account of loans extended by a consortium of 13 banks headed by the SBI. The apex court bench of Justice Kurien Joseph and Rohington F. Nariman was also told that Mallya had offered another Rs.2,000 crore that he expects to get if he wins his suit against multinational General Electric. Mallya's counsel said the proposal for the payment of Rs.4,000 crore by September was made to the chief general manager of the State Bank of India (SBI). The SBI told the court that it needed a week's time to consider the proposal made by Mallya, and submitted that way back in 2013 the bank had filed a suit claiming Rs.6,903 crore plus interest thereon. In a query from the bank about Mallya's location, his counsel told the court that he was still abroad but had two video conferencing sessions with the bank officials after his departure from India to London. Kathmandu, March 30 : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has suggested that Nepal should grab the opportunities from China to achieve the targeted economic growth rate for the next two years. Launching Asian Development Outlook 2016 here on Wednesday, the ADB said Asia's leading economy China's structural change in imports can create immense opportunities for the border-sharing Nepal, Xinhua reported. "China's structural change is a golden chance for Nepal. Thus, it's perfect time to attract direct foreign investment from the northern neighbour to strengthen economy," Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB country director for Nepal, said while addressing the programme. ADB has projected a 1.5 percent economic growth rate of the quake ravaged Nepal for the fiscal year 2016 after a three percent growth last year. It projected a slow growth pace for this year in regard to slow post-earthquake reconstruction, trade and transit disruption followed by months-long economic blockade and unfavourable monsoon creating troubles in agriculture sector. However, the growth rate is expected to pick up to 4.8 percent in 2017 through stabilisation of political climate, acceleration of reconstruction and normal monsoon favouring agricultural growth. ADB is of view that there is an urgent need to accelerate reconstruction and implementation of development programmes to prevent a further slowdown in economic growth. The economic growth of Himalayan country is possible only through the speedy reconstruction drive and focusing on sectors of energy, tourism and agriculture, the bank said. Nepal witnessed an inflation rate of 7.2 percent in 2015 whereas it was significantly higher in January this year, standing at 12.1 percent. New Delhi, March 30 : The government on Wednesday accused Pakistan of "cooking up" stories to defame India and of releasing a "doctored video" in which an arrested Indian ex-naval officer is heard purportedly "confessing" to New Delhi's alleged involvement in terrorist activities in Balochistan. Addressing reporters, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said: "The MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has already come out with a statement regarding the forged, doctored video and the made up story being created by the Pakistani establishment. We don't have to pay attention to that, and I feel that this is an internal game within the Pakistani establishment, their government, the prime minister and their agencies." Pakistan on Tuesday released a video purportedly showing the arrested Indian, Kulbushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad has accused of being a spy, as saying that he had been directing various activities in Karachi and Balochistan "at the behest of RAW", (Research and Analysis Wing) the Indian intelligence agency, and that he was still with the Indian Navy. "Doctored videos made by Pakistan will have no effect on international platforms. They are cooking up stories and doctoring videos to defame India," Rijiju added. India on Tuesday dismissed as baseless the remarks made by Jadhav. "We have seen a video released by Pakistani authorities of a former Indian naval officer, doing business in Iran, who is in Pakistani custody under unexplained circumstances," the MEA said in a statement. "The video has this individual making statements which have no basis in fact. That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will, not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring," it said. Los Angeles, March 30 : Actor Ashton Kutcher says he is "not quite ready" for his daughter Wyatt Isabelle Kutcher to start eating sugar until she is a little older. Ashton, along with his wife and actress Mila Kunis, opted for a healthier alternative to chocolate eggs for Easter for their daughter. The actor opened up about banning his daughter from sweets, and parenthood in an episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". He was a guest on the popular chat show as part of the promotions for his new comedy series "The Ranch", read a statement. "We didn't want to put candy in it because she is one-and-a-half and she is not quite ready... We are not quite ready for her to be ready for candy, so we did Cheerios and raisins. She loved the raisins! She was going ape for the raisins," Kutcher said. Kutcher also shared that he is nervous about whether she will get hyped up if she has sugar, then going on to describe parenthood as "the best thing I've ever done". In India, the episode with the "Jobs" star will beam on Wednesday on Star World and Star World HD. Panaji, March 30 : Tata Motors hopes to get orders for the supply of its vehicles to Thailand's army soon, a senior company official said on Wednesday. India's leading heavy vehicle manufacturer was also looking to sell its vehicles in the commercial markets in Thailand and Myanmar, said Vernon Noronha, vice-president, defence and government business, Tata Motors. "We have traditional markets in Africa. We are now trying to enter Myanmar. As many as 715 of our vehicles have passed the test for Royal Thai Army. We hope to get some commercial orders in the coming months," he told reporters on the sidelines of the DefExpo 2016 in south Goa's Betul village. Noronha said that said Tata Motors had finalised a deal with the Centre to supply over 1,400 high-mobility multi-axle vehicles for the Indian army and their manufacture had begun. He said that Tata Motors was contemplating manufacture of combat vehicles and even tanks in future, if and when the central government allowed private companies to do so. Bhubaneswar, March 30 : The Odisha assembly on Wednesday saw repeated adjournments after opposition members demanded that the speaker summon a sub-collector of Bolangir district for allegedly calling them liars. "The sub-collector has alleged in the media that we are telling lies in the house. I urge the speaker to summon the officer to be reprimanded, else our presence in the house will be irrelevant," said Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra while urging the speaker to summon the sub-collector. Asking the speaker to give a ruling on the issue, Congress chief whip Taraprasad Bahinipati said government officials were not listening to legislators and public representatives have now become "rubber stamps". BJP leader K.V. Singhdeo also supported the Congress demand. Congress and BJP members had on Tuesday held the sub-collector responsible for the alleged suicide by a farmer after crop loss due to hailstorm. The opposition members also said the officer insulted the farmer, who along with other farmers had approached him for compensation. Mumbai, March 30 : The Bombay High Court on Wednesday observed that there is no law to prevent women from entering a place of worship and if men are allowed, women too should be permitted. The observation came during a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Nilima Vartak and activist Vidya Bal who have challenged the ban on entry of women at the well known Shani Shingnapur Temple in Ahmednagar district. A division bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice M.S. Sonak said that any temple or person imposing such restrictions could attract a six-month jail term in Maharashtra. "If a male can go and pray before the deity, then why not women; and it is the duty of the state government to protect women's rights," Chief Justice Waghela said. "If the concerns were about the sanctity of the deity then the state government must make such a statement," the court said, and pointed out that under the Maharashtra Hindu Place of Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act, any temple or person banning any person from entering a temple can face a six-month jail term. Directing the government to give wide publicity to the law and issue circulars for the benefit of the general public, it asked the government pleader A. Vagyani to make a statement whether the government would ensure entry for women in the temple. The petitioner has sought entry for women not just inside the Shani Shingnapur Temple, but also in its sanctum sanctorum, and said banning of women there is "illegal, arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights" of citizens. Since the past few months the Shani Shingnapur Temple has been in the news after attempts were made by the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (BRB) activists to storm its sanctum sanctorum. The temple management has made it clear that women would not be permitted on the open-to-sky temple's footsteps leading to the black stone signifying the sun god. The BRB president Trupti Desai has said they would not relent till women are permitted full entry to the Shani Shingnapur Temple and also the Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik, where women are not allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum. New Delhi, March 30 : Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday announced new building bye-laws for Delhi. Revised after 33 years, the laws have been made "user-friendly through unification and simplification of a host of amendments made over the last three decades" as well as convergence of approvals by different agencies into a single platform. "Delhi's building bye-laws were last revised in 1983 and several amendments made over the last three decades, resulting in complexity and even confusion in understanding various changes and filing applications accordingly," Naidu said. To do away with this problem, he said, the bye-laws were unified for easy reference, besides to simplify the processes. Naidu said the new single-window mechanism would help ease construction business in the national capital besides promoting investment. One common application form has been devised for online submission to the local body concerned instead of applying to various agencies like Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Urban Arts Commission and National Monuments Authority etc. apart from central ministries of forests, railways, defence etc. The approval can be granted in just 30 days. Applicants will not be required to make payments to various agencies separately and instead can make single payment electronically to the urban local body concerned. For residential plots of sizes up to 105 square metres, the owners need not obtain sanction of building plans. They will just have to submit an undertaking, intimating about the construction along with the requisite fees and other documents to begin construction. The number of documents to be submitted for obtaining building permits has been reduced from 40 to just 14, the minister said. Also, to present an aesthetically pleasing and vibrant environment, public art would be promoted in built-up areas. Nay Pyi Taw, March 30 : Aung San Suu Kyi's journey in the battle for democracy, much of which was spent in detention, has culminated into being appointed Myanmar's new foreign minister, though she has had made it clear that she will wield more effective power than the country's president. Suu Kyi was sworn-in on Wednesday and will concurrently hold three other portfolios in the government led by her confidant and handpicked President U Htin Kyaw. She will also be the minister in the president's office, minister of education and minister of electricity and energy. The international icon for democracy, Suu Kyi peacefully fought the country's oppressive military regime that put her under house arrest for 15 years, in a bid to quell her efforts to make the people of the Southeast Asian nation the real fountainhead of power. But "The Lady" -- as she came to be known as -- never succumbed to the ruling junta and continued her battle even when she was held incommunicado in Rangoon, now called Yangon. Suu Kyi, inspired by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, was in detention in some or the other form during much of her time between 1989 and 2010. But she battled on earning herself an iconic status that made her an international symbol of peaceful resistance in the face of oppression. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 when the committee chairman for the award called her "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless". And when finally power came to her, she was barred from becoming president because the country's constitution, written by the military, prevents anyone with close family ties to someone who "owe allegiance to a foreign power". Suu Kyi's two sons are British passport holders. Nevertheless, the 70-year-old leader has vowed to take up a role "above the president". How that would be practiced is not clear. But, with her lifelong friend and confidant sworn in as the new president, Suu Kyi may not be too far from calling the shots -- even though remotely. Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, General Aung San, was born in 1945. Her father was assassinated during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence, when she was only two. She went to an elite English medium school in Burma until 1960. In that year, her mother was appointed ambassador to India and the young Suu Kyi further studied at Delhi University before she went to Oxford, where she met her future husband, the British scholar Michael Aris. The couple had two children. She was living a quiet life with her family in the United Kingdom until 1988. She returned to her homeland when her mother fell ill, leaving behind her husband and sons to nurse her dying mother. But she found that her nation needed her more when she saw the mass slaughter of Burmese who had risen against the brutal rule of military strongman U Ne Win. She raised her voice and began a non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights. During her continuous detention, she was offered permission to visit her family in the UK. She refused. She knew if she left, she won't be allowed to return. Her husband died in 1999 and she could not even attend his last rites. Restrictions were finally relaxed in 2011. She was allowed to travel outside Yangon and hold political rallies for the National League for Democracy (NLD). She was allowed to contest elections for the first time In January 2012. She won easily in the elections and was sworn as a parliamentarian. That year Suu Kyi visited Thailand, her first trip outside Myanmar since 1988. She also travelled to Europe and China. Her NLD won the landmark elections in November 2015. The party secured large enough majorities of seats in both legislative chambers to allow the party to form the new government. Despite her iconic status of political freedom, Suu Kyi has come under fire from human rights advocates all over the world for failing to defend Myanmar's Rohingya minority. Members of the ethnic group -- mostly Muslims -- are subjected to harsh and humiliating restrictions, including forced labour. They don't have citizenship rights. She was recently accused of Islamophobia when she was shown apparently getting angry in a 2013 interview being conducted by BBC presenter Mishal Hussain. The interview appeared in news last week when British media reported that she was so angered by the interview's focus on Rohingya that she was heard muttering, presumably to an aide, "No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim." But those may be seen as minor blips in the life of a woman who stood as a bulwark against the all-encompassing power of a military junta. New Delhi, March 30 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday sought the return of the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to the AAP government, saying corruption was rising in the national capital. Addressing the Delhi assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party leader also called for "cooperative federalism" in the city and sought the central government's help to run the capital better. "We need cooperative federalism for Delhi," he said, listing specific demands including the return to his government of the ACB which was taken away from the AAP government last year. He said corruption and bribery were again showing a rise in Delhi. Kejriwal also urged Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to either return or approve the 16 or so bills pending with him. "If they cannot be approved, please return them to us," he said. The chief minister also sought the central government's help to take control of land held by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) so that the AAP government can build hospitals in the city. Kejriwal's speech was welcomed by loud thumping of desks by AAP legislators. Even the three BJP members backed his plea for a better understanding with the central government. "We support the chief minister on this issue," said Vijender Gupta, who heads the three-member Bharatiya Janata Party group in the 70-seat house where the AAP commands 67 legislators. The AAP and central governments have been locked in a bitter fued over issues of governance ever since Kejriwal led his party to a sweeping win in February last year. Kolkata, March 30 : Over 5,000 complaints have been registered by political parties via the Samadhan app in poll-bound West Bengal, an Election Commission official said here on Wednesday. Grievances by parties outnumber those by citizens. Out of the total 9,914 grievances lodged via the app so far, 5,276 are by political parties, said Election Commission official Amitjyoti Bhattacharya. "From parties there are 5,276 complaints. Out of this, 4,765 have been disposed and 511 grievances are under process of disposal," Bhattacharya said. The rest of the complaints are by citizens, he said. "So out of 9,914 complaints, the total disposed are 8,898, while 1,016 are under the process of disposal," he said. A Left Front delegation led by CPI-M leader Rabin Deb visited Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta and urged him to take immediate action over the 109 complaints lodged by them, failing which the party will launch a demonstration outside the poll panel's office. New Delhi, March 30 : The NIA on Wednesday hoped that Islamabad will reciprocate India's gesture of allowing a Pakistani team to visit the IAF base in Pathankot to probe a terror attack by Pakistani terrorists. NIA spokesman Sanjeev Kumar said it had been "agreed" that the kind of cooperation India had provided to the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team would be reciprocated. "This is the reciprocity agreed," Kumar told reporters after discussions for a third day with the Pakistani investigation team. The remarks appear to indicate India's intention to get similar access in Pakistan to pursue the investigation into the terror attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2. India says the attack was masterminded by Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar. The terrorists who killed seven Indian security personnel at the base ended up getting killed after an 80-hour gun battle. On Monday and Tuesday, the NIA submitted evidence to the five-member Pakistani team on the terrorist attack. The Pakistani officials visited Pathankot on Tuesday. According to NIA sources, the evidence provided to the team prove India's claim that the Pathankot attack was planned in Pakistan. The visiting team comprise among others ISI official Lt. Colonel Tanvir Ahmed and military intelligence officer Lt. Colonel Irfan Mirza. NIA chief Sharad Kumar said the process of handing over the evidence and related documents to the Pakistani team had started and "we have given our list of demands to them". Sharad Kumar added: "The witnesses will be examined tomorrow (Thursday)." The NIA chief said the Pakistani team told him that Pakistani authorities had "detained certain people" in connection with the Pathankot case. Brussels, March 30 : Offering his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the March 22 terror attacks in Brussels, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that an extradition treaty between India and Belgium should be expedited. "My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones to the terror strikes in Brussels last week," Modi said in his address to the media after jointly remote activating with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel Asia's largest optical telescope located in India that has been built with Belgium's help. "Having experienced terrorist violence ourselves on countless occasions, we share your pain," he said. At least 35 people, including an Indian national, were killed in twin explosions at Zaventem airport and in another explosion at a metro station in the Belgian capital on March 22. Stating that India stood in full support and solidarity with the Belgian people, Modi said: "As part of our efforts to respond to this common challenge we could resume discussions on a mutual legal assistance treaty. Negotiations on extradition treaty and a treaty on exchange of sentenced prisoners could be concluded expeditiously." He said that India and Belgium shared a long history of friendship. "A hundred years ago, more than 130,000 soldiers from India fought in the First World War alongside your countrymen on Belgian soil," the prime minister said. "More than 9,000 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice." Modi said that India was ready to welcome Belgian King Phillipe next year which will mark 70 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Stating that his talks with Prime Minister Michel earlier in the day covered the whole spectrum of ties, he said: "A system of bilateral foreign policy consultations would recommend concrete ways to upgrade our partnership." Referring to the economic opportunities India offered to the world today, he said that the country's macroeconomic fundamentals were robust, and at 7 percent plus, it was one of the fastest growing economies of the world. "I believe that a combination of Belgian capacities and India's economic growth can produce promising opportunities for businesses on both sides," he said. "Prime minister and I have just held a productive interaction with Belgian CEOs and business persons earlier today. I invite the Belgian government and companies to pro-actively associate with India's ambitious development projects including Digital India, Start Up India and Skill India." According to Modi, Belgian businesses can make their global supply chains more cost effective by manufacturing in India. "India's goal to modernise infrastructure, especially railways and ports, and building of 100-plus smart cities also presents a unique investment opportunity for the Belgian companies," he said. "These partnerships can help us reach new heights in our trade and commercial partnership. I have invited Prime Minister Michel to visit India with Belgian businesses to see first-hand the reality of India's economic and political promise. Clearly, it is not just diamonds that can bring shine to our partnership." Stating that climate change was one of the greatest challenges before mankind, Modi said he and Michel "have agreed to enhance our cooperation in renewable energy". "We would also build partnerships in areas such as harnessing waste for energy, small wind turbines and zero emission buildings. Advancement in S&T (science and technology) and high technology areas is of particular importance for India's development priorities," he said. Referring to the activation of the telescope, he said it was an "inspiring example" of Indo-Belgian collaboration. "The work is also afoot on other agreements in the areas of information and communication technology, audio-visual production, tourism, biotechnology and shipping and ports," the prime minister said. Referring to the India-European Union (EU) summit he is scheduled to attend later in the day, he said trade, investment, and technology partnership between the two sides would be one of the focus areas. Wednesday is the first day of Modi's three-nation that will also take him to the US and Saudi Arabia. New Delhi, March 30 : Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday called for a change in attitudes to enable people with disabilities to realise their potential in an enabling environment. He released an 'Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index' that enables organisations to reflect on their policies and organisational culture in aid and support of differently abled people, employment of such people and adaptations to meet their needs at workplaces. The index, based on which organisations can be ranked, encourages them to recruit more disabled people and give them equal opportunities. Naidu called for enabling access to such people in buildings and workplaces, public transport and information and communication technology eco-system. The minister called for changes in stigmatised attitudes and responses to disabled people to make them contribute to community life. "Among every one lakh people in the country, 1,755 people have one or the other disability. About 8.40 percent of rural households and 6.10 percent of urban households have at least one disabled person," Naidu said. The minister said about 47 percent of the disabled never married and about 55 percent are illiterate. "These statistics suggest that society's inadequate and improper response to the disabled people make their lives more difficult and challenging," Naidu said. He called for provision of ramps in public buildings, adaptation of toilets for wheelchair users, things like Braille symbols in elevators and lifts, ramps in hospitals and other public places like bus and railway stations and airports to provide easy access to disabled persons. New Delhi, March 30 : New Zealand posted a competitive total of 153/7 in their World Twenty20 semi-final against England at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Wednesday evening. The Kiwis should have got a bigger total but England did well to take wickets regularly in the latter half of the innings to restrict their opponents. Colin Munro played a starring role for New Zealand with the bat, scoring 46 runs off 32 balls with seven boundaries and a six. Experienced pacer Ben Stokes was the most successful among the England bowlers with figures of 3/26. Talented left-arm pacer David Willey (1/17), Chris Jordan (1/24) and off-spinner Moeen Ali (1/10) got a wicket each. Liam Plunkett endured severe punishment in his first spell, giving away 21 runs in just two overs, before finishing his four overs with figures of 1/38. Willey handed England an early breakthrough as Martin Guptill lashed out at one that shaped away only to see the edge carry to Jos Buttler behind the stumps. Munro and Kane Williamson proceeded to lay the foundation for a competitive total with a 74-run partnership in 50 balls. Munro was in superb form, smashing the England bowlers to the ropes with monotonous regularity. He was especially harsh on Liam Plunkett, hitting the pacer for three consecutive boundaries in the sixth over. Williamson perished through an easy caught and bowled effort by Ali after tossing a skier to mid-off. Plunkett had his revenge on Munro in his second spell when the Kiwi left-hander went after a delivery which was well outside off, only to slice it to Ali at third man. That seemed to slow down the New Zealand run rate a bit. Ross Taylor did not last long, snapped up by Eoin Morgan off Chris Jordan's bowling in the 17th over. Anderson seemed to be in good knick, scoring 28 off 22 deliveries. But his dismissal in the 18th over ened Kiwi hopes of amassing a big total. Brief scores: New Zealand 153/7 (Colin Munro 46; Ben Stokes 3/26) vs England. New Delhi, March 30 : Over a hundred students were on Wednesday denied entry by the Delhi Police into Manipur Bhavan here to meet rights activist Irom Sharmila. Earlier in the day, Sharmila was acquitted by the Delhi High Court in an attempt-to- suicide case registered in 2006 after she sat on a fast-unto-death at the Jantar Mantar here. Sharmila, 42, has been on a fast for 16 years in Manipur to demand the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in her state. These students from the North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Association had gathered in front of the Manipur House to extend solidarity to Sharmila in her struggle against AFSPA. Later, Sharmila briefly came out to meet the students. JNUSU vice president Shehla Rashid, who addressed the students, said: "We salute Irom Sharmila in her fight against AFSPA. There has been a victory today... but it is not a complete victory. There are fresh cases against her and as long as she fights, we have to keep supporting her in her fight against AFSPA." "She was brought here but not allowed to address us. We condemn this attitude of the authorities and some agencies which do not want us to meet Sharmila," she said. A peaceful march was also held from Manipur Bhavan to the gate of South Asian University here. Manipur Students Association leader Seram Rojesh said: "When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, Sharmila came to Delhi and wrote a letter to him. But Modi doesn't have time to meet Sharmila. The media should ask him why he is afraid of Sharmila." Dantewada (Chhattisgarh), March 30 : Seven CRPF troopers were killed on Wednesday when Maoists used hidden explosives to destroy their truck in a remote part of Chhattisgarh, police said. The impact of the improvised explosive device used in the attack was so powerful that it sent the troopers' vehicle flying several feet high in the air and created a huge crater. The seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men were killed instantly, their bodies blown apart by the blast on a newly-repaired road at Malewara in Dantewada district, about 400 km south of capital Raipur. Two other troopers were injured in the blast. It was the biggest attack by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh in recent months. The dead security personnel in civilian clothes were returning to their base after a holiday, police officials said. "It was a massive blast. The vehicle was thrown several feet up in the air and it landed on the ground in four pieces," Director General of Police D.M. Awasthi told the media. The CRPF personnel belonged to the 230th battalion. They were identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector D. Vijay Raj, Head Constable Pradeep Tirkey and Constables Ranjan Das, Devendra Chaurasia, Nana Uday Singh, Roop Narayan Das and Mritunjay Mukherjee. Police officials who rushed to the spot within 45-50 minutes said the deceased were unarmed. Local tribals, who were the first to arrive at the blast site and tipped off the police about the incident, said the bodies of the CRPF men were mutilated beyond recognition and their body parts were found strewn several metres from the attack site. Governor Balramji Das Tandon dubbed the Maoist action "cowardly" and conveyed his condolence over the deaths of the CRPF men. He also prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured troopers. Chief Minister Raman Singh denounced the killings and called it "a clear sign of frustration among the Maoists who are feeling the heat of increased police presence in their strongholds". "I salute the supreme sacrifice of the seven CRPF men. The attack has strengthened my resolve to weed out Maoism from the state," he said in Raipur. Initial probe indicated that five to nine Maoists executed the blast for which over 40 kg explosives could have been used to rattle the minitruck. Later, dozens of heavily armed paramilitary troopers launched an operation to track down the insurgents who reportedly slipped into the nearby forests after the bloodbath. Officials at the Chhattisgarh Police headquarters here dubbed the attack "a classic case of failed intelligence network" in the Maoist heartland of Bastar, which includes Dantewada district. Home Minister Ajay Chandrakar presided over an emergency meeting of top police and home department officials in Raipur to assess the situation in the wake of deadly attack. Brussels, March 30 : The 13th India-EU Summit got underway here on Wednesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance. "Getting down to the nuts & bolts of democracy. 13th #IndiaEU Summit begins with a restricted meeting," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted. The summit is being held after a gap of nearly four years. India and the European Union started holding the summit meeting in 2000. In 2004, the relationship between the two sides was turned into a "strategic partnership". On Tuesday, ahead of his departure for Brussels, Modi said in a statement that the EU was a vital trading partner and the biggest export destination for India. "This summit will advance our multifaceted engagement across a whole range of domains," he said. Prior to the summit, Modi met with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker. The prime minster attended the summit after having completed his bilateral engagements with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel earlier in the day. Wednesday is the first day of Modi's three-nation tour that will also take him to the US and Saudi Arabia. New Delhi, March 30 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to seek his cooperation for installing CCTV cameras and lighting up dark spots across the national Capital. The Aam Aadmi Party leader also urged Jung to direct Delhi Police to cooperate with the city government on the issue. "The LG has assured his full cooperation. He also directed Special Commissioner of Police (Operations) Sundari Nanda to coordinate with the Delhi government for installation of CCTV cameras and lighting of dark spots in Delhi," Kejriwal told the media. In this year's budget, the Delhi government made an initial allocation of Rs.200 crore for installation of CCTV cameras across the capital. The government has also identified 42,000 dark spots in the city and set aside Rs.114 crore for lighting them up. Hyderabad, March 30 : The students' union of the University of Hyderabad has urged President Pranab Mukherjee to sack Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao to restore peace in the university. In a letter to the president, who is the Visitor of the university, the union said Rao was an accused in the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and also unleashed brutal violence on the students. Students' union president Zuhail K.P. told reporters that they sought the president's intervention to save the university from further damage. He brought to the notice of the president that the two-member fact finding committee appointed by the human resource development ministry to investigate the disciplinary action on five Dalit research scholars which led to the suicide of Vemula pointed out that the university administration under Appa Rao mishandled the case. Appa Rao was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment to suicide. The high court did not grant him bail while the judicial commission formed is still probing the matter, the letter said. It was also brought to the president's notice that Appa Rao, instead of waiting for the judicial commission's report, showed utter contempt for the judicial process by cancelling his leave and resuming office on March 22 with the help of some teachers loyal to him and ABVP students. Zuhail said that when the students protested his resumption of office, he "unleashed brutal violence on the protesting students to levels unheard of in the university history". Telangana Police arrested 24 students, two professors and one media person after a baton charge and booked many others including women. The letter alleged that Appa Rao with the help of 'loyal' non-teaching staff closed the hostel messes, cut off water supply and disconnected internet. Kolkata, March 30 : CPI-M leaders will be sharing the stage with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi who would address three rallies in poll-bound West Bengal on Saturday. The Congress, which has entered into a seat-sharing arrangement with the Communist Party of India-Marxist spearheaded Left Front, had invited the Marxist leaders for Gandhi's three rallies in Kulti and Durgapur in Burdwan district and Bankura. Confirming the development, CPI-M leader Rabin Deb said the presence of Marxists leaders at the rallies will send out a positive signal to the people. The development came on a day when Congress leader Abdul Mannan released "Lortey Hobey Eksathey" (Have to Fight Together), a booklet harping on the necessity of the Congress-Left tie-up. The book was released in the presence of several Congress and Marxists leaders and former Supreme Court judge A.K. Ganguly. "Under the current political scenario, this tie-up is imperative to oust the despotic Mamata Banerjee government under which everybody is under attack. From democracy to the common people, from institution to even the police, none are spared," said Ganguly. Ganguly also attacked Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for ridiculing the tie-up. "This is not the first time the Left and the Congress have come together. Her constant attack of the tie-up is an indication of her apprehension that this tie-up will be able to achieve its target is ousting this despotic government," he said. Calling the formation of the tie-up historic, Mannan said it was important for both the Congress and the Left Front to "come out of the shadow of the past" and plan according to the situation to achieve the aim of ousting the Trinamool regime. Reflecting on the success of the 'Grand Alliance' in Bihar where old foes RJD and JD-U joined hands with the Congress against the Bharatiya Janata Party, the booklet asserts the same can be done in Bengal. "If it can be done in Bihar, it can be done in Bengal also. The Left and Congress along with the civil society can join forces to defeat the Trinamool," said Mannan quoting the booklet. Ghaziabad, March 30 : Kusum Lata, the wife of Noida authority's former chief engineer Yadav Singh, was engaged in facilitating bribes for her husband through her private firm, says the chargesheet submitted before a court here. According to the chargesheet, the police investigation revealed that Kusum Lata facilitated the bribes through her company M/s Kusum Garments, which had its bank account in the Oriental Bank of Commerce. The firm facilitated the bribes from M/s Countrywide Holdings Private Limited, a firm controlled by Kusum Lata's chartered accountant Mohan Rathi. The investigation established that in a single instant, bribe money to the tune of Rs.50 lakh was transferred by Pradeep Garg of M/s NKG Infrastructure through one of its subsidiary firms M/s Gannayak Finance and Leasing Private Limited. Yadav Singh used to get 0.5 percent commission as bribe through her firm, it said. On March 15, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Yadav Singh and 13 others, including his wife and former officials, on charges of corruption that caused a loss of Rs.19 crore to the government exchequer. The chargesheet named Yadav Singh, Kusum Lata, then project engineer Ramendra, assistant project engineers Devi Ram Arya and Jai Pal Singh, junior engineers Rajeev Kumar, R.D. Sharma and Ompal Singh, Tirupati Constructions managing partner V.K. Goel, JSP Constructions partner Pankaj Jain, NKG Infrastructures managing director Pradeep Garg and the three companies under the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to the CBI, the investigation revealed that the allotment of work was allegedly pre-decided, tender formalities were wilfully violated, estimate was highly inflated to cause undue gain to the contractor -- all of which caused a loss of Rs.19 crore to the government exchequer. This acquisition marks Sun Pharma's foray into the Japanese prescription market and provides us an opportunity to build a larger product portfolio in the future. Mumbai: Shares of Sun Pharma rose by nearly 3 per cent on March 30 as the drug major forayed into the Japanese prescription market by acquiring 14 brands from Swiss drug firm Novartis for USD 293 million (over Rs 1,940 crore). The stock climbed 2.63 per cent to Rs 815 on BSE. On NSE, it went up by 2.43 per cent to Rs 813.70. According to the agreements signed by the parties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharma will acquire the portfolio consisting of 14 established prescription brands from Novartis for a cash consideration of USD 293 million, Sun Pharma has said in a statement. "Japan is a market of strategic interest for us. This acquisition marks Sun Pharma's foray into the Japanese prescription market and provides us an opportunity to build a larger product portfolio in the future," Sun Pharma Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi said. The 14 brands have combined annualised revenues of around USD 160 million and address medical conditions across several therapeutic areas. Chennai, March 30 : The majority of central trade unions have called for a one-day nationwide strike on September 2 in protest against the central government's decision to amend labour laws, the leader of a union said. "The central trade unions have called for a nationwide strike on September 2 this year against the central government's decision to amend the labour laws," M. Shanmugam, general secretary of the Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), told IANS. He said the decision to go on strike was announced at the national convention. According to Shanmugam, as a run-up to the September 2 strike, unions will hold joint conventions across the country. He said the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) did not attend the trade unions meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday. The unions are opposed to the central government's decision to amend the labour and other laws giving a free hand to the employers. New Delhi, March 30 : The government on Wednesday gave the nod for the issuance of an ordinance that seeks to authorise government expenditure in Uttarakhand from April 1 in view of President's Rule in the hill state. A union cabinet meeting presided over by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a decision in this regard. "The cabinet met and recommended issuance of an ordinance, for further consideration of the president in view of the situation in Uttarakhand. On March 18, the budget could not be passed by the state assembly," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad later told reporters here. The cabinet also gave approval for the issuance of another ordinance for making changes in the Enemy Property Act. On the Uttarakhand ordinance, Prasad said that in the "absence" of an appropriation bill in the state, "no withdrawal can be done as far as the Uttarakhand government is concerned from the Consolidated Fund of the state". The cabinet, therefore, recommended an appropriation ordinance, so that withdrawal of money for expenditure can be done, the minister said. The budget session of parliament was prorogued on Tuesday evening to enable the government to promulgate an ordinance with regard to Uttarakhand, official sources said. The union cabinet's committee on parliamentary affairs had on Tuesday recommended prorogation of the Rajya Sabha to enable the government to issue the ordinance. Notably, the state Appropriation Bill was, however, declared as "passed" by the Uttarakhand assembly speaker, a claim contested by Congress rebel legislators and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also called it a "failed bill". The first part of the budget session of parliament that began on February 23 ended on March 16. It was slated to meet again in the later part of April. Sources said with only two days left for 2015-16 fiscal to end and the next financial year to begin, there was no time to pass the Uttarakhand state budget in parliament. Moreover, as the assembly is under suspended animation, the central government only had the ordinance route to meet the state government's expenditure needs from April 2016 onwards. The ordinance for amendments to the Enemy Property Act was promulgated in January 2016. The Lok Sabha has passed a bill to replace the ordinance but the government could not get a Rajya Sabha nod. Thus, a new ordinance needs to be issued. New Delhi : Coming from a Ludhiana-based family known for its woollens business, Abhey Oswal -- who died in Moscow on Tuesday night -- was an aggressive businessman adept at acquisitions and venturing into new areas, besides being instrumental in setting up the world's largest grassroots phosphoric acid plant. Joining the family business in his 20s, Abhey Oswal set up a frantic pace to be counted as one of the high-profile industrials in no time. He set up Oswal Agro Ltd. in 1979 and was active in acquiring ICI's plant near Kolkata, Union Carbide's unit in Mumbai and Jagatjit Industries' sugar mill in Punjab. In the 1980s, he was regarded as the 'next Ambani' for his aggressive business plans. He later realised his aggressive business plans and diversified activities were not helping his companies to grow. He changed course and started focusing on the fertiliser business, veering away from sugar, vanaspati and rice. Just as the Ambanis are known for owning the world's largest refinery, Oswal played a pivotal role in establishing the world's largest grassroots phosphoric acid plant at Paradip in Odisha. But unfortunately, his astronomical growth was followed by controversies. He was arrested in 1990 by the Enforcement Directorate for Foreign Exchange Regulation Act violations and was charged with avoidance of custom duty. Oswal set up his one million tonne capacity ammonia urea plant in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, with a capital outlay of Rs.1,368 crore. His elder son, Pankaj, is carrying on his father's legacy in the fertiliser business and has set up one of the world's largest ammonia plants in Perth, Australia. Diversification seemed to be in Abhey Oswal's DNA. In 2005, he entered the healthcare market, and concentrated on developing life saving medicines, particularly for cancer and diabetes. Son of late Lala Vidya Sagar Oswal and brother of leading industrialists Jawahar Oswal, Jangi Lal Oswal and Neelam Oswal, the 67-year-old Abhey Oswal died of heart failure in the Russian capital on Tuesday night. The business tycoon was on a visit to a research centre in Moscow where he was to launch some medicines developed by his company. He is survived by his wife Aruna, two sons Pankaj and Shail Oswal and a daughter Shalu Jindal, who is married to high profile industrialist Navin Jindal. Abuja, March 31 : The Nigerian government on Wednesday denied an online media report credited to a top office that Boko Haram insurgents still controlled two local government areas in the restive northeast region. Minister of Defence Brig.-Gen. (rtd.) Mansur Dan-Ali disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, the country's capital city, Xinhua reported. The minister denied reports in the same medium credited to him that the abducted female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, were being used as suicide bombers. The minister said he was quoted out of context, as he did not imply what was reported by the online medium. The minister was a guest in the studio of Voice of America, where he spoke in Hausa language, on the appraisal of the successes recorded in the ongoing war against terrorists in the northeast. He said before now, over 60 local government areas were under the occupation of Boko Haram in the north-east, but now only two were having some remnants of Boko Haram activities and not under their complete control. On the issue of the Chibok girls, the minister said he was not referring to the girls abducted on April 14, 2014 from Government Secondary School in Chibok. Rather, he was referring to other girls abducted by the terrorists from the local government areas. Brussels, March 31 : India has not bent before terrorism and will never do so, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said to an euphoric Indian community gathering here, while offering deepest condolences for the March 22 Brussels terror bombings. Addressing a packed Indian community event at the Brussels Expo, winding up a day choc-a-bloc with official diplomatic events, Modi said the world needs to unite against terrorism and should stop differentiation between good terror and bad terror. "Terrorism is a challenge for humankind, not just any one country or region. Those who believe in humanity should join together to tackle terrorism," said Modi to a cheering crowd. "India has not bent before terrorism, and there is no question of bending. But the challenge is a huge one. I have spoken to many important leaders, including religious ones, and explained them of the need to delink terror from religion. No religion teaches terrorism," he said. He said the United Nations faces the danger of becoming irrelevant if it fails to tackle terrorism. "In recent days in India, liberal Islamic scholars held a big meeting, linked to SufismA They said those who speak of terror are un-Islamic. The more such voices rise, the faster the radicalisation of youth can be prevented. Can't tackle terrorism with only bombs and guns. Misfortune of the world is that the UN does not know how to tackle terrorism," he said. He said the UN was born out of war and is unable to look beyond it. "Don't know when the UN will tackle terrorism, or how. But seeing the conditions that prevail, it faces the danger of becoming irrelevant. It needs to go along with the times," he said. Modi said that during his numerous meetings the entire day, with the Belgian leadership and with the EU, the centre point of talks was terrorism. Amitabh celebrated his recent win on the sets of an ad he was shooting for with Jaya Bachchan. Mumbai: Another feather has added in the hat of Megastar Amitabh Bachchan as won the best actor award for playing a hypochondriac father in 'Piku' at the 63rd National Film Awards, where Hindi. This is 73-year-old Bachchan's fourth National award. He previously won the honour in 1990 for 'Agneepath', for 'Black' in 2005 and for 'Paa' in 2009. Soon after, Amitabh celebrated his recent win on the sets of an ad he was shooting for with his wife and veteran actress Jaya Bachchan. Amitabh took to his blog and shared this emotional moment where he cut the cake. Amitabh Bachchan has 'Pink' and 'TE3N' in his kitty at the moment. He was last seen in 'Wazir' earlier this year in January. Crawford Technologies is the preeminent vendor of post-composition software and QA in the Cloud provides the ideal solution for verifying the quality of documents created by any composition software Crawford Technologies announced today its new cloud-based solution designed specifically for customer communications management (CCM) quality assurance. QA in the Cloud enables financial services, healthcare, insurance and banking industries as well as governments at all levels to easily test, identify and prevent errors in customer-facing documents. QA in the Cloud provides a fully automated secure testing platform and browser-based dashboard to assure the quality of important documents such as bills, statements, notices, certificates, insurance policies, trade confirmations, tax receipts, correspondence and other customer communications. Errors in customer documents can be costly in terms of damage control costs, litigation costs, fines and customer confidence, said Ernie Crawford, CEO of Crawford Technologies. Organizations are searching for ways in which they can ensure the quality of their documents, while, at the same time, they are rushing to make rapid changes to meet customer expectations, competitive pressures and regulatory demands. QA in the Cloud supports a full menu of automated testing scenarios including regression testing of new CCM software releases and patches, application design and template changes for CCM components, boundary conditions, application program changes, validating migrations from one system to another, verification of document outsourcing/insourcing, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), rate table change testing and Initial application testing. Crawford Technologies is the preeminent vendor of post-composition software and QA in the Cloud provides the ideal solution for verifying the quality of documents created by any composition software, added Ernie Crawford, CEO of Crawford Technologies. QA in the Cloud is based on technology we have been using internally to test our own software and is a big contributor to CrawfordTech achieving a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +68. QA in the Cloud is compatible with all document composition software, all operating systems, all output formats and document formats including PDF and HTML. QA in the Clouds architecture can facilitate custom components and verification programs that may be unique to an organizations needs. For more information about QA in the Cloud, go to: http://www.crawfordtech.com/solutions/qa-in-the-cloud About Crawford Technologies Crawford Technologies is an award-winning, worldwide leader in print-stream conversions, document re-engineering, high-volume document workflow, document accessibility and archiving software solutions. For 20 years, Crawford Technologies has expanded its solution offerings in Customer Communications Management (CCM), Enterprise Output Management (EOM), Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Document Accessibility markets. CrawfordTech is dedicated to helping organizations improve their customer communications delivery systems so people can receive their documents in their format and channel of preference. For media and other enquiries please contact the Crawford Technologies Press Office: North America Tel: +1-416-923-0080 UK Tel: +44 (0)20 3289 4724 media(at)crawfordtech.com http://www.crawfordtech.com Many arrhythmia patients are unable to undergo conventional invasive therapies. Using non-invasive radiosurgical ablation, our goal is to further the science for this potential therapeutic alternative. The Cureus Journal of Medical Science is collaborating with CyberHeart Incorporated to inspire continued study and knowledge sharing highlighting the investigational use of stereotactic radiosurgery for the potential non-invasive treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Together they have launched a medical publishing competition that incentivizes clinicians to submit original research analyzing cardiac radiobiology and trial-patient case studies documenting clinical rationale, details and outcomes. Today more than 14 million people in the United States experience some type of cardiac arrhythmia. For older persons with a history of heart disease, arrhythmia can lead to serious medical complications. With proper treatment, many continue to live full, healthy lives. Some arrhythmias are effectively treated with catheter ablation (CA), however, many patients fail or cannot undergo CA due to target inaccessibility or patient comorbidities. Non-invasive stereotactic radiosurgery is being investigated for safety and effectiveness in treating such conditions. In limited feasibility clinical trials, preliminary outcomes under an IRB / FDA-approved trial have observed early positive subject outcomes with no procedural complications. Investigational studies are ongoing. Many arrhythmia patients are unable to undergo conventional invasive therapies, said Patrick Maguire M.D., cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, and CEO of CyberHeart. Using non-invasive radiosurgical ablation, our goal is to further the science for this potential therapeutic alternative. Were very excited to partner with Cureus to continue exploring this potential new frontier in cardiac radiosurgery medicine. Led by an independent team of domain experts, all submissions will be peer-reviewed prior to Cureus publication. Peer reviewers include Dr. Bill Loo, radiation oncologist at Stanford University Medical Center, Dr. Douglas Wong, radiation oncologist at Fresno Community Regional Medical Center, Dr. Paul Zei, electrophysiologist at Stanford University Medical Center, Georg Weidlich, PhD, professor of biomedical physics at California State University Fresno, Dr. Arjun Sharma, vice president of medical safety at Boston Scientific, Steven Axelrod PhD, physicist and CEO at G-Tech Medical, and others. Following publication, all articles will be made accessible for search and free full-article download via PubMed Central - the National Institute of Health (NIH) hosted digital search engine for full-text biomedical literature. A $3,000 USD monetary prize will be awarded to the article author who receives the highest Cureus SIQ (Scholarly Impact Quotient) score. SIQ is Cureus unique crowdsourced post-publication review that allows the clinical community-at-large to assess and score published medical literature. Reviewers can assign scores on article criteria including study design and methods, clarity and rationale, novelty of conclusions, etc. Article submission is entirely free. Eligible articles must be submitted for editorial and peer review by Wednesday, June 1, 2016. More information regarding this publishing competition and related submission stipulations can be found at http://www.cureus.com/competitions/ch-cardiacradiosurgery. About Cureus The Cureus Journal of Medical Science is a no-cost, peer-reviewed online medical publishing platform leveraging a unique crowdsourced post-publication review process. Relying on the collective intelligence of its clinical community, Cureus enables faster publication, greater access, and ultimately, better research. Visit http://www.cureus.com for more information. About CyberHeart CyberHeart Incorporated is an early-stage, venture capital-backed medical device company. CyberHeart is developing the first non-invasive robotic ablation treatment for cardiac arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. The company began operations in 2006 and has been conducting pre-clinical studies that validate the feasibility of the technology. Cureus Contact: Mark Arnold mark.arnold(at)cureus(dot)com +1-415-533-4743 CyberHeart Contact: Patrick Maguire, M.D. pmaguire(at)cyberheartinc(dot)com +1-650-962-4639 ConceiveAbilities is poised to become the most trusted, recommended, and innovative surrogacy agency. Chicago-based ConceiveAbilities, a surrogacy and egg donation agency with locations across the United States, is pleased to announce that Linda Hedenberg has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Hedenbergs new position accompanies a period of significant growth and ConceiveAbilities emergence as an international leader in third-party reproduction. In making the announcement, CEO Nazca Fontes said, At ConceiveAbilities, our success is based on uncompromising commitment to making the right match whether its finding the best donor or surrogate match for our client, or finding the best people to join our team. Along with her expertise in strategy development and operations, Linda appreciates the value of strong working relationships within our company, and with our clients and professional partners. We quickly knew she was our right match and we are delighted to add her leadership to our team. Ms. Hedenberg brings more than thirty years experience in healthcare operations, organization development and business development to her role. Most recently, she was a Senior Consultant with Giles & Associates Consultancy, providing research and strategic direction for clients ranging from small startups to large biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Additional roles include positions in business development for Northwestern Memorial Hospital and University of Chicago Health System. Ms. Hedenberg earned an MBA in strategy, finance, and organization development from Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management. As COO, she will oversee ConceiveAbilities business operations during a time of rapid growth. With the ever-expanding options and growing social acceptance of third-party reproduction, ConceiveAbilities is poised to become the most trusted, recommended, and innovative surrogacy agency, Ms. Hedenberg says. The companys team of professionals is by far its greatest asset, and Im honored to work with them to ensure clients from around the world have access to the options and support needed to build their families. About ConceiveAbilities ConceiveAbilities is a globally recognized egg donor and surrogacy agency, providing excellent service to intended parents, fertility centers and clinics around the world since 1996. Based in Chicago, the company also has locations in Denver, New York, Dallas, and Houston. ConceiveAbilities advocates strongly for modern families and is highly selective in its network of donors and surrogates. Its uncompromising ethical standards have earned the respect of the nations leading fertility experts, and made it one of the most highly regarded agencies in the U.S. For more information, visit the ConceiveAbilities website at http://www.conceiveabilities.com or call 312-379-5700. Everlast Climbing celebrates 25 years in business The fact that we really care...has contributed to our longevity. Everlast Climbing, a Playcore Company, is celebrating 25 years in business this year. After getting its start in Chicago as a climbing hand hold manufacturer, founder Tim Sudeith began working with schools to create low-risk climbing walls (Traverse Walls) that are typically 8-10 feet tall for use in Physical Education classes. After receiving feedback from educators that the climbing walls were engaging students previously not interested in physical activity, Everlast Climbing moved toward developing additional products that would be attractive to more schools and other youth-serving agencies, such as community centers. Everlast Climbing is passionate about helping kids become more active and combating childhood obesity and has developed innovative climbing walls that can be used beyond physical education classes. The invention of its Magna and Discovery Dry-erase Climbing walls (US Patents 7,056,266 & 7,520,838) combines movement and learning. Both climbing walls have magnetic properties and come with magnet sets and activity guides. Children are able to place magnets in a variety of ways to add learning to the climbing wall, for example, by placing word magnets next to hand holds and traversing the wall using only the holds with verbs next to them. The Discovery Dry-erase wall also comes with dry-erase markers, adding more learning opportunities to the wall by allowing students to write while climbing. Some schools conduct weekly spelling tests on the climbing wall, while others have students practice math facts while climbing, said Mertyce Mrvos, Coordinator for Programs & Partnerships at Everlast Climbing. With our climbing walls, schools can add more physical activity into the school day, beyond what children get in physical education classes. In addition, Everlast Climbings walls include color-coded hand holds that vary in difficulty, allowing the climber to choose the desired challenge level. Everlast Climbing is also known for having set the safety standard when it comes to traverse climbing in schools. The company has created many innovations, such as the Red-Relief Line, a horizontal line of red foot holds specially designed as a reminder to climbers to keep their feet in the "safety zone," only a few feet from the floor. Everlast Climbing developed its safety mats to meet playground industry ASTM standards for both critical fall height and protrusion protection. Further, Everlast Climbing created a Cordless Mat-locking System (U.S Patents 7,819,778; 7,862,480 & 8,282,534) to prevent unauthorized access when the wall is not in use. Everlast Climbing holds a total of 15 patents related to safety and product innovation. In 1997, Everlast Climbing moved its headquarters to St. Paul, MN, and then a few years later to its current location in nearby Mendota Heights. The company is proud to make everything but the hardware in its 36,000 square foot facility. Having the advantage of housing offices and manufacturing under one roof allows for high quality assurance. Further, Everlast Climbing completes its turn-key solutions by offering factory installation by its own team of installers. It is clear to see the passion surrounding Everlast Climbings mission. We only hire people who have that sparkle in their eyes when we talk about the impact we are having on young people, said Tim Sudeith. The fact that we really care about our end users comes across in everything we do and surely has contributed to our longevity as a company. Everlast Climbing works with many organizations that are fueled by the same passions, like SHAPE America, and regularly advocates and lobbies for childrens health and physical education. Everlast Climbing was purchased by PlayCore in 2008 and has enjoyed working closely with a parent company that also values and is committed to making a positive impact on children and communities. By offering a variety of traverse and top rope climbing walls, including specialized walls for pre-school aged children and adaptive programs, Everlast Climbing is striving to meet its goal of making climbing more accessible to all ages and abilities. About Everlast Climbing Everlast Climbing is committed to improving youth fitness with dynamic and innovative products that engage children and inspire physical activity. The company is headquartered in Mendota Heights, MN, and is a PlayCore company. More information is available about Everlast Climbing at http://www.everlastclimbing.com. This symposium, as well as our work on campus through The Institute programs, examines the polarizing incivility of public engagement today and what it would take to have civility in our public debate. The Institute for Freedom and Community at St. Olaf College announced today that it will host a two-day symposium open to the public titled Disagreement a Symposium for Constructive Political Discourse and Inquiry. The symposium will be held at the colleges Northfield, Minn., campus on March 31 and April 1. It will feature three prominent guest speakers in events free of charge and open to the public. Director of The Institute and St. Olaf Political Science Professor Dan Hofrenning said, Coarse rhetoric and contemptuous politics are defining features of our times. This symposium, as well as our work on campus through The Institute programs, examines the polarizing incivility of public engagement today and what it would take to have civility in our public debate. The symposium sessions will begin on Thursday evening, March 31, with two sessions on Friday afternoon. Speakers include Mark Kingwell, author of A Civil Tongue: Justice, Dialogue, and the Politics of Pluralism as well as several other books and numerous articles on related topics. A professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, Kingwell will argue that a robust account of civil discourse, rooted in a sense of shared vulnerability, is our only viable path forward. Jonathan Haidt will draw from his recent book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. He is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York Universitys Stern School of Business. His talk will focus on polarization and politics in the 2016 campaign. Sarah Sobieraj will complete the series with a talk on the connections between extreme incivility and political voice. An associate professor of sociology at Tufts University, she is also the author of The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility. For more information on the symposium, please call 507-786-3128 or email Dan Hofrenning at dhofrenn(at)stolaf(dot)edu or Shawn Paulson at paulsons(at)stolaf(dot)edu. All events are held at St. Olaf College, located approximately 40 miles south of downtown Minneapolis or downtown St. Paul. The campus is located at 1520 St. Olaf Avenue, Northfield, Minn. 55057. Preregistration is not required. Mark Kingwell Thursday, March 31 at 7 p.m. Tomson Hall Room 280 Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto Author of A Civil Tongue: Justice, Dialogue, and the Politics of Pluralism Kingwell will argue that a robust account of civil discourse, rooted in a sense of shared vulnerability, is our only viable path forward. Jonathan Haidt Friday, April 1 at 3 p.m. Buntrock Commons, Black and Gold Ballrooms Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, New York Universitys Stern School of Business Author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion Drawing from The Righteous Mind, Haidt will focus on polarization and politics in the 2016 campaign. Sarah Sobieraj Friday, April 1 at 4:30 p.m. Buntrock Commons, Black and Gold Ballrooms Associate Professor of Sociology, Tufts University Author of The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility Sobieraj will discuss the connections between extreme incivility and political voice. About The Institute The Institute for Freedom and Community was established at St. Olaf College, a private liberal arts college, in 2015 to encourage free inquiry and meaningful debate of important political and social issues. The Institute programs, including coursework, the Public Affairs Conversation, public affairs internships, and public lectures, aim to challenge assumptions, question easy answers, and foster constructive, respectful dialogue among those with differing values and contending points of view. For more information, go to stolaf.edu/ifc. About St. Olaf College One of the nations leading liberal arts colleges, St. Olaf College offers a distinctive education grounded in academic rigor, residential learning, global engagement, and a vibrant Lutheran faith tradition. By cultivating the habits of mind and heart that enable graduates to lead lives of financial independence, professional accomplishment, personal fulfillment, and community engagement, St. Olaf College provides an uncommon educational experience that fully prepares students to make a meaningful difference in a changing world. Hrithik, who is already fighting a legal battle with Kangana Ranaut, has landed in yet another trouble. Mumbai: The list of Hrithik Roshan's legal battles seem to be getting bigger and murkier by the day. Hrithik, who is already fighting Kangana Ranaut in court, has landed himself in yet another trouble. According to reports, Hrithik has been slapped with a criminal notice for hurting religious sentiments for his tweet on the Pope. Read: Exes Hrithik Roshan-Kangana Ranaut slap legal notices on each other After Kangana Ranauts silly ex comment, Hrithik took to his Twitter handle to clear his views on the dating rumour. In January, the actor tweeted, "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 (sic)." 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. Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) January 28, 2016 Abraham Mathai, All India President of the Indian Christian Voice, an organisation representing the larger interests of the Christian community, including Roman Cathorlics, slapped Hrithik with the notice on Monday. Also read: 5 shocking allegations made by Hrithik and Kangana in their legal notices Abraham, a Mumbai resident, sent a criminal notice under Section 295 (A) of Indian Penal Code for his unwarranted comments against the Pope through lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee, who also represents Kangana Ranaut. The notice also said that by making such a statement on a public platform Hrithik has not only willfully challenged the chastity of the respected Pope but has also shown him in poor light. "Thus malafidely, mischievously and intentionally outraged the religious feelings and insulted the religious beliefs of Romans Catholics all over the world who consider the Pope to be absolutely chaste as their spiritual and religious leader," the notice read. The notice also reads that by indulging in such a criminal act Roshan has rendered himself guilty and liable to be tried under the provision of Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs). Siddiquee in the notice has asked the actor to apologise in seven days failing which he will proceed ahead with the matter and obtain the required government sanction, under of Section 196 of Criminal Procedure Code and accordingly file a criminal complaint against Roshan. Neither the actor nor his representative was available for comment. Jon-Erik Wagner, Northeast Service Representative My education and experience has fully prepared me for my career in the Pharmaceutical Industry. I look forward to putting my knowledge to work at Guaranteed Returns. Past News Releases RSS Pharmaceutical Returns Provider,... Pharmaceutical Returns Service... Pharmaceutical Returns Provider,... Guaranteed Returns is pleased to announce Jon-Erik Wagner as the new Regional Account Executive for Long Island, the five boroughs of NYC, New Jersey and some sections of the Lower Hudson Valley. Jon-Erik attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he obtained a Bachelors of Science in Biology and a minor in European history. He then studied at Ross University Medical School and received his Medical Doctorate, graduating with honors. Before moving to Binghamton, NY for his residency as a physician in family medicine, Jon-Erik worked in Manhattan at City MD as a medical scribe. Born and raised on Long Island, Jon-Erik decided to move back and pursue a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Jon-Erik will provide on-site pharmaceutical returns service to pharmacies throughout Long Island, the five boroughs of NYC, New Jersey and some sections of the Lower Hudson Valley. On-site pharmaceutical returns service is provided by Guaranteed Returns' reliable, local, and readily available team of Regional Account Executives. My education and experience has fully prepared me for my career in the Pharmaceutical Industry. I look forward to putting my knowledge to work at Guaranteed Returns., said Jon-Erik. About Guaranteed Returns Guaranteed Returns provides pharmaceutical return services to independent retail, chain-store, hospital, government, LTC, Mail-Order and clinic pharmacies. Mail-in and On-site service options are available. GRx local on-site service representatives are highly valued for their professionalism, trustworthiness and for "going above and beyond." All customers have access to the customer portal which provides cradle to grave documentation, an online inventory program, mail-in pharmaceutical returns forms (with auto-filled account information), and mailing and shipping labels. Visit our website or call 1.800.473.2138 today to learn more. The Cooling Companys win of the coveted Angies List 2015 Super Service Award is reward for a job well done and the perfect way to celebrate the business fifth anniversary at the end of March. Its also motivation for the family-owned HVAC and plumbing enterprise to continue providing premier-level service to Las Vegas residential and commercial communities in 2016 and beyond. Only about 5 percent of the heating, cooling and plumbing companies in Las Vegas and Henderson have performed so consistently well enough to earn our Super Service Award, said Angies List Founder Angie Hicks. Its a really high standard. As Angies List Super Service Award 2015 winners, The Cooling Company had to meet strict eligibility requirements, from professionalism to punctuality. Nothing less than an A rating in overall, recent and review-period grades is sufficient. Candidates must also be in good standing with Angies List, pass a background check and abide by Angies List operational guidelines. This award honors an exemplary year of consistently high-level service that The Cooling Company has provided to Las Vegas varied communities, complete with the objective, verified consumer reviews to prove it. Determined to change heating, ventilation and air-conditioning in Las Vegas, The Cooling Company takes pride in its innovative approach to helping customers maintain comfortable, healthy living and working environments. Efficient plumbing and water filtration systems, air-conditioning, and furnace and heat pump systems are all essentials in southern Nevadas desert setting, says co-founder Tiago Santana. I tell customers, Its all about your comfort. It starts with a quality product. The Cooling Company specializes in Lennox systems, a high-end manufacturer renowned for its green innovations and selectivity in accrediting contractors. However, even 98-percent energy-efficient furnaces and compressors are only as reliable as their installation and maintenance; the same applies to plumbing and water filtration systems. That," says Santana, is why we place the value we do on our team. Their skills and attention to detail are what make the difference. The Cooling Company takes pride in its expert employees, individuals who have the skills, abilities and knowledge to provide the very best for our customers. The company is bonded, licensed and fully insured, so an extensive interview is just the start of the hiring process. Every employee must also successfully complete a background check and company training all vital in providing the trust, honesty, care and amazing service experience that The Cooling Company regards as a baseline requirement. However, The Cooling Company team wants to ensure that they have the equation correct. They start with a quality product and then add skilled, trustworthy employees. The proof is in ensuring that customers are not just satisfied but happy, long-term clients. The owners read and pay attention to every customer review. It makes us super proud to know someone takes time to sit down in front of their computer to share their experience . . . about how weve helped their family. Recognition of The Cooling Companys expertise and excellent customer service is not limited to Angies List. The company has repeatedly received HomeAdvisor Top Rated, Best of and Elite Awards. It is not only Better Business Bureau-accredited but also maintains an A+ rating, a distinction no doubt well-earned. The Cooling Company provides service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year and maintains its own warehouse as well as relationships with more than 40 vendors; help, parts and equipment are always available. Covering every contingency, the company pledges on its website, "We will even provide you a complimentary portable air conditioning unit for you to use in the event we have to wait for parts to arrive. Santana sums it all up: We want people to know that they can count on The Cooling Company no matter how big or small their issue is. Whether its an emergency repair, preventive maintenance, a custom conversion redesign or a brand-new green-technology installation, our team guarantees our work 100 percent. Based in Las Vegas, The Cooling Company serves the entire metropolitan area, from North Las Vegas and Nellis Air Force Base to Summerlin and Henderson. For all heating, air-conditioning, ventilation, and plumbing or water filtration questions or for free written estimates, the company can be reached through its website at TheCoolingCo.com or by calling (702) 567-0707. The Cooling Company has certified technicians to address both residential and commercial issues. Angie's List facilitates happy transactions between more than 3 million consumers nationwide and its collection of highly rated service providers in more than 720 categories of service. With more than 10 million verified reviews of local service, Angie's List connects consumers directly to its unique online marketplace of member-reviewed providers, tools and support. Angies List can be found at AngiesList.com. James Rodgers, Director of Business Development, Agile Process Solutions ...Agile has been built from the ground up based on uncompromising best practices in fabrication, installation and operations, governed by customer-focused and values-based management principles I personally hold dear... Agile Process Solutions, LLC, in its focused bid for market share in the conventional midstream oil & gas treating sector, has hired industry veteran James Rodgers as Business Development Director. Rodgers is already working to increase outreach and relationship with key industry producers, and his alliance with Agile comes at a time the company has formally packaged its one-of-a-kind "best practices" business model for client consumption, Agile's ONEofONE System. Agile may be one of the best kept secrets in the conventional midstream gas treating business, but thats not the most profitable quality for someone in our business, and its about to change dramatically, says Paul Morrow, Agile president. While Agile has put substantial resources towards completing its new modern production facilities, and is officially introducing the Agile brand at this years GPA Convention in New Orleans, Morrow speaks specifically of the company's recent addition of James Rodgers as its public face, process solutions specialist and director of business development. James Rodgers is from Houston, Texas and for the last decade has been successfully engaged in all facets of oil & gas processing and treating with a strong focus on business ethics and building the most appropriate and effective solutions for his customers. After stints at Zephyr Gas Services and IMAGE Custom Engineering Solutions, Rodgers worked since 2013 for Norwood S & S as Vice-President of Business Development. Over his career, Rodgers experience with business development, technical sales, engineering & design, supply chain, operations and financial management have made him a valuable addition to the Agile Process Solutions team. James clients and employers have directly benefited from his client-centric approach. By focusing on business model optimization, a benefit-based sales approach and operational process improvements Rodgers crafts win-win solutions and relationships that are forged to last. With an emphasis of Rodgers consultative-based selling approach and his experience translating business models into a clear client focused benefit statement, James has had proven success in expanding market share where competitors are established market leaders. Rodgers addition as a key team member comes at the perfect moment for Agile Process Solutions, and company leaders are excited and inspired to fully leverage James unique abilities in transforming and expanding the companys outreach initiatives, and client relationships, on an ongoing basis. Rodgers will take point introducing Agile's ONEofONE System, a formal process of client/project assessment and refinement based on over 30 years' worth of best practices integration with business culture, operations and client services. The company's ONEofONE System is the process client teams need to walk the CAPEX-OPEX tightrope effectively, maximizing project fiscal targets and parameters. According to Agile President Paul Morrow, We are as interested in our next project as the next guy, and excited for any opportunity to prove what a difference a customer-focused management strategy and culture can make to a project. But Agile is not simply looking for its next project. We are most interested in developing longer-term working relationships with clients who want to benefit from the cumulative advantages that only a company with full in-house production capability and a values-based management system can provide, and James is going to be our catalyst for doing just that. Agile Process Solutions will be sponsoring this years GPA Convention in New Orleans, and convention attendees interested in oil & gas treatment solutions will be able to meet personally with James Rodgers, or with Agile president Paul Morrow or vice-president Nader Khaki. After the show, Agile will execute an ongoing client services campaign with Rodgers at the helm, introducing its ONEofONE System, and utilizing its new Corporate Executive Lounge for traveling oil & gas executives touring its recently expanded modern production facility in Midland. Rodgers said, The fact that Agile has been built from the ground up based on uncompromising best practices in fabrication, installation and operations, governed by customer-focused and values-based management principles I personally hold dear, tells me this is a partnership that will not only last, but one that will provide the industry with access to a rock-solid, long-term oil and gas treating solution that has been built specifically to meet the demands of todays market. This is the perfect match-up and I am excited about the future of Agile Process Solutions and what we can do for our clients. The sky is the limit. Agile Process Solutions, LLC, in collaboration with Morrow Renewables, LLC, offers natural gas producers and midstream operators process design, fabrication, construction and start-up for custom and stock oil and gas processing plants and equipment, with options for contract treating. Specializing in natural gas and oil facilities including amine treatment plants up to 2000 GPM, the company also provides crude oil stabilizers, TEG (glycol) dehydration units, physical solvent treating and NGL recovery (dewpoint control) and fractionation. Agiles ownership has over 100 years combined experience in plant design and LNG plant manufacturing. The company operates a private business complex in Midland, Texas. ESPN BROADCAST VILLAGE Congratulations to all who participated at this years World of Modular "Awards of Distinction". Triumph Modular is proud of our colleagues accomplishments and applaud their continued success. Past News Releases RSS At the 33rd Anniversary World of Modular convention, held in San Diego, the Modular Building Institute presented awards for this years best modular buildings. A prestigious panel of judges scored building entries on a number of criteria such as architectural excellence, technical innovation and sustainability and cost effectiveness. This years Awards of Distinction contest was very competitive, with over one hundred entries overall, said Tom Hardiman Executive Director of the Modular Building Institute. Our panel of independent judges had some tough choices to make, so I congratulate Triumph Modular on winning this award. The modular building construction industry is committed to setting a standard for excellence in commercial modular construction through our Awards of Distinction program, said Tom Hardiman, executive director of MBI. This years contest was particularly competitive, demonstrating that the faster, greener, smarter benefits of the modular construction process are becoming more widely accepted by owners and developers worldwide. The ESPN Broadcast Village project consisted of 2 separate buildings a 2 story broadcast media complex and a single story 12 unit administrative building. Both facilities were manufactured in the early part of summer, erected on site and completed in time for the equipment to be moved in and ready for the August 31st start of the US Open. The electrical and mechanical requirements for the broadcast media complex were highly specialized and required careful coordination by the Triumph team. Triumph used their design experience to assist in choosing durable yet attractive finishes. The 2 modular buildings will be deconstructed and reassembled yearly for the US Open. A special thank you goes out to all of our staff, sub-contractors and the excellent team at ESPN who made this possible. ESPN Broadcast Village ABOUT TRIUMPH Triumph Modular Inc. has been in business since 1981. Today we operate in two distinct markets with two separate divisions. The Permanent Modular Construction (PMC) division we are hired mostly as a Design Builder or Construction Manager to oversee and manage the design, fabrication and installation of permanent custom buildings, using the off site or accelerated form of construction. Our buildings are built to near completion in a factory and then installed on site, a process that is inherently less site disruptive and more efficient than traditional forms of construction. Our Relocatable Buildings division provides temporary space which is purposeful and fulfills the needs of our repeat customers throughout many industries. Examples of temporary modular construction include construction trailers, office space, temporary school buildings and emergency housing. Aerial shot of Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage This Ecovillage is an illustration that Zehnder systems are clearly valuable in many different types of projects, from a Habitat for Humanity project in River Falls, Wisconsin to various cohousing communities to New York City apartment buildings. After years of planning, design, and construction, Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage is complete. This 36-unit multi-generational community, located on 42 acres, has a mission to be an innovative housing model for rural Maine. The ultra-energy-efficient homes, pedestrian-friendly layout, shared common house, and preservation of land for agricultural purposes make this community a noteworthy example of environmental sustainability. All of the homes were built to the Passive House standard: they use 90% less energy to heat and cool than a typical code-built home. All feature triple-pane windows and doors, air-tight sealing, generous amounts of insulation, and a solar orientation for passive heat gain. To maintain healthy indoor air quality, each home and the common house are equipped with a Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system. Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilators and Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERV) are balanced systems that both remove stale air and provide a constant supply of fresh, filtered air into living areas (i.e., bedrooms and the living room) to ensure optimal air circulation throughout the house. By controlling the location of the fresh-air intake, Zehnder ventilation systems can eliminate unfiltered make-up air and moisture intake from wall cracks and window frames, which are often problematic in negatively pressured homes relying only on kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans for ventilation. Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage members are using HEPA-grade filters in their Zehnder HRVs to remove dust, pollen, and other pollutants from the incoming fresh air. Hans-Peter Zehnder, Chairman and fourth generation owner of the Zehnder Group (directly overseeing the American and Asian operations) and David Chouvelon, Vice President heading the Zehnder America business unit have recently toured Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage as part of a Northeast tour of Zehnder customers and installed projects. They also visited: ECOCOR, a high performance builder; Kaplan Thompson Architects, sustainable architecture and design firm, and Bensonwood, a design-build firm. This Ecovillage is an illustration that Zehnder systems are clearly valuable in many different types of projects, from a Habitat for Humanity project in River Falls, Wisconsin to various cohousing communities to New York City apartment buildings, says Hans-Peter Zehnder. It is great to see our products being used on more affordable applications and to serve as a model for other builders to follow. The homes use only electricity for space and water heating, allowing renewable energy to power the homes. To date, 22 of the 36 homes are near net zero, with solar energy producing all or most of the power. Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilators allow the homes to be both energy efficient and well ventilated because they capture up to 90% of the heat from the exhaust air before it leaves the home. During cold weather, Zehnder HRV units pre-warm incoming air from the exhaust air, reducing heating bills. During warm weather, the systems keep the homes cooler by reducing the temperature of the fresh intake air. This also helps eliminate the need for air-conditioning systems. Switches in the bathrooms and kitchen let occupants boost the ventilation system after showering or cooking. The Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage common house is used for several community meals a week and contains a large dining room, kitchen, guest bedroom, childrens playroom, and root cellar. This 4,000-square-foot structure is equipped with two Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilators to make it more adaptive to the varying levels of use that are typical for this building. Data from a carbon dioxide sensor in the large dining room determines when the Heat Recovery ventilator for that room will ramp up into a higher mode. Because carbon dioxide levels correspond with building use, the system will circulate more fresh air during times of greater occupancy. The system that ventilates the remainder of the common house can be boosted using a convenient switch. The design of the ventilation system in the common house in particular is a good example of the system engineering knowledge that we provide with our solutions, says David Chouvelon, Vice President, Head of Zehnder America. It is not only the high performance of the Zehnder HRV and ERV units that sets our company apart, but also the design work with dedicated air distribution components and silencers. The Zehnder systems throughout the community were installed by GOLogic, the design-build firm that served as the general contractor for Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage. Zehnder America provided guidance and ventilation expertise throughout the project. All 36 units in Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage are occupied, and community members are working on a variety of projects, including an on-site organic worker-share farm and increased use of on-site renewable energy. The community will host an event on the afternoon of April 30, offering tours of the high-efficiency homes, a Maypole Dance, and celebration. About Zehnder America Zehnder America Inc. provides high-quality heating and ventilation system solutions to promote comfortable, healthy, and energy-efficient indoor living. Zehnder America is a division of the Zehnder Group, a publicly traded company headquartered in Switzerland. The Zehnder Group employs 3,200 people worldwide and specializes in advanced heating, cooling, and ventilation technology, which represents 40% of the company activity. Secure, Tier 3 Capable, SSAE16 Certified Data Center Excellent forum to share experiences, lessons learned and other information relevant to defend against cybersecurity threats Quasar Data Center recently partnered with InfraGard to bolster network security by understanding the latest cybersecurity threats and mitigations. InfraGard is a partnership between the FBI and the private sector and is an association of persons who represent businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile cybersecurity threats against the U.S. The mission of the partnership is to bring together industry specialists in communications transport, Internet and Data Center Services to collaborate on best practices, experiences and techniques to protect and secure infrastructure and telecommunications transport against cyber threats. This expert body of industry professionals addresses all forms of cyber electronic intrusion by identifying predictive issues and reporting, sharing and recommending preventative actions. Overall, this is an excellent forum to share experiences, lessons learned and other information relevant to defend against cybersecurity threats, states Dr. James Peters, Quasars VP of Technology. About Quasar Data Center Quasar Data Center is located in the Binz Building at 1001 Texas Avenue in downtown, Houston, Texas. Quasar offers a wide range of 24/7 services from Co-location, Cloud Services including Desktop-As-A-Service, Infrastructure-As-A-Service, Managed Back-Up Services, Managed Virtual Firewall and Off-site Business Continuity services. Quasar provides dual underground power, redundant connectivity, primary and backup cooling, secure facility, locked cabinets, humidity control, server monitoring, troubleshooting services and more for co-location and hosting customers. Quasar also manages a Tier I Point of Presence (POP) and is capable of providing "peered" bandwidth for greater redundancy and expeditious routing. The POP makes Quasar truly Carrier Neutral and can provide customers with numerous carriers and WAN providers. For additional information, visit http://www.quasardata.com or contact: Casey Jones 713-936-0592 Work 281-787-1388 Mobile cjones(at)quasardata.com Kevin Lambert 713-936-0598 Work 832-755-2049 Mobile klambert(at)quasardata.com For over 30 years, the Irvine, California based agency, BDSmktg, has been effectively helping their clients position their brands and tell their stories at retail. Throughout their history, the BDS family of brands had grown to include three separate brands, but in 2015, BDS decided to simplify their brand story down to just one singular brand of BDSmktg and are now positioning their integrated service set as Core Solutions of Brand Advocacy, Retail Readiness, and Retail Environments. In an effort to better explain this story, BDS partnered with the award winning, Columbus, Ohio based digital marketing agency, wowbrands, to release a brand new website which launched today. "Our website visitors will now experience a more unified view of BDS," says Ken Kress, President of BDSmktg. "The redesign of the BDS site creates a streamlined story, making virtual visits more exciting and informative than ever before." Melissa Burke, Director of Marketing Services at BDS, knew the company website needed to tell the BDS story in a way that visitors could understand. The previous website featured three separate brands, which had initially been an effective platform for communicating the agencys three specialized teams. Now that we have transitioned our agency under one brand, we knew we needed to position ourselves more clearly online to attract and engage the people who are actually looking for us, said Burke. The new website, http://www.BDSmktg.com, allows users to explore the three Core Solutions offered by BDS in an organized layout. Enhanced user experience techniques were used to construct clear navigation and all the content was re-written to contextually compliment the design. Under each Core Solution an umbrella of retail marketing services exists, with clear calls to action, simple contact forms and enhanced transitions to keep users engaged. From the case studies to the intuitive services transitions, the site provides the visitor a seamless digital interaction with the brand. The site was rounded out with a custom photo shoot, intuitive login sections and a custom developed CMS framework. We were honored to take on the challenge of building the new digital face of BDS. It took a lot of research, planning, and creativity, but we believe that we have effectively captured the BDS brand story, while successfully holding the online visitors attention through an intuitive design and meaningful navigation., said Andrew Catapano, CEO of wowbrands. BDS is confident that their new website will help engage potential clients that are looking for assistance with readying retail associates, their products, their displays, and their stores; in order to both maximize sales and create an enjoyable customer buying experience. About wowbrands: wowbrands is branding and technology solutions firm based in Columbus, Ohio, offering clients unlimited project scope and resources for developing custom solutions to business problems. The services available are entirely dependent on the clients unique needs and objectives. From custom CRM systems to entire digital product catalog builds, wowbrands supplies the branding and technology solutions that move brands to their next stage of growth. About BDSmktg: BDSmktg is your trusted retail marketing partner. With over 30 years of experience guiding customers through the buying journey, we are experts at powering sales for the worlds top brands. BDS offers our clients three fully integrated core solutions that drive brand demand and sell-through: Brand Advocacy, Retail Readiness, and Retail Environments. We craft custom solutions from our suite of 18 services, and our specialized teams ensure your brand is ready for each new selling season. Founded in 1984, BDS Marketing, Inc. is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. with a regional office in Heath, Ohio. For more information, visit http://www.BDSmktg.com. People protect what they connect to. ~ Mike Kahn, Sempervirens The Web of Life Field (WOLF) School has proven that the web of life is more than just their name: its their mission! Exemplifying the impact of interconnectedness, WOLF School facilitated a field trip on March 14, 2016 which brought a group of San Jose students from Andrew Hill High School to Big Basin Redwoods State Park as part of a Sempervirens Fund initiative. The connection? Both Big Basin and Sempervirens were founded by the schools namesake, Andrew P. Hill. Andrew P. Hill (18531922) established the Sempervirens Fund in 1900, with the specific goal of protecting an expanse of old growth Redwood forest he photographed in Californias heavily logged Santa Cruz Mountains. Hills efforts led to the founding of California's first state park, now Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and subsequently the California State Park System. Today, Sempervirens continues Hills legacy, preserving and protecting the Santa Cruz Mountains coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests, wildlife habitats and watersheds, and encouraging enjoyment of this region. Though Andrew Hill High School students learn the history of their schools namesake, many never have the opportunity to experience firsthand the beauty of the redwoods that inspired such a dedication to preservation, or why it matters. Now, however, that opportunity has been realized. Thanks to donor support, Sempervirens garnered enough funding to send thirty seven 9th and 12th grade students from Andrew P. Hill High School to Big Basin, with the goal of connecting students to the lasting impact of Hills legacy and inspiring stewardship among future generations. To facilitate their goal, Sempervirens turned to WOLF School, a nonprofit organization providing K-12 outdoor science camp. Operating at multiple campuses throughout Northern California, WOLF School is headquartered in Little Basin, a 534-acre California State Parks campground that was recently added to Big Basin Redwoods State Park in part through Sempervirens Fund. This educational collaboration between WOLF School and Sempervirens furthers each organizations mission of environmental stewardship, with future plans of bringing more student groups to Big Basin through Sempervirens-funded WOLF School field trips. We are thrilled by the opportunity to help students get out and engaged, elated Mike Kahn, Communications and Outreach Manager for Sempervirens Fund. People protect what they connect to. Andrew Hill High School science teacher Bill Hink was thoughtful in his selection of students: for most, the trip marked their first to the redwoods, and he included freshman in hopes of inspiring a connection to school throughout the students high school experience. Guided by WOLF School naturalists, students walked the Redwood Loop at Big Basin to take in the beauty of the old-growth redwoods, participated in a Redwood Study to track the continued vitality of the protected forest, and visited the Sempervirens Fund room where they learned of the nonprofits continued dedication to Andrew Hills vision. As the students filed back onto the bus at the end of the day, exhilarated from their experience at Big Basin and educated on the mission of the Sempervirens Fund, the full impact was felt. The impact of action, of stewardship, of an individuals potential, and of the web of life that connects us all. For more information on WOLF School or to make a scholarship donation, visit http://www.wolfschool.org. To learn more about Sempervirens Fund, Californias oldest land trust, visit http://www.sempervirens.org. It forces us to really distill what we do down to the essence, and often brings up new ways to think about what we do...I am looking forward to this exciting interaction. TEDxASU organizers announce world-renowned virology expert, Dr. Jacobs as speaker for April 23rd event. TEDxASU organizers announced renowned researcher, Dr. Betram Jacobs as speaker for the first Arizona State University (ASU) TEDx event. Dr. Jacobs, PhD, is a professor of Virology and Director of the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. As a researcher at ASUs Biodesign Institute, his work focuses on developing a new vaccine for HIV one that prevents infection or extends the lives of HIV patients. Dr. Jacobs says it is exciting to talk to audiences who are not experts in the field of virology. It forces us to really distill what we do down to the essence, and often brings up new ways to think about what we do, says Dr. Jacobs. I am looking forward to this exciting interaction. Jacobs, is one of the worlds foremost experts on a poxvirus called vaccinia, a cousin of the smallpox virus. He has genetically engineered vaccinia as a vehicle against a number of infectious agents, bioterrorism threats, cancer, and other viruses, including HIV. Although public perception may be that viruses are something to avoid, Dr. Jacobs research is telling a different story. His talk will focus on how viruses can be one of the greatest tools in medicine going into the future. The title of his TEDxASU talk is Viruses: Infectious Medicine. TEDxASU organizer Ammar Tanveer, who is studying virology at ASU, is extremely excited to have Dr. Jacobs as one of the key speakers at the event. As a future-virologist, I love the idea of having one of the worlds foremost experts in virology speaking at the event, said Tanveer. What excites me even more is that with this talk he will be trying to educate people on the reality of viruses in society. They have such a monumental potential in medicine and science, research in this area should be encouraged on all front and that is what Dr. Jacobs will be hoping to impart on his audience. The TEDxASU event will be held Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 10am-2pm in the Marsten Theatre on Arizona State Universitys Tempe campus. Those interested in attending the event may find the most up-to-date information at http://tedxasu.com/ and by following the official event Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1667297800192432/permalink/1677739139148298/. A web address for the online livestream of the event is expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks. TEDx events are known for attracting speakers with some of the most innovative, progressive ideas. This event will feature six speakers from various disciplines who are all leaders in their respective fields. Other speakers announced are: author, speaker, entrepreneur, emergency medicine physician and lawyer, Dr. John Shufeldt and Arizona State Universitys Mary Lou Fulton College of Teacher Education and Leadership, Dr. Mari Koerner, PhD. For media inquiries about TEDxASU, contact Melody Serafino at TEDxPR(at)ted(dot)com. About TEDxASU Arizona State University is the New American University, a model developed by ASUs President Michael Crow that re-conceptualizes the current standard of higher education. With this model, ASU seeks to be defined by the students it includes rather than excludes, its impact on the public good and its responsibility for the broader community. In this spirit of innovation, ASU brings together brilliant thinkers from a host of fields to discuss their groundbreaking research and ideas in TEDxASU. This eye-opening, half-day conference offers its attendees the opportunity to listen to individuals who have redefined their respective fields. It is our hope that participants will leave with the desire to become disruptive leaders in their corresponding disciplines About LeadershipYOU The goal of LeadershipYOU is to help individuals have an amazing life. The project uses multiple media platforms including a book, website, and MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) to guide, and inspire, individuals on their journey to living a life in which they will find satisfaction and success. The LeadershipYOU project was created by author, speaker, entrepreneur, doctor, pilot Dr. John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP, who shares inspirational and instructional stories not only from his own life, but also of other self-leaders. Using a variety of communication platforms, Dr. Shufeldt breaks down the leadership qualities and skills necessary for attaining ones most amazing future. You can find more information on LeadershipYOU at leadershipyou(dot)com. About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.) About TED TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today's leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED's annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman. Chris Christini We are absolutely thrilled to be visited by one of the most respected chefs in the industry. The one and only Chef Emeril Lagasse recently paid a visit to the renowned Christinis Ristorante Italiano to tape a segment for Emerils Florida, a premier show which airs on the Cooking Channel. Chef Lagasse spends time with owner/restaurateur Chris Christini to enjoy spectacular, authentic Northern Italian cuisine and to talk about Chris history and philosophy about what it takes to make a very successful restaurant. Be sure to tune in to see some of the other celebrities and dignitaries that have been drawn in by Christinis outstanding reputation. We are absolutely thrilled to be visited by one of the most respected chefs in the industry, said Chris Christini, owner of Christinis Ristorante Italiano. It was our privilege to prepare and serve Chef Emeril some of our favorite dishes while sharing our rich history with him and his viewers. Since 1984, Christinis has been serving the Orlando area with genuine Italian cuisine in an award-winning setting with the best service and food available in Central Florida. Christinis attention to detail and 45 years of experience in fine dining culminate in an astounding experience that has made the restaurant one of the most awarded establishments in Orlando. The satisfaction and delight of the patrons bring them back time and time again. Reservations are strongly suggested. Call Christinis Ristorante Italiano at 407-583-4472. For more information about Christinis, including the menu, private dining options, and directions, please visit the website at http://www.christinis.com. View a clip from the show by clicking here. About Christinis Ristorante Italiano Christinis has become the definition of fine dining in Orlando, known for their quintessential service and high-quality, classic Northern Italian cuisine. Superb dishes, excellent service, and a transcendent and comfortable ambiance all blend together to construct the definition of fine dining. Along with their distinguished service and high-quality dishes, they also have an award-winning selection of the finest wines from around the world, including Italy, California, France, Chile, Australia, and Germany, which complement your entire dining experience. Featuring authentic Italian cuisines and wine, Christinis is the epitome of fine dining and is dedicated to providing guests with excellence through every facet of their dining experience. View our commercial by clicking here. Mumbai: Shahid Kapoor, who is currently shooting for his next Rangoon, has maintained a rugged officer look for the film. With his sleek moustache and cropped hair, Shahid garnered a lot of attention for his look in the film. However, in the recently shared picture by Shahid, we see Bollywoods hot hunk in a completely different avatar. Shahid decided to go shirtless as he posed in front of a mirror. The actor is seen sporting long locks and stubble beard, which just add an extra charm to Shahids intriguing personality. Coming soon. A photo posted by Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) on Mar 30, 2016 at 3:08am PDT Vishal Bharadwajs upcoming film 'Rangoon' has been in news ever since it has been announced. The movie brings together three stellar performers namely Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Kangana Ranaut. Not much is known about 'Rangoon' other than that it is set during the World War II. The film will also star Kangana Ranaut and Saif Ali Khan. The three will also be seen caught in a love-triangle of sorts. Kangana had called this film a passionate love story. "It is a film which is set in the 1940s during the World War II. It is about three characters and one of them is a superstar and her mentor, who she is romantically involved with. Another one is a soldier. It is about INA, independence and so many other things. It is a very passionate love story," Kangana had said during an interview. The film, which is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj will release on September 30. We wanted to come up with a name that supports new lines of business and works in conjunction with the core values of the GIA master brand. Rocky Mountain Fire and Casualty, a stock company wholly owned by Grange Insurance Association (GIA), has been rebranded Granwest Property & Casualty. We are excited to integrate Granwest Property & Casualty into our overall vision for the GIA brand, said Ryan Dudley, President and CEO of Grange Insurance Association. The company has been renamed to accommodate new and expanding lines of business, beginning with GIAs introduction of its new auto program (Auto 2.0). A name is the first point of contact people have with a company, said Steve Stogner, Vice President of Marketing. As such, we wanted to come up with a name that supports new lines of business and works in conjunction with the core values of the GIA master brand. Stogner and his team embarked on an exhaustive process evaluating potential company names against a framework that included key criteria such as ease of pronunciation, familiarity of words and concepts, personality, appearance, and overall uniqueness. We wanted a solid name that our agents can stand behind and that reflects our capabilities, said Stogner. The word gran is a shortened form of the Spanish word grande which most people recognize as great or big. It is also from the Latin granum which means kernel or seed and is a nod to GIAs strength in farming and agriculture. And west is more than just a geographical concept; it is also a spirit, a sense of exploration and expansion that reflects our companys 120 years of history. After being fully vetted internally, the name underwent full legal trademark screening. The process concluded with the decision to formally rename Rocky Mountain Fire & Casualty to Granwest Property & Casualty. The look and feel of Granwest Property & Casualty will mirror that of GIA; both companies will share the blue and green logo which was designed to represent a bridge between the companys agricultural roots and its future as a financially strong and growing insurance company. The Granwest name has tested exceedingly well with multiple audiences, said Dudley. We are confident that it will serve our company, our agents, and our customers very well in both the short- and long-term. ### About Grange Insurance Association Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Grange Insurance Association is a regional mutual property-casualty company operating in six Western states (CA, CO, ID, OR, WA and WY). GIA offers auto, home, farm, orchard and vineyard insurance, and more. Learn about GIAs history and services by visiting its website: http://www.grange.com. About Rocky Mountain Fire & Casualty Company Rocky Mountain Fire & Casualty Company offers personal and commercial insurance products. The company was founded in 1959 and is based in Seattle, Washington. Rocky Mountain Fire & Casualty Company operates as a subsidiary of Grange Insurance Association. In celebration of National Hospital Week, Opelousas General Health System will host the 9th Annual Community Health Fair on Saturday, April 30, 2016 at OGHS South Campus located at 3983 I-49 S. Service Road in Opelousas. It will be held from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Area health care businesses throughout St. Landry and beyond will be joining OGHS in offering free screenings, tests and other medical information to the community. Featured screenings include: cholesterol, glucose, lung function, blood pressure, vision including glaucoma, balance, hearing, body composition, sleep disorders, grip strength, cardiovascular, depression, metabolic age and more. There will also be a demonstration on how to perform Hands Only CPR. This year, free scoliosis screenings will be available for children under 18 years of age. Lifeshare Blood Center will be taking blood donations and anemia screenings. Both the Louisiana State Fire Marshall and the Opelousas Fire Department will have educational demonstrations on fire safety. The Opelousas Fire Department will have their smoke house that teaches children what to do in case of a fire in their home. The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries will provide information on life jacket safety, The Louisiana Senior Medicare Patrol will be on site and free smoking cessation enrollment will be offered... Community Medical Research will be screening individuals to find out if they qualify for free clinical trials. Visit the Pink Booth to find out if you qualify for a free mammogram and pick up breast health educational material. Apply for a free smoke detector. Free body mass index readings and counseling will be available along with nutrition, wellness and other health information. There will also be a Kids Corner with activities and educational sessions for children sponsored by the Youth Leadership Council of the Opelousas/St. Landry Chamber of Commerce. Several health professionals will be on site to analyze results and answer questions regarding the screenings and door prizes will be given away throughout the morning. For more information call Carol Duplechain at 948-5157. Teaching & Learning for the 21st Century Educational systems are trying to close the gap between aspirations and classroom practice, in different ways and to differing degrees. Preparing students to thrive in the 21st century will be the topic of a book launch and discussion by experts from the Harvard Global Education Innovation Initiative, a research collaborative housed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, which includes cooperation with research institutions in Singapore, India, China, Chile and Mexico. EVENT REGISTRATION: The event is Monday, April 11, at 8:30 a.m. at the National Press Club. The media and public are invited to attend. Space is limited and pre-registration is requested. Click here to register. Presenting at the event will be Professor Fernando Reimers and Dr. Connie Chung from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, as well as Professors Oon Sen Tang and Ee Ling Low from the National Institute of Education in Singapore. The presentation of the findings will be followed by discussion from: Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and current President of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Deborah Delisle Assistant Secretary for International Affairs for the Department of Homeland Security and former California Secretary of Education Alan Bersin Illinois Teacher of the Year in 2007 and President of the Teacher of the Year Organization Joe Fatheree The Global Education Innovation Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education supports the development of global education leadership for 21st century education by conducting research on innovative practices, training leaders, and creating a dynamic learning network of global partners interested in educational innovation. This book presents research results from their ongoing cross-national research on how different national education systems prepare the young with the competencies they need to thrive in the 21st century. While the phrase 21st century education often means an education that involves technology, the researchers have found that the kinds of competencies needed for work and life during a century that will likely be defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity encompass far more than technological competencies, the authors said. In the new book, Teaching and Learning for the Twenty-First Century: Educational Goals, Policies, and Curricula from Six Nations (Harvard Education Press, 2016), Fernando Reimers and Connie K. Chung collaborated with researchers from Chile, China, India, Mexico and Singapore for more than 18 months to synthesize research on 21st century skills and analyze national curriculum frameworks using a taxonomy reflecting that synthesis. They also conducted case studies to discern what factors had shaped the goals and purposes of public education in the countries studied. The book may be ordered here: http://hepg.org/hep-home/books/teaching-and-learning-for-the-twenty-first-century In particular, Chung and Reimers explored how national curricular frameworks and policies from these five countries and the United States prioritize, define, support and encourage the competencies that students need to thrive in the 21st century. While discussions about educational policies are not new, there exists little research that looks at the mechanisms by which these goals and purposes of education are made into policy and prioritized to help develop and support relevant competencies in students, Chung said. We know even less about how these processes and skills may be influenced by social, political and other system contexts. Across the globe, educational systems have broadened their goals to include competencies beyond the traditional literacies of math, reading, science and history. They may, for example, include a particular focus on citizenship, as in Chile or Singapore, or they may include teaching higher order thinking skills, as in China or the United States. Our study found that as the learning goals were broadened in these countries, educational systems are trying to close the gap between aspirations and classroom practice, in different ways and to differing degrees, Reimers said. "Doing so successfully will require a different kind of leadership than the leadership which has been successful expanding access to schools. The challenge now is to go beyond making education systems inclusive and efficient, to making them relevant to the needs of the 21st century. Chung is the Research Director for the Global Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Reimers is the Ford Foundation Professor of Practice in International Education and the director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative and the International Education Policy Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. ABOUT THE GLOBAL EDUCATION INNOVATION INITIATIVE The Global Education Innovation Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education is a research and practice collaborative established in 2013, with partner institutions in seven countries. Our goal is to understand in what ways K-12 education institutions are equipping youth with the competencies necessary for life, work, and civic participation in the 21st century. (http://globaled.gse.harvard.edu/) ABOUT CREATIVE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL Creative Associates International is a cosponsor of the April 11 event. Its CEO and Co-Founder, Charito Kruvant, is a frequent lecturer at Harvard. Creative supports communities in the transition from conflict to peace by sharing expertise and experience in education, economic growth, governance and stabilization. (http://www.CreativeAssociatesInternational.com) Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has active projects in more than 25 countries. Since 1977, it has worked in nearly 90 countries and on almost every continent. Creative is committed to generating long-term sustainable solutions to complex development problems. Started by four enterprising women with diverse backgrounds, Creative has grown to become one of the leaders among the U.S. private sector implementers of global development projects. Creative is minority owned and operated. EVENT REGISTRATION: The media and public are invited to attend. Space is limited and pre-registration is requested. Click here to register: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07ecdnhp5617d01ab2&oseq=&c=&ch= As the need to monitor and secure Americas borders intensifies, Coral Gables, Florida-based Altametry, Inc., unveils its new ALTA Tactical SmartBalloon system at the 2016 Southwest Border Security Week conference at the Casa De Palmas Renaissance hotel from March 30 to April 1. ALTA Systems are created to provide cost efficient Persistent Low Altitude Surveillance (PLAS) capabilities to law enforcement, public safety, and homeland security agencies by day or night. Each ALTA Tactical SmartBalloon system is composed of a micro-sized tethered aerostat PLAS platform designed to be highly portable and provide sustained surveillance for extended mission sets across a wide variety of terrain and environments. Altametry has partnered with conference sponsor BluTek Solutions to showcase the ALTA BatVu and ALTA TriVu SmartBalloons at the Texas event. The mission to secure Americas borders has been catapulted into the spotlight of the national security agenda, says Dr. Bertrand Dano, Chief Scientist for Altametry. ALTA Tactical SmartBalloons provide operators the capability to conduct effective Persistent Low Altitude Surveillance coverage by day or night in targeted areas requiring fixed aerial monitoring for extended durations. The ALTA TriVu is a daytime and low-light system offering PLAS through three separate high definition cameras operating at various focal lengths. The TriVu system provides full audio and video recording of the targeted area, as well as a live, encrypted data feed sent to command and control units. The ALTA BatVu is a nighttime system boasting FLIR thermal imaging capabilities accompanied by two low light, high definition cameras recording audio/video and also allowing for an encrypted data feed to ground commanders. There is extensive demand for cutting-edge aerial surveillance systems like ALTA by law enforcement agencies throughout the world, states Dennis Weiner, President, BluTek Solutions. We are excited to introduce the ALTA Tactical SmartBalloon system into the marketplace as a well-built, cost effective, and American made solution for providing Persistent Low Altitude Surveillance. Altametry, Inc. is a privately held aerospace technology company headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. Altametry is the creator and manufacturer of ALTA branded SmartBalloon products. The ALTA Vu line of SmartBalloons is current serving the academic research, agriculture, consumer hobbyist, maritime, photography, and public safety industries. Altametrys ALTA Tactical division specializes in providing Persistent Low Altitude Surveillance (PLAS) solutions for law enforcement, homeland security, and defense mission requirements. For information on ALTA Tactical, please visit altatactical.com. Learn more about Altametry at altametry.com cStor announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named cStor to its 2016 Tech Elite 250 list. This annual list honors an exclusive group of North American IT solution providers that have earned the highest number of advanced technical certifications from leading technology vendors. To compile the annual list, The Channel Companys research group and CRN editors work together to identify the most customer-beneficial technical certifications in the North American IT channel. Companies who have obtained these elite designations which enable solution providers to deliver premium products, services and customer supportare then selected from a pool of online applicants. cStor is dedicated to providing our employees with ongoing technical training and certification from industry leading vendors. We view this as a commitment to our clients, providing them with greater value and ensuring them that we are on top of the latest standards and technology. Were honored to be chosen for the Tech Elite 250, commented Larry Gentry, cStor President and CEO. Since our inception, we have focused on providing our employees with in-depth training and certification programs. When combined with our employees extensive, hands-on technical experience, cStor is well equipped to develop and implement the forward-thinking solutions needed to solve our clients greatest IT challenges. The solution providers selected for our annual Tech Elite 250 list have demonstrated a commitment to excellence and gained strong industry credibility by earning some of the most difficult IT certifications available from top technology vendors, said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. Attainment of these exclusive certifications strengthens the channel as a whole by invigorating partnerships and enabling the delivery of exceptional customer service. We congratulate each of these organizations and look forward to their continued success. Coverage of the Tech Elite 250 will be featured in the April issue of CRN, and online at http://www.crn.com. About cStor cStor helps companies strategize, create, and implement data center and cloud solutions that help clients use IT to enable business transformation, reduce costs and gain competitive advantage. cStors proven capabilities with key data center and cloud technologies gives clients the ability to collaborate with certified experts, and the confidence to move business forward faster and more efficiently than ever before. cStor serves clients across the southwest region with a focused, collaborative approach and superior results. For more information, visit http://www.cstor.com. About the Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. http://www.thechannelco.com CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. The Channel Company logo is a trademark of The Channel Company, LLC (registration pending). All rights reserved. Joseph F. Finn, Jr. C.P.A. ("Finn") of the firm Finn, Warnke & Gayton, LLP ("FWG"), announced today that Vector Neurosciences LLP. of Livingston, NJ (Vector) has retained FWG to offer for sale certain patents, intellectual property and other assets formerly owned by Neurologix, Inc. (Neurologix) in which Vector possesses a security interest. Vector recently acquired rights to the patents, intellectual property and other assets from the senior lenders and noteholders of Neurologix, which Vector will offer for sale at a public auction to be held on Thursday April 14, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at the offices of McCarter & English, LLP, 100 Mulberry Street, Four Gateway Center, Newark, New Jersey. Vector reserves the right to credit bit on the patents, intellectual property and other assets up to the amount of $9,923,559.22. The Neurologix assets offered for sale include the patents and intellectual property described below, as well as accounts, general intangibles, clinical trial data and records, and equipment. Also included are additional files, records, office equipment and certain tangible personal property formerly used by Neurologix (certain physical assets located in West Berlin, NJ). The intellectual property of Neurologix included in the offer for sale consists of certain patents, patent applications, and rights under certain patent licensing agreements. By serial number, the patents include No. 6,436,708 (Delivery System for Gene Therapy to the Brain), No. 7,527,785 (Novel Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase Chimera and Methods of Use), and No. 7,723,288 (Methods and compositions for the treatment of neurological disease). By serial number, the patent applications include Nos. 2004281764(AU) & 04795081.1(EP) (Methods and compositions for the treatment of neurological disease), No. 12/714,613 (Methods and compositions for the treatment of neurological disease), No. 10/769,182 (Methods and Compositions for use in Interventional Pharmacogenomics), No. 11/255,637 (Use of Apoptosis Inhibiting Compound in Neurological Disorders), Nos. 06 77 1671.2 (EU) & 2610164 (CA) (Novel Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase Chimera and Methods of Use), No. 12/409,837 (Novel Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase Chimera and Methods of Use), No. 11/888,556 (Novel Consensus GAD and Methods of Use), No. 12/261,451 (A Novel Gene Therapy Approach for Treating The Metabolic Disorder Obesity), No. 12/433,098 (A Novel Gene Therapy Approach for Treating The Metabolic Disorder Obesity), No. 61/301,396 (Production of Recombinant Virus). Also being sold are rights to use certain third party patents (as qualified, limited, or restricted by certain licensing agreements) including Nos. 6,156,535 & 6,159,948 (Mammalian IAP gene family, primers, probes and detection methods). The patents, intellectual property and other assets included in the sale will be sold at a public auction to be held on Thursday, April 14, 2016 at 10:00 am at the offices of McCarter & English, LLP, 100 Mulberry Street, Four Gateway Center, Newark, New Jersey. Persons interested in bidding must sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement ("NDA") before receiving a bid package. The NDA may be obtained by contacting FWG IPSaleServices(at)finnwarnkegayton(dot)com or (781) 237 8840. Bid packages including more specific information on the patents (including any corresponding foreign issued patents), intellectual property and other assets being offered for sale will be provided by email upon receipt of an executed NDA. About Finn, Warnke & Gayton, LLP: Joseph F. Finn, Jr. C.P.A., is the founding partner of Finn, Warnke & Gayton, LLP (http://www.finnwarnkegayton.com) Certified Public Accountants of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. FWG has liquidated a number of patent portfolios specific to CNS, and gene therapies. For further information, please contact Joseph F. Finn, Jr. C.P.A. at (781) 237 8840 or jffinnjr(at)finnwarnkegayton(dot)com. SOURCE Joseph F. Finn, Jr. C.P.A. The Apartment Association of New Mexico partners with Cozy to provide Modern Property Management Cozy's mission is to bring peace of mind to renters and property managers by solving the biggest headaches, from rental application to move out. Cozy, a leading provider of property management software, has partnered with the Apartment Association of New Mexico to bring modern rent collection and screening tools to AANM members. The AANM serves about 725 individuals and companies, which own or manage more than 53,000 apartment homes in New Mexico. Like most landlords around the country, the property managers of New Mexico still regularly deal with late rent, paper checks, and tenants who slip through the screening process. The AANM chose Cozy to help their members avoid these pitfalls, and to provide them with the tools needed to be successful. Cozy's mission is to bring peace of mind to renters and property managers by solving the biggest headaches, from rental application to move out," says Gino Zahnd, CEO and Co-founder of Cozy. The partnership will help AANM members access Cozys free core services, including: Secure online rent collection Easy online rental applications Comprehensive credit reports, identity verification, and background checks Syndicated rental listings on Realtor.com and Doorsteps.com Property management tools that work on any device Property managers across the country typically save thousands of dollars a year by automating their business with Cozy. Not only does Cozy allow them to eliminate redundant tools and services, but many managers immediately see fewer late rent payments when tenants start paying rent online through Cozy. Cozy provides bank-level security and meets stringent data security and privacy standards in the credit, finance, and identity sectors. And Cozy alleviates the burden of handling, processing, and storing sensitive applicant information, while still providing comprehensive credit reports and background checks, at no cost to landlords. Earlier this year, Cozy announced partnerships with the National Association of Realtors and Move, a tremendous show of industry trust. The partnership with the AANM represents another important step toward empowering landlords and property managers around the country. As Cozy continues to raise the standard for rental management services across the U.S., we will continue to partner with other rental housing associations, Zahnd says. Our partnership with AANM is one proud step in that direction. During the next few months, Cozy will host a series of educational workshops exclusively for AANM members. These workshops will cover a variety of best practices designed to help their members become more profitable and successful. If you or your local Housing Association would like to partner with Cozy, please contact us at hello(at)cozy(dot)co. About Cozy Cozy (http://www.cozy.co) makes renting easy for landlords, property managers, and tenants. Simple rent payments, online rental applications, and secure tenant screening make Cozy the best way for managers and renters to interact through the entire rental lifecycle. Cozy is currently used by more than 125,000 property managers, landlords, and tenants in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico. Founded in 2013, Cozy is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Clay was fantastic to work with! He came to us with a clear vision of his desires which made the process easy and enjoyable.." touts Sue Lewis, Primus Dental Design and Construction Past News Releases RSS Clay and Associates DDS, PLC Will... Clay And Associates DDS, PLC... After making due with an under-sized facility, Dr. Clay determined it was time to consider building a new facility in order to better meet patient needs. That meant not only updating the technology and space, but providing an office that was aesthetically pleasing as well. Primus Dental Design and Construction was selected as the perfect partnership for the project. Dr. Clay came to Primus Dental Design and Construction with a vision of a nice commercial space that offered a homey atmosphere. It was important to maintain a professional office appearance, but also fit in well with the surrounding residential area. The cedar shake and stone exterior along with white trim tie beautifully and seamlessly into the existing neighborhood. Interior design highlights include stone accents at the entry and seating areas, and arched entries into the treatment rooms that complement the free standing dental cabinets. The warm wood tones and subtle paint colors throughout give the office that desired home-like feel. Not to overlook the younger patients, Dr. Clay requested a childrens area designed specifically for them. This playful area has built-in games on both the floor and the walls. The fully modern office boasts 12 treatments rooms along with brand new x-ray, lab, sterilization, and related equipment. Henry Schein Dental is the supplier for dental equipment. Dr. Clay was fantastic to work with! He came to us with a clear vision of his desires which made the process easy and enjoyable. His easy-going and caring nature not only made him a delight to work with, but is evident in his design ideas that were largely patient comfort driven. touts Sue Lewis with Primus Dental Design and Construction. Projects like this are routinely partnered with the area contractors along with recommendations from the client, and the Clay and Associates DDS, PLC clinic was no different. Site work, framing materials, electrical, plumbing and HVAC along with some of the interior finishes and landscaping were all provided by local Fort Dodge companies and contractors. Patrick Leiting with Carpet World Flooring America describes the flooring used at Clay and Associates DDS, PLC. Milliken Commercial Carpet Tile was installed throughout all offices, common areas and corridors; a commercial wood grain luxury vinyl plank in all exam suites and main lab; a commercial stained concrete luxury vinyl tile in breakroom/bathroom; a slate porcelain tile in restroom; and a walk-off commercial tile in both entries. Windows for the new clinic were supplied by Pella Windows. For this building, Pella Impervia Fiberglass windows were used for all the exterior openings. The Pella Impervia Fiberglass windows are built from a Duracast material, a Pella patented, five-layer engineered fiberglass composite, ideally suited for all climates. This series of window was chosen by Primus Dental Design and Construction due to extreme durability and low maintenance of the fiberglass product, as well as Pella's Limited Lifetime Warranty. Doyle Excavation was hired to do the site work, storm sewer, water services, sewer services, and exterior paving. The excavation side of our company did the work with Jason Doyle in charge. The general contractor was really good to work with. The project went very well and working with general contractor and the owner was a pleasure, states Mike Doyle, Owner of Doyle Excavation. The local Beisser Lumber provided framing lumber/wall & roof sheathing/roof trusses, roof shingles, metal soffit & fascia, vinyl shake siding for gable ends and miscellaneous exterior trim items. The roof shingles used are from Owens/Corning, and are a specialty shingle designed to withstand major hailstorms. In the Fort Dodge area hail is a fairly common occurrence and the storm in June of 2014 resulted in the replacement of hundreds of shingles on roofs all over Fort Dodge. This was one of the concerns in designing the new clinic. Beisser Lumber helped to address that concern by providing these specialty shingles. Other area contractors included Bemrich Electric who provided electrical and phone system services and Riley Armstrong Plumbing and Heating for the plumbing and HVAC services. Great Western Bank saw the vision of Dr. John Clay as not only a great partnership but a valued addition to the Fort Dodge community. Kirk Yung, Group President with Great Western Bank states, Great Western Bank in Fort Dodge provided financing for Dr. Clays new office and is proud to be associated with the project. Clay and Associates DDS, PLC new clinic is open and taking new patients. Extended hours along with the addition of dental associates and a pediatric dentist are just a few examples of the expanded services now available. The new clinic is located at 1905 North 15th Street, Fort Dodge, IA. For additional information call 515-573-7601, visit them at http://www.johnclaydds.com and follow along with Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Rabbi Michael Goldman Our goal is to create a society, starting with the organized Jewish community, in which dementia is talked about, demystified and seen as just another kind of disability deserving accommodation. Rabbi Goldman will discuss dementia and the Jewish community. The event will be held at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York. Rabbi Michael Goldman is the Creator & Director of Seivah, and has been working to raise awareness about faith-based initiatives to combat dementia since its founding in 2015. Seivah recruits volunteers to help older adults who suffer from dementia as well as the caregivers and family members who treat them. From their website: Seivah and its volunteers help people with early-stage dementia to create a plan for maintaining long-term spiritual healthOur goal is to create a society, starting with the organized Jewish community, in which dementia is talked about, demystified and seen as just another kind of disability deserving accommodation. DOROT, a social service agency located in Manhattan, has had a dynamic program in Westchester since 2004, and has been working to help older adults remain valued members of their communities since 1976. Building Community One Experience at a Time is a collaborative lecture series supported by eight synagogues and Jewish agencies in Westchester. Sponsored by UJA-Federation in Westchester, it hosts lectures that address issues related to special needs in the Jewish community. Rabbi Goldmans talk on Seivah: Jewish Life Beyond Memory is free to attend. For more information about the event, or to register, please contact Lindsay Smith, Development Officer at DOROT at Lsmith(at)dorotusa(dot)org. DOROT alleviates social isolation among the elderly and provides services to help them live independently as valued members of the community. If you or someone you know could use DOROTs help, please visit our website or call at: (212) 769-2850. WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest Were thrilled and honored to have poet laureate Amit Majmudar judge our poetry chapbook contest. Ohios Poet Laureate Amit Majmudar to Judge the WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest Amit Majmudar, the first poet laureate of Ohio, will judge the WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest. The son of immigrants, Majmudar stepped into the national spotlight recently when he attended the televised Democratic Presidential Town Hall in Columbus, Ohio, and questioned former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders about their strategies for defeating Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. Majmudar was appointed in 2015 to the two-year honorary position of poet laureate by Ohios Republican governor, John Kasich. ******* "The most important question of the 2016 presidential campaign was asked by an Indian American doctor and poet named Amit Majmudar. TIME 03/17/2016 ******** The WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook contest is hosted by Writers Relief, Inc., an author submission service. The chapbook contest runs to May 25, 2016. The winning poet will receive a $500 cash prize; publication of the poetry chapbook in both print and e-book formats; Amazon distribution for Kindle and print; and 25 free print copies. Offering both print and e-book publication makes the WaterSedge contest a bit unique, said Writers Reliefs president, Ronnie Smith. Most writing contests only offer either print or e-book publication, not both. Were expecting a lot of interest and participation. The contest is limited to poetry chapbooks 24- 48 pages in length, and the entry fee is $20. For complete contest submission guidelines, visit http://writersrelief.com/watersedge-poetry-chapbook-contest/ or call toll free (866) 405-3003. Were thrilled and honored to have poet laureate Amit Majmudar judge our poetry chapbook contest, added Smith. Majmudar is the author of two novels and several poetry collections. He was a finalist for a Poetry Society of Americas Norma Faber First Book Award, and his poetry was selected for a Donald Justice prize. His most recent collection of poems, Dothead, was published on March 29. Majmudars poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry Magazine, and The Antioch Review. His work has been featured in several anthologies, including Best of the Best American Poetry, 1988-2012. Since 1994, the Writers Relief office has been located a stones throw from the New Jersey Meadowlands: a large ecosystem of wetlands in the metropolitan region and an important bird habitat. The water sedge is one of several endangered plant species struggling to survive in this environment. The efforts of water sedge to flourish despite difficult odds seems kindred in spirit to poets hoping to successfully publish their poetry books and chapbooks in an uncooperative publishing environment, noted Smith. With the WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest, we hope to help poets thrive and succeed. Writers Relief helps writers achieve their publishing goals by expertly targeting their work to literary agents and editorswith no submission spam, ever; building author websites; and guiding writers through the self-publishing process. You can learn more about Writers Relief here: http://writersrelief.com/ Contact info: Ronnie Smith, President, Writers Relief, Inc. Ronnie(at)wrelief(dot)com 207 Hackensack Street Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075 (866) 405-3003 (toll-free) END ### Aamir and Sunnys friendship began early this January, when the actor came to her rescue after an infamous television interview. Photo: Viral Bhayani Early this year Aamir Khan and Sunny Leone made headline, when the Bollywood superstar extended an offer to work on a film with the beauty. Well, it sure looks like Aamir intends to stick by his word. Last evening, the actor held a private bash at his residence in Mumbai, which saw a number of Bollywood personalities. Surprisingly, Sunny Leone and her husband Daniel Webber also made it on the guest list. The actress, who will be seen in a special song sequence in Shah Rukh Khans Raees, was all smiles as she attended the bash. Sunny and Daniel at Aamir Khan's party While we do know that Sunny is a big fan of Aamirs work, and that the two have had only praises for each other, last evening marked the first time we caught the two together. Aamir and Sunnys friendship began early this year when the actor came to her rescue after an infamous television interview. In the interview, which garnered a lot of negative attention on social media and flak from Bollywood celebrities, Sunny was asked if Aamir would want to work with her keeping her past profession in mind. A shocked and hurt Sunny responded with a no. Angered by the interview, Aamir went on record to say that he would love to work with Sunny, if she was ready and also if there is was a right script. Can we expect to see Sunny make a special appearance in Aamirs Dangal, or could there be another film in the works? SourceLink Logo David's industry expertise in financial services marketing, specifically from the perspective of a direct marketing firm, is unique in this space, and we see his addition making an immediate impact in how we best service our clients. SourceLink, an industry-leading multichannel marketing services firm and statement solutions provider, announces the addition of David Funsten as SourceLinks Vice President of Financial Services Strategy. Funsten joins the SourceLink Strategy & Insight Team, specifically focusing on the marketing and strategy needs of banks, credit unions and consumer lending companies. Prior to joining SourceLink, Funsten has a rich background working in leadership positions for large direct marketing agencies. Directly preceding his role at SourceLink, Funsten served as Vice President and Senior Strategist at Harte Hanks, focusing on customer journey mapping for financial services clients. Funsten has over 25 years experience in database marketing and customer relationship management systems, with a focus on direct mail and digital marketing programs, making him an ideal fit for SourceLinks data-centric marketing approach. Funsten joins the SourceLink team with a focus on further building out SourceLinks offerings to financial services prospects and clients. SourceLink continues to invest in subject matter expertise for financial services with the hiring of Funsten, who will be able to immediately impact SourceLink client needs. Funsten will be part of SourceLinks Corporate Leadership Team, and will work directly with SourceLinks Chief Executive Officer, Don Landrum. We are thrilled to add Dave to our Financial Services Strategy Team, shared Don Landrum, SourceLinks Chief Executive Officer. His industry expertise in financial services marketing, specifically from the perspective of a direct marketing firm, is unique in this space, and we see his addition making an immediate impact in how we best service our clients. Funsten is a regular speaker at Bank Administration Institute (BAI), Direct Marketing Association (DMA), American Marketing Association, and regional marketing association conferences. He has authored numerous whitepapers and publications on financial services marketing and customer relationship management. About SourceLink SourceLink, a top-five ranked Direct Marketing agency, creates results-driven communication solutions. Combining strengths in marketing analytics, data intelligence, technology and production expertise, SourceLink crafts and executes data-driven direct marketing and document outsourcing solutions. SourceLinks analytic and communication solutions improve marketing ROI through greater relevance and increased response. On the production side, SourceLink solutions reduce costs through more efficient operations and postal optimization. SourceLink operates in four U.S. locations. For more information, visit http://www.sourcelink.com. We are proud to join SUN n FUN in honoring active-duty military personnel and veterans. This partnership is an ideal match. Lazydays, The RV Authority and worlds largest RV dealership, has once again partnered with SUN n FUN for the organizations 42nd Annual International Fly-In and Expo. The six-day event takes place April 510 in Lakeland, FL with proceeds benefitting SUN n FUNs Aerospace Center for Excellence (ACE). ACE supports aviation-related science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education as well as numerous community activities. An estimated 200,000 participantsincluding pilots, aviation enthusiasts, exhibitors and RVersare expected to attend this years Fly-In and Expo. Featured activities include daytime and evening airshow performances, dozens of daily educational forums, workshops and presentations, aerospace displays and exhibits, and a classic car and motorcycle show. The theme of this years Fly-In is Honoring Our Armed Forces. A Flight to Honor carrying World War II and Korean War veterans will arrive from Washington, D.C., around 6 p.m. on April 7. Active-duty military personnel and veterans are eligible for free and/or discounted admission to the multi-day event. As the exclusive RV sponsor of the 2016 Fly-In and Expo, Lazydays is providing several RVs to serve as hospitality stations and mobile offices for SUN n FUN staff during the event. The Tampa RV dealership will also have an RV display from its wide selection of RVs for sale along Rocky Road near the Convention Campground. On April 9 and 10, Lazydays representatives will host giveaways at the main entrance area from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attendees can speak with Lazydays RV experts for more information on the Tampa dealerships RV selection, services and repairs, accessories, and RV Resort, which is just a half-hour drive from the Fly-In. Lazydays is excited to be part of the International Fly-In and Expo once again, said John Lebbad, Chief Marketing Officer for Lazydays. We are proud to join SUN n FUN in honoring active-duty military personnel and veterans. This partnership is an ideal match. We look forward to connecting with the more than 200,000 attendees, including 1,500+ RVers and campers at the event. We are pleased to have Lazydays join us in welcoming aviation enthusiasts to the International Fly-In and Expo, which is the largest airshow of its kind in Florida and the second largest in the world, said Greg Gibson, Director of Operations for SUN n FUN. The Fly-In always draws a large contingent of RVers who are able to get the most out of the event by camping right here on the convention grounds. Lazydays is a renowned expert in RV travel with a reputation for exceptional customer service, and our guests will benefit greatly by having them onsite. About Lazydays Lazydays, founded in 1976, is the worlds largest RV dealership. Based on 126 acres outside Tampa, FL since 1996, Lazydays also has dealerships located in Tucson, AZ as well as three dealerships located in Loveland, Aurora and Longmont, CO. Lazydays RV Accessories & More offers more than 20,000 accessories online for your shopping convenience. Shop us online or visit one of our store locations in Florida, Arizona and Colorado. Lazydays has the largest selection of RV brands in the nation featuring more than 2,500 new and pre-owned RVs, over 300 service bays and two on-site campgrounds with over 700 RV campsites. Lazydays has built its reputation on providing an outstanding customer experience with exceptional service and product expertise, and as a place to rest and recharge with other RVers. More than a quarter million RVers and their families visit Lazydays every year, making it their home away from home. Lazydays has been recognized as a Top 50 RV Dealer by RV Business and as one of Tampa Bays Top Work Places. The Lazydays Employee Foundation, supported by payroll contributions from more than 60% of Lazydays employees, has contributed more than one million dollars to make many historic changes for at-risk children in the Tampa Bay and Tucson communities. For most people, Lazydays isn't just the beginning of their journey; it's very much a part of their ride. To learn more, visit http://www.lazydays.com. ### This year, we felt there was a very clear winner because of (WarmlyYours's) relentless discipline and dedication within the group. WarmlyYours Radiant Heating (WarmlyYours) recently received one of the most prestigious awards offered by a prominent North American buying group in recognition of the companys continual improvement and participation in developing community within the industry. The SEN Design Group (SEN), a kitchen and bathroom buying group that was founded in 1994, gave WarmlyYours the Vendor Partner of the Year Award at the groups spring conference in Jacksonville, Fl. this March. The group, which includes over 80 vendor partners such as Whirlpool and Houzz, gives out this award in order to recognize a companys active participation within the SEN community, said Leah Peterson, executive vice president of SEN. WarmlyYours has been an active and engaged vendor partner of SEN for more than 15 years, said Peterson, In the past few years, WarmlyYours has really stepped up its game in terms of education and involvement with SEN. Peterson pointed to the efforts made by WarmlyYours to provide business-to-business educational training in the fields of management, marketing and sales training, as major components in the decision to award the company with one of SENs highest honors. This year, we felt there was a very clear winner because of the company's relentless discipline and dedication within the group, said Peterson. Peterson also addressed the participation of Elodie Pasek, the director of business development for North America for WarmlyYours and the companys point person for SEN, as a major factor in deciding who should receive the award. Pasek, for her part, said that she was happy to be a part of the SEN community. We are so honored to receive this award. (SEN) is an amazing opportunity for us as a company to be a part of a community where the partners actively work together, said Pasek. In the end, it makes us all stronger. -ENDS- About WarmlyYours Radiant Heating: For more than 15 years, WarmlyYours Radiant Heating has offered the industrys most innovative solutions in radiant heating technology, from our flagship floor-heating systems and radiant wall panels to snow-melting systems, as well as comfort products, including towel warmers, mirror defoggers, shower floor and bench heating, and countertop heaters. With locations in the United States and Canada, WarmlyYours provides unrivaled personalized customer support from start to finish, featuring measuring and design services, 24/7 technical support, and our No Nonsense Warranty. For more information, visit http://www.WarmlyYours.com. Media Contact: Cameron Witbeck Marketing Communications Manager WarmlyYours Radiant Heating P: 847-550- 2478 ext. 878 cwitbeck(at)warmlyyours.com Pinnacle Imaging Systems Embedded HDR Ciruit Board Today, Pinnacle Imaging SystemsTM, the HDR experts defining the future of digital high dynamic range capture, announced the immediate availability of its new Ultra HDRTM IP cores and high dynamic range video capture technology. With the licensing of its HDR technology, Pinnacle Imaging is porting its capture technology, proven in its previous still-image software implementation, to embedded solutions for HDR video capture. Pinnacle Imagings Ultra HDR technology is an ideal solution for OEM or manufacturers looking to capture and render very high dynamic range scenes in digital video applications. Many industries and applications can benefit from improved image detail in the deep shadow and bright highlight areas such as security and surveillance, intelligent traffic and transportation systems, after-market automotive camera systems, wearable camera and vision systems, etc. For more information on Pinnacle Imagings Ultra HDR technology, or to review sample video, please visit: http://www.ultrahdrvideo.com. Maximizing High Contrast Scene Detail with Ultra HDRTM and Scalable Design Designated Ultra HDRTM, Pinnacle Imagings patented HDR merge and tone mapping IP cores are modeled on true human vision to ensure preservation of a scenes true colors throughout the tone mapping process. Ultra HDR provides capture and proprietary adaptive tone mapping of HDR scenes up to 19 EV or 115 dB. Pinnacle Imagings Ultra HDR technology can capture 120 fps (merging four exposures per frame), and stream full 1080 HDMI tone mapped video for display at up to 60 fps in real time. Pinnacle Imagings merge and tone mapping IP algorithms are scalable and flexible enough to accommodate different capture modes such as two, three or four exposure brackets, dual conversion gain or any combination thereof. This enables the Ultra HDR technology to adapt to a number of different components, design priorities and BOM requirements. Ultra HDR IP Cores can be ported to support a number of different sensors types and logic (FPGA, ISP, DSP+SoC, or ASIC). Even the most modern image sensors are limited in the dynamic range which they can capture, said Alfred Zee, President & CEO of Pinnacle Imaging Systems. We believe that cameras should be able to provide the same contrast range that we naturally see with our own eyes, so we based our technology on the human vision model. Its this unique approach that allows our Ultra HDR technology to deliver such color-accurate, high contrast video quality. Pinnacle Imaging Systems Ultra HDR technology addresses many of the complexities involved in HDR video capture including: Automatic Ghost Removal & Halo Reduction Compensates for movement between HDR exposures, from minimal camera motion to moving objects between frames Adaptive Local Tone Mapping Automatically optimizes the tone mapping parameters based on the shadow and highlight areas of each individual video frame to ensure a more natural look to the output video Automatic White Balance Controls Automatically calculates proper white balance settings for any scene or lighting condition Automatic Exposure Controls Real time calculation and adjustment of the sensors exposure settings based on an automatic or manually selected region of interest to allow accurate exposure throughout a scene Shadow Exposure Bias Option Ability to bias tone mapping with an additional Shadow Tracking option during the Auto Exposure mode for optimal shadow detail and data preservation, a key requirement for surveillance applications With initial FPGA implementation completed, Pinnacle Imaging IP blocks can now be ported to ASIC, DSP+SoCs or ISPs. Industry Demands & Dev Kits Available Numerous industries are now demanding the ability to capture improved video quality of high contrast scenes only made possible by Ultra HDR video capture. Where standard dynamic range cameras simply sacrifice shadow or highlight detail in high contrast areas, video cameras incorporating Ultra HDR can deliver natural looking tone mapped image detail in both the bright highlights and dark shadows. For example, compact POV action cameras notoriously have difficulty in high contrast situations. Pinnacle Imagings Ultra HDR technology allows a skier to capture both highlight and shadow detail despite the constant transition from bright white snow to shaded trees. Similarly, embedded HDR capture improves high contrast situations such as a police dash cam that cannot provide sufficient detail of a road-side encounter against oncoming headlights. This same technology allows surveillance cameras to track a suspect from a sun-drenched parking lot into a dim interior. We are currently seeing growing demand for HDR capabilities embedded into video cameras and production equipment, said Ron Tussy, Director of Business Development for Pinnacle Imaging Systems. Our proprietary embedded HDR tone mapping is a critical underlying technology necessary to improve data capture for technologies used in range finding and recognition in automotive, security and surveillance or any other field demanding video to be captured across very bright and very dark areas. Engineers, developers and manufactures interested in learning more about how Pinnacle Imagings Ultra HDR technology can be integrated with their digital video capture devices can review sample videos and find more general information at http://www.ultrahdrvideo.com. Developers interested in purchasing an Ultra HDR dev kit, should contact Ron Tussy at: 650-631-5737 ron(at)pinnacleimagingsystems.com. For any media interested in learning more about the new solutions from Pinnacle Imaging, a member of the Pinnacle Imaging leadership team can be made available for interview and/or to provide a full demonstration of the Ultra HDR capabilities. Mr. Tussy will also be available to any media or exhibitors at the upcoming ISC West Expo being held April 6-8, 0216 in Las Vegas, NV. About Pinnacle Imaging Systems Corporation Headquartered in Belmont, C.A., Pinnacle Imaging Systems, the HDR experts, is defining the future of digital high dynamic range capture and rendering. Built on a human vision model, its Ultra HDRTM technology delivers the utmost image detail to high contrast video. Long trusted by photographers for its still image HDR software solutions, Pinnacle Imaging licenses its technology for applications that demand maximum image data such as military, surveillance, law enforcement, drone cameras, professional and consumer still and video cameras, etc. More information about Pinnacle Imaging Systems can be found at: http://www.pinnacleimagingsystems.com/. ## Queens Divorce and Family Law Attorney Bruce Feinstein, Esq. Even taking your emotions to social media may seem harmless, but they become permanent, public displays of aggression that children and family members can read. Divorce can help struggling couples regain their independence, but it is not without its pitfalls. And the physical and financial repercussions of divorce can be harder on women than men. A recent Duke University study of over 15,000 people found that women who had been divorced once were 24% more likely to have a heart attack. Women divorced at least twice were 77% more likely to have a heart attack. Men, on the other hand, were found to have an increased heart attack risk only if they have divorced two or more times, and remarrying negated the higher heart attack risk. These health risks for women led Bruce Feinstein, Esq., a divorce and family law attorney in New York with nearly 20 years experience, to shed light on ways women can prepare for divorce. For many couples, divorce is the only reasonable option, so its especially important for women to come into this life change properly prepared for the financial and emotional changes involved, says Mr. Feinstein. If we can empower women with the tools they need during the divorce process in New York, we can help them transition into this next phase of their lives. Mr. Feinstein is sharing top five ways women can prepare for divorce in New York. Divorce can disproportionally impact womens income, insurance, credit standing, and more, so Mr. Feinstein is helping his clients understand these issues and how they can affect them. The first step is to choose the proper legal counsel. Using a lawyer who is properly versed in family law can help women get a better settlement for them and their families. An experienced family law attorney in New York will know the details of alimony, custody, visitation, and other legal issues that can come up in the divorce process, explains Mr. Feinstein. It may also be helpful to hire a financial planner if both spouses have more complicated combined assets like a shared business. This will ensure that both key issues - finances and family - are covered. The second issue at hand is joint finances. Mr. Feinstein recommends that women prepare as much financial information as possible before the divorce proceeding. This can include obtaining details of financial institutions, bank account information, investments, and savings. Its often not enough for a spouse just to know that X amount is in X account. Save information on account numbers, passwords to online banking, and which accounts have automatic payments. But dont obtain information illegally; consult your divorce attorney if you have questions about the proper actions to take, says Mr. Feinstein. The next step is anticipating unexpected costs. These may arise while gathering financial information, or pop up during the divorce proceeding. For example, a spouse may remove his wife from his health insurance plan, passing on an additional cost or health insurance penalty to the other spouse. One way to avoid unforeseen expenses is to request a one-time payment outside of alimony. This can cover added costs before alimony payments begin, and relieve unneeded stress during a delicate transition period. Moving into the more emotional aspects of divorce, Mr. Feinstein warns against trying to hurt an ex-spouse. Emotions are raw during a divorce, and taking things into ones own hands often seems like a way to feel more powerful or gain back control. A woman may want to expose a spouses philandering to his boss, but if he gets fired then both spouses and their children are affected by the financial loss. Even taking your emotions to social media may seem harmless, but they become permanent, public displays of aggression that children and family members can read, says Mr. Feinstein. Finally, Mr. Feinstein underlines the complicated reactions children have to divorce. Parents need to monitor the actions of their children during the divorce in order to understand how they are coping, and then take the appropriate steps needed to help them adjust to this new life. Younger children may regress into childlike behavior, while adolescents may react with anger or rebellion. Children often feel responsible for the breakup even if they are told they are not the cause. Mr. Feinstein recommends addressing issues early on as a family unit. This way, children can talk about issues together. He also suggests taking extra steps without singling out children. He says, It may be helpful to inform a childs teacher of divorce to help monitor changes in behavior. But dont feel the need to start therapy immediately. Doing so can make the child feel singled out. The Law Offices of Bruce Feinstein has nearly two decades of experience in divorce and family law, helping clients and families resolve their issues and move forward with their lives. If you are thinking of getting married or divorced and want more information visit feinsteindivorcelaw.com or call (718) 475-6039 to reach the New York office. ### This year were taking the conference to a higher level by adding training from highly-experienced and knowledgeable experts in equity crowdfunding. The Salt Lake Region Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Salt Lake Community College Miller Business Resource Center, with sponsorship from My City Journals, will host the 2nd Annual Utah Crowdfunding Conference April 28, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at SLCCs Miller Campus. Panel discussions and speakers will focus on creating powerful crowdfunding campaigns and viral videos, equity crowdfunding and recruiting influencers. As part of the conference, attendees will crowdfund ideas or products for the Crowdfund Hero Competitionwinners will receive cash awards. Those interested in competing can enter the contest before April 4 by visiting https://app.reviewr.com/s1/site//CrowdfundHero. Last year we had over 300 attendees and many great speakers and panelists, said Bryce Hansen, assistant director of the Salt Lake SBDC. This year were taking the conference to a higher level by adding training from highly-experienced and knowledgeable experts in equity crowdfunding. The conference cost, with lunch included, is $25.95 for those registered by March 31, $33.95 between April 1-24 and $41.95 after April 24. To register online or for more information, visit http://www.utahcrowdfundingconference.com. The presence of crowdfunding to support entrepreneurs through online donations has grown from $1.5 billion in 2011 to more than $34 billion in 2015. In May 2016 equity crowdfunding will become legal in the U.S. Crowdfunding has become a major resource for companies to create good ideas and see their products become reality, said Jim Herrin, director of the Salt Lake SBDC. With the addition of equity crowdfunding this May, the opportunity to bring many more products to market should substantially increase. The Utah SBDC is a program of the U.S. Small Business Administration and is funded by the SBA and State of Utah. It is hosted at 15 colleges and universities throughout Utah and provides business advising, mentoring and services to small business owners at no charge. Salt Lake Community College is an accredited, student-focused, comprehensive community college meeting the diverse needs of the Salt Lake community. Home to more than 60,000 students each year, the College is Utahs leading provider of workforce development programs. SLCC is also the largest supplier of transfer students to Utahs four-year institutions and a perennial Top 10 college nationally for total associate degrees awarded. The College is the sole provider of applied technology courses in the Salt Lake area, with multiple locations, an eCampus, and nearly 1,000 continuing education sites located throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Personal attention from an excellent faculty is paramount at the College, which maintains an average class size of 20. This is a critical time for the HR function and the role it plays in helping businesses succeed. Past News Releases RSS Allegis Partners Announces Cher... Global Executive Search Firm... Allegis Partners, the global executive search firm, today announced the formation of its new Human Resources Advisory Board, which will provide guidance on services and strategies for the firms Human Resources Practice. The advisory board will comprise five human resource leaders from a variety of industries: Ian Ziskin, Chairman of EXec EXcel Group and former CHRO of Northrup Grumman Corporation Liz Huldin, CHRO of Gates Corp Caroline Starner, former CHRO of Oakley and current CHRO consultant Gaby Toledano, CHRO of Electronic Arts Joe Bosch, former CHRO of DIRECTV We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with some of the top executives in human resources today, said Mike Bergen, Managing Partner and Global Practice Leader of Allegis Partners Human Resources Practice. The advisory board comprises a diverse group of industry leaders who will lend their knowledge and subject-matter expertise to help us further our goals of being a thought partner to the ever-changing function of HR as well as create a unique and compelling offering as executive search partners. "I am excited to serve on the Allegis advisory board, said Gaby Toledano, Chief Human Resources Officer at Electronic Arts. This is a critical time for the HR function and the role it plays in helping businesses succeed from operations to the C-suite to the boardroom. I look forward to the value this group can bring to advancing the impact HR has across industries." Having these esteemed human resource executives associated with Allegis Partners will elevate our offering in this ever-changing space, said Greg Richter, Vice President for Allegis Partners. The knowledge and insight they bring to the table is second to none in the industry. In addition, the team will be tapped to help produce educational and trending content and provide a relevant and respected voice for Allegis Partners in the market through co-authorship of white papers and articles as well as attendance at conferences as speakers and panelists on behalf of Allegis Partners, enabling continued collation of market insight to ensure our voice is tuned and reflective of the needs in the Human Resources function of today and tomorrow. The first meeting of the Human Resources Advisory Board will take place in May on the West Coast. About Allegis Partners, LLC Allegis Partners is the global executive search firm that delivers a boutique, high-touch approach to talent management. We focus on identifying diverse, top talent for board, C-suite and senior executive-level roles across a wide range of corporate functions and industries around the world. Allegis Partners is committed to understanding our client and, in turn, customizes each search to meet the needs of the client and specific position. Were backed by the extensive resources and knowledge of the Allegis Group, a $11+ billion privately held global human capital organization. To learn more about Allegis Partners, visit http://www.allegis-partners.com. The 2014 NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles Mixed Choir. The nations most elite high school musicians will vie for the opportunity to rehearse and perform in a one-of-a-kind national honor program. The students must first compete at their local, district, and state level to become eligible for this honor. The National Association for Music Educations (NAfME) premier national honor ensembles will be led by four award-winning conductors. The nations most elite high school musicians will vie for the opportunity to rehearse and perform in a one-of-a-kind national honor program. The students must first compete at their local, district, and state level to become eligible for this honor. On November 13, during the 2016 NAfME National In-Service Conference, these exceptional young musicians will gather in Grapevine, Texas, to showcase their expert musicianship and perform a gala concert celebrating music education and the arts. The All-National Honor Ensembles consist of a concert band, orchestra, mixed chorus, and jazz ensemble; participating students are chosen by auditions. The concert band and symphony orchestra will each have approximately 150 instrumentalists, the jazz ensemble 20 instrumentalists, and the mixed chorus approximately 350 vocalists. Eligible students have qualified for their state-level honor ensemble program and competed against top students for a spot in these national honor ensembles. The audition deadline is May 11. Ensemble members will perform under the baton of four of the most prominent conductors in the United States. William LaRue Jones will lead the Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Jones is the Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Iowa. A Texas native, Dr. Jones has conducted more than 100 All-State orchestras with additional festivals/clinics in each of the 50 states and Canadian provinces. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Conductors Workshop of America, and has been on the conducting faculty for the League of American Orchestras and the International Workshops. He has presented additional conducting workshops throughout America, Norway, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, China, and Australia. Paula Crider will lead the Concert Band. Dr. Crider is Professor Emerita at the University of Texas. Dr. Crider has taught in the public schools at all levels, and holds the unique distinction of having been the first female in the state of Texas to serve as director of bands at a class 5-A high school. Her Crockett High School Bands in Austin, Texas, enjoyed both state and national recognition for musical excellence on the concert stage, and were twice named Texas 5A State Marching Champions. A tenured Full Professor at The University of Texas, Professor Crider conducted the Symphony Band, and was Director of the acclaimed University of Texas Longhorn Band. During her 17-year tenure, she was twice accorded the Eyes of Texas Award for distinguished teaching. She continues to serve as visiting guest professor at universities throughout the country. The Mixed Choir will be led by Anton Armstrong. Dr. Armstrong is Tosdal Professor of Music at St. Olaf College. Dr. Armstrong became the fourth conductor of the St. Olaf Choir in 1990 after ten years in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he had served on the faculty of Calvin College and led the Calvin College Alumni Choir, the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus and the St. Cecilia Youth Chorale. He is a graduate of St. Olaf College and earned advanced degrees at the University of Illinois and Michigan State University. In June 1998, he began his tenure as founding conductor of the Oregon Bach Festival Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy. During 2015-16 season, Dr. Armstrong served as the only non-Japanese juror for the 68th Japan Choral Association National Choral Festival. He also served as guest conductor of two of the finest professional choruses in the United States: The Houston Chamber Choir and The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati. The Jazz Band will be led by Jazz at Lincoln Centers Todd Stoll and a soon-to-be announced special guest conductor. Mr. Stoll has more than 25 years of experience as an advocate, performer, educator, and promoter of great jazz music. His performance experiences are wide-ranging from clubs to international concert venues, big bands to symphony orchestras. He serves as Vice President of Education for JALC overseeing programs that touch millions of people from infants to the elderly. Jazz at Lincoln Center is the sponsor of the 2016 All-National Honor Jazz Band. Read more about NAfMEs 2016 All-National Honor Ensembles, guest conductor biographies, and how students may audition by visiting: bit.ly/2016ANHE. ### National Association for Music Education, among the worlds largest arts education organizations, is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. NAfME advocates at the local, state, and national levels; provides resources for teachers, parents, and administrators; hosts professional development events; and offers a variety of opportunities for students and teachers. The Association orchestrates success for millions of students nationwide and has supported music educators at all teaching levels for more than a century. With more than 60,000 members, the organization is the voice of music education in the United States Jazz at Lincoln Center The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for Jazz through performance, education and advocacy. We believe Jazz is a metaphor for Democracy. Because jazz is improvisational, it celebrates personal freedom and encourages individual expression. Because jazz is swinging, it dedicates that freedom to finding and maintaining common ground with others. Because jazz is rooted in the blues, it inspires us to face adversity with persistent optimism. Follow NAfME on Twitter (twitter.com/nafme) and on Facebook (facebook.com/nafme). Receiving this honor from AlwaysOn reflects and reinforces Phunwares disruption of the mobile and multiscreen space. Phunware, a multiscreen platform and solution provider, announced today that it has been chosen by AlwaysOn as one of the OnMedia Top 100 winners. Inclusion in the OnMedia 100 signifies leadership among Phunwares peers and game-changing approaches and technologies that are likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players. Phunware was specially selected from among hundreds of other technology companies by the AlwaysOn editorial team and global industry experts based on five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value and media buzz. This years OnMedia 100 winners are building on successes in digital media and branching out into new territory, taking advantage of todays advances in cloud computing and other on-demand services[They] are using the recent data explosion to break down established practices and bring people what they wantexactly when they want it, says Tony Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn. Alan S. Knitowski, Phunwares Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, commented, Phunware excels at helping the worlds brands create in-the-moment mobile experiences based on users individual preferences, behavior and locationand helping them do it with faster time to market and lower total cost of ownership than any other platform. Receiving this honor from AlwaysOn reflects and reinforces Phunwares disruption of the mobile and multiscreen space. Phunwares Multiscreen as a Service platform makes it easy for brands to add multiscreen application support both indoors and outdoors for location-based marketing, content management, mapping, navigation and wayfinding, advertising, alerts and notifications, business intelligence and analytics through the use of a single login on a single platform with a single partner. MaaS currently reaches over 625 million monthly unique devices, with the goal of touching each of the 50 billion connected devices expected to compose The Internet of Things by 2020. A full list of all the OnMedia Top 100 winners can be found on the AlwaysOn website at: http://www.aonetwork.com/ About Phunware Phunware is the pioneer of Multiscreen as a Service (MaaS), the first fully integrated customer engagement platform that enables brands to engage, manage and monetize their anytime anywhere users worldwide. Phunware has introduced category-defining experiences that challenge the outer limits of the most advanced connected devices for the worlds most respected brands and develops next-generation products and solutions that transform how the world interacts with and uses these connected devices. For more information about how Phunware provides Everything You Need to Succeed on Mobile, please visit http://www.phunware.com and follow us on Twitter @phunware. About AlwaysOn AlwaysOn is the leading business media brand connecting and informing the entrepreneurial community in the Global Silicon Valley. Founded by Red Herring founding editor, Tony Perkins in 2003, AlwaysOns mission is to continue to lead the industry by empowering its readers, event participants, sponsors, bloggers, and advertisers like no other media brand. 3xLOGIC Launches VISIX VERA Thermal Camera at ISC West No other thermal cameras on the market today can match the combination of our thermal technology, QR code easy install and set-up, edge-based recording and powerful analytics packages. Matthew Kushner, 3xLOGIC CEO Past News Releases RSS 3xLOGIC, Inc., a leading provider of integrated intelligent security solutions today announced the release of its new VISIX VERA VX-VT-36 Thermal Camera. The 3xLOGIC VERA Thermal camera is an all-in-one solution with features such as embedded VIGIL Server software, edge-based recording and advanced analytics. The VERA Thermal camera was designed with the integrator in mind, offering advanced features while enabling easy deployment and set-up using innovative QR code technologyall at a highly affordable price. Edge-based recording software and an advanced analytics engine eliminates the need for an onsite server. Key Selling Points include: Scan and Set-up QR Codefast, easy install and setup Low Profile Bullet Designrugged and lightweight Optional Embedded VIGIL Server Softwarestandalone edge-based recording Optional Advanced Analyticsobject detection, detection behavior and speed filters Priced to disrupt the typical thermal camera market Thermal cameras are becoming a leading trend in video surveillance today for perimeter protection where previously standard installations have failed. Replacing these types of deployments with thermal technology and embedded analytics can result in a drastic reduction or even elimination of false alarms. This reduction in false alarms is due in large part to the fact that thermal camera analytics do not fall prey to factors such as wind, rain, moving water, animals and insects, vehicle headlights or other field-of-view contaminates. This makes thermal camera technology a very attractive, valuable alternative for applications previously unfeasible due to the prohibitive costs. The 3xLOGIC thermal camera entry offers an all-in-one, standalone IP video system with a host of benefits including remote accessibility, high image quality, digital zooming, easy integration, scalability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The VERA Thermal camera enables end users and systems integrators to maximize both investment and overall system effectiveness. No other thermal cameras on the market today can match the combination of our thermal technology, QR code easy install and set-up, edge-based recording and powerful analytics packages, said Matthew Kushner, 3xLOGIC CEO. No competing product, at this price, offers the detection range we have, not even close, and this camera includes our onboard analytics as standard. The competition has only 3rd party analytics as an option. The VERA thermal camera is perfect for small, medium and large businesses that need to see where and what they cannot see with a standard IP camera. 3xLOGIC Time of Flight Camera Along with the new thermal camera, 3xLOGIC also announces the release of its specialized Time of Flight camera. The VISIX Time of Flight (ToF) people tracker is a special purpose, 3D imaging device that uses highly accurate range and distance mapping for rapid, real-time processing of scene information. This smart, people tracking device is highly accurate and ideal for object tracking, counting and wait time/queue management. Compared to the current generation of stereoscopic sensors, the 3xLOGIC ToF device has higher measurement accuracy and comes standard with 3xLOGICs advanced analytics suite embedded. CEO Matt Kushner again, The Time of Flight camera has unbelievable accuracy, and it is the least costly device on the market today that offers such power and processing potential. This camera is ideal for retail deployments where accuracy of information can empower marketing and operations professionals in making critical business decisions. All of 3xLOGICs security and retail solutions will be on display at the ISC West tradeshow, 06-08 April in Las Vegas, booth #25075. About 3xLOGIC 3xLOGIC Inc. has been a leading innovator in server and cloud-based security technology for 15+ years. The company is recognized for providing easy-to-use surveillance and business intelligence solutions that seamlessly integrate video, access control, and disparate data such as ATM, Point-of-Sale, analytics, and more. 3xLOGICs video surveillance solutions are engineered for ease of installation, scalability and affordability combined with a managed services portfolio that enables integrators to effectively evolve from dealers to high-value strategic partners. For more information about 3xLOGIC, please visit our website http://www.3xlogic.com. For Media Queries: Bruce J. Doneff Public Relations 843.476.3022 doneff(at)verizon(dot)net For 3xLOGIC: Wendi Burke Senior Director of Marketing 720.945.7966 wendi.burke(at)3xlogic(dot)com ### The findings were published in the journal Tobacco Control. Los Angeles: Micro-blogging website Twitter may help smokers kick the butt more efficiently than traditional methods, according to a new study. Researchers found subjects in one of the first real-time, fully automated, Twitter-based smoking intervention programmes Tweet2Quit - were twice as successful at kicking the habit than those using traditional methods. The study found Tweet2Quit participants reported 40 per cent sustained abstinence compared to 20 per cent for control participants after 60 days. "Our current results indicate significant possibilities for using social media as a delivery mechanism for health prevention intervention, specifically in smoking cessation," said Cornelia Pechmann, from University of California. "Because of the low cost and high scalability of social media, Tweet2Quit has tremendous potential to deliver low-cost tobacco treatments on a global scale," Pechmann said. Tweet2Quit uses a hybrid approach combining automated messages delivered to small, private, virtual self-help groups of smokers who are motivated to quit via the social media platform of Twitter. The messages are based on clinical guidelines for smoking cessation and employ positive, open-ended questions that encourage online discussion, such as "what will you do when you feel the urge to smoke?" On average, about 23 per cent of tweets were in response to these automated texts, while 77 per cent were spontaneous, researchers said. "Incorporating social media-delivered auto messages written by tobacco treatment experts was effective in promoting smoking cessation," said Pechmann. "The twice-daily messages encouraged people to tweet their group members, which made them more accountable for quitting," she said. "The online virtual support groups provide us with novel insights into the process by which smokers are committing to quitting and supporting each other in these efforts," said Judith J Prochaska from Stanford University. "Our findings provide evidence to help re-establish clinical recommendations on the utility of support networks for aiding cessation," said Prochaska. The findings were published in the journal Tobacco Control. CSO LOGO Today, learning is a constant, time and location are variables. --Bruce Wilcox, Carolina Biological Carolina Biological Supply, an 86-year old enduring provider of hands on science teaching products to K12 schools and colleges has partnered with Ambrose Video and BioMEDIA Associates to launch a highly engaging library of streaming STEM video content. The collection, appropriate for beginning and advanced high school science, was previously only available in DVD format. Today, however, rather than display the videos in classroom setting, teachers can assign the content to students using Carolinas Carolina Science Online learning platform. Students are now able to view the instructional content before or after class, on demand 24 x 7 throughout their course of study, at home, in the library, via smartphones, tablets, and virtually any device with an internet connection. The award winning and compelling collection includes hundreds of hours of content which teachers can assign to students to supplement and enhance classroom instruction with real world, relevant, STEM video content. Topics covered include core Astronomy, Biology, Cell Biology, Chemistry, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Meteorology, and Physics, along with Americas national monuments, the Arctics changing climate and economics, the ascent of man, the atom and global warming. Hydraulic fracturing is also covered including measuring the earths temperature, global warming, climate change and its impact on glaciers. Students can explore natures micro worlds, neuroscience, the neuroscience of addiction, earths orbit, physical geography and the rise of the continents, along with exploring the miracle of the human body. Appropriate use of video to support teaching has long been our goal, says Allen Dohra, Vice President of Ambrose Digital. Our videos are used throughout the world to support effective science teaching. This partnership with Carolina Biological allows our content, via streaming technology, to be accessed by students and teachers anywhere, anytime, on any device. Teachers will now be able to use Ambrose and BioMEDIA content to flip their classrooms, create on-demand homework solutions for students, and to leverage real world STEM footage, science and scientists, to make learning meaningful and relevant to student and teacher alike. Carolina Biological, Ambrose, and BioMEDIA Associates, have been partners for more than 25 years, says Bruce Wilcox, Vice President. We used to deliver the content in VHS, Laserdisc and later, DVD formats. Today, however, schools and students seek on-demand content to support learning both at home, in the school, literally anywhere. Coupling streaming content with Carolina Science Online, our learning management platform, makes it easy for science teachers to incorporate on demand STEM videos in their lesson plans and assignments for students. Our modular subscription options also make this an affordable alternative for budget conscious schools. Today, learning is a constant, and time and location are variables. About Ambrose Digital Ambrose Digital offers more than 1000 Educational programs in their collection including timely science and history topics. New releases include: AP Human Geography, Great Directors, Great Authors of the British Isles and Great Irish Authors. The complete Ambrose collection includes BBC Classics such as all 37 BBC Shakespeare Plays, James Burkes' Connections, Ascent of Man and more. Supporting any digital delivery format you need with professionals who can answer your every query about systems and content with a booming production schedule that excites students and teachers alike! Learn more about Ambrose Digital at http://www.ambrosedigital.com. About BioMEDIA Associates LLC BioMEDIA Associates LLC brings the best multimedia content together to engage students in biology and human physiology. All programs are instructionally designed using new techniques of microscopy, animation, and photography to reveal the structure, process, and behavior of living things. BioMEDIA continues to produce new programs to bring biology alive anywhere for teachers and students. Learn more about BioMEDIA Associates LLC at http://www.ebiomedia.com. About Carolina Biological Supply Company From its beginnings in 1927, Carolina Biological Supply Company has grown to become a leading supplier of science teaching materials. Today, from its headquarters in Burlington, North Carolina, Carolina serves customers worldwide, including teachers, professors, home-school educators, and professionals in health and science-related fields. Please visit our website, http://www.carolina.com, to learn more about our science and related products and services. For more information on Carolina Biological, visit our website at http://www.carolina.com. Carolina Biological is exhibiting at the National Science Teachers Association conference, starting March 30th and running through April 2nd, in Nashville, TN. Teachers and students are encouraged to drop by the Carolina booth to enjoy both hands-on exhibits, and view online resources. For media inquiries please contact Bruce Wilcox at bruce(dot)wilcox(at)carolina(dot)com BGV Developer, Mike Dudick cuts the ribbon with fellow donors at the opening of Breckenridge's FIRC office. Shae was overwhelmed at the contributions of her BGV family, stating, Many thanks to the BGV employees for their support of the recent Food Drive. Gaston Feuereisen and his staff at FIRC were so excited." During a historically challenging time of year for collecting donations, Breckenridge Grand Vacations (BGV) employees managed to help fully stock the FIRC Food Bank this past February. After the holidays came to a close, BGV placed large food donation bins at all of their offices, including the Grand Lodge on Peak 7, Grand Timber Lodge, Gold Point Resort, Breck Inn, Main Street Sales Center and Connect Breck building on Airport Road. Not only was every collection bin overflowing with food by the end of the month, but the staff also collected an abundance of coats to help Summit County locals in need this winter. Shae Loomis, of the BGV Owner Relations department, assisted in organizing the BGV Food Drive with help from fellow employees Nick Borovich, Nadia Williamson, Amanda Testwuide and countless other BGV personnel. Shae was overwhelmed at the contributions of her BGV family, stating, Many thanks to the BGV employees for their support of the recent Food Drive. Gaston Feuereisen and his staff at FIRC were so excited. The donation bins were brimming full. My colleagues are truly the best, most giving people. Their generosity continues to blow me away. This isnt the first time BGV has partnered with FIRC to help their local community, and it surely wont be the last. Earlier this month, donations from BGV helped make the opening of Brecks new FIRC office possible. The addition of this location enables FIRC to offer more accessible services to the community, including assistance with food, childcare, medical coverage, housing and family support programs. For more information on BGV Gives, please contact Deb Edwards at (970) 547-8748. About Breckenridge Grand Vacations Created in 1984, Breckenridge Grand Vacations (BGV) was built by brothers Mike and Rob Millisor and friend Mike Dudick upon the belief that the success of their company would be determined by the positive impact it had on their owners and guests, employees and the community. The developers of the company also embraced the concept that BGV would be the best in sales if they were first and foremost the best in customer service. The company has embraced the Net Promoter methodology company-wide and consistently beats industry averages with its high scores. BGV now creates Grand vacations for over 23,000 owners and employs over 500 staff members. Sadly, Rob Millisor passed away in October, 2015 while on a humanitarian visit to Nepal. His example and service to the needs of others remains a strong focus with BGVs leadership and staff. He is greatly missed and his legacy of success and giving continues. Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts Every year the competition gets more heated. We thank the teachers, judges and our team for making this a wonderful day of learning and an opportunity to award students with scholarships towards their future, said Marcus McMellon, Campus President The Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts located at 6020-B Dillard Circle is excited to welcome hundreds of high school students from across Texas including Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and surrounding areas to the schools 3rd Annual High School Open House and Mystery Basket Competition on Friday, April 1st from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students will tour the schools classrooms, commercial kitchens, and onsite 6,000 square foot Urban Agricultural Learning Center as they receive tips on how to pursue their passion in culinary and pastry arts and learn about the schools Farm To Table Experience; the first registered Farm To Table educational curriculum in the nation. Forty-eight teams made up of 192 students will compete in the 3rd Annual Mystery Basket Challenge for a chance to win more than $20,000 in scholarships as well as prizes from Mercer Culinary. Beef from The Texas Beef Council will be one of the main ingredients used in the competition along with fresh items from the schools Farm To Table partners such as Bernhardts Fruits and Veggie Farm, Yegua Creek Farms, Skinny Lane Farms, Coyote Creek Farm and Heart of Gold Aquaponics Farm. Austin food professionals Chef Nathan Lemley from Parkside Projects, Chef Sam Hellman-Mass from Odd Duck, Russell Woodward, Senior Manager of Product Marketing for the Texas Beef Council and Lillian Sonnenberg, Programs Coordinator from The Austin Food and Wine Alliance along with school chef instructors will judge teams on Sanitation and Safety, Teamwork, Timing, Technique, Product Appearance/Plate Presentation, Taste, and Creativity. Every year the competition gets more heated. The students creative dishes made from the mystery basket ingredients are impressive. We thank the teachers, judges and our team for making this a wonderful day of learning for the students and an opportunity to award them with scholarships towards their future, said Marcus McMellon, Campus President of the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Live chef demonstrations such as a Farmers Market Discussion, Making Gum Paste Flowers and Meat Fabrication will take place throughout the day creating an interactive learning environment. Scholarships totaling more than $800,000 were awarded to high school students by the Austin and Boulder campuses of the Auguste Escoffier Schools of Culinary Arts in 2015. To learn more about the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, visit Escoffier.edu, call 866-552-2433 or follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/escoffierschool. About the Auguste Escoffier Schools of Culinary Arts The Auguste Escoffier Schools of Culinary Arts offer professional culinary arts programs based on the methods, principles and systems of Auguste Escoffier, the international culinary icon and the source of modern cooking. Students have the opportunity to learn history and context directly from the Escoffier family, and expert chef instructors. The schools Culinary Arts and Pastry Arts certificate programs offer rigorous industry skills training, the Farm To Table Experience as well as grounding in the standards of professionalism and excellence sought by employers. Campuses are located in Austin, Texas and Boulder. http://www.escoffier.edu In addition to ground campuses, the Escoffier Online Culinary Academy is a certificate program which is part of the Austin campus. It is the first-ever 100% online culinary school, offering professional culinary training for serious career-seeking students throughout the country. Modeled after the most prestigious culinary institutes in the world and inspired by the world-renowned Escoffier name, Escoffier Online offers a comprehensive curriculum of cooking techniques and fundamentals. http://www.escoffieronline.com Media Contact: Laura Nepveux, Patrick Henry Creative Promotions, Inc. 713-594-6404, laura(at)phcp.com School Contact: Marcus McMellon, Campus President, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts 512-451-5743, mmcmellon(at)escoffier.edu Mark OBrien, Business Development Manager said, In talking with customers, CM First has found that many companies are frustrated by the complexity of modernization challenge. Our team enjoys delivering proven, low-risk and viable transformations." CM First knows how to make application development and modernization easier, cheaper and faster. Leveraging business partnerships with OpenLegacy and Axon.ivy with expertise of CM First solutions and technical gurus, CM First is currently offering a revolutionary API + iBPM solution with proven results in helping companies take legacy mainframe applications and transform them into state-of-the art code that will support Cloud, Big Data and web and mobile capabilities. Demands to modernize effectively, confront technical departments every day; responsive businesses want to transform business-critical legacy applications into modern marvels. The strategy defined by CM First using modern APIs and iBPM solutions is key to managing this challenge. Other options are more expensive, time-consuming and risky. CM First welcomes the opportunity to share new approaches this spring at two Texas government conferences, located near the Americas Headquarters of CM First. The first of the conferences is the one-day TASSCC TEC 2016 Conference, held April 11, 2016 in Austin, TX. The focus is the Internet of Things (IOT) - The Network of Connected Devices, the Data They Produce and the Impact in the Information Age. While some newer companies have the luxury of starting with new applications, most need to leverage the value of the applications already running. IOT requires that applications be able to exploit modern technologies and CM First can provide the transformation needed to bring legacy applications to the modern world. Register for TASSCC at: http://www.tasscc.org/?page=2016TECHome CM First sees great value in exhibiting at conferences such as TASSCC, said John Rhodes, CTO. Each represents a unique opportunity to share these new capabilities with technical leaders and staff, as well as offer CM First the opportunity to learn more about customer requirements. The second conference is the TAGITM 38th Annual Education Conference on May 3-6, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. Drawing on 35+ years of experience, this conference provides technology education specific to Texas county and city IT Managers and staff. CM First will exhibit at this conference as well, sharing information on modernizing IBM i solutions to this group of stakeholders. Register for TAGITM at: http://www.tagitm.org/?page=2016Conferen Mark OBrien, Business Development Manager said, In talking with customers, CM First has found that many companies are frustrated by the complexity of modernization challenge. The CM First team enjoys delivering proven, low-risk and viable approaches to transform legacy assets. Working with partners OpenLegacy and Axon.ivy, CM First crafts cost-effective solutions which offer faster results. CM First has pioneered a number of leading-edge approaches to technology modernization. The partnership with Open Legacy and Axon.ivy to provide modernization solutions is just the latest in the CM First strategy. http://www.cmfirstgroup.com/products/axonivybpm/. To understand the basic methodology, visit: http://www.cmfirstgroup.com/initiatives/application-modernization/ Real world, modernization case studies can be found at: http://www.cmfirstgroup.com/resources-casestudies/ About CM First CM First is a global software and services company established in 1999 with a focus on modernizing applications, managing technical debt and the agile development of enterprise apps. Delivery areas include; migrations of software code, databases and IBM hardware, custom app, architecture and API development, mobility solutions and knowledge transfer. CM First works with hundreds of IBM and CA Technologies business-critical systems worldwide, with numerous reference customers covering industries as diverse as logistics, travel, insurance, food processing and oil and gas construction. For more information, visit http://www.cmfirstgroup.com CM First Contacts EMEA Headquarters +41 41 508 01 05 info(at)cmfirstgroup(dot)com Americas Headquarters +1-512-600-1484 +1-888-866-6179 infotech(at)cmfirstgroup(dot)com France +33 608 504 285 infofrance(at)cmfirstgroup(dot)com Collecting French Limoges Boxes The Gift-Giving dilemma for the hard-to-buy person is solved with a magnificent hand-painted French Limoges box. Collecting is among the most enjoyable hobbies today. Collecting objects of beauty enhances daily lives and adds color and interest to homes and places of business. LimogesCollector.com is proud to announce the launch of its Blog discussing a variety of topics on collecting and gift-giving in relation to French Limoges boxes. The blog also offers tips and travel information to Europe and beyond. With each blog post, readers are inspired to enhance their collectors love of the decorate arts and boost their Limoges purchasing savvy. Limoges boxes have enjoyed great popularity as collectibles as well as luxury gifts over the past centuries. For the past few decades, the popularity of these magnificent art pieces has greatly increased especially in the United States. For the great many who enjoy collecting Limoges boxes, these exceptional objects of beauty not only bring enjoyment, but also provide a great satisfaction that the value of these little treasures increase in time. Those who give a Limoges box as a gift, can be sure that the recipient will be impressed with the valuable and exceptional hand-painted object. As direct importers of Limoges boxes for two decades and working closely with the French artisans and workshops that produce these highly-coveted collectibles, the founders of LimogesCollector.com are considered an authority in the field of French porcelain collecting and have a wealth of information and tips to share with an ever-growing clientele as well as all others interested in French porcelain Limoges. A customer who is educated and knowledgeable about Limoges boxes is much more at ease to make a purchase with confidence. LimogesCollector.coms co-founder, Vida Cunningham, states: Many people are familiar with the artistry of Limoges and collectible Limoges boxes and are greatly interested in knowing more about them before they invest in a piece for themselves. The blog provides such individuals with all the essentials as well as a variety of recommendations in their area of collecting interests. She continues If you want to know the basics such as what is a Limoges box, how and where Limoges boxes are made and how you can best use or display Limoges boxes, you will find these answers and much, much more in our blog posts. Many collectors and gift-buyers want to look for inspiration to enhance their collection or to find the perfect gift for that special person or an upcoming occasion. The blog is not only a great source for inspiration but, also as a part of the retail website with over 2,200 various French Limoges styles, it directly leads readers to the actual products they are interested in purchasing. About LimogesCollector.com: For the past two decades, LimogesCollector.com's family of websites have provided collectors around the world with the finest French Limoges boxes in an array of styles and themes. Their extensive selection feature exquisite hand-painted porcelain Limoges boxes by top-of-the-line Limoges brands such as Beauchamp, Artoria, Rochard, and many more. From pouring the porcelain paste into the mold to the hand-painting and metalwork, every Limoges box they offer is crafted by master artisans in Limoges, France. The company prides itself not only in offering the top brands of luxurious Limoges boxes but also providing superior customer care and speedy shipping. A service especially popular with gift buyers is their artist hand-inscribed personalization. Many shoppers want to make their gift purchase even more personal and memorable by adding a message of their choice to their Limoges purchase, beautifully hand-inscribed by an artist. This service is performed in-house on a same-day basis. Dr. Naveed Khan, SGF Leesburg Office For many patients, not being able to conceive can affect a couple emotionally and physically, says Dr. Khan. Shady Grove Fertility is committed to raising awareness and educating patients and prospective patients with an in-depth fertility education before undergoing clinical care. Armed with credible, reliable information, men and woman can make more informed decisions about whether to pursue treatment. As part of this ongoing effort, Shady Grove Fertility will be hosting 15 free informational events online and throughout the DC metro, Baltimore metro, Northern Virginia, and Philadelphia metro regions during the month of April covering topics from infertility basics, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and donor egg treatment, financial options, and egg freezing. During these live events, physicians present on the common causes of infertility, treatment options and success rates, and factors that should be considered before pursuing treatment. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage in a question and answer panel with the physician presenter, one of the 34 reproductive endocrinologists within the Shady Grove Fertility practice, at the conclusion of the presentation. Naveed Khan, M.D., of Shady Grove Fertilitys Leesburg, Virginia, office, will be hosting one of the Fertility Options seminars on April 7th. For many patients, not being able to conceive can affect a couple emotionally and physically, says Dr. Khan. Learning more about fertility through events like seminars and webcasts can give people the information they need to take the necessary steps to build their families. Upcoming Events: April 5 | Rockville, MD | Fertility Options April 6 | Online | Fertility Q&A April 7 | Leesburg, VA | Fertility Options April 12 | Washington, D.C. | Egg Freezing April 14 | Online | Weight and Fertility April 19 | Online | Egg Freezing April 19 | Woodbridge, VA | Fertility Options April 20 | Online | Financial Options April 21 | Online | International Donor Egg Treatment April 21 | Chesterbrook, PA | Fertility Options April 21 | Towson, MD | Fertility Options April 23 | Hagerstown, MD | Fertility Options April 26 | Online | Getting Started April 27 | Online | Donor Egg Treatment April 28 | Reading, PA | Fertility Options For all seminars and webcasts in the Spring Fertility Education Series, interested parties must register to attend: https://www.shadygrovefertility.com/resources/calendar About Shady Grove Fertility Shady Grove Fertility is a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence offering patients individualized care, innovative financial options, and pregnancy rates among the highest of all national centers. Since 1991, more than 40,000 babies have been born to patients from all 50 states and over 35 countries around the world. Shady Grove Fertility physicians actively train residents and reproductive endocrine fellows and invest in continuous clinical research and education to advance the field of reproductive medicine through numerous academic appointments and partnerships with Georgetown Medical School, Walter Reed, and the National Institutes of Health. Today, 34 reproductive endocrinologists, urologists, Ph.D. scientists, geneticists, and more than 600 highly specialized Shady Grove Fertility staff care for patients in 18 full-service offices, and five satellite sites throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. For more information, call 1-888-761-1967 or visit ShadyGroveFertility.com. FotoMagico 5 from Boinx Software FotoMagico is made by photographers for photographers... This is why it puts the needs of photographers front and center. Boinx Software has just announced a new version of its premier slideshow creation tool, FotoMagico 5. This updated software program brings a combination of brand new editing tools and advancements to pre-existing features. Among many enhancements, FotoMagico 5 now features a slideshow interface with pre-built stories called Snippets, Audio Envelopes and Fades to control audio levels, an Audio Marker Assistant to provide more precise sound editing capabilities, improved text editing and placeholders, and much more. FotoMagico is made by photographers for photographers, states Oliver Breidenbach, CEO, Boinx Software. This is why it puts the needs of photographers front and center. Its easy to learn, as photographers want to spend their time taking photos - not learning a slide show app. The Snippets feature gets you magical results more quickly than ever. FotoMagico 5 slideshows look brilliant on 4K TVs as well as on YouTube. Thats why thousands of photographers rely on FotoMagico to tell their stories. FotoMagico 5 Updates Include: New Snippets feature allow users to insert their own photo and video content into these pre-built stories to create beautiful slideshows; FotoMagico pros can create their own Snippets to streamline the production of slideshows, perfect for those working with clients New Dark User Interface, designed for users of all skill levels, to make photos and videos stand out even more against a more modern backdrop Music Snippets come with free CC licensed music by Josh Woodward and Kevin MacLeod to set the mood; pre-loaded with perfectly timed audio markers means your story is synchronized with the matching music, while an attribution slide keeps users out of copyright troubles Animation Assistant designed to automatically make your slideshow move, while accounting for a variety of photo aspect ratios like portrait and panorama, movie and text properties New Audio Marker Assistant (Pro only) offers more precise control over timing than ever before, with perfectly synchronized music and slides creating the right dramatic effect New Audio Volume Envelopes and Fades (Pro only), the most requested feature, provides audio level controls that enable users to make the music softer when one intends to speak if presenting the slideshow, or to let the video audio take center stage Improved Text Editing and Text Placeholders (Pro only) for the most intuitive way to edit and format titles yet Additional new features available only in FotoMagico 5 Pro include the timeline view; record narration; access to Lightroom and Aperture libraries; teleprompter support; chapter support; masks, borders and color correction; and additional sharing options, such as the Standalone Player, ProRes video, and custom video. System Requirements: OS X 10.10 Yosemite or newer. 8 GB of RAM and a dedicated graphics card is recommended. Watch the FotoMagico 5 demo to get a first impression of the latest versions creative power. FotoMagico 5 Pricing and Availability FotoMagico 5 is available now for 49.99 USD, FotoMagico 5 Pro is available for 99.99 USD. Existing customers can upgrade to FotoMagico 5 Pro for 49.99 USD from FotoMagico 4, and 74.99 USD from FotoMagico 3. Existing customers who previously purchased FotoMagico 4 in the Mac App Store will be able to upgrade to FotoMagico 5 Pro free of charge once they purchase the basic version of FotoMagico 5 for 49.99 USD. Request a Media Review Kit Members of the media are invited to review FotoMagico 5. For more information, please contact Anya Nelson. For press images, please visit https://boinx.com/press/media/. About FotoMagico FotoMagico, winner of two coveted Apple Design Awards, is the gold standard in slideshow apps, made exclusively for the Mac. FotoMagico, used by thousands of professional and amateur photographers around the world, allows users to create customized slideshows, mixing photos with movies and audio, for a storytelling effect like none other. FotoMagico brings photos to life and keeps any audience at the edge of their seats. About Boinx Software Located in Puchheim, near Munich, Germany, Boinx Software Ltd. develops award-winning animation, video production and photography software for the Mac platform and iOS devices including the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple TV. Honored with numerous Apple Design Awards and coveted spots on the Mac App Stores Best Apps of the Year list, the extensive family of Boinx apps includes iStopMotion for Mac, iStopMotion for iPad, FotoMagico, mimoLive (formerly BoinxTV), Mousepose, You Gotta See This!, PhotoPresenter for iOS, and PhotoWall+ for tvOS Boinxs newest social photo wall for sharing and saving crowd-sourced photos. Boinx Software has also been instrumental in the developmental processes of popular apps including Heads Up!, Ellen DeGeneress charades party game, and the Leica T iPhone and iPad app, the elegant remote companion to the Leica T digital camera. Follow Boinx Software on Twitter and Facebook. Jeff Casimir Executive Director of Turing I want Turing to do for coding what MIT did for engineering, said Jeff Casimir founder and executive director, Turing School of Software & Design. Our focus from the beginning has always been about quality over quantity." Turing School of Software and Design, a nationally recognized non-profit programming school, formally launched their new Front-End Engineering program. Front-End Engineering marks the launch of their second program, and was created to fulfill the demand for qualified engineers with a strong foundation in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Front-End developers, also known as client-side developers are currently in high demand. Turings Front-End program is designed to provide the best learning experience for students to acquire job-ready programming skills to enter a career as a front-end developer. I want Turing to do for coding what MIT did for engineering, said Jeff Casimir founder and executive director, Turing School of Software & Design. Our focus from the beginning has always been about quality over quantity. We designed the new Front-End Development program specifically to surpass expectations that the industry has for new software developers ensuring that our alumni are the most prepared among their competition. During the Front-End program, students will learn to build applications in the browser for both mobile and desktop platforms, using all core languages. Turing has focused on recruiting instructors for the Front-End Engineering program based on their background in education first, and exceptional programming experience second; fully preparing students to enter a career in front-end engineering upon program completion. Front-End Engineering program is accepting applications now at https://www.turing.io/. Since 2014, Turing School of Software and Design has trained 131 students to become Web Application developers. Within 120 days of program completion, 96% of graduates find full-time employment, with a yearly average starting salary of $75,000. Turing is 100% dedicated to student success. About Turing School of Software & Design Turing School of Software & Design has operated as a Colorado non-profit since 2014, specializing in Web Application Development and Front-End Engineering. Turing values come from a desire to create a more diverse workforce and to properly prepare students to enter the workforce upon program completion. As a registered Colorado non-profit, Turing answers to no investors or outside interest, strategies and decisions are guided solely by what will lead to the best learning experience for students. Austal celebrated the keel-laying milestone for the Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel Yuma (EPF 8) here today with a ceremony marking a significant milestone in the ships construction. This ship is the eighth EPF built at Austal under the 10-ship, $1.6 billion block-buy contract awarded to Austal in 2008. Laying the keel is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. The keel runs lengthwise down the middle of the ship serving as the basic foundation or spine of the structure, providing the major source of the hulls strength. The Honorable Douglas Nicholls, Mayor of the City of Yuma, Ariz., authenticated the keel at the ceremony by welding his initials onto an aluminum keel plate that will eventually be placed in ships hull. Mayor Nicholls was assisted by Austal USA A-Class welder, Courtney Cagle. Ms. Cagle began her employment with Austal in 2012 as an apprentice. I am excited to reach this significant milestone today in such a short period of time, considering we just launched EPF 7 from this bay in late January. Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said. The momentum were experiencing on the construction of this amazing ship is evidence of the strength of Austals EPF program, and the continued success displayed by Austals talented shipbuilding team. The EPF program at Austal is progressing rapidly. USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) was delivered in mid-January and there are three other EPFs under construction at Austal USAs headquarters and ship manufacturing facility in Mobile, Ala. Of the ships already delivered to the Navy, USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1) is in Africa on its third deployment and recently took part in a successful anti-piracy operation. USNS Choctaw County (T-EPF 2) and USNS Millinocket (T-EPF 3) are also currently deployed supporting U.S. Navy fleet operations, including many international exercises. Austal is also under a 10-ship block-buy contract worth over $3.5 billion for the U.S. Navys Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. The company has delivered three LCS with another seven currently under construction. The future USS Montgomery (LCS 8) is scheduled for delivery later this year. About Austal Austal is a global defense prime contractor and a designer and manufacturer of defense and commercial ships. For more than 25 years Austal has been a leader in the design, construction and maintenance of revolutionary ships for governments, navies and ferry operators around the world. More than 250 vessels have been delivered in that time. Ships Defense vessels designed and built by Austal include multi-mission combatants, such as the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) for the U.S. Navy and military high speed vessels for transport and humanitarian relief, such as the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) for the U.S. Navy and High Speed Support Vessel (HSSV) for the Royal Navy of Oman. Austal also designs, constructs, integrates and maintains an extensive range of patrol and auxiliary vessels for government agencies globally, including the Cape Class Patrol Boat Program for Australian Customs and Border Protection. Defense vessels are designed and constructed in Mobile, Ala. and in Henderson, Western Australia. Austal has been at the forefront of the high speed ferry market since the early days of the industry. Our market leading designs of high performance aluminum vessels have long been at the heart of Austals research and development. Today, commercial ship construction is centered on our shipyard in Balamban, Philippines. Systems Austal has expertise in integrating complex systems into its ships, including ride control, ship management, and communication, sensors and weapon systems. Support Austal provides a wide range of support services, including through life support, integrated logistics support, vessel sustainment and systems support. These services are delivered through our global support network in the USA, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East together with partner shipyards worldwide. Walgreens Healthcare Clinic has earned re-accreditation by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), the leader in ambulatory health care accreditation. The renewed accreditation distinguishes Walgreens Healthcare Clinic nationwide as continuing to deliver high-quality, reliable care in an environment that promotes patient safety. With consumers, more than ever before, determining how and where they should receive health care and the exponential growth of walk-in retail clinics, the landscape is incredibly competitive, said Pat Carroll, M.D., divisional vice president and chief medical officer for Walgreens Healthcare Clinic. Renewing our AAAHC accreditation demonstrates that Walgreens Healthcare Clinics are committed to best practices, optimal care and delivering an excellent patient experience. AAAHC accreditation reflects an organizations compliance with nationally-recognized Standards of care and is valid for three years. The AAAHC accreditation process includes an on-site review by expert surveyors who have decades of experience as health care professionals from physicians and nurses to medical directors and administrators. As part of the process, representatives evaluated Walgreens Healthcare Clinic providers in a clinical setting at a cross-section of locations, interviewed executive leadership and conducted patient surveys. The renewed accreditation of Walgreens Healthcare Clinic is valid until February 8, 2019. Walgreens Healthcare Clinic offers a valuable alternative to traditional points of care for millions of Americans and we are proud to once again recognize them as an AAAHC accredited organization, said Stephen A. Martin, Jr., Ph.D., M.P.H, president and CEO of the AAAHC. By reviewing and validating Walgreens Healthcare Clinic to provide high-quality, walk-in health care, AAAHC is helping to extend accessible, comprehensive care to patients nationwide. There are more than 400 Walgreens Healthcare Clinic locations across the U.S., all of which have renewed AAAHC accreditation demonstrating and documenting the quality of care and value that Walgreens Healthcare Clinic delivers to patients. About AAAHC AAAHC (Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care), founded in 1979, is the leader in ambulatory health care accreditation with more than 6,000 organizations accredited nationwide. AAAHC accredits a variety of ambulatory health care organizations, including ambulatory surgery centers, office-based surgery centers, college student health centers, health plans/managed care organizations, military health care clinics, large medical and dental practices, and medical homes. In 2010, AAAHC launched Acreditas Global, an international accreditation program. AAAHC serves as an advocate for the provision of high-quality health care through the development of nationally recognized standards and through its survey and accreditation programs. AAAHC accreditation is recognized as a symbol of quality by third-party payers and medical organizations, liability insurance companies, state and federal agencies and the public. For more information, visit http://www.aaahc.org. New Delhi: Ahead of his departure to Belgium, USA and Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Nuclear Summit in Washington DC will strongly deliberate on the crucial issue of threat to nuclear security caused by nuclear terrorism. "On 30th March, I will be in Brussels to meet with the Belgian Prime Minister Mr. Charles Michel. I would also be holding the 13th India-EU Summit with the E.U. leadership. No words are enough to salute the resilience and spirit of the people of Belgium. We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the wake of the horrific attacks in Brussels and share the grief of those who lost their loved ones," the Prime Minister said in a statement. Asserting that India's relations with Belgium are deep rooted and have stood the test of time, the Prime Minister said that within the E.U., Belgium is India's second largest trading partner and that his meeting with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel aims to expand trade, investment and high technology partnership. "Along with Prime Minister Charles Michel, I would remote activate the India-Belgium ARIES (Aryabhatta Research Institute for Observational Sciences) Telescope. The European Union is a vital trading partner and the biggest export destination for India. This Summit will advance our multifaceted engagement across a whole range of domains," the statement added. In Brussels, the Prime Minister would also be meeting with the Members of European Parliament (MEPs), Indologists, Belgian CEOs as well as a wide cross section of the Indian diaspora in Belgium and he would also interact with the Board Members of the Association of Diamond Traders in Belgium. The same evening, he will address a community programme and interact with the Indian community. After Belgium, Prime Minister will be in Washington DC on 31st March to participate in the fourth Nuclear Security Summit, where several nations and global organisations would be represented. "The Summit would deliberate on the crucial issue of threat to nuclear security caused by nuclear terrorism. Leaders would discuss ways and measure through which to strengthen the global nuclear security architecture, especially to ensure that non-state actors do not get access to nuclear material. On the sidelines of the Summit, I would meet with several world leaders to carry forward the agenda of bilateral cooperation with those nations," the Prime Minister said. On April 2 and 3, he will be visiting Saudi Arabia.at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. "India's ties with Saudi Arabia are special. Robust people-to-people ties constitute a key component of our engagement. I plan to work with the Saudi leadership to expand and deepen our bilateral relations. Discussions on the regional situation would also be on the agenda," the Prime Minister said. Stating that India's economic ties are also expanding, he added that Saudi Arabia is India's fourth largest trading partner, and is also India's largest crude oil supplier. "In addition to meeting with H.M. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, I also look forward to my discussions with other important members of the Royal family. We want the prominent Saudi businesses to partner with India's development priorities. That would be one of the key objectives of the business event planned in Riyadh," the statement added. Prime Minister Modi will also visit the Masmak Fortress, 'L&T Workers' Residential Complex and TCS All Women IT & ITES Center in Riyadh. AGNITY Global, Inc. (AGNITY), a leading global provider of intelligent business communication applications and infrastructure to organizations in the telecommunications and healthcare service providers, is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Huang as Chief Financial Officer and Kirk Paul Kirkman as Chief Growth Officer, AGNITY Healthcare. AGNITYs products leverage the Cloud, mobility and real time communication technologies to help enterprise customers adapt communications tools to improve their business processes, which helps Service Providers become more competitive and capitalize on new market opportunities. AGNITY anchors its solutions on its Communication Application Server a market leading platform that supports secured mobile contextual communication and collaboration. Stephen Huang is a seasoned Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with over 20 years of strategic, financial and operational experience working for publicly-traded and private equity/venture-backed companies/startups in the technology, manufacturing and services sectors. Stephen has secured multiple equity and debt financings, and implemented operational improvements to drive efficiency, scalability and margin expansion. Most recently, Stephen was the CFO of Inventergy Global, Inc. Stephen earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from San Francisco State University. As the Chief Growth Officer for AGNITY Healthcare, Kirk Paul Kirkman has responsibility for revenue growth and to ensure a positive, seamless customer experience. His responsibilities include Sales, Account Management, Marketing, Professional Services and Product Management. Kirk has more than 20 years of healthcare experience working in leadership roles. Previously, Kirk was a Vice President in the enterprise division of athenahealth. During his time at athena his teams sold and implemented some of the largest ambulatory EHR and population health deployments in the country, always with an eye towards ensuring sustained provider adoption and satisfaction. Additionally, Kirk served as Chief Growth Officer for Tamber Health, a national behavioral health medical practice which embedded behavioral health professionals into large practices. Kirk earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University and a Masters in Management from The Pennsylvania State University. "We are pleased and very fortunate to have such accomplished professionals join Agnity at this important time in our growth trajectory," said Sanjeev Chawla, Chief Executive Officer for AGNITY Global. "I am confident that Stephen will ensure the proper infrastructure and resources to drive continued profitable growth for AGNITY. On the healthcare front, I am pleased to welcome Kirk and his deep domain expertise to our healthcare business as we expand the MobileCare cloud platform to serve regional healthcare ecosystems around the world. About AGNITY Global, Inc AGNITY Global is a leading global provider of intelligent business communication applications and infrastructure to organizations in the telecommunications and healthcare industry verticals. It is headquartered in the Silicon Valley, with Development and Support Operations in Richardson (Texas), and Noida (India). The Communications business of AGNITY Global is branded as AGNITY Communications and powers the networks of global Tier 1 Service providers. The Healthcare business of AGNITY Global is branded as AGNITY Healthcare and offers a comprehensive mobile contextual communication and collaboration solutions for health systems, hospitals and ambulatory providers. AGNITY Global Contact: Media Relations Team media_relations(at)agnity.com (510) 270-5412 http://www.agnity.com We are proud that Proove is the only company with a portfolio of patented testing which that identifies patient pain sensitivity and risk for opioid abuse to stand the test of time while delivering ongoing value for patients and doctors. Proove Biosciences, Inc., the commercial and research leader in personalized pain medicine, is excited to announce the expansion of its salesforce. Building on record growth, Proove Biosciences is expanding its network of authorized distributors and independent sales representatives across the United States. The expansion underscores the companys steady rise to prominence during a challenging economic environment. Founded in 2009, Proove Biosciences quickly emerged as a leader in precision medicine, opening offices in both Maryland and California. Over the past six years, many companies attempted to provide offer just one of our tests - drug metabolism genetic testingonly to have gone out of business shortly thereafter,says Brian Meshkin, CEO at Proove Biosciences. We are proud that Proove is the only company with a portfolio of patented testing which that identifies patient pain sensitivity and risk for opioid abuse to stand the test of time while delivering ongoing value for patients and doctors. Independent Sales Representatives Drive Growth Proove Biosciences started with a team of independent sales representatives more than six years agoand many representatives have grown with the company. In 2012, the organization started its first expansion of independent sales representatives, which included the companys first distributorJoe Matthews. Matthews was an Ohio-based sales executive with 15 years of medical device and compression therapy experience. In a short time, Mathews built a team of six independent sales representatives across the nation, providing guidance that allowed each person on his to team to earn six figures annually. It is all about just going to work and making it happen, says Matthews. There is such a difference between Proove and other companies who just offer drug metabolism genetic testing. Doctors can clearly see the difference. Matthews became the first authorized distributor to exceed a million dollars in annual commissions. After years of success, Joe is now the Vice President of Market Development at Proove Biosciences. Watching the company grow, Mathews reflected on the challenges in the early days. When we started, there were many more challenges. Naturally, we made mistakes. The good news is that it is easy to teach others the business now, explained Matthews. In the past, there was a larger discrepancy among the sales staff who had success and those who fell short of expectations. Many sales representatives did not work the business properly. When I started, many reps were focused on test volume instead of reimbursements. As we matured as a business unit, however, we were able to integrate more robust training into our sales program, thereby making it easier for more sales representative to succeed. Greg Schaefer, an independent sales representative from Kentucky, emerged as another success story that reflects the unique opportunities at Proove Biosciences. I was introduced to Proove in 2013, said Schaefer. For the first time in my small businesss history, I felt as though I had a partner who truly differentiated themselves from the competitionnot only in personalized medicine, but also in the genetic testing field. The ability for Proove Biosciences to differentiate itself in the marketplace is helping newer sales representatives achieve success more quickly. I closed more than 25 accounts over the last couple of yearsand the physicians within those accounts have ordered more than 35,000 tests. This is exciting because patients receive better care and doctors gain added trust from their patients, explained Schaefer. As for myself, earning more than $350,000 during the first 18 months appears to be only the beginning. I am very proud to be a part of the Proove team and represent such an amazing company and product line. As the company begins the year with record sales, newer sales representatives are finding it easy to experience high levels of success. In 2015, Eric Hansen joined the company with his distributorship. Within the first few months, Hansen signed several leading hospitals in the Orange County and Los Angeles area. As Hansen started with a handful of big accounts, he was able to develop a promising pipeline that looks good for future business. With a business model that provides value to both patients and doctors, Hansen believes that he has everything he needs to succeed. Proove provides great support, which makes it easier to close large accounts like hospitals, orthopedic surgery practices, and other specialty providers. As the first quarter comes to a close, the future looks bright for the rest of 2016and for many of the companys independent sales representatives. I am so excited about what the future holds, exclaimed Hansen. Expansion of Full-Times Sales Representatives Proove Biosciences is expanding its full-time sales staff as part of its nationwide expansion efforts. Building on its success in Southern California, the company is looking to attract talented sales representatives in Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, and many other areas across the nation. Proove is looking for entrepreneurial sales representatives who can work with minimal supervision in a field-based position to drive sales growth in testing, physician and institutional relationships, account management, and clinical research expansion. For more information on sales opportunities with Proove, please contact Michelle Burt at mburt(at)proove(dot)com. About Proove Biosciences Our mission is to change the future of medicine. Proove represents the proof to improve healthcare decisions. We seek to realize a future when clinicians look back and wonder how they could have ever prescribed medications without knowing how a patient would respond. Physicians use Proove Biosciences testing to improve outcomesboth safety and efficacy of medical treatment. From a simple cheek swab collected in the office, Proove performs proprietary genetic tests in its CLIA-certified laboratory to identify patients at risk for misuse of prescription pain medications and evaluate their metabolism of medications. For more information, please visit http://www.proove.com or call toll free 855-PROOVE-BIO (855-776-6832). PureCars, a leading advertising technology company for the automotive industry, today released its new SmartAdvertising Video product. The video retargeting capabilities are an extension of the companys SmartAdvertising platform, the only solution built specifically for the automotive industry. PureCars SmartAdvertising Video encompasses brand and model-level pre-roll online video ads. Leveraging PureCars extensive data library, SmartAdvertising will serve ads to in-market buyers based on online behavior, third-party data and geographic information. Dealerships only pay when someone chooses to watch their ads, ensuring their advertising budgets are always well spent. With the number of consumers engaging with online video, extending our platforms offerings was crucial, said Jeremy Anspach, CEO of PureCars. Video research has increased 20 times in the last four years, and more than half of consumers watch at least 30 minutes of video daily. When dealerships do not target qualified consumers on video, they miss an opportunity to generate brand awareness and engage those viewers before purchase. SmartAdvertising Video comes as an effort to help dealers and auto service providers better reach car shoppers across all relevant channels. Earlier this year, PureCars launched SmartAdvertising Social, which allows dealers to serve VIN-level ads directly into Facebook users News Feeds. As a whole, PureCars SmartAdvertising products allow dealers to optimize their ad spend with hyper-relevant, highly targeted ads across all possible touchpoints. Video ads are routinely criticized for being irrelevant and bothersome to the user, but PureCars ads are different, said Anspach. Currently, 43 percent of car shoppers learn more about vehicles they hadnt considered through online video. When reaching these car shoppers, dealers must ensure that ads are personalized to each shoppers preferences to turn that shopper into a buyer. PureCars SmartAdvertising Video can provide the level of detail necessary for conversion. Founded in 2007, PureCars is the leading digital advertising platform for the automotive industry and is used by thousands of dealers, dealer groups, Local Marketing Associations and agencies across the country. Ranked for two consecutive years on the Inc. 500|5000, PureCars is also one of the fast-growing companies in South Carolina, previously raised $10 million in funding and was recently acquired by Raycom Media for $125 million. SmartAdvertising Video is now available to all PureCars customers. To sign up for a demo, click here. About PureCars Technology drives us. Armed with automotives most extensive data library, PureCars offers search, pay-per-click, site and display retargeting and advertising to help dealerships reach the right consumer with the right vehicle at the right time. As a Google Premier SMB Partner, our award-winning technology is flawlessly designed to drive high probability buyers to a dealers site, optimize traffic once on their site, and convert those customers in the showroom. To learn more about PureCars, visit http://www.purecars.com. PureCars, the leading advertising technology company for the automotive industry, announced today that it will release its SmartAdvertising Video capabilities at the 2016 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) as well as announce a new offering with Waze. An extension of PureCars SmartAdvertising platform, SmartAdvertising Video encompasses brand and model-level pre-roll video ads, overlays and YouTube linking to reach in-market car buyers in a dealers local geography. These new updates round out PureCars platform capabilities, making it the only automotive advertising solution that truly allows dealers to reach car shoppers across all screens. PureCars platform offers search, pay-per-click, site and VIN-level display retargeting and advertising designed to serve relevant content low-funnel car buyers across every touchpoint. It was recently acquired by Raycom Media for $125 million in a move that bridges the lingering gap between digital and traditional advertising and revolutionizes the way these mediums work together to serve the automotive industry. The theme for NADA this year is connect, and it couldnt be more fitting for what PureCars aims to do, Anspach said. Our goal is to help dealers connect with in-market car shoppers using new technology that better targets car shoppers across all channels. Striking a balance between traditional and digital marketing is essential in helping dealers reach the right shopper at the right time and in the right place. At NADA, PureCars will partner with Facebook to co-lead Connect with Car Buyers in a Mobile-First World. In the Super Session, PureCars CEO Jeremy Anspach, COO Sam Mylrea and two automotive industry leaders from Facebook will explain the role of mobile in the car buying process and how dealers can capitalize on the platform by using an effective digital marketing strategy. Smartphones are completely transforming the way consumers shop for anything, including cars, said Anspach. With 27 percent of in-market shoppers doing most of their vehicle research on a mobile device, dealers simply cannot afford to leave out a mobile aspect to their marketing strategies. By serving car shoppers relevant, personalized ads on mobile, dealers will drive traffic back to their site and eventually to the lot. With each new addition, PureCars enhances its ability to better target shoppers with relevant, personalized content during all possible stages in the buying cycle. Founded in 2007, PureCars is used by thousands of dealers, dealer groups, Local Marketing Associations and agencies across the country. Ranked for two consecutive years on the Inc. 500|5000, PureCars is also one of the fast-growing companies in South Carolina and previously raised $10 million in funding. Attendees can learn more about the platforms partnerships and platform features from the PureCars team at booth #5869N. For more information, please visit http://www.purecars.com. About PureCars Technology drives us. Armed with automotives most extensive data library, PureCars offers search, pay-per-click, site and display retargeting and advertising to help dealerships reach the right consumer with the right vehicle at the right time. As a Google Premier SMB Partner, our award-winning technology is flawlessly designed to drive high probability buyers to a dealers site, optimize traffic once on their site, and convert those customers in the showroom. To learn more about PureCars, visit http://www.purecars.com. About NADA NADA, founded in 1917, represents 16,500 new car, medium and heavy-duty truck dealerships in the United States, with both domestic and international franchises. For more information, visit http://www.nada.org. For news and updates, visit Facebook, Twitter (@NADAUpdate), YouTube and flickr. "Jamila and Dale both displayed a lot of passion, energy and motivation and exemplify the future of a cybersecurity professional." - Marci McCarthy T.E.N., a technology and information security executive networking and relationship-marketing firm and ISE Talent, an information security recruiting firm specializing in executive-level searches as well as high-demand industry skill-sets and specializations awarded the inaugural Marci McCarthy Cybersecurity Certification Scholarship Program to its first two undergraduates during the 2016 National Conference of Minority Cyber Security Professionals hosted by the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP). Last Thursday, March 24, 2016. Marci McCarthy, CEO & President of T.E.N. and CEO & Chairman of ISE Talent, announced that after a thorough and extensive decision process, Jamila Kaya and Dale McClinton would be the first two scholarship recipients. The Marci McCarthy Cybersecurity Certification Scholarship Program provides $5,000 over a two-year period to help talented. high achieving Female, Veteran, African American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian Pacific, Asian Indian or sub-Saharan African active ICMCP members who have demonstrated academic excellence, leadership skills, and a commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) careers to include cybersecurity, digital forensics and information assurance. Jamila Kaya and Dale McClinton both displayed a lot of passion, energy and motivation and exemplify the future of a cybersecurity professional. I know that both of them will go on to do great things and be leaders and innovators in the field of cybersecurity, said McCarthy I am overjoyed to have been chosen to receive this scholarship and to have met so many wonderful individuals at this years ICMCP National Conference, said Kaya. The show of support that the award symbolizes is tremendously rewarding in its own right as I know that the Marci McCarthy, ICMCP, and the community are willing to give from themselves to keep me curious and I will work hard not to disappoint them. Kaya is currently in her second year at Whatcom Community College pursuing an AAS-T in Cybersecurity. After learning about the colleges new cybersecurity program, Kaya decided to enroll these new course. Despite some initial nervousness, she didnt let anything hold her back and soon joined the college IT Club and began showing up at the colleges Cyber-Defense team practices every week. She is pursuing a Bachelors Degree in IT-Security and wants to eventually earn a Masters of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering. I spent two days in awe, surrounded by the Superstars of Cybersecurity, said McClinton. To top it all off with such generous scholarships. I am still emotional about the experience. After this amazing experience and with this opportunity, I am even more committed to finishing my Masters degree and certifications in Cybersecurity. This all would not be possible without the philanthropic donation of Marci McCarthy and the support of ICMCP. McClinton is a graduate student of the University of Baltimore. She serves as a member of her universitys alumni board and is currently an intern with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pathways Program in Riverdale, Maryland. In this position, she is responsible for gathering information and data, evidence collection, storage and security of records, personnel records and related issues, privacy issues, security of customer information, duties and obligations of the information technology field. She also creates standard operating procedures for data encryption/decryption, imaging and document archiving along with maintaining Personally-Identifiable Information (PII) and other confidential information securely. Too many times, the expense of higher education and industry certifications is a roadblock for someone looking to take that next step in reaching their career goals. It is my hope, that by offering these scholarships, the roadblock will start to be removed, the doors of opportunities will open and will ultimately help employers make strides in hiring the qualified talent and for us to have a meaningful representation of women and minorities working in the cybersecurity industry overall, said McCarthy. Applicants must be: Female, Veteran, African American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian Pacific, Asian Indian or sub-Saharan African active ICMCP Members U.S. citizens or permanent residents Active as a volunteer on one or more ICMCP Committees ICMCP Scholarship Application: https://icmcp.org/programs/educational-funding/ About T.E.N. T.E.N., a national technology and security executive networking organization, facilitates peer-to-peer relationships between top executives, industry visionaries and solutions providers. Nominated for numerous industry awards, T.E.N.s executive leadership programs enable information exchange, collaboration and decision-making. Its flagship program, the nationally-acclaimed Information Security Executive (ISE) of the Year Program Series and Awards, is North Americas largest leadership recognition and networking program for security professionals. Other offerings include The ISE Lions Den and Jungle Lounge, T.E.N. Custom Programs and the ISE Industry Expert Advisory Services, empowering IT solutions providers to gain access to highly credentialed IT business veterans expertise. For information, visit http://www.ten-inc.com. About ISE Talent ISE Talent specializes in executive-level searches as well as high-demand industry skill-sets and specializations. ISE Talent also puts an emphasis on emerging specializations, and critical security skill sets that translate across all industry verticals. More than just a search firm, ISE Talent serves as a trusted partner in identifying, evaluating, recruiting, and presenting top level candidates that fit our clients unique requirements. A 100% woman-owned business, ISE Talent is a division of T.E.N., the leading national technology and security executive networking firm that facilitates peer-to-peer relationships between top executives, industry visionaries and solution providers. Learn more about ISE Talent by visiting http://www.isetalent.com About ICMCP The ICMCP, launched in 2014, is a volunteer-led 501(c)3 non-profit organization. ICMCP is working to bridge the minority gap in the cybersecurity sector by providing scholarship opportunities, technical training programs, innovative outreach, mentoring and networking programs targeting women and minority cybersecurity professionals worldwide and by promoting academic and technical excellence in the industry. Learn more about ICMCP by visiting http://www.icmcp.org Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/icmcp_org StayWell announced today that it will demonstrate its new Orthopedic Care Program during the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) 2016 conference, March 31-April 1, in Fort Worth, Texas. The StayWell Orthopedic Care Program is designed to improve care and outcomes for patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgeries, which are among the fastest growing medical procedures and a top driver of health care costs. The StayWell team will be conducting product demonstrations at Booth #1425, showcasing the educational tools, digital reminders and notifications that are part of the orthopedic program. According to Julia McAllister, senior vice president, interactive solutions, StayWell, these features are designed to boost patient engagement, improve outcomes and reduce clinical costs that are related to post-discharge complications and readmissions for joint replacements. StayWells Orthopedic Care Program transforms patients from passive recipients to active participants, thus improving their medical status before surgery, said Marshall K. Steele, MD, fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and chairman, VOX Telehealth Advisory Board. This can have wide-ranging effects: shorter hospitalizations, quicker recoveries, and improved overall care experience and cost of care. The AONE 2016 conference is expected to attract thousands of nursing professionals to discuss issues such as changing roles in practice settings, collaborative partnerships across the industry, and best practices in effectiveness and efficiency. To learn more about StayWell solutions for nursing professionals, visit http://www.staywell.com or visit Booth #1425 during the AONE conference. ### About StayWell StayWell is a health engagement company that helps its clients engage and educate people to improve health and business results. StayWell brings decades of experience working across the health care industry to design solutions that address its clients evolving needs. We fuse expertise in health engagement and the science of behavior change with an integrated portfolio of solutions and robust content assets to effectively engage people to make positive health care decisions. StayWell programs have received numerous top industry honors, including the C. Everett Koop National Health Award and the Web Health Award for health engagement programs. StayWell also has received URAC and NCQA accreditation for several of its programs. StayWell is headquartered in Yardley, Pennsylvania, and also has major locations in Salt Lake City, Utah, and St. Paul, Minnesota. To learn more, visit http://www.staywell.com. Leo Taddeo - Chief Security Officer for Cryptzone Leo Taddeo, former Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations/Cyber Division of the FBIs New York Office and Chief Security Officer of Cryptzone, a provider of dynamic, context-aware network, application and content security solutions, will headline the inaugural International Crisis Management Conference in Boston on March 31. Taddeo will address crisis management and cyber security in an 8:45 a.m. ET keynote. Taddeo will cover the critical elements of successful cyber incident response, including IR planning, meaningful response metrics, common pitfalls to avoid, and working with law enforcement both before and after an incident. His talk will include best practices for handling crisis-level cyber incidents, with an emphasis on internal and external communications and coordination, and draw on recent examples from the financial and retail sectors. WHO: Leo Taddeo, Chief Security Officer for Cryptzone WHAT: Crisis Management and Cyber Security Keynote at the International Crisis Management Conference WHEN: March 31, 2016 8:45 a.m. ET (event runs 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET) WHERE: Aloft Boston Seaport Hotel, 401-403 D Street, Boston, MA At Cryptzone, Taddeo is responsible for analyzing the cybersecurity market to help shape the companys vision for security solutions. He provides deep domain insight into the techniques, tactics and procedures used by cybercriminals to help Cryptzone continue to develop disruptive solutions that enable customers to defend against advanced threats and breaches. Prior to Cryptzone, Taddeo led more than 400 agents and professional support staff in cyber investigations, surveillance operations, information technology support and crisis management for the FBI, where oversaw high profile cases, including Silk Road, Blackshades and JP Morgan. Taddeo received his degree in applied physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Juris Doctor from St. Johns University. About Cryptzone Cryptzone secures the enterprise with dynamic, context-aware security solutions that protect critical services, applications and content from internal and external threats. For over a decade, enterprises have turned to Cryptzone to galvanize their Cloud and network security with responsive protection and access intelligence. More than 450 public sector and enterprise customers, including some of the leading names in technology, manufacturing and consumer products, trust Cryptzone to keep their data and applications secure. For more information, go to http://www.cryptzone.com or follow us @Cryptzone. Media Contacts Jessica Ann Morris ZAG Communications for Cryptzone +1.781.608.0499 jessica(at)zagcommunications.com We are pleased to report these findings and learn that our members are highly satisfied with our educational offerings and services. Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) announced today the results of its 2016 member trends survey. Findings reveal IMCA members attitudes on timely industry issues such as demand for impact investing, views on the value of IMCA products and services, and new demographic information. Key findings include: Product and service satisfaction. o IMCAs net promoter scorethe measure of how much customers value a product or service based on their likelihood of promoting it to peersmatched last years peak of 39. o 69 percent of members (up from 59 percent in 2015) described IMCA conferences as better or much better than other conferences theyve attended. o 92 percent of members who interacted with IMCA staff within the past year reported being very satisfied or satisfied with their experience. Impact investing growth. o More than 30 percent of IMCA members said high-net-worth clients represent the demographic mostly driving demand for impact investing in their practice; 20 percent cited millennial clients as driving the most demand. o 16 percent said female clients are driving the most demand for impact investing. Gradual shift to online education. o 51 percent of IMCA members report using IMCA online continuing education offerings in the past year, compared to only 37 percent last year. o 41 percent cited Best of IMCA video packages of the best IMCA conference sessions throughout the year as the most valuable new benefit for members. Demographics. o For the first time, more IMCA members (35 percent) identify themselves as independent (RIA, IBD, or both) than those who report working as an employee of a national or regional brokerdealer (30 percent). o 64 percent describe their job responsibilities as advisor or consultant. o 42 percent of IMCA members have at least some institutional clients; 71 percent say they serve individuals or families. o 70 percent of IMCA members hold CIMA certification; 21 percent hold CFP certification. We are pleased to report these findings and learn that our members are highly satisfied with our educational offerings and services, said Sean R. Walters, CAE, IMCAs executive director and CEO. We believe that advisors will continue to gravitate toward online continuing education. As always, we will regularly adapt our conference and education strategy accordingly to ensure we consistently meet our members needs while attracting advanced investment and wealth professionals who may not yet have discovered IMCA. In February, IMCA announced several initiatives designed to enhance the conference experience for attendees, including hybrid (live-online) content delivery and a money-back guarantee. More than 1,200 IMCA members are expected to convene next month for the IMCA 2016 Annual Conference ExperienceACE, April 1720 in Orlando. IMCA recently finalized the conference speaker lineup of seven general sessions and more than 50 super sessions and workshops. Journalists interested in covering the conference should contact: Ryan Hoffman, Communications Director. P: 303.850.3079 E-mail: rhoffman(at)imca(dot)org. Twitter:@IMCA. Conference hashtag: #IMCA16. Survey findings are based on 421 responses by IMCA members in January and February 2016. About IMCA Established in 1985, Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) is a nonprofit professional association and credentialing organization with more than 10,000 individual members and certificants worldwide. IMCA members collectively manage more than $2.477 trillion, providing investment consulting and wealth management services to individual and institutional clients. Since 1988, IMCA has offered the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) certification, which earned accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in April 2011, making it the first financial services credential in the United States to meet international standards (ISO 17024) for personnel certification. IMCAs Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) certification is suited for wealth management professionals working with high-net-worth clients. In 2015, IMCA conferences and workshops hosted more than 4,000 attendees. IMCA and Investment Management Consultants Association are registered trademarks of Investment Management Consultants Association Inc. CIMA, Certified Investment Management Analyst, CIMC, CPWA, and Certified Private Wealth Advisor are registered certification marks of Investment Management Consultants Association Inc. Investment Management Consultants Association Inc. does not discriminate in educational opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. Robert Michael Franklin The University of New England has announced that its 2016 Commencement speaker will be Dr. Robert Michael Franklin Jr., who is currently the James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor of Moral Leadership at Emory University (Atlanta) and director of the Religion Department of the Chautauqua Institution. The UNE ceremony will be held on May 21 at 10 a.m. in the Cross Insurance Arena at one Civic Center Square in Portland, Maine. In 2014, Franklin served as senior advisor for Community and Diversity, Emory University (Atlanta). In 2013, he was a visiting scholar in residence at Stanford Universitys Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. He is president emeritus of Morehouse College, where he served as the tenth president of the nations largest private, four-year liberal arts college for men from 2007 through 2012. Franklin was the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory University (2004-2007), where he provided leadership for a university-wide initiative titled Confronting the Human Condition and the Human Experience and was a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at the law school. Franklin graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse in 1975 with a degree in political science and religion and holds ordination in two Christian denominations: the American Baptist Churches USA and the Church of God in Christ. Franklin earned the master of divinity degree in Christian social ethics and pastoral care in 1978 at the Harvard Divinity School, where he also served as assistant director of Ministry Education. Other pastoral positions include assistant pastor at St. Paul Church of God in Christ in Chicago and Protestant chaplain at St. Bernard Hospital, also in Chicago. Franklin continued his education at the University of Chicago, earning a doctorate in ethics and society, and religion and the social sciences in 1985. He also undertook international study at the University of Durham, U.K., as a 1973 English Speaking Union Scholar. His major fields of study include social ethics, psychology and African American religion. He is also the recipient of honorary degrees from Bethune Cookman University, Bates College and Swarthmore College. An insightful educator, Franklin has served on the faculties of the University of Chicago, Harvard Divinity School, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School and at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, where he gained a national reputation as director of Black Church Studies. He also has served as program officer in Human Rights and Social Justice at the Ford Foundation and as an adviser to the foundations president on future funding for religion and public life initiatives. In addition, Franklin was invited by American film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg to prepare an online study guide for the congregational use of "The Prince of Egypt," a DreamWorks film (1999). He also served as an advisor to the History Channels presentation titled "The Bible (2013). In 1997, Franklin assumed the presidency of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), the graduate theological seminary of the Atlanta University Center consortium, and served until 2002. He served as theologian in residence for the 2005 season at the historic Chautauqua Institution. Franklin provides commentary for the National Public Radio (NPR) program All Things Considered and weekly commentary for Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasting Television. He is also the author of three books: "Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities" (2007); "Another Days Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis" (1997); and "Liberating Visions: Human Fulfillment and Social Justice in African American Thought" (1990). He has co-authored (with Don S. Browning, et. al.) a volume titled, "From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate" (2001). He also penned the foreword to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s, Letter from Birmingham Jail, reprinted by Trinity Forum in 2012. Active in a range of organizations, Franklin serves on the boards of the Salvation Army, the CNN Dialogues Advisory Committee and NASAs 100-year Starship Project Advisory Board directed by former astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity (Kappa Boule). He is a member of the Atlanta Falcons Advisory Board; Atlanta Rotary Club; 100 Black Men of Atlanta; the 1999 class of Leadership Atlanta; the Leadership and Sustainability Institute Working Group (of the Open Society Foundation); and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He has served on the boards of the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE); the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce; the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (executive committee); the White House HBCU Capital Financing Advisory Board; the Atlanta Business League; and the Atlanta Mayoral Board of Service. Previously, he served on the boards of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Public Broadcasting of Atlanta, and Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasting. In 2000, Mayor Bill Campbell appointed him co-chair of Atlanta 2000, the citys official coordinating committee for Y2K activities and celebrations. A seasoned traveler, Franklin has studied seven languages and visited Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean. He is the recipient of a Ford Foundation grant to examine religion in public life in Asia and produced NPR commentaries based on this research. He has also served as a consultant for the Annie E. Casey Foundations work on alleviating poverty and strengthening fragile families. The University of New England (UNE) is Maines largest private university. It offers dozens of undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs and is home to Maines only medical and dental schools. With coastal campuses in Portland and Biddeford, Maine, and one in Tangier, Morocco, UNE attracts internationally recognized scholars in the sciences, health, medicine and the humanities. It is one of a select group of academic institutions with a comprehensive health education mission that includes programs in medicine, pharmacy, dental medicine, nursing and an array of allied health professions. Visit http://www.une.edu. innovation for a healthier planet. A Monday court ruling affirmed CBE Companies (CBE) innovative solution for dialing cell phones complies with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida decision found CBEs use of its patent-pending Manual Clicker Application (MCA) did not violate the TCPA when CBE called a consumers cell phone. For CBE President and Chief Operating Officer Chad Benson, the ruling reinforces CBEs confidence in its TCPA-compliant solution for eliminating TCPA risk for both CBE and its clients, as well as protecting consumers. This very important decision from the Court validates the time, money and effort invested in our TCPA-compliant solution. This important ruling affirms this powerful compliance tool protects both CBE and its clients from TCPA risk, while eliminating performance and regulatory problems associated with other dialing alternatives, Benson said. The Court issued a summary judgment for CBE in S. Ryan Strauss v. The CBE Group, Inc. and Verizon New England Inc. (Case No. 15-62026-CIV-COHN/SELTZER) In the ruling, CBE Judge James Cohn noted the issue was whether the equipment supporting the MCA would be classified as a predictive dialer. Cohn found The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that it was not. The MCA is the result of continued technology innovation by CBEs technology and consulting subsidiary, Madison Wyatt. After CBE segments consumer accounts with cell phones, the patent-pending MCA allows CBE to comply with the requirements set forth in the TCPA and subsequent Federal Communication Commission orders. The MCA provides human intervention which initiates each call without the use of a predictive algorithm. Development of the MCA has proven to provide an immeasurable benefit for CBEs clients facing increased risk both directly and indirectly. CBE experienced significant performance increases and operational efficiency utilizing the MCA as compared to manually dialing cell phones. In addition, the MCA allows CBE full operational benefits associated with typical non-compliant dialers that provide built in compliance features for the entire range of regulations applicable to call centers and debt collection. Attorney Dale Golden of Golden Scaz Gagain, PLLC, represented CBE in the case. We view this decision by the Court as confirmation that industry leaders like CBE can protect themselves from TCPA liability by designing products and procedures to ensure calls placed do not fall under the purview of the statute. While the concept of human intervention has been subject to various interpretations by different courts, this decision leaves little doubt that CBEs MCA lives up to its designers intent protecting creditors and agencies from TCPA liability, Golden said. About CBE Companies Founded in 1933, CBE Companies is a global provider of outsourced call center services focused on connecting people with solutions. The company specializes in receivables management and customer care services. This narrow focus has enabled the company to be an expert in every aspect of the business. From a one-of-a-kind culture immersion approach to a proven ramp process, CBEs focused expertise saves its partners money and enables them to focus on their core business. CBE approaches every business relationship as a strategic partnership. The company shares in its partners successes and failures and strives to create more of the former and less of the latter. CBE firmly believes transparency and communication are the cornerstones in the foundation for success. The companys approach to a strategic partnership begins with open communication; this assures CBE partners that the team handling their business is committed to delivering customer insights, ideas and new ways to accomplish goals. With more than 1,500 people in six locations globally, CBE Companies can deliver the right solution in the right location(s) for your ever-changing business needs. Its corporate headquarters is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with two facilities in Waterloo, Iowa, and additional facilities in Overland Park, Kansas; New Braunfels, Texas and Manila, Philippines. The organization is consistently recognized as a local Employer of Choice. It has also been recognized by Workplace Dynamics as one of Iowas Top Workplaces. For more information about CBE Companies, please visit http://www.cbecompanies.com or call 888-386-0273. New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday questioned the verdict of Karnataka High Court acquitting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and others in a disproportionate assets case in Supreme Court, saying there can be no leniency in prosecuting public servants holding high positions. Swamy told the bench of justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitava Roy that leniency, as envisaged by the apex court in other cases, is not applicable when public servants in high places committed corrupt acts. "The single appellate judge erred in applying the leniency (criteria) instead, in keeping with a catena of judgements of Supreme Court, (it) should have confirmed the conviction," he said, adding that "there can be no room for leniency in prosecuting corruption cases, especially of public servants holding high positions." Swamy's submissions came after senior advocate B V Acharaya, appearing for Karnataka government, concluded his arguments on the appeals challenging the High Court verdict. The BJP leader said the first key issue to be decided by the apex court was whether or not the income and wealth calculations by Karnataka High Court is accepted and whether the Rs 2.82 crores estimate of disproportionate assets should be taken as accurate. He also questioned the role of the Superintendent of Police of Tamil Nadu, who was the sole respondent from the appeal stage before the High Court and till the end of proceedings. "The issue is whether the judicial process was subverted or not by the vitiating circumstances of the appointment of the sole public prosecutor from Tamil Nadu," he said. Besides Jayalalithaa, others accquited by the High Court were her close aide Sasikala and her two relatives, V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi. On July 27, last year the apex court had issued notices on Karnataka government's appeal seeking stay of the high court judgement to Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and her relatives V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, asking them to file their replies within eight weeks. The apex court had then allowed an intervention application by Swamy in the matter and asked him to file the issues he wished to press before it. The BJP leader further claimed that the substantial rebuttals raised by newly-appointed public prosecutor for Karnataka government were not addressed in the over 1000 page judgement delivered by the High Court. "Thus I submit, decide whether or not there has been a miscarriage of justice vitiating the fair proceedings in the High Court," he said in his written submissions. He claimed that the entire "re-calculation" done by the judge of Karnataka High Court was "arbitrary, unreasonable and unsupported" by any established procedure known in case law on corruption cases and "it trivializes the serious consequences of corruption." "The judgement of the Karnataka High Court acquitting the respondents requires in the interest of justice, public interest and probity be scrutinised with judicial wisdom and strictness. The acquittal thus be set aside," Swamy said. On February 23, the apex court had started final hearing on various appeals including one filed by Karnataka against the acquittal of the AIADMK chief and others in the case. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Karnataka government, had said there were glaring mistakes in the order of the High Court acquitting Jayalalithaa and others which needed to be set aside. The Karnataka HC had on May 11, 2015 ruled that AIADMK supremo's conviction by special court suffered from infirmity and was not sustainable in law, clearing decks for her return as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. Karnataka government, in its plea against the May 11 last year order, claimed that HC had erred in computing disproportionate assets of the AIADMK leader. It had also asked whether the high court had "erred in law" by according benefit of doubt to Jayalalithaa in pursuance of a Supreme Court judgement holding that accused can be acquitted if his or her disproportionate assets were to the extent of ten per cent. The special court had in 2014 held Jayalalithaa guilty of corruption and sentenced her to four years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore. Christopher Byrne, MPAS, RPA-C Under the Eldercare Dermatology program, fully qualified dermatology specialists travel to participating senior care facilities and meet with residentsright in the patients roomto evaluate and treat any problems. Getting older brings plenty of changes, not the least of which are changes in the skin, ranging from the merely uncomfortable (dryness and itching) to the potentially life-threatening (skin cancer). For seniors in assisted living facilities, skin problems requiring a dermatologists care typically mean making a trip to the doctors office, which can be stressful as well as logistically challenging. But the residents of 7 Nassau and Suffolk County nursing homes now have the benefit of dermatologic house calls, thanks to an expanding program from Advanced Dermatology PC which brings a specially trained physician assistant right to a patients bedside. Advanced Dermatologys Eldercare Dermatology program fills a very real need in Long Islands senior population, explains Chris Byrne, a physician assistant at Advanced Dermatology and manager of the Centers Eldercare Dermatology program. Seniors face a unique set of skin problems, he says, many of which require ongoing dermatologic care. As we get older, our skin gets thinner, thanks to declining collagen levels and a drop in the production of lipids, which give the skin its protective barrier, he explains. At the same time, capillaries become more fragile, diminishing the skins blood supply and making bruising more common. Immunity also declines with aging, which leaves seniors more susceptible to onychomycosis (toenail fungus), candidiasis (yeast infections), shingles (a viral infection) and certain types of malignant tumors, he adds. On top of this, years of cumulative damagefrom sun exposure and other factorsmean that senior skin is much more likely to develop cancer as well as benign conditions such as skin tags and the rough, scaly patches known as actinic keratosis. Under the Eldercare Dermatology program, fully qualified dermatology specialists travel to participating senior care facilities and meet with residentsright in the patients roomto evaluate and treat any problems. This type of house call makes it much easier for the patient as well as the patients family and caretakers, Byrne explains. They dont have to be transported anywhere, even down the hall, which makes the whole experience a lot less stressful. Advanced Dermatologys specialists have treated a long list of skin concerns among their nursing-home patients, including basal and squamous cell cancers and the dual concerns of xerosis (dry skin) and pruritus (itching), which are the most common skin complaints among the elderly. During these visits, Byrne says, specialists can diagnose and treat any number of skin conditions, and perform biopsies and cryosurgery (freezing skin) to remove lesions ranging from skin tags and warts to cancerous growths. The program lets us deliver top-quality care while preserving the patients comfort and dignity, he adds. And that helps the nursing facility, as well, by allowing them to provide the best possible care for their residents. Eldercare Dermatology is currently available at Sun Harbor Manor Nursing and Rehab, Townhouse Nursing and Rehab, Ross Nursing and Rehab, Sayville Nursing and Rehab, Huntington Hills Nursing and Rehab, Nesconset Nursing and Rehab and Bellhaven Nursing and Rehab. For more information Christopher Byrne, MPAS, RPA, has been a Certified Physician Assistant at Advanced Dermatology and the Center for Laser & Cosmetic Surgery since 2004. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from New York University, and his Bachelor of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies from the New York Institute of Technology. Mr. Byrne also completed a Masters of Physician Assistant Studies with a concentration in dermatology from the University of Nebraska School of Medicine. Advanced Dermatology P.C. and the Center for Laser and Cosmetic Surgery (New York & New Jersey) is one of the leading dermatology centers in the nation, offering highly experienced physicians in the fields of cosmetic and laser dermatology as well as plastic surgery and state-of-the-art medical technologies. http://www.advanceddermatologypc.com D.R. Salerno At Amada Greater Milwaukee, our clients are like family, and we will treat them like our own. March 30, 2016 - Amada Senior Care, premier provider of non-medical in-home care and assisted living placement counseling, recently opened its first office in Wisconsin its Greater Milwaukee location. Amada franchise partner D.R. Salerno came to the senior care industry with nearly 20 years of experience as an operations executive. His wife Ronda is a sign language interpreter, with previous experience in case management, social work, and caregiving for seniors. D.R. and Ronda live in the Milwaukee suburbs with their two children. Amada Greater Milwaukee will serve the southeast Wisconsin region, including Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee, Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties. The grand opening will be held on Friday, April 1st. According to D.R., Amada Greater Milwaukee provides non-medical in-home care through caregivers who assist seniors with activities of daily living things like bathing, getting dressed, or preparing a meal. We will help you or your loved one stay safely in the home for as long as possible, D.R. said. If remaining in the home is no longer possible, Amada Greater Milwaukee also offers senior housing advisory services; a form of counseling that helps seniors find the best assisted living environment for their unique situation. We understand that seniors may be concerned about how they are going to pay for their care, Ronda said. Amada Greater Milwaukee specializes in using life insurance policies, long-term care insurance policies, and Veterans Aid and Attendance benefits to help seniors fund their care. We are experts at the many options available and will work with you to help determine the best option for you and your family, she said. In the years she spent as a caregiver, Ronda discovered how important it is to families to have qualified caregivers for their loved ones. Ive learned what it takes, she said. When it comes to hiring caregivers, you need good people who really care about the client. D.R. said his grandparents taught him the importance of providing for family and taking care of your own. At Amada Greater Milwaukee, our clients are like family, and we will treat them like our own. The grand opening of Amada Senior Care Greater Milwaukee will take place on Friday, April 1st. The office is currently looking for qualified full and part-time caregivers to work with their clients. For more information, you can visit their website at http://www.AmadaMilwaukee.com or call 262-395-7928. About Amada Senior Care Amada Senior Care is committed to enriching lives. We provide nurturing, compassionate non-medical in-home care and guide families through the many senior housing options available for assisted living. We also offer expertise in handling long-term care insurance claims and in certain forms of government aid, including Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits. Headquartered in San Clemente, California, Amada was founded in 2007, and is currently assembling an elite team of franchise partners to expand our business on the national level. For more information, visit amadaseniorcare.com. Dynalog is a beautiful digital catalog that effectively generates sales - Richard Linevsky, Catalogs.com president Five leading furniture retailers have recently tapped the Dynalog platform, an elegant, game changing, digital shopping experience from Catalogs.com, to market their home furnishing, accessories and bedding lines. These stores Lexington Home Brands / Tommy Bahama Home, Home and Patio Decor Center, Baers Furniture, Art Van Furniture and Hansens Furniture are creating interactive digital catalogs with the Dynalog patent-pending platform to add a dynamic and engaging new shopper-centric tool to web, social media and email marketing plans. Furniture and bedding sales are expected to top $100 billion for the second straight year in 2016, according to Furniture/Todays economic forecast. Furniture retailers prime their marketing efforts leveraging the multichannel tools with the most potential for reaching and engaging consumers - for the July sales events, and for new merchandise roll-out in August. Furniture retailers are finding a competitive advantage at all times of the year by using the Dynalog technology as their multi-channel platform because people are discovering more when they shop, they are seeing more furniture pieces in a beautifully merchandised format, and they are buying more, says Richard Linevsky, Catalogs.com president. Linevsky reports that furniture stores and manufacturers are reaping solid results by using Dynalog technology to connect shoppers with their products. This digital catalog marketing solution makes furniture shopping fun, beautiful and completely interactive. Linevsky emphasizes that brands seeing the highest levels of engagement are those using the highly interactive Dynalog to showcase their furniture lines on every device: desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Our companys new Dynalog digital catalog really has offered a remarkable ROI and an amazing level of engagement, notes Robert Stamper, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Lexington Home Brands. In our last deployment, we averaged viewers looking at 27 pages in a 36-page piece, with more than 75% of those linking over to a product page. Those are tremendous results and I couldnt be more delighted. Furniture brands and stores new to the Dynalog platform are: Lexington Home Brands Tommy Bahama Home is an international/national leader in the manufacture of upscale home furnishings, with an award-winning product line of indoor and outdoor living designs. Home & Patio Decor Center specializes in online marketing of major brand manufacturers for home and patio furniture and decor. Baers Furniture is Floridas premier furniture store specializing in quality name brand home and patio furniture, decor and mattresses. Art Van Furniture presents classic furniture reinvented for modern living. Art Van is a family run business operating 47 Art Van Furniture Stores and 54 PureSleep Mattress Stores in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Hansens Furniture is one of the largest furniture retailers in Californias central valley with a large selection of quality manufacturers and home decor accessories. These furniture stores are leaders in international, national and regional markets, and are adding Dynalog to their marketing initiatives. As more furniture stores step onto the Dynalog digital catalog platform, Linevsky emphasizes, online shoppers will discover thousands of home furnishing options that they never even knew existed. The Dynalog delivers shopper engagement, thats the bottom line, he adds. Linevsky states, Its nice to have a beautiful digital catalog, but you must have results we see that stores are getting an average of 30 page views per Dynalog open, and with an average of 3 products featured on each page, thats 90 products a shopper never would have seen and thats leading to more sales. About Catalogs.com Catalogs.com has been connecting shoppers with their favorite brands and products since 1996. Their newest innovation, Dynalog, is a responsive, interactive catalog that makes catalog shopping easier than ever before. Catalogs.com provides shoppers with access to more than 700 retailers and their products through mail, online and mobile platforms. Employee Uniforms Online There are several topics to discuss when considering uniforms for hospitality staff. Uniform Solutions for You, the experts in employee uniforms online at http://www.uniformsolutionsforyou.com/, has announced a blog milestone. The company has celebrated a first year anniversary blogging about restaurant, hotel and casino uniform solutions by reaching the important fifty blog milestone. The focus has been about choosing the best service staff attire, and giving busy employers and managers a source for employee uniform ideas online. "There are several topics to discuss when considering uniforms for hospitality staff, explained Bruce Bagley, founder of Uniform Solutions. "Weve already added fifty posts in our first year of blogging about employee uniforms online, so that proves my point. Restaurant and hotel managers understand that an employee uniform not only needs to be functional, but it has to represent the brand. There is a lot to talk about, and we are proud of reaching this milestone. To review blog postings about employee uniforms online, go to - http://www.uniformsolutionsforyou.com/. Information regarding staff uniform ideas and solutions for casinos, hotels, spas and restaurants are available. Sample Coverage Areas The reality is that no two businesses are alike. Uniforms are used in many industries ranging from the casino industry to the hospitality industry to healthcare. In that spirit, the blog posts cover a range of industries, all with the goal of helping the busy employer or manager to brainstorm ideas for good-looking employee uniforms. Some sample topics of the blogs include the following: Shake Up Your Casino Cocktail Uniforms: the importance of cocktail staff in a Casino, and how good-looking uniforms can set the tone for more gambling and more sales. Colorful Spring Front Desk Uniforms - with Spring, 2016, on the way, colors have changed. Therefore, looking smart for employees means new Spring fashion in accord with the current trends. Unique Hotel Doorman Uniform Ideas - the doorman is the first person seen by guests or apartment building residents. Therefore, he or she should look smart. Employee Uniforms Are They Right For You? - an important "think piece," on whether employees should be allowed to wear their own clothing, or used uniforms. In all cases, the focus of the blog is not on self-serving promotion of particular uniforms or brands. Rather, the blog posts focus on "idea-generation," the important yet difficult task of brainstorming a way to use employee uniforms to standardize the look of employees yet create a unique brand image. Please note that ideas for blog topics are accepted; interested parties can submit them via the website for possible write-ups. About Uniform Solutions For You Uniform Solutions for You is a division of Santa Rosa Uniform & Career Apparel, Inc. The division offers employee uniforms online. The division focuses on, but is not limited to, the online sales of employee uniforms in key industries such as; casino, hotel, and restaurant. New hospitality uniform ideas for hotel front desk, wait staff or maid service staff is available. The website has a unique consultation request feature, wherein interested parties can talk with a human uniform idea consultant to brainstorm uniform options for employees. Web. http://www.uniformsolutionsforyou.com/ Fentanyl Rehab / Treatment Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in all of Canada, not to mention British Columbia and Alberta. Sunshine Coast Health Centre, a top-rated drug rehabilitation treatment Centre in British Columbia, Canada, at http://www.sunshinecoasthealthCentre.ca, is proud to announce an "FAQ" or "Frequently Asked Questions" document on the drug Fentanyl, including misuse, treatment, and rehabilitation options. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opiate chemically similar to morphine and used in therapeutic environments to treat pain. Unfortunately, it is among the more common prescription drugs to be misused in Canada, including British Columbia and Alberta, due to increased illegal production and being mixed with other unregulated substances (e.g. heroin). "Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in all of Canada, not to mention British Columbia and Alberta," explained Casey Jordan, Chief Marketing Officer. "By creating this specific FAQ document on Fentanyl we hope to educate the general public on its use characteristics as well as options for treatment and rehabilitation from Fentanyl addiction." To access the FAQ on Fentanyl treatment and rehabilitation, visit https://www.sunshinecoasthealthCentre.ca/fentanyl/. Persons interested in learning more about drug abuse problems are referred to the Centre's popular drug and alcohol information guide at https://www.sunshinecoasthealthCentre.ca/drug-information/. Frequently Asked Questions about Fentanyl Abuse, Treatment, and Rehabilitation People who are unaccustomed to Fentanyl or prescription drug abuse may have many questions. The document outlines some of the more common questions, such as: What is Fentanyl? Who uses Fentanyl? Where does Fentanyl come from? What Happens when Someone uses Fentanyl? How does my Loved one or I Prevent a Fentanyl Overdose? What do I do when a Fentanyl Overdose is Happening? Other questions addressed include addiction treatment for Fentanyl and other Fentanyl rehabilitation options. Dependency on Fentanyl, like other forms of addiction, can be successfully treated. Sunshine Coast Health Centre uses a form of drug rehabilitation based on the methodology of Viktor Frankl, namely 'Meaning-Centered Therapy' or 'MCT'. About Sunshine Coast Health Centre Sunshine Coast Health Centre is a 36-bed drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility exclusively designed for men, officially opened on the 15th of March, 2014. The Centre has a philosophy of care that goes beyond just addiction to include personal transformation based on three key therapeutic principles: interpersonal relatedness, self definition (autonomy & competence), and intrinsic motivation. The Centre offers both drug rehabilitation and alcohol treatment near Vancouver, BC, but serving patients across Canada, particularly British Columbia and Alberta and cities such as Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer. Website. http://www.sunshinecoasthealthCentre.ca The public forums will seek comments and suggestions from taxpayers on what they want and need from the IRS to help them comply with their tax obligations. National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson and Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations, will hold a public forum to discuss what taxpayers want and need from the IRS to comply with their tax obligations. The public forum will be held Monday, April 4, at 5:30 p.m. at the Henderson County King Street Meeting Room. Members of the public and the media are invited to attend. Building on initiatives already implemented, the IRS for the past two years has been developing a Future State plan that envisions how it will operate in five years and beyond. It is continuing to develop a path for how it gets from its Current State to the Future State, including refinements to the vision along the way. A central component of the plan is the creation of online taxpayer accounts as a convenient but non-exclusive channel through which taxpayers will be able to obtain information from and interact with the IRS. In the National Taxpayer Advocates 2015 Annual Report to Congress, Ms. Olson expressed concerns about whether the IRSs Future State plan adequately addresses taxpayer needs. She recommended the IRS solicit comments from taxpayers and tax professionals regarding the Future State plan, including their thoughts on the extent to which taxpayers will continue to need telephone and in-person assistance. To further public awareness and dialogue, she announced plans to hold a series of public forums around the country. The objective of the public forums is to ensure the Future State plan will better reflect the needs and preferences of U.S. taxpayers as they seek to comply with the tax code. The April 4 public forum will feature an invited panel of representatives from the local area, including: Rollin J. Groseclose CPA, CGMA, Shareholder Johnson Price Sprinkle PA Bob Smith Volunteer Coordinator AARP Tax Aide Henderson County Arthur Bartlett Program Director/ Attorney LITC Legal Services of Southern Piedmont Members of the public will also have an opportunity to speak. Ms. Olson will conduct the hearing in collaboration with Rep. Meadows, who represents North Carolinas 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Meadows subcommittee works to ensure that the American people have access to critical information about the operations of their government. Local Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) staff will be available to talk with attendees about unresolved tax issues and help determine if their situation qualifies for TAS assistance. TAS generally is unable to assist taxpayers with return preparation questions, but can provide assistance to taxpayers who have already filed their returns with the IRS for the current or past years and are experiencing problems that meet its case-acceptance criteria. The public forum will take place in the Henderson County King Street Meeting Room 100 North King Street, Hendersonville, NC 28792. For information about the forum, go to TaxpayerAdvocate.irs.gov/public-forums. Drain Cleaning Wichita Stopped-up drains are normal and people tend to ignore them if the water eventually drains. Ben Franklin Plumbing, a top-rated plumbing service in Wichita, Kansas, is proud to announce a new blog post about clogged drains and their services to unclog them. Unfortunately, many Wichita homeowners and businesses may ignore the signs of a drain unstopping until water finally backs up, and an emergency call is needed. The best strategy is to have a clogged drain serviced quickly to avoid water damage to a home. Stopped-up drains are normal and people tend to ignore them if the water eventually drains, explained Jason Clark, Manager of Ben Franklin Plumbing of Wichita, Kansas. However, for both businesses and residential customers, its better to deal with the issue before it becomes a true emergency plumbing call. Once a drain or - heaven forbid - a sewer is fully clogged, sewage can back up into a home and cause more damage. To review the new blog about drain clog issues go to: http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/03/2016/blog/drain-cleaning-in-wichita-out-of-site-until-it-clogs. Information about drain cleaning, sewer line repair and 24 hour emergency plumbers are also available at that post. Drain Cleaning in Wichita: Easy to Ignore Until It Clogs for Good A drain clogging problem in a Wichita home or business can seem easy to ignore as long as the water eventually drains. Each time a consumer turns on the water to the kitchen or bathroom sink, the water may stay in the bowl longer than it should. It is a constant reminder to schedule a drain cleaning. Instead of waiting for the time when the water finally doesnt drain, and it may be an expensive emergency call, the best decision may be to schedule a plumber for an inspection. Ben Franklin Plumbing has recently released a new blog post about drain cleaning in Wichita on this topic. As the post explains, people may call it drain unstopping, clogged pipes or blocked water pipes. Next, the blog discusses the damage ignoring a plumbing issue can cause. Third, it recommends that instead of waiting until a sink is fully clogged and backing up into the house, calling a professional drain cleaning service is the smarter choice. About Ben Franklin Plumbing of Wichita, Kansas Ben Franklin Plumbing is a top-rated plumbing service at http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/, serving greater Wichita, Kansas and located at 2825 E. Kellogg Avenue. The company offers drain cleaning, 24 hour, emergency plumbing service and sewer line repair not only to Wichita but to surrounding communities such as Derby, Andover, and Haysville, Kansas. Professionally licensed plumbers are ready for plumbing problems such as: drain cleaning, installing pump systems and water heaters, sewer line clean-outs and faucet repair. The company also replaces and installs faucets, garbage disposals and toilets. When searching for sewer line repairs, sewer repair and unclogging drains in Derby, Andover, Haysville or Wichita, Kansas, Ben Franklin Plumbing is available. Web. http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/ Tel. 316-858-5985 Eric Rountree, CEO has purchased New London Communications, LLC. ("New London") from private equity. New London's consultative approach helps clients achieve success. "We measure our success by the success of our clients. Therefore, we are dedicated to understanding the unique challenges our clients experience. We will lead the way as their integrated solutions provider." Eric Rountree announced on Friday, March 25, 2016 the completion of a buyout of New London Communications, LLC. ("New London") from private equity firm Valesco Industries. Management will continue to be led by Eric Rountree, remaining at the helm as CEO. When asked about Eric Rountree's vision for the future of New London, he expressed concern about the state of the printing industry. "It's time for printing companies to evolve. New London is instilling a culture of curiosity about our client's businesses into our daily activities and within all of our client interactions. We focus first on client goals and then we seek solutions to achieve their goals. We concentrate our efforts on how we can impact our clients success using a consultative approach. These efforts keep us nimble and on the forefront of industry innovation." "I'm pleased to announce that our New London 2020 vision includes investing in talent, resources and technologies to enable our clients to reach their prospects, improve brand recognition and increase consumer engagement," Rountree said. "We measure our success by the success of our clients. Therefore, we are dedicated to understanding the unique challenges our clients experience. We will lead the way as their integrated solutions provider." Although ownership has changed, customers and vendors will continue to receive the best-in-class service New London is known to provide. "Because of the harmonious, collaborative nature of the Valesco and New London partnership these past years, our customers and vendors will experience no noticeable change in service or support," stated Lori Cooper, newly appointed V.P. of Finance. "We will continue to operate as usual under the name New London Communications, LLC." When asked what this means for New London, members of the Leadership Team expressed their enthusiasm and alignment with Eric's 2020 vision. "It's an exciting time at New London," says Larry Ballew, V.P. of Sales. "Under Eric's leadership, we've been able to consistently increase sales year over year. With his ownership, we are able to aggressively pursue additional opportunities through diversification to reach our 2020 objectives." This is a great day for the employees and client partners of New London, said James Mattison, VP Business Development & Calhoun Operations. New Londons relationships with our client partners and to the community will only become stronger now that we have returned to local, private ownership. With the buyout complete, New London will retain the fresh branding and website makeover announced in February. "The new website (mynewlondon.com) allows us to connect in a meaningful way. Our customers receive a unique glimpse into the world of marketing with print," said Charity Zierten, New London's Marketing Manager and newest member of the Leadership Team. The New London Blog is already underway, with informative white papers coming soon. "We understand the challenges our clients face in today's crowded marketing landscape. We are expanding our services to provide our clients with effective, integrated marketing and strategy expertise," says Zierten. Bud Moore, Managing Director of Valesco, commented that the Valesco investment in New London was a continuation of Valesco's proven strategy which centers around partnering with strong, passionate management teams dedicated to growth and the improvement of their businesses. "We are pleased to announce the successful sale of New London Communications to CEO, Eric Rountree." ABOUT NEW LONDON Founded in 1986, Alpharetta based New London Communications, LLC. specializes in providing customer-centric printing and marketing solutions in a variety of end markets including finance, banking, manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceutical, real estate and more. New London's marketing products and services leverage technology to help customers discover success. New London provides marketing consultation through execution; offset and HP Indigo digital printing capabilities; wide-format, signage and dye-sublimation printing; promotional products and corporate apparel to meet every budget; inventory fulfillment and logistics; company marketing stores; cross media and integrated direct mail campaign development; creative design; and event and trade show marketing solutions. New London is headquartered at 343 Curie Drive, Alpharetta, Georgia 30005 with a secondary location in Calhoun, Georgia. For more information and to learn more about our integrated solutions, please visit http://www.mynewlondon.com, and connect with New London on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest. ABOUT VALESCO Valesco Industries, Inc. is a Dallas, Texas-based private equity firm that focuses on making control and non-control investments in select growth-oriented small- and lower- middle-market businesses engaged in manufacturing, distributions and business-to-business services. Valesco specializes in partnering with a companys management team to support its growth objectives. As long-term industry veterans, the principals have capitalized and built numerous successful businesses, serving those companies in varying roles as investors, managers, advisors and directors. For more information, visit valescoind.com. CONTACT: Eric Rountree, 770.442.1363, erountree / at / mynewlondon.com MEDIA CONTACT: Charity Zierten, 770.442.1363, czierten / at / mynewlondon.com SOURCE: New London Communications, LLC. Copyright 2016 New London. All Rights Reserved. Teaming with main sponsor ROUSH Performance, Justin Pawlak will drive a 2016 ROUSH Supercharged Mustang with a Ford Performance Aluminator crate engine. I know what it takes to win, but ROUSH Performances support in 2016 is a huge advantage in competing for a Formula D title. Professional Drifter Justin T. Pawlak is ready to steer his way to the finish line during the 2016 Formula Drift series. Teaming with main sponsor ROUSH Performance, Pawlak will drive a 2016 ROUSH Supercharged Mustang with a Ford Performance Aluminator crate engine. Pawlak, who began his drifting career in 2005, secured first place finishes at Los Angeles NOPI Drift and the first round of 2011 Formula Drift. He has been a consistent top-7 performer in Formula D since 2011. I know what it takes to win, but ROUSH Performances support in 2016 is a huge advantage in competing for a Formula D title, said Justin Pawlak, who is based in Covina, California. I cant wait to get on the track, push the limit and start shaking down. For the 2016 drifting season, Pawlak built a brand new S550-chassis Mustang that features the ROUSH 2.3-liter TVS supercharger, which pushes out almost 1,000 horsepower and 831 lb-ft of torque. Its a really solid platform using factory components, and gives me the power I need to compete, Pawlak said. A hands-on driver, Pawlak does his own mechanical, fabrication and suspension design. He also welds his own roll cages, and is one of the highest-ranked drivers that does his own vehicle work. When we first looked at getting involved with Formula Drift, Justin immediately became our top pick, said Jack Roush Jr., brand manager for ROUSH Performance. Justin is a great driver, and he knows a lot about Mustangs. He is also a very down-to-earth guy, and hes built his program from the ground-up with his own hard work. When Pawlak isnt in the shop or on the track, hes mentoring other youth drivers, volunteering at his church with youth community activities, or attending meets, shows and charity events in the automotive industry. About ROUSH Performance: ROUSH Performance, a division of Roush Enterprises, designs, engineers and manufactures completely assembled pre-titled vehicles, aftermarket performance parts, performance crate engines, and marine engine superchargers for the global performance enthusiast market. Based in Plymouth Township, Michigan, ROUSH Performance was founded in 1995 by motorsports legend Jack Roush. Visit us at ROUSHperformance.com or call 800.59.ROUSH. Were still receiving inquiries about SEAGALE, so were thrilled to continue offering our swim shorts to those who missed the campaign. SEAGALE, the first 2-in-1 swim shorts with integrated swim boxers for optimum comfort and exceptional support, successfully raised over 95K ($106K) on Kickstarter. The French company has now moved their campaign over to InDemand on Indiegogo for those who would still like to purchase a pair of high-tech swim shorts. Were ecstatic about our campaign and all the support weve received from our family, friends and backers. We couldnt have done this without them, SEAGALE co-founder Matthieu Rivory said. Were still receiving inquiries about SEAGALE, so were thrilled to continue offering our swim shorts to those who missed the campaign. SEAGALE has been well received by both backers and the media. The highly breathable swim shorts offer a four-way stretch and a hydrophobic treatment allowing for a speedy dry time. Backers helped raise enough money for the campaign that the shorts are now available in navy blue, burgundy, orange, green, charcoal and red. The idea behind SEAGALE came to Matthieu and his friend after spending their summers near the beach. Traditional mesh-lining would cause irritation and unwanted chaffing. SEAGALEs integrated swim boxers offer exceptional support allowing for a much more comfortable swim short. The elastic waistband offers additional comfort and its flat waistband and stainless snap give the swim shorts a nice, sharp look. SEAGALE swim shorts are available on Indiegogo starting at 98 ($110). Backers can purchase their swim shorts in both U.S. and European mens sizes XS to XXL. For more information on SEAGALE or to purchase a pair of swim shorts, visit the teams InDemand page at bit.ly/SeagaleIndie. About SEAGALE During Summer 2013, SEAGALEs founders began to notice how uncomfortable and irritating swim shorts can be due to the poorly designed mesh lining inside. The following year, with a pinch of optimism, the duo developed and launched the first batch of SEAGALEs innovative shorts on the market. SEAGALE is now rapidly evolving. What started with only a prototype has now become a complete line of highly technical apparel with sharp cuts and timeless designs. SEAGALE is inspired by joie de vivre and the teams active lifestyles. For more information, visit http://www.seagale.fr. New Delhi: The visiting Pakistani JIT will begin recording the statements of the witnesses in the Pathankot terror attack case, including a Superintendent of Police rank officer of Punjab, from tomorrow. Top officials of India's anti-terror probe agency NIA, who held wide-ranging talks with the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), meanwhile, have sought the voice samples of Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of terror group JeM said to have masterminded the assault, and his brother besides details of a trust run by the outfit. Read: Pathankot attack: Pak probe team reaches airbase amid protests Pakistani JIT headed by Additional Inspector General of Police, Counter Terrorism Department, Muhammad Tahir Rai, and also including ISI's Lt Col Tanvir Ahmed, was handed over a list of 300 questions by the NIA during the day-long deliberations that took place at the latter's headquarters. "We have asked for voice samples of Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf as also the voice sample of Khayyam Baber (mother of terrorist Nasir killed during the Pathankot attack)," NIA Chief Sharad Kumar said after the meeting. Nasir was said to have spoken to his mother during the attack. Read: Hafiz Saeed could be part of Pak probe team: Shiv Sena The NIA sought access to Azhar and Rauf and told the visiting team that till the time India's request was pending with authorities in Islamabad, it would like the Pakistani JIT to question them about their role in the attack on the Pathankot air base and hand over their statement to the Indian agency. The JIT arrived here this week for a probe into the Pathankot terror strike by Pakistan-based JeM. Read: Pathankot attack: Pak JIT mandated to collect evidence The Pakistani team, which was taken to various spots in Pathankot on Tuesday, including the 'crime scene' inside the air base, has sought permission for recording the statements of witnesses including Punjab police officer Salvinder Singh, his friend, cook Madan Gopal, caretaker of a shrine the officer had visited in the run up to the attack, and officers who had carried out investigations earlier and prepared the seizure memo. "We have lined up all the witnesses for tomorrow and the Pakistani JIT may record their statement for next two days," he said. Read: Pathankot probe: Congress slams Centre for giving access to Pak JIT The Pakistani team is scheduled to return on April two. On the intervening night of January 1-2, Jaish terrorists had struck at the strategic Indian Air Force base in Pathankot and in the ensuing gunbattle seven security personnel had been killed. Bodies of four terrorists were also recovered after the fierce encounter that lasted over 80 hours. The bodies of the perpetrators have been kept at a morgue in Pathankot. NIA has handed over to JIT statements of witnesses including doctors who conducted the postmortem, call records of Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh and his jeweller friend Rajesh Verma, whose phones had been snatched by the terrorists and allegedly used by them to speak to their contacts in Pakistan, serial number of weapons seized, besides forensic and ballistic reports. Read: Nothing wrong if Pakistan wants to probe Pathankot terror case: BJP tells Congress "We have identified all the four terrorists and handed over the names to the Pakistani side. We now want them to confirm our investigations in the case," he said. He said the Pakistani side informed the NIA team that one of the Jaish handlers Kashif Jaan, who is believed to have accompanied the terrorists up to the border, was missing ever since his name surfaced in the case. The NIA was told that the Pakistani police was looking for him. Read: Pathankot: ISI probing ISI-backed terror, says Arvind Kejriwal NIA also identified another Jaish terrorist Shahid Latif as one of the handlers of the terrorists and sought his through interrogation, Kumar said, adding information about 'Al Rehmat Trust' run by the terror outfit has also been sought. Details of two websites, which carried a message of Abdul Rauf after the terror strike, were also shared with JIT, he said. Both the websites have gone off the Internet and India wants Pakistan to probe the details. Read: Pak JIT visit row: Didn't ask for Congress suggestion, says BJP India also cited similarities between articles used by terrorists involved in Pathankot attack and those in Samba and Kathua last year like use of identical GPS and wireless sets and the modus operandi of hijacking cars before mounting the assault. The terrorists carried energy drink 'Red bull' (during all these attacks), had identical wire cutters and arms and ammunition of Eastern Europe, Russian and Chinese make which are available freely in the Af-Pak region. NIA has also given details, including the batch numbers, of food packets carried by the Pathankot terrorists. The terrorists had carefully buried the packets which had Pakistani markings and manufacturing dates of November and December 2015, the sources said. Read: Shiv Sena terms NIA's proposed visit to Pakistan as mere 'chai pe charcha' JIT representatives said some suspects in the case have been detained in Pakistan and they have shared the details with NIA. If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity. PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move. Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was named by India as the mastermind of the Pathankot attack. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: After India allowed a Pakistani probe team to visit Pathankot airbase, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the case, has decided to seek access to Pakistan-based JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar, his brother-in-law Abdul Rauf and other alleged masterminds of the brazen assault. "We will seek access to Masood Azhar and his brother-in-law at an appropriate time," Director General of NIA Sharad Kumar said. He said both of them were accused in the case and, at some stage, they needed to be questioned. Read: Pakistan probe team has no access to Pathankot airbase, only crime scene Seven security personnel were killed, while bodies of four terrorists were also neutralised in the January 2 attack. Earlier, Pakistani investigators gave Masood Azhar a clean chit, saying the JeM chief had no role in Pathankot airbase attack. A team constituted by Pakistan to investigate the last months deadly attack on an Indian airbase has concluded that there is no substantive evidence to suggest Maulana Masood Azhar, the head of the outlawed Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group, ordered or masterminded the assault, reported a Pakistani newspaper, adding the findings had been shared with India. Read: Pathankot terror attack: Pakistan gives clean chit to JeM chief While Azhar is wanted by India in several terror related incidents, including the Parliament attack case and bomb blast at Srinagar Assembly in year 2001, Rauf has a pending Red Corner notice against him in connection with the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu. When asked how soon would India seek access to the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in Pakistan, Kumar said, "We will cross the bridge when we get there". Read: Pathankot attack: Pak probe team reaches airbase amid protests He said during tomorrow's meeting with the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which has come to probe the Pathankot terror attack case, NIA will seek details of the investigation carried out by them so far. Read: Shiv Sena terms NIA's proposed visit to Pakistan as mere 'chai pe charcha' "After all, we should also know about the probe (conducted by them) as we had handed over a list of requests including identifying some of the phone numbers which the terrorists had called minutes before launching the attack," he said. JeM terrorists had carried out a terror attack on the intervening night of January 2 on the strategic IAF base in Pathankot. New Delhi: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar Wednesday supported his cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal's remarks that he could not reach out to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa or the state ministers during the last 22 months of his tenure. "What Piyush Goyal has said is true. That is the experience of people (of the state)," Javadekar, who is also the BJP's poll-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, told reporters here. Goyal in his reported remarks at a meeting in Delhi had said he was unable to meet the Chief Minister or state ministers during the last 22 months of his tenure. The MoS for Power had reportedly during a speech on 'Making India a Global Economic Superpower' at a conference in New Delhi on March 25, said, "It (Tamil Nadu) is a state within a state and is part of the country where I can't even reach out to the Chief Minister." The ruling AIADMK had yesterday hit back at Goyal over his remarks, terming it as "baseless allegations" and charged him with trying to seek "political mileage" in poll-bound Tamil Nadu. In a rebuttal, Party Treasurer and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam said, "There is no iota of truth in Goyal's remarks that he was neither able to meet the Chief Minister nor state Ministers during the last 22 months." Deserted by former allies, BJP is cobbling together a new alliance with smaller parties in Tamil Nadu for the May 16 Assembly election. Javadekar had recently announced, "BJP along with our friends, Indiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK), New Justice Party (NJP) and some other parties who are willing to come with us, is contesting the upcoming Assembly (polls)." The technical challenges of the standardized load profiles hasty and inconsiderate market opening may open a door that could not be closed after that AUTHOR: Atanas Georgiev The standardized load profiles are the hottest topic in the beginning of this spring in Bulgaria. Largely advertised as the last step before full liberalization, their appearance is expected by both traders and small consumers. However, there is still not enough clarity on what exactly they will change and we hear more and more worried voices regarding the unsolved technical issues. Time is money When liberalization reaches an end consumer (a household or an SME) with a smart meter, everything is quite simple, even if based on a complex technical solution. The consumption could be metered every hour (or even every 15 minutes), the data is safely stored and can be transmitted through diverse communication solutions. This allows a simultaneous process of consumption prediction, metering, and settlement. If the trader, who is responsible for the consumer, got the things wrong, there would be balancing market payments. However, when there is no smart meter in place, the so called standardized load profiles (SLPs) are used. They provide ratios so that when we see the final consumption at the end of the metering period, it could be distributed hour by hour, allowing the final settlement for every consumer (and trader, and distribution company involved). Currently in Bulgaria we have a situation quite different from the one we just described. Metering periods for different small consumers may start on different dates within the month, while settlement and balancing is based on data encompassing the exact period from the 1st and the 31st of every month. In the current Market rules there is a provision that has to solve the potential problem with this time gap, but it is not proven in practice yet. Other problems may arise from wrong SLP - a consumer who actually used X kWh, may be subject to an SLP, which requires settlement for 2X kWh. The worst part it is not yet clear who has to pay the difference the consumer, the trader, and/or the distribution company. A quite strong notion of time is money, actually. Specific communication needed The introduction of SLPs needs new technical solutions in terms of data management as well. Currently, distribution companies know that all small consumers (households and SMEs) are clients of one supplier the incumbent one. Thus data management is relatively simple lump data for all small consumers are provided by the distribution grid company to the end supplier. Liberalization will make these relations quite more complex. The distribution company will have to know who is changing their supplier and who the new supplier is. At the end of the metering period, the proper consumer data have to be sent to the proper supplier. The same is valid for the comparison of SLPs with the balancing data. And last, but not least, the transmission system operator (TSO) has to be aware of these switches, as it manages the whole balancing market. What is the European experience? It should not be that complex, if many countries do implement end consumers liberalization without smart meters, although in these countries the period for meter reading is longer once in 3 month, or 6 months, or even longer. Actually, there are many working models for SLPs application both in Europe and in the rest of the world. However, we have to be aware, that the adoption of SLPs is not the last step toward end consumers liberalization, but the first step of a process requiring new technical solutions. For instance automated data export and exchange, metering periods clarification, a period for adaptation, etc. Until all technical challenges are solved, end consumers should not be promised forthcoming liberalization. Moreover, if they think that everything is already solved and in place (which is not the fact), they may push for a hasty and inconsiderate market liberalization, which will open a door that could not be closed after that. Few Broadway shows can claim as many ties to childrens literature as Tuck Everlasting: The Musical can. Based on the classic 1975 novel by Natalie Babbitt, it has been adapted for the stage with a libretto by Claudia Shear and author Tim Federle (Better Nate Than Ever). The musicals star, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, also writes middle-grade novels: the second book in Keenan-Bolgers Jack and Louisa series, Act Two (Grosset and Dunlap), released in February. The production, which begins previews March 31 and officially opens on April 26 at Manhattans Broadhurst Theatre, has been nearly a decade in the making. When I first heard the idea proposed some seven or eight years ago I was uneasy, Babbitt told PW via e-mail. But then, as I met the people who were involved, and they all agreed that they wanted to keep the essence of the story intact, it was exciting to watch them add the elements of a live musical. Babbitt saw the show during its pre-Broadway run at Atlantas Alliance Theater in 2015. The idea to adapt Tuck into a musical started with lyricist Nathan Tysen who, like millions of other kids, read the book in elementary school. The novel celebrated 40 years in print last year and has sold four million copies. There have been two film versions: a 1981 film directed by Frederick King Keller, and a Disney remake in 2002. As readers know, the story is set in the 19th- century and revolves around 11-year-old Winnie Foster, portrayed in the musical by newcomer Sarah Charles Lewis as a free-spirited but overprotected only child, whose home backs up to a wood that her widowed mother has forbidden her to roam. In a fit of pique, she escapes there, encountering Jesse Tuck (Keenan-Bolger), the youngest member of his family, who is either 17 or somewhere north of 100, depending on how you count. Nearly 90 years earlier, Jesse, his brother, and parents fatefully drank from a spring in the Foster familys woods, inadvertently becoming immortal. Claudia Shear, who wrote the libretto for the shows Atlanta run, had not read Babbitts novel before being asked to adapt it for the stage. She was impressed. Its quite profound, Shear says. As a writer, [the book] gives you so much texture to work with. Still, purists are forewarned: Shear had to add characters and elements to make the novel work on stage. A key addition opens up the action of the mostly interior story by setting a new scene at an outdoor carnival: the villainous Man in the Yellow Suit is working there, running the Guess Your Age booth, when Jesse Tuck wanders by with Winnie on his arm. Shear gave the constable a Barney Fife-like deputy, and made the constable more dimwitted and less of an authority figure. My constable is not the constable of the book but he grew organically from the text, Shear said. It works the other way, too. The best moment or bit of dialogue I come up with may become a lyric. Whatever best serves the story is what youre after. I give the straw to the composer; he spins it into gold. Perhaps the biggest change is in tone, not plot many moments are played for laughs. Theres a humorous sensibility to the show that isnt present in Babbitts masterpiece. Winnies grandmother delivers most of the zingers. When she first encounters the villain, she quips: Where do you find a suit that color? And why would you buy it? The Tucks explain their immortality to Winnie in a slapstick number, Live to Tell the Tale, that employs a frying pan, hatchet, shotgun, wooden chair, knife, and a rattlesnake to demonstrate all the ways in which they have tested the strength of their immortality. Jesse held his breath through all of 1853, the Tucks sing. Babbitt loves one of the musicals quieter moments: The scene with Winnie and Pa Tuck in the rowboat is my favorite, she said. It carries the essence of the story, the whole of what I wanted to say, and its done beautifully in song and setting, based as it is on a real lake always visited in my summer childhood Indian Lake in northwestern Ohio. (The musical, however, sets the show in New Hampshire.) Spoiler alert: The ending has been both simplified and enhanced by a sweeping ballet number that dramatizes Winnies life as she grows from girl to young woman to mother and beyond. New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood, who saw the show in Atlanta, called it dazzling. For the transition to Broadway, the producers brought in Federle, a writer well known in the childrens book community for his series on Nate Foster (no relation to Winnie!) because Shear was in the middle of finishing a different project. For Federle, whose career began as a child dancer (he appeared in five Broadway shows, including Gypsy and The Little Mermaid), the chance to get a writing credit for Tuck was a dream come true. I had been trying to adapt Nates story as a musical when [director] Casey [Nicholaw] asked if I would give them a fresh perspective on the [Tuck] script before the Broadway run started, so this is not only beyond thrilling, it was also exactly the opportunity I needed, Federle said. Raising the Curtain To take advantage of the Broadway run, publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, Tuck Everlastings publisher, is planning a big moment around opening night, offering a book giveaway so fans who have just seen the play can re-read the novel that inspired it. Tickets to the preview have been offered to booksellers, educators, and wholesalers so they can experience the show early and spread the word to fans. Local schools in the tri-state area will receive a mailing highlighting the book, the teacher guide, and a special discount code for tickets. Bookstores in the tri-state area have received promotional materials and Tuck Everlasting: The Musical window cards. Books will be on sale at the theater, and FSG plans to advertise in Playbill. Joining Lewis and Keenan-Bolger in the cast are Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello as Mae Tuck, two-time Emmy Award winner Michael Park as Angus Tuck, three-time Tony nominee Terrence Mann as the Man in the Yellow Suit, and Robert Lenzi as Miles Tuck. The score is by Tysen and Chris Miller; Nicholaw, a Tony Award winner for The Book of Mormon, Aladdin and The Drowsy Chaperone, directs the show and created the choreography. The project has the blessing of its original creator, whose worries about what might happen to her story have been cast aside. I realize its not going to be my book exactly, Babbitt said, but it is going to be a wonderful musical based on my book. SC made the observation while examining various aspects of relief given to drought-hit farmers during the hearing. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: It is a reality that low compensation paid to calamity-hit farmers was leading some of them to commit suicide, the Supreme Court observed. "This is a reality. It needs to be corrected. It's not against one government or other government. The central government always says they are doing good things but some people are committing suicide, we all know that," a bench headed by Justice M B Lokur said. The bench, also comprising Justice N V Ramana, made the observation while examining various aspects of relief given to drought-hit farmers during the hearing on a PIL which seeks urgent implementation of guidelines for areas hit by natural calamity. Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, who refuted the allegations on behalf of the Centre, said there was no "arbitrariness" in deciding compensation for crop losses. "There is no arbitrariness and the Centre has framed guidelines for distribution of compensation to the drought-hit farmers," she said. Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for petitioner NGO Swaraj Abhiyan alleged arbitrariness on the part of the patwaris (officials who maintain land records) in calculating the compensation for the crop loss. Psephologist and political activist Yogendra Yadav, a key functionary of the NGO, informed the court that there are instances where two brothers having adjoining land with same dimensions and having suffered similar crop loss due to a natural calamity, getting differential compensation. While one brother gets Rs 16,000 as compensation, the other gets a meager Rs 160 for the same kind of loss, he claimed. The recently-launched flagship scheme of the NDA government 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana' also came up for discussion, with the bench asking the petitioner whether it could be relevant in such a situation and whether it could be beneficial to the farmers hit by drought. Bhushan said in Chhattisgarh, a similar scheme was launched but alleged that it appeared to him as a big scam as farmers were not given the benefit. A California bookstore preps for its opening; a Michigan store turns one; two New Jersey booksellers announce plans to close. Copperfields Novato Store to Open Soon: The California mini-chain will open its eighth location with a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 13. The first full business day will be April 14. Battle Creek, Mich., Bookstore Turns 1: The Cereal City indie is celebrating its first anniversary with a sale this week. Our goal was to contribute to the rebirth of the iconic citys downtown area, said owners Ginny and Jim Donahue. Equally important, we hope to help a great local library encourage parents and children to become great lifetime readers. Memorial Service For Nancy Olson to Be Held on April 7: A memorial service will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, 3313 Wade Ave., Raleigh, N.C., on Thursday April 7 at 11 a.m. for long-time North Carolina bookseller Nancy Olson, founder of Quail Ridge Books. The bookstore will be closed for the day to honor Olson. Well Read Books in Northern New Jersey to Close: Bill Skees and his wife and store partner, Mary Ann, are holding a farewell party on Saturday in advance of closing the Hawthorne, N.J., bookstore on April 16. In nearby Tenafly, Womraths could close as well. Owner Bob Kutik is planning to retire and looking for a new tenant, which will likely not be a bookstore. Course map Download Photo WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Military personnel will trudge 18.6 miles, through campus and around the city of West Lafayette, on Saturday (April 2), lugging 25-pound backpacks. Civilians will be right with them. It's all part of an event called the Norwegian Foot March, a Purdue Army ROTC-sponsored event that borrows its intent, as the name suggests, from Norway's military. And civilian participants need not worry. The heavy backpacks are required only of military participants who are trying to earn a badge. In addition to the fitness accomplishments, organizers are aiming to serve another cause. They're encouraging those carrying backpacks to pack the required 25 pounds with canned goods to be donated after the race to Food Finders of Lafayette. The Norwegian Foot March has been held at other sites, but this is the first at Purdue, said Stephanie Fancher, a senior in the College of Liberal Arts and Army ROTC member who is serving in a public relations role for the event. "This run is something the Norwegian military does at the end of their basic training," Fancher said. "Our soldiers who complete the event in the allotted time receive a Norwegian badge to wear on their uniform." Cost to enter is $40 for civilians and military, and registration is available at http://www.active.com/west-lafayette-in/races/norwegian-foot-march-2016. The event will begin at 8 a.m. in the Ross-Ade Stadium parking lot and end in the same place. While military members must complete the 18.6-mile course in 4.5 hours, there is no time limit for civilians. Registration will be accepted from 5-7 a.m. the day of the event. Roads affected While no campus or city streets will be shut down, participants will wind around campus, the city and Happy Hollow Park. Westbound traffic from McCormick Road to U.S. Highway 231 will be closed during the event, from about 8 a.m. to around noon to 1 p.m. Contact: Stephanie Fancher, sfanche@purdue.edu EAST MOLINE School board members on Tuesday voted to approve a resolution asking Rock Island County voters to reconsider a 1-cent sales option tax that will help improve school facilities. Superintendent Kristin Humphries said that if enough school districts in the county approve facility sales tax resolutions, the matter will be forwarded to the regional superintendent, who will send it to the county clerk for placement on November ballots. Fifty percent of the students, plus one, in the county must be represented in order to forward the request to the regional superintendent. "We are hopeful that it will pass. I think these are interesting times in Illinois in politics so we are in uncharted waters. But we have other school districts moving forward, and I do think it would be good for our school district to follow along as well. If we get it passed, instantly the three other buildings would be updated at the same time," Mr. Humphries said. School board members issued $8 million in debt service bonds in January to upgrade boiler systems, install air conditioning, and replace windows at Glenview Middle and Ridgewood Elementary schools. Mr. Humphries stated at the time that the school district would not have to borrow money if Rock Island County voters had approved the sales option tax. "The (sales option tax) will instantly lower property taxes for the homeowner. It's something we could do with just one vote," Mr. Humphries added. If the referendum is placed on ballots for the Nov. 8 election, it will be the fourth time in the past seven years at an attempt to pass the sales tax. The initiative fell short by 118 votes last April. Also on Tuesday, board members approved the 2016-17 school calendar, with Aug. 22 as the first day of school and May 31 as the last. Spring break is scheduled for March 20-24. Board member Lisa Betsworth expressed concern that the Memorial Day holiday on May 29 will cause an attendance problem for the last two days of school. "We like that the last day of school is on a Wednesday. It gives us a cushion in case of snow days. It's also good to get school over before June," said Sheri Coder, associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Ms. Coder told board members she met to discuss the proposed calendar with representatives from the East Moline Education Association, who said they appreciate having a week of preparation time before the first day of school. In other news, board members approved an intergovernmental agreement with Bethany for Families and Children, allowing them to store their mobile dental bus at the district's transportation facility. In exchange, the agency will reimburse the district for the cost to alter one of the doors in order to accommodate the vehicle. Mr. Humphries said Bethany will pay $200 each month until the $5,400 alteration cost is paid off, and continue to pay $100 monthly in rent after that. "It's a good partnership. If something changes, we will give each other 90 days notice if the agreement will end. I think it's a good way to continue working with our community partners." ROCK ISLAND -- Hillsdale village clerk Jane Lundquist was indicted Monday on two felony counts of official misconduct following an investigation that has some skeptical of both the charges and the money spent by Hillsdale officials on the matter. The counts allege Ms. Lundquist, 59, did not collect or wrote off money owed to the village related to two customer sewer bills. Count 1 alleges she wrote off or excused in a credit memo $600 to Jinni Passig, a representative of the Sharon Dean Estate, on April 5, 2015. Count 2 alleges Ms. Lundquist wrote off or excused in a credit memo $540 to a Victoria LeCleir. Ms. Lundquist had no comment Tuesday, other than saying she had simply followed the board's directive on trying to collect money from customers who had not paid their bills. During a Tuesday morning news conference at the Rock Island County Justice Center, Rock Island County Sheriff Gerry Bustos and Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee said their seven-month investigation into the matter is complete. A forensic audit paid for by the village was used in the sheriff's department's investigation. Ms. Lundquist has not been charged with taking village funds but, instead, writing off or excusing the debt owed to the village. She turned herself in Monday to the Rock Island County Sheriff's Department, paid 10 percent of her $10,000 bond and was released. No future hearing dates have yet been set. However, one current village board member and a former member both say Ms. Lundquist was following the board's instructions to work with residents who had not paid their bills. "There is no way in hell that she did anything wrong," said Hillsdale Trustee Janet Lease. Ms. Lease said that, in 2010 when Hillsdale took over the village's sanitary district, the village board wanted Ms. Lundquist to try and recoup some of the unpaid bills. Ms. Lease said tasking Ms. Lundquist with the work was cheaper than hiring an attorney or collection agency. "If somebody owes you $1,000 and they come to the door and have $500, do you say, 'Take your $500 and leave?'" Ms. Lease said. "What she tried to do was work with these people," she said of Ms. Lundquist. "There was a bunch of people, and still (are) a bunch of people (with unpaid bills). We sat around and discussed this. I'm not saying we voted on this, but we kind of gave Jane (Ms. Lundquist) the leeway to collect whatever she could collect." Lisa Nicholson, a retired Hillsdale trustee who served 14 years on the board, agrees with Ms. Lease's assessment. A former member of the board's finance committee, Ms. Nicholson said Ms. Lundquist was following instructions regarding unpaid bills. Ms. Lundquist would sometimes cancel mounting late fees, she said, to get people to pay something. "These were residents that had not paid a penny in years, and now were paying hundreds of dollars they owed," Ms. Nicholson said. "Jane (Mr. Lundquist) was doing what we told her as a board to do." Ms. Lease estimated the village spent about $25,000 for the forensic audit cited as evidence of the $1,140 in forgiven debts. "You're talking $1,100 on these charges," Ms. Lease said. "And, the mayor, as far as I'm concerned, has squandered between $20,000 and $25,000 of village funds to pay for this. "She (Ms. Lundquist) doesn't have a ranch in Florida," Ms. Nicholson said. "She tried to help some people out, basically with their late fees. You can't get blood out of a turnip." Sheriff Bustos said Ms. Lundquist is an elected official and remains in office. Mr. McGehee said she could be sentenced to two to five years on the felony counts. Sheriff Bustos said his office's investigation began in early September after Judge Ted Kutsunis ordered on Aug. 31 for the sheriff's office to obtain the village computer used by Ms. Lundquist. "This computer had previously been seized by the Hillsdale Police Department," the sheriff said. "So, on Sept. 3, 2015, the Rock Island County Sheriff's office criminal investigation division initiated an investigation following that court order." Sheriff Bustos said Hillsdale village officials had alleged credits were issued "to numerous individual accounts" from about July 2010 through July 2015. He said Hillsdale officials had suspicions the account balances did not reflect the amount of money that should have been collected. "Their concern was any credits given or monies collected were outside the scope of the village clerk's authority," Sheriff Bustos said. "In this investigation, we believe there were funds she did not collect. She gave credits on what should have been collected for the village." Hillsdale Mayor Michael Lambrecht had no comment Tuesday afternoon, saying a reporter's inquiry was the first he had heard of the charges. "You know more than I do," he said. "Until Rock Island (County) takes this to court and figures out what they're going to do, I really don't know what to say." Mike Mickle's family has been indirectly touched by suicide, and he wants to help ensure that no more families have to experience it. President of Mickle Communications, a marketing and video production company, and publisher of QC Family Focus, Mr. Mickle is premiering an hour-long documentary, "If You Only Knew: The Journey through Teen Depression and Suicide." It will air at 8 p.m. today on WQPT-TV, as part of a night of programming devoted to the topic. The issue of teen depression and suicide is a community crisis that needs to be addressed, and we wanted to initiate the conversation in the Quad-Cities, Mr. Mickle said. "The mission of our magazine, QC Family Focus, is to promote healthy, happy families. Our Quad-Cities communities need to learn about and address these issues before more young lives are lost. His 16-year-old daughter Kate knew Morgan Schmidt, who was 12 when she took her own life at her family's Bettendorf home April 6, 2014. Mr. Mickle's 13-year-old Matt knows her younger brother. "When something like that goes through your school district, it hits home," he said. "Experts say while bullying might be the final straw for the child suffering depression, it's not the only thing. Depression is becoming widespread influenced by everything from social media to pressure to succeed at a younger age, parents pushing their children." Just this past week, a local family buried their teenage boy, who took his life, Mr. Mickle said. Suicide, which took 42,773 lives in the U.S. in 2014, (more than homicide) is the third-leading cause of death for teenagers, ages 12 to 18, according to HealthResearchFunding.org. In 2014, 2,259 young Americans ages 10 to 19 killed themselves, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Healthychildren.org reports that at least 90 percent of teens who commit suicide have some type of pre-existing condition, such as depression, anxiety, drug or alcohol abuse, or a behavior problem. They may also have problems at school or with friends or family. The documentary will explore the many reasons behind teen suicide, Mr. Mickle said, so families, schools and even workplaces can be aware of the warning signs. Like any problem, the more people know about it, the more they can do to prevent it. "What a teen wants, they don't want to die; they just want the pain to go away," he said. "The days of waiting for warning signs are gone," Mr. Mickle said of prevention. "We need to sit down, ask your child, 'How are you feeling? Have ever thought about killing yourself?' (Experts) say if you're going to ask that question, you have to be prepared how you respond." Parents shouldn't dismiss their child's feelings, or freak out about it, but support them unconditionally, he said. Another family featured in Mr. Mickle's film lost their teenage son in 1999 Dawn and Brad Knutson, of Davenport, who formed a yellow ribbon campaign and head the Scott County Suicide Prevention Task Force. WQPT programming tonight starts at 7 p.m. with The Cities with Jim Mertens," which includes an interview with Christine Schmidt, Morgan's mother, who's also featured in "If We Only Knew." At 7:30 p.m., "The Whitney Reynolds Show" talks with Dr. Edmond Yomtoob, as well as Cara Levinson, who also lost her daughter to suicide. At 9 p.m., a 30-minute roundtable discussion, "Teens Talk," will include input from nine area teens. The filmed talk (moderated by Mr. Mickle) includes a UnityPoint-Trinity clinical psychologist, Dr. Sam Moreno, as well as two young survivors one who contemplated suicide and one who attempted it. "They've gone on to get help, and are living productive lives," Mr. Mickle said. At 9:30 p.m., WQPT will air "Losing Lambert: A Journey Through Survival & Hope," about Lambert Hillman, a 16-year-old who died after jumping into a Pennsylvania river in 1995. The documentary won three regional Emmy Awards in 2010. It will be followed by "The Misunderstood Epidemic: Depression" at 10 p.m. It is our hope that by devoting the night to this topic, we can help to provide resources to families dealing with depression, said Lora Adams, WQPT director of marketing and local content. We have all experienced the sadness of opening a newspaper and seeing that a young person has taken this path. It is heartbreaking, but if there is an opportunity to show them and their parents that there is help close by, we are glad to do that," she said. Today, mayors of five major communities in the Quad-Cities will meet to sign a proclamation declaring March 31 to be Quad-Cities Teen Suicide Prevention Day. The signing will be at the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center, 2021 State St., Bettendorf, at 8:30 a.m. The signing of this proclamation will send out a powerful message to our communitys young people, and that message is: We care and we are listening," Mr. Mickle said. If the Democrats win the White House, we know what will happen, particularly when the new president, following in President Obamas footsteps, probably also does not understand the difference between communism and capitalism. I still cant believe President Obama said to a youth group in Argentina last week he sees little difference between communism and capitalism, and that the youth attending should pick and choose what works in the future. Oh boy! So, hoping for a Republican to finally take the wheel and drive our ship of state, there are some things that a president-elect should plan to do on the very first day. Im not talking about eliminating Obamacare or defeating Obama-trade, which should be hopefully accomplished by then.The president-elect should first address the protection of Americans here and around the world. And first and foremost, that means three general actions: -- Strengthening our armed forces; -- Sealing our borders; and -- Cleansing all politically appointed personnel. I saw a recent interview with Lt. Col. Ralph Peters on Fox News in which he reminded viewers that war is hell; its bloody, and war means defeating the enemy no matter what the costs, not pinprick bombing runs. He advocated, as I do, for a larger conventional force, versus a hearts and minds, low intensity conflict strategy. That strategy has severely wounded our militarys capabilities to kill our potential enemies. The army is at an end strength not seen since the end of the Cold War. But to add insult to injury, our leaders, as products of this administration, seem to be more concerned with social programs, than combat training and equipping. Col. Peters recommended we get rid of all force structure which does not fire or maintain weapon systems to create many more riflemen. That means curtailing LBGT efforts and other time-consuming social experiments , thus producing more soldiering. Hes right. Under the current administrations budget for 2018, the Army will shrink to 450,000; 140,000 of them are forward deployed in 150 countries. That is stretching our force too much. I dont want our Marine Corps Infantrymen to wear panties. No more lying about capable women in the Infantry. I want more killers, not counselors. And as for our Navy, I cant believe we let third-world countries like Iran capture our men without a fight to the death. We should have thrown everything we had at Iran, punishing them so severely that they would never again think they can push us around without devastating consequences. The world would get the message as well. Ill bet even Vladimir Putin would stop buzzing our ships and shorelines with his bombers! And while we are discussing the Navy, we need more ships. Our naval forces have been allowed to shrink to unsafe levels -- 272 battle force ships. Remember Ronald Reagans plan for a 600-ship Navy? We need to start rebuilding our Navy on Day 1, so that we remain the greatest Navy on earth, to include a potential Russo-Chinese coalition force. How will we pay for it? We dont need half of all Americans on the welfare rolls. We dont need to support millions and millions of illegal aliens and refugees who do not accept our way of life. We dont need endless bureaucracies, created to do the same job. There are more than 45 agencies for intelligence and security in our structure. (Thats probably representative of how our existing government is organized). We need to cut the discretionary budget by 5 percent per year and eliminate all the duplicate organizations. We dont need to tolerate unbelievable levels of frivolous, wasteful, government spending and fraud and abuse of many kinds. In the end, if we have to raise some taxes to make our military great again, so be it. From Nov. 8 to the Inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017 has many weeks to establish priorities and to select the right military and homeland border security teams. This time should also be used prepare to fire every existing political appointee, as well as dig out those appointees who, prior to the political change in leadership, burrowed into the Defense bureaucracy to avoid getting fired by the new bosses. That always happens. We need to find them and pull them out of government by the hairs, wherever we can get a hold. I hope the new, conservative, capitalist president and his team use this time in between the election and inauguration to best serve and protect our country, by developing plans and priorities to fix our military forces and seal our borders immediately. Chennai: Raghavendran Ganesan was relatively a well-placed emigrant with roots in Tamil Nadu. He was working in a world famous Indian firm and stationed in European Unions headquarters Brussels in Belgium. Of course, the entire Indian administrative arm based in Brussels was searching for him after he went missing last week following an IS-triggered bomb blast on metro train. That was, of course, a rare situation. And that kind of attention to each of 35 lakh people from Tamil Nadu living in various parts of the world, who remit over Rs 61,800 crore back to country, not possible even in dreams. We have seen cases where bodies of people who died in Gulf countries not reaching their homes in Tamil Nadu for months, says Sr M. Valarmathi, state coordinator for Migrants Forum. Chennai. Airport sources estimate that 12 to 15 dead bodies arrive every month in the international terminal and most will be from Gulf countries. Similarly, bodies of Tamil emigrants will be arriving at Tiruchy, Coimbatore and also in Thiruvananthapuram a police officer said. A government survey last year found there are 3.5 million people from Tamil Nadu working abroad, with Chennai topping the list with 3.2 lakh people, followed by Coimbatore with 1.9 lakh and Ramanathapuram 1.4 lakh. It is estimated that 15 per cent of Tamil emigrants are women. While 22 lakh people struggle in other countries, the rest - 13 lakh people - returned home because the contract for a majority of them was not renewed last year. While 38 per cent of the returnees said their contracts were not renewed, 19 per cent said family issues had dragged them back, eight per cent noted they were getting poor wages very less than promised abroad and another eight per cent decided to come back because of bad health. It does not mean that once returned, these workers will not go back. They will try to go to another place or another country hoping to land in a better job, Valarmathi says. Answering a query in Parliament recently, Gen V. K. Singh, minister of state for external affairs, said the number of Indian workers who emigrated through emigration clearance to 18 notified countries has come down from 8.16 lakh in 2013 to 7.81 lakh in 2015. Singh also said that in the last financial year the remittance back home from Indians abroad was US $ 69 billions. (Rs 4.6 lakh crore ) The survey in Tamil Nadu also found that approximately 10 lakh women in the state are left behind at home because their husbands are working abroad. The survey showed these women, with an average schooling of 11 years, are more qualified than males in general population. In general population, average schooling for males is around 8.5 years while for women it is 7.3 years. The survey showed that nine per cent of women left behind never visited the country where their husbands are working and 97 per cent of them keep in touch with their husbands using mobile phones. On an average, emigrants from Tamil Nadu pay around Rs 1.08 lakh and half of their money is gobbled up by recruitment agencies. The survey shows that 52 per cent of emigrants had met their migration expenses on their own by family support or by borrowed money. 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... Celebrating Columbus The Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Queens (FIAO) held their annual Columbus Day parade in Astoria, on Saturday, October 8, during Italian Heritage Month. The... Russo-Elling Mourned More than 300 first responders lined up on Thursday night to honor FDNY EMT Lt. Alison Russo-Elling, as her body was placed into a waiting... Music and audio streaming service SoundCloud has launched its long awaited subscription streaming service. Called Go, it will only be available in the United States first, costing $9.99 a month, or $12.99 for iOS devices to factor in Apples 30% share of in-app purchases. It launched in a strong position to compete with Spotify and Apple Music. Its catalogue of 125 million tracks is quadruple that of its rivals. That in itself should persuade its 175 million users to start paying. (Spotify has 30 million subscribers and Apple Music 11 million). So too will feature as listening to content offline and ad-free uninterrupted listening. The new service covers tracks from the three major labels Universal, Sony and Warner (who signed on because Go emphasises the value of money and opens up new commercial opportunities), countless independent companies through indie label licensing agency Merlin, rare or unreleased music, live DJ sets, remixers, mash-ups, podcasts and rap battles. When it comes to mash-ups when the copyright owner is not immediately identifiable, SoundCloud will pool the money and share it on proportional SoundCloud market share. Go has been in the works for two years. SoundCloud has been patiently working on drawn-out licensing with music rights holders. It also allows them to decide whether to place their material on SoundClouds free service, its subscription tier or both. It was this lack of choice which saw Taylor Swift famously pull her tracks off Spotify. Says Eric Wahlforss, who co-founded SoundCloud in 2007 with fellow-Swede Alexander Ljung, The deals were done to make SoundCloud Go a one-stop. You can find a new indie acts debut track next to a one-hour DJ set next to something from Adele. The breadth of our catalogue is our point of difference from the others. We could be the ultimate music service. To us, SoundCloud Go is the future of music streaming. It allows creative people to be paid for their work, connect with their fans and collaborate with others, and for consumers to discover more new tracks and artists than ever before. What Wahlforss is eager about is that Go should finally allow SoundCloud to make money. Hes already talking about becoming the biggest money making music company. In 2014, its last public financial statement, SoundCloud showed that its revenues were up 54% to 17.4 million (A$25.7 million). But its losses grew by 69% to 39.1 million ($57.8 million). Since 2009, the company has raised 111 million ($164.3 million) in funding. It is expected that SoundCloud Go will roll out shortly in the UK. No Australian release date has been firmed. Read more in The Music Network here. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya who faces charges of money laundering is currently in London. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya who is facing charges of money laundering, has offered to repay Rs 4000 crore to banks by September this year, the proposal was made by him in a sealed cover which was submitted in the Supreme Court by his lawyers. Along with Mallya and Kingfisher, the proposal was also submitted by United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd and Kingfisher Finvest (India) Ltd. The top court in its turn gave the consortium of banks a weeks time to respond to this proposal and has posted the matter for further hearing on April 7. Mallya had left India on March 2 for London, days before the Supreme Court heard a plea of state-owned banks seeking recovery of money from his group firms. Read: Pay dues honourably or face coercive action: Finance Minister to Mallya Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines owed Rs 7,800 crore to a consortium of 17 lenders led by State Bank, which had an exposure of over Rs 1,600 crore to the now defunct airline. Other banks that have exposure to the airline include Punjab National Bank and IDBI Bank (Rs 800 crore each), Bank of India (Rs 650 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 550 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 410 crore). Read: Have received dues settlement offer from Kingfisher: SBI UCO Bank has to recover Rs 320 crore, Corporation Bank (Rs 310 crore), State Bank of Mysore, (Rs 150 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 140 crore), Federal Bank (Rs 90 crore), Punjab & Sind Bank (Rs 60 crore) and Axis Bank (Rs 50 crore). Read: Vijay Mallyas private jet put on auction The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday had issued fresh summons, asking Mallya to appear before it on April 2 in the money laundering case against him. ED had earlier issued summons to Mallya for "personal appearance" on March 18 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). But the flamboyant businessman asked for a date in April, making it clear that he would not be able to appear before that. Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought out in India over charges of money laundering, claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects and asserted that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit. MHI will be responsible for trackwork, overhead electrification, power supplies, signalling and telecommunications, while Hitachi will supply rolling stock. Sumitomo will be responsible for administration and local installation work. The 41km metre-gauge Red Line encompasses two elevated lines to the north of the Thai capital. The 26.4km North Line will link Bang Sue with Rangsit, while the 14.6km West Line will run from Bang Sue across the Chao Phraya River to Taling Chan. The West Line is being financed through a loan from the Japan International Co-operation Agency, while the Thai government is directly funding the North Line. The Red Line is due to open in 2020. NS placed a 280m order with Stadler for 58 of the 160km/h regional EMUs in April 2014, less than six months after it awarded CAF a 510m contract for 118 Civity regional EMUs. NS is currently facing a severe shortfall in fleet capacity due to rapidly-rising passenger numbers and as CAF was unable to deliver the Civitys before mid-2018, NS decided to order additional trains from Stadler without issuing a tender in order to meet short-term demand. The Flirt order comprises 33 three-car and 25 four-car trains. The 1.5kV dc articulated trains are being assembled at Stadler's palnt in Siedlce, Poland and deliveries were scheduled to start in the first half of this year with the first sets entering passenger service in December. The trains will be maintained by Nedtrain at its Maastricht depot, which has been upgraded in readiness for the arrival of the new EMUs. The NS trains are not the first Flirt 3 sets to arrive in the Netherlands. In November 2015 Stadler delivered the first of a fleet of two-car trains, which will be used by NS subsidiary Abellio on Gouda - Alphen-aan-den-Rijn R-Net services. These trains are currently undergoing certification and are due to enter passenger service in December. CP files definitive proxy statement for NS shareholder resolution Written by Carolina Worrell , Senior Editor Canadian Pacific on March 29, 2016 filed its definitive proxy statement for its Norfolk Southern Corp. (NS) shareholder resolution asking NS Board of Directors to engage in good faith discussions with CP regarding a business combination. CP also filed a letter that will be sent to all NS shareholders about the opportunity to create significant value for NS shareholders. In filing its own definitive proxy statement on March 28, NS stated: [The] Shareholder Proposal from Canadian Pacific is Unnecessary Because Norfolk Southern Would Have Discussions with CP if it Obtains a Declaratory Order and States a Willingness to Meaningfully Increase its Offer. CP has consistently stated that we are open to discussing all terms of a potential deal, including price, but we cant negotiate with ourselves, said CP CEO, E. Hunter Harrison. Given we have also asked the Surface Transportation Board for a declaratory order on the voting trust model we were pleased to hear that Norfolk Southern may now be willing to engage in direct face-to-face discussions. CP says its proposed business combination with NS would create a true end-to-end transcontinental railroad that would enhance competition, benefit the public and drive economic growth. CP adds that it has demonstrated from the beginning that it is flexible on price, having improved its offer twice already, and shown flexibility on the structure of a potential combination, offering a voting trust structure as the quickest way for NS shareholders to receive consideration for their shares. CP has consistently said, however, that the voting trust is not a condition to its offer. NS shareholders have been telling CP from the beginning that their own board should, at the very least, talk to CP about a potential combination. CPs shareholder resolution to NS asks shareholders to formally vote in favor of what they have been saying to CP anecdotally for months; it is a vote for a discussion between the two companies, not on the proposal itself. The shareholder resolution will be voted on at the NS annual meeting May 12 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The NS board has refused to meet with us in the past, which ultimately led to our shareholder resolution, said Harrison. While we remain open to meeting with them anytime and anywhere, we are putting the question to the shareholders of NS so they can finally be heard. We continue to see tremendous opportunity and enormous potential in the proposed business combination. CP strongly believes that a combined railroad would offer unparalleled customer service and competitive rates that will support the success of the shippers and industries it serves, create far more shareholder value than NS strategic plan and satisfy the U.S. Surface Transportation Board and other regulators. The definitive proxy statement and related proxy materials, including CPs letters to shareholders and a universal GREEN proxy or voting instruction form, will be mailed to shareholders of NS and are also available via EDGAR at http://www.SEC.gov. For more information on CPs proposal, visit www.cpconsolidation.com. Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK Earlier this month, Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, told the Council on Foreign Relations that the only lasting answer to hateful ideologies are better ideas (A)s we target ISIL's men and its money we must also confront and defeat their twisted message. In an information environment saturated with terror recruiting ads, depictions of violence and general rancorous discourse, it remains a daunting challenge for better ideas to take hold abroad and at home. The United States is learning that such work takes time and goes beyond attacking an undesirable idea. Research shows that malicious ideas, ideologies and narratives cannot just be eliminated, they need to be replaced ( PDF ). So, to complement efforts to undermine hateful ideas, diminish extremism and scale down the prospect of violence, we recommend much more aggressive efforts to incite peace. Peace is not just the state of having not violence or not strife it should not be defined by what it isn't, but rather should be positively defined by its virtues: mutual respect, safety, sharing, finding common ground, making incremental progress. To incite peace, voices for change need to both diminish the negative messages and elevate positive, viable alternatives. We identify four critical drivers opportunity, messaging, audience and coordination which policymakers could use to optimize conditions for change toward peace. Voices for change need to both diminish the negative messages and elevate positive, viable alternatives. Ongoing efforts to disrupt ISIL create opportunities to promote alternative ideas. These short periods of enforced or intimidated silence by extremists can be seized to incite peace. Considerable attention has been centered on defeating ISIL's message through technical means, with substantial progress. Air strikes have razed radio stations in Afghanistan and Iraqis are working to cut off the group's satellite Internet. Last month, Twitter reported dismantling tens of thousands of terrorism-related accounts. Such information operations campaigns should continue. But while ISIL's communications resources are disrupted, there may be opportunities to reframe world views by presenting new narratives or amplifying existing narratives of peace. Right now, the temporary void is just being refilled by ISIL. Monaco affirmed that this is happening: There's something like 90,000 Twitter accounts associated with or sympathetic to ISIL sometimes each with 50,000 followers, she said. Opportunities, though, are of little value without the right message. So the question becomes, what should the peace-inciting narrative look like? By challenging misinformation and dissuading violence, many current efforts understandably point to counter-narratives. Several awareness campaigns by the government, nonprofits and even vigilantes aspire to discredit hostile discourse, using a confrontational lexicon, such as countering violent extremism (CVE), anti-bias, and anti-defamation. These efforts may serve to cancel negative ideas, but are limited in an agenda to promote the alternative message of longer-term peace. It is as important for awareness campaigns such as Average Mohamed in the United States and Burka Avenger in Pakistan, as well as the credible voices of former extremists and terror victims, to promote alternative ideas at the same time. As lessons are learned and relationships evolve, words matter including where they come from. The Department of Homeland Security indicated its recognition of this last fall, as Secretary Jeh Johnson introduced the Office of Community Partnerships. While maintaining a CVE mission, the new office could be instrumental in pursuing peace and collaboration. This could help cultivate environments fit for stimulating discussions and stories that value unique perspectives, encourage diversity and highlight commonalities that can be used to feature better ideas. Sometimes it can be difficult to identify who the audience should be for these better ideas. Like Madison Avenue marketers, communicators must decide if efforts focus on a narrow, at-risk segment, or the broader population? Are target audiences located home or abroad? Geography and the speed of communication suggest a global approach. As ISIL and its sympathizers spread across multiple continents, including here in the United States, debate about the government's role has continued. But why place limitations on the spread of ideas at a time when technology has enabled the government, businesses, NGOs and individuals to reach vast audiences in an instant? A concerted effort to connect messages with multiple audiences adversaries, allies, as well as the American public offers a solid opportunity for longer-term success. Inciting peace just as extremists incite violence also requires coordination across a diverse group of stakeholders. Uniform messaging is not essential, as the message of the movement may manifest itself in a multitude of ways. Connecting with these audiences is not solely a government public diplomacy function, nor is it an exclusively top-down or bottom-up strategy. What is critical is that those contributing to a narrative of peace fuse together a constituency to address individual, institutional and systemic change. Such efforts are under way. The recent workshop Stop Dangerous Speech, hosted by the World Organization for Resource Development and Education, is one example. Peace is not a message that generally dominates headlines especially as the spate of attacks continues in Pakistan, Belgium, Turkey, France and elsewhere but it should receive greater attention. Stopping ideas that promote violence requires viable alternatives and it may be possible to crowd out hateful and hurtful messages with peaceful alternatives. To defeat a twisted message, it is valuable to heed the advice of Dr. Martin Luther King, who said, Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Michael A. Brown is the Department of Homeland Security Fellow at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. He has master's degrees in security studies from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School and in public administration from Rutgers University-Newark. Christopher Paul is a senior social scientist at RAND, a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, and an author of several reports, books, and articles about strategic communication, public diplomacy, and information operations. This commentary originally appeared on Foreign Policy Concepts on March 30, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis. The fight against terrorism in Tunisia is a shared priority and responsibility with the U.S. and Europe but will also depend greatly on solving the security issues in neighboring Libya, according to participants at a conference March 23 in the RAND Corporation's Washington office. The conference brought together a broad audience of representatives from the Tunisian and U.S. governments, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, civil society institutions, and academics. The security challenges are daunting, combining the challenge of ISIL in Libya with potential instability in Algeria and a depressingly serious domestic radicalization problem, said Christopher Chivvis, Associate Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at RAND, which organized the conference. To succeed against these challenges, Tunisia will need a significant amount of support from the United States and the European Union. Panelists noted the significant internal obstacles to stability in the country. The single most important issue is that official channels for getting things done and economic transactions are fundamentally broken in Tunisia, one participant concluded. The size of the unofficial economy exceeds the official economy. The bottom line is that Tunisian soldiers or police officers must be better trained and equipped than the terrorists themselves, remarked another panelist during a during a discussion of defense priorities and border security. On the construction of a wall on the Libyan border, another panelist said: It's a good start, but not a panacea. Securing Tunisia's border is essential, but requires a layered system, and the wall just isn't enough. Another important element will be reforms in the Ministry of Interior, as well as beefing up parliamentary oversight of the security sector in general, panelists said. Tunisia still represents an important opportunity for the U.S. to show the world that a liberal democracy with strong representative institutions is the solution to the long-term challenge of radicalization, panelists said. One said the country represents a unique opportunity for the U.S., with very high interest in Congress for engaging with foreign parliaments, particularly where members feel they can make a real difference. Tunisia remains a key regional partner for the United States, an emerging democracy, and a frontline state in the global war against ISIS, Chivvis said in closing remarks. But the U.S. and Europe must redouble their efforts to bolster it against the challenges it faces or risk strategic failure in their regional security and democratization objectives. Tim Reggev Estimating the Cost of Non-Europe in the Area of Corruption Fotolia Background Corruption is a phenomenon that can inflict serious political, economic and social harms to societies around the world. In addition, it poses a significant challenge to social justice and the rule of law, which may undermine trust in democracy and democratic institutions and processes. The risks of and harms caused by corruption are well recognised by the European Union. Fight against corruption was one of the key objectives of the Stockholm Programme, which guided home affairs priorities in the European Union from 2010-2014. Control of corruption is also one of the components of Europe 2020, the growth strategy for the European Union covering the current decade. Goals This study looked at the cost of non-Europe in relation to corruption. 'Cost of non-Europe studies may examine either the challenges of incomplete integration, or the opportunities afforded by greater integration than currently exists. In this case, we examined potential added value or benefits of EU-wide implementation of anti-corruption policies. The objectives of the study were to: Quantify the economic, social and political costs of corruption in the European Union. Investigate gaps and barriers in the existing regulatory framework that hinder the effectiveness of measures to combat corruption in the EU. Identify potential for action at EU level that might add value and address the challenges identified. Methods The data collection methods used to produce this paper consisted of: A review of relevant documents and literature and interviews with 17 stakeholders (including academic experts in the area of corruption and representatives of EU institutions and agencies). Econometric modelling to assess the costs of corruption and the costs of non-Europe using a bespoke dataset from a range of different sources. Findings Corruption costs the EU between 179bn and 990bn in GDP terms on an annual basis These figures are higher than the estimate of 120bn included in the 2014 EU Anticorruption Report (ACR), because the estimate in the EU ACR does not account for the indirect effects of corruption (it looks at costs in terms of lost tax revenues and foreign investment due to corruption). Corruption in the EU has significant social costs and political costs Corruption is associated with more unequal societies, higher levels of organised crime, weaker rule of law, reduced voter turnout in national parliamentary elections and lower trust in EU institutions. The cost of corruption risk in EU public procurement is around 5bn per year The costs of corruption in public procurement vary considerably between Member States. This estimate is slightly higher than the estimate provided by a previous, large study. This could be because our estimate includes all sectors of public procurement and all Member States, whereas the previous estimate included eight Member States and five sectors. Recommendations The EU should apply the updated Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, which was used on Bulgaria and Romania before they joined the EU, to other member states, as over half have higher than average corruption levels. This could reduce corruption costs by 70 billion (54.4 billion) annually. The EU should establish a European Public Prosecutors Office, which would assist the European Commission Anti-Fraud Office in investigating corruption. This could reduce corruption costs by 0.2 billion (0.16 billion) annually. The EU should implement a full EU-wide procurement system, potentially reducing corruption costs by 920 million (714.8 million) annually. Publication Project Team Marco Hafner Jirka Taylor Emma Disley Sonja Thebes Matteo Barberi Martin Stepanek Professor Mike Levi (Cardiff University) Madrid-based Optiva Media has established a Colombian subsidiary from which it intends to access the growing Latin American over-the-top (OTT) market. From the new Bogota-based office, the company aims to develop OTT and pay-TV projects in the region. Optiva Media already has an office in Mexico.A team of ten Colombian professionals, who are receiving specialized training in Spain, will be permanently based at the office to develop ready-to-deploy OTT solutions.Colombia is a very mature market in terms of pay-TV, an industry in which Optiva Media is a experienced company, stated the firm.Head-quartered in Madrid, the Spanish company also has offices in Bilbao, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Hamburg and London. In addition it is currently developing broadcasting projects in Chile and Brazil. Bengaluru: The office of the Archbishop, Bengaluru is stepping up its efforts to put pressure from all quarters including Vatican and the Ministry of External Affairs to ascertain the whereabouts and well-being of Fr. Thomas Uzhunnalil. He was abducted by ISIS militants on March 4 and pictures of his purported coffin appeared on social media after he was allegedly crucified by Islamic State terrorists on Good Friday. Fr. Joseph Chinnayyan, Deputy Secretary General and Director of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) met with the Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday at her office where she has assured all possible efforts from the government's side to trace and locate the priest," said Fr. Edward, advisor to Archbishop Bernard Moras in Bengaluru. "The bishop of Archdiocese of Bangalore is also in communication with the Vatican to facilitate tracing and locating the abducted priest with the help of members from the affiliated groups located in and around Levant region," added Fr. Edward. "The bishop's office in Bengaluru worked on ascertaining the reliability of the source where the information about Fr. Tom's crucifixion on Good Friday. The subsequent picture of a coffin and the ransom amount claimed by the ISIS group in exchange for his release, all of which have seemed to have risen as a result of speculation running rife on social media. No official confirmation on any such information from reliable sources have been received as yet," said Fr. Edward. Fr. Uzhunnalil's family members are also in constant touch with the bishop's office in Bengaluru and with the Kerala state government, Fr. Edward added. "The news about Fr. Tom's crucifixion on Good Friday originating from the Cardinal of Vienna was also not true. A section of media reports including a Telugu online portal had misquoted the Archbishop of Bengaluru in this unconfirmed information which went viral," said Fr. Edward. Investigators seek detention of Russian billionaire Mikhalchenko MOSCOW, March 30 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) Russias Investigative Committee filed a motion with the Basmanny District Court to detain billionaire Dmitry Mikhalchenko, the courts spokesperson Yunona Tsareva told RAPSI on Wednesday. Mikhalchenko, CEO of Forum Holding Company, has been charged with alcoholic products trafficking, according to Tsareva. On March 29, he was arrested in Moscow. According to media sources, searches have been repeatedly conducted at the billionaire's office and country house. However, operational procedures have been held in connection with embezzlement at Russias Ministry of Culture. Earlier, Moscows Lefortovsky District Court ordered the detention of Dmitry Sergeyev and Alexander Kochenov, top managers of investment-restoration company "BaltStroy" which is a part of Forum, in this case. Forum Holding Company established in 2011 is one of the largest multibusiness companies in Saint-Petersburg. The company has united several dozens of the citys enterprises and organizations. Forum Holding consists of industrial enterprises, such as "Spinning Mill named after S.M. Kirov", oldest textile industry enterprise in Russia, "Izmeron" factory, one of technological leaders of Russian downhole equipment market, according to the companys website. Russian court sides with Hyundai in dispute with intellectual property rights watchdog MOSCOW, March 30 (RAPSI) The Intellectual Property Court sided with South Korean automotive group Hyundai Motor Company in its dispute with Russian patent agency Rospatent over protection of intellectual property rights for Hyundai Autron trademark, according to court records. The court ruled in Hyundais favor in two lawsuits against Rospatent, organization that previously refused to provide protection of intellectual property rights for Hyundai Autron trademark in Russia. In 2015, Rospatent refused to provide intellectual property rights protection for Hyundai Autron because that trademark, registered in the same categories as computer hardware and software, is too similar to Hyundai trademarks. Hyundai appealed this decision claiming that Hyundai Autron is a different trademark based of color, font and other attributes. When Rospatent dismissed the appeal, Hyundai filed a lawsuit with the court. TOLOnews.com, March 30, 2016 Mawlavi Shahzada Shahid, spokesman of the HPC. (TOLOnews.com) Mawlavi Shahzada Shahid, spokesman of the HPC. (TOLOnews.com) A spokesman for the High Peace Council on Tuesday said funding for 2,400 HPC projects has been embezzled and that key members of the council are being paid by foreign embassies. While appearing on a TOLOnews current affairs show, Tawde Khabare, Mawlavi Shahzada Shahid, spokesman for the HPC, let slip that prominent members of the HPC's secretariat were working for foreign embassies. "President [Ashraf] Ghani and [Chief Executive Officer] Abdullah Abdullah should know this. A person, who was working in the High Peace Council and is now working at the Ministry of Defense, was receiving 9,000 Euro (about $10,580 USD) monthly salary from a [foreign] embassy," he said. Speaking of embezzlement in the HPC, Shahid said that the council was paying $3.5 million USD to a television channel in order for them to broadcast HPC related news. He went on to say that "2,400 projects have been approved by the council for provinces, but the funding was embezzled". He said that there are people in the council who don't have the expertise to work there and they rarely appear at sessions of the council. Abdul Khaliq Watandost, a member of Kabul provincial council, meanwhile criticized the activities of the HPC and the peace process in general. "The council spent hundreds of millions of dollars, but it didn't yield results that people of Afghanistan expected," he said. realclearworld Newsletters: Europe Memo Editor's note: An abridged version of this Memo was first published by RealClearPolitics on March 25. His last days as Italy's prime minister a perfect caricature of Silvio Berlusconi's leadership. Controversy and political theatre escalated to the very last day. No one would miss him. Certainly not the Italian people. The most vivid expression of the popular will toward Berlusconi, in the last turbulent years of his government, was etched in the shape of the fist-sized iron miniature of Milan's cathedral that a protester used to clobber the prime minister's face. Certainly not Berlusconi's peers on the European stage. Berlusconi's dismissal from his post, and his replacement by interim technocratic stand-in Mario Monti in late 2011, was openly encouraged by EU leaders and heads of state, who hoped that restoring some measure of confidence in Italy's politics would ward off a Greece-style financial collapse that European bailout resources could not hope to redeem. (It must have been a delight for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the target of some of Berlusconi's viler extemporisations, to help show Berlusconi to the exit in his own political house.) Certainly not Italy's political left, long struggling to establish an identity in a new era of Italian government. But nor the Italian center-right, which, after a couple decades of subservience to the imperious personal whims and cynical political ploys of the man dubbed il cavaliere (the knight), was left with no leader at the helm. As the primaries grind on in the United States, comparisons between the cartoonish personalities and corrosive politics of Trump and Berlusconi have abounded. The juxtaposition is well-warranted, but the aim here isn't to run through the long list of Berlusconi's peccadilloes -- that's been done elsewhere, and done well. This isn't about them -- about Berlusconi or about Trump -- it's about us, Italians and Americans, citizens and voters in complex, developed Western democracies. What matters is not only what kind of people we choose to be governed by. Far more, what matters is the stability of the systems of government we choose. Italy chose a handful of Berlusconi-led governments over a space of 15 years. Far more permanently, though, what Italy got was Berlusconismo, a new and noxious way of managing politics and public life that lives on, even with Berlusconi himself sitting outside parliament due to legal sentences against him. That's why Italy serves a monitory lesson. That's why we should pay attention, because the parallels, as ever imperfect, between what happened there then and what could happen here now are striking. The dawn of Berlusconismo followed a stormy sunset. The shine was already fading off of Italy's political edifice at the turn of the 1990s. The Soviet collapse brought into question the post-war order's reason for being. That order fixed a revolving door at its top through which leaders in the strictest shade of eminence grise alternated key offices. The Christian Democrats, supported by the Socialists, dominated for decades, and an accord to keep out the Communists buttressed the arrangement. Corruption was a defining feature, and overnight, the arrangement became an anachronism. Nor did it fit into the Western European drive toward greater union, a drive Italy with its dyspeptic finances struggled to join. In that context, the Tangentopoli, or "Bribesville," scandal, dealt this arrangement a fatal blow. The old parties, in fact, did not even survive, nor did the very system by which Italians cast their votes for representatives. With 35 percent of lawmakers charged with serious corruption crimes, it was clearly time to turn a page. It could have been a moment of hope -- the dawn of a "Second Republic" -- a sudden, clear political transition. Berlusconi, who as a businessman was long a fixture of that very system, ably charged the gap. Having fought restrictions on private ownership of mass communications to build a personal media empire, the old cruise-ship crooner was perfectly placed to sound the amplified notes of the unlikely political outsider. The nature of American political volatility in 2016 is a good bit different, but the disaffection toward the establishment is similar, and Trump's political instinct in exploiting it has been equally ruthless. A man who who hews to whichever political ideology is most expedient in any given moment, Trump recognized that in an America fed up with the status quo, it was the Republican side where the gap between party leadership and voter base yawned the widest. If Trump gains control now of the Republican Party, he could effect a big change in the structure and behavior of American politics. As Berlusconi de-institutionalized Italy's political parties from the outside in, so could Trump, from the inside out. And what would such a transformation look like? Chris Bickerton and Carlo Invernizzi Accetti, in Political Quarterly, offer a picture: "The loyalty Berlusconi commanded was always to himself rather than to a political tradition. He pioneered, at least in Italy, a new form of political mobilisation that cut out the intermediary of the party: isolated individuals identifying themselves with political celebrities via the stories and footage of newspapers and television programmes. Berlusconi also differed from Craxi in his practice of political corruption. For Berlusconi, political corruption was merely a component part of his wider business empire; the empire was built for his personal enrichment, not for party financing, and it facilitated the latter only once Berlusconi had entered politics." Berlusconi wrecked the idea of the political party as the expression of a collective will. As the PQ paper notes, his parties were never even called parties. Forza Italia, which translates roughly to C'mon, Italy!, was just another channel for Berlusconi to push his own personal brand. Ninety percent of its deputies in 1994 had never even held parliamentary office. Foreshadowing any potential Trump presidency, that lack of experience translated into a lack of political energy and policy creativity. Twenty years of Italy as a joke on the international stage starts there. Twenty years of legislation tailor-crafted to Berlusconi's business and legal interests; of spats with the Italian judiciary; of hedonistic sideshows turning the highest office in the land into a side reel while the economy sputtered; started with the notion, proffered now in America by Trump, that experience in office is not important. That the party, if it's even needed at all, exists to serve the leader. Meanwhile, corruption continued unabated, and the economy languished. Berlusconismo froze into permanence the negative elements of Italian political life that had ushered him into office in the first place. It is clear enough that the GOP understands what a Trump takeover would mean for the party. Trump's policies are hard to peg down. But just as Berlusconi is about Berlusconi, so is Trump all about Trump. Four years spent either at his service or fighting to subvert his aims would do untold damage to the viability and credibility of that party's institutions. America is of course not Italy. No sense in elaborating here on the manifold differences, but suffice it to say that our republic is older, our political institutions are far more entrenched, and our government is remarkably well-built to withstand its occasional management by fools. Yet the very shock elicited by Trump's emergence suggests that such political firewall is eroding. If Republicans choose their Berlusconi, what happens then? Trump will almost certainly never build his wall, or enact his destructive trade tariffs. But to look at the internal political rot that could hollow out parts of our political system, glance at Italy now, four years after Berlusconi's last government: While governed by a center-left party that has managed to oversee some reforms, the prime minister came to power from within the government, not through election -- and Matteo Renzi's leadership displays some of the hallmarks of the Berlusconi years, in its emphasis on the person guiding the ship, the youthful, charismatic, Matteo Renzi, who doubles as the party secretary. The north's separatism has returned with a vengeance, after falling out of sight for a time, felled by its own corruption scandals. One of the leading political parties, the Five Stars Movement, is a nihilistic void led by a comedian whose only ethos is pure hatred of politics. Four years after Berlusconi was shunted aside, Italy is only now mounting a mighty struggle to claim a place as a considered player on the European stage. Meanwhile, the closest thing the center-right has to leadership is still Berlusconi, defanged but directing political movements behind the scenes. This is all to say nothing of Berlusconi's impact on general Italian culture, which warrants a piece all of its own. Donald Trump's candidacy is a warning sign - a portion of the U.S. electorate showing its rage to the establishment. The establishment should heed the warning. But voters, acting in their own self-interest, should be as wary as ever of slick "self-made men" peddling easy answers to a politics become impossibly complex. Indeed, Italy doesn't miss Silvio Berlusconi. In many ways, he is still all too present. Feedback Questions, comments, contributions? Feel free to send us an email, or reach out on Twitter @joelweickgenant. And be sure to check for all of the latest news and analysis on Europe at RealClearWorld.com. New Delhi: With Pakistan claiming the arrest of yet another Indian spook in Balochistan, its clearly raining Indian spies in the restive border state. Pakistani authorities have named the spy as Snober, and accused him of running the Research & Analysis Wing network in Hub and Gadani districts along the Balochistan coast, liaising with a banned outfit involved in separatist insurgency, and visiting India in 2014 under the assumed name, Rakesh. Snobers arrest follows Pakistani authorities releasing a video in which alleged RAW agent Kulbhushan Yadav arrested in a raid in Balochistan on March 3 when he was trying to cross into Pakistan from Iran confesses that he was involved in subversive activities in Pakistan. The Pakistan armys desperation to raise the Balochistan bogey to scupper India-Iran ties over building Chabahar port, and throw a spoke into the rapidly warming relationship between the leaders of India and Pakistan became clear when the visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denied there was any discussion on R&AW or its activities in Iran and Balochistan as publicly claimed by Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif. The holes in Pakistans claims of a serving Indian navy officer sponsoring terrorism in Balochistan and Karachi begin with the fact that in reality, the Mumbai based Yadav, has worked out of the Iranian port of Chabahar for the last 13 years. He runs a shipping business, and is reportedly one of many retired Indian naval personnel who work in and out of the ports on both sides of the Persian Gulf. While some are legit, many are involved in smuggling people, guns and drugs along the route. Until very recently, with sanctions in place, Iranian oil was prime cargo on Nicaraguan flagged ships that ploughed the sea-lanes. Pulling an Indian navy man out of the Pakistan Armys Balochistan hat, under these circumstances, isnt difficult at all. Proving hes a spy is a whole different matter. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/29/2016 ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Sig Hansen has opened up about the heart attack he suffered while filming the show's new twelfth season.Captain Hansen, 49, suffered chest pains while aboard his fishing vessel Northwestern in early March and was rushed to the hospital to get checked out."That was close," Hansen told People. "That was like a 50/50 chance."The incident began when Hansen passed out and collapsed on the boat's deck while cameras were rolling for the reality series. Once he regained consciousness, he was stubborn about seeking treatment."While he wanted to keep going, the crew insisted that they dock to get help," wrote on its official Twitter page earlier this month. "He was airlifted to Anchorage, Alaska, and immediately rushed to a medical facility. He is with his family and in good spirits ."Hansen admitted the heart attack itself wasn't the most frightening part of the whole series of events."It was actually scarier when you got home and then you realize, 'Did that really happen?'" Hansen told the magazine. "In the moment it wasn't so bad, just made me angry."The health scare was enough, however, for Hansen to quit smoking cigarettes and eat healthier. Hansen joked about how eating more salads "sucks," but he knows it's important to take care of himself.The next season of will feature newcomer Captain Sean Dwyer, 23. Hansen told People that he has confidence in the youngest captain to ever star on the show, as long as he follows the advice: "Know your role, shut your hole."Season 12 of premieres Tuesday, March 29 at 9PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Cyprus real estate MPs had concluded discussions that will allow those wanting to buy property to do so under a leasing agreement rather than acquiring it with the help of a mortgage. It will be presented as an alternative process of borrowing, hoping to bring the legislation to the plenum by April 7. Angelos Votsis, the committee's acting chair, stated that efforts to begin leasing goes back a number of years. A home buyer wishing to acquire a property will indicate the property to the bank. He said that the lender will purchase the property and lease it. Then, the lessee or tenant will pay the agreed installments. And from there on, the possibility of buying the property will be offered. Cyprus real estate banks issued guidance explicitly informing the public of their rights and obligations under a leasing agreement. Votis added that whoever entered into such an agreement needed to know that it is not a mortgage, and should be made aware of the risks and advantages. The MP introduced leasing as a way to help the banks tackle the problems of non-performing loans, according to a report from Cyprus Property News. Non-performing loans on owner-occupied properties accounted for less than 15 percent of all NPLs, according to an earlier Central Bank of Cyprus report. However, the ratio of NPLs as a percentage of banks' overall loan portfolio was 45.8 percent higher in December 2015. Total NPLs in the Cypriot banking system was at 26.7 billion. During prior discussions of the leasing bills, the banks pointed to tax and other incentives, as well as quicker procedures utilizing both lessors and lessees. One proposal presented was that the two parties to a leasing agreement will be exempted from capital gain taxes. The Cyprus real estate arrangement will also allow the parties to be exempted from paying the specific defence contribution, according to a feature from Balkans. New Delhi: The Indian agencies have sought voice samples of Jaish-e-Mohammed operatives, including JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar who is said to have masterminded the Pathankot terror strike. We have asked for voice samples of Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf as also the voice sample of Khayyam Baber (mother of terrorist Nasir, killed during the Pathankot attack), NIA chief Sharad Kumar said after the meeting. Nasir was said to have spoken to his mother during the attack. On Thursday, the visiting Pakistan joint investigation team (JIT) will begin recording the statements of the witnesses in the Pathankot terror attack case, including a Punjab superintendent of police. The process is expected to carry on for two days. However, no direct questioning of the witnesses would be allowed. We have identified all the four terrorists and handed over the names to the Pakistani side. We now want them to confirm our investigations in the case, he said. On Wednesday, the NIA handed over statements of witnesses and the report of the post-mortem examinations of the terrorists to the Pakistani probe team. JIT representatives said some suspects in the case have been detained in Pakistan and they have shared the details with the NIA. The Pakistan JIT, headed by additional inspector-general of police (counter-terrorism department) Muham-mad Tahir Rai, and including the ISIs Lt. Col. Tanvir Ahmed, told their Indian counterparts that they needed effective evidence to act against the culprits in Pakistan. New Delhi: While admitting that he has fled the country, former liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Wednesday submitted a proposal in the Supreme Court to pay Rs 4,000 crores as partial settlement of his dues to the consortium of banks led by State Bank of India. Senior counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for Mr Mallya and Kingfisher, made this proposal before a Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman. When the court asked the counsel where is Mr Mallya, Mr Vaidyanatha confirmed that he is not here and that he does not want to come home from abroad due to surcharged atm-osphere against him. Mr. Vaidyanathan submitted that the proposal was a result of negotiations held with Mr Mallya through video conference on two days as late as yesterday. He said Mr Mallyas presence may not be required as in these days everything can be done through video conferencing. Requesting the proposal to be kept in sealed cover, he said media hype against him vitiates public interest. The atmosphere becomes surcharged in the media if the proposal comes out. Justice Kurian quipped No. Media has not vitiated the atmosphere. They want the money taken from the banks be recovered. They dont have any other interest. However, the counsel replied The atmosphere is so surcharged against me (Mr Mallya). There are cases in which media created such a surcharged atmosphere that even beatings have taken place... the less said the better. Senior counsel S.S. Naganand, appearing for the consortium of banks, informed the court that the proposal is for settlement of Rs 4,000 by Sept-ember this year as against the outstanding dues of over Rs 9,000 crores. He said the proposal also mentions a payment of over Rs 2,000 crore on the basis of a pending suit filed by Mr Mallyas businesses. When he expressed some reservations to accept the proposal, the Bench asked the banks to respond within a week. The Bench took the proposal on record and told the counsel It is for you to tell us whether you reject this or not. The banks had initially moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal for the arrest of Mr Mal-laya. But the DRT had only prevented Diageo Plc from transferring any money to Mr Mallya for the time being. After nearly 40 days into the 2016 Georgia legislative session, state lawmakers will adjourn this week. In honor of Sine Die, The Red & Black compiled four bills that have passed both the House of Representatives and Senate bills that Gov. Nathan Deal has the power to sign into law. Love it or hate it, social media networks seem to be taking over the world, especially for millennials.Though these systems have flaws that can at times render dangerous, or at least annoying, consequences, they will likely not fade from society anytime soon. This image released by Magnolia Pictures shows director Benjamin Dickinson, left, on the set of his film, "Creative Control." Dickinson also stars in the film, about an ad exec who gets lost in the possibilities of Augmenta, an augmented reality system in a pair of glasses. (Magnolia Pictures via AP) SHARE By LINDSEY BAHR, AP Film Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) What does technology look like five minutes in the future? It's a question that's on a lot of artists' minds lately. Whether it's the Siri-like companion in Spike Jonze's "Her," a beautiful A.I. in Alex Garland's "Ex Machina" or the ability to instantly rewind and project memories in the "Black Mirror" episode of TV's "The Entire History of You," on nearly every screen there seems to be someone's vision of the not-so-distant future and usually a warning about how the purportedly convenient technologies are damaging our realities. The latest entry is the bold indie "Creative Control" (out Friday in limited release and expanding on March 18), about an ad exec who gets lost in the possibilities of Augmenta an augmented reality system in a pair of glasses. In this highly stylized, "Google-utopia" world, Augmenta even looks cool. Think Warby Parker, not Google Glass or Microsoft HoloLens. Director Ben Dickinson, who co-wrote and stars, didn't have the VFX budget of some of his contemporaries, but what he did have was time to really hone in on an idea, and a few friends in the tech world to help including Vimeo co-creator Jake Lodwick. Together they designed Augmenta from the retinal projection interface to a user's guide. The French digital effects company Mathematic brought it to life. It looks familiar, but slightly askew. The screens and monitors are like the ones we have now, but in "Creative Control" they're sleek and completely clear. With Augmenta, the world becomes a screen, but video messages still skip in transmission and texts and emails still pop up incessantly in front of your face. And then David discovers that he can also create a virtual version of a woman he loves with Augmenta too putting "Creative Control" somewhere between "Her" and "Ex Machina." "There's that little boy part of me that really enjoyed making a fake product," Dickinson said. Lodwick helped Dickinson understand details about tech design that he hadn't considered otherwise. Big, theatrical swiping movements in the air might look great in something like "Minority Report," for instance, but it's impractical. "If you're working all day it doesn't make sense to be reaching out into space all the time. Sometimes you need to rest your hands," Dickinson said. "The usual approach in science fiction is to expand something to its most exciting, but ours was to make it feel really realistic and familiar." So in "Creative Control," the movements are small and ergonomic. Legs can be used as typing surfaces, and texting can be done just by tapping your fingers together. Like many others before him, Dickinson was interested in how technology affects our lives. "It's accelerating so much quicker than our bodies so I think there's a trauma happening," Dickinson said. "It's difficult to not just be overwhelmed with the relationships you're trying to manage through text messages increasingly and the ego roller coaster of social media and then on top of that trying to make a career." "It's much easier to program a digital girlfriend who says exactly the right things at the right time and just fulfills your needs. I think there's a part of all of us that is attracted to that. The way technology exists right now offers that false hope to people and we're starting to get lost." Just recently, Dickinson was in San Francisco meeting with a company that's developing Augmented Reality and it's coming a lot faster than he thought would be possible when he started making "Creative Control." "Basically I made a movie set in the modern day. It just has a little extra sauce," he said. "You could have done this movie with smartphones but it would have been less fun." Sharon Turman is shown Tuesday with Shasta County Deputy Public Defender Jeremy West on Tuesday as a judge appointed two psychologists to evaluate her. SHARE By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight Criminal proceedings were suspended on Tuesday against a 51-year-old Redding woman accused of evading arrest while driving a minivan painted with a "Scooby-Doo" Mystery Machine theme. Retired Shasta County Superior Court Judge James Ruggiero put a hold on the criminal case against Sharon Kay Turman and appointed two psychologists to evaluate her. He did so after Shasta County Deputy Public Defender Jeremy West questioned Turman's mental competency. The mental competency evaluations are due to be reviewed May 3. The findings will determine whether Turman's criminal case moves ahead or whether it stays in limbo as she receives treatment to try to restore her mental competency. Turman, who was arraigned earlier this month in Shasta County Superior Court, flashed the peace sign Tuesday as she was led out of the courtroom after her brief appearance. Turman is charged with two counts of evading officers with a disregard for public safety, among other charges. Additionally, she's charged in a separate case with felony grand theft in connection with the disabling of an expensive GPS ankle bracelet provided to her last month by probation authorities to track her whereabouts. Turman, whose alleged March 6 flight from authorities caused a stir on the Internet and on social media, remains in Shasta County Jail in lieu of $325,000 bail. Police have said Turman, who was on supervised release for theft and suspected of violating her probation for allegedly deactivating her ankle monitor, was spotted by officers March 6 in her unusual 1994 Town and Country minivan at California and Shasta streets in downtown Redding. But she reportedly took off in the van when officers tried to pull her over. Turman reportedly later told officers she did not stop out of fear she would be hurt by them. Officers said she drove at high speeds on South Market Street without any concern for motorists. After chases that reportedly saw Turman nearly hit four other vehicles and drive in excess of 100 mph, she abandoned the van, which had run out of gas, on Highway 36 off Bowman Road in northwestern Tehama County and was able to get away. She finally turned herself in at the Shasta County Jail on March 16. Anderson Police Officer Eric Haynes poses with Iro, a 2-year-old German shepherd, Monday at his home in Redding. Iro is the new police dog for the Anderson Police Department. SHARE By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight Anderson Police have added another four-legged cop to their force. Officer Eric Haynes is training with Iro, a 2-year-old German shepherd who just arrived in the United States a little more than a week ago, for his certification as a police dog, Haynes said Monday. That training and certification spans several weeks, so Iro isn't able to hit the streets just yet, Haynes said. Iro is also Haynes' first police dog, so both are having to learn to communicate with each other to ensure obedience, he said. "That's one of the harder things for new handlers, to establish communication with your dog," Haynes said. "Patience and structure are big things for handlers. The handler has to (have) patience and the dog has to have structure." Later, police plan to train him for use in searches. "He already has the foundation for the protection work," Haynes said. Nonetheless, Haynes and Anderson Police Chief Michael Johnson say Iro is quite sharp. Haynes said the dog is good at thinking on its paws and reacting appropriately. Johnson echoed those sentiments. "(Iro is) not at all driven by energy or prey. The dog is smart ... he's got very good obedience," Johnson said. He estimates the dog and its training will cost about $15,000. That will come from a fund fed by community donations. But Iro isn't a replacement for a former Anderson police dog Aero, who nearly died when a blood disease suddenly struck him. It destroyed much of the dog's muscle, leading to the department to retire him at just 3 years old. Aero's recovery is continuing, Johnson said. He had been considering allowing the dog to return purely for drug detection. But, after seeing Aero recently, he said he may consider allowing the dog to return as more than just a drug dog. But that's at least a month out, he said. "I don't want to make any rash decisions before I'm 100 percent positive he can sustain that," Johnson said. SHARE An SUV crashed into a semitrailer Tuesday afternoon while trying to pass another vehicle on Highway 299 near Buckhorn Summit, according to the California Highway Patrol. The driver of a Kia SUV was traveling west behind a line of vehicles led by a pilot car in a Buckhorn construction zone, when the vehicle left its lane for undetermined reasons and collided with the Peterbilt semitrailer, the CHP said. The wreck left the Kia Sorento with its rear against a dirt embankment, while the big rig partially jack-knifed and blocked two westbound lanes. The wreck was reported about 2:38 p.m. about 3 miles east of the Trinity County line. Witnesses said the silver Kia Sorento was trying to pass another vehicle and hit the semi. The driver of the Kia SUV, William Chambers, 72, of Lewiston, was airlifted by CHP helicopter to Mercy Medical Center and was reported to have a broken hip and other injuries. The driver of the truck, Foster Brovan, 58, of Shingletown was not injured. Alcohol and drugs do not appear to be a factor in the collision, according to the CHP. The crash is under investigation to determine if there may have been a medical issue with Chambers. A fire Tuesday morning burned a loader in the 2700 block of Ellis Street off South Market Street, firefighters said. SHARE Two men were arrested for cultivating 10,942 marijuana plants within the Trinity Alps Preserve on a property off of Ishi Road Tuesday, the Shasta County Sheriffs Office said. Loader fire blamed on mechanical issue Firefighters say a blaze burned a piece of heavy equipment in Redding on Tuesday morning. The fire, reported about 9:11 a.m., consumed a loader in the 2700 block of Ellis Street off South Market Street, firefighters said. Firefighters said there was no threat to nearby structures and no one was hurt. The fire was contained in about 10 to 15 minutes. Firefighters suspect the fire was caused by a mechanical failure. SUV, semitrailer collide on the 299 An SUV crashed into a semitrailer Tuesday afternoon while trying to pass another vehicle on Highway 299 near Buckhorn Summit, according to the California Highway Patrol. The driver of a Kia SUV was traveling west behind a line of vehicles led by a pilot car in a Buckhorn construction zone, when the vehicle left its lane for undetermined reasons and collided with the Peterbilt semitrailer, the CHP said. The wreck left the Kia Sorento with its rear against a dirt embankment, while the big rig partially jackknifed and blocked two westbound lanes. The wreck was reported about 2:38 p.m. about 3 miles east of the Trinity County line. Witnesses said the silver Kia Sorento was trying to pass another vehicle and hit the semi. The driver of the Kia SUV, William Chambers, 72, of Lewiston, was flown by CHP helicopter to Mercy Medical Center and was reported to have a broken hip and other injuries. The driver of the truck, Foster Brovan, 58, of Shingletown was not injured. Alcohol and drugs do not appear to be a factor in the collision, according to the CHP. The crash is under investigation to determine if there may have been a medical issue with Chambers. Agents seize large marijuana grow Two men were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of cultivating 10,942 marijuana plants within the Trinity Alps Preserve on a property off Ishi Road, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said. Members of the Shasta County Sheriff's Office Marijuana Investigative Team said they eradicated the growing marijuana plants from the site, seized approximately 8 grams of suspected methamphetamine from inside a trailer found on the property, and also discovered evidence that a substance known as "QuFuran" or "Carbofuran," a highly toxic insecticide banned in the U.S., was being used to treat the marijuana plants. Enrique Nunez, 19, of Stockton, and Sergio Becerril-Molina, 29, of San Jose, were located in a canyon on the property and taken into custody, deputies said. The two men were booked into Shasta County Jail on suspicion of marijuana cultivation, possession of marijuana for sale, conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and water diversion. Agents with SMIT, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Watershed Enforcement Team and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Marijuana Enforcement Team served a Shasta County Superior Court search warrant at the property. Members of the Central Valley Water Board were also on scene conducting a separate investigation on "potential environmental damages," deputies said. SHARE Two men were arrested for cultivating 10,942 marijuana plants within the Trinity Alps Preserve on a property off of Ishi Road Tuesday, according to a press release by the Shasta County Sheriffs Office. Agents with the Shasta County Sheriffs Office Marijuana Investigative Team eradicated the growing marijuana plants from the site, seized approximately 8 grams of suspected methamphetamine from inside a trailer found on the property, and also discovered evidence that a substance known as QuFuran or Carbofuran, a highly toxic insecticide banned in the US, was being used to treat the marijuana plants. Enrique Nunez, 19, from Stockton, and Sergio Becerril-Molina, 29, from San Jose, were located in a canyon on the property and take into custody, deputies said. The two men were booked into Shasta County Jail on charges of marijuana cultivation, possession of marijuana for sale, conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and water diversion. Agents with SMIT, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Watershed Enforcement Team and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Marijuana Enforcement Team served a Shasta County Superior Court Search Warrant at the property. Members of the Central Valley Water Board were also on scene conducting a separate investigation on potential environmental damages, deputies said. SHARE The agreement to raise California's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 sounds like a boon to workers, but it is exactly how bad policy happens. California's Republican delegation has suffered in recent years from a combination of self-inflicted wounds, political purism, demographic shifts and redistricting, to name a few. That has left the state with a liberal supermajority that has little to do in Sacramento other than argue over whether to pull the state left or farther left. The agreement reached this week between Gov. Jerry Brown and labor unions that had managed to qualify a minimum-wage increase for the November ballot is the latest evidence of the state's lopsided politics. Not that there aren't honest, practical arguments to be made for minimum wage increases. The cost of living is not static, and minimum wages that fall behind (as the federal $7.25 an hour rate has been doing since 2009) risk leaving some working Americans deeper in poverty, even as they continue to perform jobs our economy needs. Conversely, when workers get a raise they spend more, and consumer demand helps make businesses profitable and continue the cycle of economic growth. To a point. But lost in the broad strokes are some very important details. Bruce Dean, co-founder and chief executive of the Black Bear Diner restaurant chain, identified the key problem with the California approach this week when he told The Wall Street Journal the law ignores differences between high-cost cities like San Francisco and places like Redding. "They've thrown out a blanket solution that doesn't recognize there is a difference in cost of living in rural areas than in the cities," he said. Bluntly, economists expect job loss and business closures to be worst in areas like ours under the $15 an hour plan, while wealthier parts of the state see the most benefits. As The New York Times reported Monday, a $15 an hour minimum wage would still be well below 50 percent of San Jose's median wage. A place like that, where expensive real estate is already the higher factor in business costs, may easily absorb the increased minimum and see benefits. But in Redding, the new minimum wage would be 68 percent of the median and in Chico it would be 71 percent. That means a far larger pool of employees must be immediately given big raises. Do we really believe local businesses can absorb that without radically cutting their workforces or curtailing operations? For a better solution, we need only look a couple hours north. Oregon's governor, also a Democrat, just passed a law that will put her state at $14.75 an hour by 2022 but only in Portland. Recognizing the importance of regional differences, the Oregon plan provides for three rates, and the rate for the most sparsely populated parts of the state will end up $2.25 an hour lower than Portland's. Here's the reality for our conservative region, which stands to lose badly under Brown's plan: In a democracy, the minority party's hope lies in negotiating and agitating arguing forcefully for a better deal. Ultimately, the best we can secure is a compromise. In California, a model more like Oregon's could be a lifesaver for rural economies. And fighting for that might be more effective than trying to stop a wage hike the governor, both houses of the state Legislature, and the state's most powerful special interests have already committed to. Swapna woke from her sleep, doused herself in kerosene and and set herself on fire. (Representational image) Hyderabad: In a shocking incident, a 27-year-old housewife apparently haunted by the same dream set herself on fire in the city's Addagutta area. Officials say Swapna had been 'hearing' the voice of her village deity for the past few days, asking her to come back. On Monday, when her husband was away and while her two children were playing outside, Swapna woke from her sleep, doused herself in kerosene and and set herself on fire. She suddenly woke up, walked into the kitchen, poured Kerosene on herself screaming, I am coming to you and ran out of the house, Tukaram-gate Sub Inspector Mr K. Mohan said. Neighbours who found her ablaze rushed her to the hospital where she's currently being treated for 50 per cent burns on her body. She is said to be out of danger. Police said that Swapna and B. Raju, a native of Warangal, married nearly nine years ago and settled down at Addagutta colony within the limits of Tukaramgate police station. The couple have two kids who study in the nearby private school. On Monday, her husband was away at Warangal and the children were playing nearby. That's when the incident occurred. The Indian intelligence brass may have snared a key Pakistani spy and Jadhav's arrest is Pakistan's way of getting even with India, says Rajeev Sharma. The Kulbhushan Jadhav saga is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. It's like the middle of a thriller, with the beginning and the end missing. The Indian intelligence establishment is completely tongue-tied on the subject. In any case, intelligence operations are conducted so discreetly that even within the organisation the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing. Intelligence personnel are trained to work on a need to know basis. This means that the activities of Commander Jadhav -- a retired Indian Navy officer who was arrested by the Pakistani authorities allegedly from Balochistan on charges of espionage -- would have been known only to a select few. The five 'Ws'-- what, when, where, why and how -- pertaining to Jadhav would be known to a handful of people and the chances are that even these people won't know the full story. Against this backdrop, it becomes all the more difficult to analyse the Jadhav saga as whatever conflicting details that have come from the Indian and Pakistani perspective are like the bikini which conceals more than it reveals. In such situations, it won't be improper to lend one's ears to theories or probable explanations that are tossed around in intelligence circles, no matter howsoever fanciful these may seem. One such theory that I heard is that Jadhav's arrest is not an 'action,' but a 'reaction.' According to this theory, the Indian intelligence brass may have snared a key Pakistani spy and Jadhav's arrest is Pakistan's way of getting even with India. I agree that many would like to dismiss it as a cock and bull story. Even I thought as much. But in the cloak-and-dagger world of intelligence, the general thumb rule is not to discount any possibility. If Indian intelligence agencies captures a hardcore Pakistani spy, it is up to them to keep the development under wraps and not release the news to the media. But the affected agency whose spy or agent has been snared gets to know. Taking this logic further, the Pakistani intelligence establishment would be under severe pressure to do something to get its asset back. But if Pakistan had secured a routine catch, it may not have triggered Hell's Fury. In Commander Jadhav, Pakistan struck a gold pot. Here was a man who had retired as a commander from the Indian Navy. India could not have denied his existence. Yes, India would fume and deny Jadhav's credentials as a spy, but the episode would trigger a subterranean tsunami across world capitals, especially in the intelligence communities. Pakistan's gamble has indeed paid off. India did not deny Jadhav's existence -- otherwise a routine formality in most cases of spies and espionage. Once a spy is roped in for gathering offensive intelligence -- that is, intelligence gathering in hostile conditions and perhaps even on hostile territory -- he is told to remember that his umbilical cord with his parent agency and the government is cut forever. Leave alone the State trying to negotiate his release in case of capture by the enemy, the State doesn't even own up. The Sarabjeet Singh episode is a case in point. The Pakistani intelligence establishment struck gold with Jadhav's capture as expectedly the Indian government not only owned up Jadhav as a retired military personnel, but Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar went to the extent of asking the ministry of external affairs to ensure his safe release. World capitals are already reverberating with the Jadhav saga. A demonstration of this came as recently as on Tuesday when top American officials discussed the matter with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who is currently in Washington, DC, ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit. Clearly, Pakistan holds all the aces. Whether the Jadhav case is a case of 'action' or 'reaction,' one will get to know in some time. One has to wait and see whether Jadhav is a 'lone wolf' case in the intelligence world or whether an exchange offer is being pushed covertly! Rajeev Sharma is an independent journalist and strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha IMAGE: The port of Kalantari in Chabahar, Iran. Commander Jadhav is said to run a business in Chabahar. Photograph: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters How active is Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter? How many times has he tweeted till date? And most importantly, how did Modi shed his image from being labelled as the 'riot-monger' chief minister of Gujarat to a visionary leader who could lead India during the May 2014 elections? If you have been wondering about these questions, then Joyojeet Pal, assistant professor at the University of Michigan may have found answers in his research paper. In an e-mail interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com, Professor Pal discusses his findings. What was the reason for your study on Modi and his tweets? My research's title is 'Political Social Media and the Global South'; the specific title of the piece is 'Twitter and the Rebranding of Narendra Modi.' The reason to study Modi was his phenomenal growth on social media, to the point of being second to only Barack Obama. We were keen to closely examine the motivations and the style of use of such tools in a political system where only a small proportion of the voting population is actually on social media. When did Modi join twitter? How many times has he tweeted till date? The official account -- @narendramodi opened on January 10, 2009, as Twitter user No 18,839,785. Till date (the interview was conducted a few days ago), that account has tweeted approximately 10,800 times. The first recorded tweet was on February 1, 2009. Is there a pattern in Modi's tweeting habits? How often and on what issues does he tweet generally? The patterns differ from period to period; in recent times, he has tweeted as much as 10 times a day, but this proportion has been less earlier (details are in the paper). The topics have also changed over time. At the time we started studying his social media behaviour, the most prolific Indian politician online was (former Union minister) Shashi Tharoor, and comparing Modi to Tharoor was a good way to examine patterns. Tharoor has had a much more conversational form of tweeting, very similar to how a casual user uses the medium, whereas Modi's style is very crafted, so each Tweet is worded to stand on its own as a message to his followers. It is often stated that there is a big change in Modi's presence on Twitter from before and after he became prime minister. For example, he was silent on the Dadri lynching incident. Modi has been a lot less confrontational since the elections. Prior to the elections, there were many direct attacks on rivals on the social media, but post election, he has taken a more 'benevolent leader' style of tweeting, by sticking to largely non-controversial topics and positive tweets, which we discuss extensively in our research. So he generally avoids topics that have the potential of becoming argumentative flashpoints. How did Modi convince the world through Twitter that he was not involved in the 2002 Gujarat riots, and moreover, how did he convince people that he had nothing to do with his 'problematic past'? I think that the effort is more to not focus on the past at all and keep the discussions focussed on development topics. This has been true of his social media campaign since 2009. In part, the point is that a lot of the younger population has not grown up with memory of the riots. His approach is just not to address that at all and instead to look to the future. It was said that (former prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee's government lost the 2004 general election because of the Gujarat riots. Do you believe this theory? Do you feel if Twitter had been around then, one would have had a very different image of the 2002 Gujarat riots? Frankly, that is hard to say. I do want to clarify one thing that we do not make the claim that social media can impact the outcome of the actual election. Instead, our point is more that social media is part of a broader personality that Modi proposes as a modernising leader. So if you think in those terms, Vajpayee had an established public image since the Emergency onwards. In Modi's case, the investment into the 'development image' has been happening right from the start of his Gujarat tenure One mistake that people frequently make with social media is to imagine it as a massive democratising force; this is in part because of the Arab Spring protests. But social media is a reflection of the people on it. So if you look at the JNU protests (Jawaharlal Nehru University), there is sufficient action on both sides of the argument. Likewise, if social media was around in 2002, one could imagine that there would be a significant side that would agree with Modi's actions at that time. Is it true that most of the people in India who are active on the Internet hold right-wing views? And if yes, has Twitter become a medium of discord? I would not say so. Twitter has become a means for people with extreme opinions to voice those publicly, so essentially those who are most strongly driven by one or another ideology are likely to be willing to publicly make that statement (without particularly caring what their circles think). They seem to be the most vociferous on Twitter or Facebook feeds. But someone who does not subscribe to extreme views may just decide to sit by, or more commonly, not support the opposite argument because they don't want to get into a flame war. This is, of course, noticeable in the JNU case, where supporting either argument can end up with one being called either a fascist or anti-national by someone in the common friend circle, if it is relatively diverse. This actually has much worse consequences for public debate in India, particularly because it is driven by casual citizens, not by some television channel reporter -- so it is harder to cite systemic bias. How important or decisive was the hiring of APCO Worldwide, the international public relation firm, to change Modi's image as a global chief minister promoting 'Vibrant Gujarat'? Has APCO got anything to do with Modi joining Twitter, in your opinion? I cannot comment on this, but it is clear that Modi's public relations campaign has been among the most visibly well managed since the 'Vibrant Gujarat' period. Modi often used to call journalists 'news traders' before the general election. How do you think he was able to convince people through social media that the media is biased and has an agenda against him and his government? This is a broader question about political vilification of contrarian voices, particularly of public commentators (journalists, intellectuals etc). I have written about this in an opinion piece (external link) that may be helpful Do you feel the Congress erred in not taking social media seriously against Modi in 2014? I think that Congress lost the elections for a range of different reasons, but I feel that investing in social media was inevitable for them -- @officeofRG (Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's official handle) is growing (though VERY small compared to Modi). The more interesting challenge to the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) on social media is, of course, from the Aam Aadmi Party. Is it possible for Modi to avoid the media until 2019? Will the people believe him if he does not deliver on the economic front? Again, I cannot comment on this, it is too early to tell. As I have also said before, winning or losing elections has little to do with the social media element alone, there is a lot more that goes into performance, campaigning etc. What we can definitely say is that Modi's campaign will become a learning point for many other political campaigns worldwide because of its strategies and phenomenal success. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses for a selfie with students during a visit at the French National Space Agency in Toulouse, France, April 11, 2015. Photograph: Adrien Helou/Reuters 'He had 6 billion names to choose from and he chose the Pope who is the religious head of the Catholic community in the whole world.' 'I could have taken any other lawyer, but I have a friend in Kangana's lawyer, so what is the problem?' IMAGE: Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut. More than a month ago Kangana Ranaut made a statement about how her ex-boyfriend ensured that she is not a part of Aashiqui 3. Kangana's statement on social media read: 'Yes many lame rumours are doing rounds, even a dumb ass can tell where the rumours are coming from. I don't know why "exes do silly things" to get your attention. For me that chapter is over and I don't dig graves.' Although Kangana did not name anyone in her statement, actor Hrithik Roshan's tweet followed suit: 'There are more chances of me having had an affair with the Pope than any of the -- I am sure -- wonderful women the media has been naming. Thanks, but no thanks!' The tweet received flak from the Catholic community who were upset with Hrithik's mention of the Pope, the head of the Catholic church. Abraham Mathai, president, Indian Christian Voice, among those offended by Hrithik's tweet, sent a legal notice to the actor. Mathai, below, left, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com why he sent a legal notice and what he plans to do if the actor does not respond. Why have you filed a case against Hrithik Roshan? I have only sent him a lawyer's notice for the simple reason that there are 6 billion people in this world and Hrithik could only name the Pope as one he would have an affair with. I have asked him to recant his statement and issue an unconditional apology. I have also said I respect his personal life including his right to choose with who he wishes to be in a relationship. However, his tweet implies that the 'Pope is gay.' That is a great insult and humiliation to a religious head. He posted that tweet in likely anger against an actress. Tell me one thing. If you are unhappy with Kangana Ranaut for any matter, why name the Pope? The Pope who is not only the religious head of the Catholic community in India but also the whole world. Can't we take the tweet on a lighter note and not make it a serious issue? Come on, how can you say that we can take the issue lightly? We will definitely take it lightly once he apologises. If not, we will not file a case under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code. Do you think Hrithik's tweet was intended to hurt the Catholic community? That is for Hrithik Roshan to answer, not me. Your lawyer Rizwan Siddique is also Kangana's lawyer. Her lawyer is a friend of mine. Instead of going to another lawyer I went to him as I know him for a long time. Why did you file a case nearly a month-and-a-half after he posted the tweet? Because I had no idea about the tweet earlier. One of my Christian friends forwarded Hrithik's tweet to me on Saturday (March 26). The moment we were became aware of the tweet we sent him a notice. Nonetheless, it is 45 days after the fact. The law says report the crime the moment you come to know of it. We are not connected with the Bollywood gossip circuit, so I am not obliged to know what he is doing. The moment I came to know about this tweet, I took cognisance of it and sent him a notice. Surprisingly for over 45 days no other Catholic felt hurt enough to to take action. That is what I am saying. The Christian community did not know about this. Now the archbishop has condemned it. He has also issued a press statement. Don't you think the timing is wrong and your friendship with Kangana's lawyer may make your involvement suspect? I could have taken any other lawyer, but I have a friend in Kangana's lawyer, so what is the problem? I feel the media should not deflect the main issue. The main issue is that he has insulted and humiliated the Pope. Whether I send the notice through Ranaut's lawyer or some other lawyer is not the bone of contention. Pope Francis, a most progressive Pontiff, has accepted that gays are not a problem. What is the issue then? He has never accepted it. He said that gays should be welcomed in the church. He has not endorsed gay marriages so far. Don't put words in his mouth. The government of Bihar has announced reservations for candidates from the the third gender community in government jobs, a move welcomed by transgenders as a leveler. M I Khan/ Rediff.com report from Patna. The Bihar government on Wednesday announced reservations in government jobs for eunuchs and transgenders, whom it had recognised as the third gender last year. The state government will also set up a welfare board for the people belonging to third gender. Bihar Social Welfare minister Manju Verma announced in the state assembly that government has decided to provide reservations for the third gender in government jobs and to set up a welfare board for them. Last year, the state government had recognised eunuchs and transgenders as the third gender following a Supreme Court order, putting them in annexure 11 of the Other Backward Classes category. According to officials, the third gender was included in Schedule 2 of the list of the Backward Castes in Bihar and will be given reservation in government jobs according to the rules and regulations. Members of the third gender community have welcomed the state governments move. Lalan Guru, who has been fighting for the rights of transgenders in Bihar for decades, said the governments decision will help them become part of the mainstream. Suman, a person belonging to the third gender, says, It will give us a sense of dignity and respect in society. Till date, we are deprived of social dignity and respect and treated as something alien. Reservation in jobs will help us get rid of them. A British man has shot to fame after clicking "the selfie of a life time" with the hijacker of the EgyptAir jet during the hostage drama in Cyprus, an act he said was aimed at staying "cheerful". Benjamin Innes was one of the last captives to be released by Seif al-Din Mustafa during Wednesday's six-hour hijacking episode and took a picture with the man who claimed to be wearing a suicide vest. A photograph shows Innes grinning broadly as he stands next to Mustafa in the cabin of the hijacked Airbus 320 as it sat on the runway of Cyprus's Larnaca airport. He was one eight Britons reported to be on plane. Innes, 26, was rapped by security experts for risking passengers' lives with his astonishing hijack photo. Innes was among the 62 people on board an EgyptAir flight from Alexandria to Cairo on Wednesday when Mustafa seized control and threatened to detonate a bomb belt. Mustafa forced the Airbus A320 to land in Larnaca, Cyprus. Innes took his chance to take "the selfie of a lifetime" during the deadlock, which saw the jet surrounded by heavily armed troops. The health and safety auditor from Leeds said, "I'm not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it." "I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever," he told The Sun. Innes said panicking passengers calmed down once the plane landed and Mustafa allowed women and children to leave. But he was one of three foreign passengers and four crew made to stay with the hijacker, who began issuing bizarre demands. "I could see he had what looked like a bomb and I was scared, but he didn't seem particularly anxious as we first landed. He eventually let virtually all the passengers leave, but I was left behind with two other Brits," Innes said. "After about half an hour at Larnaca I asked for a photo with him as we were sitting around waiting. I thought, 'Why not? If he blows us all up it won't matter anyway'," he said. "I also thought it would be a way to see whether his device was real. I could see something taped around his waist and he was holding on to some kind of a trigger. It was hard to be sure, but I reckoned it was more likely to be fake after I got a close look at it," he added. The prime minister also said said it was unfortunate that the UN was still unable to define terrorism and act on a resolution which prescribes action against the countries which support or give shelter to terrorism. IMAGE: Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pay tribute to the victims at a street memorial outside Maelbeek metro station after bomb attacks took place in the metro and at Belgian international airport of Zaventem last week, in Brussels. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters In the backdrop of terror attacks in Brussels last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday night highlighted the dangers posed by terrorism to the world and said the United Nations should address such major challenges failing which the global body could be rendered irrelevant. Addressing the Indian diaspora, he said it was unfortunate that the UN was still unable to define terrorism and act on a resolution which prescribes action against the countries which support or give shelter to terrorism. Underlining that terrorism needs to be delinked from religion, Modi said the menace posed challenge to humanity and those believing in humanity should collectively fight it. He said that terrorism cannot be defeated only by guns, but an environment needs to be created in the society to ensure that the youth are not radicalised. He said that while world was feeling the impact of terrorism only now, India has been facing this menace for over last 40 years. IMAGE: PM Modi addressing the Indian diaspora in Brussels. Photograph: MEAIndia/Facebook The world was jolted by 9/11. Till then the world powers did not understand what India was going through. But India never bowed to terrorism and there is no question of bowing before it, the Prime Minister said. Referring to the UN, Modi said it has all means and mechanism to deal with war. But unfortunately the UN does not know what the definition of terrorism is and how to address it. The UN could not perform its duty in this regard...if the UN does not address this problem, it will not be too far before the world body loses its relevance, he said. The leaders of the world will have to take the lead to curb terrorism failing which the world can see more destruction, Modi said. During his one hour address, the PM also highlighted the achievements of his government with regard to ending corruption, bringing transparency in the functioning of government while citing various programmes. Before he commenced his speech, a minutes silence was observed in memory of the victims of the Brussels bombings. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is welcomed by European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the start of a EU India Summit in Brussels. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/Pool/Reuters Describing the recent attacks as a terrible act, he said I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. It is after long that people here had face such dastardly act. During the last few years, 90 countries have faced terror attacks, with hundreds falling victims. In my talks here, the main topic was terrorism. They have told me you have been suffering for the last 40 years, he said. Referring to the progress made by the country in the last two years, Modi said India was today the fastest growing nation. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel after their joint statement in Brussels. Photograph: Shirish Shete/PTI This has not happened because of Naseeb or Modi, but because of people. During the last two consecutive years, there have been droughts in different parts of India, but the country still has made progress at fast rate. If our intentions are good, nobody can stop India from progressing, he said. The PM also announced relief from higher rates of TDS for NRIs who did not have Permanent Account Number. NRIs who did not have PAN earlier had to face higher rates of TDS. They will get relief (mukti)... We will also increase the free baggage limit for NRIs. For FDI investment, NRIs will get same incentives as other investors, he said. Manipuri rights activist Irom Sharmila was on Wednesday acquitted by a Delhi court in a 2006 case of attempt to suicide when she was undertaking a fast until death at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh let off 42-year- old Sharmila, who is on a fast for the last 16 years in Manipur demanding repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. She was put on trial on March 4, 2013, for allegedly trying to commit suicide while undertaking fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar on October 4, 2006. She had on Tuesday told the court that she was ready to end her fast if the controversial AFSPA was repealed and expressed her desire to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue. Sharmila, who is fed through a nasal tube, was put on trial after she refused to plead guilty to the charge of attempting to commit suicide (Section 309 of Indian Penal Code). During final arguments yesterday, the prosecutor had contended that Sharmila had the intention to kill herself and the offence of trying to commit suicide was clearly made out against her. During the hearing, the activist had said she loved her life and was using her fast as a weapon to achieve her goal of repealing the AFSPA as it would have more impact and added that this was not a crime. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, had resorted to fasts while making certain demands, she said on Tuesday while justifying her fast. Sharmila also said, Since there is no meaning of true democracy in the country, human rights activists should join hands. The matter should be brought to the attention of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations. She had earlier told the court that she was very much eager to eat if she got the assurance that the draconian law will be revoked. Widespread discrimination was being done with the people from Northeast, she had alleged, adding she never intended to commit suicide and it was just a protest against the AFSPA. Known as the Iron Lady, Sharmila had earlier told the court that her protest was non-violent. Former external affairs minister and veteran Congressmen S M Krishna met with party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday. During this meeting Krishna is supposed to have handed over a note to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi giving them an assessment of the Congress position in Karnataka under the governance of Siddaramaiah. The veteran leader conveyed to the party high command that things are dangerously on the slide, if they went unchecked and correctives were not applied soon. According to reports, the All India Congress Committee has not taken seriously Krishnas fear of an Uttarakhand type situation repeating in Karnataka. According to sources, Krishna also suggested that Rahul divest some responsibility and give greater space to youngsters. According to Krishna, there are 124 Congress MLAs in Karnataka. If any revolt takes place in the state Congress at least 65 anti-Siddaramaiah MLAs will walk out thus creating an Uttarakhand type situation. Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah has taken four days off from his schedule and has gone in for Ayurveda treatment for his back ache. A Correspondent in New Delhi. Duliajan (Assam): Accusing the Congress government in Assam of having failed to stop infiltration from Bangladesh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that the NDA government at the Centre will completely seal the Indo-Bangladesh border to stop intrusion. "Intruders have been continuously entering India since the day Bangladesh was created. Bangladeshi intruders are coming to India through the Indo-Bangladesh border. What is the reason, why didn't you (Congress) stop them? Why didn't you completely seal the Indo-Bangladesh border?" he asked at an election rally here. Highlighting the steps taken by his government in this regard, Singh said that a few months ago he had visited the India-Bangladesh border and held "talks with the Bangladesh government". "We just need some time and we will seal the Indo-Bangladesh border completely so that no Bangladesh intruder can come in," he said. Later today, Singh will address three more election rallies for BJP candidates in Assam where Assembly polls will be held in two phases on April 4 and 11. The Home Minister will also attend two election rallies in West Bengal tomorrow before returning to the national capital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brussels on Wednesday for a hectic day-long visit during which he will attend the India-European Union Summit and hold bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel. Though terror is expected to figure prominently both at the Summit and also in the bilateral talks in the wake of the Brussels suicide attacks last week, Modi will strive to advance Indias partnership with the EU in priority areas such as Make in India and Smart Cities. A red carpet at dawn. PM @narendramodi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels (sic), External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted soon after the prime ministers arrival in the Belgian capital. Modis visit comes days after the March 22 terror attack in the city in which at least 32 people were killed, including an Indian Raghavendran Ganeshan, who was an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. The 13th India-EU Summit is being held after a gap of four years. The last Summit was held in New Delhi in 2012 and negotiations remained deadlocked over several key issues. Besides firming up India-EU counter-terror partnership, the Summit in Brussels is expected to evince interest in other projects like cleaning of Ganga on the lines of River Rhine and Danube. The EU is Indias biggest trading partner as a bloc with trade amounting to $126 (Rs 8.19 lakh crore) billion and it is also Indias largest export destination with exports worth $65 billion (Rs 4.22 lakh crore). It is the largest source of foreign direct investment in India at $69 billion (Rs 4.48 lakh crore). Soon after his arrival, Modi has a series of meetings lined up including one with indologists along with a meeting with members of the European Parliament and the Belgian Parliament. On the eve of the prime minister's visit, the EU said in a statement that the summit in Brussels will be an opportunity to re-launch relations and make concrete progress on areas of mutual interest, including trade and investment energy, climate, water and migration. India-EU summit and strong economic & investment ties with Belgium will be on the agenda during my Brussels visit, Modi had tweeted before embarking on his visit. He had hailed the resilience and spirit of its people in the wake of the horrific Brussels bombings and said India stands shoulder-to-shoulder with them. From Brussels, Modi will leave for Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit on March 31 and April 1 and from there he will travel to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation. Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets people after arriving in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday. Photograph: MEAIndia/Flickr Shiv Sena on Wednesday came out strongly against its ally, Bharatiya Janata Party over imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand, saying it had "strangulated democracy" in the name of morality and cautioned that this may create instability and anarchy in the country. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party also said that its alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra is "temporary and borne out of political compulsion", and there is "no question of morality or immorality" in the tie-up. The centre had on Sunday brought Uttarakhand under President's rule citing a Constitutional breakdown in the wake of a rebellion in the ruling Congress. "The BJP used nine rebel Congress MLAs to bring instability in Uttarakhand government," the Sena alleged in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana. "If the government had lost majority, the decision should have been taken in the state assembly. The governor had even given time to the government to prove its majority by March 28, but a day before that President's rule was imposed. What did the BJP gain out of it?" it asked. "We are against the corrupt practices of Congress. But, a government in power by democratic means, should be ousted by democratic means only. It will not be long before all this creates instability and anarchy in the country," the junior alliance partner said. "We are not concerned about the Congress losing power. But, as the opposition parties say, you strangulate democracy? In a democracy, the voice of the opposition is of paramount importance. A one party rule is worse than emergency or dictatorship. The country will be ruined if the opposition is eliminated and poison is thrown at allies," it lashed out. The Sena said that the present coalition in Maharashtra was out of political compulsions. "The Sena is with the government because we do not want instability and lawlessness in the state. There is no question of morality or immorality here but this a temporary arrangement borne out of political compulsions," it said. Following the imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand, the Congress had slammed the decision calling it a "murder of democracy" and a "black" day. Meanwhile, the Uttarkhand high court on Tuesday ordered a floor test in the assembly on March 31, giving a new turn to the political developments in the state. Ahead of the crucial Nuclear Security Summit in Washington this week, the Obama administration has expressed concern over Pakistans continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons and said this increases nuclear risks. Our concerns regarding the continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan relate to a reality of the situation. When battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed forward, they can represent enhanced nuclear security threat, Rose Gottemoeller, the under secretary of state for arms control and international security said. It is more difficult to sustain positive control over systems that are deployed forward. We found this lesson ourselves out in Europe during the years of the Cold War. And so I do think that that is a reality of the situation, she told foreign journalists at a news conference on Tuesday. It is not related particularly to any one country. Wherever battlefield nuclear weapons exist, they represent particular nuclear security problems, Gottemoeller said. Top Obama administration officials had recently expressed similar concerns before United States lawmakers during a Congressional hearing. We have been very concerned about Pakistans deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons, she had told Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a Congressional hearing earlier this month. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has cancelled his trip to Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Lahore in which 74 people have been killed. The Nuclear Security Summit is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1. Battlefield nuclear weapons refer to such nuclear weapons which are designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations. A group of veterans on Wednesday came out in open support of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy official arrested by Pakistan on charges of spying, and demanded "strong action" by the government in securing his immediate release and return home. At a press conference, the military veterans even demanded reviewing of all treaties with Pakistan, including the water sharing agreement, to demonstrate such a strong approach. The group, led by Aam Aadmi Party MLA Col (retd) Devendra Sehrawat, claimed that Jadhav was "abducted" from Iran by Pakistan's spy agency ISI and was taken to Pakistan. The external affairs ministry had on Tuesday also alleged that he could have been "abducted" from Iran. Sehrawat said veterans across the country will write to President Pranab Mukehrjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to secure his release. Another veteran, Col (retd) Rajesh Bhardwaj claimed the ex-Navy officer was a batch mate of Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at the NationalDefenceAcademy academy, Pune. The veterans also said Rathore should also help in facilitating Jadhav's release. Jadhav had been arrested recently in Pakistan, which described him as an officer of the Indian Navy, a claim debunked by the Indian government. India said he had no link with the government since his premature retirement from the Navy. "We are all concerned about his arrest. We all feel that the ISI has conducted a full-scale operation under which he was abducted from Iran and then brought to Pakistan. We have cross-checked this with Iranian officers who had trained with us at the NDA," said Sehrawat. Pakistan armed forces had on Tuesday released a video purportedly of Jadhav in which he admitted to having been involved in terror activities in Balochistan, a charge rubbished by India. "Jadhav was made to give statements under duress," Sehrawat said. Maj (Retd) T C Rao, another veteran and convenor of the Indian Martyr Foundation, demanded that the Indian government summon the Pakistan High Commissioner and raise the issue with him. "The government needs to put pressure on the Pakistani government to ensure release of Jadhav. We demand that all treaties with Pakistan including the water sharing agreement and trade concessions be reviewed. It also needs to demonstrate a strong action in this case," Sehrawat said. Bharadwaj said he had trained with Jadhav at the NDA. "He was a brave officer of the Indian Navy. It's sad that the government is disowning him now. I have been trained with Jadhav. He was my senior at the NDA. In fact, he and Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore were batch mates at the NDA. He (Rathore) should help in ensuring his release," Bharadwaj added. Sarpanch leaders are changing Rajasthan for the girl child, discovers Rashme Sehgal. IMAGE: A schoolgirl in Jodhpur looks forward to a bright future. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons How can International Women's Day be celebrated with elan if the ratio of the girl child to a boy child continues to show a downward slide? This is the grim question that, for the last two decades, has challenged panchayats across India. Finally, a slew of gram panchayats in Rajasthan have decided to reverse this trend. IMAGE: A community rally protesting atrocities against women and the girl child in Jalore, Rajasthan. In a rare initiative, 180 gram panchayats across six districts in Rajasthan -- which include Jaipur, Dausa, Sikar, Pali, Jallore and Jodhpur -- have come together to make a series of vital interventions to save the girl child. They have led by example and their painstaking labour has begun to pay dividends with the ratio of the girl child to the boy child showing a marked improvement. In some villages, the girl children are outstripping the boys. > IMAGE: A kuwa puja (worshipping the well) ceremony takes place to celebrate the birth of a girl child in Dausa, Rajasthan. Manju Devi, sarpanch of Motlawas in Sikar district and mother of two girls, cites how, through sheer grit and determination, she has metamorphosed into a role model for the women in her village. In 2010, this former anganwadi worker fought the sarpanch elections against six formidable candidates and succeeded in pipping them by 250 votes. Once she became sarpanch, one of the things she did was initiate several steps whereby parents and the villagers starting give importance to girls. This included giving parents a congratulatory patra (letter) on the birth of a girl child, ensuring girls are admitted to schools and monitoring their performance there to prevent early dropouts. IMAGE: A signature campaign promising equality to the girl child in Thikariya district, Jaipur, Rajasthan. One year into her job, she ran into an unusual problem. "I used to encourage women who had two girls to opt for sterilisation as a means of family planning. These women turned around to me and demanded, 'You are asking us to go in for an operation, but why have you not gone in for one yourself?'" recalls Manju Devi. Their words rang true. She realised she had to lead by example. So, without informing her mother-in-law or her husband in 2011, she quietly went in for a tubal ligation procedure. "When my mother-in-law learnt about my operation, she became hysterical and wept. 'My son's vansh (legacy) will come to end,' she told me over and over again. It took a lot of effort and persuasion to make my mother-in-law understand that daughters are as good as boys," she says. IMAGE: A bank account passbook, in the name of the girl child, and the birth certificate is handed over to the mother in Dausa, Rajasthan. "My job is not merely to advise women about family planning practices. The state government has introduced a slew of measures to incentivise families to take care of their daughters. This includes giving parents of daughters Rs 7,000 in instalments." "The first instalment is given at the birth of a girl. Later instalments follow when the child is immunised, admitted to school and so on. The parents have to open a bank account in the name of the girl child and the state government directly transfers the money into the child's account," Manju Devi says. "I have had to work hard to change the mindset of the other panchayat members and I believe I am succeeding. I take my mother-in-law with me for all my public interactions. She has begun to understand that the world has changed and we need to understand the vital role women can play in it," says this dynamic sarpanch. "The fact that I had opted to be sterilised has convinced four mothers with only daughters to follow suit. Gradually, the message has hit home in Motlawas that daughters are as important as boys and parents must focus on their well being as well," adds Manju Devi. IMAGE: A community rally protesting atrocities against women in Pali, Rajasthan. Middle-aged Vanita Rajawat of Daulat Pura Kotda village also worked as an anganwadi worker before standing for elections in 2010. She is dressed in a traditional green lehenga (long skirt) and blouse and has covered her head with a bright red odhni (long scarf). Like Manju Devi, Vanita too resigned from her post as anganwadi worker to contest the sarpanch elections. "Rajput women are expected to maintain purdah. But once I started attending panchayat meetings, which are held twice a month, it was not possible for me to interact with my male colleagues if I kept a purdah. Gradually, despite criticism from some quarters, I have stopped the practice of purdah. However, I keep my head covered when I step out of the house," she says. Vanita, a BCom graduate, is determined to ensure that the young girls in her village get a good education. "I have got the government school extended from Class 8 to Class 10. At present, we have 200 girls studying in this school as against 20 boys. The reason for this is that parents prefer to send their boys to private schools where they can get a better education," she points out. She has succeeded in getting an auxiliary nurse midwife to stay in the village on a permanent basis. An auxiliary nurse midwife's focus, amongst her many tasks, is to ensure the immunisation of the girl child as also ensure that babies are delivered in hospitals. "I have also got 50 toilets built in my village and am ensuring villagers get into the habit of using them," says Vanita. IMAGE: Celebrating the Balika Janamostav in Dausa, Rajasthan. Sualal Gholiya of Jairam Pura village, a prosperous young farmer, has devoted all his energy to saving the girl child. He maintains a register of all the children born in his village. If a girl child is born, he ensures that a congratulatory letter is sent to the parents. The panchayat also holds Balika Janamotsavs to celebrate the birth of the girl child. "To reinforce this further, we celebrate the birthdays of our girls with pomp and show. We also hold Mahila chaupals and Mahila sabhas where women are given basic health tips and their grievances are attended to," he says. IMAGE: Birth certificates are handed over during a Balika Janamotsav in Jalore, Rajasthan. Sualal's first task, he says, was to create awareness about the importance of the girl child. "I also had to identify families where women were being subjected often to hidden violence. Along with the other panchayat members, I focused on these families and our frequent interactions have paid off. Last year, 115 girls were born here as against 111 boys. Today, we have 200 boys studying in government schools as against 350 girls." Like Vanita, Sualal too says, "But more girls than boys study in government schools because parents prefer to educate their sons in private schools where the quality of education is known to be better." IMAGE: A resolution is passed in support of the girl child in Jalore, Rajasthan. Meanwhile Omprakash Bairwa, who was elected as sarpanch in February 2015 from Lalpura village in Dausa district, is ensuring that girls study up to Class 12 at least. "In most families," he explains, "the parents work all day as labourers under the MNREGA scheme. Girls are therefore made to drop out of school to work in the house, collect firewood and graze the cattle. My focus is to ensure that girls are allowed to continue with their studies." "I tell the parents to allow them to simultaneously study and do the housework. This way, they will not spoil the child's future. Fortunately, the parents see the logic of my arguments and agree," says Omprakash. IMAGE: A slogan supporting the girl child is painted on the wall of a community centre in Dausa, Rajasthan. These panchayats have worked closely with the Delhi-based NGO, Centre of Advocacy and Research. Social activist Rakhee Badhwar, state programme manager at CFAR, pointed out that the Census 2011, in which the girl-boy ration was down to 888 girls to 1,000 boys, was a wake-up call. "We decided to intervene and reached out to 2,721 workers who then went on to organise 550 consciousness raising events and 184 balika janmotsavs (festivals to celebrate the birth of a girl child). These volunteers acted as change agents. After the project was launched in 2012, these six districts have seen the birth of 1,620 girls as against 1,460 boys," she says proudly. Akhila Shivdas, who heads CFAR, points out, "This intervention has now become part of the prime minister's Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme. But, in order for such a transformation to be mainstreamed and become successful, the government must allocate adequate resources. These gram panchayats have shown that it is eminently do-able." Nainital: Tomorrow's floor test in Uttarakhand Assembly, ordered by a single judge of the High Court, was stayed on Wednesday by the Division Bench till April 7, giving yet another twist to the continuing political drama in the state. The Bench of Chief Justice K M Joseph and Justice V K Bisht passed the order on a petition filed by the Centre against yesterday's single judge directive for floor test tomorrow. The order came after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, strongly opposed yesterday's order saying courts cannot interfere with the Presidential proclamation. "By consent order, the Honourable Division Bench stayed the order of single judge till April 7," said advocate Nalin Kohli, who was part of the team representing the Centre. The next date of hearing before the Division Bench is April 6, he said. Read: Uttarakhand: Cong to take legal recourse for allowing 9 MLAs to vote in floor test? Earlier, the trust vote was slated for March 28 but the Centre imposed President's Rule on March 27, citing breakdown of Constitutional machinery in the state. This was challenged by ousted Chief Minister Harish Rawat before the single judge U C Dhyani of the High Court. The single judge, while ordering the floor test on March 31, had also allowed nine disqualified rebel Congress MLAs to participate in the voting. Congress was unhappy and had planned to challenge this aspect of the order. Ordering the floor test yesterday, Justice Dhyani had observed that invoking of Article 356 of the Constitution by the Centre was a colourable exercise of power. Read: Uttrakhand: Rebel Congress MLAs move HC against their disqualification "Democratically-elected Houses should not be demolished in such a fashion. Floor test is the only test to prove the majority," he had said even though he ruled out staying the effect of the proclamation under Article 356 at this stage. Kohli said the Centre will file its counter before the Division Bench on April 4 for which the other side will file its reply the next day. The matter will be heard again on April 6, he said. "So, in effect the single judge order has been kept in abeyance till April 7," Kohli said. Meanwhile, Justice Dhyani put off hearing on a plea by rebel Congress MLAs challenging their disqualification by Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal after President's Rule was imposed. Posting hearing on their appeal to April one, he said as per the interim order issued by him yesterday they have already been given relief by being allowed to vote during a floor test despite being disqualified. The court also told them that although they have been allowed to vote in the assembly during floor test their votes will not be treated on par with the rest of the MLAs. An appeal was filed today by six of the nine rebel MLAs against the Speaker's action questioning its validity on the ground that the action had been taken after imposition of President's Rule and suspension of the Assembly. The Speaker had disqualified nine Congress MLAs under the anti-defection law hours after imposition of President's Rule on March 27, a day before the Rawat government was scheduled to go for a floor test in the Assembly. In Tunisia, Ban welcomes country's democratic progress Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 28 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, In Tunisia, Ban welcomes country's democratic progress, 28 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb848e40d.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. 28 March 2016 - While in Tunisia's capital today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the country's democratic progress while reaffirming the United Nations' support to its citizens and Government. [World Bank President] Kim and I are here to show our support to Tunisia, where progress towards stability and prosperity are advancing despite significant economic and security challenges, the UN chief told reporters at a press conference in Tunis. We've just met with his excellency President Beji Caid Essebsi. I congratulated him for the democratic progress made in Tunisia. I also lauded his efforts to reduce social and economic inequalities. I assured him that the United Nations supports Tunisia's citizens and Government at a time when the country is in transition, he added. Mr. Ban noted that unemployment, especially among youth, is one of the biggest challenges affecting Tunisia. I am impatient to hear young people tell me in person about their fears and the kind of help or support they need, indicated the UN chief, who will be attending a national conference on employment tomorrow, organized by the Tunisian Prime Minister. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mohamed Ennaceur, President of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People of Tunisia, and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim make their way to a wreath-laying ceremony at the Bardo National Museum. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General along with (from left) World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Sonia M'Barek, Minister of Culture of Tunisia, and Yoo Soon-taek, observe a moment of silence. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lays a wreath at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, marking the first anniversary of the 18 March 2015 terrorist attack at the museum. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (centre left) meets with Mohamed Ennaceur, President of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People of Tunisia. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, jointly address journalists following their meeting with President Beji Caid Essebsi of Tunisia. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) chats with Martin Kobler, his Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) meets with Habib Essid, Head of Government of Tunisia, in Tunis. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets in Tunis with Mousa Al Kony, Deputy Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Accord. UN Photo/Mark Garten The United Nations I ready to continue its collaboration with the Government of Tunisia to build on programmes that creates jobs and reduce inequalities, he stressed. In addition to meeting the President, Mr. Ban and Mr. Kim are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Habib Essid, as well as the President of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, Mohamed Ennaceur. Talks are expected to focus on concrete proposals to generate economic results that benefit the Tunisian population, especially relating to job creation and economic support. At the press conference, the Secretary-General also expressed the global community's concern about the terrorist attacks that recently targeted Tunisia. The United Nations recognizes the impact of the situation in Libya on Tunisia, in particular on its economy and security. We are working towards a political solution in Libya. This remains the only way to end the crisis and to stabilize both the country and the region, he concluded. In Tunisia, Ban stresses importance of youth employment in sustainable development Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 29 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, In Tunisia, Ban stresses importance of youth employment in sustainable development, 29 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb86be40b.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. 29 March 2016 - Speaking at a national conference on employment in Tunisia, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the international community to help the North African country create new businesses and fund active labour market programmes for young people. He emphasized that when young men and women are excluded from decent work, they could become susceptible to extremist discourse, and youth unemployment seriously hinders the sustainable development and growth of a country. There are two areas in particular where I see an opportunity for international support here in Tunisia, he said, underscoring that at 30 per cent, the youth unemployment rate in North Africa remains the highest of all regions of the world, with 200,000 young Tunisians jobless. First, there is a mismatch between the number of graduates and the number of suitable jobs. This will require targeted policies to help young people build careers for future growth and prosperity. Investment in new businesses is crucial, together with a reduction in cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, and an increase in women's participation in the labour force, Mr. Ban said. Second, active labour market programmes, targeting young graduates in particular, can be funded by public sector financing and resources from development partners. Trade unions, employers' organizations and the private sector can help by empowering young people and engaging with youth-led organizations, he added, welcoming the establishment of an employment fund to support such programmes. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses UN staff members serving in Tunisia. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (3rd right) and wife, Yoo Soon-taek, attend a breakfast meeting with members of the UN Country Team in Tunis. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and wife, Yoo Soon-taek, in a group photo with members of the UN Country Team in Tunis. UN Photo/Mark Garten Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses a press conference at the conclusion of his two-day visit to Tunisia. UN Photo/Mark Garten For the United Nations, creating decent jobs through sustainable development is a top priority, he said, noting that Goal 8 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted last September by UN Member States, stresses the importance of employment and decent work in promoting growth and achieving other social and environmental goals. Given that half the world's people are under 25, he appointed Ahmad Alhendawi as the first-ever UN envoy for youth to work with all UN agencies and programmes in every country and improve the coordination of policies for young people, Mr. Ban said. The UN now has a System-wide Action Plan on Youth, which includes a focus on employment and entrepreneurship. Last month, the UN launched an even more relevant programme: the Global Initiative for Decent Jobs for Youth, a partnership between governments, the UN system, businesses, academic institutions, youth organizations and other groups to scale up action to create new opportunities and avenues for quality employment in the global economy. And here in Tunisia, UN agencies have set up a Youth Advisory Board to make our programmes more responsive to the needs and priorities of young people. The Secretary-General will be in Geneva on Wednesday, 30 March, to open the high-level meeting on global responsibility sharing for Syrian refugees. At the same time as a bomb blast tore through the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore, killing over 70 people, a rally of over 10,000 supporters of the executed Islamist killer Mumtaz Qadri (assassin of former Pakistan Punjab governor Salman Taseer) were staging a sit-in outside Pakistans Parliament in Islamabad. The common thread between the two parallel events was bloody angst and restiveness against the minority Christians. As per the Pakistani Taliban group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, the bomb targeted the minority Christians, while the rally in the capital was to force the government to implement the puritanical Sharia laws and designate Mumtaz Qadri as a martyr he who had assassinated a man for standing up for a Christian woman accused under the dubious blasphemy laws of Pakistan The estimates of the numbers for minorities varies from 3.5 per cent to 10 per cent, including Christians, Hindus, Sik-hs, Parsis, Bahais and other apostates like the Ahmadiyyas. Often the Shia Muslims (15 per cent of the population) face a similar ire in the form of sectarian violence, though officially they are not bracketed within minority like the others. As early as 2013, the US Commission on Inter-national Religious Freedom had picked the trend and noted that Pakistan represents the worst situation in the world for religious freedom for countries not currently designated as countries of particular concern by the US government a pertinent augury of the society in a flux. The principal architects of the hardline Islamist strain are the Machiavellian politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who courted Islamists tactically to secure himself politically, and then his nemesis, Zia-ul-Haq, who firmly entrenched the theocratic colour in vital institutions like never before. Even the covert complicity of the Western powers in overlooking the Islamisation as long as their bidding was done in the larger geopolitical game ascribes to them a guilty and enabling role in driving Pakistan down the road of religious extremism and minority intolerance. Soon the wave of aggressive pan-Islamism was to consume the tinderbox in Pakistan with sectarian, regional and societal faultlines and unrest that invariably sought refuge, justification and succour in religion. The Lal Masjid siege was arguably the inflexion point for the Pakistani establishment to take on its own creations of destruction. Unfortunately, the powers that be were still selective and coined creative expressions like non-state actors to justify non-action against elements whom they thought were not inimical to their own interests. However, religious extremists recognise no border, creator or limit, and soon safe areas like Punjab got their own version of Punjabi Taliban. The institution of the Army was specifically targeted via the horrific massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar, and just a few days back their arrival was made chillingly clear by Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesperson for the terror group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar: This is a message to the Pakistani Prime Minister that we have arrived in Punjab. Ironically, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also a protege of Zia-ul-Haq, who had handpicked the Sharif brothers in the mid-80s. However, like much of the Pakistani establishment, the tide has turned and Mr Sharif, along with the Pakistan Army, is at the forefront of taking on the virulent elements, albeit tentatively. Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the Pakistani defence forces offensive against various militant groups, and the recent approval in the Sindh Assembly of the Hindu Marriage Bill are symptomatic of the establishments realisation of the overall direction it ought to take from the regressive puritanical spirit that is eating into the vitals of Pakistan towards more progressive steps to address the wrongs in the system. These specific societal wrongs targeting the minorities had earlier ensured the denial of recognition to Pakistans first Nobel Prize winner, theoretical physicist Abdus Salam, and the Pakistani war hero Maj. Gen. Iftikhar Khan Janjua, just because they were apostate Ahmadiyyas. Basically, the thought divide in Pakistan is stark: The educated classes, middle-upper sections of society and the security fraternity reflect one side of Pakistani thought, while the uneducated and the economic underbelly of society have fallen prey to the madrasa-inspired visions of hardline Islamist solutions for all ills. The hapless minorities are stuck between these two competing instincts which define Pakistan today and are, therefore, the dartboard on which these two schools of thought settle mutual scores and assert themselves. Unarmed, exposed and still in large numbers, the minorities need an unequivocal and unqualified support system that will test the Pakistani establishment, which is historically adept at qualifying various actions to visibly demonstrate the kind of complete commitment that it has never shown before. India, too, stands to benefit from calling the bluff of selectiveness as the implications will translate into meaningful positivity on the Indian side of the border. Hunger and ongoing insecurity forcing South Sudanese to flee country, UN agency reports Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 29 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Hunger and ongoing insecurity forcing South Sudanese to flee country, UN agency reports, 29 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb872dd1.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. 29 March 2016 - Growing food insecurity is causing more and more South Sudanese to flee into Sudan, the United Nations refugee agency today, urging more funding for clean water, sanitation and health services, food and shelter. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said some 38,000 people have fled north over the border to neighbouring East and South Darfur since the end of January, particularly from the growing unrest in the north-western states of Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Warrap. The majority crossed into East Darfur, where an average of 500 South Sudanese or 100 households had been arriving per day rising to over 150 households last week, according to UN officials. The situation could quickly worsen as the nutrition situation in Upper Nile, Warrap, and Northern Bahr Ghazal grows increasingly serious, the agency said in a statement. The arrivals are reaching Sudan in poor condition, according to the Government of Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission. In addition to food, water and basic relief items, they need protection from sexual and gender-based violence, and many children have been separated from their families. UNHCR is working with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to respond to the needs, and is also advocating for direct access to East Darfur to support the response. The UN agency has expressed concern about the 2016 South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) that covers the refugee programmes in the neighbouring countries, run by UNHCR and 39 partners. The Plan, which requires $1.3 billion is only three per cent funded. In South Darfur, over 2,000 people were registered in Beliel Camp located in the village of that name, and which has hosted internally displaced persons in Darfur. The South Sudanese coming to the camp have faced insecurity en route to the camp, according to UNHCR, and many are sick and in need of medical attention. These groups are part of 2.8 million people throughout South Sudan who are officially classified as facing a food insecurity crisis or emergency, according to Fewsnet, the global body mandated to monitor such situations. The food insecurity is worsened by the ongoing fighting in the country, which started in December 2013 for political reasons, and which has since forced 2.3 million people to flee their homes. One in 10 Syrian refugees will need resettling, UN agency warns ahead of conference Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 29 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, One in 10 Syrian refugees will need resettling, UN agency warns ahead of conference, 29 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb877c40b.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. 29 March 2016 - Supporting refugees is a global responsibility that must be widely shared, the UN refugee agency stressed today ahead of a one-day high-level conference it is hosting in Geneva tomorrow, focused on refugees from Syria and the need for generating a substantial increase in resettlement and other answers for their plight. "Refugees fleeing conflict and violence and arriving in Europe carry an important message: addressing their plight cannot only be the task of countries and communities that are close to wars. It is a global responsibility that must be widely shared until peace prevails again," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a press release. "Giving at least some Syrian refugees an opportunity to move on to better lives, and relieving the burden on countries hosting millions of refugees are important gestures of solidarity. Let us not miss this opportunity," Mr. Grandi added. The conference is one of several key events in 2016 focused on Syria's refugees. It follows February's London Conference on Syria, dealing with the financial dimensions of the humanitarian challenge posed by the more than 13.5 million people in need inside Syria and the 4.8 million refugees in the surrounding region, along with the needs of communities in host countries. Tomorrow's gathering is also in the run up to September's summit on refugees taking place at the UN General Assembly in New York. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) underlined that the focus of tomorrow's meeting is on the need for expanded, multi-year programmes of resettlement and other forms of humanitarian admission, including countries that until now have not been involved in such initiatives. UN envoy welcomes Sudan's signing of action plan to end use of child soldiers Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 28 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN envoy welcomes Sudan's signing of action plan to end use of child soldiers, 28 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb87d940d.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. 28 March 2016 - The United Nations envoy on children and armed conflict has welcomed Sudan's signing of an action plan to prevent the recruitment and use of children by national security forces as an important milestone for child protection there. The action plan sets out a series of measures to enhance the overall protection of children affected by armed conflict, including the cessation and prevention of child recruitment, and the release of children from national security forces. The Sudanese Government also committed to appoint a high-level focal point to coordinate the implementation of the plan and to collaborate with the UN in monitoring progress. With that signing yesterday, all seven countries whose national security forces are listed by the UN Secretary-General for recruitment and use of children have committed to the objective of Children, Not Soldiers, a global campaign to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children by Government security forces in conflict. The other six are Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen. Twenty years after my mandate was created, governments around the world now agree that children should not be associated with national security forces in conflict, said Leila Zerrougui, UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict in a press release . The Action Plan signed today will bring about a more protected future for the country's children. I look forward to its full implementation and reiterate my full support to the Sudanese authorities to reach this objective, she added. Signing ceremony of Action Plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in national security forces on 27 March 2016 in Khartoum, Sudan. Photos: UN of for Children and Armed Conflict Sudan's State Minister of Social Welfare Ibrahim Adam Ibrahim signed the action plan on behalf of the Government. We will work to promote and protect children's rights in areas of armed conflict and displacement. We are also committed to strengthen existing mechanisms that are included in the Child Act of 2010 and the Sudan Armed Forces law, he said. Upon successful completion of all measures agreed to in the action plan, the Sudanese Government Security Forces will be removed from the annexes of the Secretary-General's annual report on children and armed conflict. Chad completed the requirements of its action plan and was delisted in July 2014. In a joint declaration, the three co-chairs of the UN Country Task Force on monitoring and reporting pledged support for Sudan. They are Bintou Keita, Deputy Joint Special Representative for the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID); Marta Ruedas, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator; and Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Representative. In Lebanon, UN chief and World Bank President show commitment to leaving 'no one behind' Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 25 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, In Lebanon, UN chief and World Bank President show commitment to leaving 'no one behind', 25 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb8ca640b.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. 25 March 2016 - While in Lebanon today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim underlined the UN system's commitment to the country, calling for additional funds for a refugee camp, inaugurating a new social development centre, and announcing a new financing plan for Lebanese schools. During a visit to the Nahr El-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, which was reduced to rubble when fighting erupted in May 2007 between the radical group Fatah al Islam and the Lebanese Army, the UN chief highlighted that its reconstruction has been a top priority since beginning his tenure that same year. Many of the 31,000 Palestine refugees living there had to flee their homes. Now after nine years, well, I'm seeing that almost half of the reconstruction has been made, but still there are so many people waiting to return to their homes, Mr. Ban told reporters in Tripoli. I just met some family members, the lady was crying, I tried to sympathize and console her, but no words can satisfy her, and no words [are enough]. An international conference was recently convened in London by the UN, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway and Kuwait. They were able to mobilize a significant amount of funding-more than $5.5 billion for this year. Mr. Ban said some of these pledges will support the Nahr El-Bared camp reconstruction. We have about 45 per cent of funding down, he indicated. I am urging the international community to provide remaining funding, at least $200 million, so that these people can return. It has been too long overdue, it's been over nine years. He added that supporting these refugees will be one of the top priorities at the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit, taking place in Istanbul in May. The main thing is that nobody should be left behind, everybody should work together and the people who are suffering should not be left alone, he stressed. On Friday, the Secretary-General also partook in an inauguration ceremony for the new Qobbeh Social Development Centre in northern Lebanon. Speaking to the press, he said he is happy to see that the UN system and its partners are working closely with community leaders to provide people with education, vocational training, sanitation support and some psychological support. [The centre] also provides an opportunity when people are suffering from deprivation, lack of opportunities, no education, when they are isolated or left behind, Mr. Ban added. The UN, through its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, [is pursuing the same goal]: the main thing is to have everybody on board, nobody should be left behind. The Centre is also expected to provide support to adolescent boys and girls who are exposed to sexual gender-based violence. Meanwhile, the heads of the World Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank were also in attendance, showing their commitment to helping to provide quality education and job opportunities. In his remarks, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said the institution has been a long-standing partner of the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, and is proud to have been supporting the National Poverty Targeting Program, which has been operating since 2009. We have helped scale up the program to help lessen the impact of the Syrian refugees on Lebanese families, and to help reduce tensions between the refugees and host communities, said Mr. Kim. He also announced a major new $100 million initiative aimed at supporting the Government of Lebanon's plan to improve the quality of its education and to get all Lebanese and Syrian refugee children in schools by the end of the 2016-2017 school year. The new financing was reportedly made possible thanks to a highly unusual decision by the Bank's Board of Directors to offer Lebanon financing terms that had been reserved only for low-income countries. We will not stand by when there's a danger of a lost generation of Syrian children as well as the potential for a reversal of Lebanon's achievements in education, said Mr. Kim. We are here today to express solidarity and support to Lebanon as it copes with the impact of the Syria crisis. Later at a press conference in Beirut, the UN chief said "important meetings on a range of subjects" were held with Prime Minister Salam and Speaker Berri, and the Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Samir Mokbel. He also met with His Beatitude Patriarch Rai. Syrian talks end with 'no drama;' early April target date set for resumption UN envoy Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Syrian talks end with 'no drama;' early April target date set for resumption UN envoy, 24 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb8cf340d.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. 24 March 2016 - Both the Syrian Government and opposition delegations are taking the United Nations-mediated peace talks very seriously, the UN envoy on the discussions said today, wrapping up the second round of the process by issuing a paper on commonalties that exist between the two negotiating parties, and announcing that the talks could pick up again by the second week of April. The support of this cessation of hostilities [held] for one month. And [as for talks,] no breakdowns; no walkouts; and no de-legitimization or personal de-legitimization, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told reporters in Geneva as he summed-up the past 10 days of intra-Syrian talks. He said since the Government delegation was extremely focused on the issue of principles in order to be able then to talk about everything else and that the opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) had a very serious list of papers as well, he had decided to produce a paper himself, issued as a paper on points of commonalities, which, while not agreed by the two parties, summarizes the negotiations results of the talks thus far, and covers, among others, the rejection of terrorism, the right of return for refugees, rejection of foreign interference in Syria, and a political transition of power. I think by looking at those twelve points you can see that there is a lot of common ground, which can be, according to my interpretation and my colleagues, a listing to both sides, and even to all the stakeholders we have been inviting to be consulted as you know civil society, various platforms, even those who came from far away and women's associations that those points are, for me, to look for a common ground, he explained. Responding to questions, he said that while the paper does not delve into the details of the political transition which he has referred to as the mother of all issues in the negotiations the guiding principles do reference the Geneva Communique in its entirety. And if you look more carefully there is reference to [Security Council] resolution 2254 which includes three elements: governance, constitution and elections. So there are guiding points, which are leading towards helping the next phase. As for next steps, Mr. de Mistura that as things stand, having come through the past two weeks with no drama, and with potentially a paper that on what could be an understanding of principles, the next time we take the principles aside and we look now at political process. Hopefully [] between now and then, could be the other political and diplomatic discussions, which are mutually supportive. So the target date would start on 9 or 10 April, but with arrivals, could slip to 13 or 14 April, because we do not want too much of a gap, said Mr. de Mistura, adding that he would keep everyone informed of any changes. In the meantime, he said, the issue of detainees has become one of his key priorities, as well as maintaining pressure regarding the lifting of sieges, and obviously maintaining the issue of supporting the cessation of hostilities and expanding it and controlling it []. Azerbaijan releases human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 28 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Azerbaijan releases human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, 28 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb8dd14.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. The Azerbaijani authorities today released prominent human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev in what Amnesty International billed an overdue step towards righting the injustice against him and all remaining prisoners of conscience. Intigam Aliyev, head of the NGO Legal Education Society and a vocal government critic, was arrested in August 2014. In April 2015 he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on trumped-up charges of tax avoidance, illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of power, amid a crackdown on dissident voices in Azerbaijan. Authorities also raided and closed his NGO that helped victims of politically motivated persecution and represented them at the European Court of Human Rights. "Prisoner of conscience Intigam Aliyev has paid dearly for his frontline human rights work - the only 'crime' he committed was to defend his fellow citizens' freedoms," said Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International. "After more than a year and a half in prison, his release is welcome, but he must now be fully cleared of all charges and allowed to resume his work. Without this, there will be no justice for this resolute defender of human rights in Azerbaijan." On 17 March, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to release 10 other prisoners of conscience as part of a wider amnesty. Today's release leaves seven prisoners of conscience behind bars in the country. Amnesty International will continue to call for their immediate and unconditional release. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Flooding the region with arms is adding fuel to the fire in Yemen Publisher Amnesty International Author Rasha Mohamed & Rawan Shaif Publication Date 27 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Flooding the region with arms is adding fuel to the fire in Yemen, 27 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb8e134.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. It was a hot, dry day in early July 2015. Salah Basrallah, a farmer in Yemen's northern region of Saada, stood among a cluster of nine houses that used to comprise his little village of Eram. He surveyed the pulverized scene in silence. He had lost 21 family members in four consecutive airstrikes on his village, including his six children and wife. Nearby lay the remnants of an MK-80 series bomb, similar to those found at many other coalition strike locations and which the United States is known to supply to Saudi Arabia. The attacks killed 55 people in total, according to local authorities in Saada, including 35 children. Several people were killed in follow-up airstrikes, as they tried to rescue people in the aftermath of the first bombing. It took survivors five days to dig out all the bodies; many had been shredded to pieces. Fast forward to this year. With the coalition bombing campaign hitting the one-year mark, airstrikes continue to devastate the lives of innocent Yemeni families. In the capital of Sanaa, all that remains of the home where Judge Yahya Rubaid and his family once lived is a metal skeleton, chunks of concrete dangling from what used to be his living room. An airstrike hit at 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 25, as the judge and his wife, children, and grandchildren slept. A second strike followed shortly after, the sound echoing through the city. According to family members, Rubaid was a judge on a case against Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, for treason in absentia. It is unclear whether his house was attacked for this reason. What is clear, however, is that there was no legally valid basis for bombing his home, as he and his family were civilians and under international law should not have been deliberately targeted. Mohammed Abdullah, Rubaid's nephew, recalled digging through mounds of rubble, finding no bodies beneath. "We immediately ran to my uncle's home and frantically began looking for their bodies to see who had survived," he said. He called one of his daughters' phones and heard its muffled ringing close by. When Abdullah returned to dig once more for signs of life, he soon realized that buried beneath the gray stones were body parts - lumps of flesh, bone, and sinew. A few feet away, half of Rubaid's body was found on top of a gas station opposite his bedroom. "We lost count of how many body parts we had found; no one was whole," he said. These gruesome scenes are just two examples of the horrors that Yemen has seen since the Saudi-led military coalition launched its air campaign in March 2015. On one side of this war is the Houthi armed group, often referred to as the "Popular Committees," which is supported by armed groups loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and parts of the army. On the other side is the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and allied forces on the ground, usually referred to as muqawama, or the "resistance," fighting on behalf of Hadi and his government. The Houthis and their allies - armed groups loyal to Saleh - are the declared targets of the coalition's 1-year-old air campaign. In reality, however, it is the civilians, such as Basrallah and Rubaid, and their children, who are predominantly the victims of this protracted war. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in airstrikes while asleep in their homes, when going about their daily activities, or in the very places where they had sought refuge from the conflict. The United States, Britain, and others, meanwhile, have continued to supply a steady stream of weaponry and logistical support to Saudi Arabia and its coalition. One year on, it still remains unclear who is winning the war. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners claim to have regained control of more than 80 percent of the country, but the Houthis remain in control of the key strongholds of Sanaa, Ibb, and Taiz. Moreover, armed groups such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State are gaining ground and support in the south and southeast parts of the country, taking advantage of the security vacuum to consolidate their power. One thing is clear: Yemeni civilians are losing the most. This wanton disregard for the lives of civilians continues unabated. At approximately 11:30 a.m. on March 15, the market in Khamees, a town in northern Yemen, was destroyed in two apparent airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, claiming the lives of 106 civilians, including 24 children. One man, Hasan Masafi, who spoke to us over the phone, couldn't even grieve his 18-year-old son's death because he couldn't locate his whole body. "We were only able to find his right leg," he said. The facts speak for themselves, and evidence of violations of international humanitarian law cannot be dismissed as mere hearsay, as the British government has attempted to do with U.N. reports. Amnesty International and other organizations have presented compelling evidence over the past year that indicates all parties to the Yemen conflict have committed war crimes. But some countries do not want to see the evidence that is staring them in the face. Flooding the region with arms is akin to adding fuel to the fire. Attacks like the one on Khamees market have become the norm for civilians in Yemen. More than 3,000 civilians have been killed during the conflict, according to the United Nations. Thousands of others have been injured, more than 2.5 million have been displaced, and 83 percent of Yemenis are reliant on humanitarian assistance. There is barely a single corner of Yemen or a single soul that hasn't in some way been touched and scarred by this war. The Saudi-led coalition's response to reports of civilians unlawfully killed - and homes, schools, and infrastructure destroyed - has been to constantly repeat the mantra that "only military targets are hit by airstrikes." The situation on the ground tells a very different story. With each unlawful coalition airstrike, it becomes more evident that Saudi Arabia and other coalition members either do not care about respecting international humanitarian law or are incapable of adhering to its fundamental rules. And yet, Britain, the United States, and France continue to authorize lucrative arms deals with the Saudi-led coalition - apparently without batting an eyelash. Since November 2013, the U.S. Defense Department has authorized more than $35.7 billion in major arms deals to Saudi Arabia. This includes the announcement of a $1.29 billion U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia in November 2015 that will supply Riyadh with 18,440 bombs and 1,500 warheads. Meanwhile, during his time in office, British Prime Minister David Cameron has overseen the sale of more than $9 billion worth of weaponry to Saudi Arabia, including nearly $4 billion since airstrikes on Yemen began, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade, a London-based NGO. Regardless of when the weapons used by coalition forces in Yemen were acquired - whether before or since the start of the air campaign - the countries that supplied them have a responsibility to ensure that they are not facilitating violations of international law. While the relentless coalition airstrikes account for most of the civilian deaths in the conflict, civilians also find themselves increasingly trapped in the crossfire between Houthi and anti-Houthi armed groups, with each side supported by different units of the now-divided armed forces. A case in point is the southern city of Taiz, which has suffered restrictions on movement of food and medical supplies since at least November. Attacks continue to maim and kill civilians, including children. When Amnesty International visited the city in July 2015, we witnessed the irresponsible conduct of fighters firsthand and documented 30 ground attacks, which led to more than 100 casualties. One of those victims was 12-year-old Ayham Anees, who was killed in an apparent Houthi mortar attack in May. Munther Mohamed, Anees's uncle, described rushing to the scene after hearing children's screams following the attack. "I also saw my nephew Ayham, whose head had separated from his body," he said. "I had told the children to play in the middle of the alley because it was the safest place, but it was not." The crisis in Taiz has only gotten worse in recent days. While the Houthis have been partially pushed out of the city center, they still maintain control of the majority of the governorate. Where the Houthis have been forced to retreat, they have laid landmines - internationally banned weapons that have already claimed dozens of civilian lives. Last week, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition announced that operations are nearing their end in Yemen. What that means in practice is not yet clear, as airstrikes continue to pound the country. But accountability doesn't take a back seat just because military operations may be winding down. It's time to bring these crimes against civilians to an end. With peace talks expected to take place in Kuwait on April 18, all parties must prioritize several crucial conditions: protecting the long-term interests of ordinary Yemenis, ensuring an end to the horrors of the past year, and guaranteeing that those responsible will be held accountable. All those civilian lives lost as a result of violations won't be forgotten, even if this chapter of war closes. It's too late for the children of Salah Basrallah. But there's no excuse not to do the right thing now. States should act immediately to ensure that none of Yemen's warring parties is supplied - either directly or indirectly - with weapons, munitions, military equipment, or technology that would be used in any furtherance of the conflict. And they must do everything in their power to ensure there is an independent international investigation into violations by all sides aimed at ensuring justice and reparation - for Salah Basrallah and the thousands of other victims of this deadly war. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International China: Prominent blogger's family detained over letter lambasting President Xi Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 25 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, China: Prominent blogger's family detained over letter lambasting President Xi, 25 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb8e874.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. The Chinese authorities must call off their manhunt against those it believes are behind the publication of a letter calling on President Xi Jinping to resign, Amnesty International said, after it was revealed close family members of a prominent dissident are the latest to have been detained. Chinese blogger and government critic, Wen Yunchao, 45, who currently lives in New York, said on Friday that his mother, Qiu Xiaohua, 65, father, Wen Shaogan, 72, and younger brother Wen Yun'ao, 41, were taken away by police in Guangdong province, southern China on 22 March. Police are believed to have detained at least 20 people in connection to publication of an open letter criticizing President Xi. This includes 16 people who work for Wu Jie News, the website which published the letter earlier this month, who the BBC reported on Friday have been detained. "The authorities should call off the political hounding of those suspected to be behind the open letter and release all those detained in connection with it," said William Nee, China Researcher at Amnesty International. "The persecution of family members of dissidents is a draconian and unlawful tactic that makes a mockery of China's claims to respect the rule of law." On 17 March, the authorities forced Wen Yunchao's father and brother to contact him and pressure him to disclose what he knows about who is behind the letter critical of President Xi, and who helped spread the news about the letter. The authorities said Wen Yunchao's brother would lose his job if Wen didn't comply. The use of psychological pressure in order to obtain a 'confession' is prohibited under international law. Wen Yunchao maintains that he does not know who is behind the letter or that he had any involvement in its publication. On 15 March, Beijing police detained the well-known Chinese columnist, Jia Jia, who had been in discussion with the editor of Wu Jie News about the content of the letter. Jia Jia's lawyer has reported that he had so far been unable to find out his client's exact whereabouts or what his exact legal status is. The open letter blames President Xi for trying to build a "personality cult" and abandoning collective leadership in an unprecedented personalization of power. The letter was quickly deleted from the website but had been widely circulated on the internet. Correction: The name of Wen Yunchao's mother was incorrect in the original story. This was corrected on 28 March 2016. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Ukraine Murder of lawyer a chilling blow to justice Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 25 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Ukraine Murder of lawyer a chilling blow to justice, 25 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb8edb4.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. The hideous murder of lawyer Yuri Grabovski, whose body was found in central Ukraine bearing gunshot wounds, is a chilling reminder of the dangers faced by lawyers and activists perceived to challenge the authorities, said Amnesty International. Yuri Grabovski, who faced repeated harassment and intimidation in connection with his work as a lawyer, was found dead in a desolate area in Cherkasy Region, in central Ukraine last night. He was last seen in his office in Kyiv on the evening of 6 March with an unknown man, retrieving documents relating to a high-profile case he had been working on. He has been missing ever since. "The killing of a criminal defence lawyer is a hideous crime and the Ukrainian authorities must immediately take all steps necessary to begin to rectify this ultimate abuse of human rights and justice," said Anna Neistat, Senior Director for Research at Amnesty International. "Yuri Grabovski's abduction and murder should be promptly, effectively and impartially investigated, and those responsible brought to justice in fair trial proceedings." Yuri Grabovski had complained that he was harassed by the authorities in connection with his role as the defence lawyer for a Russian citizen, Aleksandr Aleksandrov. Aleksander Aleksandrov was injured and captured, along with another Russian, Yevgeny Yerofeyev, by Ukrainian forces in May 2015 in Lugansk Region, eastern Ukraine, following a battle between Ukrainian and separatist forces there. The Ukrainian authorities accuse them of being acting Russian military servicemen, something which they reportedly initially confirmed but later denied. They are charged with illegal border crossing, illegal possession of arms and involvement in terrorist activity. Oksana Sokolovskaya, the lawyer for Yevgeny Yerofeyev, has also complained of repeated instances of harassment and threats in connection with her work on the case. Amnesty International is calling on the authorities to immediately provide Oksana Sokolovskaya with effective protection, and to ensure that she can safely carry out her legitimate work as a lawyer. "All lawyers must be able to perform their professional duties without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference in their work," said Anna Neistat. The authorities had opened a criminal investigation into Yuri Grabovski's disappearance, and reported that they had arrested two suspects they believe were involved in his abduction and killing. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Saudi Arabia: Journalist sentenced to five years in prison for tweets latest victim of crackdown Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 25 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia: Journalist sentenced to five years in prison for tweets latest victim of crackdown, 25 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb90eb4.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. The sentencing of journalist Alaa Brinji to five years in prison, an eight-year travel ban and a fine of 50,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (about US$ 13,300) for a series of tweets, is a clear violation of international law and the latest demonstration of the Saudi Arabian authorities' deep-seated intolerance of the right to peaceful expression, Amnesty International said today. He was found guilty on 24 March of a string of charges that included amongst other things, "insulting the rulers", "inciting public opinion", and "accusing security officers of killing protestors in Awamiyya" - an area in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. "The sentencing of Alaa Brinji to a five year prison term is utterly shameful. He is the latest victim of Saudi Arabia's ruthless crackdown on peaceful dissent, where the aim appears to be to completely wipe out any and all voices of criticism, said James Lynch, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. "Putting someone behind bars for peacefully exercising his legitimate right to freedom of expression, and defending the rights of others to do so, is a complete distortion of the very notion of justice. The authorities must ensure his conviction is quashed and release him immediately and unconditionally." Alaa Brinji is a respected journalist who has worked for the Saudi Arabian newspapers al-Bilad, Okaz and al-Sharq. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for peacefully expressing his views. He was arrested on 12 May 2014 and has been in detention ever since. He was initially held incommunicado in solitary confinement and has not been allowed access to a lawyer. He was convicted by Saudi Arabia's notorious counter-terrorism court, known as the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), on a range of charges, including, "insulting the rulers of the country", "inciting public opinion", "accusing security officers of killing protestersin Awamiyya", "ridiculing Islamic religious figures" and "violating Article 6 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law". The court also ordered the closure of his twitter account. All of these charges stem from tweets he posted online some of which were in support of Saudi Arabian women's right to drive cars, human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience. His list of "offences" also originally included the act of "apostasy" which is considered a serious crime in Saudi Arabia and carries the death penalty but he was not convicted of this due to a lack of evidence. Since 2014 the SCC has sentenced many activists and dissidents to lengthy prison terms, and even to death, after grossly unfair trials. Earlier this month Saudi Arabian writer and Islamic scholar Mohanna Abdulaziz al-Hubail was sentenced in absentia by the SCC to six years in prison to be followed by a travel ban of equal length. He was convicted of a number of 'offences' including violating Article 6 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law by "insulting the state and its rulers" and "being in solidarity with imprisoned members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association" (ACRPA) on Twitter. He was also found guilty of inciting and taking part in demonstrations and calling for the release of prisoners of conscience. The court also ordered the closure of his Twitter account. "Saudi Arabia must be held accountable for its gross and systematic violations of human rights," said James Lynch. "Its international allies, who seek to collaborate on security and intelligence, have to confront the fact that using the pretext of 'counter-terrorism', the government's draconian crackdown has eradicated virtually all forms of peaceful dissent in the country." Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International The BJP is hell-bent to grab power The Modi governments imposition of Presidents Rule in Uttarakhand is against established norms. The action came even though Uttarakhand governor K.K. Paul had directed chief minister Harish Rawat to prove his majority on the floor of the House and leaves no doubt that the Bharatiya Janata Party is hell-bent on grabbing power in the state at all costs. After the poll debacle in Bihar, the BJP is well aware that the 2014 Lok Sabha victory bubble has burst and the promise of achche din has become a nightmare for the people. The BJP seems to have admitted that the party can no longer win state elections. Hence is resorting to back-door entry by using financial muscle. Its clear that the episode in Uttarakhand, which came soon after the crisis in Arunachal Pradesh, suggests that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has no respect for constitutional propriety. The matter concerning Uttarakhand is now before the judiciary. The Uttarakhand high court has rightly directed that a floor test should take place. The manner in which the Union Cabinet recommended Presidents Rule under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows undue urgency on the part of the BJP to short-circuit the well-established norms followed after the landmark S.R. Bommai judgment. It has been well-established that whether a party enjoys a majority is tested on the floor of the House. Mr Rawat was ready for a floor test. That the state high court stuck to this line is surely a rebuff to the high-handedness of the Modi government. Now there is speculation that the BJP will resort to similar attempts in Manipur and Himachal Pradesh to destabilise the governments there. This is not only undemocratic but unhealthy for a parliamentary democracy. The anti-defection law looks toothless in the face of events in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. And the smaller states look vulnerable to the might of money and muscle power at the disposal of the BJP currently. The BJP claims that in the past the Congress also dismissed a lot of state governments on the pretext of constitutional breakdown. True, the Congress-led government at the Centre dismissed the BJP-led state governments in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. But its also a fact that in the S.R. Bommai judgment the judiciary drew a fine line to caution that the brute power of the state cannot trample the federal structure of the country. Also, one wrong can never justify another wrong. This is not only dangerous, but fraught with the possibility of further straining Centre-state relations. Mr Modi came to power on the slogan of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, but the actions of the Central government contradict the Prime Minister. Better sense must prevail upon the leadership of the BJP and it should accept that it can neither win state elections nor gain control through extra-constitutional routes. Rajesh Dixit is national secretary, Samajwadi Party Harish Rawat has lost the right to rule With Presidents Rule being declared in Uttarakha-nd, many political commentators are getting a sense of deja vu. A cursory analysis of the present impasse, however, throws up a compelling case for appreciation of the foresight of the framers of the Indian Constitution in providing for constitutional safeguards against a situation arising out of a constitutional breakdown in the states of India. The expression breakdown of constitutional machinery has not been defined in the Constitution. Whatever may be the reason, the President has to be satisfied of the grounds on which Presidents Rule is sought to be imposed. The chain of events in the Uttarakhand Assembly warrants a careful consideration of constitutional norms to evaluate the acts of impropriety committed in the state Assembly. There are serious charges of violation of established norms in the Assembly against the erstwhile Congress dispensation and the Speaker. The Speaker was acting in violation of rules by first declaring as passed a Budget rejected by a majority of MLAs, and then by disqualifying MLAs even after the Assembly was put in suspended animation. There is also the charge that the Congress plunged the state into a serious constitutional crisis by continuing a government which should have quit after the failure of the Appropriation Bill. The Constitution states very clearly that if the government of the day fails to pass the Budget, or any other money bill, the government falls. It would mean that the government has lost the confidence of the House and thus has to relinquish office. Chief minister Harish Rawat has lost the right to rule the state. Neither Mr Rawat nor the Speaker forwarded a certified copy of the Appropriation Bill to the governor. Obviously, the governor didnt give his assent to the Appropriation Bill. Two further consequences flow out of this. First, the Appropriation Bill sanctioning expenditure from April 1, 2016, was not approved; and, second, if the Appropriation Bill was defeated, the continuation of the government subsequent to March 18, 2016 is unconstitutional. To further complicate the crisis, there is evidence that Mr Rawat started allurement and horse-trading with a view to alter the composition of the House. Even in the landmark S.R. Bommai case, the Supreme Court ruled that courts cant question the Union Cabinets advice to the President, but they can question the material behind the satisfaction of the President regarding breakdown of constitutional machinery. It also said that the use of Article 356 was justified only when there was a breakdown of constitutional machinery and not that of administrative machinery. Thus, prima facie the material of the present case does not have parallels with mostly whimsical abuse of Article 356 which began right under the watch of the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and was used eight times till 1964. This was only bested by Indira Gandhi who used it a record 35 times between 1966 and 1977. Deepti Rawat Bhardwaj, former secretary and spokesperson, Uttarakhand BJP Teen who challenged torture in Egypt released after more than two years Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 25 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Teen who challenged torture in Egypt released after more than two years, 25 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb91424.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. The release on bail of Mahmoud Hussein in the early hours of this morning offers a faint glimmer of hope for Egypt's deeply flawed justice system, said Amnesty International. The 20-year-old spent more than two years behind bars after being arrested at the age of 18 in 2014 for wearing a "Nation Without Torture" T-shirt, and a scarf with a logo of the "25 January Revolution". He was charged with belonging to a banned group and attending an unauthorised protest, amongst other things. He was released at 1am this morning local Cairo time and reunited with his family after a court upheld his release yesterday on 24 March. "Mahmoud Hussein's release is way overdue - he has spent more than two years in prison when he should never have spent a single day behind bars. The Egyptian authorities must now drop the absurd charges against him and remove all conditions on his release so that he can be allowed to get on with his life," said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. "The Egyptian authorities have more than two years of appalling injustice to make up for and they should start by setting up an investigation to look into allegations that he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated in detention. They must also immediately and unconditionally release all other prisoners of conscience in Egypt." Mahmoud Hussein was seen being carried into court yesterday due to his deteriorated health condition. The lawyer had requested his immediate release so that he can receive surgery on his leg. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Bosnia-Herzegovina: Karadzic found guilty of Srebrenica genocide Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 24 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Bosnia-Herzegovina: Karadzic found guilty of Srebrenica genocide, 24 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56fb91dd4.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. Today's guilty verdict handed down by a UN Court in The Hague against former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic for genocide and other crimes under international law marks a major step towards justice for victims of the armed conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina, said Amnesty International. The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found Karadzic guilty on one count of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of war crimes for his role in the armed conflict, both for his individual responsibility and as part of a joint criminal enterprise. He was sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment. His lawyers have said they will appeal. "This judgment confirms Radovan Karadzic's command responsibility for the most serious crimes under international law carried out on European soil since the Second World War," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director for Europe and Central Asia. The Court convicted Karadzic of genocide in relation to the massacre in Srebrenica, where more than 7,000 Bosnian men and boys were killed. It also found him responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes including the torture, rape and killing in detention of thousands, perpetrated with the intent to systematically remove the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat populations in territories claimed by Bosnian Serbs. The court found that his role in the siege of Sarajevo was so instrumental that without his support it would not have occurred. It held that the whole population of Sarajevo was terrorized and lived in extreme fear, facing indiscriminate attacks between 1992 and 1995. He was acquitted of one count of genocide in relation to crimes committed against both Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats in seven municipalities in 1992. Karadzic held several of the highest positions in the Bosnian-Serb leadership during the three-year war in which his forces were pitted against Bosnian-Muslim and Bosnian-Croat forces, commanding operations against both military forces and the civilian population. "This is a very important day for international justice and for victims who waited 13 years for Karadzic's arrest, and then another eight years for today's verdict," said John Dalhuisen. "We should not forget, however, that more than 20 years after the Bosnian War, thousands of cases of enforced disappearances are unresolved, with a disturbing lack of political will still blocking access to justice, truth and reparation for victims." Justice still elusive for many While the death toll from the Bosnian War stands at 100,000, including some 38,000 civilian victims, fewer than 1,000 war crimes cases have been investigated and prosecuted at the state level. The fate of thousands has still not been revealed. Amnesty International urges authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina to commit truly to resolving the 8,000 outstanding cases of enforced disappearances from the war, and to provide access to truth, justice and reparation for the families. Since it was established in 1993, the ICTY has indicted 161 persons for crimes under international law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Proceedings have been concluded in the cases of 149 accused, including seven individuals convicted of genocide at Srebrenica. There are still ongoing cases against 12 individuals, including a genocide case against former Bosnian-Serb military leader Ratko Mladic. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Malinois of the French National Police, named "Choc", poses after receiving the Honour medal of the French National Police. (Photo: AFP) Paris: An eight-year-old French police dog was on Tuesday awarded a medal of honour for his exceptional sniffing skills, which netted authorities 7.5 million euros ($8.4 million) in drugs. There are good police officers in Marseille, but it seems this one is the best, said Pierre-Marie Bourniquel, the police chief for the area, as he decorated the dog. The Belgian Shepherd, named Choc (Shock), sat quietly, tongue out and tail wagging, as the French national anthem was played and the medal for bravery and devotion placed around his neck. The intrepid canine helped police uncover some 850 kilogrammes of cannabis, 22 kilogrammes of cocaine, 1,5 million euros in cash as well as about 50 weapons during thousands of missions. Choc was supposed to retire this year, but with his impressive record and still-sharp senses, will be staying on another year. What you need to know about Powerball and the $580 million jackpot A man believed to be the hijacker of the EgyptAir Airbus A-320, which was diverted to Cyprus, leaves the plane before surrendering to security forces after a six-hour standoff on the tarmac at Larnaca airport's largely disused old terminal. (Photo: AFP) Cairo/Nicosia: An Egyptian man who hijacked an EgyptAir plane and forced it to divert to Cyprus demanding to see his ex-wife surrendered on Tuesday after a six-hour airport standoff ended peacefully. The hijacker, described by officials as unstable, claimed to be wearing a bomb belt but no explosives were discovered after he gave himself up at Larnaca airport and was arrested. He tried to communicate with his Cypriot ex-wife, who lives on the island, and the hijacking was not terrorism-related, officials said. Passengers disembarking the EgyptAir flight. (Photo: Screen grab) Most of the 55 passengers were quickly released after the plane landed but some escaped only minutes before the hijacker surrendered, including one man who climbed out a cockpit window. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was not something that has to do with terrorism, and a government official said the man seems (to be) in love. This is about the individual action of a person who is psychologically unstable, said the Cypriot foreign ministrys permanent secretary, Alexandros Zenon. The Egyptian interior ministry identified the man as Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa. The man reportedly dropped a letter in Arabic on the tarmac, making a number of rambling demands including to see his Cypriot ex-wife, with whom he has children. Police said she was brought to the airport along with a child but provided no further details. EgyptAir route The hijacker also complained about the Egyptian government and demanded the release of female prisoners from Egyptian jails. He is not a terrorist, hes an idiot. Terrorists are crazy, but they are not stupid, the Egyptian foreign ministry said. Anastasiades told reporters the incident appeared to be motivated by personal reasons. Asked about reports that the hijacker had demanded to see a Cypriot woman, Anastasiades laughed and said: Always there is a woman. His response drew laughter. After searching the hijacker and sending sniffer dogs into the plane, Cypriot police said no bombs were found. The EgyptAir plane, which was headed from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo, landed in Larnaca at 8:50am (0550 GMT), after the hijacker had contacted the control tower 20 minutes earlier to demand the diversion. Egyptian civil aviation said he threatened to detonate an explosives belt --- which was found to be fake -- on the Airbus A-320. Passengers on the hijacked EgyptAir Airbus A-320 run on the tarmac after leaving the plane. (Photo: AFP) Egypts Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said in televised remarks that the hijacker was an Egyptian and had demanded to speak to a European Union representative. Cockpit window escape Egyptian civil aviation officials said there were 21 foreigners among the passengers, and that the hijacker had demanded the plane land in either Turkey or Cyprus. They included eight Americans, four Dutch citizens, four Britons and a French citizen, according to the Egyptian authorities. Nearly all of the passengers were able to disembark shortly after the plane landed, but Egypts civil aviation minister, Sherif Fathy, told a press conference that the captain, a co-pilot, a flight attendant and a security guard, along with three passengers, had remained on board. They were later seen exiting the aircraft, with several descending the steps from the plane and one clambering out of a cockpit window and dropping to the ground. A man then emerged, walked across the tarmac and raised his hands to two waiting counter-terrorism officers. They laid him on the ground and searched him for around two minutes before taking him away. At 2:43 pm, Cypriot government spokesperson Nicos Christodoulides said on Twitter that the hijacker has just been arrested. Officials in both Cyprus and Egypt then confirmed that all crew and passengers were safe. Flights diverted Authorities closed the airport -- the main entry point for tourists to the resort island -- and nearby beaches during the incident. Incoming flights were diverted to Paphos on the islands western edge. The airport was later reopened. Concerns were raised about security at Egyptian airports after a Russian airliner was downed on October 31 over Egypts Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. The Islamic State group claimed to have smuggled a bomb on board the plane. Dr. Thad J. Anglin has been named the finalist for president of Cisco College, according to a news release from the college. Anglin currently is vice provost for academic excellence and outreach at the University of North Texas at Dallas. In his previous position, he was vice president for student success at Lone Star College CyFair in Houston. With more than 20 years in higher education, his portfolio of professional experience includes serving in administrative roles at both two- and four-year institutions in academic affairs, student services and enrollment management. Anglin earned his bachelor's degree from Sul Ross State University, his master's degree from the University of Texas at Tyler, and his doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration and Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. A specific start date has not yet been announced. Live updates: Follow Donald Trump rally coverage in Robstown, Texas Donald Trump is expected to speak in support of GOP candidates during the Texas rally at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Nueces County Evidence collected through sampling and analysis indicates that there is not a lead or copper contamination issue in Abilene's public water supply, Rodney Taylor, director of water utilities, said in a news conference Tuesday. 'The message here this morning is the city of Abilene's public water supply does not have an issue with excessive amounts of lead and copper,' said Taylor, in response to reports of high levels of lead and copper at the Abilene post office and federal courthouse. 'We're in great shape.' But the city 'really has no control over private facilities, such as this facility, as far as their plumbing goes,' he said. On March 10, the U.S. Public Health Service, Federal Occupational Health conducted drinking water testing at the downtown post office. Testing was done in response to building occupation/management concerns regarding water in the building. A handout provided by the city shows extensive amounts of lead, copper and iron from tests at the building. Among the sites tested were drinking fountains, restrooms, breakrooms and the building's outside water faucet. Twenty drinking water samples were collected from 21 sources from the building's basement and three floors. Replacement of the building's water heater 'appears to have had an effect on the water dispensed from the building's hot water outlets,' according to the report generated after the testing. Water being dispensed from outlets in the building's sinks was noticeably discolored, creating the concern. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, a post office spokesperson said that as soon as the Postal Service became aware of concerns regarding the water supply at the facility's main building, it immediately took steps to address the issue. 'Currently, the Postal Service is working with the Department of Health and Human Services to identify any possible contamination,' said Arlene A. Sanchez, corporate communications for the Dallas, Fort Worth and Oklahoma Districts. As a precautionary measure, Sanchez said officials are asking that all occupants of the facility refrain from drinking or washing with the post office building water supply. 'Signs have been posted with this information throughout the facility,' Sanchez said. 'Once the source can be positively identified and corrected, we will notify all occupants and employees that the facility water supply is safe for consumption.' The postal service also has taken measures to supply supplemental drinking water and alternatives to hand-washing throughout the facility, she said. 'We regret any inconvenience to our customers and employees, and ask for their patience until this temporary issue can be corrected,' Sanchez said, noting that the safety and well-being of postal customers and employees 'is of the utmost importance to the Postal Service.' Issues that tend to produce lead and copper in a facility, Taylor said, include hot water and water that sits in pipes for a 'long time' that can have a leeching effect putting small amounts of lead and copper into drinking water within the facility. City Manager Robert Hanna said that 'in this particular instance, we're confident that the lead issue is not our public water supply it is the building, and the post office is going to working to address that,' he said. Taylor said 'it would be up to the owner of that building to test the building determine quality of water and also make any types of improvements that might be associated with plumbing contributing to the problem.' The incident with the post office is specific to sampling in that one building, which is 'not owned or controlled by the city of Abilene,' he said. Mike Michaud, manager of Abilene's Environmental Laboratory, said that every three years, the city is required by EPA and TECQ regulations that are part of the Safe Drinking Water Act to do extensive testing for lead and copper throughout its water system. The city has conducted three rounds of required sampling over the past several years, with samples collected from residential homes in Abilene that are most susceptible to show lead and copper contamination through the use of copper pipe and lead soldering, he said. The city's current analysis shows that the 90th highest lead concentration in the city is 3.3 parts per billion, well below the 15 parts per billion maximum allowed by the EPA. Hanna said reports in local media had created unwarranted concern among residents about the city's supply. Social media is a 'powerful tool,' Hanna said, noting that headlines put on online reports describing the water issues were 'not as descriptive as I think it ought to have been' and 'perhaps misled the public that there was a problem with our water supply. 'There's not,' he said. Hanna said that he would encourage residents 'when you see a story on Facebook or Twitter to read the whole story before they jump to conclusions. 'If you read the comments on Facebook, it's very clear that the public's concerned, they were afraid.' he said. 'And I think they're afraid needlessly.' Post Office Problems Testing at the post office and federal courthouse showed 11 of 21 samples exceeded EPA action levels for lead of 15 parts per billion, the report said. Six of 11 samples also exceeded the EPA action level for copper of 1.3 parts per million. A total of 10 out of 11 samples exceeded the EPA level for iron of .30 parts per million. One additional sample, which did not exceed EPA lead action level, exceeded the approved level for copper. Two samples that did not exceed the action level for lead exceeded the level for iron. A second floor drinking fountain shows a concentration of 18.7 parts per billion of lead, while a drinking fountain on the third floor had 94.6 parts per billion. An outside water faucet showed 39 parts per billion, while hot water sink outlets in the second floor women's restroom showed 75.5 and 135 parts per billion. A first floor women's restroom by the building's file room showed comparatively massive 408 parts per billion. But Michaud said he had issues with the results, noting that federal regulations say restrooms in nonresidential buildings cannot be sampled. 'They can only sample from places where people drink water from regularly,' he said. Samples in such structures must also come from inside faucets, not outside faucets, he said. And while the two water faucets show lead, fountains tested 'are supposed to be used regularly, preferably daily.' Both fountains showing an issue are not used regularly, he said. 'All that being said, if you look on the same sheet on the first floor where the building is used every day, we have no problem with lead there,' he said. Remedies suggested by the report included removing from service all outlets that had elevated lead, copper and/or iron present in the water and a complete flushing of the hot water tank and building hot water system. After that, follow-up testing of the water outlets should be performed, with an initial and follow-up protocol to determine if contaminants are generated from fixtures or upstream within the system. The test also can be used to determine if a daily flushing regiment will control contamination, the report says. SAN ANGELO An Ozona woman accused in a crash that took the life of San Angelo Police Sgt. Korby Kennedy has been indicted. A Tom Green County grand jury indicted Cynthia Quigley, 46, on a charge of criminally negligent homicide, a state jail felony that carries a penalty of 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine up to $10,000. Quigley was indicted in the 340th District Court. The findings of the grand jury were released Monday. 'We've been waiting for this,' said San Angelo Police Chief Tim Vasquez. 'This incident still has a lot of us hurting.' The indictment states that Quigley, who is from Ozona, committed criminal negligence 'by failing to yield the right of way, while using a cellphone' in the crash that killed Kennedy. Kennedy was part of an escort for a parade of boats on June 25 in San Angelo when his motorcycle collided with a Nissan Rogue driven by Quigley on Knickerbocker Road. What would our world be today had John Hinckley Jr.'s shot hit its target an inch or so differently. Thirty-five years ago today, Hinckley fired six shots outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Four were hits, including the chest of President Ronald Reagan. The president was so roughly shoved into the presidential limo that he did not realize immediately that he had been shot. Still, he walked into George Washington University Hospital, a 70-year-old man struck in the left lung. The bullet narrowly missed his heart. His wife, Nancy, was at the hospital. 'Honey, I forgot to duck,' he joked to her as he was prepared for surgery. Were surgeons Republicans, he asked. Reagan, of course, recovered, and others wounded survived. The most gravely injured was James Brady, the press secretary who was struck in the head and never fully regained all his physical capabilities due to brain damage. A Secret Service agent and a District of Columbia police officer also were wounded. The shooting came less than 70 days after Reagan had been inaugurated. His popularity soared, and his Gipper-ness was hailed by Republican and Democrats. Republicans today remain fiercely fond of Reagan, who after returning to work April 11, marched the United States historically forward. Reaganomics brought the U.S. out of its economic doldrums, the Cold War ended and stockpiles of nuclear weapons were reduced, and the Republican party was reborn, to name three accomplishments Four president have been assassinated Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy. Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt survived shots. Attempts to kill other presidents were foiled or failed, including an almost point-blank attempt by Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme on President Gerald Ford in 1975. Her gun did not fire. Hinckley, 25 when he shot Reagan, was found not guilty by reason of insanity and institutionalized. Vice President George H.W. Bush, who followed Reagan as the 41st president, almost became president March 30, 1981. How significantly would the course of history have changed had Reagan been assassinated? Advertisement - Continue Reading Below This just in... French recipient of the 2016 International Women of Courage Award, Latifa Ibn Ziaten (L), shakes hands with US Secretary of State John Kerry. (Photo: AFP) Washington: After her beloved son, a French soldier, was murdered by an Islamist gunman, Latifa Ibn Ziaten formed a group to prevent radicalisation and promote dialogue. "No more Merahs," she declared, after the troubled petty criminal turned terrorist Mohamed Merah cut down her boy. But since that day in 2012, extremist attacks in Europe have only grown in scale, and Ibn Ziaten admits she has much more work to do, refusing to "surrender to fear." On Tuesday, the US government named her one of 14 "International Women of Courage" and invited her to explain her anti-radicalization message in American cities. "If we're afraid, we'll make no progress, and that's what the terrorists want. If we cede to fear, it is they who gain ground," she told AFP after the ceremony. The Ghettos France was hit by two bloody terrorist attacks last year, and neighboring Belgium last week, but Ibn Ziaten has not abandoned her message of dialogue and compassion. "We need to open up the housing projects, the ghettos. We need to promote diversity in schools, equality of opportunity," she explained. "We need to listen to those young people who, when they speak at all, say 'the republic has forgotten us'," she said. "That's where the malaise lies." On March 11, Ibn Ziaten's son Imad had an appointment to view a motor scooter that Merah had advertised. The young extremist pulled out a gun, but Imad, a sergeant in France's 1st Parachute Regiment, refused to lie on the ground. He was shot dead at point blank range. Imad was Merah's first victim, but not the last. Before he was killed by police 11 days later, the gunman would kill two more off-duty soldiers, then a rabbi and three young children in an attack on a Jewish school. Latifa Ibn Ziaten did not leave the matter there. She formed an association in memory of her son and began to tour prisons and schools to preach inter-faith respect. "I dissuaded three young men from leaving for Syria," she said. "I work with young women who have converted. I work with a lot of parents who are having difficulty coping." In one of her biggest operations, Ibn Ziaten took more than a dozen young people from a Paris suburb to Israel and the Palestinian territories as "peace ambassadors." In another, she opened a center in Paris' underprivileged immigrant suburbs from where many radicals emerged to listen to the concerns of young people and their families. 'I forgave' The goal is to identify early signs of violent extremism. "Today, some parents say: 'We didn't pay attention. We didn't notice'," she warned. "A child left alone, living in his own head, this is what happens. That's why I forgave Mohamed Merah," she said. "When I looked at his journey and I saw that he grew up in a vacuum, without love, affection, that he knew pain, prison, drugs -- that's what made him, made him a monster. "I forgave him for what he was but not for what he had done." Ibn Ziaten found the inspiration for her quest at the scene of Merah's last stand, cut down in a hail of police bullets after the siege of his apartment. Heading into his neighbourhood she asked herself: "Who was he? Why so much hate?" She fell upon a group of young people who were speaking about the slain terrorist as a martyr, as a hero. "It was as if they had killed my son a second time," she said. "They were the cause of my suffering. But I felt I had to reach out my hand, to help them." Already a recipient of France's highest award, the Legion of Honor, the wronged mother said the US award would only encourage her in her mission. But, as she begins a tour of US cities with the 13 other activists, lawyers and reformers to win the award she will encounter some angry American attitudes. The US presidential campaign has only heightened the angry debate about Islam's role in western society. "You can't mix religion and citizenship," she insisted. "When you're a citizen, religion should remain personal." Nearly two decades after a deadly grenade attack killed at least 16 and wounded more than 150 people during a pro-democracy rally at Phnom Penhs Wat Botum Park, victims of the attack and their families are still waiting for justice. The notorious March 30, 1997 attack came after opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his supporters gathered in a park across from the National Assembly in Phnom Penh to denounce the judiciarys lack of independence and judicial corruption. While Sam Rainsy is thought to have been the target of the attack, the assailants missed him, killing his bodyguard, as well as some protesters and bystanders. The blasts blew the limbs off nearby street vendors. According to eye-witness accounts, the people who threw the grenades ran toward Prime Minister Hun Sens riot-gear clad bodyguards, who allowed them to escape. An FBI report declassified in 2009 indicated that Cambodian police possessed prior knowledge of the attack and that there was the possibility that the attackers colluded with Hun Sens bodyguard unit. Despite the toll of death and dismemberment, no one has been arrested for the attack, leaving victims and family members still searching for justice. But that hasnt stopped pro-democracy advocates from remembering the attack. On Wednesday, about 100 people marked the anniversary at the spot of the attack. Pov Heng, who lost a daughter and a niece in the attacks, implored the government to take action. Please find justice for my children, she told RFAs Khmer Service. I am old, and I want to know what stage this case has reached. While people like Pov Heng want some closure, they hold out little hope that the government will actually take any action. Yim Sovann, spokesman for Sam Rainsys Cambodian National Rescue Party, blamed the inaction on Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party. Normally in such a serious crime that left many people dead like this, the government especially, the ministry of interior, ministry of justice, and courts have to find justice, he said. But the Cambodian Peoples Party is still in power, so we dont know the reason for this delay. Attempts to contact government officials were unsuccessful. Chak Sopheap, Executive Director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told RFA that the government has no desire to find out what really happened. I think that there could be justice if all the relevant institutions perform their roles according to their authorized power, she told RFA. Reported by Tha Thai for RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Pagnawath Khun. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. In its latest move aimed at controlling its borders in cyberspace, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has announced draft plans to force companies to run their websites and portals from servers inside China. Draft regulations posted on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology suggest the country is seeking further powers to censor content seen online by its citizens, in a move that looks set to affect both foreign and Chinese companies. The strategy is in keeping with President Xi Jinping's belief in the concept of "Internet sovereignty," whereby a country maintains its borders as much in cyberspace as it does on the ground. A new clause in an update to existing legislation says that any company providing services to Chinese users must register its domain, or Web address, with a Chinese service provider. Many of China's biggest Internet portals have domain names registered overseas, although their content is stored on domestic servers. According to Francis Fung, Beijing government adviser and president of Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, the move would make it easier for Chinese censors to control what its citizens see. "This seems to be targeting Internet users in mainland China, in particular those who like to browse websites outside China," Fung said. Many sites blocked China operates a complex system of blocks, keyword filters, and human censorship known collectively as the Great Firewall to control what its citizens can access online. Many key overseas sites and services are blocked, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google, according to searches on the anti-censorship site GreatFire.org on Wednesday. "This law is about whether Chinese netizens visit Chinese sites or overseas sites," Fung said. "If you don't have a server inside China, then you'll still have to register a domestic domain name." "But as to whether or not it will be enforced, I don't know. Chinese legislation often has grey areas in it," he said. He said the law will likely provide a legal justification for the inaccessibility of content. "The Chinese government has blocked websites whose content it doesn't like in the past, but it has given no explanation," Fung said. "When this law takes effect, [that will be the explanation.]" 'It will have an effect' Guangdong-based activist Jia Pin said the proposed rules could make it harder for Chinese citizens to see news from outside the country online. "Of course it'll have an effect; it will make it even harder to browse overseas content," Jia said. "I use Twitter a lot, to send out news on human rights activities in China." "This could make it much harder to get over the Great Firewall." He said the authorities are worried that a rapid growth in high-speed access will soon make it very hard to control Internet activity at all. "[Access] is getting more and more widespread and more and more convenient ... and it's going to be very hard to suppress," Jia said. "These new rules are definitely aimed at suppressing online freedom and freedom of expression in China." Faster response seen According to Shenzhen-based technology blogger Long Weilian, the shift of registration to a domestic provider under Chinese government control would allow censors to react more quickly in blocking access to certain sites. "Before, they had to contact the server, get the address, talk to the manager, and then ask them to censor something," Long told the Associated Press. "If the domains are all domestic, they can directly stop traffic going to your domain with a command." The move is in line with increasingly tighter controls on China's media under Xi's administration, according to Xie Jiaye, head of the New York-based Chinese Association of Science and Technology. "This is all of a piece with recent controls by Beijing over the media, under which the media must 'take the same surname' as the party," Xie said. "Now, websites will have to toe the party line as well ... except that they're hard to control, and that's what this law is intended for," he said. Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Gao Shan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. Myanmar's outgoing President Thein Sein (R) hands over the presidential seal to the country's new President Htin Kyaw (L) during the transfer-of-power ceremony in Naypyidaw, March 30, 2016. Htin Kyaw was sworn in on Wednesday as Myanmars first civilian president in more than a half-century, telling lawmakers that he will work for a democratic constitution based on a federal union in keeping with the ambition of his National League for Democracy (NLD) party. The new government will implement peace and national reconciliation, pursue a constitution towards a federal union, and improve living standards for the people, he told lawmakers during his brief inauguration speech in the capital Naypyidaw. I have something important to say on this occasion, said Htin Kyaw, who is serving as the proxy of NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi. It is that I have a responsibility to always keep my solemn oath that I had made earlier and to pursue a constitution in accordance with democratic norms that will be suitable for our country. I believe that I will have to be patient in implementing this political aim, which the people have wished to see for years, he said. First Vice President Lieutenant General Myint Swe, who served as chief minister of Yangon region, and Second Vice President Henry Van Thio, an ethnic Chin NLD deputy in parliaments upper house, also took their oaths of office before lawmakers. A thorn in the side The current constitution, drafted in 2008 by the military junta that ruled the country, has been a thorn in the side of the NLD for years. Before the party won its landslide victory in national elections last November, Aung San Suu Kyi spearheaded efforts to change a provision that bars her from the presidency because she has foreign-born relatives. She also sought to reduce the power of Myanmars military, which under the constitution is entitled to a quarter of the seats in parliament, and oversees three key security-related ministriesdefense, border affairs, and home affairs, giving it jurisdiction over political prisoners. After the NLD won more than 80 percent of the vote in the election, Aung San Suu Kyi vowed to rule Myanmar through a hand-picked proxy. Parliament on Wednesday officially announced her appointment as head of the foreign affairs, education, electric power and energy, and the Presidents Office ministries. Her role as foreign affairs minister ensures her a seat on the 11-member National Defense and Security Council (NDSC), which formulates policy on military and security issues, although the body is dominated 6-5 by military officers. The BBC reported Wednesday that the NLD government will create a new post for Aung San Suu Kyi similar to that of a prime ministeradvisor to the state. The draft bill creating the position is expected to be submitted to parliament within the next few weeks. It would give her power to work on key issues of government and conduct meetings with whomever she wishes, the BBC said. Myanmar's Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi (L) and Vice President Henry Van Thio attend the transfer-of-power ceremony in Naypyidaw, March 30, 2016. Credit: RFA. RFA So long, Thein Sein Htin Kyaw concluded his brief speech with a promise that the new government will always try to fulfill the peoples hopes and desires, and that all citizens can live peaceful lives and achieve their goals without difficulties. But his comments about the constitution resonated the most with both lawmakers and citizens alike. I welcome his speech because he said he will work on having the new constitution that people want and remedy the countrys situation, said lawmaker Sai Win Hlaing Kham of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP). He pointed to what we need to doamend the constitution, said Phyo Maung Maung Win, a professor at the University of Medical Technology. Htin Kyaw replaces former President Thein Sein of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who came to the helm in 2011 and introduced democratic reforms. Thein Sein will assume his former position as chairman of the USDP, said former information minister Ye Htut. When Thein Sein became president, he had transferred his power as USDP chairman to Shwe Mann, former speaker of the lower house of parliament. We are proud of President Thein Seins term because we passed through our [political] transition period peacefully without bloodshed, Ye Htut said. But we are frustrated about not finishing the peace process that we had started, although we aimed to get it done during our government term. Last October, Thein Seins government signed a nationwide peace agreement with eight of the countrys armed ethnic group to end decades of civil wars. But other groups either refused to sign the pact or were excluded from it by the government because of ongoing hostilities with Myanmars military. Working with the military Aung San Suu Kyi has made peace and national reconciliation one of the goals of the NLDs administration along with ethnic unity. The president talked about amending the constitution, building a federal union and national reconciliation, which are all good; but in my opinion, the most important one is having peace in the country, said Thu Wai, chairman of the Democratic Party (Myanmar). If we had peace, we could build a federal union and develop a democratic system and a better economy, he said. After having all these, the rest of the problems would be easy to solve. Thats why I want the new government to work on peace first. But for the NLD to achieve lasting and permanent peace in the country, it needs the cooperation of the countrys powerful military. The NLD and Daw [honorific] Aung San Suu Kyi said they will work on establishing peace, but it will be difficult to achieve if the military works against the peace process, said Naing Han Thar, vice chairman of New Mon State Party. Having peace is still depends on the military. Ko Ko Gyi, a leader of Myanmars 88 Generation Student democracy movement, called the peaceful transfer of power to a civilian-led government after more than 50 years of military-backed rule a victory for the Myanmar people. I believe that we can overcome all difficulties and problems if all forces work together now that we have a civilian president and government, he said. Reported by Win Naung Toe, Win Ko Ko Latt, Wai Mar Tun, Khin Khin Ei, Thinn Thiri and Khet Mar. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. The mother of a young Uyghur man believed to have been forcibly taken away after 2009 riots in Urumqi will go to court next month to face charges of leaking China state secrets for discussing her sons disappearance in an interview with Radio Free Asia, a source close to the family said. Widow Patigul Ghulam has been one of the most vocal Uyghurs who have been pressing authorities on the whereabouts of family members missing during the violence in Urumqi on July 5, 2009 between minority Muslim Uyghurs and Han Chinese that left 200 people dead. Her son, Imammemet Eli, who would now be 32, was taken by police on July 14, 2009 and she last heard about him nine months later, when fellow inmates said he was found severely tortured and taken to a hospital. Patigul Ghulam has been pressing local police in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, for information on her son ever since, but has not received any satisfactory answers. The son is among several thousand people, according to Uyghur exile groups, who were forcibly disappeared in the aftermath of the violence, the most deadly episode of ethnic unrest in Chinas recent history. Closed trial on April 7 Patigul Ghulam, who had been under house arrest and under heavy surveillance since September 2012, was detained in May 2014, a month after she gave an interview to RFAs Uyghur Service. At the time, she said that she met with Wang Mengshen, the Urumqi city police chief, and said that Wang told her the police were still looking for her son. Patigul Ghulam now faces a closed court session on April 7, a person close to her family told RFA. The source requested that her identity not be revealed for fear of retaliation from the government. The court convenes on the 7th of April. None of her kids were given permission to attend. Right now they are waiting for the governments reply to their request to attend to the court session, the source told RFA. After their mother was detained, her other three children were put under surveillance and faced interrogation. They recently were granted the right to visit their mother once a month, on the precondition that they not speak to any foreign media, the source added. Only one of them is working, in an invitation card publication shop. Their economic situation is not that good, either, said the source. A police officer at the Bahuliang police station in the Thenritagh (in Chinese, Tianshan) district of Urumqi declined to comment on the case when contacted by RFA. I do not have permission to speak on this case, he said. A neighborhood committee worker in Bahuliang, location of the family home, also declined comment. I do not know anything about her situation. There is special personal that is in charge of her case. You should ask him, she said. Reported by Gulchehra Ghoja for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Paul Eckert. Use of a South Vietnamese flag similar to this image in a protest landed three women in jail. In what appears to be part of an ongoing crackdown on dissent in Vietnam, four people were given stiff prison sentences Wednesday for anti-government speech. The Ho Chi Minh City peoples court sentenced blogger Nguyen Ngoc Gia to a four-year prison term with another three years on probation for carrying out "propaganda against the state" according to article 88 of the penal code, RFAs Vietnamese Service has learned. Also known as Nguyen Dinh Ngoc, he was arrested in December 2014 at his home in Ho Chi Minh City. He was a regular contributor to Radio Free Asia among other websites. According to state media, Ngoc posted essays critical of the government and the party on the Internet. The prosecutors report claims he submitted 26 articles to various websites from February to December of 2014. Of those, 14 were published. Prosecutors say they found 22 articles defaming and discrediting party leaders and the state. Tuoi Tre Online quoted the jury as saying he was only given four years because his father is a 50-year party member while his grandmother is regarded as a hero mother who helped the communist revolution in Vietnam. Article 88 of Vietnams criminal code carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment for the ill-defined offence of "anti-state propaganda." Human rights groups that claim Article 88 is used to imprison peaceful activists in the one-party communist nation. Flag sentence In a separate case, three women were also sentenced to prison terms under Article 88 for waving the flag of the defeated U.S.-backed South Vietnam in front of the U.S. consulates office in Ho Chi Minh City. Ngo Thi Minh Uoc of Tien Giang province was handed a four-year prison sentence, while Nguyen Thi Tri of Binh Duong province and Nguyen Thi Be Hai of Giang province were sentenced to three year prison terms. They all also received two years of probation. The women admitted they joined a movement called Vietnam movement for injustice victims' started by Tran Ngoc Anh in Vung Tau in April 2014, according to state media. The prosecutors report said the women are land petitioners who decided to mount the protest because the government ignored their complaints over lost property. Be Hai has been seeking justice for her case for more than 20 years, Minh Uocs family has been pursuing justice for almost 10 years, Tran Ngoc Anh told RFA. Uoc is very upset that her case has not been solved, and her family does not have a place to live anymore. Tran Ngoc Anh told RFA that she advised against making the protest because she feared the result. When I heard that they would carry the flags I tried to stop them. I told them that they are only injustice victims and shouldnt go beyond that limit, she said. But they said one person came to their houses telling them that if they hold the flags, the government would return them their land. The sentences came a week after a court in Hanoi sentenced a prominent blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh to five years in prison on Wednesday for posts on his Ba Sam blog site that were critical of the government. Reported by RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. Fifteen Afghan security troops have been killed in fighting with Taliban militants in southern Uruzgan Province. A local district police chief said the fighting took place late on March 29 during an operation to reopen an important highway. He said that for four days the Taliban blocked the highway between Dihrawud and the provincial capital, Tarin Kot. He said Afghan forces have retaken control of the road. He did not have information whether any Taliban fighters were killed. The Taliban has stepped up its attacks in Uruzgan and neighboring provinces in the south, including Helmand, where much of the world's illicit opium is produced. The crop, along with other contraband, funds the insurgency, now in its 15th year. Based on reporting by AP Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on March 29 asked for guidance from parliament on whether he should appoint party politicians or independent technocrats to a new cabinet. "It is not wise to present a ministerial lineup that faces rejection by parliament," Abadi said in televised remarks, calling on lawmakers to clarify their position. The parliament set a deadline of March 31 for appointing a new lineup of ministers. While Abadi has vowed to replace political appointees with technocrats, he has been blocked from previous efforts by powerful politicians in parliament, including some from his own party who want to preserve Iraq's system of political patronage. Powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rejected Abadi's request for guidance, however, and threatened to push for a no-confidence vote if Abadi does not quickly appoint technocrats as promised. Sadr's supporters have been holding protests in Baghdad's Green Zone demanding that Abadi appoint technocrats and make good on pledges to fight corruption in the government. Iraq ranked 161 out of 168 on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index in 2015. Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP BAKU -- Prominent Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli has been briefly detained by police at Baku International Airport and prevented from travelling abroad to an Italian literary festival. The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry said Aylisli, 78, was detained in connection with "an incident" at the airport before being released. The ministry did not disclose further details. Aylisli's son, Nacaf Naibov said border guards told his father that he is banned from leaving the country. Aylisli has been under government pressure since the 2012 publication of his novel Stone Dreams that focused on clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Baku and Nagorno-Karabakh, the mostly Armenian-populated region that broke away from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. After the publication of the novel, the writer was officially stripped of his People's Writer title and his presidentially-awarded pension. He was also expelled from the Union of Azerbaijani Writers. In 2013, a pro-government party offered a $12,700 reward to anyone who cuts off one of Aylisli's ears. With reporting by TheGuardian.com Most people put to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword. (Photo: Representational Image/AFP) Riyadh: Saudi Arabia executed two citizens convicted of murder on Wednesday, raising to 81 the number of death sentences carried out in the ultra-conservative kingdom this year. Dhafer and Hussein al-Mutliq were found guilty of killing fellow Saudis Azeb and Mahdi al-Moamer in a dispute between the two families, the interior ministry said. They were both executed in Najran, in the south, a ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency said. Most people put to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword. The executions so far this year include 47 for "terrorism" carried out in a single day on January 2. In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people, most of them for drug trafficking or murder. Human rights group Amnesty International says the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year was the highest for two decades. The kingdom is one of the world's top executioners, although its tally in 2015 was far behind those of China and Iran. Saudi Arabia has a strict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death. A car exploded in Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan on March 30, killing one police officer and wounding another. Local law enforcement officials say the car detonated with police in pursuit in Daghestan's southern Tabasaran district. The incident occurred a day after two police vehicles exploded on the outskirts of Daghestan's capital, Makhachkala, killing a police officer and injuring two other law enforcement officers. The Islamic State extremist group said its local affiliate was responsible for the March 29 attack. Daghestan has become the epicenter of violence by militants seeking to establish an Islamic state in the North Caucasus. It also affected by deadly violence linked to an Islamist insurgency that is rooted in two post-Soviet separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. Police and government officials are regularly targeted in attacks. Based on reporting by RIA, TASS, and Interfax How an autocratic regime chooses to prosecute its dissidents can be very revealing. Consider the case of performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky, who was arrested in November for setting fire to the entranceway to Lubyanka, the infamous headquarters of the Federal Security Service in Moscow. By targeting the entrance to a building where so much repression was planned and executed, Pavlensky was making a statement -- and delivering a warning. The threat of the Great Terror did not die away in the distant past, he wrote. It is very much alive and still hangs over Russia today. After his arrest, Pavlensky -- who of course became world famous back in 2013 when he nailed his private parts to Red Square -- insisted he be charged with terrorism. Instead, this week the authorities have charged him with -- and this is really rich -- damaging a cultural heritage site. Yeah, you got that right. Lubyanka, the headquarters of the Cheka, the NKVD, and the KGB, the place where Felix Dzerzhinsky and Lavrenty Beria once lorded over the terror in which millions perished -- this sinister place is actually a cultural heritage site. And by choosing to prosecute Pavlensky for damaging it -- an offense that carries a six-year prison sentence -- the Kremlin is sending a crystal-clear message that it intends to preserve, protect, and defend that legacy. They intend to protect their culture of terror. You sure can learn a lot about a regime by how it chooses to prosecute its dissidents. Keep telling me what you think on the Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page. 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 MOSCOW -- What could Elizabeth Hurley, Catherine of Aragon, and Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov possibly have in common? Here's what: In a photograph of the British actress playing the Tudor-era queen for her son's school project, she wears a jade green dress apparently designed by Kadyrov's wife. Hurley was pictured in the same gown in a photograph with Kadyrov during a visit to Chechnya in 2013. In the new photograph, posted on social networks on March 29, Hurley holds a cross and wears a tiara in addition to the green gown. She posted the picture with the hashtag "#loyal mama." Hurley made no mention of the origins of the dress, although judging by Kadyrov's Instagram account, she appears to have obtained it during her controversial trip to Chechnya in May 2013. During that trip, Kadyrov posted a photograph of himself next to Hurley, who is wearing the same jade green flowing national costume -- but with her head covered by a white hijab, and no cross in her hands. Attempts by RFE/RL on March 30 to reach a representative of Hurley via contacts on her website were unsuccessful. Hurley came under fire for the trip to Chechnya, where she was photographed in the company of Ramzan Kadyrov and French actor Gerard Depardieu apparently preparing to shoot a film. Some observers accused the actress of implicitly supporting Kadyrov, who has kept a lid on the Islamist insurgency in Chechnya at the cost of what critics describe as widespread human rights abuses and a stifling atmosphere of fear. Kadyrov has been criticized in recent months for a series of threatening statements directed at Russia's political opposition, which observers see as an effort to show loyalty to President Vladimir Putin, and relatives of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov want him questioned over the killing outside the Kremlin in February 2015. Kadyrov's term as head of Chechnya expires next week, but Putin has decreed that he remain in the post and asked him to run for a new term in a September election. At one point during Hurley's trip in 2013, Kadyrov posted a photograph of the two of them cuddling with a white kitten, though there were signs it could have been doctored. In a caption to accompany the photograph of Hurley in green national costume, Kadyrov said it had been designed by his wife, Medni Kadyrova, and her clothing brand Firdaws, which makes traditional Muslim dress. Kadyrov wrote: "Chechen fashion and trade house Firdaws needs no advertising as it has already been for several years a global brand recognized by the very best models in the world. But nonetheless, it is nice that famous actress and super model Elizabeth Hurley, the face of the Estee Lauder company, came away not only satisfied but delighted by Firdaws attire." At the end of that post, he wrote: "And in the future, she [Hurley] not only intends to be a constant star client))), but also ordered Chechen national dress for her son." German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is also the chairman in office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has arrived in Uzbekistan at the start of a tour of Central Asia. The Uzbek Foreign Ministry said that Steinmeier held talks with his Uzbek counterpart, Abdulaziz Kamilov, in Tashkent on March 30. The ministers discussed Uzbek-German bilateral ties, regional and international issues, and the OSCE's involvement in social and political developments in the region. During the three-day regional tour, Steinmeier will also visit neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Ahead of the tour, Steinmeier described Central Asia as a "region of strategic importance" with "considerable risks to [global] stability." On March 29, the German Foreign Ministry said that regional cooperation, economic ties, and the threat of terrorism will be high on the agenda during Steinmeier's meetings in the region. Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says that missiles, not negotiations, are the key to his countrys future. Khameneis remark, posted on his official website on March 30, came as Western powers called for the UN Security Council to consider possible action in response to Iran's recent ballistic-missile tests. "Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors, the website quoted him as saying. His comment may have been directed at former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the leader of a relatively moderate Iranian political alliance who tweeted last week that Irans future is in dialogue, not missiles. Khamenei also indicated he is ready to support efforts by Irans hard-line conservative Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to further develop ballistic missiles -- a display of defiance in the face of the Western concerns about missile tests. If the Islamic republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country, he said. Khamenei approved a landmark July 2015 deal with global powers under which Iran is scaling back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. But he has suggested the deal would not lead to a large-scale rapprochement with the West and been adamant that Tehran must maintain and develop its conventional military potential. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on March 30 that Irans test missile launches have caused alarm and concern and that it is up to the UN Security Council to decide what sanctions or measures should be applied. A UN Security Council resolution adopted after Iran sealed the nuclear deal with six global powers -- veto-wielding permanent council members Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France, plus Germany -- calls for Tehran to refrain from launching any ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. The United States, France, Britain, and Germany complained this week that Irans tests in early March of its Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile and Qiam-1 short-range ballistic missile violated UN Security Council resolutions. A report sent to the Security Council by those four countries says Irans ballistic tests are destabilizing and provocative because the missiles are inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons. It asked Ban to report fully and thoroughly on any Iranian ballistic missile activity that is inconsistent with UN resolutions and for the Security Council to discuss appropriate responses. Iran denies that its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons. The IRGC describes its tests as a demonstration of the countrys nonnuclear deterrent power. Russia has dampened expectations of any UN Security Council action. On March 14, when the Iranian test-firings were raised within the Security Council, Russia said the tests did not violate the 2015 resolution because a call is not an obligatory demand. Mikhail Ulyanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministrys nonproliferation and arms control department, defended Irans position on March 30. Ulyanov said Moscow has not seen any evidence proving that Irans ballistic missiles can carry nuclear warheads. The Kremlin also has potentially undermined Western attempts to deal with Irans ballistic tests by refusing to send a delegate to the Nuclear Security Summit that begins in Washington on March 31. Russia is the only country among the so-called P5+1 powers that negotiated the 2015 Iran nuclear deal but is not attending the Washington summit. The deal requires Iran to scale back its nuclear program, which Tehran says is for solely peaceful purposes but Western countries fear has been a front for nuclear weapons development, in exchange for sanctions relief. Irans compliance with its nuclear obligations is one of the items on the summit agenda. With reporting by Reuters, AP, Interfax, and TASS ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- An appeals court in the Kazakh city of Almaty has reduced the sentences handed down to two government critics. The court on March 30 ruled that the two-year prison term for Serikzhan Mambetalin must be replaced with one year of supervised release. Ermek Narymbaev's three-year prison term was lowered to two years of supervised release. Mambetalin and Narymbaev were also banned from public activities for three and five years, respectively. The two were arrested in October and sentenced in January after a court found them guilty of inciting social hatred via the Internet. Both pleaded not guilty, saying the charges against them were politically motivated. However, Mambetalin later publicly "repented" for his "mistakes" and was released from jail ahead of the ruling by the court of appeals. Narymbaev refused to admit guilt and held a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment. He was transferred from jail to a strict house-arrest regime in February ahead of the appeals court ruling. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has praised European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for his "full understanding" of the issues the two politicians discussed in Brussels on March 30. Speaking to journalists afterward, Nazarbaev said the meeting focused on ratification of the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed in December 2015 and sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine. Nazarbaev added that he asked Juncker to assist in lifting visa requirements for Kazakh citizens traveling to EU countries as a goodwill gesture after Kazakhstan lifted tourist visa requirements for EU and U.S. citizens in July 2015. While hailing closer ties with the West, Nazarbaev noted Russia and China remain key partners for Kazakhstan. "Located in the very center of the Eurasian continent and being landlocked, Kazakhstan has been building close, friendly ties with the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation; they are our major partners in economic cooperation," Nazarbaev said. Latvian authorities shut down Russia's pro-Kremlin news site Sputnik on March 29, calling it a "propaganda tool" and drawing an immediate rebuke from Moscow. Latvia's local domain registry suspended Sputnik's right to hold the news site Sputniknews.lv, which was established only a few weeks ago to reach out to Latvia's large Russian-speaking minority with articles in Russian and Latvian. "We don't regard Sputnik as a credible media source but as something else: a propaganda tool," Latvian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raimonds Jansons told AFP. Russia's Foreign Ministry called the decision "blatant censorship" and insisted "the Russian mass media adheres to the highest standards of professionalism and ethics." Riga "once again, with the tacit inaction of leading human rights organizations, is ignoring its convention obligations to ensure media pluralism and freedom of speech as it continues to target Russian mass media in Latvia," the ministry said. Latvia has banned Russian media before, having shut down Russian state television broadcasts for several months in 2014. The Russian Embassy in Latvia called the move against Sputnik "groundless" and said that Latvia had started "an information war." Latvia's domain registry decided to shut the site after receiving a letter of concern from the Latvian Foreign Ministry, which drew attention to Sputnik's coverage of Ukraine and routine denial of the embattled nation's territorial integrity. The ministry questioned whether the coverage might constitute a breach of European Union sanctions on Russia, which were imposed over Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014. "We wrote pointing out our opinion that the fact that the head of Sputnik, Mr. [Dmitry] Kiselyov is on the sanctions list of the European Union was something that needed to be taken into account" in deciding whether to register the site, Jansons told AFP. With reporting by Reuters and AFP WASHINGTON -- The arrest of seven members of an organized crime gang in Moldova in late 2014 was unremarkable for a part of the world where such underworld networks run rampant, except for what authorities said they were trafficking in: uranium-238. Like its chemical cousin, uranium-235, uranium-238 is radioactive. The difference between the two is that uranium-235 is the central ingredient in building a nuclear weapon, a task that requires technical sophistication and specialized equipment. Uranium-238, many law enforcement and nuclear experts fear, could be the central ingredient in building a dirty bomb, which would cause few immediate casualties but spread cancer-causing radioactive material over a wide area. The danger that a terrorist group could acquire some sort of radiological material and use it to wreak havoc is central to the Nuclear Security Summit that opens in Washington on March 31. Dozens of leaders and delegations around the world will be discussing ways to keep potentially dangerous substances out of terrorists' hands. By all accounts, that effort is an uphill battle. Radiological substances lurk not only in nuclear power plants and military bases, but also in hospital diagnostic equipment, cancer treatments, mining machinery, household smoke detectors, and at one time, even lighthouses. Incidents like what happened in Moldova have occurred with unsettling regularity. According to data compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, there were nearly 1,150 incidents involving theft, criminal possession, or loss of radiological material reported between 1993 and 2014. The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California recorded 325 incidents alone between 2013 and 2014 in 38 different countries where nuclear or radioactive material was stolen, lost, or outside of regulatory control. Here's a look at just a few incidents involving theft or mishandling of radioactive materials that have raised alarm bells. The Georgian Connection Georgian police in 2012 arrested three men in the Black Sea port of Batumi who were negotiating over the sale of cesium -- a radioactive substance used in drilling oil and gas wells, among other things. One of the would-be buyers also reportedly indicated he was interested in buying uranium. The investigation found the seller possessed two substances -- cesium-137 and strontium-90 -- but not enough to be useful in building a dirty bomb. Strontium-90 has been used as a heat and power source for things like satellites, and also, in the Soviet era, lighthouses that were too remote to be manned or maintained regularly. The arrest came in the same month that Georgian authorities arrested smugglers from the breakaway region of Abkhazia who were carrying about a kilogram of yellowcake uranium, a lightly processed substance typically made up of uranium-238. Though it has low radioactivity, yellowcake can be enriched to a higher level of radioactivity with enough technical know-how. Georgia has seen an alarming number of investigations into alleged nuclear smuggling in the past decade following the creation of a special police unit in 2005. Central Asian Cesium Kazakh police in 2013 arrested a mining company engineer and three others for allegedly trying to sell a substance containing cesium-137. The engineer reportedly stole the substance from a warehouse at a mine company's enrichment plant in 1991, and stored it until deciding to give it to the three other accomplices to sell. The group had sought $250,000 for the materials. After being caught in a sting operation, the group claimed it did not know there was any danger from the cesium. Kazakhstan is also among the world's largest producers of uranium ore, and is looking to build enrichment plants in the coming years to manufacture fuel for nuclear power plants around the world. The German Sting Two Spaniards and a Colombian man flying from Moscow were arrested in 1994 by German authorities at Munich airport while carrying 560 grams of mixed oxide reactor fuel, about two-thirds of which was another key ingredient to making an atomic bomb: plutonium-239. The actual source of the material in Russia was never definitively identified, but the arrests, coming as Russia was still reeling from the collapse of the Soviet Union, stoked fears that the vast nuclear complex that Moscow inherited was riddled with security problems -- and that global underground markets would be flooded with dangerous materials. The incident later became a major political scandal in Germany after lawmakers discovered the arrests were a sting operation organized by the lead German security agency to entrap would-be nuclear smugglers. The Drunken Sailor And The Uranium In 1993, a Russian navy officer and another man employed at a submarine base cut a hole in a perimeter fence at a fuel storage depot at the Sevmorput shipyard near the Arctic port of Murmansk. They proceeded to steal three fuel rods containing highly enriched uranium and stored the rods in the man's garage for seven months, intending to sell the material for $50,000. Later, however, the navy officer boasted about the theft to other officers while intoxicated, and authorities arrested both men. The ease with which the men entered the facility highlighted glaring weaknesses in security for Russian radiological materials. The U.S.-government funded Cooperative Threat Reduction Program spent billions to help Russia pay for surveillance cameras, hi-tech sensors, and security guard salaries, as well the dismantling of missile warheads, submarines, and other weaponry that could potentially be stolen or smuggled. Deadly Scrap After a medical research laboratory in the central Brazilian city of Goiania moved to a new facility, some equipment was inadvertently left behind, including machinery used for medical radiation therapy. Scavengers in 1987 took some of the equipment's parts to sell for scrap, but discovered that the contents of one part glowed in the dark. Not realizing the substance contained cesium-137, they shared it with others in their neighborhood. In the end, four people died of radiation poisoning and thousands others were contaminated. Brazilian officials removed vast quantities of top soil, and destroying several buildings and detected contamination in dozens of others. In a comprehensive report, the IAEA called the Goiania contamination the "most serious radiological incident to have ever occurred to date." Dhaka: Embattled Bangladeshi ex-prime minister and main opposition leader Khaleda Zia faced another setback on Wednesday when a court here issued an arrest warrant against her over a deadly arson attack on a passenger bus during an anti-government protest campaign last year. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order against the 70-year-old chairperson of the main opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and 27 others from her party after accepting police's chargesheet in the case. Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah, after accepting the charges against 38 people including the 28, passed the order in connection with the arson attack in Jatrabari area here in January last year when Zia's party spearheaded a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government. "The court issued the arrest warrant against begum Zia in connection with an arson attack on a passenger bus in January last year," an official of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's court told reporters. He said Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order and asked police to execute the warrant and submit the compliance report by April 27. Lawyers and legal experts, however, said Zia was likely to get a chance to secure bail appearing in the court ahead of the deadline. Last year, Zia was charged by police with masterminding the arson attack on a bus that left 29 people injured, nine of them critically, days after Hasina said the former premier could be put on trial for recent violence. Today's arrest order is yet another blow to the beleaguered two-times former premier, who has described previous cases, including corruption-related, against her as politically motivated and aimed at keeping her out of politics. The development came hours after another court in the capital sent BNP's just-elected secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, accused of several identical charges of sabotage, to jail but soon after, ordered his release as his lawyers said he fell sick after his imprisonment. Alamgir's imprisonment order came hours after BNP announced him as the secretary general of party, six years after he served as the acting secretary general of the party. Soon after the announcement, Alamgir appeared before the court with a prayer for bail on expiry of his existing bail, granted earlier High Court. "The magistrate denied his prayer and ordered him to be sent to jail... hours later the same court granted him bail as his lawyers filed a fresh petition saying their client became sick in the prison," an official of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court said. Hundreds of radical Islamists, who had rallied outside the Pakistani parliament, ended their demonstration after authorities said police were readying to disperse the protesters. Protest leaders said on March 30 that a deal was reached with the government and called on protesters to disperse. However, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the government had not acceded to any of the protesters' demands. More than 10,000 Islamists from Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group descended on Islamabad on March 27 to denounce last month's hanging of Mumtaz Qadri for the 2011 murder of secular Governor Salman Taseer, who had campaigned against Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws. The protesters also demand the death of a jailed Christian woman whom Taseer had defended against blasphemy allegations, as well as the enforcement of Islamic Shari'a law in the country. The government has said it will not fulfill their demands. Based on reporting by AP A long-horned rhinoceros known as the Siberian unicorn did not go extinct 350,000 years ago as previously thought but probably survived until about 29,000 years ago, when prehistoric humans lived. That is the conclusion of new research published in the American Journal of Applied Sciences based on radiocarbon dating of a well-preserved skull of one of the mammals found in Kazakhstan. Elasmotherium sibiricum or Siberian rhinos were likely vegetarians that grazed on grass. They are believed to have weighed up to 4 tons and stood 2 meters tall, looking much like a modern rhino but with shaggy hair and an extraordinarily long horn. Their habitat extended from the Don River in Russia to the east of modern Kazakhstan, the study said. Because of the surprising longevity of the species, scientists said the findings suggest that other studies should reassess the remains of mammals previously believed to have disappeared 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. Based on reporting by AFP and Science Alert The Moscow City Court has canceled a lower court's decision to fine the Moscow-based Sakharov Center for not complying with a controversial "foreign agents" law. Lawyer Maksim Krupsky, who represents the Sakharov Center via the "Public Verdict" foundation, said that the court on March 30 sent the case back for revision to Moscow's Taganka District Court. In December 2014, the Sakharov Center was fined 300,000 ($4,400) for refusal to register as a "foreign agent." Earlier that year, the Justice Ministry added the Sakharov Center to its list of "foreign agents." The law, adopted in 2012, requires any nongovernmental organization that receives funding from abroad and engages in political activity to formally register as a "foreign agent." The Sakharov Center insists that its activities are purely educational and have nothing to do with politics. British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond says Russia represents a threat to everyone on the world stage because of its disregard for international norms. Speaking in a press conference in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on March 30 Hammond said: "Russia ignores the norms of international conduct and breaks the rules of the international system. That represents a challenge and a threat to all of us." Hammond made the remarks when he was asked whether Russia still posed a threat to countries in the region, like Georgia or the Baltic states. Georgia fought a brief war with Russia in 2008. Hammond called on Moscow to play a constructive role on the world stage and follow "the rules of the international system." Hammond was in Georgia to meet Prime Minister Georgy Kvirikashvili and to visit the South Caucasus Pipeline, operated by British energy giant BP. Based on reporting by Reuters ON MY MIND The Kremlin continues to add insult to injury in the case of kidnapped Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko. It's almost as if the Russian authorities are going out of their way to be as insulting as possible. The latest example, of course, was yesterday's proposal, floated in the Russian media, to exchange her for convicted arms smuggler Viktor Bout and convicted narcotics trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko -- both of whom are incarcerated in the United States. Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, was absolutely correct to call the proposal "laughable." But as laughable as it may be, Moscow's attempts at whataboutism in the Savchenko case are far from funny. IN THE NEWS Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the bombing of two police cars in Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan. Vladimir Putin has called on Europe to restore military-technical cooperation with Russia. Authorities in Latvia have blocked the pro-Kremlin news website Sputnik, calling it a propaganda tool. The Russian Defense Ministry has announced plans to buy five monkeys for research purposes. The type of research is unclear. The political crisis in Ukraine continues as parties failed to form a new governing coalition. WHAT I'M READING Anarchy In Eurasia? Russia and China are both heading for hard times, and that could spell chaos for the Eurasian landmass. This is the conclusion author and foreign affairs analyst Robert Kaplan comes to in his essay in Foreign Affairs, "Eurasia's Coming Anarchy." "Policymakers in Washington had better start planning now for the potential chaos to come: a Kremlin coup, a partial breakup of Russia, an Islamic terrorist campaign in western China, factional fighting in Beijing, and political turbulence in Central Asia, although not probable, are all increasingly possible," Kaplan wrote. Meanwhile, Dmitry Trenin of the Moscow Carnegie Center peers into the future with his piece, "A Five-Year Outlook for Russian Foreign Policy: Demands, Drivers, and Influences." "Russia finds itself again at a crossroads with a three-way choice: reform the economy and dismantle the existing politico-economic setup; go for a wholesale economic mobilization dominated by the state; or keep the system intact and face the prospect of continued decline and possibly an upheaval in the end. In the next five years, some sort of a choice between these three options will have to be made," Trenin wrote. More On The Drawdown That Wasn't Russian air power in Syria remains robust according to the Israeli Air Force. A report by Reuters, meanwhile, claims that Russia is actually shipping more military equipment to Syria than it is removing. And more and more information is coming to light about the role of Russia's special forces in Syria. The Washington Post has a piece looking at their role in the capture of Palmyra. Former Kremlin Insider Speaks The Russian mass-circulation daily Moskovsky Komsomolets has a wide ranging interview with former Kremlin insider Gleb Pavlovsky, in which he discusses the events leading to Putin turning the presidency over to Dmitry Medvedev in 2008, the so-called "castling" of 2011, and the Kremlin's reaction to the Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine. The Battle For The Arctic James Bamford has a piece in Foreign Policy on the battle for the Arctic. "If Vienna was the crossroads of human espionage during the Cold War, a hub of safe houses where spies for the East and the West debriefed agents and eyed each other in cafes, its fair to say that the Arctic has become the crossroads of technical espionage today," Bamford wrote. Meanwhile, In Ukraine Hannah Thoburn of the Hudson Institute has a piece up on The Atlantic Council's website arguing that as Russia's relations with Turkey get worse, Ankara's relations with Kyiv get better Anton Shekhovtsov of the Legatum Institute takes a look at why the majority of Dutch voters are against an association agreement with Ukraine The Vast Anti-Russian Media Conspiracy Who are the most anti-Russian media in the world according to the Putin regime? A better question might be who isn't. According to a new report by The Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, a Kremlin-connected think tank, the list includes some of the world's most venerable news organizations: Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal from the United States, The Guardian, the Financial Times, and the BBC from the U.K., and Le Monde and Le Figaro from France. Russian Espionage Tactics In The Baltics Authorities in Riga says Russian intelligence is using threats and blackmail to force cooperation from Latvian citizens. Pipeline Politics In Forbes, energy analyst Jeremy Maxie looks at the battle in the European Union over the Nord Stream pipeline. Exploiting The Brussels Attacks Writing in Newsweek, Agnia Grigas of the Atlantic Council takes a look at what Putin's Russia has gained as a result of the Brussels attacks. Police said one police officer has been killed and two wounded in Russia's Daghestan region in an attack claimed by the Islamic State extremist group. "Two cars were blown up. The type of explosive device has not been established yet," Fatina Ubaidatova, a spokeswoman for the Daghestani police, told Reuters by phone. The Amaq news agency, which supports IS, posted a statement online saying its local affiliate was behind the attack late on March 29. Islamic State has in the past said it was behind violent attacks on security forces in the North Caucasus, the volatile mainly Muslim part of Russia where Daghestan is located. Daghestan, where Kremlin critics say widespread poverty and corruption help feed religious extremism, last saw similar attacks on police in February. Some militants in Daghestan, which borders Chechnya where Moscow led two wars against separatists in 1990s, have sworn allegiance to Islamic State. Based on reporting by Reuters Last-minute demands raised by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland party quashed hopes for a new governing coalition in Ukraine on March 29. The party had been reported on March 28 to be part of an imminent deal to form a new coalition and end the political crisis that has delayed Western-backed reforms and loans. But Tymoshenko, at a meeting of prospective coalition members, raised new demands, including scrapping a tax on pension payments and rolling back energy price hikes. The price hikes were a key reform demanded by the International Monetary Fund as part of Ukraine's bailout program. Lawmakers emerged from the meeting saying the hoped-for coalition was not formed despite an announcement by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's party late on March 28 of an impending new alliance with Fatherland and President Petro Poroshenko's faction in the parliament. Tymoshenko "is demanding a stack of political laws be voted on before joining the coalition. Everyone has to go back to the drawing board," a source in Poroshenko's bloc told Reuters. Lawmakers in Yatsenyuk's faction also said the three-party coalition had not been formalized, with party head Maksym Burbak saying the deal won't be finalized until next week. Mustafa Nayyem, a lawmaker from Poroshenko's bloc, said "Tymoshenko invented new conditions and that's why everything has finally failed." Fatherland is the smallest party in parliament, but the support of its 19 lawmakers would have been enough to give the three-party coalition a majority when added to the 216 lawmakers from Poroshenko's and Yatsenyuk's factions. Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Hroysman, 38, an ally of Poroshenko, was expected to be put forward as a replacement prime minister by the new coalition. But that move also has been thrown into doubt or delayed along with the new coalition. Lawmakers said the longer the government fails to form a new coalition, the more likely the chaos will trigger snap parliamentary elections, something Poroshenko hopes to avoid as that likely would boost support for populist parties that oppose Western-backed austerity measures. The lack of a stable coalition capable of pushing reforms through parliament already has derailed talks for a new $1.7 billion loan from the IMF. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, Interfax, and TASS The United States and three European allies are calling on the United Nations Security Council to respond to Iran's recent ballistic missile tests, which they say were carried out in defiance of a UN resolution. In a letter to the council, the United States, France, Britain, and Germany call the launches "destabilizing and provocative" and say the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile and Qiam-1 short-range ballistic missile that were fired are "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons." A Security Council resolution adopted after the Iran nuclear deal was signed last year calls for Iran not to launch any ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear weapon. Moreover, the four Western powers "note with concern that Iranian military leaders have reportedly claimed these missiles are designed to be a direct threat to Israel." When the Iranian test-firings were raised in the council on March 14, Russia said the launches were not a violation and that it does not support new sanctions against Iran. That makes council action unlikely. "The resolution does not ban [the tests]," Interfax cited Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the ministry's department for nonproliferation and arms control, as saying. Based on reporting by AP and Reuters Colombo: Sri Lankan police Wednesday recovered a suicide jacket along with a stock of explosives and ammunition during a raid on a house in the country's former warzone in the Tamil dominated northern province. One suicide jacket, four side chargers, three parcels containing about 12 kilogrammes of TNT, two packets containing 100 rounds of 9mm pistol ammunition and two battery packs used to detonate side chargers were found in the house in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, police said. Commenting on the discovery of explosives, the Defence Ministry Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi said that there was no threat to national security. Explosives and ammunition recoveries are reported very regularly from the former war affected areas, he said. Investigations are currently going to arrest the owner of the house who fled the area. Police further said it is suspected that the explosives and other items had been stored at the house since the period of the war. Chavakachcheri was a battle site when Sri Lanka fought Tamil Tiger rebels for nearly 30 years before the war ended in 2009. Four advocacy organizations have asked Gov. Terry McAuliffe to order the release of a report on the death of Jamycheal Mitchell. The governor says no. Mitchell died in a Portsmouth jail waiting for a transfer to a mental-health facility that never came. That was seven months ago, and the office of Virginias inspector general says its still working on the report. Another state agency that deals with mental health already has issued its own findings some of which the IGs office has been waiting on. We can see the advocates point and the IGs. Few institutions know better the competing tension between getting the facts right and getting to press quickly than newspapers do. Its a tough balancing act. coke said: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_accommodations So, Sab. In your opinion. If a state says that a Church is public accommodation, then should the state be able to force that Church to allow gay marriage.? Thanks Sab. It is no coincidence the liberals wont "bite" on this question. Now, granted I know that you are a atheist. I get that. But I suspect you also believe in separation of Church and state. so here is the definition.So, Sab. In your opinion. If a state says that a Church is public accommodation, then should the state be able to force that Church to allow gay marriage.? Click to expand... IMO it would depend on how the church had it rules written about renting the church out for a wedding. If it is open to the general public on a first come basis then IMO it would be discrimination for them to refuse on any reason. If it is reserved for members then it would be up to the board if they were to allow them to join or not.I had to attend classes for a few months as I am an atheist and not a member of the church I was married in even though my mother is a pastor and I have been involved in the church since its infancy.I also feel that churches should pay taxes and be treated as any other private business. It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search? Search for: Search A man who says he authored a petition to allow open carry of guns at the Republican National Convention says he did it to test the limits of the partys support for the Second Amendment. The petition, which has attracted national attention, reads as if it was written by a supporter of gun rights. Instead, the man behind the petition is a Democrat who plans on supporting Hillary Clinton for president. The man, who said his name is Jim, is from the Philadelphia area. But he would not provide his full name, saying he has received threatening messages since the petition was published. An anonymous blogger, who goes by the pseudonym Hyperationalist, is listed as the author of the petition on the website Change.org. Jim reached out to The Hill in response to an email sent to an address associated with the blog. ... Merck will invest $168 million to expand its manufacturing plant near Elkton, according to a news release Tuesday from the governors office. Over time, the global health care company will upgrade plant infrastructure at the Rockingham County facility, add manufacturing-related facilities and equipment and conduct personnel training in support of the bioprocessing environment, according to the release. Virginia is proud to be a partner to this extraordinary leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, Gov. Terry McAuliffe said. We welcome this important project, which will enhance Mercks position on our corporate roster and expand the contributions they make to the economy of this important region and our entire state. Our existing businesses are key to building a new Virginia economy, and we remain committed to these corporate citizens as they make the investments necessary to succeed in the 21st century economy. According to plant manager Brandon Brega, Merck began operations in Elkton in 1941. Now, nearly 75 years later, we are proud to be building on the strong roots we have established in Elkton, knowing that our operations here play an important role in enabling Merck to fulfill its mission of helping the world be well by bringing our innovative, high-quality medicines to more patients around the world, he said. The state of Virginia is contributing $1.3 million toward the expansion, according to the news release. LYNCHBURG A suspicious item found at Liberty University on Wednesday morning was a piece of HVAC equipment, Virginia State Police said. Bomb technicians with the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations Appomattox Field Office went to LU on Wednesday morning on a report of a suspicious package. The object was disrupted and rendered safe, state police said in a news release. State police were assisted by Lynchburg University Police, the Lynchburg Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The item was found on University Boulevard, which leads into and out of Liberty University. LUPD alerted students via text messages just after 10:30 a.m. of an Immediate Life Threatening Situation. The text told students of a potential safety concern on campus in the area of LaHaye Ice Center and University Blvd and said There is no identified danger at this time. Students were asked to stay out of the area. Liberty Christian Academy operated on a normal schedule, according to a statement from Superintendent John Patterson released by the school. The intersection of Candlers Mountain Road and University Boulevard has been reopened to traffic, according to Lynchburgs Department of Emergency Services. Lynchburg News & Advance BLACKSBURG Perhaps a new housing development shouldnt have amenities like easy bus connections to the rest of town, elected leaders mused Tuesday because smooth transportation links might attract the Virginia Tech students that occupy so much of the local housing stock. Im not hearing anything from you that will keep it from becoming student housing, Town Councilwoman Cecile Newcomb told the would-be developer of the Poff property, about 27 acres located just outside the town limits on Harding Road. In a town of 30,000 kids, theres no way to say this isnt going to happen, replied Wes Bradley of Roanoke-based The Bradley Company and University Housing Group. In the past 30 years, University Housing Group has developed housing for students at 18 universities in 11 states, including the 1989 construction of the University Terrace complex in Blacksburg, according to the companys website. But Bradley said that his company wants to go another direction with the Harding Road proposal for 99 one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums probably about 200 bedrooms total, at least in preliminary plans, he said. The units in this development would be sold, not rented, and the $200,000-$250,000 purchase price would be aimed at young professionals or empty nesters seeking to downsize, he said. The property where Bradley hopes to build has been the site for numerous proposals over the years, but has remained a grassy hillside. A complication for any developer is that the site has no water or sewer and the towns policy is not to extend utilities outside town limits. Similar proposals on other edge-of-town properties have resulted in agreements with Montgomery County to shift Blacksburgs boundaries outward so that new developments are in town. Bradley said that his proposal is in very early stages and that approaching Montgomery County supervisors about a boundary adjustment would be one of his next steps if he decided to proceed. No applications for rezoning or other permits have been submitted. Tuesdays presentation at a Blacksburg council work session was meant to introduce the proposal and see what reception it got from the town, said Bradley and Senior Project Architect Jeremy White of Charlotte, North Carolina-based BSB Design. White showed slides of four- and five-condo clusters grouped on the uphill side of the property nearest the road, with the lower portion reserved as greenspace with a walking trail winding through it. Several council members said they liked the look of the project, and thought the proposed price point would fill a gap in Blacksburgs housing options. Councilman John Bush said that it would make sense to ease traffic if the new developments parking lot could be connected to the adjacent Windsor Hills apartment complex. Then town buses that serve Windsor Hills and have scant space to turn around there could loop through both complexes, he said. That triggered concerns about facilitating student housing, a sore point for Blacksburg council members for years. Maybe it would be better not to improve connectivity, Councilwoman Krisha Chachra said, prompting nods from other council members. Most housing pitched to college students are rental units, and these would only be sold they would not even be built until a sales agreement was reached, Bradley said. But parents might buy them for college-age children, as is common throughout town, Newcomb said. Bradley noted that even if he set up a homeowners association whose rules discouraged student occupancy, it would be run by the people he sold the units to, and they might change the rules at some point. Bradley and White emphasized that they had avoided many features typical to student-oriented housing, such as a swimming pool or units with large numbers of bedrooms. The amenities we are providing are geared more to working professionals and young families, White said. Coincidentally, Mondays council session also included an update on a study that Blacksburg is doing of its own development review practices. Developers long have complained that the town is more difficult and expensive to work in than surrounding localities, but the presence of Tech and its students has meant there is no lack of proposals. Town officials have said that they wanted to make sure they were not throwing up unnecessary obstacles. Alan Pennington of the Matrix Consulting Group told council members that he had talked to town staff members who deal with development and now was reaching out to developers and business people. In about a month, he would start analyzing his findings and crafting recommendations, he said. Our real goal is to make sure everybody has an opportunity to give input, he said. Bradley and White said they had received plenty of input on their Harding Road proposal Monday, and would consider it as they decided whether to move forward. RICHMOND Virginia lawmakers helped avoid the firestorm that has roiled North Carolina over LGBT rights by defeating a bill with similarities to the measure North Carolinas governor signed last week. On Feb. 9, a Virginia House of Delegates committee defeated a bill that would require transgender students at Virginia public schools to use the restroom and locker room of their biological sex. Virginia lawmakers scuttled the bill, in part, to wait for an appeals court ruling now expected any day in the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student who is fighting to use a boys bathroom at his Gloucester County school. I do think our legislature showed admirable restraint and made the right decision, said Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, which is helping Grimm in court. The ACLU also considered the Virginia measure unnecessary and discriminatory. When the 2014-15 school year started, Grimm asked for permission to use the boys bathroom. The schools principal agreed and for seven weeks Grimm used it without any issue. The Gloucester School Board approved a resolution in December 2014 that designates bathrooms to a students specific sex and allows for unisex bathrooms. Grimm was told the next day that he could no longer use the boys bathroom, according to court filings. Grimm, who was assigned female at birth but identifies as male, said the Gloucester County School Board policy that prevents him from using the boys bathroom violates his rights under Title IX and under the U.S. Constitution. In North Carolina last week, Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, signed legislation under which transgender people must use public bathrooms aligned with their anatomy and not with their gender identity. The new North Carolina law goes further than the defeated Virginia measure. It also prevents cities and counties from approving their own rules against LGBT discrimination. A number of large corporations have joined gay rights activists in criticizing the new law, and several big city mayors in other states have barred nonessential government travel to North Carolina. On Tuesday North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said he will not defend the measure in court. Gov. Terry McAuliffe appeared likely to veto the Virginia measure if it got to his desk. The Democrat has long linked Virginias gay rights record to development of its business climate. McAuliffe appears likely to veto a measure the legislature did approve this year that would protect religious groups from government-imposed penalties over their views on same-sex marriage. McAuliffe said in his January State of the Commonwealth Address that he is prepared to veto bills that roll back the progress that we have made on marriage equality. On Monday Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, announced he would veto a similar religious liberty measure, saying: I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia. Deal faced pressure from large corporations and from the NFL, which had warned that such a law could hinder Georgias bids to host the Super Bowl. North Carolinas General Assembly passed its measure after the city of Charlotte approved an anti-discrimination measure to let transgender people use restrooms aligned with their gender identity. The North Carolina governor tweeted that he had signed bipartisan legislation to stop the breach of basic privacy and etiquette, ensure privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms. But the action has met with criticism from major corporations that do business in North Carolina and from officials in other states and cities. On Monday New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio banned nonessential government travel to North Carolina, as have San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. On Monday a transgender plaintiff filed a federal suit against the new North Carolina law. In Virginia in January, Grimms fight to use a boys bathroom at his Gloucester County school went before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Lawyers for the ACLU asked a three-judge panel to overturn a district courts denial of a preliminary injunction. The injunction would have allowed Grimm to use the boys restroom at Gloucester High School as his lawsuit against the countys school board works its way through the court system. The ACLU also has asked the court to reinstate a claim that the school boards bathroom policy violates federal sex discrimination law. Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, sponsored HB 781, the measure a Virginia House panel defeated in February. Cole said at a hearing of the House General Laws Committee that the measure would help protect schools from being sued over the issue of allowing someone of the opposite sex to use the facilities that are designated one way or the other. He added: This is not about discrimination, this is about privacy. The bill would have required local school boards to adopt policies requiring that all restrooms and locker rooms accessible by multiple students be designated for and only used by students based on their biological sex. The legislation would have applied to all public buildings owned by the state. Violations would carry a $50 civil penalty. At the time, Gastanaga encouraged the committee to hold off on the bill to let the appeals court rule in Grimms case. Del. Thomas Tag Greason, R-Loudoun, was among lawmakers who appeared to agree it was wise to wait. This is a little bit complicated, and Im not comfortable sending a signal to the courts that were making a decision in anticipation of what they may or may not decide, Greason said. Udo Ulfkotte (born 20 January 1960) is a German journalist. He was formerly an editor for the German main daily newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).[citation needed] Ulfkotte studied jurisprudence and politics at Freiburg and London. Between 1986 and 1998 Ulfkotte lived predominantly in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan. Ulfkotte was on the staff of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 1999 to 2003.[citation needed] He won the civic prize of the Annette Barthelt Foundation in 2003. Ulfkotte publishes a magazine called "Whistleblower", which reports on topics not covered by the German media. Ulfkotte had planned to run for the Hamburg local elections in 2008, as number two on the Centre Party's list, but later withdrew in June/July 2007. On July 2007, Ulfkotte announced he would found a new national party.[citation needed] Ulfkotte was born into a Christian family, but by the age of 21, he abandoned Christianity and became an atheist. When he went to live in Islamic countries, he converted to Islam while living in Herat, Afghanistan. He later left Islam and is now a Christian. He reverted to a conservative and nationalist views, occasionally expressing strong anti-immigrant or anti-Muslim opinions. Since beginning of the Russian intervention in Ukraine Ulfkotte became a vocal critic of the Western policy and frequently commented for pro-Russian media, such as Russia Today and Russia Insider who portray him as a whistle-blower disappointed in the corruption of Western media.[7] According to Ulfkotte, the CIA and German intelligence (BND) bribe journalists in Germany to write pro-NATO propaganda articles, and it is well understood that one may lose their media job if they fail to comply with the pro-Western agenda. In 2014, Ulfkotte published Bought Journalists ("Gekaufte Journalisten"), in which he claims that the CIA and other secret services pay money to journalists to report a particular story in a certain light. The U.S. Army successfully fired a Stinger missile from its newest launch platform last week. The test that took place at Eglin test range on March 23, 2016 was part of a demonstration of the Armys new Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-Intercept (IFPC Inc 2-I) platforms Multi-Mission Launcher (MML). The launcher consists of fifteen tubes, each of which can hold either a single large interceptor or multiple smaller interceptors. The recent test used single tube configured to carry the stinger. The IFPC Inc 2-I system is a mobile ground-based weapon system designed to defeat unmanned aircraft systems, cruise missiles, and rockets, artillery, and mortars. This new launcher is designed to fire a variety of different interceptor missiles, depending on the threat. Stinger, originally developed as a man-portable air defense infrared homing surface-to-air missile, has been adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, such as the MML. The Army plans to test fire a variety missiles as part of an IFPC Inc 2-I Engineering Demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in the coming weeks. The MML is mounted on a medium tactical vehicle. The launcher can rotate 360 degrees and elevate from 0-90 degrees. Developed using an open systems architecture, the launcher will interface to the IBCS Engagement Operations Center to support and coordinate target engagements. In addition to the MML, the IFPC Inc 2-I System will use the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) for its command and control, a Sentinel radar, and existing interceptors to provide 360-degree protection with the ability to engage simultaneous threats arriving from different azimuths. Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., stated the day after President Obama was re-elected that "as long as that man is President, nothing will be passed through the Senate." Guess what? Nothing has passed the Senate. Recently he has stated that he will not allow the Senate to have a hearing on President Obama's nomination to the Supreme Court. No one person should have that much power in Congress. I am a Republican and I find his attitude toward the office of the president deplorable. If he does not respect the person holding the office, he must respect the office of the president. He has most Republicans believing him regardless of what he spews out. He is the primary reason our Congress is hated by so many Americans. I am ashamed to be a Republican at the present time. Shame on him and all the other bone heads that think that they are so necessary to our government. WAYNE AKERS CHRISTIANSBURG TATA Europe issued the following statement today under the title Review of European Portfolio of Tata Steel which reveals 2 billion in asset impairment in the past five years and confirms its decision to divest with its UK operations, including three sites in Rotherham: The Tata Steel Board today reviewed the recent performance of the European business of the Company, more specifically, of Tata Steel UK. It noted with deep concern the deteriorating financial performance of the UK subsidiary in the last twelve months. While the global steel demand, especially in developed markets like Europe has remained muted following the financial crisis of 2008, trading conditions in the UK and Europe have rapidly deteriorated more recently, due to structural factors including global oversupply of steel, significant increase in third country exports into Europe, high manufacturing costs, continued weakness in domestic market demand in steel and a volatile currency. These factors are likely to continue into the future and have significantly impacted the long term competitive position of the UK operations in spite of several initiatives undertaken by the management and the workers of the business in recent years. Even under these adverse market conditions, the Tata Steel Group has extended substantial financial support to the UK business and suffered asset impairment of more than 2billion in the last five years. The Tata Steel Board also reviewed the proposed restructuring and transformation plan for Strip Products UK, prepared by the European subsidiary in consultation with an independent and internationally-reputed consultancy firm. Based on the review conducted, the Tata Steel Board came to a unanimous conclusion that the plan is unaffordable, requires material funding support in the next two years in addition to significant capital commitments over the long term, the assumptions behind it are inherently very risky, and its likelihood of delivery is highly uncertain. Therefore, the Board concluded that it would not be able to support the investment necessary to proceed with the proposed Strip Products UK Transformation plan. The company has also been in deep engagement with the UK Government in recent months seeking its support to achieve the best possible outcome for the UK business, within the restrictions of State Aid Rules and other statutory limits. These discussions are ongoing and will continue. Discussions will also continue with Greybull in relation to a sale of the UK Long Products business. The UK Government is also involved in the latter discussions. Following the strategic view taken by the Tata Steel Board regarding the UK business, it has advised the Board of its European holding company i.e. Tata Steel Europe, to explore all options for portfolio restructuring including the potential divestment of Tata Steel UK, in whole or in parts. Given the severity of the funding requirement in the foreseeable future, the Tata Steel Europe Board will be advised to evaluate and implement the most feasible option in a time bound manner. HUNDREDS of jobs could be at risk at Rotherhams Tata Steel factory after the company announced plans to sell its UK assets. The companys board decided at a meeting in Mumbai last night (Tuesday) that it would explore all options for restructuring, including the partial or full sale of its UK factories. It casts fresh doubt over the future of hundreds of jobs at Tatas plants at Aldwarke, Moorgate and Templeborough. The company said trading conditions in the UK and Europe had rapidly deteriorated due to a global oversupply of steel, imports, high costs and currency rates. A statement released by Tata said: These factors are likely to continue into the future and have significantly impacted the long term competitive position of the UK operations in spite of several initiatives undertaken by the management and the workers of the business in recent years. Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of steelworkers union Community, called for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron to prevent a national crisis. He said: The UK is now on the verge of a national crisis. Tata Steel withdrawing completely from the UK risks destroying our entire steel industry. That would be a disaster both for those communities reliant on steel jobs and our entire industrial base. For any advanced, manufacturing economy, steelmaking capacity is not optional. Losing the ability to make steel would fundamentally change our economy forever. Community has led the Save Our Steel campaign thus far and today marks a new chapter in that fight. Today, I am calling on David Cameron to meet with me urgently to discuss how his government and my union can work together to safeguard the future of our steel industry. Community stands ready to play our part in averting that national crisis the Prime Minister must now stand up and play his role too. View Tata Steels full statement here. Stornoway Diamond Corporation has published its financial results for the full 2015 fiscal year, and reported the Renard diamond project was 63.3 percent complete. Progress at the Renard Diamond Project continues well within the planned schedule and budget. For the two month period ended December 31, 2015, the corporation reported a net loss of CAD$4.3 million. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments stood at CAD$209.1 million. The company said that construction progress of Renard was ahead of the initial plan of 59.6 percent, with detailed engineering substantially complete. As a result, the first ore delivery to the Renard diamond process is now expected by the end of September. Commercial production is expected by December 31, which represents a five-month improvement on the previous schedule. Production at the underground mine was hampered in November and December, due to water inflows on a fault structure. Progress picked up in January, but was slowed again in February. It currently stands 73-percent complete. 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. Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow The Malaysia International Jewellery Fair (MIJF), well-recognized as one of the most significant and vital jewellery trading hub within the Southeast Asia region, is scheduled for 5 -8 August 2016 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia. This exclusive Fair offering unlimited business opportunities has received support and acknowledgement from the global jewellery associations, delegates and professional buyers. All kinds of fine jewellery, gold jewellery, silver jewellery, platinum jewellery, diamonds, pearls, gemstones, semi-precious stones, jewellery machinery, equipments & tools, jewellery display & packaging materials etc. are expected to be on showcase. According to Elite Expo Sdn Bhd, the organizer, the Fair will occupy about 51,300 sq. ft. exhibit area at the Centre. While about 200 exhibitors are expected to participate, more than 15,000 visitors are also expected to visit the Fair. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished NEW I SAW THE LIGHT (Biography, R, 123 minutes, playing at the Darkside Cinema in Corvallis) Avengers villain Tom Hiddleston does his own singing as the troubled country music legend Hank Williams and does a serviceable job. Other than that decision, I Saw the Light is the musical biopic version of comfort food. With Elizabeth Olsen and Cherry Jones. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) EYE IN THE SKY (Drama, R, 104 minutes, playing at the Regal 4 in Albany) The acting by Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman and others is world-class in this timely and tense, but sometimes heavy-handed drama, set in the modern world of drone warfare. Mirren plays a British colonel whose attempt to take out terrorists is stymied by bureaucrats and a little girl near the target. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS (Comedy, R, 90 minutes, playing at the Carmike 12 in Corvallis) Sally Field gives perhaps the years first Oscar-worthy lead actress performance in the funny, beguiling and affecting little film that shows its never too late to come of age. Field plays a 60ish woman whos inspired by a self-help seminar to romantically pursue her younger co-worker. Max Greenfield and Tyne Daly co-star; Michael Showalter directed. (Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times) GODS NOT DEAD 2 (Drama, PG, 121 minutes, playing at the Regal 4 in Corvallis) After a student asks her a question about Jesus in a class, a high school teacher faces an epic court case that could end her career. This sequel to the sleeper religious-themed hit also features Robin Givens, Ray Wise, Ernie Hudson and Jesse Metcalfe. RECOMMENDED THE LAST MAN ON THE MOON (Documentary, not rated, 95 minutes, playing at the Darkside in Corvallis) In this beautiful, breathtaking and stirring documentary, 81-year-old astronaut Eugene Cernan comes across as articulate, thoughtful and even philosophical. This is a great documentary about a great man. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (Superhero action, PG-13, 153 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Carmike 12 in Corvallis) Though it doesnt all live up to its spectacular start, Zack Snyders hotly anticipated showdown between two great DC Comics icons is hardly a disappointment. Dawn of Justice is a dark-palette feast for the eyes, with some memorable set pieces and just the right amount of dark humor. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 (Comedy, PG-13, 94 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Carmike 12 in Corvallis). Still married and raising a 17-year-old daughter, Nia Vardalos Toula returns to the big screen in a true ensemble comedy thats never subtle, rarely surprising, and as rich, syrupy, sweet and satisfying as a tray of homemade baklava. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (Drama, not rated, 125 minutes, playing at the Darkside Cinema in Corvallis) In the early 1900s, a young shaman (Nilbio Torres) in the Colombian Amazon helps a sick German explorer (Jan Bijvoet) and his local guide (Miguel Dionisio Ramos) search for a rare healing plant. This Oscar-nominated Colombia film is a strikingly photographed black-and-white epic that intertwines a passionate attack on the depredations of invasive capitalism with a potent adventure story. In Spanish and Amazonian languages with English subtitles. (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) ZOOTOPIA (Animated adventure, PG, 108 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Carmike 12 in Corvallis) In an all-animal world, a rabbit rookie cop (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) suspects a sly fox (Jason Bateman) in a missing-mammals case. Brimming with gorgeous visuals and terrific one-liners, this is one of my favorite animated movies, period. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) HAIL CAESAR! (Comedy, PG-13, 106 minutes, playing at the Darkside in Corvallis) As they recount the adventures of a 1950s Hollywood fixer (Josh Brolin), the Coen brothers pay homage to genres from noir to Westerns. Hail, Caesar! is pure popcorn fun a visual treat, a comedic tour de force and a sublime and sly slice of satire. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) THE REVENANT (Adventure, R, 156 minutes, playing at the Carmike 12 in Corvallis) Enormously talented Birdman director Alejandro G. Inarritu strikes again with this 19th-century American fable, one of the most brutally beautiful movies Ive ever seen. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers one of his most impressive performances as a frontiersman left for dead in the 1823 wilderness. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) KUNG FU PANDA 3 (Animated, PG, 95 minutes, playing at the Pix in Albany) The third times the charm: This sequel isnt too heavy nor too light, has the right amount of spice, and leaves one with some appetite for the next time. for this animated (Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press) ALSO PLAYING THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT (Science fiction, PG-13, 121 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Regal 4 in Corvallis) The Divergent series starts heading for its climax with the first part of Allegiant. Tris and Four must escape the wall that encircles Chicago to discover what lies beyond it. Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Jeff Daniels star. Despite the raging teen hormones, this is a well-designed snooze. (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN (Drama, PG, 109 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Carmike 12 in Corvallis) A young girl suffering from a rare digestive disorder finds herself miraculously cured after surviving a terrible accident. This family melodrama about a devastating illness and the freak accident that cured it is surprisingly effective, even for those of little faith. Jennifer Garner leads the cast. (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (Horror, PG-13, 105 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Carmike 12 in Corvallis) Waking up from a car accident, a young woman finds herself in the basement bomb shelter of a man who says hes saved her life. John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr. star in what may or may not be a sequel to the found-footage monster movie Cloverfield. LONDON HAS FALLEN 1 stars (Action, R, 99 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Regal 4 in Corvallis) Like the 2013 Die Hard ripoff Olympus Has Fallen, this cliche-riddled, aggressively violent, laughably plotted sequel leaves few stereotypes unturned. You wonder how the likes of Aaron Eckhart (as the endangered president) and Gerard Butler (as his Secret Service protector) were able to maintain straight faces while reciting some of their lines. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) RISEN 2 stars (Drama, 107 minutes, PG-13, playing at the Regal 4 in Corvallis) Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Paul Aiello and Cliff Curtis star in a film that comes wrapped in the theological teachings of the Bible but is really a procedural drama that looks to fill in the gaps left between the crucifixion and the ascension. Although it has its flaws, the movie finally is a smart look at the origins of personal faith. (Rick Bentley, Fresno Bee) DEADPOOL 2 stars (Sci-fi superhero, R, 108 minutes, playing at the Pix in Albany and the Carmike 12 in Corvallis) Self-satisfied to the point of irritation, this Ryan Reynolds vehicle serves notice that its as much about spoofing the superhero genre and winking at the audience as it is about serving up a genuine storyline. If only Deadpool were as clever, dark and funny as it believes itself to be. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) Switzerland's UBS consumption indicator data for February is due to be released in the pre-European session at 2:00 am ET. The UBS Consumption Indicator rose to 1.66 points in January from 1.61 in December. Ahead of the data, the Swiss franc showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the Swiss franc fell against the yen and the euro, it held steady against the U.S. dollar and the pound. As of 1:55 am ET, the Swiss franc was trading at 1.0918 against the euro, 1.3899 against the pound, 0.9667 against the U.S. dollar and 116.17 against the yen. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Forex News Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has stood firmly behind campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was arrested and charged with simple battery. Lewandowski turned himself in to police in Jupiter, Florida, on Tuesday after he was charged for intentionally assaulting a female reporter. But Trump made it clear that he will not dismiss Lewandowski as his campaign manager and insisted that the accusation against him was false. The charges stem from an incident at a campaign event in Florida on March 8th, in which Lewandowski allegedly grabbed former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields by the arm hard enough to leave bruising. Fields previously said she asked Trump a question about affirmative action at an event in Jupiter but claims she was grabbed tightly by the arm and yanked down before he could answer. The reporter said the Washington Post's Ben Terris subsequently told her it was Lewandowski who had grabbed her. Fields later resigned from Breitbart, claiming the conservative news site did not adequately support her following the incident. Upon Lewandowski's surrender, Jupiter Police released previously unseen video that appears to show him grabbing Fields by the arm and pulling on her. However, the Trump campaign was quick to release a statement declaring Lewandowski's innocence and expressing confidence he will be exonerated. While speaking at a CNN-hosted town hall in Wisconsin on Tuesday, Trump alleged that it was Fields who grabbed him. "I'm a loyal person. I'm going to be loyal to the country," Trump said. "We have to tell it like it is." "It would be so easy for me to terminate this man, ruin his life, ruin his family," he added. "He's got four beautiful children in New Hampshire, ruin his whole everything, and say you're fired." Trump vowed that Lewandowski would fight the case in the court of law. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News Senator Patrick Leahy, I-Vt., and ten House members sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last month requesting an investigation of potential human rights violations by Israeli and Egyptian security forces, a Politico report has revealed. Politico said it received the letter dated February 17th on Tuesday evening from an organization that provided input for it. The letter cites a disturbing number of reports of possible gross violations of human rights by the security forces of both Israel and Egypt. The lawmakers specifically pointed to reports of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli military and police as well as the massacre in Cairo's Rab'aa Square in August of 2013. The letter asks Kerry to determine whether the reports trigger legislation known as the Leahy Law, which prohibits the U.S. from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights. Politico noted the letter was released just days after an Israeli soldier was filmed executing a Palestinian prisoner at close range. A Leahy spokesman told Politico the Senator believes the law that bears his name "should be uniformly applied," although he downplayed Israel's inclusion in the request. 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 ... I give my consent to Sakshi Post to be in touch with me via email for the purpose of event marketing and corporate communications. Privacy Policy Vietnams leading oil importer and retailer, Petrolimex, plans to sell 8 percent stake to its strategic partner, Japanese JX Nippon & Energy, Bui Ngoc Bao, chairman of Petrolimexs Board of Managers, told a conference Wednesday. Petrolimex hopes to finalize the transaction, worth at least VND3.934 trillion ($174 million), this year. Part of the funding from the sales will be used to finance its trading unit in Singapore, which is incurring losses. The two companies have negotiated the share sales for the last two years. Petrolimex had initially wanted to sell 20 percent stake to the Japanese company but it has finally lowered to 8 percent, Bao said. The Vietnamese government, through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, currently owns about 95 percent stake in Petrolimex, with the rest held by the public and company's laborer unions. JX Nippon & Energy signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2014 to become Petrolimexs strategic partner. The two companies plan to set up a joint venture to jointly invest in the proposed Nam Van Phong refinery in the central province of Khanh Hoa. Here's where to get a pumpkin in central Kansas for fall Local farms are preparing for the upcoming pumpkin harvest. Here's where to go pumpkin picking in the greater Salina area. Nguyen Duc Tai (center), CEO and chairman of MWGs board of directors, talks with local investors and reporters on the sideline of a conference on retailing in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday. : Thoai Tran Mobile World JSC (MWG) is aiming to become one of the biggest mobile device retailers in Southeast Asia by 2020 after consolidating their leading position in Vietnam last year. The regional expansion will be restricted to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, Nguyen Duc Tai, CEO and chairman of MWG told a conference in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this week. We will send a working group to Myanmar next month to study the market and find local partners to discuss cooperation opportunities" he said, adding that MWG intends to open its first retail store with an initial investment of several million U.S. dollars in Myanmar in 2017. The company aims to establish a business presence in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia by 2020, Tai said. MWGs initial survey has shown that no local retailers in the three ASEAN markets have ever captured 20 percent of market share, and this is the gap for MWG to fill, he added. Meanwhile, the company will continue to prioritize the domestic market. It hopes to double sales to $2 billion in 2018, from the $1 billion in business it did in 2015. MWG also plans to increase the total number of its The Gioi Di Dong retail stores selling mobile devices, and Dien May Xanh (blue-label electronics-electrical) stores, selling household appliances, by over 110 to 800 stores in total by the end of this year, Tai said. MWG is currently the biggest mobile device retailer in Vietnam with over 600 The Gioi Di Dong stores making up 30 percent mobile retail market share, while its Dien May Xanh outlets make up eight percent local market share with more than 90 stores. Russia is to beef up its military forces all the way from its western border to the Pacific islands amid ongoing strains with the West, the military said Friday. No financial details were disclosed but the buildup will likely be costly and takes place at a time when the Russian economy is in recession under the dual impact of low oil prices and Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its role in the Ukrainian crisis. While announcing the buildup, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the deployment of NATO's forces near Russia's borders has caused concern. As part of a response, he said new units in the Western Military District, including two new divisions, will be formed. The military forces in western Russia will receive 1,100 new weapons systems, including warplanes, helicopters, tanks and other armored vehicles. In the far east, the military will deploy state-of-the art Bal and Bastion anti-ship missile systems and new drones to the southern Kurils, a group of islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories and claims as its own. The dispute over the islands, which were seized by the Soviet army in the closing days of World War II, has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty to formally end their hostilities. The anti-ship missile systems to be deployed on the disputed islands are capable of hitting targets more than 300 kilometers (over 185 miles) away. Shoigu said Russia is also mulling the possibility of setting up a naval base on the islands. Ships of Russia's Pacific Fleet will visit the area in the summer to study possible locations, he said. The defense minister said the military will also continue to strengthen its presence in the Arctic region. As part of efforts to build military facilities on Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt, the Defense Ministry delivered 9,500 metric tons of equipment and materials during last year's brief navigation season, he said. The Kremlin has made expanding Russia's military presence in order to protect the country's national interests in the Arctic a top priority in light of increasing international interest in the region's vast oil and other resources. Across Siberia, the military will focus on deploying top-of-the line air defense missile systems to protect the vast region, Shoigu said. - AP International Jazz Day is coming to the White House. President Barack Obama plans to host a blockbuster concert on April 29 featuring such artists as Aretha Franklin, Al Jarreau, Sting, Herbie Hancock and many others. The show is to be televised by ABC the following day, the fifth anniversary of International Jazz Day. UNESCO and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz are the sponsors of International Jazz Day, a worldwide celebration of jazz music. Hancock, a UNESCO goodwill ambassador whose idea led to the creation of International Jazz Day, said jazz is a musical language understood worldwide. An award-winning pianist and bandleader, Hancock said "incredible" jazz musicians are now everywhere. "That really shows me the power of the music and the fact that it has reached every country on the planet," Hancock told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Previous host cities for International Jazz Day were Istanbul, Turkey, in 2013; Osaka, Japan, in 2014; and Paris in 2015. In 2012, programs were held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris; in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz; and at the U.N. General Assembly Hall in New York City. Last year's programming reached more than 2.8 billion people, Tom Carter, president of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, told the AP. Obama and the first lady are big music lovers and supporters of jazz. During a recent appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Mrs. Obama said one of her grandfathers loved and collected jazz and that she would visit him on Saturdays while growing up in Chicago "and I would just play music with him." The Obamas practically jumped at the chance to bring the International Jazz Day concert to the White House, Carter said. "They welcomed us with open arms," added Hancock. - AP Dear Editor, I fully agree with T. Samatauas as well Le Mafa Ps letters to the Editor of the Sunday Observer of 6th March 2016 regarding the the consequences of electing the HRPP government to rule this small nation and its aftermath. I sincerely see this Election as a farce from the start. The result will of course have a serious impact on the future of our children and this country. To begin with, if the Tautua Partys claim can be proven correct, as in a TV news broadcast the H.R.P.P has not followed the routine legal procedures in the setup of legal entities in Samoa, then in my opinion l sincerely also see the H.R.P.P as illegal, designed to defraud this nation of any goodness left therein. I believe Mr. Editor, businesses and organizations have been closed and discontinued operating because of failure to pay due licenses, penalties or even fallen short of filing the necessary reports on times they are required. Yet this H.R.P.P organization has been flourishing despite not doing all these things since 1986 and even up to now. It means it should have been banned and already ceased to exist, OR is it because they are the government, and they are free to do as they like? I think they have been law makers since that time, but they are again the law. And what is the registrar of companies doing if this was so, or this department has fallen victim of the ongoing corruption, and could not be assisted on the flow of current wicked dealings. A regime that does not allow issues of paramount significance for a debate are of course a government led by a supreme dictator. And in my opinion we have seen that a lot of times lately in particular recent amendments in the electoral act. And they have brought about and interpreted the House Rules of Parliament to suit their personal intentions as in greed and excessive desire for supreme authority. So many stories are floating around about H.R.P.Ps success in the March 4th General Election, but I for one cannot accept most of them as true and correct even with the PMs comments. There are laws and policies that are in my opinion, government has contradicted and going against itself, as well laws and policies that have not been explicitly explained perhaps to put the public in a situation of oblivion thus putting them in a state of indetermination i.e they cannot decide which is which. And this was the result of the majority of the many amendments of the laws rushed through Parliament during this years proroguing and final session before the 2016 general election. The Tautua Party alleged that there was a lot of money exchanged by candidates involved to entice voters in their favor. I have no objection to that allegation, bearing in mind in my opinion, they are used to it and I think they dont care anymore. The fact is though these allegations were proven in court in previous elections, there were no criminal charges made, apart from those who lost in these allegations lost the election. Thus it appears like a campaign strategy. They have too much money to give away by way of salaries as associate ministers and allowances on overseas trips plus their give away cash during every new election funded by the public as I understand through the 3% of the total budget passed by Parliament and on which they are not accountable. . The post of Pulenuu should never have been part of the registration process of election candidates. This post in the past was meant to be for governments to get in touch with village communities. However, in not so distant events, a number of them had their salaries withheld because they do not listen and do not do what government wants, as one letter to the editor puts it, they are paid by government and as one former minister of the Pulenuu office said they are there to follow and do what governments command. But even that, the words of the Devil in the film Armageddon has indeed seemed proven rightly applicable to those who follow the Devils ways is to do with the satisfaction of the belly. The Samoa Observer article, VILLAGE BANISHES FORMER MINISTER is of course a CLASSIC CHALLENGE to the Laws now ruling this country. It is of my opinion that the majority of the laws passed and has become law in Parliament went through without proper consultation of the traditions and the cultural aspects affecting them as was the understanding of the public and as was the usual acknowledgement by the government department concerned, ie the Ministry of Justice and Court Administration. And this is where the question of Monotaga comes in. In my opinion the question of MONOTAGA should have been properly defined before it becomes law and should never have been part of the Electoral Act. As a Samoan, we were all born and brought up in the Samoan traditional system and we know how the monotaga works. In fact the working of the monotaga differs from village to village based on their own communal traditions and cultural values. Matai titles also differs from village to village and their community share in village affairs are not equal, apart from the fact of community decisions, in fact anyone who is bestowed a matai title will be part of that decision making but not all of them folks out for a monotaga, it will primarily and heavily laid on the shoulders of those who do the tautua even some matais of certain villages do that while also forking out for his monotaga. Though it sounds somewhat cruel, however its tradition in a number of villages where you have the PAPA as in Sili and the village of Gataivai as well many other villages where the word paramount chief or orator are always referred to. I am confident there are still members both past and the present Parliament who are fully aware of this but because of Party Affiliation they just cannot speak up and those are the Judas the Betrayers in Parliament. It must also be noted that government has laws, as well as villages and communities, which law is more powerful, thats something else, but one thing is certain, if villages and communities do not support government law, they are useless. So we still need villages and communities to uphold and respect government law. It is therefore irrelevant to include the word Monotaga as part of the Electoral Act, it is against Traditional Samoa, and it looks as if it was put in the Act as a dirty tactic to avoid some matais to run as election candidates and thats pure fraud and deceit. On the question that all appointments are from God it is of my opinion thats a theological decision that needs proper discussion. Because if it is true that all appointments are from God, then the appointment of Adolf Hitler to lead Germany who became the cause of the murder of six million Jews, as well as the killing of thousands of citizens by Muamar Gadaffi of Libya and Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Bashar Al Assad of Syria as well as many others in Latin America and world wide, are all allowed and ordered by God making the Almighty a murderer. But of course I do agree that all appointments are from God, but only when we do the will of God not the will of men. As our Lord has taught us to pray, Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven, It is of course imperative that we go back and find out how God called two of the most popular people as his servants and the only way to do that is find out from the Bible. God called Saul who was later and better known as Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles, then there is the call of Moses to lead Israel out of the bondage of Egypt. Both began in the fact the two were made blind i.e. in my opinion they were both blinded to the madness and the consequences of corruption. The fact was, there were visual signals preceding to these calls like as was in any other call made by God in the Bible. My question is Mr Editor did we have visual signals preceding this General Election? The right answer is a BIG NO. Thats besides SAMOA OBSERVER exposing all kinds of Corruption at almost all levels of government but nothing was done to it. For all the reasons stipulated and said above the GENERAL ELECTION OF 2016 IS A COMPLETE FARCE RIGHT FROM THE START. I THANK YOU SAMOA OBSERVER FOR ALL THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE GIVEN SO ALL THE SAMOANS COULD BE WELL VERSED OF WHAT THIS GOVERNMENT IS DOING WITH THEIR MONEY. GOD BLESS YOU ALL. Iteli M. Tiatia. Lalomanu, Aleipata. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (M.N.R.E) welcomed their new Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa, yesterday. Fiame, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, was welcomed during a church service and a welcoming ava ceremony at the T.A.T.T.E Building. Present at the ceremony was Suluimalo Amataga Penaia, C.E.O of M.N.R.E; Patea Setefano the C.E.O for S.T.E.C; Sala Josephine Stowers A.C.E.O for legal services; Filisita Ikenasio Heather the A.C.E.O for Land and Survey; along with M.N.R.E staff. M.N.R.E is a big ministry; there are many divisions with many rules and regulations. Its an ongoing way of governing and from here we have to see if there will be any changes to M.N.R.Es priorities, said Fiame. This ministry also focuses on the ongoing issue which is climate change and its an important issue not only in the Pacific but everywhere around the world. Looking after the environment for our future generations is on top of the new Ministers priority list. I know and I believe that as an environmental ministry we need to place a lot of focus into the management of both our land and environment, Fiame said. This way we can continue maintaining our natural resources for our future generations. According to Fiame the ministry will continue to look into ways to reduce the impact of climate change which affects the whole world. I cant really say much because I am about to embark on this journey but all I know is that the main priorities is climate change and ways we can eliminate it through ministry projects. A Samoan graduate student has received the opportunity to study in Japan under its Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (M.E.X.T) Scholarship. Victoria Faith Eseese will travel to Japan early next month to undertake a research course study at Tsukuba University near Tokyo in Honshu in Japan. She will be enrolling in the Agrobiological Research Science and Technology course under the Department of Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences. Her study is going to be based on Impacts of deforestation on soil quality for soil carbon sequestration (Soil Biology). After the successful completion of her study, it will be expected to contribute an idea to the solution of climate change and agricultural development of Samoa. Victoria says she is very excited about traveling to Japan for the first time to pursue further studies so that she will be able to contribute to the development of Samoa upon the successful completion of her studies. She thanked the Government and people of Japan. Victoria was a student at Samoa College and has just completed her Bachelor of Science majoring in environmental science and computing at the National University of Samoa. The Embassy of Japan wishes her the best and the successful achievement in her study and in her future endeavor. The Japanese Government (MEXT) offers several types of scholarship to the people of tbhe Independent State of Samoa to study in Japan every year. The Embassy of Japan in Samoa conducts the selection of the candidate. Teachers Training Students Scholarship (selection period: February/March) Specified Training College Students Scholarship (selection period: May/June) Undergraduate Student Scholarship (selection period: May/June) Research student Scholarship (selection period: May/June) The requirements of applicants and the availabilities of fields of study varies and if you are interested please feel free to call Embassy of Japan on 21187 or visit us at 2nd floor of SNPF Plaza. Four lucky Samoans are heading to the Hong Sevens, thanks to Vailima Breweries. Yesterday, the company drew the names of the winners at their office, from more than 20,000 entries. George Avia, the National Sales and Marketing Manager, Gus Leilua the Regional Sales Manager, Jayne Sia the Human Resources Manager and Trevor Nainoca, the Financial Controller, all took turns drawing a name. The winners are: Tyron Lam, Marketing and Sales Consultant, said Vailima was delighted to be able to give back to the community through this project. Vailima has been part of rugby for a very long time now not only internationally but also at the grass roots level, he said. This promotion is not only to support our Manu 7s but to also reward our customers who consume our products. We have decided to send four people to join our small Samoan community in Hong Kong to help support our boys. Ensuring a balance between Upolu and Savaii was very important. We first thought of sending just three people but we changed it to four so we can reward more people and that way we can fairly allocate two tickets for those in Savaii and two for those here in Upolu. This is also to give these people a chance to experience live international 7s rugby. We want our Savaii residence to also have a good time in Hong Kong. The winners will have a return trip to Hong Kong where they will first stop off at Fiji for a day (accommodations included). Then they will make their way to Hong Kong where they will stay at a 5 star hotel which includes American Breakfasts and game tickets. They will be in Hong Kong for four days. Joining the 4 lucky Samoans are the 4 lucky Fijians from their draw in Fiji. This is just to thank the community and to reward them for the many years of supporting Vailima Samoas very own' and 'The Taste of Samoa. A young woman who claims she is carrying the marks of Jesus Christs suffering during his crucifixion has become the target of verbal abuse and threatening remarks on social media. So much so the 23-year-old stigmatist, Toaipuapuaga Opapo, was afraid to talk about her ordeal when the Samoa Observer visited her house yesterday. I am still trying to pull myself together because of the negative comments from people, she said. It took me a while to get out of bed as well. I had been warned by my sister not to go on Facebook but Ive now seen those comments. It can only make me stronger. On Tuesday night, Ms. Opapo appeared on TV1s News programme to speak about the marks. Two weeks prior to the Easter, I saw the first vision, I couldnt work out what it was, she said. The second vision I saw on Thursday prior to the Easter weekend When I first saw the vision, I was confused I did not think that the Messiah will reveal himself to me in this wayI was thinking Im not a pastor, Im not a missionary. Ms. Opapo said if this happened to a Pastor, people would have found it easier to believe. But me? Im a sickly person, she said. Its been three years since Ive been carrying this sickness. Its a sickness without a cure. All I know is that Jesus is the doctor of all doctors. To receive a vision from God is humbling. But she added that it is also a message to the church and to Samoa. Im just another human being but my body has been used as a reminder because God knows that the faith of his servants are dying. It starts from the people who are heading the churches, the sin begins there Toaipuapuaga is the daughter of Reverend Opapo and Luisa Soanai of the Siufaga Falelatai Congregational Christian Church of Samoa. I didnt think something like this would happen, Rev. Opapo told TV1. She just said to me on Sunday night that she has received a vision. She warned us that we have to be strong because she will suffer on Friday.and we will see signs that we havent seen before. It was hard for me to figure out what it meant because I didnt believe that something like this would happen. So on Friday, I was surprised to see the marks on her hands, feet but I was comforted as she had already told us. Since the story was posted online, Ms. Opapo and her family have become the subject of ridicule and sniping remarks from some Samoans. In one thread sighted by the Samoa Observer last night, it had more than 200 comments with Facebook users swearing at each other, posting nude pictures and cursing Ms. Opapo, calling her names. Ms. Opapo is a mother of a young daughter and she said her husband is her number one supporter. Speaking to the Samoa Observer yesterday, Rev. Opapo said he understands that people will find it hard to believe. He confirmed that the marks started appearing on Good Friday. During their church service that morning, Ms. Opapo played the role of Jesus in a church skit. Rev. Opapo said they saw blood pour out when the boys started hitting her. I am just telling you what I have seen. The signs of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, such as the hands, wrists, and feet then followed, continuing on Saturday. Close to midnight on Saturday, he said he was kneeling with her in the front of the church when she collapsed. I heard a big bang on the church roof, the wind blew stronger and then heavy rains but it didnt last long it just faded away, he said. Rev. Opapo said they couldnt wake her up.. She died, he said. He then rang the church bell to call all the church members back to church. I wanted them to be there. If anything had happened, I would feel warmth and comfortable being around them. Rev. Opapo said his daughter passed out around 12:30 midnight, but she woke up between 2:30 to 3am. She couldnt talk about it. She only revealed to us the next morning on Sunday where she was and her trip to heaven. Stigmata is primarily associated with the Roman Catholic faith, according to Wikipedia. Many reported stigmatics are members of Catholic religious orders. St. Francis of Assisi was the first recorded stigmatic in Christian history. For over fifty years, St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin reported stigmata which were studied by several 20th-century physicians. A high percentage (perhaps over 80%) of all stigmatics are women. In his Stigmata: A Medieval Phenomenon in a Modern Age, Edward Harrison suggests that there is no single mechanism whereby the marks of stigmata were produced. A well-known tea business woman was allegedly killed by two Taiwaneses in China over an unpaid debt as one of the two suspects testified with Taiwan authorities. Ha Thuy Linh. Photo: NLD Ha Thuy Linh, 45, left Vietnam on September 20 on a trip to negotiate a deal for her tea trading business. Three days later she was dead. Chinese police, in cooperation with Taiwan police caught Hoang, 63 and Tran, 42, both Taiwan nationals on March 23. They denied all allegations until the police found Vietnamese banknotes, Linhs watch and other evidence at Hoangs house. Security cameras at Guangdons airport show that the suspects were present at the airport upon Linhs arrival. Hoang, is also seen talking to Linh and carrying her luggage. According to ettoday.net, Hoang testified with Taiwan authorities that Linh owed him money and the two could not settle the debt. Hoang, together with his 42-year-old accomplice, told Linh to come to China to negotiate a tea deal. On September 20, 2015, the suspects hired a taxi to pick Linh up at the airport. Hoang then gave Linh a water bottle, which contained anaesthetics, and told her that was brain tonic. When Linh lost control, Hoang and his accomplice left the victim in the mountains. Locals found her called for help the next day. Linh testified with Chinese police that she became unconcious only a few minutes after drinking the water bottle. When she woke up, her underwear and luggage were missing, and she was in pain. After giving her statement to the police, she was taken back to the hotel. However, her conditions worsened and she died on the morning of September 22 after having been admitted to hospital. Director of Vietnam's criminal investigation department, Ho Sy Tien, told VnExpress yesterday that: "The Ministry of Public Security is waiting for an official request from China to support the investigation." Linh and her husband, a Taiwanese businessman, founded Haiyil Tea Company in 2002. After they divorced in 2008, she founded Ha Linh Limited Liability Company. Her business is the largest tea company in Lam Dong, a province in Vietnam's Central Highlands, with more than 200 hectares of tea. The company exports tea products to Taiwan and China. Think a minute...A lady was waiting for her flight at the airport, so she bought a small bag of cookies to eat while reading the newspaper. Gradually she became aware of someone else reaching into the package of cookies. Looking from behind her paper, she was shocked to see a well-dressed man taking some of her cookies! She did not want to say anything, so she just leaned over and took a cookie herself. A minute or so later she could not believe her eyes as this man took yet another one of her cookies. In fact, by now almost all of the cookies were gone! Finally, as if to add insult to injury, this man broke the last cookie in two and handed half of it back to her. Then he ate his half and walked away. Now she was angrier than ever! In fact, she was still mad later when boarding her plane. She opened her handbag for her ticket and was shocked to see her own package of cookies she had never even opened. At that moment she realized that earlier she had been eating the other mans cookies, not her own! Yet even though she was wrong, the man was so generous and kind he let her take his cookies. She was terribly embarrassed and ashamed that she had judged him. She had been completely blind to her own pride, assuming she was right when in fact she was the one who was wrong. This also blinded her to this mans kindness to her. Sadly, we all have judged other people, even when we were the ones who were wrong. We think we see everybody elses faults and weaknesses clearly, but we are blind to our own! We think we know much more than we actually do. Like the little girl who said to her father: Daddy, I know everything! Her father replied: Oh, really? And how do you know that? She answered: Well, I thought and I thought and I thoughtand I cant think of anything I dont know! Sadly that is what we adults do when we judge other peopleeven though we have many things wrong with our own character, relationships and life. Today, wont you ask the only true, perfect Judge to forgive you for your sinful pride that is blinding you to your own character faults and wrong way of living? Only Jesus can help you start changing and becoming the truly honest and compassionate person He created you to be. A person who loves and forgives others just as He has forgiven you. Just think a minute Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland 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 Chinese police have arrested nine men for trafficking 108 Vietnamese workers to illegally take jobs in Guangdong, a southeastern Chinese province. At the end of February, Chinese police received information about a plan to smuggle a group of Vietnamese into China to work as cheap labor in factories in Guangdong and Fujian provinces. Photo: China Youth Daily Each of the workers had to pay the gang between $90 and $150 in handling and transport fees. One of those arrested said he was paid $450 to transport a group of 29 of the 108 trafficked workers to Guangdong. A 40-year-old Vietnamese man said he was promised about $460 per month to work in a factory in Guangdong - three times the pay for a similar job in Vietnam. According to the Guangdong border force, in the first quarter of this year about 2,300 suspects and 59 organizations involved in 34 illegal immigration cases were arrested, up 13 percent compared to the same period last year. Dover, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2016 -- Bio Vanillin Market Size is likely to grow due to the increase in biotechnologically derived flavors and fragrances by end-use industries such as food & beverages, cosmetics and pharmaceutical. Vanillin market size was estimated at more than 15,000 tons in 2014 and is likely to grow at CAGR of more than 4.5% up to 2023. Browse Latest Industry Research Report on Global Bio Vanillin Market: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/bio-vanillin-market Food & beverages industry was the dominant consumer and accounted for more than 50% of the total volume in 2013. Fragrances were the second largest consuming segment and are likely to witness steady growth rates over the forecast period. Stable bio vanillin market price trend should see strong industry penetration. Asia Pacific bio vanillin market size dominated regional demand with China comprising of more than 50% of the total production in the region. Asia Pacific is also likely to witness highest gains over the forecast period owing to growth in food & beverages and pharmaceutical industries in countries such as China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. Europe was the second largest region and is likely to witness moderate gains over the forecast period. Get Detail TOC: https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/upcoming-detail/343 Three major manufacturing methods currently serve market commercialization. The first one is the natural vanilla extract from vanilla beans, the second one is being the petrochemical process (guaiacol derived) and the third one is the lignin obtained from wood pulping process. Approximately 1,500 tons of vanillin was produced from lignin which is priced higher and marketed as premium product in contrast to the petrochemical derived product. Successful degradation of lignin through bacteria (Rhodococcus jostii RHA1) is carried out to extract useful components. This technology is successfully implemented on a commercial scale and is manufactured by Borregaard which manufactures vanillin derived from lignin from spruce tree through sulfite pulping method. Currently, less than 1% of the lignin market is used for vanillin manufacturing. Lignin is an abundant natural resource and can be explored or obtained from other sources such as straw, leaves, stems, cereals, vegetable and fruits. Guaiacol-derived vanillin market is hard to compete and has many characteristics of a commodity. It sells at a lower price with little product differentiation and producers have well established cost structures with regards to resellers and distributing agents in the regional and international market. It would be difficult for biotechnology based source to compete with already existing companies with their well established marketing structure. Bio vanillin market size can benefit by being marketed as a premium product segment in which the companies could gain higher profit margins. The premium product can help in product differentiation and can help to cater the under-served markets such as premium/luxury food, beverages and perfumes. EU and US food legislation recognizes product as natural when it is derived from microbial fermentation of natural precursors. In this case, bio vanillin is accepted as natural by US and EU food legislation. Also in Canada, novel foods derived by means of biotechnology must be approved by Health Canada for being safe for humans, animals and environment. Vanillin obtained from lignin is considered as novel food as it satisfies Canada's regulatory requirements. Most of the biotechnological approaches for synthesis are based on biological conversion of certain natural materials such as ferulic acid, lignin, eugenol & isoeugenol using micro-organisms such as fungi, bacteria and yeast to be production hosts. Micro-organisms and fermentation ingredients which are imparted GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status by the U.S. FDA are preferred. Vanillin products derived from different biotechnological process are marketed over the past few years. Rhovanil was the first commercial product obtained through fermentation process by ferulic acid bioconversion process. De Monchy Aromatics markets exturmeric which is obtained from curcumin. Sense Capture is produced through bioconversion of eugenol and is marketed by Mane. Bio vanillin market share has potential for a premium as green product specifically in North America and Europe. Consumers in these regions are getting aware about the health hazards from petrochemical derived products and are increasing relying on natural or bio derived products. It also provides a huge opportunity for growth in Asia Pacific market as countries such as China and India are witnessing population expansion and growth in per-capital disposable income. About Global Market Insights Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2016 -- Here is an exciting news for citizens of the Republic of Belarus who want to visit Vietnam. The Vietnamese government is now allowing free entrance visa to Vietnam for them. This facility will be available regardless of their types of passports or their purposes of entry, points out Visa-Vietnam.org. But the sojourn of Belarus citizens who visit Vietnam using this facility should not exceed 15 days. This means that the duration will be counted from the date of their entry into Vietnam. Of course, these visitors should meet all the other conditions that have been laid down in the Vietnam's law, says Visa-Vietnam.org. The order announcing this facility has been issued by the government of Vietnam vide their Resolution No. 39/NQ-CP dated on June 1, 2015. Visa-Vietnam.org that provides services pertaining to Vietnam Visas on Arrival takes pride in pointing out that they always make it a point to offer very quick services. They are aware that speed is the essence especially in this field, thanks to the fast-paced lifestyle people are forced to live these days. The company encourages those who wish to get visa for Vietnam to avail the services they offer because apart from being available at highly reasonable costs, their services will save the time and effort of these customers. This means that those who wish to visit Vietnam need not visit or chase down the embassies for obtaining Vietnam Visas and waste their time. Likewise, they need not send their passports also for getting their Vietnam visas. They can just board their plane that is bound for Vietnam and after they arrive at a Vietnam airport, they can show the email confirmation they have got from them and collect their visa to Vietnam, says Visa-Vietnam.org. The company says they also announce offers from time to time for the benefit of their customers. For example, their "frequently member" offer is quite popular among customers because those who visit the country more number of times and quite often will get great discounts on their service charges. Another noteworthy offer that has been designed specifically for the corporates will benefit agencies, teachers, students and tourists of similar types. These visitors will get discount of flat 26% on the service charges, asserts the company. The company further says that their popularity stems from the fact that they have created excellent systems that can make the lives of their customers easy and simple. This means these customers will not face any issues for obtaining their Vietnam Visas on arrival. Those who want very speedy services can choose the RUSH services they offer also. Customers have several easy and fool-proof payments option that include those via PayPal.com, Gate2shop.Com and OnePay.Vn. Visa-Vietnam.org assures customers that they will protect their private information by taking all the required steps. About Visa-Vietnam.org The Vietnamese government is now allowing free entrance visa to the citizens of the Republic of Belarus who want to visit Vietnam This facility will be available regardless of their passport types or their purposes of entry, points out Visa-Vietnam.org, that provides services pertaining to Vietnam Visas on arrival. But the sojourn of Belarus citizens who visit Vietnam using this facility should not exceed 15 days. This means that the duration will be counted from the date of their entry into Vietnam. Of course, these visitors should meet all the conditions that have been laid down in the Vietnam's laws. For Media Contact: https://www.visa-vietnam.org/free-visa-entrance-vietnam-for-citizens-of-belarus info@visa-vietnam.org Address: Room A2, 64 Nguyen Dinh Chieu street, Dakao ward, district 1, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Phone: +848 54043118 New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2016 -- Scale inhibitor or antiscalants are chemical materials used in manufacturing industry to reduce or to check the formation of scale. Scale inhibitors are extensively used in various industries that include power generation plants, mining & construction, water & waste water treatment, oil & gas, food & beverage, and various environmental protection industries. The amount of formation of scale precipitate depends mainly on the temperature, operational pressure, water incongruity and mineral content within the water. Scales are the precipitates formed on surfaces of the various machinery and equipment that comes under regular contact with water. Scales are normally water-soluble precipitation solids that become fully or partially insoluble when the overall temperature increases. Oil and gas industry is one of the major end user of scale inhibitors. The water used in oil and gas industries is chemically treated with scale inhibitors such as phosphonates, to reduce or check the scale formation on machineries and equipment that are used during various production stages of oil and gas such as production wells, water and disposal wells, flowlines and surface equipment. On the basis of various chemical properties associated with scale inhibitors, the global inhibitor market is broadly categorized in four segments namely phosphonate scale inhibitor, carboxylate/acrylic scale inhibitor, sulfonate scale inhibitor, and other scale inhibitor. Based on the various end user applications, the scale inhibitor market is broadly categorized under power & construction industry, mining industry, oil & gas industry, water and wastewater treatment industry, food and beverage industry, and others. Phosphonate scale inhibitor is one of the most popular and extensively used scale inhibitors in various industries including food and beverages industry. It grasped the highest market share in 2013. Water & waste water treatment is one of the largest and fasted growing end user applications of the scale inhibitor market. The growing waste water treatment plants and upcoming government projects towards water and waste water treatment, such as India's Namami Gange projects, coupled with rising potable water demand, due to ongoing surge in urbanization in emerging markets such as China and India is expected to drive the demand in water & water treatment sector of the market. Interested in report: Please follow the below the links to meet your requirements; Request for the Report Brochure: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3532 North America is the largest market of scale inhibitors followed by Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Together, these three regions accounted for around 80% of the total scale inhibitors market. Country wise, the U.S. is the largest market of scale inhibitors in world. China, Japan and India are leading market in Asia Pacific. Rest of the World (RoW) that includes the Middle East, South America and Africa is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecasted period. Brazil and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are two of the fasted growing regional market of scale inhibitor in RoW. Request TOC (table of content), Figures and Tables of the Report: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3532 Some of the major companies operating in global scale inhibitor market include, Clariant International Ltd., Kemira Chemicals Inc., Ge Power & Water Process Technologies, BASF SE., Solvay Rhodia, Bwa Water Additives., Ecolab (Nalco Champion)., Akzonobel Oilfield Ashland Inc., Cytec Industries Inc., The Dow Chemical Company., Gulf Coast Chemical Llc., Henkel Ag & Co. and Innospec. For more Info: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/contact-us.asp Key points covered in the report 1) Report segments the market on the basis of types, application, products, technology, etc (as applicable) 2) The report covers geographic segmentation North America Europe Asia RoW 3) The report provides the market size and forecast for the different segments and geographies for the period of 2010 to 2020 4) The report provides company profiles of some of the leading companies operating in the market 5) The report also provides porters five forces analysis of the market. About Persistence Market Research Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients' business needs. PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients' business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMR's engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values. New Delhi, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2016 -- Rakhi.Primogiftsindia.com, a web portal providing a vast selection of Rakhi and gifts online, today announced free shipping to send Rakhi to Canada. This comes as good news for everyone who has their brothers settled in Canada. They are now able to send beautiful Rakhi to Canada in a hassle-free and inexpensive way, expressing their love and warm wishes on the festival of Raksha Bandhan. Furthermore, the company has also added new products in its range, providing a wide range of choice to its customers. Raksha Bandhan, or Rakhi, is one of the most-awaited festivals of the Hindus, situated at any corner of the world. The festival celebrates siblinghood the eternal bond and pure love that brothers and sisters share among them. On this day, sisters tie Rakhi on the wrists of their brothers and wish for their good health and well-being. Brothers, on the other hand, vow to protect their sisters from all evils of life. This is a festival when the entire family comes together and celebrates on traditional customs, sweets, gifts and delicious food. Unfortunately, there are many brothers who have to live in Canada for higher studies, work or business. For them, it is not always possible to visit their sisters and celebrate this auspicious occasion. Rakhi.Primogiftsindia.com was designed to let every brother and sister celebrate Raksha Bandhan, irrespective of geographical boundaries and time limitations. This is a great opportunity for every sister who has their brothers living in Canada as they are now able to send Rakhi to Canada online. They do not have to rely on courier services anymore, most of which do not provide international shipping to Canada or do not promise delivery on time. They can now order beautiful Rakhis and gifts online and send them to their brothers in Canada. Furthermore, the Rakhi web portal now provides free shipping to Canada which means that buyers do not have to pay any additional money as delivery charges. As quoted by a spokesperson from the website, "By providing free shipping to Canada, we are expecting to double our sales this year. We understand how important Raksha Bandhan is for Hindu brothers and sisters around the world. Therefore, we do not want geographical boundaries to spoil the spirit of the festival. With us, people can send Rakhi to Canada for free and get them delivered right at doorstep." The website has also added a number of new products, including Rakhi and gifts online. Rakhi hampers and Rakhi combos are best selling products at Rakhi.Primogiftsindia.com, where beautiful Rakhis are complimented with dry fruits, chocolates, cakes, flowers, sweets, cards and more to make the perfect Raksha Bandhan gift. For more information, visit http://rakhi.primogiftsindia.com/send-rakhi-canada-29.html. About Rakhi.Primogiftsindia.com Rakhi.Primogiftsindia.com is an initiative of Primo Gifts India that lets people celebrate the festival of Raksha Bandhan and send Rakhi to Canada, India and other parts of the world. Contact: Address: P11, 2nd Floor, Mayur Vihar, Phase 1, New Delhi Phone: +91-8510934032 Email: info@primogiftsindia.com Website: http://www.primogiftsindia.com According to a multinational team of scientists, Homo floresiensis a primitive hominin species discovered in the Late Pleistocene sediments at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia may have met their demise earlier than once believed. The team, headed by Dr. Thomas Sutikna from the University of Wollongong in Australia and the Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional in Indonesia, challenges reports that Homo floresiensis co-existed with anatomically modern humans for tens of thousands of years. The scientists found problems with prior dating efforts at the cave site of Liang Bua. They measured the amount of uranium and thorium inside Homo floresiensis fossils, and found that the youngest age for this species is around 50,000 years ago, not between 13,000 and 11,000 years as initially claimed. In fact, Homo floresiensis seems to have disappeared soon after our species reached Flores, suggesting it was us who drove them to extinction, said team member Dr. Maxime Aubert, of Griffith University and the University of Wollongong. The science is unequivocal. The youngest skeletal remains of Homo floresiensis occur at 60,000 years ago but evidence for their simple stone tools continues until 50,000 years ago. After this there are no more traces of these humans. It was thought that a population of Homo floresiensis lived on Flores until about 12,000 years ago. But the site of Liang Bua is large and complex and the original excavators dug only a tiny portion of it. Years of further excavation has led to a much clearer understanding of the order of archaeological layers. It is now evident that when the original team collected samples for dating the main layer containing Homo floresiensis bones they mistakenly took them from an overlying layer that is similar in composition, but far younger. This problem has now been resolved and the newly published dates provide a more reliable estimate of the antiquity of this species, Dr. Aubert said. But the mystery of what happened to these creatures remains. Homo floresiensis are likely to have inhabited other Flores caves which may yield more recent signs of their existence, said team member Dr. Adam Brumm, also from Griffith University and the University of Wollongong. Whether they survived after 50,000 years ago potentially encountering modern humans on Flores or other hominins dispersing through Southeast Asia, such as Denisovans is an open question, the scientists said. The results were published online today in the journal Nature. _____ Thomas Sutikna et al. Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia. Nature, published online March 30, 2016; doi: 10.1038/nature17179 [MANILA] To help local farmers in the fight against poverty, 23-year old Rachel de Villa co-founded an agritech startup that recently earned her a spot on Forbes inaugural 30 under 30 list in Asia. Cropital, the organisation she established with two other young Filipinos, serves as a crowdfunding platform to provide poor farmers access to scalable and sustainable financing, giving the countrys sluggish agriculture sector a needed lift. Institutions in the United States, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and the Philippines are supporting the organisation, which provides investors the opportunity to improve the lives of farmers while growing their (the investors) money and gaining a return through a net profit sharing scheme. Returns are gained in less than six months and range from 3-30 per cent. Says De Villa about her inclusion in Forbes new Asia list of top promising young leaders aged 30 and below from different fields: I am ultimately most grateful for the selection because it brings more attention to Cropital and our mission to serve farmers in the Philippines and around the world through sustainable financing. Fundraising platform for farmers De Villa, a software engineer and Cropitals chief technology officer, believes the attention came at the right time as the firm was on a new round of fundraising, this time for Napier farms which convert biomass to fuel as a source of renewable energy. Weve raised more than one million pesos (US$21,590) through 150 farm investors from around the world. We are now able to secure jobs for more than 20 farmers in the next five years and grow clean and renewable energy, she tells SciDev.Net. The funded farmers, she adds, have responded with gratitude: A few of the farmers find it hard to believe that a genuine pro-farmer organisation like Cropital exists. They consider being part of it a privilege. The inspiration for the organisation, says De Villa, was a result of a brainstorming session with Cropital co-founders Ruel Amparo and Everett Ubiadas. When one of them, who owns a farm in Bulacan province, had to finance it himself after graduating from college, the three friends realised that a lack of funds was a major problem among local farmers and a key reason they remained poor. Saturnina Halos, chair at the Biotechnology Advisory Team of the Philippines Department of Agriculture, explains that most farmers in the country are in need of funding and borrow capital to grow their crops. "About 80 per cent of the 400,000 GM corn farmers borrow capital from individual financiers. Only about 20,000 farmers of the 11 million agri-fishery workers access the agricultural credit from the various government credit programs annually. They have almost no access to government credit because this loan goes through the banking sector and farmers do not have the knowledge and trust in the banking system," Halos tells SciDev.Net. She adds that most often these farmers do not have the equity nor patience nor appreciation of the paper work involved in securing loans. De Villa says a farmers average income is only US$43 per month, pushing the majority of them below the poverty line. According to the World Bank, the agriculture sector employs 47 per cent of the workforce but accounts for only 12 per cent of the gross domestic product. Two-thirds of the poor are engaged in the agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors, live in rural areas and have an elementary school education or less, according to 2013 official statistics. With young people moving to urban areas and shifting away from farming, the average age of Filipino farmers is now at 57, creating an additional issue for the future of local food production. This reality of Philippine agriculture is unacceptable. Cropital aims to change this, De Villa clarifies her motivation of starting the crowdfunding platform. From idea to conception, Cropital was born in five months. Looking back and forward De Villa admits she was surprised at the early success of the company, which was able to raise US$10,800in just three days after its launch, fully funding Cropitals initial five farmers in Laguna province. She explains that the primary goal of investors, whose minimum monetary commitment is US$108, is not to earn a substantial return but to help local farmers. Jocelyn Labios, assistant dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of the Philippines Los Banos explains to SciDev.Net that cooperatives and farmers' organisations are crucial for farmers in securing loans as their chances for funding are enhanced when organised into associations rather than applying for loans individually. Those most affected, she adds, are small rice farmers in the Southern Luzon region, who count among the poorest. So far, Cropital has faced some roadblocks in terms of market, weather and harvest uncertainties and other risks associated with farming but will soon be able to reward the first round of investors with a profit. By next year, Cropital will have launched more than ten pilot projects, providing employment and improving the lives of more than 300 farmers, De Villa says. A number of the pilot projects will by then be deemed mature enough for scaling. We plan on raising around US$216,000 for the pilot projects and farms. De Villas five-year plan includes continuing to grow Cropital into a household brand within the Philippines and expanding it in the ASEAN region, providing financing and agricultural services and support to farmers. She hopes that in this period, Cropital will be supporting thousands of farmers around South-East Asia who will be matched with established contract buyers, efficient production systems and weather resilience technology. The focus of the enterprise will then shift more towards ensuring food security for certain countries in the ASEAN region. We aim for a world where farmers are dignified and empowered and no longer live in debt, she explains. We aim to give farmers the life they have always deserved. This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk. [JAKARTA] Indonesias multi-million-dollar funding scheme to boost science and technology is finally under way, marking a milestone for the countrys scientific development following decades of poor infrastructure support. Funding multi-year research programmes is essential for Indonesias scientific advancement. By Muhandis Shiddiq, post-doctoral student The Indonesian Science Fund (ISF), established under a recent decree of President Joko Widodo, will earmark around US$60 million a year to fund 200 research proposals. The ISF will grant US$100,000 for each successful research proposal, similar to the practice of the US National Science Foundation which allots around US$200,000 per research grant. This year, an initial US$10 million was allocated, the ISF announced Wednesday. The main aim of the ISF is to create the right scientific culture in Indonesia. It means that well focus on frontier research rather than on applied ones, Sangkot Marzuki, president of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI), tells SciDev.Net. The ISF is expected to bridge the gap for financing scientific research in Indonesia. The national budget for science and technology is only 0.08 per cent, compared to the science budgets of Asian economic giant and research powerhouse South Korea (3.7 per cent) and Indonesian neighbours Singapore (2 per cent) and Malaysia (1.13 per cent). Indonesias limited national budget flows through tangled branches of government agencies prone to corruption practices, resulting in the poor performance of science and technology in the country. Research funding has been so rigid, which is not compatible with scientific research culture. Because of that, no one can have a career as a good scientist in Indonesia, Marzuki says. He explains: The money really depends on our national budget that has a one-year cycle. For example, the budget is released in March and the scientists must make a report in October. What kind of scientific research is done in less than a one-year period? The AIPI collaborated with Indonesias ministries of finance and national development planning as well as international partners the US Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Science and the United Kingdoms Newton Fund to create the ISF, a funding body independent from the government bureaucracy. Marzuki says the ISF research proposals will be reviewed by the AIPI as well as scientific bodies abroad such as the UKs Medical Research Council. The first funding source of the ISF will be from the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education, a programme under the finance ministry. Funds will also be raised from the private sector and international donors. The ISF is also the result of US science diplomacy with Indonesia. During Widodos US state visit in October 2015, the ISF was cited in his joint statement with US President Barack Obama as the centrepiece of US-Indonesia scientific collaboration. Muhandis Shiddiq, an Indonesian post-doctoral student whose research on quantum computing was just published in Nature, notes the ISF is like fresh air for Indonesias scientific community. He also calls the ISF a giant leap: Funding multi-year research programmes is essential for Indonesias scientific advancement and I am sure many Indonesian scientists will be grateful for this. This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk. Vietnams National Assembly (NA) has passed a resolution, allowing Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung to step down today. Chairman of National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung. - Photo: Giang Huy He will, however, remain in the post until tomorrow, when a new chairperson is expected to be selected. The Politburo has recommended Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan for the position of NAs new chairperson. If elected, she will become the first chairwoman of the NA. Hung took the leadership of the 12th National Assembly in 2011. The NAs delegates had recommended Hung together with President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to be re-elected at the 12th National Congress held last January but he decided to withdraw. Hung was born in 1946 in the central province of Nghe An. He held the post of minister of finance and deputy prime minister before becoming chairman of the NA. HARTSVILLE, S.C. The City of Hartsville has been named one of 20 finalists for the 2016 All-America City Award. Representatives of the 20 finalist cities from across the country will convene this summer in Denver, Colorado, to compete in the final round. The award will be presented to the 10 communities that best exemplify the awards criteria: >> Civic engagement and collaboration >> Inclusiveness and diversity >> Innovation, and impact and vision. This years award spotlights initiatives focused on ensuring that all children are healthy and supported to succeed in school and life, according to a City of Hartsville release. "The City of Hartsville and the greater community have focused on these key areas in the last few years with numerous community programs," said the release. The Citys application highlighted several organizations and initiatives whose mission it is to support local children and their families through quality of life improvements. Emphasis was placed on collaborative efforts between private and public institutions and local non-profits, said the release. "The City of Hartsvilles Historic Butler District Neighborhood Revitalization Plan was also integral to the success of this application," the release said. "This plan further exemplifies the collaboration and partnerships that the community forges in order to enhance all aspects of the city. Under this plan, several projects have been put in place in order to improve this area of the city." The announcements as a All-American City finalist also comes as Hartsville celebrates the 20th anniversary of its first All-America City award, received in 1996. Nearly ten thousand children sexually abused in the last 5 years About 90 percent of child abusers are those supposed to take care of children, including teachers, neighbors, relatives, parents acquaintances, or even parents themselves, according to Ministry of Public Security. On March 26, the public was shocked by the news of a school guard who sexually abused more than 30 girls aged five to ten, some for as long as two years. The guard from the mountainous province of Lao Cai used candy to lure his victims into a classroom, where he abused them, The 35-year-old guard has been arrest for child abuse. Photo by Thanh Tuan Soon after, popular entertainer Minh Beo was arrested in the U.S. on charges of child sexual abuse. Ironically, Minh Beo is known for his charity programs that help disadvantaged children. Child abuse cases were on the rise in the 2011-2015 period, with nearly 10,000 reported cases, among which sexual assault accounted for 65 percent (about 5,500 cases), according to Ministry of Public Security. The above figure, however, reflects only a fraction of the actual scale of the problem as many cases are unreported. There are many cases of very young children consistently raped over a long period of time. They make up over 28 percent of the total number sexual abuse cases," said Ho Sy Tien, director of Criminal Investigation Department. The problem has escalated with the rapid development of social media. Pedophiles have taken advantage of the platform to befriend and then abuse children to circulate child pornography. According to a survey conducted by UNICEF in Vietnam, about 50 percent of respondents, aged between 10 and 18, have seen pornographic content on the internet by accident. With about 31 percent of Vietnams population using Facebook, the risk of abuse coming from parents sharing their childrens pictures on the site has been alarming, the Ministry said. Dao Hong Lan, deputy minister of labor, invalids and social affairs said that parents should be careful when posting their childrens pictures on social media or forums. Parents should only allow children to use phones with messaging and call functions (not the smart ones) to minimize the risk of abuse, she added. The Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Court sentenced three women to prison for anti-state propaganda at a trial on March 30, Vietnam Plus reports. Ngo Thi Minh Uoc, 57, Nguyen Thi Tri, 58, and Nguyen Thi Be Hai, 58, were charged with making, storing and distributing anti-state documents. They were found guilty of anti-state propaganda as stipulated in Article 88 of the Penal Code. Ngo Thi Minh Uoc from Tien Giang province was received a four year and three month prison sentence. The three-month imprisonment was given in another verdict by the Peoples Court of southern Binh Phuoc province. She will be under surveillance in residence for three years. Uoc also has two previous convictions for intentionally causing injuries and disturbing public order. Tri, from Binh Duong province) and Hai (from Tay Ninh province), will be jailed for three years and under surveillance at their places of residence for two years. The imprisonment is effective from July 7, 2014. At the trial, Uoc said she made over 50 anti-state flags and many banners that were used at a demonstration in early July 2014. According to the indictment, police of Ben Thanh ward in HCM Citys District 1 arrested Uoc, Tri and Hai on the morning of July 7, 2014 while waving flags that "were not Vietnams national flag" and chanting anti-state slogans in Ho Chi Minh city center. The three defendants said they were not incited by anyone. Police searched their houses and seized a number of exhibits with anti-Party and state content. Uoc, Tri and Hai repeatedly gathered to spread anti-state messages after their land-related claims in Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong and Dong Thap provinces were not resolved as they had wanted. They were previously involved in many "illegal demonstrations" in HCM City and were fined for disturbing public order. However, they refused to pay the fines and continued the infringements. Vietnam's National Assembly's Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan attends the opening ceremony of the Spring Session of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Vietnam in Hanoi March 21, 2016. : Reuters The current legislature will soon be voting to fill key leadership positions, and 62-year-old Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan is strongly favored to become the first female chairperson of Vietnams National Assembly. The position will become vacant when the current office-holder, Nguyen Sinh Hung, steps down later today. Ngan is a member of the current nineteen-member Politburo, and has been a member of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party for four consecutive working terms. She was also the former head of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. She has received the highest rating in the National Assemblys annual vote of confidence in two consecutive years, winning "high confidence" votes from about 75 percent of legislators in 2013 and nearly 80 percent in 2014. Vietnam normally selects its new leaders, including the Prime Minister, President and leader of the National Assembly, after the public elects a new legislature. The incoming parliament would then vote on the leadership positions. This year, however, it has abandoned this tradition to install a new leadership and cabinet three months early. Vietnamese fishermen in custody after being caught fishing in Thai waters March 30, 2016 | 03:35 am PT Vietnams Embassy in Thailand is working with local authorities to ensure Vietnamese fishermen who were caught fishing illegally last week will be treated according to local and international laws. On March 25, the Thai navy seized seven Vietnamese boats and 38 fishermen operating near Koh Kra Island, around 55 kilometers off the coast of the southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, local media reports. They were accused of infringing Thai waters and were taken into custody near Songkhla Naval Base. Vietnam's ambassador to Thailand, Nguyen Tat Thanh, has verified the information, according to Vietnam News. He added that the fishermen were from southern provinces, including Kien Giang, Tien Giang and Ca Mau. The embassy has set up a hotline to communicate with the prison in Songkhla and the fishermen. All the detained men are under the legal protection of the embassy. The Embassy wants to ensure that all the arrested Vietnamese fishermen are treated well, and in line with international practice, international law and the laws of Thailand, Thanh said. According to the Thai authorities, the fishermen could face trial soon and the verdict would be announced in due course. Ambassador Thanh urged Vietnamese fishermen to be careful and avoid straying into Thailand and other countries waters, as this violated international rules and carried a high risk of arrest. In November last year, 14 Vietnamese fishermen from the southern province of Ca Mau were bailed out by their families after nearly two months behind bars in Songkhla for fishing in Thai waters. The situation is repeated in the east Aegean island ports of Lesvos, Samos and Kos as the flow of boat people from Turkey to Greece, and until a few weeks back possibly to wider Europe, continues unabated bringing into question Greek compliance with the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. It is mandatory and signs secured to fences around Greek ports declare the ports are in compliance. The smooth working of Greek ports are vital to the countrys struggling economy and with the Greek Easter holiday just a month away, marking the beginning of the much heralded tourist season, concern is growing over not only security, but overall safety, in a large part of many port areas. The whole port of Piraeus is in a mess, with the approaching seasonal problem for passengers, truck drivers and the refugees, something has to be done quickly, said a passenger ship agent. Indeed, islanders are already suffering and the agent says unless the Shipping ministry does something the tourist season will be lost. European leaders have come up with a plan to control the flow of refugees and migeant which most people directly involved believe will not work. The plan is based around the EU resettling one refugee directly from Turkey for every refugee that crosses the Aegean and arrives in Greece and to become operable will entail a huge amount of legal and technical work for Greek authorities. The countrys asylum service will have to be overhauled immediately, starting with the recognition of Turkey as a safe third country, which would allow asylum seekers to be returned there from Greece. Legislation would also have to change so that asylum applications are processed within days rather than months, as is the case now. At the same time, Greece will have to remove all the refugees and migrants currently on its islands and take them to camps on the mainland, meaning some 9,000 people will have to be transferred immediately. With Greeces neighbours closing their borders movement north is blocked. The Athens government has to set up a system to register and process any new arrivals on the islands and examine their asylum applications. Each person applying for asylum will have to be interviewed as part of the process and each application examined separately. The arrivals will have the right to appeal if their asylum claim is rejected a process requiring hundreds of public servants and other personnel to be stationed on the islands. Also, there will be Turkish observers on the islands to ensure the refugees sent back have traveled from Turkey in the first place. Meanwhile, the cost of managing the migrant crisis in Greece will exceed a previous estimate of EUR600m ($670m) says Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras. Press Release March 30, 2016 Bam on the $81M Hearing: Nakakahiya sa Bangladesh Transcript of the Ambush Interview after the Senate Hearing Q: There seems to be growing frustration on your end. You're the only Senator before Sen. Koko Pimentel spoke that really focused your attention on how to get the money back. It's all about trying to dissect what happened and who is involved but to you, it's really about getting the Bangladeshi people's money back. Sen. Bam Aquino: That's right. In fact, in all of the hearings, the ambassador of Bangladesh is there. To be frank, nakakahiya that we talk about everything but we're not talking enough about how to get them the 81-million US dollars back. I don't think the previous hearings were able to cover where exactly the money is currently. Earlier, we found out that there is discrepancy in the testimony of Kim Wong and Philrem on the cash that was given out. At the same time, we found out that some of the money was actually still in the casinos through their junket operators. We're hoping to get to the bottom of this and if we can actually get that money back for Bangladesh. Q: What's your reaction to what the AMLC said about getting information before they file a freeze order to the court of appeals? Isn't that putting a lot of layers to the bureaucracy when at this minute we have Kim Wong saying I can just give you the money and bring it to the BSP for safe keeping. Sen. Bam Aquino: Exactly. Many of these questions have not been asked and I understand that the focus would be the Filipino actors who were part of this scam. But I think, first and foremost, we should focus on securing the money, making sure it's intact, and giving it back to the people of Bangladesh. Can you imagine if that happened to the Philippines, if 81-million dollars of our money was stolen elsewhere? The first thing we would want to ensure is that it gets back to our own treasury. I think the minimum that we need to do is to go through AMLC, go through the motion, and ensure that whatever money is found is held and eventually returned to Bangladesh. Q: Do you feel that we have the moral obligation not only to investigate the matter but really return the money to the Bangladeshi people? Sen. Bam Aquino: Yes, yes. Definitely. And hopefully everyone will cooperate. If Eastern Hawaii through Kim Wong is willing to cooperate, that's great. Hopefully, we get to the bottom of how much cash was given out because currently it's a contradictory story of how much was encashed and how much was given to Kim Wong and Weikang Xu. If there is Bangladesh money in our casinos then maybe our casinos can also cooperate and be willing to return the money without going through a lengthy court procedure. AMLC said it is within the powers of the current laws to get the money and eventually file civil forfeiture cases against those involved. But I hope we don't reach that. If the money is still there and if it can still be returned, we should return it at the soonest possible time. Q: We've already proven that the bank accounts are fictitious so what is there for the bank secrecy law to protect? Sen. Bam Aquino: Exactly. That was the subject of the first part of the hearing and Sen. Osmena was very frustrated with the answers given to him regarding the bank secrecy law specially considering that these are fictitious accounts and, more or less, it has been established that the money came from a theft or a heist. So the Senate lawyers are looking into this further. Of course, it's the position of the bank right now that even if it's fictitious, you can't disclose any of these amounts but definitely the committee and our offices are looking into this further. Q: 3rd day of the hearing, who are you most likely to believe at this point? Well, we don't want to pre-judge. We're often accused of pre-judging everyone. But if you listen to the hearings, it's becoming clear that this could not have been perpetrated by just one person. I don't want to talk about guilt or innocence at this point but definitely you need a lot more people and a lot of moving parts to get this to happen. Whether they're guilty of theft, money laundering, or negligence, that's something we will uncover in the next few hearings. And AMLC is doing a parallel process to go after the people who perpetrated this crime. Press Release March 30, 2016 NANCY'S TAX RELIEF BILL FOR PWDs NOW SIGNED INTO LAW Senator Nancy Binay lauds the passage of a tax relief bill she authored for people with disabilities, exempting them from 12 percent value added tax (VAT) on goods and other services. President Aquino signed Republic Act No. 10754 (Senate Bill No. 2890) that granted tax benefits for persons with disabilities (PWDs), providing 12 percent VAT exemption on certain goods and services, last March 24. "It is high time that the government must recognize and continue to promote the welfare of people with disabilities to empower them as individuals in our society. I believe that such tax benefits will make a great impact in easing their financial burden, especially with costs associated with their needs," Senator Binay said. The lady senator added that more than 1.5 million people with disabilities are said to benefit from this tax relief. In 2010, the Census on Population and Housing estimated the PWD population in the country at 1.43 million. Under Republic Act No. 7277, also known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, PWDs are provided a 20 percent discount on medicines, medical and dental services, hospital and laboratory fees, local transport fares, restaurants, hotels, theaters and even educational assistance. Senator Binay said that RA 10754's 12 percent tax exemption gives additional support to RA 7277's 20 percent VAT discount. "Alam natin na mayroong mga espesyal na pangangailangan ang ating PWDs para sa kanilang kundisyon. Malaki ang maitutulong natin sa kanila kapag, kahit papaano ay, maawasan natin ang kanilang mga gastusin sa pangaraw-araw," the lady senator said. Since she was elected, Senator Binay has always advocated the needs of marginalized sectors like women, children, and most especially, PWDS. Among the bills she authored for people with disabilities in the Senate are Senate Bill No.2519, An act improving access of persons with disability to public and private facilities; and Senate Resolutions No. 453, a Senate resolution providing sign language interpreters in Senate sessions and committee hearings with the intention of improving information dissemination to PWDs with hearing impairment, and Senate Resolution No. 374, a resolution expressing full support and active participation to the observance of International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Press Release March 30, 2016 GUINGONA PANEL RECOVERS A PART OF BANGALADESH MONEY IN 3RD BLUE RIBBON HEARING AT THE conclusion of the third public hearing on the $81-M money laundering case, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman, Senator Teofisto "TG" Guingona III, has announced that "a portion of the loot long considered gone and spirited away was effectively recovered." According to Guingona, casino junket operator Kam Sin Wong, alias "Kim Wong," is willing to return his share in the stolen funds, foremost of which is the $4.63 million cash that he allegedly picked up from the house of PhilRem owners Michael and Salud Bautista. "At least there is a positive development; we can give back $4.63 million. I talked to Mr. Kim a while ago, during the break, and he is willing to make arrangements to his lawyers to turn over the cash to the AMLC," Guingona announced during the hearing. Wong also vowed to return the P450 million of the P1 billion that he got as Gao's debt payment. At that time, Wong claimed he was not aware that it was part of the money stolen from the Central Bank of Bangladesh. The junket operator said he is willing to sell his properties to raise the amount. Another P107 million may also be recovered for the Bangladesh government after Solaire has made a quick move to freeze the account of a certain Ding Zhize. The said amount is part of the P1.365 billion credited to Ding's account in Solaire. "Once Wong has handed in the $4.63 million cash, it's up to the Central Bank and the Anti-Money Laundering Council to turn over the cash to the Bangladeshi authorities. . . We are able to return a certain amount which, presumably, would not have been unearthed had we not had these hearings," Guingona added. Press Release March 30, 2016 Leaders of NUP-One Cebu Party in 4th district of Cebu endorse VP bid of Sen. Marcos Leaders of the National Unity Party (NUP) in the fourth district of Cebu, who are also members of the One Cebu party, today formally endorsed the vice presidential bid of Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. In a gathering of NUP-One Cebu leaders and supporters at the municipality of Bantayan, Cebu 4th District Rep. Benhur Salimbangon said leaders of NUP-One Cebu in his district were unanimous in their support for Marcos. "Who is our vice president?" Salimbangon asked the audience, estimated at around 2,000-strong, gathered at the Bantayan Multi-Purpose Center. The crowd replied: "Bongbong Marcos." It was the second time in the campaign that Marcos had visited the vote-rich province upon the invitation of Salimbangon. Bantayan Mayor Ian Escario, the host of the event, said his family has long been supporters of the Marcos family. "I am the third-generation of Escarios. My grandparents and my parents have been loyal Marcos supporters. I told our people that if they still trust me, we should all unite to support Senator Bongbong Marcos for vice president," said Escario. Also present in the gathering to show their support for Marcos were Romeo Villaceran and former Vice Mayor Dory Cabrera, NUP-One Cebu mayoralty bets for the towns of Madridejos and Sta. Fe, respectively, the two other municipalities in the scenic Bantayan Island. Marcos expressed gratitude for the warm welcome that the people of Bantayan gave him, similar to what they did when he last visited the town in the 2010 elections. "I am happy that I'm able to go back here and be with all of you again," said Marcos. He also confirmed the long history of the alliance of the Marcoses and Escarios dating back when his father was first elected as President. In seeking their support for his vice presidential bid, Marcos noted that he is ready to take on the responsibilities of the position because of his lengthy experience in both the executive and legislative department of government. Likewise, Marcos echoed his campaign for national unity, saying this is the only way that the country can move forward to a more progressive future. Last week, Marcos said he is hoping to clinch the endorsement of the One Cebu Party, led by the influential Garcia clan, saying he has long been in talks with the party even before it cut its ties with the camp of presidential candidate, Vice President Jejomar Binay. Other political leaders in the province of Cebu had pledged their support for the vice presidential bid of Marcos, including local candidates of PDP-Laban and the ruling Liberal Party in the municipality of Cordova and Lapu-lapu City. POE TO ENSURE BETTER HEALTH SERVICES, BENEFITS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS SAN NICOLAS, PANGASINAN--Returning to her home province of Pangasinan, presidential race frontrunner Sen. Grace Poe reached out to senior citizens and vowed to improve healthcare for the elderly. In a campaign sortie in San Nicolas, Poe said the government must utilize all mechanisms to make sure local communities have full access to essential medicines. Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) figures in 2012 showed that medicines account for more than half of out-of-pocket expenditures of Filipino patients. A December 2015 survey of Pulse Asia also found that health was the top concern of Filipinos. "Ang gusto natin ay ito: ang mga maintenance medicines ninyo, dapat mas mabilis, mas madali ninyong makukuha--para sa diabetes, high blood o kung ano pa man. At kung hindi ninyo mababayaran, dapat mabibigay pa rin sa inyo ng gobyerno," Poe said. The senator also said that public health facilities, especially in rural areas, must be well-equipped to effectively serve the marginalize sectors of society such as the elderly. Data revealed from the PSA found that 66 percent of Filipinos seek medical care from public hospitals, rural health units and barangay health centers. This is particularly true among the poorest Filipinos who use public health facilities 90 percent of the time. "Ang ating mga barangay health centers ay dapat kumpleto ang pagbigay ng lunas sa inyong mga pangangailangan araw-araw. Ubo man o kaya sakit ng katawan o may lagnat. Hindi lamang sa ospital lang pumupunta," Poe said. The lone independent presidential aspirant also wants a government program that would provide employment for senior citizens who are still physically able and mentally sharp to work again. "Paggising ninyo sa umaga, alam na ninyo, 'meron akong gagawin at may inspirasyon akong trabaho ngayong araw na ito.' Iyan ay ating ibibigay sa ating mga senior citizen na talaga namang nagtrabaho ng ilang taon pero bigla na lang nawala na ang kanilang pagkakataon dahil lamang tumanda sila," she said. Senior citizens, people aged 60 years old and above, constitute seven percent or around six million of the Philippine household population in 2010. POE ASKS CANDIDATES, SUPPORTERS TO RUN A TRUTHFUL CAMPAIGN SANTA MARIA, PANGASINAN--With just over a month left in the campaign period, leading presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe called on all candidates and their supporters to be truthful in their campaign. Poe made the appeal during a media interview in Santa Maria, Pangasinan, where she was campaigning with running mate Sen. Francis Escudero and the senatorial bets of their Partido Galing at Puso. "Sa lahat ng bagay, lahat tayo dapat sumunod sa kung ano ang nararapat at ihayag ang katotohanan, sa ano mang bagay--advertising man, sa trabaho natin, o sa pag-iikot natin at kausap natin ang ating mga kababayan, sa personal na buhay natin," she said when asked about "truth in advertising" in reaching out to the electorate. Poe, who is untainted by corruption, said deceit has no place in public service. "Walang lugar ang pagsisinungaling sa kahit na anong landas na tatahakin natin--sa gobyerno man o sa pribadong sektor," she said. The lone independent candidate has consistently said that she will run a clean campaign and will never resort to traditional mudslinging. In an interview with TV5 shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in her favor last March 8, Poe said her road to the presidency has been the toughest, with rivals and critics questioning everything, even her citizenship. An advocate of transparency and credibility in government, Poe vowed that her first executive order, should she win in the elections, is Freedom of Information for all executive offices while legislation is pending in Congress. The FOI seeks to implement the constitutional right of citizens to information on matters of public concern. It opens government transactions to public scrutiny and introduces a new level of accountability as it holds government officials responsible for their actions or inaction. Press Release March 30, 2016 Recto: Gov't may recover $34 million in Bangladesh cyberheist loot If Philippine authorities will only act swiftly, they may still recover more than 40 percent, about $34-million, of the $81-million loot that was stolen by hackers from Bangladesh Bank. The possibility of recovering the loot, according to Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, loomed after the Senate discovered that not all the $81 million stolen from Bangladesh were laundered successfully through Philippine casinos. "While the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is solving this great puzzle, our law enforcement agencies must act swiftly to recover any portion of the loot that is still within Philippine soil," Recto said in an interview with DZMM. "There is a chance that we can recover $34 million if local authorities will zero in on the paper trail established during the Senate hearings," he added. Under intense grilling from Recto, casino junket operator Kim Wong admitted on Tuesday that only about $61 million of the $81 million cyberheist loot found its way to Philippine casinos. About $17 million, Wong said, are still with Philrem Corp., the remittance firm responsible for transferring the stolen money from Rizal Banking Commercial Corporation (RCBC) to different accounts and individuals. Wong told Recto and other senators that he is ready to surrender to Philippine authorities the entire P450 million or about $10 million that his firm, Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. Ltd., received as part of the cyberheist loot. Wong admitted that a total of P1 billion went to his firm, but P550 million of the amount was given to casino players who already lost the money to baccarat games. Wong also announced during the last Senate hearing that he is willing to return even the total amount of P1 billion if Philippine authorities will request him to do so. Aside from the $17 million allegedly with Philrem and the $10 million with Wong, Recto noted that almost $7 million of the stolen money had been traced and may be recovered from casino accounts. "Ang mahalaga, makuha ang lahat ng pera na puwede pang ibalik sa Bangladesh dahil alam natin na galing sa mahihirap ng bansang ito ang ninakaw na pera," Recto said. For the first time, the United States is working with the naval forces of Gulf of Guinea nations in a joint exercise to improve the regions preparedness and capability to combat piracy, narcotics trafficking, and other maritime threats. The combined exercise "Obangame / Saharan Express 2016" was officially launched on March 17, 2016, at Senegalese National Marine Naval Base, by authorities of the participating and observing countries. Cameroon is the official host of the exercise, with elements of the exercise taking place in other participating countries. The northernmost hub of the exercise, Senegal, was chosen to host the opening ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires Sandra Clark, Chief of Staff of the Senegalese Navy Rear Admiral Cheikh Bara Cissokho, and the Commander U.S.6th Fleet, Vice Adm. James Foggo. Exercise Obangame/Saharan Express is a multinational maritime exercise sponsored by U.S. Africa Command and facilitated by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet that brings together African, European, South American, and U.S. forces part of a Global Network of Navies to enhance cooperation and expertise in maritime security operations. The exercise will take place throughout the Gulf of Guinea, and will have land-based Maritime Operations Centers throughout the region. In the past, Obangam Express and Saharan Express were separate exercises that took place in different areas of West Africa. This year they have been combined to increase capacity building for more partners across West Africa. There are 27 participating nations in Obangame/Saharan Express 2016: Angola, Benin, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Cote dIvoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Togo, Turkey, United States, and the United Kingdom, as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). This Obangame/Saharan Express 2016 exercise ended will end on March 27 with a symposium in Douala, Cameroon. The United States is proud to work with its international partners to keep the seaways to Africa open and safe for the benefit of all the peoples of Africa. The white San Francisco State student who was confronted by a black student over his hairstyle has come forward to defend his right to wear his hair in dreadlocks. In a video interview with the Golden Gate Xpress that was more than four times longer than the viral video of Monday's confrontation, Cory Goldstein explained that he doesn't believe that putting knots in his hair amounts to appropriation of black culture because people of African origin are not the only cultural group to wear dreadlocks. He says that, in the past, Egyptians, Vikings, the Irish and "even Victorians" have worn their hair in that style. The 22-year-old environmental studies major said he was accosted by the student in the Cesar Chavez Student Center. "I looked at her and she said, 'Sorry, we don't want people with your hair here,' and I was like, wow, that's really rude," Goldstein said. YouTube/Nicolas Silvera Goldstein said he left, but she followed him "down two flights of stairs" to discuss his hairstyle. He said he tried to get away from her, but she wouldn't let him. "She kept grabbing me, pushing me back, trying to make her point or something." Goldstein said. "I didn't feel I had to explain myself my hair, my rules, my body." While explaining himself in the interview, Goldstein did agree that cultural appropriation does exist. He gave the example of a non-Native American wearing an American Indian headdress. But decorating one's head in dreads is not cultural appropriation, he contends. So far the black student involved in the confrontation has not come forward to give her version of the incident. She has not been identified. San Francisco State University said Tuesday that the incident remains under investigation. In a statement, the university said: "San Francisco State University promotes the rights of the campus community to engage in free speech, but does not condone behavior that impedes the safety or well-being of others. We are taking the matter seriously and will promptly and thoroughly investigate this incident through applicable University channels, including our campus student conduct procedures." Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Flaring occurred Tuesday night at Chevrons Richmond refinery, according to Contra Costa County health and Chevron officials. But county health officials said at 9:35 p.m. that while nearby residents could see and smell the flaring, no dangerous levels of emissions were released. Contra Costa Health Services announced at about 8:40 p.m. via Twitter that it had received odor complaints and that its hazardous materials team was monitoring air quality. No shelter in place warnings had been issued. San Francisco fire trucks are about to get spiffed up for a big birthday party, because thats what you do when you turn a nice round number like 150. The Fire Department unveiled its new logo Tuesday, a sparkly, golden shield with images of San Francisco landmarks and a legendary phoenix surrounded by flames that any of San Franciscos 1,500 firefighters are duty-bound to extinguish. Celebrate with us Were very excited, and we want the public to come out and celebrate with us, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said as she showed off the logo at a ceremony at Station 35 in the shadow of the Bay Bridge. The logo had already been fastened to the deckhouse of the fireboat Phoenix, which was bobbing a few feet away at its berth on San Francisco Bay. The new logo was designed by San Francisco graphic artist Astra Sodarsono, assisted by two dozen local art students. It will soon become an iconic fixture around town as it begins to appear on banners, light poles, bus placards and the like as the department gets its yearlong birthday bash under way. Sodarsonos design was a mysterious creation, as befit something with a phoenix on it. It depicts a suspension bridge but nobody at the kickoff ceremony seemed to know whether it was the Golden Gate Bridge or the Bay Bridge. Hayes-White studied it for a while and said it looked to her like the Golden Gate Bridge and, since she is the chief, her opinion counts. The logo also depicts a fire hydrant and the city skyline, including the Transamerica Pyramid, the Palace of Fine Arts and Coit Tower. The new logo is a lot different from the departments traditional one, a crowded circle depicting two axes, three ships, two firefighters, one bridge, a fire hat, 70 green leaves and that cryptic Latin phrase so dear to city fathers, Oro en paz, fierro en guerra meaning Gold in peace, iron in war. The old logo also has a phoenix because San Francisco has a thing about phoenixes and their knack for rising from ashes, a city tradition. But the phoenix on the new logo is bigger and the flames more menacing. The new logo also features the numbers 2016 and 1866 and 150 Years, for anyone unwilling to do the subtraction. $150 for the badge The chief said she had already ponied up $150 to buy an official SFFD badge with the new logo on it and she urged her fellow firefighters to do the same. The cost of the badges comes out of a firefighters pocket. So far, only 250 firefighters about 1 in 6 have ordered one. Its not required, as the department will go back to its old badges when the celebration is over. Some firefighters, who asked not to be identified, said they would take a pass on the new badges because they were still sore at Fire Department brass for refusing to allow them to wear commemorative Super Bowl firefighter badges last month. The department had ruled that the Super Bowl badges were commercial and could confuse the public. Im not paying $150 for their new badge, said one firefighter. They can keep it. Founded in 1866 The big celebration honors the founding of the department in 1866 previously, firefighters had been volunteers. The department faced its biggest test 40 years later when it saved much of the city from the flames that broke out after the 1906 earthquake and helped cement its relationship with the legendary phoenix. The cost of slapping the new logo on Fire Department property will be paid by Guardians of the City, a Fire Department support group. The chief said all the rebranding wont cost taxpayers anything. Im a fiscal conservative, she said. But to me, 150 years is pretty huge. We dont do this every year. Its something worth celebrating. Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com An executive at a Silicon Valley tech company died Sunday and his 9-year-old daughter is in critical condition after he tried to save her from electrocution in a swimming pool accident, police and colleagues said. Jim Tramel, 43, of Burlingame, was one of seven people shocked inside a pool at a Palm Springs home on the 2300 block of Yosemite Drive, police said in a statement. Officers received reports two people turned blue after jumping into a pool and responded to the residential neighborhood around 4 p.m. Sunday, finding people at the home giving Tramel and his 9-year-old daughter CPR. Tramel noticed the girl in distress from electric shock when he jumped in to rescue her, police and fire personnel said. He was electrocuted himself during the attempt and had to be pulled from the pool. Palm Springs Police said its believed faulty wiring caused the accident. Tramels daughter remained in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center on Tuesday. Police said five others in the pool were shocked, but most were far enough away from the wires to safely get out of the water. One victim, a 10-year-old girl, is being treated at the same hospital and is in stable condition, police said. The other victims a 45-year-old woman, a 6-year-old boy, a 6-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl, were treated and released after personnel took everyone to hospitals. Tramel was pronounced dead at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. Tramel worked as a vice president of sales at marketing technology company RevJet. CEO and founder Mitchell Weisman created a GoFundMe page on Monday to raise money for the family. Jim's lovely wife Kim and their children now face the future without a husband, and without a father, Weisman wrote. Even worse, at this very moment Jim's oldest child remains in intensive care, fighting for her life. Please pray with us for her survival and recovery. Weisman said the funds will be presented to Jims wife, Kim, as a stipend for use by Kim as she chooses for the welfare and education of her children, and/or as one or more donation(s) to some deserving non-profit(s) of her choice. As of Thursday, nearly 950 people had raised more than $157,000. Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Justin Sullivan Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Eric Risberg/Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images Show More Show Less 5 of 5 Yahoo is making it harder for activist investors to launch proxy battles in the future. The Sunnyvale company said it is changing its bylaws so that at next years annual shareholder meeting, investors or groups holding at least 3 percent of Yahoo common stock for at least three years would have the easiest path to nominating directors. They could nominate up to two directors, or 20 percent of the number of directors on the board, and have those candidates appear on proxy materials. A group could qualify as up to 20 shareholders, Yahoo said in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. University Health System CEO George Hernandez Jr. has been awarded a nearly 7 percent increase in total compensation, marking his fourth consecutive pay raise and bonus in as many years. The health systems board of managers voted unanimously late Tuesday to boost Hernandezs annual base pay from $620,000 to $650,000 and to award him a $75,000 bonus, bringing his total annual compensation to $725,000. The changes were made because of a strong annual performance evaluation Hernandez received. The adjustments approved Tuesday represent a 6.6 percent increase in overall pay. Hernandezs total compensation last year was $680,000. Hernandez has been chief executive and president of the tax-supported health system run by Bexar County since 2005. He leads an organization of more than 7,000 employees and supervises an annual operating budget of $1.5 billion. University Health System includes University Hospital, which is one of only two top-level trauma centers in San Antonio and serves a 22-county area of South Texas. The hospital has more than 700 patient beds. The local areas other top-level trauma center is San Antonio Military Medical Center. I appreciate the vote of confidence, Hernandez told the health systems board, which voted after meeting in an hour-long closed session. The most pleasant compliment I get is from folks telling me what a wonderful experience they had at University Health System and how friendly everybody was. That is something that I think weve spent a lot of time and effort working on. The (executive) team deserves all the credit. Hernandez also credited staff with improving customer service and efficiency. The health system is on track to achieve a bottom line of $40 million to $50 million for the 2015 calendar year, he said. The boards personnel committee recommended the pay raise and bonus. It met twice over the past month to discuss Hernandezs job performance and compensation. I think hes done an outstanding job, said board member Jimmy Hasslocher, who chaired the three-person committee. I also feel like the tremendous responsibility of walking into not only University Hospital, but all of the other facilities that we have Im in awe, basically, of the things that get accomplished. Theres probably not a more complicated job today, Hasslocher said of Hernandezs role, dealing with the ins and outs of the federal government, the federal regulations, state regulations, all of the other regulations that come about. Hernandez has previously been approached by other health systems that wanted to hire him away, Board Chairman Jim Adams confirmed. Adams declined to give further details about that, however. The board has to consider that climate when evaluating Hernandezs pay, Adams said. Were in a very competitive marketplace, Adams said. The fact of the matter is, you put together his capabilities - multicultural, multilingual, works with people well, innovative - those are the things the health systems of the future are looking for. Adams said its fair to pay Hernandez a competitive rate. He also noted talented employees shouldnt make a sacrifice to stay in San Antonio. If you want to be a world-class leader, you need world-class leadership, and George represents that, Adams said. Hasslocher, Adams and hospital board member Robert Engberg were the three people on the personnel committee recommending the pay raise and bonus. Hernandez, an attorney and a San Antonio native, has worked for University Health System since 1990. pohare@express-news.net In many ways, Cuba has been, until recently, a living relic of the geopolitical battlefield of the 20th century. As much a symbol of the Cold War as the Berlin Wall, Cuba looked on as the Wall came down, as Iron Curtain regimes fell, and as even the Soviet Union, Cubas benefactor and main trading partner, disintegrated. Nevertheless, Cuba continued as before, a Soviet-style Communist regime, despite the disappearance of like-minded governments and severe economic problems resulting from the loss of the Soviet Unions annual economic subsidies of 6 billion to 8 billion dollars. Relations between the United States and Cuba were poor since shortly after Fidel Castros 1959 revolution, when the new government began to consolidate power and expropriate properties. Five decades, one nuclear crisis and a long U.S. economic embargo later, the relationship between the two countries finally began to thaw in early 2009, when President Barack Obama eased some restrictions on travel to Cuba and on remittances sent by Cuban-Americans to family and friends in Cuba. In December 2014, President Obama announced that the United States would begin the process of re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. Within 8 months, the two countries opened embassies in each others capitals. On March 20th, President Obama took the relationship another step forward by becoming the first sitting U.S. President in 88 years to visit the island country. In a speech in Havana, President Obama expressed his confidence that Cuba can play an important role in the hemisphere and around the globe, and said he hoped it can do so as a partner of the United States. Nonetheless, what changes come will depend on the Cuban people, he said: 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. I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas, said President Obama. I have come here to extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. As shown by the enthusiastic welcome the Cuban people gave President Obama, it is clear that his call for reconciliation, unleashing the potential of Cubas civil society and the forging of productive bilateral partnerships found great resonance on the island. Bill Hutchinson / The Chronicle Berkeley police are looking for a person who shot three stray animals with a pellet gun in the Marina, authorities said Tuesday. Five animals were discovered by a city of Berkeley groundskeeper in the 100 block of Seawall Drive Saturday afternoon: a feral cat, an opossum, and three raccoons. Three of the animals were already dead and had bullet wounds, but police would not say which ones. The suspect in last weeks shooting of an 8-year-old boy in Concord was unarmed as he ran toward a police officer and reached for his waistband to pull up his pants when the officer shot him Monday afternoon in Fairfield, officials said Tuesday. James Jarrard, 32, was shot once in the neck by Officer Zachary Sandoval, a member of the Fairfield Police Department for nine years. As of Tuesday afternoon, Jarrard was recovering at a hospital and his condition was stable. Once he can be discharged, he will be booked at Solano County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, possession of a stolen car, resisting arrest, possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia and violation of his state parole. Officers arrived at the Lowes parking lot on the 3300 block of North Texas Street after a man called police saying he recognized the suspect from media reports. The man tailed the suspect and gave dispatchers the license plate number, which matched a car stolen from Walnut Creek, officials said. Jarrard was outside of the car when he saw the police, officials said. He ran through the parking lot, then behind a business as officers gave chase and ordered him to stop, police said. The suspect rounded a corner and appeared to be reaching for his waistband as he ran toward Sandoval, who was trying to cut him off, officials said. Sandoval, police said, didnt have anywhere to run or seek cover and thought Jarrard was reaching for a weapon. The officer fired two shots from his duty pistol, one of which struck the right side of the suspect neck. Youve got a retaining wall on one side and a business on the other side, Lt. Rob Lenke, a police spokesman, said of Sandovals predicament. Theres really nowhere for him to go. Officers administered medical aid until paramedics arrived, police said. They also searched Jarrard and the area where he was chased and shot, but found no weapons. Police said that during questioning, Jarrard told investigators that he was reaching down to pull up his pants when he was shot. Sandoval has been placed on paid administrative leave as the police department and Solano County district attorneys office investigate the shooting. Jarrard was wanted on a $1.1 million arrest warrant after he allegedly drove up to a house in Concord and shot an 8-year-old boy playing outside. The boy was surrounded by family members, including some who knew Jarrard, and it was unclear for whom the bullet was intended, officials said. The boy, who was also shot in the neck, is expected to survive his injuries. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH The Greenwich High School trip to Germany and Austria next month has been canceled because of security concerns related to the March 22 terrorist attacks in Brussels, Superintendent of Schools William McKersie announced Wednesday. About a dozen Greenwich High students taking German classes had been scheduled to make the April 8-17 trip during the school districts spring vacation. Their itinerary would have included a stop at the Leibnizschule secondary school in the west German city of Wiesbaden, following up a visit to Greenwich that Leibnizschule students made last October. The group would also have visited Rothenburg and Munich and the Austrian city of Salzburg. But travel alerts issued after the ISIS-claimed bombings in the Belgian capital, which killed 35 people, including four Americans, led school officials to rethink the trip. After the tragedy, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory that terrorist groups continue to plan attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants and transportation. Given Germanys close proximity to recent terrorist attacks, the mode of transportation to be used throughout the trip and increased security checkpoints, experts advised us to cancel the trip to Germany, McKersie wrote in a letter to students and parents. This decision has been made out of an abundance of caution and care for our students and staff. The cancellation, however, does not mean school officials are ruling out all international travel, McKersie said. Regarding international travel, we will continue to consult with the U.S. Department of State and other agencies, McKersie said. It is our hope that during the 2016-17 school year the Greenwich Public Schools will be able to sponsor international student trips. Local field trips will also continue, McKersie said. Greenwich Public Schools will continue to sponsor domestic field trips, ensuring opportunities for growth and enrichment for our students, McKersie said. We will regularly review the expected safety and security of staff and students when they are away from the Greenwich Public Schools on district-sponsored trips. Messages left with several parents and students for reaction were not returned. Board of Education Chairman Laura Erickson said she supported the administrators action. It is unfortunate, but given recent acts of terrorism and general security concerns the board understands and respects the decision, Erickson said. pschott@scni.com; 203-625-4439; twitter: @paulschott This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Coffee with your legislator on Monday State Representatives Livvy Floren, R-149th; Mike Bocchino, R-150th; Fred Camillo, R-151st, and State Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-36th will host coffee with a legislator from 8 to 9 a.m. Monday at Glory Days Diner, 69 East Putnam Ave. Residents welcome. Blumenthal praises Obama for action on opioid crisis U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., applauded President Barack Obamas recent policy moves to battle what has been characterized as a national crisis of heroin and opioid addiction. The Obama administration has ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to to expand the patient limit from 100 to 200 for qualified physicians to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid addiction. The proposed rule could aid tens of thousands of patients to receive the medicine to treat their addictions, according to Blumenthal. The agency also released $94 million in funding to 271 community health centers across the country in early March to increase substance abuse disorder treatment services, money projected to provide treatment for opioid addictions to 124,000 new patients. These steps are specific, positive measures - but only first steps against a public health hurricane sweeping the nation, Blumenthal said. My roundtables across Connecticut have shown the need for more naloxone, more public education, more physician training and more law enforcement resources - all addressed by the Presidents initiative but still only a beginning. Matching the opioid epidemic must be a public health initiative of historic magnitude - uniting state and federal authorities along with educators, medical experts, parents and recovering addicts. In the long run, greatly expanded treatment and health services must be made available - and excessive prescription of opioid pain killers must be stemmed and stopped. Himes, Blumenthal, Murphy honored in North Haven for transportation advocacy Three weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., and the rest of the states congressional delegation were honored by more than 200 transportation advocates for helping pass the Fixing Americas Surface Transportation Act. The $281 billion bill ensured funding for roads, bridges and other infrastructure through 2020. More than 200 transportation advocates from chambers of commerce, the state construction industry, metropolitan transportation planning agencies and other groups honored the seven-member delegation. The FAST Act, which was signed into law in December, provides Connecticut with more than $500 million annually through 2020 to fund critical transportation projects. RALEIGH, N.C. North Carolinas attorney general said Tuesday he wont defend in court a new state law preventing Charlotte and other local governments from approving protections for LGBT people, calling it discriminatory and a national embarrassment. Democrat Roy Cooper made the announcement during a news conference a day after gay-rights advocates sued to overturn the law approved last week and signed by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. The federal lawsuit lists Cooper among the defendants because of his official position as the states top lawyer. But he has said he wants it repealed. We know that businesses here and all over the country have taken a strong stance in opposition to this law, Cooper said. McCrory is also a defendant in the lawsuit and has doubled down on justifying his decision to sign the law, even as many corporations have criticized it publicly. Coopers announcement raises the stakes for the November governors race, in which Cooper is challenging McCrory. National Democrats consider it their best opportunity to pick up a governors mansion where a Republican currently resides. The Republican-led Legislature and McCrory approved the law because they say Charlotte went too far with a local ordinance allowing transgender people to use the restroom aligned with their gender identity. They have focused on the threat used by opponents of Houstons ordinance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people last year while defeating it in a referendum that sexual predators could use the rules as a pretense to enter womens bathrooms and locker rooms. Gay-rights groups have called these arguments bogus. WASHINGTON President Obama commuted the prison sentences of 61 drug offenders on Wednesday including more than a third serving life sentences, working to give new energy to calls for overhauling the U.S. criminal justice system. All of the inmates are serving time for drug possession, intent to sell or related crimes. Most are nonviolent offenders, although a few were also charged with firearms violations. Obamas commutation shortens their sentences, with most of the inmates set to be released on July 28. Obama, in a letter to the inmates receiving commutations, said the presidential power to grand commutations and pardons embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance. One of the inmates, Jesse Webster of Chicago, is serving a life term for intent to sell cocaine and filing false tax returns. Another, Byron McDade of Bowie, Md., got 27 years for cocaine-related charges as well. In both cases, judges in the cases later said publicly it was too harsh, though sentencing guidelines often prevent judges from being more lenient. Webster and McDade will both be released later this year. Nabar Criam of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced to 15 years for possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, but received an additional charge for having a gun on hand during a drug-trafficking crime. Obama has long called for getting rid of strict sentences for drug offenses, arguing they lead to excessive punishment and sky-high incarceration rates. The latest tranche of commutations brings to 248 the total number of inmates whose sentences Obama has commuted more than the past six presidents combined, the White House said. The pace of commutations and the rarer use of pardons are expected to increase as the end of Obamas presidency nears. Throughout the remainder of his time in office, the president is committed to continuing to issue more grants of clemency as well as to strengthening rehabilitation programs, said Neil Eggleston, the White House counsel, in a blog post. He added that clemency is a tool of last resort that can help specific people, but doesnt address the broader need for a more fair and just system and fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies. In a bid to call further attention to the issue, Obama met for lunch Wednesday with people whose sentences were previously commuted to hear about the challenges of re-entering society. One of the former inmates, Kemba Smith, was seven months pregnant when she turned herself in on crack cocaine charges, and she served more than six years before then-President Bill Clinton granted clemency in 2000. She went on to study social work and become an advocate, the White House said. Their stories are extraordinary, Obama said after dining at a Washington restaurant. Were all imperfect. We all make mistakes. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When 29-year-old Chase Adam first thought to start a crowdfunding platform for health care, he was mystified one didnt already exist. Moved by what he had seen in Central America during his time in the Peace Corps, Adam created Watsi, a San Francisco-based crowdfunded medical care platform for impoverished people in developing countries around the world. For his efforts over the past five years, he is the 2016 Visionary of the Year, announced by The San Francisco Chronicle at a Tuesday evening gala at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Adam is the second person to win the award that honors Bay Area leaders who work to create social change. The inaugural title last year went to Evan Marwell, CEO and founder of the nonprofit Education Superhighway, which gives public school classrooms high-speed Internet connections. Global health is a black hole, Adam said. The more we can empower governments or NGOs with data, the better. Adam was referring to what is on the horizon for Watsi: a focus on data collection from medical providers to identify what is working and what needs fixing. Grant and scholarship The award carries a $25,000 grant from The Chronicle and a $10,000 scholarship in the winners name from St. Marys College School of Economics and Business Administration in Moraga, The Chronicles partner in creating the award. Winners may use the grant money as they wish. Adam was among eight finalists for the Visionary award. The others were Rose Broome, founder of HandUp, which crowdfunds help for the homeless; Luisa Buada, who puts high-quality health clinics in low-income communities; Ken and Caretha Coleman, who push for more women and minority hiring in Silicon Valley; Vitka Eisen, leader of HealthRight 360; Jennifer Pahlka, founder and executive director of Code for America; Paul Tasner of PulpWorks, which creates eco-friendly packaging; and Freada Kapor Klein, a philanthropist who champions workplace diversity. Chase stood out for his remarkable story and his ability to use technology to fulfill a specific social need, said John Diaz, The Chronicles Editorial Page editor and one of the judges. The other judges were Chronicle Publisher Jeff Johnson and Editor in Chief Audrey Cooper. Feels like a startup Adams creation, Watsi, whose other co-founder is Grace Garey, partners with medical facilities in 22 developing countries to identify impoverished patients in need of low-cost, high-impact treatments. After the patients are treated, their story and photo are uploaded to Watsi, and donors from around the world can contribute as little as $5 to help pay the bill. The nonprofit which, with a pingpong table doubling as a conference table, feels more like a startup strives for 100 percent disclosure of its financial operations. Anyone can view its transparency document, which shows granular financial information, including the transfer of funds to medical providers. Because of angel investments and tips from donors, every cent of every donation goes directly to the patient. Inspiration for Watsi came in 2010 when Adam was with the Peace Corps in Costa Rica. He watched as a woman walked down the aisle of a bus, begging passengers to contribute to her sons medical bills. Adam was struck by the willingness of bus riders to fork over change. It was because of the womans openness she had her sons medical file on hand that, he believed, people trusted her. What if, Adam thought as he returned to his hut, he could replicate what he saw on the bus for thousands of people? During his free time in his final months of the Peace Corps, Adam drew up business plans for what would become Watsi, named after the town the bus was traveling through when the woman got on board. Thousands helped Today, nearly four years after Watsi opened for business, it has funded treatments for more than 7,000 patients whose quality of life would have been diminished without the procedures. Its just an unbelievable award, Adam said. I cant tell you what a huge honor it is. The selection committee for the Visionary of the Year award included high achievers in their own right: Pam Baer, founder and CEO of For Goodness Sake, a nonprofit foundation that created an e-commerce site to connect consumers with curated brands and nonprofits; Ron Conway, an angel investor and philanthropist; Ben Fong-Torres, a noted rock journalist, author and broadcaster; Pamela Joyner, founder of the strategic marketing consulting company Avid Partners LLC; Zhan Li, dean of St. Marys School of Economics and Business Administration; Marwell, last years winner; and Diaz. What I like to say is that Chase Adam is the Mark Zuckerberg of philanthropy, said Conway, who nominated him for the award. To read about this years nominees, go to www.sfgate.com/visionsf. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov U.S. and Cambodian forces officially opened Angkor Sentinel 2016, an annual bilateral military exercise hosted by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and sponsored by the U.S. Army Pacific, during a ceremony March 14 at the Training School for Multinational Peacekeeping Forces in Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia. This year marks the seventh iteration of the exercise designed to strengthen the two countries humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities and improve military-to-military cooperation. I believe the Angkor Sentinel exercise that begins today showcases some of the best kinds of things militaries accomplish for their nations and citizens, said Julie Chung, Charge d'affaires, U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh. Angkor Sentinels activities will include training and exchanges covering humanitarian assistance, disaster response, first aid, engineering, explosive ordnance disposal, countering improvised explosive devices, transporting people and supplies, and developing leaders. Any country - including both Cambodia and the United States - will be a better, safer place to live with military people who are skilled in these functions. The two-week exercise brings together Cambodian forces from the Royal Cambodian Army, National Center for Peacekeeping Forces, Mine, & Explosive Remnants of War Clearance, and Gendarmerie Royale Khmer, with U.S. forces from U.S. Army Pacific, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, 130th Theater Engineer Brigade, 8th Military Police Brigade, 303rd EOD Battalion, the Idaho Army National Guard, 18th Medical Command, Asia Pacific C-IED Fusion Center, and 413th Contracting Brigade. Major General Edward Dorman III, the commander of the 8th Theater Sustainment Command, encouraged the more than 150 participants to enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to learn from each others expertise and absorb each others rich cultures and traditions. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief are priorities for both of our countries, and as we operate together in this complex, ever-changing region, exercises like this one are critical to our regional stability and security, he said. When we join together, train together, and grow together now, we ensure that we are prepared together for whatever the future may bring. Angkor Sentinel's expert academic exchanges and training events culminated in a combined situational training exercise on March 25. The U.S. is proud to partner with Cambodia to ensure stability and security for Cambodia and the region. A 27-year-old man was shot Tuesday in San Francisco after walking out of a building on Pacific Avenue, police said. The suspect, identified as a male in his 20s, shot the victim from a vehicle while he was walking out of a building on the 700 block of Pacific Avenue in Chinatown, according to police. A Vietnamese court convicted and sentenced Nguyen Huu Vinh and his colleague Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy on March 23, 2016, under article 258 of the penal code for allegedly abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to infringe upon the interests of the state. Nguyen Huu Vinh, also known as Anh Ba Sam, was sentenced to five years in prison. Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy was given a three year sentence. Both have been in custody since May 2014. Nguyen Huu Vinh a former police officer and party member, started the blog Anh Ba Sam in 2007 publishing articles and commentaries on Vietnamese political, social, economic, and cultural issues. In a statement released March 23, the United States Embassy in Vietnam said the U.S. is deeply concerned by the Vietnamese governments conviction and sentencing of the bloggers, noting that, the use of criminal provisions by Vietnamese authorities to penalize individuals peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression is disturbing. These convictions appear to be inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press provided for in Vietnams Constitution, and with Vietnams obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international commitments. The United States calls on the government of Vietnam 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. NAYPYITAW, Myanmar Myanmars slow transition to democracy took a momentous step Wednesday as a trusted aide to ruling-party leader Aung San Suu Kyi took over as the countrys president, officially ending more than 50 years of the militarys control over government. In a day full of ceremony and symbolism, Htin Kyaw was sworn in along with his two vice presidents and 18 Cabinet ministers. Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate and face of Myanmars pro-democracy movement, takes on a prominent role as the countrys new foreign minister and the head of three other ministries education, energy and the presidential office. The Union Parliament has elected me as president, which is a historic moment for this country, Htin Kyaw, 70, said in a speech after being sworn in. He pledged to work toward national reconciliation, strive for peace with warring ethnic rebels and improving the lives of Myanmars 54 million people. While it was a historic day for the impoverished Southeast Asian country, democracy remains incomplete. The military retains considerable power in the government and parliament, and the president himself will play second fiddle to Suu Kyi. She cannot be president because of a constitutional manipulation engineered by the military, and has repeatedly said she will run the country from behind the scenes. President Obama noted the continuing challenges for Myanmar, also known as Burma, in a statement in which he called Htin Kyaws election a historic milestone in the countrys transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government. Htin Kyaws swearing-in was held in an austere hall of parliament, with lawmakers dressed in traditional costume. A few hours later, outgoing President Thein Sein shook hands with his successor and handed him a letter and a golden sash, officially transferring power. It was Suu Kyi who led her National League for Democracy party to a landslide win in November elections, ushering in Myanmars first civilian government after 54 years of direct and indirect military rule. Suu Kyi endured decades of house arrest and harassment by military rulers without ever giving up on her nonviolent campaign to unseat them. Despite her inability to become president, Suu Kyis entry into the government is a remarkable turn of fortune not only for her, but also for the country, which had been under iron-fisted military rule for decades beginning in 1962. The junta kept Myanmar in isolation and economic stagnation while refusing to listen to international counsel or homegrown demands for democracy. BANGUI, Central African Republic The nations newly elected president, Faustin Archange Touadera, took the oath of office Wednesday, ushering in the first elected leader since Muslim rebels overthrew the government more than three years ago. The inauguration came as former colonizer France said its troops plan to leave the country by the end of the year. The French forces worked to stabilize the long-volatile country until a U.N. peacekeeping force was in place, though both missions have been tarnished by allegations of child sexual abuse. SANAA, Yemen The baby was born in war, even as planes blasted his village in Yemen. Five months later, Udai Faisal died from war: His skeletal body broke down under the ravages of malnutrition, his limbs like twigs, his cheeks sunken, his eyes dry. He vomited yellow fluid from his nose and mouth. Then he stopped breathing. He didnt cry and there were no tears, just stiff, said his mother, Intissar Hezzam. I screamed and fainted. The spread of hunger has been the most horrific consequence of Yemens war since Saudi Arabia and its allies, backed by the United States, launched a campaign of air strikes and a naval blockade a year ago in a fight against Shiite rebels. The impoverished nation of 26 million, which imports 90 percent of its food, already had one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world, but in the past year the statistics have leaped. The number of people considered severely food insecure unable to put food on the table without outside aid went from 4.3 million to more than 7 million, according to the World Food Program. Ten of the countrys 22 provinces are classified as one step away from famine. Where before the war around 690,000 children under 5 suffered moderate malnutrition, now the number is 1.3 million. Even more alarming are the rates of severe acute malnutrition among children the worst cases where the body starts to waste away doubling from around 160,000 a year ago to 320,000 now, according to UNICEF estimates. Exact numbers for those who died from malnutrition and its complications are unknown, since the majority were likely unable to reach proper care. But in a report released Tuesday, UNICEF said an estimated 10,000 additional children under 5 died of preventable diseases the past year because of the breakdown in health services, on top of the previous rate of nearly 40,000 children a year. The scale of suffering in the country is staggering, UNICEF said in the report, and the violence will have an impact for generations to come. The Saudi-led coalition launched its campaign on March 26, 2015, aiming to halt the advance of Shiite rebels known of Houthis who had taken over the capital, Sanaa, and stormed south. The Houthi advance was halted. But they continue to hold Sanaa and the north. In the center of the country, they battle multiple Saudi-backed factions supporting the internationally recognized government that tenuously holds the southern city of Aden. The fighting and the heavy barrage of air strikes have killed more than 9,000 people, including more than 3,000 civilians, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office. More than 900 children have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded, 61 percent of them in air strikes, according to UNICEF. Coalition air strikes appear to be responsible for twice as many casualties as all other forces put together, Zeid Raad Al Hussein said. The coalition argues that the rebels often use civilians and civilian locations as shields for their fighters. Around 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes. The naval blockade, enforcing a U.N. arms embargo on the rebels, has disrupted the entry of food and supplies. BEIRUT Syrian President Bashar Assad proposed a national unity government and rejected a key opposition demand for a transitional ruling body with full powers, in remarks published Wednesday that could complicate international peace efforts. In an interview with Russias state news agency Sputnik, Assad also said the recapture of the ancient town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group is a result of our determination to clean all of Syria from terrorists. He said his forces would continue to advance toward the Islamic State groups de facto capital Raqqa and the far eastern city of Deir el-Zour, which is mostly held by the extremists. Syrian government forces, aided by allied militias and Russian air strikes, have advanced on a number of fronts in recent months, and in the interview a visibly buoyant Assad showed little interest in acceding to the oppositions demands. First of all, regarding the definition of the transitional period, such a definition does not exist, Assad said in the interview with Sputnik, which published excerpts on its website. The transition period must be under the current Constitution, and we will move on to the new constitution after the Syrian people vote for it, Assad said. His comments run counter to demands by the Syrian opposition for a transitional body with full executive powers, which major powers agreed on at a Geneva conference in June 2012. That agreement remains the basis of U.N.-mediated talks, which are scheduled to resume in April. Bashar Assad can say whatever he wants, but the Geneva Communique and Security Council resolutions talk about something else, said George Sabra, a negotiator for the High Negotiations Committee representing the Syrian opposition at the talks in Geneva. Sabra said a national unity government that dilutes the current Cabinet with members of the opposition was absolutely out of the question. A road map for a transition in Syria outlined in a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in December calls for a Syrian-led political process facilitated by the United Nations that would establish credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance within six months and set up a schedule and process for the drafting of a new constitution to be followed by U.N.-supervised elections. BRUSSELS Belgiums justice minister pleaded Tuesday for critics of Belgiums intelligence failures to focus on the hunt for those behind last weeks Brussels attacks and Novembers massacre in Paris. Investigators say they are still looking for at least one suspect in the attacks seven days ago, when suicide bombers killed 32 people at Brussels airport and in a subway station near the European Union headquarters. Three suicide bombers also blew themselves up. The Health Ministry and victims identification officials said 90 people remain in hospital, a third of them suffering from severe burns. In a joint press conference they said the 32 dead include 17 Belgians and 15 foreigners, while 44 of the wounded are foreigners from 20 nations. Belgium has faced rising international criticism over its evident inability to identify and monitor Islamic State activists living in the Belgian capital who have been deemed responsible both for the March 22 bombings in Brussels and the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris nightspots that left 130 dead. Several of those who killed themselves during the attacks or were subsequently arrested were Belgian nationals of North African background. Now is not the time to fight one another. As far as I know, the enemy is in Syria, Justice Minister Koen Geens said, referring to the primary power base of the Islamic State extremist group that claimed responsibility for both attacks. But authorities in Belgium and the neighboring Netherlands faced fresh questions Tuesday about how much they knew in advance of the March 22 bombings. Turkey already has revealed it deported one of the suicide bombers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui, to the Netherlands in mid-2015 after catching him near the Syrian border and identifying him to Dutch authorities as a suspected Islamic State militant. Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said Belgian authorities must learn painful lessons and improve their ability to combat Islamic militancy. Were there mistakes? Did we miss anything? Certainly. Otherwise these attacks would not have happened, Mayeur said. Brussels, he suggested, would never feel the same. Theres no such thing as normal anymore, he said during a visit to Paris. Brussels airport has yet to reopen since the attacks but has been testing a temporary check-in system for use in coming days. The subway system is running under heavy guard. HAVANA Days after President Obamas historic visit, the leaders of Cubas Communist Party are under highly unusual public criticism from their own ranks for imposing new levels of secrecy on the future of social and economic reforms. After months of simmering discontent, complaints among party members have become so heated that its official newspaper, Granma, addressed them in a lengthy front-page article Monday. It said the public dissatisfaction over the lack of open discussion before the upcoming Communist Party congress next month is a sign of the democracy and public participation that are intrinsic characteristics of the socialism that were constructing. The article did little to calm many party members, some of whom are calling for the gathering to be postponed to allow public debate about the governments plans to continue market-oriented reforms for Cubas centrally controlled economy. The base of the party is angry, and rightly so, party member and noted intellectual Esteban Morales wrote in a blog post published before Obamas visit. Weve gone backward in terms of democracy in the party, because weve forgotten about the base, those who are fighting and confronting our problems on a daily basis. Across the country, Cubas ruling party is facing stiff challenges as it tries to govern an increasingly cynical and disenchanted population. Struggling to feed their families with state salaries around $25 a month, many ordinary Cubans see their government as infuriatingly inefficient and unresponsive to the needs of average people. The open anger among prominent party members in the middle of sweeping socioeconomic reforms and normalization with the United States hints at a deeper crisis of credibility for the party that has controlled virtually every aspect of public life in Cuba for more than a half century. The article in Granma appeared less than a week after Obama won an enthusiastic response from many ordinary Cubans by calling for both an end to Cold War hostility and for more political and economic freedom on the island. The unsigned article shared the front page with Fidel Castros sharply worded response to Obama, in which the 89-year-old father of Cubas socialist system said, My modest suggestion is that he reflect and doesnt try to develop theories about Cuban politics. Many Cubans are skeptical of free-market capitalism, wary of American power and cannot envision a society without the free health care and education put in place by the 1959 revolution. Party member Francisco Rodriguez said Obamas well-received addresses to the Cuban people hadincreased pressure on the 700,000-member Communist Party to forge a more unified and credible vision of the future. On Monday morning, Bennett Baur waits at the magistrate courthouse for Judge Donita Sena to call his next clients case. The woman has spent the past 22 days in jail after getting picked up on a year-old warrant for driving with a revoked license. The arresting officer, acting as prosecutor, offers a deal: the woman pleads guilty and receives credit for time served. Before Sena calls the defendant, Baur advises her to hold off on the plea offer. Pleading guilty would bar her from driving for up to a year. But the 26-year-old seems weary of court matters and decides instead to accept the deal in front of Judge Sena. A brief moment of confusion ensues. "I'm not giving her credit," Sena says, mistakenly claiming that the woman's jail stint arose from a different case. After Baur corrects her, Sena double-checks her computer and acknowledges the error, agreeing to release the defendant as soon as possible. It's been a strange week for the Law Offices of the Public Defender, the state-funded agency that represents low-income people charged with crimes. Last Monday, Chief Public Defender Jorge Alvarado resigned after 28 months of service, citing disagreements with the chairman of the commission that oversees the agency. In a letter, the former chief airs a number of grievances that spurred his resignation. Most explosively, Alvarado accuses chairman Michael Stout of intentionally draining the statewide public defender budget to "deny representation for some indigent clients in order to create a crisis of constitutional dimensions," with the intention of forcing the Legislature's hand. While individuals within the office may disagree on strategy, pretty much everyone acknowledges that the agency is short staffed. During the last legislative session, Alvarado requested more than $44 million to fix this problem. Lawmakers granted less than 2 percent of his request. Such are the challenges Baur inherited when he assumed the role of acting chief public defender last week. His new administrative duties pile on top of his responsibilities as head of public defenders in District 1 (Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Los Alamos and Taos counties). That's not to mention his own caseload, about four at any given time. In 2015, Baur's 14 staff attorneys each handled an average of 240 felony or 670 misdemeanor cases, sometimes working up to 70 hours per week. Baur says his office does "the very best for our clients with what we have" but acknowledges that oversights happen. The Sixth Amendment not only grants criminal defendants the right to a lawyer, but one that will provide "effective assistance of counsel." Yet in New Mexico, not every piece of evidence receives the scrutiny it deserves. Not every client with a compelling case for a bond reduction files a request for one. Baur began his career as a public defender in Albuquerque in 1992, followed by stints in private practice and the Santa Fe DA's office. He took the helm of the District 1 public defender's office in 2008. Though he is a lawyer at heart, any discussion with Baur about work eventually morphs into big picture talk. "We work with the Legislature because we can't fix things one client at a time. We have too much to do. The courts have too much to do. The prosecutor has too much to do," Baur says. "All these laws that they pass that don't rein in violence are counterproductive. So we have to address this at a different level." A few hours after he left the courthouse on Monday morning, Baur would face Judge Sena again. But this time, he speaks with her from the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center through a video monitor. Baur sits at a table with two stacks of paper: a big pile of criminal complaints, and a smaller pile of sheets titled "How to Apply for a Public Defender." He tells Sena that he might have to take off a little early for a meeting with mental health advocates. Guards lead 22 defendants into the room and sit them behind Baur on benches. Most of the defendants are men. Six women in tan jumpsuits, contrasting a sea of maroon, occupy a row in the back. All of them wear handcuffs and leg restraints. They're accused of crimes ranging from heroin possession to domestic violence. Baur faces the crowd behind him and gives some blanket advice to everyone: "I am here to represent you for this hearing only. No matter what happens, I recommend you plead not guilty at this point. We don't have a lot of time, so I won't have the opportunity to advise you on your case. You really gain nothing from pleading guilty today." That a public lawyer is present for a jailhouse arraignment is a remarkable development. Santa Fe public defenders only recently started attending these hearings about a year and a half ago, after a defendant became irate, flipped a table and picked up a contempt of court charge. At that point, Baur explains, "We realized that this is part of our obligation." As Sena calls each defendant's name, they walk forward and take a seat next to Baur. The judge reads the charge and then asks a series of questions: Did you understand your constitutional rights? Do you understand your charge and potential penalty? Would you like to have an attorney assist you in this matter? Each time after Sena recites her spiel, Baur hits a button on the conference phone, muting the jail end of the line, and confers with the defendant sitting next to him. "Okay, you're going to get out of here. Get in touch with us as soon as you can," Baur repeats all afternoon, before directing defendants to a correctional officer, who instructs them to sign their paperwork. Handcuffs complicate this step. Most defendants plead not guilty and are released on unsecured bonds, meaning they are free to reenter society as long as they obey the law and show up for their court date. The hearings end at 3:20, a little less than two hours after they began. That's on the shorter side for custody arraignments, which have been known to go on until 5, an hour after the magistrate court closes. "It looks like you can get to your meeting," Sena says to Baur. "Lovely. That's just what I wanted," he replies with a grin. "Another meeting." Editor's note: An earlier version of this story spelled Baur's last name incorrectly. Santa Fe Reporter BOISE, Idaho On Tuesday, Western Watersheds Project filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada over its approval of new fences in important sage-grouse habitat on the Argenta allotment. Fences harm sage-grouse in a variety of ways. The decision to build the fences along six sections of streams on public lands was made without full environmental review and independent of pending analyses that will decide whether grazing in those areas can continue at all. The lawsuit alleges that the BLMs action will bias that forthcoming decision, due by the end of 2017. The Argenta allotment in the Battle Mountain District is the subject of much controversy already because livestock operators there have resisted the BLMs drought closures and instead bullied the BLM into considering a slew of proposals for new livestock infrastructure to justify more grazing on the badly degraded public lands. Rather than insist upon needed rest periods, the BLM has caved to rancher demands to allow their herds back onto the parched landscapes and enabled that use by approving the contested fencing. New infrastructure is not the answer to fix problems caused by livestock overgrazing. The answer is to take a comprehensive look at the various ways protection could be accomplished without entrenching livestock grazing any further, said Paul Ruprecht, attorney for Western Watersheds Project. There are less damaging ways to keep cows out of sensitive areas, including getting rid of the cows. We want to see the BLM explore a range of options when it completes its allotment analysis next year. The new fencing is only the first round of range developments, with a Round Two proposal for additional fencing already underway. Both suites of infrastructure are designed to enable cattle use of sensitive sage-grouse habitat while avoiding consideration of the cumulative and ongoing impacts to the species from grazing on the allotment as a whole. The BLMs approval of these projects shows that the unprecedented effort of the sage-grouse planning process is just a pile of paper written to avoid an Endangered Species Act listing, said Ken Cole, Idaho Director of Western Watersheds Project. Nothing has changed on the ground, and most of new protections from grazing wont be implemented for years to come. Big New Deficit Forecast The state may face a than originally forecast. Defenders Drained After the states chief public defender suddenly resigned last week after only 28 months on the job, it looks like the . New SFR staff reporter Stephen Hsieh spent a day hanging out with Bennett Bauer. Balderas Joins Effort to Battle Global Warming New Mexico joined 16 other state attorneys general Tuesday in pledging to support Obama administration efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Gag Rule Challenged An Albuquerque parent is joining a group of teachers and the American Civil Liberties Union over its standardized test gag rule. Battle Plan New Mexico, which consistently has some of the highest opiate drug overdose death rates in the country, could benefit from President Barack Obamas plans to . More Transparency Needed New Mexico, according to Consumer Reports, has when it comes to providing the public with an easy way to access the disciplinary records of physicians. Vowing to Serve Anthony Leroy Benavidez is under investigation for accusations that hes after being convicted of a felony Probation Violation Albuquerque UFC fighter Jon 'Bones' Jones turned himself in to police on Tuesday morning a day after it came to light he received five traffic citations last week for allegedly drag racing, reports KOB. Youth Vote Heath Haussamen reports that election officials in New Mexicos two most-populous counties say they expect to in the upcoming June 7 primaries. Drivers Strike for Benefits It looks like Las Cruces school bus drivers are . The districts contract drivers want benefits, including sick day pay. No Love Lost Well, we all suspected this would happen, and it has. In Wisconsin on Tuesday, Donald Trump reversed course and said . Thats okay, though, because Ted Cruz and John Kasich probably wont support Trump if he claims the nomination. Ruffled Feathers Speaking of decisions, heres one that, according to Andrew Oxford, will likely ruffle some feathers: The New Mexico Court of Appeals reversed a district judges 2014 order prohibiting Eldorado residents from The 18-page ruling issued Monday is just the latest development in a yearslong legal battle undertaken by the subdivisions homeowners association to enforce a covenant its lawyers and some residents argue prohibits keeping live poultry on residential property in the community southeast of Santa Fe. Santa Fe Reporter New Zealand shares were mixed, with the NZX 50 Index reaching a record high but with more companies falling. Meridian Energy rose ahead of going ex-dividend tomorrow while A2 Milk fell as its chief executive sold shares. Banks declined after Australia & New Zealand Banking Group lifted its bad debt provision last week. The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 13.8 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,676.33. Within the index, 20 stocks rose, 22 fell and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $122 million. Meridian Energy led the index's advancing, gaining 3.6 percent, or 5 cents, to $2.62. The energy retailer gives up rights to a 5.1 cent interim dividend along with a 2.44 cent special dividend tomorrow. Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners said investors may be buying the stock to get the payments. Z Energy advanced 2.8 percent to $6.68. Just before market close, it announced it has settled a dispute with the New Zealand Customs Service for $18.5 million, with $13.5 million of that to impact on 2016 as $5 million was accrued in 2015. Z had already paid Customs $28 million, so has had $9.5 million returned to it under the settlement. Australian banks continued last Thursday's downward trend, which was driven by ANZ Bank announcing an increase in bad debt provisions. The dual-listed Australian bank said it would increase its provisions for bad debt by at least A$100 million, on top of the A$800 million it anticipated for the first half of 2016, which it projected in February. ANZ dropped 2.7 percent to $26.01 and Westpac Banking Corp shed 2.9 percent to $33.50. AMP dropped 0.5 percent to $6.40. "That announcement did catch a few people by surprise, they've come under a bit of selling pressure," Lister said. "In this part of the world we don't need to be concerned about banks failing, but it's going to eat into profits a little bit, which concerns investors." NZX gained 2 percent to $1.02, Contact Energy rose 1.8 percent to $5.04, and Fletcher Building grew 1.7 percent to $7.81. A2 Milk was the worst performer, down 5.5 percent to $1.89. Chief executive Geoffrey Babidge sold 1 million shares for $1.99 million, leaving him with 7.5 million shares in the company. Outside the main index, Veritas Investments fell 14.8 percent to 23 cents, matching a record low set earlier this month, and valuing the company at about $10 million. Veritas and local Burger King franchise operator Antares Restaurant Group announced they have agreed to sell the assets of their joint venture which supplied beef patties to the fast food operator after the deal broke down last year. Trilogy International gained 2.9 percent to $3.36. Chief executive Angela Buglass has sold 100,000 shares after the first tranche of 400,000 options vested, taking advantage of a stock price that soared 284 percent in the past year and reached a record $3.52 this month. IkeGPS was unchanged at 66 cents and has dropped 5.7 percent so far this year. An executive reshuffle will see the departure of the laser measurement tool developer's chief financial officer and senior vice president of sales. 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Related News: Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct MCY - Quarterly Operational Update VCT - Operational performance for the 3 months ended 30 Sept 2022 NZL - Forestry Estate Acquisition October 21st Morning Report Air New Zealand Limited Retail Bond Offer Books Close Spark welcomes C-band spectrum allocation AIA - 2022 Annual Meeting Chair & Chief Executive Addresses MOVE Completes Purchase of Vessel for Trans-Tasman Service It is like fighting the Hydra, cut off one head and two grow back. But the federal government is no myth. It is immortal. It has the power to print money and hire an army of attorneys whose job security depends on ceaseless litigation with no risk to themselves or their livelihoods. The first generation of Hage family ranchers has died off while fighting in the courts for their rights, but the current generation vows to press on to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1978, E. Wayne Hage bought the Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah. It included 7,000 acres of private land and grazing permits for 752,000 acres of federal public land, as well as water rights. The very next year he clashed with the Forest Service when it agreed to a plan to stock elk on Table Mountain. Hage complained that the elk would drink his water and eat his grass. According to court records, the relationship between the rancher and federal land agents deteriorated from there. In 1983, Plaintiffs received 40 letters from the Forest Service charging them with various violations, wrote U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Loren Smith in 2008. In the same year, the Forest Service paid 70 visits to Plaintiffs. Following the 40 letters and 70 visits, the Forest Service filed 22 charges against Plaintiffs. Many of these complaints cited issues of fence maintenance, some of them extremely minor infractions. (One was a loose staple in a fence post.) In addition, the Forest Service insisted that Plaintiffs maintain their 1866 Act ditches with nothing other than hand tools. Judge Smith citing the Fifth Amendment prohibition against taking private property without just compensation awarded the Hage estate $4,220,431.20, plus interest and attorneys fees and costs. The total has long since topped $14 million, but the Hages have not seen a dime as various appeals courts have ducked and remanded and dismissed. Though turned down once by the Supreme Court, Hages son Wayne N. Hage and daughter Ramona Hage Morrison say they plan to appeal one of their cases to the high court. The latest litigation setback came in January when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a Nevada federal judges ruling in their favor. In a 104-page opinion Judge Robert Jones accused government officials of entering into a literal, intentional conspiracy to deprive the Hages not only of their permits but also of their vested water rights. This behavior shocks the conscience The appeals court accused Judge Jones of being biased against the federal land agents and took him off the case, even though Judge Smith had reached similar conclusions about the conduct of the federal agents, calling their behavior harassment and hostility. First, Plaintiffs had a significant investment-backed expectation in the ditches, as these were the primary means for conveyance of water for irrigating the Ranch. The ditches were rights purchased along with the Ranch, Judge Smith wrote. Second, Plaintiffs offered ample evidence that the Forest Service had engaged in harassment towards Plaintiffs, enough to suggest that the implementation of the hand tools requirement was based solely on hostility to Plaintiffs. Third, the economic impact of this regulation was considerable; it would have been economically impractical for Plaintiffs to hire enough men with hand tools to perform any sort of substantial work clearing the ditches. Judge Smith ruled the Hage ranch had a right to access its vested water rights, but the 9th Circuit basically ruled the ranch had no right to let cattle graze while getting to that water. According to a Hage family press release posted by Range magazine, the family sees the conflict in rulings as something the Supreme Court needs to resolve. It is only the Ninth Circuit three-judge panel, after a 45 minute hearing, which determined that they are better arbiters of the truth than the two judges from two separate federal courts who actually saw the evidence and heard witnesses testify over a combined period of 43 trial days, the press release states. The Ninth Circuit panel, in reaching their desired outcome in U.S. v. Hage has managed to significantly diminish western water law and the laws governing rights of ways for roads, ditches and canals across federally administered lands, leaving the Hages no choice but to seek relief at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Hages are asking for donations to help defray the cost of continued litigation. Losing your luggage: another little drama that can befall travelers. Getty Images/ Paul Thompson Can I take a leg of ham on board the plane? Does the embassy have the morning-after pill? How do you say enema in Czech? These are just a few of the genuine queries received on the hotline at the Spanish embassy in Prague, and which have been put together on one of the blogs available on the Foreign Ministrys website, En la ciudad de las cien torres (or, In the city of one hundred towers). Its author is the consul, Pablo Ruperez, who describes the day-to-day work of a diplomat. And one of the more unusual aspects of the job, as described in this particular post, concerns some of the calls made by people who use the embassys emergency number. The queries included: Can I take a leg of ham on board the plane? and How do you say enema in Czech? Since reality is often stranger than fiction, we often receive questions that are unexpected, curious, somewhat surreal, or simply too much for us to deal with, wrote Ruperez in a post that was published in late January but made it on to the main page of Spanish content aggregator Meneame over the Easter holidays. I promise they are all authentic, he writes. First, there are those that focus on more or less practical issues: Which nightclub does the embassy recommend? Then, there are those who think they are talking to a customer service department: I arrived at the hotel and the bedsheets in my room are dirty. What should I do? Sign up to our newsletter! The EL PAIS English Edition is launching a weekly newsletter. Sign up today to receive a selection of our best stories in your inbox every Saturday morning. For full details about how to subscribe, click here. I bought opera tickets and the seats have poor visibility. What do you recommend? There are also those who never forget their beloved Spain. What is the area code for General Pardinas Street in Madrid? Im a Real Madrid fan and I want to go to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Can you help me? Finally, there are the callers who are on a whole different level possibly an alcohol-fueled one or who simply want to poke fun at the embassy: I am a direct descendant of the Spanish King Charles II The Bewitched; I demand that someone from the embassy come and get me out of the police station. Plus, I live in Fuengirola most of the year. This call, notes Ruperez, was made by a clearly inebriated individual with a foreign-sounding accent in the middle of the night. Id like two bus tickets, window seats please. For Friday. I know that this is the emergency number, but it was just in case it worked. The bus station is really far from my house, you see. About Verne In past times, explorers, adventurers and writers scoured the Earth seeking out the wonders of the world. Today, we have the internet. VERNE: a thousand marvels a minute. Click here for more Verne stories in English, and here for the Spanish page And as the consul explains in his post, some callers insist on receiving assistance regardless of the irrelevance of their request. Like the passenger with the leg of ham, for instance. Told that the embassy number was for emergencies only, he replied that ham is an emergency for me. Still, Ruperez says most of the calls he and his four colleagues receive are to report theft, loss of documentation, medical emergencies and arrests. The Espana.contigo service was launched in October 2015. Since then, Telefonica and Orange customers receive a free SMS on their cellphone when they travel to a foreign country, and are provided with an embassy number to call in case of need. English version by Susana Urra. An Uber user next to a taxi lane in Madrid in December 2014. Sergio Perez (Reuters) Uber, the ride-hailing application, returned to Madrid on March 30 after a 15-month hiatus. The company, which offers users the chance to hire a car ride for short city journeys, had already announced that it would return to Spanish streets in the first quarter of 2016 after a court shut it down in December 2014. The new service, called UberX, replaces the old UberPop, which triggered mass protests by the taxi sector in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. There are enough VTC licenses in Madrid to offer a quality transportation alternative Yuri Fernandez, Ubers spokesman in Spain Under the new terms, users are put in touch with professional drivers with passenger transport vehicle (VTC) licenses chauffeurs who operate sedans typically used until now by business and government clients rather than private individuals. Because VTCs are legal yet fall under different regulations from the taxi sector, Uber hopes that it will now be able to operate in the industry without any further legal challenges from regular cab drivers. There are enough VTC licenses in Madrid to offer a quality transportation alternative, explains Yuri Fernandez, Ubers spokesman in Spain. In his opinion, the new service will not run into any legal trouble because each driver has a license awarded by the regional government. There are around 1,500 VTC licenses in Madrid, one for every 30 taxi licenses as mandated by law. But it is expected that a further 1,000 will be issued next year, as the courts are ruling in favor of applicants who had their requests denied. Fernandez said that car-sharing is good for big cities because it solves the traffic problem and stimulates competition. The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has also asked for city ride rules to be liberalized, but taxi drivers oppose the move, saying that it will affect the quality of the service and jeopardize the livelihood of 70,000 people. Sign up to our newsletter! The EL PAIS English Edition is launching a weekly newsletter. Sign up today to receive a selection of our best stories in your inbox every Saturday morning. For full details about how to subscribe, click here. The new Uber service is available from any area of the capital via the firms smartphone app. Users need to indicate the pick-up point and the desired destination, and the application will put them in touch with the nearest available driver, indicating how long the vehicle will take to show up between three and seven minutes. The price of a ride is 1.10 per kilometer, and Uber keeps 25% for its mediation work. All transactions are made with credit cards through the Uber website, meaning that users do not need to hand drivers any cash. The Madrid spokesman said the service can save users around 30% on a regular taxi ride. The new service will not be available in other Spanish cities because there are not enough VTC licenses concentrated elsewhere to build a significant network. Drivers wishing to work for Uber are asked to produce their VTC licenses, along with proof that they are self-employed workers or owners of a business, have no criminal record and possess up-to-date car insurance. Created in 2009, Uber employs 6,000 people and is present in 400 cities in 69 countries. Fernandez said that Italy and Spain were the most restrictive states in Europe when it comes to livery vehicle regulation. English version by Susana Urra. President Maduro has vowed to veto the amnesty bill. EFE More information El Parlamento aprueba una amnistia para los presos politicos en Venezuela The Venezuelan opposition has caught President Nicolas Maduros chavismo government off guard. The legislative agenda of the National Assembly was unexpectedly modified on Tuesday to incorporate the debate and approval of the Amnesty and Reconciliation Law, which will benefit 78 political prisoners. After a seven-hour debate, the proposal by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) got the green light. The opposition-controlled Congress was going to discuss the bill on Thursday, but Deputy Delsa Solorzano moved to include it in the Tuesday agenda. Representatives of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela called the law outlandish and refused to vote in favor. The ruling United Socialist Party describes the political prisoners as murderers To grant amnesty is to forget without providing reparation for the victims, said party representative Pedro Carreno. The release of political prisoners increases existing tensions in the country. The reputation of the Venezuelan government is under scrutiny as a result of its imprisonment of politicians, particularly in the wake of the protests against President Maduro in February and March 2014. Opposition leaders Leopoldo Lopez, Daniel Ceballos, Manuel Rosales and Antonio Ledezma were arrested for inciting hatred and conspiring against the government. Lopez is one of the biggest stones in the shoe of chavismo, which follows the leftist, popular doctrine of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. Venezuelan political opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez in the window of his prison cell in 2014. MIGUEL GUTIERREZ (EFE) Lopez, a former mayor of the Caracas municipality of Chacao and leader of the Political Will party, encouraged a government exit two years ago through street marches. There were 43 deaths across the country as a result of these protests, nearly all caused by gunshot wounds. The government went after Lopez, who eventually turned himself in and was jailed one week after the start of the anti-Maduro demonstrations. His imprisonment was harshly criticized by human rights activists. In September of last year, Lopez was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in prison, a conviction that international observers such as the United Nations and Human Rights Watch considered a cause for concern over the state of democracy in Venezuela. Yet Lopezs leadership has grown since then, while Maduros popularity has been dropping fast as a result of the countrys economic and political crisis. This erosion of chavismos hegemony is being felt in the polls: 19% of the population would choose Lopez as the next president of Venezuela over Maduro and over the governor of Miranda, Henrique Capriles Radonski, according to a survey released this month by polling firm Hinterlaces. Sign up to our newsletter! The EL PAIS English Edition is launching a weekly newsletter. Sign up today to receive a selection of our best stories in your inbox every Saturday morning. For full details about how to subscribe, click here. The passing of the amnesty law will increase the power struggle between the Assembly and the Supreme Court. National Assembly speaker Henry Ramos Allup warned that the Supreme Court was cooking up a ruling to declare the amnesty law unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the government is refusing to free jailed opponents. While the bill was still being debated on the floor of the Assembly, President Maduro stated that you can be sure this law will not pass through here [the executive]. The Amnesty Law, which is made up of 29 articles, must be reviewed by the head of state before going into force. Maduro now has two options under the Venezuelan Constitution: he can suggest changes that will send it back to the Assembly for further debate, or he can forward the document straight to the Supreme Court for evaluation. The ruling United Socialist Party, which describes the political prisoners as murderers, has launched campaigns against an amnesty law that, it says, will create impunity. But opposition deputies note that individuals accused of homicide, of inflicting serious injuries or of crimes against humanity are not being included in the amnesty. English version by Susana Urra. Pedro Sanchez and Pablo Iglesias shake hands after beginning their talks on Wednesday. Claudio Alvarez The leaders of the Socialist Party and Podemos talked for two hours on Wednesday in a highly anticipated meeting aimed at unblocking Spains political deadlock. Although Pedro Sanchez and Pablo Iglesias walked into the meeting with no plans to yield on their respective positions, the head of Podemos revealed at the end of their talks that he was willing to give up on holding a post in any cabinet that might emerge from a coalition government. I am ready to yield. Theres no more excuses. Now its the Socialist Partys turn to make concessions Pablo Iglesias However, he added that he would only do so in the event that Sanchez breaks his deal with Ciudadanos the other emerging party to do well at the inconclusive December 20 elections, which yielded a hung parliament and opts to explore a leftist coalition with Podemos, United Left and Compromis. I am ready to yield, said Iglesias. Theres no more excuses. Now its the Socialist Partys turn to make concessions. Until now, Iglesias had been proposing a scheme in which Sanchez would be the prime minister and the Podemos leader his deputy. Sign up to our newsletter! The EL PAIS English Edition is launching a weekly newsletter. Sign up today to receive a selection of our best stories in your inbox every Saturday morning. For full details about how to subscribe, click . For his part, the Socialist leader has until now refused to break his partnership with Ciudadanos. But Podemos has repeatedly said that it will not enter into any alliance with Ciudadanos which seems to feel the same way about the anti-austerity party. The governing pact recently signed by the Socialists and Ciudadanos, which together hold 130 deputies in Congress, has so far failed to attract enough support to attain the 176 seats required for an overall majority. Iglesias made a reference to this pact following his meeting with Sanchez. Perhaps it does not work as a governing agreement, as has been demonstrated, but it might work to get Ciudadanos to facilitate an investiture deal and prevent the Popular Party from remaining in power, he said. If parties fail to strike any deals between now and May 2, parliament will be dissolved and new elections called for late June. English version by Susana Urra. SYDNEY: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that India needs to further ease its business processes to boost foreign and domestic investments, even as he admitted that the country has been impacted by global trade shrinkages. Terming 'ease of doing business' in India as an "important work which is still in progress", Jaitley also said that the Modi government has been able to straighten several laws and was trying to make taxation systems compatible with the global standards. Addressing the Sydney campus of the S P Jain School of Global Management after arriving this morning on a four-day visit to Australia, Jaitley said that the NDA government has also been able to make headway in terms of eliminating corruption and it was working on removing discretions of all forms. Jaitley, who was welcomed by Indian high commissioner Navdeep Suri and S P Jain School President Nitish Jain at the jam-packed event where he spoke on 'Reimagining the Indian Economy', said that the global trade shrinkages have impacted India too in terms of uncertainties in stock and currency markets, which Australia itself has also witnessed. "Opening of the Indian economy and sectors like insurance, railways, defence and several others which were earlier unavailable for FDI (foreign direct investment) has helped us," Jaitley said. Listing various measures taken since the NDA government came to power in May 2014, Jaitley said, "We have also removed the unnecessary conditionalities which was slowing down foreign direct investments and this, probably in greenfield projects, has made India the most sought after destination as far as FDI is concerned". "The second important challenge was not only to improve India's image but.... Image gets improved by the fact that in actual operation those who domestically do business and those who intend to invest in India go back with an impression that it is easy to do business in India," he said. "In term of ease of doing business, you are measured by the stability of policies, by predictability, by cutting short the time between the decision to make investment and actual implementation... You need few approvals and easy approvals," he said. He said that for India, the system was to get approval from multiple authorities which could frustrate the investors. "I can claim that we have achieved everything but I think there is a greater realisation in India that in the competitive world today not only to attract foreign investors but also persuading domestic investors, we will have to ease our business processes," he said, adding, "that's an important work which is still in progress as far as India is concerned." He also said that the government has been able to make headway in terms of eliminating corruption. Jaitley further stressed that an area the government was working on was to eliminate discretions of all forms and to eliminate person-to-person contact to ensure a non-discretionary system for all processes. He said that the government has been able to straighten several laws and was now trying to make the taxation systems compatible with the global standards. "We are now working on direct tax system. We want to put disputes behind us. We want people to clean up their taxation issues and to bring down India's corporate tax gradually to a fair international level which would be at a flat 25%. We are slowly moving in that area," he said. He also expressed hope that the GST would be cleared sooner or later. Jaitley said other areas of focus for the government was agriculture and infrastructure. "As far agri sector is concerned, since it was a stressed sector over the last two years, we have used the opportunity in every possible way to pour investments in this sector," he said and stressed upon measures like higher spending on irrigation, large amount of credit offtake and crop insurance. "We also utilised the regime created by low oil prices resulting in large amount of savings for the government to start investing in the infrastructure sector," he said. "We are concentrating on highways, railways, airports, ports and this is the direction in which we are taking the economy," he said. "Despite global slowdown, we have managed to maintain the growth rate of 7.5%. All our current figures are very acceptable figures and I am reasonably certain that as the global push to the economy slightly improves, hopefully we have better monsoon and these figures will look even better in years to come," Jaitley said. Welcoming the finance minister, Suri said India saw Australia as a critical partner in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Skill India' programme. "We are working very closely with number of Australian education institutions. We are looking at different models that are emerging," he said. Suri said in discussions with Australian skills providers, the Indian government was raising the issue of high cost model offered by the Australian side. "Education has become an important part of bilateral agenda and this was taking place at a different level," he said. "The Indian economy has foreign exchange reserves $ 356 billion. Foreign investments is pouring into India in a big way and that there was a hope to take the growth to double digit," Nitish Jain of SP Jain School said. Jaitley, who is in Sydney for two days, also met New South Wales Premier Mike Baird. He would address 'Make in India' conference on Wednesday morning along with Australia's Special Envoy for Trade Andrew Robb. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India needs a lot of FDI, especially in manufacturing and infrastructure sectors. He said state governments too are taking keen interest and competing among themselves to have foreign investments in their respective states. They are organising investment summits in this regard, he added. The minister said that the present government has opened various sectors for FDI, including railways and defence, among others. He invited businesses in New South Wales (NSW) to invest and make in India. Jaitley said we want foreign sovereign wealth funds to be part of NIIF, pension and insurance funds in India. The minister was making opening remarks during his meeting with the NSW Premier Mike Baird in Sydney on Tuesday. He also highlighted the various initiatives and reforms measures undertaken by the present government to boost the Indian economy which is growing at the rate of above 7.5%. Speaking on the occasion, Baird expressed keen interest about the investment opportunities in India, particularly in the infrastructure sector. He highlighted the importance of communicating the information to larger business community in Australia to enable them to understand the opportunities available in India. The premier also informed the finance minister that he intends to visit India during the next Vibrant Gujarat summit, which is planned to be held in India in January 2017. Later, Jaitley inaugurated Sydney branch of Union Bank of India. Read Also: Aurobindo Pharma Gets USFDA Nod for Osteoporosis Drug India Business Sentiment Falls in March: Survey NEW DELHI: Echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to bridge the "digital divide" in the country, a young Indian-American student has begun on her journey to empower rural youth in learning computer programming technology in a small yet picturesque town in Himachal Pradesh. Through "Pi A La Code" -- a project that began in 2014 -- California-based Sonia Uppal is helping young talented minds at the Saraswati Niketan Senior Secondary School in a village in Kasauli learn computer programming. "The experience of using immersive tools to build software that people loved to learn with always excited me and I decided to take computer science to the rural people in India," Uppal told IANS in a telephonic interview from California. Born and brought up in California, she stumbled upon a $35 computer developed by Raspberry Pi -- the makers of tiny and affordable computers for kids at the Bay Area Maker Faire -- an exhibition showcasing invention, creativity and resourcefulness in the Silicon Valley. The mere sight of the cost-efficient Pi computers brightened up her mind and she initially thought of taking the Pi device to India -- to The International School Bangalore (TISB) in Bengaluru where she was studying computer science during the period when her father was transferred to India. She realised that students at her school did not need this basic computer device. But what about students in rural India, she thought, for whom this simple device can become a useful learning tool? Thus, the "Pi A La Code" idea took shape. "I realised it would be much useful if I take this Pi device to schools in villages which will have much more impact," Sonia told IANS. In the meantime, she raised money to buy 10 Raspberry Pi teaching sets. She first taught herself Python -- a widely used high-level, dynamic computer programming language while being selected as a Stanford SHE++ fellow -- a social enterprise that empowers women to make their mark in the technology industry. Here, Uppal met people who inspired as well as helped her to take up the noble cause of teaching computer programming to students in rural India. Emboldened, she developed a curriculum on her own and flew back to India in 2014 for a 10-day trip to the school tucked away in Kasauli -- her mother's ancestral place. After the initial hiccups, things quickly fell in place for her. Uppal got the necessary permission to teach computer science at Saraswati Niketan Senior Secondary School. With her broken Hindi, she started to teach computers and the basics of Python to Class 10 and 11 students. "I thought there would be language and other barriers, but besides internet connectivity problems, we didn't have any other major issues," Uppal added. Her course was fun, engaging and produced immediate responses with the students. "The students learnt how to operate the Pi device and basic Python very quickly which was incredible since the only computer experience they had prior was learning how to restart a monitor or to save a word document," she elaborated. Following the 10-day pilot run in 2014, Uppal returned to the US but continued teaching the students over Skype for a whole year. In 2015, she again came back to Kasauli and taught both web programming and Python to the students. "I am really glad that I have been able to reach so many kids through this project as I wanted to introduce computer science to the underprivileged," Uppal said, revealing that many of her students, who are now starting for college, want to pursue computer science as a career. Encouraged, she now wants to extend the "Pi a La Code" project beyond Kasauli. She also wants to approach the Himachal Pradesh government for its help to start a Raspberry Pi programming curriculum in more schools in the state. "Since Pi teaching set is quite inexpensive, many kids can be taught for a small amount of funding and this can easily be expanded to other states," she explained. Currently, Uppal is focussed on making an e-book compiling the lessons she implemented in her curriculum. Read Also: Obama Dismayed At 'Vulgar,Divisive' Campaign Rhetoric Fascinating Transformation In India-US Ties: Indian Envoy Source: IANS STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are asking the public's help identifying a man sought for questioning in connection with the use of a stolen credit card at a Subway shop in Dongan Hills. Around 10 a.m. last Monday, a 42-year-old man noticed his wallet was missing from the center console of his 2013 Kia Sorento, which was parked on Endor Avenue and Milford Drive in Sunnyside, according to an emailed statement by the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The wallet contained $60, his identification and several credit cards, police said. At 3:56 p.m. that day, an unknown male used the credit cards to make three unauthorized purchases totaling $45 at the Subway shop at 1750 Hylan Blvd., according to the NYPD statement. Police released surveillance footage of the man sought for questioning in connection with the incident, taken from cameras at Subway. Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- From Clear Comfort to the Meatpacking District, Alice Austen is celebrating her birth month in style. In a joint celebration of Alice Austen's 150th birthday and Women's History Month, the Alice Austen House Museum is collaborating with the Whitney Museum of American Art to present a roundtable discussion with prominent scholars on Thursday at 7 p.m., to be held at the Whitney, 99 Gansevoort St. in Manhattan. At the event Thursday night five expert scholars from a range of academic fields will discuss Austen's groundbreaking street photography and charged domestic imagery. The New Eyes on Alice Austen program runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and includes a question and answer session. The event will be held in the Susan and John Hess Family Theater on the third floor of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Tickets are required ($8 adults, $6 for Alice Austen House and Whitney members) and can be purchased here. They'll talk about some of the major themes in Austen's life and work, like the New Woman, professional versus amateur photography, gender roles, same-sex relationships, immigration and New York City history. The discussion will also bring to the forefront the loving and devoted relationship between Austen and her life-long companion, Gertrude Tate. Here are the experts that will lead the discussion: Lillian Faderman Sarah Kate Gillespie Richard Meyer Lara Vapnek Laura Wexler The discussion will be moderated by independent museum consultant and art historian, Denise Rompilla. "Austen is a fascinating and complex woman who created a large body of photographs from the late-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century that give a glimpse into the world of a woman ahead of her time, a woman who went out on the streets of New York City as one of the earliest female street photographers," said Alice Austen House Executive Director Janice Monger. And, if the panel discussion is too much of a hike for you, there's an exhibit on display now at the museum that showcases some of Austen's perspectives through the lens of contemporary photographers on Staten Island. Danger! Zebra crossings have lost their stripes Pupils periled by lax maintenance that undercuts Vision Zero Lawmakers are working to increase transparency when it comes to child care facilities and their history of violations. (Staten Island Advance/Kathryn Carse) (Kathryn Carse carse@siadvance.com) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Parents are faced with confusing website roadblocks that prevent access to detailed records of a child care facility's violations of city and state regulations. Critical information about daycare centers and child care providers can be found on city and state websites -- the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Office of Children and Family Services -- if you know where to look. Which site you will need to access to get the information depends on which agency issued the facility's license. And even if you do know where to look, vital information is excluded from the reports. The name of the center alone doesn't lead to knowing which kind of facility it is, making it hard to know which website needs to be checked. The only way to know is to ask. Both websites show prior violations, but they do not show if a facility has ever been shut down, had its license suspended or revoked, or were issued a cease and desist order, or had other serious incidents -- like if a child was injured or died while in the center's care. But change is on the horizon. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), as well as elected officials across New York City, like Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), are working to change what's widely viewed as a very flawed system. COMPREHENSIVE WEBSITE The DOHMH and OCFS have recognized the confusion parents face when trying to access information and are working on improving preexisting websites to increase transparency. The Office of Children and Family Services says its current website provides "extensive resources" that enable parents to make informed decisions, as well as linking to the DOHMH database for additional information. "Additionally, OCFS is identifying ways to improve search criteria and is working with DOHMH to enhance existing information to increase transparency and ease of use," said a OCFS spokeswoman. Recently the DOHMH initiated two programs, NYC ChildcareConnect app and a Program Improvement Initiative. The NYCChildcareConnect app allows parents to receive notifications when a provider is inspected, as well as periodic updates and other information. The Program Improvement Initiative helps providers who receive citations create and carry out action plans to help improve their performance. SENATE SEEKS LETTER-GRADING SYSTEM The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) of the New York state Senate introduced legislation in 2013 that required licensed centers to post their latest inspection results at the entrance of the facility after an independent investigation found that many group daycares in New York City persistently violated public health hazard laws and racked up critical violations. A similar investigation looked at daycare facilities regulated by the state. The investigation found that "a center operating without staff members who were properly trained in first aid and CPR" was the most common violation on Staten Island. The legislation became law, but only for centers licensed by OCFS, not the city. The report found that "daycares operating in NYC, which are licensed by the City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, carved themselves out of the requirements to post their latest inspection results." Now the IDC is working to pass new legislation based on the findings. The IDC recommends that daycare centers establish a Health and Safety Inspection, similar to the grading system in restaurants that is "simple and accessible" and will "provide parents with important information they need when choosing a facility." "Parents and guardians need an easy-to-understand, accessible system to let them know that their child's daycare is clean and safe, just as the restaurant letter-grading system lets diners know that a restaurant is clean and safe," said Savino, who recently introduced the bill with Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester). The Health and Safety Inspection Grade would establish that centers with low grades should be inspected more frequently. "By holding daycare centers more accountable for the safety and cleanliness of their facilities, and making that information more readily available to the public, parents will be bale to make fully informed decisions when choosing the right daycare," the report says. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Demolition continues at the former Staten Island Hospital site in Tompkinsville where Marcos Castillo, 16, fell to death down an elevator shaft in October. Independent truckers with a large fleet of dump trucks lined up along Webster and Stanley avenues, waiting to fill their vessels with debris. One of the drivers said he had taken loads from the site all the way to Pennsylvania. The site was the location of the borough's first volunteer hospital, which was built in 1899. Originally named the Samuel R. Smith Infirmary, it was later renamed Staten Island Hospital and expanded with additional structures. When the hospital moved to Seaview Avenue in Ocean Breeze in the 1970s, the 17-acre property fell into disrepair. In the mid-1980s, there were plans for an upscale condominium complex on the site. Named for the castle-like infirmary on the land, Castleton Castle Condominiums was the original plan sold to investors. But only about 100 units were created in the partially converted hospital when the plan went bust in the late 1980s. Pablo Iglesias (left) and Pedro Sanchez moments before their face-to-face meeting on Wednesday. CLAUDIO ALVAREZ Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday insisted that any governing deal will have to include both of Spains emerging parties, Podemos and Ciudadanos. The assertion came after a two-hour meeting with Podemos chief Pablo Iglesias the first time in weeks that both men agreed to talk face-to-face about ways to break the political deadlock in Spain. With all the required prudence, and despite all the difficulties, we are now closer to a government of change than to a repeat election Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez At the end of the highly anticipated encounter, Iglesias announced that he is ready to give up on his aspiration to become deputy prime minister in a coalition government, as long as Sanchez breaks his current association with Ciudadanos. But in a media statement of his own, the Socialist leader rejected a plan that would bring together his own party, Podemos, United Left and the Valencian regionalists of Compromis, for a total of 161 congressional seats. He proposed his own name and he is withdrawing his own name, said Sanchez about Iglesiass offer to no longer bid for the deputys position. The 199 goal Instead, Sanchez insisted on an alliance of Socialists, Podemos and Ciudadanos that would represent 199 deputies. We have always worked towards the 199 goal, said Sanchez. The only option is for the three political groups to join forces. Sign up for our newsletter! EL PAIS English Edition is launching a weekly newsletter. Sign up today to receive a selection of our best stories in your inbox every Saturday morning. For full details about how to subscribe, click here. He also said he hoped that Podemos was being sincere in its apparent desire to build bridges after holding back its support at Sanchezs failed investiture vote in early March. Well see if Podemos is serious about this, because the PSOE and Ciudadanos are serious, he added. With all the required prudence, and despite all the difficulties, we are now closer to a government of change than to a repeat election. Sanchez insisted that he will not be breaking off his alliance with Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera. I am a man of my word, he said. Any agreement that gets built over the next weeks has to respect the agreement built with Ciudadanos. If no governing deal is struck before May 2, parliament will be dissolved and fresh elections called for June 26. English version by Susana Urra. New Armenia calls for consolidation The power of people is usurped in Armenia, New Armenia Public Salvation Front said in a statement issued on March 30. The mechanism of elections has long been turned into a tool of reproduction by the criminal regime. The Electoral Code is a constitutional law. It defines the mechanism of forming the system of state governance and is therefore a major component of the Constitution. Hence, the circulation of the draft Electoral Code after the rigged constitutional referendum of December 6 is viewed as the continuation of usurpation of peoples power and violation of peoples right to self-determination. The adoption of the new Electoral Code can serve as a ground for the consolidation of the opposition and civil society with the aim of unseating the criminal regime and holding early elections. The consolidation of opposition forces and civil society is important to force the implementation of the five demands presented to the regime, viewing them as a whole and excluding concessions with respect to any of these demands, New Armenia said adding that it expects active participation of opposition forces and civil society in the mobilization of people. 4 + 4 + 4 format: Bright Armenia Party refuses to participate as an observer The Bright Armenia Party finds it meaningless to participate as an observer in the discussions over the new draft Electoral Code in the so-called 4 + 4 + 4 format. While explaining the reasons for its refusal, the party said the format proposed by the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) faction does not imply full participation in the talks because the proposed format includes only members of parliamentary factions, while representatives of extra-parliamentary political forces are not included in the discussions. "Second, the format proposed by HAK parliamentary faction leader Levon Zurabyan raises a question: has Zurabyan discussed the proposal with parliamentary oppositional and governing parties, as well as NGOs and received their consent before proposing the 4 + 4 + 4 format? The Bright Armenia Party has already joined the five demands posed by the NGOs and political parties to the authorities. In addition to these demands, we have a number of other suggestions which we are going to present during the discussions at the National Assembly. The Bright Armenia Party can participate in negotiations of any format only in case it can be actively involved in decision making and in the process of their implementation," the party said on March 30. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree U.S. State of Hawaii adopts resolution recognizing NKR On March 29, the House of Representatives of the U.S. State of Hawaii adopted a resolution H.R. 167 entitled Honoring and Recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The text of the resolution follows: Resolution HONORING AND RECOGNIZING THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC. WHEREAS, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is an ethnically Armenian region in the South Caucasus that has a long and storied past and holds a cherished place in the Armenian people's history and culture; and WHEREAS, on December 10, 1991, after decades of struggle, the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence; and WHEREAS, the Nagorno-Karabakh people's persistent demand for self-determination was an inspiration to people of many nationalities in the region, and became one of the catalysts for the fall of the former Soviet Union; and WHEREAS, through the course of the last two decades, the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic have shown tenacity and perseverance in the face of war, massacres, economic deprivation, and other tremendous hardships; and WHEREAS, for more than twenty years, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has stayed true and faithful to its citizens by remaining independent, by working to bring change and stability to the Caucasus region, and by holding free and fair elections and referendums that have been widely declared as a model for the region; and WHEREAS, many international observers, including those in the United States, have assessed the May 3, 2015, parliamentary elections in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as free and transparent; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, honors and recognizes the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and its citizens; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body recognizes the sacrifices made and dedication, and resolve shown by the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in the face of extreme adversity; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body extends its best wishes for the peace, prosperity, and continuing success of the people and government of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body encourages the international community to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as a free, independent, and sovereign democracy; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic through its representatives visiting the State of Hawaii; and that additional certified copies be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and Hawaii's congressional delegation. Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Armen Ashotyan: It is not correct to draw parallels between HHK school and Soviet-era school Armen Ashotyan, Vice-Chairman of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), will personally coordinate the fomation of a political school which will be named after the late Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. The decision to form a political school after the politician was made by the HHK supreme body earlier in March. Melik Adamyan 2 (the street where the HHK headquarters is situated) will continue to remain one of the key structures in Armenias political life, Armen Ashotyan said during a meeting with journalists on March 30. During the meeting, Ashotyan presented his partys vision about the political school. He says it is not correct to compare this school with that of the Communist Party school, which existed during the Soviet era. This is a common practice in European countries. Any self-respecting political force in Europe has its political school, the former Minister of Education and Science said. He added that the school will also be open for people who do not have any party affiliation. If the HHK fails to create its political school, no other party will be able to do it, Ashotyan added. 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That one went so well it required a massive bail out by the Kiwi government when Ansett collapsed in September 2001. Just imagine if Richard Branson had caved in and sold the airline, then known as Virgin Blue, to the Air New Zealand owned Ansett, just weeks earlier for $250 million. The government had to parachute in a promising CEO by the name of Ralph Norris, who managed to pull the airline out of its nosedive and went on to a rather promising career at the Commonwealth Bank. Fantastic Holdings' chairman Julian Tertini remains under pressure from shareholders to privatise the furniture retailer, after a series of senior executive departures. Shareholders have welcomed Fantastic's appointment of a new retail chief executive former Woolworths and Dick Smith executive Debra Singh but say the company would be better off in private hands. Fantastic Furniture head Debra Singh has been appointed group chief executive retail at Fantastic Holdings. Credit:Louise Kennerley Ms Singh, who currently runs the retailer's largest furniture chain, is Fantastic's fourth retail chief executive in five years. She takes the reins from Stephen Heath, who quit unexpectedly in January, reportedly after a dispute with Mr Tertini over the payment of long-term incentives. "Nothing has changed in our view. It would be better for stakeholders if it were taken private," Grant Oshry, head of small caps at Perennial Value Management, said. As a kid in the early 1990s I remember asking my parents to explain an awful joke I'd heard but didn't understand: "Why doesn't Hillary wear short skirts around the White House? Because her balls might show." It prompted an exasperated short explanation about sexism and strong women from my (wonderfully ballsy) mother and a crash course in how public views about political partners, especially wives, can be determinedly retrograde and deeply vicious. While commentary about accomplished political spouses like Lucy Turnbull or Therese Rein in Australia is relatively evolved (the insinuation former Prime Minister Julia Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson might be gay by one interviewer notwithstanding), it is a different story in the US. From the shaming of former President Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel for being an "adulteress" in 1828, to constant jibes about Michelle Obama's muscular arms or weight in recent years, actual or potential First Ladies in the US continue to be routinely subject to a beauty pageant-like level of scrutiny about their attractiveness and virtue. It is perhaps not surprising then, that a former owner of three beauty pageants, Donald Trump, has helped turn his party's campaign into a shallow "Mrs America" pageant. Mr Turnbull said he wanted to end the "depressing blame game" that led state premiers to "go cap-in-hand to Canberra" each year demanding more money. It would also make state governments more accountable and help the public better understand which level of government was responsible for various services, he suggested. Treasurer Scott Morrison is preparing to hand down his first budget. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "We've got to recognise that that is the core problem," he said. "The states do not raise enough of the revenue that they spend. They're not accountable enough in the way a government should be." Mr Turnbull said he envisaged that initially, the states would agree to levy an income tax rate commensurate with the amount which the Commonwealth was withdrawing. But in the longer term, they would be free to reduce it or increase it. "If a state government, over time, wants to raise more money by lifting tax, it will be answerable to the public," the Prime Minister said. Smaller states such as South Australia and Tasmania would not be disadvantaged because of their smaller revenue-raising capacities. "We can manage that," Mr Turnbull said. A similar idea was floated by the National Commission of Audit, a review of the Commonwealth commissioned by former prime minister Tony Abbott. Under that proposal, the federal government would cut the marginal income tax rate to 22.5 per cent from 32.5 per cent, allowing states and territories to levy the remaining 10 per cent (or more, or less, potentially). But Mr Abbott declined to pursue the concept, saying he wanted "lower, simpler, fairer taxes" rather than what he called "double taxation". Treasurer Scott Morrison said on Wednesday that the COAG discussions would be part of an "ongoing dialogue" about how to repair the relationship between the states and the Commonwealth. "I'm a pragmatist on all these issues," he said. "It is about trying to fix the problem, and the problem is you've got to be able to manage your increase in costs and how you are going to pay for them. You can't pay for something with nothing." Mr Morrison indicated the federal government did not want workers to end up being slugged with higher taxes as a result of any proposed change. "The Commonwealth will continue to engage on the basis that these reforms do not increase the overall tax burden," he said. Other government frontbenchers also hinted at their support for the proposal and spoke against the status quo. "It ends up being a game of blame shifting," Transport Minister Darren Chester told Sky News. "The Australian public actually find it very difficult to know who's responsible for what." The chairman of Mr Abbott's National Commission of Audit Tony Shepherd said the proposal was a "great reform" that would give the states responsibility and authority over revenue, and stop them "having to go every year in that demeaning, cap-in-hand trip to Canberra for money". "The states have most of the responsibility for delivery of services and infrastructure, and yet they produce very little of the taxation necessary to fund it," he told ABC Radio National on Wednesday. "The vertical fiscal imbalance is what is killing the federation." States: Immediate problem still stands State and territory leaders have reacted cautiously to the idea, which would need to be fleshed out at the meeting of federal and state leaders. NSW Premier Mike Baird said while he had not seen a formal proposal the state was happy to consider the idea. "While I have historically argued for a share of income tax for the states, this has not involved increasing the income tax burden on Australian households, which already have among the highest income tax rates in the world," he said. "These matters can be considered in the longer term. What is required right now is a partnership between the Commonwealth and the States for the health and education services we need." Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews dismissed the income tax plan as a thought bubble. "The focus of Friday's COAG is to address the $80 billion of Malcolm Turnbull's cuts to health and education," Mr Andrews said. "As far as Victoria is concerned, Friday will not be about tax policy thought bubbles." Earlier on Wednesday the Premier released the Royal Commission into Family Violence vowing to talk to the Commonwealth and other states about the need for a national approach to the problem. Mr Andrews said he spoke to Mr Turnbull on Wednesday morning. South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said it could "create confusion" if states were allowed to set different rates of income tax, while Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett indicated he was open to the prospect. Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he was "relaxed" about the concept, while Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles warned there could be a "race to the bottom". Mr Shepherd disagreed, suggesting that Australia instead has "a tendency to race for mediocrity". Any state or territory government that raised taxes too high, or reduced taxes too much and sacrificed services and infrastructure, would swiftly feel the wrath of the voters, he said. "I think we can rely on the electorate and its commonsense," he said. "The states will always want more money. This makes them more directly responsible for raising the money they need." Returning income tax powers to the states was also recommended by the libertarian Institute for Public Affairs in its paper Be like Gough: 75 Radical Ideas to Transform Australia. Journalists not allowed to participate in draft Electoral Code discussions (video) The Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs of the Armenian National Assembly has started discussion over the draft Electoral Code. The meeting is attended by Minister of Justice Arpine Hovhannisyan, Minister-Chief of Government Staff David Harutyunyan and a number of lawmakers who do not support the 4+4+4 format of negotiations proposed by the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) faction. Opposition lawmakers Nikol Pashinyan, Alexander Arzumanyan, Khachatur Kokobelyan, Rubik Hakobyan, Naira Zohrabyan and Lyova Khachatryan are also involved in the talks. Hovhannes Margaryan from the Country of Law Party (OEK) left the hall in the middle of discussions. Talking to A1+, Margaryan said he had been invited to the meeting as Vice-Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs. He added that he had nothing to do there and their main approaches will be presented by the Armenian Renaissance social-political union later on Wednesday during a meeting with the 4+4+4 supporters. It had been announced that the discussion would be open for media. however, at the begoining of the meeting, Hovhannes Sahakyan, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, said journalists were disturbing their work and should leave the hall after taking several photos. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will raise national political donations reform at a leaders' dinner before Friday's Council of Australian Governments meeting, amid a donations row that has drawn in two of his frontbenchers. But the issue will not be on the official agenda, despite a request from Premier Mike Baird seven months ago. Political donations reform will be raised by the Prime Minister at a leaders' dinner. Credit:Andrew Meares Mr Baird wrote to then prime minister Tony Abbott in August, asking that "co-ordinated national reform of election funding laws" be put on the December COAG agenda. It was raised informally at the leaders' dinner, but not officially discussed. A Sydney man has faced court accused of partially blinding his neighbour by pouring liquid chlorine over his fence and splashing his face. Giovanni Mancuso, 31, appeared briefly at Waverley Local Court on Wednesday charged with using a corrosive liquid to cause grievous bodily harm and destroying property. His alleged victim had been playing on his trampoline with his child in the backyard of their North Bondi home on the afternoon of Sunday, March 6. Police will allege that, after the child had gone inside, Mr Mancuso deliberately threw the chlorine over the fence, injuring the man and badly damaging the trampoline. Darnley Island, in the Torres Strait, prior to the development of roads and infrastructure. Credit:National Library of Australia Haddon was the first anthropologist to work in the strait, and was there to document the local society's shift from a head-hunting culture to a profoundly Christian one. "He was the one who came and recorded the islands when we were influenced by Christianity, so he was capturing that period before we lost our head-hunting culture,"Morseu says. "We don't have a concept of time, so it was 'before time' stuff." He says unlike some Aboriginal Australian cultures, communities in the Torres Strait have thoroughly embraced early Western influences. "We live in both we have a very strong Christian belief, but we also counteract that, I guess, with our traditional beliefs," he says. "And then we're only just starting to deconstruct the differences, or what's been transferred. "Christianity was a very positive thing, because we were fighting with each other different islands, different clans. When Christianity came, it made us unite, it made us come together, be more peaceful and kind of move forward. I guess that was the missionaries' ideal thing too, but for us, I think it was a positive thing." Reading Haddon's diaries, Morseu understood, on a deeper level, why Haddon took so many items back to Cambridge in England with him, and more of the stories from his childhood were filled in. But nothing has compared to seeing the album of photographs and cache of letters that form part of the Mosby collection. Morseu is descended from the Mosby clan, and, among the images of native islanders, white missionaries, local priests, children and animals, he has been able to recognise roads, and, more importantly, put names to some of the otherwise unidentified Indigenous faces. The handwritten letters in the collection were exchanged between Elma Mosby, his ancestor, and Edith Wyly, the daughter of a missionary and the niece of Reverend Samuel MacFarlane, one of the main evangelists who arrived in the Torres Strait the 1870s. "The album has all the missions, where the missionaries went, but it also shows our first two ordained priests," Morseu says. "[They were] native islanders who were the two first priests, and it just shows life in those early 1900s, which is very different to what we have today." The guide he has designed also marks Thursday Island out as a former township that was once one of Australia's most valuable towns, at the peak of the pearling industry. It's a way of reaching out, not only to natives of Thursday Island who have moved away, but to those many international residents, from Japan or China, for example, who have lived there over the years. "I don't forget, but people forget, that Canberra's so far away from everywhere, and it's definitely very far away from the Torres Strait, and Torres Strait hubs Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, where there's very big Torres Strait communities," he says. Highlighting the many unpublished resources in the library's collection has already helped him identify more materials, and put more people back in touch with their own culture. And it's a movement that is already gaining traction. Someone on Thursday Island has already set up a Facebook page, to share stories about the history of the island. "For me, it's just the work here that the library had perpetuated, this social movement to start thinking about where we've come from," he says. "Particularly islanders like me, I'm the first generation to live on the mainland, but there are other families who've come down in the war, so some of them are second, third or even fourth generation. "It just makes those descendants start thinking about who they are and where they've come from. It's really interesting, family stories. I know I have family stories about the war." One of the most striking things he has noticed about his work is that, unlike many young Australians from other cultures, his has a very entrenched identity and knowledge of its own history. "It's interesting because as Thursday Islanders, or as Torres Strait Islanders, we already know the stories of each other," he says. A man has been committed to stand trial for allegedly injecting drugs in front of a young teenager, sexually assaulting her, and then telling her it would be "our little secret". The teenager's alleged ordeal began late one night in January 2015. She was at the Braddon home of Matthew Shaun McGrail, 24, who left to go drinking in Civic. When Mr McGrail returned with another man, the teenager was alone in the home, police say. Court documents allege he put a pink blanket over her head, and said he was sorry for "doing this" in front of her. He then allegedly injected himself with an unknown drug. The purge of residents from Australian National University's iconic Fenner Hall could open up a prime development opportunity along the Northbourne Avenue light rail corridor, Canberra real estate experts say. But the university says it has no plans to sell off the ageing hall, despite its prize location. Fenner Hall could be another prime real estate opportunity along the Northboune Avenue light rail corridor, should the university decide to sell it. Credit:Graham Tidy Students are expected to be relocated from the towers in Braddon into a new residence at its Acton campus in 2018, the same year that stage one of the light rail project is expected to be completed. Paul Powderly, chief executive Colliers International, said the increasing value of the location presented an excellent opportunity for the university to divest the dilapidated student accommodation and reinvest in more rooms closer to campus. Air New Zealand flags departure from Virgin Australia Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss It was only a week ago that Virgin Australia's four major shareholders threw $425 million into the hat a loan to the airline to repair its balance sheet. This week the largest of its shareholders, Air New Zealand, has executed a double backflip and announced plans to potentially sell its 26 per cent stake signalling the fracturing of the board and the delicate alliance between Air New Zealand and fellow investors, Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Richard Branson's Virgin group. Various Air New Zealand executives have been in Australia this week meeting with Virgin management. It could potentially lead to a takeover of Virgin Australia from either Singapore, Etihad or both. The fact that Air New Zealand boss Christopher Luxon has been unhappy with the progress of Virgin's profit turnaround is a bit of an open secret. As Christopher Luxon's Air New Zealand looks to exit its stake in John Borghetti's Virgin Australia at a significant loss, the good news for his investors is that it won't be as disastrous as its previous Australian investment: Ansett. That one went so well it required a massive bailout by the Kiwi government when Ansett collapsed in September 2001. And just imagine if Richard Branson had caved in and sold the airline, then known as Virgin Blue, to the Air New Zealand-owned Ansett, just weeks earlier for $250 million. The government had to parachute in a promising CEO by the name of Ralph Norris, who managed to pull the airline out of its nosedive and went on to a rather promising career at the Commonwealth Bank. SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS 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 Google Ad 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 Google Ad The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET 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 At Bindaree Beef's abattoir in the sweltering hinterland a day's drive north of Sydney, the benefits of Chinese investment are clear. Unless you're a Black Angus cow. With funds from selling a stake in the business to a Chinese meat processor, Bindaree says it could double its daily cattle cull to 2400. That's almost two a minute, day and night. Within five years, half of Bindaree's beef might be sold in China thanks to the new partner's distribution network, according to Chief Financial Officer James Roger. The deal promises to "supercharge" the company, he says. With Chinese funds, Bindaree says it could double its daily cattle cull and turbocharge its growth. Credit:Brendan Esposito Despite such rewards, Australia's farmers and food producers are facing a protectionist backlash against Chinese investment. New laws have made it tougher to bring in overseas funds and the government board that scrutinises investments now includes a former spy chief. Even Russia makes it easier for foreigners to inject capital into the local food industry, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. "The government line is that we're open to foreign investment," said James Laurenceson, deputy director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney. "But the trend is probably in the other direction." Investa Office Fund has upped the ante with a special 7 distribution for unit holders on the proviso they accept the DEXUS cash and scrip offer. As a result, the planned meeting for April 8 to vote on the offer has been postponed while an amended offer document is sent to unit holders. If successful, DEXUS will increase its share of the national office market to about 7.4 per cent from 2.6 per cent in 2009, or about $17.5 billion. Credit:Peter Rae It is the latest update in a long-running takeover that effectively started over a year ago when Morgan Stanley said it was selling the Investa platform. DEXUS made an initial offer in late December 2015 of 0.4240 DEXUS securities and $0.8229 in cash per Investa Office Fund unit, valuing Investa Office units at an average of $4.19. Investa unit holders will also be entitled to the distributions to December 31, 2015, up to a maximum of 9.8. The iconic Dick Smith electronics brand will be consigned to history by the end of April after receivers for the failed chain announced its schedule of store closures. Ferrier Hodgson will pull down the shutters for the final time on 35 Australian stores by April 16 with the outstanding 266 outlets shut by May along with the 62 New Zealand stores. Staff from the first 35 stores will be served with redundancy notices or moved to other stores, where possible. Despite outlining its schedule of store closures, Ferrier Hodgson said employees would be given their notice of termination only when the "exact date of their store closure is known." The federal government's decision to bring forward the budget as well as the prospect of a double dissolution election are worrying consumers. The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index fell 1.3 per cent in the week ending March 27, with levels edging lower in the past fortnight following recent highs. While the latest falls in the stock market have likely played a part, ANZ's head of Australian economics, Felicity Emmett ,said the news of a possible double dissolution election probably played a larger role in the sentiment downturn. As seen in the chart above, Google searches of the term 'double dissolution' have spiked over the past week - for ANZ an indicator that political uncertainty is weighing on confidence. Student debt incurred under the the Higher Education Loan Program represents a large and growing problem for the federal government and for taxpayers. Of the estimated $30 billion on the Commonwealth's student loan book last financial year, some 20 per cent or $6 billion, is regarded as a "doubtful debt" and unlikely to be repaid. Estimates are that student debt will more than double to $63 billion by 2019, and it's against this background that the Grattan Institute has proposed tightening the terms and conditions on debt repayment. Under the plan, graduates would start repaying their debts when their incomes reached $42,000 a year (the current level at which repayment is triggered is $54,186), and high-income graduates would be required to pay back their loans sooner than is currently the case. The changes would affect an extra 200,000 former students. According to the institute, however, they would reduce the annual taxpayer bill for HELP loans (now approaching $8 billion), as well as helping to ensure that a university education (and vocational training) remains within reach of all eligible Australians. A comparison of debts acquired by graduates elsewhere in the world (particularly in the US) suggest Australian students are not badly off. For a government as anxious to identify budget savings as this one, the Grattan Institute proposal would seem to be heaven-sent. That the institute is a genuinely non-partisan think tank probably adds to the idea's appeal. Even Professor Bruce Chapman, the architect of the Higher Education Contribution loans system (which evolved to become HELP) believes lowering income threshold makes sense, especially since the inclusion of vocational students in the program. Nonetheless, there have been no shortage of critics. The Greens have characterised it as a "cash grab from a desperate government" in spite of any clear commitment to implementation and the National Union of Students is arguing that requiring graduates to start repayments before they reached average graduate wages will exacerbate student inequality. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority recently delivered report cards on NAPLAN 2015 and there are signs of improvement across the country. Much discussion in explaining these results has centred on the hard work of teachers, good teaching and the quality and experience of teachers. Across the country teachers are dedicated but only some schools are showing strong 'above average' gains. The explanation cannot lie just in teaching. Research conducted in Psychology at ANU over the last eight years in the ACT points to the need for excellent teaching to be embedded in a positive school climate; a climate that benefits from the efforts of leadership, teachers, non-teaching staff and parents. School funding has been a fraught political issue for many years. Credit:Arsineh Houspian A number of ACT schools have maintained strong performance or, even better, have shown stronger gains in performance in literacy and numeracy particularly in the primacy years. "Gains" refers to changes in scores across the two-year testing periods (eg, year 3 and year 5) and whether the patterns are weaker, similar or stronger than 'like' schools that share similar demographic profiles. It is true perhaps that it is easier to make gains if a school sits below the average than above it. But even some of Canberra's most privileged schools are showing meaningful gains in some areas compared to 'like' schools (eg, Girls Grammar, Radford who are compared to each other but also Melbourne Grammar School, Scotch College). In explaining such NAPLAN gains, ANU research points to the importance of school climate and school identification. These findings align with international research but through drawing on social psychological theories of group behaviour they offer new insights for principals and school leadership. School climate usually has a number of aspects including the student-teacher relationship (e.g, are teachers perceived to be helpful, supportive, focused on the individual student) but also additional factors: the extent to which leadership is able to develop shared goals and a common purpose such as a shared mission that everyone is aware of and is committed to), a emphasis on learning and striving to know more, and the quality of relationships between students. When there is a whole-school approach to the enterprise of student learning and well-being, great things can happen! It makes sense that a positive school climate contributes to better outcomes for students such as better results, wellbeing and less bullying. Social psychological theories can explain the reason why. That is when we think of others as being members of our "ingroup" (and not "outgroup") there is better communication, more respectful relations, trust and helping. Creating this sense of "us" with common purpose and a shared mission directed at learning and wellbeing can help make schools strong communities with focus, purpose and meaning. Indeed ACT student data confirms these propositions. The research shows that a positive school climate can lead to academic gains when it builds students' psychological connection to the school when students feel they belong and are part of the school community. Specifically, increases in a sense of identification by one point on a seven point scale are related to about a 10 point increase in NAPLAN performance (and this is controlling for other factors such as parental education and socioeconomic status). Beyond learning outcomes, local and international research highlights that such school connectedness and identification enhances mental health and wellbeing and protects against behaviours that can put youth at risk such as aggression, victimisation, injury and drug use. It is glue that helps create a healthy, vibrant and resilient next generation. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention lists school connectedness as a significant factor in adolescent health and academic achievement. Quality teaching and an engaging curriculum are important but so too is a whole-school approach to enhancing the school climate and belonging to the group. These sentiments are echoed by the Chief Education Officer in South Australia Jayne Johnston (who was formerly in the ACT Education Directorate). NAPLAN results for South Australia revealed many positive gains. Johnson in explaining why was quoted as saying "Every teacher, school leadership group and support staff have a really clear understanding and a shared understanding of what high quality learning looks like". How much longer must Sydney suffer further outrage at Barangaroo? ("Packer presses his luck for Barangaroo casino", March 30), Is there no end to James Packer's defiant demands which ignore the wider public interest in the pursuit of his own narrow fiscal goals? Barangaroo has isolated Kent Street from Darling Harbour. Seen from Balmain, Lord Richard Rogers' bulky, over-sized, office towers stretch ever upwards in the quest for greater returns, and overshadow and perceptibly diminish Sydney Harbour. Is there no rationale besides money? It makes one long to replace the Department of Planning with an autocrat such as Peter the Great who decreed that no building in St Petersburg should be higher than the Winter Palace. The Sydney Opera House is our Winter Palace. Packer's casino at 271 metres is 2.8 times taller. Instead of aiding and abetting - conniving with Packer - in an outrage that will permanently disfigure our magnificent harbour, the Baird government should stand firm behind its Department of Planning and the advisory panel recommendations. Enough is enough, Packer's way is contrary to the best interests of the people, a civil architecture, and an appropriate regard for scale along the harbor foreshore, keeping in mind the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and the CBD itself. Philip Drew Annandale Are you at a crossroads in your life, stuck in a dull marriage, racked by hayfever, or simply a lapsed reader looking for inspiration? Bibliotherapy is at hand. At Sydney Writers' Festival, May 16-22, Susan Elderkin, a professional bibliotherapist and co-author of The Novel Cure, will offer 10-minute private sessions in the "literary healing room" at Pier2/3, Walsh Bay, where she will recommend books that can soothe the body and soul. Jemma Birrell, artistic director of Sydney Writers' Festival, at the bar at the Wharf Theatre, one of the festival's harbourside venues at Walsh Bay. Credit:Steven Siewert "We all need a shift in perspective, not only the ones going through something," says Cambridge-educated Elderkin, who draws on 2000 years of writing and ancient knowledge of literature's restorative qualities. Among her Australian "cures" are The Spare Room by Helen Garner for the bereaved, and The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard for "not wasting time on somebody when it's not working out". Armenian FM: Armenia is the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian attended the High-level meeting on global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees. The full text of his speech is provided below: High Commissioner Grandi, Dear colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Speaking at this venue I would like to pay tribute to the first High Commissioner for Refugees of the League of Nations Fridtjof Nansen whose name symbolized hope and salvation for countless refugees. His determination and commitment to tackle the plight of refugees stand as a true model of inspiration today when the world is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises of the last decades. For years the war in Syria has ravaged the life of the Syrian people scattering hundreds of thousands of them throughout the region and beyond. Armenia has been among the first to strongly condemn the barbaric acts committed by DAESH, Al-Nusra and other terrorist groups, against ethnic and religious minorities, including our fellow Armenians and their cultural and religious heritage, which has for centuries defined the regions multicultural and multiethnic mosaic. Last year here at the Human Rights Council, we characterized them as crimes against civilization. There is a sad symbolism for Armenians in taking refuge from the very places which have sheltered them hundred years ago. Nansen and many other humanists helped the survivors of the Armenian Genocide to overcome the horrors of massacres and displacement. Today, about 20.000 refugees from Syria sought protection in Armenia, on per capita basis making our country as the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe. This is a considerable number for a country of just 3 million, which in the recent past has already sheltered hundreds of thousands fleeing from Azerbaijan. Thus, we know what it means to be a refugee and to host considerable number of refugees and we certainly join this discussion with strong sense of solidarity and responsibility. Our own experience tells us that the humanitarian situations of this magnitude require synergy of efforts and cannot be addressed by any one state alone. This is true for every refugee-hosting country, but probably more so for a country with limited resources. We would like to draw the attention of the international donor community that the commitment to assist countries sheltering refugees should not be conditioned only by their geographic location, but rather should be based on the principle of more equitable responsibility sharing, without any distinction, in the spirit of international protection regime for refugees. Armenia will certainly continue to make its utmost to take care of the Syrians who have found refuge in our country. We will appreciate the assistance to Armenia to address the urgent humanitarian needs of refugees from Syria and pave avenues towards local integration. To that end the Armenian Government has made relevant legislative changes facilitating the entry into the country, obtaining of the residency permit or citizenship, developing of the businesses, getting necessary medical assistance and emergency help free of charge, providing scholarships at the Universities to name but a few. Ladies and Gentlemen, We believe that the plight of refugees and the humanitarian response in addressing challenges associated with unprecedented numbers of displaced people should by no means become subject to political trade-offs and manipulations. Refugee crises confront societies with many questions at the same time. Not only in terms of security, but also with regard to the long-term effects of refugee settlement, employment, education and integration. As it was told in the film, we watched at the opening of this high level meeting: the refugees have right for the brighter future. Fridtjof Nansen believed that "the refugees who were regarded as an intolerable burden would comprise a rich asset". The same conviction was expressed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today in his opening speech. Indeed, the histories of many of our countries confirm the accuracy of these words. Thank you. The chief prosecutor, Friedberg (Robert Hunger-Buhler), tells him to go away. Johann contacts the journalist to find out more. His overall boss, the Hessen Attorney-General, Fritz Bauer (Gert Voss), encourages him, but nobody else wants to know. Students of history may recognise that name. Fritz Bauer was a distinguished Jewish lawyer imprisoned by the Nazis in 1933. He was released and fled to Denmark, then Sweden, before returning to the law in Germany in 1949. He started the case that led to the Frankfurt Auschwitz trial, by getting the Federal Court to agree that the regional court in Frankfurt am Main could hear a case involving Auschwitz. In 1959, Bauer appointed two young prosecutors, Georg Friedrich Vogel and Joachim Kugler, to investigate Auschwitz personnel. In late 1963, they indicted 22 former members of the SS not 19 as a credit says at the end of the film. This became the first trial of Nazis under German law, as opposed to international law used at the Nuremberg trials. Seventeen were convicted, and those who could be shown to have killed at Auschwitz on their own initiative (as opposed to following orders) were given life sentences. Thus, we might ask why Bauer is not the hero of this story, rather than Radmann, who never existed. The answer is perhaps not as sinister as it might seem. Radmann may be an amalgam of the two young prosecutors mentioned above, and the film is about one man's progression from utter ignorance of his country's Nazi past to the point where he discovers too much, almost succumbing to the burden. At the point late in the film where Radmann is wandering drunk in the streets asking random strangers, "Were you a Nazi?", we may ask if the filmmakers have gone too far, while acknowledging that this is exactly as far as they wanted to go. The filmmaker intends a much bigger indictment than those few eventually put to trial. And yet, Radmann and his co-prosecutor Otto Haller (Johann von Bulow), find the scale of their task unmanageable. Whereupon Bauer offers one of many pillars of wisdom weighing down his part of the script: we are not doing this to catch the killers but to establish a record of what they did and to remember the victims. Russell Crowe has reportedly bought the rights to one of Australia's most dramatic stories, the wreck of the Batavia and the subsequent mutiny, slaughter and rescue of the surviving crew and passengers on a deserted island off the coast of Western Australia. Street press magazine Freo Streetwise, published by Perth journalist Carmelo Amalfi, first published the news that Crowe's Fear of God production company had optioned the rights to the version of the Batavia story told by Hugh Edwards in his 1966 book Islands of Angry Ghosts. Russell Crowe in Peter Weir's Master And Commander. Is he about to take the wheel on another maritime drama? Crowe has reportedly bought a 12-month option which is standard practice in such matters with an option to extend for a further 12 months. Noting that it could take some time for a screenplay to be production-ready, 83-year-old Edwards observed wryly that by the time shooting began "I may not be here". Fairfax understands that negotiations between Crowe's company and representatives of Peter FitzSimons are ongoing regarding the option on a second book, the journalist-author's "creative non-fiction" telling of the story in 2012's Batavia. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has begun a fresh attempt to drum up crossbench support for the government's workplace relations agenda, reaching out to key independent senators and requesting meetings. It comes as the crossbenchers display a willingness to negotiate with the government to secure passage of the controversial Australian Building and Construction Commission and Registered Organisations bills, and possibly avoid a double dissolution election on July 2. Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm indicated he was comfortable with the contents of the ABCC bill, dependent on a sunset clause that the minister has indicated the government is likely to support. That would mean the ABCC would lapse after eight years and need to be re-established. "Subject to a sunset clause, I am prepared to vote for it, but only if I get some of my other concerns addressed," Senator Leyonhjelm said. The captain of a so-called "death ship" who had been accused of gun running and was a person of interest in two suspicious deaths did not trigger a red alert by immigration officials, it has emerged. At a Senate hearing in Canberra on Wednesday, senators of all stripes excoriated the Department of Immigration and Border Protection for providing "unresponsive" answers to the inquiry and failing to provide documents and other crucial evidence relating to its investigation into the Sage Sagittarius ship and its crew. Government senator Barry O'Sullivan said the department was preventing him from determining if officials mismanaged oversight of the ship and its suspicious captain. Labor senator Glenn Sterle said the department had failed to convince him that "anyone was on top of this", while Greens senator Janet Rice questioned how many unsavoury seafarers were freely travelling the Australian coast. "As Australia and other Western nations seek to normalise our relations with Iran, we cannot ignore its appalling record of human rights abuses and medieval justice," Senator Paterson said. Senator Paterson said it showed Iran had a long way to go before it would be "recognised and respected" in the international community. Senators Paterson and Bernardi are staunch supporters of Israel. In his recent maiden speech, Senator Paterson called for Australia's embassy to be relocated to Jerusalem even though most countries base their embassies in Tel Aviv as an acknowledgment of the Palestinian claim to East Jerusalem. Senator Bernardi is also a strong critic of Islam. Ms Bishop said Iran's human rights record is subject to scrutiny by the Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur on the Situation on Human Rights in Iran. She reiterated that she raised human rights with her Iranian counterpart Dr Mohammed Javad Zarif during his historic visit to Australia a fortnight ago. But in one of his final comments before departing Australia, Dr Zarif criticised as "unconscionable" Australia's human rights record because of the way it detains asylum seekers who travelled by boat, hundreds of whom are Iranians. He said Iran held concerns about the human rights records of governments that frequently criticise his own. This angered former cabinet ministers Eric Abetz and Phillip Ruddock who told News Corp Iran was in no position to lecture Australia. The Coalition's primary interest in improving ties with Iran is about returning home failed asylum seekers who have travelled to Australia by boat. The government was optimistic in the lead-up to Dr Zarif's visit but was swiftly rebuffed. A twin focus is trade and Australia will reopen an Austrade office in Iran from the second half of 2016. But there are wider concerns across the Parliament about Australia's expanding relationship with Iran. Earlier this month, the Senate quietly forced an inquiry into Australia's partial suspension of sanctions against Iran, even though it was in line with the rest of the world following the completion of an historic nuclear deal that restricted Iran's nuclear activity in return for the easing of international restrictions. The federal government would stop funding public schools while continuing to support private schools under a dramatic change to the nation's education system outlined by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Labor immediately accused Mr Turnbull of "walking away" from public school students and said the move would undo decades of work, including the Gonski school reforms, to lift standards in all the nation's schools. The proposal was originally contained in a discussion paper leaked to Fairfax Media last year. Mr Turnbull on Wednesday outlined his plans for states to be able to raise a proportion of income tax for the first time since World War II, a move he said would make them more accountable for the services they deliver. Nepalese-born Australian residents were the fastest-growing overseas-born community. Their numbers have swelled more than 11-fold over the past 10 years, from just over 3800 people in 2005 to more than 43,500 in 2015. In 2015, more than 28 per cent of the population were born overseas, the largest proportion since 1895, according to the research released on Wednesday. The percentage has increased every year for the past 15 years. The proportion of Australian residents born overseas has soared to its highest level in 120 years, new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show. Although their population is small compared to other overseas-born groups, the rate of increase - nearly 28 percent a year, on average - is well above other groups. For example, the next fastest growing groups - those born in Pakistan, Brazil and India - increased their numbers by around three-fold over the same period. The steepest decline among the top 50 countries of birth was for Serbian-born residents, followed by those born in Poland. As the chart above shows, the share of Australian residents born overseas last peaked in the late 1890s. Nearly 30 per cent of the population were foreign-born at the time following the first mining boom and the surge in Chinese migration in the gold rush era, according to Anna Boucher, a senior lecturer in the University of Sydney's School of Social and Political Sciences. "Then there was the introduction of 'White Australia' and the effective closing of borders, with the exception of some Commonwealth migration, up until the post-war period," Dr Boucher said. "The announcement of 12,000 led people to rightfully believe they needed to scale up to provide short-term housing, recruit Arabic speaking staff ... yet they had fewer [refugees arriving] than they would have in a normal year," he said. The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton stressed on Wednesday morning that the government would not be rushed in carefully vetting all applicants. Unlike Canada, he said by phone from Geneva, Australia took refugees from two streams, via United Nations' referrals where applicants were well known to authorities and from referrals from families and groups in Australia. "As we have seen in Brussels and Paris, there are security risks relating to the intake of any people. And we know the Assad regime is selling Syrian passports and we do know that people are passing themselves off as Syrian refugees, and we need to work through bonafides of each application and we need to do that methodically," he said on ABC's AM program. A spokesman for Mr Dutton said the Department of Social Services, which manages Humanitarian Settlement Service (HSS) providers, had been clear that numbers, locations and dates for arrival of the additional 12,000 cohort from Syria and Iraq had not yet been determined. As we have seen in Brussels and Paris, there are security risks relating to the intake of any people. And we know the Assad regime is selling Syrian passports and we do know that people are passing themselves off as Syrian refugees, and we need to work through bonafides of each application and we need to do that methodically. Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton He said current contracts between the Department and HSS providers allowed for fluctuations in referral numbers. Service providers were repeatedly advised to make budgetary decisions within their current contracts. "In other words, all service providers were aware that it would not be necessary to employ additional staff," said the spokesman. Mr Power, though, was also concerned that the delays are causing a "loss of goodwill". When the announcement was made, he said there had been lots of energy and enthusiasm from the public including "countless thousands of offers of help from businesses". "A lot of that has dissipated because arrivals haven't come in the number expected," he said. Mrs Lazar said she had worked day and night for a month so immigration officers would have phone numbers and addresses for the refugees who are hoping to come to Australia. "It was a killer but I was happy to do that," she said. Because so many applicants lived outside refugee camps, her organisation matched addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of Syrian refugees living in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, to 5600 files (representing an application for refugee status) so that immigration officials could get off to a flying start. By November, some refugees were so excited at the prospect of arriving in Australia that many had packed their bags and were talking about an Aussie Christmas. Mrs Lazar was recently accused of being a "liar" by some refugees who now believe that the Australian Government doesn't plan to follow through. She has avoided doing her recent weekly radio broadcasts on SBS because she doesn't want to get hopes up. "We were so excited. We were told that before Christmas, we would have 4000 coming in. That didn't eventuate. Every time I would hear something, I would go on community radio to relay my message to the people overseas, but December came, gone, nothing. February came and gone, and nothing." Christine Hanna, the president of the Australian Syrian Christian Association, said hundreds of staff had been employed overseas, yet so few refugees had arrived. "Something is going wrong overseas," she said. "Everyone is being interviewed but nobody is getting a visa," Mrs Hanna said. Given the bombings in Belgium this week, she hoped delays were due to increased security measures. One refugee had given up on Australia and had been settled in Canada. In the meantime, Australian families were sending thousands of dollars a week to support families who were paying exorbitant rents. Mousa Al Ahmad and his family are the only Syrian Palestinians to be relocated to Australia since the civil war started in Syria in 2011. His parents gave up everything when they fled Palestine for a refugee camp in Syria where they lived a stateless existence for nearly 80 years. Now history is repeating itself. About 18 months ago, Mr Al Ahmad - an emergency doctor who ran three medical centres in the Khan Eshieh refugee camp in Syria - arrived in Australia, giving up everything for the safety of Wollongong. What will life be like for the other 4000 Syrian refugees who are expected to be resettled across NSW this year as part of the Federal Government's pledge to take 12,000 displace people fleeing the war? Like the Al Ahmads, they will likely arrive with nothing, many will have limited English and have lost families and friends, but as Mr Al Ahmad's wife Masaa said. "It is safe and peaceful here." Chief Scientist Alan Finkel has slammed the gender pay gap among scientists as unacceptable in a report showing women are far less likely than men to earn high incomes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The report on the STEM workforce, which Dr Finkel's office released on Thursday, showed about 2.3 million Australians were working in these fields in 2011. While STEM graduates earned more than than other graduates, the report found that the proportion of male graduates earning more than $104,000 in these fields was almost triple that of female graduates. The size of the pay gap differed across fields and levels of university qualifications, and was greater in areas that had fewer higher earners overall, the report said. For example, in Forestry Studies, 22 per cent of men were in the top income bracket compared to six per cent of women. A plan to separate asylum seekers according to their refugee status has inflamed tensions at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea, sparking fears of a confrontation between security guards and detainees. The PNG government has confirmed it intends to "accommodate the cohorts separately" to prepare them to leave the centre after June 30. "Separate accommodation will enable us to provide services and support appropriate to each cohort's immigration status," said Esther Gaegaming, PNG's deputy chief migration officer. "Refugees will be provided assistance to settle elsewhere in PNG. Non-refugees will be provided assistance to return to their country of origin, consistent with international practice." Eduard Sharmazanov: Why should Levon Zurabyan persuade me? Maybe it is quite the opposite? (video) The authorities are ready to meet representatives of all strata of society to discuss the draft Electoral Code, be it in 4+4+4 or some other format, Vice-Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly, Eduard Sharmazanov, told media today. It does not matter what format of talks is proposed - 4+4+4, 9+1 or 3+2. We are not limited to formal or informal formats. The important thing for us is the result and content of discussions, he stressed. Eduard Sharmazanov says it would be most effective if all proposals were submitted in a single package. As you see there are NGOs and parliamentary factions that are not represented in the format proposed by lawmaker Levon Zurabyan and naturally we cannot neglect their opinion, Sharmazanov added. He says the discussions over the new Electoral Code are not formal although they have not accepted most of the oppositions proposals. The aim of the negotiations is to find the best option. I do not agree with the opinion that the government does not review its position. As for the voter lists I must say that unlike the opposition forces, it is not a matter of principal for us. Even the opposition does not have a complete proposal to present us. Anyway, we are ready to hear and discuss all proposals. Consensus, consolidation and ultimatum are different things and do not think that the opposition is trying to persuade us, maybe it is just the other way around? Why should Levon Zurabyan try to persuade me? Sharmazanov said. The Republican official says the authorities have proposed a logical compromise to the opposition in connection with voter lists, but the opposition refused to accept it. If the opposition wants to see all their proposals met and implemented, they should become power: there is no other option. It was a ladies lunch that police say became very unladylike, with the former mistress of late billionaire cardboard king Richard Pratt accused of biting a police officer during an ugly scuffle in the middle of busy Oxford Street. Shari-Lea Hitchcock is now facing charges of common assault, assaulting police and resisting arrest. Last Friday Hitchcock, along with Paula, her 18-year-old daughter with Pratt, joined fellow Sydney socialite Lizzie Buttrose and several other friends for a long lunch at upmarket Woollahra restaurant The Centennial. Several hours later, police say a female driver saw a woman, who appeared to be intoxicated, walking in the middle of the road. That woman turned out to be Shari-Lea Hitchcock and the road was busy Oxford Street in Friday peak hour traffic. "I've struggled with depression since childhood. It's a battle that's cost me time, opportunities, relationships, and a thousand sleepless nights. "In 2010, at the lowest point in my adult life, I was looking everywhere for relief/comfort/distraction. And I turned to food. It could have been anything. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. But eating became the one thing I could look forward to. Count on to get me through. There were stretches when the highlight of my week was a favourite meal and a new episode of TOP CHEF. Sometimes that was enough. Had to be. And I put on weight. Big f---ing deal. The offensive meme alongside two contrasting pictures of the actor - one of Miller on the Fox show and the other in 2010, one year after it had wrapped. Credit:The LAD Bible/Facebook "One day, out for a hike in Los Angeles with a friend, we crossed paths with a film crew shooting a reality show. Unbeknownst to me, paparazzi were circling. They took my picture, and the photos were published alongside images of me from another time in my career. 'Hunk To Chunk'. 'Fit To Flab'." He explained it was one of his mother's busybody friends who highlighted his new image to her, which made her "concerned". But despite all, he is "glad" of the pictures of him in the red T-shirt as it reminds him of his struggle and that he is a survivor. "The first time I saw this meme pop up in my social media feed, I have to admit, it hurt to breathe. But as with everything in life, I get to assign meaning. And the meaning I assign to this/my image is strength. Healing. Forgiveness," he said. He signed off by encouraging others to "reach out" and shared helplines (see below, which have been changed to Australian version). Apology The Lad Bible were left red-faced by their offensive gag, and apologised to the British-born star saying they "got this very, very wrong". "Mental health is no joke or laughing matter. We certainly didn't want to cause you pain by reminding you of such a low point in your life. Causing distress and upset to innocent or vulnerable people is simply not acceptable," the site added. "We applaud your raw honesty and promise to now cover such matters in the responsible manner that our audience expects. "Responding head-on to our post is something we applaud as it will help others through similar challenges in their lives." In 2013, Miller said he attempted suicide as he struggled with his sexuality. He came out as gay in a letter posted to GLAAD, where he also took on Russian President Vladimir Putin over his anti-LGBT laws. Shortly after, in a speech at a Human Rights Campaign Seattle Gala, he spoke openly about his a suicide attempt when he was just a teen. Australia no longer has the highest rate of deadly skin cancers in the world, ceding the unwanted title to New Zealand thanks to the success of decades of public health campaigns. Researchers from Brisbane's QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have found that Australia's per capita rates of invasive melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, are on the decline and expected to fall further over the next 15 years. Public health campaigns credited with reducing deadly skin cancer rate. Australia's per capita invasive melanoma rate peaked at around 49 cases per 100,000 people in 2005 but that had dropped back to 48 cases per 100,000 by 2011, while New Zealand's rate had climbed to 50 cases per 100,000. By 2031, the researchers estimate Australia's per capita rate will have fallen to 41 per 100,000. Private, Catholic and public schools are reducing their reliance on laptops and tablets following a damning international assessment and concerns over the impact of social media on learning. "The reality is that technology is doing more harm than good in our schools today," the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's education chief Andreas Schleicher told world leaders at a global education forum this month. Last week, John Vallance, the principal of one of Sydney's most expensive private schools, Sydney Grammar, said that laptops were not necessary in class and that more traditional teaching methods were more effective. Schools in the Catholic sector are also moving away from laptop centred learning after an OECD report found that countries which have invested heavily in education technology have seen no noticeable improvement in their performances in results for reading, mathematics or science. Seconds later, Mr Morton-Hoffman turned around and quickly pushed the doors of the cafe open and sprinted. Fiona Ma leaves the Lindt cafe siege inquest Credit:Cole Bennetts "I believe I heard the sounds of glass smashing on the ground," he told the inquest on Wednesday. "By this time, I had run around the corner and was running towards the automatic doors. Jarrod Morton-Hoffman and five other hostages flee the Lindt cafe. Credit:Andrew Meares "I heard Monis scream, 'What was that?' " As Mr Morton-Hoffman tried to prise open the glass doors leading onto Martin Place with his hands, he heard fellow hostage Joel Herat scream, "He's chasing us." The Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney, highlighted the fact terrorism is right at Australia's doorstep. Credit:Andrew Meares Mr Morton-Hoffman said he went to press the emergency button, which opened the glass doors. He said he saw the rest of the hostages behind him and heard the crack of a gunshot and the spray of debris. CCTV shows police storming the Lindt cafe and bringing the siege to an end. The inquest has previously heard that Monis fired the shot at the hostages as they fled but missed. In line with the courage and calculated planning displayed throughout the siege, Mr Morton-Hoffman said he chose to run at a wide angle out of the cafe and onto Martin Place to help police get a clear shot of Monis. Lindt cafe hostage Jarrod Morton-Hoffman slid notes and messages written on business cards for police under a back door during the siege. Credit:NSW Police He thought if they ran wide, the police officers would be able to gun down Monis without hitting the hostages, the inquest heard. Mr Morton-Hoffman had earlier seen four or five police officers with guns drawn waiting outside the cafe. A photograph shows the business cards scrawled with notes that Jarrod Morton-Hoffman secretly pushed under the cafe back door for police. Credit:NSW Police He assumed Monis had not seen them as "he would have opened fire". "If he had seen heavily armed police officers within metres of the cafe at that point in time, especially in his emotional state, that would have been the final straw," he told the inquest. Hostages barrister Katrina Dawson and cafe manager Tori Johnson as well as Monis died in the siege. The inquest heard more examples of Mr Morton-Hoffman's leadership in dealing with Monis, including trying to placate him as he grew increasingly paranoid and erratic. When he burst out of the cafe at 2.03am, Mr Morton-Hoffman was followed by five hostages, including barrister Julie Taylor. When Ms Taylor was being held hostage inside the cafe that day, she was meant to be finding out whether her unborn baby was a boy or a girl, the inquest heard. As Monis toyed with the hostages, saying that he would release one of them if they spoke to Amnesty International, Ms Dawson, tried to use Ms Taylor's 4-month pregnancy as a means of persuading Monis to let her go. However, Mr Morton-Hoffman believed that Monis' proposal would not become a reality. "It was almost as if he was toying with the hostages," he said. Ms Taylor escaped and Ms Dawson stayed behind. She died that morning after being injured by an errant police bullet when tactical police stormed in. Moments earlier, Monis shot and killed Mr Johnson. Mr Morton-Hoffman said Monis' behaviour throughout the ordeal flicked like a switch and described the hostage taker as amateur. However when Monis first arrived at the cafe on the morning of December 15, waitress and university student Fiona Ma remembered him as amiable. Ms Ma, who is studying dentistry in Queensland, had been working at the Lindt cafe for only about a week before the siege unfolded. The 20-year-old served Monis as he sat down for a hot drink and a piece of chocolate cheesecake at table 40. After he moved tables and asked to speak the cafe manager, Ms Ma said that Monis said in a loud booming voice: "This is an attack and I've got a bomb." When Ms Ma later walked past Mr Johnson, whom she remembered as very respectful and a nice manager, he appeared red-faced and was talking on the phone. "He seemed calm and stressed out at the same time," she told the inquest. The inquest heard that Monis at one point claimed Australia was committing war crimes by not bargaining with him. He wanted a hostage to go out and speak to Amnesty International or a related organisation because he believed he had a case against Australia, Mr Morton-Hoffman said. When the hostages were creating videos at the behest of Monis, the gunman made jokes about being a director. He also joked about people believing that an Indian man, who was being held hostage and held up a flag in the video, would be suspected of being the terrorist. As Monis mentioned his need to smoke, Mr Morton-Hoffman said he considered a plan to trap him in the cafe freezer. "He would just need to Gladwrap the one sprinkler in there and we could close the door on him," he told the inquest. However the gunmen ended up blowing smoke into a bottle. Monis also made the hostages fetch him a bottle in which he could urinate as he sat at a cafe table. A hostage asked Monis what he was going to do after the siege and he claimed he had a plan but didn't detail it. "I can't recall him ever saying 'I'm going to get out of this alive or I'm going to get out of this cafe,' " Mr Morton-Hoffman said. The business contract has sparked fears the government's efforts to help develop a national, legally binding free range standard - most likely to be decided on Thursday - has been undermined by industrial egg producers. The Department of Primary Industries-run Tocal College has signed a 10-year contract with Pace Farms to supply it with eggs from an operation with 70,000 hens on a 15-hectare property near Newcastle. A NSW government-linked farm is supplying "free range" eggs to the country's biggest egg producer, a company that has played a critical role in lobbying efforts to weaken labelling standards. Darren Bayley, the principal of Tocal College, said the farm met the Model Code of Practice, which says stocking densities can go beyond 1500 hens per hectare if they are regularly rotated. Tocal College's egg farm. Credit:Department of Primary Industries He said the birds were rotated through clean, shaded paddocks for a minimum of eight hours a day, and not one dollar from the sale of the eggs went to the Department of Primary Industries. "All of our eggs go to Pace Farms. We looked at the different providers and Pace had an excellent reputation. We've found Pace to be good to deal with. We're proud of our enterprise, our layout and set up," he said. The managing director of Pace Farms is Frank Pace, who is a director of the Australian Egg Corporation Limited. The AECL at one stage attempted to secure a "free range" certification trademark that set the stocking density at 20,000 hens per hectare. A psychologist who had a sexual relationship with an inmate she had treated at a Sydney jail has been struck off and barred from providing any counselling or mental health service. Julie Leighton was employed as a psychologist for the Department of Corrective Services at Parramatta Jail in June 2009 when an inmate she knew came to see her for counselling. Struck off: psychologist Julie Leighton Ms Leighton failed to disclose her prior association with the inmate to her supervisors. After he was released from jail in July 2009 the pair met up at the Red Lion Hotel in Rozelle. They went on to have an almost year-long sexual relationship. She continued to see him every week or two for another three years after that. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she believed Australia was invaded by Europeans, and backed universities teaching "the truth" about the nation's history. Ms Palaszczuk said it was a problem that "people have not explained the full details of Australian history" and "as far as she was concerned", Australia was invaded. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said as far as she is concerned, Australia was invaded Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "For many years Australian schools and Australian institutions have not told the truth about the way in which Australia was settled," she said. "A lot of Indigenous people lost their lives, there were massacres and the truth always must be told." A Thai masseur accused of abusing a Queensland client denies behaving inappropriately and told a court he performed the procedure she underwent "countless" times. Phanasak Chokmahaporn, also known as "Mr Big", has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting and raping the woman during a massage in February 2011. Under cross examination, the masseur said his "professional ethics" dictated he not mix massage techniques. Credit:Aleksey Gudenko Chokmahaporn gave evidence during his Brisbane's District Court trial on Wednesday and said he couldn't remember giving an initial massage where he handed the woman a business card and recommended the lymphatic drainage procedure. The woman did not question why Chokmahaporn, at another appointment weeks later, allegedly touched her breasts roughly, pinched her nipples and put his finger in her vagina, because she was "in shock", the court heard. A war veteran winched to safety from the top of a mountain near the Queensland-New South Wales border has hit back at rescuers who called him "unfit". The two-tour Afghanistan soldier, Aaron "Dogga", said he froze after his post-traumatic stress disorder took over when he reached the top of Mount Warning on Monday afternoon. Alstonville man Aaron "Dogga" visiting the Penrith Panthers in about 2008. Credit:Facebook The 38-year-old, 115 kilogram man, who didn't want his last name revealed, told News Corp he was "disgusted" at rescuers for "belittling" his condition. "Once I hit the top that's when my PTSD really took over and it took all my strength not to take the easy way out and leave it all behind me," he said. Jeremy Kewley made a career of acting to the camera. And when it came to getting his sexual gratification from boys, he left the camera running in the hope of getting away with it. Kewley, who depicted crooks, cops and lawyers in stints on Australia's most popular television programs, is now in custody awaiting sentence for sexually assaulting 16 boys over 22 years after luring them to his home to audition for advertisements and movies. Jeremy Kewley outside Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2014. After getting the boys to wear Lycra costumes, Kewley photographed and then wrestled them after telling them it was all part of the script, the County Court heard on Wednesday. During this contact, the court heard, he sexually assaulted the boys by pressing himself against them, kissing them on the face or putting his hand on their groins. Family violence has a face and we now know what it looks like: an unemployed, 34-year-old Australian-born man. The Royal Commission into Family Violence - a vast compendium of more than 2000 pages and seven volumes - draws on a wealth of data about the perpetrators - and victims - of family violence, collected over more than a decade. Thanks to that data, we now know that it is a small proportion of domestic abusers who account for most of the abuse. The Adult Parole Board has refused to answer questions about why a violent offender who murdered two people the last time he was granted parole was released again without serving his maximum sentence. John Wallace Lindrea, 54, was still being hunted by police on Wednesday, five days after his parole was cancelled. Lindrea may be with his 46-year-old de facto partner Sally Roach. He had been paroled on February 17, after spending 24 years in prison for murdering Kayleen McDonald and Andrew Johns at a Kinglake party in 1992. It can be revealed that Lindrea has about 60 prior convictions, and had been released on parole for armed robbery three months before committing the Kinglake murders. MasterChef judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris. "Anyone who has followed my career will know I'm passionate about food and I'm sure there will be people in the audience who will have a favourite question they've always wanted to ask about Masterchef or about cooking, generally." Mr Mehigan said that people often approached him with a range of questions, from how to poach the perfect egg to the complexities of molecular gastronomy. Mehigan says Masterchef has had an amazing impact culturally on Australia. "Whatever people want to ask fire away," he said. The Masterchef judge said he would be happy to give the audience a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the popular television show. "Most people don't know that we shoot the show with 11 cameras and the entire production staff must number well over 100," he said. "George, Matt and I are only small cogs in a big production." Mr Mehigan was born on Hayling Island on the UK south coast and was influenced by his artist mother, and grandfather who was a chef at hotels like the Ritz and the Savoy in the 1950s and 60s. "I always remember how different food tasted when my grandfather prepared our meals," he said. "I'd made up my mind in my early teens, food was where I wanted to go with my career." Mr Mehigan learned his craft at London's Connaught Hotel under Michel Bourdan and Le Souffle at the Hyde Park Intercontinental under Peter Kromberg. "They were hugely influential chefs in Britain with opposing styles and ideas; one classic French haute cuisine and the other modern, creative and progressive," he said. Mr Mehigan and his now-wife Mandy travelled to Australia in 1991 and stayed, later opening his own restaurants including the Maribyrnong Boathouse in 2007. By then he had appeared in a number of television shows including Good Morning Australia and Ready, Steady, Cook. Masterchef has been a "game-changer" for Mehigan and his judging colleagues and will begin its eighth season in May. "I've been incredibly privileged to be part of it and I love George and Matt to bits," he said of the trio, whose chemistry might be compared only to ex-Top Gear hosts Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson. "I think Masterchef's success involves a number of factors," he said. "There is an insatiable interest in food the food draws people in, but they are equally fascinated by the contestants and their dreams. "And the incredible guests we get on the show, like Heston Blumenthal and Nigella Lawson, it's mind-blowing." The Masterchef judge said the show had had an amazing impact culturally. "We've now got kids who have grown up with it and can now tell their parents about produce, where to source it and how to cook it," he said. "We've got a 19-year-old in the next series who has been watching the show since she was 11." As for general restaurant trends, Mr Mehigan said he was noting a revival of complex techniques among young chefs. "This is where they can experiment, where they can layer taste with different cooking methods and new ingredients in the same dish to create 'wow' factor," he said. "There's mastery and showmanship in these types of dishes." And that, for him, was one of the reasons people love dining out. "We're incredibly lucky with our multicultural environment you can be eating Chinese one day, Italian the next, Vietnamese the following and so on," Mr Mehigan said. "Our embrace of cuisine from different cultures has been part of the reason behind the explosion in food culture over the last 20 years or so and the new generation is creating new dishes that are really exciting." Mehigan said the other huge influence had been social media. Flights departing Perth International Airport on Wednesday afternoon have not been affected by border force and immigration officials' strike action which occurred earlier in the day. A Perth Airport spokeswoman said flights were departing on time following the industrial action, which was held between 3am and 11am. Perth International Airport departure flights are running as normal. Credit:Robert Rough The Community and Public Sector Union cancelled its strikes over Easter in response to an appeal from the prime minister after the Brussels bombings. The industrial action is the latest step in the union's two-year battle with the federal government over pay and work conditions for public sector workers. "I didn't have to go but I chose to do, instead of having a lawyer represent me," he said. "I've never been in a courtroom before but I was watching Judge Judy last night so maybe that will help me out." Under Queensland law the matter was classified as a domestic violence incident and Southport Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday that Barnett's actions had caused intense media scrutiny on both himself and his family. Barnett's lawyer, Campbell MacCallum, told the court his client had been encouraged to resolve the matter after discussions with his relatives. "The embarrassment caused to himself and his family is significant," Mr MacCallum said. "He's certainly learnt his lesson." The court heard Barnett and Ms Garbin had been arguing over messages stored on both devices. When the argument continued Barnett bent the phone in his hands, causing the screen to crack, and then stomped on the laptop, severely damaging it. While restitution was not sought by Ms Garbin for the damaged items, Mr MacCallum said his client had indicated he was happy to replace them if required. "My client showed poor judgment when his frustrations boiled over," he said. Magistrate Barbara Tynan agreed Barnett's behaviour appeared "isolated" and he'd brought a significant amount of embarrassment to himself and his family through his actions. "The offence is moderately serious," Ms Tynan said. "However, the demonstration of force by damaging the property is noted." Barnett was fined $1500 and no conviction was recorded. Ms Garbin had earlier hinted there was trouble in paradise in a Facebook post last month. As the state government considers tightening design rules on Perth high-rise developments, Bayswater residents are pleading for safe passage for their town centre's first multi-storey building. Outgoing Planning Minister John Day has instructed his department to prepare a new state planning policy and guidelines on "building design issues" amid contention about infill around Perth. Contentious building proposals, including one for Baywater's town centre, have prompted Perth councils to push for planning reform. Credit:Keith Clement Department director-general Gail McGowan said Perth and Peel needed 800,000 new homes but it was important growth didn't come "at the cost of good design and amenity". She said the government was working with industry and councils to develop guidelines encouraging more "functional, liveable and efficient" buildings and surroundings, particularly with apartment developments. Two men fishing off WA's South West coast on Tuesday have reeled in a 96 kilogram broadbill swordfish in waters where the species is considered incredibly rare, according to the Department of Fisheries. Tien Nguyen and his friend Doug Robertson were on an overnight fishing trip about three kilometres off the coast of Walpole when Mr Nguyen said they hooked the swordfish around 5am. Tien Nguyen and Doug Robertson with the swordfish. The 29-year-old Busselton man said it took an hour to reel the fish in on a 37 kilogram line. "We knew about three minutes into the fight that it was a swordfish, we could see it going absolutely mad on the top of the water," he said. Brussels: A file with the floor plan and photographs of the office of the Belgian prime minister was found on a laptop computer discarded in a rubbish bin last week by one of the terrorists linked to the Brussels attacks, a government official said on Wednesday. The computer was found during a raid on Rue Max Roos in the Schaerbeek neighbourhood of Brussels several hours after the attacks on March 22. A Belgian para-commando patrols near the office of the prime minister in Brussels. Credit:Getty Images Several Belgian newspapers, including L'Echo, De Tijd and De Morgen, reported that the information about the prime minister's office, on Rue de la Loi, the site of regular meetings by Cabinet ministers, had been found on the laptop. Yu Shaolei, a culture editor at the Southern Metropolis Daily, posted a photo of his resignation form on his Weibo social media account. In seven large Chinese characters, the resigning journalist simply said he could "no longer follow your surname" in a box asking his reasons for leaving. Beijing: The editor of a prominent Chinese newspaper has published a resignation letter denouncing the country's media censorship, the latest in a series of public outbursts criticising tightening media controls under President Xi Jinping. The phrase is a clear reference to Mr Xi's high-profile visit of the country's top-level state-run news outlets last month, where he sought to remind staff members that the country's media must be "surnamed party" and lived to serve the government. The blanket coverage of the visit, which included the official Xinhua news agency, state broadcaster CCTV and flagship newspaper People's Daily, raised eyebrows for the over-the-top adulation with which he was received. Footage of a welcome message projected on a screen at CCTV declaring its journalists were loyally "surnamed party" went viral on the Chinese internet. Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last week. Credit:AP "This spring, let's make a clean break," Mr Yu said in a Weibo post accompanying the photo of his resignation form. "I'm getting old; after bowing for so long, I can't stand it anymore. I want to see if I can adopt a new posture." "To the person responsible for monitoring my Weibo and notifying his superiors about what I should be made to delete: You can heave a sigh of relief. Sorry for the stress I've caused you these last few years, and I sincerely hope your career can take a new direction. And to those friends who care about me, I won't even say goodbye." NKR Foreign Ministry welcomes recognition of NKR by US State of Hawaii NKR Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Ani Sargsyan answers questions of Artsakh Public TV Question: How would you comment recognition of the NKR by the U.S. state of Hawaii? Answer: We welcome the adoption of the resolution on the recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic by the House of Representatives of the State of Hawaii. Thus, the Hawaii has become the 7th U.S. State to recognize the independence of the NKR. We also express our gratitude to all those who have contributed to this cause. The international recognition of Artsakh is one of the highest priorities of our foreign policy, and we will continue our efforts towards new achievements in this process. We are convinced that the international recognition of Artsakh's independence will give additional impetus to the further development and strengthening of the statehood of Artsakh in general and its democratic institutions in particular. It will also have a positive impact on the process of the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, ensuring its irreversibility and allowing to focus on developing the necessary mechanisms and conditions of peaceful coexistence of two independent States - Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, which have resulted from the collapse of the Soviet Union and Azerbaijans aggression. Yangon: Myanmar's President Thein Sein, in a surprise move just before leaving office, lifted a state of emergency in the restive western state of Rakhine, imposed after clashes between Buddhists and minority Rohingya Muslims in 2012. Thein Sein announced the move in state media on Tuesday, days before a president from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) will be sworn in at an official handover, after the NLD won the November 8 election by a landslide. National League for Democracy supporters in Rakhine state in 2015. Credit:Getty Images While there have been no major clashes in Rakhine state, also known as Arakan, in the last two years, most of Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims remain stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. They are denied citizenship and have long complained of state-sanctioned discrimination. Washington: The US will withdraw virtually all family members of US troops and diplomats from its installations in Turkey, US officials have said, citing security concerns as the campaign against the Islamic State continues. The military decision was announced on Tuesday on the blog for the US European Command, which also instituted travel restrictions in Brussels last week after the terrorist attacks that killed 38 people, including three suicide bombers. At least four Americans died and about a dozen more were wounded, including an Air Force officer who was stationed in Europe and members of his family. A US Navy plane at Incirlik Air Base, in Adana, in south-eastern Turkey last year. Credit:AP "We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong Ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism," Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the commander of the European Command, said in a statement. PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a plenary public session on March 31. The Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Telecommunication and Transport will be present for the session. The plenary public meeting reconvenes on Thursday at 2.00pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda point is a discussion with the Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs regarding the issue of consumer protection for residents and visitors. This plenary session of the House was requested by Members of Parliament (MPs) Leona Marlin-Romeo, MP Franklin Meyers, and MP Theo Heyliger. Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com and via www.sxmparliament.org. Special attention should be placed on the amount of raw sewage that are being pumped in the lagoon. PHILIPSBURG:--- The third quad-partite meeting that involves the State of France, The Netherlands, the government of St. Maarten and the Collectivity of St. Maarten is scheduled to take place on St. Maarten on Wednesday next week at the A. C Wathey Legislative Hall starting at 8am announced Prime Minister of St. Maarten William Marlin. The Prime Minister told members of the media that the agreement among the countries states that these annual meetings will be held in a different country each year. On the agenda for discussions are the following points:- Military Cooperation Border Control Implementation of the Police Cooperation Treaties that relates to the preparation and cross border between the two sides of the island which will include, education, health care, social welfare, whereby parties will try to establish a cooperation structure between the two sides of the island. The European Union Affairs will also be discussed, while they will follow up on the current discussions that relatives to the EU funding and projects that are co-financed by the EU. The Prime Minister also gave some updates on the trips he attended in Aruba regarding the Aruba Day celebration and the P-3A meetings where more than 38 nations attended the conference. On the ongoing discussions regarding the sewage plant that is to be built in the Simpson Bay Lagoon Marlin welcomed the involvement of the Parliament of St. Maarten who would be organizing a tour of the Simpson Bay lagoon. The Prime Minister said when the tour takes place one of the things that the Members of Parliament will see is the amount of sewage drainage inside the Simpson Bay Lagoon. Marlin said there are about 28 drain pipes that are draining raw sewage inside the lagoon currently. He said if government does not address the current situation then very soon the Simpson Bay lagoon will become a polluted area with raw sewage. He asked if those persons that are contesting the location for the new project are not concerned about the amount of raw sewage that is currently draining inside the lagoon. He said instead those persons that are complaining about the actions government is taking to clean up the lagoon once and for all should start thinking what will happen to the lagoon in the near future if nothing is done to clean up the raw sewage that is pumped into the lagoon on a daily basis. On the matter of Electoral Reform the Prime Minister confirmed that he already got the report from the committee who made some suggestions as to how they should approach the voting rights for persons and or students living abroad. Marlin said the committee wants to have persons who lived in St. Maarten for at least ten years to have the rights to vote, this he said opens up the possibility for persons now living abroad could vote. However, Marlin said that he did not get the opportunity to fully analyze that part of the advice to see if this is for persons that lives anywhere in the world or if it just meant for persons who lives within the Kingdom. He did say if it is global then it will create an organizational challenge since there are persons who moved to various Caribbean islands and other countries. On the issue of ship jumping the committee in its advice states that Ministers would need the support of the majority on the political party on which he or see elected in order to appoint a Minister. He said if this is taken up in the reform then Independent Members of Parliament will not be able to solely appoint Ministers. Puerto Rico route will cease --- Measures are being taken against PJAIE Board. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of TEATT Ingrid Arrindell clarified on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers press briefing that JetBlue will not stop its services to St. Maarten but they will stop their daily St. Maarten San Juan route as of May 3rd 2016, she said JetBlue made this announcement. Minister Arrindell said that JetBlue will continue with other routes such as the direct flight from St. Maarten to JFK and the Boston route. Another service the airline is looking into providing to St. Maarten travelers is its mint services on the St. Maarten/JFK route. This services she said is already offered to other Caribbean destinations. She said the airline is presently conducting its due diligence while government and the tourist bureau are also conducting their research to see if the services will be profitable. On other topics the Minister said she is not aware of the problems the tenants of the airport cargo building when asked by SMN News. She promised to look into this matter while her Ministry is currently looking into what is happening to the Fixed Based Operation Building (FBO) she said up to now she does not know why the project cannot kick off and as such her Ministry is trying to obtain information. Asked what is the current situation with the Airport Supervisory Board and Operational Boards, the Minister said she is not in a position to release any information on the procedures government is following with regards to these boards, she did say government just cannot dismiss boards, but they are dealing with the situation by following the procedures to remove the board. When asked for an update on the situation of former Director Regina Labega, Minister Arrindell said that Labega is on leave of absence until the end of June and the situation regarding Regina Labega has to be dealt with by the Supervisory and Management boards. PHILIPSBURG:--- On the 31st of March and the 1st of April, 2016, the Centrale Bank van Curacao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) will host its first central banking conference at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort in Sint Maarten. The conference will feature presentations and lectures by central bankers, economists, and leaders in the private, public, and academic sectors from across the Caribbean region and further abroad, such as CEMLA and CARTAC. The general theme for the conference will be the challenges and opportunities of Caribbean central banking in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. Topics for the conference will include financial stability, macroeconomic prudence, behavioral economics, and monetary unions in a Caribbean context. The speakers are Mr. Trevor Brathwaite (Deputy Governor of the ECCB) with a presentation about monetary unions in Caribbean context; Dr. Shelton Nicholls (CARTAC) and Dr. Alberto Ortiz Bolanos (CEMLA), both of whom will elaborate on financial stability and resilience; Prof. Dr. Henriette Prast (University of Tilburg) and Dr. Dave Seerattan (Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance and University of the West Indies) who will present on behavioral economics and financial literacy; and Ms. Carey-Anne Williams (Bank of Jamaica), who will speak about evaluating the transmission mechanism of monetary policy in Jamaica. Mr. Richard Gibson, Minister of Finance of Sint Maarten and Dr. Emsley Tromp, President of the Centrale Bank van Curacao en Sint Maarten will provide the opening remarks. On Friday, April 1st, the program features an open session in the afternoon for the public, describing the tasks and responsibilities of the CBCS. ZoomerMedia Limited Announces Completion of Sale Leaseback of Property and Buildings TORONTO, ONTARIO (Marketwired) 03/29/16 ZoomerMedia Limited (TSX VENTURE: ZUM) (the Company) today announced that it has completed the sale of its 2.6 acre property and buildings located at 30, 64 and 70 Jefferson Avenue, Toronto to Allied Properties REIT (Allied) for gross proceeds of $31 million and has entered into an agreement to lease the property from Allied. Concurrently the Company used a portion of the proceeds of the sale to retire its term loan and mortgage with the Royal Bank of Canada. The Company will use the remaining proceeds to retire additional debt and for working capital purposes. About ZoomerMedia Limited ZoomerMedia Limited is a multimedia company that serves the 45plus Zoomer demographic through television, radio, magazine, internet and trade shows. ZoomerMedias television properties include; Vision TV, Canadas only multi-faith specialty television service; ONE: Body Mind Spirit Love Channel, offering programs on exercise, meditation, yoga, natural health and living a planet-friendly lifestyle; JoyTV in Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey and the Frasier Valley, and the newly rebranded HOPETV (formerly JoyTV11), a lifestyle television service out of Winnipeg devoted to broadcasting Christian programming and is available in approximately 6 million Canadian homes. ZoomerMedias radio properties include CFMZ-FM Toronto The New Classical 96.3FM, CFMX-FM Cobourg The New Classical 103.1FM, CFMO-FM Collingwood The New Classical 102.9FM, Canadas only commercial classical music radio stations serving the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), eastern Ontario and Collingwood, CFZM-AM 740 Toronto and CFZM-FM 96.7FM Toronto Zoomer Radio, Torontos Timeless Hits Station. ZoomerMedia also publishes Zoomer Magazine, the largest paid circulation magazine in Canada for the mature market. ZoomerMedia is Canadas leading provider of online content targeting the 45plus age group through many properties, the key one being . ZoomerMedia also has trade show and conference divisions that produce the ZoomerShows, annual consumer shows directed to the Zoomer demographic and ideaCity, an annual Canadian conference also known as Canadas Premiere Meeting of the Minds. Cautionary note on forward looking statements The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Certain statements made in this report are forward-looking statements which may include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words believe, anticipate, expect, estimate, project, will be, will continue, will likely result or similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in filings by ZoomerMedia Limited with provincial securities commissions. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor can it assess the impact of all such risk factors on the Companys business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the following: Given these risks, and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. ZoomerMedia Limited does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Contacts: George Kempff Vice President and Chief Financial Officer ZoomerMedia Limited (416) 607-7735 Leanne Wright Vice President Communications ZoomerMedia Limited (416) 886-6873 Ellie Mae Studios Goes Live with Visual 2000 ERP.net Toronto, ON Visual 2000 International, Canadas leading supplier of omni-channel business software for apparel and fashion accessory companies, is pleased to announce that Toronto fashion designer Ellie Mae Studios has successfully deployed the [Visual 2000 End2End](http://www.visual-2000.com/end2end-omni-channel-retail-software/) suite to manage their business process, from concept to consumer sale. The newly-formed company, which has already earned the praise of high-profile customers such as Sophie Grgoire-Trudeau, strives to make a name for Canada in the world of fashion. Teri Ponzo of [Ellie Mae](http://www.elliemaestudios.com/), notes that she was looking for a Canadian company specializing in the fashion industry to provide its ERP solution. Furthermore, she ultimately decided that Visual 2000 would be its provider as it is the leading tool for inventory management and organizational business processes in the fashion industry. Visual 2000s VP of Research and Development, Charles Benoualid, confirmed, Visual 2000 is delighted to be supporting emerging Canadian designers and brands to grow and compete on the world stage. Since the software has now been fully deployed, Benoualid continues, Ellie Mae Studios will benefit from Visual 2000s centralized product information as well as streamlined design, production and distribution processes; all departments, from production to finance, will be connected in a single app. The Visual 2000 End2End suite is a fully functional omni-channel platform that was designed from the ground up by fashion industry professionals to help manage all aspects of an AFA fashion enterprise. The Visual 2000 and Ellie Mae team have achieved a live deployment date on time and on budget. About Ellie Mae Ellie Mae is a Toronto-based designer that develops vintage-inspired, eclectic jackets with a modern street style. Steadily evolving, the brand continuously develops by exploring and embracing both newness and tradition, and draws inspiration from the music that guides Ellie Maes every movement. About Visual 2000 International Visual 2000 provides End2End software for apparel, footwear and fashion accessory companies. More than 500 companies around the world take advantage of Visual 2000s advanced ERP, PLM, supply chain management, warehouse optimization and business intelligence software. Madison Logic Selected by AlwaysOn as an OnMedia Top 100 Winner NEW YORK, NY (Marketwired) 03/30/16 provider of the most comprehensive B2B digital brand and demand solutions powered by intent data, today announced that it has been chosen by AlwaysOn as one of the OnMedia Top 100 winners. Inclusion in the OnMedia 100 signifies leadership amongst its peers and game-changing approaches and technologies that are likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players. Madison Logic was specially selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team and industry experts spanning the globe based on a set of five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and media buzz. Madison Logic and the OnMedia Top 100 Companies will be honored at the 2016 OnMedia NYC event in May. Details will be made available soon. The day long executive event will feature CEO presentations and high-level debates on which forces are disrupting user behavior and creating new opportunities in the marketing, branding, advertising, and public relations industries. This years OnMedia 100 winners are building on successes in digital media and branching out into new territory, taking advantage of todays advances in cloud computing and other on-demand services. Social commerce is flourishing, bringing prosperity to a wide variety of retail markets. Payment options are becoming even more user-friendly and secure. And advertising, marketing, and PR companies are using the recent data explosion to break down established practices and bring people what they want exactly when they want it, says Tony Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn. OnMedia 100 winners continue to open up new ways for consumers to connect with goods and services. Innovation in the digital media sector shows no sign of slowing down, and we predict even more growth and positive disruption coming during the next few years. The OnMedia 100 winners were selected from among hundreds of other technology companies nominated by investors, bankers, journalists, and industry insiders. The AlwaysOn editorial team conducted a rigorous three-month selection process to finalize the 2016 list. A full list of all the OnMedia Top 100 winners can be found on the AlwaysOn website at: Madison Logic is excited to be named one of AlwaysOns OnMedia Top 100, said Tom ORegan, the companys CEO. Im proud of our team and the success weve had delivering impactful ROI for our clients, 90% of the Fortune 500 Technology group. The increasing focus on results based marketing and growing interest in Account Based Marketing solutions continue to propel our business into the future. Madison Logic is among the worlds fastest growing companies dedicated to solving the digital needs of B2B marketers. Madison Logics Account Based Marketing Platform powers targeted advertising and content syndication products that delivers real results and actionable insights powered by the most comprehensive B2B data set. Madison Logic is a global company based in New York City. @madisonlogic AlwaysOn is the leading business media brand connecting and informing the entrepreneurial community in the Global Silicon Valley. Founded by Red Herring founding editor, Tony Perkins in 2003, AlwaysOns mission is to continue to lead the industry by empowering its readers, event participants, sponsors, bloggers, and advertisers like no other media brand. Blast PR for Madison Logic Lorene Bagley-Kane 307-713-1043 Global Survey Reveals Graph Databases Make Previously Undiscovered Data Connections, Solve Todays Most Complex Business Issues SAN MATEO, CA (Marketwired) 03/30/16 , creator of the worlds leading graph database, , today announced the results of an independent global survey titled, State of The Graph Database. Conducted by , the survey reveals that graph database users most frequently turn to the technology to address and solve business problems. The study also found that performance is the core consideration surrounding their graph database use. We wanted to delve into the minds of developers around the world to see what their key drivers are for selecting a graph database, said Emil Eifrem, Neo Technologys CEO and co-founder. These results are further validation that relational databases just cant keep up and that graphs are the absolute best way to make sense of todays high volume of connected data. 58 percent of respondents are current graph database users. Graph database users most frequently turn to graph databases to solve a business problem, and four out of five survey respondents perceive new technical capabilities gained from graph databases to be the greatest benefit that they have gathered from graph database use. 57 percent typically use a native property graph model. 59 percent currently perform graph-based search, and this functionality is prevalent in both small and large organizations. 49 percent anticipate taking on real-time recommendations through graph databases in the next two years. Over 50 percent rated Cypher, Neo4js declarative language as easier than SQL, with another quarter rating its ease of use as on par with SQL. Graphs are the ultimate modeling tool for relationship-based real-world scenarios. Bay Area Data Scientist and Survey Respondent Graph databases can be used to address a variety of use cases across a multitude of industries, presenting intuitive means for analysts and data scientists to gather actionable knowledge. The survey findings announced today indicate the three most common use cases for graph database users are , , and . With the ability to handle complex data sets and glean key understandings from diverse, constantly changing data, use cases are projected to grow significantly over the next two years. Neo4j approached and commissioned Evans Data Corp to conduct a Q4 2015 survey of graph database users in order to better understand their behaviors, successes, and needs. Respondents consisted of nearly 450 Neo4j familiars and users including developers, architects, and IT professionals from around the globe. Neo4j recruited and provided the respondents who have done one of the following; downloaded OReillys free Graph Databases book, attended GraphConnect 2015 in San Francisco, or follow Neo4j on social networks. The online survey was conducted in English, with no geographical restrictions; 42% are within North America, another 42% are within EMEA. This survey began fielding on October 21st, in conjunction with Neo4js GraphConnect conference, and closed on December 8th. To download the full State of the Graph Database report, please click . Neo Technology is the creator of Neo4j, the worlds leading graph database that brings data relationships to the fore. From companies offering personalized product and service recommendations; to websites adding social capabilities; to telecom providers diagnosing network issues; to enterprises reimagining master data, identity, and access models; organizations adopt graph databases as the best way to model, store and query both data and its relationships. Neo Technology researchers pioneered the modern graph database and have been instrumental in bringing the power of the graph to numerous organizations worldwide. Large enterprises like Walmart, eBay, UBS, Nomura, Cisco, CenturyLink, HP, Telenor, TomTom, Lufthansa, and the National Geographic Society, as well as startups like Medium, Polyvore, Zephyr Health and Elementum use Neo4j to unlock business value from data relationships. Neo Technology is a privately-held company funded by Fidelity Growth Partners Europe, Sunstone Capital, Conor Venture Partners, Creandum and Dawn Capital, and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with regional offices in Sweden, UK, Germany, France and Malaysia. For more information, please visit . Tanya Carlsson Kulesa Faul for Neo Technology, Inc. 707-529-6139 Solar Novus Today Has Been Integrated With Novus Light Technologies Today Visit Novus Light Technologies Today to see all the cutting-edge stories and products that you have come to enjoy on Solar Novus Today. In addition, you will find more information on related light-based technologies. Get the latest solar and renewable energy news delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Green Technologies newsletter CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR GREEN TECHNOLOGIES NEWSLETTER March 30, 2016 Desert Foothills Chapter, Arizona Archaeological Society presents guest speaker Hugh Grinnell April 13th Hugh Grinnell, an Arizona Humanities speaker, presents The Explorations and Discoveries of George Bird Grinnell, The Father of Glacier National Park. The great West that George Bird Grinnell first encountered in 1870 as a 21-year old man disappeared before his eyes in a very short amount of time. Nobody was quicker to sense the desecration or was more eloquent in crusading against the poachers, hide hunters, and a disengaged U.S. Congress than George Bird Grinnell, the Father of American Conservation. Grinnell founded the first Audubon Society to save non-game birds from extinction due to feather collections used in ladies hats, cofounded the Boone and Crockett Club with Teddy Roosevelt an important friend, and led the effort to establish Glacier National Park as well as lobbying for other parks. George Grinnell discovered the Grinnell Glacier in 1887. He was a frequent contributor of articles to the Forest and Stream newspaper which he eventually purchased after graduating from Yale. This presentation travels back in time to the 19th century by listening to Grinnells own words taken from his field journals, memoirs, personal correspondence, and newspaper editorials. Hugh Grinnell received his bachelors and masters degrees from The University of Arizona. Since his retirement in 2004, Grinnell has studied the history of the great American West. After discovering an old Great Northern Railway (GNR) passenger car named Grinnell Glacier, he researched the origin of the cars name. The GNR Grinnell Glacier was named in honor of George Bird Grinnell a naturalist and explorer, a distant cousin of Hugh Grinnell. Grinnell continues to carry on his research of George Bird Grinnell (the man called Bird) and the Grinnell family, writing articles and producing DVDs. In 2010, he presented Saving the Great American West at the annual convention of the GNR Historical Society and 100th anniversary of the establishment of Glacier National Park, held in Glacier National Parke. The general public may attend an Arizona Archaeology Society Desert Foothills Chapter meeting at no charge, except for the holiday party in December. The AAS-DFC meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month, September through May. There are refreshments available at 7:00 PM and the meeting begins at 7:30 PM, usually ending prior to 9:00 PM. The meetings are held in the community building (Maitland Hall) at The Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 (near the Dairy Queen). www.azarchsoc.org/desertfoothills Photo caption: In many ethno-cultural communities elder abuse is under-reported due to the perception that speaking out would fracture family ties and bring shame on the community./ Photo Credit: Pixabay Creative Commons By Beatrice Paez Special to The Post Asking seniors subtle questions about their daily routines opens up dialogue and can point to signs of elder abuse, which rarely reveals itself in obvious ways. Nirpal Bhangoo-Sekhon often asks seniors she meets about what theyve been eating, who handles their finances and if their basic needs are being met. It is her job as case manager of the Punjabi Community Health Services (PCHS) to be curious. Unfortunately, if we don't ask those questions, we wouldn't know what's happening, she says. It gives you a better picture of what goes on at home. In a 2009 report, Statistics Canada found that two-thirds of seniors who experienced family violence physical force or threats didn't sustain injuries. Seniors most at risk, based on reports to the police, are between 65 and 74. During her one-on-one meetings with seniors, Bhangoo-Sekhon will also illustrate scenarios to raise awareness of how common an issue elder abuse is. Holding such conversations regularly helps ease reservations about breaking their silence, which can take months, if not longer, she says. Reluctance to speak up While elder abuse cuts across different cultural groups, they may contend with different obstacles. Language barriers and distrust in the police mostly worries about being deported aren't the only concerns stacked heavily against the decision to come forward, says Kripa Sekhar, the executive director of the South Asian Women's Centre (SAWC) in Toronto. There's the perception that speaking out would fracture family ties and bring shame on the community. I don't think they want to be seen as a community that's going to expose their families or seen as betraying their families," says Sekhar. "They've almost accepted that this is what's meant for me. Burial customs can also play a role in the struggle to come forward for seniors of certain faiths. With funeral rites traditionally being the responsibility of the son or a male family member, some express concern that their spiritual needs will not be looked after if they speak out, says Sekhar. They're not worried about today. They're worried about the afterlife. It's hard to understand that you're struggling in this life, but it's such a part of who they are. Abuse isn't limited to physical violence; it can extend to the withholding of financial resources, verbal threats and isolation from the household, she explains. Statistical profiles on elder abuse as it relates to the South Asian community aren't traced by front-line agencies such as the police and social services. Statistics Canada instead analyzes the prevalence of family violence along gender lines, while acknowledging that cultural groups have different attitudes about what constitutes abuse. Possibilities for intervention The immediate response to cases of physical abuse might be to find alternative housing, but in other instances, intervention through education is crucial, says Bhangoo-Sekhon. "If we can go in and educate the families that, in the end, would be much more helpful and useful for the community than just pulling seniors out [of the home] and placing them in shelters," she says. Finding subsidized housing or placing elders in shelters isn't always the most feasible solution in cases of neglect or isolation, particularly if they're not used to living independently and are in need of a personal support worker, she says. PCHS has a caregiver support program, an extension of its efforts to address elder abuse, which is offered to those who are caring for family members. It is intended to relieve the strain of household demands. The program attempts to engender a culture of empathy, recognizing that the caregiver may be stressed, while getting him or her to understand the vulnerabilities that seniors face. "We help them understand the aging process," says Bhangoo-Sekhon, adding that changes in a senior's behaviour may create friction within the family if it's not recognized as a health issue. "[It's to help] them understand what's happening to their body, their brain, and that's out of their control." Networks for seniors living alone SAWC, through its community network, tri es to locate housing for seniors so they can live independently, but finding affordable housing can take an average of seven years, according to the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association. Thirty per cent of seniors make up the wait list, as cited by the Toronto Star from the organization's 2015 report. Sekhar communicates regularly with seniors who live independently and tries to ensure that their landlords are responsive to building safety issues. "Many say they do that, but their concerns aren't always attended to," she says. SAWC holds a seniors workshop every Thursday where they can gather to discuss health and safety issues, along with abuse. It's a support network for seniors who live on their own, where they feel comfortable conversing in their mother tongue, says Sekhar. "Housing for seniors should be guaranteed," says Sekhar. "They need enough funding to live in dignity." This piece was originally appeared in New Canadian Media (newcanadianmedia.ca). See newcanadianmedia.ca/item/33786 Photo caption: Swati feels that due to the absence of social pressures in Canada, her parents are more relaxed about her lifestyle choices./ Photo Credit: Soofia Mahmood By Soofia Mahmood Special to The Post Women empowerment is often defined as the ability to participate in economic life across all sectors. But when South Asian female immigrants in Canada are asked to define empowerment in the context of their own lives, the responses clearly highlight social factors as being most relevant to their feeling of emancipation. Statistically speaking, immigrant women are more likely to have completed university than women born in Canada, but still earn less. In addition, owing to the already existing gender gap, they also earn less than male immigrants. Despite these economic facts, many South Asian immigrant women consider themselves much more socially empowered in Canada compared to their home countries. Having the authority to make simple choices, being able to access public spaces without fear and having the freedom to wear what they want to without being judged are some definitions of empowerment laid out by Pakistani and Indian women. Freedom from social pressure Its funny how my parents are so much more relaxed about what I wear or where I go when I am in Canada, says Swati, a 26-year old Indian woman living on her own in Toronto. Whether it's something as simple as sporting a tattoo or wearing western clothes without being judged, Swati finds this small aspect of her autonomy refreshing. Farah, a Muslim Pakistani woman in Canada married to a non-Pakistani, emphasizes the absence of social pressure that gives women like her the feeling of freedom. She couldnt have imagined her family coming to terms with her choice of partner in her home country. It is heartwarming to see that our parents values are adjusting to this modern society. The absence of social judgment enables them to accept women empowerment as a viable concept, she explains. Freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation The social and legal acceptance of alternate sexuality in Canada is another factor that is linked to empowerment of queer women hailing from conservative countries. Noor, a lesbian artist from Pakistan, moved to Canada after a long, arduous journey of self-acceptance. I would have been forcefully married in Pakistan and my sexuality would have been a serious security threat, she tells New Canadian Media. Here, even though I still have to hide my truth from my family, I feel more relaxed. When asked how this has changed her in her everyday life, she replies with a smile, The way I walk has changed. I dont feel guilty about being who I am. Safe access to public spaces These cases notwithstanding, there are many South Asian women who lead independent lives in their home countries, with opportunities to experience freedom within their social circles. Their families and friends were open-minded, and they had access to resources that made it possible for them to be independent. Natasha Qureshi is one such woman from Pakistan who says she has never let her gender dictate her life, even in her home country. Despite that, she mentions that being able to walk on the streets alone without feeling threatened or harassed is something she truly values in Canada. Now when I go back to Pakistan, I miss being able to walk alone on the street without worrying about safety, she says. In Pakistan, even in urban metros where women drive and work freely, their solitary access to public spaceslike parks or street restaurants is limited by safety and rules, said or unsaid. Talking about the discomfort women experience in public spaces, especially if they do not conform to the social norms of appropriate appearances, Noor says, Basic misogyny happens in everyday life in conservative countries. As a woman, you are often made to feel like you are just a face in a window looking out. Defining ones own social boundaries Social freedom is a relative concept and is dependent not only on geography, but also the community you choose to interact with and the mindset you adopt. Many immigrant women, although integrated into the Canadian society, now choose to define their own social limitations. Faiza Feroze, a Pakistani mother of two living in Ottawa, says, The concept of women empowerment should not be so liberal and should be considered in the light of religious boundaries. Although she enjoys the absence of daily social pressures about how a woman should behave, she chooses to mostly interact within her community and respects the boundaries she considers religious and sacred. The fact that you can openly follow your own religious boundaries in a Western country, without judgment, makes me very happy. To me that is social freedom, she says. *Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. This piece was originally appeared in New Canadian Media (newcanadianmedia.ca). See newcanadianmedia.ca/item/33664-in-canada-south-asian-women-find-social-freedom This one got lopsided in a hurry, and that was just what Notre Dame needed football 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 This artist's concept of HD 1885 Ab, the first known planet to reside in a triple-star system, would have a similar sunset to KELT-4Ab. Both systems host a pair of stars distantly orbiting the planet-hosting single sun. Eat your heart out, Tatooine: A newly discovered alien planet has not one, not two, but three suns in its sky. While scientists know of many planets with two suns, a planet with three bright stars in its sky is much rarer. The newly found distant world, known as KELT-4Ab, orbits one star. That star in turn is orbited by a nearby pair of stars. The twin stars are close enough to the planet to appear about as bright as the full moon in the sky, new research has revealed. In addition to providing an example of a solar system very different from Earth's, the strange arrangement may help provide insight into how gas giants that lie close to their parent star known as "hot Jupiters" evolve. [The Strangest Alien Planets (Gallery)] A triple sunset KELT-4Ab, which is about as massive as Jupiter, orbits the single star KELT-A once every three days. Nearby, the stars KELT-B and KELT-C orbit one another once every 30 years, and together they travel around KELT-A and its planet every 4,000 years or so. Jason Eastman, a research associate at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is the lead author of a study that used the two robotic telescopes that make up the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT), located in Arizona and South Africa respectively, to identify the system that includes the single star KELT-A, the more distant pairing KELT-BC and the overheated planet. While the composition of the planet's atmosphere isn't yet known, Eastman told Space.com that standing in the atmosphere above the planet (since you can't stand on its surface), the single star would appear to be about 40 times as large as the sun appears in the sky on Earth. Each member of the binary star pair would be almost as bright as the full moon, though without a good telescope they would look like dots of light about a pinky-finger-width apart in the sky. "Those two stars would orbit each other every about 30 years, and every 4,000 years they'd make one orbit around KELT-4A," Eastman said. Planets around triple stars are rare; KELT-4Ab is only the fourth known system to contain three stars. Of these, KELT-A is the brightest host star, not only because it is a hotter star than the ones in the other three systems, but also because it lies so close to Earth only 680 light-years away. The research was published in the Astronomical Journal. Hot Jupiters "Hot Jupiters aren't supposed to exist. None of them," Eastman said. "Gaseous planets the size of Jupiter are supposed to form much farther out [from their parent star] and stay there, like our own Jupiter did," he said. "Exactly how they got so close is an outstanding question, but one theory is that it migrates due to hot interactions with a third body in this case, the third and fourth bodies KELT-BC." When astronomers developed the first theories of planet formation, all they had to work with was the solar system. When the first exoplanet discoveries were gas giants that orbited their stars in a handful of days, it turned the existing theory on its head and sent scientists scrambling to understand how the newly observed systems could exist. Most scientists seem to agree that the massive worlds traveled to their current position after they finished forming, driven by companion planets, stars or other processes, Eastman said. "The binary system KELT-4BC may be what ultimately drove the planet KELT-4Ab so close to its star," Eastman said. Using a survey produced by KELT, the scientists identified the potential planet KELT-4Ab, then confirmed its existence with several other instruments. Like the more well-known NASA Kepler spacecraft, KELT relies on the transit method to detect exoplanets, observing how the amount of light from a star drops as the planet passes between it and Earth. "KELT is different in several ways [from other transit surveys]," Eastman said. "It has a smaller telescope, a larger field of view and a larger pixel scale than other mature transit surveys." These features deliberately bias the instrument toward brighter stars, which Eastman said allows a broader range of observations and characterizations. Among those is the ability to determine if the planet's orbital plane appears edge-on as seen from Earth, or whether the plane is tipped, and this process allows scientists to more precisely calculate the star's mass. Looking to the future When the KELT-4 system was originally observed in 1973, it was thought to host only two stars. Not until Eastman observed the system almost 40 years later was one of the single stars resolved into two individuals. "In all previous observations, KELT-4B and KELT-4C were blended together and looked just like one star," Eastman said. This is a recurring challenge for scientists observing binary systems resolving close-orbiting stars into binary pairs. Eastman said that many known planets may live in unknown triple systems. One reason the twin stars in the KELT-4 system were so easily identified as two individual stars instead of one was because of the system's close proximity to Earth. The European Space Agency's Gaia satellite, currently engaged in a five-year mission, will observe the triple system in the coming years. These observations will enable a more precise measurement of the distance to KELT-4A, providing more detailed measurements of its mass and radius, which will result in more precise measurements of the mass and radius of the planet. "But more exciting, Gaia will be able to measure the motion of the KELT-4BC binary pair around KELT-4A," Eastman said. Measuring the path of the pair of stars will help improve models of how they could have affected the migration of the planet, shoving it closer to its parent star. In doing so, it will help scientists understand how hot Jupiters manage to form so close to their parent stars. Follow Nola Taylor Redd on Twitter @NolaTRedd or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. An inflatable room that will be attached to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to launch toward the orbiting laboratory next week. The room, known as Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), was built by Bigelow Aerospace, a private company that has built other expandable space habitats in the past and has plans to continue to do so. BEAM will be the first such room to be tested on the ISS, and the first to be (briefly) occupied by astronauts. BEAM will not be a fully functional addition to the space station. However, astronauts will enter it for a few hours at a time about four times a year for two years, Bigelow representatives said in a NASA media teleconference yesterday (March 28). However, sensors inside BEAM will allow Bigelow engineers to test its durability against radiation and debris and make sure it meets safety standards set by NASA for any habitat that will house astronauts. [Inflatable Space Stations of Bigelow Aerospace (Infographic)] Bigelow Aerospace's BEAM expandable module will enhance the living area of the International Space Station. See how the BEAM module works in our full infographic (Image credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com contributor) Inflatable habitats like BEAM offer the possibility to build large habitats on the ground and send them to space in much smaller payload fairings. When fully inflated, BEAM provides a total of 565 cubic feet (16 cubic meters) of livable space. It expands to more than five times its compressed size of 105.9 cubic feet (3 cubic m). The key challenge in building flexible or collapsible space habitats is that they also must be able to protect astronauts from space radiation, as well as withstand a collision with a piece of space debris or a micrometeoroid. Lisa Kauke, BEAM deputy program manager at Bigelow Aerospace, said during yesterday's teleconference that BEAM meets the requirements set for the rest of the space station for withstanding those threats. She said she could not expand on exactly what BEAM is made of, because that information is proprietary. However, she did note that BEAM consists of a "soft goods, expandable material." It also includes a load-bearing structure made from something similar to Vectran, a manufactured fiber made from a liquid crystal polymer used in some space suits. Kauke said the BEAM material has been shown to "perform up to the standards of the ISS." BEAM is also covered by a Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Protection layer, which is also proprietary to Bigelow, Kauke said. In the 2000s, Bigelow launched the Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 inflatable space habitats, both of which were put into orbit successfully but never carried humans. The company also is testing multiple habitats on Earth. Kauke said there is "not much more" that Bigelow needs to test with regard to its inflatable habitat technology before making them fully accessible to human space travelers. "As a company, we're really comfortable with the technology," Kauke said. "We certainly demonstrated successfully that these modules can hold their pressure on orbit. We demonstrated our materials and processes." Rajib Dasgupta, NASA project and technical integration manager for BEAM, said that from NASA's perspective, the structural safety requirements are higher for a human-rated module than for a non-human-rated one, so BEAM will have to demonstrate that it can perform at that level. "The BEAM program is our company's next logical step in development, and it serves as our pathfinding to building manned spacecraft for the future," Kauke said. "By attaching BEAM to the ISS, we'll be able to evaluate our technology, elevate its technology readiness level and demonstrate that we are ready to support humans in space." BEAM will launch to the station atop a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule on Friday, April 8, at 4:43 p.m. EDT (2043 GMT). The inflatable module makes up about 3,100 lbs. (1,400 kilograms) of the 4,400-lb. (2,000 kg) payload carried by the Dragon capsule. Upon arrival at the space station, the ISS' robotic arm will remove BEAM from the Dragon capsule's "trunk" a procedure controlled remoted from the ground. The arm will then attach BEAM to Tranquility Node of the station. Astronauts on board will be responsible for inflating the module, which Dasguptasaid should take only about 45 minutes. (You can see a video of the installation procedure here on Space.com). Astronauts also will be responsible for installing a series of sensors that will test BEAM's resistance to radiation and debris. After a minimum two year test period, BEAM will be jettisoned from the station and will burn up in Earth's atmosphere. Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Clay Wang, a professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, and Kasthuri "Venkat" Venkateswaran, a senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will be the first team in the world to launch fungi into space for drug discovery purposes, according to a statement from the University of Southern California. When most people think of the dangers astronauts face while living on the International Space Station, extreme events like meteor showers or oxygen leaks often come to mind. But fighting diseases on long-duration space missions could be just as crucial to astronaut safety. One challenge is that medications may lose some of their potency in space, and not work as well as they would back on Earth. . So a team of researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) plans to launch fungi into space. The goal is to develop new medicines for use both on the orbiting space station and the pale blue dot below. "This is an ambitious project for NASA to see if we could have some breakthrough in space biology," Kasthuri Venkateswaran, senior research scientist at JPL and co-principal investigator in this study, said in a statement from the University of Southern California."NASA needs to develop self-sustaining measures to keep humans healthy in space, because calling 911 is not an option." [7 Everyday Things That Happen Strangely in Space] Certain types of fungi produce molecules known as secondary metabolites that can be used to make crucial pharmaceuticals. But producing these molecules is not essential for the fungi's growth or reproduction, so they rarely produce them. "These drug-producing organisms do not make all the drugs they can make," said Clay Wang, who led the study. "In most cases, the drug-producing pathways are silent. They only make the drugs when they need to," said Wang, a professor at the USC School of Pharmacy. So the team of researchers has decided to send the fungi to the International Space Station, with the hope that the stressful environment will trigger the production of these secondary metabolites. Specifically, the team will look at a well-studied fungus called Aspergillus nidulans. "The high-radiation, microgravity environment in space could prompt Aspergillus nidulans to produce molecules it doesn't create in Earth's less-stressful conditions," Wang said. "We've done extensive genetic analysis of this fungus and found that it could potentially produce 40 different types of drugs. The organism is known to produce osteoporosis drugs, which is very important from an astronaut's perspective, because we know that in space travel, astronauts experience bone loss." Molecules from Aspergillus nidulans also have the potential to be used in anti-cancer, anti-fungal and Alzheimer's disease studies. The researchers will send specimens of the fungus to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule, atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket, which will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:43 p.m. EDT (1943 GMT) on April 8. Once the samples reach the station, they will be placed in ideal growth conditions, at 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit), where they will remain for either four or seven days before they are cooled. After splashdown in May, the samples will be returned to USC for further study. "This is the first project where we see an intersection between pharmaceutical science and space exploration," Wang said. "Drugs have an expiration date. NASA's human mission to Mars is expected to last anywhere from one to three years. Not all drugs are going to be stable in that time period, so the ability to make drugs in space will enable us to go further away from Earth and will also benefit future space explorations." Follow Shannon Hallon Twitter @ShannonWHall. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. This Crew Access Arm, under construction near NASA's Kennedy Space Center, will sit atop the CST-100 Starliner Crew Access Tower to let astronauts board the commercial spacecraft, made by Boeing, which will be propelled by a United Launch Alliance Atlas rocket. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Last week, reporters got a chance to visit a service structure under construction for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft including the "White Room," the final place astronauts will wait before blasting off. After a long ride from NASA's Kennedy Space Center here through the wildlife refuge surrounding it, our bus full of space journalists pulled up at a construction site where engineers are putting together the Starliner's Crew Access Arm, a 44-foot (13 meters) mobile arm that will touch the tip of the rocket to let astronauts board. The craft would ride on an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance (ULA). Boeing and SpaceX have both been funded by NASA to develop spacecraft to propel astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017. Leading the equipment tour were Boeing and ULA officials and NASA liaisons, including Boeing's director of Crew and Mission Operations, Chris Ferguson a retired NASA astronaut who piloted the first mission of the space shuttle Atlantis. [CST-100: Images of Boeing's Private Space Capsule] The CST-100 Starliner's White Room, the "last place on Earth" for departing astronauts, currently under construction. (Image credit: Sarah Lewin/Space.com) "This, behind me, is the business end of it all," Ferguson told the crowd. "It's affectionately called the 'last place on Earth' for the passengers, and brings back a lot of fond memories of Pads 39A and B," he said, referring to space shuttle launch pads. "It's a little spacier than the old one, which is really nice, got a little extra room." The white-painted room at the end of the Crew Access Arm is a key part of the mission: It keeps the inside of the spacecraft uncontaminated as ground crew work to get the astronauts situated inside the spacecraft. About an hour before launch the astronauts will be sealed into the spacecraft, but they can be brought back out in case of a long wait or if the craft is canceled due to weather. (They can also unstrap and get out on their own, if necessary.) The engineers building the Crew Access Arm and White Room do not have access to an actual crew capsule, so they have a mock-up of the front half that can be mounted to work on the interface between the room and the spacecraft. A mock-up of the crew capsule for the reusable CST-100 Starliner, resting under the real Crew Access Arm being built and tested near Kennedy Space Center. (Image credit: Sarah Lewin/Space.com) If everything went according to plan on a given launch, the Crew Access Arm would swing out to the rocket more than 200 feet (61 m) in the air, acting as a bridge for the astronauts to get to the craft. Starting about 9 minutes before launch, engineers would swing the arm 120 degrees back out of the way over the course of 2 minutes. It uses hydraulic power to make that journey, said Steve Hirsch, the arm control engineer (called an ACE, he pointed out). But in the case of an emergency, it can snap back in just 15 seconds, using a counterweight: "We use gravity that never fails to get the arm out and make sure that the arm is in a position where it can get the astronauts out," Hirsch said. [Boeing's Private Space Capsule: CST-100 (Infographic)] This 3D-printed model of the Atlas V rocket and CST-100 Starliner spacecraft shows how the craft will interface with the Crew Access Tower, Crew Access Arm and White Room (currently shown touching the ship's crew capsule). The whole thing rests under the actual under-construction Crew Access Arm. (Image credit: Sarah Lewin/Space.com) While the Crew Access Arm is situated close to the ground for now, it will eventually be removed from its moorings, driven down to Space Launch Complex 41 where ULA currently stages Atlas V launches and mounted on the full Crew Access Tower. That whole process should be complete by the end of 2016, Boeing officials said. But it'll be awhile longer before the real spacecraft makes its way over as well. "The reason that we have this test article here, the crew hatch and it is a full-scale model that ULA built is because we won't have the actual spacecraft interfacing with this equipment until two weeks before our first test launch," said Lisa Locks, Boeing's launch site integration lead. "That's when it will be installed on the launch vehicle and rolled out for the first time." The top of the tower supporting the CST-100 Starliner's Crew Access Arm. (Image credit: Sarah Lewin/Space.com) Starliner will undergo an uncrewed and crewed test launch before bringing its first astronauts to the International Space Station, ideally in 2017, NASA officials said. NASA awarded Boeing two such crew missions. "Once we do start going to ISS, that is going to enable us to add one crewmember that will allow us to double the science capabilities that are going to be able to be performed on the ISS," said Mike Ravenscroft, the NASA commercial crew program launch site integration manager working with Boeing. "It's good to see hardware starting to come to fruition [] Once that rolls out to Pad 41 and enters the Florida skyline, we're excited about that, because that will enable us to once again launch to the ISS and the journey will begin for the crew." "If there's nothing that brings back fond memories and the palpable feeling that work is getting done, it's seeing hardware show up on the horizon," Ferguson said. Once complete, the Crew Access Arm will be moved to Kennedy Space Center's Space Launch Complex 41, where ULA currently launches Atlas V rockets. (Image credit: Sarah Lewin/Space.com) Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. The first super-Earth planet to get its photo taken may be superweird and superhot, and perhaps have super-runny lava in spots on its surface, researchers said. Astronomers investigated the alien planet 55 Cancri e, the innermost of five known planets orbiting the star 55 Cancri, located about 41 light-years from Earth. This exoplanet is a super-Earth, a rocky world nearly twice Earth's width and eight times its mass. It's the first super-Earth from which astronomers have detected light. 55 Cancri e circles its star about 25 times closer than Mercury does the sun. As a result, the planet whips fully around its star about every 18 hours, while Earth takes a year to complete an orbit. [Oozing Super-Earth: Images of Alien Planet 55 Cancri e] Previous studies of 55 Cancri e suggested it might possess strange properties. Some work suggested the exoplanet was covered with oozing "supercritical fluids" high-pressure, liquidlike, gas-like substances while other research suggested the world was made largely of diamond. This animated video shows a possible scenario for the hot, rocky exoplanet called 55 Cancri e, (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) To help solve the mysteries of 55 Cancri e, astronomers used NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to monitor infrared emissions from the exoplanet for 75 hours total during the summer of 2013. The resulting thermal map revealed a strong difference in temperature between the planet's dayside and nightside. 55 Cancri e is tidally locked, meaning it always keeps the same face pointed at its star. On the dayside, temperatures on 55 Cancri e can reach about 4,400 degrees Fahrenheit (2,427 degrees Celsius). On the nightside, temperatures can dip to about 2,025 degrees F (1,107 degrees C). The nightside may be kept warm by heat conducting through the rock from the dayside, said study lead author Brice-Olivier Demory, an astrophysicist at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England. The varying brightness of exoplanet 55 Cancri e plotted. Image released March 30, 2016. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Cambridge) The nightside's relatively cooler temperatures suggest that 55 Cancri e does not possess a thick atmosphere that could carry heat from the dayside to the night side, Demory said. It also suggests this planet is not covered with a large envelope of water, ruling out the possibility that supercritical fluids envelop 55 Cancri e, Demory added. About halfway between the dayside and the nightside, the researchers discovered that 55 Cancri e possesses a hotspot. They suggest this hotspot might be due to lava flows, and because the planet is hot, this lava may flow better than it does on Earth, behaving more like water does at room temperature and less like solid rock. A potential alternative explanation for this hotspot is that 55 Cancri e may possess an atmosphere only on the dayside of the planet; on the night side, the atmosphere would freeze out, Demory said. It remains uncertain whether such an atmosphere, if it exists, would convey enough heat to explain this hotspot, he said. "We are far from having a comprehensive picture of this exoplanet," Demory told Space.com. "It is likely that Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, will help in our understanding of this surprising world." The scientists detailed their findings online March 30 in the journal Nature. Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookand Google+. Original article on Space.com. The flash of light (circled) from an impact on Jupiter is seen in this still image from a video taken by amateur astronomer John McKeon of Swords, Ireland, on March 17, 2016. The St. Patrick's Day impact was nothing special for poor, pummeled Jupiter. On March 17, a small asteroid or comet slammed into Jupiter, causing a fireball that amateur astronomers spotted from Earth. Such events, while spectacular, are not rare, experts say; the giant planet's immense gravitational pull makes it the solar system's punching bag. "Since Jupiter is more than 310 times more massive than Earth, Jupiter gets hit thousands of times more often, and impacts are dozens of time[s] more energetic than [on] our small and safe planet Earth," astronomer Ricardo Hueso Alonso, of the University of the Basque Country in Spain, wrote in a blog post Tuesday (March 30). [Jupiter Collision! Impact Captured by Amateur Astronomer (Video)] The March 17 event was likely caused by an object 33 feet to 65 feet (10 to 20 meters) wide, Alonso added. Comets or asteroids in the same size range were likely responsible for three other Jupiter fireballs that amateur astronomers have observed since 2010, he added. Many other such strikes are likely going unseen. Indeed, a 2013 study led by Hueso estimated that Jupiter gets hit by objects between 16.5 feet and 65 feet (5 to 20 m) in diameter 12 to 60 times every year. And that's just the small stuff. Jupiter also got hammered by a 1,650-foot (500 m) asteroid in 2009, and the sizable fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 famously barreled into the gas giant in July 1994, leaving impact scars that lasted for months. Earth's recent impact history pales by comparison. For example, the February 2013 airburst over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, which scientists think was caused by a 65-foot-wide (20 m) space rock, was the most powerful such event since 1908. Jupiter impacts are much more energetic than those on Earth, because the giant planet's gravity accelerates the impactors to much greater speeds a minimum of 134,000 mph (216,000 km/h), Hueso wrote in his blog post. (The Chelyabinsk object, by contrast, probably hit Earth's atmosphere at about 40,000 mph, or 64,000 km/h.) Events such as the March 17 asteroid/comet strike are interesting far beyond their eye-candy appeal, Hueso emphasized. Studying impacts on Jupiter can help scientists better understand the asteroid population and Jupiter's role in structuring the solar system, he wrote. "By observing collisions on Jupiter, amateur astronomers opened a new door of knowledge about our solar system a door we didn't even know existed a few years ago," Hueso wrote. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Optimization Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should? Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools. "Without a constitutional court, citizens are defenseless in the face of state power," says Adam Bodnar, who was appointed human rights commissioner by the last government. It is likely that he too will soon lose his job. During the election campaign, PiS promised "dobra zmiana," meaning "good change." Installing Loyalists With the new media law, PiS has provided a taste of what might still be coming. The reform sidelined the National Broadcasting Council and allows the party to appoint its people to the most important state-run media posts. The public television broadcaster TVP is now little more than a PiS party station. Indeed, the station has a new nickname among the populace: TVPiS. Kaczynski's party has been just as assiduous when it comes to installing loyalists in the civil service and at state-owned companies. A PiS man, for example, now heads up the state-owned Arabian stud farm Janow Podlaski -- even though he is a banker and knows nothing about horses. Kaczyinski has long had it out for political and business elites in Poland. A core element of his political thinking is his conviction that the 1989 revolution was incomplete and that many communist functionaries who only superficially embraced the new regime remained in important positions in administration and state-owned companies. He believes they have continued to slow Poland's development to the present day and must now be filtered out down to the very lowest levels. When Kaczynski was in power the first time 10 years ago, he tried to get rid of all ex-communist functionaries. But he was ultimately blocked by the Constitutional Tribunal, which ruled that his approach was too tough, too extensive and not respectful enough of civil rights. Now, though, the path is open for a new attempt. Opposition politicians also expect the PiS to curtail the rights of local parliaments, municipalities and provinces. Many large cities, such as Poznan, Gdansk and Wroclaw, are governed by popular mayors who do not belong to PiS. But they are dependent on money from the federal government. Kaczynski can use this dependency to exact obedience. Plus, he has also appointed Zbigniew Ziobro, a tough, law-and-order type, to head up the Justice Ministry. Ziobro is in favor of harsher sentences and stricter rules governing trial procedure. He has allowed investigators to conduct surveillance on email accounts and computers even absent a court order while other legal reforms have made significant changes to property rights. The aim of the latter is to prevent Polish property from being purchased by foreign investors. Reminiscent of Putin Absent the inconvenient objections from a constitutional court, PiS is even able to manipulate voting and election law, including the gerrymandering of electoral districts such that the national-conservative candidate has the advantage. That, at any rate, is one of the methods applied by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- a Kaczynski soul-mate -- to safeguard his power. The newsmagazine Polityka recently described a worst-case scenario in which PiS could write a new anti-terror law such that allows for the persecution of the opposition. Already, Kazynski has accused demonstrators associated with the Committee for the Defense of Democracy (KOD) of being Russian agents. "They are people who go to the Russian Embassy to complain there about PiS," he said. For several months, KOD has been organizing regular protests, bringing tens of thousands of people onto the streets almost every week to voice their opposition to the government's high-handedness. Public opinion researchers have found that a majority of Poles are not supportive of PiS in its fight against the constitutional court. At the same time, though, 38 percent of voters still support Kaczynski's party, more than for any other party. Supporters of PiS tend to be younger, whereas KOD mostly attracts older supporters. The older ones lived through communism and know how valuable civil rights are. For those under 30, by contrast, EU membership is seen as a given -- and they are very aware that their peers in Western Europe are much better off materially. "How should you tell a 25-year-old university graduate that he earns less than someone his age in Brussels who sells kebabs?" the liberal paper Gazeta Wyborcza wrote recently. With a varied menu of socially minded promises, PiS capitalizes on this feeling of disadvantage. One plank in the party's platform, for example, pledges that Polish wages will catch up to those in the rest of Europe within 15 years. Professor Staniszkis, who has known Jaroslaw Kaczynski for several decades, has not been allowed to see him for months. The two don't have that much to say to each other anyway. "He doesn't understand the Western concept of sovereignty, which uses a system of checks and balances to prevent a dictatorship of the majority," says Staniszkis. Her former student, she adds, wants absolute power. "It is archaic and reminiscent of Putin's approach to power." SPIEGEL: If the respect for other opinions is so important to you -- an attitude that presupposes a diverse society -- what do you have against immigration? Petry: I'm not against immigration, but why do you think the respect for other opinions makes immigration a necessity? For decades, there has been a lack of an ideology-free debate on this issue. Yet such a debate is imperative because the economic and social consequences on both home and host countries are equally momentous, as Oxford economist Paul Collier described in his book "Exodus." One thing is clear: The immigration of so many Muslims will change our culture. If this change is desired, it must be the product of a democratic decision supported by a broad majority. But Ms. Merkel simply opened the borders and invited everybody in, without consulting the parliament or the people. SPIEGEL: You have suggested using weapons at the border. Petry: I would hope that you would know better than that! But I'll happily explain one more time: In response to numerous questions, and after listing off various options for securing the border, I mentioned that the use of armed force in the case of an emergency is consistent with German law, a step which I personally, explicitly do not want. To turn that into an alleged proposal for a "firing order" takes a significant amount of desire for a faux scandal. Or, to put it another way, apparently people wanted to willfully misunderstand me. SPIEGEL: If it was really a misunderstanding, you didn't clear it up for two days. And then you stood by as Deputy AfD Chair Beatrix von Storch went even further, answering "yes" to a question on Facebook as to whether armed force should also be used to prevent women and children from crossing the border. Petry: It was not a misunderstanding. My original interview was clear. SPIEGEL: One could interpret your sentence as seeking to trivialize violence. Petry: Not if you read the original interview. SPIEGEL: When one confronts you with outrageous statements by members of your own party, like Bjorn Hocke, AfD head in the state of Thuringia, who has spoken about the reproductive behavior of other cultures, you excuse them as being regrettable exceptions. Petry: I view some of the statements that come from our ranks as being harmful, regardless of political viewpoint. But Bjorn Hocke did something that other politicians don't, such as Ms. Roth (eds. note: Green Party politician Claudia Roth) who took part in a demonstration where people shouted, "Germany, you miserable piece of shit." He apologized. SPIEGEL: How damaging were Hocke's statements to your party? Petry: Certain statements remain in the public consciousness, and I need to accept that as head of the party. The only way to deal with it is to solidify the party and ultimately make it clear through the party's election platform where we stand in terms of policy. SPIEGEL: Would you have liked to have parted ways from more of your members? Petry: Several members left the party when they realized that they don't fit well with us. SPIEGEL: Where are the limits of what you will tolerate and what not? Petry: The principles of freedom and democracy are the foundation on which the AfD, like all other democratic parties, stand. SPIEGEL: Not many parties need to ask their audience at public events to refrain from displaying unconstitutional symbols. But the AfD does. Petry: You are surely referring to the reading of the rules of assembly. This is a general requirement imposed by the authorities who approve demonstrations in Germany. You surely don't intend to use our compliance with this police ordinance as an indictment of the AfD. SPIEGEL: Let's imagine for a moment the Greens asked their supporters at events to observe the ban on obscuring their faces and bringing dangerous items. Would you consider that to be normal? Petry: Yes, I expect exactly that, since the official conditions apply to all protests in Germany. You are constantly demanding that we draw clear boundaries. When we then do so by asking people, who come to our demonstrations for whatever reason, to behave in a manner consistent with our constitution, then that's not good enough either. Perhaps the Greens don't provide their own demonstrators with sufficient instruction. But perhaps they should do so when you look at what is happening in the Green-anarcho scene. SPIEGEL: When you commend the courage of those who take to the streets to fight for issues important to them, do you also include Pegida demonstrators who wish to see the chancellor hanging from a noose, of whom many have voted for the AfD? Petry: The Pegida of early 2015 is not the same as the Pegida of today. We are currently seeing a radicalization at the top of the leadership. A year ago, we made sure to speak with the people who join the Monday protests in Dresden, and I still think that was the right thing to do. But we believe that the solution for our country can't be found on the street. SPIEGEL: You were born in Dresden Petry: in St. Joseph-Stift Hospital. My mother drove to Dresden for the delivery. Back then, my parents lived in Schwarzheide. SPIEGEL: How were politics discussed in your family home? Petry: For us, the table in the corner of the kitchen was where my parents straightened out the political distortions with my sister and I after school. The second place where it was possible to speak openly was the church. I went to religion classes from the age of six, as one of just two children in the entire class. I grew up with this discrepancy. SPIEGEL: What did you think you would become in East Germany? Petry: Interestingly, I grew up with the awareness that I would not spend my life in the GDR. My parents always wanted to leave the country because they been identified as regime critics, especially my father. As we later found out, 26 informants for the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) had been assigned to our family, which included people in our very close circle. SPIEGEL: Then your father used a visit to the Rhineland in March 1989 as an opportunity to stay in the West. Petry: In spring 1989, my sister was about to complete her high school education. When a parent fled from East Germany, you normally were kicked out of school. We could only prevent that by claiming ignorance. So we acted as though we knew nothing about it until she graduated. That wasn't easy, and a lot of people didn't believe us. SPIEGEL: How did you experience the fall of the Wall? Petry: It was an extremely happy experience. It was clear that it wouldn't be long before we could be reunited as a family. SPIEGEL: "We are the people" was the slogan of the protests that took place in 1989 in Leipzig. Now the same phrase is frequently chanted at anti-refugee demonstrations. That's a pretty big perversion of that slogan, don't you think? Petry: We agree that verbal and bodily violence against people of any origin or political orientation should be condemned. But when citizens peacefully protest against the government's migration policy, I have no problem if they adopt the slogans used in the peaceful revolution. I don't approve at all of dividing people into first- and second-class citizens, into decent ones and indecent ones, as (Social Democratic Party head) Sigmar Gabriel did when he spoke of (Pegida demonstrators as) a "pack." In my view, that divulges a deeply undemocratic point of view. SPIEGEL: Sometimes clear language is necessary. Through appeasement and a surfeit of understanding, it is also possible to create a climate where some people think it's okay to throw Molotov cocktails. Petry: Then I expect that politicians like Gabriel to also speak out clearly against attacks on competing politicians. If he finds all that to be so repugnant, then he must draw the same consequences on the other side of the political spectrum. But he doesn't. SPIEGEL: Many of your supporters believe that editors-in-chief at German news outlets get their instructions from the Chancellery every morning and then act accordingly. Do you also believe that? Petry: No and the majority of AfD members don't believe it either. That is a very caricatured and exaggerated portrayal of our criticism of the media . SPIEGEL: We can agree that the reporting about the AfD has been primarily negative . We would say: for good reason. Has that hurt you, or perhaps even helped you? Petry: You at SPIEGEL gave me the dubious honor of depicting me as Adolfina with a Leni Riefenstahl look. Many people thought that went too far and started thinking. But some less well-informed citizens, who are afraid of being called Nazis, might be tripped up by that. In that sense, such imputations damage us, of course. You would say: For good reason. SPIEGEL: Your party is fighting for the strengthening of traditional marriage, but you yourself have decided for a less traditional model. How do aspiration and reality fit together there? Petry: In can fight for the maintenance and fostering of traditional families even though I, for personal reasons, don't live that model. I continue to vouch for families and I lead a life with children, sometimes with four and sometimes with eight. SPIEGEL: In your party's draft platform, it is written: "There is a steadily increasing number of children who are having to grow up without the presence and care of a father or mother. Many children experience the departure of a parent as a traumatic event." You allegedly told fellow party members that it didn't hurt you to have gone into a daycare at the age of eight weeks. You supposedly said: "Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Petry: You will certainly be able to tell me whether going to daycare at eight weeks hurt me or not. SPIEGEL: You became head of AfD. Petry: I first heard the term "Rabenmutter" ("uncaring mother") in the West. In 2002, I was described as a typical PISA failure by the German League for the Child, someone who could probably not read and write properly, and who for that reason has nothing better to do than put her child in daycare. That is just as misguided as telling mothers that they shouldn't decide to stay at home with their young children. SPIEGEL: A couple of months ago, you were asked where you see the AfD in 10 years. You said: "In the government." We assume that's still the case? Petry: We don't have as much time as the Greens to mature. But so far we have shown that we learn relatively fast. I think that we will reach 25, 30 percent if we work hard and the other parties continue to make the same old mistakes. Then we will able to decide who to form a coalition with and who not. We know where we want to go. How the other parties might develop seems unclear to me at the moment. SPIEGEL: Ms. Petry, we thank you for this interview. Our main players on this weeks episode were Judge Ito and the Fuhrman tapes. The episode begins with Darden and Johnnie going at it, because Johnnie keeps accusing and insinuating Darden of being racist. A women in North Carolina has the Fuhrman tapes from when she wanted to be a screenwriter, he was helping her with her script on the LAPD. The tension is building between Marcia and Darden. No I dont mean the sexual tension that was brewing before. There is animosity between them and it seems to be hurting their side of the case. Lee and Johnnie head down to North Carolina to get the judge down there to enforce a subpoena. The judge seems to be a bit racist himself and because of this he denies them the tapes. Team Jolee (Johnnie and Lee) file an emergency appeal and this time Lee advocates for them to get the tapes. It works and they get ahold of the tapes. Darden and Marcia listen to the tapes. I cringed multiple times listening to the tapes, they really were quite disturbing to listen to. I cannot begin to imagine what the lawyers actually felt while listening, I imagine disgust and nausea. While listening to the tapes Marcia and Darden discover that Fuhrman hates Peggy who is Itos wife. This is a conflict of interest for the court, so this could lead to a mistrial. Marcia and Darden need to decide if they want to push for that. It could be a chance to redo their wrongs. Dardens all game for this plan, but its Marcias his superior so its up to her. The news is presented to Ito and he gives a heartfelt speech about his wife and that because shes in a career where there are few powerful women it makes her a target. Oh so now Itos all about making sure women are treated as equals? How about few weeks when he took part in laughing at Marcias hair? Too little too late if you ask me. He comes to the decision that another judge will have to rule if the case should be a mistrial. Marcia admits to Darden that its too risky for them to push a mistrial. Once again the two are at odds and Darden thinks they should. In a quick moment Shapiro finally goes off on Johnnie. This moment has been brewing for weeks and it kind of felt lackluster. Maybe because Travoltas acting is so lackluster? Darden also goes off on Marcia, which has also been a long time coming. This scene was a lot more powerful. You could tell by the performance that Darden was really fed up with not being taken seriously. I really think if Marcia and Darden would have had better communication and worked together as a team, then Spoiler Alert they could have won. Johnnie not being one to wait around and making sure things go his way, puts together a coalition to get the court to release the tapes. It was decided that Ito could still stay as a judge on the case and long as the tapes about Peggy were redacted. In a very honest movement from Marcia she tells Ito that she doesnt want to be in the position to defend Fuhrman, her position to defend Ron and Nicole. For her its all about the facts that the evidence shows and not about Fuhrman. She wants the jury to look at the evidence. She begs Ito not to let the jury hear the tapes. Larry King makes another appearance this week. Wonder if hell get an Emmy nomination for a guest appearance? I kid, but it does seem like his appearances on the show are used to be a moral compass for character when they need to make important decisions. This time for it was for Ito. He decides that the tapes should be heard in court and from there he will decide which ones the jury should hear. Which is another loss for Marcia, but it seems to affect Darden more. He has another emotional outburst, but this time its directed at Johnnie. Ito threatens to hold Darden in contempt and Marcia represents him. I breathed a sigh relief, it was nice to see her finally have his back. Then Marcia is also threatened to be held in contempt, Darden apologizes and Ito forgives him. Many may find this scene pointless, but it shows the toll the trial is taking on the prosecutions mental capacity. Johnnie seems pretty pleased with himself to see that protestors are lined up all across the streets. Ron Goldmans parents continue to break my heart and bring tears to my eyes. His father told the press Its now turned into the Fuhrman trial and not about O.J.. I feel so bad for the Goldmans they did not deserve any of what the court put them through and I know it must be painful for them reliving this nightmare over and over again. Marcia finally apologizes to Darden and he apologizes to her for the gloves. It seems in way they are admitting defeat. Ugh I just love these two together. Ryan Murphy you have one episode left, make it happen (I dont care if its true or not, but the chemistry is bouncing off of the walls). Ito is only going to allow the parts of Fuhrman committing perjury into evidence. Johnnie holds another press conference. Enough with the press conferences. A riot almost breaks out as Fuhrman enters the courtroom. My stomach dropped when Fuhrman took the stand and not in a good way. Darden left the courtroom as Johnnie began his questioning, I dont blame him. Fuhrman pled the fifth numerous times, no shock there. Marcia demands that the questioning be over since Fuhrman isnt going to answer anything, but Johnnie has one last question. He asks, Did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case? Fuhrman once again pleads the fifth, making it seem like he did. Another win for Johnnie and the defense team. I literally laugh out loud, every time I see O.J.s reactions in the courtroom. It seems more Cuba Gooding Jr. then O.J., but who knows. Another moment OMG moment was when O.J. tells Kardashian Fuhrman really did frame me. Its scary he actually truly believes that Fuhrman framed him. I dont know if O.J. has just blacked out the murder from his memory or hes just so denial that hes begun to believe his own lies. Only one episode left people! We will finally find out the verdict and hopefully get to see a more in depth look at the reactions. Come back next week to read my review! It is a question The X-Files actress Gillian Anderson must be used to hearing by now: Did she really not get along with co-star David Duchovny? If so, why all the tension between them? For years, rumors ran rampant about the strain and friction between the two actors. And as the series debuted its new season 10 reunion this year, the questions re-emerged. In January, late night host Jimmy Kimmel asked the pair about their past conflicts. But at the time, Andersons explanation seemed nebulous and bewildering in its simplicity. She explained that because of the moisture in Vancouver where they filmed, the shows hair department constantly had to blow-dry her frizzy hair between takes. She hinted that it took so long, Duchovny would get frustrated, adding to their tension. Photo courtesy Salt Lake Comic Con FanX. www.saltlakecomiccon.com About the Author - Tonya Papanikolas Tonya Papanikolas is an online, print and broadcast journalist who loves covering entertainment and television. She spent more than 10 years as a broadcast news anchor and reporter. Now she does everything from hosting to writing. She especially loves writing TV articles and reviews for SpoilerTV. That answer may not explain much. But Anderson is now talking about her relationship with Duchovny frankly. At Salt Lake Comic Con FanX in Salt Lake City, Anderson told fans, We did get along. [But] there were periods in that nine years where we got along less than other times.Though Anderson didnt detail the origin of their rift, she says their relationship did become complicated. She inferred their issues stemmed from the amount of time they spent together. We were shoved down each others throats for nine months a year. So it was as if we were siblings. Shit happens. And then we grow up, I guess.The actress says time helped them get past their differences, along with a common shared experience. I think [we realized] that actually, during that period of time, we were essentially the only people who might have understood whatever it was that we likely were going through at the time. And [we began to think], Hey, wouldnt it be nice if we got along? I dont know whether literally that thought occurred to either of us. It was more just nostalgia of the time and fondness, growing and maturity. And [the fact that], you know, were going to die soon so we might as well be friends, basically.Kimmel made note of their camaraderie during their joint appearance on his show. Whatever happened between the actors in the past, their trust and ease with each other is evident once again. Despite successive ministers for crofting giving assurances that the Scottish Government is very supportive of crofting, said the SCFs chair, Fiona Mandeville, this doesnt seem to be shared by those who make agricultural policy. The Scottish Government published their vision entitled the Future of Scottish Agriculture and crofting is mentioned in only one of the nine outcomes. Crofting plays a vital role in the supply of high quality replacement stock and store animals, in maintaining High Nature Value landscape and in retaining vibrant rural populations. But despite the huge contribution crofting makes, it is hardly recognised in this top-level document. The public consultation on the Scottish Governments paper The Future of Scottish Agriculture ended last Friday. The SCFs response to it said The lack of reference to crofting in the document is glaring and quite shameful. Crofting is regarded by other nations as a model for sustainable land use, satisfying many international objectives for food production, land use, rural community development and nature conservation, yet the Scottish Government vision barely mentions crofting in passing. NSA understands the French Government currently owns all existing vaccine for BTV8 and has made it compulsory for any stock exiting the restriction zone in France to comply with pre-movement vaccination stipulations. Although the UK currently has its hands tied by there being no vaccine available, NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker is clear that livestock keepers and UK governments need to have an open dialogue on the choices being faced. Mr Stocker says: The NSA position, which is shared by the Sheep Veterinary Society, is that we must do all we can to keep the UK clear of the virus and not allow it to become endemic if it does arrive. We should treat any opinion that this is a low impact disease with extreme caution, as while there may be some residual immunity in France, we do not believe that is the case here. The UK remains highly vulnerable, with a potential BTV8 outbreak posing real welfare and production problems. Many NSA members tell me that, if a vaccine was available at a reasonable cost, they would choose to use it. Whether that would get usage to a level that would protect the national flock is questionable, but that is where we are at the moment and the most important challenge is to get adequate approved and inactive vaccine stocks available at a price that encourages uptake. Having spoken to vets in France, NSA understands the majority of confirmed cases so far have been picked up through surveillance rather than clinical signs. Rather than this pointing to a less virulent strain of the virus, experts suggest circulation is presently limited due to unsuitable weather conditions and/or a degree of residual immunity being present. NSA feels strongly that the UKs health and welfare reputation must be protected at all costs. The key point taken away by 100 plus farmers from the AgriSearch suckler beef farm walk hosted by the Griffith family at Saintfield Demesne. Our experience of using synchronisation on heifers for several years and this past year on the entire herd has been very encouraging, Michael affirmed. One of 10 farmer co-researchers working with AFBI scientists to assess the role of synchronisation and AI in improving the woeful returns from suckler herds. Michael is also a vet and consultant in Jubilee Veterinary Centre, Newtownards. On 330 acres Michael and family run 70 suckler cows and 280 ewes as well as growing oats. NI suckler herds average just 18 cows with many run by part time farmers, who find it hard to justify buying a good bull. Only AI can potentially give them access to genetics that will best match individual cows and take the herd forward. Synchronising cows can make AI a practical option as it typically ensures 60% of cows hold to first service to calve over 7 to 14 days. Dramatically reducing the time spent checking on those due to calve. Discussing the results from farms taking part in the trial AgriSearch field officer David Anderson warned that only cows with a clean bill of health, a good calving record, the right condition score and temperament should be used. Scanning, before AI takes place, at least 42 days after calving, is essential as are good handling facilities. Because Michael moves his cows around fields to tie in with grazing sheep the herd is quieter than most. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Thirty-two years after his death, former Advocate and Greenwich Time publisher Kingsley Gillespie saved one of his best front-page headlines for last: The $100 million Gillespie Charitable Trust will benefit the city hospital, First Presbyterian Church, Rotary Club and three other beneficiaries. The Gillespie family saga that started when journeyman printer William Gillespie arrived from Canada and spotted an ad in the Stamford Advocate on the eve of the Civil War even has a twist ending. While the beneficiaries were aware for decades that Kingsley Gillespie had set aside a $20 million contribution, they only recently learned his reclusive son, Kenyon, who died a year ago at 88, added $80 million to the trust through deft investment. What I love about it is if you take a broader view of what it is those three organizations represent, it is soul, service and health, said Christopher Riendeau, Stamford Hospital Foundations senior vice president of fund development. (Kingsley) wrapped it all up in these three charities. Stamford Hospital will receive $50 million the largest gift in its 120-year history surpassing $20 million donations each from Caldor department store founder Carl Bennett and Greenwich hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen and his wife Alexandra. Like all philanthropy dedicated to the hospital, the funds will fuel capital growth, Riendeau said. The gift is one of the biggest to any state hospital, though notable ones were made in recent years. Former Playtex chairman Joel Smilow poured untold millions into Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven in 2007; oil heiress Ruth Bedford left $40 million to Norwalk Hospital a year ago and Subway restaurant co-founder Peter Buck donated $30 million to Danbury Hospital in 2014. Trust goes public Kenyons death on March 23, 2015, set in motion the release of the $100 million, with remaining funds going to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kingsleys alma mater; Setauket Presbyterian Church and the Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages. Proceeds from the sale of Kenyons homes in Setauket, New York; Manhattan and Naples, Florida, will added to the trust. They are assessed at a total of about $5 million. Each recipient is to receive 5-percent increments annually. The hospital would get about $2.5 million in each distribution, with the others receiving $500,000 each year. The funds still in the trust will be reinvested, so donation amounts could grow. The Gillespie Trust was announced Wednesday at a news conference featuring leaders of the local beneficiaries and Mayor David Martin, who declared, Boy, this is a great day. Stamford Hospital President and CEO Brian Grissler said the trust will benefit many people in many communities forever and ever; a time frame hard to wrap your head around. From chemist to publisher The announcement was made from the steps of Old Town Hall, across Atlantic Street from the former Advocate building where Kingsley reigned as a media mogul after changing careers at age 46. A chemical engineer, he rose over 23 years from chemist to president of his familys Stamford Rubber Supply Company. After two of his brothers died in 1941, he started a new profession, filling the publishers role held by his father, uncles and brothers. The $20 million that Kingsley contributed to his foundation is roughly the amount Times Mirror paid in stock for The Advocate and Greenwich Time in 1977. He later sold the Stamford radio station WSTC. While Kingsleys activities were well-documented in his own outlets, Kenyons life story carries an air of mystery. Riendeau spent months last year trying to reach Kenyon before being contacted by U.S. Trust bank, which oversees the charitable trust. As we are building the new hospital we absolutely wanted to recognize the familys support of this institution and were getting no response. Little did we know he was dead, Riendeau said. I wish I had a video After learning the trust had multiplied in size, Riendeau told the church and Rotary Club leaders face-to-face. The Rev. David Van Dyke, pastor of First Presbyterian, called the news jaw-dropping. Van Dyke gathered the churchs ruling body to disclose the windfall. I wish I had a video of when I told them," he said. There was silence in the room. Your mind cant get around the number. Pending Wednesdays announcement, Van Dyke informed his congregation in brushstrokes during Palm Sunday services, but they had no idea the churchs figure is in the atmosphere of $10 million. He joked they were probably thinking, Oh good, we can buy a van. The money comes two years after the church sold 3 of its 10 acres to a developer to stabilize finances. In addition to expanding an after-school program for children in need, Van Dyke said the church can now serve new pieces of the city. There is also the matter of maintaining the church. Recognized as an architectural wonder since it was built in 1958 by Wallace K. Harrison, who designed the United Nations, it is shaped like a fish, with 20,000 pieces of stained glass depicting the crucifixion and resurrection. Experimental architecture costs you forever, he said. Brud Deluca, 81, who spent decades in the Rotarians with Kingsley Gillespie, said the group of 40 members currently distribute about a dozen $1,000 scholarships each year. He said he hoped that in addition to launching initiatives, the bequest will boost scholarships 20-fold, since these days, $10,000 doesnt go very far. If Kingsley Gillespie drafted the headline, Kenyon dominated the story after a life dodging the spotlight. Kenyon the recluse is a remarkable story, Van Dyke said. What he did with his inheritance holy smoke. As far as we know all he did was invest. Then he chose to honor his father. john.breunig@scni.com 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?" F ormer Dock Kitchen and Rotorino chef Alex Jackson is gearing up to launch his own restaurant this spring, not long after deciding to quit the restaurant industry and become a cheesemonger. The move is the latest twist in the 31 year olds career, who admits that he fell into cheffing in a truly random way and wasnt sure it was for him until he left. Chef's journey Alex joined Dock Kitchen in 2009 not as a chef, but in a part-time front-of-house role a job he landed because he was friends with Stevie Parles sister. The way Stevie Parle works is that the whole team of staff would muck-in and help the kitchen out with prep, and as the restaurant became busy there was plenty of scope for getting involved. Alex showed so much enthusiasm at this that Stevie Parle asked him if he would like to be a chef. He decided to give it a go and it turns out he was a bit of a natural after around two years he was made joint head chef. He later helped Stevie Parle launch his Dalston Italian Rotorino where he was head chef for its first six months, before leaving to try his hand as an affineur with Herve Mons, Bermondsey-based importers of high-end French and Swiss cheeses. He says: When I first left the restaurant I thought ooh, this is nice, I get to have evenings off and actually see my friends, but then after around six months I started to really miss cooking thats when I realised it was what I was meant to do. Mentor As he prepares to launch his first venture Sardine, due to open near Old Street in May he is once again working closely with his former boss Stevie Parle, who is taking on the role of mentor and helping guide him through setting up the restaurant. Stevie started off as a cook and is now a fully-fledged restaurateur, so his input is incredibly helpful, enthuses Alex, who also insists I wouldnt be doing this without him, he taught me how to cook!. But that doesnt mean he takes everything he says on board. The plan is to do a lot of handmade pasta and malloreddus (gnocchi-like Sardinian semolina dumplings). Stevie says Im causing trouble for myself as its so labour intensive, but Im convinced well be able to manage Im determined to prove him wrong! Time-consuming: Malloreddus, served with salami, dandelion and ricotta Crossing borders Sardine will serve food from across what Alex loosely describes as Southern Europe thats mainly the French regions of Provence and Languedoc, the islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, Italys Amalfi Coast and Spains coastal Catalonia area as well as some of North Africa. It sounds like there are a lot of different cuisines coming together, but in reality the food in these parts is all quite similar, he explains. Its basically old fashioned European cooking simple, understated and a bit rugged, like a Mediterranean grandma would make, but if she was a bit posh and bought really, really good veg. Family-style: A selection of dishes, served for sharing On the menu The menu is still a work in progress, but Alex is already set on some dishes. These include home-cured fresh anchovies, pistou soup, stuffed rabbit and grilled stuffed sardines, along with the time-consuming malloreddus, which will be served with salami, dandelion and ricotta. It's like what a Mediterranean grandma would make, but if she was a bit posh and bought really, really good veg Roast quail will be served with fennel and anchovy butter, and a 'mixed fry' will consist of brains, borage, artichoke, sweetbreads and panisse (chickpea fritters), all deep-fried. Another stand-out will be lamb a la ficelle, a whole leg of lamb tied on string and cooked over an open fire. Alex is having a special grill like a vertical rotisserie designed just for the dish, which will be served with white beans and anchovy. The inspiration for that particular dish came from a picnic with a difference, says Alex. On Bonfire Night I went out onto Hackney Marshes with my friends and cooked a whole leg of lamb on a makeshift barbecue. I thought, why not do that at the restaurant? Its how I like to cook. Grandma style: Stuffed rabbit French tarts made with flaky pastry and topped with fruit will be regular pudding options, while unsurprisingly there will also be a decent selection of cheeses. The drinks list will major on wine from southern France and Italy, as chosen by Courtney Stebbings who is also behind the wine options at Lyles and The Lockhart among other places. A short selection will span just 6-8 options each of red and white along with a rose and a sparkling. Alex says: It will mostly be organic and low intervention, but nothing too funky or bonkers!. There will also be a selection of craft beers. A casual affair Talking about the look of the restaurant, which will be set in an old art gallery just off Wharf Road, Alex says: It wont look like a gallery, but there will be art. That space has a polished concrete floor which well keep and then were adding a pewter-topped bar and walnut wood on the walls. Therell also be one large communal table along with some individual ones. He adds: It will be very casual somewhere you can talk loudly, share things and pour your own wine. Anything else wouldnt be appropriate for this kind of food. Sardine will open at Parasol, 15 Micawber Street, N1 7TB in May. Follow Ben Norum on Twitter @BenNorum Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout A scientist who has worked with Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adria to create wacky dishes is looking to open an experimental restaurant in London that will double as a research lab. Charles Spence, a so-called gastrophysicist and professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, told The Drinks Business: Im looking for funding for the venture at the moment, which will be permanent rather than a pop-up, and am hoping it will soon become a reality. The site will serve food, but also function as a research lab where he can work with chefs, designers, composers and artists to develop multi-sensory dining experiences. Spence added: Most creative restaurants will incorporate some multi-sensory elements in the future. Eating out should be a magical, theatrical, emotional experience. Fine dining used to be like going to a modern art gallery: youd eat off a white plate on a white tablecloth in a hushed environment things have moved on a lot since then. Talking about the future of dining, he also said that he reckons in time well all be eating insects, sipping soup with musical spoons and tucking into tasting menus curated by famous film directors. Guess we'll just have to watch this space. Follow Ben Norum on Twitter @BenNorum Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout Review at a glance T he latest production from innovative London-based company Simple8 is an unlikely-sounding adaptation of a book by Daniel Everett that recounts his experiences as a missionary. In 1977 Everett travelled to a remote part of Brazil with the plan of introducing the tribespeople to Christianity and translating the Bible into their language. But instead of converting them, he underwent a conversion of his own. In addition to being a sincere Christian, Everett was well versed in linguistics. What he found among the Piraha people convinced him that Noam Chomskys famous theory of universal grammar wasnt watertight. Here was a group who, it seemed, lived entirely in the present, couldnt count and lacked any specific terms besides equivalents for light and dark with which to refer to colours. Whats more, the Piraha would never construct a sentence containing embedded clauses such as A man, who is tall, goes to my house. Instead theyd say A man goes to my house. He is tall. This may appear trivial, but it suggested the absence from their grammar of a feature called recursion, and it was a central plank of Chomskys doctrine that all languages had this capacity to embed phrases within other phrases. Everetts account is an intriguing mixture of an adventure story and a frank record of intellectual rebellion. This adaptation by Sebastian Armesto and Dudley Hinton, who share directorial duties with Hannah Emanuel, certainly captures some of the books charm the Robinson Crusoe spirit of Everett's anthropological observations, along with the precarious unfamiliarity of the Piraha peoples worldview. Mark Arends brings a winning enthusiasm to the character of Everett himself, whos frequently wrong-footed by misunderstandings over words and their meanings, and an eager supporting cast of five juggles nineteen roles. Yet while the companys sparse approach to storytelling has moments of pleasing physical inventiveness, this 90-minute piece gets embroiled in explaining some pretty knotty linguistic concepts, and the result is that at times it feels like an earnest lecture. A key scene spelling out the essence of recursion is especially static. Theres plenty here to tease the mind, but not quite enough to seduce the eye or the emotions. Until April 23, Park Theatre (020 7870 6876, parktheatre.co.uk) Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout W ar and Peace actor James Norton says returning to the theatre to play a paranoid American soldier in a tiny West End venue was terrifying. The actor, also recently seen in crime dramas Grantchester and Happy Valley, is starring in Bug with Kate Fleetwood. The pair play Peter and Agnes, a pair of small-town losers holed up in an Oklahoma motel room as their grip on reality starts to slip away. The venue, Found111, is a pop-up theatre in the empty Central Saint Martins college at 111 Charing Cross Road and holds 132 people. The audience surround the set, inches from the cast. Norton, 30, said part of the appeal was a reunion with director Simon Evans, whom he first worked with at university. At press night, where he was joined by his girlfriend, War And Peace co-star Jessie Buckley, he said: It is the role and the theatre and Simon. I know and like his work and the people he was getting together, like Kate, made it an easy choice. It was terrifying though because I havent done theatre for four years and this is not the easiest play. Norton, whose last stage appearance was in The Lion In Winter at the Haymarket with Robert Lindsay and Joanna Lumley, said the productions were very different. Here I lie on the floor and there are feet brushing against my face and there have been times Ive had to surreptitiously move someones handbag, he said. Its a place with nowhere to hide but that is part of the attraction. Its like youre in two different worlds but you are breathing the same air as the audience, and with the play you are invited into this room with this pressure cooker environment which just gets hotter and hotter and to have 130 people watch it crammed into this space is an amazing and challenging opportunity. It is 20 years since Bug which also features Downton Abbey actress Daisy Lewis premiered at the Gate in Notting Hill and made a star of its author, the actor and writer Tracy Letts. It was made into a film in 2006 and Letts, 50, went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his play August: Osage County, which was also given the Hollywood treatment, with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts among the cast. Bug runs until May 7. All tickets cost 45. @RobDexES Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout W hen is a selfie a selfie? Thats the question Twitter users are asking today after a photo surfaced on social media of British passenger Ben Innes grinning next to the man who hijacked an EgyptAir flight bound for Cairo from Alexandria. Innes, who was one of three passengers and four crew held by Seif Eldin Mustafa, described his bizarre picture as the best selfie ever, despite the obvious fact that he did not take the posed snap himself. I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him, Innes, 26, told the Sun. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever. Naturally, pedantic Tweeters were quick off the mark to pull Mr. Innes up on his misuse of the word, making a point of the fact that the passenger clearly has both hands in his pocket: But despite the social media backlash, the selfie confusion raged on. Only Ben could get a selfie! #proud, reportedly tweeted Sarah Innes, a relative, who later deleted her account. Many media reports also added fuel to the fire by employing the term hijacker selfie to describe Ben Innes picture, which he sent to his friends alongside the caption "You know your boy doesnt f*** about. Turn on the news lad!!!!" For those who want to be fastidious, selfie is technically defined by Oxford Dictionaries as a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. So clearly, social media users are right - they should know of course, Instagram has over 278 million photos tagged with the hashtag #selfie. However, this is not the first time that a famous selfie has been pulled up over whether the correct terminology has been used. Ellen DeGeneres notable selfie from the 2014 Oscars which featured Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep amongst other A-list attendees went viral under the hashtag #EllensSelfie. But the photo in question was technically taken by Bradley Cooper. The philosophical question of what qualifies as a selfie? seems to be boiled down to this: the word is a linguistic catch-all used describe a range of portraits, from the pouting shots that teens send on Snapchat to the the pictures that celebrities share on Instagram. Whether youre on the side that gets irritated by the reckless use of the word or you really couldnt care less, its at the very least, something to debate over dinner tonight. Follow us on Twitter: @eslifeandstyle S omeone once commented that the tragedy of modern man (or woman) is that they never get to test themselves in truly frightening circumstances. Standing in the Lake Districts Honister Pass looking up at the Via Ferrata partially addresses this so-called tragedy. Via Ferrata is Italian for iron road. These iron roads its a series of ladder steps more than an actual road - have their routes in mining and were subsequently used for the swift movement of troops across mountainous terrain. Honisters two routes (the classic and the more demanding xtreme) start off unnervingly with a walk through the slate mines headstone display. Punters are then equipped with hard hats, harness, carabiners and energy absorbing lines. The idea being that should you fall off the side of the mountain, you dont plummet very far and you dont hurt your head, much. Adam, one of the routes guides, gives a cheery lecture as to how no one has every died while attempting the climb and then its a quick bus journey and a short walk through a disused mine tunnel before clipping on to the steel wire that follows the metal steps and handrails around the entire route. Anyone familiar with Go Ape will have no problem with the constant clipping/ unclipping of the safety carabiner and a novices mind will soon be focused by looking at the road hundreds of feet below. The few cars there are look like ants and any people are nearly invisible. You'll be rewarded with stunning views Its challenging but nothing that anyone with a decent level of fitness will struggle with. Tip, if you book a few weeks in advance, start pushing out a few press-ups every day so youre not the weak, red-faced member of the group huffing and puffing your way around the mountain. The views are stunning. So much so thats its very easy to forget your private pledge not to look down. Holding on to the side of Fleetwith Pike is exhilarating. Monday to Friday its possible to look down at the pilots as RAF jets scream through the valley on training flights at the weekend, the locals are given a rest from the noise (its known as the sound of freedom") so there are no passing planes. The Burma Bridge a tight rope walk with handrails and the cargo net are among the most challenging aspects of Honisters Via Ferrata Xtreme but, again, youre clipped on throughout. Honister Slate Mine One last low crouch, dark walk through a disused mine tunnel and the climbers reach the top of the pike. At 648 metres its more than double the height of the Shard and is a hundred times more spectacular. Three lakes, a range of mountains, including Scafell Pike; Englands highest peak and even Scotland in the distance combine to make this the rooftop of England. A 20-minute walk back down to the car park sees the conquering party feeling rightly chuffed, their inner Edmund Hillary sated. Even the ominous thud-thud of a rescue helicopter winching someone off the adjacent mountainside couldnt remove our smiles. More info at honister.com T hailand has become a must on every travellers list, from the steaming street- food stalls of Bangkok and hilltribes of the north to the island paradises of the south. But its still possible to lose the crowds Thailands own Angkor Wat Theres a reason why the temples of Phimai around three hours from Bangkok to the northeast may look strangely familiar. Many believe this impressive Khmer complex, built in the 11th and 12th centuries, became the inspiration for world-famous Angkor Wat in neighbouring Cambodia. Tour the Buddhist ruins with barely a fraction of the visitors that descend on its headline-grabbing cousin. A visit to Nan Not your grandmother, but a relatively untouched settlement in northern Thailand. Like the better known Chiang Mai, Nan has hiking trails that take in traditional communities, plus caves and waterfalls. Beautiful Koh Mak A small but perfectly-formed island on the east of the Gulf of Thailand, close to the Cambodian border, Koh Mak remains relatively untouched by the commercialism on some of the countrys better-known islands. The perfect place to kick back and escape the 21st century. Going underground Go subterranean at Phra Nakhol Khiri National Park and discover a secret temple. Khao Luang Cave is a surreal spectacle with 200-plus Buddhist statues illuminated by the ethereal glow of sunlight as it drifts through the cavernous chamber. A bridge too far Head to central Thailand to see one of the worlds largest wooden bridges in Sangkhlaburi. The handmade Saphan Mon measures 440m and was badly damaged by torrential rain in 2013 but has since been repaired. Bangkoks island retreat Follow the Chao Phraya River north from the capital for around 20 kilometres and youll reach the bite-sized and car-free island of Koh Kret, which dates back to 1722 and is famous for its pottery created by the Mon people. Visit the market and explore the surrounding villages and temples. Perfect for escaping the bustle of Bangkok. This article was created by the Evening Standard and sponsored by Flight Centre. For a unique and authentic holiday experience, their tailor-made holidays show you the worlds best destinations in the best possible way. Exclusive to Flight Centre , Journeys have been created by their in-destination Experts who either live or have extensive knowledge of their destination. Choose one of their Journeys , featuring the finest accommodation, flights with their recommended airlines, exceptional itineraries and their top-selling tours, or talk to an Expert about creating your own. Discover your dream destination and enter our competition for the chance to win one of three 1000 Flight Centre Vouchers. Enter here N ature lovers Blessed with year-round sunshine and a haven for nature lovers and adrenalin junkies, Costa Rica is most popular outside of the rainy season, which runs from May to October; nobody minds the odd April shower in a country famed for its rainforests. Fancy your own patch of paradise? Head to the laidback beach village of Playa Zancudo on the Pacific coast. Beautiful beaches After years of civil war, northern Sri Lanka has now opened up to tourists. Like the rest of the country, it is hot and humid all year round, but rainfall and prices are lower during our summer, and wind speeds are marginally higher. The beautiful beaches around the north-eastern city Trincomalee remain relatively unspoilt. Make the most of them before all that changes. Old classic, new twist Mauritius is rightly known for its pristine beaches and luxury resorts, but theres so much more besides. Go hiking in its mountainous interior, nature-watching in its many forests or scuba diving in its clear-blue seas. The best time to visit is May to November, when the rainfall and temperatures although still warm are lowest. A-list luxury Its best to avoid the Middle East in the scorching-hot summer and Dubai remains a winter favourite for sun-seekers, but Oman is a fabulous alternative, with dramatic deserts, exclusive coastal resorts and a fraction of the visitors not to mention the possibility of a great deal. Venture into the vast and infinite Empty Quarter for towering dunes and nomadic families or hide away at the five-star Six Senses Zighy Bay, on the shores of the Musandam Peninsula, which welcomes a flurry of A-listers. This article was created by The Evening Standard and sponsored by Flight Centre. For a unique and authentic holiday experience, their tailor-made holidays show you the worlds best destinations in the best possible way. Exclusive to Flight Centre , Journeys have been created by their in-destination Experts who either live or have extensive knowledge of their destination. Choose one of their Journeys , featuring the finest accommodation, flights with their recommended airlines, exceptional itineraries and their top-selling tours, or talk to an Expert about creating your own. Discover your dream destination and enter our competition for the chance to win one of three 1000 Flight Centre Vouchers. Enter here P olice have named a 22-year-old man as the victim of a fatal stabbing in north London. Scotland Yard said it believed Ali Nasrollahi died on Tuesday after he was stabbed in the chest and collapsed in Barnet, but added he had yet to be formally identified. Detectives confirmed a murder investigation has been launched. Police, paramedics and a London Air Ambulance were called to Woodside Grange Road, at the junction with Grange Way, on Tuesday at 2.43pm to reports of a man collapsed in the street. A man, aged in his 20s, was taken to Royal London Hospital suffering from a single stab wound to the chest. He died in hospital shortly before 5pm. A post-mortem examination is due to be held in due course and specialist officers have been deployed to support the victims family. Detective Inspector Julie Willats, from the Mets homicide and major crime command, who is leading the investigation, said: We know that the victim had driven to Woodside Grange Road with one of his friends and met up with another friend, who had also driven there. At some stage, the victim interacted with a group of up to four suspects, during that interaction we believe he was stabbed. The group of suspects then ran off down Grange Way and into an alleyway that leads onto Woodside Avenue. I would like ask for the publics help. If you were near Grange Way or Woodside Avenue yesterday afternoon and saw anything that might help us then please get in contact. Woodside Avenue is a long residential street. I am directly appealing to anyone who may have seen up to four suspects running away from the alleyway that runs from Grange Way. Did you see a group and see which way they went? Specialist search officers are carrying out a full forensic search around the area of Grange Way and Green Bank towards Woodside Avenue. Extra officers will also be out on the streets, carrying out house to house enquiries and talking to local residents. Scotland Yard said detectives are keeping an open mind regarding possible motive. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Investigation Team on 020 8358 0100, or to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was found stabbed to death. Hassan Abdi Mohamed, 48, from Harlow, Essex, was found collapsed on a path in the town on March 5. He had been stabbed and later died of his injuries. Essex Police said the 15-year-old, from north London, was arrested in Holloway on Tuesday on suspicion of murder and possession of class A drugs. An 18-year-old, also from north London, was previously arrested on suspicion of murder and remains on police bail. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Harlow Major Incident Team on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. A teenager is in hospital tonight suffering from stab wounds after he was knifed in a south London street. Police, paramedics and a London Air Ambulance were called to the junction of Loughborough Road and Akerman Road in Brixton just after 2.30pm today to reports a man had been stabbed. A Met spokeswoman said the man, aged in his late teens, was taken to a south London hospital with wounds to his abdomen and left hand. The injuries are not thought to be life-threatening or life-changing at this stage. No arrests have been made and enquiries continue. T here are fears the so-called "Croydon Cat Killer" has extended their net after police received reports that animals had been killed in north London. At least one pet has been found dead in Tottenham, with others in the area reported missing. Police said that between March 3 and 10 cats had been killed in the Tottenham, Streatham, Surrey, and Richmond areas, and that officers were investigating whether the deaths could be linked to others that have occured in recent months in and around Croydon. A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said there was nothing yet to say the deaths could be "conclusively linked", but investigations were ongoing. An RSPCA spokeswoman added that bodies had been collected from a "wide area" of London, adding that these were being examined by experts to determine whether there was a link to the earlier deaths. The organisation has been working with police to investigate the suspicious deaths of a number of felines in the south London area. The animal charity said it appeared that a human had mutilated the dead bodies of some of the animals by cutting off their heads and tails. Investigators believe that the same person is responsible for the killings, and it is thought up to 50 animals could have been targeted over the past few years. An RSPCA spokeswoman said: "We have received calls, and collected bodies of cats, from a wide area of London. "They are currently being examined by forensic experts, but it is too early to say whether there is a definite link between them all at present as the examinations are ongoing." Animal rights campaign group Peta has offered a 5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator. A probation officer from south-east London has been banned from keeping birds after he was convicted of selling wild species. George Oleyede, 58, of Charlton, was sentenced at Bexleyheath Magistrates Court on Tuesday after he was found guilty of three offences under the Wildlife and Countryside and Animal Welfare Acts. The sentencing took place following a two-day trial in February in which Oleyede denied an offence of possessing 12 wild birds, including eight goldfinches, two linnets, a greenfinch, and a common redpoll, at his home. He also pleaded not guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the birds by confining them in captivity and a separate offence of possessing two dead goldfinches. Protected: Wild birds, their eggs and nests, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act / RSPCA He was banned from keeping all birds for five years, ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and pay 2,560 costs. RSPCA inspector Carroll Lamport, who led the investigation, said: We previously prosecuted Oleyede in 2009 for similar offences and were aware of him when he started advertising and selling wild birds online, again. He clearly hadnt learnt from the three-year ban he received when he was initially prosecuted and has found himself before the courts again. All wild birds in England and Wales, including their nests and their eggs, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and actions may only be taken under specific licences. Inspector Lamport added: These birds are taken from the wild and suffer greatly in captivity. They are not used to being kept in cages and often die. A thief was on the loose for more than two months because the police officer guarding her fell asleep, a court heard. Lucy Perrin, 31, gave City of London Police the slip and was able to stroll out of Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel in the middle of the night. She had been arrested on September 14 last year for stealing five bottles of shampoo from Boots on Bishopsgate but suffered an epileptic fit as she was being led from the shop. When she woke up in hospital, she saw the slumbering police officer and got up and left. Three City of London police officers were disciplined and hospital supervision procedures have been overhauled in a bid to prevent a repeat of the security lapse. In a statement, the force said its Professional Standards Directorate had reviewed the circumstances of Perrins escape. This review established that an officer posted to the Royal London Hospital on September 15, 2015 to observe a female detainee had fallen asleep whilst on duty. Once the officer established that the detainee had absconded, they immediately alerted a supervisor to initiate a local search and for the absconders details to be circulated to all officers. Three officers have been provided with words of advice from their management. Hospital supervision procedures have been revised to ensure that the appropriate level of resourcing is provided based on the welfare of the detainee and potential risks. Police were forced into a public appeal for help catching Perrin, but embarrassing details of the escape only emerged at the Old Bailey yesterday. Officers eventually caught up with Perrin on November 27 last year, when she was spotted swiping a bottle of perfume from Boots in Cheapside. She pleaded guilty to theft and possession of class A drugs and was jailed for a month by magistrates in February. Perrin, from Manor Park in east London, also pleaded guilty to escaping lawful custody and will be sentenced at the Old Bailey for that offence on July 29. The court heard she has a long history of heroin abuse, and will be given the chance to complete a drug rehabilitation order before she is sentenced. A Tube worker has been accused of refusing to help when a shocked young woman reported a man pleasuring himself on a busy Central line train. Alex, who did not want to give her full name, was riding the Tube at about 10.30pm on Easter Monday when the man got on at Leytonstone, sat down and started performing the lewd act while staring at a young woman opposite. Her boyfriend confronted the man, who appeared to be drunk and elderly, and he got off at Bethnal Green. She said the young woman looked to be about 19 and appeared shaken by the man's "outrageous" actions. The couple then tried to report him at Bank, but she claims she was met with indifference from a staff member who dismissed her complaints. The investment banking analyst, 23, told the Standard: I pressed the help point and spoke to the man via the intercom and explained what had happened. He repeated several times that there was nothing to do and that he would not be able to contact staff at Bethnal Green to warn them and we had to phone the police ourselves. Report it to Stop it - British Transport Police campaign My boyfriend explained that we were traveling further on the Northern line and wouldn't be able to phone the police for 30 minutes, but he again insisted there was nothing he could do. This TfL employee was very blase and seemed to have no concern over the victim at all. The Clapham resident called for more training after being appalled by the guards reaction, especially in light of TfLs high profile Report it to stop it campaign against sex offences on London transport. She eventually reported the incident to British Transport Police who today issued an appeal for information. Transport for London apologised and said staff are meant to handle crime reports and pass them to police. Steve Burton, director of enforcement at TfL, said: We urge customers to report any unwanted sexual behaviour so that action can be taken and the British Transport Police are actively investigating this particular incident. Our staff are trained to take all reports of crime seriously and to pass them to the police. We are sorry that in this instance this appears not to have been the case. Anyone with any information relating to this incident should contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 quoting reference 523 of 28/03/16. A black flag bearing the letters 'IS' which was spotted in Hackney IS to be 'updated' after a social media backlash, the marketing team behind it said today A banner outside Tesco in Morning Lane was widely criticised as resembling propaganda for terror group Islamic State after a picture of it was posted on social media. It has now emerged that the flag was put up to advertise the Hackney Walk development a new fashion hub built in recommissioned railway arches, which is due to open next month. The black IS banner with white lettering is part of a sequence that spells out the words HACKNEY IS FASHION, according to the Hackney Walk development's strategy director Andrew Sissons. Following the backlash, he told the Standard the flags were installed over a year ago and are soon to be updated. In a statement, Mr Sissons said: There is a sequence of 18 banners running along the lamp posts on Morning Lane which were installed over a year ago and are due to be updated shortly. They are designed to promote Hackney as a fashion district. The banner in question is one of a series of three which clearly reads Hackney Is Fashion. Unfortunately, one person has photographed one of the banners in isolation." The flag had sparked criticism after pictures were posted online. Alan Wolfson wrote on Facebook: "Hackney are draping banners around claiming it IS THE FASHION HUB. "Theres no sign of the sequence of that sentence other than a solitary black flag with IS on it. Well done." Hackney Council has said that although it was aware of the banners, they had not been put up by the local authority. P rotesters are holding candlelit vigils and farewell parties at south London libraries closing this week. Lambeth residents will gather at Carnegie Library in Herne Hill tomorrow for a childrens storytime and Easter egg hunt from 11am. Supporters are also holding a farewell party from 4pm to 6pm and will stage a vigil from 6pm until late at the Carnegie and the Minet library in Camberwell. Libraries in London under threat incl Tate South Lambeth and South Woodford turned into gym Campaigners are still calling on Lambeth council to reverse a decision to shut Waterloo library, turn Upper Norwood library into a community hub and hand Minet and Carnegie to Greenwich Leisure, which operates sport and leisure centres in the capital. Carnegie and Minet will become healthy living centres. Lambeth cabinet member Jane Edbrooke said the council had been imaginative in our proposals that keep the majority of our libraries open. T he owner of a fleet of gold supercars, which have caused a stir after they arrived in one of London's poshest areas, has been hit with hundreds of pounds in parking fines. A gold Lamborghini Aventador, Rolls Royce, Mercedes G63 6x6 and Bentley Flying Spur, reportedly owned by a wealthy Saudi Arabian man, were parked in Knightsbridge today as dozens of people stopped to take photographs on their mobile phones. One man was even photographed covering his Ford Ka in gold paper in an apparent effort to blend in with the glamorous fleet. The Lamborghini had two separate penalty notices for Tuesday and Wednesday slipped under its wiper blade while the Mercedes and Bentley had one each. Fines: The cars have been hit with penalty notices worth hundreds of pounds / PA Kensington and Chelsea council charge motorists 80 for parking fines, but the charge can be reduced to 40 if paid within 14 days. The cars were parked in Cadogan Place, outside the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel, in Knightsbridge, just yards away from an NCP car park. Costing 50 for 24 hours, the car park housed non-gold Bentleys, Audis and a Ferrari on Wednesday. Blending in: A Ford Ka was covered in gold paper in an apparent effort to join the mega-rich fleet / PA Staff at the five-star hotel refused to speculate on whether the owner was a guest. Among those taking photos was Charlotte Eaton who said: They are incredible, they're amazing - I mean they're disgusting, you wouldn't want one. "It's ridiculous, but I suppose when you've got that sort of money, you don't give a damn. "They could get keyed - they are asking for trouble." Luxury fleet: The gold cars were parked outside a five-star hotel in Knightsbridge / PA Councillor Timothy Coleridge said he would speak to the councils parking department after the cars appeared to be parked in pay and display bays. He said: It's very rare that anyone would leave their car in a pay-and-display bay and leave it for more than a day as they risk the chance of it being towed away. "No one has done this before. Normally they rent a garage rather than park them in the street. "We would not differentiate between somebody with a gold Rolls or a beaten-up Renault 5." P olice are appealing for a Good Samaritan who helped to save a woman's life to come forward so that officers can thank them. The member of the public was at Stratford station just after 3pm today, and stepped in when they saw woman in distress on the Central Line platform. Together with a PCSO, they managed to talk the woman away from the track and convinced her to leave the station, so that she could be taken to a place of safety. Issuing an appeal on social media to find their mystery helper, police wrote: "Your actions this afternoon have helped to save a life and the officer would like to say thank you for assisting." Although the tweets have been shared several times, nobody has yet come forward. A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP), said: Officers were called to Stratford Underground station at approximately 3.10pm today following reports of woman in distress. A nearby PCSO quickly attended the Central Line platform and with assistance from a member of the public, persuaded the women to exit the station. The female has since been taken to a place of safety. Officers would like to thank the member of the public who provided help to the PCSO. F ormer Labour foreign secretary David Miliband today warned Brexit would be a disaster for London. He claimed the capital could not be a global city if it were not a European city, and likened Brexit to opting out of your own geography. In an exclusive interview with ES Magazine Mr Miliband also launched an attack on Jeremy Corbyn, saying he believed Labour cannot win an election in its current state. He hinted at a return to Britain and said he is in regular contact with Labour MPs, including at least one sacked from Mr Corbyns frontbench in January. Mr Miliband is currently chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, which runs humanitarian relief operations. Speaking from New York, he praised London as a multiracial, multicultural, multireligious city. He said Brexit would be a disaster for London, adding: Opting out of your own geography for economic reasons is a contradiction in terms. London is a global city, but it cant be a global city if its not a European city. TODO: define component type apester His words came as former Cabinet Secretary Lord ODonnell warned that Britain would be unable to negotiate its exit from the EU within the two years allowed by rules. He told the BBC the prospect was a bit scary. On Labour matters, Mr Miliband said Mr Corbyns success hinged on how well he is seen to lead and whether he takes Labour into government. He added: In politics its really important to know the difference between what you think exists and what is reality. The best politicians can see where the world is going and apply their values to it, not start with their values and then apply the facts. And youve got to get that ordering right. Mr Miliband urged Labour to update its politics and said an elect-able leader needed to be both credible and radical. Pointing out that he does not think Labour can win at the moment, he said: If youre not credible you cant be radical. He indicated a potential return to the UK, admitting he will not be doing his current job heading the International Rescue Committee for ever, and said he had been speaking to Labour colleagues, including his friend Pat McFadden who was pushed off the Labour frontbench for alleged disloyalty to Mr Corbyn. Talking of his friendship with Hillary Clinton, frontrunner to be Democrat candidate for US president, he said: Shes obviously very intelligent, shes obviously very worldly. Shes very funny. When she smiles the full smile, shes got a fantastic smile. Mr Miliband also told how he arranged for George and Amal Clooney to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A n Ex-Labour Home Secretary today launched a devastating attack on Jeremy Corbyn and his top shadow cabinet lieutenants, accusing them of giving tacit support to al Qaeda. Charles Clarke said the failure of the Labour leader and his key frontbench supporters to back officially listing al Qaeda as a terror group just six months before 9/11 had given effective backing to the extremists. Another former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw said proscribing al Qaeda had been critical to stopping Osama Bin Laden killing more innocent people. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow development secretary Diane Abbott were also among those who failed to back proscribing al Qaeda, despite the group having already slaughtered scores of people in other attacks. Mr Clarke told the Standard: It must have given comfort to the proscribed organisations that people like Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and John McDonnell were giving them tacit support. He went on: Proscription was and is a very important weapon against those organisations which are trying to attack us and our society. Corbyn criticism: Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke (Nigel Howard) We never took any decision to proscribe lightly, but only on the basis of a very considered assessment. Mr Straw added: The power to proscribe terrorist organisations was and is extremely important. Without it terrorist organisations could get funds and canvass support with impunity. It was six months before al Qaeda flew jets into New Yorks World Trade Centre buildings, killing almost 3,000 people, that Mr Straw and Mr Clarke asked Parliament to proscribe it along with 20 other groups. It meant it would become a criminal offence carrying a possible ten year prison sentence to be a member of al Qaeda or raise money, promote or arrange its meetings. Of the 413 MPs who voted on the statutory instrument listing Al Qaeda, just 17 opposed the move. Former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw said proscribing al Qaeda had been critical to stopping Osama Bin Laden killing more innocent people / PA They included Islington North MP Mr Corbyn and his two main future shadow cabinet backers, the Hayes and Harlington MP Mr McDonnell and Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Ms Abbott. The leader would not comment today but at the time Mr Corbyn said in a Commons debate that proscription of Al Qaeda and other groups was causing a great deal of disquiet in the Islamic, Turkish and Tamil communities. He said some of the 21 organisations were engaged in ceasefires in their own countries and the search for long-lasting peace. A spokesperson for Mr McDonnell said today that he voted against the measure because it meant another group, the Sikh Youth Federation, was proscribed. He added: John had many members of the Sikh community in his constituency who were members of the group and were rightly shocked to be on such a list. There was no way the list could be amended. It was a take it or leave it vote. And if anything John has subsequently been proved to be right in the end by the fact that this governments recent review has lifted this unjust ban on the [Sikh] group. Shot dead in 2011: Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden / AP When Tory minister Lord Bates lifted the ban on the group this year, he said it was clear it was concerned in terrorism at the time of proscription. However, The Sikh Federation UK denied that the Sikh Youth Federation had played any role in terrorism. The Standard contacted Ms Abbott about the vote but she had made no response to the story this morning. In a 2001 debate before she said: While no one denies the atrocities perpetrated by some groups on the list, what we are attempting to scrutinise tonight is the process, the thinking and the procedure behind this type of proscription. The history of Britains withdrawal from empire is littered with groups that were described as terrorists, but survived to take tea with the Queen. As well as al Qaeda, the 2001 vote also proscribed Hezbollah and Hamas, whose members Mr Corbyn has since referred to as friends. The Labour leader also caused controversy when he described the death of Bin Laden as yet another tragedy. The three Labour figures voted against the proscription of al Qaeda despite it having already been responsible for killing two people in a 1992 Yemeni hotel bombing, six in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing and more than 200 people in US embassy bombings in 1998. A year before the Commons vote on proscription, Al Qaeda also killed 17 US sailors when it bombed the USS Cole as it was docked in Yemen. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said it showed that Labour are a serious risk to our national security. In a 2001 debate before the vote Ms Abbot said: While no one denies the atrocities perpetrated by some groups on the list, what we are attempting to scrutinise tonight is the process, the thinking and the procedure behind this type of proscription. The history of Britains withdrawal from empire is littered with groups that were described as terrorists, but survived to take tea with the Queen. N igel Farage has claimed Cologne-style mass sex attacks could happen in Britain if it stays in the European Union. The Ukip leader told a 500-plus crowd at a pro-Brexit rally that German chancellor Angela Merkel had made a big mistake in lifting restrictions on Syrian refugees last summer. Public support for asylum seekers in Germany has fallen following allegations that hundreds of women were groped, robbed and intimated at Cologne's central station on New Year's Eve. Speaking at the cross-party Grassroots Out event, in Newport, South Wales, Mr Farage said: "We've been through a hundred years of female emancipation and liberation ... and now the mistakes of Mrs Merkel are now threatening all of that. "What we saw outside that train station in Cologne on New Year's Eve was truly and genuinely shocking. "I am not saying that we are not immune from such problems in this country. "But to me, if you allow the unlimited access of huge numbers of young males into the European continent who come from countries where women are at best are second class citizens, don't be surprised if scenes that we saw in Cologne don't happen more often." Farage has claimed Cologne style mass sex attacks could be more common if Britain stays in the European Union (Benjamin Wright /PA Wire ) / Benjamin Wright /PA Wire Dressed in a purple suit and luminous green tie, Mr Farage took to the stage in a marquee at the Rodney Parade stadium to a standing ovation before drawing laughs from the crowd after mocking pro-EU campaigners as "Remainions". He accused Prime Minister David Cameron of scaremongering over what would happen to the UK if it left the EU before calling George Osborne the "worst Chancellor in modern times" More than 100 women and girls claimed they were subjected to sex assaults and robberies by gangs of men in Cologne on New Year's Eve. It was claimed that men carried out dozens of attacks with little or no response from authorities. The attacks sparked a major debate in Germany over the country's migration policy. P rosecutors were right not to charge police officers over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in the wake of the 7/7 attacks in London, the European Court of Human Rights ruled today. Brazilian electrician Mr de Menezes was shot seven times in the head by specialist firearms officers as he boarded an underground train at Stockwell station in south London on July 22, 2005 amid a climate of heightened terror alertness on the streets of London. After he was killed, police apologised and said his death was a "tragedy." The IPCC immediately launched an investigation but no charges were brought against any individual police officers. The Met was fined 175,000 for breaching health and safety laws. The family of Mr de Menezes claimed his shooting breached Article 2 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights which covers the right to life. Jean Charles de Menezes death timeline They claimed the authorities should have carried out a more thorough investigation as to whether the force they used was justified given the circumstances. However, in a judgment on Wednesday the Strasbourg court's Grand Chamber found that UK authorities had not failed in their obligations to conduct an effective investigation. Jean Charles de Menezes 1 /14 Jean Charles de Menezes Jean Charles de Menezes CCTV captures Jean Charles de Menezes enters Stockwell tube station CPS Armed police outisde Stockwell tube station following the shooting Jeremy Selwyn People gather for a two minute silence two days after the shooting AP His grieving parents hold up pictures of their son in their home in Brazil Reuters Protesters are seen outside 10 Downing Street in London, 22 August, 2005, after Mr de Menezes' cousin Alessandro Pereira handed in a letter addressed to Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair AFP/Getty Images) The memorial for Mr de Menezes in September 2008 Cavan Pawson Part of the makeshift shrine to Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station EPA Supporters of Jean Charles de Menezes's family are pictured outside his inquest in December 2008 Cavan Pawson Family members outside The Oval in South London where they were protesting at rulings to the jury in the inquest into Mr de Menezes' death Jamie Wiseman/Daily Mail The photo released of Mr de Menezes shortly after he was killed Metropolitan Police 56 people, including the four suicide bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Germaine Lindsay, 19 , and Hasib Hussain, 18, were killed in the attacks on London's transport network. Mr de Menezes's cousin Patricia da Silva Armani said the family were "deeply disappointed" by the ruling. She said: "We had hoped that the ruling would give a glimmer of hope, not only to us, but to all other families who have been denied the right to justice after deaths at the hands of the police. "We find it unbelievable that our innocent cousin could be shot seven times in the head by the Metropolitan Police when he had done nothing wrong and yet the police have not had to account for their actions. "As we have always maintained, we feel that decisions about guilt and innocence should be made by juries, not by faceless bureaucrats and we are deeply saddened that we have been denied that opportunity yet again." Lawyers for the family claimed the evidential test applied by the Crown Prosecution Service - that there should be sufficient evidence for a "realistic prospect" of conviction - is too high a threshold. It means that, in effect, the decision not to bring a prosecution was based on a conclusion that there was less than a 50 per cent chance of conviction, they argued. The Strasbourg court said: "The frustration of Mr de Menezes's family at the absence of any individual prosecutions is understandable." However, its judgment concluded that "it cannot be said that the domestic authorities have failed to discharge the procedural obligation under Article 2 of the Convention to conduct an effective investigation into the shooting of Mr de Menezes which was capable of leading to the establishment of the facts, a determination of whether the force used was or was not justified in the circumstances and of identifying and - if appropriate - punishing those responsible". A British passenger who posed for a photo with the EgyptAir hijacker during a six-hour standoff has hailed the best selfie ever. Health and safety expert Ben Innes, 26, posed grinning for a snap with Seif Eldin Mustafa as he was held hostage on a plane in Cyprus. He was one of four Britons on the jet when it was forced to divert to Cyprus by a man wearing a fake suicide belt. The plane was carrying at least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners, on a domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo. A crew member escapes from a window of the cockpit on board the Egyptair plane / Reuters After posing for the photo, Mr Innes was later seen running across tarmac at Larnaca airport as Mustafa disembarked the plane and surrendered to police. Speaking to The Sun, Mr Innes said of the photograph: I'm not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it. Egyptian Ministry of the Interior releases CCTV of plane hijacker "I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. "He just shrugged OK so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever." He is said to have approached Mustafa while being held hostage on the tarmac, and sent the photograph to one of his flatmates as well as other friends. The plane was grounded in Cyprus for six hours / Reuters A Foreign Office spokeswoman said officials were providing consular support to four British nationals who were on board. The alleged hijacker was arrested minutes after some of those being held were seen walking down the stairs of the plane, with another escaping through a cockpit window before they were led away by security officers. EgyptAir said Cypriot authorities at the airport had confirmed "the explosive belt that the hijacker allegedly said that he was wearing is fake". Officials said early on the hijacking was not an act of terrorism, and later that the man appeared to be psychologically unstable. Loading.... The man was said to have initially asked to speak with his Cypriot ex-wife, who police brought to the airport. At one point he demanded the release of women held in Egyptian prisons, but he then dropped the demand and made others. An official at Egypt's ministry of foreign affairs said: "He's not a terrorist, he's an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren't stupid. This guy is." P olice worried about poor security at Brussels airport issued a strike threat just four days before terrorist bombs killed 17 people, it emerged today. The revelation came as the same officers threatened to walk out again unless firmer action is taken to keep staff and passengers safe. Their original strike notice was issued on the Friday before Tuesday 22 March when coordinated attacks by Islamic State suicide bombers killed a total of 32 innocent people. It all adds to the catalogue of failures that allowed an Islamic State cell to operate freely in Belgium. Many of the killers were linked to the attacks in Paris last November, when a total of 130 people were murdered during one night of violence. After this, officers said that not enough resources were going into airport security in Brussels, and that it was extremely vulnerable to terrorist attack. 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 Alain Peeters, national secretary of the SNPS police and security guards union, said: The sad events of the 22nd of March demonstrate that our concerns are justified. We demand more security measures and staff. Mr Peeters said his colleagues had issued numerous warnings to management before at least two suicide bombers arrived at the airport by taxi. They are not thought to have been challenged at all before wheeling trolleys full of explosives towards departure desks, and then setting them off. The entire aiport remains closed until further notice, but the police say that in future they want all passengers to be searched and identified before entering the airport. They also want all vehicles to be banned from approaching within 100 meters (328ft) of the departure building, which remains partially destroyed. The airport bombs went off just before 8am, and around an hour later there was another explosion at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels. Three suicide bombers are known to have died, while police are still trying to account for other suspects whose images were captured on CCTV footage. T wo men have been charged with assault after they allegedly forced a teenager in New Zealand to eat red-hot bongo chilli peppers before they punched him. Police have not released details of the alleged offences but the alleged 18-year-old victim spoke to Fairfax New Zealand earlier this month. He claimed he was assaulted by a group of men in a basement following an argument over a prank telephone call. He said he was forced to eat bongo chillies and was punched in the head as a punishment after he was unable to eat a second pepper. The chillies, which are cultivated in Fiji, reportedly measure 100,000-350,000, compared to 3,500-8,000 for a jalapeno, on the Scoville heat scale. He said: My insides were hurting, sweating, and I couldn't see anything or even talk properly. "Everyone was just laughing and watching." He also claimed a man grabbed his genitals after his trousers were pulled down. Police launched an investigation after the teen told his mother about the alleged sexual assault the next day. Two men, aged 24 and 29, were due to appear in Hamilton District Court in the North Island, according to acting detective Sergeant Paul Van der Zee. He said in a statement the men had been charged with injuring with intent to injure, common assault and indecent assault. T he Top Gear team were forced to abandon plans to film in Kazakhstan after they got stranded in Moscow. Presenters Sabine Schmitz, Eddie Jordan and Rory Reid were due to shoot a segment for the new series over the weekend but had to abandon the trip after their airline was refused entry into the country. The entire crew returned to the UK after their connecting flight from Russia on Aeroflot wasnt granted permission to enter Kazakhstan. According to The Sun, the failed trip cost the BBC 500,000, although the corporation has insisted that they will return to shoot the scenes. Top Gear 2016: First Look 1 /16 Top Gear 2016: First Look Neil Mockford/Alex Huckle/GC Images Rex Splash News Rex Rex Splash News Rex Rex Rex Splash News Splash News Rex A BBC spokesperson told The Sun: Through no fault of the Top Gear team, the airline carrying them was not permitted to fly from Moscow to Kazakhstan and so they returned to London. Top Gear team film stunts by the Cenotaph They intend to visit Kazakhstan in the future to shoot the planned film there. The BBC will be looking to recoup the cost of the flights. The new series of the show, co-hosted by Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc, has been plagued by controversy before even hitting screens. Evans and the BBC were forced to apologise after scenes were shot near The Cenotaph last month. The new series of Top Gear is due to air on May 22. Johan Cruyff's passing has swiftly led to a deafening chorus of calls on social media for Barca's ground to be renamed in his honour. Opened in 1957 (because, it's said, the old Les Corts could no longer meet the demand to see Ladislao Kubala) it ended up as the Camp Nou: a simple, unpretentious name; what the people knew it as. If memory serves, the idea of calling it after club founder Hans Gamper was mooted, but the manner of his death - suicide - scotched that plan. It just couldn't be married with the religious sensibilities of the time. The option of Francesc Miro Sans, the president under whom it was completed, was not overly popular, either, as in truth it wasn't his project; he was merely on hand to finish it. So the stadium ended up as the Camp Nou. And the surrounding constructions that have followed it have all taken similar names, ones in line with how they became known among the fans. Palau de Gel, Miniestadi, Palau Blaugrana... Barcelona have only gone down the route of using an individual's name for the club museum, that of former chief Josep Lluis Nunez. But given what's transpired since then, there are those who think it wasn't such a good idea, and when he went to prison for tax fraud a change was even discussed. So there are really no compelling precedents urging the renaming of the Camp Nou as the 'Estadio Johan Cruyff'. There's no denying, however, that it would be a wonderful, fitting gesture. A wonderful and fitting gesture, certainly; but I rather fear that, in this day and age, not feasible. As so many other clubs have taken to doing nowadays, Barcelona want to sell commercial naming rights to their stadium. So how would they fit the sponsor and Cruyff together? And would his family be up for that? Yes, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has been planning to add the name of whichever partner funds his stalled pharaonic project ("Ipic, Cepsa or whatever they want"; remember that?) alongside Santiago Bernabeu's, but that wouldn't be a viable proposition right now in a Ciudad Condal still raw from the loss of the great Dutchman. It's all a lovely idea but, unfortunately, an unworkable one too. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Two Nebraska colleges have quietly set up private endowments to provide scholarships for undocumented immigrants who don't qualify for financial aid. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has promised people brought illegally into the U.S. as children by undocumented parents that they won't face deportation and will have a right to legal work. But these young people, often referred to as "Dreamers," still don't qualify for state or federal government-funded aid to help pay for college. Twenty-eight students have graduated through the College of St. Mary's program over the last 10 years. Additionally, the University of Nebraska at Omaha launched a scholarship for Dreamers this year through a private donation. The University of Nebraska at Kearney has said it hopes to follow suit. Dania Cervantes, 19, was born in Mexico and came to the United States when she was 6 years old. She wasn't able to apply for federal aid or loans, but she enrolled in nursing school through the College of St. Mary's scholarship. The scholarship covers tuition and housing for as many undocumented women as the college's donors can support each year. "If I didn't get this scholarship, there is no way my parents could afford college for me," said Cervantes, a freshman. Undocumented students who graduate from Nebraska high schools can pay the in-state tuition rate at public state colleges. But that cost is often still out of reach without financial aid. Even if undocumented students enroll in a community college rather than a state university or a private college, paying for school is challenging, said Zenen Jaimes Perez, a policy analyst at United We Dream, an advocacy group for immigrant youths based in Washington, D.C. "We try to encourage colleges and universities to look at what they have available, so we can see more students able to take advantage of it," said. "I do think there is more that public institutions could be doing to be opening up resources for undocumented students." The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the state colleges don't have a scholarship program for undocumented students. Fredrick E.J. Eskam, 53, of Mitchell, and of San Diego, California passed peacefully in his sleep into the arms of the angels on March 23, 2016, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at the Davis Hospice Center. Fred was known formally as Frederick Ernest James Eskam, but he was Fred or Freddy to his family and friends. Fred was born in Scottsbluff on Feb. 6, 1963, and attended Sunflower grade school and Mitchell High School, graduating in 1981, always keeping in contact with his many local friends. Fred attended Kearney state college where he graduated in 1986 with a degree in business. Fred always had a spirit of living and adventure, and following college, he headed for Boston where he worked at Maurices, a clothing store in Boston. That experience contributed a great deal to Freds incredible style that could make a potato sack look like a designer scarf. Fred also worked as an Au Pair in Boston for the Sullivan-Neely family while living in Boston. When Fred was in hospice, Christine Sullivan called with an amazing tribute that her son, now an adult, had written for Fred detailing how Fred had such a positive influence on his young life. Freds spirit of adventure caused him to take a job on a cruise ship where he met the love of his life, Ray Wilson. From that point onward Fray, or Fred + Ray, as they became to be known, were inseparable. As Ray was employed by Hewitt Packard Corporation, and living in San Diego, Fred relocated to sunny San Diego, where he has resided for the past 24 years. While residing in San Diego, Fred modeled, had some small jobs as an actor, and worked at various restaurants including the world famous Prado Restaurant. In typical Fred fashion, he has amassed a large circle of friends in Boston and throughout California. Fred will always be loved and remembered for his incredible smile, amazing laugh, and his fantastic humor. Fred always lived his life with great zest and style, no regrets, and much love. He touched many people in his too short life, and he taught us all a great deal about happiness, joy and sharing the moment with those we love. Fred was preceded in death by his spouse, Ray Wilson and his mother, Dorothy Eskam. He is survived by his father Ernest Eskam of Mitchell, his sister Sharon Eskam and her family of Cheyenne, and his brother Kent Eskam and his family of Carlsbad, California. Fred is also survived by his aunts, cousins and numerous friends including those in Nebraska, Boston, and California. He was especially close to his cousin Jeff Schledewitz and his family of Scottsbluff. Fred always found great happiness in his many friends and will be sorely missed by his family and friends, as he was greatly loved by everyone he met. Fred truly never met a stranger, everyone was instead a friend. His life will be celebrated both in his hometowns of San Diego, California, and Mitchell, with the spreading of his ashes and with remembrance services to be arranged at a later date for each city. Rest well, our sweet Fred, you have found your way home across that bridge crossing into forever. You have touched our lives and made us not only happy but also better for having known you. This page is archived. Data published after 5 April 2022 can be found on the renewed website. Go to the new statistics page Published: 30 March 2016 Finns' travel to Central Europe increased in 2015 According to Statistics Finland's survey, Finns made 8.1 million different leisure trips abroad in 2015. Trips to Central Europe and Asia increased their popularity. The number of domestic leisure trips with paid accommodation numbered 6.4 million. The destination of 1.2 million of them was Uusimaa and that of 0.6 million North Ostrobothnia. Business travel in Finland decreased slightly but business trips abroad were roughly on level with the previous year. Finnish travel in 2005 to 2015 Finnish residents' leisure trips abroad increased in 2015. More trips than in 2014 were made to Estonia and it maintained its insurmountable top position as a travel destination for Finns. Overnight cruises to Estonia decreased, while same-day cruises and trips with overnight stay in the destination country increased. The development for Sweden was reversed. Overnight cruises to Sweden increased, while same-day trips and trips with overnight stay in the destination country decreased. Good one-fifth of same-day trips to Sweden were same-day cruises. Among other Nordic countries, Denmark and particularly Norway also increased their popularity among Finnish residents. Trips to Russia with overnight stay in the destination country remained on level with the year before, but the number of same-day trips went down considerably from one year back. Trips to Spain and especially to the Canary Islands diminished. In contrast, Finns travelled more and more to Greece and Portugal. Germany also increased its popularity for Finns. In addition to Germany, interesting destinations in Western and Eastern Europe were the Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland and France. The number of trips heading outside Europe increased in Asia. Fewer trips than in the year before were made to the favourite destination in Asia, Thailand, but the United Arab Emirates became more popular. Finnish residents most popular destinations for leisure trips with overnight stay in the destination country in 2015 and 2014 Eight per cent more domestic trips with paid accommodation were made than one year earlier. One-fifth of these trips were made to the region of Uusimaa. Lapland lost popularity, but trips to North Ostrobothnia increased by 12 per cent. Compared with the previous year, nights spent at hotels increased by ten per cent and nights spent at rented cottages by three per cent. The most popular destination for trips with free accommodation was also Uusimaa. The next most popular destinations with free accommodation were Pirkanmaa, Varsinais-Suomi and North Ostrobothnia. The number of business trips in Finland decreased slightly but business travel abroad was roughly on level with the previous year. Leisure trips of an average Finn in 2015: 1.4 domestic leisure trips with paid accommodation, 1.4 trips abroad that included overnight stay in the country of destination, 0.4 same-day trips abroad or cruises to neighbouring areas. Data collection The data concerning travel derive from Statistics Finland's monthly Finnish Travel sample survey. In all, 15,353 persons aged 15 to 84 permanently resident in Finland were interviewed for the numbers of trips. The numbers of persons who had travelled during the year were collected with an additional survey carried out in connection with the December interview concerning travelling. The data describing 2015 are based on 1,235 interviews. Additional tables are found in the StatFin database. Source: Finnish Travel, Statistics Finland Inquiries: Taru Tamminen 029 551 2243, Teemu Okkonen 029 551 2634, liikenne.matkailu@stat.fi Director in charge: Mari Yla-Jarkko Publication in pdf-format (372.7 kB) Updated 30.3.2016 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Finnish Travel [e-publication]. ISSN=1798-9027. 2015. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 23.10.2022]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/smat/2015/smat_2015_2016-03-30_tie_001_en.html President Truong Tan Sang welcomes First President of Algerian Supreme Court Slimane Boudi (Source: VNA) He hosted Slimane Boudi, the First President of the Supreme Court of Algeria, in Hanoi on March 29th on the latters working visit to Vietnam. He noted that Vietnamese people have always remembered the huge, valuable support and assistance provided by Algeria during wartime and then throughout the countrys rebuilding efforts. Judicial reforms form part of Vietnams socio-economic development and are the crucial task of Vietnams relevant agencies, he said. Vietnam is, therefore, seeking experience in the field from other countries, including Algeria, the President told his guest. He also took the occasion to ask for Algerias support for joint projects with Vietnam on oil and gas, and in other fields that are underway in the country. Slimane Boudi told the host that the two countries court sectors have established active cooperation and signed tens of cooperative documents in 2015-2016. He said during this visit, the courts set up a paired-relationship with a view of bringing their ties to the next level. Algeria is also pursuing judicial reforms and wants to learn related experience from the Vietnamese side, he said./. This page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable. To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? 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He said that Primorye leaders need to provide preferential investment policies to Vietnamese ministries and localities, while ironing out challenges in obtaining visas, establishing direct flight links, as well as labour usage. President Sang also confirmed that Vietnamese ministries and agencies will create optimal conditions to enhance collaboration between two sides businesses. For his part, Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky underlined advantages in his localitys external economic policies, which encourage infrastructure construction to lure foreign investment. Being a leading economy in Russias Far East, Primorye has great potential in seafood processing and the wood industry, he said, adding that commodities from the province can easily access the Vietnamese market through Vladivostok port. He expressed his hope that the two sides will work together in fields of mutual strength./. RALEIGH If Republicans have been attempting to suppress the vote in North Carolina, they must be the most incompetent tyrants in modern American history. On March 15, some 2.3 million North Carolinians cast ballots in the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian primaries for president, governor, U.S. Senate, and other offices. That comes to about 36 percent of all registered voters. The turnout rate was similar to the 37 percent who voted in the 2008 presidential primaries and the 35 percent who voted in the 2012 primaries. During the 1990s and early 2000s, presidential primary turnouts in North Carolina ranged from 16 percent to 31 percent. This years primaries were the first to be held under a set of new election rules that included both a more compact early voting schedule and a requirement that voters either show a photo ID or sign an affidavit attesting to one of several specified exceptions. It was also the first time in decades that North Carolina held its primaries earlier than May. None of these changes appears to have had a substantial effect on turnout. None suppressed the vote. Under the new early voting rules, North Carolinians may have fewer days to cast ballots but there are also more early voting sites and more hours in each day to vote. The truth is that there has never been a strong empirical relationship between early voting and voter participation. Some states with early voting have seen substantial gains in turnout. But states without early voting have seen comparable gains. As it happens, this years primaries have demonstrated precisely why North Carolinas new policy is better than its old one. In many states, voters have cast ballots weeks early for presidential candidates who then dropped out of the race before Election Day. These voters might well have chosen to vote for a different candidate, which in some cases would have resulted in a different winner and delegate allocation. Early voting is a convenience, certainly, but it also prevents voters from reacting to late-breaking developments in a campaign. Its probably wise for states to strike a balance, to offer a relatively short early voting period but one in which there are many sites and long hours. Thats what North Carolina has done. It should be noted that two other election-law changes from 2013 getting rid of same-day registration during early voting and limiting out-of-precinct voting on Election Day were not in force this year because of a federal injunction. But these provisions were in force in 2014. Again, they didnt have a notable effect on voter participation. Indeed, getting rid of out-of-precinct voting, while causing some inconvenience for voters who show up at the wrong precinct late the day, will otherwise increase voter participation in district-level elections, because theyll have the proper ballots for their precincts. According to early reports, about 40,000 North Carolinians cast provisional ballots in this years primaries. In a quarter of the cases, they claimed to be registered voters but there seemed to be no registration record for them. In other cases, registered Democrats attempted to vote in the GOP presidential primary, or vice versa. Obviously, many of the provisional ballots wont be counted. Was the new voter ID requirement responsible for a significant percentage of these provisional ballots? No. Approximately 2,400 North Carolinians voted provisionally because of problems with ID compliance. Thats about one-tenth of one percent of all the voters who showed up. By all means, the state should continue good-faith efforts to assist those who lack acceptable IDs. If that means straightening out preexisting problems with birth certificates or other paperwork, fine. Those without valid identification lack access to many other institutions and services. Addressing such problems will benefit them greatly. As to the larger issue, Im sure that the Left will continue to allege voter suppression. It fits their preferred narrative and advances their preferred political agenda. But it doesnt comport with the facts. Voter turnout after the 2013 enactment of North Carolinas election reforms has been at or above previous levels. Nearly four months after stakeholders gathered to map out a plan to move forward, a timeline for the removal of the old Davis Hospital is still unknown. Local elected officials say the project continues to be discussed, but no action has been taken since Statesville City Council, Iredell County Board of Commissioners and Mitchell Community College agreed in December to give a $50,000 advance to old Davis property owner Fred Godley to re-start clearance of the West End Avenue site following a state shut-down of all work. It certainly hasnt left our minds but we have discussed it during closed session, Statesville Mayor Pro Tem Michael Johnson said Tuesday. What happens during those closed sessions cant be discussed publicly, he added. A 5-foot-tall fence was installed in January and plastic window covers were put up in February. Other than that, no progress has been made at the site since work was stopped by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The original deal, signed in March 2015, called for Godley to be paid $404,000 for the property. He was required to deliver a clean site, and Mitchell Community College would use it to build a new Allied Health Center. Godley and demolition contractor Steven Tarleton started the tear down in July 2015. The county issued a stop-work order in September due to permitting issues, but a short time later the state recommended that work be allowed to proceed. In October, a state asbestos inspector came to the property after receiving complaints about the asbestos being stirred up during demolition. The inspection revealed large amounts of asbestos in the building and the debris piles around it. The state then notified Godley that no more work could done until a full asbestos inspection and removal plan be completed by an accredited professional. Soon thereafter, state, county and city officials met with Godley and Tarleton to formulate a plan of action. The groups joint statement, issued on Dec. 4, said Over the next six weeks, the site will be secured and the buildings will continue to be demolished with all of the State and local required permits in place. This process will include monitoring and the removal of any hazardous materials using the required protocols. When asked about the status of the project Tuesday, Commissioner Steve Johnson said The ball is in (Godleys) court right now. He added that commissioners discussed the status of the project recently in closed session. Discussions were had about alternative options for the Allied Health Center, he said. Though it wasnt a favorable idea, I have mentioned that we could place the (health center) in a different location. John Staford, who lives near the old hospital and has been vocal in opposition to the handling of the project, said Tuesday that the only sensible solution is for some organization to take total control of the situation. If you keep the same players in the game, youll end up with the same results. Other than the fencing and window covers, hes seen no official activity on the site. Just recently he called police after spotting a group of teens on the roof of the building, he said. They were probably skateboarding. That place is so dangerous now, he said. Not only do you have asbestos pretty much everywhere, you also have structural failures all over. By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com During last Thursdays county commission meeting, the topic of tourism came up. First District Commissioner Karen Stuppy reported on the Tourism Advisory Council and Tourism Tax Commissions joint meeting earlier that week, at which a task force was formed. She said that the tourism department has an $89,548 budget, with $45,000-50,000 Mackinac Island The weather has been up and down this past week. We had some very nice days, and other were cold,... Outdoors This Week in the Eastern U.P. I know its fall, but, for some reason, the white stuff has started falling already and frost is covering my... West Mackinac Thats all folks, the fall fashion show is over and Mother Natures winter wardrobe is waiting in the wings. In... Since 2003, Vietnam Digital Government (previously known as Vietnam eGovernment Symposium), has been recognized as the biggest and most prestigious national forum in Vietnam. It is the platform for the digital government reform projects implemented by the public and private sectors as well as discussions about practical solutions in an effort to develop the digital government effectively and holistically. Photo: ATP Utilizing information technology applications in the government operation is a pivotal mission for the progression of digital government in this global integration. However, the timeline of applying information technologies (IT) in the government development of Vietnam is facing several difficulties along with challenges including the limitation of IT infrastructure systems affecting the applications of IT, the uncompleted public services failing to meet the users- demands. According to the report of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the ICT Development Index (IDI) of Vietnam stood at the 102nd among 167 countries slipped down eight places compared to 2014. Having recognized the significance of IT applications in the development of digital government, on October 14th, 2015, for the first time, the Prime Minister has legitimized the Resolution 36a/NQ-CP on digital government to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of the State agencies, then provides better services for its citizens and entrepreneurs as well as enhance the competitiveness in economic integration. Besides, information security is also vital in the process of IT application in the insecure environment nowadays while cyber attack occurs more frequently with more severe consequences. Accordingly, as stated in the National Program for IT applications in the operation of state agencies, information security is considered to be one of the five major pillars for the IT development so it will be considered at all angles in order to build a more effective digital government. Le Manh Ha, Vice Head of the Government Office spoke at the event. (Photo: Chan Luan) The average investment in transport infrastructure in Vietnam from 1995 to the present is about 4-5% of the total GDP, while many countries are merely 2-3%. The Ministry of Transport has officially launched the "Intelligent Transport Solutions based on the digital map" in the hope of solving complex transport issues at present. Along with the activities of transportation, the healthcare field also has conducted remarkable activities, especially the IT applications and development strategy from 2016 to 2020 approved by the Ministry of Health including 33 projects accounted for VND1,800 billion. Moreover, in the early of February, online public services level 4 will be officially deployed at all medical facilities. These activities are the proofs of efforts made by Ministry of Health in applying IT advantages to improve the healthcare management as well as the service quality. This years conference will continue to discuss, evaluate and examine the reality and new development steps of the digital government, as well as propose ideas to apply high technology to prepare for giant changes in the sustainable development of digital government and eventually meet the demand of people. There are Keynote and two Sessions as following: Keynote: Digital Government Development: Modern infrastructure, smart public services, greater transparency and citizen. Session 1: Developing information infrastructure and data security in public Sector IT is the key for society connection at every aspect, and contributes to the restructuring of economic, as well as enhancing the quality and capacity of administrative management. In order for successful IT application in digital government, information security is essential part to take care. Session 2: Building a Smart city, developing E-health and Intelligent Transportation Building smart cities is the worldwide trend due to the pSressure of global urbanization. With the development of the internet of things, besides digital government, ICT applications in main sectors such as transport and health, are strongly boosted the development. A type of Intelligent Transportation System. ( Photo for illustration) There, experts also had a depth discussion about IT solutions in smart city development, especially transport and health issues. Some main topics include: Opportunities and Challenges for deploying e-health in Vietnamese hospitals, IT Solutions for enhancing the quality of healthcare services, Current status of implementing and developing Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) in Hanoi, Building technology infrastructure for smart city: solutions & approaching methods. Along with the Conference, the Expo in 2016 will showcase and introduce modern technology solutions, optimization such as: communications infrastructure, database center, big data, cloud computing, connectivity center, solution management & data sharing, information security, etc In addition, visitors will have the opportunity to interact directly with leading solution providers to address issues of concern today./. Updated at 4 p.m. Tuesday with more details, closing share price Maryland Heights-based solar energy company SunEdison Inc , whose aggressive acquisition strategy has saddled it with almost $12 billion of debt, is at "substantial risk" of bankruptcy, one of its two publicly listed units warned on Tuesday. A bankruptcy would rank among the largest involving a non-financial company in the past 10 years, according to bankruptcydata.com. SunEdison declined to comment. SunEdison's shares already reeling from a Wall Street Journal report on Monday that the company was being investigated for overstating its cash position fell as much as 60 percent earlier Tuesday to a record low of 50 cents. The shares closed Tuesday at 57 cents, down 69 cents, or 55 percent from the previous close. TerraForm Global, citing SunEdison's liquidity issues, said said in a regulatory filing that it would join its parent and fellow yieldco TerraForm Power Inc in delaying its annual report for the year ended Dec. 31. However, the company said it did not rely substantially on SunEdison for funding or liquidity and that it would have sufficient liquidity to support its operations even if its parent sought bankruptcy protection. TerraForm Global's annual report was due by March 30. Yieldcos are publicly traded subsidiaries that hold renewable energy assets, including assets bought from their parents. They are backed by long-term power purchase contracts with utilities, allowing them to pay regular dividends. TerraForm Global, whose shares fell as much as 23 percent to a record low of $1.92, said SunEdison may not transfer to it some solar energy projects in India, for which TerraForm Global has paid $231 million, and also may not complete other deals. The unit's shares closed at $2.03, down 47 cents, or 19 percent. "If SunEdison does not perform under these agreements, it could have a material adverse effect on TerraForm Global," TerraForm Global said. TerraForm Global's chief executive, Brian Wuebbels, is also SunEdison's chief financial officer. Although solar project developers such as SunEdison continue to benefit from robust demand for solar energy, their shares along with those of other solar companies have been hit by investor concerns - largely dismissed by analysts - that demand could fall due to weak oil prices. MATERIAL WEAKNESSES SunEdison has problems of its own, however. The company, which has delayed filing its annual report twice, said this month it had identified material weaknesses in its financial reporting controls. According to a loan agreement filed with regulators, SunEdison could breach a covenant if it does not file its annual report within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year - in this case, March 30. "The delivery of annual financials is required under their first lien credit facility as well as their second lien term loan," said Ian Feng, an analyst at credit research firm Covenant Review. The company has at least $1.4 billion in first-lien and second-lien debt, according to filings. SunEdison is also being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to see if it had exaggerated its liquidity position, the Journal reported on Monday. Vivint Solar Inc scrapped a deal to be bought by SunEdison this month, citing concerns about SunEdison's finances. SunEdison had debt of $11.67 billion as of Sept. 30. Excluding its yieldcos, the company had $7.9 billion of debt, and cash and cash equivalents of $1.3 billion. "At this point, SunEdison has really kinda run out of options," S&P Global Intelligence analyst Angelo Zino told Reuters. As of the summer of 2014, about 200 people worked at SunEdison's Maryland Heights headquarters in finance, human resources and the legal department. It also maintains some research and development employees in an O'Fallon, Mo., facility now operated by its spinoff, SunEdison Semiconductor. SunEdison did not provide an updated job number for the St. Louis region. SunEdison's CEO and many of its employees work out of Belmont, Calif., in the San Francisco area. Its yieldcos are based in the Washington, D.C. area. Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov said TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global were legally separate companies and would not follow SunEdison into bankruptcy. "However, there is a close historical relationship between the parent company and these yieldcos and therefore some dislocation in the event of parent bankruptcy should be expected," he said in an email. TerraForm Power's shares fell as much as 14 percent before recovering to gain 1.7 percent to close at $8.61. TerraForm Global said it was in talks with lenders of its revolving credit facility to obtain an extension on a covenant that requires it to file its annual report on time. TerraForm Global said the credit facility was not critical to the continuation of its business. The company had about $1 billion in cash and $500 million available under its revolving credit facility, according to a presentation posted on SunEdison's website on Nov. 10. Up to Monday's close, SunEdison's shares had dropped about 95 percent in the past 12 months, valuing the company at about $400 million. TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global did not respond to requests for comment. _________ Our earlier story, from Reuters, posted at 8:19 p.m. Monday The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into SunEdison Inc.s disclosures to see if the Maryland Heights-based solar company exaggerated its liquidity last year when it said it had more than $1 billion in cash, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. SEC officials are looking into how much cash the company had on hand in August, when it said it would form a $1 billion warehouse investment vehicle along with funds managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the newspaper said. The company, whose shares had fallen about 95 percent over the past 12 months, is also working with advisers on a potential bankruptcy filing, the report said. The people were also cited as saying that the $1.4 billion in cash that SunEdison had reported as having as of its third quarter consisted largely of cash that the company could not access, adding that the balance had dropped to less than $100 million by November. SunEdison, struggling under a huge debt load, had also stopped paying some contractors and suppliers by the end of 2015 and was scrambling internally for ways to raise cash, the report said. Officials for SunEdison and the SEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The troubled solar company this month said it would delay the filing of its annual report after identifying material weaknesses in its financial reporting, primarily related to problems with a newly implemented IT system. Solar stocks have been hit by the slide in oil prices, which has created anxiety among investors about demand for solar power. As of Sept. 30, SunEdison had outstanding debt of $11.67 billion, the result of an aggressive acquisition strategy. 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 Steve Esmond, Theresa Devine and their teenage sons were on a vacation. The Delaware family was visiting the U.S. Virgin Islands in March 2015 and was staying in a resort in St. John. But during the Caribbean trip, a unit below the one in which the family was staying, was fumigated. Esmond, Devine and their sons were exposed to methyl bromide, a restricted-use pesticide, which would leave them hospitalized with severe health issues, reports indicate. "They're just one of those families that everyone loves to be around," an acquaintance told an ABC affiliate in the wake of the family's poisoning. "It's just horrible." Now Terminix International Co. and its operation in the Virgin Islands have agreed to pay $10 million in penalties for using the pesticide, the Justice Department announced this week. The plea agreement, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands, still needs to be approved, a news release states. "When misused, highly toxic pesticides can have catastrophic consequences, and that's why those who are certified to apply them must do so responsibly and lawfully," Assistant Attorney General John Cruden said in the news release. His statement continued: "The facts in this case show the Terminix companies knowingly failed to properly manage their pest control operations in the U.S. Virgin Islands, allowing pesticides containing methyl bromide to be applied illegally and exposing a family of four to profoundly debilitating injuries." The family's ordeal began in March 2015, when two Terminix employees visited the Sirenusa resort, according to court documents. They "taped and sealed" the kitchen area in a lower-level unit of a building there and released methyl bromide. The exterminators didn't know that Esmond, Devine and their sons were staying in the upper-level unit of the building, the plea agreement states. The methyl bromide "migrated" to the upper unit, and a few days later, the family was hospitalized with neurological symptoms. The teens, who CNN reported had to be placed in medically induced comas, were the worst affected. Esmond reportedly dealt with tremors and had difficulty talking. His wife recovered but was left watching as the rest of her family struggled with devastating health issues. CNN reported: Recovery from their nerve damage has been slow and agonizing for the whole family, but it's been the worst for the boys. The brothers were in medically induced comas for weeks. They are now conscious, family attorney James Maron said, but they are barely able to move. In this week's news release, Cynthia Giles of the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said, "When you break a law that protects public health, there are real victims and real consequences, as this case tragically shows." The rate of children with autism has not changed in the last two years, according to a federal report released Wednesday. About 1 in 68 children are estimated to have an autism spectrum disorder, which was the same rate reported in 2014. In 2012, the rate was 1 in 88 children, up from 1 in 150 children in 2007. It is too early to determine whether the upward trend in autism has stabilized, said officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published the report. Much of the previous increase has been attributed to greater awareness and diagnoses of the disorder. The cause of autism, which is characterized by difficulties in communication and socialization, is not known. There are no definitive medical tests for the disorder, making a diagnosis a somewhat subjective task. The data used to determine autism rates looked at the diagnoses among 8-year-olds in 11 states, including Missouri. The study indicated there are gaps and delays in access to testing and other services, since black and Hispanic children were less likely than white children to have an autism diagnosis. Fewer than half of the children with autism were evaluated by age 3, which is the federal goal for initial testing. The most powerful tool we have right now to make a difference in the lives of children with (autism) is early identification, said Dr. Stuart Shapira, chief medical officer for CDCs National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, in a statement. Parents, childcare professionals and doctors can monitor each childs development and act right away on any developmental concerns. Its important to remember that children can be connected to services even before an official diagnosis is made. The CDC provides free resources for autism interventions. In the largest non-corporate donation ever to Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, the Berges Family Foundation has given $1 million to the help the Maryland Heights facility serve more children as they transition from acute medical care to home. The gift helps the hospital reach its new goal of raising $12 million (after surpassing its original goal) to help fund a $35 million construction project, which will expand the current capacity from 34 patients to 60. The project, expected to begin in October and completed by February 2018, will also allow more children to be served by outpatient therapy programs. The hospital frequently has to turn down referrals because of lack of space, officials said. The Berges Family Foundation, established by Jim and Cathy Berges of St. Louis, has helped institutions and organizations promoting the arts, youth empowerment and STEM academic preparedness as well as those that serve first responders and veterans. Jim Berges, retired president of Emerson, said while serving on the board of St. Louis Children's Hospital, he became aware of the importance of having a facility that provides patients with complex conditions the comprehensive care and rehabilitation needed to make a successful transition to home. Ranken Jordan has developed a superior model for this kind of care, but demand has far outstripped the current facility, Berges said. The new addition will provide capacity to serve almost twice as many patients and we are proud to help. Ranken Jordan CEO Lauri Tanner said staff is very grateful and humbled. Because of their gift, Ranken Jordan is now able to aggressively move forward with our expansion plans, she said. The new addition will bear the name of the Berges Family Foundation. If you spent any time walking West Florissant Avenue, or, heck, even watching cable television, in the late summer or early fall of 2014, then you remember the man in the blue vest. His name is DeRay Mckesson, and these days, hes running for mayor of Baltimore. About 19 months ago Mckesson came to St. Louis armed only with his mind and a phone and soon became a Twitter sensation, helping to turn #Ferguson into the top trending hashtag among social causes in Twitters first 10 years. Now hes part of an important transition in the new civil rights movement identified in some circles as Black Lives Matter. Its a move from protest to action, where those who have been oppressed by a political system that works against them try to assert their influence from inside the system. So many of the changes that will affect peoples lives occur at the city level, Mckesson told me in a phone conversation recently. Thats one of the reasons why he decided to run for mayor in the city where Freddie Gray died, which is also where Mckesson grew up. But the move from activism isnt an either-or situation, he says. Its important that people push from the outside and impact change from the inside, Mckesson says. Both are necessary. Never was that more clear than in the recent negotiations over the consent decree between the city of Ferguson and the U.S. Department of Justice. On March 15, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III shook hands with Michael Brown Sr., after the city signed the consent decree that calls for massive changes in how the north St. Louis County municipality operates its police department and court system. Brown is the father of Michael Brown, whose shooting death at the hands of a white police officer in Ferguson started the unrest that brought Mckesson and other activists to St. Louis. The handshake should have taken place in February, but politics got in the way. As Post-Dispatch reporter Stephen Deere meticulously outlined in a story March 20, the council was split along racial lines as to whether to sign the decree when it was first presented in February. White council members were against it. Black council members were for it. So the council tried to find a midway point and refused to agree to the decree, sending it back and asking for changes. Then, in an act that would have significant consequences, black council members were successful in getting another African-American, Laverne Mitchom, to fill an open seat on the council. For the first time, the citys majority black population had a council that looked like them. Local African-American residents and other advocates for change were outraged that the council hadnt accepted the decree. So was the Department of Justice, which immediately sued. Outside pressure built, and with a 4-3 majority, the council had new leverage to adopt the decree. On March 15, thats what happened. It took the combination of activism and inside politics to make it happen. Other signs of such activism turning to political action are showing up across the country. In Chicago, where several high-profile police killings have riled the city, the prosecutor who was blamed for dragging her feet in filing charges against the police officer who shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald lost her primary race. Same with the prosecutor in Cleveland who didnt file charges against the officers who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Producing political results shows a maturing of a nascent civil rights movement that Mckesson says is still in its infancy. So much of what weve done in the past 19 months is just tell the truth in public, he says. Like the Ferguson Commissions early raucousness, a lot of the communication has been simply about raising awareness, so that people of all races and creeds and backgrounds can see what daily life is like for people who truly are being oppressed by a system that is stacked against them. I think the movement is still young, Mckesson says. Will it be able to grow as people grow? Can the movement build coalitions? Nine years separate Rosa Parks famous act of defiance by simply sitting on a bus in Montgomery, Ala., and the eventual passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For some, the passage of that law, and the Voting Rights Act the next year, signaled an end to the Civil Rights Movement. But the subsequent gutting of that voting rights law by the Supreme Court has led to a series of states passing restrictive voter identification bills that target primarily people of color. Just last week, Hispanics in Phoenix faced massively long lines in an attempt to vote. That wouldnt have happened before the court took away federal protections that had been in place since the 60s. This week the Missouri Legislature is expected to take up its own version of a voter identification bill, despite previous attempts that have been found unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court. If passed, the law would put obstacles in place for about 220,000 existing Missouri voters, many of them people of color or the elderly or disabled. As Mckesson is fond of typing on Twitter: The movement lives. ST. LOUIS A North Carolina man who was arrested in Creve Coeur in the midst of a multi-state mail theft and check fraud spree was sentenced Wednesday to 70 months in federal prison, the U.S. attorney's office said. Jordan Gilmore, 25, of Wade, N.C., recruited two people from Kentucky to join him on the trip to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado and other states, prosecutors said. The group would steal mail, then alter checks that they found and try to cash them, prosecutors said. Creve Coeur police were tipped by a local bank, and stopped a vehicle containing Gilmore and his recruits. They spotted a stack of money on the floorboard and later found stolen mail and $12,000 in the car and $4,000 in the shoe of one of the recruits, Joseph Coan, prosecutors said. The mail had been stolen in Lincoln, St. Charles and St. Louis counties. The checks consisted of money that residents were sending to settle their bills. Coan, 25, of Alexandria, and Megan Adams, 37, of Southgate, pleaded guilty to two counts each of mail theft and bank fraud. Coan was sentenced in January to two years in prison and Adams received time served. She was also ordered to repay $39,377.90. The Missouri Legislature last year enacted a municipal court reform law with special rules for a certain county with more than nine hundred fifty thousand inhabitants. It was a semantic end run around the Missouri Constitution, which says the Legislature generally cant pass special laws in effect in just one place. The Legislature does it all the time. For example, there are 341 sections within Missouri law that pertain to a city not within a county. The city of St. Louis is the only one of those until another city decides to secede from its county. You cant say the name of the place in the law, you can only describe it so just one place applies, said Kevin Engler, a Republican former state Senate majority leader from Farmington. But on Monday, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon E. Beetem threw out the sections of the court reform bill that were directed only at municipalities in a county of more than 950,000 people, saying it was a special law that violated the Missouri Constitution by unfairly targeting St. Louis County. A dozen cities in St. Louis County filed the lawsuit in November to block parts of the law that placed more requirements on them than municipalities in the rest of the state. Under the law, St. Louis County municipalities were banned from generating more than 12.5 percent of their general revenue from traffic fines and fees. The limit was set at 20 percent in the rest of the state, down from 30 percent statewide previously. In a four-page ruling, Beetem also threw out sections of the law, such as financial reporting requirements, that he ruled were in violation of the Hancock Amendment, which bans any mandate not funded by state government. The law, known as Senate Bill 5, passed overwhelmingly with strong bipartisan support, to stop municipalities from abusing citizens through excessive ticketing practices, Koster said in an emailed statement. A municipality should not depend upon prosecuting its citizens in order to fund the cornerstone functions of government. Beetems ruling on the special laws had lawmakers and legal experts wondering about the validity of at least hundreds of laws on the books in Missouri that use similar language. Im not sure exactly what the judges theory is on that because we dont have an opinion or a memorandum of law, said Michael Wolff, dean of St. Louis University School of Law, who served 13 years on the state Supreme Court and was chief justice from 2005-2007. That will be argued out, Im sure, in due course. But Im puzzled as to how this local or special law is any different than hundreds of others on the books. For example, one law sets up planning and zoning near military bases in any second-class county with more than 42,000 but fewer than 43,000 residents. It pertains only to the area around Whiteman Air Force Base in Johnson County. A clerk for Beetem said the judge would not answer questions about how his ruling could affect other laws. The state Supreme Court held in 2006 that a law was a special law that violated the Constitution if only one political subdivision fell within the criteria even though there were other political subdivisions of comparable size, and the population range is so narrow that the only apparent reason for the narrow range was to target one particular political subdivision. The Supreme Court as recently as January used the test to determine that the city of De Soto in Jefferson County had been improperly targeted by a special law. That law required that a city with characteristics fitting De Soto must make payments to a fire protection district. A trial court initially determined that the law was not a special law, but the Supreme Court unanimously reversed it in a decision by Judge Laura Denvir Stith. Once a law is determined to be a special law, the burden is on the state to show a substantial justification, the ruling said, something that did not happen in the De Soto case. David Pittinsky, a Philadelphia-based lawyer hired by a dozen municipalities for the SB5 lawsuit, said the decision in the De Soto case was similar to the facts in the municipal court reform case. The main architect of the reform law, state Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, said if Beetems ruling is upheld, this has significant implications across the state with regard to how the courts look at whether there is a special law. The wording in the law is how everyone has operated literally for decades, he said. CLAYTON The August primary has the potential to reshape St. Louis County governance in the coming years. Tuesdays filing deadline for a spot on the Aug. 2 ballot didnt generate any standoffs quite as dramatic as the 2014 Democratic primary that ended with then Councilman Steve Stenger ousting longtime County Executive Charlie Dooley. But at least one contest hints at a potential political realignment a challenge to 4th District County Councilman Mike OMara, a 15-year incumbent, by state Rep. Rochelle Walton Gray, D-Black Jack. The OMara-Walton Gray race will pit a pair of entrenched county political families against one another at the ballot box. OMara, a Florissant resident and an official with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, won election in 2000 to the council seat occupied by his father, James, who died last year. Walton Gray is the daughter of veteran state legislator Elbert Walton Jr. She was elected in 2008 to succeed her stepmother, Juanita Head Walton, as the Democrat representing the 75th Missouri House district. Alan Gray, Walton Grays husband, will attempt to further the family legislative tradition by putting his name before the voters selecting a replacement for his term-limited wife in the November general election. OMara, closely allied with Stenger, drew fire last year for the sponsorship of controversial legislation to clamp down on landlords renting single-family homes in Glasgow Village and other low-income subdivisions. A St. Louis County judge has temporarily blocked implementation of the ordinance, passed over the objection of the property owners. The next hearing is scheduled for mid-April. OMara is expected to draw support from organized labor and Stenger in the lead up to August. Walton Gray the sponsor of 2016 legislation aimed at addressing law enforcement-issues generated by the unrest in Ferguson enjoys the backing of state Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University, an avowed critic of the Stenger administration. The Missouri Ethics Commission filings show OMara had received slightly more than $24,000 in contributions for the three-month campaign finance reporting cycle ending Jan. 15. Three months ago, the campaign reported having only $91 cash in hand. Walton Gray disclosed $1,540 in hand on Jan. 15 a bankroll since buttressed by a March 17 donation of $25,000 from the Chappelle-Nadal campaign. Curtis Faulkner is running unopposed in the 4th District on the Republican ticket. Further information about Faulkner was not available; his name does not appear as a candidate on the Missouri Ethics Commission website. Libertarian Jeff Coleman is also seeking election to the seat now held by OMara. Other council races Former Democratic state Rep. Patricia Yaeger likewise has no primary competition in the 6th Council District. Kevin OLeary, the 2015 successor to Stenger in the South County seat, is not seeking re-election. A primary challenge from Sam Goodman however awaits Democratic incumbent Sam Page in the 2nd Council District, encompassing the northwest section of the county. Page, an anesthesiologist, was selected by voters to replace the late Kathleen Kelly Burkett in 2015. Last month, he spearheaded legislation to establish a database to track distribution of prescription opioids. The Missouri Ethics Commission listed no campaign finance disclosures with Goodmans name. Amy Poelker, a St. Ann councilwoman and an opponent of the OMara landlord bill, filed as an unopposed Republican candidate in the 2nd District council race. JEFFERSON CITY When Democratic Rep. Margo McNeil finishes her day at the state Capitol during the Legislatures annual session, she doesnt head to a hotel to unwind. McNeil, a former art teacher from Hazelwood, heads across town to a residential neighborhood, where she rents a room at the home of Luana Gifford. While the arrangement may mean a homier, more tranquil place to spend time when away from the statehouse, it also represents another example of the often cozy relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists in Missouri. Gifford, who has more than 20 years of experience as a lobbyist in Jefferson City, represents the interests of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest labor unions in the nation. In an interview with the Post-Dispatch, Gifford said she sees nothing wrong with the rental arrangement as long as she dutifully records it when she files monthly reports with the state office overseeing lobbyist activity. Its very ethical, she said. Gifford is not alone when it comes to renting out rooms or apartments to lawmakers, most of whom spend four-plus months every year away from home. A review of data collected by the Missouri Ethics Commission shows at least 12 additional lawmakers have had business relationships in the past year with lobbyists, ranging from the renting of sleeping rooms to the use of lawmaker-owned businesses. Legal under ethics laws Its all perfectly legal for lawmakers to have business dealings with lobbyists under Missouris wide-open ethics laws, where candidates can take unlimited amounts of campaign money and be wined and dined by the companies and groups seeking to influence policy under the statehouse dome. The housing data comes from business relationships reported by lobbyists on their monthly reports. Along with reporting how much they spend on lawmakers, lobbyists must note any direct business relationships, association or partnership with any public official. Giffords reports note not only her rental to McNeil, but also to Democratic Rep. Genise Montecillo of Marlborough, who, like McNeil, was once a teacher. Montecillo no longer rents from Gifford. Gifford said she and McNeil dont often interact when the lawmaker is in town. She said she generally sees McNeil more at the Capitol than she does at her home. Our hours are so different. They stay and work a lot, Gifford said. I have always rented out a room at my house. A lot of people do for legislators, she continued. Oh, gosh, lots of people rent to legislators. The practice of lobbyists providing lodging for the people they hope to influence persists as Republican leaders in the House and Senate have said they are committed to cleaning up the culture in Jefferson City, where two lawmakers resigned last year after alleged inappropriate relationships with college interns. Another lawmaker, Don Gosen, left office this year after admitting to an extramarital affair. And Democratic campaign operative and former lobbyist David Poger was alleged to have harassed interns who work at the Capitol. A home instead of a hotel For Gifford, the fact that lobbyists are renting space to lawmakers is not a problem. Im sure this practice has been around for a long time. Im sure it was that way before the 20 years Ive been here, Gifford said. I think most legislators like to live at a home rather than rent a hotel room. That appears to be the case for Sen. Gina Walsh, a Democrat from Bellefontaine Neighbors. In January, lobbyist Greg Johnston, who represents a number of companies, reported serving as a landlord for Walsh dating to the middle of 2015. State Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, is listed as renting a room from lobbyist Richard McIntosh. Brent Hemphill is a lobbyist for a number of heavy hitters in Jefferson City, including casino companies, the state restaurant association and BJC Healthcare Systems. He also lists himself as a landlord, providing shelter for Republican state Reps. David Hinson of St. Clair and Lincoln Hough of Springfield. Hinson said he initially booked hotel rooms when he first began his career in the House. But, he didnt like having to remove all of his belongings every Thursday knowing hed be back in town on Monday. Hinson said he began renting from Hemphill when he learned there was a vacancy. Reports show Hemphill previously rented space to state Sen. Eric Schmitt of Glendale and former Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey. My room is in the basement. It has its own access through the outside, Hinson said. He said he doesnt see a conflict with the arrangement. I rarely see him there, Hinson said. In at least one recent case, the roles are reversed. When state Rep. Bill White travels from his home in Joplin to Jefferson City, he doesnt need to stay in a hotel or rent from a lobbyist. Real estate records show White owns a condominium at 605 Buckskin Drive in Jefferson City. Ryan Johnson, a lobbyist for the Missouri Alliance for Freedom, said his firm was paying $350 a month for him to bunk at Whites condo. He recently moved out. Do lawmakers get a deal? Its not clear if the lawmakers are getting a special deal from their lobbyist landlords. The reports dont list how much each of the lawmakers is being charged for the rooms. Schaaf said he believes he is paying fair market value for his quarters. As far as Im concerned I am, said Schaaf, who declined to describe his rental or say how much hes paying for it. Id just as soon not comment. Dont see any problem with it, Schaaf said. Lawmakers receive $112 a day for lodging and meals, in addition to their $35,915 annual salary. In a given month, depending on how many days they are in session, the expense checks could tally up to nearly $1,800 a month. For some, the business relationship is not about a soft pillow and a quiet room to sleep. Records indicate Tyler McClay, a lobbyist, needed a pest control company for his office and called Arts Pest Control. The business is owned by state Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City. Similarly, state Rep. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, is an investment adviser with Edward Jones. Lobbyist William Jarad Falk uses his services and, therefore, must report the existence of a business relationship. Rep. Engler handles my retirement investments, reads a note on Falks January report to the ethics commission. Falk also has reported buying homeowners insurance from former Republican Rep. Chris Molendorp of Belton since 2011. JEFFERSON CITY The sponsor of a proposed constitutional amendment giving Missouri businesses the right to refuse to serve same-sex couples is suggesting that Illinois gay rights laws are dragging down its economy. Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis, told reporters Tuesday that he disagrees with business groups and others who say his proposed constitutional amendment would hurt Missouri. We look at states that have a lot of aggressive gay rights laws Illinois comes to mind, Chicago and they are some of our economic basket cases, Onder said. I really think that these businesses should leave well enough alone and let Missouri voters decide whether to protect religious freedom. His analysis drew jeers from neighboring Illinois, which legalized gay marriage in 2013, two years before the U.S. Supreme Court said the constitution guarantees same-sex couples in every state the right to marry. If elected officials from Missouri want to welcome businesses to come to their state and discriminate against its residents, thats their prerogative, but its not who we are in Illinois, said state Sen. Heather Steans, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the gay marriage proposal. Steans added that the additional revenue Missouri generates via higher income tax rates for most workers could be used to solve some of Illinois budget problems. Its also worth noting that if Illinois tax rates were as high as Missouris, we wouldnt be struggling with the budget problems we have today, she said in a statement issued Wednesday. Controversial amendment The cross-border spat is the latest dust-up in the fight over Onders push to ask voters if they want to amend the state constitution to shield religious groups and businesses from being involved in same-sex weddings. Democrats in the Missouri Senate used their filibuster power this month to keep the issue from being voted on for 37 hours. In the end, however, Republicans forced a vote and sent the matter to the House, where it awaits further debate. Business groups, including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, oppose the proposal, saying it would have a detrimental impact on the states economy. The Kansas City Star reported Monday that the Kansas City Sports Commission believes the change could cost the city more than $50 million a year in economic activity. Dan Mehan, president and CEO of the Missouri chamber, pointed to business-led backlash in other states that have tried to enact laws related to religious freedom and gay rights. Onders comments, for example, came a day after Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, vetoed a religious liberty bill that would have allowed religious organizations to refuse certain services if they conflicted with their beliefs. Similarly, Indiana lawmakers rolled back a similar proposal after business groups expressed opposition. In addition to the chamber, companies such as MasterCard and Creve Coeur-based Monsanto have called on Missouri Republicans to drop the effort. The Southeastern Conference, of which University of Missouri is a member, has expressed concern about the legislation and its effect on student athletes. The NCAA is reviewing the proposed law. Onder contends the constitutional change would be a plus for Missouri. I am disappointed in the reaction of some of those business groups, Onder said. I believe if we look at states that have religious freedom (laws) states like Texas, Utah, Oklahoma, Nebraska we see some of our states that are growing the fastest. I believe it is good business to support religious liberty, Onder said. Defending religious freedom is not bad for business. In fact, it is quite good for business. The legislation is Senate Joint Resolution 39. JEFFERSON CITY A plan to bring Missouri into partial compliance with federal identification laws advanced Wednesday in a House committee. Facing the possibility of Missourians not being able to board aircraft beginning in 2018 because of a disagreement over the federal Real ID Act of 2005, members of the House Emerging Issues Committee voted 9-2 in favor of a plan that would give citizens the option of either getting a regular state ID or one that meets the federal security rules. Eventually this will address the problem, said Rep. Kevin Corlew, R-Kansas City, who sponsored the measure. The legislation, which now moves to the full House for further debate, is a do-over from six years ago when the Legislature approved a plan to ignore a federal law requiring tougher security measures for state-issued IDs. Gov. Jay Nixon signed the 2009 proposal citing privacy concerns with some of the information the feds were requiring states to collect from citizens. However, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced last year that Missouri needs to get in compliance or its residents could be barred from using their state IDs to enter federal facilities or fly on airplanes. Rep. Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, said offering a choice of IDs was a good compromise in the face of pressure from Washington D.C. I dont want to play chicken with the federal government, Haahr said. But Rep. Jack Bondon, R-Belton, said the privacy concerns raised when the state decided to fight the federal requirements are still valid. I think were going after the wrong people. Im fed up about this, said Bondon, who voted no. The legislation is House Bill 2235. Updated at 5 p.m. with comments from the bill sponsor. JEFFERSON CITY With a veto override attempt on a so-called paycheck protection bill looming in the Missouri Legislature, Democrats and union members gathered at the Capitol Wednesday to rally against it. The bill would require public employees in unions to opt in each year for dues to be taken out of their paychecks. Republican backers call the measure "paycheck protection," saying it would hold unions accountable to their membership. But opponents call it "paycheck deception," billing the measure as a veiled swipe at organized labor. Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, vetoed the bill before lawmakers recessed for spring break, setting up an override attempt before the end of the session in May. The bill passed with 109 votes in the House and 23 in the Senate the exact amount needed to override the governor. Nixon said that the paycheck bill represented an unnecessary burden on unions. He and others told the crowd of hundreds of union members outside the Capitol Wednesday that if it weren't for organized labor, there wouldn't be a 40-hour work week, prevailing wage laws and workplace safety measures. "We need to send a clear, unambiguous message that working people built this country, they built the middle class, and they will stand united to defend the values we all share anytime and anywhere they're threatened," Nixon said to applause. Democrats running for statewide office also showed at the rally, offering a glimpse into some of the issues that could define the 2016 election season. Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, who is running to unseat U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said that Missourians don't want "paycheck deception" or another proposal which would grant greater legal protections to wedding vendors and religious groups who oppose same-sex marriage. "Do you know what Missourians do want?" Kander asked. "A level playing field. They want the minimum wage to be a livable wage. They want women to be paid the same amount as men for doing the same job, and they certainly don't want any part of this war on working Missourians taking place in the Capitol." Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat running for governor, received perhaps the loudest applause of the day when he was introduced to the crowd. "Under their guise of economic freedom, special interest groups are working to pit working men and women against one another in an effort to drive down wages in our state," Koster said. "They believe that the bonds that tie Missouri workers together are weak. They believe that they can break you, but they are dead wrong!" State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston and the bill sponsor, said that she wants to hold union leadership accountable, especially when they engage in political activities their membership might disagree with. "All this simply does is allow an annual opt in and it can be electronically and that's it," she said. "If they're providing a good service to their members, they're going to annually opt in. ... However if they've not been doing a good service, they don't get a guaranteed member." Rehder said it's unlikely House Republicans would try to override Nixon this week, because at least one member is ill. But she and House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, said an attempt is likely before the session ends. It's unclear if the veto-proof majority will hold. Seven House Republicans voted against sending the bill to Nixon in early March. Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, also voted against the measure in the Senate. Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, who has voted with unions before, was absent. The bill won the veto-proof majorities courtesy of two Democrats Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal of University City and state Rep. Courtney Curtis of Ferguson who sided with Republicans, criticizing unions for what they say is a lack of minority inclusion. Curtis has said that he'll continue to support the bill, but Chappelle-Nadal said after the Senate voted that she'd reconsider if she felt unions were receptive to her concerns. The legislation is House Bill 1891. Updated at 1:32 p.m. ST. CHARLES COUNTY A stretch of Interstate 70 in Wentzville has been designated a "Travel Safe Zone," which means fines for speeding will double beginning Monday. The new zone is on both directions of the interstate, between Highway A and Wentzville Parkway. This area was chosen because studies showed the number of fatal and serious injury crashes there were greater than the average on similar highways, said the Missouri Department of Transportation, which is implementing the zone. Four people have been killed on that stretch of interstate in the last five years, MoDOT said. Signs will mark the boundaries of the zone, which will remain in place for a year and then be reviewed to see if it needs to stay. "This section of I-70 has seen too many serious and fatal crashes which is why we partnered with the city of Wentzville to encourage motorists to drive the speed limit and hopefully reduce crashes," said Jim Wright, MoDOT's St. Charles County area engineer, in a statement. The area is patrolled by Wentzville police and the Missouri Highway Patrol. The "Travel Safe Zone" on Interstate 70 between Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and the St. Louis city limits was eliminated in 2014 after being in place for 3 years. The eight communities in that eight-mile span were awarded the status in 2010 after a review of accident data. A zone on Interstate 270 between Interstate 70 and Dorsett Road ended in 2015. A seven-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in Jefferson County got the designation last year for the portion of road between Highway Z in Pevely and U.S. Highway 67 in Crystal City, which is still in place. MoDOT also has two other St. Charles County zone in place on U.S. Highway 61 between Highway A and Dietrich Road and on Highway 94 between Defiance and Highway D. Correction: The original version of this editorial said Judge Beetem's ruling would first be heard by the Missouri Court of Appeals. As a constitutional matter, it goes on direct appeal to the state Supreme Court. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon E. Beetem had a clear constitutional reason for throwing out key provisions of a new state law limiting municipal court fees and fines in St. Louis County and imposing new standards for the countys municipal police departments. But the law is complex, and may well be overturned on appeal. The Legislature, meanwhile, should offer some short-term fixes. But Beetem merely had to turn to page 53 of the Missouri Constitution to justify his ruling. Article III, Section 40 contains a long list of restrictions on the Legislatures ability to make special laws. Among them, the Legislature cannot make laws regulating the affairs of counties, cities, townships, election or school districts. This will be news to the Legislature, which does it all the time. Senate Bill 5 passed last spring in the wake of revelations sparked by the Ferguson tragedy. In its original form, it set a statewide limit of 10 percent on the percentage of general revenue cities could generate from court fines. Non-metro counties complained, so they got a 20 percent limit in the final bill while St. Louis County got 12.5 percent. But the law threatened the financial existence of many small North County municipalities, some of whom relied on cops and courts for a third of local revenue. So they sued and won. On Tuesday, Attorney General Chris Koster announced hed appeal Beetems ruling to the Missouri Court Supreme Court. From Day one, that's where this case was headed, but Beetem's ruling means the new law can't be enforced as the appeal unfolds. In the meantime, we hope the countys 90 municipalities, 57 police departments and 81 municipal courts will show some restraint. The first impulse, particularly in some North County municipalities, may be to warm up the radar guns. Drivers who use Interstates 70 and 170 should beware. That not only would be wrong, but would likely backfire. SB 5 addressed some serious abuses by undertrained police officers working on orders from city officials in league with a cabal of traffic lawyers and judges. Those problems remain. Here the Legislature can help. Lawmakers should pass Sen. Eric Schmitts, R-Glendale, SB 572, which contains further municipal court reforms. It can be amended to require cities to file monthly reports on fines and fees to a central state database, monitored by the state auditor. Put an emergency clause on the bill so it takes effect as soon as its signed. At the very least, municipal courts should be required to make up-to-date records available for public inspection. No more secrets. Of course, the Supreme Court can and should make this issue moot. The court should dissolve the countys 81 municipal courts and make them divisions of a professionally managed countywide court system. Thats what real justice would look like. If the execution is carried out, it too will leave a grieving family, in addition to having lost a little boy who might have survived if he could have gotten to the hospital in time. 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. Papakura, the fourth-fastest growing district in New Zealand, is putting itself on the map with an innovative project aimed at attracting new business to the district and the town centre in particular. The campaign is based around a new publication Why Papakura! produced by the Papakura Business Association. It will give real estate companies and businesses looking for new locations comprehensive information about the unique mix of features that make Papakura the ideal place to establish or relocate to, association chairman Neil O'Connor says. It's the first time so much key information has been brought together in one document. O'Connor says there's been a pressing need for a single source of information since the association came into existence. With Auckland's growth accelerating, it's increasingly important that Papakura stand out among the districts and areas that make up the region, he says. "We are literally answering the question why Papakura? It's a response to steadily growing interest in Papakura from other parts of Auckland. "As our place grows and develops we are helping the businesses and companies already present in the district and with this document we are setting out compelling reasons for others to locate here." Why Papakura! sets out the opportunities available in the district. These include favourable commercial rents ranging from $150-$250 per square metre in the CBD; the presence of key anchor tenants and brands; the expanding range of hospitality business opportunities; the rapid growth of apartment living options; the existing market of 45,000 people living in the district; and the high income population adjacent to the district. Why Papakura! will be available as a hard copy and online at papakura.co.nz and will be sent to all major regional real estate companies. HELP AT HAND Auckland Council and Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development are working to support Papakura and other districts identified for significant growth in the region's Unitary Plan. ATEED spokesman Patrick McVeigh says the region's town centres need to position themselves to attract new investment and residents if they're to benefit from Auckland's growth. "The designation of Papakura as a metropolitan centre in the Auckland Plan highlights the growth that will occur in and around the Papakura Local Board area." The Ahsani clan (from left) Saman, Cyrus and Ata, who run the Monaco-based oil company Unaoil at the centre of worldwide bribery scandal. In the list of the world's great companies, Unaoil is nowhere to be seen. But for the best part of the past two decades, the family business from Monaco has systematically corrupted the global oil industry, distributing many millions of dollars worth of bribes on behalf of corporate behemoths including Samsung, Rolls-Royce, Halliburton and Australian company Leighton Holdings. Now a vast cache of leaked emails and documents has confirmed what many suspected about the oil industry, and has laid bare the activities of the world's super-bagman as it has bought off officials and rigged contracts around the world. A massive leak of confidential documents has for the first time exposed the true extent of corruption within the oil industry, implicating dozens of leading companies, bureaucrats and politicians in a sophisticated global web of bribery and graft. After a six-month investigation across two continents, Fairfax Media (publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Stuff) and The Huffington Post can reveal that billions of dollars of government contracts were awarded as the direct result of bribes paid on behalf of firms including British icon Rolls-Royce, US giant Halliburton, Australia's Leighton Holdings and Korean heavyweights Samsung and Hyundai. The investigation centres on a Monaco company called Unaoil, run by the jet-setting Ahsani clan. Following a coded ad in a French newspaper, a series of clandestine meetings and midnight phone calls led to our reporters obtaining hundreds of thousands of the Ahsanis' leaked emails and documents. FAIRFAX MEDIA The Ahsani family behind Unaoil - Ata, Cyrus and Saman. The trove reveals how they rub shoulders with royalty, party in style, mock anti-corruption agencies and operate a secret network of fixers and middlemen throughout the world's oil producing nations. READ MORE: * Codenames, subterfuge and global money trail * Unaoil bribery scandal: The worldwide players * Unaoil bribery scandal: Monaco bribe masters * Unaoil bribery scandal: The Australian angle FAIRFAX MEDIA Cyrus Ahsani (left) and wife Sany, and Saman Ahsani (second right). Corruption in oil production - one of the world's richest industries and one that touches us all through our reliance on petrol - fuels inequality, robs people of their basic needs and causes social unrest in some of the world's poorest countries. It was among the factors that prompted the Arab Spring. It can now be revealed how Unaoil carved up portions of the Middle East oil industry for the benefit of western companies between 2002 and 2012. In part two we will turn to the impoverished former Russian states to reveal the extent of misbehaviour by multinational companies including Halliburton. We will conclude the three-part investigation by showing how corrupt practices have extended deep into Asia and Africa. FAIRFAX MEDIA The advertisment in French newspaper Le Figaro placed by an Australian journalist, using the words Monte Christo to alert a secret informant. The leaked files expose as corrupt two Iraqi oil ministers, a fixer linked to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, senior officials from Libya's Gaddafi regime, Iranian oil figures, powerful officials in the United Arab Emirates and a Kuwaiti operator known as "the big cheese". Western firms involved in Unaoil's Middle East operation include some of the world's wealthiest and most respected companies: Rolls-Royce and Petrofac from Britain; US companies FMC Technologies, Cameron and Weatherford; Italian giants Eni and Saipem; German companies MAN Turbo (now know as MAN Diesal & Turbo) and Siemens; Dutch firm SBM Offshore; and Indian giant Larsen & Toubro. They also show the offshore arm of Australian company Leighton Holdings was involved in serious, calculated corruption. The leaked files reveal that some people in these firms believed they were hiring a genuine lobbyist, and others who knew or suspected they were funding bribery simply turned a blind eye. But some knew much more. A handful of senior insiders at firms such as Spanish company Tecnicas Reunidas, French firm Technip and drilling giant MI-SWACO, not only actively supported bribery but pocketed their own kickbacks; US defence giant Honeywell and Australia's Leighton Offshore agreed to hide bribes inside fraudulent contracts in Iraq; a Rolls-Royce manager negotiated a monthly kickback for leaking information from inside the British firm. Many of those revealed to have been culpable, including the wealthy Ahsani family itself, which runs Unaoil, continue to operate with impunity. The files expose the betrayal of ordinary people in the Middle East. After Saddam Hussein was toppled, the US declared Iraq's oil would be managed to benefit the Iraqi people. Today, in part one of the 'Global Bribe Factory' expose, that claim is demolished. THE BRIBE FACTORY It is the Monaco company that almost perfected the art of corruption. It is called Unaoil and it is run by members of the Ahsani family - Monaco millionaires who rub shoulders with princes, sheikhs and Europe's and America's elite business crowd. At the head are family patriarch Ata Ahsani and his two dashing sons, Cyrus and Saman. Their charities support the arts and children, and Ahsani family members sit on the boards of NGOs with ex-politicians and billionaires. Ten years ago, a spreadsheet showed they had cash, shares and property worth 190 million (NZ$310 million). They are members of the global elite. How they make their money is simple. Oil-rich countries often suffer poor governance and high levels of corruption. Unaoil's business plan is to play on the fears of large Western companies that they cannot win contracts without its help. Its operatives then bribe officials in oil-producing nations to help these clients win government-funded projects. The corrupt officials might rig a tender committee. Or leak inside information. Or ensure a contract is awarded without a competitive tender. If you believe Ata Ahsani, it's all above board: "We are not in the business of fixing jobs for people. Our work is basically very basic. What we do is integrate Western technology with local capability," he said. Did Unaoil bribe public officials? "The answer is absolutely no". But the leaked evidence of their own internal email cache clearly demonstrates that the multimillion-dollar fees Unaoil takes from its clients are funnelled into an industrial scale bribery operation which further entrenches corruption among the powerful few. Bankers in New York and London have facilitated Unaoil's money laundering, while the Ahsanis have built a major property investment business in central London. Since 2007, Unaoil has been certified by anti-corruption agency Trace International. This in itself raises serious questions about the worth of such international accreditation. But for the western companies confronted with questions under anti foreign bribery laws in their own jurisdictions, Unaoil appears to be a reputable and discrete middle-man, giving listed businesses what is known as "plausible deniability". Companies approached about their contracts with Unaoil have emphasised they have strong anti-corruption policies, and are committed to investigating their dealings with Unaoil. IRAQ After the US-led coalition won the second gulf war, it went to guard the oil ministry - leaving the Baghdad museum undefended to be looted of its treasures. But they did not save the oil industry from thieves. The Unaoil files reveal that Western companies, in concert with Iraq's new elite, themselves began a sustained campaign of looting. Unaoil paid at least US$25 million in bribes via middlemen to secure the support of powerful officials - while complaining internally that they were "assholes, and greedy". Between 2004 and 2012, Unaoil corruptly influenced a Who's Who of the country's oil industry: the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq turned education minister Hussain al-Shahristani; Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi (who was replaced in 2014); the Director General of the South Oil Company, Dhia Jaffar al-Mousawi, who in 2015 became a deputy minister; and top oil official Oday al-Quraishi. The most senior politicians received multi-million dollar lump sums, while those lower down the food chain were paid lesser amounts. Quraishi, who oversaw Iraq's most important oil industry expansion project, pocketed a monthly kickback of $US6000 "$5K for him, and $1k he needs for presents to people within" along with additional large pay-offs. The minister, Dr Shahristani, who is now Iraq's education minister, denied he had been involved in any wrongdoing. Other Iraqi officials did not respond to requests to comment. Unaoil also bribed senior insiders working for the international oil companies which were contracted by Iraq to manage its oil fields. The leaked files reveal rampant corruption inside Italian oil giant Eni, which ran the tender processes for contractors working on the giant Zubair oil field. Unaoil's clients in Iraq included British giant Rolls-Royce, US firms FMC Technologies and Cameron, Italy's Saipem, German company MAN Turbo, the US listed Weatherford, Dutch company SBM Offshore and Australia's Leighton Offshore. IRAN "Everything works and progresses on connections, relations with special talent". So wrote an Iranian fixer, part of Unaoil's remarkable network of insiders dedicated to paying and pocketing bribes. After the recent relaxing of United Nations, US and European sanctions, this network has become even more valuable. In 2006, this Unaoil operative complained in emails that one of the company's clients, UK firm Weir Pumps (now owned by US firm SPX), owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars which he had promised to use in part to sling to others in Iran. "[It] is the end of Iranian new year here, expectations high, I am short in cash, and about five million pounds of business with Weir [is] in danger Because I can not fulfill my obligations to my team of Supporters." If the money was not forthcoming, he warned, Weir Pumps risked "melting like a piece of ice, day by day." "over half a million dollars of my consultancy fee I have already spend it for the promotion of their businesses in Iran." A separate set of leaked memos from 2006 said Unaoil would pay "10 k/month" to secure the support of the managing director of a firm chaired by a high ranking Iranian official, part owned by an Iranian government entity and overseen by a board with "political influence." "MD [managing director] wants $10k/month. AA [Ata Ahsani of Unaoil] agree to this given his excellent connections." Unaoil's Iranian network which was also used to assist firms such as ABB, Elliott and Japan's Yokogawa extends beyond the oil industry. In 2011, Unaoil helped solve a dispute involving one of its Australian clients by reaching out to "several influential contacts including the head of the Iranian Police". Prior to the recent easing of sanctions, Unaoil used strategies including front companies to avoid the scrutiny of Western officials. It advised its corrupt fixers to not wire funds using US dollars and to use companies "not having the name Iran in it". LIBYA In 2004, when the West began removing sanctions against Libya, and the regime of Colonel Gaddafi started dealing with foreign companies, Unaoil stood ready. By 2011, its network of corrupt insiders included officials and front men able to influence the dealings of many of Libya's most important oil and gas agencies. In late 2008, a Canadian drilling firm, Canuck Completions, told Unaoil it was "curious about what type of Baksheesh is needed to present to these men in order to get work" in Libya. Among Unaoil's corrupt insiders was the powerful Libyan official, Mustafa Zarti, a confidant for the Gaddafi regime. Unaoil's files describe Zarti as "good friends of President Ghadafi's [sic] son of Libya and have lot of influence in lobbying the jobs in Libya". Unaoil agreed to secretly pay Zarti millions of dollars. In return he would use his influence to advantage Unaoil's clients. "MZ [Zarti] sits on the board of LFIC [Libyan Foreign Investment Committee] which controls Oil fund ($6bn) He sees his role as us executing and him fixing issues we come across. MZ has agreed to bring all his oil & gas work to us," a September 2006 Unaoil memo said. Unaoil's multinational clients in Libya included Malaysian giant Ranhill, Korean conglomerate ISU and Spanish company Tecnicas Reunidas. SYRIA In Syria, Unaoil turned to a middleman close to the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In 2008 and 2009, Unaoil promised the man 2.75 million (NZ$4.5 million), who helped its British client Petrofac win contracts from Assad regime petroleum companies. "Strictly confidential" emails from 2008 show this middleman promised to pay others to win these contracts. But when he was not paid on time, he complained the delays were causing problems with "friends" in Syria. "It is becoming very unpleasant [sic] for me not delivering as expected," he wrote to Unaoil in December 2009. Petrofac is understood to be unaware of Unaoil's involvement in its Syrian dealings and in response to questions said it "aspires to the highest standards of ethical behaviour". KUWAIT AND THE UAE In Kuwait, Unaoil had on its payroll a powerful official, who they called "the big cheese." To direct a contract to Unaoil's long term client in the Middle East, US firm FMC Technologies, Unaoil wanted a payment of US$2.5 million. It then planned to assign a middleman to handle "the big cheese in Kuwait and to decide what portion should go to that man". In the UAE, Unaoil's network included a public official with links to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The leaked Unaoil files reveal this official had commercial dealings with the Ahsanis who, in return, were seeking the official's backing in the region. This included an entree to a project funded by the office of "His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed". Unaoil corrupted a senior official in a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's National Oil company. This insider rigged a tender panel for a Unaoil client, Indian conglomerate Larsen & Toubro. - Sydney Morning Herald and Huffington Post Sign up to receive our new evening newsletter Two Minutes of Stuff - the news, but different. A Marlborough man who assaulted a man and used a tomahawk to smash a car window has avoided a conviction. Dane Jeremy Prescott, of Blenheim, appeared at the Blenheim District Court on Wednesday for sentencing. A police summary of facts said Prescott and the man were in the car park of the Z petrol station on Grove Rd, in Blenheim, on December 1. The man and an associate parked their vehicles around Prescott's car to prevent him leaving about 1pm. Prescott went to his car, removed a tomahawk with a metal handle and smashed the front passenger window of the man's Mazda ute. He chased the man a short way down the street on foot, waving the tomahawk in the air. When he caught up to the man, he punched him in the head. The man sought $445 in reparation from Prescott for the damage to his car. Prescott admitted wilful damage, possessing an offensive weapon and assault in court on December 21, and was remanded without conviction so he could complete restorative justice. On Wednesday, his lawyer Nick McKessar said Prescott had done everything he could to demonstrate his remorse over what happened. There were months of altercations over a business transaction leading up to the assault, involving threatening phone calls to Prescott and an altercation in which the man used a steel bar to threaten him, McKessar said. Prescott had completed restorative justice, anger management, counselling and completed more than 60 hours of voluntary community work. A conviction would be out of proportion to the crime as it would prevent him from being able to travel to Canada, the United States and Australia for family purposes, McKessar said. It would also affect his business which employed a number of employees, he said. Judge Arthur Tompkins said Prescott showed genuine remorse and his actions were a "spontaneous reaction to overriding threats and pressure". Prescott was discharged without conviction for all three charges. Holiday park owners are asking for tighter controls on freedom camping in New Plymouth. Freedom campers using public toilets to clean their dirty dishes and brush their teeth have spurred New Plymouth holiday park owners to call for strict enforcement of rules to keep the budget-minded visitors in line. "Kids are standing outside the public toilets hopping on one foot to the other because the toilets are full," Peter Crawford of Fitzroy Beach Holiday Park said. "Freedom camping is growing around New Zealand...if we are the last district to act, we will become the one with the most problems." Crawford, along with Teresa Bowe of Belt Rd Seaside Holiday Park, spoke to the New Plymouth District Council on Tuesday night, about the growing number of freedom campers - people who camp in areas not designated as campgrounds. READ MORE: * Locals move on freedom campers in South Taranaki * Unwitting illegal freedom campers fill New Plymouth car parks * Taranaki welcomes freedom campers * Council hears submissions on freedom camping bylaw Their concerns come after freedom campers made headlines in Taranaki and across the country this summer, most recently for polluting areas and upsetting locals at some of Taranaki's prime surfing locations. Crawford presented photos to council which showed vans, station wagons and cars staying for free in various car parks and public areas around New Plymouth. The photos also showed some tourists parking-up in cars and pitching tents along New Plymouth's Coastal Walkway. These campers were using ratepayer funded toilets and rubbish bins, and were creating such an eyesore that paying tourists could be deterred from visiting the area, Crawford said. The photos and argument was compelling enough for committee chairman Gordon Brown to request a report on what was happening with freedom camping in New Plymouth, and how other councils in New Zealand were dealing with the issue. Both Crawford and Bowe said they were not against regulated freedom camping but charged the council with not enforcing the bylaw around the growing holiday trend. Crawford explained that under the council's own bylaw, the owner of any vehicle that wasn't a campervan or a motorhome had to apply to a council officer for consent to stay in a public area in New Plymouth. Otherwise they must use one of the campgrounds in the district. However, campervans and motorhomes could stay three nights in any calender month, but only if the vehicle had its own storage for toilet and grey water, he said. "It would seem a clear and fair request that council finds a way to enforce its own bylaw," Crawford said. Bowe said some councils throughout New Zealand had banned freedom camping in city areas, and while she did not think a total ban was the way to go, she did think there needed to be better management of the situation and a policy review. She said she would like to see signs erected and instant fines issued for people who didn't follow the rules. "New Plymouth is one of the world's most liveable cities and we don't want it to turn into anything else," Bowe said. "We need to change the behaviour around this. "You can't park in town for that long and not get a ticket, so why should it be any different for freedom campers?" Bowe and Crawford urged councillors to prohibit freedom campers from parking-up in special areas, including Pukekura Park, the CBD, and the Coastal Walkway. They would also like to see some restrictions in areas, including enforcing the fact that camping units should be self contained. However, they said they were happy for other areas, such a Rifle Range Rd and Huatoki Domain, to be areas for everyone to camp. The report is expected to be tabled at the the next policy meeting. Firefighters freed the man by cutting the roof off his car. A man was seriously injured when a car rolled over an embankment at Prices Valley in Canterbury. Senior Sergeant Vaughn Lapslie said emergency services were alerted to a crash near Birdlings Flat, south of Christchurch, at 1.33pm on Wednesday. "There's a car over the edge of an embankment, just around Birdlings Flat way." Initial reports said the man was trapped in the vehicle, and had suffered serious injuries, Lapslie said. A St John spokesman said the injured man was flown to Christchurch Hospital by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. The scene of an accident where a car hit a pedestrian in Redcliffs. The head of a group advocating for an improved pathway on a coastal Christchurch road has criticised the current safety measures after a pedestrian was hit by a drink-driver. Sarah Jane Arrow, 45, allegedly hit a pedestrian on the Main Rd footpath, in Redcliffs, about 2.10pm Friday. Police allege she was over the limit and failed to take a corner correctly. The Christchurch Coastal Pathway, linking Ferrymead and Scarborough Beach, will eventually go past the area where the crash took place, but that section has been delayed. DAVID HALLETT/FAIRFAX NZ A car struck a pedestrian onto rocks in Redcliffs. The Christchurch City Council had expected to open the final stage in mid-2018, but it has now proposed to only start construction in mid-2018. Christchurch Coastal Pathway Group chairman Tim Lindley said the crash proved the current barriers were "flimsy and don't stop anything of any substance". Lindley said the coastal pathway would ensure pedestrians and traffic were well separated. He said Friday's crash "strengthened" the group's case to install the pathway sooner rather than later. "Our argument was always strong, this just illustrates it. "Clearly it's dangerous around there and if someone who has too much to drink and can't drive their car well is capable of knocking someone off the tiny little footpath there and onto the rocks then there's a matter for concern." Councillor Yani Johanson, who represents the Hagley-Ferrymead ward, said he had asked the council to look at what sections of the plan could be done sooner. "The commitment from council isn't based on delaying the project, it's simply based on the length of time taken to come up with designs and consent and putting it into a realistic timeframe." He said from an "initial glance" the current barriers could be improved, and would discuss a short-term fix with the Hagley-Ferrymead Community Board next week. "I will be raising . . . whether there is anything we can do to add a greater level of safety to people that are going along that pathway. "It does look like it could be improved but I need to get technical information from staff as to what we could do." The council was contributing $9.9 million to the $25m project. About half the pathway, a section between Ferrymead and Redcliffs, has been completed and the Beachville Rd section was under construction. Two of the Timaru District Council's top 10 highest paid employees are women. There are more women than men working for South Canterbury's district councils, but few are included among the highest paid positions. Figures released to Fairfax under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) show 66 per cent of Timaru District Council staff were women. Women also made up 67 per cent of the Mackenzie District Council's staff, and 54 per cent of the Waimate District Councils. While they employed more women than men, women were not equally represented when it came to the top 10 highest paid council positions. Just two of the Timaru District Council's highest paid staff were women, while Mackenzie fared slightly better with three women in the top 10. READ MORE: Less than 20 per cent of district councillors are women The Waimate District Council refused to provide the figures, stating that disclosing the information would mean individuals could easily be identified. The figures have prompted Labour's local government spokeswoman to urge the region's three district councils to show leadership and take another look at their staffing representation in senior roles. Meka Whaitiri said councils needed to be aware of the issue, and should try to reflect their communities. That was important not only for gender equality, but also for race. "We need diversity right through." The trend was similar in the private sector, she said. Whaitiri has requested information about the demographics of council staff from all local authorities in New Zealand. "We need to hold to account those that are languishing at the bottom." Timaru District Council chief executive Peter Nixon said half of the 10 highest paid positions were made up on senior management positions. Two of those were held by women, he said. The other five positions were engineering roles, which did not attract many female applicants, he said. Council employees were hired based on their merit, he said. "We openly look for the best applicant." Mackenzie District Council chief executive Wayne Barnett said historically, the gender balance for senior positions at council had been male dominated. "Our workforce is quite stable and it still reflects this trend," he said. "There is now an overall majority of female employees and I expect the gender balance to even up with the carrier progression of existing staff." When filling positions from the open market, the council's choice would continue to be dictated by the applicant pool, he said. Minister for Women Louise Upston said, on average, about one third of local government politicians were women. Upston encouraged more women to consider standing for elected positions, after it emerged that just 19 per cent of district councillors in South Canterbury were women. Just five of South Canterbury's 26 district councillors were women, with two of the three councils having just one female representative. Upston believed it was important for members of the community to encourage women to stand for local government roles. A band of Native Americans briefly touched down in Tauranga while on a whirlwind tour of Aotearoa to study language preservation, tribal economic development and education among Maori. The 13 members of the Utah Native American Group travelled with local man Ngarongo Ormsby through Auckland, Northland and Waikato and received a warm welcome everywhere. A Department of Internal Affairs review of public access to birth, death, marriage, civil union, and name change records has now entered its second stage. Launched in January 2015, the department is reviewing what information can be made available, who can access it, and where, how and when the BDM information can be made available. Last week, Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne announced the release of a proposal paper which responds to 80 public submissions on the departments review. Peter says the submissions confirm the importance of Kiwis being able to access to BDM records to help establish their identity, trace family history and many other reasons. It is pleasing to note the majority of submissions supported the basic principles underpinning access to BDM records, says Peter. But it was also evident from the submissions that users expectations about how they want to access BDM information have changed since the current rules were introduced in 2009. Peter believes the proposals strike a balance between individual rights and protecting at-risk individuals, plus the publics right to access BDM information for legitimate purposes while providing flexibility to support more convenient access to BDM records over time. The proposals do not involve any changing rules governing information sharing and/or data matching between government agencies, or access to information subject to specific protections like adoption records, explains Peter. I will carefully consider the submissions on the proposals paper before presenting my report to Parliament. The public will be able to make a submission on any changes to the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 1995, including amendments to remove legislative barriers to digital and online services, as part of the usual select committee process, says Peter. The Department of Internal Affairs review is in accordance with the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Act 2008 which requires a review every five years. For more information or to make a submission visit the Department of Internal Affairs website at: www.dia.govt.nz/bdmreview. Submissions close April 29. No matter which branch of farming you are in, you will face tough times, says Nelson farmer and Horticulture NZ President Julian Raine. When that happens, dont be too proud to ask for help. Wellington Police are investigating an alleged serious assault that has taken place in Mahora Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington. This occurred at about 9.50am at a residential address in Mahora Street, near the Pak and Save supermarket in Kilbirnie. Officer in Charge of the Wellington Area CIB, Detective Senior Sergeant Warwick McKee, said Police are currently in the area completing inquiries and speaking to a number of persons. Mr McKee states: The victim is an elderly male who has been taken to the Wellington Hospital. "His condition has been described as critical. I can re-assure the Community as a male person was located in the area shortly after the alleged assault and has been arrested in regards to this matter. "He is currently being spoken to by Police." "Police would like to hear from any person who may have seen a Male person walking along Mahora street, with no shirt on, heading towards the Coutts street area, at around 9.50am." Source: New Zealand Police. The Rare Tea collection includes six fragrances inspired by teas from China, Japan and India, each featuring handpicked tea leaf buds infused into the fragrance through a method similar to the technique for brewing tea. Among the collection are Darjeeling Tea, a fragrance that wraps black tea from the foothills of the Himalayas in the scented embrace of jasmine, freesia and Indian davana. Meanwhile Golden Needle Tea features Chinas coveted Yunnan tea buds at its core and enhanced by leather, spices, sandalwood, and benzoin resin. Another standout from the collection is Jade Leaf Tea, which combines Sencha tea, which is grown off the island of Kyushu, andwith sesame seeds, pomelo, and frankincense. Each fragrance will retail at $346 for a 175-ml. bottle and the collection will be available to purchase from April. Founded by eponymous British perfumer Jo Malone, the brand was sold to American cosmetics giant Estee Lauder in 1999. Syracuse, NY -- The conditions at a Butternut Street apartment complex worsened all winter as those in charge did little to fix things, tenants and a non-profit said. There was no heat or water for stretches in the three-story, 25,500-square-foot apartment building at 1313 Butternut St., known as "Little Mo" for the large numbers of Somali refugees resettled there. "Mo" is short for Mogadishu, the Somali capital. Tenants endured cold apartments in the dead of winter and a leaky roof that sent water cascading through ceilings, according to residents and Catholic Charities, which resettled the refugees. In February, public interest lawyers at Legal Services of Central New York filed a class-action lawsuit against the property manager and the anonymous owners behind an LLC. They weren't looking for money: they just wanted the problems fixed. Syracuse.com learned of the lawsuit by digging through court records. Multiple calls to lawyers representing the property manager and the owner were not returned over a few weeks. The management company, CNY Property Management, is owned by a well-connected Syracuse man, John St. Denis. He did not respond to repeated requests for an interview through his company. Last Thursday, Syracuse.com left final messages with lawyers for the property management company and the owners, saying that a story would run Sunday about the complex. On Friday, a lawyer for the property management company contacted the legal services lawyer. The property management lawyer asked the tenants to compile a list of all of the problems, said Josh Cotter, the legal services lawyer. A Somali translator who lives in the building is helping the tenants -- many of whom have been in this country less than a year -- to compile that list, Cotter said. Based on Syracuse.com interviews and the lawsuit, here are some problems that will undoubtedly be named: Bedbugs, cockroaches and other vermin (the complex has recently agreed to have the building exterminated.) Better security to keep out intruders (families complained of drug-dealing and other problems in the common areas. A non-refugee resident was killed by police earlier this year after a drug complaint. Police said Sahlah Ridgeway confronted officers with a sawed-off shotgun.) Working sinks, toilets, stoves and bathtubs (the water has not been shut off in some time now. But residents said many pipes leak and there are problems with mold.) Since the lawsuit, property management has made some fixes: some stoves, sinks, showers and toilets have been repaired. There's a new lock on the front door. But Cotter, the legal services lawyer, said there's more work to be done. As for the lawsuit, Cotter is giving property management time to make repairs before going before a judge. Ideally, Cotter said, the two sides could come to a settlement once repairs are made that allows legal services to monitor the conditions for a few years. The lawyers aren't looking for money, he said. green photo.JPG Andrew Green leaves County Court after his arraignment March 28, 2016. (Douglass Dowty | ddowty@syracuse.com) Andrew Green Syracuse, NY -- An Air Force colonel from Jamesville remains on active duty after being indicted for having repeated sex with an underage girl, the military confirmed. Andrew Green, 49, was arraigned Monday on multiple counts of rape and sex abuse, alleging that he had repeated sex with a 15-year-old girl last year in DeWitt and Manlius, according to the indictment. All of the charges are based on the the victim being under 17 years old, the age of consent. There's no allegation of force. Green remains free on $5,000 cash bail while the case is proceeding. A public affairs officer at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio confirmed that Green is still employed as "special assistant" pending the outcome of the "Col. Andrew Green is still employed with the United States Air Force at the Air Force Research Lab in Rome, NY," media operations section chief Daryl Mayer said in an e-mail. "He is performing military duties as the Special Assistant to the Commander at Rome Research Site pending outcome of the New York State criminal proceeding." Green had been division chief of the Rome operation before his arrest in early February. Jason Kopp 3 cropped.JPG Jason Kopp in a 2007 photo. (Chrissie Cowan | The Post-Standard) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A federal grand jury today indicted a man and a former elementary school aide on charges of sexually exploiting three young children for the purpose of making child pornography. Jason Kopp, 40, and Emily Oberst, 23, were indicted on charges of taking sexually explicit photos of three victims. When they were charged two weeks ago, Oberst and Kopp were accused of sexually exploiting only a 16-month-old girl. The two other victims were a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, the indictment said. Kopp's victims were a 16-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, the indictment said. Oberst is accused of exploiting the 16-month-old girl and a 4-year-old girl, the indictment said. The crimes started in 2014 and ended March 18 of this year, the indictment said. Kopp, of Liverpool, and Oberst, of Syracuse, were arrested 11 days ago on charges of sexual exploitation of a child and distribution of child pornography. "The indictment alleges criminal conduct that is unspeakable - the sexual exploitation and abuse of the most vulnerable members of our society, our very young children," U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said. Federal prosecutors will hold Oberst and Kopp "accountable to the fullest extent of the law," he said. An undercover federal investigator started texting March 4 with a user called "daymein39" on Kik, court papers said. The investigator posed as a man named John. Kik is an online messaging app that allows people to anonymously share photos, messages and videos. Federal agents determined that "daymein39" was Kopp, court papers said. Over the next two weeks, Kopp and the undercover agent had online conversations in which Kopp told him a female acquaintance had allowed him to have illicit contact with a baby girl, according to the FBI. The FBI later identified the acquaintance as Oberst, court papers said. Kopp sent the undercover investigator "lewd and lascivious" photographs of the girl and said he'd sexually abused the child, FBI Special Agent Alix Skelton wrote in an affidavit. Kopp had Oberst take a photo of the baby with a sign that included the name John to prove she had access to the child, Skelton wrote. Oberst was working as an aide at All Saints Elementary School in Syracuse when she was accused of taking the photos. The school's principal, Rosalie Pollman, told parents in an email last week that the FBI was looking into whether students at the school were somehow involved in Oberst's "criminal activity." Neither Pollman nor the FBI would comment on whether any pictures of All Saints students were found on Oberst's or Kopp's phones or computers. Hartunian credited the FBI, its child exploitation task force in Washington, D.C., the New York State Police, and the Onondaga County DA's office. Contact John O'Brien anytime | email | Twitter | 315-470-2187 Kopp Oberst Indictment Moroughan & Hence bars.JPG Kyle B. Moroughan and Krystal Hence (Provided photo) ROME, NY - Two city of Rome residents were arrested and charged with felonies after Oneida County Sheriff's deputies said they found a quantity of methamphetamine and heroin packaged and ready for sale at their residence. Kyle B. Moroughan was arrested and charged with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and Krystal N. Hence was charged with one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said. Deputies said other charges are pending. The ages of the two was not immediately available. The pair were arrested at 518 N. Jay St. in Rome. Polices aid cash also was discovered. Deputies also said they found meth-manufacturing supplies in the home. The children that also resided at the residence were released to family members, and Child Protective Services was contacted, deputies said. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two dogs were rescued Wednesday morning from a smoke-filled basement of a burning Syracuse home. The Syracuse Fire Department rushed to 1312-1314 W. Onondaga St. at 9:40 a.m. after a mailman spotted smoke coming from the home, said Syracuse Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Hess. When firefighters entered the home, smoke had filled the entire two-story home -- spreading from the basement to the attic. Firefighters found two dogs in the basement, where the fire appears to have started, Hess said. The friendly dogs were put on leashes and led out of the home, he said. Paramedics checked out the dogs while firefighters put out the flames. No residents were home when the fire started, Hess said. As firefighters wearing masks put fans in the home's windows to ventilate the residence, light clouds of white smoke continued to curl out of a hole cut in the roof. Some firefighters rolled up the hoses on the street while others spoke to Syracuse police officers and National Grid workers. Two paramedics wrapped one of the dogs in white towel, cuddling the dog as it sat on the front bumper of a firetruck. The dog occasionally licked the paramedics' cheeks. Led onto the street by a firefighter, the second leashed dog looked around the street as emergency responders milled around the damaged home. The dog closed its eyes and leaned against each of the smiling police officers, firefighters and paramedics who stopped to pet its head. Hess said no firefighters were injured. He said the dogs were in good shape. Firefighters are working to find the residents who lived in the home. If they can't contact the dogs' owners, Hess said the dogs will likely be brought to the Central New York SPCA. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. According to Onondaga County real property records, the two-family home was built in 1920. The home is owned by Henry Kearse and Elizah Bary, 202 Boise Drive, Syracuse, records show. UPDATE: State police said Tuesday night that 14-year-old Mary Pagan-Martinez had been found safe and is now with her family. State police did not provide any other information. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Authorities are seeking help finding a girl who is believed to have run away from home. The New York State Police said 14-year-old Mary Pagan-Martinez was last seen Thursday when she ran away from family on Delhi Street in the city of Syracuse. State police did not provide further details, but said Pagan-Martinez may be in the Syracuse area. She is described as a 5-foot-10-inch black girl weighing 250 pounds. She had brown hair and brown eyes. State police asked anyone with information on Pagan-Martinez's whereabouts to contact 315-366-6000. Bomb threat 2.JPG An Onondaga County sheriff's deputy keeps watch at one of the entrances to Cicero-North Syracuse High School on Tuesday afternoon while students wait in school buses. Students evacuated the school after a suspicious package was found inside the school. (Samantha House | shouse@syracuse.com) CICERO, N.Y. -- A Cicero - North Syracuse High School student is accused of planting a phony bomb in his school's cafeteria that caused the building to be evacuated Tuesday. The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday night that it had charged a 17-year-old male student with first-degree placing of a false bomb. The sheriff's office did not name the student and said his identity was not being released "while school officials are notified of the arrest and conduct their internal investigation into the incident." Students and staff evacuated the school around 11 a.m. after a suspicious package was discovered inside the 6002 Route 31, Cicero building. Sheriff's office K-9s and the bomb squad were called in and searched the school. Bomb technicians later examined the suspicious package and determined that it posed no threat. Students and staff were allowed inside a couple hours later. During the sweep of the high school some students were bused to other schools in the district due to the cold. Others were put on idling school buses nearby. Within hours of the evacuation detectives had developed the 17-year-old student as a suspect. The sheriff's office did not provide specifics, but said detectives identified the student as a suspect though "investigative techniques plus interviews." The student was expected to be arraigned Tuesday night. 2015-10-4-ss-CRT_FINAL_12.JPG Syracuse police officers search for evidence at a scene in September 2015. (Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com ) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- As shootings soared and murders remained near record levels last year, property crime plummeted and total crime in Syracuse fell. According to data collected by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, the total number of index crimes reported in Syracuse for 2015 dropped 10 percent to 6,204, the lowest since at least 1990. Related: Crime in New York state reached 'all-time low' in 2014, report says Index crimes -- murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft -- are often used by law enforcement as indicators of overall crime trends. Reported property and violent crime both decreased last year, but at different rates. Property crime dropped more than 11 percent to 5,087 crimes, the fewest since 1990. Reports of violent crime dipped 2 percent last year to 1,117 crimes. That was the lowest level since 1990. In 2014 total violent crime was also the lowest in decades. Crime had already been on the decline in Syracuse. Though many types of crime continued to decrease, shootings soared during 2015. Shootings rose 20 percent from 94 in 2014 to 113. According to state data, it was the most shootings the city had seen in at least a decade. Related: Syracuse crimes go unsolved as witnesses stay silent The number of shooting victims also jumped 32 percent, to 142 people. That number is the most shooting victims reported in a decade. The 23 homicides police investigated last year nearly tied the record of 25 homicides. Assaults rose 2 percent to 684. Robberies fell nearly 12 percent to 359, the lowest in decades. Rapes ticked up from 49 to 52. Every category of property crime dropped at least 10 percent last year. Burglaries led the way with the crime dropping 15 percent. The 1,194 burglaries reported last year represented the fewest in Syracuse in at least 25 years. Burglaries had already dropped to record lows. Vehicle thefts fell 13 percent and larcenies dipped 10 percent. Total felony and misdemeanor arrests by police dropped about 5 percent last year. Despite a steep increase in shootings and the stubbornly high number of homicides, Syracuse remained unchanged in at least one aspect. The city's violent crime rate again landed it in the middle of the pack compared to other cities in the state. Syracuse's violent crime rate -- 77.3 crimes per 10,000 people -- was higher than New York City, Binghamton, Utica. But it was lower than Albany, Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Rochester. SHARE Airial Johnson, 31, 2600 block of Avenue R, Fort Pierce; destroying, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence; possession of cocaine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of cocaine; possession of heroin, more than 20 grams. Aubrey D' Entremont, 24, 300 block of 11th Street, Fort Pierce; warrant for violation of probation, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Mack Williams, 33, 3200 block of Avenue B, Fort Pierce; battery touch or strike; burglary of an unoccupied dwelling while unarmed. Steve Utts, 19, 1100 block of Hibiscus Street, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, attaching unassigned tag. Frank Cortino, 33, 1600 block of Norman Lane, Port St. Lucie; warrant for aggravated battery. Antonio Smith, 29, 1100 block of Granadeer Street, Port St. Lucie; warrants for possession of a firearm by convicted felon, robbery with a deadly weapon/actual possession of a firearm, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon; possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon. John Ketter, 51, 100 block of Twylite Terrace, Port St. Lucie; warrants for sale, delivery or possession with intent to sell or deliver hydromorphone, possession of hydromorphone, unlawful use of a two-way communications device. Brayan Zambrano, 34, 4900 block of Barcelona Avenue, Fort Pierce; out-of-state fugitive, California, possession of concentrated marijuana, possess of marijuana for sale, sale or transportation of marijuana. Jennifer Faragoi, 37, 2400 block of Hinchman Street, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, felony charge. Louis Resseque, 32, 4400 block of Jaunt Road, Port St. Lucie; warrant for sale or delivery of methadone, possession with intent to sell or delivery methadone, unlawful use of a two-way communications device. Philip Lorenzo, 35, 3900 block of Laffite Street, Port St. Lucie; possession of burglary tools with intent to use. Emilly Alvarez, 25, Paterson, New Jersey; warrant for violation of probation, grand theft. Richard Naylor, 38, 6000 block of U.S. 1, Fort Pierce; possession of cocaine; possession of cocaine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver. Roy Wayne, 20, 2400 block of Okeechobee Road, Fort Pierce; warrant for grand theft. Arrested in Indian River County. Richard McKinnon, 52, 1700 block of 45th Avenue, Vero Beach; warrant for violation of probation, DUI with .15, two or more prior convictions, outside of 10 years. SHARE Dr. Barbara Anderson By Lamaur Stancil of TCPalm MARTIN COUNTY Whether it was in the schools, her church or her home, Dr. Barbara Anderson shared her love of music. "She'd play the piano after dinner," said her husband, Dr. David Anderson. "It had a soothing effect." The former Martin County School District music teacher and administrator died unexpectedly last week at age 73. She spent 39 years in the district, her husband said. In her final years with the district, she served as executive director of instructional services. Schools Superintendent Laurie J. Gaylord described Barbara Anderson as a passionate and positive educator. "She cared deeply for the School District and the community," Gaylord said in a statement. David Anderson said she also cared for the three sons they raised and wanted to spread the gift of music to anyone she could teach. "She felt anyone could learn to read music," her husband said. "And the kids just gravitated to her." Barbara Anderson was a Stuart native who went to college at Florida A&M University and later earned a doctorate. She and her husband, also a former educator, were the first black teachers in Martin with doctorates. "The sky was the limit, since we came from poor families," David Anderson said. "Education was the only profession that blacks were doing at the time. Since that was our profession, we decided we wanted to be the best." The couple married in 1967. At home, Barbara Anderson's favorite song to play was "I Love You Truly," a popular wedding song from the early 20th century. Otherwise, she was tuning up gospel and worship songs for her church, Port Salerno Church of God, where she served as minister of music for 30 years. "She saw music as something you could do for a lifetime, but not necessarily just for a living," David Anderson said. Dr. David L. Anderson Middle School in Stuart was named in honor of David Anderson. DR. BARBARA ANDERSON, 1944-2016 Barbara Anderson spent nearly four decades in the Martin County School District as a teacher and an administrator. She spent three decades as minister of music at Port Salerno Church of God. Visitation will be held from 5 p.m. to 7:30 Friday at the church, at 4605 S.E. Cove Road, Stuart. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Christ Fellowship, 10205 S.W. Pratt Whitney Road, Stuart. By Lamaur Stancil of TCPalm INDIAN RIVER COUNTY Colin Nolan said he received a call from his wife last week that she burned her hand while at a vehicle fire. It wasn't until he saw the video of how his wife, Indian River County Sheriff's Office Deputy Linda Nolan, suffered her injury that he realized how greatly she understated the circumstances. Gov. Rick Scott awarded Nolan and Deputy Robert Sunkel with Medals of Heroism during his Cabinet meeting in Tallahassee on Tuesday. The two pulled a motorist from a burning car on March 23. The patrol car dashboard camera video of the rescue of Cheryle Coons, 58, of Vero Beach, from a fiery three-car accident has been played millions of times on televisions, smartphones and laptops across the country. Tuesday, the three-minute video was played before a one-of-a-kind audience: the Florida Cabinet. Coons remains in critical condition at Kendall Regional Medical Center's Burn Clinic in Miami, a hospital spokeswoman said. "It was a big honor and nice to receive it as a first responder," Linda Nolan said. Nolan said she was also honored to receive the medal alongside Florida Fish and Wildlife Officer David Brady, who was shot and wounded in August after responding to a disturbance aboard a sailboat in St. Andrews Bay near Panama City. Sheriff Deryl Loar and family members for each deputy attended the ceremony. The Nolans made the drive together to Tallahassee, while Sunkel was joined by his mother and father. "I felt they were both protected by God," said Suzie Sunkel, Robert Sunkel's mother. "It was very emotional to see the video. He was giving his life for another without a second thought." On March 23, Coons was traveling in a Toyota Camry south on 66th Avenue and made a right turn onto Oslo Road, Florida Highway Patrol troopers said. She pulled in front a westbound septic tank truck and the Camry was struck on the driver's side. The septic truck then collided with a garbage truck in the eastbound lane. Neither truck driver was injured. The fire ignited after the collision, raising flames on the driver's side of the Camry and inside the car, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputy Robert Sunkel arrived minutes after the collision and smashed the passenger side window. Deputy Linda Nolan brought a fire extinguisher and sprayed the inside of the Camry to get the flames away from Coons. Then the deputies teamed up to pull the motorist out of the car. "About 10 seconds after we dragged her away, the entire passenger side of the car was covered in flames," Sunkel said. The rescue is an example of the work law enforcement can perform at a moment's notice, Suzie Sunkel said. She's glad the video has been heavily circulated. "Police are always saving people," Suzie Sunkel said. "This isn't a one-shot deal." Indian River County School District's administrative building, the J.A. Thompson Administrative Center. (FILE PHOTO) By Andrew Atterbury of TCPalm INDIAN RIVER COUNTY Some School Board members would consider banning the Confederate flag from the School District, as long as they can be assured it's legal. Outlawing the flag was brought up Tuesday in a meeting between school officials and NAACP representatives, who say the flag is a racist symbol that should not be tolerated on campus. "Do we really believe that our students will look at one of these flags and go, 'Wow, that is somebody's freedom of speech?' " asked Board Member Claudia Jimenez. "We can't control what students do outside of school, but I think we owe it to our students to have a serious reflection and conversation whether or not we believe (this is OK)." Board Chairwoman Dale Simchick said she has no problem including a Confederate flag ban in the dress code. She said she is unsure, however, if the district can keep students from displaying the flag on their vehicles. The board and NAACP met to discuss the federal desegregation order, which has been lingering over the district since 1967, but conversation turned to the Confederate flag, which some view as a racist symbol representative of slavery and the Civil War. "I'm not talking about anybody's right of freedom of expression," said Tony Brown, president of the NAACP's Indian River County branch. "I'm talking about an environment that's not conducive to our children getting a proper and fair education." The desegregation order calls on the School District to create an equitable school system for minority students. Brown pointed to a recent incident at the Freshman Learning Center, a Vero Beach campus for ninth-graders, where two students were caught and punished for distributing a flier that included a Confederate flag and racist language against African-Americans. In light of the incident, Brown said, the district should take an emergency look at its code of conduct. He said it puts children in jeopardy by not including the Confederate flag among the "inappropriate sayings, themes or advertisements such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs or gang-related symbols" banned by School Board policy. Students are comfortable displaying the flag because they don't fear punishment from the district, Brown said. The district considered the racist flier a serious school disruption, Superintendent Mark Rendell said, and the students responsible were suspended for 10 days and may be placed in an alternative school The students were not identified because of privacy laws, officials have said. To specifically ban an article such as the Confederate flag, the board must prove it took action because of an underlying disruption or racial tensions and unrest, said Suzanne D'Agresta, School Board attorney. In some instances, courts have upheld Confederate flag bans in schools, but have overturned bans in schools that outlawed the flag without a factual basis to do so, she said. "We need to have that underlying basis as part of our record to adopt that sort of policy or to amend our existing code of conduct," D'Agresta said. Neither Martin nor St. Lucie counties ban the Confederate flag from its schools or campuses, officials said. Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, left, and Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater confer during session Jan. 13 in Tallahassee. All Aboard Florida companies contributed $6,500 to the Florida Leadership Committee, the political committee supporting Latvala in his bid for Senate presidency. (AP FILE PHOTO) By George Andreassi of TCPalm Correction: This article has been modified from its original version. All Aboard Florida's passenger train project is expected to cost $3 billion. ABOUT THIS STORY All Aboard Florida has $3 billion riding on a passenger train project that could be derailed if Florida denies just one of the 17 permits the company needs to proceed. What are AAF companies doing to ensure that doesn't happen? To answer that question, Treasure Coast Newspapers pored over lobbyist compensation databases, state campaign finance reports and state and federal records, and conducted more than a dozen interviews to see how the companies invested money in Florida's political machine. _________________ All Aboard Florida and its affiliates have spent more than $3 million on the Florida political system since 2011 as it prepares to launch a Miami-Orlando passenger train project, a Treasure Coast Newspapers investigation found. More than $2 million went to five consultants to lobby the state government, including two who were major fundraisers for Gov. Rick Scott's 2015 inaugural festivities, the investigation found. More than $900,000 went to state political parties, candidates, elected officials and the independent committees that support them, including nearly $200,000 to Scott's "Let's Get to Work" since 2011, the investigation found. The project needs 17 permits and approvals from six state agencies, records show. SCROLL DOWN FOR A LIST OF PERMITS The heads of those agencies serve at Scott's pleasure, making him the most important figure in the state permitting process. The campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures are part of AAF's strategy to get a green-light for its $3 billion project, several political experts said. "They are trying to do their best to keep the governor supportive and to get the agencies to issue the approvals they need," said Aubrey Jewett, an associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida. "The various agencies make the direct decisions, but since Gov. Scott appoints those agency heads, the governor is extremely important in this process and agencies are unlikely to go against his expressed wishes." THE LEADERSHIP AAF companies have ramped up their spending since Jan. 1, 2015, pouring $1.2 million into lobbying fees and campaign contributions. The largest campaign contributions went to political committees working on behalf of two state lawmakers moving into leadership positions, as well as Scott's committee. AAF companies contributed $50,000 on Jan. 11, 2016, to Florida Roundtable, a political committee supporting state Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Lutz, who will be House speaker for the 2017-18 legislative term. Corcoran voted March 4 for a bill to allow alcoholic beverage sales at AAF stations. Corcoran declined to say whether he supports the AAF project. If that issue comes before us next year, we will address it in an open, collaborative, and principled manner, Corcoran said in an email from a publicist. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with my voting record or legislative career could tell you that campaign contributions have zero impact on my decision-making. Corcoran also declined to answer other questions posed by Treasure Coast Newspapers about the political spending by the AAF companies. Leadership positions always draw money, said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida. Speakers of the House control the docket, who goes on committees, what bills are ultimately heard. They have tremendous influence over what legislation can actually be heard in their chamber. The companies have not donated any money, however, to the lawmaker who rounds out the top-three most powerful in the state: Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who will be the 2017-18 Senate president. Negron's district runs the length of the Treasure Coast, the epicenter of public opposition to AAF's faster and more frequent trains. "I do not support the All Aboard Florida train proposal," Negron said in 2014. "I have serious concerns about the project from the noise and safety issues to the traffic and boating congestion the trains will cause. I will oppose any state funding for the All Aboard Project." Many Treasure Coast residents worry AAF trains will ruin the region's quality of life, tie up traffic, delay emergency vehicles, increase the dangerousness of the railroad tracks, divide communities in half and harm downtown businesses. "There's an old saying, 'You go where your support is,' " MacManus said. "If it looks like support would put a particular legislator in a difficult position or that legislator would likely not support the proposal, then it would make sense to go to a person who was in a better position to yield a favorable decision." AAF SUPPORTER That person is Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, who will chair the powerful committee that will decide on state spending for the 2017-18 term. AAF companies contributed $6,500 to the Florida Leadership Committee, the political committee supporting Latvala, who was Negron's rival for the senate presidency. Latvala said he supported AAF and previous passenger rail projects to encourage motorists to switch to mass transit. AAF companies' contributions to Latvala's political committee was a minuscule percentage of the $3 million in donations to that fund, he said. "I accept contributions from legal entities doing business in all types of industries in Florida," Latvala said in an email. "Many of the groups who contribute to that committee end up having issues that I vote against. There is no correlation between political contributions and my voting record." AAF companies also contributed $18,500 to the campaigns and political committees of 14 lawmakers and candidates from the Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville regions. Those contributions make sense because Florida East Coast Railway is based in Jacksonville, Florida East Coast Industries is headquartered in Miami and the train line will run between Miami and Orlando, MacManus said. "Those are places where the railroad company has been very successful." Companies typically make campaign contributions to build relationships with elected officials so they will be more likely to listen to sales pitches for projects and funding proposals, several political experts said. "They want a 'yes,' " said Frank Schnidman, executive director of Florida Atlantic University's Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions. "I think that what the railroad is doing is making an investment. They're buying access and they're hoping that they can prevail. When you look at this level of campaign contributions, it's like hitting a mule with a two-by-four right between the eyes. They will pay attention." PERMIT APPROVAL The failure to obtain even one permit theoretically could halt AAF's train project, said several Treasure Coast officials monitoring it. However, they expect AAF to make every effort to meet the permitting requirements. "If they cannot meet the permit requirements, they cannot construct that project without those permits," said Amy Petrick, a Martin County senior assistant attorney who has been involved in legal actions aimed at halting the train project. That's the reason for the full-court press, especially on Scott, said Republican Paula Dockery, a political commentator who served 16 years in the state Senate. "I think the most important person to see this project through is the governor because of the permitting," she said. "The governor has the ability to influence agencies under his control to grant or deny permits. So without the governor's approval, a project like this could easily die." Meanwhile, Scott's office and AAF's parent company downplayed the importance of the campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures. "The state of Florida has taken multiple steps through DEP and FDOT to hold this project accountable," Scott spokeswoman Lauren Schenone said in an email, referring to the Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Department of Transportation. Schenone and Melissa Shuffield, a spokeswoman for Florida East Coast Industries, the parent company of AAF and Florida East Coast Railway, did not answer Treasure Coast Newspapers' questions about the project, permitting, lobbying and campaign contributions. Instead, Shuffield emailed this statement: "FECI has operations throughout the state and invests in significant infrastructure and transportation projects around Florida. Given the nature of its infrastructure investments, the company interacts with governmental agencies on a regular basis. Further, we support individuals, regardless of party affiliation, who support initiatives that further the economic development of our state." AAF NEEDS THESE OKS Florida Department of Environmental Protection Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification Environmental Resource permit (east-west and north-south corridors) Sovereign Submerged Lands approval for bridges Coastal Zone Management Act South Florida Water Management District Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification Environmental Resource permit (Cocoa to Orlando segment) De Minimis Exemption for upland track work ROW permits for work over canals under Coast Guard jurisdiction Coastal Zone Management Act St. Johns River Water Management District Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification De Minimis Exemption for upland track work ROW permits for work over canals under Coast Guard jurisdiction Coastal Zone Management Act Florida Department of Transportation Occupancy and Use permit ROW permit Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Gopher tortoise permit Florida State Historic Preservation Office National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 concurrence Source: Federal Railroad Administration's Final Environmental Impact Statement, August 2015 POLITICAL SPENDING All Aboard Florida companies contributed $316,000 to state elected officials, candidates and their political action committees. Gov. Rick Scott $125,000: Lets Get to Work PAC Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Lutz $54,000: $4,000 to his campaign and $50,000 to the Florida Roundtable PAC Rep. Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast $21,000: $1,000 to his campaign and $20,000 to the Florida Foundation for Liberty PAC Other lawmakers $6,500: Florida Leadership Committee PAC (Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater) $2,000: Floridians for a Strong 67 PAC (Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami) $2,000: Rep. Cyndi Stevenson, R-St. Augustine $1,000: Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Maitland $1,000: Rep. William Travis Cummings, R-Orange Park $1,000: Rep. Jay Fant, R-Jacksonville $1,000: Rep. Mike Miller, R-Orlando $1,000: Rep. Jeanette Nunez, R-Miami $1,000: Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Miami $1,000: Rep. Rene Plasencia, R-Orlando $1,000: Rep. David Richardson, D-Miami Beach Candidates $3,500: Leadership for Broward PAC (Lauren Book, Senate) $1,500: Jason Michael Fischer, House, R-Jacksonville $1,000: Sheri Treadwell, House, R-Jacksonville $1,000: Katherine Van Zant, House, R-Palatka $500: John Couriel, House, R-Miami Business political committees $125,938: Florida Chamber of Commerce PAC $125,000: Florida Jobs PAC (Florida Chamber of Commerce) $5,000: JaxBiz PAC (Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce) $3,000: Business Force PC (Orlando Chamber of Commerce) $938: Northeast Florida Chamber Alliance PAC $75: Port Everglades Association PAC SOURCE: 2016 election cycle contributions as of Feb. 28 A memorial for 5-year-old Ashten Drew Dowling, who died March 25 after being hit by a truck. (LAURIE K. BLANDFORD/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS) SHARE By Nicholas Samuel of TCPalm MARTIN COUNTY The funeral for 5-year-old Ashten Drew Dowling will be held on Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Martin Funeral Home, 961 S. Kanner Highway, Stuart, his mother, Cassandra Dowling-Gonzalez, said Tuesday. Dowling-Gonzalez said the family will also hold a benefit for Ashten's funeral expenses from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Timer Powers Park, 14000 S.W. Citrus Blvd., Indiantown. Ashten was riding his bike near his home in St. Lucie Mobile Village, in the 11000 block of Southwest Kanner Highway, about 2 p.m. March 25 when a Dodge Ram driven by Ladi Hernandez-Perez, 18, struck the boy as it was backed out of a driveway, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The 5-year-old sustained a massive head injury and was taken to Martin Hospital South in Stuart, where he later died. FHP continues to investigate the crash and no charges have been filed as of Tuesday, FHP Sgt. Mark Wysocky said. Ashten's family has set up a Go Fund Me Page at www.gofundme.com/mrvzrtxc for people to donate money toward funeral expenses. The Go Fund Me page has gathered $9,800 in donations as of so far. SHARE Linda Hudson By Lisa Broadt of TCPalm Correction: This article has been modified from its original version. Jack Andrews is the city engineer of Fort Pierce. Four years ago, six candidates battled it out in the Fort Pierce mayoral race, from which Linda Hudson emerged victorious though only by the narrowest of margins. That 61-vote victory shaped her first term in office, according to Hudson, who is seeking re-election. "I needed to convince people I was the right person for the job," Hudson said. "I made being out in the community a full-time job." The longtime Fort Pierce resident, 71, described her first term as being marked by high effort but modest success, tackling Fort Pierce's biggest issues, including high crime, low economic development and negative perceptions of the city. "I feel like I've done a good job, and I'm very anxious to continue," Hudson said. Though Hudson appeared to be facing a much more laid-back race than she did in 2012 the incumbent is running unopposed so far she's been campaigning as though she faces half a dozen challengers. In the nine months since she filed for re-election, she has raised money every month and already has collected more campaign funds than her yearly mayoral salary, according to financial reports filed with the St. Lucie County supervisor of elections. To date, she has spent about half of the more than more than $30,000 raised. There are nearly three months left to file, but this dogged preparation for another term could be one reason that she, so far, runs unopposed. Or, perhaps, it's the challenging nature of the job. She is one of only two candidates seeking election for the open mayoral, District 2 and District 3 commission seats in Fort Pierce, the Treasure Coast's most violent city. Hudson said in her first term, she and the commission made major strides in fighting crime with the hiring of Diane Hobley-Burney as police chief. The former Tampa Police Department major has taken a hands-on, community-based approach to law enforcement over the last 10 months, according to Hudson. "In the communities where there is high crime, there's beginning to be a strong level of trust," Hudson said. "Everywhere I go, people tell me they see a difference." As for Fort Pierce's reputation, changing perception takes time particularly because Fort Pierce remained one of the nation's most dangerous cities in 2015, according to the FBI but it can be done, particularly if Hudson has the opportunity to continue working with the city, she said. "I see my role as being the face and voice of Fort Pierce," Hudson said. Much of her face-to-face work is with new and expanding businesses; more jobs and a stronger economy eventually will help decrease crime, she said. Fort Pierce has faced increased expenses from its law enforcement initiatives and currently is facing a backlog of infrastructure projects. As of late 2015, the city had not repaved a road in eight years, and about 28 percent of the city's 146 miles of paved roads are considered in poor condition, according to Jack Andrews, city engineer. Residents have seen their tax bills increase several times in the post-recession years, including last year, and, Hudson said, she can't promise they won't see another. But "if we have to raise in the future, and I hope we don't, I promise you this money will be used only for" a narrow and specified purpose or project, Hudson said. Hudson grew up in Fort Pierce and attended Indian River State College and the University of Florida before moving to Chicago, where she was an executive for the American Medical Association and the Illinois State Medical Society. She returned home in 1994. Before her election to mayor in 2012, she volunteered with the city Citizens Budget Advisory Committee and the St. Lucie County Library Advisory Board. She is married with one son and three grandchildren. https://infogr.am/hudson_2016_campaign_fundraising https://infogr.am/treasure_coast_murders SHARE By Colleen Wixon of TCPalm INDIAN RIVER COUNTY The county expects to cash in on short-term rentals advertising on a popular travel booking website. An agreement with Airbnb a website where owners advertise rooms, apartments and home rentals to travelers is expected to generate thousands in tourism and sales-tax revenue with little effort on the county's part. Airbnb will collect Indian River County sales and tourist taxes as part of the agreement county commissioners unanimously approved last week. The agreement is similar to ones Airbnb has made with other Florida counties, including Pinellas and Brevard. "If we have to have short-term rentals, at least let's make sure we get our fair share of the tax," Commissioner Tim Zorc said last week. The booking site connects rental hosts directly with tourists, an arrangement that previously kept the county unable to collect tourism or "bed taxes" the same way as it collects from hotels. Through the agreement, Airbnb will automatically charge the county's 4 percent tourist tax and 7 percent sales tax when an Indian River County booking is made on the site. Sales tax revenue will be sent to the state. Based on about 70 county properties currently advertised on the site, Airbnb estimates about $15,000 in tourist taxes and about $25,000 in sales taxes could be generated annually through the agreement, said Clerk of Courts and Comptroller Jeff Smith. Smith's office initiated the contract after hearing about it from Pinellas County officials. The agreement prohibits the county from going after past taxes from advertising hosts, Smith said. Tourist taxes can be used only to promote the county or for beach renourishment. About $734,000 in tourist taxes was collected last budget year. Smith said his office is considering negotiating with other booking websites, such as homeaway.com, for similar agreements. While short-term rentals have become a controversial issue in Indian River County, state law prohibits the county from banning them completely. County officials have passed laws limiting the number of cars in a short-term rental and prohibiting a residential home from being rented for a commercial purpose such as a wedding. Vero Beach is exempt from the state law because it previously had a law limiting short-term rentals. Photos provided Adams was honored by the Veterans Council of Indian River County and Marine Corps League at a luncheon at Harbor Chase last February on the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Iwo Jima. SHARE Cash Adams, at home at Harbor Chase, shows a photograph from his return to Iwo Jima. Cash Adams returned to Iwo Jima in 2005 for the 60th anniversary of the invasion, and collected a souvenir. Mt. Suribachi is in the background. By Mary Ann Koenig The Newsweekly On the fourth day of the invasion casualties were already in the thousands. Specialists, trained in demolitions or artillery, were converted to stretcher-bearers. They zigzagged across sand and lava terrain, dodging mortars and machine gun fire with no cover, searching for dead and wounded Marines. This was Iwo Jima, and Cash Adams was one of those stretcher-bearers. The World War II battle of Iwo Jima has been immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of the flag raising, which became symbolic of both victory and American resolve. Adams, then a 20-year-old 5th Marine Division private, was among the third wave to come ashore on Feb. 19th, 1945. He recalls the events with distinct clarity. John Louis Adams became "Cash" after the war when he used up a paycheck to buy drinks for his buddies. The nickname stuck and he's been Cash for 70 years. Now 91, he lives at Harbor Chase in Vero. The desolate island of Iwo Jima, just eight square miles, was firmly in Japanese hands when the Marines landed that morning. It was pivotal turf. Within striking distance of Tokyo, it would make a strategically valuable airbase for U.S. escort fighters supporting B-29 bombers. Adams, from the small mining town of Luzerne, Pa., was 18 when he volunteered for the Marines. Ordered to the Pacific, he sailed for Hawaii out of San Diego aboard the HMS Sommelsdjyke, a Dutch transport ship on loan to the U.S. Navy. They spent time at Tarawa, a makeshift tent city where they trained on a volcanic mountain that doubled for Mt. Suribachi, their Iwo Jima objective. But none of them knew that's where they were headed when they shipped out on a troop carrier into the western Pacific. Aboard that ship the Marines finally learned their destination. A scale model of Iwo Jima and Mt. Suribachi were on board, which were used to demonstrate what they'd be up against. Landing The operation began after daybreak. "It was organized," Adams says, "but started to look like chaos." The Marines were off-loaded from the troop ship and descended down "Jacob's Ladder," a flexible network of rope with metal rungs. Bobbing in the rough waters below were the Higgins Boats, the famous low-draft landing craft used in many WWII operations including Normandy. Dozens of Higgins Boats were staging at a rendezvous area, "just going around in circles for about an hour," Adams recalls. "They give you a big breakfast in the Marines: steak, eggs, real hearty stuff." Seasickness quickly became contagious. Then the radio call came. "It was our turn to land on the beach." Adams remembers the Higgins boats stopped circling and formed a single line facing the shore, then en mass made a run toward the beach. The bow ramp dropped and "you run out into the water," he says. Luckily, he ended up in thigh-deep water where, "you could stand up." Quickly he was on the beach. "Noise, mortars, explosions, Beach Masters with megaphones trying to organize where the platoons go. You're a teenage kid," he says. "With guys who are closer than your brothers." It was bedlam: troops, artillery, tanks being brought ashore. "A survival thing takes over, you almost forget that you're afraid, and you try to get with your platoon. We were running through the sand, then up at a 45 degree angle onto this volcanic terrain with a heavy pack and my M-1 rifle." It was tough going. Buddies Eventually he found Paul "P.J." Counts, a platoon mate, and they dug in. "He was my first foxhole buddy," Adams says. "He lives up in Port Orange, just south of Daytona. We still talk some times." Amidst the chaos, platoon leaders moved from foxhole to foxhole evaluating the men and their battle condition. Adams and Counts were both solid, so "they broke us up," he says. Calm Marines were coupled with others who were shaky, to stabilize everyone. Adams was trained in demolitions, so he was more accustomed to explosions. The Japanese were heavily fortified within a system of caves and tunnels on the island. Even the 16-inch shells from the battleships couldn't penetrate them. Gaining control of the island would take five weeks and cost nearly 7,000 Marine lives. On the fifth day, Adams remembers an energy began to course across the island. "It ran through the men," he says. "Something was happening." Atop Mt. Suribachi, the American flag had been raised. "When they put that flag up, there was a magic charisma that went unseen over all of us. Everyone knew, and they were yelling and wasting ammo, firing guns in celebration." Then, while taking cover in a gully, he looked up to see Sandor Deutsch staring down at him. "A half-Jewish, half-Irish kid from my hometown," he says. They'd been friends since grade school. From a small Pennsylvania coal-mining town, population 6,000, Adams and Deutsch met up again on Iwo Jima. Aqua man Adams lived a full life after the Marines. In the late 1940's he began working as a stunt diver with Aqua Spectacular, a Miami Beach water show. Atop a 30-foot tower, he'd light himself on fire then plunge into the water below. The show toured the U.S. and Europe, and Aqua Spectacular is the reason Adams lives in Vero Beach. Show producers Bob and Norma Maxwell became Adams' lifelong friends, and they had a place in Sebastian. Adams came to visit and eventually settled there, then moved to Harbor Chase a few years ago. According to Adams, Marines are true souvenir hunters. In 2005 a close friend paid for a military tour so Adams could return to Iwo Jima for the 60th anniversary. And he came home with a souvenir: A bag of that famous Iwo Jima sand, collected near the beach where he landed and fought in an indelible chapter in U.S. history. SHARE Photos by Stephanie LaBaff Louise Kennedy, English Department Chair at St. Edward's. Maggie and Jennifer Taylor with Alex and Mary Marshall. Photo by Stephanie LaBaff When students turned their phones back on, the room was filled with pings. Maggie Taylor, Isabella Campione, Michael Burke, Alex Marshall, Andrew Brown and Ryan Motto. By Stephanie Labaff, The Newsweekly St. Edward's English teacher Louise Kennedy's classroom was filled last Wednesday with pings and buzzes signaling text messages and voicemails from 58 smartphones. It's not something you would normally hear, as cellphone use is not permitted during class. The cacophony of techno noise heralded the end of a social experiment that Kennedy's students had just completed. That's right 57 high school students willingly turned off their phones and handed them over to the administration for safe keeping for one week. That's seven days or 336 hours a lifetime to most teens. It's hard to imagine an hour without a smartphone, let alone an entire week. Not being able to check the time and temperature, set an alarm, order a latte from Starbucks, see where your friends are, complete a business transaction, make plans for the weekend, play Words with Friends or actually talk on the phone. The idea was the social experiment would be a "teachable moment," the kind many educators wait their entire careers to take advantage of in a big and lasting way. "We were doing this thing where I get the kids to agree or disagree to a statement," said Kennedy, who also is the English Department chairperson. "They physically move to one end of the room or the other," based on their viewpoint. "One of the statements I made was, 'I cannot imagine living without my phone' and a bunch of them went down to agree. I wasn't surprised. I said 'I should give you guys extra credit for not having your phone.' "They said 'Would you?' And I said, 'Would you?' "They said 'Yeah!'" That segued into dialogue about what smartphones meant to the students. She heard comments like, "I wish I knew what it was like to live without my phone," and "I'd get so much more sleep without a phone," and "I would feel so much less pressure from my friends." Their statements were enough to make Kennedy take the idea of the challenge seriously. Going for it Enthusiasm built and Kennedy looked into the logistics of pulling off something like this. After receiving approval from the administration, students had to get parental permission for safety and communication reasons. Then the school realized that $30,000 worth of cellphones would require additional security measures. Phones were bagged, tagged and placed in a waterproof container. School Chaplain Father Tommy Matthews blessed the cellphones, the project and the students. Then a Sheriff's deputy secured the phones in an undisclosed location. Most of the students were excited feeling the need to prove a point. "I was 100-percent in, because my mom has been complaining about me being on my phone too much. I realized that I needed to maybe tone it down a little bit on my phone," said student Ryan Motto. His classmate Alex Marshall was also excited. "I didn't really think about the consequences of not having a phone for a week until I turned it in." "My dad's always complaining about how I'm always on my phone so I was excited to take the challenge and see what it's like with no phone," said Isabella Campione. Surprise After parting with their smartphones, all 57 students wrote about how they felt. That first round of reflections was littered with ways to "survive" without smartphones, including: Pony Express, Netflix, home phones, make plans, play with my dog, read lots of books, don't care, let it go, be more social, study, YOLO, computer, hibernate and have fun. It's clear the students realized what a large part smartphones and social media play in their daily lives. They expected to have a lot of free time on their hands. And they continued to write about their feelings every day, said Kennedy. As the experiment progressed, their responses ran the gamut from experiencing mild inconvenience to feelings of isolation. Everyone involved expected the young people would have a difficult time adjusting to a cellphone-free life. But surprisingly, it was the parents who felt the most discomfort and inconvenience when they couldn't keep in communication with their children. Initially, parent response had been positive. "I received emails thanking me because they were having conversations at home they wouldn't have had otherwise," she recalls. "Then the weekend came and parents began to express concern because they couldn't get in touch with their kids." Expectations This reflects what Kennedy says was students' biggest frustration during the week. "It wasn't about not having the phone. It wasn't about the students. It was about other people wanting them to have a phone.," she said "The students felt free, and able to just get out and about without everyone breathing down their necks and knowing where they were." Kennedy discovered that she knew just how they felt. "I wasn't going to participate, initially," she says. "I had a lot of excuses: I have children, I am a professional and I need to have my phone. Then I thought, 'Well, they have lives to.' So I joined them. "It was hard but it wasn't as hard as I thought. I actually felt free." After getting their smartphones back, the students stood clustered in groups laughing over the texts and messages they had missed. It seems the only "important" message was from one young man's grandmother. "She didn't know I didn't have my phone," he said to no one in particular. A brief silence filled the room. Everyone seemed to feel sad that his grandmother had been left hanging. Face to face Motto was scared about the disconnect he might encounter without a phone, but he says that "I actually felt more connected when I was with people because I was 100 percent involved in the conversations that were going on I wasn't on my phone in the middle of talking to someone. I felt it connected me more in person." One student actually used his home phone for the first time. He had to look up phone numbers in the phone book and everything. It was surprising to the class that other options are out there for communicating. Parents also seemed to enjoy more open lines of communication with their children who didn't have their faces glued to their smartphones. Alex's mother Mary Marshall was excited about the experiment. She showed Alex the YouTube Video "Look Up," in which a man shares his concerns over the disconnect between people because of smartphones. "It gives me chills when I think about the video," she said. "It shows how a man would have missed meeting his wife if he had been looking at his phone for directions instead of 'looking up' and stopping her to ask for directions. It's true, you're missing opportunities." "I wouldn't get rid of them altogether," said Jennifer Taylor, whose daughter Maggie participated. "But I think we are much too dependent on them. I worry that our kids are of a generation where they are no longer going to be able to have a conversation or know how to write a letter. I think it's good for them to be able to look somebody in the eye." Again? For St. Edwards Head of School Michael J. Mersky, "The piece that resonated, in terms of the students of Louise Kennedy, is that they chose to be involved with this project, which means that there is hope for our young people in the future society that they may become grounded in the intensity and beauty of interpersonal connections, and that they want to be somewhat free of the shackles of technology for all of the right reasons." One of the biggest surprises from the experiment was that students not only committed to interacting in the real world on a face-to-face basis but they're willing to try it again. "I think I'm going to use it less," said Marshall. "I would like to do it again without having access to the computer. I think that was a crutch and I don't want to have that anymore." This social experiment was way bigger than Kennedy ever thought it would be. To follow up, she is surveying parents and students to get their reactions. Students will write a reflective essay discussing their experiences. "I want them to rethink what role their phone plays in their life. I certainly am going to do that. I think there are times you need to turn it off," said Kennedy "I hope this will have some sort of lasting effect on them and that they will look up a little more." The U.S.Department of Transportation last week announced a partnership with Alphabet subsidiarySidewalk Labs to help cities ease gridlock using Googles vast array of technology and traffic data. Sidewalk Labs will work with the seven finalists in the DoTs Smart City Challenge on a plan to help ease congestion and improve mobility to disadvantaged communities under a program called Flow, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. Flow offers unprecedented city-wide transportation analytics to help cities understand congestion and identify areas underserved by transit, using aggregated, anonymized data from billions of miles of trips, Foxx said. The program will use anonymized smartphone data from billions of miles of trips, starting with Googles Mobility Program, and sensor data from Link WiFi kiosks to create a real-time view of road and curb usage, according to Sidewalk Labs. Peak Predicament The company will analyze specific road segments to get information on congestion patterns, simulate the impact of new roads and transit routes, test new technologies using sensors, assess the impact of autonomous vehicles, adjust transit routes based on real-time ridership demand, route drivers to available parking and enable limited curb space for freight, car and bike sharing. Cities around the world have used a variety of approaches to ease traffic congestion, noted Praveen Chandrasekar, mobility research manager at Frost & Sullivan. London used congestion pricing to reduce traffic flow during peak hours, and Michael Bloomberg proposed a similar plan for New York when he was mayor. This has worked big time in congested cities like London, but there is the aspect of having a backbone public transit infrastructure as an alternative to residents, Chandrasekar told TechNewsWorld. Sao Paolo, Brazil, uses navigation apps like Waze, which is owned by Google, at a central traffic command center to crowdsource traffic flow data, he noted. Oregon is testing a system that would charge drivers based on the number of miles they drive, and some European cities are testing the concept of pay-how-you-drive insurance to create incentives to drive during off-peak times. A Leap Forward The program could be a huge leap forward for cities across the country, because traffic analysis historically has been ad hoc and provided limited amounts of data to accurately predict congestion patterns, said Paul Steely White, executive director atTransportation Alternatives. Were really flying blind in terms of analyzing the congestion problem, he told TechNewsWorld. Alphabet is using the partnership as a way to leverage all the traffic data it has accumulated through Waze and other applications it owns. It also is building a high-speed Google Fiber network in Austin, Texas, which is one of the finalist cities, said Paul Teich, principal analyst atTirias Research. Sidewalk Labs will install 100 WiFi kiosks in the winning city of the Smart City Challenge. The kiosks will help residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods get information about mobility. It will be nice to have access to traffic and transit information, but using the wireless Internet access as a byproduct of Sidewalk Labs will be a boon for low-income communities, technology analystCraig Settles told TechNewsWorld. For the Smart City Challenge, 78 midsize cities submitted ideas for creating a transportation network using data, technology and creativity. The finalists, announced earlier this month, are Austin; Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Kansas City, Missouri; Pittsburgh; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco. Show Me the Money The finalists each have received $100,000 from DoT and have three months to come up with a proposal for easing congestion. DoT announced that Amazon Web Services would partner with those cities as well. It will award $1 million in credits for AWS Cloud Services and AWS Professional Services to the winner. At least four other technology companies are partners in the competition.Mobileye will provide Mobileye Shield collision-avoidance sensors on buses in the winning city,Autodesk will provide the InfraWorks 360 modeling platform for engineering,NXP Semiconductors will provide wireless communication models for cars, and Paul AllensVulcan will provide $10 million to the winning city, said DoT spokesperson Jon Romano. The winning city will receive $40 million from DoT, he told TechNewsWorld. The winner will be announced in June. Blendle, a Netherlands-based news aggregation site that draws comparisons to Spotify, on Wednesday announced its beta launch in the U.S. Blendle made its debut with the participation of several major new organizations and financial backing from Axel Springer and The New York Times. The 5-year-old company, which recently expanded into Germany, has opened the beta phase to 10,000 users who can make refundable micropayments for stories they choose to read. Journalism needs a Spotify, a Netflix, an iTunes, whatever you want to call it, cofounder Alexander Klopping wrote on Medium. One website that houses the best newspapers and magazines in the country, that allows people to browse through everything and only pay for the stories they like, where you can see what your friends recommended. Success in Europe Since going live in 2014, Blendle has attracted 650,000 registered users who read millions of stories per month in Europe, Klopping noted. Half of the users are under age 35, which is important, because that demographic rarely pays for content. The site lets users connect their Facebook and Twitter accounts to Blendle, so they can see which stories their friends have shared. Some top journalists, including Felix Salmon, a senior editor atFusion, and Kim Ghattas of the BBC, are on board to select stories on business and politics, respectively. Generating money from individual users is critical, because digital media outlets are struggling to bring in advertising revenue, Klopping said, with 41 percent of younger readers using ad-blocking plugins on their devices. Investor Optimism The companies behind Blendle are optimistic about the potential for the site to be successful in the U.S. Axel Springer and the NY Times invested about US$3.8 million in the site in 2014. We at Axel Springer are working on establishing paid content offerings for digital journalism, spokesperson Michael Schneider told the E-Commerce Times. Thats why we think that Blendle is so interesting. The company established digital paid offerings for Bild, which has 318,000 paid digital subscribers, and Die Welt, which has 78,000 paid digital subscribers, he pointed out. It also launched its own digital newsstand, which other publications can use to distribute electronic versions of their content. Blendles technology and micropayments will not be implemented on any of The New York Times sites, a source familiar with the companys policy told the E-Commerce Times. However, NYT articles will be available on Blendles site and via related apps. The Times will work with Blendle to evaluate additional opportunities to integrate the various features as the company grows. Easy Does It Micropayments largely have failed in the U.S. until now, but the jury is still out on how successful Blendle will be in growing its U.S. customer base. Failure of the micropayment model to catch on more widely is partially due to clumsy, cumbersome payment mechanisms, an issue that could well be addressed by the evolution of digital wallet technologies, Pund-IT Principal Analyst Charles King told the E-Commerce Times. Blendle is easy to use and has solved many of the problems that hurt micropayment sites in the past, noted Rick Edmonds, media business analyst for the Poynter Institute. However, the site could suffer from a look dont touch problem as it gains subscribers. Even their good results in the Netherlands and Germany suggest that people may register, but not get in the habit of using, Edmonds told the E-Commerce Times. That behavior is not uncommon, he suggested, pointing to studies showing that people often download large numbers of apps onto their devices, but only become regular users of four or five of them. Strong Resistance Although the benefit for participating media companies includes the ability to generate revenue and attract younger readers, its unlikely that the launch will bring radical change to the existing paywall mechanism for at least a couple of years, Edmonds said. Its a matter of speculation whether the timing of Blendles launch has anything at all to do with The Wall Street Journals decision to close the Google paywall loophole last month. Readers previously had been able to view WSJ stories by clicking on links within Google News, without having to subscribe and pay a fee. Google is a significant provider of referrals to news sites. U.S. consumers remain very reluctant to pay for content, observed Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends, which doesnt bode well for Blendle. Going to a reading app is cumbersome, she told the E-Commerce Times, and so is Blendles microtransaction model. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Windows and Devices Group, talked to thousands of developers about the work Microsoft Corp. is doing to help them embrace the new era of conversational intelligence and create more personal computing for every customer, industry and business. Nadella showcased improvements to Cortana and announced previews of new cloud services and toolkits designed to understand the world around us and create intelligent bots. Myerson announced the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, which will deliver significant new innovations for consumers and developers for the Universal Windows Platform. As an industry, we are on the cusp of a new frontier that pairs the power of natural human language with advanced machine intelligence, said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. At Microsoft, we call this Conversations as a Platform, and it builds on and extends the power of the Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Windows platforms to empower developers everywhere. With Windows 10 now running on over 270 million active devices, were celebrating with our fans by delivering the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. This significant update will help you interact with your Windows 10 devices as naturally as you interact with the world around you using your pen, presence and voice, Myerson said. We are dedicated to making Windows the most productive development environment for all developers, with all-new capabilities for the Universal Windows Platform and all-new tools for bringing apps to Windows 10 from any platform. Introducing cloud services that understand, interactive bots and the Cortana Intelligence Suite The Cortana Intelligence Suite, formerly known as the Cortana Analytics Suite, is powered by cutting-edge research into big data, machine learning, perception, analytics and intelligent bots. Built on Microsoft Azure, these capabilities can be used by developers and businesses to create intelligent end-to-end solutions, including new apps that learn about our world and bots and agents that interact with people in personalized, intelligent ways. Wednesday, Microsoft announced new additions to the Cortana Intelligence Suite, both in preview. The first, Microsoft Cognitive Services, is a collection of intelligence APIs that allows systems to see, hear, speak, understand and interpret our needs using natural methods of communication. The second, the Microsoft Bot Framework, can be used by developers programming in any language to build intelligent bots that enable customers to chat using natural language on a wide variety of platforms including text/SMS, Office 365, Skype, Slack, the Web and more. Microsoft demonstrated how developers can use services, like those found in the Cortana Intelligence Suite, to transform not only businesses but peoples lives. Seeing AI, a research project under development, shows how these new capabilities can help people who are visually impaired or blind better understand who and what is around them. Today, Microsoft also released the Skype Bot Platform, which includes the SDK, API and Workflows all in the new Skype Bot Portal. With this platform, developers can build bots that leverage Skypes multiple forms of communication, including text, voice, video and 3-D interactive characters. Today, customers can get started with Skype Bots by downloading the latest Skype apps for Windows, Android and iOS. Developers can start building Skype Bots today using the Skype Bot Platform and reach hundreds of millions of Skype users. New Windows 10 innovations deliver more personal computing and opportunities for developers Windows 10 was designed to deliver more personal computing, with experiences that are more natural, more trusted and extend across devices. With features such as Cortana and Windows Hello, Windows 10 began to deliver on this vision. Today, Windows 10 is off to the fastest start in Windows history with over 270 million active devices, outpacing Windows 7 by 145 percent. And, customers have spent more time in Windows 10 than ever before over 75 billion hours since its launch. As a result of this rapidly growing base, were seeing new universal apps from Twitter, Uber, King, Disney, Wargaming, Square Enix, Yahoo and WWE; with new apps on the way from Bank of America, Starbucks, Facebook, Messenger and Instagram.The Windows Store has seen over 5 billion visits as Windows fans are discovering apps for Windows 10, including nearly 1,000 Cortana apps. At Build on Wednesday, Microsoft shared the next chapter in its more personal computing vision with an all-new Windows 10 Anniversary Update featuring innovations for Windows Ink, Cortana, Windows Hello and gaming. Windows Ink is a new experience, putting the power of Windows in the tip of your pen. With Windows Ink, you can write on your device as you do on paper, create sticky notes, draw on a whiteboard and easily share your analog thoughts in the digital world. New Cortana features enable you to receive proactive guidance from Cortana throughout the day and speak with Cortana, even while your device is locked1, without logging in. New Windows Hello features extend the security of Windows 10 to multiple devices and to Microsoft Edge, so you can log into your devices and websites with enterprise-grade security. These are just a few of the many features that will become available this summer when the Windows 10 Anniversary Update becomes broadly available. Microsoft also shipped Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition for the first time, extending the Windows experience to holograms and allowing developers to begin helping build the future of holographic computing. Microsoft highlighted commercial customers in several industries that are using HoloLens today, including Case Western Reserve University and NASA. Developers can use the Universal Windows Platform to create new mixed reality with holograms. For over 30 years, Windows has been an open ecosystem, welcoming the contributions of hardware and software partners and developers around the world. The Universal Windows Platform extends this commitment, combining the openness of the history of Windows with the best of todays modern application platform. On Wednesday, Microsoft shared all-new capabilities for the Universal Windows Platform. They include full access to Cortanas proactive intelligence and the Windows 10 Anniversary SDK, which offers all-new APIs and tools to integrate the latest Windows 10 innovations into apps, including Windows Ink and Windows Hello. And with the Xbox Dev Mode, any Xbox One can be a developer kit, enabling anyone to develop for the living room. Microsoft also shared all new tools for bringing apps to Windows 10 from any platform. Web developers, including American Express, BBC Sport, Yahoo Mail, zulily, and more have seen great success with Windows 10 Hosted Web Apps. And now, Windows 10 has support for native Bash with access to the Windows file system and the universe of open source command line tools. Microsoft shared its new desktop app converter for Project Centennial, which will enable Win32 and .Net developers to easily bring more than 16 million apps to the Universal Windows Platform. Developers can extend their applications with Universal Windows Platform capabilities and distribute their apps in the Windows Store. Xamarin will help make it possible for .Net developers to more easily share common app code across Windows, iOS, and Android apps while still delivering fully native experiences for each platform. Technuter.com News Service NetApp today announced new software for its NetApp EF-Series all-flash and E-Series storage arrays that dramatically boost the performance and value of data analytics applications. With the significant amount of machine-generated data captured every day, we rely on NetApp E-Series to deploy Splunk for monitoring and troubleshooting the multiple platforms in our environment, said Roy Shiladitya, head of Information Technology at ING DIRECT Australia. This high-availability solution gives us the ability to quickly visualize and proactively analyze the data in order to respond to the business and meet SLAs. New generations of business intelligence applications such as Splunk, Hadoop, and NoSQL are becoming key tools for the data-powered digital enterprise. Customers want greater data visibility and performance from these applications to make the best decisions in a fast-changing business landscape. The newest release of the NetApp SANtricity storage operating system accelerates time to value for customers, who benefit from an enterprise-proven technology that allows them to: Increase the performance of data analytics applications by more than 50% Simplify their IT infrastructure and reduce costs by more than 33% Improve data reliability, availability, and visibility, attributes that are essential to help enterprises respond faster to competitors and to customer demands. Many organizations are now leveraging third platform technologies to drive the digital transformation of their business, said Ashish Nadkarni, program director, Enterprise Servers and Storage at IDC. NetApp is boosting the performance of third platform applications, enabling users to thrive in the digital economy. Proven Advantage over Commodity Servers for Data-Intensive Workloads The NetApp EF-Series all-flash arrays and E-Series storage systems powered by SANtricity software accelerate performance for high-IOPS and low-latency applications as well as high-bandwidth and high-throughput applications. This proven platform provides a high level of reliability with automated features, online configuration options, state-of-the-art RAID, and proactive monitoring. The platform also provides NetApp AutoSupport predictive technology, which speeds issue resolution by up to 60 percent and reduces P1 cases by as much as 85 percent.Customers also have access to a mobile support application, premium support options, and professional services to get the most from their NetApp EF-Series and E-Series solutions. The newest SANtricity release includes innovations optimized for data analytics applications that help customers make sense of the reams of data generated by connected devices and the Internet of Things. With SANtricity, customers can now: Increase Splunk search performance by up to 69% versus that of commodity servers with internal disks. Experience up to 500% better Hadoop performance during data rebuilds with Dynamic Disk Pools versus the performance of commodity servers with RAID 5. Reconstruct 400GB SSDs in approximately 15 minutes versus approximately 10 hours for NoSQL databases with commodity servers and direct-attached storage. Encrypt data at rest with less than 1% performance impact versus up to 70% impact of commodity servers with internal disk drives. Build one architecture for hot, warm, cold, and frozen tiers instead of different storage architectures for each tier. In collaboration with Arrow Electronics, NetApp will also offer preconfigured, proven and validated bundled solutions for enterprise Splunk deployments. These integrated reference architectures by Arrow will enable partners to rapidly size and configure systems, close deals faster and deliver a total, validated Splunk solution. The ability for our customers to glean meaningful, actionable results from their structured and unstructured data quickly is critical, said Melissa Fields, Sr. Solutions Architect at ClearShark. NetApp EF-Series all-flash arrays offer the performance, reliability and scalability needed for customers to consistently initiate time-sensitive actions and make the best decisions for their business. Social and mobile users make real-time buying decisions that strain legacy relational databases running on slow storage, said Lee Caswell, vice president, Products, Solutions and Services Marketing, NetApp. Our SANtricity software meets the challenge with high-bandwidth analytics when delivered on disk arrays and low-latency response times when matched with all-flash media. By combining this performance with enterprise reliability and unmatched density, the E-Series and EF-Series arrays make enterprise storage economically superior to even white-box servers for real-time analytics applications. Hitachi and Virtusa Corporation has announced that they have agreed on a global strategic partnership. Hitachi and Virtusa will leverage their core competencies, industry IT solutions and thought leadership to provide joint services to their global clients and the broader market. They will jointly provide value to clients by helping to increase operational and technology efficiency, implementing new functionalities and optimizing complex operational processes. I believe that Virtusa provides a great fit for Hitachi. It is a strong technology partner with deep domain knowledge and industry based solutions which complement and extend upon our own. said Masayoshi Ogawa, president of Financial Information Systems Division, Information & Telecommunication Systems Company at Hitachi. By combining Hitachis strong program management, Japanese market understanding, diverse capabilities in technologies and knowledge in Financial Services and other industries, I believe that our combined potential will be significant and continue to drive tremendous value for our clients. Hitachi and Virtusa have been working together since 2015, initially helping Japanese financial institutions optimize operations as well as support the implementation of large technology transformation programs. From a Virtusa perspective, penetration into the Japanese market would never be truly effective without a well-known and respected company such as Hitachi. The cultural fit at the core of our organizations, driven by innovation, social responsibility and client commitment, is remarkably close. said Jim Francis, executive vice president at Virtusa Corporation. Aside from our own regional expansion benefits, the business solutions which Hitachi has to offer are disruptive and underserved to the market. We plan to partner to market many of these solutions together to our global client base. Virtusa views this as a highly strategic long-term global partnership. Companies are facing an urgent need to modernize their systems, not only to grow their businesses but also to defend their current ones. This is even more the case in certain market segments such as Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, and Healthcare. This requires better products and solutions sold and managed with a client-centric focus, improved social engagement for an evolving millennial workforce and customer base, optimized processes, and flexible rules based systems, all at a lower operating cost. Banking and Financial Services and Insurance are a focus area for FinTech. Hitachi, which provides IT solutions by combining various products and services internationally, possesses technologies and knowledge related to developing core systems that require extremely high reliability. The company is highly experienced in providing systems for companies. Virtusa, a 2015 Global Outsourcing 100 service provider leader recognized by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP), provides IT consulting and system development in the United States, Europe and Asia, and has extensive experience and expertise in developing and implementing innovative and transformational solutions for global companies. Leveraging its unique software platforming approach, Virtusa helps organizations consolidate, rationalize and modernize core systems resulting in efficient and lean IT environment. Through its proven global delivery model Virtusa delivers accelerated business solutions to its clients, enabling them to speed time-to-results and improve customer experience. Virtusa is highly experienced in introducing various systems to financial institutions such as a large-scale, multi-country insurance claims system for a leading, global insurer. Together, Hitachi and Virtusa will form a unique team that leverages mutual strengths to bring best of breed business solutions to their clients worldwide. Analog Devices today announced the acquisition of SNAP Sensor SA, a privately held company based in Switzerland that specializes in highly innovative vision sensing technologies. The acquisition will advance Analog Devices leadership position in sensing and signal processing and build upon platform-level Internet of Things (IoT) solutions such as ADIs award-winning Blackfin Low Power Imaging Platform (BLiP). SNAP Sensors patented technology offers significant improvements to existing optical sensors by ensuring accurate image detection in challenging lighting conditions. It drastically improves sensing reliability and accuracy in a range of detection, identification, and guidance uses. In addition, much of the image management is performed on the sensor, enabling the use of affordable and lower power processors. SNAP Sensors cutting-edge optical technology and vision software and algorithm expertise allow us to continue unlocking new possibilities for our customers in a wide range of IoT applications such as building automation, building security, city management, transportation, and more, said Michael Murray, general manager of Industrial Sensing, Analog Devices. This acquisition further enhances our sensing portfolio and ensures that were helping customers realize the best possible outcomes from IoT solutions. The SNAP Sensor team will remain in Switzerland to establish a new Analog Devices R&D center and continue its close collaboration with the Swiss research and technology organization CSEM. Our team is very enthusiastic about joining Analog Devices, said Pascal Dorster, CEO of SNAP Sensor. This provides us access to the engineering, supply-chain, and commercialization resources needed to accelerate our growth and continue advancing our technology vision. The Chinese government is looking to tighten its control over what its citizens see on the internet by prohibiting regional ISPs from allowing access to websites with domains, or web addresses, registered outside of the country. The proposed change is part of draft revisions to internet domain name regulations issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Those who violate the rules would face fines of up to 30,000 yuan ($4621) and have their actions announced in public notices. China's so-called Great Firewall already censors a lot of the country's internet. Sites such as Facebook and YouTube are blocked in mainland China, but these new rules, which are open for public comment until April 25, would bring even more restrictions. Zhu Wei, a government policy advisor and internet scholar at the China University of Politics and Law, said the proposed rules were necessary in the short term to ensure the country's "national security and ideological security." "I remember a while back stumbling across terrorist video footage of a beheading. This spread to China's Internet from abroad. China doesn't have this sort of thing," he said. While the updated regulations could make it difficult for overseas corporations to do business with China, Zhu said that the measures were aimed at blocking terror groups and organizations opposed to Chinese policy. He added that "a path will be found" for foreign companies. Zhu also pointed out that the rules weren't intended to be a permanent fixture. "The trend obviously is for the Internet to be shared and governed by all, meaning everyone operates according to the same principles, but we're not there at present," he said. While China is pushing the line that these changes are both necessary and temporary, it does appears to be a case of the government cracking down yet again on internet freedoms. Earlier this week it was reported that Microsoft had created a version of Windows 10 specifically for the country that features "more management and security controls," and it was announced last year that 15,000 people had been arrested for alleged internet crimes. Acer on Wednesday expanded its Predator line of gaming products with a new projector. The Predator Z850 was first unveiled at the IFA electronics show in Berlin last September and was named a 2016 CES Innovations Award Honoree earlier this year. Now, it's available to purchase for those with deep pockets. The Predator Z850 is said to be the world's first ultra-wide HD laser projector designed specifically for gaming. It offers a 24:9 aspect ratio at 1,920 x 720 resolution which is far wider than traditional 16:9 displays. The unit's laser diode lasts up to 30,000 hours and delivers images up to 3,000 lumens with an impressive 100,000:1 contrast ratio. The projector features a top-mounted lens and mirrorless ultra-short-throw technology that allows it to cast 120 inches of goodness at a minimum distance of only 18.5 inches, allowing for use in rooms that might otherwise be too small for a traditional projector. Acer says the Predator Z850 can be packed up immediately after use without requiring a cooling period. The projector is equipped with a plethora of connectors and can be paired with an optional wireless kit to enable 1080p lossless streaming without the cable clutter. The Predator Z850 is available in the US as of writing priced at $4,999. That's certainly a lot of money to part with, especially considering 4K-capable monitors and televisions can be had for a fraction of that price but it does afford a level of portability that you simply can't obtain with a 60-inch TV. An American Airlines co-pilot, who was earlier detained on suspicion of being drunk, has been charged with operating an aircraft under the influence of alcohol. John Maguire was arrested for the misdemeanor at the Detroit Metro Airport on March 26 for "exhibiting signs of being drunk," said Michael Conway, an airport spokesman. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits pilots, with a blood alcohol level higher than 0.04 percent, from flying. "Police responded with a field Breathalyzer and the co-pilot was indeed over the legal limits," Conway said. Maguire was eventually moved to local jurisdiction for him to be examined using a machine called the Data Master. Because of the arrest on Saturday morning, Flight 736 traveling from Detroit to Philadelphia, of which Maguire was co-pilot, was cancelled. Passengers were accommodated in other flights. "Safety is our highest priority and we apologize to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans," said Laura Nedbal, a spokeswoman for American Airlines. Nedbal added that the company considers the case a serious matter and that it is cooperating with local law enforcement and the FAA. On the other hand, Conway said that these incidents are extremely rare. The number of passengers of the flight was not counted as it did not take off, but it appears that the flight would have been carrying local students who are on their spring break. From Bottle to Throttle: FAA Regulations The FAA has published regulations on alcohol consumption and flying. Pilots are prohibited from drinking alcohol eight hours before operating an aircraft. "Consider the effects of a hangover," the FAA writes. "Eight hours from 'bottle to throttle' does not mean you are in the best physical condition to fly, or that your blood alcohol concentration is below the legal limits." The agency also reminds pilots of the effects of alcohol consumption on the brain, especially when in flight, and these include impaired reaction time, reasoning, judgment, and memory. "Alcohol decreases the ability of the brain to make use of oxygen. This adverse effect can be magnified as a result of simultaneous exposure to altitude, characterized by a decreased partial pressure of oxygen," the FAA added. Photo: Cory W. Watts | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Hunters in search for mammoth tusks were in awe after finding two preserved Ice Age puppies in Yakutia, Northeast Russia. Dating back to more than 12,000 years ago, these may have been the first domesticated dogs. The hunters discovered the first pup in 2011 and in 2015, another pup was found near the location where the first one was found. "To find a carnivorous mammal intact with skin, fur and internal organs - this has never happened before in history," Sergey Fyodorov of the North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU), said. When the hunters informed him of their discovery, he immediately flew into the area to get a closer look. Debate Over Dog Origin A previous study showed that domesticated dogs originally came from Southeast Asia many years ago. The researchers suggested that the canines may have migrated out of Asia to Africa and the Middle East, and eventually, in Europe. Other scientists, however, claim that the man's best friend came from Mongolia. When researchers analyzed the DNA of dogs, it suggests that these dogs did not originate from Europe, Southern China or the Middle East as previously thought. The dogs may have originated from Mongolia or Nepal. Ice Age Pup Dissection NEFU scientists, for the first time, extracted a well-preserved brain of the two puppies found in the Arctic tundra. Dubbed Tumat dogs, the two puppies lived in the Pleistocene era. Fyodorov said that some of the mammoth remains also found in the area were burned and butchered, suggesting the presence of humans during that era. It is still unclear, however, if these puppies were wild or domesticated. The scientists are still not sure if these dogs became human companions, since they were taken in or if wolves drifted to human sites in search of food. Further research will be conducted especially on the other parts of the puppies' bodies like the stomach. The answer lies after the planned reconstruction of the Ice Age puppies' genomes, which would take at least a year. "A special research program will be formed to study the brain of Tumat puppy, involving both Russian and foreign institutions," said Fyodorov, who is also the head of the project. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. SpaceX is set to deliver a first-of-a-kind inflatable space module carrying special scientific equipment to the International Space Station on a two-day voyage which will begin next Friday, April 8. The incredible space module was developed by space technology startup Bigelow Aerospace, whose goal is to create habitable space stations that are affordable. NASA confirmed on Monday that the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station into orbit, followed by the aerospace company's own Dragon supply ship minutes later. It will deploy its solar arrays and perform engine burns as the spacecraft seizes its port-of-call. Bigelow Aerospace's expandable space module - officially called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module --will be carried along as well, and it will be attached to the ISS for testing. After astronomers inject air into the blow-up spacecraft, it will swell from a bundle 8 feet wide into a compartment almost as big as a garage that can fit one car. Two days after the launch, the space station's 57-foot robotic arm will grapple the Dragon supply ship, slowly maneuver it to its docking port on side of the Tranquility module. Dragon will then dock to the orbital outpost. An Incredible Achievement Although the six-member station crew will only run tests on the inflatable module rather than spend time inside it, experts said its presence on the orbit will be a significant milestone. BEAM will be investigated by astronauts on the ISS over the next two years. "It'll be the first time human beings will actually step inside this expandable habitat in space," said George Zamka, a retired astronaut who has worked for Bigelow Aerospace. "It'll feel pretty beefy. There won't be this sense of it being like a balloon." Dr. Julie Robinson, chief scientist of the ISS program, said the launch is something they have been waiting for quite a long time because it has implications to their overall ISS research program. "It has about 2,000 kg of research equipment and supplies," said Robinson. "The big driver on that amount of mass is that we have about 1,400 kg of the BEAM module which will be tested on ISS -- that's the heavy one." NASA project and technical integration manager Rajib Dasgupta said will not be easy to puncture. It will have thick walls made out of multiple layers of fabric and Kevlar-like material, something that space junk will not be able to penetrate, he said. In May, Dragon is expected to return to Earth, bringing back biological samples from astronauts. In 2018, BEAM will be released into space and will be dragged by orbital decay into the Earth's atmosphere. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. JetBlue Airways and Alaska Air Group are both bidding for new ownership of Virgin America. According to people privy to the information, Virgin America is in talks with the two bidders and a deal may be reached by next week. There are claims that new players may join in the talks or Virgin America may back out of the negotiations. Bloomberg reported that Virgin America mulled over a buyout after talks of interest from other carriers surfaced. The carrier's market capitalization blew up to $1.3 billion. Its stocks peaked at 15 percent and closed at as much as 10 percent at $37.70 since news of the takeover was reported last week. Alaska Air gained 1.1 percent to increase its stock price to $81.49, while JetBlue increased by 2.7 percent to $20.79. According to Cowen & Co. analyst Helane Becker, Virgin America's sale to JetBlue would be the most sensible decision if taken from the aircraft, network and product offering perspective. The acquisition of Virgin America would boost JetBlue's presence in San Francisco and Los Angeles while eliminating competition for business travelers on cross-country destinations. Virgin America and JetBlue fly the same type of aircraft, which means there is no need for JetBlue to train its pilots and maintenance crew with regard to operations. Likewise, JetBlue would benefit from the corporate accounts and technology of the Virgin group. Last year, Virgin America rolled out its inflight system that uses Android-based software that would allow its passengers to check out interactive maps or play games, such as Pac-Man. Since Virgin America has a strong presence in the western area of the U.S., it would greatly complement JetBlue's New York and East Coast and Carribean presence. On the other hand, should Alaska Air take over Virgin America, it would take out a major West Coast rival while expanding its route in Mexico. Since about 54 percent of Virgin America is owned by Richard Branson's fund, Cyrus Capital Partners and VX Holdings, Becker said the major stockholders would likely cash in their investment in the company. "The large shareholders could be seeking to monetize their investment with a sale to another investor or a partial sale to a foreign airline/company that would have a code-sharing agreement attached to it," Becker shared. If the sale would push through, the companies would need to pass an antitrust review, said MJ Moltenbray, a partner at Paul Hastings and former director at the United States Department of Justice's antitrust division. "A combination of two of the smaller airlines would result in significant efficiencies by giving them a bigger footprint, and would make the merged airline a more effective competitor to the big three," Moltenbray said. In 2015, Virgin America reported all-time high adjusted earnings of $201.5 million. The company also acquired five Airbus A320 aircrafts and plans to add five more this year to work on its long-term plans. Virgin America, based in Burlingame, California, is expected to grow by 10 percent by 2017 and 2018. When reached for comments on the speculations, Virgin America did not return calls for comments. Alaska Air spokeswoman Bobbie Egan and JetBlue spokesman Doug McGraw refused to give comments stating that the company does not give statements on speculations and rumors. Photo: Jun Seita | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Samsung Pay continues to expand across the globe. Samsungs mobile payment service is now officially available in China for Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ plus and Note 5 users. Samsung, together with China UnionPay (CUP), announced on Tuesday, March 29 that it is rolling out Samsung Pay in China in a bid to provide greater flexibility, access, and choice for customers. We are pleased to be partnering with CUP to bring Samsung Pay to China, said Injong Rhee, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Software and Services of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. The reception of Samsung Pay since its launch has been extremely positive and the service has already seen tremendous success in terms of availability and adoption by consumers. Rhee went on to say that Samsung wants to make this mobile payment service available to as many customers as possible in the country so they are able to benefit from the safety, simplicity and expediency this mobile solution has to offer. At the moment, Samsung Pay supports certain debit and credit cards from nine partner banks. These banks include China Everbright Bank, China Citic Bank, China Merchants Bank, China Guangfa Bank, China Construction Bank, China Minsheng Banking Corp. Ltd., Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Ping An Bank and Hua Xia Bank. Samsung says it will include future support for the debit and credit cards of six more banks sooner or later. The arrival of Samsung Pay in China comes hot on the heels of the launch of its arch rival Apple Pay in China. This means that Apple Pay and Samsung Pay will go head-to-head with Tencent's WeChat Payment and Ant Financials Alipay that are currently governing the market. Apple Pay initially became available for consumers of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Chinas biggest lender by assets, along with 19 other Chinese lenders. WeChat Payment and Alipay today are increasingly gaining traction in the country, especially after introducing the digital red envelope functionality. During the Chinese Lunar New Year, Tencent was able to process 32.1 billion red envelopes from 516 million users through its WeChat Payment platform. Alipay, in the meantime, managed to process 800 million yuan ($122 million USD) worth of digital red envelopes from 400 million users. This implies that Samsung Pay may also have a hard time entering the Chinese market governed by these two big mobile payments services in addition to the recently-rolled out Apple Pay. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Users today use smartphones that are, more often than not, abused, which leaves scratches on their polished designs. Stress tests were invented to showcase a smartphone's capabilities in surviving the harshest conditions, which aids users in choosing their devices. These tests help users plan out how they would use and protect their smartphones. Most of the time, after such tests, phones are easily scratched, broken or bent, which informs users that they demand more care and attention. However, in this fast-paced world we live in, who has the money, effort and time? We need our tough phones, and we want them now. Luckily, it seems that developers from Xiaomi have produced a phone that would survive one of the conditions, a scratch test. Alex Wang uses various everyday tools on the phone's ceramic back cover to see how long it would last to find its breaking point. He first uses a key, a multi-tool knife, a nail file, a flat file, a triangular file, a handsaw and then, a coping saw. One would imagine that the phone would suffer serious damage from the tools, but the phone's ceramic back survives unscathed. As the video finishes, Wang pulls out his last resort, a drill. A little phone would not survive that, right? Wrong. The ceramic back cover of the Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro pulls off the impossible after Wang forcefully drills a hole in the back of the phone, and again, it survives unscathed. Xiaomi's flagship phone, the Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro, seems to have been proven to withstand the torture test. On their phone's website, the company gave the ceramic back cover an 8 on the Mohs hardness scale; that's an 8 out of 10, 10 being as hard as a diamond. The Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro was earlier revealed in February 2016 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Xiaomi had earlier announced that it would be releasing the phone in India this coming March 31. Hugo Barra, VP of Xiaomi Global, confirmed that Xiaomi plans to expand to the U.S. by the end of 2017. The European market has yet to see the phone hit its local stores as previous release announcements from a Polish listing were denied by Xiaomi officials. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Boston is set to begin a a two-week archaeological dig at Malcolm X's teenage home at Roxbury in hopes of finding artifacts that would give more insight into the famed civil rights activist's life. It will be the city's only chance to dig the site, said city archaeologist Joseph Bagley, as the activist's family plans to restore the historic home. The home, which has remained untouched since the 1940s, is now owned by Rodnell Collins, Malcolm X's nephew. Collins and other family members would guide Boston's Archaeology Lab and researchers from the University of Massachusetts-Boston in unearthing artifacts from Malcolm's childhood. "It's going to look like we're going through garbage, but archaeology is often the study of garbage," Bagley said. "It could be their leftover food or their dinner, it might be something that family pets left behind. We're not sure." After Bagley learned about the plans of restoring the house, he approached Collins about the dig. Bagley is hoping to uncover older artifacts that could date to as early as the 17th and 18th centuries when the piece of land was still part of an Irish farm. Mayor Martin J. Walsh tagged the project as a "community dig," as it would be an opportunity for residents to gain more information about Boston's history. In the late 1990s, Malcolm X's teenage home was named a historic city landmark, but it has fallen into a state of disrepair as can be seen on its chipped paint and rickety stairs. Collins shared that he is planning to raise money to convert the home into a historical destination that would shed light on Malcolm X's growing-up years in Boston. "This is just a building, and this building could be gone tomorrow. But this building also represents the idea. It's about Uncle Malcolm and his family," Collins said. Collins was a witness to Malcolm X's transformation from an ordinary criminal to a leader recognized all over the world. Prior to the dig, many people stopped by the house to take pictures and share anecdotes about the slain black leader. Born in 1925 as Malcolm Little, Malcolm transferred from the Midwest when his mother had a nervous breakdown. He was imprisoned in 1946 for burglary and larceny. It was during his stint in Charlestown State Prison that he converted to Islam and joined the Nation of Islam. He then changed his name to Malcolm X to represent his "stolen" ancestry. Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965 by the followers of the radical black Muslim group that he previously renounced. Tech Times published a piece commemorating his contributions to the '50s-'60s civil rights movement on the 50th anniversary of his death last year. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The U.S. Congress is up in arms again against Big Pharma. This time, it's waging war over a patented drug for prostate cancer that costs almost $100,000 more than anywhere else in the world. In a letter dated March 28 and addressed to Sylvia Mathews Burwell, secretary of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Francis Collins, M.D., PhD, director of National Health Institutes (NIH), 12 members of the Congress including Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who's currently a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, protest the market price of Xtandi (enzalutamide). Its patent is currently owned by California biotech firm Medivation in partnership with Astellas Pharma of Japan. Xtandi is a prescription medicine for advanced types of prostate cancer. These are cancers that no longer respond to other treatments and medications, have progressed despite the surgery, or have already spread or metastasized. The drug works by reducing the body's production of testosterone, a male hormone. While the drug is sold in other countries like Sweden, Japan and Canada for around $30,000 to $35,000, it has an enormous price tag of over $129,000 in the United States despite receiving government and army grants paid by taxpayers' money. "We do not think that charging U.S. residents more than anywhere else in the world meets the obligation to make the invention available to U.S. residents on reasonable terms," said [PDF] the letter. The undersigned encourages the NIH to "use its [marched-in] authority" as outlined in the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act that gives the agency the ability to license a patent and make the market open for generic competition if the drug was developed using federal funds. The Congress also recommends a public hearing to be participated by different interest groups, which can serve as an avenue for the NIH to explain more clearly its position on drugs with excessive prices. A report by Reuters cited Astellas saying that "81 percent of privately insured patients paid $25 or less out of pocket per month for the medication in 2015 and 79 percent of Medicare patients paid nothing out of pocket." Medivation, HHS and NIH have yet to issue comments. Prostate cancer remains one of the most common types of cancer and the second leading cause of death among American men. Although the five-year survival rate is generally good even for stage III and early stage 4 cancers, the percentage drops to 28 percent once it's already too advanced. The drug can help boost patients' longevity, but it may only be effective if it can be afforded. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The biggest soup maker in the world is cooking something different for its packaging. Campbell Soup Company announces that it has already begun to use BPA-free cans for its products and hopes to complete the transition by middle of 2017. BPA is an organic synthetic compound that is commonly used as an epoxy resin to line the inside of pipes and food cans like those of Campbell. It can also be used as a component in making plastic durable but still clear. Although the material has already been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as safe to use for food packaging, consumers and lawmakers are still anxious about it. Thus, acting on the feedback of its customers and as commitment to transparency, the company's cans are now lined with acrylic or polyester, which has been determined to be not only safe and approved by regulators but also cost effective and viable. The same material is used for its packaging for gravies, SpaghettiOs pasta, and Swanson broth. The decision, which began in 2012, wasn't easy as the company encountered many "fits and starts," said Mark Alexander, president of Americas Simple Meals and Beverages. One of its biggest challenges is its tomato-based recipes since "tomatoes are naturally acidic and can react with can linings over time," added Alexander. The team also needs to deal with the possible huge costs that came with the transition without passing them on to buyers. Fortunately, even though the amount is significant, it may not be "material" to the company's total earnings, which is now worth more than $7 billion. The company ships about 2 billion cans annually a huge undertaking now that it's transitioning. The shift will begin in the United States and Canada and will be done in stages starting with 2 million BPA-free cans of classic chicken noodle in March 2016 and 10 million more in April. This process will continue until all Campbell soup cans on shelves are BPA-free. The company estimates that at least 75 percent of its plan will be completed by end of 2016. In the meantime, customers can track the transition in a website called whatsinmyfood.com, which also includes the company's stand on GMO labeling. Photo: Bowy Gavid Bowie Chan | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ringing Bells Pvt. Ltd. continues to be indignant about its flagship Freedom 251 device despite various accusations from different parties. Earlier controversies that surrounded the release of the $4 Freedom 251 smartphone include rebranded Adcom smartphones distributed to media personnel during the phone's debut and the company's rather ambiguous and vague way of explaining how their phones can be priced so cheaply, not to menion their company is in the government's Make in India initiative. Now, a first information report (FIR) has been filed against Ringing Bells by Kirit Somaiya, leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India. The complaint accuses Ringing Bells of "cheating" as the company is allegedly violating Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Acts. Somaiya believes the pricing of the phone is just not realistic and is accusing the company of committing fraud. The given specifications and features of the phone greatly exceed the selling price of the Freedom 251. Officials are assembling a team to investigate the matter after an initial report found the FIR had enough grounds to proceed. Ringing Bells has been required to submit documents for the inquiries pointed out in the FIR. The company states it is willing to oblige and it is in full cooperation with any government officials who need clarification from their side. Ringing Bells is seemingly ready to face and disprove any accusation. The company has also previously changed the mode of payments for preorders to a cash-on-delivery basis to further legitimize their business. Payments that had already been made were refunded. Such payments had been made through 3rd party banks and were held in escrow. In spite of these allegations directed at the company, not including all the assumptions and negative publicity, Ringing Bells seems unfazed. It promises to release the first batch of phones that will be delivered to users by the end of June 2016. Candidates were picked on a first come, first served basis and a status update on their company's Facebook page announced that they had sent out texts and e-mails to the users who had been picked. An estimated 50 lakh or 5 million units of the smartphone are expected to be sold both online and offline. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. HTC will officially announce the HTC 10 at a press event scheduled for April 12. This hasn't stopped a Romanian online store from beginning to take preorders for the smartphone, while including a free selfie stick for good measure. Android smartphone fans are waiting for one key player to reveal its 2016 flagship smartphone, now that Samsung has released the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, while LG is about to release its LG G5 modular smartphone. HTC is getting a later start than its rivals but will put all the leaks and speculation to rest at its press event on April 12. Even though the HTC 10 hasn't officially been announced, a Romanian retailer is getting a head start on the competition and has opened up prerorders for the smartphone. QuickMobile has listed the HTC One M10 on its website as being available for preorder and it's offering a 32 GB model for 3299.90 Romanian Leu, which is about $830 U.S. The listing is questionable for a few reasons; it is offering the smartphone in choice of gray, silver, and gold. Leaked images have shown the handset being available in four color choices. The retailer also lists the smartphone as HTC One M10, while it's been reported that HTC is going to name the device the HTC 10. The HTC 10 will reportedly feature a 5.1-inch 2,560 x 1,440 Quad HD Super LCD 5 display with a pixel density of 576 pixels per inch (ppi), run Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and HTC Sense 8.0. The smartphone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, Adreno 530 GPU (graphics processing unit), and 4 GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly. It is said to ship with either 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB of internal storage and also includes a microSD expansion slot to further increase its storage. The HTC 10's camera capabilities have been highly praised by the company as being "world first, world class" and offering a "very, very compelling camera experience." The company is expected to use a 12-megapixel UltraPixel rear camera with laser autofocus, OIS (optical image stabilization), and 5-megapixel front facing camera for selfies and video chat. The handset is also expected to include a large 3,000 mAh battery. Unlike the free Gear VR headset that came with the Samsung Galaxy S7, and S7 edge, or LG's freebies with the G5, preordering the HTC One M10 will only score you a selfie stick. You probably want to wait and hold off preordering right now and wait to hear what HTC is offering on April 12. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Archeologists in Italy found what may be a very rare inscribed ancient slab that may shed light on rich details about Etruscan worship and culture. The discovery could give scientists valuable information about the religion of ancient Etruscans, a missing piece of the puzzle they have been searching for. Majority of ancient relics about Etruscan culture came from funeral objects and graves. While all these might give information on how Etruscans lived in the past, it does not give hints in its religion and worship practices. "This is probably going to be a sacred text, and will be remarkable for telling us about the early belief system of a lost culture that is fundamental to western traditions," said Gregory Warden, president and professor of archaeology at Franklin University Switzerland. Etruscan Worship And Culture The archeologists unearthed the stele at the Poggio Colla, a settlement 20 miles northeast of Florence, Italy. Weighing about 500 pounds, the nearly 4-feet tall and 2-feet wide stele contains approximately 70 legible punctuation marks and letters. Since the stone was found buried near a temple, it could probably contain information about the ancient people's religion. Researchers estimate that the stone was buried for about 2,500 years and it could have been on display outside the temple in the past. The life of these people was infused with religion while their leaders practiced religious authority. They are considered one of the most religious groups of people in the ancient world. Translating The Text The archeologists are currently studying the language embedded on the slab to properly translate its contents. Etruscans once ruled Rome which could mean that the stele may give valuable information about culture thousands of years ago. Warden said that long inscriptions on a stone are rare. The slab may contain words that are never heard before, especially that it's not a funeral text like other artifacts found. The researchers hope to discover new information about the Etruscan life, faith and culture through the stone. The scientists are now focused on preserving the stele by using modern laser technology. The researchers, however, need more time to properly translate the ancient text. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The T-Mobile LG G5 has been confirmed to come with a locked bootloader, just like the Samsung Galaxy S7. Product Manager of the Un-carrier Desmond Smith made it official via a broadcast on Periscope. Now, this comes off as a little unusual because T-Mobile is known for rolling out devices with an unlocked bootloader, allowing subscribers to go all out and tinker with their devices to their hearts' content. As mentioned earlier, this is the same situation which the Galaxy S7 is in, but in that case, the carrier is not at fault. The decision to launch a locked bootloader on the Samsung flagship lineup is the smartphone maker's. According to T-Mobile CEO John Legere, the engineers at the company are even trying to reach out to the South Korean firm to come up with a solution that's favorable for the subscribers who are itching to modify their Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. @MarkHibbard1 I'm aware some are upset. It's under Samsungs control, but my engineers are asking them for a solution that they can support. John Legere (@JohnLegere) March 13, 2016 This time around, it's unclear whether it was LG or T-Mobile who decided to have the LG G5 packaged with a locked bootloader. Smith didn't straighten this out in the video. As expected, the folks over at XDA-Developers expressed their sentiments regarding the news. One user fervently hopes the international variant will be unlocked, while some are just rooting for the upcoming "smoothest and fastest Android phone" that is the HTC 10 now. Meanwhile, it's a safe bet to assume that a couple of people may have seen this coming, as Android device makers have been focusing on security. That means providing some users the capability of customizing their devices isn't at the top of their list of priorities. A word to the wise, rooting a device can void the warranty, so those who are planning to jump into the bandwagon should be wary well, that's not directed to T-Mobile Galaxy S7 owners and future LG G5 owners at least. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. If you grew up a fan of fantasy novels or films, chances are you have already heard about mystical creatures known as unicorns. While depictions of these creatures vary from culture to culture, they are mostly the guise of a mare with a spiraling horn on the forehead. In a study featured in the American Journal of Applied Science, scientists from Tomsk State University (TSU) in Russia have discovered the fossilized remains of a pre-historic creature that greatly resemble the physical features of the unicorn from lore. Paleontologist Andrei Shpansky and his colleagues at TSU described the "Siberian unicorn" as a member of the Elasmotherium sibiricum, a species of rhinos that was endemic in Siberia before eventually becoming extinct some 350,000 years ago. This particular Siberian rhino, however, appears to have found a refuge in Kazakhstan about 29,000 years ago. Shpansky said that the southern portion of Western Siberia may have served as a form of sanctuary for the rhinoceros, allowing it to live for a longer period of time compared to other Elasmotherium sibiricum. The creature also had the option to move further south and dwell in that region for a while. The researchers based their findings on examinations of an Elasmotherium sibiricum skull, which was unearthed near the village of Kozhamzhar in Kazakhstan's Pavlodar region. Despite showing evidence of cracks on the specimen, it is considered to be well-preserved, with no signs of gnawing, exfoliation, or palletization. After subjecting the skull of the Siberian unicorn to radiocarbon testing at Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in the United Kingdom, the team found that the creature that used to own it likely perished 29,000 years ago. It is believed that it may have been a male rhinoceros with immense size, which is consistent with depictions of the creatures in literature, according to a scientist at QUB. According to research, Siberian unicorns were capable of growing up to 15 feet in length. They were also able to weigh as much as 8,000 to 10,000 pounds. This made them significantly larger compared to African or Asian forest elephants. By comparison, modern-day white rhinos can grow somewhere between 11 feet to 14 feet and weigh up to 8,000 pounds, while black rhinos can reach 10 feet to 13 feet and weigh up to 3,000 pounds. Both the pre-historic creature and its present-day counterparts had the characteristic large horn on their forehead, which they use to defend themselves. Before the recent discovery of the Siberian unicorn remains, Elasmotherium sibiricum were believed to have gone extinct some 350,000 years ago. The creatures' last known habitat was in a vast stretch of land from the Don River all the way to modern-day Kazakhstan in the east. Photo: Macinate | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A woman from New York holds off her own fight against life-threatening brain cancer until her unborn baby is safely delivered. Kim Vaillancourt from Tonawanda was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, after experiencing headaches and nausea since around Christmas. It was also just halfway through her pregnancy, thus she believes her baby made that life-saving trip to the hospital possible. Now she is delaying the chemotherapy and radiation sessions that can potentially save her life in order to keep the developing baby, Wyatt Eli, safe in her womb. "I would have just thought I had a headache and the flu and I would have laid in bed, recalls the 36-year-old, adding that remaining unchecked by the doctor, however, made her worry about the babys wellness. She and her husband, Phil, had also recently adopted three young girls into their family that time. Life took an abrupt turn from that joyful moment of adoption to her Dec. 27 diagnosis, and the idea of Kim being rushed into surgery to remove two fatal tumors: one on the front of her brain and another riskily close to the brain stem in the back. But the couple stays optimistic, deciding to prioritize the babys well-being at present. Kim now plans to start her treatment around two weeks after she gives birth, hopeful that her tumors do not return before then. We're praying a lot and trusting God through these next few weeks to keep these scans clean, Phil says. Kims childhood friend Jenna Koch has set up a GoFundMe account for her, as well as a number of fundraisers in the next couple of weeks. Glioblastoma afflict around 17,000 adults in the U.S. each year. However it is not too common during pregnancy, according to Dr. Robert Fenstermaker of Buffalos Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The neurosurgeon has developed a vaccine for the disease, currently in clinical trial phase. Only 30 percent of glioblastoma sufferers live beyond two years, because even if surgery takes out most of the tumor, it would be nearly impossible to control the invasive tendrils that spread into the brain region and allow tumor regrowth. Doctors said, too, that patients with the kind of glioblastoma that Kim has maintain a median survival rate of around 14 months. But Kim is holding on to her faith, sharing her hope that she will be around 30 years from now to tell her story of beating cancer. Photo: Freestocks.org | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New Zealand is now the country with the worse rate for invasive melanoma, overtaking Australia. The study also found that the skin cancer rate in New Zealand is getting worse. Since 2005, the melanoma rate in Australia has been decreasing while the rate in New Zealand continues to increase. According to Brisbane-based QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, New Zealand's rising melanoma rate will continue to surge until at least 2017. Melanoma experts in New Zealand said the increasing rate is due to the lack of the government's commitment to address the problem for over 10 years. According to Associate Professor Tony Reeder from the University of Otago, the government's lack of action in prohibiting sun beds is an example of this political failure. "In stark contrast, Australia acted decisively to protect its population by implementing a comprehensive ban," said Reeder. Professor David Whiteman, one of the study authors, said that while Kiwis have become smarter when it comes to skin cancer prevention, there is more to be done. Unfortunately, for many senior Kiwis diagnosed with skin cancer, the damage has been dealt. "As New Zealand's population ages, the number of melanomas diagnosed will continue to increase. Those people are developing melanomas now, many decades after the cancer-causing exposure to sunlight occurred," said Whiteman. For the study, the researchers compared skin cancer frequencies in six countries in the last 30 years. The countries involved in the study were Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Britain and the United States. They found that from 1982 to 2011, the rate of invasive skin cancer in New Zealand almost doubled. Study highlights included: Skin cancer rates in New Zealand surged from 26 cases per 100,000 people to nearly 50 cases from 1982 to 2011. The researchers predicted that the melanoma rates in New Zealand will start to drop from next year. They estimated that the reduction will result to just 46 cases per 100,000 people in 2031. In 2005, skin cancer rates in Australia surged - 49 cases per 100,000 people. In 2011, the rates declined to 48 cases per 100,000 people. The researchers projected that the melanoma rates in Australia will continue to drop. By 2031, there could be just 41 cases per 100,000 people. As for the skin cancer rates in Norway, UK, Sweden and United States' Caucasian population, the researchers predicted the rates will continue to surge at least until 2022. Photo: Michael Dorausch | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Microsoft is continuing its efforts to bring as many desktop features to its mobile apps. The latest updates for Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint and Excel for Android bring rich text format (RTF) support, exporting to PDF and the ability to insert images into a document straight from the camera. With these three added features, RTF support falls into the category of one of those things we didn't know we couldn't do in the first place. As for exporting PDFs, that's a feature that's been needed for quite a while that should've been there in the first place. Meanwhile, inserting images into documents straight from the gallery is a nice-to-have feature considering it is unique to a mobile environment. There is a bit of catch, however, to actually making use of the new features. Users have to be online. Based on Microsoft's support page, the limitations also seem to apply to Android users only. Microsoft Office users on iOS can open and edit RTF files offline, for example. When creating a document in Office Word and exporting it into a PDF, the conversion has to occur on Microsoft's servers. Thus, the requirement to be online to do so. It is a bit of a peculiarity of a requirement nonetheless, as it could lead to security and privacy vulnerabilities for users. Regardless, PDF export is the most useful of the three new added features. Especially with the proliferation of multiple office suite apps on the Google Play Store, exporting to a universal file type like PDFs allows for documents to be opened on a variety of applications. Users won't have to worry if their polished document is formatted correctly when opened on a different app for a different platform. The only worry would be to remember to complete any conversions before losing access to the Internet. Working on a document on a tablet during a flight, for example, is one such situation but it is better than nothing after all. Currently, all three apps - Word, PowerPoint and Excel - have 4.4 ratings out of 5 stars on the Google Play Store, and the current versions after the updates bring each to version 16.0.6729.1013. If the updates haven't already rolled out to a user, Microsoft does provide an APK mirror to force the latest update, as well. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Internet is currently losing its mind right now over a selfie that has sparked one hell of a devilish debate. There are some people who, without reservation, wholeheartedly believe in ghosts, spirits, demons and the like. Then, there are people on the other side of this coin who simply need some kind of proof in order to believe those things are real. What better proof is there than a picture that captures whatever inexplicable, supernatural phenomenon is going on? The photo that has the Internet spooked was originally posted on the photo sharing site 9gag before it made its way to Twitter. At first glance, this just looks like a sweet selfie of a couple with nothing out of the ordinary to see. However, take a closer look, and you will be able to see the woman's reflection is facing the same way as we see her in the photo. The couple snapped the selfie in of front a window, where we can clearly see their reflection. We should see the back of her head, similarly to how we see the male's, but that isn't the case. There she is, just smiling back to us, looking all creepy. Seriously, what kind of sorcery is that? The reason her reflection is facing the same way is still unknown, although the Internet is having a ball trying to give their own explanations. The most obvious explanation would be Photoshop, but others firmly believe there is something paranormal behind it. The account that posted the selfie, @itsthemans captioned the image to question what kind of devilish thing is happening here, receiving more than 16,000 retweets. The Internet, of course, then reacted by pretty much stating that they will never be able to sleep again. Multiple other people referred to her as a "low key" Lord Voldemort. Others pointed out that her hijab might have a different pattern on it (although it's hard to tell), meaning it isn't the same picture. Others want to know what's with the kid in back? In any case, we were sort of able to get down the bottom of it and no, this woman is not possessed. We are still betting on the magic of Photoshop on this one, but one user on 9gag offered a sensible explanation. "This picture is a result of a camera with a rolling shutter. The sensor is exposed to light with the help of 2 little panels that fall up (possibly down left or right, but usually down). If the girl was to turn her head at the right time the camera would capture her looking backwards and forwards," the user writes. "The rolling shutting [sic] is present in most DLSRs. Unlike an [sic] phone camera which can have a global shutter or electronic moving shutter. The wider the gap between the 2 falling panels determine how much time the sensor is exposed." While this makes sense, we are sure the Internet still wants to believe that there is some exorcist action going on over here. Source: 9gag 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Chinese state media is full of praise for the hacker accused of stealing a US F-35 Fighter Plane A state-run media last Wednesday said that spying on the US is a service to China while praising the Chinese national who hacked the networks of US defense contractors, delivering confidential information to China. According to court documents, Su Bin also known as Stephen Su locally, is a wealthy businessman. While Su, 50, is being celebrated as a hero in his home country, he has pled guilty to conspiring with others to break into the networks of Boeing and other American defense contractors in a federal court in Los Angeles, California. He admitted to conspiring with two unnamed accomplices in China to try to acquire plans for F-22 and F-35 fighter jets and C-17 transport aircraft. According to prosecutors, the hacking took place between October 2008 and March 2014. The Chinese government has denied any connection to Sus case. The Chinese millionaire had been residing in Canada, fought extradition to the US, and then struck a deal whereby a guilty plea would limit his sentence to no more than five years imprisonment. In the meanwhile, Su is being lauded as patriotic in his home country. We have no reliable source to identify whether Su has stolen these secrets and transferred them to the Chinese government. If he has, we are willing to show our gratitude and respect for his service to our country, said an editorial in the Global Times, a nationalistic newspaper with close ties to the ruling Communist Party. Chinese Man Who Hacked F-35 Fighter Info Lauded as Hero at Home https://t.co/dNSl1L4KHW pic.twitter.com/bgkzq2Hqxg China Cheat Sheets (@ChinaCheatSheet) March 26, 2016 On the secret battlefield without gunpowder, China needs special agents to gather secrets from the US. As for Su, be he recruited by the Chinese government or driven by economic benefits, we should give him credit for what he is doing for the country. If Su was wronged and forced to plead guilty, he should have our sympathy. As the war of information between China and the US continues, there will probably be more Chinese framed as spies and jailed in the US. This is a tragedy of the times, and we hope the Chinese working in sensitive professions in the US can protect themselves. But it also questioned whether the plea agreement revealed the truth of the matter. Every country is gathering intelligence. The largest and most well-known information-collecting agencies are the CIA and FBI in the US. The FBI has even listed China as their top target. Recent years have seen the FBI arresting quite a few Chinese spies, but most of them proved to be innocent. In the meantime, China has kept a low profile in reporting the exposure of US spies out of various considerations. In most cases, governments wont acknowledge these spies after they have been caught. For example, whenever China intercepted spies from Western countries, the governments they served routinely denied any connection and even mobilized the Western media to attack Chinas human rights and win over sympathy. However, according to Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei, Beijing firmly opposes and does not support any cyberhacking activities. For years, the US and China have been accusing each other, which the US describes as rampant cyberspying by the Chinese government on US industry. Su represents the first person successfully prosecuted by the US for stealing state secrets through hacking. Last year, the US indicted five Chinese military officers on charges of cyber spying. FBI ends legal battle with Apple, as it accesses San Bernardino shooters iPhone without Apples help And Apple still doesnt know how FBI did it Federal officials have successfully cracked the iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino shooter and as a result dropping their legal battle against Apple. The FBI was able to unlock the phone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers without help from Apple. The move comes a week after Justice Department officials put a sudden hold on their demands that Apple assist the FBI with an announcement that an outside group had offered a way to hack into the iPhone. Aided by the unnamed group, FBI technology experts had been at work since, testing the method to confirm it could open the iPhone without jeopardizing its contents. In a court filing asking that the case be dismissed, federal prosecutors said the US Government had successfully accessed the data stored on [Syed Rizwan] Farooks iPhone and therefore no longer requires assistance from Apple Inc. Our decision to conclude the litigation was based solely on the fact that, with the recent assistance of a third party, we are now able to unlock that iPhone without compromising any information on the phone, U.S. Atty. Eileen Decker said in a statement after prosecutors asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym to vacate an order compelling Apples cooperation. While the stunning move averts a courtroom showdown pitting Apple against the government, it leaves an unsettled vexing debate over privacy and security amidst rapid advances in technology. Apple struck a defiant tone mentioning in a statement that the backdoor into its phones sought by prosecutors would set a dangerous precedent. This case should never have been brought. Backed by a broad coalition of technology giants like Google and Facebook, Apple was strongly opposed to assisting the US Government in unlocking the device on the grounds that it would have wide-reaching implications on digital security and privacy. In December last year, Farook and his wife killed 14 people and injured a further 22 in the California shooting. The couple died in a shootout with police after the rampage. Ms Decker said the Governments request to Apple was part of its solemn commitment to the shooting victims. Although this step in the investigation is now complete, we will continue to explore every lead and seek any appropriate legal process to ensure our investigation collects all of the evidence related to this terrorist attack, she said. Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, a non-profit that supports Apple, said the announcement was evidence that the Government had an alternative motive in the case. The FBIs credibility just hit a new low, he said in a statement. They repeatedly lied to the court and the public in pursuit of a dangerous precedent that would have made all of us less safe. Fortunately, internet users mobilised quickly and powerfully to educate the public about the dangers of backdoors, and together we forced the Government to back down. Apple is yet to comment on the US justice departments announcement. Sexist bullying is putting girls off hard subjects because they are under growing pressure to appear attractive and escape being called 'swotty' as the use of social media rises, according to a leading teacher. Mary Bousted warned historical, societal attitudes to women were becoming internalised by female students, which is discouraging from studying traditionally male subjects, like physics and maths. The general secretary of the Association of Teacher and Lecturers (ATL) also said schools should be doing more to teach both boys and girls to "speak out" to tackle the issue. Ms Bousted said sexist bullying remains prevalent in classrooms across the country, where girls are subjected to name-calling and insults for being smart. Speaking to reporters in London, she said: "I think sexist bullying is a thing that just doesn't get talked about. "For girls, 'if you are swotty and clever and answer too many questions, you are not attractive'. There's a very fine line. "If you're a girl particularly an adolescent girl there are so many names that you can be called and there are fewer for boys. Femininity brings a lot of vulgar connotations. "There is a conspiracy of near-silence amongst girls." The former English teacher said she once taped the lessons at her London comprehensive school believing the split of boys and girls speaking during class discussion was a "fairly even split". 1926 was the year of the General Strike. Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister. We were between the Wars. A strapping American called Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the Channel. And, on 21 April at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, the future Queen Elizabeth II was born. She will be 90 next month and, to celebrate, the Symington family has raided its cellars and sacrificed some of its most precious old casks to put together a very special tawny port. Grahams 90 is made from a blend of three very fine ports, two of them older than the Queen herself, and one dating back to before the First World War. The port is released today exclusively through Berry Bros & Rudd but last week I was lucky enough to be the first journalist to taste not just the finished blend but also its three individual components: rare tawny ports from 1912, 1924 and 1935. We really dont have that many wines of this age and this quality knocking around, says Paul Symington, Chairman of Symington Family Estates, which owns and makes Grahams port. We have a few wines from around these dates but not many. Scanners will not be introduced in the entrance halls of British airports in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks but extra armed police, spotters and sniffer dogs could be deployed. Government aviation experts from across the EU will meet for an emergency security review on Thursday to examine how best to protect publicly accessible areas. It follows the attack on Belgiums Zaventem airport last week when suicide bombers blew themselves up in the check-in hall. The attack, along with a similar one at a Brussels metro station, left 32 people dead and raised the prospect of bag and body scanners having to be introduced before passengers even reach the check-in desks. Negotiating Britain's withdrawal from the European Union would take "a very long time" and the country would be likely to walk away without any "great successes", a former Cabinet Secretary has warned. Lord O'Donnell, who worked under four Prime Ministers and was the country's highest ranking civil servant, said that countries like France and Germany would not allow Britain to leave with a good deal because they would not want to play into the hands of anti-EU opponents in their forthcoming elections next year. He also told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it took Greenland three years to negotiate an exit from the trappings of the EU, indicating that it could take up to a decade for Britain. "There was only one issue for Greenland and that was fish," he said. "In terms of population they have rather fewer people than were at Wembley last night and it took them three years. Whoever wins the tussle, which is decided by the independent Electoral Commission, gets a free mailshot to every household in Britain and a far higher spending limit during the campaign. The Prime Minister has endorsed Britain Stronger In Europes application to become the lead campaign for those fighting for an In vote in the referendum, saying it represents the breadth and depth of support across the country. He added: By contrast, those campaigning to leave the EU are divided into at least two camps, who cant agree on very much. In fact, the only common ground is their inability to tell the British people what would happen if we left the EU. They have failed to answer reasonable questions about what would happen to jobs, prices or our countrys security if Britain left the EU. It is now clear that turning our back on Europe and walking away is a leap in the dark. Up to 15,000 workers in South Wales are at risk of losing their jobs amid claims that Britain faces the prospect of losing what some countries regard as a strategically important industry. David Cameron and Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, were heading back to Britain on Wednesday to take part in emergency meetings on Thursday. A package of support potentially including government loans for buyers of the Port Talbot plant is understood now to be under discussion. On Wednesday Tata Steel suggested that EU rules restricting state aid were to blame for its decision to sell the UK steel business a claim which was seized on by campaigners for Brexit. Mr Javid, who has backed the Remain campaign despite previously harbouring major doubts over the EU, said on Wednesday night that Europe should do more to ensure speedier action to help save British steel. Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of once giving tacit support to Al Qaeda by a leading Labour grandee after it emerged he voted against banning the group from Britain just six months before 9/11. Charles Clarke, a home office minister at the time of the move in early 2001, said the Labour leader and other Left-wing MPs had given comfort to those groups facing a ban by blocking the proposals. Mr Corbyn, then a backbencher, voted against listing 21 militant groups from around the world as terrorists and banning them from entering Britain. "It just seems there are these shadowy characters around Jeremy Corbyn who are hellbent on turning the Labour party into something it has never been." According to a report of the event on the Labour Party Marxists website, Mr Milne, an associate editor at the Guardian, made a "surprise appearance" at the event. He reportedly used the meeting to talk about the symbiosis between some in the Labour party and elements of the media and the establishment. His presence at the meeting comes as the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy attempt to rewrite Labour Party rules to prevent Mr Corbyn from being ousted in a leadership coup. They have submitted proposals that would see Mr Corbyn automatically included on the ballot paper if a challenge is mounted by another MP. The draft changes, tabled by the CLPD secretary and Labour national executive committee member Peter Willsman, also want to change the rules so that any MP who wants to run as leader would only need the support of 12 MPs. A group of animal behaviorologists believe cats may pick up regional accents from their owners and that there may even be several dialects of cat in different parts of the same country. The scientists, from the University of Lund, in Sweden, will spend the next five years recruiting cats from opposite ends of the country to gather information about what their meows mean. They will investigate how cats vary the melody, or intonation, of their meow when talking to other felines and humans. Led by phonetics researcher Susanne Schotz, the team hopes to discover whether cats respond differently to the sounds their owners use to calm them. The Office for National Statistics has been told to launch an urgent review of Britains official immigration figures ahead of the European Union referendum amid concerns they may be wrong, The Telegraph can disclose. In a development which will intensify public debate about immigration ahead of the June 23 vote, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) has written to the head of the ONS pointing out speculation about the quality of migration figures. The watchdog said the public must be told if official immigration data falls short of providing a full picture. Campaigners described the watchdogs letter as extraordinary. The letter revealed the UKSAs concerns focus on differences between ONS migration figures and data produced by other government departments - which have shown a discrepancy of more than a million EU migrants over the last five years. The armed officers followed him onto a Northern line train, pinned him down and shot him seven times in the head and once in the shoulder. In their ruling the Strasbourg judges said the British authorities had taken appropriate steps after the shooting. "The court found, overall, that it could not be said that the authorities had failed to ensure that those responsible for Mr de Menezess death had been held accountable," it said. "The court noted that the facts of the case were undoubtedly tragic and the frustration of Mr de Menezes family at the absence of any individual prosecutions was understandable. "However, the decision not to prosecute any individual officer had not been due to any failings in the investigation or the States tolerance of or collusion in unlawful acts; rather, it had been due to the fact that, following a thorough investigation, a prosecutor had considered all the facts of the case and concluded that there had been insufficient evidence against any individual officer to prosecute in respect of any criminal offence." Patricia Armani da Silva, Mr de Menezes's cousin who lodged the case, said the family were "deeply disappointed". "We had hoped that the ruling would give a glimmer of hope, not only to us, but to all other families who have been denied the right to justice after deaths at the hands of the police," she said. It was arguably above and beyond the call of duty, even for a member of the Post Office - entrusted as it is with the nations most precious deliveries. A village postmaster travelled 550 miles to personally deliver a letter in time for the next day, because he had forgotten to put it in the last post. The letter contained the passport of a friend of the sender, who had paid for a guaranteed next-day delivery so that it would be in his hands by 9am. But David Shepherd had neglected to process the envelope and only realised at the close of the working day that it had not been picked up in time to be delivered as promised. So he shut up shop and undertook what would be a long and complex overnight journey from Cornwall to East Sussex, involving a car journey and four separate rail and tube journeys, so that he could fulfil the Royal Mails guarantee. We like to provide a really good service. We want to get it right, said Mr Shepherd, who runs Stratton Stores and Post Office. His odyssey began when a customer asked for the letter, containing the passport of Hugh Monro, a former headmaster of Wellington College in Berkshire, who lives in Stratton, to be delivered to Mr Monros sister Sally Compton, in Rye. A woman who climbed Ben Nevis in a pair of shorts while carrying a selfie stick has apologised to the rescuers who saved her in a blizzard. Sarah Albone admitted she "could have died" when she decided to scaleBritain's highest peak while wearing trainers, without an ice axe or walking stick and not telling anyone where she was going. The 28-year-old managed to climb to the summit, but was caught up in freezing conditions and showed signs of hypothermia including difficulty moving. A mountain rescue team leader described her actions as "ridiculous" and "irresponsible". Ruth Davidson has set out plans to charge students 6,000 for a four-year degree after they graduate and are earning a salary as she argued the cost of providing free benefits are hitting poor Scots. The Scottish Tory leader told an STV leaders debate that she would want to reintroduce a charge of 1,500 per year and argued the SNP had paid for free university tuition by cutting thousands of college places. In fiery exchanges, she pointed out that a far higher proportion of youngsters from deprived backgrounds attend universities south of the Border despite the existence of tuition fees. Ms Davidson also argued for the reintroduction of prescription charges for the wealthy as the five leaders debated how to fund Scotlands increasingly stretched health service, which is coming under pressure from the countrys ageing population. But Ms Sturgeon argued that the Scottish Tory leader was trying to portray herself as protecting workers pay packets, while reintroducing charges for benefits that are currently provided for nothing. Ms Sturgeon for the SNP, Labours Kezia Dugdale, Willie Rennie of the Liberal Democrats and the Greens Patrick Harvie used an STV leaders debate to outline their proposals to make Scotlands middle earners pay more than the English. King Edward VIII admitted he did not feel he had deserved the Military Cross he was awarded during the First World War, a newly-published letter reveals. Edward, then the Prince of Wales, was awarded the gallantry medal in 1916 for his frequent morale-boosting trips to the trenches. It has always been controversial, as the medal is intended for "acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy", a qualification which Edward did not appear to have met. In a letter to Capt Bryan Godfrey-Faussett, aide de camp to his father, George V, Edward wrote: "My best thanks to you and Mrs F for your kind congratulations; no, I can't say I feel I have earned the MC at all, but that's nothing to do with me!" A photograph shows Mr Innes grinning broadly as he stands next to Mustafa in the cabin of the hijacked Airbus 320 as it sat on the runway of Cyprus's Larnaca airport. He was one eight Britons reported to be on plane. Friends and family of Mr Innes, who lives in Leeds and works in health and safety, said the behaviour was typical of an irreverent young man who loves a joke. "Only Ben could get a selfie! #proud" tweeted Sarah Innes, a relative. His mother, Pauline Innes, from Leeds, was less eager to discuss the situation until her son was safely returned. "Obviously he's not come home yet and there are security issues to think about - we don't want to talk about anything until it has all been resolved," she said. However, she took issue with descriptions of the picture as "a selfie". The Egyptian man arrested for hijacking a passenger plane flashed the V for victory sign as he appeared in court in Cyprus for the first time this morning. Less than 24 hours after Seif al-Din Mustafa sparked global terror alerts by claiming he had a bomb onboard an EgyptAir flight, the 59-year-old appeared in handcuffs at a Larnaca court. He has not been formally charged but a Cypriot prosecutor said he expected the suspect would face charges of hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. At the time, wildlife officials said he had been forced out of the park by older lions. Dying lion saved after tourists on safari share shocking photos "This time we don't know what might have driven him away. It could be that he became used to easy prey while outside the park," said Mr Thakhuli. Conservationists in Britain have launched a campaign to save Sylvester. Spots and Stripes Conservation says another big cat sanctuary could safely provide a home to the errant lion, and have contacted veterinary units to sedate rather than kill the animal if they can obtain the necessary permits. Lions were re-introduced to Karoo National Park, in Western Cape province, in 2010 after an absence of almost 170 years. The last wild lion in the area was shot in 1842. And despite Mr Kim's all-consuming hatred for America, the Washington-based group said it had no trouble transporting the medicine. "Despite the ongoing tensions surrounding the Korean peninsula this year, we are happy to announce that our spring shipment of medications and supplies for our multidrug-resistant treatment program have arrived in North Korea," aid workers said in a "special announcement" seen by the Telegraph. "We would like to extend a special thanks to all those who have helped make this possible," they added. Though TB has mostly disappeared from the developed world, it remains a major public health risk in North Korea, where a drug-resistant strain of the disease has emerged. An Australian university has been accused of rewriting history after it encouraged students to use the terms "invaded" and "occupied" for the arrival of British settlers. The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Indigenous Terminology guide, which states that Australia was "invaded, occupied and colonised", has drawn an angry reaction in some quarters. Referring to Captain James Cook's arrival in Botany Bay in 1770, a headline in the conservative Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney said: "UNSW rewrites the history books to state Cook 'invaded' Australia". Alan Jones, a Conservative radio host, said: "Don't try and restrict the thinking of university students by some so-called diversity toolkit on Indigenous terminology rubbish which dictates game, set and match that Cook's arrival in New South Wales must be referred to as an invasion. Heres a sentence you probably never expected to read. Donald Trump and Barack Obama broadly agree on something: America can no longer afford topolice the world on behalf of its allies. Over the weekend the New York Times published the transcript of an interview it held with the Republican frontrunner on his foreign policy. Some choice quotes from Trump: Well, you know, at some point, there is going to be a point at which we just cant do this anymore. And, I know the upsides and the downsides. But right now were protecting, were basically protecting Japan, and we are, every time North Korea raises its head, you know, we get calls from Japan and we get calls from everybody else, and 'Do something.' And therell be a point at which were just not going to be able to do it anymore. And this: Nato is obsolete Ill tell you the problems I have with Nato. No. 1, we pay far too much. We are spending you know, in fact, theyre even making it so the percentages are greater. NATO is unfair, economically, to us, to the United States. Because it really helps them more so than the United States, and we pay a disproportionate share. We've noticed you're adblocking. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. Thank you for your support. France has waded into a row over marketing the burkini in Britain, calling brands who sell the full body swimsuit "irresponsible". The broadside came days after Marks and Spencer announced the full body swimsuit was hitting its stores in the UK. The decision to sell for 49.50 a swimsuit allowing you to cover you whole body with the exception of the face, hands and feet without compromising on style made waves in Britain among commentators and some consumers but failed to spark heated debate in political circles. Not so in staunchly secular France, where public signs of religion have been frowned upon ever since a 1905 law separating church and state. More recently, it banned the full veil in public on security grounds and because the garment doesnt reflect the values of the republic. Learning of the quintessentially British brands decision to release the burkini, Laurence Rossignol, Frances womens rights minister, slammed the move as kowtowing to misogynists and religious conservatives, adding that women in favour were like "negroes who supported slavery". Speaking to RMC radio, Ms Rossignol said: Whats at stake is social control over womens bodies. When brands invest in this Islamic garment market, they are shirking their responsibilities and are promoting womens bodies being locked up. Money is no object when the son of an oligarch marries the love of his life. Even the rock-bottom price of oil couldn't stop Mikhail Gutseriev splashing out for his son Said, with Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias and Sting providing the entertainment at their lavish Moscow reception. A deal is under way between Russian and US authorities to exchangeUkrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to reports. Ms Savchenko, recently sentenced to 22 years in prison by Russian authorities in a politically charged case, may be exchanged for Mr Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, both currently serving lengthy prison sentences in the US for illegal arms sales and drug trafficking, respectively. In addition to Mr Bout and Mr Yaroshenko, the list reportedly contains Russian citizens whose activities are not publicly reported, an Interfax report claimed. The Kremlin has claimed to have no information on such an exchange. But Alexei Tarasov, a lawyer for Mr Bout, has further fuelled speculation about the proposal. President Vladimir Putin has sent Russian mercenaries to fight in Syria and Ukraine, decorating them for their service and concealing their casualties, according to a new report. An investigation published by Fontanka, an independent Russian newspaper, found that the Kremlin had hired members of a private military company called Wagner to go to Syria and Ukraine. The use of contractors gives Mr Putin a deniable way of sending trained personnel to both countries. Wagner is believed to have a membership of around 1,000 mercenaries, but officially the group does not exist since Russian law forbids private military companies. But Wagner is registered in Argentina and has a training camp in the Russian village of Molkino the same village that hosts a training site of the 10th special forces brigade of the GRU military intelligence. Irans Supreme Leader declared on Wednesday that missiles would be part of Tehrans future relations with the outside world and implicitly accused a former president of treachery. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who occupies the apex of Irans power structure, issued a statement that widened a rift at the heart of the regime. Since the signing of the nuclear agreement and the lifting of a range of sanctions in January, President Hassan Rouhani and his ministers have stressed the need to ease tensions and open up the economy to Western investment. Ayatollah Khamenei, by contrast, has declared a resistance economy to be the overriding priority for this year. The Revolutionary Guard Corps have conducted three missile tests since the nuclear agreement was signed last July. Last week, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who has become a close ally of Mr Rouhani, said the future is in dialogue, not missiles. The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called on the international community to resettle some 480,000 Syrian refugees yesterday, while calling on world leaders to counter fear-mongering over the potential security threat posed by Middle East refugees. I ask that countries act with solidarity, in the name of our shared humanity, by pledging new and additional pathways for the admission of Syrian refugees, Mr Ban told an emergency summit in Geneva organised by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) His calls came as Europe prepares to implement a controversial deal to begin deporting irregular migrants - including Syrians - back to Turkey as part of a bid to end Europes worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. Syrias civil war continues to fuel an exodus of 4.8m refugees from the country, although a fragile ceasefire has held over the past month. In the latest development in halting process of negotiation Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, yesterday ruled out accepting opposition demands for a transitional body with full executive powers as part of a UN-backed plan to bring peace to the country. The United States will step up its troop presence in eastern Europe in response to "an aggressive Russia," with continuous rotations of an additional armored brigade beginning in early 2017, the US military said yesterday. The rotations will bring the US Army's presence in Europe to three fully manned combat brigades, the US European Command said. A brigade comprises about 4,200 troops. "This Army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our Nato Allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere," General Philip Breedlove, the top US commander in Europe, said in a statement. "Our allies and partners will see more capability. They will see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernised equipment in their countries," he added. Venezuelas opposition was on a collision course with the countrys beleaguered president, Nicolas Maduro, last night after passing an amnesty law to free jailed opposition activists and drop legal proceedings against others. Mr Maduro, the successor to Venezuelas charismatic former socialist president Hugo Chavez, has vowed to veto the move, setting up further showdown with opposition groups who won a majority in the countrys Congress last December. Rest assured that the law will not get past me, Mr Maduro said in a televised speech several hours before the law was given final parliamentary approval. Laws to protect terrorists and criminals will not get past me, no matter what they do. Mr Maduro, a former bus-driver who was hand-picked by Mr Chavez beforehis death from cancer in 2013 but has none of his predecessors charisma, has struggled to carry forward the Chavista legacy. After years of corrupt socialist economics, Venezuelans have been hit bycrippling shortages in shops and hospitals after the slump in global oil prices exposed the extent of Venezuelas oil-dependence. If implemented, the law would benefit around 70 high-profile government adversaries, including dozens of people imprisoned in connection with opposing the socialist revolution launched 17 years ago by Mr Chavez. Telegraph Media Groups Editorially Integrated Partnerships are right for brands, right for subscribers and right for the Telegraph. Our carefully selected partnerships enhance the journalism and experiences our subscribers love, while enabling your brand to gain exclusive access to our highly engaged audience and first-party data. Browse examples of our latest commercial content including visual stories, interactive games, animated maps and more 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 Chandrababu Naidu slapped me: Pocharam Hyderabad, March 30 (INN): In a shocking revelation, Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy alleged that he was slapped by the then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu when he objected to the privatisation of Nizams Sugar Factory. Intervening during debate on drought situation in Telangana in State Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, Pocharam recalled the incident which took place when he himself was a minister in Naidu's cabinet. He said Naidu had constituted a Cabinet Sub-Committee comprising of Vidhyadhar Rao and ML Ramakrishna and he was not included although he hailed from Nizamabad. A meeting was held at Naidu's residence and it was attended by Cabinet Sub-Committee members and other senior officials. "I requested Naidu with folded hands to drop plan to privatise Nizam Sugar Factory. Due to my repeated requests he got irritated. He stood up from his seat and slapped me on my right leg. Everyone in the room was stunned. Naidu immediately left the meeting hall and went inside the room. A few moments later, he called me inside and apologised for slapping. I told him that although he had slapped me on my leg, I felt the pain in my heart. He apologised again and invited me to accompany him in his car to the Secretariat. I refused and again requested him not to privatise the factory," recalled Pocharam. Pocharam said he had never revealed this secret to anyone. However, he is disclosing it now only as a reference to show how the previous government damaged the Nizam Sugar Factory. News Posted: 30 March, 2016 KTR assures to take drought relief measures Hyderabad, March 30 (INN): Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K. Tarakarama Rao said that the government is taking all measures to deal with the drought situation across the Telangana State. Replying to a debate on drought situation and drinking water crisis in State Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, KTR informed that Rs. 329 Crore have been provided for supply of drinking water during summer season. This includes Rs. 60 crore for GHMC areas. He said this month of March has been the hottest in the last one decade. He said maximum temperature of 42 Degree Celsius has been recorded this month. The minister said except two districts, the ground water levels have come down in remaining eight districts. He said that the State Government has planned both short-term and long-term measures to supply drinking water. He said adequate funds would be provided to deal with problems which are likely to occur during summer. He said the temperatures might rise during the months of April and May which could increase the shortage of drinking water. KTR said that the Chief Secretary has been directed to conduct video-conference with District Collectors to review the status on regular basis. He said he himself was conducting the review once in every 15 days. He said Himayat Sagar, Osman Sagar, Manjeera and Singur have completely dried and water could not be drawn from these four resources. Therefore, arrangements have been made to supply 355 MGD drinking water from three Phases of Krishna and Godavari Phase-I. He said Rs. 7 crore have been allocated for emergency pumping in Nagarjuna Sagar. News Posted: 30 March, 2016 Union Minister assures to increase CNG stations Hyderabad, March 30 (INN): Union Minister for Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan has assured to increase number of CNG stations in Hyderabad. The assurance came following representation made by Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatraya. Dattatraya called on Pradhan on Wednesday requesting him to sanction additional CNG and cylinders for Telangana, especially Hyderabad. Further, he said by increasing the stations and supply of CNG, pollution could be reduced in Hyderabad. He also sought sanction of outlets for gas cylinders in Warangal and Karimnagar district. He requested the Petroleum Minister to permit Bottle Gas Factory in Telangana. News Posted: 30 March, 2016 AP CM pays visit to PEMANDU Labs Hyderabad, March 30 (INN): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday visited the Mid-Lab syndication work at MHRD as part of Vision 2029. He visited the education and retail labs and reviewed the lab work. Later, the Chief Minister interacted with the lab participants and stakeholders from retail and education labs. The Chief Minister assured on taking every key decision required to implement the labs' suggestion by the time the labs are completed. He appreciated PEMANDU for undertaking a new and innovative exercise through labs, by involving private, public and NGOs. Speaking on retail labs, he said Andhra Pradesh holds potential to emerge as a sourcing hub for all retail chains. 'No other state holds advantage in retail, AP has connectivity and resources to emerge as retail destination', he added. On education labs, Naidu said, 'We aim to achieve 100% literacy through quality education and upgradation of skill, e-literacy, physical literacy. Every person in the state must be physically fit'. He added that the AP Fiber Grid will connect all rural schools and improve better learning conditions in English and Telugu. Earlier, the retail lab work streams targets were explained to the CM. The labs focused on increasing the income of MSMEs and SHGs by enhancing their quality and reach. Through the initiatives proposed by the organized retail lab, the government aims to increase the income of 70,000 MSMEs and 10 lakh SHGs by 50% by 2019. The lab suggested setting up Andhra Pradesh Marketing Facilitation Centre, giving boost to Made in AP brand. In a bid to make Andhra Pradesh a key retail destination in India, the lab discussed initiatives to produce 500 Made in AP products to reach global retailers. The labs also explored ways to generate investment of Rs 5,028 crore and create employment opportunities to 25,000 people by 2020. Given that Andhra Pradesh has an advantage on suitable infrastructure to emerge as a retail destination, the organized retail labs suggested setting up of urban retail park in major cities and semi-urban/rural retail parks across the state. The unorganized retail work stream observed that the unorganized sector constitutes 92% of Andhra Pradesh's retail sector. Of this, 33% is petty businesses, in which kirana shops comprise 25%. Through the involvement of stakeholders and kirana shop owners, the unorganized retail labs targets to improve the livelihood of 50,000 kirana shop owners in all mandals in Andhra Pradesh by 2019. The labs identified existing business gaps and identified initiatives for improvement. The key recommendations were to improve and modernize existing infrastructure, while strengthening management and operational practices. The labs observed that the unorganized retailer's average incomes, post transformation, will surpass the state's average per capita income. Given that Andhra Pradesh aims to emerge as an education and knowledge hub, the education labs mooted effective monitoring and assessment of student learning outcomes. They also laid special emphasis on strengthening teacher quality and uplifting the school system, by improving parental engagement, Mana Bhavitha, Anganwadi Baata and frequent home visits. The labs noted that out of 55,607 Anganwadi centres, 84.4% are in rural areas. It also pointed out that there is a need for single and standardised assessment to evaluate quality of the pre-school education in the state. Existing 40,222 Anganwadi workers and 1,030 supervisors will undergo up-skilling programme, thus benefitting 14 lakhs pre-schoolers in the state. In a bid to strengthen teacher quality, the primary education labs suggested smart multi-grade and multi-level teaching methods. 'Class in a box' toolkit for teachers was proposed to make classes activity-based. In this regard, school grading will be taken up and best practices from top-rated schools will be adopted across the state. By effectively strengthening the primary education, the government aims to become one of the top 10 states in English, Maths and Science by 2018 and top 5 states in 2021. The secondary education lab suggested remediation classes for non-performing students through tech mentoring and community empowerment. It also proposed a comprehensive platform for teachers to upskill their abilities. News Posted: 30 March, 2016 Two Chinese defendants at the trial in Hanoi on March 29, 2016. Photo credit: Viet Dung/Tuoi Tre The Hanoi Peoples Court Tuesday sent two Chinese men to jail for stealing US$27,000 using fake bank cards. Liu Dong Jin, 35, got nine years and Lin Feng Hui, 32, two for using computer networks, telecommunications networks, Internet or digital devices to misappropriate property. They bought foreign card numbers from an unidentified person and made fake cards to use in Vietnam. On June 8, 2015, Liu entered Vietnam and managed to withdraw nearly VND100 million (US$4,500). Lin came two days later and the duo continued to withdraw more money, totally worth around VND600 million ($27,000), before they were arrested on June 11. The duo admitted to their crime, claiming they intended to invest the stolen money in a Chinese-owned company in Vietnam. Peta Credlin's wish to be able to use her own voice is about to come true with one of the most talked about figures of the Abbott government set to join Sky News as an election commentator ahead of an expected double dissolution election on July 2. Tony Abbott's former chief of staff has told News Corp she has been offered several media jobs since departing the prime minister's office in September but chose Sky because she respects their team of journalists, which includes David Speers, Kieren Gilbert and Laura Jayes. In the immediate days after the change of leadership to Malcolm Turnbull, Ms Credlin expressed a desire "to move on with my life and do something where I get my own voice". Sky CEO Angelo Frangopoulos confirmed Ms Credlin's appointment as a political commentator and said: "We welcome Peta to our unrivalled coverage of Election 2016." Beware of online scammers, they will rob you blind. Credit:Getty Images Although Albert knew 000 was the emergency services number, he was so shaken that he complied with the directive. To Albert's astonishment, when he dialled the number, the call was answered by a man who introduced himself as "Craig Nelson of the Rocks Police". Nelson, who assured the couple they were close to nabbing the culprits, wanted to know when Albert and Marie intended to make the transfer of funds, from which ANZ branch, and what they would be wearing "because we would be under police surveillance for our own protection". Albert and Marie transferred the funds as instructed but decided not to send all the money in their account. Miller subsequently called "regularly" warning that the account remained in "real and imminent" danger and "insisted" they transfer more funds to the British account. "Our account balance was reduced to such an extent that we had barely sufficient funds for Christmas expenses," Albert recounts. And then the calls from Miller and Nelson stopped. Albert rang 000 and this time an operator answered. He asked to be connected to "Superintendent Craig Nelson of the Rocks police station" only to be told there was no such person. Albert and Marie drove to the nearest ANZ branch and their worst fears were confirmed: there was no John Miller. ANZ contacted Barclays and was told that the British account had been emptied by the account holders. Albert and Marie had deposited a total of $120,000 into the account. Barclays insisted that it complied with British regulatory requirements for the identification of account holders, and ANZ, says Albert, "has done what it can to help but in the end they can only sympathise". Albert and Marie contacted a prominent firm of compensation lawyers but on reviewing the case a senior partner advised the couple not to pursue litigation. "It was a heartbreaking story," a spokesman told Fairfax Money, "but there was no recourse open to them legally; there was no negligence that we could identify: they had been the victims of highly sophisticated fraud." Online fraud biggest channel While understandably embarrassed to be taken in by the elaborate scam for such a huge amount of money, Albert and Marie are hardly alone in being ripped off by intricate stings. Unlike their case, however, the biggest channel for fraud is the internet. According to credit reference agency Veda, online credit application fraud increased 12.6 per cent in 2015 over the previous year and "identity takeover" is the fastest growing form of credit application fraud. Based on its fraud database compiled from data supplied by banks, credit unions, credit card providers, finance companies and law enforcement agencies Veda says 2014-15 was the first time that the majority of fraudulent credit applications occurred online. Online credit application fraud accounted for 50 per cent of fraudulent credit applications. Imelda Newton, general manager fraud and identity solutions at Veda, says that as credit providers toughen up rules and technology for the verification of identity, providing a false identity has become less viable for fraudsters. Instead, criminals are stealing identity information to apply for credit. This type of fraud has grown 59 per cent in the past two years. "It's easier for fraudsters to use a stolen identity than a fictitious identity," Newton says. "People need to be careful about the information they share. People are over-sharing on social media, providing their name, address, date of birth and other personal information." Newton says people also "over-share" when they unnecessarily provide personal details in "optional" fields when completing transactions online. Old-fashioned physical theft of identity documents such as passports and drivers' licences is also on the rise; these documents are often sold on to criminal gangs and used to commit financial fraud. Newton says a passport is worth around $1600 on the black market, while a driver's licence will fetch up to $400. One option for consumers to protect against identity thieves taking out credit in their name is to place an alert on their credit file. This ensures that whenever a credit application is made with a financial institution in the consumer's name, the consumer will receive an alert. If the consumer has not applied for credit he or she can raise the alarm. Veda charges $90 a year for this service. The Australian Institute of Criminology lists four core "technological devices and procedures" used to commit online fraud: Phishing: consumers are tricked into transmitting financial information to a fraudulent website where the information is housed for use in fraudulent activities Pharming: victims' computer systems are compromised via hacking or malware, or where software redirects victims to fake websites where they are asked to enter personal details Skimming: personal information is "skimmed" from plastic cards by devices covertly attached to card readers Malware: malicious software such as viruses are used or installed on computers to alter functions within programs and files Fraudsters faking romance Romance scams in which the lonely and vulnerable are preyed upon is a lucrative source of fraud and heartbreak. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), 2620 Australians reported losing $23 million to dating and romance scams in 2015. ACCC deputy chairman Delia Rickard says scammers are "experts at preying on people's weaknesses", spending months or years grooming victims and building trust. Fraudsters will strike by seeking financial help for non-existent medical emergencies, failed business ventures and tales of hardship. "We know these figures are only the tip of the iceberg as many victims are reluctant to admit to friends, family or authorities that they fell for a scam," Rickard says. Nearly one in four (23.9 per cent) of reported romance scams originate on social media, mainly Facebook, and 26.4 per cent on the internet, notably online dating services. Romance scammers tend to say it with Gmail rather than flowers, with 25.3 per cent of scams conducted through emails. Another scam to attract the attention of the ACCC is fake parcel delivery scams that involve fraudsters sending emails, purportedly from Australia Post or a courier service, about a missed parcel delivery. The email asks the recipient to open an attachment or download a file to retrieve the parcel, whereupon an executable file (.exe) will load on to their computer and install ransomware as soon as it is opened. Ransomware freezes the owner's computer and demands a ransom for the unlucky victim to be able to access their computer again. Other scams are designed to extract personal information from consumers: hoax emails from government departments, banks and other trusted entities promising refunds, grants or other moneys for which the scammers seek either an upfront fee or personal information. "If you are contacted out of the blue and told that you are entitled to money in exchange for an upfront fee, delete it if you hand over your money, it's gone," the ACCC warns in one of its regular bulletins on scams. When the money is gone, there is often very little legal redress. In a 2014 paper, the Australian Institute of Criminology reflected on this sore point for many victims of fraud. "While victims of online fraud experience levels of harm similar to other victims of crime, they are often not seen as being legitimate victims. For most online fraud victims, this stems from the unique characteristics of the crime perpetrated against them that makes conventional criminal justice responses difficult or impossible." Albert and Marie would definitely agree. * Not their real names. Beat the scammers 1. Never provide your financial details or send funds to someone you've met online. Scammers particularly seek money orders, wire transfers or international funds transfer as it's rare to recover money sent this way. 2. Run a Google Image search to check the authenticity of any photos provided, as scammers often use fake photos they've found online. 3. If you think you have fallen victim to a fraudster, contact your bank or financial institution immediately and report it to scamwatch.gov.au. 4. Government departments will never contact you asking you to pay money upfront in order to claim a fee or rebate. 5. Never send money or give your financial details to someone you don't know and trust. 6. Check your bank and credit card statements every month to make sure every transaction was made by you. 7. If you're in any doubt of the legitimacy of something, don't use the contact details provided in the email or over the phone. Find the contact details from the phone book or an online search and contact the organisation to find out if it's real. Source: ACCC Resources ScamWatch: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/ A levy to fund sweeping changes to strengthen the family violence system and protect victims will be considered by the state government. Responding to the findings of the royal commission into family violence, Premier Daniel Andrews has promised a "blitz" to increase housing for family violence victims, saying he will not allow them to languish on waiting lists. Mr Andrews did not rule out introducing new revenue streams, including a levy, to pay for the measures recommended in the final report of the Royal Commission into Family Violence. Three young girls have been vilified in a horrifying attack by a gang of youths in a suburban park. The girls were punched and had their headdresses forcibly removed in the attack, which was carried out by about 10 youths, some thought to be as young as seven. Aima Sadiq-Ali, Walija Iqbalali and Nadia Aliahmed were attacked in a park in Norlane. Credit:Channel Seven News Melbourne Police said the girls, aged 15, 12 and 11, were at a park in the Geelong suburb of Norlane about 5.30pm on March 23 when they were approached by the gang. The youths began to punch the girls, and stole and smashed their mobile phones when they tried to call police. Larnaca: Seif Eldin Mustafa, the Egyptian man who grabbed the world's attention by hijacking an EgyptAir flight and diverting it to Cyprus, has admitted his crimes to Cypriot investigators but insisted that he acted out of desperation, officials said Wednesday during his first court appearance. Mustafa, 59, boarded EgyptAir Flight 181 Tuesday, wore a fake explosives belt and demanded that the pilot take him to Cyprus, Turkey or Greece, prosecutors said. When the plane landed in Larnaca, on the southern coast of Cyprus, Mustafa made various demands, including that a letter be delivered to his former wife, a Cypriot citizen, they said. "When someone hasn't seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children, and the Egyptian government won't let him, what is he supposed to do?" Mustafa told the authorities, according to a statement by prosecutors. Prosecutors requested that Mustafa remain in detention, arguing that if freed he might try to influence the testimony of his passengers and relatives or might try to flee. The judge, Maria Loizou of Larnaca District Court, ordered that Mustafa remain in custody for eight more days. The seven crew members did their best to calm the 55 passengers, who reportedly included eight Britons, as they announced the plane was heading to Larnaca. They started collecting passports but did not identify the hijacker to the other travellers. The hijacked Egyptair aircraft at Larnaca airport on Tuesday. Credit:AP After the plane touched down, Mustafa stood up and stepped behind the curtain at the aircraft's rear galley while the passengers watched anxiously as police sharpshooters gathered around the airport. Speaking by phone and through a four-page letter written in Arabic, he began issuing demands. He wanted to see his former wife, named in the Cypriot press as Marina Paraschou, a 51-year-old with whom he reportedly had four children. Seif Eldin Mustafa, left, has been identified as the hijacker of EgyptAir flight MS181 by broadcasters. Ben Innes, 26, a health and safety inspector from Leeds, approached the hijacker and posed with him for a photo, with Mustafa's "suicide vest" on display. A friend said: "Ben is a wild man and this is totally in character for him. He was a big rugby guy and very into his banter and didn't have much respect for authority." By now, the authorities in Cyprus and Egypt were clear that they were not dealing with a jihadist. "The hijacking is not terrorism-related," said Mr Anastasiades. Egyptian officials looked at a long record of small crimes such as theft and impersonation but found that Mustafa had no obvious links to terrorism. He had apparently escaped prison during Egypt's 2011 uprising but gave himself up in exchange for a lighter sentence. As police raced to collect Marina and a young child from the village of Oroklini and take them to the airport, Mustafa apparently also demanded to see an EU official, and may have raised the issue of political prisoners in Egypt. It is not clear whether he was allowed to speak to his ex-wife. After an hour on the runway, Mustafa released most of his hostages. Only the crew and five Westerners remained on board, as the atmosphere turned surreal. Mustafa apparently began to mingle with his captives, his eyes looking glazed behind his spectacles. As the hours ticked by, the remaining hostages trickled off the plane, including one pilot who lowered himself from the cockpit window and ran. Mr Innes was one of the three last hostages seen running across the tarmac moments before Mustafa disembarked with his hands above his head and surrendered just before 1pm. "It was horrifying to be faced with death, kind of, for an hour and a half," said Farrah el-Dibany, a passenger. Flights resumed in the evening, but too late for some travellers whose plans had been disrupted. "Honestly this is over a woman?" one passenger said. "I'm going to jab her eyes out." Mustafa is expected to appear in court in Cyprus later in the week and could be extradited back to Egypt, which is sensitive to criticism over its airport security after ISIS smuggled a bomb on to an airliner last year. Whenever episodes of "skyjacking" take place, it's instructive to refer to the research and writing of British-American journalist Brendan Koerner, author of the critically acclaimed The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking. After news of the latest hijacking broke, he offered valuable context on his Twitter feed about past such oddball attempts and the particular personalities of those who resort to commandeering planes. One anecdote Koerner cites is worth bringing up in the context of Mustafa's alleged gambit. In 1971, Richard Obergfell, a former Navy aviation mechanic, hijacked a flight en route from New York to Chicago in an attempt to reach a pen pal in Italy, a woman with whom he had fallen in love. "He also applied for a job with Alitalia; when his application was rejected, he concocted an illicit scheme to reach his beloved pen pal in Milan." VISUAL: Bungendore Fine Art: Australia, Its Beauty. Realistic and abstract depictions of Australian scenery. Also on display, more than 150 paintings by the eight artists who operate the gallery. Until April 28. Open daily, 10am-4.30pm. 42b Ellendon Street, Bungendore. See bungendorefineart.com.au. Kate Disher-Quill. Rosie #1 [detail]. Right Hear, Right Now exhibition, PhotoAccess. Canberra Fitters Workshop: Fugitive Faith. A solo exhibition by Mariana del Castillo that explores the artist's past, the sense of anonymity in a crowd and our collective excesses as consumers. Until Sunday. Open daily during the exhibition, 11am-5pm. Kingston Arts Precinct, Printers Way, Kingston. See facebook.com/delcastillo.mariana. CCAS Gorman Arts Centre: Over & Over. A series of pencil drawings by artist Clare Thackway mimicking the craft of knitting, a metaphor for the complex threads that weave human relationships. Until April 9. Thoroughly Modern. An exhibition examining the effect of rising house prices and urban planning on the "great Australian dream", with a particular focus on art and design in the "post-dream" era. Until May 7. Open Tuesday to Friday, 11am-5pm; Saturday, 10am-4pm. Gorman Arts Centre, 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon. See: ccas.com.au. Employers could soon choose which superannuation fund to pay their workers compulsory savings to, bypassing the need to negotiate with unions over default fund selection. Industry super funds are rallying against the change that would force them to compete against their bank-owned rivals for the $9 billion-a-year market in compulsory contributions. Controversially, the changes could be made ahead of the findings of a recently commenced 18-month Productivity Commission review. "The government has made it clear that it wants super to be removed from Modern Awards and this will happen eventually," Deloitte lead superannuation partner Russell Mason said. Veteran retailer Solomon Lew has pulled off yet another coup, becoming the first Australian to be inducted into the World Retail Congress Hall of Fame. Mr Lew, who has amassed a $2 billion-plus fortune during his 53-year retail career, will be one of three new members inducted into the hall of fame, which recognises the lifetime achievements of retail "legends". Solomon Lew, known as the man with the Midas touch, says he is honoured to be recognised by his international colleagues. Credit:Josh Robenstone The other two inductees in 2016 are US fashion retailer Tommy Hilfiger and British perfumer Jo Malone. Annual inductees are selected from three global regions: The Americas; Asia Pacific; and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Mr Lew, Ms Malone and Mr Hilfiger join an elite group of eminent international retailers that includes Zara founder Amancio Ortega, The Arcadia Group's Sir Philip Green, Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad and Martha Stewart Living founder Martha Stewart. A viral video released last month showed Boston Dynamics' new bipedal robot, Atlas, performing human-like tasks: opening doors, stomping about in the snow, lifting and stacking boxes. Tech geeks cheered and Silicon Valley investors salivated at the potential end to human manual labor. Defenders of the brave new automated world have insisted that there will be new jobs created for servicing robots, however it now seems that robots will be able to fix themselves or each other. Shortly thereafter, White House economists released a forecast that calculated more precisely whom Atlas and other forms of automation are going to put out of work. Most occupations that pay less than $20 an hour are likely to be, in the words of the report, "automated into obsolescence." National unions have asked for an increase of $30 per week in the minimum wage, three times more than the retail industry says it can afford to pay. In its submission to the Fair Work Commission annual review of the national minimum wage on which up to 1.8 million Australians depend, the Australian Council of Trade Unions has asked for the full-time wage for adults to be increased from $656.90 to $686.90 per week. That would raise the hourly rate from $17.29 to $18.08. Lauren Wilson says she now pays half her salary in rent. Credit:Jason South The National Retail Association supports a more "modest" increase of no more than $10.70 per week. This would raise the minimum wage by 1.6 per cent to $667.60 per week. It warns that larger increases in the order of those proposed by unions are unsustainable and could lead to job losses. The Australian Industry Group has called for a similar increase of $10.50 per week and about $12.25 per week at the base trade level. Andrew S. Grove, the longtime chief executive and chairman of Intel Corporation who was one of the most influential personalities of the computer and internet era, has died at his home in California aged 79. At Intel, Mr Grove helped launch the semiconductor revolution the use of increasingly sophisticated chips to power computers that proved to be as momentous for economic and social development as electricity and telephones were in earlier eras. Intel's microprocessors were also essential for digital cameras, consumer electronic products, household appliances, toys, manufacturing equipment and a wide assortment of devices that depended on computerised functions. Besides presiding over Intel's laboratory research, Grove gained a reputation as a ruthlessly effective manager who spurred associates and cowed rivals in a cut-throat, high-tech business world where companies rose and fell at startling speed. His famous slogan, "Only the Paranoid Survive", became the title of his 1996 bestseller describing his management philosophy. A survivor of the Holocaust and the 1956 Soviet invasion of his native Hungary, he arrived in the US as a penniless youth who spoke little English and had severe hearing loss. Within decades, Grove was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In 1997, he was chosen Man of the Year by Time magazine. Grove's work ethic and his personal drive became the managerial model for generations of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and executives such as Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs, who regularly sought Grove's counsel. Pen Layton-Caisley Marrickville Big similarities between Turnbull and Packer - both lust for power, both aspire to great wealth, both have contempt for the unions and both are bullies. My way or the highway - or else. For more than 20 years schools have had an Anti Bullying program with the blessing of politicians of all creeds. Shame that Turnbull and Packer missed those lessons. Margaret Raffle Redfern A public observation area atop the Crown tower? James Packer's patronising concession to the hoi poloi! Michael Engelbretsen Bexley It is highly unlikely that Mr Packer will, under any circumstances, take his Barangaroo bat and ball and go home (wherever that is) no matter what minor alterations may be inflicted on his Grand Design by blinkered bureaucrats. Rather, we're likely to find that such changes "compromise the business plan", only fixed by permission for a few thousand extra poker machines for us non-high-rolling mugs to enjoy, and which the government will be only too glad to grant - "in the public interest". Of course. Frank McGrath Bulli Could it really be this simple? Just reduce the size of the casino's podium and James will take his casino away. Yes!! Geoff Wannan Dawes Point Numbers add up for repayment of education loans As a masters student accruing a HECS-HELP debt, I am grateful for being able to borrow money to pay for my education and have no issue with the government's proposal to try to recoup more of the burgeoning billions of dollars of accruing HELP loans. However, if the lower threshold is reduced, the government MUST ALSO be vigilant in preventing higher income earners using tax avoidance to get out of repaying their debts. A simple solution: anyone wanting to borrow from the government for their education agrees to disclose their net liquid assets each year, with the government able to recoup a certain percentage of the HELP debt from this. The government should also be able to reclaim at least part of outstanding HELP debts from the estates of the deceased and most definitely have stronger methods to recoup money from Australians working overseas. Remember, money lent to help us with our education is money lent FROM Australian taxpayers. As responsible citizens and borrowers of this money, we students should have no issue with the Australian people, via our government, wanting this money back. Paul Bugeja Brunswick (Vic) We'd be happier if we could buy a house Matt Wade ("Australians should look on the bright side", March 30) repeats the mantra of successive Australian government's that we have been "enriched by a once in a century commodities boom" and manoeuvred, relatively unscathed through the biggest financial crisis since the great depression", and yet he, and no doubt our government, wonder why we are not feeling more confident.Surely the fear is easy to locate. For the young (and their parents), the prohibitive cost of owning or renting a house, the increasing cost of post-school education and healthcare and the decline in job security might just do for starters.We could and should have high quality free post-school education to build the clever country, a bigger and better Medicare and lots of government provided housing for those who will never be able to afford to buy a house and for whom private rental is unsustainable into old age. That would make most of us feel a lot more secure. Colin Hesse Marrickville Australian consumers are one of the "gloomiest" about the future because their assessment of 'worth' is based almost entirely on home ownership and an unnecessarily large home at that. This seems to be the primary criteria, all other achievements fail. Current political rhetoric suggests even the national economy depends on the ability of people to own their homes.This is not so in other countries where other things in life matter and are taken into account while rating degrees of optimism for the future. Sarita Chand Turramurra Significant findings I refer to the headline ( "Sydney's $2.1 billion light rail project runs into unexpected hiccup", March 30). This is an offensive and inappropriate way to announce the discovery of what appears to be one of the most significant discoveries of Indigenous heritage in Sydney's history. It trivialises the cultural aspects of the find, presents it as a problem and only in relation to the light rail project. The headline itself does not even mention the discovery itself. As Sydney's newspaper, the Herald has a responsibility to report important news such as this. The headline should be more along the lines of, "Up to 50,000 Indigenous artefacts unearthed in Randwick". This is especially crucial when there appears to be a danger of the NSW government not preserving the site. This means it is vital that Sydneysiders are properly informed of this momentous discovery and its historical and cultural significance. Alex Brooke-Ferguson Condell Park In regards to the Aboriginal artefacts found at the light rail construction site in Randwick, this is a find of the most immense cultural and historical value to the entire Australian nation. It is to be hoped that, as an act of reconciliation and in recognition of our history, an urgent stop work and preservation of the site is put into effect for all Australians and for all future generations. Andy Yeates Naremburn Protect the workers, not the fat cats Again we hear of another company underpaying its workers ("Bike delivery workers given sham contracts", March 30). This is on top of 7-Eleven and a multitude of other companies using overseas workers on visas. This whole system could be overcome by changing legislation and requiring that companies have to display in the staff recreation area a list that gives the current award conditions for their appropriate industry. Failure to display this data could attract a sizeable fine. Richard Statham Kiama Now that it appears that the Senate could pass the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) legislation, perhaps the federal government could introduce the ABEWC, the Australian Bosses Exploiting Workers Commission, to prosecute bosses such as those at 7-Eleven and food delivery companies giving bike deliverers sham contracts. Stephen Kirk Blackbutt Put fibre on menu Cable is a great way to send the same data to everybody and works well for one-way pay TV. ("The NBN is already out of date: we need fibre", March 30). The system is as clunky as 1980s shoulder pads, but it is the system most Sydneysiders will get. By comparison, the standard telephone line and small ADSL modems are minimalist tailoring. Fibre has at least a thousand times the capacity of the other systems, uses far less energy, costs less, is not disrupted by water, and so slim it's hard to see. Peter Egan Artarmon A hospitable pass How decent of John Hart of the Restaurant & Catering Industry Association to write to defend the views of casual employees and their desire for extra cash over permanency (Letters March 30). Isn't his association part of the push to end weekend and holiday penalty rates, or did the staff indicate that this was too much money for them to handle? Brenton McGeachie Queanbeyan West Men do the cooking If a TV executive said in front of Emma Johnston "women don't present science, they present cooking shows", then that executive should have been fired on the spot. ("Female scientists are here: we need to be seen and heard" March 30) It's men who present the most popular cooking shows. Surely a TV executive should have been aware of that fact almost everyone else is. Peter Bower Naremburn Subdivide and fail to rule on new name James Pryor (Letters, March 30): in 1838 there was a proposal to subdivide Australia into 10 states. The suggested name for the division of north Queensland was Torresia. It might be difficult to agree on a suitable Aboriginal name, as there are about 40 Indigenous languages spoken in that area. Peter Merrotsy Scarborough (WA) The recent talk about a new state in north Queensland is making me very depressed thinking about 12 more senators in Canberra to feed, all carrying on like Bob Katter. Chris Love Wahroonga Cutting out the fat I've been trying to give up cake for years. All the talk about Tony Abbott and cake stalls (Letters March 30) should do the trick! John Byrne Randwick Art appeal unravels I can't believe Louise Herron can be delighted to have paid $540,000 for that dreadful Le Corbusier tapestry for the Opera House ("Tapestry picks up threads of Utzon's vision", March 30.) My grandkids could have produced something which was easier to look at and made more sense. Matisse or Picasso it ain't! "The core problem [is] the states do not raise enough of the revenue that they spend," he said. "They're not accountable enough in the way a government should be." See: it's about accountability, not revenue. In other words, it's not about finding ways to afford the services we need; it's about ensuring that having insufficient cash isn't Malcolm's fault. Now, on the one hand, what Malc said isn't incorrect. States don't raise enough money to pay for the stuff they provide, since it can be best summed up as "most of the really expensive stuff": schools, hospitals, roads, police, emergency services, that kind of thing. The states have hitherto had very few revenue streams from taxation - basically stamp duty, payroll tax and land tax - plus a percentage of the revenue from the GST, so one way of looking at this new plan is that it puts extra revenue in the hands of the tier of government that most needs it for direct service provision. Another way of looking at it is a way for the federal government to wash its hands of any responsibility while encouraging states to fight between themselves. Indeed, NT chief minister Adam Giles is rightly concerned that this would create a "race to the bottom" if states set their own tax rates, thereby exacerbating the problem of insufficient revenue for service provision. Labor, meanwhile, raised the scare campaign spectre of "double taxation" because they're still inexplicably feeding into the Coalition's "tax = bad" argument rather than a harder, braver and genuinely necessary campaign to fight for higher revenue. Still, the important thing is that it turns a federal government problem into a state government problem, while also ensuring that the actual issue of there not being enough public money for our basic, necessary services remains. Everybody wins! Except the states, and everyone living in them. Still, like the New Radicals said, you get what you give, right? Putting the Coal in Coalition (slight return) There's been some sort of good news for Nationals Leader Barnaby Joyce in his upcoming battle to keep his seat of New England in the face of a challenge from its former independent representative Tony Windsor: that mine he failed to prevent being approved for his electorate is probably not happening after all. Quick recap: the government's Agriculture Minister was unable to prevent the government giving approval for Chinese mining giant Shenhua to mine in NSW's Liverpool Plains, despite concerns about destroying agricultural land to do so and possibly polluting the water table. Joyce was a vocal opponent of the mine at the time, but that didn't stop his colleague "Environment" Minister Greg "bestest minister in the world, mum!" Hunt giving it the go ahead. Joyce raged against the decision in March 2015, telling Radio National that "the world has gone mad" and "I don't think it's appropriate that we have what will be a super mine in the middle of Australia's best agricultural land. There might be other land that is as good, but there's none better." So he is doubtless relieved at the reports that Tim Buckley, Australasian director of the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, has concluded that the company will most likely pull out, since "I have no doubt the project doesn't make any commercial sense unless the coal price doubles." The only thing is, Joyce has zero to do with the mine's likely demise. And that's not great news for the government generally and Joyce specifically. Between a rock and a coal place The potential end of the mine is purely down to economics: the tumbling price of coal has made it non-viable. Indeed, the Chinese government has already announced it will be making 1.5 million miners redundant due to local overcapacity. They're also ramping up renewable energy generation at a healthy clip, as is Australia's other big coal customer, India - and this is influencing developing economies to leapfrog the whole burning-loads-of-fossil-fuels period and move straight to greener alternatives. So if the government was hoping that the downturn in coal exports to China was about to be picked up by, say, Chile then it might be in for a shock (not least since the world's largest private coal mining company, US energy giant Peabody Energy, has announced it's facing bankruptcy). It's especially embarrassing right now, since ex-Treasurer Peter Costello - current chair of the Future Fund, the publicly-funded investment body with 118 billion public dollars in its coffers - is reportedly meeting with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley this week about having the fund, designed to "invest for the benefit of future generations of Australians," sink said funds and future into the exciting coal industry: specifically the Adani-Carmichael mine in the Galilee Basin. I always thought I would see Anna again. We hadn't been in touch for years, but our collaboration had been so intense that not connecting again was inconceivable. Now it's never going to happen. Anna, known professionally as Patty Duke, died with terrifying unexpectedness on Tuesday at the age of 69. As the co-writer of her Call Me Anna 1987 autobiography, I spent a couple of years in the mid-1980s working closely with her, an experience so intense it might have been yesterday. Patty Duke in the mid-1960s at age 18. Two years earlier she had won an Oscar for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. With her is her fiance at the time, TV director Harry Falk. I interviewed her for hours in her West Los Angeles home. I spent time with her sons Sean and Mackenzie Astin, and was on the Georgia set of the TV movie where she met her future husband, Michael Pearce, but most of all I experienced the force of her personality, her energy, unblinking honesty and irresistible sense of humour. I'd met her on assignment for TV Guide, and her story of what she had gone through as the manipulated child star of the hugely popular The Patty Duke Show and her struggles with manic depression so riveted me that I came back a month later and asked whether she wanted to collaborate on a book. Ingrid Veninger's film He Hated Pigeons is a movie made with "lots of little surrenders and moments of trust and leaps of faith", she says. It is designed to be presented with a live score, performed by a musician from the city where the film is screening. At the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, it will be in the hands of Frankie Topaz (the solo project for Vachel Spirason, of Melbourne band Total Giovanni). He Hated Pigeons director Ingrid Veninger on set with lead actor Pedro Fontaine. Veninger, a festival guest, will have no more idea of what to expect than anyone else in the audience. "Each time, the movie has a new soundtrack," she says. "It's never recorded, never repeated, and it's only for the people who show up. If you're there, you get it, and if you're not, you miss it. That's like life to me, you have to show up for it." For a director, there's something exhilarating and unsettling, she says, about "handing over control to a stranger, at the moment when the film meets its audience. That's the biggest surrender of all." One leader described it as "scrabbling about in the desperate search for an agenda". Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with NSW Premier Mike Baird and Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews at COAG in December 2015. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But Mr Turnbull is determined to push ahead. "Right at the heart of the problems in the federation is the fact that the states do not raise enough of the revenue that they spend," he said shortly after telephoning premiers to outline his general thinking. Illustration: Ron Tandberg "What we are proposing to the states is that we should work together on this basis: that we, the federal government, will reduce our income tax by an agreed percentage and allow state governments to levy an income tax equal to that amount that we have withdrawn from. "From a taxpayers' point of view, he or she would pay the same amount of income tax but the states would be raising the money themselves. We would obviously administer it and collect it for them, so again there'd be no compliance costs." Mr Turnbull described the proposal as "the only way that we can genuinely reform our federation". But in a sign of how preliminary the idea is, the Prime Minister and his Treasurer contradicted each other on a critical aspect of the proposal, with Mr Turnbull acknowledging that states could individually put up their income tax surcharge, possibly leading to as many as eight different tax rates, and Treasurer Scott Morrison, denying that this was a risk. "In future, of course, on the longer term, a state should be free to lower that amount or indeed raise it and then they are accountable to their own voters," Mr Turnbull said. When queried on Mr Turnbull's admission of higher taxes in future, Mr Morrison said: "Well the Prime Minister has, I don't think, gone that far ultimately". "I think what we've seen today is an idea which is being explored with the states and territories, and very much started with their initiation of this. "I mean the Australian people expect us to work collaboratively and co-operatively with the states and territories to try and fix these problems ... we'll see if we're able to come to an agreement with them." State leaders expressed strong misgivings, with Victoria's Labor Premier Daniel Andrews, who had just spoken to the Prime Minister by phone, dismissing it. "In a conversation with the Prime Minister, he indicated to me that this would be revenue neutral. If it's revenue neutral, how is it dealing with funding gaps in hospitals and schools?" Mr Andrews said on ABC radio. "I don't think this has been thought through, I don't think this has been properly examined." "The focus of Friday's COAG is to address the $80 billion of Malcolm Turnbull's cuts to health and education," Mr Andrews said. "As far as Victoria is concerned, Friday will not be about tax policy thought bubbles." "While I have historically argued for a share of income tax for the states, this has not involved increasing the income tax burden on Australian households, which already have among the highest income tax rates in the world," said NSW Liberal Premier, Mike Baird. "These matters can be considered in the longer term. What is required right now is a partnership between the Commonwealth and the states for the health and education services we need." Australian style has always prided itself on versatility - we did create the steel cap flip-flops after all - so it's refreshing to see that our female athletes will champion Aussie innovation at the Rio Olympics by wearing skorts - shorts under skirts. As well as shorts and skorts, the new official threads designed by Sportscraft feature lightweight cotton seersucker blazers lined with the name of every gold medallist. The jackets have also been embellished with our coat of arms and burnished gold, Australian Olympic coat of arms buttons. The women will wear silk scarves printed with the Southern Cross motif and the gents will rock a gold tie - think John Burgess in Wheel of Fortune years. However, it's the skorts that get the fashion tick of approval. It's high time the "feminine yet modest" garment, according to Adrian Jones, chief of Sportscraft's parent company APG & Co, was liberated from retirement villages and given a new lease on life for the sporting equivalent of the Oscars red carpet - the Opening Ceremony. Mr Davey's friends, Jennifer Cabello, 26, and Krystal Lenkova, 23, arrived on Stafford Street about midday to place flowers at the spot where he died. Mr Davey's body is removed from the scene on Stafford Street, Kingswood, on Wednesday morning. Credit:Krystyna Pollard/Penrith City Gazette "He was an amazing dad. A man's man," Ms Lenkova said. "It's just shocking, so close to home." Michael Davey was known as 'Ruthless'. Credit:Facebook Another friend, Sarah Gerrard, wrote on Instagram that Mr Davey would "always be in my heart". The Sydney Rebels also posted a photo of Mr Davey on its Facebook page and a condolence message. "It's with deep regret and sadness i bring the news of Micky D's passing this morning," the Facebook post said. "On behalf of the club I offer our sincere condolences to the Davey family on this tragic loss. "You will be truly missed brother you were one of a kind. May you ride in the Forever Chapter." A couple who live on Stafford Street, and who wished to remain anonymous, said they were watching television about midnight when they heard five shots fired. "It was too soft to be fireworks," the man said, adding that he instinctively called police. Initially he stayed inside his house, but when police had trouble finding the address, he went outside to direct them. "The sergeant and I got there [to the body] virtually the same time. It was very evident he was dead," he said. Mr Davey was lying face down on the driveway, and appeared to have been shot in the back of the head, he said. "He was sprawled out in a very awkward position," he said. The couple said they heard a car driving off down the street shortly after the shots were fired. "It all happened so quickly. Police were here within five minutes, about eight to 10 cars," the man said. The shooting occurred in the driveway of a home owned by Richard Stalling, 36, who moved into the house with his young family a fortnight ago. He said he didn't realise someone had been shot in his driveway until the lights from police vehicles woke him up. "I had a look out my window, and I saw something near my car ... I made out it was a body, someone lying there," he said. Police then explained to him what had happened, he said. "It's pretty frightening," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, Superintendent Greg Peters said the shooting victim had a criminal history and detectives were investigating whether he had any links to the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang. "This man is known to police. However, because he's not formally identified, we can't release any information in relation to him at this point in time," he said. A knife was also found near the house, but it was unclear whether it was connected to the man's death. The state government has been ordered to foot the legal bill for a fight with Salim Mehajer over his suspension from Auburn Council, in the latest legal victory for the controversial property developer turned politician. Cr Mehajer won a technical victory in February when the Supreme Court set aside a tribunal order suspending him from council for four months over an alleged failure to declare his pecuniary interests. The court found he was not required to disclose his financial interest in a commercial property when voting on changes adding an estimated $1 million to its value. Fraser Island's 100 or so wild dingoes among the island's unique attractions could be extinct within 10 years, conservationists fear. The first evidence that Fraser Island's pure-bred dingoes are "critically inbred" has emerged. Geneticist Dr Kylie Cairns has discovered serious inbreeding in Fraser Island dingoes. The "extreme inbreeding" in Fraser Island dingoes is confirmed in a soon-to-be-published genetic study of dingoes by University of New South Wales PhD student Dr Kylie Cairns. Dr Cairns said dingoes could be extinct from Fraser Island within a decade. A separate north Queensland state like the one floated by federal MP George Christensen would have big problems funding its new government, a leading economist says. The Member for Dawson wants a separation referendum open only to north Queenslanders and says he'll write to mayors, senators and MPs north of the Tropic of Capricorn to ask for support. Memeber for Dawson George Christensen says it's not appropriate that northerners were told what to do by inner-city politicians. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But University of Queensland professor John Quiggin says a northern state would be reliant on Brisbane for a number of services and wouldn't be able to support infrastructure needs without Commonwealth funding. "The big problem for a new state wouldn't be economic survival," he told reporters on Wednesday. "So federal government good news, state government bad news." Annastacia Palaszczuk's opinion on the federal government's idea to allow states and territories to levy income taxes was not overly positive, with the Queensland Premier reducing the argument to optics and how the public would perceive the change. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will not say whether she agrees with the Turnbull government plan to levy income tax. Credit:Glenn Hunt Despite being asked the question repeatedly for over a year, Ms Palaszczuk has yet to state whether she believes the states should be given the power to levy income taxes, even as she heads to the Council of Australian Governments meeting to discuss it this Friday. Her predecessor, Campbell Newman, had a firm view on the federation debate, believing the states should be given a slice of income taxes to set their own health and education budgets, without relying on constantly changing funding agreements and national partnerships from the Commonwealth. Police searching for the offenders in a bizarre Toowong flute heist have released a comfit of a man they would like to speak to in regards to the burglary. On the evening of March 22 a 26-year-old man was hit in the head with a hammer when he discovered two men inside his unit about 9.15pm. Police have released a comfit of a man they are seeking in relation to a burglary in Toowong. Credit:Queensland Police The man was able to arm himself with a shovel, striking one of the intruders before they fled, stealing his flute and a backpack containing personal belongings on the way. The man suffered a cut to his head from the hammer blow. He was transported to Royal Brisbane Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. After 13 months, hearing from 220 victims and producing a 1900-page report, the Royal Commission into Family Violence has released its recommendations. Here are the main proposals. Premier Daniel Andrews has said he will implement all recommendations. 1. One-stop safety hubs: Victoria needs to establish highly visible "support and safety" hubs throughout the state so that victims can get information and find services in their local area. These would get police referrals, link victims with specialist support, conduct risk assessments and book victims into crisis accommodation. 2. Make new laws: Privacy should not trump victim safety, and laws will be changed to allow information sharing. A centralised service will share information about perpetrators with police, courts, family violence services and the safety hubs. This information would also be available to the state's 24-hour crisis helpline Safe Steps. 3. He should leave: A substantial expansion of the "safe at home" approach, under which women and children remain in the family home while a perpetrator has to leave, where possible. Victims could get rental or mortgage subsidies and electronic personal safety devices, as well as police monitoring. Uber driver Nathan Brenner - who was the first Uber driver in Victoria to be found guilty of operating a hire car without the right authority - is set to appeal. Mr Brenner's legal team has filed documents with the County Court, almost four months after he was found guilty of two summary charges, including driving a hire car without a commercial licence or registration. UberX driver Nathan Brenner was found guilty in December and is now appealing. Credit:Simon Schluter The appeal, slated for May 16, is likely to be heard before the Andrews Government makes a decision on whether to legalise UberX, which allows drivers to use their private vehicles to provide taxi-like services to customers via a smartphone app. Uber, which is believed to be paying for Mr Brenner's defence, told Fairfax Media that "no one should be penalised for providing safe, reliable rides in their city". A New Zealand citizen found guilty of preparing to fight on the front line in Syria is being held in an immigration detention centre until he is sentenced, a court has heard. Amin Mohamed, 25, was found guilty by a Victorian Supreme Court jury in October 2015 of three charges of preparing to enter a foreign state to engage in hostile activities. Amin Mohamed was found guilty of preparing to fight in Syria. Originally from Somalia, Mohamed was living in Melbourne's Sunshine West before his arrest. Crown prosecutor Lesley Taylor, QC, told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that Mohamed had been granted bail after being found guilty of the charges but was being held in an immigration detention centre until his case was finalised. The response to last year's catastrophic Esperance bushfires in which four people died has been criticised over communication breakdowns between authorities and people on the ground. An independent report by the Nous Group for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services concluded weather conditions were catastrophic and the fire was generally well managed, considering it is unlikely it could have been stopped. The Esperance bushfire claimed four lives. But the response should have been better, with communication problems between the three agencies responsible for fires in Western Australia and a lack of experienced staff meaning firefighters on the ground were not always sent to the right areas. High fuel loads had also developed partly because different government agencies - Parks and Wildlife and local government - were responsible for managing the crown land where two of the three main fires started. Glamorous camping, otherwise known as 'glamping', accommodation will be available at Rottnest Island from December after an agreement was signed to build a new beachfront eco-resort at the popular holiday destination. Rottnest Express and The Billi Resort Broome have been given the all clear by the state government to build 74 eco-tents at Pinky's Beach just west of popular swimming area, The Basin. An example of glamping accommodation in Queensland. Credit:Must Do Brisbane The new 'glamping' accommodation will be accompanied by a beach club comprising a bar, cafe, restaurant and wedding function area. In a statement, the Pinky's Beach Eco Resort consortium said the tent solution was an ideal fit for the island. Police have offered a reward of up to $100,000 in an attempt to solve the murder of a 70-year-old grandmother who was killed in her Melville home on January 5. The money will be offered by the state government for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons involved in the murder of Valeria Fermendjin. Valeria Fermendjin was killed in her Melville home. Police said the grandmother-of-two had likely been set upon after returning to her Leach Highway home after 7.30am with a collection of clothes for ironing. The murder occurred between her return home and 8.30am. Assistant Commissioner Michelle Fyfe said it was unusual for a reward to be offered at this stage of an investigation. Jakarta: A man allegedly defrauded by an Australian property developer in Bali has told the developer's trial it became clear the Australian had "deceived" him and had "no intention" of giving back any money. Eric Bevan Gillet, 48, from Western Australia, was arrested in Bali last month after a property deal he struck with two businessmen allegedly went sour. Xanadu Lifestyle Resort in Seminyak, Bali. Credit:Xanaduvillas.com It is alleged the former president of the South Perth Chamber of Commerce, through "tricks and a series of lies", incited two men Tommy Comerford and Ketut Semadi to buy 10 villas in his Xanadu Lifestyle Resort complex at the popular beachside town of Seminyak. Prosecutors say the deal was brokered in October 2013 with the businessmen handing over a total of 6.7 billion rupiah (about $659,500) to Mr Gillet. Cairo: A man described as "psychologically unstable" hijacked an EgyptAir flight from Egypt to Cyprus and threatened to blow it up; his explosives turned out to be fake, and he finally surrendered with all passengers released unharmed after a bizarre six-hour stand-off. Egyptian passenger Farah al-Dabani told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV network the hijacker sat in the back of the aircraft and it was the crew who told passengers the plane was being hijacked. "There was panic at the beginning, but the crew told us to be quiet. They did a good job to keep us all quiet so the hijacker does not do anything rash," she said. Another passenger, who had earlier been mistakenly identified as the hijacker - Ibrahim Samaha, a professor of veterinary medicine from the University of Alexandria - called the BBC and described what had unfolded. "We had no idea what was going on," Professor Samaha said of the flight. "After a while we realised the altitude was getting higher, then we knew we were heading to Cyprus. At first the crew told us there was a problem with the plane and only later did we know it was hijacked." Theater is the ultimate collaborative art, but that doesn't mean we can't be wowed by the contributions of an individual performer. With that in mind, here are seven performances set to play New York this spring that have us giddy with excitement. Jessie Mueller stars in Waitress. ( Jeremy Daniel) 1. Jessie Mueller Waitress The 2014 Tony Award winner for her uncanny portrayal of Carole King in Beautiful is now leading the brand-new Sarah Bareilles musical, Waitress, about a baking prodigy who sees a pie-making contest as her ticket out of a dead-end job. With a powerful voice and undeniable acting chops, Mueller can do anything, so we cannot wait to see her sink her teeth into this delicious role. Ramin Karimloo is set to star in Nassim Soleimanpour's White Rabbit Red Rabbit. ( David Gordon) 2. Ramin Karimloo White Rabbit Red Rabbit This New York debut from Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour has been attracting big names to its constantly changing cast. Iranian-born Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo (Les Miserables) is currently slated to lead the show sometime this spring or summer (an official date has not yet been announced). It promises to be an unforgettable one-night-only theatrical experience. Jessica Lange plays Mary Cavan Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. ( Frank Ockenfels) 3. Jessica Lange Long Day's Journey Into Night Two-time Academy Award winner Jessica Lange plays the morphine-addicted matriarch Mary Cavan Tyrone in this highly anticipated Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. This towering work of drama is widely considered O'Neill's magnum opus. We think it only fitting that it be brought back to life by one of America's greatest actresses. Jesse Tyler Ferguson stars in the Broadway premiere of Becky Mode's Fully Committed. ( David Gordon) 4. Jesse Tyler Ferguson Fully Committed Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson returns to Broadway for the first time since The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee playing not one, but 40 characters in Becky Mode's uproarious solo comedy, Fully Committed. The show is about Sam, a phone operator at a trendy Manhattan restaurant, and all the insane socialites trying to get a reservation. Blind item: According to Ferguson, one of his characters is based on a very special Real Housewife. Alex Hassell plays Henry V in King and Country: Shakespeare Great Cycle of Kings. ( Keith Pattison) 5. Alex Hassell King and Country: Shakespeare's Great Cycle of Kings BAM is hosting the Royal Shakespeare Company in an epic production of The Henriad (here rebranded as King and Country). That's four plays (Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V) totaling 12 hours. Alex Hassell stars in nine of them as Hal, the wayward prince who becomes King Henry V. Rarely does a stage actor get to take audiences on an episodic bildungsroman quite like this, so Hassell (who featured in the Shakespearean intrigue film Anonymous) has his work cut out for him. Gillian Anderson stars in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. ( Johan Persson) 6. Gillian Anderson A Streetcar Named Desire Yes, this is your opportunity to see Agent Scully of The X-Files perform one of the greatest roles of the American stage: Blanche DuBois. When Anderson portrayed the tragically fallen Southern belle at London's Young Vic, it became the fastest-selling show in the theater's history. Tickets are sure to be just as hard to come by at St. Ann's Warehouse, so you'll want to nab yours right away. Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter star in Shuffle Along. ( David Gordon) 7. Everyone in Shuffle Along Shuffle Along Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon, Joshua Henry: It's hard to pick just one performer to be excited about in this new musical (which is actually based on a very old musical and its fraught history). Even the supporting cast is packed with powerhouse performers like Amber Iman and Darius de Haas. With such a bright constellation of stars, Shuffle Along has shot our expectations into orbit. The West Wing and The Newsroom creator Aaron Sorkin will team up with NBC and veteran producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron for a live broadcast of Sorkin's acclaimed drama A Few Good Men. The production will take place in early 2017, according to a Tweet from Zadan. A Few Good Men follows the court-martial of two U.S. Marines who killed a fellow Marine at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. First produced on Broadway in 1989, it later became an acclaimed film starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. Sorkin will pen the teleplay the broadcast. Further information about the production is still to be announced. Zadan and Meron also produced the live broadcasts of The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, The Wiz, and the upcoming Hairspray. DUBLINResearch and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7z66zq/2016_north) has announced the addition of the "2016 North American International Auto Show" report to their offering. This private market insight captures the most informative and strategic content from the recently concluded 2016 North American International Auto Show. Considered to be the most important annual automotive event in North America, leading OEMs including Acura, Lincoln, and Honda displayed groundbreaking concepts and launched new vehicles. This insight focuses on the notable luxury, mainstream, and concept debuts, and discusses the prevailing themes of the auto show. Key Findings: - Luxury original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are looking to boost sales in the large sedan space with several new vehicles being launched at the 2016 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Hyundai's new luxury brand, Genesis, is expected to launch 5 new models by 2020, starting with this years G90. Fords luxury brand, Lincoln, is introducing the all-new Continental to take on other OEM flagships. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary - Key Findings 2. Research Background - 2016 NAIAS Multimedia 3. Best of the 2016 NAIAS 4. 2016 NAIAS Themes - 2016 NAIAS Themes-Luxury, Crossover, Turbo, and Electric Vehicles 5. Luxury Vehicles - Key Luxury Vehicles-New Brands and Models - BMW X4 M40i - Genesis G90 - Mercedes-Benz SLC - Lincoln Continental - Volvo S90 - VLF Automotive Force 1 6. Mainstream Vehicles (Pickups, SUVs, Turbocharged Engines, Hybrid/Electric) - Key Mainstream Vehicles - Crossovers, Turbochargers and Electrics - Buick Envision - Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback - Chrysler Pacifica - Ford Fusion Energi (PHEV) - Honda Ridgeline 7. Concept Vehicles - Acura Precision Concept - Kia Telluride Concept - Nissan IDS Concept - Volkswagen Tiguan GTE Active Concept 8. Conclusions - Key Conclusions - Legal Disclaimer 9. Appendix - Additional Multimedia For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7z66zq/2016_north WEST POINT, Ga., March 29, 2016 -- Today, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG) celebrated as the plant's two millionth vehicle a white 2016 Sorento SXL rolled off the assembly line in West Point, Georgia. Representing an investment of more than $1.1 billion, KMMG began mass production on November 16, 2009 and today produces more than forty percent of all Kia vehicles sold in the United States. "Assembling two million vehicles in less than seven years is a remarkable achievement, and one that each of our team members can take a lot of pride in," said KMMG President and CEO Hyun-Jong Shin. "The world-class quality that goes into every Sorento CUV and Optima midsize sedan we build is a direct result of the hard work and commitment of our team members, and today we salute their commitment to excellence." Together with on-site and local suppliers, KMMG is responsible for the creation of more than 15,000 jobs in West Point and the surrounding region, and achieved its highest-ever ranking top five among vehicle assembly plants in the U.S. in J.D. Power's most recent Initial Quality Study. "Together, Kia and Georgia have a strong reputation of success," said Governor Nathan Deal. "The company's continued investment in the state speaks volumes to our pro-business atmosphere, and we will continue to support them as they grow here. I want to congratulate Kia's team members on this accomplishment." About KMMG Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG) is the first manufacturing site in North America for Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, Korea. With an annual capacity of 360,000 units, KMMG is located on 2,200 acres in West Point, Georgia, and began mass production on Nov. 16, 2009. KMMG is home to the Sorento CUV and the Optima mid-size sedan, two of the brand's top selling models in the U.S. The Most In-Depth Kia Vehicle Shopper's Research - Anywhere! Celebrate 100th Running of Indy 500 at Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson to speak at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum The Official Historian of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Donald Davidson will speak on the history of the Indianapolis 500 and on the 100th running of the greatest spectacle in racing on Wednesday, April 6 at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum. The program, including a question and answer period, will begin at 5:00 p.m. in the Terence E. Adderley Gallery of Racers and Record-Setters. The public is invited to tour the museum at their leisure and stay for the program at 5:00 p.m. Museum Members are admitted free. Groups of 10 or more are encouraged to call in advance to receive discount admission. Car clubs may park in the Education & Exhibit Plaza at the museum. Donald Davidson, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's historian since January 1998, is believed to be the only full-time salaried historian for any race track in the world. Perhaps best known for being a member of the Speedway's worldwide radio network continuously since 1965, the British-born raconteur has also hosted, since 1971, The Talk of Gasoline Alley on WFNI, Indianapolis. He was inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Richard M. Fairbanks Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2013. The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum - where the world's finest cars of yesterday live today! Over 120 classic, antique, vintage and special interest cars are displayed with other automotive related exhibits on three floors. The museum is located in the original 1930s international headquarters of the legendary Auburn Automobile Company and is a National Historic Landmark. The museum is open from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Last admission one hour before closing. Visit the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, a place where automotive history comes to life! Shop the Museum Store Online today! automobilemuseum.org Donald Trump has stood by his man, Corey Lewandowski, in ways large and small since the day Trump launched his scorched-earth campaign for president in July with Lewandowski at the helm. On Tuesday, Trump Tweeted his support for Lewandowski after the aide turned himself in to Jupiter, Florida, police on battery charges stemming from an incident when he grabbed a female reporter after a Trump press conference. In March, Trump literally stood next to Lewandowski at victory speech days after the incident, telling Lewandowski, Good job, Corey. And Trump has never flinched from retaining Lewandowski to run his campaign, which Trump paints as a grassroots movement against lobbyists and special interests. Thats despite the fact that Lewandowski himself worked as federal lobbyist for special interests for nearly 10 years before joining the Trump campaign. As he began to outline his run for president in the summer of 2015, Trump blamed the bought-and-paid for politicians at the top of the food chain, including his opponents, for the corruption and dysfunction in Washington. The lobbyists havethey totally control these politicians, Trump told CNNs Anderson Cooper. I see Bush with the lobbyists. And hes sitting there with all of these people. Theyre totally telling them what to do, like a little puppet. And the same with Hillary, and the same with everybody else. Everybody else, in this case, includes Trump, whose campaign manager was also a lobbyist. The list of companies and corporations that Lewandowski shilled for on Capitol Hill from 2004 to 2012 includes a solar company partially owned by Taiwanese investors, a medical device company that landed in hot water over a controversial implant used for depression, a security company founded after 9/11, and a large biopharmaceutical firm, all looking to Congress and the federal government for millions of dollars and hoping to get it through Lewandowskis connections on Capitol Hill. Lewandowski also worked as chief of staff to Rep. Bob Ney for three years; later, Ney pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in 2006 as a part of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. After working as the head of a seafood association for a year and a half, Lewandowski worked for eight years as a federally registered lobbyist for Schwartz Communications, a Boston-based lobbying and public relations firm. (Its since been bought out by Publicis Groupe, the French public affairs giant.) During that time with Schwartz Communications, Lewandowski lobbied the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as the House and Senate, for six companies, including Borrego Solar Systems, a California company that designs and installs solar-powered facilities for cities, universities, and large commercial properties. A Taipei-based manufacturer, Walsin Lihwa, owned 30 percent of Borrego, according to House and Senate disclosure records filed by Lewandowski. In 2009, Borrego paid Lewindowskis firm $30,000 to lobby Congress for appropriations through President Obamas much-maligned federal stimulus bill, which included significant funding for so-called green energy. The next year, in 2010, a Borrego solar project in Sutton, Massachusetts, received $150,000 in stimulus money to start the towns solar program. Before Borrego, Lewandowski lobbied for Cyberonics Inc., a medical device company that paid Lewandowskis firm more than $84,000 from 2006 to 2007 to secure approval from Medicare and Medicaid to pay for a controversial implant. The Food and Drug Administration initially approved the device to treat epilepsy, but in in 2006, a Senate Finance Committee investigation found that the FDA administrator had expanded the Cyberonics device for use in depression in 2005 over the unanimous objections from staff scientists. In 2007, even after Lewandowskis lobbying, the federal government rejected Cyberonics request for reimbursement approval, explaining that the device was not reasonable and necessary for treating depression. Lewandowskis work hunting stimulus dollars night bother the GOP base, but it wont bother Trump, who praised the stimulus in an interview with Foxs Greta Van Susteren, who had asked Trump if cutting taxes would be an easier way to stimulate the then-tanking economy. Well, I think taxes are very good. I think it goes quickly. It is easily done, and etc., etc., Trump said. But building infrastructure, building great projects, putting people to work in that sense is also very good, so I think you have a combination of both plus he is doing a rebate system and I think that is good also. The other companies on Lewandowskis client list included long-term client Passport Systems, a homeland security company with a specialty in security screening and detecting radiation, DOR BioPharma, a pharmaceutical firm awarded millions of dollars by the federal government for its work on vaccines for bio-toxins like ricin and anthrax, and Pavillion Technologies, an R&D company that won multiple grants from the Department of Energy for its research in development. (Neither Lewandowski nor several of his former co-workers at Schwartz responded to requests for comment about his time there.) Lewandowski isnt the first lobbyist associated with Trumps campaign and he certainly wont be the last. The Daily Beasts Olivia Nuzzi reported in 2015 that the two principal founders of the pro-Trump Super PAC, Make America Great Again PAC, were both lobbyists. None of Lewandowskis work was ever singled out as being improper, but his years lobbying on behalf of wealthy corporations pitching the federal government for business, grants, and cash flies in the face of Trumps anti-lobbyist shtick. Trump may accuse Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz of being controlled by lobbyists, but Trumps campaign has been run by a D.C. lobbyist since Day One. DTEK, the largest Ukrainian private vertically integrated group, plans in the near future to announce a proposal for restructuring eurobonds worth $750 million with a rate of 7.875% and maturing on April 4, 2018 and eurobonds for $160 million with a rate of 10.375% and maturing on April 28, 2018 and refused coupon payment on the latter until that time. According to a report by the bond issuer, DTEK Finance PLC, on the website of the London Stock Exchange, the date of coupon payment was March 29, however payment has not been made. Given the volume of issue and the rate, the matter concerns about $8.3 million. DTEK notes that the coupon will be paid in accordance with the terms of the restructuring proposal. As reported, DTEK at the beginning of December 2015 told the holders of its eurobonds that it plans to offer them to restructure these bonds in the first quarter of 2016. To simplify the process of restructuring, the group encouraged the holders to hold joint consultations to form a creditors' committee, which would appoint a financial advisor and, if necessary, come into contact with the financial advisor to DTEK - Rothschild. With Texas A&M's exhibit featuring one of William Shakespeare's First Folios soon to depart the J. Wayne Stark Galleries, the university will host a lecture from internationally recognized Columbia University scholar James Shapiro to bookend the exhibit's stay. Shapiro -- who serves as a member of both the Folger Shakespeare Library board of governors and the Royal Shakespeare Company board of directors -- will give his lecture, titled "Shakespeare, Equivocation, and 1606," at 5:30 p.m. today in room 2300 D of the Memorial Student Center. After the lecture, audience members will be given the opportunity to participate in a question-and-answer session with Shapiro. The exhibit's last day on campus will be Sunday. For more information on the exhibit or the lecture, visit lonestarfolio.tamu.edu. The employees of Texas Farm Bureau Insurance and Edward Jones financial advising who worked a little late Tuesday afternoon had a surprise when a woman accidentally crashed through the front doors of the companies. According to Bryan police, an elderly woman hit the gas instead of the brake and crashed her vehicle into the juxtaposed front doors of the office buildings in the 2700 block of Nash Drive. While both offices closed at 5 p.m., agents at both companies were in their offices for late appointments. No one was injured in the accident, but the front of the buildings were damaged. Texas Farm Bureau agent Justin Van Norman said both agencies will be open on Wednesday for business, but customers will have to enter through the back door. Ukraine's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has issued instructions to elect Marcus Richards, Charles Proctor and Paul Warwick members of the supervisory council of Naftogaz Ukrainy. All three men meet criteria of independent directors. According to a company report in the information disclosure system of the National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market, the staff reshuffle is provided for in ministry decree No. 504 of March 25, 2016. As reported, Economic Minister Aivaras Abromavicius on March 25 reported that the nomination committee under the ministry approved three out of five independent members in the Naftogaz supervisory council. Proctor previously worked at Genel Energy plc, British Petroleum and SIDANCO, Richards at Dana Petroleum, British Petroleum and Oil & Gas Management Consulting, while Warwick at Repsol and Talisman Sinopec Energy UK. Industry proponents often find themselves frustrated in what they perceive to be ignorant resistance from aboriginal groups, when it is actually their own inability to shift their social-spiritual perspective that causes the discord. It is a fundamental principle in indigenous cosmology that the entire landscape is alive with spiritual energy which exists in all entities, and flows in reciprocal directions as relationships between everything. It is important to understand rocks are included in this web as sacred beings emerging from the landscape who have their own characteristics and power. In her ethnographic work with the Dene elders in the Northwest Territories, Allice Legat has come to understand and articulate what the Thcho Dene in NWT call de, which she defines as "everything that is associated with land, ground, dirt, earth' and with whom Thcho have a relationship that is responsive to their attention, action and behaviour." Contrary to the concept of terra nullius, it becomes apparent the Dene worldview rejects notions of discovery, claim or domination over land as disrespectful behaviour. Legat quotes Elder Phillip Zoe: "There are no empty spaces. All spaces are used by something: fox, fish, trees, humans, wind, northern lights. It might look empty but all the de is used." The lay of the land tells the history Within the de one occupies space, but also intersects with others. Learning is experiential, and one walks through the land, through trails and intersections, both mental and physical, in a web of relationships in a process of continually learning, and contributing to co-creation where past and present are woven together. Legat describes this as an inclusive knowledge system in which contemporary information is integrated into the present to join the past. She explains what elders have taught her about temporal integration within the de: "Because most people do not know the future, remembering the stories of the past may be a matter of survival for themselves and for the de. "They emphasize that the past, including the ancestors, who continue to walk the land, is as much as part of the present as industrial developments, government-run schools, and government legislation. They stress the importance of knowing a little and continually increasing one's knowledge for respecting and maintaining relationships with all that is part of the de." This perspective gives way to an expansive view of both space and time, where the past and future exist alongside the present. There is deep concern for respectful relationships of a much wider scope than any corporate planning or government initiative could possibly allow or manage. Indigenous concerns about the environment and future generations are centred in their desire to maintain good relationships with all beings: past, present and future. Due to harmful and particularly long lasting dangers, the nuclear industry falls short of being able to acknowledge its impact on this vast temporal-spatial scale. In addition, each segment of the nuclear fuel chain is presented as a compartmentalized island which is not accountable beyond a small set of parameters. From an indigenous perspective this presents a series of dysfunctional relationships which are spiralling out of control in their affects through space and time. Evidence exists as a global trail of destruction including: abandoned mines, tailing pond hazards, water contamination, reactor meltdowns, and the growing stockpiles of nuclear waste which threaten the entire biosphere. The land must be cared for and treated with respect, nuclear power does not allow this Canadian industry proponents have been trying to create dialogue with aboriginal peoples in an attempt to find cooperation for mining expansion and nuclear waste storage. It is not surprising that misunderstandings arise because indigenous people have concerns about what will happen thousands of years from now, and corporations are largely focused on the next quarter. The Assembly of First Nations reported to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization that attempts to incorporate indigenous knowledge into their own agenda is selective, misguided and incompatible: "NWMO has expressed an interest in the First Nations' philosophy that requires decision makers to consider the impacts of their decisions seven generations hence. "The use of the seven generations teaching in this manner overlooks the fact that disposing of nuclear fuel waste will continue beyond seven generations. The decisions we make today will impact the future. From a First Nations' perspective the environment must be considered holistically, as opposed to segregating parts of it into dispensable units that are somehow unconnected to the rest of the environment. "To cite favor with the seven generations teachings while at the same time promoting nuclear energy is inconsistent at best and at worst denigrates and belittles the value of Traditional Knowledge and First Nations cultures, beliefs and spiritual understandings." The large quantity of radiotoxic waste created by the nuclear industry shows that the long term impacts have not fully been considered. Based on the potential implications far into the future, it will always conflict with maintaining respectful relationships on the land. The problems with radioactive materials What begins as rock in Northern Saskatchewan ends up as part of a global system of corporate profits, tragic accidents and military strikes. In his book, Canada's Deadly Secret, Dr. Jim Harding takes a comprehensive look at the nuclear fuel chain, and notes how it is connected to "low level nuclear war" which has been occurring since the 1990's. Dr. Harding, an emeritus professor of environmental / justice studies at the University of Regina, asserts we cannot deny the connection between Saskatchewan's uranium exports and the creation of depleted uranium bullets, which have been used in the US arsenal for the past two decades. The use of uranium metal in munitions is an ethically questionable practice, because tragically it appears these are weapons which fire inter-generational rounds, targeting those not yet born. Since the Gulf War, alarmingly increasing levels of miscarriages and birth defects in Iraqi families steadily point to uranium exposure from the use of DU weaponry. In one hospital, congenital malformations are being found in 15% of all births, and multiple studies confirm that toxicity rates of lead, mercury and uranium significantly rose after heavy bombing by US forces in 2004. Proponents claim Saskatchewan's pitchblende is mined solely for peaceful purposes yet this is untrue. The waste is used for war. Part of the uranium coming out of Canadian style reactors becomes plutonium and is used in warheads; part of the uranium that is kept out of American style reactors is turned into uranium metal and used in DU munitions. Clearly, using an element in such a destructive way that it harms unborn babies and threatens us all is not concurrent with the holistic views of indigenous ecology. Uranium - the powerful deity This is of great concern to those who have been taught to respect rock for its metaphysical properties. From a Dene perspective, the disturbance of uranium ore from its natural place within the landscape is source of the problem because it is a spirit which is powerful, and potentially dangerous if disrespected. Near Yellowknife, the Thcho Dene Elders recall how Rayrock Mine was once a hill known for being "filled with happy spirits, where hunters who traveled and hunted there would feel like singing... and even though the mine is now closed, the happiness causing one to want to sing has not returned". In the Athabasca Basin, a similar understanding emerges about positive and negative relations with uranium. Traditional knowledge keeper, Susnaghe Neneh, who comes from the Poplar Tree Home People, opposes the mining of pitchblende and explains how it is related to his ancestral teachings. He recalls his grandfather forbid everyone from touching the 'the black stone,' and he points to the significance of this in prophesies of the Denesuline oral tradition. He explains how his grandfather's lessons give another layer of understanding about uranium: "To us it was more than that. It was literally a deity, a god, or something that had a type of sacred connection to us. So it was in that sense that we understood the black stone. "Like water, it was the same thing. Or a plant. My grandfather worked as a herbalist also, and forbade us to talk about plants like you would ordinarily talk about anything. He said never ever mention a plant as a plant. It was a deity. It was powerful. So in that type of worldview we learned to accept the conditions of the natural world that way." Today his grandfather's trap line is gone and the world's largest uranium mill sits in its place. It is ancient prophesies about unleashing demons that concern him the most because despite having warned everyone, his grandfather's perspective was not taken seriously. He asks: "How could we convince the mining companies coming in that the uranium that they were touching should not be used in any way, otherwise it will go into the annals of legends which describe very dire situations?". There seems to be little more dire than a global arsenal of warheads, or the faces of babies born with fractured DNA. The elders point to ghost towns like Uranium City or Fukushima as proof that this mining leads to negative outcomes. The pro-nuclear agenda and the Government Despite any concerns the Denesuline may have about the extraction of uranium from the Athabasca Basin, both industry and government continue to partner in a pro-nuclear agenda that dominates the direction of economic and educational development in Northern Saskatchewan. At his 2013 Premier's Dinner, Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall admitted his government's support in this radioactive colonialism by saying: "The best program for First Nations and Metis people in Saskatchewan is not a program at all - it's Cameco! It's a job in the north, it's a chance to engage in the prosperity we see in Saskatchewan." Wall's statement shows the cosy relationship his government has with the world's largest privately-traded uranium mining company. It raises questions about the ethical governance of Crown Lands. A number of people were outraged by his cultural insensitivity and blatant disregard for aboriginal self-determination, finding this to be in contradiction with The United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which supports the Denesuline in their "right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for exercising their right to development". Over 50 years of uranium mining has brought little prosperity to the Denesuline. Isolated communities like La Loche and Black Lake struggle in systematic poverty while the pitchblende is making billions. Perhaps some think indigenous peoples' reluctance towards the mining is based on ignorance, but that is inaccurate. Although they never touched the pitchblende, some Dene groups ceremonially mined copper and silver. From sea to sea there was a "complex system of resource extraction, manufacture and trade [which] suggests a long history of effective resource management and economic integration across Aboriginal America". To offer uranium mining as Northerners' only chance for prosperity is a direct insult to cultural values and traditional ecological knowledge. The future of nuclear in Canada First Nations groups are not alone in their skepticism of the nuclear industry. There is a worldwide growing body of informed individuals who recognize the need to stop using uranium as a fuel source. Despite a green veneer, the nuclear industry continues to lag in the energy market because it is dangerous and expensive. Mark Bigland-Pritchard, an energy consultant and technical researcher for Clean Energy Saskatchewan, points out that true cost of nuclear energy is much higher than it appears-when accounting for backend costs it is more expensive than renewables, emits more greenhouse gases, and is far more problematic because of "toxic emissions, health implications, waste issues and nuclear weapons proliferation". With renewable technology now bringing us such great options in solar, wind and geothermal, it doesn't make sense to invest in aged atomic ideas. Can we move forward and build something positive for future generations? The Canadian federal and provincial governments would benefit from better understanding what indigenous peoples are voicing about resource extraction. Current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is claiming he will renew his government's relationship with indigenous peoples. Will he consider that they want clean green energy? Ottawa and the provincial governments need to protect the environment and start creating more jobs in the renewables sector. There are many First Nations wanting to develop their communities in positive ways. They want to leave a good world for their grandchildren and assert a sacred responsibility to protect the land from harm. For Saskatchewan, uranium is an important part of the economy, but for the Denesuline, the land is everything. It is filled with relationships between beings who dwell together in an interconnected web. Their traditional ecological knowledge is not just a set of terms or data, but a deep, broadly-viewed reality which contains systematic respect for all creation. It encompasses the past and the future into the present, and it is firmly grounded in the land. The Denesuline know their traditional territory better than anyone and they also know the uranium industry is hurting it. The tailing ponds are growing and so are concerns for the ramifications through time and space. The ones who know the land best say there is an urgency to come together in an understanding, to protect future generations from harm. They say the land is calling, and it is time for us to hear. The Committee for Future Generations was formed on May 16, 2011 by a group of citizens concerned that northern Saskatchewan communities are being aggressively targeted by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to store Canada's nuclear waste. Visit their website and Facebook page to find out more. This article was originally published by DiaNuke under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC). One hundred civil society groups representing over 5 million Nigerians are opposing opposing Monsanto's attempts to introduce genetically modified (GM) cotton and maize into Nigeria's food and farming systems. They are objecting to the application by Monsanto Agricultural Nigeria Limited to the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA) for the environmental release and placing in the market in Zaria and surrounding towns of GM cotton containing Bt. A further Monsanto application is for the confined field trial of two GM maize varieties in multiple locations in Nigeria genetically modified to resist the controversial herbicide glyphosate. According to Mariann Orovwuje, Friends of the Earth International's Food Sovereignty co-coordinator, "Should commercialization of Monsanto's GM maize be allowed pursuant to field trials, this will result in increased use of glyphosate in Nigeria, a chemical that is linked to causing cancer in humans." In written objections submitted to the biosafety regulators, the groups have cited numerous serious health and environmental concerns and the failure of these crops especially GM cotton in Africa. In their objection to the commercial release of Bt cotton into Nigeria, the groups are particularly alarmed that the application has come so close after the dismal failures of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso. The quality of GM cotton in Brukina Faso had dropped substantially, leading to a phase out of the crop, along with farmers seeking $280 million compensation for their losses. The 100 groups, listed in full below, include farmers, faith-based organisations, civil society groups, students and local communities. 'Bt cotton has brought nothing but economic misery!' According to Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth - one of the groups in the frontline of the resistance: "We are totally shocked that it should come so soon after peer reviewed studies have showed that the technology has failed dismally in Burkina Faso. It has brought nothing but economic misery to the cotton sector there and is being phased out in that country where compensation is being sought from Monsanto." He further asks the pointed question: "Since our Biosafety Act has only recently entered into force, what biosafety legislation was used to authorise and regulate the field trials in the past in accordance with international law and best biosafety practice?" Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Volodymyr Demchyshyn at the Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington from March 30 to April 2 will sign an agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Australia on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy use for peaceful purposes. "In particular, the agreement concerns uranium supplies from Australia to Ukraine for the nuclear energy sector," reads a report by the ministry. According to him, the Ukrainian minister will also meet with U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. The ministry said the Ukrainian delegation headed by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will participate in the plenary session, entitled "National measures in the field of strengthening nuclear security." The delegation will discuss measures to prevent nuclear incidents during other summit events. Demchyshyn in October last year reported that Ukraine is in talks with Kazakhstan and Australia for purchase of uranium concentrate to diversify its supplies. The annual needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants for uranium concentrate are about 2,400 tonnes, while its internal production by state enterprise VostGOK in 2015 is planned in the amount of 1,200 tonnes. A Toronto man is suing Canada Border Services Agency, claiming he was wrongfully held in immigration detention for more than a month, even though hes Canadian. What makes the case unusual is that Gabriel Chan was born to a Canadian father, but had not made an application to declare his Canadian citizenship until after his arrest, following a fare dispute at a GO Transit train station last September. He was held at the immigration holding centre in Rexdale for 38 days. I feel my rights were violated. I did not deserve to be held in detention for 38 days. They should have released me as soon as they received the documentation that proves my status, the 32-year-old graphics artist said in an interview with the Toronto Star. CBSA would not comment on the lawsuit, but confirmed Chan was detained from Sept. 7 to Oct. 14. The agency has not yet filed a statement of defence. Born and raised in the Philippines, Chan is a dual American and Canadian citizen, a right he inherited from his biological parents. However, he only reconnected with his birth father, Benjamin Esguerra, and his seven half-siblings for the first time when he visited Canada at the age of 16. After he finished high school in Manila, he returned to Toronto in 2000 and stayed; an American passport allowed him to travel in and out of the country, and he remained here up to six months at a time. Just before midnight on Sept. 6, Chan said, he was stopped by a GO Transit officer at Port Credit for a proof-of-payment check. He said he was asked for identification, but all he had on him was a Filipino drivers licence and his international drivers licence. The officer proceeded to call the border enforcement agency, claiming he had an illegal migrant in custody, said Chan. He was handcuffed and taken to the Rexdale detention centre shortly after, Chan said in his statement of claim, allegations of which have not been proven in court. In his affidavit, Chan said he told officials he was a Canadian at birth because his father had become a citizen in 1971, at a time when Canadian citizenship could be passed on automatically to a descendant born abroad. According to his claim, border officials continued to detain him even after Oct. 5, when his immigration lawyer, Richard Wazana, submitted a DNA test showing Esguerra is Chans biological father, as well as his fathers landing papers and citizenship documents. I have never come across a case like this. The holding centre he was held at is reserved for immigration detainees, persons who do not have a right to remain in Canada, Wazana said. We had sufficient evidence to show Gabriel was a citizen. The case hinges on at what point of time CBSA knew they were likely holding a Canadian citizen. Courtney Kazembe, Chans litigation lawyer, said they have not received a response from CBSA to the claims. My client was incarcerated and still has an exclusion order against him after he proved his father was a Canadian citizen at his birth and with all the documents provided, said Kazembe. This ought not to have happened. Chan said he has sold all his belongings to pay for his legal expenses and is being assisted by his family. I want to reclaim my Canadian citizenship because my family is here. I want to be included in my Canadian family. My citizenship is a validation of my relationship with my family here, he said. I think Im going to talk my long-time friend Bill Greer into opening up an unofficial stop for tourists at his place on North Main Street in Rocky Mount. It would be a location where we could gather all the information relating to Franklin Countys illegal moonshine profession, both past and present. I say this because people are still coming to visit Franklin County as a result of the movie Lawless. The movie was loosely based on Matt Bondurants moonshine book about the three Bondurant brothers of Snow Creek -- Jack, Howard and Forrest. It was the movie that brought Jim and Joyce Bethel of Lincoln, RI, some 18 hours to reach Rocky Mount a week ago Monday. That morning, I first received a call from Linda Stanley, who heads the Franklin County Historical Society in Rocky Mount. Three visitors from Rhode Island were at her place on South Main, seeking information and wanting to connect with someone they could pay to take them on a tour of all the places depicted in the movie. Being Monday and the fact I had to turn in the column and take a couple of photos for the CFMH Auxiliary, I was behind in my days to-do list, to say the least. So I told Linda there was no way I could break away to talk with them at that time. She understood and said shed pass the info along. I bet it wasnt 15 minutes later when I got a call from the county treasurers office about a couple from up north who were looking for sites in and around Franklin County, including the remains of old illegal distilleries that had been destroyed. The phone was turned over to the male visitor, and I gave in by telling him to come to my office on North Main Street and gave him simple directions. It wasnt but a few minutes before a silver SUV pulled in behind my red Chevy HHR. Jim and Joyce Bethel got out of the vehicle, along with their granddaughter Cheryl Pelto, who I later learned had two grown children. I also learned she was a cashier at Walmart while attending classes in Lincoln. They were both amazed with my small collection of now 32 jars, jugs and bottles of moonshine, along with the big poster of Tim and Tickle of The Moonshiners. Jim quickly explained he would like to see the places and buildings featured in the movie, including the Blackwater Service Station. I had to get him straightened out real quick to the fact that the movie was filmed in Georgia and not here in Virginia. I also had to assure him that the movie was pure Hollywood with all the trashy language, physical beatings, etc. Even blowing up the Bondurants still was totally fake with its billowing clouds of red, orange and black going up in the air. White mash and still parts were the only things being blown through the pine trees, I explained. And I explained I didnt have the time right then to show him the location of the old Blackwater Service Station, which was in the area of the former Cooper Lumber Company when I came to the county. After sending my column and information on the pictures I had taken to Kim at the News-Post, I tried to satisfy the visitors by answering their questions and telling some stories that theyd later read in the book. Time quickly passed. Suddenly, I thought about Barbara Chauncey, who for a couple of years I think, worked with the countys tourism department conducting tours of the Endicott area where she grew up. She was the niece of Deputy Jeff Richards, who was murdered as a result of being involved in The Great Conspiracy Trial of 1935. I recall hearing everyone who took her tour enjoyed the two-hour journey around Dry Hill and Shootin Creek. I quickly called and solved the problem. She agreed to take the trio on the tour, and Jim drove his SUV because Barbaras car wasnt suitable. She agreed to meet them at her house at 2 p.m. He knew the area since her house is located just behind the courthouse. This made the visitors, especially Jim, very happy. As we walked out of my work place, so to speak, the smell of good home cooking whetted our appetites. So the trio from up north treated me to lunch at Jerry Greers Pizza King next door. I gave them a copy of my book, along with one of the black and white photos of the record-breaking still destroyed in 1972 in the Providence Church area. At 2 p.m., I had to be in Ferrum to take pictures at the Tri-Area Health Center on the Ferrum College campus. Jim wanted to see Howard Bondurants house that was pictured in my book and located down on Route 890. I know Jacks original house was destroyed by fire and I never knew where Forrest called home. So I gave him directions to reach Snow Creek. They stopped by the office again Wednesday morning before they left going back to Rhode Island. I did mention the fact that the historical society had two Moonshine Express Tours scheduled and on Saturday, April 23, the first annual Franklin County Moonshine Festival is set for Rocky Mount with the 2nd annual Shine n Dine dinner that evening under the tent on the grounds of Early Inn at the Grove. I told them theyd just have to come back and spend three weeks here. I also mentioned they could return the last Saturday in October for the annual Blue Ridge Folklife Festival on the Ferrum College campus. So hows that for some public relations work for Rocky Mount and Franklin County? Perhaps I need to get out of the newspaper business and be a host for personal Franklin County Moonshine Tours. Well, it was a nice thought since I did enjoy Jim, Joyce and Cheryls visit. Good Quote - Once in a while I hear a really neat quote. How about -- She is as cool as the other side of the pillow. Five months after a local state senator told police he had been threatened by the father of slain TV reporter and Martinsville native Alison Parker, a special prosecutor has been appointed to oversee an ongoing Virginia State Police investigation and decide whether charges are warranted. Danville Commonwealths Attorney Michael J. Newman confirmed that he was appointed special prosecutor by Chief Circuit Court Judge Joseph W. Milam Jr. of the 22nd Judicial Circuit after receiving a request in January from fellow Circuit Judge Clyde H. Perdue Jr., who sits in Franklin County. State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Glade Hill, notified police last fall of the alleged threats by Andy Parker, who has become the public face of gun control in Virginia after his daughter, reporter Alison Parker, was gunned down with cameraman Adam Ward on live TV last August. Stanley is a practicing attorney in Franklin County. I believe that all parties there in Franklin County, even the judge, requested that Judge Milam handle the appointment of any special prosecutor, Newman said. They didnt want to have anything to do with it in reference to any appearance of impropriety. Franklin County Commonwealths Attorney A.J. Dudley, who assumed office in January after winning the seat in the November election, said his predecessor Cooper Brown had requested the appointment of a special prosecutor. The basis of (the appointment) was the current and frequent presence of Sen. Stanley as a defense attorney in many cases being handled by the commonwealths attorneys office, Dudley explained. He has an office here and ... does defense work, and he currently serves as an attorney on many matters that are being prosecuted by our office. Newman confirmed that a state police investigation of Parkers alleged threats is still ongoing, but he declined to elaborate. The investigation has not been completed, Newman said. I dont have anything to review at this point. Its still a pending investigation. Reached this week, Parker was astounded to learn from a reporter that an investigation was still proceeding. The notion that theyre still pushing this as an ongoing investigation is absurd, he said. I just dont get it. Parker said he hasnt been interviewed by state police, nor has he been advised of an investigation. If there was anything to this, you would have thought I would have heard something by now or somebody from state police would knock on my door, Parker said. But nobody has. And I have to think that (Sen.) Stanleys behind it. Hes doing everything he can to ruin me, Parker added. Hes searching everywhere he can for a friendly (commonwealths attorney) that will take the case and appoint someone to look into it. Thats the only thing I can think of, because there is absolutely no merit to it. Stanley strongly denies Parkers claim that he pushed for investigation or contacted anyone to that end. When Mr. Parker made the threats to me and my family, back before the election, I reported it to the authorities as were asked to do whenever an elected official receives a threat like this, Stanley said. And since then, Ive been cooperating with state police when asked, he added. I have had nothing to do other than that with the investigation. Any notion that I am trying to push this along according to Mr. Parker is just pure nonsense on his part. Stanley noted that making a threat of bodily injury or harm to another person using electronic means or over the airways is a crime in Virginia. So thats what theyre investigating. On Oct. 28, Stanley contacted police and said he obtained an application for a concealed-carry permit after Parker sent him a Facebook message that said: Im going to be your worst nightmare you little bastard. After Gov. Terry McAuliffe entered the fray and told Stanley in a radio appearance on Richmonds WRVA to man up over the perceived online threat, calling Stanleys reporting of the incident a political stunt, Stanley pointed to a second comment he said clearly shows a physical threat from Parker. Stanley highlighted a comment Parker made beneath a post touting an endorsement of Stanley by the National Rifle Association. The comment, one of more than a dozen Parker posted to Stanleys page within roughly 30 minutes, accused Stanley of failing to offer condolences after the shooting and concluded: WHEN YOU SEE ME AGAIN, YOU BETTER WALK THE OTHER WAY LEST I BEAT YOUR LITTLE ASS WITH MY BARE HANDS. Taken together, Stanley said they show without a doubt that Parker meant to do him physical harm. Parker, who lives in Henry County and is a constituent of Stanleys, apologized that same week in a statement issued through Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun-control advocacy group he has worked with to produce television ads in several key Virginia Senate races. In my grief over the murder of my daughter and my anger over a political system that allows incidents like this to occur, I spoke regrettably, Parker said at the time. Parker this week reiterated that he intended no harm to Stanley. The notion that Id hurt the guy, or that there is a threat there, is nuts. I saw him in the hallways in the General Assembly building I didnt say anything to him I just walked right by him. Stanley said he just wants Parker to leave him and his family alone. He said Parker has directed angry outbursts not just to him, but to other elected officials throughout this area. I want him to have time to grieve, and not make me the object of the anger which is part of that grief, Stanley said. I have done nothing to him, ever. For him to have the anger that he has for me to make a physical threat against me and my family theres no reason for that. The grief can explain, but not necessarily excuse, it. SHARE By Gleaner Staff A Henderson County home-school student has been accepted into the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science. Brock McDaniel was one of 100 Kentucky high school sophomores selected for the Gatton Academy's Class of 2018. He is the son of Brent and Leslie McDaniel From Corydon. At the Gatton Academy, located on the campus of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, high school students are also enrolled as students at WKU. By the time they graduate Gatton Academy, they will have earned a minimum of 60 college credits. The Gatton Academy is Kentucky's first state-supported, residential program for high school students with interests in advanced science and math careers and one of only 15 such programs in the nation, according to a news release. Applicants were evaluated based on ACT/SAT scores, high school grades, awards, extracurricular activities, responses to essay and short answer questions and letters of recommendation. In addition to these criteria, last month, 165 candidates were invited to interview with Western faculty members, community leaders from across the Commonwealth and Gatton Academy alumni. The selected students scored an average composite of 30.51 on the ACT and 29.88 on the mathematics portion of the exam. The highest possible score is a 36. In 2012 and 2013, Newsweek named The Gatton Academy the nation's top public high school. The Daily Beast named The Gatton Academy the nation's top public high school in 2014. SHARE Swayed by prominent Republicans, including Gov. Matt Bevin and Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Senate, after years of obstruction, has approved putting the question of restoring felons' voting rights on the ballot as a constitutional amendment. The Senate's long-awaited action comes as a big disappointment nonetheless, because it would restore no one's right to vote. All the amendment would do, if voters approve, is allow the legislature to develop rules for restoring felon rights. Given its long history of opposition, the Republican-controlled Senate could be trusted only to make the process as onerous and exclude as many potential voters as possible. Senate Bill 299, sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers, is more a bad joke than a good-faith attempt to honor the commitments voiced by Bevin and Paul. By contrast, House Bill 70 would, if voters approve, amend the constitution to automatically restore the vote to all but those convicted of the most violent felonies, sex crimes, treason and election bribery, after they had completed their sentences. The House approved the measure 82-9, with the support of many Republicans, including GOP leaders. The House has approved such an amendment in every session since 2007. Kentucky's ban on voting lasts a lifetime unless the felon successfully petitions the governor. Nowhere in the country is it harder than here for those who have paid their debt to society to regain this fundamental right and duty of citizenship. In his outreach to minority voters, Paul has admirably demanded reform of a criminal justice system that disproportionately imprisons, impoverishes and disenfranchises black Americans. While most of the Kentuckians who stand to regain the vote are white, one in four black Kentuckians is disenfranchised because of a criminal conviction, the League of Women Voters of Kentucky reported in 2006. That's the nation's highest rate of minority disenfranchisement and something about which Kentucky should be profoundly ashamed. Felons automatically gain the right to vote upon completing their sentences in 38 states and the District of Columbia. HB 70 would bring Kentucky into the mainstream. In December, outgoing Gov. Steve Beshear issued an order streamlining the process whereby an estimated 180,000 Kentuckians could have regained the franchise. Despite campaign promises, Bevin, in one of his first official acts, rescinded the order, saying it exceeded the governor's authority. "While I have been a vocal supporter of the restoration of rights," Bevin explained, "it is an issue that must be addressed through the legislature and by the will of the people." The legislature should let the people vote on an amendment that does more than give Senate Republicans a chance to dither and delay. The Senate's amendment is at best a pig-in-a-poke and at worst a cynical political ploy. If they're sincere, Bevin and Paul will push their fellow Republicans to put a real voting-rights amendment on the ballot. This editorial was written by the Lexington Herald-Leader 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. Germany's Federal Government this year will provide support to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to continue the implementation of the programs helping internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine in the amount of EUR 1 million, the German Embassy in Ukraine has said. "The project, which was supported by the federal government last year with EUR 1 million, provides financial support for the most vulnerable IDPs in Ukraine. This year it will be extended from the current eight to 13 regions," the embassy reported. The assistance measures will benefit primarily the elderly, the disabled, single parents and families with many children who will receive the assistance for rent, clothes, food and medical care. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) -- An Egyptian wearing a fake explosives belt who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight and forced it to land in Cyprus on Tuesday surrendered and was taken into custody after releasing all passengers and crew unharmed following an hours-long standoff. Officials said early on that the hijacking was not an act of terrorism, and later that the man appeared to be psychologically unstable. However, the incident was likely to renew concerns about Egyptian airport security months after a Russian passenger plane was downed over the Sinai Peninsula in a bombing claimed by the Islamic State group. "From the start, it was clear that this wasn't an act of terrorism, and despite the fact that the individual appeared to be dangerous in terms of his behavior, we understood that this was a psychologically unstable person," Cyprus' Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides told reporters. He said the man initially asked to speak with his Cypriot ex-wife, who police brought to the airport. "After that, he started asking for European Union representatives to assure him about matters that had no logical basis," Kasoulides said. At one point the hijacker demanded the release of women held in Egyptian prisons, but he then dropped the demand and made others. "His demands made no sense or were too incoherent to be taken seriously," the minister said, adding that the contents of a letter the hijacker wanted to give to his ex-wife "were also incoherent." Egypt's Interior Ministry identified the hijacker as 58-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa. It said he has a long criminal record, with charges including forgery, theft and drug possession. He had also served time in prison, it said. The ministry posted surveillance camera footage on its Facebook page that it said showed Mustafa being thoroughly searched at the airport. It said his handbag contained items which he later used to "give the impression that he is wearing an explosive belt." Police in Cairo were questioning the hijacker's relatives, Sharif Faisal, the police chief for the industrial suburb of Helwan, told The Associated Press. Just minutes before the arrest, local TV footage from the airport showed several people disembarking from the Airbus A320 and a man who appeared to be a crew member climbing out of the cockpit window and sliding down the side of the plane. The hijacker had earlier freed most of the passengers but kept on board seven people -- four crew members and three passengers. A Cypriot police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said the hijacker walked off the plane and was taken into custody by anti-terrorism police. He said the man wore a belt, but it contained no explosives. Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said man was wearing a fake explosives belt. Flight MS181 took off Tuesday morning from Bourg el-Arab airport just outside the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria en route to Cairo with at least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners, and a seven-member crew. The flight between Alexandria and Cairo normally takes about 30 minutes. Egyptian officials gave conflicting accounts as the drama unfolded. The Aviation Ministry said in a statement that the hijacker was wearing an explosives belt, which turned out to be untrue. Egyptian government spokesman Hossam al-Queish identified the hijacker as Ibrahim Samaha, but an Egyptian woman who identified herself as Samaha's wife told a local TV station that her husband is not the hijacker and was on his way to Cairo so he could fly to the U.S. to attend a conference. She said a photo circulated by Egyptian and regional TV channels purportedly showing the hijacker was not her husband. The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said the foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian. Three other foreigners could not be identified. The initial group of passengers released by the hijacker was seen calmly walking off the plane down a set of stairs, carrying their hand luggage and boarding a bus. Security was tight at the airport, with police repeatedly pushing back reporters and TV crews working just outside the fence, near where the aircraft stopped. Police also evacuated a nearby beach popular with tourists. Egyptian passenger Farah el-Dabani told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiyah TV network that the hijacker was seated in the back of the aircraft and that it was the crew who told passengers that the plane was being hijacked. "There was panic at the beginning, but the crew told us to be quiet. They did a good job to keep us all quiet so the hijacker does not do anything rash," she said in a telephone interview. The incident raised more questions about security at Egyptian airports, five months after the Russian aircraft crashed minutes after it took off from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Russia later said a bomb brought down the aircraft, and IS claimed responsibility. Russia suspended all air links to Egypt after the revelations about the bombing, dealing a major blow to Egypt's vital tourism industry. Tuesday's hijacking could further postpone the resumption of flights. ___ Hendawi reported from Cairo. Maggie Michael and Sam Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRUSSELS (AP) -- Belgium's justice minister pleaded Tuesday for critics of Belgium's intelligence failures to focus on the hunt for those behind last week's Brussels attacks and November's massacre in Paris. Investigators say they are still looking for at least one suspect in the attacks seven days ago, when suicide bombers killed 32 people at Brussels' airport and in a subway station near the European Union headquarters. Three suicide bombers also blew themselves up. The Health Ministry and victims identification officials said 90 people remain in hospital, a third of them suffering from severe burns. In a joint press conference they said the 32 dead include 17 Belgians and 15 foreigners, while 44 of the wounded are foreigners from 20 nations. Belgium has faced rising international criticism over its evident inability to identify and monitor Islamic State activists living in the Belgian capital who have been deemed responsible both for the March 22 bombings in Brussels and the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris nightspots that left 130 dead. Several of those who killed themselves during the attacks or were subsequently arrested were Belgian nationals of North African background. "Now is not the time to fight one another. As far as I know, the enemy is in Syria," Justice Minister Koen Geens said, referring to the primary power base of the Islamic State extremist group that claimed responsibility for both attacks. But authorities in Belgium and the neighboring Netherlands faced fresh questions Tuesday about how much they knew in advance of the March 22 bombings. Turkey already has revealed it deported one of the suicide bombers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui, to the Netherlands in mid-2015 after catching him near the Syrian border and identifying him to Dutch authorities as a suspected IS militant. Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur said Tuesday that his country's security services received a note from the FBI on March 16 detailing what he called the "radical and terrorist background" of the El Bakraoui brothers. One, Ibrahim, blew himself up alongside an accomplice at the airport, while the other brother, Khalid, detonated a bomb inside a train leaving the Maelbeek subway station. The timing of the note and why it was sent to the Dutch remained unclear. Belgian authorities said Tuesday they were not informed of its existence and had no idea where the El Bakroaui brothers were before the Brussels bombings. Belgium has voiced determination to toughen its security powers. On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee approved anti-terror proposals to give police round-the-clock powers for house searches, to improve the Belgian data base on extremists, and to increase phone-tapping powers. The full parliament has yet to consider these measures. Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur, who faces criticism for his own actions before and after the suicide bombings, said Belgian authorities must learn painful lessons and improve their ability to combat Islamic militancy. "Were there mistakes? Did we miss anything? Certainly. Otherwise these attacks would not have happened," Mayeur said. Brussels, he suggested, would never feel the same. "There's no such thing as 'normal' anymore," he said during a visit to Paris. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo pledged solidarity with Belgium as it begins "a long and painful process of grieving and reconstruction." Brussels' airport has yet to reopen since the attacks but has been testing a temporary check-in system for use in coming days. The subway system is mostly running again, though under heavy guard. The Maelbeek station, hit by a suicide bomber in the morning rush hour, remains closed. Passengers said they presumed the March 22 attacks would not be the last on Brussels. "I think this is not over," said Franz Alderweireldt, an 82-year-old taking a train at a subway station next to Maelbeek. "When terrorists plan an attack, they will do it no matter what," Alderweireldt said, "even if there are dozens or hundreds of soldiers or police on the street." ___ Associated Press reporter Lori Hinnant in Brussels contributed to this story. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department and Pentagon ordered the families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel Tuesday to leave posts in southern Turkey due to "increased threats from terrorist groups" in the country. The two agencies said dependents of American staffers at the U.S. consulate in Adana, the Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave. The so-called "ordered departure" notice means the relocation costs will be covered by the government. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said no specific threat triggered the order, but said it was done "out of an abundance of caution" for the safety of the families in that region. He said he was not aware of a deadline for the families to leave, but said "this will move very quickly." In a statement, the military's European Command said the step "allows for the deliberate, safe return of family members from these areas due to continued security concerns in the region." The orders cover the Adana consulate, U.S. military dependents in Incirlik, Ismir and Mugla as well as family of U.S. government civilians at Ismir and Mugla. The State Department also restricted official travel to that which it considers "mission critical." Cook said that the order does not affect about 100 family members who are based in Istanbul and Ankara. The move comes amid heightened security concerns throughout Turkey due to the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants in neighboring Syria and Iraq and was accompanied by an updated travel warning advising U.S. citizens of an increased threat of attacks. It also comes as Turkey's president is set to arrive in Washington to attend President Barack Obama's nuclear security summit. "We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism," the European Command statement said. Incirlik is a critical base in the fight by the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group, and includes strike aircraft, drones and refueling planes. Turkey's decision last year to allow the coalition to conduct airstrikes with aircraft based at Incirlik shortened the time and distance required to conduct airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, compared with strikes flown from bases in the Persian Gulf area. And it increased the number of U.S. personnel at the base. NATO's Allied Land Command is based at Ismir and there is a Turkish base at Mugla where some U.S. military personnel go for training and other missions. It was not immediately clear how many family members would be affected in total. The Pentagon said the order would affect about 680 military family members and roughly 270 pets. The State Department and Pentagon had begun a voluntary drawdown of staff at the two posts last September after Turkey announced it would take a greater role in the fight against Islamic State militants. At the time, military officials said they had recommended the voluntary departure from Incirlik because of specific calls by militants for lone wolf attacks against the air base. On Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry met with Turkish Foreign Mevlut Cavusoglu. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the two discussed measures to secure the Turkey-Syria border and disrupt extremist networks. According to a U.S. official, the decision to order families to leave stemmed from the ongoing assessment of security threats in Turkey. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, so spoke on condition of anonymity. The decision comes a day after Israel issued a new travel advisory for Turkey, warning its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible and avoid any traveling there. NORWALK -- In the first meeting of the Board of Education's Ad Hoc Special Education Committee, Superintendent Steven Adamowski outlined some of the district's current and future plans to the address the recommendation of the most recent CREC report. CREC (Capitol Region Education Council) listed a number of recommendations, including inadequate monitoring and supervision, high turnover in the special education department and unsatisfactory IEPs. The recently formed committee, chaired by Yvel Crevecoeur, was assembled to provide oversight of the recommendations of the audit. The committee also includes BOE member Artie Kassimis, special education teacher Danyelle Williams and parents Natalie Alonso and Jeffry Spahr. Adamowski projects it would take the district and the committee about three years to fully implement changes to the special education department. "At the point, I expect to invite CREC back into the district to document that the recommendations were in fact accomplished so we do not have the situation that's occurred historically," he said. The top priority for in Adamowski's 11-point plan calls for filling the top special education department role of Chief of Specialized Learning and Student Services. The school board recently approved hiring the search firm, Hazard, Young and Attea, to conduct a national search for the position, after a statewide search did not produce a candidate. Another goal of the district to return three outplaced special education classroom to the district in August. This includes two classes, classified as "emotional disturbed," currently placed at High Roads School. The two classes would return to Norwalk High School. Adamowski said CREC made a recommendation to bring these classes back to the district several years ago but it did not happen. High Roads staff will continue to work the students at Norwalk High next school year. "We're going to spend a year transitioning our own staff," said Adamowski. The district also plans to return an elementary school autism class to Wolfpit Elementary School. The Connecticut State Department of Education will complete a desk audit of all IEPs. When CREC reviewed a small sample of IEPs, it found that half were out of compliance and at the lowest level of quality based on its scoring rubric. "Having a desk audit will reveal the full scope of this issue," said Adamowski. "It will also reveal the kind of training our staff needs first at the administrative level and then at the teacher level." The superintendent has also requested the city establish a transitional special education fund to remedy some of the department's problems over the next three years. The funds seek an investment of $1.2 million a year over that timeframe. The fund would cover the cost of Special Education School Compliance and Quality Case Managers for each elementary school. The position is an extra duty position that would serve as a point person for each school building to oversee IEPs and other special education matters. The fund would also cover professional development for special education teachers and a salary for an outside placement manager, who will ensure that students placed outside the district receive the services they're suppose to receive. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK -- The South Norwalk Community Center, East Avenue bridge clearance and proposed zip line for Cranbury Park were among the topics raised at the Mayor's Night Out at City Hall on Tuesday evening. Sara Calise, a member of the newly formed Cranbury Preservation Association (CPA), apologized for the behavior of a resident who destroyed a sign in favor of the zip line during a recent meeting at City Hall. "That's not who the neighborhood of Live Oak Road is and the immediate area," Calise said. "So please, please know that. When Mike (Mushak's) sign was taken down, if I was right there, I would have helped (Mushak)." CPA's mission, Calise said, is to ensure that families are safe, property values are protected and "our city parks are development and managed in a balanced way." About two-dozen residents attended the Mayor's Night Out -- the first of 2016 -- in the Community Room. William M. Stowell-Alonso took aim at South Norwalk Community Center (SoNoCC) board Chairman Warren A. Pena -- whom he said has mishandled up to $1 million -- and urged a broader use of the center at 98 South Main St. to include music, dancing fitness and other activities. "If the mayor's office would work with me and others to revitalize that center," said Stowell-Alonso, who introduced himself as a special educator. Mayor Harry W. Rilling said the building itself remains the subject of ongoing litigation (following the bankruptcy of former tenant Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now, Inc.) SoNoCC, he continued, operates the After the Bell program in conjunction with the school system and is registered 501(c)3 with a "paper trail." "We are aware of what's going on (in the building), what's not going on and trying to come to a resolution so everyone can be served by that building," Rilling said of the center. Pena, who was not at the meeting, told The Hour afterward that he did not know who Stowell-Alonso is but labeled his allegations "misinformed." "A million dollars has never crossed the Community Center's bank account," Pena said. Pena stood by the use of the building and the services offered to the public, including After the Bell. "The building is an open building and there's nobody that's being turned away," Pena said. On another topic, East Norwalk residents Deb Goldstein and Diane Cece urged elected officials not to give up on trying to get the state to reduce the clearance of the proposed new railroad bridge above East Avenue. "I don't think we throw up our hands and say we'll wait for a court injunction," Cece said. Earlier, Rilling said a court injunction would be the only way to get the Connecticut Department of Transportation to rethink the clearance after a recent letter from ConnDOT Commissioner James P. Redeker. AURORA -- Robert Honken of Aurora, accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill his wife, was bound over Tuesday to Hamilton County District Court on two charges. Honken's lawyer, Charles Brewster of Kearney, argued that Honken should be bound over on only one count of conspiracy to commit a Class I felony. But Hamilton County Court Judge Linda Caster Senff ruled there was enough evidence to charge Honken with two counts of conspiracy to commit a Class I felony. Honken, 37, is accused of hiring Derrick Shirley of Bradshaw in early January to kill his wife, Bethany. According to testimony Tuesday from Sgt. Ryan Phinney of the Nebraska State Patrol, Shirley used at least a portion of the money Honken gave him to buy a rifle. Shirley told a State Patrol investigator that he drove around Bethany Honken's home at least 20 times to prepare for the murder. He later decided not to carry out the crime, Phinney said. The state alleges that in late February Honken hired a State Patrol undercover investigator, whom he believed to be a hit man, to have his wife killed. Honken was arrested soon after he met with the investigator Feb. 29 at Love's Travel Stop near Aurora. Deputy Hamilton County Attorney Benjamin Dennis contended that Honken was involved in two separate conspiracies. The first one was abandoned before the second one began about a month later, Dennis said. Brewster contended that Honken was guilty of only one offense, which ran from early January to Feb. 29. He said that Honken had the same state of mind all during that time. Even though the players changed, Honken's actions comprised one continuous act, Brewster said. Senff, though, bound Honken over on two counts of conspiracy to commit a Class 1 felony. That crime is a Class II felony, punishable by one to 50 years in prison. Phinney, the only person to testify Tuesday, recounted the events that led to Honken's arrest. The defendant met with the State Patrol undercover investigator in a car parked on the east side of Love's Travel Stop on Feb. 29. Honken arrived at that meeting from Central City, where he had been working. He provided the investigator with an address and photograph of his wife, Phinney said. When the investigator asked for some upfront money to cover his expenses, Honken went to the ATM inside Love's Travel Stop and returned with $500, Phinney said. During that meeting, the investigator saw Honken's driver's license. Honken pulled out his license to show his wife's address because it was the same as his. The Aurora Police Department asked the State Patrol to investigate the case on Feb. 26. Phinney met with a confidential informant Feb. 27 at the Aurora City Hall. The informant said a man who had identified himself as Sam had initially talked to him about doing remodeling work. That work would be done if Sam got possession of his house after his divorce. Sam then asked the informant if he would help him take care of a problem with his wife or if he knew somebody who would. Phinney and an Aurora police officer recorded a phone conversation between the informant and Sam on Feb. 27. In that call, Sam said his name was actually Rob and he owned Rob's Window Service in Aurora. Rob indicated multiple times in that phone call that he wanted someone to kill his wife, Phinney said. He also said he'd previously paid an individual to murder his wife, but that person had backed out. The informant told Rob that if he was serious about murdering his wife, he could put Rob in touch with someone who could. That led to the contact between Honken and the undercover investigator. An audio and video recording was made of the meeting at Love's, but the video had an obstructed view, Phinney said. During that meeting, Phinney was parked in a car on the west side of Love's, listening through an audio device. Honken told both the informant and the undercover investigator that he wanted his wife's murder to look like a robbery, and that it should take place when their kids were not home, Phinney said. Honken told the undercover investigator that he didn't care how the job was done, just that it be "quick and painless," Phinney said. Shirley, 30, was arrested by a different State Patrol team at the same time Honken was arrested. Shirley told a State Patrol investigator he had agreed to murder Honken's wife but "for lack of a better term, he was getting cold feet" and wasn't going to go through with it, Phinney said. Honken did say he had been having second thoughts about the murder, Phinney said in answer to a question from Brewster. When Shirley backed out, Honken felt it confirmed that his doubts were correct, Phinney said. Later, though, Honken renewed his murder plans, Dennis said. Tuesday's preliminary hearing lasted about an hour. In the audience were about 10 supporters of Bethany Honken, most of them relatives. Robert Honken is scheduled to make his District Court appearance at 9 a.m. April 7. Brewster, though, may request that arraignment be moved. Honken remains in custody. His bond is set at $500,000. Shirley's preliminary hearing in Hamilton County Court will be at 3:30 p.m. April 5. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit a Class I felony. Diamond Plastics in Grand Island is hosting 80 engineers this week to demonstrate the quality of pipe it produces, specifically the new 60-inch diameter and 54-inch diameter PVC pipe it is producing for water lines, sewer lines and irrigation pipe. Ron Bishop, director of engineering and manufacturing for Diamond Plastics, said the engineers have come from all over the country, stretching from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles. The Grand Island company hosted a Monday evening welcome dinner for the engineers before having them tour the plant on Tuesday morning. The engineers were split into four groups so they could see and hear the tour guide, as well as the manufacturing equipment in each section of the plant. Bishop said the company scheduled two 90-minute classes on Tuesday afternoon, one on the design and installation of PVC pipes for water, with the second focusing on the design and installation of sewer plant. On Wednesday morning, the engineers will attend a three-hour professional class about pipe installation. He noted that some of the engineers represent organizations that are existing customers of Diamond Plastics, but most of them are from companies or organizations that represent potential customers. Although Diamond Plastics makes pipes that range from 2 inches to 60 inches in diameter, Tuesday's plant tour stressed the larger pipes the company is now producing. Diamond Plastics began producing the 54-inch and 60-inch diameter pipes in 2014. Plant manager Scott Schleicher took one of the groups through the plant on Tuesday morning, starting in the blending room that mixes the ingredients to form each specific type of pipe made by Diamond Plastics. Although heating is part of the process, no materials melt. He said the materials transform from virgin powder to plastic. Everything being produced at the plant Tuesday morning was 60-inch pipe, with Schleicher taking his group through the step-by-step process of manufacturing the PVC pipe. Schleicher's recurring theme during the tour was all the quality assurance measures that Diamonds Plastics takes during the manufacturing process to ensure that the pipe has the proper outer diameter, interior diameter and wall thickness to match industry standards with the measurements consistent for the entire length of pipe. Cooling water, which is recycled to reduce environmental impact of the manufacturing process, is used to ensure the pipe maintains its shape. Each piece of pipe is imprinted with information to ensure that it can be tracked. One end of the pipe is cut to create a beveled connecting edge. Workers measure wall thickness on the pipe, with the measurements wirelessly transmitted to the computer storage production records. The other end is belled and heated to make it pliable again, then pushed over a rubber gasket. Water pipes undergo hydro testing, with enough interior water pressure created to ensure that both ends of the pipe are watertight. Pipes also undergo impact pressure, with pipes of a specific weight dropped to show that the Diamond Plastic pipe will not crack upon impact. Any pipe that cracks is deemed to have failed. A flattening test flattens a section of pipe to at least 40 percent of its original diameter. An acetone test ensures that the pipe has properly fused during the extrusion process. Some tests are performed when the pipes have been cooled to a specific temperature to ensure that they can be installed in Canada where outside temperatures may be much colder than in the U.S. Schleicher noted that in some ways, all employees are responsible for quality control for each piece of pipe that Diamond Plastics manufactures. Near the end of a tour, each group of engineers met in a room where some of the quality assurance tests are made. The visit not only let the engineers see some of the tests, but also let them see how the information is logged so that all defective pieces are kept strictly separated from the pipe that has met all standards and is being shipped to customers. Kyiv's district administrative court on March 29 terminated the order of Ukraine's State Service for Geology and Deposits that suspended the gas production licenses of public joint-stock company Ukrnafta for three fields in Dnipropetrovsk region. The press service of the authority reported that the licenses had been suspended under recommendations of Ukraine's State Fiscal Service over multibillion tax debts of the company to the national budget. "We are outraged at the decision of the judges. The court in fact banned us from implementing our functions and reacting to blatant irregularities. Please note that over UAH 10 billion has not been paid to the national budget. The court decided that the state does not need money," acting head of the authority Mykola Boyarkin said. The State Service for Geology and Deposits on January 26, 2016 suspended the oil and gas production licenses of Ukrnafta for Holubivske, Yuriyevske and Lopushnianske fields in Dnipropetrovsk region. Naftogaz Ukrainy owns a 50% plus one share stake in Ukrnafta, a group of companies associated with the shareholders of PrivatBank (Dnipropetrovsk) holds about 42% of the shares. Recently our state government voted to uphold the ban for individuals with drug felony charges to continue to not have access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), LB910. In both the hearing for the bill and in a recent news article, Sen. Bill Kintner made remarks regarding hunger in Nebraska, including: no one is going to go hungry. And By giving food stamps to drug dealers, were just enabling them. Thats simply incorrect. According to the Kids Count 2015 report, approximately 106,000 households in Nebraska are considered food insecure. Statistics and facts tell a vastly different story than the one that Sen. Kintner claims. Yes, there are many food pantries across our state, but only two food banks. But having access to food alone does not stop a person from being food insecure. -- Nebraska is the 24th hungriest state in the nation. (Bread for the World) -- In 2014, SNAP lifted 4.7 million Americans, including 2.1 million children, out of poverty. (FRAC) -- Every $5 in SNAP benefits generates as much as $9 of economic activity. (USDA) -- For children, food insecurity rates decrease by 33 percent after their family has been on SNAP benefits for at least six months. (FRAC) Ensuring our citizens have access to food should not be in the political realm. It is in fact a basic human right to have access to food. Beyond just having access to food, I am sure that every one of us has a past that we would not want to have held against us. However, we are one of six states that continues to punish women because of a past. (Thinkprogress.org) These are not current drug dealers. These are people who are trying to create a better life. I encourage Sen. Kintner to contact us to learn more about how poverty and hunger affect Nebraskans. 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! Phillies bash Padres in wild Game 4 to move to brink of World Series Philadelphia hit four home runs in the win, overcoming a 4-0 deficit before they even came to bat against San Diego. Ukraine's State Property Fund (SPF) intends to announce an auction on the privatization of public joint-stock company Odesa Port-Side Plant in the second half of May and hold it in June, Fund Head Ihor Bilous has said. "I think that we will announce the deal in the second half of May. We jointly with the investment bank conducted a pre-sounding for investors and identified near 10 buyers that are international companies with a desire to participate in the auction that might take place in June," he said, speaking at the Business Forum Netherlands-Ukraine held in the Hague (the Netherlands) on Wednesday. Bilous said that the sale and purchase agreement to be signed with a buyer is to include a proviso about international arbitration. "International investors will be able to resolve some corner issues in the international arbitration court. This has never been done in Ukraine before," he said. The fund also plans to hold auctions in Q3 and Q4 2016 and privatize six power supply companies. These companies will be interesting for investors in the light of the coming liberalization of energy legislation. The fund seeks to privatize Centrenergo at the end of the year. "The preparations for the Centrenergo's privatization have only started. We're negotiating with sponsors and financial consultants," Bilous said. He said that this year the fund hopes to privatize 45 companies and enterprises, including 20 large and 15 medium-sized. He gave a hotel in Kyiv with 374 rooms as an example of a medium-sized asset. "We plan to put it up for auction in spring. I think that next month we will announce the auction. The starting price is set up at around $13 million," he said. After months spent in search of game, its time for longhunters to gather so they can sell their bounty, buy supplies and celebrate with friends - an event the Fort de Chartres State Historic Site will re-enact April 1-3. The Colonial Trade Faire and Musket & Rifle Frolic runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. all three days. Admission is free. And on April 9, the sites Art de Vivre series returns with a presentation on 18th century firearms. Participants will learn how guns of the day operated, how accurate they were and what it took to keep them working. But first comes the Trade Faire, which features costumed historic interpreters, shooting matches and period games and music. Craftspeople and merchants will sell reproduction period goods, and local Boy Scouts will sell food. The Colonial Trade Faire is sponsored by the Chasseurs du Datchurat, a group of that re-enacts the lives and skills of longhunters. Chasseurs is French for hunter, and Datchurat was the name of an area merchant who employed hunters during the 1760s and 70s. Longhunters were professional hide hunters who would routinely embark on grand hunts lasting months and sometimes more than a year. They are most identified with Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, but some operated in the Illinois country. For more details, visit http://longhunter.com or www.fortdechartres.us Fort de Chartres Art de Vivre presentations look at the art of life - the skills it took to survive in the Illinois wilderness 250 years ago. The free April 9 session on firearms runs 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. with a one-hour break at noon. Volunteers from the sites Les Coureurs des Bois (runners of the woods) organization will bring a collection of firearms and demonstrate loading, ignition, accuracy and cleaning. There will be no shooting, and participants should not bring their own weapons - all they need is a pen and notebook to jot down the extensive information. Anyone interested in seeing a flintlock in action should come back the next day, April 10. The site hosts a shooting demonstration on the second Sunday of every month at 10 a.m. Everybody can watch, but participants must be in period clothing and use only black-powder firearms of that era. Fort de Chartres was built by the French military in the 1750s. It served as the seat of government and chief military installation in Illinois when France controlled the territory. The British then took it over and used it until 1772. The site was declared a national historic landmark in 1960. The forts powder magazine is the oldest building in Illinois. Fort de Chartres is located at 1350 IL Route 155, 4 miles west of Prairie du Rocher. It is open Thursday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A donation of $4 for adults, $2 for children, or $10 per family is suggested. The site is operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. IHPA protects the states historic resources, which contribute to education, culture and the economy. IHPA sites include ancient burial mounds, forts and buildings erected by settlers, and homes connected to famous Illinoisans. Ask Bill Alexander about the highlights of his long career in banking, and his response is quick and pointed. Its all about the people and the relationships you make, he said. Its not about titles or positions or even the money you earn Its about the life-long relationships you develop with people. I have truly relished the opportunity to develop those relationships, to serve people, and most importantly, to help people. Alexander has helped many throughout his banking career, which reached its golden anniversary in October of 2015. He was honored for his 50 years of service by Illinois Bankers Association President Linda Koch at TheBANK of Edwardsvilles Annual Stockholders Meeting on Tuesday, March 22. Its been a wonderful journey, Alexander said. I feel so blessed to have the ability to work and serve the people of my hometown for so many years. And thats been a big benefit to me over the years. Even though its grown so much, Edwardsville has always had that small town feel, which has made it easy to make strong, lasting relationships. A near lifelong resident of Edwardsville after his family moved to the town when he was three years old, Alexander began his career in banking in October, 1965, at Edwardsville National Bank and Trust Company as a trainee in the loan department. Over the next 10 years, he progressed rapidly at Edwardsville National. He learned the ropes of operations, auditing and virtually every other department at the bank before eventually being named vice president and cashier, which at the time was the top operations position at the bank. Through that time, he also developed relationships with the employees at the other bank in town - TheBANK of Edwardsville - including then cashier Bob Wetzel, who would later become the longest-serving president in TheBANKs history. Both banks were about the same size at that time, and there was a lot of cooperation between the two, Alexander said. Bob and I had a great friendship that went beyond banking. Both banks only had roughly 40 employees, so we all knew each other. Those relationships would play a big part in Alexander joining TheBANK. In 1975, Edwardsville National was bought by out-of-town interests as an investment opportunity, and Alexander, who has always been strongly committed to community banking, saw the writing on the wall. So when Wetzel, and then president of TheBANK John Hunter, approached him about joining TheBANK, Alexander took the opportunity. He started his career at TheBANK in January, 1976, as a vice president. Over the next 40 years, Alexander played a pivotal role in the management of TheBANKs growth as a vice president, senior vice president and his current title, executive vice president. He even served as interim president of TheBANK following Wetzels retirement in 2004. The position was offered to him on a full-term basis, but he declined due to his retirement plans at the time. However, he helped lead the search that brought Tom Holloway to TheBANK as president, ushering in an era of expansion for the organization. In addition to his role in management decisions regarding the day-to-day operations of TheBANK, Alexander has also been a key player in its long-term decision making as a member of its board of directors, as well as a member of the board of directors of its holding company, THE BANC ED CORP., since its inception. He currently serves as president of THE BANC ED CORP. board. Alexander has also played a big part in helping build TheBANKs unmatched reputation for community service. He has served charitable, civic and educational organizations at the local, state and national levels - as well as serving his country for a six-year stint in the United States Air Force Reserves as an Aeromedical Technician during the Vietnam Conflict, where he reached the rank of Staff Sergeant. He has been a near lifelong member and supporter of Trinity Lutheran Church and School, was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Edwardsville Rotary Club, and earned the Distinguished Service Award from the Edwardsville Jaycees in 1976. Alexanders long list of service to local boards features the Edwardsville Chamber of Commerce, YMCA, and American Cancer Society chapter; the citys Police Pension Board and Mobile Intensive Care Unit; the Illinois Bankers Association, the Southwestern Illinois Chapter of the Bank Administration Institute, and the Graduate School of Banking, University of Wisconsin; and Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois. While serving on the state board of directors for Lutheran Child and Family Services, he was instrumental in the development and opening of the Meridian Village Retirement Community in Glen Carbon, and served as its chairman of the board in its early years until it merged with Lutheran Senior Services. While his list of accomplishments and service is long, Alexander is quick to point out that both his work at TheBANK and his work in the community have not been solo efforts. I take a tremendous amount of pride in the work weve been able to accomplish in the growth of the communities and the growth of TheBANK, he said. I also owe a tremendous thank you to my fellow employees, both past and present, for being such a great group of individuals to work with. They have been and continue to be committed to making this organization and our communities successful. He paused, and added, smiling, I just started a little sooner and have lasted a little longer than most." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Raafi Seiff (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 I had an appointment to interview the ambassador of Belgium to Indonesia. Unfortunately, it was on the day when a part of Jakarta was in turmoil. I opened my weary and overused Uber application and was shocked at how, on a regularly busy Tuesday, March 22, there was only one driver to be found on the app. He came, ruffled, odorous and jittery. He seemed nervous. He told me that there was a huge riot in Jakarta where Ubers, Bluebirds, Grabs and Go-Jeks were being 'swept'. I shrugged it off, assuring him that it was all an exaggeration. As we drove to the embassy, he repeatedly fumbled with the radio that was reporting were the supposed demonstrations were to be found and was receiving calls from his boss telling him to end the trip. Confusion surfaced in me. What was happening? When I finally reached Jakarta I saw a collision of the mentioned competitors attacking one another and ' at times ' their own colleagues. I took my Uber driver's phone and hid it my bag just in case we were approached. After seeing people throwing rocks and passengers being taken out of their taxis, it was then I realized that Jakarta ' in that moment ' was in anarchy. There was a lingering feeling of trepidation at the sight of this chaos, but this was definitely not shocking to any person watching over the situation. Surprise was the last word in anyone's mind. This clash was an expected climax that was communicated through the intense communal brawls that have occurred since the rise of these app-based transportation companies. What was surprising however, was the lack of effective response in real-time. The government should have expected this to have occurred and understood the need for contingency planning to contain the situation. Is the turun tangan (go to the field) method no longer a special move of the Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo administration? On the other hand, we should acknowledge that there were efforts made by the employees of the transportation companies involved in brokering peace. If you go around areas in Pasar Minggu, for example, you would find banners stating words like 'This is a Go-Jek-ojek zone. Embrace each other'. This movement sings our ideological values as a nation as well as of individuals who are, at the end of the day, all just trying to make something of themselves. Companies ' which are usually supposed to be the foundations that characterize their employees ' in this instance must learn from groups like these and instill this as a general corporate culture. In light of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), innovation should be what makes us and not what breaks us. How can Indonesia become open and competitive if we ourselves are the ones who shun ideas that are outside the box? This indicates that some Indonesian institutions are still traditionalist and even feudal in nature when it comes to doing business and working with the government. These archaic companies have been so used to being at the top that they feel threatened with stakeholders who bring new ideas. How could they not? It must be humiliating for companies that have designed and established empires to their taste to find themselves pushed around and forced to play ball with start-up companies with an approach that might never have survived if it had had to jump through the hoops of the New Order. Empires should reform in the midst of change and accept certain losses as an inevitability, shifting their problems into new ways to grow. Look at Newsweek, which ceased to be printed in the beginning of 2013 or Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO), which was bought in 2015. Regardless of their acquired credibility, what these two companies had was a brand, power and sophisticated history that consumers could dive into. They had failed to prolong themselves in their prime, but rather than sink they chose to swim. Newsweek pulled through by using an online platform exclusively and MSLO was able to find security in its new owners, Sequential Brands. The point is that Indonesian companies that have been too comfortable relying on favors, strong branding and the security of being 'the only option' need to understand that those days are fading because of the dynamics of a more connected and digital society. What's important right now is that we bring back a state of strength for the involved stakeholders. At a time when investors are fidgeting in their seats in a promising but uncertain AEC, Indonesia as a founding father of ASEAN should show solidarity in its domestic affairs. What is the point of economic success if it leads to anarchy? The government should establish a taskforce involving members of the private and public sector, as well as civil society, in which they can first show that competition is something that we should allow and not a force that should be shut down. Going through the legal context of these transportation companies would require a whole different conversation and perception, but what has been acknowledged by even the Jokowi administration (with the minister of communications and information calling Go-Jek's CEO his 'mentor') is that these mobile-app juggernauts are becoming a source of income that has established formidable underground economies. Will relevant stakeholders continue to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation or stop innovation in its tracks? The government has an obvious mandate to deem illegal whatever it feels threatens the stability of the country or is sidelined by the law (as was already stated many times by government officials), but in doing so, the government has to answer to householders who will lose jobs and sources of income in the middle of a situation of rising unemployment and stagnated growth. ________________________________ The writer is founder and executive director of the Good Governance Initiative. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Activists are urging the government to form an independent commission made up of civilian "wise men" to push for a legal settlement of Indonesia's historic human rights abuses to bring justice to the victims and their families. The commission's members must be representatives of the public and not public officials from institutions involved in the violations, the human rights advocacy group Setara Institute suggested. Setara and family members of victims of past human rights abuses held a closed door meeting with the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres) to convey to it the proposed formation of a Presidential Commission on the Disclosure of Truth and the Recuperation of Victims on Tuesday. "It's impossible for governmental elements or officials to be part of this commission because in this case the state itself is subject to law that holds it responsible for historic human rights abuses, even though the current government is not the actual offender," Setara's deputy chairman, Bonar Tigor Naipospos said. Together the activists met with Wantimpres chairwoman Sri Adiningsih and member Sidarto Dabusubroto to create a commission consisting of well-informed civilians, and not government officials, in the pursuit of a judicial resolution of seven main cases of violations. The commission's duties would be to validate data that has been investigated by the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to see what can be taken to court and handled judicially, or alternatively, for the government to issue a formal apology by way of reconciliation. The ad-hoc committee would be under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo with the authority to produce binding presidential decrees, Bonar said. Jokowi has repeatedly reiterated his commitment to settling historic rights abuses that have been declared gross human rights violations by Komnas HAM. The formation of the commission comes in response to a long-delayed bill on truth and reconciliation that is before the House of Representatives, which is apparently an alternative way in case government officials fail to find a better solution for all. The selection of the committee members itself would be the prerogative of the President, Bonar said, adding that the backgrounds of the members would be important. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that the government aimed to settle all human rights violations cases by early May through reconciliation only and not through judicial processes because there was a lack of evidence. Such a deadline was "absurd", Bonar said. Setara chairman Hendardi also derided Luhut's statement, calling it overly ambitious, hasty and unrealistic, as well as unacceptable to the families of the victims who sought for justice. "There would be no reconciliation without the revelation of the truth," Hendardi said. Human rights groups and families of the victims are pushing for the resolution of the cases judicially as stipulated in the 2000 law on human rights courts. Hendardi admitted that with the case of the 1965 communist purge, a judicial settlement would be difficult because of a scarcity of proof and witnesses. However, he underlined other newer cases must be resolved at court with transparent legal procedures. Maria Katarina Sumarsih, member of the the Victims Solidarity Network for Justice (JSKK), said her community, along with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), recently held its 436th Kamisan (a silent protest held every Thursday) across from the State Palace. The protesters will continue to do so until the government takes concrete steps. Maria, whose son Bernardus Realino Norma Irawan died in the First Semanggi tragedy in 1998, said the solving of the Semanggi cases could set a precedent as a step forward toward a positive future when the government would be proactive in addressing issues to clear the history. The unresolved cases consist of a 1989 massacre in Talangsari, Lampung, the forced disappearance of anti-Soeharto activists in 1997 and 1998, the 1998 Trisakti University shootings, the Semanggi I and Semanggi II student shootings in 1998 and 1999, the mysterious killings of alleged criminals in the 1980s, the communist purges of 1965 and various abuses that took place in Wasior and Wamena in Papua in 2001 and 2003, respectively. (+) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The Indonesian Military (TNI) is ready to assist the Philippine military to launch an operation against Abu Sayyaf militants who have hijacked two Indonesian vessels and kidnapped 10 Indonesian crewmen. The Indonesian forces are all set for the hostage rescue operation, said Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu. However, Jakarta would have to first wait for Manila's request as the incident occurred in Philippine territory. The army has prepared vessels to conduct the operation in case the Philippine authorities allow Indonesian forces to join the operation, Ryamizard said. He also has coordinated with the Philippine defense minister to address the incident. "It's a foreign country. If we are not allowed to enter then we cannot force it. If Manila is ready to settle it themselves, then we'll wait, but if they need help, then we should enter," Ryamizard said on Tuesday as quoted by the Antara news agency. Meanwhile, Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan said the National Police are ready to deploy the elite Densus 88 counterterrorism squad and the Mobile Brigade to take part in the operation. The police had coordinated with Interpol in an attempt to save the crewmen. Separately, House of Representatives member Ade Komarudin asserted his belief that the Indonesian Military, if allowed, could execute the operation successfully since the TNI had been involved in many hostage-rescue operations. Ade used the example of the Woyla incident in March 1981, when the special forces saved Indonesians who were being held captive during the hijack of a Garuda Indonesia airplane by the Komando Jihad terrorist group. "Operation Woyla was successful and thus I am sure and I believe that the security officials of this country can do their best," Ade said, underlining that the government should not compromise with the terrorists. In a statement, Abu Sayyaf has demanded 50 million pesos in ransom, equal to Rp 14.2 billion (US$1.07 million). Responding to this, Ryamizard said that Indonesia should not meet the demand. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anggi M. Lubis (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The rescue of Sri Rahayu from Raqqa ' dubbed the capital of the Islamic State (IS) movement ' was rather suspenseful. The 40-year-old domestic worker and native of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, traveled under the shade of mountains to Aleppo with an employee from the labor agency that hired her, for around six days. They drove away from main roads to avoid suspicion and unwanted encounters. If they happened to bump into someone in their clandestine journey, the man would introduce Sri ' who wore a hijab ' as his wife, as being discovered might cost them dearly. 'I couldn't bring any of my belongings with me. The only thing that mattered was that I arrive in Aleppo safely,' she told a press conference held at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. She was picked up by the Indonesian protection and repatriation team midway and sheltered in Aleppo for around three months, before traveling to Damascus on March 12 with the help of Muhamad Abdulkader Akraa, a lawyer hired by the Indonesian embassy who was awarded the Hasan Wirajuda award last year for his dedication to saving Indonesian citizens in Syria. Sri ' who entered Syria in 2011 ' was retrieved from Raqqah six months after the Indonesian embassy detected her presence in the city in June 2015 and planned a rescue. She had worked in the city for over two years, after her contract as a domestic worker in Aleppo expired and the agency that brought her into the country farmed her out to a new employer in Raqqah, some 160 kilometers to the east of Aleppo. The agency lied to her, telling her that the Indonesian embassy had closed after the war. With mounting terrors ' from regular bombings, seeing homes being raided and occupied by IS fighters to witnessing severed heads put on display after a fresh execution ' Sri was tempted to flee and contacted a friend in Aleppo, who later forwarded her number to the Indonesian embassy. Her employer was especially concerned about her safety, she said, after his house was bombed last year. Her employer ' who paid her well ' had been looking for ways to send her out of town. ______________________________ 'I couldn't bring any of my belongings with me. The only thing that mattered was that I arrive in Aleppo safely.' Sri was among 33 Indonesian citizens who made their way home from Syria on Tuesday, flown by the Indonesian protection and repatriation team as the 237th batch evacuated from Syria since 2012. A total of 12,217 Indonesians have been repatriated from Syria since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, most of whom are domestic workers, according to the Foreign Ministry's director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal. It was estimated that 12,517 Indonesians resided in Syria in 2012, but the repatriation team's job was nowhere near done, Lalu told reporters in the conference, as the figure was inflated over the years by possible illegal entries. 'Our latest estimate is that there might be around 1,000 more Indonesians living in Syria,' he said. In Aleppo, once a thriving city in Syria and currently one of the most dangerous areas in the country, Indonesians might be residing undetected. However, an exact calculation is impossible as many of them are probably working in shut-in Arab houses and have no access to the outside world, or have moved out of the town with their employees to avoid terror in Aleppo. Lalu said that the embassy had cooperated with a number of parties, from the local wing of Red Crescent and taxi drivers, to disseminate information for evacuation and to detect the whereabouts of Indonesian citizens. 'We are cooperating with cab drivers by giving them pamphlets with our embassy's contact number written on it, to hand out to passengers that look Indonesian. If possible, we ask the drivers to take them directly to the embassy and we pay them there,' he said. Maintaining contact with evacuated citizens is also important, he added, as they could be key in locating other Indonesians trapped in the country. However, not all of them want to go home. Among the difficulties in evacuating Indonesians, he said, was that repatriation was voluntary. 'Some Indonesians live in relatively calm cities, like Damascus, and persevere to continue working there and choose to stay,' he said. Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk has told President Petro Poroshenko about a failed attempt by NABU detectives to catch a judge who took a bribe and opened fire amid detention, the Ukrainian president's press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko said. "The NABU director told the president about a special operation to apprehend a judge who received a UAH500,000 bribe. The judge opened fire from a firearm and, using his immunity, fled," Tseholko wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday. Poroshenko has already instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to take all measures to apprehend the judge. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung Wed, March 30, 2016 Only a few days after hard-line groups threatened to disperse a monologue performance about Tan Malaka, another artist in West Java's capital Bandung has encountered similar problems but with a less-fortunate outcome. An 2016 International Body Language Celebration held by mime artist Wanggi Hoediyatno Boediardjo on Sunday was interrupted, with the police saying that performers not have a permit. The troupe of five performers had planned to walk the around 500 meters from the Zero Kilometer point to the former Palaguna shopping center while performing their 'Walking Sideways but Meaningless' piece. However, before reaching their destination, the police stopped the mime show, which had attracted dozens of spectators at the Asia Afrika Monument. 'The show was stopped and dispersed by traffic police as they said the event had caused a large crowd to gather, which could cause disorder,' said Wanggi, who has been involving in pantomime since 2008. After stopping the performance, Wanggi was then brought to the Sumur Police station for questioning. 'I understand [the police's concerns], but I am tired of having to ask for permission to perform and never being able to get it. I have been sent here and there to get a permit from 2008 to 2012, but the results are always the same,' said Wanggi, an alumnus of the Indonesian Arts Institute. Since the incident, Wanggi has been busy answering calls from his journalist and human rights activist friends, prompting him to post his experience on his Facebook account. 'I'm very disappointed with the police for dispersing our activities for administrative reasons, or regarding permits. They see the art form or action by artists as a disturbance,' he said. Bandung City Police chief Sr. Comr. Angesta Romano Yoyol said police were forced to stop the show as the performers had not notified them beforehand. Responding to the incident, Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil said the police had only carried out their duties and had not done anything wrong. 'Did they [the performers] follow the procedure or not? I wish for a freedom that is responsible,' said Ridwan. Ridwan had earlier expressed concern about the incident via his Twitter account. 'I regret this situation and will inquire into it. If there are differences, let us settle them through dialogue,' the post read. According to the 1995 National Police Chief field manual on permission for public activity, a noise disturbance permit from the police should be acquired by those who organized activities attended by at least 300 people. Previously, the Mainteater Group and the Bandung Institut Francais Indonesia had to cancel a Tan Malaka monologue show due to pressure from organizations that claimed the event would disseminate communist teaching. The show was finally staged the following day under tight police guard. Bandung chapter AJI advocacy division coordinator Ari Syahril Ramadhan said the attitude of the police was contrary to the 1945 State Constitution and Law No. 39/1999 on human rights, especially articles pertaining to freedom of expression. 'The police bringing Wanggi to the police station was an act of terror and repression. None of the articles of the law that can be applied on Wanggi and artists involved in the 2016 Body Language Celebration,' said Ari. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 China's territorial claims over traditional fishing zones in a recent dispute with Indonesia in Natuna waters has no solid basis, an expert has said. China's actions are an attempt to unravel the negotiated bargain agreed upon within the international community as stipulated in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said Peter Dutton, a professor of strategic studies and director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College. "China's trying to undo the UNCLOS 1982", said Dutton, when speaking to journalists on Wednesday during a teleconference hosted by the US Embassy in Jakarta, adding that Indonesia was right to protest China's actions. The agreement, which stipulates the compromise in the form of exclusive economic zones, has set systematic rules on the exercise of authority over resources, he added. The South China Sea is a pull and tug of issues of power and law, on history and sovereignty, Dutton explained. Since China is a much more significant country among its claimants, it has enabled itself to assert power through island building and expanding of territories, the implications of which could alter strategic changes in the region while undermining international law and regional security, he further said. One of the best possible ways to address the issue is to develop a unified position from all the countries involved in the disputed region, presenting a message that is clear and consistent that every country will abide by international law, said Dutton. Such statement he added, would mean the recognition of the importance of peace and stability in the long term even with the compromise of political and economic interest in the short term. "A strive for a win-win solution needs a strong political will from all parties," said Dutton. Several Southeast Asian countries have overlapping claims in the area over large territories on the strategic strait. Indonesia, who is not a claimant in the South China Sea dispute, could lead the discussion of peace processes, Dutton added. "Indonesia, who has been implementing quiet diplomacy and behind the scenes leadership, should be more public. To make a clear public stance in its approach to a peaceful dispute resolution," Dutton said. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The city administration has not yet repaid 'potential state losses' worth around Rp 10 trillion (US$750 million) accumulated from the Supreme Audit Agency's (BPK) investigative audit reports from 2004 to 2014, City Secretary Saefullah said Tuesday. Saefullah said the potential state losses were caused by administrative glitches or claims for damages (TGR) resulting from negligence or illegal activities by officials. 'Therefore, starting from 2015, all findings in the form of potential state losses should be returned immediately by working units and agencies [to the Finance Ministry],' he said. Saefullah said the losses had brought down the city's result in the BPK's annual audit report. 'This is one of the reasons that we got a WDP,' he said, referring to the score of 'Reasonable with Exception', which is one level lower than the highest score, Reasonable without Exception (WTP). The secretary said that all related agencies should immediately prepare an action plan to incrementally pay for the loss. 'We have the information of the names of the officials and the year, these people will not be promoted,' he said. BPK recorded that the Jakarta administration had potentially caused state losses of Rp 1.54 trillion in 2013 and Rp 3.58 trillion 2014. In 2013, potential state losses came from various projects, including the manipulation of official relief letters (SKTM) for the Education Operational Aid (BOP) and the Transjakarta bus procurement project. Among other sources, potential state losses in 2014 came from the controversial and politicized Sumber Waras Hospital land procurement project in West Jakarta. BPK recorded that the state potentially lost around Rp 191 billion because of the difference in table value of property (NJOP) determined by the city administration and BPK. Saefullah said potential state losses caused by City Council members were even more complicated. 'It is related to allowances or honoraria in 2004 and 2005. I have asked the City Council secretary to resolve the problem. However, some of the related members have died or are no longer active members,' he said. Saefullah said that he would try to investigate all potential state losses in the 10-year period. 'If it is no longer possible to be traced back, I will ask BPK to scrap them,' he said. He said that he would ensure that all lists would be cleared annually, so the city would not have a bad record. City Inspectorate General Meri Erna Hani said that her institution recorded that the five biggest potential state losses, which totaled Rp 850.7 billion, for 2014 came from the transportation agency with Rp 274.3 billion, the education agency with Rp 227.6 billion, the health agency with Rp 194.5 billion, the asset and financial management body with Rp 106.5 billion and city-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya with Rp 47.8 billion. Meri said that the inspectorate had been asking for working units and agencies to give back the money but realization remained low. 'We will cooperate with the TGR tribunal,' she said referring to the group manned by top city officials to question officials suspected of causing state losses. Meri added that it was hard for the inspectorate to solve the problem as the BPK sometimes did not mention the name of the officials. 'They only mention the institution because their aim is to educate bureaucrats. If they mention names, it means it will be followed up as criminal cases,' she said. Meri said that she would ask all agencies and working units to make an action plan to return the funds. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The Jakarta administration will rehabilitate hundreds of damaged school buildings as part of its program aimed at providing Jakarta students with proper facilities in 2017. Jakarta Education Agency data show that of the 1,708 school buildings in the capital, only 885 were deemed in good condition. The agency's head, Sophan Adrianto, said that the administration had allocated Rp 1.2 trillion (US$89.6 million) this year to rehabilitate 156 school buildings that had sustained minor to severe damage. 'We are focusing on improving the quality of education, including education facilities. We plan to finish rehabilitating the 156 schools within a year,' said Sophan on Monday, adding that the agency was holding tenders for the projects. He added that the agency hoped the tenders would be complete sometime between April and May to enable the project to kick off in the near future. Sophan further said that aside from the 156 damaged schools, the administration would also rehabilitate six other schools that were initially planned to be restored last year. The project was halted after contractors assigned to carry out the restorations neglected their responsibilities. The six schools include SMP 125 state junior high school in West Jakarta, SMP 64 state junior high school in South Jakarta and an integrated school located in the Marunda low-cost rented apartments in North Jakarta. Learning from past experiences, the administration will only work with prominent and reliable contractors to carry out this year's rehabilitation projects, Sophan added. It will also hire consultants to supervise the project on the field. 'We have set a target that by the end of 2017, we will no longer find damaged school buildings in the city,' Sophan said. He added that the administration would continue to restore 627 other schools next year with a Rp 3 trillion budget. Of the 627 schools, the agency will be responsible for restoring 133 buildings that require total renovation. The remaining others will be rehabilitated by its subagencies, which are responsible for restoring schools with moderate to severe damage. 'Meanwhile, schools with minor damage will be restored by school authorities,' Sophan added. Last week, the foundation of a library at SMK 61 state vocational high school on Tidung Island, Thousand Islands, sank and injured one teacher. In the same week, authorities of SD Utan Kayu 08 Pagi state elementary school in East Jakarta evacuated 219 students and moved classroom activities to the neighboring SD Utan Kayu 07 Pagi state elementary school, which has suffered from collapsing and leaking roofs. Principal Rita Butar said renovations had been requested since 2014, when a roof collapsed. The renovation proposal has not been followed up, although renovations were promised. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Andi Hajramuni and Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Kendari/Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Four people died and eight others were injured when a grenade used in police-sponsored training for security guards accidentally exploded on the campus of Halu Oleo State University in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Tuesday. Kendari Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ilham Saparona said that the grenade went off during a training session during which an instructor, identified as local policeman Brig. Haidir, gave an explanation regarding different types of explosives. 'Brig. Haidir gave details of different types of explosives by showing the grenade to the participants, but he accidentally pulled the pin,' Ilham told reporters, adding that Haidir was a member of the police Mobile Brigade (Brimob). Ilham said that police were investigating the incident to find any indication of foul play. 'We're still investigating the incident to find the cause because as you know the instructor who held the grenade died on the spot,' he said. Three other people who died in the accident were security guards of the university identified as Kaharuddin, Jupriady and Supriadi. The bodies of the four victims were taken to the Kendari Bhayangkara Police Hospital for autopsies. Eight injured victims, including another member of the Brimob, Adj. First, Insp. Safrudin, received intensive treatment at two local hospitals. The explosion also caused significant damage to the campus workshop building where the training was taking place. In Jakarta, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto said that an investigation was ongoing to find out if the officer involved in the incident violated safety precautions, or if he was in fact given a faulty explosive device. 'When the safety pin is released, the explosion happened. Whether [it was a violation of procedure or a case of a faulty detonator] I can't confirm now as the investigation is still ongoing,' Agus told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Separately, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said that officers involved in the training might have violated safety procedures. 'I don't know exactly what happened to make the grenade explode. There must have been something wrong,' Badrodin told reporters at the State Palace on Tuesday. Badrodin said that the police's internal affairs division was investigating the incident. He said that officers responsible for the training would also have to answer for the incident. Analysts and experts have criticized the National Police for their failure to improve the professionalism of their personnel. In recent years, many personnel were involved in accidental shootings, which were sometimes fatal. In 2014, Adj. Sr. Comr. Pamudji was fatally shot by his subordinate Brig. Susanto following an altercation. Susanto tried to forcibly take back his pistol, which had been seized by Pamudji, after he was told to put on his uniform and check whether an electrical generator was running. Pamudji accidentally pulled the trigger and killed Susanto. _________________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marcel Thee (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Cupcake ReSolution is making a difference in a big way even if it still has a long road ahead. Cupcake ReSolution ' a social impact initiative that aims to help less-fortunate children rightfully claim their birth certificates, a process that is far more challenging than it should be ' was co-founded by Fatya Azlika and Patrice Madurai in 2015, just two years after the latter started the initiative in South Africa to help identity-less children there. The two initially met in Den Haag, the Netherlands in 2012, when Fatya was chairing the Economic and Social Council at the European International Model UN, in which Madurai was a delegate. It only made sense for an Indonesia-focused version of the initiative. 'Demographically speaking, Indonesia and Africa share the same characteristics and problems regarding children with no identities,' explains Fatya, 'Both are experiencing obstacles to creating proper and equal access for health and education for all children. Feeling truly inspired and challenged, the idea came to me to establish Cupcake ReSolution in Indonesia.' The question is of course what exactly does cupcakes have to do with all of this? For the founders, it has to do with giving the children a tangible sign of hope. Fatya considers hope and dreams as something taught to us from an early age, ever since we blew out birthday candles as children while wishing for things. However, for these children, she said wishes, hopes and dreams are something so distant and impossible to reach. Consequently, these kids will never be aware of their rights and how special they are. 'With a cupcake, we are trying to spread a sense of hope, love and happiness by providing an opportunity for children to blow out their very own candle, eat their very own cupcake and start dreaming and wishing for a brighter future,' Fatya says. 'For the kids, it will begin a mindset shift to start believing in dreams and wishes. For us, it is a gesture of love and care and sound out a movement to raise awareness.' To set things up, Fatya and Madurai began brainstorming, conducting research, as well as onsite surveys and interviews. They formed a community called Katalisator Kesetaraan or Gender Catalyst (KATASETA) and proposed Cupcake ReSolution as the first project they would tackle. 'Our main goal is simple, to bring equality ' in terms of basic rights for education and health ' for all children in Indonesia so that they will have a better future,' Fatya says. The first ever Cupcake ReSolution was conducted in Jakarta on Nov. 29 last year with 50 houses visited and 300 cupcakes successfully distributed. It's not just about distributing cupcakes ' Cupcake ReSolution's main job is to find a way through the country's notoriously ineffective bureaucracy. Thanks to Cupcake ReSolution, other several improvements have been implemented. For one, the issuance of birth certificates is now free of charge. However, Fatya said there are apparently still fraudulent practices occurring as identified by the village neighborhood (RT) level, from which people still need their authority to issue supporting letters for registration. As the complications of registration stays the same, she said, birth certificates require seven government-issued documents. In some circumstances, lack of awareness coupled by stigmatization are hampering the process of birth certificate registration. '[The] best approach is to streamline and to digitize the process of birth certificate registration. With this approach, we believe that the birth certificate registration process can [improve its efficiency] significantly,' Fatya says. For Fatya and Madurai, giving the children access to their birth certificate will lead them away from the many challenges they would face otherwise. 'The issues are limitless for the kids and also for Indonesia. First, millions of births are not registered in Indonesia so these children don't have legal identities. This situation condemns them to anonymity, and often being marginalized, because simple activities ' from opening a bank account, claiming basic health services or attending good schools ' often requires a legal identity,' explains Fatya. Simply put, children with birth certificates will have better access to basic health services and education. Consequently, better educational outcomes would result. However, she says, Indonesia still lacks accurate data to effectively plan, budget and deliver health and education services to children ' with between 50 and 75 percent of Indonesian children not having birth certificates. 'Finally, most importantly, these 'invisible children' will often lose hope and lose sight for a better future, which will trap them forever in the vicious cycle of poverty. Therefore, we need to fully be in the spirit of attaining the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] in which we strongly need to eradicate poverty.' ' Photos courtesy of Cupcake ReSolution Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Madjedi Hasan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The long debate on development options for the Masela block in the Arafura Sea has finally ended with President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's recent decision to build the LNG plant onshore. This is a political decision based on the consideration of boosting regional economic development. In fact, the decision is at odds with the President's own vision of Indonesia as a global maritime axis. The argument that the onshore plant will boost the regional economy is certainly debatable, as no comprehensive review has been made. All benefits and investment costs for the onshore development have been grossly assumed as no surveys or detailed studies have been made to substantiate the assumptions. The debate on the cost calculation for the gas processing and transportation facilities could actually be resolved by looking at a report form Poten & Partners, a consultancy firm appointed by the government to carry out a comprehensive review, and which reported that an offshore installation would cost less than onshore. The President's decision annuls Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force's (SKKMigas) plan of development (POD) approval, given in September last year. Now, operator Inpex has to review the project plan and prepare a new POD. The process will be long; one cause for technical delay will be finding a suitable site for the LNG processing facility. In addition to technical issues, the issues will involve socioeconomic and cultural issues, as well as religious backgrounds. A survey will require considerable time to determine the pipeline route, given an ocean trench between the field and processing facility. Equally important, the process for onshore development will not be free from rent seekers. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said has said that he will adhere to the President's decision and ask SKKMigas discuss with Inpex to review and change the POD. The negotiation process may take considerable time, as it may repeat the feasibility study, POD and environmental impact analysis. With a change to a pipeline scheme or onshore LNG facilities, the production from the Masela block (initially targeted for 2024) will be delayed for at least two to four years. Also, an important and essential factor affect the execution of the plan is securing financing for the project. The President's decision will certainly create negative sentiment for Indonesia's investment activity in the near future. The decision to choose an onshore LNG plant shows that the government is not consistent in soliciting business in oil exploration and production. Furthermore, given the high capital requirement, it is anticipated that the Masela development project will be funded using a project finance scheme, i.e. a method of funding in which the lender looks primarily to the revenues generated by the project, both as the source of repayment and as security for the exposure. In Indonesia, the use of project financing schemes began in the mid-1970s for the construction of LNG in Arun and Bontang, and the scheme grew rapidly in power plant construction in the 1990s, when the government opened a power generation market for private business. As it will involve foreign creditors, this would be easily secured if the product that will be the source of loan repayment is exported under a long-term sales contract at the market price, rather than sold domestically at subsidized price. Another pertinent matter to be considered is the potential litigation by the contractor in the international arbitration, in case government and contractors fail to agree on the execution of the President's decision. This should not be a surprise, given the myriad contractual relationships and the immense sums spent to find the resource. The contractor usually believes that it should have a determining vote in deciding how the field is developed in order to recover its exploration expenditure plus some profits. _____________________________ Now, operator Inpex has to review the project plan and prepare a new POD. Indonesia has some experience in international arbitration dealing with geothermal and oil and gas contracts. In the geothermal sphere, two phenomenal cases were centered on claims arising from projects cancellation as a result of the Asian financial crisis. To cope with the crisis, at the suggestion of IMF the government issued a series of presidential decrees declaring that a number of international infrastructure projects including geothermal would be 'reviewed' or 'postponed'. The Arbitration Tribunal found PLN and Pertamina had breached their contracts and the duty of good faith, and awarded the project companies a total of US$572 million and $261.1 million, respectively, in damages in the cases of CALENERGY and KBC. In the oil case, the dispute dealt with Pertamina's continued refusal to grant commercial status to several oil fields in Lirik under the Enhanced Oil Recovery contract. In the award, the Arbitration Tribunal decided that Pertamina should have acted in good faith in granting the commercial status of a field to be developed. From the three cases, one can see that the dispute is one of the classical issues in international law relating to sovereignty over natural resources versus contractual rights under an investment contract. In all cases, the Arbitration Tribunals have applied rigidly the principle of pacta sunt servanda, a Latin term which means 'agreements must be kept'. In the case of geothermal disputes, the very real economic pain Indonesia was going through as a result of the financial crisis of 1997-1998 has not been taken into consideration in the proceedings. This would mean that economic downturns are simply a contractual risk that parties should take into account when negotiating their long-term contracts. The energy business, like petroleum and geothermal, invests in large, complex, capital-intensive projects that have long life-spans. Circumstances, the economy, governments and parties invariably change in these long-term projects, which can often lead to disputes. Therefore, both parties need to continually manage that risk from the inception of the deal to the point where a dispute arises and is eventually resolved. Under such circumstances, the government should minimize the involvement of individuals or groups with vested interests in making the decision for the Masela block. __________________________________ The writer has a master's degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate in law from Padjadjaran University in Bandung. He has over 50 years' experience in oil and gas and geothermal projects in Indonesia and overseas. Since 2006, he has also served as an arbitrator. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Wed, March 30, 2016 Santa Clara, a Catholic church in North Bekasi, east of Jakarta, finally gained a building permit last year, after a process that had taken 18 years. Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi said all requirements had been met; the local chapter of the Inter-Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) had also issued a recommendation for the church as the congregation had gathered the minimum approval of 60 locals and 90 future users of the house of worship. However, for the recent Palm Sunday Mass, devotees were still forced to pray in the street, their shophouse too small for the hundreds of attendants. Not only is their church not yet finished; the administration had asked them to suspend construction following protests by hard-line Muslims who demand the permit be revoked. The hard-liners make accusations of, among other things, efforts at Christianization ' an oft-trumpeted fears following the traumatic undermining of Islamist influence under former strongman Soeharto ' and manipulation of the required signatures. Witnessing Santa Clara's fate, other local congregations who have yet to own a church are pessimistic about obtaining permits. Meanwhile, many Muslims are deeply embarrassed by such protests and intimidation. Plenty of devotees are much more comfortable with the Muslims who joined traditional Easter observations, as in Central Java, in the spirit of the national slogan of 'unity in diversity'. Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, who supports the mayor's decision to issue the permit for Santa Clara, has urged dialogue among disputing parties, suggesting legal measures if needed. But regarding the GKI Yasmin church in Bogor, also in West Java, the mayor has not executed the Supreme Court ruling mandating the church's construction. Therefore, though he was just doing his job, Mayor Rahmat is among very few leaders willing to stand up to protesters in the name of religion. In Singkil in Aceh, 13 churches are under pressure to close down by dominant Muslims. In this latest addition to the long list of appalling treatment of minorities, so far the President's ministers are consistent with Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's drive to employ 'the state's presence' to end discrimination and human rights violations. Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo also supports the Bekasi mayor's decision ' and more importantly, late last year Tjahjo suggested reducing or even scrapping the requisite to collect signatures for approval. The state should be facilitating the right to worship, Tjahjo said. Campaigners for Indonesia's pluralism reiterate that such hardships are rare, and Muslims also report difficulties in building mosques in areas where they are not the majority. But naturally the dominant population does not experience the bulk of such hardship. If the Santa Clara case goes up to the Supreme Court, the ultimate test will be of President Jokowi, of whether he has greater commitment to upholdingthe constitutional right to freedom of worship than his predecessor. Citing the 2006 ministerial decree on houses of worship, where local leaders have the highest authority, then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono refused to put his foot down. President Jokowi must encourage the necessary steps to end discrimination and suffering among several minorities ' and revoke the 2006 decree altogether. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The government will announce a fuel subsidy cut after a limited Cabinet meeting at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, said Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Minister Sudirman. "The fuel subsidies will be cut. There's no hurdle at all right now. We don't want to make difficulties for the public because fuel prices are highly correlated to the prices of goods," Sudirman told thejakartapost.com on the sidelines of a Centre for Strategic and International Study (CSIS) seminar on Optimizing Indonesia's Energy Resources Using Digital Technology. He said that the exact size of the cut will be decided at the meeting. Analysts suggest a cut of Rp 200 to Rp 500 per liter. Currently in Java, Madura, and Bali, the price of Premium (subsidized gasoline) stands at Rp 7,050 (52 US cents) per liter, while the price outside the area is Rp 6,950. Solar (subsidized diesel) costs Rp 5,669 per liter and kerosene Rp 2,500. He said the subsidy cut will not affect the prices of the subsidized fuels because government will adjust the cut to the selling price. "Our prediction is that in this year and even until 2017 there will be no significant rise in global oil prices, so we can still manage it," he said. Sudirman was also speaking about the governments intention to further cut subsidies on diesel so that the government had much more money to develop infrastructure. Right now the diesel subsidy is Rp 1,000 per liter. He said that the House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing natural resources had agreed with the plan. "We appreciate the Commission VII support to use the money for more productive sectors," He said. The minister said that the subsidy cut would help biofuel producers because currently the subsidized diesel price is too cheap compared to the vegetable oil. Ideally, diesel needs to be sold at about Rp 5,000 to Rp 6,000 to make biofuel production economical. The energy subsidy in 2016 costs Rp 85.4 trillion. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The government is confident the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the EU will upgrade their assessments of the country's aviation safety and open their airspaces after it has taken corrective action by recruiting a number of senior flight inspectors. A senior official with the Transportation Ministry said the ministry had recruited 72 new flight operations inspectors from various aircraft operators to help oversee aircraft in the country. It is one of the seven requirements in the FAA audit on International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA). 'They require the number of flight operations inspectors to be at least 100 people. We previously had 38 flight inspectors and with this we have fulfilled their requirement,' the ministry's airworthiness and aircraft operation director Muhammad Alwi said on Tuesday. The ministry also added 11 new aircraft dispatch inspectors and 19 new cabin safety inspectors to strengthen aviation oversight. The FAA audit consisted of 283 items concerning the country's safety parameters. The government claims to have met 97.5 percent of the requirements. The government has been working to fulfill the remaining seven items. Aside from the aviation oversight issue, other problems include a lack of recurrent training for flight operations inspectors and technical personnel not completing required courses. The ministry said it was in the process of resolving both problems. The FAA representatives visited Indonesia to do the audit and to verify the implementation of the parameters from Feb. 29 to March 4. The seven items and the corrective actions will be verified in May by the FAA team. They are slated to announce the results in that same month. 'They will also give written notes on April 4 through the US Embassy in Indonesia,' Alwi added. The FAA downgraded Indonesia's aviation safety to Category 2 in 2007 because of repeated accidents that indicated that the country lacked the regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards. The ministry attempted to upgrade the country's status from Category 2 to Category 1 this year. The ministry is also bracing for an EU verification audit in April. The ministry met with the European Commission, the regulatory arm of the EU, in October and November last year in Brussels, Belgium, to request the removal of Indonesia from the EU Air Safety List. The EU has banned airlines from Indonesia from entering Europe since 2007, but 10 airlines, including Garuda Indonesia and Indonesia AirAsia, were removed from the ban this year. 'We also proposed three airlines, Citilink, Batik and Lion Air, be removed from the EU ban,' he said. The ministry also aimed to jack up the Universal Safety Oversight Audity Program (USOAP) score by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which currently stood at 45.33 percent of 1,060 protocol items to 70 percent this year, surpassing the passing grade of 65 percent. Valentyn Rybin, the new defense lawyer for Russian citizen Alexander Alexandrov, who is being tried in Ukraine, has been shocked by a video made public by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office and showing the slain lawyer Yuriy Hrabovsky; Rybin says also that no pressure has been put on him. "There is no, and I believe won't be, any pressure on me, because my actions cannot cause anyone's anger or the desire to reckon with me somehow. I am open and ready to work," he said. "In fact, it's hard for me to comment on this video, because it's horrible. The video is horrible also in what Yura [Hrabovsky] is saying in it, and I am sure he was not saying this voluntarily," Rybin said in commenting on the video. Rybin said he was continuing to examine Alexandrov's case. In commemoration of his colleague's death, he vowed to perform his duties in good faith. It was reported earlier that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies had been unaware of Hrabovsky's whereabouts, starting on March 5. Anatoliy Matios, a deputy prosecutor general and the main military prosecutor, said on March 20, that a person suspected of organizing Hrabovsky's disappearance had been detained and arrested. Reports on Hrabovsky's death emerged on the morning of March 25. Matios said the same day that Hrabovsky had been shot and killed, and that another person suspected of involvement in the lawyer's murder had been detained, and showed the scene of the murder and the place where the lawyer's body had been buried. Matios released a video on March 29, in which Hrabovsky says to a person off-screen, "I, the lawyer Yuriy Leonidovych Hrabovsky, promise and commit myself to stop providing legal assistance to the defendant Alexander Anatolyevich Alexandrov in the criminal proceedings handled by the Holosiyivsky District Court of the city of Kyiv." Asked by the person off-screen why he made this decision, Hrabovsky replies, "I consider it impossible to defend him in this case." Asked "Why impossible? Have you realized your mistake?" Hrabovsky replies, "Yes, I've realized my mistake." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Haeril Halim, Ina Parlina and Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The government said on Tuesday that it had yet to decide on what actions to take to resolve historic human rights abuses as several mechanisms were still being considered. Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki said that the government was still discussing what would be the best format for the solutions, whether it will take judicial or non-judicial measures. He said that the discussion was also seeking to find out whether the government needed to set up a special body tasked to solve historic human rights abuse cases, or if they would be solved by existing law enforcement institutions. One of the challenges the government is facing in solving the cases was that some of the perpetrators had already died, making it hard for a judicial body to collect evidence to confirm their offenses, Teten added. 'Probably a better format for the solution is reconciliation, but if we talk about reconciliation there will be demands to bring out the truth about the cases before agreeing on a reconciliation. Whether we need an ad hoc team to handle the reconciliation is still being discussed, but the point is there must be a solution to the matter,' Teten said. He said that it would take a while for the government to solve the abuse cases because President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's administration was currently focused on repairing the economy. 'I think all will agree that hungry stomachs can lead to turmoil; more human rights problems will emerge. I believe the President is indeed heavy on the economy because the President perceives if the economy gets better and people's welfare gets better, we can handle such problems even better,' he said. The slow progress at the State Palace, as well as in the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and other relevant ministries has made activists, victims and families come to the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres) to urge Jokowi to form an independent commission directly under him to reveal the truth of the historic abuses and help the victims and families. Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace chairman Hendardi said that he hoped that the board could channel the aspirations directly to the President to have the commission formed faster. 'We demand the President form a presidential task force, consisting of intellectuals and not government people, including Komnas HAM [state commission for human rights], nor the military, intelligence or the police, all of which were part of the problems themselves,' he told reporters after meeting with Wantimpres. They demand the team and government meet and question witnesses, many of whom are still alive. 'We reject the government's reason for dragging out the progress saying there is not enough evidence because many of them are still alive,' Hendardi said. Setara, victims and families cited former president BJ Habibie, former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto and Maj. Gen. (ret) Kivlan Zein, a former military officer who admits to knowing the locations of the persons who went missing during the 1997/1998 tragedies, as examples of witnesses. The team will then conclude whether the solution should go through a judicial or non-judicial process; either way will have to include revelations of the truth and the perpetrators behind the incidents. Setara and others are worried that the government will only apologize as a way to solve everything without revealing the truth as the government keeps saying its lacks evidence. The dossiers of seven major cases were completed by the state commission of human rights (Komnas HAM) in 2002, but the AGO always returns them because of a lack of evidence. The cases include the 1989 Talangsari incident in Central Lampung, the 2001 and 2003 Wamena and Wasior incidents in Papua, various kidnappings and unresolved shootings in the 1980s, the 1965 communist purge and the 1998 May riots. _______________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ina Parlina, Tama Salim, Anggi M. Lubis and Nani Afrida (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Papua Wed, March 30, 2016 The government is seeking the immediate release of 10 Indonesian sailors believed to be held hostage by hard-line militant group Abu Sayyaf, as Jakarta coordinates with Manila to decide whether the situation should be handled by Philippine or Indonesian authorities. According to several officials, the Foreign Ministry was alerted to the abduction of Indonesian sailors from two boats in waters near the Philippines on Monday. Preliminary information suggests that two Indonesian-flagged vessels, Brahma 12 and Anand 12, were manned by a total of 10 crewmen and carried a combined 7,000 tons of coal. The boats are known to have departed for Batangas in South Philippines from the Puting river in South Kalimantan. Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that regardless of the motive, whether the alleged ransom was aimed at funding Abu Sayyaf or for economic reasons, 'what is clear is that, in this case, the government should not be afraid of robbers'. Abu Sayyaf is one of the most hard-line militant groups in the Muslim south of the largely Catholic Philippines. Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said she was in touch with a number of parties on both sides, including the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, to secure the release of the hostages. 'Our immediate priority is the safety of all 10 Indonesians taken hostage. The company [that owns the vessels] has informed the families of the 10 crewmen,' Retno said in a statement. She said it was uncertain when the vessels were hijacked but noted that the shipowners had been informed on Saturday after receiving a call by someone claiming to be a member of a group led by Abu Sayyaf. National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti confirmed that Jakarta and Manila were coordinating to decide which side would handle the hostage release and to ascertain whether the captors were indeed linked to Abu Sayyaf. Philippine military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla earlier said the military had received initial information on the missing crewmen from a foreign vessel in the Zambasulta area, adding, however, that authorities were still in the process of validating that information. Retno said the tugboat Brahma 12 had already been released and reclaimed by Philippine authorities, whereas the whereabouts of the other vessel and all 10 crewmen remained unknown. The abductors had called the shipowners twice to demand a ransom, she added, without disclosing the amount. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on the sidelines of his visit to Papua that the abductors' demand was reportedly higher than the value of coal carried on the vessels. According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the benchmark price for coal for February 2016 was US$50.92 per ton and is estimated to rise to $51 per ton this month. In other words, the ransom sought by Abu Sayyaf would likely surpass $357,000. Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said the Indonesian Navy was ready near the Ambalat strait to help Philippine authorities in the rescue operation should they ask for assistance. Sam Barahama, a brother of skipper Peter Tonsen Barahama, said the company owning the boat, Patria Maritime Lines, was still negotiating the release of the crew from the captors, who had asked for a ransom of 50 million pesos (US$1.08 million) and set a five-day deadline for payment, beginning on March 26. ' Lita Aruperes contributed to this story from Manado Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office will return the dossier on the murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin to the Jakarta Police as it regards the evidence as insufficient to charge the sole suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso. Prosecutor's office spokesman Waluyo said on Tuesday that one of the deficiencies in the case dossier was witness testimony as this was fundamental to bring a case to the court. 'We need more witness testimony that will be solid enough as evidence. It is still incomplete,' Waluyo said as quoted by kompas.com, adding that they would return the dossier to the investigators within 14 days from it being submitted on March 22. '[We will return it] around April 3 or 4,' he said. Separately, Jessica's lawyer Hidayat Bostam said the police did not have enough evidence to bring his client to trial as a murder suspect. A premeditated murder case, he said, needed strong evidence as it carried such a heavy sentence. Jessica has been charged under Article 340 of the Criminal Code, which carries the death penalty. Mirna died on Jan. 6 after drinking an iced coffee while at a restaurant in Jakarta with Jessica and another friend. Police have named Jessica as the sole suspect in the murder case, alleging she laced the victim's coffee with cyanide. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The Jakarta administration is urging residents to acquire health certificates for their birds as part of efforts to eradicate avian flu in the capital. Jakarta Fisheries, Agriculture and Food Security Agency head Darjamuni said on Monday that the administration continued to carry out the mass culling of poultry, as well as shutting down backyard poultry farms and slaughterhouses. The measures, he added, were necessary to prevent the spread of avian flu, also known as the H5N1 virus. Earlier this month dozens of birds were culled in Cilandak, South Jakarta. However, Darjamuni said, the administration would not exterminate pet birds. 'Although we do not take action against pet birds, we urge residents to examine their birds and acquire health certificates to ensure no birds have been infected by the avian flu virus,' he said. 'Residents can get the certificates from our agency. They are free.' Darjamuni added that the administration would not impose any penalty on those who did not have health certificates for their birds. Instead, it would help them to acquire the certificates. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The Hanura Party is requiring all of its members to vote for incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama in the 2017 gubernatorial election or face losing their membership, particularly for those who have a position within the party. "Whether the members like it or not, they should comply with what has been decided by the party. We work based on one command, especially because our top leader is [ex] military personnel," Hanura deputy chairman Miryam Haryani told thejakartapost.com on Wednesday. She was referring to Hanura chairman Gen. (ret.) Wiranto. Hanura has officially thrown its support behind Ahok, who will seek reelection as an independent candidate. However, a number of political leaders, including two board members of Hanura's Jakarta chapter, Rahmat HS and Bustami Rahawarin, have publicly stated that supporting Ahok was not in line with the aspirations of the party's constituents. Those members who were not willing to support Ahok could resign from their positions in the party or be fired, Miryam said. 'Hanura is ready to dismiss the dissenting members,' Miryam said. Chairman of the City Council's Hanura faction, Muhammad Sangaji, offered a different opinion. 'The party does not mind if there are some members who disagree with the party line, but they must remain silent,' he said. "The party may dismiss members who rebel against the party decision and make hateful statements," Sangaji said. Meanwhile, Ahok has not made any public statement regarding the internal conflict within Hanura. 'Just ask Hanura about it," Ahok said on Wednesday. (bbn)(+) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The ambitious plan of House of Representatives leaders to build a public library amid the country's economic slowdown has drawn strong objection from several factions. National Mandate Party (PAN) lawmaker Yandri Susanto said the House should postpone the construction of the library, which according to the plan would become the largest in Southeast Asia, beating Singapore's National Library. 'The money should be used for more important and more urgent things needed by the public,' Yandri said. However, if the construction did go ahead, the process should be transparent and accountable, he stressed. House Speaker Ade Komarudin previously said he would press ahead with the library project, the initiative for which came from noted intellectuals Nirwan Dewanto, Nirwan Ahmad Arsuka and Nong Darol Mahmada as well as Golkar Party politician Rizal Mallarangeng and Democratic Party executive Ulil Abshar Abdala. All of them are on the management board of the Freedom Institute Library under the Bakrie group, a diversified business group owned by Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie. The design is planned to imitate that of the US Library of Congress, and the project would consume Rp 570 billion from this year's budget for new legislative buildings. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Hendrawan Supratikno said the House should narrow down its priority list and eliminate projects that were not urgently needed. 'The purpose, indeed, is good, but the library is not a priority. We are facing difficult conditions regarding the state budget, but the House leaders seem to force the construction,' Hendrawan said. The Hanura Party faction also suggested postponing the library's construction, calling the plan a waste of money given the country's current financial conditions. According to Hanura's House faction secretary Dadang Rusdiana, the House should prioritize legislative improvements and restore public trust in the legislative body. 'The library may have a very good effect in the long run, but we should look at the other side. We can see that the government is trying to improve efficiency by imposing a moratorium on the construction of official buildings. We should show concern,' he said. However, Ade claimed the moratorium did not apply to new House buildings. Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the moratorium on government building construction issued in 2014 by Jokowi was still in effect. According to Pramono, construction was no longer allowed except when related to education or when aimed at meeting urgent national needs and after the government reviewed those plans and Jokowi consented. 'The moratorium is still in force today,' Pramono said, adding that there had been no instruction from the President on the House's plan yet. Pramono, a former PDI-P lawmaker, however stopped short of commenting on whether the House's plan was feasible. 'Whether the library is for the public or for lawmakers or their expert staff, it needs to be explained to the public,' he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Coal producer Indo Tambangraya Megah (ITM), controlled by Banpu Group Thailand, has transferred 99.9 percent of its profits to shareholders, instead of storing the profits in internal cash for expansion. The company allocated 1 percent of its profits for retained earnings, despite the US$63.1 million net income booked last year. The company allocated 99.9 percent of the profits for dividends, most of which went to Banpu as the owner of 65 percent shares. "We've already paid US$57.98 million or around Rp 752 per share as interim dividends on October 26, 2015. The remaining $5.07 million or Rp 68.6 billion will be distributed on April 21," Finance director Yulius Kurniawan Gozali told thejakartapost.com in Jakarta on Monday. Leaving only $50,000 of profit for retained earnings, the company is not preparing for massive expansion. The decision is in line with the Banpu situation, which requires cash to pay the group's debts and investment. According to its 2015 financial statements, Banpu Plc withdrew $265.8 million in dividends from its subsidiaries, a 152 percent increase from 2014 dividends of $105.13 million. The parent company also received $237.1 million from investment disposal in its subsidiaries' power plants and mining sites. To raise more funds, Banpu plans to issue 2.58 billion new shares, eyeing $363.83 million in cash to repay debts and interest. It requires huge investment for its solar power plant projects in Japan, China and Thailand. As reported by Bangkok Post, the 1,320 Megawatt (MW) project in China will be commercially run at the end of 2016. In Indonesia, the company is set to close its Tandung Mayang site, which contributed 8 percent of 28.5 million tons of its total coal production in Indonesia last year. However, there are no plans to acquire a new site, as the $38.4 million capital expenditure (capex) in 2016 will be used for equipment. "If we need to, we will take out a bank loan, or just grab it from our internal cash," said Yulius. ITM has a cash balance of $268 million. According to Yulius, the acquisition will only use around 10 to 20 percent of the cash balance. ITM operates five sites, namely Trubaindo, which has 7.3 million tons of coal reserve, Bharinto 2.8 million tons, Jorong 1.3 million tons, Indominco 13.3 million tons, and Embalut 1.2 million tons. "This year we are targeting 26.9 million tons of coal production, compared to 28.5 million tons last year," Yulius said, adding that the drop in production was due to a decrease in ITM's average selling price to $56.40 per ton. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong, Tama Salim and Nani Afrida (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Papua Wed, March 30, 2016 The March 20 incident between Indonesian maritime patrol ships and Chinese coast guard vessels raises a serious question over Indonesia's dispute-settlement capacity on issues surrounding maritime borders and resources, an Australian expert said. Given that it appears the Indonesian government has opted to resolve the incident through diplomatic channels it must draw a clear line with China, says Christopher Roberts, an associate professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Roberts said Indonesia should use some private signaling to insist on what is acceptable. 'Perhaps the current [diplomatic] approach is good but there needs to be some clear signaling behind the scenes that there are some limits,' he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a discussion at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Tuesday. The latest maritime spat between Indonesia and China revolves around an incident involving vessels deployed by the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and the Navy, and Chinese coast guard vessels in the waters off the Natuna Islands. Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti called China arrogant and accused its coast guard of obstructing law enforcement after the incident, in which the Chinese coast guard intercepted Indonesian patrol boats towing the 2,000 gross-ton Kway Fey 10078, a Chinese fishing boat caught operating illegally near the Natuna Islands. Indonesia's naval base in Natuna said the Chinese vessel was found operating within an 83,515-square kilometer area at the intersection of Indonesia's EEZ, its continental shelf boundary and China's so-called nine-dash line, which purports to delineate Chinese territory. 'This is not the first event involving Chinese fishing vessels. There have now been at least two events leading to some serious concerns in the past, with China jamming Indonesian radio equipment,' Roberts said. He said he was informed by the Foreign Ministry that Indonesia had sent diplomatic notes expressing concern regarding the nine-dash line and whether it could overlap with Indonesia's EEZ and continental shelf areas in past years. 'Initially there was no response. Then they sent a diplomat out to Beijing who was verbally informed that China's interests do not conflict with Indonesia's interests,' he said. Roberts believed that such incidents might recur given what China had been doing in the region. He was of the opinion that the Indonesian government should immediately make its message known at the highest level that if such incidents occurred in the future, Indonesia would insist publicly on clarification of the nine-dash line and a written guarantee that China's interests did not conflict with Indonesia's own territorial claims, which conform to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The assistant to the coordinating maritime affairs minister on maritime sovereignty, Arif Havas Oegroseno, said that Roberts was not in a position to make the suggestion considering Australia's weak maritime stance on China. 'Is Australia being firm with China? What about the Darwin port that is leased to China for 99 years? Is that a tough measure?' he told the Post. 'Australia must explain the geostrategic implication of letting China operate its strategic port for 99 years.' Indonesia and its neighbors are increasingly wary of China's presence in the South China Sea, as disputing claims affect islands, features and fishing areas in the waters around China's self-declared nine-dash line. Indonesia has not formally declared itself among the claimants on disputed areas with China, while President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo is continuing his predecessors' efforts to woo Chinese investment. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said that the government still needed to maintain good relations with China. 'We need to retain the balance,' he told reporters in Papua. Luhut said that adding firepower and the deployment of more personnel to the Natuna area would not be made immediately, but noted that the Indonesian Military (TNI) had long planned to reinforce the region. 'The TNI wants to develop Natuna into a stronger military base, in line with the economic growth of the country, and this has been in the works for a long time,' he explained. _______________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Pelalawan Wed, March 30, 2016 Farmers from the Independent Farmers Association are participating in a three-day workshop, organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Agriculture Ministry and Asian Agri palm oil group, aimed at helping them improve production. Riau Agriculture Agency development division head Muhadi, said the workshop, which began Tuesday, would feature sessions on legality and plantation management, environmental management and farmer organizations. 'The certification is designed to help plantation workers and owners improve the quality of their produce,' he said, adding that those who attended the workshop would receive guidance in implementing what they had learned during the sessions. 'There will also be an audit, and if they are successful, they will be the first independent farmers in Indonesia to receive certification,' he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Klaten, Central Java Wed, March 30, 2016 The local residents of Pogung Village in Klaten, Centra Java, have refused to allow a Muslim organization to open the tomb of Siyono, an alleged terrorist who died suspiciously under police custody. The residents claim that they do not wish for an autopsy to be conducted. The residents of Pogung Village in the sub-district of Cawas in Klaten claim that Siyono's family previously provided a statement letter saying that they would not be requesting an autopsy. While the family are entitled to proceed with the autopsy plan, the procedure must be conducted outside the Pogung area, Pogung Village chief Djoko Widoyo said, emphasizing that, in such a case, locals would not allow Siyono's body to be returned for burial in the village. The villagers have threatened to expel Siyono's family from the village if they support the autopsy. "This is a collective decision based on a joint meeting between the village administration and local public figures with RT [neighborhood] and RW [community] representatives last night," Djoko said on Wednesday. The refusal is said to be based on a letter written by Siyono's family in which they are said to have requested protection from the village administration. The family said they had let go of Siyono and would not request an autopsy on the dead body. "Siyono's father asked local people to guard Siyono's tomb. So we refuse autopsy based on the mandate of Siyono's father," Djoko said. The letter was written by Siyono's parents and his brothers, natives of the village, Djoko said. However, Siyono's wife Suratmi went to the Yogyakarta branch of Muhammadiyah's central committee to ask for legal protection file and to file a report on the alleged abuse and the injustice her husband received at the hands of the police while he was under arrest. Subsequent inquiries lead the country's second largest Muslim organization to request an autopsy, a plan supported by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM). Djoko emphasized that Suratmi was not a Pogung native and had no right to make a decision with regard to the matter. In hopes of assisting with the request for autopsy, Muhammadiyah Youth Association head Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said on Tuesday that he would travel to Yogyakarta to discuss the matter with Klaten PP Muhammadiyah chairman Busyro and Komnas HAM member Maneger Nasution. Muhammadiyah had decided to uphold Siyono's rights, taken away by Densus 88 following his arrest in Klaten on March 8, Dahnil said on Tuesday. Siyono died without clear cause of death after four days under police custody. The National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti has ordered the National Police Internal Affairs Division to investigate the cause of death. The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) suspect that the police tortured Siyono while he was detained in custody as Siyono's body had been returned to his family covered in blood and bruises. (afr/rin) New chief prosecutor will be consulted about Sakvarelidze's reinstatement Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will talk with the new prosecutor general about the return of recently dismissed Deputy Prosecutor General and Odesa Region Prosecutor Davit Sakvarelidze and his team. Sakvarelidze made the announcement in an interview with the Novoye Vremia weekly. "The president has said he will talk with the new prosecutor general, and he will discuss our reinstatement," he said. As was reported earlier, Sakvarelidze was dismissed in the morning of March 29 in connection with disciplinary liability. His position was scrapped. Later on that day, the parliament voted to dismiss Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. Some 289 MPs voted in favor of the measure. . Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 In light of numerous warning letters sent to national television stations, which it says have fallen on deaf ears, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) has requested that the House of Representatives amend the Broadcasting Law to give the body authority to closely monitor TV programs. KPI commissioner Amiruddin said the KPI wanted the authority to oversee the content of all television programs, including the power to censor content before it was aired. 'House Commission I has given us the space to provide input to them regarding KPI's authority. What we have proposed has been received and is now being discussed,' Amiruddin said, adding that the House of Representatives was enthusiastic about strengthening the KPI. 'With the authority to supervise the content of programs, KPI will be able to monitor programs before they are aired to prevent any inappropriate content,' he said after a public discussion on television broadcasting on Tuesday. Under the current Broadcasting Law, the KPI does not have the authority to monitor television programs before they are aired. Asked about supervision for live TV programs, Amiruddin said the mechanism would be different from pre-recorded ones. 'For live programs, we will see their Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs), what the programs are going to talk about and their duration,' Amiruddin told The Jakarta Post. Asked about the KPI's proposal, Head of Corporate Secretary of RCTI, a private TV station, Tony Andrianto, said he would wait for the results of bill deliberations. 'If there is no opposition to the passage of the broadcasting bill in the future, we will comply with it. But, I believe there will be opposition from people working in [television] production that could prevent the bill from being passed into law,' Tony said. He added that the existing Broadcasting Code of Conduct and Broadcasting Program Standards provided sufficient guidelines for broadcasters. Executive Producer of ANTV, Hannibal Wijayanto, said KPI's warning letter had not been ignored by TV stations. 'We do quality control before we broadcast programs. KPI should just oversee what we have aired and then issue a warning letter [if the content is not appropriate]. That is frightening enough for us,' Hannibal said. He added that rather than censoring inappropriate programs before they were aired, the KPI should only impose sanctions on broadcasters after programs were broadcast. Metro TV chief editor Putra Nababan shared a similar opinion. 'We are responsible for our programs. We will not run anywhere if KPI wants to evaluate us,' said Putra, adding that the bill should not limit the creativity of TV stations. (wnd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Lawmakers are split on the suggested involvement of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in efforts to catch narcotics offenders, with some insisting that law enforcement was not part of the military's duties, while others appear to support the idea. Mahfudz Siddiq, who heads House of Representatives Commission I overseeing intelligence, defense and foreign affairs, said the military did not need to enter the civilian realm and should only focus on combating drug use in its own ranks. 'So far, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and National Police are enough to deal with drug cases,' the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician said on Tuesday. Commission I deputy chairman TB Hasanuddin of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the TNI had no legal basis for interfering with civilian matters and combating drug criminals, as its duty was only to defend the country. 'If they directly take action against civilians, it means they are violating the law. Combating drugs is part of the task of law enforcers, such as the police, not the military. If they want to act like a law enforcement institution, we need to deal first with the regulations,' Hasanuddin said. He went on to say that it was almost impossible to revise the military law because it would collide and contradict with other laws related to law enforcement. However, he added, the TNI were permitted to support the work of the police in certain situations, such as in conducting arrests. The idea to open the door for the military to join the war on drugs was brought up by BNN chief Budi Waseso on Monday. He said the government should enlist military force in eradicating drug criminals in response to the drug emergency. ________________________ 'The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and National Police are enough to deal with drug cases.' 'If the state declared a war against drug crime, it means we are in a state of war, in which the military also has the authority to engage,' Budi said as quoted by news agency Antara. According to him, TNI personnel could help detention officers guard convicts. He cited the TNI's good performance outside their military tasks, such as teaching in remote areas and helping the government accelerate the construction of road projects in Papua. Budi contended that drug cases posed a 'threat' to national security, as drug smugglers often traveled in and out of the country, so repressive action by the TNI would be acceptable. He said cooperation between the BNN and the TNI could take the form of BNN providing data on targets to the TNI, so that the latter could take action. It could be like the 'Petrus [mysterious shooters] killings', Budi said, referring to the execution-style killings committed between 1982 and 1985. 'Why do I think so? Because we don't need to humanize drug smugglers, as they don't humanize other people,' Budi said. Golkar Party lawmaker Adies Kadir agreed that the drug emergency had become a threat to the country, thus requiring extraordinary actions. 'Drug smugglers are more dangerous than terrorists, because they destroy and kill younger generations slowly, so it's no longer only a civilian problem,' Adies said. Another Golkar politician, Meutya Hafid, said the police could request help from the TNI if needed, so could the BNN, and it did not matter, as long as it did not disturb the TNI's main duty. 'Nothing's wrong with the BNN's idea. The BNN must know what and when it needs. Moreover, asking help from the military doesn't always relate to weaponry use. It can be exchanging information,' Meutya said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Publicly listed Merck, the local unit of a German-based pharmaceutical giant, expects double-digit growth in total sales this year after seeing a slump in sales in 2015. Merck last year saw net sales drop 18 percent to Rp 983 billion (US$73.7 million) from Rp 1.2 trillion in 2014. However, the company managed to book a 2.3 percent increase in net profits to Rp 179.6 billion last year from Rp 175.4 billion in 2014. Merck finance director Bambang Nurcahyo said that the sales decline was caused by a 2012 change in a Trade Ministry regulation that prohibited the company from selling imported chemical products in Indonesia. 'The trade minister decree hindered Merck from selling imported chemical products in Indonesia. Thus, we discontinued our chemical business,' Bambang said Tuesday. Although a sales slump was seen in the chemical business, Merck recorded double-digit growth in its healthcare business last year. The biopharma business, for example, rose by 14.5 percent, above the industry average of 8 to 9 percent. Meanwhile, the consumer health business soared by up to 16 percent in 2015. As part of efforts to achieve double-digit growth in net sales, Merck will launch two new products under the Sangobion and Neurobion brands, said Merck director Evie Yulin. The company will also strengthen its current strategy of maintaining partnerships with both private and government organizations, she said. 'This year, our objective is to grow [sales] above the market. The focus will be on strengthening our public-private partnership activities,' Evie said. Through the implementation of public-private partnerships, Merck will expand public awareness about health issues, encourage public acceptance and broaden market access for Merck's pharmaceutical products, which in the end will contribute to an increase in sales. Merck has been partnering with the Health Ministry by giving education, public seminars and talk shows to raise awareness about thyroid disease for healthcare practitioners and the public. Other than that, Merck has cooperated with the Jakarta Administration since last year to raise awareness of the importance of the early detection and prevention of diabetes. In the partnership, Merck provides free screening and education programs to community members across the Greater Jakarta area to encourage people to be aware of the disease. Merck is also currently expanding the production capacity of its factory in TB Simatupang, South Jakarta, to further boost future sales. The plant capacity improvement has been divided into four stages from 2015 until 2018. Last year, the company started the first stage and this will be followed by the second stage this year. ____________________________ 'This year, our objective is to grow [sales] above the market. The focus will be on strengthening our public-private partnership activities.' Merck, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, is a leading multinational company that manufactures popular pharmaceutical products such as Neurobion, Sangobion, Iliadin, Concor and Euthyrox. Currently, the Merck Group of Germany holds a 73.99 percent stake in Merck's Indonesian arm, which was established in October 1970. The local company went public in 1981 and was among the first companies to list their shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Shares in Merck traded at Rp 7,000 apiece on Tuesday, unchanged from the previous day. The stocks have risen 3.3 percent so far this year, in line with the broader benchmark Jakarta Composite Index's (JCI) 4.1 percent gain. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 More political party factions at the House of Representatives are expressing opposition to the House speaker's costly new library construction plan, saying such a project is unnecessary in the country's current economic situation. The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Golkar Party joined the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), NasDem and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) in rejecting the ambitious plan. House Speaker Ade Komarudin revealed last week a plan to build Southeast Asia's biggest library using funds from the state budget. The library plan, which would cost Rp 570 billion (US$42.69 million), could be postponed because of a state deficit of almost Rp 300 trillion, PDI-P faction deputy chairman Hendrawan Supratikno said. "Both of the government and the House must focus on the spending priorities. The ones that are highly prioritized should come first," he told journalists on on Tuesday. PAN faction secretary Yandri Susanto suggested that the money for the construction plan could be used instead for public facilities for the betterment of the people. Speaker Ade pushed for the planning for the library to start the immediately, arguing it would be beneficial to meet the needs of intellectuals. The design would imitate that of the US Library of Congress and the funds would be taken from this year's budget, Ade said. He insisted that it is of high importance for the House to build the biggest library in Southeast Asia that would accommodate up to 600,000 books to compete with the Singapore's National Library, which has 500,000 books. The Gerindra, NasDem and Hanura factions expressed their disagreement with the plan on Monday, when they said they believed the House would be able to work without a new library, especially in the current unfavorable economic conditions. (rin) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Law experts have called for a review of several provisions of the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), which regulates pre-prosecution, on Tuesday. Article 14 of the code authorizes prosecutors to make pre-prosecution moves when they notice irregularities in a case dossier processed by investigators. The former may give recommendations in a bid to fill loopholes in a dossier before it is handed over to a court. Article 138 obliges prosecutors to send back a dossier to investigators after giving recommendations. Noted law professor Andi Hamzah said prosecutors should be given the authority to be involved in an investigation from its start, rather than only giving recommendations. Association of Indonesian Advocates (Peradi) chairman Luhut Pangaribuan said the implementation of Article 138 regularly dragged out legal procedures in a criminal case. 'The provision provides no certainty to suspects because how long a case goes on chiefly depends on how quick the dossier is completed by the police based on prosecutors' recommendations,' Luhut said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Haruna Umar (The Jakarta Post) Abuja Wed, March 30, 2016 A Nigerian official says a girl suicide bomber who surrendered in Cameroon is not one of the 276 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from a school in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok nearly two years ago, but is from a nearby community. The official says Cameroonian authorities gave them the names of the girl and an older accomplice but are holding them for questioning about how the Islamic extremists operate. The official in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital, is waiting for the girls to be handed over. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press on the sensitive matter. The girl, who turned herself in on Friday with explosives strapped to her body, appeared to be heavily drugged and suffering injuries, Cameroonian officials said. She said she was from Chibok and appeared to be about 10 years old. In Nigeria, Chibok Parents Association chairman Yakubu Nkeki said he is waiting to go to Cameroon to see the child. Nkeki's niece was one of the youngest students abducted from a government boarding school in Chibok. She was 14 at the time of the mass kidnapping in the early hours of April 15, 2014. Dozens of the girls escaped on their own but 219 remain missing. Boko Haram continues to kidnap even as Nigerian troops have rescued thousands from captivity in recent months. None has been from the Chibok school. The failure of Nigerian officials and the military to rescue the girls promptly brought international condemnation and helped President Goodluck Jonathan lose in elections last year. The Chibok kidnapping propelled Boko Haram into notoriety but Human Rights Watch said little has been done about another mass kidnapping, calling it "the largest documented school abduction." Boko Haram kidnapped some 300 students aged 7 to 17 and 100 women from a school in northeastern Damasak town a year ago Monday, said the London-based body. "Three hundred children have been missing for a year, and yet there has been not a word from the Nigerian government," said researcher Mausi Segun. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agnes Anya and Dewanti A. Wardhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The planned revocation of Jakarta's three-in-one traffic policy is expected to worsen congestion in the capital if the Jakarta administration cannot come up with a backup plan. The administration is set to allow all motorists to pass restricted roads in Central Jakarta, such as Jl. Sudirman, Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, next week to assess the outcome of revoking the policy, under which a car must be carrying at least three passengers to use the roads. Responding to the plan, head of law enforcement at the Jakarta Police traffic unit Adj. Sr. Comr. Budiyanto said that the police were ready to support the administration's plan, although the two institutions had yet to discuss the policy in depth. Nonetheless, he suggested that the administration needed a backup regulation to anticipate an increased number of vehicles in the capital. 'The three-in-one policy was applied to reduce congestion as it can restrict the number of vehicles in the city. If the administration does not have a backup regulation, I think the city still needs the three-in-one policy,' Budiyanto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. He further said that if the administration deemed the policy a cause of child exploitation, it should enforce the law in accordance with Article 4 of Jakarta Regulation No. 8/2007 on Public Order, instead of revoking the policy. According to the article, it is illegal for people to offer themselves as passengers-for-hire, locally known as joki, or for motorists to pick them up. The city devised the plan after the South Jakarta police uncovered child exploitation practices among a group of joki. Last week, the police arrested four suspects, who allegedly forced dozens of children to work as beggars and street performers. Among the children was a 6-month-old baby, who was taken to a hospital for treatment after he was found to have been given high doses of a sedative. It is suspected that members of the group rented out children for Rp 200,000 (US$15) a day. Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama said the administration would revoke the policy as it was a likely cause of child exploitation. Ahok further said that the administration initially wanted to revoke the policy after it first implemented electronic road pricing (ERP) in 2006. However, there were roadblocks to realizing the plan as the administration was currently facing difficulties in determining the pricing regulations, he added. In the meantime, he said the administration would ensure that Transjakarta lanes were free of private vehicles to make travel on the public buses faster, which in turn would encourage more people to use Transjakarta services and leave their cars at home. The revocation plan has received a mixed reaction from the public. Rizki Kurniandi, 29, who drives a car with his wife to work every day, argued that although he tried to avoid traveling during rush hour when the three-in-one policy was in effect, he would still encounter traffic congestion, especially along Jl. Sudirman. 'The policy has been ineffective, so I support the city administration's plan to revoke it until there is a better way to tackle traffic congestion,' Rizki said. Atikah Fitriani, 23, said that the three-in-one policy has made main streets more orderly, and revoking it would only worsen congestion. 'If the issue here is about child exploitation, then the city administration should focus on eradicating that because there will still be child exploitation even if the three-in-one policy is revoked. It won't solve any problems and traffic congestion will get worse,' she said. Iin Linawati, a 38-year-old mother, said she wouldn't mind losing her job as a joki once the policy was annulled as long as the government could provide her with a decent job. 'I actually don't want to do this, but I have to earn money to take care of seven children,' said Iin, who earns up to Rp 200,000 a day as a joki. She said the amount was twice as much if she brought her daughter too. 'I am not exploiting my daughter, I brought her along with me because nobody in my house could take care of her,' Iin added. (fac) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Wed, March 30, 2016 Nutty, somewhat bitter with an overburnt aroma. That's the taste of Tayu green tea ' also known as Jebus tea or nampong cha in Chinese. The aroma filled the air when the tea was brewed by a visiting administrator of the Jakarta-based Tea Lovers Community in Tayu ' a hamlet in Ketap village where the tea is produced, in Jebus district in West Bangka regency. They were drawn there for three reasons. At an altitude of 15 to 20 meters above sea level, with slope percentages ranging from 3 to 8, Tayu is arguably home to the country's only lowland tea estates ' an outlier because most tea plants in the country are grown in the highlands. The estates are family or household-owned and operated smallholdings, which is also an outlier because the other tea estates in the country are normally owned and run by state plantation companies (PTPN), private corporations or private individuals. Third, head of West Bangka regency's Agriculture, Plantation and Animal Husbandry Service, Azmal Az, sees the smallholdings as a regency asset that merits the creation of a line item in its budget ' not only for development and promotion purposes but also for the obtainment of geographical indication (GI), a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. Which, again, is an outlier because the tea estates are, for the most part, situated on state-owned production forests which render them ' according to Minister of Forestry Decree No. 798/2012 that governs changes of designation and function of provincial forest areas ' ineligible for assistance unless they are relocated to areas designated for other uses. So, for now, the local plantation authorities are focusing on marketing Tayu tea which they regard as an icon of both Tayu and Jebus. They sought advice and assisance from the visiting guests as one of them is the Head of the Promotion Division of the Indonesian Tea Board. Offered at the source at Rp 5,000 per box of two 50 gram aluminum foil packets and or at Rp 300,000 per kg in a simple plastic sack, mostly through a Bangka Chinese network, the tea is considered expensive and difficult to obtain. In contrast to most of the tea produced in the country, which come from broad-leaf Camellia sinensis var assamica plants, this lowland tea comes from the small-leafed Camellia sinensis var sinensis plant known for its hardiness and ability to produce some of the finest teas on earth. Moreover, the plants are of 60 to 100 years of age, according to both Azmal Az and Erwin Malik, the regency field officer responsible for cultivation. Rather uncared for, growing slowly in full sunshine, these old trees must have, as plant physiology studies have shown, high production of secondary metabolites responsible for more intense flavor, and in some cases, more complex and subtle flavors, which young plants do not generally produce. While grown in Indonesia, the tea is, however, essentially Chinese as it is produced by Chinese Indonesians using a traditional wok-roasting method passed down to them by their Chinese ancestors. Having returned to Jakarta, I took a sample of the tea to Chinese tea expert Suwarni Widjaja. She brewed the leaves rapidly and lightly with boiling water, not at the 70 to 80 degree Celsius commonly prescribed for green tea. Suwarni explained that this was unnecessary as the tea leaves came from old trees grown in tropical lowland areas. The result was surprising. The captivating aroma of roasted seasoned seaweed reflected in a savory, mineral liquor reminiscent of boiled edamame. An aroma of roasted corn came out instead of burnt flavors. There was no astringency and the after taste was slightly salty. After the third steeping, the flavors started to fade away gracefully. If effort is made to make the tea organic, diversify it, promote it as artisanal exotic product linked to the history of the island's Chinese migrants and tin mining, and make the estates tourism-friendly, the tea may soon become a sought-after experience. ' Arif Suryobuwono Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Publicly listed PermataBank confirmed on Tuesday that its major shareholders would take part in the company's upcoming rights issue to be carried out in the second quarter to strengthen its capital. PermataBank's extraordinary shareholders general meeting on Tuesday approved the bank's plan to conduct a rights issue worth up to Rp 5.5 trillion (US$411.3 million) to support its expansion and comply with Basel III regulations. The bank's president director, Roy A. Arfandy, said the company's two major shareholders, British lender Standard Chartered and diversified conglomerate Astra International, would share the commitment to absorb the shares released through the rights issue. 'We hope that minority shareholders will take part in the rights issue as well,' he said after the meeting. Standard Chartered and Astra each hold a 44.6 percent stake in PermataBank, while the remaining 10.88 percent is owned by the investing public. With the rights issue, Roy said the bank would have total capital of around Rp 23 trillion to 24 trillion and maintain its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) at between 17 and 18 percent this year. Tuesday's meeting also agreed not to declare a dividend payment as the bank's net profit would be booked entirely as retained earnings to strengthen the bank's capital in anticipation of a higher CAR requirement in the future. PermataBank's net profit dropped by 84 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 247 billion in 2015 as the country's weak economy caused a rise in bad loans, which triggered a 212 percent jump in provision expenses. Roy previously said that the bank conducted asset revaluation last year, which resulted in more than Rp 1 trillion in fresh funds and raised its CAR from 13.6 percent in September last year to between 14 and 15 percent by the end of 2015. Asset revaluation is a tax incentive program offered by the government through its fifth economic policy package released last year. The asset revaluation facility is offered in several stages, with the tax rate set at 3 percent before the year's end, 4 percent from January to June 2016 and 6 percent from July to December 2016. Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) require banks to prepare more capital buffers as the country is expected to fully adopt the Basel III rules by 2019, based on a time frame set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision ' an international association of banking supervisory authorities. Roy added that the bank obtained Rp 1 trillion from BI's monetary easing, which lowered the primary reserve requirement (GWM) by 1 percent to 6.5 percent last month. However, despite having higher capital and more liquidity, Roy said the bank remained conservative with regard to loan growth as it was expecting 8 to 10 percent credit growth, as submitted in its business plan to the OJK. He said PermataBank would be ready to revise its loan growth in June when the OJK opened a window for business plan revision, should the bank see significant improvement in the country's economy. The bank saw a 3 percent yoy decrease in loans to Rp 128 trillion in 2015, with gross nonperforming loans increasing to 2.74 percent from 1.7 percent a year earlier. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jerusalem Wed, March 30, 2016 Hundreds of protesters have rallied outside a court in support of a soldier filmed last week shooting dead a wounded Palestinian attacker in the West Bank, an incident that has proven divisive in Israel, where army service is mandatory. Protesters, as well as some politicians on the right, criticized Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who has said the soldier acted inappropriately. Media reported that the court had extended the soldier's remand on Tuesday. The army declined to comment. Israelis are split over the incident, which came amid six months of near-daily Palestinian attacks. Many argue the young soldier fired because he suspected the Palestinian, who had stabbed a soldier before being shot and wounded, may have been reaching for an explosive device. Others say the Palestinian, who was lying on the ground, was no longer a threat, and that the shooting breached army norms and damaged its image. (ags) Poroshenko leaving for U.S. with bilateral meetings and nuclear security summit on agenda Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday, March 30, is leaving for the United States where his working visit is to last until April 2. "Meetings are planned with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, President of Poland Andrzej Duda and President of Argentina Mauricio Macri," Poroshenko's press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko has said. The Ukrainian president will address a forum entitled 'Ukraine's Battle for Freedom Continues,' which will take place on Capitol Hill on March 30, he said. Poroshenko will deliver a speech at the Nuclear Security Summit on April 1, Tseholko said. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported earlier that Poroshenko was not expected to hold talks with U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to the U.S. Meanwhile, the information available to Interfax indicates that the two presidents may hold a brief meeting on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Wed, March 30, 2016 The latest building revitalized by the Jakarta Old Town Revitalization Corporation (JOTRC) in Kota Tua, West Jakarta, has a unique story and represents an impressive architectural achievement. Archaeologist Candrian Attahiyat said during a discussion recently that the building, erected in 1921-1922 for Dutch life insurance company Olveh (Onderlinge Levensverzekering Van Eigen Hulp), was not located in the main Batavia (now Kota Tua) old town complex built by the Dutch colonialists and was rather small compared to other colonial buildings. Candrian said, however, that the building, designed by renowned Dutch architects Richard LA Schoemaker and CP Wolff Schoemaker, was unlike any other. 'The building is sexy, beautiful. If you see it from afar, you can recognize it easily.' Historians have found no valid source to ascertain whether the building was mainly designed by Richard or his brother Wolff. Candrian said the symmetrical design, its slim figure and the twin tower made the building stand out. He said the most interesting thing about the building was the original floor that was 90 centimeter below the current one. 'That means the road in front of the building may have been around 120 cm below,' he said. The archaeologist, who has studied Kota Tua for years, said the building was built near the Chinese community. 'The building itself was in front of a Chinese temple that was actually older than Olveh,' he said. 'The uniqueness of the building lies in the fact that the color was white, ornamented with stained glass,' he said. However, the preservation team could only save one stained glass window, he added. The building has two holes on the third floor to place ventilation fans. 'However, they were never installed, as they never arrived from the Netherlands,' he said. Another interesting feature of the building is the balcony. 'It is quite advanced for its time, as it is quite wide, almost two meters,' he said. Most balconies without pillars at that time, he said, would only measure around 120 cm. Olveh was built in an area now called Pinangsia. 'Pinangsia was derived from Dutch word financien [financial],' he said. Insurance company Olveh at the time occupied the third floor only. The first and second floor were leased to other companies. Candrian said records showed that the opening of the building was celebrated with an ondel-ondel (Betawi giant effigy) performance. The building was taken over by the Indonesia government in 1961 and handed to state-owned life insurer Jiwasraya. 'The building was abandoned during the 1998 riot, just like other businesses that were shut down at the time,' Candrian explained. Candrian, who is also the former head of the cultural heritage conservation unit of the Old Town management agency, said the building was unfortunately not listed as a cultural heritage building. 'It is partly my fault. However, we have prepared the documents to register it right away,' he said. Boy Bhirawa, the architect tasked with revitalizing Olveh, said the biggest challenge in renovating the building was reviving its soul. 'Buildings should have souls, so in the end, the city will have a soul,' he said. Boy said that when he first visited the building, he found the floor had been coated many times. 'We dug it out to find the original floor, as we want to restore it,' he said, adding that the coatings had helped protect the original floor. Boy said, however, that reviving the old surface would put the building at risk of flooding by groundwater in the rainy season. 'We eventually installed a pump to ensure that water can be flushed out of the building,' he said. Boy said he also considered protecting the bricks, produced in the Netherlands. 'We need to plaster the walls to protect the bricks, but it is expensive to use breathing plaster and paint,' he said, adding that the renovation had cost almost Rp 3 billion (US$228,000). Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arif Suryobuwono (The Jakarta Post) Jebus, Bangka Belitung Wed, March 30, 2016 Green tea from Jebus district in West Bangka regency, Bangka Belitung province has decended into a state of anonymous peril. The tea is not even recorded at the Indonesian Tea Board because 'local authorities haven't informed us about it yet', said Rahdi, an expert who works at the Indonesian Tea Board. Those in the know are mostly Bangka Chinese who drink the tea for its purported health benefits. 'My father-in-law has to drink the tea whenever he eats beef or seafood; otherwise he gets a headache,' said Lim Chun Fui, a Jebus resident. He swears by the tea's ability to lower cholesterol. Non-Chinese like Saukani ' head of the Plantation Crops division of the West Bangka regency's Agriculture, Plantation and Animal Husbandry ' also consider the tea as medicine, 'sold in some Chinese drugstores', implying that its taste is not a priority. Data provided by the regency's head of processing and marketing of plantation crops division, Bustanil Arifin, recorded that two associations of tea growers, Tayu Mandiri (formerly Ketayu I) and Ketayu II, produced 301 kg and 44 kg of tea last year, respectively. Comprising a total recorded area of 10.17 hectares, the two estates, and those of the newly established Jerangkat Jaya association, are family owned and run smallholdings where the owner often runs the estate themselves, making tea as a side job rather than it being their primary source of income because earnings from selling tea alone are not enough to make ends meet. So, when opportunity for bigger profit knocked, even the original tea plants grown from seeds brought by Bong Kim Tet six generations ago were removed to make way for a household-scale tin mine called te'i in 2000, according to Tayu hamlet chief Lie Po On and A. Tjoe, whose husband is Bong's descendant. However, no one else has thus far followed suit because their estates are not economically mineable and will become agriculturally unfit when converted to te'i. 'Tea plants cannot grow on tin tailings. The other crops [white pepper, rubber and oil palm] grow poorly on them,' Lie said, adding that most of the estates lie deep in the hinterland, accessible only by motorcycle, thus relatively free from pollution. 'The mining operations, still ongoing in the greater region, won't pollute them either,' said geologist Satrio Agung Nugroho of tin mining and smelting company PT Mitra Stania Prima. 'The tin ore occurs in secondary deposits. Weathering and erosion ensure the minerals get peeled off without chemical intervention, and smelting is concentrated in Jelitik [in Sungai Liat, 110,9 km east of Jebus],' he explained. Despite there being no qualms about contamination, the tea 'is difficult to sell', said Lie who is a tea grower himself. He said he has 40 kg of tea still unsold at his home, 'due to lack of proper packaging'. Local authorities have provided him and other Tayu Mandiri growers with a roasting machine, which they have stopped using because the resultant tea has a different smell and whitish color. They were also given a packaging machine, which Lie is not happy with. He would prefer to turn the tea leaves into granular tea particles to enable him sell the tea in tea bags and the machinery is not able to do this. Lie is also appaled by merchants from Pangkal Pinang, the capital city of Bangka-Belitung province, who purchased his tea and sold it as Tayu tea after mixing it with cheaper Javanese teas, thus giving the tea a bad name. But his worst fear is the likely conversion of the state-owned production forests, on which most Tayu tea plants grow, into industrial plantation forests, as is was intended by an ex-district chief in 2009. The same ex-district chief recently won the local election again. 'Industrial concession designation would make the land inaccessible; we would no longer be able to grow tea crops or collect firewood to roast the tea,' he said, adding that 1000 signatures to reject such conversion have been forwarded to the governor. This fear is, however, dismissed by Azmal Az, the head of the district's plantation service, as mere tempest in a teacup. 'There are areas already designated as industrial plantation forests but until now, nothing has changed here. This is politics being played in high places,' he said, believing that 'changing the land's designation won't be easy, as long as people staunchly resist it'. ' Photos by Arif Suryobuwono Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Amid reports of physical abuse, the Muhammadiyah central committee (PP) and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will investigate the death of terror suspect Siyono of Klaten, Central Java, during his arrest by the National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism unit earlier this month. 'We will arrange for an autopsy for Siyono's body to determine whether a human rights violation led to his death,' Komnas HAM member Siane Indriani told The Jakarta Post at the Muhammadiyah office on Tuesday. Siane accompanied Siyono's wife, Suratmi, who filed a report over her husband's death and requested legal assistance from the Muhammadiyah PP, which was represented by one of its heads, Busyro Muqodas, and Iwan Satriawan, deputy head of the justice and human rights council. 'We will be assisted by five forensics experts from Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMY) for the autopsy,' said Siane. Siyono, from Brengkungan village, Klaten regency, was arrested by Densus 88 members on March 8. He was allegedly killed on March 10 during an arrest by Densus 88, and buried on March 13. The National Police said Siyono, who police claim was the commander of Neo Jamaah Islamiyah, died after an encounter with an Densus 88 member who asked where he was hiding his weapons. Busyro said that he regretted the actions of Densus 88 that led to Siyono's death, adding that he did not believe that the pint-sized Siyono dared to resist arrest. 'Even if he resisted arrest, he could be overpowered and there was no need to kill him. We regret that the methods commonly used during the New Order are still being used,' said Busyro. He also called on President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and his Cabinet ministers to be transparent and form an independent team to evaluate the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and Densus 88. 'Siyono's death concerns humanity and has nothing to do with a particular religion,' he said. During the meeting, Suratmi, who came with her three children, also entrusted two bundles of neatly packed cash, believed to be given by the police, to Busyro. She said that the bundles of cash further convinced her that her husband's death was unnatural. The money was given by two women who were not in uniform, named Ayu and Lastri, who met her when she was picking up her husband's body in Jakarta. 'They said a bundle of the money was for funeral expenses and the other for my children. However, the cash provision has instead further caused anxiety,' she said. After giving the money, a woman, who claimed to be Ayu, also repeatedly asked her to accept her husband's death and not take legal measures, Suratmi said. Following her husband's death, she claimed that she was approached by officers, believed to be Densus 88 members, at her home in Klaten. They arrived in a black car. Separately, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti has also ordered the force's Internal Affairs Division (Propam) to investigate Siyono's death. He said there might have been violations but declined to comment further, saying that he would wait for Propam to conclude its investigation into Siyono's death. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Khoirul Amin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 The government aims to start discussing the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with lawmakers next year, demanding political feedback about its intention to join a trade deal that would cover 40 percent of the global economy. Trade Minister Thomas Lembong said Monday that the government was now undertaking a public review of whether the country would join the TPP before discussing it further with the House of Representatives. 'Based on my estimates, we have to start political consultation with the House in the first half of next year,' he said after delivering opening remarks in a seminar held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Thomas told reporters that while President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo had taken a clear stance that the country would join the US-led trade partnership, the government remained open to public feedback. Jokowi first expressed Indonesia's intention to join the TPP when speaking before representatives of a number of American companies during his first official visit to the US in October, resulting in mixed reactions in Indonesia. Many believe that the TPP, which was signed by 12 countries in New Zealand last month, is set to reduce or eliminate most tariff lines to make prices of products more affordable for consumers of the member countries. However, the trade pact's degree of economic liberalization has made others concerned, including the House, which is especially concerned about state firms as the TPP will level the playing field for state-owned enterprises and private companies. Twelve laws would need to be revised to allow for the implementation of the TPP here, raising more concerns about the supremacy of the trade deal, lawmakers have said. Among the laws are those on investment, state finances, state-owned enterprises, business competition and cooperatives. Thomas added that Indonesia actually has considerable time to review the TPP as the pact's member countries were now still in the ratification process to adjust their local laws with articles in the trade deal, meaning that implementation is not yet within sight. Led by the United States, the TPP's other signatory countries include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The economic partnership, dubbed a 21st century trade pact, will also cover fair competition between state and private firms, intellectual property rights and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The chairman of the international trade division of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), Yos Adiguna Ginting, said that it had become inevitable for the country to join the TPP because of the opening of access to the global economy, but Indonesia should remain cautious and demand flexible implementation. Indonesia's exports to current TPP member countries accounted for 43 percent of Indonesia's total exports and its imports from the TPP countries made up 61 percent of total imports, said Yos. 'In the case of Indonesia, meanwhile, I think we need to request accelerated and slowed phases of tariff reduction. The agriculture sector, for example, is one that needs more time,' he added. Todd Dias, the economic secretary at the Australian Embassy in Indonesia, said that he was optimistic that there would be flexibility for new countries willing to join the TPP, although there was not yet a fixed regulation on the matter. Dato' Steven CM Wong, the deputy chief executive of Malaysia's Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said that the first thing to do in reviewing the TPP was to determine the national interest. Wong said that Malaysia's decision to join the TPP was also based on consideration that the country already had free trade agreements with most Asian countries and the European continent, but not with those on the North and South American continents. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Paris Wed, March 30, 2016 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged governments around the world Wednesday to let in more people from Syria, as the global body tries find new homes for almost half a million people who have fled the war-torn country. Ban's appeal came as Europe is striving to halt the unchecked flow of migrants across the Mediterranean and through the continent's porous borders. Police evacuated nearly 1,000 migrants from a makeshift camp near a Paris subway station Wednesday, and hundreds of people sought to cross the seas from Turkey to Greece despite European efforts to slow down the arrivals. The Paris operation was peaceful and authorities offered the migrants temporary lodging and help applying for asylum, France's Interior Ministry said. They reportedly included people from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan who had been living beneath elevated train tracks for several weeks. The Paris transit authority closed the Stalingrad metro station during the operation. The area has seen multiple migrant camps in recent years. "The street should not be a refuge" for people fleeing persecution, the ministry said. France has not seen nearly as many Syrian refugees or other migrants over the past year as Germany, but has experienced tensions around the northern port of Calais, where migrants converge in hopes of crossing into Britain. The flow of migrants to the Greek islands, meanwhile, seems to be on the rise again as weather warms. Figures released by the Greek government showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. The number is a roughly a three-fold jump compared with arrivals in previous days. In Turkey, the coast guard said it rescued dozens of mostly Syrian migrants as they tried to reach Greece in an inflatable dinghy. Off the coast of Libya, a German navy vessel on Tuesday picked up scores of people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to Italy. A new European Union-Turkey agreement comes into effect next week to curb the flow of migrants. The United Nations has urged countries to ensure that people fleeing war and persecution can still find refuge abroad. Over the next three years, the UN refugee agency wants to resettle one-tenth of the 4.8 million Syrian refugees who are crowded into countries in the surrounding region. To date, 179,000 places have been pledged, according to Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees. Speaking at a one-day conference in Geneva, UN chief Ban called on countries to "counter fear-mongering" about refugees that has pressured governments into clamping down on migration routes. "I ask that countries act with solidarity, in the name of our shared humanity, by pledging new and additional pathways for the admission of Syrian refugees," Ban told the gathering of officials from over 90 countries. "These pathways can include resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labor or study opportunities." Ban said countries can benefit from accepting refugees as they can bring new skills and experience to aging workforces. "Attempts to demonize them are not only offensive. They are factually incorrect," he said. "I call on leaders to counter fear-mongering with reassurance, and to fight inaccurate information with the truth." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Matthew Pennington (The Jakarta Post) Washington Wed, March 30, 2016 A senior U.S. diplomat said Tuesday that if North Korea keeps advancing its weapons programs, the U.S. will be compelled to take defensive measures that China will not like. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a Washington think tank that North Korea is getting closer to having a nuclear-tipped missile that could threaten the continental U.S. He said that while China's influence over the North has diminished, it still has economic leverage. "If China is looking to assure that we are not required to take additional steps for our own security and that of our partners and allies that it won't like, the best thing it can do is to engage with us in dealing with North Korea," Blinken told the Brookings Institution. He spoke ahead of a Thursday meeting in Washington between President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a global nuclear security summit, weeks after China agreed to new stiff sanctions against North Korea, in response to its recent nuclear test and rocket launch. Blinken called for China to take a "lead role" in the implementation of the sanctions. He said the U.S. is willing to provide to China specifications of a U.S. missile defense system that may be deployed in South Korea to counter the threat of North Korean missiles, to offer assurance it would not undermine China's strategic deterrence. Both China and Russia oppose the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system that is under discussion between Washington and Seoul. China has expressed concern that a THAAD system placed in South Korea would allow U.S. radar to also cover Chinese territory. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Caracas Wed, March 30, 2016 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Monday that Argentina would not be able to "disappear" the Telesur regional television network as it erased the lives of people during the country's military dictatorship. "The same actors who disappeared 30,000 young people in Argentina are trying to disappear Telesur," Maduro said of the conservative Argentine government that announced Sunday it would pull its nearly 20 percent stake out of the Spanish-language network. Argentina said it was leaving because it had been shut out of financial and editorial decisions. Maduro said the left-leaning network started by his predecessor President Hugo Chavez would continue to inform the Argentine people and stand for truth and freedom of expression in Latin America. Venezuela's socialist president said in televised remarks on Monday that Argentine President Mauricio Macri could not make the network go away, or prevent people from accessing Telesur's reporting online. Argentina's Minister of Communications Hernan Lombardi said on Twitter that Maduro's statements did not merit a response. Argentina is the first partner to pull out since a coalition of governments launched the channel in 2005. As many as 30,000 people were killed or disappeared during a crackdown on leftists by Argentina's military dictatorship from 1976-83. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Julia Suryakusuma (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Kartini month is coming up! Yes folks, on April 21 we will celebrate the birth of the Javanese priyayi (aristocrat), best known for being a pioneer of Indonesian women's rights. She was born 137 years ago in Rembang, a regency in the northeastern part of Central Java. Besides championing women's education, she was known for her concern for the welfare of ordinary villagers. If she were alive today, she would have likely been among the women of Rembang who are at the forefront of a demonstration which has lasted for two years. Ordinary village women demonstrating? Yessiree! Nearly 300 women staged a sit-in which started on June 16, 2014 ' and is still ongoing. The women set up camp in a tent, taking turns to keep vigil because of course they still have to tend to their daily agricultural and household work. I can tell you something: if women are demonstrating, it means a lot is at stake. They were protesting the construction of a cement factory near Rembang which would threaten their livelihood, the ecosystem and indeed life as they have known it. Imagine the sight of women trying to prevent bulldozers, jumbo trucks and other heavy equipment from going into the area where the factory was to be built. Witness the police and the military peeling them off machinery and off the ground where they lay down to obstruct the path, and throwing the women, screaming and kicking, into the thorny bushes nearby. Pretty dramatic huh, not to mention harrowing. Too bad no one made a documentary about it. Certainly a story for a feature to be made in the future. How about it, Nia Dinata or Lola Amaria? A 40-minute film entitled Samin vs Semen has, however, been made about the Sedulur Sikep, better known as the Samin, a traditional community that has lived in Rembang and other areas of Java for decades. The Saminism movement was known in the Dutch colonial period for its resistance against Dutch capitalism, which forced the people, even the poor, to pay taxes. The Dutch colonialists also monopolized the native people's free public forest lands, in particular land containing precious commodities such as teak. We do not hear much about the Samins these days, but because of the film, which was uploaded onto YouTube in March 2015, they have come again to the fore. The Samins live a very simple life based on agriculture and harmony with nature, shunning the trappings of modern life. Obviously, they are also very much against the construction of the cement factory. The women, the Samin, and also the villagers in general, fear the plant would ruin their water supply, which runs through the Kendeng karst mountains near where the factory was going to stand. The Kendeng Mountains contain over 300 natural water springs in a 4,000 hectare area, 109 water springs, 49 caves with ancient fossils embedded onto the walls, and four underwater streams. Besides the protests in the village, nine Rembang women also came to Jakarta, pounding large mortar and pestles (traditionally used for dehusking rice) in unison, in front of the State Palace, to try to get an audience with the President. In addition, a petition has also been drawn up by a group of prominent scholars about the ecological crisis in Java addressed to President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. Naturally, the petition also refers to the cement factory in Rembang. State-owned PT Semen Indonesia got the factory permit anyway despite a dodgy environmental impact assessment (EIA) report. Surprise, surprise! Capitalism, corruption and sheer force again wins over the interest of the people. And this is the Reform Era? Why is the Rembang case important? Because it's the last karst area on Java, and because it sets a precedence. There are several cement companies that are being built or about to be built in the North Kendeng Mountains. In Rembang they are Semen Indonesia Rembang, Gunung Mas Mineral and Bosowa; in Pati, Sahabat Mulya Sakti (a subsidiary of Indocement); in Grobogan, Vanda Prima Listi and a Thai company, PT Semen Merah Putih; in Blora, Marco Tambang Raya, Alam Blora Lestari and Artha Parama Indonesia (Artha Graha Group). Why do we need to build all these cement factories when Widodo Santoro, the head of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) himself said that the cement industry was experiencing overcapacity by almost 30 percent in 2016? Perhaps these cement companies are drooling in anticipation over the prospect of increased sales due to Jokowi's commitment to developing infrastructure? It seems that Jokowi is caught between a number of promises he has made. One was indeed to develop infrastructure and to accelerate permit delivery, which in the past has been fraught with shady deals. He also promised to establish a court dedicated to land disputes, winning the endorsement of agrarian groups nationwide. However, he made the mistake of appointing a politician, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan from the NasDem Party, instead of a professional to lead the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry. Is it surprising that the court has never materialized? Last but not least, Jokowi also made a commitment to food sufficiency and sovereignty. Villagers like those in Rembang have been doing that for decades, perhaps centuries, without any help from the government, so why is he allowing their tradition ' and rights ' to be jeopardized now? The Semen Indonesia factory built in Rembang will be ready in August this year. The villagers, however, are not backing down on their demands: to have the building and mining permits revoked (thereby stopping the building of the factory and any mining activities), and to return the 50 hectare factory area back into forest and land for the villagers to engage in their agricultural activities. On March 26, Jokowi gave a speech at the 70th anniversary of Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama, the women's wing of the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, in Malang. He stated that he honored the role of mothers and women in the nation's development. He had been planning not to attend, but he did not have the courage to say no to the Muslimat women. So Jokowi, come on already, step out of your palace and meet with the women from Rembang! This time, use your courage not to say 'no', but to say 'yes!' to their demands. It's for the sake of the nation's welfare and development, which after all, we voted you in to take care of! _______________________________ The writer is the author of Julia's Jihad. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Krista Larson (The Jakarta Post) Dakar Wed, March 30, 2016 The World Health Organization said Tuesday that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa no longer qualifies as an international health emergency, although it cautioned that male survivors can infect their sexual partners for up to a year after recovering. The decision by WHO's Ebola emergency committee comes following flare-ups that emerged in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone after authorities declared virus transmission over. The new cases sometimes were publicized only hours after the public announcements were made. "Complacency at this stage would be completely wrong," said Robert Steffen, the committee's vice chair. The announcement puts an end to the international emergency declaration that has been controversial. An Associated Press investigation found that WHO initially delayed making the declaration ' similar to an SOS signal ' on political, economic and religious grounds. Tuesday's announcement also comes as the organization fights the Zika virus that has prompted concern in the Americas. Steffen said the battle against Zika in no way dictated the committee's decision to declare the Ebola emergency over. While there have been flare-ups of new cases, health authorities said Tuesday those were not linked to the original chains of transmission dating back to December 2013. "We know that little clusters will continue to flare up. That will be normal life just as in previous decades, there have been every now and then, outbreaks of Ebola in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa," Steffen said. More than 11,000 people have died mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since December 2013. There are currently no known cases in Liberia or Sierra Leone, though Guinea recently reported two confirmed and three probable cases. Authorities are now monitoring nearly 1,000 contacts of the sick. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, March 30, 2016 Telecommunication company PT XL Axiata on Tuesday signed an agreement to sell 2,500 of its broadcast towers to tower provider PT Professional Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Protelindo) for Rp 3.5 trillion (US$267.2 million) in an effort to pay off some of the company's debt. XL Axiata finance director Mohamed Adlan bin Ahmad Tajudin explained that the sale of the towers was part of the company's strategy to reduce its total debt, which stands at Rp 26.9 trillion and is due in 2020. 'The sale of these towers is not only to help us cut our rupiah debt, but is also in line with our 3R strategy, which is revamp, rise and reinvent, that we have implemented since last year,' he said on Tuesday. XL Axiata has been aggressively reducing its exposure to currency risk by advancing foreign-denominated debt repayment as well as converting outstanding obligations into rupiah. Currency costs began to pinch XL Axiata's performance after it acquired Axis Telekom Indonesia in 2014. The acquisition drove up operational costs and caused ballooning debt to fund the acquisition. The company's net foreign losses tripled from Rp 1.06 trillion in the first nine months of 2014 to Rp 3.03 trillion in the corresponding period last year. Earlier this year, the company announced that it was selling its towers through an open bidding process to reduce its debt. Eight companies had expressed their interest in buying the towers, with Protelindo eventually named as the winner for the deal, which is expected to be concluded by June. XL Axiata used to possess 10,000 broadcast towers across the archipelago, before selling off 3,500 in 2014 to tower company PT Solusi Tunas Pratama for Rp 5.6 trillion. After the anticipated release of another 2,500 towers to Protelindo, Adlan said XL Axiata had no plans to put its remaining 4,000 towers up for sale, seeking to avoid disruption in the company's network coverage and services. 'Hopefully, with the sale of these 2,500 towers, XL's financial state will become slightly better,' he said. Despite the change in towers ownership, XL Axiata will still rent 2,432 of its formerly owned towers from Protelindo in order to maintain its network strength, at a lease of Rp 10 million per month per tower for the next 10 years. XL Axiata's recently green-lighted a preemptive rights issue to help pay off a $500 million loan provided by its parent company Axiata when the former acquired Axis from Saudi Telecom Company (STC), previously the majority shareholder in Axis, for $865 million. The remaining funds for the acquisition were provided by three banks, namely UOB, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and DBS. The value of this preemptive rights issue will likely be announced in April or May. Meanwhile, Adlan revealed that XL planned to spend up to Rp 7 trillion to improve its network coverage and expand its 4G network this year. XL's 4G network coverage is currently available in 36 cities nationwide, with the company targeting to serve up to 85 cities by the end of this year. Donbas militants have conducted 68 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in the past 24 hours using weapons prohibited by the Minsk peace agreements, the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) headquarters has said. "In the reporting period [from 06:00 Tuesday morning to 06:00 Wednesday morning], Ukrainian servicemen stationed near the village of Zaitseve and the town of Avdiyivka came under 22 attacks by forbidden weapons. Combined Russian-separatist forces attacked our positions with 250 mortar rounds (82mm and 120mm)," the ATO HQ reported on Facebook on Wednesday morning. The militants also used 152mm tube artillery systems near Zaitseve, it said. According to the press center, the militants shelled Ukrainian army positions near the villages of Mayorsk, Opytne, Novhorodske, Luhanske, Leninske, and Nevelske. Ukrainian army positions were attacked with small arms, grenade launchers and large-caliber machineguns near the villages of Talakivka, Vodiane and Starohnativka and with mortars near the village of Shyrokyne in the Mariupol sector. An automatic grenade launcher shelled Ukrainian army positions in the village of Novozvanivka and a sniper was active in the town of Schastia in Luhansk region. The Ukrainian army had to return fire 20 times by use of small arms and grenade launchers in order to retain their positions, the press center said. The editorial boards of both the Daily News and the New York Post this week slammed the de Blasio administration, calling its mishandling of the Rivington House situation a scandal. Today the Post wrote, whether it was shear incompetence or under-the-table cronyism that allowed a community asset to slip into the hands of luxury developers, someone must be held accountable. As we previously reported, Community Board 3 approved a resolution two months ago, strongly criticizing the decision to lift a deed restriction on the building at 45 Rivington St. This afternoon, we have more proof that this resolution went directly to the mayor. Its an important point because the mayor has said he only recently learned of the bungled real estate transaction at the former nursing home. His newly appointed commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services (DCAS), Lisette Camillo, has said she found out about it, as Politico New York reported, during communication with a community board on March 1. The resolution was sent to the mayor, Camillo and to the mayors Office of Community Affairs on Jan. 27. It called on the city to disclose information regarding the lifting of the deed restriction and to reverse the decision. This was not the first time the de Blasio administration was alerted about the situation. Local activists reached out to community affairs liaison Tommy Lin on Dec. 1. Lin responded via email on Dec. 9 that he was looking into the matter. Also, The Lo-Down began asking questions of DCAS about the deed change on Dec. 18. But the letter shows that the community board made official and specific requests of the administration weeks before NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer launched an investigation of the matter. In related news, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council member Margaret Chin sent a letter to DCAS Commissioner Camillo yesterday, asking for copies of all documents that were released to Stringer. The comptroller obtained through a subpoena. One document of particular interest is an email referenced by the Wall Street Journal in a March 22 story: Joel Landau, an Allure executive who signed the citys deed modification, wrote in an October 2014 email to a city official that he planned to keep the building a nursing home, but a for-profit facility, according to records released by the city. In the email, Mr. Landau asked the city to help him, citing the community boards support to keep the facility a nursing home. Who was the city official and why didnt DCAS take what seems like an obvious precaution memorializing Landeaus commitment with an actual legal contract? Those are two questions that must be addressed during the investigation. One other interesting note regarding this story. Shortly after news broke in the summer of 2014 that Rivington House would be closing, Friends of the Lower East Side (a preservation group) launched efforts to protect the former school building. According to one of the organizations leaders, Joyce Mendelsohn, a request for evaluation was submitted to the citys Landmarks Preservation Commission. The group collected letters of support and met with Council member Chin. The request was rejected by the Landmarks Commission on Dec. 22, 2014. China Vanke Co., Slate Property Group and Adam America Real Estate purchased the building for $116 million. In a press release, the developers gave every indication they intend to keep the historic building, rather than demolishing it for new construction. Were confident that the flexibility of the existing structure, which has been transformed in the past to accommodate diverse tenants, allows for us to repurpose a historic and well-known building into a desirable residential destination, said Dvir Cohen Hoshen, founder of Adam America. But since the Landmarks Commission declined to act, the developers are free to handle the renovations however they see fit. Heres a summary from Friends of the Lower East Side of their request: British Ambassador to Ukraine Judith Gough says that her country will continue to watch developments at the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine carefully. "In agreement with my EU colleagues, we will continue to watch developments at PGO carefully," she tweeted on Tuesday evening. As was earlier reported, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski expressed hope for the positive changes in the work of the Prosecutor General's Office after the dismissal of Viktor Shokin from the post of prosecutor general. He said the EU supports the independence of the prosecutor's office from political influence. "I note that the Verkhovna Rada today [Tuesday, March 29] accepted the resignation of the Prosecutor General. The decision creates an opportunity to make a fresh start in the Prosecutor General's Office. I hope that the new Prosecutor General will ensure that the Office of the Prosecutor General becomes independent from political influence and pressure and enjoys public trust," Tombinski wrote in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday. Ukraine crisis cannot be settled without U.S. Lukashenko Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said the crisis in Ukraine cannot be settled without the United States. "It's impossible to stabilize the situation there, I mean Ukraine and other trends, without the United States," the Belarusian state news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying at a meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Carpenter. Lukashenko stressed that this is his firm conviction, which he has stated publicly more than once. How did Donald Trump get this far? Its a question the whole world is asking, and with good reason after success at the Arizona Primary last week, Donald Trump currently stands with a two in three chance of giving a victory speech at the Republican convention in Ohio at the end of July. Its a question the whole world is asking, and with good reason after success at the Arizona Primary last week, Donald Trump currently stands with a two in three chance of giving a victory speech at the Republican convention in Ohio at the end of July. As it turns out, an unexpected combination of factors from viral news suitability to a policy of well-trodden political rhetoric have combined to plunge the billionaire with the ridiculous hair into the US conservative driving seat. We look at the evidence. --- Sponsored by The Economist, who would like to give away to The National Student readers a special subscription package : for 12 only get a 12-week print and/or digital subscription as well as Bluetooth speakers or a Phone Charger. --- Harnessed the power of social media The numbers read more like those of a reality TV player than a GOP frontrunner: almost seven and a half million twitter followers, with 46,000+ retweets in the past 24 hours alone (as of 4pm, Tuesday). Over 135,000 tweets favourited in the same time. Politics in the age of social media, The Economist points out , is changing democracy and the world of instant gratification and perceived endorsement via clicks makes the whole system of politics and collective action more chaotic. Social media popularity for politicians works in the same way that online petitions do: starting small, before gradually tugging on the emotive heartstrings of more and more people. These people are likely to be extroverts, who are sensitive to social information and we might argue, in need of personal endorsement. The Economist states that As a result, if a petitions initial audience includes enough people with the right mindset, it can quickly take off... Politics in the age of social media are thus better understood by chaos theory than by conventional social science. So, they sign. Or, in this case, they vote. Benefited from the Republicans dividing their loyalties According to The Economist , US nominations are often predictable because the party has picked its leader early which is why the media didnt take Trumps campaign seriously at first. There is, however, no guarantee that the party will in fact decide. Sometimes its various factions cannot come to agreement, and divide their support among rival candidates. That was what happened on the Republican side in 2015, when the endorsement leader, Jeb Bush, received only a fraction of the statements of support that had gone to previous front-runners. The lack of uniting over legitimate candidates, therefore, left a veritable power vacuum which Trump successfully swept into. Championed isolationism Trump has just declared victory in Arizona, a border state where his planned wall would have a very visible impact. He partly did this through support from well known Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an extremely divisive anti-immigration figure in a state that appears increasingly worried about those pushing in from beyond the Mexican border. Longer term, Trump has used a (rather redneck) fear of the other invading the Land of the Free as a basis for his campaign, partly bolstered by an aggressive policy towards the Middle East and an apparent disregard for any consequences this might have. With a volatile international situation and many Americans feeling that years of intervention in the Middle East have only put their idyll at risk, its unsurprising that this self-preserving policy has caught peoples emotions nationwide. Rhetoric, rhetoric, rhetoric Its potentially the oldest political tool in the book, first codified in Ancient Rome and defined by Aristotle as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion" and its something that many of historys most divisive politicians have had in absolute spades. Trump uses the art of emotively persuading an audience via discourse to its extreme. Just look at one of the most basic factors that make up rhetoric repetition. Hes making America great again whilst beating Hillary on an almost daily basis. We need to secure our borders ASAP. No games, we must be smart, tough and vigilant. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN & MAKE AMERICA STRONG AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2016 Nothing like hammering the message home, is there? And thats before we get started on his hyperbolic reaction to being wronged his proposed wall, he declared after being vetoed by Mexico, Just got ten feet higher! Utilised a penchant for earthy language According to Georgetown University Professor Jennifer Scafani in ThinkProgress, Trump has made an art of turning political discourse into reality TV through both his single syllable words and his habit of speaking with his arms and hands held outward. Verbose and over the top gestures are apparent every time he speaks in public. Compare this to the thumb and index finger mannerism that is a staple of Obamas speeches, in which he is literally making a point with his hand. Trump, with his strong rhetoric and lack of detail paired with his short words and open body language, is suggesting the opposite. This, it can be argued, subconsciously sets him as an anti-establishment figure when compared to his political rivals, and in turn as someone who might appear to provide a viable alternative to certain sections of the US electorate. Demonstrated his expertise in authoritative propaganda The claims Trump makes may seem ridiculously sweeping and groundless but what they lack in specifics or fact actually means theyre so broad that its impossible to argue with them in a logical way. In this subjective arena you can continue to assert that, say, thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the attacks of September 11th, 2001, or that Russian troops did not invade Ukraine, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. As The Economist says In this subjective arena you can continue to assert that, say, thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the attacks of September 11th, 2001, or that Russian troops did not invade Ukraine, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The trick is just to keep saying it, until the naysayers give up. This sort of insistence leaves an impression, even among sceptics of these arguments, that there must be something to them. Establishing a comparison with Vladimir Putin, the Economist points out the confidence that this post-fact world suggests: They do it to show that they canwith impunity. Many admire this flat-out confidence and the perceived power than comes as part of it, whilst others start to somehow believe the old adage that there really is no smoke without fire. Dominated the media Like a walking, rhetoric-spouting, humanised example of clickbait, Trump relies on the suggestibility of a media that needs more clicks RIGHT NOW to ensure that what he says stays in the public conversation - constantly. That media, for a large amount of Trump supporters, is not diverse or liberal: its right wing, entrenched in its views, bolstered by perceived threats to the American way of life - and they trust it because its been their go-to website/TV channel/newspaper of choice for years. The liberal rest, meanwhile, read about the absurdities of the Trump machine on a daily basis, whether they can believe that its sliding into power or not. As Mail Online demonstrates today, and as Oscar Wilde pointed out - if people are constantly reading what youre saying it doesnt really matter whether they hate it or not. In terms of seizing power, the only thing worse than people talking about you is people not talking about you. And of course, everyone is talking about Donald. Avoided answering the big questions Behind all this rhetoric there lays the fact that Trump hasnt actually revealed much about his plans if elected to office, instead avoiding details with such declarations as We will totally dismantle Irans global terror network, which is big and powerfulbut not powerful like us, and Im speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain. Aside from that big, big wall (theres that rhetorical repetition again) hes been fairly quiet on the minutiae of immigration and foreign policy - meaning, as the BBCs North America reporter Anthony Zurcher points out, that foreign leaders currently have no connections for their questions. This lack of details gives opponents and foreign powers less power to challenge or breakdown his plans, because theyre still in the dark as to what they actually are. As Zurcher says, Want details on how the New Yorker would restructure US trade relations with China? Or how he would implement his proposed Muslim immigration ban? Good luck finding out. Paid close attention to his rivals failures And finally: when someone (possibly within Jeb Bushs now shamefaced campaign team) failed to renew the domain JebBush.com, it quickly redirected to you guessed it a page in support of the now Republican frontrunner. DonaldJTrump.coms new homepage even featured a link to donate to his own presidential race. Theres nothing like giving your rival a leg up whilst simultaneously shooting yourself right in the foot, eh Jeb? On a recent aimless walk around Seoul, I was approached by a young Korean gentleman. Are you a foreigner? Yeah. How did you know? Do you like drinking? Yes We should hang out. Despite the fact I share a surname with 30% of Korea, I am not Korean. Im pretty bloody white. White as a kite. 96.5% of South Korea is South Korean. Its homogeneous as heck. So anyway, my new friend and I went to find a pub. Although thats not as easy as it sounds. Drinking just about anywhere you like is fine in South Korea but theyre a bit ashamed about it for some reason. They like to hide it. Whilst watching a K-Drama (Korean Drama) one evening, I noticed they crudely blurred out everything from cigarettes to pints. Everyone knows what theyre blurring out, but they still do it anyway. At least, I think I know. If anything, that pixelating has just made the scene look a lot more inappropriate than it really is. Now it could be anything. Sausages? Twiglets? Pamphlets? Medallions? It really makes it hard to keep up with the plot. So we finally got to the pub. It took me a good forty minutes to work out if my new friend was coming onto me but in the end, he mentioned his penchant for female genitalia enough that I worked out that he was not. Travelling alone can get a little boring after a while and he seemed like a good bloke so we decided to spend the rest of the day together. Overall, I enjoyed my new friend. Also we had a couple of things in common, like speaking English and drinking. We decided wed go have a walk around. We watched a protest, had a drink, went for a walk around Insadong, which is a little traditional Korean town, then had a drink. Then we headed up to the Namsan Seoul Tower to have a look out on the city (whilst having a drink). I was starting to notice that there was something not right with my new friend. He was a fairly confident man but really bloody insecure about a certain part of his body. Everything was I wish I could talk to those girls but my nose is so horrible theyd just laugh or I bet theyre talking about how I should get a nose job. In all seriousness, his nose was fine. Lovely, if anything. For a while I thought he was just fishing for nose compliments but in the end, he went on about it so much that I couldnt do anything besides just stare at his nose with bewilderment. Which I think may have made it worse. South Korea is the cosmetic surgery capital of the world. It is estimated that one third of women in Seoul have undergone some kind of cosmetic surgery (!). Men make up about 15% of surgical patients and one of the more common procedures is a Belpharoplasty, also known as double eyelid surgery - a procedure designed to make whoevers getting it look Western. Its so common that one of their former presidents got it. Thats not him. It's not uncommon to stroll about the upmarket area of Gangnam and see a handful of young men and women sporting facial bandages. Theres one particular square mile of Gangnam which contains over 500 clinics and hospitals! Besides the fact he went on about his nose for five hours - which is usually one of my biggest personal indicators to not carry on a friendship - I decided to meet my new friend again the next day. He wasnt that bad, and anyway, I wanted to make a video and needed someone to film it. So the next day came along and we met at a coffee shop called Caface: a place where you go into a booth, take a selfie, and they then print that selfie into the foam of your coffee. Anyway heres how my one ended up. Also heres the video if youre interested in that... So we filmed that thing and had a generally nice time. We wrapped it all up at about 2pm and then went for a few drinks. But something was troubling him. He was troubled. When someone is troubled, I usually like to ask why. But when its someone who talked about their nose for five hours the day before, I try not to. Eventually he dropped the bomb. I hate my nose. I have for a long time. I shouldve decided this earlier so I could have had as many years as possible with my new nose. Your new nose? Ok. I have news. Im going to get a rhinoplasty. And as I did the filming for you, would you mind accompanying me whilst I get it done? Id be honoured! Great! So off we went to Gangnam. So where are we going exactly? I asked, weakly attempting to make conversation because the name of some clinic in Gangnam wasnt exactly going to resonate, whatever it was. I dont know. I just thought Id try a few places and see if there were any available slots Ok. So you havent booked one yet? Are you sure? Is that alright? Can you definitely just turn up and get a nose job on the day? Yes. Oh, ok then. So whod have thought it, but the first clinic we turned up at had a free slot immediately. Which I think means it's a really good clinic. He asked me if Id wait in the waiting room for him. I said yeah, why not!. I asked him if youre allowed to drink beers in Rhinoplasty clinic waiting rooms. He said yeah, why not!. So ten minutes later, he was in there getting his nose sorted, and I was walking into the waiting room, 7/11 bag full of Korean Carlsbergs, ready for the afternoon. Ill admit that I was probably the only person in the waiting room drinking lagers, but what was I supposed to? Not drink lagers? I flicked through a couple of Korean Bellas and Korean Take a Breaks but I didnt take a lot of notice. People were staring at me, but I suppose that might have been because I was Western and/or drinking lagers at 3pm in a clinic. I imagine they just thought that I was in there about to get surgery but needed to build up the courage. Surgery tourists make up about a third (33%) of the surgical patients in South Korea. Thats because its generally less than half the price of a typical procedure in the U.S. Although its about 100% more than it is in the U.K thanks to the NHS. Unless the Tories have sold it all off by the time this is published. The majority of the surgery tourists in South Korea are Chinese. Apparently, a lot of the time the surgery is so efficient that when its time to head home, they have to get special passes from the doctors to assure the border control agents that they are, in fact, the same person in their passport pictures. Towards the end of the two hours, I started realising how unusual the situation Id got myself into really was. Spontaneity whilst out with friends is hardly a foreign concept for non-Koreans. Tattoos, piercings, getting branded with an iron, going down the Thames on your new dinghy, renting a luxury wheelbarrow, buying ten alsatians on eBay, commandeering a float at Mardi Gras, impromptu trips to Pontins Camber Sands, taking your slacks off at a wedding, convincing a paramedic to let you facepaint him, buying 7,000,000 barrels of oil at work, hoovering at a restaurant, and organising raves in Huddersfield ASDA have all been decided and then executed whilst out for a drink. But maybe out of the blue surgical procedures are a step too far, even for those ASDA pioneers. My friend soon triumphantly exited the operating theatre. He had a smile on his wider than the Cheonggyecheon (Korea reference). I didnt get to see his new nose as it was all wrapped up but the doctor said it was one of the best ones hed ever seen. He felt like a new man. He immediately wanted to take the new nose out for a test run and talk to lots of women. We went to do that but then he got self-conscious about his bandages and we had to call it a day. Things are a little odd here when it comes to personal appearance. The men here spend a combined $900 million a year on make-up, which is more than the rest of the worlds men combined. Also, they seem to have quite nice skin as it is so thats a bit of a bloody waste. Its often said that in Korea, what you think about yourself is unimportant, and other peoples evaluations of you are much more important. In conclusion, South Korea is weird. Daniel is travelling in South Korea with ESL - Language Travel. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. 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The injured man managed to get to a Ukrainian-controlled roadblock and was rushed to hospital," the Luhansk regional administration said. Another local resident was injured in a booby-trap blast at 19:00 local time on Tuesday while walking in his backyard in the village of Troyitske in Popasniansky district. The booby trap was reportedly set by a militant subversive group. Home >Camera Enforcement > Red Light Cameras > Convicted Chicago Official Wants Redflex Exec To Pay Bribery Fine Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak expects a change in the organizational structure and functional responsibilities of the ministry's personnel. "This won't be a mechanical reduction in the personnel, although the number of officers will be reduced by 200 men, and the number of departments and divisions will be halved. The ministry's entire personnel will undergo re-assessment," he said at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. According to him, all servicemen at the ministry will have to pass lie detector tests, and their education and experience background will be taken into consideration. He also announced change in functional responsibilities. "I plan to transfer the most important functions to deputies the heads of departments, while liability for decision-making by the heads of departments and all civil servants will be stepped up," Poltorak said. He expects the measures will help to make the system more efficient. Armed negotiations re-open road to Phuket beach PHUKET: A road across private land leading to Laem Nga Beach in Rassada was opened yesterday (Mar 29) after military personnel with assault rifles looked on while a delegation of officials held discussions with the land owners legal representative. propertymilitaryland By Darawan Naknakhon Wednesday 30 March 2016, 06:04PM The road was re-opened after discussions with the corporate land owner's legal representative. Photo: Darawan Naknakhon The road was re-opened after discussions with the corporate land owner's legal representative. Photo: Darawan Naknakhon The road was re-opened after discussions with the corporate land owner's legal representative. Photo: Darawan Naknakhon The road was re-opened after discussions with the corporate land owner's legal representative. Photo: Darawan Naknakhon Leading the delegation was Phuket Vice Governor Khajornkiet Rakpanichmanee, accompanied by Phuket Damrongdhama Centre (Ombudsmans Office) Chief Prapan Kanprasang and Lt Sompop Kamkhana of the Royal Thai Navy. In tow joining the delegation were village headmen and local residents of Moo 1, Rassada. Up until Monday, the road had been blocked off by a barrier and barbed wire, prompting the official visit yesterday accompanied by armed escorts. The unnamed and undesignated road is open temporarily while officials investigate why the Department of Rural Roads built it across 199 rai of private land, V/Gov Khajornkiet said. For me, it looks like a public road, but we will contact the Department of Rural Roads and look into the origin of this road again. We want to know why a government road was built on private land, he said. The legal representative from Laem Nga Development Co Ltd told us that the road was closed because it crosses private land, which the owner has never granted public access. The company has have a right to block off roads across its own land. However, I asked the company to give residents temporary access until we conclude our investigation, he added. The road was made 15 years ago by the Department of Rural Roads, V/Gov Khajornkiet explained. Then Rassada Municipality took responsibility for it. The 10-metre-wide road goes all the way to the beach and cuts right through 199 rai of private land, he said. The road was blocked off with a barrier after a land survey in 2011, V/Gov Khajornkiet noted. But the survey that year states that the private land is beside the public road, not overlapping it, he added. Thai Lion Air spreads wings at home, in region BANGKOK: Thai Lion Air (TLA) is going full steam ahead with its expansion, undeterred by lingering concerns over Thailands aviation safety expressed by some countries. tourismtransport By Bangkok Post Wednesday 30 March 2016, 08:55AM Under the rainbow: Thai Lion Air recently took delivery of its 19th Boeing 737 as the no-frills carrier moves forward with its expansion. The no-frills subsidiary of Indonesias Lion Air Group is zeroing in on spreading its wings internationally and enlarging its domestic network. Myanmar, Vietnam and China are on TLAs radar screen for launch this year with a resumption of flights to Indonesia from its Bangkok base forming part of the international expansion, said TLA chief executive Aswin Yangkirativorn. Domestically, the airline, now in its third year of operation, plans to add Trang, Khon Kaen and Phitsanulok while considering connecting Hat Yai with Chiang Mai. The route expansion is consistent with TLAs increased aircraft capacity as five more jets, a combination of Boeing B737-900ERs and 737-800s, are due to join the fleet this year. Of all the new routes, regular services from TLAs Don Mueang airport base in Bangkok to the Thai southern province of Trang and Jakarta will see a more definite timing for a launch next month. That would be followed by an inaugural flight to Yangon from Don Mueang in May. The debut of Vietnamese services, from Don Mueang separately to Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, could commence in the third quarter of this year. Also lining up for a possible third-quarter launch are regular flights to Beijing, from both Don Mueang and Chiang Mai. The airline is keen to serve Japan and has sought Japanese authorities' approval for a Bangkok-Fukuoka route. But Mr Aswin recognised that the planned launch of Fukuoka, or any other destinations in Japan, will not be possible until Thai authorities resolve issues related to aviation safety deficiencies raised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Japan is one of the small number of countries that have strictly complied with the ICAO restrictions on Thailand-registered airlines. The red-flagging by ICAO and subsequently by the US Federal Aviation Administration means that Thailand-registered airlines are not allowed to open new routes, raise the frequencies of existing flights to foreign countries or change the types of aircraft already deployed on services. But those restrictions were for the now-defunct Department of Civil Aviations safety deficiencies rather than the airlines themselves a distinction that aviation authorities are cognisant of. That explains why countries such as China continue to allow Thai-registered airlines to introduce new routes to its territory. The frequencies and commencement dates for the routes planned in 2016 are still being worked out, pending final approval from civil authorities involved as well as the airport time-slot arrangements. However, TLAs Bangkok-Jakarta route, suspended in 2014 as Thai political turmoil affected travel demand, would see a minimum of one flight a day. TLA currently operates 10 domestic routes, nine of which go from Don Mueang, and one international service, Bangkok to Singapore. Read original story here. Yatseniuk says ready for any political decision for sake of stability in Ukraine Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk says he is ready to take any political decisions to form a parliamentary coalition and a new government. "I'm ready for any political decisions for the sake of stability in the country, to form a coalition and a new Cabinet, appoint a new prime minister and let the new government work," he said at a government meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday. In his words, he as prime minister and his parliamentary faction, the People's Front, for the first time are dealing with "gathering a coalition to form a new Cabinet, appoint a new prime minister and approve a new program." "This is something new in Ukraine's political life. But I'm ready for any political solutions for the sake of stability in the country, for new investment, for the International Monetary Fund's ongoing program for Ukraine, further support by Western partners and real changes to be seen by the Ukrainian people," he said. Political stability is needed to facilitate reform, draw investors into Ukraine and encourage economic growth in Ukraine, he added. Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak reports that 6,000 active servicemen out of the planned 45,000 were called up for military service during the fourth wave of partial mobilization have been transferred to the reserve as of today. "The fourth round of demobilization of those 45,000 who have served their service is to begin in April At the moment, we've dismissed 6,000 soldiers already, in the first 10 days we plan to dismiss 18,000 servicemen, and the demobilization is to be completed by the end of April," Poltorak said at a government meeting on Wednesday. He also noted that a number of troops who choose to serve in the Ukrainian army on a contractual basis had grown following the increase in military's allowances. "Due to the work done and an increase in the allowances, I'd like to report that 18,000 soldiers are serving on a contractual basis since the start of this year. This is compared to last year when we had 200-300 contract soldiers per month," he said. The positive dynamics remain unchanged. Preference is given to candidates who have combat experience, he added. Israel does not recommend doing business in occupied Crimea, notwithstanding the fact that Israel is not trying stir up the war issue, this is actually a full blockade from point of Israeli business' view, the expert in Ukrainian-Israeli relations and Israeli editor-in-chief of the Forum Daily newspaper (the United States), Shimon Briman, has said. "In the general, the official position of Israel is neutral, but it mainly aims at developing Ukraine in practice," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday. He said that Israel has not recognized the annexation of Crimea, but Tel-Aviv said that this is not their conflict. Israel is trying to have friendly relations both with Ukraine and Russia. Israel's suspension of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) supplies to Russia and the non-delivery of UAVs to Ukraine is evidence of this. Israel closed the Honorary Consulate in Crimea as soon as their consul backed the occupation. The country opened the Honorary Consulate in Lviv instead. "This was a particular signal for Moscow," Briman said. Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Eliav Belotserkovsky warned Israeli businessmen that Israel does not recommend doing business in occupied Crimea and large Israeli insurance companies stopped insuring deals in the peninsula. The country provides all kinds of assistance to Ukraine. Medical assistance, medical officer and army psychologist training programs are being implemented. A large program to introduce Israeli reclamation and irrigation solutions in the southern regions of Ukraine (Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia region) has been started: 35,000 Ukrainian farmers will have access to advanced Israeli solutions with support of the Canadian government. "This is directly linked to Crimea. It will show that recognized Ukrainian territories are developing, while the occupied territories remain a mess," the journalist said. A movement to support Ukraine has also appeared in Israel - Israeli Friends of Ukraine collected tonnes of food, medicines and other assistance to Ukraine. "I saw how girls in Tel-Aviv sewed camouflage screens for the Ukrainian military," he said. A large scandal in Israel erupted over the visit of Knesset member Yakov Margi to Crimea. The Knesset speaker finally apologized for this trip. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case against Margi. How to watch and what to know about South Dakota State at North Dakota Kyiv's appeal court has accepted the arguments of the prosecutor and validated the arrest of funds accumulated on the bank pension account of former Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov. "Kyiv's appeal court on March 29 accepted the arguments of the prosecutor of Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) and confirmed that the funds accumulated at the bank account [of Azarov] for pension payments is subject to restrictions applicable under Article 170 of Ukraine's Code of Criminal Procedure. Their arrest is declared lawful," the press service of Prosecutor General's Office reported on Wednesday. The Prosecutor General's Office said that the funds have been accumulated in the account opened at Oschadbank. Kyiv's appeal court on February 4 upheld the appeal by Azarov's defense team, saying that the ex-premier's pension could not be arrested, as the court of the first instance arrested not his funds, but his right to receive pension. On March 10, Social Policy Minister Pavlo Rozenko said that Ukraine will not be paying pension to Azarov anymore. The Anti-Corruption Action Center NGO has prepared a statement about criminal offenses committed by employees of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine in response to the launching of criminal proceedings against the organization and the PGO's request to a court to grant permission to seize the organization's possessions and documents. "At the moment, we have found ourselves in a situation where we do not have an official status in the proceedings. We have no right even to appeal against this decision, because it is not provided by the Criminal Procedure Code. But we view the actions of employees of the law-enforcement agency (the PGO) as criminal, so we have prepared a statement about the crimes committed by employees of the Prosecutor General's Office. We believe that these employees are acting on the instructions of superior officers, such as [former prosecutor general Viktor] Shokin, Stoliarchuk and Sevruk [his deputies Yuriy Stoliarchuk and Yuriy Sevruk]. Their criminal actions include abuse of power and the entry of deliberately false information into the pre-trial investigations registry," lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Olena Scherban said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday. According to her, the organization's lawyers will ask the Prosecutor General's Office to close the criminal proceedings due to lack of evidence of a crime. "If the Prosecutor General's Office refuses to grant our requests... we will go to court," she said. Scherban pointed out that the mere fact of launching criminal proceedings in connection with misappropriation of the funds provided by the U.S. government is illegal. "Because the ruling of the Pechersky court contains the description of the case, which fails to state the actions of any individual, including those from the Anti-Corruption Action Center resulting in stealing, embezzlement or misappropriation of these funds. There is no reference to a single provision of Ukrainian laws or international treaties which were allegedly violated by those featured in these proceedings. Therefore, objectively, no such crime took place," she explained. Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Daria Kaleniuk, for her part, stressed that after the incident representatives of the center met with the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who expressed both publicly and in private conversation his full support for the actions of the organization. "The U.S. Embassy has no objections to the way we are carrying out the U.S. grant. Once again, this grant is not intended for the reform the prosecutor's office," she said. Chairman of the Board of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Vitaliy Shabunin believes that the main goal of the Prosecutor General's Office is putting political pressure on the organization. "We have consistently criticized the prosecutor general and his two deputies Sevruk and Stoliarchuk, describing how in the past six months this team flushed key proceedings against [ex-president of Ukraine Viktor] Yanukovych and his associates down the drain. It is a simple revenge, including by Mr. Stoliarchuk. Recently, we have addressed Shokin with the demand to dismiss Stoliarchuk for the fact that while supervising the case of [businessman and former MP of the Party of Regions] Yuriy Ivaniuschenko, the court closed it because in the course of a year only one procedural action was taken the questioning of the lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, who reported the crime," he said. On March 25 it became known that the Kyiv Pechersky Court granted permission to investigators of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to seize possessions and documents of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, as well as the documents containing information covered by bank secrecy laws and are owned by banks which service the center. The court order is dated March 22. The Pechersky District Court issued this order in response to an application made by a senior investigator for particularly important cases of the division for criminal inquiries in the field of property of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, V. Mashyka. "As part of the pre-trial investigation, the PGO investigators are searching the funds which the U.S. government assigned for the reform of the criminal justice system [in Ukraine] and which, in the PGO's opinion, should have come directly to the accounts of the law enforcement agency. As this interpretation of the use of international technical assistance is absurd, the Anti-Corruption Action Center considers the criminal proceedings to be a mere excuse for intervening and obstructing the work of the non-governmental organization, arresting its accounts and launching criminal proceedings against its employees, who have publicly criticized the work of the leadership of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine," the organization said. On Thursday, March 31, at 13.00, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency's press center will host a press conference on the results of the poll "Are Kyivans Ready to Pay Public Officer, Doctor, Teacher UAH 100 Unofficially in Order to Promptly Solve Personal Issues?" The participants will include expert at Svidomi public organization Yana Melnyk; lawyers of the organization Ihor Kuzminsky and Yulia Vitriak; public activist Oleksiy Mkrtchian (8/5-A Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation. More details at (095)653 3799. Not that there needs to be a reason to celebrate, but April is National Grilled Cheese Month and Canada makes some of the best cheese (and bread) in the world. So if youre going to make a grilled cheese, treat the ingredients with respect. We got you covered, from the scientifically proven way to make the best cheese toast to five variations on the classic cheddar on white bread from local cheese experts. Trust us, its gonna be Gouda. The scientifically proven perfect cheese toast In an unexpected example of corporate synergy, the 175-year-old Royal Society of Chemistry, a U.K.-based non-profit of chemical scientists from around the world, and the British Cheese Board came up with the formula for creating the perfect slice of cheese toast in August 2013. In the press release, head chemist Ruth Neale described the perfect slice thusly: As the result of tests we carried out in our Chemistry Centre kitchen, we found that the perfect slice can be made by melting 50 g of sliced hard cheese, such as cheddar, on a slice of white bread, 10 mm thick, under the grill. The cheese on toast should sit at a distance of 18 cm from the heat source which in our grill was at a temperature of 115C and needs to cook for four minutes to achieve the perfect consistency and taste. Heres what it means for non-scientists: Step 1: Put 50 grams of medium sharp cheddar on a slice of 1-cm-thick white sandwich bread. Step 2: Place bread on a lined pan in the oven. Make sure the bread is 18 cm under the heating element. Step 3: Broil for four minutes at 240F (115C), or the low setting (our cheese didnt start bubbling until the seven-minute mark, since oven temperatures can vary depending on the make and model). Step 4: Eat it. Verdict: Never doubt science. The slice of cheese was smaller than the slice of bread but once it melted, the gooey cheese melted perfectly to reach the four corners of the slice. I thought that the bread would be too thin, since a regular slice of Wonder Bread is thicker than 1 cm but it acted as the perfect vehicle for the cheese. The bread was crisp but not burnt so it didnt overshadow the flavour of the bubbly cheese. While turning on the broiler and breaking out the digital scale to measure cheese is a big production for toast, it is good to know of the potential deliciousness that could be had. Five Next-Level Grilled Cheeses Nothing is wrong with melting a slice or two of Kraft Singles on Wonder Bread to satisfy the craving, but we asked five cheese experts for some more adventurous flavour combinations, beyond the basic apple and cheddar or brie and pear. Cheese Boutiques Strawberry Compote and Mascarpone on Brioche For a sweet take on cheese toast, west-end cheese mecca Cheese Boutique owner Afrim Pristine would spread creamy mascarpone and tart strawberry compote on a buttery brioche. You wouldnt want to grill and press down on a delicate brioche bun like sandwich bread, so heat it in the oven or toaster oven until the cheese starts to run. I love the combination of strawberries and balsamic. Adding mascarpone only makes sense. The cheese is rich, creamy and naturally sweet, which contrasts the acidity and tartness of the balsamic, says Pristine. Mascarpone blends in well with other ingredients, and doesnt take over like other cheeses would in desserts. Individually sized brioches can be found at bakeries like Brioche Doree and of course, Riverside institution Bonjour Brioche. Strawberry compote is incredibly easy to make and once youve got it down, youll want to add it to other desserts like ice cream, pound cakes and cheesecakes. Sweet Strawberry Compote and Mascarpone on Brioche 2 small brioche buns 2 tbsp (30 mL) mascarpone 1/4 cup (60 mL) strawberry compote (recipe follows) Balsamic vinegar, to taste Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 F (180 C). Slice brioche buns in half. Spread mascarpone and strawberry compote on bottom halves of both brioches. Place bottom and top halves of brioches on a lined baking sheet and bake until mascarpone begins to melt and bread is slightly toasted, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Drizzle balsamic vinegar on bottom halves of brioches. Place brioche tops on bottoms. Serve immediately. Makes 2 brioches. Strawberry Compote 1 cup (250 mL) strawberries, tops removed and quartered 2 tsp (10 mL) granulated sugar 2 tsp (10 mL) lemon juice In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add all ingredients and stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a slow simmer. Cover and continue to cook until strawberries break down and become dark and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove lid; stir occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Makes about 1/4 cup strawberry compote. Cheesewerks Beijing Grilled Cheese Dont knock it till youve tried it. Cheesewerks, the grilled cheese restaurant at Bathurst and Wellington, has an eclectic menu and owner Kevin Durkee suggests making his Beijing grilled cheese where Asiago is paired with Chinese barbecue pork, yep the kind you get at Chinatown. Each of the Cheesewerks cities are inspired by places we love, places weve eaten and spots filled with family stories, says Durkee. I was married in 2008 and spent my honeymoon at the Beijing Olympicsso this dim sum-inspired combination is a nod to my husbands family (hes Chinese) and our amazing honeymoon together. Asiago was chosen because it adds a sharpness and saltiness that compliments the sweetness of the hoisin and inherent crisp, onion flavour. Beijing Grilled Cheese Room temperature unsalted butter, for buttering bread 2 thick slices Freds Bread herb and onion sourdough, or plain sourdough 1 cup (250 mL) shredded Asiago 6 thin slices Chinese barbecue pork 2 green onion shoots, thinly sliced Hoisin sauce, to taste Butter outside of each bread slice. Sprinkle half of cheese on one slice of bread. Layer barbecue pork and green onions on top. Drizzle with hoisin and add remaining cheese. Top with other bread slice. Grill on a grill pan or skillet on medium for about 4 minutes per side until bread is golden and cheese has melted. Cut in half diagonally and serve immediately. Makes 1 sandwich. Leslieville Cheese Markets Muenster and HP Grilled Cheese This rustic bread should not be confused with the cornbread thats a staple in the cuisine of the American South. Portuguese cornbread is crusty and dense and not as airy like its American counterpart, making it perfect for holding its integrity after being pressed on a hot grill. Find it at a number of Portuguese bakeries across the city (Ossingtons Venezia Bakery is the gold standard for many). William Joseph, manager at the Leslieville Cheese Market at Queen East and Broadview, keeps it simple by pairing the bread with Muenster, a pale, semi-soft cows milk cheese from the U.S. known for its characteristic orange rind (not to be confused with a similarly named Munster, a soft pungent French cheese from which Muenster originated). Muenster melts incredibly well and is a go-to for quesadillas, tuna melts and mac and cheese. HP sauce adds a tangy flavour and the Muenster is a soft delicate flavour, says Joseph. Both go well together. Muenster and HP Grilled Cheese 2 thick slices Portuguese cornbread Room temperature unsalted butter 3 Muenster slices HP sauce, to taste Butter outside of both bread slices. Layer cheese on one slice of bread. Drizzle with HP sauce and top with other bread slice. Grill on a hot pan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until cheese has melted. Serve immediately. Makes 1 sandwich. Thin Blue Lines Zythologue and Apple Curry Grilled Cheese Fans of a more pungent cheese should try this sandwich pairing by Roncesvalles beloved fromagerie. Owner Marc Rozender is a big fan of Quebec cheeses and recommends using Zythologue, a semifirm cows milk cheese thats aged in beer by Fromagerie Hamel in Montreal. In the rind youll find little crystals of flavour from the beer and a sweetness you dont expect in a raclette, he explains. The cheese starts with caramel and is followed by a walnut and almost almond nuttiness. Then that vegetable taste so distinctive of raclettes comes through and in this case, artichoke. Pair the aromatic cheese with sourdough (Rozender prefers Epi Breads for its exceptionally crisp crust and chewy interior), salted butter (he also prefers the lighter, grassier flavour of Cows Creamy butter) and a big spoon of apple curry chutney from local preserves company Spade and Spoon (find them at the Dufferin Grove or Sorauren Park farmers market in the city). If you cant find Zythologue, substitute with another raclette, though all the ingredients listed here are available at Thin Blue Line. Zythologue and Apple Curry Grilled Cheese 2 thick slices sourdough Room temperature salted butter 3/4 cup (180 mL) grated Zythologue or raclette 1 tbsp (15 mL) apple curry chutney or any fruit-based chutney Butter both sides of bread. Sprinkle one slice with cheese and chutney and sandwich other bread slice on top. Grill on a skillet over medium heat on both sides until bread is golden brown and cheese has melted. Serve immediately. Makes 1 sandwich. Monforte on Wellingtons Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese This sandwich is for voracious appetites who want the appetizer, side and main all in one bite. Tyler Cormier, co-chef of Monforte Dairys Monforte on Wellington restaurant in Stratford, suggests this take on the Cubano. A Cuban is a known classic but with the twist of Perth county pork and Monforte cheddar it brings it to a new level, he says. Each component brings its own unique flavour profile from the acidity of the mustard, saltiness of pickles, the juicy pork and richness of our cheddar. Here, theres already a lot of flavour in the filling so white sandwich bread works. If youre not in the mood to make pulled pork from scratch, you can buy it pre-made at supermarkets. Try Lous Barbecue Co. fully cooked pulled pork available at No Frills, Loblaws and Walmart, which you can reheat in the microwave. Cucumber pickles are essentially quick pickles and have a crisper and stronger grassy crunch than regular pickles. Make a bunch of them to add to salads or serve as a side to other grilled cheeses. Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese 2 thick slices white sandwich bread Room temperature unsalted butter 1 cup (250 mL) cooked pulled pork, reheated and shredded 1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded medium cheddar 1/4 cup (60 mL) cucumber pickles (recipe follows) Grainy mustard, to taste Butter outside sides of bread. Layer one slice with pulled pork, cheddar and cucumber. Add mustard. Top with other slice of bread. On a grill pan over medium heat, sear sandwich for 4 minutes on each side until cheese has melted. Cut sandwich in half and serve immediately. Makes 1 sandwich. Cucumber Pickles 1/2 cup (125 mL) thinly sliced cucumber 1/4 cup (60 mL) white vinegar 1/4 cup (60 mL) cold water 1/2 tsp (2 mL) table salt 1/2 tsp (2 mL) granulated sugar Place cucumbers in a small bowl. Add in vinegar and water. Stir in salt and sugar until dissolved. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Makes about 1/2 cup quick pickles. All recipes tested by The Star. SHARE: Fully expecting his son to sign a peace bond and come home, Kevin Omar Mohameds father brought a change of clothes to his court hearing on Tuesday, folded in a torn paper bag placed between his feet. But instead of being released, his 23-year-old son left for jail in handcuffs and became the latest young man accused of travelling to the Middle East to join a group Canada considers terroristin this case Jabhat al-Nusra, a branch of Al Qaeda fighting in Syria. Mohamed sat slumped in the prisoners box, bearded and thick-framed, and nodded gently as Crown lawyer Sarah Shaikh formally charged him with participating in the activity of a terrorist group. The RCMP alleges the former University of Waterloo engineering student travelled to Turkey in the spring of 2014 to join Jabhat al-Nusra. Police also claim that between April 2014 and March of this year, Mohamed did knowingly participate or contribute to the activity of a terrorist group while in Whitby, Waterloo, Mississauga and elsewhere in Ontario. We were able to not only disrupt this threat to our countrys national security, but also to bring this individual before the Canadian justice system, said James Malizia, the RCMPs assistant commissioner responsible for federal operations, in a statement Tuesday. Mohameds lawyer, Anser Farooq, said he and his clients family were blindsided by the charge. I was first made aware of this as I walked into court, Farooq said after Mohamed was remanded in custody at a Brampton courthouse. We had clothing and everything. Mohamed was initially arrested in Waterloo on Friday. Though he was charged with two weapons offences relating to a hunting knife, the RCMP announced over the weekend that he was apprehended under a fear of terrorism provision in the Criminal Code, a preventive measure that allows police to place restrictions on suspects through peace bonds when there isnt enough evidence for a criminal charge. Farooq said he didnt know why his client was not charged with the terrorism offence at the time of his arrest, when police told him they were investigating Mohamed for five terrorism offences. They may lay more (charges), they may not, he said. Thats entirely up to the Crown. RCMP Sgt. Adam MacIntosh, the arresting officer who was in court on Tuesday, told the Star he couldnt talk about the details of the case. The participation charge that Mohamed faces is under section 83.18 of the Criminal Code, an offence that lawyer Breese Davies said terror suspects are frequently accused of in Canada. Many of the Toronto 18 suspects, convicted of plotting to set off bombs in Ontarios capital, were charged with it. So were the VIA Rail terror plotters, one of whom Davies represented in court. Generally thats the offence, because it is flexible enough to capture almost any conduct, said Davies, who was also one of the lawyers involved in a 2012 Supreme Court challenge of the participation offence and other terrorist crimes in the Criminal Code. Davies said offending conduct for the charge can be anything from fixing a car belonging to a terrorist group to building a bomb. The key aspect is intent, she said. To be found guilty, the accused person must be aware that their actionscarried out with clear-eyed intentwill help or enhance a terrorist group in its activities. Asked if she might know why police would arrest Mohamed and wait four days to charge him with the offence, Davies said such delays are not unusual. She speculated that police could have interrogated him for more evidence, or searched his computer and phone. She also said that the cities named in the charge sheet would likely mean police have evidence that elements of the offence were carried out therein Whitby, Waterloo, Mississauga and elsewhere. Mohamed has been linked by numerous sources to a Twitter account under the name Abu Jayyid. Mubin Shaikh, a former RCMP and CSIS informant who worked on the Toronto 18 case, said he was following the account for the past two years. Hes not a hardcore ideologuethat I dont believe. That he is a sympathizer, big time, is without question, Shaikh said. Shaikh, as well as a friend of Mohameds who asked not to be named for fear of being investigated himself, told the Star that Mohamed did travel to Turkey in 2014 with his brother and mother. Mohameds friend told the Star on Tuesday that he was shocked to learn of the terrorism charge, but that he heard Mohamed talk supportively of al-Nusra and other groups in Syria that are fighting the central government of Bashar Assad. Him actually going there (to join) is hard to imagine, the friend said. Is it impossible? No. Is it hard to believe? Kind of. Mohamed is slated to appear in court April 19 for a bail hearing thats expected to last three days. The maximum penalty for his terrorism charge is 10 years in prison. RELATED:Police use new fear of terrorism law in arrest of Kevin Mohamed SHARE: I commit to you that the Government of Canada will walk with you on a path of true reconciliation, in partnership and friendship. So vowed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he donned the traditional headdress accompanying honorary membership in the Tsuutina Nation earlier this month. The ceremony, held near Calgary, Alberta, involved over 100 Treaty Chiefs from across Canada. Trudeau was also awarded the name Gumistiyi, The One Who Keeps Trying. As evidenced by the governments inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women, as well as last weeks budget, which directs billions in new funding toward indigenous communities, Trudeau is indeed trying to signal a new federal relationship with Canadas indigenous citizens. As the prime minister claimed, there was no relationship more important to me and to Canada than the one involving First Nations, the Metis Nation, and the Inuit. In the budget released last Tuesday by Finance Minister Bill Morneau, $8.4 billion has been earmarked over the next five years, in phases, for infrastructure, health and education initiatives. Declaring the new investment historic, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde claimed the new funding will be a very significant step in improving the quality of life for our people. The new spending is unparalleled, pledging $3.4 billion more than the moribund 2005 Kelowna Accord, which was endorsed by Paul Martin but eschewed by Stephen Harper. This budgetary promise to Canadas indigenous communities is as encouraging as it is overdue. As a CBC investigation released last fall revealed, many of Canadas First Nations still experience appalling health, housing, and sanitation services, mirroring in some cases the desperate conditions of the most impoverished nations in the global south (conditions of special concern for MP Carolyn Bennett, herself a physician and now Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs). Two-thirds of all Canadas First Nations communities, for example, have been under a drinking water advisory during the past decade, with the Neskantaga First Nation of Ontario suffering under a boil water order for 20 years. Imagine having to boil your city tap water for 20 days, let alone 20 years, and you get a droplet of what our indigenous brothers and sisters have to endure each day. For years. And as UN human rights observers, government reports, and media investigations have repeatedly observed, First Nations housing across the nation is deplorable, with severe shortages, overcrowding, and ramshackle homes the norm rather than the exception. In the devastating case of the northern Ontario Cree community of Attawapiskat, for example, the Cree leadership was forced to declare a state of emergency five years ago. With dozens of families living in non-insulated tents and makeshift sheds, sans heat or water, and many more living in condemned buildings, conditions are death-dealing. The average temperature for January in Attawapiskat is -27C. While indigenous leaders such as Chief Bellegarde have welcomed the increased resources heralded in the new budget, others, such as Cindy Blackstock, President of the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society, have been less enthusiastic. She notes that $634.8 million pledged to child welfare is spread out over five years, when there is urgent need now for help. Moreover, she notes, the largest portion is slated for the fall of 2019, after the next federal election. For Timothy Leduc, a scholar whose research touches on indigenous world views and climate change, such critiques reflect a sense that Canada needs to move eventually to a federal budget that totally revisions the status quo. Leduc, a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University and author of the forthcoming book, A Climate of Mind: Passages from Fur to Energy and Beyond, notes there is a deep historic discord between Canadas historical resource-based economy and Indigenous lifeways entailing profound connections to the land. We are in a time, he avers, when fast and broad changes are needed; changes that have cultural depth and practical implications for all. As Leducs work suggests, the healing of relations and the fostering of friendship among indigenous persons, the Canadian government, and the entire multicultural skein of Canada, will involve deep shifts in our reigning social, economic, cultural and ecological patterns. This healing will require that all of us, not just the prime minister, keep trying. Stephen Bede Scharper is an associate professor of environment at the University of Toronto. His column appears monthly. stephen.scharper@utoronto.ca SHARE: CAIRO, March 29 --The passengers of Egypt's previously hijacked Egyptian airplane have arrived at Cairo International Airport on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, all 81 passengers, including 21 foreigners, were freed in Cyprus and the kidnapper was arrested. EgyptAir's Airbus 320 was in a domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo before it was hijacked by Seif-Eddin Mostafa, a59-year-old Egyptian, who wore a fake explosive belt and forced the crew to land in Larnaca airport in Cyprus. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, accompanied by Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy who went earlier Tuesday to Cyprus, met with the passengers and crew members at the airport. Most of our security experts confirmed that the belt was not explosive, the Egyptian aviation minister told reporters at the airport. "The belt was not explosive and that is why it did not appear at the security check machine at the airport, without any material that can be detected," he added. Egyptian Tourism Minister Mohamed Yahia Rashed told Xinhua that the incident has "a positive sign" as it showed the professional and quick response of the Egyptian authorities. "Within hours, we successfully saved all the passengers and no one of them was hurt, while the hijacker was arrested," the minister said, adding that this is a testimony for the Egyptian security system and a message that Egypt is safe. Egyptian official reports said the incident was not terrorism-related and that the hijacker was "a fraudulent and a forger" who faced relevant charges in lawsuit cases. The Interior Ministry said in an earlier statement on Tuesday that the man had a Cypriot ex-wife. He had been sentenced to one year in jail but escaped amid the 2011 political turmoil, then went back to prison in January 2014 and was released last year. China established a strategic partnership with the Czech Republic on Tuesday during the visit by President Xi Jinping to the European nation. It is the first state visit by a Chinese president since diplomatic ties were established with the former Czechoslovakia 67 years ago. Xi and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman signed a joint statement on the partnership after official talks. They also witnessed the signing of nine documents, covering fields such as electronic business and investment. "The strategic partnership has laid a political foundation for future development of our relations," Xi said at a news conference. Zeman has hailed the visit as a watershed in the nations' ties and has estimated that business deals to be signed during Xi's trip could bring in nearly $4 billion in Chinese investment this year. He told China Central Television earlier, "It's a new start, since we used to have terrible relations with China and the previous government gave in to pressure from the United States and the European Union. "We ... formulate our foreign policy based on our own interests." President Xi said on Tuesday the two countries will draw up a guideline to link China's Belt and Road Initiative with the Czech Republic's development strategy and further extend it to China's cooperation with countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The two nations will promote cooperation in fields including infrastructure, financing and high-technology and sign deals on large nuclear energy projects, Xi said. "In the past two years, I have met President Zeman five times. We have become good friends and old friends," he said. Following his state visit to China in October 2014, Zeman visited Beijing in September last year to attend the commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). Zeman told reporters on Tuesday that the Czech-headquartered automobile company Skoda will invest 60 billion crowns ($2.48 billion) in China to build factories. "I hope the Czech Republic will become the gateway for China to enter the European Union," he said. In the morning, Xi was greeted with a 21-gun salute at Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech presidency. He also greeted an honor guard. China is the Czech Republic's largest trading partner outside the EU, with annual bilateral trade worth $21 billion. The two countries have agreed to discuss establishing a renminbi clearing center in the Czech Republic. Ma Junchi, a researcher of European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Xi's visit comes as the two countries in recent years have seen the fastest development since diplomatic ties were established. Zhao Junjie, another CASS researcher, said, "One of every four cars made by Skoda is now sold to China." He said the Czech Republic needs Chinese funding and advanced technology in infrastructure, and is eager to explore the huge Chinese market. Log In Receive full access to our market insights, commentary, newsletters, breaking news alerts, and more. Log In If what goes up must come down is true for economies as well as gravity, we should all be bracing for the next big bust. That's the basic premise of the new film Boom Boom Bust, a delightfully wry movie about the inevitability of free markets to crash. Try as we might, we can't break this pattern. There's a moment in the film in which former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan appears before the U.S. Congress at the height of the 2008 financial crisis to admit he had it all wrong. Greenspan is being asked why the nation's banks, managed by some of the world's highest-paid and (presumably) smartest executives, were forced to plead for massive government bailouts. The man who Bob Woodward adoringly called Maestro, and who had successfully convinced U.S. presidents, no matter the party, that corporations work best without government oversight, concedes in tortured prose that he had found a "flaw in the model that I perceived as the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works, so to speak." "I was shocked," Greenspan says, "because I had been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well." But it wasn't, and it didn't. The system of self-regulating industries, the sanctified "invisible hand" that Greenspan and the country's leading bank and corporate executives had long defended as the holy grail, had failed. And the agonizing outcome was a painful financial crisis that threw millions from their homes, and their jobs, both in the U.S. and around the world. But the 2008 financial crisis isn't the story that Boom Boom Bust filmmakers Bill Jones and Ben Timlett want to tell. Their tale is a far bigger and much more interesting story. Boom Boom Bust is concerned with the root of capitalism's proclivity for crisis. Why it is that time and again, societies are forced to struggle through booms and busts. "It's not just one crash, it's a repetitive thing," Theo Kocken, an economist professor who helped Jones and Timlett write the film, said in an interview in New York earlier this month. "It's not one thing, the banks, but the people at the central banks, the government, and it's not one big conspiracy but more about human nature, endogenous to the next crisis -- and it happens all over again." At a time when U.S. stocks are declining, the Eurozone is flirting with deflation and China's once meteoric growth is slowing, are we headed for yet another global financial crisis? The clear answer the film gives is, "Hell Yes!" And to expect otherwise is to be foolish. Just look at history. Booms and busts are an integral part of modern economies despite the protests of Greenspan and other staunch defenders of the neoclassical economic model that rational people operate in perfectly competitive markets. There's Tulip Mania of 1637, the South Sea Bubble of 1715, Railway Mania of 1840, and most spectacularly, the Crash of 1929. In each instance, optimism led to euphoria that led to more optimism, and then, seemingly overnight, intense pessimism and financial crisis. "Speculation combined with borrowed money is the most toxic combination in capitalism," Terry Jones explains, his eyebrows rising. If Greenspan is the movie's villain, the film's hero is Hyman Minsky, the largely marginalized Chicago-born economist whose Financial Instability Hypothesis all but predicts the inevitability of booms and busts. In one scene, Minsky comes to life as a puppet, speaking with his father, Alan Minsky, who sits in a chair in the professor's study. The conversation tries to distill his father's analysis, a theory based as much on economics as human nature. "Wait, let me get this straight," the son says, "after a deep depression, government's impose regulation on the financial world, and there follows a period of stability. But the problem with this stability is that it breeds overconfidence, which leads to financial euphoria, during which time the politicians relax the regulations. This leads to excessive borrowing, and excessive borrowing and euphoric bubbles, cause instability." "By jove, I think my boy's got it," says the father-puppet. Of course, politicians and especially, the economics academy, doesn't get it. Or more precisely, insists, as if on cue in the cycle, that regulation isn't needed, and actually makes things worse. Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz argue the economy would function better if the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law were repealed. Boom Boom Bust says otherwise. "Another crisis is inevitable," said Bill Jones, whose previous film was A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman. "The only thing we can know is whether we can mitigate the ripple effects, the repercussions that effect everyone. Can we minimize those effects -- that's the only question." Narrated by Jones' father Terry, best known as an original member of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the film's otherwise dry subject is sweetened through a fast-paced series of interviews with surprisingly colorful economists, lots of ingenious animation, some of its reminiscent of Python, and some engaging and amusing puppets. "It's very hard to engage normal people in probably the driest subject of all, which is economics," Timlett said. "Straight off, we needed other things, we needed humor, and animation and puppets. We needed to keep it funny and entertaining if we were to get across these complicated, difficult ideas." Boom Boom Bust, which opened earlier this month and is now available on Apple's iTunes and Amazon Prime. Financial stress is an all-too-real malady afflicting U.S. adults. Recent data from Bankrate shows financial stress impacts 45% of all employees, and it distracts one out of every five workers. Fueling some of that distress is a lack of savings -- 63% of Americans don't have emergency savings for serious situations, like an unexpected car repair or a deductible payment for a serious health issue. U.S. companies are aware of employee financial stress, and many, to their credit, have taken strong steps to do something about the problem. In a 2014 survey of 400 companies, Aon Hewitt reported three out of four are "somewhat or very likely" to expand employee benefits designed to promote financial well-being. Another 25% are likely to assist employees in "developing the skills needed to budget and manage their money." In a separate report from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, employer-sponsored financial wellness programs "are not something employers are promoting just because they want to be good corporate citizens, though many do." The CFPM states that "large and small employers are beginning to think about financial wellness programs at work, because it makes business sense to do so. In an economy where so many employees are stressed about money, providing talented workers with tools to address that stress can be a competitive edge." The CFPB says U.S. companies do well in some financial wellness program areas, especially on money management educational skills and the importance of saving for retirement. But in other areas, like managing short-term credit, companies have a ways to go before they're really helping workers alleviate financial stress. If you're a career professional and have either been offered access to, or are already using a financial wellness program at work, what can you do, specifically, to maximize the experience? That's a question TheStreet asked financial and employee benefit professionals, who offer multiple services and components staffers should be demanding with their financial wellness programs. Here's what they advise: Make a list - Dan Iannicola, a former Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Literacy and founder of The Financial Literacy Group, located in Washington, D.C., advises bringing a checklist to the table before, or just as you're offered a financial wellness program at work: According to Iannicola, a strong workplace financial wellness program should: Be offered by a certified provider. Be offered when people are on the clock (and people are truly encouraged to attend) versus a lunchtime seminar. Be sales free; the presenter shouldn't be selling financial services/products to employees. Include a variety of relevant topics. "That's not just about retirement or using your company benefits," he says. "If that happens, the program becomes merely an HR how-to session about filling out forms and you won't get repeat attendees. Instead, topics can include things like how to help your parents deal with Medicare, Social Security or you kids navigate the college financial aid process. Offer individualized, confidential follow-up (i.e. phone or email support). Offer web content w/ tools & information permit learning to continue after the session has ended. Leverage technology - "The hallmarks of a successful financial program include a wide array of resources that not only raise awareness, but also provides a real solution for a financial crisis," says Mike Lamb, chief executive officer and president at Viverae, a workplace wellness provider based in Dallas. "Look for a dashboard that links all of your accounts in an easy, secure portal, which will provide customized data for sound financial advice and tips based on your habits. Tools like budget builders, financial calculators, expense sheets and a mobile app are also helpful. These tools keep you connected and go a long way toward helping you make informed decisions." Offer easy access - "A great financial wellness program should be holistic, provide good sound advice for every day finances, but also provide human guidance to handle unexpected surprises or financial shocks," notes Anthony Del Porto, a spokesperson for Questis, Inc., a financial wellness program provider based in Charleston, S.C. "The best programs provide easy online access -- desktop or mobile -- so that they can be used anywhere, give access to human financial planners so that people can ask questions that are about their specific personal situation, and they include accountability/follow-up so that the user actually follows through on the necessary actions to improve their finances. "Software-only solutions don't work for everyone, because sometimes things come up that aren't handled by software very well," says Del Porto. "For example, someone's wages are being garnished by the IRS to a tune of 50% of their take-home pay. That's actually a scenario where we helped someone fix the problem. A robo-advisor style financial wellness program solution wouldn't have handled the issue." Financial wellness programs can be a huge help to financially stressed American workers. But such programs won't have significant, positive impact unless they meet the unique needs of participants. If they have the components listed above, though, program participants can expect a valuable learning experience -- one that can help alleviate money worries once plan lessons are absorbed into a worker's everyday life. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. electorate has an unfavorable view of GOP frontrunner Donald Trump; could backing him draw similar ire from voters? It's a risk that a few politicians have decided to take. As the field of GOP contenders has been whittled down and Trump continues to hold a commanding lead, despite his polarizing personality, he has managed to pick up a handful of endorsements. Thus far, most appear to be strategic bets. U.S. Representatives Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California became the first sitting members of Congress to back the real estate magnate in February. Governors Chris Christie of New Jersey, Paul LePage of Maine and Rick Scott of Florida have endorsed Trump as well, as has Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama and a handful of other members of Congress from Tennessee, Pennsylvania and New York. "I don't think that any of them woke up a week ago and thought Donald Trump was a wonderful person and a great candidate," said Gary Jacobson, professor of political science at the University of California San Diego, in a phone interview. As to why they're jumping on the Trump train now, it is largely a tactical decision with the details varying, depending on who we're talking about. "The key is what is their goal for the endorsement? Is it because they truly like him and his platform? Is it because they might want something in the administration should he win?" said Susan MacManus, professor of political science at the University of South Florida. Duncan Hunter Per Jacobson, Hunter's endorsement aligns with his own political persona. Hunter represents California's 50th District, "one of the most conservative Republican districts in the country." It is also located in the southern part of the state near the Mexican border. "He has no worries that there are enough moderates there to desert him for a Democrat if he associates too strongly with Trump. He has been hard-nosed on immigration throughout his career, so supporting someone who is even more hard-nosed is not inconsistent with his past positions," said Jacobson, who resides in California's 52nd District, which borders the district Hunter represents. "He represents the kind of constituents that do like Trump." Chris Collins Something similar is true of Collins, who represents New York's 27th District in the western part of the state. The district is generally regarded as a fairly safe Republican one, said Jeff Koch, professor and chair of political science and international relations at the State University of New York Geneseo, which is located in the district Collins represents. He added that the demographics of the area are also those that tend to favor Trump -- predominantly white constituents of modest incomes. "I don't think [Collins] really has much to fear or gain in terms of his own electoral prospects," said Koch. "At the end of the day, in terms of his reelection, it's not really going to matter." Jeff Sessions Alabama's Sessions, who in February backed Trump and currently is the only U.S. Senator to have officially endorsed the real estate magnate, enjoys a comfortable cushion of popularity in his state that leaves him relatively free of risk, said Quin Hillyer, a long-time conservative columnist from Mobile. "I know a lot of people that are extremely disappointed in him for endorsing Trump, but I don't know that it puts him at any long-term political risk," he said. Chris Christie "Some of the high-profile endorsers are not doing particularly well in their home states," said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin Madison. "These politicians don't have a lot to lose at this point." Such is the case of Governor Christie, who in February endorsed Trump after suspending his own White House bid. While the decision appears to have hurt his standing in his home state, because he is ineligible for reelection (New Jersey governors are limited to serving two consecutive terms), it doesn't make much of a difference. In the wake of the endorsement, six New Jersey newspapers joined forces demanding the governor resign. "We're fed up of his continuing travel out of state on New Jersey's dime, stumping for Trump, after finally abandoning his own presidential campaign," they wrote. A March poll from Farleigh Dickinson University's survey research center PublicMind indicated that Christie's Trump endorsement negatively impacted his approval rating. According to Krista Jenkins, professor of political science at the university and executive director of PublicMind, pollsters saw a six-point drop in Christie's approval in the days after he announced his endorsement of the GOP frontrunner. "I think it's clear that, in New Jersey at least, his endorsement of Trump has certainly not helped him at all," said Jenkins. However, she noted that Christie has "struggled in the state for quite some time," with his approval ratings stuck in the 30s. "He's clearly looking beyond this position that he's in now, and he's looking at his next job." Rick Scott Florida Governor Scott, like Christie, is subject to a limit of two consecutive terms and therefore has little to lose in backing Trump as well. Moreover, he waited until after his state's primary to announce his decision, endorsing Trump the day after Florida voted. "I think that was a factor," said Burden, adding that Scott, like Trump, is a businessman who likes to cast himself as an outsider. "I think he saw that Trump was a potential meal ticket, because he was going to win the state." Hardest Decisions to Come For many politicians endorsing Trump up to now, the decision has been relatively easy -- their constituents like the GOP frontrunner, they are popular enough on their own, or they don't have a chance at reelection anyway. But for those who haven't yet jumped on the Trump train -- or come out against him --there lies a bumpy road ahead. "There will be some Republicans who say, 'I can't support the guy because of who he is and what he represents,'" said Jacobson. "There will be others who calculate their political futures depending on whether or not association with him is a positive or a negative, or whether holding your nose and being a party loyalist is a plus or a minus." Many Republicans are becoming increasingly concerned that a Trump nomination might significantly hurt down-ballot candidates and put the party's congressional majorities at a significant risk. There is some evidence to suggest that could be the case. A recent poll from Public Policy Polling indicates how Trump may hurt U.S. Senator Richard Burr's chances at reelection in North Carolina: 48% of voters say they are less inclined to vote for the incumbent if he backs Trump, compared to just 22% who say it would make them more likely to vote for him. "If Trump gets the nomination, every Republican candidate will be asked [what they think of Trump], and it will put some in a tough spot," said Hillyer. "Anybody who wants Republicans to keep Congressional majorities should hope that Trump is not the nominee." Of course, not everyone agrees. Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who is in a tight race for reelection against Democrat and former Senator Russ Feingold in Wisconsin, said in a recent interview with CNNhe believes Trump at the top of the ticket might help the party's prospects overall. "Certainly, I hear a lot of support because what Donald Trump is saying resonates with an awful lot of people when it comes to the incompetence in Washington, D.C.," he said. Senator Johnson appears to already be foreshadowing his answer to the Trump question, and moving forward, others will have to do the same. "We're in uncharted territory. Republicans have never really faced a situation like this," said Burden. "There's a lot of soul-searching going on." LONDON (The Deal) -- European stocks rose on Wednesday, taking their cue from Tuesday's Wall Street gains following dovish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 1.42% at 6,192.31, while in Paris the CAC 40 was 1.38% higher at 4,426.74. In Frankfurt, the DAX climbed 1.34% to 10,020.75. S&P 500 futures were up 0.48%. The morning jolt came a day after Yellen reasserted a cautious interest-rate policy, saying that "only gradual increases in the federal funds rate are likely to be warranted in coming years" given the current economic climate. Oil prices also gained, with Brent crude up 1.3% at $39.65 a barrel. In Europe, the bullish mood refused to be dampened by a fall in economic sentiment in the euro-area and the 28-member European Union, both seeing their third straight monthly decline. In the common-currency area, the gauge of executive and consumer confidence fell to 103.0 in March from 103.9 in February. Mining and commodities stocks led gains in London, with Anglo American (AAUKF) up more than 10% and Glencore (GLNCY) , BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) all up more than 5%. Premier Foods climbed 7.25% after getting a sweetened offer from McCormick & Co. MKC, the Sparks, Md.-based spice and flavorings maker. The deal assigns Premier Foods an enterprise value of around GBP 1.5 billion ($2.16 billion). McCormick is now offering 65 pence a share in cash after seeing two previous offers of 52 pence and 60 pence a share fall flat. In a statement, McCormick said it believes its latest offer "is highly deliverable" due to limited pre-conditions of a review of material pensions documentation, current trading and material contracts. In Frankfurt, Metro surged 8.7% as investors welcomed a plan by the Dusseldorf-based retailer to split into two. Metro said it plans to demerge into a wholesale and food specialist group and a consumer electronics products and services group through a demerger, which still needs formal approval from the group's management and supervisory boards. In Tokyo, electronics maker Sharp (SHCAY) rose 3.85% just before an announcement that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, had agreed to buy a controlling stake in Sharp for around $3.5 billion. Among Asian benchmark indices, the Nikkei slid 1.31% to 16,878.96 in Japan, while the Hang Seng added 2.15% to 20,803.39 in Hong Kong. Later Wednesday, the focus shifts back to the U.S. for MBA mortgage applications, the March employment report from the ADP Research Institute and crude inventories. NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) is a 'top-of-mind' stock, Nomura analysts said in a note issued earlier this morning. The firm reiterated its "buy" rating with a $185 price target. Analysts are bullish on the company's upcoming credit card transition to Citigroup (C) and Visa (V) from American Express (AXP). A year ago, Costco and American Express announced that they would be ending their exclusive partnership of 16 years, which led investors to be concerned, according to MarketWatch. However, the warehouse operator later said Visa would replace American Express in the beginning of 2016 and that Citigroup would be the issuer of Costco co-branded cards. Regarding this change, Nomura believes Costco will likely benefit from lower interchange fees and that the improved rewards program has "strong potential to drive this card to top-of-wallet for many consumers." Shares closed Tuesday's trading session up 1.7% to $155.26. (Costco is held in Jim Cramer's charitable trust Action Alerts PLUS. See all of his holding with a freetrial.) Separately, TheStreet Ratings currently has a "Buy" rating on the stock with a letter grade of A-. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity and solid stock price performance. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow. Recently, 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: COST Israel will soon issue 10-year multiple-entry visas to Chinese nationals for business or tourism purposes, making it the fourth country, after the U.S., Canada and South Korea, to have such an arrangement with Beijing, according to The Times of Israel. According to official Weibo account of the Israeli Embassy in China, China and Israel will sign the agreement within the week. Hainan Airlines will offer direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv starting in April. "The unprecedented bilateral visa agreement will be signed on March 29," Efrat Perri, spokesperson of the Israeli Embassy in China, told the Global Times. According to statistics released by the Israel Ministry of Tourism, the number of Chinese tourists to Israel has been increasing over the last three years, with an over 30 percent increase from each year to the next. The statistics shows that Chinese nationals made 47,400 trips to Israel in 2015, 43 percent more than in 2014. The direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv will be the first direct flights between China and Israel operated by a Chinese airline. According to official website of Hainan Airlines, the airline already operates flights between the two cities, but those flights are not direct. NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) stock is down 5% to $27.53 in midday trading on Wednesday, after the company announced it is asking for a waiver to its credit facility. The Quebec-based pharmaceutical company announced on Wednesday that it is seeking to extend the deadline for filing its Form 10-K to May 31. The extended deadline will "provide relief under the credit facility" if Valeant does not file its annual report by April 29. "What Valeant is saying is, 'Listen, maybe we get to waive our debt agreements,'" TheStreet's Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer said in the video, above. "Well, I don't like companies that waive debt agreements," Cramer added. "I like companies that pay their debt. So, Valeant, not so hot." Valeant also requested that lenders extend the company's deadline for filing its Form 10-Q, or quarterly report, to July 31 in case the company cannot file the report by June 14. The waiver must be approved by lenders that hold more than 50% of the company's loans in principal amount, Valeant said. "The company is comfortable with its current liquidity position and cash flow generation for the rest of the year, and remains well positioned to meet its obligations," the company said in a statement. Separately, recently, 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. TheStreet Ratings rates this stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share. You can view the full analysis from the report here: VRX NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Boeing (BA) stock is declining 1.95% to $128.33 in early-afternoon trading on Wednesday, as the aerospace company will reportedly cut about 4,000 jobs in its commercial airplanes division by mid-year and about 550 jobs in a flight and lab tests division. Investors can view the layoffs one of two ways, TheStreet's Jim Cramer said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" this morning. Boeing is either streamlining its business or losing market share to rival aerospace company Airbus (EADSY). "Boeing makes a first-class plane," Cramer noted. However, Boeing must still clarify accounting issues and is losing orders to competitor Airbus, Cramer pointed out. Although he doesn't believe that Boeing makes an inferior plane, Cramer contended that Airbus is nonetheless more competitive because of the strength of the euro. In a dovish speech on Tuesday afternoon, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen essentially admitted that the comparative advantages of the U.S. are "getting crushed," Cramer pointed out. "When Janet Yellen says, you know what, I've really had it with the strong dollar, she's thinking about places like Boeing," Cramer mentions in the above video, adding that Boeing buys planes in dollars. "What matters is the competitive advantage at Airbus is so much better right now than Boeing because of the euro." Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of B. Boeing's strengths such as its return on equity, which we feel is likely to continue, outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income. You can view the full analysis from the report here: BA 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. Trade-Ideas LLC identified Sothebys ( BID ) as a "barbarian at the gate" (strong stocks crossing above resistance with today's range greater than 200%) candidate. In addition to specific proprietary factors, Trade-Ideas identified Sothebys as such a stock due to the following factors: BID has an average dollar-volume (as measured by average daily share volume multiplied by share price) of $24.4 million. BID has traded 456,271 shares today. BID traded in a range 210.1% of the normal price range with a price range of $1.76. BID traded above its daily resistance level (quality: 105 days, meaning that the stock is crossing a resistance level set by the last 105 calendar days. The resistance price is defined by the Price - $0.01 at the time of the signal). Stocks matching the 'Barbarian at the Gate' criteria are worthwhile stocks to watch for a variety of factors including historical back testing and volatility. Trade-Ideas targets these opportunities because the stock is exhibiting an unusual behavior while displaying positive price action. In this case, the stock crossed an important inflection point; namely, 'resistance' while at the same time the range of the stock's movement in price is more than twice its normal size. This large range foreshadows a possible continuation as the stock moves higher. EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Get the inside scoop on opportunities in BID with the Ticky from Trade-Ideas. See the FREE profile for BID NOW at Trade-Ideas More details on BID: Sotheby's operates as an auctioneer of authenticated fine art, decorative art, jewelry, wine, and collectibles in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, Switzerland, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Agency and Finance. The stock currently has a dividend yield of 1.5%. BID has a PE ratio of 41. Currently there are no analysts that rate Sothebys a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 3 rate it a hold. The average volume for Sothebys has been 1.5 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Sothebys has a market cap of $1.6 billion and is part of the services sector and specialty retail industry. Shares are down 1.2% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday. EXCLUSIVE OFFER: See inside Jim Cramer's multi-million dollar charitable trust portfolio to see the stocks he thinks could be potential winners. Click here to see his holdings for 14-days FREE. TheStreetRatings.com Analysis: TheStreet Quant Ratings rates Sothebys as a hold . Among the primary strengths of the company is its expanding profit margins over time. At the same time, however, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself and generally higher debt management risk. Highlights from the ratings report include: The gross profit margin for SOTHEBY'S is rather high; currently it is at 54.38%. Regardless of BID's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of -3.32% trails the industry average. BID, with its decline in revenue, slightly underperformed the industry average of 0.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 4.4%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share. SOTHEBY'S has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past two years. However, the consensus estimate suggests that this trend should reverse in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, SOTHEBY'S reported lower earnings of $0.60 versus $1.68 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.62 versus $0.60). Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 41.61%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 116.03% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Despite the heavy decline in its share price, this stock is still more expensive (when compared to its current earnings) than most other companies in its industry. The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Diversified Consumer Services industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 115.1% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $74.00 million to -$11.15 million. You can view the full Sothebys Ratings Report. EXCLUSIVE OFFER: See inside Jim Cramer's multi-million dollar charitable trust portfolio to see the stocks he thinks could be potential winners. Click here to see his holdings for 14-days FREE. This month's rally in crude-oil prices has brought little relief to U.S. lenders, with Goldman Sachs predicting losses on energy-company loans will continue to climb as defaults in the industry mount. Setting aside higher reserves against energy loans will shave an average 3% this year off of analysts' consensus earnings-per-share estimates for U.S. banks, Goldman analyst Richard Ramsden estimated Wednesday in a report. At lenders like Dallas-based Comerica (CMA) , where oil-patch loans are more concentrated, the drop will be 32% -- or up to 42% in a "stressed" scenario where industry profits slide further. "We wanted to look at who would be at risk if we see another leg down in profitability in energy borrowers," Ramsden wrote. While oil prices have surged to about $40 a barrel from a low around $26 earlier this year, the drop from above $100 as recently as 2014 has taken such a toll on the energy industry that more defaults are probably inevitable. Companies such as Linn Energy (LINE) and W&T Offshore (WTI) have drawn down credit lines that are typically used as last-resort financing before cash runs out. Energy losses beyond those already booked by banks last year would add pressure to their earnings at a time when jitters about global economic growth have rattled markets, depressing trading volumes and damping the pace of initial public offerings and bond sales. Goldman estimates the banks' trading revenue this year will fall 8% from the 2015 level. Citigroup (C) , JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) also have more than $100 billion of combined loans and investments in Brazil, Russia and China, according to an analysis by TheStreet. Brazil and Russia are mired in multiyear recessions, while China is struggling to prop up its currency and debt-strapped economy as it grapples with overcapacity in steel and coal-mining industries. According to today's report from Goldman, Comerica has $120 million of exposure to Linn Energy and $41 million to W&T. The bank also has $50 million of exposure to Vanguard Natural Resources (VNR) , whose credit rating was cut this month by ratings firm Moody's, which cited weak liquidity. All three energy companies are based in Houston. A Comerica spokesman declined to comment. Goldman's Ramsden said he based his report on an independent analysis of loan commitments at 62 companies. Citigroup and Bank of America, a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS, face per-share earnings hits of about 4% each, according to the report. New York-based Citigroup has $185 million of exposure to Linn Energy, and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America has $135 million. At New York-based JPMorgan, which has $150 million of exposure to Linn, the reduction from additional energy losses could be 1%. Citigroup has $1.3 billion of exposure to Peabody Energy (BTU) , the largest U.S. coal producer, according to Goldman. The St. Louis-based company recently said in a statement that it had to exercise a 30-day grace period related to interest payments due on March 15, and that talks are ongoing with lenders about its alternatives. A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment, while press officials for Citigroup didn't respond to requests for comment. JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank, said in February it would set aside about $500 million this quarter to cover energy losses, with an additional $1.5 billion needed if oil prices averaged around $25 a barrel through 2018. Boeing's (BA) announcement that it's cutting 4,500 workers this year won't be the end of the airplane maker's bumpy flight. The news on Wednesday came one day after Goldman Sachs published an extensive list of problems in the Chicago aerospace giant's commercial aircraft business, covering the workhorse 737 line as well as the 757. The Seattle Times was already reporting that job cuts at Boeing, mostly through attrition, will be as much as 10% of the company, which employs more than 160,000 people. Goldman suggested that the company will need years to get needed new models into the market, complicating things for a company that has seen its shares fall 12% since Dec. 30. Goldman analyst Noah Poponak pointed to several signs of trouble, including: Airlines have been able to get near-term delivery slots for 737s in a business that normally has much longer lead times. Boeing is selling some 737s for as much as 75% off list price, especially in a recent deal with United Airlines , which Goldman said would make Boeing lose money. , which Goldman said would make Boeing lose money. The company has already said 737 deliveries this year will fall short of last year. Airbus' A321 line appears to be technically superior to its Boeing rivals in the 737 and 757 lines and the company may have to spend billions to develop a competing offering in the middle-market for larger narrow-body planes. "Recent developments have us increasingly concerned about demand for the 737, which may not be as solid as we think many investors believe,'' Poponak and his colleagues wrote. The 737 has at least two problems. First, Boeing is transitioning the line to a more fuel-efficient model set to begin deliveries to Southwest Airlines next year. But Airbus appears to be ahead in that product transition, delivering a new A321 line that has established a total-cost-of-ownership edge over Boeing, reported Airways News. In the meantime, Boeing is losing pricing power because of cheaper small jets from rival Bombardier as well as Airbus, selling older-model 737s to United for as little as $22 million each - half what they normally command even in volume transactions. Goldman doubts Boeing can make money at these prices. And the low price of fuel may be undercutting one obvious solution -- to transition to the new 737 line sooner than planned, Poponak said. Airbus and Bombardier may also be using the strong dollar to undercut Boeing in global deals. "The result of Airbus' market share grab is apparent in the order gap, where Airbus has pulled ahead since the euro weakened, particularly on narrow-body aircraft," Goldman said. "But both Boeing and Airbus recently announced production rate hikes, to 58/month and 60/month respectively, which means the fierce competitive environment is unlikely to ease any time soon as each attempts to support these lofty production goals." The situation looks even tougher in the 757 market, Goldman said it believes. There, the company has no real mid-market competitor for the A321 Neo, which has 1,100 orders. The closest newer plane from Boeing is the 737 Max-9, which has 200 orders. Developing a 757 '' clean sheet" replacement could cost as much as $10 billion and the plane would be years behind, letting Airbus replace much of the aging 757 fleet before Boeing gets to market as long as seven years from now. Boeing shares have been rising this month are trading around $128 on Wednesday, but Poponak sees them going to $100 within a year. Earnings estimates across Wall Street are stable lately, but have been drifting lower since December. With the average price target only about $5 higher than where shares are now, the risk-reward on Boeing looks iffy. This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned. Alphabet (GOOGL) , the parent company of search engine giant Google and a leader in technology innovation, has just unveiled its newest product. And although it might seem a bit too dated for such a forward-thinking company, Alphabet has plenty of reasons why launching this new service will be both a profit maker. Yesterday, the company rolled out Fiber Phone, an offshoot of its Google Fiber service. If you have never heard of Google Fiber, it's probably because it currently serves only a select area of the country. Google Fiber is a broadband internet and cable television service launched in 2010 in Kansas City. Since then, the service has been expanded to Austin and Provo City, Utah, with plans to spread to areas in Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and California in the near future. And now, in a bid to compete with telecom giants such as AT&T and Verizon, which offer bundled services of cable, internet, and phone, Fiber Phone will provide landline telephone services for a flat fee of $10. Features such as emergency 911 calls, unlimited nationwide calling, and caller ID will be standard. Fiber Phone is further evidence that Alphabet will be a cash-generating machine for investors into the foreseeable future. But Fiber Phone isn't just merely a phone service. It offers state-of-the-art features such as voice message transcription that will send a written message to the user via text or email. To support the transcription service, and since telephone numbers will exist in the cloud, Fiber Phone will also work with laptops, mobile devices, and tablets. Customers will be able to access Fiber Phone services by attaching a special "Fiber Phone box" to an existing landline phone. You'll be able to use the same phone number through your smartphone or tablet. Alphabet plans to bring its Fiber and Phone services to the U.K. after spreading throughout the U.S. Since it is only available in areas with Google Fiber, Alphabet will be building out both services. It may seem odd that Alphabet has set its sights on the landline telephone business. After all, Americans are depending increasingly on cellular service. How can this be a profitable growth play? In reality, landlines still play a valuable role in the American household. Although nearly 50% of all households are currently wireless-only, there are still many regions in the country where mobile service is still not supported or has poor reception at best. These are the kinds of areas where Alphabet is currently launching Fiber Phone. And the company also believes that its innovative phone services will win consumers back to the landline concept. "While mobile phones have pushed us toward the future, home phone service is still important to many families," wrote Fiber Phone product manager John Shriver-Blake. "Landlines can be familiar, reliable, and provide high-quality service, but the technology hasn't always kept up. That's why today we're introducing Fiber Phone as a new option to help you stay connected wherever you are." In launching Fiber Phone, Alphabet is making it clear that the landline phone is still going strong in America's heartland, with the potential to still be desirable throughout the country and abroad. The company is also hoping to snatch away business from the major telecoms. By offering the phone service, customers who had previously been reluctant to give up their phone service will find Google Fiber a more attractive bundle option and make the switch. What seems at first like an antiquated move from a futuristic tech company is actually a canny profit play that should only bring more profits to Alphabet and its investors. You see Jim Cramer on TV. Now, see where he invests his money and why Google stock is a core holding of his multimillion-dollar portfolio. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells GOOGL? Learn more now. The Best Tech Stock Under $8: 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. I've discovered a tiny company that figured out a way to corner this new $10 billion market, no matter who comes out the winner. Click here to learn more. This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned. A Chinese doctor (center) sees a Czech patient in a Prague-based Tongrentang drugstore, a major TCM provider. (Photo: Guan Kejiang/People's Daily) A series of conferences on health care were held from Monday to Wednesday in the Czech Republic during Chinese President Xi Jinpings three-day visit to the Central European country. According to Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, health care cooperation has become a strategic bridge bolstering bilateral collaboration between the two nations. As part of this cooperation traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been gaining ground and recognition in the Czech Republic. Previously Sobotka had written a preface for a book introducing TCM published in the Czech language. Meanwhile, a TCM center opened last year in a hospital affiliated with the University of Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic -- the first of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe and a flagship project for Sino-Czech health care cooperation. The government-backed medicine center was a welcome sight for local patients. It has become extremely popular since its opening. The medical team, composing of experts from both countries, often work more than 10 hours a day to meet the patients. Further development of this project is sure to better serve the public both in the Czech Republic and neighboring countries. Last November, a memorandum of understanding concerning TCM expansion in the Czech Republic was signed by the Czech Ministry of Health, the University of Hradec Kralove affiliated hospital, the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated Shuguang Hospital, as well as private Chinese conglomerate CEFC Energy Co. Ltd. According to the agreement, CEFC will help fund the construction of TCM facilities in Central and Eastern European countries. The organization will also act as the vice chairman of a foundation aimed at promoting TCM in the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe at large. Jan Ruzicka, a special advisor to the Czech Minister of Health, told People's Daily that strategic cooperation concerning many fields of health care continues to take shape as partnerships between hospitals affiliated to Czech universities and top Chinese institutions are established. The Czech Ministry of Health is also working on clinical care, scientific research and public health with its Chinese counterparts in Hunan Province, Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai municipalities, according to Ruzicka. International exchanges programs for doctors, internships at hospitals and conferences on health care management have also launched by medical authorities in both countries, he added. FireEye (FEYE) shares have surged 50% since their mid-February low, but are still down almost 70% since last summer. Daniel Beckerman, founder of Beckerman Institutional, said the cyber-security solutions provider is a steal at this level due to its impressive organic growth. "We like to strip back out the effects of acquisitions on revenue growth and even when we adjust for that, FireEye has still grown their revenue in the mid-double digits, which is the envy of most publicly traded companies," said Beckerman. Beckerman added that FireEye is used by over 200 of the top Fortune 500 companies, a nice seal of approval in a high profile space. Beckerman is also bullish on shares of Expedia (EXPE) , which are down 14% so far in 2016. He said the tragic terrorist attack in Brussels last week will not dampen the travel site's fortunes. "This is not the first time that we have seen this type of event, unfortunately. We had the Paris attacks and 9/11 and Expedia's revenues have always been pretty resilient," said Beckerman. Expedia was founded in 1996. Beckerman is especially enthused over Expedia's mobile growth, highlighting the fact that over 40% of the company's Web traffic now happens on a mobile device. Boston Beer (SAM) shares are down 28% in the past year, nevertheless, Beckerman remains positive on the stock. A lot of Boston Beer's problems have come from the growth of craft brewers in the country, a concept originated by the company itself. "To some extent they have been a victim of their own success," said Beckerman. "But they have a healthy cash position, very little debt, minimal shareholder dilution and really cautious inventory management. This adds up to fresh beer and ultimately happy shareholders." Finally, Beckerman is a fan of LinkedIn (LNKD) , getting in after its shares declined by half in early February after the company cut its revenue forecast. "They have over 400 million users and because it allows the advertisers and recruiters to get laser focused in their marketing efforts the revenue growth is going to continue," said Beckerman. The March labor report is released on Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Michelle Meyer, deputy head of U.S. economics at Bank of America (BAC) Merrill Lynch, expects the economy to add 190,000 jobs during the month. "This is pretty close to where it had been trending," she said. "Still hovering right around that 200,000 level and still pointing to a labor market that is expanding." Revisions could come to the prior month's figures, though Meyer said it's difficult to predict how past reports may be changed. Some 242,000 jobs were created in February, beating expectations by a wide margin. "I think the takeaway we're going to get from Friday's jobs report is that the labor market is expanding at a pace that's in excess of what would be implied just from the GDP numbers," she said. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings will also be released on Friday. Meyer expects a 0.2-0.3% monthly increase, leaving the year-over-year rate in place in the low 2% area. "Wages have been incredibly noisy recently," she said. "January showed a very big pop -- and then it was partly reversed in February," she added. "I always advise looking at a moving average of these monthly changes." In terms of what Friday's report means for the Federal Reserve, which is looking to make its next rate hike, Meyer doesn't think a blowout jobs number on Friday would cause the Fed to pull the trigger during its April meeting. "As long as you get something fairly close to the consensus -- between 175,000 and 225,000 for job growth and small signs that wages are picking up, I think the Fed will go in June," she said. "April to me is a very hard case to make." The markets are pricing in a 12% chance of a rate increase in April and a 41% probability for June. The Fed raised rates for the first time in nearly ten years in December 2015. NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Exxon Mobil (XOM) stock is sliding by 0.17% to $84.39 in late-afternoon trading on Wednesday, as an investigation into whether the energy company misled investors about the potential effects of climate change expands to Massachusetts. Massachusetts is joining New York in its probe into the energy company's climate change disclosures, Bloomberg reports. The New York investigation has been active since at least November, at which point New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman subpoenaed Exxon documents such as communications with trade groups, Bloomberg adds. "With more states jumping on board, these investigations are sure to generate some serious waves," May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, an environmental advocacy group, told Bloomberg. "We'll be looking for the Department of Justice and many more cities and states to get involved." Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C. Exxon's strengths such as its reasonable valuation levels, solid stock price performance and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures are countered by weaknesses including feeble growth in the company's earnings per share, weak operating cash flow and poor profit margins. You can view the full analysis from the report here: XOM 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. Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 66F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Cloudy with light rain developing after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. (Sanqin.com/Chen Feibo) A woman surnamed He has been looking for her son for 28 years. She says that she will keep looking until she is physically unable. Jia Bo, He's son, was born in 1984 and went missing at the age of 4 in Shanyang county, Shangluo, a city in northwest China's Shaanxi province. The boy was discovered to be missing in the afternoon of May 23, 1988. "The day that Jia went missing was also the day of our county's agricultural materials exchange fair. My husband picked Jia up from kindergarten, dropped him off at the gate of our residential community, and left for work," He recalled. She said her son was able to walk back home independently from the gate. However, He has not seen her son since that day. It has never been determined whether the boy was kidnapped or wandered off by himself. Hes search for her son began from that day. As a shop assistant in a shopping mall, He used all her vacation time to go out looking for her son. She also retired early in order to spend more time searching for him. Hes second son was born in 1991. However, He and her husband have never been able to fully overcome the trauma of losing their first son. The couple prepares a meal and sets out chopsticks for their lost child on every Spring Festival eve. He has now been looking for her son for 28 years. Any time she receives a clue, she goes out to search for weeks or months at a time. He stays in the cheapest hotels. She sometimes even sleeps on the street to make the most of her time. In the past 28 years, He has been to more than 20 provinces and cities including Jiangsu, Hefei, Sichuan, Guangdong, Henan, Hebei, Chongqing, Shanxi, Hunan, Guangxi and Shandong. He distributes fliers to passers-by in downtown areas and always leaves her contact information. She said there is a red birthmark about the size of a corn nut near her son's wrist. She hopes that anyone with relevant information will contact her at +86 18991476918 or +86 18991476928. French gendarmes patrol in the Paris hall of Justice, Wednesday, March 30, 2016 while Frenchman Reda Kriket is being questioned by a magistrate who is expected to file preliminary terrorism charges. Kriket has been detained in the Paris region last week on suspicion of being in the "advanced stages" of a plot. Authorities found a large quantity of explosives and weapons in Kriket's apartment. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) BEIJING, March 30 -- As world leaders grapple with intensified nuclear security threats, they should not be distracted by the immediate urgency of safeguarding nuclear facilities and slack off in addressing the fundamental problem of terrorism. Eliminating the root causes of terrorism is essential to nuclear security, as that's the only way to solve the issue at its source, ultimately removing hidden dangers and effectively preventing nuclear terrorism. After the tragic attacks in Brussels last week that killed more than 30 people and wounded scores, the international community once again finds itself rattled and terrified. Meanwhile, the specter of the November Paris attacks that claimed 130 lives still lingers. The lingering fear and shock are not only caused by the repeated acts of terror, but also by the startling news that the suicide bombers in the Brussels attacks were originally considering an attack on a nuclear site in Belgium and then were forced to change targets because of a series of arrests, as reported by the Belgian DH newspaper. It could have been worse. The combination of terrorism and nuclear materials certainly constitutes a nightmare for humanity, and that's why it's urgent for all countries to work together to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands. But how? Preventing terrorists from approaching and entering nuclear sites might sound like a plan, except that nuclear power plant workers can indeed turn to the side of the Islamic State, posing a serious threat from the inside, just like the two workers from a plant in Doel of Belgium, as the Daily Mail reported. Besides, experts have also warned that terrorists could even launch cyberattacks against nuclear power plants, which would be hard to predict and prevent. In order to eradicate such risk factors and effectively stem threats of nuclear terrorism, reinforced global efforts must be put in place to strike terrorism and completely eliminate its root causes. The process will not be successful until the Western countries, especially the United States, reflect on and change their anti-terror strategies, which are based on self-interests and geopolitical considerations, and feature double standards in fighting terrorism. Such hypocrisy has been repeatedly shown, including in the case of China's first anti-terror law, which Washington denounced by saying it "would do more harm than good," and in the case of the Kunming rail station attack in 2014, when Uncle Sam refused to call the attackers "terrorists" even though they brutally stabbed 31 people to death. It's pressing that relative parties abandon outdated hostility and prejudice and be willing to use all possible resources to fight terrorism. The arduous task would need a wide range of countries to participate. Meanwhile, efforts should also be made in promoting economic development and reducing poverty in war-torn countries and beyond, in order to wipe out the breeding ground for terrorism, as Chinese President Xi Jinpingpointed out during his visit to the Middle East in January. As the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington draws close, world leaders should be wary of the tendency to focus too much on enacting specific measures to safeguard nuclear security, but neglect the importance of fighting terrorism as a whole. After all, it's the root causes, rather than symptoms, that deserve more attention and demand an ultimate solution. President Reuven Rivlin was among the speakers to address the Yediot Achronot/Ynet conference on the BDS campaign against Israel. Mr. Rivlin addressed the opening session stating, I trust our army, which is one of the most moral armies in the world, and knows how to conduct itself and its actions with reason, wisdom, knowledge, and responsibility. The President spoke with Dr. Yoaz Hendel about the boycotts, their influence, and the possibilities to act against them. During the session the President said, We must distinguish between criticism and delegitimization when we deal with the BDS. Criticism can be given also among friends, but it is important to make sure that it does not turn into the delegitimization of Israel. The claims of the proponents of BDS and the organizations criticism, is based on a hatred and enmity of Israel, including anti-Semitic elements with regard to the right of Jews to return to their homeland. The President further stressed, Not everyone who criticizes us wants to delegitimize our existence. The fact that we can bear criticism and successfully explain our positions in a debate within Israeli democracy is our strength. We must realize that there is no other way. President Rivlin added, We have to distinguish between criticism and incitement. Criticism is something that one is obligated to voice and hear himself. During wars for example we dealt with this and realized that even within ourselves, among brothers there can be opposing views, and still one common goal. The President went on to discuss the incident last week in Hebron, and the resulting criticism leveled against the IDF Chief of Staff. He said, Those who allow systematic incitement do not recognize that it has no boundaries. We are in a democratic society but as democratic as it may be we have red lines which cannot be crossed. The IDF is bound by the Military Justice Act and its rules are clear. It is important for me to stress that I sleep better knowing that Gadi Eizenkott is the IDF Chief of Staff. I trust our army, which is one of the most moral armies in the world and knows how to conduct itself and its actions with reason, wisdom, knowledge, and responsibility. Our army is not an army of mercenaries it is an army made up of our children who guard our homes. I trust the army and its abilities to examine and draw conclusions. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photo: Mark Neiman, GPO) The Temple Institute has announced a bold new initiative to identify, select and register kohanim who would be eligible to participate in the process of preparing the Para Adumah. This unprecedented move signifies the second stage of the Institutes project to restore the concept of Biblical purity into the world, something that will have immense repercussions on Jewish observance as we know it. Even before the Temple is rebuilt, the reinstatement of halachically approved kohanim is a pre-requisite for preparation of the Para Adumah which will enable Am Yisrael to perform numerous Torah-based mitzvos, such as challah and terumah, according to the Torahs true intentions. The requirements for potential kohanim are extremely complex and this project signifies the completion of decades of study on the subject by the Rabbinic leadership and scholars of the Temple Institute. Potential candidates must have been born in the Land of Israel, born to a father of kohanic lineage. They must have exercised caution with regard to exposure to the Biblical impurity rendered by death. This includes those who were not born in hospital and who have not visited hospitals or cemeteries. Those kohanim whose status can be verified will be eligible to be among the first to participate in the renewal of numerous Torah commandments, including the preparation of the Para Adumah, once a suitable candidate is found. Rabbi Chaim Richman, international director of the Temple Institute commented on this historic move: This is a huge jump for the Temple Institute and a huge leap for the Jewish people. For the first time in 2,000 years after miraculously returning to the Land of Israel we are beginning the process of reinstating the Biblical purity of the Jewish priesthood. This is another bold move for our Institute, having already painstakingly prepared over 60 sacred vessels in preparation for the Third Beis HaMikdash. We proudly call upon all those who may fit the bill to contact the Temple Institute immediately (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Staff unpacks the Buddha statue head in Hebei Museum, Shijiaguang, Hebei province, March 29, 2016. The head statue was brought back to the museum on Tuesday after it was stolen 20 years ago. [Photo/Xinhua] The head statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, carved during Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577 AD), originally belonging to Youju Temple in Hebei province was stolen in 1996. Abbot Hsing Yun, one of Taiwan's most influential monks, received the statue as a gift from his follower in 2014, which was later confirmed to be the lost statue from Youju Temple. This begins with the weekly motzei Shabbos shiur of Rishon LTzion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Shlita, who spoke about the halachos pertaining to non-Jews living in Israel and their obligation to adhere to the Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach as they must outside of Israel. The rav explained the halachic concept and how non-Jews unwilling to live in Israel in accordance to halacha are prohibited from doing so when Torah Law prevails in Eretz Yisrael, which is not the case today. Needless to say the secular media was quick to report on the ravs bigoted attitude as the secular media regularly monitors the ravs weekly shiurim, hungry for a tasty sound bite as they did with his father, Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZTL . Arab Bloc MK Ahmed Tibi decided to join the chorus and criticize Rav Yosef, explaining that if Rabbi Yosef has his way, non-Jews would be ousted from Israel. Tibi made his comments from the Knesset podium. Tibi continued, reminding his fellow lawmakers of the recent remarks by Rav Yosef that it is a mitzvah to kill an armed terrorist. Tibi feels the Ravs remarks may in some way be responsible for the soldier firing at a wounded terrorist following a stabbing attack in Hebron on Purim. The Arab MK feels the civil service Chief Rabbi should be condemned for his remarks, which would be the case in any developed nation questioning why this is not so in Israel. In any modern state in the world a senior religious leader like the Chief Rabbi who spoke about some citizens as he does would be sent flying in five minutes but here, no one even commented on it. The same about several weeks ago when he incited regarding what occurred later with the soldier murderer in Hebron Tibi then shifted from Rav Yitzchak to Rav Ovadia, adding And I ask and then I remember that Chief Rabbi Yosef is a son of Ovadia Yosef, who also spoke in a similar fashion. I am a physician and I have not heard of this genetic disease. Does this pass by heredity and if so, what is this familys DNA I dont know. In the letter of clarification released by Rav Yosefs Office, it explains the sugya, that the Rishon LTzion was discussing the sale of chametz to a non-Jew on Pesach which led to the topic of Ger Toshav and the halachos of the Rambam vis-a-vis the latter. As explained above, the media, usually involving persons who are unlearned and lack a basic understanding of the concepts discussed in the shiurim, are quick to write scathing damaging which in more case than not, represent taking concepts of limud Torah out of context and presenting them in a non-theoretical light as opposed to limud, theoretical, as was the case here. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) As photos and videos show, some of the police who were operating at the protests outside Yeshivas Pnei Shmuel in Bayit Vegan used excessive force. This was brought to the attention of MK Moshe Gafne, who discussed his concerns with Israel Police commissioner Roni Alsheich who was visiting Knesset. Kikar Shabbos News reports that Alsheich assured Gafne he would probe the matter and become involved personally. Gafne also spoke with Jerusalem Police Chief Yoram Halevy, learning from the senior commander that while police wished to push off the demolition at the yeshiva, City Hall officials including Mayor Nir Barkat insisted police act now, without delay. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Ministry of Agriculture inspectors intercepted a shipment of over 36,000 unauthorized eggs which originated in the PA (Palestinian Authority). They were stored in unsafe conditions that pose a threat to the public, intended for sale in Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh and Gush Dan. A day earlier, 4,200 eggs originating in the PA heading for the Israeli marketplace were apprehended, bearing forged approval stamps. Officials report that since the beginning of 2016, they have intercepted 375,800 eggs from the PA heading to the Israeli marketplace illegally. A truck traveling on the Tunnel Highway between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem was stopped for inspection at the checkpoint and found to be carrying the over 36,000 eggs. When asked, the driver told soldiers he was transporting dirt in the rear of the truck. The driver of the truck, a resident of the eastern capital in his 40s, was arrested. All of the eggs confiscated by inspectors are destroyed. In the photo of a single egg we see a forged stamp but the egg does not have stamps indicating the sorting or marketing facilities as required on legal eggs. Another photo shows a double wall in a truck, a frequent method used to smuggle eggs. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photos: Media Resource Group) Looking to cast a wide net in the effort to combat recent reports of mail theft in neighborhoods across southern Queens, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D Howard Beach) is calling for federal law enforcement to work with local police precincts to stop the criminal activity. Mail fishing is a dangerous practice that not only robs families of their hard-earned income, but can also have serious consequences for their valuable personal information and medical records, said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder. Our families deserve to know that their mail is safe and their personal information is secure when they drop a letter in the mail box. I urge the Postal Police to work with our local law enforcement and reel this dangerous practice in before more families fall victim. In a letter to U.S. Postal Inspection Service Chief Postal Inspector Guy Cottrell, Assemblyman Goldfeder urged the top mail police officer to step up efforts to combat reports of mail fishing, a practice that involves removing letters containing checks and valuable personal information from mail boxes on the street and in local businesses. Goldfeder cited recent high-profile stories of local gangs using the practice to fund elicit activities, as well as complaints from homeowners at the most recent Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic as cause for concern. The Assemblyman called on Inspector Cottrell to engage local NYPD precincts in efforts to combat the practice, echoing concerns from city law enforcement officials that mail theft crimes are not regularly reported to the NYPD. Last month, the Queens County District Attorney charged Jamaica and Brooklyn-based members of a local gang with attempting to cash more than $33,500 in forged checks. According to a release, the gang members fished checks out of U.S. Postal Service mailboxes and washed them in order to remove the original payees name and currency amounts. In his letter, Goldfeder praised the Postal Police and the NYPD for their cooperation in this joint law enforcement effort. Goldfeder added that by regularly sharing reported cases with local law enforcement and continuing to collaborate on efforts to combat the practice, the federal agency could do a lot to protect area families. Its like the old expression theres always more fish in the sea, concluded Goldfeder. Except in this case, its a matter of assuming that there are many criminals that may still be out there fishing mail. Thats why its so important to utilize every possible tool at every level of government to stem this dangerous tide. (YWN Desk NYC) Police on Tuesday, 19 Adar-II reported that among the seven talmidei yeshiva arrested during the violent clashes at Yeshivas Pnei Shmuel in Bayit Vegan were two carrying knives. As reported earlier by YWN-ISRAEL, talmidim confronted police on Tuesday night when they arrived with city officials to destroy illegal construction, additions to the yeshiva that were done without permits. The confrontations resumed on Wednesday morning when police and city officials returned, leading to the seven arrests, including three minors. In light of documented police brutality against some of the talmidim, MK Moshe Gafne spoke with Police Commissioner Rami Alsheich in Knesset as well as with Jerusalem Police Chief Halevy, calling upon then to probe the incidents. It appears and understanding has now been reached by which the yeshiva will turn to the court to postpone the order compelling the yeshiva to remove the illegal areas on its own for two additional weeks. The agreement was achieved by Gafne who contacted city and yeshiva officials. Police report those taken into custody will be charged with disorderly conduct and assaulting police, adding two of the talmidim in custody were armed with knives. The accompanying video shows one talmid puncturing the tire of a police van with a sharp object and fleeing. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Video: Media Resource Group) During a session of the Knesset Audit Committee on Tuesday, 19 Adar-II, participants learned that 50% of the candidates requesting to convert to Judaism annually is made up of foreign workers, PA (Palestinian Authority) illegals and others who cross into Israel illegally. The law says that anyone who is not an Israeli citizen and does not fall under the Law of Return may begin the conversion process following approval by the exceptions committee. According to Knesset Audit Committee Chair Karin Alharrar of Yesh Atid, Many people interested I converting encounter a long complicated process, and at times, technical problems and the Exceptions Committee does not provide a solution to these issues. The conglomeration of halachic/political and policy consideration isnt healthy. The Exceptions Committee must hand over its authority [for giyur] to the Interior Ministry and the conversions apparatus will not submit an opinion regarding the integrity of the candidate [towards simplifying the process]. Rabbi Yitzchak Peretz, who is the person in the Prime Ministers Office responsible for giyur explains at times, one has the right to appeal the decision of the Exceptions Committee, even a second and third time. The conversion system was made to convert Israeli citizens and we do not grant citizenship. This is done by the Interior Ministry. The threshold of conditions is genuineness and that the applicant is not a foreign worker, illegal alien or illegal PA resident. In 2014 these groups represented 50% of the requests presented to the committee. Interior Ministry attorney Rina Nesher clarified the conditions set forth are independent of government policy. Deputy Defense Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan called for eliminating the Exceptions Committee, explaining from my wealth of experience over the years, 90% of giyur-related complaints address 10% of the cases which are all handled by the committee. The situation is abnormal and demands we change it. The giyur process is a religious one and therefore it must be separated from granting one citizenship. Ben-Dahan was the director-general of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for many years and also the main aide to HaGaon HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu ZTL ZYA. MK Elazar Stern of Yesh Atid added The needs and distress of Israeli society results in more and more couples marrying outside the Chief Rabbinate and the Exceptions Committee drives many people from this too. Yesh Atid colleague MK Aliza Lavie called the giyur process in Israel a bleeding wound, adding in essence the state encourages people to leave since giyur is less complicated abroad than in Israel. Lavie concluded Dayanim are capable of determining the motives of candidates and we do not need the bureaucrats of the Exceptions Committee. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The Justice Department has called off a high-profile legal battle with Apple after it was able to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters without the companys help. But rather than resolve the fight, this latest development is likely to motivate Apple and other companies to strengthen the security of their devices even more and force the government to keep up with any new security measures, technology executives and security analysts said. Theyre in an arms race, said Matthew Blaze, a cryptography researcher and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The FBI is trying to find new ways in and Apple is trying to find new ways to defend against that. Apple isnt the only company that is aiming to install greater encryption around products, which makes intrusions by hackers and government investigators alike much more difficult. The FBI case appears to have intensified efforts among tech companies such as Snapchat and Facebook to employ better encryption a trend that began after Edward Snowdens revelations of government spying in 2013 and a massive wave of cyber-hacking in recent years. Cloud computing company Box, which filed a legal brief supporting Apple in the San Bernardino case, is one of the many tech firms rushing to offer new encryption-related security features. It recently launched a product, Keysafe, that allows corporate customers to hold on to their own encryption keys a move co-founder and chief executive Aaron Levie said was as much about fighting off hackers and cybercriminals as it was about fending off government surveillance. The implementation of Keysafe means the company cannot collect and hand over the private information of a customer even when the authorities have a warrant. Keysafe took two years to build, he said, but not because of the complexity of the security, but because of the challenge of building the feature without slowing down the system or making it difficult to use. Its relatively straightforward to build secure technology, Levie said Its much harder to build that technology without interfering with the user experience. Tools using strong forms of encryption have historically been cumbersome to use, but that has been changing in recent years with the development of simple programs such as Signal, an encrypted text and voice messaging app. Facebooks WhatsApp messaging service also relies on similar encryption technology. Other efforts by tech giants to push towards encryption have made less progress: Related projects from Google and Yahoo aimed at giving their users a way to easily send and receive encrypted emails are still not finished almost two years after they were announced. Googles effort to shift phones running its Android mobile operating system to encryption by default also has faltered because it caused performance issues on some smartphones. Even as companies move toward encryption, they see the limitations. There are boundaries in play here that stop this from being a fully encrypted, hosted world, said Harvey Anderson, chief legal officer for security software company AVG Technologies, which filed a legal brief supporting Apple. Apple, perhaps more than any other tech giant company, has heralded the push towards strong forms of encryption. In 2011, the company implemented end-to-end encryption for iMessage. In 2014, it announced that new versions of its operating system would automatically encrypt iPhones moves that led some law enforcement officials to warned the technology could let criminals and terrorists go dark and escape justice. Yet the governments ability to get around the security features of a phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who carried out the mass shooting in San Bernardino along with his wife Tashheen Malik, shows that there are still chinks in Apples armor. And that may encourage the company to be even more diligent about closing gaps going forward. We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, and we will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated, an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy. Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk. Blaze, the University of Pennsylvania researcher, assumes that Apple will fix whatever vulnerability was exploited to gain access to the phone in this case at least if it learns exactly what the problem is. Its unclear if the government will disclose the bug to the company. The administration has a process for deciding when it should reveal security vulnerabilities that weighs different factors including how badly the government believes it needs intelligence it may gain from exploiting the vulnerability. Stewart Baker, a former Department of Homeland Security senior policy official now a partner at Steptoe & Johnson, argues Apples stance in the San Bernardino case gives the government little incentive to tell the company how it was able to break in. If Apples position is we arent going to help you and as soon as you tell us about a problem were going to lock you out again, youre basically saying the FBI should be complicit in locking themselves out of the phones, he said. But the government also must consider keeping Americans tech safe from other adversaries including hostile hackers working on behalf of foreign intelligence agencies and cybercriminals, according to Blaze. This vulnerability helped them get into this particular handset, but now they need to be thinking about who else could potentially use it to do the same thing, he said. Blaze and Baker at least agree on one point: This isnt the end of the issue. This is a conflict thats going to happen, said Baker. (c) 2016, The Washington Post Andrea Peterson, Elizabeth Dwoskin Marco Rubio is working to play a role at the Republican National Convention even as his rivals scramble to pick off convention delegates claimed by the Florida senator before he suspended his campaign. Rubio has sent letters to Republican officials in states where he has won delegates, charging he wants to keep his delegates, even though hes no longer an active candidate. Representatives from Rubios network said the former candidate wants to retain his delegates in order to keep his options open in the coming months. Campaigns are preparing for the possibility of a contested national convention in July that could feature an intense fight for every available delegate. The Rubio representatives spoke on the condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly about Rubios intentions. The Florida senator suspended his campaign in mid-March, but not before accumulating 171 delegates, a trove that could help Republican front-runner Donald Trump secure the nomination or help stop him. Rubio, an aggressive Trump critic, could play a significant role at the national convention should he retain influence over a significant number of delegates. Officials from the Oklahoma and Alaska GOP say they have received letters from Rubios campaign. His campaign staff is no longer being paid, but many remain loyal and willing to help Rubio in the coming months. Alaska had already divvied up Rubios five delegates to Trump and Ted Cruz. However, since the actual people have not been selected yet, the state party said the delegates will go back to Rubio. In Oklahoma, state party Chairwoman Pam Pollard said she received a letter from Rubio saying he has not released his 12 delegates from that state. Selecting the people who will be delegates at the national convention is a tedious process governed by rules that vary from state to state. The system favors political insiders who understand the arcane rules. In Minnesota, for example, Rubio won the state but his 17 delegates will go to the convention as free agents, free to support the candidate of their choice, said Chris Fields, deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP. Fields said he expects Rubios rivals to have supporters at the partys state convention in May to influence who gets chosen as a Rubio delegate. They should if they want to win, right? Fields said. The three remaining Republican candidates are ramping up efforts to win over Rubios delegates, in addition to claiming dozens more unbound delegates, in the contentious battle for the 1,237 delegate majority required to win the GOP presidential nomination. Trump, with 736 delegates, is the only candidate with a realistic path to clinching the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7. But its a narrow path. And his Republican rivals are fighting to deny him the majority and force a contested convention. Acknowledging a late start in the nuts-and-bolts business of political wrangling, Trumps campaign will open a Washington, D.C. office in the coming days to run its delegate operation and congressional relations team, said campaign senior adviser Barry Bennett. In addition to the new space, Trump has hired a veteran political operative to serve as the campaigns convention manager. Paul Manafort, a seasoned Washington hand, will oversee the campaigns entire convention presence including a potential contested convention, said Bennett. We started ramping up a couple of weeks ago, but were rolling now, Bennett said of Trumps delegate outreach efforts. Tuesdays moves mark a major escalation in Trumps willingness to play by party rules and build alliances in a political system he has so far shunned. A dispute in Louisiana highlights the potential impact of even a handful of Rubio delegates and Trumps need to court them. Rubio won five delegates in Louisianas March 5 primary, who became free agents after he suspended his campaign. At Louisianas subsequent GOP convention, Cruzs campaign secured all of Rubios delegates, as well as five others who were uncommitted. As a result, Cruz could end up with more delegates from Louisiana, even though Trump narrowly won the states popular vote. Trump adviser Ed Brookover promised Trump would have an active presence at every one of the upcoming lower-profile conventions and caucuses where delegates are selected. That includes this weekends state convention in North Dakota, where 25 delegates will be selected. All of them in addition to the states three national committee members will be free to support the candidate of their choosing at the GOPs national convention. Ben Carson will appear in North Dakota on Trumps behalf, Brookover said, as part of outreach efforts that include hospitality suites for delegates, campaign surrogates, parliamentarians and support staff for all upcoming contests. Representatives from Rubios political operation declined to comment publicly on his delegate outreach. (AP) It appears the stormy protests outside Yeshivas Pnei Shmuel in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Yerushalayim over recent days will not prevent Jerusalem City Hall from demolishing the illegal additions to the building. Yeshiva officials have also pointed out that Rav Wolfson Shlita was quick to hurry to the yeshiva when he heard of the protests on Monday night despite not being well, unwilling to accept the Chilul Hashem. It is pointed out most of the bnei torah in the streets, those burning garbage bins and confronting police were not from Pnei Shmuel but from neighboring yeshivos. Arrests were made during the violence at night and on Tuesday, and in one case, a tire of a police van was punctured by a talmid yeshiva. However, despite the effort to prevent the demolition, it is reported that a yeshiva representative on Tuesday night signed an agreement with the city by which the yeshiva will pay a NIS 100,000 fine for illegal building within a week. The sum is to cover the costs of the demolition and the fees surrounding the demolition order. This will be accomplished no later than 6 Nissan. It also appears some yeshiva officials will face criminal charges for the illegal construction and this too will lead to a fine, at least an additional NIS 100,000. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) MK (Yisrael Beitenu) Avigdor Lieberman was among the hundreds rallying outside the courthouse during an arrangement for the IDF soldier who shot and killed a wounded terrorist on Purim in Hebron. Lieberman has been outspoken in his disapproval of the states handling of the case, and the fact that senior state leaders were quick to convict the soldier in the media before a probe was initiated. While the prosecution requested to extend the soldiers remand for nine additional days, the court would only sanction two days. Lieberman explains clearly the states case is weak at best and politicians who wished to play judge and jury will have to apologize when the ordeal is over. He condemned Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and especially Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who were the first to condemn the soldier rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt and support him in the media pending the outcome of the investigation. Lieberman calls the actions of those quick to condemn the soldier absurd, explaining video evidence in the case clearly proves there were shouts he has a bomb on him and he can be seen moving still alive, when the soldier fired at his head. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) WHO says list of free vaccines should be expanded Lance Rodewald of WHO China. The World Health Organization recommended on Tuesday that China include five additional vaccines in the country's most regulated vaccine program. The recommendation came as the WHO said it is confident in the quality of vaccines made in China, following a scandal involving substandard ones worth 570 million yuan ($88 million). The five vaccines are important to all children, Lance Rodewald, team leader of the Expanded Program on Immunization, WHO China, said at a news conference. Including them as Category 1 vaccines, which are provided for free by the government, can help improve oversight of these vaccines to better protect the health of children in China, Rodewald said. The five vaccines, which include pneumococcal conjugate, rotavirus and inactivated polio vaccine, are recommended by the WHO for all countries for mandatory use, he said. "Children ... won't need expensive treatment if they have been protected by the vaccines," he said. In China, vaccines fall under two categories. The five vaccines are currently included under Category 2 those that are optional for children and bought privately. Category 1 vaccines are those in the government's Expanded Program on Immunization. It is mandatory for children in China to be vaccinated. There are 11 such vaccines in Category 1 for children, including those for hepatitis B, polio and measles. "China's health commission is quite interested in the addition of new vaccines," Rode-wald said. The government also looks to use domestically made vaccines rather than relying on imported products, so the ability of Chinese manufacturers to supply vaccines is also an important factor, he said. On Tuesday, the National Health and Family Planning Commission did not comment on the WHO suggestion. Wang Huaqing, a physician at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference last week that categorizing vaccines in China is based on how essential they are and the cost. "Huge financial support is needed if all vaccines used in China are included in Category 1," he said. The vaccine scandal, first reported in February, shocked the nation and stirred heated debate over the regulation and management of Category 2 vaccines. A mother and daughter, who have been arrested in Shandong province, are alleged to have illegally sold improperly stored or expired vaccines in more than 20 provinces since 2011. Shan Juan contributed to this story. Over the last 30 years, every national party convention has been a fully scripted, multiday advertisement for the presidential ticket, which was determined weeks or even months before the delegates gathered. This time could be different, at least for the Republicans, who could have a real fight on their hands if neither Donald Trump nor Ted Cruz has 1,237 bound and loyal delegates before the convention begins in Cleveland on July 18. In that case, there will be an open or contested convention, in which the delegates will have to select the nominee perhaps after extended fights over the rules, the platform and even which delegates were legitimately elected in some states. Ed Kilgore, who knows the nuts and bolts of the infomercial-style national party conventions of the past, has a terrific piece detailing the mechanics of an actual deliberative, decision-making party convention. Or, to put it another way: Imagine hours of second-tier Republican politicians speaking unvetted on national television about whatever they want. What could go wrong? Potentially ugly gaffes aside, however, a central problem with a contested convention is the opportunity cost the squandering of the chance to unite voters. As John Sides wrote in 2012, conventions tend to bring public opinion in line with the fundamentals of the election that is steer sentiment about such things as the state of the economy and the presidents popularity. That usually works by delivering enough information to take voters to positions they were going to adopt anyway. Remember, even in a year with competitive nomination fights in both parties, and in which Donald Trump has received far more attention than any normal candidate, lots of voters havent engaged with the election yet. For example, a little more than 900,000 votes were cast in the Arizona primaries on March 22, far fewer than the 2.3 million cast in the 2012 general election in that state. Those relatively inattentive voters typically have weaker ties to their party or may be independent. As a result, such voters are less likely to be swayed by purely partisan cues (Vote Clinton because shes a Democrat). However, they may be very open to less explicitly partisan approaches a Democrat (even if she calls herself an independent) may be receptive to rhetoric about diversity, openness and equality. A Republican (even if he calls himself an independent) may respond to rhetoric about free enterprise and tough foreign policy. So when a party convention delivers several days of information about the nominee, many of the least attentive voters tune in enough to identify the candidate with the qualities they like. In short, the typical convention achieves one campaign effect that political scientists have found really does matter in presidential elections: matching moderately (or less) attentive voters with candidates. Even a messy Republican convention with no clear winner until the end could deliver that effect. Ultimately, conventions always present the nominee as a winner and that will be the case at the end of an extremely contentious process, too. Still, its also possible that the convention effect will be diluted if the signal is muted say, if instead of delivering several days of praise for the nominee, the gathering showcases several days of infighting and intrigue. In that event, we simply dont know whether the unifying effect would be delayed to some other point in the election cycle. Perhaps voters would decide to back Donald Trump (or Ted Cruz, or whoever wins a deadlocked convention) by watching TV ads, the debates in October, or some other way. But its also possible that they never find a match, which could lead some potential Republican voters to either sit out the election or even vote for the Democrat. That is another reason for Republican party actors to be desperate to resolve the nomination fight during the pre-convention period. (c) 2016, Bloomberg View Jonathan Bernstein Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), joined by Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Queens) and Sen. Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), called for the immediate suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine from City University of New York college campuses on Tuesday in light of several incidents that have left many Jews feeling fearful and intimidated by the actions of SJP across college campuses nationwide. In writing a letter to CUNY Chancellor James Milliken that garnered the support of 33 elected officials from both Republicans and Democrats, Assemblyman Hikind reiterated the importance of suspending the toxic organization. SJPs actions and statements throughout CUNY institutions, as well as at universities and colleges throughout the country have shown the true nature and belief of the groupnothing short of the total destruction and elimination of the State of Israel, Hikind wrote in the letter. Instead of promoting understanding and co-existence between Arab and Jew, the Jewish State is routinely compared to Nazi Germany and is demonized with false statements and rhetoric. SJP may claim to be an advocate for the Palestinian people and their human rights, but a closer a look at their rhetoric and actions counter that motion. Many Jewish students and faculty members have complained on several occasions of being fearful for their personal safety and well-being, with unfortunately some rhetoric taking a violent turn. Students have reported being pushed, spat upon and having objects thrown at them. Its not about an issue of freedom of speech, its about intimidation and fear. Assemblyman David Weprin, who signed the letter in support of the suspension, echoed Hikinds remarks, saying acts of hate and anti-Semitism have no place in our community of civility and mutual respect. Recent acts by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on CUNY campuses across the city leave Jewish and pro-Israel students living in a culture of silence and fear. The inciteful speech promoted by SJP and its supporters silences critical and open thought while limiting the free exchange of ideas. Hate Speech is not Free Speech and I call on CUNY to keep their campuses hate-free by taking concrete action on SJP. Students for Justice in Palestine continue to stoke the flames of hatred and encourage violence and harassment against Jewish students only to see the CUNY administration respond weakly to these hate-filled acts, Hikind continued. Assemblyman Hikind, who publicly demanded for the establishment of a task force to probe anti-Semitism in CUNY, applauded the efforts and follow-through in the administrations investigation, but proposed taking concrete steps against this hostile environment. We call for the immediate suspension of the Student for Justice of Palestine from City University of New York campuses, sending a clear and unequivocal message that hatred and bias have no home at CUNY, Hikind added. No funding should be rewarded to a group that engages in incitement and intimidation. Other elected officials that joined the movement to have SJP removed from CUNY institutions include: Assemblymen Peter Abbate (D-Brooklyn); Karl Brabenec (R-Orange); Marc Butler (R-Fulton); Vivian Cook (D-Queens); Brian Curran (R-Nassau); Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn); Maritza Davila (D-Brooklyn); Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Suffolk); Andrew Garbarino (R-Nassau); Phillip Goldfeder (D-Queens); Alfred Graf (R-Suffolk); Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens); Mark Johns (R-Monroe); Todd Kaminsky (D-Nassau); Ron Kim (D-Queens); Charles Lavine (D-Nassau); Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn); David McDonough (R-Nassau); Thomas McKevitt (R-Nassau); Walter Mosely (D-Brooklyn); Dean Murray (R-Suffolk); Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn); Edward Ra (R-Nassau); Nily Rozic (D-Queens) and Joseph Saladino (R-Nassau). Senators that signed on include: Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx); Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn); Jesse Hamilton (D-Brooklyn); Jack Martins (R-Nassau); Terrence Murphy (R-Dutchess) and Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn). While elected officials continue to show their support, one organization, in particular, has been at the forefront of the ongoing fight against anti-Israel sentiment. Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)an organization that has condemned the anti-Semitic sentiment swirling around CUNYwrote a lengthy letter to CUNY Chancellor James Milliken about anti-Semitism and a separate letter to Brooklyn College President Karen Gould after another incident that saw SJP protesters chant Zionism Out of CUNY. This amazing organization, led by Mort Klein, has done such a phenomenal job at bringing attention to the growing problem of anti-Semitism on our CUNY campuses, Hikind said. I commend Mr. Klein and the entire ZOA family for continuously speaking out against this hatred in an effort to rid CUNY campuses of this malicious rhetoric. (YWN Desk NYC) PRAGUE, March 29-- Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Senate leader of the Czech Republic met on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties and legislative cooperation. Exchanges between legislatures of the two countries are important components of the China-Czech relations, and the strong support and active participation of the two countries' legislative institutions are indispensable to further developing bilateral ties, Xi said during a meeting with Milan Stech, President of the Senate of the Czech Parliament. Xi urged legislatures of the two countries to improve and expand communication mechanisms, conduct closer friendly exchanges at various levels and enhance experiences sharing on such fields as legislature, supervision and managing state affairs. China and the Czech legislative bodies should promote win-win cooperation on economy, trade and culture, so as to make greater contributions to consolidating the basis of popular support for bilateral ties, and promoting the development of China-Czech relations, said the president. China stands ready to work with the Czech side to conduct closer high-level exchanges, enhance synergy of their strategies, give full play to their complementarity, deepen cooperation in various areas such as economy and trade, industry, tourism, culture and sports, and strengthen people-to-people exchanges, so as to achieve greater development of bilateral ties from the new start point of their strategic partnership, he added. Stech said China's achievement in economic and social development is admirable and the two countries have enormous potential for further cooperation. The Chinese president's state visit to the Czech Republic will lift bilateral relations and promote further development of their cooperation in economy and trade, tourism and culture, Stech said. The Czech Senate is willing to have closer communication with China's relevant institutions to improve mutual understanding and jointly contribute to deepening Czech-China ties, he said. Xi arrived Monday in Prague for a three-day state visit. It is the first state visit by a Chinese president in 67 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. One of the big flaws of the Brexit campaign so far has been the failure of its leaders to give any detailed information about what the UK might look like if they are victorious. Its a serious weakness for the Out campaign, and explains why the Remain camps Project Fear scaremongering over lost jobs and trade drying up appears so convincing. Thats about to change. Andrea Leadsom, the Tory energy minister and Brexiter, tells me she is working on a new post-Brexit big-bang manifesto for how the world order might look after a European divorce which she is calling, with nice irony, Project Hope. Planning ahead: Andrea Leadsom, the Tory energy minister and Brexiter, is working on a new post- Brexit 'big-bang' manifesto for how the world order might look like after a European divorce To do this, she has revived the Fresh Start Project a group of cross-party MPs and businessmen and women set up a few years ago to put the case for EU reform. Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, along with many other Outers, are backing Leadsoms new initiative which is due to be announced in mid-April. It is putting together detailed answers to the top ten questions being asked by the public; including the impact on trade, on the City, on energy policy, immigration and security. It will also be publishing six one-pagers as guides on what it means for individuals; mini Brexit fact-guides for farmers, small business owners and teachers. Coming up with recommendations for a new UK EU Free Trade Agreement is top of her agenda. Leadsom aims to show its entirely possible for the Government to renegotiate its own bilateral treaty with the EU within the two-year time-frame given by Article 50, and to stop the constant comparisons with other countries like Canada or Norway, ones which can be misleading. So what would such a new UK-EU free trade arrangement look like? Well, Leadsom says that the existing rules could on a temporary basis be novated from our present arrangement with 28 signatories to one; and that there is no reason why EU and business could not carry on as usual. She makes the point, often over-looked, that most trading relationships, whether its health regulations on drugs or safety guides for exhausts, between the UK and EU are already aligned so wont need much adapting. Therell also be a big push to squash Remains claims that our biggest trading partners, Germany and France, will try to get their own back on UK business for daring to leave by either limiting trade, or putting up costs with new tariffs. Such claims just dont add up, she says, as national governments have no business telling the bosses of private companies such as BMW or Louis Vuitton to whom, or where they should sell. Or so you would hope. Another urban myth Leadsom, a former banker and economic secretary to the Treasury, hopes to kill off is that UK services including the Citys financial services would be destroyed by divorce. This is nonsense, she says, and shes right: the size of our services trade with EU is relatively small. Around 71 per cent of the EUs GDP is services, and of that the UKs intra-EU trade is only 3.2 per cent, rising to 22 per cent if you include financial services. By contrast, some UK industries, such as ecommerce, are hampered by blatant protectionism in other EU countries. More pertinent is the myth of a bankers exodus to Paris or Frankfurt because the City will be disadvantage by being outside the EU. Au contraire. The chairman of one of Frances biggest banks recently told her that he is worried about the barriers that the City might put up to EU companies in the event of a Brexit as EU companies benefit hugely from trading with the UK. Indeed, over a third of the EUs wholesale financial services industry originates in the UK and until the financial crash, the UK was a liberalising force in opening up the EU capital markets. Ironically, the EUs attempt to push up capital adequacy ratios for banks had unintended consequences; regulators here wanted higher ones than those recommended. Leadsom first came to the publics attention at the Treasury Select Committee after the financial crash when she criticised Bob Diamond of Barclays for living in a parallel universe. Who knows. If Leadsom manages to help bring Brexit down to earth, maybe she could end up leading the negotiations. Steels white knight ... Sanjeev Gupta is the most extraordinary of businessmen. The Cambridge-educated steel trader is as bright as a button and has a passion for British steel which borders on the obsessive. I met him a few weeks ago to find out why he is throwing hundreds of millions of pounds at buying up distressed steel plants and engineering factories when everybody else is closing them down. His answer is simple; with a little care and investment, he reckons parts of the industry can be competitive again. But for the industry to be saved, the Government must slash energy prices by cutting carbon taxes. And it should rescue parts, if not all, of Tata Steel. A potentially damning report into KPMGs handling of Halifax Bank of Scotland before the near collapse of the lender will be published in the coming weeks. The head of the embattled Financial Reporting Council, the regulator responsible for promoting high-quality accounting, said it would conduct its inquiries into the auditing of HBOS as quickly as possible. We would hope to be in a position to report our conclusions in the spring, FRC chief executive Stephen Haddrill told Tory MP Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee. Report: A potentially damning report into KPMGs handling of Halifax Bank of Scotland before the near collapse of the lender will be published in the coming weeks The findings could be damaging for KPMG, which gave HBOS a clean bill of health before its meltdown in the financial crisis. HBOS was eventually rescued via a takeover by Lloyds and a 20.5bn government bailout. The FRC has been under mounting pressure to investigate KPMGs role in the debacle. Sanjeev Gupta is away on business in Dubai but he is keeping a close eye on the meltdown of Tata Steels UK operations. Gupta has already agreed to buy Tatas unwanted sites at Dalzell and Clydebridge in Scotland, and he says he may be interested in some of Indian steelmakers other sites in Rotherham, Corby and Shotton, which are also now up for sale. Britains steel industry may be on its deathbed but Guptas Liberty House has bucked the trend. It re-opened a steel mill in Newport, South Wales, last year and snapping up the rump of Lord Pauls ailing Carparo Industries from administration. Steel saviour: Sanjeev Gupta has already agreed to buy Tatas unwanted sites at Dalzell and Clydebridge in Scotland, and he says he may be interested in some of Indian steelmakers other sites in Rotherham, Corby What has he seen that others may have missed? Gupta, 44, runs his hand over his shiny head and smiles. We want to bring it back to full glory, he says of the steel works in Newport. It is going to be a tough journey. British steelmakers have been hit by slowing demand, high energy costs, green taxes and a deluge of cheap Chinese product that has halved the global price of steel. As a result, steelmaking in Britain is unprofitable. The squeeze on domestic producers has forced plants to close and thousands of jobs have been axed. Gupta puts part of the blame on Brussels and the time it takes for the European Union to act. His view on the EU is timely. So, is he in favour of Britain leaving the EU the so-called Brexit? Im torn, he says. For my industry I think its a good thing (to leave), but personally I dont. As a world, we need to integrate more. 'The Government doesnt have the freedom to act because it has to go through Brussels. Everything takes forever. Gupta urges the Government to take further action to lower the cost of power for energy-intensive industries. They have already done a bit with the refund to energy-intensive industries, he says. But even after that, it (the cost of power) is still double that of Germany and France. FACT BOX TITLE Family: Married to Nicola with three children. She used to look after my money she was the treasurer of one of my businesses and now she spends it, he says. Born: Punjab, India Education: St Edmunds College, Canterbury, and Trinity College, Cambridge Lives: Chepstow Drives: Has a chauffeur-driven Mercedes Music: Simon and Garfunkel Favourite film: The Godfather Career: After A levels Gupta took a gap year and sold bicycles in Turkey for his fathers business, Victor Cycles. He then studied economics and management at Cambridge where he set up Liberty House, a commodities trading firm, in 1992. He was trading commodities from his halls of residence at Cambridge but the business distracted him from his studies and it took a large amount of cramming in his final year for him to graduate with a 2.1. Liberty grew massively over subsequent years and now has an annual turnover of 4.2billion and operates from four global hubs London, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong with offices in 30 countries. Working day: He gets up at 6am and checks emails from his global offices. Its an addiction, he says. Im sometimes up in the middle of the night checking emails. He travels between Libertys various businesses during the week and reckons he gets home by 8pm. But work doesnt stop there. Most evenings he will host dinner meetings at his home in Chepstow with his management team and advisers. Spare time: He claims he has only taken two holidays one to Lanzarote after his A levels and a second to the Maldives for his honeymoon. I am an archetypal workaholic, he admits. The steel boss wants policymakers to take more radical action. Scrap the carbon tax for energy-intensive industries. It kills industry, and industry will just continue to export production to another country where they dont have the tax. The Government is listening but the speed at which they can react is hampered by the EU because everything has to go through Brussels. Gupta retains the hassled demeanour of a busy commodities trader as he halts the questions to field calls on his mobile phone. He is dressed in a smart blue suit, crisp white shirt, striped tie and shiny black shoes. But the grime, dust and toil of the steel mill is in his blood. He grew up in the Punjab with his two brothers and sister until the age of 12, when he was shipped off to boarding school St Edmunds College in Canterbury. He studied economics at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was given a shock when the Dean told him he would have to leave. It was 1992 and the budding entrepreneur founded Liberty House, a commodities trading firm, and was running it from his student apartment. Gupta had been hauled in front of the panel of disapproving university Dons before, but this time he had pushed them too far by attempting to claim VAT back on his telex machine. Gupta used his college address for the claim, which contravened the universitys charitable status. I definitely missed a few heartbeats, he recalled. But then I realised they were just throwing me out of my student apartment. The censure had little impact on Guptas business ambitions. Liberty is now a 4.2billion-turnover company that employs more than 2,000 people across 30 countries. The group has interests in steel, power and energy, industrials, financial services and property. It has also bought a minority stake in Tidal Lagoon Power. This plans to harness the power of the sea to generate electricity, starting with a 1billion project in Swansea Bay. Guptas father was an industrialist who owned a number of businesses in India, including Victor bicycles. My oldest memories are of being in steel plants and engineering plants. My mother was a typical Indian housewife. Shes the matriarch; she keeps the family together. Guptas father drilled into his son the value of ambition and integrity. He always told me that my true heritage is his name money will come and go, he says. That desire to honour his family heritage will lead Gupta to start manufacturing bicycles next year at the old Carparo tubes plant in Oldbury in the Midlands. Family is an important theme in Guptas life. He is married to Nicola, who is from Canvey Island, Essex, and used to be treasurer of one of his commodity businesses. Their love affair was kept secret from his family for eight years because they feared disapproval. But now Gupta says shes the most popular member of the family. Gupta insists his swoop on the British steel industry is not some dewy-eyed, sentimental trip through family history. He suddenly sounds more like a hawk-eyed trader sizing up his prey. At its worst point is when the investment is best and also when it is at its cheapest, he says. We are coming in at a point where we have nothing to lose. Gupta says those selling UK steel assets, such as Tata Steel, have got large debts and need to minimise damage. I come from a trading background, so theres a different mentality. We are quite happy to have a lot of small companies and put them together to make a much larger company. In his office at Uskmouth Power Station in Newport, Gupta looks out over the dock and Libertys neighbouring steel mill. It is an ideal vantage point to visualise the entrepreneurs masterplan. He wants to convert the coal-fired plant bought by the Gupta familys Simec subsidiary in 2014 from SSE into a biomass power station. Under threat: Thousands of jobs are at risk at Tata Steel processing plant at Scunthorpe and Port Talbot This would produce cheap green energy to power an electric arc furnace in the neighbouring steel mill, where Liberty would melt down 2million tonnes of scrap metal each year. The finished steel would supply the former Carparo factories. Production of molten steel in Britain is unprofitable due to energy costs and green levies. It is one of the key reasons why Britain is a net exporter of 7million tonnes of scrap metal. Why make primary steel in a blast furnace when you already have secondary steel (in the form of scrap)? Why dont we recycle the scrap first? he asks. He recently bought an electric arc furnace from a disused steel plant at Sheerness in Kent and wants to install it at Newport. The move could create 1,000 jobs at the plant, which Liberty re-opened last year. The explosion of imported Chinese steel crippling Britains industrial heartland was laid bare last night. The European Union has seen the amount of steel landing on its shores from the Peoples Republic jump 156 per cent over the past four years, according to new data. Almost half of every new building constructed in the UK contains some form of Chinese steel, the figures from Eurofer, the European Steel Association, show. Under threat: Thousands of jobs are at risk at Tata Steel processing plant at Scunthorpe and Port Talbot The revelations came as Tata declared its UK steel operations, bought for 6.2billion in 2007, are now worth almost zero. Tata has fired the starting gun on the sale of its entire UK business, which employs 15,000 people, after the groups board in India dismissed a rescue plan as unaffordable and very risky. But it is feared that the crisis in the industry will deter potential buyers. The true scale of the dumping from China sparked a wave of anger from workers, unions and politicians who claim the UK Government and the EU have reacted too slowly. A spokesman for Eurofer said: The EU and member states need to take action immediately to save our steel industry the industry that built Europe and prevent it from disappearing. Late on Tuesday Britains biggest steelmaker Tata took a surprise decision which could see it sell off all of its UK steel business including Port Talbot in Wales, and Scunthorpe in North East England. It cited the significant increase in third country exports into Europe. Up to 40,000 jobs connected to the industry are at risk along with the generous British Steel pension scheme. Its trustees have already made contact with the Pensions Regulator over the implications of a possible sale by Tata. Under threat: Thousands of jobs are at risk at Tata Steel processing plant at Scunthorpe and Port Talbot China has been exporting at prices below the cost of production, a practice known as dumping. The EU can take steps to block the practice but has been criticised for doing too little too late. In 2012 China exported 2.7million tonnes of steel to the 28 EU countries, according to Eurofer. This leapt to 6.9million tonnes in 2015 a rise of 156 per cent. China also controls 45 per cent of the UK market for a specific type of steel used in constructing buildings. The race is on to find a buyer for Tatas UK operations. The preferred option is for a private sale but the list of suitors is thin. Metals firm Liberty House, which has agreed to buy two sites in Scotland from Tata, said it is interested in snapping up more. But it is only interested in the smaller processing plants rather than the bigger smelting sites. House prices in London have soared by 13.5 per cent in the last 12 months, according to official data today, with prices in the borough of Hillingdon jumping by more than 17 per cent. Across England and Wales, the number of homes sold for over 1million rose by 2 per cent in the past year, with many buyers priced out of popular areas. Land Registry data published today reveals the average cost of a home in England and Wales increased by 6.1 per cent in 12 months to 190,275. Rise and fall: Annual property price change by county, according to the Land Registry Despite the annual rise, last month, prices across England and Wales dipped by 0.2 per cent, with the number of homes being sold also falling over the past year, the Land Registry said. Property prices in the North West increased the most last month, rising by 1.8 per cent, while prices in the North East fell by 1.2 per cent. Over the past year, property prices in the North East have fallen by 3.2 per cent, with the average cost of a home at 97,583. In London last month, prices increased by 0.6 per cent, but across the year surged by 13.5 per cent. According to the Land Registry, a home in the capital now costs an average of 530,368. While the borough of Hillingdon experienced the capital's biggest annual house price surge, last month prices in Hammersmith and Fulham rose by 2.2 per cent. Dr Howard Archer, chief UK and European Economist at IHS Global Insight, said: 'This highlights the difficulty for first time buyers trying to get a foothold in the London property market. 'George Osborne sought to provide a helping hand in last Novembers Autumn Statement by introducing a Help to Buy scheme for London.' Rising high: Property prices in Hillingdon climbed 17.1 per cent in the past year, the Land Registry said Property by type: Average property prices by type, according to Land Registry data In the past year, the number of homes sold for over 1million in England and Wales increased by 2 per cent to 1,077, the findings reveal. But, from September to December, the number of homes sold fell, with an average of 78,778 transactions a month, compared to 79,237 a month a year earlier. The cost of flats and semi-detached homes increased by 6.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively in the past year, while detached homes increased by an average of 5.7 per cent. Expensive: Across England and Wales, the number of homes sold for over 1million rose by 2 per cent in the past year, with many buyers priced out of popular areas Sold: Recorded monthly property sales across England and Wales, according to Land Registry data Looking ahead, Dr Howard Archer said: 'We expect house prices to rise by around 6% over 2016 amid reasonably healthy buyer interest (which could well be fuelled by markedly increased expectations that interest rates will not be rising in 2016) and a relative shortage of properties. SIMPLIFYING HOUSE PRICE DATA In June, the Land Registry's current House Price Index is being replaced by a single 'UK House Price Index.' The new index will replace the existing indices published separately by the Land Registry and the Office for National Statistics. 'Housing market activity is likely to continue to be lifted in the near term by buy-to-let investors and second home buyers looking to make a purchase before Aprils rise in Stamp Duty for the sectors. 'This could well exert limited upward pressure on house prices in the immediate future. Post April, this move may modestly dilute housing market activity and ease upward pressure on prices.' Meanwhile, former RICS chairman and estate agent Jeremy Leaf, said: 'On the ground we want to see more balance between supply and demand, and while we expect completions to rise in January and February as landlords attempt to beat the stamp duty hike from April, there remains a woeful lack of supply, which will push prices higher.' Pricey: The cost of flats and semi-detached homes increased by 6.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively in the past year, while detached homes increased by an average of 5.7 per cent Disarray: The future of the Hinkley Point nuclear plant project has been thrown into doubt Plans to build a new nuclear power station to solve Britains growing energy crisis have plunged into further disarray. Fresh doubt has been cast over the future of Hinkley Point after a board member of French energy firm EDF revealed he will vote against plans to build it. Christian Taxil, who represents the CFE-CGC union on the board of the state-controlled French utility, said conditions were not right for the 18billion project. David Cameron flew home from his family holiday in Lanzarote this afternoon and will hold emergency meetings with key ministers early tomorrow morning as the Government scrambles to avert the growing crisis in Britain's steel industry. Up to 15,000 steel workers' jobs are in jeopardy after Tata Steel announced plans to sell all its loss-making UK business last night, with a further 25,000 jobs connected to the steel industry also at risk. Business Secretary Sajid Javid was forced to cut short his trade trip to Australia, despite earlier refusing to cave into demands for him to return home early. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Government was in 'disarray over what action to take' but his calls for nationalisation were rejected by ministers. And his demand for MPs to be recalled to Parliament to debate the crisis was rejected by the Prime Minister this afternoon. Scroll down for video Tata Steel's board meeting in Mumbai last night decided to pull out of the UK altogether and rejected a 100million rescue plan to restructure the Port Talbot plant (pictured) because it was 'unaffordable' Up to 15,000 steel workers' jobs are in jeopardy after Tata Steel announced plans to sell all its loss-making UK business last night, with a further 25,000 jobs connected to the steel industry also at risk. Workers at Port Talbot (pictured) met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at the plant's sports and social club today Business minister Anna Soubry refused to rule out a move to temporarily nationalise the Tata Steel plants across the UK and said the Government was considering 'all options. But speaking later from Australia, Mr Javid said: 'I don't think nationalisation is going to be the solution because I think everyone would want a long-term viable solution. 'And if you look around Europe and elsewhere I think nationalisation is rarely the answer, particularly if you take into account the big challenges the industry faces.' Mr Javid's decision to cut short his trip to Australia is a sign of the Government's growing panic over the crisis. He had earlier refused to return home, insisting he was 'totally and utterly involved' in the talks and was 'being kept fully briefed on everything as it progresses'. His decision to fly home early came as: Tata Steel's board meeting in Mumbai last night decided to sell its UK business, which makes a loss of around 1m a day It rejected a two-year, 100m plan to restructure the Port Talbot plant because it was 'unaffordable' It puts 15,000 jobs in jeopardy at plants in South Wales, Yorkshire and Northamptonshire Cheap Chinese steel imports has led to a catastrophic drop in the prices that British plants can charge Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demands the Government intervenes to save jobs But his demand for Parliament to be recalled was rejected by David Cameron Business minister Anna Soubry hinted the Government could take over steel plants while a buyer is found But EU rules place restrictions on state aid EU officials have failed to combat cheap Chinese imports by imposing tariffs of just 24 per cent, compared to 266 per cent tariffs in the US Actor Michael Sheen says the steel industry must be given as much government support as the banks received during the 2008 financial crisis Any attempts by the Government to nationalise the industry could be blocked by harsh EU rules on state aid, however - a point that pro-EU ministers have admitted. EU rules were also blamed for failing to protect the steel industry from cheap Chinese imports. The union imposes a tariff of just 24 per cent on Chinese steel imports, compared to the 266 per cent levied in the US. China's steel mills produce 1.1billion tons a year, more than half of the world's total and its cheap price has led to a catastrophic drop in the prices that British plants can charge. Up to 7,000 steel workers at the Port Talbot plant in South Wales are at risk of losing their jobs after Tata Steel announced plans to sell its UK business. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn met staff at the plant's sports and social club today (pictured) David Cameron also flew home today after a six-night Easter break in Lanzarote. He has rejected demands from Jeremy Corbyn to recall Parliament to debate the crisis in the steel industry but will host an emergency meeting of key ministers first thing on Thursday morning Tata Steel's board meeting in Mumbai last night decided to pull out of the UK altogether and rejected a 100million rescue plan to restructure the Port Talbot plant because it was 'unaffordable'. It means up to 7,000 staff and contractors at the South Wales plant will lose their jobs if a buyer cannot be found. In its statement, Tata said EU rules were partly to blame for its downfall, citing the blocks on national governments intervening to help fledgling industries with state aid. Confirming that it had been in talks with the Government over the possibility of intervention, Tata said: 'The company has also been in deep engagement with the UK Government in recent months seeking its support to achieve the best possible outcome for the UK business, within the restrictions of State Aid Rules and other statutory limits.' It added: 'While the global steel demand, especially in developed markets like Europe has remained muted following the financial crisis of 2008, trading conditions in the UK and Europe have rapidly deteriorated more recently, due to structural factors including global oversupply of steel, significant increase in third country exports into Europe, high manufacturing costs, continued weakness in domestic market demand in steel and a volatile currency. Crunch meetings were held in Mumbai, India, today to decide the fate of thousands of steelworkers and union sources claim that Tata Steel is now 'preparing' to sell off its entire British operation. Pictured: Port Talbot Actor Michael Sheen said the steel industry must be given the same support as the banks received during the 2008 financial crisis 'These factors are likely to continue into the future and have significantly impacted the long term competitive position of the UK operations in spite of several initiatives undertaken by the management and the workers of the business in recent years.' Mr Javid was slow to respond to the announcement because he was on his way to Australia to meet business leaders on a trade trip. But speaking this afternoon, he pledged to do all he can to ensure steel continues to be produced at Port Talbot. 'I'm deeply concerned about the situation,' he said. 'I think it's absolutely clear that the UK steel industry is absolutely vital for the country and we will look at all viable options to keep steel making continuing in Port Talbot. 'We are also very much alive to the human cost and we want to make sure no worker is left behind so where workers are affected that we are doing everything we possibly can to help them and their families. Mr Javid, who spoke with Tata's chairman today, added: 'I'm deeply concerned about the situation. I think it's absolutely clear that the UK steel industry is absolutely vital for the country and we will look at all viable options to keep steel making continuing in Port Talbot. The decision by Business Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured outside Downing Street last week) to fly home early from Australia is a sign of the Government's growing panic over the steel crisis 'We are also very much alive to the human cost and we want to make sure no worker is left behind so where workers are affected that we are doing everything we possibly can to help them and their families.' Mr Cameron will chair a meeting of key ministers first thing tomorrow morning and Downing Street said opposition parties will be briefed with the latest updates. Downing Street insisted the Government was 'completely focussed' on working with Tata Steel, trade unions and other interested parties 'to ensure a sustainable future for the plant at Port Talbot and British steel making more widely'. The Welsh Assembly is reconvening a week early next week to debate measures to combat Tata Steel's sell-off plans. This morning Ms Soubry urged Tata to give enough time for buyers to be found for its UK business. Labour has led demands for the Government to intervene to save the industry from collapse and have suggested buying a public stake. Asked whether the UK Government would consider part-nationalisation - at least in the short-term while a buyer is sought - Ms Soubry told the BBC: 'That is an option and of course... we have looked at all options. She added: 'I think the most important thing to establish is that we are and have and continue to look at all options and I do mean all options. 'We want enough time to be able to secure a buyer. That will take months. 'We have to make sure we find a successful buyer. That is the dream. That is what we want to do.' She said there was huge sympathy for Tata, which is losing 1 million a day in its UK steel operations and had invested an 'extraordinary' amount of money at Port Talbot. The sale of Tata's steel plants in the UK puts 15,000 jobs in jeopardy at plants in South Wales, Yorkshire and Northamptonshire 'We want to establish a good period so we can sell it on,' Ms Soubry said. 'That is our priority, to look for a buyer. But we are being realistic about the state of the industry. 'There is an absolute determination by the Prime Minister and myself to see steel being made at Port Talbot. 'I don't want it split up too much.' It is still unclear how many jobs could be affected overall by a sale of Tata's UK business but the firm currently employs around 15,000 staff. Actor Michael Sheen said the steel industry must be given the same support as the banks received during the 2008 financial crisis. AN INDUSTRY - AND TOWN - IN PERIL The Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales The steel industry employs around 25,000 people in Britain and is worth an estimated 2.8billion to our economy. Worldwide demand for steel fell 1.7 per cent last year and has only risen by 0.7 per cent in 2016. Steel prices have fallen sharply. Global downturns and cheap imports from China the world's biggest steel producer have been blamed for the crisis in the British steel industry. Indian-owned Tata is Britain's largest steel producer and has 17,000 UK staff. It announced 1,050 jobs cuts in January, 1,200 last October and 720 last July. Its steelworks in Port Talbot, Wales, employed 20,000 staff in its 1960s heyday, compared to around 4,000 now. Britain's second-largest steel producer, Thai firm SSI, announced 2,200 job losses last October when it said its Redcar works on Teesside would go into liquidation. Advertisement Taking to Twitter to voice his concern, Mr Sheen said the Government should recognise that the steel industry had been at the 'foundation of our national identity for generations' and step in to help. 'Welsh and UK government must do ALL they can now to show support for steelworkers in Port Talbot and across the UK,' Mr Sheen said. This afternoon Mr Corbyn wrote to Mr Cameron, who has just returned from an Easter holiday in Lanzarote, to recall MPs to debate the steel industry crisis in Parliament. MPs are away on Easter recess until Monday 11 April. Mr Corbyn said: 'MPs must have the chance now to debate the future of steel and hold ministers to account for their failure to intervene. 'Steelworkers and their families will be desperately worried about the uncertainty. The Government is in disarray over what action to take. Ministers must act now to protect the steel industry, which is at the heart of manufacturing in Britain and vital to its future. 'It is essential that the Government intervenes to maintain steel production in Port Talbot, both for the workforce and the wider economy, if necessary by taking a public stake in the industry. 'If necessary ministers must be prepared to use their powers to take a public stake in steelmaking to protect the industry and British manufacturing. The Government must do whatever it takes to save this strategic industry.' The news follows months of pressure caused by China 'dumping' cheap steel sold at below-cost price into the UK economy. Last night MPs and prominent Leave campaigners blamed the EU for the crisis because it has imposed only a 24 per cent tariff on steel imports from China, compared with the 266 per cent levied in the US. They claimed a Brexit would enable the UK to increase its tariffs to enable the British steel industry to compete protecting thousands of jobs. There were also calls today for the Welsh Assembly to be recalled to discuss the crisis. But Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said the Welsh Government did not have the resources to take over the running of the steel plants - even for a temporary period while a buyer is found. Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood tweeted: 'If reports from Mumbai are true, it's devastating. All must work together now to save our steel industry.' Union leaders travelled to Mumbai where the Tata board met to discuss the company's loss-making UK business. They had been hoping Tata would agree to a turnaround plan to keep steel-making in Port Talbot and other UK plants. In January, Tata said it planned to cut more than 1,000 jobs at its UK plants with 750 due to be shed at Port Talbot, which is losing 1million a day. Across Britain, the steel industry employs 25,000 people, as well as tens of thousands of contractors. Simon Boyd, a director at Britain's largest steel construction company, REIDsteel, said: 'While we remain in the EU, the UK government we elect can do little to tackle the dumping of cheap steel or unfair state aid rules that hurt British steel.' Mr Boyd, south west regional chairman of the 'Out' group Business for Britain, added: 'If we vote Leave on June 23 we can take back control of our trade policy and help British businesses, including those in the steel industry.' Several people took to Twitter to respond to the news that Tata is apparently preparing to sell of its UK assets Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman, a member of the European Parliament's trade committee, said: 'What is happening with steel illustrates that our ministers are not in charge in our own country. It shows how weak we are.' Cheap Chinese steel imports has led to a catastrophic drop in the prices that British plants can charge Critics say the British Government has found it hard to help its own steel industry because it has to abide by the European Commission's state aid rules, which prevent the Government from pledging to buy only British steel. Last October ministers attempted to aid steel plants by exempting energy-intensive industries from certain green taxes that push up their bills. But this required approval from EU bureaucrats a process which took until mid-December, costing the steel industry 6.2million and UK industry as a whole 41.1million. Aides said that any government measures to support the industry had to be 'viable' ruling out a bailout for the steel giant as this would be incompatible with state aid rules. The most likely option will be a commercial loan. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: 'This is a very dark day for the proud communities and a proud industry which is now on the verge of extinction in this country. 'This news will leave workers and families not just in Port Talbot but in Rotherham and Stocksbridge reeling. Steel is in the veins of these communities. These workers make some of the best steel in the world and have worked hard to deliver for Tata, through thick and thin times.' Around 7,000 jobs are in jeopardy at the Tata steel plant in Port Talbot, South Wales after the Indian-based firm announced plans to sell its UK business The Tata steel plant in Port Talbot, South Wales, bore the brunt of 1,000 job losses announced in January, and thousands more now face losing their jobs if Tata presses ahead with plans to shut down or sell of the plant He added: 'Ministers must honour their promises to keep the lights over the UK's steel communities burning. I will be seeking a meeting with them as a matter of urgency in order that steps to save our steel are taken by government without delay.' Speaking after the news broke, Stephen Kinnock, whose Aberavon constituency includes the Port Talbot steel plant, said: 'We will not allow the closure of Port Talbot Steel works. One way or another we will continue to make steel in Port Talbot but it looks like Tata do not back the plan. 'We will work with Tata and the UK government to help find a buyer for the plant.' He was critical of the Government for not sending a minister to lobby the Tata meeting, while Mr Javid decided to go ahead with a three-day trade trip to Australia. He told the Huffington Post: 'This is deeply disappointing but not surprising. It reflects their abject failure to lift a finger for the British steel industry since 2010. They would rather just roll out the red carpet to China.' The decision came completely out of the blue to union officials. Community, Unite and the GMB will now step up calls on the Government to do more to save the steel industry. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at Port Talbot today, left) said he was 'deeply concerned' by the news, while Unite general secretary Len McCluskey (right) described it as 'a very dark day for the proud communities on the verge of extinction' Both the Port Talbot, South Wales, and Scunthorpe steel plants are owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Steel Both the Port Talbot and Scunthorpe steel plants are owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, which was founded in 1868 by 29-year-old bank-heir Jamsetji Nusserwanji. The firm owns Tetley Tea, Titan watches and Jaguar Land Rover and made profits of 4.7billion in 2015 on sales of 77billion. Tata employs 600,000 workers in 80 countries and in 2007 spent 6.7billion buying Corus, which comprised the former British Steel plants and sites owned by Dutch firm Koninklijke Hoogovens. Tata Steel has operations in 26 countries and produces 28m tonnes of steel each year. It is the second largest steel producer in Europe. Prior to today's crunch meeting, more than 35,000 people had signed an open letter to Tata Steel's chairman Cyrus Mistry in support of UK steelworkers. US tariffs ten times higher than Europe's The United States has taken swift action to protect its steel industry from Chinese dumping by imposing tariffs ten times as high as those the EU levies on imports. While the European Union took months to bring forward a levy on the import of Chinese steel of 24 per cent, the US quickly imposed a tariff of 266 per cent. Critics say the disparity shows how the EU is hamstrung from taking effective measures because it has to take into account the views of 28 member states. The US, on the other hand, can act more quickly to deal with emerging trade threats. The Leave campaign says Britain, too, could take action to help its under-threat steel industry as long as it did not have to wait for sanction from Commission bureaucrats. The only way to achieve this, they say, would be via Brexit giving us the chance to set our own tariffs at levels to protect our own industries. Steel prices have fallen to a record low due to a glut of cheap Chinese imports. International trade rules state that countries can increase tariffs only if it can be proved that China is 'dumping' steel acting uncompetitively by selling it for less than it costs to make. The EU took months to decide to set its 24 per cent tariff rate and this has done little to stem the influx of cheap steel. America has also imposed anti-dumping levies. However, it arrived at a decision much more quickly taking only a few weeks before it imposed a penalty of 266 per cent on identical imports of Chinese steel. This has effectively cut off the flow of cheap steel into the US and allowed its home-made producers to flourish. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong(L) meets with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem, March 29, 2016. (Xinhua/Yang Zhiwang) JERUSALEM, March 29 -- Israeli and Chinese leaders promised here Tuesday to promote innovation cooperation in various fields, including economy and trade, science and technology, agriculture, health and education. The vow was made when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin held separate talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong. Netanyahu told Liu that Israel admires the achievements China has made and regards the country as a top priority of its foreign policy. Israel appreciates that China made the innovation-driven development as a national strategy, said the prime minister, adding that Israel is willing to strengthen exchanges and become an ideal partner of China in innovation cooperation. Netanyahu said Israel also looks forward to further enhancing cooperation with China in the fields of agriculture, education, science and technology, health care, infrastructure and energy. He stressed that deepening bilateral pragmatic cooperation is important as such a move is not only consistent with their common strategic interests, but also instrumental in promoting peace and development through the world. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, who arrived in Israel on Monday evening for a two-day visit, said that China-Israel relations have made a significant progress since the two countries established diplomatic ties over two decades ago. Recent years witnessed booming cooperation in various fields, leading to the establishment of the China-Israel joint committee on innovation cooperation, she said. China sees Israel as its vital partner, she said, hoping that the two sides will take the second meeting of the joint committee as an opportunity to push forward bilateral innovation cooperation. Liu stressed the two countries should explore new models of cooperation and make innovation cooperation as a strategic basis for bilateral relations. She also suggested that people-to-people exchange should play a bigger role in the cooperation so as to constantly push bilateral ties to new levels and broaden their scope. Before meeting with Netanyahu, Liu was received by Israeli President Rivlin at his residence in Jerusalem and both of them also called for closer bilateral cooperation on innovation. JERUSALEM, March 29, 2016 -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong(L) before their meeting in Jerusalem on March 29, 2016. (Xinhua/Gil Cohen Magen) Chinese President Xi Jinping embarked on a two-day visit to the Czech Republic Monday, indicating the country has become one of the most important partners of China in Central and Eastern Europe. With the drastic changes in Eastern Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Czech Republic had been a prominent criticizer of China, taking a hostile stance on the issues of the Dalai Lama and human rights. Today's bilateral relationship is completely different. More than one country in Central and Eastern Europe has adjusted its ties with Beijing, with Poland being another example. The relationship with China overcame ideological differences and embarked on a more friendly path after the Lech Kaczynski era. Sino-Czech cooperation, based on mutual national interests, may still be reversed. With a long geographic distance between the two countries, the Czech Republic has little strategic reliance on China. Plus, Prague is a member of the EU and NATO, so there is no systematic guarantee of friendly ties between the two. International relations change with the times. Several nations in Europe have diverted their attention from ideology to national interests in their ties with China. While foreign relations may still swing, economic interests are carrying more weight than ideology in deciding relationships between countries. Thus, the China-Europe relationship, epitomized by improving Sino-Czech ties, has entered into the best period in history. Despite the tough but increasingly insignificant public opinion against China, European politicians will focus more on improving cooperation with Beijing. Currently, China's main diplomatic challenges are centered on the Asia-Pacific region, where geopolitics, rather than ideology, plays a dominant role in foreign relations. China's economic appeal is the key to breaking Europe's ideological iron curtain. Many European countries have adjusted their China policies as cooperation brings more benefits than ideological confrontation. It is the easiest and safest way for the European countries to act based on their ideology and values. Given huge China-Europe political divergences, the two sides need to strengthen and solidify their economic ties, which are the most reliable in their relationship at this time. Healthy economic development is the key for China to sort out many of its domestic and international issues. We must maintain our developmental advantages, which is a prerequisite to China's growing international appeal, and to its citizens' confidence. The changes in the Czech Republic's China policy are thought-provoking. China has injected the largest impetus into the changing era. The most crucial task is to maintain such impetus. Chinese president Xi Jinping is wraping up day two of his historic state visit to the Czech Republic. He and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman have signed a number of deals, covering sectors including finance, infrastructure, technology and cultural exchanges. Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman sign a joint statement on lifting the two countries' ties to a strategic partnership after their talks in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 29, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) Nothing tops a 21-gun salute. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman on Tuesday in Prague. The two leaders signed an agreement on a strategic partnership, as well as a series of cooperation deals. Last year the two-way trade topped 21 billion US dollars. And located along the route charted by the "Belt and Road" Initiative, the Czech Republic plays an important role for China's global strategy. And deepening cooperation will push the initiative further in Central and Eastern Europe. President Xi also called for stronger cooperation and dialogues. Xi became the first foreign head of state to be welcomed at the Czech Presidential residence, the Lany Chateau where the two leaders planted a Ginkgo tree brought from China, in return for the apple tree Zeman brought to China two years ago. Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to arrive in Washington DC on Wednesday to attend the fourth Nuclear Security Summit. He is also to meet his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama. The White House has confirmed that President Xi Jinping will meet with President Barack Obama on Thursday, on the sidelines of the nuclear summit, and will talk about a wide range of issues. Laura Holgate, special assistant to the U.S. President, says she is pleased to see President Xi coming to the summit, and by the nuclear cooperation between China and the US. "One of the things we are pleased about is the role that China is showing in terms of cooperating with other countries, internationally, on the nuclear security issue. And we hope to share that partnership and to see Chinese leadership in that realm increase even further." Dan Kritenbrink, Senior Director for Asian Affairs, National Security Council, describes President Xi's visit as an extension of the existing high-level communication. He says the two leaders' meeting at the Paris climate summit last December resulted in great efforts in issues related to climate change, and inspired all sides to ditch differences to reach agreement on the final draft text. "Bilateral cooperation with China right now is exceptional, broad, and deep on issues ranging from climate to nuclear security to development, public health, Iran and Afghanistan." Diplomat Thomas Countryman, the US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, also stressed the importance of the two sides working together. "Just the same as in every other important global issue, it is vital that China and the United States understand each other and cooperate with each other." With the two sides having deepened cooperation in various fields, the fate of the two has grown closer. Li Cheng, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, says the common interests of the two countries transcend their differences. Despite all odds, he sees opportunity in global issues where China and the U.S. can work hand in hand. Li also points out that the meeting between Xi Jinping and Obama is of great importance as it's the only bilateral meeting at the summit, and it's the Chinese leader's second U.S visit in six months. "As the only bilateral meeting at the summit, it shows China's importance on influencing international affairs and on U.S. diplomacy. Regarding this, the meeting could have impact on the American people's decision on the next administration, subliminally." He emphasized China's decision on constructing a new model of major-country relationship between China and the US - one of no Conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation in the new era. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Suzanne Parker Ramen, once regarded as the slacker food in the cheap little packets, has certainly become a thing over the last few years. It has received adulation from foodies, and is on the radar even of the culinarily indifferent. Queens has the bragging rights of being home to what is arguably the most celebrated noodle joint in the metropolitan area, Mu Ramen in Long Island City. So when we heard about a newish ramen establishment, Shuya Cafe de Ramen, with a few quirky features, like billing itself as a furniture showroom, the pull was irresistible. The sign outside the cafe features the name Shuya in the center, with the words Cafe de Ramen to the left, and Furniture Showroom to the right. There is an explanation for this double billing. There is not one but two Shuyas involved. There is Shuya Miyawaki, the Yokahama-born chef, and his business partner, Shuya Iida, designer and manufacturer of his line of custom made furniture. The petite dining room is fitted out in Iidas lean, functional designs. The walls anchor a network of his meticulously crafted wooden rectangles, displaying an eclectic set of artifacts. The only wall art is a poster with the Shuya logo and the words Shuya Life Design Lab. Miyawaki, no slouch in the design department, created, with his wife, Hitomi Kamimura, the handmade pottery used in the restaurant. The menu is spare like the design style. No pork broth. Five ramen variations. About a dozen tapas divided between hot and cold. No desserts. Tea and Japanese soft drinks. Cash only (be forewarned). Korobuta popcorn dog was described as a deep fried black pork sausage fritter. Korobuta pork is sort of the Waguyu of pork. The most prized breed in Japan. It is the color of the pig rather than the sausage, which is black. It came in a paper cone in a bucket accompanied by a precious two-well hand-made ceramic condiment receptacle filled with a dollop each of mustard and ketchup. Cute? Yes. Tasty? Yes. Weird? That also. It struck me as a candidate for carnival food. It recalled to mind some of the oddities I encountered in Japan as takes on American cuisine like spaghetti with ketchup and sushi pizza. We wouldnt have noticed anything special about the wiener nugget inside if we hadnt read the menu. The pork bun, a steamed bun wrapped around pork chashu, and egg tartar sauce, would make a substantial snack by itself. It seemed more Chinese than Japanese, but lets not hold that against it. Brussels sprout tempura arrived in a paper cone in a bucket like the popcorn dog. It comes drizzled with truffle oil and sprinkled with Himalayan sea salt. The batter was light and crisp, and the Brussels sprout interiors took on an almost creamy texture. That being said, they were also kind of monotonous if you attempted to eat a whole order. They would be better if you were eating with friends, and ordered them for the table. The main event here is unquestionably the ramen. Miyawaki confines his broth making to chicken with fish or fish and clam. His broth has depth, character, and an abundance of umami, achieved without dependence on MSG, a matter of pride for this chef. The noodles are properly chewy. The toppings are of excellent quality, but not overly abundant. There is a list of extra toppings for $1 to $4 each. It makes sense to add a flavored egg for a dollar extra, but a buck for house-made spicy sauce? Same goes for grated ginger and fish powder. Tea is extra, too, an unfortunate trend were seeing more and more. The Bottom Line Shuya Cafe de Ramen is a delightful place for an authentic bowl of noodle soup and other snacks. We see it as a great neighborhood spot, but only a destination if you live in a verified ramen desert or are also in the market for custom-made furniture. Suzanne Parker is the TimesLedgers restaurant critic and author of Eating Like Queens: A Guide to Ethnic Dining in Americas Melting Pot, Queens, N.Y. She can be reached by e-mail at qnsfo odie@ aol.com . Shuya Cafe de Ramen 42-13 Broadway Astoria (718) 777-0430 Price Range: Appetizers $3-$7, Ramen $12-$14 Cuisine: Ramen and Japanese snack foods. Setting: Small, attractive, understated decor. Service: Friendly, efficient. Hours: Monday, Wednesday Friday, 5 pm 10 pm; Saturday and Sunday, noon 10 pm; Closed Tuesdays Reservations: No Alcohol: No Parking: Street Dress: Casual Children: Welcome Music: No Takeout: Yes Credit cards: Cash Only Noise level: Acceptable Handicap accessible: Yes WIFI: No Protesters attend a rally against the security laws in Tokyo, Japan, March 19, 2016. Thousands of people gathered for the protest. (Xinhua/Ma Ping) BEIJING, March 30 -- China has urged the Japanese government to "act prudently" and "adhere to a peaceful development path" after Japan's controversial new security laws came into effect on Tuesday. In blatant violation of the country's pacifist Constitution, which restricts Japan's military action in self-defense, the new security legislation gives the green light to overseas military operations by the Self-Defense Forces. The laws have drawn wide criticism from Japan's neighbors and the international community for threatening to destabilize the Asia-Pacific. "We urge Japan to learn from history," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei at a routine press briefing on Wednesday. "The Japanese government should listen attentively to the call for justice from Japan and the international community." The Japanese side should take the security concerns of its Asian neighbors seriously, act with prudence in the military and security fields, and stick to the path of peaceful development, Hong stressed. Hong said that "some forces in Japan have been trying to push forward their domestic political agenda by fabricating the so-called 'China threat'. We are firmly opposed to that." "China asks Japan to refrain from doing anything that undermines China's sovereignty and security interests as well as regional peace and stability," said the spokesperson. 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. In this March 11, 2015, photo, an employee walks past a conveyer belt carrying newly-bottled and packaged cases of Blue Moon beer, a craft-oriented label produced at the MillerCoors Brewery, in Golden, Colo. On Thursday, March 3, 2016, the Labor Department issues revised data on productivity in the fourth quarter. SHARE By Associated Press CHICAGO Dick Leinenkugel has logged countless hours in Texas and Southern California lately, spreading the gospel of shandies in locales with abundant sunshine and underdeveloped craft beer markets. I think were poised for a very big year, said Leinenkugel, 58, president of the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company. As the craft beer industry continues to boom, Chicago-based MillerCoors purveyor of mainstream beers like Miller Lite and Coors Light is responding by doubling down on Blue Moon and Leinenkugel, the two top sellers in its Tenth and Blake craft and imports division. Beginning next month, quirky television commercials will attempt to introduce consumers throughout the U.S. to Leinenkugel: German-style beer crafted with the spirit of Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Blue Moon Brewing Co., best known for its Belgian White ale, is unleashing its own promotional barrage, including its first new packaging in more than 20 years, an ad campaign, and, this summer, the opening of a brewery in Denvers burgeoning craft beer scene in the River North art district. Its all about staying relevant in an increasingly competitive craft beer landscape, said Ashley Selman, MillerCoors vice president of marketing. We just need to keep introducing ourselves and to make ourselves accessible. Last summer, millennials in consumer focus groups informed MillerCoors that the Blue Moon packaging was dark, lonely and weirdly mystical, Selman said. The new look is brighter and cleaner than the old, and intended to better represent the experience of having a Blue Moon Belgian White in a glass at a bar, typically garnished with an orange slice, she said. With Leinenkugel, the challenge is to grow its following beyond the Great Lakes. One of the new commercials features a multiracial group of 20- and 30-somethings each with an instrument camping on the banks of a river and drinking Summer Shandy. A moose swims by as they slowly groove into a shuffling, old-timey rendition of Bostons More Than a Feeling. If youre from Illinois or Wisconsin, you know Leinenkugel, Selman said. Other parts of the country still dont know us that well. Whether Blue Moon and Leinenkugel are craft-brewed is a matter of some dispute. From the MillerCoors perspective, Blue Moon is the top-selling craft beer in the U.S. by volume, citing data from the Chicago-based market research firm IRI, and Leinenkugel is a craft brewery dating back to 1867. But the Brewers Association, the trade group representing the vast majority of craft brewers in the U.S., defines craft breweries as being small, independent and traditional. Neither Blue Moon nor Leinenkugel fits the criteria to be considered a craft brewer, said Julia Herz, spokeswoman for the association. Blue Moon Belgian White is seen by many to be a gateway beer to craft, but its corporate ownership has long rankled some in the craft beer community. The Miller Brewing Co. acquired Leinenkugel in 1988. Youve got the big brewers trying to act like the small and it remains to be seen whether the marketplace will support that, Herz said on MillerCoors recent efforts with Blue Moon and Leinenkugel. MillerCoors Selman called the definition of craft a moving target. Does it matter whether some people call (Blue Moon) craft or some people dont? Selman said. Not really. Ultimately, consumers decide whether they like our beer or not. What cant be argued is that the beer landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. In 1995, when Blue Moon was first brewed as the Belly Slide Belgian Wit in the tiny Sandlot brewery at Coors Field, there were 794 craft breweries in the U.S., according to Brewers Association data. Now, there are more than 4,200. Last year, the volume of beer produced by craft brewers increased by 13 percent, according to the association. As craft beer and Mexican imports have cut into market share of domestic mainstream beers, large beer companies have fought back on several fronts, such as acquiring craft breweries, revamping marketing on legacy beers, and creating line extensions or new products. MillerCoors has done all of the above, including buying the San Diego-based craft brewery Saint Archer Brewing Co. last year. But for now, the focus in the Tenth and Blake division is on growing sales for Blue Moon and Leinenkugel, Selman said. Last year, the Blue Moon family of beers which includes a White IPA, Cinnamon Horchata Ale and the Harvest Pumpkin Ale, among other styles made about $166 million in grocery store sales, an increase of 5.6 percent from the previous year, according to IRI data for the year ended Dec. 27. The Belgian White still represents the bulk of Blue Moon sales about $113 million in supermarket sales last year, an increase of 9.6 percent from the previous year, according to the IRI data. But over the past five years, the IRI data show that the growth of Blue Moon sales has slowed, particularly for seasonal and variety pack beers. The growth of the craft beer industry has contributed to the challenges that Blue Moon has faced, said Dan Wandel, principal of beverage alcohol client insights at IRI. Leinenkugels Summer Shandy is the top selling shandy in the U.S., according to IRI data, despite facing similar competitive challenges. As beer drinkers increasingly open their minds to flavored beers, Wandel said, the Grapefruit Shandy in particular has been able to capitalize on this trend. Both Blue Moon and Leinenkugel tend to appeal to more affluent consumers and younger drinkers, particularly millennials, according to Nielsen data. When Dick Leinenkugel got involved in the family business in 1987, the Chippewa Falls-based brewery only produced four types of beer, he said. Shandies were introduced in 2007 and now represent about 70 percent of Leinenkugel sales, he said. Theres no question weve grown because of people growing interested in trying new styles of beer, he said. Still, Leinenkugel said the national push wont mean the local market will be neglected. Were not going to forget who brought us to the dance, he said. 2016 Chicago Tribune Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Patrick Johnston/Times Record News John "Tig" Tiegen (left) and Mark "Oz" Geist share their accounts of the attacks on the Benghazi consulate on Sept. 11, 2012 during "An Evening with Two Heroes of Benghazi" at the Wellington Banquet & Conference Center Tuesday. SHARE Patrick Johnston/Times Record News John "Tig" Tiegen (left) and Mark "Oz" Geist share their accounts of the attacks on the Benghazi consulate on Sept. 11, 2012 during "An Evening with Two Heroes of Benghazi" at the Wellington Banquet & Conference Center Tuesday. Patrick Johnston/Times Record News John "Tig" Tiegen and Mark "Oz" Geist show on slides the locations they are talking about while sharing their accounts of the attacks on the Benghazi consulate on Sept. 11, 2012 during "An Evening with Two Heroes of Benghazi" at the Wellington Banquet & Conference Center Tuesday. By Patrick Johnston, patrick.johnston@timesrecordnews.com The fateful day of Sept. 11, 2012 started out like "another day at the office" for his team, Mark "Oz" Geist said. The contracted security personnel were always on high alert because they knew any day could end up like that night Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed during an attack on the consulate, he said. Geist and John "Tig" Tiegen spoke at "An Evening with Two Heroes of Benghazi," an event sponsored by the Wichita County Republican Women Tuesday night at the Wellington Banquet & Conference Center. Geist said he knew the group gathered outside the gate that day wasn't like the usual protesters. "They don't bring AK-47s, RPGs and machine guns to a protest. Whoever thought that story would fly shouldn't be running for president right now," he said to cheers from the audience. Tiegen and Giest spent the next hour weaving their accounts of what they went through with a bit of humor. Geist said his team felt pretty good after having survived the first assault, counterassault and a second assault without any serious injuries to their team. Tiegen said defending the compound was like a game of "whack-a-mole" as his team had night vision goggles and higher ground. He said they were able to pick off the attackers as they advanced. All the feelings changed though when the call to prayer fell silent around sunrise and the first mortar round hit the wall of the roof near the area Geist and others were positioned. Two of the security personnel died and Geist was severely injured by the mortar rounds that hit the roof. The survivors of the attackers weren't able to evacuate the consulate until the commander of a Libyan militia whose group escorted to the compound the Tripoli team that came to help the consulate personnel escape brought around 800 troops to help, Tiegen said. He added the first U.S. military member they saw was a medical plane from Germany that flew to Tripoli to treat Geist and others, but it wasn't until the day after the attacks. Tiegen said they chose not to speak to the FBI assuming the state department would recount the events for them and were later released to leave. However, he said they had to buy their own plane tickets home since they were contractors, much to the shock of the audience. Chinese President Xi Jinping will head toWashington DC to attend the 4th Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) beginning on Thursday. During his visit, Xi will discuss nuclear security issues with leaders from more than 50 countries and international organizations. The forthcoming summit is also seen as a window to demonstrate the importance of Sino-US cooperation, especially in nuclear security. Ahead of Xis visit, an official with the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) highlighted five aspects of the bilateral cooperation on nuclear security during an interview with the Peoples Daily. Annual dialogue mechanism established Last September, Xi and his US counterpart Barack Obama agreed to set up an annual dialogue mechanism on nuclear security. On February 20, the first China-US nuclear security dialogue was held in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. Coordination and cooperation between the two sides on the subject were further enhanced. China and the US hold the first nuclear security dialogue on February 20. (Photo: Xinhua) Co-founding the nuclear security center The Chinese and the US governments announced they wouldbuild a nuclear security center in China during their 1st Nuclear Security Summit when then Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the US in January 2011, both sides signed a Momentum of Understanding, which stipulated that China would be in charge of the centers construction and management while the US would provide technical equipment. The security center was completed in December 2015, ahead of schedule, and began operation in March, 2016. Pictured is a model of the nuclear security center financed by China and the US. (Photo: Song Haoxin from Peoples Daily) Enhancing security on high-enriched uranium At the end of 2011, the CAEA approved a cooperation on nuclear security between the China Institute of Atomic Energy and the Argonne National Laboratory, a US Department of Energy Lab. As a result, a miniature neutron-source reactor was remodified to run on low-enriched uranium materials as the traditional high-enriched uranium reactor core was replaced with a low-enriched one. The reactor started running at full power on March 26 after passing all tests. As such a move can effectively reduce the risk of nuclear leakage and improve nuclear security. It is another instance ofimportant progress in bilateral cooperation. Here's what to know as the annual dove hunting season approaches Russian President Vladimir Putin, via a video link, addresses people marking the second anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea in Moscow's Red Square, as he visits the construction site of the Kerch Strait bridge on the Tuzla Island, Crimea, Friday, March 18, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Crimea on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the peninsula's annexation and inspect construction of a bridge meant to link it to mainland Russia. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) SHARE By The Washington Post Vladimir Putin once again appears to have surprised the Obama administration, this time with an abrupt announcement of a military withdrawal from Syria. As in several previous instances his seizure of Crimea and incursion into eastern Ukraine, for example the White House was caught flat- footed because it deluded itself about Putin's goals and his chances of success. President Obama derided the Russian leap into the war in September as the prelude to a "quagmire," just as he proclaimed that the annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donetsk region would be self-defeating. Yet in Syria, Putin has accomplished quite a lot, and his gains have come at the expense of U.S. interests and of Obama's stated goals in the region. Moscow's most obvious achievement has been to reverse the course of the civil war. The regime of Bashar al-Assad, which was reeling last summer, now has a clear upper hand over U.S.-backed rebels. By the Russian account, regime forces have regained control over 400 towns and almost 4,000 square miles of territory; they have cut off the main supply line to the rebel-controlled districts of Aleppo, the country's largest city. The cease-fire negotiated by Putin's foreign minister with Secretary of State John F. Kerry could lock those gains into place and government forces have continued to attack key areas during the cease-fire, without consequence. More broadly, Putin has succeeded in re-establishing Russia as a power in the Middle East. The United States has been obliged to accept Russia as a coequal in brokering the cease-fire and a new round of peace talks, and has swallowed Putin's terms including setting aside a demand that Assad give up power in the near future. Having shattered the Kremlin's diplomatic isolation after the Ukraine invasion and established himself as a key player in determining whether the flow of Syrian refugees to Europe will continue, Putin is positioned to seek the lifting of European Union sanctions on his regime this summer. U.S. officials argue that the cease-fire has brought relief to millions of Syrians, as violence has declined and relief convoys have reached besieged areas. But the humanitarian costs of Russia's intervention also have been heavy. Human rights groups and other independent observers have charged Russia with deliberately targeting hospitals and food stores and dropping cluster munitions that killed hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians. Russia has paid no price for these crimes. The withdrawal may suck some wind from the sails of Assad, who has been ostentatiously promising to reconquer all of Syria. That, too, suits Putin. Like Ukraine, and Georgia, Syria could best serve his interests as a frozen conflict, where Russia can protect its strategic position in a divided country and exercise a veto over any permanent solution, while avoiding a long-term military commitment. The United States and its allies will be left to carry on the fight against the Islamic State, which will be made considerably more difficult by the Assad regime's survival. Thanks to Putin's intervention, and the United States' befuddled response to the Syrian crisis, it is not he but Obama who is left facing a quagmire. SHARE Jim Mills, Wichita Falls In response to a recent opinion expressed about Donald Trump's Christianity, I submit my personal view. I'm not concerned whether Trump is, or isn't a Christian, but, more importantly, is an avid Christian supporter. Trump is against letting more Syrian Muslims into the USA for obvious reasons. Syria is a terrorist breeding and supportive country. Trump at least recognizes the dangers to Christians and is willing to act to support Christians world wide. If I were basing my support on which candidate is a Christian, I would have supported Dr. Ben Carson, a deeply spiritual man. But, Trump is the only candidate expressly speaking out in support of Christians. Christian leaders such as Dr. Jeffress openly endorse Trump for his candor and his resolution to stop terrorism. I'm not anyone worthy to judge any man's relationship with Christ Jesus, but I'd bet a hundred bucks Obama or Clinton or Sanders can't give a clear, accurate definition of salvation as defined by Christ Himself. But I am capable of judging who clearly supports all American citizens first and foremost. Go Trump! SHARE One of the more absurd things being said about the Donald Trump phenomenon is that the media created it. For the record, we didn't. First of all, there is no "we." The news media operate in what should be every conservative ideologue's dream environment: an unfettered free market. Outlets compete every day actually, in the Internet age, every hour to provide consumers with information they need and want. Every editor and news director strives to beat the competition, and the fact is that audiences have decided they need and want to know about Trump. No one understands this better than Trump himself. To understate by miles, he knows how to draw attention to himself the late-night Twitter rants, the fire-breathing rallies, the gold-plated jet, the ridiculous hair. After decades in the public eye, he had more than 90 percent name recognition when he began his campaign. So it was no surprise that hordes of media flocked to Trump Tower last June 16 and watched him descend the shiny escalator for his kickoff announcement. Who doesn't love a good sideshow? But any carnival barker can draw a crowd. Trump would have been sent home to his Fifth Avenue penthouse long ago if a substantial part of the Republican Party base didn't agree with what he is saying. If there is any sort of collective media failure, it's not in paying too much attention to Trump, but too little to his message. Were the morning news shows wrong to let Trump call in so often? Before you say of course it was, think of the implications. Do those programs have an obligation to treat every candidate the same? If so, contenders such as Martin O'Malley and Jim Gilmore should have gotten as much coverage and airtime as, say, Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz. Were the cable networks wrong to carry live coverage of so many Trump rallies? Recall that the events themselves were newsworthy because of the extraordinary size of the crowds. I could buy the argument that the other candidate who drew unusually big crowds, Bernie Sanders, perhaps should have gotten more coverage, but not that Trump should have gotten less. The "media created Trump" storyline ignores the fact that the "mainstream" media are about as popular among the Republican base as the Zika virus. And the one exception, Fox News, has been tougher on Trump than other outlets, not more accommodating. Chris Wallace, the host of "Fox News Sunday," has long refused to let Trump call in. And anchor Megyn Kelly, with her sharp questioning and commentary, seems to have driven the blowhard billionaire up the wall. It is true that Trump delivers huge television ratings and lots of website clicks. But that's irrelevant. News organizations have to cover the leading candidates, even if they're dull as dishwater. The news media, it seems to me, are guilty only of reporting the news which is that a candidate who has never held elective office, and who displays neither the base of knowledge nor the temperament necessary to serve as president, is leading all comers for the Republican nomination. Commentators should spend less time flattering themselves that the news media have the power to make such a thing happen and more time trying to understand why Trump is succeeding. Early in his campaign, Trump staked out extreme positions on illegal immigration: Deport the 11 million undocumented migrants already in the country, and build a "big, beautiful wall" along the Mexico border. Ridiculous, yes, but he got people's attention. He followed up, after the San Bernardino terror attack, with a call to ban all foreign Muslims from entering the country. It is another crazy idea impossible to implement, and counterproductive if attempted but it resonated with millions of Americans who unfortunately view Islam with fear and loathing. Trump rails against free trade agreements whose effect, in his view, has been to eliminate millions of manufacturing jobs. He pledges to reduce the cost and scope of U.S. involvement overseas. He denounces other politicians as lackeys who dance to the tune of rich and powerful campaign donors. And he plays on the anxieties and prejudices of white voters unnerved by demographic change in a nation that will soon have no racial majority. With apologies to Marshall McLuhan, in this case the media are merely the messenger, not the message. Blaming ourselves for Trump's rise is just another way to ignore the voters who have made him the favorite for the GOP nomination. Eugene Robinson's email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com. He writes for The Washington Post Writers Group. SHARE Contributed by the Wichita Falls ISD A focal point of the Wichita Falls ISD's career and technology education center will be the learning stair, which will be used as seating for presentations and doubles as auditorium space. By Lana Sweeten-Shults of the Times Record News The hallowed halls of academia might just lead you to an oil change. Or a haircut and color. Or a lunch special. Such is the vision for the Wichita Falls ISD's career and technical education center, a 123,000-square-foot facility off Henry Grace Freeway near Hatton Road. Construction crews are expected to start moving dirt in a few weeks on the $35.75 million project, the centerpiece of the $59.5 million bond voters approved in May. "We're actually waiting on some paperwork," CTE coordinator Michelle Wood said. Once the paperwork goes through, crews will be extending Brewster Street, the road between the Clinics of North Texas and Fire Station No. 3, so that it reaches Hatton Road and will provide access to the new facility. Wood said the CTE center will be a T-shaped building. "The top of the T is two story (and where the nonindustrial trade programs will be), and the other side is one story and is where most of our industrial trades will be. It will have an 18-foot ceiling and big garage doors," Wood said. Plans are to include 25 "career paths" in the CTE center with a little of everything, from cosmetics to the culinary arts, along with an agricultural science program that will include animal grooming, horticulture and floral design, to name a few. "Upstairs is where we will have our health sciences," she added, with such choices as nursing, emergency medical technology, physical and occupational therapy, and health information management. " In all those pathways, we will have two labs, one for EMTs and the other for occupational therapy/physical therapy." She added that the facility will include criminal justice and computer science pathways with computer networking, programming and engineering options, along with business classes upstairs, too. "There's a billion things in this building and those are our just our nonindustrial trades." The industrial side of the building will include architecture, construction, welding, electronics, machining, agricultural welding, auto collision and automotive technology. "The idea is to get them excited about career opportunities they never knew they wanted," Wood said. The idea also is to get the public excited about the center. "We have several programs where students will see the public," Wood said. "Like in auto collision and auto technology, you can have something fixed, or you can get your hair done or your nails cut (by cosmetology students)." The district hopes to open a bistro that will be open to the public on a limited basis so that culinary students might put their skills to the test. In making this facility an integral part of the community, Wood said, "We tried to blend a business feel with an educational feel. In the building, we did a lot of glass and viewing options. We designed it with opportunities to walk by and see what's going on. "We really want this to be a community showpiece." The structure will include a lot of collaborative space, "which is unusual for a high school; it's more of a college feel," Wood said. Those spaces will be used for hands-on collaborative projects. Students can also expect a lot of small breakout rooms and charging stations where they can plug in and charge their devices. "Mr. (Michael) Kuhrt (district superintendent) is really big on, 'We don't want anybody in rows. We want kids to be interacting.'" One of Wood's favorite features planned for the building is a "learning stair." "The reason it's so important to me is that auditorium space is so expensive to build, and it's not used very much. The solution is the learning stair." The stairs will be used as seating space. Students can sit on the stairs and watch presentations projected from flat-screen televisions on the opposite wall. Across from the learning stair is a multipurpose room that can be opened up and serve as an auditorium-type space. "It's our focal point," Wood said. Part of the reason for building the CTE center is to fulfill the mandates of House Bill 5, which will require students to choose an endorsement, or career pathway. Students headed to high school have picked their endorsements and related classes. "As of today, we know where people are going," Wood said. The CTE center will be built by Trinity Hughes/Sundt and is expected to be open for the 2017-18 school year. Schenectady Get ready for Ollies Blocks. Haran and Carissa Wolfovitz Yaffe, the Schenectady couple seeking $100,000 through the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to launch a wooden toy block company called Ollies Blocks, reached their goal with five days to go. "It took us some time and a lot of effort, but we made it," Haran told the Times Union Tuesday night just after they reached the milestone. Raising $100,000 through Kickstarter isn't easy. Under Kickstarter's rules, participants have to raise all the money they need within a predetermined time period. If they don't reach their goal, they get nothing. And less than three percent of the successful Kickstarter campaigns have been for $100,000 or more, making Ollies Blocks a rare breed. The couple, who has been living in Schenectady where Carissa grew up since last summer after moving from Silicon Valley, are reviving a toy block company that Haran's father started in the 1980s in Israel called Yael's Wooden Toys. Haran's family in Israel said they would help him and Carissa restart the company if they could raise startup funding through online crowd sourcing. Haran said Wednesday that a large portion of the money raised on Kickstarter came from people in Israel who remembered the toys from decades ago. The company is now named after the couple's daughter, Olivia. "We are so excited that Ollies Blocks came to life and we can't wait to start production," Haran said. "It has been a stressful two months, challenging at times and we couldn't have done it without the support of our backers." Now Haran and his wife as well as his family are going to get to work. They are currently working on getting the machine tools ready and parts ordered for the production process and finding a manufacturing site. Ollies Blocks will be made from excess wood scraps from places like furniture companies. They plan to have their first shipments by September. While manufacturing will be in Israel, marketing and customer service will be in Schenectady. The couple travels back and forth between the U.S. and Israel frequently. The couple is accepting orders on Olliesblocks.com. Haran said the Kickstarter money will help run the company for now, although he said there has already been interest from investors. Kickstarter has helped startup companies raise nearly $2.3 billion since it was launched in 2009, funding 102,745 projects. Only 2,863 of those raised $100,000 or more, however, and there have been 182,260 failed Kickstarter campaigns. According to a basic search on the Kickstarter website, there have been hundreds of local Kickstarter campaigns, many of them currently trying to raise money. For instance the tea company Chuga Chaga that was started by University at Albany students raised $16,727 through Kickstarter last month, surpassing its goal. lrulison@timesunion.com 518-454-5504 @larryrulison Although China has offered subsidies and taken other measures to reduce the loss of agricultural products caused by problems with storage and processing, post-harvest losses still amount to over 300 billion yuan ($46 billion) each year. Experts and local officials are therefore calling for more measures to combat the issue. From 2012 to 2015, the Chinese government spent 2.6 billion yuan to subsidize 49,000 households and 5,200 cooperative communities in more than 20 provinces, helping to build facilities to store and process agricultural products like vegetables and fruit. Those policies are now paying off. With the help of these facilities, the post-harvest loss rate for produce dropped to less than 6 percent, down from 15 percent. In the past four years, due to less waste and higher incomes, the policy has recovered a total of 9.4 billion yuan. In addition, the average life span of these facilities is at least 15 years. Their existence has done a lot to stabilize the market supply. However, though a great deal of money has been invested, actual demand has not yet been met. Chinas preliminary processing capability remains too low; even in subsidized areas, the present capability is far from meeting actual demands, said Sha Na, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the countrys top political advisory body. Liu Mingguo, an official with Chinas Ministry of Agriculture, added that a lot of agricultural products were wasted after the harvest because of outdated processing techniques and equipment. Statistics show that the annual grain loss caused by poor storage is about 20 million tons, and that the number for potatoes is about 16 million tons. The post-harvest loss of fruit and vegetables amounted to about 14 million and 100 million tons respectively. The total post-harvest loss of agricultural products in China exceeds 300 billion yuan each year, which comes out to 10 million hectares of cultivated land. Provinces including Sichuan, Hubei, Hebei, Gansu and Fujian complain about insufficient subsidized facilities. In addition, with the amendment of environmental protection laws, all drying facilities are required to be fueled by clean energy in order to qualify for government subsidies. Experts are now calling for more support in improving the storage and processing of agricultural products, as the current bottleneck is restraining Chinas efforts to modernize its agriculture industry. According to Cheng Qinyang, a fellow researcher from the Ministry of Agriculture, measures to promote improved conditions may include expanding the favorable policies to more areas, increasing the subsidies and diversifying the subsidized facilities. Local officials from agricultural departments also recommend that the government accelerate the construction of processing facilities by incentivizing concerned departments and farmers. Additionally, they suggested giving priority to new types of business models like specialty cooperatives. The government should also support model demonstration farms and offer technical instruction in order to ensure that subsidies are put to the best use possible. Cheng added that China should draw from the experience of developed nations like Japan and South Korea and integrate the steps of agricultural production so that farmers can enjoy increased earnings. Saturday They don't call Thomas Mapfumo the "Lion of Zimbabwe" for nothing. Mapfumo, who uses his music as a voice of protest in his home country, in March said that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is too old and feeble to run the country and should step down to save Zimbabwe from economic ruin. Mapfumo, an outspoken critic of Mugabe whose music is banned in Zimbabwe, is known for creating chimuernga music, a musical style rooted in traditional Shona mbira music played with rock instruments and infused with political statements. The Sanctuary for Independent Media will celebrate its 10th anniversary this week with a concert by Mapfumo and his band, Blacks Unlimited. 8 p.m. Saturday. $20. The Sanctuary for Independent Media, 3361 Sixth Ave., Troy. 272-2390 or http://www.mediasanctuary.org Saturday Handel's "Xerxes" started out as a failure. The opera, which was commissioned by the King's Theatre in 1737 and debuted in London in 1738, likely confused its audience, because it contained elements of comedy and a number of short, one-movement arias; three-movement da capo arias were de rigueur at the time. The play disappeared for nearly two centuries before it was rediscovered and revived in 1924. The English National Opera performed "Xerxes" in 2014. Guest countertenor Chad Payton is Xerxes in Skidmore College's production of the opera, which also features Skidmore faculty baritone Dennis Blackwell and the Skidmore String Orchestra, led by guest conductor Scott Schoonover. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $7-$10, free for students and children. Arthur Zankel Music Center, Skidmore College, 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs. 580-5546 or http://www.skidmore.edu Thursday The Curatorial Studies class at the University at Albany unveils "Commodifying Destruction," a two-day "Pop Up" exhibition in cooperation with Albany Center Gallery. "The definition of destruction is transformed through unconventional depictions of industrial, social and artistic decay." Featuring Rachel Baxter, Kate Bickmore, John Bulmer, Beau Commeaux, Adam Frelin, Niki Haynes, Michael Oatman, Ryan Parr, miChelle Vara. Opening Friday, 5-8 p.m. 733 Broadway, Albany. 462-4775 or http://commodifyingdestruction.blogspot.com Sunday If the name St. Petersburg Piano Quartet sounds kind of familiar to your classical ear, that's because the group is an offshoot of the prized St. Petersburg String Quartet, which has appeared locally several times in recent years. Some of the same players, plus the same level of quality, are promised in Sunday afternoon's concert presented by the Friends of Chamber Music. The program features music of Brahms and Schumann, plus a recent work by contemporary Russian composer Leonid Desyatnikov. 3 p.m. Sunday, Kiggins Hall, Emma Willard School, 285 Pawling Ave., Troy. $15-$25. 833-1874 or http://www.friendsofchambermusic.org NASSAU - Work on two bridges in town could slow traffic on Route 20 after the construction begins on Friday. The two bridges carry Route 20 over the Kinderhook Creek. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Heinrich Harder/Wikimedia Commons Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Liz Coleman/Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A study published by the American Journal of Applied Sciences is drawing a lot of attention for positing an exciting theory: Unicorns might have been real, and they may have shared the earth with humans. An Elasmotherium sibiricum skull fossil recently discovered in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan is the cause of all the fuss. Previously, scientists believed that anything resembling the mythical unicorn died out 350,000 years ago. The Siberian unicorn fossils found in Kazakhstan are 29,000 years old; scientists believe the first Homo sapiens evolved nearly 200,000 years ago. In our media-saturated world, creating something new is becoming an increasingly difficult feat and it's even tougher if you're trying to make a meaningful political statement, too. That explains a lot about the dancing camels in "Atlas Revisited," a new multimedia performance by visual artist Karthik Pandian and dancer/choreographer Andros Zins-Browne, which will be shown at EMPAC Friday at 8 p.m. "The challenge for a lot of artists of our generation is how to speak about current events with an image language that feels fresh, not like you're just watching the news," said Zins-Browne, who lives and works in Brussels and has performed his own dance pieces throughout Europe. In 2012, inspired by the Arab Spring movement, the artistswho met 15 years ago at Brown Universitydecided to merge their respective mediums in pursuit of an unexpected artistic and politically minded creation. More Information If you go "Atlas Revisited" When: 8 p.m. Friday Where: EMPAC, 110 8th St., Troy Tickets: $6-$12 Info: 276-3921 or http://empac.rpi.edu See More Collapse "Andros was in Brussels and I was in Los Angeles, but we were both seeing images of a revolution spreading throughout the Middle East, images that were a vital element of sparking that revolution," recalled Pandian, whose sculpture and video installations have been shown around the country and in Europe. "We felt an urgency to speak to something very important happening in the world." To do so, they went far afield. At Atlas Film Studios in the Moroccan desert where scenes from numerous Hollywood movies, including "Jewel of the Nile" and "Gladiator," have been filmed they hired a group of studio camels and tried to persuade them to dance. Their concept was to restage sections of the 1982 dance film "Channels/Inserts, " by Merce Cunningham and Charles Atlas using camels. It was an idea based on two metaphors: the camel as a symbol of a burdened people, and dancing as a symbol of freedom and the ability to choose one's own life path. The question they were investigating, Zins-Browne said, was, "What would it look like if the camel would revolt, stop carrying everybody's stuff and start doing something else with its body like dancing?" They chose "Channels/Inserts" partly because of the "Atlas" pun and the fact that Cunningham was a choreographer and Atlas an artist working with the moving image, but also because "their work, with its hand-held, close-up style of capturing moving bodies, is formally similar in many ways to the Arab Spring and other protest videos," Zins-Browne said. But there was one problem: The camels didn't really want to dance. The artists and the camels' handlers (many of whom were children, working full-time) tried all kinds of ways to get them to move in tandem: tempting them with food or hay, roping them together, attempting to designate a leader for the others to follow. They even considered using fishing line to guide them, then editing it out of the footage, but they didn't have the technology. "We couldn't ignore a certain sense of exploitation that we ourselves were producing by making this work," Zins-Browne said. "The irony was really stark: We went there to produce an image of freedom, and we were employing kids who were coercing animals to produce an image for two Western artists." Shaken by the experience, they put the project away for a couple of years, then returned to the footage in 2014 to cut the video "Atlas/Inserts." In the process, ideas for a second chapter began to percolate. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. "Atlas Revisited" was created during a residency at EMPAC in January. The artists again hired camels (two American professionals who have appeared in commercials and with the Rockettes in "Radio City Christmas Spectacular"), but this time their approach juxtaposed fantasy with transparency: They used a gigantic green screen and special effects, but also included footage of the creation process, including the production crew at work. Along with video from both Morocco and EMPAC, the piece includes text and live dancing by the two artists. "The performance presents possibilities, some contradictory and some that may seem fantastical," Zins-Browne said. "It raises several questions that we don't necessarily answer: Why did we go to Morocco? Did we go to Morocco? What does it mean if we went to Morocco?" Underlying these are more universal questions about art-making, the difference between freedom and images of freedom, and how to speak about politics in a way that's not superficial (particularly relevant in an election year, the artists note). "There's an idea that politics is always 'over there' in Egypt, or in Tunisia, or wherever," Pandian said. "The performance is enabling us to say, 'No, it's here, too.' A lot of these themes are alive in America in 2016." Tresca Weinstein is a frequent contributor to the Times Union. Yu Ying is a 29-year-old woman from Liaoning. After five years studying in the U.K., Yu returned to China with a masters degree in order to take a job in Beijing. In July 2015, Yu came to Shanghai to have a plastic surgery. She planned to have her jawbones shaved and her face reshaped. She never expected her life to take such an unlucky turn thanks to the surgery. In the middle of July, Yu told friends and family that she was going to Shanghai to catch up with a friend. She told nobody the true reason for her trip. Starting from July 19, both Yus mother, Zhang Xiaomei, and Yus boyfriend lost contact with Yu. In the afternoon of July 21, her mother got a phone call from Shanghai No. 9 Peoples Hospital, informing Zhang that her daughter was in critical condition and that the hospital required the signature of a guardian in order to continue treatment. Zhang flew to Shanghai that night, only to find her daughter in a coma, hooked up to a breathing machine. Based on the doctors record, Yu had the surgery under general anesthesia. The operation went very smoothly, with only minor bleeding. Yu came out of the operation room around 4:30 p.m., and five minutes later the doctor found a bump on the left side of her jaw that wouldnt stop bleeding. Yu was sent to No. 9 Peoples Hospital for further treatment around 6:50 p.m. The doctor told Yus mother that Yu had suffered from epilepsy due to an oxygen deficiency, which itself resulted from bleeding during the surgery. Soon, Yu wasnt able to breathe for herself. The plastic surgeon who performed the operation claimed that the accident happened because everyones blood clots differently. Yu was eventually able to breath independently again, starting on Aug. 7. But even then, Yu still could not walk or eat by herself, and she could not speak a full sentence even after over half a year of treatment. The plastic surgery hospital stopped paying for Yus treatment at the end of 2015. Yus mother asked the hospital for 5 million yuan in compensation for her daughters future epilepsy treatment. The hospital did not agree, but legal proceedings are now underway. When Barkhad Abdi arrived in Minneapolis with his immigrant family in 1999, he didn't own much. In his new film, "Eye in the Sky," he owns the screen. The drone-warfare drama features Abdi as the sole actor appearing in tense conflict on the ground. When he's present, all the action revolves around him. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival to a standing ovation and critical plaudits. It already has been released in the U.K., where the Guardian called it "exceptional across the board, with a standout performance from Barkhad Abdi." On the film's posters, Abdi is listed in the star quartet alongside Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman and Aaron Paul. "It's worked out," he chuckled in a phone interview last week. "I feel really blessed, thank God. At the same time, it's all hard work. You get what you pray, that's how I see it." Abdi has followed a slow and steady course to success. He was selected from 1,000 amateur candidates to play the ferocious Somali pirate leader alongside Tom Hanks in "Captain Phillips." He earned a 2014 Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, but seemed to hit a slippery career path afterward. More Information At a glance "Eye in the Sky" Stars: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi Director: Gavin Hood Opens: Friday See More Collapse Bringing tangible humanity but no formal experience to that big debut, he seemed for a time to face diminishing opportunities. With his return to the screen he has not only held his own against skepticism, but has pushed back. Abdi originally hoped to be an engineer, attending Minnesota State University, Moorhead. "When I was a little kid, where I'm at now, I never dreamt about it." His family moved from war-torn Somalia to Yemen when he was 6, then won the visa lottery to come to the United States when he was 14. "Actually, I don't worry about everything," he said. "There's nothing that's promised in advance. We work to get ahead and we work to be passionate," which is how he handled his former job as a driver for his brother's limousine company as well as his current line of work. "You know, I love filmmaking. I don't consider it a job. It's something I enjoy doing, though it's very hard at the same time. "I'm kind of opening doors. That's how I see it, and crossing bridges" like the one leading to his latest role. Oscar-winning director Gavin Hood ("Tsotsi") drew him into the cast over "lunch in Los Angeles and a copy of the script by Guy Hibbert, an amazing writer." The film examines the ethical conflicts between military and governmental leaders guiding a drone missile strike against East Africa's Islamist militants. It's a complex balancing act measuring inaction against collateral damage that threatens the life of a nearby little girl. Abdi plays a Kenyan intelligence agent on the ground. He called drone technology "something that I've heard about here and there, but I didn't pay that much attention to the details of it." The story of the innocent girl in harm's way reminded him of his own youth. "That makes me think back to that age. I thought it was really different and at the same time similar. You know, in our situation you could see who's coming, where they're coming from and you can prepare, hide or something. But for the situation she's in, it's totally different. (She's) a kid stuck in a war zone; that's mainly who suffers in war zones, kids and the women." This is Abdi's second key role in a political thriller showing East African conflict, dealing with issues he calls important and worth viewing. "There hasn't been a movie that talks in this way about drones and people in this situation," he said. Abdi, who turns 31 in April, now lives in Los Angeles, but regularly makes visits to Minnesota. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. "Minneapolis is my city, it's home," he said. "There still are close friends, those who are similar to family. And there are different people, those who don't know me and see me as an actor. But the majority of people see me and, 'Oh, it's the old Barkhad,' you know? 'He's back.' And I love that, you know?" Abdi's movie roles are piling up: He is currently starring with Al Pacino in "Where the White Man Runs Away" as a translator helping a rookie journalist navigate Somalia. Then he joins Uma Thurman in the comedy adventure "The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir." Viewers can also see him as an African drug dealer in Sacha Baron Cohen's spy satire "The Brothers Grimsby," which opened two weeks ago. "Sacha was fun," Abdi said. "I loved 'Borat'; it's a classic movie. He's very hardworking and he takes it really seriously. I haven't had a chance to see it yet, but I'm looking forward to it." In the meantime, he's focused on "Eye in the Sky" and seeing his name listed alongside its veteran stars. "It's truly a blessing," he said. "It's just unbelievable to be considered in that way. I'm really glad it worked out." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany Jorge Montalvo was preaching to the choir on Tuesday at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. "Government's role is to promote and protect immigration," said New York's deputy secretary of state and founding director of the state Office for New Americans, established in 2013. "We believe in you. We want you. You are an asset and not a liability," he said of his agency's embrace of newcomers. More Information About the series The Times Union series "Our Immigrant Story" is being published in conjunction with a community-wide celebration of immigrants and cultural diversity in the Capital Region. A monthlong series of exhibits, lectures and performances will culminate in an Albany Pro Musica Concert, "A City of Immigrants," on Sunday at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. For additional stories videos, interactive graphics and a schedule of related events, go to www.timesunion.com/ immigration. Contact Paul Grondahl at 518-454-5623 or email pgrondahl@timesunion.com See More Collapse Montalvo was the keynote speaker for a panel titled "New York State and the Importance of Immigration." It's part of a monthlong, community-wide celebration of immigrants and cultural diversity highlighted in this month's Times Union series, "Our Immigrant Story." Nobody mentioned by name a certain brash billionaire who is leading the field of Republican presidential candidates. But his anti-immigration rhetoric of building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, deporting undocumented immigrants and banning Muslims from entering the country was embedded in the subtext throughout the discussion moderated by Times Union editor Rex Smith. "That's not the New York way. That's not the American way. This country was built by immigrants," Montalvo said, conceding that a long economic recession and terrorist attacks in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere have stoked anti-immigrant sentiment. With the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the nation's most vibrant ethnic crossroads in New York City as a foundation, Montalvo, a son of immigrants from Ecuador, did not have a heavy lift to prove his thesis. Immigrants remain a potent and growing force in the Empire State. There are 4.3 million immigrants among a population of nearly 20 million New Yorkers. In the past decade, the number of new immigrants has risen more than 8 percent, while the number of native-born residents has declined slightly, according to New York's Office for New Americans. About 1 in 4 New Yorkers of working age are foreign-born and nearly one-third of all business owners in the state are immigrants. The top five countries of origin for foreign-born residents in 2010 were the Dominican Republic (438,800), China (404,233), Mexico (241,506), Jamaica (230,797) and Ecuador (174,939). Montalvo oversees 27 neighborhood-based opportunity centers across the state, including one on Broadway in downtown Albany, that has offered free English classes, job training, legal assistance with U.S. citizenship applications and other services to 106,000 immigrants in the past three years. It has a $7.4 million budget. There were plenty of laments offered by panelists about the plight of unaccompanied minors, a lack of legal representation for undocumented people that face deportation and other barriers that block a path to citizenship for new arrivals including a 25-page U.S. citizenship form that costs $680. There were plenty of bright spots in the Capital Region, widely hailed as a welcoming and tolerant place for refugees and immigrants. After just nine months, a new Immigration Law Clinic at Albany Law School has recruited bilingual University at Albany students to help with translation services, trained 200 volunteer law students and lawyers to assist unaccompanied minors and supported dozens of battered women whose abusers control them by threatening to have them deported. "We provide space, place and belonging," said Sarah Rogerson, the Immigration Law Clinic's director. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, or USCRI, opened an Albany field office in 2005 and has resettled more than 3,100 refugees from more than a dozen countries. The International Center of the Capital District, or ICCR, which shut down for a time in 2005 after 49 years of resettling international refugees, has been relaunched. The temporary closure came after the 2003 death of Helene Smith, the center's longtime executive director and its guiding force for 30 years. Federal funding had plummeted after fundamental changes in U.S. immigration policy in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that cut a yearly total of 200 refugees to fewer than 20. The ICCR, a not-for-profit organization with about 150 members and dozens of volunteers, returned with a fresh focus on hosting international visitors. As a sub-contractor for the U.S. State Department, the ICCR had its biggest year in 2015 and hosted hundreds of international delegations from 90 countries. A group of people from the Palestinian territories came last week to study community policing. A Serbian group will visit next week to examine the state Legislature as Serbia struggles to stem high-level political corruption. The Albany group competes with 92 similar centers around the country. Albany's ICCR won sponsorship of a U.S. diplomacy summit on June 1 that will bring more than 250 people to the Sage Colleges' Albany campus and Albany Law School for a conference titled "Women's Empowerment: Keys to Leadership." Participants will come from as far away as Liberia. San Francisco, Minneapolis and Tulsa are the three other cities that will hold a summit. "Getting the summit was a huge win for us," said Diane Conroy-LaCivita, ICCR's executive director. "It's very competitive and if we can get more buy-in from the community, everyone benefits. Right now, we're playing in the Double-A league and I'd like to move us up to Triple-A." The ICCR Albany group has an annual budget of about $100,000 and two paid staffers, in contrast to multimillion dollar budgets in cities such as Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Dallas. "There's value in bringing international visitors here and to promote cooperation and our shared humanity," she said. "It's a very humbling exchange. We often learn more from them than they receive from us." pgrondahl@timesunion.com 518-454-5623 @PaulGrondahl This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany Santhosh Abraham, the faculty program director for Excelsior College's School of Business and Technology, moved to Latham in September with his family from Scotland for the position, the only job he pursued. His university's human resources department, he said, connected him with a group called Talent Connect, a division of the Center for Economic Growth. An employee from that group visited different apartments for Abraham and his family before they moved, reporting back to Abraham with photos of the different places and information on school districts. Excelsior College, not Abraham and his family, paid for the service. "It's not easy to look when you're overseas," he said. "Her visit made the landlord see we were serious." More Information About the series The Times Union series "Our Immigrant Story" is being published in conjunction with a community-wide celebration of immigrants and cultural diversity in the Capital Region. A monthlong series of exhibits, lectures and performances will culminate in an Albany Pro Musica concert, "A City of Immigrants," on Sunday at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. See the entire "Our Immigrant Story" series at timesunion.com/immigration, including videos and interactive graphics. Coming Sunday Pulitzer-winning novelist William Kennedy and reporter Paul Grondahl look at our history and weigh what lies ahead in a special section. See More Collapse In the six months since arriving, that employee has visited the family a few times to check in on their experience in the region so far, Abraham said. Some employers are investing in programs that will help recent immigrants who moved to the area for their careers transition into the Capital Region. Much of this transition is cultural, taking place outside the hurdles of visas needed to work and green card guidance on residency, and for some businesses, this investment can add up to thousands of dollars each year. In addition to the housing services, Talent Connect employees will tour a new resident around downtown Troy, Albany, Saratoga or Schenectady, find a pediatrician for his or her child and land his or her spouse an informational interview at another nearby company. GlobalFoundries offers immigration services, assimilation presentation materials, schools and education coordination, language lesson benefits and employee family day activities to form a community network, spokesman James Keller said, adding that the monetary investment depends on the situation. At GE Global Research, new hires have access to affinity groups and forums connected to ethnicity and other identity groups, in addition to standard relocation services to adjust to the area. Welcome groups for new hires can help them form social circles, said GE Global Research technology leader Vanita Mani. Small cultural changes add up to a large-scale adjustment for these skilled professionals, many of whom immigrate for jobs in higher education, health care, engineering and research. Talent Connect, which until February operated as Tech Valley Connect, sends regular newsletters to the newcomers explaining local customs, potentially easing day-to-day water cooler talk. (The March newsletter, for example, explained election terms like "super PACs" to "Super Tuesday.") Addressing roughly four dozen members of the Capital Region Recruiters Network at an event about international recruitment this month, Talent Connect Program Manager Joanne Bucher said a new immigrant asked her recently what to do if she were pulled over by a police officer. "There are things that we take for granted," Bucher said. Three employers used Talent Connect's services for international hires in 2015, of a total of 20 in the Capital Region and the Berkshires who have used the firm's programming, Bucher said. Clients pay $200 per hour for a one-on-one consulting session about the region and $2,525 per new hire for a comprehensive year of Talent Connect services, including access to legal services, a "cultural transitioning" kit and invitations to networking events. Talented people coming to the Capital Region may not become permanent residents even with their employers' investment. "India and China are fighting hard to get their people back," she said. "As China has grown and their economy has boomed, they are now reaching out to people with four to five years of experience in the U.S." Moving away may seem appealing if the U.S. visa process drags on for years, attorney Leslie Thiele said. Thiele, a partner at the Albany-based Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna, focuses on business immigration in her practice. The draw of moving back to family members or at least to another country without such a lengthy path to citizenship is appealing, she said. "If you have a choice between waiting for a green card for 15 years or getting U.K. permanent residence in three, where are you going to go?" she said. "We are losing the battle to keep the best and the brightest." Abraham, who used Talent Connect services when he moved from Scotland, had a different mindset when he moved to Latham for the job. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Abraham, who was born in Nigiria and is a British citizen, has lived in India, Thailand and England. Most recently, he and his family lived in Scotland from 2006 to September, and for a portion of that time, he worked in Dubai while his family stayed in Scotland. "The U.S. is very appealing in that new things happen here," he said. Later, he added, "America is still the innovation capital of the world." Abraham, who taught accounting and corporate reporting, recognizes that his field of study allows him to move internationally in a relatively easy manner. A legal scholar, he said, would not have the same luxury, as the subject area is so specific to each country. Still, he recognizes the toll of moving on his family, he said, and for that reason, he plans to stay in the U.S. for the foreseeable future. Pradeep Haldar, vice president for entrepreneurship, innovation and clean energy programs at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, said that international researchers and professors learn of SUNY Poly through collaborations across institutions in different countries. "That becomes a major draw for them to come and work here," he said. He said wooing these scholars to Albany has become easier as the region has diversified culturally, however slowly. He recalls having to drive to Boston or New York City to eat many foreign foods when he first moved to the Capital Region almost 30 years ago. Now, he said, he is glad to see so many local sushi restaurants. Regarding recruiting, Haldar said, "if you can show a cosmopolitan, diverse group of people," it has a positive effect on attracting the best people for the job. lellis@timesunion.com 518-454-5018 @lindsayaellis > ]]> This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Troy Students and alumni of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute say a protest will go on Wednesday afternoon despite the administration's denial of a request by students to peacefully assemble. A protest was originally planned for students to voice their concerns with what they say has been the long erosion of student autonomy over the Rensselaer Student Union. While the 125-year-old union operates under the auspices of the Division of Student Life, it has historically been allowed the independence to oversee its own finances, employees and programs, said Jeremy Feldman, a member of the union's executive board. Students had submitted a request to the administration to demonstrate outside the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center from 2 to 5 p.m., when President Shirley Ann Jackson is scheduled to be there to lead a town hall meeting. The request was denied on the grounds it would "disrupt the normal operation of the institute," according to a March 24 memo to students from Acting Dean of Students Cary Dresher. But students say the protest will go on with the help of RPI Professor Bill Puka, who has decided to hold his annual "Spring Serenade on Democracy & Ethics" at the same time outside the performing arts center. He has extended an invitation to the campus community, and will use the time to cover a range of topics, including free speech, governance of the student union and fiscal responsibility of the university. While students have long been concerned about the university's treatment of the student union, it wasn't until early January when the director of the union "mysteriously" vacated his post that their concerns intensified, said Gregory Bartell, a member of the union's executive board. A short time later, students discovered an online job posting for an executive director of student activities a new position resulting from a reorganization of the Division of Student Life that would provide leadership for the Rensselaer Student Union, student government and campus recreation, and report to the assistant vice president and dean of students. In an interview with the Times Union, Jackson and Vice President of Student Life Frank Ross denied any plans by the university to take over the student union. "It is important to remember, though, that the student union the facility and the organization exist under the rubric of the university," Jackson said. "It is not independent of the university, and that's true of any student club or group across the country." The new executive director position and planned restructuring of the Division of Student Life are designed to give students more support and opportunity, Ross said. "It's not taking anything away from students," he said. "It's actually adding a greater level of supports for our students." A number of students, many of whom would only speak anonymously for fear of retaliation, say their larger concern is an atmosphere of fear and stifled speech on campus among both students and faculty that they believe is fostered by the administration. "There's a culture of fear here, and that's part of the reason we felt this event was essential," said Dan Seel, a student who spoke out alongside Feldman and Bartell. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The university in no way punishes individuals who speak out against the administration, Jackson said, adding that if it did it would be brought up on charges by the U.S. Department of Labor. "People say they don't see me, that they're afraid," she said. "They are protesting. They got to you. You wanted to talk to me. So here we are. I can't say more than that. But repetitive assertions don't always constitute truth." Adding to student frustration is a new report from Inside Higher Ed, which recently listed RPI as one of more than 400 schools on shaky financial ground with the U.S. Department of Education. RPI was required to post a $4 million letter of credit last fall for failing the department's financial responsibility test, owing to its nearly $1 billion in liabilities and years of operating at a deficit. In a letter to alumni last week, the university pointed out that a number of financial analysts, along with the National Association of College and University Business Officers, take issue with the calculations the department uses to measure financial responsibility. "The financial state of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is strong," the letter reads. "We are proud of the strategic investments we have made in our faculty, students and campus facilities. We intend to continue to focus expenditures on creating programs and research capabilities that will benefit not only the campus community and our vast alumni base, but the world at large." bbump@timesunion.com 518-454-5387 @bethanybump THE ISSUE: Reports of abuse of prisoners in New York state prisons continue to mount. THE STAKES: A federal prosecutor's probe could provide the impetus for reform. More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse Only occasionally do we get glimpses of what goes on behind the walls of New York's state prisons. The little we can see is evidence enough to warrant a broad, independent investigation of alleged prisoner abuse. Finally, that may be coming. The U.S. Attorney for Southern New York, Preet Bharara, who has successfully prosecuted corruption at the highest levels of state government, fiercely gone after organized crime and made life miserable for shady Wall Street tycoons, is aiming his sights toward New York state prisons. Mr. Bharara's office has initiated a probe into recent beatings, including one two years ago of Kevin Moore at the maximum-security Downstate Correctional Facility in Dutchess County, a brutal incident recently described in a Times Union report. The U.S. Attorney is also investigating the beating death last April of a mentally ill inmate, Samuel D. Harrell III, at the Fishkill Correctional Facility. The disciplinary records of correctional officers are kept under wraps because of a flawed state law, so little is ever made public about internal actions, if any, taken against correctional officers who assault or otherwise mistreat prisoners. Because of a lawsuit, though, we get a vivid, disturbing view of Mr. Moore's beating and how the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision dealt with the veteran officers found responsible for what can only be described as a savage attack. The officers, some of whom were implicated in other assaults, repeatedly beat and kicked the shackled inmate, leaving him a pool of blood, as their sergeant looked on, according to court records. Mr. Moore could barely walk or see through his swollen eyes. His injuries included a collapsed lung, eye-socket fractures, blurred vision, bruised legs and five broken ribs, according state officials, as revealed in the court documents. He ended up being hospitalized for about two weeks. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The incident is by no means isolated. Other recent investigative reports by the Times Union's Brendan J. Lyons, The New York Times and the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization, all document similar cases in New York's correctional facilities, suggesting a widespread epidemic of inmate mistreatment. The sorry state of prisons demonstrates that as in the state Legislature New York does an inadequate job of policing itself. Studies attribute much of the prison tension to the failure of authorities to provide adequate programs for prisoners. The processes for prisoners to air and resolve grievances also needs support and expansion. Most of all, those responsible for managing the facilities must be held accountable. The federal probe could provide the ammunition Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers need to stand up to the powerful corrections officers union and make changes at DOCCS. It's time to fix the toxic culture that seemingly has corrupted a corrections system that's clearly in need of correction itself. LONDON Mar. 30 (People's Daily Online) Arundells, the home of former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, in Salisbury reopens to the public in March with new displays including a Great Wall of China collection of rare photographs, . The collection, which has been installed on the first floor of Arundells shows the pivotal role played by Sir Edward Heath in building increasingly close political, trade and investment and cultural relations between the China and the UK. The collection of ten photographs covers the years 1974 to 2001 and includes Sir Edward in conversation with Chinese leaders. It also includes photographs of Sir Edward as Prime Minister meeting the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe at the London Coliseum in 1973. In the spirit of the Year of the Monkey, Arundells also features hand-painted Monkey King Chinese Wallpaper, which depicts scenes from the Chinese 16th Century novel Journey to the West. The Arundells collection also includes an 8th-century Tang Dynasty horse, a 16th-century Ming bowl, and a pair of Qianlong vases. The new display will create a permanent home for this rare collection of photographs that were presented to Arundells by the Chinese Ambassador to UK, H.E. Liu Xiaoming after a visit to the house in 2014. Speaking at Arundells Mr Liu said, "British political leaders, represented by Sir Edward Heath, broke the political ice: when drinking the water, we should not forget who dug the well. In that spirit, China never forgets the contributions of the old friends to the China-UK relationship." Arundells will be hosting its first exhibition of 2016 from April until early July on the theme World Leaders of the 1970s Years of Turmoil which will include Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping amongst the featured leaders. From the middle of March, the house is also instituting Chinese language material on its website to provide the growing number of Chinese visitors to Britain with guidance on the treasures which Arundells has to offer. Commemoration of Easter Week 1916 has become a pre-occupation throughout this centenary year. Historical connections with the events of 1916 are amassing in all parts of Ireland and beyond. Rockwell College, New Inn, Co. Tipperary is one such place that shares a very strong link to the 1916 Rising. Two Commandants and a number of insurgents have a place in the annals of Rockwell College. Thomas MacDonagh, executed on the 3rd of May 1916 was one of the seven that signed the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. MacDonagh was Commandant of the 2nd Dublin Brigade at Jacobs Factory. Born in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary in 1878, MacDonagh arrived in Rockwell College in 1892 after the death of his father. He was described as a small, sturdy built boy with curly brown hair and large grey eyes. He also had a mischievous humour and a love of ghost stories. He spent nine years at Rockwell, four years studying as a student, and five years showing an inclination to the priesthood, applying to join the Holy Ghost order in 1900. While at Rockwell, MacDonagh taught English and Latin, and was inspired to reflect on his poetry and romantic nature. Consequently, he wrote several poems during this time of his life, including In Festo Sancto Spiritus Ad Sanctum Spiritum and The Sea. Despite leaving the College in 1901 to pursue a career in teaching, he continued to write poetry and prose. His volume of work is large and shows a man of great sympathy, Love and Nationalism. Eamonn De Valera, Commandant at Bolands Mills during Easter Week 1916, arrived at Rockwell in 1903 as a teacher of Mathematics and Physics. In his single year in Rockwell he was part of the boarding college staff and in his position got to know College and the surrounding area very well. He was a part of the college orchestra and was seen locally in and around Cashel. In the aftermath of the Rising De Valera was initially sentenced to be executed, but for various reasons, the sentence was commuted to life in prison. De Valera went on to have an extremely illustrious political career and despite being seen as a controversial and divisive figure, no one can deny his impact on Irish history. De Valera never forgot Rockwell College and often paid a visit throughout his career, some expected, others unexpected. A surprise visit by De Valera in 1922 raised tensions in the college. On St. Patricks Day that year a convoy arrived in the gates of the College containing De Valera, Cathal Brugha, Sean Macbride and Joe MacDonagh, brother of Thomas. They were proceeding to Kilkenny for an anti-Treaty rally and wanted to remain the night. To make matters worse, at the same time, a state of Martial Law had been imposed on the area by the Free State army. Other visits to the College by De Valera were more ceremonial. In 1941 he presented Rockwell with the award in promoting the Irish Language as he was both Taoiseach and Minister for Education at the time. In 1964, De Valera, as President of Ireland, arrived for the Centenary celebrations of the College.Other past members of the College who had a connection with Easter Week 1916 were Eamonn Dore, of Glin Co. Limerick. Dore was a student in Rockwell from 1912 to 1914. He was Sean Macdiarmadas personal bodyguard during the Rising. In the immediate aftermath of the rebellion, Seamus ONeill, an Irish teacher at the College, was arrested by the British Army in a round-up of suspects. Initially held in Cork prison he was later sent to Lewes gaol, eventually to be released on a pardon sometime later. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today for access to: Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles). Microsoft may have been hacked what this means for you The Lapsus$ hacking crew said it had stolen 37 GB of source code from Microsoft, but it still wasn't clear if that claim was true or what the source code could be used for. Ahead of his Australian and European tour dates, NZ musician Anthonie Tonnon has teamed up with Brazilian filmmakers behind Around The World in 80 Music Videos to create a new video for his track song Sugar in The Petrol Tank Taken from his album, Successor, released in Australia on Darren Hanlons Flippin Yeah Industries, the clip for Sugar in The Petrol Tank was filmed in a single long sequence shot in the urban neighbourhood of Balmoral, Auckland. Anthonie will be performing this weekend as part of By The Meadow music festival happening in Bambra, Surf Coast Victoria, from April 2nd 3rd. For more info on Anthonie visit his Facebook page and for more info on By The Meadow pop by www.bythemeadow.com Upcoming Tour Dates March 31: Wesley Anne, Melbourne April 2: By The Meadow Festival, Bambra April 5: Lady Lismores Loft, Lismore, NSW April 6: Junk Bar with Tom Cooney, Brisbane, QLD April 8: Tokyo Sing Song, Sydney, NSW April 9: The Bearded Tit, Redfern, Sydney Community radio music directors often have an encyclopaedic knowledge of local music and an insatiable thirst to keep their ears ahead of the curve. So in this Tone Deaf series, the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (Amrap) invites music directors to highlight new Aussie tunes that you might have missed. Adam Christou from Perths RTRFM continues the series with a selection of tracks currently making their way to community radio through Amraps music distribution service AirIt. Check out Adams selections below and if youre a musician you can at apply at www.airit.org.au to have your music distributed for free to community radio on Amraps AirIt. Wilson Tanner Long Water The collaborative musical project of Perths John Tanner (Eleventeen Eston, Hugo Gerani) and Melbournes A.R.T Wilson (aka Andras). Long Water sees both artists exploring new territories in meditative ambient tones, new age dronescapes and celestial sounds. While this is not Wilsons first foray into the world of new-age music, its Tanners contribution to the record that brings forth an interesting blend of Clarinet and guitar to the pieces. Benjamin Witt Dead Fish Best known for his role as founder of Perth band The Chemist, Benjamin Witts solo material has become one of Perths best kept secrets. Witts surprise 2015 album AUDIO_ILLOGICAL BACKYARD DOG was a dense collection of fuzzy guitar rock, sloppy psych pop and weird cosmic noise. Dead Fish comes from his follow up record (Future Reset, out later in 2016) and is a more immediately hi-fi affair. Production on the song is lush, Witts take on West African rhythms and guitar-work. The Goon Sax Up To Anything The band I wish I could have been in when I was 17! Brisbane trio Riley Jones, Louis Forster and James Harrison have created an album filled with awkward teenage insecurities, hand-wringing over crushes and home haircuts. Its all wrapped together with an impeccably mature sense of songwriting skill. Mt. Mountain Freida Perth six-piece Mt. Mountain haven risen out of the swamps of the WA psych-rock scene by taking on a darker, heavier direction with their recent material. Debut album Cosmos Terros comes out in April and lead single Freida is fuzzy, dark and riff-heavy, drawing on inspiration from bands like Sleep and Earth. Summer Flake Shoot & Score Fuzzy, layered guitar rock from one of the best in the country. Steph Crase (Summer Flake) has been putting out some of the best guitar-orientated releases of the last few years. Make sure you listen back to her fantastic Where Do I Go? EP, released in 2013. Her new album Hello Friends drops very soon on Sydney label Rice Is Nice. Sam Weston Faberge Egg Shaker Sam Weston is one half of Sydney production duo Alba (formerly Albatross). The duo have put out some great 12 releases in the last few years drawing on everything from atmospheric ambient tones to footwork and house. Westons solo work takes on an lighter edge here on this carefully twisting lo-slung house tune. The track features some great chopped samples of school kids that elevates it upwards towards the stars. Jen Cloher Famously Monogamous Clohers drawl on this tune is infectious and doesnt get lost in the whirr of guitars that stomp through it. The track is taken from the recently released Milk! Records compilation Good For You. Famously Monogamous continues on Clohers explorations of fuzzy, guitar-fuelled music, following the release of 2013s In Blood Memory. If youre anything like most Australians, youre still recovering from your Easter long weekend and already looking forward to the ANZAC Day long weekend, which were sorry to tell you is a whole month away. What were not sorry to tell you is that weve already got your ANZAC Day weekend plans sorted for you. The Presets are itching to get out of the studio where theyre busy working on their new album and want to have a party. Hey guys! Weve been really busy working on our new album and felt like getting out of the studio for a party, so were putting on LAST EXIT at Red Rattler in Marrickville on Sunday 24 April, they write on Facebook. Weve teamed up with The House of Mince for a 10 hour / 2 room event well be there in DJ mode playing some of our favourite tracks, along with some of the most reliable names in house and techno. The lineup also includes Massimiliano Pagliara (Ostgut Ton, Berlin), Annabelle Gaspar (Bad Dog), Steve Sonius (Bad Dog), Gemma (Kooky) + Jon Watts, DJ Kiti + Mike Callander (Revolver), and live sets from Forrest Ensemble and Zero Percent, plus much more to be announced. Hey guys! Weve been really busy working on our new album and felt like getting out of the studio for a party, so were Posted by The Presets on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 Last Exit The House Of Mince & Presets Present The Presets (DJ Set) Massimiliano Pagliara (Berlin) Zero Percent (Live) Mike Callander DJ Kiti Annabelle Gaspar Jon Watts Gemma Steve Sonius Forrest Ensember (Live) Sunday, 24th April 2016 Red Rattler, Marrickville Tickets: Resident Advisor Police to be honored for heroism tonight While everybody else is talking more taxes and campaign spin . . . Tonight let's focus on the reality of one of many thankless Kansas City jobs.Here's a bit of insight and perspective on thewho are confronting budget cuts and could lose 100 officers from their ranks withfrom City Hall.Checkit:Kansas City Police tonight will honor officers who put their own lives on the line to help others in peril.Sergeant Darrin Wilson and Officer Jeremy Gragg will receive the departments highest honor, the Medal of Valor. On Jan. 9, 2015, both were working off-duty security jobs in one of the busiest areas of downtown during rush hour. But when a man robbed a bank, planted a live bomb in a downtown office tower, then attempted to carjack four people at gunpoint, the officers jumped into action. They left their posts and ran after him to stop him from committing any more acts of violence. As the officers closed in on him, the suspect pointed his gun at Sergeant Wilson. Both officers fired, struck the suspect and took him into custody. The suspect survived and pleaded guilty in November 2015 to numerous federal charges.Another group of officers will receive Certificates of Commendation for rescuing two fellow officers who were pinned down by gunfire on Nov. 14, 2015. A man was firing at them from a window, and a group of patrol officers went in with only ballistic shields for protection to extract them from the small alcove where they had taken cover. The shooter was then taken into custody without incident. Police also will honor Mr. Jimmie Anderson, a resident who helped officers determine where the shots were coming from, pointed out the suspect and allowed police into his home during the course of the incident where they established a make-shift command post.Many more officers will be honored at tonights ceremony for acts of bravery, saving lives and ingenuity.###Developing . . . Greek Tourism Confederation expects the number of visitors to rise to a record 25 million this year and bring 800 million euros ($897 million) of extra income According to a recent Bloomberg article, the Greek Tourism Confederation expects the number of visitors to rise to a record 25 million this year and bring 800 million euros ($897 million) of extra income, Andreas Andreadis, president of the industry lobby group, said in an interview in Athens on Tuesday. Separately on the same day, Turkeys Culture and Tourism Ministry reported a 10 percent drop in year-on-year arrivals last month, the most in a decade. The article notes that Andreadis said he expects as many as 900,000 Russians to arrive in Greece and they will account for about half the increase in revenue. The refugee flow meanwhile has turned into more of a trickle since countries to the north of Greece shut the transit corridor. Rebound from late bookings It also mentions that tourism has been one of the few industries that kept growing during the crisis, with numbers rising to a record 23.6 million people last year and adds: "Its total contribution to the countrys gross domestic product was 18.5 percent, almost twice the European average, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Andreadis said the increase will boost GDP by an extra percentage point this year, with revenue rising to 15 billion euros from 14.2 billion euros in 2015. Islands such as Kos in the eastern Aegean, which have been on the front line in the refugee crisis, will see a rebound from late bookings if the number of refugees landing on Greek shores keeps falling, Andreadis said. Average daily arrivals to Greece dropped to 901 people in March, down from nearly 2,000 in February, according to the UNs refugee agency. As well as the closing of the Balkan route, arrivals further declined following a deal between Turkish and European leaders for the return of irregular migrants making the crossing to Greece." Source: Bloomberg 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 IMF Economic Counselor and Director of Research Maurice Obstfeld said that the refugee crisis means that debt relief is just as necessary as reforms and austerity IMF Economic Counselor and Director of Research Maurice Obstfeld called for relaxing of the strict fiscal measures on Greece due to the refugee crisis. Speaking to German newspaper Handelsblatt he stressed that more flexibility is necessary in the short term regarding fiscal goals, adding that structural reforms are unavoidable. He also stressed that debt relief for Greece is needed, while on the refugee crisis he said that EU member states should seek more cooperation and share the burden of the refugee crisis and avoid erecting walls and fences. The raising of fences on European borders is a source of concern for the American economist, since it is in direct opposition to the idea of a currency union such as the euro. As such, the IMF official suggested that Europe must face the humanitarian catastrophe and split the burden of the receiving and integrating refugees. The IMF official was also critical of the fact that the ECB had taken on the task of boosting the economy on its own without any help from fiscal policies. 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 Russian, German and British tourists have shown a special interest in visiting Greece this summer, Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura announced on Tuesday Russian, German and British tourists have shown a special interest in visiting Greece this summer, Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura on Tuesday commented in statements to Praktorio 104.9 FM. "It is estimated that 2016 will be an excellent year for Greek tourism," Kountoura stressed. She also underlined that Greece has managed to establish itself as a global tourist cruise destination, and made special mention to the increase in tourism from Russia and the events to be held within the Greece - Russia year. As she noted, in consultation with her Russian counterpart Alla Manilova, a forum will be held in Greece on May 20 with the view to promoting religious tourism. "The flow from Russia is expected to be very large and Ms Manilova underlined the interest of all Russian regions to visit Greece in order to recommend it to their residents," Kountoura stressed. 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 Paramount Services Holdings, the investment fund of the Qatari royal family, issued a statement on Wednesday in support of Deutsche Bank chairman Paul Achleitner. The statement comes after Germany's manager Magazin quoted a person close to the family of Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber al-Thani, who owns a 6.1 per cent stake in Germany's biggest bank, said Achleitner will not be part of the bank beyond 2017. "Contrary to reports, Paramount Services Holdings does not believe it would be in shareholders' interests for Supervisory Board chairman Paul Achleitner to relinquish his position in 2017, after his current term expires," Paramount said in the statement. "Dr Achleitner's leadership remains an important factor underlying Paramount Services Holdings' investment case and confidence in Deutsche Bank." Reuters An anonymous whistleblower has accused Swiss drugmaker Novartis of paying bribes in Turkey through a consulting firm to secure business advantages worth an estimated $85 million, according to a Feb. 17 email seen by Reuters. The alleged benefits, which Novartis confirmed it was investigating, included getting medicines added to lists, or formularies, of drugs approved for prescription in government-run hospitals, and avoiding price cuts in other countries by securing government approval to change the names of two drugs. The anonymous sender's 5,000-word email to Novartis Chief Executive Joe Jimenez and Srikant Datar, chairman of its audit and compliance committee, said Novartis had paid Alp Aydin Consultancy the equivalent of $290,000 plus costs during 2013 and 2014, before the Turkish Social Security Institution (SSI) launched an investigation, leading the drugmaker to end the association. Novartis, which said it was committed to the highest standards of ethical business conduct, confirmed Aydin had consulted for it in the past and no longer did so. The pharmaceutical giant also said it was investigating the allegations Aydin had passed on funds to Turkish healthcare officials, and that Novartis Turkey had hired relatives of high-prescribing doctors. "We take any allegation of inappropriate behaviour extremely seriously and investigate all allegations thoroughly. As a matter of policy we don't comment on such investigations even if the complainant decides to make them public," said company spokesman Eric Althoff. Officials at the SSI and Aydin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Novartis' difficulties in Turkey highlight the problems faced by healthcare companies as anti-corruption authorities around the world investigate industry practices. Last week Novartis agreed to pay more than $25 million to settle a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case over bribery in China. China has been a particularly tricky market for Western drugmakers. In a high-profile corruption case, GlaxoSmithKline was slapped with a record 3 billion yuan ($460 million) fine by a Chinese court in 2014. FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT The whistleblower email said Novartis had gained $20 million from Aydin's ability to have new drugs for multiple sclerosis, chronic lung disease and juvenile arthritis added to hospital formularies. It also benefited from advantageous pricing decisions and a special import permit for a drug with an expired manufacturing certificate, the email said. The biggest gain of $50 million, according to the whistleblower's email, came from Turkish officials allowing Novartis to rename its drugs Ilaris and Gilenya as Ibecta and Fingya. This meant they dropped out of international pricing comparisons, since such cross-referencing is based on commercial names. Reuters could not independently confirm these benefits or the value attributed to them by the whistleblower. The whistleblower said Novartis' activities had breached the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which bans U.S. firms and those whose stock is traded in the United States, such as Novartis, from bribing government officials overseas. "Novartis' use of the government relations consultant as well as other practices noted ... violated the FCPA's anti-bribery, internal controls, and books and records provisions," the email said. A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesman declined to speculate on the legality of these particular activities. The sender, who asked for anonymity in the email to avoid retaliation, first emailed Jimenez on Feb. 17 and re-sent the message on March 4, after failing to receive a reply. In a brief response to the sender on March 4, the Novartis CEO said: "We will investigate". Turkey is currently the world's 18th largest pharmaceuticals market but is expected to rise to 15th spot by 2020, according to healthcare consultancy IMS. Novartis also faces problems in South Korea, where its offices were visited by local authorities last month in relation to suspected bribery, while the US government is suing Novartis over 79,236 "sham" marketing events it says involved illegal kickbacks. Novartis said it was cooperating with the South Korean authorities and could not comment further. In the ongoing U.S. lawsuit, Novartis has complained that the government suddenly expanded the size of the case by highlighting thousands more events. In the email sent to Novartis concerning Turkey, the author said that the information would be passed on to the DOJ and SEC. Both the DOJ and SEC declined to say if they had received it. An SEC programme provides cash incentives for whistleblowers to report corporate malpractice, including breaches of the FCPA. Reuters A high level delegation from Brunei recently visited Omans Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) headquarters in Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM), to get acquainted with the investment opportunities in the sultanate. The delegation from Brunei comprised Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng, second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Dr Mohammad Yasmin Umar, Minister of Energy and Industry, said a statement from PEIE. The visitors were received by Hilal bin Hamad Al Hasani, chief executive officer of PEIE, and were briefed about PEIE and its industrial estates, besides the incentives and facilities offered to local and foreign investors, it added. PEIE officials briefed the delegation on its aim to enhance the sultanates position as a leading regional centre of manufacturing, information and communications technology (ICT), innovation and entrepreneurship excellence, and its mission in attracting industrial investments and providing continued support, through regionally and globally competitive strategies, good infrastructure, value adding services, and easy governmental processes, it said. PEIEs objectives include attracting foreign investments to Oman and localising the national capital; contributing to stimulating the private sector to achieve sustainable economic and social development; strengthening relations with the concerned authorities to ensure the overflow of investment process and overcome any obstacles faced by investors; reinforcing cooperation with related international and regional organisations to boost the exchange of experience, knowledge and techniques used; developing employees skills and performance through a set of training programmes; contributing to creating new job opportunities; encouraging exports and the establishment of export industries, and increase the market share of locally manufactured products; stimulating the economic sectors in the country including transport, tourism, banking, among others; and achieving environmental sustainability, added the statement. The delegation were also introduced to the services and facilities offered by KOM for companies operating in the Information and communication technology sector, and the role played by it to develop an ideal environment for the growth and prosperity of companies specialised in the field of ICT in the country, said the statement. The Brunei delegates were also informed about the National Business Centre and the role it plays in supporting Omani entrepreneurs to flourish their businesses, it added. PEIE officials also underscored the objectives of Origin Oman Campaign, which is being run by PEIE to promote the sultanates industries, contribute to creating employment opportunities for the nationals, and subsequently contribute to the advancement of the national economy, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Iran's top leader on Wednesday said missiles were key to the Islamic Republic's future, offering support to the hardline Revolutionary Guards that have drawn criticism from the West for testing ballistic missiles. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supported last year's nuclear deal with world powers but has since called for Iran to avoid further rapprochement with the US and its allies, and maintain its economic and military strength. "Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors," Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, was quoted as saying by his website. "If the Islamic Republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country," he stated. His comments may have been directed at former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the de facto leader of a more moderate political alliance, who last week tweeted "the future is in dialogue, not missiles". Iran's Revolutionary Guards conducted ballistic missile tests earlier this month, in what they said was a demonstration of Iran's non-nuclear deterrent power. The US and several European powers said the tests defied a UN Security Council resolution that calls on Iran not to test nuclear-capable missiles, in a joint letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday. But Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, said the tests did not violate Resolution 2231. Iran has consistently denied that its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons.-Reuters Preparations are well underway as Bahrain is set to host the second Formula 1 race on the calendar for the 2016 season this weekend at Bahrain International Circuit. The third night race hosted by BIC , from April 1 to 3, promises to be action-packed and adrenaline-filled as 11 teams will battle it out on the desert track. We have been overwhelmed by the support we received over the past years. The success of the Grand Prix is not a singular attempt by the Bahrain International Circuit, but a combined effort which sees the entire Kingdom unify and work together to create one of the most spectacular events in the region, said Bahrain International Circuit chief executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa. He was discussing the efforts exerted by the circuit and other entities to organize a stellar Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix during Capital Clubs @the Majlis series. When the kingdom won the first F1 contract, no one knew what to expect. Year after year, we have managed to be more successful and grow tremendously as an organisation, which was only possible thanks to the team effort and ambition witnessed over the years, he added. After years of hard work and support from the community and driven by our three key values: pride, passion and performance, we were blessed to be renowned as the friendliest race on the Formula One Calendar. We are fully prepared to welcome our guests from across the world to enjoy the second race of the 2016 season, said Shaikh Salman. The @the Majlis event is held on a monthly basis and it features a number of key executives from both the government and private sectors. - TradeArabia News Service Harvinder Khetal Did you know that India's first cultural ties with Korea can be traced to an Indian princess of nearly 2,000 years ago? As per a 13th-century Korean document, it is believed that a princess from Ayodhya, Suriratna went to Korea in 48 AD in a boat after a divine vision and married King Kim-Suro. Their descendants are said to be the Kim clan, including the East Asian nation's former President and Nobel laureate Kim Dae-jung, former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil and former President Kim Young-sam. The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has made rapid strides in economy since it emerged from the ravages of Korean War in 1953 and in just half a century, it has transformed itself from one of the most impoverished countries into a developed country. Today, South Korea is one of the four Asian Tigers, a term used in reference to the highly free market and developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan that notably maintained exceptionally high growth rates (over 7 per cent a year) and unprecedented industrialisation between the 1960s and 1990s. This "Asian Miracle" is attributed to export-oriented policies and strong development policies. India could do good to assimilate from its experience of rising from the ashes of a crippling war to become the 12th largest economy. In recent years of India's 'Look East' policy, Indo-RoK relations have become multidimensional, buoyed by significant convergence of interests. Today, social development of Korea is symbolised by the fact that the country has for the first time elected a woman President, Park Geun-hye. And in January this year, its Cabinet inducted another woman Kang Eun-Hee as the Minister of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF). A free-wheeling interaction by the minister with a group of women journalists from India early this month revealed common social concerns regarding gender inequality that the two countries are grappling with. Despite economic gains, gender challenges abound in Korea. This was reinforced at a separate meeting with some women journalists in Seoul. Much like in India, changing people's attitude towards gender roles is more difficult than making progressive laws. The toughest obstacles to overcome are cultural factors that are difficult to change with only government measures. Laws for equality are meaningless unless complemented by a change of thought and social acceptance. If Korea is a tiger, its tigresses the women have not witnessed a proportional rise in their status over this period. Despite a rise in education and demands for equality, they lack teeth in matters of decision-making and political participation. The UN index on gender equality shows Korea in poor light, trailing behind even the UAE and Qatar. It has the worst gender wage gap among the industrialised countries, with female workers earning only 65 per cent of what their male counterparts make. The World Economic Forum gender index also puts countries like the Philippines, where women traditionally play greater social roles, much ahead of those with patriarchal societies, including Korea. Women lose out since child-care and work-home balance becomes a tall order in a cut-throat corporate environment. Seoul fares the lowest among the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations, according to the Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF). It is indicative of the huge gap and discrepancy in opportunities, status, attitudes between men and women. Compared to the top-ranking Nordic countries, South Korea has a fewer percentage of females in its parliament, fewer women in higher ranks of industry, and higher percentages of its society having sexist or gender-prejudice views. An interaction of a group of Indian women journalists with South Korea's Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kang Eun-Hee and, separately, with some women journalists of Seoul before the International Women's Day (March 8) throws interesting light on the similarities between women of India and Korea, both struggling for social and political equality. The common Asian culture bonds us into a sisterhood, not discernible with our European counterparts, who generally tend to adopt an air of white superiority. Minister Kang maintained that the status of women in social, economic and political spheres had significantly improved over the past few decades. But she conceded that much more was needed to be done to bring them on a par with men in the spheres of occupation, education and political participation. Kang attributed the country's low ranking in the WEF report to the lack of women in senior and high-paying jobs. The focus of the MOGEF is on increasing the participation of women in politics, improving the work-family reconciliation and balance and enhancing women's economic power and participation in the decision-making process. In the present 19th National Assembly, the percentage of women members is about 16. However, all parties are recommending and making internal efforts towards having 30 per cent women in parliament. But, there has been a remarkable change and improvement in the number of women employees in the government as well as large corporations, in higher positions. In this dramatically changed scenario, it is not easy to reconcile work and family life. A five-year survey of the family life in Korea reveals that more and more men are helping in household chores, especially among the younger generation. The women journalists, citing their own examples of work-life balance, were more forthcoming about the ground reality. They admitted that there are stereotypes surrounding the Korean women. The societal norm is that even if working, women alone are expected to cook, be obedient to their husband and rear children. The mothers of working women babysit grandchildren since hiring nannies and maids for house work is a costly proposition. Some even tend to voluntarily leave jobs due to family commitments since their men have been, for a long time, paid higher wages. They quoted a study that revealed that the female workers in the media industry comprised only 30 per cent of the workforce. However, their number was growing. Shopping and moving around in Seoul, shows many young women on shop floors and offices. It is said thousands of females are employed in factories making textiles, clothes, shoes and electronic components. An increase in the number of women in leadership roles can help change attitudes over time, when it would become socially acceptable for men to be equal to women. But it's a long way till the tigresses' growls are heard enough for them to get teeth. The writer visited South Korea recently. hkhetal@gmail.com Ananya Panda Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 30 Extending a hand of friendship to the three BJP MLAs, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today proposed a new concept of cooperative federalism in the House when he requested the Opposition to ask the Modi-led Centre to return the 14 pending Bills, hand over the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to the city government and help in securing the land sought for building hospitals and schools from the DDA. Offering a different kind of politics in which the ruling AAP intends to take along the Opposition in governance, Kejriwal said, Lets begin a new type of governance of walking together. Point out our mistakes and we will correct them. We will get your work done and you in turn get all the pending proposed Bills cleared by the LG, the Centre. We (AAP) are extending a hand of friendship to create a new model of governance. This is real cooperative federalism. Kejriwal sought their support in getting the Central governments nod for the proposed Bills, including the five related to the salaries that the BJP considers repugnant with the existing laws and three for which the latter believes the government is not empowered and has overstepped and others in contravention to Section - 45 of GNCTD Act that mandates the Lt Governor's approval before tabling in the assembly. As per GNCT Act Section 26, the Delhi Assembly can pass a Bill and then send it for LG's sanction and we did this after consulting a senior MHA official. Yet we will send them again and my first request to you (BJP MLAs) is to get the bills returned from the Centre which has been sitting over them for months now and we'll send them again to the LG for approval and then pass it in the Vidhan Sabha, said the Chief Minister before supporting the Delhi Annual Budget 2016-17 that was passed unanimously on the penultimate day of the Budget session. Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta who had criticised the government earlier in his address said the opposition will play a constructive role. Budget passed with amendments The House today passed Rs 46,600-crore Budget 2016-17 with amendments withdrawing 5 per cent VAT on shoes priced below Rs 500 as well as on all kinds of fabric, proposed by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia earlier. Brussels, March 30 Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brussels on Wednesday to attend the India-EU Summit and hold bilateral talks with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Terrorism will feature prominently on in Modis talks given that his visit comes on the heels of the worst-ever strike that the country has witnessed in Brussels last week but the Indian Prime Minister will also talk about advancing bilateral trade with the European Union. "A red carpet at dawn. PM @narendramodi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted soon after the Prime Minister's arrival in the Belgian capital. Modi is also scheduled to meet indologists and members of the European and the Belgian Parliaments. Modi's visit comes days after a terror strike at an airport and metro station in the Belgian capital that killed 32 people, including an Indian. The 13th India-EU Summit is being held after a gap of four years. The last summit was held in New Delhi in 2012 and negotiations remained deadlocked over several key issues. Besides firming up India-EU counter-terror partnership, delegates are also likely to discuss cleaning of Ganga on the lines of River Rhine and Danube. EU is India's biggest trading partner among blocs with a trade of $126 billion. It is also India's largest export destination with exports worth $ 65 billion and the largest FDI in India at $ 69 billion. PTI Dhaka: A Bangladesh court issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for former Prime Minister and Opposition leader Khaleda Zia over a deadly firebombing attack last year, a prosecutor said. The court also issued arrest warrants for 27 leaders and activists of Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party in connection with the petrol bomb attack on a bus during a party protest in Dhaka in January last year. The court passed the order after accepting the charges against them, public prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar said. Reuters France drops plan for Constitution reforms Paris: French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday said he was scrapping his plan for constitutional reforms in the wake of the November 13 Paris attacks, including a measure to strip convicted terrorists of their nationality. Hollande announced in a televised statement he was "closing the constitutional debate" on the reforms after the lower house, the National Assembly, and the Opposition-dominated Senate failed to agree on the text. AFP Malaysia Airlines bid to strike out MH370 suit quashed Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysian court on Wednesday dismissed a bid by Malaysia Airlines Berhad to throw out a suit filed by relatives of three passengers who went missing on flight MH370, opening the way for other relatives to sue the airline. MH370 disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 passengers and crew on board. Reuters Philippines mulls submarines as SCS row simmers Manila: The Philippines may invest in its first ever submarine fleet to help protect its territory in the disputed South China Sea (SCS), President Benigno Aquino said on Wednesday. The impoverished nation, which has never before operated submarines and until now relied on US surplus ships, has been ramping up its defence spending in response to China's military expansion in the region. AFP The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has prohibited Ontario, Canada-licensed truck driver Inderjit Singh Gill from operating any commercial vehicle in the U.S. for falsifying records and repeatedly ignoring out-of-service violations. On four separate occasions in March, Gill was ordered out-of-service by state roadside safety inspectors for falsifying records of duty status and violating hours-of-service limitations by egregious amounts. In each of the first three instances, Gill simply ignored the out-of-service orders and continued to operate his truck. He even went as far as removing his vehicle from a storage facility where it was towed. For these violations, Gill was declared an imminent hazard and is prohibited form operating a commercial vehicle in the U.S. On March 4, he was pulled over in New York after the police received complaints of erratic driving in and was ordered out-of-service for violating the 14-hour on-duty limitation. He ignored the ordered and was pulled over 2 hours later in Vermont following more complaints about his driving that included reports that he was weaving across lanes and into the median. In addition to being ordered out-of-service for the second time that day, Gill was charged with operating a commercial vehicle in a careless and negligent manner and his truck was towed to a storage facility. However, a mere four hours later, video surveillance showed him departing the storage facility in his truck. A few days later on March 8, during a safety inspection at the Massena, N.Y. Port of Entry, Gill was again placed out-of-service for falsifying his record-of-duty status. As with the previous instances, he ignored the order and continued operating his truck. Four hours later, Gill was stopped for speeding by New York State Police and was cited again for falsifying records and ordered out-of-service. For his actions, Gill was ordered to appear in a Vermont court for his careless and negligent operation violations and may also be subject to a civil penalty enforcement proceeding for his violation of FMCSA safety regulations. Violating an imminent hazard out-of-service order may result in penalties of up to $2,500 and disqualification from operating a commercial vehicle for no less than 180 days for a first offense. A second offense may result in civil penalties of up to $5,000 and disqualification from operating a commercial vehicle for at least two years. Failure to comply with the provisions of the imminent hazard out-of-service order may also result in criminal charges. BRUSSELS Belgiums justice minister pleaded Tuesday for critics of Belgiums intelligence failures to focus on the hunt for those behind last weeks Brussels attacks and Novembers massacre in Paris. Investigators say they are still looking for at least one suspect in the attacks seven days ago, when suicide bombers killed 32 people at Brussels airport and in a subway station near the European Union headquarters. Three suicide bombers also blew themselves up. The Health Ministry and victims identification officials said 90 people remain in the hospital, a third of them suffering from severe burns. In a joint news conference they said the 32 dead include 17 Belgians and 15 foreigners, while 44 of the wounded are foreigners from 20 nations. Belgium has faced rising international criticism over its evident inability to identify and monitor Islamic State activists living in the Belgian capital who have been deemed responsible both for the March 22 bombings in Brussels and the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris nightspots that left 130 dead. Several of those who killed themselves during the attacks or were subsequently arrested were Belgian nationals of North African background. Now is not the time to fight one another. As far as I know, the enemy is in Syria, Justice Minister Koen Geens said, referring to the primary power base of the Islamic State that claimed responsibility for both attacks. But authorities in Belgium and the neighboring Netherlands faced fresh questions Tuesday about how much they knew in advance of the March 22 bombings. Turkey already has revealed it deported one of the suicide bombers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui, to the Netherlands in mid-2015 after catching him near the Syrian border and identifying him to Dutch authorities as a suspected IS militant. Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur said Tuesday that his countrys security services received a note from the FBI on March 16 detailing what he called the radical and terrorist background of the El Bakraoui brothers. One, Ibrahim, blew himself up alongside an accomplice at the airport, while the other brother, Khalid, detonated a bomb inside a train leaving the Maelbeek subway station. The timing of the note and why it was sent to the Dutch remained unclear. Belgian authorities said Tuesday they were not informed of its existence and had no idea where the El Bakroaui brothers were before the Brussels bombings. Belgium has voiced determination to toughen its security powers. On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee approved anti-terror proposals to give police round-the-clock powers for house searches, to improve the Belgian data base on extremists, and to increase phone-tapping powers. The full parliament has yet to consider these measures. Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur, who faces criticism for his own actions before and after the suicide bombings, said Belgian authorities must learn painful lessons and improve their ability to combat Islamic militancy. Were there mistakes? Did we miss anything? Certainly. Otherwise these attacks would not have happened, Mayeur said. Brussels, he suggested, would never feel the same. Theres no such thing as normal anymore, he said during a visit to Paris. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo pledged solidarity with Belgium as it begins a long and painful process of grieving and reconstruction. Brussels airport has yet to reopen since the attacks but has been testing a temporary check-in system for use in coming days. The subway system is mostly running again, though under heavy guard. The Maelbeek station, hit by a suicide bomber in the morning rush hour, remains closed. Passengers said they presumed the March 22 attacks would not be the last on Brussels. I think this is not over, said Franz Alderweireldt, an 82-year-old taking a train at a subway station next to Maelbeek. When terrorists plan an attack, they will do it no matter what, Alderweireldt said, even if there are dozens or hundreds of soldiers or police on the street. LARNACA, Cyprus A man described as psychologically unstable hijacked a flight Tuesday from Egypt to Cyprus and threatened to blow it up. His explosives turned out to be fake, and he surrendered with all passengers released unharmed after a bizarre six-hour standoff. As more became known about the motive of the 59-year-old Egyptian who was taken into custody, authorities characterized the commandeering of the EgyptAir jetliner not as an act of terrorism but more like a family feud with his former wife. The drama ended peacefully on the tarmac of Larnaca airport on the island nations southern coast with the surrender of a man identified by Cypriot and Egyptian authorities as Seif Eddin Mustafa. The incident was likely to renew concerns about Egyptian airport security months after a Russian passenger plane was blown out of the sky over the Sinai Peninsula in a bombing claimed by the Islamic State group. But Egyptian officials stressed that their security measures were not to blame, and there was praise for the EgyptAir flight crew. Pilot Amr Gamal told The Associated Press: We rescued all the people and the man got arrested. EgyptAir Flight 181 took off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria for a 30-minute hop to Cairo with at least 72 people aboard, Cyprus police said, including about two dozen foreigners. At some point, the hijacker claimed to have explosives in his belt and forced the pilot to fly the Airbus 320 to Cyprus, Egyptian authorities said. Egyptian passenger Farah el-Dabani told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiyah TV network that the hijacker was seated in the back of the aircraft and that it was the crew who told passengers that the plane was being hijacked. There was panic at the beginning, but the crew told us to be quiet, she said in a telephone interview. After the jet landed in Larnaca about 9 a.m., the hijacker asked to speak to his Cypriot ex-wife, who was brought to the airport, and he sent out a letter from the aircraft to give to her, said Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides.The foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said. The nationalities of three other foreigners could not be determined immediately. Most of the passengers were freed, but he kept on board seven people: four members of the flight crew and three passengers. Mustafa later asked to speak to European Union representatives, and among his demands were the release of female inmates held in Egyptian prisons. It was one demand he made, then dropped it and made another, Kasoulides said. His demands made no sense or were too incoherent to be taken seriously. Hussein Abdelkarim Tantaway Mubarak, Egypts ambassador to Cyprus, said the whole affair looks like it was a family feud.As far as I know, I think he has a family problem, probably with members of his family, probably his ex-wife or something, Mubarak added. A Cypriot police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give out details of the investigation said the hijacker and his wife were divorced in 1994, and the couple had four children. The hijacker eventually realized there was no chance any of his demands would be met, Kasoulides said, and he left the plane, where he was immediately arrested by anti-terrorism police. The belt of explosives turned out to be telephone cases made to look like they were explosives. Just minutes before the arrest, several people were seen also getting off the aircraft, and a crew member later identified as Ahmed el-Qaddah climbed out of the cockpit window and slid down the side of the plane in accordance with his training for such emergencies. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was not something that has to do with terrorism. Anastasiades, appearing alongside European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Nicosia, was asked by reporters whether he could confirm that the incident was about a woman. Always, there is a woman, he replied, drawing laughter. But the mood aboard the hijacked aircraft was anything but light-hearted. A veiled female passenger told Egyptian TV upon arrival back in Cairo: We were terrified but cooperating. The woman, who was not identified, said she thought the explosives had been real. I felt like the man can just press the button, and we will be gone, she said. A middle-aged male passenger who also didnt identify himself told the broadcaster, The situation was very hard, more than anyone can imagine. He also praised the flight crew, saying they were like a psychiatrists to the hijacker. The flight crew and passengers who returned to Cairo on Tuesday night broke into tears while hugging and kissing their waiting families. Mustafa is to appear in court Wednesday, where authorities will ask that he be held on a number of unspecified charges, said police spokesman Andreas Angelides. Mubarak said its amazing how the hijacker managed to convince passengers and crew that he had a belt of explosives strapped to him when he actually had no weapons. Police in Cairo questioned Mustafas relatives, said Sharif Faisal, the police chief for the industrial suburb of Helwan. Islam Magdy, a taxi driver who lives in the same five-story house as Mustafas sister, described him as a mysterious person, with police inquiring about him. Egypts Interior Ministry released surveillance video that it said showed Mustafa being thoroughly searched at the Alexandria airport. It said his hand luggage held items that he later used to give the impression that he is wearing an explosive belt. Aviation expert Philip Baum said the EgyptAir crew seems to have responded to this incident in an exemplary fashion. The idea that the air crew should have taken steps to overpower the hijacker is, I believe, wrong, said Baum, author of Violence in the Skies: A History of Aircraft Hijacking and Bombing. Flight attendant Nihal el-Barqouqi played a role in convincing the hijacker to free the passengers once the plane landed in Cyprus, Egyptian TV reported. We managed with diplomacy ... to get the passengers out, co-pilot Ahmed el-Qaddah told the broadcaster. Security at Egyptian airports has been under scrutiny since the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian jetliner in the Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for St. Petersburg, Russia. All 224 people on board were killed. Russia later said a bomb brought down the aircraft, and the Islamic State group took responsibility. Russia suspended all air links to Egypt after the revelations about the bombing, dealing a major blow to the Egyptian tourism industry. The developer of a proposed outlet mall in east Tulsa has backed out of the project, leaving the city without a stake in the outlet mall game. Clay Bird, director of the Tulsa Mayors Office of Economic Development, said Tuesday he received the news Monday via a phone message from Gary Skoien, CEO of Michigan-based Horizon Group Properties, which was planning the development near Interstate 44 and 129th East Avenue. Skoien told Bird that Horizon developers were effectively pulling the plug on the project and were not going to move forward, Bird said in a telephone interview. He later confirmed the news in a phone conversation with Skoien, who couldnt immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. In September, Simon Premium Outlets announced it was taking its mall proposal to the Jenks River District after scrapping its original plan to locate near Tulsas Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area amid strong public opposition. Its a huge blow, Bird said. If everything goes forward, if the Simon project happens in Jenks, not only did we lose all the revenue that we could have received from that outlet mall, which was $4.5 million annually (in sales taxes). Now, were going to lose additional sales tax dollars, which are already here, that will bleed over into Jenks. In December, the City Council approved a special taxing district for the proposed Horizon property, largely clearing the way for the developer to finalize plans and build. The approval would have created a 25-year, $20 million sales tax increment financing district, or TIF district. That was to empower them to be able to go out and secure leases and so forth, Bird said. I guess they werent able to. The Horizon mall was to contain a 95-store retail development with 350,000 square feet of leasable land for restaurants, hotels and additional retail operations. The developers had said they hope to open for business in 2017. I tried to advise people when they were running Simon off from their original site at 61st and highway 75 that we just cant do that, Bird said. Everybody was going with the attitude that, Well, we still have the east Tulsa one and we cant support two, anyway. That was one thing about Simon from the beginning. They always said they were planning on coming to this market regardless of whether they were first or second. They felt like they could be successful here. Horizon had always said that if they werent the first one in, they werent coming. City Councilor Connie Dodson represents District 6, where the Horizon mall was to be constructed. The city, before I was elected (November 2014), was trying to work with the malls, she said. It just created an adversarial atmosphere. Its frustrating. I do want to reiterate that this is still a very good location for retail development. The area sees upwards of 60,000 cars a day. Exits are in place and traffic from of course, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri through here. We will still continue to look for appropriate retail development in that location. Its something that east Tulsa needs badly. Another mall planned for the area is proposed by Woodmont Co. and is scheduled to be located in Catoosa, next to the Cherokee Nations Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. No company representative could be immediately reached Tuesday, but its website said the development is coming in late 2016. Simon has broken no ground on its mall project in Jenks, though the city continues to prepare for its arrival. In December, the Jenks City Council unanimously approved changing a tract zoned for agriculture to Riverfront Tourist Commercial to accommodate the Tulsa Premium Outlets, clearing the way for permit applications and work to begin. Company officials said then that construction of the complex of 80 to 90 retail stores could start the summer of 2016 and take a year to 15 months. A Simon representative couldnt be reached Tuesday. The city of Jenks continues its infrastructure projects surrounding the site which constructs and improves access roads necessary to support the development and the future traffic to the area, Jenks City Manager Mike Tinker said in a statement. For too long, Oklahoma legislators have pursued a tough on crime posture, despite the evidence that it hasnt prevented crime and the existence of less expensive alternatives that would keep us safer. But this year, Oklahoma might finally be ready to move in a smart on crime direction. Oklahoma incarcerates more of its citizens than any state except Louisiana. According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, state prisons are at 123 percent capacity, with bunks being squeezed into gymnasiums and other common areas. State appropriations to the agency total nearly $500 million, but thats only enough to staff prisons at 67 percent of what is needed. For good reason, interim Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh calls the status quo a serious risk to public safety. The states crime rate has little to show for all of this incarceration. From 2000 to 2012, Oklahoma saw a 5 percent decrease in the rate of violent crime, while the United States as a whole saw a 23 percent decrease, according to the FBIs Uniform Crime Report. Oklahoma can and must do better. We need to focus on what actually works rather than what sounds toughest in a campaign ad. First, this means fixing sentencing so that the consequences fit the crime. Stealing an iPhone shouldnt lead to a permanent felony record, and locking up people struggling with substance abuse only makes the problem worse. But we cant stop with the least serious crimes. Data show that lengthy sentences for violent crimes, coupled with very low parole releases, is causing much of the prison population growth. Oklahoma is one of only three states with more prisoners than parolees and probationers, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. We have a great deal of room to use community supervision as a less costly and more rehabilitative alternative. Instead of releasing inmates directly to the street after many unproductive years in prison, they should be gradually reintroduced under supervised parole and probation with programs that keep them on the right path. Second, smart criminal justice reform means scaling back fines, fees and court costs so that we arent funding our public safety system on the backs of those can least afford it. An estimated 60 percent to 90 percent of criminal defendants are indigent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. We cant expect them to pay thousands of dollars each to maintain our jails and court system. Third, it means giving a fair shot at rehabilitation to those who are trying to get back on their feet. Gov. Mary Fallin ought to be applauded for removing the criminal history question from initial applications for state employment, but theres more to do. More than 100 states and localities have done the same for both public and private employers, and Oklahoma needs to join this list. Lawmakers also have an opportunity with House Bill 2585 to create a uniform process for Oklahomans with a felony in their past to get a job license when they dont pose a risk to public safety. Fortunately, leaders from across the political spectrum appear ready to start down the right path this year. Several measures with broad support would restructure sentencing for low-level drug possession and property crimes, make alternative sentencing like drug courts more accessible, and reduce the burden of fines and fees on defendants. In addition, voters ought to have the chance to weigh in on State Questions 780 and 781 this November, which would take all drug possession and low-level property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and invest prison savings in county-level treatment and rehabilitation. We created this problem over decades, and one years reforms wont be enough to fix it. However, these measures can be a great start toward a more effective and affordable justice system in Oklahoma. Ryan Gentzler is a policy analyst with Oklahoma Policy Institute (okpolicy.org). It's Divali time so at TV6 over the next few days, we bring you some of the interesting aspe A new-look Postcards team, comprising Shane Crawford, Shane Delia, Lauren Phillips, Scherri-Lee Biggs, Glen Moriarty, Brodie Harper and Warren Tredrea joined Melbourne Channel 9 Managing Director, Ian Paterson (below, centre) for a media launch last night. The event at Delias refurbished Maha Restaurant comes ahead of the shows primetime launch this Friday night in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth markets. Having run for 17 seasons as a Victorian-based travel show, Nine is now extending the brand to 2 more states, to air on Friday nights whilst NRL is on air in Sydney and Brisbane. Warren Tredrea from Nine News Adelaide will file South Australian story while Scherri-Lee Biggs from STW9 presents WA-based stories. Livinia Nixon sent her apologies. Episodes will also be replayed on 9Life, whilst a Victorian-edition continues on Sundays with a mix of repeat and fresh stories. Shane Delia, who has previously presented his own Spice Journey series on SBS, joins as a regular member of the team after earlier guest appearances. Delia will feature in cooking segments with featured chefs. He is looking forward to learning about cuisines other than his own specialty, middle eastern food. They do the cooking which is great, because I just get to sit back and have a laugh, he said. Most of the time they cook stuff you can make at home, which is pretty integral. His first guest is The Hotplates Scott Pickett. Scottys a bit of a larrikin, so its good he can fall into a PG timeslot. Its good that were not live or hed be in trouble! Postcards begins in primetime at 7:30pm Friday in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Upcoming Foxtel drama The Kettering Incident will have its international premiere at the prestigious Series Mania festival in Paris. It will be joined by Cleverman (Official Panorama section), The Family Law (Comedy section) and Ready for This (Discovery section). David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, will be heading the jury. Cast and creatives from all 4 shows will be in attendance. Series Mania will have its seventh edition from April 14 to April 25 at Le Forum des Images and Le Grand Rex in Paris. It has become the biggest European TV Fiction in Europe with 22000 spectators last year and 2000 accredited members of the French and European industry attending a large selection of showcases, masterclasses and coproduction forums. Series Mania this year will showcase 80 series from 20 countries worldwide ranging from South Africa to South Korea, Israel to Indonesia, Canada to Belgium, Poland to Norway. Previous Aussie series featured have included The Moodys, Utopia, Devils Playground, Love Child, East West 101, The Circuit, Tangle, A Moody Christmas, Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries, Puberty Blues, The Slap, The Straits, Please Like Me, Redfern Now, Serangoon Road and The Code. Francois-Pier Pelinard-Lambert international curator for Series Mania told TV Tonight, As usual, we had a lot of quality choice. We do not include two parters, but Molly or Peter Allen would have been welcomed too. We saw Barracuda in a work in progress version and I wanted to have the series in official competition too, but post production took longer than I thought. So I cant include it in the final list. Very unfortunately. Among the American selection, we will have American Crime Story with Cuba Gooding Jr attending, The Man in the High Castle with Frank Spotnitz attending and the world premiere presentation of Feed the Beast, created by Dexters helmer, Clyde Philips, who will be in Paris too. From Britain, we will have the word premiere of Stephens Poliakoffs Close to the Enemy. And from Scandinavia, we will also have Spring Tide, the new Swedish thriller from The Bridge writers. I look forward to discover more Australian drama in the coming months such as Secret City and Deep Water. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory instruments a volume of roughly one cubic kilometer of clear Antarctic ice at the South Pole. Over 5,000 digital optical modules (DOMs) are frozen at depths between 1,450 and 2,450 meters. The observatory includes a densely instrumented subdetector, DeepCore, and a surface air-shower array, IceTop, which is operated by the University of Delaware. Courtesy of IceCube Collaboration The deployment of each of the 86 IceCube strings lasted about 11 hours. In each hole, 60 sensors (called digital optical modules, or DOMs) had to be quickly installed before the ice completely froze around them. Courtesy of Jim Haugen, IceCube/NSF University of Delaware researchers will continue their involvement in the operation of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole, as part of an international collaboration. Shown (from left) are Stoyan Stoyanov, Tom Gaisser, who leads the UD team, and James Roth at the Geographic South Pole. 9:56 a.m., March 30, 2016--Smaller than an atom and hurtling through space at near the speed of light, neutrinos are high-energy particles that pass right through just about anything in their way yourself included at a pace of billions per second. But the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is catching some of these tiny particles ever so briefly in its icy net. And those findings are opening up new avenues of exploration into the universe and the violent cosmic events perhaps colliding black holes or exploding stars that likely blasted these ghost particles into space. Today, the National Science Foundation announced a five-year, $35 million grant for the continued operation and management of IceCube, the neutrino detector located over a mile deep in the ice at NSFs Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The University of Wisconsin-Madison will continue its role as operator of IceCube, and subawards will be made to seven U.S. institutions, including the University of Delaware, that help to maintain and operate the observatory. IceCube consists of more than 5,000 optical sensors suspended on 86 cables, like strands of pearls in the ice, a mile beneath the South Pole. Researchers in the UD Department of Physics and Astronomy, who have been involved in the multi-institutional collaboration since its inception 15 years ago, will receive a total of $750,000 over the next five years to maintain the operation of IceTop, an array of sensors installed at IceCubes surface. The major task for the UD team is monitoring and quality control of the data from IceTop. With IceCube, weve been very successful in finding high-energy neutrinos, says Thomas K. Gaisser, Martin A. Pomerantz Chair of Physics and Astronomy, co-principal investigator on the IceCube project and head of the team at UD. Renewal of the observatory grant is a vote of confidence from the National Science Foundation and provides a clear path forward. IceCube was the first scientific instrument to detect very high-energy neutrinos from beyond our solar system, neutrinos with up to a billion times more energy than had been observed previously. So far, IceCube has detected more than a million neutrinos, and the few hundred that are astronomically interesting have been the focus of research. Neutrinos are nearly massless particles created in nuclear reactions, including some of the most energetic events in the universe. Colliding black holes, the violent cores of galaxies, supernovas, and pulsars are believed by scientists to be accelerating these high-energy particles, many billions of which pass through the Earth every second. Because they have almost no mass and rarely interact with matter, they are excruciatingly difficult to detect and require detectors the size of IceCube, which occupies a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice, to capture the fleeting bursts of light created when the occasional neutrino crashes into another particle. But the elusive qualities that make neutrinos so hard to detect are also of significant interest to science. Since the particles glide through space unhindered by stars, planets and the powerful magnetic fields that punctuate the universe, it means they are virtually pristine and harbor valuable clues about their sources. In addition to its contributions to scientific research, IceCube has been a focal point for introducing young students to science. UD developed an online Antarctic Adventure to engage students and the public as the detector was being built, and IceCube Masterclasses have since been held involving the University of Wisconsin, UD and other research institutions, including several in Europe. These daylong experiences give high school students a glimpse into neutrino astronomy as they meet with scientists, analyze data and try their hand at computer modeling to identify particle pathways. The collaboration that operates IceCube encompasses over 300 researchers from 47 institutions in 12 countries. The NSF cooperative agreement includes subawards to seven U.S. institutions that contribute to IceCube core activities: the University of Delaware is the principal institution in the maintenance of IceTop, the surface component of the IceCube observatory; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has major responsibilities in the data acquisition maintenance and computing infrastructure as well as in the long-term data archive at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center; Penn State Universitys efforts focus on simulation production and data acquisition firmware support; the University of Maryland coordinates IceCube software, including online filtering and simulation; the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa leads the calibration efforts as well as the reconstruction and analysis tools; Michigan State University is a main contributor to the simulation software and production; and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls oversees the education and outreach program. Every institution contributes to the outstanding performance of the Antarctic neutrino detector, either with monetary or in-kind contributions. Data centers at DESY Zeuthen preserve a second copy of raw data, and the simulation production is a distributed effort that includes computing facilities in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Sweden and the U.S. The performance of the IceCube detector has steadily improved and a key goal will be to speed up the analysis of neutrinos of interest in order to quickly alert other observatories. For example, because neutrinos for something like a supernova explosion can arrive at the IceCube detector a few hours before photons, alerts can be quickly sent to other types of observatories. With an early warning from neutrino and possibly gravitational wave detectors to all other telescopes, we might have the astronomical event of the 21st century, says Francis Halzen, principal investigator for the project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Article adapted from a news release provided by the University of Wisconsin-Madison At the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, USA, Australia and Ukraine will sign an agreement on cooperation in nuclear energy. The press service of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia reports. "Before the summit, I will sign an agreement with Ukraine, which provides for shipping uranium for nuclear power plants," said Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in a statement. The minister also reminded that Australia has the same agreements with other countries, including Canada, China, France, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Britain and the U.S., and stated that Australia is ranked first according to the Global Review Initiative on reducing Nuclear Threat Initiative. In addition to signing the agreement with Ukraine, Australian minister will meet with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at the Washington Summit. Dutch town Nutdorp is the venue for the Ukrainian-Dutch Business Forum. The Ukrinforms own Holland correspondent reports more than 250 companies from Ukraine and the have signed up to participate in the forum. The Ukrainian delegation at the forum is headed by finance minister Natalie Jaresko. The forum will be attended by minister of agrarian policy and food Oleksiy Pavlenko, deputy head of presidential administration Dmytro Shymkiv, officials and businesses representatives. The Dutch government is presented by minister for foreign trade and development cooperation of the Netherlands Lillianne Ploumen. A number of panel discussions on cooperation in aerospace, IT technologies, infrastructure and logistics have been scheduled. The Forum is held on the eve of the Dutch referendum on the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement that will take place on 6 April. Canada seeks to return to the talks with Russia in various areas in order to support Ukraine. Canadas Foreign Affairs Minister told in his speech at a conference in Ottawa, the Ukrinform's own Canadian correspondent reports. "Canada will continue to oppose Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and further strongly support our NATO allies. However, it is entirely consistent with the resumption of diplomatic discussions with Russia in the same manner as our allies are doing," said Dion. He noted that in a dialog with Russia he will attempt to defend the interests of Ukraine, Europe and Canada itself. "This resumption of relations will be aimed at lending support for Ukraine, supporting Europe and the stabilization of the situation in the center of the continent. It will also serve Canada's own interests making room for discussions with Russia on key issues, such as the Arctic," noted the minister. He said that in order to solve some of the problems Canada is in great need of Russia's participation. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joins United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi at a high-level conference in Geneva calling for more options for Syrian refugees. UNHCR/A-L. Lechat GENEVA, March 30 (UNHCR) - Addressing a one-day, high-level conference in Geneva on refugees from Syria, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said more needs to be done to provide resettlement and other answers for their plight. "We are here to address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time This demands an exponential increase in global solidarity," he told the gathering at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, attended by the representatives of 92 countries together with governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Some 4.8 million Syrians have been forced to flee across borders by five years of war, while another 6.6 million are internally displaced. While talks are underway to find lasting peace, the UN chief said more countries need to step up and provide solutions for Syrian refugees. "The best way to offer hope to Syrians is by ending the conflict," the Secretary General said. "But until such talks bear fruit, the Syrian people and the region still face a desperate situation. The world must step up, with concrete actions and pledges. All countries can do more." The March 30 conference was one of several key events in 2016 to do with Syria's refugees. It followed February's London Conference on Syria at which donors pledged US$12 billion to help those in need in Syria and in the surrounding region along with the needs of communities in host countries. "Now these pledges must be honoured," the Secretary General said. The conference, which was also attended by 10 inter-governmental organizations, nine UN agencies and 24 non-government organizations, came in the run up to September's summit on refugees to be held at the General Assembly meeting The focus of the gathering was the need for expanded, multi-year programmes of resettlement and other forms of humanitarian admission, including involving countries that till now have not been involved in such initiatives. Conference host Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, emphasized that the responsibility for caring for refugees should not be left to Syria's immediate neighbours alone, but should be more equitably shared. "The magnitude of this particular crisis shows us unmistakably that it cannot be business as usual, leaving the greatest burden to be carried by the countries closest to the conflict," Grandi told the gathering, also attended by representatives from key refugee-hosting governments. "Offering alternative avenues for the admission of Syrian refugees must become part of the solution, together with investing in helping the countries in the region," he added. SEEKING SOLUTIONS Among solutions identified to end their plight is resettlement to third countries. Grandi highlighted a programme in which UNHCR worked with Canada to screen, select and prepare more than 26,000 refugees to start a new life in just four months. Grandi said other pathways included more flexible mechanisms for family reunification, including "extended family members, labour mobility schemes, student visas, scholarships, as well as visas for medical reasons." "Resettlement needs vastly outstrip the places that have been made available so far. Last year, only 12 per cent of the refugees in need of resettlement, who are usually the most vulnerable, were resettled," Grandi said. UNHCR estimates that at least 10 per cent of the 4.8 million refugees in countries neighbouring Syria will need resettling or other humanitarian help to safely move elsewhere before the end of 2018. This includes people considered acutely vulnerable, such as survivors of torture, refugees with serious medical conditions or women left alone with several children to care for and without family support. In closing remarks, Grandi said the conference had achieved a clear recognition of the need for solidarity and responsibility-sharing for refugees. But he also reminded delegates of the wider global displacement context and the immense challenges ahead, including finding a political settlement for Syria, and dealing with ongoing displacement and secondary flows from conflicts elsewhere. I am under no illusion that we are appealing for this at a very difficult time, and within a troubling context, he said. The solidarity required is a global one at this juncture. The collective effort of many states, and many actors within states, is essential. Overall he said progress was seen on Wednesday in several areas, including modest increases in the number of resettlement and humanitarian admission places, bringing the total to date to 185,000. Several countries offered to increase significantly their global resettlement programmes further this year and in the coming years. In addition, the EU committed to resettle further refugees from Turkey. A number of States affirmed their commitment to family reunification, including willingness to ease procedures. Several Latin American and European countries announced new humanitarian visa programmes or the expansion of existing ones. Thirteen states confirmed scholarships and student visas for Syrian refugees. Ahead of the conference, the Campaign Director of Avaaz, Alice Jay, handed over a petition to Grandi carrying over 1.2 million signatures in support of refugees. The petition, collected since the summer, calls for increased resettlement and reunification of families alongside financial support to countries on the frontline of the crisis, among other things. Avaaz, meaning 'voice', is a global citizens' movement which campaigns in 15 languages on six continents. A selection of photographs and messages of 'Refugees Welcome' from 23,000 Avaaz members around the world is being shared on a screen outside the conference hall. For more information about the conference, please click here. For a press release detailing pledges made at the conference, please click here. . UNHCR/G. Welters An international meeting in Geneva on the plight of Syrian refugees concluded today with new offers of resettlement places and other forms of humanitarian admission places by States, but also highlighting the challenges over the next three years in narrowing the gap between the number of places countries are willing to offer for Syrian refugees and the number UNHCR believes is urgently required. In his closing remarks High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi spoke of the conference having achieved "a clear recognition of the need for solidarity and responsibility-sharing for refugees". But he also reminded delegates of the wider global displacement context and the immense challenges ahead, including finding a political settlement for Syria, and dealing with ongoing displacement and secondary flows from conflicts elsewhere. "I am under no illusion that we are appealing for this at a very difficult time, and within a troubling context," he said. "The solidarity required is a global one. The collective effort of many states, and many actors within states, is essential." Overall, he said, progress was seen on Wednesday in six areas: Together, States pledged modest increases in the number of resettlement and humanitarian admission places, bringing the total to date to some 185,000. Several countries offered to significantly increase their global resettlement programmes further this year and in the coming years. In addition, the EU committed to resettle further refugees from Turkey. A number of States affirmed their commitment to family reunification, including willingness to ease procedures. Several Latin American and European countries announced new humanitarian visa programmes or the expansion of existing ones. Thirteen states confirmed scholarships and student visas for Syrian refugees. Speeding of admission processes for refugees through the removal or simplification of administrative barriers was mentioned by several States. Important financial commitments in support of UNHCR's resettlement programmes came from two countries. Several existing resettlement countries offered to share expertise with new resettlement ones. UNHCR estimates that at least 10 per cent of the 4.8 million refugees in countries neighbouring Syria will need resettling or other humanitarian help to safely move elsewhere before the end of 2018. This includes people considered acutely vulnerable, such as survivors of torture, refugees with serious medical conditions or women left alone with several children to care for and without family support. Wednesday's Conference also looked at measures intended to complement existing resettlement or humanitarian admission such as humanitarian visas, private sponsorship, family reunification, scholarships, medical evacuation and labour mobility programmes - including through the involvement of the private sector. These mechanisms complement existing resettlement programmes and help to ensure that quotas are still available for refugees in need from elsewhere in the world. The conference, chaired by UNHCR, is one of several key events in 2016 to do with Syria's refugees. It follows February's London Conference on Syria, which focused on the financial dimensions of the humanitarian challenge posed by the more than 13.5 million people in need inside Syria and the 4.8 million refugees in the surrounding region along with the needs of communities in countries hosting them. And it comes in the run up to September's summit on refugees to be held at the General Assembly meeting. Aug. 19, 2022 Fitness. When the average citizen thinks of being fit, it is easy for cardio and strength training to come to mind. That is not the case for those serving in the Air Force and Space Force. Comprehensive Airman Fitness teaches that to have overarching fitness and resilience, one must work on his or UTSA President Ricardo Romo named honorary Grand Marshal of Texas Cavaliers River Parade Romo also will serve as honorary grand marshal of Fiesta Flambeau parade Share this Story (March 30, 2016) -- The Texas Cavaliers, accompanied by mariachis, visited the UTSA Main Campus Tuesday to ask President Ricardo Romo to serve as the 2016 honorary grand marshal of their upcoming River Parade. The Texas Cavaliers River Parade, a highly anticipated Fiesta event, is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, April 18. Ive been watching the River Parade for as long as I can remember, Romo said. Now I get to be in it. The Texas Cavaliers selected Romo for this years River of Champions themed parade for his success and leadership in higher education. Romo joined UTSA in 1999 as the universitys fifth president. Since that time, he has led the university through a period of significant growth. UTSA now has nearly 29,000 students and is a university of first choice. Additionally, it offers 158 top-tier bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs including the nations top-ranked program in cybersecurity, according to a study conducted by the Ponemon Institute. Notably, more than half of UTSAs nearly 110,000 alumni have earned their UTSA degrees while Romo has been president. In front of the Sombrilla Fountain, King Antonio presented Romo with an official Texas Cavaliers sash and Kings medal. He will also have his own decorated float in the River Parade. The Texas Cavaliers was founded in 1926. Its now a 500-member mens only organization dedicated to raising money to support San Antonio childrens charities. Last month, Romo was named the honorary grand marshal of the 2016 Fiesta Flambeau Parade, Americas largest illuminated parade, scheduled for 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, April 23. ---------------------------- Connect online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and UTSA Today. Meet a Roadrunner: Maria Munoz '14 shares her business knowledge to help entrepreneurs in West Africa UTSA alumna is a member of the Peace Corps Share this Story (March 30, 2016) -- Meet Maria Munoz '14. She's a UTSA alumna serving in the Peace Corps in the small West African country of Benin. Every day, Munoz leaves her one-bedroom home with sparse electricity and water and walks 30 minutes in humid 100 degree temperatures to a classroom where the roof is made of leaves and the walls are fashioned from trees. It's a far cry from her days on the UTSA campus, where she studied international business and gained the preparation for her job today. When the first-generation student was deciding on a college, Munoz chose to stay in her hometown of San Antonio because she said the business program at UTSA was one of the best in Texas. "I made the best decision," Munoz said. "UTSA has an incredible international program. It's very unique." Her professors encouraged her to learn how different countries around the world do business. She experienced those lessons firsthand with UTSA's exchange programs, taking classes in the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Greece and Hong Kong. "Hong Kong was a life-changing experience," Munoz said. "I was in Asia, but there were students from all over the world. I learned how other cultures respond differently to business decisions." One of the most memorable things Munoz learned was from Bennie Wilson, a senior lecturer in management at the UTSA College of Business. "He encouraged me to not burn bridges," Munoz said. "He made us understand it's important to stay in touch with people and to be friendly." A month after graduating from UTSA with a Bachelor's of Business Administration (BBA) degree, Munoz packed her bags for Benin, Africa to join the Peace Corps. It's something she's wanted to do since high school and she said it wouldn't have been possible without UTSA. "The experience I had at UTSA, mixed with my relationships with my professors, is the reason I'm in the Peace Corps," Munoz said. At the outdoor classroom made from leaves and trees, Munoz is a mentor. She encourages the youth to become entrepreneurs as part of a program she helped start in Benin called Dare to Innovate. "I want them to understand it's okay to be different, and you should definitely make a profit with your business," Munoz said. Munoz said she's using skills she learned in an Introduction to Marketing class at UTSA to help a single mom start a business selling nutritional products. "It's rewarding and nice to see people make a change because of what I've taught them," Munoz said. She calls her next assignment an even greater challenge. Munoz is raising money to start construction on a new school building in her village. "It's super important that this happens," Munoz said. "I don't want to let the children down. Right now, there aren't enough classrooms. I'm going to be gone in a few months, but the building will remain. The children won't have to worry about their supplies getting wet in the rain. It has the potential to change not just the students but the village." Munoz's work in Benin will end in the fall. Next, she plans to find a job with an international organization in London. "UTSA gave me these travel opportunities," Munoz said. "I wouldn't have gotten this at any other university. The business school is perfect for what I'm doing now. I feel like I have a lot more to offer abroad as a UTSA graduate." Learn more about Munoz's construction project. ---------------------------- Do you know someone at UTSA who is achieving great things? Email us at social@utsa.edu so we might consider your submission for an upcoming installment of Meet a Roadrunner. Connect online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and UTSA Today. All the latest Uttoxeter news Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. My Favorite Quotes Recent Quotes Portfolio Summary Your most recently viewed tickers will automatically show up here if you type a ticker in the Get Quotes box on the top of the page. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend: Another provocation by pro-Armenian congressmen raises questions, though, in fact, they called for the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan's occupied lands. The message from the ARFD Hay Dat Committees of Armenians in the US read that 54 members of the US Congress call on the President Barack Obama to put pressure on Baku so that it would accept the Royce-Engel proposals on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The authors of the letter addressed to Obama are the congressmen Ed Royce and Brad Sherman. By the way, both of them are known for their systematic support to the pro-Armenian policy. In this letter, the US congressmen write that they welcome the support to Armenia and the nonexistent "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" in achieving peace and express hope that Azerbaijan will revise its objections. It is surprising that the US congressmen are unaware that Washington hasn't changed its stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for many years and unconditionally supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. In other words, the White House has always recognized the Nagorno-Karabakh region as Azerbaijan's part and didn't consider other options for resolving the conflict, but the return of all occupied territories to Azerbaijan's jurisdiction. The US, as one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, has called on the conflict parties for many years to follow the updated Madrid principles, which are as a bone in the throat for Yerevan. This is not surprising, since they are based on the statements of presidents of the co-chair countries signed in Muskoka city, Canada. Within the framework of G-8 countries' Muskoka summit in 2010, the US President Barack Obama, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy as the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries issued a joint statement, in which called on the warring parties to accelerate work on basic principles of settlement in order to begin drafting a peace agreement. To return the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; vest interim status to Nagorno-Karabakh, provide guarantees for security; open a corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh; determining the future final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding expression of will; ensuring the right of all internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees to return to their former places of residence; international security guarantees, including peacekeeping operations were among the principles. However, the issue of the occupation forces' withdrawal and the return of Azerbaijani refugees to their rightful lands is a loss for Armenia. Obviously, in the case of holding a referendum, which will be attended by Nagorno-Karabakh's legitimate residents - by Azerbaijanis, who were driven away from their homes many years ago, Nagorno-Karabakh will remain as an Azerbaijani territory and it frightens Armenians. Thus, congressmen are right to call for the observance of peace measures, which are approved by the US administration, but Armenia and the fictional geographical entity "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" have no relation to this process. --- Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency's Russian news service, follow her on Twitter: @EmmaTariver On Monday, Andrew Caspersen, a previous partner of PJT Partners, was arrested for committing a Wall Street fraud. The US prosecutors accused Caspersen of defrauding $95 million from investors. The news of Caspersen arrest pushed down the boutique investment bank's shares by as high as 25% during the Monday trading session. Caspersen purportedly coordinated an investment vehicle called Irving Place lll SPV, which had no assets other than a bank account in his name, and swindled $25 million from investors. He also sought to deceive investors for $70 million more, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL said. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has not released the identities of fraud victims. Caspersen was employed at PJT Partners' Park Hill Group since 2013. Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive officer and chairman of Blackstone Group, poses 6.6% of shareholdings in PJT Partners. The boutique investment bank was managed by Paul J. Taubman, a former investment banker at Morgan Stanley. The bank became a public firm in October 2015. "Stunned and outraged to learn of the fraudulent circumvention of the firm's compliance policies and ethical standards by Andrew Caspersen," a spokeswoman for Park Hill said the journal. The bank has terminated Caspersen from his office and also organised an internal investigation and reported the potential fraud to the US authorities, she added. Meanwhile, a representative of Blackstone said that the fraudulent issue surprised Blackstone's management team. He added that Blackstone will cooperate with PJT in all matters concerning the investigation of the fraud act. Newsmax cited Preet Bharara, US Attorney, who said that Caspersen created duplicate email addresses, produced fake domain names and developed imaginary financiers to manage the shell company. Caspersen used the investment fund for personal utility, traded securities in his brokerage account, and lost all the money in trading options, prosecutors noted. According to a source, Caspersen started misleading investors while he was an employee at Park Hill, which was then owned by Blackstone Group. Park Hill was sold to PJT in 2014. The fraud issue was brought to PJT notice on March 14 by an unidentified third party, which prompted PJT to hire an external counsel and alert the US authorities in Manhattan, the source added. Meanwhile, Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announced a deep study into the fraud issue by Andrew Caspersen on behalf of PJT's wounded investors. The victims are allowed to conduct the law firm to talk about their legal rights and on means to recover their losses. Shares of PJT fell 11.8%, after falling as high as 24.3% to a historical low on Monday morning. PJT is cooperating with the US authorities to help its victimised investors to recover from their losses. Investors are hopeful that they will have their justice. The proposed merger of London Stock Exchange (LSE) with Deutsche Borse is facing a major hurdle in a form of resistance from Germany. Politicians and senior industry representatives are raising voice against the merger deal with the fear of losing the financial hub status of Frankfurt. A merger plan of 21-billion worth deal is under fire in Germany. There's increasing resistance from the country to moving headquarters of combined entity to London. Germany is also against giving Chief Executive of Deutsche Borse a top job in the combined entity. The Telegraph reports that Deutsche Borse's home district is lobbying at its best to retain the head office of the exchange in Frankfurt. Ulrich Caspar, who sits in the regional Parliament in Hesse, is raising voice against majority of shareholders' base from English speaking nations. After the mergers, shareholders of LSE will get 45.6 percent of holding and Deutsche Borse will have 54.4 percent. LSE chief will retire as part of the deal. Manfred Za, a former director at Deutsche Borse, has warned about the compromises made in the merger deal. He said "Merger of equals could damage Frankfurt's standing, despite Kengeter's claims that the deal would safeguard the city, while enabling both the UK and Germany to compete in global markets." German politicians and businessmen claim that the 21-billion deal is lopsided against their interests. Moreover, the headquarter of combined entity in London will undermine German exchange in Frankfurt, as reported by This is Money. Zass, who left the bourse after its failed bid to buy the LSE in 2005, said "We should not be naive. With respect, if you know the push and pull behind such a merger, it sounds more like an investment banker fairy story. The supposed parity-- the boss here, the domicile there-- creates a recognizably lopsided Frankfurt." On the other hand, the ongoing prospective merger deal has divided the elite of London city. Difference of opinions is emerging over the merger as it deals with 300 years of independence of the LSE. London elite fear that LSE's independence may come to an end owing to the merger deal. It shouldn't be viewed from shareholders of LSE, but also from the point of view from public interest. LSE is part of London's infrastructure, further adds Financial Times. Expected savings from the combined entity are 450 million or 20 percent of operational costs. In addition to the ongoing savings programs, merger of overlapping parts of business is expected to save costs for both the bourses. Meanwhile, American group Intercontinental Exchange has also expressed its interest in acquiring LSE. Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange are also linked to bids. Advisers on merger deal to Deutsche Borse and LSE are looking at the same structure called 'Stitching' by a Dutch foundation. This came up in NYSE's 2007 takeover of Euronext to prevent risk from new US law. Now, it also avoids a possible regulatory problem amid Brexit. Israel is already a pioneer in high tech agriculture with its advance agricultural technology. Now, the small county is leading in the medical marijuana research and developemnt, which attracting U.S. firms to invest. In Israel, the medical cannabis research has gained advantage with its climate and added with the high tech agricultural technology. A head of BOL Pharma, a company authorised by the Israeli health ministry to grow and distribute medical cannabis, Tamir Gedo told YNet News, "For cannabis, we are in the promised land with a good climate, 300 days of sunshine each year and perfect levels of humidity." Although the usage of cannabis for recreational purpose is illegal in the Jewish state, but its therapeutic use is permitted, and even encouraged. In 2015, doctors prescribed cannabis to 25,000 patients who suffer from cancer, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress and degenerative diseases. The cannabis is prescribed to alleviate the symptoms of the diseases, revive lost appetite and to help sleeping disorder, anxiety and inflammation. Medical marijuana research in Israel is the most advanced in the world. Israelis health authorities have allowed human clinical trials for medical marijuana. While researchers are working together with entrepreneurs and investors to search for the best application of medical marijuana. The researches also continuie to purify marijuana so it can be administered in accurate doses with minimum side-effects. However there are doctors who opposed the use of marijuana. Those who are against marijuana usage have concerns regarding the addiction issue and behavioral problem caused by marijuana. Meanwhile the medical marijuana research continue to advance in Israel and attracting many U.S. investment. U.S. firms have invested around $50 million in licensing Israeli medical marijuana R&D since 2014. The investment was spent in various researches, from licensing Israeli medical marijuana patents, cannabis agro-tech startups and firms developing delivery devices such as inhalers. CEO of iCAN Saul Kaye at CannaTech conference expected the investment to expand. The event is the largest conference of medical marijuana expert helds on March 7 to 9 in Tel Aviv. As reported by Medical Daily, Saul Kaye said, "I expect it to grow to $100 million in the coming year." U.S. firms are looking into Israeli advanced research on medical marijuana due to the restriction in the United States. Director of Medicinal Plant Research at Heliospectra Suzanne Sisley shared her experienced. Dr. Sisley is a U.S. psychiatrist who researched the effects of cannabis as a treatment for American military veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder "In the United States it's easier to study heroin than marijuana," she said as quoted by Reuters. "With marijuana you have to go through added layers of government red tape. It highlights the way marijuana research is being shackled by politics," she said further. Therefore, U.S. firms are looking to Israel for its study on medical marijuana. As the leader in advanced agricultural technology, Israel is also the pioneer and leader in medical marijuana R&D. Rosneft, the Russia-based oil firm, has promised to make investments of roughly EUR 13 billion annually through 2018, which is an increase of 30% for the year 2016. The energy firm's determination comes amid the sluggish oil economy across the globe. According to Igor Sechin, chief executive officer of Rosneft, the company is managing to sustain the instability in the oil market. He vowed President Vladimir Putin that the firm will honour the rules under the output deal through this investment program as reported by Euronews. However, few analysts were anxious regarding the fall in production as a result of the maturing oil fields in Western Siberia that generates over half of the country's oil supply. The company is planning to enhance its drilling activities at Yuganskneftegaz, which is considered to be the biggest producing unit of the company. The company noted that its hydrocarbon production grew by 1% to 254 million tonnes in 2015. Meanwhile, Sergei Donskoi, minister of natural resources in Russia, said that the energy giant is set to reduce oil production in an effort to back up poor energy prices. Russia along with other major oil producers like Venezuela, Qatar and Saudi Arabia has agreed to freeze oil production to ramp up oil prices from a historical low in January. OPEC members and other producers have decided to gather in Doha to discuss freezing oil output. Donskoi told Reuters that energy companies in Russia had reformed their output policies with regard to the output freezing. But, Rosneft did not comment on its output plans. Rosneft, which produces nearly 3.8 million barrels a day, accounts for over one-third of Russia's net 10.88 million bpd. In early March, the company supported the idea of lowering domestic production to offset the world market, sources close to the industry said. In 2014, Rosneft halted drilling activities in the Arctic region following the withdrawal of ExxonMobil from the Kara Sea project due to sanctions levied on Moscow. Donskoi pointed out that Lukoil yet to decide on adjusting its production plans to support global oil market. Janet Yellen, chairman of Federal Reserve, said that further drop in oil prices will hurt the rest of the economy across the globe. Yellen noted that the slump in oil prices over the recent period will burden the global growth in all respects. She added that poor oil prices could enhance spending in the US for the following few years, however, oil producers will probably limit government expenditure, leading to more job cuts in the oil sector, as reported by Fuelfix. Rosneft investment policy comes amid the struggling oil environment, which pushes energy stocks down from their record high in the past. However, energy firms are still hopeful regarding the prospect of their financial condition. China has been a partner with ASEAN and has been largest trading partner of the members of association. Seeking to match China's influence United States stepped in to increase economic relationship with ASEAN. China and ASEAN signed the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in 2010 and has been the largest trading partner for six years consecutively. In 2014, the trade between China and ASEAN was reaching more than $480 billion, and China's direct investment in ASEAN countries reached $400 billion. Seeking to match China's growing influence, U.S. seeks to expand its cooperation with ASEAN beyond its traditional leverage in political and security ties. According to The Diplomat, U.S. State Department reported that ASEAN countries now are collectively America's fourth-largest trading partner. U.S. trade in goods with ASEAN countries has expanded by 55% to reach $226 billion in 2015. Foreign direct investment from United States in ASEAN has also increased to nearly doubled since 2008, with a total stock of over $226 billion. Meanwhile China and ASEAN currently plan to increase cooperation. Reuters reported that on March 23, China offered $11.5 billion in loans and credit lines to five Southeast Asian countries for infrastructure and other projects. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Li Keqiang during summit with leaders from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in Southern China. Prime Minister Li said that he planned to push China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and its Silk Road fund to finance the project. He also said to ensure greater use for Yuan to be used in dealing with the five countries which run along the same Mekong river. "There are six countries on one river. The Lancang-Mekong sub-region is our joint home," he said. "Over the many years of being neighbours we have become family." The inaugural meeting was held in the resort town of Sanya on Hainan island to introduce Lancang-Mekong Cooperation. The name was derived from the river that begins in Tibet and discharges into the South China Sea in southern Vietnam. China Prime Minister and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha co-hosted the meeting which aimed to strengthen ties and cut trade deals in the region. New York Times reported that escalating territorial conflicts have complicated China's effort to court its Southeast Asian neighbors and partners. Beijing also concern with the signed that ASEAN may draw closer to its rival United States. Traditionally, China and ASEAN have closer economic ties than United States, as U.S. only holds political and security advantage in ASEAN. U.S. tries to balance the China's influence in Southeast Asia. As fears of increasing economic reliance from ASEAN countries on China may affect U.S. interest in Southeast Asia. Therefore, U.S. seeks to balance China by trying to increase economic partnership with ASEAN. Prime Minister Li Keqiang deliver keynote speech in the 15th annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on Thursday. He expressed optimism that China's economy will recover, as government will do whatever it takes to reach economic growth above 6%. Premier Li also pledged not to devalue yuan or interfere too much in its slowing economy. As Strait Times reported that Li Keqiang promised that China will fulfil its responsibility as a major economic power, even though its own economy is undergoing challenging reforms and slower growth. "Devaluation will not lead to the production of high-quality products or promote competition and innovation," Prime Minister Li said. "We want to push out to the world increasingly better mid- to high-end products." China will continue its economic reform under Li Keqiang, the leading figure in in Chinese economic policy. He is a well-known administrator who under previous Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was selected as Vice Premier to oversee economic development, price controls, finance, climate change, and macroeconomic management. Li Keqiang also facilitated shift of policy in Chinese government from export-led growth to a greater focus on internal consumption. In relationship with the U.S., The Telegraph reported that China will always become United States top trading partner, as trading value between both countries are reaching $560 billion. Therefore, China will always become big interest for U.S. and vice versa. Based on the common interest, U.S. and China certainly will work together to uphold stability in the Asia-Pacific, and that interest outweigh differences between them. In an effort to tackle China's bad loan which has reached 1.27 trillion yuan ($195 billion), Chinese government proposed a deal for Chinese banks to convert their bad debt into equity. However Bloomberg reported large banks in China resisted the plan. Speaking in Boao, Bank of China Ltd. Chairman Tian Guoli said effectiveness of debt-equity swaps is hard to evaluate. Vice President of China Citic Bank Corp. Sun Deshun also said the same concern and stated any compulsory conversion of debt into equity would have to be capped. Meanwhile Chairman of China Construction Bank Corp. Wang Hongzhang said the bank needs to think of shareholders interest, as they would not want to see bad debt is converted into bad equity Boao Forum for Asia was established in 2001 as a forum to promote regional economic integration in Asia Pacific. The forum was initiated in 1998 by the President of Philippines Fidel Ramos, Prime Minister of Australia Bob Hawke, and Prime Minister of Japan Morihiro Hosokawa. Premier Li deliver his keynote speech in the annual Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) held in Hainan Island from March 22 to 25. In his speech, he tried to calm down anxiety over China's economic slowdown. General Electric Co has announced that Western Alliance Bank would buy GE Capital assets. General Electric has decided to focus on its core industrial operations. As part of this strategy, GE is offloading GE Capital assets enabling it to confine totally to the industrial segment globally. The sale transactions may be completed by end of this year. The sale proposal on offloading assets of GE Capital by General Electric Co has been on anvil for some time. GE Capital provides real estate financing to US hotel owners. In 2015, it announced that it would offload GE Capital business, making more space for global industry. The Wall Street Journal reports that another franchise-financing business engaged in Canadian hospitality and restaurant sectors would be sold to a different buyer. However, GE Electric didn't provide the details about the transaction and sale price. The size of financial operations is pegged at $1.4 billion for US business and $300 million for Canada operations. GE has signed on sale agreement for $161 billion worth of finance assets as against its target of $200 billion. It will gradually withdraw from financing and other non-core activities totally. US Federal Reserve has approved the purchase proposal of Goldman Sachs Group Inc for a bank owned by GE Capital. Street Insider further adds that US hotel business and Canadian transactions are expected to add about $0.2 billion capital once the sale transaction is completed. It's estimated that $35 billion of dividends would be paid to GE and this is subject to regulatory approval. These two transactions may be completed by second quarter of 2016. The financial advisor on both the deals to GE is Barclays. Keith Sherin, GE Capital Chairman and CEO, said "We're pleased to sell the US hotel portion of our Franchise Finance business to Western Alliance, a fast growing bank that is committed to the business, customers and employees. Combined with the sale of our Canadian Franchise business, this represents a significant portion of Franchise Finance, our last North American business to be sold as part of our plan to significantly reduce the size of GE Capital." Hogn Lovells is providing legal advice for the US hotel transaction, while McCarthy Tetrault LLP will take the legal services on Canadian transaction. GE is focusing on its core industry segment. However, it will retail financing verticals pertaining to industrial business. GE, in April 2015, announced its intention to sell off GE Capital assets. Since then, GE signed agreements worth $161 billion and closed $138 billion of them. GE is also planning to sell $200 billion GE Capital businesses globally. GE is expected to complete the process by 2016. Robert Sarver, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Western Alliance, is optimistic on the acquisition. The deal is expected to strengthen Western Alliance to establish a new presence in risk-adjusted return and select-service hotel industry. Western Alliance will also be benefited from underwriting and credit management capabilities of GE Capital, as reported by Business Wire. Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bancorp, the parent company of Western Alliance Bank, is hoping to close the buying deal in April 2016 and will immediately add to earnings per share (EPS). Western Alliance Bancorporation manages $14 billion assets and is one of the fast growing bank holding companies in the US. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend: President Ilham Aliyev's attendance in the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit is of vital importance for Azerbaijan, Ariel Cohen, founder of International Market Analysis Ltd, director of the Center for Energy, Natural Resources, and Geopolitics, senior fellow at the Institute for Analysis of Global Security, told Trend March 30. "Over 50 heads of state will attend the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington this week, to discuss the reduction of the nuclear terrorism threat," Cohen said. Cohen said that a leading nation in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan is a strategically vital partner to the U.S. on combatting terrorism, secularism, nuclear and conventional security, energy and foreign policy. "To further a stronger partnership, the U.S. should become more active in ensuring Azerbaijan's regional security - notably with regards to the Armenia and the resolution of the Karabakh problem, as well as possible threats from religious extremists, Russia and Iran," Cohen said. The Nuclear Security Summit will be held in Washington on March 31 - April 1. Economic activity in Mexico increased 2.9% during January 2016 from the corresponding period in 2015. The rise in economic activity was due to a robust performance by three sectors in the country. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, the Global Indicator of Economic Activity (IGAE) rose by 2.9% in January 2016. The nation's primary sector increased by 4.3% while the secondary and tertiary sectors increased by 1.8% and 4.3% respectively during the first month of the year 2016. The IGAE witnessed a sequential increase of 0.60% in January, helped by a 0.50% growth in the agricultural division, 1.2% increase in the manufacturing sector and 0.20% rise in the service division, as reported by FOXNEWS Latino. The IGAE is just an initial measure of trends in an economic activity of a country and it does not comprise the entire economic sectors used for the calculation of GDP. The nation's gross domestic product increased 2.5% in 2015, up from 2.1% in 2014 and 1.4% in 2013. For the year 2016, the government expects GDP to increase in the range of 2.6% to 3.6%. While the nation's central bank is expecting GDP growth to be in the range of 2% to 3% in 2016. Meanwhile, oil exports in Mexico dropped 45.8%, on an annualised basis, in February, when the trade scarcity amounted to $724.7 million. The nation's exports during February amounted to $29.02 billion, a decrease of 2.3% from the previous year period. However, non-petroleum exports increased to $27.89 billion in February, up 1% from January 2016. Mexico's imports also rose 2.2% to $29.74 billion from the corresponding period in 2015. According to Reuters, exports of factory-made products in Mexico dropped 1.46% during February from the previous month. The factory growth in Mexico was burdened by poor factory production in the US during 2015. The country's February automobile exports dropped sequentially by 1.96%, the largest fall since August 2015. Exports of other factory goods declined 1.19% in February. On an adjusted basis, Mexico's trade scarcity amounted to $1.669 billion during the period. Meanwhile, Mexico has opened its doors once again for fresh poultry meat from Canada. In 2004, the country closed to Canadian poultry meat products like the duck, chicken and turkey meat, citing an outbreak of Avian Influenza. Canada will gain roughly $3 million per year from this restored contact to the Mexican poultry market. But, still, Mexico holds some restrictions on Avian Influenza-related products, which the Canadian government is trying to remove from its meat exports, FOOD in CANADA said. Lawrence MacAulay, minister of agriculture and agri-food of Canada, said, "We continue to work closely with industry to expand international markets for high-quality Canadian products. I look forward to our continued trade relationship in agriculture and food." The restored market access comes after the visit of Jose Calzada, Secretary of Agriculture in Mexico, to Canada in an effort to boost the relationship between the two nations with regard to agricultural trade. The growth in Mexico's economic activity was helped by robust growth in the three economic sectors of the country. The government is implementing various strategies to reform its economic growth amid the weak global market. WASHINGTON Recently, I wrote about my annual financial spring cleaning ritual and implored you to join me in purging. Amber in Indiana sent me a note that fits into a feature I started this year called "Ask Away." She wasn't sure what documents to destroy. She wrote: "I work in a factory and have never been good with financial things. How do I know what is considered important or not important? I read how you had kept making files you didn't need, and I think I may have created that problem myself. I have a file of all mine and my husband's paycheck stubs, a file on every prescription my family and I have had. I have files of rent from the day we moved in 10 years ago. I have kept all of my bank statements and my (utility) bills. Help." Like Amber, there was a time when I couldn't throw out a lot of financial documents for fear that I may need them one day. I was paranoid that a creditor would claim I didn't pay what I owed, so I held on to receipts for decades. But you can let go of a lot of documents. And doing so will free you of all that paper and, perhaps, worry. Paycheck stubs. At tax time, you'll get a W-2 form, so no need to keep the stubs after that. Your final stub will also have a year's worth of information. If you like, you can just keep those year-end stubs, especially if you're unsure you'll be able to retrieve the records should you need to prove income for, say, a home purchase. Prescriptions. Keep medical information for at least a year in case there is a dispute about payment. I don't throw out my family's medical documents that detail treatment for any major surgeries, procedures or chronic illnesses. Rent receipts. If you're paying cash for rent, certainly keep those receipts. But you probably don't need them after a year. If you're paying with a check, you'll have proof of payment from your bank statements. Bank statements. At year-end and at tax time, banks provide lots of information for the previous year. Once you get those statements, you can shred the monthly ones. And please do shred them. Utility bills. Unless you need these for business/home-office tax deductions, you can shred them at the end of the year. As for other common documents: Debt-payoff statements. If you fell behind on a debt but have settled it or later paid it in full, keep the proof forever. Creditors often sell the right to collect old debt, and your information could erroneously be included. Tax returns. Officially, if you aren't doing something shady, the IRS says you only need to keep tax returns for three years, from the date you filed your original return or two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. But to be safe, keep the returns for at least seven years. Certain mistakes or underreporting could trigger an IRS audit at the six- or seven-year window. (Of course, keep the proof for any deductions you claimed for the same period of time.) For more details on what you can shred, go to irs.gov and search for "How long should I keep records?" ATM slips. Once you've reconciled a withdrawal or deposit, you can shred the slip. Sales receipts. I have a tendency to stuff my purse with sales receipts just in case I need to return something. For minor purchases, toss the receipt after you've used the items. For a major purchase, keep the receipt until the warranty is up. You should also keep receipts for high-end purchases in case you need to make a homeowner's or rental insurance claim. (Take a photo of the item and keep it with the receipt.) Finally, if you are unsure of what to keep, scan it. If you've got a home computer and let's keep in mind, not everyone does invest in a printer with the option or a basic scanner. I've become a big-time scanner. It helps placate my paranoia. Or, put that smartphone to good use other than playing "Candy Crush Saga." There are apps that allow you to make clear and sharp images of your documents, converting them to PDFs. Look for an app that has optical character recognition, or OCR. My motto for "Ask Anyway" is: "Better to ask and know than to stay silent and uninformed. No question is too simple." So got a question? Send it to colorofmoney@washpost.com. Readers can write to Michelle Singletary c/o The Washington Post, 1150 15th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20071. Her email address is michelle.singletary@washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter (@SingletaryM) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/MichelleSingletary). Comments and questions are welcome, but due to the volume of mail, personal responses may not be possible. Please also note comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer's name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated. STOCK PHOTO Gavel. SHARE By Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star Wells Fargo Bank has agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle civil allegations the company failed to "timely and adequately" disclose the automatic recording of phone calls made to the public, officials from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday. State law requires each party participating in a confidential phone call be alerted the call is being recorded so the individual can object or end the call if they do not want to be recorded. Ventura County, along with the district attorney's offices in Los Angeles, Riverside, Alameda and San Diego counties and the state Attorney General's office filed the complaint Feb. 22 in the Los Angeles Superior Court alleging Wells Fargo violated that law. According to county District Attorney officials, Wells Fargo "worked cooperatively" to implement nationwide changes in the company's policies once alerted of the violation. Under the settlement terms, Wells Fargo must pay about $7.6 million in civil penalties and reimburse prosecutors' investigative costs totaling $384,000. Wells Fargo has also agreed to implement an internal compliance program and contribute $500,000 to two statewide organizations dedicated to advancing consumer protection and privacy rights. SHARE By READER SUBMITTED CONTENT | Kristin Steiner Camarillo, Calif., March 28, 2016 People who live with autism are not dealing with a mental illness, but a developmental disability. Vaccines do not cause autism. People with autism have a great deal to contribute to society. No two people with autism will have the same symptoms. These are just some of the truths about autism that advocates and educators are trying to share in order to break many of the misconceptions that still exist about this often misunderstood condition. CSU Channel Islands (CI) will join the Light It Up Blue awareness campaign at 6 p.m. on April 5 by illuminating the John Spoor Broome Library with blue light. The public is invited to the ceremony, which launches a series of events designed to honor a global initiative called the United Nations World Autism Awareness Day, which falls on April 2. The Great Pyramids of Giza, the Sydney Opera House and the Empire State Building are among the world landmarks that will Light it Up Blue on April 2. The United Nations General Assembly declared April 2 World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) in 2007, with the goal of bringing the world's attention to autism, a growing global health concern affecting tens of millions. WAAD activities help to increase global knowledge of autism and stress the importance of early diagnosis and early intervention. The objective is to shine a light, a blue light, on autism to create a better understanding about those living with autism; to highlight the resources available; and to celebrate all that these individuals have to offer. We want to celebrate their unique skills, said Valeri Cirino-Paez, Assistant Director of Access, Orientation & Transition Programs at CI. Its also important to highlight the capabilities of these individuals. We do have students here who are on the autism spectrum, some with 4.0 grade point averages. They have the potential to contribute greatly to anything they pursue. I think we need to create more understanding and respect for those living with autism. At least one CI student living with autism, Jonathan Bregman, will be speaking at the event, along with President Richard R. Rush and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Damien Pena, who will start the evening. The fifth annual Light It Up Blue observance is the first of a series of events designed to increase public understanding of autism, including a community resource fair to showcase support groups like the Autism Society of Ventura County, CIs Disability Resource Programs and other groups from the campus and surrounding community. The CI Disability Resource Programs will co-sponsor the Autism Society Ventura County (ASVC) 4th Annual Aut2Run! charity 5K/10K/15K/Fun-K Race. The Aut2Run will have a 10K trail run, a 5K run/walk, a 15K hero run and a short funK that will be held on the CI campus on Sunday, April 17. ASVC was founded in 1994 by local parents and educators to provide support, community events, information and resources to families and individuals on the autism spectrum. CI students and staff will volunteer during the race. The first run begins at 7:30 a.m. at the campus. Visit www.aut2run.org to register, donate, volunteer and learn more. Limited parking is available on campus with the purchase of a $6 daily permit; follow signs to the parking permit dispensers. Free parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station/Lewis Road with bus service to and from the campus. Riders should board the CI Vista Bus to the campus; the cash-only fare is $1.25 each way. Buses arrive and depart from the Camarillo Metrolink Station every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. For exact times, check the schedule at www.goventura.org. Persons who, because of a special need or condition, would like to request an accommodation should contact Disability Resource Programs at 805-437-3331 or email accommodations@csuci.edu as soon as possible, but no later than seven (7) business days prior to the event, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Congresswoman Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village, speaks with people at a Vietnam Veterans Day event at the Ventura Vet Center on Tuesday. SHARE ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Peter Boles of Oak View plays music at a Vietnam Veterans Day event in Ventura. ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Robert Reed, an Army Special Forces veteran, participates in a Vietnam Veterans Day event on Tuesday. ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Venice Honick (left), director of the Ventura Vets Center, greets Congresswoman Julia Brownley at an event honoring Vietnam veterans. ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR Vietnam veterans Eugene "Gino" Camarillo, Marine Corps (left), and Jim Berhend, Army, share a conversation during a Vietnam Veterans Day gathering. By Tom Kisken of the Ventura County Star At the front of a room filled with Vietnam veterans, a blue banner offered this message Tuesday: "A grateful nation thanks and honors you." Bill Rowley, wearing his Army 1st Calvary Division cap, remembered people glaring at him as he walked through a San Francisco airport on his way back from the Vietnam War in 1970. Nobody spat at him. But the anger was tangible. It made him feel like a target. "What I wanted to do was get out of my uniform as fast as I could," he said, explaining his reaction to the banner displayed Tuesday at the Ventura Vet Center on a day proclaimed Vietnam Veterans Day. "I appreciate it greatly. It does mean something," said the retired middle school teacher from Camarillo. "I just wished it would have happened 45 years ago." Dozens of Vietnam veterans one in a red, white and blue shirt, another in a floppy camouflage hat ate lasagna, listened to war poems and spoke of mortars at a center where many of them receive post-traumatic stress counseling. They came for a day attached to a nationwide commemoration of their service. For many organizers, a goal is to make amends for the name-calling, protests and rage that greeted the veterans when they came home decades ago. Efforts continued Wednesday, which was proclaimed Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day by state and Ventura County officials. Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long's brother, Michael A. Martin, served in Vietnam, flying helicopters for the Army through clouds of Agent Orange. He died from complications of the exposure in 2009. Long was in high school during the war and remembers her brother's anger at being shunned when he came back from the war. "We should never, ever repeat what happened with the Vietnam vets," she said. Lewis Boyd, a Texan who now lives near Port Hueneme, served with the Army in the Mekong Delta. He was in the country for six months and 20 days before being rushed out in a medical evacuation. "Either I got too close to a mortar or it got too close to me," he said. Coming home was hard. He fought with everyone, triggering short stints in jail and then a behavioral institution. It was PTSD, but no one knew it. Four decades later, he's still dealing with the disorder, but now he gets treatment for it. "I wake up swinging every night," he said. "Everyone knows you don't walk into my room when I'm sleeping." Boyd isn't sure Vietnam was that different from other wars. Venice Honick contends every war is different. Honick leads the Vet Center, which is part of a national program attached to the Department of Veterans Affairs and created in 1979 for Vietnam vets struggling with civilian life. The Ventura center now offers counseling and services for combat veterans from all conflicts. Vietnam was unique because people were forced by a draft to fight in the war and then were rejected when they returned home. "It's almost like a betrayal," she said, explaining that the effects of the rejection and the trauma of combat are lasting. "I think a lot of people don't get that PTSD is chronic," Honick said. "They make comments like, 'Get over it.' It just goes to show they don't understand." U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village, spoke at Tuesday's event. But most of the people there were veterans who receive services from the center. Forrest Frields entered Vietnam as a second lieutenant and left after two Army tours as a captain. He flew helicopters, scouting out locations for air and artillery strikes aimed at destroying North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. "There were nine times when, for all reason, I should have been killed," said Frields, who received honors that included two distinguished flying crosses, an air medal for valor and a purple heart. The eyes of the retired photographer from Camarillo teared up as he told stories of the war and its aftereffects. He paused when asked if the war has stayed with him. "Oh, my God," he said, "it is me." Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 Trend: Armenia's participation in the talks on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is an imitation and aims at deceiving the international community, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry, told Trend March 30. Hajiyev was commenting on the decision made by the House of Representatives of the US state of Hawaii. "The Hawaii State Senate rejected two anti-Azerbaijani resolutions," he said. "Despite the radical Armenian lobby in the US was trying to put this issue on the agenda of the Hawaii State Senate March 10, 2016, it failed." "The leadership of the Hawaii State Senate issued a formal statement on March 11," he said. "In this statement, it expressed support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with US policy. The leadership also said that the Hawaii State Senate will not accept these resolutions." Hajiyev said that Armenia's real purpose is the annexation of Azerbaijani territories. "The US foreign policy is determined by the federal government," he said. "The US supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders." Hajiyev said that while continuing the provocative and insignificant actions, Armenia and the Armenian lobby in the US after this failure addressed the House of Representatives of the local legislative body of the State of Hawaii. "All this proves that Armenia's participation in the negotiation process on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is an imitation and aims at deceiving the international community," he said. "Armenia's real purpose is the annexation of Azerbaijani territories." The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic plays against Richard Gasquet of France during the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Centre in Key Biscayne, Florida. (AFP/Mike Ehrmann) MIAMI: Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych moved into the quarter-final path of world number one Novak Djokovic at the ATP and WTA Miami Open on Tuesday (Mar 29) by defeating French 10th seed Richard Gasquet 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, fired 12 aces in squaring his career record against the Frenchman at 7-7. "I'm happy with the way I played," Berdych said. "It was a tough match. Richard played really well. I came through in the end and took my chances and won." Berdych has won only two of 24 meetings with Djokovic, having lost the past nine matches since a 2013 Rome quarter-final victory. Two-time defending champion Djokovic, a five-time Miami winner overall, won his 11th Grand Slam title two months ago at the Australian Open. The 28-year-old Serbian must beat Austrian 14th seed Dominic Thiem in a later match to book a last-eight date against Berdych. Djokovic, also a champion at Indian Wells and Doha this year, has won his past 12 Miami matches and 26 of his past 27. Thiem, who captured titles last month at Acapulco and Buenos Aires, and Djokovic have each won an ATP-best 24 matches this year. Only four of the top 10 men's seeds reached Miami's last 16, matching an event record low, with three of them in the same quarter of the draw. The fourth is Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori, who plays Spanish 17th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in a night match. Only two of the top 12 women's seeds made the quarter-finals, with Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep facing Swiss 19th seed Timea Bacsinszky in a later quarter-final. Berdych netted a forehand to surrender a break in the fifth game but Gasquet double faulted away a break to level the first set at 4-4 and botched a backhand in the 10th game to concede a break and the set. In the second set, Gasquet again broke for an early lead at 2-1 but this time held to the end and broke Berdych again to finish the set with a backhand crosscourt winner. Both men held serve in the third set until Berdych reached triple break point in the 11th game. The 30-year-old Czech swatted a backhand long and Gasquet fired his sixth ace but Berdych followed with a forehand winner to grab a 6-5 lead and held in the final game to advance after two hours and 27 minutes. Belgian 15th seed David Goffin reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Argentina's 112th-ranked Horacio Zeballos, a qualifying lucky loser who only made the field after Roger Federer withdrew due to illness. Goffin, the first Belgian man in Miami's last eight, will next face French 18th seed Gilles Simon, who routed 88th-ranked compatriot Lucas Pouille 6-0, 6-1 in 57 minutes. Goffin reached the semi-finals earlier this month at Indian Wells, where he lost to Canada's Milos Raonic. Deputy Tran Du Lich speaking at the on-going NA session yesterday. The most outstanding imprint left by the 13th National Assembly (NA) during its tenure was the 2013 Constitution, which upholds human rights, citizens rights and the rule of law. - VNA/VNS Photo During the discussion on a report presented last Tuesday reviewing the NAs performance in the 2011-16 period, the majority of deputies spoke highly of the legislative bodys adoption of 222 codes, laws, resolutions and ordinances besides the Constitution. However, the deputies also spoke candidly of shortcomings in the NAs performance, and proposed numerous solutions to enhance the future quality of lawmaking, supervision and Q&A sessions, and the settlement of pressing issues related to the national economy and peoples welfare. Deputies maintained that the challenges facing the next tenure would not be modest, and would require the whole NA and State apparatus to work together much more smoothly, precisely and efficiently to cope with upheavals in the future. They expressed the hope that, along with the success of the 12thNational Party Congress, the coming elections for the NA and Peoples Councils at all levels would be really democratic, with the most competent personnel chosen for the new tenure. Expressing his agreement with the contents of the NA report, deputy Nguyen Anh Son from Nam inh Province stressed the debt the 13th NA owed to voters nation-wide is the continued protection of sea and island sovereignty, and maintaining the fight against corruption. Regarding the Q&A sessions, Son said the practice was one of the highlights of the tenure. Through Q&A sessions, NA deputies could put forth voters concerns on national social-economic problems at NA platforms, calling on the Government, appropriate ministries and other sectors to seriously address these concerns, said Son. Ministers are no longer afraid of being questioned. Some even long for the Q&A sessions at NA meetings. This is a promising signal that the NA and the Government are increasingly willing to incorporate and address pressing social issues. In order to improve the NAs efficiency during the next tenure, deputy Nguyen Quoc Binh from Ha Noi, called for the body to create adequate means of coordination between the NA, Government agencies and other social-political organisations. Binh also asked the NA to consider the development of the e-National Assembly project during the next tenure. The project is key to improving exchanges and connections between NA deputies and NA committees, deputies with the NA and Government bodies, and deputies and NA bodies with voters. To that end, the NA would be completely reformed to perform its functions in a timely, scientific and efficiently manner. Approaching similar matter, deputies Tran inh Long (ak Lak), ao Tan Loc (Phu Yen), Truong Minh Hoang (Ca Mau), Nguyen Thi Kha (Tra Vinh), Truong Trong Nghia (HCM City), Tran Hoang Ngan (HCM City), Nguyen uc Kien (Soc Trang), Nguyen Van Canh (Binh inh) and Duong Trung Quoc (ong Nai) all provided thorough analyses, and proposed many ideas to fortify the work of the NA in the coming tenure. They agreed that it was necessary to strengthen the organisational and personnel apparatus, and to study solutions to improve the quality of debate at NA platforms. They also suggested mechanisms to help voters supervise the opinions expressed by each deputy on particular matters, to renew mechanisms for selecting NA candidates, and to reduce the workload of specialised NA deputies. Deputy Tran Khac Tam of Soc Trang Province said over the past tenure, the NA and NA deputies havent been able to satisfy all the expectations from voters, and have failed to create breakthroughs that would enable the country to develop as friends in the world as fast as it could. The crucial and most urgent duty of the NA in the time to come is to complete apparatus reform. A well-performing apparatus will help Viet Nam overcome limitations quicker, integrate more successfully and develop sustainably, said Tam. In his opinion, Deputy Huynh Nghia of a Nang said the NA has failed to fully exercise its power, and its anti-corruption inspections were not strong enough. He also said that some law making lacked focus, and that many laws did not meet the requirements of reality. The deputy called for sanctions in cases where law-drafting and verifying agencies created laws that were not feasible to implement. Deputy Truong Thi Hue of Thai Nguyen Province complained about the frequent adjustments to the law building programme and to delays in submitting draft law documents to NA deputies, which gives deputies little time to study the bills. Another problem is the vague stipulations of some laws, which then required more documents to guide their implementation. Given the time it takes to issue such guiding documents, legal gaps were created that allowed for laws to be circumnavigated, she said. Many deputies proposed increasing the proportion of full-time deputies in order to enhance the professionalism and quality of NA operations. Deputy Nguyen Van Tuyet from Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province said his constituents called for raising the proportion of full-time deputies to 60 per cent. About a draft working report delivered by the State Auditor General, discussions focused on the use of the auditing outcomes, State Audit Offices activities and addition of sanctions against units which fail to comply with the offices requests following audit process. As scheduled, the NA will scrutinise working reports of the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of the Supreme Peoples Court and Prosecutor General of the Viet Nam Supreme Peoples Procuracy today. The meeting will also be broadcast live nationwide. illustration photo The factory was invested by Central Petroleum Bio-ethanol Joint Stock Company (Central Petroleum Bioethanol JSC), a subsidiary of Vietnams state-run oil and gas group PetroVietnam with the total capital of $85.1 million. Starting operations in February 2012, following 33 months of construction, the factory was expected to produce 100 million litres of ethanol per year, which was then mixed with A92 gasoline to generate bio-fuel E5. After one year of non-profit operation, PetroVietnam handed the factory over to Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR). According to Pham Van Vuong, director of Central Petroleum Bio-ethanol JSC, the factory must suspend its operations due to unstable material supplies and high production expenditure. Vuong added that the oversupply forced the factory stop its operation. Notably, the total consumption of E5 fuel is 2,000 cubic metres per month, equalling 24 per cent of Bio-ethanol Dung Quats capacity, while the total capacity of an ethanol factory in the southern province of Dong Nai is 75,000 cubic metres annually. He shared that as of now, 128 of the more than 200 engineers and workers at the factory have temporarily retired from working without salary, while 38 engineers were relocated to other tasks at Dung Quat oil refinery of PetroVietnam in the province. With the exception of Bio-ethanol Dung Quat, Petro Vietnam invested $90 million into building two other bio-ethanol factories in the northern province of Phu Tho and the southern province of Binh Phuoc. However, the construction of Phu Tho ethanol factory stopped in mid-2012 due to financial problems and Binh Phuoc ethanol factory, which started operation in 2009, only had a trial run, after which it stopped due to a shortage of raw materials, despite being located near a cassava cultivation area. Four other investors poured capital into bio-ethanol factories. These include Dong Xanh Joint Stock Co.s Dai Tan ethanol factory in the central province of Quang Nam, Tung Lam Company Limiteds Tung Lam ethanol factory in the southern province of Dong Nai, Dai Viet Company's ethanol facility in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, and Quang Ngai Agricultural Products and Foodstuff JSCs Bioethanol Dak To in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. As of now, only Tung Lam has continued to operate. Lucrative opportunities in the medical market have caused a stir amongst investors Photo: Le Toan VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF) announced early last week that it had invested $9 million into Thai Hoa international hospital to acquire a controlling stake in the healthcare facility. Thai Hoa privately-run hospital, which currently has 200 beds, is capable of handling more than 300,000 patients per year. This number is expected to increase significantly through 2016 and 2017 thanks to a government programme to establish public-private partnerships between hospitals, as well as the loosening of national health insurance regulations that will take effect in the second half of 2016, said Andy Ho, managing director of VOF. Just two months ago, the local medical market witnessed another major acquisition when asset fund manager SAM acquired a 15 per cent stake in Ho Chi Minh City-based medicine distributor My Chau Investment Corp. This deal, the value of which remains undisclosed, was part of the pharmacy chains plan to expand operations and overhaul its governance. The two parties intend to develop an online pharmacy service. Recently, the equitisation of state-owned Nam Thang Long Transport hospital has increased interest among investors, especially as the Ministry of Transports (MoT) equitisation plan for the healthcare facility proposes that the state should not hold a controlling stake. With the list of potential investors growing longer, the bidding race looks set to be hotly contested. A new entrant in the bidding is Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT), which has total assets of VND1.5 trillion ($68.8 million). It has submitted a series of commitments to the MoT, including a ten year non-transfer of stake agreement, and safeguarding employment for all the hospital staff, with incomes increasing 10-13 per cent annually. Four other candidates that have thrown their hat into the ring are North South Petroleum Joint Stock Company, Lac Viet Group, Petro Invest., JSC, and Thi Son Production and Construction Company Limited. Vu Anh Minh, head of the MoTs Department for Enterprise Management, told VIR With the states holdings proposed at 30 per cent, the equitisation of Nam Thang Long Transport hospital is expected to attract foreign investors once it is approved. Nam Thang Long is the second medical transport facility to be equitised. In 2015, the local medical market heated up following the equitisation of the Central Transport hospital. A number of domestic and foreign investors, including real estate developers Vingroup and FLC, as well as Brookline Medical and a Malaysian partner joined the race. However, the strict requirements, including a large equity, thinned out the number of competitors, with T&T Group finally winning the sole strategic partnership position. A senior official at the MoT said that the selection of strategic investors for Nam Thang Long Transport hospital would not be the same as that for the Central Transport hospital. What a sight: The first doline panorama view Son Doong had become a regular topic in our familys conversation. But a trip to the worlds largest cave was a remote dream since I knew that people who had registered long time ago might only take the trip in mid-2017 at the earliest. So my heart skipped a beat a few weeks ago, when I got a phone call saying there was a vacant place in a team that was about to take off on March 1. I thought I was very lucky to get this place. On the phone, I said "yes" without any hesitation but a moment later the guy from a tour company cooled me down saying, Only if you pass the health check. I had to fill in a very detailed questionnaire sent to me by Oxalis, the only authorised tour company that could take explorers inside Son Doong. I am neither an active athlete nor a frequent exerciser, so I had to put in everything physical I had gone through in filling out the experience section in the application form. I put in even my trip to Tibet many years ago to get myself qualified for the trip. Just ten days before departure, I was accepted. Along came the confirmation letter with a pile of information on how to prepare for the trip. But busy works and New Year fests do not spare me much time except the last day and it was a bit late to get all the recommended gears. Briefing day On February 29 (a special day), I boarded the Vietnam Airlines flight and arrived at Dong Hoi Airport 90 minutes later. My nephew Nguyen Thanh Nam, who was also going on the trip with me, introduced me to other group members from Ha Noi: a married couple in their late 50s Nguyen Manh Hung, Tran Hong Phuong and a guy who resembled a heavy-weight lifter Nguyen Duc Hung. Two guys from Ho Chi Minh City arrived earlier. One was Vu An, a graduate from Ha Noi University of Technology, two years my senior, and the other, Le Hung, worked in the oil and gas industry. As we waited for the others to arrive, everyone voted for Big Brother (that was how we called the husband) to lead the tour. The briefing started at 6:30pm and we met Adam D Spillane, the chief tour guide from the company and Thai Binh, his assistant. We also met the last three team members, two girls from HCM named Le Thanh Huyen, Doan An, and Nguyen Mai Trang from Hue. We mingled a bit just to find out that the girls had travelled more than me. Coming from Sheffield in the UK, Spillane is in his 40s. He seldom spoke during the trip. Later we found out he was a structural engineer building from ships to oil rigs. He had been caving for thirty years and his love for caves had led him to Phong Nha for 18 months. "I found out life has many more things other than work" he told me "and live rich means more than surrounding you with expensive things!" Then I realised how challenging our trip was and became quite excited but nervous. We had to pass a 50-kilometre (km) forest, springs and rocky mountains on foot strictly on the pathway the guides directed. There were 80-metre (m) cliffs and an abyss to climb, and an underground river to swim across. The normal trip takes five days and four nights. Our trip was one day shorter. That means we had to cover a two-day distance on day one. We had to cross 50 streams and keep our shoes and soaked clothes on all day as there was no time to change. We would spend most of the time in the eternal darkness of the cave and have absolutely no electricity or mobile signals during the trip. The satellite phone and walkie-talkie were only for emergencies. Even worse, we would have no water for cleaning, except for brushing our teeth. We really felt as if we were leaving civilisation behind. After a short dinner, our guide handed out to each of us a helmet, a 1.5-litre bottle of drinking water and a pair of military boots. The boots were not as comfortable as ours but we all needed two pairs for wet and dry walking. We divided our belongings into three parts. The first part went in our backpack including daily medication, cameras, a water bottle and a towel. The second bag contained all clothing for other days and was to be carried by 25 porters provided by Oxalis. All other unnecessary things were to be left behind at the company HQ and collected after the trip. Everyone went to sleep early, saving energy for the inspiring days ahead. But it seemed no one had slept soundly the night before. The fact is everyone sat up anxious and ready at 6.30 sharp the next morning. After a quick breakfast, we travelled to the 35th kilometre of Road 26. The drop point was merely a tiny station with a roof. From there the hardship began. We had the first break after 4kms of walking through a forest. It was mainly going down. Everyone was excited. After crossing several springs, we arrived at Doong Village, which the cave was named after. Some porters had arrived earlier and had gathered in a communal house sharing some happy water (that is what they called local wine made from maize or cassava). Finding the gate Leaving Doong Village we continued to En (Swift) Cave. The road was less up and down as we moved on but thing got wet quickly. We had to cross a spring named Rao Ma (Mother River) 47 times as Vu An seriously announced later. I doubted this figure but quickly lost count after twenty. At around 11am, after a 7km journey, we saw the giant entrance of En Cave from afar. But it took some time to get closer and finally we entered the cave through a smaller gate. We then arrived at a wonderful beach. The "beach was sandy by a dark lake with a great view to the cave entrance. Above it was a 140m high dome. It was great to have lunch in such a luxury banquet ball room. We did not have much time to contemplate the scenery. After an hour, we were back on our feet again. All the mornings tiredness was nothing compared to the next session. We had to climb up a rocky uphill path to reach the entrance of Son Doong Cave, which was really tiring. Only when I thought of stopping, did I realise that the destination was only a few feet away. It was also the entrance of Son Doong Cave. Safety equipment and overhead lights were put on. Now we had to relay down 40m with a rope to the eternal darkness below. There was no other way easier than that! I had a feeling of fear, excitement and pride while sliding down the rope to the cave floor. But above all, I felt safe. The first doline We went on about 2km through the sharp rocks in the darkness to reach the light of the first doline. This was a giant shoe shape hole created by a corruption millions of years ago. The rumbles of the corruption created a small mountain within the doline. Light, rain and bird droppings painted a part of that mountain with plants. We went up and down the mountain to our first base camp. Our tents were erected on the high and flat surface of the cave floor. There was no water for a bath so we had to clean our bodies with a towel before putting on dry clothes. I smelt the cooked food and suddenly felt starved. The food was far from what we expected! The task on day two was to march to the caves end and back to the camp in the second doline. It was a 10km trip but we had to make two uphill climbs in the two dolines. Even though I carefully put on two socks to absorb the force, my toes started to turn purple. Starting at 9am, we first climbed up the mountain in doline one. It was tiresome but easier than the way down. It took us an hour to reach the top. This is where all the great pictures were taken. Another hour was spent for taking pictures but it did not seem enough. An, our youngest team member, took this chance to show off her yoga master level poses. The girl was so energetic that she always tried some stunning yoga positions at all the stops while we just lay down and tried to catch our breath. At our camp sites she opened a short yoga course and had some students among us and the porters as well. Our main photographer was Trang, a gentle girl from the former royal capital city of Hue. According to some Oxalis guide, she may be the first person from Hue to ever visit Son Doong Cave. She had a passion for photography and definitely got my admiration. We had to thank her for sharing thousands of pictures she took in our trip. Another hour passed by the time we reached the foot of the mountain after much exertion. The second doline On the way down, instead of hard rocks, we saw a huge green area resembling a terraced rice field. We saw huge brown stones turning green in the sunlight and many more amazing things that we had never seen before. However, when we got to the other side, we were presented with a spectacular view when the sunlight shone through the giant hole to the doline bottom. The surface was filled with quiet water pools resembling mirrors for taking ideal pictures. The path to this doline two was the toughest. Even with the headlights on we barely saw what was above or under. The rocks were so slippery that I could not avoid sliding several times even though I was very careful. And the slope, while being shorter, was much steeper, rockier and higher than that of the last day. We arrived at the next camp in the second doline at 15:00 with our shirt soaked with sweat. The camping site looked tiny from above. The plain ground was paper white and lay on the edge of the cave bottom. The sand was as smooth as plaster dusts. It stuck to everything just as powder in tempura. The route from there to the caves end was easier. We followed it along an underground river. At this time of the year there was no water and the river was filled with sand. Our team set us up to take pictures. It was so huge inside that our whole team lined up 5 to 10 metres apart from each other so it could be viewed from atop. Another river, this time full of water, appeared at the end of the route, hidden after a narrow turn. The water was crystal clear. Our boat forwarded slowly in the absolute darkness. With the headlight we saw the cave open wider as we sailed on. When the river turned to a big lake, we faced a big wall of a wet rock. It was 60 metres - high and marked the end of Son Doong Cave: We had reached the Great Wall of Viet Nam. Spillane said all the water would run out of the cave through a small hidden underground tunnel. Future trips may let visitors climb this wall but for now, we could only take some pictures and we reluctantly got back to shore. After two days of walking and climbing without cleaning, the water was so appealing. We dived right in. Our spirits were high at that time. Big Brother led us to singing all songs from all the musical periods after some drinking. We also gave Spillane some Beatles songs and he was happy to sing Hey Jude! along with us. Everyone then got back to their tents except An and me. He wandered from tent to tent chatting, playing cards with the porters waiting for others to sleep. I stayed back near the fire to dry my stuff. My tent-mate woke up before me. Now, we were going back to En Cave, the place we stopped for lunch at day one. The way out was not exactly the same as the way in. But even when we were on the old path, we could not recognise it. Things were different from the other perspectives and the light also painted the scenery with distinctive colours. After a quick snack on the spring bank, we chose to go by the waterway because my legs were already fed up with the slopes. Though we had to sail against the current, it was a good decision. Now we had more time to enjoy the great view of the forest instead of gazing at the rocks beyond our feet. We arrived at En Cave late afternoon. The trip back was easier than we thought. The night was so amusing. Everyone was happy that the difficulties had been taken care of. The men were cracking jokes over drinks and the women were playing with the cameras slow exposure. Mission accomplished, and opens new doors It was the last day so I decided to push our porters a bit. I put all my belongings in their pack and left nothing in my back pack except the helmet. We departed at 8:40am and immediately got wet when starting day four, wasting all my efforts drying my gear last night. The sun was shining early. The road back to Doong village was straight forward. Spillane was so quick on his feet that by the time I arrived in the village, he was about to move on. There was only one slope left, and Trang, An and I quickly followed him, skipping the break. I got tired very soon and had to stop at every turn. I began to feel as if the thirst was slowly squeezing out of me whatever little strength I had left. Trang was very kind to offer me a little water she brought along. Then I met Spillane waiting for us midway. "Only ten minutes more," he said and walked slowly along, giving me some moral support. I guessed it was much longer than ten minutes. Just when I thought I could go no farther, I heard Ans voice. I was sure this was the merriest sound I had heard since morning. It signalled that the drop spot was close. My knee and back pain disappeared at once. When I reached the drop zone, the watch showed 11:45am. My days with Son Doong were over. I took off everything sticky on my body and rewarded myself with a can of Huda beer. As I was cooling down, a strange feeling started to grow inside me. I was missing Son Doong but I did not think it would start so soon. My team members all told me they had a similar feeling the last night when we had dinner. I visited my cousins and boasted about my experience. "What was your lifetime adventurous activities used to be our daily routines," one of them told me. Our team made some records anyway: We were the first team full of Vietnamese, and the first tourist team to conquer Son Doong Cave in only four days and three nights. Mrs Phuong was the oldest Vietnamese woman to finish the trip until now. Trang maybe the first Hue resident to visit the cave and An was probably the first woman to finish ahead of the team. We heard during the trip that there was a plan to install a cable car across Son Doong. But as Mrs Phuong bluntly told a local official upon hearing him boast about the project, "Once you have visited the cave, you would never want it to be spoiled by anything!" This is because exploring Son Doong is much more than just a visit to see the cave. To me, it was an opportunity to make new friends and a lifetimes experience to surpass my limits. President Truong Tan Sang receives the Governor of Primorye Territory Vladimir Miklushevsky yesterday in Ha Noi. VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Khang Viet Nam and the Primorye Territory have enjoyed sound relations in recent years with increasing numbers of Vietnamese students and enterprises coming to the locality to study or seek business opportunities, President Sang stressed. He said that Primorye leaders need to provide preferential investment policies to Vietnamese ministries and localities, while ironing out challenges in obtaining visas, establishing direct flight links, and working on labour conditions. President Sang also confirmed that Vietnamese ministries and agencies will create optimal conditions to enhance collaboration between the two sides businesses. For his part, Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky underlined the advantages of his localitys external economic policies, which encourage infrastructure construction to lure foreign investment. Being a leading economy in Russias Far East, Primorye has great potential in seafood processing and the wood industry, he said, adding that commodities from the province can easily access the Vietnamese market via the port in Vladivostok. He expressed his hope that the two sides will work together in fields of mutual strength. On the same day, President Sang met with Slimane Boudi, the First President of the Supreme Court of Algeria, in Ha Noi, where he stated that co-operation between Viet Nam and Algeria has unceasingly been broadened to include the law-making and judicial domains, since their establishment of diplomatic ties in 1962. Sang noted that Vietnamese people have always remembered the huge, valuable support and assistance provided by Algeria during wartime and then throughout the countrys rebuilding efforts. Judicial reforms form part of Viet Nams socio-economic development and are the crucial task of Viet Nams relevant agencies, he said. Viet Nam is, therefore, seeking experience in the field from other countries, including Algeria, the President told his guest. Slimane Boudi told the host that the two countries court sectors have established active co-operation and signed tens of cooperative documents in 2015-2016. VTB Group will assist SCIC and its linked companies to raise capital on international markets and act as a financial advisor in debt and equity deals. - Photo zn.ua According to a press release issued by the VTB Group on March 28, the MoU was signed by Riccardo Orcel, Deputy CEO of VTB Group, and Lai Van Dao, Board Member and CEO of SCIC, in Moscow. The ceremony was attended by VTB executives, and representatives of the Vietnamese government and financial institutions. The MoU between the parties will create a framework for facilitating investment opportunities for VTB Group clients in SCIC-related companies and projects. In turn, VTB will introduce SCIC and its partner companies to attractive investment options in countries where VTB is present. As part of the agreement, VTB Group will assist SCIC and its linked companies to raise capital on international markets and act as a financial advisor in debt and equity deals. Riccardo Orcel, Deputy CEO of VTB Group said, "The MoU is evidence that Asia continues to be a high priority region for VTB Group's business, and we look forward to strengthening our relations with local market players in cooperation with SCIC, a partner with an excellent track record in the region." Moreover, the agreement will open up unique opportunities for VTB clients to invest in growing Vietnamese businesses and participate in major cross-border transactions," he said. Dao said that the signing was an important step in upholding the business relations between Russia and Viet Nam. It's expected to set out important grounds for further cooperation between SCIC and VTB as well as SCIC's linked companies and VTB's clients. VTB was present in Viet Nam with the launch of the Viet Nam Russia Joint Venture Bank (VRB) in 2006, a joint venture between VTB Bank and the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV). VRB is showing dynamic development, rapidly becoming the main bank to support import and export payment activities between the two countries, as well as providing a wide range of products and services in the consumer and business banking sectors. VTB Group is a global provider of financial services, comprised of over 20 credit institutions and financial companies operating across all key areas of the financial markets. The majority shareholder of VTB Bank is the Russian Government, which owns 60.9 per cent of voting shares. Meanwhile, SCIC is a strategic investment arm of Viet Nam's Government with the central mission of effectively managing the State's interests in companies and projects. Major league US firms are setting up shop in Vietnam to take advantage of TPP benefits Photo: Le Toan Nguyen Viet Ha, managing director of US-backed investment consultant BowerGroupAsia Inc., told VIR that US cartoon making giant Walt Disney just opened its representative office in Ho Chi Minh City this month. By setting up physical presence here, the group can directly distribute its products to partners in Vietnam, and protect its copyright in the country. Walt Disney also wishes to provide designing consultancy for partners in Vietnam to build theme parks under the Disneyland model. In addition to Walt Disney, many others are also seeking investment opportunities in Vietnam, Ha said. Last week Coca-Cola met with Hanois authorities regarding the building of a 20-hectare project in the city. The group is planning to invest another $300 million in Vietnam over the next few years. Coca-Cola has already invested $700 million here between 1994-2015, with some $300 million invested during 2013-2015. Over 50 US companies attended the Meet the USA conference held last week by Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Embassy to Vietnam. Many investors and companies are already positioned here [Vietnam], while others are looking to locate here, said Michael Trueblood, director of the United States Agency for International Developments (USAID) Economic Growth and Governance Office. According to Trueblood, Vietnam, as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), has tremendous market potential with the worlds 14th largest population and a rapidly growing economy. The country is stable and strategically located in Southeast Asia. The workforce is disciplined and hard working. Vietnam is poised to experience rapid economic growth and has been encouraging strong economic reform efforts via Resolution 19, which promotes productivity and private sector competitiveness. Tariff reductions within the TPP, especially in apparel and footwear, will likely bring the most immediate benefits, especially as Vietnam gains better access to the US market, which is huge, said John Hill, economic counsellor for the US Embassy to Vietnam. Vietnam is sending so many positive signals to the outside world, and because Vietnam is such an attractive investment destination, I see more and more US businesses looking to Vietnam as a destination for production, distribution, and new markets. Two weeks ago, US investment fund 500 Startups announced the launch of a $10 million micro fund that will invest solely in Vietnamese startups. The organisation plans to fund 100-150 companies that have some connection to Vietnam, with checks ranging from $100,000 to $250,000. In another case, Black & Veatch, which implements over 30 projects in Vietnam, announced last week that it was recruiting more employees for its expansion in Vietnam. Currently, the company is working with Japans Sumitomo Corporation to serve as technical lead on the expansion of the Duyen Hai 3 power plant in the southern province of Tra Vinh. Expected to be completed by 2018, the plant will meet 10 per cent of Vietnams annual electricity demand. Last month in Washington D.C, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with the leaders of US firms IBM, Microsoft, and Cisco expected to continue boosting their operations in Vietnam. Also in February 2016, Vietnams Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and life insurer BIDV MetLife signed a co-operation deal to promote life insurance activities in Vietnam. Vietnams Bien Dong Seafood also inked a contract with US H2Origins Seafood Inc. to lift its Vietnamese aquatic product sales revenue to over $300 million over the next three years. Vietnams Thai Group and US Hyatt also signed a $165 million deal on building a Park Hyatt Hanoi hotel slated for completion in 2018. US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius said that he would like to see the US become the number one investor in Vietnam, but stressed that US firms were seeking more improvements in the local business climate. According to Osius, US firms need confidence and security in their investments here. This means a level playing field, especially in terms of property rights and rules of competition that are clear and well enforced. These are reforms that must be led at a national level. Firms are seeking a labour force with the skills and education to compete in an integrated global economy, especially as they plan to move their operations up the value chain, Osius said. They also need a backbone of modern services and infrastructure allowing them to connect to their global trade networks. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 Trend: March 31 is marked as the Day of Genocide of the Azerbaijanis. After the Republic of Azerbaijan regained its independence, it has become possible to renew the objective picture of the past history of Azerbaijani people. The truth, which for many years was kept back, is getting disclosed and misinterpreted events are getting their real assessment. Numerous acts of genocide committed against Azerbaijani people, which for many years did not receive their deserved political and legal assessment, are one of the lesser known pages of the country's history. The Gulustan and Turkmenchay agreements signed in 1813 and 1828 provided the legal ground for the partition of the nation of Azerbaijan and division of its historical lands. The occupation of the lands continued the national tragedy of Azerbaijan people. Within a short period of time, mass settlement of Armenians began on Azerbaijan's territories. The occupation of Azerbaijani territories became an integral part of the genocide. Armenians moved to Irevan, Nakhchivan and Karabakh khanates and achieved establishing their administrative territorial unit of "Armenian region", despite their minority as compared to Azerbaijanis residing in the same area. This artificial separation provided political reasons for the removal and annihilation of Azerbaijanis in their native lands. This was followed by propaganda of the establishment of the "Great Armenia". In order to ensure the exculpation of the idea to establish this fictitious state in the territory of Azerbaijan, a wide-scale program, aimed at the falsification of the national history of Armenians, was started. The distortion of Azerbaijan's history and the whole Caucasus formed an integral part of this program. Inspired by the idea of the establishment of "Great Armenia", Armenian invaders, in 1905-1907, started to openly conduct hostile actions against the nation of Azerbaijan on a mass scale. Armenians started their atrocious acts in Baku and further spread them through the rest of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani settlements in the current territory of Armenia. Hundreds of settlements were razed to the ground and thousands of Azerbaijanis were savagely killed. The organizers of this savagery were creating an unfavourable image of Azerbaijani people, to hide the truth and prevent these happenings from correct political and legal evaluation. Armenians got use of the World War I, Russian revolutions in February and October of 1917, and managed to accomplish their ideas under the plea of the Bolshevism. The implementation of a cruel plan of cleansing the population of Azerbaijani provinces started with the Baku commune under the plea of fighting against counter-revolutionary elements in March of 1918. Armenian crimes have secured themselves an everlasting place in the memory of Azerbaijani people. Thousands of civilians were murdered for the only reason of being Azerbaijanis. Armenians destroyed dwelling houses and burnt people alive. Most of Baku was turned into ruins with national architectural sights, schools, hospitals, mosques and other monuments destroyed. The genocide of Azerbaijanis was particularly cruel in Baku, Shamakhi, Guba, Karabakh, Zangazur, Nakhchivan, Lenkaran and other regions. Many civilians in those areas were killed, the villages were burned to ashes and national monuments were razed to the ground. After the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), the closest attention was paid to the March 1918 events. The Council of Ministers issued a decree on July 15, 1918, to establish an extraordinary committee for the investigation of those tragic events. The committee investigated the first stage of the March 1918 genocide; the brutal acts in Shamakhi and the cruel crimes in Irevan province. A special department was established under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to notify the community about the truth. The ADR declared March 31 a mourning day twice - in 1919 and 1920. It was the first attempt in the history to give a political assessment to genocide against the people of Azerbaijan and to the occupation of the country's lands, which went on for over a century. But the fall of the ADR did not allow this process to end. In 1920, Armenians got use of the coming of the Soviet power into the South Caucasus, and declared the annexation of Zangazur and other regions of Azerbaijan to the Armenian Soviet Republic. Armenians later started to utilize newer means to strengthen their policy, aimed at the deportation of Azerbaijani people from these territories. For this purpose, Armenians used the December 23, 1947 decree of the Soviet Council of Ministers "On removal of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian Soviet Republic to the Kura-Araz lowlands of the Azerbaijan Soviet Republic". During 1948-1953, they finally achieved the purpose of mass deportation of Azerbaijani people from their historical lands, at the state level. In early 1950s, Armenian nationalists with the help of their defenders began to conduct a cruel aggressive campaign against the nation of Azerbaijan. In regular published books, magazines and newspapers in former Soviet Union, the attempts were made to prove that Azerbaijani national culture, classic heritage and architectural monuments belong to Armenians. At the same time, Armenians strengthened their efforts to create a negative image about Azerbaijani people worldwide. In order to create the image of "a long-suffering oppressed Armenian nation", the Armenians deliberately distorted the events which took part in this region in the beginning of the 20th century. They called themselves the victims of the genocide, which they in reality conducted against Azerbaijani people. Persecution of Azerbaijanis in Irevan, where the main population consisted of Azerbaijanis and from the other parts of Armenian SSR, led to their mass proscription. Armenians roughly violated the rights of Azerbaijani people, created the obstacles to get the education in native language and exerted a strong pressure upon them. The historical names of Azerbaijani villages were changed within a previously unforeseen process in the history of toponymy, when ancient names were replaced with the modern ones. The trumped-up Armenian history was raised at the state political level in order to bring up younger generations of Armenians in the spirit of chauvinism. Brought up in the manner of Azerbaijani literature and culture, which served to great humanism ideals, the young generation of Azerbaijanis was persecuted by the followers of Armenia's extremist ideology. The claims against the Azerbaijani national spirit, honour and dignity, created an ideological platform for the political and military aggression. Azerbaijani genocide, which was not given a correct political and legal evaluation, led to distortion of historical facts in the Soviet media and misleading of the communities by Armenians. The leadership of Azerbaijan did not pay the sufficient attention to anti-Azerbaijani propaganda, which raised and intensified among the Soviet regime in mid-80s. The deportation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands at the first stage of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 1988, also did not receive a correct political assessment in Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh was taken from Azerbaijan's control and annexed to the Armenian SSR at the basis of an unconstitutional decree of Armenian Republic and under assistance of the Moscow-led Special Administration Committee. This fact caused a serious dissatisfaction in Azerbaijan and forced it to begin important political activities. Even though the aggressive policy aimed at the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, was strongly criticized at numerous rallies held in Azerbaijan, the political leadership still did not give up its passive and contemplative position. In January, 1990 the Soviet troops were brought to Baku in order to prevent further development of the national liberation movement. Hundreds of Azerbaijani people were killed and injured, as the result. In February, 1992 Armenians accomplished unforeseen brutalities in Azerbaijan's small town of Khojaly. The Khojaly genocide saw thousands of Azerbaijanis murdered and taken as war prisoners. Khojaly itself was razed to the ground. The adventurous policy of Armenian nationalists and separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, forced over one million of Azerbaijani nationals from their homelands. Today, they live in tent camps. Roughly 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories were occupied by Armenian armed forces, and thousands of Azerbaijani citizens got injured and became martyrs. The tragedies, which took place in Azerbaijan in the 19th-20th centuries and resulted in occupation of Azerbaijani lands, formed the consecutive stages of Armenia's purposeful policy against the Azerbaijani people. Efforts were made to give a political assessment to only one of those events - the March 1918 massacre. The successor of the ADR - the Republic of Azerbaijan - considers it a historical duty to ensure a logical continuation to unfulfilled political decrees and political evaluation to the genocide. Under this collaboration agreement, both VAA and Dviation Solutions will have a joint cooperation in providing training and education services for the purpose of improving the employability and marketability of graduates in the region. This will be done by providing specialised European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved technical training programmes. This will ensure the creation of a pool of talented and skilled aviation personnel, catering to the needs of the maintenance and repair organisations (MROs) and technical service requirements of the industry in Vietnam. The aviation industry makes an important contribution to the Vietnam economy but as it continues to grow, this will also have an added impact on airports, air traffic control, infrastructure and the highly specialised aviation labour force. This collaboration will create more opportunities for the students to be able to access the regional labour market, said Nguyen Thi Hai Hang, president of VAA. With this collaboration agreement, both parties will share the facilities, classrooms and office facilities as well as develop a joint training programme of future junior instructors to meet the standards of EASA. Besides, they also agreed to develop and execute the Technical English Language Competency Training programme, training materials, course notes and exam questions, and other standards and procedures to meet EASA regulations. VAA and Dviation Solutions will also work together towards improving the standards of current workshops, training aids and aircraft system simulators, as well as sharing training experiences. This collaboration agreement will also develop the brand recognition and promote the services of both VAA and Dviation Solutions to the aviation community of Vietnam. "Dviation Group provides specialised maintenance and management solutions to airlines, operators, as well as MROs, Wong Siew Kit, chairman of Dviaton Group affirmed. "This cooperation with VAA in aviation technical training and education, through our subsidiary company, Dviation Solutions, is a favorable starting point to strengthen bilateral relationship between two parties based on a sustainable and long-term development. We are committed to work together in developing further the quality of graduates in the aviation industry, not only for Vietnam but also for the needs of the regional market. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) report, Vietnam is a dynamic and rapidly growing aviation market. Vietnam boasts the third-fastest growing international aviation passenger numbers in the world, expected to touch 63 million by 2020. The successful development of aviation will pay big dividends to the Vietnam economy. Aviation contributes $6 billion annually to Vietnams GDP and supports over 230,000 jobs. IATA has also identified three broad strategic areas that Vietnam needs to focus on: infrastructure, passenger experience and cargo. The growth of Vietnam aviation is attracting airline investments in commercial aircrafts and also drives a major need for training, systems, experience, products and services that can keep pace with rapid growth. Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade speaks at a news conference with Jarod J. Koopman, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation in Detroit, on Tuesday. This photo released on Sunday by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows destroyed statues at the damaged Palmyra Museum, in Palmyra city, central Syria. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with the United States Secretary of State John Kerry. Prior to the meeting they made remarks for the press. Welcoming the attendees, John Kerry said he was happy to meet Azerbaijan's president. "We have a lot of mutual interests that we are currently working on. We're very grateful to Azerbaijan's contributions to peacekeeping, their efforts in Afghanistan. Obviously, Azerbaijan is located in a complex region right now and I think President Aliyev has been very studious and thoughtful about how to respond to some of those needs, particularly with his leadership on the Southern Gas Corridor. This is a very important step with respect to Europe's long-term strategic interests, and frankly, to try to diversify the sourcing of energy, which is important," Kerry said. He further noted that Azerbaijan and the US share other interests in counterterrorism. "We want to see an ultimate resolution of the frozen conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh that needs to be a negotiated settlement and something that has to be worked on over time," Kerry said. But right now, I want to thank the President for his presence here for the Nuclear Security Summit and for the many courtesies that he has shown recently as he moves to adjust the economic opportunity for Azerbaijan as well as the security relationship with the region." President Ilham Aliyev in turn thanked John Kerry and US President Barack Obama for invitation to the nuclear summit. "We consider it as a sign of friendship and partnership," Ilham Aliyev said. "We highly value our bilateral relations. U.S.-Azerbaijan relations have already a long history of 25 years, and these relations always were very close, cordial, and now they are relations of strategic importance." The president further said that Azerbaijan and the Us have very active political dialogue. "As Mr. Secretary already said, we met many times before but first time here in Washington. We have economic cooperation, which is developing. U.S. companies invested more than $10 billion in our economy, which is also a good sign of economic cooperation and good sign of economic development of our country. We jointly implemented such important projects as construction of oil pipelines connecting Caspian and Mediterranean Seas for the first time with the strong support of the United States," he said. "And now, as Mr. Secretary mentioned, we are working jointly on Southern Gas Corridor, and the project of energy security, energy diversification, and the long-term benefit to all the participants - producers, transit countries, consumers," said the president. Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan is very grateful to the government of the US for its strong support in implementation of this project. "Frankly speaking, without that support, it may have taken much more time and effort to implement the project. We are on track, we'll be on time, and in two, three years, the Southern Gas Corridor will be in operation," he said. "We are grateful to the U.S. Government for their efforts in finding ways to resolve long-lasting conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We think that the conflict must be resolved based on United Nations Security Council resolution, which demand immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from our territories. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, all the conflicts in post-Soviet area and in the world, must be resolved based on territorial integrity of the countries," said Ilham Aliyev. He further noted that Azerbaijan is close partners with the US on issues related to regional security. "Azerbaijan provides its support, logistical support, in operations in Afghanistan, overflights, land transportation. Also we have almost 100 servicemen serving shoulder to shoulder with NATO servicemen in Afghanistan," he said. "So the agenda of our relations is very broad. Today, of course, we'll cover these issues as well as regional problems, and I'm sure the meeting will play an important role in further development of our friendly ties." Secretary of State John Kerry said the US was interested in developing strong and long-term cooperation with Azerbaijan. He said economic reforms, economic diversification were followed in the USA with interest. President Ilham Aliyev spoke of work done in Azerbaijan`s economic sector and highlighted key economic priorities and reforms in agriculture, information and communication technologies, taxes and customs, and infrastructure. The head of state said Azerbaijan maintained close cooperation with international organizations in legislative processes of economic development. Azerbaijan`s role in ensuring Europe`s energy security was underlined and the US support for Azerbaijan on this front was hailed at the meeting. The importance of the Southern Gas Corridor project was also stressed. President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan preserved main economic parameters despite the falling oil prices, adding that the country`s economy was in good condition. The head of state said vital measures were taken to strengthen the budget system in Azerbaijan amid the oil price fall. They said there was mutual interest in US companies` more active presence and investment in Azerbaijan. Some seventy of youth group, who claimed to be independent university students, took series of protests in Phnom Penh's streets against opposition leader, Kem Sokha over phone recordings scandal on Tuesday. Early March, purposed audio records of Kem Sokhas and a young woman were posted on Facebook. A self-claim university students group, which led by Srey Chamroeun, said the leaked of conversations effected Cambodian culture and morality. They staged different protested across Phnom Penh since early March. Dressing up with CNRP t-shirts and flags, the youth group again paraded and delivered petitions to the National Assembly, CNRP's headquarter, and Sokha's house on March 29. Unlike other protest and march, the group were strongly facilitated secured by Phnom Penh authorities. Show more Show less In his poem "The Waste Land," T.S. Eliot noted that "April is the cruelest month." That admonition could also apply to the U.S. presidential race and the coming primaries next month that begin with the April 5 showdown in Wisconsin. Wisconsin looms as a major test in the Republican race, where front-runner Donald Trump looks to put more distance between himself and challengers Ted Cruz and John Kasich. A new distraction for Trump The Trump campaign suffered a potential setback Tuesday when police in Florida charged campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with simple battery in connection with an incident involving a reporter during a campaign event March 8. Lewandowski was ordered to appear before a judge May 4 in connection with the charge. Police released a new surveillance video that appears to show Lewandowski grabbing the arm of reporter Michelle Fields, who then worked for Breitbart News. A Trump campaign statement said Lewandowski is "absolutely innocent" of the charge. The police action against Lewandowski is the latest distraction for the Trump campaign, which in recent weeks has had to deal with protesters at some of its rallies and some Trump supporters who physically lashed out at protesters trying to disrupt the events. Cruz looks to break through In the battle for Wisconsin, Cruz received a boost Tuesday with the endorsement of the state's governor, Scott Walker. Walker was one of the early victims of the Trump surge in the Republican primary race and his popularity has ebbed quite a bit from what it was a few years ago. Walker's support, however, could help Cruz in the Badger State in what recent polls suggest is a close race between the Texas senator and Trump. After Wisconsin, the April calendar features the New York primary on the 19th and five northeastern primaries on April 26: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Recent polls suggest Trump should do well in most of these states, although he could split delegates with Cruz and Kasich. Kasich hopes his Pennsylvania roots will boost his delegate count he grew up in McKees Rocks, an industrial town not far from Pittsburgh. Cruz supporters and many of those who want to block Trump are growing increasingly impatient with Kasich and his decision to stay in the race even though he has won only one primary his home state of Ohio. Anti-Trump forces look to convention The anti-Trump strategy remains focused on denying the New York billionaire the number of delegates he needs to claim the Republican nomination in advance of the national nominating convention in Cleveland in July. The latest Associated Press tally has Trump with 739 delegates, followed by Cruz with 465 and Kasich with 143. It takes 1,237 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination, and it's still unclear whether Trump will be able to reach that number before the convention. If not, Republicans may be looking at their first contested convention in 40 years, and uncertainty about the outcome will grow with each additional ballot. Most Republican delegates are committed to one of the candidates based on primary or caucus results in their state on the first ballot. After that, however, increasing numbers of delegates would be free to support whomever they please. Trump has warned that any attempt to take the nomination away from him at the convention would lead to chaos. So far, that has not stopped establishment Republicans from taking a hard look at how Trump might be stopped at the convention and who the party might turn to instead. Sanders looks to build on recent victories In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders is trying to build momentum off his recent victories in caucus votes in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state. Sanders defeated front-runner Hillary Clinton by huge margins in those states, continuing a pattern of doing well in smaller caucus contests dominated by white progressive Democrats and younger voters. Clinton has done better in larger, more diverse states such as Florida, Illinois and Ohio. Sanders hopes for a strong showing Tuesday in Wisconsin that would cause Democratic delegates to question Clinton's ability to secure the Democratic nomination. Clinton wants to pivot her focus to the Republicans, but Sanders has proven to be persistent and resourceful raising about $4 million since his most recent victories in western states. The latest AP delegate tally has Clinton at 1,234 and Sanders trailing with 956. Clinton's lead grows considerably when her support among the so-called Democratic "super-delegates" is added. That puts Clinton at 1,703, roughly 70 percent of the 2,383 needed to secure the Democratic nomination. Her lead among super-delegates also means that Sanders would have to win about 67 percent of the remaining delegates at stake to win the nomination, a difficult task under Democratic Party rules that allocate delegates from primaries and caucuses on a proportional basis. Sanders has asked for another debate with Clinton and says his campaign is actively trying to win over super-delegates who are already committed to Clinton. Her supporters hope to have a firmer grip on the Democratic nomination by the end of April after primaries in New York and Pennsylvania, where the former secretary of state is favored. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose government has been bolstered by a series of recent military gains, is striking an optimistic tone about the prospects of peace talks aimed at ending his country's five-year-long civil war. Speaking with Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency Wednesday, the embattled Syrian president said the international talks in Geneva should result in a government that includes both opposition representatives and officials loyal to his regime. It would be "logical that independent forces, opposition forces, and forces loyal to the state would be represented" in a a new government, Assad said. "This is the aim of Geneva intra-Syrian dialogue during which we agree the format of the government," he said. The interview, which is being published in segments, has not provided details on which opposition groups to which Assad was referring. Assad also did not mention his own future, which has been the subject of intense disagreement. Difficult issues remain Assad acknowledged there were several "technical" issues yet to be agreed upon, including the role each faction would play in the new government. "However, these are not difficult issues... they can all be resolved," he insisted. The U.N. has been conducting Syrian peace talks in Geneva in hopes of ending the Syrian civil war that has left 300,000 or more people dead, created millions of refugees, and obliterated the country's economy. The talks are now paused. But diplomats hope a transitional government and draft constitution can be agreed upon by August. Assad on Wednesday said a preliminary constitution could be drawn up "within a few weeks." Over the last several weeks, violence has been sharply reduced during an internationally brokered "cessation of hostilities." Russia, which has backed Assad's government, also recently pulled most of its troops out of Syria. Recapture of Palmyra Syrian government forces have taken advantage of the lull in fighting to make important military advances against groups not covered in the cessation. Damascus' most significant advance was last week's recapture of the ancient and strategic city of Palmyra from Islamic State forces, a victory that came with the help of Russian airstrikes. Syrian officials have said they will now use Palmyra as a base to continue their offensive against Islamic extremists in other areas. Assad on Wednesday said even when the country stabilizes, Syria will continue to rely on Russian military assistance, not only to "fight against terrorism" but also to ensure geopolitical stability. "[Russian] military bases are necessary for us, for you, for international balance in the world. Thats the truth, whether we agree with it or not, but right now its a necessity," he added. The war has cost the country more than $200 billion, Assad told RIA. "Economic issues can be settled immediately, when the situation stabilizes in Syria, but rehabilitating the infrastructure will take a long time," he said. WATCH: Palmyra Restoration Begins in Syria A court in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Khaleda Zia Wednesday over the 2015 fire-bombing of a bus that killed two people and injured many others. Zia and 27 other leaders from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party are accused of instigating the bombing during an event last year that saw protesters across the country blockade roads and strike in an effort to topple the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The court passed the order after accepting the charges against them," said public prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar. Talukdar also said Zia is the main suspect accused in the case. Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a spokesperson for the opposition party, though, called the charges laughable. He said the charges were completely politically motivated and part of a deep conspiracy against [Zia]. Zia and Hasina are long-time political rivals, and have alternated as the countrys prime minister for the past 20 years. Both are also related to former national leaders. The protests last year led to a wave of violence that left more than 120 people dead and another 15,000 opposition supporters were arrested. Protesters launched firebomb attacks on buses and trucks and police responded in turn by shooting at them with live ammunition. This isnt the first time Hasinas government has issued an arrest warrant for Zia. Another was issued last year, but police never acted to execute the warrant. It is unclear at this point whether police will execute the new warrant either. After hearing the news of the newest arrest warrant, opposition party supporters numbering nearly 200 poured into the streets in front of their party headquarters to protest the decision. Police responded to the outburst, but they moved back to the party office before police reached the spot, assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Saifur Rahman told AFP. Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, another opposition party official, was arrested Wednesday on separate charges related to the 2015 firebombing incidents. He was quickly granted bail due to health concerns. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff lashed out Wednesday at critics trying to impeach her, saying they were trying to carry out a "coup." Rousseff said in Brasilia she would continue to advance social programs in the face of an ongoing recession, rebuffing opposition lawmakers who contend that she illegally borrowed money to boost public spending to mask the severity of the country's economic downturn from voters during her 2014 re-election campaign. Rousseff has a tenuous hold on power, made more difficult Tuesday when her main coalition partner, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, the country's largest political group, left her government. The split with Rousseff's leftist Workers' Party greatly reduced her chances of mustering the one-third of the votes she needs in Brazil's lower house of Congress to defeat a first impeachment vote, which could be held by mid-April. With the political crisis at home, Rousseff canceled a planned trip to Washington for a nuclear safety summit on Thursday and Friday. Rousseff's critics have taken to the streets to protest the country's worst recession in decades and a corruption scandal at the state-owned Petrobras oil company that has reached Rousseff's inner circle of associates. One opposition leader, Senator Romero Juca of the Democratic Movement Party, said, "We're going to try to change the country. The economic and social crisis is very serious." Brazil was not long ago heralded as an emerging world economic power, alongside China, Russia and India. But Brazil's economy contracted 3.8 percent last year and is on track for its worst two-year economic skid in more than a century. At the same time, South America's largest country is fighting the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August. A aide to China's former security chief was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison for taking bribes. Ji Wenlin, who formerly served as the deputy governor of the southern island province of Hainan, was found guilty of receiving more than $3 million in bribes, according to the official Xinhua news agency. During that time Ji worked with former security chief Zhou Yongkang in the central government. Zhou, who was a former member of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, is one of the highest ranking officials charged in China's sweeping crackdown on corruption which was instituted by President Xi Jinping. Zhou was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of bribery, abuse of power and leaking state secrets. China has warned Taiwan that a new law under review in the islands legislature could hurt the ability of the two sides to conduct negotiations and further ties. The new draft law would allow more government oversight of agreements with Beijing. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which gained a majority of seats in the legislature following election victories in January, is proposing that the law be considered before a long-stalled and controversial trade pact with China is passed. China has ignored concerns on the island and repeatedly called for the quick passage of the 2013 Cross-Strait Trade and Services Agreement, which is supposed to open up investments on both sides, including industries such as banking, health care and tourism. In 2014, when the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) tried to force the bill through the legislature, Taiwan saw its largest outpouring of anti-China sentiment in years. Hundreds of students occupied the legislature in a protest that became known as the Sunflower Movement. Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets and protested outside the presidential office. DPP's election sweep Beijing latest warning follows the DPP's election sweep, in which some members of the Sunflower Movement were elected to the legislature. Some analysts say the movement's groundswell of youth activism played a key role in Tsai Ing-wens triumph over the KMT, which will see her take office as the island's first female president on May 20. Still, the dramatic and historic shift appears to be a difficult one for authoritarian China to digest. And on Wednesday, the head of a top government body on affairs with Taiwan voiced Beijings concerns. Anything that damages the basis for consultations and negotiations between the two sides of the strait, interferes in or impedes relevant progress or puts up man-made blocks on the development of ties, we will resolutely oppose," said An Fengshan, spokesman for Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office. China regards self-ruled Taiwan to be part of its own territory. The two sides split amid a civil war in 1949 and while both were remarkably similar in their authoritarian control for decades, Taiwan eventually began moving toward democracy, holding its first presidential elections in 1996. An also expressed worry that the bill might usurp power from semi-official bodies that the two sides have set up to navigate political differences. But Alexander Huang, assistant professor at Taiwans Tamkang University, disagrees. Instead of creating more tension, he says, the bill could actually help ease suspicions. As a full-fledged democracy, he said, it is very natural for our parliament to ask for the rights and exercise their power to supervise Taiwan government deals with any external entities. Huang also said that while there are concerns that the bill could refer to the two sides as separate countries a position that Beijing rejects the DPP has modified its original version of the law, referring to relations as those "across the Taiwan Strait," in what he called a clear signal of goodwill to China. With the legislatures supervision, that will strengthen the agreements that are signed between China and Taiwan, he said. Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and President-elect Tsai Ing-wen met for 70 minutes on Wednesday to discuss the impending government handover. According to a Ma administration official, the two did not exchange views on mainland-Taiwan relations, but agreed that it was "very important to promote diplomacy." Colombia has agreed to hold formal peace talks with the country's second-largest rebel group, moving closer to ending a five-decade-long civil war. Negotiations between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, will take place in Ecuador, according to a joint statement issued Wednesday. The two sides had already been holding exploratory peace talks. But Wednesday's announcement formalized those discussions and brought the leftist ELN into a wider peace process. For three years, Colombia and another rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have been holding peace talks in Havana, Cuba. Colombia and the Marxist FARC group had intended to reach a peace agreement by March 23 but missed that deadline. The FARC has observed a cease-fire since last year, but the ELN has continued attacks. Leftist rebels have been fighting a guerrilla war to try to topple Colombian governments since 1964, killing more than 220,000 people. They have used drug trafficking and kidnappings for ransom to fund their war. Colombia's rebel movement has been weakened in recent years, and right-wing paramilitary forces formed to counter leftist fighters have been disbanded. A court in Cyprus ordered a man suspected of hijacking an EgyptAir flight and diverting it to the island nation remanded in custody for eight days pending an investigation. He is held on suspicion of hijacking, abduction, threatening violence, terrorism-related offenses and two counts related to possession of explosives. Egypt has asked Cyprus to extradite the man, identified as Seif Eddin Mustafa, 59 and described him as mentally unstable. Following a tense, six hour standoff Tuesday Mustafa was arrested and admitted to Cypriot police that he acted because he had not seen his wife and children in 24 years. All 72 passengers and crew members onboard were released unharmed. Egyptian and Cyprus officials have said the incident was not terror related. Egyptian officials at first reported that the hijacker had threatened to blow up a suicide belt on the plane, which was headed from Alexandria to Cairo. Authorities later said the explosive belt was fake. Most of the 55 passengers on the EgyptAir flight were quickly released after it landed in Larnaca but it took hours of negotiations, including a conversation with his ex-wife, before Mustafa surrendered. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with the United States Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. They discussed ongoing economic processes in Azerbaijan, measures taken in the country to prevent and eliminate unemployment, the role of customs and tax reforms in developing the national economy, as well as prospects for cooperation in the field of agriculture, and ways of expanding trade relations. The importance of the Southern Gas Corridor project was hailed at the meeting. They also discussed the expansion of Azerbaijan-US energy cooperation, and the activity of American companies in Azerbaijan. The European Union has criticized Turkey for summoning the German ambassador over a song mocking President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as incompatible with EU democratic values. Asked about the incident during Wednesdays press briefing, spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said that the move does not seem to be in line with upholding the freedom of the press and freedom expression, which are values the EU cherishes a lot." Andreeva added that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker "believes this moves Turkey further from the EU rather than closer to us." Turkey, an aspiring candidate for EU membership, called in Berlins envoy last week to protest the broadcasting of a short clip Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan which ridiculed the Turkish president for his alleged extravagant spending and crackdown on civil liberties. Rights groups and the West have repeatedly criticized Ankara for its track record on human rights, but the 28-nation bloc reached a deal with Ankara on March 18 to curb the unprecedented influx of migrants into Europe. Erdogan has repeatedly rejected any criticism of Turkey's rights record. Andreeva recalled what Juncker said in a recent interview with the Handelsblatt German newspaper that part of our cooperation with Turkey is precisely to talk openly about these issues and address these issues because we do want that Turkey moves closer to EU standards in this area." France will stop military operations in the Central African Republic later this year after France's defense minister said its objectives have been achieved. The mission, dubbed Operation Sangaris, began in 2013 as the country was being consumed by ethnic violence between Christians and Muslims and people were dying by the thousands. "The country was in the throes of civil war, torn by religious tensions, plagued by chaos, on the brink of pre-genocidal scenarios. In the space of two years, the Sangaris force restored calm and prevented the unacceptable, Jean-Yves Le Drian said before a group of French soldiers stationed at the MPoko airport. "Of course everything is not resolved but we can finally see the country emerging from a long period of trouble and uncertainty. Le Drian did not specify exactly when this year France would completely pull out of the country, but it has dramatically reduced the number of troops stationed in the C.A.R. since the operation reached its peak. France had around 2,500 troops deployed in the country, but that number is now around 900. UN-EU coalition force The pullout of French troops will coincide with the build-up of a coalition force of 12,000 troops from the United Nations and European Union. About 300 French troops will stay in the country and be part of the coalition force. The conflict in the C.A.R. began in March 2013 when a group of predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew the government of President Francois Bozize, a Christian, and installed their own leader, Michel Djotodia. Djotodia stayed in power for around 10 months before international pressure brought in a new transitional government in 2014. A new president, Faustin-Archange Touadera, was elected in a run-off vote on February 14, and was to be sworn in Wednesday. Democratic senators continue to press their Republican counterparts to hold confirmation hearings and vote on President Barack Obamas nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, to fill the seat left vacant by the death of arch-conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Its the presidents duty, obligation and job [to nominate]," said Senator Al Franken after meeting Wednesday with Garland at his Capitol Hill offices. "Our job is to advise and give our consent, or not give our consent. And we should be doing that. We should be doing our job. Garland, the chief judge of the federal appellate court in the nations capital, also met with Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand. "He is someone who is highly qualified. And I think it is the obligation of the Senate to not only have a hearing, but to vote on his nomination, Gillibrand said. Breaking rank The meetings came one day after Senator Mark Kirk became the first Republican to meet with Garland. Kirk bucked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans by calling for full consideration of the nomination. Most Republicans are unswayed. "Democrats have no credibility in lecturing Republicans on how to conduct the current confirmation process, wrote Republican Senator Orrin Hatch this week in an opinion piece for The New York Times. Liberal pressure tactics belie any commitment to keeping politics out of the confirmation process. "Considering a nominee in the midst of a toxic presidential election would be irresponsible. Doing so would only further inject a circus atmosphere into an already politicized confirmation process, Hatch added. Kirk and 15 other Republicans have indicated a willingness to at least meet with Garland. Far fewer, however, have endorsed confirmation hearings or a vote. "These [Republican] gestures of being open to meeting Garland seem largely to be just that - gestures, said political analyst Sarah Binder of the Brookings Institution. "Although we may see a few more cracks, my sense is that the rest of the Senate Republican conference is standing firm. "This resolute opposition to Garland reflects both majority leader Mitch McConnell's short term calculus about retaining his position as GOP leader and about bucking up the far right to turn out for endangered GOP senators in blue states, Binder said. Contentious standoff Even so, Democrats, who are in the minority and must rely on Republicans to advance a nominee, are continuing the fight, arguing against protracted delay in filling a Supreme Court vacancy. We shouldnt go down that road, said Franken. Its a bad precedent, and its bad for the Supreme Court. And its bad for the United States. I think the American people are basically saying, Give this guy a hearing, Franken noted. Washington insiders say the standoff is unlikely to end anytime soon. Most people dont know a lot about the Supreme Court, said Republican strategist Ford OConnell. But the base of both parties do know how valuable this [fight] is and how important this is." Watch and learn more about the Supreme Court nominations and significance of these life appointments: Blaming his political opponents, French President Francois Hollande abandoned plans Wednesday to push through deeply controversial constitutional changes that included stripping French citizenship from convicted terrorists and enshrining the state of emergency into the nations charter. Part of the opposition has been hostile to all constitutional revisions, Hollande said as he made his announcement, adding, I deplore this attitude. The move underscores the deep rifts over how to deal with terrorism four months after the attacks in Paris, and just a week after the Brussels bombings. The two appear to be closely linked. Both France and Belgium are grappling with how to respond to the terrorist threat, but Hollandes push for constitutional changes and Frances current state of emergency now in its fifth month have been particularly divisive. While the constitutional amendments passed the socialist-controlled National Assembly, or lower house, earlier this year, the conservative-controlled Senate offered up a different version of the legislation, making its passage difficult, if not impossible. Casting blame A year before general elections, politicians on both sides of the aisle lost no time pointing fingers. We are at the heart of Mr. Hollandes system, said former president Nicolas Sarkozy who heads the center-right Republicans party. While promising everything and its contrary, piling lies upon lies, the reality is he is condemning the country to blockage and immobility. But Socialist Party head Jean-Christophe Combadelis laid the blame squarely on the conservatives for failing to put aside partisan differences and enter into a national union to fight terrorism. Either way, analysts assess the fallout as a fresh setback for deeply unpopular Hollande, who is struggling to revive the economy and grow jobs before he faces reelection. For Francois Hollande, this renouncement is a heavy political defeat, especially since he did everything to try to reunite Congress, wrote the French newspaper La Croix. Hollande is additionally weakened within his own leftist ranks, where the legislation has likewise been divisive. His justice minister, Christiane Taubira, resigned in January over the nationality-stripping clause. Unfair to Muslims Rights groups also sounded the alarm over the measures. We are relieved the government finally realized the need for political and citizen debate over these fundamental rights such as stripping citizenship and the state of emergency, said free speech advocacy officer Dominique Curis of Amnesty International France, reacting to the repeal of the measures. Stripping citizenship is probably not the answer to terrorism, she added. There are more risks than benefits. Even without being enshrined in the constitution, Frances current state of emergency announced following Novembers attacks that killed 130 people is still extremely controversial. Thousands of soldiers have been deployed across the country to guard sensitive sites, and police have been granted sweeping powers to search premises and place suspects under house arrest without court warrants. While many ordinary French supported the extrajudicial measures after November's attacks, rights groups and activists denounce them as unfair and biased against Frances five-million strong Muslim community. Its arbitrarily targeted a whole population, who have been prevented to work, whose apartments and lives have been overturned because of suspicions based on almost nothing, said Alexandre Piettre, a sociologist at the Societies, Religions and Secularity Group, a Paris-based think-tank. Strikingly, the Belgian government has not instituted a state of emergency following last weeks terror attacks, even though the attacks were eerily similar to those in Paris, with shared suspects. Former French anti-terrorist judge Marc Trevidic strongly urged Belgium not to follow Frances example, saying the emergency measures had led to mistakes and were only marginally effective. It makes no sense, he told Belgiums Le Soir newspaper. Its stupid. But nobody wants to say so. Over 5,000 jihadists from the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are fighting in the ranks of the so-called Islamic State militant group in the Middle East. These Russian-speaking Muslims not only play a major role within the IS leadership, but also have built a community of their own in the areas controlled by the extremist group. In fact, they are now raising their children to be a second generation of jihadists, sources say. Russian-speaking Jihadists are the second largest group of foreigners fighting for IS. The number of jihadists from Central Asia and Russia joining IS has increased by as much as 300 percent since June 2014, according to a report by the New York City-based Soufan Group. While their rituals, customs, race, and ethnic background may vary, members of this group have at least one thing in common that distinguishes them from other jihadists: they can read and write fluently in Cyrillic script, given that the now-independent countries of their birth were for decades dominated by the Soviet Union, which used Russian as its lingua franca. Most of these so-called Cyrillic Jihadists have settled near the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto IS capital, and their areas have developed into real communities with certain habits and rituals. Residents can hear Friday prayers in Russian at the Abubakr Dagestani mosque. Adults can attend at the Abu Muslim Islamic school to study Arabic and Quranic thought. Children study math and the Quran at a Russian-language school run by the foreign fighter brigade headed by Abu Hanif Jamaat, a native of Dagestan in Russias North Caucasus region. Homesick wives of the jihadists can shop for products from their home countries at the Univermag Russian store. The Russian-speaking jihadists formed a community of their own within IS, said Salem al-Hammoud, a civic activist from the IS-controlled Syrian city of Deir Ezzor who is currently based in Turkey. IS has fighters from all over the world, including North Africa and Europe, but theres a significant percentage that comes from the former Soviet republics, he said. These fighters are very different from others in terms of discipline and military training comparing to their Arab and African counterparts, Al-Hammoud said, adding that the IS leadership appoints them to important posts because they are tough and they do not sympathize with locals. Since they do not mingle with other jihadists, he said, IS leaders view them as a very reliable, resilient force. Fighters from the Caucasus region, Central Asia and Russia are linked by their knowledge of Russian. There is evidence that the Russian-speaking fighters train together, said Edward Lemon, a researcher at the University of Exeter in Britain. Russian-speaking fighters, most notably the late Abu Omar al-Shishani, have risen to the top of the ranks of IS. Given their combat experience, fighters from the North Caucasus are regarded as particularly strong fighters. Abu Omar al-Shishani, born Tarkhan Batirashvili, was an ethnic Chechen from Georgia who served in the Georgian Army during its brief war against Russia in 2008 before becoming a top IS commander in Syria. He died from wounds sustained in a U.S. airstrike conducted in Syria in early March. Not mercenaries Contrary to the common belief that these fighters joined IS to make money, many of them see IS-controlled territory in Syria as their home and do not consider themselves mercenaries. Babajon Karabayev, a former IS fighter who returned to Tajikistan, said that these fighters call the Islamic State home. Karabayev was looking for a job in Russia due to the bad economy in his home country. Frustrated with the Russian job market, he fell into the IS recruiting network. Many fight for money, but most are there for their ideology, he said. He received some money, but left the group because he was not as steadfast in his convictions as others. A tax-free income stream is an incentive to join IS, but not enough to keep someone in its ranks over the longer term. IS propaganda stresses the positives of living in the Caliphate - brotherhood among fellow Muslims and the idea of building a pure Islamic State, said Lemon. There is limited evidence that money is a driver for recruitment, but it certainly plays some role. IS recruiters exploit the lack of social support for Central Asian immigrants in Russia. Many are recruited from migrant worker communities in Russia, as the lack of a supportive community there opens the door to recruitment, says Catherine Putz, a U.S.-based journalist and researcher. There are also economic factors involved, as extremist groups often tempt recruits with promises of money. Identity crisis The fact that people like Abu Omar al-Shishani and Gulmurod Halimov, a U.S.-trained police colonel in Tajikistan who went to the Middle East and joined Islamic State, have become top IS members has created a sense of belonging for Russian-speaking Muslims, who suffered an identity crisis in their home countries. According to the Soufan Group, a majority of the Cyrillic Jihadists come the North Caucasus particularly Chechnya and Dagestan, areas with long histories of Islamic extremism. Rashot Kamalov, the imam of the Al-Sarahsiy Mosque in Kyrgyzstan who encouraged his followers to join IS in Syria, was sentenced to a five-year jail term for inciting religious hatred and possessing extremist materials in February 2015. But Kamalov remains popular with some young Kyrgyz Muslims. Not only Kyrgyz but other youngsters with Islamic tendencies from Chechnya, Dagestan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have been exposed to this idea and have embraced it as a form of self-expression, says Noah Tucker, managing director of Registan.net, a website the focuses on Central Asia, the Caucasus, and South Asia. They come to believe that the Islamic State is the Islamic utopia they were chasing for years. Most of the recruiting material from ISIS aimed at Central Asians in Russia actually focuses almost exclusively on identity You are Muslims, and your problems are caused by those who oppress Muslims - and offers it both as an explanation for what potential recruits have suffered in life and as a solution , presenting ISIS as the Muslim counterforce to this oppression. Islamic utopia, Russian style Although Russia has clearly sided with President Bashar al-Assad in what it calls the fight against terrorists in Syria, some observers claim that Russian authorities have encouraged local jihadists to depart for Syria. Nadir Medetov, a 32-year-old Dagestani Salafist who was arrested by the Russian security services in October 2014 on charges of illegally possessing illegal firearms turned up in Syria four months later. Some experts believe that Medetov was able to escape to Syria not due to a lapse in security, but because of a deliberate Kremlin strategy to send the most troublesome members of society to hotspots abroad. There are reports arguing that the Russian government took a very active role in helping jihadists and potential militants leave the Caucasus to go fight in Syria - where, as it turned out, the Russian air force was able to bomb them with a level of impunity they cannot implement in the Caucasus anymore, said Registan.nets Noah Tucker. Russian Defense Sergei Shoigu recently claimed that his forces killed more than 2,000 Russian jihadists in Syria. Future cannon fodder The Russian-speaking jihadists see IS as a lifestyle choice and even a long-term plan for the future, which is why they try to raise their children to be the next generation of jihadists. In the Russian-language schools in IS-controlled territory, the children of the Russian-speaking jihadists are subjected to brainwashing and discipline by uncompromising Muslim scholars. Some Muslim families in Central Asian countries send their children to IS territory in the Middle East for what they think will be a better life. According to a recent report by Kyrgyzstans internal affairs ministry, 85 children under the age of 10 and 36 teenagers left Kyrgyzstan for Syria during the last few months. U.S. Treasury chief Jack Lew warned Wednesday against the excessive use of economic sanctions on other countries to change their behavior, saying they could imperil the U.S. role in the world economy. The United States has imposed sanctions on foreign countries for decades, most recently successfully to push Iran into negotiations to block its development of nuclear weaponry and so far unsuccessfully to overturn Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. The U.S. and European sanctions, along with very low world oil prices, have helped push the Russian economy into a recession, but Moscow maintains full control of Crimea. Lew, in a Washington speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, adopted a measured view of the effectiveness of economic sanctions. "Sanctions should not be used lightly," Lew said. "We must be conscious of the risk that overuse of sanctions could undermine our leadership position within the global economy, and the effectiveness of our sanctions themselves." Wary of alternatives to US preeminence Lew said there is a risk "that sanctions overreach will ultimately drive business activity from the U.S. financial system." Lew said that "could become more acute if alternatives to the United States as a center of financial activity, and to the U.S. dollar as the world's preeminent reserve currency, assume a larger role in the global financial system." "Our central role must not be taken for granted," he warned. "If foreign jurisdictions and companies feel that we will deploy sanctions without sufficient justification or for inappropriate reasons - secondary sanctions in particular - we should not be surprised if they look for ways to avoid doing business in the United States or in U.S. dollars." The sanctions aimed at Iran in connection with its nuclear program have been eased, but Lew said the U.S. still maintains other sanctions against Tehran related to its support of terrorism, missile testing and human rights violations. "Since the goal of sanctions is to pressure bad actors to change their policy, we must be prepared to provide relief from sanctions when they succeed," Lew said. "If we fail to follow through, we undermine our own credibility and damage our ability to use sanctions to drive policy change.... Since Iran has kept its end of the deal, it is our responsibility to uphold ours in both letter and spirit." Kampala's re-elected mayor, whose team was barred from cleaning up his closed office ahead of his official installation, says he will not be deterred from returning to the office once its renovation is complete. Erias Lukwago was impeached during his first term after members of the Kampala Capital City Authority accused him of abuse in office, misconduct and incompetence. Although a court later declared his impeachment illegal, Lukwago's office in City Hall was closed in 2013. Lukwago accused Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his ruling National Resistance Movement of trying to undermine the will of the people following his re-election February 18, in which he won 82 percent of the vote. I thought this time around, after the poll that was conducted and I emerged successful, there would be no other hindrance along the way," Lukwago said. "...It was agreed that in the course of next week, we shall conduct a verification exercise to get an inventory of all the property there is inside [the office] and prepare it for renovation or painting or refurbishment, and then I re-enter. Court directive But in an interview with the Daily Monitor, a Uganda-based newspaper, KCCA spokesman Peter Kaujju said Lukwagos team members should wait for a court directive that would clear the way for them to get the office ready. There is a court decision asking all the parties to maintain the status quo, and we asked them to leave until when we have communication, especially in preparation for what they were trying do. We shall let them know, Kaujju said. Lukwago called that statement ridiculous. Some Ugandans have urged the mayor to seek legal redress, but he said he saw no reason to go to court. During the election campaign, Museveni said he supported Lukwagos impeachment. Local media quoted Museveni as saying he had forced Lukwago out of office. I chased Lukwago. He had failed. I used force to chase him. Rats had become a problem; rats would even eat roads. That Kafumbe-Mukasa road, I would send money, but the road would not be constructed, Museveni said. Surgeons at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Maryland successfully completed the first U.S. liver and kidney transplants from an HIV positive donor to an HIV positive recipient. It was the first ever case of a HIV positive liver transplant and the first time in the U.S that an HIV positive kidney has been transplanted. South African doctors have done HIV positive kidney transplants before. Medical center officials said the organs are working well and that the surgeries saw no complications. One patient has already been discharged and the other is expected to follow him in a matter of days. According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, there are nearly 400 HIV positive people in the U.S. who could donate organs each year, saving potentially over 1,000 people. The successful transplants come as a result of the 2013 HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, which paved the way for HIV-to-HIV organ transplants. The United Network for Organ Sharing gave Johns Hopkins the okay in January, once candidates were identified. We are very thankful to Congress, the President and the entire transplant community for letting us use organs from HIV-positive patients to save lives instead of throwing them away, as we had to do for so many years, said Dr. Dorry L. Segev, professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. There are around 122,000 people in the U.S. awaiting organ donations. Interpol says inspections of "food" shipments have turned up more than 10,000 tons and a million liters of fake, illicit or toxic food and beverages during a four-month period. Discoveries in 57 countries worldwide included fake Sudanese sugar mixed with fertilizer and 85 tons of Italian olives painted with copper sulfate to improve their appearance. Other items included 10,000 liters of fake or adulterated alcoholic drinks, adulterated honey and, in Indonesia, 70 kilograms of chicken intestines soaking in formalin, a prohibited additive. Officials in Belgium confiscated several kilograms of monkey meat from a traveler's luggage labeled for human consumption, and customs officers in France seized and destroyed 11 kilograms of locusts and 20 kilograms of caterpillars. Inspections were conducted between November 2015 and February by police, customs officials and regulatory bodies at shops, markets, airports, seaports and industrial estates, Interpol said, and these were the largest quantities of illicit goods seized since coordinated inspections began five years ago. The international police agency said fake or adulterated food is "a multibillion-dollar criminal industry which can pose serious potential health risks to unsuspecting customers." A number of arrests were made worldwide throughout the operation, and Interpol said investigations are continuing in an attempt to identify and disrupt organized-crime networks behind the trafficking in fake goods. A woman in the southern U.S. state of Mississippi has pleaded guilty to trying to join the so-called Islamic State militant group in Syria. Jaelyn Young, 20, admitted her crime to a federal judge in Aberdeen, Mississippi Tuesday, pleading guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization. Her fiance, Muhammad Dakhlalla, pleaded guilty on March 11 to a similar charge and also awaits sentencing. Both are facing maximum sentences of 20 years in prison, fines of $250,000, and lifetime probation. The couple was arrested August 8 before boarding a flight from Columbus, Mississippi, with tickets for Istanbul. According to a criminal complaint, the two repeatedly said in online communications with undercover FBI agents that they planned to travel to Syria in support of the terrorist group. Over the course of several months, Young told undercover agents on various social media platforms that money was the only thing keeping them from immediately travelling to join Islamic State. At the time, Young said she was skilled in math and chemistry and said she and Dakhlalla would like to be medics treating the wounded. The two are former students at Mississippi State University. Young was a chemistry major and is the daughter of a police officer. Dakhlalla graduated in May and was planning to start graduate school in psychology. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 31 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with heads of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, National Coalition Supporting Soviet Jewry and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The sides noted that such meetings had already become traditional, opened good opportunities for conducting a mutual exchange of views and contributed to the strengthening of cooperation. Heads of the American Jewish organizations hailed Azerbaijan`s growing successes, adding that they witness this during their visits to the country. They said they were deeply impressed by the beauty of Baku. They said such meetings contributed to the development of both Azerbaijan-US and Azerbaijan-Israel cooperation. They hailed Azerbaijan-US relations, noting that Jewish organizations contribute to these ties. The sides expressed mutual interest in developing cooperation. Myanmar has sworn in its first civilian head of state in more than five decades. Seventy-year-old Htin Kyaw took the oath of office Wednesday during a brief ceremony before a joint session of parliament, pledging loyalty "to the republic of the Union of Myanmar." The country's two vice presidents, Myint Swe and Henry Van Tio, took the oath alongside Htin Kyaw. Htin Kyaw's swearing in formally marks the end of total or partial military rule in Myanmar dating back to 1962. He succeeds Thein Sein, a former general who took power in 2011 when the junta turned over control to a quasi-civilian government and pushed through sweeping political and economic reforms. Myanmar's New President Htin Kyaw Myanmar's first president without ties to the military in more than half a century has been sworn into office. Here are some details about the new head of state, Htin Kyaw: Close friend and confidant of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi Expected to act as proxy for Suu Kyi, who is barred from the presidency Has vowed to amend the constitution to adhere to "democratic standards" Son of Min Thu Wun, a respected Burmese author and poet 70 years old "It's not the full democracy we might have hoped for, of course, because the military still has a very strong role in the country and in the economy," Sean Turnell of Australia's Macquarie University, a veteran analyst of Myanmar politics, told VOA. "It's not democracy in full measure, but it's democracy in large measure, so it's a very special day." Constitutional changes In his inaugural speech, the new president vowed to change the current constitution so that it fully embraces democratic standards. The constitution drafted by the military before it turned over power guaranteed the military would hold 25 percent of all parliamentary seats, plus the key ministerial posts of home affairs and defense. A constitutional provision that bars anyone with a foreign-born spouse or children from the presidency was used to block democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming head of state. Her late husband was British, as are her two sons. Nevertheless, the Nobel Peace laureate has indicated she will rule Myanmar through Htin Kyaw, her childhood friend and longtime confidant. She will also serve as one of 18 members in the new president's Cabinet, and is expected to simultaneously hold the ministries of foreign affairs, education, energy and the president's office. "She's going to be very much behind the scenes, as well, even beyond the portfolio," Turnell saod. "But the portfolio is extremely important anyway. I think it's important that she grab those posts, particularly in terms of foreign affairs. There's a technical reason, because that gives her access to the National Security Council, which in many ways is the most powerful body in Myanmar." 'Historic milestone' After the National League for Democracy won overwhelming control of both chambers of parliament in November's elections, its control over the presidency was assured. Htin Kyaw was elected by parliament on March 15. U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration has helped lead the West's re-engagement with the country formerly known as Burma, applauded Htin Kyaw's inauguration Wednesday as "a historic milestone in the country's transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government." "This extraordinary moment in Burma's history is a testament to its people, institutions, and leaders who have worked together to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and it speaks to the significance of the reforms the country has undertaken since 2011," Obama added in a statement. U.S. President Barack Obama is commuting the prison sentences of 61 people serving time for drug-related crimes. The White House says more than one-third of the inmates were serving life sentences. All of them were jailed for drug possession, intent to distribute or related crimes. A few also had firearms violations. In a letter to those receiving clemency, Obama said the power to grant pardons and commutations "embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance after having made a mistake in their lives that led to a conviction under our laws." The White House says Obama also cautioned those receiving clemency that what they do with this unexpected opportunity reflects not only on each individual person, but also on all those still behind bars who are seeking that same shot at a new life. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said the president's announcement "demonstrates his commitment to ensuring a fair and just criminal justice system." "The clemency initiative that the President announced in 2014 is an important part of the departments overall criminal justice reform efforts," Yates said in a Department of Justice statement. "We hope to soon realize systemic change in the length of prison sentences for these low-level drug offenders and to provide better tools for a safe and successful reentry into the community." The White House says Obama has now commuted the sentences of 248 individuals more than the last six presidents combined. President Barack Obama pledged again Tuesday to press for new federal funding to fight opioid abuse in the United States. More than 28,600 Americans died in 2014 from abuse of opioids a class of drugs that includes both legal painkillers and illegal heroin according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its important to recognize that today, we are seeing more people killed because of opioid overdose than traffic accidents, Obama said at the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta. Obama in February urged Congress to approve $1.1 billion in funds to help provide opioid abuse treatment to all Americans who want it. The president told the summit that the U.S. would continue efforts to secure international borders to block the importation of illegal drugs, but he said more needed to be done to stop illegal drug use. What we have to recognize is in this global economy of ours, the most important thing we can do is to reduce demand for drugs," he said. "And the only way that we reduce demand is if were providing treatment. The president announced that the Department of Health and Human Services was proposing a regulation to make the anti-addiction drug buprenorphine available to more drug-addicted patients through qualified physicians. The federal government is releasing $11 million to states to expand medication-assisted treatment services. That includes the purchase and distribution of the overdose drug naltrexone. And a federal infusion of $94 million earlier this month to hundreds of community health centers across the country potentially could treat nearly 124,000 new patients. U.S. officials hope that by putting opioid addiction and treatment front and center on the U.S. health care agenda, they can make a dent in the illegal drug problem. Hundreds of Islamist activists who had been occupying a busy crossing for a fourth consecutive day in the heart of the Pakistani capital dispersed peacefully on Wednesday after government representatives persuaded them to end their demonstration. The group was protesting last months execution of a man who assassinated a provincial governor for raising his voice in favor of reforms in the countrys blasphemy laws. Supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Salman Taseer in 2011 while he was governing the countrys most populous province of Punjab, were refusing to leave Islamabad until their demands were met, which included assurances the government will not allow amendments to the blasphemy laws. Rally leaders told reporters they were ending the protest after receiving assurances there would be no changes in the blasphemy laws and hundreds of detained protesters not wanted on other charges would by released immediately. But Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan dismissed reports of any deal with the demonstrators and told reporters the government had not accepted any of the demands. He went on to assert that those involved in violent attacks on government property and police personnel during the rally would be prosecuted. The demonstrators also demanded the hanging of a Christian woman whom the slain governor had defended against blasphemy allegations. The sit-in protest near the Pakistani parliament had disrupted routine business activities in the capital city. Authorities had switched off all Islamabad cellphone services and blocked roads to prevent others from trying to join the protest from other parts of Pakistan. The demonstration coincided on Sunday with a massive suicide bombing in the eastern city of Lahore that targeted Easter celebrations at a public park. The attack left more than 70 people dead, many of them Christians, and wounded 300 more. When the attack happened, the pro-Qadri rally had begun its march toward Islamabad from the neighboring city of Rawalpindi. The protesters marched through the capital, leaving a trail of destruction before finally settling into the sit-in demonstration near the parliament late Sunday night. Police used teargas and rubber bullets to break up the gathering, prompting clashes with protesters that wounded several security personnel. Authorities estimated the rampage caused massive damage to the Metro Bus infrastructure, used by tens of thousands of people, mostly government employees, to travel daily between the two cities. Skeptics severely criticized the governments handling of the crisis from the outset and its claims of countering religious extremism in the country. It was surprising that such a large and violent crowd easily managed to reach the federal capital from Rawalpindi, observed the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "It is a matter of inquiry whether that was made possible because of any supporters among the ranks of the police tasked with stopping the protesters or plain incompetence of the administration," it said. On Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to extend condolences on behalf of the people of the United States on the Lahore bombing and requested the Pakistani leader to convey his feelings to the affected families, according to a statement Sharif's office issued. Obama praised Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts and said that the people of the United States are with the government and the people of Pakistan in this tragic moment. Prime Minister Sharif was due to visit Washington and lead the Pakistani delegation in a two-day nuclear security summit starting from Thursday but he canceled the trip in the wake of the Lahore attack. In 2012, the U.S. State Department special office in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked by Islamic militants, killing U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith. Stevens became the first U.S. ambassador killed in the line of duty since 1979. Controversy and questions regarding security and preparedness followed. Consequently, a quick response military unit with Marines and Navy personnel was formed in 2013. Called the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF), the unit is permanently based in Spain. "The primary role of this force of just under 2,000 Marines and sailors is for U.S. embassy reinforcement," said former unit commander Colonel Calvert Worth, Jr., who was in New York on Wednesday to brief the foreign press on the role of the SPMAGTF. "The force is to respond to the ambassador or chief of missions within a short time frame that allows the ambassador or chief to evacuate his forces or get out of harm's way in the face of a crisis on the African continent," he said. "We have our own helicopters and airplanes [Osprey choppers and Hercules transports] that will allow us to put a sizeable force on the ground at the request of an ambassador to protect U.S. personnel and facilities." The SPMAGTF base in Moron, Spain, is within easy reach of the African continent. The unit also supports noncombatant evacuation operations, offers training to support partner interests, offers humanitarian aid and trains security forces in countries such as Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Ghana, Mali and Gabon, Worth said. How embassies work Worth said a big part of setting up and running the unit was learning about embassies. "We have to do a lot of work with the State Department so that we understand how the embassies work, he said, where they receive their direction from, what their capacities are, and how we can be most relevant in supporting the ambassador when he calls for this force to come forward into a country. But that wasn't all. "We spend considerable time studying the cultures of the specific country or countries that we are most likely to operate," Worth added. African forces The unit will also work with African military forces. "We have proximity to crisis because of our relationship to these African countries, he said. When we go to these countries, we intend to train with the host nation that provides us this proximity and this access to crisis countries. We train with them, military to military." Worth said that during his time in Africa, the unit conducted exercises with two countries, Senegal and Mali. A force of just under 200 was moved to Senegal, he said, where we did military-to-military training and worked with the embassy. And that was all for the purpose of maintaining access, maintaining reach. In Mali, Worth said, the unit went into the embassy, rehearsing an embassy in crisis and how we would respond. we worked with the host nation, their security forces and got a very, very good rehearsal that was mutually beneficial for Malian forces and U.S. personnel and the embassy team." The idea was to sensitize both the civilian and military personnel as to the capabilities of the special purpose task force and its willingness to work with the host nations in times of crisis. The three remaining Republican presidential candidates agreed Tuesday on the need to defeat the Islamic State group, but they backtracked on their support for each other. "We have to wipe ISIS off the face of the earth so fast and so violently, we have no choice," frontrunner Donald Trump said during a CNN town hall event in the northern state of Wisconsin, which holds its primary next week. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who has earned the second most delegates so far, said the U.S. should first use "overwhelming air power," then arm Kurdish fighters "and let them kill ISIS." A decision on whether to use special forces or ground troops should follow, Cruz said. He added criticism of President Barack Obama, saying he would not send American troops overseas under rules of engagement that are so strict they cannot win. Obama's administration has clashed with the governments of both Iraq and Afghanistan over the terms governing the operations of U.S. troops on their soil. Ohio Governor John Kasich advocated a coalition approach to destroying Islamic State that includes bigger contributions from Gulf states. He said the campaign should be both in the air and on the ground, and then troops should come home. Kasich also criticized Cruz's proposal for police to patrol Muslim neighborhoods in order to root out terrorism. "We can't afford polarization of people who are in the civilized world," Kasich said. "There are people all over the world that know this threat has to be stopped, it has to be destroyed, and we have to work together as a world because when people in Pakistan die, we all die a little bit when they blow up innocent men, women and children at an Easter service." Trump said the United States is paying too much to support NATO, which he called "obsolete," and that other countries in the alliance are getting an unfair "free ride." Kasich later agreed that other countries need to pitch in and do more, but said that calling NATO obsolete is "absurd." He advocated reforming the alliance to include intelligence gathering and policing across boundaries. Early in the race, when the Republican field was much larger, all of the candidates pledged to support whichever of them eventually became the party's nominee in the November general election. As the campaign has become more divisive and combative, those good feelings toward each other have eroded, and on Tuesday they stepped back from their absolute pledges. Trump said he is no longer committed to the pledge and added that he has been "treated very unfairly" by the party. Cruz did not directly answer whether he would stand by the nominee, but said Trump winning would be a "train wreck" and that his solution to the question is for himself to win the nomination. Kasich said he will have to see how the campaign finishes before determining whether he will offer his support. "If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them," he said. "But we have a ways to go, let's see how this all folds out and then I'll let you know." Human rights and refugee civil society organizations say Thailands policies towards asylum seekers and refugees has hardened in recent years amid increasing arrests and deportations, even prior to the military taking power in 2014. But the tougher stance in dealing with Chinese asylum seekers and other dissidents has alarmed rights groups amid what they say is Beijings increasing influence over Thailands policies towards asylum seekers and refugees. The refugees, often on tourist visas and hoping for official asylum status, are usually escaping persecution and fear as minority groups, especially in South Asia. Situation worsening Julia Mayerhofer, a director with the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, said the security climate in Thailand for refugees has deteriorated for several years. Mayerhofer said earlier signs of momentum towards policies advocating alternatives to detention for refugees especially for children have fallen by the wayside. Refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand remain vulnerable in the absence of national laws and a legal framework, with the country not a co-signer of the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention. We see that the situation has been getting worse in that regard. We see more arrests, more crackdowns and the detention [centers] is really, really overcrowded, in particular for urban refugees situation here is quite difficult now, Mayerhofer said. Thai refugee rights groups say there are as many as 10,000 asylum seekers and refugees representing more than 40 nationalities who live in the urban areas of Thailand, largely near the capital of Bangkok. Handling of Chinese dissidents a particular concern But recent concerns have centered on the detention and extradition of Chinese dissidents and activists in Thailand. In the past year, dozens of Chinese asylum-seekers have been sent back to China by Thai authorities. Rights groups also fear Chinese security services are linked to the abduction in Thailand of people associated with a Hong Kong bookstore selling popular novels on Chinas leadership. The United Nations has raised strong concerns over the deportation of two Chinese activists by Thailand late last year, who, the UN said, risked torture and ill treatment by authorities once back in China. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, says the pursuit of Chinese dissidents outside the country appears to have official backing by Chinas government. Much of this frankly is coming from the Government in China and [President] Xi Jinpings crackdown on human rights. What makes China different from a lot of other countries in South East Asia is that they actually pursue their dissidents outside the country, Robertson said. 2015 bombing in Bangkok may have impact The August 2015 bombing on a religious shrine in central Bangkok targeting foreign visitors, especially Chinese, leaving more than 20 people dead, was blamed on ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim minority from western Xinjiang province. Many analysts said the bombing was likely tied to Thailands sending more than 100 male Uighur asylum seekers back to China. The group of men had been part of a group of over 300 ethnic Uighur who had fled to Thailand in a bid to travel to Turkey. Earlier, some 180 Uighurs, mostly women and children, were allowed to travel to Turkey after months of negotiations. China follows these people Chinese authorities claimed the deportees were terrorist suspects and the men were extradited under a Sino-Thai bilateral agreement, but without any assessment of protections needs, says refugee rights groups. Other targets by Chinese authorities include practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is banned in China. Human Rights Watchs Robertson said China pressures regional countries in South East Asia to hand such asylum seekers back to Beijing. China follows these people, it chases them down So you have the pursuit of the Uighur, you have the pursuit of these political dissidents, the Falun Gong an active effort to pressure other governments like Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, to hand these people back, he said . He said Thailand fears that if it acts humanely towards any group, this will create a pull factor for others to follow. As a result we have all sorts of problems with asylum seekers refugees being arrested we have problems with the children of these people being held in detention, he said. Thai-based groups demanding change A recent joint statement by Thai-based refugee groups to a rights conference in Geneva said those extradited face risk of persecution, torture or enforced disappearance once returned to China. The refugee groups said Thailand needs to intensify efforts to better respect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees as well as ratifying the international conventions overseeing refugee and asylum rights. A spokesperson for the U.N.s High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) told VOA it continues with efforts to ensure Thai officials and courts respect UNHCR-issued documents and that refugees and asylum seekers should neither be arrested nor detained. Foreign journalists working in Turkey complain the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started to target them in an expansion of a media clampdown that until recently appeared mainly focused on domestic newspapers and broadcasters. They say there has been an alarming rise in police harassment - from persistent and aggressive identity and accreditation checks in towns along the border with Syria and in the countrys mainly Kurdish southeast, to demands to inspect cell phones and laptops owned by foreign journalists arriving at airports from overseas. Two Western reporters have been arrested in recent weeks at Istanbul airports and then summarily deported hours later - one, Spanish photojournalist Natalia Sancha, after refusing to provide passwords to unlock her computer and cell phone, which would have allowed data trawling. More than half a dozen others, including Sam Tarling, a Beirut-based freelance news photographer who works mainly for Londons Daily Telegraph, have confirmed they were given no alternative but to divulge their phone and laptop passwords, if they wanted to continue with onward travel. And several foreign journalists based in Turkey in the past few months have either been expelled or have been withdrawn by their employers from the country after authorities declined to renew press accreditation. On March 17, Hasnain Kazim, the German weekly Der Spiegels Turkey correspondent, was forced to leave after Turkish authorities refused to renew his press credentials. Eight of the 20 German journalists based in Turkey have also been refused press cards, according to media watchdogs. The deportations and accreditation denials appear to have increased since last September, when Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink was expelled after she was detained on allegations of aiding Kurdish militants while reporting in the countrys strife-torn southeast. Campaign of intimidation alleged The ramping up of what foreign reporters describe as a campaign of intimidation against them comes as Western governments and Ankara clash over the trial of two Turkish journalists, which started last week. Turkish officials, including President Erdogan himself, have lashed out at EU countries for tasking diplomats to attend the first hearing of the controversial trial of the two prominent journalists, Can Dundar and Erdum Gul, who are charged with spying and threatening state security. EU governments have expressed alarm at what they see as a concerted effort by the Erdogan government to control journalism in the country, what is being reported and where journalists go. Most of the criticism has focused on cases brought against Turkish media outlets or the seizing of control by the government of newspapers and broadcasters critical of the policies being pursued by Ankara. But the increasing targeting of foreign reporters is adding to alarm, said a senior diplomat based in Istanbul. In January, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu dismissed our criticism of how the government is handling the media, saying, If there is anything limiting freedom of expression in Turkey, I will be the first one to resist it. Well, he hasnt put up much of a resistance, said the diplomat. The growing list of incidents at Istanbul airports involving foreign reporters has prompted complaints from several EU countries, including Denmark. Very disturbing On February 9, Claus Blok Thomsen, a Copenhagen-based foreign reporter for Denmarks leading daily broadsheet newspaper, Politiken, was detained at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, where he was changing planes to travel to the border town of Kilis. It was very weird, said Thomsen. It was his first visit to Turkey in many years. At passport control I was surrounded by three plains-clothes security guys and I showed them my passport. I was taken to a small room near passport control. They asked me to open my iPhone and laptop. They asked for my passwords so they were able to see what I had on my phone and computer and that is very disturbing. They didnt give me a choice. I was surrounded by security guys, so I did what I was told to do. It wasnt a two-way discussion. They took them and disappeared for a long time, he said. He added: Eventually I asked what was going on and I was told that I would not be allowed to continue to travel. They said they were just following orders from their superiors and I was told I was considered a threat to national security. He was held in a cell overnight and then put on a plane back to Copenhagen. I had not as such written about Turkey before, except I had been covering al-Qaida facilitators in Denmark who had been assisting Danish jihadists to travel through Turkey to Syria, he said. [That] makes it even weirder that they picked me; they didnt interrogate me, they didnt ask me one question, Thomsen told VOA. His newspaper has asked for more explanation as has the Danish Foreign Ministry and the countrys prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, but so far to no avail. They put me in a room and searched everything Beirut-based Spanish photo-journalist Natalia Sancha, who works mainly for Spains El Pais newspaper, suspects her confrontation at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport was the result of her coverage on previous trips. One of her reports on the experiences of Syrian refugees trying to travel from Turkey to Europe explored allegations of collaboration between organized crime smuggling gangs and Turkish policemen. On my arrival two security guys stopped me when I was on my way to catch a domestic flight, she told VOA. They put me in a room and searched everything - I had a camera, computer and books. And then at the end they told me to hand over my phone, they wanted to go over it. With some countries I remove contacts from my phone before I travel. But I never thought that I would need to clean out my phone when it comes to Turkey, she added. Sancha was warned if she didnt provide her passwords, she would be jailed but she continued to refuse to do so and demanded to see a Spanish consular official. I told them if the embassy told me to provide the phone and password, I would do so, but they made it clear they couldnt care less about Spain. She said she got into a shoving match with two women security officers who were very aggressive with her. After spending 16 hours in a windowless cell without food or water, Sancha was deported on the grounds of being a threat to Turkish national security and has been banned for five years from entering the country. One official confided to her she had been put on a list of journalists to be targeted because of her work. VOA asked for comment from the Turkish Foreign Ministry about incidents at Istanbul airports involving journalists as well as the refusal to renew the press accreditation of others but received no response by the time this article was published. Said Politiken reporter Thomsen, It seems like there is no logic why some people are detained and others are not. Turkey says it wants to become a member of the EU, but this is not the way a member of the EU should act. The U.N. humanitarian chief said Wednesday that since January aid workers have reached nearly 400,000 Syrians in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, but continued safe access is urgently needed to reach millions more. Stephen OBrien told the Security Council in his monthly briefing that many of the 4.6 million Syrians living in besieged and hard-to-reach areas still remain beyond help due to insecurity and obstructions by the warring parties. In 2016, so far we have only reached some 30 percent of people in besieged areas and less than 10 percent of people in hard-to-reach areas, OBrien said. Humanitarian conditions remain dire throughout the country, with some 13.5 million people remaining in need, he added. Obstacles OBrien said that the Syrian government continues to withhold approvals on access to certain locations. From the recently submitted plan for cross-line convoys in April, only six of 11 locations were approved by the Syrian authorities, and for some locations, they specified the delivery quantities that would mean we could cover only a portion of the population in each area, he said. He also blamed the government for excluding and removing medical supplies and treatments from aid convoys. OBrien said this year 80,000 medical treatments have been removed or excluded mostly by the government. The range of removed items is scandalous from items to treat child malnutrition to medicine for preventing bleeding after childbirth, OBrien told the council. Islamic State is also an obstacle to aid deliveries in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, which is largely under the control of the terror group. There, the U.N. has started high altitude aid drops with minimal success in a bid to reach some 200,000 besieged people. OBrien urged support for U.N.-led peace talks on Syria, saying peace cannot wait any longer in Syria. The United States plans to increase its military presence in Eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression, officials said Wednesday. The Pentagon intends to deploy an armored brigade combat team on a rotational basis next February along with a full set of equipment to NATOs eastern borders, as part of the ongoing effort to reassure allies in the region that feel threatened by Russia. The nine-month rotations will bring the U.S. military presence in Europe to three fully manned combat brigades, and they will conduct military exercises across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, the U.S. European command said. The U.S. military has about 62,000 permanent forces in Europe, 25,000 of which Army soldiers. Under the new plan, the number will increase to 29,200 soldiers at any given time. The deployment decision means U.S. allies will "see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries," said General Philip Breedlove, commander of U.S. European Command. Current equipment used in Europe will be stored in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, and will allow for "additional combat power, if and when needed," the military said. Officials also said the Army would send additional communications equipment to Europe for units to have the radios, computers and other equipment needed to work with the brigades. In what would be the first deployment of such proportion since the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon is acting on a proposal it announced last year to explore ways to increase U.S. military deterrence and send a message to Russia that any action against allies would be unacceptable. Russia has caused concern among NATO allies with its seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and its strategic bomber flights. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $28.35 million to five local banks through the auction held by Azerbaijan's Central Bank (CBA) March 30, SOFAZ said March 30. SOFAZ offered $100 million for sale through the auction, and will continue selling foreign currency through auctions in 2016. The foreign currency is sold as part of SOFAZ's transfers to the Azerbaijani state budget, which are envisaged to stand at 7.615 billion Azerbaijani manats in 2016. SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million. As of January 1, 2016, SOFAZ assets reduced by 9.5 percent compared to 2014 ($37.1 billion) and were estimated at $33.57 billion. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_Mammadov Health officials from around the U.S. are meeting Friday to prepare for mosquito season and possible outbreaks of the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The gathering at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta will bring together CDC experts and representatives from state and local health agencies involved in the U.S. Zika response. While most cases of Zika in the U.S. have been imported from Latin America and the Caribbean, the mosquito that can carry the virus lives in many parts of the country. Zika is already a problem in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that the head of the CDC calls "ground zero" for the outbreak in North America. As is the case in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Zika virus is new to North America, and the population has never been exposed to it. Air conditioning is more widely used in the U.S., and for this reason, public health experts say Zika shouldn't be as big a concern. Still, there's an uneasy feeling in the southern coastal states. Help for U.S. South Dr. James Versalovic, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and chief pathologist at Texas Children's Hospital, told VOA by Skype that he was already fielding calls about the virus. The mosquito population in Houston and elsewhere in the South starts ramping up in April along with warmer weather. Versalovic said these states need the same type of help as Latin American and Caribbean countries: help controlling mosquitoes, help testing both mosquitoes and people who may be infected with the Zika virus, and help getting rid of debris like old tires where water can pool, providing breeding areas for the insects. The big question is how much help can the CDC and state agencies provide. There's no doubt the need is urgent. "There's enough evidence now to state clearly that the Zika virus is definitely associated with microcephaly, not only small heads but underdeveloped brains, and unfortunately, those babies are dealing with a lifetime of disability," Versalovic said. Funding request In February, the Obama administration asked Congress for $1.9 billion in special funding to fight Zika, but Congress has not yet acted on the request. J. Stephen Morrison, who oversees the global health program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said states are not prepared to fight the virus. "Keep in mind that after the 2008-09 recession here in the United States ... fully 25 percent of American public health personnel at the state and local level were laid off," Morrison said. "Budgets were slashed and they lost their positions, and those positions have not been renewed. Were operating from a depleted capacity." Morrison said the funding request got caught up in politics. What's needed, he said, is "a consistent approach on global health security." He said outbreaks like the emergence of SARS or Zika should not be seen as episodic threats and dealt with individually. "We commit a chunk of funds, and then we forget about that and we move on until the next occurs," he said. Public education Versalovic said the Baylor College of Medicine, the Texas Medical Center and community organizations have already started to discuss what needs to be done to help prevent a local outbreak, but mosquito control is expensive, testing must be in place, and public education campaigns need to begin to protect pregnant women and their unborn children. A study from the Harvard University School of Public Health shows that most Americans know very little about the Zika virus, its means of transmission and its link to microcephaly, which underscores the need for public education campaigns. With summer coming to the Northern Hemisphere, Morrison said time is of the essence. I fear that in six or 12 months in poor communities, particularly in the southern coast of the United States and in Puerto Rico, where Zika is sweeping the country, ... that you're going to see some really significant numbers ... of microcephalic infants and of paralysis," he said. At that point, there will be questions about "why didn't we do more when we knew what was coming." The U.N. refugee agency is appealing to countries worldwide to provide homes for nearly one-half million of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees. The UNHCR is urging representatives of more than 90 countries attending a ministerial-level conference to grant refuge to the Syrians through resettlement and other humanitarian programs. Countries neighboring Syria are bearing the brunt of the Syrian refugee crisis. They are hosting 4.8 million refugees. The U.N. refugee agency says other nations must shoulder some of the burden. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says his agency aims to resettle one-tenth, or about 480,000 of the refugees over the next three years. He acknowledges it will not be easy, especially in light of the growing resistance by nations in Europe and elsewhere to welcome people fleeing conflict and persecution. He says large numbers of desperate Syrians are undertaking dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea in search of refuge in Europe. He indicates the recent EU-Turkey resettlement agreement is unlikely to resolve the Syrian refugee crisis. Our point to both Turkey and the European Union and in fact to the International Community is that legal pathways for admission are a very powerful alternative to dangerous journeys, especially for vulnerable people. So, the sooner those are implemented, the more people will be discouraged from resorting to boats and other means of movement, he said. Besides resettlement, the UNHCR offers other legal pathways for countries to consider. These include academic scholarships, humanitarian visas, accelerated and easier family reunification programs, and medical treatment. Ban Ki-moon U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lends his voice to the UNHCRs appeal for countries to resettle Syrian refugees. He says nations benefit from refugees who bring valuable new skills and make many positive economic contributions to their societies. Attempts to demonize people fleeing conflict and persecution are not only demeaning, offensive, and counterproductive, they are factually wrong. And measures to control the entry of refugees must safeguard the human rights and dignity of each individual person, he said. The Syrian refugee crisis is the worlds largest since World War II. The UNHCR reports countries have offered more than 179,0000 resettlement places for Syrian refugees since 2013. It says it hopes more pledges will be forthcoming during the conference. It adds this is a global crisis that needs a global response. When the leaders from the United States, Japan and South Korea meet in Washington on Thursday to address the growing nuclear threat in North Korea, much of the discussion will be about China. U.S. President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye will hold a trilateral gathering on the sidelines of this weeks Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. The trilateral will be the first time these leaders have met since the United Nations imposed harsh new sanctions on North Korea for conducting its fourth nuclear test in January. Washington and its Asian allies are strongly committed to taking a tough sanctions-based approach to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, but questions remain about Beijings level of commitment. There's a unique relationship between China and North Korea economically. The Security Council resolution really puts that front and center on the table and we hope that that collaboration with China on North Korea will continue," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday. Pressuring China The United States worked closely with China in developing the new U.N. sanctions, which require mandatory inspections of all North Korean cargo and bans the export of most of the countrys mineral trade that has been used to fund its nuclear development program. Beijings enforcement of these international sanctions is considered crucial because 90 percent of North Korean trade flows either to or through China. Chinas leaders have pledged to support the sanctions but have also worked to limit their impact. Citing concerns that some U.N restrictions could cause undo harm to the general populous and increase instability, Beijing has said it will only enforce sanctions specifically targeting Pyongyangs ability to make weapons. Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently said, Blind faith in sanctions and pressure, actually, are not a responsible approach for the future of the Korean peninsula." Recently Beijing negotiated an exception to the sanctions to reinstate four ships that were blacklisted for past ties to Pyongyang's arms trade. The Philippines, which seized one of these vessels on March 4, the 4,355-ton Jin Teng, subsequently released it. Also while the U.S. and its allies have called on the Kim Jong Un government to halt its nuclear program before any formal talks could proceed, China has proposed a "dual-track" approach where peace treaty talks with the North would proceed simultaneously with denuclearization negotiations. Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have also imposed additional unilateral restrictions on Pyongyang that Beijing does not support. The U.S. sanctions that authorize the seizure of assets from organizations and individuals doing businesses with North Korea in banned industries like mining and banking, could be used to target Chinese entities. However the message likely to come out of the trilateral and the subsequent bilateral between Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping at this early stage in the process is one of unity. Stay the course on economic sanctions. [Its] too early to deviate from that course of action because of Chinas proposal of discussing the peace treaty. Its too early. The focus should remain on putting pressure on North Korea, said Bong Young-shik, a national security analyst with the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. THAAD Washington and its allies will also likely address how to manage Chinas anxiety over North Koreas nuclear program with its concern for the expanding U.S. military presence in Asia. Beijing has protested the possible deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea. Prior to North Koreas February 7 launch of a long-range rocket, Seoul was sensitive to Beijings concerns and reluctant to deploy THAAD. But Pyongyangs persistent provocations, that include firing repeated short-range missiles and projectiles have motivated Seoul to prioritize national security over diplomatic relations with a key economic trading partner. Park and Xi President Park will also meet with President Xi for the first time since the North Korean nuclear test. Park had developed a close friendship with Xi and visited China numerous times. Last year she was the only U.S. ally to attend celebrations in Beijing for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. In contrast Kim Jong Un was conspicuously absent from the event and has yet to meet with the Chinese President. But Seouls close military alliance with Washington and support for THAAD has strained the growing ties between South Korea and China. Although China understands South Korea's position, China thinks that South Korea considers only its own position, said Professor Woo Su-keun, a North Korea analyst at Donghua University in Shanghai. While China has not grown any closer to its defiant ally in Pyongyang, Woo says, Beijing also now views Seoul in a less favorable way and more as a client state of the U.S. The Obama administration will not "paper over" differences with China on maritime and cyber security issues, but will promote "shared interests" in preventing destabilization on the Korean Peninsula and in promoting denuclearization, according to senior U.S. officials. President Barack Obama will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit. "Our engagement has also allowed us to address differences in a very candid and constructive way. We don't paper over these differences. We don't hide them," said White House Senior Director for Asian Affairs Dan Kritenbrink. While North Korea's nuclear threat is expected to be one of the most important issues, the U.S. also will raise concerns about maritime disputes and cyber security during the U.S.-China leaders' meeting, a senior State Department official told VOA. A United Nations Security Council resolution adopted earlier this month imposes tough new sanctions on Pyongyang. The measure has put China on the spot because 90 percent of North Korean trade flows either to or through China. The U.S. has been encouraging China to exert influence and pressure on North Korea to stop nuclear provocations. A State Department senior official said that so far the cooperation between Washington and Beijing in ensuring a strong implementation of the resolution has been "very, very good." "China joins with us in a very strong and intensive focus on ensuring good, solid implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution, which, as many of you know, places strong constraints on North Korea's ability to continue to conduct commerce across its borders, whether by sea, air or land," said Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller on Wednesday at the Foreign Press Center. South China Sea While the U.S. does not claim sovereignty over the South China Sea, Washington has been firm on upholding principles including non-militarization in the hotly contested islands, and a peaceful resolution of disputes consistent with international law. Beijing has launched a massive effort to assert its claims over a string of islands in the South China Sea through new construction and island-building, ignoring competing claims by Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. More recently, China has deployed a radar system throughout the disputed islands, and an advanced surface-to-air missile system on Woody Island, which is part of the region's Paracel Island chain also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. "We'll be very clear where we believe that there is behavior that is counter to those principles, just as we're very clear in our own interests in promoting international principles like freedom of navigation," said White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes in a briefing to preview the Nuclear Security Summit and Obama-Xi meeting. U.S. Navy ships have been conducting what officials called "freedom of navigation" operations in international waters, including sailing within 12 nautical miles of disputed islands in the South China Sea, which was denounced by China as a provocation. Obama's meeting with Xi on Thursday would be their first meeting in 2016 in Washington, D.C., six months after a state visit by Xi last September. Top law enforcement officials from states around the nation have banded together to protect progress on climate change by taking on the fossil fuel industry. Democratic attorneys general from 15 states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands joined with former Vice President Al Gore, who praised a "first-of-its-kind" joint effort to reduce carbon emissions, hold polluters accountable for fraudulent claims, and defend the Environmental Protection Agency's "Clean Power Plan" against legal challenges. "We cannot continue to allow the fossil fuel industry or any industry to treat our atmosphere like an open sewer or mislead the public about the impact they have on the health of our people and the health of our planet," Gore said. The participating states are looking at working together on key initiatives related to climate change, including investigations into whether fossil fuel companies misled the public on the impact of climate change. ExxonMobil probe New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is conducting an ongoing investigation into whether the ExxonMobil Corp. misled the public and its shareholders on the business risks posed by climate change, assured coalition members that his office will pursue the matter as any other case of fraud. "They have told the public for years that there were no competent models ... to project climate patterns, including those in the Arctic," Schneiderman said. "And we know that they paid millions of dollars to support organizations that put out propaganda denying that we can predict or measure the effects of fossil fuel on our climate." The oil and gas giant in question, for its part, has denied any wrongdoing. According to a statement provided by International law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP: "ExxonMobil fully evaluates and mitigates risks to the viability of its assets as a result of public climate change policies." Schneiderman said his office is approaching the case cautiously, and acknowledged that a fight against Exxon and its corporate allies will require a multistate investigative effort, in part to push back against attempts to discredit investigators' claims. Already, California and Massachusetts' attorneys general have announced they will join New York in the probe against Exxon. "We have a moral obligation to act," said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. "Fossil fuel companies that deceived investors and consumers about the dangers of climate change should be must be held accountable." Big oil = big tobacco The former vice president compared the states' efforts to the big tobacco lawsuit of the mid-1990s, when the tobacco industry was accused of misleading the public on the cancer risks of cigarettes. Gore added that it took 40 years beginning in 1964 for tobacco companies to be held accountable. "We do not have 40 years to continue suffering the consequences of the fraud allegedly being committed by the fossil fuel companies, where climate change is concerned," Gore said. In addition to key state attorneys general representing California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia the U.S. Virgin Islands (a U.S. island territory) joined the climate change coalition partly out of concern for its "survival." With increasingly destructive hurricanes, "people begin to say, why am I living here?'" said U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Earl Walker. "It's troubling that as the polar caps melt, you have companies that are looking at that as an opportunity to go and drill to go and get more oil," Walker said. "How selfish can you be?" Walker said it is the coalition's priority to do something transformational and end its residents' reliance on fossil fuels once and for all. Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature has passed a measure to grant amnesty to dozens of jailed political activists, setting up a political clash with President Nicolas Maduro. The bill, which was approved late Tuesday, would free more than 70 people who have spoken out against Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. One of those prisoners is opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who is serving a 14-year sentence for inciting an anti-government protest in 2014 that left 43 people dead. As lawmakers were debating the bill, Maduro promised to veto it during a nationally televised speech, claiming it would pardon "murderers... terrorists and criminals." If the legislature overrides his veto, the president could submit it to the Supreme Court, which could block the bill. Since winning control of the legislature last December, Venezuelas opposition alliance has launched a campaign to remove President Maduro from office. But any means they approve of would likely be rejected by the high court, which the president's critics claim he has packed with allies. The Episcopal Conference of Zambia has called on all political parties and their presidential candidates to take steps to curb politically motivated violence ahead of the countrys August 11 presidential election. The organization of Roman Catholic bishops met Tuesday with all political parties and their candidates. Father Cleophas Lungu, secretary general of the conference, said the meeting made a number of proposals to deal with some of the root causes of the political tension and violence in the country. Lungu said among the suggestions was amending the Public Order Act, which the police use to manage political gatherings. There was a general consensus that the law itself had some gaps and needed to be reviewed and amended so that the application of it does not disadvantage any political party, especially the opposition parties. But the law is applied fairly and objectively by those who have that responsibility, especially the police, he said. Opposition and civil society groups have often accused the Zambian police of bias and violating the constitution after clamping on their rights to free speech and assembly as stipulated in the bill of rights. The groups said the police often use the controversial Public Order Act to suppress their meetings and their planned demonstrations against unfavorable government policies. They also said the police are to blame for the ongoing inter-party violence because of the preferential treatment they give governing PF supporters. But the Zambia police say the Public Order Act underscores the importance of groups and political parties coordinating their planned activities with the police to ensure there is peace and stability. The law, police also say, regulates the holding of public processions or demonstrations. Lungu said all political parties attending the meeting acknowledged that the issue of political violence was not unique to one party. He said to a great extent the government has not done enough to curb the violence. Lungu said the Zambia Episcopal Conference has committed itself to holding the countrys political leaders accountable. We have come together to form what we call the Christian Churches Monitory Group. We are monitoring the conduct of the election this year. We are going to keep record of what they say, and whenever we see that they are saying something which is contrary to what they have committed themselves to, we have put it very clear to them that we are going to call them back for a review meeting, Lungu said. Zambians have expressed concern about clashes between supporters of political parties as the groups ready to begin official campaigning for the elections. Local media organizations have often reported incidents of inter-party clashes, often between the governing Patriotic Front (PF) and opposition parties, including the United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD). UPND supporters were recently attacked by security personnel during Youth Day celebrations at the Freedom Statue in Lusaka in view of some ruling Patriotic Front party officials. In another incident, a video of an opposition member being stripped naked by ruling party members in full view of police officers also went viral on social media. Here at Chachacha village in southeast Zimbabwe, men force their cattle into a truck bound for market. Drought brought on by particularly severe El Nino weather patterns has left 14 million people across Zimbabwe and southern Africa without enough to eat. The current rainy season has been the driest in 35 years, according to the U.N. World Food Program. Johannes Chibvongodze is among the people selling his cattle because he can't afford to feed them, or buy food for himself and his family. Low rainfall has reduced grazing land. Chibvongodze says jobs are hard to come by, and families are competing with others coming over from Mozambique. While this year's rains finally came, it was too late to save many crops from the drought. For me to plant anything new now, Chibvongodze said, is not a workable solution. Need for assistance The capital of Harare is about 600 kilometers away, and locals say government assistance has been slow to arrive. The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization has been supplying herders in Chipinge district with feed at reduced prices to help them fatten their cattle. And some farmers in Chipinge are busy planting, although the Zimbabwe meteorological services department announced last week that the already-shortened rainy season will end in mid-April. But the question of what to plant is a tough one. "We would rather encourage farmers to go for small grains especially the finger millet, pearl millet and sorghum because they are a bit tolerant in terms of drought, said Taringana Makiwa of the state-owned Agricultural Extension Service, which advises Zimbabweans on farming. Most of our farmers used to go for maize crop. In terms of cultivation, it is easy compared to the small grains, but at the end of the day, in terms of yield, we really reap nothing. So the small grains are a bit drought-tolerant. So at least farmers will get something out of it." But Zimbabweans continue to prefer maize. It is used to make a popular, thick porridge called sadza, made of corn meal and served with relish. Most households eat sadza twice a day, at lunch and dinner. The price of corn meal has already risen in local markets due to shortages. The government says it needs $1.6 billion in international assistance to import grain and provide other relief, an estimate international aid agencies have judged too high. The United Nations says it has raised about $80 million for food assistance to Zimbabwe. China also donated $24.6 million worth of rice to Zimbabwe in March. The people of Chipinge hope help will come fast. Selling off their animals may be a short-term solution, but it only makes them more vulnerable for the year to come. Kiungo cha moja kwa moja Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 30 By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend: President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and head of the Russian company ARETI Igor Makarov discussed possibilities of implementation of new mutually beneficial projects, the Turkmen government said in a message March 30. During the meeting, Makarov noted high interest of Russian business, in particular his company, in expanding the productive cooperation established with Turkmenistan, which is today one of the world leaders in terms of economic growth. ARETI is a new project by the Russian businessman Igor Makarov which was created as a result of rebranding of ITERA International Group of Companies. Main business areas of ARETI are projects in fuel and energy complex, in particular, offshore mining in Turkmenistan (the Caspian Sea), trading, engineering, real-estate development, and investment to the real economy. Earlier it was reported that the company works on 21 blocks in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. The corresponding production sharing agreement (PSA) was signed in 2009. Following the results of 2D/3D seismic data processing, the estimated recoverable reserves of the block are about 800 billion cubic meters of gas and 95.5 million tons of liquid hydrocarbons. The company has estimated the total investment in the project at the level of $6 billion. Two structures are allocated on the block: Western Erdekli and South Erdekli. The company said that the studies helped to ensure high prospects of the structures for hydrocarbons and attribute them to the category of unique ones. President Robert Mugabe says people questioning his stay in power should blame Zimbabweans for electing him into office for almost 36 years. What do Zimbabweans say about this issue? Tobacco sales start in Harare with some farmers complaining about the new ways of paying for their produce. We will give you an update on an indigenization clinic conducted today by Minister Patrick Zhuwao in Harare ahead of the April 1st deadline for companies to comply with regulations to transfer majority stakes to indigenous people. Some 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders alumni from Zimbabwe attend a Silicon Valley conference focusing on the latest trends in technology. Workers of the National Railways of Zimbabwe continue with an industrial action, demanding the payment of their 2015 salaries. And as usual, in our Diaspora Forum, we will feature a Zimbabwean living outside the country. 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. Tonight on Livetalk our hosts Blessing Zulu and Gibbs Dube will be talking with listeners and experts about President Robert Mugabes remarks that he is not to blame for ruling for almost 36 years. He says Zimbabweans have been voting for him and want him to contest the 2018 presidential election. Participate by sending your messages on our WhatsApp number 001 202 465 0318. The number again 001 202 465 0318. Stay tuned!!!!!! President Robert Mugabe says people questioning his stay in power should blame Zimbabweans for electing him into office for almost 36 years. In an interview with Japanese journalists, quoted by the state-controlled Herald newspaper, Mr. Mugabe said his election over the years is an indication that Zimbabweans want him to rule the nation. The president, who is on an official visit to Japan, said, If they (some people) dont like my long stay in power they should criticize my people I do not vote for myself into power. You just go to Zimbabwe now and ask the people whether I should stand down. They will be angry with you. President Mugabe further told the journalists, according to the Herald newspaper, that he will contest the next presidential election if he is in good health. The president stressed that he is currently in good health. At the moment I am the president thats why (I am here). Do you see me as not fit? Why not contest two years later? Two years later is no time but only God knows what will happen in two years time, 2018. I dont know, it will depend. If I am fit enough, yes, but if not fit enough I will not. My people will want me to be a candidate and they have already nominated me as a candidate in 2018. The 92-year-old Zimbabwean leader, who will be 94 in 2018, said his successor should be people-oriented and a person that is ready to defend the country against so-called neo-colonialism. The opposition has in the past cried foul over his re-election claiming that the electoral body allegedly rigs elections in favour of Mr. Mugabes Zanu PF party. These allegations have been dismissed by the ruling party as baseless. Zimbabwes Indigenization Minister Patrick Zhuwao has reiterated that Harare will from April 1st cancel licenses of foreign-owned firms that have not complied with the black empowerment law that compels them to sell a 51% stake of their shares to locals. President Robert Mugabe signed the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Bill into law in 2008 after it passed through parliament in September 2007 despite stiff resistance from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Under Zimbabwean law, foreign and white-owned companies with assets of more than $500,000 must cede or sell a controlling stake to black nationals. Zanu-PF insiders say the cash-strapped government took the hard line stance after foreign-owned companies spurned government's offer to contribute 10 percent of their annual earnings to the empowerment levy set up by Zhuwao. The move by Harare to cancel licenses is likely to torpedo plans by the country to re-engage the Bretton Woods institutions: the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Locally, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has petitioned Zhuwao complaining about the threat to seize companies licenses and the negative impact it will have on workers. Chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Chris Mutsvangwa, has also joined the chorus of those condemning the government move. Mutsvangwa told the daily newspaper, NewsDay, that the former fighters would oppose governments move to nationalize companies. Said Mutsvangwa: It is a plan to loot the countrys resources and we will not fold our hands. War veterans want a country that is open to business, that is attractive to investment from anyone and there is no need for us to slam doors in the faces of those who want to bring in new money, But Zhuwao, in an exclusive interview with VOA Studio 7s Blessing Zulu, said that Harare is not backing down from local and international pressure. BLESSING ZULU (B.Z): First Honorable Zhuwao are companies complying with what you said is a cabinet directive to give your ministry their indigenization proposal plans? PATRICK ZHUWAO (P.Z) Companies go to their line ministries in terms of their proposals. So, I have not even bothered to check with line ministries what the progress is. But however, what then has been transpiring is that there have been a number of companies that have been seeking clarity on a lot of issues some of which are downright lies in terms of what they have been told about the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act Chapter 14:33. Some of those lies have actually come from institutions such as yours which are the media that have been misleading companies. I was requested by one of the companies to conduct an indigenization compliance clinic where companies that feel they are affected come in to get just a few pointers directly from me the minister responsible for administering that Act to say look this is what the Act says and these are the options available to each and every company in terms of the legislation. B.Z: So when is this proposed indigenization clinic taking place? P.Z: We will begin tomorrow (Wednesday) at 8.00 am at the Jacaranda room, Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare. B.Z: How many companies have registered so far (to attend the clinic?) P.Z: No its like a walk in clinic my brother, you know if you have a tooth ache, you go to the clinic and say I have a tooth ache and the Doctor says you need aspirin or whatever it is that you need and if your ailment is of a bigger nature then the doctor says look I cant really assist you, you need to go to a specialist. So there are some companies that really do not fall within the threshold of indigenization in terms of capital requirements, and or those companies its just a matter of letting them understand that this is what the law says and then they can go home and relax and have a good night sleep. For those that fall within the threshold we say, look you fall within the threshold, these are the various options that are available to you. If you are still confused as to how you will be able to put together an indigenization plan, it is quite possible that they can then go to some of the advisory companies that are dotted around Zimbabwe. We have quite a number of fairly good advisers. But we also observed that there are some legal practitioners that instead of explaining to their clients the provisions of the law are busy telling their clients that government is not serious about implementing the law and those people are lying to whoever it is that they are giving advice to. And you know if I was a manager of any business, I would simply make sure that I go on my own to understand what the law requires and I make sure that I am compliant. B.Z: You said there are certain companies that fall within the threshold, if you can give us some examples? P.Z: My brother, you have got General Notice 114 of 2011, General Notice 459 0f 2011 and the General Notice 280 of 2012. Those set the threshold sector by sector. B.Z: And talking about tomorrow (Wednesdays) compliance clinic, is there a likelihood that you will extend the deadline or timeline to submit compliance plans? P.Z: No. No. The timeline by which companies should have complied is the 1st of March 2015. So companies that have not complied are already one year and one month beyond the time they should have complied. However, I need to point out that the processes of the revocation of the licenses involves the line minister notifying the non-compliant company of the line ministers intention to order the licensing authority to revoke the license. Thereafter, the line minister also requires the non-compliant company to show just cause as to why they have not complied and the minister then asseses if there is just cause. B.Z: We have had serious concern being raised first by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions that has already petitioned you and the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association led by Chris Mutsvangwa saying the government has veered off the road and is headed for the ditch. P.Z : (Laughs) Sorry with all due respect to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. It is not them that I am laughing at eeh the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, I have just had an interview with a journalist who showed me the letter that was written by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. I will engage the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. But I do not want to engage with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions in the media. B.Z: Turning to Mr. Mutsvangwa? P.Z: Mr. Mutsvangwa Honorable Mutsvangwa lets use his title appropriately. Honorable Mutsvangwa was a member of the cabinet and having been a member of the cabinet he knows the processes of cabinet. And over and above knowing the processes of cabinet I am struggling to understand where he is coming from because I have not received any letter from the war veterans. I am struggling to believe that Honorable Mutsvangwa is going against a resolution that was passed by a cabinet that is chaired by his patron. (President Robert Mugabe is the patron of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association). A cabinet that consists of members of his association who are also the two vice presidents of the country. (vice presidents Phelekezela Mphoko and Emmerson Mnangagwa) A cabinet that has got the secretary responsible for war veterans in the Zanu-PF party as a member. (Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramai) A cabinet that has got the minister responsible for war veterans in that cabinet as a member. (Tshinga Dube) and a cabinet that has no less than four other ministers who are war veterans. So I have not seen any letter from Honorable Mutsvangwa. So I do not believe what is in the media because it is impossible to contemplate that . .. eeh (laughs) Honorable Mutsvangwa could be saying that his patron is wrong. What it would mean is that he is now actually going against the campaign manifesto (ruling Zanu-PF 2013 election manifesto) that he also used to become a Member of Parliament for Norton because Zanu-PF went on a campaign of indigenize, empower and develop and create employment. So I dont believe it. It is impossible. No sane person would actually turn around and say I was voted on this platform, now I do not believe in it. If he no longer believes in it, he should resign as a member of parliament. B.Z: Capital is a coward Hon. Zhuwao, dont you think that this law is causing problems for Zimbabwe when it comes to investment. P.Z: Its not a matter of whether I think indigenization is scaring away investors. I know it is not indigenization, if there is anything called scaring away investors, because there are territories that have similar pieces of legislation where investment goes in. So the evidence is there that it is not around issues of indigenization or whichever way you want to label such a piece of legislation. There are other political considerations which include sanctions and certain narratives that are then propagated that then talk to this. But more importantly, my view is that there is need to put finality to this issue. So that people know that when the government of Zimbabwe puts in place a law, it will abide by that law. Now if we do not abide by the indigenization law, then how can any other investor believe that we are serious about abiding by any other law? And this is really my perspective and I give this perspective from the perspective of a person that has actually started business. You see, I did not start off my professional life as a minister of government or as a politician. I had my professional life as a business person. I have started businesses. I have run businesses and I still have some shares in some businesses. So I know what it takes to make a business decision and I know it very, very well. So you know, izvi zvekunzi munhu atanga kupinda mu Mercedes Benz apinda muhurumende aiwa ini yangu ndakatanga kupinda hangu iri 123 series in 1994. (I did not start driving a Mercedese Benz when I was appointed a cabinet minister, I bought the first one for myself in 1994, a 123 series.) B.Z: There are serious concerns minister that the indigenization programs benefit only a few elites and for the majority of Zimbabweans, independence remains flag and anthem. P.Z: Unfortunately some of these concerns are misplaced. These are the very same concerns that came around the issue of the land reform programme and these very same concerns then got some Zimbabweans that ought to have benefited from the land reform programme taking very, very drastic and unfortunate hard line positions saying I am not going to be part of that and they have failed to benefit. But you know paranoia is a disease. There is nothing you can do when someone is mentally afflicted like that. B.Z: But even with that land reform programme you are alluding to, there are multiple farm owners who happen to be the elite and the majority of Zimbabweans are bitter they have been left out. P.Z. I do not know of any multiple farm owners. Can you tell me of some and if there are any I think you should raise your concerns with the minister of lands. There is a minister of lands who you are supposed to raise those issues with. B.Z : But successive government land reform audits have concluded that there are multiple farm owners. P.Z: Well let the minister of lands respond to that. I am the minister for Youth, Indigenization and Economic Empowerment. You know division of labor my brother. Division of labor. Zimbabwe's opposition parties have scoffed at remarks by President Robert Mugabe that Zimbabweans will be angry should he be asked to stand down as the president. Mr. Mugabe, who is on a five-day state visit to Japan, told the east Asian countrys media that if he is healthy he will contest the 2018 presidential election though he will be 94. "You just go to Zimbabwe now and ask the people whether I should stand down. They will be angry with you." President Mugabe said. President Mugabe, whose country is subject to sanctions by the United States and European countries over alleged human rights abuses, is visiting Japan for the fourth time as president and holding his third meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In talking about his ideal successor, President Mugabe said that the person must be a good leader all the time and should be people-oriented. Peoples Democratic Party deputy spokesman, George Mkwananzi, said Mr. Mugabe must step down as no-one even in his ruling Zanu-PF wants him to continue at the helm. Zanu-PF chairman for the UK province, Nick Mangwana, said Mr. Mugabe is right. "I think he is stating the obvious there, pretty much because he was given an over 63% mandate by the people of Zimbabwe ... that mandate was five years and he has done only three years of those." Mangwana said any push to try and force Mr. Mugabe out is tantamount to a coup. Reacting, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) spokesman, Obert Gutu, said Mr. Mugabe must step down as he is now a liability to the nation. "It would appear President Robert Mugabe doesn't seem to appreciate that the majority of Zimbabweans have had enough of his misrule and misgovernance. If anything President Mugabe has overstayed his welcome as the head of state. Gutu added, "Certainly he needs to take a rest, that is the position of the majority of Zimbabweans out there and including fortunately the majority of Zanu-PF party members." Gutu further said that only a few hardline Zanu-PF sycophants might want Mr. Mugabe to stay but he said the president is "well past his sell by date" and is "no longer fit for purpose." The MDC-T spokesman accused Mr. Mugabe of allegedly using rigging to win elections. Dr. Pedzisayi Ruhanya, director of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, said Zimbabweans will actually celebrate if Mr. Mugabe steps down. "Those close to him who are benefiting from his misrule surely they will cry but if you take a Zimbabwean who lives in Tsholotsho (Matabeleland North province) who lost a relative during Gukurahundi, who is now losing relatives again due to hunger Who send their children to school and universities but they cant find jobs. Surely these people will say please Mr. President may you stay in Japan." A Mandela Washington Fellowship For Young African Leaders (YALI) alumni is in Silicon Valley sharing his ideas about the internet and how it affects basic human rights at a three-day technology conference which started Wednesday. Munyaradzi Dhodho, the founder of TV Yangu and YALI 2015 alumni, is attending the RightsCon technology conference organized by digital rights group, Access Now. "I am here for RightCon a summit series convened annually that brings together different people from around the world to talk about the future of the internet and how that affects different human rights. Technology is changing rapidly and human rights have to evolve with each new technology that gets invented so we are here to discuss that and we have different speakers from around the world coming together for this, said Dhodho. Dhodho told VOA Studio 7 he will be presenting a paper at a YALI-sponsored segment focusing on internet usage in Zimbabwe and Africa in general. "I am not the only one representing Zimbabwe there is also a lady here who is based in South Africa. We are going to be having a series of panel discussions there is over 250 sessions that are going to be taking place. I am going to be on two of them my session is on AfricaniInnovation and zero rating with other trail blazers from Africa. We will talk about the effects of zero rating what governments, telecommunications companies, people can do, giving recommendations in running start ups in Africa and giving and sharing ideas and experiences generally," said Dhodho. The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (YALI) is the brain-child of U.S President Barack Obama. It brings 500 dynamic young African leaders annually, ages 25-35, from across the continent to the United States for six weeks of leadership training and mentoring at 20 American universities and colleges in three areas: business and entrepreneurship, civic engagement and public administration. Dhodho participated in last year's YALI programme and runs his own Start Up TV-Yangu in Zimbabwe. The 2016 tobacco selling season officially opened on Wednesday with some farmers complaining about the new payment system in which farmers are expected to receive payment through banks instead of receiving cash at the auction floors. Some of the farmers told Studio 7 at the tobacco auction floors that the new payment system would inconvenience them as they usually want to buy agricultural inputs once they sell their crop. Philip Zvavamwe of Shamva said to make matters worse, there are no banks in most farming areas. This deal is not good to us because at our local villages we dont have banks, we need to buy our things quickly and go home, said Zvavamwe. Young farmer, Enia Godza of Mt. Darwin, said the new payment system is not good. Thats not good because we want to buy things here in town When I go home there is no price that I want, said Godza. Others, however, felt that the payment system would protect the farmers from criminals and unscrupulous dealers who used to rob some of them at auction floors. Agriculture Minister, Joseph Made, said he expected the new system to satisfy the farmers. I hope there will be a balance between the expectations of the farmers and the system that will now come in that the farmers will now be paid through the new banking structure. We must listen to the farmers to see how the system will be working, said Made. The new system which is being introduced by the Tobacco Industries Marketing Board is meant to decongest auction floors. The highest price at the auction floors was $4.50 per kilogram while the least was 50 cents per kilogram. Some farmers like Zvavamwe said the price was good while Made noted that farmers expected the prices to go up so that they get a just reward for their efforts. Last season the opening selling marketing price was $3.50 per kilogram. Tobacco Industries Marketing Board chairperson, Monica Chinamasa, said 72,000 farmers had registered to sell tobacco this season compared to 91,000 in the previous season. Three auctions floors - Tobacco Sales Floor, Boka Tobacco Sales Floor and Premier Tobacco Auction Floor and 16 contractors - were licensed to buy tobacco this season. Tobacco earned about $900 million from the sale of 152 million kilograms but production went down by about 20 percent. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: Financial Monitoring Service under the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has added Nayef Salam Muhammad Ujaym Al-Hababi, born in Saudi Arabia, to the list of legal and physical persons, who are subject to international sanctions for their support of terrorism, said the report of Financial Monitoring Service posted on its website. Al-Hababi, a citizen of Qatar, has led an 'Al Qaeda' battalion in Afghanistan since at least mid-2010, according to the service. This change was made in accordance with the updated international list of the Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council against 'Al Qaeda' and the resolutions No.1267, 1989 and 2253. The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1267 (1999) on freezing the financial resources of the Al Qaeda organization and the Taliban movement and the establishment the Taliban/Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee. This is the 4th change made to the list in 2016. A number of individuals under international sanctions for supporting terrorism have been previously removed from the list and names of a number of new individuals were added to the list. The list is updated in accordance with the Security Council's decisions and the information received from regional organizations. According to an order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan, the international list is approved and updated by the Financial Monitoring body on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The service also makes the approved list available for the monitoring and supervisory bodies. In the case of detection of properties and money belonging to legal entities and individuals specified on the list, these subjects of monitoring and supervisory bodies must inform the Financial Monitoring Service, without performing any operations with these properties and funds. Financial Monitoring Service under the CBA was established February 23, 2009. The monitoring of the service covers activities of credit, insurance and reinsurance organizations, professional participants of the securities market, pawn shops, investment funds, transactions with precious metals and stones and purchase products from them, activities of non-governmental and religious organizations, organizers of lotteries, people providing services of the real estate sales, as well as lawyers, accountants, real estate transactions, client money, securities and property, client bank and deposit accounts. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend: Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR will produce about 1,500 tons of oil per year thanks to the commissioning of a well, which is being drilled at Saadan onshore oil field. The well's projected depth is 1300 meters, and its daily debit is expected to reach four tons of oil, SOCAR's message said March 30. The drilling will be conducted until the Maikop productive layer. The works will be carried out by SOCAR Complex Drilling Works Trust. Saadan field is located on the territory of the Pre-Caspian-Guba oil and gas bearing region. SOCAR is currently implementing a program to stabilize and increase oil production. SOCAR extracted 1.25 million tons of oil from the country's offshore and onshore fields in Jan.-Feb. 2016 as compared to 1.35 million tons extracted in the same period of 2015. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov On the 9th March 2016, by a large majority and almost without debate, the National Assembly adopted a new project for the reform of criminal law ... to reinforce the fight against terrorism and organised crime [1]. The text still has to be reviewed by the Senate, but since it is an accelerated procedure, it only requires one reading per chamber. The project introduces into common law certain dispositions which are usually considered exceptional. Thus, in the text presented for the opinion of the State Council, the government confirms its intention to ... permanently reinforce the tools and means at the disposition of the administrative and judicial authorities, outside of the temporary legal framework implemented in the context of a state of emergency [2]. A state of emergency without a state of emergency Although the two texts are closely linked, this bill must not be confused with the law of the 20th November 2015, which prolongs the state of emergency for a new three-month period, while simultaneously increasing the restriction of private and public freedoms listed in the law of 1955 [3]. This new project is aimed not only at actions, but also intentions. Although the exceptional dispositions were once again prolonged, the government has not given up the idea of reforming criminal procedure. This is an attempt to introduce the liberticidal measures authorised by the state of emergency, but without a state of emergency being declared. The project thus aims at freeing the authorities from the principle of the separation of powers, at dissolving the judicial function, and concentrating all prerogatives in the hands of the Executive and the police. The project for criminal reform also has the same objective. The text opens the way for the legal dispositions involved in the espionage of French citizens. As expressed in the the overview of the motives for the bill, the arsenal of prevention set up by the law concerning Intelligence [4], must be completed by a judicial appendix [5]. Thanks to this amendment, information obtained by false IMSI-catcher antennae, by video surveillance, image capture and the audio bugging of homes, can be used as a basis for criminal proceedings. Formal reinforcement of the Public Prosecutor The bill reinforces the prerogatives of the Public Prosecutor, a magistrate dependant on the Executive powers. It therefore plays its part in the continuing action of all governments whatever the majority which is the desire to minimise the role of the investigating magistrate, a function which is deemed too independent by the Executive. It is aimed at dispossessing the judge of the exclusivity of certain of his powers, such as the control of the procedure for intrusive enquiries, in order to hand them over to the Public Prosecutor of the Republic. In the text voted by the National Assembly, the Prosecutor also becomes a Director of Enquiries. He leads the preliminary enquiries, and in this context, he is able to arraign the suspect before a court. Thereafter, he handles the prosecution during the trial which he has himself initiated. Working on all fronts, he will also bear the responsibility for verifying that the enquiries carried out by the criminal investigation department have been carried out effectively both for the prosecution and the defence. In enquiries placed under the direction of the Prosecutor, access to the case file is postponed until the end of the investigation. Thus, the suspect, at the moment of his accusation, has no possibility of contesting the legality or the necessity of an enquiry. Contrary to the procedure headed by the examining magistrate, access to the case file remains non-systematic. In order to give new rights to the suspect, and especially to perpetuate the Prosecutors hold over the criminal procedure, the bill introduces a reform which enables the suspect to intervene in the process of enquiry. But a reform that seems to be headed in the right direction in fact reveals itself as a perversion of the judicial system and the rights of the defence. A perversion of the criminal justice system Thus, the bill introduces a major modification of the criminal justice system - the passage from an inquisitorial procedure centred around the magistrate to a system which is closer to the accusatory procedure currently in vogue in the Anglo-Saxon countries. [6]. The lawyers will have the possibility to ask the Prosecutor for certain determinant proofs, such as auditions or forensic examinations. The introduction of these new procedures means that, as in the United States, only the wealthy will be able to defend themselves. Indeed, for everyone else, the bill has already planned to simplify the mode of passage before the judge of freedoms and detention, in order to be able to judge them even faster within the framework of an immediate trial. Today, in the absence of any suspicious or illegal behaviour, the Prosecutor has the faculty to authorise a preventive control of identity and the search of vehicles found in a given area, and for a specific period. The bill extends this procedure to the inspection of luggage, while currently, this can only be ordered in the context of a legally authorised investigation. We should remember that these inspections are not necessarily aimed at suspects, but also anyone who may be present in a particular location. The extension planned by the bill increases the powers of the police in particular. Inspections can take place not because the police has any hint of an illegal action, but simply because they have the right to do so, on the pretext that they are present in order to prevent or look out for offences. Eviction of the examining magistrate The Prosecutor of the Republic thus has at his disposition an increasing number of prerogatives which until now had been reserved for the examining magistrate, who is once again isolated by the bill, although in France, his functions are already limited to a very small number of cases. The examining magistrate is irremovable he can not be displaced by the Minister of Justice and can not be divested of a case by his hierarchy. Concerning his nomination, the opinion of the Superior Council of the Judiciary is decisive, and this also guarantees his autonomy. The magistrate, whose independence is statutory, is now bereft of the specificity of his action to be able to decide on the arraignment of the accused before the court, and carry out investigations for the prosecution and the defence, to the advantage of both the Prosecutor and the police, who, lets remember, are under the authority not of the Minister for Justice, but the Minister for Internal Affairs. This clearly indicates the primacy of his function concerning the maintenance of law and order . Video surveillance, image capture and audio bugging of a location or a home were also, until now, reserved for the judicial information handed to the examining magistrate. They can now be ordered from the beginning of the preliminary enquiry, after a simple authorisation by the judge for freedom and detention. Let us note that the increase of the powers of the Prosecutor is being implemented without any modification of the status of the Prosecutors Office, which allowed him a minimum of autonomy from the Executive. Even the reform, previously planned by Francois Hollande, which guaranteed that the government would nominate the Prosecutors on the advice of the High Council of the Judiciary, has not been implemented [7]. An uncontrolled police force In reality, the reinforcement of the function of the Prosecutor only exists in comparison to the function of the examining magistrate. As far as the police are concerned, control by the magistrate is little more than a formality. In Belgium, before the Parliamentary Commission relative to the implementation, in 1999, of the comprehensive police force, known as the two-level structure [8], the Prosecutors made it known that, once the authorisation for the investigation has been given, they no longer have effective control over the investigative procedure. This reality is even more obvious in France. The Public Prosecutors Office is presently loaded down with work, since, because they are so few, the Prosecutors have a quasi-jurisdictional function, and treat the great majority of the legal files. The new prerogatives given by this new bill can only increase their work-load and make any surveillance of police work impossible. The police are in fact the flat-out winners of these reforms, which confirm their central role in the present exercise of State power. An omnipotent police force The growth of police power is confirmed by the extension of the context of legitimate defence for the police. Policemen are considered legally non-responsible if they fire their weapons, in cases of absolute necessity, at a person who has killed or attempted to kill, and is about to try again. Since we know that there already exists jurisprudence which allows police the status of legitimate defence for having shot a fleeing suspect in the back [9], we understand that the object of this article is less to protect policemen from legal pursuit than to signify to citizens that they may be treated as enemies. There is an extreme example to illustrate this perspective. France was found guilty by the European Court of Human Rights in an affair where the judiciary had dismissed the case of a gendarme who had shot in the back a handcuffed suspect who was fleeing police custody [10]. The law enforcement agencies may therefore detain a person, even a minor, without access to a lawyer, even if they are in possession of an identity card, and on the vague and hypothetical condition that there are serious reasons to believe that they may have a link with terrorist activity . A previous draft of the bill went even further, by creating an offence called obstruction of search. Though the article was abandoned, it clearly demonstrated the will of the government to criminalise all resistance to the arbitrary will of the police. The disposition was intended to silence demonstrations, following abuses during the wave of inspections authorised by the state of emergency. Furthermore, the older version of the bill indicated that the police could seize any object or document, without having to ask for permission from the Prosecutor [11]. Thus, the police may be freed from the final element of judicial control, that of the Prosecutor, a magistrate who, all the same, is directly governed by the Executive. The judge of freedom and detention - an alibi The Executive can not control the work of the police via the Prosecutor. The judiciary is absolutely helpless in the face of the other figure, officially named by the bill, that of the judge of freedom and detention. Yet he is the official responsible for most of the authorisations for the implementation of the dispositions of law. The control of the legality and proportionality of these measures can be no more than a formality, since the judge is not familiar with the whole file, to which he only has access when it is handed to him, at which time he must make his decision. Once the autorisation has been agreed, he has no way of controlling the actions of the Prosecutor and the police. From the statutory point of view, the position of the judge for freedom and detention is weakened. He does not enjoy the degree of independence of an investigating magistrate, since he is not nominated by decree but by the President of the judiciary, who may decide to relieve him of his functions at any time - if, for example, he should refuse to authorise wire-tapping [12]. As far as terrorism is concerned, and with the prior authorisation of the judge for freedom and detention, night searches will be authorised in private homes from the very beginning of the preliminary investigation. This procedure replaces the authorisation given by the examining magistrate in the primary phase of the enquiry. (In the context of a state of emergency, autorisation may be given by the Prefect). From now on, searches may also be carried out as a preventive measure, on the grounds of possible danger, when it may be used to prevent the risk of a threat to life or physical integrity [13]. Night searches in private homes are trivialised. The text speaks of the risk of a threat, without qualifying it as either current or imminent. This may cover a great number of situations where there may be a threat to life and physical integrity. Vague suspicions could lead to such intrusions on privacy. They may become generalised, if their limitation to terrorist offences is only temporary. Computer searches without judicial guarantee The text also plans for the extension of surveillance possibilities in public places, including the use of IMSI-catchers, or false relay-antennae which spy on telephones and computers without the knowledge of the user. They can also pick up all the mobile phones within their range of action. This represents a massive and undifferentiated system for data-capture. Its use will not be limited exclusively to anti-terrorist investigations, and will be renewable, from month to month, for very long periods, which opens the door to a potentially massive capture of information from French citizens. It will be authorised by the judge for freedom and detention, or, in emergencies, by the Public Prosecutor, given that it is generally the police themselves who qualify the situation as an emergency. Until now, IMSI-catchers could only be authorised in the context of judiciary information, but have been used only rarely by the investigating judge, due to the confusion which reigns in the legal system. The law concerning Intelligence has legalised their use by the secret services. Article 3 of the bill relative to the criminal procedure also provides for the extension of data capture to data archives, which means that all the information contained in computer archives may be taken. This system does not only concern targeted bugs, which collect only current or future conversations, but also an inspection of very old data. This last procedure usually presents certain guarantees, such as the presence of the suspect or of two witnesses, as well as the creation of a secure copy, which limits the risk of modification or exterior intervention on the data collected. This is obviously not the case as far as data capture is concerned [14]. The Prefect - an agent of the permanent state of exception As in the state of emergency, the action of the Prefect has been reinforced. The bill for the reform of criminal procedure is in close correspondence with the law of the 20th November 2015, which prolongs the state of emergency and criminalises intentions, instead of real actions. Terrorist intentions, which are attributed to persons returning from Syria, are also at the centre of the surveillance system authorised by the Prefect. Today, returns from Syria, are now a legal matter. The suspects are indicted, imprisoned or placed under judicial review. From now on, for one month, Prefects may place them under house arrest, and for three months, demand their telephone and computer codes, oblige them to give prior notice of their travels and forbid them to speak to certain people. These measures certainly present the attributes of a criminal procedure, but in fact are a purely administrative act, without the control of a judge. They leave the door wide open for random judgement, and give the suspect no possibility of confronting the allegations brought against him. It is the intention attributed to the person which is under attack, without him being able to defend himself. Thus, as in the state of emergency, the Minister of the Interior, by the intermediary of the Prefect, replaces the examining magistrate. This new bill gives him the power to deprive someone of their freedom, in the absence of any criminal offence. The criminalisation of these returns from Syria reveals the use of a double language by the power structure. In August 2012, ex-Minister Laurent Fabius declared in public that Bachar el-Assad did not deserve to be on this earth. He went even further when he declared to the media, in December 2012 without being arrested for supporting terrorism [15] - that the al-Nusra Front is doing a good job. The jihadist group that he mentioned had just been listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States [16]. At the same time as this affirmation of his support for terrorist groups, the government was demonising and pursuing people who may have been influenced by his declarations. The Administrative Judge - a trompe lil form of control The bill gives the Administrative Judge the power to control the dispositions relative to the returns from Syria. It is his job to control the exactitude of the motives given by the administration, and back them up with his authority, or pronounce a dismissal when the motive invoked is based on materially inexact facts. Thus, in opposition to the principle of the separation of powers, the administration is tasked with controlling itself. Furthermore, the surveillance is purely formal. The Administrative Judge, contrary to the examining magistrate and the judge of freedom and detention, intervenes a posteriori, and his control is random. He only intervenes if the arrested person asks for his participation. Above all, he does not possess the concrete elements necessary for making his decision. He can only base his opinion on imprecise, non-sourced documents notes produced by the Intelligence services, or unsigned, undated documents which lack official headings. On the authorisation of the Prefect, and in the purely administrative context of the prevention of terrorism, the police can therefore proceed with visual inspection, and the search of luggage and vehicles. It is therefore free from prior authorisation by the Prosecutor, in cases where establishments and installations have been declared sensitive by the Prefect, in facts named as such by the police themselves. Thus, the text of the law consecrates the entry of the Prefect into the code of criminal proceedings. But this is in fact a re-modelling of past status, since, before the reform of 1993 [17] which took it from him, the Prefect already enjoyed the powers of the criminal police. The old Article 10 of the code of criminal procedure allowed him, in case of an offence against national security or espionage, to play the part of a policeman, in other words, to order arrests and enquiries. This recurrent concentration of legal prerogatives in the hands of a Prefect shows that, in the country of Montesquieu, the separation of powers, claimed as part of the national heritage, has always been, at the least, erratic. Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images In the pilot of George Lopezs new TV Land comedy, Lopez, he is asked: Do you ever do anything without your name in the title? The answer is a resounding no, but Lopez is aware he cant keep it up forever. We are running out, he told Vulture during a phone interview. Maybe G-Lo Pez? Lopez is the comedians third show since ABC cancelled George Lopez in 2007, the first Latino program to have a syndicated afterlife. Although all of his work is autobiographical on his ABC sitcom he explored his tormented relationship with the grandmother who raised him, and on FXs Saint George he covered his life as a newly single father Lopez plays himself more substantially in this single-camera comedy. Of course, race comes up (Lopez, it turns out, has white-man problems), but Lopez is more about people and character than themes or ideas. From meetings with his managers, to hanging out with his old friends in San Fernando where he grew up, to life with his teenage daughter in his mansion and dating after divorce, Lopez offers a glimpse, albeit a fictionalized one, into his life more than anything else hes done. Im really kind of private, Lopez said. My true personality traits are not what people would expect. They dont know that much about me, so theres still a lot I can show. Lopez, who says hed love to keep this gig for four or five years, spoke with Vulture about the time he threatened his neighbor to put a Mexican in the trees, Snoop Doggs slow work process, and why hes dredging up humiliating moments in his own life. Youve made a multi-camera sitcom with an audience and then a sitcom hybrid without an audience. Now youre trying the single-camera format. Why did you want to do this? Well, I like TV more than I like doing movies because in the movies theres so much waiting around. That kills me to wait. On Saint George, I learned a little about how different it was than multi-camera. But to be able to go outside and shoot around L.A., to have L.A. be the studio, that was great. Youre shooting some of it where you grew up in San Fernando. Yeah, we shot in my old neighborhood. To be able to go back to the neighborhood and have some guys there that remind you of where you came from, and then you have scenes with the manager and the consultant telling you where youre at now, I think its a great place to be stuck in the middle of. How do you find the single-camera format as an actor? Do you think it gives you more freedom? You know what, I liked it because theyre almost like 12 little movies. Because of the way that Troy Miller shot them, its always moving. The stuff in the car is great. Its not still, you know? Theres not really a lot of sitting around and talking. How realistic is the conversation with your representatives about all the social media demands and all the different accounts you have to maintain now? Oh my God. Social media. I think its gonna turn on itself. Its so destructive, 24 hours a day. Its not always nice. I dont really look at Twitter that much anymore. I dont look at Instagram. I only look at Facebook. I think its destructive because it gives people 24-hour access to be negative. Most of the stuff I get is negative stuff. Thats when I know that Im doing better than I was doing before, when its more negative than it had been. What do you mean by that? Because when youre not doing anything, nobody is really connected to you because people follow so many different people. But when you have a show, then the clips go out and somebody will say, Ill give it one season and then it will be cancelled like your other ones. And Im not complaining! Its just all of the stuff that you have to go through to be able to do your work now. Angelenos will get a kick out of seeing former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa getting confused for a valet parker by you! Oh, yeah, hes great. About a year ago, we shot a production pilot and he was in it and then he did it again this time. But hes better in this one than the first one. The first one he was good too, but when he says pendejo [slang for dumbass] both times, it is really funny. Are you friends? Yeah, were friends. The TV Land office called him and they couldnt really nail him down. And then I called him and I went out to dinner with him and I nailed it down. So its just a personal touch. Snoop Dogg, too. You know, Snoop Dogg, when I did my talk show, Snoop had come in and we became friends there. Hes so good because hes Snoop, you know? Estaba fumando [he was smoking] marijuana all afternoon, and I waited three hours and then he came out. He smoked weed all, all day! I love that idea that he calls you over so you can entertain his maid. That actually happened to me a couple times so I decided to put it in. Seriously? Yeah, oh yeah. With other celebrities? Another actor asked me. I was at a Christmas party in Bel Air and he said, Hey, can you talk to my housekeeper? And I was like, Yeah? Uh, yeah. And I talked to her. Im like, Hey, como estas? Mis ninos son fanaticos. [My kids are your biggest fans]. Oh, que bueno. [Oh, thats good]. No puedes pasar poor la casa? [Can you stop by the house?] I dont know. And then he gets on the phone and he goes, Hey, she said youre gonna go by the house. I said, Oh no, I didnt say I was gonna go by the house. He goes, I think itd be great if you went by the house. I was like, I dont know if I can go. And he goes, Well, heres the address just in case. I mean, youre gonna pass right by it. I didnt stop. I guess you dont want to disclose who that was? I dont wanna disclose, no. And then my neighbor with the trees [on the show], it was the same thing. He told me, Im disappointed in you. Thats how he started the conversation. Im disappointed that you would cut the trees without talking to me first. And I was like, Why would I talk to you? Theyre in my yard. Yeah, but your workers had to come in my yard to trash it. I said, I dont think so. And he goes, Well. And I said, Listen, if you think you have a problem, then just get a lawyer and well work it out that way. And then I told him, Hey, listen, one more word about these fucking trees and Ill put a Mexican in the trees every day. Just waiting there. Some of the jokes poke fun at some deeply personal things. There was a joke about divorcing your wife after she donated her kidney to you, and that time you passed out on a casino floor. Why are you bringing that up again? Well, its all on public record, but its never come from me. And I think just to set it down and say, thats that. Listen, Im not embarrassed. Youre embarrassed when it happens, but its all part of your life. So if youre gonna be honest, then use it to be honest. Anything else, I think, would ring false. When you were thinking about the show, were you thinking it would work better on cable? Yeah, because of the landscape. Theres not a lot of places on network TV, and I dont think network TV is the first option anymore, you know? Like it was in 2001, when I was doing the first show. Cable wasnt as big as it is now. And there wasnt Netflix and other places. And with being able to watch it on an app, on your phone, its ridiculous. Even the DVR looks dated when you can have it on your phone and you can watch it at any time. I talked to ABC a little bit about some stuff. You just want to go where they let you do your stuff. TV Land is changing its image. Its got Jim Gaffigan, and its got Hilary Duffs Younger. So theyre trying to change the vibe of it, get less sitcom-y and more into the single-camera thing. They were very supportive. They leave you alone to be creative. And if they have notes, we address the notes. So it was a great place to do the show. Im not sure I wouldve had the same freedom unless I wouldve gone to Showtime or HBO. It hasnt been that long since your show was on ABC. But the industry has changed so much. It seems like a dinosaur now. Do you find this time exciting? Yeah. I mean, so much has happened. Im gonna be 55 at the end of April. And so much has happened in the time that Ive been alive. From the record to the eight-track to the cassette to the disc to nothing. And then in TV, from five channels to cable, HBO, On Demand, to all this now. Almost anybody can be on TV, which is gacho [messed up]. But, still, I think the talent and how good you make the show still works. That hasnt become old-fashioned having talent. Would you agree that this is the first show where you play more of yourself? Im more playing me than I was playing an actor playing me. Is that scary? No, I liked it. And Ive offered stuff where they would say, Oh my god, thats so great. Like? The housekeeper one nobody knew about. Rescuing the dog and then have the dog not connect to you is real, too. When a dog doesnt connect to you, youre like okay. Has your daughter watched the show? I dont think so. My daughter and my ex-wife, they dont mind all the trappings that come with success. They just hate to be made fun of. But thats how we made the money. And its not them. Its versions of them. Have you really been trying to date online? Unsuccessfully. I dont want to see anybody twice. I just want to see them once. (Laughs). I really dont want to see anybody twice. Lopez premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on TV Land. This interview has been edited and condensed. Photo: Anna Webber/WireImage Well, this certainly isnt going to help haters be less corny with that Illuminati mess. According to Us Weekly, Hillary Clinton dropped by Beyonces video shoot last Thursday for an impromptu meeting, which means that HRC probably asked Bey to be her vice-president, and, also, well be getting a new Beyonce video soon. Which is more important? Whos to say? Fortunately for America, Beyonce turns 35 before the election, narrowly reaching the age requirement for VP candidates. Phew! I want to be as good a president as Beyonce is a performer, Clinton told the audience at an Iowa town hall the next day. If Clinton does make a cameo in Beyonces video, hopefully it will just be four minutes of Hill weeping ecstatically after shaking Beys hand. What could be more humanizing? What could be more American? Yes, Bey can! Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Elena Kosolapova - Trend: Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the cooperation in political, trade and economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres with the President of the European Council (EC) Donald Tusk during his visit to Brussels. Meanwhile, the parties touched upon the issues of the international agenda, in particular the situation in Ukraine and Afghanistan, as well as issues of counterterrorism, Kazakh president's press service said March 30. Nazarbayev said that the EC is one of the important vectors of the Kazakh foreign policy and a priority direction of trade and economic cooperation. The president added that Kazakhstan's parliament has ratified an Agreement on expanded and strategic partnership with the EC in the current month and it will bring the parties' cooperation to a qualitatively new level. Tusk, in turn, expressed his hope that Kazakhstan's close partnership with the EC will only become stronger despite the crisis tendencies in the world economy. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova Soledad OBrien and Anderson Cooper. Batman v Superman is not a movie that inspires strong feelings; its a ponderous, incoherent film that mostly summons up a dull distaste. And yet, one aspect of it filled me with a profound civic disgust, like witnessing a congressman steal from a child: Throughout the film, journalists, including Anderson Cooper and Soledad OBrien, showed up to comment on the onscreen action. This is wrong. This should not be. Journalists should not play themselves in superhero films. The issue is not one of taste. Batman v Superman is a terrible film, make no mistake, but these journalists cameos would be equally reprehensible had they taken place in a fine film, or a good film, or even a great film. As it happens, Batman v Supermans utter ineptitude only highlights the cravenness on display: These reporters, who hold themselves as stewards of the public trust, sold themselves out for a movie that turned out to be the comic-book equivalent of The Room. DJ Khaled has a word for that. Thats right sold themselves out. As much as the dignity of the profession is repeatedly and outrageously violated every day (if not every hour), journalism, at least in theory, remains an institution with a moral commitment to the public: To report the news, fairly and honestly; to expose injustice; to offer readers insights into a world they may not know. Is it naive to think that, by signing on to read fake news reports about rampaging aliens threatening a fictional city, these reporters have subsumed those noble goals in order to promote their own personal brands? Its worth noting, of course, that Coopers role in Batman v Superman may not have been entirely up to him: Warner Bros., the films studio, shares a parent company with CNN, his employer*. In a film that has cross-promotion baked into its creative DNA, its possible his cameos were part of a mandatory corporate branding initiative. But, if anything, this possibility is even worse. If journalists so easily bend to the will of their bosses when it comes to appearing in a Zack Snyder movie, how can we expect them to fight when reporting on issues where the interests of the public conflict with the corporations bottom line? Cooper and OBrien arent alone plenty of other media figures, from Nancy Grace to Neil deGrasse Tyson, have cameos in the film. Where do you draw the line? Well admit its fuzzy: Though Tyson moonlights as a film critic, he doesnt have the same responsibilities to the public as a reporter. Likewise with some of the others. Andrew Sullivan is retired and can do whatever he wants, while Nancy Grace is basically playing the fictional character Nancy Grace on television anyway. Their appearances in Batman v Superman embarrass only themselves. How should superhero movies handle the media, then? Why not follow the example of The Dark Knight and make journalists actual characters in your film? Casting actors as fictional journalists not only makes for a better performance, it also results in more interesting stories: Freed from responsibility to any real-life networks, Anthony Michael Halls sleazy news anchor could be a fully fledged actor in that films drama. In recent decades, its become commonplace to ask journalists to constrain their personal behavior in deference to their role as objective arbiters of truth. Were comfortable asking reporters not to endorse candidates, express political opinions, or even cheer in a press box. Im not going that far. All Im asking is for journalists not to appear in superhero films, for the good of the republic. Thats not too much to ask for, is it? *This post originally stated that CNN was OBriens employer. She left the cable network in 2013 to launch her own production company, which produces content for CNN and HBO. Julia Roberts. Photo: JB Lacroix/WireImages Julia Roberts is producing and starring in a thriller Fool Me Once, based on the newly published novel by Harlan Coben. And no, its not about that haunting speech George W. Bush made. Its about a special ops pilot (Roberts) who returns home from war and sees something spooky on her nanny cam: her 2-year-old daughter playing with her husband, who was murdered just weeks prior. Poll time! Whats more unsettling: A murdered guy coming back to life, or Julia Roberts pretending to be a special ops pilot? Hmm. To be fair, though, its easier to imagine her as a special ops pilot than it was to imagine her as an ugly non-famous person in Americas Sweethearts (a classic) or as a Charlotte, the spider, in Charlottes Web. After all, shes a famous actress, not a spider. Get it together, guys! On the left, Steven Pasquale plays Mark Fuhrman in The People v. O.J. Simpson. On the right is the real Mark Fuhrman during the trial. LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman cast a long shadow of reasonable doubt during the O.J. Simpson trial when recorded conversations between himself and aspiring screenwriter Laura Hart McKinny surfaced. The Fuhrman tapes, as they would come to be known, were a flagrant contradiction of the sworn testimony that Fuhrman had given earlier under cross-examination during the trial: That he had not, to his recollection, used the N-word in the past ten years. In those tapes, Fuhrman not only used it, but described committing various acts of police brutality (an L.A. public defenders investigation later determined that he was exaggerating on the latter point). The ninth and penultimate episode of FXs The People v. O.J. Simpson is devoted to the tapes, which Johnnie Cochran and his defense team would use to say that Fuhrman was not only a racist, but a racist who could have planted evidence to frame O.J. Simpson. Cochran called Fuhrman a lying, perjuring genocidal racist. Even prosecutor Marcia Clark closed her argument asking, Is he a racist? Yes. Is he the worst LAPD has to offer? Yes. So how is the man who emerged as the most controversial figure of the trial second perhaps only to O.J. Simpson himself doing? Pretty well, actually. What happened to Mark Fuhrman after the trial? Right afterward, Fuhrman was charged with perjury, to which he pleaded no contest, received three years probation, and paid a $200 fine. (It was then expunged from his record.) He retired during the trial, and like many of the major figures involved, wrote a book about his experiences. Murder in Brentwood, published by Regnery in 1997, shot up to the top of the New York Times best-seller list, and positions Fuhrman as a victim of Americas racial inequities. In the preface, the publisher Alfred S. Regnery writes, It became apparent that somebody would have to be sacrificed and the way he would be sacrificed would be to exploit racial conflict. Did he perjure himself? In the exchange between defense attorney F. Lee Bailey and Fuhrman, Bailey had asked if he had used the N-word in the past ten years, to which Furhman replied, Not that I recall, no. In his book, he explains that he was referring to the habitual use in the course of a lifetime rather than particular instances. Whether this is perjury depends somewhat on whether you consider this issue materially relevant to the case. Perjury isnt simply telling an untruth on the witness stand. (Lying about your age isnt perjury unless the case were about retirement benefits, for instance.) Therefore the perjury depends on whether you see Fuhrmans use of the word as materially relevant to the murder trial. What does he think of Johnnie Cochran? Obviously, he isnt a fan of the man who dragged him throughout the trial. Johnnie Cochran has been playing the race card for much of his professional life, writes Fuhrman in Murder in Brentwood. Was Johnnie Cochran really concerned with racism, or just money? In fact, he thinks that Cochran is a hypocrite for going after him for using a racial slur when he apparently uses it. Johnnie Cochran deems the N word as a term of affection, he writes. Whats Fuhrman doing now? After the success of Murder in Brentwood, Fuhrman would embark on a true-crime spree, writing Murder in Greenwich, Murder in Spokane, and a number of others (his last book was 2009s The Murder Business). He then became a TV and radio personality with his own talk-radio show, Its All About Crime With Mark Fuhrman, and then The Mark Fuhrman Show. He is now a forensic and crime-scene expert for Fox News. What kind of commenting does he do? Well, for one, he came on as an expert for the Michael Brown murder, saying that Darren Wilson almost lost consciousness in a struggle that ended when he shot Brown six times. In that video, Fuhrman also suggests that a cut Brown has on his finger could be the result of Brown trying to take Wilsons gun. I am wondering if that could have possibly been caused by grabbing the weapon, he tells Megyn Kelly. Its a possibility. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Is Mark Fuhrman watching FXs The People v. O.J. Simpson? His agent told Vulture that he isnt watching the show and consequently isnt commenting on it. That doesnt mean he doesnt have opinions! It is sad that this movie will be the historical word on this infamous trial, Fuhrman told the New York Post. This miniseries will most probably define not the historical record of the murder of two people, but the almost pathological desire to elevate a narcissistic, violent man to victim status just because he was a black athlete. Is this the first time someone has played Mark Fuhrman on television? Nope! USA aired a TV movie adaptation of Murder in Greenwich, where none other than Christopher Meloni played Fuhrman. What happened to Laura Hart McKinny (the woman who made the Fuhrman tapes as part of a larger project interviewing LAPD officers for a screenplay she was developing)? McKinny is now a professor of screenwriting in the film department of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She eventually wrote a novel called Men Against Women using the material from her tapes. I didnt set out to interview a racist, McKinny recently told THR. So how does he explain the tapes? Fuhrman apologized a number of times for the tapes, including during an interview with Diane Sawyer, another with Oprah Winfrey, and in Murder in Brentwood. He offers up a number of explanations in his book, which hinge on the fact that he claims he wasnt speaking as himself, but as a character creating fictional situations, sometimes based loosely on true incidents. He writes: When I was making up dialogue, I spoke in the first person. But these werent my own words, my own experiences, or my own sentiments, writes Fuhrman. They were the words of fictional characters I had created based on my imagination and experience. I knew I had to exaggerate things to make the screenplay dramatic and commercially appealing And since Laura and I sometimes drank wine while we had our recorded conversations, occasionally I got a little carried away. Come on. Is that true? According to the defense, there was only one identifiable instance where Fuhrman seemed to be speaking as a fictional character. Testifying during the trial, McKinny said she had outlined the point of the interviews to him: I told him that I wanted to write a fictional piece based on fact, so it was very important to me that I had a really clear idea of what some police officers would say in a given situation, so that the instances that he would give me would be as factual and realistic as possible. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 30 By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend: Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has signed a decree to improve the rules of selling wool, carpets and hand-woven carpets abroad, said the message from the Turkmen government. The document was presented during the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, during which the president noted that considerable amount of investments is made in the development of Turkmenistan's carpet weaving industry. Berdimuhamedov added that it is important to ensure high competitiveness on foreign and domestic markets and to use advanced methods of economic management. Turkmen masterpiece - "Altyn Asyr" giant carpet was included in the Guinness World Records in 2003 as the largest handmade carpet in the world. Edited by SI The Hancock Fabrics store at Waco and Valley Mills drives, in Westview Village, is one of 70 underperforming locations the chain will close as part of its second bankruptcy filing in recent years, officials with one of the oldest and largest fabric chains in America have confirmed. Founded in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1957, the chain previously sought protection from creditors in 2007, and closed its Waco store in another shopping center at that time. Hancock re-entered the Waco market in 2014, opening a store next to Michaels, a retailer of hobby supplies and home decor. Chris Dominguez, who manages Wacos Hancock Fabrics, said it will proceed with a liquidation sale until nearly all merchandise is gone. The windows of the store are marked with discounts that likely will increase in the coming weeks as the quitting-business promotion ends, probably in mid-May, Dominguez said. A news release from Hancock indicated the 70 stores targeted to be shuttered were not performing up to company standards and had become a financial drain. Hancock operates 250 retail stores in 37 states and makes online sales. It employs 4,522 staffers. Dominguez declined to say how many people work at the Waco store but said they would roll with the punches until the lights go out for the last time. Hoppenstein Properties owns Westview Village, and bookkeeper Vivian Griffith said Hancock Fabrics lease on 9,000 square feet expires in 2020. Griffith said the space is not yet being marketed because Hancock Fabrics has not formally announced its intentions to leave the center. I have seen the signs, and I do know that the company has filed for bankruptcy protection, she said. But we have received no official notice. Elsewhere in Westview Village, signs have been posted at the former WiseGuys Chicago Eatery space indicating that Taco Loco soon will open there. Griffith confirmed that Taco Loco has signed a lease on the 3,300-square-foot vacancy but said she does not know when it would open. Also, Amish Oak in Texas recently opened a handmade furniture store next to Broncs Restaurant in Westview. As for Hancock Fabrics, it emerged from its initial bankruptcy-mandated reorganization in 2008 but has enjoyed a profit during only one year since then. The chain reportedly has experienced a challenging retail business environment and has been burdened by significant legacy costs, officials said in a press release. For example, the companys contribution to its pension and benefits programs increased by $4 million in 2014 alone, and the fund now is underfunded by $44 million. Hancock has had to rely on bank loans to keep its doors open, and it negotiated about $100 million in financing as part of its reorganization plan. It has hired Great American Group of California to sell off the merchandise in 70 stores, the same company it used in its previous bankruptcy. In its news release, Hancock said it is considering all possible options for maximizing stakeholder value, including the sale of the business as a going concern in either a single transaction or a series of transactions. It also is reviewing investment options with existing stakeholders and third parties. CEO Steve Morgan said the restructuring is a positive step for the future of Hancock Fabrics and the stores that will remain open. The company plans to continue to operate as usual and to fulfill customer orders and pay vendors, according to the press release. Almost 200 longboarders are coming to Waco this weekend for the sixth annual Gnarathon competition, which has expanded to a two-day event in Cameron Park. Gnarathon 6 organizers expect a few hundred spectators to line Emmons Cliff Drive to watch and cheer as 175 racers between the ages of 16 and 50 take on the steep and winding street. In an event competing for attention on an already busy weekend in Waco, Gnarathon attracts skateboarders and fans of all demographics, organizer Ryan Richbourg said. You get a very diverse group of people at these skate events from all different types off backgrounds, said Richbourg, who runs Radbourg Ventures LLC. The skateboarding race Saturday and Sunday is hosted in conjunction with Gnarlys Skate Shop. Richbourg said Gnarathon 5 attracted 144 skateboarders and about 250 spectators. He said it is a pretty big jump to move the event to two days, but he wanted to allow for more races and to let people freeride down Emmons Cliff Drive. From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, participants can take on the hill and practice for Sundays competition. Spectators are encouraged to watch as hay bales are placed around guardrails to prevent skaters from crashing into them. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, skaters will move to the new Sul Ross park at 1301 Barnard Ave. to perform on the concrete skate course. Thats going to be really neat because that was built pretty recently, Richbourg said. The main event is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, when racers in different categories will speed down Emmons Cliff Drive. Greg Noble, of Houston, said that is the event spectators should really attend. Noble, who has participated in all the Gnarathon events, said the competition is one of the few legal downhill races in the state. The majority of the races are typically outlaw races, in which longboarders fight traffic and potentially endanger themselves or others. Hats off to Ryan that he was able to get a secure, safe spot to have our race, Noble said. Racers come from all across Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana. Noble and Richbourg each said the event is almost a reunion for enthusiasts from across the state. Really, its just kind of the family atmosphere you get when you go to the event. Its almost like a longboarding festival, Richbourg said. Were all pretty close. Its a good chance for everyone to catch up and see everyone else from the skate scene. Noble said he has skated since the 1970s and got involved in longboarding about six years ago, when his son turned 11. While skateboarding and longboarding are sometimes used interchangeably, they refer to two different forms of the sport, he said. Emmons Cliff Drive, which will be closed to all motor vehicle traffic during the event, was repaved in 2015, and the longboarders race down about 1/3 of a mile of that stretch, reaching top speeds of 35 mph. It makes it faster and more challenging and exciting for the skaters, Richbourg said. It has more curves in the road, and its a little bit steeper and longer as well. Kyle Ramsey, of Oklahoma City, said he is planning to make the trip again to Waco for Gnarathon. Ramsey, who has been longboarding since 2009, said it is great to get to skate without worrying about traffic. We dont have too many of these, so its really great to see the guys we dont see very often, Ramsey said. Ramsey said he enjoys the speed of longboarding as well as any competitions, despite injuries. Its very much addictive, like anyone that sky-dives, for an adrenaline junkie. Once you get a taste of it, no matter what, you keep coming back for more, Ramsey said. Spectators can park at the top of the hill on Emmons Cliff Drive or at Lovers Leap. There is room for some chairs along the road. I would definitely advise people to bring lots of water, and bug spray will be important, Richbourg said. That part of the park is pretty forested back there. Injuries happen, Richbourg said, adding they do what they can to prevent them. Every participant this weekend is required to wear a helmet and gloves, and most wear kneepads, said Richbourg, a Baylor University senior majoring in entrepreneurship and supply chain management. Last year, a participant broke his nose when a board hit him in the face as he fell. Someone else fractured an ankle, and another person fractured a shin. Usually the reason people get hurt is because they show up to Gnarathon, and it turns out theyre skating a hill outside their skill level, he said. The most common injury is road rash, Richbourg said. He said the university has a medical service organization that volunteers their time at the event to provide services to participants. Its definitely cool to have that first aid team out there, Richbourg said. They do a great job of patching everyone up and getting them back on their boards. ----- Gnarathon 6 Emmons Cliff Drive in Waco on Saturday and Sunday Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday: Freeride at Emmons Cliff Drive 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday: Skate park at 1301 Bernard Ave. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday: Race at Emmons Cliff Drive 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday: Raffle and freeride at Emmons Cliff Drive For more information, find Gnarathon 6 on Facebook. When a suicide bomb exploded at a crowded playground on Easter Sunday in Lahore, Pakistan, Charles and Brooke Ramsey got a new reminder of how fragile life is in their adopted city. The Ramseys, who have strong Waco ties, were safe with their five children in their home about a 10-minute drive from the bomb blast, which killed at least 72 and wounded more than 300. But within hours, Charles Ramsey was attending the funeral of an 18-year-old family friend who died in the blast and as usual, he kept an eye out for more trouble. Unfortunately, we all live that way, said Ramsey, a Baylor University graduate and Columbus Avenue Baptist Church member who teaches at a college in Lahore. People coming into a school get frisked. Going into a restaurant, you get frisked. A splinter group of the Taliban took credit for the bombing, saying it was directed at Christians and that more attacks would follow. But Ramsey said he is not going to let this bombing or the other terrorist acts inflicted on Christian Pakistanis cause him to hide his faith or barricade his family of seven indoors. Its a balance, he said. You have to keep it in check. You still have to live. The Ramseys, who are affiliated with the ministries of Columbus Avenue Baptist Church, have lived the past four years in Lahore, a cultured city of some 12 million people. Previously, they lived in the troubled Kashmir region of India. Charles Ramsey also worked as a photographer at the Tribune-Herald when he lived in Waco. Though Pakistan is officially a Muslim country, Ramsey said the generations-old Christian minority is accepted in society and his Muslim neighbors are outraged over the attacks. Theres a general sense that we all want to live well, but theres a well-funded, well-armed minority who want to bring about regime change and to weaken the country, he said in a phone interview Monday. Hitting the Christians was another soft target for them. Among the victims was 18-year-old Numan Paul, the nephew of a friend and household employee of the Ramseys. The young man, whose father is mentally ill, worked in a barber shop to support his family. The immediate family is just devastated, Ramsey said. Theres a lot of family members coming around helping provide food for the family. Theres a lot of overt crying and weeping. Mourning here is very open. Despite the violence, Ramsey said he feels called to stay in Pakistan. For Brooke and I, its extremely meaningful work, he said. I cant think of a more important place to be a Christian. Ramsey, who has a graduate degree from Baylor in comparative religions, teaches religion and public policy at Forman Christian College. The college, founded in 1864, has a majority Muslim faculty and student body. I teach Christians about Islam and Muslims about Christianity, he said. In addition, he teaches conflict resolution as part of a peace studies curriculum. Before heading to South Asia in 2000, the Ramseys served as live-in volunteers at World Hunger Relief Internationals training farm north of Waco, and they returned there for another stint in 2006. The family spent last summer in Waco as a break from their ministry in Pakistan. Matt Hess, executive director of World Hunger Relief, said the Ramseys lives in Lahore seem pretty intense, but he admires their dedication. I respect the fact that they have chosen to express love when so much of the response we see to hatred and violence is more hatred and violence, Hess said. Theres something very beautiful about being willing to live among those who are broken and hurting. Sounding a lot like Bill Clinton, the beleaguered governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley, called a news conference last week to say in no uncertain terms that he did not have sex with that woman. Accused of having an illicit relationship with an aide, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, he stopped short of wagging his finger. But, in another Clinton parallel, there is readily available evidence that contradicts his denials: text messages and audio recordings made public by the Alabama Media Group and the governors just-fired head of law enforcement, Spencer Collier. In a separate press conference, Collier, who said Bentley was like a father to him, contradicted the governors statement that although he may have made inappropriate remarks to a staffer, he had not participated in a physical, sexual relationship. Hogwash is more or less what Collier said to that. He claimed that he and another official had uncovered explicit texts between Bentley and Mason, his closest and highest-paid adviser. There also are tapes made by the family, which earlier had tried to determine whether Bentley was cheating on his wife. The public has made an uneasy peace with the foibles of its politicians in the post-Clinton world. Character, as its now assessed, includes sexual conduct, but that isnt weighed so heavily that it blocks out everything else. Knock out politicians for having affairs and you might not have enough left to vote for. Lying is considered a lesser-included offense because no one willingly admits to infidelity. Politicians survive former Gov. Mark Sanford of Appalachian Trail fame (elected to Congress), Sen. David Vitter (who admitted to dalliances with prostitutes won re-election once but not his bid to become Louisiana governor) and Clinton himself (shamed, impeached, but not thrown out of office). The lines that remain are drawn at the office door or at illegality. Those whove run afoul of the current ethos crossed one or the other: Nevada Sen. John Ensign (the office) and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer (prostitutes). Former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner fits no category except utter stupidity. The transcript of the tapes suggests that Bentley falls into both the Ensign (Mason, said Collier, was a de facto governor) and Weiner classifications. Bentley said, If we are going to do what we did the other day, we are going to have to lock the door. And, When I stand behind you, and I put my arms around you, and I put my hands on your breasts, and I put my hands (muffled) and just pull you real close, I love that, too. When asked about the tapes, he repeatedly acknowledged that his words were inappropriate, but thats as far as it went. He explained that the love he spoke of was the love he felt for all his staff, adding, almost comically, some more than others. Mason is married. Bentley no longer has a spouse to stand by his side. He and his wife of 50 years divorced after he won re-election in 2014. The other lasting law of these scandals is that the other woman suffers no matter what happens to the principal, Monica Lewinsky being Exhibit No. 1. Mason, however, is not going gently into someone elses scandal. The whole thing, she said in a statement, is a result of clear, demonstrated gender bias by Collier. But Collier begs to differ: At one time, Mason was on the state payroll, but how she gets paid her salary of almost $500,000 now is foggy. That could be the smoking gun. However shes paid, Mason is almost always by the governors side. Bentley is going after Collier as if his former law-enforcement chief were his only problem and the tapes did not exist. Collier was fired, Bentleys supporters say, only after an internal review found possible misuse of state money. Collier said he was fired because he confronted Bentley about the affair and because he refused to lie before the grand jury about a friend of Bentleys in an ethics inquiry. The governor is sticking with his denial that it was all words. Even so, under the in-the-office rule, hes still vulnerable, and the digging has just begun. The governor may survive, depending on what your definition of survive is. To those who watched him at the capitol last week, it was questionable whether the first deacon of the First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa and 73-year-old grandfather survived humiliation. Margaret Carlson is a Bloomberg View columnist. This newspaper normally has little interest in whats happening in Georgia, but Texans should closely eye Republican Georgia Gov. Nathan Deals gutsy veto of an anti-gay bill this week, given that some lawmakers in our state contemplate similarly discriminatory legislation under the guise of religious liberty. Georgias pro-business sector lobbied hard for the governor to kill this bill, arguing its discriminatory passages would hurt the states economy, send industry packing and kill jobs. One doesnt have to embrace, let alone condone, the gay lifestyle to recognize the potential for mischief in such legislation. The measure vetoed by Deal might have allowed agencies supported to some degree by taxpayer dollars homeless shelters and drug-counseling centers, for example to refuse service to gay individuals and same-sex couples. It also included language that might have allowed hospitals to refuse treatment to such individuals. Many of us understand guaranteeing religious liberty, including measures such as the Pastor Protection Act passed last year by the Texas Legislature. It allows pastors, priests, rabbis and imams the right to refuse conducting marriage rites of those who do not subscribe to certain tenets of their faiths, however narrow they might seem. However, expanding this idea into a largely secular arena involving taxpayer-supported institutions such as homeless shelters and hospitals opens up the potential for discrimination on a scale no true patriot should tolerate. Our nation has struggled since its founding to free itself of discriminatory practices. Dressing discrimination up in the solemn guise of religious liberty formerly employed to keep people of different colors from marrying is an old, hate-filled ruse that doesnt fool anyone, least of all those adroitly trying to claim their religious values are threatened by others doing them no harm. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, March 30 By Demir Azizov- Trend: Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the UN have discussed the situation in Afghanistan, the regional security and prospects for cooperation. The discussions were held between Yevgeniy Sysoyev, director of the executive committee of Regional Anti-terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO RATS) and Ashita Mittal, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Central Asia, said the message from SCO RATS. During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the situation in the region and prospects for its improvement and expressed concern over the situation in Afghanistan. Sysoyev noted that the increasing terrorism threat requires taking timely joint measures to ensure and maintain stability in the region and in the world. The parties said that the current legal framework between the SCO RATS and UNODC makes it possible to actively cooperate in security sphere. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was established in 2001. It is a permanent intergovernmental international organization. The SCO members are China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus are the SCO observer-countries, while Turkey, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal are dialogue partners. Edited by SI Baku, Azerbaijan, March 28 By Umid Niayesh - Trend: Iran realizes that the oil freeze plan is basically meaningless and falls short of what it desires, says Anne Korin, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a think tank focused on energy and security. "As far as Iran is concerned, despite the hand-waving from the Saudis about a freeze, this is a continuation of proxy war in the economic arena," Korin told Trend March 28. While 11 of OPEC's 13 members, which produce a half of the global oil, say they will attend oil production freeze talks next month in Doha, Iran and Libya have rejected to participate in this issue. In February, Russia and OPEC's major oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, agreed to freeze oil production at the January levels. Iran aims to produce four million barrels of oil per day. It suffered a severe decline in oil exports due to sanctions. Before the sanctions, the country used to export 2.3 million barrels of oil per day, but it could export only one million barrels per day up to January when the sanctions were lifted. Korin says if the Saudis really wanted to drive prices up, they would have pushed through a significant production cut. "They very well know a freeze won't have impact until growing demand soaks up excess supply, which will take quite a while," she added. As for Libya, which also rejected to take part in the oil freeze plan, Korin said as the IS terrorist group (ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) grows in strength there, the energy infrastructure is both a big target and a coveted prize. Tehran, Iran, March 29 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Dharmendra Pradhan, India's minister of oil and natural gas, is set to visit Iran in the near future to discuss the development of Iran's Farzad B Gas Field. Farzad B is an Iranian natural gas field discovered in 2012. Production on it began in 2013. Gas and condensates are being extracted from the field. After their recent talks with Iranian counterparts, Indian oil officials said they had prepared a comprehensive plan for the field's development, which they would like to introduce during an official visit, Tasnim news agency reported March 29. Accordingly, the Indian Ministry of Oil and Natural Gas hopes to encourage Iran to assign the field's development to India's ONGC Videsh. India is thought to be intending an investment of $5 to $10 billion in developing the field and turning the extracted gas into LNG. Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Offices and Retail around the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at 13.7bn (British Land share: 10.3bn) as at 30 September 2020 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies. Our strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of our customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. We do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance. Our Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 65% of our portfolio. Our Retail portfolio is focused on retail parks and shopping centres, and accounts for 31% of our portfolio. Increasingly our focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, our 53 acre redevelopment opportunity where we have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London. Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Over 80 percent of gold jewelry in Iran's market are imported illegally from abroad, said Hossein Pendarvand, a board of directors member of Iran's Gold, Jewelry, Silver and Precious Stones Producers Association. Almost one ton of gold jewelry is traded in Iran's market every day, Pendarvand said, Fars news agency reported. He further said that while gold jewelry import is banned, some 80 percent of the products traded in Iran's gold market came from Turkey, India, the UAE and Thailand illegally. He expressed regret that Iran has become one of the main markets for smuggled gold jewelry which harms the domestic products. "Ten years ago the country was among the gold jewelry exporters," Pendarvand said. He also said that Iran is among the top five gold and jewelry markets in the world. Meanwhile Abdollah Mohammadvali, chairman of the Iran's Chairman of Gold, Jewelry, Silver and Precious Stones Producers and Exporters Association said earlier that Iran is seeking to gain access to a share of 2.5 to 5 percent in the global gold and jewelry market in the next 10 years. According to Mohammadvali gold economic turnover in the world is estimated to be equal to $600 billion and that of the jewelry to about $700 billion. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. Safe to say, Mattel's foray into China has not been a roaring success. Credit:Bloomberg Chasing the money Mattel's millions were swept up in a tide of dirty money that passes through China and that Western police are only beginning to understand. The scam the company fell victim to known as the fake CEO or fake president scam has cost companies, many of them American, more than $US1.8 billion, according to the FBI. Most of the stolen money passes through banks in China or Hong Kong, the FBI said. An Associated Press investigation this week showed that China is emerging as a global hub for money laundering. The dark money that courses through China has long been considered a domestic issue, with Chinese illicitly moving money for other Chinese. That's no longer the case. Mounting evidence indicates that China is becoming a global banker for the criminal economy, according to interviews with police officials, court records in the US and Europe, and intelligence documents reviewed by the AP. Wenzhou is known as the birthplace of underground finance in China. Credit:AP Years of mutual mistrust have hindered law enforcement cooperation between China and the West, adding to China's appeal as a money laundering hub. The US State Department said in a report this month that China has "not cooperated sufficiently on financial investigations." China's inability to enforce US court orders on China-based assets "remains a significant barrier to enhanced US-China cooperation," it added. In a regular briefing with reporters on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that the government "places great emphasis" on fighting crimes such as money laundering and is working to expand international cooperation. "China is not, has not been, nor will be in the future a centre of global money laundering," he said. Mattel's China disaster Mattel wasn't going to let go of $US3 million without a fight. What the company really needed was luck. And when it came to Mattel's China operations, luck had been in short supply. Mattel's misadventures in China are so spectacular they've become the stuff of business school seminars. In 2007, Mattel recalled 19 million made-in-China toys, including Pixar cars covered in lead paint and Barbie sets embedded with tiny, hazardous magnets. Then, in 2009, Mattel opened the "House of Barbie," a glowing pink, six-story shrine on one of Shanghai's ritziest shopping boulevards. It had a spiral staircase encased with over 800 Barbie dolls, a spa and a fashion runway. But the flagship flopped, and Mattel closed it after just two years. Rising costs and labour shortages weighed on China production, even as the $US5.7 billion toy giant limped back into the Chinese market with dolls including a Violin Soloist Barbie aimed at Chinese "tiger moms." The thieves struck as Mattel was aggressively pushing its China business, positioning itself as a child development brand, which helped grow China sales 43 per cent in 2015 over the prior year. They had done their homework, mining social media and likely hacking corporate emails to penetrate Mattel's corporate hierarchy and payment patterns, according to the person familiar with the investigation. The criminals had the $US3 million sent to Wenzhou, a gritty enclave on China's eastern coast that is emerging as a significant transit point in global money laundering networks. The city is the destination for 90 percent of the funds stolen through fake CEO scams in Europe, according to an intelligence memo reviewed by the AP. Wenzhou city officials declined to comment. The birthplace of underground finance Squeezed by mountains against the sea, Wenzhou is known as the birthplace of underground finance in China. Decades of official neglect allowed an unusual, business-oriented culture to thrive here. After Mao's anti-capitalist rule, a private economy began to re-emerge in Wenzhou in the late 1970s. But those first peasant entrepreneurs and the informal financing mechanisms that sprang up around them inhabited a legal gray zone, said Chen Zongshi, an assistant sociology professor at Zhejiang University. It would be a decade before Wenzhou was officially authorised to develop private enterprise, according to Zongshi. Those regulations were among the first in China. Poverty, underdevelopment and a lack of arable land also made Wenzhou an ideal place to leave. Strivers heading for Europe and North America poured out of Wenzhou, and in their wake, the informal financial systems that served the area's entrepreneurs went global. Today, money that ends up in Wenzhou doesn't have to stay there thanks in part to the pawn shops and corner grocery stores that quietly double as money-transfer agents, said Yan Lixin, the secretary general of the China Center for Anti-Money Laundering Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University. "From Wenzhou, the money could scatter to any other place," he said. Luck arrived for Mattel in the form of a bank holiday. Friday, May 1, was Labor Day in China. That, crucially, gave Mattel time. The company notified Chinese police, who quickly launched a criminal investigation, according to a letter from Mattel thanking Chinese authorities, which was obtained by the AP. When the Bank of Wenzhou opened the following Monday, a China-based anti-fraud executive from Mattel strode past the sculpted lions that flank the entrance to the bank's headquarters, marched upstairs to the International Business Department and presented a letter from the FBI, according to two people familiar with the investigation who were not authorised to speak publicly. Chinese police froze the account that very morning. Two days later, on May 6, Mattel got its money back, according to the letter. Mattel wrote that the Wenzhou police "showed a great sense of responsibility and enforcement capability." "We hereby reiterate our appreciation," Mattel wrote. "We also hope that this case can pave the way for future international cooperation in fighting similar transnational crimes." International cooperation has grown in importance for Beijing. China's ruling Communist Party is campaigning to purge corruption from its ranks, pursuing officials who have fled overseas with ill-gotten wealth, in an effort to shore up its legitimacy as China's economy slows. "If we need help getting corrupt officials or bribes back, we need to offer assistance when other countries need it too," said Huang Feng, Director of the Institute for International Criminal Law at Beijing Normal University. "The problem is not that the Chinese authorities have been uncooperative, it's that we don't have a relevant legal framework to implement." He said Mattel fought the fraud correctly, imploring Chinese authorities to use Chinese law to get the money back. The Bank of Wenzhou confirmed that its staff handled Mattel's case but declined to comment. Police in Wenzhou confirmed that an investigation was ongoing but declined to discuss details. Mattel also declined to comment for this story, citing the ongoing investigation. It has been a good few months for the world's major miners, but not everyone believes the recent commodities rally will last. The surprise surge in prices for iron ore, copper, manganese and oil since January 21 has boosted mining stocks, but also attracted the type of investors who like to bet that shares will go down. Short positions in Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American surged to their highest levels in several years during the first quarter of 2016, suggesting that a growing number of investors believe the improved commodity prices cannot be sustained. Take Rio for example; the percentage of Rio's Australian shares sold short in mid February was the highest since Christmas Eve 2012. In record time, tagging a startup as "Uber for X" has gone from big-money venture-capital pitch to tired old joke. Everyone wants to write an app that disrupts some big industry. How many people are succeeding? Not many, argues The New York Times' tech columnist Farhad Manjoo. Parking, grocery shopping and take-away are just a few of the many industries that have been pitched as ripe for disruption, offering consumers better service at lower cost. And that pitch actually seemed to make sense, when services were still in the first flush phase of their venture capital infusions, and offering their product at a loss in order to build a labour force and customer share. Now, however, they look a lot more like high-end services for affluent consumers willing to pay a premium for convenience. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. If high-end consumers are willing to pay someone to bring them stuff, and that someone is happy earning the money, then this is great news for the economy. On the other hand, letting the highest-income consumers pay someone to pick out their groceries, rather than picking them out themselves, is not exactly a revolutionary disruption of the grocery industry. It's a moderately convenient service delivered at a premium cost. Why don't these businesses look more like Uber, which has simultaneously increased the availability and convenience of taxi services, while lowering the cost? Manjoo suggests that it's because Uber was disrupting a taxi cartel that was able to extract significant economic rents from customers, made possible by heavy protection from local regulators. Tributes are pouring in for pioneering and much-loved Sydney DJ, Paul Holden, who has died suddenly after falling at home. Holden, 51, who was regarded as a leader in the emerging rave culture in Sydney in the late 1980s and early 1990s, fell at home in Mosman home on Tuesday hitting his head, according to a friend who spoke to Fairfax. Holden was alone and not found until Wednesday morning when a family member found him. Holden's longtime friend and fellow DJ Mark Dynamix wrote on Facebook: "I have no words right now, I can't speak, utterly shocked. I have just heard that my partner in Jack The House, Mr. Paul Holden has passed away. Absolutely devastated." Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Umid Niayesh - Trend: As the US and its European allies are seeking a meeting at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iran's latest ballistic missile tests, it seems that the Islamic Republic is also facing new problems inside regarding the disputed missile program. The early March missile tests, which, according to the Western countries were "in defiance" of a UNSC resolution, have triggered a new confrontation at the top levels of Iranian administration. During a speech March 30, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while defending Iran's missile program, accused its critics of "treason." Khamenei's website quoted him as saying those in Iran, who claim that tomorrow's world is the world of negotiations, not of missiles, show their unawareness if they say this unwarily, otherwise such claims constitute "treason". The remarks follow a recent tweet by Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, who tweeted March 24 that "tomorrow's world is the world of dialogue, not of missiles." After the tweet was posted, Iranian conservatives attacked the 81-year old "godfather" of the moderates, accusing him of "undermining the government's stance" and "justifying" the West's promotional war against Iran's missile program. Rafsanjani, the former powerful president (1989 -1997), who was the country's second person during the late leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was gradually expelled from power structure following the disputed 2009 presidential election as differences between him and Khamenei deepened. He was even disqualified by powerful Guardian Council from taking part in the 2013 presidential election. After that he backed Hassan Rouhani and played a decisive role in him being elected as a president. Rouhani himself, who is described by some Iranian observers as "second Rafsanjani", has preferred to act in line with conservatives regarding the missile program. He has recently been implicitly criticized by Khamenei due to his initiative to extend the historic nuclear deal with world powers (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), which resulted in the removal of international sanctions on Tehran, to other areas in the Islamic Republic. Referring to Iran's latest parliamentary election - in which pro-president coalition of moderates and reformists won an obvious victory in big cities particularly - Rouhani said Iranians launched the JCPOA 2, the National Joint Plan of Action, in the country. Khamenei's response to this idea came quite quickly as he tacitly criticized Iran's nuclear negotiations team for violating some of his redlines, warning that the JCPOA cannot be extended to other issues. "There are those who say that Iran needs 'JCPOA 2, 3 and 4' for the people to live comfortably, and who wrongly believe that economic problems will only be solved by negotiations with the US, and by retreating from 'principles, positions and red lines'," said Khamenei March 20. Now it was Rafsanjani's turn to express support for Rouhani's moderate policies reiterating once again the importance of dialogue in settling disputes. Rafsanjani has played a decision-making role in significant periods of the Islamic Republic's history. He has had an undeniable part in Khamenei's election as supreme leader in 1989. Although expelled from power structure, Rafsanjani still enjoys significant influence and respect in the Islamic Republic, even among certain high-ranking IRGC officials. During the recent election to Assembly of Experts, he stood at first place among Tehran's candidates, whereas symbolic hardliner figures Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi and Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi lost their seats in the assembly and the Guardian Council's chief Ahmad Jannati hardly secured his place there, standing at the bottom of the list of those elected. Coming back to the recent implicit word duello between Khamenei and Rafsanjani, the veteran politician is not expected to respond to Khamenei's criticism and will prefer to keep quiet for a while as he has done in similar occasions in the past. Today's statement by Khamenei and Rafsanjani's tweet actually symbolize the two opposing viewpoints in Iran: continuing the dialogue with the world and initiating further JCPOAs to settle other problems versus freezing the process of integration to the global community and even returning to isolation. So, today, the Islamic Republic's administration stands at a crossroads following the fresh nuclear deal. --- Umid Niayesh is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh A former deputy prime minister has reportedly spent a night stranded in the bush in north-east Victoria. Tim Fischer returned home on Wednesday morning after becoming the subject of a search near his property near Dederang overnight. The 69-year-old set out for a bush walk on Mount Jack, near Myrtleford, on Tuesday afternoon. He decided to spent the night outdoors after losing his glasses and running out of time to safely complete his walk. Australian actor Hugh Jackman has played down his real-life rescue at Bondi Beach over the Easter long weekend, saying the situation "wasn't as dramatic as it sounded or looked". Instead, the Hollywood star paid tribute to the surf lifesavers at North Bondi and Bondi beaches, who he said pulled numerous swimmers to safety throughout Saturday. "I saw them rescue a whole lot of people, so hats off to the guys at North Bondi and Bondi, it was rough surf that day," Jackman said at the premiere of his new film, Eddie the Eagle, on Tuesday night. "Australia is frozen in time," laments one of the nation's top mathematicians, Nalini Joshi. "I am the first female mathematician ever to be appointed as professor at Australia's oldest university. I was the third female mathematician ever elected to the Australian Academy of Science," the Sydney University academic says. "But when I attend functions at the academy, wearing a black suit, with a name badge, I am often mistaken for one of the serving staff. And, I am not alone." On Wednesday, Professor Joshi, the chair of Applied Mathematics at the University of Sydney, will use an address to the National Press Club to blast the endemic marginalisation of female researchers in Australian universities. A Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft crashed March 30 during the landing at an airfield in Russia's Far Eastern Primorye territory, the defense ministry said, Russian news agency TASS reported. The Su-25 jet (NATO reporting name: "Frogfoot") was performing a training flight, the ministry's press service said. "The pilot ejected, his life and health are not under threat," according to the press service. "The flight was made without an ammunition allowance. There are no casualties or destruction on the ground." A ministry's commission for flights safety is heading to the crash scene. A source in the law enforcement agencies earlier told TASS that the aircraft crashed near Chernigovka airfield due to "engine malfunction." The local administration confirmed that crash occurred in Primorye's Chernigovsky settlement, adding that there were no casualties or serious destruction. Islamabad: Pakistan has arrested 5221 suspects for alleged links with Islamist extremists after a Taliban bomber killed 72 people at the weekend, officials said on Tuesday. Of those arrested, 5005 were released again early on Tuesday, Justice Minister of the Punjab province Rana Sanaullah said. At least 216 individuals remained in police detention. Protesters burn pictures of Pakistani political leaders past and present in Lahore before this week's attack. Pakistan has become a bitterly divided nation. Credit:AP The crackdown across several cities in the central province of Punjab started immediately after Sunday's bombing at a public park in the eastern city of Lahore, security officials said. 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. Russia has refused to take part in this week's nuclear security summit in Washington over the lack of cooperation with partners on this issue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters March 30, Russian news agency TASS reported. The Nuclear Security Summit 2016 will be held in Washington, D.C., March 31 - April 1. "The nuclear security issue is rather topical," Peskov said. "At the same time Moscow considers that working on issues linked to nuclear security demands common and joint efforts and mutually taking into account interests and positions." "We faced a certain lack of cooperation during the preliminary stage of working on issues and topics of the summit," he explained. "That's why in this case there is no participation of the Russian side." A police officer was martyred during a counter-terrorism operation against PKK terrorists in Turkey's southeast Sirnak province Tuesday, police sources said, Anadolu reported. More than 350 security personnel have been martyred since the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU, resumed its 30-year armed campaign last July. Thousands of PKK terrorists have also been killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 Trend: Mihrac Ural, one of the terrorists who organized a number of explosions in Turkey, was killed in Syria, Turkish Haber7 newspaper wrote March 30. The newspaper wrote that Ural was the organizer of terrorist attacks, committed in Reyhanli town, Turkey's Hatay province in May 2013. Some 46 people were killed and 155 people were injured following these attacks, the statement said. Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed the lives of over 220,000 people. Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The "Islamic State" (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) and Jabhat al-Nusra are the most active terrorist groups in Syria. I read somewhere that arrogance comes about when someone is wrong and they can't face it and that certainly seems to be the case with the recent allegations involving Nygard and Save The Bays. The Government has launched an all out assault on private citizens in Parliament even exposing private e-mails without divulging the source, prompting the concern of the Data Protection Commissioner. But I digress. It seems a golden opportunity was missed by the Government to let The Bahamas, and the world know, that they are above reproach and launch a serious investigation into ALL the allegations of wrong doing by ALL individuals involved. In other words, instead of acting defensively, in the interest of good governance one would think they would act like statesmen. But instead we get cocksure rhetoric. I weep for our country that is dysfunctional in so many ways. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Istanbul police are holding a special operation to detain those suspected of having ties to terrorist organizations, Anadolu agency reported March 30. There are already the detained ones during the operation carried out in several districts of Istanbul. Turkey has faced deadly terrorist attacks in recent weeks. On March 13, a car bomb attack in Ankara left 37 people dead. Istanbul was also targeted by a suicide attack on March 19, leaving five people dead. Turkish authorities have accused Daesh, the PKK and the PYD terrorist groups for the attacks. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu A pair of bodies discovered in Kentucky Lake this week Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 30, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 30, 2016 | 12:11 PM | PADUCAH, KY A Paducah woman was arrested Tuesday afternoon on several charges after a brief police pursuit. On Tuesday afternoon McCracken County Sheriffs deputies saw a vehicle they believed to be involved in a theft at Rural King the previous night, and discovered the vehicle had been reported stolen in Livingston County. When detectives attempted to stop the car near the intersection of South 8th and Adams Streets in Paducah, the driver fled and a pursuit began. A passenger was detained after he got out of the car near the intersection at Washington Street and Walter Jetton Boulevard. The driver continued on Washington Street and drove into the parking lot of VMV Railroad and through a locked gate. She then lost control in a grassy area and crashed into a large pile of wooden pallets before coming to a stop. Detectives then arrested the driver, 41-year-old Jennifer Stacy of Paducah. Deputies said a search of the vehicle revealed a crack pipe with cocaine residue, synthetic marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Stacy was taken to Lourdes Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. She was later booked into the McCracken County Regional Jail on charges of 1st degree fleeing or evading police (motor vehicle), 1st degree criminal mischief (damage to VMV property), receiving stolen property under $10,000 (stolen vehicle), possession of cocaine, possession of a synthetic drug and drug paraphernalia. The passenger was released after being questioned by deputies. Stacy was also charged with an outstanding warrant out of McCracken County for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, after she allegedly test drove a vehicle from a car dealer and failed to return it. Detectives are investigating the alleged theft from Rural King, and say more charges are likely. By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 29, 2016 | 05:42 PM | MURRAY, KY Murray-Paris Road in Calloway County was closed for several hours Tuesday after a propane truck overturned and caught fire. At around 11:00 am Tuesday, Calloway County Sheriffs Deputies responded to a crash with injuries involving an overturned propane truck on MurrayParis Road near Craig Road. Deputies said the truck was on fire when they arrived. Deputies said 65-year-old Raymond Miller of Murray was southbound on Murray-Paris Road when the truck's rear tires slipped off the shoulder causing him to lose control. The truck crossed the road and overturned in a ditch. Miller was able to escape from the vehicle with minor injuries. The area was evacuated as a safety precaution due to the fire. Calloway County Emergency Management and the Kentucky State Fire Marshalls Office also assisted at the scene. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: In Turkey, the head of the opposition National Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli urged the government to restore the death penalty for terrorists, the Turkish TV channel TRT Haber reported March 30. The fact that the death penalty was abolished in Turkey unties the hands of terrorists, Bahceli said. On Feb. 16, 2015, the head of the parliament's justice commission Ahmet Iyimaya said that Turkey's parliament may consider the restoration of death penalty. Iyimaya said the death penalty can be applied in the case of violence against women, and particularly brutal murders. Following the rape and murder of a 20-year-old student, Ozgecan Aslan, in Turkey's Mersin province, a number of ministers requested that the death penalty be used against the perpetrator. Ozgecan Aslan was last week raped and killed by a bus driver. Her body was found in a river in southern Turkey. Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2001. The country hasn't used the death penalty since 1986. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, March 30 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: A hospital building under construction collapsed in the southeastern Turkish province of Denizli, Turkish newspaper 'Yeni Safak' reported March 30. At least two workers were killed as a result of the incident, the newspaper said. Another five people may be remaining under the rubble, according to the newspaper. Rescue teams have arrived on the scene. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu US Vice President Joe Biden will sit down for a formal meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during this week in Washington, DC, while President Barack Obama is likely to have a conversation with his Turkish counterpart, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said on Wednesday, according to Sputnik. "I would anticipate that the vice president will sit down in a formal meeting with President Erdogan when he's is here and I certainly wouldn't rule out a conversation between president Erdogan and President Obama when he's here as well," Earnest said during a press briefing. The spokesman declined to say whether Obama had rejected a private meeting at Erdogan's request during the Nuclear Security Summit. The foreign ministers of Turkey and Lithuania on Wednesday discussed a range of regional issues, including a recent deal between the EU and Ankara, ahead of a nuclear summit that begins here later this week, Anadolu Agency reported. "Turkey has begun to block the flow of illegal migrants into Europe. There is a visible decrease in the number of illegal migrants passing to Europe over Turkey," Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Cavusoglu and Linas Antanas Linkevicius also discussed NATO's role in the flow of migrants, the statement read. Turkey and the EU reached an agreement that went into effect March 20 to stop refugee flows into Europe. Under the deal, refugees who illegally enter Europe will not be allowed to resettle in the EU, and all new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands as of March 20 will be returned to Turkey. In return, an equal number of Syrian refugees in Turkish refugee camps will be distributed among EU countries with a limit of 72,000, at which point the exchange will stop or the EU will determine a new quota, according to Turksh officials. More than 800,000 refugees from North Africa and the Middle East crossed into Europe in 2015 -- Turkey's Coast Guard captured 91,611 illegal immigrants, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency. Upwards of 5,500 refugees were captured in January and nearly 9,000 more in February. The total number of refugees captured by Turkey since the beginning of the year to March 20 was 22,000 -- 7,842 were caught in March. The March numbers fell from the previous month for the first time since the refugee crisis began in 2015. With 2.6 million, Turkey is hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees and has spent $20 billion, according to Turkish authorities. Cavusoglu and Linkevicius also emphasized a need for cooperation between Turkey and Europe to fight terrorism. Alongside several other Turkish ministers, Cavusoglu accompanied Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the U.S. capital to attend the summit that begins Thursday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. LA RONGE, Sask. A charge of public mischief has been laid after someone told workers at a northern Saskatchewan grocery store that a variety of food products on their shelves had been contaminated with a dirty needle. RCMP at La Ronge say they immediately called health authorities after the store notified them on Monday that the food had allegedly been tainted. As a precaution, the Mamawetan Churchill River Health Region ordered that all food be removed from the La Ronge business, as well as a store in Air Ronge and one at the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. An investigation determined the tip about the contamination was unfounded and Mounties have since arrested a 48-year-old man from Stanley Mission. Morton Cook, who is also charged with obstructing a police officer and failing to comply with a court order, remains in custody and will appear Thursday in a La Ronge courtroom. The health region says the risk of contracting HIV from a food source is extremely low. (The Canadian Press, CTV Saskatoon) Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MONTREAL Cubas rapprochement with the United States is creating a window of opportunity for Canadian business to invest in the island country, its ambassador said Wednesday. Ambassador Julio Garmendia Pena said that despite decades of friendly relations between Canada and Cuba, the lengthy U.S. blockade has made many Canadian companies reluctant to invest so as not to risk American sanctions. But he said the more than 50-year-old relic of the Cold War will eventually slide into the dustbin of history. When that happens wed like to see many Canadian investors, Pena said during a speech to the Montreal Council of Foreign Relations. He said Canada has underinvested in Cubas tourism sector even though more than 1.3 million Canadians vacation on the Caribbeans largest island each year. Currently, Canada is Cubas fourth-largest trading partner. Among its biggest investors is Sherritt International (TSX:S), which has extensive oil and power operations there. Pena said Canada has a moral advantage over other countries seeking to do business because it has worked with Cuba in difficult times. But he said there is no financial advantage when competing for business against foreign rivals. The communist government is looking to secure billions of dollars in foreign investment in the coming years and hopes to tap into Canadas expertise in clean energy, agriculture, mining and biotechnology. In addition, the two countries are enhancing sports and cultural ties. Cubas national baseball team will visit this summer for about 20 games to be played in Ottawa and several Quebec cities. Pena said the recent state visit to Cuba by U.S. President Barack Obama has fostered unprecedented interest from potential foreign investors. Delegations from Europe and elsewhere have helped to fill Havana hotels while a growing number of American congressmen and senators have visited for a first-hand look. Cuba is in fashion, Pena said. My suggestion is (investors) come today or tomorrow and not to wait until the embargo is over. Cuba has changed some laws to encourage investment. No taxes are paid on profits earned in the first eight years and are set at 15 per cent in subsequent years. There is also a free transfer of corporate dividends. However, investors must have some level of ownership partnership with Cuban companies, often 50 per cent. The government also vows to preserve its socialist policies and defend its sovereignty and independence. While relations have improved through Obamas executive actions, normalization can only follow the ending of the embargo by the U.S. Congress and the occupation of the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, said Pena. He said such dramatic change is inevitable although he wouldnt say how long he thinks it will take. The genie came out of the bottle and to put it back would be very difficult for anyone in the United States, he said. I even think the visit of Obama helped a little bit to make this process irreversible. The ambassador declined to weigh in on the impact of the U.S. presidential election, saying Cuba hopes to work with whomever is elected this fall. Meanwhile, Cuba hopes to build upon its strong relationship with Canada by enhancing ties with the new Liberal government and rekindling the historic bond that existed between Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus father and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Pena said he hopes state visits will take place soon, although no dates have been confirmed. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. PIKANGIKUM, Ont. Nine members of one family, including three children under five, have died in a house fire in a remote northern Ontario First Nations community that is no stranger to human tragedy. A resident of the Pikangikum First Nation who did not want to be identified said three generations of a family died in the blaze that destroyed their home late Tuesday. The resident identified the victims as Dean and Annette Strang, their son Gilbert, their daughter Faith, Faiths three young children and two common-law partners. Police tape marks off a smouldering house on the Pikangikum First Nation, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Nine people are believed to have died in a house fire on Pikangikum First Nation, says the member of Parliament for the riding that includes the northwestern Ontario community. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Kyle Peters Ontario Provincial Police Const. Diana Cole said the fire broke out late Tuesday in the remote community near the Manitoba-Ontario boundary that has been plagued by suicides. The cause of the fire is under investigation and police remain on the scene, Cole said. Alvin Fiddler, grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation which represents First Nations in northern Ontario, said he spoke Wednesday with Pikangikum Chief Dean Owen, who sounded exhausted. The shock of losing so many people in one tragic event is overwhelming, said Fiddler. Theres a tremendous loss and overwhelming grief that all of us are feeling. Fiddler described Pikangikum as ground zero when it comes to infrastructure requirements such as housing, access to clean drinking water and the capacity to fight fires. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences to the community and said his government will work to improve conditions for First Nations people. We continue to be engaged with provincial and indigenous leadership on how to build better infrastructure, how to secure the future for indigenous youth and their communities, he said during a visit to Edmonton. This is not just about the moral, right thing to do. Its about investing in our shared future in this country. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne took to Twitter to offer her condolences to the community. My thoughts are with the First Nations community of #Pikangikum and those who lost loved ones in last nights devastating house fire, Wynne tweeted. Carolyn Bennett, minister of indigenous and northern affairs, issued a statement Wednesday extending heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the victims families and the community. Officials of my department are reaching out to the First Nation to offer our condolences and to identify any support that we can provide to meet the communitys needs, Bennett said. A trauma team is currently in the First Nation to provide counselling and support to those in the community, a spokeswoman for Bennett said in an email Wednessday evening. Bennett also said Health Minister Jane Philpott would be working with local and First Nation leaders, along with the province, to determine what else will be needed to support the healing process. Those familiar with the remote fly-in community say the fire is shocking, but not especially surprising. Deplorable living conditions in Pikangikum have been the subject of public debate for decades. The communitys struggles with poverty and suicide rates have been well-documented, but visitors say that awareness has done little to bring about real change. Joseph Magnet, an Ottawa-based law professor who has represented the community, said he has visited all of the overcrowded homes in the community. Youre dealing with very, very small houses in which you will sometimes have as many as 15 people sharing a single room without toilet facilities, using a bucket, without running water in the house, and without proper cooking facilities, he said. Its a very, very sorry situation that really should have urgent attention. The homes wouldnt meet anybodys fire code regulations, Magnet said. Local MP Robert Nault said discussions were ongoing about sending in support to help deal with the whole issue of mourning. It affects everyone in the community whenever theres a tragedy like this or a suicide, he said. This is a community thats had a history of suicides and tragic situations, so this community has been in a constant crisis for a number of years. Nault said he was to meet Thursday with two health ministers to discuss what he called the crisis in the North. Not specifically about this incident, but obviously to talk about mental health, health-care delivery, the suicides, he said. Pikangikum has the largest suicide rate of any community in the western world I think over 400 in the last couple of decades. The community has also been grappling with a long-standing water contamination issue, Magnet said. A federal government website indicates Pikangikum has been under a boil water advisory since January 2006. Kyle Peters, the First Nations education director, described the mood in the community as extremely sad. Its probably one of the most difficult times. Im trying to set up travel for immediate family affected by the loss. Some as far as Alberta, some as far as London, Ont., and even Moosonee, I believe, Peters said. Crisis teams were being dispatched from neighbouring communities, he added. Pikangikum has also been dealing with education issues for years. Its school burnt down in 2007, and was replaced only by portables. And in 2012, the community closed down almost all of its classes after most of the non-local teachers left because of mould growing in their residences. At the same time, young people in the community have been struggling with addictions and poverty, resulting in numerous youth suicides over the years. By Michelle McQuigge and Peter Cameron in Toronto, with files from Dean Bennett in Edmonton Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had Joeseph. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/03/2016 (2399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Schools may be closed for March break in Manitoba, but after-school programs remain open for business this week for newcomer kids in Winnipegs inner city. The NEEDS Centre downtown has been an after-school homework haven for Moustariha Mohammed, who arrived from Ethiopia in 2009. I come here just to get help, mostly with English, said Mohammed, who didnt speak any English when she arrived in Winnipeg. Im still practising, said the 19-year-old, who was working on an English assignment with a tutor Wednesday at NEEDS on Notre Dame Avenue. Shes working on a science degree at the University of Manitoba and hopes to study medicine. Mohammed said shes benefited from the extra help shes been able to get at the not-for-profit centre funded by the federal government. PHOTOS BY PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Misty Belcourt (seated) and Margaret von Lau (right) at the NEEDS Centre. Its after-school program is open during spring break. The room next door with desktop computers was full of younger teens and tweens waiting for their turn. Downstairs, the foosball table was surrounded by boys and young men. The constructive activities there and at places such as the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba a few blocks away are keeping youth off the streets and engaged, said NEEDS executive director Margaret von Lau. The number of kids at the after-school program at NEEDS grew last month by 50 per cent, with up to 85 kids showing up at night, she said. I think we can say its the new normal, said von Lau. Theyve been operating at full capacity at the centre since the influx of Syrian refugees arrived during the winter. During the day, they have five full classes running from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., mostly for Syrian kids, von Lau said. The classes prepare recent newcomers for the Canadian classroom how to behave, what to expect and whats expected. Most of them, lately, have been government-assisted Syrian refugees staying at temporary accommodations downtown. Von Lau said there are many privately sponsored refugees from other countries whose children would benefit from the program. She said theyve received referrals from organizations such as Refuge Winnipeg, which privately sponsored three Syrian refugee families that arrived in October, and Hospitality House Refugee Ministry, which sponsors hundreds of refugees from around the world. We want to make sure that the refugee kids from all countries have the same opportunities and access to services, said von Lau. When the school year ends, the programs for newcomer kids dont stop, she said. NEEDS is already working with a team of service providers and school divisions to prepare for summer programming, she said. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Moustariha Mohammed, a University of Manitoba student, does her homework at the centre. She arrived in Winnipeg in 2009. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/03/2016 (2399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitobas low-income housing stock is studded with high-income earners, including a dozen who earn more than $100,000 a year and two who bring in more than $200,000, according to provincial data that just became public. In 2015, there were 51 people earning $70,000 or more a year living in Manitoba Housing, the provinces subsidized housing units built for low-income earners. Thats up from 31 in 2012. There were about 5,200 renters in the provinces subsidized housing last year. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Colin Craig The figures became public through a series of data-mining requests by a former Manitoba tax advocate under the provinces freedom of information provisions. In his blog, Colin Craig, the former head of Manitobas chapter of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, singles out the NDP government under Greg Selinger for letting the problem fester. I first brought this problem to light back in 2013 while working for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Since then, the situation has obviously gotten worse. Why? Because the Selinger government refuses to do whats necessary, Craig wrote Monday in a blog on the online site of Manning Centre, a right-wing think tank named for Preston Manning, founder of the former Reform party. In response to the pressure from the taxpayers federation, the province raised the rents on high-income earners in 2014 to 10 per cent above market rates for posted rents as set out by the Manitoba Housing and Rental Corporation. At the time, MHRC said the policy in no way intended to evict or cause a household to involuntarily leave public housing because of the rent hike. Manitoba Housing can only increase rent upon renewal of a lease and can only impose one rent increase every 12 months. In an email, a provincial spokeswoman appeared to refute some of the data and suggested Craigs take on it might not be the whole story. People with low incomes arent being turned away, she stated categorically. The spokeswoman added the province also offers a variety of rentals, including ones at market rates, and it is impossible to tell from the data Craig uses if it includes high-income earners in market-rate units and low-income units that would otherwise sit empty. Manitoba Housing has three rental programs, including a social housing (with rent geared to income), affordable housing and a market-rate rental program. Each program has a prescribed income limit, so the household income must be below this threshold to be eligible. However, if a households income rises, they can remain in the unit. In these cases, the tenant is required to pay more rent, and the depth of the provincial subsidy provided to the household decreases, the spokeswoman said Craig, who has since moved to Calgary and works for the Manning Centre, was the head of the CTF in Manitoba from 2008 to 2015. Hes known in Manitoba for blowing the whistle on a handful of First Nations chiefs who draw rich salaries from their poor communities. In advance of the provinces response, Craig addressed the issue of what the numbers are really saying. He emphasized there is no other way to look at the numbers than to conclude there are high earners living in low-income housing in Manitoba and the number is growing every year, a position he defended after the provinces response. It is hard to say for certain what is happening. What is clear is that the government should be forcing these high-income people out, so truly people, low-income people can get into those units, he told the Free Press. There may indeed be the occasional high earner in remote locations such as Churchill, where the housing stock is lean, but that doesnt explain the numbers in the data, he said. While the government wont say where these units are located, past government information notes some of these people are (in) government-housing units in cities like Winnipeg and Brandon, where the waiting lists are quite long, Craig said. Its one thing for the government to rent out an unused unit in a community like Churchill (where the unit may otherwise sit vacant without any revenue coming in), but its another to let high-income people take up space in a city like Winnipeg, where truly low-income people need support, Craig said. Even stranger, said Craig, is the provinces explanation for the problem. In the past, the province has claimed they cant force the high-income earners to leave, due to the Residential Tenancies Act, Craig said. When this last came up, he said, I encouraged the province to change the act; after all, its provincial legislation. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca To make matters worse, the vaccine scandal has created an atmosphere of distrust toward Chinas medical system. (Photo : Getty Images) The State Council has promised on Monday, March 27, to intensity investigations regarding the exposed vaccine scandal. A special team has been set up to closely investigate the regulatory system that supposedly failed to halt distribution of substandard vaccines, according to an article by China Daily. Advertisement The team is composed of various officials from the Ministry of Public Security, National Health and Family Planning Commission, China Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Supervision, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. The team will be led by Bi Jingquan, head of the China Food and Drug Administration, and will operate under the supervision of an inspection team helmed by deputy secretary-general of the State Council Ding Xiangyang. Another committee composed of experts is also involved in the investigations. The scandal was first reported in late February this year, but it was revealed that the nationwide distribution of inferior vaccines has been going on since 2011. A number of arrests have taken place since the news broke out, including the arrest of a mother and daughter team in Shandong Province. They allegedly sold expired or improperly stored vaccines in about 20 provinces for five years. Over 130 suspects have also been detained by police, while 30 drug distribution companies were found out to be involved in the illegal trade of vaccines. On Monday, Premier Li Keqiang vowed that the Chinese government will strengthen protection of public health. Any dereliction of duty and other criminal offenses in food and drug supplies will be punished. Experts such as Wang Yukai, an administrative professor from the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that toughened measures indicate the government's seriousness regarding the issue. The creation of an inspection team will also do much to help quell public outrage, said Wang. Meanwhile, the participation of top prosecutors in the investigation indicates dereliction of duty in the administrative level, according to Zhu Lijia, a professor of public administration from Chinese Academy of Governance. "By setting up such a team involving so many government entities and professional staff, I think there has been a timely response to the incident," said Zhu in an interview with China Daily. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/03/2016 (2399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. He stands four-foot-nine, weighs just 60 pounds and recently celebrated his 10th birthday. But dont be fooled by his small frame or tender age this Winnipeg boy has proven to be untouchable, and perhaps unstoppable, to law enforcement, the justice system and the child welfare system. Arson. Car theft. Drug possession. Robberies. Thefts. Break-and-enters. Assaults. Weapon possession. Uttering death threats. And a near-fatal stabbing. He has done them all, yet suffered absolutely no consequences because hes too young to be arrested and face charges. Winnipeg police have been dealing with him for the past several years on a regular basis, powerless to do anything more than scold him and send him on his way. The Free Press has obtained a list of every contact officers have had with the boy, who is a ward of Child and Family Services and the son of a convicted killer. It paints a troubling picture of his violent past and bleak future. But it also raises questions about the much-maligned child welfare system and how little is seemingly working to prevent him from becoming another grim statistic. This is something that should scare the hell out of society, Steven Kohm, head of the criminal justice department at the University of Winnipeg, said Tuesday. Its almost like this is a worst-case scenario, a culmination of all the fears surrounding the child welfare system and these lost kids. It seems everything has failed. The Free Press must be careful not to identify the youth, but heres what we can say about him: Police have dealt with him on at least 22 different occasions since 2013 for various criminal offences in which hes been cautioned, which is all police can do. You must be at least 12 before you can be charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. In his case, hes been either eight, nine or ten when the crimes occurred. The most serious was a stabbing last year in which the victim was critically injured. The first contact police ever had with the boy was back in May 2011, when they were called to a residence to check on his well-being. He was five at the time. There have been several child welfare calls involving him ever since, the most recent occurring earlier this month. He is in foster care, and appears to have bounced around to numerous inner-city and North End homes over the years. He has an assigned case worker, social worker and several family contacts. They dont include his biological father, who is in prison for murder. The boy has gone missing on several occasions, and was briefly taken into custody two weeks ago on the strength of a Mental Health warrant. He was assessed at hospital, then released back into care in the community where he apparently remains. Its not clear what kind of treatment occurred, or whether future appointments were scheduled. It doesnt appear there is much in the way of schooling happening save for police serving him with an order not to attend a specific school following a complaint by officials last month. All the red lights are going off Its frightening. Obviously hes a deeply, profoundly troubled little boy, Dr. Fred Shane, a forensic psychiatrist who has provided expert testimony at dozens of trials across Canada, told the Free Press on Tuesday. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg police have been dealing with the 10-year-old boy for the past several years on a regular basis, powerless to do anything more than scold him and send him on his way. Shane has spent his career getting inside the minds of the most hardened criminals, many who suffered from psychotic disorders. He has seen many who suffered horrendous childhoods, but admits this particular boy has the kind of rap sheet you rarely see at his age. The issue is how do you protect this kid, and how do you protect the community? The fear, of course, is that he will go the Charles Manson way, said Shane. The alarm bells here, all the red lights are going off. Shane said its obvious the boy hasnt fallen through the proverbial cracks in the sense that he has supports in his life along with frequent contact with justice officials. But Shane questioned how much is actually being done to help him and whether any of it is actually effective. The people caring for him need to get him some significant intervention, said Shane. This has got to be looked at very seriously by the authorities. This is a herculean task. You need an incredible committed team to be working with him. Several justice sources familiar with the boy told the Free Press they are simply counting down the days until he turns 12, when they fully expect he will start to become a fixture at the Manitoba Youth Centre. But is he already a lost cause? Kohm said the boys horrible history, including his fathers involvement in a homicide, makes it an uphill climb. As does the fact hes likely already conditioned to believe there are little, if any, consequences for his actions. He may have profound psychological conditioning that has gone untreated. I think theres been one failure after the next in terms of providing adequate intervention, said Kohm. People who read about this will, and should, be horrified. This kid will probably have lifelong contact with the justice system. www.mikeoncrime.com MIKE APORIUS/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES 'Its almost like this is a worst-case scenario, a culmination of all the fears surrounding the child welfare system and these lost kids. It seems everything has failed': University of Winnipeg Criminal Justice professor Steven Kohm. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The woman believed to be the daughter of the late Viscount Gort, who supported her as a child in Berlin during the Second World War, then as an orphaned teenager in London, and finally brought her to Winnipeg, has died. Katherine King-Bidochka, who lived near Gimli, was 76. King-Bidochka lived a life more fitting of a novel, as she told to the Free Press in previous interviews. JEFF DEBOOY / FREE PRESS FILES Katherine Bidochka, in this 1996 file photo, holds pictures of her with her mother and of Viscount Gort. She was raised by a step-grandmother in Berlin during the Second World War. She was transported to London as a refugee at age seven. There, she met her mother for the first time, who had been interned on the Isle of Man as a suspected spy. Her mother became stricken with cancer. Robert Vereker, who was known publicly as Viscount Gort, funded the best surgeons and nurses to help her. Their relationship between King-Bidochkas mother and the married viscount was never disclosed to King-Bidochka. She was 15 when her mother died. The Viscount Gort attended the funeral, and afterward had dinner with King-Bidochka. Through a lawyer, the viscount arranged to provide her with a steady income. It was not a great amount, and Katherine quit school and moved from one cheap flat to another, including staying in a YWCA hostel for two years. She supplemented her income working as manicurist, and part-time modelling and acting. The viscount began visiting her when she turned 20. The Viscount Gort Hotel on Portage Avenue is named after Robert Vereker, whose rank in British aristocracy was between a baron and an earl, and who was a member of the British House of Lords. Vereker leased the property on Portage Avenue to Phil Kives of K-Tel fame to build a hotel, named after the viscount. The family sold the property to Kives in recent years. Vereker finally convinced King-Bidochka to move to Winnipeg, and continued to help her financially. He would always introduce her as his niece here, like when he took her to the Carleton Club. However, he would end the conversation if she asked him about her mother. Viscount Gort, who was also a great art collector and benefactor of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, died in 1975 at age 84. King-Bidochka would later became fast friends with the two daughters of the Viscount Gorts brother, known as Tiger Gort, famous as field marshall in the first and second world wars. One of the daughters once told King-Bidochka she was more like a Gort than anyone in the family. Katherine King-Bidochka King-Bidochka lived in a rural residential home near Gimli from 1971 until her death in her sleep on Good Friday. She longed to stay in one place after being constantly on the move earlier in her life.It was all she really wanted, said her husband, Robert, to whom she was married almost 45 years. I always joked that she had worn out about 500 guardian angels. She wandered the world on her own and never ran into anything bad, said Robert. In her later years, King-Bidochka suffered chronic pain from spinal stenosis, where the vertebrae grow inward and touch the spinal cord. She asked that no funeral be held. King-Bidochka did not have children and has no known surviving family, said Robert. More information is available on her life in the Free Press archive from a story Feb. 4, 1996, under the name Katherine Bidochka. Bill.Redekop@freepress.mb.ca 125802143 Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Free Press editorial boards take on the Jian Ghomeshi verdict (Time to reform Canadas legal system, March 26) is simply wrong. The editorial says the prosecutors were not prepared. In fact, as pointed out by Christie Blatchford of the National Post, the prosecutors were well-prepared. They were torpedoed from the rear by their own witnesses. The three alleged victims simply chose to lie and deceive and withhold critical evidence. Imagine the horror of learning of the existence of 5,000 emails contradicting one of the alleged victims evidence. You say accused persons in similar circumstances should not be allowed to file lawsuits against the employer that fired them. And here I thought we lived in a democracy that permitted anyone to file a lawsuit, even if it is later determined to be baseless. Access to the courts is a major tenet of a free state. Indeed, the Free Press has argued this itself on numerous occasions. Chris Young / The Canadian Press Former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi leaves a Toronto courthouse. Should judges not be permitted to sit on cases of sexual assault without special training? Frankly, this is political correctness gone mad. Why sexual assault? Is the victim of a home invasion any less traumatized? And if judges are to be mandated to undergo special training for such cases, why not for complex civil cases involving, say construction issues, patent matters, medical negligence? You get the drift. Judges, once appointed, are presumed to be sufficiently educated, impartial and reasonable. To be sure, some are better than others. That is a feature of human reality. It has been said if a judge fails to recogznize the complexities of a case, it is the fault of trial counsel, who simply did not rise to the occasion of putting the explanatory evidence before the judge in a persuasive manner. The law is an evolving entity. Technology has changed it. Forensic science has changed it. Evolving insights into morality and civil rights have changed it. But the core principles remain pretty much intact. Though it has been a long time since I engaged in criminal defence work, I have massive respect for those who do, both prosecution and defence. But it must always be kept in mind that the prosecution invariably has the upper hand. It has the resources access to police, access to expert witnesses the defence cannot afford, access to forensic examinations and so forth. The power of the state is limited only by the constitutional rights of a defendant. It is for that reason an accused person may be convicted of a crime only if proven to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It was written long ago that it is better that 10 guilty persons go free than one innocent person go to jail. Now, in the world of DNA, we have learned of so many people sentenced to lengthy prison sentences only to be proven innocent by DNA results later obtained. The editorial board appears to have bought into the notion that accused persons should not be able to challenge the evidence of victims and that it is time to reform the system. There are two substantial problems with this: one of legal reality, one of democracy. The legal problem is that judges must rely on evidence given by witnesses. Some give accurate evidence well, some not so much. Some come to tell the truth, some not so much. Judges must filter out evidence for its truthfulness and its accuracy. These are different concepts. The bank teller misidentifying a robber is telling the truth as seen by him or her, but may be mistaken. Robert A. Heinlein, in his great work of science fiction Stranger in a Strange Land, told of truth tellers, a species who were capable of 100 per cent accuracy of observation and incapable of telling anything but the truth. Alas, this was fiction. People are not quite so trustworthy all time. Critics of the Ghomeshi verdict seem to want a system where the accused can be convicted without challenging the evidence. If convicted, the accused goes to jail; if acquitted, as here, owing to the lies and deceitfulness of the witnesses the complainants, as they are called those people leave the courtroom without penalty. The accused, though found not guilty, has suffered the massive expense of defence and the vilification of the public. I am not suggesting the witnesses be punished that would deter any from ever coming forward. But there is good reason they are called complainants. They are not victims until the crime has been proven. But what of democracy? If crimes can be proven without the ability to challenge the evidence, then the public is at the mercy of the prevailing government personnel. We are not living in North Korea, or Maos China or Stalins Russia. Brown-shirted storm-troopers cannot round up and lock up those who they want to for reasons only they care about. In the absence of the ability to contest the charges brought, this is what we become. Robert Tapper is a Winnipeg lawyer. Winona State University got a boost for its big Education Village project Tuesday, when Lt. Gov. Tina Smith visited the university to speak with a panel in support of the project. Smith said the project, which has been well-supported both locally and statewide but whose fate is tied into a larger bonding bill before the Legislature, fits with Gov. Mark Daytons focus on investments in innovative infrastructure related to teachers and education. She particularly noted the plan to renovate aging, underused buildings the university has purchased near campus. She said it was appropriate to visit Minnesotas first teachers college to discuss how education will be in the future. Smith, whose Winona visit was part of a multi-city tour of infrastructure projects Tuesday, joined Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, and and Myron Frans, the states budget commissioner. The concept of 21st century education was a repeated topic in the discussion, which also included WSUs education dean, Tarrell Portman, as well as university educators and students. One of the points reiterated by all speakers is that Education Village is an attempt to modernize the practice of teachers teaching teachers, with renewed focus on technology, field experience, and other initiatives. Or, as student body president Josh Hanson put it, having teacher candidates treated like teachers from day one. One of the main goals is bringing outside students and educators to the university to work directly with WSUs education students, and sending students into community classrooms for hands-on teaching before they complete their degrees. Portman said that college students teaching in classrooms, K-12 students coming to the college, bringing elementary-school and college teachers together to share ideas and offering professional development opportunities for teachers at all levels are part of the plans to renovate not only the school buildings, but the ways teachers are taught. We believe the passion for teaching starts early in the schools, Portman said. Education students and professors said the education of teachers should go beyond just the curriculum, and into understanding classroom dynamics and community connections. Nicole Nicpon, senior education major, said the project would allow WSU students to not only practice teaching, but reflect on the learning better. The spaces were creating in the education village are the spaces well be working in, Nicpon said. Were not learning in a static classroom. Pelowski and Miller both said they would be working to convince their respective caucuses and bodies to include the project in their bonding bills, though the bills future, as is all things in the early days of a legislative session, is unclear. There are other projects vying for the money, competing interests and other political hurdles. Frans said the governors staff has cut down almost 300 proposed projects to 113 to include in their version of the final bonding bill, with the next step waiting for the the House and Senate to each approve their own versions of the bill, which will then go to a conference committee for final compromise. One of the keys is looking at the process, Frans said. Its a competition. The Volunteers of Columbus Community Hospital will host the Nutman Co. on Wednesday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the hospital. Nuts, snack mixes, chocolates and candy, including sugar-free varieties, will be sold. A portion of the days proceeds will be donated to the Volunteers of CCH, who purchase equipment and services for the hospitals patients. Wisconsins renewable energy landscape has been pretty much frozen for the last five years, especially when it comes to wind farms. While neighboring states have been blossoming with wind development in recent years, Wisconsin has become almost a black hole of development, according to one renewable energy advocate. And it shows: Wisconsin ranks ninth among 12 Midwest states in a ranking released last week of jobs in the clean energy sector including energy efficiency, renewable energy and biofuels. Where Wisconsin has about 25,000 people employed in clean energy jobs, Illinois, which ranks first in the Midwest, employs 112,000 people in clean energy jobs. Apparently, Gov. Scott Walkers invitation a few years ago to Illinois companies to move north wasnt extended to the renewable energy industry. Too bad: Wisconsin workers could use those jobs. But just as spring is breaking up the ice around Wisconsin, there are signs that a thaw is coming for renewable energy. The state, and in particular the Public Service Commission, should do all it can to hasten that warming. Among the signs: The Journal Sentinels Thomas Content reported that nearly 50 turbines could be built over the next year or so in Lafayette County east of Platteville in southwestern Wisconsin, and Emerging Energies of Wisconsin is proposing to build 44 large wind turbines in St. Croix County in western Wisconsin. Other projects may also be developed. EDP Renewables, a global renewable energy company based in Spain, is looking to build the Lafayette County wind farm in 2017 after completing preparatory work this year. The project, valued at about $200 million, would generate up to 99 megawatts of electricity, or just barely under the threshold that would require it to obtain a permit from the PSC. Meanwhile, regulatory agency is taking yet another look at the $250 million St. Croix County wind farm, which has been on the drawing board for more than five years. A PSC permit to allow the project to proceed was challenged in court, and St. Croix County Judge Edward Vlack last summer sent the case back to the commission for more work. The project has raised concerns among neighbors that need to be addressed. But we hope that the PSC, after a thorough vetting, finds a way to move this and other projects forward. Renewable energy (including wind farms) is one tool that can help mitigate the effects of climate change, which is real and becoming more urgent, despite the wishful thinking of some who think they can just close their eyes and it will all go away. And yes, this applies to many of the candidates who are now (and will be for months to come) assaulting voters around the state, as well as to Gov. Scott Walker and the state Legislature, which took steps to restrict wind farm construction during Walkers first term. In fact, it was the Walker administrations and Legislatures disdain toward climate change that essentially put wind farm development into the deep freeze. Not all is bleak: Wisconsin has done relatively well on energy conservation and Wisconsin utilities have met a goal of already built enough to comply with Wisconsins law requiring 10 percent of the states electricity to come from renewable power sources. But wind power development among our neighbors is booming, up 45 percent in five nearby states compared with growth of 3 percent in Wisconsin, according to an analysis of market data from the American Wind Energy Association. And that 10 percent renewable energy goal is pretty anemic, given the challenge of climate change and new federal goals for renewable energy. State government (including the PSC) needs to step up its game. It will mean new jobs for Wisconsin workers as well as the state doing its part to meet a serious global threat. Heres hoping for a new spring for renewable energy. Authorities have launched a crackdown against dissidents after a letter calling for President Xi Jinping's resignation surfaced online. (Photo : Getty Images) China has launched a major crackdown on dissidents following the publication online of a letter urging President Xi Jinping to resign. According to reports, authorities have detained around 20 people in relation to the incident. Four of those detained were from the online news site Wujie News, where the letter was first published on March 4, the New York Times reported. Advertisement One detainee, Ouyang Hongliang, served as the editor-in-chief for the website, which was launched in Sept. 2015, with the Communist Party being one of the major investors. Ouyang reportedly received a call from fellow detainee freelance writer Jia Jia, who asked the former to take the letter off the site after it started to spread online. As of writing, Ouyang is still detained along with another editor and two technicians. Wujie was temporarily available following the arrests. However, it resumed publishing news stories on Friday, though only articles coming from the main state news outlets. Jia was arrested on March 15 while preparing to board a flight to Hong Kong. The writer has reportedly been freed by the authorities after his family and friends said that he has nothing to do with the letter. Meanwhile, New York-based Chinese activist Wen Yuchao said that his parents and older brother were also among those detained. Wen alleged that the three members of his family were taken by authorities on Tuesday and he has since not been able to get in touch with them. Wen also denied any involvement with the letter, saying that he neither authored nor help distribute it. He also asserted that he merely linked to it in his Twitter account only after it had been published by Wujie. In the controversial letter, the authors, who only identified themselves as "loyal Communist Party members," called for Xi to resign from his position, both from the party and the government. The letter also accused him of curtailing freedom of speech, as well as making several major economic and political mistakes. Several international rights organizations have called for the Chinese government to stop the arrests and release the detainees, Al Jazeera News reported. According to Amnesty International China researcher William Nee, the crackdown goes contrary to China's claims of respecting the rule of law. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy 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. University counselors knowledgeable with the specific financial conditions of each student were on hand to help finalize the list of recipient students. (Photo : Getty Images) Big data technology is helping over 300 impoverished students get customized financial support from the Nanjing University of Science and Technology Education Development Foundation, according to an article by China Daily. Advertisement Through big data, the organization was able to analyze the meal card consumption record of undergraduates from mid-September and mid-November, allowing them to deposit ample cash support to finance the meal cards of 301 students. According to the analysis, 314 students spent less than 420 yuan for over 60 meals in the school canteen per month. A monthly benchmark of 630 yuan was set, as it only costs an average of 7 yuan per student to have a meal. University counselors knowledgeable with the specific financial conditions of each student were on hand to help finalize the list of recipient students. The recipient students were subsidized according to the differences between the set benchmark and their actual monthly expenses for food. This ranged between 11.63 yuan and 340.53 yuan. The organization will continue funding their meals until they graduate, according to Wang Hu, the foundation's general-secretary. Because of big data analysis, the organization was able to pinpoint the problem and finalize recipient students without embarrassing them, unlike the more traditional means of applying for financial support. As to whether the foundation's chosen sampling method possibly left out any underprivileged students who don't eat in the canteen, Wang said: "An average take-out costs seven or eight yuan, which is more expensive than canteen meals, so we think most impoverished students prefer the canteen." For incoming freshmen in the university, the foundation is mulling the possibility of updating the sampling period. The process of data sampling and analysis will still be kept under wraps, however, to reflect and correctly assess each student's financial situation. Students and Chinese Internet users praise the sampling method for being discreet and accurate. "I think it's the right way to give financial support because it's more targeted and also the students in need don't have to tell their heart-wrenching stories in front of their classmates to show they are more qualified for support than others, as they did before," said a freshman from Nanjing University of Science and Technology. Brian Joffe receives honorary doctorate from Wits Bidvest CEO and founder honoured for his contribution to business and society in South Africa. Bidvest CEO and founder of the JSE-listed Bidvest Group today received an honorary doctorate degree from his alma-mater, Wits University. Joffe, who graduated from Wits University as a chartered accountant in 1971, received his degree from Wits University Chancellor, Justice Dikgang Moseneke, at the graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management today (Wednesday, 29 March). Joffe, who started the Bidvest Group from somewhat humble beginnings, into being one of the leading corporations in South Africa, with a turnover of over R204 billion, employing more than 145 000 people, of which over 125 000 are in South Africa, launched his entrepreneurial career in 1978 when he borrowed R49 000 to buy an interest in a small pet food manufacturer. A year later, he borrowed again, to acquire full ownership and to expand the company. Within six months his business using largely discarded machinery on a makeshift production line held 15% of South Africas canned dog food market. He subsequently sold this business to a major industrial group. Joffe launched Bidvest in 1989 and built it to be the company it is today. He looked beyond apartheid to a democratic future in which South Africa would again be integrated into the global economy. He bought businesses that others were eager to sell, consistently expressing his faith in South Africas ability to transform and grow. In the process, he developed a uniquely empowered business model driven by autonomous entrepreneurs, each responsible for growing their own operations. Following acquisition by Bidvest, under-performing operations were often transformed into industry leaders. Countless jobs were saved and the basis established for a diversified group. Joffe also looked beyond the received wisdom of focussing on core strengths. Instead, he built a diversified company with interests in sectors as spread out as food services, travel services and pharmaceuticals. Rather than focussing on one market, Joffe built his company on consolidating diverse markets. Joffe sought also to build a strategically diversified company by building an international set of activities. The first international acquisition occurred in 1995 when Manettas Australia (now Bidvest Australia) was acquired. The business had hit hard times and needed a substantial capital injection. Today, the business is Australias leading national foodservice supplier. The business he leads makes a sustained contribution to communities and worthy causes, locally and in all markets where its subsidiaries are active. It is estimated that over the past decade, Bidvests social investment has topped R540 million. The contribution of the Johannesburg Corporate office alone tops R120 million. Corporate projects include: Reach For A Dream, QuadPara (to develop the potential of quadriplegics and paraplegics), Sagda (graduate development), Hear For Life, the Chefs Association, Wits University, Hospice, Bethany House, the Nkosi Haven, ORT SA and PinkDrive. Addressing the grandaunts at the graduation ceremony, Joffe inspired them to strive to make South Africa a better place for their children and grandchildren. We need to create South Africa for tomorrow every one of us. And, if we manage to do that, we would be able to come back and stand up here. And, instead of you listening to me talk, you can do the talking, and tell everybody what youve done over the last 45 years, he said. Lawyers against Abuse (LvA) is a non-governmental organisation based in Diepsloot, an informal settlement in the northern part of Johannesburg. The organisation provides direct legal and psycho-social services to victims of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault. LvA works closely with other community-based organisations in Diepsloot as well as state actors, like police officers and court officials. It is also involved in empowerment-based community engagement through school workshops and community workshops. LvA seeks to appoint a Fundraising and Grants Manager on a part-time basis, based in Johannesburg. The role of the Fundraising and Grants Manager is to work collaboratively to conceptualise and write proposals, donor reports. Responsibilities: Develop competitive funding proposals and/or grant applications, including narrative, log frame, budget and supporting documentation; Work closely with the executive director; Identify and develop institutional, government, corporate, community and individual funding opportunities; Nurture relationships with donors, identify and prioritise most viable potential funders; Manage donor database, and monitor trends in the sector or region and adapt fundraising strategies as necessary; Manage holistic grant cycle for major donors, civil society organisations, and corporate partners; including proposal development, tracking progress and donor reporting; Support other writing tasks, including letters of intent, donor reports, and other communications for submission to donors and other potential funding sources, as required; Develop and implement institutional fundraising strategy; and Assist with the planning and execution of annual fundraising event to generate unrestricted funds for the organisation. Requirements: Bachelors degree required; masters degree preferred; Minimum of three years of experience in a similar role, with private and institutional donor cultivation and solicitation; Minimum of three years of work experience in international development field; Knowledge of international development issues and donor landscape both within South Africa and internationally; Knowledge and experience in gender-based violence field; Prior success managing and writing proposals, securing funding from private donors, institutional donors, government agencies, corporations, and/or other sources; Writing skills; Ability to work efficiently, both individually and in teams, under tight deadlines; Organisation, analytical, and research skills; Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with independence; Ability to exercise discretion and maintain confidentiality; Computer literacy (Microsoft Office suite) and Ability to write in and speak English. To apply, submit a CV, a one page motivation letter, and a writing sample to info@lva.org.za. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. There are possible opportunities for this to expand to a full-time position. To learn more about Lawyers against Abuse, refer to www.lva.org.za. Worried parents turn to Hong Kong for safer shots for their kids amid the illegal vaccine scandal in the mainland. (Photo : Getty Images) Worried parents are turning to Hong Kong for safer immunization shots for their children after a mother-daughter gang involved in the distribution of "problematic vaccines" was busted mid-March. Chongqing resident Ran Jinfa was restless after he found out about the busted illegal vaccine gang because he wants to know if the shots given to his 2-year-old son were from the syndicate. Advertisement According to the Global Times, Ran spoke with the chief of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the Yongchuan District and was guaranteed that the vaccine given to his son is safe since "no problematic vaccines have been found in the city." However, despite assurances similar to this, parents are still not taking the risk of having their children immunized with vaccines in the mainland, which is why many are turning to more expensive shots in Hong Kong. "Problematic Vaccine" Syndicate In February, Shandong law enforcers revealed how they were able to capture a mother and a daughter who were accused of selling bad vaccines. While the vaccines were made by legit manufacturers, authorities found out that they were either already expired, improperly stored, or are not transported according to approved safety regulations. Furthermore, these vaccines were believed to be unsafe and might even cause severe side effects that include disability and death. The duo allegedly sold these 570 million yuan ($88 million) worth of vaccines in more than 20 provinces in China since they began their operations in 2011, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Last week, 37 more people were taken into custody for suspected connivance with the women. At the same time, authorities revealed that the probe involved two immune globulin, one therapeutic product and 12 vaccines, raising worry and fear among Chinese parents on whether or not the shots given to their children are safe. Worried Parents Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promised in public that the government will show no leniency for anyone found to be linked to the illegal vaccine scandal, per a report from Women of China. In fact, he pledged to punish all those who will be proven to have committed dereliction of duty in the distribution of the problematic vaccines. Despite this, health authorities have yet to confirm that all problematic vaccines from the gang have already been cleared from the market. Because of this, many Chinese parents are hesitant to bring their children for their vaccines as many of the immunizations supposed to ensure the wellness of their young ones may have been affected. "This is such a huge case and not a single regulatory official has come out to apologize, not a single one has resigned . . . this system which doesn't care whether ordinary citizens live or die makes one's soul tired," a Sina Weibo user posted as quoted by BBC News. Now, many of them have decided to turn to vaccines outside the mainland, particularly in Hong Kong where they feel that the shots are "safer" even if they are more expensive. "There are many parents here like me. Even though some vaccines in Hong Kong are much more expensive than in the mainland," Yang, a Shenzhen resident and mother of a 4-year-old boy, told the Global Times. A farmer reaps rice by hands in a field in Yugan County, Jiangxi Province, China, on Nov. 2, 2007. (Photo : Getty Images) China will not be establishing industrial-scale genetically modified (GM) grain farms for the time being, a senior government official said on Tuesday, amid concerns on the potential side effects of GM food. "At present, GM rice is developing rapidly and its technology is advanced. However, the agriculture ministry won't plant it on an industrial scale in the short term," Zhang Xianfa, deputy director in charge of GM organisms at China's Ministry of Agriculture, said in an interview China National Radio (CNR). Advertisement Genetically modified food remains a polarizing issue in China, as public opinion remains divided on how modified genes will affect human beings. Concerns were raised In January when China's central government announced it will "carefully promote technology" related to GM organisms on this year's No.1 Central Document, an annual government policy paper. Previous documents refrained from discussing the development of GM products. Earlier in February, Lu Hao, governor of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the country largest grain producer, told the Global Times that the province will not grow GM food. "The safety committee [of the Ministry of Agriculture] judges severely, including in assessments of food safety and environmental safety," Zhang said. "If either assessment fails, the food will not pass the safety evaluation." Zhang, however, reiterated that GM food approved to be sold on the market is safe to eat and not all food products containing GM ingredients are considered as GM food. More efforts are needed to popularize GM food science, as GM crops and foods still face a lot of resistance from the public, he added. Currently, only papayas and cotton are approved for commercial GM production in China. "The safety evaluation for GM food is stricter than traditional food's evaluation and can help improve food quality. In the past 20 years, there has been no GM food problem reported in China," Luo Yunbo, a GM food expert with China Agricultural University, told the Global Times. W&M faculty in the media this month Kirk J. Havens is the Director of the Coastal Watershed Program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). He was recently quoted in the Daily Press. Kyung H. Kim is a Assistant Professor of Educational Pyschology at the College of William & Mary. She was recently quoted in the MetroParent. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Jody L. Allen is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History and Coordinator of the Lemon Project at the College of William & Mary. She was recently quoted in the BBC News. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption Following are selected examples of William & Mary faculty and staff members in the media. - Ed. U.N. tribunal finds former Bosnian Serb leader guilty of genocide In a March 24 Washington Post article, Nancy Combs, Ernest W. Goodrich Professor of Law at William & Mary provided commentary on Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic being found guilty of genocide. According to the Post, Karadzic was found guilty of 10 charges for his role in the slayings of 8,000 Muslim men and boys. Karadzic, 70, was sentenced to 40 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal. We must redouble our efforts to ensure that the prosecution of Radovan Karadzic does not stand as an isolated island of accountability in a sea of impunity, Combs said. Whats killing creativity in kids? In a March 15 MetroParent article, Kyung Hee Kim, assistant professor of educational psychology discussed the recent downward trend of creativity test scores in children. According to the article, studies show Americans are becoming less creative. Kim found a drop of 37 percent between 1984 and 2008. The creativity crisis begins at home, Kim said. Parents with little tolerance for mess, noise and ambiguity may demand kids speak, think and act correctly leaving little room for individuality. And leisure activities like TV and video games can make kids passive consumers, rather than stimulating their innovative energies. Marine Debris Summit urges prevention strategies In a March 8 Daily Press article, Kirk Havens, William & Marys research associate professor and director of the Coastal Watershed Program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), talked about ways to stop people from polluting Virginia waterways. According to the Press, preventing litter in waterways begins at home and at school, houses of worship, neighborhood cleanups, workplaces, and public parks. That was part of the message at the 2nd Virginia Marine Debris Summit that took place at VIMS in March. At the summit, speakers laid out numerous solutions, all focused on convincing people to choose to change their behavior. 10-15 billion plastic shotgun wads are produced every year, said Havens. A shotgun wad is the small plastic cylinder that holds the pellets. "This material just doesn't go away," said Havens. "This ends up in the system and, unfortunately, the stomachs of foraging ocean birds." Havens and others at VIMS have developed a natural polymer that could reduce the problem, the process would only add about a buck to a $25 box of shotgun shells. He and his team are patenting the concept. Refugee migration topic of Great Decisions lecture In a March 8 Virginia Gazette article, Angela M. Banks, professor of law at William & Mary, spoke about the issue of refugee migration around the world at the Great Decisions lecture series. According to the article, smugglers, political detention and physical and sexual assault are some of the dangers refugees face when traveling to safer borders. Banks' lecture focused on two areas of concern: Central America and Syria. "There are no good options," for refugees, Banks said. "Staying at home means certain death. Traveling ... means there are certain abuses you might suffer. At least there is a light at the end of that tunnel." Harvard drawn into race battle at U.S. universities In a March 3 BBC News article Jody L. Allen, professor of history and Lemon Project coordinator, spoke about the decision by Harvard to use the term "faculty deans" to describe the lead advisors of student dormitories, instead of "house masters," which seems to be reminiscence of slavery in the United States. According to BBC, Harvard is not the only Ivy League school to dispense with "master" in some academic titles. Yale and Princeton have discontinued its use, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology is considering a similar change. In addition, the article posed a question. Is the word "master" which has its roots in the Latin term "magister," a term for a scholar or teacher, and is found throughout academia from the title of "headmaster" to earning one's "masters degree" offensive or inherently racist? Allen had this to say. "Most of the time we have an image when we think of slavery, unfortunately that's that everyone worked and lived on a plantation. We don't think about the fact that churches and businesses and colleges and universities owned slaves. Its not in the textbooks. W&M students win national Up to Us competition Up to Us: Members of the winning W&M team included (left to right) Sruveera Sathi '16, Aastha Uprety '18, Arjun Rastogi '18, Octavia Goodman '16, Merci Best '17 and Sudeep Kalkunte '16. Courtesy photo Photo - of - Hide Caption Students to be recognized by former U.S. President Bill Clinton this weekend A group of students from William & Mary beat 52 other teams from across the country to win the fourth annual Up to Us competition, according to a March 30 press release from the program. The competition, sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) and Net Impact, asks college students to create campaigns to educate and engage millennials on Americas fiscal challenges. This was the first year that a team from William & Mary has competed in the program. The enthusiasm in this years Up to Us competition shows that young people are taking action to invest in Americas future, said former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the press release. As the winning team from William & Mary proves, everyone can play an important role in addressing our nations challenges, and working together is the best way to do it. The winning students all members of Net Impact, a student organization at W&Ms Mason School of Business that focuses on equipping future businesspeople to act in socially responsible and environmentally conscious ways will be recognized by Clinton at the CGI U meeting at the University of California, Berkeley, April 1-3. The team will also receive a $10,000 cash prize. "As an aspiring medical professional, throughout my college career I was taught how important it is to have the medical knowledge to be successful at my future career, said Sruveera Sathi 16, W&M team leader and president of Net Impact, in an email. But what leading Up to Us has taught me, is that awareness of fiscal issues is so important to not just the healthcare profession, but also for many other professions. This is how we ought to engage the students at our campus, by personalizing this abstract issue of the national debt and how it can affect their potential career and lives in the future." Along with Sathi, the W&M team included Hannah Cannon 18, Aastha Uprety 18, Octavia Goodman 16 and Merci Best 17 as well as Sudeep Kalkunte '16, Arjun Rastogi '18, Dan Sutherland '16 and William Kilgallin '17. The groups Up to Us campaign incorporated several events, including a Great Debt-bate that brought together four campus political groups discuss fiscal policy, a dance workshop to dance the debt away and a forum featuring millennial innovators in the fields of healthcare, education and defense. The team promoted its campaign through such efforts as a Money doesnt grow on trees art installation, in which fake dollar bills with educational facts about the national debt were hung on trees around campus. The W&M students also traveled to the Virginia state capitol as part of the Road to Richmond event, in which they were able to meet with the governor and state senators. "Although the main focus of the campaign is to engage millennials, we recognized that we were in unique position to bridge two populations, that being millennials and our current leaders, said Sathi. As the pioneering Up to Us team at William & Mary, and advocates of our generation of millennials, we took advantage of every opportunity that came our way to speak to whoever would listen. We spoke to our teachers, administrators, spoke to military generals and defense professionals at a defense conference called DEFx, and even spent an entire day lobbying to our elected officials." The competition started in October 2015 with the second annual My Two Cents Day, during which students gathered pledges and used social media to inspire action among millennials on the countrys long-term economic health. The second portion of the competition, in which the teams put their campaigns into practice, occurred in February. More than 230 students from 28 states participated in this years competition, creating campaigns that engaged more than 30,000 fellow students through outreach, events and other campus activities, according to the release. The participants also gathered nearly 16,000 signatures on a pledge to affirm the millennial generations role in securing the countrys strong fiscal future. Oracle Executive Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer, Larry Ellison, delivers a keynote address during the 2014 Oracle Open World conference on September 28, 2014 in San Francisco, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Kimberly White) Oracle and Google will meet for another round in court this May. Most recent reports have it that the business technology giant is asking Google the largest copyright verdict ever over the alleged software copyright infringement. The American multinational technology company, Google, was accused of using the Java's APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) without consent and that, they were purportedly using a protected property in order to build its version of the market-leading mobile OS, Android. Advertisement The two giant companies already went to trial in 2012, yet the jury was unable to determine whether Google's use of Java was ensured by "fair use," which permits copying under limited circumstances. Now, the companies will once again fight the case out in a new trial on May 9. A damages report was already filed by Oracle last week in San Francisco's Federal District Court. What is more, Oracle damages expert, James Malackowski, reveals that the business technology giant will ask for a whopping of 9.3 billion in profits related to the use of the APIs, and $475 million in damages from Google, IDG News Service reported. Google, on the other hand, hired its own damages expert, in which, the assessed damages are close to $100 million only. In a court filing last week, Google apparently blasted Malackwoski's report and asked Alsup to prohibit parts of it from the trial, saying it "ignores the statutory standard for copyright damages and fails to offer anything resembling an expert analysis." In fact, the jury had found Google infringing only 37 APIs, which compensate for a very small fraction of the company's Android codebase. Apparently, the copyright law says that damages can only be claimed for profits that are inferable from the infringing code. "Oracle and Malackowski improperly equate the value of the entirety of Android, with the value of the 37 APIs," Google's legal advisor said. With that in mind, the figure that Oracle is asking for could be reduced before the case gets to trial. To date, both companies declined to give comments about the issue. Nonetheless, Oracle and Google will first meet on April 27 for a pre-trial. Watch the video below for more information: China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Russia plans start-up of first Gen-III+ unit this summer 30 March 2016 Share ASE Group has announced plans for Russia to connect its first Generation-III+ nuclear power unit to the grid this summer. The first fuel assembly was loaded at unit 1 of the Novovoronezh II nuclear power plant in western Russia on 24 March at 3.28am, while the "active phase" of the loading process began the following day. Fuel loading starts at Novovoronezh 6 (Image: Rosatom) Novovoronezh 6 is a Generation-III+ VVER 1200/392M pressurised water reactor (PWR) unit with a design net capacity of 1114 MWe. It is the first of two units at Novovoronezh II - the lead project for the deployment of the AES-2006 design incorporating a Gidropress-designed PWR, an evolutionary development from the VVER-1000. Construction of Novovoronezh II units 1 and 2, also known as Novovoronezh units 6 and 7, began in June 2008 and July 2009, respectively. The original Novovoronezh site nearby already hosts three operating reactors and two that are being decommissioned. Russian regulator Rostechnadzor issued the operating licence for Novovoronezh 6 on 23 March, thus permitting first criticality and eventual commercial operation of the unit. The announcement of the start of fuel loading at unit 1 followed a meeting chaired by Novovoronezh plant director, Vladimir Povarov, and the general director of ASE Group, Valery Limarenko. The meeting included an inspection of the unit's reactor building and control room as well as its solid radioactive waste reprocessing and nitrogen-oxygen facilities. The meeting was also held to discuss "equipment supply, the timing of obtaining permits, the progress of individual operations necessary for achieving the minimum controlled power level, as well as the progress of preparations for the first criticality of unit 6," ASE Group said. Povarov said the fuel loading procedure was different to those previously used at pilot power units because the reactor core of Novovoronezh 6 will be partly filled with fuel assembly "dummies". This will "ensure additional safety" during the first criticality phase, Povarov said. In the same statement, Fedor Tatarkin, chief engineer at the Novovoronezh plant, said that at the first stage of fuel loading, just one-third of all loaded assemblies will contain fresh nuclear fuel, while the rest will be dummies. The dummy assemblies will be gradually replaced by fresh nuclear fuel in accordance with the operating schedule, he added. Achieving start-up of the unit according to schedule requires "strict adherence" to all stages of preparation for its launch, Povarov said. "If there are any risks [to the schedule], then we need to know about them in advance in order to resolve them quickly," he said. Limarenko added that, "despite the very tight schedule, every effort will be made to ensure the unit is connected to the network in a timely manner". As of today, 108 of a total of 163 of the fuel assemblies have been inserted and fuel loading is to be completed on 2 April, according to the ASE Group statement. Physical start-up will take about 55 days, with commercial operation to start by the end of this year, Povarov said. ASE Group consolidates the engineering know-how of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom through the ongoing merger of NIAEP, ASE and Atomenergoproekt. Several generations of reactors are commonly distinguished. Generation I reactors were developed in 1950-60s, and outside the UK none was still running when Wylfa unit 1 - the world's last operating Magnox reactor - closed at the end of last year. Generation II reactors are typified by the present US and French fleets and most in operation elsewhere. So-called Generation III (and III+) are advanced reactors, though the distinction from Generation II is arbitrary. The first are in operation in Japan and others are under construction or ready to be ordered. Generation IV designs are still on the drawing board and will not be operational before 2020 at the earliest. The new Novovoronezh units will have a passive heat removal system that, in the event of loss of on-site power supply, will provide long-term heat removal from the reactor core to the atmosphere using natural circulation. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics A screencap of Swedish national Peter Dahlin during his televised confession. Several countries and human rights groups have aired their concern over such practices by the Chinese government. (Photo : Twitter) Several countries and human rights organizations have expressed their concern over China's increasing use of televised confessions against those who have committed crimes. According to New York University professor of law and expert on Chinese law Jerome Cohen, the practice is an outright violation of the rule of law. Cohen also said that the televised confessions serve as a terrifying union of a powerful police and state-controlled media, the Hindustan Times reported. Advertisement "It makes a mockery of continuing efforts by law reformers within the Chinese judiciary to improve the fairness of the criminal justice system," Cohen said. Hong Kong-based independent rights researcher Joshua Rosenzweig said that such confessions have also been used against political dissidents. Rosenzweig added that the "confessors" were often coerced into writing and reading their "confessions" live. However, he stressed that such practices are not part of any judicial process and can undermine the rule of law in the country. Since 2013, dozens of televised confessions have been made, including high-profile ones. In January, Swedish human rights activist Peter Dahlin went on national television, confessing about his "anti-China work." He also issued an apology for supposedly hurting the feelings of the Chinese people. Dahlin was arrested while boarding a flight to Hong Kong. During the same time, Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai also made a televised confession for his alleged involvement in a vehicular incident in 2003. Gui's confession proved to be highly controversial, as he went missing in 2015 before resurfacing in the broadcast. Sweden expressed concerns for Dahlin's and Gui's (also a Swedish national) cases, with Swedish ambassador to China Lars Freden saying that such practices were something that many thought have ended in China years ago. Freden's comments on the matter were eventually taken down from the Chinese social media site Weibo, the Washington Post reported. Advisory group sees progress at Fukushima Daiichi 30 March 2016 Share Members of the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee yesterday toured the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan and noted progress in decommissioning and working conditions at the site. Masuda (left) leads the three committee members (Judge, Klein and Sakurai) on an inspection of the site (Image: Tepco) The committee was established in September 2012 as an advisory body to Tokyo Electric Power Company's (Tepco's) board of directors and comprises five domestic and international experts. It is an independent committee that conducts external monitoring and supervision of the activities of the Nuclear Reform Special Task Force set up by Tepco. Although each member of the committee has previously visited the Fukushima Daiichi site, some on multiple occasions, this was the first time a team from the committee had formally toured the site, Tepco noted. The group - comprising committee chairman Dale Klein, deputy chairman Lady Barbara Judge and committee member Masafumi Sakurai - was led on the tour by Tepco's chief decommissioning officer Naohiro Masuda. They were shown a variety of facilities and reviewed various improvements. These included the seismically isolated management building; various aspects of water management; the new incineration facility for solid waste; a new drainage channel; and a new large rest building for workers. Klein, former chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said: "We have been impressed by what we have seen. I have visited on a number of occasions before, and each time I see steady progress being made in what we all realize is a very long-term process." Judge, chairman emeritus of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, added, "The workers here are to be commended for making progress in a challenging environment, and I am particularly glad to see their working conditions so dramatically improved." The committee did not hold a formal meeting during its inspection of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Its next meeting is likely to be scheduled between April and June, during which it will review Tepco's self-evaluation of its progress in implementing the Nuclear Safety Reform Plan. That plan, adopted three years ago, established the committee to oversee its implementation. The committee has been receiving quarterly progress reports. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Email Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter High Operating Costs Prompt More Careful and Strategic Expansion Sign Up Free | The WPJ Weekly Newsletter Relevant real estate news. Actionable market intelligence. Right to your inbox every week. Go Thank you for your interest! You will now be receiving our Weekly Real Estate Newsletter. Real Estate Listings Showcase According to a new International retail report by CBRE, China was the top market in Asia Pacific and the fourth most popular destination globally, with 27% of retailers looking to expand there. The next highest ranked Asia Pacific markets were Hong Kong in sixth position (24%), Japan in seventh (22%) and Singapore in ninth (21%). European markets dominated the top destinations this year.The findings come despite a slowdown in retailer expansion in China and Hong Kong amid weaker consumption growth. Retailers nevertheless continue to see these locations as their most important markets and are responding to the slowdown by adjusting their portfolio strategy.Retailer interest in Japan increased significantly in this year's survey, with 22% of retailers surveyed indicating they plan to expand in this market in 2016, compared to 16% in 2015. This market is benefiting from solid domestic consumption and strong spending by inbound tourists. The weaker yen continues to support the entry and expansion of foreign retailers, particularly those from the United States and Europe.Expansion in Southeast Asia is set to surge this year, with retailer interest in Malaysia (10.5%), Indonesia (9.2%), Thailand (8.5%), Vietnam (8.5%) and the Philippines (7.8%) more than doubling compared to 2015, when all markets registered between 1-3%.While there are strong positive indicators, retailers generally remain cautiously optimistic towards the retail environment in 2016. When asked to identify the risk factors likely to affect them in the coming year, real estate cost escalation (56%) and unclear economic prospects (42%) were their top concerns, a finding similar to last year."High operating costs, particularly rents and labor in Asia, will see more caution among retailers in 2016. Retailers will shift their focus from expanding their store networks to rationalization; improving in-store profitability; and upgrading to better locations," said Dr. Henry Chin, Head of Research, Asia Pacific, for CBRE.The survey also found that the growth of e-commerce is not deterring retailers' plans to add to their network of physical stores. 83% of brands said their physical store expansion plans in 2016 would not be affected by the growth of e-commerce, while just 22% said they felt online retail posed a threat to theirbusiness."Despite economic uncertainty and the growing popularity of online shopping, retailers still believe physical stores are critical for their brand image. Shoppers still like to go into stores to physically touch a product and enjoy the feel-good factor associated with a brand experience. The challenge now for retailers is to build an engaging offer that encourages consumers to stay longer in the store and spend more. As online shopping continues to grow, shopping malls need to embrace 'retail-tainment' and adjust their trade mix to include more experience-oriented retailers. Those that do will be best placed to attract and retain foot traffic," said Joel Stephen, Senior Director and Head of Retailer Representation, Asia at CBRE. Toddler Decapitated On Taiwan Street (Photo : Getty Images) There is a growing call in Taiwan to retain the death penalty after a four-year-old girl was beheaded on Monday by a drug-crazed man. The suspect, Wang Ching-Yu, was beaten by the public and is now in jail. Wang used a cleaver in decapitating Liu whom he beheaded in front of the childs mother after he grabbed the girl who was riding a bike toward a metro station in Taipei with her mother to meet relatives. Shanghai Daily reported that Wang pushed away the girls mother who tried to save her child from the suspect. Seven bystanders also attempted to stop the crazed man but failed. Advertisement While he was being transferred to the prosecutors office for questioning, an angry mob who gathered outside a Taipei police station attacked Wang, TV footage showed, reported China Daily. In 2010, Taiwan brought back capital punishment after a five-year hold on executions. But despite its restoration, only criminals convicted for aggravated murder and kidnapping are meted the death penalty. Until the Monday horror show, Taiwanese politicians continue to debate if they would abolish or keep the death penalty. The girls murder tilted the arguments in favor of keeping capital punishment, especially since it is the second child-killing incident in Taiwan in one year. Koumintang leader Hung Hsiuchu, who was elected on Saturday, called Wangs crime unforgivable. She asked in her Facebook page, Can you accept abolishing the death penalty (under such circumstances)? Wang Yu-min, a legislator, pushed for a review of a bill on Thursday that would ensure strangers who kills a child below 12 be executed, or be given a life sentence if proven to have severe mental illness. The victims mother, however, asked Taiwanese to defer discussing the issue of capital punishment in the meantime so they could grieve. She also asked the public not to circulate pictures of the girl. Chinese in Manila Promises to Return Part of the Loot Stolen from Bangladesh in $81M Cyberheist RCBC (Photo : Worldfinance.com) Kim Wong, a Chinese junket operator in the Philippines, promised to the Bangladeshi Central Bank that he would partially return the $81 million stolen by hackers from the poor Asian country. But of the total amount stolen, using an elaborate money laundering scheme, Wong said only $4.63 million is intact, reported Shanghai Daily. The bulk, which ended up in the hands of casino and junket operators in Manila, had vanished. Advertisement Of the $81 billion, $21 million (1 billion pesos) was deposited without his knowledge to Eastern Hawaii, a company that Wong owns. The branch manager of RCBC bank was the one who opened four bank accounts on Feb. 4 where the stolen funds were deposited by forging the signatures of bank clients. Within days, the money was withdrawn of which $56 million ended up in casinos. Solaire, a casino resort run by Bloomberry Resorts Corp., got $29 million, credited to an account of a high-roller based in Macau. Solaire, through lawyer Silverio Benny Tan, said it froze the remaining $2.3 million when it learned about the heist in March, reported The Wall Street Journal. Wong got another $5 million through foreign exchange broker Philrem. He said $4.63 million of that amount is still intact and he is willing to give it back to Bangladesh. The money was arranged in the grand cyberheist by two Chinese men, Ding Zhi Ze from Macau and Gao Shu Hua from Beijing. One of the two owed him 450 million pesos which was used to settle a casino debt. The remaining money, Wong used to purchase gambling chips for junket clients. It was not only the Bangladeshi Central Bank that the hackers victimized. They also attempted to steal $951 million from an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, but most of their transfer attempts were blocked. The Philippine Senate, which held on Tuesday a hearing on the cybercrime, had difficulty tracing where the rest of the stolen $81 million went because of the strict banking secrecy law of the Philippines and non-inclusion of casinos in anti-money laundering regulations. Last week, the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council filed criminal complaint against Wong and Xu Weikang, another Chinese national who arranges for high-stakes gamblers to travel to casinos in the Philippines, for breaching the countrys anti-money laundering laws. 10m Investment to Fund 94 New Ambulances in Wales This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Mar 30th, 2016 The Welsh Ambulance Service will receive 94 new vehicles thanks to a 10.3m investment, it has been announced today. At present the Welsh Ambulance Service currently has 706 vehicles in its fleet covering an area of more than 8,000 square miles across Wales. The investment will allow the service to make significant purchases to help deliver the quickest response possible and replace some vehicles which have reached the end of their working life. Overall the investment will allow the Welsh Ambulance Service to purchase: 35 new emergency ambulances; 13 rapid response vehicles/emergency patient vehicles; 10 patient care services vehicles, capable of carrying stretchers; 32 patient care services vehicles, capable of carrying wheelchairs; Four specialist vehicles. The Minister for Finance and Government Business Jane Hutt allocated 10m for the Welsh Ambulance Service as part of the Welsh Governments Final Budget for 2016-17. Since 2011, the Welsh Government has invested almost 45m in new ambulance vehicles for the Welsh Ambulance Service. Welcoming todays announcement, Health and Social Services Minister, Mark Drakeford said: The demand on the Welsh Ambulance Service is growing every year, which is why its vital we invest in the latest vehicles so the service can deliver the best care for people in Wales. The 10.3m investment Im announcing today will enable the Welsh Ambulance Service to upgrade its existing fleet. This is on top of the 34.3m we have already invested in new vehicles since 2011. This will ensure the ambulance service is able to deploy the most appropriate clinician in the most appropriate vehicle, ensuring people receive the quickest response possible. Richard Lee, the Welsh Ambulance Services Interim Director of Operations added: Our ambulances and response cars in Wales are some of the most modern and well equipped in the UK and this funding will allow us to continue to replace our vehicles as they reach the end of their working life. Modern ambulances are essential in order that we can continue to provide the best treatment and patient experience possible. It is also key for our staff who spend the majority of their working day out and about in the community. We are very grateful to the Welsh Government for their continued support. Some Party Leaders Come To Wrexham For Election Debate This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Mar 30th, 2016 With the Federation of Small Business hosting the event at Wrexham Glyndwr University the debate itself was a businesslike affair. First Minster Carwyn Jones was subbed by Edwina Hart AM, with Mr Jones having understandable business regarding Tata Steel. Mark Reckless of Rochester and Strood fame stood in for UKIPs Nathan Gill, with the other parties having their leadership lining up as promised Andrew Davies from the Conservatives, Kirsty Williams from the Liberal Democrats and Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymru. Wrexham.com did offer to film and live stream the event, however organisers have said BBC Radio Wales will be carrying the event in some form, so we will provide a link if/when we spot it, for now there is a summary of some of the points made and a few observations of the evening. ( UPDATE there is a 30 minute edit that you can listen to online, or download an MP3 of on the BBC website here ) The debate was fast paced crammed into an hour with topics focused on Welsh business and related subjects. The initial question that dominated the first quarter of the discussions centred around the news over Tata Steel looking to dispose of their assets in the UK (More coverage on this can be found on Deeside.com, with the obvious Shotton interest). The responses from the panel were along party lines nationally through today, with Labour stating it was not just a Welsh Government issue but global due to dumping from China with a wish that the issue will rise above politics. Edwina Hart said she wanted to see a fit for purpose steel industry in the UK as regardless of Tata or state owner it is making 1m per day claimed losses. In a conciliatory tone the Conservative leader stated it was vital that both the Welsh and UK Governments worked together, and that they were not against a stake being taking in the business for a short while if it was so required. A tit for tat tariff war was warned against, with a refusal of Chinese steel being linked to possible knock on effects to other demand such as Airbus planes. UKIP cited the lack of protection from the EU over dumping, with Mr Reckless wanting the UK to stand alone to enable anti dumping tariffs. EU rules over clean energy were noted with new coal power plants being on UKIPs agenda if the referendum votes out. The Liberal Democrats echoed other views of steel being an industry of national strategic importance, explaining that Shotton appears to be the only profitable part of the Tata UK operation and concern over the lack of clarity to its future. Referring to the banking bail outs, Kirsty Williams said We need to put our money where our mouth is to similarly bail out the steel industry, saying governments spend money on things a lot worse than saving jobs. Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymru introduced a political fight, challenging Labours record saying manufacturing had not been a priority for years, pointing out that the Conservatives had been lobbying for China to be granted market economy status a move that would it is claimed have severe impact on the competitiveness of the UK steel industry. UKIP also had their nose tweaked as their EU argument was skewered with it pointed out regardless if the UK was in or out, there is still a Conservative Government in Westminster so the policy on China would not change. Another question was asked over divides in spending, with the implication the M4 corridor in South Wales and Deeside get a bigger bite at the proverbial cherry than other areas. The M4 is currently due to get a 1 billion upgrade, with a controversial relief road being much debated. The various black and blue versions of routes were mentioned several times leaving a debate in North Wales with a question over a southern focus bruised. All parties noted issues with the A55, with electrification of the North Wales mainline or associated transport link improvements also being seen as important by all. The dividing lines were drawn over the implementation of spending, with UKIP looking to develop links with the so called Northern Powerhouse in a geographically imprecise area. Edwina Hart challenged the view on the south getting a better deal than the north, saying that us here in the north get more per head spent on transport than the south. Looking at Andrew Davies, she also pointed out that the limits to cash available are due to the Conservative party in Westminster. Kirsty Williams said there was life outside of Cardiff and Newport and favoured a balanced regional approach, explaining how she was from mid-wales and therefore knows how it feels to be not listened to by Cardiff. Leanne Wood went a step further saying Plaid Cymru would entrench fairness in spending into law to ensure there could be no geographical bias. Wrexham.com has covered the mystery over the deal for North Wales, and with the Chancellor George Osbourne putting it on par with a 1 billion city deal for Cardiff (signed and sealed) it did seem odd there was no mention of it. Andrew Davies reiterated that a strong economy was required for growth, and echoed UKIPs view to plug in to the Northern Powerhouse, explaining how he sees more east-west connections rather north-south. With only twenty minutes remaining the last two questions about inward investment, tax reform, business rates and business support were answered in an often tangential manner. Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymru explained plans for Welsh Government to take equity stakes in new startups rather than straight grants, a system that would share the risk and reward. Mark Reckless from UKIP said it was a disgrace that the Seven Bridge tolls were to be kept under Conservative plans, with Andrew Davies from the Conservatives responding to abolish them would cost 15-20m and increase road use by 25%. Kirsty Williams from the Liberal Democrats made the only mention of tourism, saying she welcomed more visitors and encouraged more to be done to promote Wales. Edwina Hart from Labour spoke of her positive experiences of visiting classrooms and seeing entrepreneurial spirit from children however pondered when it was knocked out of them. No large scale reforms of the business rates systems were proposed, with various tapers and reliefs being put forward by all to help business. Kirsty Williams did give a warning that any wholesale changes would need to be very careful as her locality does not collect much in rates but gets much more benefit, and devolving collection and control to local authorities could exacerbate any finance gaps. In what was quite a tranquil debate the only audience applause (and a whoop) occurred when Edwina Hart suggested that Andrew Davies Conservative Party could make large global corporates pay tax, presumably referring to the likes of Facebook and similar who paid 4,327 in corporation tax in the UK in 2014 despite making $2.9bn profit globally. Mr Davies replied that more had been collected under the Conservatives recently than under the whole of the previous Labour Government, a similar applause then took place. The event went well, with the BBC Wales host Brian Meechan conducting his work with a subtle touch, however after the meeting there was mutterings on the small scale of the event and inability to get tickets. One told us they had many interested friends who were unable to attend, with them disappointed the audience appeared packed with political types we did spot a couple of candidates for various positions and members of their entourages sitting in. There was a video link in place to Swansea, with one question posed via the connection, one wag after the meeting said: We have a meeting about North Wales in North Wales and still South Wales gets focus, although for those unaware of the M4 routes it would have been an educational experience. US tech firms, including Facebook, Amazon.com, Google, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Dropbox, Mozilla, Snapchat and others, filed legal briefs Thursday joining an Apple Inc. suit launched last month against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Apple filed legal challenges after the FBI demanded backdoor access to encryption systems used to protect iPhone data. According to briefs filed by the corporations, the FBIs demands are based on a false interpretation of a more than 200-year-old law, the All Writs Act, to effectively claim boundless power for the state to compromise electronic security systems. The governments order to Apple exceeds the bounds of existing law and, when applied more broadly, will harm Americans security, a brief filed by a dozen tech firms, including Google, states. The colonial-era All Writs Act has been radically reinterpreted by the government, according to the brief. The FBI and Justice Department cast the act as clearing the way for arbitrary decrees that would give the state access to new forms of security technology as they emerge. The All Writs Act was not designed to confer sweeping new powers, the brief states. Now, 200 years later, the government endeavors to reinterpret the All Writs Act as an open-ended source of new powers. It asks this Court to endorse an unprecedented expansion of the Act that would allow law enforcement and private technology companies to circumvent security features that protect customers sensitive information. The FBIs demands also violate the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which authorized US government spying on communications but specifically excluded information providers, according to a separate brief filed by a corporate faction led by LinkedIn, Twitter and eBay. The ballooning corporate-government dispute over encryption emerged in relation to an iPhone belonging to one of the perpetrators of the terror attacks in San Bernardino. FBI representatives have claimed that unlocking the phone is critical to preventing further attacks. San Bernardino County Attorney General Michael Ramos on Thursday issued an even more dire warning, saying that the iPhone in question could produce a lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino Countys infrastructure. The attorney generals office has declined to supply any evidence substantiating this claim. The FBI-Apple conflict is fueling divisions within the corporate establishment and the state itself. Even within the US intelligence establishment, there is anxiety over the implications of advanced encryption hacking software for the states own information security. Leading pro-surveillance figures, including former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden, have voiced misgivings over the FBIs aggressive anti-encryption moves. For their part, the tech giants seek to counter the damage done to their reputations in the wake of the 2013 leaks by Edward Snowden, which exposed their complicity in mass government spying. Despite the divisions over encryption, the underlying solidarity of the corporations with the military and police apparatus of American imperialism was on full display this week, with appearances by Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter at gatherings of tech leaders in Silicon Valley and Seattle. In remarks Wednesday, Carter called for informal arrangements to be worked out between the corporations and the government. It would be better to work this out than have a law written, he said. The defense secretary warned that failure to voluntarily cooperate would lead to the passage of formal laws that were less favorable to corporate interests. He announced US military initiatives aimed at recruiting high-skilled tech professionals and firms on behalf of the Pentagons cyberwarfare and advanced weapons programs directed against Russia and China. He boasted of US plans to spend nearly $72 billion on new military technologies in 2017, saying the funds would be used for advancing our commanding lead in undersea capabilities and developing new hypersonic missiles that can fly over five times the speed of sound. The Pentagon was developing artificial intelligence, autonomy and robotics, Carter said. Automated weapons would ensure that no matter what our enemies throw at our systems, they just work, he added. The Defense Department is trying to break down barriers with commercial technology firms in an effort to speed weapons development and maintain its advantage over key adversaries, such as China and Russia, the Wall Street Journal noted on Wednesday. The appointment of Alphabets Eric Schmidt to chair the US militarys newly formed Defense Innovation Advisory Board (DIAB), announced Wednesday after a personal meeting between Schmidt and Carter, underscores the integration of the tech industry into the US global war agenda. The DIAB has been tasked with streamlining the US militarys technology acquisitions in tandem with the Pentagons research and development arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Pentagon-Silicon Valley collaboration is based out of a new facility in northern California, with a second research center now under construction in Boston. The DIAB project aims to achieve technological breakthroughs on the order of the Internet or the jet engine, Secretary Carter said. The Pentagons latest budget includes a $40 million item for the US intelligence-backed venture capital firm In-Q-Tel. The budget also calls for $7 billion in funds for cyberwar, a $1.5 billion increase from 2016. Google and other firms that collaborate with the Pentagons research will be handsomely compensated, DARPA Chief Arti Prabhaka made clear in her own remarks. Theyre going to go make money on itthats what they do as a private company, she said. In remarks in Seattle on Thursday, Secretary Carter further outlined the US militarys plans to bolster its presence in the worlds leading technology center, declaring his intention to build up essentially, an outpost of the Pentagon on the West Coast. This is the way it ought to bethe military community and the larger community together; the security imperative and our competitive and technological imperatives coming together, reinforcing one another, Carter said. This meeting was Microsofts idea and I really salute you for it, Carter continued. He went on to single out Microsoft for special praise for its previous cooperation with the security apparatus, saying the company has built the bridge from the other direction. He hailed the creation of Microsofts Cybersecurity Operations Center. A recent report by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) lifts the veilor a portion of iton the reactionary activities of the sexual harassment industry on university campuses, backed and incited by the Obama administration. The report, The History, Uses, and Abuses of Title IX, argues that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Education (DOE) has broadly defined sexual harassment in ways that undermine academic freedom and due process. Title IX is a portion of the federal Educational Amendments Act of 1972, which mandates that no one shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation or discriminated against under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. As the AAUP study indicates, discrimination on the basis of sex was extended to sexual harassment in the late 1970s. It was then generally applied to employees being subjected to demands for sex in exchange for favorable treatment, or the creation of an environment that unreasonably interfered with an individuals ability to work. The courts began applying this standard to students as well in the 1980s. In 1999 the US Supreme Court held that educational institutions could be liable in private damage suits for student-to-student sexual harassment if the behavior was sufficiently severe, pervasive and objectively offensive. The Department of Educations OCR argued that the courts hostile environment definition was consistent with its own definition used in enforcement of Title IX. The AAUP authors note that the issue of what constitutes a hostile environment in terms of sexual harassment has been a contentious one, particularly when speech rather than conduct is in question. The study notes that concerns about subjecting speech to the same regulations as assault, about balancing an interest in preventing sexual harassment and academic freedom, about exercising care to protect equal rights and safety without violating rights of free speech were central to Title IX enforcement in the last decades of the 20th century; this has not been the case at least since 2011. In fact, the Obama administration, in conjunction with the identity politics mafia, has launched a sustained attack on freedom of speech and due process. The ludicrously named Office of Civil Rights, the report explains, now conflates conduct and speech cases. It broadly defines sexual harassment under Title IX as ranging from the most serious conduct of sexual violence to speech-based hostile environment. The OCR does not include any statements or warnings about the need to protect academic freedom and free speech in sexual harassment cases, including hostile environment allegations. With this conflation of sexual violence (which is also criminal conduct) and sexual harassment (including hostile environment based on speech), protections of academic freedom and free speech seem to have been relegated to the background or ignored completely. The broadening of the definition of sexual harassment, to unwelcome conduct [including speech] of a sexual nature, writes the AAUP, creates a seemingly limitless definition of harassment. The study points out that the OCR has given only limited attention to the due process rights of those accused of misconduct. Central to this was the decision taken by the OCR in 2011 to shift the evidentiary standard calling for clear and convincing (highly probable or reasonably certain) evidence to a preponderance of evidence (more likely than not) in assessing sexual violence claims and all sexual harassment claims. Jeannie Suk, one of the 28 Harvard law professors who protested in 2014 against the Draconian sexual harassment regulations implemented at that university, warned about enthroning the tenet that an accuser must always and unthinkingly be fully believed. It is as important and logically necessary to acknowledge the possibility of wrongful accusations of sexual assault as it is to recognize that most rape claims are true. In May 2014, the OCR, in line with the Obama administrations Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, announced investigations of 55 universities (a list that later swelled to 169 colleges and universities) for possible violations of Title IX in handling sexual violence and harassment complaints, holding over them the possibility of cutting off federal funding. The AAUP study points out, again, that various OCR letters contained no warnings about the need to protect academic freedom and almost no concerns expressed about due process for the accused. Not only is the withdrawal of federal money an issue, but Universities increased corporate and consumer-based approaches and their hiring of risk management consultants fuels their fear of possible OCR scrutiny and encourages university administrators to act precipitously in response to potential or actual OCR investigations. The result is a frenzy of cases in which administrators apparent fears of being targeted by OCR have overridden faculty academic freedom and student free speech rights. The AAUP proceeds to detail a number of preposterous cases, which, in reality, represent only the smallest tip of the iceberg. In one case, a female sociology professor was essentially forced into retirement for having her students perform role-playing exercises in regard to course material involving the global sex trade. Another female faculty member, in early childhood education, was charged with sexual harassment and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act because of her alleged use of salty language. Cowardly, cowed university administrations have increasingly acted to censor material that might unsettle students. As the AAUP study notes, This state of affairs extends to areas such as criminal law, where faculty increasingly decide to omit rape and sexual assault law units from their courses, fearing some students may experience the content as too emotionally distressing. Harvards Suk contends that, ironically, after long feminist campaigns to include rape law in the law school curriculum, the topic of rape has once again become difficult to teach. One of the most outrageous cases referred to by the AAUP involves Laura Kipnis, a professor of filmmaking at Northwestern University. Kipnis got into hot water after her piece, Sexual Paranoia Strikes Academe, was published in the Chronicle of Higher Education in February 2015. Kipniss amusing, bemused article, in her own words, argued that the new [sexual harassment] codes infantilized students while vastly increasing the power of university administrators over all our lives. In the course of her article, Kipnis referred even-handedly to the example of a philosophy professor at Northwestern who had been accused of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual advances by an undergraduate, who later sued the school. For referring to this case and others in her article, Kipnis found herself the target of a Title IX investigation that student activists petitioned the university to pursue, as well as protests on the campus. Her essay was accused, among other things, of having a chilling effect on students ability to report sexual misconduct. Kipnis detailed her ordeal in a subsequent article, My Title IX Inquisition, where she explains how she plummeted into an underground world of secret tribunals and capricious, medieval rules [no right to a lawyer, no right to record the hearing, etc.], about which I wasnt supposed to tell anyone. During her kangaroo court session, she remarks, her Midwestern Torquemadas doubled as judge and jury. Kipnis was eventually exonerated, thanks no doubt in part to her decision not to remain silent as instructed, but to expose and denounce the process. She writes in her second piece about the truly chilling effect the new sexual conduct regulations and the generally repressive atmosphere are having. Most academics I knowthis includes feminists, progressives, minorities, and those who identify as gay or queernow live in fear of some classroom incident spiraling into professional disaster. A tenured professor on my campus wrote about lying awake at night worrying that some stray remark of hers might lead to student complaints, social-media campaigns, eventual job loss, and her being unable to support her child. Kipnis explains that her tenured status at Northwestern permitted her to comment more freely on the issues and to take advantage of the academic freedom associated with that status, something fast disappearing in the increasingly corporatized university landscape, where casual labor is the new reality. As a consequence, faculty are practicing self-censorship more and more: With students increasingly regarded as customers and consumer satisfaction paramount, its imperative to avoid creating potential classroom friction with unpopular ideas if youre on a renewable contract and wish to stay employed. She continues: When it comes to campus sexual politics, however, the group most constrained from speakingeven those with tenureis men. No male academic in his right mind would write what I did. Men have been effectively muzzled, as any number of my male correspondents attested. The AAUP study, along with accounts such as Kipniss, point to the truly dreadful climate that prevails on American college and university campuses. This material confirms the assessment we made in November 2014, in the wake of the Harvard law professors protest. At the time we commented on the type of privileged social layer, without the most elementary concern for democratic rights or due process, a layer drawing ever closer to the establishment and increasingly comfortable with authoritarian forms of rule. For such people, obsessed with gender and racial politics, the election of an African American to the White House in 2008 was a transformative moment it accelerated their return to the bourgeois fold. For the Obama administration, pontificating about sexual violence serves the purpose of diverting attention from its crimes in the Middle East and Central Asia and the social disaster in America, providing itselfin certain eyeswith a progressive veneer and shoring up its support within the affluent identity politics crowd, including the pseudo-left groups such as the International Socialist Organization. The ISO is firmly in the camp of the rape culture advocates and has been at the center of numerous atrocities on campuses, including the antics of mattress girl Emma Sulkowicz at Columbia University. It may seem at times that merely irrational impulses are motivating those prosecuting the campaign on the ground, so to speak, on American colleges and universities. That would be a very shallow conclusion. The frenzy over gender and race is a peculiar variant of American bourgeois politics. The sexual violence activists are spreading ideological reaction at the same time as they aim to extract concessions (programs, fellowships, grants, publications, etc.), intimidate administrations, destroy academic rivals and advance their own careers. These social elements are conducting a ferocious type of intellectual civil war, obsessed as they are with their own social standing and privileges. Drone attacks and the deaths of thousands, mass devastation in Libya, Syria and Yemen, the advanced preparations for a police state and systematic attacks on democratic rights, the immiseration of ever wider layers of the American populationnone of that keeps this upper middle class constituency awake at night. But losing a professorship or a lucrative research project well, that makes them see red. A healthier atmosphere on college campuses will only come about when these forces are exposed as the right-wingers they are, and politically routed. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced Monday that it successfully hacked security features embedded in the iPhones iOS 9 operating system, and will therefore end its legal case against the tech giant Apple. In a short court filing, the FBI informed the court that it no longer requires the assistance of Apple, Inc in its efforts to compromise the phones data protection mechanisms. The government refused to reveal the means by which FBI investigators gained access to San Bernardino gunman Syed Farooks iPhone. While dropping this specific legal challenge, the FBI will continue efforts to employ the creativity of the public and private sector toward overcoming any obstacles to its investigation posed by iPhone security software, the government brief stated. It remains a priority for the government to ensure that law enforcement can obtain crucial digital information to protect national security and public safety, government attorneys wrote. The FBIs case, launched with the backing of the Obama administration in February, had sought to force Apple to design and install software that would give investigators access to security systems embedded in an iPhone belonging to San Bernardino shooter Farook. The agency claimed that its latest efforts to compromise iPhone security were strictly related to the necessities of its investigation of the December 2015 incident. The San Bernardino case was not about trying to send a message or set a precedent; it was and is about fully investigating a terrorist attack, top FBI official James Comey argued in an op-ed piece published by Lawfare last week. In reality, the case represents the latest manifestation of the Obama administrations drive to seize on the high-profile terror attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, and now Brussels to renew its push for unfettered access to encrypted communications. Comey practically acknowledged as much in his commentary, arguing in the most general terms for Americans to revise their understanding of liberty in accordance with the needs of the security agencies. We have awesome new technology that creates a serious tension between two values we all treasure: privacy and safety, he said. Finding the right place, the right balance, will matter to every American for a very long time. What exactly Comey means by the right balance was already clear from his relentless efforts, waged on behalf of the Obama White House, to promote new legislation requiring companies to install backdoor access to their encryption systems. Beginning with his July 2015 report to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and the Challenges of Going Dark, Comey staged a series of public appearances in which he issued dire warnings about the horrific terror attacks and crimes that would result from the continued use of unbreakable encryption. Comeys protestations over the supposed security threat arising from the FBIs lack of access to electronic data are preposterous. In light of everything that has been revealed since the 2013 exposures by Edward Snowden, it is impossible to believe that the FBIs decision to provoke a highly public conflict with Apple over a single iPhone was motivated by purely forensic considerations. The FBI and numerous other federal and state police agencies enjoy sweeping access to vast amounts of electronic data captured by the National Security Agencys mass surveillance programs. Mondays decision to suddenly call off the case has only underscored that the suit against Apple was little more than a cynical ploy in service of these efforts to roll back basic democratic rights. More than simply gaining access to the data on Farooks phone, which apparently was not far beyond the bureaus capabilities, the FBI suit has served to ratchet up pressure on Apple and the US tech industry generally. For its part, Apple resisted the FBI demands only because they were leveled in an intentionally public manner. Apples long record of collaboration with US government spying makes clear that the company has no scruples about enabling illegal government surveillance, and the tech companies have been involved in close negotiations with the state for months aimed at working out new forms of cooperation. We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, Apple noted in its statement Monday. With an election due in Australia this year, each major party is gearing up for the campaign. A new sense of urgency and crisis has been injected by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls moves last week to trigger an early double dissolution poll for all seats in both houses of parliament on July 2. Opposition leader Bill Shorten laid out the broad outlines of the Labor Partys campaign in an address to the National Press Club on March 15. The speech centred on a cynical populist appeal to win over disenchanted voters by condemning the Liberal-National Coalition for ruling in the interests of the wealthy elite at the expense of working people. The remarks were delivered in a wooden monotone that speaks volumes about Shortens indifference to, and ignorance of, the lives and concerns of workers and young people. While he was at pains to stress his working-class roots, Shorten inhabits the same affluent world as the former merchant banker Turnbull. Trained as a lawyer, Shorten chose the trade unions as his stepping stone to a political career, rising to the top of the well-paid Australian Workers Union (AWU) bureaucracy as its national secretary. Every aspect of Shortens speech smacked of hypocrisy and contempt for voters. Many people are feeling the rough edges of economic change, he declared. Whole regions and the communities built around them have their backs to the wall. Family budgets are feeling the strain of flat wages, rising living costs and harsh government cuts. Despite a quarter century of economic growth, inequality in Australia is at a 75-year high. More and more Australians from all walks of life, and every field of endeavour lack security of work. More and more of us worry what our children will do in the future. Every sentence stands as an indictment of the Labor governments that have been centrally responsible for the social crisis facing working people. Between 1983 and 1996, Labor prime ministers, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, presided over the greatest redistribution of wealth from the working class to the richest layers of society in history. As the share of wages in national income fell from a high of 62.4 percent in 1975 to 56 percent in 1992, the share of income of the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers nearly doubled. Business commentators today laud the Hawke-Keating governments as the golden age of pro-market reform, during which the Australian economy was opened up and deregulated, the wave of privatisations was initiated and deep inroads were made into working conditions, social services and living standards. Shorten and the Labor Party are now proposing very modest changes to taxes on superannuation contributions and to negative gearing for property investorsmeasures that have been rorted by the wealthiest layers of society. However, the most significant changes to the tax system that benefitted the rich took place under the Hawke-Keating governments. They slashed the corporate tax rate from 49 to 30 percent and the top marginal income tax rate from 60 to 49 percent. Labor is not going to reverse these changes. Under Hawke and Keating, the trade unions were instrumental in suppressing the resistance of workers and imposing corporate dictatesa role that continued under subsequent Coalition and Labor governments. As AWU national secretary, Shorten was involved in imposing enterprise agreements on some of most poorly-paid sections of workerssuch as cleanersthat eliminated penalty ratesthat is, higher payfor weekend, public holiday and night shifts. In his National Press Club address, Shorten repeated the mantra that Labor will be for jobs, health and education. He pledged that a Labor government would guarantee full employment with every Australian working to his or her full capacity. He later clarified that he did not mean jobs for all, but rather reducing the jobless rate to 5 percentmeaning hundreds of thousands would still be out of work. Previous Labor governments in collusion with the trade unions have presided over the devastation of the Australian manufacturing industry and the destruction of hundreds of thousands of jobs. As employment and workplace relations minister in the Labor government led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Shorten collaborated with the unions to set in train the closure of the entire car industry in Australia. Under conditions of a sharp reversal in the Australian economy precipitated by the collapse of the mining boom, a Labor government is not going create full employment but will deepen the assault on jobs and essential social services such as health and education. Shorten signalled to big business that he is fully committed to its austerity demands. He declared Labor had a clear, costed, responsible plan, emphasising that, I do not see budget repair as an optional extra. Shorten lambasted Turnbull for caving in to the right-wing agenda of Tony Abbottthe man Turnbull ousted as Liberal Party leader and prime minister last September. In the last six months the Liberals have changed their rhetoric, leader, etc., but not their mind. Their hit list remains intact, Shorten declared, pointing to new moves being made to undermine Medicare, education and welfare services. All the regressive measures carried out by the Abbott and Turnbull Coalition governments were begun under the previous Labor governments of Gillard and Kevin Rudd. In 201213, its last year in office, the Labor government carried out the biggest reduction in public spending on recordslashing it by 3.2 percent in real terms. The cuts fell most heavily on education and health care, despite rising student and patient numbers, as well as welfare. The Gillard government targeted some of the most vulnerable layers of the working class, stripping single parents of parenting payments and forcing them onto poverty-level Newstart unemployment benefits. As employment minister, Shorten opposed any increase in Newstart payments, declaring that the employed might no longer have an incentive to work if they were not in desperate poverty. One final point is worth noting. Throughout his National Press Club speech, Shorten declared again and again that he led a united Labor Party, in contrast to the evident turmoil of the ruling Coalition, which is torn by infighting between Abbott and Turnbull. It is an attempt to obscure the upheavals of the Rudd/Gillard years in which Shorten played a central role. In 2010, Shorten was one of the handful of factional powerbrokers, later exposed by WikiLeaks as protected sources of the US embassy, who orchestrated the overnight inner-party coup that ousted Rudd and installed Gillard. Rudd had earned the enmity of Washington by calling on the US to accommodate China when the Obama administration was preparing to aggressively confront China. Shorten fully backed Gillard as she supported Obamas pivot to Asia and integrated Australia into the Pentagons war plans. He switched sides at the last minute in June 2013 to reinstall Rudd in a desperate attempt to minimise the landslide against Labor in the September election. Absent from Shortens speech was any reference to the extreme tensions in Asia produced by the accelerating US military build-up in the region again China. Labor is once again coming to the fore as the party of war, with Labors defence spokesman, Stephen Conroy, berating the Turnbull government for failing to follow the US in militarily challenging Chinese claims in the South China Sea. The speech is a sign of what is to come in this years electionswhenever they are held. With his phony populist rhetoric, Shorten is preparing for another campaign of hypocrisy and lies to cover up the Labor Partys real agendaausterity and war. Accounts of US and European intelligences monitoring of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) make ever clearer that the key ingredient in ISIS terror attacks in Brussels and last year in Paris was the support of factions of the NATO countries intelligence apparatus for ISIS in the war in Syria. As NATO officials sought to use ISIS militias and terror attacks to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and to discredit Assads accusations that they was supporting terrorists in Syria, they ignored mounting signs that ISIS was developing a broad terror network in Europe. This reckless policy led to substantial infighting inside the intelligence services, which was however hidden from the public. On March 22 in Brussels, ISIS operatives identified as terrorists to state authorities, the El Bakraoui brothers, were able to prepare and carry out attacks, even though Belgian officials had been warned of the timing and targets of the attacks. Now, as NATO powers debate a shift towards pro-Russian forces and away from ISIS in Syria, factional infighting in the intelligence apparatus is erupting into the open. This is the content of yesterdays lengthy New York Times feature article, titled How ISIS built the machinery of terror under Europes gaze. The article is based on internal documents and testimony of US and French intelligence operatives of how they monitored ISIS operatives returning to Europe from Syria and apprehended several preparing attacks in Europe. It presents extended accounts of the travel plans, social media postings, and political views of several European recruits to ISIS who were preparing attacks in Europe, making clear that ISIS is thoroughly penetrated and monitored by NATO intelligence agencies. This makes it all the remarkable that ISIS was allowed to repeatedly carry out large-scale attacks in Europe. The Times notes, Officials now say the signs of this focused terrorist machine were readable in Europe as far back as early 2014. Yet local authorities repeatedly discounted each successive plot, describing them as isolated or random acts, the connection to the Islamic State either overlooked or played down. In fact, sections of the intelligence establishment were aware and concerned from shortly after the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011 that the Islamist militias they were mobilizing against Assad would organize terror attacks not only in Syria, but also in Europe. The Times cites retired US General Michael T. Flynn, the leader of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 2012 to 2014. Flynn was a key source in a report by Seymour Hersh in the London Review of Books in January, detailing contacts of US military intelligence with Russian and Syrian officials, which the DIA hoped to use in a war against ISIS. Flynn tells the Times, This didnt all of a sudden pop up in the last six months. They have been contemplating external attacks ever since the group moved into Syria in 2012. These signals included the May 24, 2014 shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels carried out by Mehdi Nemmouche, an ISIS fighter from nearby Roubaix, in France. The Times notes, Even when the police found a video in his possession, in which he claimed responsibility for the attack next to a flag bearing the words Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Belgiums deputy prosecutor, Ine Van Wymersch, dismissed any connection. He probably acted alone, she told reporters at the time. In fact, a review of Nemmouches phone records by the intelligence agencies showed that he was in close touch with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the public face of ISIS social media recruiting operations, who subsequently led the November 13 ISIS attack in Paris. The Times writes, In the months before the Jewish museum attack, Mr. Nemmouches phone records reveal that he made a 24-minute call to Mr. Abaaoud, according to a 55-page report by the French National Polices anti-terror unit in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. The article follows in detail the movements of ISIS operative Reda Hame, a 29-year-old computer technician from Paris who traveled to Syria in 2014 and volunteered, apparently after some initial reluctance, to return and carry out terror attacks in Europe. Despite attempts to hide and encrypt his communications with Abaaoud, Hame was apprehended in August of last year before he could carry out any attacks. He is apparently one of 21 such ISIS operatives who were arrested before carrying out their attacks. Its a factory over there, Hame told French intelligence officials after his arrest, according to the Times. They are doing everything possible to strike France, or else Europe. As sections of the intelligence establishment were well aware, a mass of information pointed to the fact that ISIS was preparing terror attacks in Europe. All the signals were there. For anyone paying attention, these signals became deafening by mid-2014, adds Michael S. Smith II, a counterterrorism analyst with private firm Kronos Advisory. The main question that emerges from the Times account, which it does not even bother to pose, is why intelligence agencies did not pay attention to the deafening signs that ISIS was preparing attacks in Europe. This also raises what role state agencies decision to downplay these reports played in ISIS ability to carry out the Paris and Brussels attacksagainst Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, again in Paris in November, and now in Brusselskilling and wounding hundreds in Europe. The central factor is that in the initial years of the war, there was broad support in the ruling classes of Europe and the United States for a proxy war for regime change against Assad relying on Islamist terror groups. In Europe, protocols were put in place so that thousands of Islamist fighters could travel to the Middle East, to train for war against Assad, with impunity. Initial reports that NATO proxies were carrying out hundreds of terror bombings, like the report by the Arab League in early 2012, were denounced in the Western media. In the ruling class and reactionary layers of the affluent middle class, there was broad support for an imperialist war against Syria waged via terrorist methods. Middle class pseudo-left groups such as the International Socialist Organization in the United States, the New Anti-capitalist Party in France and the Left Party in Germany enthusiastically promoted war with Syria. War fever swept the New York Times, which published extensive, favorable portrayals of terror attacks in Syria by leading journalists. C.J. Chivers August 2012 video report The Lions of Tawhid detailed his stay with an Islamist militia, the Lions of Tawhid, that carried out truck bombings and killings near the Syrian city of Aleppo. After criticisms emerged that the video showed the Lions of Tawhid carrying out a war crime by trying to use a prisoner as an unwitting suicide bomber, Chivers dismissed his critics as supporters of Assad on his blog, The Gun: Where you stand on this probably depends on who you are. You might support this if you support the rebels and their cause. You wont much like it if you are a member of a Syrian Mi-8 helicopter crew, or depend upon those aircraft and those crews for medevac and ammunition resupply. As these moods and views dominated in ruling circles, intelligence agencies ignored the mounting evidence that ISIS and similar groups linked to Al Qaeda were developing terror networks internationally. This underscores the fact that the main goal of the so-called war on terror is regime change and imperialist domination of the Middle East, not fighting terrorism. The Times report makes clear that the wars and the division of labor between the intelligence agencies and Islamist fighters have emerged as the main danger of terrorism in Europe today. A number of questions remain, however, on how it was possible for the Charlie Hebdo, November 13, and Brussels attacks to proceed. In all cases, the attackers were high-ranking ISIS or Al Qaeda fighters well known to intelligence services: The Kouachi brothers were under state surveillance and spoke directly to Al Qaedas top leadership in the Arabian Peninsula. Abaaoud was known internationally and publicly as a leading ISIS official. And the El Bakraoui brothers in Brussels were violent felons known as terrorists to the intelligence services. Given that the intelligence services were able to identify and stop more obscure figures such as Reda Hame, it remains inexplicable how such top Islamist fighters were allowed to travel freely across Europe to prepare mass terror attacks. On Monday, California Governor Jerry Brown praised a tentative agreement reached two days earlier between state legislators and trade union leaders that, if finalized by the state assembly, would gradually increase Californias minimum wage to $15 by 2022. The deal, which has many loopholes and conditions, is aimed at containing deep opposition to poverty-level wages. Its basic political purpose is to bolster support for the Democratic Party in the run-up to Novembers elections. Under the Obama administration, the Democrats have spearheaded the attack on wages and benefits for higher paid workers as part of an overall transfer of wealth to the financial elite. The agreement in California would raise the state-wide minimum wage from its current level of $10 an hour to $10.50 in 2017, $11 in 2018, and one dollar more per year through 2022. Businesses with fewer than 25 employees would have an additional year to comply. Stressing the conditional character of the proposed measure, Brown said on Monday, This plan raises the minimum wage in a careful and responsible way and provides some flexibility if economic and budgetary conditions change. The governor can suspend any wage increase in the event of a recession, an increase in the state budget deficit or higher official unemployment. In other words, the measure would be subordinated to the vagaries of the capitalist economy, as Brown put it. This includes no guarantee that workers currently making minimum wage will not be fired by the companies they work for. If adopted, the deal would likely be followed by the suspension of two ballot initiatives sponsored by different sections of the union apparatus, particularly the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), for the November elections. These measures would have increased the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021 or 2022. By removing the issue from the ballot, legislators can ensure that the details can be carefully crafted behind closed doors in consultation with businesses. Poverty-level wages are pervasive throughout California and nationally, and the current minimum wage is grossly inadequate to meet basic necessities. According to Rainmaker Insights, average monthly housing costs in San Francisco are $3,770, and in Los Angeles $2,094. That is, average housing costs in these two cities are the equivalent of a full-time job paying $21.75 and $12.08 an hour, respectively, before taxes. Californias cost of living is 151 percent of the national average, making it the fifth most expensive state. More than 40 percent of the states population lives either in poverty (earning less than about $24,000 per year for a family of four) or near poverty, according to Census data released in 2013. Children are worse off: nearly 50 percent were poor or near poor in 2013. Under these conditions, the trade unionsclosely allied with the Democratic Party and supported by various organizations that operate in its orbithave advanced campaigns like Fight for $15 and Raise the Wage to keep opposition within a framework acceptable to the ruling class. In the presidential elections, Democratic Party candidate Bernie Sanders has backed a $15 nationwide minimum wage, while Clinton has supported raising the national rate to $12 an hour. Sanders role in particular has been to appeal to sections of youth and poorer workers in an effort to bolster the Democratic Party, after more than seven years of the Obama administration presiding over continuing austerity for the working class. The Obama administration and the Democrats, no less than the Republicans, have supported the overall assault on wages for the working class as a whole. Tellingly, in California the median wage earner saw a decline of 6.2 percent in their annual income between 2006 and 2011, triple the national average. This included the years of Obamas so-called economic recovery. Nationally, the White House sounded the signal for a nationwide attack on wages through the restructuring of the auto industry in 2009, crafting a deal that halved wages for new hires and relieved companies of their health care obligations to retirees. This has been combined with the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which have encouraged companies to eliminate health care plans and force workers to purchase insurance from private companies. Increasingly, $15 is seen by the ruling class not so much as a minimum but as a maximum. What were formerly higher paying jobs, including in manufacturing, are now paying rates equivalent to low-wage service work. In the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, moreover, low-wage employment has been replacing jobs that once paid a decent salary. In an earlier period, minimum wage jobs were mostly reserved for those initially entering the workforce. Recent data from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, however, shows that now only 12 percent of minimum wage workers are teenagers. From the standpoint of the unions, a major aim is not only to promote the Democratic Party but also to ensure their own position as junior partners benefiting from the exploitation of the working class. In the last few years, the unions have negotiated agreements with companies that contain escape clauses relating to the minimum wage. Through these contractual or legal mechanisms, the unions have been able to bypass minimum wage requirements, thus leaving unionized workers earning less than the minimum wage. The process is so effective that even the US Chamber of Commerce admitted its advantages for employers. In a recent report, it noted that the escape clause is often designed to encourage unionization by making a labor union the potential low-cost alternative to new wage mandates, and it raises serious questions about whom these minimum wage laws are actually intended to benefit. Lastly, an increase in wages to above poverty levels is seen as beneficial by sections of the ruling class insofar as it will force reduce eligibility for social programs such as Medi-Cal, the medical program for the poor, whose threshold is set to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Workers not qualifying for Medi-Cal would then be subject to the requirements of Obamas Affordable Care Act that they purchase insurance from private companies on state-run exchanges. In November 2015, Dick Palmer, the father of three sisters, Lucy, Bethany and Esme Palmer, had to pay the Employment Tribunal (ET) a fee to be able to bring a claim of sexual harassment and unfair dismissal against award-winning chef Ben Cox, co-owner of the Star Inn, in Sancton, North Yorkshire. Palmer said that the case only went ahead after he agreed to pay a 250 fee. He commented, The costs just keep going on up and up and, when you think of it all, it would be enough to put most people off, but my daughters were convinced something had to be done and we had to bring this case forward. The tribunal found Bethany, 24, and Lucy, 21, were unfairly dismissed and Lucy and Esme, 17, were sexually harassed by Cox. The restaurant was found to have breached working time regulations by denying Lucy and Bethany a rest break. It is now three years since the introduction of tribunal fees by the Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013 under powers conferred by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcements Act 2007. Fees start at around 160 to issue a type A claim (e.g., unlawful deduction of wages or breach of contract). It costs 250 for a type B claim (e.g., unfair dismissal, discrimination claims), with a further hearing fee of 230 for Type A claims and 950 for Type B claims. Since their inception in 1964, Employment Tribunals had been free, with costs met by the government. At the time of the changes, there were many criticisms of the fees system on the basis that they would restrict the number of people able to afford to take cases forward to tribunal. These warnings have been vindicated. In the first year following the introduction of fees, the numbers of cases accepted to go to tribunal dropped dramatically, by 77 percent. Cases fell from 187,441 during the period October 2012 to September 2013, to just 43,961 from October 2013 to September 2014. Employers and government ministers asserted at the time that fees were necessary to prevent vexatious and unfounded claims. Yet there is no evidence to show that the drop in people taking claims forward can be attributed to such claims. Evidence from the Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) Scotland and England, the Law Society of Scotland and the universities of Bristol and Strathclyde shows that it is workers with genuine cases who are being prevented from pursuing their claim. The August 2015 study Employment Tribunal Feeseffect on clients of the Citizens Advice Bureaux revealed that the introduction of the fees has been a major determining factor in cases not going forward to tribunal. Workers who have lost their jobs are often not in any financial position to take cases forward. This is particularly the case for workers moving from one low paid job to another. The CAB study notes that workers who have been advised that their case is strong often will not take it forward for fear of losing the case and then losing the fees they have paid out. The levels of compensation awarded in most tribunal cases in relation to the fees themselves are also a factor in many cases not being taken out. In disability discrimination, the average award is 7,536, with 18 percent of those awarded compensation receiving less than 3,000 and 29 percent less than 5,000. In cases of race discrimination, the average award is 4,831 with 28 percent of those awarded compensation receiving less than 3,000 and 46 percent receiving less than 5,000. In the case of sex discrimination, the average award is 5,900, with 22 percent of those awarded receiving less than 3,000 and 39 percent less than 5,000. The Funding Code, published by the Legal Aid Agency, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, advises that a reasonable person would not litigate a claim with 50-60 percent prospects, unless the likely damages award was at least four times the likely cost of pursuing the case. Prior to these changes in legislation, a major problem was that tribunal compensation awards were often not being paid. A 2013 study by the department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) found that only 49 percent of tribunal awards were paid in full, with 16 percent paid in part. Thirty-five percent of those winning their case against an employer received no money at all. Many have found that since the introduction of fees, there has been difficulty in obtaining legal advice from those working on a no winno fee basis. This has led to people pursuing cases that win and then being no better off financially once legal costs were deducted. In the case of the Palmers, it was clear that without the financial support of their father it is likely they would not have been able to take their case forward to tribunal. The CAB-led study highlights the fact that many workers feel powerless to do anything to remedy a wrongdoing. Comments like this cited in the report are common: Well as far as I'm concerned, for me, there is no law or legal system ... as far [sic] it is me getting justice, you know. Youve got to pay for justice. What sort of justice is that youve got to buy it? The fact that workers are not able to access justice is leading to a growing number of unlawful employment practices being normalised, and is just one expression of the ferocious attack on working conditions and democratic rights since the financial crash of 2008. The Unison trade union failed in August last year to challenge the changes to employment tribunals in the Court of Appeal. The court ruled that it could not be inferred that a drop in the number of employment claims was entirely down to potential claimants being unable to afford fees. Unison is currently challenging the ruling in the Supreme Court. Unison is opposed to tribunal fees primarily on the basis that they are harmful to its efforts to deepen collaboration with employers and the state. Last September, Mike Kirby, Unisons Scottish Secretary, said of the Scottish National Partys (SNP) plan to end tribunal fees in Scotland, This announcement goes a long way towards building more sensible industrial relations in Scotland and we welcome it (emphasis added). The content of these sensible relations is outlined in the programme of the devolved SNP administrations programme for 2015-16, A Stronger Scotland, which Unison lauded. It states, The Scottish Governments partnership with the Scottish Trades Union Congress and strong belief in the contribution of the Trade Union movement to fairness and equity at work is also important. We will continue to oppose the legislation being brought forward by the UK Government which threatens to undermine the Unions ability to act as p artners in economic development (emphasis added). The Labour Party, even prior to Jeremy Corbyn being elected leader, said it would abolish the ET fee-paying system. Yet it is they and the trade unions that are responsible for these and many other attacks being imposed. Labour under Tony Blair came to power in 1997, after successive Conservative governments had introduced a battery of anti-trade union laws. Over the next 13 years Labour maintained this legislation while in office, with the unions not lifting a finger in opposition. If workers are to fight back against ruthless employers, they cannot depend on the courts for legal redress, or the Labour Party and trade unions that are proven defenders of the capitalist class. Federal authorities from the Obama administrations Environmental Protection Agency engaged in what can only be described as a criminal conspiracy to conceal the dire health threat to residents of Flint, Michigan from its toxic water supply. While the Democrats and much of the news media have attempted to foist the blame solely on the states Republican governor, new evidence shows that the EPA functioned as an accomplice in the poisoning of city residents and its cover-up. In a just-released June 25, 2015 internal email, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 water expert Miguel Del Toral described the situation in Flint as bordering on criminal neglect after he discovered high levels of lead in tap water and efforts of state officials to conceal it from the public. Del Toral sent the message to his superior, EPA Section Chief of Ground Water and Drinking Water Rita Bair, the day after submitting a detailed interim report warning of high lead in Flint water. Del Toral reported that city officials had not treated the citys water supply with anticorrosive phosphates for more than a year after switching the city supply to the highly polluted Flint River. The refusal to treat the watera violation of the federal Clean Water Actresulted in the leaching of neurotoxins such as lead and copper from the citys antiquated pipes into the water delivered to the citys homes, schools and workplaces. Del Torals report included detailed results from his sampling and an explanation of why previous testing by city water staff showed much lower levels of contamination. Under the direction of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), Flint water department employees took the samples after doing a pre-flush of the water from household tapsa method designed to give a distorted and deliberately lower lead content. In an effort to dissuade him from pursuing the issue, Bair questioned Del Torals assertion that high lead levels were pervasive throughout the city. Del Toral responded angrily, The widespread high lead is my judgment based on a couple of decades working with lead issues and I stand by it despite the limited data set from Flint. A simple application of scientific principles to the circumstances in Flint along with the limited data are enough to know that there is a problem there. They have had no corrosion control treatment in place for over a year now and they have lead service lines. Its just basic chemistry on lead solubility. You will have high lead leaching into the water where you are doing nothing to mitigate that. We dont need to drop a bowling ball off every building in town to know that it will fall to the ground in all of these places. After saying City of Flint is flushing away the evidence before measuring it, Del Toral wrote, there is zero chance or close to zero chance that you will ever capture any of the high lead. He then added, I understand that this is not a comfortable situation, but the State is complicit in this and the public has a right to know what they are doing because it is their children that are being harmed. At a MINIMUM, the City should be warning residents about the high lead, not hiding it telling them that there is no lead in the water. To me that borders on criminal neglect. The only people that question the science are the ones that have a vested interest in not finding lead. When we look, we find it. When they look, they either dont find it or if they find it, they dismiss it as the residents plumbing or use some other fabricated reason. The email not only provides prima facie evidence that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and local agencies were breaking the law and concealing the truth from residents. It proves that the EPA, the federal agency charged with enforcing safe drinking water standards, was just as responsible for a crime that has led to the deaths of least 10 residents and which has done permanent damage to thousands of children and other residents. In the same email, Del Toral condemns the EPA. I am really getting tired of the bad actors being defended, the bad actions being ignored, and people trying to do the right thing are constantly being subjected to intense scrutiny as if we were doing something wrong. Its all of this dont find anything bad crap at EPA that is the reason I desperately want to leave. I am not happy to find bad things. It is completely stressful because it means children are being damaged and I have to put up with all of the political crap, but where these problems exist I will not ignore them. I truly, truly hate working here. EPA is a cesspool. His superiors at the EPA quashed Del Torals interim report. Susan Hedman, Region 5 administrator, who has since been forced to resign, told Flint Mayor Dayne Walling that she was sorry it was ever written and in its form, would never see the light of day. The atmosphere Del Toral describes in the EPA is not simply the product of bureaucratic indifference by this or that functionary. It is an expression of the decades of deregulation and defunding by both the Democrats and Republicans, which have transformed the character of these governmental agencies that once exercised at least a modicum of oversight over the rapacious activities of big business. These bodies, from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), set up in 1927 to monitor quality and prices of food products and pharmaceuticals; the Securities and Exchange Commission, (1934), to oversee and regulate the financial operations of banks, the stock market and investment banks; the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), (1958), to regulate practices and prices of commercial airlines; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the EPA, both set up in 1970, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA, (1977), all fall under the executive branch of government, i.e., under the President. Over the last four decades, successive governments from Reagan to Obama have slashed funding to these agencies and promoted free-market policies that have eviscerated any real check on the relentless drive for profits at the expense of the health, safety and living standards of working people. In many cases, former corporate executives or bought-and-sold trade union officials have been put in charge of regulating such operations, leading to the predictable spread of disease, occupational deaths and, of course, the reckless speculation that led to the 2008 financial crash. Other studies, including by Virginia Tech Professor Marc Edwards, have pointed to the role of the EPA in covering up the poisoning of water in Washington, DC and other cities. For its part, the Obama administration has reduced funding for water infrastructure and lead testing for children. This is part of an overall slashing of critical spending by both big-business parties, including a 75 percent reduction in water infrastructure in real terms since the 1970s. Meanwhile trillions have been squandered on bank bailouts, corporate tax cuts and endless wars. In the late 1960s, when Flint was thriving as GMs industrial powerhouse and had a population of over 200,000, the Detroit water system built a 72-inch pipeline and a brand-new water treatment facility near Lake Huron to bring treated Great Lakes water some 70 miles inland to supply the city. It was engineered with enough capacity to deliver all the water the city would need based on its continued expansion. For 45 years, this pipeline was Flints water source. How then, did the EPAthe body tasked with safe water enforcementallow the city of Flint to 1) disconnect from this proven source of clean water on the promise that a new pipeline to be built six miles to the north would deliver raw, untreated lake water when completed in late 2016 to Flints 130-year-old and largely mothballed treatment plant; and 2) in the interim, use the Flint River as the main water source, which was known to be polluted and corrosive; then 3) allow the water to be pumped into the citys system with no corrosion control? The Obama-appointed Administrator of the EPA, Gina McCarthy, stubbornly testified before Congress on March 17 that the EPA had nothing to do with the Flint catastrophe. Her first visit to Flint was a public relations event to rebuild trust on February 2 where she put forward the official line that the MDEQ alone was responsible for the Flint poisoning. When a World Socialist Web Site reporter posed the question that the quashing of Miguel Del Torals June report made the EPA just as responsible, she denied that the EPA suppressed him. The email makes clear that Del Toral sought to sound the alarm after he discovered the situation. Rather than immediately informing the public and holding state and city officials accountable for brazenly breaking the law, the Obama administrations EPA joined in the criminal conspiracy. The German coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) is seeking to further restrict the rights of immigrants. Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maiziere announced on Saturday that he and Minister of Employment Andrea Nahles (SPD) will present the draft of a new integration law to the cabinet in May. It will include harsh measures against refugees who do not comply with regulations. Among other things, the law will oblige refugees with residence permits to learn the language, learn a trade and behave themselves. If a refugee fails to meet these demands, his or her social benefits could be withdrawn. De Maiziere told German broadcaster ARD on Saturday, If the integration capacity of the concerned parties is inadequate, there will be cuts to social assistance. In addition to this, the interior minister wants to couple the right to residence for refugees, which is already protected under the Geneva conventions, with integrative capacity, by which is meant the ability to assimilate into German society. De Maiziere says he wants to establish a relationship between the successful completion of integration and the length of time one is permitted to remain in Germany. There is already a strictly regulated settlement permit in existence in Germany. De Maiziere evidently wants to further tighten these regulations. He bluntly declared that he wishes to align the status of refugees with that of legal immigrants, thereby suggesting that refugees were otherwise essentially illegal. They should only be permitted to stay long-term, said de Maiziere, if they can secure their livelihoods, if they learn to speak the German language, and if they recognised the free and democratic basis of society. De Maizieres rhetoric is no different from the right-wing agitation of Alternative for Germany (AfD). In reality, it is the asylum policy of the German government that has impeded the integration of refugees. Those at the mercy of this policy are first sent to barracks in large numbers, divided according to ethnicity and religion, and isolated from the population. They live in miserable and unhygienic social conditions. Educational opportunities and language courses are for the most part only organised by volunteer initiatives. Under these conditions, for which the German government is responsible, de Maiziere paints a portrait of refugees unwilling to assimilate, whom one must force to behave themselves with penalties and deportations. The interior minister has for years attacked refugees in this way. De Maiziere is stoking a climate of hostility toward foreigners to push through an extreme right-wing agenda directed against all workers in Germany. That is made especially clear in his call for residence obligations for refugees with permission to stay in Germany. In the ARD interview, the interior minister declares that even recognised refugees, at least as long as they dont have jobs which can secure their livelihoods, must remain where the state sees fit and not where refugees think fit. He added: Yes, it is an infringement on the right to freedom of movement, but such measures served to prevent the formation of ghettos. De Maiziere is taking up plans already proposed by SPD chairman and minister of economic affairs Sigmar Gabriel in January. Gabriel told ARD at that time: I believe we need a condition for place of residence. Otherwise, everyoneincluding recognised asylum applicantswill move to the big cities. That intensifies the problem and we can get real ghetto problems. Such conditions, requiring certain groups of people to settle in a precisely defined place of residence, have existed for recognised refugees in Germany since the tightening of asylum laws in the 1990s. They were only abolished under pressure from the European Union in 2008. They constitute a clear violation of the Geneva conventions, which ruled that recognised refugees could freely choose their residence and move freely. Only under the so-called subsidiary protection does a three-month residency requirement still exist. Subsidiary protection is granted to those who are not recognised refugees but who cannot yet be sent back to their home countries due to an acutely dangerous situation. This provision is applicable to almost all Syrian refugees. The argument that one must restrict freedom of movement to prevent the formation of ghettos is cynical in several respects. In reality, such measures work directly against integration. The human rights organisation Pro Asyl writes: Free choice of residence enables refugees to settle in a place where, for example, relatives can help facilitate their integration. Even new arrivals are dependent on networks that assist them in finding a job or a place to live. The organisation points out that the initial period after arrival is crucial to a successful integration. Ghettos are not created because refugees move close to their friends and relatives, but because of the policies of the federal and state governments. So-called social flashpoints, such as Berlin, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the Ruhr area, are a product of the shutting down of mines, steel works and other industrial facilities as well as a systematic policy of social cuts through programmes like the Hartz IV welfare reforms and the neglect of municipal infrastructure. A few weeks ago, a report by a leading welfare organisation detailed the profound gulf between the upper classes of society and the poor, unemployed, single parents, retirees and disabled. These are the real reasons for ghettoisation. In the classic right-wing populist manner, the German coalition government is attempting to scapegoat refugees for this situation. In reality, the restrictions on freedom of movement are being put into place to better control and monitor refugees. The authorities want to know at all times where people reside so they can immediately detain and deport them the moment the political opportunity presents itself. That they resort to noxious xenophobic rhetoric to achieve these aims and suppress the fundamental democratic right to freedom of movement serves as a serious warning to the entire working class of Germany. With the residence obligations, a police-state regime will be created that can be easily expanded. What is used against refugees today will be directed against all workers tomorrow. On Thursday, the leaders of the US, China, Britain, France, Italy, India and over fifty other countries will gather for a biennial Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. The summit will be dedicated to making largely meaningless declarations of unity and international collaboration in the face of a recent wave of terrorist attacks in Europe. Behind the scenes, briefing papers published by intelligence agencies and think tanks, whose reports are rarely if ever mentioned in the national press or on the evening news, tell a different story, one hinted at by the decision of Russia not to send representatives to the summit. One study, published earlier this year by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, is entitled Rethinking Armageddon: Scenario Planning in the Second Nuclear Age. The private intelligence think tank Stratfor declares that the world is in the midst of a new arms race, with major global powers, led by the United States, working aggressively to modernize, upgrade and expand both their conventional and nuclear arms. In 2010, US President Barack Obama vowed that the US would not develop new nuclear warheads or pursue new military missions or new capabilities. Like most of his other promises, this pledge was broken. The White House has initiated a $1 trillion program to modernize the US nuclear stockpile. The program will upgrade existing nuclear warheads by wedding them to precision-guided missiles, and will provide mechanisms to adjust their yield so as to make them easier to use on the battlefield in tandem with conventional weapons. Two former high-level Defense Department officials penned a recent report for the Union of Concerned Scientists warning that the move by the White House would be viewed by many as violating the administrations pledge not to develop or deploy new nuclear weapons. In January, the Defense Department announced it was moving forward with plans to replace its Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines with a completely new design beginning in 2021. Each one of the US Navys 14 Ohio-class ballistic submarines constitute the fifth most powerful military force in the world. Every submarine carries 24 Trident II missiles. Each missile carries eight warheads with a yield up to 36 times greater than the Little Boy bomb that killed tens of thousands in Hiroshima in 1945. Yet the Navy views this as inadequate. Each new submarine, of which there will be 12, will cost $6 billion to $8 billion, up from $2 billion for the Ohio class. This estimate excludes research and development, the price of each submarines nearly 200 nuclear warheads, and associated operating costs. Each of these submarines is estimated to cost 510 times more than the construction of a major teaching hospital, which would provide care for thousands of people. The dramatic development of the US nuclear arsenal is part of a radical modernization of its armed forces, including the expansion of the F-35 fighter program, the estimated cost of which has ballooned, according to the latest figures, to $1.12 trillion. The US Air Force has complained that it does not possess a next-generation stealth aircraft capable of delivering high-yield nuclear weapons. The result is the announcement of the procurement of the latest US bomber, the Northrop Grumman B-21, of which the Air Force plans to purchase 100 at half a billion dollars apiece. The next generation of weapons, including directed-energy beams, rail guns and hypersonic missiles, is already being field-tested and is likely to come into production over the next decade. Stratfor wrote that as competition heats up among Russia, China and the United States to be the first to deploy next-generation weapons, each will become more vulnerable to attack by the others. If tensions rise, so will the risk of pre-emptive strikes among the longtime rivals. Numerous reports have warned that the development of precision guided, hypersonic and other next-generation non-nuclear weapons, together with the miniaturization of nuclear warheads and the development of precision-guided nuclear delivery systems, is breaking down the so-called firewall between conventional and nuclear war. As a result, US strategists, in particular, are increasingly pondering whether a nuclear war is winnable. Along with shifts in the geopolitical situation and changes in technological capabilities, the US military and its accompanying think tanks are changing their doctrines and terminology. The world has entered the second nuclear age, in the words of author Paul Bracken. The US must be ready to fight tonight, as Admiral Harry B. Harris put it when he became head of the Pacific Fleet. Researcher Michael Carl Haas has written on the Second Pacific War, involving the US and China, in which painful lossesin ships and aircraft, sailors and aviatorswould have to be expected as a matter of course, and they would probably accumulate quickly, on both sides. It is a well-known fact that the outbreak of the First World War was preceded by a race between Germany, Britain and other imperialist powers to build the latest and largest battleships, known as dreadnoughts, together with the expansion of their traditional military forces. Between 1908 and 1913, military spending by the European powers increased by 50 percent. No one should believe that todays arms race will have different consequences. These weapons, soaking up a substantial share of the worlds wealth, are meant to be used. For the first time, a world war is on the horizon between combatants possessing nuclear weapons, under conditions where the rules of engagement are being revised to make their use more likely. Mankind finds itself in a perilous situation. Imperialism is leading society to a catastrophe that can be averted only through revolutionary means. This is the second of three articles on the recent San Diego Latino Film Festival. Retratos de una busqueda (Portraits of a Search) In Retratos de una busqueda (Portraits of a Search), director Alicia Calderon follows three mothers as they search for their children lost as a result of the drug war in Mexico. For the womenNatividad, Guadalupe, and Margaritathe loss of their children consumes them, day and night. The documentary shows largely fruitless encounters with bureaucrats, the FBI and even Mexicos president. Through these three individualswho spend their days going to morgues or walking and driving the streets in search of their childrenthe viewer becomes witness to the unfathomable sadness and hopelessness experienced by these families, and untold thousands of others. The film begins in the home of Natividad as she makes a phone call to a government agencyThe Anti-Kidnapping Unitostensibly assisting her to find her daughter. Through this call and similar ones throughout Retratos de una busqueda, it becomes clear she is being given the run aroundthe government has no interest in helping her. A secretary tells Natividad there are more urgent matters that we need to attend to today Please call back again. Margarita is also looking for a daughter. Making calls to government agencies, she is told no one can help her find the girl and she is instructed to hire a private detectivewhich she does. Soon she realizes that there are significant links between the drug gangs, the military and the state authorities, and she faces death threats as a result. She perseveres in her search, and with passion tells the audience, I am not afraid to die, because I would die for a good cause: the search for my girl. Margarita is later told the girl may have died a horrible death. The third mother, Guadalupe, spends her days walking the streets and fields looking for any sign of her sona shoe or a scrap of clothing, anything that might give her a clue. After encounters at a number of service stations and stores she finally finds a video showing her sons van, but she is unable to see who is driving it. The women join an organization, Caravan for Peace, which brings them to Washington D.C. While in the US capital, the women engage in demonstrations and speeches at churches and attempt to speak to members of Congress. In one meeting with a politician there is notable tension in the room as the parents try to convey their stories. An adviser to the parents tells them before the meetings that these people are very busy and they dont have much time, you need to keep your statements as brief as possible, just stick to your personal story. Guadalupe says at one of the meetings, We arent collateral damage of the senseless war going on in Mexico. But so it appears, that is exactly how the situation is viewed by the establishment. Under the tenure of former president Felipe Calderon, there were between 18,000-26,000 reported missing during the war on drugs, a long-time joint venture of the US and Mexican governments. In both countries the existence of the drug trade speaks to mass social misery, becomes the source of vast profits for various business operators and financial institutions and then serves as a pretext for increased police-state repression on each side of the borderas well as anti-immigrant chauvinism in the US. After visiting morgues every day searching for their children and waiting months in vain for DNA results from the FBI, some of the women camp out and carry out a hunger strike in front of a government building. In an impassioned conversation, one of the mothers tells the buildings director, Were not looking for dogs! Were looking for our children, thats why were here. The whereabouts of 42 of the 43 students who disappearedand were clearly murderedin Iguala, Mexico in 2014 is still undisclosed. No one has yet been charged or prosecuted for the disappearances, despite numerous clear links to military intelligence involvement in the attack and detention of the students. According to a recent Amnesty International report on Mexico, more than 27,000 people remain missing or disappeared. Human rights defenders and journalists continued to be threatened, harassed or killed. The number of detentions, deportations and complaints of abuse of irregular migrants by the authorities increased significantly. The report goes on, Perpetrators of extrajudicial executions continued to enjoy almost absolute impunity. For the second consecutive year, the authorities published no statistics on the number of people killed or wounded in clashes with the police and military forces, as part of the fight against organized crime. Appeals to the collective conscience of the Mexican authorities, directly or indirectly responsible for the mass killings, or to their accomplices in Washington will prove entirely futile. Dauna. Lo que lleva el rio (Gone with the River) In Dauna. Lo que lleva el rio (Gone with the River), a young girl named Dauna is a member of the Warao (boat people) indigenous tribe on the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela. The fiction film centers on her desire to progress personally and break free from many of the customs she was born into. Her childhood lover, Tarcisio, wants to continue the ways of the old culture, marry, plant crops and build a house in their village. Dauna is torn trying to do both. She is aware of what life will be like in the villageI have to have kids and marryand as she tries to avoid becoming pregnant, she is taunted and pressured by family and villagers. From her days as a child, a priest named Julio frequents the village and becomes her mentor. As she continues to learn and eventually starts to teach children in a nearby town, her close relationship with Julio provokes additional jealousy and anger from Tarcisio. Dauna deeply loves her husband but her interest in pursuing something bigger than the village pulls them further and further apart. While picking Dauna up in his boat from her class in the town, a visibly disturbed Tarcisio exclaims, I waste a lot of time because of you. She becomes pregnant and decides not to tell her husband. Eventually, there is a dramatic denouement. Tarcisio burns the book that Dauna is working on and she lights their hut on stilts ( palafito ) on fire. He pushes her out and lets their home burn downwhile he is still inside. In the somewhat enigmatic sequence of events that follows, Dauna is apparently accused of murder and is hauled off to prison, blamed by many of the villagers for breaking traditions and ruining their way of life. From prison, she continues her pursuit of learning and the investigation of the culture she grew up in. There are touching moments in Dauna. Lo que lleva el rio. Sympathy can be felt for Tarcisio during some of the scenesin one he visits some friends in a nearby town who proceed to take him to a brothel. He is repulsed by the degradation and, after being approached by an old friend who has started working in the establishment, begins throwing punches. The two are thrown out in the street as the owners and customers curse those Indians, and order them not to come back. Other times, it is hard to believe the callousness he shows towards his wifeOne day Ill leave and youll all starve. Dauna sees something in the modern world worth pursuing, while Tarcisio only sees its bad aspects. The major weakness is the failure to explore this theme in any detail. There are only small glimpses of what influence the outside capitalist economy has on the lives of the indigenous population. At one point we catch a glimpse of the cover of the book Dauna has written, The economic influence of the Warao woman, but not much more. Dauna. Lo que lleva el rio also jumps around among different time periods with such frequency that it is somewhat difficult to follow the story. Some of the characters are played by three or four different people and there are animated portions that pop up now and again that also make it slightly obscure. The film is directed by Mario Crespo who is from the same region, and one senses he has a genuine passion and interest in sharing the stories of the people depicted in the film. Lacking many modern medical supplies and infrastructure, the Warao have fallen victim to tropical diseases such as dengue fever and cholera. In 2008, a mysterious disease resembling rabies took the lives of at least 38 individuals. In response, community leaders along with researchers from UC Berkeley traveled to Caracas in an attempt to convince the government of the disaster. According to a New York Times article, they were met with disrespect on every level, as if the deaths of indigenous people are not even worth noting. 6 years, 6 months ago WTAD newsroom Longtime Quincy businessman, Gene Hutter, recently received the William R. Deutsch Bucketeer Award from the Illinois Petroleum Marketing Association for his 53 years of service with the organization. Hutter was connected with Hutter Oil from 1963 thru 1998, and was a 20 year board member of the IPMA. He was a member of the board of directors of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America for a number of years and, in 1998, received the National Marketer of the Year Award for his creation of the 535 Club. Hutter, through the Breakfast Optimist Club, has been instrumental in reviving the Soap Box Derby here in Quincy which will be entering year number 12 this coming June. 6 years, 6 months ago QPD Richard J Steinkamp (92) Quincy, IL for Failure to Yield-Left Turn at 336 S 36th St on 3/29/16. Released on PTC. Stacey L Houston (45) 424 Kentucky for Driving While License Suspended at 8-9/Jefferson on 3/29/16. Released on NTA. Derrick W. Morrison, 28, Quincy for Violation of Order of Protection at 600 1/2 Elm - lodged Chad R Burwinkel (35) 910 N 12th for FTA-DUI and a new charge of Possession of Methamphetamine at Spruce-Cedar/4-5 on 3/30/16. Lodged. Kelyn T. Connor, 22, Quincy for City of Quincy warrant FTA-Possession of Cananbis - cash bond at QPD Breon M. Hawkins, 20, 819 Chestnut for No Valid Registration and Operation of an Uninsured Motor Vehicle at 15th & Chestnut on 03-28-16. NTA James R Rummenie (24) Quincy for Uninsured Vehicle on 3/29/16. DL Tyler A. Brown, 19, 430 Hickory Pointe West. for Expired Registration Sticker at 12th & Maine on 03-29-16. PTC Robert C. Moore, 42, 1017 Country Haven for Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid Accident at 30th & Broadway on 03-26-16. PTC Brenna E. Crose, 27, 620 Elm for Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid Accident at 12th & Jersey on 03-28-16. PTC Jill R. Richmiller, 66, 920 Monroe for Failure to Yield - Left Turn at 8th & Vermont on 03-28-16. PTC Jennifer L. Thompson, 24, and Aaron D. Cherry, 21, both of 819 Chestnut for Fighting at their residence on 03-24-16. NTAs Cody M Shoopman (25) Quincy for Speeding at 20th & Chestnut on 3/28/16. PTC Jennifer L. Thompson, 24, 819 Chestnut for Trespassing at 802 State on 03-23-16. NTA Dillon M. V. Ellis, 22, 329 Cherry St. for Possession of Cannabis and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia at 6th & Jefferson on 03-23-16. NTA Steven N. Carter, 22, of 637 Jefferson for DWLS and Disobeying a Stop Sign at 6th & Jefferson on 03-23-16. NTA Christopher A Goodwin (27) 133 South 4th Apt. 409 for FTA interfering and possession of cannabis. Turned himself at HQ on 3-29-16. Lodged Mary M. McAnulty, 308 Lincoln Hill NW reported her unlocked 2008 Chevy HHR was entered by an unknown suspect sometime between 2300 hours on 03-13-16 and 0600 hours on 03-14-16. McAnulty's purse was stolen, and then later recovered in a neighbor's yard. A small amount of U.S. Currency had been stolen. Kevin L. Reller, 326 Lincoln Hill NW reported that his unlocked 2012 Dodge Ram was entered by an unknown suspect while parked at his residence sometime between 2300 hours on 03-13-16 and 0600 hours on 03-14-16. U.S. Currency was stolen. David W. Phillipi, 2818 Maine reported that his unlocked 2002 Saturn was entered while parked at his residence between 0415 and 0600 hours on 03-14-16. Phillipi stated his wallet containing a small amount of U.S. Currency, credit cards and ID's was stolen. Jeffry R. Fitzsimmons, owner of Fitz's on 4th, reported an unknown suspect broke the exterior pane of glass on the front door to the business sometime between 03-01-16 and 03-14-16. A set of Ford keys with a Goose Creek bottle opener was found in the 2600 block of Cedar on 03-14-16. The keys were placed into evidence and labeled as recovered property. Casadie M Winner (21) 2079 Broadway for DWLS and expired registration at 10th and Maine on 3-28-16. Cash bond Larwin B Roe (59) 1630 Hwy 104 Quincy for failure to yield-stop sign at 3rd and Cherry on 3-28-16. PTC Ashley L Marquardt (19) 722 Country Club Hts for operating uninsured at 48th and Broadway on 3-28-16. DL Hunter J Maxwell (19) Montrose, IA for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident at 48th and Broadway on 3-28-16. PTC Robert S Brenner (37) Havana, IL for violation of an order of protection on 3-28-16. Lodged The presidents of Russia and Iran agreed on Monday to step up bilateral contacts, including over the Syrian conflict, in which both countries are allies of President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government and Western-backed opposition are currently holding UN-mediated peace talks as part of a diplomatic push launched with US-Russian support to end the five-year conflict in which more than a quarter of a million people have been killed. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and Iran's Hassan Rouhani had exchanged views on the conflict and a range of other topical issues during a telephone call. It gave no further details. Rouhani was quoted as saying cooperation and coordination between Tehran and Moscow were essential for peace in Syria. "During the ceasefire, the political talks (among Syrian groups) should be accelerated but this should not halt the fighting against terrorists in Syria," Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted the president as saying. Both the Kremlin and the secretary of the Iranian National Security Council (NSC) have congratulated Assad on the success of his forces in recapturing the desert city of Palmyra from Islamic State militants. "The Iranian government and armed forces will continue their full support of Syria and the Axis of Resistance," NSC Secretary Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying. Iran refers to the regional anti-Israel alliance as the 'axis of resistance'. Syrian government forces backed by heavy Russian air support drove Islamic State out of Palmyra on Sunday, inflicting what the army called a "mortal blow" to militants who seized the city last year and dynamited its ancient temples. Search Keywords: Short link: A Cyprus court on Wednesday ordered the detention for eight days of an Egyptian man who admitted to hijacking a domestic EgyptAir flight and diverting it to the east Mediterranean island nation by threatening to blow it up with a fake explosives belt. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect, whom Cypriot and Egyptian authorities had earlier identified as 59-year-old Seif El-Din Mustafa, faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Judge Maria Loizou said she found the police's request for the maximum eight-day detention necessary because of fears that the suspect might flee and the fact that he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police. Tuesday's dramatic hijacking ended peacefully when police arrested the suspect after all 72 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus A320 aircraft were released. Police said apart from the eight-member crew and 56 passengers of various nationalities, a further eight EgyptAir crew were aboard the aircraft as passengers. Lambrianou said that the suspect told police after his arrest: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" A handcuffed Mustafa flashed the "V'' for victory sign with his hand out of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca court house after the hearing. Cypriot officials had described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable" following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. Lambrianou said that 15 minutes into flight MS181 from the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo, the suspect demanded that the aircraft be diverted to airports in either Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. The aircraft eventually landed in Larnaca after the pilots warned of low fuel, and despite an initial refusal from Cypriot authorities on the landing request. The police prosecutor said witnesses saw the suspect wearing a white belt around his waist laden with cylindrical objects stuffed in pockets. Wire protruding from the cylinders led to what appeared to be a "push-button" detonator the suspect held in his hand. The suspect had threatened to detonate the belt if police attempted to "neutralize" him, Lambrianou said, but he eventually gave up after the crew and passengers were released. Lambrianou said no explosives were found in the belt, except for a container filled with an unidentified liquid. Police also found an unidentified liquid in the suspect's bag as well as numerous documents written in Arabic. The prosecutor said Cypriot authorities will ask the help of Interpol to determine how the suspect managed to pass the fake explosives belt through airport security in Egypt. Search Keywords: Short link: A number of Alexandrian taxi drivers organised a rally on Wednesday in the Mediterranean city against foreign ridesharing applications Uber and Careem, threatening to strike if the government does not ban the applications. The participants in the rally in Alexandria's Sedi Gaber area at the Corniche lifted banners that read "Uber and Careem have destroyed our livelihood." Several taxi drivers told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that such companies have affected their daily wages, demanding that authorities intervene against this "illegal phenomenon" which they said is not subjected to regulation. Uber launched its operations in Alexandria in December 2015 following their success in the capital of Cairo. Careem made its debut in Alexandria in November 2015 as it expanded to 21 cities across the Middle East region. This is not the first time protests have been held in Egypt against the mobile applications, as the two foreign companies have recently faced growing resistance from traditional taxi drivers, who argue that they are putting taxis out of business and were illegal. Uber's operations manager in Cairo, Abdel-Latif Waked, told Ahram Online that Uber is "licensed as a technology company in all the countries in which it operates," stressing that they pay taxes and carry commercial registers. Earlier this month, hundreds of Egyptian taxi drivers parked their vehicles in Mostafa Mahmoud Boulevard in Mohandiseen, a few kilometres from central Cairo, and blocked traffic to demand the government shut down the "foreign ride sharing applications." Following the protests in Cairo, Egypts cabinet decided to regulate the San Francisco based Uber and Dubai based Careem car-hailing services by drafting new legislation after hearing recommendations by a ministerial committee. Several meetings have been held between the committee and representatives from Careem. The draft legislation stipulates that private car owners who work with Uber and Careem would have to pay the insurance and taxes imposed on taxi drivers. However, it is still unclear whether they would pay the same amount as taxi drivers. The committee also recommended that traditional taxi drivers be included in these car-hailing apps. According to Egyptian law, if an individual with a private vehicle licence uses his car to transport passengers in return for a fare, his licences could be revoked. Search Keywords: Short link: Not long ago we published pictures of Tel Avivians surviving winter throughout the years, and before that, how Tel Avivians beat the heat. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter This time, we get to see Jerusalem from 100 years ago. Elkana Steinmetz, marketing director of The Society for the Restoration and Development of the Jewish Quarter opened up his archive and showed us some real treasures. "We hadn't done much with the pictures until today," Steinmetz said in an interview with Ynet. "But now, because of the 'old-new' picture trend, we took these pictures out." British soldiers at a synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem in the 1920's at the beginning of the British Mandate Period (Photo: The Society for the Reconstruction and Developement of the Jewish Quarter) Stairs to the roof of the Hurva synagogue(Photo: The Society for the Reconstruction and Developement of the Jewish Quarter) Aaron Frieman on the roof of the Hurva synagogue, 1940's, Jerusalem (Photo: The Society for the Reconstruction and Developement of the Jewish Quarter) Jews at the Rothchild House before being driven out by the Jordanian Army, 1948 Holy Ark at the Hurva synagogue, 1864 Entrance gate to shelters in the Old City of Jerusalem,1967 Among the pictures in the archive, one can see images of children of the Frieman family on the balcony of the synagogue in the Jewish quarter with a spectacular view of Jerusalem in the background, pictures of Yitzhak Rabin in the city, pictures of the holy ark of the Hurva synagogue, and more. According to Steinmetz, the pictures helps during the renovation of old buildings in the city by enabling the architects learn about the building and see how it was designed when it was first built. Palestinian incitement related to the al-Aqsa mosque has significantly increased in the weeks leading up to Passover, which begins on April 22, in an attempt to raise tensions and cause disturbances and acts of terror. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Every year, there is an uptick in Palestinian incitement leading up to the High Holidays and Passover. This is what happened before last Rosh Hashanah and this led to violent confrontations at the Temple Mount, followed by an escalation of violence in the West Bank. The videos and messages released in recent weeks point to a gradual resumption of Palestinian incitement, after a time in which it has subsided in recent months. This incitement is a calculated to arouse tensions with the goal of reaching a peak next month during Passover. Right-wing activist Yehuda Glick at Temple Mount, targeted with a red circle Hamas issued an official statement titled "al-Aqsa will remain the primary source of inspiration for the young avengers of the Jerusalem intifada". The Hamas statement called for all Palestinians and Israeli Arabs to "rally around the al-Aqsa Mosque and protect it from the mass invasion". In addition, they threatened that the youth of the intifada will not yield to Israel's attempts to "create a reality in which Palestinians are denied entry to the Temple Mount to pray." Moreover, in recent days, a short documentary was posted to social networking sites claiming that Israel is carrying out underground excavations in Silwan towards the Mughrabi Gate, and from under the al-Aqsa Mosque. One of those interviewed in the film is the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Raed Salah, accusing Israel of carrying out secret excavations. Salah calls on "stopping the Israeli attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque", and even called on the Jordanian government to launch a media war against Israel to reveal the "Israeli aggression" against the mosque. Another example of incitement is the publication of the picture of right-wing activist Yehuda Glick on his visit to the Temple Mount, with his image circled in red as if he were a target. It should be noted that last year Israeli police conducted numerous operations, covert and overt, in order to distance inciting groups and individuals from the Temple Mount. In addition to making the Islamic Movement illegal, those active in the Murabitun and Murabitat islamist activist groups were distanced and some were even placed in administrative detention. Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit opened a preliminary investigation into corruption allegations against Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, it was released for publication Wednesday morning. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Deri wrote on his Twitter account, "I spoke with the attorney general tonight and I demanded he lift the gag order against the publication of everything pertaining to my case. I informed him that I will answer all questions asked of me." Interior Minister Aryeh Deri According to a Channel 2 report Wednesday evening, Deri has been accused of extensive corruption. Details of the case have been censored by a gag order and still cannot be published despite Deri's Twitter comment. In a separate context, the Calcalist reported that the deputy chairman of the Jewish National Fund and Aryeh Deri's brother, Shlomo Deri, participated in a meeting between JNF representatives and Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee representatives regarding the transfer of millions of shekels from the JNF to the government ministry. Even though Aryeh Deri is the Minister of Galilee and Negev development, his brother, Shlomo, still attended the meeting. Shlomo's primary job at the JNF is to serve as head of the education committee and does not work on funding and development projects. The meeting took place last Monday with the JNF Chairman Dani Attar, JNF Director Meir Spiegler, Deputy Chairman Shlomo Deri, and other JNF representatives from the north. The parties discussed funding for support walls along roads near Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai's grave. The cost of the project stands at NIS seven million and the meeting was convened to review how JNF could contribute to infrastructure and building projects. Deri reacted to the allegations on Wednesday morning saying, "I was completely taken by surprise last night by last night's announcements, and as a result I turned to the attorney general and implored him to remove the gag order. I'm making myself available to anyone investigating, every minute and every hour. My one and only request is to do everythin to refute the allegations." He also asked those in charge "to speed up the inquiry and to step on the gas a bit so we can get back to our work as soon as possible. I will continue to work as usual." Deri was forced to resign from the cabinet in 1993 for accepting $155,000 in bribes while serving as interior minister. He was sentenced in 1999 to four years in prison. After thirteen years outside of politics, he returned to the leadership of the Shas party in October 2012. In the wake of last Thursday's shooting incident in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron , IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot sent a letter to soldiers Wednesday morning stating, "We will not waver in prosecuting soldiers and commanders, who defy the IDF's operational and moral standards." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter At the beginning of the letter, Eisenkot said, "In recent months, we have dealt with terror attacks against Israeli citizens, which seek to undermine the strength of the state. The IDF aims to maintain the safety of Israeli citizens and residents on the battlefield and the home front. The IDF indeed works with vigor and dedication and operates in all arenas freely, employing all means necessary. In my field tours, I am proud to see you making progress and preparing to sacrifice yourselves to protect the homeland." Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot (Photo: Yisrael Yosef) The Chief of Staff cited the words of David Ben Gurion, according to which " The fate of Israel depends on two factors: her strength and her rectitude. He wrote that the IDF has always sanctified the values of human dignity and the purity of arms, values based on Jewish heritage. Every action must be performed professionally, using measured force so that the mission is accomplished in accordance with the IDFs values. Eisenkot stressed that he and the officers will continue to back every soldier who errs in the heat of battle. However, they will must not deviate from the IDFs ethical code. Keeping the spirit of the IDF and its values is not a right but a duty, in order to preserve the IDF as the protector of the people in a Jewish and democratic state. Military Judge Lt. Col. Ron Shorr, who is presiding the case of the soldier who killed a neutralized terrorist in Hebron on Thursday, said that "the evidence (that the soldier murdered the terrorist) provided until now is not clear cut." The soldier's attorney, Ilan Katz, said that "the prosecution requested nine days of remand, but the judge ruled to extend his remand for only two more days despite the inflated claims of the prosecution. The military court will not drag our client through a media lynching. The evidence will be gone over on Thursday, and we hope that by the weekend, he will no longer walk around in handcuffs in such a humiliating manner, especially after he risked his life for Israel." Damascus will base its dialogue on solving the Syrian conflict at the next round of talks in Geneva on the United Nations basic principles document, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russia's RIA news agency published on Wednesday. Last week, Syrian and opposition parties considered a document drawn up by a U.N. special envoy outlining basic principles in what one diplomat described as a "baby step" forward. "For now, we cannot say that something was achieved at the Geneva talks but we have started from the basics, namely formulating the basic principles on which negotiations will be based," Assad said. A German historian has revealed that the Associated Press, an American news agency that is one of the world's largest, collaborated with the Nazi regime in the 1930s, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In an article published in the academic journal Studies in Contemporary History, historian Harriet Scharnberg claims that AP provided American newspapers with information produced and selected by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. According to Scharnberg, following the Nazi Party's rise to power in 1933, the American news agency was able to continue operating in Germany thanks to a mutual cooperation agreement it made with Adolf Hitler's regime. Meanwhile, foreign media like The Guardian and other American and British news agency stopped operating in the Third Reich, some after being targeted for employing Jewish journalists. SS pamphlet 'The Sub-Human,' using AP's photographs. (Photo: AP) This made AP the world's main source of information out of Nazi Germany. In some cases, the German historian said, the news agency aided the regime to cover up some of the crimes and atrocities it committed. The agreement the Associated Press signed with the Nazi regime was based on Schriftleitergesetz (editors law), which determines the news agency cannot publish any information that is "calculated to weaken the strength of the Reich abroad or at home." Under the editor's law, AP also had to employ reporters working for the Nazi propaganda unit. For example, one of the agency's photographers in the 1930s was Franz Roth, a member of the SS propaganda unit, whose photos were personally selected by Hitler. An anti-Semitic Nazi pamphlet used an AP photograph of New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. (Photo: AP) AP also allowed the Nazi regime to use its photo archive to produce its virulent anti-Semitic propaganda, which portrayed the Jews as "subhuman." In one instance, the Nazis used an AP photo of New York's Jewish mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in their propaganda booklet "Jews in the USA." Did AP help cover up Nazi crimes? The publication of the German historian's article, just as the Associated Press celebrates 170 years since its establishment, raises serious questions about the news agency's surrender of journalistic principles to Nazi Germany and its relations with totalitarian regimes in those days. According to Scharnberg, photos that were taken by Roth of bodies inside prisons in the city of Lviv in Ukraine were handpicked by Hitler and distributed to the American press by AP. "Instead of printing pictures of the days-long Lviv pogroms with its thousands of Jewish victims, the American press was only supplied with photographs showing the victims of the Soviet police and brute Red Army war criminals, Scharnberg told The Guardian. Nazi party newspaper with AP photographer Franz Roth's photographs (Photo: AP) The Associated Press said in response that the article by the German historian "describes both individuals and their activities before and during the war that were unknown to AP." The news agency said it was examining documents and its archives to "further our understanding of the period." An AP spokesperson also told The Guardian that the news agency "rejects any notion that it deliberately 'collaborated' with the Nazi regime. An accurate characterization is that the AP and other foreign news organizations were subjected to intense pressure from the Nazi regime from the year of Hitlers coming to power in 1932 until the AP's expulsion from Germany in 1941. AP management resisted the pressure while working to gather accurate, vital and objective news in a dark and dangerous time." The Israel Police and the Tax Authority are conducting a preliminary investigation against Opposition leader Isaac Herzog on suspicion he violated the Parties Financing Law during the last Labor party primary elections, the Justice Ministry confirmed on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter At this point, police and the Tax Authority are collecting relevant documents with the help of other authorities. The investigation is in its initial stages and police has not launched an official criminal investigation. Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog (Photo: AFP) "I welcome the preliminary investigation that is being conducted, following the decision of the attorney general," Herzog said in response. "This is political slander that the Likud party and disgruntled activists tried to spread before the elections, and it was denied at the time. I'm certain the investigation will disprove these absurd claims once and for all. I will fully cooperate with whatever I'm asked to do, so the issue can be promptly clarified." The Zionist Union leader served as the cabinet secretary in Ehud Barak's government following the 1999 elections. Allegations arose against Baraks campaign of violating the Parties Financing Law, and Herzog was suspected of fundraising for the One Israel (Labor) party with the help of NGOs. At the time, he was questioned under warning and police recommended to indict him. But Herzog maintained silence, and the attorney general eventually decided to close the case, citing insufficient evidence. He is the second member of Knesset to find himself under investigation this week. Police is examining suspicions against Interior Minister Aryeh Deri as well. BUDAPEST - A Hungarian appeals court has confirmed a fine of 750,000 forints ($2,700) given to a politician from the far-right Jobbik party for making jokes about the Holocaust in public. Tibor Agoston, a municipal councilor in the eastern city of Debrecen, gave a speech during a January 2014 commemoration of Hungarian soldiers killed in World War II in which he used mocking expressions about the Holocaust. He also implied the Holocaust was a lie. In his defense, Agoston said he had used "unfortunate wording." The court in Debrecen said Wednesday in its ruling that Agoston can pay the fine in 15 installments. The public denial, downplaying or justification of the Holocaust or of the crimes committed by Hungary's communist regime can be punished by up to three years in prison. US Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and 10 other Democratic members of Congress have called on Secretary of State John Kerry to open an investigation against Israel on suspicion of "extrajudicial executions" of Palestinians in the West Bank, American news site Politico revealed on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In a letter dated February 17 , the Congressmen compare what they refer to as "gross violations of human rights" in Israel to forced disappearances of people in Egypt, as well as the August 2013 massacre in Rabaa Square in Cairo, in which at least 1,000 supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi were murdered and nearly 4,000 others wounded by Egyptian security forces. The massacre on August 14, 2013 was described by Human Rights Watch as "one of the worlds largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the letter, saying that "The IDF and the Israel Police do not engage in executions. Israels soldiers and police officers defend themselves and innocent civilians with the highest moral standards against bloodthirsty terrorists who come to murder them. Where is the concern for the human rights of the many Israelis whove been murdered and maimed by these savage terrorists? This letter should have been addressed instead to those who incite youngsters to commit cruel acts of terrorism. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy (Photo: AP) Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid sent an urgent letter to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, calling on him to condemn the letter. "When Israel is under attack, we expect our friends to stand by us. It is very unfortunate to see congressmen using the current wave of terrorist attacks to undermine Israel's national security and to call to stop the vital military aid to Israel," Lapid wrote to Reid. Leahy is the author of the Leahy Law, which prohibits the US government from providing foreign military aid to governments that violate human rights. About 75 percent of all US foreign military aid goes to Israel and Egypt Israel receives an annual sum of $3.1 billion, while Egypt gets $1.3 billion. The letter could have political ramifications: The unusual choice to paint Israel with the same brush as Egypt could anger Israel's friends in Washington, who will not be happy to hear that the only democracy in the Middle East is being lumped together with Egypt, a notorious violator of human rights. In Politico's estimation, the letter was leaked almost a month and a half after being sent because of the incident in Hebron last week , when an IDF soldier shot to death a Palestinian attacker who was lying wounded on the ground. The letter Leahy's spokesman David Carl downplayed the fact Israel was included in the letter, noting that Leahy believes that the law that bears his name "should be uniformly applied." In their letter, the American lawmakers questioned the mechanism that monitors military assistance to Israel and Egypt and sought clarification on what procedures are used by the State Department and American embassies to investigate allegations of human right violations. "According to information we have received, the manner in which US military assistance has been provided to Israel and Egypt, since the Camp David Accords, including the delivery of assistance at the military service level, has created a unique situation that has hindered implementation of normal mechanisms for monitoring the use of such assistance," the congressmen wrote. The letter notes several cases of "extrajudicial execution" by the IDF and Israel Police, including that of Fadi Alloun, who stabbed an ultra-Orthodox teen in Jerusalem in October, and Hadeel Hashlamoun, an 18-year-old Palestinian girl who was shot to death at a checkpoint in Hebron after trying to stab a soldier. The letter also cites allegation of torture against Palestinians, including 13-year-old Palestinian boy Ahmed Manasra who, along with another Palestinian teen, stabbed a 13-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man in Pisgat Ze'ev in Jerusalem. In the past, Leahy unsuccessfully tried to include a clause in his law that would limit US aid to elite IDF units like Shayetet 13 because they "harm innocent Palestinians." Earlier on Wednesday, a Cypriot court granted a police a request to detain Mustafa for eight days as he is considered a flight risk Egypts prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek decided on Wednesday to submit a formal request to the Cypriot authorities for the extradition of the EgyptAir flight 181 hijacker for prosecution at home. Earlier on Wednesday, Cypriot police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said Egyptian national Seif El-Din Mustafa, 59, faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. A Cypriot court granted a police request to detain Mustafa for the maximum eight-day detention period over fears that he might flee and the fact that he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police. Mustafa is accused of hijacking on Tuesday an Egyptian domestic airliner en route from Alexandria to Cairo, brandishing what appeared to be an explosives belt before forcing the pilot to divert the flight to Cyprus. No passengers were injured in the incident and Cypriot police later said the belt was a fake. The Egyptian prosecutors extradition request cited an Egyptian-Cypriot 1996 agreement of extradition of criminals between the two countries along with other international treaties. Cypriot officials described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable" following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. According to Cyprus Mail, the court heard that after Mustafa was arrested on Tuesday, he explained to officers that when someone hasnt seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children and the Egyptian government does not allow him to, what should he do? His estranged wife is reportedly embarrassed by the fuss and does not want to see him. Search Keywords: Short link: PARIS - A 34-year-old Frenchman arrested last week has been charged with a string of terrorism offenses for allegedly plotting an imminent attack and operating an explosives arsenal of what prosecutors called "unprecedented scale." Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said Wednesday that the suspect, Reda Kriket, is accused of participating in a terrorist group with plans for at least one attack, possessing and transporting arms and explosives, and holding fake documents, among other charges. Kriket is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2014 and 2015 and made several trips between France and Belgium, Molins said. At least three other people are in custody in the case in Belgium and the Netherlands. WASHINGTON - The White House said on Wednesday it would be a "nonstarter" to include Syrian President Bashar Assad in any new ruling coalition government to end the civil war in Syria. White House spokesman Josh Earnest ruled out Assad's participation in a new government after the Syrian leader said it would not be difficult to agree on a new Syrian governing coalition that included opposition, independents and loyalists. "I don't know whether he envisioned himself being a part of that national unity government. Obviously that would be a nonstarter for us," Earnest said. Israel's Arab citizens went on a general strike on Wednesday to mark the 40th anniversary of Land Day. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Businesses, public institutions, and medical centers in the Arab sector were closed Wednesday, while protests organized by the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel were held in the Galilee and the Negev in the afternoon. Thousands of people protested at the villages of Arraba and Sakhnin in the Western Galilee and the village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev. Protesters called to continue the fight against home demolitions and land expropriation. They waved Palestinian flags and banners that said: "Give me land or give me death." Palestinian flags at a Land Day protest in Umm al-Hiran "We will keep fighting for our lands. The Israeli government and the police won't deter us," one of the protesters said. Protesters were also joined by Arab MKs and by the leader of the outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement , Raed Salah. Land Day in Sakhnin "The Israeli government may come one day and accuse us of terrorism or incitement that they're responsible for," Salah said. "That's why we will say that we're the victims of terrorism, racism and incitement, which is perpetrated by the Israeli government. Even if they shut down the Islamic Movement a thousand times, we'll remain on our lands and in our homes and fight for our people and continue saying 'we will sacrifice our lives for al-Aqsa.'" Land Day in Sakhnin (Photo: Alarab) Ahmad Mansour, a resident of Tira, was not convinced the strike was effective. "The strike won't contribute anything. The Follow-Up Committee is wasting time and doing nothing to save the lands and save homes from demolition orders. Every year they do the same thing, but we're tired of it. Their silence will just encourage the government to continue the demolitions and land grabs," he said. Land Day in Sakhnin (Photo: Alarab) A businessman from Acre agreed, "The Follow-Up Committee doesn't represent us, it can't make us strike." Closed businesses in Acre The chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee, Mohammad Barakeh, disagreed with the critics. "The strike has been very successful. We also learned of a lot of citizens who are coming to the main rallies today in the Negev and Galilee. It sends an important message to the government in Israel - there's no doubt about the need to fight for our existence and our home. The government must respect our rights at any cost," he said. In the Gaza Strip, a 2.3-kilometers-long fence was created by local artists, who painted murals depicting Jerusalem's history. The fence's center goes through Gaza City's al-Katiba Square. One of the artists told Palestinian newspaper al-Quds that the fence is meant "to display the history of Jerusalem throughout the generations, as well as the Judaization process it is undergoing today." The Land Day fence in Gaza (Photo: AP) Another artist said he sought to express "the steadfastness and patience of the Palestinian people in their struggle against the occupation." Land Day marked in Gaza (Photo: Reuters) In addition to the fence, giant models of the Dome of the Rock and the Damascus Gate were erected in the center of the square. Model of Dome of the Rock in Gaza (Photo: Reuters) Land Day is marked on March 30 every year since 1976. On that day 40 years ago, Israeli Arabs declared a general strike in protest of government decisions to expropriate Arab lands in the Galilee. A day before the strike, violent clashes broke out between IDF and Border Police forces and residents of the villages Deir Hanna, Arraba and Sakhnin in the Galilee. In an effort to stop the escalation of violence, the IDF sealed off these villages as well as nearby villages. Some of the residents tried to leave and six protesters were killed and 38 wounded in clashes with security forces. Palestinians mark Land Day in Gaza (Photo: Reuters) A year later, Israeli Arabs started marking the day with memorials, strikes, and protests. The Palestinians in the territories joined them at a later stage. Shuki Weiss announced on Monday, "The Ministry of the Interior required that Elton John sign a declaration of loyalty as a condition of his receiving a work visa." The international promoter and producer was speaking at a panel in the anti-BDS conference held by Yedioth Ahronoth. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Weiss continued, "The requirement was officially presented to us two weeks ago. Of course, this absurd idea was dropped." He stated that Sir Elton, who will appear in Israel on May 26, refused, like other artists. The Israeli producer also addressed the BDS movement's calls for a cultural boycott of Israel, sharing, "I can verify that many artists are not aware of the politics in the Middle East, and they're mostly influenced by BDS, which has been operating undisturbed for many years." Elton John (Photo: EPA) He accused the state of inaction, claiming that his requests to the state for assistance in combating BDS over the past decade were all answered too late, after performances by international artists had already been cancelled. Weiss said that, in his opinion, "The state does not place any importance on artists' visits because it's not an existential requirement." I heard lots of replies (from government officials) along the lines of 'Let 'em not come then; who needs them anyway?'" Refuting Weiss's allegation that a declaration of loyalty be signed, the Interior Ministry's Population and Immigration Authority stated, "This is first-class lie intended to procure headlines for a promoter at the expense of a government ministry. No artist has ever been requested to sign such a declaration, and the idea of it is surreal and a figment of Weiss's imagination. We are considering filing a defamation suit." Sources in the Tel Aviv office of the Authority, with which Weiss works regularly, revealed that the promoter has not contacted them in many months, and that no requests at all have been submitted on the subject of Elton John. Weiss responded to the Authority's statement, "The example was given as one of many examples that illustrate the lack of coordination and support from the government in hosting international cultural events in Israel." The party said in a statement that the sacking of Egypt's top auditor shows that the regime was 'disrespecting the constitution and fighting those battling corruption' The Egyptian Social Democratic Party has slammed President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's recent dismissal of Egypt's top auditor Hisham Geneina, saying the move protects corruption and entrenches "fascism." El-Sisi dismissed on Monday Geneina, the head of the Central Auditing Organisation (CAO), Egypt's main anti-corruption agency, following months of controversy sparked by statements Geneina made late last year that widespread government graft had cost the country billions of dollars. The Social Democratic Party, one of the first parties established following the 2011 revolution, said late on Tuesday that it "clearly and firmly rejects" the sacking, which it says proves the government is clamping down on anti-corruption figures in violation of the constitution. It said that the regime is "steering towards fascism by disrespecting the constitution and fighting those battling corruption at a time when reconciliation is being made with the corrupt." The party appears to refer to deals reportedly being struck between Mubarak-era figures and the Egyptian government to drop corruption charges against them in exchange for multi-billion-pound financial settlements. The party, whose former head Mohamed Abul-Ghar helped draft Egypt's current constitution, argues that a law passed by a presidential decree last July to allow the dismissal of heads and members of independent bodies and regulatory authorities is "unconstitutional." It added that the law regulating the organisation gives immunity to its head against dismissal. Under Egypt's constitution, the president can only exercise legislative rights in the absence of parliament under restricted conditions of necessity. Egypt was without parliament for over three years before a new House of Representatives was elected late last year. "Backing the state is done through upholding the constitution, not by forming a security front to paralyse oversight agencies and give the green light for corrupt," read the party's statement. The presidency did not specify why Geneina was removed, but Monday's move came hours after the State Security prosecution said his corruption findings were "inaccurate." The banned 6 April Youth Movement has also condemned Geneina's dismissal. It said in a statement Tuesday that "the interference of the executive authority in [the organisation's] work and the sacking of its head have undoubtedly proved that the regime is backing corruption and its influence on decision-making." However, Geneina's removal has been praised by a large number of MPs and pro-government media figures, with many accusing him of "tarnishing the country's reputation" and "misleading the public." A presidential commission appointed by El-Sisi had concluded that Geneina misled the public by saying corruption had cost the state's coffer 600 billion Egyptian pounds (approximately $76 billion) over a four-year period. Search Keywords: Short link: The Egyptian parliament's new bylaws are expected to be enacted into law next Sunday Egypt's parliament the House of Representatives is slated to approve the final draft of its new bylaws in its Wednesday session after the finalising of their revision by the State Council in constitutional and legal terms. Secretary-general of the Wafd Party and appointed MP Bahaaeddin Abu Shuqqa told reporters that the parliamentary committee charged with drafting the bylaws to go in line with the new constitution has approved "most of the amendments" proposed by the State Council. "Most of these amendments are related to procedural issues, and will greatly help in making the new bylaws immune to any constitutional or legal appeals," said Abu Shuqqa. He did, however, stress that "parliament has the right to approve or reject the council's proposed amendments," as its revision is just advisory and non-binding to the House. Abu Shuqqa indicated that the committee has rejected some of the State Council's proposed amendments, at the top of which is that a financial compensation estimated at LE5,000 per month for MPs should not be tax free. "We insist that this monthly reward be tax free because this is not a personal advantage for MPs, not to mention that it symbolises the independence and sovereignty of parliament," said Abu Shuqqa. Abu Shuqqa also indicated that the committee has approved the revision of the State Council's proposal of draft laws within 30 days. However, Abu Shuqqa said that the committee has decided that a text be added to the article (175) stating that in urgent cases, the speaker of parliament can ask the State Council to revise draft laws in a shorter time. Abu Shuqqa said that if the final draft of the internal bylaws is approved by parliament on Wednesday, it would be referred to president Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi for ratification and be issued into law most likely next Sunday. Abu Shuqqa concluded that the final promulgation of the House's bylaws will mean that parliament can now begin exercising its legislative and supervisory roles. "Once enacted into law, parliament's 25 committees will be formed to take charge of supervising the government and discussing urgent laws on the media and other related issues," said Abu Shuqqa. The Egyptian parliament's current 384-article bylaws were issued in October, 1979 or eight years after the 1971 constitution was passed under the regime of late president Anwar Al-Sadat. Parliament's new bylaws, consisting of 440 articles (438 plus two procedural articles), were drafted two years after the creation of the 2014 constitution and almost three months after the new House was elected. Abu Shuqqa said the new bylaws go in line with Egypt's new liberal constitution, which states that Egypt is a mixed parliamentary-presidential system. "As the new constitution stripped the presidency of many of its old powers, many articles were drafted to reflect this in the bylaws, at the top of which is the right of parliament to refer the president to trial," said Abu Shuqqa. Search Keywords: Short link: The Egyptian hijacker who forced the landing of an EgyptAir plane in Cyprus confirmed to police upon his arrest that he commandeered the flight in order to see his family in Cyprus, according to media reports. Cyprus Mail said on Wednesday that court reports showed that after Seif El-Din Mustafa was arrested on Tuesday, he told officers, when someone hasnt seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children, and the Egyptian government does not allow him to, what should he do? His estranged wife is reportedly "embarrassed" by the incident and does not want to see him. The Cypriot court ordered his detention for eight days. Mustafa is accused of hijacking the flight as it was en route from Alexandria to Cairo, brandishing what appeared to be an explosives belt before forcing the pilot to divert the flight to Cyprus. No passengers were injured in the incident, with Cypriot police later saying that the belt was a fake. Egypts prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek decided on Wednesday to submit a formal request to the Cypriot authorities for Mustafa's extradition for prosecution at home. Search Keywords: Short link: A new investigation team will follow up on the Regeni murder case with Cairo prosecution still investigating last Thursday's incident in which all members of an alleged suspected criminal gang targetting foreigners were killed A new investigation team at the office of Egypt's prosecutor general will follow up on leads in the murder case of Italian student Giulio Regeni until the full truth is revealed, a statement from the office announced Wednesday. "Due to the fact that different evidence in the murder case appeared in different geographical locations, a new investigating team is set up at the prosecutor general's office in order to follow up the investigations," the statement of Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek said. The statement also revealed that Sadek spoke on the phone with Rome's chief prosecutor, Giuseppe Pignatone, about the latest developments in the Regeni case. The prosecutor's office also made statements Wednesday about the alleged criminal gang accused of robbing and kidnapping foreigners and Egyptians and that was linked to the 28-year-old Italian student's murder. According to the office, Cairo prosecution is still investigating the exchange of fire that took place between suspected gang members and security forces in New Cairo last Thursday in which all suspects were killed. The prosecutor general's office reiterated that Giulio Regeni's passport and university ID, among other items, were found in a red bag at the house of the sister of one of the suspects. The sister, as well the suspect's brother, admitted that they knew the things they were hiding at their house were stolen by their brother. Both the brother and sister are officially considered suspects in the ongoing case, the statement added. When the Egyptian interior ministry announced that members of a criminal gang specialised in theft and kidnapping foreigners had been killed no direct allegation of their involvement in Regeni's murder was made. Several media outlets in Egypt, however, claimed that the gang was responsible of the torture and murder of the Italian student. Regeni's body was found with signs of torture on a roadside on the outskirts of Cairo nine days after he disappeared on 25 January. Italian authorities as well as Regeni's family have strongly rejected that the claim that the gang was responsible for the murder of Regeni, pointing to inconsistencies in that narrative. Giulio Regeni was doctoral student conducting research on independent trade union movements in Egypt. Search Keywords: Short link: According to John Castellano, group sales and marketing manager for Elderton Group, home detonations once a popular choice in Eastern Suburbs and North Shore have started the move west as a range of buyers look to improve the housing stock in the area. There are a few different types of buyers who are doing it for different motivations. There are those that are doing it to their own home and the drivers there are that theyre set up and theyve got their networks around them and want to stay there, Castellano said. Then youve got the others who might be coming into an area and they may be forced to buy an older home and knock it down because thats whats available and then the third one is your buyer coming in looking to do some multi-unit developments, a duplex or something like that, he said. While there are plenty of people looking to upgrade their family home in are theyre comfortable with, Castellano said there has been a marked increase in the number of investors looking to buy in Sydneys west and try their hand at a development project. Thats increased dramatically, incredibly so. If youre talking a typical duplex theyre usually looking to sell one and keep one, if were talking a larger development, like a group of townhouses, thats generally somebody looking to sell on, he said. I think its going to become even more popular. As supply dries up affordability becomes a huge issue and people will continue to look at the areas that have traditionally been more affordable and see what opportunities are there. In particular Castellano said suburbs with existing infrastructure are proving to be extremely popular, though he said future projects in the region are also drawing buyer attention. St Marys is incredibly popular, Blacktown is popular and Penrith is popular. Anywhere that is set up and has a transport hub set has been incredibly popular. Theyre areas I didnt think would be this popular, Ive worked on developments in those areas in the past, as recent as five or six years ago and the interest in them has increased dramatically. Weve also had some big infrastructure announcements in those areas. Weve got a second airport going in out there and peoples brains are taking straight away and long term theres some great potential there. Of the investors looking to those suburbs, Castellano said the majority are from outside the area and he cautioned them to do their research before committing to a project. You do need to do a hell of a lot of diligence. Depending on the size of the project, you may want to get a planner involved and Id certainly recommend speaking to council first, even before purchasing a property to do that sort of thing. Get a planner involved, get an architect involved. Really talk to those people that are doing this on a day to day basis. As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More The Global and United States Hydrobike Market Report has been published by QY Research recently. Hydrobike Market Analysis and Insights This report focuses on... Egyptian passenger Abdallah El-Ashmawy recounts some of his fellow passenger's reactions on board the hijacked EgyptAir plane, saying the comments 'made my day' An Egyptian who was on board EgyptAir flight 181 when it was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus on Tuesday recounted some peculiar reactions from his fellow passengers. Abdallah El-Ashmawy, a doctor and assistant lecturer at the University of Alexandria, described the "painful experience" as "a day I will never forget." Seif El-Din Mustafa, one of the Egyptian passengers, hijacked the plane en route from Alexandria to Cairo, brandishing what appeared to be an explosive belt before forcing the pilot to divert the flight to Cyprus. Cypriot police later said the belt was a fake. Despite the ordeal, however, El-Ashmawy still found humour in some of the reactions of his countrymen on the plane, including hopeless distress calls, a man revealing a secret bank account to his wife and another complaining about his frozen chicken that was seized at customs. "Most of the people managed to stay calm, but as usual passengers on board made my day," he said. "A lovely Egyptian chap decided to call all his family and friends one by one as we were about to land in Cyprus, and in a very loud voice said I'm kidnapped Mohamed, I'm kidnapped Fatma, etc." "Another funny [incident involved a] husband calling his wife to tell her about some money he was hiding in a bank account, and the funniest part was his wife forgetting about the hijacking and asking him to repeat the banks name and account number." El-Ashmawy also recounted how another passenger was outraged that airport security had confiscated his frozen chicken. "You are letting an explosive belt pass and do not want me to take my chicken," the man shouted, according to El-Ashmawy. "Another lovely guy was sleeping and woke up to find that we were landing in Cyprus, to which he responded 'why Cyprus? I will miss my connection', El-Ashmawy added. Alhamdu Lellah who saved and protected us through this ordeal. Thank you all for your calls and messages.I arrived... Posted by AbdAllah El Ashmawy on Tuesday, 29 March 2016 Despite the light spirit of the note, El-Ashmawy said that the EgyptAir crew was "really professional," commending their continuous attempts to "calm all the passengers." "The lady flight attendants managed to keep a smile all throughout the flight," he recalls. "I could see one of them crying [in her seat at the front], but once she stood up again she kept her smile just to calm people." The hijacker confirmed to police upon his arrest in Cyprus that he commandeered the flight in order to see his family in that country, according to media reports. Other reports suggest that the man, who Egyptian and Cypriot authorities believe may be mentally ill, was calling for the release of prisoners in Egypt. Search Keywords: Short link: Sameh Shoukry is holding a number of meetings in Washington, discussing regional security, including efforts to fight terrorism Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is in Washington to take part in the Nuclear Security Summit and has already held talks that touched on various security issues, said the foreign ministry's spokesman. In interview with Ahram Online, Ahmed Abouzid said Shoukry "forwarded Egypt's vision for many crises in the Middle East, including the situations in Syria and Libya, as well as efforts to fight terrorism" in talks with the American Jewish Committee (AJC). "Also, the Palestinian cause was discussed, and ties with the US," Abouzid added. The AJC is a prominent Jewish advocacy group in the US. "[Talks] also went through details on activating the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, including the French initiative to hold an international peace summit." Shoukry reiterated Egypt's vision to end the perennial conflict by way of the two-state solution, said Abouzid. The top Egyptian diplomat also met with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The two discussed security developments in the Middle East and efforts to fight the Islamic State group. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypts foreign ministry spokesman said that the Egyptian who hijacked an EgyptAir flight on Tuesday, forcing its diversion to Cyprus, should be tried in that country before being extradited to Egypt in accordance with treaties between the two countries. "We have studied all bilateral treaties between Egypt and Cyprus concerning handing over and swapping defendants," spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid told Ahram Online hours after Egypt submitted a request to Cypriot authorities for the extradition of admitted hijacker Seif El-Din Mustafa. Egypts prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek decided on Wednesday to submit a formal request to the Cypriot authorities for the extradition of Mustafa, citing an Egyptian-Cypriot 1996 agreement on the extradition of criminals. Earlier on Wednesday, Cypriot police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the 59-year-old Egyptian national faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. A Cypriot court granted a police request to detain Mustafa for the maximum eight-day detention period over fears that he might flee and the fact that he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police. No passengers were injured in the incident and Cypriot police later said the belt was a fake. Cypriot officials described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable" following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. Search Keywords: Short link: Ahram Online speaks with the EgyptAir flight 181 attendant who ushered passengers calmly under the threat of a hijacker, with a smile and wave goodbye News channels worldwide aired on Tuesday morning video footage of a flight attendant calmly ushering passengers off an EgyptAir plane. The scene looked normal, the passengers orderly, all would have seemed business-as-usual except for the caption under the footage that read Egyptian plane hijacked and diverted to Cyprus. Flight attendant Nehal Barkouky looked collected, tucking a stray hair or two behind her ear, embracing one of the passengers briefly and even waving to them goodbye as they evacuated the hijacked plane, the hijacker still inside with what he claimed was an explosive belt around his waist. You are acting and you have to act well. In this situation, you must act better than [professional] actors because it is real life, they have to see you controlled, with your makeup on and smiling, Barkouky told Ahram Online. The footage then shows Barkouky pausing for a brief moment with her back to the departing passengers before stepping back onto the plane. I was stepping into the unknown, to a man who was threatening [us] with an explosive belt. I couldnt have left with the passengers, my job was not done. The ordeal started 15 minutes after take-off from Egypts Alexandria, when the hijacker, later identified as 58-year-old Egyptian national Seif El-Din Mustafa, forced the pilot of flight 181 to divert the Cairo-bound plane to Cyprus. Barkouky said that Mustafa, sitting at the back of the plane, revealed himself to the crew and asked that a note be sent to pilot saying the plane has been hijacked, either land in Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. If the pilot chooses to continue on his path to Cairo, [the planes passengers] are gone. She said that she could not determine whether the explosive belt was real, but as a professional, we were trained not to take a chance on risking the life of even one passenger aboard the plane, thus they treated it as a genuine threat. The hijacker, according to Barkouky, demanded the passports of all 55 passengers be collected to determine their nationalities and separate the foreigners as he wanted to take the foreigners only as hostages and release the Egyptians. Once the plane landed in Cyprus Larnaca Airport, the crew managed to negotiate with Mustafa to let the passengers leave until only three non-Egyptian passengers and four crew members remained. The hijacker said after they landed that he wanted to free [a number of] female Egyptian prisoners, the flight attendant stated. As for reports that Mustafa wanted to speak to his former wife, a Cypriot citizen, Barkouky said I did not hear that, I dont know where people got that from, some people like to spice things up. After almost seven-hours of landing, Mustafa surrendered himself to Cypriot authorities. Authorities said that upon examination, the explosive belt was determined to be fake. All of the passengers emerged uninjured. Mustafa was brought before a Cypriot judge Wednesday morning, where he said that his desire to see his children, who are in the custody of his ex-wife, drove him to hijack the plane. The court ordered he be held in detention for eight days. Cypriot police said he faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Egyptian prosecution said they are in talks with their Cypriot counterparts to extradite him. The passengers and crew of flight 181 flew back to Cairo late Tuesday on the same plane. Barkouky resumed her original plans; checking on my four-year-old daughter and teenage son, and getting lots of sleep. Search Keywords: Short link: Richie Benaud possibly next to Sir Don Bradman has been one of the greatest cricketing personalities as, player, researcher, writer, critic, author, organiser, adviser and student of the game." --- Harold de Andrado

The spectacle of cricket is phenomenaland so it will remain. But the very idea of cricket seems less exciting without Richie Benaud.

My early school days were responsible for shaping my current career, for I was the one who had no great plans for the future! Questions like, what after tenth standard? Science or commerce? A doctor or an engineer?...they never mattered the only thing which I did was to imitate the voice that insatiably made me set early morning alarms, wake up in the early hours, some times around 3.30 in the morning and switch on my television.

It would be unfair for me to say that the excitement of watching Tendulkar bat on a fiery green top pitch with lush green outfield and 7-2 field arrangement was the only reason that resulted in my early morning alarms.

The idea of cricket without Tendulkar, Sehwag, or Benaud seems unthinkable. But so did the idea of cricket without greats like Gavaskar, Richards, Miandad, Imran, Kapilthe list is long.

The unique style of Benaud made cricket commentary an unforgettable experience, not just because of his knowledge or for his oratorical skills, but for a judgement which rarely the modern commentators show. Just as a great batsman knows where exactly his off stump is, or McGrath knew just where to pitch the ball -Benaud knew when not to utter a word. There were occasions when a complete over passed without him uttering a word in the commentary box.

When Benaud walked out of the observation box for the last time at the Oval (England) in 2005, a numb crowd left no stone unturned in applauding. Being a pivotal man in Channel 9s elite box over the years, he drew questions and answered the issue unflatteringly to the masses, who were unable to buy the costly tickets and were glued to television sets instead.

Many in our times might not be aware that Richie Benaud has the distinction of hitting the third fastest Test century in terms of number of minutes spent on the crease, or that the legends association with the game has been over 500 Test matches in total. Richie Benaud mastered what many consider the toughest art in cricket leg spin, and went onto play 63 Tests for Australia and also claim 248 Test wickets.

Benaud, after retiring from Test cricket, went on to join a training course in BBC were he learned the integrities of the art from legendary Peter O'Sullevan. The cricketer within him ensured a sense of keen judgement and an unmatched understanding of the game which helped him in becoming the greatest cricket commentator in history.

His unpardoning and sometimes harsh words for teams and managers left them red in the face and sponsors cried foul, but his characteristic impartial assessment cant be described to those who never had the privilege of hearing him. As a commentator his neutrality, humor and subtleness were not confined to his nationality and market forces.

It was in his era that cricket went to households through the television revolution and for many, it was Benauds exploits in the commentary room that kept them hooked to the idiot box. His very presence brought a soothing effect to the game full of controversies.

Watching Benaud leave the commentary box with an idiosyncratic smile on his face, I am somehow convinced that celestial forces were at work to stop history in its making. Call me a crazy Benaud-phile or maybe I am being ridiculously silly, but there is that something special in him which often forced me to think What would Benaud say when Tendulkar hits that winning run in a World Cup final?

Tendulkar definitely is around but alas! Benaud wont be there in that box if ever that situation arises.

Hyderabad: The students' union of the University of Hyderabad has urged President Pranab Mukherjee to sack Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao to restore peace in the university. In a letter to the president, who is the Visitor of the university, the union said Rao was an accused in the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and also unleashed brutal violence on the students. Students' union president Zuhail KP told reporters that they sought the president's intervention to save the university from further damage. He brought to the notice of the president that the two-member fact finding committee appointed by the human resource development ministry to investigate the disciplinary action on five Dalit research scholars which led to the suicide of Vemula pointed out that the university administration under Appa Rao mishandled the case. Appa Rao was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment to suicide. The high court did not grant him bail while the judicial commission formed is still probing the matter, the letter said. It was also brought to the president's notice that Appa Rao, instead of waiting for the judicial commission's report, showed utter contempt for the judicial process by cancelling his leave and resuming office on March 22 with the help of some teachers loyal to him and ABVP students. Zuhail said that when the students protested his resumption of office, he "unleashed brutal violence on the protesting students to levels unheard of in the university history". Telangana Police arrested 24 students, two professors and one media person after a baton charge and booked many others including women. The letter alleged that Appa Rao with the help of 'loyal' non-teaching staff closed the hostel messes, cut off water supply and disconnected internet. New Delhi: The chief imam of the All India Imam Organisation (AIIO), Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, on Wednesday described the thrashing of three madrassa students for not chanting `Jai Mata Ki` as most unfortunate, and called on the concerned authorities to take punitive action against those trying to spread intolerance and hatred in society. "It is unfortunate and it has come at the time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone on a visit to a place revered by Muslims to make good relations there. Strict action should be taken against those who tried to spoil the environment of the society," Ilyasi told ANI here. He also said there is need to strengthen nationalism and the sense of being Indian.Three Muslim youth - Dilkash, Mohammad Ajmal and Naeem - were allegedly beaten up by unidentified men at a park in outer Delhi`s Begampur area, as they refused to chant pro-religious and national slogans such as `Jai Mata Ki` and `Bharat Mata Ki Jai`. "We had gone to a nearby park. Some men came and slapped one of my friends. They asked us to say `Jai Mata Ki` and `Bharat Mata Ki` and threatened to kill us. I don`t know them, but I can recognise them. We called up Hafiz and then the police came and we were being taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital," said Dilkash, one of the victims. Another victim, Mohammad Ajmal, said they were not given a chance to say anything, adding that their skull caps were thrown and crushed with feet. "They asked us to say `Jai Mata Ki`. Suddenly one of them came and thrashed me with a bamboo stick. They all started beating us. We then called up our teacher. He came and called up the police," he added. The victims called up their teacher Hafiz, who then called up the police.They were rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for immediate treatment.A case has been registered and further probe is on. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday framed guidelines for appointment of law officers in Punjab and Haryana, saying there was neither a criteria nor a policy for the selections of such officials. A bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and UU Lalit said a selection committee headed by Secretary, Law Commission will look into the appointments of law officers in both the states. The bench also said that the committee will give the names and profiles of law officers to the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court and full transparency should be maintained. The apex court said that the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court will recommend the names of law officers along with suggestions to both the states after which they can make the appointments. The court said there was lack of transparency in the entire process of appointment of law officers due to which it had to issue guidelines and these guidelines could also be followed by other states. The issue before the apex court pertained to a dispute on appointment and dismissal of a law officer by the Punjab government. A petition was filed by advocate Pradeep Raparia against the Haryana government on a similar issue. The court had last year taken note of Punjab's 174 law officers' team and had asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, who was assisting it as amicus curiae, to find out if any state had laid down procedure for selection of law officers. The bench had asked the state to explain the procedure for selection of law officers, whether there was a search committee to shortlist advocates for law officers' posts, and whether the state consulted the high court before finalising the appointments. Admitting that no such procedure was laid down for selection of law officers, the Punjab government had said there was no definite procedure nor statutory rule governing engagement of advocates as law officers for Punjab. One police officer was killed and two injured late on Tuesday when two vehicles were blown up by an explosive device in Russia's Dagestan region, police said, while the Islamic State group said it was behind the attack. "Two cars were blown up, the type of explosive device has not been established yet," Fatina Ubaidatova, a spokeswoman for the Dagestani police, told Reuters by phone. The Amaq news agency, which supports the Islamic State group, posted online a statement saying its local affiliate was behind the attack. The Amaq statement said the blast killed 10 security officers. Reuters was unable to independently verify the casualty numbers. Islamic State group has in the past said it was behind violent attacks on security forces in the North Caucasus, the volatile mainly Muslim part of Russia where Dagestan is located. Dagestan, where Kremlin critics say widespread poverty and corruption help feed religious extremism, last saw similar attacks on police in February Some militants in Dagestan, which borders Chechnya where Moscow led two wars against separatists in 1990s, have sworn allegiance to Islamic State group. Search Keywords: Short link: Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: In what can be called as a tremendous development in the field of medicine, a team of scientists from the US have developed first animal model for testing vaccines and drugs to fight Zika virus. An able team of researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch have been successful in coming up with the first mouse model that will speed up Zika drug development. This research has already yielded a few clues about the virus' pathogenesis. Lead author Shannan Rossi said that there is a huge demand to screen antivirals that have been backlogged because we haven't had a good way to test them, adding "Without this model, we were really stagnant in our efforts to find new treatments. You can look for efficacy in cell cultures, but that tells you almost nothing about what's going to happen when you test in a mouse or a human. This will help get those drug and vaccine candidates moving through the pipeline." Normally, creating a mouse model like this would take us several months, but the urgency of the situation propelled us into this rapid response, and we were able to put together our results in just three weeks," Rossi said. Rossi injected several genetically distinct varieties of laboratory mice with Zika virus isolated in Asia in 2010. The current epidemic in South America can be traced to the Asian Zika virus lineage, of which this strain is a member. Normal mice did not develop disease after infection with Zika virus, the research team reported. Only when researchers injected mice that had been genetically altered to have a deficient innate immune response did the animals develop detectible disease. Young mice of these strains are highly susceptible to infection. These mice became lethargic, lost weight and died within six days after infection. Older mice became ill, but did not always develop infection, and they ultimately recovered. The mouse model is available immediately for testing of antivirals and researcher Scott Weaver said that preliminary testing is already underway with an antiviral developed by another member of the UTMB team, Pei-Yong Shi, PhD, to treat dengue fever. (With ANI inputs) New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kirron Kher on Wednesday termed the statement by Kanhaiya Kumar as disgraceful in which he said that there was a stark difference between the 1984 Sikh riot and 2002 Gujarat riots. Hitting back at the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) president, Kher tweeted, ""Disgraceful statement by @kanhaiyajnusu that 1984 anti Sikh riots were done by mobs and not state sponsored". "So many Cong leaders are in the dock for the 1984 riots. Statement by @kanhaiyajnusu wilfully ignorant," Kher added further. Kirron Kher, a 60-year-old threatre and film actress and a member of the Saffron party did not stop here and attacked him further by tweeting, "Kya aapka zameer bilkul mar gaya hai, Kanhaiya? @kanhaiyajnusu". (Is your inner self dead?) According to Kanhaiya Kumar, there is a fundamental difference between 1984 anti-Sikh riots and Gujarat 2002 riots. He alleged that while the Gujarat violence was carried out through state machinery, the 1984 massacre was actually due to mob frenzy. Recently, Anupam Kher, actor and Kirron Kher's husband lashed out at Kanhaiya during the screening of his film at Jawaralal Nehru University. Without naming the JNUSU president in his speech, Kher, who has been critical of the JNU issue, questioned how one who speaks ill of the country can be celebrated like he was an Olympic medal winner. He is out on bail, he hasnt come back with a medal from Olympics that he should be accorded such huge welcome. New Delhi: As Narendra Modi government continues to push hard for its 'Make in India' campaign, Indian Army has decided to induct Israel's quick-reaction surface-to-air missiles (QR-SAMs), a report said on Wednesday. A report published in 'The Times of India', said the Indian Army has refused to induct any more indigenous Akash missiles. The report says that the Army has categorically said, besides inducting the first two ordered regiments of Akash missiles, it doesn't want any more. Earlier, the Indian Navy had said that it doesn't wants to induct the indigenous missiles due to "stabilisation problems". The Army has done field trials of missile systems from Russia, Israel and Sweden. From all the three it has selected the Israeli Spyder QR-SAMs. The Akash weapon system is an all-weather air-defence missile system which can target aircraft upto 30 kilometers away, at altitudes up to 18,000 metres. Akash is a potent supersonic mobile multi-directional, multi-target air defence system that can simultaneously engage multiple air targets using sophisticated multi-function phased array radars. New Delhi: A local court in Delhi on Monday acquitted Manipuri rights activist Irom Sharmila in a case of attempt to suicide in the national capital. Sharmila has been on a hunger strike since 2000 demanding that the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act be repealed. In 2013, Sharmila had refused to plead guilty to the case, so the court took it to trial, and she has been out on bail since then. During her hearing, the prosecutor claimed Sharmila showed the intent to commit suicide and that the offence she had committed was clear. However, the rights activist told the court that she loved her life and was using her fast as a stand against the AFSPA, which gives the Army unbridled power and protection in conflict-ridden states. During her last visit to Delhi also, she had expressed her desire to meet the Prime Minister. The meeting, 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. Brussels: Here's the FULL TEXT of India-Belgium's joint statement during the visit of PM Narendra Modi to Brussels. March 30, 2016 Bilateral relations The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, and the Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr. Charles Michel met in Brussels on 30 March, 2016. The Leaders expressed deep shock and anguish at the dastardly terrorist attacks in Brussels last week and condemned them in the strongest possible terms. They reaffirmed their belief that no issue or cause can justify dreadful and indiscriminate acts of violence against innocent people. They agreed that the growing menace of terrorism knows no boundaries and its root causes and manifestations must be tackled through united efforts by the international community. Underlining that terror cannot defeat freedom and liberty, the leaders reiterated that these fundamental values have always strengthened our shared resolve to fight against such inhuman acts of terror. On behalf of India, a nation confronted with terrorism for decades, Prime Minister Modi expressed solidarity with Belgium in this tragic hour and offered heartfelt condolences for the loss of several lives and prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured. The two Prime Ministers underlined the excellent relations between Belgium and India and their shared commonalities as two mature democracies committed to the rule of law, federalism and pluralism. Noting that diplomatic relations between India and Belgium were instituted in 1947, the Leaders welcomed the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Belgium in 2017 as an occasion to commemorate and commit to further strengthening of bilateral relations. They looked forward to a State Visit to India in 2017 by His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium as a key event in the commemoration. Lauding the vital role played by, and the supreme sacrifice made by more than 9,000 Indian troops in Flanders fields, Belgium, during the First World War, the two Prime Ministers recalled Indias participation in the inaugural commemorative events held at Nieuwpoort and Ypres in Belgium in October 2014 and welcomed the ongoing commemorative celebrations underway till 2018. Both leaders acknowledged the growing convergence of views on regional and international issues and committed to work together in close partnership on a range of issues of mutual interest. In this context, the Prime Ministers welcomed the inception of an institutionalized political dialogue between India and Belgium. Prime Minister Michel reiterated the support of Belgium for India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. India and Belgium underlined their shared interest in strengthening global non-proliferation objectives. In this regard, Belgium welcomes Indias aspiration to become a member of the four multilateral export control regimes, namely, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group and Wassenaar Arrangement. India and Belgium agreed to work together for India to become a member of these regimes. Taking note of the federal structure in both countries, the two Leaders encouraged mutually beneficial partnerships and cooperation, including at the level of the States and the Union Territories of India, the Regions and Communities of Belgium. Security Cooperation Condemning the terrorist attacks that have taken place across the world recently, the two Prime Ministers agreed that terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, is an attack on fundamental values and freedoms. They agreed that enhanced bilateral and international cooperation is necessary to prevent and combat violent extremism and terrorism, including early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and strict compliance with all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions designating terrorists and terrorist groups. The two Leaders also resolved to work together to drive forward international efforts in forums like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Recognising the urgent need to disrupt terrorist networks and their financing channels, eliminate terrorist safe havens, training infrastructure and cross-border movement of terrorists, the two Prime Ministers underlined the need for all countries to effectively deal with terrorism emanating from their territory or territories under their control. Both sides reiterated that there should be zero tolerance for terrorism-related activities including those that are sponsored by state actors and entities and where terrorism is used as an instrument of state policy. Reaffirming that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group, India and Belgium resolved to work together to better understand the phenomenon of radicalization, and counter the misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred and violent extremism or perpetrating terrorist acts. Agreeing to facilitate regular exchanges of civil society to promote the values of peace, tolerance and inclusion, the two Leaders reaffirmed their shared conviction that the values of humanism will prevail in countering the divisive propaganda of hatred and intolerance espoused by the forces of extremism and terrorism. Recognizing the need for enhanced cooperation in criminal matters, they committed to begin negotiations on bilateral agreements for Mutual Legal Assistance, Extradition and Transfer of Sentenced Persons at an early date. Economic cooperation The two Prime Ministers welcomed the robust bilateral economic engagement between the two countries and took positive note of Belgium being Indias second largest trade partner in goods in the EU and India being Belgiums second largest export destination outside the EU. Recognizing the importance of the diamond sector in bilateral trade and the ongoing cooperation in the framework of the Kimberley Process, they resolved to further consolidate this mutually beneficial partnership. They committed to further strengthening the economic engagement by diversifying the bilateral trade basket and expanding investment ties. The Leaders recognized the key role of the services sector in the two economies, and encouraged partnerships between services sector industries particularly in the areas of Information Technology, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals and Renewable Energy. They acknowledged the valuable contributions made by skilled workers to the service sectors of the two economies and the importance of smooth movement of skilled personnel in the framework of people to people exchanges. The Leaders recognized the importance of global cross-border transfer of information by electronic means for business purposes and resolved to address regulatory issues They agreed on the need to tap into the full potential of the EU-India strategic partnership and looked forward to the resumption of negotiations on the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement on mutually-agreed terms. The two Leaders discussed the various flagship development initiatives launched by the Government of India and agreed to explore enhanced cooperation in these areas, especially the Smart Cities and the Clean Ganga programmes including the management of water resources in the Ganga River basin. The Prime Ministers noted with satisfaction, the presence of more than 160 Belgian companies in India and around 80 Indian companies in Belgium. They encouraged businesses on both sides to take advantage of the growing trade and investment opportunities, especially in sectors with mutual complementarities like ports, railways, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, information technology, health, research and innovation. Noting the vibrant passenger traffic between the two countries and recognizing the need for direct passenger flights, the two Prime Ministers hoped that efforts will be undertaken to maintain air connectivity between Belgium and India either through direct flight or through code-share operations. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the conclusion of the amending protocol that makes the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) more comprehensive and contemporary. Energy, Ports and Information Technology The two Prime Ministers welcomed the progress under the MoU on renewable energy between the competent Belgian authorities at federal and regional levels and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India, and the inaugural meeting of the Joint Working Group on 14 March 2016 identifying smart cities, waste to energy, small wind turbines, water purification technologies involving renewable energy and zero emission buildings as priority areas for joint collaboration. The Leaders took positive note of the active cooperation in Science & Technology under the intergovernmental agreement between Indias Department of Science & Technology and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, and looked forward to continued cooperation in this regard. They welcomed the technical activation of an optical infrared telescope in Devasthal in India, jointly developed by ARIES (Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences) of India and the Belgian company AMOS (Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems) as a concrete demonstration of successful collaboration. The two leaders also welcomed the upcoming signature of the finalized Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Biotechnology of India and the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) for cooperation in the field of Biotechnology. Noting the longstanding cooperation between the two countries in the Ports sector, they welcomed the imminent extension of the agreement between the Government of Flanders and the Ministry of Shipping for another two years, as well as the ongoing collaboration between the Port of Antwerp and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to develop a Joint Training Center under the MoU signed in February 2015. They also welcomed the ongoing negotiations to cooperate in the area of Information Communication Technology and Electronics (ICT&E) across a broad spectrum of domains including e-Governance/mobile Governance, cybersecurity, institutional framework between major research institutions, education and training in ICT and looked forward to early conclusion of an agreement. People to people ties Affirming the importance of cooperation in the field of education, the two Prime Ministers welcomed the numerous projects in collaborative research, student mobility and exchange of faculty between higher educational institutions of Belgium and India. They looked forward to further strengthening of the academic engagement between institutions on both sides. Noting that 40,000 Belgian tourists visit India every year and Belgium receives about 60,000 Indian tourists every year, the two Leaders welcomed the e-Tourist visa facility extended by India to Belgian nationals to promote tourism. They welcomed the upcoming signature of the agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Flanders on cooperation in the field of tourism. Welcoming the envisaged adoption of the India-EU Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility and underscoring the importance of the growing people to people exchanges between India and Belgium, the Prime Ministers encouraged efforts to ensure easier mobility of people on both sides. New Delhi: Adding to the controversy, Congress leader Manish Tewari on Wednesday again took to Twitter to question External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj about the alleged crucifixion of an Indian Catholic priest by Islamic State jihadists in Yemen. The Congress leader's tweet on Tuesday asking why the BJP government did nothing about the alleged crucifixion of Father Thomas Uzhunnali had attracted a lot of censure on the social media platform. Taking the fight forward, Tewari today tweeted: If@sushmaswaraj had guts she would have told what she/PM did to save Father Uzhunnali rather than hide behind BJP trolls,bhakts & Perverts? Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) March 30, 2016 On Tuesday, Tewari wrote: So ISIS allegedly crucified Father Thomas Uzhunnali &BJP Govt did nothing. Why because he was a Christian?Mr PM he was also a fellow Indian Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) March 29, 2016 Sushma Swaraj, who has been active on Twitter in reaching out to Indians abroad in need of help, tweeted: Friends - I have liked some tweets. Please see them and judge for yourself. Then reply to @ManishTewari https://t.co/O1IN2iEDrr Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 29, 2016 A Catholic priest on Tuesday said there is no confirmation yet about the "crucifixion" of the Indian priest, Father Thomas Uzhunnallil. Social media and media houses have disseminated news on the alleged crucifixion of Uzhunnallil by IS terrorists on Good Friday, 25 March, after they abducted him from a home for the elderly in Aden, Yemen. The Indian priest was kidnapped on March 4 after IS terrorists barged into the care home for the elderly set up by Mother Teresa in Aden in 1992, and shot dead many people, including four nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, one of them from India. The External Affairs Ministry has said there is no confirmation of the news of the alleged crucifixion. New Delhi: Amid the deteriorating situation in Libya, India is mulling to evacuate its nationals from there. The development comes close on the heels of the death of a Kerala nurse and her child in western Libya. The Hindu quoted an official at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as saying that some 1,800 Indians are still living in Libya and the need to evacuate them may arise soon. The total number of Indians who have been staying in Libya despite advisories to leave the country is 1,800. But we are in touch with all Indian citizens and have logistics related information about them, the official said, as per the newspaper. The evacuation from Libya, meanwhile, is not going to be an easy task, the report said. The Indian Embassy in Libya has been relocated from capital Tripoli and is currently functioning from Djerba in Tunisia with a skeleton staff. Back in 2011, India had evacuated 15,000 nationals from Libya with the help of Air India and by using a naval warship. In a similar evacuation, thousands of Indian nationals and foreigners were rescued by India from Yemen in April 2015. The Hague: Italy on Wednesday asked judges in The Hague to order India to release a detained Italian marine, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due at an EU-India summit in Brussels at which he aims to defuse the long-running row with Rome. In 2012, India arrested two Italian marines who were escorting an oil tanker on suspicion of killing two fishermen they mistook for pirates. Though they were not charged, the pair were barred from leaving the country. Massimiliano Latorre was allowed to return home last year for medical treatment, but Salvatore Girone has for four years been confined to Delhi, where he lives at the Italian embassy and reports weekly to Indian police. The case moved to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague after India and Italy agreed to suspend all domestic legal proceedings. Addressing the United Nations tribunal, Francesco Azzarello, Italy`s lead lawyer in the case, pledged that Girone would be returned to India to face charges should it bring them once the Hague arbitration is finished. "The only reason Girone is not allowed to leave India is so that he can act as a de facto guarantee of Italy`s obligation to return him for trial," Azzarello said. "A human being cannot be used as a guarantee of the conduct of a state." Waiting until the end of the case in The Hague, where proceedings are often lengthy, could leave Girone detained without charge for up to eight years, thousands of kilometres from his wife and young children, he said. India hopes the Brussels summit will bring a thaw in ties with the EU and persuade Italy to refrain from blocking India`s membership of a key global group on missile technology. Rome single-handedly scuppered India`s bid to join last year. As part of a broad agenda, the EU plans to raise the issue of the marines with Modi, according to an internal EU council note seen by Reuters. Italy argues the case of the two marines was beyond the jurisdiction of Indian courts. Marines are viewed by Italy as state officials immune to foreign prosecution. Italy paid $190,000 in compensation to each victim`s family. New Delhi: A group of JNU students were not allowed to meet Manipuri human rights activist Irom Sharmila who was in city in connection with hearing of a 2006 case of attempted suicide, the charge which was dropped on Thursday. The students were stopped at the barricade that was drawn by the police near Manipur House where Sharmila had put up. The police reasoned that they could not allow Sharmila to address the students since she was still under judicial custody after refusing personal recognizance bond on offer on March 22 earlier this month. After an-hour long negotiation, Sharmila emerged on the other side of the barricade to the loud cheer of the students. She acknowledged the students' support through hand gesture as the students raised slogans against the AFSPA, against which Sharmila has been fasting for the last 16 years to get revoked. "Revoke AFSPA!", "AFSPA down down" "Irom Sharmila Laal Salam" were among the few slogans that were raised in support of the "Iron Lady of Manipur". The 1958 AFSPA rule, which is in effect in many parts of northeastern India and Kashmir, gives security forces sweeping powers to search and shoot on sight, and is criticised for allegedly allowing security personnel to abuse human rights. JNUSU Vice President Shehla Rashid condemned the "state agencies" for not allowing Sharmila to address the students. "We condemn this attitude of the state agencies who do not want us to meet Sharmila and support her cause. We need to keep fighting," said Rashid. Although Sharmila could not address the students, the latter celebrated the dropping of charge of attempt to suicide. "Today is a day of victory for people who fight against oppression. Our fight is long but we will win this fight because our fight is for a genuine cause. They rape our women and sisters. We will continue our fight against this," said Chinglen Khunukcham, Convener of North East Forum for International Solidarity. The students then held a march from near Manipur House to the main road at Chanakyapuri while raising slogans against AFSPA and in support of Sharmila. New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University student union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday attempted to water down the controversy that erupted after he said there was a difference between 2002 riots and 1984 Sikh massacre. In a Facebook post, Kumar said he was misinterpreted. Read his post here: I have been misinterpreted and misrepresented yet again. There isnt an iota of doubt that Emergency represents one of... Posted by Kanhaiya Kumar on Tuesday, 29 March 2016 He wrote the post after he came under strong criticism for his remarks that 1984 anti-Sikh riot was a "mob-led massacre" while 2002 Gujarat riots were a "state-sponsored violence." Kanhaiya's comments did not go down well even with those who have been his zealous supporters ever since he was arrested in a sedition case over an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. "Sorry Kanhaiya, you're badly wrong here. The 1984 Anti Sikh pogrom was just as much sponsored by state machinery," CPI(ML) Politburo member and former JNUSU president Kavita Krishnan wrote on Twitter. Sharing a report by People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) on 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Krishnan further said, "I hope @kanhaiyajnusu and all others read Who Are The Guilty, the report that documents the meticulous planning". Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadava, who is also an alumni, also tweeted, "Sorry to disagree again @kanhaiyajnusu Both 2002,1984 were state sanctioned Emergency was closest we came to fascism". Speaking at an event at JNU, Kanhaiya had on Monday said that there is a difference between 2002 riots and 1984 Sikh massacre as the Gujarat violence was "carried out through state machinery while the other was caused due to mob frenzy." He had also compared the alleged onslaught on varsities with Gujarat riots alleging both of them were carried out "with support" from state machinery even as he stressed that there is a fundamental difference between "emergency" and "fascism". UNESCO on Wednesday condemned the murder of a 23-year-old journalist in El Salvador earlier this month, saying such violence against media workers has a "far reaching effect on society." The head of the UN agency for education, science and culture, Irina Bokova, said in a statement on the March 10 killing of Nicolas Humberto Garcia that such acts had a chilling effect on free public expression. Garcia was murdered by unidentified assailants as he drove to work at the Expresa Voces al Aire community radio station in western El Salvador. The watchdog group Reporters Without Borders said Garcia was killed by members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, one of the criminal organizations whose violence has turned El Salvador into the world's deadliest country not at war. Garcia had been hosting a program telling listeners how to prevent violence, and on occasion he interviewed police officers. The president of El Salvador's Association of Journalists, Serafin Valencia, said Garcia had rejected attempts by the gangs to work for them and that was probably why he was killed. Search Keywords: Short link: New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday described Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as a 'Naxalite' who was supporting anti-national elements while accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of surrendering to Pakistan. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy told ANI here, "Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress, they are all opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party. That man (Arvind Kejriwal) is a Naxalite, he will say anything at any time. If we take a hard line on Pakistan, he will say, why have you taken a hard line?. If you take a soft line on Pakistan, he will say, they have invited Pakistan and all that? That man is a complete 420 (cheat). How can I take him seriously?" As Indian and Pakistan officials met at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in Delhi to take stock of the probe into the Pathankot attack, opposition parties slammed the government for giving the Pakistani team, 'unfettered access' to the Pathankot air base. The five-member Pakistani Joint Investigating team (JIT) is headed by Chief of Punjab's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Muhammad Tahir Rai and comprises Lahore's Deputy Director General, Intelligence Bureau, Mohammad Azim Arshad, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Lieutenant-Colonel Tanvir Ahmed, Military Intelligence official Lieutenant-Colonel Irfan Mirza and Gujaranwala CTD Investigating Officer, Shahid Tanveer. Following inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs about a possible threat to the JIT by the Islamic fundamentalist organizations based in Pakistan and their proxies in India, the Punjab Police made arrangements to provide 25 bulletproof cars to ferry them and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials in Pathankot and to areas close to the border. The note was sent after the JIT members arrived in India, sparking a political storm over whether they should be given access to the airbase. Washington D: Asserting that the arrest of an Indian spy is not an issue of India, Director of Gilgit Baltistan National Congress, Senge Hasnan Sering said it's an issue of how Pakistan is adjusting itself between Saudi Arabia and Iran's developing strategic conflict. "I don't think it's an issue of India. This is an issue of how Pakistan is adjusting itself between Saudi Arab and Iran's developing strategic conflict. Pakistan saying they have caught Indian RAW agent and embarrassing Iran is a way to build pressure on Iran, to develop reasonable excuse to stand with Saudi Arabia," Sering told ANI. "Irrespective of whether he is an Indian agent or not or he has been caught from Pakistan or Iran. the whole international community should support Balochistan, keeping in view of the human rights violation going on there. Be it India or any western country.without giving any excuse, should stand with the people of Balochistan," he added. Sering further stated that the attention of the international community should not get diverted from the issues of human rights violation and abduction, adding that this is a question of the relation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. "India has an old tie with Iran. Pakistan is giving Saudi Arab a leading role. At a time, when it has to choose a side between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Pakistan is doing its ground work. 'Go Back Rohani' is now trending in Pakistan social media.this is being done to create pressure on Iran," he added. The Pakistan government yesterday released alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav's confessional video in which he is shown owning up to clandestine activities in the country. The Indian government rejected the allegation that Jadhav had acted at its behest and counter-charged that the former navy officer was tutored by the Pakistanis. The video was aired during a joint press conference by Pakistan's information minister Pervez Rasheed and Army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa in Islamabad. The video shows Jadhav saying he is a serving naval officer, he joined the intelligence services since 2003 and has been running a spy operation in Balochistan from Iran with the aim of instigating terrorist incidents there. Islamabad: A Pakistani team probing the terror attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, Punjab, has confirmed the preventive detention of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar. The Quint has cited sources as saying that Pakistani investigators have already interrogated Azhar about the Pathankot terror attack. The five-member Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is likely to share the details of Azhars questioning and other findings with National Investigation Agency (NIA) today. Weeks after the January 02 attack, media reports from Pakistan said Azhar and his relatives were placed under house arrest in Islamabad, and that Jaish-e-Mohammed seminaries and offices were raided and shut down. However, highly-placed diplomatic sources in India said the Pakistan government did not confirm that Azhar was arrested. On Tuesday, the NIA said India will ask for access to Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar. "We will ask for access to Masood Azhar," National Investigation Agency chief Sharad Kumar told NDTV. The Indian Air Force base was attacked on January 02, leading to the death of seven Indian security personnel and all the attackers after an 80-hour gun battle. The five-member Pakistani JIT reached the airbase on Tuesday amid vociferous protests by activists of the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Shiv Sena. Delhi: Top officials of India's anti-terror probe agency NIA, who held wide-ranging talks with the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan, have sought the voice samples of Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of terror group JeM and his brother besides details of a trust run by the outfit. "We have asked for voice samples of Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf as also the voice sample of Khayyam Baber (mother of terrorist Nasir killed during the Pathankot attack)," NIA Chief Sharad Kumar said after the meeting. Nasir was said to have spoken to his mother during the attack. On the other hand, Pakistani probe team will record statement of witnesses in connection with Pathankot terror probe from Thursday. The team will also record statement of Superintendent of Police rank officer of Punjab, Salvinder Singh. Pakistani JIT was handed over a list of 300 questions by the NIA during the day-long deliberations that took place at the latter's headquarters. The JIT arrived here this week for a probe into the Pathankot terror strike by Pakistan-based JeM. The Pakistani team was taken to various spots in Pathankot yesterday, including the 'crime scene' inside the air base. The team is headed by Chief of Punjab's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Muhammad Tahir Rai and comprises Lahore's Deputy Director General Intelligence Bureau Mohammad Azim Arshad, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Lt Col Tanvir Ahmed, Military Intelligence official Lt Col Irfan Mirza and Gujaranwala CTD Investigating Officer Shahid Tanveer. They are scheduled to return on April two. On the intervening night of January 1-2, terrorists had struck at the strategic Indian Air Force base in Pathankot and in the ensuing gunbattle seven security personnel had been killed. Bodies of four terrorists were also recovered after the fierce encounter that lasted over 80 hours. The bodies of the perpetrators have been kept at a morgue in Pathankot. (With PTI inputs) Brussels: After meeting leading Belgian CEO's at Egmont Palace, PM Narendra Modi spoke at a luncheon meeting, where he addressed the host over a number of issues ranging from fighting terrorism to business opportunities in India. Here are top 10 quotes from PM Modi's speech:- 1)- "We have ties of blood with Belgium. 100 years ago 1,30,000 soldiers from India fought in Belgium and 9,000 made the Supreme sacrifice." 2)- "The scourge of terrorism increasing, important for all nations to fight this menace. India has been battling it for 40 years." 3)- "Diamonds are, of course, an old link between us (India and Beligium). It provides employment to many in India. It is another sector of promise." 4)- "Today we live in an interdependent world. India offers a huge opportunity - not just a market but as a huge talent pool." 5)- "I invite everyone to explore opportunities in India, the fastest growing economy in the world." Earlier, PM Narendra Modi was introduced to leading Belgian CEO's at Egmont Palace. Also, the PM inspected the parade at the Egmont Palace. Ceremonial Honours precede the commencement of business. PM @narendramodi inspects the parade at the Egmont Palace pic.twitter.com/rOWSBIeNsV Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 An all star lineup for business. PM @narendramodi is introduced to leading Belgian CEO's at Egmont Palace pic.twitter.com/AA5H5wvQ7X Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 PM Modi arrived here on Wednesday for a hectic day-long visit during which he will attend the India-EU Summit. Belgian capital Brussels, which was attacked by suicide bombers last week, is the first leg of Modi's three-nation four-day tour which will take him to the US and Saudi Arabia. Since the terrorist attack on March 22, the Brussels airport is yet to be fully operational and Modi's Special Air India plane had to land at the Brussels Military Airport. Belgian Army has been deployed for the prime minister's visit. Due to an enhanced terror threat, additional security has been put in place for Modi's public interaction with the Indian diaspora here. Mumbai: Taking a dig at a proposed visit of a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team to Pakistan to nail down Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar's alleged involvement in the Pathankot airbase terror attack, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday termed it as a mere `chai pe charcha`, adding that these kinds of visits between India and Pakistan agencies keep on happening and end up without result. "Tea party is going on. We want Azhar Masood, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim. Should our investigation go that far or should our people just visit Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi and return? Their team came and it constituted ISIS member.we have seen that. Our people would also go there. These visits would go on. This is a mere chai pe charcha," Shiv Sena chief Sanjay Raut told ANI. After the Pakistani probe team`s visit to India, it is reported that the NIA officials will make a return visit to Pakistan to probe the role of Azhar and his brother Abul Rauf in the deadly terror attack at the Pathankot air base. The NIA is expected to seek access to Azhar, his brother Rauf and some key players like Kashif Jaan, identified by Indian investigators as the main handler of the slain terrorists. The five-member Pakistani team visited Pathankot on March 29 and was given restricted access to the airbase attacked by terrorists on January 2 killing seven security personnel. New Delhi: An 18-year-old boy and two of his friends have alleged that they were beaten up by three youths when they refused to chant a religious slogan at a park outside their school in outer Delhi's Begumpur area. Talking to news agency ANI, one of the three youths, Mohd Dilkash, said that the trio had gone to a park nearby when some men came and slapped one of his friends and asked him to say 'Jai Mata ki'. They said they would kill us if we don't chant 'Jai Mata ki`, 'Jai Bharat'. But we didn't say, added Dilkash. Another youth Mohd Ajmal told the news agency that they were not even given a chance to say anything. We then called up our teacher, he came and called up police, added Ajmal. Meanwhile, an uncle of one of the accused said the youths had an argument while playing cricket. He further rubbished allegations that the row was erupted over not saying 'Jai Mata ki'. The incident took place on March 26. However, the police said that the boy did not mention any such thing in his statement on the day of the incident and there were "inconsistencies" in his versions. According to police, three boys called up the police control room complaining about a fight. When a police team reached there, it was told that they were allegedly beaten up with sticks by three other youths, aged between 18 and 21, at a park near a madrasa in the area. The three boys were taken for medical check up, following which no injuries were found on the bodies of two while one had a fracture. An X-ray has confirmed the fracture. The injured boy later told police that he was asked to chant "Jai Mata di" and his statement was recorded again. After the police had recorded his second statement, they said they got to know from sources that the boy told others that he and his friends were asked to chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai". However, the boy has not mentioned about having been asked to chant the slogan to the police yet, the official said. A case has been registered under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint) and an investigation is on. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: Taking a serious view of grabbing of Wakf land at various places, the government on Wednesday sent out a strong warning to Wakf boards, saying they should perform or they would be dissolved. Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla also suggested "blackening" the face of a Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA for allegedly encroaching Waqf properties in Bhopal. Addressing inaugural session of 'National Conference of Chairpersons and CEOs of State Waqf Boards' here, she asked representatives of Madhya Pradesh Waqf board to organise protest against legislator Arif Aqueel for allegedly grabbing Waqf properties worth Rs 500 crore. The Minister noted "some board members" have encroached upon properties of boards in different states and made a strong pitch for action against them. She expressed anguish over representatives of Waqf boards from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and poll-bound Assam not turning up for the conference and accused them of lacking "interest and seriousness" towards issues concerning the communities. "If any Waqf board is not performing then I will recommend its dissolution. I will ask Chief Ministers of state governments to form new Waqf boards as the existing ones are not performing," she said. Responding to complaints made by a representative of Meghalaya, the minister said, "If you (state boards representatives) have problems with state governments, let me know. There is nothing to be afraid of." During the meeting, Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board chairman Shaukat Mohammed Khan accused Aqueel, also a member of the state board, of encroaching upon 34 acre Waqf property. Khan claimed the Bhopal property costs over Rs 500 crore and asked the Centre to press state government for action against the MLA. Responding to the same, Heptulla asked Khan to give his complaint in writing and assured she will take up the matter with state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "See, let me tell you. There are several ways (of dealing against those encroaching/grabbing on properties). One is legal option and the other is Gandhian way. "How many of you have gone there and staged dharna? How many of you staged agitation? This belongs to our communities. These (properties) are our heritage. Why don't you organise people, (against) this man's encroachment? His face should be blackened before public for he has grabbed property worth Rs 500 crore," she said. The Minister asked representative of different boards to "agitate" against wrongdoings and "speak up" on issues troubling them so that solution can be worked out. New Delhi: Days ahead of the implementation of restrictions on alcohol sale in the state, on Wednesday, MLAs at Bihar Assembly took oath for not consuming alcohol. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was also present in the Assembly. Bihar government has announced a complete ban on the country-made liquor in the state from next month. CM Nitish Kumar has said that teachers, Vikas Mitra, Tola Sewak, Anganwadi workers and others would be roped in for creation of a positive atmosphere for implementation of ban on country-made liquor in the state. Kumar said that some women had demanded a total prohibition on alcohol in the state during an official function last year in Patna to which "I promised them that I would enforce ban on liquor if I return to power." Kumar said that he had announced on November 26 on the occasion of 'Prohibition Day' that his government would implement a complete ban on country made liquor from April 1, 2016. The government will bring a bill in the ongoing budget session of state legislature that would have a provision of death penalty for those caught manufacturing illicit liquor, he said adding that country made liquor must be destroyed by March 31. Kumar asserted that he would not allow 'home delivery' of liquor in the state. Washington:The US would like to see "deeper bilateral cooperation" with India on nuclear issues, the White House has said, ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit here this week which would be attended by world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We are certainly looking forward to Prime Minister Modi's visit (to attend the summit)," Laura Holgate, Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism and Threat Reduction, said. "We are looking at this opportunity as a chance to highlight steps that India has taken in its own nuclear security to go beyond, perhaps, some of the activities that it has done before. "We really would like to see even deeper bilateral cooperation with India proceed going forward out of the summit. So, I hope that will be something that we can work on more closely going forward," Holgate told journalists at the Washington Foreign Press Centre. In New Delhi before Modi's departure, a senior diplomat said India expects that the summit would contribute further to raising high level awareness of the threat of nuclear terrorism and the need to strengthen international cooperation against terrorists and nuclear traffickers. "We also expect that the summit would help bolster legal, institutional and enforcement measures to strengthen the security of nuclear material, radioactive sources, associated facilities and technologies," said Amandeep Singh Gill, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs). "We also expect the summit to uphold confidence in the safe, secure and safeguarded extension on nuclear power which would be a critical requirement of reaching national and international goals on non-fossil fuel energy," he said. India expects that those who have not done so would sign up to and implement the legally binding instruments related to nuclear security. "The International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its 2005 amendment, and obligatory reporting under the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 which was adopted in 2004 and which has prohibitions and obligations related to non-state actors and export controls," Gill added. The Nuclear Security Summit is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1. Modi, who would lead the Indian delegation, is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow. Hillary Clinton brought the presidential race to New York on Wednesday, visiting the historically black neighborhood of Harlem to outline a vision of national diversity and to attack Donald Trump. Clinton looked delighted to back in her adopted home state, appealing for votes from the people who "took a chance on me" by electing her to the US Senate in 2000. The former first lady, secretary of state and two-time senator holds a commanding double-digit lead over Bernie Sanders, her challenger for the Democratic nomination in the state's primary on April 19. The 2016 New York primary is unusual in that it includes three New Yorkers: Clinton facing off against the Brooklyn-born Sanders, now senator of Vermont. On the Republican side, the Queens-born, Manhattan tycoon Trump will try to extend his lead over Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich. New York has long embraced Clinton. Her husband and former president Bill Clinton set up his foundation in Harlem. The Clintons have a home in the suburbs. Their daughter and granddaughter live in Manhattan. Her first stop Wednesday was a local bakery where she was welcomed by veteran New York congressman Charlie Rangel, who was born and raised in Harlem. "It is great to be home," she said. "It's a joy to be campaigning in New York." She delivered her stump speech, tailor-made for New York, at the Apollo Theater, an iconic venue in the emergence of jazz, R&B and gospel where greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Luther Vandross have performed. "New Yorkers took a chance for me and I will never forget that. You have always had my back. I have always tried to have yours," she told the packed theater. She recalled the horrors of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the resilience of the city, and appealed to the characteristics on which New Yorkers pride themselves: diversity, tolerance and getting things done. She took a swipe at Trump for dividing the country, insulting women, and threatening to deport illegal immigrants and ban Muslims. "It's cynical, it's wrong, and it goes against everything New York and America stand for," she said to cheers. Turning her attention to Sanders and his leftist agenda, she said no one knows more than her the need to address income inequality but hammered home her enormous appeal among African Americans. "But I will tell you this. It's also important to take on racial inequality and discrimination in all of its forms," she said to huge applause. Before Clinton's arrival, Rangel joked in the cake shop that the largely Democratic city had already done more than enough to help her campaign. "I truly believe that New York City has made one of the greatest contributions to the Democratic Party ever. And his name is Donald Trump," he said to laughs. Search Keywords: Short link: Thrissur: With Kerala Assembly polls inching closer, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Wednesday met Thrissur Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath in a bid woo the Catholic Church here ahead of the release of its candidate list. Balakrishnan met the Archbishop at the Bishop's house and held discussions. "We normally meet prominent persons and exchange views and when an opportunity arose, this meeting with the Archbishop was held," Balakrishnan told reporters after the meeting. "We had a friendly discussion," he said, adding, LDF maintained cordial relations with everyone. The Church's stand and needs were made clear by the church leaders and they handed over a letter to Balakrishnan. A neck and neck race is expected in the Kerala Assembly Elections slated for May 16 as the outcome is crucial for the ruling Congress-led UDF, CPI(M)-led LDF and also BJP. Asked about former Government Chief Whip P C George, who was denied a ticket by the LDF, he said,"CPI(M) was not the enemy of PC George. But his biggest enemy was his tongue," he said. The meeting with the Archbishop is significant as the party had differences with the Church on certain matters earlier. The Catholic Church had few years ago written a pastoral letter recommending a "liberation struggle" on the lines of the one in 1950's to liberate the education sector in Kerala from the state control to enable private management charge fees and capitation fees without government's intervention. This was not taken kindly by the then party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan who had demanded withdrawal of the letter. Vijayan had also in 2007 called Thamarassery Bishop a "wretched creature". Thiruvananthapuram: In view of Kerala Assembly elections, BJP President Amit Shah is all set to launch the election campaign of NDA in the state on April 9. Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, while announcing Shah's visit to the state, told PTI, "People of the state are fed up with the successive governments of UDF and LDF and want a change." Nadda, who is also the in-charge of party affairs in the state said while launching the NDA Kerala unit in the state, "The BJP-led NDA is the political alternative for the people of Kerala." Nadda also slammed both UDF and LDF governments in the state and asserted, "While UDF leaders from Chief Minister to ministers and MLAs have been involved in some kind of scams and scandals, CPI-M has lost its strength on ideology and so they have turned to violence. Several BJP cadres have lost their lives in the attacks by CPI(M) workers and "it is still continuing". Attacking the ruling UDF, Nadda said, "the bad name brought to the state due to scandals and scams with involvement of Chief Minister and other ministers have to be removed." Seeking people's mandate in favour of NDA, he said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country was going forward in right direction. "Kerala should also get the benefit of the growth," he said. BJP, which has failed to break the bipolar politics of UDF and LDF and taste victory in Assembly and parliament polls, this time has found a powerful partner after its tie-up with newly formed Bharat Dharma Jana Sena by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, an outfit of backward Ezhava community. Other minor partners in the NDA in the state include a faction of Kerala Congress led by former Union Minister P C Thomas, JSS led by former MLA Rajan Babu, Kerala Vikas Party, and Lok Jansakti Party. Mumbai: In a major development, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday backed the entry of women inside the core shrine area of Shani Shingnapur temple located in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. Responding to a bunch of petitions challenging the ban on women's entry inside the ancient temple, the court observed that ''women cannot be barred from entering the Shani Shinganapur temple.'' ''Even women can go where men can,'' the high court said. There is no law preventing entry of women, if men are allowed, even women should, the high court maintained. The Bombay HC, while agreeing to hear the matter on April 1, also asked the Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to make a statement before it on the same day. The ruling came several weeks after a bunch of Public Interest Litigations (PIL) were filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the century-old tradition of prohibiting entry of women inside the core shrine area of Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. One such PIL was filed by two women activists - Vidya Bal and Nilima Varta sought directions to the state government and temple authorities to ensure that the prohibition is set aside and women are given entry not just inside the temple but also in the sanctum sanctorum. The petition claimed that the prohibition is arbitrary, illegal and violative of the fundamental rights of a citizen. Besides, such a prohibition also encourages gender disparity, the petition said. Women, as per an over century-old tradition, were not allowed to enter the Shani temple till 2011. However, after rationalists carried out mass awareness campaigns, women were allowed to enter the temple but are prohibited from the core shrine area. However, women are still not permitted to climb up the 'chauthara' (platform) where the rock idol of Lord Shani is installed. On January 26, around 400 women activists, who tried to head for Shani Shinganapur temple in Ahmednagar district defying prohibitory orders to worship the deity, were detained at Supa village about 70 kms from the temple and later released. This came after a woman, apparently in ignorance, stepped onto to the unlocked platform last year and a purification process was performed by villagers, angering women activists and several sections of the society. New Delhi: In a bid to prevent a Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh-like political crisis in Manipur, Congress president Sonia Gandhi appointed TN Haokip as President of the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), replacing Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei. After meeting the representatives of the 25 dissident Congress legislators from Manipur earlier this month, Gandhi had last week met Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi and Gaikhangam to discuss the looming political crisis in the state. The dissident group had reportedly proposed T.N. Haokip, as their preferred choice for the MPCC president. In the 2012 assembly polls, the Congress had bagged 42 seats in the 60 seat Manipur Assembly. Their strength went up to 47 after five MLAs from Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP) joined Congress on April 3, 2014.The Congress dissidents have served an ultimatum to Ibobi Singh, asking him to either induct them in the ministry or face consequences. The dissidents have been demanding a major reshuffle for months so that they could be inducted into the cabinet. Manipur is expected to go to polls in February 2017. Dhaka: Embattled Bangladeshi ex-prime minister and main opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Wednesday faced another setback when a court here issued an arrest warrant against her over a deadly arson attack on a passenger bus during an anti-government protest campaign last year. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order against the 70-year-old chairperson of the main opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and 27 others from her party after accepting police's chargesheet in the case. Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah, after accepting the charges against 38 people including the 28, passed the order in connection with the arson attack in Jatrabari area here in January last year when Zia's party spearheaded a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government. "The court issued the arrest warrant against begum Zia in connection with an arson attack on a passenger bus in January last year," an official of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's court told reporters. He said Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order and asked police to execute the warrant and submit the compliance report by April 27. Lawyers and legal experts, however, said Zia was likely to get a chance to secure bail appearing in the court ahead of the deadline. Last year, Zia was charged by police with masterminding the arson attack on a bus that left 29 people injured, nine of them critically, days after Hasina said the former premier could be put on trial for recent violence. Today's arrest order is yet another blow to the beleaguered two-times former premier, who has described previous cases, including corruption-related, against her as politically motivated and aimed at keeping her out of politics. The development came hours after another court in the capital sent BNP's just-elected secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, accused of several identical charges of sabotage, to jail but soon after, ordered his release as his lawyers said he fell sick after his imprisonment. Alamgir's imprisonment order came hours after BNP announced him as the secretary general of party, six years after he served as the acting secretary general of the party. Soon after the announcement, Alamgir appeared before the court with a prayer for bail on expiry of his existing bail, granted earlier High Court. "The magistrate denied his prayer and ordered him to be sent to jail... Hours later the same court granted him bail as his lawyers filed a fresh petition saying their client became sick in the prison," an official of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court told PTI. Washington: Ahead of the crucial Nuclear Security Summit here this week, the Obama administration has expressed concern over Pakistan's continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons and said this increases nuclear risks. "Our concerns regarding the continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan relate to a reality of the situation. When battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed forward, they can represent enhanced nuclear security threat," Rose Gottemoeller, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security said. "It is more difficult to sustain positive control over systems that are deployed forward. We found this lesson ourselves out in Europe during the years of the Cold War. And so I do think that that is a reality of the situation," she told foreign journalists at a news conference yesterday. "It is not related particularly to any one country. Wherever battlefield nuclear weapons exist, they represent particular nuclear security problems, Gottemoeller said. Top Obama administration officials had recently expressed similar concerns before US lawmakers during a Congressional hearing. "We have been very concerned about Pakistan's deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons," she had told Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a Congressional hearing earlier this month. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has canceled his trip to Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Lahore in which 74 people have been killed. The Nuclear Security Summit is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1. Battlefield nuclear weapons refer to such nuclear weapons which are designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations. Washington: The US has been monitoring the movements and operations of the Taliban inside Pakistan, the Obama administration has said, days after a Taliban faction carried out the Easter Sunday bombing in Lahore that claimed 74 lives. "We have obviously been monitoring as best we can the Taliban's movements and operations inside Pakistan and the danger, the still, the very real danger that they continue to pose to the people of Pakistan," State Department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters at his daily news conference. "I do not think anybody is under any illusion that the Punjab area has been one worth watching. To the degree we have spoken to Pakistani leaders about operations in North Waziristan and along that spine, it is because that has been for a very long time considered a safe haven by members of the Taliban and other extremist groups," he said, when asked about the presence of large number of Taliban militants in Punjab. "It is a very fluid situation and it is something we are continually watching and continually discussing with Pakistani leaders," Kirby added. On Sunday, a suicide bomber of Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, blew himself at a park in Lahore, killing 74 people so far including 29 children and 10 women. Some 20 of the deceased were Christians. More than 300 people were injured in the blast. Dehradun: The ruling Congress on Wednesday challenged the Uttarakhand High Court ruling allowing nine of its rebel MLAs to take part in a floor test in the state assembly on March 31, said media reports. The ruling Congress party believes that the high court ruling has created more confusion and added to the chaotic political situation in the state. Irreparable damage will be done if rebels vote in Uttarakhand floor test, said Congress. Separately counting and allowing 9 MLAs to vote is an error, we may take legal recourse, Abhishek Singhvi, counsel for Harish Rawat told reporters. The Congress, in its petition, has challenged the permission given to the disqualified party MLAs to take part in the trust vote, though the court has ruled their votes will be kept separate and will be subject to final outcome of the petition challenging their disqualification. Meanwhile, the central government has decided to challenge today the Nainital High Court order allowing Congress government in the state to prove its majority in the assembly on Thursday despite President's Rule. Attorney General of India Mukul Rohtagi will argue for Centre in Nainital High Court before the double bench. As per ANI, Congress and Centre's petitions are likely to come up for hearing before a double bench at 12 pm today. The Uttarakhand High Court had on Tuesday directed the Chief Minister to take floor test on March 31. The HC order came as a jolt to the Centre as it gave a new turn to the political developments two days after President's Rule was imposed in the state. Ousted Chief Minister Harish Rawat welcomed the order, saying it was a "tremendous setback" for the Centre which was trying to bring "authoritarianism". But this order would deter them from trying to destabilise non-BJP governments in states, he said. There was no clarity on whether by ordering the floor test the President's Rule imposed on Sunday is stayed and whether the dismissed Harish Rawat government has been restored, PTI reported. Senior Supreme Court lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had appeared for Rawat who had challenged the imposition of President's Rule and demanded its immediate quashing. Kolkata: As West Bengal prepares to vote in a few days, sex-workers in the state despair over the unfulfilled promises made to them by political parties in the preceding elections and say they want "concrete" measures this time. Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, representing 1,50,000 sex workers in West Bengal, said they felt cheated because no political party had kept its promise to look into their demands, let alone fulfilling them. "Whenever elections come, political parties make tall promises, but none of them is kept. We have been regularly placing a charter of demands for the last several years, but nothing has come of it," president of All-India Network for Sex Workers and Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee Bharati Dey told PTI. Frustrated, the roughly five million sex-workers in the country under the All India Network for Sex Workers (AINSW) want to exercise the NOTA (None Of The Above) option in ballot papers to express their disapproval, Dey said. The AINSW is a national network of sex-workers across the country spread across 16 states. "We will send letters to political parties listing our demands and raising issues that concern sex workers and their families," she said. The demands that the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) has flagged over the years are: pension rights for retired sex workers, removal of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), legalisation of the profession, covering sex-workers under labour laws and setting up of self-regulatory board for sex-workers to stop minors from being forced into the profession. "None of these demands has been met by the respective state and central governments. But these are the basic rights which a sex worker needs to be given to be able to lead a proper life," said Mahasweta Mukherjee of the DMSC. Dhaka: A Bangladesh court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Khaleda Zia over a fire-bomb attack on a bus that killed two people and injured dozens last year, a prosecutor said. The Dhaka court accused Zia and 27 other leaders and officials of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of instigating the petrol bomb attack as part of a deadly anti-government campaign of arson. "She is the main accused in the case," prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar told AFP. "The court issued the warrant of arrest against her and 27 other senior officials and activists." It is not the first time that Zia -- the bitter political rival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina -- has faced arrest, and BNP spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi dismissed the charge as "laughable". "This is politically motivated and is part of deep conspiracy against her," he said. The attack took place during a nationwide blockade last year of roads, rail and waterways which the 70-year-old Zia called to try to force Hasina to resign and pave the way for new elections. The blockade unleashed a wave of deadly violence, leaving more than 120 people dead as opposition activists fire-bombed hundreds of buses and trucks and police responded by firing live rounds. Around 15,000 opposition supporters and dozens of BNP senior officials have been arrested as part of a crackdown by Hasina in the wake of the unrest. A judge in the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court issued the warrant against Zia after accepting a police charge-sheet over the attack in Dhaka on January 10, 2015. However, it was not immediately clear whether police would act on the order. Another arrest warrant issued against Zia last year was never executed. Either way, the order is another blow to the two-times former premier, who has described previous cases against her as politically motivated and aimed at keeping her out of politics. Police said up to 200 BNP activists and supporters staged a protest in front of the party headquarters in Dhaka as news of the court`s move emerged. "They shouted slogans and staged an impromptu demonstration. But they moved back to the party office before police reached the spot," assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Saifur Rahman told AFP. The BNP`s second-in-command, Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, was arrested Wednesday on separate charges related to the 2015 unrest. He was held in jail before being granted bail on health grounds. The BNP boycotted the 2014 general election, leaving the field clear for its rivals. The party was further weakened by the crackdown last year, when police pressed charges against thousands of their leaders and grassroots activists over the fire-bombing campaign. The party has recently been trying to stage a comeback, holding a leadership election this month after more than six years. It wants to introduce fresh faces into the leadership. sa/cc/sm State-run landline monopoly Telecom Egypt (TE) expects EGP 1.5 billion in deferred profits from Vodafone Egypt, according to the general assembly statement sent to the Egyptian bourse on Wednesday. TE owns 45 percent of Vodafone Egypt. Vodafone Egypt will pay the profits in two equal installments in April and June, according to the TE statement. The general assembly of Telecom Egypt agreed in its meeting on Wednesday to allow the board of directors to move forward with settling its disputes with Vodafone Egypt. "The decision of the distribution of profits is yet to be made when the general assembly convenes on 13 April," Khaled Hegazy, External Affairs and Legal Director for Vodafone Egypt, told Ahram Online. Telecom Egypt will be entitled to 45 percent of whatever profits the shareholders decide to distribute, Hegazy added. TE, which is 80 percent owned by the Egyptian government, saw a 107 percent surge in its net profits for 2015 to EGP 2.9 billion, up from EGP 1.4 billion achieved in 2014. A government decision to reshuffle all of its representatives on the board was also ratified by the Telecom Egypt general assembly to include Maged Osman and Tamer Gad Allah. Search Keywords: Short link: Boko Haram seized hundreds of children from a remote town in northeast Nigeria in late 2014 but initial calls to report the kidnapping were ignored with locals fearful of the government`s response, residents told AFP on Wednesday. A local government administrator, a local chief, another elder and a resident all said some 300 children were among the 500 girls, boys and women taken from Damasak on Monday November 24, 2014. The numbers involved surpass even the 276 schoolgirls who were taken from Chibok in April the same year, which drew worldwide condemnation and calls for action. But the government of former president Goodluck Jonathan in March last year denied reports of the Damasak kidnapping while a local senator and a senior intelligence source also doubted the claim. The administrator, whose seven-year-old child was among those abducted, said: "We kept quiet on the kidnap out of fear of drawing the wrath of the government, which was already grappling with the embarrassment of the kidnap of the Chibok schoolgirls. "Every parent was afraid to speak out," he said on condition of anonymity. Locals who managed to flee alerted their political representatives in the Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives but "they kept mute and ignored us", he added. "The government didn`t want the news out," he said, explaining the decision to speak out publicly came after Human Rights Watch highlighted the case on Tuesday."They went to the private school and Islamic seminaries and carted away children as young as five," added the local chief, who also asked not to be identified. "They also went into town and forcibly seized children from their mothers, children too old to be breastfed. My 16 nephews were among the children kidnapped. They were aged between five and 16." Hundreds fled across the river that separates Damasak from Diffa in neighbouring Niger but many drowned, he said, adding that he returned to bury "over 200 dead bodies in mass graves". The Damasak elder said the insurgents killed more than 200 in the initial attack, which happened on market day. HRW`s report interviewed multiple witnesses to the abduction, who said the hostages were initially kept at a primary school, which was then turned into a military base. The schoolchildren were aged seven to 17 but one witness told HRW she had not seen her two-year-old daughter and four-year-old son since they were seized on the day of the attack. Men were detained separately and forced to dispose of bodies on the streets in the river and makeshift graves, the witnesses said, with one claiming to have seen hundreds of bodies.Troops from Chad and Niger liberated Damasak on March 9 last year and discovered about 100 bodies in a mass grave under a bridge on the edge of the town. Some had been decapitated and others shot. Both the HRW testimony and that gathered by AFP underlines the brutality of the conflict, that has claimed an estimated 20,000 lives and made more than 2.6 million people homeless since 2009. Boko Haram has long used kidnapping as a weapon of war, forcibly conscripting young boys and men into their ranks and using women and young girls as sex slaves and suicide bombers. But it will also raise fresh questions about the previous government`s handling of the insurgency, after its response to the Chibok abduction was condemned as slow and lacklustre. Nearly two years on, 219 schoolgirls are still being held. HRW`s senior Nigeria researcher Mausi Segun, however, said while Boko Haram`s abductions could not be justified, the current administration, in power since May last year, also had to act. "Three hundred children have been missing for a year and yet there has been not a word from the Nigerian government," she said in a statement. "The authorities need to wake up and find out where the Damasak children and other captives are and take urgent steps to free them." Brasilia: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said today she was the victim of a coup as her allies horse-traded frantically for enough votes to ride out an impeachment drive. "Impeachment is a putschist process that is out of line with the country's trajectory since returning to democracy," Rousseff said in a speech in Brasilia, referring to the end of Brazil's two decades military dictatorship in 1985. A months-long crisis reducing Latin America's biggest country to political paralysis ahead of the Rio Olympics deepened yesterday when Rousseff's Workers' Party lost its main coalition partner, the centrist PMDB. That left Rousseff isolated as she tries to survive impeachment in Congress against a background of punishing recession and a corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras that has snared a cross-section of the country's elite. A poll today from Ibope showed approval for Rousseff's government remains at around record lows of 10 per cent, while her personal approval rating was 14 per cent. Rousseff faces impeachment over allegedly illegal budgetary manipulations to cover the extent of Brazil's recession during her re-election campaign in 2014. According to Rousseff, she has broken no laws that meet the standards for impeachment, meaning that the campaign against her "is a coup." The potentially lengthy process is already underway in a preliminary commission and the lower house of Congress could vote as early as mid-April on whether to send the case to the Senate for full trial. To survive, Rousseff needs 172 of the 513 votes in the lower house, or one-third of the deputies. Until only recently that seemed doable, despite her massive unpopularity and the intense hostility of opponents in the increasingly divided country. With the PMDB's exit, the math gets far dicier, analysts say. "The likelihood of impeachment has greatly increased," said political analyst Michael Freitas Mohallem of the Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. Loyalists put a brave face on Tuesday's debacle, with Chief of Staff Jaques Wagner calling it an opportunity to "renew" the government. NNNN Beijing: The Chinese government warned Taiwan on Wednesday that the passage of a proposed new law governing relations between the two could seriously damage the basis for talks, and that Beijing opposed any obstacles to developing ties. China has looked on with suspicion at Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won presidential and parliamentary elections in January on the back of a wave of anti-China sentiment. In 2014, hundreds of students occupied Taiwan`s parliament for weeks in protests nicknamed the Sunflower Movement, demanding more transparency and fearful of China`s growing economic and political influence on the democratic island. The protests over the 2013 Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, which aimed to open up investment from both sides in industries such as banking, healthcare, and tourism, were the largest display of anti-China sentiment in Taiwan in years. The DPP is proposing Taiwan`s parliament first passes a so-called cross-Taiwan Strait supervision law before it will consider agreeing to the trade pact. China is worried that the law would stymie future agreements with Taiwan. Asked about the law, a spokesman for China`s Taiwan Affairs Office said the basis for talks between the two sides should not be damaged. "Anything that damages the basis for consultations and negotiations between the two sides of the strait, interferes in or impedes relevant progress or puts up man-made blocks on the development of ties, we will resolutely oppose," spokesman An Fengshan said at a regular briefing. He did not elaborate. The trade deal has stalled in Taiwan`s parliament, although the manner in which the self-ruled island moves forward in the current February-to-May session will be seen as a sign of how Tsai will steer Taiwan-China ties. China`s trade minister last month urged Taiwan to pass the trade pact. China considers Taiwan a wayward province, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after the Chinese civil war. Washington: China's activities in the disputed South China Sea are "destabilising" and may pose a threat to commercial trade routes in the region, a top US military general has said, asserting that such developments could erode America's "competitive advantage" in Asia. "In the South China Sea, Chinese activity is destabilising and could pose a threat to commercial trade routes," General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said before the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a top American think-tank. "While our exercise of freedom of navigation provides some assurance to our allies and partners, it hasn't stopped the Chinese from developing military capabilities in the South China Sea, to include on territories where there is a contested claim of sovereignty," Dunford said yesterday. Noting that the US policy emphasises on opportunities to cooperate with regard to China, Dunford said the Pentagon was closely tracking China's rapid military modernisation, its expanded presence in Asia and increased military presence outside of Asia. "While Chinese military investments, capability development and intentions are opaque, it's clear they're investing in a manner that balances requirements for large conventional forces, a growing navy, an increasingly sophisticated air force and advancements in nuclear, space and cyberspace," Dunford said. "These developments, over time could erode our competitive advantage in Asia and they certainly will challenge our ability to assure access in a fight," he said. Dunford said the US is now confronted with simultaneous challenges from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and violent extremism. "The threat from the Islamic violent extremism is certainly the most pressing challenge we face right now," he said,adding that the Russian military presents the greatest array of threats to US interest. "Despite declining population, shrinking economy, Russia has made a significant investment in military capabilities," he said. Dunford said the dreaded ISIS is clearly a transregional threat and the US was looking for an opportunity to address the wider challenge. "While the fight against ISIL dominates the headlines, we also continue to face an extremist challenge in the homeland and our interest in South Asia," he said. "From my perspective, the constant pressure we put on al Qaeda in that region over the past 14 years has prevented another 9/11, but the threat has not been eliminated - and of course, I'm talking about largely the Afghanistan-Pakistan region," Dunford said. Pitching for an effective counterterrorism partner and platform in Afghanistan," Dunford said while the focus had been on al Qaeda, the recent rise of the IS in the Khorasan has further complicated the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Larnaca: An Egyptian man accused of hijacking a passenger plane and diverting it to Cyprus has told police he acted because he wanted to see his estranged wife and children, saying "what should one do?" The suspect, whom Cypriot and Egyptian authorities have identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa, 59, surrendered on Tuesday after commandeering a domestic Alexandria-Cairo flight with 72 passengers and crew on board. A Larnaca court on Wednesday ordered him to be held in custody for eight days on suspicion of hijacking, abduction, threatening violence, terrorism-related offences and two counts related to possession of explosives. The latter counts were connected to his claim of being strapped with explosives, even though the belt he wore is believed to be fake, a police source told Reuters. As he left the court compound in a police jeep, Mustafa stuck his hand out of an open window flashing the `v` sign for victory. Mustafa took charge of the early morning flight by flashing what appears to be a belt stuffed with plastic wires and a remote control, directing it to the holiday island where he asked for the release of female prisoners in Egypt, and to come in contact with his Cypriot ex-wife. "When someone hasn`t seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children, and the Egyptian government doesn`t allow it, what should one do?," he told Cypriot police in a statement. Details of his claimed predicament were not available. All hostages were released unharmed after a six-hour standoff. The suspect allegedly commandeered the aircraft 15 minutes after takeoff from Alexandria. He approached a flight attendant and showed off the belt, attached to a remote control he held in his hand, investigating officer Andreas Lambrianou told the court. "The suspect asked all passengers and crew to hand in their passports, then gave two messages to a member of the crew, asking that the pilot be informed that he was a hijacker and wanted to land at an airport in Turkey, Greece or Cyprus, but preferably Cyprus," Lambrianou said. "In a note, he stressed that if the airplane landed on Egyptian territory he would immediately blow the plane up." In Cyprus, Mustafa dropped an envelope on the runway addressed to a Cypriot woman, later ascertained to be his ex-wife. In the letter, the suspect demanded the release of 63 female prisoners held in Egypt. Cairo: Egypt`s public prosecution officially asked Cypriot authorities on Wednesday to extradite a national who hijacked and forced an Egyptian plane to land at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus on Tuesday, media reports said. The prosecution sent an official letter to the authorities in Cyprus, demanding the handing over of the highjacker for interrogation, state-run MENA news agency reported, according to Xinhua. EgyptAir`s Airbus 320 was in a domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo when it was hijacked by Seif-Eddin Mostafa, a 59-year-old Egyptian, who wore a fake explosive belt and forced the crew to land in Larnaca Airport. Mostafa, who is held now by Cypriot police, surrendered six hours after he seized the plane. All the 81 passengers, including 21 foreigners, were released unharmed and returned to Egypt on Tuesday. Egyptian officials said the incident was not terror-related and that the hijacker was "a fraudulent and a forger" who faced relevant charges in lawsuits. Egypt`s interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the man had a Cypriot ex-wife, adding he had been sentenced to one year in jail but escaped during the 2011 political turmoil, then went back to prison in January 2014 and was released last year. Islamabad: Islamist protesters gathered in the Pakistani capital ended their days-long sit-in on Wednesday after claiming the government had agreed to a number of their demands including the hanging of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy. Pakistan`s Interior Minister Chauhdry Nisar Ali Khan denied however that a deal had been struck, saying the demonstrators left "on their own accord". The protesters -- who numbered some 25,000 at their peak -- had gathered Sunday in support of Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged in February five years after he assassinated a liberal Punjab governor over his calls to reform the country`s blasphemy laws. The demonstrators clashed with security forces in Islamabad before setting up camp outside key government buildings along the capital`s main Constitution Avenue. Ashraf Asif Jalali, one of the protest`s main leaders, told reporters at the protest site Wednesday evening: "As a result of the continuous four-day sit-in, the government has accepted our demands." "Nobody involved in blasphemy against the Holy Prophet will be given concessions, whether they be Asia Bibi or anybody else," he added, referring to a Christian woman on death row since 2010 over a dispute with Muslim women involving a bowl of water. He added that the government had also agreed to not make any changes to Pakistan`s controversial blasphemy law, which critics say is frequently used to oppress the poor and minorities. However the interior minister denied any such deal was made. "There has been nor written or any other form of agreement," Khan said. "We were about to give orders to law enforcement agencies for clearing the area but then two religious personalities intervened." The minister added that the protesters then decided to leave on their "own accord". The stand-off came as Pakistan mourned more than 70 people killed in a Taliban suicide bombing targeting Christians celebrating Easter Sunday in Lahore, underscoring deep religious divisions fuelling the Muslim country`s long battle with extremism. A police source said more than 7,000 security forces were poised to clear the sit-in, including the paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps with reinforcements from the Punjab police, while army troops guarded key government buildings. Columnist Gul Bukhari said that after initially underestimating the protesters and failing to read their intentions to hold a sit-in following funeral prayers Sunday, the government had acted wisely by allowing them to tire out and displaying an overwhelming show of force. "The show of force was put out and in the end all they got was safe passage out," she said, adding there was nothing in the agreement claimed by the protest leaders that went beyond the current status quo and it was a "face-saving measure". "Of course there are no amendments planned on the blasphemy law. But there was no question of that happening. The government doesn`t even have the prerogative to change the law, that is with parliament." Bukhari added that the case of Asia Bibi together with other blasphemy convicts was also a judicial matter and would not be affected.Hailed as a hero by right-wing religious groups when he murdered Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, the demonstrators have demanded that Qadri be named a "martyr" and called for the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five convicted of blasphemy. Pakistan has 17 people on death row for blasphemy including Bibi, but has not executed anyone yet. Qadri`s hanging, hailed as a "key moment" by analysts in Pakistan`s war on religious extremism, has become a flashpoint for the deep divisions in the conservative Muslim country. His funeral earlier this month drew tens of thousands in an extremist show of force that alarmed moderate Muslims, while the call to hang Bibi along with the Easter attack in Lahore has underscored a growing sense of insecurity for Pakistan`s minorities. On Wednesday the death toll from the Lahore bombing climbed again to 74. Dozens more remain in hospital, seven of them critical, medical staff told AFP. "It`s a sense of great grief, sorrow and fear," Shamoon Gill, spokesman for the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, told AFP. Washington: Ahead of the crucial Nuclear Security Summit, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has claimed he alone can solve the problem of Islamist terrorism with a nuclear armed Pakistan posing a "vital" issue. "Pakistan is a very, very vital problem and really vital country for us because they have a thing called nuclear weapons," he said participating in a town hall style meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday. "They have to get a hold of their situation." "When I see that and when I see it put in a park because it was mostly Christians, although many others were killed other than Christians, I think it`s just absolutely a horrible story," Trump said, referring to the Lahore terrorist attack. "But I`m talking about radical Islamic terrorism," Trump said on the event hosted by CNN. "I will solve it far better than anybody else running" for presidency. Asked about his comment that he might support Japan and South Korea developing nuclear weapons of their own given his stated concern for nuclear proliferation, Trump said because "North Korea has nuclear weapons" though it "doesn`t have a carrier yet". Asked if letting other countries get nuclear weapons, wasn`t proliferation, he said "Maybe it`s going to have to be time to change, because so many people, you have Pakistan has it, you have China has it. You have so many other countries are now having it." "At some point we have to say, you know what, we`re better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea, we`re better off, frankly, if South Korea is going to start to protect itself, we have," he said. "It`s going to happen, anyway," Trump said. "It`s going to happen anyway. It`s only a question of time. They`re going to start having them or we have to get rid of them entirely." "But you have so many countries already, China, Pakistan, you have so many countries, Russia, you have so many countries right now that have them. "Now, wouldn`t you rather in a certain sense have Japan have nuclear weapons when North Korea has nuclear weapons? And they do have them. They absolutely have them. They can`t -- they have no carrier system yet but they will very soon," Trump said. Trump`s comments about Pakistan`s nuclear weapons came after a senior administration official expressed renewed concern about the nuclear weapons in a preview of the summit here on March 31 and April 1. "Our concerns regarding the continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan relate to a reality of the situation," said Rose Gottemoeller, under secretary of state for arms control and international security. "When battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed forward, they can represent an enhanced nuclear security threat," she said. "It`s more difficult to sustain positive control over systems that are deployed forward. We found this lesson ourselves out in Europe during the years of the Cold War," she said. "And so I do think that that is a reality of the situation. It`s not related particularly to any one country," Gottemoeller said. "Wherever battlefield nuclear weapons exist, they represent particular nuclear security problems." On Friday, Pakistan`s top nuclear security adviser Khalid Ahmed Kidwai rejected calls from the US to curb Pakistan`s reliance on tactical nuclear weapons. "We are not apologetic about the development of the TNWs (tactical nuclear weapons) and they are here to stay," he said at a seminar in Islamabad following Gottemoeller`s earlier testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Washington: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday telephoned Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to express condolences over the "callous and appalling" terrorist attack in Lahore. "Obama today spoke by phone today with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan to express condolences over the recent terrorist attack in Lahore," the White House said in readout of the phone call. "This callous and appalling attack against innocent civilians, many of them women and children, underscores the critical danger that terrorism poses inside Pakistan, throughout the region, and around the globe," the White House said. During the phone call, Obama expressed his understanding of Sharif's decision to cancel his visit to the US and remain in Pakistan following this terrorist attack. "The President reiterated the US commitment to partner with Pakistan to counter terrorism," the White House said. Sharif, who was scheduled to attend the Nuclear Security Summit here this week cancelled his US trip following the terrorist attack that killed more than 70 people. Manila: The Philippines may invest in its first-ever submarine fleet to help protect its territory in the disputed South China Sea, President Benigno Aquino said on Wednesday. The impoverished nation, which has never before operated submarines and until now relied largely on US surplus ships, has been ramping up defence spending in response to China`s military expansion in the region. China claims almost all of the South China Sea despite conflicting claims from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. Aquino said the Philippines could lose control of its entire west coast should China succeed in enforcing its claims. "We`ve had to accelerate the modernisation of our armed forces for self-defence needs," he told reporters. "We are a natural transit point into the Pacific and we are now studying whether or not we do need a submarine force," he said. Beijing has reclaimed more than 2,900 acres (1,174 hectares) 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. China`s military dwarfs that of the Philippines, despite Aquino`s efforts to raise defence spending to record levels and the acquisition of new warships and fighter jets. This year China`s proposed defence spending of 954 billion yuan ($147 billion) is about 59 times that of the Philippines. The Philippines has turned to its long time ally the United States and former wartime foe Japan to bolster its military hardware. It has also asked a United Nations-backed arbitration panel to declare China`s sea claims illegal, with a ruling expected later this year. China boycotted the arbitration hearings at The Hague. However, buying submarines would not solve the disputes as the Philippines could not match China`s military might, said Benito Lim, a political science professor at the Ateneo de Manila University. "Aquino should be realistic. He needs force to counter force," Lim told AFP, adding the Philippines should reopen dialogue with China. "A submarine will be a very expensive investment, and it may not address the problem in the most reasonable way," he said. Aquino said the South China Sea dispute concerns every country since it could disrupt trade in shipping lanes through which about a third of the world`s oil passes. "The uncertainty breeds instability. Instability does not promote prosperity," he said. But while the Philippines is fortifying its defences, Aquino -- who will step down in June when his single six-year term ends -- said that as an impoverished nation the government would prioritise "butter rather than guns". "We have no illusions of ever trying to match, trying to engage anybody in an arms race or in a military build-up," he said. In a separate development a defence department official confirmed that the Philippines had sealed an agreement to acquire two anti-submarine helicopters. The Anglo-Italian AW159 helicopters will be delivered in a little over a year, said defence undersecretary Fernando Manalo, adding they would be the nation`s first. He did not disclose the cost. Egypt stocks were down Wednesday as market heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) and other blue chips were in the red. The main EGX30 index fell 1.09 percent to close at 7,485 points as bellwether CIB saw its share price fall 2.2 percent to EGP 38.49. The CEO of Egypts largest private lender, Hisham Ezz El-Arab, had told a local paper earlier this week that he was receiving uncomfortable questions regarding a recent Central Bank directive that will force him and other long-serving bank executives to leave their posts. CIB has yet to issue an official response to the directive, issued by Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer, limiting the length of bank CEO terms to nine years. Majority state-owned landline operator Telecom Egypt (TE), rose 5.4 percent to EGP 8.26. The company expects EGP 1.5 billion in deferred profits starting in April from mobile operator Vodafone Egypt, of which it holds a 45 percent stake, it said in a general assembly statement to the stock exchange Wednesday. Vodafone Egypt owes TE EGP 4.5 billion in deferred profit payments, one source told Reuters. The government also replaced its representatives on the TE board of directors. Global Telecom Holding rose 1.9 percent to trade at EGP 3.13. Among real estate blue chips, Six of October Development and Investment Company (SODIC) was the only gainer, rising 2.89 percent to EGP 11.38 per share. TMG Holding dropped 1.7 percent to EGP 6.40 after announcing a cash dividend of EGP 0.145 per share. (Official exchange rate: EGP 8.78 to 1 USD) Search Keywords: Short link: Manila: The Philippines may invest in its first ever submarine fleet to help protect its territory in the disputed South China Sea, President Benigno Aquino said on Wednesday. The impoverished nation, which has never before operated submarines and until now relied on US surplus ships, has been ramping up its defence spending in response to China's military expansion in the region. China claims almost all of the South China Sea -- home to some of the world's most important shipping routes -- despite conflicting claims from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. Aquino said the Philippines could lose its entire west coast should China succeed in enforcing its claims. "We've had to accelerate the modernisation of our armed forces for self-defence needs," Aquino told reporters in Manila. "We are a natural transit point into the Pacific and we are now studying whether or not we do need a submarine force," he said. 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. China's military significantly dwarfs that of the Philippines, despite Aquino's efforts to boost defence spending to record levels and the acquisition of new warships and fighter jets. This year China's proposed defence spending of 954 billion yuan (USD 147 billion) is approximately 59 times that of its small neighbour, which stands at 115.8 billion pesos (USD 2.5 billion). The Philippines has turned to its long time ally the United States and former wartime foe Japan to boost its military hardware in order to counter China. It has also asked a United Nations-backed arbitration body to declare China's sea claims as illegal, with a ruling expected later this year. China did not participate in the arbitration hearings at The Hague, citing its sovereignty over the area. Aquino said the South China Sea dispute "concerns every country" since it could disrupt trade in the busy shipping lane, through which about a third of the world's oil passes. "The uncertainty breeds instability. Instability does not promote prosperity," he said. Moscow: President Bashar al-Assad said Wednesday that any transitional government in Syria should include both the regime and opposition, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged greater efforts to tackle the country`s refugee crisis. In an interview published Wednesday, Assad told Russia`s RIA Novosti state news agency it would be "logical for there to be independent forces, opposition forces and forces loyal to the government represented" in any transitional body. Assad did not specify which opposition groups should be included in the government but the statement comes as Damascus faces international pressure to compromise at UN-mediated talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict that has killed some 270,000 people. In a sign of how high the stakes are, the UN chief exhorted a conference in Geneva "to address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time" which has seen an estimated 4.8 million Syrians fleeing their homeland. "There is no alternative to negotiating a political transition that will lead to a new Syria," Ban said. Talks led by Ban`s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura paused last week, but the sides remained deadlocked over the fate of Assad, whom the opposition insists must leave power before a transitional government is agreed. In the interview, Assad did not touch on his own future, saying only that the makeup of the transitional government should be agreed upon at the negotiations in Switzerland. "There are many questions that need to be discussed in Geneva, but there are not difficult questions," Assad said. "I don`t consider them difficult, they can all be resolved." The US and Russia are pushing for a transitional government and draft constitution to be established by August, according to a plan agreed by world powers last year. Assad said a preliminary draft version of the constitution could be drawn up "within a few weeks" but insisted that the country would only adopt a new constitution "after the Syrian people vote on it". Assad has been buoyed after his forces recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State (IS) jihadists over the weekend, in an advanced backed by Russian air strikes and special forces on the ground. Soldiers on Wednesday were locked in heavy fighting with IS fighters in central Syria as they pressed their offensive following the seizure of the UNESCO world heritage site. A ceasefire between Damascus and non-jihadist opposition forces has broadly held since February 27, prompting a glimmer of hope that a political solution might be on the horizon. But the fighting has left vast swathes of the country in ruin and Assad estimated that economic and infrastructure damage to the country "exceeds $200 billion". The aim of the Geneva conference is to secure relocation pledges within three years for 10 percent of Syria`s refugees, or 480,000 people, whom the UN wants moved outside of Syria`s immediate neighbours who are currently absorbing an enormous human burden. Ban said the 480,000 figure was "a relatively small number," compared with those being hosted by Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The Geneva meet follows a conference in London in February where nations pledged $11 billion (9.7 billion euros) to help manage one of the largest displacements of people since World War II. More than one million migrants -- about half of them Syrians -- reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, a rate of arrivals that has continued through the first three months of 2016. Thousands have died making the harrowing journey, often on rickety boats run by people smugglers. Some European states have temporarily shut borders and called for tough measures to stem the movement of people through the continent. The British charity Oxfam on Tuesday noted that wealthy countries had so far only resettled 67,100 Syrian refugees -- a mere 1.39 percent of those forced to flee. Geneva: UN chief Ban Ki-moon Wednesday called for a united global effort to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis, as he opened a conference on securing resettlement places for nearly half a million of those displaced. "We are here to address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time," Ban told the conference in Geneva. "This demands an exponential increase in global solidarity." The UN secretary general, a South Korean, recalled his own experience of fleeing his village with his family as a six-year-old during the Korean War sixty years ago and said that for him stories of refugees stranded in camps with meagre resources "have personal meaning." "Attempts to demonise (refugees) are not only offensive; they are factually incorrect," Ban said, in an apparent reference to rising anti-migrant rhetoric increasingly being voiced by some political leaders across the developed world. The Geneva meet follows a conference in London in February where nations pledged $11 billion (9.7 billion euros) to help manage one of the largest displacements of people since World War Two. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that 4.8 million Syrians have been forced to flee the country during its five-year civil war, while another 6.6 million people have been internally displaced. The aim of the Geneva meet is to secure relocation pledges for 10 percent of Syria`s refugees, or 480,000 people, within three years. The UN wants that number of people moved outside of Syria`s neighbours, which are currently absorbing nearly the entire refugee burden. Ban said the 480,000 figure was "a relatively small number," compared with those being hosted by Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The conference comes as the UN continues to blast a deal agreed between Turkey and the European Union earlier this month which calls for migrants who cross the Mediterranean seeking a life in Europe to be returned to Turkey. The UN`s refugee agency and rights office have condemned the deal as possibly illegal in that it appears to deny some migrants their legal right to asylum. More than one million migrants -- about half of them Syrians -- reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, a rate of arrivals that has continued through the first three months of 2016. Thousands have died making the harrowing journey, often on rickety boats run by people smugglers. Some European states have temporarily shut borders and called for tough measures to stem the movement of people through the continent. The UN and civil society groups have urged Europe`s leaders to develop coherent and organised resettlement systems, to make migration to the continent safer and less chaotic. District of Columbia: The United States will step up its troop presence in eastern Europe in response to "an aggressive Russia," with continuous rotations of an additional armored brigade beginning in early 2017, the US military said Wednesday. The rotations will bring the US Army`s presence in Europe to three fully manned combat brigades, the US European Command said. A brigade comprises about 4,200 troops. "This Army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO Allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere," General Philip Breedlove, the top US commander in Europe, said in a statement. "Our allies and partners will see more capability. They will see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries," he added. Defense Secretary Ash Carter last month unveiled the Pentagon`s proposed budget for next year, which includes $3.4 billion -- quadruple last year`s amount -- for operations in Europe. The cash will fund the so-called European Reassurance Initiative that aims to deter Russia from carrying out additional land grabs after its 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. "These efforts demonstrate strong alliances and partnerships backed by demonstrated capability, capacity and readiness to deter aggression," Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal said. "We have been clear that we will defend our interests, our allies, and the principles of international order in Europe." The Pentagon`s beefed-up European presence means US forces will increase military exercises with ally nations and train with new equipment such as tanks and artillery pieces. Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis said the deployment bears out commitments made by President Barack Obama in a speech in Tallinn in September 2014. "This decision is particularly important after President Obama`s statement," Bergmanis said. "Then, the US president said that Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius are just as important to protect as Berlin, Paris and London." The US military has about 62,000 permanently assigned service members in Europe. Aden: Loyalist forces pushed Al-Qaeda out of parts of Aden on Wednesday in a new drive against the jihadists in Yemen`s second city where the internationally recognised government is based, military sources said. Troops and militia retook the central prison and deployed on main roads across the Mansura residential district after a three-hour gunbattle with the jihadists, the sources said. There was no immediate word on casualties. The Sunni extremists of Al-Qaeda have exploited conflict between the government and Shiite rebels who overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014 to expand their control in the south. A Saudi-led coalition, which intervened in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi when he fled into exile in March last year, concentrated its firepower on pushing the rebels and their allies out of Aden and neighbouring southern provinces, and the jihadists took advantage. But in recent days, the coalition has carried out a series of air strikes against Al-Qaeda in cities it has seized including Hadramawt provincial capital Mukalla and Abyan provincial capital Zinjibar. Five militants were killed and three wounded in Monday strikes on Mukalla, a major port city that the jihadists seized last April, provincial officials told AFP. Zinjibar residents told AFP that Al-Qaeda fighters were evacuating public buildings in the city on Tuesday in apparent fear of new strikes. The coalition raids follow a US strike against an Al-Qaeda training camp outside Mukalla last week that killed 71 militants, according to provincial officials. On Tuesday, hundreds of people took part in an Al-Qaeda-organised protest in Mukalla against the US raid, witnesses said. "US raids will not defeat jihad," banners carried by the demonstrators said. But other residents resisted the jihadists` efforts to get them to join the protest, the witnesses said. There has been no let-up in the longstanding US air war against Al-Qaeda`s Yemen-based branch, which it regards as the jihadist network`s most dangerous. US strikes have taken out a number of senior Al-Qaeda commanders in Yemen over the past year. Business Barrons.com The company, which sells trucks under brand names like Peterbilt, Kenworth, and DAF, is considered among the best on the road. Its shares dont look too shabby, either. Unlike the Hollywood hospital shutdown in Feb and the Kentucky shutdown in March which got in by phishing attacks on employees, the two hospitals in Baltimore that were taken offline by ransomware were targeted by server-based attacks that got in through vulnerabilities in public-facing hospital services. Medstar's Baltimore hospitals were hit with "Samsam" malware, that exploits very old vulnerabilities in server software, meaning that institutions are only vulnerable if they don't have an active IT department that keeps their systems up to date. Unfortunately, this describes many hospitals, and indeed, many have been infected with Samsam, though none so disastrously as Medstar's Baltimore hospitals (yet). Interestingly, Ars Technica's Sean Gallagher cites unnamed sources as saying that Henderson, Kentucky's Methodist Hospital secretly paid a much higher ransom than the publicly released figure of $17,000. Of the "couple of dozen targets" that Talos is tracking, Wilson said, a significant number of them are healthcare organizations. This is likely not because the attackers set out to target healthcare specifically, but because of the types of applications used by hospitals and healthcare networks. Wilson believes that the ransomware developer simply scanned for vulnerable servers on the Internet, and most of the ones that were discovered were at healthcare organizations. "A lot of people in the healthcare industrythey set up websites in a kind of fire and forget fashion," WIlson explained. "They hire an IT guy, they get the billing system set up, hook it up to the website and then they never touch it again. That's the perfect environment for this type of malware to thrive in because it's not maintained. They have no full-time security staff and few if any fulltime administrators. As a result, the software just goes unpatched." Alex Rice, chief technology officer and co-founder of vulnerability disclosure portal provider HackerOne, told Ars that this particular problem isn't unique at all to healthcare. "The reality is that almost every company that is transitioning into becoming an IT company, and every industry that is transitioning into [using more networked information technology], are really unprepared and ill-equipped to deal with the cyber challenges facing them," Rice explained. "It's just that the stakes in healthcare are so much highera disruption at a hospital can be life and death." Part of the problem, Rice noted, is that healthcare organizations and medical device manufacturers don't perform penetration testing or other regular risk assessments of their systems with any regularity. Two more healthcare networks caught up in outbreak of hospital ransomware [Sean Gallagher/Ars Technica] Daniel Shaver said "please don't shoot me" moments before Officer Philip Brailsford shot him five times. Shaver was unarmed. Shaver, who worked in pest control, was in a hotel room, drinking alcohol, when the police arrived. Someone reported a man pointing a rifle out the room's window. Shaver had two pellet rifles related to his job in the room, but was not anywhere near them at the time. Brailsford faces murder charges and has been fired. Maricopa County prosecutors and Mesa police will not release the video from Brailsford's body camera. Police also released photos from the scene, including a look at the weapon Brailsford used in the deadly shooting. His department-issued rifle can be seen inscribed with the words "You're F", a violation of departmental policy due to the profane language. Daniel Shaver update: Officer Philip Brailsford describes moments before he fatally shot unarmed man [ABC] ((This version of the March 24 story corrects total number of deaths to eight, instead of nine, in paragraph 23 and corrects deaths since late 2010 to six, instead of seven, in paragraph 24.) By Paul Lienert and Jessica Dye DETROIT (Reuters) - In August of 2009, after ruptured airbag inflators in Honda vehicles were linked to least four injuries and a death, the automaker quietly requested a design change and did not notify U.S. regulators, Honda confirmed in response to inquiries from Reuters. Honda Motor Co<7267.T> asked supplier Takata Corp<7312.T> to produce a fail-safe airbag inflator, according to Takata presentations and internal memos reviewed by Reuters. The previously undisclosed redesign could make Honda and Takata more vulnerable in more than 100 pending federal lawsuits and dozens more state suits, according to several legal experts and an attorney suing the companies. The request shows that Honda understood the safety risks posed by the inflators long before it started expanding recalls by the millions in 2014, the attorneys and law professors said. U.S. law requires automakers to disclose safety risks and actions to prevent them to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But Honda spokesman Chris Martin said the redesign did not require notice to regulators because the safety risk involved Takata manufacturing errors rather than a specific design defect. Honda requested the redesign to protect against the possibility of future manufacturing errors it was not an acknowledgement of a larger design flaw in the inflators, Martin wrote. Honda started installing the modified inflators in some, but not all, vehicles in 2011 and continues to do so today, Martin said. Honda expanded recalls as it became aware of more defects, he said. The fail-safe modification - outlined in Takata technical documents and internal presentations between 2009 and 2011 and confirmed by Honda - added vents in the inflator to channel pressure from an explosion away from a drivers neck and torso. For a graphic depicting the "fail-safe" fix, see http://tmsnrt.rs/1Rog3lH NHTSA spokesman Bryan Thomas declined to comment on the design change or whether Honda had a legal obligation to notify the agency. Takata confirmed in a statement that it tested and deployed several versions of the redesigned inflator at the request of an automotive customer. The supplier declined to answer more detailed questions and declined to respond to Hondas explanation of the reasons for the change. Takata has previously acknowledged that some of the ruptures were connected to manufacturing errors at its factories. Honda is Takatas biggest customer, and the automaker owns a small stake in the airbag supplier. LEGAL PERIL Peter Henning, a corporate law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, called Hondas distinction between manufacturing and design problems a technical argument that is at odds with the law and regulatory practice. You cant say, Its a supplier problem, not ours, so we dont have to talk about it, he said. They are responsible for every part on their car and also responsible to report a problem with any part on that car. John Kristensen - a Los Angeles product liability plaintiff's lawyer who has worked on major product defect lawsuits against Toyota and other manufacturers - agreed that the cause or type of a safety risk is irrelevant to legal notification requirements. Honda officials made a determination of a defect when they asked for the fail-safe design, said Kristensen. They had an obligation to tell the government back in 2009. Good luck defending that. In many states, plaintiffs alleging design defects are required to prove that companies could have used a safer design, said Rob Ammons, a Houston lawyer who has represented clients suing Honda and Takata in three cases alleging that inflator defects caused death or injury. Obviously, this would be significant evidence that one existed, certainly as early as 2009, said Ammons, who has settled two of the cases and has one pending. Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and an expert in automotive safety and regulation said that Honda could make an argument that "its always improving its products for instance, that air bags are getting safer every year, he said. Im not sure how a jury would approach or examine that. The federal cases against Takata, Honda and other automakers have been consolidated in a Miami court. They involve individual claims for injuries and deaths and proposed class actions seeking to represent millions of customers who say their vehicles lost value. Trials in both types of federal cases could start as soon as 2017, according to court filings. Honda has reached confidential settlements in some personal-injury lawsuits, court records showed. AN EFFECTIVE FIX Since 2008, Honda has recalled 8.5 million vehicles to replace defective inflators, including 2.3 million in February. All but 875,000 of those recalls came in 2014 or later. Takata inflators in Honda vehicles have been linked to eight deaths and more than 90 injuries in the U.S., according to NHTSA. Six of those deaths and 70 injuries have occurred since Takata began producing the new inflator design for Honda starting in late 2010. The redesign worked as intended, Martin said. All of the deaths and injuries happened in vehicles with older inflator designs. (Editing by Joe White and Brian Thevenot) By Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian prosecutors on Monday released a man they had charged in connection with last week's deadly Brussels bombings, saying they did not have enough information to justify holding him. The man, named only as Faycal C., had been accused of taking part in the activities of a terrorist group and actual and attempted terrorist murder after being detained on Thursday. His home had been searched but no weapons or explosives had been found. "The evidence which led to the arrest of the man named as Faycal C has not been backed up by the ongoing investigation. As a result, the person has been freed by the investigating magistrate," the prosecutor's office said. The announcement was a major blow to an investigation that had netted half a dozen people charged with lesser offences in Belgium and others in the Netherlands, Italy and France, where officials said the same network had planned another attack. Belgian media had identified the man as Faycal Cheffou and a source close to the investigation had said officials believed he was the man caught in security camera footage at Brussels airport moments before two bombs exploded last Tuesday. Earlier on Monday, police had issued a new appeal for witnesses, saying they were seeking to identify the man seen in the video wearing a light jacket, with a hat pulled down over his face and glasses. The suspected suicide bombers walking alongside him were dressed in black with their heads uncovered. Police say one man left a suitcase containing a bomb at the terminal and fled while two others detonated their bombs. The death toll from the attack on the airport, and a subsequent bombing of a rush-hour metro train, rose to 35 on Monday, excluding the three men who blew themselves up. Around 340 people were wounded and 96 were still being treated in hospital, of whom 55 were in intensive care, a health ministry statement said. A Europe-wide hunt for suspects has revealed links with the network that killed 130 people in Paris last November, as well as foiling a new potential attack on France last week, officials said. But several suspects are reported to be still at large. OTHERS AT LARGE Islamic State has claimed responsibility for both the Paris and Brussels attacks. These have exposed weaknesses within intelligence services in Belgium, where some of the Paris attackers lived, as well as insufficient cooperation between security services across Europe. In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States had urged European officials to do a better job of sharing intelligence after the Paris attacks late last year. "There has been some progress made with regard to that intelligence sharing, but there is surely more that can and must be done," Earnest said at a press briefing. Dutch anti-terrorism police arrested a 32-year-old suspect on Sunday in Rotterdam on France's request, and Italy arrested an Algerian on Saturday suspected of having forged documents for militants linked to the Brussels and Paris attacks. Germany has also conducted raids but its Federal Criminal Police Office was among European security agencies still hunting for at least eight mostly French or Belgian suspects on the run in Syria or Europe, Die Welt am Sonntag newspaper said. The U.S. State Department confirmed four U.S. citizens were among victims of nine different nationalities, including Belgian. Belgian Health Minister Maggie De Block said more of those wounded in the attacks had since died. "Four patients died in hospital. Medical teams did everything possible. Total victims: 35," she said in a tweet. Other foreigners killed were British, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Swedish. The airport in Brussels remained closed on Monday and the metro was running a reduced service in the capital, which was largely shuttered for the Easter holiday. There was no sign of the nationalist protesters who clashed with police on Sunday at the Brussels bourse, where mourners have gathered and placed candles, wreaths and messages for victims. The State Department has declined to name any of the four U.S. citizens killed, citing respect for their families. Two of them were identified by relatives as Justin and Stephanie Shults, residents of Belgium originally from Tennessee and Kentucky who were last seen dropping off her mother at the Brussels airport before the explosion in the check-in area. "The world lost two amazing people," Justin Shults' brother, Levi Sutton, said in a post on Twitter. "It's not fair." (Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Diane Craft) Plummeting tourism receipts, net transfers, and Suez Canal revenues cause the current account deficit to more than double as FDI inflows rise, says Central Bank of Egypt Egypts balance of payments deficit jumped 240 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year due to falling tourism receipts, Suez Canal revenues, and transfers, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said Wednesday. The overall balance of payments deficit reached $3.4 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2015/2016, compared to $1 billion in the same period of the previous year, as the current account deficit more than doubled to reach $8.9 billion from $4.3 billion. Tourism revenues fell by almost a third to $2.7 billion, from $4 billion in the July-December period, compared to the previous year, according to the CBE. The deadly downing of Metrojet Flight 9268 over Egypts Sinai peninsula in a terrorist attack last October led Russia and the UK to suspend all flights to Egypts popular Red Sea resorts throughout the past months. The trade deficit shrunk slightly in spite of declining export proceeds, registering $19.5 billion versus $20.4 billion, as the decline in world oil and staple commodity prices had a significant impact on the imports bill, said the CBE. Export proceeds declined by over a quarter to record $9.1 billion, due to the fall in world crude oil prices that slashed oil export revenues by $2.2 billion, the bank said in an official release. Non-oil exports fell by 14 percent to $6 billion, according to the CBE. But the commodity imports bill dropped by close to 13 percent to $28.6 billion, compared to $32.7 billion, as the value of both oil and non-oil imports dropped. Businesses have complained of their inability to source US dollars to import both production materials and finished goods in recent months, though CBE Governor Tarek Amer says the bank has pumped $22 billion into the market to clear import backlogs, in addition to easing capital controls, since he took office last November. Suez Canal receipts declined by over seven percent to register $2.6 billion for the period between July and December 2015, said the bank. The Suez Canal Authority has attributed declining receipts from tolls to a slowdown in global trade. Net official transfers (which include foreign aid bar loans), plummeted by 99 percent to $32 million, from $2.6 billion, while remittances of Egyptian workers overseas decline by nearly 11 percent, as private transfers were shown to have declined by some 12 percent to stand at $8.3 billion. The capital and financial account registered a rise in net inflow of 1,000 percent, reaching $9.2 billion, compared with $772.1 million in the corresponding period of the previous year, as investment inflows increased. Foreign direct investment net inflows rose from $2.6 billion to $3.1 billion, with net inflows to greenfield investments almost doubling to $2.5 billion. Other investments saw net inflows of $7.8 billion, including from short-term suppliers credit, which unfolded net inflows of $4 billion, and other assets and liabilities that unfolded a net inflow of $4.3 billion. Portfolio investments in Egypt witnessed a net outflow of $1.6 billion compared to a prior outflow of $2.1 billion, which the bank says is largely due to the governments scheduled repayment of bonds floated in world markets in 2005, and which accounted for $1.25 billion. Foreign investors bought $500 million in Egyptian debt notes and stocks since the CBE sharply devalued the pound, according to Amer, who expects to see $5 billion in portfolio investments in the next four months. Search Keywords: Short link: Heather Geluk remembers well when a pair of powerful earthquakes rattled Nepal within the span of a few weeks last year. Thousands of people died in the quakes and millions of lives were affected by the combined disasters. When the first one hit, Geluk was on a mountain. She stayed in Nepal for weeks to help the people who lived there, which is why she was there when the second quake struck. Eleven months have passed since the first devastating quake and Geluk has since returned to Nepal to help with relief work. She has seen some early victories for the survivors, who are in the midst of rebuilding their homes and their lives. "Buildings have started to pop up again, there's smiles on people's faces, there's a lot of hope," Geluk told CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive by telephone from Kathmandu on Tuesday. "But at the same time, I mean the impact of the earthquake, you can't ignore it. There's still rubble and rocks and wood and stuff everywhere and people are still living in homes which are completely unfit to be lived in and are unsafe." Geluk, who grew up in southwestern Ontario, has been coming to Nepal for years. In the past, she was travelling there solely to seek adventure, through climbing mountains. "After last year's earthquake, that mountain-transactional relationship that I had with the country, it's become so much deeper," she said. Geluk said she feels a responsibility to help the people in Nepal who have welcomed her into their lives for so many years. "The Nepali people have helped me, like, every single time I've ever come here, so now it's my chance to give back," she said. "Instead of them offering me tea, this time, it's me saying to them: 'Here, have a cup of tea. Let me help you carry your load.'" Today in One Paragraph Donald Trumps campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was charged with battery for allegedly grabbing a Breitbart reporters arm on March 8. Scott Walker endorsed Ted Cruz. The Supreme Court reached a 4-4 decision in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, the public-union fees case. And the White House announced new actions to address the epidemic of heroin and prescription drug abuse in the United States. Top News Trump Staffer Arrested for Battery. Florida authorities charged Corey Lewandowski with assaulting Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, who has since left the publication. Trumps spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said Lewandowski was absolutely innocent of this charge, but according to Detective Marc Bujnowski, surveillance video released from Trumps Mar a Lago resort parallels what Fields told him. (Maggie Haberman and Michael M. Grynbaum, The New York Times) Recommended: An Ethicist Reads "The Art of the Deal" Scott Walker Endorses Cruz. The Wisconsin governor and former presidential hopeful threw his support behind Ted Cruz, calling Cruz a principled conservative who is the best positioned by far to take down Donald Trump and beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. The endorsement comes ahead of Wisconsins primary on April 5. (David M Jackson and Donovan Slack, USA Today) A Victory for Public-Sector Unions. The eight-justice Court reached a split decision on Friedrichs v. CTA, a case challenging the ability of public-sector unions to collect agency fees from nonmembers who benefit from their collective bargaining. Striking down the agency fees would have dealt a major blow to public-sector unions across the country, but the 4-4 split leaves a lower court ruling upholding the fees intact. (Matt Ford, The Atlantic) Fighting Addiction. The Obama administration introduced new initiatives to fight prescription drug and heroin abuse, including efforts to increase mental health coverage and expand access for addiction treatment. Medicine-assisted treatment is more effective at sustaining recovery and preventing overdose," Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Michael Botticelli told reporters. President Obama met with recovering addicts and their families and spoke on a panel at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta. (Nadia Kounang, CNN) Story continues Recommended: The Obama Doctrine Tomorrow in One Paragraph. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz will be in Wisconsin ahead of the states April 5 primary, and John Kasich will take part in a town hall in New York. Bernie Sanders will also be in Wisconsin, and Hillary Clinton will be speaking at the Apollo Theater in New York City. Follow stories throughout the day with our new Politics & Policy page. And keep on top of the campaign with our 2016 Distilled election dashboard. Top Read Without Scalias vote, the challenge failed and the lower courts ruling (calling the challenge insubstantial) is affirmed in a one-sentence order. That opinion has no precedential force. But precedent seems not to matter to conservatives in this area. Nor, for that matter, does simple shame, or even a desire to appear non-partisan. The Atlantics Garrett Epps on todays Supreme Court decision involving public-sector unions. Top Lines The Machinery of Terror. The recent attacks in Paris and Brussels that killed more than 160 people in total were the product of several years preparation and secret mobilization of ISIS forces in Europe. (Rukmini Callimachi, The New York Times) The Making of Trump. Politicos Michael DAntonio argues that Donald Trumps father and childhood mentors indoctrinated him with a combative personality and brutal worldview. Top Views Tough Terrain for Bernie. In order to secure the majority, Sanders needs to win at least 56 percent of the remaining pledged delegates, but this model from The New York Times shows that Hillary Clinton is favored to win 54 percent of the remaining delegates. (Nate Cohn) We want to hear from you! Were reimagining what The Edge can be, and would love to receive your complaints, compliments, and suggestions. Tell us what youd like to find in your inbox by sending a message to newsletters@theatlantic.com. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. 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 Lisa Baertlein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Even as General Mills Inc and other companies vow to keep fighting mandatory labeling of genetically modified food ingredients, they have begun rolling out these disclosures across the United States to comply a new Vermont law. The moves come as U.S. lawmakers are unlikely to derail Vermont's law requiring labels on foods made with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, before it takes effect on July 1. The law sets fines of $1,000 per day per product for noncompliance. "We can't label our products for only one state without significantly driving up costs for our consumers, and we simply will not do that," General Mills recently said on its blog. Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate blocked a bill that would nullify state laws requiring GMO labels and leave such disclosures to the discretion of manufacturers. A similar bill stalled last year. The stakes are extraordinarily high for "Big Food," which depends on ingredients such as corn and soybeans that have been engineered to produce genetic traits such as resistance to insects and pesticides. The United States is the world's largest market for GMOs, which are in the vast majority of packaged foods made there. More than 90 percent of the nation's corn and soybean production is GMO. The combined value of those GMO crops came to $77.6 billion in 2015. The $363 billion U.S. packaged food industry worries that consumers will shun food containing GMOs, forcing manufacturers to switch to more costly, traditional ingredients. Label advocates describe GMO products as "frankenfoods" and say consumers deserve to know what they are eating. One food industry representative, who requested anonymity, said Senate attention had waned after the bill's failure and that there was a lack of consensus over how to proceed. Republican Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, who sponsored this session's bill to stop Vermont's law, has said he would keep fighting, but he acknowledged the challenge of forging a deal this year. "The unwillingness to compromise by Senate opponents to my bill is about to hit both farmers and consumers directly in the pocketbook," Roberts said in a statement. Coalition for Safe and Affordable Food spokeswoman Claire Parker also said the odds this year were against a solution palatable to her group, which represents food and biotech seed industry efforts to stop mandatory GMO labeling. "The Senate is in danger of ceding control of labeling for a nation of 300 million to a state of only 600,000 people," Parker said. Meanwhile, General Mills, Campbell Soup Co, Kellogg Co, ConAgra Foods Inc and Mars said they were adding GMO labels to their product packaging. The industry is still fighting the Vermont law in federal court. Its lawyers argued their case before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October, and a decision could come before July 1. Connecticut and Maine have passed GMO labeling laws, but they will not take effect until more states enact similar measures. Bills are pending in 31 states. (Additional reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Von Ahn) BAMAKO (Reuters) - Authorities in Mali have arrested two men believed to be linked to an al Qaeda attack on a beach resort town in neighbouring Ivory Coast that killed 19 people earlier this month, military officials said on Sunday. Gunmen shot swimmers and sunbathers before storming into several hotels in the town of Grand Bassam, 40 km (25 miles) from the commercial capital, Abidjan, on March 13. "The information concerning the arrests of two suspects in the north of Mali is true," said Lieutenant-Colonel Modibo Nama Traore, a military intelligence officer who said they had been picked up by gendarmes and the intelligence service. Ivory Coast announced last week it had detained 15 people in connection with the attack, which was claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Islamist group's North African branch. Ivorian officials named the suspected ringleader as Kounta Dallah, but said he remained at large. While Traore gave no further details of the arrests in Mali, a second intelligence officer said the two men were arrested separately on Saturday and Sunday in the towns of Goundam and Gossi in the northern Timbuktu region. "One is even Kounta's driver," the intelligence officer said, asking not to be identified. In its claim of responsibility for the Grand Bassam shooting rampage, AQIM said the attack was revenge for France's military intervention in Mali. Eleven Ivorians, including three special forces' soldiers, died in the attack. Four French citizens were killed and other foreign victims included citizens of Germany, Lebanon, Macedonia and Nigeria. Paris sent troops to its former colony in 2013 to drive out Islamist fighters who seized its desert north a year earlier. The intervention received support from Mali's regional neighbours, including Ivory Coast, which hosts a French military base. Despite the successful intervention, violence is again rising in Mali, and militants are increasingly striking farther from their traditional desert strongholds. In the months before the attack on Grand Bassam, AQIM struck hotels and restaurants in Mali's capital, Bamako, and neighbouring Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, killing dozens of civilians. (Reporting by Adama Diarra and Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's parliament has launched a probe into whether the telecoms regulator can reduce a fine slapped on South Africa's MTN for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIM card users, a lawmaker said on Thursday. The move might complicate efforts by Africa's biggest cell phone operator to reduce the fine, which had originally amounted to $5.2 billion. In December, the telecoms regulator NCC reduced the fine to $3.9 billion, but on Wednesday lawmakers in the lower house of parliament said the original fine could not be altered unless the law was amended. "For you to adjust the fine, you have to adjust the law, that is where I am finding difficulty," said Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the House of Representatives, according to parliament's minutes seen by Reuters on Thursday. The house launched a probe after lawmaker Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma asked, in a motion read out by Dogara, for the MTN fine to be more than tripled to $15.6 billion. Agbonayinma also demanded that MTN face criminal charges, saying the firm's failure to disconnect users SIM cards had led to the death of some 10,000 Nigerians as criminals had used the unregistered cards, according to the motion. MTN had angered the house by snubbing an invitation to its Nigeria Chief Executive Ferdi Moolman to appear at the telecoms committee, a lawmaker said. Instead of sending Moolman, MTN issued a letter telling lawmakers "appropriate government agencies ... are in a position to furnish your committee with relevant information on this issue," lawmakers said, according to the minutes. MTN said in a statement it was aware of "reports out of Nigeria about the fine" and was awaiting clarity from the West African nation's government. The NCC could not immediately be reached for comment. Shares in MTN, which makes about 37 percent of its sales in Nigeria, were down 10 percent at 1450 GMT. MTN earlier this month offered to pay $1.5 billion, according to a document seen by Reuters. And it dropped a legal case against the regulator as the first step in its efforts to reach an out of court settlement. Last year Nigeria imposed a deadline on mobile operators to cut off unregistered SIM cards, which MTN missed, amid fears the lines were being used by criminal gangs, including militant Islamist group Boko Haram. ($1 = 199.0000 naira) (Reporting by Camillus Eboh, Felix Onuah, Ed Stoddard and Alexis Akwagyiram; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Potter) By Tatiana Jancarikova BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - 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. Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer won the most votes in a March 5 election but lost its majority by a big 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 moved fast to cobble together a majority and is expected to be sworn in for a third term as premier on Wednesday or Thursday. He will then have 30 days to win a confidence vote in the 150-seat parliament, where the four parties hold 81 seats. While the government formation went smoothly, ideological differences between Fico and two center-right coalition parties, and animosity between a party representing the Hungarian minority and Slovak nationalists, raise questions over how long the coalition will last. Four backbenchers from two small coalition parties have crossed over to the opposition in protest at their leadership joining forces with Fico. "Support for the cabinet in parliament will depend on small center-right parties, whose parliamentary groups have already started to fragment ... there is a high risk that Fico's multi-party coalition will unravel before the parliamentary term is over," Otilia Dhand from consultancy Teneo Intelligence said. Fico defended his course of action, saying a strong government based on wide compromise was needed to respond to threats such as bomb attacks like those in Brussels on Tuesday. "The only alternative is chaos, an undemocratic caretaker government or nonsensical early election," Fico said after chiefs of the four parties -- Smer (Direction), the Slovak National Party, Most-Hid (Bridge) and Net (Siet) signed the coalition agreement. The coalition plans moderate cuts in taxes for corporates 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's party will be dominant in the coalition and hold key ministries such as finance, interior and foreign affairs. "This will limit the room for significant policy changes on the economic front," Otilia Dhand said. 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. 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 Richard Balmforth) A story telling festival that takes place in the Upper Egyptian city of Qena was cancelled because officials were busy with other projects, according to the governor Abdel Hamid El-Haggan, the governor of Qena governorate in Upper Egypt, told Ahram Arabic news website on Sunday that the governorate has declined to host Doum's third story telling festival. The reasons that El-Haggan listed are because of the national projects that government officials are busy implementing during the same month, in addition to the restoration project currently being implemented in the national cultural center of Qena. Qena has successfully hosted the festival for consecutive years, when circumstances were fitting, though El-Haggan pointed out that some cultural events are still running in the governorate such as the memorial of poet Mahmoud Maghrabi. Doum Cultural foundation, initiated and headed by prominent novelist Khaled El-Khamisi, announced the cancellation of the annual story telling festival that was supposed to run from 8 until 11 April. The announcement stated that Helmy el Namnam, the culture minister, conveyed to El-Khamisy that governor of Qena, El-Haggan, declined to host third story telling festival. Consequently, Doum issued an apology to the 111 artists that were supposed to take part in the festival. Search Keywords: Short link: By Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes battled Islamic State insurgents around Palmyra on Monday, trying to extend their gains after taking back control of a city whose ancient temples were dynamited by the ultra-radical militants. The loss of Palmyra on Sunday is one of the biggest setbacks for the jihadist group since it declared a caliphate in 2014 across large parts of Syria and Iraq. It is also a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad and ally Russia, casting them as critical to the international fight against Islamic State. The Syrian army said the city, home to some of the most extensive ruins of the Roman Empire, would become a "launchpad" for operations against Islamic State strongholds in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, further east across a vast expanse of desert. Syrian state media said on Monday Palmyra's military airport was now open to air traffic after the army cleared the surrounding area of Islamic State fighters. "Now there is a convergence of interests worldwide about the fact that ISIS (Islamic State) really needs to be confronted. It is a strategic defeat for ISIS and by default a strategic victory for Assad and Putin," said Fawaz Gerges, a Middle East expert at the London School of Economics. "It feeds into Assad's narrative about Syria being a bulwark against Islamic State." Clashes continued northeast of Palmyra between Islamic State and forces allied to the government, supported by Syrian and Russian air strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based body which monitors the war. Air strikes, believed to be Russian, also targeted the road running east out of Palmyra towards Deir al-Zor, and there was fighting around the Islamic State-held town of Qaryatain on Monday, 100 km (60 miles) west of Palmyra, the Observatory said. The Syrian government has been trying to retake Qaryatain since Islamic State seized it last August. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking in Amman, said he was "encouraged" that Syrian government forces had been able to drive Islamic State out of Palmyra and that the city's ancient heritage could now be preserved. But the Syrian opposition said it feared Assad's forces were using a fragile cessation of hostilities in the wider conflict to make territorial gains. "I fear one thing: that the period of the truce will allow the Assad regime to gobble up what remains of Syria by liberating areas that are controlled by Daesh (Islamic State) and Nusra," Riad Nassan Agha, a member of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told Reuters by telephone. The truce, accepted by Assad's government and most of his foes, is the first of its kind since the war began five years ago and has been accompanied by the first peace talks attended by the warring sides. It does not apply to areas held by Islamic State or the Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda. NEGOTIATING POSITION The Syrian government is likely to use its success in Palmyra to bolster its negotiating position at the peace talks in Geneva, underlining that it is a necessary partner in the fight against Islamic State. The United States is leading an international campaign of air strikes against Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq. It says it does not cooperate with Assad's government, but reported carrying out air strikes around Palmyra at least once last week while Damascus was making its advance. Bashar Ja'afari, the Syrian envoy to the Geneva talks, said in an interview with Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen TV that it was time for powers including Washington to join Moscow in working with Damascus. "We are for the creation of an international coalition against terrorism, but in coordination with the Syrian government," he said. "We have no objection to working with America as long as it is done in coordination with Syria." Russia's intervention in September turned the tide of Syria's five-year conflict in Assad's favor. Despite Moscow's declared withdrawal of most military forces two weeks ago, Russian jets and helicopters carried out dozens of strikes daily over Palmyra as the army thrust into the city. Russia said it would assist with securing and removing landmines in Palmyra following the campaign, and the Kremlin said on Monday that the Russian air force would continue to help Syrian government forces. But Russian forces are still showing signs of their partial withdrawal. Three heavy attack helicopters have left Moscow's Hmeimim air base in Syria for Russia, Russian state TV channel Rossiya-24 reported on Monday. ISLAMIC STATE DEFEATS Although most of the Islamic State force fled Palmyra on Sunday, there were still some militants in the city, the Observatory said. Its director Rami Abdulrahman said most residents had fled before the government offensive and the observatory had not heard about any civilian deaths. He said 417 Islamic State fighters were so far known to have died in the campaign to retake Palmyra, while 194 people were killed on the Syrian government side. The figures could not be independently verified. Islamic State militants dynamited several monuments last year, and Syrian television broadcast footage from inside Palmyra museum on Sunday showing toppled and damaged statues, as well as several smashed display cases. Syria's antiquities chief said other ancient landmarks were still standing and pledged to restore the damaged monuments. "Palmyra has been liberated. This is the end of the destruction in Palmyra," Mamoun Abdelkarim told Reuters on Sunday. "How many times did we cry for Palmyra? How many times did we feel despair? But we did not lose hope." Islamic State's ejection from Palmyra came three months after it was driven from Ramadi, a provincial capital in neighboring Iraq. Islamic State has also lost ground elsewhere, including the Iraqi city of Tikrit last year and the Syrian town of al-Shadadi in February, as its enemies try to cut links between its two main power centers, Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. On Friday the United States said it believed it had killed several senior Islamic State militants, including Abd ar-Rahman al-Qaduli, described as the group's top finance official and aide to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow; Editing by Nick Tattersall, Mark Heinrich and Peter Graff) By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his criticism of NATO, a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy for decades, and called for the alliance's overhaul days before world leaders convene in Washington. President Barack Obama will host the Nuclear Security Summit on Thursday and Friday with 56 delegations in attendance. While preventing nuclear terrorism will headline the discussions, Trump's views could be a topic as well, particularly behind the scenes. In another sharp departure from historic U.S. policy, Trump said in an interview published on Sunday by The New York Times that he would consider letting Japan and South Korea build their own nuclear weapons, rather than rely on America for protection against North Korea and China. The billionaire businessman, vying to win his party's nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, also said he might halt U.S. purchases of oil from Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies unless they commit ground troops to fight Islamic State or pay the United States to do so. "NATO is obsolete," Trump said on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. The 28-country North Atlantic Treaty Organization was set up in a different era, Trump said, when the main threat to the West was the Soviet Union. It was ill-suited to fighting terrorism and cost the United States too much, he added. "We should readjust NATO ... it can be trimmed up and it can be, uh, it can be reconfigured and you can call it NATO, but it's going to be changed," he said. On March 21, Trump said the United States should slash its financial support for NATO, which was formed in 1949 after World War Two and became a bulwark against Soviet expansionism. Russia will not attend the upcoming nuclear summit, but Chinese President Xi Jinping will. Obama said the United States would review international efforts to combat Islamic State in the wake of the Brussels attacks. Trump's chief rival for the Republican nomination, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, called the real estate mogul's views on NATO "catastrophically foolish." Speaking on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Cruz said Trump was "out of his depth." "Abandoning Europe, withdrawing from the most successful military alliance of modern times, it makes no sense at all," Cruz said. "It would hand a massive victory to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, a massive victory to ISIS," the militant group also known as Islamic State. Cruz said if he were elected president, his approach to Islamic State would be to "carpet bomb them into oblivion." In the interview, Trump also said he would be willing to withdraw U.S. troops from Japan and South Korea unless the two countries paid more to house and feed them. Japan hosts about 50,000 U.S. troops, while 28,500 are in South Korea. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference in Tokyo on Monday that there had been "no change" to Japan's policy of not building, possessing or introducing nuclear weapons, and reiterated that no matter who became U.S. president, the U.S.-Japan alliance would remain the core of Japan's diplomacy and vital for regional and world stability. South Korea said it had continued to play a positive role in the U.S. military's presence in the country and for the allies' ability to defend against the North and there was no change to its commitment to the mutual defense treaty establishing their military partnership. Asked about the comments on considering allowing Japan and South Korea to build their own nuclear weapons, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he had noted it was only a "hypothetical situation". (Additional reporting by Jason Lange in Washington, Linda Sieg in Tokyo, Jack Kim in Seoul and Jessica Macy Yu in Beijing; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Mary Milliken and Nick Macfie) The impact of Chinese steel production and European Union trade policies are crucial to understanding the UK steel crisis. These are the 10 key points to consider: :: Chinese overproduction of steel Everything comes back to this. The numbers are startling. China now produces half the world's steel (822 million tonnes), having produced only around 100 million tonnes a year 20 years ago before it joined the World Trade Organisation. Most of it had been used domestically to service the Chinese economic miracle, but a slump in the Chinese construction boom has reduced home demand. In 2015 a record 112 million tonnes of steel was exported from China to world markets. :: Trade defences are an EU-wide decision This is why the Tata decision to sell off its UK steel operation could have an impact on the EU referendum. The UK can not act unilaterally on this matter of trade. Trade is a European Union competence, so the Tata crisis is an important testing ground for the EU's impact on British jobs. Theoretically, Britain could act unilaterally to protect its steel industry, if it was outside of the European Union. :: Tata Steel (BSE: TATASTEEL.BO - news) itself has successfully lobbied for anti-steel dumping measures in India Last month India introduced, partly at the behest of Tata Steel, a series of measures aimed at reducing China's impact on the steel industry there. A minimum import price and safeguard duties were brought in for steel over the next six months and appear to have stabilised the industry by raising prices. Such temporary trade barriers are allowed under World Trade Organisation rules. :: The European Commission wants to levy harsher steel tariffs on China The EU did impose some duties of up to 16% on some Chinese steel products, enough to make them unprofitable. But the Commission issued a call to remove the "lesser duty rule" to allow it to raise anti-dumping duties against China much higher. Independent analysts Fitch calculate a tariff of nearly 60% would be allowed under these arrangements, enough to deter the bulk of Chinese imports. Story continues :: But the British Government argued against the move Britain has long been a voice for freeing up trade in the EU. Business Secretary Sajid Javid argued for the retention of the "lesser duty rule". He argued in Parliament last month that existing duties were sufficient to level the playing field against Chinese steel imports, and that punitive tariffs would raise prices and imperil other UK industries, such as car plants. :: Tata has a history of incredulity at the UK Government's lack of industrial activism I went to the Mumbai House Tata HQ in 2010 on the same day as the Chancellor, George Osborne. One of its bosses told me (in relation to support for Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover) in an interview that the UK had to decide whether or not it wanted a car industry. There is a hint of similar frustrations in Tata's latest statement. But it also suggests there is still room for the Government to negotiate to keep the steelworks open. :: Tata just did a deal with the Scottish Government It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) involves the Scottish Government effectively assuming ownership of two smaller steelworks before transferring them to a new owner, Liberty House, for 1. It has led to speculation that the British Government could take on a bigger role. :: Tata partly blamed European Union State Aid rules for its woes These rules, agreed in Brussels, are designed to ensure a level playing field for businesses across Europe. The rules were not part of the PM's renegotiation. Other nations - Italy, Germany and France have worked around the State Aid rules to find ways to give limited support to steel industry on occasionally dubious environmental grounds. There is room for the UK to do more, if it feels steel has a future. :: China is slowly reducing its output of steel As President Xi Jinping mentioned in his State visit last year, there is a plan to reduce production in China, and that has already begun. But the plan envisages a reduction of 150 million tonnes over five years. Outside experts feel it needs to be at least double that. :: Expect a big battle over China's "Market Economy Status" EU nations are divided on this legal measure which restricts the ability and extent of the EU to defend its trade using "anti-dumping" measures. Britain has been privately supportive of China's position, with George Osborne saying that Britain is China's closest ally in the West. The US is against granting Market Economy Status on the grounds that China is still an economy with massive state intervention and controlled prices. China expects a decision on this from the EU by 11 December. Student Success ED: Schools Can Do More to Boost Pell Student Outcomes Warning that the country is becoming "a caste system of colleges and universities," U.S. Department of Education Secretary John King recently called on education leaders to do more in recruiting and helping low-income students succeed in higher education. The remarks were made last week during an ED-hosted daylong summit, "Championing Completion: Improving College Outcomes for Pell Students." "When it comes to student access," King said, "we need to acknowledge the ways in which we are becoming a caste system of colleges and universities in which wealthier high school students get personalized college counseling, rigorous coursework like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, and disproportionate admittance to the nation's top universities, while, all too often, poorer students get shortchanged on these things." At the same time, the agency King heads released a new report that drew attention to the efforts of 55 mostly four-year institutions that are beating the odds in providing Pell-eligible students with access to college and showing strong performance on measures of college success for those students. The findings were based on data culled from the College Scorecard and additional information from outside organizations. Pell grants are funding provided by the U.S. government to students to help cover college expenses. Currently, about eight million students use the grants to subsidize their school costs. The size of the grant is determined by family financial need and typically forms the first building block of a student's financial aid package, to which other forms of aid are added. The maximum a student can receive for the 2016-2017 school year is $5,815. The ED report, "Fulfilling the Promise, Serving the Need: Advancing College Opportunity for Low-Income Students," lays out an argument for the importance of Pell funding in helping students pursue postsecondary education while also highlighting the dramatic gaps that exist in how well those students do once they're in college based on how their schools serve them. For example, students with high-income parents are nearly three times more likely to attend college than their peers with low-income parents, the report noted. They're also more likely to succeed once enrolled. About two-thirds 68 percent of non-Pell grant recipients graduate within six years. For Pell recipients, that percentage is cut in half. "These trends tell us there is more work to do to help low-income students pursue their educational goals and earn essential skills and credentials," the report stated. The report pointed out that "many similarly situated colleges and universities" have widely different outcomes on measures related to college success and access. At the University of California-Irvine, for example, 43 percent of students are Pell recipients; 87 percent of them graduate within six years, compared to an overall graduation rate of 86 percent. That's considerably better than many other public institutions. Fewer than 50 such schools enroll more than 40 percent of their student body as Pell recipients and also have more than half of those students complete their degrees. The count is higher 100 schools among private nonprofits. A key takeaway from the report is that the actions of individual schools "matter" and that all institutions can do more to help Pell students reach their educational and career goals. The exemplars referenced in the report use myriad approaches for promoting and tracking student progress and success toward their degree goals. dilma If Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is impeached in her country's lower house next month, it will be part of a bigger story than just Brazil's. It will be the continuation of what has become an international political revolution. Or the end of a revolution, depending on how you look at it. In 1999, the late Hugo Chavez became president of Venezuela, and a wave of leftist leaders all over Latin America followed him in Bolivia, in Ecuador, in Argentina, and in Brazil. It came to be known as "The pink tide." But Chavez is dead, and his party in Venezuela is at war with a collapsing economy and its own angry citizens. Recent attempts by the leaders of Brazil and Ecuador to end term limitations have failed. Argentina's new government, installed last December, is center-right, and global markets are welcoming the former pariah debtor nation with open arms. In Brazil, the end of Dilma Rousseff and her party, the PT which has ruled the country since 2003 will likely signal a handover of power from left to right in Latin America's biggest country. Of course, none of this means that Brazil's problems will be solved once (if) the center-right takes power. Right now, as it awaits Rousseff's removal, the market is being incredibly kind to Brazil, despite the fact that the country is in the throes of a recession. That said, the country has intense structural problems to work through, and the market will only wait for so long. It is not known for its patience. 'O Bebado e a Equilibrista' Rousseff is facing impeachment proceedings, according to her opposition, for being dishonest about the state of the economy in 2015. Of course, that wouldn't be a consideration without Operation Car Wash, the corruption sting that started in 2014 and reached the highest levels of Brazilian society. Story continues Essentially, the sting found that the PT had been using quasi-state oil company, Petrobras, as its personal slush fund to pay political bribes. That, combined with mismanagement, blew a $2 billion hole in the company's balance sheet. During parts of 2015, Rousseff's approval rating fell to as low as 7%, and it has barely recovered. brazil So Rousseff must pay, and her party must pay. Never mind that the opposition politician, who started impeachment proceedings, House Speaker Eduardo Cunha of the center-right PMDB, is also being investigated for issues related to Operation Car Wash. As of Tuesday, Brazil largest party, the PMDB, broke its coalition with the PT so that it could vote for Dilma's impeachment. Proceedings should begin on April 13, and they're not looking good based on the numbers. brazil impeachment vote Rousseff and her once wildly popular predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have moved to the left to try to rally their base, but analysts don't see that doing much. The protests that have gone on both sides have been peaceful; no one is expecting total chaos. "I see this thing as being pretty well scripted," said Brian Dean, a partner at ACG Analytics. "What we're looking at is the inevitability of the impeachment voting in the House." Once Rousseff is impeached from Brazil's House, her case will be tried in the Senate. "I see Rousseff at least being out of power while the Senate tries her case at some point in the month of April, subject to Brazilian political calendar," Dean continued. "By then, I don't think there will be a lot of Senators who will hold the view that they should reconstitute a government that has been impeached." The new party So what happens next? Rousseff's vice president, who is from the PMDB, will likely take power in coalition with the PSDB. Arminio Fraga Already the Brazilian press is talking about what that would look like, including installing Arminio Fraga, the former head of the country's central bank, as finance minister. Fraga is a well-known quantity in international financial markets and on Wall Street. It's a clear signal that the whole system will move to the right. And they have a lot of work to do. Brazil is battling double-digit inflation. Economic activity has fallen 8% from the same time last year. The country's also loaded with debt. The fact that commodity prices around the world have fallen to historic lows hasn't helped either Brazil is an exporter. So the new leadership which will include the PSDB's Aecio Neves, who lost the presidency to Rousseff by a hair in 2014 will have to work fast to restore confidence and hold off the tide of continuous bad economic data. "The political stuff that has been driving the market ... is about to come to closure in the next several weeks," Dean said. Then Brazil will go back to trading on fundamentals, and that will be trouble. "The process of getting Brazil's house in order ... is going to be a long, hard slog," he continued. "So I think it's going to be a couple of years of pain, but at least you'll have a government election that is moving in the right direction." At least, that's what Brazil will have until 2018 when there's another presidential election. Then it's really anybody's game. NOW WATCH: 13 Surprising Facts About Brazil More From Business Insider Palestinian protesters carry national flags and plant olive trees facing the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit during a protest marking Land Day, in the village of Wadi Fukin, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Monday, March 30, 2015 (Photo: AP) Palestinian protesters carry national flags and plant olive trees facing the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit during a protest marking Land Day, in the village of Wadi Fukin, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Monday, March 30, 2015 (Photo: AP) Israeli border policeman remove Palestinian flags during a demonstration by Palestinians marking Land Day and against Jewish settlements in Wadi Foukeen near the West Bank city of Bethlehem March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) Israeli border policeman remove Palestinian flags during a demonstration by Palestinians marking Land Day and against Jewish settlements in Wadi Foukeen near the West Bank city of Bethlehem March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) Palestinian protesters throw stones towards Israeli troops during clashes following a protest marking the Land Day and against Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Silwad near Ramallah March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) Palestinian protesters throw stones towards Israeli troops during clashes following a protest marking the Land Day and against Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Silwad near Ramallah March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) A Palestinian boy argues with an Israeli soldier during a protest marking Land Day and against Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Silwad near Ramallah March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) A Palestinian boy argues with an Israeli soldier during a protest marking Land Day and against Jewish settlements in the West Bank village of Silwad near Ramallah March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) Palestinian protesters scuffle with an Israeli border policeman during a protest marking the Land Day in the West Bank village of Hawara near Nablus, Monday, March 30, 2015 (Photo: AP) Palestinian protesters scuffle with an Israeli border policeman during a protest marking the Land Day in the West Bank village of Hawara near Nablus, Monday, March 30, 2015 (Photo: AP) Palestinians react to stun grenades fired by Israeli border policeman during clashes following a protest marking Land Day in the West Bank town of Hawara near Nablus March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) Palestinians react to stun grenades fired by Israeli border policeman during clashes following a protest marking Land Day in the West Bank town of Hawara near Nablus March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) A Palestinian protester argues with Israeli border police during clashes following a protest marking Land Day in the West Bank town of Hawara near Nablus March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) A Palestinian protester argues with Israeli border police during clashes following a protest marking Land Day in the West Bank town of Hawara near Nablus March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) An Israeli border policeman detains a Palestinian protester during clashes following a protest marking Land Day in the West Bank town of Hawara near Nablus March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) An Israeli border policeman detains a Palestinian protester during clashes following a protest marking Land Day in the West Bank town of Hawara near Nablus March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) A Palestinian protester holds up a Palestinian flag during a protest marking Land Day in the West Bank village of Hawara near Nablus, Monday, March 30, 2015 (Photo: AP) A Palestinian protester holds up a Palestinian flag during a protest marking Land Day in the West Bank village of Hawara near Nablus, Monday, March 30, 2015 (Photo: AP) A Palestinian protester holds a Palestinian flag and an olive tree during a demonstration marking Land Day and against Jewish settlements in Wadi Foukeen near the West Bank city of Bethlehem March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) A Palestinian protester holds a Palestinian flag and an olive tree during a demonstration marking Land Day and against Jewish settlements in Wadi Foukeen near the West Bank city of Bethlehem March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) A Palestinian woman plants an olive tree during a demonstration marking Land Day and against Jewish settlements in Wadi Foukeen near the West Bank city of Bethlehem March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) A Palestinian woman plants an olive tree during a demonstration marking Land Day and against Jewish settlements in Wadi Foukeen near the West Bank city of Bethlehem March 30, 2015 (Photo: Reuters) 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 (Beijing) Anbang Insurance Group last year's high-profile buyer of New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel and now a bidder for the world's eighth-largest hospitality concern, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. runs a banking-investment-property developer-hotel conglomerate with a little insurance on the side. Anbang's diversity as well as deep pockets may explain why it is continuing with a global shopping spree, including a proposed US$ 14 billion buyout of Starwood. Combined premiums from domestic life and property insurance policies last year netted Anbang US$ 9.2 billion, far below the typical cash flow from premiums reported by industry leaders such as China Life and Ping An, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said. Anbang also netted about US$ 6 billion in 2015 by specializing in "investor insurance" short-term investment products. It has thus cornered about four-fifths of the Chinese market for investment packages sold to retail investors that yield up to 10 percent, said an insurance company executive who asked not to be named. Yet revenues pale beside the total assets of US$ 292 billion reportedly held in 2014 by privately controlled Anbang. And it's this cash pile, primarily tied to banking and properties, that's been tapped for a takeover campaign that started in 2011 and now targets Starwood. Anbang has yet to disclose how it would finance the Starwood takeover with its investment partners Primavera Capital, a Beijing-based private equity firm also known as Chunhua, and the New York- and London-based private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co. But a source close to CIRC recently told Caixin the regulator might block the deal by invoking a rule that bars domestic insurers from channeling more than 15 percent of company assets into overseas investments. Anbang last year paid about US$ 2 billion for the upscale Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan, and agreed to buy the Iowa-based insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life for US$ 1.59 billion. In 2014, it bought Belgian insurer Fidea for 220 million euros and paid 219 million euros for the Dutch financial group Delta Lloyd's subsidiary Delta Lloyd Bank Belgium. On March 12, the U.S. investment firm Blackstone agreed to sell Anbang its Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. firm the operator of 16 luxury hotels and resorts in the United States, from the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to the Intercontinental in Chicago for US$ 6.5 billion. Blackstone Chairman Steve Schwarzman said the deal is pending Chinese and U.S. regulatory approval and may take more than two months to complete. The possible purchases of Starwood and Strategic, when added to previous buyouts, would bring Anbang's foreign investment outlays to some US$ 27 billion. Anbang has yet said how much of its assets are "insurance assets," based on which the regulator said it would calculate how much Anbang could invest abroad. But a variety of non-insurance holdings are load-bearing pillars of Anbang's financial strength. The firm holds controlling stakes in Chengdu Rural and Commercial Bank and China Minsheng Banking, as well as minority stakes in China Merchants Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and property developers Gemdale Corp., China Vanke Co. Ltd., and Financial Street Holdings Co. The 2011 deal for the Chengdu bank, which reported more than 620 billion yuan in assets in 2014, was Anbang's first banking investment. It now controls 35 percent. Insurance holdings are comparatively few. Of the 1.9 trillion yuan in total assets reported by Anbang in 2014, the firm's property insurance division held only 209 billion yuan and the life insurance unit just 120 billion yuan. Growth Targets Anbang has been competing against the American hospitality giant Marriott for Starwood's worldwide chain of 1,222 hotels, which include facilities operating under the Sheraton and Westin brands. A Marriott-Starwood merger would create the world's largest hotel group. As of late March, the Chinese company had submitted the highest bid at US$ 14 billion, topping Marriott's latest offer by a whopping US$ 400 million. Anbang joined the bidding war four months after Starwood executives agreed to sell the chain to Marriott, and just weeks before Starwood shareholders were scheduled to vote on the offer. If Anbang wins, Starwood will have to pay Marriott a breakup fee of US$ 400 million. Anbang wasn't the only Chinese company interested in Starwood. Sources told Caixin that, since late 2015, the government sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp., the Hong Kong-listed hotel chain operator Jinjiang International Co., and the Chinese airline-hospitality concern HNA Group had shown interest in acquiring the company. But apparently none has gone as far as Anbang. Guo Jinpu, head of research for the Beijing-based broker Cinda Securities, said Starwood's good asset quality and sound financials make it a good target for Chinese investors. Moreover, the hotel business has enjoyed worldwide investment returns of up to 5 percent in recent years, he said. Anbang considers hotels and other overseas investments as a path to higher returns, said an insurance industry analyst who asked not to be named. Now "is the best time for insurers to make investments," said a source close to the conglomerate. "Anbang sees huge opportunity." Anbang was founded in 2004 as a property insurer with seven shareholders and 500 million yuan in registered capital. The largest stakeholder, with 20 percent, was the Shanghai-based auto manufacturer SAIC Motor Corp. Publicly accessible business registration documents indicate Anbang's current lineup of 39 private investors includes many obscure companies, such as auto dealerships and mine operators. Some of these firms share mailing addresses, and many of small shareholders are in some way connected to Anbang Chairman Wu Xiaohui, a businessman in the eastern province of Zhejiang, who is known for business acumen and a keen ability to win regulatory support. Major investors have also joined Anbang. In 2005 the state-run petrochemical company Sinopec Group bought a 20 percent stake for 340 million yuan. After a series of fundraisers and shareholder changes, Anbang increased its registered capital to 61.9 billion yuan in 2014. The company's equity is now fairly evenly distributed among its dozens of investors. Meanwhile, some big-name shareholders have pulled back. SAIC has let its stake in Anbang fall to 1.2 percent, while Sinopec's share in the firm is now just 0.5 percent. An investment bank source who spoke with Caixin on condition of anonymity claimed Anbang intentionally arranged shareholder reshufflings over the years in order to skirt CIRC rules on insurance company ownership. Under an old rule, a single investor could not hold more than 20 percent of an insurance company, nor could an individual or company commission another to hold a stake in its behalf. CIRC amended that rule in 2014 so that any single investor, with permission, could hold up to 51 percent. Possible Risk Anbang in recent years has chosen to capitalize on booming demand for retail investment products in China. Some sources say the firm's investor insurance plans are now a major revenue source. "Anbang was among the earliest" insurers to offer these products "and has continued doing so," said a property insurance firm source. "About 70 to 80 percent of investor insurance plans on the market are offered by Anbang." But these products, which mature in a few months, may be putting Anbang at risk, said a rival insurance company's executive. "Investors have to be repaid as promised even though many products don't achieve expected yields," he said. And as China's economy slows, finding successful, short-term investment targets that generate high yields is increasingly difficult, the executive said. Anbang's response to the economic climate at home has been to look overseas for growth targets, even though CIRC "clearly had a disapproving attitude" toward recent foreign investment plans including the Starwood deal, according to a source close to the commission who spoke with Caixin. But regulatory frowns have yet to discourage Anbang. "Anbang has assets that far exceed 1 trillion yuan, enough to carry out foreign investment," said Wu, without explaining the assets and capital source for the deal. (Rewritten by Han Wei) (Beijing) The operator of the country's railroads has vowed to reduce the number of train accidents this year amid increasing pressure from the industry's regulator, several people with knowledge of the matter say. The leadership of China Railway Corp. (CRC) said at a meeting on January 12 at the company's headquarters in capital that the goal is to cut both accident and death tolls this year, a person who attended the meeting told Caixin. The CRC intends to put an end to accidents caused by fire and explosions and fatal freight train accidents, the source said. By doing this, the company hopes to reduce accidents that cause deaths or injuries by one-fifth from last year, he added. The CRC has been squabbling with the National Railway Administration, a government agency which regulates the industry, over how to classify and publish details on fatal railroad incidents. The railroad administration announced rules in May that require all companies in the industry to file reports about accidents that cause three or more deaths. The rules say information including investigation results and who was punished and how should be contained in reports that are published on the administration's website within 20 working days of filing. As of March 30 no reports on fatal accidents have appeared on the website. The CRC is afraid that revealing the number of people who die in mishaps every year would put the company under too much public scrutiny, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The CRC's pledge to reduce accident rates this year is the result of pressure from the administration, an employee of the regulator said. The administration said in a report on March 17 that 1,037 people died in train accidents last year, 195 fewer than in 2014. The management of the CRC heard at a meeting in December that the railroad system experienced 1,710 cases of train malfunctions last year, including 210 instances in which people on board were killed or hurt, one of the people at that meeting said. The CRC blamed some of the problems on quality standards falling at China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. Ltd., the country's major train maker. However, Zuo Dajie, a professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, said that only the regulator has the power to determine whether trains have quality problems. (Rewritten by Chen Na) Mr. Robinson, As a long time supporter of the pro-choice movement, I was taken aback by the pro-life reaction to Trump's comment on punishing woman for having an abortion. I had always assumed that if Roe v. Wade was overturned it would be a legal statement that life begins before birth and that abortions would be murder. And therefore that a woman having an abortion would be legally equal to a woman who hired a hit man to kill he husband. Additionally, when arguing this issue over the years, I used to often say that there was a difference between when life began biologically and when the law had a interest in that life. I used to say that if life begins at birth then it becomes a miscarriage becomes a legal matter which would need to be investigated. I would then suggest that would be an abhorrent way to treat parents. Have I been too harsh about what the pro-life movement really wants ? Do they really not want to punish woman ? Or are they just cynically saying this now ? Brussels (AFP) - Two suspects charged over their alleged involvement in a foiled French attack plot are to be held in custody in Belgium for another week, the federal prosecutor said Wednesday. With Brussels reeling from deadly suicide bomb attacks on its airport and metro system, police shot the first suspect, Abderrahmane A., in the leg after a tense stand-off on Friday at a tram stop in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels. He and Rabah M., both Algerian nationals, were charged at the weekend with being part of a terrorist group in connection with the arrest of terror suspect Reda Kriket near Paris last week. The prosecutor said in a statement that the court hearing had been postponed until April 7 at the request of the men's lawyers but gave no other details. Abderrahmane A., 38, and initially identified as Abderamane A. and Rabah M., 34, given first as Rabah N., were charged with "participation in a terrorist group" after French police found arms and explosives in a flat Kriket was using in a Paris suburb. Their arrests highlighted the extensive links investigators are finding between French and Belgian Islamic State cells which carried out the Brussels attacks which left 32 people dead and the November Paris carnage in which 130 died. Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - France will end its military intervention in the Central African Republic this year as it has achieved its objectives of restoring security to the country after three years of communal violence, the French defence minister said Wednesday. "I can confirm to you the end of Operation Sangaris during the course of 2016," Jean-Yves Le Drian said in the capital Bangui. France launched the mission in December 2013 as thousands were dying in ethnic violence between Christians and Muslims. At the time, "the country was in the throes of civil war, torn by religious tensions, plagued by chaos, on the brink of pre-genocidal scenarios," Le Drian said. "In the space of two years, the Sangaris force restored calm and prevented the unacceptable. "Of course everything is not resolved but we can finally see the country emerging from a long period of trouble and uncertainty", he said, speaking before French soldiers stationed at the M'Poko airport. The CAR plunged into chaos in March 2013 when mostly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President Francois Bozize, a Christian, and installed their leader Michel Djotodia in power for 10 months. A transitional government was brought in under international pressure in early 2014. Le Drian is in the country for the swearing-in on Wednesday of new President Faustin-Archange Touadera, elected in a run-off vote on February 14. France, the former colonial power, had around 2,500 troops deployed as part of Operation Sangaris at its peak, supporting around 10,000 UN peacekeepers. But this has been reduced to about 900. Le Drian did not indicate when the troops would be withdrawn this year. But he said the pullout will be in parallel with the buildup of the 12,000-strong UN force, MINUSCA, and the European Union's training mission (EUTM RCA). Around 300 French troops will remain in CAR, who will rejoin MINUSCA and take part in EUTM RCA, he said. Some French units will also continue to provide security at the airport, and some troops based in Ivory Coast and in the Sahel region will be "ready to rapidly intervene" if necessary. International operations in CAR have been dogged by sexual scandals after a slew of accusations of child sexual abuse against French and UN troops. Washington (AFP) - The US military's top general said Tuesday he has drawn up recommendations for the US troop presence in Afghanistan next year and submitted his proposals to Pentagon chief Ash Carter. The United States is trying to determine how many forces should remain in Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have made significant gains since Afghan security forces took over from NATO troops in 2015. The American and NATO combat mission in Afghanistan officially ended in December 2014, though the alliance left in place about 13,000 troops, most of them American, in a training and advisory mission. The number of US troops is due to drop to 5,500 starting in January 2017 -- down from 9,800 currently -- but Taliban success on the battlefield is forcing officials to rethink that plan. "I have crafted a recommendation to the secretary of defense," General Joe Dunford, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, giving no details. "The secretary and I... at some point in the future will bring those recommendations forward to the president." Since the Afghans took over security the Taliban have dealt some stinging blows -- including the brief capture of the major city of Kunduz -- that jolted confidence Afghan government forces could hold their own against the insurgents. Dunford said it was important NATO and the United States quickly determine troop levels for next year. General John Nicholson, the new senior US commander in Afghanistan, had previously said he would make a proposal within 90 days of taking up the post on March 2, but Dunford said he was not going to wait. "NATO... have to make a decision on what forces would be deployed in January of '17 and then they have to train those forces in the next six months, so we can't wait 90 days for an assessment in Afghanistan before we move forward," he said. Berlin (AFP) - Russia is running a "shadow government" in rebel-held territories of eastern Ukraine under the control of the FSB intelligence service, German newspaper Bild reported Wednesday, citing minutes from an official commission. The report said that basic administrative functions of the cities of Donetsk and Lugansk are being run by six working groups at five Russian ministries. The officials, who manage areas including tax law, transport infrastructure and the establishment of an electricity market, work under the auspices of the FSB and answer to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, according to the minutes cited in Bild. "It is notable that no members of the self-declared people's republics in eastern Ukraine are on the commission," Bild said. "They are simply informed about its findings and their political implementation." Kozak denied the allegations, with his spokesman telling independent Russian TV channel Dojd: "We have nothing to do with that... It has never been said that Dmitry Kozak deals with any regions other than those of the Russian Federation." The minutes derive from an October 2015 meeting of the so-called Interministerial Commission for the Provision of Humanitarian Aid for the Affected Areas of the Southeast of the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions. Bild quoted an unnamed secret services agent as saying that the commission's work allowed the separatist regions to function as a Russian "satellite state". Eastern Ukraine has been gripped for nearly two years in a war between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists. Russia has repeatedly denied allegations that it has active forces in the war zone or exercises direct influence over the territories, saying it only provides humanitarian aid there. The fighting has killed nearly 9,200 people since April 2014 and raised alarm across eastern European states about what they see as Putin's aggressive foreign policy stance. A Western push to resolve the crisis has floundered as Ukraine and Russia have proved unable to agree on elections in the rebel-controlled areas. Kiev has expressed fears that Russia -- already having annexed Crimea in 2014 -- may try to unsettle the country further by exerting influence over Donetsk and Lugansk within a reunified Ukraine. Geneva (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called for greater global efforts to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis, as he opened a conference on securing resettlement places for nearly half a million of those displaced by the five-year conflict. "We are here to address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time," Ban told the conference in Geneva. "This demands an exponential increase in global solidarity." The UN secretary general, a South Korean, recalled his own experience of fleeing his village with his family as a six-year-old during the Korean War sixty years ago and said that for him stories of refugees stranded in camps with meagre resources "have personal meaning." "Attempts to demonise people fleeing conflict are not only demeaning, offensive and counter-productive, they are factually wrong," Ban told journalists after his speech, in an apparent reference to rising anti-migrant rhetoric voiced by some political leaders across the developed world. The Geneva meet follows a conference in London in February where nations pledged $11 billion (9.7 billion euros) to help manage one of the largest displacements of people since World War II. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that 4.8 million Syrians have fled the country during its five-year civil war, with another 6.6 million people internally displaced. While calling for a humane approach to care for those displaced, the UN chief stressed that a peace deal must be part of a lasting solution. "There is no alternative to negotiating a political transition that will lead to a new Syria," Ban said. Talks led by Ban's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura paused last week, but the sides remained deadlocked over the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom the opposition insists must leave power before a transitional government is agreed. Jihadist forces including the Islamic State group, which is excluded from the peace process, continue to be targeted in the Russian-backed regime's offensives. Story continues Soldiers were locked in heavy fighting with IS fighters on Wednesday in central Syria after dealing the jihadists a major blow by seizing the ancient city of Palmyra. A ceasefire between Damascus and non-jihadist opposition forces has broadly held since February 27, but isolated clashes persist in the conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people. - 10 percent - The aim of the Geneva meet is to secure relocation pledges from countries -- excluding Syria's neighbours -- for 10 percent of Syria's refugees, or 480,000 people, within three years. Ban said the 480,000 figure was "a relatively small number," compared with those being hosted by Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The British charity Oxfam on Tuesday noted that wealthy countries had so far only resettled 67,100 Syrian refugees -- a mere 1.39 percent of those forced to flee. It identified Canada, Germany and Norway as the only countries who have promised to go beyond their "fair share." - EU-Turkey deal - The UN continues to voice concerns over a deal agreed between Turkey and the European Union, under which all migrants landing on the Greek islands face being sent back to Turkey. UNHCR and the UN's rights office have warned that the deal might violate some migrants' legal right to asylum. Noting concerns about the deal, Ban described it as "a good start", as it demonstrated engagement from the EU and Ankara on the Syria refugee issue. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi, speaking after Ban, noted that the pact included a larger resettlement programme and therefore may prove to have positive elements in the weeks ahead. More than one million migrants -- about half of them Syrians -- reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, a rate of arrivals that has continued through the first three months of 2016. Thousands have died making the harrowing journey, often on rickety boats run by people smugglers. Some European states have temporarily shut borders and called for tough measures to stem the movement of people through the continent. Ban argued that migrants should be viewed as assets, noting "the famous refugee work ethic" while arguing that welcoming migrants "provides the best way to safeguard economic success as populations (in Europe) grow older." Washington (AFP) - The United States will step up its troop presence in Eastern Europe in response to "an aggressive Russia" by deploying an additional armored brigade, the US military said Wednesday. Continuous rotations of the brigade beginning in early 2017 will bring the US Army's presence in Europe to three fully manned combat brigades, the US European Command said. A brigade comprises about 4,200 troops. "This army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere," General Philip Breedlove, the top US commander in Europe, said in a statement. "Our allies and partners will see more capability," he added. "They will see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries." Defense Secretary Ash Carter last month unveiled the Pentagon's proposed budget for next year, which includes $3.4 billion -- quadruple last year's amount -- for operations in Europe. The cash will fund the so-called European Reassurance Initiative, which aims to deter Russia from carrying out additional land grabs after its 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. "These efforts demonstrate strong alliances and partnerships backed by demonstrated capability, capacity and readiness to deter aggression," Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal said. "We have been clear that we will defend our interests, our allies and the principles of international order in Europe." - Equipment upgrades - The Pentagon's beefed-up European presence means US forces will increase military exercises with ally countries and train with new equipment. An armored brigade combat team includes approximately 250 tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Paladin self-propelled howitzers, plus 1,750 wheeled vehicles. Each armored brigade will be deployed for nine months and bring its own gear. Story continues Equipment already in the region will be repaired and upgraded, then stored in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, the military said. Eastern European leaders welcomed the move. Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis said the deployment bears out commitments made by President Barack Obama in a speech in the Estonian capital Tallinn in September 2014. "This decision is particularly important after President Obama's statement," he said. "Then, the US president said that Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius are just as important to protect as Berlin, Paris and London." Russia has repeatedly warned against the permanent positioning of substantial forces from NATO along its border. And some NATO members, like Germany, have been skeptical about any substantial permanent deployment, saying it could breach a 1997 agreement between the military alliance and Russia. But the new US deployment avoids the issue because it is not technically permanently stationed in Eastern Europe, with brigades rotating in and out, US officials say. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and has been supporting a pro-Moscow separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. The US military has about 62,000 permanently assigned service members in Europe. Settlement Commits Developer to Enhance Safeguards for Employees at Psychiatric Center DOL says the employer exposed workers to lead and asbestos dangers. DOL says the employer exposed workers to lead and asbestos dangers. The company said it is encouraged many of OSHA's proposals for asbestos and lead exposure have been changed from "not willful" citations and nearly all of its asbestos-related citations were vacated, and that Dover Greens will remain committed to the workers' safety and health as the project progresses. According to its news release, the U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with Dover Greens LLC, formerly known as Olivet Management LLC, that commits the real estate development and management company to provide and maintain enhanced safeguards for workers renovating the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Dover Plains, N.Y. OSHA cited the company for dozens of violations in 2014, including lead and asbestos hazards. Failing to implement preventative measures such as air sampling, respiratory protection, and dust control were cited. "Workers and their families were exposed to lead and asbestos and their attendant health hazards due to Olivet Management's failure to provide them with basic, required safeguards. This settlement obligates the company to do things correctly this time and take additional steps to ensure safe and healthful working conditions, or face the full original fine of $2.3 million," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. Dover Greens posted a statement about the settlement on its website. The statement says the work at the center was directed and overseen by Dover Greens supervisors and "never included intentionally removing asbestos and lead-contaminated debris, according to company officials. Dover Greens maintains that no construction or remediation efforts requiring permitting commenced during that time, and that none of its cosmetic-related activities could reasonably expose any worker to harmful levels of any hazardous substance. Nevertheless, Dover Greens has settled with OSHA and has agreed to pay $700k as an investment to ensure future worker safety, including health and environmental awareness, for the restoration of the former State-owned facility. At a time when national and local economies are still weak, Dover Greens wants the project to be a catalyst to revitalize the Eastern Dutchess County with community-wide consensus and collaboration. Dover Greens looks forward to continuing to work for the revitalization of its local community through this project's efforts." The statement adds that, "As executive power is routinely wielded to target and obstruct groups trying to make a positive impact in local communities, Dover Greens is encouraged that many of OSHA's proposals for asbestos and lead exposure have been changed from 'willful' to 'not willful' citations, and nearly all of its asbestos-related citations were vacated altogether. Dover Greens will remain committed to the workers' safety and health as the project progresses." "We are pleased to invest in future workers' health and safety through this settlement, which will be paid out over the next ten years," said company spokesman Terence Michos. "Thankfully, we see no further obstacles to unlocking the potential of this project for the entire Dover community." Sotheby's is targeting wealthy foreign buyers who are looking for homes in Singapore. Sothebys International Realty Affiliates LLC, a firm specializing in marketing luxury properties, announced on Wednesday, 30 March, that it has signed a contract with List Holdings Singapore to develop the Sothebys brand in the city-state. List Holdings Singapore is owned by the same company that operates List Sothebys International Realty in Japan and Hawaii. Under the agreement, the latter will open an office here by the second half of this year, to be helmed by Hisashi Kitami, owner and CEO of List Sothebys International Realty. Singapore is a global financial centre, making it an attractive market for international buyers, said Philip White, President and CEO of Sothebys International Realty Affiliates LLC. Kitami added: As part of the Sothebys International Realty network, we have seen great success in Hawaii and Japan, and are excited to expand into Singapore. The country has an international consumer base, and the global exposure offered by the brand will continue to be beneficial to our clients. Sothebys International Realty network currently has more than 18,800 sales associates spread across 835 offices in 63 countries. Each office is independently owned and operated. Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg More from PropertyGuru: PropertyGuru's Commercial Property Outlook H1 2016 Food Hub to come with shared cold room, warehouse Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder holed up in Ecuador's London embassy, could leave his refuge before the end of this year, a high-profile former Spanish judge who leads his legal team told AFP on Wednesday. "We hope and we want and we believe that we will manage that," lawyer Baltasar Garzon said on the sidelines of a conference on justice and war crimes in Guatemala. He did not give details on why he thought Assange's departure from the embassy was forthcoming, or under what conditions an exit would occur. Garzon added that he believed Assange's "right to asylum is being violated" by Britain's insistence on arresting the fugitive Australian to hand him over to Swedish authorities for questioning related to a 2010 rape allegation. Assange, 44, has been living in the Ecuadoran embassy since 2012. Ecuador has granted him political asylum. Assange denies the rape charge and says he fears Sweden would send him to the United States, where he is the target of a secret US grand jury investigation linked to his website's divulging classified US military documents and diplomatic cables. A UN panel this year concluded that Assange was being forced by Britain and Sweden to live in arbitrary detention in violation of his human rights. Britain has rejected that as "ridiculous." Garzon said Assange's legal team was continuing to highlight the "situation of arbitrariness and deprivation of rights" suffered by their client as a result of him "defending the right of access to information." 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 VIENNA (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani postponed a two-day visit to Austria indefinitely for security reasons on Tuesday, the evening he was supposed to arrive in Vienna, his Austrian counterpart's office said. It was not clear what the security reasons were, a spokeswoman for Austrian President Heinz Fischer's office said. A planned Rouhani visit to Baghdad immediately before the Austrian trip had, however, also been postponed for security reasons, Fischer's office and an Iranian official said. "We were working (on preparations) until 5, 5:30 p.m.," the spokeswoman said, underlining the short notice as Rouhani had originally been expected to arrive around 7:30 p.m. local time. The visit was due to be Rouhani's second to the European Union since international sanctions against his country were lifted in January under a landmark nuclear deal with major powers that was negotiated in Vienna last year. The Austrian Chamber of Commerce had said 1 billion to 2 billion euros ($1.1 billion to 2.3 billion) of business deals would be signed, a sum dwarfed by Rouhani's visits in January to Italy and France but still significant for much smaller Austria. Rouhani, the chief architect of the nuclear deal and keen to open Iran's economy to the world, had been due to meet Fischer and other officials on Wednesday and Thursday. Fischer issued a statement expressing regret and understanding at Rouhani's move, without explaining it. "Of course, it goes without saying that each state must make its own decisions about security and the head of state's security," Fischer said. "The quality of relations with Iran will not be affected by this postponement." ($1 = 0.8872 euros) (Reporting by Francois Murphy and Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Heinrich) By Hani Amara TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Members of Libya's U.N.-backed Presidential Council reached Tripoli by ship on Wednesday, defying attempts to keep them out of the city and prevent them from installing a unity government. Seven members of the Council including Fayez Seraj, its head and the new government's prime minister, arrived from Tunisia at Tripoli's Abusita naval base amid tight security. A separate self-declared government also based in Tripoli and armed groups that back it had warned the Council and the unity government not to travel to the capital. Tripoli is home to many armed factions and the security situation is volatile, with sporadic clashes and bursts of gunfire in recent days. Hours after the Council arrived, heavy firing was heard over the city. Tripoli's airspace was closed for several hours on Sunday and Monday, a move the Council said was designed to prevent it from reaching Libya. Seraj told Reuters that the council members had travelled in a Libyan navy vessel from the Tunisian port of Sfax, a 12-hour journey. "There are challenges ahead of us, including uniting Libyans and healing divisions," he said after arriving. He later made a brief statement saying the government would release a programme in the coming days. "We will work for a ceasefire across Libya, for national reconciliation and the return of displaced people, and we will seek to confront Islamic State," he said. The government of national accord (GNA) emerged from a U.N.-mediated deal signed in December aimed at ending the country's political impasse, resolving its armed conflict and tackling a growing threat from Islamic State jihadists. Western powers have recognised it as Libya's sole legitimate government, but it has faced continuing opposition from hardliners in both eastern and western Libya. Since 2014 Libya has had two competing pairs of parliaments and governments, both backed by loose alliances of armed brigades. The government in Tripoli was brought to power by armed factions that won a battle for control of the capital in 2014. Ahead of its arrival, the Council said it had negotiated a security plan with police and military forces in Tripoli, and with some armed groups. The road outside the naval base was heavily secured with checkpoints and armoured vehicles on Wednesday. To the west, military vehicles were stationed near the Chief of Staff's headquarters on the seafront, where they shut down the coastal road and a major roundabout, though it was not clear if this was for the Council's protection. The Council has called for an immediate transfer of power to the unity government, though both the Tripoli and eastern-based governments oppose this. The unity government's 18 members have so far failed to secure a vote of approval from Libya's eastern, internationally-recognised parliament, as required under the U.N.-mediated deal, and Fathi al-Mrimi, a spokesman for eastern parliament's president, said its arrival was "premature". "They have entered by force under foreign protection, and Libyans won't accept anything imposed on them by force," he told Reuters. U.N. Libya envoy Martin Kobler welcomed the Council's arrival, saying the international community was "ready to provide the required support and assistance", and that all Libyan security actors had a responsibility to ensure its safety. The EU, as well as the French, British and Italian foreign ministers also greeted the move. "We stand ready to respond positively to requests for support and assistance from the GNA to help them restore stability to Libya, rebuild the economy, fight Daesh (IS) and tackle the criminal gangs that threaten the security of Libyans and exploit illegal migrants," said British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. (Additional reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli and Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by John Stonestreet and Richard Balmforth) FashionValet has operations in Singapore and Jakarta, and also operates a brick-and-mortar store in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia-based fashion e-commerce platform FashionValet has raised Series B round financing worth multi-million dollars from Start Today Co., owner of Japans leading online fashion mall ZOZOTOWN. The startup will use the investment for strategic expansion and also to leverage the fashion e-commerce expertise of its Japanese partners in scaling the business. This investment comes exactly a year after its Series A round, led by Silicon Valley-based Elixir Capital. Over the past 12 months since the Series A funding, FashionValet claims to have doubled its revenue, commenced operations in Singapore and Jakarta, and opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Kuala Lumpur. A second physical store is scheduled to open in Singapore mid-2016 in the heart of Orchard Rd. Were thrilled to have Start Today onboard as an investor, their experience in building ZOZOTOWN into the top fashion e-commerce portal in Japan will prove invaluable to FashionValet as we chart our next stage of growth around the region, FashionValet CEO Fadzarudin Anuar said. Started in 2010 by Malaysias popular blogger Vivy Yusof and her husband Fadzarudin Anuar, FashionValet is an online destination for Asian brands selling fashion apparel, shoes, and accessories, that aims to bring the latest fashion trends to your doorstep. The firm offers a wide selection of ready-to-wear garments, from Muslimah attire to lingerie and swimwear, and boasts fast delivery. Today, FashionValet has over 500 Southeast Asian brands, with half from Malaysia, and 180 originating from Indonesia alone. Even though it was founded in Malaysia, 40 per cent of its online sales is derived from international customers. In 2012, MYEG, one of Southeast Asias most well-known publicly-listed Internet companies, invested in FashionValet. FashionValet has done an amazing job of developing high-demand brands and products from local designers. We feel there is a lot we can share with them with respect to back-end operations. We are very excited to join them on their journey, says Koji Yanagisawa, CFO of Start Today. Start Today was founded in 1998 and got listed in 2007, and is based in Chiba (Japan). It is engaging in online retailing and e-commerce consulting activities in Japan. The company purchases limited amount of fashion items from various brands and resells in its online shops and boutiques comprising ZOZOTOWN. The post Malaysias FashionValet secures Series B funding from Japans Start Today appeared first on e27. Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, reelected for a second term during controversial weekend elections, on Wednesday proposed forming a national unity government with the opposition which boycotted the vote. In an interview with AFP, he said: "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. "There is not just a security challenge, there are other challenges including economic and social development. All these challenges need a sacred union," he said. Issoufou won 92 percent of the vote in Sunday's election in the impoverished but uranium-rich country, which was marred by low turnout. 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 seven percent of the ballots cast. Issoufou, who took office in 2011, campaigned on pledges to bring prosperity to the country and vowed to prevent further attacks from jihadists in its vast remote north, and from 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 added. "I am prepared to discuss and debate with everyone, with political parties -- from the majority or the opposition -- and with civil society," said the president. A new U.S. political survey shows Republican voters continue to favor billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump for the party's presidential nomination by a wide margin over his two remaining challengers, while the Democratic contest between former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has narrowed. The NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released Tuesday showed the brash Trump with 48 percent support among Republicans, well ahead of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a conservative firebrand in the halls of Congress, who has 27 percent. Ohio Governor John Kasich has 18 percent. Trump also has a significant edge in winning delegates to the Republican national convention in July, where the party will pick its 2016 presidential nominee. It is not clear if Trump, a political novice and one-time television reality show host, will be able to win a majority of delegates ahead of the quadrennial gathering. If he falls short, the nomination would be decided in contentious balloting until a nominee is chosen. In the Democratic contest, the survey showed Clinton, the country's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, ahead of Sanders by a 49-to-43 percent margin among Democratic voters, her narrowest edge since the tracking poll was started in late December. Sanders, a democratic socialist who has centered his campaign with attacks on the country's growing income inequality, easily won three state nominating contests against Clinton on Saturday, but trails far behind her in claiming delegates to the party's July national convention where the nominee will be selected. LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's former president, Alberto Fujimori, was transferred from his prison cell to a hospital on Wednesday to undergo neurological tests after feeling dizzy and briefly losing the strength in his legs, his doctor said. Fujimori, 77, serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuse and corruption during his 1990-2000 presidency, will likely spend the night in the hospital, said Dr. Alejandro Aguinaga, who was once Fujimori's health minister. "It appears to be manageable ... we're doing a (MRI) scan now," Aguinaga said by phone. Fujimori's daughter, 40-year-old Keiko Fujimori, is the front-runner by a wide margin in this year's presidential race, although she is not expected to win outright in the first-round vote on April 10. Recent opinion polls show she will likely face Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former World Bank economist, in a possible runoff election, where she is seen losing narrowly. Sympathy for the ailing former leader could help blunt a resurgence in opposition to Keiko Fujimori after two of her rivals were disqualified from the presidential race this month on grounds that they broke electoral rules. She has promised that if elected, she would not use presidential powers to release her father. But she has insisted he is innocent of charges that he ordered death squads to massacre civilians in a crackdown on leftist rebels. Television images showed Alberto Fujimori being pushed towards the hospital in a wheelchair. He smiled weakly and waved to supporters, who briefly chanted: "Chino! Chino!" - his nickname in the Andean country where he was born to Japanese migrants. Fujimori is considered a corrupt dictator by many, while others credit him with fixing a broken economy and quashing a bloody insurgency in the 1990s. He has high blood pressure and has been hospitalized several times in recent years so doctors can treat a recurrent growth on his tongue and other problems. President Ollanta Humala, whose five-year term ends on July 28, rejected a pardon request from Fujimori in 2013 after concluding he was not suffering from a terminal illness. (Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Peter Cooney) A man who hijacked an Egyptian passenger jet and forced it to land in Cyprus has been arrested and Cypriot authorities say all passengers and crew "are safe," after hours of tense negotiations. The final captives on board the EgyptAir plane, heading from Alexandria to the Egyptian capital when it was hijacked, were seen exiting the aircraft on the tarmac of Larnaca Airport, after a tense standoff inside the plane. Cypriot authorities insist terrorism is not the cause of Tuesday's incident, despite initial reports the hijacker was wearing an explosive belt and had threatened to blow up the plane. According to Cypriot media, the hijacker, identified as Seif el-Din Mustafa, wanted to speak to his former wife, who lives in Cyprus. Arab media claimed the man was demanding prisoners in Egypt be released, but Egyptian officials denied the report. An Egyptian man accused of hijacking a passenger jet and forcing it to land in Cyprus while strapped with fake bombs may be prosecuted in his own country. Egypt's public prosecutor has asked Cypriot authorities to extradite Seif Eldin Mustafa. Mustafa, who has been described by officials as being "psychologically unstable", was remanded in custody earlier for eight days on suspicion of hijacking an EgyptAir aircraft. No formal charges were put to the 59-year-old during Wednesday's brief hearing at the District Court in Larnaca, but he could be charged with hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. He is accused of taking over the jet during an internal flight from Alexandria to Cairo. The Egyptian held four crew members and three passengers hostage during an eight-hour stand-off, claiming he was wearing a suicide belt. He later freed the group and handed himself in to police after making a series of "incoherent" demands. Although his motives remain unclear, Cyprus' foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides said it had not been a terrorist act, but was linked to a "family feud" involving Mustafa's estranged wife with whom he has four children. It was later established the belt contained no explosives and was instead packed with mobile phone covers. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect told police after his arrest: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" Four Britons were among the 56 passengers on the aircraft when it was hijacked on Tuesday morning, with most of the passengers released after landing in Cyprus. Ben Innes, a British health and safety auditor from Leeds, was one of at least two Britons held for hours by Mustafa and took a photo with a huge grin on his face alongside his captor. Mr Innes told The Sun he "just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity". "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing lose anyway, so I took a chance to get a closer look at it," he told the newspaper. A friend of Mr Innes told Sky News: "It is completely like him to think it is funny and get a picture." AMMAN (Reuters) - Iraq expects to receive financial support of $6.4 billion (4.4 billion pounds) in 2016 from donors and international organisations, Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Tuesday. Speaking after talks in Jordan with International Monetary Fund officials, Zebari told Reuters: "This year we expect from them and other financial institutions and donors around $6.4 billion". He gave no breakdown of those funds but said that Iraq would "start talking seriously" next month with the IMF on a standby arrangement to help it tackle an economic crisis brought about by low oil prices and the heavy costs of war with Islamic State. (Reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi, Writing by Dominic Evans, Editing by Angus MacSwan) Belgium authorities said Tuesday that the number of people killed in last week's attacks on the Brussels airport and on a metro station was revised down to 32, excluding the three suicide bombers. Officials had previously put the death toll at 35; the error was made by double counting three people with dual citizenship. All victims from the twin bombing last Tuesday were identified, and included 17 Belgians and 15 foreigners, said Ine Van Wymersch, a spokeswoman for the Belgian prosecutor's office. Authorities also said at least 90 people remain hospitalized, more than 40 of them in intensive care. Meanwhile, the United States says more "can and must be done" with regards to boosting intelligence sharing in Europe following last week's deadly terror attacks in Brussels. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the attacks at the Brussels airport and metro are a reminder of how important it is for the "basic fundamentals of intelligence and national security procedures" to be followed. He reiterated U.S. support for Belgium during its investigation. Belgium's federal prosecutor said Monday that authorities had to release a man widely reported to be a main suspect because there was no justification to hold him. Before his release, the man identified as Faycal C. faced preliminary charges of "taking part in a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder." Media reports suggested his name was Faycal Cheffou and that he was believed to be the third individual seen in an airport security camera footage alongside the two men who blew themselves up there. It is not clear whether investigators believe he could be the man seen in the grainy CCTV photo, taken moments before the blast. VILNIUS (Reuters) - NATO should upgrade its air patrols in the Baltic states into a combat-ready force that would be able to defend them in time of war, the defence alliance's top commander said on Tuesday. A multi-national NATO force currently has eight jets patrolling the skies over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This air policing operation was increased from four jets in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. "I think that the alliance does need to be ready for the air defence mission, and of course we as military men and women are looking at that capability," Philip Breedlove, outgoing NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told reporters in Vilnius. "Air policing and air defence are meant for two different situations. The Baltic air policing is a peacetime mission", he added. A total force of about 600 U.S. troops has been present in the Baltic countries and Poland since April 2014, augmented by occasional rotations of other NATO allies. U.S. President Barack Obama, in a speech delivered in Estonia in 2014, said NATO would help to safeguard the independence of the three Baltic states, which broke away from Moscow's orbit in 1990-91 as the Soviet Union was collapsing. Now, backed by an increase in U.S. military spending, NATO is planning its biggest build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War to counter what the alliance, and in particular the Balts and Poland, consider to be a more aggressive Russia. The three Baltic states, which joined both NATO and the European Union in 2004, have asked NATO for a permanent presence of battalion-sized deployments of allied troops in each of their territories. A NATO battalion typically consists of 300 to 800 troops. "We no longer want multi-national forces to be present only as a measure of assurance or for political visibility. We want forces of deterrence, with a clear understanding that they would engage in case of a conventional attack," Lithuania's chief of defence Jonas Zukas told reporters. "The air defence problem is real," he added. "It is obvious that in case of a military conflict (in the Baltics) neither four nor eight jets would be enough." Moscow denies any intention to attack the Baltic states. It says Crimea is historically Russian land and that it acted legitimately in 2014 to safeguard its interests after mass street protests forced Ukraine's then-president, the pro-Moscow Viktor Yanukovich, to flee Kiev into Russian exile. Russia also denies arming pro-Moscow separatists battling Kiev's forces in eastern Ukraine. (Reporting By Andrius Sytas; Editing by Daniel Dickson and Gareth Jones) By Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - When Brussels police caught Salah Abdeslam, suspected sole survivor of Novembers suicide assault on Paris, they knew they were in a race against time to stop a new Islamic State attack. It was the afternoon of Friday, March 18, and one of Prime Minister Charles Michel's cabinet ministers tweeted "We got him!" after Europes most wanted man was seized at a house in the capital's Molenbeek neighborhood. But Michel was worried, according to a government official who was present at the time. The premier raced to his crisis command center from a European summit nearby. Security forces had orders to increase vigilance but lacked intelligence to justify a citywide lockdown such as Michel imposed after the Paris attacks. "Our first thought was that ... this will set off a ferocious response," the aide told Reuters, speaking on condition that he not be named. Those fears were well founded. The suicide bombings of Brussels airport and a metro train that killed 28 bystanders laid bare the inability of the Belgian authorities to counter Islamic State militants, no matter how high the level of alert. Missed connections, leads not followed and suspects let slip have exposed deficiencies in security services. They have also shown how Europe's Syrian-trained Islamist cells can react with deadly speed to events such as Abdeslam's arrest. "It was a race against time," said Vincent Gilles, head of Belgium's main police trade union SLFP. But with the intelligence service understaffed - by some estimates by about half the level for other rich European states - it was a race the authorities could not win. YEAR ON ALERT Belgium is, for its size, the biggest European supplier of foreign fighters in Syria. Islamic State has appealed to an alienated generation descended from mostly Moroccan immigrants of the 1960s. Belgian authorities stepped up their searches for activists after January 2015. That month, days after the bloodshed at Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo, Belgian police foiled a plot in the town of Verviers that revealed an Islamic State campaign to send some of the 300 or more young Belgians who have fought in Syria back to Europe to strike on their native soil. In Verviers, police killed two men who returned from Syria with Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Killed in a shootout in Paris days after the attacks there, he emerged as "the spider in the web", in the words of a Belgian minister, of an extensive network. Yet though Belgian authorities questioned numerous contacts of Abaaoud, notably from his old Molenbeek neighborhood, the trail went cold. Among those interrogated and released were Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim. In the first half of 2015, Belgian courts convicted dozens of radical preachers and their followers for recruiting for Syria. But new cells were forming elsewhere. Last summer, the Abdeslams, petty drug dealers who ran a Molenbeek bar, put together what Salah has since told interrogators was a logistical plan to prepare for the attacks on Paris. Salah drove across Europe more than once and appears to have transported quantities of guns, explosives and people. It was with shock, after 130 people died on a Friday evening in the French capital and trails led back to Brussels, that Michel's government realized it had an urgent problem. He locked down transport and public spaces for days as he was near "100 percent certain" of a threat. At the center of those fears was Salah Abdeslam, whose brother had blown himself up at a Paris cafe. Abdeslam had slipped back across the Belgian border ahead of a French dragnet. The morning after Paris, he went to ground in Brussels. NEW RESOURCES, TOO LATE Michel pledged cash and legal reforms to beef up a security system that officials accepted was understaffed. An intelligence service of about 700 staff for a country of 11 million struggled to cope, as did a police force that is about 20 percent below full strength. Police and security services have also struggled with a lack of communication and coordination across a multiplicity of departments that cross Belgium's Dutch-French language divide. Two of Tuesday's suicide bombers - Najim Laachraoui and Khalid El Bakraoui - were on counter-terrorism watchlists. The former was a suspected bombmaker for the Paris attacks; the latter rented a safe house for the Paris cell and the flat where police picked up Abdeslam's trail. Bakraoui's brother Brahim, was a convicted armed robber in breach of his parole who was expelled last July from Turkey. Ankara warned Belgium he had been caught trying to reach Syria. In December, police in the town of Mechelen had a tip about a family sheltering Abdeslam. The tip included the address where he was eventually apprehended. But officials acknowledge the tip was never passed on to Brussels colleagues. The revelation has led to criticism - strongly denied - that Mechelen's town hall might prefer to suppress a tip to avoid irritating local Muslims, a key electoral constituency. In their four-month search for Abdeslam, police pulled in dozens of people, holding 10 by last month. Dozens of homes were raided to no avail. Police reject suggestions it was chance that led them to a house in the Brussels borough of Forest on March 15. Four officers were wounded in a shootout before one gunman was killed. The apartment, rented under a false name by Khalid El Bakraoui, the Brussels metro bomber, yielded a fingerprint belonging to Salah Abdeslam. Police homed in on a cellphone he was using, leading to his capture three days later. THREE DAYS OF FEAR Over the three and half days following that arrest, the government considered locking down Brussels but decided against it because they had no clear clues that an attack was in the offing, the government official said. When the bombers struck at the morning rush hour on Tuesday, the authorities tried to moved fast. A taxi driver who took the bombers to the airport led police to the apartment where he had picked them up. That produced a evidence including chemicals and another bomb. One report said the bombers left it behind after a confused taxi dispatcher sent a smaller cab than they ordered. It also produced a witness who, investigators say, has since identified a third man seen on airport cameras with the two bombers. Police have been rolling up contacts and acquaintances of those identified, including another suspected plotter in Paris. Michels government is also cracking down on fake documents which seem to have allowed the likes of Laachraoui and Abaaoud, to slip across Europe from Syria. The government has sought new legal powers over, and in cooperation with, Internet and telecoms firms to track suspects. But officials caution that it could take years to fill the gaps in the security structures of a country that is host to the European Union and NATO. So it was with a note of resignation that Belgium's leaders reacted to the worst bloodshed in their country since World War Two: Michel declared simply: "What we feared, has happened." (Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Alessandra Galloni/Janet McBride) By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday he hopes China will accept an offer by the United States for a technical briefing on the possible deployment of a U.S. THAAD missile defence system to South Korea, which worries Beijing. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system was a necessary step by the United States to protect itself and regional allies from North Korea missile attacks. "We realise China may not believe us and also proposed to go through the technology and specifications with them ...and prepared to explain to what the technology does and what it doesn't do and hopefully they will take us up on that proposal," Blinken told the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington The United States and South Korea agreed to begin talks on the deployment of a THAAD last month after North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7. South Korea's military said on Tuesday that North Korea test fired a short-range missile on its east coast. U.S. President Barack Obama will meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday to discuss North Korea's nuclear programme. The possible deployment of the THAAD has unnerved China but Blinken said it was a necessary step until Pyongyang's behaviour changed. "We have been very clear with Beijing that as long as North Korea continues to take these actions and to advance its missile programme, and as long as that is not stopped and reversed we will have to take steps to ensure our own security and that of our allies," Blinken said. "None of these steps are directed against China but we have also been very clear that as long as this persists ... we will have to take steps," he said. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Alistair Bell) By Tulay Karadeniz and Dasha Afanasieva ANKARA (Reuters) - Five days before Turkey is due to begin taking back illegal migrants from Greece under a deal with the European Union, neither side is fully ready, with officials scrambling to be able to make at least a symbolic start as new arrivals rise. Turkey agreed with the EU this month to take back all migrants and refugees who cross illegally to Greece in exchange for financial aid, faster visa-free travel for Turks and slightly accelerated EU membership talks. The returns are supposed to begin on April 4 under the plan, which aims to close the main route by which a million migrants and refugees poured across the Aegean Sea to Greece in the last year before heading north mainly to Germany and Sweden. But uncertainty remains over how many will be sent back, how they will be processed, and where they will be housed. The plan risks being overwhelmed by the continued flow of migrants to Greece, where arrivals rose sharply on Wednesday. A series of steps needs to be taken by Monday for the deal to get underway, according to people familiar with an internal European Commission report. These include legislative changes in Greece and Turkey, transport and other logistical arrangements, and clarity on how Turkey will treat non-Syrian refugees. The report, which followed meetings in Ankara on Wednesday between EU special envoy on migration Maarten Verwey and Turkish officials, called on EU member states to make public reports which portray Turkey as a "safe third country" for refugees. That appeared to be an attempt to ease concern among rights groups and some European politicians about the legality and feasibility of the deal. They have questioned whether Turkey has sufficient safeguards in place to defend refugees' rights and whether it can be considered a safe country for them. The first returnees are expected to be taken by boat from the Greek islands to Dikili, north of the city of Izmir on Turkey's Aegean coast, Turkish officials said. But where they will be housed in the longer term remains unclear. "Our worries are that not just Dikili but the whole region's infrastructure is not ready if they stay here - whether it's health or education facilities. We have expressed these worries," Dikili's mayor, Mustafa Tosun, told Reuters. District governor Mustafa Nazmi Sezgin was quoted by the Haberturk newspaper as saying the plan was not to set up a refugee camp but just a registration centre, from where migrants would be sent on to Izmir or other areas within 24 hours. Kerem Kinik, vice president of the Turkish Red Crescent, said his organisation was preparing a camp with 5,000 places in the province of Manisa east of Izmir after being asked for help by the government, although it would not be ready immediately. "We will host the first returnees most probably in hotels, seaside holiday camps," he told Reuters. Some might then be housed in refugee camps, but others were likely to return to the Turkish provinces where they had previously settled, he said. DEAL RUSHED THROUGH Turkey has spent almost $10 billion since the start of the Syrian conflict, much of it on refugees camps close to the Syrian border whose standards have won international praise. A new law gives migrants permission to work in Turkey, although there are limitations on where and in which sectors. Syrians would be free to settle outside camps if they wanted, according to an official from Turkey's disaster management agency AFAD, which has taken a lead role in managing the 2.9 million Syrian refugees already in Turkey. "We can't lock them down in accommodation centres. If they want, they can go to camps, or if they have relatives they might stay with them. But if they say 'I can take care of myself' ... we can't pressure them," the official said. Turkey's refugee camps house fewer than 300,000 of its migrant population, who mostly fend for themselves. Critics of the EU-Turkey deal fear some of the returnees from Greece will also end up forced to take illegal jobs or beg on the streets. Under the pact, Ankara will take back all migrants and refugees who cross to Greece illegally by sea. In return, the EU will resettle thousands of legal Syrian refugees directly from Turkey - one for each Syrian returned from the Greek islands. The first European resettlement of 40 Syrians to Germany is planned for next week, a diplomatic source said, declining to be named because the plan has not yet been finalised. Turkey intends to send non-Syrians who do not meet asylum criteria back to their countries of origin, under readmission agreements which Ankara already has with some states and is negotiating with 14 others - including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Eritrea and Somalia - according to foreign ministry officials. That has raised concern among rights groups, who worry the deal has been rushed through by European and Turkish leaders without sufficient thought about its implementation. "Every individual should have access to individualised procedures with the chance to explain if they don't want to return to Turkey... Being able to achieve all this in such a short period of time seems unrealistic," said Irem Arf, regional migration researcher for Europe for Amnesty International. "We don't consider Turkey a safe country for refugees and asylum seekers. We have documented cases of forced returns to Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan," she told Reuters. Amnesty accused Turkey last week of forcibly returning about 30 Afghan asylum-seekers to Afghanistan despite their fearing Taliban attacks. The Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management acknowledged the return of 27 Afghans, but insisted all were returned voluntarily and that none had requested asylum. (Additional reporting by Karolina Tagaris in Athens; Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by David Stamp) KKR has agreed to buy into seeds provider Advanta Enterprises in a deal which values the business at about $2.25bn. Global private equity group Carlyle may soon be the only one left in the bidding for British company Mayborn, owner of North Korea fired a short-range projectile into a northeastern inland area from Wonsan, Kangwon Province on Tuesday. It is rare for such projectiles not to be lobbed into the sea. The Joint Chiefs of Staff here said the projectile flew about 200 km and came down in Ryanggang Province about 70 km from the Chinese border. "Generally, missiles or rockets are fired into the sea to minimize damage to civilians in case the launch fails," a military officer here said. "We believe that the firing at an inland target is aimed at showing off how accurate their new multiple rocket launcher is." Rockets from the new 300 mm MRL are equipped with a satellite and inertial navigation system. In April last year, the North fired four short-range missiles from Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province into the estuary of the Taedong River, some of which hit inland targets. But the missiles flew only about 140 km at that time. The military here says the projectile could have struck the Seoul metropolitan area if it had been fired southward. The North is threatening almost every day to strike Cheong Wa Dae. The North's frontline Army units warned last week "Never forget that Cheong Wa Dae and reactionary governing agencies are within the range of our intensive artillery strikes." President Park Geun-hye is going to discuss sanctions against the North with the leaders of the U.S., China, and Japan at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington later this week, which is likely to have prompted the North's recent frantic fireworks. "It's likely that the North is practicing hitting hypothetical targets like Cheong Wa Dae with short-range projectiles," a military source here speculated. But a government official speculated that the North fired the rocket in the direction of China to show that it is peeved because Beijing voted for fresh sanctions in the UN Security Council and seems to be sticking to them. Goldman Sachs is said to have raised $1.8bn for its third infrastructure fund, which is targeting $3bn. The investment b Santa Clara, CA: A privacy class action lawsuit has been filed against Facebook and several high profile cancer institutes, alleging FB mined private health data from websites of the cancer institutes to generate advertising campaigns. Facebook and Cancer Institutes Privacy Class Action Legal Help The cancer institutes named as co-defendants in the proposed class action are: the American Cancer Society Inc., American Society of Clinical Oncology Inc., Melanoma Research Foundation, Adventist Health System, BJC Healthcare, the Cleveland Clinic, and the University of Texas-MD Anderson Cancer Center.Filed by Winston Smith, a registered Facebook user and Missouri resident, the 88-page complaint claims the medical institutes' websites include a secret "Facebook code"that allow users' data to be transmitted to Facebook, which then creates targeted advertising campaigns."Without the knowledge, consent, or any action of the user, the entire process happens in milliseconds,"the complaint states.According to Smith, he searched for lung cancer information on the American Cancer Society' website, Cancer.org. The information he sought and any links he clicked then were sent to Facebook without his knowledge and without his consent."Despite Cancer.org' Privacy Policy, the Plaintiff' communications to and from Cancer.org were contemporaneously re-directed to, tracked, intercepted, and acquired by Facebook through the process described above,"Smith alleges. "Upon these and other communications, Plaintiff' cancer-related communications were disclosed to, tracked, and intercepted by Facebook through cookies and other identifiers."In the complaint, Smith asserts that users of such websites "trust"that their personal details of their cancer-related searches and browsing with not be shared with third-parties. The complaint also notes that Facebook, itself, does not disclose in its data and privacy policies that it tracks and collects such "sensitive information."Smith is being represented by Beverly Hills class action firm Kiesel Law LLP, among others. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.If you or a loved one has suffered similar damages or injuries, please fill in our form on the right and your complaint will be sent to an internet/technology lawyer who may evaluate your claim at no cost or obligation. They arrived here earlier this week aboard 158 airplanes as part of a bonus trip. The city of Incheon threw a chicken and beer party for them -- a popular combination thanks to the hit soap "My Love from the Star," which took China by storm. Kicking off the flood of visitors this year were 6,000 sales reps for a cosmetics and health supplement outfit. May will see an even bigger group of around 8,000 reps for a Nanjing-based health supplement manufacturer. They plan to shop and attend a flower festival along the Han River. And in June, around 10,000 reps for direct-sale giant Herbalife's Singapore branch are scheduled to visit Gyeonggi Province. The Korea Tourism Organization and the Seoul Metropolitan Government forecast between 30 to 40 groups of more than 1,000 Chinese tourists to visit Korea on bonus trips. Direct-sales behemoth Amway set the record in 2014, when 14,791 of its reps came to Korea. The main attraction of Korea for the companies is the explosive popularity of Korean TV soaps and K-pop among the housewives who typically work a sideline in direct sales. Korea is also conveniently close. Experts say while these mass tours bring in a lot of money, Korea needs to offer a wider variety of programs and bolster infrastructure so visitors can experience more than just shopping centers and soap opera locations. Lee Choong-ki at Kyunghee University said, "The popularity of the Korean Wave could cool at any time, so a wider variety of tourist attractions is urgently needed." Raskalov pairs up with Russian Vadim Makhorov to snap selfies from the top of skyscrapers and other tall structures around the world, including the 124-foot Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Cologne Cathedral and Shanghai Tower. The result, posted online Monday, shows his feet resting on a yellow crane above the half-finished 123-story Lotte World Tower and far below the expanse of Seokchon Lake. Ukrainian photographer Vitaliy Raskalov, who made a name taking pictures from high places, recently set his sights on a brand-new Korean landmark. Security staff at Lotte Corporation were flummoxed. The company had beefed up security after the pair posted photos of Sinchon and Mt. Nam early this month, and put up posters at the entrances to the construction site with pictures of the two daredevils. In vain. On Tuesday, Raskalov posted another photo sitting atop Lotte World Tower and wrote that he would already have been gone by the time Lotte staff realized it. At 555 m Lotte World Tower is the tallest building in Korea and fifth tallest in the world. The top floors offer breathtaking views not only of Seoul, but parts of neighboring Gyeonggi Province and even Seoul Airport, which is used by the president on official trips. In November last year, Lotte Corporation became the first private business in Korea to set up its own anti-terror squad complete with bomb-sniffer dogs and stationed around 400 security guards at the tower around the clock. But the two photographers slipped past them. Security staff scrutinized CCTV footage during the period they suspect the two went up to the top but found no leads. "Judging by their track record, we believe they snuck into the tower at night and waited till morning before taking the photo on top of the crane," a Lotte staffer said. "We're going to have to review our security system." Lotte is unlikely to bring charges. Published On Mar 30, 2016 By Arun for Tata Bolt Amongst the first entries to the CarDekho garage this year, was the Tata Bolt. Weve been living with it for a while now. After clocking around 2000kms in around a month, heres a quick round up of how the hatchback has performed. We really like the amount of space the Bolt has on the inside. To test it out, we folded the rear seats down and opened the boot. We know that isnt the standard test of space, but hey, we do things a bit differently! With the seats down and the hatch opened, the Bolt could accommodate two cameramen with their tripods fully set up in the boot area. Our camera guy loves the Bolt for this very reason. Two key negatives about the interior would be the seat cushioning and the storage space. While the cushioning is adequate, we think it could have been slightly softer. After a long drive, the back does tend to ache a fair bit. Secondly, theres very little storage space inside the cabin. The glovebox is deep, but that will be occupied by the cars documents. Other usable spaces remain the lone cupholder (that we ended up using for the air-freshener) and slim door pockets. Inevitably, we ended up placing our phones, wallets and what not just ahead of the gear-lever, which seems to work fine, right upto the point where-in you change directions. Ive lost count of the number of times Ive found my phone under the clutch or the passenger side footwell of the Bolt. A reasonable solution is to tuck the phones away in the door pockets - they arent great at holding bottles anyway. Lest we forget, theres a tray under the co-driver seat which we used exactly once. Were glad Tata has taken feedback seriously and incorporated a lot of storage spaces in the upcoming Tiago. The Bolt definitely lacks in this department. The aircon on the Bolt, it is an absolute chiller once set to low. The downside would be that the fan gets annoyingly loud at high speeds. Thats a small inconvenience in our books, since it manages to keep us cool in the near 40C temperatures that Mumbai is witnessing over the past week. On a related note, the sensor that ascertains ambient temperature has definitely gone cuckoo. As you might have noticed in the pictures, it read out 49C in the evening. The other goodie the Bolt boasts of, is the touchscreen infotainment system. We wish the touchscreen was a tad more responsive. Audio quality is average, nothing great to speak of. The odo was around the fifteen thousand kilometre mark, when we were handed over the keys to the car. Mechanically, the car wasnt in great shape. The front right tyre was knackered and the clutch felt like it was on its last legs. None the less, we decided to put it through its paces to see how itd fare. After accompanying us on quite a few shoots, the front tyre had to be inevitably swapped for a spare. The stock 175/65 R15 tyres are mounted on rather nice looking alloy wheels finished in gunmetal grey. The spare on the other hand, is a 175/65R14 tyre on a steel rim - that looks ghastly, and limits you to 120km/h. The clutch, weirdly enough, soldiers on. The Bolt has seen a healthy mix of sedate driving (thanks Abhishek!) and some pedal to the metal action, courtesy yours truly. While Abhishek thinks the clutch isnt as big an issue, I find it plain annoying. The release isnt one smooth action. It feels like it is resisting every single centimeter of travel. The biting point is relatively high too, but that can be fixed with a service, were sure. Over the course of roughly two thousand kilometres, the Bolt has been a dependable workhorse. Efficiency has always hovered around the 17km/l mark. Even though it wasnt in the best of conditions to begin with, it hasnt given us a reason to complain. It is nimble around the city and surprisingly mature on the highways. The steering is light and precise too! The gush of torque post 2000rpm still manages to plant a silly grin on our faces. The government has asked prosecutors to investigate Mercedes-Benz for allegedly selling cars with transmission specs that differ from what it reported to authorities. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport filed a complaint with prosecutors Tuesday against Mercedes-Benz and the chief of its Korean operation, Dimitris Psillakis. The automaker sold nearly 100 E350 diesels cars here with a nine-speed transmissions since Jan. 27 after reporting to authorities that it would only sell a seven-speed model. The automaker in a statement Tuesday said it took immediate steps to halt sales of the affected vehicles and reported the matter voluntarily. The ministry said it does not plan to take additional measures since no major damage has been done to consumers. Mercedes-Benz has been on a roll so far this year, outpacing rival BMW after releasing the new GLC and GLE SUVs in January. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the company sold 8,085 cars here in the first two months of this year, while BMW, the No. 1 importer for seven straight years, sold just 5,326 due to slow sales of the new 7 Series. Research from Callahan & Associates puts the current number of CUSOs at about 1,000, according to Jack Antonini, president/CEO of the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (NACUSO), Newport Beach, Calif. Of that number, about 580 are wholly owned by individual credit unions, and the remaining 420 are owned by two or more credit unions. The National Credit Union Administrations new direct reporting requirements for CUSOs should yield a more accurate census beginning this year, including data on subsidiaries owned by credit union service organizations, or baby CUSOs as they are sometimes known, says Guy Messick of Messick & Lauer, LLP , Media, Pa. Messick is also NACUSOs general counsel. The California WaterFix cannot be fixed, summed up Bill Jennings, executive director of California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. The idea that you can divert millions of acre feet of water under an estuary that is already suffering from lack of flow without grievously harming existing water users, communities and already degraded fisheries and water quality is fundamentally absurd. Groups Ask Water Board to Dismiss Delta Tunnels Petitionby Dan BacherThe California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and U.S. Department of Interior yesterday called for a delay in a scheduled hearing on their petition to divert water under the California Water Fix - the second time they have asked that the proceedings be delayed because they aren't ready to present their case.Today, representatives of 9 environmental, farming and fishing groups sent a letter to Tam Doduc and Felicia Marcus of the State Water Resources Control Board requesting them to dismiss the petition.Those signing the letter include Jonas Minton, Planning and Conservation League; Bill Jennings, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance; Colin Bailey, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta; Conner Everts, Environmental Water Caucus; Osha Meserve, Local Agencies of the North Delta; Tim Stroshane, Restore the Delta; E. Robert Wright, Friends of the River; Carolee Krieger, California Water Impact Network; and Kyle Jones, Sierra Club California."Each time the Hearing Officers accommodate the Petitioners delay requests with more time, more Board staff and protestant time and financial resources are taken, and hundreds of peoples schedules are impacted," the letter states. "We believe there are much better uses of everyones time, such as spending the necessary time to update the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan to adequately protect current beneficial uses.""Among other deficiencies, the Change Petition: (1) does not adequately describe the changes sought; (2) fails to attempt to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood that the change will not injure any other legal user of water; and (3) fails to describe the extent of impacts to fish and wildlife. As a result of these and other deficiencies, the full nature and extent of injuries to legal users of water and significant adverse impacts to fish and wildlife uses have not been identified and analyzed," according to the letter.The group representatives concluded the letter by requesting that the Hearing Officers dismiss the Petition until a "complete petition" is submitted pursuant to Water Code section 1701.2 and Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations section 794, among other requirements.Governor Jerry Browns California Water Fix to Build the Delta Tunnels, a controversial plan to divert Sacramento River water to corporate agribusiness interests, Southern California water agencies, and oil companies conducting fracking and extreme oil extraction methods, is broken and in chaos.Thats the assessment of a coalition of fishing, environmental and farming groups, including Restore the Delta, the Planning and Conservation League, the Local Agencies of the North Delta and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), as pointed out in a joint news release on March 28. ( http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/29/1507594/-Jerry-Brown-s-Delta-Tunnels-Plan-Is-Collapsing Besides the difficulty the petitioners face in obtaining their permit to divert water from the Sacramento River before reaching the Delta under the California Water Fix, the rapidly collapsing Delta Tunnels scheme faces another major hurdle when the terminally flawed science of the California Water Fix will face independent review by a scientific panel convened at the request of NOAA Fisheries on April 5-6.It is very likely that the independent review panel will give a failing grade to the science concocted to justify the Delta Tunnels Plan, just like US EPA scientists did last year and just as every panel of state, federal and independent scientists has done previously. For more information, go to: http://deltastewardshipcouncil.cmail20.com/t/r-l-eilhktl-ffpjrf-d/ The California Water Fix is based on the untenable concept that diverting more water from the Sacramento River before it reaches the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta will restore the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.The California WaterFix cannot be fixed, summed up Bill Jennings, executive director of California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA). The idea that you can divert millions of acre feet of water under an estuary that is already suffering from lack of flow without grievously harming existing water users, communities and already degraded fisheries and water quality is fundamentally absurd.Below is the letter from the groups:March 29, 2016Tam DoducFelicia MarcusState Water Resources Control Board P.O. Box 100Sacramento, CA 95812-0100Re: Bureau of Reclamation/Department of Water Resources Request for 60-Day Delay of California Waterfix Water Rights Change PetitionDear Hearing Officers and Board Hearing Staff:We write to request that the State Water Resources Control Board dismiss the California WaterFix Change Petition. Yesterday, Petitioners requested for the second time that the proceedings be delayed because they are not ready to present their case. In particular, they are not ready to submit a complete application that describes the changes proposed, or to describe potential impacts of the Project on water rights and fish and wildlife impacts.Water Code sections 1701.1 and 1701.2 and Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations section 794 (among other provisions) describe the contents of a complete change petition. The Hearing Officers previously acknowledged that the Petition was incomplete, but continued with the hearing process with the expectation that the Petition would be subsequently completed, first by March 1st, and then by March 30th. Now Petitioners are unable to meet the current deadline and are again asking for more time. Each time the Hearing Officers accommodate the Petitioners delay requests with more time, more Board staff and protestant time and financial resources are taken, and hundreds of peoples schedules are impacted. We believe there are much better uses of everyones time, such as spending the necessary time to update the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan to adequately protect current beneficial uses.Among other deficiencies, the Change Petition: (1) does not adequately describe the changes sought; (2) fails to attempt to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood that the change will not injure any other legal user of water; and (3) fails to describe the extent of impacts to fish and wildlife. As a result of these and other deficiencies, the full nature and extent of injuries to legal users of water and significant adverse impacts to fish and wildlife uses have not been identified and analyzed.Thus, we respectfully request that the Hearing Officers dismiss the Petition until a complete petition, is submitted pursuant to Water Code section 1701.2 and Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations section 794, among other requirements.Sincerely,Jonas MintonPlanning and Conservation LeagueBill JenningsCalifornia Sportfishing Protection AllianceColin BaileyEnvironmental Justice Coalition for WaterBarbara Barrigan-ParrillaRestore the DeltaConner EvertsEnvironmental Water CaucusOsha MeserveLocal Agencies of the North DeltaTim StroshaneRestore the DeltaE. Robert WrightFriends of the RiverCarolee KriegerCalifornia Water Impact NetworkKyle JonesSierra Club California We support farm worker groups picking for Driscolls especially in their struggle and fight for union contracts.For the last three years, farm worker members of Familias Unidas por la Justicia have been fighting for a union contract through the boycott of Driscolls Berries. As workers at Sakuma Berry Bros. Farms, the majority of berries they pick are sold under the Driscolls label. They call on Driscolls, the largest berry distributor in the world, to pressure Sakuma Berry Bros Farms into negotiating a contract with their workers. A union contract will provide farm workers with the stability and resources to work with dignity and push for broader transformations like ending pesticide use, establishing worker owned cooperatives, and higher wages.Familias Unidas por la Justica stands in solidarity with the San Quintin union: El Sindicato Independiente Nacional Democratico de los Jornaleros Agrologias. This solidarity brings the boycott to the international level necessary to bring Driscolls to the negotiating table for both unions. Currently, farm workers in San Quintin are exposed to unfair labor conditions: supervisors yelling at workers and not giving them any type of break during their 10-12 hour shift, low wages (30 cents a pound compared to 50-70 cents a pound elsewhere), and security guards intensely patrolling the workers.Such a refusal on the part of Driscolls Berries and Sakuma Bros. Berry Farms shows both parties failure to recognize the farm worker as a dignified valued workforce in the food system, and in doing so, continues the marginalization of migrant farm workers.We are outraged that Driscolls and Sakuma Bros. Berry Farm have subjugated Farm Workers to such harsh working conditions, and do not take the demands of farm work into account. We are also in discontent at the fact that the University of California Santa Cruz continues to serve Driscoll's Berries in its dining halls despite the calls to boycott the berries from the farm workers.We insist that the university stops purchasing Driscoll berries, and endorse the workers who have called for a boycott. In doing so, not only will the university show its respect and solidarity for farm workers, but for once, it would actually uphold the values that it supposedly stands for : The original authority on questioning authority.We strongly believe La Union Hace la Fuerza and stand in solidarity and support those fighting for justice with a community that has been historically marginalized by institutions. We recognize the importance for allies of migrant farm workers to support each other in the quest for just working conditions, and stand in solidarity with those who fight Driscolls for a union contract. Hasta La Victoria Siempre!-Students of the University of California, Santa CruzThis petition will be delivered to:UC Santa Cruz Dining ServicesSign petition: https://www.change.org/p/uc-santa-cruz-dining-services-ucsc-dining-services-join-us-in-our-boycott-of-driscolls-berries It was almost the perfect cover-up of a serious violent crime by a dozen or so pigs from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. In their official reports, posted below, Deputies Luis Santamaria and Paul Wieber claimed they beat Stanislav Petrov senseless on November 12, 2015, because they feared for their lives and their baton strikes "appeared to have little effect." That might have been the end of the story, as it usually is when police pummel or kill someone out of public view. But this time there was video of the beating the pigs couldn't bury and anyone who has seen it knows better. Other pigs lied about the incident, too. One who arrived on the scene after the beating dutifully played a role in the cover-up by reporting that Stanislav continued to act violently Separately, it has now come out that one of the pigs present after the beating actually robbed Stanislav after the beating and gave his gold chain, his cigarettes, some change and some other stuff to a homeless man who had witnessed the beating, presumably as a payoff to stay quiet.On top of all that, almost all of the deputies had their body cameras turned off, although Alameda Sheriff Greg Ahern says Wieber accidentally activated his body camera and that a second video of the beating exists. Accidentally.At least three of these pigs are now on "paid administrative leave," the two beaters and now the robber. For Luis Santamaria and Paul Wieber, that's a 4 1/2 month paid vacation at this point, and still no charges from San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon.On March 24, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi issued the following statement on the police reports in the November 12 beating of Stanislav Petrov in San Francisco. The Alameda County Sheriffs Office reports were released the previous day in response to a citizens public records request.The deputies description of their encounter with Mr. Petrov does not match the surveillance video of the brutal beating released by my office. The reports narrative attempts to justify the savage attack by claiming Mr. Petrov resisted arrest and reached for his waistband. But the ultimate objective witnessthe camerashows the deputies striking a man with their batons more than 30 times while he writhes helplessly in the street, Adachi said. It is also disturbing that none of the 11 deputies involved turned on their body cameras. I do not believe that is a coincidence, but an attempt to cover up their misconduct. I urge the San Francisco District Attorney to file criminal charges against these officers. Public school advocates, teachers and students protested Oracle Billionaire Larry Ellison's plan to use public funds for a privately run charter on his corporate campus. Teachers in Redwood City and San Mateo are angry that these charters are siphoning off public money into privately run schools. Public school advocates and teachers joined together at the world headquarters of Oracle in Redwood City, California on March 28, 2016 to protest the use of public funds for a privately run Oracle/Ellison charters school with public tax money. Under California charter law billionaires and even religious cults are getting public funds for their privately run charter schools.Larry Ellison who is worth $50 billion wants to construct a charter school on his corporate campus with a tax deduction and use public funds to staff the corporate run school. Public school teachers in Redwood City and San Mateo are angry that while their schools suffer from funding cuts and lack of supplies and special courses, Ellison and other billionaires are siphoning off money to their private projects and furthering segregation and discrimination against special education learners and other students who require additional help.They also supported the California Charter Repeal initiative which would stop all public money to privately run charter schools in California.For more information:Voices Against Privatizing Public Education- Repeal Charter School Laws CommitteeProduction ofLabor Video Project Pittsburgh, PA GlaxoSmithKline faces more GlaxoSmithKline faces more Zofran lawsuits alleging babies developed birth defects after being exposed to Zofran in the womb. While some women say their children have outgrown the Zofran side effects, others say the effects have lasted well into their child's life, and traumatized their families. With lawsuits consolidated for pretrial proceedings, more parents are filing claims against the maker of Zofran, saying they would never have exposed their unborn babies to the drug if they had known about the risks. Zofran is an anti-nausea medication, approved to treat patients undergoing chemotherapy. Although it was not approved for use in pregnant women, it has been prescribed off label to treat morning sickness in pregnant women. Doctors are free to prescribe medications off label, but drug companies cant market their drugs for unapproved uses, which the Department of Justice alleged in a 2012 lawsuit GlaxoSmithKline did.Back then, GlaxoSmithKline paid $3 billion in fines for illegally promoting multiple medications, including Zofran, for off-label uses. The drugmaker stated at the time that the lawsuit was settled to avoid the expense of litigation.The number of Zofran lawsuits filed against GlaxoSmithKline continues to grow, with 238 sitting in MDL 2657 (In Re: Zofran (Ondansetron) Products Liability Litigation) as of March 15, 2016. Thats up slightly from the 223 lawsuits consolidated in the MDL as of February 15, 2016.GlaxoSmithKline had filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuits, but in January, Judge F. Dennis Saylor denied the motion, finding that the families needed a chance to develop their case. Glaxos motion to dismiss was based on federal preemption claims, but Judge Saylor noted that for that claim to be successful, the court must find there is clear evidence that at the time the plaintiff was injured the FDA would have rejected a proposal to change a drugs label to strengthen the warnings about that particular injury.In its motion to dismiss, Glaxo pointed to a citizens petition requesting updated label changes for Zofran warning of the risk of birth defects. The FDA rejected that proposed label change, which Glaxo argued was a sign the agency would reject any future label changes. But rejecting a petition from a citizen is not the same thing as rejecting a label change requested by a manufacturer, especially if that manufacturer has further evidence that the citizen may not have had. Plaintiffs allege Glaxo had information about the risk of side effects that the FDA did not have access to, which may have affected its decision about the label changes.Without commenting on the merits, plaintiffs are entitled to an opportunity to develop the record as to how the FDA would have responded to a proposal had GSK submitted one, Judge Saylor wrote.Plaintiffs in the Zofran lawsuits allege Zofran was unsafe for pregnant women to use because it could cause birth defects in children whose mothers used the medication while pregnant. They further allege that GlaxoSmithKline failed to adequately warn about the risks associated with the drug.Among injuries allegedly suffered by children exposed to Zofran prior to birth are cardiac malformation (including congenital heart defects), low birth weight, kidney defects and cleft palate. - Legit.ng's reporter and photo journalist discover the beautiful sceneries at the Freedom Falls in Owerri - Imolites heap praise on Governor Okorocha for the beauty in the tourist destination Given its natural endowments, cultural diversity and rich history, Imo state ought to be a haven for tourist, however, little is known about this tourism hub. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the Imo state government in December 2015, flagged off the Freedom Falls. During a recent tour of Owerri, the Imo state capital, Legit.ng reporter and photo journalist discovered, the beautiful sceneries at this tourist destination as many trooped to the centre to celebrate the Easter holidays. PAY ATTENTION:Get the latest sports news on Naij Sports App Located at Warehouse junction, opposite Orlu road, in Owerri, people of different levels and cadre appreciated Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state for the beautiful sceneries in the waterfalls. People who couldn't hold back their joy said that they can now see and enjoy what people pay to go and enjoy in America, London, etc. Fun-seekers at the Freedom Falls. Photo: Michael Obasa Speaking to Legit.ngs reporter, one of the fun-seekers who identified himself as Chinaza said: I was passing by with my friends when I saw the beauty of this place. I dont stay in Owerri but I have heard of this place and I decided to come see it myself. Its beautiful and I must commend the governor for this initiative. GET for FREE: Get the latest sports news on Naij Sports The business effect of the Freedom Falls can't also be overlooked as cameramen jumped at the opportunity to take pictures of fun seekers, who desired to have a photograph for future purposes. Beauty is indeed at the Freedom Falls in Owerri and Imolites are part of it. See pictures below: The front view of the Freedom Falls. Photo: Michael Obasa An outer view of the Freedom Falls. Photo: Michael Obasa A big statue inside the Freedom Falls. Photo: Michael Obasa The inner view of the Freedom Falls. Photo: Michael Obasa One of the entrances to the Freedom Falls. Photo: Michael Obasa Source: Legit.ng Thank you for reading The Cascadia Advocate, the Northwest Progressive Institutes journal of world, national, and local politics. Founded in March of 2004, The Cascadia Advocate has been helping people throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond make sense of current events with rigorous analysis and thought-provoking commentary for more than fifteen years. The Cascadia Advocate is funded by readers like you and trusted sponsors. We dont run ads or publish content in exchange for money. 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. Become an NPI member Make a one-time donation Aedifica has completed the newly constructed Leopoldspark rest home on Koningsstraat 39, located in Leopoldsburg in the province of Limburg in Belgium along with the acquisition of the company that owns the site. The Leopoldspark site is part of a residential and retail development project in Leopoldsburg, a [] Eurocommercial appointed Roberto Fraticelli as Director of the Italian operations, succeeding Tim Santini who will leave the Company at the end of June. Santini has been of major importance to Eurocommercial over the last 21 years, particularly in Italy where he has been responsible for the Companys first class portfolio [] Unskilled foreign workers hungry for a job are pouring into New Zealand while over 70,000 young Kiwis are desperate for work, says New Zealand First. Official briefing papers point to the government using immigration to keep a lid on wages in the low-skilled workforce, says Deputy Leader Ron Mark. National is setting up competition, forcing Kiwis to fight for jobs against foreign workers, but migrants willing to accept any conditions generally secure the jobs. Belatedly last year, the Labour Inspectorate investigated workplaces and found 16 Christchurch hire and construction companies had breached employment laws, and in December it confirmed widespread breaches of labour standards across the country. The briefing papers, from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, confirm that immigrants are increasingly in low-productivity growth industries and low-wage and low-skilled jobs. In Parliament today Minister of Finance Bill English claimed migration, now at a record annual level of net 67,400, was driven by New Zealanders staying at home and returning, and foreign students, but at the same time denied there has been an influx of low-skilled foreign workers. It has been clear for some time that low-skilled jobs have increasingly been filled and taken away from Kiwi workers, particularly by foreign students after the National government extended their work rights. The government should have taken note of the OECD warning that pointed to the unmanaged flow of temporary workers, the highest among 34 OECD countries, which it stated was potentially bad for New Zealanders job chances. The immigration inflow is unfair on all Kiwis who want to do a fair days work for a fair days pay. SOURCE: Office of Ron Mark Foreign Minister Murray McCully has announced a $10 million package to help Fiji repair public infrastructure following Cyclone Winston. The announcement follows a statement fromRepublic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto says New Zealand military personnel are helping bring back smiles and hope to areas devastated by Tropical Cyclone Winston. Viliame says the combined teams of engineers from the NZDF and the RFMF have repaired dozens of schools, medical centres and other community buildings on the main island of Viti Levu and in the remote northern Lau archipelago. Of the package announced by Murray, $500,000 has been assigned to supply building materials for projects being undertaken by the NZDF, says Murray. The remaining funding will be used to rebuild schools, evacuation centres and medical facilities on Vanua Balavu and elsewhere in Fiji. This builds on the work we are already doing to help Fiji restore electricity infrastructure. We will also be working, through our wider aid programme in Fiji, to help stimulate the local economy by providing targeted support to the dairy sector and agricultural exporters. HMNZS Canterburys original deployment has been extended until mid-April to support the construction tasks, says Murray. This latest package brings total New Zealand aid to Fiji following Cyclone Winston to more than $15 million. All this rebuilding is helping bring back smiles and hope to people in affected areas. The pace of work is quite fast. Those schools that were repaired by the NZDF are among the first to reopen, says Viliame. From a military perspective, we are happy with the way the NZDF has deployed its personnel and assets. We are complementing each other very well and we are able to work faster with the local knowledge that our boys have and the technical expertise and tools from the NZDF. Army Lieutenant Lauren Christie plays a game of ABC with children at Lomaloma village on Vanuabalavu Island. The multi-role vessel HMNZS Canterbury sailed for Fiji on March 28 with 293 military personnel, including Army engineers and medical staff, two NH90 multi-role helicopters, a Seasprite helicopter, vehicles and hundreds of tonnes of additional aid. Around 60 Army carpenters, electricians, plumbers, plant operators and combat engineers have been working alongside RFMF soldiers to repair schools and clinics in Viti Levu and on Yacata and Vanuabalavu islands in northern Lau. Army engineers have also set up a water desalination station that converts seawater into drinking water at Lomaloma village on Vanuabalavu Island. Up to 10,000 litres of potable drinking water are produced each day to support the New Zealand contingent and Lomaloma residents. Cody was born pretty small for an alpaca. But her size hasn't stopped her from rocking the most flamboyant of costumes ... ... coats ... ... or wigs. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Guy Falls In Love With His Little Meatball Of A Foster Dog It was the summer of August 2014. Amber Isaac knew something was amiss when one of her pregnant alpacas started going into labor at 11 months, when alpacas typically remain pregnant for a little over a year. When the baby finally arrived into the world, she was "barely bigger than a fetus." Sadly, these are the types of health issues that can result from alpaca breeding. Cody, who lives on an alpaca ranch in Castle Rock, Colorado, only weighed 6.5 pounds when she was born. The average newborn alpaca weighs anywhere between 18 and 20 pounds. The odds were against Cody from the start, but Isaac refused to give up on her. She took Cody into her home to look after her and bottle-fed her like clockwork, determined to have her gain weight and become the healthiest she could be. An infection almost took the young alpaca's life when she was only three weeks old - but she survived, proving that no matter what came her way, Cody had the spirit to tackle it head on. That was how she overcame other hurdles, like the time she broke her leg after an accidental fall. It was only when she started to spend more time outdoors with alpacas like herself ... ... and making new friends outside of her species, like Cappuccino the cat ... ... that her next challenge in life became fairly obvious. "As her energy got better, I started bringing her outside more and she started bumping into things," Isaac told Fox 31 Denver. A trip to the vet determined that Cody had a fully developed cataract in the right eye and a growing one in her left, impairing her vision. Without intervention, Cody would go completely blind - and surgery to prevent this worst-case scenario was expensive. But luckily for Cody, she had the backing of fans all around the world willing to pitch in and save her eyesight. In addition to getting her very own book and army of stuffed animal look-alikes ... ... Cody became a role model for children ... ... helping them embrace their differences. Once the word got out about Cody's latest medical needs, a fundraising page went up and donors managed to go above and beyond in raising money. Now Cody is gearing up for pre-surgery tests and preparations, made entirely possible by the outpouring of support and kindness from people inspired by her strength ... ... not to mention charmed by her sweetness, her fabulous holiday costumes ... ... and her Disney princess imitations. If you live in a dense, urban part of any city rife with condos and apartment towers, chances are you've heard it. A ghostly barking coming from somewhere close, but not quite seen. It's the plaintive howl of an invisible dog. Try looking up. The Dodo You just might see some frustrated animal on a distant balcony, dying, sometimes literally, to be anywhere else but on that concrete slab. Balcony dogs may be the latest scourge of condo culture - pets that exist in a kind of purgatory, neither outside enough to satisfy their needs, nor inside enough to be safe from the elements. "A balcony for a dog is a cement slab with bars. It's no different from a prison cell," Nicole Simone, founder of Redemption Dogs, a Toronto-based organization that raises awareness of shelter dogs through photography, tells The Dodo. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs Simone has been spearheading a local campaign to pressure Toronto's city council into enacting a new law that would limit the amount of time pets can be kept on balconies. Her online petition has already received more than 1,000 signatures since Friday and garnered national media attention. Until then, Simone sees the problem of balcony dogs only getting worse. "The dog population is booming in Toronto," she says. Factor in an influx of young people snatching up condos and an increasingly crowded cityscape - and it's not difficult to see where this is heading. RL Das Just weeks ago, one of the city's densest condo enclaves, Liberty Village, made headlines around the world after a dog was spotted in sub-zero weather crying and clawing to get inside and away from the 15th story balcony where he had been trapped. But Whitney Hanson of the Humane Society of North Texas says balcony dogs are in a precarious position all year round. "I have seen cases where a dog has either fallen through a bar in the railing or has jumped over a balcony and injured [himself] severely as a result," she tells The Dodo. "If a dog's not getting mental stimulation or getting really frustrated because they can see people and other dogs and action that's going on but they can't get to it," she says, "they may just jump over that barrier and hurt themselves." Summer heat can be just as dangerous for dogs on balconies as a wintry blast. "A lot of people think that the balcony, because it's covered, is proper shelter," Hanson says. "But as the sun is beating down on that balcony, it gets very hot very fast and it can be deadly." John Gicking, a veterinarian with BluePearl Veterinary Partners, echoes her concerns, telling The Dodo so many pets fall from upper floors, there's actually a name for it: "high-rise syndrome." It's mostly seen in cats, but Gicking says there's no guarantee a dog wouldn't fall. Just imagine a dog's likely reaction to a squirrel scampering across the balcony. The problem is becoming so acute, last summer DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland, Oregon, issued a warning about pets on balconies - particularly dogs who typically suffer more than cats after balcony falls. "Many times when dogs fall from upper-level windows their injuries are much worse - sometimes even fatal," Adam Stone, a veterinarian at DoveLewis, wrote in the release. "Dogs typically sustain worse injuries than cats, and injuries from falls like this are more common in the summer." In the release, DoveLewis included several tips on how to keep pets safe while they're on a balcony. Among them? Move patio furniture away from railings to keep dogs from climbing over them and never leave pets on balconies unsupervised. But it's also vital to not mistake a balcony for a yard. "It's not providing the same stimulation that outdoor time in the yard would," Hanson says. "They're not actually able to run back and forth. They can't chase after birds. Or patrol their environment to give them that sense of purpose that they're keeping their home safe." "It's very frustrating for them. Because they can see the outdoor space," she says. "They can see people. They can see birds and other dogs. But they can't get there."

Pam McCauley

Last March, John Thompson was feeding the feral peacocks in his neighborhood like he did every day. But it was the peacock with the 3-foot-long arrow lodged in his side that stood out. Someone had obviously shot the bird. John Thompson feeds the birds in front of the Net Launcher. The injured peacock is the larger bird on the grass off to the right. | Dan Varland The injured peacock and the rest of the flock are regulars in a neighborhood where residents like Thompson have been enjoying watching and feeding the birds for decades. Thompson contacted Grays Harbor County animal control officer Nichole Pollard, who reached out to Dr. Sonnya Crawford, a veterinarian and owner of Grays Harbor Veterinary Services in Montesano, Washington. Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Guy And Wild Shark Have Been Best Friends For Decades The captured peacock with the arrow. | Dan Varland As the only veterinarian in the county who treats birds and other wildlife, Crawford sees a lot of ducks, chicken, peacocks and pelicans as well as a lot of farm animals. She and Pollard went over to the site but they had no way to catch the peacock. "I told Nikki that I would try to come up with something and thought about Dan [Varland] and his net thrower," Crawford told The Dodo. When Crawford called Dan Varland, of Coastal Raptors, to ask if he could catch the peacock, Varland originally said no. Varland, left, holding peacock, with Thompson | Dan Varland "He was not thrilled about that idea because he really seems to be focused on eagles and doesn't have the extra time," Crawford said. But Crawford wouldn't take no for an answer. "I kept asking him until he gave in," she said. "And so he did." Not a typical trapping As executive director of Coastal Raptors, a nonprofit in Hoquiam, Washington, Varland is focused on research and education programs for birds of prey. Catching the peacock was definitely not something that typically fit in with his schedule. "Crawford was aware of my nonprofit and that I use a Net Launcher," Varland told The Dodo. The Net Launcher by Trapping Innovations is a net that humanely captures birds. First time's the charm "I took a morning off to see if I could catch him and give it a shot," Varland said. What Varland predicted might take an entire day actually was achieved on the first attempt. He set up his Net Launcher and captured the peacock immediately. "First Peacock ever to ride in my 4Runner...eagles, vultures, peregrine falcon...yes, ...but a Peacock! This was a first!" Varland wrote on the Coastal Raptors' website. Pam McCauley, Coastal Raptors volunteer, takes a selfie with the peacock on the way to the vet's office. | Pam McCauley That's when Crawford and her staff took over. "He was scared," Crawford said of the peacock. "He didn't like people. He was wild, so he was pretty nervous. "I put him under anesthesia, and once under, the arrow pretty much fell right out," Crawford said. "The skin and tissue around the arrow was dead." Crawford operates on the peacock | Grays Harbor Veterinary Services The peacock was lucky because the arrow had only gone under the skin and barely penetrated the muscle. They sewed him up and kept him overnight. "It was really infected so walking around like that would have made him very sick," Crawford said. Grays Harbor Veterinary Services The approximately 5-year-old peacock weighed about 10 pounds. "They look big because of all the feathers," Crawford said. She added that the birds are gregarious and have multiple mates. Roosting in trees, they are pretty shy and eat everything from worms and insects to berries. They fixed him up and sent him off The next day Pollard released him back to his flock. Crawford even received a thank you letter from the local sheriff who praised her for helping the injured bird and donating her time and services along with Varland. The peacock recovered. | Grays Harbor Veterinary Services

Leah Banks

When Leah Banks heard frantic quacking outside her apartment in San Jose, California, she knew she had to go outside to see what all the fuss was about. The commotion, it turns out, was quite understandable, as seven ducklings were stuck at the bottom of a pipe beside a pond in her apartment complex. Leah Banks A female mallard, whom Banks assumed was the mother duck, was circling nervously, her babies too far out of reach for her to save them. "I was able to reach in and pluck the first two out pretty easily," Banks tells The Dodo, "but the mama duck kept flying in my face, so I asked my roommate to help me keep her back while I got the rest out." Banks quickly learned that this was not going to be an easy job. The pipe was about 20 inches deep and quite narrow, so she kept getting her arm stuck. She even had bruises the next day. So her next idea was to construct a makeshift lasso out of yarn to haul out the remaining ducklings. Unfortunately, the yarn trick didn't quite work. "It kept getting stuck to the side of the pipe so I gave up on that," Banks says. "Occasionally, one duckling would pop its head up to bite me. The last two were too far down to grab and kept going down the other end of the pipe. They were very cold and wet so I was doing my best to work quickly." The apartment complex's manager and a maintenance worker came to help, using a claw-like plumbing tool to fish the ducklings out. When that didn't succeed either, they eventually decided to give up, with two ducklings still trapped. But Banks persisted. She finally found a strategy that worked: splashing water into the pipe, waiting for the ducklings to pop their heads out and then scooping them out with a pair of plastic tongs. And then, finally, all seven ducklings were free. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs Leah Banks Banks shared the tale on Reddit, where people eagerly chimed in with their own duck stories. Leah Banks But the saga continues. About an hour later, Banks returned to the pond to make sure she hadn't missed any ducklings in need of assistance. The good news is that no more were trapped - and the pipe was covered with rocks to prevent further accidents. The bad news? She heard tons of frantic quacking and splashing and saw the mama duck chasing after one of the smaller ducklings. "She caught up to it and started biting its body, holding it under water and shaking her head. She was definitely trying to drown it," Banks says. Though this doesn't seem to be a normal behavior, mother ducks will often abandon a duckling who is sick, injured or a late hatchling. "The duckling kept trying to swim away, but the mama duck kept grabbing it and throwing it against the rocks. It was really brutal to watch." Time for duck rescue, part two. "It swam to shore to get away and I found it shaking in the bushes where I've seen cats before," Banks says. "I know I should have let nature take its course, but it was just so sad-looking. I scooped it up and got it warm inside." After some quick research, she figured out how to take care of the duckling inside her apartment. She built a temporary home for him, complete with water and starter feed. She named him Piper. Leah Banks "I considered keeping it as a pet, but I would feel badly keeping a wild animal indoors." The next morning, Banks brought Piper to the nearby Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley (WCSV). The staff is currently caring for Piper and will release him in about eight weeks, when he is self-sufficient enough to survive on his own. Until then, Piper will live with a group of other orphaned ducklings. They can huddle up with a feather duster, which is used to replicate the mother duck and comfort the ducklings during their rehabilitation process, WCSV writes in a Facebook post. Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley Piper is now receiving the care he needs - but we can only imagine how tough it must have been for Banks to part ways with this little guy. Leah Banks An official website of the United States Government MetLife Tower, right, is shown near the Empire State Building, left, on March 4, 2016, in New York. (Mark Lennihan/AP) A federal judge on Wednesday delivered a significant setback to the Obama administrations efforts to rein in the financial sector and prevent a repeat of the conditions that caused the 2008 financial crisis. In 2014, a government panel run by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew determined that MetLife should come under stricter federal scrutiny, essentially calling the nations largest life insurance company too big to fail. With that designation, MetLife would be forced to set aside a bigger financial cushion and put in place other safeguards to protect taxpayers if it fell into financial trouble. MetLife sued, arguing that the new rules would force it to raise prices, and on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer sided with the New York-based firm. Collyer did not explain her decision in the two-page ruling. From the beginning, MetLife has said that its business model does not pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States, Steven A. Kandarian, MetLifes chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. This decision is a win for MetLifes customers, employees and shareholders. MetLife, which was founded in 1868, has a global footprint, 100 million customers and a market capitalization of $48 billion. The companys stock rose 5 percent Wednesday to close at $45 a share. The ruling comes at a time when the Obama administration is struggling to put in place the final portions of the massive 2010 financial reform package, the Dodd-Frank Act. That effort has come under greater scrutiny recently as Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has called for the breakup of large financial institutions. This defeat could also give ammunition to Republicans in Congress who have argued that Dodd-Frank goes too far. The act ominously grants the Federal Reserve near de facto management authority over such institutions, thus allowing huge swaths of the economy to potentially be controlled by the federal government, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said in a statement. This aspect of Dodd-Frank attempts to identify financial firms, outside of banks, that could pose a threat to the economy. These firms have traditionally received little government scrutiny. But after the massive insurance company AIG nearly collapsed in 2008 and required a $182 billion taxpayer bailout, lawmakers called for stricter oversight of this portion of the financial industry. The Financial Stability Oversight Council labeled four firms AIG, Prudential, General Electrics financing arm and MetLife as systemically important financial institutions, subjecting them to tougher government rules. But MetLife launched a public battle against the designation, arguing that the FSOC did not properly assess the insurers financial strength, noting that the company does not engage in the type of risky behavior that could rattle the economy. Despite Wednesdays ruling, the Treasury Department remained steadfast on the FSOCs assessment of MetLife. We strongly disagree with the courts decision. We are confident that FSOCs determination was lawful and will continue to defend the Councils designations process vigorously, a Treasury spokesman said in a statement. FSOC conducted a rigorous analysis of MetLife, including extensive engagement with the company, and determined that material financial distress at MetLife could pose such a threat to the financial system, the statement continued. We firmly believe that FSOC acted well within its legal authority to protect the entire global economy. Shrimp and grits at Mulebone are enhanced with andouille sausage and charred okra ragout. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) GOOD Burying the lead is what journalists call it when they dont get to the major point of a story, sometimes called the nut graph, within the first few paragraphs. Im about to serve you an example of just that, and please bear with me, because the new Mulebone, formerly known as Eatonville, is worth it. Some background: Eatonville, from the owner of the Busboys & Poets chainlette, opened on 14th Street NW with a splash and then a crash six years ago when owner Andy Shallal came up with the idea of hiring a chef via a contest and his original pick was canned before he started. (Runner-up Rusty Holman, now with Due South, stepped up to the plate.) For most of its run, Eatonville, a reference to the Florida town where author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston was raised, was a hospitable and affordable place for gumbo and fried green tomatoes. But in that time, the neighborhood exploded with bigger draws, many of them with bars as seductive as their menus. Shallal, an Iraqi-born artist and activist, knew he had to re-brand Eatonville, and after talking to 50 chef applicants, the one-time candidate for mayor in the District recast the restaurant as Mulebone in February. The name is a nod to the controversial play written by Hurston and Langston Hughes that took 60 years to get produced. The new place doesnt look vastly different from the old. What you may have liked about the interior before the switch the colorful murals, the glittery chandeliers remains in place. Indeed, the physical changes are for the better: lowered ceilings to create a more intimate vibe and displays of clothes and art for sale, curated by Desiree Venn Frederic, founder of the Nomad Yard Collectiv. Of the frocks and baubles, Shallal says, I like layers in my spaces. Clotheshorses may see it as an opportunity to multitask. Chef Joseph Paire of Mulebone has previosuly worked at Todd Grays Watershed in NoMa and Farmers Fishers Bakers. in Georgetown. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) Black-eyed-pea fritters in spicy tomato sauce is a dish with roots in West Africa. Its a vegetarian starter that is delicious without reminding you how virtuous it is. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) Before Mulebone, Shallals focus on bringing people together tended to trump feeding them memorably, a point the restaurateur conceded seven years ago when he told me food wasnt his first priority. Is that still the case, now that he has hired Joseph Paire to take over the kitchen? An alumnus of Todd Grays Watershed in NoMa and Farmers Fishers Bakers in Georgetown, the chef, 33 and a District native, is cooking notches better than his resume suggests. The menu, divided three ways, retains a Southern tilt. Act 1 has been described by staff as things to get you started, like tapas and social plates, no doubt because theyre meant to be divvied up. Within the genre, theres something for everyone, including vegans and diners with gluten allergies. Both groups can get around one of the best ways to start a meal here, a pyramid of crisp black-eyed-pea fritters rising from a chunky base of tomato sauce, a winning combination with roots in West Africa that manages not to remind you how virtuous it is compared to the rest of the script. Its simply delicious. The chef does to catfish what many of his brethren do to chicken: slice the white flesh into strips and fry them into tenders. But Paires appetizer rockets to the moon, thanks to a barely there cornmeal sheath and a steamy center whose cayenne and paprika marinade adds a nip to every tuck (of the fork). As for salads, appearing in Act 2, Paire makes kale seem fresh, with a plate of greens scattered with crisp fried oysters, panes of aged white cheddar and a vinaigrette that sharpens the eating with mustard and sherry. Kale returns in Act 3, in the guise of a lovely pesto swirled into a soothing risotto formed from farro and quinoa and dabs of vegan cheese that add little more to the discussion than Whats that? The Southerner at my table gives the brined fried chicken a thumbs-up for its crackle and succulence but, like me, agrees that the entrees honey glaze should be shown the door. The cloying collard greens on the plate should also be rethought. Meanwhile, the drinkers in my midst approve of the cocktails, most of which smack of having been shaken and stirred by a serious mixologist. Banana pudding is made in-house, including the vanilla wafers that go in it. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) Fish steals the scene in Act 3. Trout, served skin-on, for more flavor, reclines on a bed of Carolina rice flecked with all sorts of things parsley, thyme, black-eyed peas that compel you to scrape the plate till its white again. And a trip to bountiful follows every request for shrimp and grits. The pearly seafood is sauteed just enough to warm it, while the grits, from Byrd Mill in Virginia, swell with cream and mascarpone, the latter added as a finishing touch. Glistening red peppers and spears of scallions help paint the picture. Paires pork loin is on point, too. Rectangles of pink meat edged in crisp bacon and shored up with a robust maque choux (corn salad) make a glamorous pig-out. The crunch? Sweet potato cracklings, a sly touch. Paire makes his own desserts, a handful of confections that pay homage to the South but come with a personal stamp. Banana pudding suspends creamy fresh fruit in a not-too-sweet custard treated to vanilla wafers made in-house, just like everything, a proud server tells me. A slice of pecan pie arrives with an overlay of sweet potato puree on a shortbread cookie crust, a great idea that would be improved by a fully baked base. Mulebones servers are the chatty sort who were probably hired more for their energy than their polish, and thats fine to a point; technical finesse is easier to teach than genuine warmth. Each of my waiters has been quick to ask if were Eatonville veterans and then explain the turnaround (which does not, contrary to earlier reports, include The Chew co-host Carla Hall as a formal consultant). And each has been overzealous about asking me how Im enjoying my every bite sometimes even before my fork has moved from plate to mouth. Paying attention to diners is a good thing; hovering and interrupting, when customers are clearly engaged with one another, is annoying. Shallal leads by example. He owns the joint, but hes not above ferrying dishes from hot stove to grumbling stomachs. He also takes the time to touch tables, industry-speak for interacting with customers, going so far as to (briefly) sit on a neighboring bar stool to chat someone up. The joy in the room, a beacon for African Americans in particular, is as palpable as the kick in the gin-driven Westons Guitar. Mulebone owner Andy Shallal chats with customers Lisa Fitzpatrick and Maria Stojkovic. The space was previously Shallals Eatonville. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) News alert: Im a foodie now, says Shallal. And he walks the talk. Therein, by the way, is my nut graph. In his dressed-up restaurant, mingling retail therapy and his best all-around chef, Shallal shows he cares more about whats on the table than ever. At the same time, the owner stays true to his original mission. All it takes is a look around the room to see how well it reflects the city it serves. 2 stars Location: 2121 14th St. NW. 202-332-9672. mulebonedc.com. Open: 5 to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight Friday, 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Prices: Dinner appetizers $7 to $16, main courses $16 to $26. Sound check: 78 decibels / Must speak with raised voice. For stories, features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit WP Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. Email us at wpmagazine@washpost.com. Police are biased. Its a fact. Everyone is. But as police shootings of unarmed black men draw increasing scrutiny, some law enforcement agencies are trying to train their officers to accept their intrinsic prejudices and work to overcome them. President Obamas Task Force on 21st Century Policing recommended implicit bias training featured on the front page of The Washington Post in January as one method of reform. Its being offered in departments large and small, including in Baltimore, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Seattle. The officers are presented with scenarios some real, some hypothetical, some even drawn from movies or television. Then theyre asked to respond, or at least confront the emotions that arise. Police officers make judgments in their daily interactions. They must be poised for the split-second, life and death moments, too. Here are examples, and answers to how some officers responded. How might you do? Illustrations by Kenny Park for The Washington Post A real-life story of two videos In a recent training near Richmond, Va., retired Palo Alto, Calif., Lt. Sandra Brown and Milwaukee Police Inspector Mary Hoerig showed Virginia state troopers two videos. In the first, a rifle-wielding white man wearing a cowboy hat shoots a Texas state trooper after the trooper yells repeatedly for the man to drop his weapon. Another officer walks calmly toward his wounded colleague and comes close to the gunman, who ignores other officers commands to drop his weapon and eventually drives off. The second clip shows an officer pulling up to a black man at a gas station and asking for his license. (The class learns later the officer is investigating a seat-belt violation.) As the man reaches into his truck, the officer yells for him to get out and opens fire, even as the man puts his hands up. What do you guys think? Hoerig asked those in the class, some of whom shook their heads in disbelief. If bias played a role here again, were not saying it did was it safe? Brown and Hoerig told the Virginia troopers that in a controlled study in which participants were presented shoot vs. dont shoot scenarios, they were more likely to shoot black individuals than white ones. If officers are susceptible to such bias, Hoerig asked, Who could die here? No one responded. Hoerig reframed the question. If officers are slow to identify armed white subjects, Who is dying here? Cops, a few troopers said. Hypotheticals Officers are brought into a room where a white man is lying on the ground and several people of color are standing above him. Its unclear what has happened. A mugging? A medical emergency? Lorie Fridell, whose Fair & Impartial Policing company travels across the nation conducting implicit bias training, says trainees are invited to walk around and assess the situation. Generally about half see a medical emergency and half see a crime taking place, like a robbery or gang initiation. Whats going on? The group, it turns out, was leaving a sporting event when the man had a heart attack. There was no assault, no gang. The whole point here is to say, Challenge what you think you see, Fridell said. Bias, of course, is not limited to race. In another scenario, officers respond to a mock domestic violence call. They find a sobbing woman being comforted by a man on one side and a woman on the other. Both are telling her, I am so sorry that this happened. This will never happen again, Fridell said. Whats going on? Pretty overwhelmingly, Fridell said, officers ask the man to step away. What they dont know: The two women are in a same-sex relationship, and the female offering comfort is the alleged abuser. That helps us make the point that policing based on stereotypes can be ineffective, Fridell said. In an implicit bias training for police in Baltimore, Officer Edward Gillespie flashed images of people sleeping on the street in boxes or newspapers while Gary Juless Mad World song echoed through the classroom. He asked his colleagues to jot down the first thoughts that came to mind. What might yours be? The officer responses: Homelessness, poverty, crazy, junkies and beggars were among the terms recorded. One officer jokingly called out retired police. The point of the exercise is to show that bias can be hard-wired. A Princeton researcher, Gillespie explained, captured images of peoples brains as they reacted to various stimuli and found that, when shown pictures of the homeless, their brains responded the same as when they were shown inanimate objects . A market owner has called to report that a woman is sitting across the street from his shop and she might have a gun. The market owner has been robbed several times recently. Officers arrive to find the woman, and soon after they approach, someone runs up and says that the womans husband and son have been in an accident, and she needs to get to the hospital immediately. Do officers let her go? Would you? What happens? Invariably, Brown said, the trainees let the woman who is armed go free. Men in the same scenario have been ordered to stay put. Why do you think that happens? Brown asked, almost rhetorically. If you think you might be a gentleman, youre going to have to override that when youre working, because a woman could kill you today. Police can also be victims of bias, trainers stressed. In the training for Virginia troopers, Brown flashed three pictures: one of a man with a suit and briefcase, another of a sultry-looking woman on a motorcycle and a third of a portly officer with aviator sunglasses and a mustache. If you look at the images, what do you see? The officers answers: Of the first image, those in the class said they saw someone with an office job and a great life. Of the second, they said they saw an Instagram model who was probably riding on someone elses motorcycle. Of the officer, they came up with one word: Racist. Its the mustache, one trooper said. Brown asked: If thats what they thought about the image, what would non-officers think? The trainers often invite officers to share examples of their own bias or their encounters with biased colleagues. One Hispanic officer talked of emerging from the back of a police vehicle, where he had been sitting with a Hispanic suspect, and hearing a sheriffs deputy say, You got two of them back there? The officer said he flashed his badge and issued his fellow cop a warning: Never assume. It offended me, the officer said. Brown said that in 2008, when she was working in Palo Alto, the city was experiencing a slew of violent robberies, and residents were in an uproar. The suspect, she said, was described as an African American man between the ages of 18 and 24. At a community meeting, Brown said, the police chief promised to get to the bottom of it, saying something like, Ive instructed all of my officers to stop every African American male in a congenial way and ask him what he is doing. That comment sparked intense news coverage and anger over concerns that the department was unfairly profiling people. Thats not what she meant to say, Brown noted, but it looked pretty bad. The lesson is not just that police leaders should watch what they say, its that they should be aware of their own biases, Brown said. The suspects description, Brown said, is probably one that officers commonly encounter on robbery calls. But even if data shows minorities are disproportionately arrested for street crime, that does not mean all minorities are criminals, Brown said. If officers let stereotypes get in the way of their work, she said, they will make decisions that are unsafe, ineffective and unjust. E-mail us at wpmagazine@washpost.com. For more articles, as well as features such as Date Lab, Gene Weingarten and more, visit The Washington Post Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. THE DISTRICT Fire captain charged with theft of book A veteran D.C. fire captain dispatched to a two-alarm house fire in Northwest Washington on Monday night has been charged with stealing a book on airplanes from the burning dwelling, according to police and fire officials. Capt. Alan Noznesky, 50, who lives in Western Maryland near Frederick, has been placed on administrative leave, according to a D.C. fire department spokesman. Dustin Sternbeck, the chief police spokesman, said Noznesky was charged in a criminal citation with second-degree theft. He was not arrested. Noznesky joined the fire department in 1991 and is assigned to an engine company in Northwest. In an interview Tuesday, Noznesky denied the accusation. He said he found a book near the front entrance of the burned house in the 3000 block of Gates Road in Forest Hills and moved it to safe location to preserve it for the homeowner. I did nothing wrong, Noznesky said. The owners of the home could not be reached Tuesday. The D.C. police report says the book was titled, Airline Visual Identity: 1945-1975. Its publisher describes the book as chronicling airlines through advertising campaigns. Police estimate that it is worth $100. Peter Hermann MARYLAND District 8 candidate buys TV spot With just under a month to go before the Maryland primary, District 8 Democrat Will Jawando has gone on cable with a biographical spot. The ad, called Dreams, tells the 30-second version of his life, from a single-parent household where money was tight to Senate and White House staff jobs with Barack Obama. Jawando, one of nine Democrats vying for the nomination to succeed Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) in Congress, is the fourth candidate to buy television time in the race. The others are wine mogul David Trone, state Sen. Jamie Raskin, and former television anchor and Marriott executive Kathleen Matthews. The primary is April 26. Bill Turque Pena-Melnyk gets endorsement The Congressional Progressive Caucus announced Tuesday that it is backing state Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk (D-Prince Georges) in the race to succeed Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D) in Congress. Pena-Melnyk, one of six Democrats vying for the nomination in next months the April 26 primary, has also been endorsed by the Sierra Club, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, the Latino Victory Fund, Emilys List and several labor groups. Arelis R. Hernandez VIRGINIA Rack system collapse kills worker A large warehouse rack system fell and killed a worker inside a Manassas food storage facility Tuesday, a Prince William County fire and rescue official said. Several other workers were injured, including two who were injured seriously, said Thomas Jarman, battalion chief of the countys fire and rescue department. The rack, which stored food products, collapsed around 3:40 p.m. at Reinhart Foodservice on Balls Ford Road, authorities said. Several workers were pinned under the rack and a man died, said Officer Jonathan Perok, a county police spokesman. Perok said an autopsy will be performed on the man, who was not identified, pending next-of-kin notification. The cause of the collapse is not known at this time, Perok added. Jarman said the rack was about 30 feet high and about 150 to 200 feet long. Two seriously injured workers were taken to a hospital, Jarman said. In addition, he said five other workers had minor injuries and at least three were being treated at an area hospital. Fourth man arrested in Fairfax slaying Police have arrested a fourth man in the killing of a 64-year-old Fairfax County resident who tried to stop men who broke into his home last March by attacking them with a machete, Fairfax County police said. Eric Howard Buckner, 23, of Alexandria, was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Santos Rafael Zelaya, police said. Police said they think he was the last suspect still at large in the killing. A witness old police that the suspects had planned the home invasion, according to the search warrant. Artist Cesar Maxit works on an inflatable marijuana cigarette for a weekend protest. He will be among hundreds of advocates for marijuana legalization who plan to risk arrest Saturday by smoking pot outside the White House. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) Attention senior class-trip chaperones, cherry blossom lovers, and anyone else who may wander by the White House on Saturday: Brace yourself for a cloud of marijuana smoke and, possibly, mass arrests. Organizers of the successful ballot measure that legalized pot last year in the District say they have had enough with President Obamas slog toward loosening marijuana laws. To protest, they are planning what they promise will be the first large-scale display of public pot smoking in the nations capital, with the intention of getting arrested. The event promises to be a spectacle. Construction was underway Wednesday on an inflatable, 51-foot marijuana joint that protesters plan to carry onto Pennsylvania Avenue NW. A D.C. artist was trying to devise a way to place a fan inside to disperse marijuana smoke into the crowd. And if that doesnt work, a back-up option would be to zip up in the balloon those who really want to get high, he said. The decision to drag the joint to the White House also is a subtle demand for D.C. statehood. Artists Chris Ridler and Cesar Maxit construct a 51-foot-long inflatable marijuana cigarette for a weekend protest in front of the White House. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) Adam Eidinger, the chief organizer of the event and no stranger to arrests over marijuana policy predicts there will be dozens, if not hundreds, engaged in civil disobedience of smoking pot Saturday outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But in Obamas last year in office, why is Eidinger organizing a protest? He said the smoke-in is the most aggressive way he could think of to draw attention to the roughly 5 million marijuana-related arrests since Obama took office. He also thinks that Obama must do more in his remaining time to remove marijuana from the countrys list of most-dangerous controlled substances. Without that change, decisions by states to legalize pot could be in jeopardy if a Republican wins the White House, Eidinger said. Obama he smokes, maybe not now, but he did smoke, Eidinger said. So for him to oversee an enforcement regime that has arrested 5 million people for marijuana . . . Im very motivated because I think its a discriminatory practice. Although African Americans and whites use marijuana at approximately the same levels, African Americans are arrested for possession at much higher rates. Marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration, making it difficult to do clinical research. Federal penalties for possession are on par with those for heroin and ecstasy. Eidinger supports Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential contest. Sanders wants recreational use of marijuana legalized. But Eidinger wants Obama to begin the process of rescheduling marijuana before he leaves office because he thinks it would provide political cover for the probable Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, to finish the job should she win the presidency in November. As of Feb. 26, 2015 marijuana was made legal in D.C.sort of. Here are the ins and outs of the complex pot law. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post) If Obama really wants to help Hillary, hell do this because people like me, who are strong Bernie supporters, we would feel more comfortable supporting the Democratic candidate if this is underway, Eidinger said. Not all advocates for marijuana legalization agree with Eidingers plan to smoke pot in front of the White House. In fact, none of the biggest national organizations plan to attend Saturdays event. Were not involved, and we dont think that consuming marijuana on federal property is an appropriate way to promote reform, said Kaitlyn Boecker, a spokeswoman for the Drug Policy Alliance. Smoking marijuana outside the presidents house, around tourists and kids, is probably not a good way to get the president to do what you want, said Tom Angell, head of the Marijuana Majority, a group promoting greater marijuana acceptance. But Eidinger will get some support. Pro-marijuana groups from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island said they are traveling to Washington for the event. Some D.C.-area activists well known for work with the Black Lives Matter movement and for veterans causes plan to speak at the demonstration. Brandon Wyatt, 31, who served in Iraq for two years and graduated from Howard Universitys law school, said he will speak about how the Obama administration has not moved fast enough to encourage research on whether pot can help veterans coping with post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments. But will he light up outside the White House? Honestly, Im not into breaking laws, Wyatt said, but Ill stand beside those who do protest that way. The same goes for Kim Brown, a radio host from Maryland who plans to attend and speak about racial discrimination in marijuana arrests. This is important, but I dont know. . . . Im not up on the Secret Service rolling up on me, she said.She said smoking would be a spur-of-the-moment decision. Lighting up could be more of a protest than some demonstrators may realize. The event is planned for the plaza adjacent to the White House, which is policed by the U.S. Secret Service. Although authorities almost never do, they could prosecute pot smokers under federal law, which lists possession as a crime punishable by up to a year in jail. On most D.C. streets, possession is legal, although smoking is restricted to a private residence. A Secret Service spokesman said the agency was not aware of the planned protest. Eidinger has not applied for a permit to hold the event, meaning that agents may work to break it up before the scheduled smoke-in at 4:20 p.m. If were arrested, I think there will be dozens, if not hundreds, engaged in civil disobedience, Eidinger said. But he has left himself one out. Eidinger wrote to Obama this monthsaying in the letter that he would call off the public smoking if the president agrees to sit down with marijuanaadvocates. As a former cannabis (and current?) user, you know firsthand that cannabis does not belong in the Controlled Substances Act, Eidinger wrote. He called for Obama to agree to a Bud Summit, where leaders of the cannabis reform movement are invited to the White House to discuss steps you can take to end the failed War on Drugs you inherited as president. The White House press office did not respond to inquiries about Eidingers letter. Kindergarten students at Guilford Elementary school run during P.E. class on Feb. 6, 2015. The board pointed to the success at Guilford Elementary, a high-poverty school, when they proposed concentrating poor, Hispanic students in two schools in nearby Leesburg. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) The Loudoun County School Board voted down a controversial rezoning plan that would have concentrated the students from a largely poor, Hispanic neighborhood in two schools after parents and experts criticized the proposal as being akin to segregation. After emotional comments from parents and threats of legal action, the board voted 7-2 Tuesday night for a plan that represents a compromise between those who support economic integration and those who wanted children to attend schools closest to them. The board was tasked with redrawing boundaries to ease overcrowding. To say that this process has been hard is an understatement, said board member Beth Huck (At-Large). As a parent, she said, I want commmunity schools and I want diversity ... that being said, Im looking to compromise. The proposal called Plan 12 would have moved nearly all of the students who lived in a downtown cluster of apartments and townhomes to two schools: Frederick Douglass Elementary and Leesburg Elementary. Those schools would have seen a sharp rise in the number of poor students and English language learners, but proponents of the plan said it would have allowed them to focus resources to help high-needs students there. The plan that the board ultimately settled on leaves nearly all of the students who live in the cluster of downtown apartment complexes, where 84 percent of elementary school students live in poverty and 70 percent are English language learners, in the schools they currently attend. I believe it provides stablity to our at-risk students, said Brenda Sheriden (Sterling), vice chair of the board. The vote came after dozens of parents rallied outside the Loudoun County Public School administration building in a demonstration organized by Educate Dont Segregate, a parent group that formed to oppose the plan. They were joined by members of the Loudoun County chapter of the NAACP. As an African-American, I find the whole concept of Plan 12 disheartening, Phillippe Thompson, an attorney and the president of the chapter, told the crowd assembled in the parking lot. At the meeting, he threatened legal action if the plan had moved forward. Parents and board members who spoke in support of the plan said that it was unfair to force children in downtown neighborhoods to attend schools far from their homes and expressed skepticism at the benefits of economic integration. They suggested that the standing policy of economic integration, which aims to disperse high-needs students to several schools, was unfair to poor families because it sent children to schools further from their homes. Why are we treating over 1,300 at-risk students differently than the other 4,700 students in Leesburg? said Stephanie DeWan, who has three children at Evergreen Mills Elementary. Not all students are being treated equally or fairly. Board member Debbie Rose (Algonkian), one of the supporters of Plan 12, said she resents suggestions that the proposal amounted to segregation. Its just a flat-out lie to say that we wanted to put all Hispanic students in one school and all white students in another, Rose said, suggesting that opponents of the plan had misinformed Spanish-speaking parents. I value diversity very much. I grew up in L.A. But parents from the downtown neighborhood, who delivered comments in Spanish with the help of translators, said they did not want their children to be moved from their schools. I dont want the kids to be divided, Griselda Fuentes, whose daughter attends Frances Hazel Reid Elementary, said tearfully. This is going to cause great stress on our community. Kindergarten students raise their hands in a music class last year at Guilford Elementary School, a high-poverty school in Sterling, Va., that qualifies for federal Title I funds but still boasts strong test scores. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) The Loudoun County School Board stepped back from a proposal that would have concentrated children from a largely poor, Hispanic neighborhood into two schools after hearing emotional testimony from parents who accused leaders of wanting to segregate their children. Tasked with redrawing boundaries to ease overcrowding in Leesburg schools, the board voted Tuesday night to move forward with an alternative plan that maintains the current policy of economic integration in the wealthy county, dispersing children from a cluster of downtown townhomes and apartment complexes to five schools. The plan also shifts many students across Leesburg to schools closer to their homes, part of a compromise for board members who prioritized sending the countys children to schools in their own neighborhoods. But nearly all of the children who live in the downtown Leesburg community where 84 percent qualify for free and reduced-price meals will be able to stay at the schools they attend. The failed proposal would have moved all of those students to different schools. Board member Beth Huck (At-Large) said she thought about what she would want for her own child: an economically integrated school or a neighborhood school that drew children from the surrounding community. In the end, she said, she would want both. I want community schools, and I want diversity, Huck said. That being said, Im looking to compromise. Huck said she thought the plan represented an acceptable balance of both philosophies. The new approach helps move us in the direction of community-based schools while maintaining a balance so the communities can support them, Huck said. The plan passed 7 to 2 after an hour of testimony from parents, many of whom argued that the plan to create two high-poverty schools in their community was a form of segregation. [Separate but equal? Wealthy countys plan would concentrate low-income, Hispanic students] Parents from the downtown neighborhood, who delivered comments in Spanish with the help of interpreters, said they did not want their children to be moved from their current schools, where they learn alongside the countys more affluent children. The parents called the proposal to create high-poverty schools discrimination and worried that the county would not deliver on its promise of providing extra resources to aid the two schools, where more than half of the children would come from impoverished households and nearly half would be English-language learners. I dont want the kids to be divided, Griselda Fuentes, whose daughter attends Frances Hazel Reid Elementary, said tearfully. This is going to cause great stress on our community. Parents who supported the plan, however, have expressed concerns that their children were being shortchanged because teachers were spending so much of their time and energy helping high-needs children. These parents also said it was unfair for at-risk children to be bused far from their homes. Why are we treating over 1,300 at-risk students differently than the other 4,700 students in Leesburg? said Stephanie DeWan, who has three children at Evergreen Mills Elementary. Not all students are being treated equally or fairly. The current enrollment map was created with the aim of balancing the number of at-risk children sent to each school. It means that the children in the dense downtown neighborhood, home to a cluster of apartment buildings and townhouses, are sent to four schools, and some are traveling three miles on school buses to get there. In February, as the board discussed how to move students to relieve overcrowding at one elementary school, they pondered reversing economic integration and proposed moving toward a model that prioritized sending children to schools closest to them. The proposal that would have created high-poverty schools set off an intense debate about the best way to serve children needing extra attention. The county boasts some of the highest test scores in the state, but its disadvantaged students have sometimes fared worse than the state average on standardized tests, forcing county officials to reexamine how they serve their most vulnerable students while their affluent peers thrive. Officials have proposed adding teachers and staff to elementary schools with high rates of at-risk children, even when those schools do not qualify for federal funds. The district also hired a math coordinator to help close the achievement gap in that subject, where it is especially acute. I feel strongly that we would have been able to provide a better education for at-risk students in a targeted environment, said board member Debbie Rose (Algonkian), who backed the plan to create two high-poverty schools. But board members who wanted to maintain economic integration pointed to decades of research showing that it helps disadvantaged students. One study, in Montgomery County, found that poor children who attended economically integrated schools fared better than those who attended high-poverty schools that received extra resources. Those who supported creating high-poverty schools pointed to the success of similar schools in Sterling, where some were beating district averages on standardized tests. Maryland Del. Kumar P. Barve says he understands that state Sen. Jamie B. Raskin, like all candidates, is eager to put his record in the most favorable light for voters. But television ads that proclaim Raskin the only progressive in the 8th Congressional Districts Democratic primary race are over the line, he says. Its a bit off-putting to hear that nobody else has a record, Barve said Tuesday. Context and nuance are the first casualties in campaign ads, and Raskins are no different. His three 15-second spots, which went on the air last week, assert that although other candidates in the race talk about problems, he is the only one who has done anything about them. Jamie Raskin is the only Democrat for Congress whos authored landmark progressive laws, one spot says. Only Raskin wrote laws to reduce our carbon footprint, another says, referring to the Green Maryland Act of 2010, which required the state to adopt more environmentally sound procurement practices such as using more recycled paper. Raskin (Montgomery), in his third Senate term, played a key role in several major pieces of social legislation, including marriage equality in 2012 and an assault-weapons ban in 2013. [In tv spots, Raskin calls himself the effective progressive. ] Lawmaking is an inherently collective task, and major bills almost always carry the imprint of multiple contributors. But campaign spots are not designed to share credit, or to show that the candidate is a team player. In Raskins gun-violence ad, a brief image of then-state Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D) now Marylands attorney general is the viewers only clue that he also played a key role in passage of the assault-weapons ban. Barve (Montgomery), who is expected to air his own spot in the next week or so, said that it is fine for Raskin to toot his own horn but not to pretend that it is the only one in the orchestra. Barve, a former majority leader first elected to the House of Delegates in 1990, sponsored the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act of 2009, which called for state emission levels in 2020 to be 25 percent below the 2006 mark. In this session, he is the House sponsor of a measure updating and strengthening the bill. As chairman of the Environment and Transportation Committee, Barve shepherded a three-year ban on hydraulic fracturing toward final passage. The bill was sponsored by Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo (D-Montgomery). [David Trone calls Raskin a polarizing figure from the left] While I am not the only one of the 188 Members of the Maryland General Assembly responsible for moving Maryland forward on a variety of progressive issues, I am very proud of my record of accomplishment and leadership on the environment, gun control, health care reform and other progressive issues, Barve said in a statement Monday. He added, The I Am the Only One attitude typifies something we need a lot less of in Washington. Barve called on the Raskin campaign to take down the ads, which the campaign said will not happen. While Jamie respects Chairman Barve and his decades of public service, our campaign stands by the fact that Jamie Raskin is the most effective progressive legislator in this race and certainly the one who can beat the big-money candidates, campaign manager Marshall Cohen said in a statement Tuesday. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) gives the State of the State address to a joint session of the Maryland General Assembly at the State House in Annapolis on February 3, 2016. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) Marylands Democratic-controlled legislature is racing to move several bills to Gov. Larry Hogans desk this week, part of a preemptive strike against possible vetoes by the Republican governor. Lawmakers are planning to use a provision in the state constitution that says bills sent to the governor for consideration at least six days before the end of a legislative session must either be vetoed or become law by the end of that session which this year is April 11. Normally, bills are sent to the governor within 20 days after the end of the session. The governor then has 30 days to sign them, veto them or allow them to become law without a signature. If Hogan vetoes a measure under the so-called six-day rule, the General Assembly would have time to try to overturn the veto before adjourning. Otherwise, lawmakers would have to wait until the next legislative session to attempt to override. House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said there has not been a final decision on whether legislative leaders will use the six-day rule and, if they do, which bills will head to the governor. Well talk about it at the end of the week, he said. If they send the bills to Hogan early to try to override any vetoes, Democrats will once again be using their political muscle much as they did at the beginning of the legislative session in overturning several of Hogans 2015 vetoes. [Md. legislature overturns five of Gov. Larry Hogans 2015 vetoes] They enacted measures that dealt with voting for felons; public marijuana smoking and pot paraphernalia; police seizures of criminal assets; taxation of online hotel-booking services; and funding to renovate an arts center in Annapolis. Many of the measures on the fast track to Hogans desk are part of the Democrats legislative aims, including helping Baltimore recover from last years unrest and securing funding to aid the struggling Prince Georges Hospital Center. Sandra Benson Brantley, an attorney with the office of Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D), said that using the six-day rule is not unheard of but that it has been generally used to allow legislators to participate in bill signings before they leave town at the end of a legislative session. She said the last time she recalled the provision being used during the tenure of Gov. Martin OMalley (D) was when he signed into law a bill on same-sex marriage. Democrats also used the six-day rule to speed overrides of bills during the administration of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), who was in office from 2003 to 2007. It is likely that at least two measures about which Hogan has expressed concern will be forwarded to him this week. The first is a bill that requires the state to provide $55 million in funding over five years for Prince Georges Hospital Center. The second piece of legislation would strip Hogan of his authority to name members to the Baltimore City Liquor License Board unless he can select someone who receives the approval of the Senate before the legislature adjourns. Hogan approved $15 million for Prince Georges Hospital this year after initially withholding it, but he opposes new mandated spending. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) has described the hospital funding as a key part of transforming the medical facility into a larger, regional hospital complex. Other legislation that could make its way to the governors desk early includes a package of bills to provide assistance to low-income areas, with particular help for Baltimore, and a measure that would require the state to rate transportation plans before deciding which projects to fund. Hogan has indicated that he does not like the transportation-scoring bill because it shifts some of the responsibility for prioritizing projects out of the hands of his administration. On Tuesday, Republican senators and Hogan officials questioned Democratic legislative leaders about why the House transportation bill came to a vote on the Senate floor without a Senate committee holding a hearing on the measure. The fact that a so-called transportation transparency bill was voted out of committee prior to a public hearing would be laughably ironic if it wasnt so transparently political, said Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Hogan. They are voting on bills without a hearing. They are not doing this by accident. Sen. Guy J. Guzzone (D-Howard), a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee, said lawmakers were satisfied that the bill had been thoroughly aired by the House of Delegates and felt that no additional hearing was needed. Sometimes the House gets it right, Guzzone said. Josh Hicks contributed to this report. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) had called for a 10-year exemption to the states corporate income tax for new manufacturers in high-unemployment areas. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun via AP) Maryland lawmakers will not vote this year on Gov. Larry Hogans plan to provide tax relief for manufacturers in the state. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee this week sidelined proposals from Hogan (R) and Sen. Roger Manno (D-Montgomery) designed to boost the states manufacturing industry with tax breaks, agreeing to do so without an actual vote. Instead, members of the panel said they would not have enough time to work through concerns about the nearly identical bills before the end of the legislative session, which comes in less than two weeks. Hogans plan called for a 10-year exemption to the states corporate income tax for new manufacturers in high-unemployment areas, such as Baltimore, Western Maryland and the lower Eastern Shore. It also would have exempted employees of those companies who earn less than $65,000 a year from paying state income taxes during that period. Republicans have pushed for the proposed tax breaks to apply to manufacturers corporate headquarters and distribution centers in addition to their factories. The Senate leaderships tax-relief package for this year did not include the tax break for manufacturers. However, it included bills that would lower the corporate income-tax rate from its current 8.25 percent to 7 percent and allow individuals to exempt the first $20,000 of their business income from taxation. A Maryland House committee on Wednesday made significant changes to a criminal justice bill that is making its way through the General Assembly, eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and increasing penalties for leaders of gangs and organized crime. The House Judiciary Committee voted 17-3 to make those changes and others to the bill, which isis aimed at reducing the states prison population and costs and alleviating sentencing disparities that have disproportionately affected African American men. The bill passed by the House committee is vastly different from the one the Senate approved last week. Along with the changes in the sentencing guidelines, the bill lowers the age at which older inmates qualify for parole from 65 to 60; eliminates jail time for driving on suspended license, and makes it more difficult for judges to use their discretion in handing out sentences to people who violate probation. [Sweeping criminal justice bill under fire in Md. legislature] If approved by the House Health and Government Operations Committee and the full chamber, the differences between the House bill and the version passed by the Senate will be addressed in a conference committee. The Senate version of the bill dropped several recommendations of the Justice Reinvestment Coordinating Council, a panel of officials and experts that spent last year studying ways to cut prison costs and emphasize drug treatment over prison for non-violent offenders. Analysts said those changes would dramatically reduce the cost savings that would result from the bill, and advocates complained that the legislation had been gutted. On Wednesday, Del. Erek Barron (D-Prince Georges), who served on the council, joined with Del. Brett Wilson (R-Washington) to push the House amendments that repealed some mandatory minimums and stiffened punishment for gang leaders. I think we did it right over here in the House, Barron said. Its fair to say that the changes that we made folks wouldnt consider that gutting the bill. Also on Wednesday, the House Economic Matters Committee approved legislation that would require employers to provide paid sick leave for their workers, breathing life into a measure that has advanced slowly despite a concerted push from progressive lawmakers and advocates. We are thrilled to see earned sick days headed to the House floor, said Melissa Broome, deputy director of the Job Opportunities Task Force, a driving force behind the proposal. This is a critical piece of legislation that has been a long time coming. The full House will likely vote on the bill this week. Its prospects for full passage appear questionable, with the Senate yet to take up the proposal and only 12 calendar days remaining in the 2016 legislative session. It is also unclear whether Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who has emphasized making Maryland more friendly to employers, would veto the bill. [Faith leaders add voices to Md. sick-leave movement] Thirteen Democrats on the Economic Matters Committee voted for the measure, while eight Republicans and two Democrats opposed it. Opponents on the committee expressed concern that the bill would negatively impact the states economic climate. The operative statement this bill makes to all businesses or would-be businesses in the state of Maryland is, Move out of the state, said Del. Mark N. Fisher (R-Calvert). Advocates contend that the benefit helps businesses attract and retain quality employees. The committee added amendments that would exempt companies if they have fewer than 15 employees. It also added language to exempt agricultural workers, among other changes. Also Wednesday, the full House approved bills that would extend a ban on sales of powdered alcohol; give state employees a raise; and require Maryland to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030, replacing an existing mandate that requires a 25 percent reduction by 2020. The House approved Hogans $1 billion capital budget and sent the legislation to a conference committee, which quickly resolved minor differences between the House and Senate versions. The measure will move back to both chambers for final approval. In the Senate, lawmakers advanced several bills that Hogan opposes and that Democratic lawmakers are planning to send to his desk before the end of the week. [Democrats plan preemptive strikes on possible vetoes] The chamber gave preliminary approval to a measure that requires the state to rate transportation plans before deciding which project receives funding. It also advanced a bill that would limit the governors input on who is appointed to the Anne Arundel County school board. Both bills are expected to receive a final vote in the Senate on Thursday. The action on the transportation scoring bill came after a long debate, with five members of Hogans staff watching from the gallery. Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer said the transportation bill would radically change how the state funds transportation projects moving away from the governors balanced approach in favor of something that concentrates funding on a small number of jurisdictions. Lawmakers are planning to send bills that could draw vetoes to Hogans desk at least six business days before the session ends on April 11, so the legislature can try to override any vetoes before adjourning. Roberts B. Owen, third from left, next to Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher. (Aric R. Schwan/State Department) Roberts B. Owen, a Washington attorney who served as the State Departments legal adviser during the Iran hostage crisis and played a crucial role as a negotiator and arbitrator at the end of the Bosnian war, determining the future of one of Bosnias most strategically important regions, died March 10 at his home in the District. He was 90. The cause was congestive heart failure, said a daughter, Lucy Owen. Mr. Owen developed his reputation as a shrewd legal mind at the D.C. office of Covington & Burling, where he argued antitrust cases before the Supreme Court and also involved himself in local issues. In 1970, he was part of the legal team that successfully halted the construction of Three Sisters Bridge, a contentious span across the Potomac River that would have carved up sections of Northwest Washington with a new freeway. The project was supported by federal officials but opposed by civic groups and the D.C. government, which favored public transit over new highway projects. Two decades later, he successfully sued to stop a new highway project centered on Southeast Washingtons Barney Circle. Mr. Owen is sworn in as a State Department legal adviser in 1979. (Robert Kaiser/State Department) Mr. Owen, by then a partner at Covington, was named the State Departments legal adviser its chief legal officer and the head of a 120-person legal team in late 1979, just a few weeks before a group of Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 Americans hostage. Working alongside Deputy Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher, Mr. Owen pressed for their release through the International Court of Justice in The Hague and coordinated efforts to establish economic sanctions, freeze Iranian assets abroad and enlist the support of foreign nations. The aim was to convince Irans leaders that their holding of the hostages would create, for Iran, costs that far exceeded any possible value to be gained from their unlawful conduct, he remembered in the 2010 book Shaping Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis, an analysis of State Department legal advisers by law professors Michael Scharf and Paul Williams. The diplomatic and economic maneuvering succeeded, and after a set of agreements penned in part by Mr. Owen during his final days as legal adviser, the hostages were released in January 1981. Mr. Owen returned to Covington but was asked back to the State Department in 1995 to serve as a senior adviser in Bosnia, where a civil war was raging among the nations Croat, Serb and Muslim populations. The diplomat Christopher R. Hill, who served as a chief aide to negotiator Richard Holbrooke during the conflict, recounted in his memoir Outpost that Mr. Owen was rumored to have been added to Holbrookes negotiating team to serve as the eyes and ears for Mr. Owens friend Christopher, by then secretary of state. It was probably true, Hill wrote, but Bob as Mr. Owen preferred to be called also brought to the table a very sensible, straightforward drafting style that would eventually form the basis for the entire Dayton accords. The accords brought the war to an end in late 1995, but Mr. Owen remained involved in Bosnia for another four years as presiding arbitrator of a special International Court of Justice tribunal. He was tasked with deciding the fate of Brcko, a town of about 45,000 that had been inhabited mainly by Croats and Bosnian Muslims, who adopted the name Bosniaks in the mid-1990s, until it was seized by Serb forces during the war. The Dayton accords had split Bosnia into two entities the predominantly Serb Bosnian Serb Republic and predominantly Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and both sought control of Brcko, which is located on a strip of land that connects the western and eastern sections of the Bosnian Serb Republic. Unconventionally, Mr. Owen decided to slice the Gordian knot in two, ruling in 1999 that Brcko would be part of both entities but ruled by neither. Instead, the town would be overseen by a new local government with international supervision, existing as a kind of condominium within Bosnia, as one U.S. official told the New York Times. The decision infuriated Bosnian Serbs, who feared that the loss of the region would split the Bosnian Serb Republic in two. Access between the entitys western and eastern sections was never cut off, however, and Mr. Owens solution remains. Roberts Bishop Owen Jr. was born in Boston on Feb. 11, 1926. His father was a lawyer. Shortly after graduating from the private Phillips Exeter Academy, he persuaded his mother to sign a release allowing him to enlist in the Navy in 1943, despite his youth. He served for three years at the close of World War II, ferrying German prisoners of war to and from the United States, and he maintained a love of sailing all his life, completing no fewer than eight Bermuda Races on his yawl, the Madrigal. Mr. Owen graduated from Harvard University in 1948 and earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1951 before attending Queens College Cambridge on a Fulbright scholarship. He began his law career at Covington & Burling in 1952 and was named a partner in 1960. He retired from the firm in 1996 with the title of senior counsel. In addition to his work for the State Department, Mr. Owen served in the early 2000s as vice chairman of the Zurich-based Claims Resolution Tribunal for dormant accounts, which arbitrated claims made by the families of Holocaust victims to assets deposited in Swiss banks half a century before. His legal work also included membership in the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, which resolves international disputes, in the 1980s and 1990s. Survivors include his wife of 50 years, Kathleen von Schrader Owen of Washington; three children, David Owen of Somerset, Md., Lucy Owen of Washington and William Owen of Conway, N.H.; and eight grandchildren. In an interview for the book Shaping Foreign Policy, Mr. Owen was asked whether he had imagined that more than 25 years after the Iran hostage crisis there would still be no diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States. With customary good humor he replied, Things do have a way of dragging on in international law and diplomacy. Former Washington Redskins player George Starke, a leader of the feared offensive line dubbed The Hogs, was arrested Monday at an upscale District hotel and charged with hitting his wife during an argument over attending the White House Easter Egg Roll. Starke, 67, who played for the Redskins from 1973 to 1984 and helped the team win a Super Bowl in 1983, was charged with simple assault. He was released pending a court appearance May 27. The incident occurred about 7:30 p.m. at the W Hotel in the 500 block of 15th Street NW, one block from the White House. Starke, who is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 255 pounds, told police that his wife got upset with him when he went drinking with friends at the Prime Rib restaurant, according to the affidavit. He told police he was not able to take his family to Mondays Easter Egg Roll. The court document states that Starke, who showed police a California drivers license, told officers his wife jumped on his back and pulled his hair, and that he then admitted to hitting his wife. The wife told police that the two struggled and that Starke hit her in the face with his right hand, knocking her onto a bed. The couples daughter told police, Daddy hit mommy. Police said the wife suffered a small cut over her right eye and was treated by medics. She declined to go to a hospital, police said. Starke could not be reached for comment Wednesday. An attorney listed for him in D.C. Court documents also could not be reached. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and her husband astronaut Mark Kelly speak at an event in Phoenix on March 21. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Carolyn Kaster/AP) Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffordss right arm hung at her side as she limped to the lectern to give a stilted rallying cry for a cause that became her lifes mission after the 2011 shooting that killed six people and left her severely injured. Stopping gun violence takes courage, the courage to do whats right, the courage of new ideas, she said at the State Capitol. Ive seen great courage when my life was on the line. Now is the time to come together. Be responsible. Democrats, Republicans. Everyone. We must never stop fighting. Fight. Fight. Fight! Her powerful plea came during a news conference Tuesday to introduce a coalition of advocates who want to strengthen the states gun laws and require universal background checks for those who want to buy a gun. Americans for Responsible Solutions, the group Giffords founded with her husband, Mark Kelly, has followed a similar strategy in New Hampshire, Minnesota, Oregon and Delaware before bringing their message to Virginia. The announcement comes about a month after Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) signed into law compromise legislation that his administration negotiated with Republican lawmakers and the National Rifle Association during the recent legislative session. The deal allows for voluntary background checks at gun shows and requires tighter restrictions on gun possession by domestic abusers in exchange for what amounts to universal recognition in Virginia of concealed-carry permits from other states. But Giffords, Kelly and their allies want mandatory checks for all gun sales, including those at gun shows and private transactions arranged over the Internet. Giffords and Kelly were not involved in negotiating the deal struck by McAuliffe and have refrained from criticizing it publicly. The couple met privately with McAuliffe at dinner Tuesday at the governors mansion. Among us we have different views on this agreement, Kelly said of the coalition. Some of us supported it, some of us opposed it, but we all know that the agreement is the law of the land here in Virginia. The group identified Virginia as a state where advocates could eventually persuade lawmakers to embrace some gun-control measures. Kelly, a Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut, said 33,000 Americans died of gunshot wounds last year. Although Kelly said he owns guns and believes in protecting the Second Amendment, he said the nation must enact stricter laws. Its time for our leaders to do more to address the gun-violence crisis that is tearing some of our communities apart and makes our country stand out in the worst of ways, he said. [Graphic: The math of mass shootings] He ticked off a list of mass shootings, including the massacres at Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School and the slaying of two Roanoke TV journalists last year. Gun-control advocates say it is unclear how many illegal sales would be prevented by universal checks, because it is difficult to track guns after they leave the manufacturer. Many supporters of gun rights oppose universal background checks. Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said background checks will only make it more difficult for law-abiding enthusiasts to acquire guns. It should be extremely easy for citizens to be able to get a gun, he said. Its a right. Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), a former prosecutor, said universal background checks wouldnt stop shooters bent on doing damage; they would probably steal guns or use straw purchasers, he said. People who dont follow the law anyway find a way to break new ones, he said in a phone interview after the news conference. A Gilbert-sponsored bill that advanced in the recent legislative session would allow someone who takes out a protective order to carry a concealed weapon for 45 days without going through the regular permitting process. McAuliffe has not said whether he will sign or veto the bill. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, shown at Mark Twain Middle School in Alexandria in December, vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have prohibited state agencies from punishing religious organizations that discriminate against same-sex couples. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed a Republican-backed bill Wednesday that would have prohibited state agencies from punishing religious organizations that discriminate against same-sex couples. The veto comes the same week that similar legislation drew attention to Georgia, where Gov. Nathan Deal (R) rejected a religious freedom bill, and North Carolina, where Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a bill that stops municipalities from passing laws to protect lesbian, gay and transgender people. McAuliffe (D) vetoed the Virginia bill during a radio show. Its unconstitutional. It is discriminatory, he said on WTOPs Ask the Governor program. It demonizes folks. It brings fear and persecution. We cant tolerate that. In North Carolina, businesses are pushing back against its new state law, and McAuliffe said the Virginia bill would have hurt his efforts to grow the economy. We need Virginia to be open and welcoming to everyone, he said. In a statewide poll released last month by Christopher Newport University, a majority of Virginians said businesses should not be able to refuse service to gays and lesbians based on religious beliefs. Republicans said the Virginia legislation is needed to protect religious freedom in the face of increasing cultural acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Democrats say the proposal would give people a license to discriminate and is unconstitutional. [Stands on social issues tear at the two main conservative bases] The battle played out this year in Virginia during the recent legislative session. The bills sponsor, Sen. Charles W. Carrico Sr. (R-Grayson), said the measure was a proactive attempt to protect clergy and religiously affiliated schools and would prevent the persecution that he said some already face from gay rights supporters. Its just a matter of time, I feel, before someone tries to sue the church, he said in a phone interview. I think you see a trend around the country right now to promote homosexual beliefs, and I think you see that trend happening on a wide-scale basis. The veto, which was expected, sparked widespread praise from gay rights groups and Democrats. James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia, said the fact that the legislature approved the bill means that more must be done to protect gay rights. The majority of Virginians believe in fairness and equality, and it is discouraging to see so many of our legislators unwilling to stand with them for what is right by passing discriminatory legislation, he said in a statement. But Victoria Cobb, president of the conservative Family Foundation of Virginia, said the bill would have protected those who disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court, which in a 5-to-4 ruling affirmed same-sex couples right to marry in all 50 states. Disagreement over the nature and purpose of marriage is not going to disappear simply because the Supreme Court created a mythological right to redefine marriage, she said in a statement. It is unfortunate that Governor McAuliffe is so willing to discriminate against people of faith who simply disagree with the secular lefts sexual dogma, she said. There are not enough votes in the Republican-controlled General Assembly to override McAuliffes veto. Conservatives in the Virginia House passed another bill earlier in this years legislative session that would have allowed discrimination not just against gay married couples but also against transgender people and anyone straight or gay who has sex outside of marriage. Del. Mark D. Sickles (D-Fairfax), who is gay, gave an emotional floor speech urging his colleagues to consider the sweep of history before casting a vote that could haunt them for the rest of their lives. Some young Republican lawmakers broke with their party to vote no, reflecting the generational divide on gay rights within the GOP nationally. That bill, sponsored by Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), was amended in the Senate, but instead of agreeing to those changes, the House worked with the Senate to pass compromise legislation based on Carricos bill. Economic sanctions have become the silver bullet of American foreign policy over the past decade, because theyre cheaper and more effective in compelling adversaries than traditional military power. But Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warns of a risk of overuse that could neuter the sanctions weapon and harm America. Lew made his unusual case against sanctions overreach in an interview last week and in a speech prepared for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His caution against overuse comes as some Republican members of Congress are fighting to maintain U.S. sanctions on the Iranian nuclear program, despite last years deal limiting that Iranian threat. By highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of sanctions, Lew is raising an important question about the nature of American power in the 21st century. Sanctions have clout because U.S. financial markets are the central nervous system of the globalized economy. But if so many sanctions are applied that the U.S. system becomes too complicated and cumbersome for foreigners, they will eventually find ways to do business outside U.S. markets weakening both our sanctions and our underlying economy. The magic bullet will become a poison pill. Lew notes that U.S. sanctions against Irans nuclear program showed how effective this weapon can be when its carefully fashioned as part of a broad coalition. Americas program of so-called secondary sanctions didnt just ban U.S. companies from doing business with Iran; they banned any company operating in Iran from using U.S. banks or other financial institutions. That made Iran a no-go zone for most Western companies. Contrast the success of this coordinated effort in bringing Iran to the table with five decades of unilateral U.S. sanctions against the Castro regime in Cuba, which Lew rightly notes were ineffective, to put it mildly. Lews larger point is that sanctions wont work if countries dont get the reward they were promised in the removal of sanctions once they accede to U.S. demands. Since the goal of sanctions is to pressure bad actors to change their policy, we must be prepared to provide relief from sanctions when we succeed. If we fail to follow through, we undermine our own credibility and damage our ability to use sanctions to drive policy change, Lew explains in his speech. Congressional opponents of the nuclear deal with Iran want to keep the U.S. financial system off-limits. This case against Dollarizing the Ayatollahs was made by Mark Dubowitz and Jonathan Schanzer in a piece with that headline in the Wall Street Journal on Monday. Lew counters such arguments in his speech: By following through on our commitment to provide sanctions relief, we sustain the powerful incentive for other malign actors to change their behavior. Lew is also wary of casual escalation and the assumption that if existing sanctions dont work, just add more. Russia hasnt yet been forced by Western sanctions to give back Crimea or keep its commitments to the Minsk process, so some critics want to squeeze harder. Lew counsels patience: If Moscow doesnt comply, sanctions will continue, as will the pressure they impose over time. As for the Islamic State, todays leading menace, Lew notes that sanctions have limited effect on a terrorist group that derives most of its revenues from within. U.S. power flows from our unmatched military might, yes. But in a deeper way, its a product of the dominance of the U.S. economy. Anything that expands the reach of U.S. markets such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership in trade, for example adds to the arsenal of U.S. power. Conversely, U.S. power is limited by measures that drive business away from America, or allow other nations to build a rival financial architecture thats less encumbered by a smorgasbord of sanctions. Politicians often call for sanctions as a way of sounding tough, when they dont want to take riskier measures. But they should recognize, Lew stresses, that sanctions arent cost-free. They should be imposed when they can get results, not to make U.S. politicians sound good. Doctors know that even the most effective drugs can be overused in ways that ultimately render them ineffective. Thats certainly true with the antibiotics used against infectious diseases. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, which kill good bacteria and bad alike, carry risks. The larger danger is that overuse of targeted antibiotics will create drug-resistant strains that survive the medical sanctions. These hardy, mutant strains can be nearly untreatable. Doctors are learning not to overprescribe. So, too, should foreign-policy practitioners. Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. So what are we to do? This is a familiar question to opinion writers. Translation: Youve told us whats wrong with everything and we agree. But, whats the action plan? Ah. The action plan. I hoped youd never ask. A reader recently wrote three Post columnists along these lines: I feel your frustration and fear, she said, but what are we to do to counter the insanity besides exercise our right to vote, express our opinions and make monetary contributions? Excellent question. Would that someone could answer it. In such times, I turn to my personal wizard, Van Wishard, whom Ive introduced in a previous column. A retired trend analyst, Wishard cant stop his fertile mind from examining the problems of our age. To all questions, his answer is globalization. Nothing can be fixed or stopped, he says, until we come to terms with globalization as a profound psychological issue, not just a matter of economics or immigration patterns. In one of his highly distilled observations, he wonders (but isnt predicting) whether this may be our last election for a while. To Americans who already feel disenfranchised and voiceless, their votes virtually meaningless as political parties seek to override them, this idea wont be much of a surprise. Rather, they likely have already begun to feel resigned to a country no longer their own and a world thats out of control. Wishards thesis hinges on his further observation that the military and Silicon Valley may be the only institutions left that are capable of governing. Might a marriage of military order and advanced technology be in our future? Silicon Valleys masters of the future are furiously working to create robots that promise to make better decisions albeit lacking in empathy, at least for the time being than their human bosses. Already, its difficult to find a human to help you in a brick-and-mortar store, soon to be obsolete except as sensory museums for the elderly and curious. What whimsy awaits? The drone that brings you coffee and a bagel? Such futuristic developments are upon us. The dehumanization to come, via designer genes and surrogate spouses who bring fantasies to life, wont leave much for humans to do other than cause mischief. Perhaps the rise of the Islamic State and other death-dealing savages are the counterforces to lengthening lives absent meaning the dark armies of Thanatos, the death drive that Sigmund Freud recognized as an instinct equal to survival. In the midst of such overwhelming, existential change, the pace of our daily lives will continue to increase as our world continues to shrink. Fear and anxiety are natural reactions, yet no one in the political realm acknowledges this. Understandably, few want to have a fireside reality chat. First, it isnt the bright and hopeful message upon which political campaigns are built. A Donald Trump would rather promise to stuff globalization back into the bottle than talk seriously about how America adapts. Wed rather be distracted by such quandaries as where a transsexual empties his or her bladder. Heres an action plan for you: If youre a transsexual woman or man, use the restroom that corresponds to your chosen sex. Your privates are no ones business. There, that was easy. The rest is not so simple, which is why Trump is so popular. He makes things seem simple by offering slogans as solutions and by essentially denying globalization. This isnt only dishonest; its offensive. Globalization today has become a force unto itself an expanding, assimilating organ nourished by diverse cultures, symbiotic systems and a rapidly converging collective psyche. Theres no separating one from the whole. And theres no turning back. Any presidential candidate who isnt talking about globalization proactively, realistically and, yes, optimistically isnt shooting straight. Worse, he or she doesnt get it. Action plan? My robot and I will get back to you. Meanwhile, Wishard finds hope in young people, who, notwithstanding the fashionable rise of socialism, travel abroad, speak more than one language, have made friends across cultures through social media and accept international integration as the new normal. Perhaps it will take a younger candidate to one day lead the country into this new-ish century, assuming a robot doesnt beat him or her to it. But for now, the right candidate would do well to explain to people why theyre uneasy and convince them that the human race, not just this country, is on the verge of awesomeness (for real) and walk them through an unavoidable adventure. Read more from Kathleen Parkers archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. Correction: An earlier version of this letter incorrectly said that no states allow termination of parental rights without a conviction. Several states allow termination of parental rights after a judgment of clear and convincing evidence of sexual assault is presented. This version has been updated. Regarding the March 24 editorial Terminating rapists parental rights: The Maryland State Bar Association has consistently supported the goals of the proposed legislation, HB 646, the Rape Survivor Family Protection Act. Therefore the suggestion in your editorial that the MSBA is leading the opposition is inaccurate. The MSBA and others, including the Maryland judiciary and the Office of the Public Defender, objected to some aspects of the legislation as introduced. The MSBA has provided and will continue to provide guidance to the legislature through the work of its legislative committee. The MSBA agrees with the goals of the bill and has worked to improve it, including the protection of constitutional liberty interests, privacy rights and due process. Originally, the bill provided that a mans parental rights may be terminated even if he had never been convicted of or even charged with a crime. Currently, a few states allow for termination upon a conviction or with clear and compelling evidence. The MSBA has pointed out provisions that would render the legislation unconstitutional. Many of the concerns that the MSBA brought to the attention of the bills drafters were remedied; indeed, the House passed the amended version unanimously. The MSBA will be reviewing the amended legislation and has not yet taken a position on the amended bill. Pamila J. Brown, Baltimore The writer is president of the Maryland State Bar Association. Hillary Clinton is seen aboard the campaign bus in Cleveland on the third day of a bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio. July 31, 2016 Hillary Clinton is seen aboard the campaign bus in Cleveland on the third day of a bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Melina Mara/The Washington Post The former secretary of state, senator and first lady is the Democratic nominee for president. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton visits key states in her quest to become the Democratic nominee for president. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton visits key states in her quest to become the Democratic nominee for president. This may sound strange coming from someone who doesnt expect Hillary Clinton to be indicted and doesnt think she should be, but Ive been worrying about what will happen if she isnt. There is a school of people a big school, judging from my email for whom there are only two possibilities: Either Clinton is charged with a crime for mishandling classified information on her private server an outcome, this group thinks, that should be devastatingly obvious to anyone with half a brain. Or the Justice Department will squelch the indictment out of a politically motivated desire to protect the likely Democratic presidential nominee. The only disagreement here involves whether Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch will act on her own or under orders from President Obama. Heads, Clintons indicted; tails, theyre corrupt. For this crowd, there is no outcome here that contemplates independent, sober-minded prosecutors looking at the facts and the law and reaching a contrary conclusion. This attitude presents a problem, not so much for Clinton shell be happy to accept the no-indictment outcome, and the people who reject it will never be Clinton voters anyway as for the criminal justice system. It bears some thinking at the top levels of the Justice Department and the FBI about whether there is some way to mitigate the suspicion by making more information public than is the norm. The State Department released 52,000 pages of Hillary Clintons emails as part of a court-ordered process. Here's what else we learned from the publicly released emails. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Once, there was a statutory solution to this understandable skepticism, albeit a hugely imperfect one, in the form of the independent counsel law. Clinton knows better than anyone how prolonged and risky this route can be; the independent counsel originally named to investigate the Whitewater investment by Bill and Hillary Clinton ended up with Monica Lewinsky. Even now that the statute has lapsed, the Justice Department retains the authority, by regulation, to appoint a special counsel when the attorney general determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other extraordinary circumstances. Theres no indication that Justice has contemplated this step; indeed, its not clear it has even determined that a criminal investigation is warranted. In any event, turning to a special counsel now, with the clock ticking toward Election Day, would not serve the public well. What it needs is maximum information speedily revealed. FBI agents and federal prosecutors tend to be allergic to releasing information, appropriately so. (There is that pesky matter of grand jury information, which is supposed to be kept secret, although theres no indication this inquiry has even reached the grand jury stage.) Prosecutors either indict or stand down, no explanation provided. But in the case of a public figure whose conduct has drawn intense scrutiny, that approach may not be optimal for the individual involved or, more important in this case, for the public. There is useful guidance in both the independent counsel law and the departments own precedents. The independent counsel law required the prosecutor to file a final report hence the infamous Kenneth Starr report on Lewinsky that the supervising court could make public. Similarly, the Justice Department in 2010 issued a 92-page investigative summary that detailed the evidence against Bruce E. Ivins, the Fort Detrick researcher who was the suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks but who committed suicide while under investigation. Ordinarily, that would have ended the case, but officials determined that the intense public interest justified releasing more information. Tellingly, that took a year to accomplish time that is not available in this circumstance. So that leaves assuming no indictment an unsatisfying situation. Ordinarily, in such cases, there would be no official announcement at all. In some high-profile cases, Justice has taken the unusual step of announcing that the matter is closed. In 2012, then-Attorney General Eric Holder announced that there would be no prosecution in the death of two CIA detainees overseas, saying that the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. In the Clinton situation, there has to be a way to provide more information, in a timely way, from a credible source. Senior Justice officials will be mistrusted whatever they say, but what about FBI Director James B. Comey, who served in the Justice Department under George W. Bush? If this inquiry is closed without further action, the public will need some explanation beyond everyone-just-move-along-now. Not for Clinton, but for the sake of the Justice Department and the professionals who work there. Read more from Ruth Marcuss archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook. Donald Trump, shown Tuesday during a town hall in Milwaukee, is viewed as a lightning rod for the House, with some observers saying that Democrats could make inroads by winning more seats. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP) Its one of the most controversial things to say on Capitol Hill, sparking looks of shock and disbelief: The House majority is in play this fall. For almost five years, ever since state legislatures and commissions finished drawing the new congressional districts for this decade, the Republican stranglehold on the House has been taken for granted because of the precise targeting that fortified GOP-held swing seats to seemingly withstand the toughest political climate. Even leading Democrats, just two months ago at their annual issues retreat in Baltimore, declined to predict anything close to winning the 30 seats they need in November to reclaim the majority. Then Republicans started voting in their presidential primary, with Donald Trump taking a commanding lead. By last week, as House Democrats showcased several dozen top recruits on Capitol Hill and at K Street fundraisers, the tone had finally begun to shift. Trump has become so unpopular among key constituencies, including the growing suburbs that are home to several dozen Republican members, that some independent analysts, political strategists and a few Democrats say that anything might be possible come Election Day. People are now beginning to understand that things could set up could set up to give us a shot at the majority. Theyre beginning to understand thats a possibility, because of Mr. Trump. But in any event, they understand were going to gain seats, said Rep. Denny Heck (D-Wash.), who is helping lead the recruiting effort. Donald Trump likes to speak for "everyone" and "everybody" but we're not so sure these claims stand up. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) Thats a far cry from guaranteeing victory, but its quite a pivot from a Democratic caucus that four months ago unveiled a data-heavy effort dubbed The Majority Project that appeared to focus on winning back the majority by 2020 or 2022. Republicans reject any hint that their majority could implode in the House, where Democrats hold their smallest share of seats since 1948. They contend that, even if a massive anti-Trump wave fully builds, Democrats recognized it too late. Filing deadlines have already passed in almost 40 percent of House districts, leaving many potentially ripe seats without a strong Democratic challenger. Theyre missing candidates in the seats they need to win. The math is not on their side. Time is not on their side, Katie Martin, spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Tuesday. Also, Republicans have reversed the financial edge the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee held over the NRCC two years ago, opening up a $2 million advantage last month. Both sides say the Republican network of outside super PACs will swamp the amount of cash that Democratic super PACs devote to House races. [How can Democrats win back the House?] What is increasingly clear, however, is that the down-ballot effect of Trump or his leading rival for the nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), will no longer just focus on the Senate, which has long been viewed as a toss-up for who controls the majority next year. But in the House, Democrats are headed for significant double-digit gains unless Trump can alter his image, according to Nathan L. Gonzales, editor of the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report , an independent political analyst. Such a big loss would leave Republicans holding the slimmest House majority either party has held in more than a decade. That could further destabilize the control of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) over a chamber in which his conservative flank has recently rebelled against his agenda. 1 of 45 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Trump captures the nations attention on the campaign trail View Photos The Republican candidate continues to dominate the presidential contest. Caption Businessman Donald Trump officially became the Republican nominee at the partys convention in Cleveland. Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Trump Doral golf course in Miami. Carlo Allegri/Reuters Wait 1 second to continue. Of the six most recent national polls, Trump has trailed the likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, by 10 percentage points or more in five of them. Such a huge loss by the Republican presidential nominee would pit two oft-voiced truisms against one another: that the House majority is securely in GOP hands because of the tilted redistricting process in 2011, and that the era of voters splitting presidential tickets is over. In the past 40 years, there have been three landslide presidential contests. Ronald Reagans massive victories in 1980 and 1984, by 10 and 18 percentage points, respectively, helped Republicans win 34, and then 16, seats in the House. In 2008, President Obamas victory by more than seven percentage points helped Democrats win 21 seats. Even under the currently drawn House map, Obamas small victory in 2012 boosted Democrats to an eight-seat gain. Then, a historically low 10 percent of voters cast ballots for their member of Congress different from the party affiliation of their presidential candidate. If the decline of ticket splitting holds, a landslide loss by a partys presidential nominee would mean a disaster in the House. Now that its extremely likely that the Republican Party will nominate Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, congressional Republicans are entering uncharted and potentially dangerous territory, Dave Wasserman, an independent House expert, recently wrote for the Cook Political Report. The views of Wasserman and Gonzales crystallize the debate over Republican vulnerability in the House. Their handicapping reports rate an almost identical amount of Republican districts as vulnerable, but Wasserman takes a macro-view of the national environment, especially in an era in which four of the last five elections have produced big swings of at least 13 House seats. Gonzales digs into district-by-district matchups and sees too many missing parts for Democrats. Potential Democratic candidates who think an anti-Trump wave is developing either missed their opportunity or likely need to make up their minds soon, he wrote in his most recent report. Heck, chief recruiter for the DCCC, acknowledged that there are not enough Democrats with political surfboards yet to try to ride Trumps wave to victory. Weve done very good, but not yet great. The process is still underway, he said. He conceded they have up to a dozen seats where were taking a second look but they still have some time to find a candidate. The focus is on districts with a highly educated populace, those in the suburbs and those with large numbers of Hispanic voters, or a combination of all three, because those are the voters most consistently offended by Trumps message. Three Republican seats in Minnesota surrounding the Twin Cities are now a target. Rep. Scott Garrett, a staunch conservative from northern New Jersey, faces a fresh challenge from a former speechwriter to Bill Clinton for a seat held by Republicans since Reagans first landslide. After recruiting failures in western Colorado, with a large Hispanic population, the DCCC just got a call from a potential candidate who had initially spurned a challenge to Rep. Scott R. Tipton, who has won by comfortable margins since being swept into office during the Republican wave of 2010. But, as is the case in many districts, time is of the essence. Filing deadlines in Colorado close in three weeks to mount a significant challenge to Tipton. No one is guaranteeing a House takeover, but the Democrats finally have some optimism. There are going to be people that raise their right hand next January on our side of the aisle that nobody thought would be coming here, Heck said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it was unconstitutional for the government to seize the untainted assets of a criminal suspect when it keeps her from hiring a lawyer of her choice to fight the charges. A splintered court said the Sixth Amendment right to hire a qualified attorney that a defendant can afford prevailed against the governments interest in freezing assets that could be used for restitution and fines if the person is convicted. How are defendants whose innocent assets are frozen in cases like these supposed to pay for a lawyer particularly if they lack tainted assets because they are innocent? asked Justice Stephen G. Breyer. The case divided the court in unusual ways. Breyers opinion was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and two justices from the left, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. Conservative Clarence Thomas agreed with the outcome but not Breyers reasoning. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote a dissent that was joined by conservative Samuel A. Alito Jr., while liberal Elena Kagan wrote a separate dissenting opinion. The case was brought by Sila Luis of Miami, who was indicted in 2012 for allegedly paying kickbacks, conspiring to commit fraud and other crimes related to the governments spending on health care. All told, prosecutors said, Luiss actions brought her about $45 million from Medicare over a six-year period. The problem for the government was that she spent almost all of it, according to court documents. She transferred some to family members, placed some in holdings in Mexico and bought herself various luxuries and trips abroad. The government went after about $2 million remaining in Luiss possession, even though it could not show that money was related to her alleged crimes. A district judge approved freezing the assets, and an appeals court upheld the order. Luis said that violated her right to hire the lawyer of her choice to defend her against the charges. Breyer wrote that the courts previous cases granting the government leeway to freeze funds concerned assets that were related to the crimes at hand. The relevant difference consists of the fact that the property here is untainted; i.e., it belongs to the defendant, pure and simple, Breyer wrote. In this respect it differs from a robbers loot, a drug sellers cocaine, a burglars tools, or other property associated with the planning, implementing, or concealing of a crime. Breyer acknowledged that money is fungible but said that the law has tracing rules that help courts implement the kind of distinction we require in this case. Thomas provided a majority in the case by agreeing with the outcome. But he said that he based his opinion on a strict reading of the Sixth Amendment and that there was no need to engage in the balancing Breyer performed in weighing the interests of Luis and the government. Kennedy wrote that the opinion provides criminals with a road map. The unprecedented holding rewards criminals who hurry to spend, conceal, or launder stolen property by assuring them that they may use their own funds to pay for an attorney after they have dissipated the proceeds of their crime, he wrote. He added: The true winners today are sophisticated criminals who know how to make criminal proceeds look untainted. They do so every day. The case is Luis v. United States. There are no ordinary weeks on the trail of Campaign 2016. One week brings insults over spouses and salacious allegations from a supermarket tabloid. Now its a campaign manager charged with battery, a candidate offering an alternative reality about the charge and a Republican Party ever more threatened with chaos, depending on its nominee. What this is about is clear to all an unstable Republican coalition, the disruptive candidacy of Donald Trump and an alarmed GOP establishment that has proved (not surprisingly) to be powerless or helpless in the face of unfolding events. Where it ends is anybodys guess. The party that champions free markets is now hostage to the volatile political markets of 2016 and to the disparate consumers who in one way or another identify with the GOP brand. From a distance, the various elements of the Republican coalition appear irreconcilable. Establishment Republicans are appalled at the prospect of Trump as nominee. Those in the establishment who have rushed to support Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have done so because he has managed to beat Trump more than anyone else. They have done so with grave reservations, given his history of tormenting party leaders. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, meanwhile, attracts what has been called a Coalition of the Formers, ex-politicians who remember him from his days in Washington in the 1990s, but he has far less support from the party of today. His support among rank-and-file voters trails that of Trump and Cruz. He has but one victory behind his name this year. Meanwhile, the thousands who showed up to see Trump in Janesville, Wis., on Tuesday afternoon appear unwilling to fall into line behind anyone other than the New York billionaire and current GOP front-runner. Their loyalty is to the man. The three remaining Republican presidential candidates rowed back on promises to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee March 29. (Deirdra O'Regan/The Washington Post) [Can Trump become so unpopular that Democrats take back the House?] On Tuesday, Trump was appearing in the home town of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), no greater symbol of the party establishment and someone who has decried the tone and tenor of the Republican presidential campaign though without naming Trump in his criticisms. When Trump mentioned Ryans name, the hotel ballroom erupted in boos. Wow, Trump said, seeming surprised, though perhaps he wasnt. I was told to be nice to Paul Ryan. A voice rang out from the audience: Paul Rino, the man said, RINO being shorthand for Republican in name only. Trump responded: Hes the speaker. Hes a nice guy. Wow. Are you all Republicans? Another chorus from the audience: Yes! Are you mostly conservative? Trump asked. From the audience came another round of yeses. There is no way to know the ideological leanings or true loyalties to the Republican Party of the audience that had gathered to hear Trump in a town that would seem to have a ready-made Trump constituency. It is famously blue collar and just as famously hard hit by the decline in manufacturing in America over the past quarter-century. The thousands who showed up were there for Trump. For months, the GOP candidates maintained a patina of cohesion as their dialogue fell further and further from any sense of civility. Everyone remembers the moment in the debate in Michigan when, after nearly two hours of slinging mud, the candidates were asked whether they would support Trump as the nominee. Those on the stage said they would. Their pledges came months after all the candidates were asked a similar question, and Trumps opponents all said yes. Those pledges fell apart on Tuesday night, during a round-robin series of interviews at a town hall in Milwaukee hosted by CNN and moderated by Anderson Cooper. Violence at Trump campaign events has been increasing in intensity despite Trump's insistence that his rallies are peaceful. Here's a look at how the violence has escalated to the events in Tuscon on March 19. (Daron Taylor,Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) [The Fix: Donald Trump did a CNN townhall last night. And it was a classic.] Would you support Trump as nominee, Cooper asked Cruz. Im not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family. Pressed to answer directly, Cruz dodged. Donald is not going to be the nominee, he said. Pressed again, Cruz held firm. I think nominating Donald Trump is a disaster, and so the answer to that is not to scream and yell and cry and attack him. The answer to that is to beat him at the ballot box, he said. Kasich was more direct. He backed away from the earlier pledge and indicated that none of the candidates should have answered when first asked about it long before the Michigan debate. When Cooper said that sounded as if Kasich was no longer ironclad in the pledge, the governor replied, I got to see what happens. If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country, and dividing the country, I cant stand behind them, but we have a ways to go. Trump, sandwiched between Cruz and Kasich, totally abandoned the pledge he signed in the presence of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus at Trump Tower. Cooper asked if he continues to pledge his support to whoever the Republican nominee is. No. I dont anymore, Trump replied. Asked a moment later about that, he said, I have been treated very unfairly. Cruz and Kasich hold out hope that events still will break in their favor. Cruz thinks he can amass more delegates than Trump before the convention or, if necessary, deny Trump the nomination on the floor of the conventional hall in Cleveland. His goal is to start here in Wisconsin. A new Marquette University Law School poll shows him leading Trump 40 to 30 percent, with Kasich at 21 percent. The Marquette poll is considered the most reliable in the Badger State. The Real Clear Politics average of all recent polls in Wisconsin shows a tight race, with Cruz at 35 percent, Trump at 32 percent and Kasich at 23 percent. A Cruz victory in Wisconsin would again change perceptions and some of the calculus of the state of the Republican race. Trump remains the favorite, but every loss will take away some of his luster, just as his recent interviews about foreign policy have raised serious doubts about his readiness to be president. The calendar still looks better for him than Cruz, and he has the lead in delegates. Cruzs task is clear and challenging. Kasichs only hope is a brokered convention that turns to him after the first or second ballot or however many ballots it takes. He is hardly the master of his own fate. Hanging on until Cleveland is his strategy at this point. Cruz said Tuesday night that a Trump nomination would be an absolute train wreck that would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton. But if Trump enters with more delegates and is denied the nomination, the party faces a potential train wreck internally, as millions of voters who have backed the New York billionaire decide whether to fall in line or stay on the sidelines in November. Words and pledges are cheap right now, tossed about by candidates and party officials with little conviction or lasting meaning. Events are in control, and everyone knows it. Cleveland is still months away, as the campaign grows ever more strange. Picture this home-purchase nightmare: After weeks of getting ready, youre about to go to closing. Moving trucks are on the way. Based on instructions you received by email from your realty agent, youve wired closing funds to the bank account the agent specified. But the tens of thousands of dollars you wired never arrived. Instead, the money got diverted to an account set up by offshore cyber-pirates who have hacked into your realty agents email account, watched the agents communications with you and the title and settlement-service providers, then waited for the right moment to pounce. The money is gone hijacked to an unknown account in some foreign country. You cant get it back. And theres no way you can buy the house. Versions of this horror scenario have been popping up around the country, sometimes costing buyers $100,000 to $300,000, or even more. In Greenfield, Mass., Corinne Fitzgerald, broker-owner of Fitzgerald Real Estate, told me that hackers grabbed $80,000 in closing funds and $20,000 in earnest-money deposits by penetrating a buyers agents email account and supplying false bank wiring instructions. Barely weeks ago in Marylands Montgomery County, hackers siphoned off between $100,000 and $200,000 sent by buyers to what they believed was the correct bank for their home purchase, according to Todd Hylton, owner of Excalibur Title & Escrow, whose firm had been scheduled to handle the settlement. The money vanished. In late November last year, in neighboring Frederick County, $300,000 was minutes away from being diverted to an account set up by hackers operating out of Nigeria when realty agent Bill Woodcock of Mackintosh Realtors noticed something amiss at the closing. Because of a bogus email sent to the buyers title agency, closing funds were about to be wired to an unknown bank account. It turned out that the cybercriminals had hacked into Woodcocks email account and, posing convincingly as Woodcock himself, given erroneous last-minute instructions to the title agency. [More Harney: Whats your house really worth? It may be important to know.] Jessica Edgerton, associate counsel for the National Association of Realtors in Chicago, says versions of this scam have been surfacing with disturbing frequency, affecting hundreds if not thousands of home closings. Although many attempts are detected before the settlement funds are stolen, cybercriminals have been successful in dozens of cases, she said, often at massive financial costs to the victims. One near miss in the Chicago area reportedly involved more than $830,000. The situation has become serious enough that on March 18 the Federal Trade Commission issued a joint warning with the Realtors association about the threats to settlement funds. To pull off their heists, hackers typically break into a realty agents email account and watch for references to forthcoming cash-rich closing transactions on homes. From their monitoring of the email traffic, they can learn the identities of buyers and sellers, the company names of title, escrow and settlement service providers and the timing of scheduled closings. Once inside the agents account, they can effectively take over the agents identity and provide credible instructions to clients. Unlike the cartoonish scammers of years past who couldnt spell and who mangled English, todays artful bandits know the lingo and even pick up and mimic the conversational styles of agents exchanging emails with settlement officials and clients. [More Harney: Dont expect realty agents to answer loaded questions about neighborhoods] How to counter sophisticated settlement-fund theft schemes? The FTCs alert to consumers emphasized a key step all buyers can take: However convincing an email may appear, if it provides money-moving instructions for your closing, stop right there. Email is not a secure way to send financial information, and your real estate professional or title company should know that, the FTC said. Fitzgerald, an immediate past president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, says she recommends that agents inform clients in writing early in the process that I will never in an email ask you to move money. If buyers understand and acknowledge this, cyber-hijacking will be much tougher for the crooks. Its a smart practice also to confirm all wiring instructions received by any means with a call to a verifiable phone contact number of the realty or settlement agent. Then theres the obvious advice for realty agents themselves: Harden up your email security measures. Change your passwords more frequently. If the pirates cant penetrate and take over your system, theyre much less likely to be able to rip off your clients. Ken Harneys email address is kenharney@earthlink.net. Fresh from a major victory over Islamic State militants, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday expressed support for peace talks next month in Geneva but still firmly rejected the oppositions key demands. In an interview with Russian media, the embattled leader discussed his vision for eventual reconstruction from a devastating civil war and his desire to let Moscow, a key ally, maintain an indefinite military presence in Syria. Assads comments come just days after his forces drove Islamic State extremists out of Palmyra. Seizing the archaeologically rich city was a big success for his government and its foreign military backers, most notably Russia, which bombed the militants in the desert city. [Syrias government says it has driven the Islamic State out of Palmyra] In his remarks, Assad appeared buoyed by that battlefield win, strongly dismissing as illogical and unconstitutional the idea of forming a transitional government to end a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people, displaced millions and fueled the rise of the Islamic State. 1 of 32 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Inside Syria View Photos As the conflict enters its fifth year, Aleppo, Syrias most populous city, has been sliced in two by the war and in the capital Damascus, there is little sign of the anniversary on the streets. Caption As the conflict enters its fifth year, Aleppo, Syrias most populous city, has been sliced in two by the war and in the capital Damascus, there is little sign of the anniversary on the streets. March 10, 2016 A souk, or open-air market, in the old city of Aleppo. Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. The Syrian opposition at the Geneva peace talks, an umbrella body known as the High Negotiations Committee, has called for creating a transitional government that has no role for Assad a proposition that now seems even less likely. There is nothing, neither in the Syrian constitution nor in any other constitution in the world, called a transitional body, Assad was quoted as saying in the interview with Russias state-owned Sputnik news agency. He instead repeated his desire for forming a unity government with opposition members, independents and current government officials. The opposition members swiftly rejected that idea. The government, whether its new or old, as long as it is in the presence of Bashar al-Assad, is not part of the political process, George Sabra, an opposition negotiator at the talks, told the Reuters news agency. During an international peace conference nearly four years ago, world powers created a framework to end the Syrian conflict that included forming a transitional authority with full executive power. This remains the basis for the U.N.-sponsored talks in Geneva, which completed an initial round this month with hopes of resuming another in early April. In the interview, Assad suggested that the scheduled talks would continue as planned by their mediator, Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy to Syria. A pro-Syrian government media channel claims this footage, released March 29, shows the Islamic States headquarters in Palmyra, Syria. The Syrian government declared it had retaken the city earlier in the week. (YouTube/Media Central Military) This month, de Mistura presented the government and opposition delegations in Geneva with a document containing 12 points of commonalities. The envoy hopes these points will facilitate the upcoming negotiations, although he still does not have a solution for dealing with Assads fate, which is the most divisive issue in the Syrian conflict. [In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is in retreat on multiple fronts] The Syrian leader also suggested a long-term military role in Syria for Russia, which has stabilized his rule by intervening with airstrikes in September and further assistance. Russias military presence will last even if the situation in Syria stabilizes in terms of security, Assad said. Russia, which runs air and naval bases in Syria, announced a partial drawdown earlier this month but has continued to support Assad. Russia is giving aid through deliveries of weaponry in keeping with the existing contracts and the continuation of assistance to the Syrian army by part of the Russian military staying there, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov told the Russian Interfax news agency on Wednesday. Russia has also sent a unit of military de-miners to Syria to conduct mine clearance work around Palmyra, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman told Interfax on Wednesday. Birnbaum reported from Moscow. Read more: Russia, with an eye on U.S., threatens to bomb Syrian cease-fire violators Russia could redeploy to Syria in hours, Putin says New Islamic State recruits have deep criminal roots Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world A suspected hijacker who used a fake explosive belt to commandeer an Egyptian airliner flashed a victory sign Wednesday after a court in Cyprus ordered him held before possible terrorism-linked charges from an apparent desperate bid to see his estranged family. Tuesdays diversion of an EygptAir plane ended after a nearly six-hour standoff at Cypruss main airport in Larnaca and included several bizarre moments. In one, a grinning British hostage posed for a photo alongside the 59-year-old hijacker. [This isnt the first time someone tried to hijack a plane out of love] In a statement to Cypriot police, the suspect identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa described the hijacking as an attempt to make contact with his estranged wife and children, who live on the eastern Mediterranean island. When someone hasnt seen his family for 24 years . . . what should one do? said Mustafas statement, according to the Reuters news agency. A man commandeered an EgyptAir flight from Alexandria with more than 55 passengers and crew aboard. The hijacker, identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa, surrendered to authorities. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post) A court in Larnaca ordered him held for eight days while prosecutors study possible charges that include threatening terrorist violence. As he left the courthouse, a handcuffed Mustafa made the V-for-victory sign. Egypt, meanwhile, wants him back for potential prosecution. The countrys main prosecutor asked Cyprus to extradite Mustafa, Egyptian state TV reported. Mustafa calmly walked off the plane and surrendered Tuesday after holding a handful of passengers and crew on board. The rest of the 72 people on board had been freed shortly after the plane landed in Cyprus. [Hijacking renews concerns over Egyptian airport safety] Authorities say Mustafa demanded that the domestic Alexandria-to-Cairo flight be diverted to Cyprus, threatening to detonate a belt with explosives. Police later said the device was fake, apparently fashioned from mobile phone covers and wires. On Tuesday, a Cypriot Foreign Ministry official, Alexandros Zenon, described Mustafas mental state as unstable. In Britain, meanwhile, attention shifted to a passenger on the flight, Ben Innes, who posted a smiling selfie alongside the hijacker, whose purported bomb belt is visible. I figured if his bomb was real, Id nothing to lose anyway, Innes was quoted as saying by The Sun newspaper in Britain, so I took a chance to get a closer look at it. Innes, a health and safety inspector from Leeds, said he asked the hijacker if he could take a photo. He just shrugged okay, Innes told the newspaper,so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever. Read more: What a horrific week of terrorism tells us about the world A terror attack exposed Belgiums security failings. Europes problem is far bigger. Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world At 23, they are already celebrities, Frances youngest public intellectuals. But Badroudine Said Abdallah and Mehdi Meklat are not graduates of the prestigious Ecole Normale Superieure, and they do not reside on the storied Left Bank. In fact, neither sees the point of a university education, and their world begins where Paris ends, which is the point of their entire intellectual project. Their columns for the Liberation newspapers Bondy Blog, their documentaries and their 2015 novel all reveal the two friends overarching intent: showing the world the complicated reality of the Paris suburbs where they were born and raised. What we try to do, Mehdi said recently, is give voice to those who arent heard particularly well or who are heard badly. For many, the Parisian suburbs the banlieues have become a synonym for everything wrong with contemporary France: unemployment, racial segregation, youth violence, anti-Semitism and, now, radical Islam. If the Brussels district of Molenbeek was the major planning hub for the attacks on Paris in November and on Brussels last week, French politicians have started referring to the periphery of Paris as a French Molenbeek. But since long before either attack, these neighborhoods have been considered zones of lawlessness and social decay. The banlieues were the site of youth riots in 2005 that triggered a state of national emergency, and they are still the perch from which the provocateur Dieudonne Mbala Mbala repeatedly rails against the Jewish slave drivers who he says secretly run France. It was originally in a banlieue prison that Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly planned the January 2015 attacks on the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. And it was in the banlieue of Bagneux that a gang assaulted and murdered Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Jewish cellphone salesman, in 2006, merely because he was Jewish. Last week, French authorities arrested a man in the banlieue of Argenteuil who they said was in the advanced stages of planning yet another terrorist attack. Many of these suburbs largely developed after decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s were built up quickly with housing projects for the millions of largely North African, West African and South Asian workers who arrived in France. But throughout the nations postwar economic boom, the distance between these communities and the grand boulevards of nearby Paris grew. Marginalization led to discontent, discontent led to unrest, and unrest led to violence or so the popular narrative goes. What we try to show are the inner lives of people here, he added. To that end, Badrou and Mehdis novel, Burn Out, is a fictionalized account of the 2013 suicide of Djamal Chaab, who set himself on fire outside an unemployment agency after years of struggling to find work. When things dont go as they should, the novel begins, you have to leave. When theres fire. When water starts to rise, almost to drown you, you have to flee. [Religious liberties under strain for Muslims in France] In France, we call black people and Arab people minorites visibles. But no, we are the invisible minorities, said Eros Sana, a leader of the Green Party in Sarcelles, a community northwest of Paris. When you turn on the TV, you will not see everyday stories about the banlieues love stories, school stories, anything like that. These parts of France are marginalized, and they lack representation except for Badrou and Mehdi. Its rare to have someone who is black and African and on TV talking something other than just politics. Mehdi comes from an Algerian family that settled in France during decolonization. Badrou is the eldest of seven siblings, and he still shares a room with two of his brothers. His father is an imam in La Courneuve, informally known as the sixth island of the Comoros because of its sizable community of immigrants from the East African archipelago. For a long time, French discourse has been the discourse of assimilation, Badrou said. But theres a real hypocrisy in the idea of assimilation. It begs the question: Who is the better French than the others? Who really merits the title French? This dogmatism is very dangerous in the end, he added. We proclaim equality all the time, but the reality is that equality is no longer there. Here, were only 10 or 20 minutes from the Elysee, Mehdi said, referring to the seat of the French presidency. But were a world apart from the institutions and the top politicians that run them. The young people here they dont feel French like others do. [Why a new citizenship law in France has outraged the French left] That the two friends are still primarily based in La Courneuve carries a special significance. It was there in 2005 that Nicolas Sarkozy, Frances interior minister at the time, made his infamous proclamation: On va nettoyer au Karcher la cite Were going to blast-clean the city. He was addressing youth violence in the banlieues, but many in La Courneuve heard in his words a pledge to oppress minority identities and communities. Responding to that statement has long motivated Badrou and Mehdi. There is a rapport between Islam and France and Europe, Badrou said. And, finally, there arent contradictions between that which is Muslim and that which is French. Theres just a dialogue. In France, there is a real fear of the word community, Mehdi said. But identity is inscribed in community. Today, its difficult for certain people to live in France and be French because of a certain religion or because of a certain nationality. Most of all, the two reject what they consider the imposition of a singular French identity that effaces all other affiliations. In the world today, Mehdi continued, people are multifaceted, and they have multiple identities. I refuse to have just one identity. . . . I am French, and, after that, Algerian, and, after that . . . An identity isnt just one thing. Its many. Hundreds of radical Islamists who had rallied for four days in the heart of Pakistans capital ended their demonstrations on Wednesday, hours after the government threatened to use force to disperse them. The Islamists had been protesting last months hanging of a police officer who had fatally shot a secular governor over his opposition to the countrys strict blasphemy laws. They had demanded the stringent imposition of sharia law and the hanging of a Christian woman the governor had defended against blasphemy allegations. Awais Noorani, one of the protest leaders, called on the demonstrators to disperse, saying a deal was reached with the government. Noorul Haq Qadri, who said he had helped negotiate the deal on behalf of the protesters, said the government had given assurances that there would be no attempt to amend the blasphemy laws and that it would release all detained protesters who were not wanted on other charges. Protesters celebrate after their leaders announced the end of a protest held in front of the parliament building in Islamabad on March 30, 2016. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images) But Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the government had not acceded to any of the protesters demands. He said religious leaders had helped persuade them to end their rallies. Police have detained more than 1,000 protesters in the past four days, Khan said. He said those involved in violence would be prosecuted, while the rest would be freed after investigation. The protests had paralyzed one of the busiest areas of Islamabad. Most of the businesses in the area and schools across the city remained closed. More than 10,000 Islamists from Pakistans Sunni Tehreek group descended on Islamabad on Sunday to denounce the hanging last month of officer Mumtaz Qadri over the 2011 assassination of Gov. Salman Taseer. Their rally turned violent and police fired tear gas on Sunday, but they failed to disperse the protesters, who damaged bus stations, traffic lights and closed-circuit security cameras. The sit-in continued, but the number of protesters had dwindled to about 1,200. Thousands of riot police officers and paramilitary troops had been deployed around the site, police official Nauman Alvi said. The government had warned that 7,000 security forces were ready to move in and disperse the demonstrators. The protest comes against the backdrop of a massive suicide bombing by a breakaway Taliban faction that targeted Christians gathered for Easter Sunday in a park in Lahore, killing at least 72 people, mostly Muslims. Despite its hard-line views, the Sunni Tehreek group behind the protests in Islamabad does not carry out militant attacks. Prominent Egyptian poet Fatma Naoot is pictured in Cairo on Sept. 24, 2008. She could be sent to prison for years for a Facebook post in which she criticized the slaughter of animals during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. (Al Youm Al Saabi/Reuters) At a literary gathering in Cairo, the poem Fatma Naoot chose to read could not have been more relevant. It was about prisons, both physical and psychological, and the people who use them to trap the outspoken. It was about the sort of people Naoot hopes to escape. They include those who were outraged by her Facebook post that called the ceremonial slaughter of sheep during a Muslim holiday the most horrible massacre committed by humans. And those who filed a lawsuit against her in an Egyptian court, which convicted her of insulting Islam. She was sentenced to three years in prison in January, a verdict she was appealing while out on bail. On Thursday, an Egyptian court rejected that appeal and upheld her sentence for contempt of religion. Naoot is among a growing number of Egyptians who are in jail, are facing incarceration or have lost jobs for allegedly breaking a set of arcane blasphemy laws that the government is aggressively applying. Despite the long secular history of the Egyptian military, which now dominates the government, there have been more religious-based convictions during President Abdel Fatah al-Sissis time in office than under the Islamist government the former general replaced two years ago, according to human rights activists. To supporters of Sissi, the courts have become a battleground in the fight with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood for the hearts and minds of Egypts masses. To his critics, religion has increasingly become a tool that helps Sissi strengthen his grip, silence opponents and gain moral authority. [Egyptian writer caught up in governments expanding crackdown] Together, the arrests and convictions illustrate the extent to which freedom of expression has been curtailed since the revolution that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak five years ago. I dont feel I am a criminal, Naoot said after the poetry reading. I dont feel I am a sinner. Piety as a political tool Egypt is in an existential limbo these days, as is the Arab world it once led. In quick succession, the idealism bred by the 2011 revolution gave way to an elected Muslim Brotherhood government led by Mohamed Morsi. But rule under religious ideologues proved so unpopular that Egyptians took to the streets again and backed Sissi, at the time the head of Egypts military, who overthrew Morsi. A year later, Sissi won a landslide electoral victory, promising to bring religious reforms. But that has not happened. As Islamic militancy has grown, and with a promised economic revival yet to emerge, there is nascent dissent against Sissi, even from some of his supporters, and broader frustration over rising taxes and declining state subsidies. The jailing of thousands of moderate Islamists and the outlawing of the Muslim Brotherhood have deepened resentment among the movements followers and worried devout Muslims. The current government does not want to confront anything to do with religion, because otherwise it will be accused of being against religion, said Samir Ghattas, a member of parliament. Sissi is afraid of an Islamist backlash. Hes scared of losing popular support. Despite Egypts moderate veneer, the majority of its 90 million people are religiously conservative. So religious piety offers a way for Sissi to bolster his support base, mirroring a tactic many Arab leaders have used in the past to assert authority. The blasphemy convictions not only undercut opponents who accuse the government of abandoning Islam, but they also suppress secular middle-class intellectuals, critics say. They want to control people by showing they have moral codes they are devoted to, so that no one can question them, said Mina Tibet, a human rights activist, referring to Sissi and his followers. Its about their own interests, of preserving their power. Sissi is fighting his political opponents, he added. Hes not fighting extremism. Government officials insist Egypts judiciary is independent, but human rights and legal-aid organizations describe it as complicit in the military regimes goal of quashing dissent. What is clear is that none of the blasphemy convictions have been vocally denounced by Sissi or his loyalists. They want to present themselves as the protectors of Islam, said Gamal Eid, a well-known human rights lawyer. To Sissis conservative supporters, the blasphemy convictions are necessary to protect Islam. This kind of talk will only sow doubt and cannot be accepted, said Mahmoud Draz, a religious scholar with al-Azhar, the centuries-old center of Sunni Muslim scholarship in Egypt. God willing, Fatma Naoot will also receive a prison sentence. In February, four Coptic Christian teenagers were sent to prison for five years for a video that showed them laughing as they recited Koranic verses while one ran his hand against his neck, mimicking a beheading. The boys said the video was intended to mock the Islamic States violence, but the judge ruled that they had insulted Islam. I ask President Sissi to please intervene, said Iman Gurguis, the mother of one of the teens. How can he let injustice like this happen? Islam Behery, an Islamic researcher and former television show host, was given a one-year prison sentence in December for questioning the sources of some of the prophet Muhammads sayings. His television show, With Islam, was shut down. And last month, Egypts justice minister was fired for saying he would throw the prophet Muhammad in jail if he perpetrated a crime. Those remarks, too, were widely viewed on social media as blasphemous. The main direction for the state is not to let the Islamists attack them for being too liberal, said Amr Salama, a film director. So they are becoming more conservative than the Islamists. What happened with Fatma Naoot would have never happened under the time of Mubarak, or under the time of the revolution, or under Morsi. The genesis of Naoots case [Once a symbol of the Arab Spring, Cairos Tahrir is just a traffic circle again] On that day in November 2014, Naoot was on her way to the bank, still fuming over an article she had read half an hour earlier in a Saudi newspaper. It was about a boy who had watched his father slaughter a sheep during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. When they returned home, the boy slit his baby sisters throat, mimicking his fathers slaughter of the sheep, Naoot recalled. She fired off her angry Facebook post. Within hours, social media exploded, with critics declaring that what she had written was blasphemous. A month later, three lawyers filed a lawsuit against her, claiming she had violated the law. That law Article 98 of the Egyptian penal code orders a prison sentence of as long as five years and a hefty fine for anyone who insults or strives to hurt other religions, or spreads extremist religious thoughts. It was first used under President Anwar Sadat in the 1970s to rein in the Muslim Brotherhood, which was inciting attacks against Christians at the time. Now critics say the vaguely worded law is being used to target Christians and moderate Muslims. Its a kind of accumulation of the long fight between me and the Muslim Brotherhood, said Naoot, who was a vocal critic of the Islamists. They keep searching for some way to snatch me and put me in jail. Still, her conviction surprised many Egyptians. Naoot is a prominent, self-described supporter of Sissi, but he has yet to denounce her sentence. Moreover, when Sissi took office in 2014, he promised a religious revolution to fight extremism, urging that open-minded views and moderate interpretations of Islam to be taught in schools. Instead, religion is increasingly used to portray Sissi, an observant Muslim, as the countrys omnipotent authority. In December, when Egyptians voted for a new parliament, an Islamic preacher on state television indirectly referred to Sissi as the shadow of God and said that whoever offends him, offends God. In January, the Ministry of Religious Endowments warned preachers that any call to protest the fifth anniversary of the revolution would be viewed as a major crime in Gods eyes. Naoot has another court appeal left, and if that fails and she is imprisoned, Sissi could still pardon her. But she said she would turn down a pardon to protest the blasphemy codes. As long as they exist, her ability to write and speak freely remains under threat, she said. My enemy is not the sentence, my enemy is not the judge, she said. My enemy is the law. Heba Habib contributed to this report. Read more: Plane hijacking rekindles concerns about Egyptian airport security From Cairo, Its Saturday Night Live! without politics, sex or religion Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world President Barack Obama on Wednesday commuted the prison sentences of 61 drug offenders. Obama met for lunch Wednesday with people whose sentences were previously commuted. ( AP) President Obama commuted the sentences of 61 inmates Wednesday, part of his ongoing effort to give relief to prisoners who were harshly sentenced in the nations war on drugs. More than one-third of the inmates were serving life sentences. Obama has granted clemency to 248 federal inmates, including Wednesdays commutations. White House officials said that Obama will continue granting clemency to inmates who meet certain criteria set out by the Justice Department throughout his last year. The president has vowed to change how the criminal justice system treats nonviolent drug offenders. Since the Obama administration launched a high-profile clemency initiative, thousands of more inmates have applied. Another 9,115 clemency petitions from prisoners are still pending. [Here are the 61 people whose sentences Obama just commuted] The power to grant pardons and commutations . . . embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance after having made a mistake in their lives that led to a conviction under our laws, Obama wrote in a letter to the 61 inmates whose sentences he commuted. But sentencing reform advocates said that many more prisoners are disappointed they have not yet heard from the president about their petitions. Sixty-one grants, with over 9,000 petitions pending, is not an accomplishment to brag about, said Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and an advocate for inmates petitioning for clemency. I know some of those still waiting, men who were grievously over-sentenced, who have reformed themselves, and never had a record of violence. My heart breaks for them, as their hope for freedom a hope created by the members of this administration slips away. The Justice Departments former pardon attorney, Deborah Leff, stepped down in January because she was frustrated by a lack of resources to process clemency petitions and recommend which ones should be sent to the White House. The new pardon attorney, longtime federal prosecutor Bob Zauzmer, said that his goal whether he gets more needed resources or not is to look at every single petition that comes in and make sure an appropriate recommendation is made to the president. The White House has argued that broader criminal justice reform is needed beyond the clemency program. Despite the progress we have made, it is important to remember that clemency is nearly always a tool of last resort that can help specific individuals, but does nothing to make our criminal justice system on the whole more fair and just, White House counsel W. Neil Eggleston said. Clemency of individual cases alone cannot fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies. [This is what its like to wait for a commutation from the president and then not hear your name] Among those granted clemency Wednesday was Byron Lamont McDade, who had an unusual advocate in his corner. The judge who sent McDade to prison for more than two decades for his role in a Washington-area cocaine conspiracy personally pleaded McDades case for early release. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman said McDades 27-year punishment was disproportionate to his crime, but that he had no choice but to impose the harsh prison term in 2002 because of then-mandatory sentencing guidelines. Over the years, the judge had urged the Bureau of Prisons and the White House to reduce McDades sentence to 15 years. He received no response until now. I have not lost hope that justice can still be done for Mr. McDade, Friedman wrote in February 2015 as part of McDades petition to Obama. Obama met Wednesday with seven former inmates who received clemency from either him or former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Theyre Americans whod been serving time on the kind of outdated sentences that are clogging up our jails and burning through our tax dollars, Obama wrote on Facebook before meeting the inmates. Simply put, their punishments didnt fit the crime. The White House will hold an event called Life After Clemency on Thursday that will include former inmates and their attorneys, along with some prison reform advocates. In spring 2014, then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. who called mandatory-minimum drug sentences draconian launched the clemency initiative to grant clemency to certain nonviolent drug offenders in federal prison. To qualify, prisoners had to have served at least 10 years of their sentence and have no significant criminal history and no connection to gangs, cartels or organized crime. They must have demonstrated good conduct in prison. And they also must be inmates who probably would have received a substantially lower sentence if convicted of the same offense today. In an emotional meeting late Wednesday afternoon, Holder met with one of the inmates freed under the clemency initiative, former Texas prisoner Sharanda Jones, and her attorney, Brittany Byrd, who worked for years to draw attention to Joness case. Jones, 48, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a single cocaine offense. She was a first-time nonviolent offender, and she was granted clemency by Obama in December. Clenesha Garland is holding on to the possibility of clemency for her mother, who is serving a life sentence in Texas for a nonviolent drug offense. As she waits, Garland puts herself in her own kind of prison, living a life without her mother. (Nicki DeMarco, Nikki Kahn and Sari Horwitz/The Washington Post) Holder had spent his last year as attorney general setting up the clemency initiative and studying the statistics of inmates who were given severe sentences during the nations drug war. But he had never met an inmate whose life had been changed by his policy. Holder walked into his law firm conference room where Jones was waiting. This is pretty amazing, he said, giving her a hug. I am so happy to be here, said Jones, who spent 17 years behind bars, leaving an 8-year-old daughter to grow up without her mother. I feel like I won the lottery, and not just the lottery, but the powerball. Thank you so much. I am so grateful. For nearly an hour, Holder listened to Jones talk about her years behind bars. He peppered her with questions about life after prison: What was it like when she first heard the president was granting her clemency? What was it like to come out of prison? It shouldnt have come down to this, Holder said, referring to Joness many years behind bars and the life sentence she had faced. Our system should have been better, more fair. When you look at what you did and what potentially you were facing, thats not justice. After being sentenced to 35 years in prison for a nonviolent drug offense, Donel Clark was granted clemency by President Obama in March 2015. Now living in Fort Worth, Clark is adjusting to life on the outside. (Editor's note: This video was first published Oct. 8, 2015.) (Nicki DeMarco, Nikki Kahn and Sari Horwitz/The Washington Post) Read more: How do presidential commutations and pardons work? The United States Supreme Court issued a one-sentence ruling yesterday in a major case concerning the constitutionality of so-called agency shop agreements for public employees. Also known as agency fee or fair share agreements, these contracts give a single union the exclusive right to represent a particular category of workers, as well as the power to compel all of those workers to pay the equivalent of union dues. These agreements have been upheld for decades, including in the 1977 Supreme Court case of Abood vs. Detroit Board of Education. However, the agreements were challenged in yesterdays case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association as infringing on the constitutional free speech rights of workers who do not wish to join or support the union. At the time of oral arguments in the case in January, the Supreme Court was expected to declare agency shop fees for public employees unconstitutional by a vote of 5-4. However, the unexpected death of Antonin Scalia last month left the Supreme Court with a 4-4 split vote. In cases of a tie vote, the decision of the last appeals court to hear the case is upheld. In the Friedrichs case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of the unions in November 2014, citing the Abood decision. Accordingly, the Supreme Courts decision yesterday simply reads, in its entirety, The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court. This decision leaves the status quo ante in place. For the time being, unions can continue to compel payment of fair share fees from non-union workers. At the same time, the Supreme Court left the merits of the constitutional question undecided. Yesterdays decision kicks the can down the road, with the issue likely to be revisited once a newly appointed Supreme Court justice can break the tie. The hard-fought Friedrichs case reflects ongoing divisions within the American ruling class over the best means of exploiting workers and suppressing their struggles. On the one hand, the attack on agency shop fees is identified with the so-called right to work campaign and roughly corresponds to the Republican Party position. This position reflects the interests of those sections within the ruling establishment that would prefer to dispense with the services of the trade unions in suppressing the class struggle and facilitating layoffs, wage-cuts and speedups. Instead, these sections would resurrect the laissez faire legal framework and doctrines that prevailed at the beginning of the last century. The case was brought on behalf of a number of California teachers by the Center for Individual Rights, a law firm with a history of right-wing religious and libertarian legal campaigns. A consortium of right-wing entities supported the case in the Supreme Court, including the National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund and the Pacific Legal Foundation, which was founded by former members of Ronald Reagans welfare reform team while he was governor of California. The challenge to agency shop fees is based on the legal theory that they infringe on the First Amendment free speech rights of workers because they force workers to subsidize the activities of unions with which they do not agree. This theory, which the Supreme Court would likely have endorsed were it not for Scalias death, would have precluded public employee unions from collecting any funds from non-union members, which in turn would have jeopardized the unions revenue streams. On the other hand, the defenders of agency shop fees, roughly corresponding to the Democratic Party position, believe that the state should continue to grant legal protection to what have long since become right-wing, pro-management organizations, such as the California Teachers Association, its parent organization the National Education Association, and the official unions more generally. This faction within the ruling elite considers the role of these organizations to be critical in undermining the opposition of workers to the destruction of living standards, working conditions and social services such as public education. If right to work is the slogan of the Republican position, then the Democratic position can be identified with the slogan labor peace. Neither side in this legal dispute in any way represents the interests of the working class. The Democratic position is that compelling workers to support pro-management unions, and deeming those unions to be the sole legal representatives of the workers, is a more effective, efficient and reliable way to attack workers rights than abolishing these organizations, a risky proposition that poses the danger of genuine, militant and even revolutionary workers organizations replacing them. The Democratic Party also has a direct pecuniary interest in protecting unions, which have become completely integrated into the Democratic Party apparatus and provide it with campaign cash and election workers. The 1977 Supreme Court decision in the Abood case emphasized the governmental interests advanced by the agency-shop provision, and specifically cited the governmental interest in labor peace. The Supreme Court indicated that it would be undesirable if rival teachers unions, holding quite different views as to the proper class hours, class sizes, holidays, tenure provisions, and grievance procedures, each sought to obtain the employers agreement. It was therefore better from the standpoint of the state for a specific union to be designated the sole legal representative of the workers, with authority to negotiate on behalf of those workers and collect money from each of them. A friend of the court brief by the American Federation of Teachers union in the current case emphasizes states interests in promoting collaborative working relationships with their unions. The brief goes on to praise what can be achieved through labor-management collaboration. Variations on the word collaborate appear at least ten times in the brief. This encapsulates the unions position that they should continue to enjoy legal privileges based on their usefulness to management and the state. In oral arguments in January, the attorney for the California Teachers Association expressly argued that agency shop fees promote labor peace. He said, In New York City, for example, there were strikes that were occurring all of the time until an agency fee system was put into place, and that enabled the city to better deliver transit services, school services, and the like. In other words, an agency fee system is a tool for reducing strike activity. Workers should reject the entire framework of the alternatives as they are defined in the Supreme Court case. They can effectively fight the attacks of the employers and the government only by breaking the grip of the corporatist unions and building new organizationsfactory and work place committees of struggle, democratically controlled by the workers themselves and completely independent of the official unions and all of the politicians and parties of big business. The Socialist Equality Party supports all efforts to build such organizations and fights to link this struggle to the development of an independent political movement of the working class based on a socialist program. The Hillary Clinton campaign and its backers in the media are increasing the pressure on Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to end his campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Clinton campaign aides waged a full-court media campaign Monday, effectively reneging on a previous agreement to debate Sanders in April and May, declaring that Sanders had violated previous pledges not to engage in negative advertising, and claiming that Clinton would clinch the number of delegates required for the nomination by the end of April. Chief pollster Joel Benenson told CNN that any future debate participation by Clinton would depend on the tone set by Sanders in his criticism of Clinton. He was responding to a public letter sent by the Sanders campaign on the weekend reminding Clinton of her agreement to debate Sanders in April, probably in New York City, in advance of the New York primary April 19. Clinton adviser Karen Finney told CNN Tuesday that negative attacks by the Sanders campaign had put the debate deal in question. She was referring to Sanders continuing attacks on the role of big money in Democratic and Republican politics and Clintons numerous appearances before Wall Street audiences, where she received six-figure speaking fees. The Clinton campaign, for obvious reasons, does not want her close ties to Wall Street to be highlighted during a campaign in New York state. Benenson also claimed that Clinton was dominating the Democratic contest, despite losing, by double-digit margins, six of the last seven contestsUtah, Idaho, Washington State, Alaska, Hawaii and Democrats abroadwinning only in Arizona. Sanders has cut Clintons lead among elected delegates to about 240 and is favored to win the Wisconsin primary April 5 and the Wyoming caucuses April 9. Benenson maintained that Clinton would win New York, the state she represented in the US Senate, on April 19, and win enough delegates in a string of East Coast states April 26Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Islandto obtain the 2,382 convention delegates required for nomination. Hes going to contest these states, were going to contest these states, but the truth is that after April 26 there is just not enough real estate for Senator Sanders to contest the lead that weve built, the Clinton aide said. This tendentious accounting assumes both Clinton victories in all these states and the support of the vast majority of unelected superdelegatesthe party officials and office-holders who have automatic votes at the Democratic National Convention. The premature claims of victory were bolstered by supposedly objective reports in pro-Clinton media outlets like the New York Times, which published an analysis purporting to prove that a Sanders victory had a vanishingly small mathematical chance. The analysis made no assessment of the impact of recent Sanders victories or the inability of the Clinton campaign to win support from young people and large sections of the working class. The real state of affairs in the Clinton camp, however, is suggested by an article in the Wall Street Journal Sunday reporting that leading Democrats were looking to Vice President Joseph Biden to come to Clintons aid, offsetting what the newspaper delicately referred to as Mrs. Clintons vulnerabilities, particularly with working-class whites. The newspaper noted that Clinton had lost this group to Mr. Sanders by 25 percentage points in Michigan, by 15 points in Ohio and 22 points in North Carolina, exit polls show. In appearances on several Sunday television interview programs, Sanders suggested that his campaign would now attempt to gain a hearing from superdelegates who had previously committed themselves to Clinton, arguing that his own campaign would be more effective in mobilizing voters for the Democratic Party, not only in the presidential race, but also in congressional and gubernatorial races further down the ballot. Sanders reiterated his attacks on big money support to Clinton, singling out a fundraising dinner to be hosted by the actor George Clooney, where supporters would pay as much as $353,000 apiece to sit with Clinton and Clooney at the head table. It is obscene that Secretary Clinton keeps going to big money people to fund her campaign, and its not just this Clooney event, Sanders told CNN. While not criticizing Clooney for his involvement, Sanders said that the people who are coming to this event have undue influence over the political process. Polls released over the past ten days suggest that Clintons once huge lead over Sanders is closing, if not entirely erased. An NBC News/SurveyMonkey online tracking poll released Tuesday found that Clintons lead over Sanders had been cut in half over the past week, from a 12-point lead, 53 percent to 41 percent, to a 6-point lead, 49 percent to 43 percent. A separate survey by Bloomberg showed Sanders with a one-point lead over Clinton, 49 percent to 48 percent. A CNN/ORC poll last week showed Sanders defeating Republican frontrunner Donald Trump by 20 points in a general election contest, compared to a 12-point Clinton lead over Trump. The crisis of both of the major capitalist parties was signaled by another survey, this time by Fox News, which found that three of the four leading candidates for the Democratic and Republican nominations, Clinton, Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, had the highest personal unfavorability ratings in the history of public polling on that question. Only 36 percent of those polled had a favorable opinion of Cruz, an ultra-reactionary who is appealing particularly to Christian fundamentalists, while 53 percent had an unfavorable opinion, for a net rating of negative 17. Clintons margin was worse, with 39 percent positive and 58 percent negative, or negative 19. Trump was even lower, with only 31 percent positive and 65 percent negative, or negative 34. In other words, a Clinton-Trump contest would pit two deeply unpopular candidates against each otherthe personification of the corrupt US political establishment versus the crude gangster billionairewith each side seeking to convince the American public that the other was more repugnant. The role of Sanders, who has won wide support particularly among young people and sections of the working class because of his avowed socialism, is to provide a political facelift to the Democratic Party, one of the twin parties of Wall Street and US imperialism. This will not be an easy task. According to a UCLA/LA Times poll of voters in California, released Monday, 20 percent of likely Sanders voters said they would not support Clinton in November if she won the nomination. Of those who said they would vote for Clinton, 45 percent said they would do so reluctantly, compared to only 35 percent who said they would do so with any enthusiasm. Sanders nominal socialism is little more than watered-down liberalism of the 1960s, with no call for social ownership of the means of production and not a shred of opposition to American imperialism and its program of global aggression. He himself has repeatedly pledged to support Clinton if she is the nominee. The corporate ruling elite has long since taken the measure of the Vermont senator and regards him as a useful political tool, providing he continues to keep his anti-Wall Street rhetoric within bounds. As James Traub noted in the New York Times Sunday, While labeling himself a democratic socialist, [Sanders] is almost elaborately respectful of his political rival Hillary Clinton and the political process Through figures like him, American democracy permits intense passions to be expressed, contained and, perhaps, vented. In the face of youth protests and strikes, after millions signed an online petition against the El Khomri law, the French government is seeking to delay the imposition of the unpopular labour law reform. It was initially due to be presented on March 9, but Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri only presented the law to the National Assembly yesterday. Parliamentary debate has been pushed back to May 3. The aim of the Socialist Party (PS) governments manoeuvres is to work with the trade and student union bureaucracies to delay implementation of the reform and, using both police violence and the impact of upcoming school holidays, outlast protests against it. Amid mounting anger, the government is moving to crack down on protests and blockades of high schools by students. At the March 24 protest, riot police in major cities attacked students and arrested some 40 protesters. Fifteen students were arrested in Paris and another nine students were detained in the western city of Nantes. During the past week, the police attacked and detained some students. Some students were fined and received a six-month suspended sentence. Near the Henri Bergson school in Paris, a video shows a police officer hitting a student. According to witness statements to BFM-TV, police attacked a 15-year-old high-school student as he was trying to move away from a cloud of tear gas when the police wanted to detain him. The delay imposed by the PS government is a cynical manoeuvre: nothing fundamental has been changed in the bill. The core measures in the El Khomri law include allowing unions and management to negotiate contracts violating Frances Labour Code at the level of individual firms; lengthening the work week; facilitating mass sackings; and undermining job security for young workers who are new hires. While the PS is indicating that it will compromise on not fixing upper limits on penalties for illegal mass sackings, the central elements of the bill remain. Above all, it still retains the ability for the unions to negotiate contracts violating the Labour Codea measure which, amid a growing global economic slump, paves the way for vast attacks on the working class. According to the Odoxa poll for Le Parisien and France Info, published on March 24, 71 percent of the population are still opposed to the draft reform of the Labour Code, the same proportion as for the first version of the bill. The critical question for youth opposing the bill is to orient to the only force that can halt the drive to austerity and attacks on democratic rights currently sweeping Europe: the working class. The struggle must be taken out of the hands of the trade unions and their student union allies, and develop into a broader struggle of the working class against austerity, war, and the state of emergency, politically and organizationally independent of the union bureaucracies and the PS. The unions, the Left Front and other political satellites of the PS like the New Anti-capitalist Party, support the wars and the state of emergency imposed by the French state, however, and have repeatedly helped negotiate PS reforms. Since Hollande came to power, they have isolated and suppressed struggles, including the Aulnay plant closure of French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen, and the Air France pilots strikes. They have organised protests against the El Khomri law because they fear that the rising anger among workers and youth could escape their control and trigger a mass movement against the hated PS government. They are, however, petty-bourgeois tools of the ruling class, which funds them to the tune of 95 percent of their 4 billion yearly budget. Youth must be warned: to the extent that the struggle remains under the control of these organisations, which have no base of support in the working class, the struggle against the El Khomri law will be sold out. Indeed, the media and state officials have already started a cynical press campaign trying to demoralise protesters by speculating that opposition to the bill has been fatally weakened. Following March 24 student protests across France, Le Monde reported, the number of blockaded high schools seems to be trending downwards. The education ministry reports that 57 public establishments are affected of 2,500 in France, that is half of the number during the previous mobilisation on Thursday March 17. RTL Radio wrote, For Francois Hollande, the storm has passed after numerous protests have been taken into account, and different demonstrations by the unions. It quoted a government source as saying, We have put out the fires. It concluded, At the government, no one believes anymore in a massive mobilisation of the youth, citing ministers who said, Everything suggests things are running out of steam. This is echoed by the demoralised propaganda of the unions. While continuing to pose as opponents of the bill, they have not condemned police violence or sought to mobilise opposition to the state of emergency. They simply sought to maintain political control over protests that they called because they feared that if they had not done so, protests would have erupted against the reform anyway. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and other unions met and released a common strike call for March 31. It paves the way for them to wind down the movement. The statement reads, After the March 31 day of action, the government must respond. If this is not the case, the signatories will invite the workers and youth to debate whether to continue action in the coming days and to reinforce mobilisations, including through strikes and protests. This is a reactionary fraud. With whatever minor modifications it feels compelled to introduce, the PS will press ahead with the El Khomri law. The unions invitation to debate whether or not to capitulate to the PS is a cynical dodge, to hide their alignment on the PS and the media campaign pushing for the winding down of the protests. Youth and workers must reject such attempts to present the PS illegitimate and reactionary reforms as part of a democratic debate. President Francois Hollandes popularity is plunging to a new record low, becoming Frances most hated president since World War II. Last week, the Labour Ministry reported that the number of job seekers rose by 38,400, pushing jobless numbers to a record 3.59 million people. A new Chinese release about Madagascar more than a travel guide From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-03-30 09:22 Madagascar: Dream Island at the End of the World was released by Chongqing Publishing House in February.[Photo provided to China Daily] A long time ago, after an island had separated from a vast landmass, its plants and animals grew in relative isolation. As a result, much of Madagascar's flora and fauna are rarely found elsewhere, making the world's fourth-largest island the perfect destination for travelers seeking to see nature in all its diversity. The country gained global popularity, including in China, after Hollywood released the 2005 animated film, Madagascar. Cheng Yuanyuan, from Beijing MooNbooks Co, is among the many Chinese who are attracted to the island located in the Indian Ocean off the African coast. A fan of King Ringtail Julien XIII, the film's lemur character, Cheng thought about publishing a book about the island. But scarce material on the subject in China posed challenges for the project at the time. A book has been released, since Cheng's team partnered with Yang Min, a former Chinese ambassador to Madagascar. Madagascar: Dream Island at the End of the World was released by Chongqing Publishing House in February. The publisher called it the first such book about the country. "Take the book and an air ticket, and you can start to explore the great island," says a statement from the publisher. Lemurs, a species native to Madagascar, are featured in the new book Madagascar: Dream Island at the End of the World.[Photo provided to China Daily] To Shu Xiaoyun, an editor at the publishing house, Yang seemed to be the right person to do the book. "He has written several books and translated foreign literature. He loves and knows how to capture moments with the camera, and he understands that country well," Shu says. The book is much more than a travel guide. It contains a detailed introduction of different aspects of life in the country, with beautiful and precise accountsbe they on the baobab trees or the ring-tailed lemurs native to the island. The book can shape an understanding of the island's culture, folk customs and traditions. Yang writes that the baobab can provide a shelter for locals. He also talks about the tradition of surnames on the island: They tend to be different, even within a family. For example, Yang says he knows a girl whose surname is Rasoamianoka (an aristocrat enjoying a good life), while her mother's surname is Rasoamiadana (peaceful life of a "cute person") and her father's is Ralambomanana (lord who owns pigs). Yang spent months taking photos, visiting residents and collecting facts and stories for the book. Yang Min, a former Chinese ambassador to Madagascar, gives a detailed introduction of different aspects of the country, including majestic baobab trees, in his new book.[Photo provided to China Daily] It's also illustrated with some 100 photos he took. In June, he held a photo exhibition in Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital, as a gift to honor its 55th year of independence. He showcased 100 photos he took in the country, where he served as China's ambassador from 2013 to February. Yang, born in 1958 in Shanghai, has been a diplomat for 40 years. Madagascan officials attending the exhibition say Yang's photography shows he has "observant and considerate eyes behind the lens". Shu, the editor, says the book is an authoritative and accurate account. "The Chinese are enjoying a better life and becoming world travelers. Guided by the book, I expect Madagascar will become a hot destination for Chinese travelers, because it represents a poetic, mysterious and distant place," Shu says. Yang Min, a former Chinese ambassador to Madagascar, gives a detailed introduction of different aspects of the country, including majestic baobab trees, in his new book.[Photo provided to China Daily] Madagascar offers visas on arrival for Chinese tourists. Its tourism bureau estimates about 10,000 Chinese visited in 2014 and expects more in the future. "Yang's book is a gentle and warm hand that leads you in your discovery of the island, because it contains vivid details about its lifestyles and offers insights into a place that tourism guides frequently missed in the past," Shu says. From Fish to Man From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-03-30 10:24 An illustration in the book shows a snapshot of the Jehol Biota in China, where feathered dinosaurs once lived.[Photo provided to China Daily] A bilingual book seeks to shed light on the evolution of vertebrates through the trove of fossils discovered in China. Yang Yang reports. Jurassic World came as a mixed bag of surprises and fear. The Hollywood sci-fi feature last year gave moviegoers a new menace in the form of Indominus rex, who first faces and then destroys most of the well behaved raptors, but is later thrown into a lagoon by a Tyrannosaurus rex, which is finally eaten by a "water lizard". Stories about dinosaurs not only help filmmakers make big bucks, they continue to fascinate people, even through nonfiction. Now, a bilingual book written and illustrated by paleontologists from Canada, China and Australia is expected to feed readers' curiosity about the creatures that are thought to have roamed the Earth millions of years ago. From Fish to Human: The March of Vertebrate Life in China is available in both Chinese and English in the same copy. "It's for readers in China and abroadwhoever is interested in paleontology. They will read about the latest advances in China's paleontological research," says Wang Yuan, co-author of the book and a researcher with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, an institution affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is an expert on amphibians and reptiles. Corwin Sullivan, co-author of the book, is Wang's colleague from the IVPP. He laughs along with Wang at their office as they together imagine a scene from what they call a future Jurassic Park movie, in which an attack is launched by a large carnivorous dinosaur covered with feathers. A new bilingual book showcases China's latest paleontological research.[Photo provided to China Daily] "It would be like a huge killer chicken," the Canadian paleontologist says. Feathered dinosaurs weren't part of the first movie in the series because the original novel, Jurassic Park, published in 1990, came out before the first known fossil of a feathered dinosaur, Sinosauropteryx prima, was discovered. That happened in China six years later, he says. The scientists then point to a small, fluffy, long-tailed dinosaur that appears in From Fish to Human. Sullivan wrote the English version of the book, while Wang translated it into Chinese and Brian Choo drew some of the beautiful illustrations, including one based on the earliest fish fossilswhich existed more than 530 million years agothat were discovered in Chengjiang county in Southwest China's Yunnan province in 1984. "I was trying to write in a way that you wouldn't have to be already familiar with a lot of the concepts and terminology to understand the book," Sullivan says. Scientists say that the first vertebrate on Earth appeared in the sea and, hundreds of millions of years ago, the first curious fish made its entry on land. Eventually, fish evolved into other speciesfrogs, snakes, dinosaurs, birds and humans. In the book, Sullivan writes: "As greatly modified lobefined fish, we humans stroll about on our pelvic fins and use our pectoral fins to turn the pages of books like the one you are reading now." Paleontologists Corwin Sullivan, one of the authors of From Fish to Human: The March of Vertebrate Life in China.[Photo provided to China Daily] Wang asks: "We want to know what's going on. How did we evolve from the primitive fish to the present stage? Are we the end of the world?" The book project lasted two and a half years. The authors selected 15 representative biotas and fauna based on fossils discovered around China to show the nine key transitional events through the fish-to-human evolutionary process, talking about not only the stories of the fossils but also internationally well-known paleontologists who discovered them. The 15 biotas include the Chengjiang Biota, from which the oldest known fish on Earth is said to have appeared,which is linked to the first key transitionthe emergence of the backbone. Then, there is the Jehol Biota, from which the first feathered dinosaur fossil was discovered, that's linked to the eighth key transition-the evolution of feathers. Then the book moves on to the Zhoukoudian Site,where the remains of the Peking man were discovered,marking the origin of early humans. "We wrote about fauna that represent different geological ages. We selected the most-representative fauna to represent each age... to show what was happening in vertebrates' evolution at those specific times,"Wang says. Because of people's love of dinosaur stories, they've devoted five of 15 chapters in the book to the extinct animals. Many difficult decisions had to be made while picking fauna and fossils for the book. "We couldn't have covered everything. There are a lot more Chinese fossil records than there are in the book. It's a good look at Chinese fossil records-not absolutely comprehensive, but it does give a good sampling of what China has," Sullivan says. Wang Yuan, one of the authors of From Fish to Human: The March of Vertebrate Life in China.[Photo provided to China Daily] Another important discussion in the book is about feathered dinosaurs found in the Jehol Biota of the early Cretaceous in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and Liaoning and Hebei provinces, where-due to special geological conditionssoft tissue can be seen clearly in fossils even after more than 100 million years. Dinosaurs, in a traditional view, have scales, but some fossils found in China suggest the creatures had feathers as well, such as the smaller,more primitive cousins of TyrannosaursYutyrannus huali and Sinosauropteryx prima. Although they had feathers, they both were still dinosaurs and the feathers on their bodies were not used for flying. The feathers on these dinosaurs are similar in material to birds' but differ in shape, Sullivan says. "Unlike flake-like feathers, or pennaceous feathers that can overlap and form an aerodynamic surface, filamentous feathers on those dinosaurs could not be used to fly," Sullivan says. The discovery of Sinosauropteryx fossils helped to prove that dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds, rather than merely being descended from a common ancestor. Contact the writer at yangyangs@chinadaily.com.cn Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has also criticized other ministers and the State Government over their reactions on the appointment of the Technical University Vice Chancellor. Airline travel can be stressful at the best of times but there's nothing worse than having to deal with awful people in your vicinity when on a long haul flight. This writer once had to sit between a couple who talked over him and when he offered to swap seats they both refused to do so. As bad as they were to deal with, we think this woman has surpassed that. Congrats to the ponytailed young woman in seat 22B. You've invented a whole new way to be awful at 35,000 feet. pic.twitter.com/VWTPMI5JrM Dante Ramos (@danteramos) March 29, 2016 Dante Ramos, a Boston Globe columnist saw this sight in front of his partner's screen and couldn't get over it. Up to that point, the person in 22B hadnt attracted my attention at all, he told Metro. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, Ill assume she didnt realise that her, er, readjustment would affect anyone else. At first I thought, What *is* that? It took us a few moments to figure out that it was another passengers hair.' For another few moments, we marveled at the ridiculousness of it. I took a photo, because thats what you do these days when something absurd happens. The passenger was playing a game on her phone and seemed oblivious to the problem until Ramos stood up to catch her attention. For the record: After marveling for a bit at her obliviousness, we got her attention. She moved it. https://t.co/qalACLcFUr Dante Ramos (@danteramos) March 29, 2016 Her first language did not appear to be English, and she may have thought he was complaining that shed reclined her seat, Ramos continued. Without really looking up from her device, she brought her seatback forward, and the ponytail disappeared. Perhaps it's best to give 22B the benefit of the doubt in this case. Nobody could be that awful intentionally could they? Via Metro Shanghai tightens checks on car-hailing Updated: 2016-03-30 14:06 (chinadaily.com.cn) Didi Chuxing, a car-booking mobile app owned by Didi Kuaidi, is shown on a mobile phone, Sept 17, 2015. [Photo/IC] Car-hailing platforms Didi and Uber promise to take care of the fine drivers face when caught offering ride in their private cars, reported cnr.cn. The move is in response to Shanghai police's decision to increase inspection of car-hailing services, and impose up to 50,000 yuan in fine and six-month suspension of driving license, said the news site. Despite increasing popularity, most ride-sharing companies still lack legitimacy in China, as the regulations do not allow private cars to be used for paid rides. Besides administrative penalty, drivers who get caught will see negative impact on their credit rating, Chen Chaohui, deputy director of the Law Enforcement Department of Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, told the cnr.cn. The city will also intensify inspection on ride-sharing platforms to punish their matching riders with vehicles that have no operation qualification, said Chen, adding that the fine ranges from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan. In response, Didi texted drivers last week, saying the company will compensate the fine in full, according to the website, while Uber told its private-car drivers that their driving license would be returned once the fine is paid. Yidao, another ride-hailing platform, said the company offers subsidy to all drivers across the country whose working hours are lost due to inspections. The tightened check came as the Ministry of Transport unveiled a draft regulation seeking to ban private cars from offering ride services in October. Under the rules, which are due to take effect later this year, car-booking platforms must also obtain permits from local authorities. Gao Yuan contributed to this story. Rare Superman comic book fetches $3.2M Updated: 2014-08-27 07:21 By Associated Press in New York(China Daily) A rare, nearly flawless copy of Superman's comic-book debut has sold for a super-powered price: $3.2 million. New York comics dealers Stephen Fishler and Vincent Zurzolo said on Monday they submitted Sunday's record-setting bid in the eBay auction for Action Comics No 1, the 1938 book in which the super-hero first appeared. It's believed to be the highest price ever paid for a comic-book, surpassing $2.1 million for a similarly high-quality copy of the same book in 2011. "It's hard to believe that a kid's 10-cent comic could be worth that much money, but it is Superman. That's an iconic thing," Fishler says. "It's the first time anybody saw what a superhero was like." EBay confirmed the price but said it couldn't yet disclose the buyer's name. Created by Cleveland teenagers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Action Comics No 1 introduces theMan of Steel's Kryptonian backstory, earthly role as reporter Clark Kent and identity as a champion of the oppressed. It's seen as the dawn of the comic-book superhero, paving the way for a roster of now-famous characters. About 100 to 150 copies are believed to exist, only a handful of them in top condition. The book just soldgot a seldom-seen 9.0 on a 10-point scale used to measure vintage comic books' condition. It was kept for decades in a cedar chest in the West Virginia mountains by a man who had bought it off a newsstand, seller Darren Adams recently told The Washington Post. Adams, a Federal Way, Washington-based collectibles dealer, didn't immediately return a call on Monday from The Associated Press. After the original owner died, a collector bought it from his estate and built a similar cedar chest to store it, Adams told the Post. Fishler and Zurzolo own Comic-Connect.com, which auctioned the 2011 record-setter and a slightly less well-preserved Action Comics No 1 for more than $1 million in 2010. The rising prices have been fueled by superhero movies and a growing interest in comic books as investments. "An alternative place to put money that has a cool factor to it," Fishler says. Sunday's sale also marks a high point for California-based eBay, which Adams selected to sell an item often handled by specialty dealers and auction houses. Gene Cook, the online marketplace's general manager of emerging verticals, says the sale demonstrates "how eBay plays a role in popular culture by connecting shoppers to must-have merchandise". Some of the proceeds will go to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, in recognition of the late Superman movie star. Fishler says he and Zurzolo have no specific plans yet for their newly bought copy but couldn't resist it, despite the price. "It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up," he says. A rare, nearly flawless copy of Superman's comic-book debut has sold for $3.2 million, a record-setting bid on the eBay auction for Action Comics No 1. The superhero first appeared in the 1938 book. AP (China Daily 08/27/2014 page20) Description On Wednesday, March 30 at 7:00 p.m., the Long Island Film/TV Foundation, Long Island's oldest not-for-profit group serving the independent film community on Long Island, will be holding a Filmmakers Connection Meeting at the the East Meadow Library- 1886 Front St, East Meadow, NY for those in the industry and those who would like to be. This meeting will feature filmmakers Summer Crockett Moore and Tony Glazer, whose independent hit Junction won awards nationwide in 2012 and 2013, and has been distributed worldwide. For More Information, Please Email: nassaufilmoffice@nassaucountyny.gov For More Information on LIFTF, Visit: http://longislandfilmexpo.com/about-liife/about-the-foundation/ Rig fundamentals have not improved. Keppel Corporations share price enjoyed a brisk rally in recent weeks, riding a rising wave of hope that oil prices are finally headed for a sustained recovery. However, analysts warn that the price surge is unsustainable as Keppels key rig-building business is still navigating choppy waters. We think [the spike] was driven purely by oil price sentiments. This is unsustainable as rig building fundamentals have not improved and EPS is likely to be subjected to further consensus downgrades, Maybank Kim Eng analyst Yeak Chee Keong noted in a report. He warned that revenue from the O&M segment is expected to drop to around $4.0 to $4.5 billion, a far cry from $6.2 to $8.6b over the past three years. Yeak noted that Keppels share price historically correlates with oil prices because rig orders generally rise in tandem with crude prices. However, he warned that rig building demand will not pick up even if oil prices rebound to USD40-50 per barrel because the market is currently facing a supply glut. Unless we see a sustained oil rally past USD60/bbl, capex for the oil industry will remain subdued. We even see cracks emerging in the FLNG market which some industry players have been placing their hopes in, he said. Barring any sustained surprise surge in oil price past USD60/bbl, negative O&M developments could eclipse any positive developments from Property or Infrastructure for now, he added. More From Singapore Business Review anderson cooper cnn CNN anchor Anderson Cooper grilled Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on Tuesday over his assertion last year that Donald Trump is "terrific." During a CNN town-hall event, Cooper asked Cruz whether he made a "political calculation" not to go after Trump, citing a tweet in December in which Cruz said that Trump was "terrific." Cooper pointed out that Trump had already caused a number of notable political firestorms by that point. "That was after he had already made fun of Carly Fiorina's face. That was after he had gone after Megyn Kelly. At that point in December, did you really believe that Donald Trump was terrific?" Cooper asked. Cruz did not address whether he believed that Trump was terrific. He instead criticized media outlets for allowing Trump such a large platform. "Look, what I knew is that the media was engaged in a lovefest, giving Donald Trump $2 billion in free media," Cruz said, citing a recent New York Times study showing Trump's dominance of so-called free media coverage. "It sounds like you were engaged in a lovefest, though," Cooper shot back. Cruz hammered down on his criticism of the cable-news networks that have aggressively covered Trump. "Let's be clear: How many hours of free media does CNN and Fox and every other station [give him]? You let him call in and for a year, he got $2 billion in free media," Cruz said. "We've asked you for interviews pretty much every day. And you've declined every offer on my program. So you can come on anytime," Cooper interjected. But Cruz wouldn't budge. He pivoted to his call for Trump to debate him one-on-one and said that the real-estate mogul was "terrified" to face him again on a debate stage. Cruz spent much of last year painstakingly refusing to criticize Trump, but that detente melted in the weeks leading up to the February 1 Iowa caucuses. With only three candidates left in the race, Cruz is now backed by much of the anti-Trump Republican establishment. Story continues The two have exchanged fierce blows on almost every campaign-trail topic in recent days. Over the past week, Cruz has repeatedly criticized Trump over the mogul's decision to retweet a photo critiquing Cruz's wife Heidi Cruz's physical appearance, among other issues. NOW WATCH: The images are worth a thousand words: Trump shares a meme attacking Ted Cruzs wife More From Business Insider SOFIA, March 30 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's government approved on Wednesday a long-delayed project to buy up to 19 fighter jets, which will help to revamp its air force, improve its compliance with NATO standards and reduce its reliance on Russian-made aircraft. Bulgaria will open a tender for the jets after parliament gives final approval for the deal, estimated to be worth 800 million to 900 million levs ($464 million to $522 million). It has yet to decide whether to seek new or second-hand planes, Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said. "We intend to buy a whole squadron - between 12 and 19 fighter jets," Nenchev told reporters after the government's nod on the plan. The ministry has said it has been looking into buying either second-hand U.S. F-16s, new jets from Sweden's Gripen, produced by SAAB or the Eurofighter Typhoon. Bulgaria, a member of both NATO and the European Union, aims to replace its aging Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighters with new aircraft in an effort to decrease its reliance on Russia. It has signed a deal with NATO ally Poland for repairs and hopes to have 12 of the new jets fully operational in several months. A final decision on the purchase has been expected for years. Several successive cash-strapped governments have failed to set money aside. The government also approved investment projects, which concern the extension of the lifespan of the MiG-29s and the acquisition of new multi-functional module patrol ship. ($1 = 1.7263 leva) (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov, editing by Larry King) (Adds missing letter in California in headline. No changes to text) By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - Two California Democratic congressmen on Wednesday urged the California Public Employees Retirement System, the largest U.S. public pension fund, to divest from oil giant ExxonMobil over its handling of the issue of climate change. Congressmen Ted Lieu and Mark DeSaulnier sent a letter to CalPERS CEO Anne Stausboll, saying it is "morally suspect" for the $300 billion pension fund "to invest in a company that engaged in morally reprehensible conduct" on climate change. The lawmakers said the fund should follow the lead of the Rockefeller Family Fund, which said last week it would divest from fossil fuels and "eliminate holdings" of Exxon Mobil Corp , saying the oil company associated with the family fortune has misled the public about climate change risks. CalPERS was not immediately available for comment. Investigations last year from Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times reported that the major oil firm misled the public and shareholders about the risks of climate change. The stories led New York and California's attorneys general to launch investigations into whether the company misinformed shareholders. On Tuesday, the top attorneys from Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands confirmed they have launched their own investigations. An Exxon spokeswoman refuted the conclusions of those reports that said the company ignored the research of its own climate scientists. "Contrary to activists' claims, our company's deliberations decades ago yielded no definitive conclusions," Suzanne McCarron, Exxon vice president of public affairs wrote in a statement Tuesday. She added that the company continues to engage in public debate around "policy responses to the emerging science." The congressmen challenged CalPERS' position that divestment isn't always the best strategy to change company behavior on climate change, and that ongoing shareholder pressure can yield more results. Story continues "We have seen no discernable evidence that CalPERS' efforts to engage ExxonMobil have resulted in any significant change in the way the company operates when it comes to taking action on climate change," the lawmakers wrote in the letter. Last year, CalPERS completed a study of its portfolio's carbon footprint, breaking down the greenhouse gas emissions of its companies. The fund is already beginning to sell its holdings in companies that get at least half of their revenues from coal mining after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law calling for the partial divestment. The company is aiming to sell the shares by 2017. (Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Alan Crosby) TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 30, 2016 / California Gold Mining Inc. ("California Gold" or the "Company") (CFGMF) (CGM.V) announces new assay results from the Company's recently completed Phase III drill program at its flagship Fremont Project (the "Project") in Mariposa County, California. The drill campaign concluded on March 5, 2016. A total of 43 diamond holes, and 41,171 feet (12,549 metres) of drilling were completed during the Phase III program. Vishal Gupta, California Gold's President and CEO, said, "We continue to be pleased with the results of our first major drill program at the Project. The results continue to meet and exceed our expectations. We have reported assays now from almost half of the Phase III holes. The results to date, including today's results, are part of the infill component of the drill program that is meant to demonstrate a 43-101 resource estimate expected to be released by the end of May, 2016. In the meantime, we are excited to see the results of our exploration holes, which should start appearing in a few weeks." This press release discusses the assay results and corresponding geological interpretation for three holes of the Phase III drill program, namely DD-15-035, 040 and 042. Highlights from these three holes are displayed in the following table. The plan-view collar locations and interpreted geological cross-sections for all three holes can be viewed in Appendices A and B of this press release, respectively. Today's announcement brings the total number of Phase III drill holes for which assay results have been publicly released to 20. Assay results for the other 17 drill holes were released on November 9, 2015, November 23, 2015, December 15, 2015, January 18, 2016, and February 17, 2016. Further assay results will continue to be released as they become available. **Notes: Composite grades are length weighted to interval width. Composite true width for DD-15-035 is estimated at 86% of the reported interval. Composite true width for DD-15-040 is estimated at 83% of the reported interval. Composite true width for DD-15-042 is estimated at 91% of the reported interval. The Phase III drill program commenced on September 11, 2015. It is designed to achieve the following objectives: -Generation of a maiden resource estimate for the Project covering the main Pine Tree-Josephine mineralized zone; -Testing the down-dip extension of the shear zone in the main Pine Tree-Josephine mineralized zone to a depth of up to 3,000 feet (roughly 1,000 metres) below surface; and -Testing the mineralization potential of the five recently discovered mineralized zones on surface, namely Golden Chain, Vermont Slab, Golden Slope, Race Track Meadow and Ogle Canyon originally discussed in the Company's December 4, 2014 press release. Discussion of the Phase III Drill Holes The three holes discussed in this press release are part of the infill drilling segment of the Phase III drill program, focused on providing greater confidence in the geological continuity of the main Pine Tree-Josephine mineralized zone, in order to help generate a maiden resource estimate for the Project. The results from all currently analyzed Phase III drill holes show strong correlation with the geology documented during the recent Phase I and II diamond, and historic RC, drilling campaigns, and geological analysis of the Pine Tree-Josephine deposit. A descriptive overview of the geological setting and the various styles of mineralization prevalent at the Project is provided in the Company's news release dated November 9, 2015. DD-15-035 Drill hole DD-15-035 was drilled with an azimuth of 244 and an inclination of -62 to a depth of 168.25m (552.0ft). This hole intersected two important mineralized zones with gold values exceeding 8.0 g/t Au. A 1.1m (3.7ft) interval with an average of 18.58 g/t Au was intersected between 99.7m and 100.8m. This interval is associated with faulting and a quartz vein stockwork near the basal contact of a large fault. Near the base of the tectonic melange a 3.1m (10.0ft) interval with an average of 8.45 g/t Au was intersected between 134.7m and 137.8m. This interval is associated with sulfide replacement mineralization that has been observed in a similar position in previously analysed drill holes. This interval includes an intersection of 1.5m (5.0ft) with an average grade of 15.29 g/t Au (134.7m to 136.2m). DD-15-040 Drill hole DD-15-040 was drilled with an azimuth of 240 and an inclination of -65 to a depth of 258.8m (849.0ft). This hole intersected five important mineralized zones with gold values exceeding 1.0 g/t. A 5.5m (18.0ft) interval with an average of 1.01 g/t Au was intersected between 87.2m and 92.7m and is associated with sulphide replacement mineralization in the hanging wall mafic rocks, quartz ankerite veinlets, and minor arsenopyrite mineralization. Within the tectonic melange a 11.5m (37.7ft) interval with an average grade of 1.41 g/t Au was intersected between 155.3m and 166.8m. This interval is associated with massive quartz veins, fault gouge and breccia, and fine-grained, sulphide replacement mineralization that has been observed in a similar position in previously analysed drill holes. This interval includes intersections of 2.3m (7.4ft) with an average grade of 2.01 g/t Au (156.2m to 158.5m); 2.1m (7.0ft) with an average grade of 2.35 g/t Au (160.5m to 162.6m); and 2.0m (6.5ft) with an average grade of 1.87 g/t/ Au (164.8m to 166.8m). At the footwall boundary of the tectonic melange a 10.5m (34.6ft) interval with an average of 2.31 g/t Au was intersected between 171.8m and 182.3m and is associated with a zone of brecciated quartz veins. This interval includes a 2.4m (8.0ft) intersection with an average grade of 3.89 g/t Au (173.0m to 175.4m). Within the Mariposa Formation sedimentary rocks a 2.6m (8.6ft) interval with an average grade of 4.31 g/t Au was intersected between 195.1m and 197.7m that is associated with an another zone of brecciated quartz veins. This interval includes a 0.9m (3.0ft) intersection with an average grade of 7.95 g/t Au (195.1m to 196.0m). A 1.7m (5.5ft) interval with an average grade of 1.74 g/t Au was intersected between 207.9m and 209.6m, and is associated with a massive quartz vein and minor arsenopyrite mineralization within the Mariposa Formation. DD-15-042 Drill hole DD-15-042 was drilled with an azimuth of 240 and an inclination of -55 to a depth of 143.1m (469.5ft). This hole intersected two important mineralized zones with gold values exceeding 1.5 g/t. A 1.5m (5.0ft) interval with an average of 1.70 g/t Au was intersected between 131.4m and 132.9m, and a 1.1m (3.5ft) interval with an average of 1.74 g/t Au was intersected between 142.0m and 143.1m. Both intervals are associated with faulting and cataclasite development in the tectonic melange. It should be noted that the interval between 142.0m and 143.1m was encountered at the end of the drill hole, and as such it is unknown whether elevated gold grades continue to greater depth. The Company has retained the services of SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., an internationally recognized, independent resource consulting firm, to advise the Company's technical team on overall geological interpretation and to act as an independent umpire on assay results. Description of Quality Assurance & Quality Control (QA/QC) Procedures The laboratory being used for assay analyses is American Assay Laboratories Inc. ("AAL") based in Sparks, Nevada (ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Certified). Prior to transportation of core samples to AAL, all core processing is conducted at the Project site in an enclosed 6,000 sq. ft. office facility. All diamond drill core is logged, photographed and split using core saws. Core from entire holes is being sampled every five feet to compare with the historic RC hole assay intervals. Additionally, sub-samples are being collected within the planned five foot intervals where important geological or mineralization contacts occur to allow better discrimination within the geological model. The minimum sample interval is 1.5 feet. One half of the split core is transported to AAL by Company employees for prep and analysis. The other half of the core is stored at the Company core storage facility for future inspection and assay verification. All gold analyses of strongly mineralized samples utilize the screened metallics fire (SMF) assay method with a gravimetric finish. At the laboratory, the entire sample is crushed to 90 percent minus ten-mesh. A rotary splitter is used to obtain a 500 gram sample for pulverising. The screened metallics are collected as the plus fraction from a 150-mesh screen at the lab. The plus 150-mesh fraction is fire assayed in its entirety. Two separate one-assay ton fire (1ATF) analyses of the minus 150-mesh fraction are performed and arithmetically averaged. The minus and plus 150-mesh results are then combined for a total screened metallics fire assay. A full QA/QC program, involving insertion of appropriate blanks and standards is being employed with acceptable results. Generation of QA/QC control charts, and overall independent umpiring of assay results is being conducted by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. Mr. Vishal Gupta, the Company's President & CEO has reviewed and approved this press release. Mr. Gupta is a P.Geo. registered with the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO), and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined under National Instrument 43-101. The exploration program at Fremont is being conducted under Mr. Gupta's supervision. About California Gold Mining Inc. California Gold Mining Inc. is focused on developing its flagship Fremont gold project in Mariposa County, California. The project consists of a land package totaling 3,351 acres of historically producing gold mines. The Fremont Property lies within California's prolific Mother Lode Gold Belt that has produced over 50 million oz of gold historically. The Company purchased the property in March 2013. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release of California Gold contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements". Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause California Gold's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such 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. Forward-looking statements in this document include statements regarding planned exploration work on the Company's Fremont Property including the anticipated results and timing thereof. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements. Any factor could cause actual results to differ materially from California Gold's expectations. California Gold undertakes no obligation to update these forward looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change, unless otherwise required by law. 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. For further information contact: Vishal Gupta President & CEO 647-977-9267 x333 Website: www.caligold.ca Appendix A Orthophoto of the Pine Tree-Josephine Deposit Showing Locations of Completed and Planned Phase III Drill Holes, and Historic Drill Holes To view the image for Appendix A, please click on the following link: http://www.fscwire.com/sites/default/files/NR/711/10229_caliimage1.jpg Appendix B Interpreted Geological Cross-Sections Depicting Down-Hole Traces For Completed Phase III Drill Holes, and Historic Drill Holes DD-15-035 To view the image for Appendix B - DD-15-035, please click on the following link: http://www.fscwire.com/sites/default/files/NR/711/10229_caliimage2.png DD-15-040 To view the image for Appendix B - DD-15-040, please click on the following link: http://www.fscwire.com/sites/default/files/NR/711/10229_caliimage3.png DD-15-042 To view the image for Appendix B - DD-15-042, please click on the following link: http://www.fscwire.com/sites/default/files/NR/711/10229_caliimage4.png SOURCE: California Gold Mining Inc. (Adds analyst quote, details on Bank of Canada official's speech, finance minister's comments, updates prices) * Canadian dollar at C$1.2965, or 77.13 U.S. cents * Loonie touched its strongest since Oct. 19 at C$1.2913 * Bond prices lower across the maturity curve By Fergal Smith TORONTO, March 30 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened to a five-month high against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday as investors rowed back expectations for interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The currency has rallied 13 percent since hitting a 12-year low in January at C$1.4689, helped by recovery in crude oil prices, stabilization in financial markets and reduced expectations for Bank of Canada rate cuts. "Recent strength is a result of participants reassessing the outlook for (U.S.) central bank policy," said Lennon Sweeting, North American FX dealer at OFX. The U.S. dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank should proceed "cautiously" with rate hikes. Canada will take more than two years to fully adjust to the drop in oil prices, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Lynn Patterson said, signaling no quick end to a shock that has roiled the economy. But the implied probability of a Bank of Canada rate cut this year has dropped to 30 percent from more than 50 percent at the start of the month. Oil prices erased most of the day's gains after U.S. government data showed crude inventories at all-time peaks again despite strong refinery runs. U.S. crude prices were up 0.05 percent to $38.3 a barrel. The Canadian dollar ended at C$1.2965 to the greenback, or 77.13 U.S. cents, stronger than Tuesday's close of C$1.3065, or 76.54 U.S. cents. The currency's weakest level of the session was C$1.3079, while it touched its strongest since Oct. 19 at C$1.2913. Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said it may take more time for the country's economy to reap the benefits from a weaker Canadian dollar as domestic manufacturers adjust to its impact. Story continues Canadian government bond prices were lower across the maturity curve, with the two-year price down 4 Canadian cents to yield 0.533 percent and the benchmark 10-year falling 46 Canadian cents to yield 1.229 percent. On Tuesday, the 10-year yield hit a three-week low at 1.177 percent. The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread was 5.5 basis points narrower at -22.8 basis points, while the 10-year spread was 3.5 basis points less negative at -59.8 basis points as Canadian government bonds underperformed. January gross domestic product data is awaited on Thursday. Analysts expect 0.3 percent growth for the month, which would reinforce expectations that first-quarter growth will exceed the Bank of Canada's forecast of 1 percent. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; editing by Nick Zieminski, G Crosse) As CEO of one of the worlds largest cruise operators, Arnold Donald knows a lot about what people want to get out of their vacations. On Carnival Cruises (CCL) earnings conference call, Donald shared an interesting anecdote from a recent visit to Cuba last week. I was in Cuba last week. The mainland Chinese filled the paladar--the private restaurant I was in--in Havana, he said. They have money, they are able to travel, they are not exactly shopping for price. They fill up the retail outlets and spend several levels higher than the typical tourist would from other places in the world. Donald highlighted the impact of Chinese tourists on the companys report as the company boosted capacity in the region. We have started with 60% more capacity there and enjoy strong profit improvement and a return on invested capital accretion. At the same time, the capacity shift to China helped create relative scarcity in our other markets, supporting global revenue yield growth, said Donald. While China represents only 5% of the companys capacity today, he said he sees the country as a key growth driver. With 1.3 billion people, China is very capable of absorbing lots of different brands. And so we see it at this stage as we just have a toe in the water. There is 135 million estimated outbound Chinese tourists today already. And roughly a million of them are cruising today. So we havent even begun to touch the surface, Donald said. And Cuba remains an important near-term opportunity for the company. Last week, Carnival became the first U.S. cruise operator in over 50 years to receive Cuban approval to bring U.S. cruise guests directly from the U.S. to Cuba. The company will be launching its inaugural season in May with Fathom, initially with itineraries including Havana, San Fuego, and Santiago de Cuba. Destinations are often a powerful tool for demand creation as well, especially when combined with effective public relations, Donald said. Cruises have the best advantage because we bring our hotels with us, he told Yahoo Finance in an interview. Story continues The company has begun the process for approval for its other brands to sail to Cuba in the months and years ahead, but he told Yahoo Finance that real impact will come in a few years. Donald emphasized that Cuba can move the needle, even for such a diverse company as Carnival because "it can refresh the Caribbean. Many people have been to the Caribbean many times. Now, with the opportunity to go to Cuba, they'll want to go back...It creates demand." As for the effect of Zika? Donald told Yahoo Finance, "Zika hasn't affected our business," noting continued strong demand going forward. By Paul Carsten and Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - China's technology regulator has rejected criticism of proposed Internet rules that could block access to foreign websites, saying there was misunderstanding about what some people see as a way to tighten control over cyberspace. Experts have said the draft regulations, like many laws in China, could be interpreted broadly and, in extreme cases, could give authorities the power to shut off access to all websites that have not registered their web addresses in the country. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in its proposed revisions to domain name management regulations Chinese websites must use domestic domain registration services or risk being cut off in China and facing fines up to 30,000 yuan ($4,600). "Internet service providers must not provide network access services for domain names connected to the domestic network but which are not managed by domestic domain name registration service bodies," the ministry said in a draft of the rules posted on its website last week. The ministry told Reuters on Wednesday there was "misunderstanding" about the regulations which "did not fundamentally conflict" with global practices. The rules "do not involve websites that are accessed overseas, do not affect users from accessing the related Internet content and do not affect the normal development of business for overseas companies in China," it said in an email. Authorities often issue preliminary laws and regulations for comment though it is not clear if regulators will incorporate public feedback in final drafting. The ministry said it would "earnestly study" feedback. Domain names are a crucial part of the Internet, guiding people to a specific web address, such as Google's search engine when they type in www.google.com. Some of China's biggest websites including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Taobao and Tmall, Baidu Inc's search engine, JD.com Inc's shopping site and the Sohu.com Inc news portal are registered overseas, according to the www.whois.net site, which provides information on the registration of websites. Story continues "We are closely examining the draft regulation and will provide appropriate input," a Baidu spokesman told Reuters. A JD.com spokesman said the company was studying the draft but believed the rules would not have an impact on its business. Alibaba and Sohu declined to comment. 'ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES' China has long operated the world's most sophisticated online censorship mechanism, known as the Great Firewall. The websites for Google's services, Facebook and Twitter are all inaccessible in China. Under President Xi Jinping, the government has implemented an unprecedented increase in Internet control, and sought to codify the policy within the law. China's top Internet regulator, Lu Wei, has said the government is not being too restrictive. Officials say controls help maintain social stability and national security in the face of threats such as terrorism. They have also suggested controls provide a good framework to nurture domestic Internet firms. But experts say the rules would enhance China's ability to censor, and allow it to target sites that are hosted on Chinese servers but have registered their domain names overseas, where they cannot be completely shut down by Beijing. "The draft rules aim to ensure that content hosted on Chinese servers is accessed through a domain name managed by a Chinese registration service provider," said Rogier Creemers, a lecturer in China's politics and history at the University of Oxford. "This points to an increased level of control." Foreign business groups have criticized Internet restrictions as limiting opportunities for overseas firms and stifling innovation. James Zimmerman, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said the proposals were vague, ambiguous, subject to broad interpretation and would slow commerce and isolate China technologically. "At a minimum, the regulations would create additional challenges for both foreign and domestic companies," he said in an email. Some experts said the concerns were over-blown. While the rules could allow the government to block all websites not registered in China, that would be an extreme interpretation, said Mareike Ohlberg, a research associate at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. "It is possible, but not very likely, that this would result in a de facto block of all domains not registered in China," Ohlberg said. (Reporting by Paul Carsten and Michael Martina; Editing by Robert Birsel) By Jason Hovet and Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech and Chinese companies signed deals on Wednesday including the acquisition of a Czech-Slovak financial group and the creation of a 5 billion euro investment fund, capping a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Czech presidential office said investments in both directions could total 10.9 billion euros (8.6 billion pounds) by 2020, mostly via vehicles seeking to invest in the Czech economy. Czech President Milos Zeman has pushed since his election in 2013 for closer ties with China and Russia rather than with European Union and NATO allies. Deals included an acquisition by the closely-held CEFC China Energy of an additional 40 percent in Czech-Slovak J&T Finance Group SE (JTFG), raising its stake in the mid-sized player on the two banking markets to 50 percent, JTFG said. JTFG and China's Pang An Bank also plan a 5 billion euro fund to invest in unspecified financial, energy and industrial assets. Zeman and Xi signed a strategic partnership agreement on Tuesday. China has such deals with about 15 European countries. CEZ, the majority state-owned Czech electricity company, signed a deal in which its subsidiary Skoda Praha and China's Pinggao will develop energy projects in Europe and Asia. Total investment could be in the tens of billions of crowns, CEZ said. So far, Chinese investments in the Czech Republic have lagged those in other European markets and consisted mainly of acquisitions last year by CEFC, whose ownership details have not been made public. CEFC chairman Ye Jianming has been given the post of an adviser to Zeman. With CEFC raising its stake in JTFG, now majority-owned by two Slovak businessmen, CEFC will get access to the Czech banking market as well as Russia, Croatia and Slovakia, a euro zone country where JTFG owns bank Postova Banka. JTFG said CEFC will pay 980 million euros for the 50 percent stake, subject to regulatory approval by institutions including the Czech National Bank and the European Central Bank. Story continues JTFG also signed a framework deal with privately-held China Development Bank to set up an 800 million fund. CEFC and Hengfeng Bank Company bought Czech metallurgic firm ZDAS and agreed to set up a 1.1 billion euro fund for other industrial investments. The biggest Czech exporter, Skoda Auto, and its parent group Volkswagen agreed a five-year plan worth 2 billion euros with China's SAIC Motor Corporation to expand Skoda's model range in China. Czech aircraft maker Aircraft Industries signed a 111 million euro deal for the sale of 20 planes. (Additional reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) Its recent Air China deal may dilute branding. As competition intensifies from expanding Gulf carriers, forging collaborative initiatives may be one of SIAs focus moving forward, according to a report by OCBC. Recently, SIA and Tourism Malaysia inked a two-year partnership to boost tourist flow into Malaysia. The agreement will have a focus on 14 major inbound markets that include UK, Russia, US, India, and China by leveraging on SIA and SilkAirs existing network. Further, just yesterday, SIA and SilkAir sealed the deal on a codeshare agreement with Air China mainly on routes between Singapore, Beijing, and Chengdu. OCBC notes that given SIAs position in the market, the codeshare deal may potentially dilute SIAs parent airline branding and image on its Beijing flights. However, OCBC does not rule out the possibility of the agreement opening up further opportunities between the two airlines. All said, we still expect the cheap jet fuel to drive its earnings recovery in FY17, as the expensive hedges unwind progressively ahead, states the report. More From Singapore Business Review Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy addresses the Marching On conference on gun violence prevention in Middletown, Connecticut September 28, 2013. REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy struck down the idea that the state would tax income from Yale's $25.6 billion endowment, The Connecticut Mirror reported. The bill introduced in the state Legislature in March proposed taxing 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. "As the governor has made clear, we don't believe that new taxes should be part of our solution as Connecticut adjusts to a new economic reality," Devon Puglia, the governor's spokesman, told The Mirror. "Instead, we should make the spending reductions necessary for living within our means." The proposed bill gained widespread attention, leading Florida Gov. Rick Scott to release a statement urging Yale move south to avoid taxes. "With news that the Connecticut Legislature wants to unfairly tax one of the nation's most renowned universities to deal with the state's budget shortfall, it is clear that all businesses in Connecticut, including Yale, should look to move to Florida," Scott said, according to the Connecticut Post. Still, it's not the only bill proposed that would increase taxes on Yale. The mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, is backing a bill that attempts to distinguish between real estate that Yale holds for educational purposes, and is therefore tax exempt, and its commercial real-estate property. In her testimony supporting the proposal, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp used an example of a building that Yale recently bought. Previously, the city received $275,000 annually in taxes for the property. The city risks losing that taxable income since Yale, as an educational institution, owns the property even though the school stands to make money from the building for products and services it may sell, according to Harp. Story continues Richard Jacob, a Yale associate vice president for federal and state relations, presented written testimony opposing the proposal backed by the mayor. He said: Given Yale's unparalleled commitment to New Haven, and the gains made by the City of New Haven and Yale in building employment, expanding the tax base, and strengthening neighborhoods and schools, the proposal to single out Yale by imposing unprecedented, ambiguous, and sweeping new taxes on the University is troubling. NOW WATCH: The colleges with the hardest working students More From Business Insider Havana (AFP) - Fidel Castro laid into Barack Obama after the US president's historic visit to Cuba in a testy newspaper column Monday, saying the communist island doesn't need any "gifts from the empire." The retired revolutionary, who has reacted tepidly to Cuba's rapprochement with the United States, scoffed at what he described as Obama's call to forgive and forget more than half a century of Cold War enmity. "Listening to the words of the US president could give anyone a heart attack," Castro wrote in his first public reaction to the visit. "My modest suggestion is that he think and not try to theorize about Cuban politics," said the 89-year-old leader of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, who handed power to his younger brother Raul in 2006. He made the comments in a tortuous opinion piece headlined "Brother Obama" and published in Granma, the official newspaper of Cuba's communist party. Obama, who met Raul but not Fidel Castro during his three-day visit last week, defied the regime's warnings not to wade into Cuba's internal affairs, meeting with anti-Castro dissidents and calling for democracy and greater freedoms. "Voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections," he said in an unprecedented speech carried live on Cuba's tightly controlled state television. Castro lashed out at that speech, the symbolically charged centerpiece of the first visit by a US president in 88 years. "Obama gave a speech in which he used the most syrupy words," he wrote, recounting the long history of acrimonious relations between Havana and Washington as he defended the accomplishments of his 47-year rule. "Nobody has any illusion that the people of this noble and selfless country will surrender glory and rights and the spiritual wealth that has come through the development of education, science and culture," Castro wrote. Story continues "I would also warn that we are capable of producing the food and material wealth we need with the labor and the intelligence of our people. We don't need any gifts from the empire." - PR problem - Obama's visit posed an awkward public relations problem for the Castro regime, juxtaposing a charismatic, 54-year-old leader known for the political brand of "change" with the octogenarian brothers who have ruled the island since 1959. The fact that Obama is black and the Castros are white was not lost on Cubans, many of whom also have African roots, and Castro appeared to take particular umbrage both at the US president's relative youth and his description of both countries as New World nations "built in part by slaves." "He doesn't mention that racial discrimination was erased by the Revolution, that retirement benefits and salaries for all Cubans were decreed before Mr Barack Obama was 10 years old," he wrote. Castro remained out of sight during Obama's visit, which aimed to cement the thaw announced in December 2014 by the US president and Raul Castro, who has proven more reform-minded than his older brother. Fidel Castro waited a month and a half to publicly give his blessing to the US-Cuban rapprochement, and then gave it only a lukewarm embrace. Since announcing their landmark rapprochement, the United States and Cuba have reopened embassies in each other's capitals and are slowly normalizing ties. But several thorny issues remain unsettled, including the fate of the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, which Cuba wants back, and Washington's more than five-decade-old embargo on the island, which Obama again called on Congress to lift. Since stepping down, Fidel Castro has spent part of his time writing reflections that occasionally appear in the communist party press. His last public appearance was in July 2015. How Is Petrobras Handling Hard Times? (Continued from Prior Part) Petrobrass cash flow from operations, investing, and financing In 2015, Petrobrass (PBR) cash flow from operations stood at $26 billion, falling from $27 billion in 2014. PBRs cash outflow from investing stood at $13 billion in 2015 compared to $37 billion in 2014. Petrobrass cash flow from financing activities mainly consisted of changing debt levels. On account of the loss in 2015, Petrobras has not paid dividends to shareholders. However, Petrobrass peers have been paying dividends. PBRs peer Suncor Energys (SU) dividend yield stands at 3.2%. Comparatively, Total SA (TOT) and ENI SPA (E) have higher dividend yields of 5.9% and 6.9%, respectively. For exposure to high large cap stocks, you can consider the PowerShares Dynamic Large Cap Value ETF (PWV). The ETF also has ~11% exposure to energy sector stocks. Analyzing Petrobrass cash flow strategy In 2015, Petrobras generated $26 billion in cash from operations, but had a cash outflow of $22 billion in the form of capital expenditure and $21 billion in the form of repayment of principal and interest, amounting to a total $43 billion of cash outflow. How did the company make up for the difference of $17 billion in cash flows? Due to lower cash flow from operations, the company had to resort to asset sales and issuance of fresh debt. Petrobras executed divestments to the tune of $8 billion in 2015. In the same year, it raised $17 billion of additional debt. Remaining cash was added to cash reserves, possibly for this years cash outflow including capex (around $20 billion) and repayment of principal and interest of around $20 billion in 2016. How long can PBR maintain this strategy? If oil prices remain subdued for an extended period, Petrobras cannot perpetually keep on raising debt to fund its capex. Petrobras is already at quite high leverage levels. Going forward, higher production could improve cash flow from operations, but the degree of the improvement will mainly depend on the level of oil prices. Story continues If oil prices are lower, it will weigh on Petrobrass cash flow from operations. And, if cash flows dont improve, Petrobras will likely not be able to maintain its current levels of capex, which will compromise its future growth prospects. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: DS Laboratories Launches at INFARMA Madrid 2016 MADRID, SPAIN / ACCESSWIRE / March 30, 2016 / DS Healthcare Iberia, a European Distributor, launched recently as a marquee exhibitor at INFARMA Madrid 2016, unveiling their flagship brand, DS Laboratories. With over 25,000 visitors INFARMA is one of the largest annual European congresses for the pharmaceutical sector and brought two events of great interest to participants: the European Meeting of Pharmacies, in which speakers from various European countries addressed the industry; and the Hall of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, where exhibitors from different sectors (manufacturers, wholesalers/distributors, laboratories, institutions, NGOs, media) present their products, research and innovation. During the INFARMA trade show and congress DS Laboratories received written commitment from over 100 pharmacies to carry their entire line of hair, skin and personal care. The exhibition also garnered major media interest for the brand, including a television interview with country manager, Luis Adell, on Antenna 3, the most-watched broadcast network in Spain. The Spain-based distributor, DS Healthcare Iberia, is managed by Luis Adell and will oversee expansion and market penetration throughout continental Europe. As Country Manager, Adell, a former Pharmacist by trade and ex-marketing executive with FILORGA and Boehringer Ingelheim, is uniquely capable of building long-term sustainable revenues in Europe. With over 25 years of expertise in the Spanish pharmaceutical market, along with a proven track record in generating business in the medical, OTC and dermocosmetic field, Adell will be able to position the highly-sought after DS Laboratories brand as a strong competitor against current market leaders. Adell's expertise in business development in all promotional and distribution channels, combined with his deep network of doctors, wholesalers and pharmacies, will enable the DS Laboratories brand to quickly grow sales in the 500m-person common EU market. The new DS Healthcare Spanish partnership is the first step of an ambitious plan to expand the DS Laboratories brand throughout Europe: concurrent with Spain will be launches in Portugal and Italy. The current infrastructure includes marketing, sales, logistics, and management staff and the integration will create multiple new channels of business. "The launching of DS Healthcare Iberia is an excellent opportunity to build new business in Spain as a first step for rollout across Europe. The Spanish dermocosmetic market historically is one of the continent's strongest, exceptionally so relative to its population. It has a very dynamic trend in terms of novelties, competition and innovation acceptance. It's a perfect place to be not only present, but to be a category leader," stated Adell. "We have an excellent pharmacy network and our alliance of dermatologists is widely recognized and trusted by the Spanish public for their advocacy of science-backed solutions. Spain is the ideal country to release DS Laboratories' exciting line-up of transformative hair, skin and personal care products," continued Adell. The new distributor partnership is already operative with a high-touch marketing and sales team familiar with local market conditions in Spain, Portugal and Italy alike. A trained sales force has been deployed nationwide in Spain covering both medical (dermatologist) and retail pharmacy channels; 2,000 of the former and 1,200 of the latter are currently visited each month as part of the planned launch. DS Laboratories products recently obtained all EU registrations (CPNP) and, locally, the Codigo Nacional (CN), a quality endorsement by the Spanish Health Ministry. Consequently, all products are now accepted in the National Health System and in the Official Pharmacy Network System (www.portalfarma.com), allowing consumers to safely and reliably purchase DS Laboratories products in over 21,000 pharmacies. As a result of the coveted CN designation, wholesalers are now able to supply DS Laboratories dermocosmetics in less than 24 hours upon a single customer request, equally to those retail locations which regularly stock the products as well as to those which do not. DS Laboratories products are now listed with Spain's leading five wholesalers--responsible for 60%+ of total national market share--guaranteeing nationwide distribution: Alliance Healthcare (owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance); COFARES; HEFAME; and FedeFarma. In Portugal, distribution deals have been secured with Wells (owned by SONAE)--that country's most important retailer, with over 160 doors nationwide. In Italy, an initial distribution deal is in place with independent Italian pharmacy chains. This deal is expected to open over 500 doors in 2016 in that market. About DS Healthcare Group DS Healthcare Group Inc. (DSKX) is engaged in the development of biotechnology for topical therapies. It markets through online channels, specialty retailers, distributors, pharmacies, and salons. Its research has led to a highly innovative portfolio of personal care products and additional innovations in pharmaceutical projects. For more information on DS Health Group's flagship brand, visit www.dslaboratories.com. Forward-looking statements Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies, and are generally preceded by words such as "future," "plan" or "planned," "expects," or "projected." These forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. These risk factors include, among others, limited operating history, difficulty in developing and marketing products, intense competition, and additional risks factors as discussed in reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. Contact Investor Relations DS Healthcare Group, Inc. (888) 404-7770 ext. 3 Investors@DSHealthGroup.com SOURCE: DS Healthcare Group, Inc. dubai airport terminal Dubai has found another way to raise cash, as the oil crash continues to take its toll on the broader region's economy. Airlines will charge passengers flying through its airports a service fee of 35 Emirati dirham (about $10) from June 30, according to a government statement Wednesday. Children under two, cabin crew, and transit passengers leaving on the same flight will be exempt. A resolution for the levy was approved Wednesday by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the crown price of Dubai, according to the Wall Street Journal. Dubai International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. About 7.3 million people passed through it in January, according to the website. We'd note that airport charges are not uncommon, and the government says the levy is to boost infrastructure. But the new airport charge, which will be transferred to the government's purse, is evidently a way to raise money in a country whose revenues have been strained by the plunge in oil prices. And it's not just the United Arab Emirates coming up with ways to cope. The government of Saudi Arabia, for example, confirmed in January that it is considering an initial public offering for the state-owned oil company Aramco. And in Qatar, state-funded network Al Jazeera announced last weekend that it is cutting about 500 jobs from its main Doha operation, as its US cable news wing prepares to shutter next month. NOW WATCH: What the 'i' in 'iPhone' stands for as explained by Steve Jobs More From Business Insider Hinkley Point A and B nuclear power stations are seen behind the site where EDF Energy's Hinkley Point C nuclear power station will be constructed in Bridgwater, southwest England October 24, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett PARIS (Reuters) - State-controlled French utility EDF reaffirmed its plans to complete its Hinkley Point nuclear reactor project in southern England by 2025 after a newspaper report said a group of its own engineers had doubts about the timetable. In an emailed statement on Wednesday, the group bemoaned "unfounded rumours and fantasy information" in the media without being any more specific. "EDF denies these rumours (and) confirms that the start-up date for the first reactor is fixed for 2025 and that no delay is envisaged," EDF said. The Financial Times reported that EDF engineers had written an internal note calling for a delay of at least two years and a reactor redesign. The report follows repeated indications this year that there is opposition to the project from within the 85 percent state-owned firm, including the resignation of a senior executive and a letter from its boss to staff insisting it needed more financial backing from the state. (Reporting by Andrew Callus; Editing by James Regan) By Suchitra Mohanty and Devidutta Tripathy NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Embattled tycoon Vijay Mallya has proposed to repay 40 billion rupees ($603 million), less than half of what his defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes to creditor banks who have approached the nation's highest court to recover their dues. Mallya, who left India on March 2 and whose exact whereabouts since then are not known, made the offer on Wednesday to the group of lenders led by State Bank of India to pay the sum by end-September. A lawyer for Mallya also told India's Supreme Court that Kingfisher could pay another 20 billion rupees to banks if it wins a lawsuit seeking damages from a plane engine maker. The lawyer did not give a time frame for that payment, while a spokesman for Mallya's UB Group did not reply to a request for comment on the repayment offer. The court has sought the banks' response within a week to Mallya's proposal. It will hear the case next on April 7. Separately, State Bank of India, the nation's top lender, said it had received an offer for "settlement of dues" on Wednesday, and was examining the offer. Kingfisher, once India's second-biggest airline, ceased operations more than three years ago after a stretch of losses, leaving creditors, suppliers and employees with unpaid dues. As of last November, it owed the group of banks about $1.4 billion including interest and fees. The creditor banks stepped up pressure on Mallya - who gave a personal guarantee for the Kingfisher loan - after he agreed to a $75 million settlement with Britain's Diageo Plc last month to give up his chairmanship and board position at top Indian spirits maker United Spirits Ltd. After stepping down, Mallya said he would spend more time in England where his children live. Once known as the "King of Good Times" for his extravagant lifestyle, Mallya has denied that he had fled India and said he would comply with local laws. Media reports have traced him to the Hertfordshire village of Tewin, north of London, where he owns a house. Mallya's case has taken centre stage at a time when the central bank and the government have begun a crackdown on bank loan defaulters to clean-up the nation's ailing state-run banks. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government had asked banks to go "all out" in their efforts to recover money from Kingfisher. ($1 = 66.3950 rupees) (Reporting by Suchitra Mohanty and Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and David Evans) By Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's state-owned MKB Bank will be sold to a consortium of domestic and foreign equity funds, with Hungarian owners getting a majority stake, the bank's chief executive Adam Balog told Reuters on Wednesday. The sale is pending approval by the central bank's Financial Stability Council, Balog said. The National Bank of Hungary took control of MKB, the country's sixth-largest lender by assets, last year after Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing government bought it from Germany's BayernLB in 2014 for 55 million euros ($62 million). The purchase of MKB was a key element of Orban's strategy to have more than half of country's banks in Hungarian ownership, after his government squeezed foreign banks for six years with a special tax on banks and policies aimed at helping borrowers. MKB's distressed assets have since been spun off and last year the European Commission approved its restructuring plan. Balog said that a Hungarian private equity fund called Metis will buy a stake of between 40 and 50 percent of MKB. He did not reveal who the investors in the fund were, but said the central bank's foundations were not involved. Metis was recently launched with a registered capital of 100 million euros, according to a statement by its manager, Minerva Fund Management, on Wednesday. It did not reply to questions by email or by telephone. Balog said a Luxembourg-based fund called Blue Robin Investments SCA, which he said grouped Indian and Chinese private investors, will buy between 40 and 50 percent and Hungarian pension fund Pannonia (CIGP.BU) will buy about 10 percent. Reuters was not able to contact Blue Robin Investments for comment. Pannonia could not be reached for comment. Metis and Pannonia together would own more than 50 but less than 60 percent of MKB, he added. "Hungarian owners will be in majority, with a strong foreign ally," Balog said. He declined to reveal the price, but said the winning consortium had been selected from three bidders. He did not name the other two bidders, but said both were private equity funds specialised in the financial sector. Story continues "They (the winning consortium) gave the best price," he said, when asked what the decisive factor had been. EBRD INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY He said the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) also talked with all the potential buyers and may still be involved. "Whether the owners decide to actually get the EBRD involved or not, I don't know at this stage, but I would support the EBRD to appear among the owners," Balog said. An EBRD spokesman told Reuters: "the EBRD discussed the investment opportunity with a number of potential bidders but did not itself submit a bid." Balog said that MKB would report a loss for 2015, due to big write-downs on non-performing commercial real estate loans, but aimed for a profit of at least 5 to 10 billion forints ($36 million) in 2016. "If we look ahead to the next three to five years, we would like to be among the top three banks in Hungary based on size," he said. Hungary's top banks are OTP (OTPB.BU), K&H Bank (KBC.BR) and Unicredit.(CRDI.MI) MKB also wants to list some of its shares on the Budapest Stock Exchange in 2019. (Reporting by Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Alexander Smith) A federal jury in Jackson, Tennessee awarded 1,263 hours of unpaid wages to Jay Nance, the former deputy director of the Crockett County Emergency Management Agency FRANKLIN, TN, / ACCESSWIRE / March 30, 2016 / A federal jury in Jackson, Tennessee awarded 1,263 hours of unpaid wages to Jay Nance, the former deputy director of the Crockett County Emergency Management Agency. The jury found that Crockett County had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, and refused to pay Mr. Nance for overtime that he had worked. Mr. Nance was represented by Michael Russell of Gilbert Russell McWherter Scott & Bobbitt PLC. Mr. Russell issued the following statement following the verdict: "I'm just thrilled for Jay, and we're very grateful to the jury. They awarded my client every nickel we asked them to. I hope this result will bring about significant changes in the way Crockett County pays its employees." Mr. Nance had worked for Crockett County for over a decade, before leaving for another job in 2014. He worked as both a paramedic in Crockett County's ambulance service and as deputy director of its emergency management agency. In the trial, Nance claimed that he had worked significant overtime, which the county had refused to pay. The jury found that Crockett County had "willfully" violated the law, essentially meaning that the county's treatment of Mr. Nance was not an innocent mistake. About the Firm Gilbert Russell McWherter Scott & Bobbitt PLC provides comprehensive representation to employees, policyholders and students throughout Tennessee and the surrounding regions. The Gilbert Firm maintains offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee. The attorneys focus their practice in the areas of: - Wage and Hour violations - Employment and labor law - Employees' rights - Insurance disputes - Special education law For more information about us, please visit http://www.gilbertfirm.com Contact Info: Name: Michael Russell Email: mrussell@gilbertfirm.com Organization: Gilbert Russell McWherter Scott Bobbitt PLC Address: 341 Cool Springs Blvd, Suite 230, Franklin, TN 37067 Phone: 615-354-1144 SOURCE: Gilbert Russell McWherter Scott Bobbitt PLC Carlos Tavares, Chairman of French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen attends a news conference to comment the company's 2015 annual results at Peugeot headquarters in Paris, France, February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau PARIS (Reuters) - French government representatives on the board of carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA) are opposed to the sharp increase in remuneration of its chairman, Carlos Tavares, Les Echos reported on its website on Monday. Tavares saw his total remuneration reach 5.24 million euros ($5.9 mln) for 2015, including his fixed and variable salary and long-term incentives, up from 2.75 million euros in 2014, according to the company's annual report. The French government, which owns 14 percent of the carmaker, has recommended that companies in which it holds a minority stake should cut the leader's remuneration by 30 percent, Les Echos reported. PSA returned to profitability in 2015 after four years of losses and achieved its performance targets ahead of time. The car manufacturer and the French finance ministry declined to comment on the Les Echos report, which did not cite sources. PSA is due to present a new strategic plan on April 5. ($1 = 0.8929 euros) (Reporting by Cyril Altmeyer, Yann Le Guernigou and Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Susan Fenton) ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwired - Mar 30, 2016) - GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing human vaccines, announced today that it has entered into a Research Collaboration Agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of its Zika virus vaccine. On February 3, 2016, GeoVax announced that it had begun a program to develop a vaccine for the prevention of Zika virus infections using its novel MVA-VLP vaccine platform, and that it had entered into a collaborative relationship with researchers at the University of Georgia to speed development of the vaccine. The Research Collaboration Agreement between GeoVax and the CDC should further broaden and accelerate the company's Zika vaccine development through access to Zika virus antibodies available at the CDC and testing of vaccine candidates by the CDC in appropriate animal models. Robert McNally, PhD, GeoVax's President and CEO, commented, "We are pleased to have the support of multiple collaborators in our efforts to rapidly develop an efficacious vaccine to prevent Zika virus infection. Together with our own scientific staff, we have assembled a world-class team, with expertise in flavivirus vaccine development, in our attempt to develop a vaccine solution to this growing threat to world health." About Zika Virus On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the Zika virus and its suspected complications in newborns an international public health emergency. Between January 2007 and March 23, 2016, a total of 61 countries and territories worldwide (34 in Americas) reported local transmission of the virus. Five countries (Argentina, France, Italy, New Zealand and the USA) have reported locally acquired infections in the absence of any known mosquito vectors, most likely through sexual transmission. WHO projects that the disease could reach most of the Western Hemisphere, infecting up to 4 million people by year's end. The CDC has issued a travel advisory for people traveling to regions within the Zika virus outbreak, which include popular vacation destinations. Brazil, the site of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, is included in this advisory. Zika virus, transmitted to people primarily through the bite of Aedes species mosquito (A. aegypti and A. albopictus), is a member of the Flaviviridae family, which includes medically important human pathogens such as dengue fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. There is a suspected association between Zika infections and severe birth defects, particularly microcephaly, a congenital condition marked by an abnormally small head and incomplete brain development as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder that can cause paralysis. The number of microcephaly in Brazil associated with Zika virus has risen to 6,480, of which 863 cases were confirmed and 5,617 cases remain suspected to be associated with Zika virus. Five other countries/territories (French Polynesia, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia and Suriname) have reported an increase in the incidence of cases of microcephaly and/or GBS following a Zika outbreak. Evidence that microcephaly and GBS are linked to Zika infection remains circumstantial, but a growing body of epidemiological and clinical data indicates that Zika virus is highly likely to be a cause of microcephaly, GBS and other neurological disorders, according to a report published by the WHO on March 24, 2016. Other than mosquito control, no approved preventive or therapeutic products are currently available to fight Zika infections. Public health officials recommend avoiding exposure to Zika, delaying pregnancy, and following basic supportive care after infection. A vaccine is urgently needed to prevent a Zika pandemic. About GeoVax GeoVax Labs, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases using its Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara -Virus-Like Particle (MVA-VLP) vaccine platform. The Company's most advanced development programs are focused on vaccines against HIV and hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola, Marburg, Lassa). GeoVax also recently began programs to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, and to evaluate the use of its MVA-VLP platform in cancer immunotherapy. GeoVax's vaccine platform supports in vivo production of non-infectious VLPs from the cells of the very person receiving the vaccine. The production of VLPs in the person being vaccinated mimics a natural infection, stimulating both the humoral and cellular arms of the immune system to recognize, prevent, and control the target infection. Clinical trials for GeoVax's preventive HIV vaccines have been conducted by the NIH-supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) with funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). Overall, GeoVax's HIV vaccines, in various doses and combinations, have been tested in 500 humans with very encouraging results. Currently GeoVax has the most advanced vaccine for the subtype of HIV prevalent in North America and Western Europe. The company awaits funding for a Phase 2b efficacy trial to prove the vaccine protects against HIV. For more information, visit www.geovax.com. [The information contained in this press release does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the U.S. Government and no official endorsement should be inferred.] Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this document are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from those included in these statements due to a variety of factors, including whether: GeoVax can develop and manufacture its vaccines with the desired characteristics in a timely manner, GeoVax's vaccines will be safe for human use, GeoVax's vaccines will effectively prevent targeted infections in humans, GeoVax's vaccines will receive regulatory approvals necessary to be licensed and marketed, GeoVax raises required capital to complete vaccine development, there is development of competitive products that may be more effective or easier to use than GeoVax's products, GeoVax will be able to enter into favorable manufacturing and distribution agreements, and other factors, over which GeoVax has no control. GeoVax assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and does not intend to do so. More information about these factors is contained in GeoVax's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those set forth at "Risk Factors" in GeoVax's Form 10-K. Ted Cruz. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz spent the past week doing what was recently considered to be impossible: consolidating support from his party's establishment. The list of people who have endorsed Cruz now includes Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee; Jeb Bush, the ex-2016 GOP frontrunner; and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Establishment-oriented Republicans are rushing to rally around Cruz, who is increasingly viewed as the only option Republicans have left to stop GOP frontrunner Donald Trump in his tracks. That is a stunning development to party operatives almost a year after Cruz entered the presidential race as a pugnacious outsider. Among other things, Cruz infuriated the Washington establishment by embracing government-shutdown fights. When discussing Cruz late last year, former President George W. Bush reportedly said he didn't "like the guy." Cruz worked on President Bush's 2000 campaign and held a position within his administration. Graham, meanwhile, passed his support on to Cruz rather begrudgingly: He acknowledged that he thought the third remaining Republican candidate, Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, would be the best president but couldn't defeat Trump. Weeks ago, Graham joked that if Cruz were killed on the Senate floor, nobody would testify against his killer. Romney, the figurehead of the "never Trump" movement, previously sent robocalls on behalf of Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Kasich. He even held an event with Kasich before the Ohio primary. "It's an incredible circumstance. It's unfathomable, unthinkable," GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak, the founder of the Potomac Strategy Group, told Business Insider. "He's the establishment's 16th favorite candidate," he continued, referring to the lengthy list of GOP candidates originally in the race. "Just so happens the 17th is Trump and there's a big gap in between them." Donald Trump Ted Cruz Story continues It wasn't very long ago that Trump's reputation as a dealmaker appealed more to establishment types than Cruz's hardline, confrontational approach. In late January, Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and 1996 GOP presidential nominee, made a point to say he wouldn't vote for Cruz and that in Congress "nobody likes him." In contrast, Dole told The New York Times that Trump could "probably work with Congress, because he's, you know, he's got the right personality and he's kind of a dealmaker." Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa practically begged his constituents not to vote for Cruz in the Iowa caucuses. He called Cruz a "big oil" candidate who didn't have their energy interests in mind. He had no such message for voters about Trump. But over the past two months, Mackowiak said, Cruz suddenly became much more palatable to a wider range of Republicans. The push is coming weeks before the crucial primary in Wisconsin, a key state in the anti-Trump effort. "There's a real sense that a large cross section of Republicans are seeing what a disaster Trump would be," he said. "Pretty unprofessional campaign he's running, total lack of discipline. Cruz is better than people thought he'd be, and Trump is a lot worse. And Cruz has made up a lot of ground." Polls have lent some credence to that theory. Recent surveys have shown that Cruz is bringing aboard some Republicans outside the ultra-conservative wing that has made up his staunchest support base. When comparing the past two national Fox News polls one released in mid-February and the other released last week Cruz's growth in support was more than twice that of Kasich and almost four times that of Trump. The numbers suggested that Cruz was most able to benefit from other candidates' exits from the race. "Kasich has as good of a chance as me," Mackowiak said. "You're not going to nominate someone who lost 49 states. That's why you're seeing guys ignore Kasich and go with Cruz. Endorsing Cruz doesn't mean he's their first choice he's their choice at this point. If Lindsey Graham can get over it, anyone can." Ted Cruz Donald Trump Mackowiak said Cruz had started to broaden his message to appeal beyond the more extreme wings of the base. He added, however, that "it's not a natural thing for him, so I think it'll take some work." But as has been the case for most of the primary season, the anti-Trump establishment faces a clear uphill battle. Cruz needs to win nearly 80% of the delegates throughout the rest of the primary season to get to 1,237 delegates, the number needed to clinch the nomination. Trump, on the other hand, needs just about 50%. If neither candidate reaches that level, the fight could play out on the floor of the Republican National Convention this summer. But the Republican primary continues to play out in unprecedented ways. The wildest part of the past week, Mackowiak said, was that establishment types were shunning the most likely nominee and instead aligning themselves with Cruz. "The instinct is to go with the winner, because you have to be on the winning team to have some influence," he said of Trump. "He's losing support from people that like to go with winners and like to cut deals." NOW WATCH: Trump insinuates a former presidential candidate may be behind the Cruz National Enquirer story More From Business Insider TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Mar 29, 2016) - Kombat Copper Inc. (TSX VENTURE:KBT) ("Kombat Copper" or the "Company") is reporting on the positive progress of pre-production activities at the Kombat Mine. Kombat Copper's local mining contractor, EBM Mining Namibia (Pty) Ltd. ("EBM"), has been active at the mine site and have identified which activities and tasks are necessary to recommence mining at the Kombat Mine and have provided the Company with an update on their findings and progress. EBM is responsible for the costs associated with planning and refurbishment, hiring of staff and workers and the procurement of supplies and equipment. Health and Safety EBM has been reviewing the health and safety aspects of the project and are implementing a full health and safety plan during the pre-production phase of restarting the mine. Plant Refurbishment Update The plant clean-up has been progressing well and EBM has reported that they are pleased with the progress they are seeing. The commissioning date of the plant is expected to be in Q3 2016 and EBM is confident that they will meet this date. Repairs are currently being performed on pipe fittings and electrical equipment with the goal of getting the full site clean and ready for operation by the target date. Supervision and labour are currently on site working on the refurbishment. Concentrator Refurbishment Update Crushing Plant - Cleaning of the crushing plant is in progress with the focus on refurbishment. Repairs are being made to feed chutes and conveyors that require replacement and the Symons Crusher is being stripped, cleaned and rebuilt. Grinding Plant - Cleaning of the grinding plant was completed in late January 2016 and included the following results: Pumps were opened, cleaned and refurbished Inspection was completed on all rod and ball mills with some repairs required specifically on the rod mill gear and pinion along with the replacement of some of the shell liners and lifters. The mill drives have been cleaned, inspected and lubricated. All required part and spares have been ordered. Story continues Floatation Plant - Work at the flotation plant is scheduled for completion at the end of March 2016 and includes the cleaning and refurbishment of the flotation cells. Currently, EBM is negotiating with a local company to procure needed parts to complete the work on the flotation circuit. Geology EBM has been working through the geological reports and extensive data provided by Kombat Copper and good progress has been made in relation to mine planning and scheduling. Equipment All necessary equipment and parts not on site have been, or are in the process of being acquired or sourced through contractors. Paul Bozoki, President and CEO of Kombat Copper, commented: "We are very pleased with the rapid progress we are seeing at the Kombat Mine and the quality of work being performed by EBM. Because of this, I am confident that we will meet our goal of getting the Kombat Mine into production in late 2016 and begin generating cash flow for the Company." About Kombat Copper Kombat Copper is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core operations focused on copper resources in Namibia, one of the world's most prospective copper regions, where it has substantial assets in place with significant upside. The Company continues to hold an 80% interest in five mining licenses in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia particularly known for its high-grade copper deposits. Within these licenses are three past-producing mines including the Company's flagship property, the Kombat Mine. Kombat Copper has contracted EBM to begin mining lead/copper mineralization at Kombat East, Kombat Central and potentially Gross Otavi within the year. Concentrates are expected to be produced at the Company's production facilities, which are being refurbished by EBM. EBM is also evaluating opportunities to market aggregate stone and sand byproducts locally. Cautionary Notes 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. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding the drill program, possible mineralization and deposits, the anticipated timeline regarding future exploration work, the state of plant and equipment at the Kombat Mine and the ability to repair and refurbish plant and equipment, availability of results and production, the Company's expectations regarding mineral resources, EBM's ability to commence operations and operate the applicable portions of the Kombat Mine, EBM's ability to make the requisite investments, the Company's expectations regarding the production and sales of mineralization from the Kombat Mine and potential development work and the Company's plans for the Kombat Mine including any financial impact and community impact. 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 statements 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. TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - Lingo Media Corporation (TSX VENTURE: LM) (LMDCF) ("Lingo Media" or the "Company"), an EdTech company that is 'Changing the way the world learns English' through innovative online and print-based technologies and solutions, is pleased to announce the hiring of Luis Ortiz. Mr. Ortiz comes to the Company with more than 20 years of experience in sales and sales management in Latin America where he has been instrumental in delivering significant sales growth for his previous employers, Wi-LAN Inc. and SMART Technologies. Mr. Ortiz joins the Company's ELL Technologies division as Director of Sales, Latin America. He brings industry insight and sales expertise that will help deliver the company's cutting-edge suite of English language training solutions to channel partners, distributors, and direct sales clients throughout the region. "We are very pleased to have such an experienced professional join the ELL Technologies team. Luis brings tremendous talent and a deep understanding of how to build out sales channels in Latin America," said Gali Bar-Ziv, Lingo Media COO. "We are confident that Luis will provide great value to our prospects and customers." Most recently with SMART Technologies, Mr. Ortiz developed and implemented a successful channel program for Latin America that led the company to increase regional sales by over 100% per year from 2005 until 2013. He also increased the channel network from 10 to more than 75 channel partners, covering 17 countries in the region. Mr. Ortiz has significant experience negotiating large contracts directly with national governments and large institutions, including the largest education technology contract ever awarded by the federal government of Mexico. "I am very excited to join the ELL Technologies team. The current and upcoming solutions offering by the company are market-leading technologies that become more relevant as the Latin American education market grows," said Mr. Ortiz. "'These solutions represent an outstanding revenue opportunity for distributors and I look forward to driving sales growth by increasing and strengthening our distributor network in the region." About Lingo Media (TSX VENTURE: LM) (LMDCF) Lingo Media is a global EdTech company that is 'Changing the way the world learns English,' developing and marketing products for learners of English through various life stages, from classroom to boardroom. By integrating education and technology, the company empowers English language educators to easily transition from traditional teaching methods to digital learning. Lingo Media provides both online and print-based solutions through two distinct business units: ELL Technologies and Lingo Learning. ELL Technologies provides online training and assessment for English language learning, while Lingo Learning is a print-based publisher of English language learning programs in China. Lingo Media has formed successful relationships with key government and industry organizations internationally, with a particularly strong presence in Latin America and China, and continues to both extend its global reach and expand its product offerings. To learn more, visit us at www.lingomedia.com Follow Lingo Media On: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LingoMedia Twitter: @LingoMediaCorp YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/lingomedialm LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lingo-media-corporation RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LingoMedia Portions of this press release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of securities laws. These statements are made in reliance upon Sections 21E and 27A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results, performance, or expectations implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary materially from management's expectations and projections and thus readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Lingo Media has tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words such as "may," "should," "expect," "hope," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "estimate" and similar expressions. Lingo Media's expectations, among other things, are dependent upon general economic conditions, the continued and growth in demand for its products, retention of its key management and operating personnel, its need for and availability of additional capital as well as other uncontrollable or unknown factors. No assurance can be given that the actual results will be consistent with the forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by US Federal securities laws, Lingo Media undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or any other reason. Certain factors that can affect the Company's ability to achieve projected results are described in the Company's filings with the Canadian and United States securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. 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 (Adds settlement details) By Terrence Edwards ULAANBAATAR, March 7 (Reuters) - Mongolia has settled a dispute over an arbitration award that required it to pay more than $100 million last year to a Canadian miner for revoking a uranium mining license, just as it launches a push this week to attract new exploration interest. The miner - Khan Resources - said in a statement that the government agreed to pay it $70 million by May 15 and to withdraw efforts to annul the award in a French court. In exchange, Khan said it would stop pursuing court certification of its award in the United States, which may allow it to seize Mongolian commercial assets there. Mongolian Finance Minister Bolor Bayarbaatbar said in a statement released by Khan late on Sunday: "The Government of Mongolia and Khan Resources Inc. successfully reached an agreement that effectively resolves all outstanding issues in regards to the international arbitration awards. "The settlement demonstrates the government's ongoing commitment to improving the investment climate." Mongolian finance ministry officials could not be reached for comment on Khan's announcement. The agreement was seen helping investment in Mongolia. "I think it helps their foreign investment case for Canadians and any foreign investor," said Jim Dwyer, executive director of the Business Council of Mongolia. Mongolian Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg has been touting the minerals-rich country as "Open for Business" following sharp declines in foreign investment since 2012 and plummeting prices for its top exports of copper and coal. Investors turned cold on the country's once-booming mining sector partially because of public disputes with miners such as Rio Tinto and Khan. A Paris tribunal last March ordered Mongolia to pay Khan Resources damages for revoking Dornod uranium mining license in 2009. Mongolia refused to make the payment, and last week Khan said it would press Ottawa to suspend aid to the country if no settlement was reached for the $106 million, including interest, it was owed as of February. Saikhanbileg's Democratic Party may take heat for the decision to settle the dispute from opposition and resource nationalist campaigners ahead of parliamentary elections on June 29. (Reporting by Terrence Edwards; additional reporting by Rod Nickel in Toronto; Editing by Michael Perry/Jeremy Gaunt) (Reuters) - Spotify has raised $1 billion (695 million pounds) in convertible debt from private equity firm TPG Capital and hedge fund Dragoneer Investment Group, a spokeswoman for the music streaming service said. The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal on Tuesday. The deal is expected to close at the end of this week, Spotify spokeswoman Marni Greenberg confirmed to Reuters. Terms were no disclosed. Spotify is facing increasing competition from companies including Apple Inc's Apple Music, Pandora Media Inc and newer rivals such as Europe's SoundCloud Ltd and U.S. music producer and rapper Jay Z's Tidal. TPGs growth arm, which specializes in growth equity and middle-market buyout opportunities, and special situations arm are investing in Spotify. Earlier on Tuesday, SoundCloud launched a music streaming service in the United States starting at $9.99 per month. (Reporting by Alan John Koshy in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Cynthia Osterman) Myanmar has entered a new era as the first civilian-led government takes over with the swearing in of Aung San Suu Kyi's proxy President Htin Kyaw (AFP Photo/Ye Aung Thu) (AFP/File) Myanmar entered a new era on Wednesday as the first civilian-led government took over with the swearing in of Aung San Suu Kyi's proxy president Htin Kyaw, officially ending decades of brutal and isolationist military control. Here is a timeline of a nation that went from colony to military dictatorship, but has begun making a remarkable and peaceful democratic transition. -- 1885 -- Centuries of rule by a Buddhist monarchy ends with the defeat and exile of Burma's last king by the British. A lengthy period of Western colonialism begins and Burma (as it was then known) becomes a province of British India. -- 1941-1945 -- Japan occupies Burma during World War II. Nationalist hero Aung San fights with the Japanese, but swaps sides in the war's closing stages in the hope of achieving independence. His daughter Aung San Suu Kyi, who would go on to lead the pro-democracy movement, is born in 1945. -- 1948 -- Burma attains full independence from the British on January 4, a dream Aung San never lived to see following his assassination months earlier. -- 1962 -- After years of factional infighting, General Ne Win seizes power in a coup, turning the country from a multi-party federal union into an authoritarian one-party state ordered to follow his "Burmese Path to Socialism". -- 1988 -- Years of disastrous economic mismanagement and political repression see Burma erupt in protest. The military responds brutally, killing an estimated 3,000 people. Suu Kyi emerges as a key opposition leader. -- 1989 -- Junta changes the country's name to Myanmar. -- 1990 -- Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) wins a landslide victory in elections but the result is simply ignored by the military. Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest for much of the next 20 years. Many other opposition leaders are jailed or flee. -- 1991 -- Suu Kyi wins the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest. -- 1992 -- Than Shwe becomes the new junta chief. Story continues -- 2005 -- A new isolated city Naypyidaw ("Abode of Kings") is revealed as the country's capital after being built in secret. -- 2007 -- Major protests dubbed the "Saffron revolution" break out over the summer, partially led by Buddhist monks. The junta eventually responds once more with violence, killing scores of protesters. -- 2008 -- Vast swathes of the Irrawaddy Delta are devastated by Cyclone Nargis, which leaves some 138,000 people dead. The junta's lacklustre response draws widespread criticism. -- 2010 -- The junta holds elections in early November and the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) claims victory. The NLD and many other parties refuse to take part. Observers do not consider the poll free or fair. Less than a week after the election, Suu Kyi is released after spending 15 of the last 20 years under house arrest. -- 2011 -- In a surprise move, the junta cedes power to a quasi-civilian government under former general Thein Sein who pursues reforms. Many basic rights are restored, including the lifting of restrictions on assembly and expression, while hundreds of political prisoners are freed. -- 2012 -- The NLD wins 43 out of 45 seats in April by-elections. Suu Kyi becomes an MP. Western powers lift most sanctions. Sectarian violence flares in western Rakhine state, mainly aimed at the Rohingya Muslim minority. -- 2015 -- Suu Kyi's NLD win a landslide November victory in the first free and fair elections in decades, prompting scenes of jubilation on the streets of Yangon. -- 2016 -- A lengthy power transition follows. Negotiations with the military to lift the bar on Suu Kyi becoming president bear no fruit. Instead she vows to rule through her proxy president Htin Kyaw, a close friend who is sworn in on March 30. 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. TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. ("GLH" or the "Company") (CSE: GLH), is pleased to provide an update on the recent positive regulatory amendments concerning the early sales of recreational cannabis oils and derivatives in Oregon. Oregon SB1511 (2016), a bill intended to amend Cannabis Laws for Medical and Adult Use in the State, was signed into law today by Oregon Governor, Kate Brown. This law allows for sales of recreational cannabis oils and edibles through existing medical dispensaries prior to the official roll out of the recreational program in Q4 2016. The company expects this will lead very positively to Golden Leaf's bottom line moving forward in addition to the State as a whole. The exact timing of the early oil and edible roll out is still to be determined, but is anticipated to occur in early Q2 2016. Another key provision of this law allows for the collocation of medical and recreational cannabis businesses. This bill will help cannabis related businesses consolidate operations and reduce costs. For example, instead of requiring a manufacturer of edibles to have two separate locations, with separate machinery and operations to support the recreational and medical production, a business may utilize just one facility as long as the inventory and materials are closely tracked and reported in the statewide Cannabis Tracking System (CTS). Golden Leaf Holdings CEO, Don Robinson commented, "We are delighted that the law has been amended to allow for earlier oil and edible sales. It appears that the legislators carefully considered the input from GLH and the rest of the industry and responded with very sensible legislation. They have been very supportive and responsive to these types of issues." Robinson added, "This is a very significant development in the Oregon cannabis market and is potentially very favorable for Golden Leaf Holdings." Robinson also commented, "The collocation aspect of SB1511 (2016) will allow businesses to streamline operations, reduce costs, and also support both markets." Legislators and regulators were inundated with input from the cannabis industry requesting that businesses be allowed to collocate. Robinson added, "This is a very practical response by legislators to address this issue so swiftly." About Golden Leaf Holdings: Golden Leaf Holdings Ltd. is one of the largest cannabis oil and solution providers in North America. It's a leading cannabis products company in Oregon built around recognized brands. GLH leverages a strong management team with cannabis and food industry experience to complement its expertise in extracting, refining and selling cannabis oil. Disclaimer: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's future business operation, expectations of gross sales, the opinions or beliefs of management, and future business goals. Generally, 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 general business, economic and competitive uncertainties, regulatory risks including risks related to the expected timing of the early roll out of oils and edibles, market risks, risks inherent in manufacturing operations and other risks of the cannabis industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in 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 information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is provided herein for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purpose. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Various U.S. military drones are seen at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington September 1, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is examining how it might use unmanned craft in the future to accompany piloted battlecraft, likely starting with drones that would fly alongside manned aircraft, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday. The concept of such assistance was most likely to take shape first in the air and at sea, before being implemented on the ground, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work told a gathering of defense experts hosted by the Washington Post. Large defense contractors are always looking for insight into where the U.S. Defense Department may be heading in its future technology use. Apart from unmanned attack drones that already launch strikes while being commanded from afar, Work mentioned that unmanned helicopters have been used to supply U.S. troops in parts of Afghanistan. Work stressed that the United States would maintain human command over its unmanned systems and would not delegate the authority to kill, although he said he was concerned that other countries might not do the same. "There's two things that really keep me up at night .. .The first is adversaries who will give machines lethal authority and how will we respond to that," Work said. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Frances Kerry and David Gregorio) (Recasts lead with context on economy; add comments from Boeing, Airbus executives) By Rosalba O'Brien SANTIAGO, March 29 (Reuters) - The world's two largest plane manufacturers forecast on Tuesday that Latin America's commercial fleet will at least double over the next two decades, shrugging off worries about economic woes in regional giant Brazil and elsewhere. As Brazil faces its worst economic crisis in a generation, demand for air travel has fallen sharply, hitting the profits and stock prices of carriers like Gol and LATAM Airlines. U.S. planemaker Boeing Co and French rival Airbus said they were accommodating local airline customers by allowing delays and shifting stock toward stronger economies, while eyeing a more positive longer term view. "A certain growth hasn't happened and therefore now there is kind of a surplus of equipment, so we are trying now to accommodate and delay," Airbus' Latin American head, Rafael Alonso, told Reuters in an interview at the FIDAE regional airshow in Santiago. "We are placing them somewhere else. Some economies are in turmoil, but on the other hand we have others like Mexico." Both Airbus and Boeing were sanguine on the long-term prospects for recovery in the region. "The new middle class really enjoys air travel, they prefer that to buses," Boeing Latin America's head, Donna Hrinak, said. "So, yes, air traffic has fallen consistently since (last year), but as soon as the economy begins to pick up they're going (to) be back on those planes." Airbus projects that the number of aircraft in operation in the region will more than double over the next two decades, with 2,540 new planes needed by 2034, worth some $330 billion. Boeing forecasts airlines will need 3,050 new planes worth $350 billion over the next 20 years. About 40 percent of those new planes will go to Brazil, with Mexico the second-biggest market, Hrinak said. Airlines have responded to Latin America's newly affluent tourists and more connected economies with increased routes and capacity. Airbus has been one of the main beneficiaries, with its regional market share rising to 53 percent today from just 12 percent in 2000. Story continues Alonso said Airbus was confident it could remain ahead, noting that Airbus accounts for 65 percent of new planes scheduled to be delivered over the next few years. "There might be a little accommodation ... but I don't see any problems with by 2020 having 57 to 58 percent of the market," he said. Air traffic over the next two decades will likely grow 4.7 percent annually in the region, the company predicted, compared with 4.6 percent worldwide. (Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; Additional reporting by Felipe Iturrieta and Gram Slattery; Editing by Paul Simao, Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler) Procter & Gambles Old Spice Deodorant: Too Spicy? Class-action lawsuit On March 24, 2016, Virginia resident Rodney Colley filed a lawsuit against Procter & Gamble (PG), or P&G, for harm allegedly caused by its Old Spice deodorants. Colley alleges in a federal lawsuit that Procter & Gambles Old Spice deodorant causes rashes, burning, and other discomforts. The suit filed in the US district court for southern Ohio seeks more than $5 million in damages, restitution, and other penalties for P&G. The lawsuit is filed as a class-action suit. The suit claims 13 Old Spice products, including Arctic Force, Bearglove, Lion Pride, Swagger, Fresh High Endurance, and Fiji, have caused rashes and irritation to hundreds, if not thousands, of consumers. In addition to the online blog complaint, YouTube features a number of videos documenting armpit irritation, rashes, and burning caused by Old Spice deodorant, according to the lawsuit. Not a chemical burn but a skin reaction However, according to a P&G spokesperson Damon Jones, some consumers are experiencing skin reactions that can be caused by a range of factors or ingredients, such as alcohol or fragrances. P&G claims these are not chemical burns but skin reactions and states Old Spice products are safe to use. 2008 study Like P&G, peers Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Unilever (UL), and Clorox (CLX) ensure their products are safe to use before they are introduced to the market. A 2008 study posted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information states that compounds in many antiperspirants and deodorants have the potential to cause irritant and allergic reactions in many consumers. There are several other complaints against Old Spice included in the lawsuit. These online complaints were posted in 2015 by people in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, Arizona, and Ohio. However, Damon Jones claims that not all complaints posted online are exclusive to Old Spice. In the next part of the series, well discuss P&Gs stock price reaction. PG makes up 4.2% of the iShares Morningstar Large-Cap Value ETF (JKF), as of March 28, 2016. Story continues Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 30, 2016 / Prophecy Development Corp. ("Prophecy" or the "Company") (TSX: PCY, Frankfurt: 1P2.F) announces that it has entered into a Debt Settlement Agreement with Linx Partners Ltd. ("Linx"), a company controlled by Mr. John Lee, Executive Chairman of Prophecy, and Mr. Lee pursuant to which, the Company has agreed, subject to the approval of shareholders at the Company's upcoming 2016 Annual General Meeting to be held at 9:00 a.m. (PST) on June 2, 2016 (the "2016 AGM") and acceptance by the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"), to issue 75,000,000 units (the "Units") at a deemed price of $0.02 per Unit to Mr. Lee, in satisfaction of $1,500,000 of indebtedness currently owed by the Company to Linx under the revolving Credit Facility Agreement dated March 12, 2015, as amended. Each Unit consists of one Common share in the capital of the Company (a "Share") and one Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire an additional Share at a price of $0.04 per Share for a period of five years from the date of issuance. In addition to providing cash loans to the Company through Linx, Mr. Lee has also personally participated in both of the Company's equity financings in 2015. The proposed debt settlement significantly reduces the Company's debt leverage and further aligns management's interests with the Company's. The Company also announces that it proposes to consolidate its issued and outstanding Shares on the basis of one (1) new Share for every one hundred (100) old Shares outstanding (the "Consolidation") subject to the approval of shareholders at the Company's 2016 AGM and acceptance by the TSX. The effective date of the Consolidation, if approved, will occur immediately after TSX approval. The Company further announces that it has entered into a subsequent consulting agreement with Cor Capital Inc., who has agreed to provide certain investor relations and shareholder communication services to the Company in exchange for the issuance of 300,000 Common shares through the Company's Share-Based Compensation Plan which was approved by shareholders at the Company's annual general meeting of shareholders held on June 19, 2014. There are no further fee commitments (in cash or shares) to Cor Capital Inc. for its service to the Company. About Prophecy Prophecy Development Corp. is a Canadian public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange that is engaged in developing mining and energy projects in Mongolia, Bolivia and Canada. Further information on Prophecy can be found at www.prophecydev.com. PROPHECY DEVELOPMENT CORP. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "JOHN LEE" Executive Chairman For more information about Prophecy, please contact Investor Relations: +1.888.513.6286 ir@prophecydev.com www.prophecydev.com Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect management's expectations regarding Prophecy's future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Prophecy's forward-looking statements. Prophecy believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the documents incorporated by reference herein are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, although Prophecy has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Prophecy undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law. SOURCE: Prophecy Development Corp. (Adds detail, context) DUBAI, March 30 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank investor Paramount Services Holdings, a Qatari investment fund, said on Wednesday it supports the German bank's chairman Paul Achleitner, rejecting reports suggesting the executive has lost backing in Qatar. The statement comes after Germany's Manager Magazin quoted a person close to the family of Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber al-Thani, who owns a 6.1 per cent stake in Germany's biggest bank through vehicles including Paramount, as saying Achleitner would not be at the bank beyond 2017. Paramount, which owns around 3 percent of the bank, described recent media "speculation" about its holdings in Deutsche as "inaccurate and unrepresentative of its views about the bank and its leadership". Achleitner took the helm of the supervisory board in 2012 and is serving a five-year term. The bank shocked markets with a 2015 record loss, after Achleitner brought in John Cryan to replace Chief Executive Anshu Jain from July. It has asked investors for two years of patience to draw a line under mistakes of the past and let its new strategy bear fruit. Al-Thani's stake in Deutsche is split evenly between Paramount and another vehicle, Supreme Universal Holdings. "Contrary to reports, Paramount Services Holdings does not believe it would be in shareholders' interests for Supervisory Board Chairman Paul Achleitner to relinquish his position in 2017, after his current term expires," Paramount said in the statement. "Dr Achleitner's leadership remains an important factor underlying Paramount Services Holdings' investment case and confidence in Deutsche Bank." Manager Magazin had reported al-Thani was unhappy Deutsche had not kept a promise to revamp the business quickly, but would still back Achleitner at this year's shareholder meeting in May. (Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Writing by Tom Arnold; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) Philip Brasor and his wife Masako Tsubuku spent years looking for a house to buy in Japan, and after a fruitless search for a pre-owned home, they decided to build a new one. Like many other new homes in Japan, they expect it will be worthless in the next few decades. We have no expectation of gaining any value from our home, said Brasor. But, of course, most used homes outside of Tokyo will not have any value in forty years. And I think Japanese people have come to understand that, even if they don't admit it out loud. Unlike the U.S. and Europe, where houses are often viewed as investments and older properties can gain value for their historic nature, Japan places a premium on new properties that are only expected to last one generation. The estimated halflife ranges from 20 years to 40 years, said Jiro Yoshida, an assistant professor of business at Penn State University. Its much shorter than in the U.S. and other developed countries. The expectation that a property will have a short life has become a selffulfilling cycle, explains Yoshida. Since sellers cannot receive a high price for a well-kept house, owners dont spend much money on maintenance, and the houses tend to deteriorate faster. It's very unusual to see somebody doing work on their own home, even if its just like changing wallpaper or doing very cosmetic changes, said Alastair Townsend, a Tokyo-based architect. And because of this, A lot of Japanese interiors tend to be quite plasticky," he adds. This partly explains the trouble Brasor faced on his housing search. Home after home was built with cheap materials and falling apart. Frankly, we were very disappointed in what we saw in terms of quality, said Brasor. While the properties themselves were very cheap, the cost of upgrading them to a level we'd want to live in would have been quite high. Beginning the short-life cycle How did the rapid cycle of housing destruction begin? There are many theories. Story continues Perhaps its a psychological phenomenon, Townsend suggests. The Japanese are very fixated on cleanliness and having things new. Thats why things are always individually wrapped and packaged and very sanitized, he said. And so the same thing is true with housing ... People don't want to live in a house that has been used by somebody else. Another explanation focuses on technological change. Approximately 20% of large earthquakes occur in Japan. After each earthquake, building codes are revised, which makes the existing buildings obsolete and outdated. Currently, about 9 million resident homes do not meet the earthquake-resistance regulations, according to a spokesman for Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. "From a legal perspective, many existing buildings become illegal, said Yoshida. When technologies advance relatively rapidly like this, a product life cycle becomes short, just as for computers. Implications of rapid destruction Eiji Tomita via archdaily.com On the bright side, the destruction allows for a lot of creativity. Since many home buyers don't have to worry about re-sale, they design houses however they want. Personalized structures can be found throughout Japan, from see-through homes to triangle-shaped houses. And this is great business for architects, which is why, on a per capita basis, Japan has nearly four times as many architects as the U.S. However, the rapid turnover has several downsides. Depreciation of housing is a particular problem for mortgage credit. To mitigate the issue from the bank's perspective, Japanese mortgages are full recourse, which gives lenders the right to go after personal assets in case of mortgage default. This often means that homebuyers are stuck with the first house they own. If you go underwater, you can't just simply hand the keys back to the bank and just have them foreclose on you, said Townsend. The bank will go after other assets, including your savings account. Moreover, the high destruction rate wastes much needed resources. Its about time for a change, said Yoshida. Building technologies were proven to be robust to earthquakes in the last large one. I think it makes more sense to allocate more resources in R&D for an aging society than on new housing construction. Follow Justine Underhill on Twitter: @jj_under * February data shows visitor numbers down 10 percent * Further bombings since then may worsen the problem * Government says fall will be short-lived (Adds Simsek and Davutoglu, and Russia background) By Nevzat Devranoglu and Can Sezer ANKARA/ISTANBUL, March 29 (Reuters) - The number of foreign visitors going to Turkey fell 10 percent in February, the biggest drop in a decade, amid security concerns for a country feeling the spillover effects from the war in Syria. Turkey has been hit by a spate a bomb attacks this year, including two in Istanbul - its biggest city and traditional tourist draw - blamed on Islamic State. In January a suicide bomber blew himself up in the city's historic heart, killing 12 German tourists. Tourist traffic could drop further after another suicide bomber blew himself up on Istanbul's most popular shopping thoroughfare this month, killing three Israeli tourists and an Iranian. Israel has advised its citizens visiting Turkey to leave "as soon as possible", predicting possible follow-up attacks. Tourism fell 10.32 percent year-on-year in February, to 1.24 million people, tourism ministry data showed on Tuesday, the biggest drop since October 2006. The industry is also suffering from a chill in relations with Russia, a major source of tourists to Turkey, with Russian visitors down by more than half during the month. Turkey shot down a Russian jet over Syria last year, prompting President Vladimir Putin to impose economic sanctions on Turkey, including a ban on charter flights. Russians have also been hit by an economic crisis that has weakened their rouble currency, driving up the cost of foreign holidays. Economists have forecast that Turkey's tourism revenue will drop by a quarter this year, costing the country around $8 billion. Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, the minister in charge of economic matters, said that the dent in tourist numbers would be short-lived, pointing out that Turkey is the sixth most visited country in the world. Story continues "This year we will have some troubles, but they are temporary," he said in a speech to the Ankara Chamber of Industry. Simsek said the economy grew by 4 percent or a little more in 2015, close to the 3.9 percent that economists are expecting when Turkey releases 2015 GDP data this week. GDP grew 2.9 percent in 2014. Separately, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a meeting of his AK Party that the economy would perform better this year than it did in 2015. (Additional reporting by Ercan Gurses; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Robin Pomeroy) LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) said on Wednesday Dutch investigators recently visited its headquarters in the Hague in the Netherlands in relation to an investigation into a Nigerian offshore oil field. "Representatives of the Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service and the Dutch Public Prosecutor recently visited Shell at its headquarters, " a spokesman said. "The visit was related to OPL 245, an offshore block in Nigeria that was the subject of a series of long-standing disputes with the Federal Government of Nigeria." Shell is cooperating with the authorities and is looking into the allegations, the spokesman said. (Reporting by Ron Bousso. Editing by Jane Merriman) A national flag of Switzerland flies in front of a branch office of Swiss bank Credit Suisse in Luzern October 30, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's five biggest banks are discussing with top retailers a joint mobile payments platform for the country, the partners said on Wednesday. The talks with financial infrastructure group SIX and retailers Coop, Migros and Swisscom aim to create a standardised pan-Swiss digital payment system for consumers. A joint statement said the talks by banks UBS, Credit Suisse, PostFinance [PFAG.UL], Raiffeisen [RFSHW.UL] and ZKB [ZKB.UL] should produce initial results by early May. Any platform would be open to other partners. PostFinance and SIX have already launched their own mobile payment systems, and development work would continue while the talks with other potential partners go on. (Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Susan Thomas) VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Mar 29, 2016) - Western Canada's largest independent PR agency, Talk Shop Media, has been named as one of "Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers" by the Globe and Mail in this year's Canada's Top 100 Employers ranking. A leader in public relations, influencer marketing, digital strategy and corporate events, Talk Shop has emerged as the only firm in Canada's PR landscape to make the list in 2016. The annual ranking is organized by the editorial team at the Globe and Mail and recognizes small and medium enterprises across Canada that lead the nation in creating exceptional workplaces with forward-thinking policies when it comes to human resources. Talk Shop's recognition as a leader in the "Small & Medium Employer" category centers on the organization's dedication to building an inspiring workplace culture. This has been achieved through top-down dedication to recruiting and retaining talented individuals and providing them with exciting professional opportunities. Over the years, Talk Shop has been able to maintain turnover well below the industry average by offering internal training initiatives, mentorship opportunities and tuition subsidies. Employees also benefit from a variety of lifestyle perks including seasonal four-day work weeks, flexible and remote work options, fitness classes, a dog friendly office and maternity/parental leave top-up. Talk Shop employees echo similar experiences to the Canada's Top 100 Employers ranking, offering the following sentiments on their workplace experience: Professional Room to Grow "Moving to a new city is a challenge, but I'm continuously appreciative of the support I've gotten from the Talk Shop team during my transition," says Brittaney Anderson, Account Associate at Talk Shop Media. "Creativity is encouraged; passion is commonplace; and growth is a priority. We all bring something unique to the table, and this creates a truly inspiring work environment." Story continues Flex Days "Talk Shop is a company that truly cares about the wellbeing of its employees and goes the extra mile to foster work-life balance," adds Kellie Paxian, Account Manager at Talk Shop Media. "This is a team that works harder than anyone, but in return is met with perks and privileges like work from home days, four-day work weeks and company retreats." Health and Wellness are a Non-Negotiable "We are a health-conscious and active team at Talk Shop," shares Natalie Morin, Office Manager at Talk Shop Media. "Luckily we have access to some of the best health and wellness perks through extended medical benefits and numerous fitness and nutritional programs that are offered at work." Epic Parties "If there is one thing we know how to do at Talk Shop - it's throw a great party. We do it for our clients, but more importantly we do it to celebrate our own milestones and not lose sight of where we have come from and what is important," says Katie Stevens, Director of Client Services & Talent. To learn more about careers and current positions available at Talk Shop visit the careers page. About Talk Shop Media Founded in 2011 by three of the most respected women in the business, Talk Shop is proud to be Western Canada's largest independently owned PR firm. Consistently ranked among the best for service and customer satisfaction, Talk Shop is the agency behind Sotheby's International Realty Canada, PlentyOfFish and Ford Canada. Dedicated to pushing beyond the traditional PR mindset, Talk Shop represent brands with the kind of creativity to grow them to the next level. March 29 (Reuters) - A National Labor Relations Board director has filed a complaint against a California warehouse serving some of the largest U.S. retailers after finding evidence it violated workers' rights to organize, according to a filing by the agency. The complaint against California Cartage Company, LLC, and an affiliated firm means allegations of wrongdoing submitted by a worker group last year will move forward and be heard by an NLRB administrative law judge in June, the filing showed. According to the complaint, which consolidated two cases, managers at the Long Beach facility discouraged employees from organizing and threatened them with dismissal in violation of labor law. The case is the latest sign that labor activists are making headway in their efforts to shine a light on what they say are consistently poor working conditions at the ports and warehouses vital to the retail supply chain. The California Cartage facility serves Amazon.com Inc , Lowe's Companies Inc, New Balance, and Sears Holdings Corp, according to Warehouse Workers Resource Center, or WWRC, the Ontario, California-based labor group that submitted claims of wrongdoing to the NLRB last year. Sears declined to comment. New Balance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Al Latham, a lawyer representing California Cartage and Orient Tally Company Inc, the affiliated firm named in the complaint, said the companies could not comment on ongoing litigation. Amazon and Lowe's did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment. None of the retailers were named in the NLRB complaint. Celene Perez, co-director of WWRC, said the decision by the NLRB to issue an official complaint was significant because it "affirmed that the company had violated their rights to join their employers in improving their working conditions." (Reporting by Nathan Layne in Chicago and Mari Saito in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney) (Adds additional quote, more details from filing) March 29 (Reuters) - The National Labor Relations Board filed an official complaint against a California warehouse serving some of the largest U.S. retailers after finding evidence it violated workers' rights to organize, according to a filing by the agency. The complaint against California Cartage Company, LLC, and an affiliated firm means allegations of wrongdoing submitted by a worker group last year will move forward and be heard by an NLRB administrative law judge in June, the filing showed. According to the complaint, which consolidated two cases, managers at the Long Beach facility discouraged employees from organizing and threatened them with dismissal in violation of labor law. The filing says that the California Cartage and its affiliated company must file an answer to the agency's consolidated complaint by the first week of April. The case is the latest sign that labor activists are making headway in their efforts to shine a light on what they say are consistently poor working conditions at the ports and warehouses vital to the retail industry's sprawling supply chain. The California Cartage facility serves Amazon.com Inc , Lowe's Companies Inc, New Balance, and Sears Holdings Corp, according to Warehouse Workers Resource Center, or WWRC, the Ontario, California-based labor group that submitted claims of wrongdoing to the NLRB last year. Sears declined to comment. New Balance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Al Latham, a lawyer representing California Cartage and Orient Tally Company Inc, the affiliated firm named in the complaint, said the companies could not comment on ongoing litigation. Amazon and Lowe's did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment. None of the retailers were named in the NLRB complaint. Celene Perez, co-director of WWRC, said the decision by the NLRB to issue an official complaint was significant because it showed that the company had violated the workers' rights to join their co-workers in improving their working conditions. Story continues "What is also significant is that it applies to temp workers as well as direct employers. The complaint made very clear that California Cartage and Orient Tally violated the rights of both workers," said Perez. Workers can file labor complaints with regional directors of the NLRB, an independent federal agency, and it is up to the director to issue a complaint and post a hearing after an investigation. The NLRB filing on the California Cartage case was signed by Olivia Garcia, the regional director of the agency in Los Angeles. (Reporting by Nathan Layne in Chicago and Mari Saito in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney and Bernard Orr) * Uber returns to Spain on Wednesday with UberX service * Hopes to convince authorities to change regulation By Maria Vega Paul MADRID, March 30 (Reuters) - Uber will be back in Spain from Wednesday, after regulation and hostility from local taxi firms drove it off the streets at the end of 2014. The U.S. company, embroiled in disputes with authorities around the world after a rapid international expansion, said it is launching UberX, which unlike its previous UberPOP service, uses professionally licensed drivers. Uber's first attempt drew the ire of traditional taxi drivers and government suspicion, prompting a Spanish judge to rule that it did not comply with the country's laws and represented unfair competition. Uber's ambition to conquer Spain's taxi market is unchanged, but this time round the firm has opted for a more limited launch, targeting the private hire sector in Madrid, representing only 10 percent of all taxis in the capital city. But Uber's director for Southern Europe told Reuters it hopes that with its aggressive prices - they will be 30 percent less than for a standard cab - it will win over consumers and convince politicians to revise Spain's regulations. "I think that Spain is ready," Carles Lloret said in an interview. "(But) there are services which cannot yet be launched because the regulation is not sufficiently agile." "We want to be transparent with the government and we want to maintain a very open dialogue to see how we can build a regulatory framework in Spain that makes sense in both a European and a digital context," he said. Although Lloret did not reveal the size of Uber's initial launch, he said it could go on to create 30,000 jobs in Spain if the country's regulation is changed. For now, Uber is however not considering expanding into other Spanish cities, and neither will it offer UberPool, for people to share cars, or UberBLACK's more luxurious offering. In Barcelona, its food delivery service UberEATS, which was launched last year, closed after only five months. (Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Julien Toyer and Alexander Smith) UN chief Ban Ki-moon (R) is greeted by Mauritania's Foreign Minister Isselkou Ould Ahmed Izid Bih upon his arrival at the airport of Nouakchott on March 3, 2016, for his two-day visit to the country (AFP Photo/Ahmed Ould Mohamed Ould Elhadji) (AFP) Nouakchott (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon began an official visit to the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott late Thursday, as part of a tour of West and North African countries, Mauritania's official AMI news agency said. He plans to hold talks Friday with President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Hademine, his programme showed. Before flying to Mauritania from Burkina Faso, the first stop in his tour, Ban had expressed "concern" over a string of jihadist attacks in Africa's Sahel region. "I am deeply concerned by the terrorist attacks in the (Sahel) region," he said in Ouagadougou. "The response to terrorism must be global," he said, urging "a strict adherence to human rights and international humanitarian law." Burkina Faso was struck on January 15 by a string of coordinated attacks that left 31 dead, including 28 in Ouagadougou, where jihadists attacked a hotel and a nearby cafe popular with foreigners. "I returned to the region to ensure the international community continues to support the Sahel region. This evening I will go to Mauritania to continue my work of awareness-raising," Ban said. In Mauritania, Ban is due to hold talks "about the relationship of cooperation between Mauritania and the United Nations", chiefly "the growing role and the support given" by the country to the UN's peacekeeping missions, particularly in Africa. Some 1,000 Mauritanian nationals are deployed as UN peacekeepers in missions across the world, including Ivory Coast, the Central African Republic and Darfur in Sudan. After Burkina, Ban is due to visit Algeria. Five major food corporations are on board to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on all of their products. Campbells Soup (NYSE:CPB) was first, followed by General Mills (NYSE:GIS), Mars, Kelloggs (NYSE:K), and ConAgra Foods (NYSE:CAG). GMO has evolved to be a top consumer food issue reaching a critical mass of 92% of consumers in favor of putting it on the label, Campbells CEO Denise Morrison said in a statement. So, why now? Americans have been consuming GMOs for over 20 years without really knowing if its in their food or not. Well, its all thanks to the tiny state of Vermont, which has essentially boxed big food companies into a corner after the state passed legislation requiring labeling nearly two years ago. I am proud that Vermont took the lead nationally to make sure people know what is in the food they eat, Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said in a statement. Sanders has been the only presidential candidate, whos been front and center about the issue and has openly opposed the bill to block GMO labeling. In April 2014, he said, I will continue my efforts in Washington, against Monsanto (NYSE:MON) and other multi-national food industry corporations, to pass national legislation on this issue. In the meantime, it is extremely important that Vermont and other states lead the way. And, Vermont has. Earlier this month, Congress failed to pass an industry-supported measure that would have created a voluntary national standard for labeling which would have preempted Vermonts law. Now, food giants have a July 1st deadline to comply with their GMO labeling mandate. Sanders rival, Hillary Clinton on the other hand is a big proponent of GMOs. The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), promotes Monsanto and RoundUp, the controversial weed killer that the World Health Organization declared a possible carcinogen last year. Even one of Clintons top campaign advisors, Jerry Crawford, was a lobbyist for Monsanto. Story continues Sixty-four countries around the world already require the labeling of genetically modified food, including all of the European Union, Russia, Japan and China. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which already labels more than 3,000 ingredients have been against labeling. The Grocery Manufacturers Association has also fought back against the law, both in court and in Congress, but has failed so far. In the last four years, major food and bio-tech corporations have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to fight GMO labeling at both the state and federal level. Monsanto, the worlds largest seed company told FOXBusiness.com in January that it supports GMO labeling despite reports. Theres a lot of confusion around labeling and I think it surprises a lot of people, Dr. Robert Fraley, Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto said. If were going to label foods it should be done on the national level, not done city by city or state by state. I think this is a clear sign that these food companies have given up hope of a federal bill that would preempt state labeling, which is an incredible win for the movement, says Megan Westgate, Director of the Non-GMO Project, a non-profit dedicated to providing non-GMO labeling for manufacturers. Westgate says her team continues to see tremendous growth in Non-GMO Project verification especially with big food companies. PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) has already labeled their Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice with a Non-GMO Project label, notifying shoppers that the orange juice does not contain genetically modified organisms. The message is clearly getting through that Americans demand transparency about whats in their food, and any food company that wants to survive in the 21st century needs to respect that, says Westgate. Related Articles By Marcus E. Howard NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - New York City's taxi authority plans new rules for drivers that will impose tougher penalties for sexually charged comments and contact with passengers amid growing concern about harassment. The Taxi and Limousine Commission, which licenses about 150,000 drivers of yellow cabs and other for-hire vehicles such as Uber and Lyft, wants to curb unwanted communication and touching as the number of drivers has significantly grown. The TLC said the regulations are meant to clear up any confusion about what defines sexual harassment as more drivers enter the industry. The behavior is already prohibited under a broad definition against threats, harassment or abuse, but the commission's goal is clear up any confusion about what defines sexual harassment said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg. The agency plans to debate the proposal at an April 21 meeting. "This rule amendment would provide clear definitions of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual contact, which would help TLC prosecution enforce its rules and protect our passengers," he said in a statement. The new rules would also ban drivers from commenting on the appearance and gender of their passengers, as well as expressing desire to enter into any relationship. Sexual harassment offenders, under the proposal, would face a $1,000 fine, three points on a driver's license and a 30-day suspension or revocation, while sexual contact would carry a $2,000 fine and a mandatory revocation. The number of for-hire drivers in the city increased by 40 percent between 2014 and 2015, according to TLC data. Meanwhile, complaints of all kinds rose by roughly 23 percent, from 17,000 to about 21,000. Sexual harassment complaints made up less than 1 percent of those complaints. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents taxi drivers, did not respond to requests for comment on the proposal. The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault praised the TLC's actions, but prodded the commission to go even further. Story continues "In order to really stop sexual assault and rape cases, drivers should receive more prevention training," said spokeswoman Min Um-Mandhyan. Earlier this month, two New York City council members introduced legislation that would require all ride-hailing drivers to undergo sexual assault prevention training. Ride-sharing services have been linked to several high-profile sex assault cases in the United States and abroad in recent years. (Reporting by Marcus E. Howard; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman) indian point nuclear facility New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted the troubling conditions at the Indian Point Energy Center on Tuesday evening, announcing in a statement that hundreds of faulty bolts were found within one of its reactors. The nuclear power plant poses no immediate danger to public health and safety, but the bolts are the latest incident in a series that "raise deep concerns" about its operations and further the state's argument that it should not be relicensed, Cuomo said. The plant is in Buchanan, New York, some 40 miles from New York City. The two working reactors at the plant opened in the 1970s and have worried many of the 2,100 residents who have lived around the facility for years. The licenses for both reactors have expired, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined that the amount of complaints lodged against the plant warrant its continuing operations until all the grievances are addressed, according to The Guardian. The Indian Point facility has a long history of issues, such as: In February, radiation levels at three of the plant's monitoring wells spiked by up to 65,000% after radioactive water contaminated with tritium leaked into the groundwater. Last May, 3,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Hudson River after an electrical transformer in one of the reactors exploded and caused a room containing electrical-distribution panels to flood. In 2009, 100,000 gallons of contaminated water entered the ground-water supply. The state in continuing its investigation into the plant's operations, and will ensure that all critical defects are addressed immediately, Cuomo said. NOW WATCH: What Idaho's Atomic City looks like today 30 years after a nuclear disaster drove everyone away More From Business Insider 2000 - 2022 24 .- . focus-news.net, () . 24 . 24 . . 24 . We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. Come and enjoy Read more [...] Why the hell are we giving protected rights to what is essentially an opinion anyway? The spirit behind Freedom of Religion is being distorted and warped to mean 'freedom from criticism' for certain religions. If we can't criticize opinion, we might as well do away with Freedom of Speech altogether. Why are some religions free to be mocked while others are verboten? Are we really saying (as a country) that some theistic religions deserve less or more respect than others? Remember folks, religion is a choice, and people get made fun of for making stupid choices all the time. The Darwin Awards relies on it. it's probably nothing.BRAMPTON, Ont. A man detained last week out of fear he might commit a terrorist act was charged Tuesday with a terrorism-related offence.Police allege that Kevin Mohamed participated in, or contributed to, the activities of a terrorist group over a two-year period.Mohamed, 23, of no fixed address, was remanded until April 19 for a bail hearing that prosecutor Sarah Shaikh said could last two or three days.The Crown is seeking his detention, Shaikh told justice of the peace Kelly Visser.In a statement after the new charge was laid Tuesday, the RCMP said the arrest followed an extensive investigation dubbed Project Swap that began last August amid suspicion that Mohamed had travelled to Turkey in April 2014 to join Jabhat Al-Nusra, a listed terrorist entity in Canada. Mohamed returned to Canada a month later, police allege.We were able to not only disrupt this threat to our countrys national security, but also to bring this individual before the Canadian justice system, the Mounties said in the statement.mo I think I might have to start carrying copyright, trademark, patent, and other papers with me wherever I go. Dang, as a French Canadian speaking English, I'm appropriating your language, referring to those of you of English heritage of course. Who invented the recorder? i like that instrument. Do I have to be Hebrew to play the harp? Maybe we can turn this to our advantage. Aren't Canadian communists appropriating a German ideology? And aren't incrementalist socialists appropriating British Fabiansism? I like that? Oh... but The wealth of Nations is British and so is utilitarianism. What about non-Hebrew Jews and Christians, non-Arab Muslims, non-Persian Baha'is, etc.? Not long ago the great cities of Europe were secure places of cultural strength. Today they are targets for ISIS and other terrorist organizations. Standing in solidarity with the citizens of Belgium, we mourn the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in Brussels. Last Tuesday, jihadists orchestrated coordinated bombings at the Brussels Airport and the citys Baelbeek metro station, suicide assaults that murdered 31 people in a grim replay of the horrifying attacks in Paris. The maelstrom of violence is a consequence of reckless open border policies and naive assumptions about the potential for multicultural conversion to Western economic and political freedoms. Although last weeks bombings are probably retaliation for the capture of the mastermind of the suicide strikes in Paris, Brussels has long contended with a seedbed of warped Islamic aggression, particularly in its Molenbeek neighborhood. Middle East conflict and the resulting humanitarian catastrophe prompted some European leaders to embrace well-intentioned but misguided immigration postures that have contributed to the largest migrant crisis since World War II. Nations from Greece to Sweden are confronting capacity issues and now deadly security risks. No immigration system can remain just and orderly without robust border protection measures. Contributing to the problem is the absence of a European mytha romanticized vision of cultural and political tradition. The new narrative is that particular countries decreasingly matter. Supra-national entities like the European Union forge a new settlement of administrative conformity to deal with the pressures of globalization. Originally, the European Union arose from fears of past nationalist movements such as Fascism that ravaged and sacrificed the continent on the altar of ruthless ideology. The European Union serves to check this dark past while also facilitating commonalities in commerce, travel, and enhanced understanding. However, the limits of bureaucratic management are reached when identity and self-preservation is at stake. Unfortunately, the very idea of Europe is disintegrating. To turn this around, the continent should regain a healthy instinct of nations that places an emphasis on the interests of peoples with a shared culture, history, and political traditions. The continents vibrancy depends on sustaining the dynamism of longstanding local difference while maintaining proper pride in the ideals that bind and animate wider Western civilization. Nothing exists in a vacuum. The lack of a bonding identity, complicated by clashing cultural values, has created Molenbeeks in other major European cities. Self-isolating Muslim communities can help perpetuate an environment of mutual misunderstanding and distrust, breeding alienation, resentment, and hostility. Genuine multiculturalism is difficult without enculturation among immigrant populations. Thousands of Europeans have left the continent for the battlegrounds of Syria and Iraq. These radicalized fighterspassport holders hardened by war and dedicated to jihadist militancypose a serious security risk to their countries of origin in the West. Even some so-called Americans have joined the ranks of terrorist organizations that are metastasizing across the Middle East and North Africa. San Bernardino demonstrated that the United States is far from immune to the cancer of ISIS expansion. Our nation for decades has shouldered a great burden in confronting havoc throughout the world. We will continue to lead the fight against extremism, but not alone. A general assumption that we will maintain the majority of the heavy lifting in combating regional terrorcoupled with the lack of will among some of our allieshas created a status quo that is unsustainable. As we recover from the shock of the bombings in Brussels, we must reclaim a central principal. Europe must fight. Complacency is no longer possible. The combined effects of a drifting European identity and a lack of enculturation, further compounded by a migrant crisis, must be confronted with reason and resolve to keep Europe and the world safe. Only through this approach will Europe stabilize, regain a sense of vision, and remain a great source of welcoming cultural strength. At the Fremont City Council meeting Tuesday night, members of the public faced standing room only as approximately 90 people gathered to learn more about a project that, if proposed, would rezone an area north of Fremont for the construction of a chicken feed lot. Several of the citizens at the meeting expressed concern about the project that, until Tuesday night, appeared to be only rumor. However, during the mayors comment period of the meeting, Mayor Scott Getzschman reported that discussion between the state of Nebraska, Dodge County, the Greater Fremont Development Council, and other municipal entities such as the Fremont Department of Utilities have been working together to actively develop an agricultural project that would further the economic development of Fremont. The mayor informed those present at the council meeting that public meetings regarding the project were just beginning and only in the preliminary stage. This project through its job creation, capital investment and opportunity for rural agricultural producers would positively impact our regions economic base and quality of life, Getzchman said. He also added that the project, when completed, would add approximately 1,300 employees to the region while providing a significant economic impact to the region, measurable in millions of dollars. The project is known as Project Rawhide and more information can be found online at the Greater Fremont Development Council website. There will be an opportunity for conversation and comment from the public as we move forward with this project, Getzschman said. However, he added that he and other council members could not discuss the details during council because Project Rawhide does not yet exist as an actual project; for that reason it has been left off the agendas of recent council meetings. Within the next 48 to 72 hours Getzchman stated that residents within the neighborhoods near the proposed project site would be contacted with further details about the project. The absence of the Project Rawhides from City Council agendas was cause for much of the publics misgivings on Tuesday night at the Fremont Municipal building. Several Fremont residents, like John Wiegert, who addressed the City Council, wondered why is everything so secretive? Craig Corn, also of Fremont, agreed with Wiegerts concerns stating that, Someone knows something about it and we as citizens of this county want to know about it. Jay Berry and Denise Richards, who both live north of Fremont also agreed that the details regarding Project Rawhide seemed to be under the table and they both hoped for a more open and transparent sharing of information in the future as plans and details moved ahead. Qatar Airways reaches 1 million followers on Instagram, second most followed airline in Arab world following Emirates which has 1.2 million followers. Having only launched its Instagram account in May 2013, Qatar Airways attracts new followers at an average rate of 30,000 people per month thanks to its engaging and diverse eye-catching imagery. Often showcasing the hugely popular destinations on Qatar Airways extensive network, the captivating Instagram account allows followers to travel the world from their own homes, inspiring them to explore new environments and experience new cultures. Among the most popular posts have been Sydney, with a stunning air-to-air image of the airlines first flight over the Opera House; LA with Mariah Carey performing at an intimate dinner and a spectacular landing near the beach in Phuket. Especially popular in the GCC, Instagram has become a valuable tool for any international brand looking to engage with consumers in this region. Ms. Salam Al Shawa, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Qatar Airways said: Achieving this milestone of one million followers, plus the continuous growth across all of our social media platforms, aligns with Qatar Airways vision to be number one in the aviation industry. Our social media platforms allow us to communicate directly with people all over the world and is the truest embodiment of our brand campaign Going places together. Our strategy for sharing the story and spirit of Qatar Airways with our followers through inspirational and engaging content has seen our relationship with our global community continue to grow and flourish. In a detailed new press release, Gameloft's board of directors has offered a scathing response to Vivendi's takeover bid, rejecting it outright -- pledging not to share their shares to the company, and explaining in detail why the deal would be bad for Gameloft. Under French law, Vivendi was forced to make a formal bid for ownership of Gameloft after crossing a 30 percent stake in the company, after buying up its stock in recent months. With statements like "the offer launched by Vivendi has no strategic interest for Gameloft" and "the Board of Directors unanimously considers that the offer is not in accordance with the interests of the Company, of its shareholders and of its employees," Gameloft's management has made its position on the deal clear. If you read further into the document, the board tears down the arguments Vivendi made for the takeover one-by-one, and offers a host of reasons its members reject the deal. It's worth noting that Gameloft didn't simply release this statement to the wild for anyone to read; it's a translation of an official document registered with the AMF, the French equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission. So what's wrong with the deal? There's the basic fact that the offer undercuts Gameloft's current stock price by 1.4 percent, of course. But management also argues that any synergies Vivendi suggests will occur post-takeover are illusory, and that its offer is actively hurting Gameloft. "... the way Vivendi entered in the capital of Gameloft, as well as the hostile nature of its tender offer, are likely to destabilize the company and its teams, will impede the implementation of the company's strategy," the release reads. Gameloft argues that given that Vivendi's media business is in pay TV and music, any synergies between the two companies are minor; Vivendi can't offer Gameloft any enticing deals in the telecom or internet space, either, management claims. The most scathing comments, however, come from Gameloft's analysis of Vivendi's management of Activision. Vivendi once owned the publisher, but Activision parted ways almost three years ago. Vivendi sold the last of its stock in the company in January. So what happened there? "Vivendi does not have any specific know-how in the video game industry since the sale of Activision," Gameloft management claims. "The recent sale of Activision by Vivendi illustrates its lack of strategic vision in the long term in the gaming industry," it counters. "Moreover, the unfavorable trend of revenues and profitability of Activision over the last years during which the group was held by Vivendi illustrates its lack of knowledge of value creation levers in the gaming industry," the statement continues. And the company rejects claims that Vivendi could shore up its finances, too: "Gameloft has demonstrated its ability to generate cash while pursuing its organic development." "To conclude, the Board of Directors considers unanimously that the offer which is initiated by Vivendi has no strategic interest for Gameloft and the contemplated partnership won't create substantial synergies for Gameloft shareholders nor accelerate the industrial project of the company." On the other hand, it could destabilize the company further, Gameloft argues -- by jeopardizing its relationship with Disney, with which it recently co-launched Disney Magic Kingdoms. It also puts developer and management talent in jeopardy, Gameloft argues: "the threat of an unsolicited takeover of Gameloft by Vivendi has already led to a destabilization of the teams of Gameloft and the Group, who represent the Group's real strength, and may lead to a significant number of staff departures, in particular of creative people" and "the departure of the management team who established the Company as a worldwide leader in the industry." All in all, it's a resounding and thorough rejection of the takeover bid. Gameloft isn't the only company Vivendi is buying up; it's also purchased shares of Ubisoft, though not enough to trigger a mandatory bid for the company. For its part, Ubisoft's management is seeking investment to keep that from happening, and has gone so far as to meet with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to help ensure the cooperation of the Canadian government in fending off its would-be suitor. Agriculture depends more on the strength of farm families than on current economics. If farm families solely considered economic gain, many would have abandoned the noble profession long ago. The strength of Mitchell County agriculture is strongly tied to the generational baton-passing of farm operations. Grain plan Dean and Cindy Sponheim, who live in southwestern Mitchell County, have incorporated their son, Josh, into their grain operation. Their crop operation is supplemented by a Pioneer Seed dealership, custom strip tilling and a cover crop enterprise. Dean began farming in 1978, and today he and Josh use an innovative strip crop process where they alternate eight rows of corn with eight rows of soybeans. The Sponheims have used the process for six years, and report it can boost corn yields 15 percent, with an offsetting 1 percent decline in soybean yields. This type of strip-cropping provides more sunlight for corn plants, Dean said. It works great and really bumps up yields. Sponheims strip tilling begins in the fall when the tillage machine chops debris, injects fertilizer into the soil, and leaves a 4-inch brim, where the seeds are then planted the following spring. Dean said profits over conventional corn plots can reach $125 per acre. Our soil is getting healthier, too, he said. Other methods of tillage interrupt earthworm channels, destroy soil structure and leave soils more susceptible to water and wind erosion. Feed to save Scott Niess, who serves as a director on the Iowa Beef Industry Council, feeds several hundred cattle each year. He starts feeders weighing about 650 pounds, which are then marketed at 1,400 pounds. The cattle are fed a blended ration of earlage, high-moisture corn, distiller grain from a nearby ethanol plant, and some hay. Niess, of Osage, emphasized a good balance of minerals and vitamins is also necessary for todays larger-framed cattle. Ethanol feed by-products help to cheapen the cattle rations, he said. Because animals need varying amounts of energy in their rations as they mature, Niess has hired a Cargill nutritionist who helps balance cattle rations. We are doing a better job of tracking and managing our cattle, he said. Niess said the recent plunge in cattle prices was due to increased cost of beef in the store, a stronger dollar, more imported beef and cattle being marketed at higher weights. The price of beef has come down somewhat in stores, which will increase demand, he said. I believe Mitchell County has some of the most positive and aggressive feeders in the state of Iowa, said Niess. They are updating their facilities, and learning more about the industry. I think the biggest advantage in Mitchell County is father-son operations. Changing operation Myron Kuper and his son Ross formed a custom-hog feeding operation north of Osage in 2005. Pigs arrive at Kupers farm weighting 10 pounds and are placed in heated hog houses. The piglets are fed pellets for the first two weeks and are then placed on a ground feed ration. The hogs are finished out at 300 pounds. We provide our own buildings, the labor, move the manure, and are paid a rental rate for doing it, said Ross. Adding the manure to the Kupers farm ground can be beneficial when fertilizer costs are high, but when nitrogen costs are lowered, the investment in handling the animal waste swallows profits. Along with handling the waste, the Kupers must also file waste management plans to meet environmental regulations. The current trend in hog production throughout the county has slowly been transforming from the traditional farrow to finish operation to custom feeding. Concentrating farrowing on one site and finishing on another site cuts down on diseases. The advantage is you are part of a specialized operation, said Myron. Everything is more streamlined and more efficient, added Ross. All in the dairy family We start milking at 4:30 in the morning, said Shawn Sonberg as he continued to tend to his milking units. Shawn and his wife Becky, and Aaron Gerdts, a junior at St. Ansgar High School, were busy milking the 100-plus cow herd in their 16-stall milking parlor. The Sonbergs, a second-generation dairy operation, was initially started by Shawns parents, Jim and Donna. Jim had lived on a dairy farm until he was 9 years old. After moving to town, he realized he wanted to someday return to the farm, because I missed it, said Jim. After graduating high school, marrying and working as a farm hand, the Sonbergs began building a dairy herd. Their son Shawn, who had helped since age 8, grew into the dairy partnership. Today, the Sonberg operation is a family enterprise. Shawn and wife Becky milk mornings, and Shawn and his mother Donna milk afternoons. Ron takes care of the feeding and other parts of the operation. The families alternate Sunday chores, so everyone can have some down time. The Sonbergs heifers are calved at 2. The cows are milked 10 months out of the year. The herd is fed an unconventional blended ration of high-moisture silage, cracked high-moisture corn, cotton seed meal and roasted soybeans. The cows are artificially inseminated so the operation can maintain a closed herd. This also restricts diseases and provides a greater selection of sires. Shawn said the dairy operation, Keeps me busy and out of trouble. We have a different lifestyle, but I dont let that bother me, because I get to see the grandchildren every day, said Jim. DES MOINES Legislative Democrats are cool to GOP ideas of taking money from other parts of the states general fund or infrastructure budgets to finance expanded efforts to improve Iowas water quality, a top Iowa Senate leader said Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, told reporters Democrats want to increase funding for water-quality initiatives, but do not believe a workable bipartisan proposal has emerged at the Statehouse. Several of the plans that weve seen are little more than shell games moving money around, taking money away from somebody for the sake of somebody else, Gronstal said. Most of those plans arent going to work very smoothly up here. Gov. Terry Branstad, who had proposed tying water quality and school infrastructure together in a long-term strategy to address both priorities, conceded Monday that his idea may not be embraced in one year and he would be willing to work with lawmakers to address water quality needs this session. However, he has said he also will not approve an extension of the school infrastructure sales tax set to expire 2029 if a share of that money is not part of the long-term plan to address water-quality concerns. Meanwhile, majority House Republicans are working on a separate proposal to fund water-quality programs out of a water metering tax that currently generates about $28 million to the states general fund annually. Gronstal said majority Senate Democrats also are formulating concepts to help us get started but offered few details. Asked how much Democrats were seeking to spend on water quality improvements, more than were doing now was Gronstals response. Weve seen an outline of a plan from the House Republicans; weve obviously seen the governors plan that takes $406 million away from K-through-12 education, from school infrastructure. We have concerns about that, Gronstal said. I dont think there are a lot of people that are thrilled with taking $406 million away from local schools, OK? So the governors proposal in that respect is a pretty big lift over here, the Senate leader added. The House proposals weve seen take money out of the general fund, take money out of the infrastructure fund, dont produce anything new and basically thats just one more way to shortchange K-12 education. House Ways and Means Committee members were working on a bill (House Study Bill 654) that would replace the sales tax Iowans pay on metered water with a 6 percent excise tax that would be deposited in an Iowa Finance Authority-administered revolving loan fund to help cities improve their water and waste water treatment facilities. The excise tax would raise about $28 million a year. Committee Chairman Tom Sands, R-Wapello, said the bills provisions represented the backbone framework for funding water quality. The excise tax was chosen because those that are paying will get the benefit, he said, thats why it will go to municipal water and waste water improvements, not farm-related projects. Sands said he hoped the House approach would receive Senate consideration, noting that the options are using existing money, raising taxes or diverting money and there was limited support for diverting it from SAVE the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund which sunsets at the end of 2029. Branstad indicated Monday he was not inclined to support a free-standing bill to extend the SAVE program for another 20 years, to which Gronstal replied Tuesday: We dont see him being extended past 2029, so we can make some decision later on. Gronstal said key legislators were working through a host of budget decisions this week and hoped to agree on details of a fiscal 2017 state spending plan relatively quickly, telling reporters we would like to adjourn on time with April 19 marking this years session 100th day. LOMBARD, Ill., March 29, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pernix Group, Inc. (OTCQB:PRXG) today announced its financial results for the year- ended December 31, 2015. Financial Review The Company is very excited about the BEK Building Group & dck acquisitions in 2015 as it expands the Pernix platform with an increase of valuable resources. The acquisitions have broadened our geographic footprint, end market coverage and service line offerings. With both organic growth in our Department of State business and a solidified Pac Rim operating presence we believe we are well positioned for significant organic and inorganic growth. Across both public and private sectors we have successfully completed projects for Novartis, Purdue Pharma, Gulfstream Aerospace, Medical University of South Carolina, Texas A&M University, DOS / Freetown and FEA / Kinoya Expansion Construction projects during the year ended December 31, 2015. Upon successful completion of the Kinoya projects, the O&M Agreement between FEA and PFL was amended to include O&M services for the newly installed engines and the master O&M agreement was extended five years and now expires in 2028. In September 2015, the DOS awarded the Company a contract for $81.6 million ($68.5 million net of Value Added Tax) for the U.S. Embassy Berlin as well as several large technical market projects at BEK BG. In March 2016, the DOS awarded the Company a contract for $181.8 million ($169.2 million net of Value Added Tax) for the new U.S. Embassy Compound in Maputo, Mozambique. We are actively pursuing additional DOS projects as well as large commercial and advanced manufacturing opportunities in North America and large projects in Guam with award expectations in mid-2016. In relation to our recent BEK BG and dck acquisitions, we retained the leadership, operational and functional teams of both acquisitions. These key resources will continue to serve, grow and utilize customer and supplier relationships which will provide the Company with the capabilities to further strengthen and leverage global opportunities. Nidal Z. Zayed, CEO & President of Pernix stated This has been a formative year for Pernix, not only did we make two major acquisitions that significantly increased our client base and expanded our global presence, but we received major awards that increased our backlog to unprecedented levels. Our focus in 2016 will be on delivery and performance excellence, we are expanding our BIM capabilities and improving process efficiencies while remaining focused on customer satisfaction. Mr. Zayed went on to discuss Pernixs exceptional safety record noting In 2015 we once again achieved over 3 million man-hours and no lost time incidents. Financial Highlights All figures are in U.S. dollars; comparisons are made between 2015 and 2014 unless otherwise specified. Total Revenue: $195.5 million, an increase of $110.2 million Construction Revenue: $189.4 million Power Generation revenue: $6.0 million Acquisition revenue and gross profit were $159.9 million and $5.2 million, respectively Gross Profit: $7.6 million One-time acquisition related professional and integration costs in the amount of $3.6 million were incurred during the year Cash and Cash Equivalents: $18.8 million, an increase of $7.6 million from prior year The Company entered into long-term debt and line of credit financing agreements with $11.3 million of debt obligation outstanding as of December 31, 2015 Backlog as of December 31, 2015 is $379.4 million, which excludes $169.2 million related to our recent DOS Maputo contract award The Company filed its Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 29, 2016, which incorporates its audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2016. About Pernix Group, Inc. Pernix Group, Inc. is a construction company recognized by Engineering News-Record for being one of the Top 50 American Contractors Working Abroad for the last four years in a row. Headquartered in Lombard, Illinois, Pernix has operations in the United States, Guam, Fiji, Vanuatu, South Korea, Germany and Africa. Pernix has full-scale construction and management capabilities in three primary markets: Federal Government, Commercial & Industrial, and Power. Recently, Pernix Group expanded its domestic Commercial & Industrial operations by acquiring KBR Building Group, now known as BE&K Building Group. Pernix also expanded its Pacific operations this year by acquiring assets of DCK Pacific Guam, now operating as Pernix Guam LLC. Forward-Looking Statement Certain of the statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Potential risks and other factors that could cause or contribute to actual results differing materially from such forward-looking statements are discussed in greater detail in the Companys filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. At the Annual General Meeting to be held on the 20th of April 2016 shareholders representing approximately 36.6 per cent of the company's shares and approximately 76.9 per cent of the votes will propose the above mentioned as new candidates to the board. The same shareholders propose that current members Lassi Noponen and Thomas Bengtsson be re-elected to the board. The new candidates mark the transformation to a board where the majority are independent from the management of the company. The new candidates add significant international networks and experience from a wide range of industries in different stages. Chairman of the Board Lassi Noponen: Transforming into an independent board has been planned for some time and in connection to the Stockholm listing, we felt that the time was right. This improves the governance of our company and benefits our increasingly international shareholder base. We are delighted to have such an accomplished group of candidates to our board. The new candidates to the board comment as follows. Matti Vuoria: I like the fact that Cleantech Invest portfolio consists of companies that do not rely on subsidies but that have a market based approach to solving environmental challenges. Cleantech Invest is an interesting Finnish growth company with a strong Nordic presence and a global growth strategy. James Penney: Having followed Cleantech Invest for many years, I am impressed that so many of the portfolio companies have such an exiting international outlook. I look forward to helping Cleantech Invest raise awareness of its portfolio companies amongst the London investor community. Peter Carlsson: Im delighted to join the Cleantech board as I think its focus areas match with my own competence and interests. CEO Bigge Lidgren: I am really looking forward to working with and learning from these new board members. In Peter we get unique experience from Tesla, one of the fastest clean technology entrants ever into an established industry as well as new connections from Silicon Valley. James adds crucial knowledge and track record in institutional fund management and networks from one of the worlds biggest financial markets. Matti has for a long time been the CEO of one of Europes largest pension funds as well as at the heart of Finnish economy. He greatly complements our international networks. CVs of new proposed candidates Matti Vuoria After a decade of service as the CEO of VARMA Mutual Pension Insurance Company Matti Vuoria retired in 2014. Currently he serves as the Chairman of the Board of building and construction company YIT Oyj. Matti Vuoria has a long career within the Finnish public administration where he served lastly as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry during 1992-1998. He has been member of the Board in several major companies such as Stora Enso Oyj, Wartsila Oyj, Sampo Oyj, Orion Oyj and Danisco (Denmark) as well as Nordic Investment Bank. He was the full-time Chairman of Fortum Oyj for five years during 1998 -2003. Matti Vuoria is a member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. James Penney James Penney is the Chairman of London based Darwin Property Investment Management Limited and chairs the Investment Committee. In 2015 Darwin Property Investment Management Limited was named Alternative Investment Manager of the Year at European Pension Awards and Alternatives Manager of the Year by LAPF Investment Awards. James Penney is also the owner and Managing Director of Darwin Consulting, a strategy consulting firm he co-founded in 1997. This firm provides strategic advice to directors and investors in a range of industries, including financial services, private equity and media. Prior to founding Darwin Consulting, James Penney had an academic career in e.g. undergraduate and doctoral studies at Trinity College, Cambridge, followed by six years as Principal Lecturer at Westminster College, Oxford. After Oxford, James Penney was a Sloan Fellow at London Business School from which he has a M.Sc. in Management Studies. Peter Carlsson Peter Carlsson is an angel investor, advisor and entrepreneur. He was the Vice President, Supply Chain of the world-renowned Electric Vehicle company Tesla Motors during 20112015. Peter held an instrumental role at Tesla Motors as the electric car manufacturer scaled operations dramatically during this period, including the launch of the highly successful Tesla Model S. Before that he has worked as the Senior Vice President & Chief Procurement Officer of NXP Semiconductors in Singapore during 2008-2011, as the Chief Procurement Officer of Sony-Ericsson as well as in various management positions in Sweden and in the United States. Peter Carlsson has a M.Sc. (Economics, Production & Quality Control) from Lulea Technical University. Contact information: Alexander Lidgren, Managing Director of Cleantech Invest Plc. Tel. 46 73 660 1007, alexander.lidgren@cleantechinvest.com Access Partners Oy, Certified Advisor. Tel. 358 9 682 9500 Cleantech Invest in Brief Cleantech Invest is a Nordic accelerator with investments in growth companies that solve global challenges. The portfolio companies are active in energy- and resource efficiency as well as decentralized renewable energy and are based in Finland, Sweden and Germany. The company management consists of company builders and investors who have been active within the cleantech space for over a decade.The company is listed on First North Finland under the ticker: CLEAN www.cleantechinvest.com CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 30, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SPX Corporation (NYSE:SPXC) today announced that it has completed the sale of its Dry Cooling business to Paharpur Cooling Towers Limited (Paharpur). Pre-tax proceeds were approximately $48 Million. About SPX Corporation: Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, SPX Corporation is a leading supplier of highly engineered HVAC products, detection and measurement technologies and power equipment. With operations in about 20 countries, SPX Corporation had approximately $1.7 billion in annual revenues and approximately 6,000 employees worldwide in 2015. SPX Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol, SPXC. For more information, please visit www.spx.com. About Paharpur: Headquartered in Kolkata, India, Paharpur is a leading cooling solution provider with global operations. The Companys business interests include cooling towers, air cooled heat exchangers, air cooled condensers and flexible packaging. The Company has five manufacturing facilities in India serving the global markets. Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. Please read this press release in conjunction with the company's documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's annual reports on Form 10-K, and any amendments thereto, and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These filings identify important risk factors and other uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from these statements. The words believe, "expect," "anticipate," "project" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, estimates of future operating results are based on the company's current complement of businesses, which is subject to change. Statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and SPX disclaims any responsibility to update or revise such statements. TGC wrote: Airport official:Local residents have been complaining that night fights into Plainsville airport disturb their sleep and should be sharply reduced in number.This complaint is completely unreasonable--there have been night flights coming into the airport from the very begining,twenty years ago,and these residents should have taken that fact into account when buying their homes. Which of the following is an assumption on which the airport argument depends? A There are fewer night flights now than there were originally B The residents who are complaining have been in their current homes fewer than twenty years C The residents who are complaining are ignoring the benefits they gain from he presence of the airport D The economic success of the airport depends entirely on the existence of the night flights E People buying houses in Plainsville all avoid buying houses near the airport if they can Owner of Angles and Arguments Check out my Blog Posts here: Blog For Individual GMAT Study Modules, check For Private Tutoring, check KarishmaOwner of Angles and ArgumentsFor Individual GMAT Study Modules, check Study Modules For Private Tutoring, check Private Tutoring Signature Read More So the officials are saying that night flights have been coming since the beginning i.e. 20 yrs ago. So people should not have bought houses here if night flights were disruptive to their sleep. But they are assuming that people bought houses in the last 20 years when they knew about the night flights. What if people had actually bought the houses more than 20 yrs ago? Airport officials have no answer for them. They are assuming that everyone who is complaining had bought his/her house less than 20 yrs ago. Hence (B) is an assumption.Option (E) only says that people who buy houses near the airport have no choice - they just can't avoid buying near the airport - could be for whatever reasons - lower prices, higher availability etc. The point is that they knew before buying that they are compromising by taking next to the airport. They pay for what they get. After getting the house, they cannot complain of the night flights (perhaps because of which the price they paid was lower). No matter what their reason was for buying the house close to the airport, if they did, they knew that sleep will get disturbed. So now they cannot cry about the disturbance. Hence officials are not answerable to people who had no choice but had to buy near the airport. So (E) is not an assumption._________________ Hi guys, I've just been offered a place at Edhec Business School in France. They ask me to pay a first instalment of 7500 before April 8th which is according to them, non refundable... However, I am waiting the results of other better ranked schools (ESSEC, ESCP) which will not come before mid-June... I know I can wait a bit more than April 8th for paying the first instalment (up to beginning of May) but by waiting too long, I might see my offer disappear. I called them and asked for the contract to see if the 7500 were really non-refundable and the man I had on the phone told me there was no contract. I insisted for a legal document such as sales conditions but he answered there was no contract. So my question is the following: are these 7500 really non refundable? Legally, with no contract, can't I recover them? Thank you for your help, Adam New York has joined cities such as San Francisco and Seattle in banning non-essential travel to North Carolina for city and state employees. These bans come days after the North Carolina state legislature passed an anti-LGBTQ bill that has already prompted a federal lawsuit. "In New York, we believe that all peopleregardless of their gender identity or sexual orientationdeserve the same rights and protections under the eyes of the law," Cuomo said in a statement yesterday. "From Stonewall to marriage equality, our state has been a beacon of hope and equality for the LGBT community, and we will not stand idly by as misguided legislation replicates the discrimination of the past." Last month, the Charlotte city council voted to expand the city's nondiscrimination ordinance to include new legal protections for gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals. The expanded legislation would prevent business from discriminating against LGBTQ people, and would allow transgender individuals to use whichever bathroom corresponds to their gender identity. North Carolina's state government was not having any of that: Republican Governor Pat McCrory said that the ban would "most likely cause immediate state legislative intervention," and sure enough, on March 23rd the legislature held a special one-day session (costing taxpayers $42,000) to pass a bill that reverses Charlotte's ordinance and bans future laws that would protect people from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. McCrory signed the bill into law that night. Just days later, the ACLU of North Carolina and Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit along with three individuals, arguing that the law "violates the most basic guarantees of equal treatment and the U.S. Constitution." McCrory has called the backlash to the law's passage "political theater," and said that "this political correctness has gone amok." The state's Attorney General, meanwhile, has said he won't defend the law, calling it a "national embarrassment." North Carolina's law has been called "one of the most extreme, anti-LGBT bills we've seen yet." In addition to travel bans from New York City and state, Seattle, San Francisco, and (soon) Boston, companies such as PayPal, IBM, Dow Chemical, Biogen, Apple, Google, and Facebook have all spoken out against the law. Meanwhile in Georgia, Republican Governor Nathan Deal just vetoed a controversial bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse to serve LGBTQ people under the guise of preserving religious freedom. The state legislature there is reportedly considering holding a special session to override the veto. Speaking to reporters yesterday, de Blasio said that he'll order a similar ban on non-essential city-funded travel to Georgia if that override does indeed occur. "I think it's quite clear that voices of conscience all over the country are expressing outrage at these decisions which are reinstituting discrimination against the LGBT community," de Blasio said. "My hope is that both these states will relent, but we certainly are not going to have any non-essential travel to those states if these laws do continue in effect." Last year, New York similarly banned non-essential state-funded travel to Indiana, after the state passed a law that would effectively allow business owners and others to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals under the pretense of protecting freedom of religion. Cuomo lifted that ban after the law was amended. New York is one of 20 states that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace, housing, or public accommodationstwo more states protect just against discrimination based on sexual orientation, while the remaining 28 states have no such non-discrimination laws. Earlier this month, de Blasio ordered all city-owned buildings to let people use the bathrooms that correspond with the gender with which they identify, and the City Council is currently considering legislation that would require single-occupancy bathrooms to be usable by people of any gender. We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Over the past week, a dark corner of the Internet has erupted in rumors that The Temple of Baal, a 2,000-year-old Syrian temple destroyed by ISIS last year, would be rebuilt in full as a house of worship in Times Square come April. As it turns out, those rumors are (mostly) false: the ancient temple is not being rebuilt in full; it will not be a functioning place of worship; and it's not happening next month. But New York may play host to a replica of a portion of the temple in the fall. These rumors, presented as fact on famously reliable websites such as endoftheamericandream.com and nowtheendbegins.com, appear to have been sparked by a New York Times opinion piece from March 19th that kicked off by vaguely stating that "next month, the Temple of Baal will come to Times Square," before immediately explaining that "reproductions of the 50-foot arch that formed the temples entrance are to be installed in New York and in London, a tribute to the 2,000-year-old structure that the Islamic State destroyed last year in the Syrian town of Palmyra." But the fine journalists at The American Dream Is Becoming A Nightmare And Life As We Know It Is About To End apparently didn't read past the first sentenceand subsequently stirred up enough of a niche frenzy that Snopes had to intervene. Notably, the hysteria was not over the potential risk of recreating a landmark recently destroyed by ISIS in one of the world's biggest terrorist targets, but rather over a concern that the replica would encourage "child sacrifice and sexual immorality." The real facts, as we know them: the Temple of Baal, also known as the Temple of Bel, was built in Palmyra, Syria in 32 AD, and for centuries it was a place of worship to the Mesopotamian god Bel. It was later converted to a Christian church and then a mosque. In August 2015, ISIS destroyed the temple and beheaded the archaeologist who had been looking after the ruins for 40 years. Why? ISIS considers "pre-Islamic religious objects or structures sacrilegious." Also, they're complete assholes. Not long after, the Institute for Digital Archaeologya joint venture between Harvard, Oxford and the United Arab Emiratesannounced its plan to print 3D replicas of the temple's arch and place them in temporary installations in London's Trafalgar Square and New York's Times Square. It's a part of a project called the Million Image Database, through which the institute, along with UNESCO, gives 3D cameras to volunteer photographers so that they can take pictures of threatened sites and objects in Middle Eastern and North African conflict zones. Those images can then be translated into 3D replicas. According to the Institute's website, a replica of the arch is indeed coming to Trafalgar Square next month, on April 19th. But the Times has it wrong: the 50-foot-tall replica won't make its way to New York City until September, according to Alexy Karenowska, who's the Institute's Director of Technology. After that, the structure will go on to Syria. When the plan for the replicas was first reported, the Institute downplayed the security risk posed by erecting replicas of a structure just destroyed by ISIS in locations such as Times Square and Trafalgar Square. At the time, Karenowska told reporters that "a building like the National Gallery or Trafalgar Square, these are major targets by virtue of what they are...Simply by placing a thought-provoking piece of art in one of those spaces, the level of heightened risk is very limited. This is something we are thinking about very carefully and that people involved are thinking about on a day-to-day basis." There's no exact date set yet, and it's unclear just how set-in-stone this plan is: it's not yet listed on the website of the Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management, and CECM didn't respond when we asked whether any event permits had been filed. But according to Karenowska, the Institute fully intends to bring the arch replica to NYCbut not to Times Square. "It will be in an iconic central location in the city," Karenowska confirmed this morning. "It is important for us to put it in a spot that is of real significance to the people of New York." Donald Trump would need hands the size of backhoes to clean up the garbage behind one of his son-in-law's East Village buildings. The refuse piled in the back yard of 118 East 4th Street was Dickensian, says longtime tenant Jennifer Hengen. It filled the sunken yard at least five steps high, and included decomposing rat carcasses. The building also went without gas for almost five months. Tenants got service turned back on in early March after they filed an HP action lawsuit in Housing Court demanding repairs from their landlord, Jared Kushner, and then filed a motion to hold him in contempt after his representatives didnt show up for the first hearing. The building is one of more than 50 that Kushnerwho married Donald Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka in 2009has acquired over the last four years. He has spent more than $400 million buying portfolios of properties in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Astoria, but most are in the East Village, making him the neighborhood's second-largest landlord after the notorious Steven Croman, says Brandon Kielbasa, an organizer with the Cooper Square Committee. On the campaign trail, Trump frequently praises his "amazing" son-in-law for being a "very, very successful real estate entrepreneur in Manhattan." "Jared is a great young man, went to Harvard, very smart, doing a fantastic job in business, he's in the real estate business and has done an amazing job," Trump told the crowd after a campaign rally in January. Kushners business model might be described as an apex scavenger, according to interviews with about a dozen tenants in several of his buildingsmany of whom insisted on anonymity for fear of retributionand housing organizers working with them. At least 40 of his buildings were purchased from Ben Shaoul and Stone Street Properties, owners who specialized in buying buildings that contained large numbers of rent-stabilized tenants, and inducing them to leave with a combination of trumped-up eviction notices, buyout offers, and messy, all-hours construction in the vacated apartments. Once the empty apartments were renovated, they could be rented out at luxury rates. Kushner, who also owns the NY Observer, has used those tactics, but usually buys buildings that have already been worked over, says Kielbasa, who has worked with tenants in buildings owned by Kushner and Shaoul. Kushner, he says, treats both rent-stabilized and market-rate tenants badly, and seems to feel that he can get away with not maintaining buildings because the housing market is so tight he can keep them full anyway. 118 East 4th Street (Scott Heins / Gothamist) Overall, it seems to be a company that only cares about renting apartments, says Ben Mackey, a market-rate tenant of Kushner's Westminster Management, whose website calls the neighborhood the most exciting in Manhattan with upscale and exciting nightlife. Mackey pays $2,800 a month for a one-bedroom apartment at 118 East 4th Street. They dont care about upkeep," he says. "They dont care about maintaining apartments. A Westminster spokesperson says the gas was shut off by Con Ed after reports of a gas smell, an issue we take very seriously, on Oct. 12, but does not say why it took nearly five months to restore service. The company says they are providing more trash bins and have brought in an exterminator for a special inspection. The spokesperson noted that "we are at the last stages of finalizing an agreement that not only assures the prompt addressing of all issues, but will also include a compensation package based upon the unintended and unavoidable disruption of services," and said that resident now have "access to an emergency phone line in order to inform us of concerns, to which we respond as quickly as possible and work to find permanent solutions to all issues. The spokesperson added, Unfortunately, like many other old buildings in New York City, repair issues arise periodically and we inherited problems when we purchased this building. We are grateful that our residents have voiced their concerns. We value their tenancy and we are committed to a mutually beneficial long term building management-tenant relationship." The building is one of seven along East 4th Street Kushner bought from Ben Shaoul for $49 million in early 2013, according to The Real Deal. Shaoul, who had acquired the buildings in 2010 and 2011 for about $25 million, really preyed on the infirm, says Hengen, who recalls a property manager screaming at her when there was an electrical fire in her ceiling the night she got out of the hospital. He changed the front-door lock code during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 without informing tenants, says David Dupuis, who has lived in the building since 1983. I was coming home and couldnt get in. His people were psychotic, screaming on the phone, says another Fourth Street resident who asked to remain anonymous. Dust, noise, unprotected workers. It was two years of hell, adds another, who had his phone service cut off for four months when renovation work damaged the cables. People left in droves. By the time Shaoul was through, only five of the 24 apartments at 118 East 4th still had rent-stabilized tenants. In the 45-unit building next door, less than 10 remained. Shaoul told The Real Deal in 2013 that he was redeveloping a portfolio of under-managed assets and planned to sell them to a long-term investora sophisticated way of saying emptying them and flipping them. In February 2013, Kushner bought 17 more East Village buildings from Shaoul for $130 millionmore than $30 million above what Shaoul had paid. In August and October 2012, he bought eight buildings from Benchmark Real Estate for $58 million. Benchmark, which had acquired them between October 2009 and October 2011, had paid $33.25 million. In January 2014, he paid $17.3 million in for 170-172 East 2nd Street and 174 East 2nd Street. Kushner came by this wealth by being the son of Charles Kushner, a politically connected real-estate developer from New Jersey. The family owns more than $2 billion in property in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. He largely took over the business after his father was imprisoned in 2005 for making illegal campaign contributions. After Charles Kushner found out that his sister and brother-in-law were cooperating with the federal probe, he paid a prostitute $10,000 to seduce his brother-in-law, and sent the video to his sister. In March 2015, Kushner bought a 16-building portfolio from Stone Street Properties for $131.5 million, including properties in Murray Hill, Greenwich Village, the East Village, the Upper East Side, and Boerum Hill. Stone Street and its partner HIG Realty Partners had paid $73 million for the portfolio in 2012. Stone Street used Shaoul-style methods to get rid of rent-stabilized tenants. In one building, a man moved out because the construction dust exacerbated his lung disease, according to another tenant. At 354 and 356 State Street in Brooklyn, Stone Street purged these two buildings of about two-thirds of their rent-stabilized tenants, says longtime housing organizer Dave Powell of the Fifth Avenue Committee, and Kushner came in largely after the damage has been done. Rents for the renovated apartments there doubled, from $1,200-$1,300 to $2,400-$2,900. Our problems started with Stone Street, says Kim Stetz of 438 East 13th Street. Stone Street did the dirty work. She went three months without gas in 2014, and her electricity was also knocked out. The renovated apartments there rent for around $3,500, she says, with one three-bedroom going for more than $7,000. Stone Street has not yet responded to a request for comment. Kushner is not as slimy as Shaoul, says a 4th Street tenant who asks for anonymity because Ive been through enough shit with these damn landlords. But at 170 and 174 East 2nd Street, the residents of more than two-thirds of the 42 apartments moved out within four months after Kushner took over the building (the spokesperson said they were aware of only one). They faced what Brandon Kielbasa described that year as construction dust, debris-filled hallways, collapsed ceilings, broken doors, and a gas leak that led to the entire block being cordoned off by the Fire Department. 170 East 2nd Street (Scott Heins / Gothamist) He pressured a lot of the tenants to leave, says Mary Ann Siwek, who has lived in the building for more than 30 years. A lot of them didnt want to hold out, because it was so horrible. Some left the city, she adds. We're constantly investing to upgrade distressed buildings in our portfolio and improve the quality of life for our tenants. At 170 East 2nd Street in particular, we worked to correct a number of issues we've inherited from prior ownership, the Westminster spokesperson responds. We do not engage in harassment of any kind. Tenants held a rally in front of the building in September 2014 with City Councilmember Rosie Mendez and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. A Westminster spokesperson told The Villager that the people who wouldnt move out were illegal residents who werent really rent-stabilized and were just stirring up trouble to get a bigger buyout offer. I think hes more careful since East 2nd Street took him to court, says another East Village tenant. He doesnt actively harass us like Shaoul did, says Jennifer Hengen, but he neglects us. Garbage is the most common complaint. At 170 East 2nd Street, by Sunday, you couldnt walk in the hallways, says Siwek. Garbage was out of control, says one East Village tenant. Garbage everywhere, says another. At 118 East 4th, Hengen says, the problems began when Westminster began putting garbage in the back yard because they were getting summonses for putting it in front of the building. One reason for this, tenants say, is that Westminster and the previous landlords cut back on superintendents. In some buildings, their apartments were renovated and rented at luxury rates. Some say that their new superintendents dont live in the neighborhood and only work weekdays. At 118 East 4th, one lived in Staten Island. The current one lives in the Bronx and is responsible for 25 buildings, says David Dupuis. If this is the way he intends to manage properties in general, then it's alarming. Tenants of 118 East 4th Street are not the only folks that we've heard complaints from, so that points to a bit of a pattern, says Brandon Kielbasa. But the battle at 118 has reignited the coalition of tenants in Kushner buildings, he adds. The majority of our superintendents live in the East Village and in proximity to the buildings they serve, a spokesperson for Westminster told us. In order to respond to complaints and emergencies as they arise, we make every effort to hire superintendents who live locally. The spokesperson added that the number of buildings theyre responsible for varies, depending on the size of the building and other factors. The economic differences between the old and new residents paying three times as much have also created a culture clash. Some longtime East Villagers, nurses and artists and filmmakers loyal to the neighborhood, resent the transient, party-animal culture of affluent students and out-of-towners in their first New York apartment who will be gone when their lease expires. We used to have a community in this building, laments one man. Before Stone Street and Kushner, says Kim Stetz, we didnt have SantaCon in our building. We didnt have raging parties with people throwing up out their windows. The stuff were requesting from them costs 10 cents, and theyre billionaires, say Jennifer Hengen. Am I being melodramatic when I say class warfare? Sarah Edwards contributed research to this report. Culture Shooting for Double XL was a liberating experience for Huma Though Huma has mentioned multiple times, in jest, that this was the best prep she ever had to do for a role since she got to eat everything she wante... The winners of the Irish Times Final, Irelands most prestigious debating competition, will debate three members of Carroll Colleges Talking Saints today on the topic: All nations should welcome Syrian refugees. The debate is 7 p.m. downstairs in Carroll's Student Center. The evening also includes Irish music and a reading of the Irish Easter Rising Proclamation of 1916, celebrating when the Irish rose up against English rule 100 years ago in 1916. The Milltown Ramblers, led by Gabe and Maggie Brennan, will lead a sing-along of Irish melodies accompanied by guitar, banjo, harmonica, mandolin and tin whistle. The evening will end with a bite of Irish food, maybe some cockles and mussels served by Molly Malone, or more likely, grandmas soda bread == washed down with green punch. Everyone is welcome -- especially those from Butte, Anaconda and other Irish colonies -- for a Shamrock Evening, in tribute to fair Ireland, home of so many Montana ancestors. For more information, call Brent Northup at 459-2371. In a recent interview with Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle asked him his position on transferring ownership of American public lands to the state. Gianfortes response left me and a lot of other Montanans cold. What will become of our public lands and outdoor way of life should he become our next governor? I am opposed to deed transfer at this time, he said, because I dont think its attainable. Using rhetoric that echoes lands transfer zealot Montana state Sen. Jennifer Fielder, he then ran through a laundry list of complaints about American public lands to support an argument for why hed rather see these lands managed by the state or some other local entity. He may never explicitly call for the transfer and sale of our public land. But, Gianforte has, in this interview and elsewhere, established a record that leads me to believe he would, if elected, pursue transferring and selling public lands if the political winds give him the chance to do so. Consider his selection of a running mate. When Gianforte introduced Phillips County Commissioner Lesley Robinson, she didn't explicitly endorse lands transfer, but did express support for more state management. Her background indicates a more extremist position. Robinson is vice chair of the National Association of Counties Public Lands Steering Committee, which recently listed public land management reform, including support of the transfer of some federal lands to states, as one of their top priorities. In the Chronicle interview, Gianforte veered from lauding state management to supporting a half-baked proposal for projects that would have county commissioners or some new commission manage federally-deeded lands. This might sound good to followers of Cliven and Ammon Bundy, but local management of American public lands is simply an unworkable idea that would put Montanas taxpayers on the hook for fighting fires on an additional 27 million acres of public lands -- at a cost of more than $100 million in dry years. It would also come with many other costs that would, when added up, force the state to sell our public lands to the highest bidder and prioritize resource extraction over public access on the public lands that remained. Judging by Gianfortes financial support of the Property and Environment Research Center, this could be what he has in mind. A think-tank backed handsomely by the fossil fuel industry (including the Koch brothers), PERC has a long history of advocating for the privatization and industrialization of public lands, going so far as to offer a blueprint for auctioning off all public lands over 20 to 40 years. For the good of Big Sky Country, Gianforte should listen to the majority of Montanans -- nearly 60 percent, according to a recent Colorado College poll -- who oppose the idea of transferring American public lands to individual states. He should also consider that public lands in Montana generate $6 billion annually, including $403 million in tax revenue, and account for 64,000 jobs across the state. More importantly, public lands provide the outdoor way of life that defines who we are as Montanans. The Republican Party of Montana, which passed a resolution in 2014 to support granting federally managed public lands to the states, would also do well to remember what public lands mean to Montanans. This year, lets make sure we elect candidates who honor, and will unequivocally support retention of our public lands and the gifts they provide. After all, our American lands are the birthright of every American, and nowhere is this proud heritage stronger than in Montana. *** Bill Cunningham led guided wilderness trips in Montana for nearly 40 years. He and his wife, Polly, have authored more than 10 outdoor guide books. He lives in Choteau. HAZYAZ, Yemen (AP) The baby was born in war, even as planes blasted his village in Yemen. Five months later, Udai Faisal died from war: His skeletal body broke down under the ravages of malnutrition, his limbs like twigs, his cheeks sunken, his eyes dry. He vomited yellow fluid from his nose and mouth. Then he stopped breathing. "He didn't cry and there were no tears, just stiff," said his mother, Intissar Hezzam. "I screamed and fainted." The spread of hunger has been the most horrific consequence of Yemen's war since Shiite rebels seized the capital and Saudi Arabia and its allies, backed by the United States, responded with a campaign of airstrikes and a naval blockade a year ago. The impoverished nation of 26 million, which imports 90 percent of its food, already had one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world, but in the past year the statistics have leaped. The number of people considered "severely food insecure" unable to put food on the table without outside aid went from 4.3 million to more than 7 million, according to the World Food Program. Ten of the country's 22 provinces are classified as one step away from famine. Where before the war around 690,000 children under five suffered moderate malnutrition, now the number is 1.3 million. Even more alarming are the rates of severe acute malnutrition among children the worst cases where the body starts to waste away doubling from around 160,000 a year ago to 320,000 now, according to UNICEF estimates. Exact numbers for those who died from malnutrition and its complications are unknown, since the majority were likely unable to reach proper care. But in a report released Tuesday, UNICEF said an estimated 10,000 additional children under five died of preventable diseases the past year because of the breakdown in health services, on top of the previous rate of nearly 40,000 children a year. "The scale of suffering in the country is staggering," UNICEF said in the report, and the violence "will have an impact for generations to come." The Saudi-led coalition launched its campaign on March 26, 2015, aiming to halt the advance of Shiite rebels known of Houthis who had taken over the capital, Sanaa, drove out the internationally recognized government and stormed south. The Houthi advance was halted. But they continue to hold Sanaa and the north. In the center of the country, they battle multiple Saudi-backed factions supporting the government that tenuously holds the southern city of Aden. Ground fighting and the heavy barrage of airstrikes have killed more than 9,000 people, including more than 3,000 civilians, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office. More than 900 children have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded, 61 percent of them in airstrikes, according to UNICEF. Coalition airstrikes appear to be "responsible for twice as many casualties as all other forces put together," Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said. The coalition argues that the rebels often use civilians and civilian locations as shields for their fighters. It also disputes U.N. figures on how many deaths are caused by strikes, saying they are based on statistics from the Houthis. Around 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes. Strikes have destroyed storehouses, roads, schools, farms, factories, power grids and water stations. The naval blockade, enforcing a U.N. arms embargo on the rebels, has disrupted the entry of food and supplies. The ripple effects from war have tipped a country that could already barely feed itself over the edge. The food, fuel and other supplies that do make it into the country are difficult to distribute because trucks struggle to avoid battle zones, fear airstrikes or need to scrounge for gas. Under control of Houthi fighters, government services from Sanaa are largely paralyzed. The fate of Udai illustrated the many factors, all exacerbated by war, that lead to the death of an infant. His family lives off the pension that Udai's father, Faisal Ahmed, gets as a former soldier, about $200 a month for him, his wife and nine other children ranging from 2 years old to 16. He used to sometimes work construction, but those jobs disappeared in the war. With food prices rising and supplies sporadic, the family eats once a day, usually yoghurt and bread, peas on a good day, said Udai's parents, both in their 30s. The day Udai was born, warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition were striking an army base used by Houthi rebels in their district of Hazyaz, a shantytown on the southern edge of Sanaa. Shrapnel hit their one-bedroom house where Udai's mother was in labor. "She was screaming and delivering the baby while the bombardment was rocking the place," the father said. Hezzam breastfed her newborn son for about 20 days, but then her milk stopped, likely from her own malnutrition. Even after childbirth, she had to collect firewood for the mud brick stove at the doorstep of her house. Like much of the country, electricity has long been knocked out in their neighborhood, either because of airstrikes or lack of fuel, and there's rarely cooking gas. "I go every day to faraway places to search for the wood then carry it home on my head," she said. The family turned to formula to feed Udai, but it wasn't always available and they couldn't always afford it. So every few days, Udai got formula and the other days he would get sugar and water. Water trucks occasionally reach the area, but otherwise his parents had to use unclean water. In the past year, the number of people without regular access to clean water has risen from 13 million people to more than 19 million, nearly three-quarters of the population. Within three months, Udai was suffering from diarrhea. His father took him to local clinics but they either didn't have supplies or he couldn't afford what they did have. Finally, on March 20, he made it to the emergency section at al-Sabeen Hospital. Udai was suffering from severe malnutrition, diarrhea and a chest infection, said Saddam al-Azizi, head of the emergency unit. He was put on antibiotics and a feeding solution through the nose. The AP saw Udai at al-Sabeen on March 22. His arms were convulsing, his emaciated legs motionless, his face gaunt and pale. When he cried, he was too dehydrated to produce tears. At around five months old, he weighed 2.4 kilograms (5.3 pounds). "Unstable," his chart read for every day he'd been there. Two days later, his parents took him home. His father told the AP it was because the doctors told them it was hopeless, and he complained the staff was not giving him enough treatment. Al-Azizi said he suspected it was because the family couldn't afford the medicines. The hospital stay is free, but because medicines are in such short supply, families must pay for them, he said. "It was a mistake to take him out," he said. The treatment needed time to work. Still, al-Azizi had given Udai only a 30 percent chance of survival. Al-Sabeen was already dealing with dozens of malnourished children. In the first three months of the year, it has treated around 150 children with malnutrition, double the same period last year, al-Azizi said. Around 15 died, not counting Udai. Some parents managed to get there from remote parts of the country. One woman described walking for four days from her mountain village outside Sanaa, carrying her emaciated daughter, who at two years old weighed only four kilograms (8.8 pounds). Mohammed Ahmed brought his son here from the city of Ibb because the hospital there had no supplies. He drove the 90 miles (150 kilometers) through rebel checkpoints while warplanes struck, he said. His 10-month-old son Marwan, after 15 days in the hospital, now weighs 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds). Hospitals and clinics around the country have suffered shortages of medicines and fuel, meaning millions live in areas that have virtually no medical care. UNICEF said nearly 600 health facilities nationwide have stopped working. The Saudi-led coalition allows humanitarian flights bringing medical supplies as well food and water in to Sanaa as well as shipments into Hodeida port, the closest one to the capital. But getting the supplies around the country is difficult. Even pre-war transportation infrastructure was poor, and now trucks often can't get through battle zones. Drivers fear getting hit by airstrikes or have to scrounge to obtain expensive gas. Hospitals and clinics have been hit by airstrikes or caught up in fighting. In the battlefield city of Taiz, the Yemeni-Swedish Hospital for Children was damaged as rebels and Saudi-backed fighters fought over it. Parents had to rush their children being treated there back to their homes, and their fate is unknown. Udai hardly lasted three hours after being brought home, his parents said. Ahmed, his father, said he blames Saudi Arabia's air campaign for his son's death. "This is before the war," he said, holding up his 2-year-old son Shehab to show the difference between a child born before the war and after. They buried the infant at the foot of the mountains nearby. His father read the Quran over the tiny grave marked only by rocks, reciting, "On God we depend." Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Polls say there's a close race between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton shown here Feb. 11 during a debate at UW-Milwaukee for Wisconsin's Democratic presidential delegates. Once again, Wisconsin's votes will be consequential. PHOTO BY MORRY GASH/ASSOCIATED PRESS JANESVILLE A 15-year-old girl from Janesville was pepper sprayed after punching a man during an argument outside of a campaign rally for real estate mogul and Republican front-runner Donald Trump in Janesville. The altercation was one of a few tense moments between the estimated 2,000 supporters and opponents of Trump who were attending the rally at the Janesville Conference Center at the Holiday Inn Express. The girl, whose face was covered with pepper spray as she left the hotel grounds, was there to protest Trump and began arguing with a man there to support him. Janesville Police Chief David Moore said in a statement that the girl was pepper sprayed by a man whom police have not yet identified. The girl and another 19-year-old woman from Madison also hit by the pepper spray were treated at local hospitals. The State Journal was not able to get their names Tuesday. The girl said the man whom she punched had groped her, provoking the swing, police said. The Trump supporter who was punched, Dan Crandall of Milton, and those in the crowd disputed her allegation. I didnt touch her, Crandall said in an interview. A lot of people around her started chanting, All lives matter and she got upset. She started to challenge why I was at the Trump rally since I was a grown man, Crandall said. I told her I was at the Trump rally because I was a grown man and I cared about my country. Crandall said someone standing behind him then pepper sprayed the girl. About 1,000 people were allowed inside the conference center to listen to Trump speak while another 1,000 remained outside. Thats where supporters of Trump clashed with protesters, many of whom carried signs promoting Black Lives Matter. A handful of protesters were asked to leave the hotel grounds after disrupting the rally. Moore said Tuesday a group of 350 law enforcement officers from Wisconsin and northern Illinois were on hand in case raucous crowds found at other Trump rallies emerged in Janesville. Moore said the Trump rally was the largest event in the city in recent memory. Dozens of snowplows lined the I-90-39 exit ramp behind the hotel as a precaution against potential terrorist attacks, said Rock County Sheriff Robert Spoden. Jamie Martinez, 59, of West Allis, was sitting outside of the hotels doors around 2 p.m. holding a sign promoting military veterans supporting Trump. Martinez, a U.S. Marine Corps. veteran, said hes backing Trump because of the candidates business record. I think hes the one who could create the jobs we need, said Martinez, who said he owns a cleaning service company but hasnt worked in years. He said his customer base dried up completely about four years ago as people stopped spending money on cleaning services. Also waiting to get into the event was Leslie Spears of Spring Grove, Illinois. Spears said the Janesville rally was her second her first being a rally in Chicago that was ultimately canceled because of clashes between protesters and supporters. Spears, who held a sign that said Cats 4 Trump with photos of her cats The Dude, Sam and Al Pacino, said she supports Trump because shes been voting for Republicans my entire life and have nothing to show for it. Right now our nation is hanging on by a thread, said Spears. I want to restore fiscal sanity to this country. Spears also said she supports Trump because she thinks its insane people are coming here who dont want to assimilate to our culture. Among the protesters were Erin Creed of Williams Bay and Claudia Felske of East Troy, who stood behind a barricade holding signs that said Bigotry is the enemy and Love trumps hate. Creed said she came to add my voice to the thousands of people who say Donald Trump doesnt represent Wisconsin. His message has been one of hate, and thats not what were about here, Creed said. Six people also were arrested Monday night during a protest at the hotel. The group was among about 80 people who jammed into the hotels lobby and front entrance. The six, all from Madison and part of a group called Showing Up for Racial Injustice, refused to leave when asked to do so by hotel management and police. Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-03-30 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 TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW No. 59/16 30.03.2016 [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Akinci met with Schulz; statements by Akinci [02] Akinci's advisor: "The Turkish Cypriots' security, equality and freedom are being guarded at the negotiating table" [03] Atun: "It is not right to open for discussion the issue of Turkey's guarantees while the Cyprus negotiations process is still continuing" [04] Eroglu criticized the calling for tenders for hydrocarbon exploration and claimed that Turkey could issue a new Navtex [05] Aktoprak is the new general secretary of DP [06] An "emergency action exercise in cases of disaster and emergency" to be held in the occupied area of Cyprus [07] Columnist: "If Akinci thinks of the solution, he must state that the Republic of Cyprus' right to search for natural gas should be respected" [08] Sahalli: "The Green Line Regulation not enough satisfactory for us" [09] Turkey holds nearly 700 Daesh suspects so far this year [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Akinci met with Schulz; statements by Akinci Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis newspaper (30.03.16) reports that the President of the European Parliament (EP) Martin Schulz, within the framework of his contacts in the island, met yesterday with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci at the so-called presidential palace. In statements to the press after the meeting, Akinci described the meeting as very constructive and explained that he briefed the President of the EP on the latest stage of the Cyprus negotiation process. Reminding that he met with Schulz in the past during his visit in Brussels, Akinci said that Schulz has a good knowledge of the Cyprus problem and added that he is also a person who honestly supports the solution. Akinci stated that he also thanked Schulz for his support and interest on the Cyprus negotiation talks and added that they exchanged views on the improvement of their ties as Turkish Cypriots with the EP, taking into consideration that they will share a common future all together into the European family. Akinci also stated that he pointed out once more the Turkish Cypriot's determination towards the solution and added that Schulz' assured him that his support, as well as all other European organizations' support towards the efforts for finding a solution will continue. (AK) [02] Akinci's advisor: "The Turkish Cypriots' security, equality and freedom are being guarded at the negotiating table" Illegal Bayrak television (30.03.16) broadcast that Gurdal Hudaoglu, advisor of the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci responded to questions regarding the Cyprus problem and stated that the newly launched licensing for hydrocarbon exploration by the Greek Cypriot side had not raised tensions at the negotiating table. He however claimed that this unilateral move did not go well with the positive atmosphere of the negotiations. "The objection of Akinci should be understood [?] there is no active drilling activity today, it is a tender process. But it could create tension and we saw this happen in the past when it even caused the suspension of the talks. There is a need to keep tensions in this geography calm and approach things calmly. Otherwise, such unilateral moves will cause Cypriots to face new tensions", he said. Hudaoglu also evaluated President Nicos Anastasiades's statements that both sides were digging trenches on the issue of the four freedoms. "The Turkish Cypriots should feel comfortable and at ease. Their security, equality and freedom are being guarded at the negotiating table" he said. Evaluating the European Parliament President Martin Schulz's visit to Cyprus, he said that the Cyprus problem and work towards harmonizing with the EU after a solution are on the agenda. "However the issue of guarantees is not, because the guarantees will be taken up by the related parties at the end of the negotiations process" he argued. Hudaoglu stated that there was a constructive relationship between the Akinci and the "government" and added that this does not mean that there is consensus on all issues. [03] Atun: "It is not right to open for discussion the issue of Turkey's guarantees while the Cyprus negotiations process is still continuing" Illegal Bayrak television (30.03.16) broadcast that Sunat Atun "minister of economy, industry and commerce" issued a written statement and said that it is not right to open for discussion the issue of Turkey's guarantees while the Cyprus negotiations process is still continuing. He further claimed that the Greek Cypriot Presidential Commissioner Fotis Fotiou's attempt "to portray the terrorist organisation EOKA as a heroic organisation to new generations is proof that the Greek Cypriot Administration will never change its policies in Cyprus". [04] Eroglu criticized the calling for tenders for hydrocarbon exploration and claimed that Turkey could issue a new Navtex Turkish Cypriot daily Diyalog newspaper (30.03.16) reports that former Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu criticized the Republic of Cyprus for calling for new international tenders for off-shore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation license within its exclusive economic zone, while the Cyprus negotiations are still on process and there are "claims", as he said for reaching an early solution. Eroglu who issued a written statement, said that the rights of the Turkish Cypriots are usurped and called on Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci to show the necessary determination to stop the Greek Cypriots and to take the necessary steps for safeguarding the rights of the Turkish Cypriots. He went on and added that the Greek Cypriots should know that if the situation continues in the same way, then by all means the Turkish side will issue a Navtex and the issue of bringing a platform in the area will come into the agenda, like the period he was on "power". (CS) [05] Aktoprak is the new general secretary of DP Turkish Cypriot daily Diyalog newspaper (30.03.16) reports that Mehmet Erol Aktoprak was elected general secretary of the Democratic Party (DP). Commenting on Aktoprak's election, the chairman of DP Serdar Denktas stated that a new era is starting for the party. DP's previous general secretary Hasan Tacoy quitted his position a few days ago. (CS) [06] An "emergency action exercise in cases of disaster and emergency" to be held in the occupied area of Cyprus According to Turkish Cypriot daily Gunes newspaper (30.03.16) the "civil defense organization" in the occupied area of Cyprus will carry out a two-day-exercise on March 31- April 1st, called "emergency action exercise in cases of disaster and emergency". Within the framework of the exercises, sirens will rung from time to time. (AK) [07] Columnist: "If Akinci thinks of the solution, he must state that the Republic of Cyprus' right to search for natural gas should be respected" Under the title "Is the solution or the election more important for Akinci", Turkish Cypriot columnist Serhat Incirli writes in daily Kibris newspaper (30.03.16) that if Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci thinks of a solution to the Cyprus problem, he must state that the Republic of Cyprus' right to search for natural gas should be respected. Commenting on the recent statements by Akinci on the issue, Incirli notes that if by making such statements Akinci thinks of the so-called presidential elections, then he is the right path, because Turkey will definitely support him. The columnist writes that all three Turkish Cypriot leaders before Akinci had tried to "convince the Greek Cypriots" on the "just cause of the Turkish Cypriots", something which Akinci is also trying to do now. He adds the following: "Shall we explain the issue a little bit? Let's explain it. All four leaders do not recognize the Republic of Cyprus. They believe that there is a separate state in the north. And they put this belief on the table in a very firm manner. Do they not have any difference at all? Those who say that 'they have' should put forward this difference. [?] Have the four leaders said something different on issues such as the security and guarantees, the refugees who came from Turkey, the Turkish army and the property-territory? Are all Denktas and Talat and Eroglu and Akinci not supporting 'Turkey's active and effective guarantees'? Are all Denktas and Talat and Eroglu and Akinci not saying that the lands which we have taken in 1974 and on which we currently living belong to us? They have a difference of 'nuance'. This is true. The way they say it might be different, but in the end while the uppermost started with saying 'we have taken them with blood and we will not give them away', Akinci is saying 'the current user should have the first say'. There is no different stance between the two leaders on this issue. All four of them supported and are supporting that all refugees who have come from Turkey will stay here. Do they have differences on the hydrocarbon issue? Before his election Akinci had a different stance, but is he not saying to Anastasiades now 'beware, do not search for natural gas, my mother will beat you'? This is the reason for which I am saying that 'four leaders', all four leaders have tried to convince the Greek Cypriots on our 'just cause' and the fourth is still trying. We had no other job than convincing the Greek Cypriot side on the issues such as that 'the properties in the north belong to us, the properties we left in the south belong to us, the Turkish army will stay and the refugees from Turkey will not go'. 'Akinci was the last hope'. Is the natural gas a possession for the future? This is what Akinci is saying and adds: If reasonable behavior is not exhibited tension will exist regarding this issue. What does this mean? What is behaving reasonably? It is the Republic of Cyprus, which we call Greek Cypriot Administration, abandoning its most natural and legitimate right! Not conducting a research for natural gas! Very well, what is the tension? Turkey issuing a Navtex again. That is, saying 'look, I will strike'? If Akinci will not say now on this issue that 'searching for natural gas is Anastasiades' most natural right', if he is not saying this, I can think of two possibilities: [01] Akinci has forgotten what he was saying before his election. [02] Akinci is definitely thinking of a next election and not the solution. [?] Now Akinci has also focused on supporting and negotiating Turkey's interests. You would say that 'we are not different than our motherland'. I totally respect this. However, you should have been able to say this before being elected. While we are so close to the solution, it is not correct to demand from a legal state recognized by the world 'not to search for natural gas' and making a comment saying that 'the Greek Cypriot side will blow the negotiations up, there will be a problem, there will be tension'. [?] The issue should not be recognizing the Republic of Cyprus, when it suits us and saying 'long live the TRNC' when it does not suit us. Yesterday Ali Erel recalled it as well. Was carrying the water from Turkey, which is more valuable than the natural gas, without knowing what would come through the pipelines, something done by taking the permission of the Greek Cypriots as required by the rights deriving from the Republic of Cyprus? Or this is different? [?] If Akinci thinks of the solution, he must say that the Republic of Cyprus' right to search for natural gas should be respected. The community is definitely behind him. If Akinci is making calculations for the next presidential elections, he is the right path. Turkey will definitely support him". (I/Ts.) [08] Sahalli: "The Green Line Regulation not enough satisfactory for us" Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (30.03.16) reports that the so-called minister of agriculture, natural resources and food, Erkut Sahalli, in statements yesterday after meeting with the "cooperative administration board of the potatoes producers", said, inter alia, that no problems will be experienced in the exports of products which are produced under the appropriate standards. Sahalli also stated that the 11 TIR of potatoes were turned back from Mersin port in Turkey was not because the port was closed for the Turkish Cypriot products but because the potatoes suffered from a disease. Referring to the EU Green Line Regulation, Sahalli described the regulation as a very important opening. He, however, added that the regulation is not satisfying them enough. Sahalli went on and stressed the need for EU experts to carry out controls on the products that are sent to "south Cyprus" within the framework of the GLN. (AK) [09] Turkey holds nearly 700 Daesh suspects so far this year Ankara Anatolia news agency (30.03.16) writes that nearly 700 suspected Daesh members have been detained in nationwide anti-terrorist operations since the beginning of 2016, according to data compiled by AA. A total of 693 Daesh suspects were held over the first three months, with 160 of them being remanded in custody, reports show. Of the total suspects, 554 were detained between January and February, out of whom 98 were sent back into prison. During the operations, security forces, including police, gendarmerie and border troops also seized a large number of organizational documents, weapons and ammunition belonging to the Daesh terrorist group. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio (CS/AM) Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-30 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at CONTENTS [01] The government will exhaust its four-year term, PM Tsipras tells Parliament [02] President Pavlopoulos meets Israeli counterpart Rivlin [01] The government will exhaust its four-year term, PM Tsipras tells Parliament "The government will exhaust its four-year term," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in Parliament late on Tuesday and urged main opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis to forget the possibility of early elections. Tsipras was speaking at an off-the-agenda debate on justice issues in Parliament. The prime minister also announced that the parliamentary group of SYRIZA will submit a proposal over the next days for setting up an investigation committee that will look into the loan agreements of banks with parties and media adding that the findings are expected late May. Tsipras pledged to give an end to the law on ministers' responsibility with the revision of the constitution. As he said, ministers should be treated like any citizen. Moreover, he accused New Democracy of trying to give the impression that the government has failed and the economy has collapsed and cited the OECD report which sees the recovery of the Greek economy in the second half of 2016. [02] President Pavlopoulos meets Israeli counterpart Rivlin "Europe needs to address the refugee issue in terms of humanity," Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Wednesday said at a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin at the presidential mansion in Jerusalem. "Europe must never again become a 'dark continent' and it must fight against any kind of xenophobia and racism, including anti-Semitism," noted the President. Pavlopoulos underlined that the Middle East is experiencing hard times because of the crises, the war, violent extremism and terrorism. "Europe and the entire civilized world are determined to crack down on terrorism, treating the jihadist terrorists as servants of a new kind of barbarism. But the refugee issue needs to be treated in terms of humanity," he stated. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-30 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at CONTENTS [01] 5,745 refugees and migrants at Piraeus port [02] Dairy producer Fage to leave domestic milk market [01] 5,745 refugees and migrants at Piraeus port A total of 5,745 refugees and migrants are hosted at Piraeus port on Wednesday. "Ariadni" ferry arrived earlier in the day carrying only 15 refugees from Mytilene. "Blue Star 2" also docked at Piraeus port with no refugees on board. Meanwhile, the number of tents in the area of the port reached 1,100. The ministry for Migration Policy in a meeting on Tuesday decided to distribute leaflets to the refugees advising them to be transferred from the port and what procedures they must follow. The first phase provides for their transfer to a new accommodation centre at Eleonas and other facilities at Kyllini where 1,300 can be hosted. [02] Dairy producer Fage to leave domestic milk market Greek dairy producer Fage on Wednesday announced its withdrawal from the domestic milk market. In 2015 report, the company announced its intention to leave the milk market as the sector is non-profitable. It has already started negotiations to sell all its properties, plants and equipment of the factory in Amyntaio, Florina. Fage also owns two factories at Metamorfosis, Attica region, and Trikala, for the production of yoghurt and other dairy products. According to the economic results announced by FAGE International, the company reported sales of 648.22 million dollars in 2015 compared to sales of 667.9 million dollars in 2014 while net profits reached 14.74 million dollars from 0.1 million dollars in 2014. Sales by volume rose 3.2 percent last year compared to 2014, with the biggest increase coming from Italy (40.1 percent) and the UK (32 percent). In Greece, Fage saw its sales decline by 11.1 percent in 2015 compared with the previous year. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-30 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at CONTENTS [01] We show zero tolerance to all forms of intolerance, President Pavlopoulos stresses [02] Greek program review may be ready by end of April, says EC's mission chief to Greece [03] ND to propose parliamentary probe into capital controls and third memorandum, party sources say [04] Vanessa Redgrave visits refugees at Piraeus [05] National Bank ready to support economic recovery, NBG chief Katseli says [06] Vanessa Redgrave visits refugees at Piraeus [01] We show zero tolerance to all forms of intolerance, President Pavlopoulos stresses "We show zero tolerance to all forms of intolerance that affects and undermines our culture and we are bound by the promise we have given: "Holocaust-Never Again," Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Wednesday said during his visit to the Holocaust Museum, Israel. The President laid a wreath in memory of the Jews killed in Nazi camps and noted that "the Holocaust taught us in the most painful and horrible way that the principles and values of Humanism are not, in fact, self-evident. It is our duty to be vigilant in order to protect them. Especially now that racism, intolerance, anti-Semitism are, unfortunately, again on the rise. That is why it is imperative to maintain the memory of the Holocaust and pass it over to the future generations." Pavlopoulos stressed that "it is a matter of national consciousness to refer, among the millions of victims, to the 67,151 Greek Jews who were killed in Nazi camps." [02] Greek program review may be ready by end of April, says EC's mission chief to Greece The Greek program review can be concluded by the end of April, EC's mission chief to Greece Declan Costello said in a meeting of Greek and European Parliament members, according to Europarliament SYRIZA deputy Dimitris Papadimoulis. During the meeting of the Social Affairs Committees of the European and the Greek Parliaments, Costello informed the Greek delegation that the International Monetary Fund wishes an agreement is reached and is not asking for more than those agreed in August. He also estimated that the differences between the Greek side and the creditors can be bridged. [03] ND to propose parliamentary probe into capital controls and third memorandum, party sources say Main opposition New Democracy intends to table a proposal within the day for a parliamentary probe to investigate the reasons why capital controls were imposed on Greece, as well as the signing of the third memorandum and the need for a fresh recapitalisation of Greek banks, sources at the party's headquarters said on Wednesday. Such a parliamentary examining committee should also investigate whether there was a plan for the country's exit from the euro through the issue of a parallel currency and a haircut of bonds held by the European Central Bank, or whether there was a plan to break into Greece's national mint that involved ministers of the previous government, the same sources said. It should also look into whether the prime minister knew about such plans, as ministers of the then government had claimed, or whether they were acting not on his orders and without his knowledge, they noted. The sources pointed out that ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during Tuesday's debate in Parliament, had called on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to strike an agreement under which the main opposition will vote in favour of the government's proposal for an examining committee on the loans to political parties and the media, while the government will vote in favour of ND's own proposals for an examining committee. [04] Vanessa Redgrave visits refugees at Piraeus British actress and activist Vanessa Redgrave on Wednesday visited the refugees that are temporarily hosted at Pireaus port. Redgrave spoke with refugees and migrants and listened closely to their problems. Most of them said they want to go to Europe but the borders are closed. In her statements, the British actress said it is a shame for Europe and for the Europeans to not accept refugees and some countries to continue to keep their borders closed. Redgrave was accompanied by playwright Martin Sherman and on the part of "Medicines Sans Frontieres" the responsible of the Greek department Apostolos Veizis. Redgrave supports "Medicines Sans Frontieres" action. [05] National Bank ready to support economic recovery, NBG chief Katseli says National Bank (NBG) meets the pressing needs of the country for reconstruction of the productive base in order to safeguard social cohesion and the continuous upgrading of the educational and cultural level, its governor Louka Katselli on Wednesday said in an event for the celebration of its 175 anniversary. On his part, the managing director of National Bank Leonidas Fragiadakis said that the bank is ready to commit all its forces in order to lead the economic recovery. National Bank, with unprecedented capital ratios in our market, and excess liquidity, it is ready to finance the economy and support innovative businesses through sound risk-taking, and an alignment of incentives between the bank and the company, he added. [06] Vanessa Redgrave visits refugees at Piraeus British actress and activist Vanessa Redgrade on Wednesday visited the refugees that are temporarily hosted at Pireaus port. Redgrave spoke with refugees and migrants and listened closely to their problems. Most of them said they want to go to Europe but the borders are closed. In her statements, the British actress said it is a shame for Europe and for the Europeans to not accept refugees and some countries to continue to keep their borders closed. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-30 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at CONTENTS [01] President Pavlopoulos: 'We have to exterminate the Minotaur of neoliberalism' [02] Vanessa Redgrave to ANA-MPA: 'Europe is trampling on principles and human lives' [03] British Ambassador attends RAF's elite 'Red Arrows' team training in Tanagra [04] Seamen abducted by pirates from Greek-owned ship off Nigerian coast released [01] President Pavlopoulos: 'We have to exterminate the Minotaur of neoliberalism' President Prokopis Pavlopoulos used the myth of the Minotaur and its labyrinth to describe the state of the international economy in a speech during a ceremony awarding him an honorary doctor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Wednesday. "European legal order is in a dangerous vortex of an unprecedented socio-economic crisis with the economy increasingly resembling the mythic Labyrinth, in the sense that the entrance is visible but the exit is far away, labyrinthine and obscure," Pavlopoulos, who's on an official three-day visit to Israel said. "In this labyrinth and against this Minotaur, legal order and the institutions assume the shape of a new Theseus, whose shield is the traditional democratic legitimacy and its spear is the full sense of his institutional mission, must fight to find the Minotaur and exterminate him," he added. "This economic Labyrinth which has its own Minotaur, as an architect and as a relentless watchdog of nightmarish chaos, is the legitimate child of the neoliberal economic ideas." During a visit to the Holocaust Museum earlier in the day, Pavlopoulos said countries must not tolerate racism, anti-Semitism. "We show zero tolerance to all forms of intolerance that affects and undermines our culture and we are bound by the promise we have given: Holocaust-Never Again," he said. The President laid a wreath in memory of the Jews killed in Nazi camps and noted that "the Holocaust taught us in the most painful and horrible way that the principles and values of Humanism are not, in fact, self-evident. It is our duty to be vigilant in order to protect them. Especially now that racism, intolerance and anti-Semitism are, unfortunately, again on the rise. That is why it is imperative to maintain the memory of the Holocaust and pass it over to the future generations." Pavlopoulos stressed that "it is a matter of national consciousness to refer, among the millions of victims, to the 67,151 Greek Jews who were killed in Nazi camps." [02] Vanessa Redgrave to ANA-MPA: 'Europe is trampling on principles and human lives' In blistering criticism of Europe's attitude toward refugees and its failure to secure them a safe and legal passage, award-winning actress and activist Vanessa Redgrave on Wednesday accused European governments of trampling on both principles and human lives. "The European Union is trampling, is using their feet to trample, put their boots on, everything that my father's generation tried to make better after the horror of the Holocaust and the Second World War, that's what they're doing now. How can they do this? We can't allow them to do this," she said. In an exclusive interview given to the ANA-MPA after her visit to the port of Piraeus, where she met refugees and talked to members of organisations such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Redgrave said she was trying to stop European governments in the only ways that she could, which was by supporting organisations MSF and their efforts to meet the refugees' humanitarian needs, by talking to people and, in her case, by making a film. She praised the work done by MSF and the UNHCR, noting that both organisations had been emphasising that Europe and the EU must give safe and legal passage to refugees. "European government should have given the refugees some document which gave them a safe and legal passage...There are a lot of dead people and this should be on the conscience of Europe but I don't see that it is...they died because of Europe," she said. Redgrave also had warm praise for the Greek people, as opposed to the Greek government, thanking them for the support they had shown to the refugees. "I felt it so strongly that the Greek people...were responding with their hearts and whatever they could give to help the refugees. In other words they considered the refugees were human beings," she said. The governments of Europe, by contrast, were not treating the refugees as human beings," she added. "I spent a lot of time in my life spending time with refugees, too much time. I never dreamed when I was young that I would be seeing human beings being treated the way they are, either by warring forces and militias or governments dropping bombs, sending shells, without a thought for the human beings that are suffering these conflicts and wars and destroying their homes and their futures. I never dreamt this would happen," Redgrave said. There were wars everywhere and the governments of Europe bore a huge responsibility for these wars, and the ensuing poverty and persecution that followed, the actress pointed out. She was scathing in her criticism of the governments that had closed their borders to the refugees, calling it the stuff of Hollywood horror. "This is the kind of thing you expect a Walt Disney film to be made about, some Hollywood disaster. A country won't open its borders it puts up wire that catches the flesh. It sounds like a horror movie; and it isn't a movie but it is horror," she said, noting that ordinary people wanted to help and it was governments that wouldn't let them. Redgrave also drew parallels with the behaviour of the British and other governments in the 1930s, in the run-up of WWII, and the suffering this had brought. "The reality is that Europe can take care of the refugees but refuses to do it," she added. "The principles are contained in the lives that they are trampling on. When I see the babies and the wives, and the husbands that are trying to protect them, I think I wish I could protect you but I can't open the borders. But the governments can and I wonder why are these governments, FYROM and others, why are they allowed to close their borders." Redgrave said it made her furious, since it was such an immense crime to force refugees to put their lives in the hands of ruthless traffickers in order to have a future, while Europe sought to deter them from coming. "It makes me so ashamed after what happened in Europe in the 1930s," she said. The actress also talked about a film that she is working on, with passages from classical literature read or acted by actors such as herself, Emma Thomson or Ralph Fiennes. She noted that artists often felt very inadequate, as if they were helpless to do anything, but that "we can use different parts of our voices and that's what the film is about." " It will be half a requiem and in speaking that kind of truth and homage to the suffering and those who've suffered and are suffering, I think it will help awaken our thinking, a lot of people that want to help and are helping." In addition to making the film, Redgrave said she was ready to join with her colleagues in putting pressure on governments and even go to Brussels, if necessary, and tell them that they should resign, go into retirement, rather than allow themselves to commit this atrocity of neglect and brutality. She was accompanied on her visit to Piraeus by dramatist and screenwriter Martin Sherman, himself descended from a family of refugees that left Russia seeking a better life. Describing his own family's experience, he noted that they had been "traumatised for life" by their trip. Similarly, he added, during visits to the refugee centres in Greece he saw that the people there were "in a state of shock". The worst thing, he added, was that the whole thing was unnecessary. "There's no need for any of this. There 500 and something million people in Europe and we're talking about one million refugees, which in the scheme of things is not that much and they can be absorbed. We're not talking about one country, they can be absorbed into all of the European countries, if the EU countries cooperated. But Europe has been disgraceful, not least by their behaviour amongst themselves. There are some countries that have steadfastly refused to take any refugees, which have blackmailed the other countries that were originally willing to do something, and have succumbed to the blackmail. These people can be absorbed, there is no reason for this and this is possibly the most shocking thing," he said. On the role of art in a crisis such as this, Sherman noted that art cannot solve a political situation like the refugee problem but can alert people to it and make them aware. "Some of what is reported in the press is deceptive...the good thing about art is that it is selective. Art can show you where to look," he said. [03] British Ambassador attends RAF's elite 'Red Arrows' team training in Tanagra Britain's Ambassador to Greece, John Kittmer, visited the 114 Combat Wing of Greece's Air Force in Tanagra, an area north of Athens on Wednesday, to attend a training session of the "Red Arrows", the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team. The "Red Arrows", who are currently training in Tanagra air force base, is one of the world's premier aerobatic display teams, known for presenting extraordinary and impressive shows across Britain. The British envoy, who was accompanied by Defence Attache, Captain Richard Blackwell, was welcomed by the Wing Commander, Colonel Athanasios Ganas and then flew with one of the 11 Hawk-T1-Aircraft used by the Red Arrows in the aerobatics. The Royar Air Force team will complete its training program on April 28. [04] Seamen abducted by pirates from Greek-owned ship off Nigerian coast released Four seamen abducted by pirates from the Greek-owned, Panama-flagged tanker "Madonna 1" have been released unharmed in Nigerian territory, the shipping company announced on Wednesday. The four - three Greeks and one Filipino - were abducted in early March while the ship was sailing without cargo about 15 nautical miles from the coast of Nigeria. The Greek ship's captain, first engineer and an agent of the shipping company have already returned to Greece and are in good health, the company said. The ship was sailing with a crew of 21 and one passenger, the shipping firm's agent, and was heading toward the port of Lome in Togo when it was attacked by armed pirates that abducted the four men. After the abduction, the ship continued its journey and the Greek Shipping ministry mobilised its crisis management team, which alerted the ministries of national defence, foreign affairs and international centres for fighting piracy to the incident. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article CHICAGO - A Christian businessman in Paxton, Illinois has been fined $80,000 by the unelected Illinois Human Rights Commission for his refusal to host a same-sex civil union ceremony at his TimberCreek Bed & Breakfast. Jim Walder, the owner, refused the business from Todd and Mark Wathen because of his religious convictions. In 2011, Todd and Mark Wathen contacted TimberCreek, which publicly markets itself as "an upscale Christian country Bed & Breakfast," to specifically book the gay, civil union ceremony. When the business was declined for religious reasons, the couple appealed to the Human Rights Commission, whose members are appointed by the Governor. Eight of the eleven members were appointed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. A judge with the commission ordered TimberCreek Bed & Breakfast to: Pay $15,000 each to Todd and Mark Wathen as compensation for their emotional distress. Cease and desist from exercising their First Amendment rights and allow full access to their privately owned facilities for gay marriage and civil union services. Provide Todd and Mark Wathen access to their private facility, within one year, for an event celebrating their civil union. Pay the Wathens' pro bono attorneys $50,000 in fees and $1,218 in costs. "We are very happy that no other couple will have to experience what we experienced by being turned away and belittled and criticized for who we are," said Todd Wathen, who was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. A representative from TimberCreek was not immediately available to comment. "You can't make socialists out of individualists. Children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society, which is coming, where everyone is interdependent." John Dewey , known as "the father of modern education, was an avowed socialist and the co-author of the "Humanist Manifesto. The U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities discovered that he belonged to 15 Marxist front organizations. Dewey taught the professors who trained America's teachers. Obsessed with "the group," he said : Author Rosalie Gordon, writing about Dewey's progressive (socialist) education in her book, What's Happened To Our Schools, said: "The progressive system has reached all the way down to the lowest grades to prepare the children of America for their role as the collectivists of the future. The group - not the individual child - is the quintessence of progressivism. The child must always be made to feel part of the group. He must indulge in group thinking and group activity." After visiting the Soviet Union, Dewey wrote six articles on the "wonders" of Soviet education. The School-To-Work program, now in our public schools in all 50 states, is modeled after the Soviet poly-technical system. In 1936, the National Education Association stated the position from which it has never wavered: "We stand for socializing the individual. The NEA, in its Policy For American Education, opined: "The major problem of education in our times arises out of the fact that we live in a period of fundamental social change. In the new democracy [what happened to our republic?], education must share in the responsibility of giving purpose and direction to social change. The major function of the school is the social orientation of the individual . . . Education must operate according to a well-formulated social policy." An excerpt from the article states: "As recently as the early 1950s, the typical American university professor held social and political views quite similar to those of the general population. Today well, you've all heard the jokes that circulated after the collapse of central planning in Eastern Europe and the former USSR, how the only place in the world where Marxists were still thriving was the Harvard political science department. Higher education reflects inmates running the asylum More generally, U.S. higher education often looks like a clear case of the inmates running the asylum. This condition can be traced to students who were radicalized in the 1960s who rose to positions of influence within colleges and universities. One needs only to observe the aggressive pursuit of "diversity" in admissions and hiring, the abandonment of the traditional curriculum in favor of highly politicized "studies" based on group identity, the mandatory workshops on sensitivity training, and so on to fully comprehend the stranglehold the Left has managed to secure today within our schools, especially at the university level where instructors need not be as concerned with parental interference, but instead have a captive audience in which to indoctrinate our children to their Marxist philosophies Examining Chicago's own Bill Ayers An example of the Socialist infiltration in education can be seen in studying former terrorist, Bill Ayers, past leader of the radical Weather Underground in the 1960s. Ayers decided blowing up Americas federal buildings was not working out for him or his gang of like-minded extremists. He escaped going to prison due to the FBI illegally wire-tapping his conversations, probably helped by his father's political clout in Chicago as head of ComEd. This lucky break most likely caused Ayes to contemplate another more effective approach to change America from within, rather than from outside the nations mainstream institutions. In 1984 Ayers earned a master's degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College. Three years later, he received a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Columbia University. Had Bill Ayers and his friends just immigrated to a socialist state, it would have been much better for this nation, but instead Ayers became entrenched in the university system where he quietly began to invade college classrooms with his anti-American philosophies. This article documents the progression of Ayers radical educational network dating back to the 60s. Hired in 1987 as a professor of education at the University of Illinois, Ayers held that post until retirement in 2010, retiring with the title of Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar. As of October 2008, Ayer's office door at the university was adorned with photographs of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Che Guevara, and Malcolm X. By 2008, Ayers was elected Vice President for Curriculum Studies by the American Educational Research Association. He worked with Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley, with the goal of creating changes in Chicago's school reform program. Bill Ayers and wife Bernadine Dohrn continued to develop relationships and friendships with like-minded people, such as Barack Obama -- even though Obama has denied knowing Ayers and Dohrn -- and other Chicago politicians. It is documented that Ayers had a fundraiser in his home for Obama, and the Obamas were invited to at least one private party at the Ayers' home. Both men served on boards which Obama headed. One of those boards awarded $2 million for Bill Ayers/Klonsky Small Schools Workshop. Its goal, as Ayers repeatedly made clear, most prominently in a 2006 speech before Hugo Chavez at an education forum in Caracas, was to bring the same Leftist revolution that has always galvanized them into the classroom. Regarding Klonsky, an unabashed communist, Obama gave Klonsky a broad platform to broadcast his ideas through a "social justice" blog on the official Obama campaign website. Ayers was also the key force behind obtaining wealthy Annenbergs $387 million dollar donation to Chicago schools, which became known as the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. What appeared odd is that if Annenbergs purpose was to elevate the dismal test scores of Chicago schools, why did the grant not require the recipients of his donation to meet specific education benchmarks? Funds were not dispersed on the basis of the schools raising test score percentages in either reading or math. It should be noted that Barack Obama was on the founding Board of Directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge and elected as the Board's Chairman when Bill Ayers was awarded the money for his Small Schools Project. One would hope the infusion of such major funding into the Chicago schools would have made a major difference in the quality of education. A recent 2014 report indicated students in grades two through six did not meet the national average in reading and no grades met the national averages for math. Obama appoints Duncan to promote progressive Common Core standards President Obama, upon being the newly elected President, quickly initiated a committee to develop a national education program, now known as the controversial Common Core. Bill Gates donated at least $200 million dollars to promote the education program to state governors and teacher organizations. Others, such as the Annenberg Foundation made significant donations, but the one that raised eyebrows was a $50 million grant from a Qatar Foundation International member, who gave it to Bill Ayers with the agreement it would be used to promote Muslims views and lead American children away from actual historical events, replacing them with specific propaganda. This article, published in the Chicago Reader on November 8, 1990, by Ben Joravsky, tells of "The Long, Strange Trip of Bill Ayers." It is a riveting interview account. The article is prefaced by: He [Ayers) wasn't just any suburban-bred all-American boy; his father ran Commonwealth Edison. Ayers didn't just rebel; he was a leader of the Weathermen, the group that bombed the Pentagon and sprung LSD guru Timothy Leary from jail." And Ayers hasn't changed since Joravsky's November 1990 published article. Having retired from the University of Illinois in 2010, radical left-wing activist, education expert, and domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers, (wearing a Black Lives matter T-shirt) recently attended the huge Trump rally protest that resulted in the cancellation of Trump's rally at the University of Illinois. Here is what Ayers had to say: "I've never seen anything this big at the University of Illinois, Chicago. And it's huge. It's galvanized Latino students, black students, Muslim students and white students. And everybody feels like, 'Look, this is a university'. We don't need . . . organized hatred spilling into our center." President Obama wasted no time in appointing Arnie Duncan as his Secretary of Education who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 20, 2009. Duncan served as the chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), a position he held from June 2001 through December 2008, when he resigned to join Obama in Washington, D.C. Duncan helped convince 42 states to adopt education goals based on Common Core, and 21 of them to use tests that directly align with those standards, which were created by a bi-partisan group and attempted to make U.S. schools more challenging and the curriculum more similar from state-to-state. Universities resemble Marxist indoctrination centers We cannot blame just Dewey, Ayers, and Obama. Much of the damage to our schools has been done by Teacher Unions that use mandatory teacher dues to support Leftist politicians, liberal organizations, and Left leaning school board candidates. It is a very cozy group, and they have way too much power. Parents would be wise to investigate their childrens curriculum with a practiced eye in order to catch the clever ways liberal political viewpoints are strategically woven into their books and study materials. Professors in colleges are not even subtle. They have captive audiences who depend upon them for good grades and rarely worry about parents. As Abraham Lincoln wisely stated: The philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. Dewey, Ayers, and many others of their ilk knew this to be true and thus manipulated our universities into resembling Marxist indoctrination centers rather than schools that provide a well-rounded education that prepares students for successful transitioning to the real world. Most of us had no idea what was going on behind the iron curtain classrooms which socialists created. Certainly this explains how socialist, Bernie Sanders, can run for president of the United States and draw large crowds applauding him. Not too long ago, he would have been booed off the stage by outraged American patriots who understood the dangers of the socialism he advocates. Exposing Anti-American teaching tactics The anti-American teaching tactics need to be exposed, but the media has also become largely liberal, thus begging the question "who will speak up for our children?" It must be those of us who remember the way it once was, who have read and honor our Constitution, and who know the history of how clever socialists ruined once great countries. Each of us must contact our elected officials and demand tax-payer funds be yanked from any school with unfair hiring practices and/or that reflect an unequal number of conservatives verses liberal teachers/professors. Each classroom must be monitored for any curriculum that opposes our Constitution or our basic Founding Fathers principles, and there must be fairness in presenting diverse viewpoints. The future of America depends upon all of us demanding no less. Haldhar Nag, a 66-year-old poet and writer from western Odisha, who has been named in the PhD research theses of five scholars, was recently honored with the Padma Shri award by the President of India. A Class 3 dropout that has 5 PhD theses after his name By India Today Web Desk: A man with extraordinary skill who hardly attended school was recently honored with the Padma Shri award by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. Meet Haldhar Nag, a 66-year-old poet and writer from western Odisha who has been named in the PhD research theses of five scholars. This poet writes in Kosli language, and at this age, he remembers all the poems and his 20 epics that he has written so far. advertisement Popularly known as Lok Kabi Ratna in Odisha, the themes of his poems are based on the rural areas and his writing are mainly on religion, nature, society and mythology. "In my view, poetry must have real-life connection and a message for the people," he said. To educate students through his writings, the Sambalpur University will soon do a compilation of all his writing. Moreover, the university will include Haldhar poetry, Granthabali-2 in the university syllabus. According to TOI, a close associate of Haldhar Nag said, "He remembers whatever he writes and has been reciting them. You just need to mention the name or subject. He never misses anything. Now he attends at least three to four programmes every day to recite his poems." "It's great to see the huge interest of young people in poems in Kosli. Everyone is a poet, but only a few have the art of giving them shape." According to TOI report, Nag's close associate also said that the poet has never worn a footwear and is always seen wearing a white dhoti and a vest. "I feel free in this attire," he added. After getting the award, Haldhar Nag, in a report, said that he was born in a poor family of Ghens in Bargarh district of Odisha in 1950 and he went to school up to only Class 3. He had to leave education after his father passed away when he was just 10. "Life of a widow's child was tough," Nag added. Further speaking on the tough times he had faced, Nag said that after two years of his father death, a village head gave him the work of a cook in a high school, which he did for 16 years. "But soon, a number of schools came up in the area. I approached a banker and got Rs 1,000 loan to start a small shop selling stationery items and eatables for school students," he said. In the year 1990, Nag wrote his first poem 'Dhodo Bargachh' (The Old Banyan Tree) and it even got published also in the local magazine. "I was felicitated and that encouraged me to write more. I started touring nearby villages to recite my poems and got huge response," Nag said, while concluding his statement. advertisement Click here to get more education news. --- ENDS --- Posters describing Holi as an "anti-women" festival were seen at the JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) campus on Tuesday. By India Today Web Desk: Posters describing Holi as an "anti-women" festival were seen at the JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) campus on Tuesday. According to newspaper reports, the posters were pasted on the walls of eateries, markets and schools on the campus and read "Why does Brahmanical Patriarchal India celebrate burning of Holika, an Asura Bahujan woman? What is holy about Holi ? Holi will not only remain anti-bahujan, anti-dalit and anti-adivasi women in character, but is against womanhood itself. SAY NO TO HOLI!" advertisement According to the posters, the festival has sexually abused Dalit women in the name of celebrations as historically. The text on the posters also reads that 'celebration of Holi is against womanhood'. The posters carry the name of a group -- Flames of Resistance (FOR) and it is also mentioned that the same should not be removed till April 8. But according to a JNUSU office bearer, no such group had existed so far and it seems that this is a newly formed group. JNU has been in the news because of an event which was organised last month at the campus to mark the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Few students organised the event at the Sabarmati Dhaba, against the execution of Afzal Guru and separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, and for Kashmir's right to self-determination. Recently, another group of students had burnt an ancient legal text Manusmriti, alleging some of its excerpts had "derogatory" references to women. The poster further read, ''Let us not forget the case of Soni Sori who was attacked with an acid-like substance by brahmanical forces. Culturally, Holi is the coming together of the Right and the Left symbolically burning the dalit Bahujan woman, with the blessings of Manu, with joy and pomp in the public sphere''. Read: Hyderabad University row: Around 55 teachers go on mass leave Read: Free education to girls studying in government schools For information on more latest news and updates, click here. --- ENDS --- By Simar Singh: The best escape from the daily grind is meeting up with the closest members of your girl gang and pouring your heart out. But sometimes, it becomes essential to just get away with your favourite people, create some memories and completely de-stress yourself, because no one knows you quite like these girls do. And of course, why should boys have all the fun? Udaipur Picture courtesy: Flickr/Admanchester/Creative Commons What could be better than cruising on the cool shimmery waters of Lake Pichola with a band of your closest friends? Beautiful and laid-back, Udaipur is the perfect place to head with your gang of girls just to relax and enjoy each other's company. Together, you can explore the city in the day and fill your evenings with great food and Rajasthani cultural shows. Also Read: Travel to these 5 destinations to de-stress! Sunderbans Picture courtesy: Flickr/B K/Creative Commons A visit to the Sunderbans is bound to be memorable and you can make it even more so by getting your girlfriends to tag along. Home to mangroves and Royal Bengal tigers, the Sunderbans provides the perfect platform to get close to nature and indulge in boat safaris, bird watching or just soaking in the almost-transcendental charm of the place. Gokarna Beach Picture courtesy: Flickr/Nicholas Mirguet/Creative Commons If you're looking for a beach vacation that's not too commercialised, but just a quiet getaway in which you can relax and catch up with the girls, Karnataka's Gokarna is a great option. An hour's drive from Goa, Gokarna is essentially a holy town, wherein you can pay a visit to temples like the Mahabaleshwar. Adjacent to the town are four pristine beaches waiting for you to come and soak up the sun. In classic holiday style, you and your gang can actually try lighting a bonfire on the beach at night. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Puducherry Picture courtesy:Flickr/Kalyan Kanuri/Creative Commons This quiet place is the perfect getaway for your all-girl crew. With its French aesthetics, cobbled roads and shady walks, just taking a stroll or cycling around on rented bikes under the Southern sun is bound to make your bonds even stronger. You could sit for hours on the jagged rocks and chat while watching the sea. Be ready for some incredible European cuisine and seafood. Valley of Flowers Picture courtesy: Flickr/Alosh Bennett/Creative Commons If your lot loves all things floral and is drawn to the mountains, it's a great idea to head over to the picturesque Valley of Flowers. Trekking to the place is an experience in itself, but one can opt to ride ponies as well. advertisement --- ENDS --- The AAM Admi Party (AAP) is trying to corner the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for allowing the visit of Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team to probe the Pathankot terror. By Mail Today: The AAM Admi Party (AAP) is trying to corner the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for allowing the visit of Pakistan's Joint Investigation Team to probe the Pathankot terror. Stepping up attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that Modi was making a deal with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to benefit industrialists. Kejriwal during the budget session in Delhi assembly accused Modi of embracing Pakistan that is behind the terror attacks on India that have claimed countless lives. advertisement Meanwhile, AAP leaders camped at Pathankot protesting against JIT visit. They targeted the NDA for hurting the sentiments of Indians by allowing the Pakistani team to investigate the Pathankot terror attack. Senior AAP leader Gurpreet Ghugi said, "The country does not need a certificate from its neighbours on the authenticity of the probe conducted by Indian investigation agencies. AAP leaders, including Sanjay Singh, Delhi minister Kapil Mishra and Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, led the party's protest in Pathankot who were accompanied by locals and party members. Speaking to MAIL TODAY Kapil Mishra said, "Nothing is as humiliating as allowing same people to investigate the case who have killed our people here. This is so shameful and disgusting. This is an insult to Mother India. We will not let the Modi government do this." The move by AAP is seen as part of their aggressive campaign in Punjab to gain support from the locals who in large number have come out in support of the party. Several party leaders are camping in Punjab and holding mohalla sabha eyeing 2017 Assembly polls due in the state. AAP has been claiming to win election in Punjab with significant seats. Echoing the remarks he made a day earlier too, Kejriwal said New Delhi had always accused Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism in India. Kerjriwal repeatedly questioned the visit of the Pakistani JIT to probe the Pathankot terror attack and alleged that Centre's decision may have been influenced by a deal struck between Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. ALSO READ: Pathankot attack: NIA to share call details of terrorists with Pakistan's JIT Pakistan's JIT visits Pathankot air base, gives mortuary a miss Indian team to visit Pakistan soon to review progress in Pathankot attack probe: NIA --- ENDS --- Liquor baron Vijay Mallya has come out in defence of his son Siddharth. Mallya has said that Siddharth must not be dragged into any controversy as he had absolutely no connection with his father's 'business'. By India Today Web Desk: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya has come out in defence of his son Siddharth. Mallya has said that Siddharth must not be dragged into any controversy as he had absolutely no connection with his father's 'business'. "My son Sid does not deserve all this hatred and abuse. He has had nothing to do with my business. Shower abuse on me if you must but not him. Slam me if you must but not a young man," Mallya said in a series of tweets. My son Sid @sidmallya does not deserve all this abuse as he had nothing to do with my business. Slam me if you must but not a young man.&; Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 29, 2016 My son Sid does not deserve all this hatred and abuse. He has had nothing to do with my business. Shower abuse on me if you must but not him&; Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 29, 2016 advertisement Siddharth has faced backlash on Twitter after his father Vijay Mallya left the country. Siddharth took to Twitter against the abuse that he received. Mallya, promoter of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines, had left India on March 2. ED had earlier issued summons to Mallya for "personal appearance" on March 18 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). But the flamboyant business asked for a date in April, making it clear that he would not be able to appear before that. Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought out in India over charges of money laundering, claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects and asserted that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit. --- ENDS --- The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is expected to make a return visit to Pakistan to probe the role of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abul Rauf's involvement in the Pathankot attack. By Mail Today: After the Pakistani probe team's visit to India, it is the turn of Indian officials to reciprocate the move by travelling across the border to tie loose ends to nail down Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar's involvement in the Pathankot attack. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is expected to make a return visit to Pakistan to probe the role of Azhar and his brother Abul Rauf, sources said. Armed with evidence in the form of call details of the slain terrorists and intercepts, Indian investigators believe the trail leads to JeM bosses. advertisement "The Pakistani team's visit is based on reciprocation. We expect the same cooperation and access to key players that we have given them," said a government official. After the Pakistani probe team returns, NIA will also send a proposal to the government for sending an investigation team to Pakistan, sources said. NIA is expected to seek access to Azhar, his brother Rauf and some key players like Kashif Jaan, identified by Indian investigators as the main handler of the slain terrorists. Sources say Kashif was in constant touch with Rauf before and during the attack and Rauf was passing on the information to Azhar. Kashif's location while speaking to the terrorists was mostly Bhawalpur in Punjab province, the JeM headquarters. Other than phone numbers of Rauf, brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, NIA shared numbers of the companies who had supplied the packed food to the terrorists. NIA also cited similarities between the Pathankot attack with those in Samba and Kathua last year like using same GPS and wireless sets, the modus operandi of hijacking cars, energy drink 'Red bull' (common in all attacks), identical wire cutters and arms and ammunition of Eastern Europe, Russian and Chinese make which are available in the Af-Pak region. The five-member Pakistani team visited Pathankot on Tuesday and were given restricted access to the airbase attacked by terrorists on January 2 killing seven security personnel. The team also went to the Unjhh river bridge in Bamial near border from where the terrorists are supposed to have crossed over the border. The team could not go to the forward post in Bamial as the BSF had reservations over that keeping in view the strategic importance and presence of underground bunkers in that area. The Pakistani team probing the Pathankot terror strike has conveyed to the NIA that it has the mandate to collect evidence in the case under that country's law and as such there will be no judicial request for it. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has, however, made no formal request to the anti-terror probe agency so far for sharing the evidence. During interaction with NIA officials, the Pakistani team was asked whether any Letters Rogatory would be sent by Islamabad for collection of evidence against Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists who carried out the suicide attack on strategic airbase in Pathankot. Letters Rogatory is a judicial request under which a court of a sovereign nation asks the court of another sovereign nation for sharing evidence so that it is admissible. advertisement ALSO READ: Pathankot attack: NIA to share call details of terrorists with Pakistan's JIT Pakistan's JIT visits Pathankot air base, gives mortuary a miss Indian team to visit Pakistan soon to review progress in Pathankot attack probe: NIA --- ENDS --- British actor Alfie Allen, who plays Theon Greyjoy in the popular fantasy drama series Game of Thrones revealed about a scene where he and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) had to shoot on a river. By Indo-Asian News Service: British actor Alfie Allen, who plays Theon Greyjoy in the popular fantasy drama series Game of Thrones, has revealed the fate of his character and Sansa Stark, which is portrayed by actress Sophie Turner, in the upcoming sixth season. Allen sets the opening scene for Theon. "At the beginning of (season) six, you find him running through snowy, freezing forests leading the way with Sansa. They've just jumped off the wall of Winterfell and now they're on the run from Ramsay," Allen said in a statement. advertisement Describing the day of the shot, Allen said it was an "incredible" experience. Also read: Watch: The new, eerie Game of Thrones season 6 teaser hints that everyone's dead "We got there on the first day at Bambridge Studios and they'd blanketed this whole area with fake snow," he said. Allen revealed about a scene where he and Turner had to shoot on a river. "Everywhere, all the trees, it's all done with this amazing snow. And we're running through and we come to a river and Sansa is just too scared basically to get into the river. So I get in. Don't believe the press shots! Also read: Game of Thrones season 6 new posters: The good son and the evil king return from the dead "It looks like she's trying to get me out of the river, when I'm actually trying to be the strong one and get her in the river. Makes me look weak. Haha," he said. Asked if he is prepared to sacrifice himself for Turner's character Sansa, Allen said: "He sacrifices himself, because I guess he hasn't really got much worth or meaning for himself in the world anymore. And so he leads them away - or rather that's what he's trying to do." Talking about the role of actress Gwendoline Christie's character Brienne of Tarth, he said: "In fact he doesn't lead them away, because they see Sansa anyway and then Gwendoline Christie turns up as Brienne of Tarth and smashes everyone to shit. Also read: Game of Thrones season 6 coming to India on April 26 "Dan Portman's there -- Pod -- and then Pod ends up having a fight with this guy and then Theon stabs the guy in the back with the sword. He kills someone for the first time in ages, which must be a gratifying experience." Game of Thrones season 6 will air in India on Star World Premiere HD on April 26. --- ENDS --- advertisement The decision on whether women drivers will be exempted from the second phase of the odd-even scheme will be taken by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before April 8. A survey conducted by the government got a mixed response on in the regard but the exemption is likely to continue keeping 'security concerns' in mind. By Mail Today: The decision on whether women drivers will be exempted from the second phase of the odd-even scheme will be taken by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before April 8. A survey conducted by the government got a mixed response on in the regard but the exemption is likely to continue keeping 'security concerns' in mind. After the success of first phase of the car rationing plan, the government has met many representatives, who have sought equal treatment of men and women. Even during the survey conducted by the transport department, number of people voted for not exempting women from the scheme. advertisement "We have had lot of discussion on this matter and the final decision will now be taken by the chief minister and the Cabinet. The final list of exemptions will be made before April 8. Personally, I am in favour of exempting women, but the opinion is divided according to the survey we undertook. We strongly feel that women safety is our priority and they should be exempted but many women representatives have requested us to treat them at a par with other drivers," Transport Minister Gopal Rai said. However, the minister announced that it had been decided to keep CNG cars out of the ambit of the car rationing plan. "CNG stickers will be available from April 1 at a centre near CGO Complex at Lodhi Road. The centre will remain open from 8am to 8pm every day," Rai said. To monitor the impact of the scheme, the government has decided to install air quality monitoring systems across NCR. Also Read: #OddEvenLogic: Delhi HC asks Kejriwal why women and bikers are exempted Convince family to follow odd-even rule, Kejriwal tells Delhi students Odd-even formula: Delhi government releases parking plan Why exempt women, 2-wheelers from odd-even rule: Petition asks Delhi High Court #OddEvenLogic: Private schools approach HC over bus deployment issue --- ENDS --- Chairperson of Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed on Wednesday as the country's new minister of Foreign affairs. Aung San Suu Kyi appointed as the country's new minister of Foreign affairs By Indo-Asian News Service: Chairperson of Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed on Wednesday as the country's new minister of Foreign affairs. Suu Kyi will concurrently hold three other portfolios in the new government led by President-elect U Htin Kyaw, Xinhua reported. The appointment was announced by Speaker of the Union Parliament U Mann Win Khaing Than at the government cabinet swearing-in ceremony. advertisement Approved by the Union Parliament, the three other ministries to be headed by Aung San Suu Kyi are the Ministry of President Office, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Electricity and Energy. ALSO READ: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi set to steer cabinet from withinMyanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi set to steer cabinet from within --- ENDS --- Seven CRPF jawans are feared to have killed by the Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada today after the ultras detonated a bomb. By India Today Web Desk: Seven CRPF jawans are feared to have killed by the Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada today after the ultras detonated a bomb. The blast happened when the CRPF convoy was passing through Malewara in Dantewada, a stronghold of Naxal militants. An armourred vehicle was blown up, resulting in the deaths. Dantewada DIG(CRPF) D. P. Updhayay confirmed that the number of martyred CRPF personnel now is 7. advertisement "All the dead security personnel belonged to the 230 batallion of the CRPF," Dantewada SP K Kashyap said. We strongly condemn this cowardly act. Strong action shud be taken against those who did it. Violence is no solution https://t.co/MKs67cklX8 Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 30, 2016 Officials fear the toll may rise. More details are awaited. --- ENDS --- Upholding their right to pray, the Bombay High Court today said no rule should prevent women from entering temples. The Maharashtra government has been asked to reply about its stand on women entry into Shani Shignapur temple in two days. By India Today Web Desk: Upholding their right to pray, the Bombay High Court today said no rule should prevent women from entering temples. The Maharashtra government has been asked to reply about its stand on women entry into Shani Shignapur temple in two days. The High court has ordered the state to give protection to women's entry in such places. Hearing the plea filed by activist Trupti Desai, it said, "Collector should be ordered to provide protection. Women should be given equal rights. And action should be taken against those who are violating rules of equality." advertisement A petition had been filed in the Bombay High Court even as the Aurangabad bench of the high court is hearing the same issue. The Bombay High Court, however, told the state government that there is no rule which bars entry of women in a place where men can go. Also Read: RSS advocates for entry of women in temples, says restriction unfair --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Youssra El-Sharkawy Cairo, Mar 30 (PTI) Egypt today asked Cyprus to extradite its national, who hijacked an EgyptAir plane using a fake suicide belt and diverted it to Larnaca, under a bilateral agreement. General Prosecutor Nabil Ahmed Sadek requested authorities in Cyprus to send 58-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa to Egypt, a statement by the prosecution said. advertisement The prosecutor said that the request depends on a 1996 bilateral agreement that states that defendants can be exchanged between the two counties. EgyptAir MS181, on domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo, was hijacked and forced to divert its route to land at Larnaca International Airport by Mustafa who threatened to blow it up with a fake explosives belt. The hijacker, who officials said was motivated by personal reasons and "psychologically unstable", was detained after several tense hours at Larnaca airport where the plane was made to land. Most of the 81 people on board were allowed to disembark after the Airbus A-320 landed except a handful of crew and passengers, until shortly before the hijackers arrest. Mustafa was today remanded into Cypriot police custody for eight days. Egypt also said that the Cypriot authorities have shown in the last hours their swift and professional response in addressing difficult security challenges. PTI YES SAI AKJ SAI --- ENDS --- "Always there's a woman in the middle," said the Cypriot president when speaking about the plane hijack in Egypt yesterday. Since he enlightened us with that wisdom, we thought of listing down all the 'evil women' in history and mythology who caused great wars. By Shreya Biswas: So, a jilted lover made headlines yesterday. No, he did not throw any acid or resort to kidnapping. He just, you know, hijacked a plane. Read more about that here - EgyptAir hijack: A jilted lover who did not know what else to do! Long story short, Seif El Din Mustafa, the Egyptian man who pulled this stunt, was desperate to get in touch with his ex-wife. And he thought the best way to do that will be by hijacking a plane. advertisement But who could blame him, right? He was just a poor man desperate to meet his ex-wife (so what if she was already estranged from him?). Love can make you do crazy stuff, after all. But say, if anyone was to be called responsible for this incident, who would that be? Hmm, well, the president of Cyprus had an answer for that. During a press conference, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades was asked to confirm if the Cairo-bound Flight MS181 hijack had been over a 'woman'. To that, Mr President had this response: "Always there's a woman in the middle." Come on, it was only a joke! We can have that much humour, can't we? We can have a good laugh every time a woman is pointed out to be responsible for all things wrong with the world. That is only in the name of good humour (the president did laugh after making that comment). It has nothing to do with sexism at all! So, let's crack some more jokes, shall we? Let us dig up some of the major wrong-goings and great wars in our history and mythologies, and find out who was the "woman involved" that caused all the men to fight and mankind to suffer. Here we go: Let's blame the Holocaust on Stefanie Rabatsch Did you know a young Adolf Hitler was madly in love with a woman believed to a Jewish? A close friend of Hitler's, August Kubizek, wrote about Hitler's unrequited love for Stefanie Rabatsch in his book, Adolf Hitler, My Childhood Friend. In it, Kubizek speaks about how Hitler never once spoke to this girl, but dreamt of committing suicide for her. In fact, Stefanie was never even aware of Hitler's feelings. But hey, who knows? Maybe it was the pain of having his heart broken by a Jewish girl that drove him to systematically murder over six million Jews. Source: ErosNow Blame Helen of Troy for the Trojan War Only if Helen had waved off the influence of a god, only if she had not gone with the man she had fallen in love with. advertisement Duh, that's what caused the big fat battle of Troy! It wasn't Goddess Aphrodite's fault, who made Helen (someone else's wife) fall in love with Paris of Troy, as a present to him. It wasn't the ego clash between the men of Troy and the Achaeans. She should have fended off the goddess's bidding with prayer. Source: Blogspot Julius Caesar must've been stabbed because of a woman too! Come on, Macbeth committed regicide under the influence of a woman. There has to be a woman here too! How can there be a tragedy with no woman at fault? There is "always a woman in the middle", right? Perhaps, Casca was a lady. Or maybe, the blacksmith who made the dagger used to kill Caesar was a woman. That evil, conniving witch! Source: Giphy All that bloodbath in Harry Potter was obviously Voldemort's mother's fault Since we're talking about it, why leave out our modern era literature? Isn't it obvious? Had Voldemort's mother, Merope Gaunt, not charmed a Muggle into falling in love with her, there wouldn't have been any Second Wizarding War or any murders committed by Voldemort at all. Simple as that. advertisement Only because Merope Gaunt married a Muggle, she and her son (Voldemort) were spurned by a Muggle. If Voldemort had not been abandoned by a non-magic father, he wouldn't have loathed the Muggle race to death. So what if Merope was a victim of abuse at her pure-blooded magical father's house? So what if she died of poverty and was left by her husband for not being pretty enough? She is still the root cause of all that went wrong in the magical world. Source: Giphy The list can go on, but then, it will start itching people and evoke curses of all sorts. So, we chose not to speak of the serpents and sins, the chopped noses and disrobed wives, and all the wars and curses the women in those stories caused. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) Infrastructure firm HCC has bagged two orders worth Rs 623 crore in the hydro power and tunneling sectors. "Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has been awarded two contracts worth Rs 623 crore in the Hydro power and tunneling sectors," it said in a BSE filing. The first order worth Rs 456 crore, by Tangsibji Hydro Energy of Bhutan, is for constructing 118 megawatt (MW) Nikachhu Hydropower project and it is to be completed in 48 months. advertisement The company said this is its 5th order in Bhutan. The second order of Rs 167 crore from Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) is for constructing a double lane tunnel of approximately 1,500 metre which will be the access road to Sawalkote Hydroelectric Power Project in J&K. This project is expected to completed in 30 months. HCC President and CEO Arun Karambelkar said: "The two order win reflects the growing confidence in HCCs capability to execute key projects in the challenging terrain of the Himalayan ranges." HCC shares were trading 0.50 per cent higher at Rs 19.95 apiece during the afternoon session on BSE. PTI SVK PRB SA --- ENDS --- By PTI: interest New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI) Dubbing PDP as pro-separatist, the All-India Hindu Mahasabha today asked Jammu and Kashmirs chief minister-designate Mehbooba Mufti if she would chant Bharat Mata ki Jai and said BJPs alliance with her party is not in national interest. "BJPs alliance with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir for government formation is not in national interest. PDP, especially its chief ministerial contender Mehbooba Mufti, has been a well-wisher of separatists. "BJP, which claims to be a nationalist party, should thus not ally with PDP to form a government. Would Mehbooba Mufti chant Bharat Mata ki Jai? If not, how can she be a nationalist. Thus, a coalition with PDP will give rise to separatism in the state," the All India Hindu Mahasabha said. In a joint statement, Sabha president Chander Prakash Kaushik, general secretary Munna Kumar Sharma and organising secretary Viresh Tyagi asked the BJP not to ally with PDP and urged the Centre to impose Presidents Rule in Jammu and Kashmir. "Hindu Mahasabha urges BJP not to ally with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir to form a government. We urge the central government to impose Presidents Rule in Jammu and Kashmir and grant more powers to the Indian Army to quell separatist forces in the state," they said. The Mahasabha leaders also said Mehbooba had opposed the execution of Afzal Guru and PDP does not consider him anti-national. Under the PDP dispensation, separatists like Masarat Alam got full protection, they alleged. advertisement Claiming that the party also supports Hurriyat Conference, the right wing Hindu outfit said in such circumstances the BJP, which claims to be a nationalist party, should not ally with PDP to form a government. PTI SKC SK --- ENDS --- Remember that famous tweet by Hrithik Roshan which said he had more chances of 'having had an affair with the Pope' than any of the women the media was naming? That tweet has now earned him a legal notice. By India Today Web Desk: The Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut affair has seen several twists and turns over the last few months. While the last update in the case was Hrithik and Kangana slapping legal notices on each other, seems like there's an all-new development in the case now. And that too, with yet another party involved. ALSO READ: Hrithik Roshan-Kangana Ranaut fight - Proposal in Paris to Rebound Relationship, 10 shocking revelations advertisement ALSO READ: This is how Hrithik Roshan proposed to Kangana Ranaut in Paris in 2014 L'affaire Hrithik-Kangana had seen that famous tweet from Hrithik which read: It is dragging the Pope into his personal life that has landed Hrithik in a legal soup now. Apparently, a source informed Mumbai-based tabloid Mid-Day that a criminal notice was sent to Hrithik on Monday (March 28). The notice in discussion was sent by Abraham Mathai, All India President of the Indian Christian Voice, an organisation representing the larger interests of the Christian community, including Roman Catholics, in India. Mid-Day has quoted parts from the notice. It reads: "Our client Dr Abraham Mathai, who is a Christian by birth and faith? is extremely hurt by your disobedient and inexcusable comments, which has hurt the religious feelings and sentiments of majority of Christians across the world." Mathai has been quoted by Mid-Day as telling hitlist, "We demand Mr Roshan recants his statement and issues an unconditional apology. While we respect Mr Roshan's personal life including his right to choose who he wishes to be in a relationship with, we do take offense at dragging a religious head into it just so attention may be diverted, and the media glare move away. Such statements are irresponsible and not called for by a celebrity, thousands of whose fans are from the Catholic community and who believe that the Pope is their religious and revered head." Abraham Mathai's lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee, who, incidentally is Kangana Ranaut's lawyer too, informed the tabloid that the criminal notice was sent to Hrithik under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. Siddiquee said, "My client wants a written public apology from Hrithik Roshan within seven days." Now, the fact that the lawyer handling both the Kangana and Hrithik case and the one in discussion currently is the same person, has given rise to much speculation. However, whether or not Kangana is behind this notice is something that only time will be able to tell. --- ENDS --- How did a medical student who was considered to be a brilliant and incapable of hurting anyone get radicalized into joining ISIS. Read here! Boucar Gassama, father of medical student Sadio Gassama who left Senegal to join the Islamic State in Libya. (Photo: Reuters) By India Today Web Desk: While the news coming from Syria says that terrorist organisation ISIS is losing its grip in the war ravaged country, the increasing terror attacks by this extremist organisation has shaken the world. After claiming responsibility for the Paris and Brussels attack, ISIS has promised to bring 'dark days' in the countries battling against it. The threat that ISIS poses is not only to Middle Eastern or European countries, but the entire world. The presence of ISIS in African countries is getting stronger and how! advertisement From a humanist to a jihadist Sadio Gassama of Senegal used to give free check-ups at his mosque in the southern region of Casamance. His Facebook profile has pictures of him hugging his young niece and his father thought of him as a 'humanist' motivated to help others. Sadio was also considered a brilliant student who was incapable of hurting anyone by his professors. But, the 25-year-old medical student has joined the ISIS and is treating the IS fighters in Libya. His decision to join thousands a terrorist organisation came as a shock to his friends and family. In an interview to Reuters, Sadio said he is a 'jihadist doctor'. He wears a military uniform that has his name stitched on it and has embraced the Islamic State ideology. The mosque Sadio attended also had Salafist leanings, and he is said to have realised about that jihad was his Muslim duty only through meetings with local scholars. The ISIS propaganda The ISIS propagandists are inviting doctors to make 'hijrah', or pilgrimage, to their African stronghold of Sirte in Libya, reports Reuters. "Joining ISIS in Libya was relatively easy and accessible. I wanted to contribute to the establishment of a caliphate in Libya," said Sadio. It is the money and military propaganda that is aiding recruitment from not only Senegal but Chad, Ghana, Nigeria as well. In fact, in Niger many religious leaders are calling for "re-Islamisation". The African countries are calling for checks on mosques and NGOs as the Islamist insurgency intensifies. --- ENDS --- As the nationalism debate takes centrestage-splitting the discourse into often simplistic dichotomies of deshdroh and deshbhakti; respect for the soldiers dying on our borders and terror apologists; speech and sedition; the State and the students; the taxpayer and the researcher who is overstaying his welcome; Right and Left-students seem to be both the biggest casualties and the fiercest combatants. On February 9, 2016, an event organised at the Jawaharlal Nehru University was allegedly splattered with "anti-national" slogans such as "Pakistan zindabad", "Bharat ki azaadi tak jung rahegi", "Tum jitne Afzal maaroge, har ghar se Afzal niklega". In June 2015, the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the governing council of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune had students up in arms over the "government's high-handedness"-leading them to go on a 139-day-long strike until the I&B ministry agreed to have a dialogue with the protesting students. advertisement Two doctored videos, violent lawyers and MLAs, tens of chargesheeted students, a condom census and 200-feet-high flagpoles later, came the first-ever campus debate at the India Today Conclave 2016 titled 'Why are students so angry?' The session included Saket Bahuguna, Mahamedha Nagar and Saurabh Sharma from the ABVP in different hues of saffron and beige-ironically seated to the left of the stage and Shehla Rashid and Kanhaiya Kumar of the AISA and AISF to the right. In between were Vikas Urs of FTII, Pune, and Roji M John, president of the NSUI. "In the entire Constitution, the word 'national' is not used anywhere. So there is no question of the word 'anti-national' being present in the Constitution either," said Kumar, kickstarting the debate. He made his position clear, both politically and ideologically, on the slogans raised at the February 9 event, one he claimed was taking place without his knowledge and not with his attendance. He asserted that these slogans in a country like India are unnecessary and launched into his famed war cry of azaadi from capitalism, hunger and caste-which he claimed is the need of the hour. Sharma fought back by furiously waving pamphlets of the ultra-left organisations, the DSU and the JNU students' union-asserting the conspicuous absence of any kind of condemnation of the slogans by them. An equally impassioned Bahuguna addressed the subject of doctored videos, claiming that the two tampered tapes were not the only evidence against the perpetrators. He also lashed out at Kumar-who had previously avowed his faith in the judiciary, which had recently granted him interim bail through a 23-page order-saying the document should have Kumar feeling ashamed of himself. "Madam (Justice Pratibha Rani) is saying that this disease is spreading like an infection and what is this disease, this disease is, people like you who come to the university," he roared. "The way you are calling yourself JNUite, the same way if you would have felt proud saying you are citizen of India, then this incident wouldn't have been this big." In the midst of a hooting audience and an ear-splitting hurling of accusations and defence was Rashid, who spoke evenly and effectively about freedom of speech and the pride of being part of a democratic institution such as JNU. "I want to point out some of the slogans that the ABVP raises, 'Khoon se tilak karenge, goliyon se aarti', 'jo Afzal ki baat karega, woh Afzal ki maut marega'(sic). Similarly, in answer to the slogan, 'Gujarat ke rapiston ko ek dhakka aur do", the rival chant is, 'ek mauka aur do'. That's a violent slogan. But do we say put them behind bars? No." Rashid also addressed the allegations of rape against soldiers in Kashmir (from the standpoint of having grown up as a Kashmiri muslim in the valley- dismissed by Nagar for being a strategic sympathy card) by citing the Justice Verma Committee report- which was appointed by the Government of India, not by JNU, she quipped-and the complaints against the armed forces therein along with the immunity they enjoy against their actions under the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in force in the state. advertisement Urs, who was forced to spend most of his allotted time for the session defending his five-year stint in a three-year course at FTII, managed to sneak in the tribulations being faced by the FTII because of a lack of infrastructure and an abysmal understanding of institutions related to the arts. "Nobody takes interest in film education and that is the tragedy of this country," he said. Finally, John lambasted the government by saying that the establishment needs to create a larger understanding of student issues and that criticising the government and the prime minister are not synonymous with criticising the nation. advertisement by Asmita Bakshi Yaqoob Khan Bangash and Pradyumna J. Photo: Rohit Chawla "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Winston Churchill's wisdom may well be turned on its head if the learning from history itself creates paradigms of hate fuelled through teaching and textbooks. Saffronised textbooks in India and Islamised versions of history across the border are colouring not just learning but also a virulent version of nationalism, argued Yaqoob Khan Bangash, assistant professor, Forman Christian College, Pakistan, and Pradyumna J., history teacher, Vasant Valley School, Delhi. Moulding young minds on both sides of the border, the duo summoned a lively debate on textbooks as tools to distort history and incite prejudice. From the role of Muslims in the freedom movement to the Partition of India; the formation of Bangladesh, anecdotal history filtered through political prisms raises questions not just of its veracity but also the role of teachers in its dissemination. Bangash recounted an incident when his history teacher, in grade three, told him to forget what textbooks said: "The creation of Bangladesh in 1971 was Bhutto's fault." by Chumki Bharadwaj advertisement --- ENDS --- By Rahul Kanwal: India's intelligence agencies suspect that a group named Jaishul Adil is responsible for the kidnapping of Indian businessman Kulbhushan Yadav from the Iran-Pakistan border. Jaishul Adil is an extremist Sunni radical group, which is headed by Salahuddin Farooqui. This Salafist-jihadist group owes its allegiance to the Al Qaeda and is reported to have around 500 fighters. Jaishul Adil has in the past killed Shia pilgrims from Iran and has been accused of targeting Iranian border guards along the country's border with Pakistan's Balochistan province. Jaishul Adil has been designated as a terrorist organisation by Iran. advertisement A high-level assessment compiled by India's intelligence agencies has found multiple inconsistencies with the alleged spy video released by Pakistan. These glaring loopholes raise very serious doubts about the veracity of the claims being made by the Pakistan army to implicate India in fomenting a sectarian insurgency in Balochistan. A forensics examination of the video conducted by India's intelligence agencies shows that the 'spy video' has been heavily edited and the audio has been spliced in several places. At different points, Kulbhushan's facial expressions do not match with what is being said in the voice over. A critical question is if Pakistan has a genuine confession by an Indian agent then why has a heavily edited version of the video been put out and not the original tape. Is an attempt being made to show Yadav as having said things he never did. Pakistani media reported that Yadav was picked up on March 3, whereas his arrest was announced only on March 24. India's intelligence agencies say a three-week gap between Yadav's detention and arrest raises serious doubts about whether coercive, third degree techniques were used on Yadav to extract a statement dictated by the Pakistani agencies. One of the big loopholes in Pakistan's allegations is the claim that Kulbhushan was carrying an Indian passport in the name of Mumbai resident Hussain Mubarak Patel. India's intelligence czars argue that no specially trained field agent can be so silly so as to carry a passport which links him back to his native country if he is entering hostile territory. If Yadav was a RAW agent, would it not have been very easy for him to carry Pakistani identity papers instead of running the risk of getting caught with an Indian passport. Sources say this claim by Pakistan is by itself proof of the fact that Yadav was an Indian businessman who was transacting bonafide business activities in Iran's Chabahar rather than an undercover agent. The Home Minister of Pakistan's Balochistan province, Sarfaraz Bugti, first announced that Yadav was picked up from Chaman. But in the Pakistan army's press conference on Tuesday, the Director General of the Inter Services Public Relations General Asim Bajwa, announced that Yadav was picked up from Saravan. Now, Chaman is the eastern most extremity of Balochistan and is near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Whereas, Saravan is south-east of Zahidan and is near the Pakistan-Iran border. Chaman is 873 kilometres from Saravan by road. This is a major inconsistency in the claim made by Pakistan's agencies. advertisement India's intelligence agencies believe that the release of the 'spy video' is a consequence of the internal politics of Pakistan. The Pakistan army is not happy with the peace overtures made by the Nawaz Sharif government and the arrest of an Indian national seems to be an attempt on the part of Pakistan's military establishment to restrict Sharif's ability to walk down the road of peace with PM Narendra Modi. For the first time after the recent Pathankot attack, Pakistan's civilian government admitted that the terrorists came from Pakistan. A joint investigation team from Pakistan was sent to India to probe the terror attack. Indian agencies believe that the ISI has been very unhappy with the concessions made by the civilian government and the spy tape is an attempt to shrink the space for peace available to Sharif. advertisement The assessment compiled by India's intelligence agencies also suggests that the Pakistan army has been extremely wary of India's involvement in the Chabahar port project in Iran. India has so far helped conduct a feasibility study to develop the port area and has committed to helping Tehran develop the port in future. Pakistan sees the Chabahar port as a direct threat to the ambitious Gwadar port project in Balochistan, which is being developed in close association with Beijing as part of the China-Pakistan economic corridor. Indian agencies believe that Pakistan is trying to kill the Chabahar project by driving a wedge between Delhi and Tehran. The Indian assessment ends by stating that the insurgency in Balochistan is deep rooted and enjoys widespread public support. And it is foolhardy to think that an individual like an obscure Indian businessman in Iran can influence the course of events in Balochistan. AL SO READ | Arrested Indian 'spy' tutored, says India rejecting Pakistan's video --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Lalit K Jha Washington, Mar 29 (PTI) Influential US lawmakers, religious leaders and Indian Americans today strongly condemned the ghastly terrorist attack in Lahore that killed 72 Pakistanis. "The barbaric attack in Pakistan is an outrage and I condemn this heinous act of terror in the strongest the possible terms," said Congresswoman Grace Meng after Sundays attack, one of the worst to hit the country since the Peshawar school massacre in 2014. advertisement "Those responsible for this attack are cowards, and I hope that these evil and gutless people are swiftly brought to justice. I call on US officials to help Pakistan with any assistance needed in that effort and United States stands with Pakistan at this difficult time," Meng said. Senator Rob Portman said "the cowardly attack targeting Christians on Easter Sunday is yet another example of the threat radical Islamic terrorism poses to Christians and other religious minorities and to the principle of religious freedom Americans hold dear". "The United States has a moral obligation to stand up for these communities who are being persecuted for their religious faith," he said. "There are simply no words that can fully capture the immeasurable horror of seeing a childrens playground turned into a place of slaughter," said Archbishop Joseph E Kurtz, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in a letter to Archbishop Joseph Coutts, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan. Leaders of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) joined the global chorus deploring the attack. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families," said Samir Kalra, HAF senior director and Human Rights Fellow. "Pakistans duplicitous game of placating violent religious extremists and failing to crack down on terrorism is having tragic internal consequences. Religious minorities are often the primary victims, but all citizens of Pakistan are paying the price as Islamists attempt to further their goal of enforcing Sharia law," Kalra said. "We fear that these large scale attacks targeting religious minorities in Pakistan will become the norm," said Jay Kansara, HAF director of government relations adding "the United States must stop placating Pakistans requests for military equipment, which will only advance their territorial aggression towards Afghanistan and India rather than combat actual terrorist threats within its own borders". "Religious extremism which culminates in any form of violence must be rejected by all and the full weight of the law must be brought to bear on it in order for the perpetrators to be brought to justice," said the Sikh American Council. PTI LKJ KUN --- ENDS --- By PTI: laws From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Mar 30 (PTI) Pakistan government today promised not to amend the countrys controversial blasphemy laws to end a major stand-off with thousands of Islamists who had besieged the capital city for four days, demanding "martyrdom" for the assassin of Punjabs liberal governor Salman Taseer. The protest leaders held talks with the government representatives which were "successful", paving way for ending the protests peacefully without any bloodshed or violence, state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) reported. advertisement According to the seven-point agreement between officials and protesters, the government assured the protesters that blasphemy laws will not be amended, a key demand of the supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, who was executed in late February, five-years after he assassinated Taseer over his calls to amend the blasphemy laws. The government also agreed to release hundreds of "innocent" people arrested during the four-days old stand-off at Islamabads Red Zone. The government also promised not to show any leniency towards anyone convicted for blasphemy. However, there was no assurance on declaring Qadri a "martyr", another key demand of protesters, and execution of blasphemy convict Christian women Aasia Bibi who was sentenced to death in 2010 by a court. Qadri, who was Tassers security guard, had killed the governor of Pakistans most populous state in 2011 after he visited Aasia Bibi in her jail cell and expressed support for her, even promising a presidential pardon to the mother-of- five. To another demand of imposing Sharia in the country, it was decided that the clerics would submit detailed proposals to the ministry of religious affairs. For checking alleged obscenity on media, the two sides agreed that protest leaders will file complaints to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority. The peaceful resolution of the four-days old stand-off at Islamabads high-security zone comes as a major relief to the government, already under pressure after over 70 people, mostly Christians, were killed in a suicide blast in Lahore on Easter Sunday. The protesters, numbering over 25,000 at their peak, had entered and besieged Islamabads Red Zone on Sunday, damaging public buildings and clashing with police in which 42 security officials and 16 citizens were injured. Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Islamic Pakistan, with even unproven allegations often triggering mob violence. The controversial law was introduced by former military dictator Zia-ul Haq in 1980s and so far hundreds of people have been charged under it. PTI SH SUA AKJ SUA --- ENDS --- In 2012, India arrested two Italian marines who were escorting an oil tanker on suspicion of killing two fishermen they mistook for pirates. Though they were not charged, the pair were barred from leaving the country. By Reuters: Italy on Wednesday asked judges in The Hague to order India to release a detained Italian marine, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due at an EU-India summit in Brussels at which he aims to defuse the long-running row with Rome. In 2012, India arrested two Italian marines who were escorting an oil tanker on suspicion of killing two fishermen they mistook for pirates. Though they were not charged, the pair were barred from leaving the country. advertisement Massimiliano Latorre was allowed to return home last year for medical treatment, but Salvatore Girone has for four years been confined to Delhi, where he lives at the Italian embassy and reports weekly to Indian police. The case moved to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague after India and Italy agreed to suspend all domestic legal proceedings. Addressing the United Nations tribunal, Francesco Azzarello, Italy's lead lawyer in the case, pledged that Girone would be returned to India to face charges should it bring them once the Hague arbitration is finished. "The only reason Girone is not allowed to leave India is so that he can act as a de facto guarantee of Italy's obligation to return him for trial," Azzarello said. "A human being cannot be used as a guarantee of the conduct of a state." Waiting until the end of the case in The Hague, where proceedings are often lengthy, could leave Girone detained without charge for up to eight years, thousands of kilometres from his wife and young children, he said. India hopes the Brussels summit will bring a thaw in ties with the EU and persuade Italy to refrain from blocking India's membership of a key global group on missile technology. Rome single-handedly scuppered India's bid to join last year. As part of a broad agenda, the EU plans to raise the issue of the marines with Modi, according to an internal EU council note seen by Reuters. Italy argues the case of the two marines was beyond the jurisdiction of Indian courts. Marines are viewed by Italy as state officials immune to foreign prosecution. Italy paid $190,000 in compensation to each victim's family. Also Read: Will urge PM Modi to bring Italian marines back, says Kerala CM Chandy Fishermen killing: SC gives more time to Italian marine to return to India Italy says marine charged with killing of fishermen won't return to India --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: India Today has accessed a top intel report that suspects that alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav was abducted by radical Sunni group Jaishul Adil. The report further says that Yadav was abducted in Iran and taken to Pakistan. With 500 fighters, headed by Salahuddin Farooqui, the Jaishul Adil has links to the Al Qaeda and operates from bases in Balochistan. advertisement This happened after India and Pakistan yesterday sparred after the Pakistan Army released a video of an arrested ex-Indian Navy officer purportedly "confessing" his "involvement" in terror activities in Balochistan at his country's behest. "The video has this individual making statements which have no basis in fact. That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. Kulbhushan Yadav in his six-minute long statement said he had been directing various activities in Karachi and Balochistan "at the behest of RAW", the Indian intelligence agency, and that he was still with the Indian Navy. "We have seen a video released by Pakistani authorities of a former Indian naval officer, doing business in Iran, who is in Pakistani custody under unexplained circumstances," it said. The head of Pakistan Army's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Asim Bajwa and Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid held a press conference in Islamabad to release the video, saying Kulbhushan Yadav "confessed" to working for Indian intelligence agency RAW to "foment trouble" in the restive province of Balochistan. Yadav had been arrested recently in Pakistan, which described him as an officer of the Indian Navy, a claim debunked by the Indian government which said he had no link with the government since his premature retirement from the Navy but Bajwa claimed that Yadav was still a serving officer due to retire in 2022. --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel today launched Asia's biggest telescope, the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), built with Belgian assistance. "Prime Minister Michel and I have just activated, remotely, India s largest optical telescope," Modi said after launching the telescope with a 3.6-metre-wide primary mirror located at Devasthal near Nainital in Uttarakhand. advertisement "Even sky is not the limit," he said, referring to the cooperation between the two countries on various projects. #WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the parade at the Egmont Palace #ModiInBrusselshttps://t.co/faz6nfHwG5 ANI (@ANI_news) March 30, 2016 ARIES, the largest optical telescope of its kind in Asia. It will be used to study star structures and magnetic field structures of stars. "This product of Indo-Belgian collaboration is an inspiring example of what our partnership can achieve," said Modi. "The work is also afoot on other agreements in the areas of Information and Communication Technology, audio-visual production Tourism biotechnology and shipping and ports," he added. "I look forward to welcoming PM Charles Michel in India," said PM Modi. On the Belgium terror attack, PM Modi said that India stand with the people of Belgium. "I offer my deepest condolences to the victims. Whole of India stands in full support with the people of Belgium," he said. "We share the depth of sorrow & grief that people of Belgium have experienced in the last 8 days," he added. Also read: 3-tier security for PM Modi during Brussels visit --- ENDS --- The NIA statement came after a meeting with the five-member Pakistan joint investigation team (JIT) visited the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, which was attacked by suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in January this year, killing seven security personnel. By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan has detained a number of suspects in the Pathankot terror attack case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said today. The NIA statement came after a meeting with the five-member Pakistan joint investigation team (JIT) visited the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, which was attacked by suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in January 2 this year, killing seven security personnel. advertisement "Pakistan team has told us that they have arrested some people in connection with the Pathankot case. We have given them a list of our demands. We are in the process of handing over certain documents to them. The witnesses will be examined tomorrow," NIA Director General Sharad Kumar said. "The Pakistani team has shared details of their investigations," Kumar said, adding that the details of the detentions cannot be shared at this stage as the investigation is going on. "We are holding discussions with the Pakistan team on reciprocity basis. Reciprocity means whatever cooperation we are extending to them for prosecution they will also extend the same. Evidence collection and examination of witnesses will continue for one or two more days," Kumar stated. NIA is expected to seek access to Azhar, his brother Rauf and some key players like Kashif Jaan, identified by Indian investigators as the main handler of the slain terrorists. Sources say Kashif was in constant touch with Rauf before and during the attack and Rauf was passing on the information to Azhar. Kashif's location while speaking to the terrorists was mostly Bhawalpur in Punjab province, the JeM headquarters. Other than phone numbers of Rauf, brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, NIA shared numbers of the companies who had supplied the packed food to the terrorists. NIA also cited similarities between the Pathankot attack with those in Samba and Kathua last year like using same GPS and wireless sets, the modus operandi of hijacking cars, energy drink 'Red bull' (common in all attacks), identical wire cutters and arms and ammunition of Eastern Europe, Russian and Chinese make which are available in the Af-Pak region. The Pakistani probe team visited the strategic IAF base in Pathankot on Tuesday, and for security reasons, the IAF base was partially covered with white curtains and tarpaulin to prevent a view of the defence assets. The Pakistani joint investigation team (JIT) entered the base through a specially-created entrance at the perimeter wall, which was breached by the terrorists on the fateful night. Also Read: Pakistan's JIT visits Pathankot air base, gives mortuary a miss After Pakistan's JIT its Indian NIA's turn to travel across border --- ENDS --- A Five-member Pakistani probe team on Sunday visited the strategic IAF base in Pathankot which was stormed by heavily armed Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on January 2. For security reasons, the IAF base was partially covered with white curtains and tarpaulin to prevent a view of the defence assets. The Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) entered the base through a specially-created entrance at the perimeter wall, which was breached by the terrorists on the fateful night. Eleven policemen have been on duty round-the-clock at the morgue where the bodies of four terrorists have been kept for the last three months. By Mail Today: A Five-member Pakistani probe team on Sunday visited the strategic IAF base in Pathankot which was stormed by heavily armed Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on January 2. For security reasons, the IAF base was partially covered with white curtains and tarpaulin to prevent a view of the defence assets. The Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) entered the base through a specially-created entrance at the perimeter wall, which was breached by the terrorists on the fateful night. advertisement As the team had limited access, only the buildings and areas where the terrorists were hold up during the 80-hour-long counter-terror operation were shown to the team. Interestingly, the Pakistan team avoided visiting the mortuary where the bodies of four unidentified terrorists have been kept from last three months. Sources said visiting the mortuary was not on the itinerary list of the Pakistan team. The team visited the canteen and MES building which were attacked by the terrorists. They also saw the important spots from Naushahra Nalband side and interacted with Air Force officials. After visiting the airbase, the team was taken to Akalgarh, near the airbase where the then SP Salwinder Singh's vehicle was found abandoned. From this place the members were taken to the spot where taxi driver Ekagar Singh's body was found. The team also visited Kohlian village where Salwinder's along with his cook and friend Rajesh Verma was taken hostage. From this spot the team went to investigate Bamial secor and Uj Daria (local river) from where the terrorists allegedly entered the Indian soil. Sources said the Pak team was also provided with evidences, including the FIR copy and telephone details, to establish the Pakistan angle in the terror attack. "The terrorists' bodies kept in the mortuary are evidence which prove that they were fidayeen. One of the reasons why the bodies were preserved for a long time was that they can be shown to the Pak team but they did not visit the mortuary," a senior police official said requesting anonymity. It is also worth mentioning here that a NIA team had recorded the statement of the doctors on Monday who had conducted the post-mortem of the slain terrorists. The team spent four hours in the mortuary examining the bodies and recording statements. The terrorist bodies which are lying in the mortuary from January 4 are causing inconvenience to the small mortuary staff as the mortuary freezers can only accommodate five bodies. The hospital administration has demanded shifting of the bodies elsewhere. The team also faced protests from the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party workers in Pathankot which shouted go back slogans. The AAP protest was led by party's Punjab incharge Sanjay Singh and convenor Sucha Singh Chotepur. advertisement "Arrival of Pakistani JIT to look into Pathankot Terror Attack, unfettered access being provided and almost red carpet welcome being accorded to the Pakistani team along with visit to Pathankot Airbase without even a 'Letter Rogatory' from Pakistan raises serious questions with regard to procedural propriety and genuine apprehensions vis-a-vis compromises on 'National Security'," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. The Congress leader said that serious questions are also being raised about Modi government's U-turn in segregation of state and non-state actors in Pakistan including in export of rampant and senseless terror into India on an everyday basis causing irreparable loss to civilian and military lives. Also read: Indian team to visit Pakistan soon to review progress in Pathankot attack probe: NIA Pathankot attack: NIA to share call details of terrorists with Pakistan's JIT --- ENDS --- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia. During the course of the visit Modi will attend the India-EU summit and the global nuclear security summit in the US. By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia. In Pics During the course of the visit Modi will attend the India-EU summit and the global nuclear security summit in the US. On his daylong visit to Brussels on Wednesday, Modi will hold a bilateral summit with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and then attend the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit. advertisement In the evening, he will address a community programme and interact with the Indian diaspora. In his pre-departure statement, PM Modi said the India-EU Summit will advance multi-faceted engagement across a whole range of sectors and described the 28-member European Union as a "vital trading partner". On March 31, the prime minister will leave for Washington to attend the two-day Fourth Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama. On his way back, he will drop in at Riyadh for a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia on April 2-3. --- ENDS --- PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday visited the Maelbeek Metro station in Belgium where an Islamic State bombing last week left 20 people dead and more than 100 injured. By India Today Web Desk: PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday visited the Maelbeek Metro station in Belgium where an Islamic State bombing last week left 20 people dead and more than 100 injured. The Prime Minister paid tributes to the victims of the blast, which included an Indian techie, at the subway in the Belgium capital. Modi arrived to a red carpet welcome and enthusiastic greetings from Indian nationals at the airport. "A red carpet at dawn. PM Modi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. The Prime Minister's Office tweeted: "Early morning arrival for PM @narendramodi in Brussels. A series of meetings & interactions lined up for the day." advertisement Members of the Indian diaspora also greeted Modi upon his arrival and crowded around him as he patiently signed autographs. #WATCH: PM Narendra Modi lays wreath, pays tribute to the victims of the Maalbek metro station blast in Brusselshttps://t.co/3J7qolDrv8&; ANI (@ANI_news) March 30, 2016 On his day-long visit to Brussels on Wednesday, Modi will hold a bilateral summit with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and then attend the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit. He will also address around 5,000 Indian diaspora at an event later in the day. On March 31, the Prime Minister will leave for Washington D.C. to attend the two-day Fourth Nuclear Security Summit being hosted by US President Barack Obama. On his way back, he will visit Riyadh for a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia on April 2-3. Modi arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation tour of Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia. ALSO READ | Week after deadly terror attacks, PM Modi in Brussels to attend India-EU Summit --- ENDS --- The Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the Centre's guidelines to protect Good Samaritans, who help road accident victims, from being unnecessarily harassed by police or any other authority. By Press Trust of India: The Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the Centre's guidelines to protect Good Samaritans, who help road accident victims, from being unnecessarily harassed by police or any other authority. A bench comprising justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra asked the Central government to give wide publicity to these guidelines so that people who help others in the time of distress are not victimised by any authority. advertisement Earlier this month, the Apex Court had said it will pass an order on the recommendations of a committee headed by its former judge on road safety which advocated that people saving lives of road accident victims need not fear harassment by police or other authorities. The bench also took on record the guidelines placed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways which were based on the recommendations of the three-member committee headed by former judge K S Radhakrishnan. The committee, also comprising Former Secretary of Road Transport Ministry S Sundar and Nishi Mittal, ex-chief scientist, had given 12 major recommendations including setting up of State Road Safety Councils, evolving a protocol for identification of black spots, their removal and monitoring to see the effectiveness of the action taken. The apex court-appointed committee had also suggested strengthening of enforcement relating to drunken driving, over-speeding, red light jumping and helmet or seat belt laws. The Ministry had said in a statement that in the absence of any statutory backing, it was proving difficult to enforce these guidelines and therefore the government had approached the apex court to consider issuing these guidelines, through an order binding on all states and Union Territories, until the Union government enacts a law to this effect. The court had in 2014 appointed the three-member committee to monitor steps taken by the Centre and state governments to ensure road safety. ALSO READ: Humans are more important than man-eaters: Supreme Court to Indira Jaising --- ENDS --- Kapil Sharma posted a picture of the brand new set of his upcoming show on Sony TV. And it looks rather grand. By India Today Web Desk: It seems that Sony TV is not cutting any corners when it comes to spending lavishly to ensure its mega show, The Kapil Sharma Show, turns out to be a huge success. Kapil Sharma tweeted a picture of the sets last night, asking his fans how it looks. lang="en"> How's new set ? "TkSS23rdaprilonsony". Love u all :)) pic.twitter.com/Wl7X7ln5LY KAPIL (@KapilSharmaK9) March 29, 2016 advertisement The show, which premieres on April 23 on the channel, is already creating quite a buzz. Sony went all out for the promo shoot as well, that featured the star cast walking on a runway with a helicopter in the background. The brand new set looks like a small village. Picture courtesy: twitter.com/KapilSharmaK9 The next promo featured actor Shah Rukh Khan, who will be a part of the first episode, having appeared some four times when the show was telecast on Colors in its earlier avatar. Also read: The Kapil Sharma Show is a finite series with 26 episodes What is being kept under wraps, however, is what characters the cast will play and what their costumes will look like. At a live event in Gujarat some time back, Colors restricted two of the cast members from donning the popular get-ups they popularised on their show. However, a leaked pic of Sunil Grover, touted to be his first look from the show, started doing the rounds on social media yesterday. The comedian is wearing a white shirt and sporting grey hair in the picture. He was last seen as an old man on Comedy Nights With Kapil, where he played Sumona's father and also Gutthi. See: Is this Sunil Grover's new look for the show? Ali Asgar was also spotted wearing a sari while performing in Lucknow during the multi-city tour to promote The Kapil Sharma Show. It is speculated to be his new look for the show. Also read: The Kapil Sharma Show: First episode will be shot in Delhi; know all the details here Starting from April 23, Kapil Sharma show will air on Saturday and Sunday at 9 pm on Sony TV. Produced by K9 and Frames Production, the show will have most of the original cast--Sunil Grover, Ali Asgar, Kiku Sharda, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sumona Chakravarti and Chandan Prabhakar, along with others. Whether Shilpa Shinde will eventually be a part of the show as was speculated--what with all the legal troubles she's having after quitting Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai--is not known. advertisement Watch: The trailer of the new show --- ENDS --- It is the biggest security expose. More than two months after the Pathankot terror attack, India Today exposes serious security chinks at our western borders in Punjab. Border fence which was erected in 1989, has been not only been a physical but a psychological barrier, but with time it has rusted to a great extent. By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: It is the biggest security expose. More than two months after the Pathankot terror attack, India Today exposes serious security chinks at our western borders in Punjab. In Pics Even as Pakistan JIT is in India to investigate the Pathankot terror attack, questions bordering on fact of "how the enemy has managed to outsmart the age old defence mechanisms", successfully breaching what was so far considered "fenced, lit and secure" 558 Km long Indo Pak international border in Punjab. Reasons India's traditional mechanism are failing range from budget constraints and red-tapism. What makes it worse is that UPA and NDA government have for more than a decade ignored warning signs from border security force. advertisement Border fence which was erected in 1989, has been not only been a physical but a psychological barrier, but with time it has rusted to a great extent. The very border fence, which separates the enemy from us in a physical and geographical sense, has "withered" "weakened" with passage of time. Former BSF DG Prakash Singh, on whose recommendations, government of India installed the fence, says that fence which is made out of iron has a shelf life. If the fence has outlived its life, it ought to have been replaced. Rusting border fence. If you think the rusting and "decay" of the border fence was a shocker, here is more. The Border flood lights installed between 1987 to 1992, are in dire need of replacement. Post Gurdaspur and Pathankot terror attack, few repairs and replacement near Wagah Attari border have been just a "quick fix" solution. E N Rammohan, former DG BSF has hit out at the government "The government's job is not just to approve a project, maintenance of the components is a big security aspect. When the project of border fence and border flood lights ( BFL) was approved, several crores were spent, government needs to maintain this, whatever may be the cost, but rusting lights and outdated lights to me is security negligence the country cannot afford." While border areas in close proximity to Wagah are spanky, replaced with new border fence. BFL's replaced with a pilot project of LED lights. Just a few kilometres off, areas of Kakkar, Sundergarh, Majmia and Behenia pose the real challenge. It's not just one two or three but major chunk of these BFL need either repair or replacement on an urgent basis. The wires of most of them dangerously dangling out. Dangerously dangling out wires Dangerously dangling out wires As India Team went into one of the forward post, a Jawan in the post says "The flood water makes the rust worse in fence. Same is case with the border lights. Wires dangling out usually pose a security risk, sparking and often short circuiting during harvesting season and the monsoons." A young CPWD worker repairing one of the wire says "I have grown up here in the border, and I have not seen these lights being changed. Sometimes these wires are dangerous. Last two men died while working on them." Areas of Kakkar, Sundergarh, Majmia and Behenia pose the real challenge. The BSF which mans the 558 km long international border has red flagged the issue with union home ministry for several years. Sumer Singh, DIG BSF, Amritsar who also headed BSF's internal enquiry on Pathankot attack says "we have raised the issue of fence and border lights with MHA from time to time. After Pathankot attack, we identified 50 vulnerable areas where fence was replaced. "Sumer Singh had also made 20 recommendations to DG BSF including urgent basis replacement of wires and border fence in Pathankot attack probe. advertisement The union home ministry, the nodal agency responsible for security at international border admits that there are budgetary constraints and red tape which have caused inadvertent delay. Kiren Rijuju, MoS Home while talking to India Today admitted to the problem. "We are aware of this problem. The border lights and fence need urgent attention. But we have budgetary constraints. We have raised issue with Finance ministry. A key note accessed by India Today exposes Red tapism in government procedures. Note says an estimate for upgradation/ replacement of flood lights matter discussed in 22nd technical meeting in December 2008. The additional secy border management feels the cost of flood lights of RS 554.70 crore needs to be revisited. (believing cost to be high) A visit by additional secretary border management done from October 12-15 2009, who then makes recommendations in December 2009 and gives revised budget of Rs 219 crore. The note further says a high level enquiry committee ( HLEC) meet on January 13, 2010 and a revised budget of Rs 222 crore was placed before CCS. In steering committee held on September 27 2013 , Secy Border Management ask BSF and CPWD to re-submit cost again. New cost amount of Rs 304 placed on December 17 2013. The approval is still awaited. advertisement In another note accessed by India Today BSF informs MHA, that all lighting equipment have outlived their useful life. Life of various components of Border flood lights is over. As per the internal note "life of various components of Border flood lights is over". Another senior officer dealing with the issue on condition of anonymity says "this is not a current issue, we first red flagged the issue 15 years ago. And we have taken this up and time and again." As per the report Under Ground cable-20 years Poles-15 years Feeder pillars 15 years Flood light fittings 15 years DG sets above 50 kw- 15 years. Considering the border flood lights were installed between 1987 to 1992, BSF in its presentation says that these lights have been in operation on the international border for 24-29 years implying that they have completed their "prescribed life" long ago. BSF has been flooded by gadgets and equipment which include Night Vision Devices ( NVD), Night vision goggles ( NVG), Early warning Device ( EWD), HHTI ( Hand held thermal imager), Laser beams for riverines, Battle field surveillance Radar BFSR. advertisement Another senior officer who retired recently says, the issue with old lights is that they may not have served their purpose well. The positioning of the lights were such that they threw light on our own fence and movement of our own troops, while throwing area at Pakistan border into darkness, defeating the purpose of putting such strong flood lights. Post Gurdaspur and Pathankot attack, BSF has been flooded by gadgets and equipment which include Night Vision Devices ( NVD), Night vision goggles ( NVG), Early warning Device ( EWD), HHTI ( Hand held thermal imager), Laser beams for riverines, Battle field surveillance Radar BFSR, but force on ground feels, giving devices without proper training is not ideal to the conditions. BSF had last year celebrated its 50th anniversary since its inception feel, that even after five decades there are no lateral axil roads at border. An area which should have been high priority, but most of the jawans face a bumpy ride to borders. Same is for infrastructure, some of the Border out post have also dilapidated, but proposals still await clearance. --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Lalit K Jha Washington, Mar 28 (PTI) Strongly condemning the terror attack in Lahore, the US today called for global unity against fighting extremism and offered assistance to Pakistan in investigation. "The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms this terror attack at a childrens park in Lahore yesterday. Its grotesque, and the fact that you have an extremist organisation targeting religious minorities and children is an outrage," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily news conference. advertisement "The other thing, I think is indicative of what we talk about up here quite a bit is that even though this terror attack was targeted at Christians, a religious minority in Pakistan -- again, that is in and of itself grotesque, but the fact of the matter is that based on the names that were seeing now, the majority of the victims were actually Muslims," he said. "It demonstrates how important it is for the world to come together to fight this kind of extremism. That certainly has been the approach -- the approach that the president has taken in making sure that peace-loving people of all faiths and of all religions must come together to fight this kind of extremism, and that certainly is what our values and our sense of morality tells us," Earnest said. "As a purely practical matter, thats also whats going to be required, and our success in fighting extremism around the globe is going to also depend on the ability of individual nations to fight extremism within their borders. And certainly, the government of Pakistan understands this today, just how critically important that is," Earnest said in response to a question. The United States and Pakistan have an important counter-terrorism relationship, he said, adding that the Obama Administration certainly values the kind of cooperation that it has received from them. "In this instance, the response and the investigation will be conducted by the Pakistani government and if they request assistance from the United States, it will be provided," he said. State Department Spokesman John Kirby said, "There is no doubt that Pakistan continues to be under threat from terrorists inside their own country, and weve talked about this before -- that innocent Pakistanis -- and we saw it again this weekend -- continue to suffer at the hands of terrorists inside Pakistan." (MORE) PTI LKJ NSA --- ENDS --- Has PM Narendra Modi betrayed his own commitment or is the comparison to Indira Gandhi unjustified? BJP MP Chandan Mitra and BJD Lok Sabha MP Pinaki Misra participated in a debate on the political crisis in Chhattisgarh. BJP MP Chandan Mitra and BJD Lok Sabha MP Pinaki Misra participated in a debate on the political crisis in Chhattisgarh. By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power promising cooperative federalism and was widely praised for it. However, after dismissing two state governments in just three months, many say that his use of Article 356 is reminiscent of Indira Gandhi. So has the prime minister betrayed his own commitment or is the comparison to Indira Gandhi unjustified? advertisement "The prime minister can't be blamed if Congress governments in some states start imploding...and it's wrong to compare PM Modi with Indira Gandhi. She dismissed state governments at the drop of a hat," BJP MP Chandan Mitra told India Today. "Even if Congress governments are imploding, they should be allowed to fall on the floor of the House," rebutted BJD Lok Sabha MP Pinaki Misra. Mitra and Misra participated in a debate on the political crisis in Chhattisgarh. The other experts on the show, Karan Thapar's To The Point, included Congress' former foreign minister Salman Khurshid, CPM's Central Secretariat member Nilotpal Basu, and well known Asian Age columnist Ashok Malik. "Even if Congress governments are imploding, they should be allowed to fall on the floor of the House," rebutted BJD's Pinaki Misra. Key questions in the debate 1 Use of Article 356 reminiscent of Indira Gandhi? 2 Can government's tactics be compared with Indira government? 3 Cooperative federalism or imposing diktat? 4 Acceptable use of Article 356 or blatant misuse? 5 President's Rule declared in haste? 6 Central government's pressure behing President's Rule? 7 Uttarakhand crisis: The impact on Modi's image? 8 Is it really a numbers game? 9 Constitutional logjam: What's the way out? 10 Political crisis: What's next for Uttarakhand? Uttarakhand logjam: Timeline March 18, 2016: 9 MLAs rebel against Congress March 19: Rebel MLA Harak Singh Rawat expelled from Congress March 19: Uttarakhand governor asks CM Harish Rawat to prove majority by March 28 March 21: BJP and Congress delegates meet President Pranab Mukherjee March 24: Congress accuses Baba Ramdev of creating political turmoil March 27: Assembly speaker disqualifies rebel MLAs March 27: President's Rule imposed in Uttarakhand March 28: Rawat moves Uttarakhand High Court questioning President's Rule March 29: High court orders trust vote on March 31 March 29: High court allows suspended MLAs to participate in trust vote March 30: Centre challenges Uttarakhand High Court orders March 30: High court stays floor test March 30: Uttarakhand High Court adjourns case to April 6 March 30: High Court says Congress and BJP to file affidavits in regards to President's Rule advertisement March 30: President's Rule stays in Uttarakhand 9 Rebel Congress MLAs 1 Vijay Bahuguna: Former chief minister who was asked to quit after 2013 flash floods 2 Amrita Rawat: Wife of Congress MP Satpal Maharaj who is now in BJP 3 Harak Singh Rawat: Agriculture minister in Rawat government. Resigned on March 18 4 Pradeep Batra: Joined rebels after he did not get a Cabinet berth 5 Sheila Rani Rawat: Close to rebel Harak Singh Rawat 6 Shailendra Singhal: Started criticising government after no Cabinet berth 7 Subodh Uniyal: Became rebel after no Cabinet berth 8: Kunwar Pranav Singh: Neither close to Rawat or Bahuguna 9: Umesh Sharma: Staunch supporter of Bahuguna Other top quotes from the debate - "PM Modi is committed to the cooperative federalism, his level of engagement with states proves that." - Chandan Mitra - "We all know who is responsible for all this, they are deliberately destabilising state govts." - Nilotpal Basu, CPM. - "Allowing Harish Rawat to prove his majority in the House would have been advisable." - Ashok Malik. - "Our allies can also criticise us and they remain our allies even after that." - Chandan Mitra. advertisement - "A CM is caught on camera offering money to buy MLAs, how much lower can you go than this." - Chandan Mitra. - "There is enough material available today to judge what this [Modi] government is doing." - Salman Khurshid. - "No political or constitutional crisis has arisen in West Bengal because Mamata Banerjee has majority with her." - Chandan Mitra - "Net transfer to the states has reduced, cooperative federalism is selective these days." - Nilotpal Basu - "President Mukherjee should not have proclaimed President's rule in this manner." - Pinaki Misra. - "Essentially this is the decision of a central government and they chose Republic Day to dismiss a state government... President's rule in Uttarakhand and Arunachal is an error of judgement by President, but the principal onus is on the Centre." - Nilotpal Basu - "President must be complemented for having prevented travesty of democracy and horse trading." - Chandan Mitra Watch the full debate here: ALSO READ | Uttarakhand drama continues, no floor test on March 31 --- ENDS --- Industrialist Vijay Mallya, who owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks, today submitted to the Supreme Court a repayment plan of Rs 4,000 crore by September this year. By India Today Web Desk: Industrialist Vijay Mallya, who owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks, today submitted to the Supreme Court a repayment plan of Rs 4,000 crore by September this year. The top court has asked the consortium led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to respond to the liquor baron's proposal. Mallya's lawyer told the Supreme Court that he had two rounds of meeting through video conferencing with the banks after leaving India last month. "The media hype has vitiated the fair trail," he told the court from London. advertisement In response, the banks are reported to have told the court that they need a week to look at the proposal. The consortium also said it would have been better if Mallya was in India. The next hearing in the matter has been fixed for April 7. Mallya, promoter of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines, had left India on March 2. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier issued summons to Mallya for "personal appearance" on March 18 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). But the flamboyant business asked for a date in April, making it clear that he would not be able to appear before that. Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought out in India over charges of money laundering, claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects and asserted that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit. Earlier today, the 60-year-old businessman said his son Siddharth should not be dragged into any controversy. "My son Sid does not deserve all this hatred and abuse. He has had nothing to do with my business. Shower abuse on me if you must but not him. Slam me if you must but not a young man," Mallya said in a series of tweets. --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: We are sure most of you who are reading this must have never done this before. Some of you mustn't have even imagined that one could sleep in a bedroom that is submerged under water. While that's pretty much possible in some insanely expensive hotels in different parts of the world, there's one which can let you stay without the need to spend a single penny. And that too for three days! advertisement Also read: These hotels have amazing rooms, and they are all underwater! Airbnb is offering a really cool accommodation that is actually 33 feet underwater, and is located inside Aquarium de Paris, a famous shark museum in Paris. Immersed in three million litres of water, the circular bedroom will be surrounded by 35 sharks at all times. Wondering how on earth you can manage a free stay in this bedroom? All you need to do is enter a competition and win it! Also read: This is how you can travel the world with almost NO money! Picture courtesy: Airbnb As a contestant, you will have to write a 50- to 550-word essay on why you deserve a chance to sleep with the sharp-toothed animals, and submit it before April 3rd. The winners will be announced on April 9th. If you manage to make the judge happy, you will get the opportunity to stay in the shark tank on either April 11th, 12th, or 13th. What's more, your host, shark conservationist and freediver, Fred Buyle will entertain you by dancing with the sharks. Picture courtesy: Airbnb Sounds exciting, isn't it? But there are a few house rules as well. You can't take selfies after the lights are off -- well, sharks are sensitive to light. You can't sleepwalk, you can't dive and you can't swim in the night. Easy to follow, aren't they? But wait, there are more. You have to be at least 18 years old and you can't weigh more than 190 kg. And, you will have to be physically fit to climb in and out of the bedroom using a ladder. According to The Verge, anyone in the world can participate in the contest, except a few countries that are embargoed by the US like North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. Here's the link After letting guests experience this bedroom for those three days, it will be used as a study centre for marine biologists. Here are a few more pictures of the room: The guests will also enjoy a meal in front of the shark tank as part of their evening, after a tour of the aquarium. Picture courtesy: Airbnb Picture courtesy: Airbnb Picture courtesy: Airbnb Picture courtesy: Airbnb --- ENDS --- Confused by all the back-and-forth in this high-stakes dispute? Here is a detailed explanation. By AP: Apple's legal standoff with the FBI ended Monday, but experts say the issues behind it will come up again, as more tech companies take measures to guard their customers' messages, photos, business records and other files. After weeks of heated debate, in which Apple had resisted the FBI's demand for help, authorities say they found their own way to get the data from an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino mass shooters. advertisement Confused by all the back-and-forth in this high-stakes dispute? Here is a detailed explanation: WHAT WAS THE FIGHT ABOUT? At the Justice Department's request, a federal judge ordered Apple Inc. last month to help the FBI unlock an encrypted iPhone used by Syed Farook, who along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in December. Specifically, the government wanted Apple to create software that would override an "auto-wipe" feature which is designed to kick in after anyone makes 10 wrong attempts at guessing the iPhone's passcode. Once that feature is activated, it renders all the data on the phone permanently unreadable. Apple said it could create the software the government wanted, but it argued vehemently that doing so would be a bad idea. CEO Tim Cook said the order would set a precedent for more government demands, both in the United States and around the world. Apple also said the software could be stolen by hackers and used against other iPhones. Federal authorities insisted they were only asking for Apple's help in a single case, although prosecutors nationwide have said they wanted similar assistance in other cases where iPhones have been seized. While it's unclear if any useful information was stored on the iPhone, FBI Director James Comey said authorities owed it to the San Bernardino victims to leave no stone unturned in their investigation. WHY DID THIS TURN INTO SUCH A BIG DEAL? The case crystalized some long-simmering frustrations and conflict between the tech industry and law enforcement authorities. Apple and other tech companies have been steadily increasing their use of encryption and other safeguards to protect their customers' data, following a wave of recent hacking attacks and revelations about government data-collection by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Law enforcement officials, including Comey, have complained that encryption and other data safeguards are helping dangerous people hide their activities, while interfering with the government's ability to investigate crimes. In the San Bernardino case, Apple drew support from other leading tech companies, computer security experts and civil liberties groups. They filed court briefs arguing the government was going too far in trying to force a company to create software that threatened its own customers' security. Meanwhile, top officials in the Obama administration, including U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, denounced Apple's stance and accused the company of trying to rewrite the rules for government investigations. advertisement WHAT DID THE JUDGE DECIDE? The judge didn't have to rule. Cook had said he was prepared to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. But last week, just one day before Magistrate Sheri Pym had planned to hold a hearing on the dispute, the Justice Department asked for a delay. Authorities said an unnamed "outside party" had come forward with a technical solution to unlocking the phone, which the FBI needed time to test out. Then on Monday of this week, the government reported that it had successfully accessed the iPhone's files and no longer needed Apple's help. For that reason, the Justice Department asked the magistrate to withdraw the order she issued in February. SO WHO WON? Each side can claim a victory: Authorities say they achieved their goal of getting into the iPhone, while Apple successfully resisted a court order that it contends would be harmful to its customers. Even so, the FBI may have lost some credibility. After repeatedly insisting that only Apple had the means to help authorities unlock the phone, it turned out there was another way. advertisement In the court of public opinion, Apple made a strong case that it was standing up for its customers, and an important principle. But some people may believe the company should have done more to help law enforcement. DOES THAT END THE MATTER? It probably ends the dispute over one iPhone, but it's not the last we'll hear of this issue. Law enforcement officials around the country still want to get into other iPhones. The FBI hasn't said how it got into the San Bernardino iPhone, but it may be able to use the same method in other cases. And we don't know who provided the solution that the FBI used. It's possible the method was devised by a private forensics expert or firm that will sell the service to other clients in the future. Apple, of course, wants to know what method the FBI used so the company can decide if there's an iPhone vulnerability that needs to be fixed. Even if the FBI doesn't tell them, security experts predict Apple and other tech companies will keep adding more security measures to its products. advertisement That could set the stage for more legal confrontations. Meanwhile, Congress has held hearings on the issue. Some legislators have discussed limiting how much help the government can demand of tech companies, while others want to require tech companies to provide more assistance in the future. --- ENDS --- A comprehensive approach Guaranteeing the right to abortion isnt enough. We know that economic, cultural, religious, and systemic barriers prevent many people from accessing abortion care even where its legal and available. Our solution: We work across institutions and communities to build sustainable abortion ecosystems. In such an ecosystem, people have the information they need to make decisions about reproductive health, theres community and health-system support for human rights and abortion access, and laws and policies support full bodily autonomy. Of course, the feasibility of these plans depends upon adequate capital investment to keep up with the promised development projects, as well as the ability of the Islamic Republic to reach foreign markets that are interested in purchasing the excess oil. In the nearly three months since the full implementation of last summers nuclear agreement with six world powers, Iran has had mixed results in both of these areas. Some foreign markets and companies have been eager to resume transactions while others have held back out of fear of an unstable relationship between Iran and the West. This situation has prevented Iran from living up to the entirety of its expectations for a rapid and dramatic increase in oil exports. Nevertheless, Iranian oil has steadily seeped into various European markets, as well as moving more quickly into regional markets like India. On Tuesday, World Maritime News pointed to one of the latest indicators of the former trend, reporting that Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines had reopened its transit with Antwerp, which had received the largest volume of Iranian merchandise in all of Europe prior to 2010. The report notes that Antwerp is home to the continents largest integrated petrochemical cluster, meaning that it is ideally suited to the receipt of Iranian oil, although other commodities will certainly be exchanged via IRISL as well. This is far from the first European transit line that has been reopened by Iran, which has been expanding globally not only over water but also through land and rail transportation. On this point, The Economist reported that railway transit originating in Iran has recently expanded throughout China, Turkey, and Europe. Furthermore, Iran has plans both to continue this trend and to double the size of its domestic rail network. Of course, these efforts will require foreign investment, as the rail projects alone are set to cost 28 billion dollars. The Economist is quick to note that such foreign investment has been difficult for Iran to obtain. This is in large part because, even though trade with foreign entities is on the upswing, the Islamic Republic still maintains notably poor relations with many of its neighbors, as well as plainly antagonizing its traditional adversaries in the West, as by testing ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Some believe there is an effort to expand Iranian influence in the region. As evidenced by the recent decision by the Gulf Cooperation Council to declare the Iran-backed Hezbollah paramilitary a terrorist organization, some of this influence may manifest itself through foreign terrorist operations. Last year, the US Congress passed legislation preventing visa waivers from being applied to travelers from Iran or other states associated with a high risk of terrorism. The bill highlighted the concern that visa-free travel could increase the risk of operatives of Hezbollah or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps finding their way into other countries. But for the very same reason, visa-free travel is an asset to Iranian allies like Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who remains mired in a five-year civil war. Even in the midst of a tentative cease-fire between most of the combatants in that conflict, Iran has vowed to maintain its full support for Assad, thus stoking concerns about growing Iranian influence in the broader Middle East. This in turn threatens to undercut the friendly relations that sources like The Economist regard as necessary to the completion of many of Irans desire projects. Indeed, Iran and its main regional rival Saudi Arabia have clashed with seemingly increasing violence over the issue of Irans imperial ambitions. Gulf News reported on Tuesday that Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid al-Jarallah had echoed the lead foreign ministers remarks in calling for Iran to change its aggressive behavior among neighboring countries. Both mens statements came in response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis suggestion that Iran was prepared to repair its relationship with Saudi Arabia. This claim and the subsequent responses highlight the apparent propaganda war that is ongoing as the two countries compete to portray each other as the aggressor in conflicts that include a proxy war in Yemen. The Saudis and Iranians have both shown some willingness to communicate directly over regional issues, but no actual compromise seems to have resulted. At a time when Saudi Arabia is leading fellow OPEC countries in talks with Russia over the possibility of an oil production freeze, Iran is now scheduled to participate in discussions among these parties in Doha next month. But this show of civility comes in spite of the fact that Iran has already rejected the prospect of participating in any such agreement. Doha may thus prove to be a sounding board for the seemingly worsening discord between Iran and Saudi Arabia a trend that has been widely recognized since the January burning of the Saudi embassy and consulate by Iranian mobs following Riyadhs execution of a Shiite dissident cleric. Yet despite this worsening conflict, some of Saudi Arabias partners in OPEC and the Gulf Cooperation Council appear to have been enticed into expanding relations with Iran as a result of the financial incentives associated with sanctions relief and the growth of development projects in the Islamic Republic. President Rouhani visited Pakistan over the weekend, and Wingate Wire reports that Pakistani officials described the incident as proof positive that Islamabad could maintain its traditionally cooperative relationship with Saudi Arabia while also reaching out to Iran and preparing to act upon a number of newly-signed memoranda of understanding. Furthermore, Al Bawaba reported on Tuesday that Iran had received similar overtures from Oman, which signed a memorandum of understanding concerning Iranian automotive sales in January and is now preparing to host production of 10,000 cars by Iranian car company Iran Khodro in 2017. Such cooperative endeavors give Iran an economic foothold on the Arabian Peninsula, alongside the military and political foothold that it has already established in Yemen. Both these situations may further exacerbate Saudi concerns, but it remains to be seen whether those concerns will lead to measures that are capable of counteracting the steady expansion of Irans influence and transactions in the Middle East region and beyond. The gate at Nanjing University of Science & Technology. [Photo/Weibo] More than 300 impoverished students get tailor-made financial support with the help of big data technology at a university in South China, reported thepaper.cn. The Nanjing University of Science & Technology Education Development Foundation deposited cash support into the meal cards of 301 students after analyzing the meal card consumption record of all undergraduates between mid-September and mid-November. The data analysis spotted 314 students who had more than 60 meals and spent less than 420 yuan ($64.5) in the school canteen monthly, and the university's counselors who know more about the specific financial conditions of students finalized the list of recipient students. The foundation set a monthly benchmark of 630 yuan, which was deemed as the average cost of food if students eat in the canteen for three meals a day for 30 days per month, given that it costs students on average 7 yuan to have a meal in the canteen. The students aided were subsidized based upon the differences between their actual expenses and the benchmark, ranging from 11.63 yuan and 340.53 yuan, without them knowing in advance. The subsidies will continue until their graduation, said Wang Hu, the foundation's general secretary. Unlike traditional arrangements for financial support, which involves complicated procedures of filling out forms and public review, the new practice helps the students in need without embarrassing them. An average take-out costs seven or eight yuan, which is more expensive than canteen meals, so we think most impoverished students prefer the canteen, said Wang in response to concerns that the sampling method might leave out underprivileged students who don't dine in canteen. The foundation may change the sampling period for freshmen to be enrolled in the university, and the whole process of data sampling and analysis is kept confidential so that it can faithfully reflect the financial situation of students. The Times of Israel quoted Fischer as saying, Austria alone cannot lift the sanctions. The EU cannot do it alone too, but its the international community that should do it. He added that he could not personally predict how long it would be before Iranian markets were fully opened to the West, but also that he was hopeful that all sides will remain committed to the nuclear deal so that all of Irans sanctions are lifted in due and scheduled time. In addition to avoiding political judgments regarding the persistence of some sanctions, Fischer specifically highlighted the role that the United States plays in determining whether Iran will gain access to international banking transactions. Numerous recent reports have indicated that financial institutions were avoiding transactions with Iran despite the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions in January, out of fear that they might still become subject to punitive measures and seizure of assets in the future. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has cited this fear to support a narrative of ongoing American aggression, which has slowed Irans economic recovery and process of reengaging with foreign countries import markets for oil and other commodities. But the US has abided by its obligations under last summers nuclear agreement, as by releasing tens of billions of dollars in Iranian assets that had been frozen in US banks. It was established in the agreement and in the Obama administrations descriptions of that agreement to the American public that the US would retain sanctions on Irans human rights violations and support for international terrorism, as well as the capability to re-impose sanctions or impose new sanctions over new instances of Iranian misbehavior. It has already done so on at least two occasions, beginning shortly after the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, at which point the US Treasury Department sanctioned eleven entities tied to the Iranian ballistic missile program, in response to an October missile test that violated a United Nations Security Council Resolution banning the Islamic Republic from any work on weapons capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The Iranian president responded to this move by ordering the rapid expansion of Irans ballistic missile stockpiles, and this defiant tone has persisted and was expressed through three additional missile tests on March 8 and 9. Amidst ongoing criticism from the US and its allies, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh has vowed that the program surrounding these tests will continue without alteration. Even if they build a wall around Iran, our missile program will not stop, Hajizadeh said on Monday, according to Rudaw. Furthermore, President Rouhani utilized his first cabinet meeting in the new Iranian year, which began on March 20, to deliver more general boasts about the growth of the nations military capability. We will pursue any measure to boost our defense might, and this is a strategic policy, he said. Hajizadehs further remarks effectively repeated Supreme Leader Khameneis claims about US aggression, saying, They [the Western powers] are trying to frighten our officials with sanctions and invasion. This fear is our biggest threat. This rhetoric is arguably undermined simply by the US governments compliance with the terms of sanctions relief outlined in the nuclear deal that was agreed among seven parties. But more than that, the rhetoric is especially undermined by last weeks reports that the US had assigned diplomats to promote the nuclear agreement to US-based multinational businesses, effectively encouraging them to invest in Iran and to mitigate their own fears of future sanctions. While these moves have been credited with providing an effective answer to Khameneis criticisms, they have themselves been criticized by Western legislators and commentators who view such proactive engagement as going too far beyond the original scope of the nuclear deal. These concerns were expressed in The Tower on Tuesday, in an article that quoted a number of policy analysts and Republican congressmen as suggesting that the Obama administration was moving to betray its former assurances that Iran would not gain access to the US dollar, much less to American assets. As the article notes, those commentators and particularly those legislators are pushing back against these latest efforts, urging the US to avoid giving more wealth than was agreed upon to a country that is widely regarded as the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Kansas Representative Mike Pompeo expressed concern that direct exchange with Iran could give the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a foothold in the US. And Illinois Senator Mark Kirk would ignore previous legislation indicating that Irans entire financial sector is a potential source of money-laundering for terrorist organizations. Furthermore, the leading scholars with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies argued that by taking sanctions relief to this end, the Obama administration would be giving away the last bit of leverage that the US had retained not only with regard to the Iranian nuclear program but also with regard to the ballistic missile issue and other illicit behaviors. However, even if these scholars and their advocates in Congress do not succeed in blocking the Obama administrations plans, there is a chance that those plans will not have the effect that the Iranian regime hopes they will. This conclusion was suggested by an article that appeared in Reuters on Tuesday, which also further undermined the Iranian supreme leaders notion that the failures of the post-sanctions recovery are purely the result of an American conspiracy. A wide variety of reforms were promised by President Rouhani when he took office in 2013, but were never delivered upon. Yet some feel that a less hardline parliament may allow Rouhani to move forward with a reformist agenda, which would increase the ease of doing business in Iran and would also reduce the risk of arbitrary arrests of dual nationals and other persons with ties to the West. However, many critics of the regime suggest that no such reforms will be forthcoming, or even that Rouhani never had any intention of pursuing them in the first place. In fact, an editorial that appeared in Al Arabiya last week pointed out that under so-called reformist administrations, the crackdown on civil rights and pro-Western sentiments has always tended to increase in Iran. This perception is borne out by the brief history of Rouhanis presidency, during which the rate of executions has been greater than any time in more than 20 years and the rights of women and minorities have taken a step backward in a number of areas. To the extent that this is scaring off would-be liaisons between Iranian and American businesses, Reuters indicates that it has dramatically increased the amount of difficult faced by international companies that already wish to invest in Iran. Thus, as long as Iranian behavior remains what it is, it is possible that the situation will only change slightly if the Obama administration releases American businesses from the apparent danger of lingering sanctions enforcement. A wake-up call to the West The Brussels attacks demand a new strategy By Mohammad Mohaddessin Wednesday, March 30, 2016 The ruthless attacks against the airport and subway station in Brussels, killing at least 31 people and injuring hundreds, were crimes against humanity by any standard. Again, they pose the same question faced by the world community after Sept. 11, 2001: How to respond to terrorism carried out in the name of Islam? The right answer would effectively end the growth of violent Islamic extremism. The wrong answer would lead to ever greater threats. In my 1993 book, Islamic Fundamentalism: The New Global Threat, I argued that although the theoretical roots of this evil phenomenon date back to the first decades of Islam, it was only after the establishment of theocracy in Iran that Islamic fundamentalism became the global threat that it is today. While the differences between Shiite and Sunni fundamentalists are minimal, they have a common major objective: establishing an Islamic rule for the enforcement of Shariah law. I also argued in the book that only democratic Islam poses the ultimate challenge to fundamentalist interpretations. At the time, my book was cast as an exaggeration by an opponent of the Iranian regime. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the world saw the brutality of fundamentalism firsthand, but the United States nonetheless blundered ahead, making a major strategic mistake by invading Iraq. As subsequent mistakes were made, Iran managed to dominate Iraq, a circumstance Tehran exploited to project itself as a growing power in the Middle East. Because Tehran is the heart of fundamentalism, the groundwork was laid for the emergence and spread of ISIS as the Sunni counterpart to Irans Shiite fundamentalism. Fifteen years on, Europe is dealing with what could be its own 9/11. And Tehran is poised to seize the opportunity once again, free of the weight of sanctions with coffers already flushed with tens of billions of dollars in new money. The solution to Islamic fundamentalism is not engagement with its godfather in Iran; it is exactly the opposite. And it must include unwavering support for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Syria. After all, Mr. Assads brutality and Irans sectarianism are major contributors to the social landscape that has allowed ISIS to attract more Sunnis to its extremist ideology. Remove those conditions, and the ISIS ideology and tactics quickly collapse. Last year, French President Francois Hollande said if the United States had not backtracked at the 11th hour in August 2013 from punishing Mr. Assad for his chemical attacks, the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack would likely have never occurred. Perhaps the November 13 Paris attack would not have happened either. And, now innocent blood has been spilled in Brussels. Mr. Hollande was spot on. The West, specifically the United States, should concentrate its efforts on the ouster of Mr. Assad instead of looking in all the wrong places for help against threats like ISIS. Efforts at combating ISIS will be futile without toppling Mr. Assad. The Iranian regimes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his Iraqi puppets and Bashar Assad, have created fertile soil for ISIS to thrive, by killing, according to some accounts, 470,000 people in Syria and by marginalizing and alienating the Sunnis in Iraq. Under Washingtons watch, Baghdad and Damascus have become killing fields for Irans Quds Force and its criminal militias. Without a viable alternative, Sunnis have been forced to choose between these criminals and ISIS. Replacing Assad and his Iranian backers with a moderate and inclusive government, would give the Sunni population a real alternative. Lets not forget that as Mr. Assads main enabler, the Iranian mullahs, weakened and more vulnerable after the sham parliamentary elections, had to concede to the cease-fire in Syria. A firm approach by the United States and its European allies can reinforce the shaky Syrian cease-fire, opening a way forward for the Geneva negotiations. Otherwise, the cease-fire will provide the opportunity Tehran seeks for another massacre of innocents in Syria. There is no doubt that Mr. Assads removal would mark the beginning of a strategy that could finally lead to peace for all people in Syria, Iraq, and Iran. It would also remove a serious threat to Europe. The United States and Europe face a historic decision. The victims of the horrific Brussels attacks will not have died in vain if these governments choose to pursue a genuine solution to the Syrian and Iraqi crises. Any other course of action will be judged harshly by history. Mohammad Mohaddessin is chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. [March 29, 2016] Fitch Rates Burleson ISD, TX's ULT Rfdg Bonds 'AAA' PSF/ 'AA-' Underlying; Outlook Stable Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'AAA' rating based on the Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) and an 'AA-' underlying rating to the following Burleson Independent School District, Texas' (the district) unlimited tax bonds (ULTs): --$121.4 million unlimited tax refunding bonds series 2016. The bonds are expected to sell via negotiation the week of April 4, 2016. Proceeds will be used to refund outstanding obligations for savings without extending final maturity. In addition, Fitch has affirmed the 'AA-'underlying rating on the district's $289.3 million (prerefunding basis) outstanding ULTs. Fitch does not rate the district's ULT refunding bonds, series 2012. The Rating Outlook is Stable. SECURITY The bonds are payable from an unlimited property tax levy and are further secured by the PSF bond guarantee program, rated 'AAA' by Fitch. (For more information on the Texas Permanent School Fund see 'Fitch Affirms Texas PSF Rating at 'AAA'; Outlook Stable', dated Aug. 5, 2015). KEY RATING DRIVERS SOUND FINANCIAL PROFILE: The district demonstrates sound financial management through consistently positive financial performance, robust fund balance levels and conservative budgeting. HIGH DEBT BURDEN; MANAGEABLE CAPITAL NEEDS: Debt levels are elevated and amortization is slow. No new money debt issuance is planned, as the capital projects fund reserve remains sufficient to meet near-term capital needs. MODERATE ENROLLMENT GROWTH: The district serves Burleson and surrounding areas south of Fort Worth, which have historically experienced rapid growth. The district realized a solid 5.5% enrollment gain in fiscal 2016, after more modest growth in the previous three years, but does not face immediate facility pressure given the fiscal 2016 opening of a new middle school. RATING SENSITIVITIES SOUND FINANCES; MANAGEABLE GROWTH: The rating assumes continuation of sound finances and the district's ability to accommodate enrollment growth within available resources. CREDIT PROFILE Located approximately seven miles south of Fort Worth along Interstate Highway 35 West, the district serves approximately 11,000 students from the city of Burleson and surrounding areas. GROWING BEDROOM COMMUNITY Burleson's affordable land, convenient transportation routes, mineral exploration activity, and proximity to the larger Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington employment base have combined to fuel rapid population growth. Management estimates only about half of the district is currently built out, and planned residential and commercial developments suggest growth will continue for the near- to intermediate-term. Economic indicators are favorable, with a low city of Burleson unemployment rate at 3.2% in January 2016 (versus 4.4% in Texas) and above-average incomes. Regional median household income is above the state and national averages. STABILIZING TAX BASE Improving residential property prices and new residential and commercial development contributed to strengthening of the tax base in fiscal 2015 and 2016. It had been flat-to-modestly declining for the prior four years, largely due to fluctuations in Barnett Shale mineral values. Top-10 taxpayers, making up 9.15% of fiscal 2016 taxable assessed value (TAV), are still somewhat concentrated in the energy sector. Fluctuations in taxable values have no impact on total operating revenues, as the state backfills on a per-pupil basis, but TAV changes affect the district's capacity to issue new debt due to the debt service tax rate currently being at the maximum statutory rate. STRONG REVENUE GROWTH; CONSISTENT FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE The district's revenues have grown at a strong 6.2% compound annual rate over the last 10 years, reflecting rapid enrollment. The district typically generates operating surpluses and was able to add to reserves even during the recession with effective cost control. The district completed fiscal 2015 with a net operating surplus of $5.1 million and unrestricted general fund reserves of $24.8 million, or 31% of spending. Officials anticipate similar 2016 reserves. The district may approach voters in the next couple of years to seek an increase in its maintenance & operation (M&O) tax rate from the current statutory maximum of $1.04 per $100 of TAV. The district could tap up to an additional $0.13 with voter approval. State funding provides half of the district's operating revenues. The district's most recent demographic study projected annual 2% enrollment increases over the next five years; however, the district commissioned an updated demographic study to be released in mid-April due to the recent enrollment uptick. The district also receives Barnett Shale mineral royalties. Due to the unpredictability of the revenue stream (between several hundred thousand to over one million dollars annually in recent years), the district applies these funds to capital outlays in accordance with its conservative management policies. HIGH DEBT, MANAGEABLE CAPITAL NEEDS Fitch expects the district' overall debt, at 8.8% of market value, to remain high based on a slow 10-year principal amortization rate of 26%. The district has no remaining bond authorization and is constrained from returning to voters for GO authorization in at least the near term. The district currently levies a debt service tax rate at the $0.50 cap that the state attorney general imposes on school districts as a test before approval of new money debt issuance. However, capital requirements appear manageable for the near term without additional debt. The district's immediate facility needs were addressed through conversion of an old elementary school to a middle school, funded from capital projects reserves. LIMITED PENSION/OPEB OBLIGATIONS The district participates in the Texas Teachers Retirement System (TRS), a cost-sharing multiple employer pension system. Under GASB 67 and 68, TRS's assets cover 83.3% of liabilities as of fiscal 2015, a ratio that falls to a Fitch-estimated 75% using a more conservative 7% return assumption. Contributions are determined by state statute, rather than actuarially, and historically have fallen short of the actuarial level. Recent reforms have lowered benefits and increased statutory contributions in order to improve plan sustainability over time. The state assumes the majority of TRS employer contributions and net pension liability on behalf of school districts, except for small amounts which state statute requires districts to assume. Like all Texas school districts, the district is vulnerable to future policy changes that shift more of the contributions and liabilities onto districts - as evidenced by a relatively modest 1.5% of salary contribution requirement effective fiscal 2015. The proportionate share of the system's net pension liability paid by the district is minimal, representing less than 0.5% of fiscal 2015 market value. The district's contributions are currently limited to 1.5% of salaries and the pension costs for salaries above the statutory maximum (total contribution of $767,797 in fiscal 2015). Carrying costs for debt service, pensions and OPEB were moderate at 19.6% of fiscal 2015 governmental spending, composed nearly entirely of debt service and reflecting strong state pension support and a slow 10-year amortization rate of 31%. TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICT LITIGATION A Texas district judge ruled in August 2014 that the state's school finance system is unconstitutional. The ruling, which was in response to a consolidation of six lawsuits representing 75% of Texas school children and was the second such ruling in the past two years, found the system inefficient, inequitable, and underfunded. The judge also ruled that local school property taxes are effectively a statewide property tax due to lack of local discretion and therefore are unconstitutional. The Texas attorney general has appealed the judge's latest ruling to the state supreme court. If the state school finance system is ultimately found unconstitutional, the legislature would likely follow with changes intended to restore its constitutionality. Fitch would consider any changes that include additional funding for schools and more local discretion over tax rates to be a credit positive. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Fitch recently published exposure drafts of state and local government tax-supported criteria (Exposure Draft: U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria, dated Sept. 10, 2015 and Exposure Draft: Incorporating Enhanced Recovery Prospects into U.S. Local Tax-Supported Ratings). The drafts include a number of proposed revisions to existing criteria. If applied in the proposed form, Fitch estimates the revised criteria would result in changes to less than 10% of existing tax-supported ratings. Fitch expects that final criteria will be approved and published early in the second quarter of 2016. Once approved, the criteria will be applied immediately to any new issue and surveillance rating review. Fitch anticipates the criteria to be applied to all ratings that fall under the criteria within a 12-month period from the final approval date. In addition to the sources of information identified in the applicable criteria specified below, this action was informed by information from CreditScope, Lumesis, and The Texas Municipal Advisory Council. Applicable Criteria Exposure Draft: Incorporating Enhanced Recovery Prospects into US Local Tax-Supported Ratings (pub. 02 Feb 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=875108 Exposure Draft: U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 10 Sep 2015) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=869942 Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 14 Aug 2012) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=686015 U.S. Local Government Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 14 Aug 2012) https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=685314 Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1001647 Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1001647 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 (News - Alert) 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/20160329006449/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 30, 2016] Global Health Investment Fund Purchases $8 Million of Convertible Notes Issued by Access Bio, Inc. The Global Health Investment Fund ("GHIF") is pleased to announce that it has invested $8 million in Access Bio, Inc. (KOSDAQ:950130) ("ABI" or "Access Bio"), a publicly listed company on South Korea's KOSDAQ exchange. The investment is structured as convertible notes which can be exchanged for an equity interest in the company at GHIF's discretion after a fixed lock-up period. Investment proceeds will be used to procure and install manufacturing equipment that will further support the affordability of ABI's rapid diagnostic test products. Access Bio is an innovative point-of-care diagnostics company with a growing portfolio of products that advance GHIF's mission of making high-quality, affordable medical technologies accessible in low- and middle-income countries. Anchored by its position as a market-leading provider of rapid diagnostic tests ("RDTs") for malaria, Access Bio also offers an expanding menu of robust, low-cost tests for public health challenges such as HPV infection, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, HIV infection, dengue fever and syphilis. In addition to the company's established product pipeline, Access Bio is also responding to the emerging Zika virus threat through the development of diagnostic products on both RDT and molecular testing platforms. "Given Access Bio's commitment to developing and delivering low-cost diagnostic kits for such a wide range of conditions of interest to the Global Health Investment Fund, we are thrilled to be providing financing to support the company's RDT manufacturing capabilities," said Glenn Rockman of GHIF. "We believe our support will enable further enhancements to ABI's RDT assembly process and we look forward to continued collaboration with the company to ensure their entire portfolio of diagnostic kits is widely available at affordable prices." Following the World Health Organization's 2010 recommendation that all suspected cases of malaria receive a diagnostic test prior to treatment, malaria RDTs have become an essential public health commodity, with more than 300 million tests delivered annually over the last three years. The majority of these tests are purchased by international donors and public health systems inmalaria-endemic countries, where accurate diagnosis of infection is enabling better patient care and more efficient use of anti-malarial drugs. Diagnostic products such as those manufactured by Access Bio are essential tools in advancing the control and elimination agenda for malaria and other public health challenges. Mr. Young H. Choi, chief executive officer of Access Bio, remarked that "our financing agreement with Global Health Investment Fund further solidifies our commitment to make high-quality diagnostic products accessible to those most in need. We believe we can make a meaningful impact in the lives of hundreds of millions of patients around the world, while tapping into an enormous and rapidly growing customer base that will benefit as affordable diagnostics play an increasing role in managing the threat posed by infectious diseases." About Access Bio, Inc.: Access Bio (KOSDAQ:950130) is dedicated to the prevention and early diagnosis of infectious diseases through research, development, and manufacturing of in vitro rapid diagnostic tests, biosensors and molecular diagnostic products. The company's in vitro diagnostic test platform includes immunochemical, biochemical and molecular products. Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Access Bio serves its global customer base from manufacturing sites located in the US, Ethiopia and South Korea. In fiscal year 2015, the company reported $31.4 million of revenues, largely from sales of its industry-leading malaria RDT products. The company is in the early stages of commercializing a number of additional diagnostic kits that leverage its existing expertise and manufacturing capacity. For additional information about the company, please visit accessbio.net About Global Health Investment Fund I, LLC: GHIF is a private investment fund structured by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The fund received anchor support from Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada), the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (acting through KfW), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation. The fund's limited partners also include AXA, GlaxoSmithKline, International Finance Corporation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Merck, Pfizer Foundation, Storebrand and individual investors. With an emphasis on late-stage projects, GHIF finances the development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for diseases that disproportionately burden low-income populations. Much like a traditional investment fund, GHIF searches for opportunities that will deliver compelling financial returns in developed markets and/or emerging markets. Of equal importance, each investment must also advance the fund's public health mission, which is to ensure that the innovations it supports are accessible to those who need them most in underserved markets. Key global health challenges targeted by the fund include malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cholera and preventable causes of maternal and infant mortality, in addition to other neglected infectious diseases. GHIF's definition of success requires meaningful improvements in the lives of those afflicted by these challenges, and the fund forecasts and measures its progress against this objective alongside traditional financial return benchmarks. For additional information about GHIF, please visit ghif.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160330005328/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 30, 2016] Continuum Hosts Recruiting Fair at Pennsylvania Office Continuum, the only channel-exclusive IT management platform company, is hosting a Tech Connect Career Fair on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at its Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania office. Home to the company's Help Desk, the U.S.-based technology service center provides direct end-user support for a variety of desktop-related issues for more than 50,000 users of the small and medium sized business clients of the company's Managed Services Provider (MSP) partners. WHAT: Continuum Tech Connect Recruiting Fair WHEN: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 5:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. EDT WHERE: Continuum Metro Pittsburgh, 220 West Kensinger Drive, Suite 300, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania Continuum is hiring for a variety of positions including Help Desk technicians at all levels, business development representatives, account executives and more. During the career fair, prospective employees have the opportunity to interact with staff members, experience Continuum's culture and learn about exciting IT opportunities. Continuum's Jacque Rowden Senior Director, Help Desk and Joel Kennedy, Director of Technical Account Management, are presenting. In 2015, Continuum was awarded a Top Workplaces honor by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In September, Continuum unveiled an expanded, state of the art facility, double the size of its location that opened in 2011 with 30 employees. The Help Desk, now supported with more than 170 technicians, works in conjunction with the company's industry-leading 24x7x365 Network Operations Center (NOC) with more than 600 technicians. For more information on the Tech Connect Career Fair, visit: http://www.continuum.net/company/managed-it-services-metro-pittsburgh-pa. About Continuum Metro Pittsburgh, PA Located in the metro Pittsburgh area in Cranberry Township, Continuum's Pennsylvania office is home to the company's Help Desk. The U.S.-based technology service center provides direct end-user support for a variety of desktop-related issues for more than 50,000 users of small and medium sized business clients of the company's MSP partners. For more information, visit: http://www.continuum.net/company/managed-it-services-metro-pittsburgh-pa. About Continuum Continuum is the only channel-exclusive IT management platform company that allows its Managed Services Provider (MSP) partners to maintain both on premise and cloud-based servers, desktops, mobile devices and other endpoints for their small-and-medium-sized business clients. Continuum's SaaS (News - Alert) platform enables MSPs to efficiently backup, monitor, troubleshoot and maintain clients' IT infrastructure from a single pane of glass, all backed by an industry-leading Network Operations Center (NOC (News - Alert)) and Help Desk. The company employs 1,200 professionals worldwide, monitors 1 million endpoints for its 5,800 partners including MSPs servicing more than 50,000 SMB customers and Web hosting provider partners supported by its R1Soft server backup product line. Continuum established the Continuum Veterans Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing financial support to charities focused on helping veterans find jobs in IT. For more information, visit http://www.continuum.net/ or follow on LinkedIn and Twitter (News - Alert) @FollowContinuum. All trademarks recognized. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160330005018/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] EgyptAir plane hijacked to Cyprus, most passengers freed An Egyptian plane on a flight between Alexandria and Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus by a man apparently distressed over a family matter. 2-wheelers bid to push sale With the Nepali New Year around the corner, two-wheeler sellers have launched various schemes and discount offers to attract potential customers in a bid to push sales that slumped following Indias trade embargo and the April 25 earthquake. Bilateral meeting of Nepal-India EPGs to take place within a month Indias Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is all set to hold a bilateral meeting of the taskforces constituted to review the agreements and treaties signed between Nepal and India within a month. Campaign to check fuel black market The CPN-UML affiliated student wing, All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), has launched a campaign against fuel black marketeering. Court issues show cause to Mahottari police, DAO Janakpur Appellate Court on Tuesday served a show cause order to the District Police Office and the District Administration Office of Mahottari for denying to register first information report (FIR) regarding the death of Rambibek Yadav. Devolving power Govt needs to incentivise people for generating electricity rather than giving subsidies for acquiring the systems English edition of ex-General Katwal's autobiography to hit book stands English edition of former Nepal Army General Rookmangud Katawals autobiography is all set to hit the book stands. Morcha leaders meet today to decide next move Leaders of the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) are meeting in the Capital on Thursday to decide their next course of action, including a launch of fresh protest programmes. NOC to India: Supply extra 15k tonnes of LPG Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has written to the Indian government requesting a supply of another 15,000 tonnes of cooking gas for next month as the country continues to suffer from a crippling shortage even one and a half months after the end of the embargo. Rights-based reconstruction The National Reconstruction Authority should treat the earthquake victims as rights holders and empower them Single-engine aircraft face uncertain future The future of single-engine aircraft in Nepal hangs in the balance with a government committee saying that allowing passenger flights and registering new planes requires a new policy response. US election: Donald Trump aide charged with assault Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been charged with assaulting a journalist at a campaign event. Yes, its hard to to tell when one enters the city limits Yes, they will make the city more inviting Maybe ... does it really matter? No, the signs in place are fine No, it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars Vote View Results Kendallville, IN (46755) Today A few passing clouds, otherwise generally sunny. High around 75F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy in the evening with more clouds for later at night. Low 57F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Reporting a crime can be a stressful experience an experience that only adds to the stress of being the victim of a crime. That is especially true for the victims of sexual assault. Too often, sexual assault goes unreported. That can be especially true on college campuses, where underage drinking can be involved. With all the complexities of deciding whether to report a sexual assault to authorities, why make the possibility of receiving a ticket for underage drinking a reason not to report an assault? Thankfully, thats no longer an issue in Wisconsin. Gov. Scott Walker signed the sexual-assault amnesty bill last week. The legislation grants immunity from underage-drinking citations for those involved in reporting a sexual assault whether its the victim or a friend who is willing to summon the authorities for help. When the legislation was introduced in January, Attorney General Brad Schimel said: Victims of sex crimes already have a tough decision to make when deciding whether or not to involve law enforcement. This common-sense bill breaks down another barrier to deciding to report to law enforcement and seeking medical attention when an underage person falls victim to sexual assault or assists a friend who has been assaulted. Rep. Jill Billings, D-La Crosse, who co-authored the bill, said the law will help protect victims of sexual assault. This bill would ensure students who have been the victims of a sexual assault or related crimes, while under the influence of alcohol, would not be charged for underage alcohol consumption, Billings said. This legislation also provides that students would not be subject to certain actions by the UW Board of Regents, such as eviction from student housing. In these scenarios, a student should be offered help without harmful repercussions. A variety of statistics underscore the problem of sexual assault on campuses. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center estimates that about one in four women is sexually assaulted during her college career. In a 2014 report, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics states that about 80 percent of rape and sexual assault victimizations of students arent reported to police. As Billings said: This law moves our state in the right direction, changing the relationship between students and law enforcement, and allowing students to feel secure in reporting sexual assaults on campus. A citation for underage drinking at the time of an assault is nothing more than a gotcha for a vulnerable victim or the bystander who wants to offer assistance. This legislation helps remove at least one of the barriers to a victim reporting a crime that too often goes unreported. Over the past nine years, Minnesotas corn farmers have greatly increased their investment in research efforts to use nitrogen fertilizer more efficiently and effectively. Since 2007, 34 projects addressing nitrogen fertilizer management have been supported using funds from Minnesotas corn check-off, a voluntary one-cent fee paid by corn farmers for every bushel sold to market. Of those 34 projects, 22 are currently active and in progress. The goal of our nitrogen fertilizer research is to protect water quality and improve efficiency while maintaining productivity, said Dr. Paul Meints, Research Director for the Minnesota Corn Growers Association. We want to help farmers use nitrogen fertilizer more efficiently and keep it on their field. Increasing efficiency results in better water quality for the entire state and cost-savings for Minnesota farmers. MCGAs annual investments in research efforts total about $4 million annually. More than half of those funds are dedicated to projects related to nitrogen fertilizer management and protecting water quality. Water quality has become a hot topic recently, but its something weve been working on for a long time, said Doug Albin, a farmer in Clarksfield and chairman of the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council, which oversees the investment of Minnesotas corn check-off funds and works in close partnership with MCGA. We challenge our researchers to really push the envelope and come up with improved practices that benefit water quality. The majority of corn-farmer supported research into nitrogen fertilizer management is conducted by the University of Minnesota. Projects address everything from reducing nitrogen fertilizer lost through tile drainage, applying nitrogen fertilizer during the growing season to reduce losses and using cover crops to increase nitrogen efficiency. MCGA also supports a nutrient management faculty position at the U of M, as well as a U of M Extension specialist who specializes in nutrient management and agricultural drainage education. Other nitrogen fertilizer-focused initiatives supported by Minnesota corn farmers include Discovery Farms, the annual Minnesota Nutrient Management conference and Nitrogen Smart, a new series of educational sessions focused on helping famers more effectively manage nitrogen fertilizer. More information on research efforts supported by Minnesota Corn farmers can be found at mncorn.org/research. Jackson County Board District 17 incumbent Jeff Amo, on since 2004 and current board vice chair, will be challenged by Jeremy Patrick Rockman. The district includes the fourth ward of Black River Falls and the fifth ward of Brockway. The position is a two-year term. Why do you want to serve on the county board? AMO: I have served on the Jackson County Board for the last 12 years and wish to continue for at least another term. I am currently a member of several committees including: Law Enforcement (vice chair); Highway (chair); Personnel (vice chair); and Executive & Finance (vice chair). I believe the board should consist of a balance of experienced members as well as newcomers that are willing to serve. ROCKMAN: Over the span of time that I have experienced life since high school I have seen widespread, wanton waste and ecological abuse inflicted on the land of my ancestors. My background in history has provided me with insights which have shown that these egregious actions have been undertaken ever since the earliest settlements were begun on the east coast of North America. Everything from angle worms, pigs, snakes, cattle and birds and cats have spread throughout the environment with limited control. People in Florida now hesitate to go outside at night for fear of fatal encounters with python snakes. Native song birds disappear due to the depredations of roving cats. Even squirrels are used to satisfy the target practice passions of gun enthusiasts. Worse yet, society is presently contending with disquieting concerns over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the corn which deer eat from farm fields (chronic wasting disease?). Compound that with lead or other chemical substances in the ecosystem and we see the crucial reasons for concern as autism and ADHD spread throughout society. What makes you the best candidate for the job? AMO: I believe my experience with local government operations has been valuable in understanding how the county government works. I believe that I am a good listener and try to hear both sides of an issue and make reasonable decisions based on factual information towards the best interests of Jackson County residents. ROCKMAN: An often referenced biblical declaration is that God admonished mankind to ... be fruitful, multiply and have dominion over the earth, ... which according to Jewish scholars of the Talmud is an inaccurate replication of the original text. Jewish scholars clarify: ... man is to live in and with creation. Furthermore, that same Bible derives from the agreed upon version which was produced by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD as a conjunction between church and state expressed in the Doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings and the Separation of Church and State. Now, those same precepts still exist in an evolved form in which the state is pre-eminent and the church is relegated to an inferior, largely ceremonial role. The end product of this ecclesiastical philosophy is that corporations are now accorded the rights of a person before the bar of justice. Essentially, that is how society got into the mess that it is in. These scholarly qualities of reading and writing both historically and the present day issues confronting society are what make me the best qualified candidate for the job. What issues are facing the county and how do you plan to address them? AMO: We need to continue to provide a high quality public safety system to our county residents and visitors. Including the sheriffs departments various duties: adequate patrol and response; successful investigations and prosecution of major crime; an efficient and safe operation of the jail; and the provision of a 911 dispatch group that uses up-to-date methods in order to answer calls and respond appropriately. We have made significant improvements to all these areas in the last 10 years, and I am proud to have been a part of that. We also need to address our highway system and try to find the means to keep up with its maintenance needs. While we have made major improvements to several county trunk roads such as five miles of CTH A; seven miles of CTH K; and most recently, 10 miles of CTH P much more needs to be done. Funding by county, federal, and state sources have either been frozen or cut, making further road and bridge improvements very difficult to attain in the near future. I support a one-half cent sales tax dedicated to county road projects which would raise about $1.3 million for Jackson County. ROCKMAN: In reading the local papers, a recurring issue which impacts Jackson County is that of alcohol and drug abuses impact on socially destructive behavior. Although commendable efforts have been made in attempting to ameliorate AODA s community effects, it appears as though other sociological factors need to be identified in order to address their presence. However, the most crucial issue confronting Jackson County is the menace posed by sand minings ecological destruction on the land, water and wildlife inhabiting our environs. All of us are aware of climate change, ozone depletion, greenhouse effect, species depletion and the insane legal definition of paper corporate documents possessing the same rights as a person. Sand mining, like burning down ones house while in it is sheer insanity. If we have to be responsible neighbors to one another in having our home septic systems pumped regularly so it doesnt contaminate adjacent waters, then why should Jackson County allow neighbors to sell land for the purpose of sand mining pollution of the clean environment that everyone depends upon. Are we all not our brothers keeper? MINNEAPOLIS Two white police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a black man last fall will not face criminal charges, a prosecutor announced Wednesday in a decision that drew outrage from community members who said the move showed that the legal system is rigged against African-Americans. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said his decision not to charge the officers in the death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark was based on forensic evidence that showed Clark was not handcuffed and had attempted to grab an officer's weapon, which made the officers believe they were in mortal danger. The prosecutor said Clark ignored warnings to take his hands off Mark Ringgenberg's gun before he was shot and told Ringgenberg and officer Dustin Schwarze: "I'm ready to die." Freeman painstakingly described his decision, starting with accounts from police reports and witnesses. Community members who attended the presentation said the prosecutor relied too heavily on police accounts and disregarded what others said they saw. "This is a fairy tale. None of this happened," said Mel Reeves, an organizer for a group called Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar Clark. "It's not justice. It sends us a clear message that the police are above the law." Police encountered Clark early on Nov. 15 after paramedics called for help from a scene where they were attempting to treat Clark's girlfriend after she was assaulted. The paramedics said Clark, the assault suspect, was interfering with their work, and they feared for their safety, Freeman said. When police arrived, Clark kept putting his hands in his pockets and refused orders to show his hands. Officers tried to handcuff Clark but couldn't, and the handcuffs were dropped, Freeman said. Ringgenberg then took Clark to the ground and ended up on top of Clark, who was lying on his back. Ringgenberg's back was to Clark's stomach, Freeman said. Ringgenberg felt his gun shift from his hip to the small of his back and reached back and felt Clark's hand on his weapon, Freeman said. The officer said, "He's got my gun," Freeman said. Schwarze said he put his gun to the edge of Clark's mouth and warned him to let go or he would shoot. At that point, Clark looked directly at Schwarze and said he was ready to die. Schwarze said the only thing he could do to save the lives of everyone in the area was to pull the trigger. The shooting happened 61 seconds after police first approached, Freeman said. Twenty civilian witnesses gave different versions of whether Clark was handcuffed. Of the 12 who said he was handcuffed, their stories differed and did not match the forensic evidence, Freeman said. The prosecutor said he does not believe those witnesses were lying, explaining that it's not uncommon for people to have contradictory statements when observing chaotic situations and when they are at different vantage points. Forensic evidence showed Clark had no bruising on his wrists consistent with being handcuffed, and his DNA was not found on the inside of the handcuffs, which were on the ground, Freeman said. In addition, Clark's DNA was found on Ringgenberg's belt and on the grip of his gun. "Clark simply could not have been handcuffed when he attempted to seize the gun while they were on the ground," Freeman said. Freeman, who decided earlier this month against taking the case to a grand jury, faced tough questioning from the public at his hourlong presentation, including a woman who called his account "propaganda." Investigators had video of Clark's shooting from several sources, but said early on that it did not provide a full picture of what happened. Freeman released the video publicly on Wednesday. Protesters had demanded that the case not go to a grand jury. Public skepticism over grand juries, who do their work in secret, grew after police officers were not indicted in the high-profile deaths of blacks in other cities, including the fatal 2014 shootings of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland and 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the 2014 chokehold death of 43-year-old Eric Garner in New York. But grand juries reached indictments in other cases, including in Chicago, where an officer faces murder charges in the 2014 death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, whose shooting was captured on video. Mica Grimm, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, predicted that Freeman would not be re-elected. "We will not stand for this injustice anymore. We will not come down to the government center and be lied to our faces anymore. If we cannot find justice here, we will find it in the streets." Activists planned rallies in Minneapolis for later Wednesday evening. The FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division are conducting a separate federal criminal investigation to determine whether police intentionally violated Clark's civil rights through excessive force. That's a high legal standard because an accident, bad judgment or simple negligence on the officer's part isn't enough to bring federal charges. The Department of Justice is also reviewing how the city responded to protests after Clark's death. Clark's shooting sparked weeks of largely peaceful protests in Minneapolis, including an 18-day encampment outside a police precinct. The unrest over Clark's death also included demands that city and state leaders do more about the persistent poverty seen as the root of racial tensions. The state is considering funneling millions of dollars into job training, loans and other initiatives to help black residents get ahead. Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) Harriet Tubman was born to enslaved parents in Maryland, and her early life was harsh and full of daily physical violence. She was beaten so severely as a child and adolescent that she suffered from seizures and headaches for the rest of her life. After she escaped in 1849 to Philadelphia, she went back to the plantations numerous times to free other slaves through a system of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She became a leading abolitionist before the Civil War and the most famous conductor of the railroad. During the war, she worked for the Union Army as a cook, nurse, an armed scout and a spy. Harriet Tubman was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the Civil War as she guided the Combahee River Raid. She led 150 black Union soldiers and three Federal gunboats up the river after gaining information about the location of rebel torpedoes from slaves. The successful raid freed 750 South Carolina slaves. I have been reading "The Fall of the Ottomans," by Eugene Rogan, who points out that before the fall there were factions in the Empire one favoring a more autocratic centralized government and another a more independent decentralized government. This reminded me of the original dilemma confronting our Founding Fathers in 1787, and the creation of the principle known as Federalism, whereby there would be a central (Washington) governing body with very limited powers (the founders fearful of a British monarchy) and decentralized governments in the various autonomous states. The original intent being that most of the power was to reside with the states and their citizens, there being dual citizenship, both national and state. We fought a war over that issue, and the power struggle continues today. It has always been contentious, but never more so than with the rise of Democratic Party leader Barack Hussein Obama. Obama's autocratic "pen and phone," policy, rule by fiat, lack of campaign-promised transparency (people will be able to follow health-care negotiations because CNN will be right there in the room), refusal to negotiate with the elected Congress, arrogance, abuse by the EPA, the Iran deal which should be a treaty, references to racism whenever someone disagrees with him, have given rise to utter disdain by a large segment of the population and the rise of Donald J. Trump, aided by a cowardly Republican establishment that refuses to use its constitutional powers to stop an unconstitutional imperialist. Luther (7-3) built a lead in its Division 6 first-round game at third-seeded Markesan on Friday and held on to beat the Hornets 26-14 for their first playoff win since becoming a member of the WIAA. A penguin is seen in front of Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, docked at an ice covered area of the South Pole during China's 31st scientific expedition to Antarctica. [Photo/Weibo.com] China's top polar research institute expects to recruit foreign talents to help the country advance its research work in the polar regions, the institute's head said on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. Yang Huigen, director of the Polar Research Institute of China, said that his institute would recruit at least two experts in the fields of physical oceanography, ice core science and polar marine ecology this year. The institute is the country's solo organization focusing on the polar research and offering logistic supports to researchers in polar regions, Yang said. On Monday, Yang extended an offer letter to marine talent Huang Wentao who will lead the research team in the study of polar middle and upper atmospheric physics. Huang, 39, received his doctorate of science from his studies in Peking University's School of Physics. He mainly focused on the laser radar technology, and the technology's application in the atmospheric and space physics. During his work in the United States, he joined in the research of new generation Doppler laser radar. His new laser radar technology has been used to provide data for the studies of cosmic dust and middle atmosphere dynamics. As one of the country's major tasks in the marine studies, China would continue to develop technologies and equipment to improve the polar research, according to the State Oceanic Administration. The administration said in a statement in February that an Antarctic air squadron will be set up this year to support its scientific expeditions to the polar region. China will continue to develop technologies and equipment to research on space, remote sensing and oceanography, the administration said, and a long-term integrated observation and service system would also be set up. It will build its second polar research vessel after Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, an icebreaker, to strengthen its capabilities in the field, said Hu Keyi, technical director of Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co Ltd, one of China's largest shipbuilders. Bidding for the construction of the second ship will start by the end of April and the new vessel will boast stronger icebreaking capabilities, Hu said in March. The ship's estimated budget will be more than 1 billion yuan ($153.5 million). More than 50 Yazidi women and children were exchanged last week for Islamic State prisoners held by Kurdish forces in Syria. Two IS commanders were exchanged for the women and children. Kurds holding the two were part of the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, known as the YPG. The women and children were returned home to Sinjar in northern Iraq. Sinjar is the main city for Yazidis in Iraq. It was liberated from IS last year by Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Those fighters are supported by the U.S.-led coalition. The Yazidis were taken from the same town 19 months ago, according to a Kurdish news agency. I have talked to some of them yesterday, said Dawud Sheik Kalo, a Yazidi fighter. He said the women and children are safe. A former prisoner told the Kurdish news agency she spent nine months in Iraq and 11 months in Syria. A teenage Yazidi girl said her family was taken by IS. After we got to Syria, they separated the men from us, she said. Media reports made no mention of Yazidi men being a part of the exchange. Thousands of Yazidis were abducted or killed by IS in northern Iraq beginning in 2014. Women and girls were forced into sexual slavery by IS members, human rights groups say. Im Mario Ritter. Sirwan Kajjo wrote this story for VOA News. Jim Dresbach adapted this story for Learning English and VOANews.com. Kathleen Struck 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 liberate v. to free someone or something from being controlled by another person or group abduct v. to take someone away from a place by force South Korea says North Korea fired a short-range missile off its east coast late Tuesday near the North Korean port city of Wonsan. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile flew about 200 kilometers before hitting a target on land. The missile launch is the latest reaction by North Korea to new international economic restrictions and to joint U.S.-South Korean military operations. On March 21, North Korea fired five short-range missiles into the East Sea from the eastern city of Hamhung. The week before, it fired medium-range missiles into the sea. Those launches came after the United Nations placed sanctions on North Korea after its fourth nuclear test, which took place in January. A month later, North Korea tested a long-range rocket. North Korea has been threatening for weeks to launch nuclear strikes against Washington and Seoul to protest the joint military operations. The country says it believes they are preparing a military invasion. Im Jonathan Evans. VOANews.com reported on this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. Kathleen Struck 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 short-range - adj. a missile with the ability to travel a distance of up to 500 kilometers in the air sanction n. threatened action for disobeying a rule or law The United States Justice Department says it has found a way to get information from an iPhone used by a shooter in last years mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. The Justice Department also said it no longer needs help from the iPhones manufacturer, Apple. The company had refused earlier demands by federal investigators for help in recovering data from the device. The government sought to require Apple to write new software programs to help investigators get the data without knowing the iPhones password. The government believed the information would help it in its investigation of the San Bernardino shooting, in which 14 people were killed. Last month, a judge ordered Apple to help the government. But the Justice Department announced this week it has been able to collect data from the phone. It asked the judge to cancel her order. She did so on Monday. Last week, the government delayed another court hearing in the case. Officials said they needed time to test a method that could help them gain access to the iPhone without Apples assistance. That method was developed without the help of federal agents or Apple. Lawyers for Apple have said that the company wants to know how the device was unlocked. But the withdrawal of the court process could take away Apples ability to legally request details on the method the government used. It also is likely to raise questions among users of Apple products and the technology industry about the strength of Apples security on its devices. Im Caty Weaver. VOANews.com reported this story from Washington. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow 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 data n. information such as texts, audio recordings, video recordings and pictures password n. a secret series of numbers or letters that allows you to use a computer system or device gain access expression to enter a place or the storage area of an electronic device unlock v. to make (something) available for use If you ever wondered why the folks in Haddonfield, Illinois, even think of celebrating Halloween, know this: Theyre all in on the story of killer Michael Myers. LEXINGTON, Neb. The Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles in Lexington will host a Business After Hours fundraiser for the Dawson County Hero Flight April 1. The event will feature speakers, a silent auction and a catered free will donation meal by The BBQ Company. Proceeds will benefit the Dawson County Hero Flight. Steve Zerr, a member of the Dawson County Hero Flight organizing committee, said silent auction items were still needed for the silent auction. Zerr, who has been interviewing many of the more than 50 veterans going on the two-and-a-half day Hero Flight to Washington D.C., said a video slideshow of veteran interviews going on the trip would be shown at the fundraiser. He said about half of the veterans going on the Hero Flight were Korean veterans with the other half being Vietnam veterans. The event would also provide an opportunity for members of the community and supporters of the Hero Flight to meet veterans going on the trip. Zerr said all veterans participating with the Hero Flight would be invited to attend. All of these veterans has their own unique story, Zerr said. He said it was important to celebrate the spirit of patriotism of the veterans and the museum that will host the event. The Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles has done so much for veterans. They host our meetings and will host this fundraiser. Its a central place for veterans to go, we need to keep it front and center, Zerr said. The Business After Hours fundraiser will include a social time at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 1 followed by the program at 6 p.m. Supper will be served at 6:30 p.m. For more information or to donate an auction item contact Steve Zerr at 308-325-2741. LEXINGTON, Neb. Members of the Daughters of the American Revolutions Bonneville Chapter were treated to a powerful presentation during their March meeting. Micki Lauby, a special education teacher at Lexington Middle School, presented a program about her grandfather, Ferdinand Kjar. Kjar was drafted by the Army and then later joined the Air Force during the war. He was killed when the plane he flew on, a B-24 bomber called Pale Ale, crashed in Dergneau,Belgium, on Feb. 20, 1945. Lauby and her sister Cindy Vela from Alliance, and her mother, Joanne Stevens, went to Belgium, the Netherlands, and France last summer, where they were honored by the locals for Ferdinand Kjar's service in WWII. As part of her visit to Europe with family members, Lauby met with people who witnessed the crash, people who built the memorial in honor of the Pale Ale crew, and the adopter/caretaker of her grandfathers grave. Lauby said the trip to Europe fell into place after her family received a personal invitation from organizers of the memorial dedicated to her grandfathers service. A man from Belgium, Phillipe Vanderdonckt, contacted my mother and told her that a memorial had been erected in Belgium at the site where her father's plane crashed. Jean-Claude Parez, who only lives a few miles from the crash site, had erected a memorial in honor of the crew, she said. Lauby said one of the crew member's grandsons and a Belgian historian had done a bunch of research to find family members of all the crew. Visiting Europe and hearing about her grandfathers service was an enlightening and eye-opening experience, she added. I learned that the crew was on their way to what was thought to have been the biggest aerial assault in history. Due to a bad storm, the assault was called off and the bombers were instructed to turn back. Shortly after turning around, an aileron cable broke, sending the plane into an irreversible spin, Lauby said. She said her grandfather and another crew member, Harold Hendrickson, were trapped in the nose of the plane. The pilot, Robert Gordon, stayed with the plane in hopes of landing it in some manner to save Harold and my grandfather, Lauby said. I also learned that two of the crew members are still alive. They recently found out that one another were still alive and only lived 90 minutes away from each other in Florida. Shortly after arriving in the town of Ronse,Belgium, Phillipe took Laubys family to a cemetery where her grandfather had been buried for six months, before being moved to the Netherlands American Cemetery. At the cemetery we learned that there was a list of over 400 people waiting to adopt the graves there, Lauby said. Lauby said it was very humbling to have them honor her family for her grandfathers service. She said the Europeans were very thankful that the Americans came over and helped them during the war. We were also very thankful to them for honoring the crew of the Pale Ale with a memorial and by putting an American flag in the middle of a wheat field where the plane crashed, she said. Her family was not able to meet any of the crew members of Pale Ale in Europe but did met a man whose parents were walking down a nearby road when the plane crashed/ His father had thrown him in the nearby ditch and laid on top of him to protect him, she said. This man who talked to her family was only a baby at the time, Lauby added. The family met a lady in Belgium who saw the plane fly over while she was on the playground at school in a neighboring town and her and her schoolmates felt the ground tremble when the plane crashed. She told us that the plane crashed near her future father-in-laws place and the crash blew the roof off some of his buildings, including his house. His daughter was in the attic at the time, and was injured, Lauby said. We also met the lady, Carola Haustermans, who at the age of 15 adopted my grandfather's grave right after he had been buried there, she said. Lauby said she was invited to give a presentation about her trip toBelgium by her step mother, Jackie Ohlmann, who is a member of DAR. I put together a power point of pictures from the trip and pictures that other people had added to the Pale Ale Facebook page and told them my story. The presentation went well and the ladies in DAR said they really liked hearing about it, she said. Googles search apps have been able to listen to your voice and respond with speech for years. Want to get directions to your next appointment? Google Maps can read them to you out loud. Wondering what the capital of New Zealand is? Ask Google Search and the app will tell you its Wellington. But while the voice of Googles search apps is pretty easy to understand, it still has a bit of a robotic tone at times. Last week some users noticed that Google Search was starting to sound a bit more human, though. And it turns out theres a good reason for that: Google has been working to build a better voice for its search app. Googlers Nat and Lo have been producing short documentaries of some of the things happening behind the scenes at Google, and their latest video takes a look (and listen) at Googles new Voice. In a nutshell, Google held a new recording session with the voice talent behind Googles voice search which involved recording thousands of sentences. Some of those sentences are played back in their entirety when you ask the Google app to do something common, like send a text message. But the goal is to record enough content so that different sounds can be stitched together in new ways as needed. That way Google can form words that were never actually recorded. One of the key differences between the new voice and the older one is that Google paid extra attention to prosody and intonation, which basically means that the new voice does a better job of shifting pitch, tone, and other melodic elements of speech to sound more person-like when asking or answering questions or making different types of statements. By Seema Sinha Hrithik Roshan may have thought he was being witty when he tweeted that he "was more likely to be dating the Pope" than any of the actresses the media had been linking him up with, after his divorce from Sussanne Khan. But the wisecrack has landed the actor in a whole lot of trouble, as he was served a legal notice by Abraham Mathai, the former vice chairman of the State Minorities Commission. Mathai is also the president of Indian Christian Voice. Hrithik has been accused of hurting the sentiments of the Christian community by his remark about their religious head. The notice against Hrithik was filed by Mathai under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, for making "unwarranted" and "uncalled for" remarks against the Pope on Twitter on January 28. Incidentally, Mathai' notice has been sent by Rizwan Siddique the same lawyer who has been representing Kangana Ranaut in her legal spat with Hrithik. Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code states that "Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both." In an interview with Scroll, Abraham Mathai said, "Hrithik Roshan has the right to have a relationship with anyone, but he doesnt have the right to draw in the Pope. This has unfortunate inferences it suggests that the Pope is gay. Ive asked Roshan for an unconditional apology. It hurts the Catholic community for whom the Pope is a revered personality. Hrithik's tweet was reportedly in response to an interview by Kangana Ranaut with whom he had been linked by the press in which she spoke about a "silly ex". Kangana had not specifically named Hrithik in the interview. 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. Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) January 28, 2016 But things came to a head earlier this month when it emerged that both actors had sent legal notices to each other Hrithik alleging that Kangana had stalked him and denying that they had ever been in a relationship, while Kangana's notice had claimed that she had been threatened and intimidated by Hrithik, who was trying to cover up their affair. She had given the actor seven days to withdraw his complaint. With this second legal notice for Hrithik, it seems his troubles are only just beginning. The DIPP has at last demystified its FDI policy on ecommerce that is such a rage operationally though serious rethink is taking place behind the close doors of corporate boardrooms of these companies in the face of high burnout rates and the inevitable shakeout that stares out at the weak among them after the bandwagon effect. Hitherto, there was a bit of subterfuge behind the massive FDI pouring into the ecommerce sector. The marketplace model was being embraced to get over the hurdle placed by the policy----only B2B and no B2C. But despite the marketplace model that cast the ecommerce portals like Flipkart and Amazon in the role of aggregators, facilitators to be more precise, and no more, they have been rather free with discounts, warranties and other freebies thus giving rise to the speculation that marketplace was just a fig leaf, with the inventory model being slipped in surreptitiously. The Commerce and Industries Minister Nirmala Seetharaman promised almost two years ago to look into the issue of unintended leg up being given to FDI in ecommerce vis-a-vis brick and mortar stores whose businesses have suffered a serious erosion thanks mainly to the liberal discounts their bete noire, the ecommerce portals, are able to offer. To the governments credit it has come up with a solution that seems to be satisfactory at first sight but which might throw up problems when the proposed changes are implemented. The first major change is no discounts please. Indeed discounts by the ecommerce portals ran counter to their innocent claim of being just aggregators. But then there is no guarantee that this bar on discount would be implemented truly in letter and spirit. Letter may be yes, spirit, well, no. For, the accountants are mighty cautious coots. They know how to bend the law without breaking it. There are myriad ways of doing it but just one example would suffice. The portal charges fees for offering its order booking and payment collection platforms. What if the fees are lowered suitably and discount passed on to the customers? Only a serious investigation would bring out the duplicity practiced---were the fees different for different products? Lower fees for one product would strengthen the presumption that there was indeed a quid pro quo, with the portal indirectly bearing the discount. Be that as it may. But the new policy has applied the pincer of ban on discount on the one side with another ban---a group company or single vendor doing more than 25% of the business done the facilitators portal is not kosher. In Flipkar for example, WS Retail, a group company does 25% of the business and in Amazon India, its own group company cloudtail does 40% of the business (source swarajyamag.com) facilitating mutual back scratching including offer of discounts. I think a 10% cap would be more effective in truly ensuring that it is indeed a marketplace and not inventory model through the backdoor. Good as the changes are despite the cynicism of wags, the votaries of the bricks and mortar model are pining for more action on the FDI on that front as well. To be sure, 100% FDI is permitted on single brand retail but that hasnt brought foreign popular brands in droves into India because it is simply not sustainable in the long run. It is the sprawling multi brand retail stores that do brisk business, offering as they do products ranging from the lowly breakfast cereal to the plush sofa set. And their dovecots have been fluttered by the online stores so much so that in the USA, Wal-Mart has changed tack saying if you cannot beat them, join them. Wal-Mart USA is furiously and seriously downsizing its brick and mortar stores with a concomitant push to online sales. In India though, there is ample space for brick and mortar multi brand retail store. It is a pity there are no takers for the 51% FDI regime on offer for them. The government needs to hike this to 100% so as to truly bring about a level playing field between offline and online models. Foreigners are comfortable operating on their own in areas where they dont need the Indian partners crutch. The 50% backend investments mandated by the governments FDI policy on multi brand retail would indeed go some way in spurring rural investments in cold storage, food processing industries and dairies besides staunching criminal wastage and loss to elements. The fear that the foreign retail chains would buy from abroad from the sources catering to them worldwide, a sotto voce allusion to China, Bangladesh and Vietnam, can be addressed by mandating foreign exchange balancing---imports to be financed out of exports, period. That would give a leg up to our own industries, especially in the SME segment. S. Murlidharan Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for allegedly defaulting loans of over Rs 9,000 crores from various banks, has told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that he is willing to pay up Rs 4,000 crore to the lenders by September 2016. The apex court bench of Justice Kurien Joseph and Rohington F Nariman was also told that Mallya has offered another Rs 2,000 crore that he expects to get, if he succeeds in his suit against multinational General Electric. The bargain invariably is a bad one for the banks, which gave loan after loan to keep his dying Kingfisher Airlines afloat. It is to be noted that Mallya still has a net worth of over Rs 7,000 crore and many assets abroad. The court, however, has told the banks to respond to Mallya's proposal within a week's time. The court was hearing a plea by the banks that sought detention of Mallya. The next hearing of the case in on 7 April. A report in The Times of India said that Mallya also accused media of running a campaign against him, to which the court said the media is merely doing its job. The repayment proposal was submitted before the court through his counsel C S Vaidyanathan. Earlier on Wednesday Mallya had in a series of tweets urged the media and larger public to spare his son from the "hatred". My son Sid does not deserve all this hatred and abuse. He has had nothing to do with my business. Shower abuse on me if you must but not him Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 29, 2016 My son Sid @sidmallya does not deserve all this abuse as he had nothing to do with my business. Slam me if you must but not a young man. Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 29, 2016 The banks had petitioned the court on 8 March by which time he had already left the country. During the hearing on 9 March, Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi had informed the court that he has left the country on 2 March. Ever since the news broke pressure has been building up on the industrialist who has been declared wilful defaulter by three banks. What made matters worse was the revelation that the CBI had actually amended its look out notice that could have helped him fly out of the country. As opposition and public resentment grew over the callousness of the system that allowed Mallya fly out of the country, finance minister Arun Jaitley had recently issued a stern warning that he should settle his dues honourably or else face "coercive action". "I don't want to make any comments on individual cases but I think it's a responsibility of large groups like his (Vijay Mallya's) to honourably settle their dues with the banks," he had told PTI in an interview. He further said that banks have certain collaterals of group companies of Vijay Mallya and will take legal action to recover dues that are in excess of Rs 9,000 crore. "Banks have some securities. Banks plus other agencies have also coercive methods available with them through legal enforcement...these are all being investigated by relevant agencies," he said. Mallya, promoter of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines, had left India on March 2, presumably for London. Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines owed Rs. 7,800 crore to a consortium of 17 lenders led by State Bank, which had an exposure of over Rs. 1,600 crore to the now defunct airline. On the repayment proposal by Mallya, the SBI, however, told the court that it needed a week's time to consider the proposal made by liquor baron, and submitted that way back in 2013 the bank had filed a suit claiming Rs.6,903 crore plus interest thereon. In a query from the bank about Mallya's location, his counsel told the court that he was still abroad but had two video conferencing sessions with the bank officials after his departure from India to London. Other banks that have exposure to the airline include Punjab National Bank and IDBI Bank (Rs. 800 crore each), Bank of India (Rs. 650 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs. 550 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs. 410 crore). UCO Bank has to recover Rs. 320 crore, Corporation Bank (Rs. 310 crore), State Bank of Mysore, (Rs. 150 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs. 140 crore), Federal Bank (Rs. 90 crore), Punjab & Sind Bank (Rs. 60 crore) and Axis Bank (Rs. 50 crore). With inputs from agencies The Hague: India blamed Italy for delaying the repatriation of an Italian marine who has been detained in Delhi for four years as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at a summit with the EU in Brussels hoping to defuse the long-running row. In 2012, India arrested two Italian marines who were escorting an oil tanker on suspicion of shooting dead two fishermen they mistook for pirates. Though they were not charged, the pair were barred from leaving India. Massimiliano Latorre was allowed to return home last year for medical treatment. But Salvatore Girone has been confined to Delhi, where he lives at the Italian ambassador's residence and reports regularly to police. Italy says Girone's human rights are being violated and has asked the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to order India to send him home. But India's lawyers say the delays are the result of Italy's 2012 decision to escalate the affair to international courts rather than letting Indian courts to handle it. "The trial has not commenced due to an obstructive course of action by India," said Neeru Chadha, India's lead lawyer. "Italy is now trying to shift the blame onto India." Italy maintains both marines were immune to prosecution since they were serving on a U.N.-backed anti-piracy mission, and because the tanker was in international waters when it fired on the fishermen. Italy has paid $190,000 in compensation to each victim's family. India hopes the Brussels summit will bring a thaw in ties with the European Union and persuade Italy to refrain from blocking India's membership of a key global group on missile technology. Rome single-handedly scuppered India's bid to join last year. As part of a broad agenda, the EU plans to raise the issue of the marines with Modi, according to an internal EU council note seen by Reuters. The latest declassification of 50 files on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has now revealed some more confusing information. Files released on Tuesday include matters pertaining to Netaji's ashes and the probe into his disappearance following the controversial air crash of 1945 in which he is believed to have perished. According to a report in The Times of India, the latest declassification proves that the Congress government in the 60s and 70s destroyed several files. The reported quoted the documents as saying, "one file no. 12(226)56-PM has been destroyed on 6.3.1972; certain documents of file no. 23(156)51-PM have been destroyed while recording that file; and one file no. 2(381)60-66PM (proposal to bring Shri Subhas Chandra Bose's ashes from Tokyo to put up a memorial to him in front of the Red Fort in Delhi) is not readily traceable in our records." Meanwhile the Hindustan Times reports that in 1968 a Pakistani official had promised to help India get information about Bose's journey through Peshawar, Kabul, Tashkent, Moscow and Berlin during World War II. The files, according to the report, suggest that then Indian high commissioner S Sen had received a positive reply from Pakistans information secretary Altaf Gauhar when he had asked if the country could help India with information on Netaji. Hindustan Times quotes Sen's report to the External Affairs Ministry as saying, "Mr Altaf Gauhar advised that while there was no objection to this kind of scientific research being undertaken with Pakistans cooperation, no publicity should be given to this matter simply because Netajis background has many political implications which are not liked by several political elements" The documents also reveal that the Indira Gandhi government had refused to set up a fresh inquiry into the mysterious death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as demanded by a large number of MPs in 1968. An unstarred question No 1408 raised in the Lok Sabha in February 1968 was answered by the then government, saying there was no need for a fresh probe. "The government has accepted the conclusion of the official inquiry committee appointed in 1956 that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose met his death in an air crash in the year 1945. Since no new facts have been brought to light, the government does not consider that any fresh inquiry is warranted," it said. The latest release of 50 files will further meet the "continued public demand" to access these files and this will also help scholars carry out further research on Bose's role in India's freedom movement, an official source said. The new batch of 50 files consists of 10 files from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), 10 from the home ministry and 30 files from the external affairs ministry, pertaining to the period from 1956 to 2009. The first batch of 100 files relating to Netaji, after their preliminary conservation, treatment and digitisation, was put in the public domain by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 23 - on the occasion of the 119th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter. In 1997, the National Archives of India had received 990 declassified files pertaining to the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) from the defence ministry, and in 2012 1,030 files/items pertaining to the Khosla Commission (271 files/items) and Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry (759 files/items) from the home ministry. With IANS inputs by Rahul Pandita Telangana: In January this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs advised state governments to launch an operation to trace and rescue children caught in perilous and illegal situations such as trafficking or forced labour. In that month alone, the police in Telanganas Ranga Reddy district rescued over 300 children. In February, they found a girl who was two when, eight years ago, her father sold her into servitude for two hundred rupees. Beyond the meta-nationalism of Bharat Mata, here is Sunithas story. It is what Roland Barthes called the third meaning something that goes beyond the informational and the symbolic, something that pricks you. Sunitha wants to look at you properly. But she doesnt. It is as if she fears that you will go away if she does that. She wants you to be around. She wants your arm around her; the packet after packet of biscuits she has been consuming at a childrens home in Hyderabad has satiated the pangs of hunger, but she is still hungry for love, or at least some display of it. The childrens home is quite depressing. The building itself is old; it is bereft of colour or anything else that could bring cheer. Unkempt corridors lead to locked gates. The main cemented courtyard looks like a jail compound. In the reception, above the main door, a picture of Rabindranath Tagore is tilted on a damp, flaky wall and has perhaps remained so for years. This is what will remain home for Sunitha till June after which she will be shifted to another government shelter in Telanganas Ranga Reddy district. It is in Ranga Reddy where the police rescued Sunitha a few months ago. But her story begins eight years ago; it is when a woman called Basamma and her husband took a train from the districts Basheerabad to Mumbai. Basheerabad is the largest mandal (tehsil) in Ranga Reddy, around 130 kilometres from Hyderabad. On its west lies Karnatakas Gulbarga district. Basamma, who is from Gulbarga, was ten when she was married to a man from Basheerabad. The couple was poor and worked as agricultural labourers in Andhra Pradesh. But it did not bring them enough money. In 2008, Basamma and her husband decided to look for work in Mumbai. They took a train from Wadi junction in Gulbarga that falls in the Mumbai route. They spent a few days begging around the Mumbai railway station. One day, Basamma says, a man approached them at the station. He said he had heard them speaking in Telugu and that he was from Andhra, too. And then he pointed towards a young girl child, about two years old, whose hand he held. He said his wife had died and that he wanted Basamma to have his daughter. He said he hadnt eaten anything for days and that we should give him some money, says Basamma. They felt bad for the man, she says, and her husband gave the man two hundred rupees. He thanked us and said that they should consider this money as the price of the girl, says Basamma. After the man left, Basamma and her husband stayed in Mumbai for another two months where they taught the girl to beg. The girls father had said she was named Sunitha. Basamma decided to call her Puja. At the childrens home in Hyderabad, Sunitha says she does not like it at all. I do not feel good, she says. After she was bought by Basamma and her husband, the three of them returned to Basheerabad. Sunitha was delegated to Basammas old in-laws in Basheerabads Manthati village. She [Basamma] said I have to serve them if I have to have a roof over my head and one meal a day, recalls Sunitha. She was told that her mother had abandoned her. So, at the age of two, Sunitha learnt how to fight sleep and wake up at four every morning. She washed clothes and cleaned the house, and then went out in the village from house to house to beg for leftovers. She cooked for the family upon her return and then went to the nearby Tandur town to beg the entire day. On a good day, she returned with hundred rupees. Basamma has two grown-up children. After the boy who Sunitha calls brother got married, she was sent with the couple to Hyderabad to serve them. But after a few months, the wife asked her husband to get rid of Sunitha. So she was sent back to Manthati where her servitude continued. This remained her life for eight years till one day when the Ranga Reddy police received a call on its child rescue helpline. When Ranga Reddys Superintendent of Police, Rema Rajeshwari, came to know about Sunitha in February this year, Operation Smile had been on for almost two months. In January itself, her teams had rescued over 300 children, about half of them working as bonded labourers in brick kilns. The call on the helpline came from someone from Tandur bus stand. It said that a girl named Puja was in bad shape as she had been forced to beg by a family. Sub-Inspector Abhishek Chaturvedi went to the bus stand and spoke to her. But she could not tell him much. He spoke to her anyway and asked her if she wanted to study. She said yes, so we got her admitted into a government school, says Chaturvedi. But the very next day, Sunitha was back at the bus stand. This time, Chaturvedi followed her to her home and came to know the whole story. He arrested Basamma and her husband and her father-in-law, while Sunitha was sent to the childrens home in Hyderabad. The three accused are out on bail now. In Manthati, Basamma says it was a mistake taking Puja from that unknown man in Mumbai. At the childrens home, Sunitha says she does not want to go back. Referring to Basammas in-laws as her grandparents, she says they must hate her because of this case. Also, she says, her mother (Basamma) hit her badly. Sunitha wants to look at you. After an hour or so, she does; but she does not want you to know that she is looking at you. So her gaze remains fleeting. As of now, she wonders if she could become a doctor. Somehow it seems important to her. That way I can trace my parents, she says. Will you come again to meet me? she asks. It is then that she looks at you properly. Rahul Pandita is a 2015 Yale World Fellow and the author of, among others, Our Moon has Blood Clots : The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits. He tweets @rahulpandita. Mumbai: The Maharashtra government is holding talks with yoga guru Ramdev for providing him land to set up a food park of Patanjali Yogpeeth at Mihan in Nagpur. Answering a supplementary query raised by a member during Question Hour, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis lauded the work done by Ramdev for helping farmers. "There has not been any land allotted to Patanjali in Mihan as yet. But, we are in talks with them. They have a highly successful food park at Haridwar, which is a Rs 5,000 crore business, which helps farmers directly," Fadnavis said. He said Ramdev's company has shown intention of setting up the Food Park at Mihan and Patanjali would be given land if all technicalities are worked out. Fadnavis also told the House his government has sent notices to 30 entities in the past 17 months who have taken land but have not started their industrial units yet. Out of which land of eight has been taken back, he said. He said the government plans to dedicate 500 acre space to develop Agro Processing Industries at Mihan and special incentives will be provided for the purpose. The multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Mihan (Nagpur) is the biggest development project currently underway in Nagpur in terms of investments. Congress' Manikrao Thakre then said that for Agro Processing units to come up, the government will have to offer competitive electricity rates and better facilities to industries, compared to neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In his response, Fadnavis said the electricity rates in SEZ are already lower than adjoining states and that Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule is working on a proposal to provide cheap power to industries in Vidarbha, Marathwada, North Maharashtra, and backward parts of Western Maharashtra. "The state cabinet will soon give a nod to this proposal," the CM said, adding that in the Agro Processing zone, his government will develop training centres and undertake extension activities to promote sustainable Agro Industries. Was Indias national security compromised by allowing the five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan to inspect the site of terror attack at the Pathankot air base? By protesting at Pathankot on 29 March, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party wanted the nation to believe that the countrys internal security was compromised. However, while their protests might have gained them political mileage for the Punjab Assembly elections, national security experts do not think that India compromised its security by inviting Pakistan's JIT. There are five facts that prove that national security wasnt compromised by the visit of Pakistans JIT: 1. Only controlled access was given to JIT. 2. Even areas in the airbase that are otherwise not restricted, were barricaded. 3. The JIT members werent allowed to interact with any security or defence personnel, except designated officials. 4. No access was given to classified assets. 5. No discussion on tactical issues; no sharing of information on the blueprint of any strategy. The JIT was taken only to the encounter sitein the open area. Only controlled access was given. No one was allowed to even have a peek into the technical area, the most sensitive zone in an airbase," said defence analyst, Maj Gen (retd) Dhruv Katoch. "For them it was like visiting a real estate site. Barricades were put up even in those areas where they were not present before, he said. Whatever might be the outcome of this investigation, experts feel that the government wants to reveal Pakistans intentions to the world, especially since Pakistan arrested Jaish-e-Mohammed operators for the Pathankot attack. They also believe that the information shared in the process does not qualify as classified. Another important aspect was that there were no discussions related to classified assets like air strips, hangers, ammunition, fuel, missiles, etc lying inside the airbase," a senior defence personnel with over two decades of experience in counter insurgency and anti-terrorism operations in the region told Firstpost, on condition of anonymity. "Tactical details were kept under wraps. So, how can one say that national security was compromised? the expert said. However, there can be no doubt that the step to allow entry to Pakistan's JIT is unprecedented, one that India did not take even during the investigations of 26/11 Mumbai attack, where Pakistan's involvement was far clearer than at any other time in history. During the UPA government, a highly confidential letter of Gen VK Singh got leaked from the PMO. That was the breach of security, and not the visit of Pak JIT to Pathankot. One has to understand the difference. The tragedy of India is that the political parties cant see beyond their nose. The larger plan of India is to force Pakistan to deliver after this investigation, and if they cant, Pakistan will get exposed, Katoch said. The possible benefit of this unprecedented step is that it will help India in perception building on a global level. As the JIT didnt go into the operational area, theres no question of compromise. Until now, Pakistan had been denying any involvement in any terror attack in India. But, after the Pathankot airbase attack, Pakistan has accepted a possible involvement of militants operating out of Pakistan. They arrested a few as well. The governments logic is to give a rope to Pakistan, added Alok Bansal, director, Centre for Security and Strategy, India Foundation. Guwahati: On the campaign trail in Assam, the Congress and the BJP are rewriting history, literally. From Jawaharlal Nehru to Kanhaiya Kumar, Mughals to Ahom rulers of Assam, an entire pantheon of characters has been thrown into the Assam narrative to turn it into competing, and sometimes embarrassing, versions of the past. BJP chief Amit Shah is campaigning vigorously in Assam. He lands at election rallies to the chants of Bharat Mata ki Jai and leaves to the slogans of Vande Mataram. The main theme of the BJP in this election is a Bangladeshi-mukt Assam. And, he is packaging the message with liberal doses of his brand of history. "Jawaharlal Nehru wanted Assam to be included in 'D' category states after Independence. But Mahatma Gandhi and Gopinath Bordoloi (the state's first CM) intervened," Shah told his audience at a rally in Lakhimpur on Monday. Enthused by the response to the Congress bashing, Shah came up with another Nehru story: "During the 1962 Sino-Indian war, when the Chinese forces advanced up to Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh, Nehru said, 'goodbye Assam.'" This came just a few days after Shah waxed eloquent on the bravado of Ahom king Sukaphaa and his valiant battle against the "Mughals." "We all know that Assam is the land of the brave. It is the land where Sukapha defeated the Mughals 17 times and drove them away. The same land is now being allowed to become the abode of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators by the Congress government," he told another set of audience past week. Facts sometimes get sacrificed at the altar of a juicy slur. When Shah talked about categorisation of states, he implied two things. One, Nehru wanted to relegate Assam to the D category. Two, D was the lowest category. After Independence, 219 states with a population of about 19 million were merged with neighbouring British provinces and designated as category A states. Assam was one of them. The categorisation had nothing to do preferential treatment. It was more about administrative convenience. Andaman and Nicobar were the only category D state. Nehru never said goodbye to Assam. According to the Times of India, in his address to the nation on All India Radio on November 20, 1962, during the war with China, Nehru said, "Huge Chinese armies have been marching in the northern part of NEFA. We have had reverses at Walong, Se La and today Bomdila, a small town in NEFA, has also fallen. We shall not rest till the invader goes out of India or is pushed out. I want to make that clear to all of you, and, especially our countrymen in Assam, to whom our heart goes out at this moment." Obviously, Nehru wasn't saying goodbye to Assam. He was empathising with the people of the state, standing in solidarity with them and promising to fight till the Chinese are pushed back. But the convenient spin helps Shah argue that the Congress has always undermined the interests of Assam. That leaves us with Sukaphaa's alleged war against Mughals. If only Shah knew that Sukaphaa (reign 1228-1268) set up his kingdom more than 300 years before Mughals arrived in India, he may have not made the gaffe. Shah may have been talking about the last Battle of Saraighat. The 1671 war on the banks of Brahmaputra in which Ahom general Lachit Borphukan defeated the Mughals led by Rajput king Ram Singh. It is considered the last battle by the Mughals to extend their empire into Assam. The story of an Ahom leader demolishing Mughal invaders suits the BJP narrative in Assam in an election that is being fought primarily on the issue of Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam. The BJP has pitched itself as a party that would stop the influx and drive out, like the Ahom warrior, Muslims who have entered the state illegally. Within the electorate, the Congress is seen on the wrong side of this debate for not only allowing the influx but also granting voting rights to Bangladeshis. The Congress, meanwhile, is also finding eggs splashed over its face because of its eagerness to target its rivals by talking of past slights and scams, mostly imagined. In December, chief minister Tarun Gogoi accused his former cabinet colleague Himanta Sarma Biswa, who is now the BJP strategist for the election, of being a beneficiary of Bengal's Saradha scam and Goa's Louis Berger bribery cases. Biswa, who was once Gogoi's trusted lieutenant, took the CM to court for defamation. On Tuesday (March 29), a court in Guwahati restrained Gogoi from making any statement linking Sarma to the two cases. After 15 years in power, facing a surge of anti-incumbency, Gogoi has very little to rely on in the election. His hope lies in mocking at Modi's pre-poll promises, accusing rivals like Biswa of being traitors, and hoping for the decline of AIUDF, whose rise has come at the cost of the Congress. As a last-gasp effort, the Congress is also trying to appropriate JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar as its own by putting him on hoardings and posters. But, Gogoi's own history is turning out to be a handicap. The chief minister is an Ahom, a descendant of the warrior who drove Mughals out of Assam in the Battle of Saraighat. "Had there been Borphukan's blood in Gogoi's veins, he would have by now thrown the illegal Bangladeshis out of Assam," Biswa thundered at a rally on Tuesday. Gogoi is hoping the Ahoms will unite to keep him in power. But, if the BJP's ploy of being unworthy of his Ahom legacy and lineage succeed, Gogoi could himself become history after the election. The last time Majuli the world's largest inhabited river island was in the national news was in 1997 when social worker Sanjoy Ghose was kidnapped and killed under mysterious circumstances (his body was never found) by the banned militant outfit, United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). Ghose was in Majuli working with an NGO to save the island from being wiped out by the waters of the Brahmaputra. The shrinking island, however, makes local headlines every monsoon as a raging Brahmaputra washes away huge chunks of its land mass, ripping apart homes and hopes. But ahead of the Assam elections this year, the island has once again found its way into the national political discourse, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a campaign rally for BJP's CM candidate and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at Majuli on 26 March, the first visit by any prime minister of the country. Why Majuli The smallest assembly constituency, area-wise, in the state became the biggest playground for the BJP in Assam after the party decided to field Sonowal from here. This is again the first time any CM candidate is contesting from Majuli. As a curtain-raiser, the BJP in February laid down the foundation of the Jorhat-Lakhimpur (via Majuli) bridge over the Brahmaputra to connect it with the mainland. The bridge has been a long-standing demand of the local people whose only connection with the outside world is an hour-long ferry boat service that links the island to Jorhat town. The BJP has also dangled the carrot of a Unesco World Heritage Site status for Majuli. "The Centre will take steps to declare Majuli a Unesco World Heritage Site," Sonowal has promised. Incidentally, the island has been vying for the World Heritage tag since 2004 but lost out every time due to poorly prepared proposals (which lack technical details and fail to comply with Unesco rules) by ASI-hired consultants, something that was pointed out by the comptroller and auditor-general (CAG) in its 2013 report. But is that all the BJP is pinning its hopes on to win the elections? In a state where over 30 percent of the electorate comprises Muslim population, the party seems to be trying hard to gain votes by consolidating the Hindu (including the ST) votes in its favour. And this is where Majuli and its satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) hold the key. Satras across the state have been facing land encroachment by suspected Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh. A reserved (ST) constituency, Majuli happens to be the main centre of Vaishnavite culture, a monotheistic offshoot of Hinduism that doesn't believe in idol worship and is opposed to the caste system. Of the 800-odd satras across the state, there were around 60 in Majuli which have come down to almost half. In an election centered around the "Assamese identity" issue, the BJP, according to a few party insiders, is hoping to make major gains by polarising the votes. The saffron party seems to be confident that the satras fit the bill for its Hindutva brand of politics. Just like the RSS and the VHP, the Hindu flag-bearers in the Hindi heartland, the influential socio-cultural institution of Assam commands not just tremendous respect among Assamese Hindus but also wields a great deal of political influence. However, the satras so far have maintained political neutrality and never indulged in communal politics. For the first time in the recent past, satras got embroiled in a political controversy when Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi kicked up a storm by saying that RSS workers stopped him from entering the Barpeta Satra in December 2015. The head priest of the satra, Bakhista Deba Sarma, though debunked Gandhi's claim saying, "There is no RSS agent in the satra. It is a religious place and only religious activities are undertaken here." But many in the Congress pointed out the incident as an instance of the satras' growing proximity to the saffron brigade. The Congress is trying its best to avoid a repeat of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in which the BJP recorded a stellar performance by winning seven of the 14 seats (Congress won just three seats). If the BJP has made it a war to "protect the Assamese identity", the Congress too has its arsenal ready. Accusing the saffron party of trying to divide the voters on religious lines, Tarun Gogoi, while releasing the Congress manifesto, made a headline-grabbing claim that he is a real Hindu and that those in the BJP were fake. "Our real Hinduism does not teach us to hate other faiths. The Assamese brand of Hinduism has taught us to be secular and tolerant, the chief minister said. This is exactly why the shrewd politician in Gogoi decided to make Dalit Phd scholar from Hyderabad University, Rohith Vemula, and JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar the faces of the Congress campaign. When the Congress put up posters with images of Kanhaiya and Rohith, many dismissed it as a poll tactic far removed from the reality of Assam. But Gogoi and the Congress saw in the duo their best bet to project the BJP as anti-backward and-minority populations. Assam has a mixed population that includes a number of ethnic and linguistic groups belonging to various religions. A number of those ethnic and backward groups have been demanding ST status (Morans, Muttucks, Chutias, Koch-Rajbongshis, Tea Tribes and Tai Ahoms). In such a scenario, trying to overshadow the ethnic identity with religious affinity will only further divide the population. "The BJP is hoping that in a polarised scenario the Hindu votes would come to it. The party has always depended on the Hindu card but in Assam there is no such thing as a Hindu vote bank. So it is trying to exploit the sentiments of the tea community and people attached to the satras," says Bhagirath Karan, chairman of the Congress tea cell. The voters' view When Modi was addressing a gathering in Tinsukia on 26 March, around 200 km away in Majuli, 21-year-old Gunomoni Mahanta was listening intently to the PM, his eyes glued to the TV screen. Modi's below-average attempt to emotionally connect with the Assamese people with an "I-sold-Assam-tea-as-a tea-seller" didn't seem to impress the second-year-old BSc student much. He was still hopeful that the PM will say something "more meaningful and less pretentious" in his next stop at Majuli (later in the day). "It's nice of him (Modi) to come all the way to visit us. No other PM bothered to do that but I've a small complaint: where was he when Assam was inundated by floods? Why didn't he come even once when so many people lost their lives and land?" wonders Mahanta, who is equally disillusioned with Congress MLA Rajib Lochan Pegu for failing to bring any respite to Majuli despite serving three full terms. For an island that stands eroded more than half (to just 520 sq km at present from an area of almost 1,200 sq km), the ground reality doesn't seem to have changed much even two decades after Sanjay Ghose's murder. The island and its people continue to face threats to their survival. Interestingly, the anti-talk faction of the ULFA has accused Sonowal, along with BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, of conspiring Sanjoy Ghoses murder. In a recent emailed statement, the Paresh Barua-led faction accused the two leaders, who were once members of the powerful All Assam Students' Union (AASU), of using ULFA cadres to kill Ghosh and a student leader Saurav Bora, who was shot dead in 1986. Sonowal and five others were the prime accused in the murder, but were later discharged by the Gauhati High Court due to lack of material evidence to prove the charges. Even though BJP has dismissed the statement and questioned its timing (just ahead of the elections), the fact remains that while parties and politicians will continue to raise and kill issues to stay afloat, the onus lies on the voters to separate the wheat from the chaff. New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday questioned the verdict of Karnataka High Court acquitting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and others in a disproportionate assets case in Supreme Court, saying there can be no leniency in prosecuting public servants holding high positions. Swamy told the bench of justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Amitava Roy that leniency, as envisaged by the apex court in other cases, is not applicable when public servants in high places committed corrupt acts. "The single appellate judge erred in applying the leniency (criteria) instead, in keeping with a catena of judgements of Supreme Court, (it) should have confirmed the conviction," he said, adding that "there can be no room for leniency in prosecuting corruption cases, especially of public servants holding high positions." Swamy's submissions came after senior advocate B V Acharaya, appearing for Karnataka government, concluded his arguments on the appeals challenging the High Court verdict. The BJP leader said the first key issue to be decided by the apex court was whether or not the income and wealth calculations by Karnataka High Court is accepted and whether the Rs 2.82 crores estimate of disproportionate assets should be taken as accurate. He also questioned the role of the Superintendent of Police of Tamil Nadu, who was the sole respondent from the appeal stage before the High Court and till the end of proceedings. "The issue is whether the judicial process was subverted or not by the vitiating circumstances of the appointment of the sole public prosecutor from Tamil Nadu," he said. Besides Jayalalithaa, others accquited by the High Court were her close aide Sasikala and her two relatives, V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi. On July 27, last year the apex court had issued notices on Karnataka government's appeal seeking stay of the high court judgement to Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and her relatives V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, asking them to file their replies within eight weeks. The apex court had then allowed an intervention application by Swamy in the matter and asked him to file the issues he wished to press before it. A division bench of the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday stayed the previous order of the single bench for conducting a floor test to determine the majority in the House. As the legal quagmire surrounding the state becomes more complex, it is important to scrutinise the politics behind it all. In 1994, the Supreme Court in the landmark SR Bommai vs Union of India case held, "In all cases where the support of the Ministry is claimed to have been withdrawn by some legislators, the proper course for testing the strength of the Ministry is holding the test on the floor of the House." They added, "the assessment of the strength of the Ministry is not a matter of private opinion of any individual be he the Governor or the President. It is capable of being demonstrated and ascertained publicly in the House. Hence when such a demonstration is possible, it is not open to bypass it and instead depend upon the subjective satisfaction of the Governor or the President. Such private assessment is an anathema to the democratic principle, apart from being open to serious objections of personal mala fides. The court also made clear the circumstances under which the decision to impose Presidents Rule can be made without going for a floor test. The court held, The sole exception to this will be a situation of all-pervasive violence where the Governor comes to the conclusion and records the same in his report that for the reasons mentioned by him, a free vote is not possible." These guidelines laid down in the SR Bommai vs Union of India judgement were not even considered in the Uttarakhand case. On 27 March, just a day before the trust vote in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly was to be taken, and Chief Minister Harish Rawat was to prove majority support for his government, the Centre dismissed the Congress government and imposed President's Rule, citing a breakdown of governance. Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, on 27 March, disqualified the nine Congress rebels from the legislative assembly under the anti-defection law. This decision again will be interpreted by both parties as it suits them. With the disqualification, the strength of the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly has been reduced to 61. Now, with the Uttarakhand High Court staying the floor test, this question will prop-up again when the incumbents will be asked to prove their strength. Whether the nine disqualified candidates should be allowed to vote in the floor test should be debated on the basis of legal and constitutional provisions. But the assumption that the same might happen is naive. The Congress is contending that as the nine legislators have been disqualified by the speaker, they cease to be members, and hence are not qualified to vote. The counter argument, highlighting the fact that the speakers disqualified the members after Presidents Rule was imposed, also raises a pertinent question: did the speaker have the Constitutional authority to decide the fate of rebel Congress legislators? While the legal state of affairs created in the state is disturbing, what is more worrying is the way the political tug-of-war will be played out in the next 24 hours, hints of which have already started emerging with allegations of horse-trading surfacing against the Congress government. If the question that is being asked by the court now was deliberated upon before the Centre slapped Presidents Rule; if a little caution had been observed while reading the Constitutional provisions; the guidelines in the SR Bommai vs Union of India had been followed, then the common man would have retained his trust in the democratic process of this country. Chennai: Continuing the war of words over Union Minister Piyush Goyal's accusation that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was "inaccessible", DMK president M Karunanidhi said on Wednesday that she should answer him rather than her ministerial colleagues pitching in. "Is it not proper for the Chief Minister to come forward to answer the accusation of the Union Ministers?" he asked in a statement. Karunanidhi referred to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar too supporting Goyal's remarks that he could not reach out to Jayalalithaa or state ministers in the last 22 months of his tenure. "What Piyush Goyal has said is true. That is the experience of people (of the state)," Javadekar, the BJP's poll-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, had said in Delhi on Tuesday. Referring to state ministers O Panneerselvam and Natham R Viswanathan's rebuttal at Goyal, Karunanidhi said, "Their statements were polemic against Union Ministers (Goyal and Javadekar), which did not answer the accusations." He asked whether Goyal had sought an appointment with Jayalalithaa to discuss the state's power issues and questioned as to "why an opportunity was not given to him to meet her." Slamming Panneerselvam and Viswanathan, he asked, "Could these Ministers easily meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa?" The DMK chief had earlier asked Jayalalithaa to respond to Goyal's charge. Panneerselvam and Viswanathan had slammed Goyal for seeking political mileage and indulging in cheap politics. Constituent Assembly debate on 4 August, 1949 Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru (United Provinces: General): May I ask my honourable friend to make one point clear? Is it the purpose of Articles 278 and 278A (now 356 and 357) to enable the Central Government to intervene in Provincial affairs for the sake of good government of the Provinces? Dr. Ambedkar: No, No. The Centre is not given that authority. Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru: Or only when there is such mis-government in the Province to endanger public peace? Dr. Ambedkar: Only when the government is not carried on in consonance with the provisions laid down for the constitutional governance of the Provinces. Whether there is good government or not in the Province is not for the Centre to determine. I am quite clear on the point... I share the sentiments expressed by my honourable friend, Mr Gupta, yesterday that the proper thing we ought to expect is that such Articles will never be called into operation and that they would remain a dead letter. *** The apprehensions regarding the probable misuse of Article 356 (which empowers the Union to take over the government of the state on the recommendation of the governor or otherwise) can be visibly gauged from the above Constituent Assembly debate the apprehension of which to a great extent has come to fruition with the abject misuse of the provision on numerous occasions, since the enactment of the Constitution. Some years ago at a meeting of the inter-state council at Srinagar, a consensus was built to incorporate the rules laid down in the landmark SR Bommai judgment into the Constitution by an amendment. The idea, however, could not take a concrete shape. Had the idea fructified, what is happening in Uttarakhand at present, would not even have been a remote possibility. The dismissal of nine Congress governments and their respective Assemblies in 1977 followed by the dismissal of the same number of state governments led by the Janata Party and other Opposition parties by the Indira Gandhi government in 1980 posed serious questions about the working of the federal structure of the Indian State. The arbitrary use of Article 356 in 1977 and 1980 led to the 1983 appointment of the Sarkaria Commision on Centre-state relations which though did not recommended the abolition of Article 356, but called for the restrained use of the provision. However, it was in the SR Bommai case in 1994 that the apex court made the indiscriminate and arbitrary use of the Article 356 almost impossible by laying down certain guidelines to be taken into account before invoking the article. But time and again, the principles laid down in the landmark judgment have been openly flouted, the most recent being the imposition of Presidents Rule in Uttarakhand. Among various directives issued in the Bommai case, the two that had the most far-reaching ramifications were that it allowed judicial review of the decision of the imposition of the Presidents Rule and made it imperative that the majority enjoyed by the council of ministers be tested on the floor of the House which was not followed in Uttarakhand and in many cases in the past. Now with the Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday ordering for a floor test in the Assembly to determine which party enjoys a majority, the actual process as directed by the apex court in the Bommai case is expected to be followed. The high court on Tuesday, while ordering the floor test, said that the results of the floor test should not be declared in the Assembly and instead, should be presented before it in a sealed envelope. Constitutional expert professor Upendra Baxi while speaking to Firstpost said, After the SR Bommai case, President's Rule became very rare as the landmark judgment laid down some basic structural discipline. Before this, President's Rule was allowed on any grounds with the court not entering that area. In that sense, in the current case, the affected party has gone to the court although I am not sure on what ground, but I think they have moved the court on the grounds of the Bommai case. We will know soon. Senior advocate, Supreme Court of India Indira Jaising, while commenting upon the Uttarakhand fiasco, said, The issue is the misuse of majoritarian rule.Having the numbers is Parliament gives the government the confidence to do what they wish. No one outside the House can sit in judgment on the proceedings of the House as the government has purported to do. The president has been misled. She added, The matter is in court and a decision will soon be rendered. The lessons of Arunachal Pradesh have not been learnt. In the final analysis, the role of the courts has become very important. The responsibility of confining the government to its legitimate Rome has fallen on their shoulders. They must perform this task without fear or favour. Violating a host of norms enunciated in the Bommai case just a day before the trust vote in the Uttarakhand legislative Assembly was to be taken and Chief Minister Harish Rawat was to prove majority support for his government the Centre dismissed the Congress government and imposed President's Rule citing a breakdown of governance on 27 March. By Gyanant Singh New Delhi: Amidst intense scrutiny on the questionable actions of the Uttarakhand speaker and the governor, the state's High Court may have rightly decided to start with a clean slate by reviving the membership of the suspended rebel Congress MLAs and calling for a fresh floor test to determine the house majority. On Tuesday, the high court asked Congress leader Harish Rawat whose government was dismissed when the Centre imposed Presidents Rule in the state to take the trust vote on Thursday. Though questions are being raised over the decision, in my opinion, the court seems to be within its right to test the basis that Rawat had lost the trust of the House on which the Presidents Rule was imposed. As a rule, courts do not generally question the prudence of the decision taken by the President but whenever the President's rule is challenged, they have always put the material forming the basis for the decision under scrutiny. To begin with a clean slate, the court went against the governors decision to not go for a floor test and against the speakers ruling to disqualify nine rebel MLAs of the Congress Party. Keeping aside charges and counter-charges of horse trading, the floor test has been recognized by the Supreme Court as the best way to check if the government still enjoys a majority. Constitutional crisis in states in federal India often involve questionable actions on part of the speaker and the governor, people who have been entrusted with enough discretionary powers by the Constitution. The crisis in Uttarakhand may not be an exception and the High Court appears to have taken a prudent step by neutralizing the decisions of the governor and the speaker. Looking at such controversies from the political point of view, a constitutional crisis leading to imposition of Presidents Rule in a state is usually triggered by a power struggle between the Centre and the state government. And here, the governor and the speaker are invariably on opposite sides. Coming back to the High Court order, the trust vote, if successful, could form the basis for striking down the Presidents Rule. If the basis or the material forming the basis for an order is faulty, the order does not stand. While the governor was withholding assent to the Appropriation Bill on the ground, pointing out that it was not supported by a majority, Rawat retaliated by parading 34 MLAs before him, claiming that if a chance was given, majority could be proved. After the imposition of the Presidents Rule, on Monday Rawat had submitted two memorandums to the Governor, signed by MLAs from Congress, BSP, UKD and the Independents. He had sought assent to the Appropriation Bill claiming that it was supported by a majority on 18 March. Assuming that nine Congress MLAs had voted against the bill during the voice vote, Rawats claim that other MLAs supported it cannot be rejected. The BJP claims that the Speaker was wrong in passing the Bill on voice vote and for rejecting the demand for division of votes. It is a matter of debate if violation of rules can lead to a presumption of breakdown of constitutional machinery. Even if it is established that there was some infirmity in the procedure in the enactment of the Amendment Act, in terms of Article 255 of the Constitution, the matters of procedures do not render invalid an Act to which assent has been given to by the President or the Governor, as the case may be, the Supreme Court had said in a judgment (Mohd. Saeed Siddiqui case) delivered in April 2014. Though the governor had initially asked Rawat to take a trust vote, the Centre imposed the Presidents Rule and placed the House under suspended animation even before the the trust vote could take place. Rawat challenged the Presidents Rule before the high court on Monday. The Uttarakhand political crisis had began when nine Congress legislators, including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, whom Rawat replaced, revolted against the chief minister and turned to the BJP. Kolkata: As high as 39 per cent of the candidates contesting in the upcoming two-part first phase Assembly election in West Bengal have criminal cases pending against them. An analysis of their criminal records from their affidavits by West Bengal Election Watch, an NGO, show that 16 per cent of the total 133 candidates in the first part of the first phase election on 4 April, have declared criminal cases pending against them. Out of them, 17 candidates have serious criminal cases including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, rape, kidnapping, robbery, crimes against women, etc. In the second part of the first phase on 11 April, 163 candidates are contesting out of which 23 per cent (37 candidates) have criminal charges against them, the report said. The report said that it was noticed with concern that across all parties there were candidates with criminal cases. In the five constituencies of Salboni, Purulia, Jamuria, Pandabeswar, Indus and Kulti have three or more candidates each with such questionable records. The districts of Purulia, Bankura, Burdwan and West Midnapore are included in the first phase. The average number of assets held by all candidates in the first phase are worth Rs 48 lakh. Out of 296 candidates, 23 (8 per cent) are 'crorepatis'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will round up his trip to Brussels and Washington with a stopover in Saudi Arabia on 2 and 3 April, on his way back home. Modis visit comes at a time when the Gulf region is in deep crisis, triggered by falling oil prices as well as the Sunni-Shia conflict that has led to direct military intervention in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and its allies. The civil war in Syria has also been a preoccupation. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and UAE have long supported the Sunni Opposition and pushed for the removal of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. All this has led to instability in the region. Adding to this is the unease in the Saudi Royal family (a long dynasty of octogenarian leaders), where the young deputy crown prince promoted by a doting father King Salman has led to discontent in the royal household with former powerful oligarchs cut down to size. None of this is good news. When Modi lands in Riyadh, it will not be a country that has for long been the centre of a stable and prosperous region. An unstable West Asia will directly hit India. New Delhi gets most of its energy from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council members. In the last decade, Indias political, economic and security relations have taken off with a bang. The Saudi Royal family as the custodians of the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina have a major standing in the Sunni Muslim world and any dissension in the ruling Saud family will add to the already tense situation. Indias relations with Saudi Arabia have undergone a transformation in the past few years. Beginning with King Abdullahs visit to India in 2006 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs return visit in 2010, relations between the two countries have improved dramatically. From a past when Riyadh consistently supported Pakistan, (though thousands of Indian workers were in Saudi Arabia even then), and political relations were luke warm, ties are now thriving. In earlier times, Saudi Arabia had given shelter to people wanted in India on terror charges. Gradually after the 11 September, 2001 terror attacks in the US and the 26 November, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the Saudis began to cooperate and hand terror suspects back to Delhi. Riyadhs decision to deport Abu Hamza, an Indian national wanted for the Mumbai terror attacks, was a turning point in ties. Hamza a former Indian Mujahideen operative had joined hands with Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba. He had a Pakistani passport and went into hiding in Saudi Arabia. Another wanted terrorist Abu Sufiyan was handed over in December 2015, while Abdul Jeddah in February 2016. "These are some examples in which Saudi security agencies have looked after our core interests on security matters," Mridul Kumar, joint secretary (Gulf) in the MEA said at a briefing on Monday. The new areas of cooperation are security, counter-terrorism and defence. In fact, India and Saudi Arabia now have close security and anti-terror cooperation, and have excellent political and economic ties. Saudi Arabia no longer sees India from a Pakistan prism. The strategic partnership agreement signed during Singhs visit to Saudi Arabia set the framework for cooperation between the two countries. Security, counter-terrorism and defence are the new areas of co-operation. Modis visit will further consolidate those ties. India buys 20 percent of its oil from Saudi Arabia. Half of the oil comes from the Gulf, while almost 80 percent of gas is also from the region. Saudi Arabia is the fourth largest trade partner and it has over three million Indians working in that country. Saudi Arabia is also a major investor in India and looking more and more towards investing in joint ventures . Modis talks with King Salman will also focus on investments. However, New Delhi is anxious about the economic downturn as well as the Sunni-Shia conflict which has vitiated the entire region and unless the sectarian conflict stops, the region can well become a quagmire which will bring the entire edifice down. The slowing of the Gulf economy would hit India where it hurts most: In remittances and jobs. There are eight million Indian workers in the area, who send home between $35 and $40 billion each year. Though there has so far been no significant drop in remittances, the fear is that if this continues, many foreign workers will have to leave the region. States like Kerala, Andhra, Tamil Nadu are heavily dependent on these inflows from their hard working work force. Kerala alone had 2.5 million workers in the region. In the last few years, apart from the blue collared workers, there are large numbers of Indians in well-placed jobs and in business in the region. As of now there has been no major dip in remittances, but if the slow down continues it will certainly affect the flow. There is fear and insecurity among Indians working in the Gulf. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his maiden state visit to Belgium, expressed Indias solidarity with the European nation for the tragedy that struck Brussels on 22 March. Speaking in Brussels, Modi said, India stands in full support and solidarity with Belgium. He offered his sincere gratitude for the warm welcome he received despite it being a tough time for the country. Earlier in the day, Modi had also visited a memorial at the Maalbeek metro station for the victims of the Brussels attacks, which included Indian engineer Raghavendra Ganeshan. He laid a bouquet at the metro station. Here is the full text of his speech: Your Excellency Prime Minister Charles Michel, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for your remarks. Last week has been a sad week for Belgium. Let me say Mr. Prime Minister that we share the depth of sorrow and grief that the people of Belgium have experienced in the last eight days. My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones to the terror strikes in Brussels last week. Having experienced terrorist violence ourselves on countless occasions, we share your pain. Mr Prime Minister, in this time of crisis, the whole of India stands in full support and solidarity with the Belgian people. I deeply appreciate your welcome and the time that you have devoted to me despite pressing demands on you. As part of our efforts to respond to this common challenge we could resume discussions on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Negotiations on Extradition Treaty and a Treaty on Exchange of Sentenced Prisoners could be concluded expeditiously . Friends, Our two countries share a long history of friendship. A hundred years ago, more than 130,000 soldiers from India fought in the First World War alongside your countrymen on Belgian soil. More than 9,000 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice. Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of India-Belgium diplomatic ties. To celebrate this important milestone in our friendship, we look forward to welcoming His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium in India next year. We would also be commemorating it with a joint programme of activities in each others countries. My conversation with Prime Minister Charles Michel today covered the whole spectrum of our ties. A system of bilateral foreign policy consultations would recommend concrete ways to upgrade our partnership. Friends, India is one of the brightest economic opportunities in the world today. Our macroeconomic fundamentals are robust , and at 7% plus, we are one of the fastest growing economies of the world. I believe that a combination of Belgian capacities and Indias economic growth can produce promising opportunities for businesses on both sides. Prime Minister and I have just held a productive interaction with Belgian CEOs and business persons earlier today. I invite the Belgian government and companies to pro-actively associate with India's ambitious development projects including Digital India, Start Up India and Skill India. Belgian businesses can make their global supply chains more cost effective by manufacturing in India. India's goal to modernize infrastructure, especially railways and ports, and building of 100 plus smart cities also presents a unique investment opportunity for the Belgian companies. These partnerships can help us reach new heights in our trade and commercial partnership. I have invited Prime Minister Michel to visit India with Belgian businesses to see first-hand the reality of India's economic and political promise. Clearly, it is not just diamonds that can bring shine to our partnership. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges before mankind. Prime Minister and I have agreed to enhance our cooperation in renewable energy. We would also build partnerships in areas such as harnessing waste for energy, small wind turbines and zero emission buildings. Advancement in S&T and High technology areas is of particular importance for India's development priorities. We welcome Belgiums collaboration in these areas. Prime Minister Michel and I have just activated , remotely, Indias largest optical telescope. This product of Indo-Belgian collaboration is an inspiring example of what our partnership can achieve. The work is also afoot on other agreements in the areas of Information and Communication Technology, audio-visual production Tourism biotechnology and shipping and ports. Friends, In a couple of hours from now, I would meet the EU leadership for the 13th India-E.U. Summit. For India, EU is one of our strongest strategic partners. Trade, Investment, and technology partnership between India and the EU would be one of the focus areas of our discussions. I feel that a progressive path and creative mind-set to India-EU Trade and Investment Agreement can enable all the European countries, including Belgium, to benefit from Indias strong economic growth. I once again express my sincere gratitude to Prime Minister Charles Michel for his time, welcome and hospitality. I look forward to welcoming him in India. Washington: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday described as "historic milestone" the swearing-in of Myanmar's first civilian president in decades that marks a significant power-shift ending military rule. Congratulating U Htin Kyaw, Obama said he "looks forward to working with him and the new government". "U Htin Kyaw's inauguration represents a historic milestone in the country's transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government," he said in a statement. This extraordinary moment in Myanmar's history is a testament to its people, institutions, and leaders who have worked together to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and it speaks to the significance of the reforms the country has undertaken since 2011, he said. Obama said the country will face significant challenges going forward, including achieving broad-based economic development, advancing national reconciliation, and promoting the rights and freedoms of all its people. "The United States looks forward to being a friend and partner of the new government and the people of Burma as they make progress toward building a more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous future," he said. The 69-year-old U Htin Kyaw, a close aide of Aung San Suu Kyi, was on Wednesday sworn in as president of Myanmar, that entered a new era with the Nobel Laureate's democracy movement assuming power after 50 years of military domination. On Tuesday morning, the world woke up to hear about an EgyptAir plane being hijacked. As more details about the news started filtering in, we learnt that it was the work of a lone hijacker, one who claimed to be armed with explosives. And although unconfirmed reports suggested the Egyptian man was seeking political asylum, EgyptAir officials said he might have acted out of "personal reasons", as he was trying to meet his estranged ex-wife. Throughout the day, Twitter was flooded with responses from users, with the #EgyptAir hashtag the top trending topic of the day. Here's a selection of the tweets on the lighter side of things: In 1631 a man had the Taj Mahal built for the woman he loved. In 2016 a man hijacked an #EgyptAir plane for the woman he loved. Rashi Kakkar (@rashi_kakkar) March 29, 2016 The suspect did this to get back with his estranged wife. Is that you, Arbaaz?#EgyptAir Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) March 29, 2016 "He hijacked a plane for his ex and my ex can't even respond to the gunshot wound I gave her smh fml." - People on Tumblr right now. Ashish Shakya (@stupidusmaximus) March 29, 2016 Terrorists have no Marital Status. Ex Husbands should not be targeted for action of one Mad Man #EgyptAir Joy (@Joydas) March 29, 2016 Imagine getting a call early morning "Hey sorry, your ex just hijacked a plane. We'd like you to come talk to him" #FML#EgyptAir Bilha Calderon (@Clitemnistra) March 29, 2016 Then: Lovers used pigeons to deliver a letter. Now: Lover hijacks a plane to deliver a letter.#EgyptAir Sabin (@Mr_Lambakarela) March 29, 2016 I'm not a divorce lawyer but I'm not entirely sure hijacking an aircraft would be beneficial to your case #EgyptAir Sean Robertson (@SeanLXIV) March 29, 2016 I want set dosa-vadacurry. Thinking of hijacking an airplane for it. Any suggestions? #EgyptAir Akshay Ramesh (@iamnotakshayr) March 29, 2016 Hijacker of EgyptAir flight apparently wants political asylum & some letters delivered to ex-wife. He mixed professional and personal trip. Rahul Roushan (@rahulroushan) March 29, 2016 #EgyptAir if you are planing to hijack a plane, at least wait until they have served us food and drinks. We pay for that stuff. David Opati Aswani (@susumunyu) March 29, 2016 Love is in the air has a totally different meaning now#EgyptAir Abhinav Shukla (@JustShukla) March 29, 2016 We Live In A World Where Hijacking A Pane Is Lot Easier Than Keeping A Relationship Together. #EgyptAir Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) March 29, 2016 Apparently, the #EgyptAir 'hijacker' just wanted to speak to his ex-wife. Imagine how interesting this woman must be! lindsay pereira (@lindsaypereira) March 29, 2016 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his maiden state visit to Belgium, expressed Indias solidarity with the European nation for the tragedy that struck Brussels on 22 March. Speaking from the Marble Gallery in Brussels, Modi said, India stands in full support and solidarity with Belgium. He offered his sincere gratitude for the warm welcome he received despite it being a tough time for the country. Earlier in the day, Modi had also visited a memorial at the Maalbeek metro station for the victims of the Brussels attacks, which included Indian engineer Raghavendra Ganeshan. He laid a bouquet at the metro station. Modi then made his speech after he and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel remotely activated Aries, Indias largest optical telescope built by the two nations together. He called it an inspiring example of what our partnership can achieve. He also stressed on the friendly ties the two nations have shared for several decades, stating that more than 130,000 Indian soldiers fought in the First World War alongside your countrymen on Belgian soil and more than 9,000 of them made the supreme sacrifice. The two nations will commemorate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2017 and Belgium monarch King Philip will visit India to mark the occasion, said Modi. Programmes are also being planned in both countries. Modi made a pitch to Belgian businessmen to invest in Indias developmental projects including Digital India, Start up India and Skill India. Our macroeconomic fundamentals are robust and at seven percent plus growth, we are one of the fastest growing opportunities in the world, he said. The Prime Minister also urged on technological co-operation, especially in the field of renewable energy, calling climate change one of the biggest challenges facing mankind. Its not just diamonds that can bring shine to our partnership, he said referring to the nations popular export. The Hague: Italy asked an international arbitration panel Wednesday to order India to free a marine who has been detained since 2012 because of his alleged involvement in the shooting deaths of two fishermen during an anti-piracy operation. Italy's ambassador to the Netherlands, Francesco Azzarello, told the Permanent Court of Arbitration that Sgt. Salvatore Girone should be allowed to return home immediately, saying "he is obliged to live thousands of kilometers away from his country and family, with two children still at a tender age." Girone and Massimiliano Latorre were assigned to anti-piracy duty to protect an Italian oil tanker, the Enrica Lexie, off India's coast at the time of the shooting. The men were detained and had to stay in India without formal charges. Latorre has since been allowed home after suffering a stroke, but Girone remains in India, free on bail but obliged to remain in Delhi and report regularly to Indian police, Azzarello told the arbitration panel. Italy argues the shooting occurred in international waters, that the fishermen were mistaken for pirates, and that the case should be heard in an Italian court. New Delhi insists it has jurisdiction and wants to charge both marines with murder. The UN-mandated International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, based in Hamburg, Germany, last year ordered India to put on hold legal proceedings against the two marines until the Hague-based arbitration panel has ruled in the dispute. Azzarello said that if Sgt. Girone is allowed to return home, Italy would abide by any order issued by the arbitration panel that he be returned to India. He argued that the marine is effectively being used as collateral in the dispute. "A human being cannot be used as a guarantee for the conduct of a state," he said. AP New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brussels on Wednesday, just days after the devastating terrorist attacks in the city, to take part in the 13th Indian-European Union summit. The visit is focused on counter-terrorism and, in the aftermath of the bombings in the Belgian capital, is being seen as a positive step to strengthen the EU-India relationship. PM @narendramodi arrives at Brussels Military Airport, Belgium pic.twitter.com/EOlRRHnEdi PIB India (@PIB_India) March 30, 2016 The PM was greeted with a red carpet welcome and a guard of honour at the Brussels airport. The visit comes just days after the twin airport and metro bombings in the city in which at least 32 people were killed, including an Indian Raghavendran Ganesha, an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. A red carpet at dawn. PM @narendramodi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels pic.twitter.com/N5VwGMSE63 Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 The PM also laid a wreath at the Maelbeek Metro Station to pay homage to the 20 victims killed during an attack on a train last Tuesday. At a time of grief, India stands in solidarity. Before offic'l engagements, PM lays wreath at Maalbek metro station pic.twitter.com/CrhMEhZ11S Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 The aim of the summit is to yield a specific road map for EU-Indian cooperation that would lay down an action plan till 2020. Apart from the EU summit, where Modi signed several agreements with member nations, bilateral talks were also held with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel to further trade relations and develop counter-terrorism strategies. PM Modi also included meetings with Europe's top Indian businessman, and attended a jamboree to address the Indian Diaspora late on Wednesday. The previous EU-India summit, held in New Delhi in 2012, had remained deadlocked on various key issues and a breakthrough in negotiations for a free trade agreement, although unlikely, will be the major focus of the summit. A parliamentary beginning! PM meets select members of the European & Belgian Parliaments for 1st engagement of day pic.twitter.com/D9nonx4jb1 Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 Diplomats on both sides will meet to hash out a common policy to tackle issues like migration, terrorism, data security, reduction of trade duties, development of research avenues etc., and are expected to adopt declarations on water partnership, and energy and climate partnership. The discussions in the closed door meeting will focus on latest developments in the EU's and India's respective neighbourhoods. This included the situations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea, Nepal, Syria and Ukraine. Projecting a positive yet cautious stand before the summit, the EU had said in a statement that, "the summit in Brussels will be an opportunity to re-launch relations and make concrete progress on areas of mutual interest, including trade and investment, energy, climate, water and migration." Bilateral Trade The meeting with Belgian PM aimed to expand trade, investment and high technology partnership between the two countries. Within the EU, Belgium is India's second largest trade partner and in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, counter-terrorism was a major talking point of the meeting. Working together with an imp partner in Europe. PM @narendramodi & Belgian PM @CharlesMichel hold restricted talks pic.twitter.com/nOHWYQkm1m Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 PM: We have ties of blood with Belgium. 100 years ago 130,000 soldiers from India fought in Belgium and 9000 made the Supreme sacrifice Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 PM @narendramodi closes by inviting everyone to explore opp's in India, the fastest growing economy in the world pic.twitter.com/3WggP69nXR Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 PM Modi issued a statement following the Brussel attacks last week, saying that ,"No words are enough to salute the resilience and spirit of the people of Belgium. We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the wake of the horrific attacks in Brussels and share the grief of those who lost their loved ones." Apart from the meeting, the two also remotely activated the India-Belgium ARIES (Aryabhatta Research Institute for Observational Sciences) Telescope. Engaging the Diaspora In Brussels, the PM also met with the Members of European Parliament (MEPs), Indologists, Belgian CEOs as well as a wide cross section of the Indian Diaspora in Belgium. He also interacted with the Board Members of the Association of Diamond Traders in Belgium. PM @narendramodi closes by inviting everyone to explore opp's in India, the fastest growing economy in the world pic.twitter.com/3WggP69nXR Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 Modi also met with Europe's top Indian businessmen, including a delegation of diamond traders from Antwerp, where Indias Patel community dominates the diamond trading hub the largest in the world, with about 84% of the worlds rough diamonds. Later in the day, Modi also met with a jamboree to address the Indian Diaspora, in the style of other similar gatherings for Indians in the UK, Germany and the US. From Brussels, Modi will leave for Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit on 31 March and 1 April and from there, he will travel to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation. New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Maelbeek metro station in Belgium on Wednesday, the site of an Islamic State bomb attack last week where 20 people, including one Indian, were killed and over 100 men and women were injured. Modi paid tributes to the victims of the blast at the subway in the Belgium capital and laid a wreath at the site as a mark of respect for the dead. Indian techie Raghavendra Ganesan was one of the victims at the metro station bombing. His death was confirmed by Belgian authorities only this week. Terrorism was a major focus of the visiting Indian prime minister during his day-long Brussels trip for the 2016 India-EU summit. COLUMBUS, Ohio Red Roof's business continued to grow exponentially in 2015 reaching a total of almost 450 locations and adding 88 new franchisees, a 22% increase. With development deals in Brazil, Canada and Thailand and a total of 69 new deals penned, the brand is on track to have over 500 Inns by the end of 2016. The robust health of the hotel company was fueled by continued growth for the brand, demand for upscale economy products, and a momentum that proved Red Roof has become a major draw for guests, franchisees and investors. "Red Roof's growth is indicative of the sharp, strong evolution of the brand in just the past year," notes Andrew Alexander, President, Red Roof. "With growth in the U.S. and expansion in international markets, Red Roof is poised to become one of the most globally recognized lodging solutions. We are looking forward to our continued upward trajectory in 2016." Red Roof has a long-term strategic development plan to create brand consistency and loyalty nationally and internationally and began rolling out that plan in 2015: Brazil: partnered with Nobile Hotels to develop 35-40 properties across the country over the next twenty five years and opened its first location in Curitiba on September 1, 2015 Canada: signed a twenty-year deal with developer Glenn Squires to build and brand 40 hotels across Canada breaking ground in Spring 2016 with three locations Thailand: partnered with Paragon Hotels Limited to open a series of new-build hotels across Thailand between 2017-2020 actively securing sites in all major tourist locations from Bangkok to Phuket "Red Roof is always seeking the right international partners with deep local knowledge for the brand's expansion globally," says Phil Hugh, Chief Development Officer, Red Roof. "The plan is to expand the brand to travel consumers around the world who are seeking a pleasant, safe and clean lodging experience at a value price." In addition to its growing global collection of properties, Red Roof is also proud of its upscale economy PLUS+ product and has been building or upgrading to, more PLUS+ locations across the country. There were 36 locations in 17 states by the end of 2015 with about 50 locations in 19 states planned by the end of 2016. The focus has been on growth west of the Mississippi in addition to adding more franchisees to the portfolio. As 2016 unfolds, Red Roof intends to build on its immense 2015 successes with an aggressive U.S. and international plan to expand the Red Roof brand, attract more franchisees and investors, continue to provide top-tier service and amenities to guests at a value price and creatively enhance the PLUS+ product by continuously listening to its customers. Red Roof has accomplished much of their success with the contribution of a development team, half of whom have a military background. Red Roof is proud to employ veterans. About Red Roof Red Roof is an award-winning leader in the lodging industry, recognized for creating the innovative Upscale Economy segment serving millions of guests each year. Known for obsessively listening to consumers, Red Roof offers travelers a consistently high-quality experience at an affordable price. With coast-to-coast locations, Red Roof has over 670 properties and nearly 60,000 rooms in the U.S. and has expanded internationally to Brazil and Japan. Whether business or leisure, short trips or extended stays, in the hearts of cities or on the road, Red Roof has a property for every traveler, delivering an enhanced experience at a value price. Red Roof is pet-friendly, as one well-behaved pet is welcome per room, nationwide, at no additional cost*. Ranging from economy to midscale, the Red Roof portfolio of brands includes: Red Roof Inn and Red Roof PLUS+, allowing guests to Sleep Easy. Spend Less. with enhanced amenities at a value price; HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof, offering guests A Brand New Way to Extended Stay; and The Red Collection, a hyper-local soft brand in the Hearts of Cities You Love. Red Roof offers franchisees Genuine Relationships. Real Results. a unique owner-operator experience establishing common ground with franchisees. To join the Red Roof industry-leading loyalty program, RediRewards, or for reservations, visit redroof.com, call 800.RED.ROOF, or download Red Roof's free app that is available for both iOS and Android devices. *Pet accommodations policy may vary at some HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof and The Red Collection locations. To verify a hotel's pet policy, please review hotel information online at redroof.com or by contacting the hotel directly. Karen Zhu Account Executive + 1 305 443 0646 Red Roof Magnuson Hotels, America's fastest growing hotel brand, announced today the complete re-branding of the Magnuson Hotel Columbia, South Carolina. Formerly the Days Inn Columbia, South Carolina, the hotel will upgrade its local, regional, and national market to attract travelers via an affiliation with Magnuson Hotels' global portfolio of over 1,000 hotels. The Magnuson Hotel Columbia is situated just two miles from both of the main gates to Fort Jackson, just across the street from the Columbia Place Mall. The Banks zoo, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Carolina Research Park are all nearby. All 135 guest rooms provide free high speed internet access, microwave, mini fridge, coffee maker, cable TV, hair dryer, and iron with board. Other amenities include a free breakfast and on-site fitness center. "We are very excited to be welcoming Kamal Patel and his entire team to the Magnuson family and look forward to a long and successful future together", stated Thomas Magnuson, CEO of Magnuson Hotels. About Magnuson Hotels Founded in 2003 as the world's first independent hotel chain, today hotel owners can affiliate with Magnuson as an independent or a franchised brand. With a footprint that includes North America and Europe, the company remains true to the original ethos; providing comprehensive personalised support and customised technology for hotel owners to succeed in their local markets without typical corporate franchise expense or requirements. For more info: https://magnusonhotelsworldwide.com/. Magnuson Hotels US: +1509.747.8713 or UK: +44 208 767 4878 Magnuson Hotels A man is dead and a woman seriously injured after a stabbing attack at a shopping centre on Sydney's upper north shore on Wednesday night. Police said the pair were attacked at Westfield Hornsby in front of horrified shoppers about 9.30pm. The man died at the scene, police said. The woman was taken to hospital with stab wounds to her chest, a punctured sternum and lacerations to her forearm. The 38-year-old alleged attacker has been arrested and is being questioned by police. Security agencies racing to break the web of Islamic State (IS) terror cells that have spread across the European continent are also bracing for another worrisome possibility - that the group will use guerrilla tactics honed in Syria and Iraq to carry out attacks on critical targets or infrastructure. Concerns have been heightened in recent days, most notably with the revelation that a laptop found during a raid connected to the suspects in the Brussels terror bombings contained images and floor plans of the office of Belgiums prime minister. That, along with evidence that two of the Brussels bombers, Khalid and Ibrahim el Bakraoui, conducted video surveillance of a scientist at Belgiums Tihange nuclear complex, could suggest some terror cells are prepared to abandon the group's hallmark attacks on so-called soft targets like train stations or cafes, in favor of bigger, more symbolic venues. Theyre very invested in the pageantry of it all so I wouldnt be surprised, said one U.S. official familiar with the intelligence on IS. Theyre unambiguous about seeing Europe as a battlefield. European officials are equally worried, especially given that the ability to detect and disrupt potential plots varies greatly country to country. We still have a very high level of concern for new terror attacks, a Western diplomat told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity. The level of engagement and commitment to discover potential attacks is very high. Adding to the concerns is ISs growing ability to use the Internet to share intelligence between its core leadership and provinces and cells around the world. ISIS now has mastered online dissemination of all their combat lessons learned, said Malcolm Nance, a former counterterrorism and intelligence officer who now heads the Terror Asymmetrics Project (TAPSTRI). Were seeing vehicle designs of these technical vehicles with armor plating that we see in combat in Ramadi showing up in Benghazi, showing up in Somalia, he said. And all of their intelligence sharing is happening at a very rudimentary level, and its very hard to intercept." European network Initially, intelligence concerns about additional attacks centered on IS terrorists using Novembers attacks in Paris as a blueprint, hitting multiple soft targets simultaneously, maximizing civilian casualties. But the Brussels attacks that killed 32 people suggest the terror group is growing bolder. What it says is that our enemy has a network that seems to be active and thriving in the heart of Europe, former CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden told VOA. The level of sophistication, kind of continuing on that same arc, we have seen ISIS as it so to speak ups its game. Making the situation more dangerous is that U.S. officials believe IS is now deeply rooted in Europe, using perhaps hundreds of jihadists who have returned home from Syria and Iraq to mold thousands more into a guerrilla units, capable striking even after sustaining losses. A number of terrorist plots have been disrupted, a second U.S. official told VOA, cautioning the numbers may be in ISs favor. ISILs access to thousands of foreign fighters and its willingness to trade risk for headlines underscores the ongoing threat the group poses to the West, the official added. And former counterterrorism officials, like Malcolm Nance, warn the surveillance of the Belgian nuclear scientist and the laptop with plans of the prime ministers office indicate it is only a matter of time before IS foreign fighters unleash their combat experience on high value targets. 'Assume' new attacks You absolutely should just assume that they are all ready to attack, Nance warned. Just way too much effort has gone into this, even if they didnt get past the planning stage, he said. Maybe the Belgian reactor was just the model It could be carried out anywhere. Nance believes such an operation would closely mirror attacks the group has carried out in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. After extensive intelligence gathering, Islamic State fighters would move into position, using Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs), or truck bombs, to breach the perimeter, with a follow on truck bomb to sow additional confusion before fighters move in. In the case of a nuclear facility, Nance said the goal would be to cause a meltdown, turning the complex itself into a dirty bomb. For now, some Belgian officials have downplayed the concerns, saying there is little to indicate such attacks are imminent. Yet officials in France say a cell there did appear to be on the verge of taking action. Prosecutors filed preliminary terror charges against 34-year-old Frenchman Reda Kriket Wednesday, calling the cache of explosives and arms found in his apartment an indication an imminent act of extreme violence was in the works. Kriket is suspected of having traveled to Syria in late 2014 or early 2105 and had already been convicted in absentia by authorities in Belgium this past July on terror charges. North Koreas ongoing nuclear and missile tests are a profound threat to regional stability, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. He said China, Pyongyangs economic lifeline, is among the U.S. regional allies that share an interest in seeing North Korea get on a path to denuclearization. Unfortunately, the most effective way to achieve that, said Blinken, is to exert real pressure on North Korea and force it to make a choice. He said the choice is between continuing its actions and choosing a path that would allow it to provide for its own people and develop economically. Blinken commented at a Washington forum ahead of President Barack Obamas talks on the issue this week with his counterparts from Asia. Obama will hold three-way talks Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of a global nuclear security summit in Washington. He will meet separately with Chinese President Xi Jinping. North Korea stepped up its provocative actions and rhetoric following this months start of an annual U.S.-South Korea military drill, which Pyongyang considers a threat. It has launched a series of short- and medium-range projectiles since the drill got underway. On Tuesday, South Korea said the North had fired a short-range projectile from its east coast. It has also threatened retaliatory nuclear action against Seoul and Washington. North Korea also appears to be reacting to new, tougher U.N. sanctions imposed this month, following a January nuclear test and a February rocket launch. This round of sanctions is the first real serious set of sanctions against Pyongyang, said Richard Bush, director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington research and policy group. We need time for them to play out and to really exert pressure on the leaders of North Korea to deprive the leaders of North Korea of things that they hold dear. Anti-missile system Separately the U.S. and South Korea have begun consultations on the possible deployment of THAAD, a U.S-made anti-missile system. China opposes deployment of the system, saying it could undermine its security interests. The system "does not affect China strategically, but we know that China does not like it, Blinken said. Blinken added that current and former U.S. administrations had made repeated efforts to engage North Korea about denuclearization and had made it clear that the U.S. was not seeking regime change. The agreement with Iran on its nuclear program should be powerful evidence to North Korea that we are prepared to engage with countries with whom we have the most profound differences, he said. The United States, China, South Korea, Russia, Japan and North Korea were participants in six-party talks aimed at curbing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The talks broke down in 2008. As migrant arrivals to Germany slow to a trickle, a registration center on the border with Austria stands almost deserted, with rows of beds unused and rooms for fingerprinting refugee arrivals empty. At the shelter in Freilassing, which registered up to 2,000 people a day at peak times last September, barely a handful of migrants arrived Wednesday night. The center's dining halls and sleeping quarters looked like they were from a ghost town. "[After last summer's peak], we had around 1,200 refugees per day and this went on until ... the Balkan route was closed," said Josef Flatscher, the mayor of Freilassing, a town across the border from Austria's Salzburg. "Since then, the numbers dropped drastically, one can say to close to zero. Tonight, only three people arrived," he told Reuters TV. Just over 108,000 migrants have entered Germany so far this year, a federal police spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday. Domino effect The number of arrivals has dropped significantly in recent weeks, however. Back in January, police registered around 64,700 migrants, but only about 5,300 people crossed into Germany in the first 29 days of March. In late February, Austria introduced daily caps on the number of migrants, setting off a domino effect across southeastern Europe, where countries along Europe's main migrant route sealed their borders. Migrants, many of whom are fleeing war and conflict in the Middle East and beyond, are now stranded in Greece after crossing the Mediterranean from Turkey. In Freilassing, the slowdown is a welcome break, giving much strained police forces, officials and volunteers "room to breathe," Flatscher said. He doesn't believe the calm will last, however. "You can simply add one and one together if you know the people's conditions everywhere down there, and that they are obviously waiting to get away into a so-called 'Promised Land', such as Germany," he said. In the battle among the top wireless providers, Verizon likes to tout its network reach, awards and capabilities. It often positions itself as the market leader and quickly shoots down any claim by AT&T (News - Alert), Sprint or T-Mobile that they have something on par in terms of service offerings. While this type of positioning is great when you want to dominate, it can also make you a prime target for hackers. While the typical consumer doesnt have much to worry about this time, enterprise users may have been affected by this latest breach. Verizon (News - Alert) Enterprise Solutions was the target and hackers were able to breach the network and gain access to roughly 1.5 million enterprise clients, according to this CRN report. For the master agent, this breach has the potential to have wide-ranging implications on telecom and cloud security solutions overall. According to Verizon, hackers were able to breach the network, gaining access to basic contact center. The telco claims that no customer proprietary network information or other data was compromised. The data that was taken was found for sale on an underground cyberforum, highlighting that no company is immune from attack and even the largest has the potential for a network vulnerability that will be found by hackers. While the exact cause of the breach is still unclear, the fact that Verizon was vulnerable at all points to the potential that anyone can fall victim to the right hacker at the right time. Verizon reported, however, that they did find and fix a vulnerability in the enterprise client portal that a hacker had used to collect basic contact information on Verizon enterprise clients. To date, no consumer customers have been impacted. Still, the news of the breach is sure to shake the industry, one which continues to be told that their providers can deliver a much higher level of security than they can. It doesnt help that this isnt the first data breach in recent months. In October, TalkTalk, a British telecom company, disclosed a breach that affected roughly four million of its customers. That particular breach exposed names, dates of birth, addresses and credit card information. TerraCom and YourTel America also reported breaches in 2015. Even with these hits, there are some experts who believe these are simply isolated incidents and not an indication of a widespread problem. Jane Wright, senior analyst covering security at Technology Business Research told CRN that the Verizon incident is not necessarily a foreshadowing of more telecom provider breaches to come. As hackers continue to try to outsmart security researchers and aim to make a profit from captured information, breaches will continue to be a threat. As such, the master agent must be able to position its offerings as on the forefront of technology to protect against vulnerabilities. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have reached an accord to begin production at the jointly operated Al-Khafji oil field where production was halted in October 2014 but differences still remain over the Wafra oil field. The announcement was made by Kuwaiti Finance minister and acting oil minister Anas al-Saleh during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday. He said that an agreement has been reached with the Saudi side for Aramco to resume production. The oil field is operated by Al-Khafji Joint Operations Co, a joint venture between AGOC, a subsidiary of Saudi state oil firm Aramco, and Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. Operations at the site was halted due to environmental issues according to the Saudis but Al-Saleh told Kuwaiti lawmakers that some maintenance contract has been amended to produce volumes that are in line with environmental requirements and production will be in small quantities at first before increasing gradually to reach normal output capacity when all these (environmental) requirements are met. Al-Khafji has a production capacity of around 300,000 barrels per day and lies between the Kuwaiti and Saudi border. Production is equally divided between them. Talks to resume production began in June last year and arriving at an agreement was welcomed by Kuwaits First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah who stated that no technical dispute can affect the bilateral ties with Saudi for any reason because they absorbed much in the past and are destined for more cooperation and support in all fields now and in the future. The date for the resumption of operations was not stated. It is unclear however if negotiations are ongoing to restart production at the around 200,000bpd Wafra oil field halted since May 2015. Britain, France, Germany and the United States denounced the missile tests conducted by Tehran as challenging the UN resolution 2231 because they can result in nuclear weapons. This came in a joint letter they addressed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and to Spanish ambassador to the UN Roman Oyarzun Marchesi, Spain being tasked with coordinating Security Council discussions on resolution 2231 which bans Iran from conducting ballistic activities related to nuclear weapons. The letter noted that several missile launches conducted by Tehran as part of military tests were in defiance of the resolution as they are inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The letter also expressed the Western countries concerns about Irans intentions stating that Iranian military leaders have reportedly claimed these missiles are designed to be a direct threat to Israel. Two permanent members of the Security Council, Russia and China, are against the letters request for appropriate responses to be taken by the council through sanctions and diplomats in the council seemingly agree that the missile launches violate resolution 2231 but the core of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 is not violated. They say the call for action against Tehran is not legally binding and does not warrant the implementation of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter which covers sanctions and authorization of military force. Sanctions on Iran concerning its controversial nuclear agreement were lifted in January after an IAEA report and Tehran has warned that new sanctions will render the nuclear framework agreement sealed in July void. France is suggesting that European countries unilaterally sanction Iran but since the beginning of the year, European countries have been engaged in trade and bilateral discussions with Tehran. Meanwhile President Rouhani was to arrive in Austria on Wednesday but the visit was postponed by the Iranian side for security reasons according to the Austrian presidency. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades told media the hijacked EgyptAir plane A320 which landed at Larnaca airport was not result of a terror-related act. The hijacking is not terrorism-related, Anastasiades said at a joint press conference with the visiting president of the European Parliament Martin Schultz. Egyptian authorities have also confirmed that the hijacking was not a terrorist act. Hes not a terrorist, hes an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they arent stupid. This guy is, said an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official. The hijacker formerly identified as Ibrahim Samaha has been later on referred to as Seif Eldin Mustafa who reportedly wants to talk to his ex-wife living in Cyprus. He is believed to be a 27-year old Egyptian national. Ibrahim Samaha is an Egyptian university lecturer from Alexandria who was among the passengers. His wife, who identified herself as Nahla slammed the media and Egyptian officials for claiming that her husband was involved in the hijacking. Local reports indicated that the hijacker dropped a four-page letter in Arabic and demanded it be sent to his ex-wife who has been brought to the airport. The hijacker who claimed he was wearing a suicide belt has not made any specific demands and cooperated to release most of the 62 passengers on board. The crew members and four foreigners are still onboard, EgyptAir said. According to the Guardian, two Brits, one Italian and one Irish man are the foreign passengers still held by the hijacker. Questions are floating in the air how the hijacker got on the plane with the suicide belt despite tightened security measures adopted after the crash of the Russian passenger jet in October. All 224 passengers aboard the plane were killed. A coalition of pastors in Malawi have reportedly threatened to drag the government to court to force it arrest 4,000 homosexuals living in the northern city of Mzuzu. The move follows a research published by a local human rights grouping Centre for the Development of the People (Cedep) which said that northern Malawis city of Mzuzu has a population of 4,000 homosexuals. The Young Pastors Coalition of Malawi (YPCM) has accused the government of encouraging homosexuality through its failure to arrest gays and lesbians. We want the group that conducted the survey to present the names of the 4,000 homosexuals to police so that they can be arrested and face prosecution, the pastors argued in a statement. Two years ago, a survey conducted by Afrobarometer said 93 percent of Malawians said they would not like to have homosexuals as neighbors. Last week, Malawis Catholic bishops issued a joint pastoral letter that condemns the government for not imprisoning gays and lesbians. The countrys law criminalizing gay sex was suspended in 2012 by President Joyce Banda but the religious leaders want it enforced. When the law was suspended along with the sentences of two men arrested in 2009 for allegedly being engaged to each other government officials said they would consider whether to repeal the colonial-era law according to the input of citizens. That review has yet to take place. Under the current laws, convicted homosexuals are jailed for 14 years. Nigers Appeal Court has granted bail to opposition presidential candidate Hama Amadou, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Hama Amadou who was imprisoned November last years had been hospitalized in France since March 16 after being evacuated from his Nigerien prison. He lost a runoff election to President Mahamadou Issoufou, who won his second term with 92 percent of votes. The opposition party boycotted the election, which led to the lopsided victory. The decision is clear, the Court of Appeal has ordered the provisional release of the candidate Hama Amadou who is free from today, Mossi Boubacar, a lawyer for Hama Amadou told reporters in capital Niamey. According to the lawyer, Amadou, who was airlifted to a US hospital in Paris four days before the run-off, is determined to return home. He should be out today or tomorrow, Amadous doctor, Luc Karsenty said. The 66-year-old Amadou was imprisoned on baby-trafficking charges, which he denies arguing they are politically motivated. A spokesman for the opposition party said the charges were concocted and Amadou was arrested to be sidelined during the election. The court should have freed him so that he could be on equal footing with Issoufou during the elections. It didnt. Hama is innocent and this case is a plot to push him out of political life, spokesman Ousseini Salatou said. Serving free breakfast in New York City's classrooms has boosted the number of students eating what some consider the most important meal of the day at school, according to research by New York University's Institute for Education and Social Policy and the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The study, published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, finds that this increase in school breakfast participation did not raise the prevalence of obesity in New York City schools, as some critics may have feared. At the same time, breakfast in the classroom did not appear to improve students' attendance or academic achievement. The School Breakfast Program, a federal program subsidizing school breakfasts for "nutritionally needy" children, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Like school lunch programs, school breakfasts aim to reduce food insecurity, improve nutrition, and facilitate learning. Traditionally, breakfast programs take place in school cafeterias before classes begin, but many districts across the country have adopted a different approach by serving breakfast in classrooms at the start of the school day. "Moving breakfast into the classroom is intended to encourage participation in school breakfast programs, particularly among students unable to arrive early, and to reduce the stigma associated with a trip to the cafeteria," said Amy Ellen Schwartz, director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Affairs at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. New York City has offered free breakfast to all students since 2003, and began implementing breakfast in the classroom in 2007. As of 2016, breakfast in the classroom is offered in nearly 400 of the city's 1,800 public schools, with more than 30,000 classroom breakfasts served each day. According to the New York City Department of Education, since the implementation of breakfast in the classroom, the participation rate has increased from 25 percent to 80 percent. Advocates argue that moving breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom provides many benefits, including improving academic performance, attendance, and engagement, and reducing hunger and food insecurity. Others have raised concerns that breakfast in the classroom can contribute to weight gain and obesity, as some students may consume extra calories by eating two breakfastsone at home and one at school. Using data from the New York City Department of Education and its Office of School Food, the NYU researchers studied students in kindergarten through eighth grade at roughly 200 public elementary and middle schools offering breakfast in some or all classrooms. They examined school breakfast and lunch participation, student height and weight measurements, and administrative data including demographics, attendance, and math and reading test scores in grades 4 through 8. The researchers observed a substantial increase in school breakfast participation when breakfast was served in the classroom, with no impact on lunch program participation. Despite this increase in breakfasts served, the researchers saw no evidence that the breakfast program contributes to obesity. In contrast to previous studies finding an academic benefit to breakfast in the classroom, the researchers found that the effects on academic achievement were small and statistically insignificant. At the same time, breakfast in the classroom did not hurt students academically by taking time away from instruction. Serving breakfast in the classroom had no effect on attendance, which the researchers suggest may be because attendance rates are already high in elementary and middle schools. "While we find that providing breakfast in the classroom had large positive effects on participation in school breakfast programs, our analysis provides no evidence of hoped-for gains in academic performance, nor of feared increases in obesity," said Sean Corcoran, associate director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy and associate professor of educational economics at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. "When looking at academic achievement and attendance, there are few added benefits of having breakfast in the classroom beyond those already provided by free breakfast," added Corcoran. "The policy case for breakfast in the classroom will depend upon reductions in hunger and food insecurity for disadvantaged children, or its longer-term effects." Explore further School breakfasts contribute to healthy weight, study finds PAAND: Pyoderma lesion. Credit: VIB A mysterious inflammatory disease has been afflicting a Flemish family for three generations, causing severe skin lesions, fevers, pain and exhaustion. This disease, which previously had no known cause or cure, has now been identified as Pyrin Associated Autoinflammation with Neutrophilic Dermatosis (PAAND), and has also been found in families in England and France. New research by Adrian Liston (VIB/University of Leuven, Belgium), Seth Masters (Walter and Elisa Hall Institute, Australia), Carine Wouters (University of Leuven, Belgium) has found the genetic mutation causing the disease and also identified an effective treatment. This research was published in the international scientific journal Science Translational Medicine. For decades, families in Belgium, England, and France have been living with a mysterious disease that results in severe skin lesions, fevers, pain and exhaustion. Every generation, half of the children of the people with this disease develop the same symptoms. Doctors had been previously unable to identify the disease or find any effective treatment. For the first time, this disease has been identified and a treatment found due to an international research team. Professor Adrian Liston (VIB/University Leuven): "Detailed work by clinicians told us that we were dealing with a genetic disease. Thanks to advances in DNA sequencing technology we were able to sequence the genome of these patients and find the mutation causing the disease". The mutation is in the gene called MEFV. This gene was known to cause an inflammatory disease called Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) in patients who inherit mutated copies from both mother and father. However, the mutation found in the PAAND patients is different. Only a single copy of the mutation is needed to cause disease, meaning it affects half the children of patients, unlike the mutations that cause FMF, which often skip generations. Professor Seth Masters (Walter and Elisa Hall Institute): "The PAAND mutation causes the body to respond as if there is a bacterial skin infection. This leads to the skin making the inflammatory protein interleukin-1, which causes skin lesions, fevers and pain". A cure for the new disease? Understanding the biological basis for this new disease allowed the rational selection of a new treatment. The researchers repurposed an anti-arthritis drug, anakinra (Kineret), which targets the same protein that causes PAAND, interleukin-1. The results in the first volunteer, from an English family, were striking, with a rapid clearance of skin lesions and a complete recovery from fevers and pain. A larger trial is now beginning in the Flemish patients to see if this targeted treatment will act as a complete cure. Professor Carine Wouters (KU Leuven/UZ Leuven, lead clinical researcher): "This is the synthesis of an intense collaboration between clinicians and scientists trying to understand this disease for almost 10 years. I am delighted to see how it has increased our understanding of rare mutations, and especially has opened a therapeutic perspective for these patients." Quote from one of the patients: "We are happy and very grateful to the doctors and scientists who never gave up their search to understand the disease that affected members of our family for so many years. We are very hopeful that the new treatment will be beneficial to our family. Also we realize that the findings will help other patients to get a correct diagnosis and therapy." Professor Adrian Liston (VIB/KU Leuven, lead scientific researcher): "This is an amazing time to be working on genetic diseases. Every month we are solving clinical cases that would have been too hard to work out just a few years ago. Actually, to be honest the research is moving much faster than the healthcare system - we are finding new mutations, new diseases and trialling new treatments faster than the healthcare system is adapting. It creates a difficult situation for patients where the science is in, but the health insurance funds are not ready to reimburse the costs of the advanced diagnostic tests we use or novel treatments that we discover. This is a challenge, but also an opportunity - medical improvements could be rolled out quite quickly with political will." Explore further Skin lesions for 29 percent with anti-TNF treatment in IBD More information: "Familial autoinflammation with neutrophilic dermatosis reveals a regulatory mechanism of pyrin activation," Science Translational Medicine, DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf1471 Journal information: Science Translational Medicine "Familial autoinflammation with neutrophilic dermatosis reveals a regulatory mechanism of pyrin activation," Research from Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) suggests that hormone therapy, when taken within six years of menopause, may slow the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque in the arteries. The study, entitled "Vascular Effects of Early versus Late Postmenopausal Treatment with Estradiol," is published in the March 31, 2016 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. This is the first study to directly examine the hypothesis that the cardiovascular effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy vary with the timing of hormone therapy initiation. To gather data, researchers conducted the Early versus Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ELITE), an NIH-funded study. Over 600 postmenopausal women with no history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes were stratified into two groups: early postmenopause (women who were within six years of menopause) and late postmenopause (women who were 10 years or more beyond menopause). Women in each group were randomly assigned to receive either oral estradiol (with progesterone vaginal gel for those with a uterus) or a placebo (which included a placebo vaginal gel for those with a uterus). Every six months, subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed with measurement of carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT). After a median of five years of hormone therapy, women in the early postmenopausal group who were taking estradiol, with or without progesterone, showed significantly slower rates of CIMT progression, meaning they developed build-up within the arteries at a slower rate, when measured against those taking the placebo. However, the late postmenopausal group showed essentially the same rates of CIMT progression between those taking estradiol and those taking the placebo. "The ELITE results, in context with decades of studies on hormone therapy and vascular degeneration, provides strong evidence that the cardiovascular benefits of hormone therapy are dependent on timing of initiation," said Howard N. Hodis, MD, director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit and professor of medicine and preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine and principle investigator of the study. "The stratification of participants into early and late postmenopause was a unique feature of ELITE. We believe that applying this design to further examination of heart disease prevention could ultimately prove immensely fruitful for women's health." "ELITE provides proof of concept and first direct evidence from human investigation that timing of hormone therapy is imperative for success in the prevention of atherosclerosis progression, the primary underlying pathway that leads to heart disease and stroke," Hodis added. "The concept of timing of initiation of an intervention is likely applicable to most preventive approaches to cardiovascular disease in women." Building from these data, the ELITE researchers intend to investigate why hormone therapy is more effective in the earlier stages of postmenopause and whether or not non-hormonal therapies provide the same effect. In doing so, they hope to contribute to the development of more effective, precise and target-driven therapies to prevent heart disease in women. Explore further Genes may determine the side effects of menopausal hormone therapy, study suggests (HealthDay)In a case report published online March 25 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, elevated serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels are observed in a male patient with anorexia nervosa (AN). Shinichiro Ochi, M.D., from the Ehime Graduate School of Medicine in Toon, Japan, and colleagues describe the case of a 41-year-old male suffering from AN who had markedly elevated serum CEA levels that led to suspicion of malignant tumors. The authors note that the patient was discovered not to have malignant tumors on further examination. As his clinical state of AN improved, his CEA levels decreased. His CEA levels were found to be elevated in proportion to his clinical state of AN; there was a significant association between his body mass index and serum CEA levels. "In conclusion, this is the first and a very rare case with high serum CEA levels which [were] associated with clinical state of AN," the authors write. "Thus, we believe that when dealing with AN, tumor markers such as CEA should be considered." Explore further Dual epidural analgesia most effective for scoliosis surgery Copyright 2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved. For more than 30 years women have been working as surrogates for strangers who are unable to bear children. A University of Texas at Arlington researcher has found that although the majority of today's surrogates are compensated for their services, many of the women are reluctant to think of themselves as workers and outsiders often misunderstand their vocation. Heather Jacobson, associate professor of sociology, offers the first book-length ethnographic examination of gestational surrogacy in the U.S. in "Labor of Love: Gestational Surrogacy and the Work of Making Babies (Rutgers University Press)." Jacobson explores the complexities of surrogacy and conflicted attitudes that emerge when the act of bringing a child into the world becomes a paid occupation. "Many people have a difficult time understanding why someone would want to carry a baby for a stranger," said Jacobson, whose interest in surrogacy stems from her studies of family formation. "I found most surrogates in my study loved being a surrogate. They were interested in helping others have a child because they enjoyed being pregnant. They saw it as something they were good at a skill set." Elisabeth Cawthon, acting dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said Jacobson's research provides valuable insights about reproductive technology affecting Americans and changing how we think about maternity, family and the labor involved in giving birth. "Dr. Jacobson does a comprehensive job of dissecting the complex set of social attitudes underlying gestational surrogacy, its role in health and gender studies," Cawthon said. "There are a lot of misconceptions about infertility, reproductive technologies and surrogacy that are reinforced in the media, popular television programs and movies; and, this work will help advance the larger conversation about these issues and help to correct misinformation." Cawthon added that the research is representative of UTA's commitment to advancing health and the human condition as outlined in UTA's Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact. In her studies, Jacobson found surrogates and others involved in surrogacy having to navigate basic misconceptions about the medical procedures involved and the motivations and experiences people have in surrogacy. The research is based on in-depth interviews conducted between 2009-2015 with surrogates that Jacobson connected with through surrogate agencies and various digital platforms. In addition to surrogates, she interviewed, their family members, the "intended parents" who employ surrogates, infertility doctors, directors of surrogacy agencies, family lawyers, and various other professionals who work to facilitate gestational surrogacy an advanced reproductive technology that allows women to be surrogates without contributing their own eggs. The surrogates in her study were between the ages of 25 and 45 at the time of the interviews, with the oldest surrogate having given birth to a "surro-baby" at the age of 41. All were paid, from $15,000 to $35,000. Most of the women were married, financially stable and all had children of their own. Most were Caucasian, but there were also Hispanic and African-American surrogates in the study. Jacobson noted that the majority of the surrogates in her study were not stay-at-home mothers, as often assumed, but worked outside of the home in what are called the 'caring professions'such as nursing, teaching, social services or social work. Surrogacy itself is not federally regulated, so there is no federal data on the numbers of surrogacies in the United States, Jacobson said. According to the book, there are an estimated 1,500 surrogate births per year in the U.S. "I found it interesting that surrogates are reluctant to think of this as work because they engage in a tremendous amount of labor in helping to produce a child for people who desperately want one," Jacobson said. "They re-arrange their lives and the lives of their families, and if the pregnancy goes well, it can be a year-long investmentif there are complications, it can be a many year investment." In the book, Jacobson investigates why not only surrogates, but the surrogacy industry, are reluctant to think about surrogacy as work. Jacobson joined the UTA Department of Sociology and Anthropology in 2006. She holds both a Ph.D. and Master's degree in Sociology from Brandeis University. She also has a Master's degree in Women's Studies from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. She earned bachelor's degrees in drama and history from Carnegie Mellon University. In her first book, "Culture Keeping: White Mothers, International Adoption, and the Negotiation of Family Difference (Vanderbilt Press, 2008)," she examined how conceptions of family and of race shape the ethnic practices of international adoptive families with children from China and Russia. "Labor of Love: Gestational Surrogacy and the Work of Making Babies" is available now at Amazon.com and at the UTA Bookstore, 400 S. Pecan St. Explore further Landmark report exposes the myths about UK surrogacy The Human Brain Project (HBP) is developing a shared European research infrastructure with the aim of examining the organization of the brain using detailed analyses and simulations and thus combating neurological and psychiatric disorders. For this purpose, the HBP is creating new information technologies like neurosynaptic processors which are based on the principles governing how the human brain works. Following today's launch of the scientific infrastructure set up by researchers from 24 countries over the last two-and-a-half years, the Human Brain Project is now entering its next phase. The infrastructure can be accessed through various platforms. It is intended to drive progress not only in neuroscience but also in the European development of HPC and robotics as well as to interconnect researchers through four large European supercomputer and data centres. Notably, researchers not involved in the project consortium will also be able to access the infrastructure. Scientists from the supercomputer centres at Forschungszentrum Julich and ETH Zurich are coordinating the creation and work of the platform for High Performance Analytics and Computing. The platform deals with the huge volumes of neuroscientific data on the human brain: storing these data, integrating them into models, and analysing them in simulations. The Julich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and twelve collaboration partners provide the European neuroscientists with support in using the supercomputer resources, storage systems, and user software. Petabyte data sets (1 petabyte = 1015 bytes), generated for example by imaging techniques such as polarized light imaging, can be analysed and visualized on supercomputers like JURECA using state-of-the-art methods like deep learning. "Users and developers work together very closely. With leading manufacturers, we are developing the interactive supercomputer, which is as easy to use as a laptop and is one of the most crucial instruments for in silico experiments on virtual human brains," says Prof. Thomas Lippert, director of JSC and co-leader of the platform alongside Prof. Thomas Schulthess (ETH Zurich). Prof. Katrin Amunts, director of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine - Structural and Functional Organization of the Brain, and her group are using the platform's JURECA supercomputer to develop the three-dimensional brain model BigBrain. BigBrain is the world's most detailed reconstruction of the cell structure of a full human brain. The HBP's future brain atlas will comprise additional information on neural fibre tracts which connect the various brain regions to each other. "Our brain atlas will provide researchers - whether they are involved in the Human Brain Project or not - with access to all globally available data on the brain, a bit like Google Earth," says Katrin Amunts, coordinator of the event marking the launch of the HBP infrastructure and leader of the HBP subproject on human brain organization. A team headed by Prof. Markus Diesmann, director at Julich's Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine - Computational and Systems Neuroscience, is investigating neural networks in the brain. Using supercomputers, the researchers hope to draw conclusions on the brain as a whole with its some 100 billion neurons. Yet, the most powerful supercomputer today is capable of simulating no more than one percent of the human brain. In addition, these simulations must comprise a critical number of neurons and synapses as otherwise the deviations from reality are too large. "For this reason, we are using the Julich supercomputer JUQUEEN to develop error-correcting mathematical models as well as the necessary simulation and analysis software for big data analyses. This work is part of the Neural Simulation Technology Initiative (NEST)," says Markus Diesmann. During the launch, Prof. Sonja Grun's team presented very concrete insights into what has been achieved over the past two-and-a-half years in a live demonstration that was also be web-streamed live. Grun is deputy director of Julich's Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine - Computational and Systems Neuroscience. This live demo illustrated how complex tasks will be processed in future by the HBP research infrastructure and comprehensively documented. "Our live demo involves the creation of a mathematical model using NEST software, its simulation on a supercomputer, the analysis of the resulting data using the Julich software tool Elephant, and the visualization of the results," says Sonja Grun. Explore further Small brain models distort contact intensity between neurons EU4Business Week starts in Georgia The European Union (EU) is offering a technical and financial assistance package worth more than 62MILLION within the EU4Business Week to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to better access the EU market.Running from March 21-25, the EU4Business Week will bring together a series of events showcasing the EU's breadth of support and commitment to developing Georgian private enterprises and helping the country benefit from the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) deal.The EU4Business Week in Georgia was launched by the EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom, who visited Georgias capital Tbilisi yesterday.Read Commissioner Malmstrom's blog: Full day in TbilisiEU4Business brings together all the EU programs assisting Georgia in its process of economic integration to the EU market, providing a clear sign of the EU's commitment towards SMEs and trade policies in Georgia, Commissioner Malmstrom said.The EU4Business Week will include:The opening of EU4Business Week at a round table involving EU Commissioner Malmstrom and representatives of the Georgian business community;The official launch of the Governments SME strategy and the 2016 Small Business Act (SBA) Assessment, developed with support of the EU;The launch of two EU funded projects (total budget of 9.5MILLION) implemented by the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support Georgian SMEs and the DCFTA implementation; andA multi-day public-private dialogue with organisations that support local businesses, organised by the EU-funded East-Invest Program.The DCFTA, now operational for 18 months, has strengthened the trade relationship between the EU and Georgia.Today, the EU is Georgia's first export destination, receiving 29 percent of Georgian exports - an increase of 15 percent in the first year of the trade agreement. Total trade between the two amounted to over 2.5 billion last year.One year after the start of the DCFTA, Georgian exports to the EU increased by 15 percent," said the European External Action Service (EEAS). Ex-President advices his party to include more women Georgias former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is wanted in Georgia and currently serves as the Governor of Odessa in Ukraine, has advised his team to include more women.He also recommended that half of the United National Movement (UNM) election list for the upcoming parliamentary elections be composed of women.The first thing would be having women as making up half of the partys election list, which would underline the role of women in Georgian society. It will objectively encourage refreshment and prepare us for inevitable victory in Octobers election, Saakashvili wrote on his Facebook page.The ex-President, who ruled Georgia with the UNM leadership for nine years, wrote it would not be hard to find enough honourable women in Georgia.The UNM said it was discussing the initiative, especially as dozens of NGOs are demanding quotas for women in the legislative body.Local media reports that famous Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili and political expert Elene Khoshtaria will allegedly appear on the list.With regards to new male faces, the media says that the former head of the National Bank of Georgia, Giorgi Kadagidze - whose term wit the NGB has expired - and an expert of economics, Roman Gotsiridze (also a former head of the National Bank) will refresh the UNM.Without new faces, it will be hard for the UNM party to achieve success in the upcoming elections.If the UNM fails to at least take second place in the race, it will be a major signal for the partys future downfall.Herewith, the renewed team should distance itself from Saakashvili and the other old faces of the UNM, as this might hinder rather than insrease their chances. Saudi Arabia voices political, economic support for Georgia King Salman of Saudi Arabia has instructed his cabinet to intensify relations with Georgia.This statement of intent came after the Saudi King met Georgias Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili in Saudi Arabia on March 22..After the meeting, Usupashvili said there were "big plans that could allow Georgia and Saudi Arabia to deepen cooperation, as Saudi Arabia had "a very serious drinking water problem, something which Georgia is rich in.Usupashvili said he had a "very productive meeting with King Salman, while the Saudi Arabian side expressed interest in developing closer relations with Georgia."We were pleased to note at the meetings that such a strong and influential country as Saudi Arabia, having a vote in solution of world issues, is interested in developing close relations with Georgia, Usupashvili said as he summed up his Saudi Arabia visit."The instructions of Kind Salman to members of his cabinet to further enhance relations with Georgia were very important.Saudi Arabian officials confirmed the country supported Georgias sovereignty and territorial integrity, and underlined that Saudi Arabia would continue supporting an important document for Georgia, namely the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on "The Status of the IDPs and Refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia.Alongside the countrys political support, King Salman said he was also interested in the economic and touristic potential of Georgia."King Salman issued instructions to the Ministers to work harder with business circles to present Georgia as a friend country. Their will and attitude is very important in the fact they support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, as well as contribute to the countrys economic development, Georgias Parliament Speaker said."They are interested in Georgia as a country that hosts vast numbers of its tourists, he added.The number of tourists from Saudi Arabia to Georgia increased ten-fold during the last five years."But tourism was not the only topic of our conversations, Usupashvili said."We spoke about the drinking water problem in Saudi Arabia, when Georgian companies and Georgian businessmen can think about big plans to work closely with Arabian businessmen in this regard."So, in political, economic and cultural terms, our visit saw our relations progress substantially. Security steps up in Georgia after terrorism rock Brussels By Messenger Staff Security has been stepped up at Georgia's borders and airports, following the deadly terrorist attack in Brussels which claimed more than 31 lives and injured dozens."Safety measures have been adopted due to the recent terrorist attacks in Belgium. Security has been stepped up at borders and airports. Control was also tightened at strategic facilities, Georgias State Security Agency said.The recent explosions at Brussels airport and metro station reveal even very powerful countries security services still fail prevent terrorist attacks.Despite the fact Belgium expected such an attack after one of the perpetrators of the Paris terrorist attacks was seized in Belgium about a week ago, the explosions were regardless a shock.It is another example that terrorism never sleeps and countries should be ready for attacks anytime.However, this type of readiness always negatively effects public morale and, as a result, the state's development.People generally refrain from visiting countries with high or even medium risk of terrorism.It is welcomed that each country strengthened control at risky facilities but terrorism requires joint responses and not some particular measures.Despite the fact Georgia will not be one of the prime targets of the Islamic State, no one is safe from such threats.Herewith, terrorism has moved quite close to Georgia's borders due to the recent attacks in Turkey.The recent terrorist attacks might also be a signal that the former policy of world powers to Muslim-populated areas might have been a catalyst for Islamic radicalisation. The News in Brief Two detained on charges of stealing oil from Baku-Supsa pipeline The Investigative Service of Georgias Finance Ministry has detained two people on charges of stealing raw oil from the Baku-Supsa pipeline that crosses Georgia. As reported, Giorgi Lashkhiridze and Iago Kakhabrishvili stole raw material from the pipeline. They damaged the BP-owned pipeline at Ruisi in the Kareli district, installed a special tap on the damaged spot and retrieved a substantial amount of oil. As reported, they then transported and stored the stolen oil in Tbilisi, at the reservoirs located in an old factory on Tvalchrelidze Street. They prepared it for further sale. An investigation is underway, and if convicted they face imprisonment for 6-19 years. (IPN) Corporate Income Tax Reform Delayed Until 2017 Citing a request from business associations, the Finance Ministry said it has decided to postpone the enforcement of corporate income tax reform until the beginning of next year. According to the proposal, which is based on the Estonian model, corporate income tax (a regular rate of which is 15%) will only apply to distributed profit; undistributed profits, reinvested or retained, will not be subject to income taxation. The proposed changes in the tax code will still go through parliament for confirmation, but, if adopted, they will be brought into effect from January 2017, instead of the originally planned date of July 2016, according to the Finance Ministry. In the event that the reform had been introduced in the middle of the year, the government was expecting a drop in tax revenues, which would have required a GEL 350-400 million budget cut this year, Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri said on March 22. He suggested that these changes will no longer be needed because of six-month delay in enacting the reform. However, he did not rule out other budgetary changes for the purpose of diverting some administrative expenses to funding of infrastructure projects. The governments initial proposal excluding the involvement of the banks, insurance companies and microfinance institutions from the planned corporate income tax reform. The Finance Minister, however, said on March 22 that changes will also apply to the financial sector, but, unlike other businesses, from 2019 and not from January, 2017. We have analyzed the business associations proposal and agree that the changes should go into force from January 1 2017, the Finance Minister Khaduri said on March 22. I want to ask the Georgian Parliament to speed up discussion of the bill as much as possible in order to have it adopted in April if possible. While expressing their support to the proposed reform, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Georgia and Business Association of Georgia (BAG) have called on the government not to hurry with its enforcement and to postpone it until next year. In a letter to the PM in early March, AmCham Georgia said that that bringing the proposal into effect in the middle of the tax year will be quite problematic for implementation. Our concern is that this is simply too soon to allow companies to put in place the necessary changes in their accounting practices. There are also concerns that, in order for companies to be able to change to the new system half way through the year, they would have to close their financial year in the summer and in the New Year. This would create large administrative burdens that may negate the benefits intended in the change for the current year, Sarah Williamson, the president of AmCham in Georgia, wrote in the letter. The BAG also voiced similar concerns and said that hasty implementation of the proposed reform was fraught with risk. The BAGs executive director, Irakli Aslanishvili, also pointed that some potential shortcomings of the proposed bill may only surface when it is put into practice, which would require prompt legislative changes something that might be problematic in the view of upcoming parliamentary elections in October, which could have delayed urgent amendments until after the new parliament is convened. (Civil.ge) "It Affects You" begins meetings with political parties NGOs are engaged with the It Affects You campaign will soon start meetings with political parties. They say they are ready to hold consultations with all political forces that support the change of legislation on illegal surveillance and the initiative to create an independent investigative body. The NGOs have released a special statement and call on all political parties to support the campaign. According to them, they will present a draft law to Parliament after consultations with all involved parties. (Rustavi 2) @PatriciaMazzei Marco Rubio might still be a player in 2016 presidential politics if Republicans reach their July convention without a nominee. With that in mind, the Florida senator has reached out to party organizations in states where he won delegates as a candidate to keep them bound to his candidacy. "I write this letter to inform you that the decision to suspend my campaign for President of the United States is not intended to release any National Convention Delegates bound to me as a result of the 2016 delegation selection process that took place in your State," reads Rubio's letter to party chairmen (which misspells "United" as "Untied"). "It is my desire at this time that the delegates allocated to me by your rules remain bound to vote for me on at least the first nominating ballot at the National Convention." Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos characterized Rubio's effort as an attempt to keep delegates tied to what voters wanted -- instead of, say, jumping to front-runner Donald Trump. "Of course, he's no longer a candidate and wants to give voters a chance to stop Trump," Burgos said. @MichaelAuslen Its a good day for county supervisors of elections and a bad day for open-government advocates after Gov. Rick Scott signed more than a dozen bills into law Wednesday. Supervisors in every conty except Miami-Dade won a pay raise that is expected to average 19 percent, putting their salaries in line with other county elected officials. The actual increases will range from $18,000 to $20,000 and cost $1.2 million statewide. Among those who could benefit from the bump are former lawmakers like former state Sen. Mike Bennett, now the Manatee County election supervisor, and two sitting state legislators running for the job in their counties: Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, and Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla. Scott said Tuesday that he supports the pay raise because theyve done a good job. "I think its the right thing to do," he said. The governor also signed new exemptions to the states public record laws, shielding the home addresses of EMTs, paramedics, non-sworn investigators at the Department of Financial Services and current or formal employees of inspector generals offices. Its part of a broader push in recent years to protect various groups that supporters say need protection from threats. "Why do EMTs need a home address exemption?" asked Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, an open-government watchdog group that opposes the new public record shields. "They claim that people threaten them for saving their lives." And it may not actually accomplish that goal, Petersen said. All they do, she said, is make it more difficult for people to obtain public information and create additional work for agencies that have to redact the addresses from documents. "If I want to hurt you, I know where you work," Petersen said, "And am I going to make a public record request, or am I going to Google you? Im going to Google you." @MichaelAuslen There are more trauma centers than needed in South Florida, according to state regulators who say Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties need just three centers in total. But the states safety net hospitals which include 14 of the existing trauma centers have concerns. In a March 18 letter to interim Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip, the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida raised concerns about the number of trauma centers the Department of Health has proposed authorizing for each of 19 regions across the state. Saying the department failed to address the important issue of what actions are needed when the number of allocated trauma centers is less than the number of operating verified trauma centers, the alliances vice president Lindy Kennedy wrote in the letter. DOH spokeswoman Mara Gambineri said in a statement that no trauma centers would shut down as a result of the updated rules. The Allocation Rule does not provide authority for the revocation of the license of an existing trauma center, she said. The Allocation Rule details the need (if any) in each Trauma Service Area for additional (new) trauma centers, and provides authority to the department to accept applications, where such new trauma centers are warranted. Still, the hospitals are worried about what could happen down the road when centers licenses have to be renewed. Theyve asked for a grandfather clause to cover them. It isn't clear whether extra centers would have their licenses renewed. (The alliance) believes that all existing trauma centers that are compliant with state and federal standards should be eligible for recertification, which occurs every seven years, regardless of the number of trauma centers that are allocated, Kennedy said in a statement. Trauma centers are tricky business and require a delicate balance: Too many and the doctors at any one may not have enough field experience each year to be highly skilled. Too few and people in need of urgent medical care may not receive the right attention. Thats why DOH has the power to decide how many each area of the state needs, based on factors like population and the number of severely injured patients discharged from hospitals. Right now, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties are authorized for a total of three trauma centers and Broward County is authorized to have two. There are additional trauma centers that treat children. via @adamsmithtimes It's hard to keep up with the assorted gyrations Florida's Republican U.S. Senate candidates have made in recent weeks about Donald Trump. Todd Wilcox has said positive things about the polarizing Republican presidential front-runner but as far we can tell, Carlos Beruff is the first to promise unequivocably to support Trump as the nominee. He vows to support whoever the nominee turns out to be at the end of this Bradenton Herald clip. --ADAM C. SMITH, Tampa Bay Times In an olive grove in Spoleto, Italy, a few weeks ago, the Missoulian food section took a little stroll. Greg Patent, the papers senior food writer and resident baking wizard, had been invited on a press junket to Perugia (the town that is, not the dearly missed restaurant) for a competition between Italys finest artisan olive oils. Mr. Patent had somehow finagled yours truly, your dilettante food chain columnist, to carry his bags. After training our olive oil tasting chops in Rome, we headed north, pulling over at the Villa Paradiso di Pianciano, where we met with olive growers, toured their land, and tasted their oil. In addition to its 22,000 olive trees, this estate is home to 400 head of chianina cattle, the largest, and by some estimates oldest, breed of cattle in the world. These stately white creatures lead elk-like lives, spending their winters in the lowlands, and eating hay, olive leaves, and spent olive tapenade from the mill where oil is pressed. They spend summers roaming the forested high country like wild beasts, returning to the valley only when the autumn breeze becomes too sharp for their liking, to graze and poop among the olive trees. They are striking to look at, and they look at you in a way that suggests more going on than in the brain of your typical bovine, which is awkward given how good they taste. As we toured the olive trees, a dog named Obama kept a loose orbit around us, chasing mice amid the wild fennel and blackberries growing beside the road. On the valley bottom was a large grove of oak trees that is managed for three truffle harvests a year. Beyond the oak trees was a vineyard, or so I thought. It was, altogether, the kind of idyllic pastoral ecosystem that our sponsors at the Italian Trade Association wanted to remind us is alive and well in Italy. The recent Italian olive oil scandals, in which extra-virgin olive oil has been mislabeled and even counterfeited, have grabbed headlines lately, causing great pain to Italys soul as much as its economy. That drama would seem to have little significance among the small, artisan producers like our hosts, who can take careful charge of all steps between spring pruning and the pressing and storage of the finished crop. But the scandal has nonetheless cast a shadow over an industry at the heart of the Italian identity, even if the responsibility lies with large bottlers and exporters, and not individual producers. In Umbria province, where we were travelling, there are about 27,000 hectares of olives and 218 mills where the olives are processed into oil. Thats about one mill per 125 hectares, suggesting that our quaint villa, with its 22,000 trees on 110 hectares, was about normal for the region. Surprisingly, the mill was filled with Scandinavian machinery, which the owners assured us kicks olive ass. And next thing you know, as seemed to happen at every turn on our little trip, we were sipping wine and slurping oil. Following the protocols we were drilled on our first day in Rome, we each poured a little oil into a cup and then covered it with a hand to let the vapors build. Then we each shook our cup circularly to coax more vapors into the trapped air above the oil. We then took whiffs. The smell can be fruity, or dominated by the famous fresh cut grass smell of chlorophyll, or more elusive odors like rosemary, artichoke, green tomato or tropical fruits. After these deep inhales, we sipped the oil and worked it around our mouths, feeling the oil and tasting the progression of piquancy and bitterness that gives quality EVOO its personality. Finally, we slurped. Not a delicate or elegant sound, but indispensable for probing the subtler, organoleptic qualities of the oil. By sucking air through the olive oil around ones tongue, oil droplets are dispersed to hard-to-reach taste receptors of the tongue and throat, helping to paint a fuller picture of the oils flavor. Meanwhile, as the air stretches the oil you can feel its viscosity, and how it holds together in the turbulence of your slurp. Some oil starts with a fruity whiff and a buttery kiss and stays smooth all the way through, making it good for baking, or for dressing a lettuce-based salad. Some oil starts with a kiss and ends with a slap, or at least a raspy cat lick to the throat, making it more suitable for pairing with stronger flavors like chicory salads, or drizzled on a steak, or pasta, or whatever, really. The oil at the villa Paradiso was grassy and spicy out of the gate, and stayed that way, but was cushioned by its buttery velvet body all the while. It smelled more limey than grassy, and while it wasnt the thickest of oils in terms of viscosity, it nonetheless clung admirably to my mouth parts as I slurped through it. The trees that produced the oil are about 500 years old, middle-aged for an olive tree, and cling to steep rocky hillsides. Amazingly, they need no irrigation. They are planted about 20 feet apart, allowing the roots to spread deep and wide, and snag every drop they can from the craggy landscape. But during the mornings donkey walk we learned that they are exploring a different kind of cultivation. I had asked one of our hosts about what I thought was a vineyard across the valley, through which a tractor was pulling a manure spreader between its verdant rows. That field is an experiment, he told me, in high-density olive planting. Normally, he explained, olive trees are planted at about 200 per hectare. But in that hectare-sized experimental plot, a thousand olive trees were growing. The reason it looked like a vineyard is that like grapes, these olive trees were trellised, with irrigation pipe woven into the trellis as well. Irrigating produces bigger, more reliable harvests, he explained. Seeing the olive trees stretched out on those trellis wires reminded me of a crucifixion. It seems wrong to water a tree that needs no water, and sad to put olive pickers out of work. But at the same time, its hard to fault a farmer for trying to stay afloat. Olive growers remain traumatized by the the abysmal 2014 harvest, not to mention all of the scandals, and most recently a flood of cheap Tunisian olive oil hitting the market. If they can produce high-quality extra-virgin olive oil in such a small space, its hard to fault them. This intensive olive growing system was pioneered by the California Olive Ranch, north of Sacramento. The trees in its 2,000-acre olive plantation are densely planted and similarly trellised, irrigated, and harvested mechanically. A seven-ton load of olives, which would take a 15-person crew all day to pick, can be harvested in a half-hour by a machine. They are pressed minutes later, and the result, indisputably, is a very fine oil. But it a place like Italy, where identity rests on tradition, and a process can be as important as the product, this new paradigm will surely bring its share of drama as well, even if the tasters slurp it eagerly. WASHINGTON Senator Mark S. Kirk of Illinois on Tuesday became the first Republican to meet with Judge Merrick B. Garland and said he hoped the meeting would influence other Republicans to at least sit down with President Obamas choice to fill a Supreme Court vacancy despite pressure from party leaders not to consider his nomination. We need rational, adult, open-minded consideration of the constitutional process, said Mr. Kirk, who is perhaps the most endangered Senate Republican up for re-election this fall. Hes been duly nominated by the elected president of the United States to fill a vacancy which we know exists on the court. With Judge Garland by his side, Mr. Kirk praised Mr. Obamas pick as one of the most eminent judges in the country. I think when you just say, Im not going to meet with him, thats too close-minded, Mr. Kirk said. The Syrian forces that recaptured the storied city of Palmyra from Islamic State occupiers this past weekend have encountered dozens of mines that the expelled militants laid as booby traps around treasured ancient ruins sites, Syrias state media reported Tuesday. Accounts of the Palmyra victory published by the official Syrian Arab News Agency also reported that Russias military, which has helped the Syrian forces regain momentum against insurgents with a six-month bombing campaign, was sending 100 mine clearance engineers and trainers of bomb-sniffing dogs to help rid Palmyra of the mines planted by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh. The expulsion of the Islamic State from Palmyra, the ancient Bride of the Desert oasis seized by the militant extremist group 10 months ago, is regarded as a turn in the five-year-old war and an enormous propaganda victory for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and the Russians. MINNEAPOLIS For more than 30 minutes on Wednesday, the prosecutor described in exacting detail the fatal shooting in November of an unarmed black man by the police and his reasons for not charging the two officers involved. The prosecutor, Mike Freeman, said the unarmed man, Jamar Clark, 24, had assaulted his girlfriend, interfered with paramedics and resisted when the officers tried to arrest him. He said Mr. Clark had grabbed one officers holstered gun, prompting the other officer to shoot. The evidence, he said, did not support claims by some witnesses that Mr. Clark was handcuffed when shot. As soon as Mr. Freeman finished his presentation, activists who had gathered began to pepper him with a series of pointed questions. They told Mr. Freeman, the Hennepin County attorney, that he had relied too much on the officers accounts and not enough on neighbors who witnessed the shooting. They criticized aspects of the investigation, and interrupted when Mr. Freeman tried to respond. One woman told Mr. Freeman that if there was unrest in the city, it would be his fault. After Mr. Clarks shooting on Nov. 15, protests disrupted Minneapolis for weeks. Demonstrators occupied the area outside a police station, marched downtown and raised questions about racial disparities in Minnesota. The demonstrators sometimes clashed with officers, and one night, the police said, several men who were not part of the demonstration came and shot five people during a protest. Mr. Molins said that investigators had not uncovered a specific target or date for the planned attack and were trying to identify other accomplices. Under questioning, he said, Mr. Kriket denied being a terrorist, said he had rented the Argenteuil apartment on behalf of someone whom he would not name, and said the unidentified man and an accomplice were the bomb makers. Three men have been held in other countries on suspicion of working with Mr. Kriket. One is Mr. Bahri, whom the Dutch police arrested in the port city of Rotterdam on Sunday at the request of the French authorities. The other two are Algerians who were arrested in Brussels on Friday: Abderahmane Ameroud, 38, and a man identified only as Rabah M., 34. (He was previously identified as Rabah N. and Salah A.) Mr. Ameroud had been convicted of providing logistical support to two Tunisian suicide bombers who assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud, an Afghan opposition leader, two days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. In 2005, Mr. Ameroud was found guilty of complicity in the murder. Mr. Ameroud was also linked to an Afghan and Pakistani network suspected of training would-be jihadists in a forest near Paris and in the French Alps. He was convicted of participation in a terrorist enterprise in 2007 and was thought to have been deported to Algeria after serving his sentence. On Wednesday, a court in Brussels delayed proceedings against him and Rabah M. to April 7, at the request of their lawyers. Also on Wednesday, a government official said that a file with the floor plan and photographs of the office of the Belgian prime minister had been found on a laptop computer discarded in a garbage can last week by one of the terrorists linked to the Brussels attacks. It was found during a raid in the Schaerbeek neighborhood hours after the attacks. Several Belgian newspapers, including LEcho, De Tijd and De Morgen, reported that the information about the prime ministers office, the site of regular meetings of cabinet ministers, had been found on the laptop. Copyright 2022 HT Digital Streams Ltd All Right Reserved A herd of 15 mule deer bunches up around a tree on the par-3 at Highland View Golf Course in Stodden Park on Wednesday morning. Around 11 a.m., game wardens and police were making arrangements to haze the herd from the park. As of 3 p.m., Regan Dean, game warden for Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said the 16 to 18 deer were still in the park with no access to water and the parks two gates posing an obstacle. His chief concern was safety. If the herd is still onsite Thursday morning, well take another run at them, Regan said. Montanans are proud of our contribution to the economic health of our region and the nation. The production and export of low-cost energy provides good-paying jobs for Montana workers. We are fortunate to have some of the nations largest coal reserves, highest-rated wind potential, and hydroelectric power. Producing energy is part of who we are as a state. Coal production in Montana has been higher under my administration than any previous administration in our states history, helping hard-working Montana families make a living in the Big Sky State. While Im proud of that fact, there are challenges on the horizon. The bankruptcy of Arch Coal sent tremors through the industry. Global coal markets are struggling, domestic energy demand is flat, cheap natural gas is reshaping our economy, and ratepayers across the Pacific Northwest are demanding renewable energy. And then there are the concerns related to climate change. We know it is happening because we see it. Moreover, the financial markets are reacting. We can sit around and try to score political points by assigning blame, or we can take the lead in preparing a responsible future for Montana - one that sparks a new generation of clean technology businesses, drives economic growth and creates thousands of good-paying jobs in Montana by modernizing power plants, moving us to more renewable energy, and encouraging innovation and energy efficiency. ONE OR THE OTHER You often hear a false choice - that we can either address climate change or continue to produce power from coal - but not both. I reject this choice. Some might dismiss the debate over our energy future as just more election year fodder. But heres why we cant do that: time. While people argue and point fingers, the world moves forward. The only constant here is a changing market, and as the saying goes, youre either driving the bus, or youre under it. Here are four very important realities: 1. In every challenge there is opportunity - not just to keep the good jobs we have, but to create new jobs as well. For example: After touring a coal power plant in nearby Saskatchewan that generates electricity while using its carbon emissions to improve oil production at a nearby oil field, I ramped up my efforts to see something like this happen in Montana; My administration has been all in supporting a trailblazing project that will use hydropower to support the development of much more wind energy; Ive asked our state energy experts to analyze what we can do to support larger scale solar and geothermal installations in Montana. Solar energy also offers great promise for Indian Country, and I want to work with our tribal leaders to promote these opportunities. 2. We must not overlook the simple solutions. The easiest way to reduce the impacts of energy is to use less of it. Not only is energy efficiency usually cheaper than developing new energy sources, it puts people to work in our homes and businesses and our electricity bills go down. 3. States like Montana are the best laboratories for finding the path forward. What we need from Washington, D.C. is more incentives and less red tape. I asked Montanas top business leaders what they thought we should do to improve our energy future, and they made several suggestions, including creating an energy infrastructure authority that develops energy opportunities and working with stakeholders to improve permitting. These are two good ideas of many. The future of energy development is shifting beneath our feet, and we must all work together to create a Montana-based plan to tap our full potential to harness jobs and power. 4. Were all in this together. I respect the right of other states to decide their energy futures but also recognize that energy flows across state lines. Thats why I worked closely with legislators from both parties in Washington State and here at home to make sure Montana had a voice in legislation affecting our energy production. Because of our work, it no longer directs a closure process for part of Colstrip. But I still asked Washington Governor Inslee to veto it because I think we can do better. TALL CHALLENGES Our energy future is full of tall challenges. To meet them, I'll continue working with energy leaders around the state to chart a path that doesnt turn our back on the need to protect jobs in Colstrip, yet that also embraces the real promise of thousands of jobs in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and developing technologies we can adopt in Montana to better produce energy from traditional resources. It may not be as simple as a soundbite, but developing meaningful public policy rarely is. When we do it right, well be able to say we found the right balance: we protected our outdoors (and the tens of thousands of Montana jobs that rely on clean water, clean air and agriculture); we provided wealth to our citizens in the form of good jobs. When we do it right, we will be proud to pass on a Montana that is still the envy of the nation for our quality of life and economic stability. My kids, your kids, and all children in every corner of this state deserve no less. -- Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, has served as Montana governor since 2013. He is running for reelection. ORIGINAL NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION U.S. ROF III Legal Title Trust 2015-1, by U.S. Bank National Association, as Legal Title Trustee Plaintiff, vs. Shawn Frye; Parties in Possession; Unknown spouse, if any, of Shawn Frye; Unifund CCR, LLC; Autovest, LLC; Iowa Department of Human Services; Iowa Department of Human Services; H & R Accounts, Inc. ; Jay Daniel Larue, et al. Defendants. You are notified that a petition has been filed in the office of this court naming you as a defendant in this action. The petition was filed on February 9, 2016, and prays for foreclosure of Plaintiffs mortgage in favor of the Plaintiff on the property described in this notice and judgment for the unpaid principal amount of $85,951.35, with 4.5% per annum interest thereon from May 1, 2014, together with late charges, advances and the costs of the action including (but not limited to) title costs and reasonable attorney's fees, as well as a request that said sums be declared a lien upon the following described premises from September 1, 2005, located in Muscatine county, Iowa: The Easterly 25 feet of Lot 9, in Block 126, in the City of Muscatine, Muscatine County, Iowa, commonly known as 510 West 7th Street, Muscatine, IA 52761 (the "Property") The petition further prays that the mortgage on the above described real estate be foreclosed, that a special execution issue for the sale of as much of the mortgaged premises as is necessary to satisfy the judgment and for other relief as the Court deems just and equitable. For further details, please review the petition on file in the clerk's office. The Plaintiffs attorney is Halley Ryherd, of SouthLaw, P.C.; whose address is 1401 50th Street, Suite 100, West Des Moines, IA 50266. NOTICE THE PLAINTIFF HAS ELECTED FORECLOSURE WITHOUT REDEMPTION. THIS MEANS THAT THE SALE OF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY WILL OCCUR PROMPTLY AFTER ENTRY OF JUDGMENT UNLESS YOU FILE WITH THE COURT A WRITTEN DEMAND TO DELAY THE SALE. IF YOU FILE A WRITTEN DEMAND, THE SALE WILL BE DELAYED UNTIL TWELVE MONTHS (OR SIX MONTHS IF THE PETITION INCLUDES A WAIVER OF DEFICIENCY JUDGMENT) FROM THE ENTRY OF JUDGMENT IF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY IS YOUR RESIDENCE AND IS A ONE-FAMILY OR TWO-FAMILY DWELLING OR UNTIL TWO MONTHS FROM ENTRY OF JUDGMENT IF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY IS NOT YOUR RESIDENCE OR IS YOUR RESIDENCE BUT NOT A ONE-FAMILY OR TWO-FAMILY DWELLING. YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT OF REDEMPTION AFTER THE SALE. THE PURCHASER AT THE SALE WILL BE ENTITLED TO IMMEDIATE POSSESSION OF THE MORTGAGED PROPERTY. YOU MAY PURCHASE AT THE SALE. You must serve a motion or answer on or before 4th day of May, 2016, and within a reasonable time thereafter file your motion or answer with the Clerk of Court for Muscatine County, at the county courthouse in Muscatine, Iowa. If you do not, judgment by default may be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the petition. If you require the assistance of auxiliary aids or services to participate in a court action because of a disability, immediately call your District ADA Coordinator at 563-326-8783. If you are hearing impaired, call Relay Iowa TTY at 1-800-735-2942. By:Jeff Tollenaer CLERK OF THE ABOVE COURT Muscatine County Courthouse 401 East 3rd Street, Muscatine, IA 52761 IMPORTANT: YOU ARE ADVISED TO SEEK LEGAL ADVICE AT ONCE TO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS. WAPELLO, Iowa The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge has announced that draft compatibility determinations assessing hunting, recreational and commercial fishing, running events, research, trapping, and collecting wild edibles on refuge lands are available for public review and comment. Refuge lands occur in Louisa, Benton, Iowa, and Tama counties. The compatibility determinations assess whether these public uses are compatible with refuge purposes and are updates to previous determinations. These uses are currently allowed on the refuge and there are no major changes to how these uses will be managed. Draft compatibility determinations will be available for public review for a 14-day period beginning March 31. Copies are available at the refuge office located at 10728 County Road X61, Wapello. The documents are also available at the library in Wapello and online at http://www.fws.gov/refuge/port_louisa. Comments may be sent to the refuge office at the above address or emailed to cathy_nigg@fws.gov. Refuge office hours are 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information, call Cathy Nigg at 319-523-6982. The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. 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 [] Capitec states that it offers customers cellphone banking thats safe from SIM-swapping. Internet banking fraud that utilizes a SIM-swap scam, in addition to stolen login credentials, continues to be a problem for South African banking clients. Many banks use one-time PINs (OTPs), sent by SMS, as a second factor of authentication to help protect your account. In the event your online banking login details are compromised, criminals cant get into your accounts without the OTP. Fraudsters attack this second layer of authentication through SIM-swap scams, which results in them gaining control of your cellphone number for long enough to log into your bank account. While some banks have moved away from using SMS for authentication, they still use systems linked to a clients cellphone number. Alternatives to SMS Standard Bank said although it does not have an alternative to SMS, it is working on a solution to authenticate customers without relying on a SIM card. However, we are able to detect and validate customers SIM age and have built rules around the SIM age validation, the bank said. Nedbank and Absa have switched from using SMS-based OTPs to USSD-based transaction approval systems. These systems are still linked to your cellphone number, however. FNB said it uses a multi-layered security framework, of which an OTP is one component. However, it does not offer an alternative to the systems that rely on your cellphone number. One-time PIN delivery without a cellphone number Capitec said it has never used a one-time PIN system that is tied to a mobile number. If you have a supported smartphone, the Capitec app can be used to authorise online banking transactions. The app is linked to your device, and not your cellphone number. Those without a smartphone can get a key fob security token to generate OTPs with which to log in and authorise transactions. The trade-off with these systems is that you have to go into a branch to verify your phone, or carry a security token. When you upgrade, or your phone is stolen, you will have to visit a branch to have the app re-linked. More on banking fraud in South Africa R200,000 SIM-swap fraud not an inside job: FNB Inside SIM-swap job at FNB and MTN scammed customers: investigator Beware of these tricks criminals use to steal your money through online banking How criminals steal money from your online bank account The forty days of a thief came to an end on Sunday for a criminal gang that has been terrorising residents of Kilimani and Kileleshwa estates. Detectives at Kilimani Police Station nabbed the three burglars after a victim reported at the Station prompting the police to swing into action. One of the suspects has been on the police most wanted list after she jumped bail thrice, having been arrested and arraigned in court for the same crime committed within Kilimani area. The three, Emmah Wambui Wanjiru, Elizabeth Akinyi Abuto and Wilson Marwa Giyabe, were arrested near Nakumatt Mega as they were shopping. Police had been trailing them for two days. One of the suspects, Wilson Marwe, is believed to have been helping the thieving ring find a market of the stolen goods across the border in Tanzania. According to police, the gang broke into about 20 homes within Kilimani and Kileleshwa area during the Easter period. Among the things confiscated from the suspects were master keys and other crude weapons believed to be used by the suspects to break into houses. Heres a photo Over Easter, Nation columnist David Ndii wrote a very divisive column titled Kenya is a Cruel Marriage, Its Time We Talk Divorce He explained why we should split up the country since weve demonstrated that we cant live together. Anyone who read it while sober can tell you how dangerous Ndiis words are, but as always he had a good number cheering him. Ndii is the man promised the Treasury Cabinet Secretary slot by Cord (If Jacob Juma is to be believed). One Kenyan on Twitter @salomelugard made a tweet that went all out viral. Heres what she wrote. WASHINGTON U.S. officials say the Pentagon will be deploying an armored brigade combat team to Eastern Europe next February as part of the ongoing effort to rotate troops in and out of the region to reassure allies worried about threats from an increasingly aggressive Russia. The officials said the Army will announce Wednesday that it will be sending a full set of equipment with the brigade to Europe. Earlier plans had called for the Pentagon to rotate troops into Europe, where they would have used a set of training equipment pre-positioned there. The new proposal would remove the pre-positioned equipment, send it to be refurbished, and allow the U.S. forces to bring more robust, modern equipment in with them when they deploy. There are about 4,500 soldiers in an armored brigade, along with dozens of heavy vehicles, tanks and other equipment. Wednesdays announcement is also aimed at easing worries in Europe, where allies had heard rumblings about the pre-positioned equipment being removed and feared the U.S. was scaling back support. Officials also said the Army would send additional communications equipment to Europe so that headquarters units could have the radios, computers and other equipment needed to work with the brigades. The officials were not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity. The changes underscore promises made by defense leaders to protect Europe and send a message to Moscow that any aggression against allies would be unacceptable. And they provide more details to budget proposals rolled out earlier this year that quadrupled military aid to Europe and called for a more constant rotational presence. Over the past nine months, during trips to Eastern Europe and in NATO meetings, Defense Secretary Ash Carter has pledged additional military support for the region. Last June, while visiting Estonia, Carter announced the U.S. would spread about 250 tanks, armored vehicles and other military equipment across six former Soviet bloc nations to help reassure NATO allies facing threats from Russia and terrorist groups. Each set of equipment would be enough to outfit a military unit, and would go on at least a temporary basis to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. The equipment could also be moved around the region for training and military exercises, and would include Bradley fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzer artillery guns. In February, the Pentagon announced it would seek $3.4 billion in the 2017 budget to increase troop rotations and military exercises in Europe. The plan essentially calls for the constant presence of a third brigade in Europe. Two are already permanently stationed in Europe a Stryker brigade and an airborne brigade. And now a brigade will rotate in and out, likely every nine months or so, on a continual basis. The 2016 budget included about $780 million for the so-called European reassurance initiative, which covered the costs of sending hundreds of U.S. troops in and out of Europe for short deployments, military exercises and other training missions. Carters proposal to quadruple that amount would allow the U.S. to send more troops to Europe for short-term deployments and also provide additional equipment and improve facilities so that more forces could be accommodated. The increased U.S. military support comes a year after the Defense Department unveiled sweeping plans to consolidate its forces in Europe, taking thousands of U.S. military and civilian personnel out of bases mostly in the United Kingdom and Portugal, in an effort that was expected to save about $500 million each year. But, Russias military intervention in Ukraine over the past year and its annexation of the Crimea region has worried Eastern European nations, which fear they may be next. The latest Pentagon moves are seen as an effort to deter Russia from taking any further aggressive action against any other European nations. Monday brought the opening of an eatery that offers a tribute to an original community leader and revives his namesake restaurant while providing the community a new and exciting place to hang out. On March 28, Michael Dunsford and his new business partner, Nicolas Montanez, opened Johnnys Restaurant and Bar in the Mount View Hotel on Lincoln Avenue Johnny Ghisolfo opened the original Johnnys restaurant in the 1920s. Now Dunsford, the co-owner of the Calistoga Inn, and Montanez, Calistoga Inns executive chef, have set out to re-create and reinvigorate what had been a local hangout for 50 years. Were excited to be resurrecting Johnnys, said Dunsford. We want to make a really good first impression. When guests walk in the door we want them to feel welcome and have a great experience by comfortably enjoying great food, wine and beer. Theres a lot of details to get right, but it has come together and were all really excited. The restaurant consists of two distinct areas: a bar side, located in what was formally Barolo, which is open for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily and then serves a bar menu from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. On the other side, in what was JoLes former location, the table side of Johnnys serves dinner from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. James Cerda worked as the general manager for JoLe and is now general manager of Johnnys. It was a shock when JoLe left, but I am really happy to be here helping manage this new venture. I am excited for this new challenge, said Cerda. I like how the concept is a throwback to one of the most successful restaurants in Calistogas history. Johnny had it for 50 years, and it was really a local watering hole. Hopefully we can do the same and make this a nice place for locals to come in and feel comfortable and well taken care of we want to be a good part of the community. Dunsfords partner in the project, Montanez, oversees the food operations, but Johnnys chef de cuisine, James Richmond (the former executive chef of Bistro Jeanty in Yountville), manages the day-to-day kitchen. Its an exciting new adventure, said Montanez as he prepared for the opening. We put our heart and energy into this to make it happen. I hope everyone can come in and enjoy what weve created. Before working at Bistro Jeanty I was at Windsors Mirepoix, said Richmond. With the menu we are trying to showcase the cultural heritage of the Napa Valley, including the influence from Italy, Germany and even a little bit of Mexican culture, showcasing the people of the valley. My culinary background is French, but this has been fun so far. Im excited. For breakfast the bar-side offerings include standard omelets and egg dishes as well as Huevos Motulenos, described as crispy tostadas topped with refried black beans, ham, peas, sunny-side-up egg, roasted tomato-habanero salsa and fried plantains ($14). Its afternoon and evening menu options include an eclectic mix of duck carnitas tacos ($12), a selection of sliders (beef, chicken, pork and mushroom$8 for any two) and Schupfnudeln (seared German dumplings) with sauerkraut and bacon ($16). The bar also serves a few slightly more standard items such as a kale and romaine Caesar salad ($12) and Buffalo wings ($13). We had the sliders and found them to be wonderful maybe the best in Calistoga, said Tom Abbey, a retired Calistoga teacher who came in for a quick bite with his wife, Peggy. The price was right, too. We also appreciated that wines offered included many non-Napa options and could be purchased by the glass, pitchet or by the bottle. We chose the pitchet because that gave us just the perfect amount of wine for two glasses. As for must-haves for dinner Richmond suggested guests try the Creekstone beef filet with horseradish potatoes and oak-roasted mushroom sauce ($42), or the pan-roasted Bronzino filet alla Livornese with skordalia (mixture of whipped potatoes and nuts), olives, basil, tomato and white wine ($32). As a starter Richmond suggests the Flammkuchen, a German flatbread with formage blanc, bacon and onions ($14). The first diners at the newly opened restaurant were Calistoga residents and self-titled lovers of all things Calistoga, Doug and Barb Herrmann. It was great, said Barb. Were just happy that this beautiful building and space is reopened. Everything we tried was excellent, and we are really happy with the way the place feels. We were having a hard time picturing the menu when we read about it, added Doug. But we now get it and are ready to come back and explore what is really a new type of menu here in the valley there are many things that we dont see very often, and we want to try many of them. Weve had flammkuchen before, and this version tasted authentic. I think this is a fantastic concept, said Chris Canning, mayor of Calistoga, as he enjoyed a glass of wine at the bar before dinner. Bringing back one of Calistogas first restaurants and honoring the tradition and authenticity of the early stages of our culinary history is fantastic, but then allowing it to evolve so as to celebrate the future is what Calistoga is all about. As the valley continues on its path to becoming one of the worlds culinary meccas, Calistoga has its own unique spin, and Johnnys will certainly be one of those trademark kind of places that people want to visit Dunsford and crew are putting their own special mark on what it means to be a food destination in the Napa Valley. Johnnys is located at 1457 Lincoln Ave. Regarding the proposal from Rebuild St Helena, Im offering my comments for St. Helenas consideration. First and foremost, we should not be considering another hotel in St. Helena at this time. We have one being completed now, likely another on the way near Farmstead and possibly someday another west of Highway 29 (although this last one is less likely given the gravel and construction operation behind it). A fourth (or third) 100-room hotel will have tremendous impacts on our town and its infrastructure. We do not have the roadway circulation nor the housing to support a large-scale business with upward of 200 employees, 200 guests, and dozens of suppliers and/or vendors coming and going every day. In particular, a large-scale business of this type at the Adams Street location is very difficult without extending Adams Street over the Napa River to Silverado Trail to appropriately mitigate traffic ingress and egress. Without that, any consideration for any business or activity at that site generating these high-traffic trips should be dead on arrival. Assuming the noted Adams Street extension is a requirement of the developer, this will likely add years and significant costs to the development project resulting in a far lower realizable value for the Adams Street property. Far lower than the $25 million suggested. We do not need an additional annual $3 million of general fund revenues as the project proponents suggest would be generated. City finances are difficult but not unmanageable. We have a balanced budget today. Yes our reserves have been depleted due to prior management issues, however, Im confident we will solve our operating fund issues through soon-to-be realized increases in TOT, and hopefully with passage of a half-cent sales tax. A bond measure can address the needed fix for our roads and sidewalks (costing approximately $35 per $100,000 of assessed value). As originally intended and as discussed from time to time, the Adams Street property needs to be reserved for a combination of open space (park) and small businesses that will bring the community together for socializing, visiting and outdoor enjoyment. Mark B. Smithers St. Helena BERKELEY Berkeley police are looking for the person who shot and killed three stray animals with a pellet gun last weekend. The San Francisco Chronicle reports Wednesday that five animals were discovered by a city of Berkeley groundskeeper at the Berkeley Marina Saturday afternoon. Found were a feral cat, an opossum, and three raccoons. Three of the animals were already dead and had bullet wounds, but police would not say which ones, the newspaper reported. Two others were sick. Its not clear if they were poisoned. A toxicology report on the animals is still pending. No arrests have been made. Police do not have a motive in the killings. FRESNO Police say one man and a 17-year-old juvenile have been arrested for allegedly beating and running over a 68-year-old Central California Sikh man in December. The Fresno Bee reports Wednesday that Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer says the suspects intentionally struck the man and left him in the street. Dyer says the evidence indicates both suspects targeted Amrik Singh Bal solely because of his traditional Sikh dress, which includes a turban. Bal was injured but survived. Investigators have recommended the two be charged with assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and a hate crime. On Dec. 26, Bal was standing on a Fresno street when he was attacked by the two with their fists. After the beating, Bal tried to run away but the teen veered into Bal, knocking him into the air before he slammed into pavement. SACRAMENTO Representatives of the fast-growing vaping industry are promoting themselves as partners in the effort to reduce tobacco use, not a public health scourge. Industry officials held a Capitol news conference Tuesday urging California Gov. Jerry Brown to veto a bill that would subject vaping products to the same restrictions as cigarettes. The bill is one of six anti-smoking bills awaiting action by the Democratic governor. Brown has not said whether he'll sign them. Josh Krane, owner of Craft Vapery in Torrance, says e-cigarettes were the only way for him and many of his customers to quit smoking. Proponents of the bill say vapor products are enticing to teenagers and threaten to get more young people addicted to nicotine. A member of the construction crew who built 1351 Main St. once had his ruler stolen by an unidentified scofflaw who pawned it in exchange for a beer. The letters GAR embedded in the sidewalk outside Reeds stand for George A. Riggins, who used to own the building. An errant steer once wandered into the Star building. How do I know these things, Dear Readers? Read on *** The St. Helena Historical Society has released a brochure called St. Helenas Historic Main Street Walking Tour, filled with fascinating facts about historic downtown buildings. Packed with then and now photos and compelling stories (like the strange and ill-starred life of John Stewart Noble), this is a must-have for local history buffs, tourists, or anyone whos ever wondered how St. Helena got its name (there are two possibilities, one involving the temperance movement and another involving a party). A lusty round of huzzahs to the historical society for producing such a little gem. Bonnie Thoreen say its available at the library, the Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Books. *** Charlie Schaupp, Republican candidate for the District 4 Assembly seat being vacated by Bill Dodd, is appearing before the Upper Napa Valley Republican Women Federated on Monday, April 11, at Cindys Backstreet Kitchen. Theres a meet-and-greet at 11:30, with lunch at noon. The cost is $27. RSVP by April 6 to Bev Borges at 963-3148. *** Attention, aspiring writers: Lucky Penny Productions in Napa is offering a short story contest called Lucky Shorts, for stories that can be read aloud in under 10 minutes. Submit your story to LuckyPennyNapa.com by April 15, and your story could be one of the eight winners read at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center, 1758 Industrial Way in Napa. *** A vastly overrated poet once dubbed April (rather arbitrarily, in my opinion) the cruelest month. But it happens to be National Poetry Month, so maybe it isnt so bad after all. Megan Jones sends word of a special event honoring Ina Coolbrith, Californias first Poet Laureate, at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at the library. Named Poet Laureate in 1915, Coolbrith was also Oaklands first public librarian. She fought gender discrimination in the workplace, mentored Jack London, and, of course, wrote scads of poetry. Author Aleta George will discuss her new biography, Ina Coolbrith: The Bittersweet Song of Californias First Poet Laureate, which will be available for purchase and signing. *** Congratulations to Linda Parks, president and CEO of Lixit Animal Care Production in Napa, who was named Napa Countys Woman of the Year by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena. Linda acquired Lixit in 1994 when it had 10 employees, and today it has more than 100 employees, many of whom have disabilities. Sounds like a solid choice, congressman. I can think of a few St. Helena ladies who would be excellent candidates next year. *** The irrepressible Marielle Coeytaux is planning a touching tribute to her late father Paul with a Gracias a la Vida concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 10, at the St. Helena Presbyterian Church, 1428 Spring St. Paul, who died last February, was an agronomist whose ideas about organic and sustainable farming were well ahead of their time. Marielle will sing in French, English and Spanish, and invite guests to share their memories of Paul. *** You might have heard that the Give Big campaign supporting extracurricular programs in the St. Helena Unified School District fell a little short this year, having raised $188,846.80 as of my Monday morning deadline. Nothing to sneeze at, to be sure, but still short of the $240,000 it raised last year. If youve ever attended one of Patti Coyles theatrical productions or read about inspirational and educational programs run by the likes of Chris OConnor and Nick Joy, consider donating at GiveBigStHelena.org. Sincere thanks to all who have donated so far. *** The Easter bunny got a head start this year. I was walking past Sunshine on Good Friday (right after Run Big) when I saw some of those Day-Glo plastic Easter eggs that bring so much joy to children of all ages. I picked up a few, left the rest for other lucky passers-by, and spent the rest of my walk enjoying chocolates and tart candies. Thanks, unknown stranger, for the special treat. One hundred days from today, NATO Heads of State and Government will come together in the Polish capital to take decisions to adapt the Alliance to a fundamentally changed security environment. This will ensure NATO is able to respond to the full spectrum of threats from any direction. The Warsaw Summit, which will take place on 8-9 July 2016, will be a key milestone for the Alliance. Allied leaders will take the next steps in ensuring the Alliances collective defence. Strengthening and modernising NATOs defence and deterrence posture will be at the heart of the Summit. Allies will also assess the long-term implications of the crisis on NATOs relations with Russia and consider the next steps. As Allies move towards the Summit, NATO is improving its intelligence and early warning, and the integration of its forces. The Alliance is also enhancing its cyber defences, and stepping up its cooperation with the European Union and partners like Sweden and Finland. At the Warsaw Summit, Allies will also take further decisions on an enhanced multinational forward presence in the eastern part of the Alliance. The logo of the Summit depicts the Mermaid of Warsaw the 600 year old emblem of the Polish capital. This will be the 27th NATO Summit since the Alliance was created in 1949. The last Summit meeting took place in Wales in the United Kingdom in September 2014. U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the framework of the latters visit to Washington, the Vice-Presidents administration said. The meeting will be held on Thursday. The Turkish President earlier stated that he was planning to meet with his American counterpart, but the White House spokesman said that Barack Obama and Erdogan will have an opportunity to have an informal discussion at the summit, this meeting not being included in the work schedule. Erdogan's visit to the U.S. will end on April 2. He will take part in the Nuclear Security Summit, which will be held from March 31 to April 1 in Washington. The Turkish president also plans to meet with business and academic circles in the U.S. capital. In the framework of his visit, meetings with the Turkish and Muslim communities will take place. Erdogan will also attend the official opening ceremony of the Turkish-American Culture and Civilization Center in Maryland, RIA Novosti reports. 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 The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, on Wednesday delivered an address at a high-level meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, devoted to the Syrian refugees. Speaking at this venue I would like to pay tribute to the first High Commissioner for Refugees of the League of Nations Fridtjof Nansen whose name symbolized hope and salvation for countless refugees, Nalbandian stated in his remarks. His determination and commitment to tackle the plight of refugees stand as a true model of inspiration today when the world is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises of the last decades. For years the war in Syria has ravaged the life of the Syrian people scattering hundreds of thousands of them throughout the region and beyond. Armenia has been among the first to strongly condemn the barbaric acts committed by DAESH, Al-Nusra and other terrorist groups, against ethnic and religious minorities, including our fellow Armenians and their cultural and religious heritage, which has for centuries defined the regions multicultural and multiethnic mosaic. Last year here at the Human Rights Council, we characterized them as crimes against civilization. There is a sad symbolism for Armenians in taking refuge from the very places which have sheltered them hundred years ago. Nansen and many other humanists helped the survivors of the Armenian Genocide to overcome the horrors of massacres and displacement. Today, about 20,000 refugees from Syria sought protection in Armenia, on per capita basis making our country as the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe. This is a considerable number for a country of just 3 million, which in the recent past has already sheltered hundreds of thousands fleeing from Azerbaijan. Thus, we know what it means to be a refugee and to host considerable number of refugees and we certainly join this discussion with strong sense of solidarity and responsibility. Our own experience tells us that the humanitarian situations of this magnitude require synergy of efforts and cannot be addressed by any one state alone. This is true for every refugee-hosting country, but probably more so for a country with limited resources. We would like to draw the attention of the international donor community that the commitment to assist countries sheltering refugees should not be conditioned only by their geographic location, but rather should be based on the principle of more equitable responsibility sharing, without any distinction, in the spirit of international protection regime for refugees. Armenia will certainly continue to make its utmost to take care of the Syrians who have found refuge in our country. We will appreciate the assistance to Armenia to address the urgent humanitarian needs of refugees from Syria and pave avenues towards local integration. To that end the Armenian Government has made relevant legislative changes facilitating the entry into the country, obtaining of the residency permit or citizenship, developing of the businesses, getting necessary medical assistance and emergency help free of charge, providing scholarships at the universities to name but a few. We believe that the plight of refugees and the humanitarian response in addressing challenges associated with unprecedented numbers of displaced people should by no means become subject to political trade-offs and manipulations. Refugee crises confront societies with many questions at the same time. Not only in terms of security, but also with regard to the long-term effects of refugee settlement, employment, education and integration. As it was told in the film, we watched at the opening of this high level meeting: the refugees have right for the brighter future. Fridtjof Nansen believed that the refugees who were regarded as an intolerable burden would comprise a rich asset. The same conviction was expressed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today in his opening speech. Indeed, the histories of many of our countries confirm the accuracy of these words. BREVARD COUNTY, Florida The SeaWorld Orlando Animal Rescue Team returned two female manatees into the Indian River Lagoon this week after receiving treatment and care at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida for several months. On Tuesday, the Animal Rescue Team successfully returned Vesuvia, a 5-year-old sub-adult female manatee, to the waters of Front Street Park in Melbourne. She was rescued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in April after sustaining watercraft injuries in the Indian River in Melbourne, Florida. She was transported to SeaWorld Orlando after her rescue where she received radiographs, antibiotics and regular flushing of deep abscesses on her body. During rehabilitation, Vesuvia gained 110 pounds, and weighed 855 pounds when she was returned. On Thursday, Dorothy-Gail, a female independent manatee calf approximately 3-years-old, was returned to the waters at Parrish Park in Titusville, Florida. Dorothy-Gail was rescued from New Smyrna Beachs Mosquito Lagoon this past May by the FWC and SeaWorld Orlandos Animal Rescue Team. Dorothy-Gail suffered from watercraft injuries and was transported to SeaWorld Orlando where she received antibiotics, fluids, radiographs and other supportive care. She gained 15 pounds during rehabilitation, and weighed 645 pounds at the time of her return. WEST MELBOURNE, Florida A West Melbourne, Florida man allegedly made a false 911 call claiming that a murder was going to take place just to get out of a traffic ticket. Several West Melbourne Police Officers responded to the area of Wingate Boulvevard and Hollywood Boulvevard to investigate reports that a murder was about to take place. The hysterical 911 caller stated there was a man with a gun and someone was going to get shot. The male caller pleaded for help, then disconnected the line as the 911 operator attempted to get more information. The 911 operator received a second call from the same male, again stating there was a man with a gun and there was going to be a murder. As the operator probed the caller for more information, he again disconnected the line. These June 24, 2014 calls to 911 generated a large police response to the area, however officers were unable to locate anything suspicious. A quick-thinking Brevard County Sheriffs Office Dispatcher did a search for prior incidents associated with the telephone number the 911 calls came from to find the phone belonged to 52-year-old Julius Lupowitz. West Melbourne Police Officer Ted Salem was on a traffic stop on Wingate Boulvevard when the 911 calls were received. As he attempted to quickly end the stop to respond to the priority call, he overheard the dispatcher relay over the air that Lupowitz was the telephone owner. Police say that Lupowitz was in fact the violator that Officer Salem was currently with on the traffic stop. Police say that the investigation revealed that Lupowitz called 911 to report a murder in hopes that the officer who stopped him would respond to the priority call, rather than write him a citation. Lupowitz would have only received a $209.00 speeding fine, but now faces a 3rd degree Felony charge for Misuse of the 911 System. That charge could land him in jail for up to 5 years if convicted. He still received the citation as well. Florida law requires Officers to personally observe misdemeanor crimes taking place in order to make an immediate arrest, with some exceptions. Because Officer Salem was not aware Lupowitz made the calls, nor did he see him on the telephone, West Melbourne Police filed the charge with the State Attorneys Office. After reviewing the case and determining that the police response cost taxpayers in excess of $100, prosecutors issued a warrant for Lupowitzs arrest on July 16, 2014. The charge was upgraded to a felony based on the amount of resources expended. On July 23, 2014, West Melbourne Officers became aware of the active warrant and arrested Lupowitz without incident at his home. He was turned over to the Brevard County Sheriffs Office for incarceration. His bond was set at $2,000. First there was Hollywood, then Bollywood, and now "Dooleywood" at least for the week of April 4-9. That's Dooley's Week at Emory, celebrating the University's unofficial skeletal mascot and Lord of Misrule. The theme "Dooleywood," playing off of Hollywood, was chosen as being "inclusive to all of the student body" as everyone loves to watch movies, says Dooley's Week co-chair Emily Warner, 17B. Honored with a statue at Asbury Circle and traveling the campus with his entourage, Dooley bestows a week of entertaining activities, including performances, films, food, photo opportunities and more culminating with the Dooley's Ball concert, this year featuring The Chainsmokers. Monday, April 4 The week debuts with food and music in Asbury Circle at 5 p.m. This event, "Dooley's Week Premiere," is a collaboration between the Student Programming Council, responsible for Dooley's Week, and the Indian Cultural Exchange. There'll be an obstacle course for adventure, the opportunity to get a henna tattoo, a photo booth, and Chick-fil-A and Indian food. The film "Gun Hill Road" will be screened at 7 p.m. in the Harland Cinema following the premiere event. The screening is in collaboration with the Office of LGBT Life. Also Monday, Emory's top dance groups perform in the AHANA Showcase at 8 p.m. in the Performing Arts Studio. Cost is $7. A repeat performance will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 5 On Tuesday morning, celebrate "Thank a Donor Day" in Asbury Circle at 10 a.m. Take funny photos and create custom postcards to thank those who help fund Emory. McDonough Field will be the scene for "Taste of Emory" with a variety of food vendors from 5 to 7 p.m. Pizza Bella, King of Pops and Shake Shack are expected, among others. "Couchella," designated as Emory's Music and Arts Festival, starts at 6 p.m. in Asbury Circle and features guest spoken word artists and poets Steve Roggenbuck, Martin Bell and Jessica Caldas. Student performers include Shea Fallick, Sara Frank and Aidan Williams, Cooper Linn, Persuasion Dance Crew, Boregard and Rathskellar. "We envision students and faculty coming to Taste of Emory, grabbing some food, and moving along to Asbury to watch the performances," says Warner. TableTalk Emory, the Pulse and Literature Is Alive @ Emory are presenting Couchella. "The Huntsman: Winter's War" will be shown at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in White Hall, Room 208. Wednesday, April 6 The Student Programming Council event "Old Hollywood" will be in Asbury Circle from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. "During this event we will have a limo stationed for photos, King of Pops, popcorn, food trucks, as well as a station to create your own flip books," says Warner. Another film screening, "Love Jones" from the Black Student Alliance, will be at 8 p.m. in Harland Cinema. Thursday, April 7 "Toy Story," the throwback movie, will be screened at 5 p.m. in Eagles Landing. Thursday's concert will feature DJ Khaled, who will perform at 8 p.m. at McDonough Field. Friday, April 8 "Urban Dance: Emory," a performance by multicultural dance groups, including hip-hop groups, is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in Asbury Circle. Comedian Pete Holmes performs at Glenn Memorial Auditorium, with doors opening at 7 p.m. The Latino Student Organization hosts "Noche de Mascaras" from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. in Cox Hall Ballroom, bringing the community together to celebrate Latin culture with dancing, great desserts and a general good time, says Bessie Frias 18C. Saturday, April 9 The Chainsmokers will be this year's artist for the Dooley's Ball concert, considered the highlight event of Dooley's Week. They will perform at McDonough Field at 8 p.m. Prior to The Chainsmokers' performance, a block party on sorority and fraternity lawns will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. There will also be a pre-concert Dooley's Ball Picnic at 6 p.m. on the Freshman Quad. "Bring a blanket and friends," says Warner. Food will be provided by Emory Dining. For more information, see theDooley's Week 2016 Facebookpage. Alisha Bhimani kept trying to ignore the voice inside her head the one that urged her to pursue a career that focused on people instead of lab instruments, on working with the public instead of behind the scenes. But then she took her first trip abroad, and that all changed. A volunteer with Emorys Medical Global Brigades, she traveled in 2014 to Honduras. "The situations I encountered in one week in Honduras were unlike any I had ever had to confront in a classroom, textbook or laboratory," she says. She was struck by the kindness of the health care providers there to the families and children in their care, and how happy the patients and their families seemed, despite residing in one of the Western hemispheres poorest nations. Bhimani decided that she too wanted to be in a profession where she worked with patients and their families directly. Nursing was a distinct possibility. "Its the one profession where youre always there throughout the patients travails," she explains. "Youre the one whos going to be in their room at midnight, when theyre upset and need comforting." Yet she wasnt quite ready to make the commitment to, what was for her, a radical change to her life plan. "I always knew that I had a passion to help and take care of people," Bhimani says. But with a childhood that left her shy and introverted, she felt inadequate compared to her peers, who seemed to have their "lives put together," with a sense of self-esteem and belonging she lacked. Finding her way Born in Hyderabad, India, to parents who divorced when she was very young, Bhimani moved with her mother to the United States as a toddler. She was a bookish child who spent a great deal of time in the library a safe place to go after school, while her mother worked. "My mom worked two jobs, but strived to give me a nurturing childhood and passed along to me strong notions about ethics and education, always encouraging me to grow and learn new ideas about the world around me," says Bhimani. At Emory's Oxford College, which she attended with financial assistance from the Emory Advantage program, Bhimani began her academic career in the sciences, also working as a research assistant there. After graduating from Oxford, she moved back home while continuing her studies on Emory's Atlanta campus. She also volunteered and worked full time during the summer, once teaching adult learners basic math and sciences classes in order to earn their GEDs. All 179 of her students passed the exam. "It was just great to see the transformation in these people, who were once scared to speak English but now are in jobs as Montessori teachers or in hospitals communicating in English all the time," she says. She also volunteered at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta and at Camp Kesem, for children whose parents have cancer. There, she found herself emerging from her shell leading campers in silly songs and activities but also becoming a mentor and role model and gaining a healthy dose of self-confidence in the process. Bhimani, whose mother struggled with rheumatoid arthritis, was acutely aware of the toll a parents illness can take on children. Committed to compassionate care Bhimani applied to Emory's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing on the last possible day and told her mom of her plans at the very last minute. For all the agonizing that went on before, she hasnt looked back. She is a BUNDLE scholar, a program that trains nursing leaders from underrepresented populations. She has loved her practicums shes currently in cardiac ICU rotation at Emory Midtown and has learned much from the patients in her care. "In the ICU, what I like is that its so critically important that you as a nurse are noticing these small things involving your patients and making decisions as to what to do next, because doctors are not always there," she says. Bhimanis background as a non-native English speaker makes her acutely aware of the disparities in health care, especially around issues of language. Its not just linguistic barriers that concern her, but the jargon of health care, which patients often find difficult to understand in any language. "The nurse is the one patients will ask questions when they dont understand," she says. "Thats what they need, not the medical jargon thats been thrown at them." Bhimani received the Davidson Medicine and Compassion scholarship to take part in the interdisciplinary Italian Studies and Medical Humanities study abroad program last summer. Students travel through Italy examining the countrys history, art, literature, social institutions and daily life through the prism of its longstanding ideals of civic and religious compassion and charity toward others. "I learned that compassion is the light in the dark night. It is an integral pillar in the improvement of a patients condition, because it is the kindness of a health care provider that gives the patient the hope to get to another plane," she says. Her experiences abroad have strengthened Bhimanis resolve to become a patient-centered health care provider after her graduation this year. "I witnessed the impact of real compassion, problem solving and perseverance," she says. "I just want to continue to serve those underserved populations around me with the knowledge I have gained in nursing and public health at Emory." The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] LOS ANGELES: The FBI has unlocked the iPhone used by a Pakistani-origin gunman in the San Bernardino attack and accessed the data on the device without Apples help, the US government said today, ending a legal battle with the tech- giant that saw authorities pitted against the Silicon Valley. Department of Justice said FBI was able to use a new method suggested by a third party to hack into an iPhone that was used by Syed Farook, who alongwith his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California on December 2, before being shot by the police. As a result, the government "no longer requires the assistance from Apple" and is dropping its efforts to compel Apple to crack its own iPhone encryption against its will. The one-month-old legal standoff saw tech-giants of Silicon Valley like Facebook and Google rallying behind Apple, which was fiercely opposed to unlocking the iPhone on the grounds that it will compromise user privacy. However, FBIs sudden success in circumventing Apples security measures might raise new questions about whether Apples products are truly ironclad. It will also lead to heightened speculation over the "outside party" that assisted the government at the last minute ? and criticism from some quarters over the FBIs failure to hack into an iPhone on its own. "Our decision to conclude the litigation was based solely on the fact that, with the recent assistance of a third party, we are now able to unlock that iPhone," US Attorney Eileen M Decker said in a statement. Apples faceoff with the government started just over five weeks ago, when the Justice Department obtained a court order compelling Apple to assist the FBI in bypassing the lock screen of the iPhone 5C that Farook had used. While FBI was unable to unlock the phone, it feared that too many attempts to guess the passcode would cause the phone to wipe its memory completely. Apple fought the court order vigorously and said that creating a workaround for one iPhones encryption would set a "dangerous" precedent and imperil the security of all users. Last week, less than 24 hours before a hearing was scheduled in the case, the government said it might have found an alternative method to gain access to the phone that didnt require Apples assistance. The details of the FBIs new found method of accessing the phone arent clear ? but clues suggest that the Israel-based security firm Cellebrite could be the FBIs white knight. The FBI "successfully retrieved the data stored on the San Bernardino terrorists iPhone," said Melanie Newman, a Justice Department spokeswoman. Though she said that investigators were "currently reviewing the information on the phone," she did not say whether there was any useful information on the phone at all. Apple did not immediately comment on the case. Apple is also fighting government orders to assist in bypassing an iPhone lock screen in an unrelated drug case in Brooklyn, New York. PTI SHK SUA AKJ SUA Read Also: Smartphones To Help Probe Seal Numbers Decline In Scotland Finest PC Games in India in 2016 NIA spokesman Sanjeev Kumar said it had been "agreed" that the kind of cooperation India had provided to the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team would be reciprocated. "This is the reciprocity agreed," Kumar told reporters after discussions for a third day with the Pakistani investigation team. The remarks appear to indicate India's intention to get similar access in Pakistan to pursue the investigation into the terror attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2. India says the attack was masterminded by Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar. The terrorists who killed seven Indian security personnel at the base ended up getting killed after an 80-hour gun battle. On Monday and Tuesday, the NIA submitted evidence to the five-member Pakistani team on the terrorist attack. The Pakistani officials visited Pathankot on Tuesday. According to NIA sources, the evidence provided to the team prove India's claim that the Pathankot attack was planned in Pakistan. The visiting team comprise among others ISI official Lt. Colonel Tanvir Ahmed and military intelligence officer Lt. Colonel Irfan Mirza. NIA chief Sharad Kumar said the process of handing over the evidence and related documents to the Pakistani team had started and "we have given our list of demands to them". Sharad Kumar added: "The witnesses will be examined tomorrow (Thursday)." The NIA chief said the Pakistani team told him that Pakistani authorities had "detained certain people" in connection with the Pathankot case. --Indo-Asian News Service rak-nd/mr/sar/ ( 286 Words) 2016-03-30-20:17:31 (IANS) On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels, India's Ambassador to Belgium Manjeev Singh Puri asserted that the tour will improve trade and investment ties between the two nations. Puri while talking to ANI said that India and Belgium share major economic relations and this visit of Prime Minister Narednra Mosdi will heavily boost the incumbent ties. "India and Belgium share major economic relations. Prime Minister's visit will encourage trade and investment relation between the two countries. It will be a very important visit business and economic wise," Puri said. Puri further emphasised that it will be a great opportunity for India to involve European participation in ambitious flagship programs initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Prime Minister will also try to involve European Union in the flagship programs started by him, like Make in India, Digital India, Clean India, Nirmal Ganga and Skill India," he said. Condemning the dastardly attack in Brussels, Puri said that India stands in solidarity with Belgium, adding that talks on counter terrorism will take place between the leaders of the two nation during the Prime Minister's visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ahead of his Brussels visit saluted the resilience and spirit of the people of Belgium. "On 30th March, I will be in Brussels to meet with the Belgian Prime Minister Mr. Charles Michel. I would also be holding the 13th India-EU Summit with the E.U. leadership. No words are enough to salute the resilience and spirit of the people of Belgium. We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the wake of the horrific attacks in Brussels and share the grief of those who lost their loved ones," the Prime Minister said in a statement. Asserting that India's relations with Belgium are deep rooted and have stood the test of time, the Prime Minister said that within the European Union., Belgium is India's second largest trading partner and that his meeting with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel aims to expand trade, investment and high technology partnership. In Brussels, the Prime Minister would also be meeting with the Members of European Parliament (MEPs), Indologists, Belgian CEOs as well as a wide cross section of the Indian diaspora in Belgium and he would also interact with the Board Members of the Association of Diamond Traders in Belgium. The same evening, he will address a community programme and interact with the Indian community. (ANI) The chief imam of the All India Imam Organisation (AIIO), Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, on Wednesday described the thrashing of three madrassa students for not chanting 'Jai Mata Ki' as most unfortunate, and called on the concerned authorities to take punitive action against those trying to spread intolerance and hatred in society. "It is unfortunate and it has come at the time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone on a visit to a place revered by Muslims to make good relations there. Strict action should be taken against those who tried to spoil the environment of the society," Ilyasi told ANI here. He also said there is need to strengthen nationalism and the sense of being Indian. Three Muslim youth- Dilkash, Mohammad Ajmal and Naeem-- were allegedly beaten up by unidentified men at a park in outer Delhi's Begampur area, as they refused to chant pro-religious and national slogans such as 'Jai Mata Ki' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. "We had gone to a nearby park. Some men came and slapped one of my friends. They asked us to say 'Jai Mata Ki' and 'Bharat Mata Ki' and threatened to kill us. I don't know them, but I can recognise them. We called up Hafiz and then the police came and we were being taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital," said Dilkash, one of the victims. Another victim, Mohammad Ajmal, said they were not given a chance to say anything, adding that their skull caps were thrown and crushed with feet. "They asked us to say 'Jai Mata Ki'. Suddenly one of them came and thrashed me with a bamboo stick. They all started beating us. We then called up our teacher. He came and called up the police," he added. The victims called up their teacher Hafiz, who then called up the police. They were rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for immediate treatment. A case has been registered and further probe is on. (ANI) Police said criminals sprayed bullets at the couple, killing Anita Devi on the spot last night. Her husband Munna Yadav sustained multiple injuries. While he was rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition, the body of his wife was sent to Sadar hospital here for postmortem. A manhunt had been launched to nab the miscreants. UNI XC IS PL ADG PM1319 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-659652.Xml Justifying Centre's decision to invite Joint Investigation Team(JIT) from Pakistan to probe the Pathankot terror attack, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju today accused the opposition of politicising the issue. Talking to media persons here, Mr Rijiju said the team has came after India mounted pressure on Pakistan to bring culprits to book. '' Had we not called the Pakistan team then we would have been accused by the opposition that we are not building enough pressure on Pakistan,'' he said. ''Now that the team has come, they (Opposition) are objecting why it has come..,..the opposition has made a political issue,'' the Minister said. ''Our priority is that the probe should be completed,'' Mr Rijju added. Meanwhile, the Pakistan team which had arrived on Sunday visited Pathankot yesterday. The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) yesterday had staged a protest outside Indian Air Force base at Pathankot as Pak team reached to probe the January 2 terror strike. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, during a discussion on Delhi budget in the state assembly, yesterday charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 'embracing' Pakistan by allowing a team from Islamabad, which includes representatives from ISI, to investigate the attack and said he had weakened India's three decades-long stance that it is a victim of "Pak sponsored terrorism." UNI NY SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0099-659811.Xml In order to attract more investment from Australian firms, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today urged them to increase their investments to earn more return.Mr Jaitley met Treasurer of Australia, Scott Morrison and called for exposure of Australian future and super funds in India. ''Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called for increase in investment by Australia businesses in India as they can get better returns on their investment. He also said that India wants to be benefitted by Australian experience in implementing GS,'' the finance ministry said in a statement.Mr Jaitley said that India is also ready for GST and hoped that it will soon become a reality. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Morrison said, "Australia is keen to further increase its investment in India."Mentioning the recent developments in bilateral and strategic cooperation in multiple areas, he emphasised the common interest of both countries in promoting policies for sustainable economic growth and creation of jobs for the youth. Both the leaders discussed the economic situation in both countries as well as globally. The meeting in Sydney was also attended among others by the officials of finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India from Indian side and senior officials from Australian Treasury and Reserve Bank of Australia from Australian side. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Morrison said that Australia is keen to further increase its investment in India. Mentioning the recent developments in bilateral and strategic cooperation in multiple areas, he emphasised the common interest of both countries in promoting policies to sustain economic growth and create jobs for the youth. UNI ASH ADG 1425 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-659717.Xml The Yerawada District Jail authorities have informed a Thane court today that they could not produce the two alleged accused Bacchi Pandey and Suresh Pappu Kalani, in the court as per the directives of the court as the Vitthalwadi Police from Thane police commissionerate had failed to provide security escort to bring the duo from Pune to Kalyan. The duo were to be produced in the court of Additional Sessions Judge AZ Mirza in connection with the infamous Ghanashyam Bhatija Murder case. However the jail authorities gave a letter to the court in which it is stated that the duo had been convicted in an earlier murder case on March 3, 2013 and were undergoing life imprisonment in the jail. The letter from the jail further reads that the court had asked the Pune jail authorities to produce the duo in the court on February 29, without fail. However, the jail authorities stated that the Vitthalwadi police to whom the case refers to did not provide sufficient police protection. It also said that it was a difficult task to transport these two convicts from and to jail and hence the jail authorities sought video conferencing to be adopted for this trial. The jail also pointed out that there was relation between the two gangs one lead by Rajan and the other by Kalani. During the hearing today Adv. Sudip Pasbola appearing for the accused pointed out that just a few days back Pandey was produced in the Kalyan court in connection with another case. Immediately taking a cue from this submission the Special PP in this case Vikas Patil, raised the issue as to if he could be presented in the other case why not in this case. Moreover, the jail authorities can as well take protection of the policemen from Pune for keeping the accused present in the court he said. Talking to this correspondent Patil also said that the role of the jail authorities was suspicious as they keep him present in one case and avoid and give excuse in another. The next date for hearing fixed in the case is April 11, 2016 it was stated.UNI XR NV SHS PM1534 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-659854.Xml The BJP's Nagaland unit today expressed support for early settlement of the vexed Naga political issue a settlement which is honourable and acceptable to all sections of the Naga people. According to a statement issued by Eduzu Theluo, General Secretary (Adm), BJP's state unit, the party's executive meeting was held among the new state unit president Visasolie Lhoungu, new team of office bearers, and state executive members yesterday in Kohima. The meeting deliberated on important issues and the vision of the party in the state for better functioning in the service of the people. The BJP, as part of the national party, further affirmed its stand to support efficient and clean governance and strive to check corrupt practices prevailing in the state, the release stated, adding that the Nagaland BJP supported addressing the issue of illegal immigrants by identifying and streamlining of illegal immigrants in the state so as to ensure that the bonafide citizens are not adversely affected and the demography of the state not disturbed. UNI AS PL SHS VN1457 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-659661.Xml : The Central government has released an additional fund of Rs 8.71 crore to Arunachal Pradesh under the Public Health Engineering & Water Supply (PHED & WS)department. This was informed by Union Minister of State for Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ram Kripal Yadav in his meeting with the Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, Minister and Parliamentary Secretary of PHED & WS, here last evening, an official statement said today. In his one days visit, Yadav took stock of the implementation of Drinking Water and Sanitation programme in the state. He reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given special emphasis to the North East and is very keen towards the development of the region, particularly the border state of Arunachal, with special focus on its international border. He informed that north east is getting the highest allocation of fund in the recent fund distribution among the states in the country. Yadav appealed to the State government to make Arunachal an open defecation free state by 2019, before the national target of 2022. He also appealed to the state to emulate small state like Sikkim which has become an open defecation free state. Expressing satisfaction with the achievement made by the State government in drinking water & sanitation, he assured all possible support and help from the Union government in the developmental arena and asked the State government to send proposals, including for thepending ones. The Union minister called to put emphasis on water supply connection along with the sanitation saying that without water supply, sanitation is incomplete. Lauding the efforts of the State government for putting a huge target of 40,000 Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) in the state budget 2016-17, he assured to extend all possible support from the centre.Urging the department to take up the toilet construction in schools under the CSR schemes of the PSUs operating in the state, the Union minister informed that PM has given directives to all the PSUs to invest in sanitation. Addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister highlighted the border sensitiveness of the state and its difficult terrain pressed for enhancement of fund from the existing Rs 12000 to Rs 40,000/- per unit in IHHL. He informed the cost of construction materials are very high in the state owing to difficult terrains and high cost of transportation. Pul assured the Union minister of achieving the target of 100 per cent open defecation free by 2022 and sought support from the centre to provide special package for the North East.UNI PB PL SHS VN1511 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-659705.Xml All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) today demanded a probe into the Netaji files that have been reportedly destroyed and /or untraceable during the Congress regime.Following declassification of 50 files yesterday relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, it has been revealed that a file (Number 12 (226)/56PM) was destroyed on March 6, 1972, "certain documents" of another file (Number 23(156)51PM) was also destroyed, and another file (Number 2(381)60-66PM) was not traceable.AITC Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said, "We are deeply disappointed by this misdeed on the part of the then Central Government led by Congress Party in destroying files that would have revealed the truth about our greatest national hero, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and condemn the irresponsibility of such acts.""It is incumbent upon the Government of India to constitute a high-powered committee in public interest and unearth the true nature and contents of the Netaji files and also to ascertain the names of the persons who failed in the safekeeping of the files," he added.It is also reported that the Central government led by the Congress party filed a review petition in the Delhi High Court to avoid the publication of the book 'A History of the Indian National Army, 1942-45', the draft of which was prepared by the Historical Division of the Defence Ministry of the Government in 1949-50.The AITC also urged upon the Central Government to publish the book without further delay. UNI BM PL ADG BD1522 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-659780.Xml Agitated Opposition Congress members today created ruckus inside the Odisha Assembly demanding a ruling from the chair to summon Bolangir Sub Collector to reprimand him for his statement on the suicide of a farmer. Deputy Speaker S Marandi was forced to adjourn the house twice ,first at 1145 hrs till 1245 hrs and again from 1254 hrs till 1500 hrs for lunch as the Congress and the BJP rushed to the well, shouted slogans and disrupted the proceeding in support of their demand. The appeal of the deputy speaker to the opposition members to return to their seats and participate in the proceedings failed to pacify the Opposition which insisted that the sub collector be summoned for tarnishing the dignity of the house by making statement when the house is in session. The issue was first raised by leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra who said yesterday that he in a special mention had raised a matter relating to a farmer's suicide at Harabhanga village in Bolangir district in the house. Based on the reports submitted to the Police by the deceased's brother, the Leader of Opposition had stated that attitude and utterances of the Sub Collector had prompted the farmer to commit suicide. He demanded an inquiry into the incident and urged the government to reply to the allegation within 48 hours.But before the government responded to the matter the Sub Collector, Mr Mishra, quoting a an English daily report, said had tried to create an impression that whatever was being said on the floor of the house was not true. Mr Mishra in a written complainant to the Speaker said when the house is in session the officer is not competent to make such statement and this amounts to violation of protocol and breach of privilege of the house. He requested the Speaker to refer the matter to the Protocol Committee for appropriate action or to the Privilege committee.Mr Mishra further said, could also summon the Sub Collector and reprimand him. Speaker Niranjan Pujari after listening to the demand ruled that he would soon take action.Dissatisfied with the Speaker's ruling opposition Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati demanded that since it is an issue of the dignity of the house, the Speaker should give urgent ruling to summon him and reprimand him. He was supported by his party colleague Naba Kishore Das and BJP member K V Singh Deo who said the matter being serious should be addressed soon. Soon after the Speaker left the house the Deputy Speaker came and wanted to go ahead with the business of the house stating that the Speaker had already given his ruling to take action. Aggrieved with the Deputy Speaker's attitude the Opposition Congress and the BJP members rushed to the well, shouted slogans and stalled the business. Finding no alternative the Deputy Speaker then adjourned the house at 1145 hrs till 1245 hrs.When the house reassembled at 1245 hours after the adjournment, Dr Nrusingha Sahu and Mr Prafulla Samal(both BJD) raised their points through special mention. Rising on a point of order Mr Bahinipati again demanded a ruling on the matter and the house witnessed uproarious scenes forcing the Deputy Speaker to again adjourn the house till 1500hrs for lunch.UNI BD-DP KK SHS GC1626 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-660006.Xml As many as 71,426 foreign tourists have visited Odisha during 2014, Minister for Tourism and Culture Ashok Chandra Panda told the state Assembly today. Replying to a question of Mr Dillip Ray (BJP), the Minister said the UK and the USA were the majortourist generating markets for Odisha during 2014. Mr Panda said 9,890 tourists from UK and 9,615 from USA visited the state during the year followed by 5,371 from Germany, 4,825 from France and 4,764 from Netherland . He said during 2014 as many as 11,085 tourists from North America, 1,175 from central and South America, 2657 from Australia, 36,147 from Western Europe, 2,435 from Eastern Europe, 1,199 from West Asia, 2648 from South Asia, 2,578 from South East Asia, 9,838 from East Asia and 1,664 from African countries had visited the state. The Minister said as many as 64,719 tourists from these countries visited the state in 2012 and 66,675 tourists came in 2013. Mr Panda said out of the total 57,75,692 foreign tourists visiting the country as many as 50,432 visited Odisha in 2010. Odisha's share in national tourist arrival was 0.87 per cent in 2010, 0.96 in 2011, 0.97 in 2012, 0.96 in 2013, 0.93 in 2014 and 0.83 per cent in 2015. The Minister said the state has participated in international fairs, organsied road shows, international Buddhist sammelani, tourism festivals, tourism infrastructure development and launched a massive campaign in print and electronic media to woo tourists to the state.UNI BD-DP KK SHS GC1623 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-660042.Xml Replying to a question of Mr Tara Prasad Bahinipati (Cong),the Minister said 4,284 agriculture based industries were set up in the state from 2000 till the end of February 2016. Mr Maharathi said the industries included 1,112 agriculture and allied agriculture based units and 3,172 agriculture service centers.The government, he said, has provided Rs 131.76 crore subsidy for setting up of these industrial units. As many as 2,696 women ,1586 male entrepreneurs and three Samitees were benefited by it.The Minister denied the allegation that APICOL has failed and the youths entrepreneurs were shying away from setting up Agro industries in the absence of any incentives . He said 1443 entrepreneurs have submitted application for setting up of Agriculture based units in the state with an investment of approximately Rs 112.62 crore. UNI BD-DP SHS PM1631 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-660063.Xml President Pranab Mukherjee has prorogued the Budget Session of Parliament to enable the Government to issue an Ordinance to authorise expenditure beyond April 1 in Uttarakhand,which is under President's rule, official sources said today. "The Budget session of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, which commenced on February 23, has been prorogued by the President on March 29," an official communique said.The President prorogued Parliament after the cabinet committee on political affairs made a recommendation in this regard so as to enable it to issue an ordinance to facilitate Uttarakhand to draw from its consolidated fund to run its finances after March 31. There is a controversy over the legality of the Appropriation bill passed by the Uttarakhand assembly on March 18 which makes it necessary for the ordinance to be issued.The alternative was to call Parliament for a day but that was considered a difficult task given the short window of time.Talking to mediapersons here, Parliamentary affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the step was necessitated due to the current political crisis in Uttarakhand. ''Since the Finance and appropriation Bill has not been passed, no expenditure would be possible in the state unless the Appropriation Bill is passed. In order to meet the situation, the Parliament has been prorogued so that the President can authorise the money for the state,'' Mr Naidu said. He said the Rajya Sabha was also prorogued to facilitate the issuance of another ordinance on enemy property as the bill has been sent to a select committee. The ordinance on the Uttarakhand consolidated fund will need to be ratified once Parliament is reconvened. The current recess was to end on April 25.However, a fresh decision will be needed now that both Houses have been prorogued.More UNI AR SHS RP1725 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-660187.Xml : The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) today welcomed the decision of the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees Provident Fund (CBTEPF) to restore payment of interest on the amounts lying in the inoperative EPF accounts with effect from April 1l. The decision would benefit about four crore employees and workers. The then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government headed by Manmohan Singh stopped payment of interest on about Rs. 32,000 crore lying in the in-operative EPF accounts in 2011. Accounts become dormant or inoperative, as the employees who change jobs do not bother to transfer the amounts from the old accounts to new accounts opened by the new employers due to cumbersome process. In a statement issued here , the IJU President S N Sinha, Secretary-General Amar Devulapalli and Ambati Anjaneyulu, President of Andhra Pradesh Federation of Newspaper Employees (APNEF) thanked the Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, for fulfilling the promise he made at the IJU Conference held in May last year at Bhubaneswar. Mr Dattatreya, who was Chief Guest at the conference responded to the plea made by the Union to restore payment of interest on inoperative EPF accounts, as the journalists were main losers, as they change jobs requently. The Minister promised to reverse the earlier decision of the UPA Government. The IJU leaders urged the government to implement the decision retrospectively from Financial Year 2011-12 to undo the injustice meted out to the workers and employees. UNI KNR KVV ADB 1735 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-660066.Xml Biopharma major AstraZeneca would beenhancing its headcount to 2,000 at its global technoloogycentre here by the end of this year. ''We will increase the head count from the present 1,500to 2,000 by the end of this year to ensure that more than 50 per cent of the work force are located in Chennai'', Company Chief Information Officer-Information Services David Smoley told reporters here today. He said the company would be exploring the possibilityof acquisitions of IT firms in the drug development space. About the expansion plans, he said the focus will be on the development of various IT application development and testing, business intelligence and analytics and support of digital health initiatives.UNI GV KVV ADB1702 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-660164.Xml The Maharashtra government will provide one lakh square feet space for office in south Mumbai for smooth functioning of MPSC, Chief Minister Devendra Fandavis informed the state Legislative Council today. Replying to a query raised by Niranjan Dawkhare of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the House during the question hour regarding lack of sufficient office space for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) which creates class one officers in the state, he said MPSC at present is functioning out of a rental space of 49,000 sq ft area in south Mumbai. MPSC needs at least one lakh sq ft space to provide good training to new recruits, Mr Fandavis said and pointed that the government has looked at several places in various buildings, including Air India and Sales Tax Bhavan among others, where government will provide space to MPSC. When Kiran Pawaskar sought to know how much time it will take for shifting of MPSC office, the Chief Minister added, ''We have appointed a one-man committee, headed by the chief secretary, which will decide on the location within next three months.''UNI ST SS SHS VN1727 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-660179.Xml CPI-M leaders will be sharing the stage with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi who would address three rallies in poll-bound West Bengal on Saturday. The Congress, which has entered into a seat-sharing arrangement with the Communist Party of India-Marxist spearheaded Left Front, had invited the Marxist leaders for Gandhi's three rallies in Kulti and Durgapur in Burdwan district and Bankura. Confirming the development, CPI-M leader Rabin Deb said the presence of Marxists leaders at the rallies will send out a positive signal to the people. The development came on a day when Congress leader Abdul Mannan released "Lortey Hobey Eksathey" (Have to Fight Together), a booklet harping on the necessity of the Congress-Left tie-up. The book was released in the presence of several Congress and Marxists leaders and former Supreme Court judge A.K. Ganguly. "Under the current political scenario, this tie-up is imperative to oust the despotic Mamata Banerjee government under which everybody is under attack. From democracy to the common people, from institution to even the police, none are spared," said Ganguly. Ganguly also attacked Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for ridiculing the tie-up. "This is not the first time the Left and the Congress have come together. Her constant attack of the tie-up is an indication of her apprehension that this tie-up will be able to achieve its target is ousting this despotic government," he said. Calling the formation of the tie-up historic, Mannan said it was important for both the Congress and the Left Front to "come out of the shadow of the past" and plan according to the situation to achieve the aim of ousting the Trinamool regime. Reflecting on the success of the 'Grand Alliance' in Bihar where old foes RJD and JD-U joined hands with the Congress against the Bharatiya Janata Party, the booklet asserts the same can be done in Bengal. "If it can be done in Bihar, it can be done in Bengal also. The Left and Congress along with the civil society can join forces to defeat the Trinamool," said Mannan quoting the booklet. --Indo-Asian News Service and/ssp/pm/ ( 361 Words) 2016-03-30-21:27:33 (IANS) "My heartfelt condolences to the families of the brave CRPF jawans martyred in the attack in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. I salute their courage," Gandhi tweeted. Six Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and some others injured in Dantewada in an explosion triggered by Maoists on Wednesday. --Indo-Asian News Service nd/pm/bg ( 88 Words) 2016-03-30-21:29:33 (IANS) Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao today said that he would direct the state government to accord approval for the setting up of a medical college in the Bhiwandi town of the district. He made this announcement while speaking at inauguration of a guest house constructed by the Akhil Padmashali Samaj in the town. During his speech made in Telugu, the Governor traced the history of the community, which came down to Bhiwandi 75 years ago, and its contribution to the development of town over the years. He said that the Telugu people have a major share in the making of the powerloom town of Bhiwandi and lauded their hard work as well as dedication to integrate themselves into the culture of Maharashtra. ''Telugu people who had come down to Bhiwandi for running the powerlooms, have created their own identity in the town which is a matter of pride,'' Mr Rao said. The members of the Padmashali community live united and hence they have developed themselves and this community has contributed towards the United Maharashtra Movement, he stressed. Even in adverse conditions, these people have progressed on account of their work, he noted. Making a reference to the demand of the members of the community for a medical college in the town, the Governor said that he would direct the state government to accord sanction to the medical college for the town. Bhiwandi MP Kapil Patil in his speeh hailed the contribution of the community not only of Bhiwandi but also Mumbai. Many people from the community still live in slums, he said and appealed the state government to send a proposal to the central government for providing permanent pucca houses to them. Mr Patil promised to follow-up the matter with the Centre and ensure that they get their dwellings.UNI XR SS SM CJ RJ BL2154 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-660727.Xml "Time is running out. The next two-three months are very crucial. Unless you (government) do something on a war-footing basis, there will be a disaster. You need to find a permanent solution," a division bench, headed by Justice V M Kanade, said. The court was hearing a public interest litigation by H M Desarda, a professor from Pune, seeking quashing of the state government's decision to release one TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water for every 'shahi snaan' at Kumbh mela, as the state is reeling under a drought-like situation. The High Court had earlier directed the government not to release water for the shahi snan and that water should be released only for drinking and domestic purposes.UNI AAA SS RJ VN2218 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-660770.Xml Tainted NCP MLA Ramesh Kadam and 13 other employees of the Annabhau Sathe Mahamandal (Annabhau Sathe Financial Development Corporation) have been arrested in connection with thescam, Minister of State Dilip Kamble told the Maharashtra Assembly today. Replying to a calling attention motion in the House about huge scam in the Annabhau Sathe Mahamandal by then chairman Kadam, Mr Kamble said that Kadam allegedly used the funds of Corporationreserved for uplift of downtrodden Matang community. The Minister said that Kadam would prepare cheques in the name of car dealers to purchase tempos and jeeps to benefit Matang community beneficiaries, but later took delivery of luxury cars such as BMWsand Audis, which were then handed over to NCP leaders. Ten district presidents, including senior party leader Madan Bafna of NCP, used vehicles supplied by Kadam, he told the Assembly. The BJP and Shiv Sena MLAs demanded a list of beneficiaries of scam. NCP MLA Shahsikant Shinde objected to the mention of his party, which resulted in a stormy debate in House. It forced SpeakerHaribhau Bagde to adjourn the House for 10 minutes. After the break when the House re-assembled, Mr Kamble said that CID has confiscated all the 59 cars purchased such and will book all those involved in using the same within a month, he added.UNI XR SS SM RJ BL2321 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-660826.Xml In a statement here, Mr Gogoi said, "ABP AC Nielsen's prediction for the last Bihar and Delhi Polls had also gone haywire and in Assam its prediction will yield similar results". Mr Gogoi said in the last Assembly Elections in Assam in 2011, ABP AC Nielsen had projected 58 seats for Congress, 22 for BJP, 31 for AGP which also turned out to be a complete disaster. ABP AC Nielsen's poll predictions also proved weird in Bihar and Delhi and now in Assam also its projection will go in wilderness, he said. Hitting the BJP hard, the chief minister said the party is using different agencies to mislead the voters of Assam. Mr Gogoi also exhorted hope that the voters of Assam are politically conscious and they are not going to pay any heed to such false propaganda. He also dared the BJP to seek the mandate of the people based on development planks and not resort to false propaganda and mislead the voters of the State. The ABP AC Nielsen's opinion poll has projected a clear majority government of BJP coalition in the state.UNI SG BM RJ VN2233 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-660557.Xml Police said here that motorcycle-borne criminals intercepted the agent Dayalu Prasad while he was going with cash to Patna on his motorcycle. They opened fire on Prasad, when he resisted their loot bid, killing him on the spot. " Criminals managed to escape from the spot with looted cash," police said, adding that raids were being carried out to nab them.UNI XC KKS BM RJ BL2311 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-660853.Xml Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here today on a day's visit to Belgium on the first leg of his three-nation tour that would also take him to the US and Saudi Arabia.The Prime Minister's special Air India flight landedEarly in the morning in a city which is slowly recovering from the impact of the deadly terror attack of the last week.The Prime Minister besides having bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart, would also participate in the India-EU Summit.He will begin his engagement by interacting with some European and Belgian Members of Parliament. He will also meet Indologists, people living in Belgium and close by who have a keen and abiding interest in India. He will then proceed to the historic Egmont Palace where he will be received by the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and accorded a ceremonial welcome. The two Prime Ministers will have a restricted meeting where they will discuss bilateral issues and cooperation on global issues. This will be followed by a luncheon meeting hosted by the Belgian Prime Minister where the Prime Minister will interact with leading Belgian businessmen and CEOs as well as the Heads of the three federal regions of Belgium.This will give an opportunity to PM to encourage Belgian foreign direct investment into India and encourage Belgian participation in our flagship initiatives like Make In India, Clean India, Digital India. After the lunch, there the two leaders will be technically activating the largest optical telescope of its kind in Asia located at Devasthal near Nainital, which is a product of Indo-Belgian collaboration.India has collaborated with a Belgian company called AMOS to produce this infrared steerable optical telescope which is the first of its kind in the whole of Asia.The Prime Minister will also interact with members of The Indian community.In the evening of, the Prime Minister will attend the 13th India-EU summit. This will be the first summit between the leaderships on both sides. In fact, both leaderships took charge around the same time in May, 2014. Mr Modi will interact with the President of the European Council Donald Tusk and the President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker. He had met both these leaders recently at the G20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey in November last year.This will be followed by the signing and exchange of agreements and a working delegation-level dinner where both sides will take stock of our bilateral cooperation in a range of areas.At the end the two sides would issue a joint statement.UNI XC NAZ JW PR0741 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-659373.Xml With a nod to his own drug use as a young man, President Barack Obama called for more funding and a new approach to help people addicted to heroin and prescription drugs, seeking to shine a public spotlight on an increasingly deadly killer.During an appearance at a drug abuse summit in Atlanta, Obama said opioid overdoses killed more people in the United States than traffic accidents did, and compared the importance of addressing the issue to that of fighting Islamic State militants."It's costing lives and it's devastating communities," Obama yesterday said while participating in a panel with addicts in recovery and medical professionals. He said efforts to fight the epidemic were grossly underfunded.Obama, who earlier this year asked the US Congress for 1.1 billion dollars in new funding over two years to expand treatment for the epidemic, has faced criticism for not doing more to fight the problem sooner.Opioid addiction has become an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign.Obama wrote about using marijuana and cocaine in his book "Dreams from my Father." He said on Tuesday he was lucky addiction had not overcome him earlier in life beyond his use of cigarettes, and he pressed for the issue to be framed as a medical problem rather than a legal one."For too long we have viewed the problem of drug abuse generally in our society through the lens of the criminal justice system," he said.In 2014, a record number of Americans died from drug overdoses, with the highest rates seen in West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio.Obama said he needs Congress to open the purse strings to help expand treatment, particularly in rural areas, and applauded bipartisan legislation designed to combat the problem.Meanwhile his administration announced 11 million dollars in grants for up to 11 states to help expand medication-assisted treatment, and another 11 million dollars for states to buy and distribute naloxone, an overdose drug.The Health and Human Services Department is also proposing a new rule for buprenorphine, a medication used to help addicted people reduce or quit their use of heroin or painkillers.The rule would allow physicians who are qualified to prescribe the medication to double their patient limit to 200. The White House said that measure would expand treatment for tens of thousands of people. REUTERS JW0435 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-659396.Xml Finance Minister Arun Jaitley held a bilateral meeting with the treasurer of Australia Scott Morrison in Sydney today, where he said that the Australian future and super funds be exposed to India and called for increase in investment by Australia businesses in India as they can get better returns on their investment. Asserting that India wants to be benefitted by Australian experience in implementing GST, Jaitley said that India is also ready for GST and hoped that it will soon become a reality. Speaking on the occasion, Morrison said that Australia is keen to further increase its investment in India. Mentioning the recent developments in bilateral and strategic cooperation in multiple areas, he emphasised the common interest of both countries in promoting policies to sustain economic growth and create jobs for the youth. Both the leaders discussed the economic situation in both countries as well as globally. Expressing happiness over the growing bilateral trade and investment, they agreed to continue and enhance economic engagement and collaboration. The meeting was also attended among others by the officials of Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Reserve Bank of India from Indian side and senior officials from Australia Treasury and Reserve Bank of Australia from Australian side. (ANI) Four months after President Vladimir Putin accused Ankara of a "stab in the back", Turkish business executives in Russia are getting used to saying hasty goodbyes."Every week another friend calls to say he's leaving," one Turkish businessman based in Moscow told Reuters. "It's become very difficult for Turks to do business here."The row erupted in November when Turkish military jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, and is still weighing on what had been a close economic relationship.Putin has imposed sanctions on Turkey and trade between the two countries - which back opposing sides in the five-year Syrian conflict - has dived due to the combined effects of the measures and the collapse in global oil prices.In interviews with Reuters, expatriate members of the Turkish business community accused Russian authorities of creating obstacles for their firms that go beyond the measures set out in the official sanctions.This, along with economic crisis in Russia, was why increasing numbers of Turks are heading back home, they said.Before the plane was brought down, about 1,500 Turkish firms operated in Russia in businesses ranging from construction and tourism to imports of Turkish fruit, vegetables and textiles.While no numbers are available, one of the expatriates estimated that around 200 Turkish firms have since left.Many Turkish executives say they have experienced difficulties in getting Russian visas, and some have had to rearrange their affairs.Of the four businessmen interviewed in Moscow, two said they had registered their companies in the names of Russian relatives or trusted Russian friends to try to avoid additional checks from law enforcement officers.All said it was difficult to stay as their country was demonised in Russian media. The Komsomolskaya Pravda mass-market tabloid ran a report earlier this month headlined "Turkey never was and never will be a friend of Russia".The businessmen requested that their names and those of their firms not be published, citing fears that public comments could result in further pressure from Russian officials.Russia's Interior Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Economy Ministry said the problems outlined by Turkish businessmen did not fall within its remit.FIRST SHOCKWAVEIkbal Durre, a Moscow-based commentator on Russian-Turkish affairs, expressed hope that the row would eventually blow over. "The situation is moving towards stabilisation, just not particularly quickly. The first shockwave has passed," he said.But the cost has been high. Turkish exports to Russia fell to around $108 million in January, according to the Turkish statistics service, down two-thirds on the previous year. Russian exports to Turkey, mainly of energy, were 30 percent lower at $1.3 billion, reflecting weak oil prices.The sanctions include a ban on Russian firms importing a range of Turkish foodstuffs as well as cancelling a visa-free regime and restricting Turkish firms from working in certain Russian business sectors including tourism.Turkish firms had stood to gain from an earlier set of Russian sanctions - restrictions on Western food imports imposed in retaliation for U.S. and European Union sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.Now Turkish businessmen say that over-zealous Russian officials are subjecting their goods to additional checks at customs and have conducted impromptu searches at their premises.Dagir Khasavov, managing partner of Moscow-based legal firm Drakonta which has Turkish clients, described the attitude of Russian law enforcement agencies towards Turkish citizens since the downing of the plane as "hostile".FEELING LIKE A THIEFOne Turkish businessman said he had registered his firm, which serves Russia's metals industry, in the name of a Russian friend to try to avoid problems. "I used to own 100 percent of my firm. Now I feel like a thief of my own goods," he said.The first businessman cited in this article said shipments of Turkish textiles were sometimes held up for as much as 20 days at the Russian border, longer than previously.A Turkish diplomatic source said it was too early to say the two sides had found a way to resolve the dispute. "We hope that a compromise can be found, but we haven't seen any big shifts so far," the source said.Around 80,000 Turkish citizens live in Russia, although not all are involved in business.NO CERTAINTYEarlier in March a small group of Turkish businessmen based in Moscow returned home to share their concerns with economic policymakers there, one of the businessmen said.They explained that if the exodus of their compatriots from Russia continues, it will be difficult for Turkish business to regain its former standing in Russia."Investment is a sensitive thing, and at the moment there's no certainty," one businessman said.The diplomatic spat has also cast a pall over Turkey's tourism sector as Russians cut back on trips there.One potential bright spot is that a Turkish firm, Renaissance Construction, won a tender this month to build a terminal and tunnel at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.However, Renaissance Construction submitted its bid via its Russian subsidiary and the airport operator had no choice on the nationality of its contractor - the only other bidder was another Turkish firm, Limak.A Russian employee at a Russian-Turkish business group in Moscow said all joint investment projects had been frozen in line with a Russian government order. "For the moment there is a lock-down," he said. "Informal contacts continue, but it looks like projects will be frozen for this year at least."REUTERS SV RAI1152 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-659579.Xml When Sadio Gassama decided to go into medicine, he started by giving free check-ups at his mosque in Senegal's poor southern region of Casamance. Now, the 25-year-old medical student says he is treating Islamic State fighters in Libya.Until recently, many thought the peaceful, tolerant Sufi brotherhoods in countries such as Senegal could prevent more conservative and radical versions of Islam from taking hold in poorer parts of West Africa, like Mali and Niger.But security experts say Gassama's story shows how the penetration of hardline Islamic Salafism, coupled with Gulf money and militant propaganda, is aiding recruitment, even from stable and democratic Senegal.In particular, in their appeals to Africans, Islamic State propagandists are calling on doctors to make "hijrah", or pilgrimage, to their African stronghold of Sirte in Libya.Pictures posted on Gassama's Facebook page before he joined Islamic State show him hugging his young niece. Now, he is brandishing a machine gun, his name stitched on to his military uniform.Friends and family say Gassama's decision to join thousands of militants in Libya in December during the fifth year of his medical studies was sudden and unexpected.His shocked father described him as a 'humanist' motivated by a desire to help others. A former professor called him a "brilliant student, incapable of hurting anyone".But an interview with Gassama showed a darker side. Speaking from Sirte, he said he had been planning an attack in Dakar."Senegal is lucky. I was planning to commit an attack there in the name of the Islamic State before one of their contacts helped me go to Libya," he told Reuters last month via the internet. He could not be reached subsequently.Friends said he took trucks to Libya via Mali and Niger, accompanied by another Senegalese man and paying his way with his student grant."I left Senegal a year after embracing the ideology of the Islamic State," Gassama said. "Joining ISIS in Libya was relatively easy and accessible. I wanted to contribute to the establishment of a caliphate in Libya."Asked what he was doing there, he replied: "I am a jihadist doctor."Islamic State propaganda and security sources confirm fighters from countries including Chad, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria are already in Libya, where the group is consolidating its presence.The number of sub-Saharan Africans is not known but they are thought to represent a minority of the 3,000-6,000 Islamic State fighters there, with most from North Africa and the Middle East.However, there are concerns more will travel there along the same desert routes migrants use to reach Europe, as Gassama did."Libya is closer and easier to reach for some African fighters than Syria, and the political disarray there opens space for fighters to enter and operate," said Andrew Lebovich, a visiting fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations who focuses on North Africa and the Sahel.GULF DONATIONSAcross Africa's arid Sahel region, Western diplomats note an increase in conservatism, alongside tens of millions of dollars a year in charity donations from Gulf states.In Niger, some religious leaders are calling for a "re-Islamisation" against the secularism imposed by former colonial power France.This is already underway in the capital, Niamey, where some women wear the full veil and pay higher fares to avoid sharing taxis with men.Gulf-financed bodies deny links to radical groups and say their money is for charity, but local sources say it can go astray."Contributions are intended for the poor and to build mosques but are often diverted in the wrong direction," said Bakary Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute and a coordinator for the Observatory on Religious Radicalism and Conflicts in Africa.This foreign money and the migration of Senegal's youth to the cities has undermined the country's Mouride brotherhood, an old-established Islamic Sufi order which preaches tolerance.In Gassama's home town of Ziguinchor, the mosque he attended in the HLM neighbourhood is funded by a Kuwaiti NGO called Africa Muslims Agency.AMA director Almany Badji said it was one of more than 100 mosques it has financed in Casamance. The mosque Gassama attended at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University also has Salafist leanings, Sambe said.Gassama did not say who helped him join Islamic State more than a year ago, referring only to 'guidance' in Senegal."Through meetings with local scholars it became clear that jihad was my Muslim duty," he told Reuters.His friends and family said the only change they noticed before he left was to a more Salafist dress code."His pants were shorter and did not reach all the way to the floor," said his father, Boucar Gassama, a retired civil servant, surrounded by Gassama's siblings in the shady courtyard of his house. "But I could not know he had been radicalised."CALLS FOR REFORMThere is growing concern in West Africa about recruitment into Islamic State and other militant groups after attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.Modou Faye, Gassama's professor, says students need more guidance in reading the Koran, which is often rote-learnt at religious schools similar to one Gassama attended.Mauritania has closed several Koranic schools for security reasons, officials said.In Mali, where an Islamist insurgency is intensifying, some are calling for checks on mosques and NGOs."We must take stock of the potential risks of collusion between civil society and terrorists, better monitor places where radicalisation occurs, keep tabs on all suspect individuals like radical preachers and trace their funds," former Prime Minister Moussa Mara said.But others say labelling peaceful Islamic groups as jihadists is risky. Depriving poor communities of services such as orphanages and free study trips to Saudi Arabia could provoke a backlash."A politician who attempts to regulate this risks losing his electorate," said Moulaye Hassane, researcher at the Institute of Research and Human Sciences and Niger's former ambassador to Saudi Arabia. "I think they are afraid."REUTERS SV RAI1157 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-659581.Xml Indonesian rice farmer Usman has kept his 19-year-old son chained in the family's tiny wooden hut for more than a month, reluctant to release the mentally disturbed boy for fear he might wander off and steal neighbours' livestock.The teenager is one of nearly 20,000 Indonesian victims of mental illness kept in shackles by families and government institutions, an illegal practice President Joko Widodo's administration aims to stamp out by the end of 2017."He stole buffaloes and clothes," Usman told Reuters as he sat beside his son Deden, in the hut in the district of Serang, on Indonesia's island of Java."We are the ones who are embarrassed, so I chained him up in case he disturbs the neighbours."Usman lets a doctor give his son a medical check-up every two weeks, but says he will not free the boy until he is "more stable".In a programme launched this year, Indonesia sends teams of workers into often-remote hamlets to help free patients kept in chains and ensure they get the medical treatment they need."The social ministry and agencies across Indonesia recognise that there are still a lot of such cases, so we are determined to end the shackling practice by December 2017," said Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa.The world's fourth most populous nation has outlawed such shackling for decades but the practice continues, particularly in poor areas.In the village of Jambu, 80 km from the capital, Jakarta, 28-year-old Jumiya has spent more than four years locked in a dark wooden shed after showing signs of a mental disorder following her return from a job in Syria, her family said."People spend years locked up in chains, wooden stocks, or goat sheds because families don't know what else to do, and the government doesn't do a good job of offering humane alternatives," said Kriti Sharma, the author of a report on the issue published this month by Human Rights Watch.The group said shackling was sometimes linked to superstitious beliefs, with families attributing medical disorders such as schizophrenia or depression to the action of curses, black magic and evil spirits.Human Rights Watch urged the government to develop more educational programmes on the treatment of mental illness, boost training for health care professionals and widen protections for disabled Indonesians.In Serang, the teenaged Deden said he was not sure why his father had chained him up in the first place."I don't know, maybe I created trouble," the soft-spoken boy told Reuters, with his left hand shackled to a tree.REUTERS SV VP1330 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-659701.Xml Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. He has not been able to leave India, aside from a few brief permits, since the incident, Ansa news agency reported. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is back in Italy after suffering a stroke in 2014. The Italian government has taken the marines' case to international arbitration after repeated delays in its handling in India. Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal, said on Wednesday that the arbitration "could last at least three or four years". It means that Girone risks "being held in New Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight years". Azzarello added that this would amount to a "grave violation of his human rights". --Indo-Asian News Service py/vt ( 180 Words) 2016-03-30-16:19:32 (IANS) Thailand's military rulers have given soldiers new powers of arrest and detention, the defence minister said today, a move rights groups say will only help strengthen a junta crackdown on critics.An order issued late yesterday gives soldiers authority to seize assets and search premises, said Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan."Military officers will take part in activities that are for community safety because there are not enough police officers to tackle crime," Prawit said.Rights groups have derided the decision."These measures are another affirmation of the strengthening of a military state," Sunai Phasuk, Thailand Researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.The order is an extension of Section 44, which critics have dubbed the dictator law, a sweeping provision in the interim constitution that allows the detention of suspects without charge for seven days.Section 44 was invoked by the junta in 2015 to replace martial law, which was imposed just days before a May 2014 bloodless coup by the army.Rights groups say the junta has launched a fresh crackdown in recent weeks.Yesterday, Theerawan Charoensuk, 57, was charged with sedition for posting a picture on Facebook of herself holding a red plastic bowl - a Thai New Year gift from ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Yingluck.Theerawan faces up to seven years in prison if found guilty.Junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha this week said the military would extend its "attitude adjustment" programme period for critics.Hundreds of Thais have been hauled in for attitude adjustment at military camps since the 2014 coup.Thailand has been politically divided for more than a decade. The army ousted Thaksin in 2006, exacerbating a sharp divide between his supporters and the royalist-military establishment.The 2014 coup removed the remnants of the government of his sister.Rights groups say the junta has become skittish as an August referendum on a controversial draft constitution nears. REUTERS AY PM1615 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0352-660043.Xml Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. He has been not been able to leave India, aside from a few brief permits, since the incident, Ansa news agency reported. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is back in Italy after he suffered a stroke in 2014. The Italian government has taken the marines' case to international arbitration after repeated delays in its handling in India. Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal, said on Wednesday that the arbitration "could last at least three or four years". It means that Girone risks "being held in New Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight years", he said. Azzarello added that this would amount to a "grave violation of his human rights". Azzarello also said that he was hopeful about the petition to bring Girone back from India. "It's not a question of being optimistic or pessimistic, but obviously Italy is hopeful, based on its solid humanitarian and legal reasoning, otherwise it would not have come here," Azzarello said. --Indo-Asian News Service py/vt ( 236 Words) 2016-03-30-17:17:32 (IANS) France's president said today he would not push ahead with plans to change the constitution, including a clause allowing convicted terrorists to be stripped of their French nationality, after parliament failed to agree on the measure.The plan's withdrawal is a major blow for Francois Hollande, who had introduced it in an address to parliament at Versailles three days after Islamist militants killed 130 people in Paris."Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution. I deplore this attitude," Hollande said after a weekly cabinet meeting. "I have decided to end this debate."The initiative had divided lawmakers and caused months of heated discussions on what critics said was an inefficient and purely symbolic measure.Hollande's plan to insert into the constitution the rules for a state of emergency was also abandoned.The clause for confiscating passports hit a dead end last week after the opposition-controlled upper house of parliament approved a different version from the one adopted by the Socialist-controlled lower house earlier.To change the constitution, the government's proposal needed to be approved by each house of parliament in exactly the same terms."It's going to revive the perception of a president who is not determined, who lacks authority, whose hand is shaking," said Frederic Dabi, at the pollster Ifop. "It also reinforces the feeling of a term during which reforms have dragged on, got bogged down."Putting forward his plan three days after the shootings and bombings of Nov. 13, Hollande had appeared both resolute and consensual, as the measure was favoured by the right. Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation at the rare joint meeting of both houses in Versailles.But after the shock of the attacks began to fade, many on the left of the ruling Socialist party criticised the measure. In one version, it created a two-tier nation, differentiating between those who could be deprived of their citizenship and those who could not, depending on whether they held dual nationality."The president is being dealt a blow by his own political friends," a former prime minister and conservative senator, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said on iTele. "The president's authority over his own troops is being challenged."The most notable consequence of the internal rift within the party was the resignation of Hollande's justice minister, Christiane Taubira, earlier this year. REUTERS AY PM1706 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0352-660162.Xml Indian Infosys techie Raghavendran Ganesan was among the many who were killed when a bomb ripped through a train carriage at the station, located in the heart of Brussels and close to the EU headquarters. Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders briefed Modi about the terror attack. The prime minister "remembers Raghavendran Ganeshan and other victims of the tragic attack," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. From Maalbeek, Modi headed for Egmont Palace to meet Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Later, Modi will participate in the 13th India-EU summit. He will end his visit to Belgium by addressing the Indian Diaspora. In his pre-departure statement, Modi paid tribute to the Brussels bombing victims. "No words are enough to salute the resilience and spirit of the people of Belgium," Modi said. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the wake of the horrific attacks in Brussels and share the grief of those who lost their loved ones." More than 30 people were killed in twin explosions at the Zaventem airport and one at the metro station in the Belgian capital on March 22. --Indo-Asian News Service nawab/rn/mr ( 234 Words) 2016-03-30-18:17:39 (IANS) France will provide its full support to Libya's U.N.-backed Presidential Council after some of its members, including the prime minister, reached Tripoli by ship on Wednesday to pave the way for a unity government in the country."I am delighted by this courageous decision," Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement, calling on all Libyan institutions to back the new authorities."The Libyan national unity government can count on France's total support to face the challenges which it is confronted by and first and foremost the urgent necessity to end Daesh's advance," he said, referring to the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.REUTERS CJ BL2335 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-660932.Xml YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. By nationalizing churches Turkish authorities try to prevent people from returning to their Christian identity. Expert in Turkish studies Ruben Melkonyan mentioned about this in an interview with Armenpress commenting on the decision of the Turkish authorities to nationalize churches and lands in Diyarbakir. Further centralization of power takes place in Turkey and dictatorial features come to surface. And it is natural that it will have an impact on ethnic minorities and their rights. One of those rights is freedom of religion, enshrined in the Treaty of Lausanne. The mentioned decision taken by Turkey violates the freedom granted by the Treaty of Lausanne, Ruben Melkonyan said. He noted that there are a few operational churches in Western Armenia and one of them is St. Giragos Church. According to him, St. Giragos Church awakened activation in that region. It was the reason for people of Armenian descent to try to re-find their identity and return to their roots. By nationalizing churches Turkish authorities take control of this process, Melkonyan said, stating that this was another illegal step by Turkey which will lead to specific developments, especially under the light that this issue gradually enters the agenda of civil society and independent lawyers. While clashes and curfews continue in Diyarbakir, the cabinet took an urgent expropriation decision. St. Giragos Church, the largest Armenian church in Middle East, is among the places in Sur province of Diyarbakir that are expropriated by the decision of the cabinet. The church was restored and opened to worship in 2011. By the same decision, Assyrian, Chaldean and Protestant churches are also expropriated. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenpress presents on the air of Lratvakan radio all that you will read, hear and see on todays news. Today, on March 30, a press event is scheduled with the participation of RPA Co-chair Armen Ashotyan. Armen Ashotyan will speak about the Electoral Code amendments, issues surrounding it, the founding of a political school by the RPA and other topics. Tevan Poghosyan will also speak about internal political developments. Why did the Turkish authorities decide to expropriate churches? What problem is being solved by this step? Expert on Turkish studies Ruben Melkonyan will speak on this matter. He will also touch upon the election of the Patriarch of Istanbul. Germany's presidency of the OSCE: dialogue, enhancing trust and security in the OSCE region. A conference will be held in Yerevan on this subject to discuss the current stage of the agenda of the OSCE. Speeches will be given by the German and Swiss ambassadors in Armenia, the head of OSCE Yerevan Office Democratization Program and National Assembly members. Programs aimed at supporting Syrian-Armenians continue. The Syrian Armenian issues coordination center will provide clothing to at-risk Syrian-Armenians. What is the seismic situation of Armenia? Head of the Armenian Seismic Protection Service Hrachya Petrosyan will try to answer this question. He will present the statistics of earthquakes registered in Armenia during the past few months. What should be the real price of gas and electricity? What price changes are to be expected in case of possible reduction of energy prices? Executive Director of the Union of Public Defenders Aram Grigoryan will touch upon these issues. Reminder: the Armenian Governments is negotiating with Russia for reducing gas prices. Cultural news: The Armen Divanyan Arevner ensemble will perform the Mer Bak musical play in the H.Paronyan State Musical Comedy Theater. Artistic Director: Arpine Hovhannisyan. You can read about these and other topics on armenpress.am and listen to the news on the air of Lratvakan radio. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan visited the Moderna Therapeutics biotechnology company on March 29 in the US state of Massachusetts. It was founded in 2011 and is engaged in developing a new generation of drugs. One of the founders is Armenian- American Nubar Afeyan, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The companys research team has more than 300 employees. The company has research centers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Sweden's capital Stockholm. The President met the company's founder Nubar Afeyan and CEO Stefan Bansel. Afterwards, they accompanied the President and toured "Moderna Therapeutics", got acquainted with the companys activities, use of new technologies and future projects of cooperation with major international pharmaceutical companies and research institutions. As "Armenpress" was informed by the Public Relations and Mass Media Department of the Presidential Administration, the President also visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Media Laboratory of the institution. Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting with the rector of the Institute Rafael Reif, Raphael and co-founder of the Media Lab Nicholas Negroponte, then toured the Media Lab with executive director of the Luys Foundations Educational Program Jacqueline Karaaslanian, and then visited the "Samberg" convention center. A meeting with the participation of Armenian-American scientists and scholars and graduates of "Luys" foundation was hosted here. The President then delivered a speech. "Honorable President Reif; Dear Faculty and Scientists; Dear Fellows and Alumni of the Luys Foundation; I am honored to be here at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyone of the worlds top universities. I am grateful to you for hosting me and my colleagues today. With a wealth of teaching tradition, innovative ideas, and achievements, your Institute has made an essential contribution to the development of humanity. In the 155 years of its existence, this Institute has not only withstood and adapted to, but also become a leader of constant progress and change. This is confirmed by your numerous inventions, achievements, and Nobel Prizes. By the way, I am very glad that today the President of the Institute expressed the opinion that one of the graduates of the MIT will certainly win the Noble Prize. Mr. Noubar Afeyan was a witness there. Importantly, your work turns into practical projects that benefit the entire world. I am glad that in recent years about two dozen Armenian students have become members of this Great Family. Capacities and opportunities of your technological labs are remarkable. I just saw it myself; it was very impressive and educational for me. Of course, I hear about a lot of things; but to hear is one thing, to see is another. As a matter of fact, the methodology of the Institutes Lego Educational Lab is replicated at the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies in Yerevan, which aims at bringing out the intellectual capacity of children and young people and enhancing their competitiveness. Cooperation of the Armenian partners with the media labs at the MIT has enriched Armenias education with innovative ideas and programs. The Ayb School founded in Armenia is indeed a product of such cooperation. Our quest for the new contents of education and the creation of environments has been strongly influenced by such well-known scholars as Seymour Papert and Bill Mitchell. This year, weve launched two fablabs in Armenia, which provide ample opportunities for innovation and creativity to the Armenian young people interested in engineering and technologies. The flipped classroom program developed here at the MIT has been implemented very productively in Armenia, truly changing the perceptions of students and faculty about the modern education. Dear Friends; Daron Acemoglu, a very bright representative of your Institute, recently developed a theory that became famous around the world. His major argument is that economic prosperity essentially depends on the institutional development or, to be more precise, on the inclusiveness of economic and political institutions. Poverty and other evils affecting society can be defeated through these very institutions. We have acquired experience that proves the validity of these arguments. It is very hard to carry out a reform if public trust in fairness has been undermined, or if public institutions do not reflect the true aspirations of society. It is very difficult to strengthen institutions if people do not have faith in their effectiveness, in the rule of law, and equality of all before the law with no exception. But who can strengthen the institutions if not people themselves? Throughout my political career, Ive never had any doubt that the citizens of Armenia are bright and extraordinary individuals. The time has come for this creative potential to bear fruits. I dream of Armenia where strong and well-established individuals do not spare efforts for creating stable state and public institutions. It will come true only if they are convinced that these institutions belong to each and every one of them. It is not the first time I speak about it publicly. Moreover, we are working consistently toward the implementation of this vision in Armenia. Recently, weve made major amendments to our Constitution. The next one and half to two years will be extremely important in this context, because our country is going through a systemic change. I am confident that these efforts will be productive and visible for our people. We will achieve it through our political will, and with Armenian citizens who take initiative, aspire, and are dedicated to their homeland. We will achieve it through the will of every citizen of Armenia. We all have to bring our share to this initiative. I hope that we will be able to prove the validity of Daron Acemoglus theory. I also hope that he receives the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and once again brings acclaim to your Institute. Dear Scientists, The Republic of Armenia has been independent for a quarter of a century, having traveled a complex and complicated path of development. Our state-building process has been accompanied by a disastrous earthquake, a war and a blockade imposed on us by our neighbors, and regional turmoil. They, together with scarce natural resources, have limited the development prospects of our country. But they have also provided an opportunity to build a state anchored in a democratic system and a knowledge-based economy. The difficulties certainly pose obstacles, but they have not stalled our progress; they have not broken the Armenian peoples will to build the homeland of our dreams. Our neighbors have closed our borders, but they have not been able to curtail the advance of our intellect. Natural resources tend to expire, while human resources tend to generate. I am glad that young people in my country are actively engaged in discussions on high-tech achievements, research and development, and are contributing to future progress. Our universities annually educate 2,000 IT and high-tech specialists. It is through human capital that Armenia has earned its place on the IT map of the world. Solutions developed by the Armenian professionals are now widely used in various countries around the world. Armenia has a number of competitive advantages in this field. We are fully aware that a strong educational foundation is the key to longevity of this success. The mission of our education system is to produce students and researches who keep up with the latest international achievements. I am proud that our schoolchildren have recently achieved excellent results in the international subject Olympiads. Last year, Armenian schoolchildren earned 20 medals5 silver and 15 bronzein international Olympiads in mathematics, physics, astronomy, and biology. We had similar performance in the past: 19 medals in 2014, 15 medals in 2013, and 16 medals in 2012. These are significant numbers for a small country like Armenia. I am really proud in our schoolchildren: their achievements are greater by large than the awards earned by our immediate neighbors in the South Caucasus. In fact, these numbers are close to the number of medals won by countries that exceed Armenia ten-fold in terms of population. The National Program for Educational Excellence is being implemented in partnership with the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Education at the University College London. The program aims at making advanced education accessible for all Armenian schoolchildren. The program will educate and train thousands of teachers. The program will be implemented under a new educational platform called Ararat Baccalaureate. It is an Armenian-language system that is based on the international criteria and best reflects top achievements of the global education and rich traditions of the Armenian schooling which is based on our national values. This year, the Armenian graduates will take for the first time the Ararat Baccalaureates international Armenian-language exam administered in Armenia. To educate a competitive new generation, we have created the Luys Foundation that provides scholarships to Armenian young people admitted to the worlds leading universities. Of course, there was a concern that we might lose our human resources. However, as I was once told by the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore that even if our compatriots do not return home after their studies, they are still our assets abroad, through whom the world recognizes our country; they contribute in various ways to the development of both the host country and their home country. This is quite true in the case of Armenia. Achievements of our compatriots outside of Armenia are our achievements, as well. Their reputation is an essential factor in promoting Armenias international standing. Experience has proved that the absolute majority of the Luyss alumni returned home after completing their education and engaged themselves in Armenias development. Its a fact. Our young people currently studying in the top U.S. universities are present here today. I am glad to see all of you in high spirits and a determined look in your eyes. I wish success to all of you in your important work. As we were developing the idea to create the Luys Foundation and fund the education of our young people admitted to the worlds top universities, we had one goal in mind: to bring home all progressive and new that is constantly created around the world, studied and developed in the worlds leading scientific centers. Home includes each and every one of youour extended family called Armenians and Armenia. I believe that every one of the Luyss alumni, having received the best education in top universities, ought to do three things in his or her life: have a house in Armenia, work or be engaged in an Armenia-based initiative in his or her professional field, and be a lifelong ambassador of Armenia and the Armenian language everywhere he or she goes. For quite some time, we have been implementing a program of targeted government assistance in Armenia called Affordable Houses for Young Families. Through affordable mortgage loans at below-market rates, we enable young families to purchase an apartment with all modern amenities. Please, keep in mind that the officials in charge of this program are waiting for you, and it is the first office you should visit in Yerevan once you finish your studies. Dear Friends; We are now working to forge mutually-reinforcing ties between universities, R&D, and labor market. I am grateful to the dozens of representatives of the impressive pool of Armenian American scientists who accepted my invitation to be present here today from all corners of the USA. I am confident that you have no regrets, and just like me, you take inspiration from the achievements of the Luyss current scholarship-recipients and alumni. I am confident that this meeting will pave the way for lasting and practical ties. Many of you do not closely cooperate with the traditional Armenian organizations, parties, or at times even the community. I hope that contacts in this format can become regular and set the foundation for your mutually-beneficial everyday cooperation by creating an informal network of Armenian American scientists. This meeting is also important in terms of forging close cooperation between Armenian and foreign universities. We would also be delighted to host MIT faculty and students in Armenia. You could learn about our achievements firsthand, interact with our faculty and students, and visit Armenian IT companies and free economic zones. Our dream is to promote technological higher education in Armenia in cooperation with the worlds top universities. In this context, your engagement and support would be very valuable. We have enabled the brightest of our youth to be competitive by studying at the worlds top universities. We would now like to create similar opportunities for all young people in Armenia. We plan to host a World Forum of Information Technologies in Armenia in 2019. We would be glad if your Institute was represented at this large-scale event. Given your experience, knowledge, and achievements in this field, I am confident that your participation will greatly benefit the Forum. In conclusion, I wish to recognize Doctor Noubar Afeyan who is present here today. Thank you for the financial support to todays event and for brilliantly moderating this scholarly discussion. Thank you, Mr. Afeyan, also for your dedication to the Armenian Homeland and your hard work. Thank you for this warm reception. I wish everyone present here new surges of your creative minds, scientific revolutionary ideas, and multiple discoveries". YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. US House of Representatives of Hawaii passed the Resolution 167 recognizing the independence of Artsakh Republic. As "Armenpress" reports, this was announced by the ANCA. Hawaii is the seventh US state to recognize the Republic of Artsakh. Previously, similar resolutions have been passed in legislative bodies of California, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and Georgia. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. On the contact line of Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan opposing forces, on March 29 and early morning of March 30, the adversary fired more than 1000 shots at Armenian positions from different caliber weapons; Armenpress was informed by the Press Service of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Ministry. The Defense Army forces are in control of the situation and confidently continue carrying out their military duty. Paris (AFP) - Paris authorities on Wednesday evacuated 985 migrants from a large camp that mushroomed this month in the east of the French capital. The mayor's office said in a statement that the migrants -- mostly from Sudan, Eritrea and Afghanistan -- would be housed in emergency shelters for a month, allowing them to begin the asylum process. "I don't know where we are going, but it will always be better than here," said Ahmed, an Afghan who said he was fleeing "the war and the Taliban". He is one of several of the migrants to have come from the grim "Jungle" camp in the northern port city of Calais, parts of which were cleared away by authorities earlier this month. The French government is trying to limit the size of the "Jungle", now home to about 3,500 people, and persuade migrants to give up on their dream of reaching Britain and apply for asylum in France. Tightened security has reduced nightly bids to sneak onto trucks or storm the port, and increasing numbers of migrants appear to be giving up and coming to Paris. The Paris camp sprung up underneath an elevated section of the metro train track, and some 400 people were evacuated on March 7 and taken to shelters, but the camp quickly reformed. "The pace is increasing, I think there are a large number of people who were in Calais and who are coming to Paris," said regional government official Sophie Brocas. The evacuation was the 19th of its kind in Paris since June last year, which has seen 6,500 migrants moved to emergency shelters. More than one million migrants -- about half of them Syrians -- reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, a rate of arrival that has continued through the first three months of 2016. Germany has taken in the bulk of the migrants. Nearly 80,000 people applied for asylum in France in 2015. In a bid to control the unprecedented flow of people into member states, the European Union has struck a deal with Turkey to return migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Why you should plan a trip to the land of fire and ice in 2016. Iceland has become the place to go, mostly because you can't turn a corner without stumbling upon an inspiring landscape or a natural wonder. A few years ago, Iceland was just an under-the-radar gem known only by locals and intrepid visitors. But these days, more and more tourists are flocking to Iceland's stunning geothermal spas, dramatic fjords and majestic glaciers to catch a glimpse of the country's breathtaking landscapes. More than just cascading waterfalls, northern lights and dreamy landscapes, Iceland offers plenty for visitors to uncover -- from mouthwatering cuisine to genuine hospitality. Here are 10 reasons to plan a trip this year. The healing hot springs A volcanic wonderland, Iceland is speckled with hot springs. Start by visiting the iconic Blue Lagoon. Located outside of Iceland's capital city, Reykjavik, the lagoon consistently stays at 96 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Meanwhile, a little lesser-known hot spring, Hveragerdi, is made up of two springs, the Blue Hot Springs and Riverside Hot Springs, and is located in southern Iceland. The breathtaking natural wonders The best way to embrace the natural beauty Iceland has to offer is by driving along Route 1 (or Ring Road), the 830-mile highway that circles the entire country. On your road trip, you'll be met with cascading waterfalls, like Seljalandsfoss, lighthouses and epic parks, like Thorsmork National Park. The northern lights Few places in the world offer a more serene view of the northern lights than Iceland. For an unspoiled view of the aurora borealis, visit Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. For an urban view, visit the Grotta Lighthouse in Reykjavik or the dome-shaped Perlan (The Pearl). In the west, the Snaefellsjokull glacier offers stunning mountain backdrops for the magnificent lights. The fresh Nordic cuisine The island boasts an incredible bounty of seafood, from organic cod to lobsters, salmon and more. Start with dishes like plokkfiskur (fish mashed with potatoes), fresh scallop fish stew with bold seasonings or seared salmon with fresh berry jam. And you can't visit Reykjavik without stopping at it's iconic hot dog stand, which serves lamb hot dogs topped with mustard, crunchy onions and remoulade. Story continues The welcoming locals Proud and passionate about their culture, many residents enjoy sharing stories and myths they've heard from their families. For a taste of true Icelandic tradition, visit the Frystiklefinn (or The Freezer), which is a professional theater and hostel in the quaint town of Rif in West Iceland. Featuring the incredibly talented Kari Viarsson, the show tells the story of one of the local legends of Rif and is packed with plenty of Icelandic humor. The convenience factor Flights from Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston airports to Reykjavik take less than five hours, and most routes are nonstop. Plus, Icelandair offers plenty of direct, year-round flights to Reykjavik from major hubs across the country, including Seattle, Denver, Orlando, Florida, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Another benefit of flying Icelandair is that the carrier offers short or longer stopovers in Iceland, allowing you to explore the country while in transit to another destination. Plus, the airline helps connect visitors with local tour groups and hotels in the country, making the trip-planning process easy and stress-free. The midnight sun In as early as May and as late as August, the sky in Iceland is bright for almost 21 hours each day. During the summer solstice, you can watch the sunset at midnight and the sunrise just before 3 a.m. in Reykjavik. Further north, the day will last even longer, giving you a chance to soak up the country's outdoor splendors all night long with sunset kayak rides, evening hikes and daylight camping. The iconic churches Iceland is home to some of the most well-photographed churches in the world, including the fairytale-esque Hofskirkja Church. The building is surrounded by moss-covered graves and rolling mountains, making for a memorable photo op. Meanwhile, the Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik is impossible to miss with its modern and futuristic design. The volcanoes There are over 130 active and inactive volcanoes throughout the country thanks to Iceland's location on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Luckily, only 18 volcanoes have erupted since humans settled in the area, so visitors can still take in picturesque, snow-capped volcanoes and explore otherworldly craters today. The ice caves Often called the Crystal Caves, Iceland's breathtaking frozen caves form on the edge of the country's many glacial formations. Jokulsarlon on Iceland's southern coast and the man-made Langjokull, the country's second-largest glacier, are two of the most popular spots for ice caving. With the cost of tuition of college and grad school rising, more parents and prospective grad students are looking to retirements accounts, such as an individual retirement account, to pay for school. A 2015 Sallie Mae and Ipsos survey found that 6 percent of parents withdrew from their retirement savings, either from a 401(k) or IRA, to pay for college. "It's more common these days because the price of college has gone up," says Robert Steen, a Texas-based wealth advisor at USAA Federal Savings Bank. For parents or prospective students interested in using an IRA to pay for school, here are some considerations to take into account. [Get answers to four common questions about spending 529 funds.] There are rules for using an IRA account to pay for college or grad school. Withdrawals before 59.5 years of age usually result in a 10 percent penalty except in certain circumstances, such as a down payment on a first home or for higher education expenses, according to the IRS. To be eligible to use this distribution for education, the expenses must be for yourself, a spouse, child or grandchild. With funds from an IRA, a parent or student can pay for books, tuition and other qualified education expenses without a penalty. But the student must be enrolled more than half-time at an eligible institution, as defined by the Department of Education. There are differences between using a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA for higher education expenses. "The best advantage would be to use a Roth IRA, which you can pull out without a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty," says Kevin Wallace, a wealth management advisor at Janney Montgomery Scott's headquarters in Philadelphia. A parent or prospective grad student, for example, who has contributed $30,000 into a Roth IRA that has grown to $45,000 with earnings , can use up to $30,000 -- the contributed amount -- to pay for school expenses without any tax liabilities. Story continues For the account holder to avoid penalties, the Roth IRA must have been established at least five years before the first withdrawal. Withdrawals from a traditional IRA can also be used to pay for educational expenses, but lack the same advantage s of a Roth IRA and are subject to federal and state tax, financial experts say. [Discover four college funding sources and their effects on financial aid.] You can roll a 401(k) into an IRA to pay for school. Anyone can take money out of a 401(k) and deposit it into an IRA, Wallace says. The only caveat is that once the student or parent receives the check from cashing in on a 401(k), those funds need to be deposited into the IRA within 60 days. "I have heard people look at it, but no one admits to it," says Wallace , about young professionals cashing in their retirement accounts to pay for grad school. "They'll roll everything out of their 401(k) into an IRA, and then they'll take distributions out to fund their graduate school." An IRA withdrawal may affect financial aid. One problem with using a Roth IRA to pay for college or grad school is it may impact financial aid. "Students who apply for need-based financial aid are required to report income and asset information on the FAFSA," says Rick Wilder, the director of student financial affairs at the University of Florida. The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which many schools use to determine awards. Money held in retirement accounts, such as a traditional or Roth IRA, are assets exempt from being evaluated on the FAFSA for financial aid. But withdrawing funds from an IRA account will count as income the following year, financial advisors say. One strategy is to use the IRA money during the student's final year in school when financial aid for the following year is no longer an issue, according to an investment service report released by BancWest, a San Francisco-based financial institution. [Understand the federal tax benefits of 529 plans.] A 529 account may be a better option. The Roth IRA is similar to a 529 account, a tax -advantaged education savings account, in that it's a tax-deferred account and can be used as a college savings vehicle. If you contribute $5,000 a year into a Roth IRA for the next 10 years, up to $50,000 will be available tax- and penalty-free to fund a student's higher education, for example. Unlike a 529 account, money held in a Roth IRA isn't used in evaluating financial aid. But an IRA withdraw al may impact a student's financial aid the following year. "If you're trying to play a shelter game, it will catch up with you eventually," says Steen. "It's the following year when it captures it on the FAFSA." A downside of saving with a Roth IRA over a 529 college savings account is that the account holder is limited to set contribution levels annually. A contributor under 50 years of age can only sock away $5,500 a year into a Roth IRA and that cap increases to $6,500 when the contributor turns 50. While saving for college through a Roth IRA may make sense in some cases, it has its drawbacks as a primary college savings vehicle, wealth advisors say. A student or parent is better off using the account for its intended purposes -- saving for retirement, Steen says. Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center. Farran Powell is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering paying for college and graduate school. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at fpowell@usnews.com. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's justice minister Michael Masutha will appeal a court decision to free the killer of anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani, his department said on Wednesday. Janusz Walus, a Polish immigrant, has served more than 20 years of a life sentence for the 1993 murder of Hani, who was a senior member of the now-ruling African National Congress (ANC) and head of the South African Communist Party. Hani's murder triggered nationwide riots, almost derailing South Africa's 1994 transition to multi-racial democracy after decades of white apartheid rule. "The Minister believes that the honourable court erred in its judgment and is of the view that there are prospects of success on appeal," the justice ministry said on Wednesday. Clive Derby-Lewis, a right-wing politician who provided the murder weapon used by Walus, was freed on medical parole last year. Both men were originally sentenced to death but that was reduced to life in prison after South Africa abolished the death penalty in 1995. Hani's wife, Limpho, has criticised the decision to free Walus as "very sad for South Africa". (Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Joe Brock) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. The "Yerevan Perspectives International Music Festival promises unique surprises for music fans in 2016, in the form of exclusive guests and concerts. Director of the Yerevan Perspectives Sona Hovhannisyan informed Armenpress" that the festival will be in line with the program's objectives. The 1 year founding anniversary of the Byurakan Academy will be celebrated on April 4 in the Byurakan Arts Academy; activities of the past year will be summarized. Within the framework of the festival lot of work both in Armenia and abroad was carried out. A concert will be held in the Academy that will mark the beginning of this year's festival. On this day we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Stepan Rostomyan, the founder of the festival, " Sona Hovhannisyan said. According to her, important events are planned in the capital in April. "Every year on April 24 we have to try and organize a large and unique event. This year there will be a unique concert on April 24. The Men's Choir of Estonia, which is one of the best in Europe and is composed of 50 members, will hold a concert at St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in Yerevan. They participated in the "With you, Armenia" concert series, where they had prepared an Armenian program. We decided that the concert should take place in a church. It will take place in the evening of April 23 at 23: 00 pm. It is going to be a very exceptional, very influential concert, Sona Hovhannisyan said. In addition, the "Yerevan Perspectives" will mark its 15th anniversary on April 26. "It must have been celebrated last year, because the festival was founded in 2000, but we were performing concerts commemorating the Armenian Genocide. The Hortus Musicus Ensemble of Estonia will participate in the celebration, the Estonian National Men's Choir, orchestras and soloists. Many great Armenian musicians participated in the implementation of the festival ", the director said. She said that the Hortus Muzikus will give a separate concert on April 27th. On this day in 1867, United States Secretary of State William Seward signs a deal acquiring Alaska, an agreement that was ridiculed by some as Sewards Folly and opposed in the House. In todays popular culture, Seward is best known for his association with Abraham Lincoln. But his name is also forever linked to a decision back that brought Alaska into the fold as a United States territory, at a bargain price: The cost for Alaska in 1867 was $7.2 million, which is about $116 million in 2016 dollars. Link: Read the treaty Seward negotiated the deal in an extended bargaining session with Russian minister to the United States Eduard de Stoeckl on March 30, 1867. The Senate passed the treaty a few days later, but the House held up funding the purchase for more than a year, as the public debate raged over the purchase price and soundness of Sewards decision. On October 18, 1867, the United States took possession of Alaska from Russia under the terms of a formal land transfer, in a ceremony in the town of Sitka. The Alaska Purchase gave the United States a land mass of 586,412 square miles, an area about twice the size of Texas. But it came at a time when the United States had just ended the Civil War, and it had an abundance of underpopulated land. Prior to World War II, Alaska suffered from a bit of an inferiority complex and its own internal politics. In the wake of Sewards Folly, Alaska avoided national attention until its Gold Rush began in the 1890s. It became a territory in 1912 and started making noise about becoming a state four years later. As its strategic importance became obvious during World War II, in 1946 Alaska held a referendum asking Congress to consider it for statehood. The Democrats during the 1950s favored Alaska as the 49th state, while the Republicans wanted Hawaii admitted by itself. The reason was that each new state gets two U.S. senators and at least one new House member, and the admission of a new state can swing votes in Congress. Story continues Alaska became the 49th state in January 1959 after a compromise was reached in Congress. In recent years, there has been some revisionist history about Sewards decision. In 2009, University of Iowa economist David Barker argued, using a different set of statistics, that the federal government has lost money on the Alaska deal since 1867because of the amount of federal subsidies spent on Alaska. The fact that the federal government has not profited from Alaska supports the contention of the new Western history that the West has generally been subsidized by the federal government, he said. That theory was contested on a New York Times blog a year later by two professors in Alaska, who said Barkers calculations didnt take into account broader measures. The man shot by police Monday while allegedly brandishing a gun at the U.S. Capitol is a self-styled Tennessee pastor who was reportedly committed to a mental institution in 2005 and had recently been ordered by a judge to stay away from the Capitol grounds. The suspect, identified as Larry Russell Dawson, 66, of the Nashville area, is in stable but critical condition at a Washington, D.C., hospital. Alleged Capitol gunman Larry Dawson's profile photo from Facebook. Authorities said Dawson was shot after setting off a metal detector and waving a firearm at officers at an entrance to the Capitol Visitor Center. Mondays incident came five months after Dawson, according to D.C. Superior Court records, was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer and unlawful conduct for shouting Bible verses in the House chamber gallery. Im a prophet of God, Dawson yelled to lawmakers before allegedly getting in a scuffle with Capitol police. The website for St. Lukes Community Church in Antioch, Tenn., lists Dawson as the congregations pastor and elder. The site makes no mention of the churchs specific denomination. Its unknown why Dawson was in D.C. on Monday, but a video on the churchs site shows him holding a sign advocating for minimum wage to be increased from $7.25 to $15. I have been to Washington, D.C., three (3) times this year pushing for a raise in the minmum [sic] wage, states Dawson on the site. We ask you to help us, by giving a donation of any amount, as we began [sic] our ministry. And push for the raise in the minmum [sic] wage. St. Lukes Community Church in Antioch, Tenn., lists Dawson as its pastor and elder. (Website screenshot) After his October arrest, Judge Renee Raymond released Dawson without bail on the promise he would return for a Nov. 19 hearing. And, at the prosecutor's request, she also ordered Dawson to stay away from the Capitol and surrounding areas. An arrest warrant was issued for Dawson when he skipped court in November. According to the Washington Post, Dawson wrote the court in January to explain his absence: I have been called chosen and sent unto You this day. I am not under the Law! ... Therefore, I will not comply with the court order, nor will I surrender myself unto your office. Story continues The letter adds: For sin shall not dominion over you. For you are Not under the law, but under Grace!!! It concludes, No longer will I let myself be governed by flesh and blood, but only by the Divine Love of God!!!! According to state records, Dawson was a licensed funeral director and embalmer from 1972 until 2004, when his application for renewal was rejected. Apparently Mr. Dawson wrote a letter to an underage girl telling her that God told him to have sex with her, Kevin Walters, spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, told the Tennessean. So the board denied him in those instances. The Tennessean reported in August 2003 that Dawson was arrested and charged writing harassing letters to a teenage girl he met as a school bus driver before being fired for inappropriate behavior in 2001. The newspaper reports Dawson, according to state criminal records, was found not guilty reason of insanity on two of three harassment charges, and acquitted on another. The insanity plea led to a Tennessee judge committing Dawson to a mental institution in 2005. The judges commitment order stated Dawson was substantially likely to be a danger to himself or others if he was not treated, the newspaper learned from court records Tuesday. It was not immediately known how long he was committed. SLIDESHOW U.S. Capitol Visitor Center shooting >>> CLICK IMAGE for slideshow: United States Capitol police officer Harry Dunn stops pedestrians in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington March 29, 2016. The Capitol Police were investigating two unattended packages near the Capitol on Tuesday, authorities said in a statement one day after the area was put on lockdown amid a shooting. (REUTERS/Gary Cameron) The commitment order apparently did not surface before the D.C. court released him in October. According to a report obtained by Yahoo News, a background check identified one of Dawsons arrests for harassment but noted that it had no information on the outcome of the case. Pretrial Services Agency, a federal entity that assists D.C. courts, recommended he be on his own personal recognizance. PSA director Cliff Keenan said a mental health commitment wouldn't be revealed in the common criminal records check they do. "That kind of information is not accessible for initial appearance purposes," Keenan told Yahoo News. "It's kind of an interesting question. The more data that either judges or law enforcement have, the better. It certainly raises the question should we be a little more expansive." Once hes released from the hospital, Dawson will face charges of assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer while armed. Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles). BEIJING (Reuters) - A former deputy governor of China's southern province of Hainan has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday. Ji Wenlin was a one-time ally of Zhou Yongkang, the country's once-powerful domestic security boss, who was felled by President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign. Xi has warned that rampant corruption threatens the survival of the ruling Communist Party and has waged a campaign against graft in the past three years that has swept up scores of senior officials in the party, the government, the military and state-owned companies. Investigators began looking into Ji's activities as early as 2014, Xinhua said, adding that he used his position to seek benefits, including investments for several companies, illegally obtaining 20.4 million yuan ($3.2 million) in assets and bribes. Ji's official biography says he worked under Zhou when the latter was the party boss of the southwestern Sichuan province and the public security minister, among other posts. Zhou was jailed for life last June. Several key Zhou allies have been ensnared in the anti-graft campaign, including Jiang Jiemin, the former top regulator of state-owned assets. In another report, Xinhua said the trial of a former senior official who had vigorously backed Xi's anti-graft campaign had begun. Wang Min, the one-time Communist Party boss of Jinan city, about 300 km (185 miles) south of the capital, Beijing, is suspected of procuring property and other favors for companies, and of taking bribes. (Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Paris (AFP) - Shares in French transport giant Alstom gave up early strong gains on an upbeat growth outlook Wednesday as its its UK chief stepped down over corruption allegations and its Brazilian managers were reportedly being probed for collusion. Alstom, which has focused on transport since General Electric bought its energy business, said it expected to grow organic sales -- generated by its own businesses -- by five percent annually between now and 2020. It also announced a cost-cutting programme and said it would boost its operating margin. Investors welcomed the outlook, initially sending Alstom shares more than five percent higher. But by the Paris stock exchange's closing time all the early gains had been wiped out as investors pondered corruption and collusion cases hitting the company, and the shares ended flat at 22.88 euros, vastly underperforming the overall market. Also on Wednesday, the company said that the head of its British operations, Terence Watson, had stepped down over corruption allegations after being charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). "Alstom has been made aware of the recent decision by the SFO to press charges against Mr Terence Watson in the context of on-going proceedings by the SFO alleging illicit payments by Alstom Network UK Limited in relation to a transportation project," it said. Watson is accused of having been involved in corruption between 2003 and 2008 in connection with a contract to supply the Budapest metro with trains, the SFO said Tuesday. Watson told Alstom that he is contesting the accusations, the company said. Meanwhile in Brazil, press reports said Tuesday that five Alstom managers were under investigation for operating a cartel with other companies to divide up Sao Paolo transport contracts without tendering competing bids. A Sao Paolo judge said that only individuals were targeted by the probe, not Alstom as a company, they said. Managers at Bombardier, Siemens and Mitsui, among others, were also being investigated for the "economic crime" of collusion, they said. Luanda (AFP) - A Portuguese branch of the Anonymous hacking collective says it has shut down about 20 Angolan government websites in retaliation for the jailing of 17 youth activists for plotting "rebellion". The youths, including well-known rapper Luaty Beirao, were sentenced on Monday to between two and eight-and-a-half years, in a ruling that Amnesty International said was "an affront to justice". In a statement on its Facebook page late on Tuesday, the Anonymous Portugal group listed the government websites it said it had attacked. None of the websites were accessible on Wednesday. "The real criminals are outside, defended by the capitalist system that increasingly spreads in the minds of the weak," Anonymous said. There was no immediate comment from the government on the alleged cyber-attack. Beirao, who holds dual Portuguese and Angolan nationality, has a loyal fan base in Portugal, the former colonial ruler of Angola. Amnesty called for the immediate release of the activists, 15 of whom were detained at a political meeting in the capital Luanda last June. "Angolan authorities use the criminal justice system to silence dissenting views," said Amnesty director Deprose Muchena. "The activists have been wrongly convicted in a deeply-politicised trial. They are the victims of a government determined to intimidate anyone who dares to question its repressive policies." At the sentencing, about 30 protesters outside the court yelled "free the youths, arrest dictator Jose Eduardo dos Santos", the president of Angola since 1979. A man who shouted inside the court that the sentences were a "travesty of justice" was himself sentenced on Tuesday to eight months in jail. The activists insist they are peaceful campaigners lobbying for dos Santos, 73, to step down. This month, he said he would retire in 2018 but the announcement was received with scepticism following two similar pledges in the past. His current mandate ends at the end of next year. Washington (AFP) - The Associated Press on Wednesday defended its operations in Germany in the run-up to World War II after a researcher uncovered what was claimed to be evidence of collaboration with the Nazi regime. The US news organization responded to a paper in the German-language journal Studies in Contemporary History claiming it supplied American newspapers with material selected by the Nazi propaganda ministry, and in turn allowed it to use AP images for anti-Semitic propaganda. "AP rejects the suggestion that it collaborated with the Nazi regime at any time," said a statement from agency spokesman Paul Colford. "Rather, the AP was subjected to pressure from the Nazi regime from the period of Hitler's coming to power in 1933 until the AP's expulsion from Germany in 1941. AP staff resisted the pressure while doing its best to gather accurate, vital and objective news for the world in a dark and dangerous time." Colford added however that the AP is now "reviewing documents and other files in and beyond AP corporate archives, in the US and Europe, to further our understanding of the period." Researcher Harriet Scharnberg, citing documents and interviews, said she found evidence of more cooperation from the AP than previously disclosed. She noted that the Nazi regime gained control over the German subsidiary of AP in 1935 as other news organizations left the country. By agreeing to a 1934 German law governing the press, the AP "ceded considerable influence over the production of its news photos to the propaganda ministry," the researcher wrote. The Guardian newspaper, which first reported on Scharnberg's research, said the agreement enabled the US agency to keep its Berlin bureau open after most other international news organizations departed. AP said it had shared a large amount of material from its archives with the researcher, but that she used materials from other sources as well. Story continues The agency defended its reporting from Germany in the period leading up to the war. "AP news reporting in the 1930s helped to warn the world of the Nazi menace," the statement said. "AP's Berlin bureau chief, Louis P. Lochner, won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for his dispatches from Berlin about the Nazi regime. Earlier, Lochner also resisted anti-Semitic pressure to fire AP's Jewish employees and when that failed he arranged for them to become employed by AP outside of Germany, likely saving their lives." Colford said much of Scharnberg's research concerned a German photo agency subsidiary of AP Britain that was created in 1931, and which in 1935 became subject to the Nazi press-control law. US newspapers were supplied through the subsidiary with images taken in Nazi Germany -- including ones from the government or government-controlled sources that were clearly labeled as such, he said. "Images of that time from Germany had legitimate news value as editors and the public needed to learn more about the Nazis," Colford said. AP "did not engage in direct publication and until Ms. Scharnberg's research had no knowledge of any accusation that material may have been directly produced and selected by Nazi propaganda ministries," he added. When Germany declared war on the United States and expelled all foreign news organizations in 1941, "AP lost control over its subsidiary and therefore the use of its photos," Colford noted in response to the claim it allowed its archives to be used for propaganda. By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - If the U.S. Department of Justice asks a New York court to force Apple Inc to unlock an iPhone, the technology company could push the government to reveal how it accessed the phone which belonged to a shooter in San Bernardino, a source familiar with the situation said. The Justice Department will disclose over the next two weeks whether it will continue with its bid to compel Apple to help access an iPhone in a Brooklyn drug case, according to a court filing on Tuesday. The Justice Department this week withdrew a similar request in California, saying it had succeeded in unlocking an iPhone used by one of the shooters involved in a rampage in San Bernardino in December without Apple's help. The legal dispute between the U.S. government and Apple has been a high-profile test of whether law enforcement should have access to encrypted phone data. Apple, supported by most of the technology industry, says anything that helps authorities bypass security features will undermine security for all users. Government officials say that all kinds of criminal investigations will be crippled without access to phone data. Prosecutors have not said whether the San Bernardino technique would work for other seized iPhones, including the one at issue in Brooklyn. Should the Brooklyn case continue, Apple could pursue legal discovery that would potentially force the FBI to reveal what technique it used on the San Bernardino phone, the source said. A Justice Department representative did not have immediate comment. In a statement, Apple said "we don't know" the FBI's technical solution, which vendor developed it or "what it allegedly achieves." A federal magistrate in Brooklyn last month ruled that he did not have authority to order Apple to disable the security of an iPhone seized during a drug investigation. The Justice Department then appealed to a district court judge. After filing that appeal, U.S. prosecutors notified the magistrate in the San Bernardino case that a third party had demonstrated a new technique which could access the iPhone in question. Story continues The Justice Department disclosed the new technique to the judge one day after the demonstration, and then confirmed its success on Monday, according to court filings, though it did not reveal how its solution works. The U.S. government did not disclose any details in a letter to the Brooklyn judge on Tuesday. Instead, prosecutors only agreed with a request by Apple to delay briefing deadlines in the case, and said it would update the court by April 11 as to whether it would "modify" its own request for Apple's assistance. Law enforcement officials across the country have said they regularly encounter Apple devices they cannot access. Hillar Moore III, the district attorney in East Baton Rouge, said he has asked the FBI whether its new technique would access an iPhone to help solve a murder case he is overseeing. Moore has not yet received an answer. "Eventually we would like to know: Is this technology available to us, or is the third party going to sell it, and how much would it cost?" he said. (Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Bill Rigby) By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday said it had identified 63 cases across the U.S. in which the federal government asked for a court order compelling Apple Inc or Google to help access devices seized during investigations. The cases predominantly arise out of investigations into drug crimes, the ACLU said, adding that the data indicate such government requests have become "quite ordinary." Representatives for the Justice Department and Apple declined to comment. A spokesman for Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc , declined to say how frequently it has cooperated with All Writs Act requests or orders, and how often it has contested them. The Justice Department previously disclosed that Apple has received 70 court orders requiring it to provide assistance since 2008, which it obeyed without objection. However, last October Apple contested a Justice Department demand for assistance in a Brooklyn drug case. Since then, Apple has objected to several other government requests for help accessing devices across the country, the company said in a court filing last month. A U.S. judge in Brooklyn agreed with Apple and ruled that Congress has not authorized the government to ask for the help it demanded of the company. The Justice Department has appealed that ruling. The ACLU report comes after the Justice Department withdrew a request for Apple's assistance in California, saying on Monday it had succeeded in unlocking an iPhone used by one of the shooters involved in a rampage in San Bernardino in December without Apple's help. Other cases involving government requests for Apple's help are still pending. A variety of Apple and Google products have been targeted by court orders, according to the ACLU report. In one, an Apple iPhone 5 was seized by a man arrested in 2013 for importing methamphetamine from Mexico. A California court ordered Apple to help the Justice Department bypass the passcode and copy data onto an external hard drive. The order does not specify which operating system was running on the phone. (Reporting by Dan Levine) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Russian Foreign Ministry has sent a notification in response to the application of the Armenian Embassy in the RF regarding visiting Hrachya Harutyunyan who is serving sentence at penitentiary facility N.3 of Tambov Oblast (region). The notification informed that the Federal Penitentiary Service of the RF is ready to organize the meeting of Hrachya Harutyunyan and representatives of the Armenian Embassy in Russia. Armenpress was informed about this from the Armenian Embassy in Russia. Oleg Yesayan, Ambassador of Armenia to the RF, convened a consultation on March 29 in relation of the above mentioned. In the near future representatives of the Embassy will visit Hrachya Harutyunyan to get acquainted with his health and living condition, as well as discuss issues of his concern. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Around 20 Islamic State followers were arrested in Moscow trying to recruit new fighters for the group, Russia's RIA news agency cited a security source as saying on Wednesday. "During a joint operation of the FSB (Federal Security Service) and the police, around twenty people suspected of connections to ISIS (Islamic State) were arrested," RIA quoted the source as saying. The FSB could not immediately be reached for comment; the police declined to discuss the matter. "According to preliminary information, they were searching for and recruiting new members in Moscow," RIA said, citing the source. RIA said the majority of those arrested were citizens of the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. They had fake documents, including false Turkish driving licenses, it said. Russia is helping the Syrian army fight Islamic State in Syria providing air support, weapons, and advice. The group, which is outlawed in Russia, has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russia, mostly in the Caucasus region. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin/Jack Stubbs; Editing by Andrew Osborn) MOSCOW (Reuters) - Damascus will base its dialogue on solving the Syrian conflict at the next round of talks in Geneva on the United Nations basic principles document, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russia's RIA news agency published on Wednesday. Last week, Syrian and opposition parties considered a document drawn up by a U.N. special envoy outlining basic principles in what one diplomat described as a "baby step" forward. "For now, we cannot say that something was achieved at the Geneva talks but we have started from the basics, namely formulating the basic principles on which negotiations will be based," Assad said. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Christian Lowe) By Jack Stubbs and Lisa Barrington MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad said it would not be difficult to agree on a new Syrian government including opposition figures, but his opponents responded on Wednesday that no administration would be legitimate while he remained in office. Assad, bolstered by military victory in the desert city of Palmyra, was quoted by Russia's RIA news agency as saying a new draft constitution could be ready in weeks and a government that included opposition, independents and loyalists could be agreed. While the distribution of portfolios and other technical issues would need to be discussed at Geneva peace talks, which resume next month, "these are not difficult questions", Assad said. Opposition negotiators immediately dismissed Assad's remarks, saying that a political settlement could be reached only by establishing a transitional body with full powers, not another government under Assad. "What Bashar al-Assad is talking about has no relation to the political process," said George Sabra of the High Negotiations Committee. The United States also rejected Assad's comments. "I don't know whether he envisioned himself being a part of that national unity government. Obviously that would be a nonstarter for us," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Syria's crisis erupted five years ago with protests against Assad which were put down with force. It descended into a civil war which has killed more than 250,000, drawn in global military powers and helped Islamic State establish its self-declared caliphate. Nearly five million refugees have been driven abroad. At a conference in Geneva, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on countries to resettle nearly half a million Syrian refugees in the next three years. "This demands an exponential increase in global solidarity," he said, though his appeal won immediate responses from only three countries - Italy, Sweden and the United States. Assad told RIA the war had cost more than $200 billion in economic losses and damage to infrastructure. That is in line with a U.N.-backed body which estimates physical damage at $90 billion, with an additional $169 billion of accumulated losses from a collapse in GDP to less than half the 2011 level. Despite Assad's upbeat assessment of the chances for a political solution, his comments reflected deep differences with the opposition. It says that for the last four years international agreements on Syria's future have centred on the principle of setting up a transitional governing body. Assad's opponents have understood that such a body would have full powers, and that he would not play a further role. But the president said the very idea of a transitional body was "illogical and unconstitutional". "That's why the solution is forming a national unity government which prepares for a new constitution," he said, adding that its formation would be agreed in Geneva. LOOKING TO RAQQA Russia's six-month-old intervention in Syria helped to swing military momentum in Assad's favour, reversing last summer's gains by insurgents including Western-backed rebels and helping government forces to drive Islamic State out of Palmyra on Sunday. The recapture of the Palmyra and its military airport, in the central Syrian desert, opens up the road further east to the Islamic State bastions of Deir al-Zor province and Raqqa. "After liberating Palmyra it is necessary to move into the nearby regions which lead to the eastern parts of the country, for example, Deir al-Zor," Assad said. "At same time, we need to start in the direction of Raqqa, which is currently the main Islamic State stronghold." Any offensive on Deir al-Zor or Raqqa however would probably need significantly more firepower than the Palmyra assault. "It's an open question whether or not the Syrian army is going to be able to push any further to the east," said U.S. Army Col Steve Warren, Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. "They are stretched fairly thin and they still have a significant number of forces tied up in Palmyra." Although the United States and Russia worked together to establish a limited U.N.-backed truce in Syria, which excludes Islamic State and al Qaeda's Nusra Front, U.S. military officials have said they are not cooperating with Russian or Syrian forces. The Russian-backed Syrian ground forces are concentrated in western parts of the country, confronting Islamic State on its western front. U.S.-backed efforts in Syria, including Washington's support for a joint Kurdish-Arab force against the jihadi group, are focused instead on its northeastern flank. However, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov as saying Moscow and Washington were discussing "concrete" military coordination to recapture Raqqa from Islamic State. In a message to the U.N.'s Ban, Assad said Syria was ready to cooperate with "all sincere efforts" to combat terrorism, state news agency SANA said. "This moment might be the most appropriate to accelerate the collective war against terrorism," it quoted him as saying. Since capturing Palmyra, Syrian government forces and their allies have been targeted two towns to the east and west of the city, seeking to eliminate Islamic State from an expanse of desert in the centre of the country. Backed by Russian air power they virtually surrounded the town of al-Qaryatain, state media have reported. Heavy air strikes have also struck near the town of Sukhna, where Islamic State fighters retreated to when they pulled out of Palmyra. Russian and Syrian officials say the retreating jihadis left mines and explosives among the 2,000-year-old ruins which they abandoned in Palmyra, and Assad appealed to the U.N. to help restore the ancient monuments. Islamic State fighters dynamited two Roman temples, a triumphal arch and funeral towers last year, and also smashed statues and displays at the city museum before they fled. Russia said earlier it was sending military engineers, sniffer dogs and "demining robots" to help defuse explosives in the old city. (Writing and additional reporting by Dominic Evans in Beirut; additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow, Stephen Kalin in Baghdad and David Alexander in Washington; editing by Giles Elgood and David Stamp) Guatemala City (AFP) - Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder holed up in Ecuador's London embassy, could leave his refuge before the end of this year, a high-profile former Spanish judge who leads his legal team told AFP on Wednesday. "We hope and we want and we believe that we will manage that," lawyer Baltasar Garzon said on the sidelines of a conference on justice and war crimes in Guatemala. He did not give details on why he thought Assange's departure from the embassy was forthcoming, or under what conditions an exit would occur. Garzon added that he believed Assange's "right to asylum is being violated" by Britain's insistence on arresting the fugitive Australian to hand him over to Swedish authorities for questioning related to a 2010 rape allegation. Assange, 44, has been living in the Ecuadoran embassy since 2012. Ecuador has granted him political asylum. Assange denies the rape charge and says he fears Sweden would send him to the United States, where he is the target of a secret US grand jury investigation linked to his website's divulging classified US military documents and diplomatic cables. A UN panel this year concluded that Assange was being forced by Britain and Sweden to live in arbitrary detention in violation of his human rights. Britain has rejected that as "ridiculous." Garzon said Assange's legal team was continuing to highlight the "situation of arbitrariness and deprivation of rights" suffered by their client as a result of him "defending the right of access to information." (Reuters) - Victoria Azarenka withstood some early pressure from Britain's Johanna Konta to continue her quest for a third Miami Open title with a 6-4 6-2 quarter-final victory on Wednesday. Azarenka, who 10 days ago beat Serena Williams to win the Indian Wells title in California, outsteadied the 24th-seeded Konta in the end to keep alive her bid to capture the second half of the Sunshine Double. Konta, playing her first quarter-final of a WTA Premier event, more than held her own in a first set played in blustery conditions. Azarenka, however, rose to the occasion to fend off five break points, while Konta double-faulted twice to drop serve as the Belarusian took charge in just over 90 minutes. "She's such a great player," eighth-ranked Azarenka, the 2009 and 2011 champion, told ESPN. "I see a lot of potential. "I couldn't actually get a read on her serve in the beginning - it was tough for me to adjust - but then I got a bit lower and tried to get more returns in, be a bit more aggressive." The British number one, who was ranked 151st in the world this time last year, took some satisfaction from the match. "I'm happy with the level I was able to bring to the court," Konta, now ranked 23rd, told the BBC. "Obviously I'm disappointed that I couldn't have done a little bit better but I'm taking the positives from it." Azarenka will face the winner of Wednesday's evening clash between American Madison Keys and second seed Angelique Kerber of Germany for a place in the final. (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Hawaii became the seventh state to rally in support of the democratic development and right to self-determination for the people of Artsakh today, voting unanimously to recognize the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Armenpress reports the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region (ANCA-WR) informed. The Hawaii House of Representatives consideration of H.R. 167 took place despite enormous pressure from the Azerbaijani Embassy to quash the measure, with the key vote taking place just 24 hours before Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs visit to Washington, DC to join President Obama and other world leaders in the nuclear summit. The historic vote specifically voiced encouragement for Artsakhs (Nagorno Karabagh) continuing efforts to develop as a free and independent nation and formally called the internal community to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as a free, independent, and sovereign democracy. Today the people of Hawaii stood on the side of freedom and independence for the people of Artsakh standing strong against powerful lobbying interests seeking to undermine fundamental American and Armenian principles of democracy and self-determination. Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to Representatives Angus McKelvey and John Mizuno for leading this effort and the entire House of Representatives for taking such a strong stance along with our grassroots for their efforts, stated ANCA WR Executive Director Elen Asatryan. The Nagorno Karabakh Republic Representative to the U.S. Robert Avetisyan hailed the decision, stating, I am grateful to the House of Representatives of the State of Hawaii, Representative McKelvey, Representative Mizuno, and all their colleagues who supported this motion. It reinforces Artsakhtsis confidence that our achievements do not go unnoticed; that a free and independent Nagorno Karabakh Republic will eventually be recognized as such by the entire civilized community of nations. Both Avetisyan and Asatryan offered special thanks to community advocate Artur Artenyan, who worked tirelessly in support of the measure, with the support of the growing Hawaii Armenian community. In 2014, through local community efforts, the Hawaii legislature publicly debated and then rejected a pair of Azerbaijan-initiated anti-Armenian measures, dealing a high-profile setback to Bakus well-funded effort to enlist U.S. state legislatures in its increasingly aggressive campaign against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Artenian and Rudy Dekermenjian were on hand at the state capitol during the introduction and the vote. In the days leading up to the unanimous vote on H.R.167, the ANCA Western Region worked with Artenyan and key House legislators, offering insights on Artsakhs two decades of democratic development and economic progress in the face of increased attacks by Azerbaijani forces, which hit record levels in 2015. Hawaii joins Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Louisiana, California and, most recently, Georgia in adopting legislation which supports the independence of Artsakh. By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) - Black patients may do better when they're treated at U.S. hospitals with more racially diverse populations, a recent study of outcomes for common gastrointestinal problems suggests. Overall, black people were about 19 percent more likely to die or experience serious complications than white patients, the analysis of nationwide hospital data found. But when black people received treatment at hospitals with more diverse patient populations, they were 20 percent less likely to die or experience major complications than counterparts seen at hospitals with less racial diversity. While the study can't prove diversity improves outcomes for black patients, the findings suggest that doctors may do a better job of caring for minorities when they routinely see patients from a broad variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, said lead study author Dr. Philip Okafor, a researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "Our underlying hypothesis is that hospitals and providers that treat more minority patients have higher levels of cultural competency," Okafor said by email. Previously, researchers thought black patients might have worse outcomes because they didn't get to the hospital soon enough or because they had multiple complex medical issues that complicated their care, Okafor added. "However, our results demonstrate that even when African-Americans came to the hospital for care, they had poorer outcomes in hospitals that treated a lower proportion of African-Americans," Okafor said. To assess how the diversity of patient populations influences outcomes for black people, Okafor and colleagues analyzed data on more than 848,000 admissions at almost 3,400 hospitals nationwide. They focused on five common gastrointestinal problems cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis, gastrointestinal hemorrhages, gastrointestinal obstructions, irritable bowel disease and gallbladder surgery. At the hospital level, the majority of patients were white, and the proportion of minorities typically ranged from 26 percent to 30 percent. Hospital charges overall were 36 percent higher for black patients than for white people, researchers report in The American Journal of Gastroenterology. However, when black patients were seen at hospitals with more diverse populations, their charges were 51 percent lower than if they were seen at hospitals with less diversity. Black patients also had slightly shorter hospital stays, an indicator of the quality of care, when they were treated at hospitals with more diverse patient populations. The difference was less than a day, though. Limitations of the study include its reliance on claims data used for billing purposes, which doesn't capture nuances like quality of care, the authors note. The researchers also lacked data on the diversity among clinicians, which might influence outcomes for black patients. Often, hospital outcomes are related to volume, with patients getting better surgery results when surgeons do more of the same procedure. "There could be a volume effect with racially diverse hospitals simply treating more minority patients," said Dr. Daniel Chu, a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who wasn't involved in the study. "In many of these circumstances, by treating the same situation repeatedly, a system is present or developed that provides standardized and consistent care not only on the medical front, but also in other dimensions such as social support, financial support, easy access, etc.," Chu added by email. "These other dimensions may be particularly important or needed for minority patients." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1pKOSb8 American Journal of Gastroenterology, online March 22, 2016. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Disgraced Olympic and Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius will face sentencing in June following his conviction for murdering his girlfriend, Sky News reported on Wednesday. Citing sources, Sky News said Pistorius will be sentenced between June 13 and 17. Pistorius, known as "Blade Runner" for the carbon fiber prosthetic blades he used to race, faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence. The Supreme Court in December upgraded the 29-year-old Paralympian's sentence on appeal to murder from "culpable homicide" - South Africa's equivalent of manslaughter, for which he had received a five-year sentence. Pistorius was released from prison and placed under house arrest on Oct. 19, having spent one day less than a year behind bars for shooting dead model Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013, in a case that attracted worldwide interest and continues to fascinate and divide South Africa. (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Niamey (AFP) - Six Nigerien soldiers were killed and three others wounded in the country's southeast Wednesday in an attack blamed on Boko Haram, the interior ministry said in a statement read on state radio. The soldiers were killed in an ambush "by Boko Haram terrorists" at around 6 am as they were patrolling some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Diffa, the regional capital near Nigerian border, the statement said. Boko Haram has suffered substantial setbacks in recent months in the face of a counteroffensive by national armies from the region. At least 17,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched an insurgency in 2009 to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. More than 2.6 million people have fled their homes since the start of the violence but some of the internally displaced have returned home after troops began the fight-back last year and recaptured territory. A regional force involving troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin is to deploy to fight the Islamists. A new trailer for the Jonas Cuaron immigration thriller Desierto promotes the film's upcoming Mexico release by employing an anti-immigrant voiceover taken from a controversial Donald Trump speech. The trailer, released Wednesday, shows migrant workers running for their lives in a desert on the border as a U.S. vigilante shoots and kills them one by one with a rifle. The voiceover comes from a speech last June when Trump announced his presidential candidacy. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," the Trump voiceover says in the trailer. "They're sending people that have lots of problems. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists and it's gotta stop, and it's gotta stop fast." The official trailer for theaters, a longer version without a Trump audio insert, features Gael Garcia Bernal doing the voiceover. Garcia Bernal, star of the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle, criticized Trump's border wall proposal in Toronto, where Desierto had its world premiere last year. He called it the real estate developer's stupidest investment ever. Trump later said on the campaign trail that he would make Mexico pay for the wall, yet it remains unclear how he intends to do that. Cuaron, one of Mexico's rising stars, is the son of Oscar winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron. Together they wrote they screenplay for the space thriller Gravity. By Caroline Stauffer SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's judiciary will not end systemic corruption unless society also demands change, the federal judge presiding over a massive graft investigation that may topple President Dilma Rousseff's government said. Judge Sergio Moro, a hero to many Brazilians who has recently been criticized for pushing the boundaries of the law, compared the investigation he oversees to Italy's "Clean Hands" anti-bribery operation in the 1990s. "Alone the justice system cannot resolve corruption, other institutions must work and the public must speak out," Moro said on Tuesday evening at a conference where security was so tight that journalists were only allowed to record him with pen and paper. A white collar crime expert who has written a book on money laundering, Moro said Italy is undoubtedly a better place because of the Clean Hands operation. Still, he said the investigation did not completely stamp out corruption because Italy's democracy and civil society were not strong enough to demand change. The probe Moro presides over in the southern city of Curitiba revealed a cartel of Brazil's largest construction companies that siphoned billions of dollars out of state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, benefiting executives and potentially dozens of senior politicians. Its revelations, along with a deepening economic recession, have spurred the largest protests in decades, with some 3 million people taking to the streets on March 13. Protesters have idolized Moro, waving banners to show their support for him as they call for President Dilma Rousseff's ouster. The government declared all-out war on Moro and the investigation after he this month released a slew of phone recordings of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that appear to show he and Rousseff discussed trying to influence judges and prosecutors. Rousseff, who unlike Lula is not under investigation, said the conversation was misunderstood and branded the recordings as illegal. Several days of anti-government protests followed their release on March 16. Moro made the phone conversations public just hours after Rousseff appointed Lula, her mentor and predecessor, to her Cabinet. The position would have granted him immunity from all judges but the Supreme Court, but his status as minister is now uncertain, awaiting a final legal ruling. The Supreme Court also asked Moro to answer questions about his decision to release the phone calls, drawing a written apology from him in a Tuesday court filing in which he lamented the uproar he caused. "I understand that my ruling may have been considered incorrect, or even if correct may have brought controversy and unnecessary constraints," Moro wrote. He said his motivation was preventing the obstruction of justice and was not partisan. At the time, Moro justified the release by saying the right to privacy was not absolute, mentioning the U.S. Watergate scandal. He said democracy required citizens know when their leaders "sought protection in the shadows." "As a citizen I'd say Moro was totally justified, but as a lawyer ... he can't," said David Azevedo, a criminal lawyer and professor at the University of Sao Paulo. "He should have sent those recordings to the Supreme Court." Under Brazilian law, only the Supreme Court can preside over cases involving presidents, ministers and lawmakers. Rousseff is facing impeachment over the unrelated issue of mismanaging public accounts. She denies knowing about corruption at Petrobras as the company's chairwoman from 2003 to 2010. Lula, who was forcibly detained for questioning in the Petrobras scandal, has denied all wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a witch hunt. Both Rousseff and Lula have likened the attempted impeachment to a coup. (Reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Andrew Hay) Tbilisi (AFP) - Britain's top diplomat on Wednesday praised Georgia, which is seeking to join NATO and the EU, as a "key security partner" and blasted Russia for bullying its eastern European neighbours. "The UK sees Georgia as key international security partner and regional democratic role model," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond wrote on Twitter after meeting the pro-Western leadership of the tiny Caucasus nation. Speaking at a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili in Tbilisi, Hammond praised the country's democratic and anti-corruption reforms. But he urged it to work harder on ensuring media freedom, the independence of judiciary, and the democratic conduct of the upcoming parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for October. Georgia's bid to join the European Union and NATO have infuriated its former master Russia, which opposes any NATO enlargement that includes former Soviet republics as a perceived security threat. In August 2008, Georgia fought and lost a brief but bloody war with Russia over its separatist South Ossetia region. The West and Russia are currently locked in a bitter feud over Moscow's meddling in Ukraine and Hammond criticised Russia for breaking "the rules of the international system". "That represents a challenge and a threat to all of us," he said. Just before the 2008 war, NATO member countries ruled that Georgia would one day join the alliance, but have so far refused to put it on a formal membership path. In 2014, Georgia and the EU signed an "association agreement" aimed at bringing Tbilisi closer to Europe politically and granting Tbilisi a free trade regime on European markets. On March 9, the European Commission put forward a legislative proposal offering visa-free short-stay travel to the bloc for Georgian citizens. LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will ship 700 kilograms of nuclear waste to the United States under a deal to be announced by Prime Minister David Cameron at a nuclear security summit in Washington on Thursday, a British government source said. In return for the shipment, the largest ever movement of highly enriched uranium, the United States will send Europe a different type of nuclear waste that can be used to produce medical isotopes for the treatment of some cancers. "The prime minister will be announcing a landmark deal that we have agreed with the US and with (European Atomic Energy Community) Euratom," the British government source said, on condition of anonymity. "It is a win-win. We get rid of waste and we get back something that will help us to fight cancer." At the two-day summit, being attended by more than 50 world leaders, Britain and the US will also announce plans to host a joint exercise later this year to test the ability of their governments and nuclear industries to deal with a cyber attack in the civil nuclear sector. The source said this was not in response to intelligence about a specific threat, but "prudent planning". Last week, Belgian newspaper DH reported suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Brussels were originally considering an attack on a nuclear site in Belgium. Britain will also invest more than 10 million pounds ($14 million) in improving nuclear security standards worldwide and, separately, launch a scheme to help other countries strengthen their ability to withstand cyber attacks on their nuclear sectors. Japan, South Korea, Turkey and Argentina are among those expected to be involved in that scheme, the source said. "They have come to us and said they would like to benefit from expertise we have in this area and work with us on it," the source said. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Stephen Addison) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Recognition of Artsakh independence by U.S. State of Hawaii is an important victory of Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora cooperation, David Babayan, Spokesman for the President of Artsakh Republic told Armenpress. One more state officially recognized the independence of Artsakh. We have mentioned that new developments are expected in the process of Artsakh recognition and the recognition of the State of Hawaii is in that context. Artsakh recognition process goes on dynamically and it is inevitable. Hawaii is a key state. This will give a new momentum to international recognition of Artsakh. We express our gratitude to the citizens and authorities of the State of Hawaii, David Babayan said. In his words, it is of key importance to activate the illustration of topics referring to Artsakh. We must actively illustrate this entire process. As you may know, we have elaborated a multidimensional strategy for Artsakh recognition. We start from lower circles and gradually move to state level. Here we should also note that if Artsakh was not a democratic state, no one would wish to have relations with it, let alone recognize it. This is not a market process, we are recognized without any monetary investments, this is on the ideological and moral platform, Babayan added. US House of Representatives of Hawaii passed the Resolution 167 recognizing the independence of Artsakh Republic. Hawaii is the seventh US state to recognize the Republic of Artsakh. Previously, similar resolutions have been passed in legislative bodies of California, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and Georgia. Nairobi (AFP) - Burundi's Attorney General has called on families of victims of alleged extrajudicial executions to provide evidence for investigations, warning them not to submit it to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Top government lawyer Valentin Bagorikunda claimed that evidence submitted to the ICC or the United Nations could be "manipulated", in a statement on Tuesday, following a bid by lawyers to gather reports from 60 families who say their relatives were executed. "The Attorney General invites all the families of the victims... to submit their complaints and other evidence in order that investigations be initiated," Bagorikunda said in a statement. "If, by chance, some unlawful acts committed on the territory of Burundi have not been prosecuted, it is because they have not been reported to the public prosecutor." Hundreds have been killed and almost quarter of a million people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision last April to run for a third term. Bujumbura blames the killings on opposition forces. A bid launched last week by lawyers on behalf of some 60 families appealed to The Hague-based ICC as well as to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights "to bring the perpetrators of these grave crimes against humanity before the courts." The ICC was set up in 2002 to investigate and try those responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, where national authorities cannot or will not prosecute. Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - Central African Republic's new president Faustin-Archange Touadera on Wednesday pledged to "preserve peace" as he was sworn in following polls aimed at restoring stability in the wake of three years of turmoil. The 58-year-old former maths teacher was the surprise winner of February's presidential election -- the first since the outbreak of a wave of inter-communal violence between Muslim and Christian militias that has killed thousands of people since 2013. "I pledge to wholly respect the constitution... and preserve peace," he said, promising to carry out his duties "without any ethnic bias". He also pledged to "revamp the army into an apolitical and secular force" and launched an appeal for "national reconciliation". The swearing-in ceremony at the main stadium in the capital Bangui was attended by regional leaders, including President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea and Denis Sassou Nguesso from the Republic of Congo as well as the foreign and defence ministers of former colonial ruler France. It marks the last stage of the political transition that began with the overthrow in 2013 of Christian former president Francois Bozize by the predominantly Muslim "Seleka" rebel alliance. - 'A great event' - The crowds at the ceremony included 29-year-old engineer Igor Ali who said the day was a "great event which will allow us to finally bury the past." Nadege, a shopkeeper who lives with her six children in a camp in Bangui for displaced people, added: "I want Touadera to disarm the militia. We have suffered too much." After Bozize's ouster, the former rebels ran amok, sacking villages in a wave of bloodletting that sparked fierce retaliatory attacks on minority Muslims by Christian-dominated militia. In November, Pope Francis visited the country, on his first trip to a war zone, during which he made an impassioned plea for peace and reconciliation. Story continues Several weeks later, a constitutional referendum on limiting the president's tenure was approved by a large majority, clearing the way for elections on December 30. Touadera's inauguration coincided with an announcement from France that it would end its military intervention in the mineral-rich but deeply poor nation this year. France launched Operation Sangaris in December 2013, at the height of the violence that swept the country. At the time Central African Republic "was in the throes of civil war, torn by religious tensions, plagued by chaos, on the brink of pre-genocidal scenarios," French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday in Bangui. "In the space of two years, the Sangaris force restored calm and prevented the unacceptable," he said, announcing that the operation, which counted 2,500 troops at its peak, would be wrapped up "during the course of 2016". - A balancing act - While admitting that the security situation was "not resolved" yet, Le Drian said Central Africa was finally "emerging from a long period of trouble and uncertainty". Touadera, who served as prime minister between 2008-2013 under Bozize, faces enormous challenges on both the security and economy fronts. The so-called "people's candidate" is hugely popular -- partly due to a measure he introduced as premier to pay government salaries directly into bank accounts, ending decades of pay arrears and unpaid wages. But another former prime minister warned Touadera would struggle to raise revenues. "(The country) remains cut off from its income due to the systematic bleeding of revenue by armed groups that have set themselves up as customs officers (and) tax officials," said Enoch Derant Lakoue, a presidential candidate. Central African economist Achille Nzotene added: "It's a balancing act in terms of security, and he must engage in a titanic economic recovery effort." Like his predecessors, Touadera will be largely dependent on the international community to underwrite his government's budget and security. The French defence minister also pointed to another huge task he faces: putting in place an effective and non-partisan army. "There has to be a legitimate army and not one that is divided along ethnic lines and networks," he said. The army, whose strength is estimated between 7,000 and 8,000, is currently a ragtag force of ill-paid soldiers who are poorly trained and often lack basic equipment. By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two California Democratic congressmen on Wednesday urged the California Public Employees Retirement System, the largest U.S. public pension fund, to divest from oil giant ExxonMobil over its handling of the issue of climate change. Congressmen Ted Lieu and Mark DeSaulnier sent a letter to CalPERS CEO Anne Stausboll, saying it is "morally suspect" for the $300 billion pension fund "to invest in a company that engaged in morally reprehensible conduct" on climate change. The lawmakers said the fund should follow the lead of the Rockefeller Family Fund, which said last week it would divest from fossil fuels and "eliminate holdings" of Exxon Mobil Corp, saying the oil company associated with the family fortune has misled the public about climate change risks. CalPERS was not immediately available for comment. Investigations last year from Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times reported that the major oil firm misled the public and shareholders about the risks of climate change. The stories led New York and California's attorneys general to launch investigations into whether the company misinformed shareholders. On Tuesday, the top attorneys from Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands confirmed they have launched their own investigations.[L2N1711A7] An Exxon spokeswoman refuted the conclusions of those reports that said the company ignored the research of its own climate scientists. "Contrary to activists' claims, our company's deliberations decades ago yielded no definitive conclusions," Suzanne McCarron, Exxon vice president of public affairs wrote in a statement Tuesday. She added that the company continues to engage in public debate around "policy responses to the emerging science." The congressmen challenged CalPERS' position that divestment isn't always the best strategy to change company behavior on climate change, and that ongoing shareholder pressure can yield more results. "We have seen no discernable evidence that CalPERS' efforts to engage ExxonMobil have resulted in any significant change in the way the company operates when it comes to taking action on climate change," the lawmakers wrote in the letter. Last year, CalPERS completed a study of its portfolio's carbon footprint, breaking down the greenhouse gas emissions of its companies. The fund is already beginning to sell its holdings in companies that get at least half of their revenues from coal mining after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law calling for the partial divestment. The company is aiming to sell the shares by 2017. (Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Alan Crosby) TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian engineering firm Stantec Inc said on Tuesday it had agreed to purchase MWH, a water resources infrastructure company based in Colorado, for $793 million in cash. Stantec said the acquisition of MWH, which has 6,800 employees worldwide, would make it a global leader in water resources infrastructure, increasing its presence in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America, and Europe and the Middle East. "MWH brings a global presence and reputation in water infrastructure that will advance Stantec's position as a top-tier design firm within the highly attractive global water market," said Stantec CEO Bob Gomes. Stantec said the acquisition would be financed by a combination of an equity financing and new credit facilities and is expected to generate annual cost savings of about $25 million. The deal is subject to the approval of at least two-thirds of MWH shareholders at a special meeting to be held this month. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) Montreal (AFP) - Cuba has invited Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit the communist-run island, Havana's ambassador to Ottawa said Wednesday. "He is welcome to Cuba any time he wishes to come when his schedule allows him, and if President Raul Castro is invited to come to Canada, I'm sure he will take this opportunity," Ambassador Julio Garmendia Pena told a press conference in Montreal. The invitation comes one week after US President Barack Obama wrapped up a historic trip to Cuba, where he met with Raul Castro during a trip aimed at cementing the thaw announced by the two leaders in December 2014. "We haven't agreed any dates in the agendas, we have just opened the possibility of receiving a high-level delegation from Canada headed by the prime minister," Garmendia Pena said. The Cuban ambassador praised what he called historic ties between Cuba and Canada, one of the few countries in the Americas that has never severed diplomatic ties with the communist island. Even before the US-Cuba thaw was announced, officials from Canada and Cuba held several rounds of "secret talks" in Ottawa, he said. Pena added that Canadian businesses had nothing to fear from the ongoing rapprochement with the United States, which he framed as golden opportunity for the country given that the US embargo had discouraged many Canadian companies from doing business with Cuba, for fear of US sanctions. "The blockade is on its way out and there is a window where Canadian companies can come to explore if they are ready to invest," said the ambassador, who was invited to speak by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (CORIM). He also expressed exasperation at what he called weak Canadian investment in the Cuban tourism sector, which he said "doesn't reach $100 million." That number is paradoxical, he said, given that Canadians accounted for 1.3 million of the three million foreign tourists who visited the island in 2015. Jean Chretien is the last Canadian prime minister to visit Havana, in 1998. The three remaining Republican presidential candidates have refused to say whether they will honour pledges to support the party's eventual nominee ahead of a key primary in Wisconsin. On Tuesday, front runner Donald Trump said he was rescinding a promise he made earlier in the campaign to back the Republican nominee because he had been "treated very unfairly". Asked the question during a town hall appearance in Milwaukee hosted by CNN, the real estate tycoon said: "We'll see who it is." Texas Senator Ted Cruz also appeared to row back on his earlier pledge, claiming that if Mr Trump won the nomination it would hand the White House to Hillary Clinton. He told the meeting: "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and children." Ohio Governor John Kasich , who trails in the delegate count, said: "If the nominee is somebody I think is really hurting the country, and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them." The Wisconsin primary, on 5 April, could prove pivotal to the Republican race. If Mr Cruz wins, it would narrow Mr Trump's already tight path to the nomination and raise the prospect of a contested convention in July. Mr Trump heads into the state with 739 delegates, compared to Mr Cruz's 465. Mr Kasich trails behind with 143. The state has 42 Republican delegates, with 18 going to the winner and 24 divided among the winners of eight congressional districts. On Tuesday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker - a former candidate in the GOP nomination race - endorsed Mr Cruz. He said: "This is a guy who has been consistent in his positions and, when push comes to shove, will stand up for the people he represents over the interests in Washington." It comes after Mr Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged in Florida over the alleged assault of a journalist . Moscow (AFP) - One policeman was killed and another injured when a car exploded at a checkpoint in Russia's volatile region of Dagestan Wednesday, local police said, hours after another officer died in a bombing claimed by the Islamic State group. "As police were trying to stop a car, the driver drove past and the car exploded," local police spokeswoman Fatina Ubaydatova told AFP. "As a result one policeman was killed and one was injured, according to preliminary information." Ubaydatova said the identity and fate of the people in the vehicle remained unknown. An unnamed source in law enforcement told RIA Novosti state news agency that a brief car chase ensued after the vehicle failed to stop at the checkpoint and that its occupants hurled an explosive device at the police car. The incident came hours after a police officer was killed and two were injured when explosive devices were detonated on a main road near Dagestan's city of Kaspiysk late Tuesday as two police vehicles passed. The Aamaq news agency, which is affiliated with IS, claimed that fighters from the group were behind the bombing. The officer killed in the Wednesday attack, 35-year-old lieutenant Igor Mutsenik, worked for the police force of Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region but had been temporarily serving in Dagestan. His body will be sent home within the next few days, authorities said. Investigators said they had launched a probe into the incident, which the Kremlin refused to comment on. Ubaydatova said that Russia's national anti-terror committee would be involved in the investigation. Tuesday's attack is the fourth to be claimed by IS in the North Caucasus in the last seven months, according to Caucasian Knot, a news portal that monitors the region. Dagestan's police force refused to comment about any possible links between the two incidents in the region, which occurred some 100 kilometres apart. Attacks against police are not uncommon in the North Caucasus region, which faces a simmering Islamist insurgency. Story continues Last year 126 people were killed in Dagestan as a result of terror and armed conflict, including 13 law enforcement officers, Caucasian Knot reported. In February, two police officers died and two were injured after attackers detonated a car bomb at a checkpoint. Around a dozen civilians were also injured. The Islamic State group claimed a deadly shooting in December near the ancient citadel of Derbent, southern Dagestan. Islamist rebels from Dagestan, which lies immediately east of Chechnya, are known to have travelled to join the Islamic State group. Last year the group declared it had established a "franchise" in the North Caucasus. Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, has previously called on jihadists from the Caucasus to attack targets in Russia in response to Moscow's bombing campaign in Syria. BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese government warned Taiwan on Wednesday that the passage of a proposed new law governing relations between the two could seriously damage the basis for talks, and that Beijing opposed any obstacles to developing ties. China has looked on with suspicion at Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won presidential and parliamentary elections in January on the back of a wave of anti-China sentiment. In 2014, hundreds of students occupied Taiwan's parliament for weeks in protests nicknamed the Sunflower Movement, demanding more transparency and fearful of China's growing economic and political influence on the democratic island. The protests over the 2013 Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, which aimed to open up investment from both sides in industries such as banking, healthcare, and tourism, were the largest display of anti-China sentiment in Taiwan in years. The DPP is proposing Taiwan's parliament first passes a so-called cross-Taiwan Strait supervision law before it will consider agreeing to the trade pact. China is worried that the law would stymie future agreements with Taiwan. Asked about the law, a spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the basis for talks between the two sides should not be damaged. "Anything that damages the basis for consultations and negotiations between the two sides of the strait, interferes in or impedes relevant progress or puts up man-made blocks on the development of ties, we will resolutely oppose," spokesman An Fengshan said at a regular briefing. He did not elaborate. The trade deal has stalled in Taiwan's parliament, although the manner in which the self-ruled island moves forward in the current February-to-May session will be seen as a sign of how Tsai will steer Taiwan-China ties. China's trade minister last month urged Taiwan to pass the trade pact. China considers Taiwan a wayward province, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after the Chinese civil war. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. The 2016 Nuclear Security Summit kicks off in Washington. It will last for three days, during which a number of heads of states, ministers responsible for nuclear matters and directors of large nuclear companies will deliver speeches. The summit will end on April 1 with an exhibition on nuclear industry. The summit will be chaired by the director of the Nuclear Energy Institute Martin Fertel, and the keynote speaker will be the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano. The 3 main directions of this year's summit are the security of installation, transportation and use of strategic nuclear and radiological materials, responses to cyber threats and the role of the global nuclear industry. The summit is organized by the Institute of Nuclear Energy. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is in Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit. The President of Armenia participated in all three previous summits, in 2010 in Washington, in 2012 Seoul and in 2014 in The Hague. Bogota (AFP) - The Colombian government said it will announce Wednesday the start of peace negotiations with the country's second-biggest guerrilla group, the left-wing ELN, broadening the push to end a half-century conflict. The Colombian presidency's High Commission for Peace said in a statement that the government and the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) would announce the move in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. That would open a new front in peace negotiations as the government also closes in on a deal with the country's biggest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The complex conflict between right- and left-wing guerrillas, government troops and gangs in Colombia is considered the last major armed confrontation in the Western Hemisphere. Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos has staked his presidency on ending it. Official sources told AFP Wednesday's announcement would be attended by the government's top delegate for the existing FARC peace talks, Frank Pearl. They said they expected two ELN commanders to attend, including Eliecer Herlinton Chamorro Acosta, better known by his nom de guerre Antonio Garcia. Santos's government has been discussing for more than two years the possibility of launching formal negotiations with the ELN. Those discussions have taken place mainly in Ecuador. The official sources added that the government and ELN had agreed to let six other countries act as guarantors of the peace process: Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Norway and Venezuela. For the past three years, the government has been holding talks in Havana with the FARC. The two sides say they have made substantial progress over recent months. They had aimed to sign a peace agreement on March 23 but that deadline passed with no deal as key issues have not yet been resolved, including disarmament. In September, the two sides agreed the Marxist rebels would begin disarming "at the latest 60 days after the signing of the final accord." Story continues But they did not set a date to finish disarming. US Secretary of State John Kerry met with representatives of Colombia and the FARC in Havana last week. He urged them to "redouble" efforts for an end to the conflict. - War crimes charges - Starting as a peasant uprising in the 1960s and drawing in various armed groups and gangs, the conflict has killed more than 260,000 people, uprooted 6.6 million people and left a further 45,000 missing. The United Nations children's agency said this month that hostilities in Colombia have displaced or otherwise disrupted the lives of more than 250,000 children even since the FARC peace talks began three years ago. Inspired by the Cuban revolution, the ELN was founded in 1964, the same year the FARC launched its uprising. Officials estimate the ELN currently has some 1,500 members and the FARC about 7,000. Though the prospect of peace with the FARC has raised hopes in Colombia, efforts to bring the ELN into the process are complicated. As the talks with the FARC have advanced, tensions have remained high over the ELN, which has continued committing attacks and abductions. Unlike the FARC did last year, the ELN has not yet ordered a ceasefire by its troops, who live in hiding. The ELN has recently released certain hostages, including a Colombian soldier it had held for more than six months. But on Tuesday, Colombian state prosecutors called for ELN leaders to be indicted on war crimes charges for attacks against oil installations that they say cost the country billions of dollars. That case targets leaders including the group's top commander Nicolas Rodriguez Bautista, known as Gabino. Official sources would not rule out that he might attend Wednesday's announcement. Caracas (AFP) - Colombia's government launched peace negotiations with the country's second-biggest guerrilla group, setting its sights on a total end to a bloody half-century conflict. Bogota hopes the talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) will bring it on board alongside Colombia's biggest rebel force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in a bid to end what is seen as the last major armed confrontation in the West. "If we achieve peace, it will be the end of the guerrillas in Colombia and therefore in Latin America," said President Juan Manuel Santos. His chief negotiator Frank Pearl and ELN commander Antonio Garcia announced the decision in a joint statement earlier after meeting in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. The government and ELN "have agreed to set up public talks... in order to sign a final accord to end the armed conflict and agree on changes in search of peace and equity," they said. The ELN is a leftist group like the FARC, but they have fought as rivals for territory in a many-sided conflict that started as a peasant uprising in 1964. While the FARC has observed a ceasefire since last year as its own peace talks have advanced, the ELN has continued attacks. Indeed, government data show the ELN alone has been to blame for 28 percent of recent attacks on civilians in Colombia. Accords bringing in the government and the FARC and ELN would establish peace between the main remaining players in the conflict, which over the decades has drawn in right- and left-wing guerrillas, government troops and drug trafficking gangs. "A peace process with the ELN means that Colombia now has the opportunity to end completely the 52 years of armed conflict with both guerrilla groups," said Kyle Johnson, an analyst at the International Crisis Group. The government and ELN said six other countries will act as guarantors of the peace process: Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Norway and Venezuela. Story continues In a Twitter message the FARC's chief negotiator Ivan Marquez called it "a historic moment for Colombia." South American regional bloc UNASUR said in a statement the new negotiations were the "missing piece" of the peace drive. Cuba and Venezuela were among countries that hailed the breakthrough. - Complex peace process - Santos's government has been holding talks in Havana with the FARC since 2012. They had aimed to sign a peace agreement on March 23 but that deadline passed with no deal as key issues have not yet been resolved, including disarmament. The negotiations with the ELN "are of a very different nature from the Havana process because the ELN and the FARC are very different organizations," Santos said in a speech in Colombia after Wednesday's announcement. "But the end of the conflict is one and the same," he added. He said any deal with the ELN would be subject to the same measures due to be approved under any agreement with the FARC. Those include ceasefire procedures and the setting up of a special tribunal for hearing cases linked to the conflict. The grinding territorial standoff has killed more than 260,000 people, uprooted 6.6 million people and left a further 45,000 missing. Inspired by the Cuban revolution, the ELN was founded in 1964, the same year as the FARC. Officials estimate the ELN currently has some 1,500 members and the FARC about 7,000. One Colombian government source who asked not to be named said the ELN's lack of a top-down command structure "has made negotiations for a roadmap more complex." As the talks with the FARC have advanced, tensions have remained high with the ELN, which unlike the FARC has not declared a ceasefire. The ELN recently released two hostages, a Colombian soldier and a politician. Donald Trump on Tuesday night demonstrated his ability to quell political firestorms that traditionally would have consumed a White House hopeful, mostly by throwing sand on them and in the eyes of voters. One week before the Wisconsin primary, in what could be a make or break moment for the Never Trump movement, the billionaire took the stage at a CNN town hall in the Badger State amidst a swirl of controversies. His campaign manager is being charged with simple battery for grabbing a female reporter earlier this month, and Trump is in a weeklong feud with Sen. Ted Cruz (TX), his GOP rival, about their wives and their looks. Related: Donald Trump Has Forgotten How to Fire People The former reality TV star dismissed calls to fire his top aide, Corey Lewandowski, because he did nothing wrong during the encounter on March 12 in Jupiter, FL. In fact, he used the town hall to ridicule the reporter, Michelle Fields, who has since resigned from the news organization Breitbart, and delivered a mocking rendition of her statement immediately following the incident, which was caught on security camera. She was grabbing me, Trump said. "She was off-base. I dont think [Lewandowski] knew her. Shes not a baby. She wasnt yanked down. My arm has never been the same, folks, he joked, after saying Fields touched his arm. Trump suggested she could have been carrying a little bomb in her hand at the time. It could have been a knife. It might have been dangerous. Confronted over his Tweet from last week that showed an unflattering picture of Heidi Cruz, Trump blithely shrugged off the feud. Related: Ex-Trump Insider: Donald Doesnt Want to Be President I didnt start it. I didnt start it, he said. Sir, with all due respect, thats the argument of a 5-year-old, CNNs Anderson Cooper responded. I didnt start it. No its not, Trump said. Hullabaloos aside, the billionaire proceeded to lay out explicit, though shifting and at sometimes completely contradictory, policy positions with huge international ramifications. Story continues Trump said he was deeply concerned about nuclear proliferation but stood by comments he made to editorial boards last week that South Korea and Japan should have atomic weapons, as well as possibly Saudi Arabia to counter Iran. Its going to happen anyway, he said. Asked what should be the three main functions of the federal government, Trump replied security, healthcare and education. We need healthcare for our people, he said. The government can lead it but it should be privately done, he added, after describing Obamacare. Related: Terrorist Toddlers? Guns at the Convention? How Absurd Can the GOP Get? Trump muddied the waters by adding that education should be a state issue. As he did during editorial board conversations, Trump called for ground-shaking shifts in multiple cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy without providing any specifics. For example, NATO today is obsolete. However, the organization could be rejiggered by adding different nations, according to Trump. He didnt name what countries those might be. The 69-year-old contender also said the nearly 67-year-old NATO was antiquated because it hasnt responded to the threat of terrorism, even though one of the alliances biggest missions in recent years has been fighting in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks. But the shift that will likely set the most alarms ringing in Washington is Trumps backing off the pledge to support the GOP nominee if it isnt him. I have been treated very unfairly, he said, renewing concerns among GOP officials that Trump could break away and launch a third-party bid. Related: Behind Trumps Rise: A False Sense of Crisis in America Asked if he would support Cruzs support if he clinches the 1,287 delegates needed, Trump replied. He doesnt have to support me I dont want his support. I dont need his support. The developer said he wouldnt accept backing from Cruz after the senators campaign spread a false rumor during the Iowa caucuses that Ben Carson had dropped out of the race. Never mind that Trump himself once compared the retired neurosurgeon, who has dropped out of the race and endorsed the frontrunner, to a pedophile. The billionaire did likely open himself up to new attacks from Cruz and other Republicans by saying he is somebody who believes in flexibility Ive changed course on many, many things. The only time Trump appeared flummoxed was when he was asked if he could recall the last time he apologized for something. Oh, wow ... Can I think? I do believe in apologizing if youre wrong but if youre not wrong I dont believe in apologizing, he explained. Then he recalled he apologized to his mother years ago for using foul language, and to his wife for not being presidential enough. The frontrunner capped the night by joking that he wont call his new grandson "Cryin' Ted and pointed out Ted isn't Ted Cruz's birth name Its Rafael, isnt it? he asked, setting off what likely will be the races next brouhaha. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: By Jim Finkle (Reuters) - A lull in high-profile data breaches prompted insurers to cut cyber insurance rates for high-risk businesses such as retailers and healthcare companies during the first three months of this year, according to insurance industry brokers. The dip comes after sudden rate hikes for many firms last year in the wake of a spate of attacks on Home Depot Inc, Target Corp, Anthem Inc and others. The average price companies in high-risk industries paid for $1 million in cyber insurance coverage fell 13 percent to $18,756 in the first three months of 2016, according to broker Marsh, a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc. It said the average premium rose 28 percent last year to $21,642 for comparable buyers in industries such as retail and healthcare. "Pricing has stabilized," said Marsh cyber insurance executive Robert Parisi. "There is only so far things can go before people choke and say 'Ive had enough.'" Ben Beeson, an executive with broker Lockton Cos, said he has seen a "leveling off" in pricing with his clients, following steep price hikes in response to attacks. Recent breaches have led to big payouts from insurers, including $90 million of Target's breach-related costs and $100 million for Home Depot. "We havent had too many Targets or Home Depots recently," Beeson said. Kevin Kalinich, global cyber practice leader with Aon Plc's Aon Risk Solutions unit, warned that average pricing does not tell the full story. "Pricing varies dramatically," he said, noting that some clients who locked in rates before last year's steep increases could see big hikes when they renew. (Reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston; Editing by Bill Rigby) By Yiannis Kourtoglou LARNACA, Cyprus (Reuters) - An Egyptian man accused of hijacking a passenger plane and diverting it to Cyprus has told police he acted because he wanted to see his estranged wife and children, saying "what should one do?". The suspect, whom Cypriot and Egyptian authorities have identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa, 59, surrendered on Tuesday after commandeering a domestic Alexandria-Cairo flight with 72 passengers and crew on board. A Larnaca court on Wednesday ordered him to be held in custody for eight days on suspicion of hijacking, abduction, threatening violence, terrorism-related offences and two counts related to possession of explosives. The latter counts were connected to his claim of being strapped with explosives, even though the belt he wore is believed to be fake, a police source told Reuters. As he left the court compound in a police jeep, Mustafa stuck his hand out of an open window flashing the 'v' sign for victory. Egypt's public prosecutor has asked Cypriot authorities to hand over Mustafa, Egyptian state television reported, but a Cyprus police spokesman and a government official have said that any talk of extradition right now was premature. Mustafa took charge of the early morning flight by showing what appeared to be a belt stuffed with plastic wires and a remote control, directing the flight to the holiday island where he asked for the release of female prisoners in Egypt, and to come in contact with his Cypriot ex-wife. "When someone hasn't seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children, and the Egyptian government doesn't allow it, what should one do?," he told Cypriot police in a statement. Details of his claimed predicament were not available. All hostages were released unharmed after a six-hour standoff. The suspect allegedly commandeered the aircraft 15 minutes after takeoff from Alexandria. He approached a flight attendant and showed off the belt, attached to a remote control he held in his hand, investigating officer Andreas Lambrianou told the court. "The suspect asked all passengers and crew to hand in their passports, then gave two messages to a member of the crew, asking that the pilot be informed that he was a hijacker and wanted to land at an airport in Turkey, Greece or Cyprus, but preferably Cyprus," Lambrianou said. "In a note, he stressed that if the airplane landed on Egyptian territory he would immediately blow the plane up." In Cyprus, Mustafa dropped an envelope on the runway addressed to a Cypriot woman, later ascertained to be his ex-wife. In the letter, the suspect demanded the release of 63 female prisoners held in Egypt. (Additional reporting by Mostafa Hashem in Cairo; Writing By Michele Kambas; Editing by Tom Heneghan) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. The Republican Party of Armenia will have a new program in autumn. Co-Chair of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan stated this at a press conference on March 30. "We are creating a new program, a working group has already been established which will be headed by me and Mushegh Lalayan, Armenpress" reports Ashotyan saying. He added that the party's program was last revised 10 years ago, and now new challenges have come up, the situation has changed, and the partys program should not only be consistent with the present, but should also outline the future. "We will confirm the partys program during the upcoming Congress this autumn, which will be based on our ideologies. Prior to the Congress, the program will be discussed with RPA provincial and territorial structures, Ashotyan concluded. Donald Trump once again defended his embattled campaign manager and shrugged off his recent feud with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz during the CNN Republican presidential town hall on Tuesday. "I think my leadership is very good," the billionaire businessman told moderator Anderson Cooper. Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, was asked about his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who on Tuesday morning was charged with assault in Florida. Trump told Cooper it would have been easier to fire Lewandowski than "talk about it all night," but he "refused to ruin his life" and reiterated he believes Lewandowski did nothing wrong. Read More: Donald Trump's Campaign Manager Charged With Battery Trump also told Cooper he would not honor his pledge to the Republican National Committee to support the Republican nominee if it was not himself. "I have been treated very unfairly" by the RNC, Trump said, adding that he no longer agreed with the pledge. Trump was booed a few times during the CNN event, each time saying it must have come from Cruz supporters planted in the audience. When pressed on his recent feud with Cruz over their wives, Trump responded: "I didn't start it." Cooper pushed back on the response, saying it was something a child would use as reasoning. Trump rebuffed that notion. As far as the picture that started the feud, a semi-nude photo of Melania Trump used for a meme targeted at Mormon voters in Utah, Trump accused previous GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney of being the mastermind behind it. "Romney sent it out," he said. "Everyone had proof he sent it out." Stating he is worth more than $10 billion, Trump said he has spent $35 million of his own fortune on his campaign to this point. Read More: Megyn Kelly Responds to Donald Trump's Tweet Comparing His Wife to Heidi Cruz Paris (AFP) - A decision by PSA Peugeot Citroen to double its chairman's salary to five million euros has sparked angry debate in France, with Finance Minister Michel Sapin on Tuesday calling the raise "harmful". Carlos Tavares, the chairman of Europe's second biggest carmaker, earned 5.24 million euros ($5.8 million) in 2015, up from 2.75 million in 2014, company documents showed last week. The company's supervisory board hailed Tavares for leading Peugeot through a restructuring process that moved it back into the black in 2015 with a net profit of 1.2 billion euros. As criticism rose over the move, Sapin said the government, which has a 13-percent stake in the company, asked its representatives to vote against the salary increase. Sapin told France Inter radio that if the state had a greater share "it would have been blocked". He also said that at a time when France's economy is faltering, the increase "is harmful, everyone can see it". "We are in a time when we need to make an effort, and it needs to be more or less shared. I say more or less because we are talking about figures that are so huge that one can barely comprehend what they mean." French media were quick to point out that Tavares' salary equated to 14,000 euros a day, with some commentators describing the 21st century as the most unequal ever. Economy minister Emmanuel Macron echoed Sapin's comments in an interview published Wednesday, saying he thought "Tavares was wrong to ignore the feelings of the French on this subject". The chairman should "think on it further", Macron added. When the salary increase was announced Friday, the CFDT labour union slammed it as a decision that "causes a lot of damage to social cohesion", adding that Peugeot employees had also played a role in turning the company around. The company has said it would be paying out an average 2,000-euro bonus to French-based employees as a reward for the strong results. Story continues Under Tavares' leadership Peugeot experienced a massive turnaround after posting a 555-million-euro loss in 2014. Pierre Gattaz, head of the Medef employers' association, defended the move, saying: "When there is success, it does not shock me that we reward success." He said company leaders "are heroes". The head of the PSA supervisory board Louis Gallois said the salary increase was "not at all disproportionate". HARARE (Reuters) - Production of tobacco, Zimbabwe's biggest export earner, is expected to fall 15 percent to 160 million kilograms this season following a drought that has left millions facing hunger, an industry survey showed on Wednesday. Zimbabwe earned $855 million from tobacco sales in 2015, nearly a third of its total exports and far outpacing receipts from platinum or gold. Farmers produced 189 million kgs of tobacco last year but an El Nino-triggered drought caused long dry spells that forced farmers to delay planting, affecting this year's output. Zimbabwe's tobacco selling season began on Wednesday. Monica Chinamasa, chairwoman of industry regulator the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, said 72,000 farmers had registered to sell their crop compared with 91,000 last year, blaming the decline on drought and a lack of financing for producers. Before 2000, when President Robert Mugabe's government started seizing land from white-owned commercial farmers for redistribution to blacks, only 4,500 farmers grew Zimbabwe's entire tobacco crop. "There is need to empower farmers to overcome the adverse effects of low and erratic rainfall, mid-season droughts and extending the growing season," Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said in speech marking the start of the 2016 selling season. Zimbabwe exports the bulk of its tobacco to China, which has become the largest investor in the Southern African country. Up to 4 million Zimbabweans face hunger due to the worst drought in more than two decades. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa and Mark Potter) Earl Schuman, who got his first acting credit at age 81 when he portrayed the father of Lloyd Bridges' character on an episode of Seinfeld, has died. He was 100. Schuman died Thursday at an assisted living facility in Santa Clarita, Calif., his son, Micky, said. In the Seinfeld episode "The English Patient," which first aired on NBC in March 1997, Schuman plays Izzy Mandelbaum Sr., whose son is an ultra-competitive 80-year-old (Bridges) who throws out his back after challenging Jerry to a weightlifting competition. It turns out Izzy Sr. also hates to lose; he winds up in a hospital bed next to his son and grandson after he tries to lift a heavy TV set that his grandson couldn't. Schuman also played "Uncle Alfred Carey" on The Drew Carey Show, was "Great-Grandpa Saul" on Just Shoot Me! and appeared as an "Elderly S&M Enthusiast" in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). He also was in Beautiful (2000), Taxi (2004) and Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm and most recently had a role on a 2011 episode of Raising Hope. A native of Oklahoma, Schuman's acting career began at age 77 when, while waiting for his wife at an audition, someone suggested that maybe he should read for a job, and he got it. He wound up appearing in commercials for Coca-Cola, Doritos, Mercedes-Benz and Maxwell House. Survivors include his other children Richard, Deborah and Henri and grandchildren Greta, Esther, Rachel, Shara, Eric, Andrew and Ari. See More: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2016 NAIROBI (Reuters) - East African Cables reported a loss of 1.09 billion shillings ($10.75 million) for 2015 on Wednesday, but said a strong order book due to booming energy and construction projects in the region could help improve its performance. The firm, which makes cables for the utility and telecoms industries and households, said disruptions to output as it upgrades a factory in Kenya, as well as foreign exchange losses and depressed demand due to political uncertainty all hurt its performance for the year. It posted a pretax profit of 507.5 million shillings in 2014. Revenue dropped to 3.7 billion shillings from 5 billion in 2014, the company said. "The Group opened the year with a strong order book spurred by the developments in the energy and construction sectors in the region. Positively, the expanded factory provides us with the opportunity to serve the regional economies more efficiently and give value to stakeholders, it said in a statement. It posted a loss per share of 2.21 shillings from positive 1.16 shillings in 2014. The company directors did not recommend a dividend payment. ($1 = 101.4000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by Edith Honan; editing by Susan Thomas) By Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) - An EDF board member representing senior staff said in a letter to employees he would vote against the French utility's plan to build two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Britain. Christian Taxil, EDF board member for managers' union CFE-CGC - which was the first to openly criticise the 18 billion pound project in January - said EDF should not launch the project now because of its weak financial position, technical problems with the EPR reactors it plans to build in Britain, and weak power prices. "Today, conditions are not right for me to give a positive opinion if such a project were presented to me," Taxil wrote. Taxil is the first EDF board member to publicly state his doubts about the project. He is one of six union representatives on EDF's 18-member board. Sources told Reuters in February that the six would vote against the UK project. Industry Minister Emmanuel Macron told parliament last week that some EDF unions were no longer totally negative about the project. Although non-union board members have expressed doubts about the project in private, none have gone public and all are expected to vote with management when the project is put to the board in early May. EDF's board is meeting today, but the Hinkley Point project is not on the agenda, sources told Reuters. Macron said last week a final investment decision would be taken by early May. Taxil's letter also said the Contract for Difference scheme that guarantees EDF a 92.5 pound per megawatt-hour power price for 35 years at Hinkley did not include volume guarantees. Due to the fast development of renewable energy sources, which have priority access to the grid, EDF may not be able to sell all the power that the two Areva-designed EPR reactors will produce, Taxil said. "Having a price guarantee without a volume guarantee in the contract is an aberration," Taxil said. In an emailed statement on Wednesday, EDF reaffirmed its plans to complete Hinkley Point by 2025 after the Financial Times reported a group of EDF engineers had doubts about the timetable. EDF bemoaned "unfounded rumours and fantasy information" in the media without being more specific. On Sunday, French weekly JDD reported EDF had agreed to shield Chinese utility CGN, which has a one-third stake in Hinkley, from most of the risks related to the project. (Editing by James Regan and Mark Potter) Cairo (AFP) - Egypt's state prosecutor ordered Wednesday the formation of an investigating team to probe the brutal murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, after Rome cast doubt on Cairo's explanation of his death. Regeni, 28, disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, and his mutilated body was found nine days later on the outskirts of the capital. Last week the Egyptian police said they had identified a criminal gang linked to his murder, after killing four members and finding the PhD student's passport in the apartment of a sister of one of the slain suspects. Four people have been detained in relation to Regeni's murder, including the wife and a sister of the alleged leader of the gang. The other two are the brother and brother-in-law of the gang leader, who was killed in a shoot-out with police along with three other criminals. Rome has dismissed Cairo's explanations that the gang members, who allegedly posed as police to extort foreigners and Egyptians, were behind Regeni's death. On Wednesday, Egypt's general prosecutor ordered a team to be set up to probe the student's murder. "Given that the clues in the case of Giulio Regeni's killing were found in many different areas ... the general prosecutor ordered the formation of an investigative team from his office to continue the investigation," a statement from the prosecutor's office said. Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Sunday that Egypt agreed to extend the investigation after pressure from Rome. Italian media and Western diplomatic sources in Cairo have voiced suspicions that Egyptian security services were behind the murder. Regeni had been researching labour movements in Egypt, a sensitive topic, and had written articles critical of the government under a pen name. His death has threatened to hit Egypt's already struggling tourism sector, which has seen falling visitor numbers since the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Tourism, a cornerstone of the economy, was dealt a body blow after the October 31 bombing of a Russian airliner, claimed by the Islamic State group, that killed all 224 people on board. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli was not allowed to go abroad. He was detained by the transport department of the airport police at Heydar Aliyev Airport. Armenpress reports Azerbaijani Turan agency informs about this. Akram Aylisli was to leave for Venice with his elder son Ilias, to participate in international literary festival Incroci Di Civilita from March 30 to April 1 but he was not allowed to abandon the country. The writers wife, Galina Aylisli informed the news agency about this. The renowned writer aged 78 became the target of the authorities in 2013 after publishing the trilogy Big traffic jam which exposes the Soviet and current political morals of the Azerbaijani authorities. Akram Aylisli was a People's Writer (1998) of Azerbaijan and Honored artist. In the novel Stone Dreams Aylisli presents in detail the Armenian massacres in Sumgait and Baku and Azerbaijani violence in 1988-90. The novel was published in Russia in 2012 during Friendship of Nations event. Two months after publishing the book the Azerbaijani leadership incited mass hysteria against Aylisli. Pro-governmental youth burnt his photo with a cross on it in front of his house and cried slogans enemy, traitor. Members of the Azerbaijani parliament (Majlis) demanded to burn all his books, deprive him of citizenship and expel from Azerbaijan. Ilham ALiyev signed a decree to deprive him of title Peoples Writer, Presidential pension (nearly 1000 Euro) and cottage. His wife and son were dismissed from their jobs. The leader of pro-governmental Modern Musavat party ordered its youth wing to cut his ear for 10 thousand manats. U.S. Secretary of State, OSCE office in Baku and the EU condemned the oppression of Akram Aylisli and called on the authorities to implement measures ensuring his safety. The real cause of targeting the writer was that he hinted in his novel that the Armenian massacres in Sumgait were incited by Heydar Aliyev aiming to take power based on those incidents. Akram Aylislis Stone Dreams novel was the winner in the nomination Year's Foreign Bestseller of 2013 in the sidelines of the special project of Armenpress news agency. Earlier, in an interview with media representatives, Akram Aylisli had told that the novel is based on real stories of witnesses of the Armenian massacres. Cairo (AFP) - An Egyptian court sentenced 23 supporters of Mohamed Morsi to lengthy prison terms on Wednesday over a violent protest against the Islamist president's ouster in 2013, judicial officials said. Fifteen defendants were jailed for life, three for 15 years and five for 10. The defendants were found guilty of killing three civilians during the protest in Cairo on July 5, 2013, two days after Morsi's overthrow, judicial officials said. They were also convicted of "carrying weapons and attacking state institutions" during the protest near state television headquarters. Egypt's then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Morsi after mass street protests against the Islamist's divisive one-year rule. Violent demonstrations for his reinstatement followed, lasting several months, but they were crushed by a blistering police crackdown that left hundreds dead and tens of thousands jailed. Hundreds more have been sentenced to death, including Morsi himself. A measure proposed in France in the aftermath of last Novembers terrorist attacks that prompted vocal support, ardent opposition, passionate debate, the resignation of a Cabinet minister, and which was being watched worldwide for its potential implications is now dead. President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, dropped the plan to strip some French militants convicted of terrorism of their citizenship. Also gone is a proposal to expand emergency powers. Both measures would have required changes to Frances Constitution. Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the Constitution, Hollande said Wednesday after a weekly Cabinet meeting. I deplore this attitude. I have decided to end this debate. The measures were proposed in the wake of the November 13 attacks on Paris that killed 130 people. France was shocked not only because it was the second major terrorist attack on Paris in a yearin January, gunmen targeted Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical publication, and a Jewish supermarket, killing 20 peoplebut also because many of those who carried out the attacks were French citizens. ISIS claimed responsibility for both attacks. In response, Hollande proposed sweeping changes to enhance security, including the measure to strip some convicted terrorists of their citizenship and expanded emergency powers. Recommended: Is the Syrian Civil War Entering a New Phase? Although the measures had support in the aftermath of the deadly attacks, the debate quickly became heated. Critics pointed to history when the French citizenship of Jews and members of the Resistance was stripped by the wartime Vichy government. Legal experts, on the other hand, pointed out that international treaty obligations prevent states from stripping people of the citizenships if it makes them stateless. France had signed this treaty, but hadnt ratified it. To get around this, the French government proposed stripping only those convicted terrorists who possessed dual citizenship of their citizenship. This, critics pointed out, would largely target the children of Muslim immigrants to France, and in essence would create a two-tier citizenship in a country that prides itself on its liberte, egalite, and fraternite. As Heather Horn explained in The Atlantic: Its not hard to understand why some on the left, including anti-racism activists, are so angry: Why should someone of North African descent, whos been a French citizen all his life, have a less durable claim to citizenship than his white multi-generational French neighbor if they both get involved in terrorist activities? Story continues That wasnt all. Although the French proposals were powerful, they were merely symbolic. France, as a member of the European Union, has an open-borders policy with fellow members of the bloc. Stripping convicted French terrorists of their citizenship, critics of the proposal argued, would do nothing to prevent militants from other European countries from entering, plotting, and carrying out attacks inside France. Indeed, many of the attackers in November were French-speaking Muslims who were Belgian citizens. Recommended: What ISIS Really Wants In the end, its these sorts of questions that couldnt be resolved by Frances two houses of parliament. Frances National Assembly, the lower house, removed the reference to dual nationality when it approved the bill. The Senate, the upper house, restored the language. The debate played out in the French government with Christiane Taubira, who, like Hollande, is a leftist, resigned in January from her post as justice minister in protest against the measures. In the end, Hollandes decision Wednesday suggested the proposed constitutional changes didn't have the required three-fifths support in both chambers of Parliament. A compromise, the president said, appears out of reach. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Crude oil prices are well below the levels required to encourage sufficient investment to meet global demand beyond 2017, and our mid-cycle per-barrel price outlook remains at $70 for Brent and $64 for West Texas Intermediate. But near-term prices could remain ugly or deteriorate further. Back in February a handful of producer countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to freeze output at January 2016 levels to help realign supply and demand. Markets rebounded as a result, but much uncertainty remains, most notably about whether Iran's likely refusal to follow suit will derail the pact or whether actual production in these countries will match agreed-upon levels. Upstream capital budgets in the United States have fallen sharply again this year as producers struggle to align budgets with cash flows. Reduced investment will translate to stronger output declines. This should help bring global markets back into balance as well but how quickly depends on the success of the production freeze initiative. Either way, it won't happen overnight. Sharp curtailments in oil-directed drilling activity could also reduce U.S. natural gas production growth in the near term. But the wealth of low-cost inventory in areas such as the Marcellus and Utica still points to continued growth through the end of this decade and beyond. Abundant supply is holding current natural gas prices low, but in the long run we anticipate relief from incremental demand from liquefied natural gas exports as well as industry. Our mid-cycle U.S. natural gas price estimate is unchanged at $4 per thousand cubic feet. Energy investors are still grappling with the critical question: How long will it take for the oil industry to work through the current period of oversupply and rebalance itself? U.S. output is likely to decline this year due to heavily reduced capital spending. Consequently, while global demand is expected to grow by around 1.2 million barrels a day in 2016, global supply is expected to remain fairly flat, and it won't grow in 2017 either if oil prices average less than $50 per barrel this year as expected. However, the magnitude of the current oversupply is such that global stockpiles will continue growing through mid-2017 in all but the most optimistic scenarios. Story continues What Does that Mean for Crude Prices? U.S. producer commentary indicates that many will start completing backlogs of deferred wells and even adding rigs if WTI oil goes north of $45. Therefore, near-term rallies above that level probably aren't sustainable. But the likelihood of strong declines this year is also waning. We expect production outside of OPEC and the U.S. to surprise to the downside, with the recent lowered output targets from Mexico and Colombia being the start of a trend, rather than one-off events. Therefore, we expect WTI prices to hold steady in the $35-$45 per barrel range for the next 12 to 18 months, with the caveat that the scaling back of economic forecasts in consumer countries, especially China, is a key risk that could trigger further weakness. Beyond that we anticipate a gradual rebound to the mid-cycle levels outlined above, which are consistent with long-run marginal costs. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the White House, July 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) Editors Note: This commentary is part of a series presented in conjunction with the Centers feature exhibition, Headed to the White House. The challenges of governing have rarely been greater. The distance between the parties in Congress and between identifiers with the parties among the public is the greatest in a century. The public accords Congress the lowest approval ratings in modern history, but activists allow its members little leeway to compromise. The inability of Congress and the President to resolve critical problems results in constant crises in financing the government, endless debate over immigration, health care, environmental protection, and other crucial issues, and a failure to plan effectively for the future. Given the difficulties of governing, it is not surprising that Presidents typically choose a strategy for governing based on the premise of overcoming impediments to policy change by creating new opportunities through persuasion. Entering the White House with vigor and drive, they are eager to create a legacy. Unfortunately, they also begin their tenures with the arrogance of ignorance and thus infer from their success in reaching the highest office in the land that both citizens and elected officials will respond positively to themselves and their initiatives. As a result, modern Presidents invest heavily in leading the public in the hope of leveraging public support to win backing in Congress. Of course, it is natural for new Presidents, basking in the glow of an electoral victory, to focus on creating, rather than exploiting, opportunities for change. It may seem quite reasonable for leaders who have just won the biggest prize in American politics by convincing voters and party leaders to support their candidacies to conclude that they should be able to convince members of the public and Congress to support their policies. Thus, they need not focus on evaluating existing possibilities when they think they can create their own. Story continues Campaigning is different from governing, however. Campaigns focus on short-term victory and candidates wage them in either/or terms. To win an election, a candidate need only convince voters that he or she is a better choice than the few available alternatives. In addition, someone always wins, whether or not voters support the victors policy positions. Governing, on the other hand, involves deliberation, negotiation, and often compromise over an extended period. Moreover, in governing, the Presidents policy is just one of a wide range of alternatives. Furthermore, delay is a common objective, and a common outcome, in matters of public policy. Neither the public nor elected officials have to choose. Although stalemate may sometimes be the Presidents goal, the White House usually wishes to convince people to support a positive action. In sum, we should not infer from success in winning elections that the White House can persuade members of the public and Congress to change their minds and support policies they would otherwise oppose. The American political system is not a fertile field for the exercise of presidential leadership. Most political actors, from the average citizen to members of Congress, are free to choose whether to follow the chief executives lead; the President cannot force them to act. At the same time, the sharing of powers established by the Constitutions checks and balances not only prevents the president from acting unilaterally on most important matters, but also gives other power holders different perspectives on issues and policy proposals. Although it may be appealing to explain major policy changes in terms of persuasive personalities and effective leadership style, public opinion is too biased, the political system is too complicated, power is too decentralized, and interests are too diverse for one person, no matter how extraordinary, to dominate. Neither the public nor Congress is likely to respond to the White Houses efforts at persuasion. Presidents cannot create opportunities for change. There is overwhelming evidence that Presidents, even great communicators, rarely move the public in their direction. Indeed, the public often moves against the position the President favors. Similarly, there is no systematic evidence that Presidents can reliably move members of Congress to support them through persuasion. The context in which the President operates is the key element in presidential leadership. Successful leadership, then, is not the result of the dominant chief executive of political folklore who reshapes the contours of the political landscape, altering his strategic position to pave the way for change. Rather than creating the conditions for important shifts in public policy, effective leaders are facilitators who work at the margins of coalition building to recognize and exploit opportunities in their environments. When the various streams of political resources converge to create opportunities for major change, Presidents can be critical facilitators in engendering significant alterations in public policy. Recognizing and exploiting opportunities for changerather than creating opportunities through persuasionare essential presidential leadership skills. As Edgar declared in King Lear, Ripeness is all. To succeed, Presidents have to evaluate the opportunities for change in their environments carefully and orchestrate existing and potential support skillfully. Successful leadership requires that the President have the commitment, resolution, resiliency, and adaptability to take full advantage of opportunities that arise. George C. Edwards III is the University Distinguished Professor and Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University. His most recent book is Predicting the Presidency, published by Princeton University Press. Recent Stories on Constitution Daily Whats at stake in selecting Justice Scalias replacement? We need your feedback on our We the People podcasts Podcast: Celebrating the appointment of Chief Justice John Marshall BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union on Wednesday criticized Ankara for summoning Berlin's envoy over a song mocking the Turkish leader on German TV, a friction at a delicate time when the bloc counts on Turkey's help on migration under a controversial deal. Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoned Germany's ambassador over a satirical broadcast by German television station NDR, which ran a two-minute satirical song mocking Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month. "This move doesn't seem to be in line with upholding the freedom of the press and freedom expression, which are values the EU cherishes a lot," Mina Andreeva, a spokeswoman for the European Union's executive arm, told a daily news briefing. The spokeswoman added the European Commission's head Jean-Claude Juncker "believes this moves Turkey further (away) from the EU rather than closer to us." Right groups and the West regularly criticize Ankara for its track record on human rights but the 27-nation EU has still sealed a deal with Ankara on March 18 to return all migrants and refugees reaching European shores from the Turkish coast. Berlin, the key driving force behind the Turkish deal, has said press freedom was non-negotiable in its ties with Ankara. The EU hopes the migration agreement, badly criticized by rights groups, would give it breathing space as it struggles to control an influx of people fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and beyond. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska) Nairobi (AFP) - Former Rwandan minister Jacques Bihozagara has died in jail in Burundi nearly four months after being arrested for espionage, officials and fellow prisoners told AFP. Kigali said it was "shocked" by the news with the Rwandan foreign ministry demanding answers from the Burundi authorities, amid worsening relations between the two neighbours. UN experts have claimed that Kigali has recruited and trained refugees, including children, with the ultimate goal of removing Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza from power, charges denied by Rwanda. "Our citizen was being illegally detained, without judgement... We demand that Burundian authorities shed light on this sudden death, because it raises a lot of questions," a Rwandan foreign ministry official said. Burundi has been in political crisis since April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced a controversial bid for a third term in power. More than 400 people have been killed in clashes since then and almost quarter of a million people have fled the country, with the government blaming the killings on opposition forces. "During the day he (Bihozagara) felt ill and was taken to the prison infirmary," a detainee at Mpimba prison in the capital Bujumbura, reached by telephone, said on condition of anonymity. "Then they told us he had died 20 minutes later, shortly after 3 pm (1300 GMT). Detainees said Bihozagara had seemed in good health. An official from Burundi's penitentiary agency and the Rwandan foreign ministry official confirmed his death. Bihozagara, a former youth minister in Rwanda as well as a former ambassador to Belgium and France, was arrested on December 4, 2015 by Burundi's National Intelligence Service (SNR), an agency under the direct control of President Nkurunziza. He was being held on suspicion of "working for the intelligence agency of his country", an agent told AFP on condition of anonymity. Bihozagara had travelled regularly to Burundi since his retirement for business and to visit family. Rwanda has denied the allegations levelled at it and insists the root causes of the crisis are inside Burundi's borders. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus Gunther Bachler will visit Armenia next month. Armenpress reports Ambassador Extraordinaryand Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Armenia Matthias Kiesler announced about this on March 30 at the conference Strengthening dialogue, trust and security in the OSCE region at the heart of German Chairmanship. He referred to the issue of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, mentioning that the OSCE Minsk Group and the three Co-chairs are the only format for negotiation of the conflict settlement. Alleviation of the tension remains our key goal. We express our support for the proposal of the Co-chairs to conduct investigation of the ceasefire violation cases. This is of key importance for us, the Ambassador said. He expressed conviction that in case of willingness it will be possible to come to a settling. We are convinced that the willingness of the confronting parties is very important for reaching our goals. The principles have been agreed upon in the sidelines of the Minsk Group, those are the grounds for negotiations, but political will is required from both sides to overcome the status qua, Matthias Kiesler concluded. By Chris Kahn (Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe torture can be justified to extract information from suspected terrorists, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, a level of support similar to that seen in countries like Nigeria where militant attacks are common. The poll reflects a U.S. public on edge after the massacre of 14 people in San Bernardino in December and large-scale attacks in Europe in recent months, including a bombing claimed by the militant group Islamic State last week that killed at least 32 people in Belgium. Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, has forcefully injected the issue of whether terrorism suspects should be tortured into the election campaign. Trump has said he would seek to roll back President Barack Obama's ban on waterboarding - an interrogation technique that simulates drowning that human rights groups contend is illegal under the Geneva Conventions. Trump has also vowed to "bring back a hell of a lot worse" if elected. Trump's stance has drawn broad criticism from human rights organizations, world bodies, and political rivals. But the poll findings suggest that many Americans are aligned with Trump on the issue, although the survey did not ask respondents to define what they consider torture. "The public right now is coping with a host of negative emotions," said Elizabeth Zechmeister, a Vanderbilt University professor who has studied the link between terrorist threats and public opinion. "Fear, anger, general anxiety: (Trump) gives a certain credibility to these feelings," she said. The March 22-28 online poll asked respondents if torture can be justified "against suspected terrorists to obtain information about terrorism." About 25 percent said it is "often" justified while another 38 percent it is "sometimes" justified. Only 15 percent said torture should never be used. Story continues Republicans were more accepting of torture to elicit information than Democrats: 82 percent of Republicans said torture is "often" or "sometimes" justified, compared with 53 percent of Democrats. (Graphic: http://tmsnrt.rs/1ShObx1) About two-thirds of respondents also said they expected a terrorist attack on U.S. soil within the next six months. TERRORISM TOP CONCERN Surveys by other polling agencies in recent years have shown U.S. support for the use of torture at around 50 percent. A 2014 survey by Amnesty International, for example, put American support for torture at about 45 percent, compared with 64 percent in Nigeria, 66 percent in Kenya and 74 percent in India. Nigeria is battling a seven-year-old insurgency that has displaced 2 million people and killed thousands, while al Shabaab militants have launched a series of deadly attacks in Kenya. India is fighting a years-old Maoist insurgency that has killed hundreds. In November, terrorism replaced economy as the top concern for many Americans in Reuters/Ipsos polling, shortly after militants affiliated with the Islamic State killed 130 people in Paris. (Graphic: http://polling.reuters.com/#!poll/SC8/type/smallest/dates/20151101-20151231/collapsed/true/spotlight/1) At the same time, Trump surged in popularity among Republicans, who viewed him as the strongest candidate to deal with terrorism. Besides his advocacy of waterboarding, Trump said that he would bomb the hell out of ISIS, using an alternative acronym for Islamic State. "Youre dealing with people who dont play by any rules. And I cant see why we would tie our hands and take away options like waterboarding," said Jo Ann Tieken, 71, a Trump supporter. Tieken said her views had been influenced by the injuries suffered by her two step-grandsons while serving in the military four years ago in Afghanistan. The Reuters/Ipsos poll included 1,976 people. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 2.5 percentage points for the entire group and about 4 percentage points for both Democrats and Republicans. (Graphic: http://reut.rs/1Rp3x6C) (Reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Ross Colvin) In what might be the worlds oldest recorded awkward situation, the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero spent much of his term as Cilicias governor trying to ignore a very specific request from his former legal client Marcus Caelius Rufus. In several letters sent over the better part of a year, Caelius repeatedly begged Cicero to capture and send him a group of local leopards. He needed the animals, he explained, because he was trying to launch his political careerand nothing won over voters hearts better than live exotic animal hunts in the arena. Caeliuss opponent Curio had no trouble collecting exotic animals from his governor friendswhy couldnt Cicero spare a few of his local beasts? As Cicero explained in a letter to another friend, Atticus, he simply wasnt comfortable taking advantage of his position in this way: I have said that it is inconsistent with my character that the people of Cibyra should hunt at the public expense while I am governor. Recommended: Amazon Sent Me Lumber as a Prank Caelius wasnt dissuaded, and his letters grew increasingly desperate. In one, he wrote, It will be a disgrace to you if I have no Greek panthers. In another, In nearly every letter I have mentioned the subject of the panthers to you. It will be a disgrace to you that Patiscus has sent ten panthers to Curio, and that you should not send many times more. These vague threats to his reputation clearly got under Ciceros skin. His final response is cuttingly sarcastic. About the leopards, the professional hunters are busy, acting on my orders. But there is an extraordinary scarcity of the beasts, and it is said that those leopards who are here complain bitterly that they are the only living creatures in my province against whom any harm is meditated. Reluctant as Cicero was to round up wild beasts for Caeliuss benefit, bloody public spectacles featuring animals were already an important part of Roman culture. One type of wild animal show, known as damnatio ad bestias or execution by beasts, eventually became a trope of Christian martyr stories like that of Daniel and the lions. Story continues Tearing apart convicts made for quite a show, but it was not the only use Romans had for exotic animals. At least as popular were venationes, or hunts, a sport in which it was animals who were sentenced to death, whether at the hands of human hunters or in combat with other animals. The venatio has survived into our day in the form of its direct descendant, Spanish bullfighting. Like modern bullfighting, the ancient venatio had its share of critics, includingnot surprisingly given his reaction to the panther situationCicero, who thought the practice appealed to the worst parts of human nature. In a letter, the orator describes one venatio (organized by the famous general Pompey the Great) that was so brutal not even Romes typically bloodthirsty rabble could enjoy it. The last day was that of the elephants, on which there was a great deal of astonishment on the part of the vulgar crowd, but no pleasure whatever. Nay, there was even a certain feeling of compassion aroused by it, and a kind of belief created that that animal has something in common with mankind. The later writer Pliny the Elder describes the same sad spectacle. When [the elephants] had lost all hope of escape, they tried to gain the compassion of the crowd by indescribable gestures of entreaty, deploring their fate with a sort of wailing, so much to the distress of the public that they forgot the general and his munificence carefully devised for their honour, and bursting into tears rose in a body and invoked curses on the head of Pompey. Pompeys elephant-hunt spectacle, which took place close to the end of the Roman Republic, provoked an emotional response from the crowdsbut it by no means marked the end of venationes. In fact, over the course of the early Roman Empire, animal shows reached staggering new scales. In his autobiographical Res Gestae, Augustus claims that he had 3500 African animals killed in 26 venationes over the course of his reign. The better part of a century later, the emperor Titus inaugurated the Colosseum with a hundred days of spectacle in which 5000 wild beasts were killed. And in public games held from 108 to 109 C.E., the emperor Trajan arranged for 11,000 animals to fight in the arena. Recommended: An Ethicist Reads "The Art of the Deal" Many descriptions of Roman animal spectacles list the types of animal killed along with their origins. While plenty of venationes featured local species like bulls and dogs, exotic animalsespecially those from Africa and the eastern reaches of the Roman Empirewere far more exciting. Whats more, the Romans seem to have had little interest in breeding exotic animals at home. Animals caught in the wild were considered infinitely more dangerous, more valuable, and more fascinating. In his book Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, the historian Donald Kyle explains, [E]xotic animals got special treatment with expert handlers and attendants to ensure their health and readiness for their performance. They might also be displayed temporarily or, less likely, kept in menageries before the spectacles for which they were intended. Capturing and transporting live animals from distant lands was a lucrative cottage industry in the Roman provinces. Several ancient texts describe the methods used by the suppliers of wild beasts. In his Satyricon, the late 1st century C.E. novelist Petronius waxed poetic about the business of procuring exotic animals for sport. The wild beast is searched out in the woods at a great price, and men trouble [the god] Hammon deep in Africa to supply the beast whose teeth make him precious for slaying men; strange ravening creatures freight the fleets, and the padding tiger is wheeled in a gilded palace to drink the blood of men while the crowd applauds. Other texts give more technical details. Pliny tells us how African hunters captured live elephants, which continued to be used occasionally in venationes despite the shame felt by the audience of Pompeys elephant hunt. Men on horseback would chase the elephants into pits, where the animals would be left without food or water until they were physically depleted enough to be transported without too much trouble. Recommended: How to Get Your Kid to Do What You Say, Without Punishing In his book on hunting, the 2nd-century writer Oppian describes how live bears were captured in the region of Armenia. After identifying bear dens with the help of dogs, hunters would drive the animals out with a cacophony of trumpets and cymbalsnot unlike the National Park Services recommendation to make loud noises if you encounter a bear in the wild. Once the bear was out in the open and disoriented, the hunters would chase it into a hidden net theyd previously set up. This would be a dangerous moment, for at that moment bears greatly rage with jaws and terrible paws. The strongest members of the hunting team would spring into action to restrain the bear by tying its limbs to wooden planks. At this point, with the bear safely handicapped and presumably tired out, it could be loaded into a cage of oak and pine for transport. Oppian also shares two different ways to trap lions. In the region of Libya, which in antiquity meant most of North Africa, hunters used a similar method to the one Pliny says was used by elephant-hunters, in which horsemen chased the animals into a purpose-built pit. Once a lion was trapped in the pit, the hunters would lower down a plaited well-compacted cage baited with meat. The lion would jump in willingly, the cage would be closed and lifted out of the pit, and the trapped lion would be sent on its way. Reflecting the cultural power of live wild animals, scenes of hunters capturing and transporting them was a common trope in Roman mosaic art. The most spectacular example comes from the 4th-century C.E. Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina, Sicily. The Big Game Hunt mosaic, as its known, stretches across nearly the entire length of the villa, dominating the luxurious houses more public areas. Lying at the entrance to the villas grand hall, or basilica, is a vignette that looks a bit like a morbid Noahs Ark. On the left side of a docked ship, men lead live beasts (including a pair of unhappy-looking ostriches) aboard. From the ships right side, other men unload the animals at their destination, still aliveif not for long. Animal transport scene from the Big Game Hunt Mosaic, Villa del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily (Wikimedia) Other mosaics show the fates of the animals once they reached a major city. One found in the rich city of Leptis Magna, in modern Libya, dates not too long after the emperor Titus celebrated the completion of the Colosseum by condemning thousands of wild animals to death. The so-called Zliten mosaic, now in Tripoli, Libya (Wikimedia) In addition to gladiator fights, the mosaic show a full array of animal spectacles, from the execution of prisoners by beast to venationes. In one particularly cruel vignette, a bear and a raging bull are chained together. Another North African mosaic shows exotic animals losing their lives in the arena in a somewhat more dignified manner. Known as the Magerius Mosaic and dating to around 250 C.E., this one was uncovered in a villa near Hadrumetum, in modern-day Tunisia. Magerius Mosaic, now at the Sousse Archaeological Museum in Sousse, Tunisia (Wikimedia) Each of the four venatores, or hunters, depicted is identified by name. This isnt unusual: Arena fighters were sometimes labeled in comparable mosaics. More interestingand oddly touchingis the way in which the leopards are depicted. Like the humans in the process of killing them, theyre identified by name: Victor, Romanus, Luxurius (meaning, most likely, Frisky), and Crispinus (Curly). Barely visible around the belly of each dying leopard is a laurel crown. Usually awarded to exceptionally talented gladiators, the crown would have been familiar to all fans of arena bloodsport: It was the symbol of the most courageous and fiercest of fighters. The herald at the mosaics center is surrounded by text emphasizing how much glory the spectacle of the leopard hunt had brought to Magerius, the man who paid for it: This is what it means to be rich, this is that it means to be powerful, this is the case now! Though separated in time by three centuries, the praise lavished on Magerius illuminates Caeliuss desperation for some leopards of his own. By refusing to capture the beasts for his friend, Cicero denied Caelius the chance to demonstrate real power. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Radar experts are casting doubt on claims that King Tutankhamun's tomb contains hidden, undiscovered chambers and they're calling for more data to be released. At a March 17 newsconference, officials at Egypt's antiquities ministry released radar data that they said showed the presence of hidden cavities inside the tomb of King Tut. The scans, carried out by Japanese radar technologist Hirokatsu Watanabe, "suggest the presence of two empty spaces or cavities beyond the decorated North and West walls of the burial chamber," they said in a statement. The scans also suggest the "presence of metallic and organic substances," and show what could be door lintels that indicate the presence of doorways, they said. Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, Director of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project, said the cavities may contain the burial of Tutankhamun's stepmom, Queen Nefertiti. [See Photos of King Tut's Burial and Radar Scans] However, Live Science contacted radar experts not affiliated with the project, and they said they doubt the validity of these claims. Some of these experts noted that the geology of the Valley of the Kings, which contains many natural voids, makes it difficult for radar to distinguish archaeological features from natural ones. "It does not appear that these GPR [ground-penetrating radar] data have been processed, or that any of the so-called anomalies are visible in the raw data that are provided," said Lawrence Conyers, a professor of anthropology at the University of Denver. Conyers literally wrote the book (now in its third edition) on the use of ground-penetrating radar in archaeology. "My suggestion to those who are collecting it is that they release the raw data for some peer review by other GPR people before they allow the antiquities people to hold a press conference about all the 'riches' that might be in these supposed tombs," Conyers said. "That [peer review] would cut down on all the speculation and critiques that have been going around by email the last few days, as there might be many scientists who could reach a consensus in advance of the speculation in the press." Story continues Michele Pipan, a geosciences professor at the University of Trieste in Italy, said the radar images released by the antiquities ministry show "many interesting features" but that the absence of vertical or horizontal scales on the images makes it difficult to determine how many feet behind the wall they are located. "I may only say that cavities and metals may fall within the reasonable detection range of a survey like that, but I obviously know nothing about the kind of inversion/interpretation procedure adopted by Watanabe," Pipan said, noting that more information on radar velocity is also needed. The inversion/interpretation procedure refers to the techniques used to gather and analyze the radar data. Live Science talked to other radar experts who agreed to comment only off the record. They also expressed doubts on the findings, and said there was a need for third-party review and the release of more data. The Egyptian antiquities ministry said more radar surveys will be conducted in the next few days, and another news conference is scheduled to take place on April 1 in Luxor. Economic crunch Egypt's tourism numbers have plummeted since the 2011 revolution that drove then-President Hosni Mubarak from power, according to other experts who spoke with Live Science. The country has been subject to terrorist attacks, including an attack by the Islamic State group that brought down a Russian plane in the Sinai Desert. Egyptologists have expressed hope that if Tutankhamun's tomb does, indeed, hold Nefertiti's tomb, it may help to bring back tourists and the badly needed jobs and income. Reeves recently told The New York Times that now is a good time to visit Egypt. "For anyone interested in Egyptian history, this is the time to plan a trip, because you're not going to get jostled by others the way you would have prerevolution. And, it's also a more affordable destination because prices have dropped," Reeves said. Reeves did not immediately return Live Science's requests for comment. 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 Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - A wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of an unarmed white teen who was shot to death last summer by a police officer in South Carolina has been settled for $2.15 million, attorneys for both sides said on Tuesday. Zachary Hammond, 19, died last July when he was shot by Lieutenant Mark Tiller through the open window of the car he was driving in a Hardee's parking lot in the town of Seneca, about 120 miles northwest of the state capital, Columbia. "Rather than endure a lengthy litigation process, both parties agree that an early resolution will allow a platform for healing for the Hammond family and the City of Seneca that is outside the spotlight of litigation, lawyers for all parties said in a statement. No state criminal charges were filed against Tiller in the shooting. Hammond's killing came during a wave of protests across the country in response to several high-profile police killings of unarmed black men, sparking the Black Lives Matter movement. His parents asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate their son's death, arguing that excessive police force was not a matter of race. A federal grand jury was empanelled last August, Hammond family attorney Eric Bland said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.The town of Seneca will pay $250,000 and the rest will come from the South Carolina Municipal Insurance Reserve Fund, Bland said. "You don't pay $2,150,000 unless something is wrong," he added. "That amount of money is consistent with all the other police shooting cases across the country."Police said at the time that Hammond drove his Honda Civic directly at Tiller when asked to put his hands on the steering wheel during a stop that was part of a drug sting. But dashcam video released by investigators three months after the shooting showed Tiller running to Hammond's car, yelling at him to stop and firing at him through the open window as it began to move away. A private pathology report found that Hammond was shot twice, once in the left shoulder from behind and once in the left side of his chest. (Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Editing by Curtis Skinner and Peter Cooney) (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would allow the use of an experimental test to screen donated blood for the Zika virus. The test, manufactured by a New Jersey-based unit of Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, may be used for screening donated blood in areas with active mosquito-borne transmission of Zika virus, the FDA said. (http://1.usa.gov/1RyqW1Z) The regulator recommended last month that blood should no longer be collected from regions in the United States where the Zika virus is circulating. At the time, the FDA also urged that areas with active Zika transmission fulfill blood orders from areas where the virus is not circulating, except when the blood is tested with an FDA-licensed or investigational screening test. "In the future, should Zika virus transmission occur in other areas, blood collection establishments will be able to continue to collect blood and use the investigational screening test, minimizing disruption to the blood supply," said Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. In early March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was arranging and funding shipments of blood products to Puerto Rico to ensure an adequate supply of safe blood as the U.S. territory struggles with Zika. On Wednesday, the FDA said that once screening using the investigational test begins, blood establishments in Puerto Rico may resume collecting donations. Mounting evidence supports a link between Zika and microcephaly, a birth defect that is a sign of incomplete brain development and possibly other problems, such as miscarriage. (Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian and Shounak Dasgupta) Associated Press Saudi Arabia's powerful 37-year-old crown prince will not attend an upcoming summit in Algeria after his doctors advised him not to travel, the Algerian presidency said early Sunday. Saudi Arabia offered no immediate acknowledgment of the comments by Algeria about the condition of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has quickly risen to power under his 86-year-old father King Salman. Much of the focus on the Al Saud royal family in recent years has been on King Salman's health, with analysts suggesting Prince Mohammed could rule the OPEC-leading nation for decades after ascending to the throne. Paris (AFP) - France charged the main suspect in a foiled attack plot with membership of a terrorist organisation after police found an arsenal of weapons and explosives at his home. French national Reda Kriket, 34, was arrested near Paris last week and a police raid on his apartment netted a cache of assault rifles, handguns and TATP, the highly volatile homemade explosive favoured by Islamic State (IS) jihadists. State prosecutor Francois Molins said Wednesday that "no specific target" had been identified for the foiled attack, but the cache of weapons showed an imminent act of "extreme violence" had likely been prevented. Kriket's arrest came just four months after jihadists killed 130 people in the French capital. Investigators have been stepping up efforts to smash a tangled web of IS-linked extremists blamed for both the November Paris attacks and last week's suicide bombings on Brussels airport and metro that killed 32 people. Another French suspect, 32-year-old Anis Bahri, was arrested in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on Sunday in connection with the foiled Paris plot and is fighting extradition to France. Both Kriket and Bahri are believed to have travelled to Syria in late 2014 or early 2015, and since then between France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the French prosecutor said. Two other suspects -- Abderrahmane Ameroud, 38, and Rabah M., 34 -- have been charged in Belgium over the foiled plot and will be held for another week, the country's federal prosecutor said. The arrests highlight the extensive links investigators have uncovered between French and Belgian IS cells behind the Brussels and Paris attacks. Kriket, who is linked to the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, was found guilty in absentia in Brussels in July of being part of a jihadist recruitment network and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Investigations showed Kriket played a key role in financing the recruitment network with money from robberies and stolen goods. Story continues - Brussels airport still closed - Brussels airport said it would remain closed to passenger flights until at least late Thursday afternoon as the operator carries out further tests. "The evaluation of the trial is still ongoing and will take at least till tomorrow afternoon. No flights till then," the airport operator said Wednesday on Twitter. The airport has been shut since suicide bombers Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui blew themselves up in the departure hall on March 22. The metro, which was due to be fully operational Wednesday, is still running on a limited service after the national security council judged the decision to reopen premature. The mayor of the Brussels district of Molenbeek, Francoise Schepmans, meanwhile, said far-right extremists had been banned from holding a planned anti-Islam rally in the neighbourhood after talks with police. The impoverished immigrant neighbourhood has long been seen as a hotbed of Islamist extremism and the prime suspect in the Paris attacks was arrested there earlier this month. Criticism of the Belgian authorities' handling of the attacks probe has mounted after the sole suspect charged over the attacks was freed on Monday for lack of evidence. Prosecutors had charged the suspect, named by media as Faycal Cheffou, with "terrorist murder" and were investigating whether he was the third airport attacker who fled after his bomb did not detonate. But the hunt is now back on for the so-called "man in the hat", seen in CCTV footage next to the two suicide bombers at the airport. Investigators are looking for Naim Al Hamed, whose fingerprints were found at the apartment used by the Brussels airport bombers, but they do not know whether he is the "third man" in the attack or another fugitive. Al Hamed has been linked to Salah Abdeslam, the key suspect in the Paris attacks, who was arrested in Brussels on March 18 after more than four months on the run. A closed-door hearing on Thursday will decide whether Abdeslam should be extradited to France. Belgium has also been accused of missing a series of leads linking the Paris attacks to those behind the Brussels bombings. In the most damning revelation, Turkey said Belgium ignored warnings from Ankara after it deported airport suicide bomber Bakraoui as a "terrorist fighter" last year following his arrest near the Syrian border. By Michel Rose PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande on Wednesday abandoned plans to strip French nationality from people convicted of terrorism, climbing down from a tough stance he took days after the November attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Although a proposal popular with voters, and one that gave the Socialist president an opportunity to reach out to the right, the constitutional reform failed to find the necessary support of both houses of parliament. Hollande also abandoned a proposal to insert into the constitution a set of rules governing a state of emergency, blaming the opposition for torpedoeing his plans, even though some members of his own party had opposed them too. "Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution. I deplore this attitude," Hollande said after a weekly cabinet meeting. "I have decided to end this debate." The climbdown is likely to further damage Hollande's already low chances of re-election in 2017, said Frederic Dabi at the pollster Ifop. "It's going to revive the perception of a president who is not determined, who lacks authority, whose hand is shaking," Dabi said. "It also reinforces the feeling of a term during which reforms have dragged on, got bogged down." A poll by Ipsos-Sopra Steria for Le Monde newspaper, conducted before Wednesday's announcement but published on the same day, showed Hollande would get 16 percent of the vote in the first round of elections, down four points from a month ago. That would put him in third place and out of the contest should he be standing against Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front on 27 percent, and Nicolas Sarkozy of the mainstream right on 21 percent. The passport initiative hit a big snag last week after the opposition-controlled upper house of parliament approved a different version from the one adopted by the Socialist-controlled lower house. To change the constitution, the proposal needed to be approved by each house in exactly the same terms. While the government's version was meant to apply to any French person, the Senate sought to address the fact that stateless persons cannot be expelled from the country, by restricting the law to those with dual nationality. Critics say that would have created two categories of French citizens - those that could have their citizenship revoked and those that could not - something that they said could fuel racial tensions. Putting forward his plan three days after the shootings and bombings of Nov. 13, Hollande won a standing ovation at a rare joint meeting of both houses in the Palace of Versailles. But after the shock of the attacks began to fade, many on the left of the ruling Socialist party criticized the measure. The most spectacular consequence of the rift within the party was the resignation of Hollande's justice minister, Christiane Taubira. "The president is being dealt a blow by his own political friends," a former prime minister and conservative senator, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said on iTele. "The president's authority over his own troops is being challenged." (Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Andrew Callus and Robin Pomeroy) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin's non-participation in the nuclear summit in Washington is due to the lack of mutual action during preliminary preparation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 30, Armenpress reports, citing Sputnik News. "The issue of nuclear safety is an important one, however, Moscow believes that the study of the issues related to nuclear safety requires common and joint efforts and mutual consideration of interests and positions in the course of the preliminary work. We experienced a clear deficit in the preliminary study of the issues and topics of the summit, so in this case there will be no participation of the Russian side," Peskov told journalists. PARIS (Reuters) - France's president said on Wednesday he would not push ahead with plans to change the constitution, including a clause allowing convicted terrorists to be stripped of their French nationality, after parliament failed to agree on the measure. The plan's withdrawal is a major blow for Francois Hollande, who had introduced it in an address to parliament at Versailles three days after Islamist militants killed 130 people in Paris. "Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution. I deplore this attitude," Hollande said after a weekly cabinet meeting. "I have decided to end this debate." The initiative had divided lawmakers and caused months of heated discussions on what critics said was an inefficient and purely symbolic measure. Hollande's plan to insert into the constitution the rules for a state of emergency was also abandoned. The clause for confiscating passports hit a dead end last week after the opposition-controlled upper house of parliament approved a different version from the one adopted by the Socialist-controlled lower house earlier. To change the constitution, the government's proposal needed to be approved by each house of parliament in exactly the same terms. "It's going to revive the perception of a president who is not determined, who lacks authority, whose hand is shaking," said Frederic Dabi, at the pollster Ifop. "It also reinforces the feeling of a term during which reforms have dragged on, got bogged down." Putting forward his plan three days after the shootings and bombings of Nov. 13, Hollande had appeared both resolute and consensual, as the measure was favoured by the right. Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation at the rare joint meeting of both houses in Versailles. But after the shock of the attacks began to fade, many on the left of the ruling Socialist party criticised the measure. In one version, it created a two-tier nation, differentiating between those who could be deprived of their citizenship and those who could not, depending on whether they held dual nationality. "The president is being dealt a blow by his own political friends," a former prime minister and conservative senator, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said on iTele. "The president's authority over his own troops is being challenged." The most notable consequence of the internal rift within the party was the resignation of Hollande's justice minister, Christiane Taubira, earlier this year. (Reporting by Michel Rose, Elizabeth Pineau and Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by John Irish, Larry King) Lyon (AFP) - French investigators searched the offices of the diocese of Lyon on Wednesday over the alleged cover-up of a paedophile priest, a source close to the probe said. The diocese said in a statement that the Archbishop of Lyon, Philippe Barbarin, who is under fire over his handling of the affair, "has said repeatedly that he is prepared to cooperate openly with the investigation". The search of the offices is linked to the prosecution of Bernard Preynat, a priest who has admitted sexually abusing scouts that he was supervising in the Lyon area of central France more than 25 years ago. Preynat's victims have filed a formal complaint against Barbarin and other leading clergy, accusing them of failing to inform the police of the priest's acts when he became aware of them in 2008. "As part of the preliminary investigation opened by the Lyon prosecutor, the diocese of Lyon has today handed over to investigators material which could shed light on these tragic events," the diocese said in a statement. Barbarin, 65, a media-friendly and influential archbishop, has denied any cover-up and pointed out that the crimes date from a decade before he became archbishop of Lyon in 2002. Last week, he apologised during a mass to victims of sexual abuse. Quoting Pope Francis, Barbarin said he was "obliged to assume all the evil committed by some priests and personally apologise for the damage they have caused by sexually abusing children." The scandal is the worst to hit the Catholic Church in France since 2001, when a bishop was given a three-month suspended jail sentence for failing to inform authorities of a paedophile priest. The Catholic Church worldwide continues to be dogged by cases of paedophile priests and past cover-ups, despite Pope Francis' promise of a crackdown. BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany and the European Union rejected protests by Turkey over a satirical German television show that mocked President Tayyip Erdogan, saying press freedom was sacrosanct, just as the EU is banking on Ankara's help in solving its migrant crisis. Turkey's foreign ministry last week called in Germany's envoy to explain an NDR broadcast including a two-minute song that poked fun at Erdogan, who is known for his sensitivity to criticism. German newspapers have poured scorn on Erdogan for trying to muzzle media and some have also questioned whether Germany and the EU have gone soft on Turkish human rights because they need Ankara's co-operation to stem the influx of migrants. The incident is particularly awkward for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has led efforts to forge the migrant deal between the EU and Turkey, a candidate for EU membership. That deal is designed to stop illegal migrants entering Europe in exchange for financial and political rewards for Ankara, prompting some of Merkel's critics to warn that the EU must not lower its standards on human rights and basic freedoms. A spokeswoman for Germany's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday Berlin had made clear to Ankara that basic freedoms were "non-negotiable". "(It has been) made clear that despite all the interests Germany and Turkey share, the view on press freedom, freedom of expression is non-negotiable for us," she said, adding, however, that Turkey was an important partner. "We are cooperating with Turkey on various issues, not just the migrant issue but also on Syria," she said. "MOVING AWAY" FROM EU The EU was more forthright in its criticism, saying that summoning the German envoy did not seem to be in line with the EU's cherished freedoms of the press and of expression. "(European Commission President Jean-Claude) Juncker believes this moves Turkey further (away) from the EU rather than closer to us," said a spokeswoman, adding that the EU expected Turkey to uphold the highest standards on democracy, rule of law and freedoms. German newspapers took a tough line against Erdogan. "Dear Turkish President Erdogan ... Germany is not Turkey. In Germany you cannot muzzle the press," wrote a columnist in top-selling Bild daily. The center-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung also warned that the EU might be becoming over-dependent on Turkey. "Many politicians in the European Union are soft on Erdogan because they need him in the migrant crisis," it wrote. France's foreign ministry said freedom of expression was a fundamental tenet of democracy and "even more so for a member of the Council of Europe and a candidate for the European Union." Erdogan, 62, has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade, first as prime minister and since 2014 as president. He remains popular at home, but his critics accuse him of becoming increasingly authoritarian and intolerant. Turkish state prosecutors have opened nearly 2,000 cases against people for insulting Erdogan since 2014, the country's justice ministry said this month. The defendants include cartoonists, academics, journalists and even schoolchildren. (Reporting by Madeline Chambers, Gabriela Baczynka and John Irish in Paris; Editing by Gareth Jones) (Reuters) - Hackers broke into the computer networks of some big U.S. law firms, including Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Federal investigators are looking to see if confidential information was stolen for insider trading, as these law firms represented Wall Street banks and big companies, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Other law firms were also targeted, but the probe has not amounted to any clear information on what details have been stolen, the newspaper reported. The Federal Bureau of investigation and the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office are investigating the matter, WSJ said. Hackers have threatened more such attacks in postings on the Internet, the Journal said. Cravath Swaine & Moore and Weil Gotshal & Manges were not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours. (Reporting by Sneha Teresa Johny in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Member of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party of Turkey, Armenian MP from Istanbul Garo Paylan gave Easter eggs to the Turkish MPs before the discussion of the Budget Committee. As "Armenpress" reports, TGRT TV presented a coverage on this. The MPs began egg tapping before the discussion. As a result, the MP from the "Justice and Development" party won, who Garo Paylan "awarded" with Easter pastry. Besides the MPs, Paylan gave an Easter egg to the Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mahir Unal. Sister rock trio Haim have announced their opening North American tour dates for this summer and have said they would release songs off their upcoming album during the tour, according to Rolling Stone. Haim's North American tour will kick off on May 17 in Santa Ana, California before moving east across the US, stopping for shows and festivals along the way, including Lollapalooza in Chicago in July. The sisters will also play the Reading and Leeds festivals in the UK and other festivals in Europe through August and September Tickets for Haim's North American tour go on pre-sale March 31. For more information and tickets visit: http://haimtheband.com/ Tripoli (AFP) - The head of Libya's UN-backed unity government arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday following months of mounting international pressure for the country's warring sides to allow him to start work. UN special envoy Martin Kobler hailed the arrival of prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj, urging a "peaceful and orderly handover of power" and praising his "exceptional personal courage". Sarraj, a businessman named the government chief under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal in December, arrived by sea with a naval escort along with several members of his cabinet. Speaking in Tripoli, Sarraj said he would make "reconciliation and the settlement of security and economic crises" his top priority. Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran the capital, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognised parliament to flee to the country's remote east. International leaders, increasingly alarmed by the rise of jihadists and people-smugglers in the impoverished North African state, have urged Libya's political rivals to support the unity government. But so far the two administrations have refused to cede power. A presidential council formed under the December deal confirmed on its Facebook page that Sarraj and several other members had "arrived safe and sound in Tripoli". Kobler tweeted that their arrival "marks important step in #Libya democratic transition & path to peace, security and prosperity." Dressed in navy blue uniforms with white sailors' caps, several senior marine officers held a guard of honour to welcome Sarraj at the naval base where they docked. Outside, armed vehicles and anti-aircraft guns bearing interior ministry insignia kept guard alongside gunmen in civilian clothes charged with providing security for Sarraj and his ministers. - 'Another step forward' - The EU's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said Sarraj's arrival in the capital was "a unique opportunity for Libyans of all factions to reunite". Story continues Italy, which has offered to lead a peacekeeping force in Libya if asked to by the new government, also welcomed the development. "It is another step forward for the stabilisation of Libya," Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said. "Further progress is now possible for the Libyan people based on the determination of the premier Sarraj and the presidential council." Sarraj and his cabinet had previously been blocked from entering the capital by the authorities there, who even closed the airspace several times to prevent them flying in. It was unclear if their arrival had been agreed in advance with the Tripoli government, which had announced on Friday a "maximum state of emergency" as Sarraj's cabinet prepared to head to the capital. Tripoli residents reacted on social media to his arrival with a mixture of hope and sarcasm. Twitter user @alladdinno said Sarraj's appearance in the capital "felt like when the things you ordered online finally arrive". Facebook user Najiya said she hoped the new administration "could serve the country and its people". - IS high priority - The unity government announced this month that it would start working on the back of a petition signed by a narrow majority of Libya's elected lawmakers. The United States and its European allies have threatened sanctions against those who undermine the political process. And UN chief Ban Ki-moon called on Tuesday for anyone obstructing the peace process to be "held accountable". Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, raising fears that the Islamic State group is establishing a new stronghold just across the Mediterranean. IS has seized control of Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and launched a wave of attacks, both against rival Libyan forces and across the border in Tunisia. The group claimed responsibility for two attacks last year in Tunisia -- on the Bardo national museum and at a beach resort near Sousse -- that killed a total of 59 tourists. Western countries are considering military action against the jihadists in Libya but want a unity government to request help first. The US Special envoy for Libya Jonathan Winer tweeted that the country's politicians "must now begin crucial work to address full range of #Libya's challenges". Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, which lies just 300 kilometres (185 miles) away, and in recent years traffickers have exploited the country's instability. Libyan coastguards rescued 152 Europe-bound migrants from two vessels in trouble early on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the Tripoli navy. Around 330,000 migrants have landed in Italy from Libya since the start of 2014. Paris (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday scrapped contested constitutional reforms he proposed after the Paris attacks, in an embarrassing U-turn for his already beleaguered government. The reforms included a plan to strip convicted terrorists of their French nationality, which had sparked a fierce debate over the risk that it would create stateless persons. Hollande also wanted to enshrine in the constitution a state of emergency adopted after suicide bombers and gunmen from the Islamic State group killed 130 people on November 13. However the lower house National Assembly and opposition-dominated Senate failed to agree on the exact wording of the text, a prerequisite for a constitutional amendment to be adopted in France. "A compromise appears out of reach on the stripping of terrorists' nationality," Hollande said. "I also note that a section of the opposition is hostile to any constitutional revision. I deeply regret this attitude," the president said in a brief televised statement. "I have decided to close the constitutional debate (but) I will not deviate from the commitments I have taken... to ensure the security of our country." Initially Hollande had proposed stripping citizenship from convicted jihadists born in France who held a second passport. But this sparked howls of protest from within his Socialist party, with critics arguing it would create two categories of French citizens -- a sensitive issue in a country where millions hold two passports. Polls showed the majority of terror-weary French people supported the plan, but justice minister Christiane Taubira was so opposed to the measure that she resigned. The right and far-right initially praised the measure, until the government amended it to remove any mention of dual nationality. This sparked criticism over the potential creation of stateless citizens. Hollande's move to drop the reform comes as authorities in Europe face increasing criticism over laxism and security failings in the face of the growing jihadist threat. Story continues Links have emerged between the IS cell which attacked Paris and the suicide bombers who struck Brussels last week, killing 32 people. "The threat remains higher than ever," said Hollande. - 'A historical failure' - The failure to convince all political parties to fall behind the reforms will deal a stinging blow to Hollande, who is hoping to run for re-election next year. An Ipsos-Sopra Steria poll published Wednesday showed Hollande would be eliminated in the first round of an election if held now, no matter who his opponent. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he "bitterly regrets" that the right refused an "outstretched hand". The leader of the far-right National Front (FN) Marine Le Pen said Hollande's decision to scrap the constitutional reform was "a historical failure" and called for him to resign. However Hollande's Socialist party said the opposition was responsible for the "sad spectacle". "We apologise to the French people. We were not able to convince the right in general... to reinforce our law in the fight against terrorism," said party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis. Hollande was France's most unpopular leader in modern history when Paris suffered its first terror attack of 2015, when gunmen killed 17 people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine and at a Jewish supermarket in January. His popularity briefly rose over his handling of those attacks, but not for long. The display of political unity quickly fizzled out after the November attacks, and turned to blame-trading and infighting among Socialists who accused Hollande of shifting to the right with his hardline response. Hollande has also faced a series of street protests, first over economic reforms which Prime Minister Manuel Valls had to force through parliament, and now over plans to reform labour laws. Speculation swirled Wednesday that the boards of troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp and Foxconn parent company Hon Hai are to imminently agree a multi-billion-dollar takeover by the Taiwanese company after a month of delays. The deal would be the first foreign acquisition of a major Japanese electronics firm if the two companies sign the deal on Thursday as reported. The Taiwan Stock Exchange said Wednesday that Hon Hai would hold a press conference to announce important information after a board meeting, but a Hon Hai spokeswoman refused to comment on speculation it will imminently sign the agreement with Sharp. A spokesman for Sharp declined to comment on reports by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and other media that it would also hold a board meeting, saying the company could not reveal any details of board meetings. The Osaka-based company is expected to give the greenlight to a proposal by Hon Hai to slash an originally agreed cash injection of 489 billion yen ($4.3 billion) by around 100 billion yen, NHK said. Hon Hai is required by the exchange to hold a board meeting before submitting its annual report on March 31, but the spokeswoman dismissed as "market speculation" that the board would meet for the purpose of discussing Sharp. The exchange earlier said that Hon Hai would hold a press conference if a major decision, such as one on Sharp, was reached. Sharp decided in late February to accept Hon Hai's proposal but the Taiwanese multinational owner of Foxconn -- the world's biggest iPhone and iPad maker -- delayed the takeover to review new information the Japanese company had supplied. Japanese media have said it involved potential liabilities topping 300 billion yen that Hon Hai would have to assume in a takeover. The latest speculation comes as Hon Hai applied Tuesday for a halt in share trading, suggesting it is ready to finalise its takeover of Sharp. The Taiwan Stock Exchange said trading in shares of Hon Hai Precision and its affiliate Foxconn Technology would be suspended due to a "major announcement". Story continues Hon Hai was fined early this month after the exchange said the company violated trading rules by failing to fully explain the deal it has been negotiating with Sharp. Sharp has teetered on the edge of bankruptcy for years and Foxconn's colourful billionaire owner Terry Gou has long been pushing for a takeover. The two firms have worked together for years on large-screen technology, including for televisions, and jointly operate a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel plant in Japan. Still, the Japanese government had reportedly been concerned about Sharp's key technologies falling into the hands of a foreign firm. Sharp is still a leader in LCD technology and remains one of Japan's best-known corporate brands overseas despite its bleeding balance sheet. But the century-old company piled up eye-watering losses after the 2008 global financial crisis and a restructuring plan has yet to pull it out of the red. The nominations for the 31st Annual Lucille Lortel Awards, the top honors for off-Broadway theater, have been announced, and Stephen Karam's acclaimed drama about a working-class Pennsylvania family's uneasy Thanksgiving gathering, The Humans, leads the field. Or does it? In one of the more perplexing nomination breakdowns of recent New York theater seasons, The Humans scored the highest number of mentions on Wednesday, but was overlooked in the key shortlists for best play and director. The production, which transferred to Broadway and reopened to rave reviews earlier this year, landed acting nominations for Jayne Houdyshell, Reed Birney and Lauren Klein, as well as for set design, lighting and sound. It was nudged out of the best play stakes by Annie Baker's John and Rajiv Joseph's Guards at the Taj, which drew five noms apiece, as well as Danai Gurira's Eclipsed with three, and Lucas Hnath's The Christians and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Gloria, which each received two. Of that nominated crop, only Guards at the Taj and Eclipsed made the cut for outstanding director (respectively Amy Morton and Liesl Tommy) in a field dominated by women. However, in a surprising shutout, none of the actors in either play scored a mention. That includes Lupita Nyong'o for her much-lauded turn in Eclipsed, which has also transferred to Broadway since its Public Theater premiere and, like The Humans, is believed to be a strong contender for Tony Awards attention. Read More: Tonys 2016: Patina Miller, Andrew Rannells to Announce Nominations Topping the musical field with five nominations is Futurity, a Civil War-set folk-infused show that ponders questions about artificial intelligence from a historical vantage point. The David Bowie musical, Lazarus, staged by director of the moment Ivo van Hove, was snubbed in the top categories but did score acting mentions for Michael C. Hall and Sophia Anne Caruso. Other noted actors nominated this year include Phylicia Rashad for Head of Passes, Georgia Engel and Lois Smith for John, Annette O'Toole for Southern Comfort, Ed Harris and Paul Sparks for Buried Child and Timothee Chalamet for Prodigal Son. Story continues In the revival category, which includes both plays and musicals, The Robber Bridegroom fared best with four mentions. The bluegrass-flavored Mississippi fairy tale made the list for outstanding revival, lead actor Steven Pasquale and featured actress Leslie Kritzer, who nabbed a second nomination for her work in Gigantic. The most-nominated solo show, with three, is Julie Taymor's production of Grounded, George Brant's single-character drama about a female drone pilot, played by Anne Hathaway. However, those noms did not include mentions for the director or star. The Lortels will be presented May 1 at NYU Skirball Center. As previously announced, James Houghton, the founding artistic director of Signature Theatre, who steps down this year after a long tenure, will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. See the complete list of 2016 nominations. The Hague (AFP) - War crimes judges will rule on Tuesday whether to throw out a case brought against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto for his alleged role in post-election violence several years ago which left more than 1,300 dead. The judges at the International Criminal Court will hand down their ruling on April 5 on motions brought by Ruto and his co-accused, radio boss Joshua arap Sang, to either acquit them or find there is no case to answer, the court said in a statement on Wednesday. "This decision will be notified only in writing. No hearing will be held," the statement said, adding it would be made public before 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) on the day. Ruto, 49, and Sang, 40, have both denied three charges of crimes against humanity namely murder, forcible deportation and persecution arising out of Kenya's disputed elections in late December 2007 and its violent aftermath in early 2008. Prosecutors say more than 1,300 people died and some 600,000 others were left homeless in Kenya's worst wave of violence since independence from Britain in 1963. The prosecution closed its arguments in the main trial in September 2015, and the defence has yet to start. Instead Ruto's defence team has called for the charges to be dismissed, arguing the ICC prosecutors have failed to prove his role in post-polls bloodshed and told the court in January that the case was "in tatters." Sang's team has maintained there is "no case to answer." ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in December 2014 dropped a similar case against Ruto's then rival Uhuru Kenyatta, who is now Kenya's president. That announcement was the ICC's biggest setback since it was established in 2002 to try the world's worst crimes, and came amid allegations of witness intimidation, bribery and false testimony. Kenya has fought an international campaign against the cases, leading African accusations that the ICC is unfairly targeting the continent's leaders. India's prime minister will hold talks Wednesday with EU leaders in Brussels, seeking to boost investment from his country's biggest trading partner and deepen cooperation on counterterrorism. Narendra Modi was to meet European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels for the 13th EU-India summit, held little more than a week after deadly suicide bombings hit the city. Foreign ministry official K. Nandini Singla said the discussions would focus on trade and investment as well as security cooperation. "In the light of recent terror attacks, understandably there is a renewed focus and emphasis on cooperation in counterterrorism. This will be certainly on the agenda for discussion," she said. Modi's right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014 promising to revive India's economy and create much-needed jobs. But while India is the world's fastest-growing major economy, experts say it is still not expanding at a fast enough pace to provide employment for a burgeoning young population. The 28-member European Union (EU) is the South Asian nation's biggest trading partner and its largest source of foreign investment, accounting for around 26 percent of total inward investment, or $69 billion. Economic ties were put in the spotlight Wednesday with the announcement by Indian giant Tata Steel that it plans to sell its British assets, with thousands of jobs at stake. The EU and India launched negotiations on a free-trade agreement in 2007 but progress has been held up due to differences over intellectual property rights and efforts by Brussels to link trade with climate change action. The last summit was held in 2012 but a series of spats over trade, and then over the fate of two Italian marines who skipped bail while on trial for murder in New Delhi, got in the way of organising the next meeting. An EU statement said "the summit with India, one of the EU's ten strategic partners, will be an opportunity to re-launch EU-India relations." Modi posted on his Facebook page that India stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Brussels following the March 22 attacks, which killed a 31-year-old Indian IT worker based in the city. DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's Green party on Wednesday pulled out of two sets of talks being led by the country's two major parties who are separately trying to form a minority government following an inconclusive parliamentary election last month. The Greens' two members of parliament, together with 15 independent lawmakers, have been in talks with the two rival parties who each want to get closest to a majority before seeking the other's consent to allow it to govern. "We have decided to withdraw from discussions on the drafting of a partnership agreement for a minority government. We do not believe it would have the necessary numbers to provide a stable administration," Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said in a statement. "We commend Fine Gael for conducting the talks in a positive fashion. We did, however, feel that there were significant differences between ourselves and other participants on a variety of critical policy issues for our country." The Greens, junior partner in the 2007-2011 government, were the only party not to have ruled out supporting a government led by caretaker Prime Minister Enda Kenny's Fine Gael or fellow center-right party Fianna Fail. Even if Kenny wins the support of all 15 independents ahead of the next vote to elect a prime minister, expected on April 6, his depleted party of 50 deputies would still fall well short of the 79 needed for a majority. That would leave it reliant on Fianna Fail, which holds 43 seats. The two historic rivals - who are strongly resistant to a formal coalition - have yet to discuss the prospect of any informal arrangement. Senior members of both parties said on Wednesday that the independents would first have to decide whom to back before they would consider speaking to one another. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Gareth Jones) Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot sent a letter Wednesday warning troops to use appropriate force, after a soldier was caught on video shooting dead a wounded Palestinian assailant. The soldier -- who last week shot the Palestinian in the head while he was lying prone on the ground -- has been arrested and strongly condemned by top military officials. But far-right politicians and protesters have rallied to his cause, criticised the military's response and demonstrated for his release. Following the soldier's arrest, posters were distributed calling for Eisenkot's resignation. The chief of staff, seen by some Israelis as a voice of moderation amid a wave of violence that erupted in October, said in the letter that soldiers must always behave professionally. "In all situations, we must act in a professional manner, using force in a measured and considered way in order to remain faithful to our values," Eisenkot said. "We will not hesitate to hold accountable soldiers and officers who do not respect operational and moral criteria that guide us in our actions." The 19-year-old soldier who shot the Palestinian appeared in a military court on Tuesday as several hundred of his supporters protested outside. Prosecutors were seeking to extend his remand in the case, which has gripped the country and sparked political tensions, and the judge decided that he be kept in custody until Thursday. The soldier's identity has remained secret under a gag order, granted at the request of his lawyers. He holds both Israeli and French nationality. Video of Thursday's killing in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron spread widely online and threatened to further inflame Israeli-Palestinian tensions. It showed a 21-year-old Palestinian, who along with another man had allegedly stabbed a soldier minutes earlier, lying on the ground, apparently after being shot. The soldier then shoots him again, in the head, without any apparent provocation. Story continues - Political tensions - A poll released by Israel's Channel 2 television showed 57 percent of Israeli Jews were opposed to the soldier being prosecuted. Rights activists have labelled it a summary execution, while Palestinian leaders have called on the United Nations to investigate alleged Israeli "extrajudicial killings". The activist who shot the video of the incident has said he and his family have since received threats. The soldier's arrest reportedly sparked a heated debate at Sunday's weekly Israeli government cabinet meeting. Education Minister Naftali Bennett has defended the soldier, saying he "is not a murderer". "Have we lost our minds? We are at war, a war against brutal terrorism," he said. He and the soldier's lawyers have said he may have thought the Palestinian had explosives, though he had reportedly been checked for a suicide belt prior to the shooting. Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon has hit back, criticising those conducting an "unprecedented incitement campaign against the army, chief of staff, and senior commanders." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined condemnations of the soldier's behaviour last week but appeared to backpedal slightly Sunday as political pressure mounted. In remarks before Sunday's cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the investigation must take "into account all conditions." Netanyahu leads one of the most rightwing governments in Israeli history but holds only a one-seat majority in parliament. It is not the first time Eisenkot has been criticised by the far right. Some objected to a speech he made in February in which he warned against excessive force. Eisenkot said that "when there's a 13-year-old girl holding scissors or a knife and there is some distance between her and the soldiers, I don't want to see a soldier open fire and empty his magazine at a girl like that." Violence since October has left 200 Palestinians and 28 Israelis dead. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities. But Israeli forces have also been accused of using excessive force in some cases, charges which they have firmly denied. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. A 59-year-old man arrested after he hijacked an Egypt Air flight and forced it to land in Larnaca was remanded in custody for eight days on March 30.Amidst tight security and a courtroom buzzing with foreign and local press, Seif Eldin Mustafa appeared in Larnaca court without a lawyer and did not object to the remand order, Armenpress reports, citing Cyprus Mail. The court heard that after Mustafa was arrested on March 29, he explained to officers that his need to see his family was the reason he felt compelled to take such drastic action. When someone hasnt seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children and the Egyptian government does not allow him to, what should he do? he told police. The hijacker had four children with his ex wife who is Cypriot. One of their children died 10 years ago. Mustafa left the island in 1994. None of the passengers and crew was harmed in the hijack. Eighty-one people, including 21 foreigners and 15 crew were on board the Airbus 320. The EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Larnaca by Mustafa, with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt, who was arrested after giving himself up. The airport was forced to close for hours, seriously disrupting flights. The court heard that the control tower was not initially informed by the planes pilot that a hijack was under way, so they did not grant permission for landing. It was only after the pilot claimed they were low on fuel that permission was granted. The suspect, 15 minutes into the flight got up from his seat and went to the back of the aircraft where he showed a crew member the belt he was wearing which had cylinders attached and wires that led to a remote he was holding. He then asked all passengers to surrender their passports, the court was told, and he gave a note to a crew member, asking them to inform the pilot that he was a hijacker and that he wanted him to land the plane either in Turkey, Greece or Cyprus, preferably the latter. In the note, he said that if the plane landed on Egyptian territory he would blow up the whole plane. After the plane landed at the Larnaca Airport, at around 8.40 am., he handed over a envelope with the name and details of a Cypriot woman who the media are naming only as Marina his former wife. Inside was a letter which demanded the release of 63 women who are detained for their political views in Egyptian prisons. During negotiations with the police and after he allowed the release of several passengers, he threatened to push the button of the remote he was holding and blow himself up. A crew member told police that they believed there were explosives in his belt and that he appeared as a stable and commandeering person, and that he would carry out his threat, the court heard. At around 2.45 pm, and after all passengers were released, the suspect exited the aircraft and tried to escape, but was arrested for hijacking. Upon his arrest, police discovered that there were no explosives in his belt, but it was sent for lab tests, along with a container with a liquid substance that was also attached to the belt. During a body search, a number of symbols were found tattooed on his body, court heard, which will too be investigated. On board the plane, police also located a bag belonging to the 59-year old containing a number of documents written in Arabic, and bottle containing a liquid which was sent for further tests. The suspect cooperated with the police and agreed to answer to their questions. Police expect to receive around 40 reports, half of whom have already been taken, from the hijacked planes crew and passengers, relatives of the suspect in Cyprus and Egypt, and other people involved in the incident. An investigation will also be carried out, in cooperation with INTERPOL, the court heard, as to how the suspect was able to carry to the aircraft all the items found in his possession. Police justified their request for his remand on the grounds that if released, he might influence testimonies of people the police aim to speak to, but also there were fears that he might disappear. While leaving the court, Mustafa made a gesture with two fingers, raising them to indicate the peace sign. Mustafa faces charges for hijacking, the illegal possession of explosives, abduction, threat of violence, attempt to cause bodily harm with the use of explosives, reckless behavior, and offences relating to the violation of the laws on terrorism and civil aviation. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli authorities are investigating Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and opposition leader Isaac Herzog for alleged corruption, the lawmakers said on Wednesday. Deri, who has already served prison time for graft, confirmed on his Twitter account that he was under investigation, saying he had requested that a gag order on the publication of his name be lifted and that he was ready to "respond to all questions". "For the moment, the government's judicial council hasn't ordered enquiries to be opened," he said in a statement issued later. News of the investigation into an unnamed senior politician first emerged late Tuesday in a report by Channel 2 television. A second unidentified senior politician was also said to be under investigation. Herzog, leader of the centre-left Zionist Union alliance, refuted the allegations, denouncing on Twitter what he called "ridiculous slander". Local media reported that Herzog was being probed over campaign expenses during his Labor party's elections in 2013. Deri, head of Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas, became interior minister in January after the resignation of Silvan Shalom following allegations of sexual harassment. Shas is vital to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rightwing governing coalition, which holds a one-seat majority in parliament. Deri, who had served as interior minister from 1988 to 1993, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2000 for taking $155,000 in bribes, though his sentence was reduced by a third for good behaviour. Deri resigned as economy minister in November after refusing to overrule anti-trust authorities' objections to a major natural gas deal being pushed by Netanyahu. His resignation allowed Netanyahu to take over the economy minister post himself and move ahead on the gas deal. In January, critics of his appointment as interior minister said the post should not be granted to someone who had been convicted for corruption. Others argued that Deri had paid his debt to society. The interior ministry notably oversees local government and efforts to prevent illegal immigration. The police fall under a separate ministry. Herzog, who took over as head of the Labor party in November 2013, was investigated for an alleged breach of party funding rules in 2001 but the case was closed due to a lack of evidence. Julia Roberts is attached to star in and produce a big-screen adaptation of Harlan Coben's Fool Me Once. The novel was published last week by Penguin's Dutton imprint, and Roberts pounced quickly to begin developing through her Red Om Films banner. There's no studio attached at this stage. The story centers on former special ops pilot Maya (Roberts), home from the war, who sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work: her 2-year-old daughter playing with Maya's husband, Joe, who had been brutally murdered two weeks earlier. The footage begs the question: Can you believe everything you see with your own eyes, even when you desperately want to? Despite being a staple on the New York Times best-seller list, Coben has found little traction on the big screen. Only one of his books has been adapted for film: 2006's Tell No One, a French-language film directed by Guillaume Canet. Warner Bros. acquired remake rights to that project, with Ben Affleck at one point attached to direct and Chris Terrio writing. Three years ago, Paramount beat out several for Coben's Six Years, with Hugh Jackman attached to star, but that project has since stalled. Roberts will produce Fool Me Once alongside Red Om partners Lisa Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill. The actress, who most recently starred in Billy Ray's Secret in Their Eyes, will be seen in the Cannes world premiere of Jodie Foster's Money Monster opposite George Clooney. She also has Garry Marshall's ensemble film Mother's Day on the horizon. CAA, which represents Roberts and Coben, packaged Fool Me Once. Roberts is additionally handled by Engelman & Company and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof + Fishman. Coben also is represented by Lisa Vance at Aaron Priest Agency and attorney Michael Gendler of Gendler & Kelly. Read More: Naomi Watts in Talks to Join Brie Larson in Drama 'Glass Castle' (Exclusive) Of all of the merchandise sold at Kanye West's Life of Pablo pop-up shop two weekends ago, it's a denim jacket that's stirred up the most controversy. The seemingly innocuous $400 jacket, which features track titles scrawled in black sharpie across the back, bears similarity to a jacket belonging to Tweaky Dave, the late, drug-addicted teen who fled an abusive home and ended up living on the streets of Los Angeles and resorting to sex work to survive. The backlash over West's "knockoff" is being led by photographer Jim Goldberg, who published a photo of Tweaky Dave's now-infamous, profanity-covered jacket in his 1995 tome, Raised by Wolves. After spotting West wearing a one-off replica of the jacket created by Australian artist Pauly Bonomelli earlier this year, Goldberg postured that 'Ye's Life of Pablo jacket was a rip-off. Old Dave the tweeker replica jacket I did A photo posted by Pauly (@himumimdead) on Mar 17, 2016 at 4:57pm PDT In an interview with i-D magazine, Goldberg argued that West appropriated a piece that represented the plight of homeless youth for his own profit. "For the jacket to become sold as fashion - it really put me over the edge," he told the glossy. Goldberg, who was gifted the jacket by Dave before his death, went on to say he feels responsible for protecting Dave's legacy. "Ultimately all I would want from them is acknowledgement of Dave, and maybe they give something to homeless kids." Goldberg explained that he wanted to pursue legal action, though that might prove difficult given it is not an exact replica. Fashion's long and complicated history with appropriation - cultural, economic or otherwise - has proven it's difficult to distinguish outright copying from sampling. Tweeky Dave would be rolling over in his grave #yeezy #pablo #tlop A photo posted by Jim Goldberg (@goldbergjim) on Mar 24, 2016 at 6:45pm PDT NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya signed a multi-billion dollar agreement with China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) to extend the country's rail network, adding to a swathe of infrastructure deals in Africa won by Chinese firms. The first phase of a cross-country rail project in East Africa's largest economy, and thence to other countries in the region, is expected to link the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa to Nairobi from mid-2017. In December the government, seeking to reduce transport costs and boost trade, secured a $1.5 billion loan -- also from China -- to extend the track from the capital to the Rift Valley town of Naivasha. Wednesday's deal with CCCC, worth 549 billion shillings ($5.42 billion), is to extend the line from Naivasha to the town of Malaba on the Ugandan border, said Wilson Nyakera, principal secretary in Kenya's transport ministry. China has replaced the U.S. and Europe as the main trading partner for many African countries and has bankrolled projects from infrastructure to energy as part of its growing commercial and diplomatic clout on a continent with some of the fastest-growing economies. The government expected to conclude a financing agreement for the Naivasha-Malaba leg in the next six months, Nyakera said. "Even as we sign the commercial contract for the second phase we are confident that we will be able to deliver the project," Transport Minister James Macharia was quoted as saying in a Kenya Railways statement. Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan have ratified a plan for a railway connecting Mombasa to Kampala, Kigali and Juba. ($1 = 101.3000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by John Stonestreet) NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan wildlife rangers shot dead a stray male lion in the outskirts of Nairobi after it attacked and injured a local resident, the Kenya Wildlife Service said. A mob had gathered around the lion, forcing the rangers to shoot it to avert further injuries, a spokesman for the agency said. "It had injured somebody. There was a crowd that had formed around it, so it was practically impossible to capture it the way we planned to," Paul Udoto, communications manager for the wildlife service, told Reuters by phone. The lion was the third in recent weeks to stray from Nairobi National Park on the outskirts of the capital. No injuries were reported in the first case on Feb. 19, but one man was injured in the second, on March 18. The wildlife service managed to capture the stray lions in the first two incidents and returned them to protected areas. Images on social media showed the lion in the latest incident walking in a grassy area next to the fence of the national park around 9 a.m. local time. They also showed residents gathering around the animal, some perched on the back of light trucks. "The mob had formed and in the process somebody got injured, and by the time the veterinary and security teams got to the ground it was already beyond salvation," Udoto said. "With that commotion we risked more injuries or even possible deaths." Nairobi National Park lies on the city limits, providing visitors views of lions, rhinos, giraffes, zebras and other wildlife against a backdrop of high-rise buildings. Lions are occasionally spotted in the city close to the park after they find a way through fences that protect the built-up areas near the reserve. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Humphrey Malalo, editing by Larry King) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. A Kim Kardashian lookalike has made more than $10,000 in just one year after she capitalized on her striking Armenian-American looks by joining a controversial dating site,Armenpress reports citing DailyMail. Christine Ham, a 26-year-old from Los Angeles, turned online dating into a business when she joined WhatsYour Price.com in 2015. The executive assistant claims her physical similarities to Kim have helped her attract numerous men who are willing to pay to go on a date with her, simply because of her resemblance to the 34-year-old reality star. The site, which launched in 2011, allows men to bid on attractive women of their choosing, and Christine said the idea of 'making just by accompanying someone for a short period of time with absolutely no expectations' was what inspired her to join WhatsYourPrice.com after a good friend introduced her to it. Christine explained that many men on the site have told her that they like the 'exotic and sexy' look she possesses. 'My features are what reminded them of Kim Kardsashian, and i was constantly compared to her,' she told Daily Mail Online of her past dates. 'The couldn't wait to meet me, and sometimes I was told I looked better than her. 'I still find that hard to believe,' she added. Christine noted that because of her dark features, Armenian background, and her personal style, she got compared to Kim 'a lot' even before she joined the dating site. 'I was always told I reminded people of her. I loved it,' she said. Although Christine doesn't necessarily look identical to Kim, she shares her plump pout and shiny chocolate brown tresses. And like the selfie queen, Christine often snaps photos of herself in her car or posed in a bikini. When it comes to Kim's infamous hourglass figure, Christine's curves are less dramatic, but the male members of the dating site don't seem to mind. Christine can be seen showing off her petite figure in crop tops and figure-hugging pencil skirts at numerous events - just like Kim. 'I love Kim K. I think she is a smart business woman and has expanded her name [and] brand beyond means,' Christine said. 'She's gorgeous, classy and has amazing taste. Christine makes an average of $200 for each first date, however, one of her suitors gave her 'about $1,500' for her company. NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's National Bank issued profit warning on Wednesday, saying its 2015 earnings will fall by at least 25 percent hurt by bad loans. The bank placed its chief executive officer and five top managers on leave on Tuesday pending an internal audit process and appointed Wilfred Musau to take over daily operations. "NBK's non-performing loans portfolio increased towards the end of 2015 which led to a sharp increase in the level of impairment charges," the bank said in a statement. "The bank has identified the NPLs and has taken a series of steps to manage recovery of the said positions," it said. The bank last year reported pretax profit of 1.3 billion Kenyan shillings, down 28 percent hurt by costs stemming from lay-offs. Two other Kenyan banks have replaced their top management over the past year. Both Imperial Bank and Dubai Bank were placed under statutory management by the central bank. "We reiterate that the internal process is not an indictment on the said managers but an opportunity to ensure a fair, transparent and independent audit process," Mohamed Hassan, chairman of National Bank's board, said in a statement. The central bank on Tuesday said it welcomed National Bank's actions to strengthen the bank while ensuring its operations continued smoothly. (Reporting by George Obulutsa; editing by Jason Neely) By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's top leader on Wednesday said missiles were key to the Islamic Republic's future, offering support to the hardline Revolutionary Guards that have drawn criticism from the West for testing ballistic missiles. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supported last year's nuclear deal with world powers but has since called for Iran to avoid further rapprochement with the United States and its allies, and maintain its economic and military strength. "Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors," Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, was quoted as saying by his website. "If the Islamic Republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country." His comments may have been directed at former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the de facto leader of a more moderate political alliance, who last week tweeted "the future is in dialogue, not missiles". Iran's Revolutionary Guards conducted ballistic missile tests earlier this month, in what they said was a demonstration of Iran's non-nuclear deterrent power. AMBIGUOUS RESOLUTION The United States and several European powers said the tests defied a U.N. Security Council Resolution that calls on Iran not to test nuclear-capable missiles, in a joint letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday. However, Washington has said that a fresh missile test would not violate a July 2015 accord under which Iran has restricted its disputed nuclear program and won relief from U.N. and Western financial sanctions in return. That agreement between Iran and six world powers was endorsed in Resolution 2231. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Iran's ballistic missile had caused "alarm" and it would be up to the major powers in Security Council to decide whether fresh sanctions should be applied. But Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, said the tests did not violate Resolution 2231. "You may like it or not that Iran launches ballistic missiles but that is a different story. The truth is that in the 2231 resolution there are no such bans," Interfax cited Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the ministry's department for non-proliferation and arms control, as saying. Iran has consistently denied its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Moscow and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Sam Wilkin; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Washington (AFP) - An appeals court in the US state of Texas issued a last-minute stay of execution Wednesday for a man convicted of murdering his two young daughters in an act of revenge. John Battaglia, 60, was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6:00 pm (2300 GMT), until the process was halted just hours ahead of time. The former accountant shot dead his six- and nine-year-old daughters at his Dallas home 15 years ago, in an act of vengeance against their mother. He arranged their murder so that his ex-wife, whom he had been put on probation for beating, was on the phone as they died. Afterwards, he headed to a tattoo parlor where he had a design inked onto his arm in honor of his girls. Battaglia challenged the execution, arguing that he was entitled to a new lawyer and that he suffered from mental illness. Texas is the state that puts to death the most inmates in the United States and prosecutors are expected to push for a new execution date. Donald Trump spent more than a decade headlining his hit reality television show, The Apprentice, and on virtually every episode of every season, the climactic moment came when the billionaire real estate mogul gathered his hopeful contestants in a room and ritually fired one of them. Trump did it with style, too. He developed a signature hand gesture, the cobra, a sharp four-fingered jab at the object of his contempt that usually accompanied the abrupt dismissal, Youre fired. Related: Ex-Trump Insider Donald Doesnt Want to Be President But in his current role as frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump appears to have allowed his trademark skill to atrophy. Because, lets face it, he is surrounded by people who need firing in the worst way. You're Fired He has a spokesperson whose list of lies, misrepresentations and blunders rivals his own. Yet she is still put in front of the cameras to represent the campaign. He has an attorney on staff who insisted that it was legally impossible for a husband to rape his wife. That man still has a job and, apparently, a law license. Most plainly in need of the Trump cobra, though, is campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was arrested Tuesday morning in Florida and charged with simple battery for grabbing a reporter and yanking her out of his way after a Trump press conference earlier this month. Video evidence released by the Jupiter, FL police Department today makes it pretty clear that what former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields claimed after the event was true: that she had been grabbed and pulled out of the way by Lewandowski, leaving her bruised and shaken. Related: How Trump Got Outfoxed by Cruz in Louisiana But after she made her original allegation, Lewandowski, with the backing of the Trump campaign organization, began an all-out assault on her credibility and reputation: Lewandowski Todays report of his arrest and the filing of a battery charge make it plain that Lewandowski lied about the incident. In any normal campaign, a senior official accused of assaulting a reporter would be jettisoned immediately particularly after attempting to smear the reporters reputation while lying about his own actions. Story continues But the Trump campaign quickly closed ranks around Lewandowski. An official press release claimed that he was absolutely innocent. Spokesperson Katrina Pierson went on CNN and declared that even if he were convicted, the campaign would still keep him on. Trump got in on the act personally, using Twitter to claim that the video tape, which plainly shows Lewandowski grabbing Fields, actually shows nothing of the sort. Wow, Corey Lewandowski, my campaign manager and a very decent man, was just charged with assaulting a reporter. Look at tapes-nothing there! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2016 Then, Trump suggested that maybe he ought to file a complaint against Fields himself, for asking him questions after a press conference was over. Victory press conference was over. Why is she allowed to grab me and shout questions? Can I press charges? pic.twitter.com/qbW2RjkINX Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2016 Defending the indefensible has become commonplace for the Trump campaign, but why the GOP frontrunner would continue backing a staffer after video evidence emerged showing him assaulting a journalist is puzzling. Related: Why Wisconsin Could Slow the Trump Express Maybe the explanation is that Trump was actually a much better actor while he was on TV than anybody gave him credit for. Because he doesnt look like a guy who knows how to fire someone in real life. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Arpien Hovhannisyan sees a solution regarding the number of journalists at polling station, which she believes will be acceptable for all sides. Hovhannisyan mentioned in an interview with reporters at the National Assembly that the changes proposed by them in the respective article have great chances to be accepted. Of course, I do not mean that the proposals will be accepted for 100%, but I am under the impression that our proposal is acceptable. The logic is that any media agency can submit names of up to 50 journalists to the Central Electoral Commission, where they will receive relevant certificates with their photos, names and surnames on them. And those journalists will have the right to visit any polling station. No limitation is imposed on the number of journalists at the polling stations. Every media agency has the right to sent 2 journalists to any polling station, Armenpress reports Hovhannisyan mentioning. Arpine Hovahnnisyan added that there is also another solution which is still in the phase of discussions. In exceptional cases when the number of journalists and observers becomes too much, the number of journalists and observers in a polling station can be limited by 2/3 votes of the members of the commission, but even in this case their number cannot be reduced bellow 15, Minister Hovhannisyan said, adding that those are exceptional cases, there will be no other forms of limitations. For solo and extroverted travelers looking to meet new people and befriend the locals, consider destinations like Galway, Ireland or Nova Scotia, Canada, some of the top places for making friends abroad. That's according to travel experts at Cheapflights, who compiled a list of the best, snob-free destinations for travelers -- friendly cities that share a welcoming spirit. Here are a few highlights: Galway, Ireland As the saying goes, when in Rome, do like the locals. In Galway, that means heading to one of the cheerful, brightly-painted pubs on Quay Street, a cobbled street that hums with the chatter of locals gathered for an after-work drink. Located in the West of Ireland, Galway is sometimes referred to as Ireland's most Irish city for having the highest concentration of native Gaelic speakers. Locals are known for being friendly and good-humored. Take the opportunity to learn a few phrases in Gaelic from your new friends. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Want to experience Canadians at their friendliest? Head to Halifax, recommends Cheapflights, where locals start conversations with visitors at the drop of a hat. That could be because the town heaves with the young energy of students (the city is home to five universities) a lively music scene and an inclusive spirit that welcomes a thriving LGBT community as well. Main attractions are the city's coastline, the iconic Peggy's Cove lighthouse nearby, hiking and biking trails and fresh seafood. Buenos Aires, Argentina Described as one of the friendliest and happiest cities in South America, Buenos Aires is known for its cosmopolitan and European vibe -- minus the snobbery. In fact, the whole country celebrates National Friends' Day every July 20, when locals make the effort to show appreciation for their friendships. The city also makes inclusion and cultural diversity a priority and claims to be the No. 1 destination in Latin America for the international LGBT community. To make like a local, the standard greeting is one kiss on the right cheek. Chiang Mai, Thailand Thailand's second-biggest city is described as the slower, calmer and more laid-back counterpoint to Bangkok. Though it too bustles with tourists, Chiang Mai, which is known as Thailand's Rose of the North,' is considerably more zen, thanks to its temples, pagodas and waterfalls. Travelers looking for authenticity and to befriend locals, are more likely to find success here than Bangkok and Phuket, which are overrun with tourists. Because while Thailand pitches itself as the land of smiles, it's perhaps more genuine in Chiang Mai. The company behind the beloved chocolate-covered peanut treats is asking its American fans to decide on the newest addition to the M&M family to celebrate its 75th anniversary. Dubbed a nationwide Flavor Vote, Mars Chocolate North America has given consumers the chance to pick a new flavor combination of M&M's. Voters can express their choice by text message or online and choose between Honey Nut, Coffee Nut and Chili Nut flavors. All three variations will be on sale across the US until June with the winning combo officially hitting the shelves come fall. An additional US $100,000 dollars will be gifted to one of the voters as well as the title of official M&M taste tester. By Lizbeth Diaz MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - An international panel of experts that picked apart the Mexican government's account of what happened to 43 students who disappeared in 2014 will cease work in the country by late April, a senior government official said on Tuesday. The 43 student teachers went missing from the southwestern Mexican city of Iguala in 2014, and their abduction caused an international uproar over human rights abuses in Mexico. The government originally said the students were detained by corrupt local police working for a drug gang. After they were handed over, the students were incinerated in a local dump, ground up and their remains tossed in a river, it said. However a September 2015 report, commissioned by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and conducted by respected investigators from Chile, Colombia, Guatemala and Spain, strenuously questioned the government's account, rejecting the central claim that the students were burned in the dump. The report was a humiliating blow to the government, which had claimed its account was the "historical truth." After it was published, the government asked the experts to stay on and help with the investigation. But in an interview on Tuesday, Deputy Interior Minister Roberto Campa said the experts' time in Mexico would come to a close by the end of April. "It should be Mexican institutions ... that conclude the investigation, the search, and we should be capable of advancing in the attention we pay to the victims," Campa said. Carlos Beristain, one of the experts, declined to comment on the government's decision but said the panel would eventually publish its findings from the last seven months. So far, the remains of only one of the missing students has been positively identified and the whereabouts of the rest remain a mystery. (Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) A teen who stabbed her little brother and plotted with her boyfriend to kill the rest of her family when she was 15 was sentenced on Monday to 10 to 20 years in prison, PEOPLE confirms. Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office in Michigan, tells PEOPLE that Roksana Sikorski's sentence began Tuesday morning. Sikorski turned 17 last week. Sikorski was arrested in 2014 and charged with conspiring with her 23-year-old boyfriend, Michael Rivera, to kill her siblings and parents so that they couple could run away together. Prosecutors say Sikorski stabbed her 12-year-old brother several times in the throat on Oct. 17, 2014, and tried stabbing her sister, all while Rivera waited outside and texted her instructions. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Her brother nearly died from the attack, which was interrupted only when Sikorski's parents rushed to help him after being awoken by his screams. Sikorski accepted a prosecutor's deal on Feb. 22, pleading guilty to one count of assault with intent to murder in exchange for six other felony counts being expunged. Rivera is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted by a jury on all seven counts. Sikorski's attorney, Leslie Posner, tells PEOPLE she plans to appeal her client's sentence and conviction, claiming her plea deal "could not have been willing accepted," given the girl "was not mature enough to waive her Miranda rights." Posner says that Sikorski's parents are convinced Rivera talked their daughter into going along with the murder plot. The lawyer believes he wanted his girlfriend's parents dead so he wouldn't be prosecuted for having sex with a minor. "This is the craziest thing ever," Posner tells PEOPLE. "This is a hideous example showing why juveniles should not be tried as adults. Teens have different brains, different wiring. I'm trying to figure out how to undo this mess." The latest buzz in dairy circles is generated not by the raw versus pasteurized milk controversyalthough the risks of raw milk continue to pop up in the newsbut by A2 milk. Say what? The milk and other dairy productswhich producers claim are more easily digested than the majority of commercially produced milkmay be new to the market in the U.S., but what sets them apart from your standard half-gallon is ancient history. But before we get into the various health claims swirling around the products, which range from A2 milk saving you from indigestion to A2 milk saving you from cancer, lets be clear on what, exactly, A2 milk is. Okay, so heres the deal: Cows milk is about 87 percent water. The remaining 13 percent is the complex mixture of lactose, fat, minerals, and protein known as milk solids. The primary component of the protein in milk solids is casein, which is involved in the coagulation of milk. Any cheesemaker or dairy chemist will tell you that casein is an incredibly complicated substance, and theres still lots to learn about it. One thing they do know, though, is that about 30 percent of it is whats called beta casein. The two most common variants of the beta-casein gene are A1 and A2. Even though they differ by just one amino acid, the small difference can result in the variants having different properties. Chemistry is so cool. Related: This Country Has America Beat When It Comes to Handling Raw Milk Anyway, in milk, A2 is often referred to as the original protein, because that was the only type produced by early domesticated cows. (Humans and goats also produce only A2.) But then, around 10,000 years ago, a natural mutation occurred in some dairy cows in Europe, after which they produced A1 beta casein. In todays dairy herds, any given cow will have two copies of the A2 gene, or two copies of the A1 gene, or be an A1A2 hybrid. (Genetics 101: Every animal receives one copy of the gene from its sire, or father, and one copy from its dam, or mother.) Story continues This will all be over soon, so stay with me. The A1 mutation occurred primarily in the large breeds such as Holsteins, which produce considerably more milk than other breeds, wrote Cookson Beecher in Food Safety News last year. These heavy-producing breeds were quickly adopted by dairies in Europe and the U.S. and, as a result, just about all the regular milk sold today in U.S. stores and in much of Europe contains only the A1 protein, while others produce both the A1 and A2 proteins. That said, according to Progressive Dairyman, about 40 percent of the Holstein sires in active A1 lineups are among those bulls with two copies of the A2 gene, and more than 80 percent of Holstein sires have at least one copy of the A2 gene. Hold that thought. So, just to recap: A2 milk comes just from cows having two copies of the A2 gene for beta casein. Guernsey, Jersey, Swiss Normande, and most African and Indian cattle breeds typically produce A2 milk. (After galloping through a number of A2 milk threads, let me clarify one point: The venerable Jersey breed was developed on Jersey, in the Channel Islands, not New Jersey.) Proponents of A2 milkincluding New Zealand dairy science prof Keith Woodford, author of the 2007 book Devil in the Milk: Illness, Health and the Politics of A1 and A2 Milk claim that its easier to digest, and that A1 milk is linked to a range of illnesses and conditions, ranging from diarrhea, nausea, mucus buildup, and bloating to eczema, type I diabetes, coronary heart disease, autism, and schizophrenia. Those that take a more skeptical view note that most of the research (as well as heavy marketing and in-store demos) has been done bywait for itThe a2 Milk Company, founded in New Zealand by Dr Corran McLachlan in 2000. While studying at Cambridge University, Corrie learned that proteins in milk affect people differently. He learned that ordinary cows produce milk with different beta-casein proteins, called A1 and A2 (among others), explains the website. What was amazing? People who had discomfort when drinking ordinary cows milk were able to enjoy a2 Milk without the same downsides because it contains only the A2 protein and no A1. You can guess whats coming next. Market stock has tripled to NZ$1.2 billion in the past year, wrote Emma OBrien for Bloomberg Business on February 29. The point of difference is that a2 Milk products are sourced from dairy cows that produce only the A2 type of beta-casein protein, whereas most dairy contains both A2 and A1. Sales of the companys A1-free fresh milk, milk powder, ice cream, and other dairy goods drove an 80-fold increase in first-half profit and enabled a2 Milk to fund a foray into Chinas booming $19.9 billion market for infant formula. While a2 Milk has been a commonly available brand in Australia and New Zealand for some years, it only entered the U.S. marketplace, specifically in California stores, in the spring of 2015. According to a Farm Journal AgWeb post from last May, the company developed a proprietary genetic test (ka-ching!) to identify A2 cows so the milk can be segregated for its supply chain, and the search was soon on for A2 herds in this country. According to Bloomberg, the company sources its American milk from four U.S. dairies, mostly in Nebraska, and sells to stores owned by Whole Foods, Sprouts Farmers Market, Albertsons, and Kroger. The opportunities for small, nimble niche dairies are promising, and Holstein breeders have already started to select for the trait. If by any chance you have gotten this far, you want me to shut up and tell you the benefits of A2 milk. Well, when it comes to the heavy hittersdiabetes and heart diseasea 2005 review in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that there is no convincing or even probable evidence that the A1 beta casein of cows milk could lead to type I diabetes (DM-1) or a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). The animal experiments with diabetes-prone rodents that supported the hypothesis about diabetes were not confirmed by larger, better standardized multicentre experiments. The single animal experiment supporting an A1 beta-casein and CHD link was small, short, in an unsuitable animal model and had other design weaknesses. And when it comes to lactose intolerance, because A2 milk contains the same amount of lactose (which is not a protein but a milk sugar) as A1 milk does, in medically diagnosed cases of lactose intolerance, A2 milk will not provide the benefits that lactose-free milk or alternative plant-based milks offer. Since much lactose intolerance is self-diagnosed, however, the cause of digestive troubles in those cases may be connected with an aversion to A1, not lactose, and so drinking A2 milk may help prevent the discomfort experienced from drinking regular milk. But the jury is still out, and, realistically, will be for some time. In a blind randomized cross-over pilot study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2014, preliminary results suggest differences in gastrointestinal responses in some adult humans consuming milk containing beta-casein of either the A1 or the A2 beta-casein type, but require confirmation in a larger study of participants with perceived intolerance to ordinary A1 beta-casein-containing milk. The study was co-authored by Keith Woodford and supported by a grant from A2 Dairy Products Australia. The company also supplied the milk but had no role in the data analysis. Remember how I said this stuff is complicated? Take the Pledge: Let's Put an End to Food Waste Related stories on TakePart: The Worlds Largest Dairy Farm Will Be Home to 100,000 Cows The Drought Is Turning Dairy Farmers Away From Thirsty Feed Crops Forget Cowsthe Latest Trend in Dairy Is Camel Milk Original article from TakePart In the minimum wage battle going on across U.S. cities and states, New Yorks Columbia University is the latest to take a stand on the issue. On Monday Columbia announced it will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next three years for all work-study and part-time student workers. And just this week California moved to raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2022 for large businesses and 2023 for smaller companies. Its great that the minimum wage has been raised, but some are concerned that this change is being implemented over the course of three years, says Rachel Deal, a sophomore at Columbia who works a few hours every week as an administrative assistant on campus. Were living in New York City and it costs a lot to live on this campus, she says. The move follows NYUs similar announcement last week that student workers would get paid $15 an hour. Columbia University Provost John Coatsworth said the university would soon provide further details about how this will be achieved in an email to students. When asked what the minimum wage was for hourly workers who are not students, a Columbia spokesperson did not respond to that question and said there is no independent minimum wage for non-student employees. The office of the Provost did not respond to requests for comment. The NY state minimum wage is $9 per hour. This is far from a New York phenomenon, but naturally, the wage increase is not the same across the board. University of Wisconsin-Madison announced in February that it would be increasing the minimum wage for student employees from $7.25 to $9 per hour, effective this July. The minimum wage in Wisconsin is the federal $7.25. Mirroring the citys boost in employee wages Coatsworths decision comes in light of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo establishing a $15 minimum wage for more than 28,000 employees of the State University of New York (SUNY), including students in the work-study program, earlier this year. This is a part of his broader push to implement a $15 minimum for all of New York state (and part of the international movement 'Fight for 15'). At Columbia, student activists, including a group called Student-Worker Solidarity, had been vehemently lobbying for this wage increase. Twenty-nine states (plus D.C.) have set their minimum wage above the federal level of $7.25 and 39 cities have actually passed higher minimum wages than their respective state or federal wages -- 14 of those passed in 2015 alone. Its undeniable that municipalities are taking matters into their own hands, particularly since the federal $7.25 wage floor has been in place since July 2009, and student employees are demanding they be paid equitably as well. Tsedeye Gebreselassie, senior staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project (NELP) says more and more cities and universities are enacting change themselves because its simply not happening on a federal level. People are figuring out all the different ways to figure out wages -- how they can raise them and for whom, she says. Shortchanging students? According to the Department of Labor, employers can pay 85% of the minimum wage to college students. Theres even a provision in the federal minimum wage law that students under 20 years old can be paid $4.25 per hour in the first 30 days of employment (which is considered a training period). The hope is that once the student earns a college degree, he or she will be able to eave the minimum wage workforce, says Scott Jaschik, editor of Inside Higher Ed, a publication focused on college and university news. Jaschik notes that students have a better work ethic when they have a part-time job, but not when their work responsibilities overshadow their studies. If a college cares about students graduating within four years, they need to pay them enough so theyre not inclined to take on hours and hours of work. Thats a good thing, he says. Ben Zipperer, research economist at the liberal think tank Washington Center for Equitable Growth, says there hasnt been evidence yet of the impact of such wage increases, especially for student workers. A far cry from the solution With the average college senior graduating with $35,000 in student loan debt today, it would be a stretch to say that an increase of a few dollars in wages would dramatically change their financial situation for the better. The increase in the minimum wage wont help address tuition costs -- its more so about giving them a little bit of extra money for things like books, says Gebreselassie. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Edward Nalbandian participated in High-level meeting on Syrian refuges issue in Geneva, where he delivered a speech. The meeting was opened by the speech of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. As Armenpress was informed from the Department of Press, Information and Public Relations of MFA Armenia, ministers from nearly 50 states, high level delegations and heads of international organizations attended the meeting. Minister Nalbandian mentioned in his speech, High Commissioner Grandi, Dear colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Speaking at this venue I would like to pay tribute to the first High Commissioner for Refugees of the League of Nations Fridtjof Nansen whose name symbolized hope and salvation for countless refugees. His determination and commitment to tackle the plight of refugees stand as a true model of inspiration today when the world is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises of the last decades. For years the war in Syria has ravaged the life of the Syrian people scattering hundreds of thousands of them throughout the region and beyond. Armenia has been among the first to strongly condemn the barbaric acts committed by DAESH, Al-Nusra and other terrorist groups, against ethnic and religious minorities, including our fellow Armenians and their cultural and religious heritage, which has for centuries defined the regions multicultural and multiethnic mosaic. Last year here at the Human Rights Council, we characterized them as crimes against civilization. There is a sad symbolism for Armenians in taking refuge from the very places which have sheltered them hundred years ago. Nansen and many other humanists helped the survivors of the Armenian Genocide to overcome the horrors of massacres and displacement. Today, about 20.000 refugees from Syria sought protection in Armenia, on per capita basis making our country as the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe. This is a considerable number for a country of just 3 million, which in the recent past has already sheltered hundreds of thousands fleeing from Azerbaijan. Thus, we know what it means to be a refugee and to host considerable number of refugees and we certainly join this discussion with strong sense of solidarity and responsibility. Our own experience tells us that the humanitarian situations of this magnitude require synergy of efforts and cannot be addressed by any one state alone. This is true for every refugee-hosting country, but probably more so for a country with limited resources. We would like to draw the attention of the international donor community that the commitment to assist countries sheltering refugees should not be conditioned only by their geographic location, but rather should be based on the principle of more equitable responsibility sharing, without any distinction, in the spirit of international protection regime for refugees. Armenia will certainly continue to make its utmost to take care of the Syrians who have found refuge in our country. We will appreciate the assistance to Armenia to address the urgent humanitarian needs of refugees from Syria and pave avenues towards local integration. To that end the Armenian Government has made relevant legislative changes facilitating the entry into the country, obtaining of the residency permit or citizenship, developing of the businesses, getting necessary medical assistance and emergency help free of charge, providing scholarships at the Universities to name but a few. Ladies and Gentlemen, We believe that the plight of refugees and the humanitarian response in addressing challenges associated with unprecedented numbers of displaced people should by no means become subject to political trade-offs and manipulations. Refugee crises confront societies with many questions at the same time. Not only in terms of security, but also with regard to the long-term effects of refugee settlement, employment, education and integration. As it was told in the film, we watched at the opening of this high level meeting: the refugees have right for the brighter future. Fridtjof Nansen believed that "the refugees who were regarded as an intolerable burden would comprise a rich asset". The same conviction was expressed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today in his opening speech. Indeed, the histories of many of our countries confirm the accuracy of these words. Thank you. By Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just as fears of nuclear terrorism are rising, U.S. President Barack Obama's drive to lock down vulnerable atomic materials worldwide seems to have lost momentum and could slow further. With less than 10 months left in office to follow through on one of his signature foreign policy initiatives, Obama will convene leaders from more than 50 countries in Washington this week for his fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit, a high-level diplomatic process that started and will end on his watch. A boycott by Russian President Vladimir Putin, apparently unwilling to join in a U.S.-dominated gathering at a time of increased tensions between Washington and Moscow, adds to doubts that the meeting will yield major results. Deadly militant attacks in Brussels have fueled concern that Islamic State could eventually target nuclear plants and develop radioactive dirty bombs, a topic that may well be uppermost in leaders minds as they meet. Despite significant progress by Obama in persuading dozens of countries to rid themselves of bomb-making materials or reduce and safeguard stockpiles, much of the world's plutonium and enriched uranium remains vulnerable to theft. FROM RUSSIA, NO LOVE The absence of Russia, one of the biggest atomic powers, could detract from decisions reached in Washington this week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday Russia was skipping the summit because of a shortage of mutual cooperation in working out the agenda. While noting that Moscow had continued joint work on nuclear security, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was going to miss out on an opportunity and that its no-show illustrated the degree to which Russia is isolated". Russia has chafed over U.S.-led sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. Efforts to make the world safer have also been complicated by North Koreas nuclear weapons advance and Pakistans move toward smaller, tactical nuclear weapons, which Washington fears may further destabilize an already volatile region. All of this weighs on Obamas agenda as he prepares to host world leaders on Thursday and Friday. He inaugurated the event nearly six years ago, after using a landmark speech in Prague in 2009 to lay out the goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons as a central theme of his presidency. But there is no guarantee that once Obama, the driving force behind the initiative, leaves office in January his successor will keep the issue a high priority. WHITE HOUSE TOUTS ACHIEVEMENTS BUT PROGRESS SLOWER The White House previewed the summit by touting a list of achievements in the U.S.-led effort to tie down loose bomb-grade materials, and arms control advocates commend Obama for galvanizing an international response to the problem. However, many say progress has slowed since the last summit in 2014 and countries such as Japan, India and Pakistan are preparing activities that could increase stockpiles of nuclear materials. The Nuclear Security Summits have had a positive effect, but the strategic goal of developing an effective global nuclear security system remains unachieved, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, an anti-proliferation watchdog, said in a report this month. According to the group's Nuclear Security Index, which tracks the safety of weapons-usable nuclear materials, the past two years have brought no improvement in a range of measures, including on-site physical protection, security during transport and the ability to recover lost radioactive materials. The report also said many countries' nuclear reactors were vulnerable to online attacks. Seven of 24 countries with weapons-grade material, including China and Belgium, received the lowest possible score for their facilities' cyber security. Other critics point to a lack of an agreed-upon set of international standards for nuclear security or a mechanism for keeping tabs on common sources of radioactive material often found in hospitals and medical labs. However, Laura Holgate, Obamas adviser on weapons of mass destruction, cited commitments from 30 countries at the 2014 summit to secure their most dangerous material. "The international community has made it harder than ever for terrorists to acquire nuclear weapons, and that has made us all more secure," she told reporters before the summit. "DIRTY BOMB" FEARS Two of the Brussels suicide bombers secretly filmed the daily routine of the head of Belgiums nuclear research and development program and considered an attack on a nuclear site in the country, according to Belgian media. U.S. experts are less concerned about militants obtaining nuclear weapon components than about thefts of ingredients for a low-tech dirty bomb" that would use conventional explosives to disperse radioactive material and sow panic. U.S. officials said they had no doubt that Islamic State, which controls swaths of Syria and Iraq, was interested in obtaining such materials, but Holgate said U.S. authorities had no explicit indications that the group had tried to do so. More commitments from world leaders to enhance nuclear security are expected at the summit but anti-proliferation groups worry that without further meetings at the highest levels, interest could wane and improvements could backslide. (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Roberta Rampton in Washington and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Editing by Don Durfee and James Dalgleish) Seoul (AFP) - North Korea's recent solid-fuel rocket engine test suggests a step forward in missile technology, but it remains many years from using such advanced motors for a long-range missile capable of striking the US mainland, a US missile expert said Wednesday. Last week's test was personally monitored by leader Kim Jong-Un, who said it would allow for a major upgrade of the North's missile delivery systems that would "strike great horror and terror into the hearts of our enemies", according to state media. Solid-fuel missiles would have distinct advantages -- including greater mobility and the ability to launch within minutes -- over Pyongyang's current, largely liquid-fuelled inventory. Analysing official pictures of the test, John Schilling, an aerospace engineer specialising in rocket and spacecraft propulsion, said it appeared to be of an engine "roughly three times more powerful" than any solid motor the nuclear-armed North had previously demonstrated. A set of barely visible drawings indicate the motor is intended for the upper stage of a larger missile, suggesting the North might be developing a two-stage, solid-fuel replacement for its medium-range Rodong missile. "Since, as far as we know, this missile does not exist, North Korea has a lot more work to do before it becomes operational," Schilling wrote in a post on the closely followed 38North website. He estimated an earliest target of 2019 for flight testing an intermediate-range solid-fuel missile, ahead of possible battlefield deployment in 2020. And a solid-fuel, inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the continental United States, is "still far in the future -- perhaps 2030 or later", he added. Aside from short-range battlefield weapons, North Korea's missiles to date have all used liquid propellant, which is extremely efficient but also corrosive and toxic, and requires complex engines. Solid propellant is the preferred fuel for weaponry, as solid-fuel missiles require little maintenance, can survive rough handling and transport, and can be launched at a few minutes' notice. The launch time aspect would be crucial for North Korea in the event of a conflict, as South Korea's missiles can reach targets anywhere in the North inside the 15 minutes it would take to fuel and launch a liquid-propellant rocket. By Tife Owolabi YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria has arrested a person suspected of having bombed an oil pipeline belonging to Italy's ENI in the southern Delta region, the commander of a state security force said on Wednesday. The attack was one of the worst in recent weeks in the impoverished swampland, where tensions have been building since authorities issued an arrest warrant in January for a former militant leader on corruption charges. Sunday's pipeline blast killed three people, said Desmond Agu, commander of the force in Bayelsa state where the explosion occurred. ENI also confirmed in a statement that three people had been killed by an act of "sabotage". The suspect, named Seimghale Perekeyi, planted the bomb with four other men who are still on the run after oil workers carried out repair works at the pipeline in the Olugboboro community, Agu told reporters. "The anti-vandalism unit of the command trailed and arrested him (Perekeyi) while the others remain at large but are still being trailed by our men," Agu said as officers paraded before the media the suspect, who was arrested on Tuesday. Several bodies were burned in the pipeline blast beyond recognition, while seven were injured with burns, according to residents. Attacks have been on the rise for weeks in the Delta, which provides most of Nigeria's oil and gas wealth. Militant groups have long demanded a greater share of the mineral wealth and an end to oil pollution in the region. In February militants staged a sophisticated underwater attack, probably using divers, on a Shell pipeline, shutting down the 250,000 barrel-a-day Forcados export terminal. President Muhammadu Buhari, elected a year ago, has extendeda multi-million dollar amnesty signed with the militants in 2009, but he has upset them by ending generous pipeline protection contracts. (Reporting by Tife Owolabi; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Gareth Jones) ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria is in talks with oil majors Chevron , France's Total and Italy's ENI to get help revamping the ailing refineries in Africa's top crude producer, its oil minister said on Tuesday. The West African nation has been trying to restart its outdated refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna to end its dependency on costly fuel imports. For weeks, motorists across the country have been queuing to get petrol. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, who also heads state oil firm NNPC, said OPEC member Nigeria wanted to privatise the refineries within 12 months following repairs. "We have gotten commitments from some of the majors. (ENI's) Agip has indicated interest to work with us on Port Harcourt, Chevron on Warri," he told the Senate or upper house. "We are talking to Total on Kaduna." Kachikwu has previously said NNPC was looking at partnerships or takeovers. "We are advertising just in case there are better terms out there," he said, adding that NNPC was also seeking partners to run pipelines and fuel depots as joint ventures. NNPC had managed to repair the pipelines feeding the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, he said. Kaduna is fed by a pipeline from Warri. Kachikwu said that from next week on fuel queues would disappear. He said NNPC had reached deals with oil majors, with which it works in joint ventures, to help make up for a shortage of dollars due to a slump in oil revenues hindering fuel imports. "The major international upstream oil companies have indicated their willingness to support major oil marketing companies with some of the required foreign exchange," Kachikwu said. "As of today, we have been able to work, in collaboration with the majors...with them to see how they can sell us foreign exchange for the naira components they require for their local operations," he said, without giving details. In February, Kachikwu told Reuters NNPC was in talks with oil majors and banks to raise capital for new drilling and to repay its debt accumulated from years of mismanagement. The debt had fallen to $3 billion by December, down from $3.5-$4 billion, he said on Tuesday. President Muhammadu Buhari fired the NNPC board and appointed Kachikwu last year to overhaul the company, whose opaque structures have allowed corruption and oil theft to flourish. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Hugh Lawson) The Hague (AFP) - A Dutch minister Wednesday backpedalled on his claim that the FBI had notified the Netherlands about US concerns over two Belgian suicide bombers before the Brussels attacks, admitting there had been "an error". Under-fire Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur said Wednesday: "I understand that an error was made about who sent the information." The Dutch police liaison officer in the embassy in Washington had in fact "received the information from another large American intelligence service -- namely the Intelligence Division of the New York Police Department (NYPD)," the minister said. The tipoff was passed along "without the source, and it was accepted in the Netherlands that the information had come from the FBI." Van der Steur had told the Dutch parliament on Tuesday that the FBI had notified the Netherlands of its concerns over suicide bombers Ibrahim El Bakraoui and his brother Khalid six days before the March 22 Brussels attacks. Dutch police had received an FBI report sent March 16 "in which there was notification of Ibrahim El Bakraoui and his brother Khalid's criminal backgrounds and Khalid's terrorist background," he said Tuesday. The following day "the issue came up during bilateral contact between the Dutch and Belgian police," said Van der Steur. "The radical background of both the brothers was discussed." But his comments were immediately queried by Dutch MPs who asked why the FBI would inform the Netherlands and not Belgium. The minister, who has been criticised for what has been seen here as some intelligence blunders, said he would ask the NYPD why it had not informed Belgium of its concerns. Ibrahim El Bakraoui was one of two bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on March 22. His brother Khalid blew himself up at Maalbeek metro station. A total of 32 people were killed in the attacks. Belgium's federal police said it had not received any information direct from the FBI on March 16 about the Bakraoui brothers, and also said the two men were not raised in the meeting with the Dutch police. Story continues Under pressure at home and abroad over an apparent series of missed clues about criminals linked to jihadist networks, the Belgian government has however admitted mistakes were made. In the most glaring such example, Turkey accused Belgium last week of ignoring a clear and present danger by revealing it had deported Ibrahim El Bakraoui as a "terrorist" suspect last year, after arresting him near the Syrian border. The Dutch justice minister last week confirmed that Turkey sent Bakraoui back to the Netherlands in July, but stressed he had not been known to Dutch law enforcement nor was he on any watch lists. Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed the swearing-in of Myanmar's new president Htin Kyaw, a close aide to Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, as an "extraordinary moment" as the country emerges from military rule. Obama said he looked forward to working with Htin Kyaw, but cautioned that Myanmar was facing "significant challenges going forward," including on economic development and working to securing personal freedoms for all. "Htin Kyaw's inauguration represents a historic milestone in the countrys transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government," Obama said in a statement. "This extraordinary moment in Burma's history is a testament to its people, institutions, and leaders who have worked together to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and it speaks to the significance of the reforms the country has undertaken since 2011," he said. "The United States looks forward to being a friend and partner of the new government and the people of Burma as they make progress toward building a more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous future." Islamist protesters gathered in the Pakistani capital said on Wednesday they would not end their days-long sit-in and were "willing to die", as armed security forces readied to clear the camp. The stand-off, which comes as Pakistan mourns more than 70 people killed in a Taliban suicide bombing targeting Christians celebrating Easter Sunday in Lahore, underscores deep religious divisions fuelling the Muslim country's long battle with extremism. Several thousand protesters marched on Islamabad Sunday, clashing with security forces before setting up camp outside key government buildings along the capital's main Constitution Avenue. The protesters -- who numbered some 25,000 at their peak -- had gathered in support of Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged in late February five years after he assassinated a liberal Punjab governor over his calls to reform the country's blasphemy laws. The government gave the demonstrators an ultimatum to leave late Tuesday, but it went unheeded, prompting the government to issue a second call saying security forces would begin an operation to clear the area Wednesday morning. "If the protesters do not disperse peacefully tonight, then we will evict them in the morning in front of everyone," Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told reporters late Tuesday. Protesters were calm Wednesday morning as leaders said they were holding talks with authorities. "We won't move from this place until and unless all 10 demands are accepted," said protest leader Ashraf Asif Jalali. "Our workers are willing to die. If the government takes action they will not run away but face the bullets. They are not armed with guns but with clubs." A police source said more than 7,000 security forces were poised to clear the sit-in, including the paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps with reinforcements from the Punjab police. Army troops are already standing guard at government buildings near the protest camp. Story continues - Qadri's legacy - Hailed as a hero by right-wing religious groups when he murdered Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, the demonstrators have demanded that Qadri be named a "martyr" and called for the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five on death row for blasphemy. They have also demanded the imposition of Sharia law. The government has so far rejected their demands. Qadri's hanging, hailed as a "key moment" by analysts in Pakistan's war on religious extremism, has become a flashpoint for the deep divisions in the conservative Muslim country. His funeral earlier this month drew tens of thousands in an extremist show of force that alarmed moderate Muslims in the country, while the call to hang Bibi along with the Easter attack in Lahore has underscored a growing sense of insecurity for Pakistan's minorities. "It's a sense of great grief, sorrow and fear," Shamoon Gill, spokesman for the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, told AFP. The Lahore blast had left Christians feeling that "no place is safe", he said, while the "mob situation" in Islamabad was "dangerous". "They are a serious threat to Asia Bibi's life... there is a chance the government could bow down to pressure on this issue," he warned. Moderate Muslims are also set to suffer by growing religious extremism, he said, calling on the government to devise a "clear strategy". Islamist protesters gathered in the Pakistani capital ended their days-long sit-in on Wednesday after claiming the government had agreed to a number of their demands including the hanging of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy. Pakistan's Interior Minister Chauhdry Nisar Ali Khan denied however that a deal had been struck, saying the demonstrators left "on their own accord". The protesters -- who numbered some 25,000 at their peak -- had gathered Sunday in support of Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged in February five years after he assassinated a liberal Punjab governor over his calls to reform the country's blasphemy laws. The demonstrators clashed with security forces in Islamabad before setting up camp outside key government buildings along the capital's main Constitution Avenue. Ashraf Asif Jalali, one of the protest's main leaders, told reporters at the protest site Wednesday evening: "As a result of the continuous four-day sit-in, the government has accepted our demands." "Nobody involved in blasphemy against the Holy Prophet will be given concessions, whether they be Asia Bibi or anybody else," he added, referring to a Christian woman on death row since 2010 over a dispute with Muslim women involving a bowl of water. He added that the government had also agreed to not make any changes to Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law, which critics say is frequently used to oppress the poor and minorities. However the interior minister denied any such deal was made. "There has been nor written or any other form of agreement," Khan said. "We were about to give orders to law enforcement agencies for clearing the area but then two religious personalities intervened." The minister added that the protesters then decided to leave on their "own accord". The stand-off came as Pakistan mourned more than 70 people killed in a Taliban suicide bombing targeting Christians celebrating Easter Sunday in Lahore, underscoring deep religious divisions fuelling the Muslim country's long battle with extremism. Story continues A police source said more than 7,000 security forces were poised to clear the sit-in, including the paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps with reinforcements from the Punjab police, while army troops guarded key government buildings. Columnist Gul Bukhari said that after initially underestimating the protesters and failing to read their intentions to hold a sit-in following funeral prayers Sunday, the government had acted wisely by allowing them to tire out and displaying an overwhelming show of force. "The show of force was put out and in the end all they got was safe passage out," she said, adding there was nothing in the agreement claimed by the protest leaders that went beyond the current status quo and it was a "face-saving measure". "Of course there are no amendments planned on the blasphemy law. But there was no question of that happening. The government doesn't even have the prerogative to change the law, that is with parliament." Bukhari added that the case of Asia Bibi together with other blasphemy convicts was also a judicial matter and would not be affected. - Qadri's legacy - Hailed as a hero by right-wing religious groups when he murdered Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, the demonstrators have demanded that Qadri be named a "martyr" and called for the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five convicted of blasphemy. Pakistan has 17 people on death row for blasphemy including Bibi, but has not executed anyone yet. Qadri's hanging, hailed as a "key moment" by analysts in Pakistan's war on religious extremism, has become a flashpoint for the deep divisions in the conservative Muslim country. His funeral earlier this month drew tens of thousands in an extremist show of force that alarmed moderate Muslims, while the call to hang Bibi along with the Easter attack in Lahore has underscored a growing sense of insecurity for Pakistan's minorities. On Wednesday the death toll from the Lahore bombing climbed again to 74. Dozens more remain in hospital, seven of them critical, medical staff told AFP. "It's a sense of great grief, sorrow and fear," Shamoon Gill, spokesman for the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, told AFP. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian delivered a speech at the high-level meeting on the global responsibility sharing of Syrian refugee issues. "Armenpress" was informed by the Press, Information and Public Relations Department of the MFA, Foreign Minister Nalbandian touched upon Armenias role in mitigating the Syrian refugee crisis. High Commissioner Grandi, Dear colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Speaking at this venue I would like to pay tribute to the first High Commissioner for Refugees of the League of Nations Fridtjof Nansen whose name symbolized hope and salvation for countless refugees. His determination and commitment to tackle the plight of refugees stand as a true model of inspiration today when the world is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises of the last decades. For years the war in Syria has ravaged the life of the Syrian people scattering hundreds of thousands of them throughout the region and beyond. Armenia has been among the first to strongly condemn the barbaric acts committed by DAESH, Al-Nusra and other terrorist groups, against ethnic and religious minorities, including our fellow Armenians and their cultural and religious heritage, which has for centuries defined the regions multicultural and multiethnic mosaic. Last year here at the Human Rights Council, we characterized them as crimes against civilization. There is a sad symbolism for Armenians in taking refuge from the very places which have sheltered them hundred years ago. Nansen and many other humanists helped the survivors of the Armenian Genocide to overcome the horrors of massacres and displacement. Today, about 20.000 refugees from Syria sought protection in Armenia, on per capita basis making our country as the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe. This is a considerable number for a country of just 3 million, which in the recent past has already sheltered hundreds of thousands fleeing from Azerbaijan. Thus, we know what it means to be a refugee and to host considerable number of refugees and we certainly join this discussion with strong sense of solidarity and responsibility. Our own experience tells us that the humanitarian situations of this magnitude require synergy of efforts and cannot be addressed by any one state alone. This is true for every refugee-hosting country, but probably more so for a country with limited resources. We would like to draw the attention of the international donor community that the commitment to assist countries sheltering refugees should not be conditioned only by their geographic location, but rather should be based on the principle of more equitable responsibility sharing, without any distinction, in the spirit of international protection regime for refugees. Armenia will certainly continue to make its utmost to take care of the Syrians who have found refuge in our country. We will appreciate the assistance to Armenia to address the urgent humanitarian needs of refugees from Syria and pave avenues towards local integration. To that end the Armenian Government has made relevant legislative changes facilitating the entry into the country, obtaining of the residency permit or citizenship, developing of the businesses, getting necessary medical assistance and emergency help free of charge, providing scholarships at the Universities to name but a few. Edward Nalbandian also spoke about the long term effects of refugee settlement, and that this issue should by no means become subject to political manipulations. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also expressed the same conviction in his speech. By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Mubasher Bukhari LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A year ago, Wasif Masih, 16, had a narrow escape when a suicide bomber from a faction of the Pakistani Taliban blew himself up during Sunday worship outside his church in a Christian neighbourhood in the eastern city of Lahore. This past Easter Sunday, Wasif died when the same Taliban faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, sent another suicide bomber to a Lahore park full of families, killing 72 people including at least 29 children. Wasif was so close to the blast that the bombers head fell at his feet, his mother, Zubaida Masih, said as the family mourned at their house in Nishtar Colony, a neighbourhood with both Christian and Muslim families. "It was as if they were following him. He escaped them then but they came after him again, in the park," Masih said. "If there was better security, this wouldn't have happened." Two days after the attack, a sense of vulnerability is growing among members of the Christian community, who are calling on the government of Muslim-majority Pakistan to do more to protect them. Christians, who number around 2 million in a nation of 190 million people, have been the target of a series of attacks in recent years. Last March, suicide bombers struck Masih's Christ Church and another close by, killing at least 14 people. In 2013, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a 130-year-old church in Peshawar after Sunday Mass, killing at least 78 people. Now the Easter attack by Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, which once swore support for Islamic State, has fuelled worries that militants in Pakistan are increasingly subscribing to the IS brand of ultra-sectarian violence against those perceived as infidels. "Terrorists didn't used to be so focused on our community. Now all their attention is on us," said Irshad Ashnaz, the Christ Church vicar. "Perhaps it's time for the government to turn their attention toward us also." "These people are roaming around freely and no one is stopping them," Ashnaz said at the church, its windows cemented over after the attack. Pope Francis condemned the attack as "hideous" and demanded that Pakistani authorities protect religious minorities. "PEOPLE WHO LIVE TO DIE" Since the attack, Pakistan's deadliest since the 2014 massacre of 134 school children at a military-run academy in Peshawar, authorities have launched a crackdown on Islamist militants in the Punjab province, the countrys richest and most populous and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's political heartland. On Tuesday, a provincial minister said authorities had detained more than 5,000 militant suspects but later released most of them. Punjab government spokesman Zaeem Qadri said the government had stepped up security at churches after the previous attacks, which was why militants had picked a park this time. He said over the past year, the government had uncovered more than 200 plots and arrested around 15,000 suspects. "Parks are public places. On a public holiday there should have been more vigilance. But there was a gap," Qadri said. Christians "are as safe as anyone else. They are as safe as any other Pakistani is." Irfan Jamil, the bishop of Lahore, said the government was trying its best. "There are people who live to live and there are people who live to die," Jamil said. "How much protection is enough protection against such people?" But he added, "There is always room for improvement. Many of us don't feel that we are secure." UNKNOWN VICTIM On Tuesday, survivors lined the wards of Jinnah hospital in Lahore. The explosion wounded more than 300 people. Above each bed is a sign that says, 'blast victim', followed by the victim's name. One bed is only marked with the word "unknown." A three-year-old boy whose lungs were punctured and eyes gouged out is struggling to breathe through a tube. Visitors have placed flowers and juice packs next to his pillow. "We don't know who he is," a nurse said as she held his hand. "Two days after the blast, no one has come looking for him." Amid the fear, many Christians called for unity and brotherhood. At a vigil on Monday in Gulshan e Iqbal park, where the bomber struck, Father Jamal Albert said the message is "whether you are Christian, Hindu, Jewish or Muslim, you are unsafe and they are trying to break down our nation, destroy our sense of oneness, our sense of being Pakistanis". He added: "Rest assured we will not be deterred by such episodes. This is our country just as much as anyone else's. In fact we are more resolved than ever to go on." (Writing by Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) Washington (AFP) - Pentagon leaders said Wednesday that NATO remains vital to global security interests, rejecting Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump's assertion that the military alliance is "obsolete." "NATO has played an instrumental role in Afghanistan and helping the Afghan government and the Afghan security forces restore decency and some stability in the country," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said at an event in Florida. "We are working with NATO now on strengthening the deterrence of Russian aggression," he added, also pointing to current NATO missions such as its patrolling for migrant-smuggling vessels in the Aegean Sea. Trump has repeatedly criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the 28-member military alliance established after World War II to counter the Soviet Union. "NATO is obsolete," he said in a televised interview Tuesday, suggesting that it had to be "rejiggered, changed for the better." General Joe Dunford, the Pentagon's top officer and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, echoed Carter's defense of NATO. "It's hard to think about asking that question today when you look at the challenges in Europe, both to the east and the south," Dunford said. "The relevance of NATO is not at all in question." Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has called NATO "one of the best investments America has ever made." By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is examining how it might use unmanned craft in the future to accompany piloted battlecraft, likely starting with drones that would fly alongside manned aircraft, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday. The concept of such assistance was most likely to take shape first in the air and at sea, before being implemented on the ground, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work told a gathering of defense experts hosted by the Washington Post. Large defense contractors are always looking for insight into where the U.S. Defense Department may be heading in its future technology use. Apart from unmanned attack drones that already launch strikes while being commanded from afar, Work mentioned that unmanned helicopters have been used to supply U.S. troops in parts of Afghanistan. Work stressed that the United States would maintain human command over its unmanned systems and would not delegate the authority to kill, although he said he was concerned that other countries might not do the same. "There's two things that really keep me up at night .. .The first is adversaries who will give machines lethal authority and how will we respond to that," Work said. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Frances Kerry and David Gregorio) This story first appeared in the April 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. We went to the Daily Grill in Studio City, which has since been boarded up. She said so many nice things that I think we were both two pigs in shit. We closed the place down. She and I have a great deal of personal history in common. We both moved around a lot as children, constantly having to readjust to new environments. The thing that surprised me was how vulnerable and emotional she got when discussing the trial. Her eyes got wet. I could tell this was so painful and so fresh. I don't believe it was about her personal failure. Injustice was what was so painful for her. Read More: A Conversation With Marcia Clark: Rape, Scientology Flirtation and When She Last Saw O.J. I only knew what had been told to me by the media during the trial, and I was young enough not to challenge what I was told. I was unaware of what an incredibly powerful moral compass drives her, directs her, guides her. She never forgot that at the center of this thing, there were two innocent young people who were dead. The prospect of all of this coming around again, to watch her story play out, was absolutely and utterly terrifying to her. I think she finds the positive response to her now equally unnerving, because she's got nowhere to put it. We think of her as a strident, tough, aggressive woman, but if any of the men had behaved that way you'd be like, "Oh, look at him go." And somehow with a woman it just becomes a complete and utter negative. Read More: 'People v. O.J. Simpson': Sarah Paulson on Her "Out-of-Body" Marcia Clark Makeover Brussels (Belgium), Mar. 30 (ANI): After concluding his first official visit to Belgium, Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed for Washington D.C. late on Wednesday evening to attend the fourth Nuclear Security Summit from March 31st to April 1. After concluding his address to the Indian diaspora here, the Prime Minister headed towards the airport on the second leg of his three-nation journey. "PM @narendramodi concludes his address at Brussels Expo. After community event, it's straight to the airport," tweeted Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup. Briefing the media, along with Swarup in New Delhi on Tuesday, over the Prime Minister's U.S. visit, Joint Secretary (Disarmament & International Security Affairs) Amandeep Singh Gill said the summit would begin with the leaders-only dinner at the White House on March 31, where leaders of 53 countries and four international organisations that participate at the summit would gather at this working dinner to share their assessments of the threat of nuclear terrorism. Prime Minister Modi will share India's assessment of the threat. On April 1, there would be three plenary sessions; at the first plenary session, there would be a focus on national actions to enhance nuclear security, said Gill. This first plenary would be followed by a working lunch, where the focus of discussions would be on international institutional actions to strengthen nuclear security. "The focus would be on international follow-up through institutions such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations, the Interpol, the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and the G8 Global Partnership," he added. The third and final plenary discussion at the summit would be a policy discussion on nuclear terrorism based on a hypothetical scenario. "This scenario would allow the leaders to have a realistic and a thoughtful conversation on and around the challenges posed by international terrorism in particular the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism," he said, adding that the summit would then conclude with the adoption of a brief communique and the five action plans. Underlining India's main expectations from the summit, Gill said, "India expects that the summit would contribute further to raising high-level awareness of the threat of nuclear terrorism and the need to strengthen international cooperation against terrorists and nuclear traffickers." "We also expect that the summit would help bolster legal, institutional and enforcement measures to strengthen the security of nuclear material, radioactive sources, associated facilities and technologies," he added. (ANI) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenia attaches priority importance to addressed position of OSCE regarding Azerbaijani actions against Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. MP, Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Artak Zakaryanat told about this at the conference Strengthening dialogue, trust and security in the OSCE region at the heart of German Chairmanship. Time proves that Azerbaijan is far way from desire to establish peace and never hides its militaristic aspirations. The unconstructive approaches and provocative policy led by that country are nothing else but a ground for tougher policy by OSCE aiming at settling the conflict, prevention of outbreak of anew war, implementation of preventive measures, and fostering fully stable and peaceful processes in the region, Armenpress reports the MP saying. In his words, the OSCE has been an irreplaceable format for settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict since 1992, but the reality of the past years caused by Azerbaijani initiated provocations, regular ceasefire violations on the line of contact, refusal to withdraw the snipers dictate change in positions. Today we can document that during these years border incidents have not only not reduced, but activated. Therefore, the creation of mechanisms investigating the incidents must be priority, which will become a key factor not only for establishing security, but also trust building, Artak Zakaryan stated. Washington, Mar.30 (ANI): United States President Barack Obama will on Thursday convene a trilateral meeting with President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit. The White House in its statement said that this meeting would be an opportunity for the three leaders to discuss common responses to the threat posed by North Korea and to advance areas of trilateral security cooperation in the region and globally. Pyongyang in its recent move has aggressively fired ballistic missiles and had warmed both Seoul and United States of nuclear attack. Despite being warned by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to refrain from actions which violate the UN resolutions, North Korea gives no ears. The Security Council had this month imposed strictest sanctions to North Korea after it carried out its fourth nuclear test in January and fired a rocket in February, but Pyongyang seems to remain undeterred. US President Barack Obama had also signed an order implementing tougher sanctions unilaterally by Washington outlined in the recent UN sanctions, Seoul followed the same suit. (ANI) By Patrick Rucker and Nick Brown WASHINGTON/SAN JUAN (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional draft bill to steer Puerto Rico through its economic crisis was released on Tuesday with elements of U.S. bankruptcy law opposed by creditors who want to keep the island's debt talks out of court. The draft, circulated by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, includes sections of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code that allow bankrupt entities under certain circumstances to force creditors to take reduced payouts. An official draft of the bill is expected to be released on April 11 after a public comment period. Puerto Rico has $70 billion in debt, with major bond payments due in coming months. It also has an unfunded state pension liability of nearly $44 billion. The bill "provides Puerto Rico with tools to impose discipline over its finances, meet its obligations and restore confidence in its institutions," Utah Republican Rob Bishop, the committee's chairman, said in a statement. We appreciate the constructive efforts by Chairman Bishop and the House Natural Resources Committee to begin drafting legislation to address Puerto Ricos fiscal and economic crisis. But the current draft needs improvements," said a statement from a Treasury spokesperson. "Final legislation must provide Puerto Rico with tools to achieve a lasting, workable solution to this crisis and create a path to recovery for the people of Puerto Rico." The Republican-led panel's bill would create a federal board to oversee the island's finances, monitor its accounting and help curb spending. It would also require Puerto Rico to make efforts to restructure debt consensually with creditors. If those talks failed, the island or its public entities could file for a court-supervised debt restructuring process based on key statutes within U.S. bankruptcy law. That would allow Puerto Rico to force such deals on holdout creditors. The bill's elements were unexpected because creditors and House Republicans had largely opposed bankruptcy for Puerto Rico. The Natural Resources Committee had said that "retroactively adding territories" like Puerto Rico to the federal bankruptcy code "is ill-conceived and would undermine the rule of law." A congressional aide stressed that the draft legislation was not a bankruptcy law, and does not directly add Puerto Rico to U.S. bankruptcy code, though it follows similar language. The Obama Administration has advocated to allow Puerto Rico to restructure its debt in a court-sanctioned process. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi criticized the "sweeping powers of the oversight board proposed" in the bill. The bill in its final form may include language that protects an existing consensual restructuring deal between creditors and the power utility, PREPA, the congressional aide said. PREPA earlier this year reached the deal with creditors holding roughly 70 percent of its $8.3 billion in debt. "The bill in its current form is fiscally irresponsible," financial adviser Stephen Spencer of Houlihan Lokey said in an emailed statement. The company's clients include major Puerto Rico creditors such as OppenheimerFunds and Franklin Advisers. "As we showed with the PREPA deal, fair solutions can be reached between Puerto Rico and its creditors that benefit all stakeholders. However, the Discussion Draft Bill is worse for creditors than Chapter 9," Spencer said. How the oversight board treats the island's General Obligation bonds, which is typically regarded as the most senior debt, versus pension payments is also a source of concern for creditors. The oversight board will look at each bond issued and make a determination on how it relates to other creditors under the existing law, the congressional aide said. If the GO bonds are constitutionally protected and within their limits then the board would take that into consideration, the aide said. (Reporting by Patrick Rucker in Washington and Nick Brown in San Juan; Editing by Daniel Bases and Richard Chang) By Benet Koleka TIRANA (Reuters) - The European Union urged the Albanian government and opposition on Wednesday to set aside their differences and quickly pass a sweeping reform of the judiciary to secure the start of EU membership talks. A candidate to join the EU since June 2014, NATO member Albania still needs to do more about crime and corruption, the public administration and human and property rights, but reforming a tainted judiciary is the EU's top priority. While the government and opposition both back judicial reform, the opposition first wants to see implementation of a new law to kick anyone with a criminal record out of politics. EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said the Commission not only wanted the judiciary reform to pass soon but also see it heading in the right direction before the EU's executive body gave its opinion to EU member states on starting accession talks with Albania. "Therefore we need now decisions very soon...this is decisive. Definitely my aim is to present to the European member states a positive report in the course of this year, to give them something on their hands to take a decision," Hahn said. "Because I believe the next step should be the opening of negotiations in order to start this process," he told a news conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Hahn urged opposition and government to work together to serve the interest of citizens, saying EU accession must be a national effort. With EU and U.S. expertise contributing, the reform aims to remove corrupt judges after vetting them and then to create an independent judiciary. Rama, who had hoped parliament would pass the reform before Hahn's visit, appealed to the opposition to sit down to discuss the issue without conditions. (Reporting by Benet Koleka; Editing by Adrian Croft/Mark Heinrich) Los Angeles (AFP) - Los Angeles Lakers rookie D'Angelo Russell apologized for secretly recording teammate Nick Young talking about women other than Young's fiancee Iggy Azalea. The video, which later appeared online, has reportedly caused a rift in the Lakers' locker room as the famed NBA franchise staggers toward the end of a disappointing season notable mostly as the farewell tour of superstar Kobe Bryant. "I feel as sick as possible," Russell, 20, told reporters before the Lakers' home game against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. "I wish I could make things better right away, but I can't." Russell said he didn't know how the video became public. "I reached out to (Young), let him know my apologies," Russell said. "I don't know if they were accepted. I wouldn't blame him." ESPN.com reported that Russell had been given the cold shoulder by several teammates after the emergence of the video, in which Young -- who is engaged to Australian rapper Azalea -- talks about other women. An ESPN report cited unidentified sources with the Lakers as saying discord over the video was partly to blame for the team's 48-point drubbing by the Utah Jazz on Monday, the worst defeat in Lakers history. "It's bad. It's about as bad as it can get. There were trust issues already. Now there's no trust," one team source was quoted as telling an ESPN.com journalist. Team officials had reportedly chosen not to intervene in the situation. Young spoke briefly about the matter prior to Wednesday's game. "I don't want to get into my personal life right now," he said. "I think it's best that me and D'Angelo handle the situation we have in a private manner outside the media. "I think it's something we really do need to sit down and talk about. That's about it. What happened is what happened. We've got to work on it." Story continues Azalea commented on Twitter on the video. "hmmm i see D Angelo Russell is trending... I actually liked his film. Thanks bro," Azalea tweeted Wednesday. Lakers coach Byron Scott said Wednesday morning he hadn't spoken to Russell about the video. "I haven't talked to him, won't talk to him. That's an internal matter that our guys will deal with," Scott said. Asked on Wednesday evening if the Lakers would be able to move on from the incident, Scott said: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Hagatna (Guam) (AFP) - America's heated gun debate has extended to a remote Pacific territory, with a court overturning a ban on handguns in the Northern Marianas after ruling it breached the US Constitution's Second Amendment. In a ruling greeted with dismay by the island territory's leaders, the US District Court found the right to bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment also applied to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). "The Second Amendment... (is) the law of the land in the CNMI as if it were a (US) state," judge Ramona V. Manglona said in a written judgement released Monday. The challenge to CNMI restrictions was backed by the Second Amendment Foundation pro-gun group, which hailed the decision as "a big win". Governor Ralph Torres said he was considering an appeal but would also look at introducing safety measures such as background checks and waiting times if the judgement stood. "The administration is disappointed with the decision and is evaluating its right to appeal... and other possible legal options to prohibit the introduction of handguns into the CNMI," a spokesman told the Saipan Tribune on Wednesday. The Northern Marianas -- an island chain about 2,300 kilometres (1,430 miles) east of the Philippines with a population of 54,000 -- has been a self-governing commonwealth of the United States since 1976. The basis of its legal system is its Covenant, or agreement, with Washington, but Manglona ruled that the Constitution still applied. She rejected the government's argument that handguns were not constitutionally protected in the CNMI because, unlike the United States, there was no history of them being kept for self defence. Local politician Edwin Propst said the prospect of easily concealed handguns being readily available in the small island group was "troubling and alarming". "This is very dangerous and everyone should be concerned about it," he told the Marianas Variety news website. Story continues Mass shootings -- in which at least four people are killed or injured -- occur almost daily in the United States. President Barack Obama has repeatedly expressed frustration at his inability to pass gun control legislation in the face of fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers, many of whom are backed by the powerful National Rifle Association lobby group. "We got involved in this case because the violation was so egregious," Second Amendment Foundation's Alan Gottlieb said. "The CNMI's gun control laws ban handguns or using any firearm for self-defence. That's unconstitutional, and Judge Manglona says so." You can now imbue even your most mundane scribblings with a bit of otherworldly flair. A team of entrepreneurs launched the "Infinity Pen" project which will include a tiny chunk of the asteroid that exploded over Russia in February 2013 in the titular pen on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter today (March 29). Backers of the campaign have the chance to buy one of the meteorite pens for $55. "We wanted to design something that puts this amazing piece of the universe in the palm of your hands," Infinity Pen founder James Glass said in a statement. The team sourced the Chelyabinsk rocks from a reputable meteorite broker and has enough material to make 800 pens, Infinity Pen representatives told Space.com. If the pens don't sell out during the Kickstarter campaign, the remainder will retail for $125. Scientists think the asteroid that caused the Chelyabinsk explosion was about 65 feet (20 meters) wide. On Feb. 15, 2013, this space rock slammed into Earth's atmosphere at about 40,000 mph (64,000 km/h), eventually detonating about 18 miles (29 kilometers) above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. The shock wave generated by the explosion damaged thousands of buildings below, shattering windows whose flying glass shards injured 1,500 people. The Chelyabinsk airburst was the most powerful such event since 1908, when an object thought to be about 130 feet (40 m) wide exploded over Siberia, flattening about 770 square miles (2,000 square km) of forest. You can learn more about the Infinity Pen and its associated Kickstarter campaign here: https://goo.gl/k8gXN6 Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Editor's Recommendations Copyright 2016 SPACE.com, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. San Francisco State University announced Tuesday that it is investigating an on-campus confrontation caught on video in which a black woman accuses a white man of cultural appropriation for sporting dreadlocks. The video, which was posted to YouTube Monday, went viral and had been viewed more than 1.3 million times by Wednesday morning. We are aware of the video made of an incident which occurred on campus yesterday afternoon, the school said in a statement. University police were called to the scene of the incident when it occurred. The two individuals involved in the incident are not San Francisco State University employees. Further, no criminal charges have been pressed at this time to the Universitys knowledge. The man and the woman in the video were later identified as Cory Goldstein and Bonita Tindle. At the beginning of the video, Tindle asks Goldstein, You got some scissors? Goldstein replies, Youre saying that I cant have a hairstyle because of your culture? Why? Because its my culture, she says, before asking if he knows the meaning behind dreadlocks. Goldstein says that dreadlocks were a part of Egyptian culture. Are you Egyptian? he asks. Nah, bro, youre not. San Francisco State University is investigating a confrontation over cultural appropriation that occurred earlier this week. (Photo: Nicholas Silvera/YouTube) Tindle asks where Egypt is located several times as he attempts to walk away. Dude, girl, you have no right to tell me what I cannot wear, he says. Goldstein keeps trying to leave the scene by walking upstairs, but she grabs his arm and pulls him back down. Yo, girl, stop touching me right now, he says. Youre going to start some s*** because of the hair I have. Thats no reason, yo. I dont need your disrespect. At this point, Tindle realizes that their confrontation is being recorded on video. Why are you filming this? she asks. Just for everyones safety, the cameraman replies. Then Tindle reaches out to grab the camera bringing the video to an end. Cory Goldstein spoke with ABC7 about the incident that was caught on video this week at his school. (Photo: ABC7) Despite the videos title, SFSU 2016 Campus employee assaults white student for cultural appropriation, both parties in the confrontation appear to be students. Story continues The majority of those commenting on the video appear to side with Goldstein, saying it underscores the hostility and closed-mindedness of social justice warriors on college campuses. San Francisco State University said it promotes the right of free speech but does not condone behavior that endangers anyone's safety or well-being. We are taking the matter seriously, the schools statement continues, and will promptly and thoroughly investigate this incident through applicable University channels, including our campus student conduct procedures. In a Facebook post, Goldstein said he filed a formal campus police report but will not be filing any criminal charges. The video was posted under the name Nicholas Silvera. It is the accounts only video on YouTube. He did not immediately respond to Yahoo News request for further comment. When contacted by Yahoo News, San Francisco State spokesman Jonathan Morales said, The only update is that we became aware yesterday afternoon that the individual filming the video has requested that charges be pressed. I have no further information at this time. Related video: (Reuters) - The suspect in a fatal shooting on Tuesday in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is dead after apparently turning his gun on himself once police tracked him down. Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police said late on Tuesday that officers had found a 59-year-old man in the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, an aboriginal community. A gun was fired, and the man, whom police did not name, was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police would not confirm that the suspect had shot himself. They said, however, that the officers did not fire their guns and there was no indication of any other shooter in the area. Another police service is investigating circumstances around the suspect's death. The shooting was Saskatchewan's second in slightly more than two months, following the January killings of four people at a high school and home in remote La Loche, Saskatchewan. A 17-year-old boy faces charges in connection with those deaths. The man found on Tuesday was the only suspect in the death of a 56-year-old man from Ahtahkakoop. After reports of gunshots near the community's health center, police had asked residents to stay indoors as they searched for a suspect. Ahtahkakoop is 165 kilometers (100 miles) north of the city of Saskatoon. La Loche is about 400 kilometers northwest of Ahtahkakoop. (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. The armed gang neutralized in November, 2015 in Yerevan collected information about the activities of politicians and businessmen, including the three Armenian Presidents. National Security Service (NSS) official Mikayel Hambardzumyan told about this in a press conference at Armenpress media hall. The group had watched the works of the Presidential bodyguards and gathered information so as to make clear how the guards work. For that purpose the members of the gang, including Artur Vardanyan, attended the opening ceremony of Armenian Catholic Church in Gyumri on September 24 and secretly video recorded the arrival and the movements of the President. Artur Vardanyan was dressed in the cloths of a member of the choir, we think, for remaining unnoticed, Mikayel Hambardzumyan said. According to him, there is a confiscated footage which the gang planned to broadcast after occupying the Public TV. The NSS official did not publish the content of the footage; he only mentioned that Artur Vardanyan announces at the beginning that they have reached their goal by the means of arms. According to the data of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia, Artur Vardanyan born in 1981, residing in Spain since 1997 arrived in Armenia in 2015, formed and headed a criminal group during 2015 with the intention of organizing a number of grave crimes in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. He recruited mainly unemployed 19 citizens of Armenia, 5 of them residents of Yerevan, 7 of Shirak region, 3 of Armavir region, 2 of Lori region, 1 of Kotayk region, 1 of Gegharkunik region, 1 of Syunik region, including 4 women and 3 participants of Artsakh liberation war. All 19 members of the gang have been arrested. On November 25, different rifles, pistols, grenade launchers, grenades, explosive materials and equipment, cartridges, bullets etc. were discovered in the rented house in Nork district of Yerevan. Artur Vardanyan and 9 members of the criminal group were discovered in the house during the searches. The criminals have been arrested. Afterwards, some other individuals have been detained on suspicions of having cooperated with the group. Some of them have been released. Actress Keke Palmer (Scream Queens, Grease Live!) has signed a deal for I Don't Belong to You: Quiet the Noise and Find Your Voice, an inspirational memoir and self-help guide, publisher North Star Way, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced Wednesday. Publication is planned for October. I Don't Belong to You is pitched as a "sometimes serious, often hilarious and always inspiring guide that encourages young women to live a life full of ownership and confidence" told through Palmer's own struggles with the challenges all young women grapple with, from love and heartbreak to self-identity and family. Palmer told The Hollywood Reporter she wanted to write more than just a memoir. "The first idea to share it through a book was more about just 'my life,' like a memoir, and that didn't really excite me. It took me years to get outside of myself, and in that process I realized there was more use for those experiences than just to grow myself," the actress said. Palmer added, "The truth is that I'm no more special than you - surprise surprise! I want to be a part of my generation in a way where I am constantly reminding them of how possible it is to live our dreams. It doesn't mean that you have to be born with a charmed life, it means that it's what YOU make of it. After they know my "uncut" story, so to speak, I hope that they can see how many similarities we have. Therefore, there's nothing separating them from accomplishing their goals, just as I didn't let anything stop me from accomplishing mine. It's about the inner-hero we all have." In addition to Scream Queens and Grease Live!, Palmer has appeared in Akeelah and the Bee, Barbershop 2 and Madea's Family Reunion. March brought the release of "Enemiez," the first single from an album scheduled to bow in the fall. North Star Way's vice president and publisher Michele Martin acquired the title for the company. Palmer was repped on the book deal by Lacy Lynch at Dupree/Miller & Associates. Miami (AFP) - The search for radio signals from alien worlds is expanding to 20,000 star systems that were previously considered poor targets for intelligent extraterrestrial life, US researchers said Wednesday. New scientific data has led the SETI Institute to believe systems orbiting red dwarfs -- dim, long-lived stars that are on average billions of years older than our sun -- are worth investigating. "This may be one instance in which older is better," said astronomer Seth Shostak of California-based SETI, a private, non-profit organization which stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. "Older solar systems have had more time to produce intelligent species." The two-year project involves picking from a list of about 70,000 red dwarfs and scanning 20,000 of the nearest ones, along with the cosmic bodies that circle them. To do this, scientists will use the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array in northern California, a group of 42 antennas that can observe three stars simultaneously. "We'll scrutinize targeted systems over several frequency bands between 1 and 10 GHz," said SETI scientist Gerry Harp. "Roughly half of those bands will be at so-called 'magic frequencies' -- places on the radio dial that are directly related to basic mathematical constants," he added. "It's reasonable to speculate that extraterrestrials trying to attract attention might generate signals at such special frequencies. For a long time, scientists ruled out searching around red dwarfs because habitable zones around the stars are small. Any planets orbiting them would be so close that one side would be constantly facing the star, making one side of the planet very hot and the other quite cold and dark. But more recently, scientists have learned that heat could be transported from the light side of the planet to the darker side, and that much of the surface could be amenable to life. "In addition, exoplanet data have suggested that somewhere between one sixth and one half of red dwarf stars have planets in their habitable zones, a percentage comparable to, and possibly greater than, for Sun-like stars," said the statement. Experts have been hunting for alien intelligence for six decades, but have not found any evidence yet. By Emma Farge ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal (Reuters) - When Sadio Gassama decided to go into medicine, he started by giving free check-ups at his mosque in Senegal's poor southern region of Casamance. Now, the 25-year-old medical student says he is treating Islamic State fighters in Libya. Until recently, many thought the peaceful, tolerant Sufi brotherhoods in countries such as Senegal could prevent more conservative and radical versions of Islam from taking hold in poorer parts of West Africa, like Mali and Niger. But security experts say Gassama's story shows how the penetration of hardline Islamic Salafism, coupled with Gulf money and militant propaganda, is aiding recruitment, even from stable and democratic Senegal. In particular, in their appeals to Africans, Islamic State propagandists are calling on doctors to make "hijrah", or pilgrimage, to their African stronghold of Sirte in Libya. Pictures posted on Gassama's Facebook page before he joined Islamic State show him hugging his young niece. Now, he is brandishing a machine gun, his name stitched on to his military uniform. Friends and family say Gassama's decision to join thousands of militants in Libya in December during the fifth year of his medical studies was sudden and unexpected. His shocked father described him as a 'humanist' motivated by a desire to help others. A former professor called him a "brilliant student, incapable of hurting anyone". But an interview with Gassama showed a darker side. Speaking from Sirte, he said he had been planning an attack in Dakar. "Senegal is lucky. I was planning to commit an attack there in the name of the Islamic State before one of their contacts helped me go to Libya," he told Reuters last month via the internet. He could not be reached subsequently. Friends said he took trucks to Libya via Mali and Niger, accompanied by another Senegalese man and paying his way with his student grant. "I left Senegal a year after embracing the ideology of the Islamic State," Gassama said. "Joining ISIS in Libya was relatively easy and accessible. I wanted to contribute to the establishment of a caliphate in Libya." Asked what he was doing there, he replied: "I am a jihadist doctor." Islamic State propaganda and security sources confirm fighters from countries including Chad, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria are already in Libya, where the group is consolidating its presence. The number of sub-Saharan Africans is not known but they are thought to represent a minority of the 3,000-6,000 Islamic State fighters there, with most from North Africa and the Middle East. However, there are concerns more will travel there along the same desert routes migrants use to reach Europe, as Gassama did. "Libya is closer and easier to reach for some African fighters than Syria, and the political disarray there opens space for fighters to enter and operate," said Andrew Lebovich, a visiting fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations who focuses on North Africa and the Sahel. GULF DONATIONS Across Africa's arid Sahel region, Western diplomats note an increase in conservatism, alongside tens of millions of dollars a year in charity donations from Gulf states. In Niger, some religious leaders are calling for a "re-Islamisation" against the secularism imposed by former colonial power France. This is already underway in the capital, Niamey, where some women wear the full veil and pay higher fares to avoid sharing taxis with men. Gulf-financed bodies deny links to radical groups and say their money is for charity, but local sources say it can go astray. "Contributions are intended for the poor and to build mosques but are often diverted in the wrong direction," said Bakary Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute and a coordinator for the Observatory on Religious Radicalism and Conflicts in Africa. This foreign money and the migration of Senegal's youth to the cities has undermined the country's Mouride brotherhood, an old-established Islamic Sufi order which preaches tolerance. In Gassama's home town of Ziguinchor, the mosque he attended in the HLM neighborhood is funded by a Kuwaiti NGO called Africa Muslims Agency. AMA director Almany Badji said it was one of more than 100 mosques it has financed in Casamance. The mosque Gassama attended at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University also has Salafist leanings, Sambe said. Gassama did not say who helped him join Islamic State more than a year ago, referring only to 'guidance' in Senegal. "Through meetings with local scholars it became clear that jihad was my Muslim duty," he told Reuters. His friends and family said the only change they noticed before he left was to a more Salafist dress code. "His pants were shorter and did not reach all the way to the floor," said his father, Boucar Gassama, a retired civil servant, surrounded by Gassama's siblings in the shady courtyard of his house. "But I could not know he had been radicalized." CALLS FOR REFORM There is growing concern in West Africa about recruitment into Islamic State and other militant groups after attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Modou Faye, Gassama's professor, says students need more guidance in reading the Koran, which is often rote-learnt at religious schools similar to one Gassama attended. Mauritania has closed several Koranic schools for security reasons, officials said. In Mali, where an Islamist insurgency is intensifying, some are calling for checks on mosques and NGOs. "We must take stock of the potential risks of collusion between civil society and terrorists, better monitor places where radicalization occurs, keep tabs on all suspect individuals like radical preachers and trace their funds," former Prime Minister Moussa Mara said. But others say labeling peaceful Islamic groups as jihadists is risky. Depriving poor communities of services such as orphanages and free study trips to Saudi Arabia could provoke a backlash. "A politician who attempts to regulate this risks losing his electorate," said Moulaye Hassane, researcher at the Institute of Research and Human Sciences and Niger's former ambassador to Saudi Arabia. "I think they are afraid." (Additional reporting by Abdoulaye Massalaki in Niamey and Diadie Ba in Dakar; editing by Giles Elgood) By Thomas Escritt THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.N. judges rule on Thursday in the war crimes trial of Vojislav Seselj, a Serbian nationalist politician accused of stoking murderous ethnic hatred during the 1990s wars prompted by the break-up of federal Yugoslavia. The verdict may prove as difficult for the U.N. Criminal Triibunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to manage as the decade-long trial, which suffered multiple delays as Seselj represented himself and challenged the court at every turn. Seselj, 61, was granted provisional release in 2014 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. However, he is still alive and has re-immersed himself in Serbian politics, addressing rallies in defiance of ICTY orders. He refused to return for Thursday's court session, due to begin at 0800 GMT, and did not intend to even watch it by satellite. Judges averted a showdown over his attendance by excusing him from attending for health reasons at the last minute. A close ally of late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Seselj faces three counts of crimes against humanity and six of war crimes for inciting ethnic cleansing in Croatia, Bosnia and the Serbian province of Vojvodina. Prosecutors say in addition to his rhetoric about creating an ethnically pure "Greater Serbia", he helped set up paramilitary units to carry out the plan. Serb paramilitaries drove tens of thousands of Muslims and Croats from their homes. A prolific author, Seselj is known for passionate speeches, a short temper and crude threats such as telling Serb enemies that he would "gouge out their eyes with rusty spoons". He says he is innocent of wrongdoing. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment, which would require his transfer to the ICTY. That would pose a dilemma for Serbia's government. Handing him over would anger the government's base of supporters who see the Western-backed court as biased against Serbia, but non-cooperation would endanger the funding Serbia receives from the EU. Serbia is also a candidate to join the EU. The pro-EU government, facing elections in April, is walking a tightrope at a time of growing Russian influence in southeastern Europe - Moscow is a traditional ally of Belgrade - and risks losing domestic support if it is seen to be too accommodating of the ICTY. In an interview with Newsweek's Serbian edition, Seselj said he expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison. "If the government extradites me, then I will serve my time. I am not going back to The Hague voluntarily," he said. (Additional reporting by Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade; Editing by Mark Heinrich) By Christine Soukenka FREILASSING, Germany (Reuters) - As migrant arrivals to Germany slow to a trickle, a registration center on the border with Austria stands almost deserted, with rows of beds unused and rooms for fingerprinting refugee arrivals empty. At the shelter in Freilassing, which registered up to 2,000 people a day at peak times last September, barely a handful of migrants arrived on Wednesday night. The center's dining halls and sleeping quarters looked like they were from a ghost town. "(After last summer's peak), we had around 1,200 refugees per day and this went on until the beginning of February, when the Balkan route was closed," said Josef Flatscher, the mayor of Freilassing, a town across the border from Austria's Salzburg. "Since then, the numbers dropped drastically, one can say to close to zero. Tonight, only three people arrived," he told Reuters TV. Just over 108,000 migrants have entered Germany so far this year, a federal police spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday. The number of arrivals has dropped significantly in recent weeks, however. Back in January, police registered around 64,700 migrants, but only about 5,300 people crossed into Germany in the first 29 days of March. In late February, Austria introduced daily caps on the number of migrants, setting off a domino effect across southeastern Europe, where countries along Europe's main migrant route sealed their borders. Migrants, many of whom are fleeing war and conflict in the Middle East and beyond, are now stranded in Greece after crossing the Mediterranean from Turkey. In Freilassing, the slowdown is a welcome break, giving much strained police forces, officials and volunteers "room to breathe," Mayor Flatscher said. He doesn't believe the calm will last, however. "You can simply add one and one together if you know the people's conditions everywhere down there, and that they are obviously waiting to get away into a so-called 'Promised Land', such as Germany," he said. (Reporting by Reuters TV; Additional reporting and writing by Tina Bellon; Editing by Tom Heneghan) JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's state-run Land Bank said on Wednesday that drought-stricken farmers could apply for concessional loans to help see them through the lean season. The bank, which focuses on the agriculture sector, said in a statement it had raised 400 million rand ($26.70 million) from the government-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) for drought relief measures. It said farmers in provinces declared drought disaster areas - KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo and Free State - could apply for the loans immediately. "The loans can be used as a source of emergency working capital to minimise further losses to current farming operations, carry over debt as well as to repair and replace weather damaged property and equipment," the Land Bank said. It said the loans will be offered at three basis points below the prime rate, which would be 7.5 percent, and can be repaid over an extended period. "The Land Bank also offers a facility for tax relief to drought hit livestock farmers in disaster declared areas. Under this programme, farmers are granted exemption from income tax for livestock sold as a result of the drought," it said. South Africa last year recorded its lowest rainfall levels since records began in 1904, scorching the key maize crop, which is forecast to be 27 percent lower this year, and parching grazing land used for livestock. ($1 = 14.9790 rand) (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; editing by Susan Thomas) By Julien Toyer and Blanca Rodriguez MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Socialist party and anti-austerity newcomer Podemos will hold talks on forming a coalition, exploring an as yet untried combination to break a deadlock that has left the country without a government since inconclusive elections in December. With the deadline for calling new elections little more than a month away, the parties' leaders -- meeting for only the second time this year -- agreed on Wednesday to start negotiating a possible deal this week. "I have seen a joint willingness to have this dialogue," Podemos' Pablo Iglesias told a news conference. "Starting this week I will roll up my sleeves and personally head Podemos' negotiating team." Iglesias also said he was ready to withdraw from any prospective coalition government if that helped secure a deal. A left-wing coalition, even if it also included the former communists of Izquierda Unida, would still be short of a parliamentary majority, and would need other parties to abstain or vote in its favor in a confidence vote, which may not be easy to achieve. A series of attempted alliances over the past 100 days involving the leading four parties have failed to end the stalemate. If there is no deal by May 2, new elections will have to be held, probably at the end of June. While Podemos believes a left-wing coalition should and could be backed by smaller parties and regional groups, the Socialists insist liberal party Ciudadanos should be part of the equation, something Iglesias does not want. Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez failed earlier this month to win the confidence of parliament when Podemos and the conservative ruling People's Party refused to back a government deal he had reached with Ciudadanos. But he said he was now more optimistic that a three-way deal could be reached. "We have a joint objective. We don't want elections (...) and we want to end the (acting) government of Mariano Rajoy," Sanchez told a news conference. "It will be complex, it's not a done deal, but we are today closer to a government of change in Spain than to repeat elections." (editing by John Stonestreet) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. More than 1.6 million migrants moved to Britain from within the EU in less than a decade, Armenpress reports, citing Daily Mail. The astonishing figure the equivalent to the populations of Manchester and Birmingham combined settled here between 2006 and 2014, according to the UK Statistics Authority. It means an average of 500 people every day for nine years exercised their right to free movement adding to the pressure on Britain's schools, hospitals and other infrastructure. And with migration from within the EU continuing to run at record levels over the past two years, the true total now will be even higher. Campaigners said the figures showed that, if Britain wants to control its borders and plan properly for the future, it must quit the EU. It follows revelations of how the free movement rules have let dozens of foreign criminals commit horrific offences in Britain. In a speech today, Justice Minister Dominic Raab will warn that the 'unyielding' edict is also giving a 'free pass' to extremists and terror suspects. Mr Raab will say that, where the UK has 'sketchy intelligence' that somebody may be linked to terrorism, the bar for denying them a right to free movement is set so high that we have to let them in. The migration figures were compiled by the statistics authority following a request by eurosceptic Tory MP Anne Main. In 2014 alone, 287,000 people from within the EU many from Eastern Europe settled in Britain. Separate figures compiled by the United Nations suggest there are now 2.9 million EU nationals living in Britain. By comparison, there are 1.2 million Britons living in other EU countries. Employment Minister Priti Patel said: 'These levels of immigration are far too high for this country to sustain. With housing, schools and the NHS all under pressure, this country will not be able to cope with the demands from further waves of migration on this scale from the EU. 'While the UK remains a member of the EU we are powerless to stop or control the numbers coming in. We can only take control of our immigration policy and our borders by voting to leave the EU.' Mrs Main told the Mail: 'These figures are alarming because they don't take into account all immigration from the EU. 'This is the choice faced by Britain on June 23: from today until the polling day, the UK will need to find housing, hospitals and schools to accompany a new town the size of Canterbury, Torquay or Folkestone.' A robot named Spencer was put to work to help KLM airline passengers get to their flights on time. Spencer has now completed a series of tests carried out at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam after over three years of development and programming. Undertaking actions like scanning boarding passes and automatically guiding passengers to their departure gate over the course of the test period, Spencer is described by Kai Arras, the project's coordinator from Freiburg University, as the "first socially-aware robot that has ever been deployed at an airport," as it analyzes group relations in a busy environment and then adjusts its actions to "social rules." The robot can even adjust its speed to following groups of travelers as they head to their flight. Rene de Groot, Chief Operating Officer KLM, noted that incorporating "robotics" into the aviation company's systems "will supplement the service offered by our airport staff, who will then have more time to assist passengers with more challenging needs." Spencer's test results will now be evaluated for the next phase of the project to get underway. By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared likely to rule that property owners can challenge the federal government in court over the need for permits under a national water protection law in a case involving a company's plans for a Minnesota peat mine. The court heard a one-hour argument in a case balancing property rights and environmental law, in this instance the landmark 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act. A majority of the eight justices appeared sympathetic toward North Dakota-based Hawkes Co Inc, which is fighting an Obama administration finding that its property includes wetlands. The law mandates that property owners get permits in such situations. Whether a particular plot of land falls under the law's jurisdiction is important to developers and other property owners because such a finding triggers a lengthy and expensive permitting process. Hawkes' lawyers argued the company should be able to contest whether it even needs to go through the permit process. Liberal and conservative justices alike expressed concern about the current arrangement's burden on property owners. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts said applicants who disregard a government finding that they need a permit do so at "great practical risk." Liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the process "very arduous and very expensive." Liberal Stephen Breyer called the government decision that Hawkes needed a permit "perfectly suited for review in the courts." Only liberal Elena Kagan expressed support for the government, raising concerns about the impact a ruling favoring property owners would have on actions by other government agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. Property rights advocates said the permitting process can take two years and cost up to $270,000, with owners facing penalties of up to $37,500 a day for noncompliance. Business groups including the National Association of Home Builders and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 29 states filed court papers opposing the Obama administration in the case. Story continues The case follows the justices' unanimous 2012 ruling that property owners facing enforcement action under the Clean Water Act can ask a court to intervene before being forced to comply or pay financial penalties. The Obama administration last year issued a new regulation defining the scope of federal jurisdiction over bodies of water. A federal appeals court put the rule on hold after it was challenged by 18 states. Only eight justices participated in the case following Justice Antonin Scalia's February death. A ruling is due by the end of June. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham) ABUJA (Reuters) - A suspected suicide bomber intercepted in northern Cameroon last week before she could blow herself up is not one of 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in the Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014, an African public advocacy group said on Wednesday. The abduction of about 270 school girls by the Islamist militant group sparked international outrage and a campaign for their safe return. Some 50 of the girls managed to escape but 219 are still missing. The Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), a non-government organization, partnered with Nigeria's government to help parents from Chibok verify the girl's identity after she claimed to be among the missing students. Nigeria's government had said it was keen to ascertain the girl's identity so that she could possibly assist the government in investigations regarding the fate and whereabouts of the missing Chibok girls. MMF chief Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode said three representatives of parents of the missing students looked at photographs of the girl and a woman she was arrested with and said they "do not fit the description of any of the missing daughters from Chibok". She said the Nigerian government told her group on Tuesday that the girl identified herself as a 12-year-old originally from Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, who was abducted from Bama about 60 km (40 miles) away, when the town was overrun by Boko Haram a year ago. The woman was said to have identified herself as a 35-year-old mother of two. Muhammed-Oyebode said the pair had been handed to the Nigerian military and were returning to Nigeria. Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was criticized for his slow reaction to the Chibok kidnappings, which was seen by some as indicative of his response to Boko Haram, which at its strongest held large swathes of northeastern Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari, who defeated Jonathan in an election last year, ordered a new investigation into the abductions in January. Joint operations between Nigeria and neighboring countries drove Boko Haram from many of its strongholds last year but the group has stepped up cross-border attacks and suicide bombings, many of which have been carried out by young girls. (Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Tom Brown) BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition said on Wednesday Syria needs a transitional ruling body with full executive powers and not a participatory government under President Bashar al-Assad, responding to comments made by Assad to Russian state media. "The government, whether it's new or old, as long as it is in the presence of Bashar al-Assad, is not part of the political process," said George Sabra, a negotiator for the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) representing the Syrian opposition at Geneva peace talks. "What Bashar al-Assad is talking about has no relation to the political process," said Sabra. Asaad al-Zoubi, an HNC member, said the Syrian people and the Geneva negotiating team want "a transitional ruling body will full executive powers and authorities, including presidential authority". "Whereas the regime wants a participatory government," he said. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Alison Williams) Taiwan's tech giant Hon Hai said Wednesday it had finally sealed a takeover of Japanese electronics maker Sharp in a "historic" deal worth 389 billion yen ($3.5 billion). It is the first foreign acquisition of a major Japanese electronics firm and comes after weeks of delays, with Hon Hai buying a 66 percent controlling stake. But the cash injection from Hon Hai -- the multinational owner of Foxconn, the world's biggest iPhone and iPad assembler -- is well down from the original 489 billion yen put on the table in February. Hon Hai put the brakes on the takeover last month, soon after it was first announced, to review new information from Sharp believed to relate to the company's sizeable liabilities. Hon Hai's colourful founder Terry Gou said he was "thrilled" by the "strategic alliance". "We have much that we want to achieve and I am confident that we will unlock Sharp's true potential and together reach great heights," he said in a joint statement. Sharp's president and CEO Kozo Takahashi added that the move would merge forces and "accelerate innovation". - 'Historic strategic alliance' - The joint statement, issued at a news conference in Taipei, described the takeover as an attempt to revive Sharp's flagging fortunes and called it a "historic strategic alliance". "We are committed to restoring profitability and strengthening operations to once again make Sharp a leader in the global electronics arena and a world-class company with a positive outlook," it said. Hon Hai will pay 88 yen per share. A spokesman said the deal would be signed in Osaka on Saturday. The takeover must still be approved by Taiwan's Investment Commission, which said it would rule on the acquisition within a month of receiving the application for the purchase. The deal is set to be the fourth largest overseas investment by a Taiwanese company, the commission reported. Story continues Separately, Sharp warned on Wednesday it expects an operating loss of 170 billion yen in the current fiscal year, reversing earlier expectations of a small profit. Sharp has teetered on the edge of bankruptcy for years and billionaire Gou has long been pushing for a takeover. The two firms have worked together on large-screen technology, including for televisions, and jointly operate a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel plant in Japan. Still, the Japanese government had reportedly been concerned about Sharp's key technologies falling into the hands of a foreign firm. Sharp is still a leader in LCD technology and remains one of Japan's best-known corporate brands overseas despite its bleeding balance sheet. But the century-old company piled up eye-watering losses after the 2008 global financial crisis and a restructuring plan has yet to pull it out of the red. In February Sharp said its net loss in the April to December period came in at a whopping 108.3 billion yen, way up from the year before. "For Sharp, this is the first step toward normalisation and it will make the company a buy for investors again," said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo. "This deal proves that Japanese electronics firms are still attractive for foreign rivals. "Sharp has competitive know-how and technologies. For Hon Hai, it's a good buy. It wanted a brand for finished products and it can make use of the Sharp name," Yasuda said. Taiwan's Fubon Securities said Hon Hai would be able to manage Sharp's losses. "This deal will be positive for both Hon Hai and Sharp. The former's integration of Sharp's panel technology will help the latter improve its factory utilisation," it added in a note. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce presented Technicolor with a star of recognition Wednesday morning in front of the company's U.S. headquarters on the Sunset Gower Studio lot in Hollywood. "Technology by itself is a tool, and this team are your partners to convert technology into art and creativity," Technicolor CEO Frederic Rose told the crowd. "We are trying to bring a soul and spirit [to content]. And create what we have never seen before." Rose thanked clients, partners and cinematographers, and said that at 100 years old, film pioneer Technicolor "is stronger and bigger than we have ever been. We have successfully transitioned and moved completely to digital production. May the next 100 years be as exciting, if not more exciting." Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president-CEO Leron Gubler noted that this is only the second time a star of recognition has been presented to a corporation (the first was to USC's film school). Noting that the Technicolor building was just completed in recent years, he added that companies such as Netflix are following with construction in the immediate area. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. From 5 to 9 April 2016, in the framework of RISS Eurasian Forum, the regular visit of the delegation of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies (RISS) to the Republic of Armenia will be held. The delegation includes Deputy RISS Director, Head of Centre for CIS Countries Studies, Doctor of Historical Sciences Tamara Guzenkova, press Secretary of the Russian centre of science and culture in Yerevan Liana Azoyan, , Arthur Ataev, Head of the Sector for Caucasus Studies, RISS, and Constantin Tasic, senior researcher at the Caucasus Research sector. As "Armenpress" reports, during the visit of April 6, 2016, a conference of young scientists "Modern Eurasia in various methodological approaches and research practices" will be held. The event is organized by the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies and the Council of young orientalists of the Armenian Institute of Oriental Studies of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences. The conference will award cash prizes to the winners of competition entitled "Armenia and the Eurasian integration", which was held in 2015 by RISS. Contest participants will receive special certificates. oN April 7 RISS, together with the research center "Alternative" will hold a round table (situation analysis) on the problems of Eurasian integration. The purpose of the event - to discuss the problems and prospects of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as search for the most effective forms of participation of Armenia in the integration association. At the end of the visit, on April 8, 2016 meeting of the Eurasian expert club will be held. The meeting will summarize the results of RISS delegation's visit to Armenia andplans for the future work of the Russian and Armenian experts will be outlined. There will be also held a ceremony of inclusion of Deputy RISS Director T. Guzenkova in the number of honorary members of the club. Within the frames of the cultural program, the delegation will visit the village of Areni, Jermuk and Yeghegnadzor and Noravank monastery complex. BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's military rulers have given soldiers new powers of arrest and detention, the defense minister said on Wednesday, a move rights groups say will only help strengthen a junta crackdown on critics. An order issued late on Tuesday gives soldiers authority to seize assets and search premises, said Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan. "Military officers will take part in activities that are for community safety because there are not enough police officers to tackle crime," Prawit said. Rights groups have derided the decision. "These measures are another affirmation of the strengthening of a military state," Sunai Phasuk, Thailand Researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. The order is an extension of Section 44, which critics have dubbed the dictator law, a sweeping provision in the interim constitution that allows the detention of suspects without charge for seven days. Section 44 was invoked by the junta in 2015 to replace martial law, which was imposed just days before a May 2014 bloodless coup by the army. Rights groups say the junta has launched a fresh crackdown in recent weeks. On Tuesday, Theerawan Charoensuk, 57, was charged with sedition for posting a picture on Facebook of herself holding a red plastic bowl - a Thai New Year gift from ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Yingluck. Theerawan faces up to seven years in prison if found guilty. Junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha this week said the military would extend its "attitude adjustment" program period for critics. Hundreds of Thais have been hauled in for attitude adjustment at military camps since the 2014 coup. Thailand has been politically divided for more than a decade. The army ousted Thaksin in 2006, exacerbating a sharp divide between his supporters and the royalist-military establishment. The 2014 coup removed the remnants of the government of his sister. Rights groups say the junta has become skittish as an August referendum on a controversial draft constitution nears. (Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak and Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Nick Macfie) By Serena Maria Daniels DETROIT (Reuters) - Federal officials on Tuesday charged 13 current and former Detroit Public School (DPS) principals with engaging in a long-running kickback scheme in which prosecutors said they submitted fraudulent invoices to a vendor in exchange for prepaid gift cards, cash and checks that totaled more than $900,000. The charges come a month after Michigan Governor Rick Snyder named the federal judge who oversaw Detroit's historic bankruptcy case to tackle the financial problems of Detroit's schools, which are drowning under $3.5 billion of debt. Along with the 13 principals, Norman Shy, owner of Allstate Sales and an approved school supply vendor for the school district, was charged in U.S. District Court in Detroit in connection with the alleged scheme. Beginning in 2002 and continuing until January 2015, the scheme involved business with DPS worth about $2.7 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit, which worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service on the two-year investigation. The principals and Shy were all charged with conspiracy to commit bribery under a federal program. The school district received grants, contracts and other forms of assistance under federal programs. Shy, 74, and one principal were also charged with federal income tax evasion, officials said. All of the defendants face up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 if convicted on the bribery charge, officials said. Most of the lawyers for the principals and Shy either declined to comment or could not be reached. Kim Stout, attorney for Josette Buendia, one of the principals, said her client worked hard to raise test scores at her elementary school and spent her own money to help the school. Attorney Tom Cranmer said his client, Tanya Bowman, a former principal who is among those charged, has cooperated with the government. Doraid Elder, the attorney for another principal charged, Stanley Johnson, said he had not seen any evidence against his client. Johnson had donated his own money to buy things for the school district, he said. Story continues "To say that my client would take $84,000 in kickbacks, we don't know anything at this point as far as method of payment," Elder said. "It's up to government to say, 'Hey Mr. Stanley, here is the evidence.'" U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said the investigation was ongoing. "The actions of these individuals are reprehensible and represent a breach of the public trust," said Steven Rhodes, the judge appointed to run DPS last month. DPS has suspended all purchasing by individual schools and will review all vendor contracts, he added. (Reporting by Serena Maria Daniels; Writing by Ben Klayman; Editing by Tom Brown and Leslie Adler) Arraba (Israel) (AFP) - Thousands of Palestinians and Arab Israelis gathered on Wednesday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "Land Day" marking the killing of six Arab Israelis protesting plans to confiscate Arab land. In the northern Israeli town of Arraba, they waved Palestinian flags and banners that read, "The earth is the homeland" before observing a minute's silence in memory of the "martyrs" of 1976. That was the year that Israeli police and troops shot dead six Arab Israeli protesters on March 30 during mass demonstrations against plans to confiscate Arab land in Galilee. The High Follow-up Committee, the main representative organisation for Arabs in Israel, had called for a strong turnout in Arraba and the southern Negev region, where about 1,000 people gathered. "Land Day is a central starting point in our struggle against racial discrimination and the policy of uprooting which was launched during the Nakba and still endures today," the committee said. Its statement was referring to the "Nakba", or "catastrophe" that befell them when Israel was established in 1948. "We are also witnessing an escalation of persecution and violence and restriction of freedoms," it added. Dozens of people also took part in similar rallies in the occupied West Bank, including Hebron and Nablus. By Emily Stephenson and Colleen Jenkins (Reuters) - Donald Trump's presidential campaign manager was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery in Florida on Tuesday in an incident involving a reporter, the latest chapter in a raucous U.S. race marked by threats, insults and physical confrontations. Police in Jupiter, Florida, charged Corey Lewandowski, 42, with intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of Michelle Fields, then a reporter for the conservative news outlet Breitbart, when she tried to question Trump at a campaign event on March 8. Republican front-runner Trump repeatedly defended Lewandowski throughout a day of campaigning in Wisconsin. He also rescinded a previous pledge to support the Republican presidential nominee if it is not him. "No, not anymore," he said when asked if he would honor his previous pledge. At a CNN town hall on Tuesday night, Trump said he would remain loyal to his campaign manager and that Lewandowski would remain on the job even though it might be more convenient on behalf of his campaign to "terminate this man, ruin his life, ruin his family ... ruin his whole everything and say: 'You're fired.'" Trump also questioned Fields' original description of the incident in which she said she was almost yanked to the ground by Lewandowski. He wondered aloud if she had posed a threat to him because she approached him with an ink pen. "She had a pen in her hand that couldve been a knife," Trump said. Police released a video of the incident showing Fields walking alongside Trump and trying to question him. Lewandowski is seen grabbing her arm and pulling her backward. Previous videos of the incident had been obscured by people in the crowd. At the time, Lewandowski called Fields "delusional" and said he never touched her. Campaign rallies for Trump, the billionaire businessman who leads the race to become the Republican candidate in the Nov. 8 presidential election, are tumultuous at times and have been marked by occasional clashes between protesters and supporters or security personnel. His pugnacious campaign style, which includes personal insults directed at rivals and scathing criticism of protesters, has been criticized for encouraging physical altercations at his rallies. Trump leads rivals Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich in opinion polls and in the number of delegates to the nominating convention, despite a concerted effort to stop him by a Republican establishment worried he will lead the party to defeat in November. Cruz said Trump "of course" should ask for Lewandowski's resignation. "Look, it shouldn't be complicated that members of the campaign staff shouldnt be physically assaulting the press," Cruz said on the CNN town hall. Kasich said he considered such behavior "totally and completely" inappropriate. "If it was me, if I was in this circumstance, I would take some sort of action, either suspension or firing," Kasich told reporters in Wisconsin. WALKER ENDORSES CRUZ Cruz picked up the endorsement on Tuesday of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker ahead of the state's primary next week. Walker, who dropped out of the presidential race last year, called Cruz a principled constitutional conservative. "I'm all in," Walker said in an interview on WTMJ radio in Milwaukee, adding he was not endorsing Cruz in an attempt to stop Trump. "I just fundamentally believe if you look at the facts, if you look at the numbers, that Ted Cruz is in the best position by far to both win the nomination of the Republican Party and to then go on and defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall this year," Walker said, referring to the Democratic front-runner. Walker joins a number of other more establishment Republicans who have backed Cruz as an alternative to Trump, who has racked up a strong delegate lead but alienated many party leaders with his harsh views on illegal immigration, Muslims and women. On his plane, Trump said Fields had been pursuing him after a news conference and Lewandowski was trying to "get her off me." He questioned whether Lewandowski had given Fields the bruise on her arm. "How do you know those bruises weren't there before?" he asked reporters in Wisconsin. Republican strategist Katie Packer, who runs an anti-Trump Super PAC, said the incident and the charges against Lewandowski reflected the candidate's lack of respect toward women. "He doesnt have the kind of values and the kind of temperament that we should expect from someone who wants to be commander in chief," she said. Lewandowski was charged with simple battery, defined under Florida law as intentionally touching or striking a person against their will. For a first offense, it is a misdemeanor in the first degree, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison or a fine of $1,000. A court date was set for May 4, according to the police report. Jupiter police said Lewandowski turned himself in, and he was issued a notice requiring him to appear in court and then released. He was not booked into the jail. Lewandowskis lawyer, Scott Richardson of West Palm Beach, Florida, declined to comment on whether his client would step down as campaign manager. Lewandowski will also be represented by Kendall Coffey, a Miami lawyer, the campaign said. Fields resigned from Breitbart less than a week after the incident, citing what she said was the online news outlet's refusal to stand behind her amid the allegations. (Reporting by Emily Stephenson in Washington and Colleen Jenkins in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Additional reporting by Alana Wise, Doina Chiacu, Ginger Gibson, Steve Holland and Megan Cassella in Washington, and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney) By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned a pledge to support a party presidential nominee other than himself, a sign of increasing friction with chief rival Ted Cruz. "No, I don't anymore," Trump replied, when asked at a CNN town hall event whether he still supported a pledge he made last year to support whoever is the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election. Trump's signing of a loyalty pledge last September was important in helping him gain credibility within the Republican National Committee. The pledge was also signed by all his rivals for the presidential nomination. His aboutface came as he tries to fend off a challenge from Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas who is running second to the New York billionaire in the race for the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination. Trump and Cruz were enmeshed in a fight last week involving their wives, with a Cruz SuperPAC publishing a provocative photo of Trump's former model wife, Melania, and Trump retaliating by tweeting an unflattering photo of Cruz's wife, Heidi. Cruz, asked earlier at the CNN town hall whether he also would honor the pledge to support the nominee if it was not himself, declined to give a straight answer. "Let me tell you my solution to that," Cruz said. "Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. We're going to beat him." GOP is the acronym for Grand Old Party, a nickname for the Republican Party. Trump said he could do without Cruz's support. "I watched him tonight and I watched how tormented he was when you asked him that question," Trump told CNN moderator Anderson Cooper. "I don't want to have him be tormented. Let me just tell you I dont want his support, I don't need his support. I don't want him to be uncomfortable." Trump also said he recognized that several of those who have dropped out of the race might harbor ill feelings towards him, mentioning former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Walker endorsed Cruz earlier on Tuesday, with Wisconsin's primary vote coming up on April 5. "I drove him out of the race," Trump said of Walker, who abandoned his presidential bid last autumn. "I drove Jeb Bush out of the race, I drove Rand Paul out of the race. I understand why they don't like me." A third Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich, was also tentative about honoring the pledge. He told the town hall he had been "disturbed by some of the things Ive seen" during the campaign, adding, "I want to see how this finishes out." (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Washington (AFP) - Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump refused to back any nominee but himself, another flip-flop in his position since the start of the race. In an interview on CNN, the party frontrunner was asked if he would support the Republican candidate for the White House, no matter who it ends up being. "No, I don't anymore," Trump said. "No, we'll see who it is." Trump added: "I have been treated very unfairly. By basically the RNC (Republican National Committee), the Republican party, the establishment. "I'll see who it is. I'm not looking to hurt anybody. I love the Republican party." Trump said he would win the nomination in any case, and that he did not need an endorsement from his main rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Cruz has recently been ambiguous over whether he would endorse Trump if he himself does not win the party nomination. Relations between the two hit a new low after a week of backbiting, including a Twitter exchange of photos of Trump's wife Melania, a retired model, and a seemingly unflattering photo of Cruz's wife, Heidi. The campaign for the primaries got off with a bang in August when Trump declined to say he would support whomever the party nominated and refused to rule out running as a third party candidate. In September, however, Trump agreed to a sort of oath with the Republican Party. But in February he declared himself freed of it, saying the party had treated him poorly. In a debate on March 3, he changed his mind again and promised to honor the oath with the party. LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - The European Union may have to give Turkey more than the 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion) it promised as part of a deal to halt illegal migration to Europe, Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said on Wednesday. The controversial EU-Turkey deal reached two weeks ago aims to close the main route by which a million migrants and refugees have come across the Aegean Sea to Greece in the last year before marching north to Germany and Sweden. The EU promised to accelerate the disbursement of 3 billion euros already pledged in support of refugees in Turkey and to provide a further 3 billion by 2018. "I believe that the money planned for migration management will not be sufficient. This is just the first step, but it is important that the agreement is yielding results," Erjavec told a joint news conference with visiting Turkish European Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir. Under the pact, Ankara will take back all migrants and refugees, including Syrians, who cross to Greece illegally by sea. In return, the EU has agreed to take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey. Five days before Turkey is due to start taking back illegal migrants, uncertainty remains over how it will be implemented. Bozkir said Turkey would place returning migrants in existing camps and migrant centers from which the same number of Syrian migrants would then be sent to the EU. The EU will not be able to select migrants and both skilled and unskilled migrants will be sent to the EU, Bozkir said. He said Turkey would attempt to return migrants to their country of origin, such as Pakistan, with which Turkey has a readmission agreement. However, migrants that would be under threat in their home country would not be returned. "If not (returned) they will be kept in Turkey in centers for these people established in 16 cities," said Bozkir. He gave no details of how many migrants could be returned to Turkey next week. (Reporting by Marja Novak; Editing by Adrian Croft) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenia maintains very good relations with all the member states of the EU and is constantly working to develop and strengthen those ties. At the moment, Armenia is negotiating an agreement with the EU that allows us to cooperate more in depth, Avet Adonts, the first Armenian Ambassador to Spain noted in the interview with Spanish The Diplomat. Armenian ambassador also noted that Armenias relations with Spain are scarce but good. We need a more dynamic dialogue to promote our economic cooperation and we are willing to make all the efforts necessary to contribute to the development of bilateral relations, he said. Touching on the sectors of mutual interest between Spain and Armenia,Adonts noted: Armenia is a small country, without energy resources, but with human resources. There are many areas of cooperation in which we can be mutually interested, exchange experiences, such as new technologies, tourism, jewellery, agriculture, food processing or the chemical sector, among others. As to the question whether he has ever met Spanish companies, Armenian ambassador mentioned: At the moment, several Spanish companies are doing business in Armenia successfully. We reached an agreement with the Ministry of Trade a year ago to organize a business meeting with the participation of political leaders. We will resume this as soon as a new government is formed in Spain. Referring to the opinion that Armenia is barely known in Spain, Adonts said: True. Few know that the first Lord of Madrid was the King Leon V of Armenia or that Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity. From the Embassy, we try to fill this gap and hope to make exchanges between our civil societies and to promote economic relations. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will sit down with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this week on the sidelines of a nuclear summit, and will likely have a chance to speak with President Barack Obama as well, the White House said on Wednesday. Biden "is going to make time in his schedule for President Erdogan, and I'm confident that President Obama will also make at least a little time for some kind of conversation with President Erdogan while he's here too," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. (Story corrects headline to show meeting will not be at White House.) (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Writing by Megan Cassella; Editing by Chris Reese) ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 16 people in the southeastern province of Adiyaman on Wednesday on suspicion of belonging to the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, state-run Anadolu Agency said. Counter-terrorism police carried out simultaneous raids on 20 locations including in Adiyaman town center and the Celikhan district, the agency said. Turkey designates Nusra, which is one of the main parties fighting in the Syrian civil war, as a terrorist organization. The town of Adiyaman, with a largely pious population, made headlines last October when an Islamic State suicide bomber from there was blamed for the death of over 100 people after he blew himself up in a pro-Kurdish rally in the capital Ankara. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Six people, including two Turkish nationals, were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a minibus carrying workers to a Turkish-run hospital in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, police said. The gunmen, who were in a car, opened fire at the minibus as it passed in Mogadishu's Hodan district. "Gunmen opened fire on minibus. Two Turkish and four Somalis died. Five Turks and a Kenyan were also injured," Ali Ahmed, a police officer at Hodan district police station, told Reuters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, and al Shabaab, the Somali militant group aligned to al Qaeda, was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - The founder of an oil and gas networking website was arrested on Wednesday on charges that he hacked and stole information from a rival site he had created and sold to DHI Group Inc, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. David Kent, 40, was accused in a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court of stealing data on over 500,000 user resumes from Rigzone.com, which he had sold for $51 million in 2010, to boost the membership of his new site Oilpro.com. The complaint said Kent tried to sell Oilpro, created in 2013, to DHI by misrepresenting that the new website increased its membership to 500,000 through standard marketing methods. The FBI arrested Kent in Houston on Wednesday morning on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud, agency spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser said. The complaint did not identify Rigzone by name, but in a statement, DHI Group Chief Executive Michael Durney confirmed that his company was "in complete cooperation with law enforcement officials on this investigation." A lawyer for Kent did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Rigzone was launched by Kent in 2000 and allows members to create profiles and upload resumes. When the website was sold to New York-based DHI in 2010, its member database was worth $6 million, the complaint said. From the start, Kent aimed to build a website that DHI would be interested in acquiring, the complaint said. By January 2016, the database of his new Houston-based company had grown to 500,000 members, the complaint said. Rigzone's database was hacked twice in 2014 and 2015, the complaint said, resulting in members being solicited to join Oilpro, the complaint said. The case is U.S. v. Kent, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-mj-1906. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Richard Chang) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday condemned a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution that calls for setting up a database of businesses operating in the occupied West Bank, a move that Israel has called a "blacklist." The Geneva-based council, established 10 years ago and long accused by the United States and Israel of bias against the Jewish state, adopted the motion last week with 32 votes in favor, none against and 15, mostly European nations, abstaining. The move came less than six months after the European Union published new guidelines for labeling products made in Israeli settlements, a move Israeli officials view as discriminatory and fear could lead to an effective boycott. The resolution, which calls for the database of enterprises to be updated annually, was passed under the Human Rights Council's agenda item seven, which covers the "human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories." U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby criticized the motion at his daily briefing. "We continue to unequivocally oppose the very existence of that agenda item and therefore any resolutions ... that come from it," he said, accusing the body of "bias against Israel." While repeating the U.S. view that Israeli settlement building on occupied land erodes the chances of peace with the Palestinians, Kirby said the creation of a database would be an unprecedented step by the council and exceeded its authority. The United States is not currently a voting member of the council, which is made up of 47 member states which are elected to three-year terms by the U.N. General Assembly and which may not serve more than two consecutive terms. Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed East Jerusalem, declaring it part of its eternal, indivisible capital, in a move that was never recognized internationally. (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Wednesday that it would deploy rotations of U.S.-based armored brigade combat teams to Europe, part of a wider effort to counter what the United States sees as Russian aggression on the continent. The teams will be on nine-month rotations starting in February 2017, and will conduct military exercises across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, according to a statement from U.S. European Command. Their presence in Europe will be continuous and bring the total U.S. Army presence on the continent to three fully manned brigades, the military said. Each unit rotating in will bring equipment that is more modern and up-to-date and will ultimately replace the current training equipment in Europe. A typical U.S. Army armored brigade has about 4,500 soldiers. The decision means U.S. allies will "see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries," said General Philip Breedlove, commander of U.S. European Command. The United States has budgeted to sharply boost military training and exercises aimed at reassuring European countries concerned about Russia, which seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has worried NATO allies with its strategic bomber flights. Current equipment used in Europe will be upgraded and stored in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, and will allow for "additional combat power, if and when needed," the military said. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Alan Crosby) By David Shepardson (Reuters) - BMW AG will get five more months to acquire Takata <7312.T> air bag replacement parts for a massive recall because tests showed some of the substitute inflators may also be defective, the U.S. auto safety agency said on Thursday. The deadline for the German automaker was extended to Aug. 31 because a replacement driver-side air bag inflator made by a supplier other than Takata failed during testing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said. "NHTSA's priority continues to be ensuring that unsafe air bag inflators are replaced with safe ones," the agency said in a statement. A BMW spokeswoman declined to comment. Takata inflators can explode with excessive force and spray metal shrapnel into vehicle passenger compartments, and have been linked to 10 deaths worldwide and more than 100 U.S. injuries. To date, 14 automakers have recalled about 24 million vehicles involving about 28 million Takata air bag inflators. NHTSA said all automakers besides BMW have reported that they are on track to meet the original March 31 deadline under a agency order to supply enough replacement inflators for "priority one" vehicles, with the highest risk of ruptures. The agency set the deadline in early November. The consent order also set deadlines of Sept. 30 for automakers to have enough replacement parts for "priority two" vehicles, and Dec. 31 for "priority three" vehicles. NHTSA will delay those deadlines for BMW until 2017. The delays affect 420,000 recalled vehicles, including several types of BMW 3-series, 5-series and the X5, NHTSA said. About 100,000 of these are priority one cars. BMW told NHTSA in January that it had obtained replacement inflators from a supplier which it did not identify, and then reported subsequent testing failures to the agency. The automaker requested a five-month extension in February. The extension applies only to one type of inflator and not to other Takata inflators in vehicles manufactured by BMW. Story continues BMW said it was working on three alternative designs as a backup plan if the current redesigned part fails. BMW told NHTSA in a Feb. 23 letter released by the agency on Thursday that it believed the root cause of the test failures "relates to unanticipated interaction with the horn plate in the steering wheels." Until then, BMW will continue its "like-for-like remedy program until an alternate inflator is available," NHTSA said. In late December, NHTSA named John Buretta, a former official in the Justice Department's criminal division, to serve as independent monitor overseeing the Takata recalls. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang) By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday he hopes China will accept an offer for a technical briefing on a new missile defense system the United States wants to deploy in South Korea, a prospect Beijing sees as a threat to its national security. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system was necessary for the United States to protect itself and regional allies from North Korean missile attacks. "We realize China may not believe us and also proposed to go through the technology and specifications with them ... and prepared to explain to what the technology does and what it doesn't do and hopefully they will take us up on that proposal," Blinken told Washington's Brookings Institution. Blinken spoke ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington for a nuclear security summit that will have concerns about North Korea high on the agenda. The United States and South Korea agreed to begin talks on possible THAAD deployment last month after North Korea tested its fourth nuclear bomb on Jan. 6 and launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7. China backed tough new sanctions on North Korea following the tests but has voiced opposition to THAAD as its radar has a range that would extend far beyond the Korean peninsula and into China. Asked whether China would accept a U.S. briefing on THAAD, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei would not directly reply, repeating China did not view the matter "as simply a technical one". "The THAAD system exceeds the normal defensive needs of the Korean peninsula, threatens China's reasonable national security interests and damages regional strategic stability," Hong told a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. South Korea's military said on Tuesday that North Korea test fired a short-range missile on its east coast in the latest of a string of launches that Pyongyang has characterized as a response to the sanctions. U.S. President Barack Obama will meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday to discuss North Korea's nuclear program, ahead of a bilateral meeting between Obama and Xi later that day. Blinken said THAAD deployment was a necessary step until Pyongyang's behavior changed. "None of these steps are directed against China but we have also been very clear that as long as this persists ... we will have to take steps," he said. Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said China had stepped up pressure on North Korea, but this had to be shown to change Pyongyang's calculus. "We've had good support from China, but we clearly believe that there's more that will continue to have to be done, including on enforcing the sanctions we have put into place," Rhodes told reporters. (This version of the story corrects spelling of Antony Blinken's first name) (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, and Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing Alistair Bell, Bernard Orr and Nick Macfie) By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on countries on Wednesday to re-settle nearly half a million Syrian refugees in the next three years, but only Italy, Sweden and the United States immediately announced plans to play a part. The United Nations refugee agency aims to re-settle some 480,000, about 10 percent of those now in neighbouring countries, by the end of 2018, but concedes it is battling to overcome widespread fear and political wrangling. Prior to Wednesday's ministerial-level talks, countries had pledged 179,000 places since 2013, refugee agency figures show. "We have heard pledges that increase resettlement and humanitarian admission to over 185,000," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said at the end of the meeting - signalling an increase of just 6,000 places. Commenting on the outcome, aid groups Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council said governments had shown "a shocking lack of political and moral leadership." "Almost all states attending have failed to show the level of generosity required," they said in a joint statement. The European Union proposed that 54,000 places never attributed under the EU's own relocation scheme be used to admit Syrian refugees from Turkey, on a voluntary basis, Grandi said. "Altogether it could provide solutions for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees," he said. The EU and Turkey last week struck an agreement intended to cut off the flow from Syria, but arrivals along the main migrant route into Greece rose sharply on Wednesday. Migrant flows from sub-Saharan Africa across the Mediterranean are picking up too, and Italy's coast guard and navy vessels rescued 1,361 from boats and rubber dinghies on Wednesday. Ban urged countries to pledge new legal pathways for admitting the refugees, such as resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labour and study opportunities. "Success at this high-level meeting today will drive momentum in the months ahead," Ban told reporters, pointing to a series of upcoming conferences. 'PEOPLE WITH DEATH AT THEIR BACK' Italy and Sweden made concrete pledges to resettle an additional 1,500 and 3,000 refugees a year respectively, but not all of them would be Syrians. "Last year over 163,000 people, 51,000 of those from Syria, applied for asylum in our country the highest number per capita in all of Europe," said Sweden's Justice and Migration minister Morgan Johansson. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom, referring to commitments already announced by the Obama administration, said her country could resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of September. European Union Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said 4,555 refugees from Syria's neighbours had been resettled in 11 EU states in its scheme for 22,504 people established last July. The Russian Federation said it was doubling places for Syrians eligible for free university studies to 300. "My country is working on strengthening the ceasefire and assisting the (Syrian) government in combating terrorist groups," Gennady Gatilov, a Russian deputy foreign minister, said. The five-year conflict has killed at least 250,000 people and driven nearly 5 million refugees abroad, mostly to neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. "These are people with death at their back and a wall in their face," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said. Syria's ambassador Hussam Aala urged countries to "repatriate refugees and not resettle them in third countries" so as to ensure against "brain drain". He also urged support for Syrian peace talks while lifting "unilateral economic coercive measures". (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Richard Balmforth and John Stonestreet) JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A U.N. expert on human rights on Wednesday condemned the killing by an Israeli soldier of a wounded Palestinian assailant last week as he lay on the ground, saying it appeared to be an extrajudicial execution. Video taken by Israel's B'Tselem human rights group last Thursday shows an infantryman firing into the head of a Palestinian as he lay on the ground in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Minutes earlier, the Palestinian had stabbed and wounded another soldier. The soldier has been arrested, though not yet charged, by Israeli authorities. The military initially said it was a murder investigation, but on Tuesday prosecutors told a court they were looking into possible manslaughter charges. The incident brought to a boil a debate in Israel over whether excessive force has been used against Palestinian assailants. "The images shown carry all the signs of a clear case of an extrajudicial execution," said Christof Heyns, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, of the Hebron shooting. "Whatever legal regime one applies to the case, shooting someone who is no longer a threat is murder." On Thursday, an autopsy will be carried out on the Palestinian's body, with a Palestinian doctor present, and the findings could be key in determining the severity of charges to be brought against the soldier. There is still a gag order regarding the soldier's identity. Israel's military chief on Wednesday sent out a letter to troops in which he said the army will support any soldier that makes a mistake in the heat of the battle, but at the same time it will hold accountable soldiers or commanders who do not adhere to the military's moral code. The past six months has seen the worst period of sustained violence in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Israeli interior since a Palestinian uprising ended a decade ago. A campaign of Palestinian knife, car-ramming or gun assaults have killed 28 Israelis and two U.S. citizens. At least 190 Palestinians, 129 of whom Israel says were assailants, have been killed by security forces and many others were shot during clashes and protests. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Richard Balmforth) YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Egypt says it has asked Cypriot authorities to hand over an Egyptian man accused of hijacking a passenger plane and diverting it to Cyprus, though Cyprus denies any such request, Armenpress reports citing The Guardian. A statement from the office of Egyptian general prosecutor Nabil Sadek said he has asked Cyprus to take necessary measures to extradite [Seif Eldin] Mustafa in order to start an investigation. But, Nikos Christodoulides, a Cypriot government spokesman, told the Guardian: Its not true, we dont have such a request. And to be honest with you, it would not be normal to have such a request when a police investigation is ongoing. Mustafa, 59, surrendered on March 29 after commandeering a domestic Alexandria-Cairo flight with 72 passengers and crew on board. All hostages were released unharmed. On March 30 morning, a district court in the seaside town of Larnaca, site of Cypruss main international airport, remanded Mustafa in custody on suspicion of hijacking the plane with a fake suicide belt. The court ordered that Mustafa be detained for 8days while police conduct an in-depth inquiry into Tuesdays takeover of EgyptAir flight MS181. The Airbus A320 was diverted to Cyprus while flying from Alexandria to Cairo after Mustafa threatened to blow the plane up. In initial testimony on March 30, the Egyptian was quoted by police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou as saying he had been motivated for personal reasons following the breakdown in his relationship with his Cypriot former wife. Whats someone supposed to do when he hasnt seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government wont let him, the police prosecutor cited him as saying. Nearly 24 hours after the standoff, almost all the hostages had left Cyprus, the majority on an EgyptAir flight bound for Cairo. The problem with antibiotic use in agriculture is pretty clear: The overuse of drugs in raising livestock is contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant infectionsand thats led high-ranking officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to declare the end of antibiotics. But with nearly all of the major domestic poultry suppliers working toward an antibiotic-free future, and everyone from public health organizations to the president talking about the risks of overusing drugs in livestock production, we finally seem to be having grown-up conversations about antibiotic resistance in the U.S. Drug-resistant bacterial diseases have little concern for international borders, however, and as the growing global middle-class demands more and more meat, rising production is leading to rising antibiotic use around the world. According to one study published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, antibiotic use is expected to double in Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, and India thanks to an increased appetite for meat. In India, where about a third of the population is vegetarian and the majority of those who do eat meat do not consume beef, chicken is often the animal protein of choice. Consumption has increased 14-fold since 1985, according to Bloomberg, which revealed in a story published Tuesday that the rising demand has led to very concerning uses of antibiotics by Indian poultry companies. The storyheadlined Antibiotic Apocalypse Fear Stoked by Indias Drugged Chickens"reports that five antibiotics regularly used in human medicine, including two the World Health Organization deemed critically important, are routinely given to broiler chickens at the behest of poultry companies. The story's claims that antibiotics used in human medicine are given to chickens are refuted by the SR Group, which contracts with the farmers who were interviewed for the story. Nobody uses antibiotics unnecessarily because we are professionals, Ravinder Reddy, the technical director of SR Group, told Bloomberg. We are not illiterate farmers. We know what we are doing. Story continues But with chicks receiving a variety of antibiotics starting shortly after they hatch, this kind of heavily medicated poultry production is likely contributing to the rising problem of drug resistance observed in India and elsewhere around the world. According to a 2015 study that tracked resistance around the globe, three separate classes of antibiotics are now only 20 percent effective when used to treat a number of E. coli strains. As World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan told Bloomberg, The world is on the brink of losing its miracle cures. Sign the Petition: Superbugs in My Steak? Stop Antibiotic Abuse in Factory Farms! Related stories on TakePart: A Major American Meat Company Is Going Big With Antibiotic-Free Pork Antibiotic of Last Resort Faces New Superbug Threat The World's Largest Fast-Food Chain Is Going Antibiotic-Freeand Not Just for Chicken Original article from TakePart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Wednesday it would be a "non-starter" to include Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in any new ruling coalition government to end the civil war in Syria. White House spokesman Josh Earnest ruled out Assad's participation in a new government after the Syrian leader said it would not be difficult to agree on a new Syrian governing coalition that included opposition, independents and loyalists. "I don't know whether he envisioned himself being a part of that national unity government. Obviously that would be a non-starter for us," Earnest said. (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Paul Simao) London (AFP) - A British man who caused online debate Wednesday after having his picture taken with the hijacker of an Egyptian plane said that he did it to take a "closer look" at his supposed suicide belt. Ben Innes, 26, posed for a photo grinning next to the hijacker during the five-hour stand-off on Tuesday aboard the EgyptAir A320 jet and sent the picture to his friends. Innes, from Leeds in northern England, told the Sun newspaper: "I'm not sure why I did it -- I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. "I figured if his bomb was real I'd have nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get closer and look at it," added the health and safety auditor based in Aberdeen, Scotland. "So I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever," he said. His mother later told the Daily Telegraph that the picture was "not a selfie". "You can clearly see that it is not Ben who is taking the picture," she said. The plane was forced to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, amid fears of a terrorist incident. Cypriot authorities later named the hijacker as 58-year-old Egyptian Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa and accused him of diverting the Alexandria-to-Cairo flight. He made several demands, including seeing his Cypriot ex-wife, with whom he has children. His suicide belt turned out to be fake. The snap sparked an online debate between those who admired Innes' humour and others who thought that the incident was not a laughing matter. "I dont know if Ben Innes has Twitter but Sir, I salute your indefatigableness," tweeted user Henry Brubaker. However, Jonathan T Gilliam wrote: "Ben Innes would be a hero if he had taken pic & sent to cops during hijacking. But he's an idiot bragging to friends." A university friend told the Daily Telegraph that the incident was "not a surprise at all." "Ben is a wild man and this is totally in character for him. He was a big rugby guy and very into his banter and didn't have much respect for authority," the friend said. Innes was among the last of the 55 passengers to be released by Mostafa, who was remanded into custody Wednesday. The Hague (AFP) - The ex-spokeswoman for the former chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes court Wednesday described her five-day detention for contempt of court, alleging it was part of a "personal vendetta" against her. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) however dismissed Florence Hartmann's claims, saying a guilty verdict was the "sole reason for her arrest". Hartmann, 53, was detained last Thursday when she unexpectedly turned up at the court based in The Hague to attend the verdict against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. Facing an outstanding warrant for her arrest the former Le Monde correspondent was held by UN guards in front of the ICTY where she once worked as the spokeswoman for former prosecutor Carla Del Ponte between 2000-2006. "I came to attend what, for me, was a historic day," Hartmann -- who covered 1990s Balkans wars for Le Monde -- told AFP in an interview a day after her release. She was unceremoniously carted off into the ICTY's building before being handcuffed and driven to the court's nearby detention centre. "I was treated more strictly than those people already on trial, or who have been convicted for crimes against humanity or genocide," Hartmann said. Once inside the high-security detention centre, she said she was held under very strict conditions. "I was in complete isolation, I was forbidden from taking walks. I was under around-the-clock surveillance, first every 15 minutes and then every half-hour and I had to leave the lights on," said Hartmann. She was "shocked to find herself on a bed where some of the accused had probably slept." Hartmann said she was now looking at taking legal action through "international commissions and national courts". Set up in 1993 to try the worst crimes emanating from the brutal Balkans wars, the ICTY said Hartmann was separated from the rest of the suspects purely because she was the only woman in the detention centre. Story continues Asked about Hartmann's claims, ICTY spokesman Nenad Golcevski told AFP she was arrested "purely based on an arrest warrant." "She was found guilty of contempt and that was the sole reason for her arrest," he said. The arrest warrant was issued after Hartmann failed to pay a 7,000 euro fine imposed by the court for revealing details of two confidential appeals chamber decisions in her 2007 book. Two years later in 2011, after Hartmann had not paid the fine, ICTY judges sentenced her to seven days in jail and asked French authorities to arrest her. The French foreign ministry refused. The data, which emerged during the trial of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, allegedly implicated the Serbian state in the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, Bosnia. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United Nations on Wednesday decided against cutting back its peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo as fears grow of political turmoil in the vast African country ahead of elections. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution extending for one year the 20,000-strong MONUSCO mission, rejecting appeals from Kinshasa for a drawdown of the force. The DR Congo's foreign minister told the council last week that the force should be halved and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had proposed cutting 1,700 troops from the mission. French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the council had refused to downsize the mission because "the country still faces very important challenges and it is the responsibility of the international community to support it at this time." The DRC is supposed to hold elections in November, but the chances that they will actually take place are growing dimmer, with President Joseph Kabila suspected of planning to extend his rule after his mandate runs out at the end of the year. Congolese Ambassador Ignace Gata Mavita charged that the council showed "a lack of flexibility" over its refusal to downsize MONUSCO and warned the decision could undermine the "climate of work on the ground". The resolution stated that the council would be ready to reconsider the troop level for MONUSCO "once significant progress has been achieved" in rooting out rebel groups in the east and protecting civilians. The French ambassador said the mission at its current force level would help protect civilians and "support the holding of credible, peaceful and democratic elections". After several disagreements with Kinshasa over the campaign against rebels in the east, the United Nations withdrew support for military operations in February last year, but decided to restore ties earlier this month. The return of UN military backing to the Congolese army was agreed during Ban's visit to Kinshasa earlier this month. UN officials are pushing for the disarming of dozens of rebel and splinter groups after two decades of conflict in the eastern DR Congo, much of it fueled by the lucrative trade in minerals. By Tulay Karadeniz and Dasha Afanasieva ANKARA (Reuters) - Five days before Turkey is due to begin taking back illegal migrants from Greece under a deal with the European Union, neither side is fully ready, with officials scrambling to be able to make at least a symbolic start as new arrivals rise. Turkey agreed with the EU this month to take back all migrants and refugees who cross illegally to Greece in exchange for financial aid, faster visa-free travel for Turks and slightly accelerated EU membership talks. The returns are supposed to begin on April 4 under the plan, which aims to close the main route by which a million migrants and refugees poured across the Aegean Sea to Greece in the last year before heading north mainly to Germany and Sweden. But uncertainty remains over how many will be sent back, how they will be processed, and where they will be housed. The plan risks being overwhelmed by the continued flow of migrants to Greece, where arrivals rose sharply on Wednesday. A series of steps needs to be taken by Monday for the deal to get underway, according to people familiar with an internal European Commission report. These include legislative changes in Greece and Turkey, transport and other logistical arrangements, and clarity on how Turkey will treat non-Syrian refugees. The report, which followed meetings in Ankara on Wednesday between EU special envoy on migration Maarten Verwey and Turkish officials, called on EU member states to make public reports which portray Turkey as a "safe third country" for refugees. That appeared to be an attempt to ease concern among rights groups and some European politicians about the legality and feasibility of the deal. They have questioned whether Turkey has sufficient safeguards in place to defend refugees' rights and whether it can be considered a safe country for them. The first returnees are expected to be taken by boat from the Greek islands to Dikili, north of the city of Izmir on Turkey's Aegean coast, Turkish officials said. But where they will be housed in the longer term remains unclear. "Our worries are that not just Dikili but the whole region's infrastructure is not ready if they stay here - whether it's health or education facilities. We have expressed these worries," Dikili's mayor, Mustafa Tosun, told Reuters. District governor Mustafa Nazmi Sezgin was quoted by the Haberturk newspaper as saying the plan was not to set up a refugee camp but just a registration center, from where migrants would be sent on to Izmir or other areas within 24 hours. Kerem Kinik, vice president of the Turkish Red Crescent, said his organization was preparing a camp with 5,000 places in the province of Manisa east of Izmir after being asked for help by the government, although it would not be ready immediately. "We will host the first returnees most probably in hotels, seaside holiday camps," he told Reuters. Some might then be housed in refugee camps, but others were likely to return to the Turkish provinces where they had previously settled, he said. DEAL RUSHED THROUGH Turkey has spent almost $10 billion since the start of the Syrian conflict, much of it on refugees camps close to the Syrian border whose standards have won international praise. A new law gives migrants permission to work in Turkey, although there are limitations on where and in which sectors. Syrians would be free to settle outside camps if they wanted, according to an official from Turkey's disaster management agency AFAD, which has taken a lead role in managing the 2.9 million Syrian refugees already in Turkey. "We can't lock them down in accommodation centers. If they want, they can go to camps, or if they have relatives they might stay with them. But if they say 'I can take care of myself' ... we can't pressure them," the official said. Turkey's refugee camps house fewer than 300,000 of its migrant population, who mostly fend for themselves. Critics of the EU-Turkey deal fear some of the returnees from Greece will also end up forced to take illegal jobs or beg on the streets. Under the pact, Ankara will take back all migrants and refugees who cross to Greece illegally by sea. In return, the EU will resettle thousands of legal Syrian refugees directly from Turkey - one for each Syrian returned from the Greek islands. The first European resettlement of 40 Syrians to Germany is planned for next week, a diplomatic source said, declining to be named because the plan has not yet been finalised. Turkey intends to send non-Syrians who do not meet asylum criteria back to their countries of origin, under readmission agreements which Ankara already has with some states and is negotiating with 14 others - including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Eritrea and Somalia - according to foreign ministry officials. That has raised concern among rights groups, who worry the deal has been rushed through by European and Turkish leaders without sufficient thought about its implementation. "Every individual should have access to individualized procedures with the chance to explain if they don't want to return to Turkey... Being able to achieve all this in such a short period of time seems unrealistic," said Irem Arf, regional migration researcher for Europe for Amnesty International. "We don't consider Turkey a safe country for refugees and asylum seekers. We have documented cases of forced returns to Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan," she told Reuters. Amnesty accused Turkey last week of forcibly returning about 30 Afghan asylum-seekers to Afghanistan despite their fearing Taliban attacks. The Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management acknowledged the return of 27 Afghans, but insisted all were returned voluntarily and that none had requested asylum. (Additional reporting by Karolina Tagaris in Athens; Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by David Stamp) Washington (AFP) - After her beloved son, a French soldier, was murdered by an Islamist gunman, Latifa Ibn Ziaten formed a group to prevent radicalization and promote dialogue. "No more Merahs," she declared, after the troubled petty criminal turned jihadist Mohamed Merah cut down her boy. But since that day in 2012, extremist attacks in Europe have only grown in scale, and Ibn Ziaten admits she has much more work to do, refusing to "surrender to fear." On Tuesday, the US government named her one of 14 "International Women of Courage" and invited her to explain her anti-radicalization message in American cities. "If we're afraid, we'll make no progress, and that's what the terrorists want. If we cede to fear, it is they who gain ground," she told AFP after the ceremony. - The ghettos - France was hit by two bloody jihadist attacks last year, and neighboring Belgium last week, but Ibn Ziaten has not abandoned her message of dialogue and compassion. "We need to open up the housing projects, the ghettos. We need to promote diversity in schools, equality of opportunity," she explained. "We need to listen to those young people who, when they speak at all, say 'the republic has forgotten us'," she said. "That's where the malaise lies." On March 11, Ibn Ziaten's son Imad had an appointment to view a motor scooter that Merah had advertised. The young extremist pulled out a gun, but Imad, a sergeant in France's 1st Parachute Regiment, refused to lie on the ground. He was shot dead at point blank range. Imad was Merah's first victim, but not the last. Before he was killed by police 11 days later, the gunman would kill two more off-duty soldiers, then a rabbi and three young children in an attack on a Jewish school. Latifa Ibn Ziaten did not leave the matter there. She formed an association in memory of her son and began to tour prisons and schools to preach inter-faith respect. Story continues "I dissuaded three young men from leaving for Syria," she said. "I work with young women who have converted. I work with a lot of parents who are having difficulty coping." In one of her biggest operations, Ibn Ziaten took more than a dozen young people from a Paris suburb to Israel and the Palestinian territories as "peace ambassadors." In another, she opened a center in Paris' underprivileged immigrant suburbs from where many radicals emerged to listen to the concerns of young people and their families. - 'I forgave' - The goal is to identify early signs of violent extremism. "Today, some parents say: 'We didn't pay attention. We didn't notice'," she warned. "A child left alone, living in his own head, this is what happens. That's why I forgave Mohamed Merah," she said. "When I looked at his journey and I saw that he grew up in a vacuum, without love, affection, that he knew pain, prison, drugs -- that's what made him, made him a monster. "I forgave him for what he was but not for what he had done." Ibn Ziaten found the inspiration for her quest at the scene of Merah's last stand, cut down in a hail of police bullets after the siege of his apartment. Heading into his neighborhood she asked herself: "Who was he? Why so much hate?" She fell upon a group of young people who were speaking about the slain jihadist as a martyr, as a hero. "It was as if they had killed my son a second time," she said. "They were the cause of my suffering. But I felt I had to reach out my hand, to help them." Already a recipient of France's highest award, the Legion of Honor, the wronged mother said the US award would only encourage her in her mission. But, as she begins a tour of US cities with the 13 other activists, lawyers and reformers to win the award she will encounter some angry American attitudes. The US presidential campaign has only heightened the angry debate about Islam's role in western society. "You can't mix religion and citizenship," she insisted. "When you're a citizen, religion should remain personal." YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia informs that on March 30 the USD exchange rate was 481.26 AMD which is a decrease of 0.41 drams compared to the previous day. Armenpress reports that the euro appreciated by 5.46 drams forming 544.69 drams. Russian ruble increased by 0.13 drams, forming 7.13 drams. The prices for precious metals are as follows: the price for gold per gram is 18 thousand 969.73 AMD, silver- 233.02 AMD, and platinum 14 thousand 668.28 AMD. Los Angeles (AFP) - United States and Hong Kong authorities have smashed a massive operation smuggling Chinese-made clothing, believed to be the largest such find ever uncovered on the US West Coast. The elaborate scheme involved more than $600 million worth of Chinese-made apparel being illegally imported into the United States under the guise that the merchandise was destined to companies in Mexico, when in fact it was delivered to buyers throughout the United States. The multi-national operation was aimed at avoiding US import duties and quotas, officials said. An investigation launched by the US and Hong Kong governments in 2000 revealed that more than 7,000 shipping containers of clothing had been imported into the United States as a result of the smuggling ring, whose operatives were based in China, Hong Kong and the US. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Tuesday that investigators believe the scheme led to more than $60 million in lost customs revenue. The US and Hong Kong governments will share out $20.5 million in forfeited assets seized as part of the probe. "This payout has been a long time coming, but its a testament to the perseverance of the personnel on two continents who were involved in dismantling this scheme," said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office of Home Security Investigations. "Commercial smuggling is a multibillion-dollar global industry that robs governments of vital revenues and undermines our economy." Five people, including the owner of a Los Angeles area trucking company, have been charged in the case. Armando Salcedo, 53, owner of Friends Global Logistics trucking company, pleaded guilty in 2008 to smuggling charges and making false customs declarations and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The remaining four defendants fled and remain at large, authorities said. Washington (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday welcomed the arrival in Tripoli of the head of Libya's UN-backed unity government despite demands by a rival faction that he leave. Secretary of State John Kerry supported the arrival of Fayez al-Sarraj -- a businessman named prime minister-designate under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal in December -- who traveled from Tunisia by sea with a naval escort along with several members of his cabinet. "The Government of National Accord can now begin the crucial work of addressing the full range of Libyas political, security, economic, and humanitarian challenges," Kerry said in a statement. Sarraj is supported by the UN, the United States and the European Union. As the State Department gave its support, however, the capital's unrecognized authorities were demanding that Sarraj leave the capital or "hand himself in." "Those who entered illegally and secretly must surrender or turn back," Khalifa Ghweil, the prime minister of Tripoli's Islamist-backed government, said in a televised address. State Department spokesman John Kirby criticized Ghweil's threat, calling it the work of "obstructionists" trying to stop the UN-backed government's "important work." "There's a real need for a good, strong governance there," he said during a news conference. "And we're going to continue to support their efforts to try to achieve just that." Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, raising fears that the Islamic State group is establishing a new stronghold just across the Mediterranean from Europe. CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition-controlled Congress late on Tuesday approved an amnesty law to free jailed opposition activists and end legal proceedings against others, a measure President Nicolas Maduro promised to veto. The law would benefit high-profile government adversaries including Leopoldo Lopez, who was arrested in 2014 on accusations that he helped spur a wave of demonstrations that ultimately left more than 40 people dead. "Rest assured that the law will not get past me," Maduro said in a televised speech several hours before the law was given final parliamentary approval. "Laws to protect terrorists and criminals will not get past me, no matter what they do." Maduro denies opposition accusations that his administration holds political prisoners, insisting they are simply "imprisoned politicians." His critics accuse him of arbitrarily arresting dozens of student demonstrators during the 2014 protests, jailing critics on fabricated coup plots and rigging legal proceedings against them. "No murderer will receive amnesty," said opposition legislator Delsa Solorzano, who helped write the legislation. "These are our political prisoners, citizens who were charged with whatever crime (the government) could come up with." Maduro may seek to have the law shot down by the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly sided with the executive branch in disputes with the opposition legislature. An amnesty can be declared unconstitutional if the beneficiaries have committed crimes against humanity or violated of human rights, legal experts say. The opposition insists that none of the potential beneficiaries were investigated or convicted such crimes. Late President Chavez Hugo, who was himself a beneficiary of amnesty after leading a failed 1992 coup, in 2007 decreed amnesty in relation to the events of 2002 that included a brief coup against him. (Reporting by Eyanir Chinea, writing by Brian Ellsworth, Editing by W Simon) Caracas (AFP) - Venezuela's opposition-led legislature approved an amnesty bill for political prisoners, setting up an epic political clash with embattled President Nicolas Maduro, who opposes the move. National Assembly speaker Henry Ramos Allup said the measure passed after a second round of debate, sparking opposition lawmaker chants of "Freedom!" even as the president's socialist party's minority lawmakers voiced disgust. "This law is aimed at laying the foundations for national reconciliation," said lawmaker Delsa Solorzano, who sponsored the legislation. The measure demands the release of some 76 political prisoners, and hundreds of people "persecuted and exiled" due to their opposition to the leftist government in power for the past 17 years, she said. Maduro quickly took a combative stance, broadcasting a speech on national television while the debate was under way. "You can be certain that that law will not be making it through here, sir. Laws that are out to benefit terrorists and criminals, they will not make it to enactment. No matter what you do," the president said. Legal experts say the opposition faces an uphill battle for the legislation to take effect. The president can send it to the Supreme Court, which critics claim he has stacked with supporters. The amnesty law comes two years after the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail in September for alleged incitement to violence against the government in 2014 demonstrations that claimed 43 lives. Venezuela's opposition is counting on the power of the street to force the deeply unpopular Maduro to listen to calls for change, after it won a landslide victory in legislative elections last December only to see the courts hamstring its new authority. Seventeen years into the socialist "revolution" launched by the president's late mentor Hugo Chavez, a punishing economic crisis has stoked outrage in the once-booming oil giant, where chronic shortages of basic goods, long lines and soaring prices have become the norm. Story continues Protests have come against the backdrop of a deep economic morass exacerbated by the crash in the price of oil, which long funded Chavez and Maduro's lavish social spending. Despite holding the world's largest crude reserves, Venezuela's economy contracted 5.7 percent last year, its second year of recession. Political analysts say all the constitutional options to force Maduro from power face likely rejection by the Supreme Court or the National Electoral Council, which the opposition has also accused the president of packing with allies. But the president can't ignore the voice of the people either, analysts say. HANOI (Reuters) - Three Vietnamese women who held a rally and waved national flags of the former South Vietnam were jailed on Wednesday for "anti-state propaganda" after a trial that lasted half a day, domestic media reported. The defendants, all in their late fifties, were found guilty of breaching an article of the criminal code that rights groups and Western governments say is routinely used by the communist country to stifle free speech, against its international commitments. State-run online news media said the women had previously protested about land disputes. They were arrested in July 2014 while demonstrating outside the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, the capital of the now-defunct Republic of Vietnam. North Vietnam toppled the U.S.-backed democratic South in 1975 and formed one nation under communism, an event marked domestically as Vietnam's reunification. The prison terms handed down on Wednesday ranged from three years to four and a quarter years, plus two or three years of house arrest upon their release, media said. The verdict followed a similar case last year, when a man was jailed for 15 months for "disturbing public order" when he wore a uniform of the defeated army of South Vietnam. Rights groups and the United Nations expressed outrage last week over Vietnam's use of criminal laws to jail two political bloggers for "abusing democratic freedom". The United States embassy described it as "disturbing". (Reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Nick Macfie) (Reuters) - Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have allowed ministers and others refuse to marry gay couples because of their religious beliefs. McAuliffe, a Democrat, said the measure approved by the Republican-controlled legislature was unconstitutional and would drive business away from the state. "Although couched as a 'religious freedom' bill, this legislation is nothing more than an attempt to stigmatize," he said in a statement. The Republicans do not have enough votes in the state's General Assembly to override the veto. The bill would have granted ministers and others empowered to wed people the right to deny marriage services to same-sex couples if performing them would violate their religious beliefs. McAuliffe's move comes just days after Georgia's Republican governor said he would veto a similar bill after the measure drew national criticism.. Similar measures in states such as Indiana and Arkansas sparked criticism last year, forcing many lawmakers to retreat. North Carolina is also seeing protests over anew law that bars transgender people from choosing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. (Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Fiona Ortiz) Top Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, a unit of Germany's Volkswagen, and the Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corporation plan to invest two billion euros ($2.3 billion) in China over five years, an agreement signed Wednesday said. The deal was signed during a landmark visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Czech capital Prague. For Skoda Auto, which produced a record 1,055,500 cars in 2015, the investment "will involve expanding the model range and investing in pioneering automotive technologies," the company said in a statement. "Our aim is to double Skoda deliveries in China by 2020," said Bernhard Maier, the chief executive of Skoda Auto. The carmaker delivered 281,700 vehicles to the Chinese market in 2015. Alongside TPCA, a joint venture between PSA Peugeot Citroen and Toyota, and South Korea's Hyundai, Skoda is one of the major engines of the Czech economy. The EU member of 10.5 million people saw its GDP expand by 4.3 percent in 2015, thanks mainly to car production and exports to the eurozone. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. From March 31 to April 23, at the U.S. Armys Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), Saber Junction 16 multinational certification exercises will be held which will also be attended by the 32-member medical subdivision of the Armenian armed forces. Armenpress was informed from the Information and Public Relations Department of the Armenian Defense Ministry that a total of 5,000 military personnel from 18 countries are expected to participate in the exercises. During the exercises the Armenian side will ensure a level 2 medical care of NATO standards. American EMEDS systems portable field hospital of the Armenian armed forces will be expanded and exploited. Hospital and its staff have already arrived in Germany and are actively involved in preparations of military exercises. In addition to the 173rd, Saber Junction 16 will feature units from Albania, Armenia, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, as well as a variety of enabling units from the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force in Europe. Washington (AFP) - President Barack Obama hosts an international summit in Washington Thursday and Friday aimed at ensuring that nuclear material in the world's roughly 1,000 atomic facilities is secured. Here is a breakdown of what's at stake: - Large stockpiles - Obama convened the first Nuclear Security Summit in 2010, followed by similar gatherings in Seoul in 2012 and The Hague in 2014. The meetings focus on preventing criminals from accessing stockpiles of radioactive materials, reducing highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium, enhancing the detection of smuggling, and cybersecurity. Considerable progress has been made, with several countries reducing or eliminating their stockpiles of nuclear material. For example, Japan this month is returning to the United States enough plutonium to make 50 nuclear bombs. But despite these advances, a January report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a leading US nonproliferation watchdog, found basic weaknesses persist in securing the world's fissile materials. And according to a 2015 study by the International Panel on Fissile Materials, enough plutonium and highly enriched uranium stockpiles remain to make the equivalent of 200,000 weapons of the magnitude that leveled Hiroshima in 1945. - Narrow scope? - The fissile materials in question do not include state-owned nuclear weapons, leading critics to say the summits are not broad enough in scope. "This is an important mission, but it's beneath the pay grade of the 50 or 60 heads of state that are going to convene in Washington," said Bruce Blair, co-founder of anti-nuclear group Global Zero. "We should have an agenda ... that would cover all fissile materials, civilian and military." - New dangers - Since the summits began, 14 nations have eliminated their fissile material stockpiles, and other countries have stepped up efforts to secure theirs. But at the same time, other nations are ramping up their nuclear capabilities. Story continues Countries like Pakistan, India and North Korea have built new bombs, and experts warn these fall behind in safety standards aimed at preventing accidental detonation. The Islamic State group has already used chemical weapons, and experts fear the jihadists are trying to secure fissile material to make a "dirty bomb." Such a device is a regular bomb, but would explode radioactive material across an area. Highlighting the risks, Belgian police investigating the November 13 Paris terror attacks found 10 hours of video of the comings and goings of a senior Belgian nuclear official. One agenda item at the summit will see leaders discussing a hypothetical nuclear security crisis. - Next steps, possible outcomes - Sharon Squassoni, director and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' proliferation prevention program, said the latest summit aims to consolidate progress made so far, such as seeing countries that committed to certain actions implement these. The 2014 summit saw 35 countries sign up to various pledges -- but key players including China, India, Russia and Pakistan did not join in. "It would be really important for those countries to sign on," Squassoni said. Other new commitments could include greater information exchange, or the opening up of facilities to inspection by peer nations or the International Atomic Energy Agency. Given this is the last summit under Obama, a big question will be how nations can track progress in the future and whether the United States will continue to convene such meetings under its next president. About a week ago, venerable tech reviewer Walt Mossberg penned a widely circulated article articulating that if the iPhone 7 isn't "spectacular", Apple will no longer be able to maintain "its ever-thinning lead as the best smartphone you can buy." Indeed, the notion that Apple is on the cusp of losing its status as the premier smartphone on the market has been a shallow and arguably baseless argument that has persisted for years. Going as far back as 2008, Apple has long been the target of pundits who like to proclaim that Apple needs to come up with a crazy new technology or innovative design lest it be lapped by an increasingly formidable lineup of Android devices. UP NEXT: Apples cheapest new iPhone ever might still be a bad deal The problem with such arguments is that they tend to grade Android products on a curve. Whereas a new iPhone needs to be damn near perfect right out of the box in order to be viewed as a success, Android handsets are curiously afforded a lot more room for failure. Whereas iPhone shortcomings are magnified and used as fuel for "Apple has lost its innovative mojo" think pieces, Android shortcomings, no matter how major, no matter how fundamental to the overall user experience, are glossed over with regularity. Mossberg's most recent piece is a prime example of this bizarre grading curve in action. One excerpt reads: But the top-of-the-line iPhones were challenged impressively just two weeks ago by rival Samsungs beautiful, carefully engineered new Galaxy S7 phones. A Verge test showed the Samsungs cameras are better. Only the sadly typical software mess on those phones makes them lag behind Apples long-superior iPhone. So basically, Apple needs to come up with something spectacular because Samsung's brilliantly engineered Galaxy S7 devices are apparently quite good, even though its software is reportedly a "mess." Since when is the software that powers a device so unimportant that it's casually glossed over as if it were nothing more than a minor footnote? When it comes to Android devices, however, such oversights are all too common in product reviews. Story continues Remember how Apple was lambasted when they just changed the look of iOS with iOS 7? Imagine the vitriol that would follow in a world where Apple released software that was universally panned. From Mossberg's piece, one could reasonably conclude that Apple needs to get its act together with the iPhone 7 in order to prevent the Galaxy S7 from assuming the position as the top smartphone on the market. After all, save for some seemingly minor software frustrations, the two products are presumably neck and neck. Only problem is that a previous Mossberg review of the S7 had less than flattering things to say about the device's software. As has happened so often in the past, Samsungs best efforts at hardware are let down by software. The company told me it had stopped trying half-baked software ideas, and reduced duplication of Samsung and Android apps by about 30 percent. I agree that the S7s have the cleanest software build of any Galaxy Ive tested, and that Samsungs TouchWiz interface has been toned down. But theres still too much duplicate software for my taste. For instance, out of the box, there are still two email apps, two music services, two photo-viewing apps, two messaging apps, and, except on Verizon, two browsers and dueling wireless payment services. (Samsung says Verizon barred including Samsung's browser and Samsung Pay out of the box.) And Verizon builds in a third messaging app. And, speaking of Verizon, my test unit running on that carrier had a folder with eight of the carriers apps in it. The setup process also guided me to using Verizons messaging app rather than Samsungs and a Verizon backup service. It even warned me I might lose important stuff if I didnt sign up for the Verizon service. At one point, I received a gaudy, jarring full-screen Verizon ad urging me to send retail gift cards via messaging. I also received a notification urging me to let Verizon show me how to speed up visits to its stores. And yet, in Mossberg's piece from last week, he'd have readers believe that the iPhone's lead over rivals is dangerously "thin." The reality is that grading Android products on a curve is nothing new; important and downright fundamental smartphone features that don't quite work are seemingly ignored while praise is focused on the features that do work. Half-baked products are labeled "promising" while flawed features are generously labeled "works in progress." It's why the iPhone 7 will likely be called a "disappointment" if Apple doesn't introduce some wild new form factor or some crazy new feature that defies the laws of physics. It's why the iPhone 7 will inevitably be criticized for being "evolutionary and not revolutionary" even if the device works as exactly as advertised. Now some might argue that Apple is simply held to a higher standard, and perhaps that is true. Still, it seems wholly bizarre that reviewers demand constant perfection and innovation from Apple while they continue to give Android devices so much room for error. Related stories April Fools' roundup: All the best jokes from around the web iPhone SE may not be able to offset drop in iPhone 6s sales Forget iPhone encryption, the FBI can't legally touch the software ISIS uses More from BGR: A man completely destroyed Wheel of Fortune, and the Internet is in awe This article was originally published on BGR.com Its widely understood at this point in the Republican primary that Ohio Gov. John Kasichs only route to the nomination is through a contested convention in Cleveland in July. And on paper, that looks like a possible, though unlikely, path to victory. A 20-year veteran of Congress and a twice-elected governor, Kasich is far and away the most qualified candidate remaining in the GOP race in terms of experience. Hes also a palatable alternative to many in the GOP who cant stand either frontrunner Donald Trump or his closest rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Its easy to imagine a situation where a majority of disaffected voters rally to Kasich. Related: Kasich: Heres How Ill Win the Nomination and the Election But one thing people tend to forget is exactly what would have to happen in order for Kasich to have a chance to make his case at a convention and what that would mean for the Ohio governors candidacy. If he steps onto the stage under circumstances where his nomination is even possible, Kasich will probably be doing it with the second-largest city in his state wracked by massive protests, at best, and violent confrontations at worst. Heres why: Barring a miracle, Trump will roll into the convention with a plurality of delegates, if not an outright majority. If Trump is denied a first ballot nomination, either through a failure to win a clear majority, or through manipulation of the rules to reduce his delegate support, there will almost certainly be a lot of angry Trump supporters ready to make trouble. Trump himself has suggested that there will be riots if he is denied the nomination under questionable circumstances. (And in Trumpworld, questionable includes The Donald failing to gain a majority, and then losing when delegates are freed to vote their conscience.) Related: Why Wisconsin Could Slow the Trump Express And bear in mind that Cleveland is already something close to a powder keg. The city has been rattled by events such as the shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American boy, who was killed in 2014 by a police officer while he held a toy handgun. Despite shooting Rice less than two seconds after arriving at the scene and then failing to provide first aid, the officer was not charged with a crime. Story continues In addition, the citys police force is operating under a consent decree with the Department of Justice after finding a pattern of excessive use of force largely employed against the citys minority community. The math isnt complicated. If Kasich has a chance in July, it will be under circumstances that put Trump protesters supporting a candidate broadly viewed as a bigot, and counter protesters, highly attuned to demonstrable racial injustice, head-to-head in the streets of Cleveland. Related: How Trump Got Outfoxed by Cruz in Louisiana It will beproblematicfor the governor of Ohio to take the stage at the Republican convention and call for the party to rally behind him if the second-largest city in his state is in flames just outside the doors of the convention hall. That said, some experts think that even ugly protests probably wont cost Kasich too much support. I doubt reasonable people will blame Kasich for violence outside the arena, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginias Center for Politics. Its Trump versus #NeverTrump, he said, referring t a movement within the GOP to resist Trumps candidacy. If Trump is nominated, then the anti-Trump forces massed outside the arena will do their thing, and sadly, violence will likely be part of it. If Trump is denied the GOP nomination due to convention maneuvering, then the Trump forces massed outside the arena will do their thing, and sadly, violence will likely be part of it. Related: Ex-Trump Insider Donald Doesnt Want to be President Kasich may call out the National Guard, and Cleveland will certainly deploy its police force, he said. But blame them? Why? Unless the National Guard models its behavior on Kent State in 1970 or the Cleveland police mimic Chicago police in 1968. Kasich is a talented politician, and he may indeed be able to pull off a simultaneous convention-upset and riot-suppression effort. But if he does, it will have no obvious precedent in modern political history. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Neil Krishan Aggarwal is a cultural psychiatrist and the author of two books: Mental Health in the War on Terror (2015) and The Talibans Virtual Emirate (2016). For the second time in nine months, the Afghan peace talks have stumbled because of differing expectations between the Taliban and the Quadrilateral Coordination Group formed by Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States. On March 5, the Taliban released a statement spurning the talks; it complained that its authorities had not been kept informed about negotiations and that unless the occupation of Afghanistan is ended, blacklists eliminated and innocent prisoners freed, such futile, misleading negotiations will not bear any results. The same day, The New York Times reported that an Afghan official close to President Ashraf Ghani dismissed this statement as just public bargaining. After all, the official said, Taliban representatives initially opposed the first round of talks, in May 2015, but showed up anyway. Unfortunately, the Talibans public bargaining is not empty rhetoric, and to discredit its statements demonstrates either willful ignorance or brazen callousness toward the Afghan wars human toll. Its participation in the first round of talks did not herald good faith efforts toward peace. Afterward, the Taliban seized Kunduz, the first city to fall after the 2001 U.S.-led NATO invasion. And the United Nations reported more than 11,000 Taliban-related civilian casualties in 2015, more than the previous record, set in 2014. Instead, all of us should understand the Talibans worldview on its own terms, and for this, there is plenty of fodder: Since 1998, the Taliban has used the Internet to disseminate messages in Arabic, Dari, English, Pashto and Urdu. There is no mystery about the Talibans goal to implement Islamic law throughout Afghanistan. After the first round of talks, representatives of the Taliban and the Afghan government supposedly agreed to negotiate the status of the constitution and the role of womens education. However, the Taliban followed up with a statement suggesting such negotiations could lead to un-Islamic and illegitimate agreements that would tangle up the peace process. It alleged that Afghanistans Constitution was coerced, drafted under the shadow of B-52 bombers of the foreign invaders. And regarding womens education, the Taliban wrote that it was committed to womens rights, in so far as those rights are bestowed upon them in the sacred religion of Islam. For two decades the Taliban has fought relentlessly to implement its interpretation of Islamic law throughout Afghanistan. We saw what that looked like between 1996 and 2001, when the Taliban ruled more than 90 percent of Afghanistan: Islamic law, to the Taliban, means subjugating women and minorities. There is no reason to believe its interpretation has changed. We should not let our desire to end this war of attrition lead the Quadrilateral Coordination Group to negotiate away the very rights and liberties that have been hard won in the first place. Each QCG member knows the high stakes involved. Afghanistans government must demonstrate its ability to govern beyond the capital, Kabul. China remains suspicious about the Uighur Muslims training with the Taliban. Pakistan no longer controls the Taliban officials who splintered into competing factions after the reported demise of Mullah Omar, the Talibans founder and supreme leader. And the U.S. needs an exit. Already, the Afghan conflict is the longest war in U.S. history, and has cost more than $700 billion and 2,300 lives. Member nations of the QCG are tired. But we need to understand whether the Taliban is acting as a good faith negotiating partner or just biding its time until the war-weary QCG members accept defeat. Rather than initiate talks without preconditions as the QCG has done we should do the opposite: Before talks begin, we must demand that the Taliban explain its positions in writing which shouldnt be difficult, given its propensity for issuing statements. Does the Taliban consider the peace process illegitimate, and any potential agreement as un-Islamic? What rights whether based on Islamic law or secular republican traditions would women, religious minorities, Shia Muslims and non-Pashtun Sunnis have in any future with the Taliban? If the Taliban were included in any power-sharing agreement, would it respect international laws and treaties? How will the Taliban faction negotiating with the QCG enforce peace upon other factions? We should also question the QCGs concessions. Why have QCG members dismissed Taliban statements as public bargaining? Why have QCG members equivocated in taking the Talibans worldview seriously? Two rounds of unsuccessful talks have exposed the bitter truth that QCG members may only be acting in their own best interests not those of Afghan civilians or the international community. Related Articles Wall Street is looking to build on yesterday's rally. All three major indexes (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) are higher after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday that global economic uncertainty justifies a slower pace of rate hikes. Chris Cordaro, chief investment officer with the wealth management firm Regent Atlantic, explains to Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous in the video above why investors should be looking to buy bargain stocks like Intel (INTC) in this tough, slow-growth environment Meanwhile, payroll processor ADP is reporting that private sector employers added 200,000 jobs in March. That is a tad better than what economists expected. Get the Latest Market Data and New with the Yahoo Finance App Valeant (VRX) shares were sharply higher. The embattled Canadian drug maker is trying to buy itself more time. It is asking its lenders to extend the deadline for filing its annual and quarterly reports once again. The company currently has to file its annual report by April 29 and its first quarter results by June 14. If it fails to do so it would default on its loans. The company also said it's "comfortable with its current liquidity position and cash flow generation for the rest of the year and remains well positioned to meet its obligations." Boeing (BA) plans to slash more than 4,500 jobs by June as it looks to cut costs as customers opt for less expensive jetliners. The job losses will impact the company's commercial airplane division and its flight testing unit. Lululemon (LULU)) shares rose in early trading. The Canadian yoga-wear retailer posted a beat on both its top and bottom lines. Profit rose 6% from a year ago thanks to cost cuts and strong sales during its holiday quarter. However, the company's outlook for the first quarter was weaker than expected. Sonic (SONC), the drive-in fast food chain, raised its guidance for the year after delivering stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fiscal second quarter. Profits jumped 41% from a year ago, as strength in core menu items, along with limited-time offers, helped drive sales. Apple strikes deal with MLB The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple (AAPL) has struck a deal with the MLB to provide every team with iPad Pros for use in the dugout. A custom app called MLB Dugout will help managers see historical game statistics, view videos from previous games, and analyze pitcher-hitter matches. Snapchat takes aim at Facebook Snapchat is taking on Facebook (FB) and other big players in the social media space by changing how you communicate with friends through its app. The social-messaging company released an update that adds voice and video calling. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno-Karabakh is one of the main problems for the architecture of the European security, which needs a lasting agreement for this conflict, Avet Adonts, the first Armenian Ambassador to Spain expressed such an opinion in the interview with The Diplomat. If the European security is affected by Ukraines problem, the same happens here. We are Europe even if we are a bit further. In fact, the last European border closed is that between Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, Avet Adonts noted. Asked whether Armenia will be different without the mentioned conflict, Armenian ambassador said: Of course. And the whole south of the Caucasus, where Georgia also has problems. If these conflicts are solved some day, we will be one of the most developed regions, because we have great natural and human resources. The co-presidents of the Minsk Group United States, Russia and France- propose measures, but they cannot force an agreement. The solution that we conceive must be based on historical justice, rules of international law and commitments. However, Azerbaijan applies the principle of all or nothing, ambassador Adonts said, answering to the question why the negotiation over NKR conflict Is not going forward. To the question whether he sees any solution, Adonts answered: We want to reach an agreement by peaceful means. But Azerbaijan maintains a very aggressive and continuous propaganda increasing its military budget. Look: if they received as a hero the military man who killed an Armenian official with an axe in Budapest and the Azeri media keep creating a war environment, it is difficult to negotiate the peace. We do not maintain diplomatic relations with Turkey. We are willing to resume them, but Ankara refuses to do so unless an agreement on Karabakh is reached. It has sided with Azerbaijan. Turkey is one of the big countries of the region and it could be a peace promoter. However, it prefers manipulation, ambassador Adonts said, referring to the role of Turkey. Turkey still has an imperialist mentality, especially its political elite. And that clashes with European values. He added. You worked hard to become a homeowner, and it's something you're proud of. Between mortgage payments and the improvements you've always wanted to make, you work even harder to make it the home of your dreams -- and to keep it that way. But in the case of eminent domain, it's out of your hands. A clause in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution limits the government's right to take private property for public use by requiring the property owner be given "just compensation" in return. Eminent domain and what the government -- either federal, state or local -- has deemed "public use" has been a hot-button topic for years. While the taking of property in whole to build a highway or in part to help widen a road is largely recognized as standard public use, the condemning of property for redevelopment by private institutions has also been done in the name of eminent domain. Opposing eminent domain is a hard-fought battle, but don't let fear or lack of understanding the law keep you from receiving your just compensation or arguing the intended use of the property fails to meet the needs of the public. To better protect your rights as a property owner, follow these guidelines to ensure you understand the process of eminent domain and the resources available to you. [See: 10 Ways Millennials Are Changing Homebuying.] Consult an attorney. To better protect yourself and your property, seek legal advice as soon as you hear your property could potentially be taken for public use, which could come to you in the form of a mailed letter, in-person notice or phone call, depending on the government planning to take the property and its practices. Eminent domain is difficult, and not every lawyer is capable of navigating the details of the law. "It's less a real estate transaction and more a lawsuit," explains Robert McNamara, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit group that fights eminent domain abuse. "And I think what frequently surprises property owners is that the part of [the process] that really is a lawsuit -- the part where you can waive your rights and the part where you get locked into things -- happens in many cases long before the actual formal lawsuit begins." Story continues Even seemingly simple instances of eminent domain, like an easement that allows the government to go onto the property without taking full possession of it or the taking of a few feet from the property line to widen a road, should get a thorough read-through by a professional because there may be some fine print that could affect you down the line. "When an easement is written by the condemning authority, it's written by their attorneys, so it's most likely going to be written in a manner that's most favorable to their needs and their uses," says Cathy Newman, executive director of Owners' Counsel of America, an organization that aims to help private property owners threatened with eminent domain nationwide. "We would recommend an owner have an eminent domain attorney review that easement to ensure that their rights are protected and they're not held ... in a less favorable result afterward." An example Newman cites is the easement of a portion of rural property being taken for utility usage. The initial offer may include conditions like regular access to the land for maintenance, but an attorney could recognize the need to negotiate for prior notice to go on the property, not damage fencing and ensure livestock are not able to get loose in the process. [Read: 4 Sites That Will Tell You More Than You Want to Know About Your Home.] Get a second opinion. To determine what constitutes as "just compensation" for your property, the government will have it appraised to calculate its market value. While all property appraisers should be unbiased, third-party sources, it's a good idea to get a second opinion from an appraiser of your choosing. Kurt Kielisch is an appraiser and president of Forensic Appraisal Group Ltd in Neenah, Wisconsin, and he has appraised properties involved in eminent domain cases in as many as 12 states. He explains an appraisal from each party allows for a more thorough look at the property's value, with the opportunity to negotiate and settle on an amount before litigation may be necessary. "Usually the appraisals are done to try and get voluntary agreements between the property owner and the condemnor, and if that is unsuccessful, then they have the right -- both sides do, actually -- to go to court," Kielisch says. In Wisconsin, Kielisch says the government is required to pay for the property owner's second opinion appraisal, without any limits on the cost or who the accredited appraiser is. "The property owner is still the client, but [the government] still takes on the responsibility of paying for the fee," he says. Some other states will pay a capped amount of the landowner's appraisal, like California, which will cover $5,000, but other states, like Illinois, leave it all up to the property owner to come up with the funds. When it comes to legal fees, it depends on your agreement with your attorney and the outcome of the case as to how court costs are determined. Some attorneys may be willing to accept payment only in the event of a successful outcome, and in that case it's possible a judge rules the government would cover all court costs. But it's also possible the court could rule against you, and it's up to you to pay the bill. [See: 10 Tips to Sell Your Home Fast.] Accept, aim for more money or fight. It's your decision whether you want to accept the initial offer from the government, try to work toward a better deal or fight the taking in its entirety. But regardless of the choice you make, be sure you understand the difficulties you may face with any decision, as well as the resources available to you to help you succeed. Accepting an offer will of course move the process along faster, but be sure you have consulted the right professionals to determine if it's a fair deal. Even if you're strapped for cash and are afraid of the cost of a big legal fight, getting a lower-than-fair payout could leave you with bigger problems in the future. A bit more work and money upfront can result in a much better deal for you as the owner losing their property, explains Jamie Fisher, an attorney specializing in eminent domain and a partner at Fisher & Talwar in Los Angeles. "My experience is business and property owners do best by going through the whole process and generally not just taking what's offered upfront, or what can be accomplished at a pre-litigation settlement," Fisher says. "It's not to say you can't do well with that, but it happens less frequently." If negotiations don't yield the outcome you want and you decide to pursue litigation for a court to decide on just compensation, be sure you have a firm grasp on the local housing market. Fisher says a significant amount of time between the initial offer and court case can have an impact on the value of your home. "I've had cases where just sitting on them for a year the property shoots up in value, and the date of value gets set later in the case -- then the property's worth more," Fisher says. But it can have the opposite effect as well. If the government knows the neighborhood is losing property value, they won't necessarily try to rush an opposition to the eminent domain taking, knowing they might be able to pay less later. If you believe the government is abusing power of eminent domain for gain outside of public use, you can choose to fight the taking outright -- but be ready for a rough road ahead. The Kelo v. New London decision ruled in favor of the city to take private property in favor of new development. In the case, a number of residents in New London, Connecticut, sued the city for seizing their properties through eminent domain for the purpose of selling them to a private developer. While the residents argued the sale for private development did not constitute as public use, but both the Connecticut Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. The 2005 decision set the precedent for many cases of potential eminent domain abuse, and it was criticized by the public and many legislators for giving too much freedom to government agencies, under the argument that the government could now use eminent domain for the purpose of economic gain. While the case was a blow to property owner's rights in eminent domain cases, the public outrage following the decision lead many state legislatures to try to curb the potential for eminent domain abuse. The Institute for Justice takes on cases nationwide that appear to be instances of abuse of eminent domain. "It's important to remember that it's not just a legal fight, it's a political fight. Many of the projects that the Institute for Justice stops, we don't stop through litigation, we stop through political activism," McNamara says. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Vanes The Nightmare Martirosyan(36-2-1, 21Kos) will hold the title fight rematch with Erislandly Lara( 22-2-2, 13Kos) in Houston on May 21,Armenpress reports citing Boxingscene website. First fight of these boxers was held in 2012 and ended in a draw. Boxers clashed heads in the 9th round and Martirosyan commenced serious bleeding. Man in court for Otaheite Bay schoolboys killing The boys limbs were chopped off and his home set on fire. Appearing before Senior Magistrate Margaret Alert was Roger Ragoopat, of Red Brick Trace, South Oropouche. Nedd, also of Red Brick Trace, was a Form One student of Siparia East Secondary School and met his death after his familys house was attacked shortly before midnight. Nedds charred remains were discovered among the ruins, but the boys limbs had been chopped off with a cutlass. His right foot and left hand were missing. Yesterday, Ragoopat in court following his arrest and being charged upon advice to investigating police officers by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Attorney Frank Gittens represented Ragoopat and asked that disclosures of all materials the defence is entitled to, be furnished. Ragoopat was ordered remanded into custody to reappear on April 26. Cricketer and footballer on obscene language charge Araya Osei Felix, 27, appeared before Magistrate Indar Jagroo in the Arima Second Court, charged with the offences. Felix was held about 1.45 am on Monday morning by officers of the Northern Division, after he allegedly struck a vehicle from behind, and attempted to flee the scene. The incident took place along OMeara Road, Arima. During his arrest, Felix submitted to a breathalyser test after initially refusing. According to reports, the test revealed he was over the legal limit of alcohol in the system. His matter has been postponed to June 7, while he remains under continuing bail. Teesdales death sends message for parents and grandparents It was an emotional farewell for Teesdale who was decapitated and her dismembered body found three Tuesdays ago stuffed in a barrel which was sent floating down the Mitan River in Manzanilla. To date, Teesdales head has not been found. An autopsy conducted last week at the Forensic Sciences Complex, St James was inconclusive because the head is yet to be recovered. Police are yet to arrest anyone in connection with the heinous crime. Relatives hugged two of Teesdales children five year old Amyh and one year old Hezekiah throughout the entire service. A large framed picture of Teesdale with her trademark smile was placed between several wreaths on the casket. The service was conducted under full Spiritual Baptist rites and Weekes was assisted by Bishop Raymond. She was later laid to rest at the Roodal Public Cemetery at Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando. Saying to the packed congregation yesterday that the manner in which the mother of three was killed was strange , Weekes said the gruesome death sent a clear message to all who loved her. She added: Sometimes these things happen for a reason and for a purpose and that is for us catch ourselves and to do things different. Delivering the eulogy, Bernadine Williams described her niece as a flamboyant woman who was full of life and always flashed a smile. Her downfall however was that she trusted everyone she met. Losing her mother in 2009, also impacted Teesdales life and that was when Williams said she believed Teesdale began to stray. She said they often spoke to her but she would hear but never listened. We tried our best. She said the young woman was never disrespectful or rude and loved to work. YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Law enforcement officers in a joint operation by the FSB and police detained in Moscow almost 20 people who were thought to be recruiters, not the terrorist organization Islamic state The detention is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to a source in the police. In a joint operation by the FSB and police detained about two dozen people suspected of being affiliated with ISIS. In Moscow, according to preliminary data, searching for and recruiting new members, said the Agency interlocutor. Thus journalists note that at the moment do not have official confirmation of this information, Armenpress reports. The Agency Interfax, in turn, reports that in the capital were detained nearly two dozen citizens of Turkey, which Moscow law enforcement authorities suspect of involvement in terrorist organizations. According to the source Agency in law enforcement bodies, it is about 18 Turkish nationals, most of whom during the arrest were found fake documents. Journalists clarify that the special operation was held yesterday, March 29. At the moment the identity of the detained are installed, they are checked for involvement in international extremist and terrorist organizations, said the source Agency. Meanwhile, the journalists of the Agency TASS citing a source in law enforcement bodies confirm information about the detention of nearly 20 people, but provide no data about their ethnicity. During the raid, which was conducted simultaneously in several locations, from the suspects seized a large number of computers, printers, scanners and other office equipment that was used for illegal activity. All detainees were taken to the police, now set the role of each in illegal activities, said the Agency interlocutor. Reinstated NP workers warned: Beware of attempts to provoke you I urge you as you go back, they may try to provoke you and set traps for you to do that which they could not have done over the last two and a half years. But be very vigilant and be very watchful, be very mindful that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, Roget said. He was at the time speaking to the 68 reinstated workers outside the NP compound, Sea Lots, Port of Spain. The workers were dismissed on the basis of engaging in illegal industrial action in August 2013. On Thursday last, the Court of Appeal ruled that it was harsh and oppressive for NP to dismiss the workers. Roget said workers are the ones responsible for the development of the economy of Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of the day, workers who are present here, workers who are on the off-shore platform, in the refinery, workers at administration, workers throughout this countys economy are responsible for turning the wheels of this economy of Trinidad and Tobago. He continued, Without workers, the politicians will have nothing to quarrel about, nothing to seal, he said. Roget said it was only a matter of time before the workers returned to work, and called for the removal of NPs errant managers. We demand that they remove from NP this level of corrupt practice engaging contractors in the haulage of gasoline in this country. All those errant managers who would have said the place ran smooth and it only ran smooth because it did not have conscious people to identify what was unsafe and what was corrupt...we demand that they be removed, he said. The workers sang union songs as they entered NPs compound, while being escorted by Roget, David Abdulah and other senior union personnel. UNC: Tarouba not a priority Commenting on a reported statement made by Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee- Scoon at a recent economic forum hosted by the Penal/Debe Chamber of Commerce, Lee asked, Is the completion of the Tarouba stadium more of a priority than the education, safety and well-being of our nations citizens? He claimed that while Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley identified national security, education and healthcare as his administrations top priorities, the actions of the Government coupled with its policies contradict this notion. With the Mid-Year Review scheduled to be presented by Finance Minister Colm Imbert on April 8, Lee said falling revenues as a consequence of energy prices warrant prudent fiscal management as well as efficient utilisation of resources on the part of the Government. Therefore the resources needed for the completion of the Tarouba Stadium can be more feasibly used to impact on infrastructural development and programmes key to the education, safety and well-being of our citizens, he stated. Depraved Islamist militant publicly executes his own mother, after she warned him to abandon ISIS before its imminent destruction Just when you think militants fighting on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, couldnt do anything more devious, diabolical or downright evil, one of them proves you wrong. As reported by Reuters, a very depraved Islamic State militant actually executed his very own mother in public in the Syrian city of Raqqa, because she essentially tried to save him from the wickedness of the organization by pleading with him to leave the group, according to officials with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The woman, reportedly in her 40s, warned her son that eventually a military alliance backed by the United States would eliminate the Islamic State and, as such, she wanted him to leave the war-torn city with her. But instead, the sick, twisted son who is obviously more enamored with killing and war than with his own flesh and blood, informed ISIS leaders of her comments, and they had her detained, the Britain-based Observatory which relies on a network of sources on the ground said. Sources told the Observatory that the 20-year-old son executed his mother near a post office building where she worked, and in front of hundreds of people in Raqqa, the main city and base of operations for the Islamic State. Killed for homosexuality, magic, apostasy ISIS controls vast swaths of both Syria and Iraq, hence its name. Since it was formed, members of the organization have possibly executed thousands of people, many of whom were accused of working with Islamic State enemies, or violating the groups ultra-strict interpretation of Islam. Reuters reported further: The Observatory reported on Dec. 29 that Islamic State had executed more than 2,000 Syrian civilians in the 18 months since it declared its caliphate over the territory it controls in Syria and Iraq. They included people killed on the grounds of homosexuality, practicing magic and apostasy. Other horrific murders and executions conducted by ISIS include: As reported by Evil.news, photographs that surfaced recently revealed hideous dungeons where Yazidi sex slaves were held and repeatedly raped by ISIS fighters. ISIL have institutionalized sexual violence and the brutalization of women as a central aspect of their ideology and operations, using it as a tactic of terrorism to advance their key strategic objectives, said the UNs Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. As noted by Breitbart News, ISIS staged a mass murder of Christians, which included a 12-year-old boy, for refusing to renounce their religion and embrace Islam. Followers of the cross In front of the team leader and relatives in the crowd, the Islamic extremists cut off the fingertips of the boy and severely beat him, telling his father they would stop the torture only if he, the father, returned to Islam, the Gospel World Herald said. When the team leader refused, relatives said, the ISIS militants also tortured and beat him and the two other ministry workers. The three men and the boy then met their deaths in crucifixion. One woman shouted, Jesus! before she was beheaded. In December 2014, Jordanian fighter pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbehs F-16 was shot down near Raqqa; in early February, the Islamic State tied him up, put him in a cage in public, doused him with gasoline and burned him alive. Indeed, several people taken prisoner by ISIS fighters have been burned alive, including four Shia spies and four Iraqi soldiers captured in battle. Beheadings of foreign nationals have also been a favorite terrorist tactic used by the Islamic State. Also, mass beheadings of Christians, like many that have taken place on beaches of Egyptian Coptics. The people of the cross, the followers of the hostile Egyptian Church, said videos and still photos taken of the beheadings. Sources: Evil.news UN.org Reuters.com Submit a correction >> Hillary Clinton is part of the rape culture that she claims to despise To read more about Hillary Clinton News, please go to Clinton.news for all the latest updates In recent weeks, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton and her Republican counterpart, billionaire businessman Donald Trump, had a brief exchange of words regarding which one of them would be a bigger champion of women. In November, as reported by The Daily Caller, the same night that CNN aired what many panned as a deeply flawed documentary about rape on college campuses, Clinton tweeted out in solidarity with the alleged victims. But the response she received was likely not what she had planned. Her original tweet went this way: Every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported. A link in her tweet went to one of her campaign websites, which begins with the following quote from a speech she gave in September: I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault: Dont let anyone silence your voice. You have the right to be heard. You have the right to be believed, and were with you. The twitterverse exploded with reminders about just how much of an enabler she was for her sexual predator husband, becoming his number one defender against detractors when he was president. Cough * Juanita Broaddrick* cough, tweeted one person, a reference to Ms Broaddricks claims that Bill Clinton raped her some years ago when he was governor of Arkansas. Except for those who survived your husband? tweeted another. What do you think the over/under is on the number of women your husband raped? tweeted still another. And so on. Rape culture The next month, Clinton narrowed her focus and took a shot at Trump for statements he had made in the past about women that she found derogatory. In December, during a campaign speech, Trump said that Hillary got schlonged by Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign; her campaign responded with charges of Trump having a penchant for sexism. Hillary, when you complain about a penchant for sexism, who are you referring to. I have great respect for women. BE CAREFUL! he tweeted. Everyone understood to whom Trump was referring Bill Clinton and, of course, Hillarys defense of him. Ed Klein, author of UNLIKEABLE: The Problem With Hillary, went further in an interview with Breitbart News Daily on Sirius/XM radio in early January. He shed additional light on Hillarys attempts to discredit women who claimed her husband had preyed on them. Hillary is always in troubleshes rolled out Bill Clinton, which she had no intention of doing, Klein said in an interview with host Alex Marlow. He continued, explaining that she was planning to reserve her husband for after she had won the nomination, but decided to bring him out early because of tightening races in Iowa and New Hampshire, two of the early caucuses. That in turn, rolled out all our memories and all the stories about abuse of women that goes all the way back to not just the White House, but to Arkansas in the 1970s, Klein said. This is all news to them, Klein went on to say, referencing young voters who are now learning about Bill Clintons abuse of women for the first time. History is important Klein noted that in his 1996 book, The Truth About Hillary, he gave details about how she was intrinsically part of the effort to discredit these women and threaten these women. Calling her part of the rape culture she supposedly despises, Klein said many young millennial voters living in a far different social climate today are going to be shocked by a lot of this stuff, specifically referencing Bill Clintons bimbo eruptions, that Hillary Clinton and a team of aides worked constantly to discredit and tamp down while he was president. Marlow noted that todays cultural more is to never blame the victim, but that wasnt what Hillary did in the 1990s and before. Hillary was stand by your man, dont take the victim seriously, he added. History is important and we have a history of the Clintons back in the 1990s in which the White House was scandal central. It will happen again if the Clintons are back in the White House, Klein warned, adding that some people have said even Obama believes that, and has said so to close friends. To read more about Hillary Clinton News, please go to Clinton.news for all the latest updates Sources: DailyCaller.com Breitbart.com ABCNews.go.com Science.NaturalNews.com Submit a correction >> YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. On March 30 Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan paid a working visit to a number of military units. The aim of the visit was to get acquainted with the terms of service and check the performance of their orders; data from previous visits. Armenpress was informed from the Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia that within the framework of the working visit Seyran Ohanyan visited the military units of air defense and aviation, logistical units, flight-training center, discussed with management staff the existing problems, questions of logistics support and weapons and upcoming plans. During the visit, the minister awarded with valuable gifts the number of servicemen standing out for their conscientious military service. These 6 political blunders could cost hypocrite Hillary Clinton the presidential nomination To read more about Hillary Clinton News, please go to Clinton.news for all the latest updates (NaturalNews) Many on the political Left are worried that the coronation of Hillary Clinton to be the next Democratic presidential nominee isnt going as planned, and that she could, as happened in 2008, miss out on what would probably be her last shot at becoming the first female president. Over at Politico a far-Left political news site that regularly praises Clinton they are obviously worried. A series of Clinton tone-deaf moments, mistakes and other gaffes led the site to offer some official, unofficial campaign advice in a piece headlined, 6 Moments That Could Haunt Hillary Clinton. Her record so far is mixed, Politico reported. On economic issues, centrist Democrats are relieved Sanders stadium crowds of true believers have not sent her lurching too far leftward Clinton is not proposing to reinstate Glass-Steagall; she does not advocate for universal free college or a single-payer health care system; and she does not support expanding Social Security benefits for all. And yet, the campaign advice is nevertheless forthcoming. 1. Combating the worlds biggest terror army: Last month at the Democratic debate, Clinton said, We are finally where we need to be on fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, in a bid to defend the Obama-Clinton foreign policy. Republicans of course pounced on that statement, essentially claiming that the U.S. is nowhere close to being a force for ISIS to reckon with. Later, her campaign manager and longtime friend John Podesta, tried to clarify her statement, saying she was only referring to the United Nations resolution on the start of Syrian peace talks. Yeah, not so much. 2. GOP is my enemy: During campaign stops, Clinton has often touted her past ability to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans, especially post-9/11 when she was a U.S. senator from New York. But during a recent debate when she was asked which enemy she is most proud of, she mentioned the National Rifle Association, drug companies and probably the Republicans. At the time, Vice President Joe Biden was considering a presidential run and responded that he did not consider Republicans enemies but instead friends. Clintons inclination to pick up Obamas historic animosity towards the GOP will turn voters off, who will see constant combat with a Republican-held Congress as the same old Washington politics they are sick of. 3. Poking fun at breaking the law: As regards her use of a private email server while secretary of state and, more specifically, in response to a question about whether she wiped her server before turning it over to federal investigators, she feigned ignorance and responded, What, like with a cloth or something? Democratic strategists expect the Republican nominees to be all over that one, as it goes to the issue of trustworthiness, while projecting an air of arrogant elitism. 4. She wants our guns, too: The issue of guns more specifically, gun control and gun bans is one that Clinton has waded into purposefully and forcefully. Like Obama, she has yet to meet a new gun restriction that she doesnt like. Like Obama, the Second Amendment, to her, is a recommendation, a suggestion not a hard-and-fast inalienable right on the level of the remainder of the Bill of Rights. Her campaign says she will stick with her positions of universal background checks before gun show purchases and an assault weapon ban. 5. Charter schools: In the past Clinton has supported charter schools. but that policy position changed last month during a campaign stop in South Carolina. They dont take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they dont keep them, she said. And so the public schools are often in a no-win situation, because they do, thankfully, take everybody, and then they dont get the resources or the help and support that they need to be able to take care of every childs situation. The GOP candidate will seize on that flip-flop and successfully, since school choice is a political winner. 6. #NotMyAbuela: Ever tone deaf, Clintons campaign released a list of 7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela, a reference to her being a grandmother, which she likes to talk about. The listicle went viral, but in a negative way; #NotMyAbuela popped up with tweets like, #NotMyAbuela because she didnt have to live in poverty with 14 kids and suffer because over half were separated over a border. While the Beltway crowd and Politico see this as a negative pandering attempt to get the Hispanic vote, the vast majority of the country is fed up with Obamas unlimited immigration. And we havent even touched on Benghazi yet, when, during a Senate hearing on the matter, she exploded with this retort, What difference, at this point, does it make? when asked to explain why she and Obama lied about a video having caused the Sept. 11, 2012 attack. To read more about Hillary Clinton News, please go to Clinton.news for all the latest updates Sources: Politico.com Twitter.com/hashtag/NotMyAbuela DailyMail.co.uk Submit a correction >> YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. During his working visit to USA, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan visited Massachusetts State House. Armenpress reports that Governor Charlie Baker thanked the president for the good weather as well. Before visiting to the State House, Serzh Sargsyan visited Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where he had meetings with professors and lecturers of the school and local Armenian students. Not Found The requested URL was not found on this server. Apache Server Port 80 Libya unity government led by Prime Minister-designate Faiez Serraj announced Monday it has started moving to capital Tripoli as security arrangements seem complete. The security preparations for the unity government to take office in Tripoli have been completed, and the presidency council has started moving to the capital to carry out its duties, the Presidency Council led by Serraj said in a statement. This announcement came following Tunis ministerial meeting of Libyas neighbors who threw their support behind the Government of National Accord (GNA.) Following the meeting, Serraj and the UNSMIL Head Martin Klober indicated the establishment of the GNA in the Libyan capital controlled by rival Islamist government was a matter of days. The Islamists controlling Tripoli vowed to defend the capital against the GNA. On Monday the militia-backed government reportedly closed for several hours Tripolis Mitiga airport in a move to prevent Serrajs arrival in Tripoli. Tensions have heated up in Tripoli between pro-GNA and anti-GNA militias who took to guns. Heavy gun shots were heard in the capital, mainly in west of Tripoli suburb of Ghoat Shaal. Militiamen based in Misrata came forward with a statement pledging allegiance to the GNA. They reportedly formed a Temporary Crises Room to enable the GNA to enter Tripoli. In a counter move, armed brigades from Tajoura neighborhood in Tripoli also issued a statement calling for calm and unity to avoid problems. In the face of growing tensions and confrontations, the GNA indicated that it was mindful of saving Libyan blood and moving to Tripoli in a safe and peaceful manner. The GNA urged Libyans and the international community to condemn sabotages by the Tripoli authorities to obstruct its establishment in the Libyan capital. The Egyptian plane hijacked Tuesday and diverted to Cyprus raises serious concerns over the countrys airports security, according to some experts. This new incident comes few months after Russian Metrojet Flight, taking off from Egypts Sharm el-Sheikh airport, was downed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. ISIS terror organization claimed responsibility. Since then, Egypt said it beefed up security at airports across the country, affirming that its airports are safe but the new plane hijacking proves the contrary. According to press reports, an Egyptian man hijacked an EgyptAir flight, forcing the plane to land in Larnaca airport, on the south coast of Cyprus. The hijacker has been identified as Egyptian national Seif El Din Mustafa, an Egyptian-American dual citizen. The Egyptian Airbus 320, which was flying from Alexandria to Cairo, was transporting at least 81 people on board. Many of the passengers had been so far released but three passengers and four crew members remain on board. A statement from the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said there were 26 foreign passengers including eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch citizens, two Belgians, two Greeks, a French national, an Italian, and a Syrian. Three other foreigners were not identified. The hijacker claimed to be wearing a suicide explosive belt. It appears that the hijacking is not related to terrorism, but rather to personal issues and to the hijackers ex-wife settled in Cyprus. It was unclear whether the hijacker had taken explosives on board or whether he was bluffing. The Larnaca airport, where the Egyptian plane landed, has been closed and flights diverted to elsewhere. In an attempt to defuse the tension that recently flared up between the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Morocco, the UN Chief on Monday expressed explicit regrets for the misunderstanding about the word occupation he had used when referring to Moroccos presence in the Sahara. Stephane Dujarric, Ban Ki-Moons spokesman, Monday said during the daily briefing that Ban Ki-Moons use of occupation was not deliberate but was the expression of his personal feelings in face of the dire living conditions of the Sahrawis in the Tindouf camps. The spokesman said that the UN Chief used the word occupation in one single time in response to a press question, noting that he had been moved and saddened to see the harsh conditions in which men, women, and children have been living in for decades. His use of the word was not planned nor was it deliberate. It was a spontaneous, personal reaction, Stephane Dujarric said. The UN Secretary General regrets the misunderstandings and consequences that this personal expression of solicitude provoked, and nothing he said or did in the course of that trip was meant to offend or express hostility towards the Kingdom of Morocco, which is a valued member of the United Nations, the spokesman said. He recalled that the main purpose of the SecretaryGenerals trip in North Africa early March was to focus on the need for a mutually acceptable way forward that would, among other things, end the tribulations of the refugees. Dujarric also pointed out that Ban Ki-Moon has always maintained an impartial position on the Sahara issue. He has not and will not take sides on the issue of Western Sahara. He added that the UN stance on the issue has not changed and that the world bodys facilitation of the negotiating process is based on the principles of the United Nations and the relevant Security Council resolutions. We seek to encourage the parties to negotiate without precondition and in good faith to find a mutually acceptable political solution. As mediators in the talks between the different sides in the conflict, we remain faithful to UN principles and the Security Councils resolutions, Ban Ki-Moon said according to Dujarric. In a document distributed Monday afternoon to the press accredited to the UN, Stephane Dujarric, reiterated that Ban Ki-moon regretted the misunderstanding around the term occupation he used during his trip in Tindouf on March 5. He explained again in what circumstances he used this word and that it was neither premeditated nor intentional. This was a spontaneous personal reaction, the UN document states, adding that the UN position has not changed and that the UN Secretary General has at no time of his trip to North Africa suggested or indicated a change in the UNs approach to the conflict over the Western Sahara. The wording of the document as well as the spokesmans statement show there is desire on the part of the UN Chief to appease the tension he triggered by his undiplomatic remarks. Moroccan authorities and people had firmly responded to Bans remarks. Over three million Moroccans took to the streets to protest these comments and the Government adopted a set of measures including the removal of dozens of civilian and political personnel of the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO. Several world powers, including France, the United States, Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council reiterated support to Rabats stand in this longstanding regional dispute and to the Morocco-proposed autonomy plan for the Sahara deemed as serious, realistic and credible. The UN Chiefs remarks had prompted the State Department to issue a statement reiterating that the US considers Moroccos autonomy plan serious, realistic and credible, and a potential approach that could satisfy the aspirations of the people in the Western Sahara to run their own affairs in peace and dignity. Moroccan authorities are eager to scale up economic exchanges to their full potential with Cote dIvoire even though trade between the two partners has more than doubled over a short period of time. For Mohammed Abbou, Moroccos Minister of Foreign Trade, Cote dIvoire and Morocco can do much better even though trade between the two countries has known a significant increase ever since President Ouattara and King Mohammed VI have propelled ties between the two partners. The level of trade exchanges remains below the two countries capacities, said Abbou who is leading a Moroccan delegation to the second edition of Abidjan International Trade Fair (March 24 to April 5.) From 2010 to 2014, trade between the two countries moved up from $80 million to $120 million and it further increased to $200 million last year. A number of agreements were signed on the sidelines of the trade fair, including a cooperation agreement between the Ivorian Chamber of Commerce and Maroc Export, Moroccos center of exports promotion. Another agreement was signed between Maroc Export and the Ivorian national export and Logistics Company. These agreements will enable Moroccan exporters to have access to an integrated logistical offer in the Ivorian market. The agreements will also enable SMEs to enjoy supportive measure to establish in both countries. Cote dIvoire has become Moroccos sixth trading partner and occupies the 12th spot of Moroccos suppliers. Morocco on the other hand cruised to the first rank as the first investor in Cote dIvoire. King Mohammed VI had visited the West African country three times over the past recent years and each visit was crowned by the signing of an array of cooperation accords. For its second edition, Abidjan International Trade Fair is celebrating Morocco as guest of honor. Scores of Moroccan companies are taking part in the exhibition. French intelligence agencies are recruiting informants in Morocco and other Maghreb countries part of efforts to beef-up their anti-terrorism squads as terrorist threats continue to loom on the country in the aftermath of the Paris attacks of last November 13. After the Paris attacks, the French Ministry of Defense decided to be more vigilant and to increase its intelligence workforce to be more efficient in the fight against terrorism, reported Moroccan daily in Arabic Al Ahdath, on Wednesday. Last Novembers attacks have revealed many flaws in the French intelligence system, the daily commented. Moroccos intelligence services came under the spotlight after they helped French security services to neutralize Abdelhamid Abaoud, the Paris attacks ringleader who was hiding in a rundown at Saint Denis, a suburb of the French capital. More recently, Moroccan intelligence services proved their efficiency again one week before the Brussels attacks as they had warned Belgian authorities that IS was planning attacks on the countrys sensitive installations, including nuclear. Bernard Cazeneuve, the French Interior Minister, has reportedly approved the proposal to recruit Moroccan intelligence agents. Moroccan Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad and Head of Moroccos internal intelligence service Abdellatif Hammouchi, who is also Chief of General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), paid Wednesday a work visit to neighboring Spain. During this trip, the two top security Moroccan officials met with Spanish Interior minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz and Security Secretary of State Martinez Fransico. On this occasion, the Moroccan and Spanish officials praised the excellent and exemplary cooperation ties existing between the security services of the two countries thanks to the friendship binding King Mohammed VI and King Felipe VI. In a joint statement released after the meeting, the two countries delegations expressed great satisfaction at the efficiency and positive results reached at the operational level particularly in the fight against terrorism and organized crime. Regarding the fight against terrorism, the Moroccan and Spanish top security officials hailed the bilateral cooperation based on a sound sustained intelligence exchange and joint operations that led to the dismantling of many terrorist cells, including those that recruit and send foreign terrorist fighters to hotbeds of tension. They also reviewed the efforts made in the fight against drug trafficking, underscoring the efficiency of the measures that helped to reduce drastically drug trafficking activities using small planes over the Strait of Gibraltar. Regarding police cooperation, the two delegations renewed their satisfaction at the quality of cooperation set between the security services of both countries through Moroccan-Spanish police centers in Tangier and Algeciras, a cooperation which sets out a successful partnership model. In matters of migration, both parties, fully aware of the growing scale of this issue, reiterated their determination to jointly work out a comprehensive approach integrating security, humanitarian and development components. The Spanish Interior Minister hailed on this occasion the human approach of Moroccos new migration policy which combines the regularization with integration of migrants, in addition to the protection of vulnerable people. The Moroccan and Spanish security officials also tackled the security challenges facing the Mediterranean region and terror threats in Sahel. They agreed to enhance regional cooperation and collective action to counter growing terror danger. The Moroccan delegation visited the Complex of Spanish national police of Canillas and the Headquarters of General Directorate of Civil Guard wherein Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad was decorated with Grand Cross of Merit medal in recognition for his efforts to foster friendship and cooperation ties between Morocco and Spain. EDDIE TANAGO | Campaign Coordinator, Act Now! GENEVA - THE Papua New Guinea governments human rights record and its failure to protect the interests of customary landowners is under the spotlight in Switzerland this week. Community advocacy group Act Now! is in Geneva briefing United Nations diplomats on the SABL land grab, illegal logging and experimental seabed mining. The PNG government must appear before the United Nations Human Rights Council in May as part of a process called a Universal Periodic Review. The United Nations will be looking at our governments human rights record so we are here in Geneva to make sure the international community is fully briefed on issues affecting people in PNG and particularly customary landowners. Dont treat me unfairly. You wouldnt like me when Ive been treated unfairly. Photo: Darren Hauck/Getty Images After Donald Trump started making noise about a potential third-party run last summer, the Republican National Committee scrambled to neutralize the threat. They drafted a loyalty pledge binding all GOP candidates to support the partys eventual nominee and cajoled Trump into signing his name. In retrospect, the idea that you could solve a problem like the Donald with a little contract probably has Reince Priebus laughing until he cries. Trump has always had some trouble with commitment. The moment he took the partys loyalty oath he offered himself a loophole: He would support the nominee so long as the GOP treated him fairly. On Tuesday night, CNNs Anderson Cooper asked Trump if he still planned to abide by the pledge at a town hall in Milwaukee. No, I dont anymore, Trump said. I have been treated very unfairly. Among the front-runners grievances was the fact that Ted Cruz had secured more delegates in Louisiana, even though Trump had won the state. Trumps loyalty pledge committed him to the rules of the partys nominating process, and Cruzs seduction of unbound delegates is very much within those rules. But Trump argued that the partys law comes second to the peoples will: Fairness means the person with the most votes wins. This has profound implications for the process going forward. Barring the oft-predicted but never realized collapse of Trumps popularity, he will go into the convention with more pledged delegates and votes than any other individual candidate. But if he has not secured a majority of all delegates, the conventions rules would allow the GOP to nominate someone who isnt reviled by three out of four American women. Trump has already suggested that such a move would be illegitimate so illegitimate, it would provoke riots from his hordes of aggrieved supporters. Now he seems to have made that stance official. But Trump wasnt the only one to renege on the RNCs contract Tuesday night. While Ted Cruz and John Kasich were not as blunt in their renunciations, both refused to renew their commitment. Im not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family, Cruz said, when Cooper asked him about the pledge. Last week, Trump threatened to spill the beans about Cruzs wife over Twitter, then retweeted an image that suggested Mrs. Cruz is physically unattractive. Meanwhile, the Donalds fans used the platform to ridicule Heidi Cruz for her history of depression. Its understandable, then, that Cruz would have trouble saying the words I promise to support Donald Trump right now. Kasichs newfound reluctance is more baffling. I got to see what happens, the Ohio governor told CNN. If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country, and dividing the country, I cant stand behind them. Whats odd about Kasichs remarks is that his campaign was likening Trump to Hitler way back in November. At the final Republican debates, Kasich and Trumps other rivals painted the front-runner as a secret liberal con man who doesnt respect the Constitution. And yet all were willing to undermine their own arguments by pledging to support him. One reason Kasich may have shifted is that third-party challenges arent just for anti-Establishment insurgents anymore. Over the past month, various #NeverTrump conservatives have discussed the possibility of launching a third-party challenge if Trump gets the Republican nod, just to offer principled conservatives a place to register their protest. Kasichs path to the GOP nomination is unclear, but hed make a decent standard-bearer for Republicans who feel humiliated by Trumps rise. One oft-touted obstacle to any Republican going third-party is that 12 states have filing deadlines before the Republican National Convention. Thus, pundits have speculated that a GOP candidate would have to jump ship before his prospects for winning the party nod had been reduced to zero. But that assumes that Trump, Cruz, or Kasich would be deluded enough to think they actually had a chance to win an American election running outside the two-party system. The point of a third-party bid for any of these candidates wouldnt be to win the election, but to unilaterally deny the partys nominee any hope of securing the Oval Office. The point is disloyalty to use your political power to thwart the partys treacherous turn. And, at least in the case of Trump, getting on the ballot in a handful of states would probably be sufficient to achieve that end. Who knows if any of these candidates mean what they say. Its in all of their interests to raise questions about their loyalty at this juncture. Trumps comments will make the party pooh-bahs sweat a little more when theyre deciding how many arms they can twist in Cleveland. The campaigns of Cruz and Kasich depend on propagating the idea that Trump is incapable of unifying the party. One tell-all from an ex-Trump staffer this week suggested that the mogul had too much faith in the American people to think hed actually win when he first launched his campaign. Maybe the Donald just wants to maximize his leverage, extract a contract to cover the White House in gaudy gold-plating, and rename it Trump Tower D.C. The truth is, no one knows how all of this will play out. Someone get Reince Priebus a Klonopin. Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakroui. The intelligence failures of Belgian officials are coming under scrutiny in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks, as are the apparent gaps in information-gathering and law-enforcement cooperation among European countries. One such oversight trickled out when Dutch security minister Ard van der Steur, speaking before his countrys lawmakers, had said the FBI warned the Netherlands that Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui the brothers who blew themselves up in the metro station and the airport, respectively had ties to terrorism. But on Wednesday, van der Steur offered an interesting correction: Nope, actually not the FBI, but the New York City Police Department had notified Dutch authorities about the brothers. The NYPD apparently did so on March 16, a little less than a week before the Brussels attacks. The New York Times says no official has said how or why our cops even knew about the el-Bakraoui brothers, or what prompted the force to contact Dutch police. (Daily Intelligencer has reached out to the NYPD for comment, and well update if we hear back.) It sounds like the Dutch might also have been a bit confused as to why a city police department had access to such intel and just assumed it came from the FBI. Per the NL Times, an English-language Dutch news site: The Dutch liaison at the embassy in Washington received the message from another big American investigative authority, namely the Intelligence Division of the New York Police Department, Van der Steur wrote. As usual, the liaison forwarded this information to the National Police without specifying the origin. It was then assumed in the Netherlands that the information came from the FBI. Dutch authorities say they passed along the NYPDs warning about the el-Bakraouis at a meeting with Belgian authorities March 17 though Belgian officials deny that report. Ibrahim el-Bakraoui was deported to the Netherlands from Turkey last summer, after Turkish authorities had detained him in June as he tried to cross into Syria. Turkey said it had alerted Belgian officials that he had radical ties and tried to turn him over to Belgian police, but Belgium did not heed those warnings. Ibrahim el-Bakraoui was sent back to Europe, where he was free to travel anywhere. Hes not mad, just dissapointed. Photo: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images Half of the American electorate wants to ban all Muslims from entering the country, according to a Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday. Even if Donald Trumps campaign peaks tomorrow and he never makes it a single inch closer to the Oval Office, he will have done lasting damage to our politics. Trumps demagoguery has inspired millions of Americans to indulge their most wrongheaded intuitions about minority groups in their midst. He has shifted the terms of respectable debate to the point where Ted Cruz a man who has called for armed patrols of Muslim neighborhoods, and whose top foreign-policy adviser believes that Obamas White House is teeming with stealth jihadists has become the Republican Partys moderate alternative. But Trump did not do this by himself. What was the subtext of the Ground Zero mosque controversy, which inspired the outrage of so many right-wing media figures and politicians, if not that Muslim-Americans were an inherent threat to all real America holds sacred? In a newly published interview with the Atlantics Jeffrey Goldberg, President Obama puts his finger on the absurd position mainstream Republicans have put themselves in: On the one hand, they condemn the president for refusing to frame Americas counter-terrorism efforts as a clash of civilizations; on the other, they condemn Trump for taking the idea of an existential conflict between irreconcilable ways of life to its logical endpoint. Im amused when I watch Republicans claim that Trumps language is unacceptable, and ask, How did we get here? We got here in part because the Republican base had been fed this notion that Islam is inherently violent, that this is who these folks are. And if youve been hearing that a lot, and then somebody shows up on the scene and says, well, the logical conclusion to civilizational conflict is we try to make sure that were not destroyed internally by this foreign civilization, thats what you get. Theres nothing too surprising in Obamas remarks, but its encouraging to see him address the threat of radical Republican extremism. Joseph Stalin, hero of the working class. Photo: Buyenlarge/Getty Images Every Marxist government in history has been a repressive nightmare. Marxists aside from the ones who defend the remaining Marxist regimes consider this a strange coincidence that has no bearing on Marxist ideology. I recently pointed this out, in light of the resurgence of Marxist thought among some left-wing intellectual circles. In an essay in In These Times, Tyler Zimmer writes what he purports to be a response, but that in fact confirms my point for me. The problem with Marxism, I argue, lies in its class-based model of economic rights. Liberalism believes in political rights for everybody, regardless of the content of their ideas. Marxists believe political rights belong only to those arguing on behalf of the oppressed i.e., people who agree with Marxists. Zimmer begins by insisting that self-described Marxist regimes such as the Soviet Union, Maoist China, Cuba, North Korea, etc., all of whose leaders were immersed in Marxist thought, were not real Marxists at all. (Zimmer: [T]hese authoritarian monstrosities had virtually nothing to do with [what] Marx himself said or did.) Zimmer proceeds to explain why the liberal idea that everybody should enjoy the same right to express their political idea is a failure, and lays out the Marxist concept of what free speech should really mean: Marxists value free speech because they are committed to building a society where all can decide matters of public concern democratically, as genuine equals. Thus, the Marxist has a consistent way of explaining why speech that aims to dominate or marginalize others should be challenged rather than protected: it is contrary to the very values animating our commitment to free speech in the first place. This explains why, to quote Jelani Cobb, the freedom to offend the powerful is not equivalent to the freedom to bully the relatively disempowered. It also provides a principled, consistent basis for opposing and disrupting the public acts of openly racist organizations that seek to subordinate, harm, scapegoat or marginalize others. [T]he (socialist) goal of cooperating and governing public life together as full equals gives us a principled criterion for deciding which forms of expression deserve protection and which dont. Zimmer is articulating the standard left-wing critique of political liberalism, and all illiberal left-wing ideologies, Marxist and otherwise, follow the same basic structure. These critiques reject the liberal notion of free speech as a positive good enjoyed by all citizens. They categorize political ideas as being made on behalf of either the oppressor class or the oppressed class. (Traditional Marxism defines these classes in economic terms; more modern variants replace or add race and gender identities.) From that premise, they proceed to their conclusion that political advocacy on behalf of the oppressed enhances freedom, and political advocacy on behalf of the oppressor diminishes it. It does not take much imagination to draw a link between this idea and the Gulag. The gap between Marxist political theory and the observed behavior of Marxist regimes is tissue-thin. Their theory of free speech gives license to any party identifying itself as the authentic representative of the oppressed to shut down all opposition (which, by definition, opposes the rights of the oppressed). When Marxists reserve for themselves the right to decide which forms of expression deserve protection and which dont, the result of the deliberation is perfectly obvious. In the contemporary United States, these ideas are confined by the fact that only in certain communities (like college campuses) does the illiberal left have the power to implement its vision, and even there it is constrained by the U.S. Constitution. If illiberal ideas were to gain more power, the scale of their abuses would widen. For a small island nation, Puerto Rico has racked up a lot of debt. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images Puerto Rico, where late, great Republican candidate Marco Rubio earned favor, is on the verge of economic collapse. The country is $70 billion in debt and is relying on U.S. officials to help come up with a plan that will neither crash its economy nor upset its creditors, who want their fair share of the payout. The island is facing a May 1 deadline to make a $422 million bond payment, and another $2 billion is due July 1. The Republican-led committee in charge of fixing Puerto Rico circulated the first draft of its bill on Tuesday, and to no ones surprise given the complexity of the issue, it did not make everyone happy. In its current form, the bill would require the island to reach an agreement with creditors to restructure its debt in a manageable way. It would also establish a board of U.S. officials to oversee Puerto Ricos finances, accounting, and spending. If the country couldnt come to an agreement with debtors, the bill would allow it to file for a court-supervised debt restructuring process based on key statutes within U.S. bankruptcy law, Reuters writes. In other words, as is the case when an entity goes bankrupt in the U.S., the country could force its creditors to take reduced payments. (Such a stipulation was unexpected, as creditors and House Republicans have opposed allowing Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy.) Creditors were unhappy with the draft because of the whole reduced-payment thing, and a U.S. Treasury spokesperson said the bill fails to provide a lasting, workable solution. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi criticized the sweeping powers of the oversight board that would be put in place under the bill, and a financial adviser to many of Puerto Ricos creditors told Reuters the bill is fiscally irresponsible. The Natural Resources Committee said that retroactively adding territories to the federal bankruptcy code is ill-conceived and would undermine the rule of law. Puerto Rico isnt a huge fan either. Pedro Pierluisi, the countrys Democratic delegate in Congress, objects to a portion of the proposed bill that says the U.S.-led oversight board would be terminated after five years of balanced budgets. I believe this is too long, and that three years is a more appropriate time frame, he said in a statement. Hed also like the bill to make it clear that the Board would assist Puerto Ricos elected leaders, not displace them a valid concern from one of Puerto Ricos elected leaders. So its back to the drawing board for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, which is expected to release an official draft of the bill April 11. Shortly after Trump himself defended his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, against allegations of assault, yet another violent incident occurred at a Trump rally in Janesville, Wisconsin. A video posted to the Janesville Community Page shows a confrontation between a 15-year-old blonde girl protesting the rally and a white-haired man. The girl, who police say was groped just before the incident, appears to confront the man and attempts to punch him before an onlooker sprays her in the face with pepper spray. FIRST ON JANESVILLE COMMUNITY PAGE:Protester throws a punch and gets sprayed at #Trump rally in #JanesvilleVideo courtesy of Chris Conry Posted by Janesville Community Page on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 A reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal was standing near the scene and managed to capture some stills of the incident. Its unclear whos wielding the pepper spray in question, but police say the victim received medical treatment. This ended with the blonde woman punching that man, then getting pepper spray thrown in her face (and on me). pic.twitter.com/0udt7kSn76 Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) March 29, 2016 No photo of the punch, but here's a photo of the pepper spray. Woman received medical treatment, police said. pic.twitter.com/1EOyBbAWQz Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) March 29, 2016 The Janesville Police Department said in a statement that its looking for two suspects: one for the sexual assault and one for the pepper spray. A 19-year-old woman standing near the victim was hit with secondhand spray and was also treated at a local hospital. This is the most recent in a string of violent incidents that have occurred at Trump rallies across the country, some involving bystanders and others involving journalists, and Trump himself said hed look into paying the legal fees for a supporter who sucker-punched a protester in the face back in March. Suffice to say, its probably a good thing the Secret Service wont let voters bring guns to the Republican National Convention. This week, the website Genius caught flack for something. Commentary? Abuse? Something in-between? Depends on whom you ask. Genius which got its start as Rap Genius, a tool for annotating lyrics recently unveiled a tool that lets users annotate, and view annotations on, any website. As you might imagine: Some people did not like that. This particular minor controversy began last week, when blogger Ella Dawson wrote a post on her blog about using the word suffering in conjunction with herpes. A writer named Sara Morrison apparently a social acquaintance of Dawsons whod been criticizing the post on Twitter then used Geniuss tool to annotate it. Geniuss newly minted managing editor, Leah Finnegan, joined in with four annotations of her own. The annotations are still visible, if you want to read them; its important to note that theyre critical, but not even Dawson has described them as abusive. Nevertheless, she wasnt particularly pleased, and followed up the original post with another, called How News Genius Silences Writers, about how viewing her blog through the lens of the Genius tool felt like discovering graffiti over some of my most personal work. Genius, she argued, has the potential to intimidate and silence marginalized voices A tool that allows my abusive ex-boyfriend to interact with me and my content is a tool that should not exist. (The ex-boyfriends annotations are hypothetical; Dawson is imagining a worst-case scenario for Geniuss use.) Genius users, of course, annotated this post as well; a few days later, Slate published a dramatically sub-headlined article (A new tool wants to annotate everything on the Internet. But at what cost?). And then, yesterday, a U.S. congresswoman got involved. More on that in a minute. Two things might help contextualize this debate. The first is Geniuss particular place in the media-internet firmament: The company is attempting to transform itself from a slick lyrics site into a platform for annotating everything, news and essays included. Maybe more important, its also trying to shed an early, and deserved, reputation as a company of brogrammers. Finnegan, a former New York Times and Gawker editor known for her smart and caustic media criticism, was hired to help usher along this transformation; in the weeks that shes been working at Genius, shes mostly been annotating articles from the Times and other institutional media outlets. (A few days prior to the Dawson annotations, Finnegan had critically annotated an article on NYMags the Cut, causing another, smaller Twitter fuss.) The second is the technical implementation of Geniuss annotations. Genius works when users insert its web address genius.it before any URL. This allows a person to highlight passages and attach notes to them. For instance, if you wanted to annotate this post, you could add genius.it/ before the URL. So, and this is worth saying explicitly: Geniuss software does not change, update, or affect the website itself. The various files that make up the product you get when you visit that website at its given URL are left totally unaffected. This is where the discussion of public space and control on the web gets a bit messy. Blog posts like Dawsons are public, and are unquestionably subject to scrutiny and critique, as Dawson herself admits. At the same time, Dawson is under no obligation to provide a space for such a discussion to occur. Generally, these two concerns are easily reconcilable, as the post and response would be silo-ed off from one another: the blog post on WordPress, the ensuing discussion in a separate forum, like Twitter. (Comments sections are an exception, but, crucially, no one is obligated by law or custom to include a comments section on his or her site.) Genius upholds the distinction between original post and reaction, most clearly on a technical level: Morrisons annotations on Dawsons post are hosted on Geniuss servers and Geniuss platform, not on Dawsons. But Geniuss interface blurs that line by presenting itself as a discussion layered directly on top of the original creation, albeit one out of the creators control. Worse, it doesnt provide an easy way for website owners to prevent Genius from operating on their pages. (It has offered certain editorial tools to publishers, including to Dawson, though the company hasnt publicly said what those are or how much control they provide.) You can see why people might freak out, especially on a small personal blog: In a vague but understandable sense, Genius grafts a comments section onto a page that might not otherwise have one. This might come across as a bit pushy, if not creepy, if youve never encountered it before. But theres also really nothing wrong with it, except in the this feels weird sense: No one is under any obligation to use the Genius tool and, in fact, until recently, not many people in this particular corner of the media internet have. Genius should make it easier for sites to opt out of its annotations, sure, but the entire experience is opt-in already: You have to install the Genius browser extension, or click on a different URL, to access annotations, effectively achieving the same kind of silo and control that has traditionally existed on personal sites. (Creepier than Geniuss conceptual model third-party annotations are, after all, as old as writing itself, and a long sought-after feature of the open web is the idea that, as developer Vijith Assar puts it, the content and mechanisms [of online annotations] could end up owned by a single for-profit tech startup. Assar suggests an open-source software project, or something handled by a standards body.) Still: Dawsons follow-up blog post raised the specter of online harassment on the Genius platform. (Lets pause to note, again, that no one has accused Morrison or Finnegan of harassment, merely of empty criticism and insensitivity, and the concern over abuse has stayed entirely in the hypothetical mode.) On Monday, U.S. representative Katherine Clark (D-MA) wrote a letter to Geniuss CEO, Tom Lehman, expressing concern over the service following the Slate article on the controversy. Developers have a responsibility to consider how their platforms can be used to perpetrate abuse, she wrote. (Clark wrote a similarly concerned letter about the now-defunct app Stolen, which let people own real social-media accounts.) .@slate has a point https://t.co/6FdfBgYGc3 I asked @genius to consider how they are enabling abuse & harassment pic.twitter.com/gqqJqujQB8 Katherine Clark (@RepKClark) March 29, 2016 Clarks letter, maybe unsurprisingly, seems to misunderstand the story (Genius hasnt yet enabled abuse or harassment) and how Genius works it doesnt inject [] comments directly into protected content. Though, as noted above, the interface is easy to misinterpret if youre not versed in its technical implementation. Still, Clarks letter got a sincere response. Genius quickly responded with a statement saying that every single annotation published by users is read by a mix of staff and volunteer moderators on the service, and that they have no tolerance for abusive behavior on the service. The company also today introduced an omnipresent Report Abuse button that sits underneath every annotation. Im glad Genius responded to public pressure and built a reporting feature for abusive annotations, Ella Dawson said in an email. But I also find it hard to believe that they take the potential for harassment and abuse on their platform as seriously as they say they do when they launched their product without a tool to report abuse at all, and only added one after a congresswoman wrote a letter. (The features introduction shortly after Clarks letter is likely a coincidence; feature rollouts rarely happen in a matter of hours.) Dawson added that one feature was still missing: There is still no way for me to disable annotations on my own website, which is all I asked for. There are people actively writing code to break Geniuss product on their sites, and that should be a huge sign to Genius that their product is invasive and unwanted. The question at this point becomes one of scale: The News Genius annotator and its community, in its nascent state, is small enough that it can monitor all of its content easily. But as the service grows it does, after all, want to be the de facto discussion forum for every page on the world wide web its not clear how to scale up safety measures. Moreover, as Genius becomes more widely adopted, its separation from the articles its annotating will become less clear: If everyone uses Genius (as everyone uses Twitter), avoiding its annotations would become more difficult, and the threshold for seeing potentially abusive comments would be much lower. Till then, its just another thing on the internet that you never need to look at. You know the face. Its the one you unconsciously make when your one friend shows up and wants to catch up on your life even though they didnt invite you to their wedding. Or when your parents present you with an awkward gift at dinner. Or when your frenemy decides to make a passing comment on the upcoming election thats both horrifying and ridiculous. Its You didnt meets Are you serious? meets Youve got to be kidding all combined in one snide expression. This face, as it turns out, has a name: Its the not face, according to a group of researchers who have just published a paper in the journal Cognition on the expression. Whats more, they claim the not face has a purpose beyond expressing distaste for the person or subject at hand. It may help explain the evolution of language, by acting as a grammatical modifier that is, a sound or facial expression or sign that has some grammatical function, which helps to distinguish animal communication from human language, lead researcher Aleix Martinez, a cognitive scientist and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Ohio State University, told the Washington Post. More specifically, Martinez and his colleagues think that not face presents a question mark to its viewers: That thing you just said made no sense and didnt fit into the listeners expectations. To study this, the researchers rounded up 184 Ohio State University students and asked them to respond to questions in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and American Sign Language whatever language they considered their native one. Researchers would ask questions (one example: A study shows that tuition would increase 30 percent. What do you think?) and students would instinctively contort their faces into disgust, contempt, and anger in other words, the not face. Photo: courtesy of The Ohio State University The not face is cross-cultural, but perhaps the most fascinating faces for the researchers to watch were those of the students who communicated using American Sign Language. ASL speakers tend to act out their emotions and exaggerate movements to communicate their thoughts and feelings, and their not face extended an already visually powerful emotion even further. In fact, we saw that in sign language in particular, sometimes the sign for not, which is usually signed with the hand, was omitted, and that facial expression of negation was used instead, Martinez told the Post. In some cases the only way youd know the sentence was negative was that facial expression. Turns out our usage of grammar question-mark-like quizzical looks, breaths taken for commas, the ilk are sort of a random human quirk, though studies have suggested birds might do a similar thing when theyre conversing. Martinez thinks the not face evolved to serve as a visual marker of negation or hypocrisy. Its not the first time this year that scientists have attempted to figure out if our faces can quantify something more than whatever theyre emoting; back in February, Science of Us reported on how resting bitch face got some serious analysis. But what do all of these faces mean? Martinez & Co. hypothesize that conversations have evolved to be much more complex than an exchange of words and ideas, and that your face and visual perception have a huge role in adding depth to a conversation. Researchers have a lot of work to do before they can determin what your face is trying to say, but rest assured, your face is probably already doing most of the talking here. Pierre Berge Photo: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images/2014 Bertrand Rindoff Petroff Pierre Berge is making headlines outside France for his comments about Islamic fashion on Europe 1 radio today. Radio France Internationale reports that Yves Saint Laurents longtime business and life partner addressed the phenomenon of designers creating collections specifically geared toward the Muslim world. (Notable recent examples include Dolce & Gabbanas hijab and abaya collection and capsules from Uniqlo, H&M, and DKNY.) Berge said he was scandalized by the concept. Creators should have nothing to do with Islamic fashion, he told the interviewer. Designers are there to make women more beautiful, to give them their freedom, not to collaborate with this dictatorship which imposes this abominable thing by which we hide women and make them live a hidden life. Renounce the cash and have some principles, he said, addressing those brands. Berge added that I am really not an Islamophobe, citing the fact that he lives in Morocco the majority of the year. Berges comments come at the same time as similar sentiments from another prominent French designer. Agnes Trouble of agnes b told Le Parisien that she would never design such a collection, saying, There is something obscene about offering clothes to rich women from countries where many are fleeing bombs trying to keep their veils on their heads. We should not normalize clothing which is significant in the way women are seen. KEITH JACKSON PAPUA New Guineas national broadcaster which has continued to struggle for stability and effectiveness despite being a significant recipient of aid and assistance for the past 40 years is reported to be on the verge of collapse. According to PNG Blogs the writing has been on the wall for the National Broadcasting Corporation for some time but it has worsened since the end of the tenure of previous managing director Memafu Kapera. Referring to the NBC as the most abused and politicised of all the government entities, PNG Blogs says the latest crisis was triggered by the chairman and acting managing director attempting to remove members of the current executive management despite them having valid employment contracts. Yeah the casting is definitely intentional. People just don't want to look at context, intentionality, or really anything that takes an ounce of critical thought. I mean the show is a freakin' rap musical, but people still can't grasp why it might not be cute to cast a ton of white folks. Edited at 2016-03-30 06:08 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Why are only poc playing the founding fathers? I never knew why, I thought it was kinda weird at first because the founding fathers were basically slave owners and people were saying the musical wasn't actually about the historical figures, the play looks cool but would love to know the backstory. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm kinda surprise that it took almost a year before someone decide to make a fuss over it. Reply Parent Thread Link lol white people feel 1% of what poc goes through and they lose their damn minds. but poc complain about the same thing and it's all you guys have affirmative action! it's not historically accurate to have poc on a show with flying dragons! racism is over there is a black president! white masters were nice to their "interns"! Reply Parent Thread Link Lmaooooooo where has this dude been? "Caucasian only" casting calls are the fucking norm! Privilege is one hell of a drug Reply Thread Link OT but every time i see your icon it makes me happy. the end of s2 always gives me everything Reply Parent Thread Link What if they put an ad out that said, Whites only need apply? UHHH EXCEPT THEY DO AND ALWAYS HAVE????????????????? Or they disguise it by saying they're looking for "fair-skinned" actors or whatever. Is this guy fucking kidding me. This must be the stupidest shit I've ever heard. Reply Thread Link also btw You cannot advertise showing that you have a preference for one racial group over another. to be more accurate it's showing a preference for ALL racial groups except white. lmao Reply Parent Thread Link if it's part of a huge cultural plot point of the design execution, yes you can, bitches! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link good fucking bye. and EXACTLY at your note op, where was this outrage when they only wanted white girls to audition for katniss? miss me on that shit especially when they're ALWAYS looking for white people Reply Thread Link boo fucking hoo Reply Thread Link uh, ok... poc can't have anything apparently Reply Thread Link but.......... there r a lot of casting calls that only ask 4 white ppl.......... Reply Thread Link Hmmmmm I wonder Reply Thread Link lmao iconic Reply Parent Thread Link oh man, I forget, who was the asshat responding to? Reply Parent Thread Link I did a post about that! http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/96240261.html Reply Parent Thread Link Crissle from "The Read" He was defending Sarah Silverman's blackface. Reply Parent Thread Link OMG this mess was tragic but amazing to watch Reply Parent Thread Link nnnn, this dude was white privilege in human form... Reply Parent Thread Link i haven't even seen the show or listened to the music but i know enough about it to know that this is ridiculous i'm tired of white people feeling like they're a minority group. i don't understand why people want to be oppressed so badly Reply Thread Link A lot of it is ignorance, but some people I know who are like that just want attention or think it gets them the "benefits" of being an oppressed group. Reply Parent Thread Link Equality feels like oppression to them. Reply Parent Thread Link Sadly this is exactly right. White people are so used to every single door being open to them that one closed door feels like the worst sort oppression for so many people. They don't understand that for poc closed doors are the norm. Reply Parent Thread Link this truth Reply Parent Thread Link yeppp Reply Parent Thread Link MTE. I'm white but seriously I've overheard so many white people feeling their hegemony threatened and that's what leads to people like Trump :/ Reply Parent Thread Link I'm white, from a racist white community, and the people who think they're a minority now are basically the same people voting for Trump who secretly love the KKK, and are afraid of whites being outnumbered one day or something. They know damn well they have white privilege, and will do anything they can to keep it that way. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i don't understand why people want to be oppressed so badly Because then they don't have to acknowledge their privilege, where that privilege comes from, and why it still exists. Reply Parent Thread Link just to add to everyone else's valid points: because they know they didn't have to struggle for anything so i get the feeling they want to show "oh hey! we struggle too! we have it sooo hard!" also if the attention is off them for a minute they get cranky Reply Parent Thread Link They're basically projecting their own stereotypes they have of POC ("POC cry 'racism' to get things they want) onto a process that has been inclusive to begin with. Like, people for real think "as a white person, I'll cry racism and I'll win the I Have a Dream lottery". Never mind that the actual stalled execution of justice (OR JUSTICE AT ALL) is steeped in nuance, risk, alienation, etc. Reply Parent Thread Link so like i thought about going to this even though i'm very white looking (mexican descent), but i didn't want to be the odd one out you know? honestly, i get the point they're trying to make by bringing up this reverse racism shit, but like come the fuck on guys white people got enough shows. no one gets mad when you see casting calls for black actors for porgy and bess and shit, right? they're up all the time on playbill, looking for different races. people are getting up in arms because every white teen hamilfan wants to be the next eliza or lafayette BUT THIS SHOW WASN'T MADE FOR YOU KIDS. if you're white and don't get why hamilton was cast the way it was, YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT OF THE SHOW. Reply Thread Link I also appreciate that their casting call says "no prior theater experience necessary." Idk if this is par for the course or what, but to me it acknowledges that POC don't get the same opportunities as white people, so it makes sure not to overlook talented individuals that havent been able to get their foot in the door. Reply Thread Link this!!! i was really happy to see this. instead they'll get a bunch of trust fund babies from the upper west side standing in line in their lululemon pants and capezio heels. Reply Parent Thread Link capezio makes heels? do you mean like character shoes? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yep, very true. Reply Parent Thread Link IA! It's great that they're accepting video submissions as well since not everyone lives in NY/LA/SF or has access to get there. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link ohmygodddddddd sit the fuck down with your ~persecuted white feelings. Reply Thread Link This is such a mess. You're allowed to ask for certain traits in applicants If it relates to the job Also isn't affirmative action legal in NY? Reply Thread Link Can't fucking handle it, they have to be in EVERY FUCKING ROOM DON'T THEY? Reply Thread Link ahahaha Reply Parent Thread Link In the room where it mothafuckin happeennnss Reply Parent Thread Link lmfao its sad though, when im in a space (outside of my home) where there are very few white people I feel so much more comfortable. It's like "jesus I can finally let my hair down". Reply Parent Thread Link same lmao this only applies to me with yt people too Reply Parent Thread Link This sounds neat. I wonder who they're thinking of casting. I think the film adaptation has one of Tom's best performances and probably the best acting Demi's ever done. Reply Thread Link I think the film adaptation has one of Tom's best performances and probably the best acting Demi's ever done ia especially the bold part Reply Parent Thread Link I miss Tom Cruise: The Actor. Tom Cruise: Glorified Stuntman needs to die. The Cruisaissance(?) needs to happen and he needs to leave Scientology . Reply Parent Thread Link the Cruisenaissance was supposed to start with him getting Steve Jobs. still angry about it Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i liked tom cruise a lot as a dramatic actor tbh. he's got this crazy intensity about him that offsets his pretty boy-ness idk why he just insists on doing brainless action movies now Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm so excited for this! I love A Few Good Men and if it goes well, it's an opening to getting more theatre into my home/life cuz I live far from Broadway. Reply Thread Link tom cruise used to be so pretty. Reply Thread Link Sorkin Describes What It's Like Working With David Fincher. It's Exactly How You Think It Is https://t.co/1zsPGuc0WZ pic.twitter.com/cNplMTpQuR pajiba (@pajiba) 30. Marz 2016 Reply Thread Link LOL you go David Fincher! Reply Parent Thread Link it really is, he has so many great movies he needs to do dramas again Reply Parent Thread Link I'm here for this. There's mass appeal thanks to the movie (which I think will be at its 25th anniversary!!! when it airs) and it's especially something for those who want to watch some theatre but don't like musicals. Reply Thread Link same all the courtroom scenes are so exciting and full of 'gotcha' moments, which never happens in real life but is so good to watch on screen Reply Parent Thread Link My favorite play is Streetcar, so I'd love them to do that. I'm seeing it in May with Scully and am super excited. The best play I've ever seen, though, is Long Day's Journey Into Night. I saw it in 2003 on my first trip to New York and the cast was beyond amazing (freaking Philip Seymour Hoffman, man!). It's really long though, so I doubt NBC would go for it. Reply Thread Link I am seeing Long Day's Journey into Night in May with Jessica Lange and Gabriel Byrne, I am fucking hyped since I have never seen it before and they are great (but I am jealous AF you got to see PSH). I was debating on seeing Streetcar, too, but I watched it in theaters when they aired a live version from London and it was sooooo OTT in a bad way. I wonder if it's different live, though. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm sure it's going to be amazing! I thought about seeing it, but MAN I still can feel the performances I saw (Brian Dennehy; Vanessa Redgrave; Robert Sean Leonard, along with PSH--I appreciated it at 16 but jfc at 28 I am even more thankful my parents took me to see it than I ever could've known then) and I feel like I still need more time to get them out of my head. lol. And yeah. I'm really not expecting Streetcar to be that great, but I love the show so much and I've never seen a professional production of it. I've lived through re-reading it, doing scene study of it, and watching the movie and it's been my favorite piece of art since I read it at 14. Reply Parent Thread Link how many hallways are they gonna have to build for this, though he loves the walk and talk way too much for this to work Reply Thread Link Robert Greenblatt seems to have forgotten that George Clooney did Fail Safe live on TV in 2000--long before NBC decided to do musicals live. And waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the verrrrrrrrrrrrrry beginning of the medium, EVERYTHING was live. But that's TV for you. "Not invented here/by me? Doesn't exist." Reply Thread Link So we're just doing this with more stuff now huh? Actually this sound pretty cool lol and I agree op A Raisin In The Sun would be great to see too! Reply Thread Link I'm here for more live acting, the musicals are too embarassing for me Reply Thread Link Oh my god I remember that back in the day. My first thought reading this was, "they should just get Jensen Ackles." XD Reply Parent Thread Link I did not know Jensen Ackles did theater! Reply Parent Thread Link I hope that this is 100% successful. And seriously, the casting better be spot on. Reply Thread Link Tom was great in this movie and Demi as well. I wish he'd play another collateral type character. He really shines in dramatic roles Reply Thread Link This movie and Magnolia were two of my favorite Tom Cruise roles. Collateral, too. Reply Thread Link He was fucking fantastic in Magnolia. I think that role might have taken a lot out of him, given the similarity between his character and real life (Philip Seymour Hoffman said everything after "I won't cry for you" in the deathbed scene was improvised). It's a career best and it's maddening only now are critics admitting he deserved the Oscar. Collateral is surely his most underrated. I think he was great in Rain Man as well, the film really rests on his shoulders. Reply Parent Thread Link Since February, major investors have predicted that oil prices were poised for a huge rally. Hedge funds and money managers piled into bets on rising oil prices, going long on the crude rally. Short sellers were squeezed, and the stampede become too much for many, resulting in a large liquidation of shorts. The short selling drove the rally, increasing oil prices by about 50 percent since early February. That has fueled optimism that the worst of the oil bust is over. And there is good reason to think that a rally is justified. U.S. oil production is off by about 600,000 barrels per day since the April 2015 peak. Disruptions in Nigeria and Iraq have caught the markets by surprise, knocking off another several hundred thousand barrels per day. Gasoline demand is at record highs in the United States, and OPEC is a few weeks away from meeting to discuss its production freeze deal, which may not cut into oversupply, but has nevertheless given the markets some hope. Related: Even Utilities Are Starting To Get Behind Community Solar But there are warning signs on the horizon. The fundamentals are still very weak. Inventories are at record highs in the U.S. and still rising, and global oil production continues to exceed demand. As I wrote last week, the rally could be overdone. Barclays backed that hypothesis up in a recent report, warning that several commodities could be poised for declines as the recent two-month price rally exceeds what the fundamentals suggest is merited. In other words, the reason that oil faces downside pricing risk is that there is a disconnect right now between the fundamentals and market sentiment. On the one hand, you have incredibly bullish speculators. John Kemp at Reuters writes hedge funds and money managers have cobbled together a near-record high in net-long positions as of March 22, as shorts were closed out and investors bet that oil prices were on their way up. Net-long positions have surged to the equivalent of almost 579 million barrels, double the volume of net-long positions recorded at the end of 2015. The last peak in net-long positions was 572 million barrels, about a month or so before oil prices began declining. For context, the record before that was the 626 million barrels in long positions posted in June 2014 when ISIS emerged and took over swathes of Iraqi territory. Related: Does Saudi Arabias Play For Market Share Make Sense? Barclays analyst Kevin Norrish says that commodities prices have surged in 2016, but the recent rush into bullish bets may have gone as far as they can realistically go. However, in the absence of any concerted fundamental improvements, those returns are unlikely to be repeated in the second quarter, making commodities vulnerable to a wave of investor liquidation, Norrish wrote in the banks latest report, referring to commodities in general, though that includes crude oil. Hedge funds may have overshot on the upside, meaning the risk of oil prices going in the other direction are now more pronounced. Key commodities markets such as oil and copper already face overhangs of excess production capacity and inventories, but also now face another obstacle in the recovery process, that of positioning, which is now approaching bullish extremes, Norrish said. Related: Oil Majors Only Replace 75% of Oil and Gas Produced in 2015 Just as the rally was supercharged by short sellers abandoning their positions, the oil markets are at risk of snapping back in the other direction in the next few weeks as net-long positions are undone. If speculators start to get the sense that the market is changing directions, they will start to unwind their net-long positions. But, of course, these things tend to move quickly. Once the herd starts to see the market heading down, a stampede for the exits could ensue. While it may seem like arcane market idiosyncrasies, the potential for speculators to shift their money back to the short side would have huge influence over the oil price. In fact, as Kemp of Reuters details in an interesting chart, oil prices and hedge fund positions are closely correlated. In short, oil prices will only rally when the fundamentals show much more of a balance, which appears to still be a few months away. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: One of the major disappointments for renewable energy in the last fifteen years has been the lack of progress on next generation nuclear reactors. While the Obama Administration strongly backed a new generation of nuclear power plants as little as five years ago, there has been little in the way of on the ground progress for nuclear power. The nuclear power plants that are under construction in the U.S. face a continual uphill battle from environmentalists and escalating construction costs, and the nations capital markets have proven skittish when asked to back the multi-billion dollar plants. Perhaps most importantly, the wholesale market for electrical power has been quite anemic, which is one of the factors behind the merger of nuclear giant Exelon and utility Pepco. (That deal incidentally has been one of the best investments of the New Year, as shares in Pepco were trading at a deep discount to the acquisition price right up until final approval of the merger was announced). Related: Oil Majors Only Replace 75% of Oil and Gas Produced in 2015 None of these factors bode well for the nuclear power industry or the prospect of new traditional nuclear plants. And that opens the way to alternatives like the one being proposed by Rolls Royce. Rolls Royce is suggesting that it can leverage its decades of experience building nuclear power plants for Royal Navy Submarines to build what are called Small Modular (Nuclear) reactors (SMRs). SMRs are an innovative concept in that they get around many of the problems associated with traditional reactors. Rather than having the reactor built onsite as a traditional construction project, the SMRs are built in a factory and then shipped to a site for installation as part of a larger facility. The process of making many reactors over and over again using the same techniques in a factory controlled setting has the potential to lower power generation costs for nuclear by at least 20 percent according to Rolls Royce. Related: Israels Game Changing Gas Discovery Dealt Another Blow Rolls Royce is not the inventor of the SMR concept, but the company is one of the few firms that can credibly agree to build the reactors. A long history of engineering excellence, in particular with submarine reactors, makes the firm a much more credible producer of SMRs than past proponents of the concept. That reality is compelling enough that it has the British government very interested. More on that in a moment though. The interesting thing about the Rolls SMR concept is that it is a big innovation on an old concept a trend that Europe has started to see recently. For instance, the German government has just finished a 20-year research project developing a prototype fusion reactor. Fusion power has the potential to be just as dangerous as nuclear power, yet its important to push forward with both technologies. Simpler technologies like solar power are also worth exploring, but a single SMR from Rolls is likely to be at least as cost-effective and far more space efficient than a comparable solar array. Related: Even Utilities Are Starting To Get Behind Community Solar Rolls has submitted designs to the government for SMRs capable of generating 220 MW, with the first SMR from the company requiring about 1.25 billion pounds and 10 years of work before it is ready to start generating power. At that point, costs and construction time would likely fall dramatically as more SMRs are produced. Given the potential benefits from SMR it is little wonder that the British government is interested. The most recent UK budget pledged an initial 30 million pounds for the development of initial SMR designs with a spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change saying: The SMR competition announced in the Budget has the potential to create an exciting opportunity for UK manufacturing. SMRs could offer potential for both economic growth and energy security, providing reliable, low carbon energy as the UK seeks to cost-effectively decarbonise while ensuring security of supply. By Michael McDonald of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The United States and Canada work well together. The countries share the worlds largest and most comprehensive trade relationship, exchanging more than $2 billion per day in goods and services; the U.S. is Canadas largest foreign investor and Canada is the third-largest foreign investor in the U.S. The partnership clearly isnt broken, but it may need some mending as bilateral and international gas trade stands to complicate matters in short order. As with most current global natural gas issues, we must first look back to the shale gas revolution. In 2005 just as hydraulic fracturing was finding its feet in the Barnett shale piped supplies from Canada met nearly 17 percent of total U.S. natural gas demand. By years end 2015 with U.S. production some 50 percent higher imports from Canada dipped below 10 percent of consumption. For Canadian producers, rising U.S. production is just one of a series of issues in what is a multifaceted and evolving problem: they struggle to compete. Of course, the resulting, and thus far persistent low prices are another. Canadian natural gas deliverability has taken a large hit as prices have moved below the supply cost of most new natural gas developments. Total production dipped slightly in 2015, though Alberta and British Columbia (BC) provinces the Montney and Duvernay shales proved resilient. Related: Oil Rally Unwinds Ahead Of Inventory Data While non-core plays will continue to struggle, the NGL-rich and relatively low-cost gas from the Montney looks to drive a rebound in 2016. Led by Petronas (Progress Energy Canada), Canadian Natural Resources, ARC Resources, and Encana as well as smaller-cap producers like Painted Pony Petroleum, marketed production from Alberta and BC is projected to grow approximately 2 and 6 percent respectively this year. Across all provinces and territories, Canadian production is slated to rise nearly 2.5 percent, to just over 15.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). For its part, U.S. producers have their own Montney or six. The colossal Marcellus shale, which stretches across much of the Appalachian Basin, outputs more than 17.3 Bcf/d and counting. The neighboring Utica shale is no slouch either; production is up to 3.6 Bcf/d, 88 percent higher than a year ago. Whats more, theyre moving north. Related: Which Energy Companies Are Most At Risk From The Spring Redetermination? Positioned mere miles away from Canadas hungrier eastern markets, cheap gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales is increasingly replacing supplies from Western Canada. Gas shipments to eastern Canada from western Canadian drillers are down more than 50 percent since 2005; U.S. cargoes have doubled in that time. Over the next decade, the flow is likely to more than double again. Spectra Energys Atlantic Bridge and NEXUS projects will soon (2017) deliver over 1.6 Bcf/d of U.S. shale to high-demand markets including Chicago, Ohio, New England, Ontario, and Atlantic Canada. TransCanadas South-to-North project plans to reverse the flow of the Iroquois line by late-2017, sending 0.65 Bcf/d to Canadas eastern provinces. Energy Transfers $4.2 billion Rover pipeline will carry 3.25 Bcf/d of Marcellus and Utica gas through the Midwest to Enbridge and DTEs Vector pipeline, where it will cross the border into Ontario. Related:Will Weak Fundamentals Force Saudis To Action With its domestic eastern and U.S. Midwest markets shrinking or altogether disappearing, Canadas slow-footed attempts to join the growing ranks of LNG exporters are all the more damaging. Canadas federal government recently further delayed its decision on the $36 billion Pacific Northwest LNG facility. The Petronas project while not alone is make or break for Canadas LNG hopes; prospective Asian buyers are running short on patience, and high on options. Gas war is perhaps a misnomer interconnectivity is increasing and the U.S. stands to remain a net importer of Canadian gas through 2040 but continental and international competition will certainly re-characterize what was a largely humdrum relationship. By Colin Chilcoat of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Wisconsin primary week raged on in Milwaukee on Tuesday. At the same time Republican candidates debated Anderson Cooper and one another Downtown during a CNN-hosted Town Hall, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took the stage in front of an excitable crowd of about 2,000 supporters at the Product Pavilion at Wisconsin State Fair Park on Tuesday evening, bringing his familiar rallying cries and policy ideals. Heading into next weeks Wisconsin primary, Sanders currently trails fellow Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by most metrics. With 2,049 delegates still up for grabs, Clinton leads in pledged delegates, 1,243 to 975, as well as in superdelegates, 469 to 29. However, enthusiasm was still high for the Vermont senator among those waiting in line prior to his Milwaukee rally. At 4 p.m., an hour before the doors opened, the line stretched from the Product Pavilion past the Exhibition Center. The supporter at the very front of the line, 18-year-old student Star, had arrived earlier that day at 8:30 a.m. "Hes for all the people, not just a certain group or only some people," Star explained, also citing Sanders stance on environmental issues as reason for her support and feeling "a pretty good chance" about Sanders winning the nomination. And if he doesnt? "I dont even know, because I dont like any of the other candidates, like Hillary or Trump or anything. But I think he will." Going down the line, many shared similar sentiments and rationales for their Bernie support, citing his consistency and seemingly earnest approach over his decades-long career in politics. "Hes willing to start new movements, and hes willing to help out the younger generation," said Fidel Carrillo, a 19-year-old Carroll University marketing student from Chicago, in particular noting Sanders stances on health care, free education and the justice system. Joining him in line was fellow Carroll University student Melita Vellian, who added environmental issues to the list of reasons why Sanders earned their support in the first election in which they could participate. "I think its so insane how, this year, all the millennials are joining into this," Fidel said. "Were all so into politics, all in the moment, were getting educated. The political science that we learned in our education, were finally getting to use it." Though the majority of the crowd gathered outside State Fair Park leaned young and white, a diverse collection of demographics and perspectives could still be found in the line. Standing just behind Fidel and Melita was 66-year-old retiree Bob (some attendees preferred not to give their last names), who joined the rally less to voice his support he labeled himself as currently undecided in terms of his vote and more simply to hear the politicians ideas. "He intrigues me; I want to hear what he says somebody different than the run-of-the-mill politician, I think," he explained. Further down the line stood an international perspective on Sanders and the campaign season, as two British students, Tom and Gerrick, along with Jennifer, a German exchange student, waited to see the Democratic presidential candidate despite not having an actual vote in the coming election. "Bernie agrees with the rest of the world, in a way," the Brits one a Hong Kong native currently studying at UWM, the other merely visiting explained, describing Donald Trump as "the epitome of every negative American stereotype," with Sanders as the opposite. "Its worrying (watching the election). At the start, everyone was like, oh, Donald Trump is just sort of a racist old grandpa, hes not actually going to win anything. And then he started winning things. "Were almost embarrassed for you." Jennifer, more than halfway through a year studying abroad in the United States, added her appreciation for Sanders support of free college and cheaper education something Germany offers, she noted as well as her surprise and concern about Trumps popularity. "I feel like its really funny to watch all of the things you see on the Internet, like what people think about him and why they support him," she said. "It kind of reminds me how it went in Germany a long time ago. Im a bit scared that he could get somewhere with it, because that would impact the whole world in a really bad way." When it came to Sanders standing in the Democratic race, most seemed optimistic about his current second-place position. However, when asked what theyd do if Bernie didnt win the nomination, supporters thoughts were less united. Some said theyd vote Democrat no matter who came away with the nomination. Others said theyd likely write in a vote for Sanders. "Im at a loss; if its not him, I dont know," said Katie Taylor, a 24-year-old bartender. "Ill still use my voice to vote, but I guess Ill have to dig a little deeper and vote to combat a different evil. But its voting for one evil to combat another, so Ill have to dig deep to figure out what Ill do. But that time hasnt come yet, so well see." Who are these mythical, mysterious beings known as "Trump voters"? Have you ever seen a more maligned group? The pundits many on the same big donor gravy trains as other candidates usually end up speaking for them or insulting them. The media does a poor job of understanding rural voters, especially; in Wisconsin, those voters are trending Trump more than those in the Southeast. Sometimes in the past, talk radio has given them a voice, but Wisconsin talk radio is anti-Trump. And whens the last time you saw a rural voter thoroughly interviewed on national TV instead of a beltway pol or consultant? "I appreciate the chance to let people hear the opinions of some of us on the outside," said one, Edward Meisegeier, 31, a paper mill worker and sheep farmer from northern Wisconsin. He recently decided to vote for Trump after considering Ted Cruz. "A lot of the people that I spend my days with are tired of both parties, and sick and tired of big government that doesn't know or have any realistic interest in what we need or want." I had nuanced conversations with Trump voters/supporters that didnt revolve around prejudging them. I found them to hold complex views. Immigration is not driving their support, nor race at least not with those I interviewed. Meisegeier, for example, is drawn by Trumps views against land regulation (disclosure: Im related to him by marriage). In some cases, they were new voters or people not aligned with a party. These folks arent supporting Trump because theyre OK with his insults. Theyre supporting him despite them. "I know he is a pompous ass, but we need things shook up and fixed," said Eric Brown, of Appleton. Some voters are toying with Trump. "I am a conservative that is considering a vote for Trump," Wisconsinite Jamie Miller said. "I do not agree with his approach and language in many circumstances ok, most although I do find it entertaining. The common sense, no nonsense, anti-Washington insider approach is something I find intriguing. I would like to see a business person tackle national debt, trade and our overall international position. Over the last few years, I have personally shifted my focus away from social issues that drive the Republican Party." They share economic angst, dislike of governmental regulation and a belief that Trump is forthright. I tried to pick Trump voters from different areas (they were all guys; I know a few female Trump supporters who didnt want to talk). I also interviewed a Cruz supporter for whom Trump is second choice. Maybe the GOP, in rhetoric and perhaps policy, has forgotten the worker, while focusing on "businesses and CEOs." Maybe the party should try to figure out why Trump voters are so upset by listening. You cant fix what you dont try to understand. Usually, these folks are given mere soundbites. We can learn more from the nuance they are rarely granted. So here it is in their words: The northern Wisconsin farmer Meisegeier, 31, lives in Ladysmith, located in northwest Wisconsin, where he works in a paper mill and runs a sheep farm. He was torn between Trump and Cruz a few days ago, but now says, "Cruz seems to be falling apart a little bit. Scandals and whatnot." Meiseigeier doesnt affiliate with a political party. "I don't really consider myself anything. I try to stick to common sense when possible." Why Trump? "Trump says some things I like, but he also says some pretty crazy stuff. I'm a little wary of things like walls around the country, and I'm concerned about his diplomatic abilities, but I like some of the things I've heard. Ive also considered Ted Cruz." Hes now settled on Trump. "I'm not very political. I'm a bit of a single issue voter sometimes. Trump has recently said some things about the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) that has been on my mind. Also I'm huge on gun rights. I really like the fact that he is self-funded, that he isnt being bought and paid for by anyone. I agree that he should calm down with the crazy stuff, but I really don't think he's going to build a wall or make Muslims wear name tags." As for the BLM, he offered this link about Trump railing against federal land ownership, saying, "I think that the government needs to back off of farmers." "I like how Trump isn't afraid to speak his mind, and his stance on the BLM and gun rights. Cruz, on the other hand is basically saying the same things, but he's slightly more compassionate. Maybe. Honestly, I like that Trump seems to be more forward about things." He thinks building a wall is crazy, though. "Walls are not economically sensible or realistic. I agree that we need to keep a better watch on our borders, but walls? Probably not. What do I like least about Cruz? He seems a bit vague, maybe a little like he knows what his demographic wants him to say." Why not vote Democratic? "I really don't like Hillary. The business about the emails and Benghazi. I really hate how she acts like that stuff doesn't matter. Like we should all just drop it because it's in the past. Bernie bothers me too; it seems that he panders to a group of young people that have limited interest in supporting themselves and want to rely on the government will take care of me." I asked him to explain his stance on "gun rights." "I hate that the left and the media demonize gun owners and the lack of common sense surrounding guns. It's obvious that gun-related problems are the worst in places with the most gun related restrictions. The fact that this is ignored frustrates me. I've been around guns my whole life and have never seen them as the source of the problems attributed to them I hunt of course, I also have a concealed carry license. Honestly, though, I mostly shoot recreationally. I feel about guns like some people feel about bowling. Or darts. Or any sport where sending a projectile to a target accurately is the goal. Also, I grew up with a strong love and respect for guns." The man from Appleton Eric Brown, 41, of Appleton, works in sales management in the recreation vehicle industry. Why Trump? "I like him actually as I liked Mitt Romney. I am sick of career politicians that argue about nothing but party lines. We need a business leader to get deficit spending in control; I mean we are almost to the point of no return. I like the fact that when fact checked he is, from what Ive seen, more honest with his statements. He says it like it is. I know he is a pompous ass, but we need things shook up and fixed." He doesnt like the name calling. "I dont think this gets anywhere. A little rib here and there is fine; it helps people relate, but there is a limit. This being said, I feel that is what has kept him in the forefront of the race. Its like the old days of shock jocks. You hate them, but you have to listen as to hear what will they say next." When did he decide to vote for Trump and why? "I actually started liking him after the last race ... The United States is a commodity! We need to charge for our services and goods instead of the negative trade that we have been doing. We need to get our labor force competitive with other countries, not by just cutting pay but by cutting out the reason that pay has gotten so expensive We give billions in foreign aid, yet our debt is skyrocketing. We need common sense, not to be popular in the world. It seems to me that we have our hands in everything in the world and leave the stuff here at home untouched He will take the unpopular method and make it happen for a positive turnout in my opinion much like Walker did here." He believes people unfairly paint Trump voters as "racist bigots, and that we are all mean and just want to call people names and not listen to other opinions." "I have been a Republican all my life. I grew up in a small business household I am a huge supporter of you earn and receive what you work hard for. Some I know are in areas where they arent afforded the same opportunities as others. I work my ass off. I am heavy in debt from being a small business owner for five years after the mortgage collapse of 2008. I didnt file bankruptcy; I havent looked for handouts. I picked myself up, dusted off and got to work, adjusted spending habits. It is time that we as Americans look for smarter solutions, quit the handouts, get back to being what our Constitution asked for. I am not racist, or I dont look down on anyone except those that arent willing to work as hard as I have for what I have." He voted for Romney last election. "I am a Republican; my jobs success is based pretty much solely on good economic times. My decisions are based primarily on the economy. My second choice would be obviously Cruz. I like Cruz; I just think we need someone more dynamic." What if delegates give the nomination to someone else? "I will be very disappointed. I feel that the people have spoken. I cannot stand the whole, 'How do we stop Trump' comments. He is leading not by a little, but by a lot. We need to rally and show our support. We cannot handle four more years of Democratic rule, in my opinion, so lets get behind the guy whos there. Who the people are leaning to." The teenager just entering the process Jordan Zielinki is 17 and lives in Washington County. With his fathers permission, he explained why hes joined team Trump (although he's not old enough to vote yet; hes a volunteer). What interested me about Jordan is that Trump has ignited his interest in politics. Why Trump? "He is self-funded so he can't be bought, unlike other politicians. He speaks his mind and speaks the truth when others are afraid to say those things. I also like the idea of building the wall to protect our border." What about the name calling? "Most of the time he doesn't start the name calling. I think that's part of politics ... it can be dirty." Jordan has supported Trump since July. "That's when I started researching all of the candidates. I believe we need a change, and he offers this country that chance to change more than any other candidate." He doesnt like stereotypes of Trump voters. "People have the right to support whoever they want. The media often don't talk about the positives that Trump brings and the positive things about Trump supporters in general. I happen to be very accepting ... I'm not racist and not the type of person to bash others because of their race, religion, sexual preference, etc. I wasn't brought up that way. People think Trump supporters are white supremacists, haters and violent. That is so unfair." What of violence at Trump rallies? "The media is looking for viewers and are motivated by dollars. Trump doesn't want or encourage violence. The media highlights this, and its only the actions of very few people. One of the keys to a Trump victory is his vice president selection." If not Trump, hed back Rubio. "I've always been a conservative, and as a 17-year-old, I look forward to voting in the future." He will be disappointed if theres an open convention, and someone else was picked. "That would be the death of the Republican Party. In the summer, the GOP was begging Trump not to go third party and made him sign a document. I would never support the old Republican Party if this happened, and I think you'd see a new party grow out of this. I could never support or vote for Hillary." The Milwaukeean Joey Berzati, 44, is a delivery driver in Milwaukee. Why Trump? "Because of his passion to make the United States great again, to make us strong again, and his strong support of our military veterans and active members serving now." The name calling bothers him too. "He is running to become our president, and if elected will be representing a great nation, and I dont want him to be known as someone that does childish stuff like that." Hes still voting Trump, though. "When did I decide to vote for him? Id say after watching a few of his speeches and seeing how he truly cares about our country and how he truly cares about our military and our vets and how he wants to bring jobs back to the United States, how he wants to keep America safe." He thinks coverage of violence at rallies is unfair. "I really think they (media) need to stop stirring the pot. If anything, they are the ones that are making matters worse. Im sure there is violence at other candidates rallies, but they wont report that. They only focus on Trump because he isnt afraid to speak openly about anything. Hes very upfront, and as far as him not being able to beat Hillary, thats far from the truth he is gaining support daily." Ron Paul would be his second choice. "I lean more towards the Republican side. I didnt vote last time because I didnt care for either of them running at the time." What if the GOP gives the nomination to someone else? "I will still support him (Trump) until he decides to give up." A few days later, though, (Tuesday), Berzati said he was now waffling on his Trump support. "He isn't being very professional like hanging up on Vicki McKenna; if you're trying to be our world leader, act like it," he said. He's referring to when Trump, at the end of a lengthy interview with conservative talk show host McKenna on Monday, ended the call after saying, "Best of luck to you, Vicki." As a result, Berzati has moved from "sure" to "revisiting," and is contemplating voting for Cruz or Bernie Sanders instead, but isn't sure. This shows the fluidity of the race and public opinion. The concerned Cruz voter This guy, 30, lives in Waukesha County. Hes supporting Cruz, with Trump as second choice. He gave me his name but didnt want it printed or it could hurt business. Hes troubled by the National Enquirer report on Cruz; if theres proof offered, it could change his vote. For now, hes with Cruz. "He comes off as genuine to me. He appears to live his life to defend the things that he truly believes in He has defended the Constitution in front of the Supreme Court. Hes laid out plans to shrink government, reduce regulation, reduce the debt and reform taxes. I also believe he has minimal influence from special interest groups and donors." He doesnt like it when Trump calls people names, putting Trump second. "I admire his stance on not being politically correct, but I do not view Trump as presidential based on the way he talks on Twitter and in the national media. Talking about candidates physical features and calling people idiots are not examples I want the world to see of someone representing America." Still, he thinks stereotypes of Trump voters are unfair. "Trump supporters are portrayed as old white guys, racists and hillbillies in the media. Minus his attitude ... I like many of his ideas. Im educated, I have a nice job, I make very good money, I invest and I care about the country. I am not crazy or any of those things that the media portrays. I think many Trump supporters are afraid to admit it publicly." He tends to identify with Republicans. "Im willing to ignore his (Trumps) attitude because I do think an outsider in the White House would create an opportunity for change. I do not support democratic socialism, and I absolutely would never vote for Hillary Clinton. I voted for Mitt Romney in 2012." Hed be upset by an open convention. Article Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their articles after publishing them. To see if the article was renamed or re-published, please click here. See original and watch video here On Monday, the Justice Department announced it has succeeded in unlocking an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters and dropped its case against Apple, ending a high-stakes legal battle but leaving a broader debate over encryption unresolved. The fight between the FBI and Apple had grown increasingly contentious as the tech giant refused to help government authorities bypass the security features of its phone. The FBI wanted Apple to build a backdoor into the phone, but Apple said such a move would put the security of other iPhones at risk, as well. The FBI's decision to drop its case now raises new concerns about the strength of security in Apple devices given law enforcement's ability to unlock the iPhone without Apple's assistance. Last week, we talked to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald about the fight between the FBI and Apple, as well as Donald Trump's embrace of torture. This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: On Monday, the Justice Department announced it succeeded in unlocking an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters and dropped its case against Apple, ending a high-stakes legal battle. But the news leaves a broader debate over encryption unresolved. The fight between the FBI and Apple had grown increasingly contentious as the tech giant refused to help government authorities bypass the security features of its phone. The FBI wanted Apple to build a backdoor into the phone, but Apple said such a move would put the security of other iPhones at risk, as well. The FBI's decision to drop its case now raises new concerns about the strength of security in Apple devices given law enforcement's ability to unlock the iPhone without Apple's assistance. After the Brussels bombing last week, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton delivered a major address at Stanford University and addressed the FBI-Apple fight. HILLARY CLINTON: Impenetrable encryption provides significant cybersecurity advantages but may also make it harder for law enforcement and counterterrorism professionals to investigate plots and prevent future attacks. ISIS knows this, too. At the same time, there are legitimate worries about privacy, network security and creating new vulnerabilities that bad actors, including terrorists, can exploit. There may be no quick or magic fix. In the Apple case, the FBI may have found a workaround, but there will be future cases with different facts and different challenges, so the tech community and the government have to stop seeing each other as adversaries and start working together to protect our safety and our privacy. AMY GOODMAN: That was Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaking last week after the Brussels attack. We turn now to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept. Last week, Democracy Now!'s Nermeen Shaikh and I interviewed him and asked about this fight between FBI and Apple. GLENN GREENWALD: One really interesting aspect of this is, a lot of people ask what really has changed as a result of Edward Snowden's revelations, and sometimes people express the view that not much has, by which they mean that there's not a lot of laws that have been passed limiting the NSA's ability to spy. But one critical change, a really fundamental and significant one, has been that prior to the Snowden revelations, Silicon Valley companies, like Apple and Facebook and Google and Yahoo, were full-scale collaborators with the NSA's effort to collect everything, essentially, to turn the Internet into an unlimited realm of surveillance. And they were able to do that because nobody knew they were doing it, and so there was no cost. Once we were able to shine a light on the cooperation between Silicon Valley and the NSA as a result of Edward Snowden, there was a huge cost to these companies, which was that people around the world would be unwilling to use their services and would instead move to South Korean or German or Brazilian social media companies that protected their privacy. And so these companies needed to say, "We are willing now to protect your privacy by putting encryption products into our products that will not let the government invade your communications and see what you're doing." And there is now a serious wedge between the U.S. government, on the one hand, and Silicon Valley, on the other -- not because these companies suddenly care about privacy. They don't care about privacy at all. It's because they perceive it as being within their self-interest to demonstrate a commitment to privacy. And that has created a real difficulty for the NSA and for its allied agencies around the world to be able to intrude into people's private communications. The other interesting aspect of this is that in the 1990s, after the Timothy McVeigh attack on the Oklahoma City courthouse, the Clinton administration -- what may be the first Clinton administration -- actually initiated the campaign to demand a law that said that no one was allowed to sell encryption products unless it included a backdoor for the U.S. government to enter. And now, 20 years later, after that campaign was defeated -- ironically, by the Republicans in the Senate on privacy grounds, who said, "We are not going to let the government have a backdoor into our encryption" -- you have Hillary Clinton exploiting these terrorist attacks to insinuate -- although she hasn't said it outright -- that there needs to be, quote, "greater cooperation between Silicon Valley and the government," by which she can only mean greater cooperation to allow U.S. intelligence agencies access to overcome encryption and to enter people's private communications. And so, ultimately, the question is: Do you think there should be ever any way for people, human beings, to communicate without the U.S. government being able to access that? That really is the critical question we face. And politicians like Hillary Clinton are trying to exploit the fear of terrorism to get people to say there should never be any communications out of the reach of the U.S. government. AMY GOODMAN: And what do you see is the difference between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, and also the effect that Bernie Sanders is having on Hillary Clinton's positions? GLENN GREENWALD: It's interesting, because if you look at Bernie Sanders' political career, questioning and challenging and opposing U.S. militarism and imperialism was at one point a central plank of his political identity. That was why he went to Nicaragua and Cuba and talked about U.S. interference in those regions. For whatever reason -- and there may be valid reasons -- he has shifted his focus away from foreign policy to income inequality and the control of the political process by Wall Street and by banks. And to the extent he talks about foreign policy and civil liberties, it's often in this very kind of tepid way, very minor differences with the standard Democratic platform. He's recently become again clearer and sort of more aggressive about critiquing U.S. foreign policy, as we heard in the clip that you played earlier of his criticisms of Israel. He's become more, I think, categorical and vehement about condemning Clinton's hawkish positions. But the difference hasn't been all that great, because his foreign policy message has been muddled. And to the extent that he has changed Hillary Clinton's posture politically as a result of his primary challenge to her, there's this common perception that he's dragged her to the left and made her become more liberal. You know, I think it's really critical to understand that politicians -- and this is the lesson we ought to have learned from Barack Obama -- what they say in political campaigns doesn't necessarily correspond to what they actually do in -- once they obtain power. And so I think the effect on Sanders has been to make Clinton's rhetoric in the Democratic primary be a little bit more left-wing, be a little bit more attentive to liberal constituencies. But I think you see her already, now that she's confident she's going to beat Sanders, already moving her rhetoric more to the center, and by the time she's a general election candidate, will almost certainly revert to the kind of right-wing posture on foreign policies and civil liberties that she's long had and the centrist approach to economics and domestic policies, other than social issues, where she tends to be a reliable liberal. NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, I want to ask about the controversy around Trump's statements endorsing torture tactics. Last month, speaking to HBO's Bill Maher, former NSA and CIA director, General Michael Hayden, said the military would refuse to follow Trump's orders on torture and extrajudicial killings. MICHAEL HAYDEN: Let me give you a punch line. All right? If he were to order that, once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act. BILL MAHER: What? Oh, well, that's -- that's quite a statement, sir. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). I know that the task of defending the institutions is not easy and straightforward, but allowing the destroyers to triumph through people's inaction is regrettable. At times like these it is essential that institutions continue to act in the interest of the nation and the people, not the interest of any individual or interest group. No institution is safe from meddling, no officeholder is safe from harassment and intimidation, no process is safe from manipulation and perversion, no funds are safe from abuse, misappropriation and misapplication. We have a small band of leaders so terrified of the consequences of their actions that they will do anything to save themselves. I URGE Papua New Guineans to speak out on the importance of protecting institutions of state from improper influence, intimidation and harassment and financial and procedural abuse. In the current environment, nothing is more important than the independence of institutions and the ability of their management and boards of directors to follow due process. A handful of honest and fearless Papua New Guineans doing their jobs property are being intimidated and prosecuted while those who help leaders attack institutions are rewarded. Officeholders and the public alike have a right and a duty to ensure that the national interest is the star that guides their operations and comes before anything else. There have been a number of dangerous attacks on the integrity and independence of national institutions, all designed to thwart due process and weaken them. These attacks constitute a very serious threat to the rule of law, to Parliamentary democracy and to human rights. Most dangerous of all have been attacks on the independence of the judiciary and the authorities responsible for upholding the rule of law such as the Ombudsman Commission, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and Task Force Sweep. The attempted arrest of the Chief Magistrate, the defiance of the Ombudsman Commission and veiled threats against it, the revolving door of Police Commissioners, the arrest of members of the Fraud Squad and Anti-Corruption Directorate and the arrest of the head of Task Force Sweep are cause for deep public concern. So too is the withdrawal of funding for Task Force Sweep and the police Fraud Squad, which has hampered the investigation of many leaders and their accomplices and prevented justice taking its course. The withdrawal of funds has intentionally influenced police force decision-making to protect political and corporate suspects. These attacks have been coupled with constant challenges to legitimate court decisions and rulings and related actions and activities by the authorities, often on frivolous grounds. The government has now turned its attention to the right of all Papua New Guineans to freedom of expression and freedom of association. The assault on a peaceful protest prior to the last sitting of Parliament included threats against the media, the bashing of innocent people and damage to property and equipment. This should not be seen as an isolated event. It was part of a plan to muzzle the media and curtail public discussion of matters of national interest. It was yet another attempt by the government to shut down criticism and discussion on social media, and regulate the mainstream media. Papua New Guineans ought to be very concerned about the proposals for a secret police force to spy on people's private communications and their public comments on social media. Subjecting people to imprisonment on the basis of "negative impacts on society", "lies and "false information" as defined by secret police is not something that belongs in a democracy. It belongs in a dictatorship. The media, and independent public discussion of issues of national importance are cornerstones of democracy and important elements of national development. A new film narrated by Roger Waters, The Occupation of the American Mind, traces the rise of Israeli war propaganda in the United States. This propaganda, which has skillfully swayed U.S. public opinion in support of Israeli wars and occupations, has in fact been not so much a matter of skill as a matter of control. The U.S. corporate media has obeyed the Israeli propaganda office, because the U.S. government has done so, and the U.S. corporate media generally obeys the U.S. government. How much the U.S. government's stance is shaped by its own independent, albeit perverse, interests, and how much by Israeli propagandizing and corruption is one question. But the U.S. corporate media's lockdown on criticism of Israeli wars is only a slight variation on its coverage of U.S. wars. What happens when you take the control away? When young people in the United States get their news from the internet and foreign media, their support for Israeli wars and occupations plummets. Backers of Israeli wars find it necessary to start trying to ban criticism on U.S. college campuses. Just as young people have overwhelmingly backed Bernie Sanders despite corporate media opposition, those who avoid the corporate media are able to back justice for Palestinians (and often to a much greater extent than Sanders does). When informed people in the United States hear about international opposition to Israeli crimes, they are hardly shocked, and might just yawn. But Fox News reports shock, outrage, and disbelief in its staff: "You can't make it up. UN names democratic Israel as world's top human rights violator"! Fox wants enemies, and thus reports in this way on a story that much of the U.S. media will likely ignore or downplay. If most corporate media consumers in the United States learned that Israel was viewed by the world as a top abuser of human rights, they would react approximately like Fox News. One of the great services that The Occupation of the American Mind provides is that it shows us footage of news coverage of Israeli wars in the United States and, in great contrast, in Europe. In Europe we see Palestinian voices included, and we see false claims questioned by tough grilling of Israeli officials. In the United States we see top U.S. officials of both political parties, and top media figures parroting over and over again the same exact words dictated by Israeli propagandists or their U.S. advisers. This film is good for beginners who've never escaped their televisions before, in that it provides a basic history of Zionism and the Nakba. But it quickly turns to a particular subject that should intrigue the better informed as well, namely the rise of Israeli propaganda since 1982. We see footage of U.S. network TV news readers reporting honestly and straightforwardly on Israeli bombing of Lebanon, and on Israeli facilitated massacres in refugee camps -- and showing footage of the carnage. In 1984 the American Jewish Congress held a meeting in Jerusalem on "hasbara" (propaganda, war lies) chaired by a U.S. advertiser who had made "tastes great / less filling" ads for Miller Light beer. In 2009 Frank Luntz produced the Israel Project's 2009 Global Language Dictionary. These efforts are not kept secret. In fact, a television show in Israel similar to Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" is called "The Ambassador," and it challenges contestants to do the best job of selling Israeli war crimes as being justified or admirable. The acceptance of such a show is itself terrific hasbara, of course, as it suggests that concocting excuses for killing people is justifiable and admirable. The central lie of Israeli war propaganda is also the most effective lie in the United States and the focus of the first chapter of my book War Is A Lie, namely the lie that wars are defensive. Just as the U.S. corporate media engages in blowback denial with September 11 or Brussels, it tells us that Palestinian resistance is spontaneous irrational aggression, unprovoked and inexplicable except by understanding Palestinians as less than human. In the U.S. corporate media, the Palestinians always started it, and Israel is always acting in defense, even when it's aggressively bombing civilians as it was doing in 1982 when U.S. media voices had not yet been properly trained. The undercurrent to the "defense" lies is the justification of revenge, which threads through all war propaganda, even that for U.S. wars, which has often tended in recent years to emphasize a lie of "humanitarianism" in which a war that is also supposedly defensive and a last resort is somehow also a benefit to people it is rescuing. Israel has not used that line, and it's worth noting that the U.S. government has found it ineffective in reaching more than a sliver of the U.S. population. It would be humorous if it weren't so blood-soaked to watch U.S. politicians and pundits parrot specific Israeli military talking points over and over. The 1988 Hamas Charter, long since disavowed by the Hamas leadership, is quoted over and over again, like the mistranslation of then-Iranian President Ahmadinejad, and with identical words in both cases, while the actual platform of the Likud Party is never mentioned. The lie that Israel freed Gaza in 2005 is repeated so many times a Gazan might start to believe it. When Israel broke a ceasefire on the day of the 2008 U.S. elections and then claimed the Palestinians had done so, the facts were available, but the lie was endlessly repeated on U.S. television. We see footage in The Occupation of the American Mind of a European journalist confronting an Israeli official with an Israeli report acknowledging the truth, but nothing like that on U.S. corporate newsertainment networks. Phrases like "rockets raining down" and "what would you do?" and "what would the U.S. do?" are chanted like mantras. Sadly, we know what the U.S. would do in response to blowback. We know what it has been doing for the past 15 years. The chief difference in U.S. discourse between propaganda for Israeli wars and for U.S. wars (other than awareness of where the weapons came from -- the United States in both cases) is the difference between "anti-American" and "anti-Semitic." In the film we see Ted Cruz object to criticizing Israel because of the holocaust. Any criticism of Israel is defined as anti-Semitic. There have been times in U.S. history when any war criticism earned one the title "anti-American." Currently it is far more likely to earn you the title of "peacenik who would have opposed World War II" -- with World War II falsely understood as having been fought for the Jews who in fact the U.S. government refused to allow in and certainly didn't give a damn about. Thus, advocating civilized conflict resolution in the United States circles back to a charge of "anti-Semitism" as well. As the Guardian's Spencer Ackerman reported today, the CIA took photographs of its prisoners while they were naked, bound and some bruised, just before they were to be shipped off to some of the world's worst dictators at the time -- which included Assad, Mubarak and Gaddafi -- for torture. The photos were described by a former US official as "very gruesome." The report is a stark reminder that the US continues to keep secret, to this day, some of the worst actions of the Bush administration. And it's all the more relevant given that after the tragic terrorist attack in Brussels, torture has once again become central to the US political debate. On national television immediately following the attacks, the Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump again called for waterboarding -- a war crime Japanese soldiers were prosecuted for after the second world war. Trump has also repeatedly claimed he would do "much worse" than waterboarding to captives as president. Almost worse is the fact that the US media is again feeding into the idea that this should even be up for debate. Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie, in an interview with Trump, said "some people think that kind of harsh interrogation technique" -- the GOP's cowardly euphemism for illegal torture -- "works ... and others say that it doesn't work." Really? Can she -- or anyone -- point to a single interrogation expert who thinks torture "works," besides Bush administration hacks who have never interrogated anyone in their lives? But let's put aside the immoral question of "does torture work" for a minute, because it's essentially like asking "does slavery work." Waterboarding and other forms of torture used by the US during the Bush administration are blatantly illegal -- by statute, by treaty and by the constitution. Click Here to Read Whole Article Reprinted from Alon Ben-Meir Website The horrific attacks in Brussels by terrorists affiliated with ISIS that claimed the lives of 35 people and injured more than 200 was all but inevitable. These attacks may well increase in frequency and intensity in many European cities where citizens travel freely and violent extremists among them can plot attacks without early detection. Although a substantial increase in internal security personnel, intelligence gathering and sharing between the European community, and better preparedness are critically important, they will not in and of themselves drastically stem such terrorist attacks. The European Union must realize that while the fight against ISIS-inspired terrorists must be relentless, they must simultaneously address the root causes that motivate young Muslims, mostly nationals of their respective European countries, to commit such atrocities. There are three fronts on which violent extremism must concurrently be fought: defeating ISIS, improving the socioeconomic and political conditions in the Arab states, and integrating young Muslims into their European social milieu. The focus of this article is on the lack of integration, which remains glaringly evident; the EU has failed to find a viable solution to this problem without which no security measure, however sophisticated and extensive, will suffice. A brief review of the first two fronts is necessary as all three are entwined and directly impact one another: The prerequisite of defeating ISIS Although ISIS has suffered serious setbacks in recent months, the group remains a powerful entity that will continue to expand its outreach outside Iraq and Syria. Dozens of cells have already been established in many European countries where hundreds of operatives live. Many of these young Muslims have volunteered to join the ranks of ISIS and return to their European countries fully trained and religiously charged to conduct acts of terror in the name of God, often in a time and place of their own choice. Voltaire put it succinctly when he said: "What can you say to a man who tells you that he prefers obeying God rather than men, and that as a result he's certain he'll go to heaven if he cuts your throat?" Although the destruction of ISIS will not automatically end its attacks, they will certainly be substantially reduced in number and frequency as many of these recruits become increasingly demoralized, as romanticism about the establishment of a caliphate will evaporate. Moreover, the destruction of ISIS will also send a clear message to other violent extremist groups that their fate will be no different than that of ISIS. Though there is an aversion to the introduction of ground troops, despite its recent retreat and loss of territory, ISIS will not be defeated from the air alone. While Iraqi and Syrian troops have made major progress in the fight against ISIS, additional ground troops including Arab and Turkish contingents sufficient in number and capabilities are needed to stop ISIS in its tracks. Short of that, ISIS will have more time to recruit, train, and implant an increasing number of cells in Europe and the Middle East that will continue to terrorize the EU, disrupt the normalcy of life, paralyze cities such as Paris and Brussels, and cause havoc and uncertainty for years, if not decades, to come. Finally, now that the campaign to reclaim Mosul has started, there is no better time to introduce such ground forces to prevent a protracted campaign that could inflict tens of thousands of civilian casualties, as most ISIS fighters are imbedded among civilians. As such, ISIS may well fight to the last man because the loss of Mosul would spell the near-end of ISIS in Iraq. The need for socio-economic and political reforms in the Arab states The Arab states must realize that the root causes of radicalization are rooted in their internal socioeconomic inequality and political disorder, and only by undertaking systematic and consistent measures to cure this domestic malaise will violent radicalization abate. The decades-long suppression, suffering, and servitude that the Arab masses, especially the young, have endured under largely corrupt and uncaring leaders with an insatiable hunger for power in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and others has reached a new tipping point. As long as grievances, hopelessness, and desolation prevail, they will continue to provide fertile ground for radical Islamists to step in and capitalize on public despair. Therefore, Arab states must either embark now on social, economic, and political reforms that offer a new horizon and hope for a better and brighter future, or be swept away by escalating violent extremism that will destroy the political foundation on which these regimes rest -- Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen provide glaring examples. In order to do this, the Arab states must first begin to reduce the growing gap between rich and poor. Nothing is more devastating than witnessing how the wealthy in most Arab states ride on the backs of the poor, and how governments do next to nothing to lift the majority of the people from abject poverty and despair. Contrary to Western advocacy, stemming radicalization does not rest as much on democratic reform but on a commitment to human rights. The Arab youth are more concerned with job opportunities and living with dignity, than being given the right to vote while still living in despondency and hopelessness. The Arab states face an unprecedented challenge posed by violent extremism. In December 2015, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism composed of 34 nations (mostly Muslim states). However effective these forces may be, it will make no more than a minor dent in the fight against extremism. In addition to military and security measures, the Arab states must pay far greater attention to the socio-economic malaise that has infected their society, which are the root causes behind radicalism. They must provide what their youth need the most -- hope, job opportunities, social justice, and a life of dignity. Western powers must encourage and support reforms in these areas because the failure of the Arab states to change direction will only continue to destabilize these countries and will directly affect the Western battle against violent extremism. The lack of integration within the European community Western governments are struggling to find out what motivates young Muslims, many of whom are well-to-do and educated, to leave their sheltered lives only to join radical organizations that offer an elusive goal and the prospect of violent death. It appears that the determining factor behind the rise of radicalization of Muslim youth in Europe is the absence of integration, by choice or design, of young Muslims into the mainstream of their respective Western countries, which explains why the Brussels attack was all but inevitable. During my most recent visit to Brussels only a few weeks ago, I was amazed that while many top EU officials spoke about the need to appropriate more resources to buttress the internal security apparatus, little mention was made about the need to integrate young Muslims into their communities and provide the funding required to that end. Integration must be the engine that propels deradicalization, and of necessity it takes a host of socioeconomic, religious, and political measures to mitigate the vulnerabilities in these areas that young European Muslims experience. When it all began, there were sixteen candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. Of that sixteen, eight (Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), business woman Carly Fiorina (R), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), Gov. John Kasich (R-OH), Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)), could have beaten former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) in a walk. With the burgeoning development of Ms. Clintons email and Clinton Foundation scandals and the unexpected success of Sen. Bernie Sanders (Socialist VT), you could add to that list, Donald Trump and Ben Carson. In fact the only ones who were sure losers were Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Lindsay Graham R-SC), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Gov. George Pataki (R-NY) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA). All this in an election year in which Ms. Clinton was assumed by the national media to ascend to the presidency without serious opposition. That assumption was based upon. . . well based upon. . . uh, based upon her having been married to President Bill Clinton. Thats right. A closer examination of Ms. Clinton shows that the only attributable success she had in life was marrying Mr. Clinton. Everything that followed thereafter was due to Mr. Clinton as he rose from Arkansas attorney general, to governor, to President of the United States well except for the contrived successes as Secretary of State which all boiled down to one indicator she logged more air miles than any previous Secretary. The unstoppable Ms. Clinton, when exposed to the harsh light of reality, proved to be illusionary so much so that an old line Wobbly from Vermont is giving her a run for her money in the Democrat primaries. And the reasons for Mr. Sanders success are two-fold: he has captured the disdain for the political class from the left, and she has reminded people of who Hillary Clinton really is a foul-mouthed, condescending, money grubber who will lie when the truth would serve her better. But the Republican political leadership appears to be hell-bent on proving the early media prognostications correct by so destroying its own candidates that Ms. Clinton can win in a walk assuming she can actually get by Mr. Sanders and the impending likelihood that the Federal Bureau of Investigation will recommend her indictment on crimes involving the misuse of top secret documents and the use of her office to further the fortunes of her husband and their Clinton Foundation. That is not to say that President Barack Obamas Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, will accept the recommendations. Under Mr. Obama, the Department of Justice has proven to be one of the most politically driven institutions in Washington protecting Mr. Obamas friends and harassing his detractors. First, as in the previous two presidential primaries (2008 and 2012) the Republican contestants drew themselves into a circular firing squad and began to provide the Democrats with all of the campaign footage necessary to destroy the eventual survivor. With the exception of Mr. Paul and Mr. Pataki, there was no material difference in the policy proposals for the remaining candidates even the bluster of Mr. Trump was, in reality, a shot across the bow to set the point from which negotiations for a solution should begin. Because there is so little difference in the policy positions, the candidates parsed the utterances and actions of their opponents by taking words out of context, using half-truths, and fabrications of reality in direct contradiction to the truth (back in my hometown, we called that lying). So regular has this ritual of self-destruction become for the Republican political class that even the last victim of its excesses Gov. Mitt Romney has joined in to savage Mr. Trump. (And what is Mr. Romneys main criticism of Mr. Trump? Why that he is successful the very thing the Democrats, relying on the very words from Mr. Romneys Republican primary opponents, used to defeat Mr. Romney in the general election. Shame on you Mr. Romney.) Next, the financial insiders who exchange donations for assurance that there will be no adverse changes began to panic when they saw Mr. Trump surge. Mr. Trump is so rich that they could not get their hooks into him he was virtually immune from the pay to play culture that permeates Washington and encompasses Democrats and Republicans alike. By and large they were agnostic towards the remaining contestants because they knew that each of them needed to come to them to finance their campaigns. Because the financiers are upset, the leadership of the Republican Party, all of whom are beholden to the financiers, is upset and has turned the organs of the party over to those who oppose Mr. Trump. So mindless is their fear of Mr. Trump they have reluctantly turned to Mr. Cruz, whom they despise, as their champion. Even though being in the same room as Mr. Cruz causes them to cringe they know he is dependent on them for financing and, therefore, will succumb as he already has to the pay to play requirement of the political insiders. [Democrats may feel smug in watching this unfold but they suffer from the same problem. Ms. Clinton represents the insiders in the Democrat party and the money from the rich has flowed freely to the Clintons in the form of campaign contributions, support for the Clinton Foundation and payments directly to Mr. and Ms. Clinton for speeches. And those same insiders are dismayed that a nobody like Mr. Sanders can raise millions in donations from the working class and that he continues to run neck and neck with Ms. Clinton in the primary contests that is with the exception of the super delegates who represent the special interests already bought and paid for with tax dollars by the Democrat insiders. The only real difference between the Republicans and Democrats is that the Democrats have photo opted their leadership with representatives of the special interest groups they purport to represent and for whom they have used taxpayer funds to secure their loyalty. These representatives have no real power and even less choice because should they desert the power structure of the Democrat Party, they will loose the source of their own livelihoods taxpayer funded grants, programs and support.] Despite the bogus attempts by Democrats (promoted by a collaborative mainstream media) the war on women, cutting of social security to grandma, pushing the poor over the welfare cliff there is nothing wrong with the Republican platform job creation, smaller more efficient government, and a strong national security. What is wrong with the Republican Party is its leadership the politicians and those who finance the politicians. They have become so focused on the preservation of power that they have lost touch with the people whom they purport to represent. As a result nothing gets done and those who finance the status quo are happy. But those who suffer from taxes that are too high and too complicated, from good jobs lost to the Bush/Obama recession and never recovered, from Obamacare that never delivered a single one of its promises but has resulted in higher costs, less choices through bureaucratic controls, and no appreciable increase in coverage that could not have been accomplished by raising the threshold for Medicaid to the same level as Obamacare, the effects of the recession remain. But the very wealthy who finance the Democrat and Republican parties have seen their wealth, power and control increase dramatically. There is nothing wrong with the Republican Party but there is something terribly wrong with its leadership. There is nothing wrong with the Republican Party that a good house cleaning couldnt fix. Because the Republican leadership has virtually destroyed the chances of defeating Ms. Clinton, they are likely to witness either that dramatic house cleaning, or more likely, the future irrelevancy of the Republican Party as now constituted. Gov. Jindal suggested during one of the primary debates that failure of the Republican leadership to address the pressing problems of the country may result in the creation of a whole new party. Hopefully, Mr. Jindal is giving thought as to how to organize and populate that party. I would suggest they shun the current insiders and develop a party populated by mainstreet business owners, skilled workers (including the unions representing portions of the private business workforce) and the growing population of lawful immigrants, as they now embody the American dream by their hard work, sacrifice and entrepreneurial dedication. And the best place to start is to refuse to vote for any candidate Republican or Democrat whose name now, or previously, begins with Senator. After launching the Redmi Note 3 in India in earlier this month, the company is now hosting a press event in Delhi on March 31 to launch its next flagship Mi 5. The Xiaomi Mi 5 was announced late in February and was launched in China in the first week of March. At the launch of Redmi Note 3 event, Hogo Barra, Vice President, Xiaomi had revealed the company's plan to launch the Mi 5 in India within a month's timeframe. Recently, Bin Lin, President, Xiaomi had also stated the upcoming smartphone will be priced below Rs 27,000. Xiaomi Mi 5 features a 5.15 inch full HD display, a metal body, 3D ceramic back, which is durable and water resistant. Xiaomi has added a finger print sensor below the display that also bundles as a home button. The device is powered by Qualcomm's latest chipset, Snapdragon 820, which is powering some of the other flagships including Samsung Galaxy S7, Sony Xperia X and LG G5. It is paired with LPDDR 4 4GB of RAM. It has Sony IMX298 16MP sensor and Qualcomm Spectra image processor. And also features face detection auto focus, DTI for producing better colours and a 4-axis OIS that helps in capturing better images in low lights conditions as well when hands are shaking. It can capture 4k videos. Other features include sunlight display, reading mode and more. The device has been launched abroad in three variants and ships with Android Marshmallow with MiUi and packs in a 3000 mAh battery and supports Quick Charge 3.0. Government to clear D-Chowk at any cost: Chaudhry Nisar ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced that the government will clear the D-Chowk of protesters on Wednesday at any cost, if they dont disperse by themselves in the night. While addressing a press conference on Tuesday night, Nisar said if the protest doesnt end in the next one hour, then we will clear the Red Zone in the morning. It is not difficult to conduct an operation but there are innocent people in there who have been mislead, we dont want bloodshed and want this to end peacefully, said Nisar. The government is trying its best to protect peoples lives, but will make sure that it ends tomorrow anyhow. Currently the administration is discussing the issue that who should be allowed to leave and who shouldnt as some miscreant elements are using the protesters as human shields, he maintained. A rally organised by the Sunni Tehreek (ST) saw more than 10,000 charged protesters enter the federal capital on Sunday, damaging buildings and setting fire to the metro station, containers and buses. The interior minister held Punjab government responsible for the security lapse but went on to say that the religious parties violated the written commitments they had made earlier. The permission to hold the gathering to mark chehlum of Mumtaz Qadri was granted on the written assurance that the participants will disperse in the evening following the Asar prayers. But a section of the gathering violated the commitment and resorted to violence. Some people tried to do politics under the cover of a religious gathering, he added. Qadri, an Elite Force commando, was executed at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on February 29. Qadri shot Taseer 28 times in broad daylight in Islamabads Kohsar Market on January 4, 2011. Referring to the slogans chanted by the protesters, Nisar said mere slogans dont get you jannah, but you righteous actions do. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) always kept his commitments. But unfortunately some people are carrying out violent activities in the name of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Nisar maintained that legal action will definitely be taken against the people who caused damage to the state installations and announced that some arrests have already been. A committee has been formed to closely monitor the security situation and access the shortcomings which lead to these people entering the Red Zone, he said. We had already shared intelligence based information with the Punjab government, but it failed to control the situation and will be held answerable for its negligence, the interior minister said. "But once the people had gathered, regardless of how, then it would have been inappropriate to exercise force against them." Additional reinforcements have been called and written orders have been passed that if there is a need to conduct an operation, then no security personnel even an officer will be armed, asserted Nisar. The clean-up operation will be done in broad daylight in front of media so that everyone is witness to who does what, he said. I am thankful to the media for being sensible in handling the issue. The Islamabad district administration had earlier given the pro-Qadri protesters gathered outside Parliament House a two-hour notice to disperse. The sit-in continued despite Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Monday night address to the nation during which he warned radical Islamists not to take the government's leniency as a sign of weakness. India denied Kulbhushan Yadav as a spy NEW DELHI: India criticised on the video confessions of an alleged spy shown by Pakistan on Tuesday, claiming the man was tutored and that he might have been abducted from Iran. We have seen a video released by Pakistani authorities of a former Indian naval officer, doing business in Iran, who is in Pakistani custody under unexplained circumstances, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. It said the individuals televised statements had no basis in fact. That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring. The Indian statement stressed that despite New Delhis request, Indian consular officials were not allowed to meet him. We have not been given consular access to an Indian national under detention in a foreign country, as is the accepted international practice. We are naturally concerned about his wellbeing in these circumstances. The comment appeared to deny the man was a spy, underscoring he was an ordinary citizen eligible for consular help. Government categorically rejects allegations that this individual was involved in subversive activities in Pakistan at our behest. Our enquiries reveal that he apparently was being harassed while operating a legitimate business from Iran, the statement said. While we probe this aspect further, his presence now in Pakistan raises questions, including the possibility of his abduction from Iran. This would become clear only if we are given consular access to him and we urge the Government of Pakistan to respond immediately to our request. Colleen Deacon feels her latest endorsement is a sign that her campaign has momentum with less than three months to go until the June 28 primary. The Democratic Women of Cayuga County backed Deacon, D-Syracuse, in early March. The group cited her "understanding of all areas of the 24th Congressional District and her grasp of the issues facing upstate families." Over the past few weeks, Deacon and her campaign have been collecting the 1,250 signatures needed to appear on the primary ballot. The petitions must be filed by Thursday, April 14. The process has allowed Deacon to have conversations with voters. So far, she said the feedback has been positive. "We're very optimistic and we feel good so far about the campaign and we're very confident that we will have the signatures necessary to get on the ballot," she said. During the interview with Deacon, she addressed a few issues, including paid leave, poverty and transparency in government. Here is the Q&A with Deacon: The Citizen: You challenged one of your primary opponents and U.S. Rep. John Katko for their positions on paid leave. Why did you feel it was the time to bring that issue to the forefront? Deacon: Paid leave is something that I've really been focused on in this campaign. As somebody who did not have access to paid leave or sick time when I was pregnant with my son, I had to quit my job two days before he was born and go on food stamps and WIC to keep us healthy. I actually had to rely on Medicaid because I didn't have health insurance at the time. I know what it's like for so many families who are in a similar situation who don't have access to paid leave, not only to take care of a newborn child, having a paid leave program in place so folks can take care of a sick parent or a sick child. I think it's very important that we implement a paid leave policy in this country. We are one of two, I believe, industrialized nations in the world that does not offer paid leave, so I think it's imperative that we have a policy and a program in place. John Katko recently announced his alternative to paid leave, which is nothing more than a savings program. I think that it just shows how out of touch he is with the reality of income inequality, with the reality of families that aren't able to save when they're having a child or when they have an emergency with a sick parent. If you are working 40 hours a week and living paycheck to paycheck, how are you supposed to save for one of these situations? I think, again, it just proves his cluelessness as far as what paid leave really means to families and to people across this district. With (Steve) Williams, I think his unwillingness to unequivocally support paid leave I know he's kind of walked back his comments but we can't afford to have Democrats in Washington who aren't willing to fight for these issues. If we want to send somebody back to D.C. who isn't willing to stand up and demand paid leave, you might as well send John Katko back to Washington. I know you had reported that Steve Williams said that the "devil's in the details" and wasn't willing to commit to a plan. I want to make it very clear that paid leave is a top priority of mine. The Citizen: The paid leave proposal that you support is U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's bill, the FAMILY Act? Deacon: Absolutely, yes. This bill, I think, it's good for the economy, it's good for businesses, it's good for workers and it's good for families. The Citizen: What are three things that we need to do to address poverty throughout this district? Deacon: The issue of poverty is alarming. We hear a lot of rhetoric from John Katko, but we don't see any action. Fifty percent of kids born in the city of Syracuse are born into poverty. I think three things we can do right now to make a difference: Raise the minimum wage to make sure that people have the ability to support their families; we can provide paid family leave, as I just mentioned how important that is for families and people across this district; and we need to provide child care assistance so that people can afford to have children, send their kids to quality day care and be able to go to work. I think those are three easy things we can do right now to help with some of the poverty issues here in these regions. Further, I'd like to add I think that we need to make sure that when we're having these discussions, we need to bring people who are in poverty to the table to be part of the discussion. We can't do it top down. We have to have everybody included, everybody at the table and really have a conversation that benefits everybody, especially those who are currently living in those poverty situations. The Citizen: If elected to Congress, what will you do to promote openness and relay information to your constituents and what ideas to you have to establish a more transparent congressional office? Deacon: I think for far too long our elected officials have done the people's business behind closed doors and we're all a little bit suspicious of who our elected officials are actually working for. I absolutely want to bring more openness and transparency to office. I want to lead by example. I'm committed to having a strong presence in all four counties. I want to hold office hours regularly so I can meet and talk directly with the constituents. I will absolutely put my schedule online and provide voters with updates to my meetings and my events and legislation that I'm working on. And I'd love to use social media for things like live discussions through the Internet and other ways that my constituents can have access to their representative. Indian spy admitted of terrorism act in Balochistan and Karachi 30 March, 2016 Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love Types of Casino Payment Methods Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino Are Slot Developers Important for players? Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISPR) on Tuesday released a confessional video statement of Indian spy agent Kulbhushan Yadav in which he admitted to fomenting terrorism in Balochistan and Karachi. He was arrested red-handed by the law enforcement agencies in the first week of current month while infiltrating into Pakistan from the Saravan border area of Balochistan with Iran. Following is the full text of his voluntarily confession shown at a press conference jointly addressed by Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid and ISPR Director General Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa here at the Press Information Department; My name is Commander Kulbhushan Yadav and I am the serving officer of Indian Navy. I am from the cadre of engineering department of Indian Navy and my cover name was Hussein Mubarik Patel, which I had taken for doing some intelligence gathering for the Indian agencies. I joined the National Defence Academy in 1987 and subsequently joined Indian Navy on January 1991 and subsequently served for the Indian Navy till around December 2001 when the Parliament attack occurred and that is when I started contributing my services towards the gathering of information and intelligence within India. I live in the city of Mumbai in India. I am still the serving officer in the Indian Navy and will be due for retirement by 2022 as a commissioned officer in Indian Navy after having completed 14 years of service by 2002. I commenced intelligence operation in 2003 and established small business in Chabahar in Iran as I was able to achieve undetected existence and visits to Karachi in 2003 and 2004 and having done some basic assignments within India for RAW. I was picked up by RAW in 2013 end. Ever since I have been directing various activities in Balochistan and Karachi at the behest of RAW and deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi, I was basically the man for Ani Kumar Gupta who is the joint secretary RAW and his contacts in Pakistan especially in Balochistan Student Organisation. My purpose was to hold meetings with Baloch insurgents and carry out activities with their collaboration. "These activities have been of criminal nature. This have been of anti-national, terrorists leading into the killing of or maiming the Pakistani citizens also. "I realise during this process that RAW is involved in some activities related to the Baloch liberation movement within Pakistan and the region around it. "There are finances which are fed into Baloch movement through various contacts or various ways and means into the Baloch liberation (movement) and various activities of the Baloch liberation and the RAW handlers go towards activities which are criminal, which are anti-national, which can lead to maiming or killing of people within Pakistan and mostly these activities were centered around of what I have knowledge is of ports of Gwadar, Pasni Jewani and various other installations, which are around the coast damaging various other installations, which are in Balochistan. "So the activity seems to be revolving trying to create a criminal sort of mindset within the Baloch liberation and leads to instability within Pakistan. In my pursuit towards achieving the set targets by my handlers in RAW, I was trying to cross over into Pakistan from the Saravan border in Iran on March 3, 2016 and was apprehended by the Pakistani authorities while on the Pakistani side and the main aim of this crossing over into Pakistan was to hold (a) meeting with the Baloch separatists in Balochistan for carrying out various activities, which they were supposed to undertake and carrying backwards the messages which had to deliver to the Indian agencies. "The main issues regarding this were that they were planning to conduct some operations within the next immediate (near) future so that was to be discussed mainly and that was the main aim of trying to coming into Pakistan. "So that moment I realised that my intelligence operations have been compromised on my being detained in Pakistan, I revealed that I am an Indian naval officer, and it is on mentioning that I am Indian naval officer, the total perception of the establishment of the Pakistani side changed and they treated me very honorably and they did utmost respect and due regards and have handled me subsequently on a more professional and proper courteous way and they have handled me in a way that befits that of an officer and once I realised that I have been compromised in my process of intelligence operations, I decided to just end the mess I have landed myself in and just wanted to subsequently move on and cooperate with the authorities in removing the complications which I have landed myself and my family members into, and whatever I am stating just now, it is the truth and it is not under any duress or pressure. I am doing it totally out of my own desire to mention and come clean out of this entire process which I have gone through last 14 years." Jamaatul Ahrar involved in Lhr park attack: JIT LAHORE: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted by the Punjab government to probe the suicide attack in a park here claimed on Tuesday to have found some clues which suggested that banned militant outfit Jamaatul Ahrar was involved in the carnage. The daylong investigation produced some solid evidence that the same network (Jamaatul Ahrar) was behind the terror strikes in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park, Youhannabad, Wagah border and the Police Lines, Lahore Capital City Police Officer retired Capt Amin Wains told reporters. He said the JIT had shifted its focus to Jamaatul Ahrar when it released the photo of the bomber, identifying him as Salahuddin, aged between 20 and 25. Jamaatul Ahrar was formed in September 2014 when Ehsanullah Ehsan announced quitting the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, led by Mullah Fazlullah, and claimed to have the support of 70-80 per cent of TTP commanders and fighters. The photo shared by the banned outfit and the sketch drawn by the Lahore police of the suspected bomber a day after the attack were almost identical, the Lahore police chief said. Surprisingly, he said, some evidence found from Sundays blast site had strong resemblance to those collected by investigators after the three previous terror attacks carried out in Lahore, suggesting that Jamaatul Ahrar was behind all these incidents. A group of senior police officers thoroughly re-examined the three previous terror cases to analyse them in the perspective of the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park suicide blast and found strong indicators that led them to this notorious organisation, Mr Wains claimed. He said officials of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency, who were analysing the fresh evidence sent to them by police, had also endorsed the investigators point of view. For instance, he added, the bomber had used specifically engineered belt, instead of suicide jacket, in the blast. In the previous three attacks the same belt was used. The CCPO further said that the design, pattern and material of the belt (remains of which were found from Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park) being examined by forensic experts was almost identical to those analysed after the previous three terror incidents. We again interrogated the detained accused, including facilitators of the previous three terror incidents, and reached the conclusion that Jamaatul Ahrar was behind the latest attack, he said. Our company would like to offer the best Ukrainian pellets. They can be used as fuels for power generation, commercial or residential heating and cooking. 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Credit: Gerrit Kernbauer Jupiter may be the biggest planet, but it sure seems to get picked on. On March 17, amateur astronomer Gerrit Kernbauer of Modling, Austria, a small town just south of Vienna, was filming Jupiter through his 7.8-inch (200mm) telescope. 10 days later he returned to process the videos and discovered a bright flash of light at Jupiter's limb. "I was observing and filming Jupiter with my Skywatcher Newton 200 telescope, writes Kernbauer. "The seeing was not the best, so I hesitated to process the videos. Nevertheless, 10 days later I looked through the videos and I found this strange light spot that appeared for less than one second on the edge of the planetary disc. Thinking back to Shoemaker-Levy 9, my only explanation for this is an asteroid or comet that enters Jupiter's high atmosphere and burned up/explode very fast." The flash certainly looks genuine, plus we know this has happened at Jupiter before. Kernbauer mentions the first-ever confirmed reported comet impact that occurred in July 1994. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, shattered to pieces from strong tidal forces when it passed extremely close to the planet in 1992, returned two years later to collide with Jupiterone fragment at a time. 21 separate fragments pelted the planet, leaving big, dark blotches in the cloud tops easily seen in small telescopes at the time. Not long after Kernbauer got the word out, a second video came to light taken by John McKeon from near Dublin, Ireland using his 11-inch (28 cm) telescope. And get this. Both videos were taken in the same time frame, making it likely they captured a genuine impact. Austrian amateur astronomer Gerrit Kernbauer recorded these brief flash of light at Jupiters limb on March 17, 2016. It was confirmed by another amateur video observation made by John McKeon of Ireland. Credit: Gerrit Kernbauer With the advent of cheap video cameras, amateurs have kept a close eye on the planet, hoping to catch sight of more impacts. Two factors make Jupiter a great place to look for asteroid / comet collisions. First, the planet's strong gravitational influence is able to draw in more comets and asteroids than smaller planets. Second, its powerful gravity causes small objects to accelerate faster, increasing their impact energy. According to Bad Astronomy blogger Phil Plait: "On average (and ignoring orbital velocity), an object will hit Jupiter with roughly five times the velocity it hits Earth, so the impact energy is 25 times as high." Simply put, it doesn't take something very big to create a big, bright bang when it slams into Jove's atmosphere. It wasn't long before the next whacking. 15 years to be exact. Possible asteroid or comet impact on Jupiter on March 17 On July 19, 2009, Australian amateur Anthony Wesley was the first to record a brand new dark scar near Jupiter's south pole using a low-light video camera on his telescope. Although no one saw or filmed the impact itself, there was no question that the brand new spot was evidence of the aftermath: NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at Mauna Kea picked up a bright spot at the location in infrared light. Once we started looking closely, the impacts kept coming. Wesley hit a second home run on June 3, 2010 with video of an impact flash, later confirmed on a second video made by Christopher Go. This was quickly followed by another flash filmed by Japanese amateur astronomer Masayuki Tachikawa on August 20, 2010. Prior to this month's event, amateur Dan Petersen visually observed a impact flash lasting 1-2 seconds in his 12-inch (30.5 cm) scope on September 10, 2012, which was also confirmed on webcam by George Hall. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke up into many fragments (upper left photo) which later slammed into Jupiters southern hemisphere one after another to create a string of dark blotches in July 1994. Credit: NASA/ESA Video of possible Jupiter impact flash by John McKeon on March 17, 2016 This impact spot, discovered in 2009 by Anthony Wesley, was also visible in amateur telescopes. Credit: NASA, ESA, and H. Hammel (Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.), and the Jupiter Impact Team Jupiter impact event recorded by Christopher Go on June 3, 2010 Jupiter impact flash on August 20, 2010 by Masayuki Tachikawa Credit: Tonny Watanebe (Phys.org)A team of Japanese researchers (and one from the U.K.) has found evidence in the remains of ancient Japanese people that suggests that people are not necessarily predisposed to living a violent existence or even to engaging in warfare. In their paper published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, the team describes their analysis of the remains of people that lived during the Jomon period (from 13,000 800 BC) in what is now Japan, which showed very little evidence of violent behavior or death. In recent years, scientists have found evidence of many hunter-gatherer groups that behaved in a violent manner, sometimes even banding together to wage war on other people or groups. That has led to more evidence of the common assumption that humans are inherently violent and that war has generally been the result when two or more groups have different ideas of how things should be done. In this new effort, the researchers suggest such findings might be premature as they have found an example of an early hunter-gatherer culture that did not appear to wage war or even behave in a violent manner. The teams' study consisted of analyzing the remains of approximately 2,500 people that lived in Japan during the Jomon period, looking for examples of violence, e.g. broken or damaged bones. The team reports that they found evidence of violence in just 1.8 percent of all the adult bones represented and in just 0.89 percent of the population as a whole. A very low number compared to the 12 to 14 percent seen in other hunter-gatherer populations of around the same time period (which strongly suggested a violent existence). This, the researchers claim, suggests that the people of that time lived peacefully among themselves and did not conduct war against others that might have lived nearby. And that, they add, suggests that humans may not be quite as predisposed to violence as others have suggested, which counters other arguments that it was warfare that led people to band together into groups forming communities that allowed for the promotion of intra-group altruism and even more advanced warfare against other such groupsa selective from of evolutionary behavior. Explore further Hunter-gatherer massacre suggests groups of humans waged war earlier than we thought More information: Hisashi Nakao et al. Violence in the prehistoric period of Japan: the spatio-temporal pattern of skeletal evidence for violence in the Jomon period, Biology Letters (2016). Hisashi Nakao et al. Violence in the prehistoric period of Japan: the spatio-temporal pattern of skeletal evidence for violence in the Jomon period,(2016). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0028 Abstract Whether man is predisposed to lethal violence, ranging from homicide to warfare, and how that may have impacted human evolution, are among the most controversial topics of debate on human evolution. Although recent studies on the evolution of warfare have been based on various archaeological and ethnographic data, they have reported mixed results: it is unclear whether or not warfare among prehistoric huntergatherers was common enough to be a component of human nature and a selective pressure for the evolution of human behaviour. This paper reports the mortality attributable to violence, and the spatio-temporal pattern of violence thus shown among ancient huntergatherers using skeletal evidence in prehistoric Japan (the Jomon period: 13 000 cal BC800 cal BC). Our results suggest that the mortality due to violence was low and spatio-temporally highly restricted in the Jomon period, which implies that violence including warfare in prehistoric Japan was not common. Journal information: Biology Letters 2016 Phys.org Popular theory suggested antennae were only used to receive information about an ant's identity, but new research says they also transmit social signals. University of Melbourne scientists have shone a new light into the complexities of ant communication, with the discovery that ants not only pick up information through their antennae, but also use them to convey social signals. It is believed to be the first time antennae have been found to be a two-way communication device, rather than just a receptor. Biologists from the University's School of BioSciences analysed the behaviour and surface chemistry of hundreds of ants to examine how they interacted. The key focus was the use and function of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) - a layer of waxy build-up that covers an ant's body and that of many other insects, such as bees, wasps, flies, and beetles. CHCs are a group of multi-purpose chemical compounds that not only protect animals from dehydration, but also form a crucial part of their communication toolbox. Ants use these chemicals to identify whether another is a friend or foe. According to the research, when the CHCs were removed from just the antennae of the ant, her opponents were no longer able to recognise her colony identity. This tells us that the CHCs on the antennae provide information about which nest they come from. "An ant's antennae are their chief sensory organs, but until now we never knew that they could also be used to send out information," PhD student Qike Wang said. Over 125 years ago, famed entomologist Auguste Forel removed the antennae of four species of ants entirely and put them together. Instead of fighting among themselves, they huddled unnaturally together entirely peacefully, Mr Wang said. "Forel's experiment told us about antennae being used to receive chemical signals, but our research suggests that they are also a source of chemical signals. "Like everyone else, we assumed that antennae were just receptors, but nature can still surprise us." Mr Wang and his co-authors also found that CHC profiles were different depending on where on the body they were. This contradicts the conventional wisdom that CHC profiles on different body parts of ants are the same. "Compared to visual or acoustic signals, we know rather less about chemical signals, and one reason might be that we are analyzing a mixture of different signals." "What we'd like to know is what more they might tell us." The paper "Location-specific cuticular hydrocarbon signals in a social insect" has been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. Explore further Battle scarred ant antennae can't tell friend from foe More information: Location-specific cuticular hydrocarbon signals in a social insect, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or .1098/rspb.2016.0310 Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Location-specific cuticular hydrocarbon signals in a social insect, Apple's hit productsthe Mac, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPadcommand a cult-like following Apple celebrates its 40th anniversary this week at the top of its game, as the Silicon Valley legend that sprang out of Steve Jobs' garage to reshape modern life with its trend-setting gadgets. Jobs, the late tech-savvy marketing genius, and Steve Wozniak, who invented the Apple computer, helped revolutionize how people use technology, and formed what would become the world's largest corporation with an eye-popping $53 billion in annual profits. The two college dropouts created the company that has changed the way people use computers, listen to music, communicate on the go, and made people at home in a world of "apps" tailored for work, play, education, health and more. Apple's hit productsthe Mac, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPadcommand a cult-like following, long after the company's humble beginning in Jobs' Cupertino, California garage on April 1, 1976. "Apple has defined modern Internet lifestyle," said Tim Bajarin, president of Silicon Valley analyst firm Creative Strategies. While other firms had major impacts on specific technologies or devices, "Apple had the greatest influence on the broadest range of consumer electronics," Bajarin said. Before changing the world with the iPhone and iPad, Apple transformed home computing with the Macintosh. Steve Jobs speaks in front of an old photo of Steve Wozniak (L) and himself when they first started Apple on January 9, 2007 The friendly desktop machine referred to as the "Mac" and, importantly, the ability to control it by clicking on icons with a "mouse," opened computing to non-geeks in much the way that touchscreens later allowed almost anyone to get instantly comfortable with smartphones or tablets. The Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, was at the core of a legendary rivalry between late Apple co-founder Jobs and Microsoft mastermind Bill Gates. "Apple heavily influenced the market with the Mac by introducing the mouse and the graphical user interface," Bajarin said, referring to the then novel notion of controlling computers by clicking icons instead of typing commands using software speak. Cult of Apple Apple went on to "rewrite" the music market with the iPod; made the smartphone a mass market staple with the iPhone, and took tablets mainstream with the iPad. Apple Watch quickly took the lead in the smartwatch market, despite making its debut later than those of rivals. Apple rewrote the music market with the iPod, pictured here in November 18, 2004 While Apple did not invent MP3 players, smartphones, tablets or smartwatches, its creations combined beauty, ease-of-use and capabilities that won zealous fans. Jobs, who died in 2011 at the age of 56, was renowned for an uncompromising drive to combine technology with design to make products that were intuitive and hassle-free. "Apple has taught us the supremacy of user experience and brand passion," Forrester analyst Frank Gillett told AFP. "Apple devices don't just work great, they inspire allegiance. The Apple brand inspires passion on both ends of the spectrum." Gillett recalled early Apple days when loyalty to Apple or Windows computers was the type of topic that could easily trigger clashes in San Francisco cafes. "It is Apple's obsessive attention to detail, premium products that for some are status symbols," the analyst said. Apple Watch has quickly taken the lead in the smartwatch market, despite making its debut later than those of rivals "It becomes brand fashion, with people throwing themselves into a community." Twists and turns Apple's path to becoming the world's most valuable company was beset by surprising twists and turns, including product flops as well as board room machination that resulted in Jobs being ousted for a time as chief. "It has been a remarkable story of peaks and crises that got us here," Gillett said. "It is a remarkable story of reinvention." The analyst wondered whether Apple stepping to the front lines in a battle over privacy and security of digital data on smartphones under chief executive Tim Cook will eventually be seen as another of the notable moments in its history. Macintosh fans try out iMac computers on February 18, 1999 The US government's unexpected retreat in its campaign to force Apple to help unlock an attacker's iPhone may only postpone an inevitable battle over encryption and data protection, say analysts. Federal prosecutors and Apple spent weeks trading a volley of legal briefs related to the FBI's demand that the tech company help investigators unlock the phone used by Syed Farook, who died in a shootout after carrying out a deadly December attack in San Bernardino, California with his wife. The case ended in a stalemate, but many expect the debate on encryption to resume. Apple early this year raised the specter of the end of a technological era after reporting the slowest growth sales ever of its market-leading, life-changing iPhone and warning it expects worse to come. Many analysts say Apple is evolving from a device-making superstar racking up dizzying financial quarters to a company that can make a sizable and steady income from selling apps, digital music and more to the huge number of people using its devices. Apple services include iTunes, iCloud, Apple TV, and the App Store along with Apple Pay. Apple also has a war chest of some $215 billion in cash and securities, most of it overseas. The company will move into its new "spaceship" design campus next year, according to Cook. "We are looking forward to moving," Cook said at a press event. "We can't wait to see what is in store for the next 40 years and share it with you." Explore further Citing FBI quest, Apple asks judge to delay iPhone data case 2016 AFP ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) A spokesman for North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is criticizing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after he banned nonessential publicly funded travel to North Carolina after that state's Legislature blocked anti-discrimination protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people. McCrory spokesman Josh Ellis said Tuesday that Cuomo's move shows "hypocrisy and demagoguery." He questioned whether the Democrat would ask the Syracuse University basketball team to boycott the upcoming Final Four because it is hosted by Houston, where voters last year defeated a non-discrimination ordinance. As a private university, Syracuse would not be subject to a state travel ban even if one existed. Ellis also noted that Cuomo last year visited Cuba, a country that he says has a "deplorable" human rights record. Cuomo had called North Carolina's action "misguided" and discriminatory. This Monday, March 28, 2016, photo provided by LJ Taylor shows volcanic ash on a vehicle at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says minor amounts of volcanic ash from Pavlof Volcano are being reported on the ground by several Alaska communities. Geologist Kristi Wallace of the U.S. Geological Survey says the most significant fallout was in Nelson Lagoon. (LJ Taylor via AP) A village not far from an erupting Alaska volcano urged residents to stay indoors after the mountain rained down ash, coating ground areas and turning some rooftops and car windows black. The volcano kept pumping out new ash Tuesday that could threaten aircraft, but it came in smaller amounts at lower heights, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Pavlof Volcano, 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, erupted Sunday. The initial eruption continued for about 17 hours and put out an ash cloud that reached 37,000 feet. U.S. Geological Survey geologist Kristi Wallace said there were reports of a significant ash fall in Nelson Lagoon, a village of 39 people about 55 miles northeast of the volcano. Residents reported one-eighth to two-thirds of an inch of ash. Cpl. Barrett Taylor, a village public safety officer in Nelson Lagoon, saw ash falling early Monday. "It was raining ash for a little bit," Taylor said. "It turned everything black, the rooftops, the fuel tanks, homes." The ash was worse Tuesday, he said, because wind coming in off the ocean was whipping it around. Officials say ash can be hazardous to eyes, skin and breathing passages. The community has put out a health advisory to stay inside until Wednesday. Taylor is hoping strong wind or rain will sweep some of the ash away. This Monday, March 28, 2016, photo provided by LJ Taylor shows volcanic ash on vehicles at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says minor amounts of volcanic ash from Pavlof Volcano are being reported on the ground by several Alaska communities. Geologist Kristi Wallace of the U.S. Geological Survey says the most significant fallout was in Nelson Lagoon. (LJ Taylor via AP) "I actually saw an eagle land on the grass today, and as he landed, a big pile of ash came up and flew away," he said. The plume blew northeast and by Tuesday had reached Canada, but Dave Schneider, a USGS geophysicist at the observatory, said activity had calmed from the continuous eruptive phase. "Over the last six to eight hours the activity is more intermittent," he said Tuesday. "There are short duration, small explosive events that are occurring, as opposed to sort of a continuous plume." The original ash cloud crossed Bristol Bay, spread into interior Alaska, and stretched into northern Canada, said Don Moore, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service Alaska Aviation Weather Unit. "The extent of the plume is certainly greater but the concentration of the ash is becoming less," Moore said. "The plume is becoming thinner over time." In this Sunday, March 27, 2016, photo, Pavlof Volcano, one of Alaska's most active volcanoes, erupts, sending a plume of volcanic ash into the air. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says activity continued Monday. Pavlof Volcano is 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, the finger of land that sticks out from mainland Alaska toward the Aleutian Islands. (Colt Snapp via AP) Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and can cause a jet engine to shut down. Alaska Airlines canceled 41 flights within the state Monday, and 28 more Tuesday. Sherry Keever has lived in Healy, Alaska, for only a year and was trying to get home from a vacation in California when ash from the volcano prompted the cancellation of her flight. "I'm kind of new, and I wasn't even aware there were volcanoes that could affect the flight patterns, and I'm OK with it," she said while sitting in a waiting area of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, waiting to see if she could get her flight to Fairbanks on Tuesday. The volcano in the 8,261-foot mountain is one of Alaska's most active. It has had 40 known eruptions. Pavlof eruptions in the past 20 years have not been as intense, but the current eruption is not unprecedented for the volcano, Schneider said. Dave Schneider, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, is shown at the operations center Tuesday, March 29, 2016, in Anchorage, Alaska. The observatory is monitoring Sunday's eruption of Pavlof Volcano about 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen) The length of the eruption was a major factor in the size of the ash cloud, Schneider said. So were the winds and possibly the smaller size of the ash, which takes longer to fall out of the atmosphere. Pat Walsh, a wildlife biologist for the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, saw ash 25 miles west of Dillingham as a gray haze as he tracked wolves from the air in the refuge. He could also see traces of ash in fresh wolf tracks and in the snow. Tisha Christensen, a health aide at the clinic in Port Heiden, said gray ash mixed with snow fell Monday night in the community on the Bering Sea side of the Alaska Peninsula. It affected her 8-year-old son, who has asthma but tried going to school Tuesday. "He didn't even make it a half-hour and had to come home and have a nebulizer treatment," she said. Only trace amounts of ash had been reported from Pavlof eruptions since 1996. In the past, the volcano has erupted intermittently over months or shut off abruptly. Explore further Alaska volcano spews smaller amounts of ash at lower levels (Update) 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Fig. 1. Experimental evidence of pressure-induced superconductivity in ZrTe 5 single crystal. (A) Temperature-dependent electrical resistance R(T) at various pressures up to 3.9 GPa. Inset schematically shows the arrangements of pressure, magnetic field and current applied. (B) Magnetoresistance (MR) measured at the peak temperature of electrical resistance anomaly. The MR is strongly suppressed with increasing pressure. (C) The emergence of pressure-induced superconducting transition at higher pressures ranging from 6.2 to 68.5 GPa. (D) The real part of the ac magnetic susceptibility as a function of temperature at different pressures up to 9.0 GPa. Inset shows the image of experimental setup for the ac magnetic susceptibility measurements. Copyright Zhoy Y, et al. (2016) Pressure-induced superconductivity in a three-dimensional topological material ZrTe 5 . Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113(11):2904-2909. (Phys.org)Due to their electronic and magnetic properties and their association with crystalline and electronic structures under extreme conditions, three-dimensional (3D) Dirac semimetals that is, materials that possess bulk Dirac fermions that disperse linearly along all three momentum directions are proving to be of great interest. Moreover, these materials allow high pressure as an effective, clean method of lattice tuning. Recently, scientists at high magnetic field laboratory of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CHMFL), Nanjing University, HPSTAR in Shanghai, and Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington combined multiple experimental probes, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, low-temperature transport under a magnetic field, and theoretical investigations to demonstrate the pressure-induced semimetal-to-superconductor transition in a Dirac topological semimetal zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe 5 ) compound. Prof. Zhaorong Yang and Phys.org discussed the paper he and his colleagues published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in which they report their discovery of the pressure-induced transition of the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe 5 ) to a superconductor by combining synchrotron X-ray diffraction, magnetic field low-temperature transport and theoretical investigations. "Three-dimensional Dirac semimetals are neighbor states to other exotic phases such as topological insulators, Dirac semimetals, Weyl semimetals, superconductors, and even topological superconductors," Yang tells Phys.org. "Recent theoretical and experimental studies show that ZrTe 5 is a very promising system that hosts topological properties and might help to pave a new way for further experimental studies of topological phase transitions." These discoveries spark the present team of scientists' interests to further investigations on its Dirac and topological characters in ZrTe 5 under high pressures, since pressure has proven to be an effective method for tuning electronic properties of materials by extensive studies. Prof. Jian Sun (an author of the paper discussed in this article) notes that "The sample is small, experiments are performed under extreme conditions and the signals are not strong. So it is very difficult to determine the crystal structures of high pressure phases based on the experimental data only. Our theoretical crystal structure prediction technique provides us the best candidates under the experimental circumstances and can be compared with the measured signals to eventually nail down the real structures." "We first conducted resistance and AC magnetic susceptibility measurements on ZrTe 5 single crystals at various pressures up to 68.5 gigapascals and observed two superconducting phases," Yang adds. One gigapascal (GPa) is equivalent to 1,000,000,000 pascals (Pa) the standard unit of pressure defined as one newton per square meter. "However, we noticed that the constructed pressure-superconducting phase diagram is very similar to that of tellurium, possibly due to the decomposition of ZrTe 5 under high pressure." To determine the origin of this transition, the researchers carried out in situ high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements combined with theoretical calculations. "We're very lucky that both experimental measurements and theoretical calculations identified that the superconducting phases are coming from a two-stage structural phase transition." Fig. 4. Enthalpy calculation of possible stable phases and their atomic and electronic structures of ZrTe 5 . Enthalpy vs. pressure for ZrTe 5 phases up to 40 GPa (A). Crystal structure of C2/m (B) and P-1 phase (C). The balls in cyan color and golden color represent Zr and Te atoms, respectively. (D) Fermi surfaces of C2/m structure at 10 GPa. (E) Fermi surfaces of P-1 structure at 30 GPa. Copyright Zhoy Y, et al. (2016) Pressure-induced superconductivity in a three-dimensional topological material ZrTe 5 . Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113(11):2904-2909. [Enthalpy is the sum of the internal energy of a thermodynamic system plus the product of the pressure and volume of the gas in the system.] The scientists found that (1) the appearance of superconductivity at the critical pressure is accompanied by the complete suppression of the high temperature resistance anomaly around 128 K, showing a structural transition from the Cmcm to C2/m space group, and (2) that at pressures above 21.2 GPa, a second superconducting phase with P-1 space group structure manifests and coexists with the original C2/m. (In mathematics and physics, a space group is the symmetry group of a configuration in space, usually in three dimensions.) "The superconductivity often appears in compounds which are close to a structural, magnetic, or electronic instability. More recent investigations have revealed that the high temperature resistance anomaly around 128 K is caused by temperature induced Lifshitz transition, in which the Fermi surface undergoes a change in topology and a drastic change in the electronic density of states." In their study, the team demonstrated that the appearance of superconductivity at the critical pressure is accompanied by the complete suppression of the resistance anomaly and a structural transition indicates that both electronic and structural instabilities are responsible for the observed superconductivity. The paper reported that the possibility of topological superconductivity at higher pressure cannot be excluded, and so remains an open question, as well as while the researchers' theoretical study rules out the possibility of topological superconductivity at low pressure, at high pressure (above 20 GPa), the system has a complicated Fermi surface and a superconducting phase. "Of major interest in the field of topological superconductivity is the realization of Majorana fermions, which are predicted to exist as protected bound states in topological superconductors," Sun explains. "In contrast to most of the above-mentioned topologically-related states, which have been theoretically predicted and experimentally proven, topological superconductivity remains elusive." However, Yang continues, the Dirac semimetal is the neighbor state closely related to various quantum states ranging from topological insulators to topological superconductors. "This versatility makes the Dirac semimetal an ideal parent compound for the realization of topological superconductivity. Moreover, in order to study the nature of superconductivity, we further performed band structure and Fermi surface calculations at high pressures, and showed that the possibility of topological superconductor at higher pressure cannot be excluded, which deserves further investigations." Looking ahead, the scientists are planning to study the pressure-induced topological transition with the help of high magnetic fields and ultra-low temperature. "Currently, we're developing an integrated system which combines the extreme conditions of high pressure, high magnetic field (up to 35 T) and ultra-low temperature (0.3 K), so that we can explore the Fermi surface structures by probing the quantum oscillations of the normal state under high pressure." As to other areas of research, Yang tells Phys.org, the researchers believe that their study will be beneficial to material science particularly for synthesizing novel superconducting materials. Explore further New unconventional superconductors and Weyl semi-metal dynamics More information: Pressure-induced superconductivity in a three-dimensional topological material ZrTe 5 , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences March 15, 2016 vol. 113 no. 11 2904-2909, Pressure-induced superconductivity in a three-dimensional topological material ZrTeMarch 15, 2016 vol. 113 no. 11 2904-2909, doi:10.1073/pnas.1601262113 Related Qi, Yanpeng, et al. Pressure-driven Superconductivity in Transition-metal Pentatelluride HfTe 5 . arXiv:1602.08616c1 [cond-mat.supr-con] Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2016 Phys.org China new tax on online sales to hit Australian products China is introducing a new tax which will impact Australian food companies that rely on selling their products online. Details of the tax are not yet clear however it is expected that online purchases from outside of China will be liable to be taxed at a rate of 11.9 per cent. The tax is expected to be introduced from April 2016. Until now, only products purchased online from online purchases by Chinese companies have been taxed. News of the tax yesterday led to a drop in the share prices of ASX-listed companies Blackmores and Bellamys Organic. Both of which receive substantial business revenues from Chinese consumers. China food exports not slowing down Despite concerns over the state of the Chinese economy in the wake of the 2015 Shanghai Stock market crash, Australian food and beverage companies are still continuing to invest heavily in production facilities to export more units into China. Just this week, the China manager for Sanitarium Matthew McKenzie, revealed in the Australian Financial Review that most popular Australian breakfast cereal Weet-Bix had seen recent strong growth in purchases despite having been first launched over eight years ago. He said Chinas was in fact now the number one expoirt market for Weet-Bix with strong growth over the past 2 years. In the 2014 2015 calendar year, exports from Australia to China exceeded AUD $81million in value. According to Australian government trade agency Austrade, infant formula, seafood, fruit, wheat, frozen meat, confectionery, wine and beer are all amongst the most desired Australian food types. At the start of March 2016 Australian Food News reported that Chinese comedian Guo Degang had closed the biggest private label wine exporting deal in Australian history, with an order of 800, 000 bottles of Victorian shiraz. Frosty Boy marks 40 years with international expansion plan For many Australians, Frosty Boy soft serve ice cream is synonymous with summer days and childhood treats. If Chief Executive Officer Dirk Pretorius gets his way, this connection and affection towards the Frosty Boy brand will become worldwide. The Gold Coast based business is celebrating 40 years in business this year with big international expansion plans. You must constantly have a clear, and what may seem an ambitious goal that you focus on and be determined to achieve it, Pretorius says. Frosty Boy is not new to exporting internationally. It began doing so in 2001 when Pretorius first joined the company. Today its products are available in 48 different countries. Moving forward it is not so much a matter of physical expansion for Frosty Boy, but instead building its brands so it is the number one preferred soft-serve provider internationally. Being able to expand into international markets has assisted with achieving phenomenal growth and Id go as far as saying our biggest achievement in 40 years is growing to the level we are at today, Pretorius said. Pretorius however says the company is not ignoring the the pull of China and has plans to focus on the country in 2016. Brand Australia is strongly recognised in international markets, particularly in China. The Chinese market is willing to pay more for good quality Australian products, such as our beverage range bases. We are determined to do more in our current markets, while in 2016 expanding in key international markets including Greater China; India and The Middle East, he said. We are equipped to do it, and its our strategy and the efforts of the people who have been part of Frosty Boys 40-year journey who have got us here, Pretorius added. LONDON, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ The NFC market is in the growing phase and is expected to reach USD 21.84 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 17.1% between 2015 and 2020. Retail & consumer electronics Industries dominated the NFC market The retail industry is one of the most prominent applications of the market owing to the growth of mobile commerce and cashless transactions worldwide. In 2014, the retail industry accounted for a share of 60% of the total market. Therefore, the deployment of intelligent NFC PoS terminals is also supported by retail owners and many other stakeholders as they help to drastically reduce the overburden of carrying cash and cards. The consumer electronics application also held a prominent share of the NFC market. The demand for NFC technology in growing consumer electronics devices such as wearable electronics, cameras, mobile phones, and others is supporting the growth of the market. APAC is estimated to be the fastest-growing market. The rapid growth of market in APAC is attributed to the growing shipments of NFC-enabled mobile phones and retail automation products. Moreover, APAC is a lucrative region for automotive production as the major automotive manufacturers are shifting their base to this region; this, in turn provides an opportunity for the NFC market in APAC. This research study involves the extensive use of secondary sources, directories, and databases (such as Hoovers, Bloomberg, Businessweek, Factiva, and OneSource) to identify and collect information useful for this study. After arriving the overall market size the total market has been split into several segments and sub segments and confirmed with the key industry experts. Below is the description of the primary interview conducted for this report. By company type: Tier I- 20%, Tier II-35%, and Tier III-45% By designation: C level- 20% , Director level-60% , others-20% By region- North America-50%, Europe-33%, North America-17% At present, the Americas hold the largest market share. The Americas is the most technologically advanced market owing to the higher penetration of NFC technology. The mobile NFC payment has become a first choice for a majority of customers in the North American region as it delivers a convenient way to pay, through a smartphone. APAC is estimated to be the fastest-growing market till 2020, it is expected to be a market leader for NFC products. The growing shipments of mobile and volume of contactless payments in Asian countries are the key drivers for the growth in APAC. The geographic segmentation covers four major regions of the world, namely, the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW). The report also profiles major players in the NFC market. Some of the major players in this market are NXP Semiconductors (Netherlands), Broadcom Corporation (U.S.), STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland), MediaTek, Inc. (Taiwan), and Renesas Electronics Corporation (Japan), Texas Instruments (U.S.), Gemalto N.V. (Netherland), Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (China), INSIDE Secure (France), and Samsung Electronics Company Limited (South- Korea) Reasons to buy the report This report caters to the needs of leading companies, end users, component manufacturers, and other related stakeholders in this market. Other parties that could benefit from the report include government bodies, environmental agencies, consulting firms, business development executives, C-level employees, and VPs. Our report would help you analyze new opportunities and potential revenue sources and enhance your decision -making process for new business strategies. The quantitative and qualitative information in the report along with our comprehensive analysis will help you gain an edge in the market. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3392247/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com Other Point of Sale News Blogs that may interest you: The history of early Asian immigration to Australia is one not often talked about in the country. From 1901 up until the 1960s the so called White Australia Act restricted people from Asia from immigrating to the country, however there were already many people settled before then. A theatre show in Sydney explores the life of one individual. A 19th century Japanese photographer named Yasukichi Murakami. Asia Callings Jarni Blakkarly went along to a rehearsal in Sydney. You know the planning masters were all white and most of them didnt trust us. Not just the Japanese, Chinese, Malaya, Aborigines, Filipinos, says an actor rehearsing on stage, but Gregory was different. At a rehearsal studio in Sydney, actors are bringing to life a long forgotten story in Australias history. The play is about the life of a 19th century Japanese photographer named Yasukichi Murakami and his lost photographs. The show is centred on an imagined conversation between Murakami and the plays creator Mayu Kanamori, who is also a Japanese-Australian photographer. Yasukichi Murakami was a photographer who came from Japan in 1887 and he lived in the Australian North, and he worked not only as a photographer but as an inventor and an entrepreneur, explains Mayu. Between the northern Australian cities of Broome and Darwin, Murakami worked in various odd jobs running a shop, a hotel, a taxi business and an informal bank. He even invented a pearl diving suit. Murakami became one of the community leaders for the several thousand Japanese living in Australia at the time. But many people knew him because of his photographs. He had a very successful photography studio in Darwin, in Northern Australia just before World War 2 began. And when the Japanese dropped the bombs on Pearl Harbor the following day, every Japanese person that lived in Australia was rounded up and they were interned as enemy aliens and YM was one of them, she says, And because of that internment and he died whilst he was actually interned. And his lifetime of photographs went missing and this play is about the uncovering of those lost photographs. Mayu says that during her research about Murakamis life and finding his photographs, she felt the story become symbolic of something much larger. Her search took her through libraries and archives all around Australia. She even travelled to Murakamis hometown back in Japan where she discovered photos he had sent back to his mother. Armed with this photographic collection, Mayu also managed to attribute dozens of unattributed photographs in the Australian archives as Murakamis work. It was as if, the memory of all Japanese prior to World War II had been wiped out with the violence of the war. And his lost photographs are like a metaphor for what I consider a collective national amnesia about the Japanese history in this country, she says, before continuing. I think in Australia we forget that generally the Asian population have been here for a very long time and in a sense Indigenous Australia and peoples of Asia have been trading and have been living together much longer than European settlement, so that part of history first of all needs to be remembered. While Australia today is a multicultural country, the British colony was established with strong racial divisions. During much of the 19th century Asian migrants were greeted with hostility and in 1901 they were banned from entering all together. More recently Australia has embraced multiculturalism, there are many different people of diverse backgrounds including many Asian people, you know it is the fastest growing group of people in Australia, says Mayu, But it is important that these histories of people that were here before us, not just new migration, be known today in contemporary Australia. Look at all these people buried here, not only them forgotten, says one of the actors rehearsing on stage, Forgotten people far away from their home, their families. They came here, lived once and contributed to the history of this country, our history, you owe it to them Mayu, to take the time to listen. Prior to his appointment at the bank, Dr. Wampah was the Director of the Research and Statistics Department at the West African Monetary Institute. Read more: He also worked as the Head of the Research Department of Bank of Ghana from February 1996 to February 2001, as well as working with the International Monetary Fund. Dr Wampah holds a Masters Degree and a Ph.D in Economics from McGill University, Montreal CANADA. Dr Wampah took over as governor in an acting capacity in April 2013 from Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur who was then the Governor of the Central Bank. Pressure has been mounting on Wampah to resign following the arrest of his son-in-law, David McDermott, over his alleged involvement in drug trade. President John Mahama in his State of the Nation address in February blamed the central bank governor for the microfinance crisis which monies of depositors were fraudulently used. He is reported to have informed President John Mahama about his decision so as to allow his successor more time to settle in before the November polls. There are two deputies to the Governor who also acts as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr Millison Narh is the First Deputy and Dr. Abdul Nashiru Issahaku who is the second Deputy Governor. See also: Parliament to grill BoG over microfinance companies Report indicates that the retirement of Dr Wampah has created some nervousness among managers of the bank. It also indicated that Dr Kofi Wampah favours his first deputy, Millison Narh as his successor but deep throat source says Dr. Abdul Nashiru Issahaku is tipped to replace the outgoing governor. Pulse.com.gh brings you a brief profile of the two gentlemen tipped to replace Dr Henry Kofi Wampah. Profile of Mr Millison Narh Mr Millison Narh was confirmed as the First Deputy Governor of the Bank in August 2013. Mr Narh, until his new position, has been the Second Deputy Governor since 2009 when now Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur was the Governor. Despite the elevation, Mr Narhs portfolio remains the same. He was in charge of the operations of the central bank. Mr. Narh, who is a Chartered Accountant, has worked with the central bank for 35 years in various capacities. Mr. Narh was Director and Head of the Banking Department from July 2002 to May 2008 and was responsible for all banking matters, both domestic and international. He supervised the operations of the Head Office and five regional offices involving a staff strength of 500, in the areas of deposit and currency management, trade finance (import and export document handling), global transfers (inward and outward remittances) and development and management of payment systems. Read related: BoG downplays cedi devaluation report He also handled government accounts which involved the receipt of funds into the Consolidated Fund and making domestic and foreign payments on behalf of government. Mr. Narh played an active role in the re-denomination exercise by designing an accounting system to convert and record dealings in the new currency and the simultaneous withdrawal of the old. He directed and coordinated the operational plans by the banks for the re-denomination exercise, planned and executed the issuance of new cheque books to customers of all the banks in the country and designed a system for the dual clearance of cheques (old and new) with resounding success. He was the SWIFT USER group chairperson for Ghana and coordinated the implementation of a number of payment system development projects initiated by SWIFT International. As an Assistant Director and Chief Internal Auditor of the Internal Audit Department of the Bank from 2000 to 2002, Mr. Narh planned and executed audit assignments in the Bank based on the risk assessment of the auditable function. His responsibilities included liaising with external auditors of the Bank to ensure complimentarity of audit assignments. He also supervised the examination of mutilated currency for incineration and evaluation of currency tenders. From June to October 2001, Mr. Millison Narh was the Acting Principal of the National Banking College, a position which involved the overall administration of the college to achieve its set objectives but which saw him delivering lectures in several disciplines including accounting, credit management, human resources and marketing, among others. Mr. Narh developed a strategic plan for the College which is being implemented to date with satisfactory outcomes. From 1995 to 1997, he served as the Principal Consultant for the National Banking College on secondment from the Bank, being a member of the team that set up the College and was also a facilitator. See more: Fitch predicts fiscal slippage ahead of November polls Mr. Narh was the Head of Branch Banking Department from 1996 to 1999 during which he was tasked by Management of the Bank to set up five regional branch offices for the Bank. From 1993 to 1995, Mr. Narh was a Chief Manager and Head of the Domestic Banking Division with the responsibility for planning and organizing deposit management functions to achieve the objectives of the Division. Profile of Dr. Abdul Nashiru Issahaku Dr Abdul Nashiru Issahaku prior to his appointment as the second deputy governor was the acting Chief Executive Officer of Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF). Dr. Issahaku has also worked with the African Development Bank and World Bank. The secretary of the BoG announced:"It is announced for the information of the financial sector and the general public that in view of his long outstanding leave days, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. H. A. K. Wampah, is taking an early retirement from the Bank with effect from April 1, 2016 ahead of the end of his tenure which falls on August 5, 2016." Read more: BoG governor to retire end of March Dr Wampah took over as governor in an acting capacity in April 2013 from Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur who was then the Governor of the Central Bank. Dr Asibey-Yeboah, who doubles as an Economist reacting to the announcement by Dr Wampah on Accra-based Joy FM described Dr. Wampah as the "most incompetent" governor. "Is long overdue and Im happy he has taken an early bow," he noted. See also: Parliament to grill BoG over microfinance companies Pressure has been mounting on Wampah to resign following the arrest of his son-in-law, David McDermott, over his alleged involvement in drug trade. David McDermott has been married to Dr. Wampah's step-daughter, Ramona Wampah for three years, but was arrested in Ghana at his home in Burma Hills on March 11, 2016. At a meeting to announce the new Monetary Policy Rate on March 21, Wampah refused to resign over his son-in-law. "My son in-law is my son in law; it has nothing to do with me being Governor of the Central Bank. 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 am going so thank you,"he told a news conference. See more:BoG downplays cedi devaluation report Wampah was too subservient. He should not have allowed the sloppy management of the Merchant Bank sale. That was one big miscalculation and sent signals of supporting underhand dealings in a divestiture arrangement involving hidden players,he said. Dr. Wampah, whose term officially ends on August 5,2016 told Reuters he had informed President John Mahama of his intention to leave by the end of this month, adding the decision was partly linked to presidential and parliamentary elections planned for November. Commenting on his exit in a Facebook post,Franklin Cudjoe of IMANI said Wampah's inability to check governments appetite for borrowing affected him. Wampah should have been bolder in reigning in the voracious appetite for borrowing by the government to fund mostly poorly costed projects, Cudjoe stated. Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah, is expected to resign on April 1, 2016. Below are details of the post My brief comments on the resignation of the Governor of the Central Bank. 1. He did ensure that the banking industry was fairly expanded but evidently he allowed himself to be caught up in the storm of armstrong politics. He made it easy for his predecessor and current Vice-President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur to be missed. Paa Kwesi was one who could tell the Finance Minister literally to go to hell over the payment of arrears when the latter wanted to unduly delay payment. Paa Kwesi was a good listener. I recall when IMANI conducted series of expose in the banking industry and within hours, he had called IMANI and our professional allies to meet and explain the challenges we identified and crucially what to do about them. 2. Wampah was too subservient. He should not have allowed the sloppy management of the Merchant Bank sale. That was one big miscalculation and sent signals of supporting underhand dealings in a divestiture arrangement involving hidden players . 3. Up close during the Senchi Economic Forum, I witnessed how diffident he was when I posed the question when he was ending his dirigiste forex rules. His answer, while looking at the Finance Minister was " I am waiting for him ( Finance Minister Tekper) to be fiscally responsible first." Perhaps a brilliant answer and one that struck at the core of incoherence in policy making IMANI identified, is one major bane of economic policy making in Ghana. However, that honest answer from Wampah wasn't bold enough given how long and painful it took him and his senior managers at the Bank to reduce the pain. The pain of the crazy forex rules still lingers as we are experiencing second round effects. 4. Wampah should have been bolder in reigning in the voracious appetite for borrowing by the government to fund mostly poorly costed projects with dire consequences for the moribund private sector. 5. Wampah should have been bolder to tell it to the face of the Finance Minister that he cannot be borrowing hefty sums from the NHIL and render it penniless all the time. If readers will remember, I warned that by June this year, the NHIS will be cash strapped as the finance ministry has improperly borrowed almost 300m cedis from the fund for yet to be disclosed expenditure. Now news reports of a cash strapped NHIS vindicate my position and it is NOT because we didn't pay our 2.5% levy. It was paid and the fund is a consolidated one and Wampah should have been admonishing the finance ministry of such economic autarky ! 6. Wampah should have opposed the setting up of the Ghana Infrastructure Fund whose mandate is clearly not economic but simply a political slush fund for petty projects . Wampah should have been telling government to sell off non - performing state assets and use the proceeds to fund critical infrastructure instead of setting a political bank to play with our money. 7. There is more but I will stop here and hope that the next Central Bank Governor ensures at least a more pragmatic monetary policy that truly asserts the independence and effectiveness of the Central Bank. Perhaps the next Governor can be bolder and aspire to copy the habits of highly effective countries such as what I experienced last November in the UK after an insightful meeting at the Bank of England with its Director for International Development my notes were However, low incomes, insufficient social security and insufficient health care as well as poor state of schools are common problems faced by a large number workers and households in Ghana, a report that studied labour migration in Ghana has found. The result shows that for most people, incomes are not enough to sustain their household livelihood. A greater number (72.5%) of the respondents disagreed or were not sure that incomes were sufficient. Males as well as respondents in rural areas formed the majority of those who think incomes are not adequate to sustain their households livelihoods. The opposite is the case with regard to those who think incomes are adequate. That is, more urban respondents than rural respondents view incomes to be adequate. The findings, the report said, point out the low incomes rural households earn due to lack of better and enough income-generating opportunities that will enable them to have improved livelihood in most parts of Ghana. On access to social security, the survey found that over 56% do not pay for or have access to social security and this is serious among male-headed homes and rural households as compared to female-headed households and urban households respectively. Pension and healthcare systems are the main social security respondents said they have, with close to 54% having healthcare as against 46% for pension. Regarding the type of schools 'respondents children attend, enrolment rate was slightly higher in public schools than in private schools especially in rural areas and among female respondents. A great part of the respondents across all groups paid their childrens schools fees mainly from their salaries. Majority of the respondents were from the southern ecological zone of Ghana, with the major regions being Ashanti (20.4%), Greater Accra (15%), Eastern (11.2%) and Western (10.5%). The Upper East and West Regions had the lowest (less than 5% each) of the respondents, while the Northern Region is the highest in the northern ecological zone. The findings suggest that the sample was biased towards some regions (e.g. the two major regions of Ashanti and Greater Accra). This was revealed by the District Chief Executive James Gunu who stated that the district recorded a 24% pass in last years BECE and as a measure to improve education, the assembly has passed a regulation seeking to restrict basic school pupils from parading the outskirts of the districts after 9pm. Read more: Northern School of Business shuts down Speaking to Accra-based Kasapa FM, James Gunu noted the policy does not seek to infringe on the rights of the pupils but to instill discipline in them. He was optimistic that the parents will ensure their wards comply with the policy and do not send them on errands after 9pm. "We have given the various schools all the needed logistics to improve education yet the pupils are deliberately refusing to learn and we also deliberately push them to achieve our aim. Our district is barely new and we need to succeed and develop. This is not a curfew, we have break time and lesson hours in a pupils life. 9pm for wake keeping, are the pupils chief mourners?" he asked. See also: According to him, not only will recalcitrant pupils be arrested and arraigned before a juvenile court in the district, but their parents or guardians will also be apprehended. He noted the assembly held a meeting with the traditional authorities, various Parents Teachers Associations and all the stakeholders to ensure the success of the regulation. She ended up in Ghana as a love migrant coming here with her Ghanaian boyfriend who she later married. They initially said they would try live her for a year, but as Hallberg Adu says Ghana has worked out great for me. I came in 2007 just after the 50th anniversary since independence. The first year I was doing an internship and enjoying life in a warm country I come from a cold place. She had been blogging and reading Ghanaian blogs, and decided she wanted to met the bloggers she had been following, away from the screens, in real life. The group of bloggers met in 2008 for the first time, and over the years have worked to create an organisation to promote blogging and social media and give opportunities to learn from each other, and so, Blogging Ghana was born. It's an organisation for social media enthusiasts, bloggers as well as organisations who are working in the social media space. They meet twice a month, host talks and annual blogging awards. When she's not blogging or following others blogs, Hallberg Adu is teaching at Ashesi University. For the past six years she has been lecturing communication classes as well as political science at the liberal arts college. It's given her the opportunity to see how girls and women fare in education in Ghana. For women in education in Ghana we all know that there is not the same opportunities. She notes as girls and women progress through education, their numbers dwindle. On the basic level you have about the same number of girls and boys, after we have put in a lot of effort in that, as you go higher you have fewer and fewer girls and women. Hallberg Adu says Ashesi takes gender equality seriously, ensuring the admissions are balanced. We think it creates a better environment, it mirrors life outside of academia and also the problems we are to solve affects men and women, so we need both of their experiences. In saying that, she adds that being a woman in academia can involve getting questioned by male students or colleagues or them referring to you in ways that are not okay, or refer to your gender or body or something you don't feel comfortable with. But, about to complete her PhD, Hallberg Adu says these kind of comments do not worry her. I think as you have wrestled your way to this level... I am not so worried with it. I think I can speak back and find my space. What I worry about is students who do not have the same experience and have not been able to wrestle through. A statement from the Ministry of Education issued on Tuesday, March 29, 2016, said the amount was released to the Ghana Education Trust Fund for onward disbursement to the colleges. The announcement of the release of the funds follows a statement issued by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in which the students union urged government to pay the feeding grants of the teacher trainees across the country which have stalled since the beginning of the academic year. NUGS said government had defaulted in the payment of feeding fees for the 2014/2015 academic year, resulting in authorities of the various Colleges of Education billing students in order to take care of their feeding needs. Below is the full statement:PRESS RELEASEPAYMENT OF FEEDING GRANTS TO COLLEGES OF EDUCATIONThe Ministry of Education wishes to confirm that funds have been released for the payment of feeding grants for trainees of the Colleges of Education. Feeding grant arrears of 62. 7 million Ghana Cedis have been released to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) by the Ministry of Finance for onward disbursement to the public Colleges of Education. We expect the accounts of the Colleges of Education to be credited in the next few days after which Principals will reimburse all trainees. Commenting on his exit in a Facebook post, the IMANI founder said Wampah's inability to check governments appetite for borrowing affected him. Wampah was too subservient. He should not have allowed the sloppy management of the Merchant Bank sale. That was one big miscalculation and sent signals of supporting underhand dealings in a divestiture arrangement involving hidden players. Wampah should have been bolder in reigning in the voracious appetite for borrowing by the government to fund mostly poorly costed projects with dire consequences for the moribund private sector, Cudjoe stated. Below are details of the post My brief comments on the resignation of the Governor of the Central Bank. 1. He did ensure that the banking industry was fairly expanded but evidently he allowed himself to be caught up in the storm of armstrong politics. He made it easy for his predecessor and current Vice-President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur to be missed. Paa Kwesi was one who could tell the Finance Minister literally to go to hell over the payment of arrears when the latter wanted to unduly delay payment. Paa Kwesi was a good listener. I recall when IMANI conducted series of expose in the banking industry and within hours, he had called IMANI and our professional allies to meet and explain the challenges we identified and crucially what to do about them. 2. Wampah was too subservient. He should not have allowed the sloppy management of the Merchant Bank sale. That was one big miscalculation and sent signals of supporting underhand dealings in a divestiture arrangement involving hidden players . 3. Up close during the Senchi Economic Forum, I witnessed how diffirent he was when I posed the question when he was ending his dirigiste forex rules. His answer, while looking at the Finance Minister was " I am waiting for him ( Finance Minister Tekper) to be fiscally responsible first." Perhaps a brilliant answer and one that struck at the core of incoherence in policy making IMANI identified, is one major bane of economic policy making in Ghana. However, that honest answer from Wampah wasn't bold enough given how long and painful it took him and his senior mangers at the Bank to reduce the pain. The pain of the crazy forex rules still lingers as we are experiencing second round effects. 4. Wampah should have been bolder in reigning in the voracious appetite for borrowing by the government to fund mostly poorly costed projects with dire consequences for the moribund private sector. 5. Wampah should have been bolder to tell it to the face of the Finance Minister that he cannot be borrowing hefty sums from the NHIL and render it penniless all the time. If readers will remember, I warned that by June this year, the NHIS will be cash strapped as the finance ministry has improperly borrowed almost 300m cedis from the fund for yet to be disclosed expenditure. Now news reports of a cash strapped NHIS vindicate my position and it is NOT because we didn'pay our 2.5% levy. It was paid and the fund is a consolidated one and Wampah should have been admonishing the finance ministry of such economic autarky ! 6. Wampah should have opposed the setting up of the Ghana Infrastructure Fund whose mandate is clearly not economic but simply a political slush fund for petty projects . Wampah should have been telling government to sell off non - performing state assets and use the proceeds to fund critical infrastructure instead of setting a political bank to play with our money. 7. There is more but I will stop here and hope that the next Central Bank Governor ensures at least a more pragmatic monetary policy that truly asserts the independence and effectiveness of the Central Bank. Perhaps the next Governor can be bolder and aspire to copy the habits of highly effective countries such as what I experienced last November in the UK after an insightful meeting at the Bank of England with its Director for International Development my notes were This is according to the MP for New Juabeng South who is also an economist, while other financial analysts say Ghana deserves better in the future. They cite the poor performance of the Ghana cedi against other major currencies and the Microfinance Scandals that have rocked the country lately. This sets the background to what is expected of the next governor of the bank. Financial analyst Sydney Casely Hayford expects the next governor to prioritize the role as a moderator of government expenditure. In an interview with Pulse Business, Dr. Laud Mensah, Banking and Finance lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School said election years are mostly periods of unbridled spending by government, and will need a resolute governor of the Central Bank to keep government in check. The governor must take stringent steps to curb the Bank of Ghanas overdraft to government and have the resolve to follow the due process for checks that ensures that government sticks to expenditure limits, especially in election times. Dr. Mensah added The most important thing the governor of the Central Bank needs to do is to strive for its independence. This should help him strive to take decisions that are not politically restrained. Dr. Henry Wampah announced his resignation as the governor of the Bank of Ghana with effect from Friday, 1, April 2016. It is however unclear if the governor is resigning over the current series of scandals he has been embroiled in. The Bank of Ghana has been accused of poor supervision of microfinance companies by President John Dramani Mahama, referring to the DKM and other related microfinance scandals. The first Vice president of the National Health Students Association of Ghana, Richard Osei Yeboah said the consistent cholera outbreaks and other sanitation related diseases will not be eradicated if the concerns of the graduates are not addressed. "The sister Association together with the Concerned students wrote to the Ministry again and they have called them for a meeting on 1st April to discuss the way forward. And then we also have a meeting with the Ministry of Health on the 30th of this month. "So we are going to discuss these issues. And already we have made our plans that if the meeting on the 30th of and 1st April do not yield any results, on 4th April, we will hit the streets," he told Accra-based Viasat 1. The Paramount Chief of Bunkpurugu, Naa Alhaji Abuba Nasinmong has urged teachers and other health workers who left the town to return. They shouldnt fear anything, they shouldnt doubt anything. They should come back and continue their job. We are one people and there is nothing wrong again, Naa Alhaji Abuba Nasinmong told Accra-based Joy FM. The Jamong family had been claiming title to the Bunkpurugu skin, which is with the Jafok family. The chieftaincy dispute between the two families, in spite of it being in court for eight years did not stop the factions from going at each other from time to time. This had a toll on economic and other religious activities in the town, with government being forced to impose a 10pm to 4am curfew in the town amidst heavy security presence. They are Sekondi-Takoradi, Accra, Kumasi and Tamale Metropolitan Assemblies. More than 80% of households that suffered car theft reported to the police, the report said. Other crimes frequently reported were car hijacking (67%), theft of motorcycle (44%), car vandalism (25.0%) and assault/threat (17.9%). With the exception of theft of motorcycle where all incidents are reported to other agencies, the proportions of victims who reported to authorities other than the police remained relatively small. Incidents regarding three of the household crimes (theft of car, car vandalism and attempted burglary) were not reported to other agencies at all. Crime against the individual respondents that received the highest attention of other agencies other than the police is assault/threat (4%). Of the five most prevalent crime types recorded in the survey, some victims decided not to report to the police. This was based on a range of factors. Among the factors they considered are that the police could do nothing, the police could not be trusted, fear and dislike of the police. A section also said the crime is not serious enough to merit reporting to the police. Others thought it is inappropriate for the police to know or solve the problem themselves, or report to other public or private agencies or should be solved by the family. Reacting to the said agreement, one the lawyers, Kodjoga Adawudu, during cross examination of the investigator in the case, said there was no treaty between Ghana and the UK binding both countries to send arrested fugitives back to their home countries for trial. He also said the treaty which the state was relying on for the extradition process could not hold because the country was no longer a colony of Britain. McDermott was arrested on March 11 this year, based on an extradition request issued by the British High Commission to the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ghana for his role in a conspiracy to import 71 million worth of cocaine into the United Kingdom in 2013. Criminal charges brought against the fugitive in another suit at an Accra Circuit court were today withdrawn by the state without any reasons for it. I think the media industry is probably the best cautionary tale of why we need long-term planning. As a result of the lack of adequate planning, the media industry is always playing catch-up in infrastructure and growth, he made this known when the when the Director General of the National Development Planning Commission NDPC, Dr Nii Moi Thompson and some officials of the Commission briefed members of the NMC on progress of work on the 40-Year National Development Plan. The 40-year long-term development plan, which will be put before Parliament by the end of this year, is expected to be implemented between 2018 and 2057. It will be incorporated in the countrys Constitution and, therefore, will be binding on all governments. The Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, noted that development projects must not be curtailed because of a change in government, adding that Very few projects can be started by one government and completed within four years. Almost half (49.7%) of households in Ghana have at least a migrant family outside Ghana. The other half (50.3%) is likely to be engaged in internal migration, a survey report on labour migration in Ghana has found. In total, 2831 respondent households in all the 10 administrative regions of Ghana were surveyed and top of the reason for migration were for employment, further studies and family reunion. More than 4/5 of respondent households members had migrated abroad for employment and/or undertake further studies reasons. In terms of destination, the preferred choice by most emigrants was European countries and the USA. The choice, the reported noted, may be influenced by economic reasons as they are perceived to have better employment opportunities and good educational facilities for further studies. Regarding working and living conditions, majority of households had had one complain or the other from emigrant members. The issue of hard work, high cost of living in host countries and bad conditions of service in host countries were the most complained about. This notwithstanding, most migrants were reported to be better off in destination countries. Civil Society group, Food Sovereignty Ghana, who is making this call said "We are not claiming that we are the only group that petitioned Parliament that needed to be consulted. However, we see that almost all the groups that petitioned Parliament are still waiting to be consulted. We wonder which groups actually were consulted? Why were most or all of the petitioners excluded? What was the basis of the petitions of any groups that may have been consulted, and on what grounds were they rejected by the Committee?" According to the group as well other farmers in Ghana, mega transnational seed and fertiliser companies will take advantage of the bill to kill smallholder farms in Ghana. The Bill is expected to improve the seed industry by providing a legal framework for the protection of the rights of breeders of new plant varieties and to enable Ghana to be in full compliance with obligations under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) of the WTO while promoting and encouraging investment in the seed industry. The speaker had ruled for further consultations on the Bill in November 11, 2014, the last time the Bill came up on the floor of the House at the Consideration Stage, a move the Legal and Constitutional Affairs of parliament, has said has been taken into consideration. Food Sovereignty Ghana is therefore demanding a publication of the report on the consultations done by parliament, considering concerns by small-holder farmers and other groups that they were not consulted. "It therefore behooves the Committee to produce an official report detailing the consultations they claim to have done for all to know why Parliament still refuses to heed the demands of Ghanaian civil society groups and Faith-based organisations which who have formally petitioned them. The minimum courtesy one expects is at least a report detailing why their objections were not taken into consideration," a statement signed Edwin Kweku Andoh Baffour, Communications Directorate, FSG has said in a statement. Below are excerpts of the statement: We particularly demand responses to these fundamental objections to the Plant Breeders Bill. All of these objections apply equally to the ARIPO Arusha PVP Protocol, a treaty version of the exact same bill. 1. Ghana can protect plant breeder rights without necessarily opting for UPOV 91. The Bill is modelled on the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants of 1991 (UPOV 1991) which is a rigid and an inflexible regime for plant variety protection (PVP). It is worth noting that today out of the 71 UPOV members, only a fraction about 22 developing countries are members of UPOV. Most of these developing countries (e.g. Brazil, China, Argentina, South Africa) and even some developed countries (e.g. Norway) are not members of UPOV 1991 but rather UPOV 1978, which is a far more flexible regime. Ghana has full flexibility under the World Trade Organization (WTO) to develop an effective sui generis system for plant variety protection, i.e. to develop a unique system that suits its needs. In view of this, it is truly unfortunate and even irrational that instead of designing a PVP regime that reflects the agricultural framework and realities of Ghana as some other countries have done (e.g. India, Thailand, Ethiopia), Ghana is choosing to adopt and be bound by UPOV 1991 without any concrete evidence or impact assessment of the necessity and impacts of adopting such a regime. Ghana is a member of the World Trade Organization and the rights and obligations concerning intellectual property are governed by the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). According to Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement, Ghana has to provide protection of plant varieties by an effective sui generis system. Sui generis means unique system of protection. This provision allows Ghana maximum flexibility in the design of plant variety protection (PVP). This is what many developing countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, India have done. The African Union Ministers have also recommended a unique Model Law for Plant Variety Protection. See: Ghanas Plant Breeders Bill Lacks Legitimacy! It Must Be Revised! The public has a right to know why our Parliament is insisting on the UPOV-91 model for Ghana! 2. As a member of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGRFA) we expect Ghana to take steps to realise farmers rights to use, sell, save and exchange farm-saved seeds, to protect their traditional knowledge and to allow their participation in national decision-making. It is thus extremely disappointing to see that the Bill is heavily tilted in favour of commercial breeders and undermines farmers rights. The Bill does not allow farmers to sell and exchange seeds. A farmers use of farm-saved seeds on his own holdings is limited to personal use and regulation by the Minister and may be subject to payment of royalties. 3. The Bill also contains a presumption whereby a plant breeder is considered to be entitled to intellectual property protection in the absence of proof to the contrary. Usually the onus is on the applicant to prove that he or she has complied with the necessary requirements and is thus entitled to protection. But in this case there is a presumption in favour of the plant breeder. This presumption provision and the lack of an explicit provision that calls for the disclosure of origin of the genetic material used in the development of the variety including information of any contribution made by any Ghanaian farmer or community in the development of the variety creates opportunities for breeders to misappropriate Ghanas genetic resources using the PVP system and to exploit smallholder farmers. Ghanas farmers must not be criminalized by Ghanas laws for practising traditional farming. It is important to note that Ghana is a member of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Convention on Biological Diversity and both these instruments champion fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. Including a disclosure of origin provision in the Bill is critical as it is widely recognized as an important tool to safeguard against biopiracy. Several countries have included such a provision in its their PVP legislation and there is no reason why Ghana should not do the same. 4. The Bill also lacks provisions that will ensure that intellectual property protection will not be granted to varieties that adversely affect public interests. 5. Amend or repeal Clause 23! The offending clause reads: 23 Measures regulating commerce.A plant breeder right shall be independent of any measure taken by the Republic to regulate within Ghana the production, certification and marketing of material of a variety or the importation or exportation of the material. FSGs position on this is that it is important for the Bill to be coherent with Ghanas sovereignty plus other legislation and national interests such as the protection of the environment, health, prevention of misappropriation of genetic resources etc. The inclusion of Clause 23 hinders the ability to achieve such coherence as it views the grant of PBR as being independent from all other regulations. In certain cases it may be important to refuse to grant PBR over a variety, particularly where national interests are at stake. Such situations include not granting PBR on varieties that are injurious to public health, environment etc or where the application does not disclose the origin of the genetic material. There is a huge difference between plant breeder right shall be INDEPENDENT OF any measure taken by the Republic to regulate within Ghana the production, certification and marketing and plant breeder right shall be SUBJECT TO any measure taken by the Republic to regulate within Ghana the production, certification and marketing of material of a variety or the importation or exportation of the material! The language must be amended to: plant breeder right shall be SUBJECT TO any measure taken by the Republic to regulate within Ghana the production, certification and marketing of material of a variety or the importation or exportation of the material. 6. Any PVP law in Ghana must protect Ghana from biopiracy. We recommend language such that: any entity or individual who provides germplasm resources to any foreign entity, organisation or individual in cooperation to conduct research, shall make an application and submit a national benefit-sharing plan. Why do our elected representatives ignore these points, at least according to the Hon George Loh. Why do our MPs reject these suggestions that would truly protect Ghanas agriculture and make our lives more sustainable and our agriculture more profitable for all Ghanaians. For Life, the Environment, and Social Justice! The court on Tuesday convicted Okundowa after he admitted to kissing and having deep romance with the victim who was 14 years when the incident occurred. The convict was a student of Intercom Programming and Manufacturing Company Limited (IPMC) a college of technology in Accra. In April last year the accused person contacted the victim on social media promising to buy her a smart phone. On June 03, the convict asked the victim to meet him at his residence at A- Lane in Santa Maria a suburb of Accra. According to the prosecution Okundowa kept the girl in his room and had sex with her several times. The victim who feared her guardian would go to her school to enquire about her pleaded with the convict to let her go but he refused. The convict rather sent a hoax text telling the victims guardian that she had been attacked by armed robbers. The victims guardian sent reported the matter to the police and Okundowa was arrested. The Court could not uphold the charges on defilement because the medical report was inconclusive. The victim who feared that her guardian would go to her school to enquire about her pleaded with the convict to let her go but he refused. The convict rather sent a hoax text telling the victims guardian that the victim and her other colleagues had been attacked by armed robbers and the robbers were abusing the females among them. Prosecution said the complainant forwarded the text message to the Police and Okundowa was arrested. Okundowa denied having sex with the victim but admitted that he had deep romance with her. "Every country in the world needs to be prepared to deal with terrorism and security and Ghana is not unique in that," he said. "I think that we are becoming better prepared but we always need to be vigilant. If I have one message it is that we need to work together. It is an international problem and requires an international solution." Meanwhile, Ghana has introduced new security measures at airports across the country. As part of the measures all passengers will be screened before entering the departure halls at the airport. He admits that GNPC needs to be given autonomy to carry out its mandate but their powers must be regularly checked. "The Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) says Parliament should approve of your work programme. You came to Parliament with a rental option and Parliament said no, go and build. But what did we see? They went and rented," he said. "So, even now, they are disobeying orders and if you are not careful and you allow them to do their own things, then it will just be dangerous," he said. With this and many other examples in place, the MP said the committee was cautious of the corporation's current requests, which are aimed at strengthening its balance sheet and legal status to maximise value from petroleum for the country. A deputy Minister of Petroleum, Mr Benjamin Dagadu, confirmed Parliament's posture on GNPC's request in a separate interview. According to him, the approach was wrongfully planned and maintained that the NPP has become a laughing stock for their own decision. Read more: "The NPP has brought some people to do some training and all that has happened has become an embarrassment," he stated. "It is unfortunate that this issue has taken place this idea of training our people to guard our leader is supposed to be on the quiet. The whole thing is an embarrassment to Ghana as a nation and going to affect Ghana and South Africa diplomatic relationship." Speaking on Accra-based Neat FM, Captain Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey stated that training someone on how to handle weapons is not limited to only the military. "Other persons who are qualified and licensed can do same. The NPP could have employed a retired Ghanaian officer to do the job, but it is a matter of choice. We goofed," he said. According to him, "it is an embarrassment" because Captain Edmund Koda (rtd) confirmed that he should have sought for some other permits, approvals and licences before the three South African nationals entered the country, but failed to do so; as indicated in the Interior Minister's press statement. The three ex- South African police officers who were arrested at Agoan Duakwa in the Central Region for allegedly engaging in activities which were deemed as a security threat have since been deported. The trio ex-police officers, Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (rtd), 54; Warrant Officer Denver Dwayhe, 33, and Captain Mlungiseli Jokani, 45 were put on board South African Airways flight number 210, which departed around 9:26 to Johannesburg on Tuesday.' They have since been repatriated by the Ghana Immigration Service to South Africa. They were put on board South African Airways flight number 210, which departed around 9:26 to Johannesburg on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Gifty Twum Ampofo of the NPP polled 10,033 votes representing 89.60% of total votes cast to become the MP-elect, having beaten Isaac Kwartey of the United Front Party (UFP) who managed to garner 901 votes representing 8.05%. Read more: The other contestant Samuel Frimpong who stood on the ticket of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) had 263 votes representing 2.35%. The total valid votes cast were 11,197 with the rejected standing at 110. According to the Electoral Commission, per the statistics the total turnout was 28.22%. The by-election was held in accordance with Article 112 (5) of the Constitution following the death of the Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa North constituency Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu, on February 9, 2016. See related: The MP was stabbed to death at his residence at Shiashie in Accra by a teenager, Daniel Asiedu, who is currently facing prosecution. The Member of Parliament for the Old Tafo constituency in the Ashanti region, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei disclosed to some section of the media that there is rift between Dr Wampah and vice president because he (Amissah-Arthur) is partly to blame for the current awful state of Ghanas economy. He said the failure of the duo two of the most important figures tasked with providing direction and advice regarding the running of the economy to bury their differences, was also a factor in Dr Wampahs unimpressive tenure as governor, which, according to him, had forced him to resign his position as head of Ghanas central bank. But in a statement from the Office of the Vice President signed by Mr James Agyenim-Boateng, it said Dr Akoto Oseis assertion as "a figment of the fertile imagination of the person making the allegation and it should be treated with the contempt it deserves." "From his days as the Governor of the Central Bank till date, Mr Amissah-Arthur has had very fruitful and cherished relations with Dr Wampah. Click to read the full statement issued by veep here: 'No bad blood between me and Wampah' - Veep After overseeing one of the most disastrous performances of the local currency, the cedi and the collapse of the hitherto booming national economy, Dr Henry Akpenamawu Kofi Wampah seems to have finally succumbed to the massive public outcry and is said to have acquiesced to retire. Prior to his appointment at the bank, Dr. Wampah was the Director of the Research and Statistics Department at the West African Monetary Institute. Read more: He also worked as the Head of the Research Department of Bank of Ghana from February 1996 to February 2001, as well as working with the International Monetary Fund. Pressure has been mounting on Wampah to resign following the arrest of his son-in-law, David McDermott, over his alleged involvement in drug trade. President John Mahama in his State of the Nation address in February blamed the central bank governor for the microfinance crisis which monies of depositors were fraudulently used. Freddie Blay in an interview with Pulse com.gh said the president has lost total control of the management of the country. Its been very poor. I am disappointed. The man is my friend, we were both in parliament; he is not doing the job. He considers the job as a PR endeavor. Blay was speaking to Pulse.com.gh on the partys preparation towards the November general elections. He said the president has failed that is why the NPP should be the next government. It is work. When you sit on your desk and people are not delivering you have to make them think hard and not just plan to plunder. Blay said the NPP is still keeping its pressure on the EC to ensure there is a validation process with regards to the voters register. The NPP after unsuccessfully calling for a new register is now pushing to have the names on the register validated when the registration starts in April. Ensuring the register is clean according to the party is one of the key things as it heads into the elections in November. we suspect quite a number of people who dont exit are still on the register and that one invariably, if we are not careful it will be in favour of the government. He said it may appear the EC is not listening to his party but we are convinced that she and the commission dont constitute an island. They have to listen, Ghanaians want a peaceful election He says if the EC refuses to heed to their request definitely the election will go on but I must be very honest with you I cannot guess what our final reaction will be as an individual I cannot. As a party we are still discussing. The acting chairman said they are yet to put their campaign in full gear even though the flagbearer, his running as well as the parliamentary candidates have begun sending their messages across. Join Pulse.com.gh on this journey of discovery where we visit some awesome places. Wli Waterfall Wli Waterfalls is a 20-kilometre drive away from the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta region of the Republic of Ghana. Standing tall and impressive inside a semi-deciduous forest is the WLI WATERFALL, the tallest waterfall in West Africa, measuring about 143 metres from the upper fall to the plunge pool below it. Wli Waterfalls' sheer grandeur, height, beauty and cool environment beats every imagination and makes it a tourist site in Ghana to savour. The narrow path leading to this splendid waterfall is shaded by tall trees and amazing green semi-deciduous rainforest making it impossible for the suns rays to touch the ground and allows passage for only two people walking side by side. Before one will reach the fall site he or she has to cross nine wooden foot bridges that have been built over the nine meanders rivers whiles the captivating sound of the flowing water calls out to its visitors. The density of the water increases upon seeing people. Nzulezu Ever heard of the saying water is life? Some people live and survive on the lake Tanda, a spectacular tourist site. An amazing Village where life goes on in the centre of Lake Tadane, just 90km west of Takoradi is a settlement called Nzulezu an Nzema language which means surface water. Houses are built on stilts, and traditional village life adapts to the watery conditions. One can make his way to this village by dugout canoe. The village welcomes visitors every day except Thursday, which is a sacred day it is believed to be a sacred to the lake, and it is forbidden to use and work on the lake for any activity throughout the day of Thursday. The lake is also perceived by the local population to protect against certain risks such as fire outbreak. Fiema Monkey Sanctuary The day that the monkey is destined to die, all the trees get slippery but that is not the case here at Boabeng Fiema Monkey sanctuary, a place where monkeys and humans live in harmony. The tourist siteFiema monkey sanctuary is a mile apart from the villages Boabeng and Fiema. The monkey sanctuary has no fences. This allows the monkeys relate better with the people in the town is a 35 hectare patch of woodland including the villages of Boabeng and Fiema, which are about a mile apart. The monkeys are treated as relatives and are therefore treated like humans. Any monkey that dies is buried and funeral rites held for it just as humans. Although there are now local laws protecting the monkeys, legend says anyone who kills a monkey suffers a calamity. People of Boabeng-Fiema observe Fridays as special days for the monkey and do not go to the farm Larabanga Mosque Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart, Mahatma Gandhi says. The architectural model of the Larabanga mosque is a tourist site in Ghana to behold. Larabanga is a small town located in the Northern part of Ghana. Larabanga is about 13m west of Damongo. It is predominantly a Muslim community engaged in farming. The Larabanga Mosque as the name suggests is found in Larabanga. It is touted as one of the oldest mosques in West Africa and in Ghana the oldest mosque. As small as it may look, the mosque is able to accommodate thousands of visitors. Odomankoma Ahenfie Palace of God the Odomankoma Ahenfie is a place of beutiful rock carvings believed to be carved by God himself. Wow, this tourist site in Ghana is beyond mans imaginations. Rocks carved into everything one can think of. This is indeed Odomankomas Ahenfie. 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! "TheFirstLady and The Last Card...at least for now . Happy birthday to my wonderful son Chizi! Thank you for choosing me to be your mom! Let me tell you a little story...when I was going to have Chizi, I wanted a daughter so bad. We already named the baby Adanna in the womb. Even after the doctor said we were expecting a boy, I refused to give up. Lo and behold, Chizi came and I thank God that in his infinite mercies, he decided to give me Chizi. I cannot begin to tell you how much joy he brings me. Just like his mama, Chizi is a jack of all trade and master of all! He's a straight A student, he's great at sports, dances very well, fantastic at art, does very believable magic tricks, solves his rubi cube very fast and all the things he does. He's such a delight and so lovable! Always smiling and whistling. Melts my heart all day, every day! I couldn't have asked for a better son! Pray with me #Omonifam that God will keep him in His love and increase him on every side. No evil shall befall him nor any plague come near him in Jesus name!" An Ado-Ekiti High Court declared the sentencing on Tuesday, March 19, 2016, for the proprietor identified as, Ibitoye Babatunde. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the convict is reportedly the proprietor of God is Great Nursery and Primary school, Ado-Ekiti. Justice Mosun Abodunde, who presided over the case said that the prosecution had established the case of rape beyond any reasonable doubt. She went on to describe the convict as a 'pathological liar, randy, shameless adult who is a danger to girl-child around him, including his own female children'. Justice Abodunde then sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment, ridding the suspect of the option of fine. The State Counsel, Miss Oluseyi Ojo, revealed to the court that the accused had reportedly been assaulting the victim, before raping her on June 10, 2015, within the school premises. Brazilian officials reportedly refused the couple, Cizinho Afreeka and wife, Juliana, naming their daughter, Makeda Foluke because the name has no meaning in Portuguese language. The couple had chosen the name due to the fact that they have some roots in the Yoruba culture, but the authorities insist that the name could cause future suffering for their daughter in social life. BW of Brazil reports that, Foluke's parents strongly believe that they are being deprived their right due to racism, despite all the explanations given by the authorities. Speaking during an interview on the issue, Afreeka revealed, saying: Its a form of racism that takes place in Brazil: the racism of subtleties. It should be very natural a man and a Black woman adopting an African name, as the country is made up of three races. It is difficult to prove. Only those in this skin knows. I will keep on until the end. Either it will be Makeda Foluke or shell be with no registration. In response to the racism accusations leveled against them, the officials have reportedly denied racism comes into play in the situation. The official report reads: The prosecutors office issued an opinion against the use of the name because they considered it likely to cause future problems for the child, suggesting a pre-name was added to the other namessuch as Ana Maria Makeda or something like this. When you pronounce the name in Portuguese it makes no sense at all, except for coming out wrong, which could provide possible future suffering for the person in social life." A civil registration official, Luiz Fernando, adds: The procedure is necessary with any name that can be used to leave the child in a vexatious situation or bullying. You have to filter. These procedures are normal, no one refused to do the registration. It is not the name, not the meaning. Its pronunciation, diction. Racism is really in peoples minds. Although the news reports reveal that the officials have asked Foluke's parents to choose a more European sounding name, adding that Foluke could be used as a middle name, Afreeka and Juliana, are having none of that. The accused, a resident of Kabuga Quarters in the metropolis, was arraigned on a two count charge of rape and incest, after the prosecutor, Sergeant Haziel Ledafowa, told the court that one Sadiya Muazu reported the case to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP), on March 15. The prosecutor said that about four months ago, the accused had forcefully and unlawfully had sexual intercourse with his biological daughter, which caused the victim harm. According to Zimeye, the incident which is seen by residents as a taboo and a bad omen, could bring fatal results if some sacrifices are not carried out to appease the gods of the land. Runesu was arraigned before Magistrate Sibongile Mkandla on charges of bestiality after he was caught making love to James Makwarimbas cow in broad daylight. It was gathered that Runesu was herding cattle on March 14, around 1pm, when he took a tree bark and tied the hind legs of Makwarimbas cow and had sex with the beast. He was busted by another villager in the act, who raised an alarm and he was apprehended before he could escape. A villager from the area said: "Runesu betrayed his neighbours trust by what he did. We were shocked when we heard about the incident because Makwarimba treated him like his own brother. According to the victim, there were four policemen in a vehicle ahead of the car conveying him while three others were in another vehicle coming behind his. He said that the police van was in the middle of the road, moving at a slow speed when the driver of the car he had hired signalled to overtake it by blowing the horn but the policemen refused to give way. The injured Akams went further: Our driver was driving at a speed limit of about 70 kilometres per hour, but the police vehicle was going slower in the middle of the road. In an effort to go past the vehicle, our driver sounded the horn, but the driver, who eventually turns to be a policeman, started abusing us. When we managed to go past them, I signalled at the driver of the vehicle to caution him. That was when they started chasing us and overtook us. One of the guys at the back seat pulled a gun and threatened to shoot if we didnt stop. We were not sure who they were, so we decided to reverse and that was when we discovered that another white vehicle was following us. They trapped us between them. They came down with their guns about seven of them and dragged me out of the vehicle. They accused me of insulting police officers and beat me up. They bundled me into their vehicle and asked me to bring N100,000 for them to release me. I told them I didnt have the money. After they had driven for about two miles with me in the boot, they parked and brought me out and started beating me again. When one of them saw the hand band my friends daughter made for me and another one I bought in Ghana in 2012, they said I was a cultist. I refuted the claim and the beating continued. They brought handcuffs and threatened to take me to the Department of Criminal Investigation. One of them brought a fan belt and repeatedly hit me in the head. Ambode spoke on Wednesday when he paid a condolence visit to the wife and family of late Braithwaite in Victoria Island, Lagos. The late lawyer died in a Lagos hospital on Monday at the age of 82. He said that Braithwaite was always on the side of the poor and the majority, irrespective of challenges and trepidations. "This was what Dr Braithwaite believed in, he confessed, he preached and he fought for throughout his lifetime. "In politics, his message was consistent, constant and always a thoroughbred," he said. Responding on behalf of the family, the daughter of the deceased, Dr Omowunmi Braithwaite, thanked the state governor for the visit. The comments were made by Director of Defence Information, General Rabe Abubakar while speaking to IB Times UK. We are not fighting Shekau, we are fighting against Boko Haram. The military is not concerned or bothered about what Shekau said, he said. Whether he is quitting or not, the offensive will continue until there are no Boko Haram remnants left. We will not leave any stone unturned, he added. The Boko Haram leader, who spoke in Arabic and Hausa, is also said to have called on his followers to surrender. --------------------------------------------- Anyaoku said Buhari should seek the advise of economists on how best to go about solving Nigerias current economic challenge. He said A case has not been convincingly made that the devaluation of our naira in our present circumstance will truly serve Nigerias national interest. President Muhammadu Buhari should, in my view, stick to his anti-devaluation position but he should also urgently appoint a team of knowledgeable expert economists to advise him on how to approach Nigerias current economic crisis . Anyaoku said this at an event where he chaired the presentation of the memoir of Ambassador Olu Sanusi. He also said the parliamentary system that Nigerias nationalists designed did not allow corruption as such. The diplomat said the presidential system of Government added to the level of corruption in Nigeria. IPOB made the allegation via a statement released by its spokesmen, Mr Emma Mmezu and Dr Clifford Iroanya, Vanguard reports. It reads: The raw show of power and bravado by Fulani herdsmen at Umuneshi, Awgu Community in Enugu State just cannot be accepted by any civilized society. First, the ever recalcitrant Fulani marauders abducted two women on their way to the farm. All entreaties to release the two women fell on deaf ears. The youths of the community mobilized to free their women, but the Fulani warriors informed their kinsmen at the military bases in the neigbouring Abia State. The soldiers stormed the community, beat up and arrested all 76 youths, bundled them to zone 9, ordered them charged and remanded in prison without as much as allowing them to make statements. As at today (yesterday), the 76 youth remain locked up and the two women remain missing as Fulani supremacy reigns . The brutal show of power and arrogant display of we own Nigeria demonstrated by the Fulani is not only nauseating but despicable. Their godfather and guardian angel at the Aso villa is most probably grinning with glee at this powerful statement of his kinsmen as to who are masters and who are servants in Nigeria today. When you add this to the brazen arrogance of display of Fulani republic flags in Ohafia, Abia State, and the provocative flying of Fulani flags in Agatu Benue State, Eket, Akwa Ibom, and many other places, the IPOB is convinced that the battle of total annihilation has been brought to our door steps by the avowed enemies of peace. Accordingly, the IPOB is hereby giving President Muhammadu Buhari 72 hours beginning from 6pm, Tuesday, March 29, 2016, to release the 76 youths of Umeneshi Community, Awgu, together with the two women earlier abducted by the Fulani fighters. Former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode had earlier also accused Buhari of encouraging the herdsmens activities. -------------------------------------------- "As a result, the president has been unable to sign the bill because he does not know what is contained in the details and what adjustments the National Assembly must have made to the proposal sent to them," the official said. Dan-Ali made the disclosure on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, while speaking to Voice of America. She was one of the Chibok girls but not associated with the earlier ones. We have gotten a report on that that the girl was taken from Chibok but not among those that were earlier captured, he said. All along we have been trying to track them [the girls]. Specifically, if I tell you that they are in a specific place, it is difficult. Nobody can keep all 250 girls in a particular place. So these girls might have been distributed. Remember that for some time now, they have been using these girls as bombers, he added. An earlier report had said that the girl had been identified as AissatouMusa and that she has no relationship with the missing girls. Available information as regards the acclaimed Chibok girl indicated as follows: Aissatou Musa, who claimed to be one of the Chibok girls, is the daughter of Musa Bladi and Fanta(mother) of Mandara ethnic group," the report said. The second girl is Mamma Sali. She is the daughter of Sali Chetima and Hajiya Bintou of Kanuri tribe. Both hailed from Bama and speak in Mandara, Hausa and Kanuri. They have never been to Western school, except Koranic schools. They have no relationship with the 219 Chibok girls," it added. The Chibok Community has also disowned the girl -------------------------------------------------- Bello stated this while receiving a visiting delegation from the Republic of Columbia on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 in his office. According to the minister, Abuja city was not designed for a population of more than 1 million people but that today, the nations capital is housing more than six million residents. Alarmed by the present situation which is leading to frequent traffic in and around the city, Bello said he will focus on the development of basic infrastructure in the six Area Councils and the satellite towns in order to decongest the Abuja metropolis. According to him, the sustained influx of people into the Federal Capital City has multiplier effects on the citys infrastructure and services adding that the FCT Administration must be proactive to nip the congestion by the bud. A statement signed by Muhammad Sule Hazat, Chief Press Secretary, the FCT Minister said his administration would also assiduously work towards the maintenance of already existing infrastructure in the Federal Capital City to enable it play its role of being the unity city and a melting pot for all Nigerians. We are working towards maintaining the existing infrastructure, and then of course, gradually extending development outside the city into the six Area Councils where most of the population is, the Minister said. The deceased laid to rest on Wednesday, March 30, at the Ribadu Cantonment, Kaduna State. The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, announced Inusa's death yesterday. He said his decomposed body was found in Kaduna around 6.00pm, adding that he may have been killed on the same day he was kidnapped. Preliminary investigation revealed that most likely the late senior officer was killed same day he was kidnapped by his abductors. This is because the body was found already decomposing around Ajyaita village off Eastern Bypass Kaduna, Kaduna State, Usman had said. The State NLC Chairman, Mr Waheed Olojede, who addressed a press conference said that ultimatum would commence on Wednesday, March 30 and lapse on Thursday, April 7. He said the unions have considered the prevailing condition of workers and pensioners with five months unpaid salaries and the failure of government to accede to previous requests. He said that the government declined the unions' request for a meeting to discuss the problems. Olojede said that the situation has reduced workers to state of poverty, adding that their productivity, diligence and absolute commitment will be dependent on how workers are treated. "If government fails to meet the leadership of the labour movement in the state, we may not be able to guarantee continued industrial peace beyond the stipulated time," he said. Kachikwu made the apology before the Senate Committee on Petroleum on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The ministers comment that he was not a magician who could make fuel available overnight, did not go down well with most Nigerians. The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu also chided Kachikwu for his comments, saying it was an insult to Nigerians. Even civil society groups gave the minister 72 hours to resign his position. He also told Nigerians that the fuel crisis will end by April. On why there is no fuel, Kachikwu said Most fuel products into Nigeria come from Europe and it takes 14 days for fuel to land here. Adding that Refineries in Nigeria are old and dilapidated but with appropriate funds and retooling they will be revived to full capacity. The minister also revealed that the services of consultants who will manage the ailing refineries will be engaged soon. For today, March 30 2016: THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER Expect more from me, president promises NigeriansPresident Muhammadu Buhari yesterday assured Nigerians that his administration would be taking more pragmatic actions in the next few months to improve the nations economy and boost their living conditions. READ MORE Fresh hurdle as Buhari gets highlights of 2016 budgetThough President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday received the transmission of the Appropriation Bill (2016 Budget) which was recently passed by the National Assembly, there are indications he might not be in a hurry to assent to it because the document does not contain details of the breakdown. READ MORE NIMET warns of more hot days, warm nights, heat wavesWith the global average air temperature of the earth hitting 1C hotter than at the beginning of the 20th century, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has warned Nigerians to brace for more hot days, warm night and heat waves. READ MORE THIS DAY NEWSPAPER Non-transmission of Budget Details to Buhari Delays Review and AssentFresh facts have emerged as to why President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to sign the 2016 budget into law even though highlights of the Appropriation Bill have been transmitted to his office by the National Assembly. READ MORE Kachikwu Apologises, Assures Nigerians Fuel Shortages to Ease off Next WeekThe Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, on Tuesday apologised to Nigerians for his comment on the nationwide fuel shortages, adding that enough measures had been put in place to end them by next week. READ MORE THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER Abducted colonel found dead in KadunaA Senior Nigerian Army Officer, Col. Samaila Inusa, who was reportedly abducted at gunpoint at the Refinery Junction in Chikun Local Government of Kaduna State was found dead on Tuesday. READ MORE Fuel scarcityll end in nine days Kachikwu says he wont resign, apologises to NigeriansThe Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, appeared before the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) on Tuesday to give reasons for the acute fuel scarcity across the country and the efforts being made by his ministry to resolve the embarrassing situation. READ MORE APC wouldnt have won without Tinubu BuhariPresident Muhammadu Buhari has attributed the triumph of the All Progressives Congress in the 2015 general election to the vision of a National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. READ MORE BUSINESS DAY NEWSPAPER Absence of formal structure stalls funding of N400bn mining industryShortage of data and poor structuring of Nigerias informal sector is causing banks and other financial institutions to be reluctant to fund the over N400 billion mining industry, BusinessDay findings show. Banks also consider the informal sector miners as flying blind, and thus posing poor prospects for financing because there are little if any reliable READ MORE Nigeria among laggards in World Banks ease of registering property rankingRegistering landed properties in Nigeria has continued to pose a major challenge to buyers, which explains why the country touted as the largest economy in Africa has been ranked 185th out of 189 economies in ease of registering property, by the World Bank Group. Meanwhile, Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, says that the National READ MORE In a letter addressed to the British High Commissioner in Abuja, Kanu said he is a victim of travesty of justice and gross human rights violation. The letter, dated March 24, 2016, was written to the High Commissioner through his lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, urging the British Government to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to order his release from prison. Kanu, who is British citizen insisted that the government has violently abused his fundamental human rights by unjustly arresting and remanding him in prison custody. The Biafra leader is facing treason charge alongside two other pro-Biafra agitators, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi. He made the remark when he paid a sympathy visit to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje at the Government House, Kano. He described the incident as "very unfortunate, considering the monumental losses incurred by victims in the inferno. He said "God knows why He allowed things to happen, but let us hope that there will be benefit from this monumental disaster. That is my wish and prayer. "On behalf of myself, family and close friends who share my sentiment about this country, accept our condolences. Responding, Ganduje said the state government had set up a fund raising committee to collect donations from individuals and organisations to be used in assisting the victims. He also said that the state government had planned to relocated the traders to enable it to reconstruct the market. "What has happened is very unfortunate but we have to lay a good foundation to prevent a reccurence, he said. As a party, we are happy with the arrangement made so far. Last week, we met with the National Working Committee (NWC) of our party and we agreed that the timetable for the party congress remains sacrosanct. So, the convention will take place on May 21 to elect new leaders for the party, he said. I believe it will go in a normal process. We are democrats. I believe strongly there will be no imposition and no impunity. As a party, we show our democratic disposition during the last presidential election. We lost the presidency. We congratulated the winners and we peacefully handed over power. Today, other countries are emulating the PDP. We expect the same thing to happen at the various congresses. Let me also use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians to consider the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2019 presidency, he added. Akpabio had earlier paid a visit to Rivers State during which he urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release the results of the March 19, 2016 rerun elections in the state. ------------------------------------------------- Buhari made the remark in a recorded tribute which was presented at the 8th Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Abuja on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. If Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not participate, there wouldnt have been a merger and there wouldnt have been an APC government at the centre. That is absolutely clear, the president said according to Punch. He should thank God that he has gone through so much and has remained relevant, that he is healthy and young," he added. Buhari also praised Tinubu further while giving his speech during the conference. There are very few patriots, alive or departed, who can match the commitment, resilience and creativity that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has, over the past few decades, demonstrated in organising Nigerias public life for good, the president said. As he adds another year today, my best wishes and prayers go out to a man who deserves a lot of commendation for what he continues to stand for, he added. Buhari had earlier praised Tinubu, who turned 64 on Tuesday, for his forthrightness and doggedness. ---------------------------------------------- He said no girls are missing, noting that it was a ploy by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to discredit and defeat former President Goodluck Jonathan. While speaking in Ado Ekiti at a two-day workshop organized by Women Arise for Change Initiative, Fayose said the Bring Back Our Girls movement, led by Dr. Oby Ezekwesili may be advocating for nothing after all. The cries over missing girls were just a political strategy. What could Boko Haram have used to carry those girls? However, if truly missing, they should be recovered. One thing I know is that what is not missing you cannot get, he said. Also commenting on the deprived rights of women to hold political positions, the Governor said Nigerian men to stop intimidating the women and allow them enjoy the freedom of association guaranteed to them by the 1999 constitution. It pains me that some of the human rights activists had gone since the advent of President Muhammadu Buharis government. They have lost their voices. Where were they when DSS invaded the Ekiti House of Assembly and arrested a lawmaker and locked him up? They were flouting courts orders at will and victimising opposition. It is better we collectively speak up now or we are consumed. In some homes, men had cowed their wives and made them subservient. The wives have no rights to claim or defend. But before you can claim anything, the wives or female in general must be up to the task. You have to be intellectually and socially alert. Dont just, because you are a woman, lose your voice. With this, women shall collectively regain what belongs to them. In a statement released by Governor Ayodele Fayose's spokesman, Lere Olayinka, he said move is a new plot by the Federal Government after the failure of the Department of State Services (DSS) to achieve the plot of coercing the House of Assembly members to impeach the Governor. He said the policemen arrived the state in company of the Mr. Tope Aluko and the state's APC Chairman, Jide Awe on the night of Tuesday, March 29, 2015. We are aware of the arrival of policemen from Abuja to Ekiti State with the intention of arresting 11 members of the House of Assembly, two PDP leaders per local government and some other top officials of the government," he said. Ridiculously, the offense for which the policemen are to embark on this indiscriminate arrest is owing to TKO Aluko malicious outburst that those listed for arrest stockpiled arms during the governorship election conducted in Ekiti close to two years ago. This plot is in furtherance of the APC plot to destabilize the government of Ekiti State just because of Governor Fayoses hard stance on President Muhammadu Buharis APC government policies. The question is, what was the arms they claimed were stockpiled used for? Was anyone killed or attacked during the election? And why is the Police not arresting the APC Chairman, Jide Awe who is wanted for alleged murder and TKO Aluko, who was declared wanted by the court for perjury, and instead providing security cover for them? We therefore wish to alert Nigerians on this new plot and state that Ekiti people will resist any attempt to use the Police to harass innocent citizens of the State. Democratically, we are entitled to our views on any issue in Nigeria and we wont succumb to intimidation and harassment from any agency of the Federal government, Olayinka stated. He made the comment during a recent interview with Vanguard. You have been very critical of this administration and the President. Do you have any personal? Everything I have said is backed with facts and figures. It is not about being critical of this administration. I didnt start today. I started before the 2015 elections. I told Nigerians not to vote for him (Buhari), Fayose said. I was a young man of 24, 25 years when Buhari was the Head of State of this country. The Yoruba man will say, If you have taken a medicine that works for you, please give me. We took a medicine which kills. Anybody that is 40 years old today that voted for Buhari doesnt know Buhari because, from 1984 to date, it will be 32 years. So, a guy of eight years wont say he knows Buhari clearly. So, add that eight years to 32 years, that is 40 years, they voted for a man they never knew. So, if you remove people from the age bracket of 18 40 and remove the votes from Buharis votes, you will know that he couldnt have won the election. I am not critical of anybody. When APC is talking about me, they say whatever they want to say but I defeated them in all elections even when they call it militarization, even when they say Fayose is controversial; in every battle I will win them. Even when you have over taken, like after my impeachment, by His grace, they were over taken again and lambasted by the Supreme Court. There is a difference between vendetta and the reality on the ground. If I am incompetent, Ekiti people will not vote for me eight years after, he added. ------------------------------------------ It reads: We suspect the 'voodoo document' reeled out on a local television station in Benin City recently by some hired agents. We must be circumspect and disregard the content because it does not represent or reflect the true state of political appointments made by the Oshiomhole administration. As we approach the zero hour, desperate politicians and those who want to benefit from ethnic disharmony have been recruited amongst us and armed with fictitious documents to whip up ethnic sentiments, ostensibly to blackmail their target to possibly surrender to their agitation and for a particular senatorial district to produce the governor's successor. I don't think that falsification of a list of political appointments to whip up ethnic sentiment will guarantee or quench their nefarious and dubious thirst, no matter how good their intentions to their senatorial district. Rather, it would engender bad blood in the polity. We do not need to be told or reminded that nothing is or can be more prosperous than peace. Unless we eschew politics of intrigue and call a spade a spade and not any other name, we are very likely to flounder. These group of persons who have armed themselves to constantly sprinkle dew of hate, suspicion and ethnicity should not only be condemned, they must be told the daring consequences of their actions and its effects on peace and sustainable livelihood. We must on our own take measures to create a platform of understanding and mutual trust between the various ethnic groups, because, if conflict is planted during electioneering, the consequences such as violence and ethnic conflict, often resurfaces long after the polls had been concluded. Meanwhile, House of Representatives member, Joseph Edionwele has said that Oshiomhole has not achieved anything in the state ----------------------------------------------------- Namdas made the statement in a phone interview with Bloomberg from Abuja, saying that the company must pay N400,000 for each of the 5.2 million unregistered SIMs which it failed to deactivate. He also said the House will "investigate" why South Africa-based MTN was negotiating the Nigerian attorney general instead of the NCC in its efforts to get the fine reduced. Although the fine was later reduced to $3.9 billion, MTN proposed a $1.5 billion payment in installments to settle the fine. The company already paid $252 million in February as part of the proposal. The woman identified as Quindolyn Kauffman, was reportedly arrested after an alleged confrontation with her ex-boyfriend and damaging his new Rolls Royce with a gunshot. The reports reveal that th 23-yr-old now faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, on a major road. Kauffman had reportedly waylaid her ex, Darrell Jones, along a major road in Houston at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday, March 28, 2016, pulling in front of him and forcing him to stop. Police tells CW39 that Kauffman had opened fire on the grill of Jones' Rolls Royce, causing the engine to leak oil. The 41-year-old jeweler had not been injured during the attack, and his private security detail had reportedly chased after Kauffman, before the police had been alerted. The plan's withdrawal is a major blow for Francois Hollande, who had introduced it in an address to parliament at Versailles three days after Islamist militants killed 130 people in Paris. The initiative had divided lawmakers and caused months of heated discussions on what critics said was an inefficient and purely symbolic measure. Hollande's plan to insert into the constitution the rules for a state of emergency was also abandoned. The clause for confiscating passports hit a dead end last week after the opposition-controlled upper house of parliament approved a different version from the one adopted by the Socialist-controlled lower house earlier. To change the constitution, the government's proposal needed to be approved by each house of parliament in exactly the same terms. "It's going to revive the perception of a president who is not determined, who lacks authority, whose hand is shaking," said Frederic Dabi, at the pollster Ifop. "It also reinforces the feeling of a term during which reforms have dragged on, got bogged down." Putting forward his plan three days after the shootings and bombings of Nov. 13, Hollande had appeared both resolute and consensual, as the measure was favoured by the right. Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation at the rare joint meeting of both houses in Versailles. But after the shock of the attacks began to fade, many on the left of the ruling Socialist party criticised the measure. In one version, it created a two-tier nation, differentiating between those who could be deprived of their citizenship and those who could not, depending on whether they held dual nationality. "The president is being dealt a blow by his own political friends," a former prime minister and conservative senator, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said on iTele. "The president's authority over his own troops is being challenged." The foreign ministry statement came a day after a U.N. spokesman said Ban regretted the "misunderstanding" over his use of the word, which led to Morocco expelling dozens of United Nations staff from its mission in the disputed territory. The standoff over Ban's comment is Morocco's worst disagreement with the United Nations since 1991, when the U.N. brokered a ceasefire to end a war over Western Sahara and established a peacekeeping mission there known as MINURSO. "In the eyes of Morocco, these are premeditated acts to alter the nature of the dispute," Morocco's foreign ministry said in a statement. "At this level of responsibility, words have meaning, political and legal consequences, and personal opinions have no place." Morocco took over most of the territory in 1975 from colonial Spain. That started a guerrilla war with the Sahrawi people's Polisario Front, which says the desert territory in the northwest of Africa belongs to it. The United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991 and sent in its MINURSO mission to help organize a referendum on the future of the territory. But the sides have been deadlocked since then. Morocco, which accused Ban of losing his neutrality in the dispute, said it also had differences with the U.N. chief over his reference to the referendum during his visit to the Western Saharan refugee camps in Tindouf in southern Algeria. Morocco also criticised Ban for visiting Bir Lahlou town, which it considers part of the buffer zone with the Polisario front. It said he had also signalled acknowledgement of the flag of the Polisario's self-declared Arab Sahrawi Republic (SADR). SADR has been recognized by some countries, mainly from the African Union, but no Western powers recognize it. Since the dispute erupted earlier this month, U.N. officials have repeatedly urged the U.N. Security Council to publicly voice its support for Ban and MINURSO, which the 15-nation body did late last Thursday in New York. But the council has not explicitly ordered Morocco to reverse its decisions or address Ban's use of the word "occupation." Some U.N. diplomats blamed the council's silence on Morocco's ally France, along with Spain, Egypt and Senegal. Algeria, Polisario's biggest ally and Morocco's regional rival, said on Tuesday the dispute was the main area of disagreement with France in foreign policy. "We keep good hope that France will help the region to resolve this Sahrawi question according to international law," Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said in a joint conference with French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault in Algiers. Morocco says that it will keep supporting the military part of MINURSO and that contacts with the ceasefire-monitoring units have not been disrupted. Amadou, a former speaker of parliament, has denied the charges, saying they were part of a strategy to sideline him politically. He is currently in France, where he was flown for medical reasons just days before the March 20 second-round vote. President Mahamadou Issoufou won a second term with 92.5 percent of the vote, according to official results announced last week. Held in a prison several hours from the capital Niamey and suffering from poor health, Amadou was unable to campaign and an opposition coalition backing him called for a boycott, easing the way for Issoufou's victory. "The court should have freed him so that he could be on equal footing with Issoufou during the elections. It didn't. Hama is innocent and this case is a plot to push him out of political life," said opposition spokesman Ousseini Salatou. Police began making arrests in June 2014 in an investigation into the alleged trafficking of newborn babies into the West African uranium-producing country from neighbouring Nigeria. A number of members of Niger's political elite, including Amadou's wife, were charged but later granted provisional release after spending up to six months in detention. Amadou fled Niger amid the wave of arrests. He returned in November and was arrested. Janusz Walus, a Polish immigrant, has served more than 20 years of a life sentence for the 1993 murder of Hani, who was a senior member of the now-ruling African National Congress (ANC) and head of the South African Communist Party. Hani's murder triggered nationwide riots, almost derailing South Africa's 1994 transition to multi-racial democracy after decades of white apartheid rule. Clive Derby-Lewis, a right-wing politician who provided the murder weapon used by Walus, was freed on medical parole last year. Both men were originally sentenced to death but that was reduced to life in prison after South Africa abolished the death penalty in 1995. Operators of the Nevada Southern Detention Center hosted the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerces monthly luncheon last Wednesday, March 23, where more than two dozen business owners and elected officials attended the event. Operators of the Nevada Southern Detention Center hosted the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerces monthly luncheon last Wednesday, March 23, where more than two dozen business owners and elected officials attended the event. Warden Charlotte Collins said the federal facility strives to continue its partnership working closely with business entities within the community. We have been hosting a joint venture with the Pahrump Chamber of Commerce for at least the last three years that Ive been here, she said. Its been a great event and its one of the openers of starting off the year for our community involvement. We only do it the first quarter of the year. This year was especially nice because we have all of our loyal supporters of (Corrections Corporation of America) here. Sue Bai, the chambers board secretary, expanded on Collins assertion. Bai said since CCA began operating in the Pahrump Valley, the facility has shown a genuine interest participating in various community activities. CCA requested to be the host for this luncheon and they have been great community partners since they began operations, she said. Weve got a number of invited dignitaries here today, including the sheriff and undersheriff, at least two county commissioners today. We also had Mr. Darrell and Sheree Stringer, our tax assessor. When word first came about that CCA was interested in building a Pahrump detention facility along Mesquite Road roughly six years ago, many community residents strongly objected to the plan. Collins said she was aware of the criticism even though she was not the facilitys warden at the time. There was some blowback when talk of this facility first arose within the community, she said. I guess that is normal for any new organization coming into a community. Of course, that was before I arrived here. I will continue to say that the time frame that I have been here in Pahrump as part of this facility, it has been nothing but a very rewarding experience for me. We want to continue to intertwine ourselves into the community and be great partners and neighbors. The next Chamber of Commerce community relations luncheon is scheduled for April 13, at Desert View Hospital. Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes Nevada Outreach Training Organization is awaiting the decision on a rural grant as its looking to fund a prosecutors position for handling its clients domestic violence cases. Nevada Outreach Training Organization is awaiting the decision on a rural grant as its looking to fund a prosecutors position for handling its clients domestic violence cases. In what organization Executive Director Salli Kerr described as an unusual and innovative move, the organization applied for the grant at the federal level following the recommendation of the attorney generals office. Nevada Outreach Training Organization, a private entity focused on prevention of domestic violence that operates on donations and federal grants, plans to use the rural grant to fund the a county prosecutor to focus on domestic violence cases. The request for the grant was also recently approved by Nye County commissioners on March 1. The reason that it had to be approved by the county was because in our grant package, we asked the federal government to fund part of our prosecution position, Kerr said. The grant, Improving Criminal Justice Responses to Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking Grant Program with Nevada Outreach Training Organization as the lead agency in the county. We would actually receive the money for that and we would pay the county to keep that prosecutor on. And the county is going to write its own grant to fund the other half of that position, she said. Previously, a three-county position had a prosecutor and attorney general who were cross-deputized with the local prosecutors office. However the three-year funding cycle was nearing its end, and Kerr said the position could be lost because they were going to move to another set of three counties. The grant management unit at the DAs office offered to help to apply for the grant with exactly the same idea, she said. Unlike some urban areas, Nye County doesnt have a special victims unit, and Kerr said thats what the attorney generals office created by putting a special prosecutor in the office. Its so important to my victims that we have good prosecution against their abusers, against their perpetrators that if we can help fund that we can help fund that position, she said. Part of the grant will help to fund a prosecutors position at the county. Another part will go toward operations. Its a continuation of an idea at the state level brought locally, she said. Kerr declined to provide the amount of the grant. Every victim is worth it, she said. If its one, sometimes, it comes down to more than a number and thats what we see every day is that being more than a number. Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77 With their win, Pahrump Valley has clinched a playoff spot in the 3A southern regional tournament. The Trojans need just one more win or a tie by Equipo Academy to lock up the No. 1 seed in the Mountain League. A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Tuesday, March 29: CLEANING UP: Legislation passed a year ago HF 603 repealing the sales tax on self-service laundries has resulted in higher wages working in laundromats as well as growth in new equipment sales, according to an industry trade group. Daryl Johnson, president of the Iowa Self-Service Laundry Association, told Rep. Josh Byrnes, R-Osage, that as soon as the bill was signed into law in June 2015, 50 percent of storeowners gave employees a raise. Six months later 75 percent had received raises ranging from 50 cents to $1 an hour. Storeowners also reported adding employees. Equipment manufacturers reported a $4.5 million increase in sales in Iowa. Storeowners also reported a 20 percent increase in additional stores or additional businesses, such as coffee shops and sandwich shop, tanning salons and commercial laundry services, Johnson said. PEEPING TOMS: Legislation making it easier to Peeping Toms was approved 97-0 Tuesday by the Iowa House. It will go back to the Senate, which unanimously approved it earlier, for consideration of amendments the House approved making invading a persons privacy an aggravated misdemeanor rather than a serious misdemeanor. Floor manager Rep. Greg Heartsill, R-Columbia, said the amendments have been agreed to by senators working on the bill. Under current law, to gain a conviction, it must be proved that the peeper or trespasser was aroused and that the victim was nude or partially nude. The change clarifies the law to make it easier to prove criminal trespass in cases when someone has been viewed contrary to a reasonable expectation of privacy or where someone has planted a camera or viewing device without the knowledge or consent of the person being viewed. Based on information from the Departments of Corrections and Human Rights, the Legislative Services Agency said it cannot estimate the fiscal impact because the Legislature is creating a new crime and the number of convictions cannot be estimated. FLAGS AT HALF STAFF: Gov. Terry Branstad has ordered all flags in Iowa be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset March 30 and 31 to honor two Des Moines police officers who were killed in the line of duty in the early morning hours of March 26. Funerals for Officers Susan Farrell and Carlos Puente-Morales will March 30 and March 31, respectively. The governors directive applies to all U.S. and state flags under the control of the state. Flags will be at half-staff on the state Capitol building and on flag displays in the Capitol complex, and upon all public buildings, grounds, and facilities throughout the state. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect, according to a news release issued by the governors office. FELON VOTING RIGHTS: The Iowa Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments March 30 from attorneys in a case dealing with voting rights of convicted felons in Iowa. At issue is an effort by Kelli Jo Griffin to regain the right to vote after her past conviction on a drug-related offense. Griffins attorneys are appealing an adverse district court ruling. She was convicted of delivery of 100 grams or less of cocaine, a Class C felony. Her sentence was fully discharged, and she registered and voted in a municipal election. After the election, the county auditor determined Griffin was ineligible to vote because of her felony conviction. Griffin was acquitted of perjury charges related to her participation in the election. She then went to court seeking a declaratory judgment providing that she is an eligible elector, as well as an action for injunctive and mandamus relief requiring that she be allowed to register and vote in Iowa. Griffin did not prevail at the district-court level and has appealed to Iowas seven Supreme Court justices. In addition to restoring Griffin's voting rights, attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa also are asking the court to find that the Iowa Constitution prohibits the disenfranchisement of people convicted of certain felonies. SENATE CONFIRMATION: Members of the Senate State Government Committee on Tuesday voted 8-3 to send Gov. Terry Branstads reappointment of San Wong as director of the state Department of Human Rights to the Senates individual confirmation calendar without recommendation. Several senators expressed concern over the lack of aggressive advocacy for minority populations by the Branstad administration. Wong detailed goals and strategies the department has for civic engagement and involvement, as well as helping to create access for Iowas under-served populations. This department cries out for a more-concrete plan for the future, said chairman Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, before the panel forwarded the reappointment to the full Senate without recommendation. Confirmation of a gubernatorial nominee requires at least 34 affirmative votes to achieve the two-thirds majority needed for approval. QUOTE OF THE DAY: Some have asked me what birthday this is and I just want to remind the body proper etiquette is that you never ask a woman over the age of high school how old she is and you never ask a gay man how old he is, ever. Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, an openly gay member of the Iowa Senate sharing birthday treats with his Iowa Senate colleagues on Tuesday. Compiled by the Des Moines Bureau The man charged with the attempted murder of a South Dakota state trooper wants to separate his case from the cases against his three co-defendants because they have made incriminating statements against him, court proceedings on Tuesday revealed. Donald M. Willingham, 34, charged with assaulting Trooper Zachary Bader following a traffic stop last October on Interstate 90, is scheduled to reappear in Pennington County Court on April 26, at which time a judge is expected to rule on his motion to sever his case from that of the other three. The statements that have been made by the co-defendants most likely would cause constitutional issues against (Willingham) if theyre all tried together, Deputy States Attorney Josh Hendrickson told the Journal after the hearing. Should Willingham's co-defendants make incriminating statements against him during their joint trial, Hendrickson said that "he wont have a chance to cross-examine them." If Circuit Judge Wally Eklund grants the motion next month, the move will allow Willinghams lawyers to cross-examine his co-defendants. Under the U.S. Constitution, a defendant has the right to cross-examine anyone who testifies against him. Hendrickson, a co-prosecutor in the case, said that his side probably wont object to the severance motion, as separating the cases would allow the prosecution to call Willinghams co-defendants as witnesses. But the co-defendants might decline to answer questions on the witness stand for fear of giving information that would incriminate themselves, Hendrickson added. Willingham, of Renton, Wash., has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. Meanwhile, he shares the following charges with his co-defendants: possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana and commission of a felony with a firearm. His co-defendants Jonathan Melendez, 22, of Kent, Wash., and siblings Desiree Sukert, 26, and Chase Sukert, 23, both of Renton, Wash. also have been charged with being accessories to a crime. On Oct. 24, 2015, Bader stopped a vehicle carrying the defendants on Interstate 90 east of Rapid City. He attempted an arrest, and a struggle ensued that left him incapacitated. Bader spent two weeks at the Rapid City Regional Hospital for treatment of his injuries, including broken bones in the face. Willingham is detained at the Pennington County Jail on a $5 million bond, together with Melendez who is on a $50,000 bond. The Sukerts, who each had a $50,000 bond, are out on bail. Construction firm demands $17.9 mln from Vostochny Cosmodrome MOSCOW, March 30 (RAPSI) Dalspetsstroy, the company in charge of the Vostochny Cosmodrome construction has filed three lawsuits with the Moscow Commercial Court against the management of the spaceport demanding overall 1.2 billion rubles ($17.9 mln), RAPSI learned in the court on Wednesday. The first lawsuit demanding 537 million rubles ($8 mln) from Vostochny is going to be heard on April 19. Other lawsuits are going to be heard on June 7. No further information regarding the lawsuits is available at the moment. On March 24, the Moscow Commercial Court ordered Dalspetsstroy to pay 3.5 billion rubles ($52 million) in debt to VTB bank. The construction of the space center, due to become Russia's main launch site, began in 2012. The facility is planned to be completed in 2016. The first manned mission is scheduled for 2018. Dalspetsstroy has repeatedly reported that the project was behind schedule at some sites but promised to catch up. According to investigators, ex-CEO of Dalspetsstroy, Yuriy Khrizman, his son Mikhail and Viktor Chudov, Chairman of the Khabarovsk Territory Duma, embezzled about 106 million rubles ($1.6 million) belonging to the company. However, one criminal episode was uncovered within the investigation into the case over alleged embezzlement at Vostochny Cosmodrome. Complaint over investigation into Egyptian plane crash dismissed MOSCOW, March 30 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by lawyer Igor Trunov representing relatives of Airbus A321 crash victims against the head of Russias Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, and investigators in the case, RAPSI reported from the courtroom. Trunov asked the court to recognize relatives as victims in the case over Kogalymavia crash in Egypt that killed 224 passengers aboard and stated that investigators do not respond their requests. Nobody knows whats going on with the case, under which articles it is being investigated and whether investigators have already returned from Egypt, the lawyer for the relatives of the victims, Igor Trunov, said earlier. Moscows Basmanny District Court on Wednesday dismissed the complaint in January and Trunov applied to the higher court. The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, crashed into a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on October 31. The airliner was flying from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg in Russia. The Federal Security Service (FSB) chief, Alexander Bortnikov earlier said that a terrorist attack was the cause of the plane crash. A militant group linked to Islamic State said in a statement that it had brought down the plane in response to Russian airstrikes in Syria. Moscow school shooters parents ordered to pay relatives of killed teacher over $30K MOSCOW, March 30 (RAPSI, Artem Ponomarev) Moscows Butyrsky District Court on Wednesday ordered the parents of school student Sergey Gordeev, who took his classmates hostage and shot a teacher and a policeman in February 2014, to pay over 2 million rubles ($30,000) in compensation to the victims in the case, RAPSI reported from the courtroom. The court partially granted a lawsuit filed by the relatives of the killed teacher Andrei Kirillov. Kirillovs widow and mother demanded 11 million rubles ($160,000) in compensation for loss of the breadwinner and for moral damage. The incident took place on February 3, 2014, when Sergey Gordeev, 15, brought a rifle and a carbine to school. He killed a police officer and a teacher, injured one more person and took hostages. The Investigative Committee found that the student fired at least 11 times from the small caliber rifle before he was arrested. The teenager partially admitted his guilt. The psychiatric evaluation showed that he is mentally fit. Last summer, the Moscow City Court confirmed the original courts ruling that the student undergo compulsory medical treatment. In late September, relatives of victims filed a cassational appeal with the Presidium of the Moscow City Court. They requested that the original ruling of the Butyrsky District Court be overturned as well as the ruling of the Moscow City Court in the appeal. On November 13, the Moscow City Court Presidium revoked a ruling ordering Gordeev to undergo psychiatric treatment. On February 8, 2016, the Moscow Regional Military Court ordered that the case be closed because for absence of elements of crime in the act, the defendant be discharged from liability and sent for forced medical treatment. One of the strongest examples of the power of forgiveness is found in the story, reported today by the Adventist Review, of Isaac Ndwaniye, the President of the East Central Rwandan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He lost his entire family to the mass genocide perpetrated by some in his own church, and yet he has gone back to serve them. If anybody ever had an excuse to abandon his calling, it is Pastor Ndwaniye. Its not uncommon to find church members at odds with each other over politics, but most people are content to leave those disputes outside the door of the church. One of the saddest episodes of church history occurred when Adventists were caught up in the Rwandan civil war which turned ethnic Hutus against the ethnic Tutsis. The rivalry turned into genocide in 1994. Before the fighting began, 85-90% of the people in Rwanda were Hutus and the rest were Tutsis and other ethnic minorities. When Rwanda was under Belgian control, the Tutsis were provided better jobs and better living conditions, and this disparity was a source of great frustration to the Hutus. In 1993, Belgium required all citizens to wear identification cards identifying their race, and the Hutu majority was able to identify the Tutsis and seek revenge the following year. The type of physical violence associated with the Rwandan genocide is nearly unparalleled in human history, and in just over three months, 800,000 people were killed, mostly by knives, machetes, and spears and the bodies of the dead were mutilated as a large segment of the society rose up against another. Some accounts indicate there were more bodies than bullets, and one participant has since said, Some people did not even find someone to kill because there were more killers than victims. He goes on to say, It was as if we were taken over by Satan. We were taken over by Satan. When Satan is using you, you lose your mind. We were not ourselves. Beginning with me, I dont think I was normal. You wouldnt be normal if you start butchering people for no reason. We had been attacked by the devil. Even when I dream my body changes in a way I cannot explain. These people were my neighbours. The picture of their deaths may never leave me. Everything else I can get out of my head but that picture never leaves. According to the website, The Human Condition: Over the course of 100 days, 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis and some moderate Hutus were killed in the Rwandan genocide. During this period, approximately 6 men, women and children were murdered every minute of every hour of every day, which was maintained for more about 3 months. There are between 300,000 to 400,000 survivors of the genocide. Nearly 100,000 survivors are aged between 14 and 21. Between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the 100 days of genocide, and about 20,000 children were born as a result of these rapes. More than 67% of women who were raped in 1994 during the genocide were infected with HIV and AIDS. In many cases, HIV+ men used rape to transfer their disease, which was a weapon of genocide. 7 in 10 survivors earn a monthly income of less than 5000 Rwandan Francs (Equivalent to 8 American Dollars) There are about 50,000 widows from the genocide. By the time the fighting ended, one-tenth of Rwandas population was dead. In 1998, Philly.com reported on the specifics of Pastor Ndwaniyes story. Before the fighting began, a Hutu, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, was in charge of the hospital and school compound at Mugonero. After the fighting began, 8,000 people had fled to the compound seeking safety under the impression that he could protect them because he had some influence with the local Hutus and it was a church facility. While the refugees were huddled inside the church during a worship service on a Saturday morning, on the outside, Ntakirutimana was leading a motorcade of Hutu soldiers to the compound. He stood by while they surrounded it and began to throw grenades inside. The killing continued for 11 hours and there were only a few survivors who would later testify that Ntakirutimana had supervised the killing. Both Ntakirutimana and his son, a physician, were indicted by a tribunal of crimes against humanity in 1996. Ntakirutimana fled to the United States and fought extradition. Ultimately he was convicted of genocide in 2003 and sentenced, the first clergy member to be convicted of this crime in the history of international tribunals. The Philly describes what happened to Pastor Ndwaniyes family. Ndwaniye, a Tutsi, was director of publications for the church in Mugonero. He worked in the same office as [Ntakirutimana]. The rising tension in Mugonero in early 1994 was enough of a concern that when Ndwaniye was summoned to the capital, Kigali, on business on April 5, he made a point to ask the pastor to take care of his wife and nine children. I asked him to keep watch over my family, said Ndwaniye, who is now director of publications at the churchs national headquarters. I asked him that personally. The day after Ndwaniye left for Kigali, the genocide began. He lost his entire family at the compound. In the Review article, Ndwaniye recounts what happened just a few months after the killing ended. When the genocide was over in July, I traveled to Kigali and found that no Adventist church was operating in the country. So I went throughout the city, pleading with people to return to church. Slowly, people returned to the churches, and I was asked to serve as the churchs president for Rwanda for two years. Later I was elected to the publishing department of the Rwandan Union. Five years later I was given the most challenging invitation that I have ever received: Would I be willing to serve as president of the very area that included the Mugonero compound where my family had been killed? I prayed about it and decided to go. This would be the first time to go back and work with the people who had killed my family. I didnt know what to say when I returned alone, so I prayed, God help me and give me strength and words to say to these people. I remember spending a whole night in prayer asking God for clear direction shortly after my return. In the morning I knew that I had to call everyone together for a meeting. I knew that if I didnt speak with the community from the very beginning, they would always feel threatened by my presence. I needed to open up my heart. Ndwaniye was, miraculously, not bitter. He knew that some of the people who had been involved in the killing might still be attending church, and he called for a meeting. The Rwanda Union has sent me here to preach the good news, and to lead this conference, I said. I dont want anyone to tell me who killed my family. I dont even want you to tell me that youre my friend. My friend is the one who loves God and who loves Gods work. Lets work together in that spirit.' Ndwaniye says that his faith has given him the strength to continue. When people speak badly about the killers, I like to remind them that we have a God who is very patient with us. Hes very patient with everyone. He doesnt want anyone to perish. Thats the only thing that can help someone like me who has gone through such circumstances. Anytime anyone comes to God and asks for forgiveness, God forgives. Theres no sin God cant forgive. Death is not something that scares God. Its not a big problem for God. Another thing that gives me strength today is knowing that my family and the other pastors and families in the compound church spent their last few days studying the Bible. They prayed to God for forgiveness of their sins and asked forgiveness from one another. That gives me strength to continue living because I know one day I will see them again. I know they are sleeping and will wake up one day. Because of that, I live for Him. You can read his story of at the Adventist Review website. Today, Mugonero Hospital continues as a 104-bed hospital with the mission statement, To be instrument of God in restoring and preserving physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being of our patients and community; equally serving all: regardless of gender, age, race, religion or social status. ### 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. 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... "Open to the public: U.S. Supreme Court should allow broadcast of oral arguments" | Main | "Improving Prison Oversight to Address Sexual Violence in Detention" July 7, 2009 A worldly perspective on different execution methods This BBC article, headlined "Top Indian court upholds hangings," highlights that, outside the United States, not everyone believes that lethal injection is the only way to carry out an execution: India's Supreme Court has rejected a petition to replace hanging with lethal injection as the country's sole method of execution. The court said there was no evidence to suggest that hanging was less painful. Activist Ashok Kumar Walia had argued that hanging was a "cruel and painful" method of execution and should be replaced by lethal injection. Indian authorities say the death penalty is rarely carried out and is usually reserved for serious cases. Apart from a single execution in 2004, there have been no executions in the country for the past 10 years. "How do you know that hanging causes pain? And how do you know that injecting the condemned prisoner with a lethal drug would not cause pain?" Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan was quoted by the Times of India newspaper as saying. Justice Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam said that experts believe that hanging - meant to dislocate the neck and sever the spinal cord -- caused instant death. "Many countries, still practising death penalty, have various methods of execution -- death squad which guns down a condemned prisoner from close range, hanging by the neck, electric chair and by injecting a lethal drug. "In India, we have a very, very liberal sentencing system based on a humane law. The courts in the rarest of the rare cases award death sentence," the newspaper quoted the judges as saying. July 7, 2009 at 10:16 AM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e2011571d32140970b Listed below are links to weblogs that reference A worldly perspective on different execution methods: Comments "outside the United States" Is there a state where a condemned can't choose to die by lethal injection? I thought Nebraska was the last one, and their SC struck down use of the electric chair. Posted by: . | Jul 7, 2009 10:41:12 AM Interesting, yet another country with a robust legal tradition to add to the pro-DP list. India might not be a developed country industrially or educationally, but the same can hardly be said for their legal system. Are there other Commonwealth nations that still execute, however rarely? Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Jul 7, 2009 11:55:36 AM Soronel Haetir -- I do not know of any other Commonwealth nations that have the DP. Japan and South Korea have it, however, further sinking the argument that the US is the only nation in the developed world still to use capital punishment. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 7, 2009 12:06:05 PM Bill Ottis, I find India a better example because their legal traditions stem much more from western ideas than Japan or South Korea. Not sure what traditiont Singapore draws on. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Jul 7, 2009 12:34:32 PM South Korea has a moratorium on executions. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/south-korea-must-not-resume-death-penalty-20090210 Posted by: . | Jul 7, 2009 2:00:03 PM Hanging and the firing squad still seem to me the best methods. They require no specialized technology, and it seems the methods developed to replace them are no more reliable. Posted by: Marc Shepherd | Jul 7, 2009 3:35:11 PM "South Korea has a moratorium on executions." Nope. The death penalty has not been carried out in South Korea in the last few years, but there is no legal bar to it whatever. Infrequency of use is not a moratorium. By way of illustration, the death penalty also has not been carried out frequently in many states of the United States since it was re-instituted in 1976, but no one thinks these states have a "moratorium." Examples: Over the last 33 years, the following states, which no one claims have a DP moratorium, have used that punishment infrequently: Wyoming - 1 execution Idaho - 1 Colorado - 1 Tennesee - 5 Kentucky - 3 Pennsylvania - 3 Montana - 3 Nebraska - 3 Utah - 6 Posted by: Bill Otis | Jul 7, 2009 5:28:01 PM About 90% of us will have a prolonged, humiliating, painful death. Most of us have not been convicted of a murder. So, William Wallace's death by torture over hours, depicted in the movie, Braveheart, it is less cruel than that of the average person. The insistence on a perfect, painless death, even for a second, privileges the murderer. This insistence is a pretext for abolition. Even if the method were to become an euphoric death by a heroin/cocaine injection, the abolitionist lawyer would not be satisfied. He would say, those substances are illegal. Pretext is lawyer bad faith, and should result in the loss of the lawyer license. Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Jul 8, 2009 7:11:53 AM Post a comment In the Big Easy at USSC conference to talk about whether departures are going to be easier | Main | Updating the continuing debate over Lynne Stewart's upcoming resentencing June 16, 2010 "Experts argue firing squad is a humane execution" A condemned Utah inmate's decision to die in a barrage of bullets fired by five unnamed marksmen has been vilified by many as an archaic form of Old West-style justice. But some experts argue it is more humane than all other execution methods, without the court challenges of cruelty that have plagued lethal injection. "Lethal injection, which has the veneer of medical acceptability, has far greater risks of cruelty to a condemned person," said Fordham University Law School professor Deborah Denno, who has written extensively on the constitutional questions that surround execution methods. The reasons that Ronnie Lee Gardner chose death by firing squad are unrelated to the drama or controversy it evokes, his attorney told The Associated Press. "It's not about the publicity. He just prefers it," Andrew Parnes said.... Gardner, 49, was sentenced to death for a 1985 capital murder conviction stemming from the fatal courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell during an escape attempt. Gardner was at the court because he faced a murder charge in the shooting death of bartender Melvyn Otterstrom. Barring any last minute stays, Gardner will be the first person to die by firing squad in the United States in 14 years. He will be the third man killed by that same method in Utah since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling reinstated capital punishment in 1976: Gary Gilmore on Jan. 17, 1977 - after famously uttering the last words, "Let's do it" - and John Albert Taylor on Jan. 26, 1996. Of the 49 executions held in Utah since the 1850s, 40 were by firing squad. The method has also been widely used around the globe and was long the primary method of execution employed by the military, even in the U.S. But lethal injection has become the primary method used by most of the 35 states that still have capital punishment, according to the Death Penalty Information Center website. Yet it isn't without controversy. University of Colorado law professor Michael Radlet has been tracking botched executions in the U.S. and found some 42 cases that went wrong between 1982 and September 2009. Of those executions, 30 were lethal injection, 10 were electrocution and two were from asphyxiation after exposure to lethal gas.... Historians say the method stems from 19th Century doctrine of the state's predominant religion. Early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believed in the concept of "blood atonement" - that only through spilling one's own blood could a condemned person adequately atone for their crimes and be redeemed in the next life. The church no longer preaches such teachings and offers no opinion on the use of the firing squad. Death penalty advocate Kent Scheidegger agrees that capital punishment should not amount to torture, but says the average person "is not really all that concerned with a murderer experiencing painless death." Public debate is focused more on the larger issue of the death penalty and whether or not the punishment deters crime. "Arguing over the method of execution is kind of a distraction," said Scheidegger, legal director of the Sacramento, Calif., Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.... Gardner is one of at least four of 10 men on Utah's death row who have said they want to die by firing squad. The title of this post is the headline of this interesting new AP article . Here are some excerpts: June 16, 2010 at 11:14 PM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e20133f15c1876970b Listed below are links to weblogs that reference "Experts argue firing squad is a humane execution": Comments There are so many botched executions by lethal injection methods and my opinion rests positively with executing a serial criminal with a hail of bullets. The least is that he or she does not have to suffer long. Blood oozing from the body may be gory but at least death in a way is humane. But having said that executions in general are cruel and unusual. Best is to abolish it and restore life imprisonment or solitary life imprisonment as the main alternative. Posted by: Dominic Chan | Jun 17, 2010 12:52:39 AM Anyone who has spent even a short time in prison, as a visitor, or as a professional seeing a prisoner, would know it. The death penalty is not automatically crueler than life in prison. The overwhelming majority of us will undergo a cruel, painful, humiliating, prolonged death. Why cold hearted, dangerous killers should have the painless, quick, perfect death as a standard has to justified. The main justification is to generate $billions in much needed lawyer appellate practice sinecures. See this intense article as to the state of the lawyer profession, written by a law prof. http://balkin.blogspot.com/2010/06/wake-up-fellow-law-professors-to.html Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Jun 17, 2010 6:36:21 AM My father used to suggest that the best way for criminals to be executed was by hypoxia. A sealed cubicle could be constructed in which the criminal would be placed. Slowly the air in the cubicle would be exchanged with nitrogen, or other inert gas, without oxygen. The criminal would slowly go to sleep, then his brain would shut down his body due to lack of oxygen. Death would be painless in only about 20 minutes. There is no need to cause suffering. If the criminal has believed in Jesus and repented of his sins, no punishment, no matter how painful, will keep him out of heaven. If he has not believed and repented, even the least painful method will not keep him from the horrors of hell. Posted by: Wally Scherer | Jun 17, 2010 5:50:33 PM Were I in such a situation (highly unlikely since I don't plan on committing any capital offenses) I think I would choose the firing squad if it were available. It seems like a quick way to go, and a way to "die like a man". Posted by: ICDogg | Jun 17, 2010 6:28:49 PM "the average person 'is not really all that concerned with a murderer experiencing painless death.'" really? Posted by: cmt | Jun 18, 2010 9:54:28 AM I would think that life in prison, or life in solitary would be far more cruel than a quick death. Though I belong to the "average person" category that is not really that concerned about someone, having been deemed deserving of the death penalty, getting what's coming to them. My concern would be to expedite the process and get it over with. Posted by: Dallas | Jun 18, 2010 12:00:43 PM Why is it that those who oppose the death penalty also oppose lengthy prison terms? Do they have some magic answer that will rehabilitate murderers? Posted by: Gary Smith | Jun 19, 2010 1:36:32 AM Post a comment Effective commentary concerning political discussion of pot policy and the drug war | Main | Fifth Circuit panel questions another panel's recent ruling on child porn restitution sentencing April 21, 2011 Should problems with lethal injection prompt return of other execution methods? The question in the title of this post is prompted by this international news piece, headlined "Call for firing squads as UK bans lethal-drug exports." (Hat tip: Crime & Consequences.) Here are excerpts: British efforts to halt the sale of lethal-injection drugs to the US have been seized on by American death-penalty supporters. They are calling for the method to be scrapped in favour of firing squads or a return to the gas chamber. Within hours of a British export ban on sodium thiopental and other drugs coming into force on Friday, a leading death-penalty advocate in California said that a modernised gas chamber was "the obvious solution" to a backlog of more than 700 death-row inmates whose fate depended on state approval of a new method of execution. In New York, a prominent law professor who favours execution as "retributive" justice called for a return to the widespread use of firing squads as a form of capital punishment that "doesn't pretend to be something else".... Kent Scheidegger, of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, [recommends] a modernised gas chamber in which cyanide gas is replaced with a neutral gas such as helium. The effect on a prisoner would be similar to that of hypoxia on a pilot suffering oxygen deprivation at high altitude, Mr Scheidegger said. "It feels like nothing. You just feel kind of woozy," he added. "For anyone thinking longer-term about alternatives to lethal injection, this is the obvious solution."... New York Law School professor Robert Blecker said lethal injection should be abandoned -- not for practical reasons, but because it sanitised a process that should hurt. "It conflates medicine with punishment," he said. "How we kill those we detest should in no way resemble how we kill those we love. "Firing squad is my preferred method," he said. April 21, 2011 at 08:49 AM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e2014e87faee5c970d Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Should problems with lethal injection prompt return of other execution methods?: Comments Why not go with Hanging...its cheap and US still manufacturers rope...I think. Posted by: DeanO | Apr 21, 2011 10:23:38 AM Yes, there is no way that relying on one drug company in a country unfriendly to the death penalty is sustainable. Posted by: MikeinCT | Apr 21, 2011 10:50:12 AM I like Kent's hypoxia method. Just like anesthetics we have lots of experience and know that pain is just not in the cards. Both handing and firing squads have enough room for botching to job that I'm not sure they are good choices. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Apr 21, 2011 10:54:45 AM I wonder why the Kents method (helium) wasnt used in gas chambers to begin with. It seems far preferable to cyanide. Barring that, I think either the firing squad or hanging are preferable to lethal injection. Both are much simpler and proven to work. Posted by: Marc Shepherd | Apr 21, 2011 11:29:36 AM This is a sad blog. Posted by: anon | Apr 21, 2011 12:24:52 PM anon -- "This is a sad blog." Why? The DP is consistent with the Constitution (see Baze), is approved of by the public by better than 2-1, and is the only thing resembling justice for some truly hideous cases. Justice may sometimes be sad, but only because crimes may sometimes be mind-bending in their depravity. Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 21, 2011 2:27:28 PM The firing squad is much too quick. The same for hanging. As for helium gas, that's a pansy way to kill. Let's face it,"drawing and quartering" is the mode of execution that fits best with the retributionist theory of punishment. After all, the pain is lingering and truly excruciating. And the spectacle, while no doubt revolting to a small segment of contemporary audiences, will act as a deterrent like no other. Posted by: anon11 | Apr 21, 2011 3:04:25 PM Drawing and Quartering? Why not, and consistent with that, do it in full daylight, out in public, in the most transited areas of cities: Times Square, Union Square, downtown Dallas and Houston, downtown L.A. Make sure men, women, and children of all ages are able to get up close to watch, and broadcast it on You Tube and major networks. Encourage schools to broadcast it in classes for children to watch. After all, it is the epitome of justice and the preference of some of the most accomplished academics in the land. It would certainly give children the lofty aspiration of being executioners, and actually taking part in the justice heralded. What higher calling could there be? Posted by: anon22 | Apr 21, 2011 3:41:46 PM anon22 -- I'll endorse the broadcasting of executions you suggest when you endorse the broadcasting of the murders. If we're going to see the result, let's see the cause too. We can start with the torture, sexual mutilation and murder of Dylan Groene, age 9, which his sister, 8, was forced to watch. The killer VIDEOTAPED this horror so he could masturbate to it. Wanna take a guess what the surge in support for the DP there would be if that were put on public display? See, e.g., http://sprocket-trials.blogspot.com/2008/08/jurors-forced-to-watch-duncan-torture.html. See also, http://www.klewtv.com/news/27241289.html. The idea that a prison sentence, no matter what its length, represents justice for this nauseating pervert and multiple, serial killer is beyond preposterous. Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 21, 2011 4:29:52 PM While I have made my position clear that I believe execution is the proper outcome after most felony convictions, even I would say that drawing and quartering is amongst the set of barbaric practices that the founders specifically envisioned being beyond the pale of the eight amendment. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Apr 21, 2011 4:40:07 PM Soronel -- Correct. You might find it odd, as I do, that people like anon22 are horrified by things that don't and won't happen in the USA, while you and I are horrified by things that actually DO happen. Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 21, 2011 4:57:38 PM Anon writes, "This is a sad blog." Well, yeah, the topic is punishing people for committing crimes. You were expecting sweetness and light? Posted by: Kent Scheidegger | Apr 21, 2011 5:51:25 PM @anon22: "Drawing and Quartering? Why not"? For the obvious reason that drawing and quartering would be the gratuitous infliction of pain for its own sake, as opposed to bringing about the demise of a death-sentenced inmate in a manner that, even if not guaranteed to be entirely pain-free, isn't just making it painful and gory for the sake of making it painful and gory. "and consistent with that, do it in full daylight, out in public, in the most transited areas of cities . . ." Ghoulish as that sounds, if they started publicly hanging murderers who, say, kill witnesses or judges, that would send a rather strong message that murderering witnesses and judges is something that society *really* does not tolerate. Posted by: guest | Apr 21, 2011 6:09:47 PM guest -- In addition to what you note, the overwhelming bulk of recent scholarship shows that capital punishment, even when practiced (as it is) almost out of sight, STILL has a significant deterrent effect on would-be killers. Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 21, 2011 7:15:34 PM @Bill Otis And if you want a less scientific, anecdotal case you should look to Illinois. Posted by: MikeinCT | Apr 21, 2011 8:52:27 PM These people won't come to the right path ever no matter what ever punish you give them. The only way to deal with them is to hang them... dat's it... sounds good? Posted by: Data Room | Apr 21, 2011 9:41:19 PM Couldn't we just have the defendant spend a week listening to Bill Otis -it legal torture, his incessant chatter is cheap, and it's worse than hanging. Posted by: Steve Prof | Apr 21, 2011 10:04:37 PM i seem to recall we used to do executions in public. but got tired of dealing with the wave of pickpockets and other one on one crime that occured during them. doing it on tv would be a waste of time consdering what they can FAKE on it... Posted by: rodsmith | Apr 22, 2011 12:48:30 AM as for this guest! "Ghoulish as that sounds, if they started publicly hanging murderers who, say, kill witnesses or judges, that would send a rather strong message that murderering witnesses and judges is something that society *really* does not tolerate." While i have no problem hanging or whever anyone who killes a witness. IF judges would stop letting proseuctors off when they are caught comitting fraud, extortion and out and out lies that send people to prison who are factual innocent ....maybe people would stop trying to kill em! the u.s. supeme courts latiest bit of criminal stupidity is a PERFECT EXAMPLE! Posted by: rodsmith | Apr 22, 2011 12:51:00 AM More interesting and more important from the Public's Right to Know perspective would be this: how does a story like this come about? One or two people promote the firing squad and that is news. How were the connections made that led to the slant the story has? Did the reporter know the commentators? Is there a conservative list of those who are willing to comment? (yes) Who initiated the story? This stuff fascinates if for no other reason than these kinds of back stories are so mysterious. Posted by: George | Apr 22, 2011 1:50:25 AM "Couldn't we just have the defendant spend a week listening to Bill Otis -it legal torture, his incessant chatter is cheap, and it's worse than hanging." Steve Prof, your ad hominem attack on someone with whom you apparently disagree adds nothing to the debate. Moreover, in my opinion, Bill is 100% right. I'm a liberal Democrat in most respects. However, I once worked on a capital murder trial. I saw all of the evidence--including the autopsy photos. One of my tasks was to sit with the victim's family and explain what was going on while the defendant who had robbed them of their daughter sat there smirking. The trial turned me into an unabashed proponent of the death penalty. I just couldn't come up with any plausible reason why the murderer in this case should continue to live. I am certain that support for the option of using the death penalty in aggravated first-degree murder cases would go up even more if people actually sat through a capital-murder trial or if newspapers published victims' autopsy photos next to the murderer's picture. Posted by: alpino | Apr 22, 2011 2:58:02 AM ALPINO, o course you are right but you missed that it adds humor. Posted by: Steve Prof | Apr 22, 2011 8:21:44 AM ALPINO, if adding to the debate where the standard for posting -- this comment section would not exist:) Posted by: Steve Prof | Apr 22, 2011 8:24:56 AM Steve Prof -- "ALPINO, o[f] course you are right but you missed that it adds humor." In saying that "of course" Alpino is right, are you agreeing with his major point that we should keep the death penalty? Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 22, 2011 8:40:24 AM This is a sick sad blog. Posted by: anon | Apr 22, 2011 12:48:08 PM Anon, Agreed. Anyone else find it ironic that this is getting serious, bloodthirsty sounding discussion on Good Friday? Posted by: anon2 | Apr 22, 2011 1:45:11 PM anon -- "This is a sick sad blog." No it isn't, but if it were, no one is requiring you to keep reading it. P.S. Substantive argument is not forbidden here; indeed, I believe it's encouraged. Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 22, 2011 2:28:25 PM anon2 -- "Anyone else find it ironic that this is getting serious, bloodthirsty sounding discussion on Good Friday?" The fact that there have been some unjustified executions hardly means that NONE are justified. This eluded you? Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 22, 2011 2:34:24 PM I, too, found the irony of this disussion on Good Friday! Another foray into the technological middle ages. Right; I could choose not to read. It's a good way to stay informed on what the opposition is thinking (I use the term loosely). Have a happy holiday! Posted by: anon | Apr 22, 2011 4:42:54 PM anon -- "It's a good way to stay informed on what the opposition is thinking (I use the term loosely)." If the opposition can't think, you should be winning big time. Instead, you're losing by better than 2-1, including Barack Obama and the entire Supreme Court. I guess none of them can think. Is that about it? Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 22, 2011 5:36:06 PM Sad and crying (Otis) and sick and barfing (Scheidegger) at the same time. Must be worse than the gas chamber. Perhaps Bill and Kent would be happier if they just made inmates read their blog comments. Posted by: Anon | Apr 22, 2011 5:59:53 PM Anon -- Yes, we all know you have attitude. Do you have argument? Are you willing to furnish a reason that the torture-killer of Dylan Groene should receive less than the maximum legal sentence? The jury that heard the case returned the sentence after three hours of deliberation. Do you know more about it than they? Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 22, 2011 6:58:47 PM This is the first time I agree with Bill Otis. In favor of DP with constitutionally adequate representation and procedural protections. Posted by: Steve Prof | Apr 23, 2011 11:59:33 AM Regarding this discussion and the Good Friday/Jesus aspect in particular, there is an interesting post on the California Correctional Crisis blog today that picks apart the assumed religious and political divides on the dp, and argues that support and opposition to the dp is more nuanced than many assume. http://californiacorrectionscrisis.blogspot.com/2011/04/is-there-death-penalty-religious-divide.html Posted by: anonymous | Apr 23, 2011 1:01:59 PM .. and I'm very intrigued by the statement of the last professor quoted in the original article, above: "How we kill those we detest should in no way resemble how we kill those we love." What? Posted by: anonymous | Apr 23, 2011 1:41:32 PM anonymous -- Using the crucifiction of Jesus as a fable against the death penalty is less a display of the strength of abolitionism than a confession of its weakness. In the article you cite, the author refers to a "re-enanctment" of Jesus's trial, complete with a death penalty phase. The absurdity of such a thing is lightly passed off with this: "Of course, setting what was essentially a political trial in a Roman colony in the context of the American criminal justice system does not do justice to historical context..." Well, yes. It "does not do justice to the historical context." Translation: It has absolutely nothing to do with the death penalty as it exists in American law now and since Gregg v. Georgia. It is a mark of how desperate abolitionism has become that it resorts to mythic "re-enactments" and street theatre pegged at True Believers instead of discussing actual cases litigated in the modern era. In an earlier comment, I discussed one such case, that of the grotesque torture and murder of Dylan Groene. The abolitionists on this thread refuse, not merely to justify their position in that case, but even to acknowledge that it exists. Instead they want to talk about Roman colonial law a few thousand years ago. And then you wonder why the public isn't buying it and continues overwhelmingly to support capital punishment. Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 23, 2011 8:16:50 PM Bill Serious academic, friend of Prof. Berman, He does that as a regular act. Federal Attorney. Did you know each other? Marc Osler. http://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2011JesusonTrialinVirginia.pdf He is too pious, too high fallutin' to debate an ambassador from earth and his high school education, including his religious training. Jesus, if he existed, was a left wing progressive, it appears. If you ever run into him, ask him if anyone at Yale Law ever told him the meaning of the word, reasonable, and why it is the central word of the common law. Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Apr 24, 2011 6:22:41 PM SC -- I do not know Prof. Osler and have never met him. I understand that he is now teaching at St. Thomas Law School in Minnesota, where I have spoken a couple of times at Federalist Society events, but I haven't run into him. Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 24, 2011 8:54:03 PM Mr. Otis, With all respect, I do not believe that either supporters of the death penalty or opponents of the death penalty, are monolithic, whether on this blog or anywhere else. Additionally, I believe it's mistaken to read too much into any person's lack of response to any aspect of another's comments (or indeed to any original posting) regardless of the issue, including capital punishment. Posted by: anonymous | Apr 25, 2011 12:12:27 AM anonymous -- My experience is that supporters of the DP tend not to be monolithic, in that I have never heard of a serious supporter who backs the DP for all murder, nor would any such position be even arguably reasonable. On the other hand, abolitionists -- or at least those who are active in debates like this one -- are indeed monolithic, in that they oppose the DP in all circumstances, no matter what the underlying facts of the offense or the offender. I agree that reading "too much" into a non-response can be mistaken. Unfortunately, this leaves open the question of what is "too" much and what is the right amount. As I have explained, talking about the Crucifiction of Jesus says next to nothing -- if not absolutely nothing -- about the DP topic actually before us, that being capital punishment as practiced in this country in the 35 years since Gregg. By contrast, the quite recent imposition of the death penalty on the killer of Dylan Groene says a good deal about it, because a horrifying episode like that explains why (as noted in the Hastings Law article you cited), the DP continues to draw heavy majority support across partisan, ideological and religious lines. I take your point that opinions about the DP are more nuanced than generally thought, but I believe the more significant point is that support remains very broad virtually wherever you look in the American public. When the current issues with the DP are illustrated by a current case -- like the Groene case -- and a discussion of that case gets bypassed in favor of a discussion of the execution of Jesus in an ancient and alien legal system, then I do indeed wonder whether what's going on is something beyond merely a "lack of response" and is, instead, ducking. Thank you for the moderate tenor of your remarks. Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 25, 2011 5:19:24 AM Post a comment Fascinating press conference introducing federal medical marijuana reform bill, the CARERS Act | Main | Mizzou lawyers spotlight problems poised by rapid pace of executions As detailed in this Reuters piece, "lawmakers in Utah voted on Tuesday to bring back executions by firing squad if lethal injections are unavailable, which would make it the only state in the country to permit the practice." Here is more: Utah used firing squads for decades before adopting lethal injections in 2004. The Republican-sponsored bill, which passed the state Senate by 18-10, was introduced amid national concerns about the efficacy of lethal injections. The measure, approved last month by the Utah House of Representatives, says a firing squad should be used if "the state is unable to lawfully obtain the substance or substances necessary to conduct an execution by lethal intravenous injection 30 or more days" before the date set for the procedure. Several U.S. states have had to search for new drugs for their lethal injection cocktails after many pharmaceutical companies, mostly in Europe, imposed sales bans about four years ago because they objected to having medications made for other purposes being used in executions. Supporters of the legislation said three states - Oklahoma, Ohio and Arizona - recently carried out lethal injections that led to inmates' physical distress and drawn-out deaths, and that death by firing squad was more humane. Republican state Representative Paul Ray of Clearfield, the bill's sponsor, said someone executed by gunfire typically dies in three to five seconds. "It's a quick bleed-out," he said. Utah previously used firing squads, including in the execution of Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer who in January 1977 became the first person to be put to death in the United States in 10 years, after insisting the sentence be carried out.... The last person to be executed in Utah by firing squad was Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010. Gardner was convicted of murdering a lawyer inside a Salt Lake City courthouse in 1985. The bill now goes to Utah Governor Gary Herbert. In a statement, a spokesman for the Republican governor said he had not yet decided whether to sign the measure.whether to sign the measure. Prez Obama commutes the sentence of 61 more federal drug offenders | Main | Fourth Circuit refuses to allow federal juvenile defendant to be tried as adult on charge carrying death or madatory LWOP March 30, 2016 Mississippi Gov supporting state legislative effort to use firing squads as back-up execution method A helpful reader alerted me to this local article from Mississippi headlined "Governor Bryant supports firing squad bill." Here are the details: The Mississippi House wants to allow the state prisons to execute prisoners using a firing squad if officials decide lethal injection is too expensive or unavailable. Governor Phil Bryant voiced his support of the bill. If the senate passes a firing squad bill, Ill certainly sign it. My belief is we need to carry out a capital punishment that when the courts say that its necessary; and if it takes a firing squad well do exactly that, said Governor Bryant. The house amended the bill Friday before passing it. It will now go back to the senate for more work. Attorney General Jim Hood has asked lawmakers to approve alternate execution methods such as electrocution, the use of nitrogen gas as well as the firing squad. As long time readers surely know, I have been urging states to seriously explore alternatives to lethal injection for the better part of a decade: in this December 2006 post, for example, I flagged an discussion of various new and old execution procedures that might be explored suggested that "states interested in continuing to employ the death penalty should start exploring alternatives to lethal injection." I suppose I am pleased to hear leaders in Mississippi have come around, but there sure seems to have been a whole lot of capital justice delayed in that state and many others because of a failure of states to seriously explore alternative execution methods. Just a few prior related posts on firing squads and other alternatives over the last decade: March 30, 2016 at 03:07 PM | Permalink Comments Guillotine much more effective; and you get to hold the head up to the crowd! Posted by: Madame De Farge | Mar 30, 2016 8:00:53 PM Hang em high! Electrocution is torture. Firing squad makes more sense. It is more manly. Poison through needles in the arm is the meanest and phony way. But killing someone gets you in trouble with Saint Peter when your time comes and you get the interview at the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter justs asks: "What state you lived in all your life. Texas? You killed a lot." "But wait Saint Pete. I was just a resident. It was some court that did that execution and some Governor who did not pardon Ray." "Yeah", the response is, as he pulls the lever to send you to hell. "There ain't no Y'all can exception to the Sixth Commandment. Citizen of a state is a killer if the state kills." Posted by: Barkin Dog | Mar 31, 2016 9:39:29 AM Some argue the firing squad would be the best choice on 8A grounds: https://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/2016/03/no-clean-hands-in-a-dirty-business-firing-squads-and-the-euphemism-of-evolving-standards-of-decency/ Posted by: Joe | Mar 31, 2016 10:03:12 AM Post a comment Fascinating SCOTUS Sixth Amendment splintering in Luis v. United States | Main | Mississippi Gov supporting state legislative effort to use firing squads as back-up execution method March 30, 2016 Prez Obama commutes the sentence of 61 more federal drug offenders As reported in this Washington Post piece, "President Obama commuted the sentences of 61 inmates Wednesday, part of his ongoing effort to give relief to prisoners who were harshly sentenced in the nations war on drugs." Here is more on this notable clemency news: More than one-third of the inmates were serving life sentences. Obama has granted clemency to 248 federal inmates, including Wednesday's commutations. White House officials said that Obama will continue granting clemency to inmates who meet certain criteria set out by the Justice Department throughout his last year.... Since the Obama administration launched a high-profile clemency initiative, thousands more inmates have applied. Another 9,115 clemency petitions from prisoners are still pending.... But sentencing reform advocates said that many more prisoners are disappointed they have not yet heard from the president about their petitions. Sixty-one grants, with over 10,000 petitions pending, is not an accomplishment to brag about, said Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and an advocate for inmates petitioning for clemency. I know some of those still waiting, men who were grievously over-sentenced, who have reformed themselves, and never had a record of violence. My heart breaks for them, as their hope for freedom a hope created by the members of this administration slips away. The White House has argued that broader criminal justice reform is needed beyond the clemency program. Despite the progress we have made, it is important to remember that clemency is nearly always a tool of last resort that can help specific individuals, but does nothing to make our criminal justice system on the whole more fair and just, said White House counsel W. Neil Eggleston. Clemency of individual cases alone cannot fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies. So, while we continue to work to resolve as many clemency applications as possible and make no mistake, we are working hard at this only broader criminal justice reform can truly bring justice to the many thousands of people behind bars serving unduly harsh and outdated sentences. Among those granted clemency on Wednesday was Byron Lamont McDade, who had an unusual advocate in his corner. The judge who sent McDade to prison for more than two decades for his role in a Washington-area cocaine conspiracy personally pleaded McDades case for early release. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman said McDades 27-year punishment was disproportionate to his crime, but that he had no choice but to impose the harsh prison term in 2002 because of then-mandatory sentencing guidelines. Over the years, the judge had urged the Bureau of Prisons and the White House to reduce McDades sentence to 15 years. He received no response until now.... On Thursday, the White House will hold an event called Life after Clemency that will include former inmates and their attorneys, along with some prison reform advocates. The presidents senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, is meeting with advocates, former inmates and family members of prisoners Wednesday at the White House for an event about women and the criminal justice system. This White House Press release provides basic details on the full list of 61 offenders who today learned that they now have a "prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016." Many of those listed appear to have been involved in a crack offense, though other drug cases sentenced both before and after Booker can be found in the group. Notably, this NACDL press release reports that "25 of [these 61 offenders] were applicants whose petitions were supported by Clemency Project 2014." This White House blog post authored by White House counsel W. Neil Eggleston provides more details and context concerning these grants: Today, the President announced 61 new grants of commutation to individuals serving years in prison under outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws. More than one-third of them were serving life sentences. To date, the President has now commuted the sentences of 248 individuals more than the previous six Presidents combined. And, in total, he has commuted 92 life sentences. Underscoring his commitment not just to clemency, but to helping those who earn their freedom make the most of their second chance, the President will meet today with commutation recipients from both his Administration and the previous administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. During the meeting, the commutation recipients will discuss their firsthand experiences with the reentry process and ways that the process can be strengthened to give every individual the resources he or she needs to transition from prison and lead a fulfilling, productive life. Building on this conversation, tomorrow the White House will host a briefing titled Life After Clemency with advocates, academics, and Administration officials to discuss and share ideas on the Presidents clemency initiative and ways to improve paths to reentry. In addition to officials from the White House and the Department of Justice, experts, academics, and commutation recipients will share their expertise and insights on returning to society after years behind bars. To watch the briefing live, tune in tomorrow, Thursday, March 31, at 2:00 PM EDT at www.whitehouse.gov/live. March 30, 2016 at 01:07 PM | Permalink Comments Ernest Spiller East St. Louis, IL Offense: Distribution of crack cocaine (two counts); maintaining a crack house; possession of a firearm in further of a drug trafficking crime; felon in possession of a firearm; Southern District of Illinois Sentence: 352 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $1,000 fine (August 3, 2000) Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016. Sixteen years seems a little light for this career criminal. Plus, Doug, he is not just a drug offender, he is a gun criminal---and doesn't Obama profess to have a problem with gun criminals? Let's all hope each one of these people live up to the trust Obama has placed in him or her. Posted by: federalist | Mar 30, 2016 1:33:17 PM Good for President Obama! I agree with Federalist to this extent: I hope one of these folks does not pull a Willie Horton Posted by: Michael R. Levine | Mar 30, 2016 1:37:52 PM Wankers Posted by: anon | Mar 30, 2016 5:04:15 PM I agree 13 yrs is light. I didn't notice Weldon Angelos on the list. I would think he should of bubbled up to the top for review, with all if the publicity. I hope these people dont mess things up for future grants and possible changes in the mandatories. That is a pile if yrs rolled back from the Bop. Maybe we can start to cut back their staff at Carswell, Tx and prisons guards. They can get a real job. Who knows. Im impressed, but it sets ya back when you read their charges. I think most are addicts and when they get hooked being arrested doesnt phase them. They are bullet proof, until it wears off in 6 months. Then what have I done. I have to say, things are happening. 10 yrs ago they couldnt jack them up quick or high enough. I wonder the number when Obama leaves office and will Weldon Angelos finally make it. Boy words of praise to the Feds from me, mark it on your calender. Posted by: MidWestGuy | Mar 30, 2016 7:30:07 PM It is interesting---Obama goes light on some career gun criminals, drops prosecutions of gun crimes, but whines about gun violence in this country--interesting. You'd almost think that he cares more about disarming the law-abiding than punishing thug criminals. Posted by: federalist | Mar 31, 2016 10:09:30 AM Why do you suppose it is that the VAST majority of these cases are all from the Eastern Half of the United States? of 61 cases, the furthest West you find is TX, except for 2 CA, 1 HI, 1 OR and 1 WY. Do Western judges give out fewer harsh sentences? Posted by: folly | Mar 31, 2016 1:03:44 PM Tin hat alert. Posted by: MarK M. | Apr 1, 2016 2:33:42 AM It was a great event for the Clemency Recipients that went to the White House. It is always heartbreaking for those who are not chosen. I was disappointed that there were not any nonviolent marijuana offenders on the list, but I'm sure that those who received commutations were exceptional candidates. That's really the problem. Over incarceration due to over charging and extraordinarily long sentences has made us the world's jailer. We have thousands of citizens serving sentences that do not fit the crime from 20 years to life without parole for nonviolent offenses. If released, they would not be a danger to society. It should be an embarrassment to us. They would not have these sentences in any developed country with the rule of law. For this reason, the President could grant thousands more commutations without jeopardizing public safety. I would hope that before he leaves office thousands of commutations would be granted. That would literally be a drop in the bucket. Posted by: beth | Apr 2, 2016 12:55:03 AM It was a great event for the Clemency Recipients that went to the White House. It is always heartbreaking for those who are not chosen. I was disappointed that there were not any nonviolent marijuana offenders on the list, but I'm sure that those who received commutations were exceptional candidates. That's really the problem. Over incarceration due to over charging and extraordinarily long sentences has made us the world's jailer. We have thousands of citizens serving sentences that do not fit the crime from 20 years to life without parole for nonviolent offenses. If released, they would not be a danger to society. It should be an embarrassment to us. They would not have these sentences in any developed country with the rule of law. For this reason, the President could grant thousands more commutations without jeopardizing public safety. I would hope that before he leaves office thousands of commutations would be granted. That would literally be a drop in the bucket. Posted by: beth | Apr 2, 2016 12:55:10 AM Post a comment Following the passage of California's right-to-die/death with dignity legislation last fall, a pharmaceutical company that acquired the most popular drug of choice for the process doubled the price of it for patients to $3,000. As KQED explains, that drug, Seconal, has no competition from generics, thus after Valeant Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to produce the drug in February 2015, they saw fit to hike the price from its previous, already inflated price of $1,500 for a lethal dose. The drug, commonly known as secobarbital, dates to the 1930's when it was created as a sleeping pill. It fell out of favor, however, because of patients dying from taking too much. Doctors in Oregon, however, where right-to-die legislation has existed for almost two decades, have come to favor it as the most gentle manner in which to induce a voluntary death in terminally ill patients. Says Dr. David Grube of Oregon, "It works very quickly and very gently, Grube says. People fall asleep with no complications. Its a very gentle passing." Grube remembers, however, when lethal doses of 100 pills of Seconal only cost $200 just seven years ago, in 2009. That price has risen quickly, shooting up to $1,500 last year, and now $3,000. And he adds that companies' typical justification for such high prices, which usually have to do with steep research costs, don't apply here when the drug is over 80 years old and simple to produce. Other drug-makers may step in now to make a generic since the drug went off patent in the early 1990's, and now that the market for it has grown in a state as large as California. But in the meantime, Valeant Pharmaceuticals reaps the benefits of their greed at the expense of terminally ill people and their families. California's Medicaid program and most private insurers plan to cover the drug, however there is another, three-drug cocktail that can be ordered from a compounding company for about $400, per KQED, for those who aren't covered by insurance. Previously: Right-To-Die Legislation May Pass In California Legislature After All LE MARS, Iowa | Cheryl Wells said business has been percolating at Habitue Coffeehouse & Cakes to Remember, especially since she's brought in a few new members to her management team. "Our customers were so excited when we purchased Betty's Cakes (a longtime Maurice, Iowa, specialty cake business previously owned by Betty Van Der Weide) last year," Wells said. "Adding artistic cakes really added an important component to our business." While Habitue regulars can visit the 108 Central Ave. NE coffee shop and continue to sip their espresso, cappuccino and smoothies, they also can enjoy the mouth-watering assortment of Wells' scones, cookies and muffins as well as sample many of Van Der Weide's artistically-inspired cakes. "Betty's been making cakes for nearly 50 years," Wells said. "She truly is a legend." Van Der Weide is now officially a part of the new Cakes to Remember logo. "That's Betty's smiling face right there," Wells said, picking up a brochure. Soon, Van Der Weide will be getting an assistant in Wells' son-in-law, Luke Howell, a culinary school-trained chef. "Even though Betty's as active as ever, this is a transition for her," Wells said. "She'll be slowly turning over the reins to Luke." That will become more apparent in July, after Howell finishes cake-decorating classes at City Colleges of Chicago. Wells said she also will be making some transitions in her role at Habitue. She recently hired general manager Lauren Papero to supervise the coffee house's busy breakfast and lunch trade while Wells concentrates on the expanding specialty cake business. "When we got into the cake business, we eliminated much of our lunch menu," Wells said. "Although we kept out homemade soups, many of our sandwiches, wraps and crepes were discontinued." That was the case before Papero -- an Orlando, Florida, native -- joined Habitue more than a month ago. "Cheryl wanted me to hit the ground running," said Papero, 25. "I survived my first Iowa blizzard, so I think I can survive anything." Walking from the cake decorating kitchen to the main dining room, Wells greets her staff as well as her customers by name. "Many of our customers have been with us from the very start," she said. "The same is true for our staff." Wells opened Habitue six years ago because she had a passion for quality food and exceptional food service. "I was turning 50 years old and had never owned a business before but was willing to give it a try," said Wells, whose husband Mike Wells is CEO of Wells Enterprises Inc., maker of the Blue Bunny brand of ice cream and frozen treats headquartered in Le Mars. Still Wells wanted Habitue to be the business that could sustain itself without her own personal involvement. "The way you create a sustainable business is to recruit, teach and reward employees with the same passion for business that you have," she said. "We have a lot of passionate young people who will some day take both Habitue and Cakes to Remember to the next level." Yet that doesn't mean Wells is going anywhere for now. A few months from now will mark the five-year anniversary of one of the biggest recent news stories in Siouxland, when the Missouri River crested above 30 feet near Sioux City and caused weeks of flooding in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. The flooding began about the time of Memorial Day and didn't relent for many weeks. The 2011 year was replete with waterlogged sandbags, homes with mildew-coated drywall and worries about whether various neighborhoods on both sides of the Missouri River would survive. U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who is out with other federal lawmakers during a congressional recess, is going to hold a Thursday subcommittee hearing to look back at the flood five years later. Rounds, the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Waste, Superfund and Oversight Management, will lead the 1 p.m. event at City Hall in North Sioux City. The public is invited to the hearing titled Five Years from the Flood: Oversight of the Army Corps Management of the Missouri River and Suggestions for Improvement." Rounds plans to focus on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers management of the Missouri River since the 2011 flood. Rounds is a former South Dakota governor. Several South Dakota officials visited North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes during the 2011 flooding, with the list including Gov. Dennis Daugaard and U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, who Rounds succeeded in the Senate when Johnson didn't seek re-election. STORM LAKE, Iowa | Where were you 35 years ago today, the day President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt? Stan Ullerich remembers. He was being held and questioned by the Secret Service for 17 1/2 minutes not long after John Hinckley Jr. shot and nearly killed Reagan as he departed the Washington Hilton in downtown Washington, D.C. Hinckley was 25 and from Colorado. That might explain why Ullerich, then a 21-year-old Buena Vista University junior, was detained with four fellow students. They were in a car bearing Colorado license plates, driving within blocks of the Washington Hilton Hotel, where Reagan was shot at 2:27 p.m. Ullerich, a native of Ute, Iowa, spent the 1981 spring semester at American University in Washington, D.C., one of 24 students from across the U.S. studying economic policy. On March 30, a Monday, students attended a seminar at the Urban Institute, part of Dupont Circle in Washington. "The seminar went from 1 to 4 p.m.," Ullerich said. "We left at 4 p.m. and one of the guys in our group had driven that day. He asked if anyone wanted a ride back to campus (American University)." Ever the economist, Ullerich figured the ride would save him a 65-cent bus fare. So, he hopped in with four fellow students. They were pulled over within minutes, maybe seconds, of emerging from an underground parking garage. Two men stood in front of the car and two men behind it, all clad in trench coats. "Gentlemen, get out of the car," they said. "We'd like to talk to you." "We didn't have any idea of anything that had happened," Ullerich said. "We followed orders. We were taken inside a building and all five of us were put in separate offices." A man showed Ullerich his Secret Service badge. He asked the young Iowan why he was in downtown Washington, D.C. He asked about American University and the program there. Ullerich displayed his American University identification, as well as his student ID from Buena Vista, and his driver's license. "After about 13 minutes, the questions began focusing on someone named John Hinckley Jr.," Ullerich said. Did he know Hinckley? Had he heard of Hinckley? Did he ever hear anyone mention Hinckley? "All of my answers were, 'No, I've never heard of him,'" Ullerich said. President Reagan's name didn't come up in the battery of questions. Seventeen-and-one-half minutes later, the interrogation ended. Ullerich remembers because he looked at his watch. "That's back when people wore a watch," he said. Dismissed, he stepped into the hallway as his buddies did, almost simultaneously. They were ashen faced, bordering on shock. "We all got back into the car and not one of us said a word as we drove back to campus," Ullerich said. Upon arriving at American University, the quintet stepped into Anderson Hall, a dormitory with a long commons area. At the end of the commons, 15-20 students huddled around a small television, monitoring news reports about the shots fired on President Reagan and the immediate capture of the suspected shooter. "We saw a screen shot on TV, a gray mug shot and the name John Hinckley," Ullerich said. "It dawned on us that we'd been in the midst of an assassination attempt." Ullerich then remembered how a few of the questions centered on the car they were in and to whom it belonged, thus, the Colorado tie. It just happened that the student who drove that day was from Colorado, same state as Hinckley. There probably weren't too many vehicles in downtown Washington, D.C., that afternoon with Colorado license plates. "I will say that was one of the few nights that semester we didn't do homework," Ullerich said. Instead, he and three or four friends headed downtown to grab a beer and talk about their coincidental brush with history. They visited about the president and probably watched Indiana defeat North Carolina in the NCAA Division I men's championship basketball game, a game that was played only after the White House assured the nation that President Reagan would be OK. The Academy Awards, which were to be held that evening, were postponed until the following night. Reagan, who was shot in the chest, below the left arm, suffered a punctured lung and withstood a 3-hour surgery to remove a bullet that lodged less than an inch from his heart. He remained hospitalized for 13 days. White House Press Secretary James Brady, who was shot in the head, was left paralyzed and died in 2014, a death that was classified a homicide. Thomas Delahanty, a police officer from Washington, D.C., and Timothy McCarthy, an agent with the Secret Service, were both wounded. Hinckley, who was charged with 13 offenses, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982. Ullerich, for his part, said he didn't even call home that night, or that week, a detail that hints at profound changes in communication behavior. Only months later did he tell his parents, Glenn and Carol Ullerich, about the events involving their son on that afternoon in late March. Ullerich graduated from Buena Vista in 1982. He went on to earn a master's degree from Iowa State University and a doctorate from Purdue University. He has served as a professor of economics at Buena Vista since 1994 and was dean of the Harold Walter Siebens School of Business for six years. Now 56, he is retiring at the end of the academic year. Stan Ullerich was back in Washington two months ago, leading a group of Buena Vista students during a four-week academic program. They caught a bus one day at the spot where Ronald Reagan was nearly shot to death. The BVU professor shared the story with his students that day, rewinding his memories -- and his watch -- a full 35 years. Not all kids learn the same. But Zyrobotics wants to make sure that all kids have the opportunity to learn in their own way. The company uses innovative technology to create educational technology for children that is truly inclusive. Read more about the company and its offerings in this weeks Small Business Spotlight. What Zyrobotics Does Provides educational technology for children with differing abilities between the ages 3-12. Business Niche Offering an inclusive design. Founder and CTO, Dr. Ayanna Howard told Small Business Trends, Our products engage both typical children as well as children with special needs, such as children with autism or cerebral palsy. Our focus is to ensure all children are provided equal access to fun and engaging educational STEM curriculum. How Zyrobotics Got Started As a robot programming camp. Howard was working as a professor at Georgia Tech when she received a grant to form a camp for kids with special needs. She explains, These camps not only led to the development of accessible interfaces for children with physical disabilities, but with support from the Georgia Tech Venturelab startup program and the State of Georgia GRA Ventures program, the company was founded and the lab technology accelerated to commercialization. Zyrobotics mission is to create accessible technologies that engage and empower all children. Biggest Win Launching a smart toy called the Zumo Learning System. Howard says, It was our first e-learning system that created an inclusive learning environment for children of all abilities. The system was designed so that children, with and without special needs, can have fun while engaging with math subjects. The idea for Zumo came while we were working with kids at a therapy clinic. The therapists had to work very hard to motivate the kids to interact with assistive switches needed to operate various communication devices. We discovered that the kids were more likely to use an assistive switch if the switch was fun to play with. Designing Zumo enabled us to not only address the needs of our target demographic, but to do it such that they are using technology that every child wants to interact with. Biggest Risk Building an inclusive approach to education through educational technology for children. Howard explains, Initially, we dedicated our resources to the special needs market then decided later to focus on inclusive education to include children with and without special needs. If things went wrong for instant if our products did not appeal to the mainstream child, we would have a limited market that wasnt sustainable. Thats one of the reasons why we design our apps to be accessible, but appealing to all children. The payoff has been a reputation as a company that develops products to address the needs of the special needs community, while also allowing inclusion. Lesson Learned Sales strategies are important. Howard says, If I were to start again, we would focus more on developing a concrete sales strategy before implementing marketing initiatives. How Theyd Spend an Extra $100,000 Sales and marketing. Interesting Fact Unique office decor. Howard says, We have stuffed turtles all over our office. Favorite Quote Many of lifes failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Edison * * * * * Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program. In a recent report released by the National Restaurant Association, women and minority-owned restaurant businesses have grown phenomenally between 2007 and 2012 in 48 states. Women-owned restaurant businesses grew three times faster than the overall restaurant industry in the 5-year period, increasing by 40 percent. During the same five-year period, the total number of restaurant businesses in the U.S. rose about 12 percent. The state of Mississippi saw the fastest growth in women-owned restaurant business at 95 percent. Next in line was Delaware with 86 percent growth, Nevada with 73 percent growth and Arizona with 71 percent growth over the same period. The states with the highest proportion of restaurant businesses owned by women are Georgia at 44 percent, Mississippi at 43 percent, Texas at 42 percent, Alabama at 41 percent, and Louisiana at 40 percent. Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association said, Women are playing an integral role in the growth and diversity of the restaurant industry. There are more women in restaurant management and ownership positions than virtually any other industry. According to National Restaurant Association research, 61 percent of adult women have worked in a restaurant at some point in their lives, and women-owned restaurant businesses are growing at a faster rate than restaurants overall. In another report, minority-owned restaurant businesses also rose steeply in recent years. The number of Hispanic-owned restaurant businesses surged to 51 percent between 2007 and 2012, while African-American-owned restaurants shot to 49 percent. Both were above their corresponding growth rates in the overall economy. The number of Asian-owned restaurant businesses also increased 18 percent between 2007 and 2012, which was slightly below the 24 percent increase in the overall economy. As a result of the consistent growth in the economy in recent years, 4 in 10 restaurant businesses are owned by minorities. The restaurant industry in the U.S. provides employment opportunities to people from all walks of life with very few barriers to entry. In addition to this, the industry also offers an unparalleled path to entrepreneurship. In fact, 8 in 10 restaurant owners say their first job in the restaurant industry was an entry-level position, according to research by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. 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 CALIFORNIAHickory Dickory Dark Productions is a Southern Maryland murder mystery company founded in June of 2015. The company is owned and operated by Kristin Kauffman of California, Md."When I first moved to So. Md. 3 years ago, I quickly discovered that there was almost no paying theatre work down here, and I knew that had to change," said Kaufman. "So I approached the then-new Charles Street Brasserie in Solomons and asked if they might like to partner on a murder mystery venture for Christmas. The first performance was a sell-out! Because of local businesses like Tall Timbers Marina, Bollywood Masala, Indian Head Center for the Arts, Port Tobacco Marina and many more, we are able to pay our actors and writers and bring hilarious fun to the tri-county community."This year, the company is running a summer murder mystery called "Murder at Low Tide" by local writers Paul Rose and Andrea Woodbridge.Their first performance on May 14th is a fundraiser for the American Legion Auxiliary Unit #293 in Waldorf. They are raising money for a new Legion Hall. Kauffman says she has 4 other performances booked thus far, and she expects to have somewhere between 10 and 15 performances this summer.Kauffman also believes in giving back to the community. The company recently donated $1000 to the United Way of Calvert County and will shortly be donating over $1300 to House of Ruth, an organization dedicated to ending homelessness and lifelong abuse for women and children in the Washington D.C. area.You can find out more by visiting www.hickorydickorydark.com Richardson, Texas-based Service King Collision Repair Centers recently announced that it will partner with Wentworth's Collision Works and its pair of repair centers in southern Maryland. Service King and Wentworth's officially agreed upon and finalized terms of the merger Friday, March 18; operations under Service King management began immediately. The two collision repair centers included in the deal are located at 12860 H G Trueman Rd in Lusby, and 27725 Three Notch Rd in Mechanicsville."This is an important market for the Service King family and we believe that is reflected in our steady, concerted growth in the area," said Service King Market Vice President Matt Robbins. "Wentworth's Collision and its team match that strategic initiative seamlessly as they have served the community with superior service and quality repairs for more than 10 years. This partnership will only improve our service and continue Service King on its mission to be the collision repair provider of choice."Service King operates nearly 300 collision repair centers in 23 states across the U.S. and in 2016 is celebrating its 40th anniversary.LANHAMFor the 7th year in a row, Thompson Creek Window Company is included in Window & Door's annual list of North America's largest manufacturers of residential windows, doors and/or skylights. The annual rankings are based on sales volume.Thompson Creek Window Company is close to completion on their new manufacturing facility in Upper Marlboro, Maryland which will triple the output of current window production. The new 117,000 square foot window manufacturing facility will contain a Research and Development Laboratory and increased training space. The project in expected to be completed around June 2016."Manufacturing our own windows is a key competitive differentiator for Thompson Creek Window Company. We eliminate the middle-man and deliver value directly to our customers by selling, manufacturing and installing our windows. This national level recognition - for our regional success - is a testament to Thompson Creek's superior products and installation along with the best customer experience in our industry, which we create every day," said Rick Wuest, President and CEO, Thompson Creek Window Company. "I am proud of the recognition earned by our top notch team members for the work they do every day to delight our customers and make them house proud."CALIFORNIAChick-fil-A at First Colony Center has partnered with Chopticon High School National Honor Society and Ryken Student Government to provide free tutoring to elementary and middle school students every Thursday from 5-8 pm. The high school students receive community service hours and a complimentary meal from Chick-fil-A in exchange for their tutoring services. The younger students receive tutoring at no cost.Voni Craig, marketing director, said they are excited at how at how quickly the program has become successful. One parent recently commented, "We had a meeting with her (daughter's) teachers today. They can tell that the tutors have made a difference."When: Thursdays during school 5-8pmWhere: Chick-fil-A at First Colony Center45150 First Colony WayCalifornia, MD 20619301-862-1018 SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (March 30, 2016)A southwestern Missouri man, who pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to producing child pornography, now faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. This guilty plea resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the St. Mary's County, Maryland Sheriff's Office. Brett Corcoran, 26, of Ava, Missouri, pleaded guilty to the charge contained in a Sept. 30, 2015, federal indictment. Corcoran has been in federal custody since his Oct. 6 arrest. By pleading guilty, Corcoran admitted that he used a minor victim to produce child pornography between Jan. 1 and May 13, 2015. According to court documents, Corcoran engaged in numerous sexting conversations with a 14-year-old victim in Maryland using an app called KIK Messenger. He sent pornographic images of himself to her, and solicited images from the child victim. Under federal statutes, Corcoran is subject to a mandatory sentence of 15 to 30 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation. LEONARDTOWN, Md. Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: http://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at http://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at http://so.md/expungeme. (March 30, 2016)The Leonardtown Barrack of the Maryland State Police (MSP) today released the following incident and arrest reports.COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY: On Friday, March 18, 2016 at 9:36 pm, Tpr. C. Ditoto responded to the Burch Mart in Leonardtown for a reported suspect attempting to pass counterfeit money. Tpr. Ditoto made contact with the complainant, who advised that Jeffery Thurman Adams, 64, of Prince Frederick, had attempted to pass counterfeit $50 bills. Mr. Adams was placed under arrest and three counterfeit $50 bills were recovered. Mr. Adams was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and charged with Possess/Issue Forged Currency. (16-MSP-010883)ASSAULT: On Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 10:09 pm, Tpr. C. Ditoto responded to the 22000 block of Oxford Court for a reported assault. Investigation revealed that Jasmine Naushelle Thomas, 26, of Lexington Park, had assaulted a female victim. Ms. Thomas was placed under arrest and transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center. She was held pending a bond review with the District Court Commissioner. (16-MSP-011176)ASSAULT: On Saturday, March 26, 2016 at 12:33 pm, Tpr J. Mulhearn responded to the 22000 block of Lawrence Avenue for a reported disturbance. Investigation revealed that that Shawn Michael Clarke, 33, of Leonardtown had assaulted a female victim. An arrest warrant was issued for Assault Second Degree, and Mr. Clarke was arrested on March 26, 2016 at 10 pm. He was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and held pending a bond review with the District Court Commissioner. (16-MSP-011966)William Edward Chase, 54, of Lexington Park, charged with Theft less than $100 at Wal-Mart on 3/17/2016Valerie Yvonne Wynettee Gross, 43, of Lexington Park, charged with Theft less than $100 at Wal-Mart on 3/17/2016Amber Nicole Busby, 25, of Great Mills, charged with Theft Less than $100 at Wal-Mart on 3/22/2016Lashawn Monique Hurley, 36, of Leonardtown charged with Theft Less than $100 at Food Lion in California on 3/22/2016Kelley Marie Busby, 35, of Great Mills, charged with Theft Less Than $1000 and Trespassing at Wal-Mart on 3/25/2016 Thursday, 3/31 Theater Based on the Oscar-winning film, Silence of the Lambs, playwright Jamie Morris parody, Silence of the Clams, comes to Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive in Fort Lauderdale, tonight at 8 p.m. through April 24. Butch FBI agent Clarice Starling is assigned to save Nancy Pelosis missing daughter from Beaver Bob, a serial killer who skins his victims down there. Tickets are $20 30 at EmpireStage.com. Friday, 4/1 Television Did you notice the camera crews around town over the past few months? Tune into Bravo tonight for the premiere of Real Housewives of Wilton Manors. Yes, you heard us right, the gay-friendly network has extended its popular franchise from Beverly Hills, New York, New Jersey and Atlanta to the drama-ridden neighborhood many of us call home. Sounds like a great idea, anyway. Happy April Fools Day! Saturday, 4/2 Opera Composer Mieczyslaw Weinbergs The Passenger gets an epic regional premiere tonight by Florida Grand Opera at the Arsht Center. The story of a former Auschwitz prison warden who travels to a diplomatic post in Brazil with her husband is sung in eight languages, one of the most important musical events of the year. Also performed on April 3, 5, 8 and 9. Tickets and more information at FGO.org. Sunday, 4/3 Concert Virtuoso concert organist Christopher Houlihan performs tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Royal Poinciana Chapel, 1015 Philadelphia Ave. in Palm Beach. The recital, a rededication of the churchs restored Austin organ, will include works by J.S. Bach, Cesar Franck and Louis Vierne. Houlihan, who has performed around the world, is considered one of the great young organists. More info at RoyalPoincianaChapel.org. Monday, 4/4 Nightlife Who will be the next reigning queen of Miami Beach? Head down to Score, 1437 Washington Ave., tonight at 9 p.m. for the Miss Pride Miami Beach competition and find out who is the fairest of them all. While there, put in a bid on one of the silent auction items. Proceeds benefit Miami Beach Gay Pride. General admission is $20 in advance, $25 at the door. For more information, go to MiamiBeachGayPride.com. Tuesday, 4/5 Concert The South Florida Symphony presents Spring is in the Air, featuring Aaron Coplands ballet, Appalachian Spring, performed by principal dancers from the legendary Martha Graham Dance Company. The program also features Carter Brey, principal cellist with the New York Philharmonic. Tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center. Tickets at SouthFloridaSymphony.org. Ill never forget the first time I saw photographer Robert Mapplethorpes controversial photographs while on a college field trip to Kansas City. In the late 1980s. My professorone half of the only gay couple in the tiny Missouri college townpointed out a large volume tucked on a shelf in the gift shop of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Id never discussed my sexual orientation with him but I suspect he knew, as he knew about so many students. As I flipped through the book revealing increasingly risque photographs of male genitalia and sadomasochistic acts, he asked, Its all very homoerotic, isnt it? Yes, the photographs were homoerotic and I was secretly titillated, but could never make that admission at the time, because the photographers works were mired in the political discourse of the day, labeled pornographic and lewd. Watching Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbatos new documentary, Robert Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures brings back vivid memories of that experience nearly 30 years ago. The film premieres on HBO on Sunday, April 4 at 9 p.m. Before the title rolls, the viewer is confronted with Mapplethorpes most confrontational image, Self Portrait with Whip. What follows is a somewhat conventional documentary, presenting the photographers life chronologically, but peppered with the images that continue to provoke, seduce and enrage. Like so many LGBT people, Mapplethorpe grew up in a religious household in the suburbs of Queens. In an interview he says, Suburbia is a good place to come from and a good place to leave. The film delves into his years at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he met his muse, Patti Smith, the first in a line of lovers who would influence his creative process. His art really takes shape after he moves into Manhattan and he begins to explore his homosexuality and dark side in the BDSM scene. Jack Fritscher, editor of Drummer magazine and one of those lovers recalls, The problem with the 70s was everybody was having sex. Photographers werent shooting, painters werent painting, writers werent writing, but Robert was functioning. At the onset of his career, photography was still not viewed by society as proper art. Gallery owner Holly Sullivan notes, I was convinced he was an artist, convinced he could manipulate people. And I use the word, manipulate. As Mapplethorpe began to gain fame, he began glamorizing the penis (the infamous Mr. 10 , an extremely large African-American penis protruding from the fly of a pair of polyester slacks) and incorporating more religious symbology into his photographs, drawing the ire of Sen. Jesse Helms and other cultural conservatives. Taking pictures of sex is no different than taking a picture of a flower, Mapplethorpe says in another interview, and he took many exquisite pictures of flowers during his career. But it was his evolving self-portraits that were most telling. The many friends and colleagues interviewed for the film paint a picture of a driven artist, one noting he was only interested in people for one of three reasons: money, models and/or sex. Mapplethorpe relentlessly pursued fame until his death of complications from HIV/AIDS in 1989 at the age of 42. Ultimately, the outrage his work generated would secure his fameor infamy. Just as he wanted. It just didnt seem possible, admitted South Florida Symphony Artistic Director Sebrina Maria Alfonso about her orchestras collaboration this week with principal dancers from the legendary Martha Graham Dance Company. The symphonys program, Spring Is In the Air, featuring Aaron Coplands masterpiece of classical Americana, Appalachian Spring, had already been scheduled when a friend, Maurizio Nardi, a principal dancer with the dance company, suggested the music be performed as a ballet, as it was originally conceived. We jumped on it, said Alfonso. Most music fans are familiar with the orchestral suite arranged by Copland in 1945, but the lilting tunes were originally music for a ballet choreographed by Graham and performed by a small ensemble of 13 musicians. Even though its similar to the suite, the ballet was written for dancers and its missing a few measures here and there, just enough to be annoying, explained Alfonso. The symphony and three dancers will perform selected vignettes from the ballet first, along with readings from the many letters Graham wrote to Copland outlining her storyline and expectations for the work. Local actress and philanthropist Beth Holland will read the letters, which offer great insight into the creative processes of both artists. Its quite wonderful, said Holland. In these marvelous letters, she eloquently explained her vision for the piece and then he would write it. They never dreamed it would be so successful. They never knew what they had. Graham frequently quoted the words of American philosophers, including Henry David Thoreau, in her directions to Copland. She wanted (Appalachian Spring) to be really American, added Holland. The real deal. Set in 19th century rural Pennsylvania, the ballet chronicles the activities of American pioneers, including a bride, groom, preacher, congregation and townspeople, and is organized into eight scenes or musical movements. While the most famous is a set of majestic variations on the Shaker hymn tune, Simple Gifts, concert audiences will also get a chance to hear movements that Copland did not include in his suite, including a folksy revival featuring an energetic preacher. After the readings and dance performance, Alfonso will conduct the full symphony in the complete 22-minute orchestral suite. The collaboration just seems appropriate and matches what were doing, said Alfonso. Im very excited this is coming about. In keeping with the spring theme, the program will also include the New York Philharmonics principal cellist, Carter Brey, performing William Schumanns poetic Cello Concerto, and the remarkable Symphony No. 4 by Johannes Brahms. The South Florida Symphony performs Spring is in the Air on Saturday, April 2 at the Tennessee Williams Theatre in Key West; Sunday, April 3 at the Kaye Auditorium on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton; and Tuesday, April 5 at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. For tickets and more information, go to SouthFloridaSymphony.org. Where will he stand on LGBT rights? Judge Merrick Garland, President Obamas nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, has ruled against gay plaintiffs three times. This is the kind of record that might usually guarantee that Republican senators would be eager to confirm him. It might also be the sort of record that would prompt LGBT groups to urge a more cautious review. Though the Human Rights Campaign expects to support Garlands nomination, it and other LGBT groups and leaders, such as U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, are taking some time to study his record before endorsing him. But most Senate Republicans are, for the moment, standing firm in their refusal to consider the nomination at least, not until they calculate that Garland would be a better nominee than the next president might select. (Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised recently said thats not going to happen.) I cannot imagine that the Republican-majority Senate, even if it were soon to be a minority, would want to confirm a judge that would move the court dramatically to the left, McConnell told Fox News anchor Chris Matthews. And that seems to be the growing assessment of Garland: that, despite a relatively moderate to conservative record, he would become part of the Supreme Courts liberal bloc. New York Times legal reporter Adam Liptak says political scientists believe Garland would be well to the left of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy is the justice who has provided the key swing vote for the Supreme Courts most historic decisions in favor of equal rights for LGBT people. He would be the fifth member of a liberal bloc on the court, said Liptak, in a video accompanying his March 17 article. University of Chicago Law Professor Eric Posner said he thinks Garland seems liberal on civil rights. Much of this speculation appears based on an analysis that found justices tend to vote based on the ideology of the president who appointed them. Garland, who has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. for 19 years, was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton. But thats not foolproof conclusion. Justice Kennedy was appointed by President Reagan. And Justice William Brennan, one of the Supreme Courts most liberal justices, was appointed by President Eisenhower. (And Garland clerked for Brennan from 1978-79.) On the day President Obama announced Garlands nomination, the Human Rights Campaign issued a statement, calling him highly qualified. But the group stopped short of an endorsement. A spokesperson said HRC would make an official endorsement decision after it does its own examination of his record and after Garland gets a hearing from the Senate Judiciary Committee. President Obama has a history of appointing pro-equality Supreme Court Justices, said the spokesperson, referring to Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. We are confident that, in Judge Garland, we will find another Associate Justice to the Supreme Court who stands on the side of fairness and equality. Garland has an extensive record. He has participated in thousands of cases. Three of those cases had gay plaintiffs, but all three failed to get the relief they sought from three-judge panels that included Garland. The first case involved an Ohio man, Jerry Szoka, who operated a low-power FM radio station in 1997 specifically to reach gay men and women and the arts community in Cleveland. But the Federal Communications Commission had banned the operation of such small stations known as microbroadcast stationsbecause they were causing interference with major radio stations that served the broad general public. Szoka operated the radio station in defiance of the ban and without ever applying for a radio operators license. The FCC ordered him to stop broadcasting and to pay an $11,000 per day fine for every day in defiance. In Grid Radio v. FCC, Szoka filed suit in federal court to challenge the order, and jurisdictional issues brought the case before the D.C. Circuit. Szoka said the ban on microbroadcasting violated the Communications Act of 1934 and his First Amendment rights to serve a community that was not adequately served by full-power stations. The panel rejected his first claim, noting that Szoka never applied for a license, then rejected his First Amendment claim. Valuable as Grid Radios broadcasts may have been, stated the 2002 panel decision penned by Judge David Tatel, we think it clear that the Commission had no obligation to consider the stations individual circumstances before shutting it down. The panel said the FCC was simply enforcing a ban on microbroadcasting. Permitting Szoka or anyone else to operate without a license as a means of challenging the microbroadcasting bancould produce the very chaosthe licensing regime was designed to prevent. In the second case, Turner v. Department of the Navy (decided in 2003), Petty Officer Jim Turner sued the Secretary of the Navy to overturn his other than honorable discharge. In 1994, when the militarys policy of banning openly gay people was still in place, several of Turners male peers on the USS Antietam accused him of making sexual advances. The ships captain and an administrative board declared him guilty and discharged him. A Board for Correction of Naval Records said there was insufficient corroboration of the charges and recommended his record be cleared. But a deputy assistant Secretary for the Navy rejected that recommendation. Turner sued in federal court, echoing the BCNRs finding that the evidence against him had been insufficient. Turner also argued that his captain violated the Dont Ask, Dont Tell regulations by initiating an investigation without credible evidence and that an investigator violated the policy by asking one of the sailors about his sexual orientation. The appeals panel, which included Garland, noted that Turner had a respectable record of seven years of military service and that the charges against him initially seemed more like inflamed interpretations of horseplay. But it upheld a federal district court, saying proper procedures had been followed. The decision was written by Senior Circuit Judge Stephen Williams. In the third case, Garland was on a panel with then appeals court Judge John Roberts Jr., who now serves as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The case was International Action Center v. U.S. The 2004 decision addressed a lawsuit filed by a coalition of groups and individuals who opposed racism, sexism, oppression of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people. It sued federal and local law enforcement personnel for injuries inflicted on protesters at President George W. Bushs first inaugural parade. The protesters said that, while engaging in lawful, peaceful activity along the parade route, undercover officers struck them and sprayed them with pepper spray. The lawsuit alleged that supervisors of the undercover officers should be held personally liable for their injuries. The supervisors argued they had qualified immunity and a three-judge panel that included Garland agreed. Roberts wrote the panel opinion, saying plaintiffs failed to establish that the police supervisors were guilty of misconduct in their training and supervision of police, rather than mere negligence. Jon Davidson, national legal director for Lambda Legal, said the three gay-plaintiff cases "don't tell us very much about his judicial philosophy or views of constitutional and legal issues relating to sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status." Lambda and many groups and court enthusiasts are poring over Garlands record now, and many will likely find details that will encourage or encumber their support for the nominee. For instance, the Boston Globe reported that Garland, under pressure from a leftist group during the 1970s Vietnam protest era at Harvard undergraduate school, asked a student-faculty committee to consider having a campus referendum on whether the school should allow ROTC back on campus. He then later voted against holding a referendum. That left the existing ban intact. Without predicting how Republican senators might react, the Globe noted that any whiff of an antimilitary record will raise red flags for Republicans. More likely, it will prompt Republicans if they ever give Garland a confirmation hearing -- to quiz him over a similar ROTC flap that emerged six years ago during the confirmation hearing for the last new justice, Elena Kagan. Kagan had been dean of Harvard Law when Harvard had a policy of barring recruiters from campus because of the militarys policy of banning openly gay people. During her confirmation hearing, Republican senators grilled her about it. Kagan said she found a way to let military recruiters have full access to students while still enforcing the schools ban against sexual orientation discrimination. The militarys ban no longer exists and most campuses no longer bar military recruiters but, if Kagans confirmation can be somewhat of a guide, Garland or the next justice nominee can expect to field questions from Republican senators asking whether he is a legal progressive, whether he thinks the Supreme Court was right to strike down state bans on marriage for same-sex couples, and religious objections to anti-discrimination laws that protect LGBT people. And if history can be a guide, the nominees answers will likely leave everyone guessing until theyre on the high bench. Incumbent State Representative Republican George Moraitis is being challenged for his seat in the Florida House by a 22-year-old college student. Say hello to Doug Oberman, a Senior at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, who says he intends to defeat Moraitis to represent district 93 in Tallahassee. In a telephone call to SFGN on Monday, Oberman, whos running as a Democrat, said he was confident he could win the seat, describing Moraitis as a clone warrior of Governor Rick Scotts administration. Hes another cog in the machine, Oberman said of Moraitis. All hes going to do is vote the party line and rubber stamp everything that comes out of Scotts office. The voters of this district are too smart for that and are waking up to the truth. First elected in 2012, Moraitis, 45, is a Fort Lauderdale native, husband, father and decorated U.S. Navy veteran. A practicing real estate attorney, Moraitis represents a district that stretches from Boca Raton to Hollywood. Oberman, however, is undaunted. Im standing for true progressive values, said Oberman, who is pursuing a degree in public safety administration. Oberman said that while he personally does not identify as LGBT, that is not stopping him from fighting against discrimination in all its forms. LGBT rights are a huge part of my ticket, Oberman said. The oppression that goes on in Florida against LGBT people has to stop. Oberman said he has marched in gay pride parades in his native Chicago. He moved to South Florida nearly four years ago and lists Deerfield Beach as his campaigns address in papers filed with the state. Oberman is running thus far unopposed for the Democratic Partys nomination. Likewise, Moraitis has no opposition on the Republican ticket. The general election is scheduled for November 8. Employment through agencies is a common way of flexible work arrangement in western Europe and America. However, in Slovakia it is perceived rather negatively, due to illegal practices of a great number of agents who apply various tricks to try and rob both employees and the state of benefits and tax revenue. Font size: A - | A + The problems facing agency employees in Slovakia are nothing special in the EU. In nearly every member state, agency employment struggles with similar problems. State bodies are dealing with stopping such problems. Most frequently governments take two directions: strengthening state checks and changing legislation. Both directions complement each other, and one cannot exist without the other. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement In Slovakia, there are 911 licenses for agency employment at present. However, a new legislation concerning agency employment is in effect since March 2015, which targets the grey market and boosts the role of an agency employee. The agency of temporary assignment can become a legal entity only by fulfilling a large number of conditions including having assets worth a minimum of 30,000. With a natural entity, a bank guarantee amounting to 15,000 is enough. Very many people imagine that an agency employee equals an assembly-line worker. This idea has survived thanks to the media image of this sphere as journalists write mainly about crooked practices of some so-called agencies, or connect them with illegal employment. But this is no longer true. The structure of business for the Manpower company is about 40 percent in industry, and the rest is represented by services and specialised branches: IT, technicians, financial specialists, call centre workers, warehouse workers and so forth. Abroad, the construction and hotel sectors are big, but in Slovakia big companies secure flexibility in human resources thanks to a network of small sub-contractors. The biggest problem, however, are illegal agents who do not even have a licence, are under no regulation, and often abuse foreigners. How do you recognise fraudulent practices? Mainly by low prices. If the invoicing is lower than the gross wage of the worker plus social and health insurance, it is quite clear something is wrong. Alas, this is convenient both for the employer (who saves money) and the employee (who gets more money cash than if his income was taxed). In these cases, the state is robbed of money, and the worker may not get a pension. Most frequently, contracts for one-time work were abused and instead used for full-time jobs. An employee thus loses entitlement for paid holiday, sick-leave payments, and because it does not pay payroll taxes, the agency has much higher margins. This most blatant way of cheating has recently been banned but creative lawyers keep coming up with new tricks. Under the new rule, it is necessary for the duration of employment to be stated in the contract on assignment; thus, it is not possible anymore to state for the term needed as had been done before. If the employment is terminated earlier, the employee is entitled to all payments stipulated by law for notices due to redundancy (meaning redundancy payments). This regulation decreases the flexibility of the labour market and may mean that an employer ultimately does not hire a person at all. The new legislation also limits the chaining of contracts for a limited period of time at one user. Agency employment is inherently a solution to cover seasonal oscillations or projects with a limited duration, (software development, product testing, collection of field data, for example). The limits on contract chaining to two years, and a maximum of four times, has brought greater stability to workers and forces employers to hire workers as regular workers/permanent staff if the job is long term and they are satisfied with the employee. Another new rule is the presumed existence of a regular employment with the user-employer. According to this rule, if the maximum number of assignments is exceeded, or if the duration of assignment is exceeded, this means that the duration of employment is undetermined and thus ties with agency expire. Thus, it can be simply said that the temporarily assigned employee becomes regular staffer of the client, for an indeterminate duration. Another way that companies tried to save money was by violating comparable conditions. In fact, this is discrimination and unequal treatment, as the agency employee receives less money for the same work as compared to a permanent staffer. Here, the company using an employment agency now has shared responsibility, and it will no longer be so easy to use audits as an excuse to the agency. In the past, frequent fraud and failure to pay social and health insurance came by way of using official travel orders. An employee got minimum wage and the rest was paid in travel allowances on which no levies are paid. Starting this year, this has become more difficult, as a travel order can be now issued to the agency employee only by the user of agency employment, the company itself. This solution is not perfect and watertight, but it helps to better expose those agencies which taint the good reputation of this type of work. Plan calls for a group similar to the Hungarian Guard outlawed by a Budapest court. Font size: A - | A + The extremist Peoples Party-Our Slovakia (LSNS) wants to use around 5 million in state subsidies it received as a parliamentary party for military training that could see marches by uniformed participants through Roma settlements. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The party reached 8 percent of votes in the March 5 general election, thus it automatically receives money for each vote and for every seat in parliament, leading to a grand total of 5.2 million. Originally, the party promised its voters to refuse the money or give it to citizens. LSNS representatives later realised, however, that those options are not legally possible and therefore Kotleba told the press few days after elections that he wants to use it to build a militia protecting people in places where the police fail to do so. If the state will not intervene as it should after the founding of this party, it means the state has resigned from its main role the protection of its citizens security, Jarmila Lajcakova of the Centre for Research of Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK) told The Slovak Spectator. Legislation does not allow anyone to create an official military or paramilitary armed organisation which would substitute for the work of the police corps without parliament approval. On the other hand, Kotlebas units could be unarmed. Read also: Read also: Analysts: Kotleba uses American campaign tactics Read more The law allows a parliament party to use money from the state for such purposes, according to Transparency International Slovakia head Gabriel Sipos. They can do that as direct payment for security services to their people acting as self-employed people or to pay party personnel for that, Sipos told The Slovak Spectator. LSNS is already personally connected to paramilitary extremist group Akcna skupina Vzdor, which conducts military training in Slovak forests. Inspiration in Hungary Kotleba could be inspired by the extremist Hungarian Guard. The guards members took an oath and then travelled to Roma settlements in Hungary wearing uniforms which created conflict situations, according to Slovak Interior Ministry expert on extremism, Daniel Milo. As it has been in many other issues, Kotleba is now trying to reproduce what our southern neighbours [Hungary] tried, meaning voluntary groups pretending to be security units, Milo told The Slovak Spectator. A Budapest court disbanded the Hungarian Guard in December 2008 for using racist slogans and pretending to be an official group protecting people -- a violation of the Hungarian Constitution. Members of the guard are well-known in Slovakia after they defamed the Slovak flag in front of the Slovak embassy in Budapest on November 1, 2008. There are several groups who act as security service or militia in Europe. For example, Scandinavian countries deal with a group calling itself Soldiers of Odin, which has been patrolling in cities to protect locals from refugees. We will face a big problem if this is going to happen in Slovakia, Jaroslav Nad of Slovak Security Policy Institute (SSPI) told The Slovak Spectator. Money from the state Reading the LSNS election program, it is not clear what function the militia should have. In order for a millitia to have the same powers as the police, parliament would have to change the law, said Interior Ministry spokeswoman Michaela Paulenova. Theoretically, the party can buy equipment such as vehicles and uniforms or pay for training because legislation does not stipulate how parties can spend money from state. Read also: Read also: Kotleba agitates even among children Read more It is solely in LSNSs representatives competences how the party spends the contribution for votes, Paulenova told The Slovak Spectator. The only limits are that a party cannot give those contributions as a gift, lend the money, do business with it, vouch for debts of others or use it to pay fines, according to legislation. Previous tries Kotleba had a militia in his program back in 2013 when he was running for governor of the Banska Bystrica self-governing region (BBSK). After he was elected to the post, he wanted to create municipal watches which would be funded by the BBSK, but it lacked the money. Moreover, BBSK citizens circulated a petition against such a militia because it would have to be paid from the municipalities coffers, according to Ingrid Kosova from WatchBBSK regional watchdog. Kotleba could get funds from Governments Proxy for Roma Communities Peter Pollak for funding Roma patrols but he doesnt want Roma participating in security issues, Kosova told The Slovak Speectator. People connected with the party were trying to create a paramilitary organisation which would have formed a citizen union in 2013. The union would have been named the Peoples Guard. Paramilitary groups get more active Action Group Vzdor (Defiance) announced in 2015 that it wants to choose elite members who would be able substitute for the police and army in times of serious social crisis. The group is presenting itself in online videos as they practice shooting, endure teargas or use home-made flamethrower. One of the leading personalities of the group is Marian Magat, known for his anti-democratic rhetoric and who is 88th on LSNSs candidate list. Read also: Read also: Paramilitary group Defiance creating elite units to do police work Read more There are several such groups in Slovakia. After the March election, they have representatives in parliament which makes them feel more relevant and more secure, and are therefore more active, according to Nad. We have noticed mobilisation of those groups which are calling for people to join their training, Nad said. It results from increased popularity and self esteem related to the election success of Marian Kotleba. Professionals can train them Based on previous experiences, it is very likely that Kotlebas militia would be trained by professionals from the Slovak armed forces and police, according to Nad. He added that when he worked at the Defense Ministry during the government of Iveta Radicova (2010-2012), the ministry was investigating 10 to 20 soldiers yearly for supporting extremist groups. Surely professionals can train those people because in the army and police we already have supporters of Kotleba and even more radical groups, Nad said. Most of them keep it a secret but there are cases when they openly support them. Read also: Read also: Extremist group Slovak Levies trained kids in schools Read more He pointed out that professional soldier Michal Feling already trains paramilitary group the Slovenski Branci and that Slovak authorities have allowed it. The Defence Ministry was considering his discharge but, ultimately, it only sent him to another position where he does not have access to tactical information. The ministry explained for the public service RTVS that Slovak authorities have not officially banned the group. In fact, Slovenski Brancias is not on the list of extremist organisations because the organisation does not officially exist. This shows the loophole in Slovak legislation, Nad said. This organisation really exists despite not having a legal form, therefore there has to be way to ban it. They earn money to settle their debts. Font size: A - | A + The Proti Prudu / Against the Stream civic association focuses on homeless people in the Slovak capital and organises activities that could help them and help them to help themselves. One recent activity is the Luggage Porters Nota Bene project. In it, some selected homeless people, selected from those who sell the Nota Bene magazine, and thus earn some money to settle their debts, help people at Bratislavas main railway station by carrying their luggage. They mainly help women and elderly people carry it up the stairs. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement We just reduce the load on passengers but also homeless people from their burden of repaying distraint deductions and debts, Peter Kadlecik, coordinator and social worker of the civic association told the TASR newswire in December. If they save 50 a month, we give them the same amount as well. These people are exceptional, despite flaws in the social system. Moreover, in Bratislava, housing is expensive and access to jobs is difficult, Kadlecik summed up. Slovakia lacks systemic measures and flaws in legislation rob even those active homeless people of a chance to regain a stable and dignified home, said Nora Benova of the same civic association. She proposes to solve homelessness in a complex way, targeting accommodation, social services, health care, employment, access to material welfare and rights. Their effort alone is not enough, changes in legislation are needed, she explained. In one year, our organisation invested, together with the porters, 16,000 into the system, in the form of paid levies or debts. All porters are included in the programme of debt elimination. Jozef has been working as porter since the project began December 8, 2014. He is among people, nicely clad in a uniform, and he likes the work, he said. He would like to work normally but debts do not allow this. Also Laco is thankful for the opportunity to work as a porter. In one year, he reduced his debt by 1,250. I decided to announce personal bankruptcy, with the help of Proti Prudu and lawyers of the Nadacia Pontis foundation who help us free of charge to manage our debts, Laco explained. Benova said that they started with seven porters, had a total of 10 during the whole project, and currently are working with six of them. In one year, they managed to cut their debt by 75,500. This project of porters is exceptional and it garnered awards abroad. The International Network of Streetpapers deemed it the best non-newspaper project for homeless people in 2015. In Vienna, it received the second place in the SozialMarie 2015 contest, from among 300 competing projects throughout Europe. The project was supported from Icelandic, Liechtenstein and Norwegian funds managed by the Ekopolis foundation, by the Nadacia pre deti Slovenska foundation and the foundation Socia; as well as by Bratislava city and region, Slovak railways and several other organisations. Zuzana Stevulova, director of the Human Rights League (HRL), received an award for courage. Font size: A - | A + US Secretary of State John Kerry presented the 2016 Secretary of States International Women of Courage Award, with which he annually recognises women around the globe who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and womens empowerment, often at great personal risk, reads the website of the US Department of State. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Attorney Stevulova has emerged as the countrys most prominent advocate for refugee and migrant rights, the US Department of State informed. In a country where the majority of asylum applications are rejected, she has won numerous cases at Slovakias Supreme Court on behalf of clients in expulsion and asylum proceedings, the departments website reads. US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Cathy Russell pose for a photo with the 2016 Secretary of States International Women of Courage Award winners at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 29, 2016. (Source: State Department photo/Public Domain) Since the start of Europes migration crisis, she has been a strong and unwavering voice for greater assistance to and compassion for refugees. She has not shied away from criticising the anti-refugee and anti-Muslim rhetoric of certain politicians and regularly challenges social prejudice and fear by introducing Slovak citizens to refugees who have successfully integrated into Slovak society, the website states. As opposed to the praise from the US Department of State, Stevulova has faced several problems in Slovakia for her activities. Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, for example, asked the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to replace her as its representative in Slovakia, the Dennik N daily reported. He took this step following her report about police officers beating the refugees in a camp in Medvedov (Trnava Region). The USA, however, appreciates her for it, the daily wrote. Stevulova was pleased by the award and adds she has no conflict with Kalinak. US Secretary of State John Kerry presents the 2016 International Women of Courage Award to Zuzana Stevulova of Slovakia, Director of the Human Rights League, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 29, 2016. (Source: State Department photo/Public Domain) The award is not granted in order to become someones critic, but it is a reward for attitudes and systematic work with refugees and foreigners, Stevulova told Dennik N. Regarding the protection of refugees rights, she stressed that she and her organisation try to achieve understanding with the government, the ministries and the police, where many skilled people are working, she added. Since the inception of this award in 2007, the Department of State has honoured nearly 100 women from 60 different countries. Among them also Zuzana Caputova, a lawyer cooperating with Via Iuris think tank, who received the award in 2011 and Vanda Durbakova, a lawyer from the Kosice-based non-governmental Advisory Centre for Civil and Human Rights, who received it in 2013. Among the women nominated for the award by the US Embassy in Slovakia were Zuzana Caputova, a lawyer cooperating with Via Iuris think tank who was nominated in 2011, Vanda Durbakova, a lawyer from the Kosice-based non-governmental Advisory Centre for Civil and Human Rights, and Olga Pietruchova, an advocate of human rights equality nominated in 2014. Stevulova was the first to receive the award. AN MP for the far-right Peoples Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) of Marian Kotleba will have to undergo new psychological tests. Font size: A - | A + The police have confiscated firearms as well as the licence to carry them from LSNS legislator Peter Krupa, who brought a gun to the parliament on March 21, the Dennik N daily reported on its website. In order to get them back, Krupa will have to undergo some psychological examinations, the daily wrote. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Police officers were proceeding in line with the law and were acting politely and decently towards the man in question when confiscating his firearms, reads a police statement, as quoted by Dennik N. Read also: Read also: New parliament inaugurated Read more They also reported that the officers can secure weapons, ammunition or gun permits from any man that might be expected to threaten life, health, freedom or human dignity of any other person, the daily wrote. The same goes if the person in question has to submit a new health report or psychological evaluation. All of Krupas guns are in his legal possession, according to the LSNSs website. Police used the information in the media about Krupa having a gun permit as a pretext for their activities, reads the statement on the website. LSNS admitted that Krupa handed over a 9 mm Grand Power pistol to security upon his arrival to the parliament. Planes fly between Bratislava and Macedonias capital Skopje twice a week as of March 28. Font size: A - | A + The new service is being operated by low-cost airline Wizz Air. It will transport passengers twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. The first flight took place on Monday evening, the TASR newswire reported. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The opening of the new route was special as it was connected to the Slovak Easter traditions. Moreover, the first passengers received a certificate together with a small present, the M. R. Stefanik Airport in Bratislavas spokesperson Veronika Sevcikova informed in a press release. The airline expects that Macedonia will be able to attract Slovak tourists thanks to its sights and cuisine. Representatives of Bratislava airport also believe that the new route will be successful. We are glad that we agreed on cooperation with Wizz Air, Bratislava airports director Ivan Trhlik said, as quoted in the press release, adding that he hopes the collaboration will further develop and they will be able to offer also further air connections. Wizz Air started flying out of Slovakia, initially from Kosice, in 2013. It added flights from Poprad in 2014. The airline has carried a total of 360,000 passengers to and from Slovakia so far. With the new route to Skopje, Wizz Air now offers six routes from three airports in Slovakia. Comparison of migration in the 19th century and today reveals surprising similarities Font size: A - | A + Amid the continued reticence of Central European governments (and publics) to contribute to solving the migration crisis, The Great Departure, a timely new book by historian Tara Zahra, is set to come out in April. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The text details mass migration out of Central and Eastern Europe during the late 19th and early 20th century. Between 1900-1910 the Austro-Hungarian Empire saw 2 million people emigrate to the United States alone. Even then, Central Europe had a tricky relationship to migration and the Austro-Hungarian government tried to prevent people from leaving, much as governments today oppose people migrating in. Though the situations and eras are clearly different, the responses to mass migration were oddly the same. Then, as now, leaders sought to close borders and blame smugglers or human traffickers for the problem not the underlying social conditions that encourage somebody to risk their life and abandon everything they know. On March 3, European Council President Donald Tusk said this: Do not come to Europe. Do not believe the smugglers. Do not risk your lives and your money. Compare this to an 1899 speech by the Austrian foreign minister that denounced the artifices of unprincipled agents who carry on a lucrative business in the new kind of traffic in human beings. Back then, political leaders contended that human traffickers were taking advantage of simple illiterate peasants. Today, leaders often argue that uneducated migrants are being pushed to Europe by nefarious actors. In the early 20th century political leaders were wrong. Research by economists found that the poorest and least educated peasants were less likely to migrate as they lacked the money to make the trip. Those who did move were people with ambitions who saw no way forward in their native land. In other words, the problem wasnt smugglers and attempts to close the Austro-Hungarian borders did little slow the flow of people. What eventually did slow the flow was improved socio-economic conditions in Central Europe some of this came from migrants who gained know-how and experience in the United States before returning home. Up to 40 percent of migrants eventually returned to Europe. There are dozens of other interesting parallels between the two eras. Zahra, a professor at the University of Chicago and winner of a MacArthur Fellowship (nicknamed the Genius Grant) points out that in American political culture the concept of freedom has always been connected with freedom of movement. She quotes the American founding father Thomas Jefferson supporting migration as: A right which nature has given to all men of departing from the country which chance, not choice, has placed him. This is an important point. Most data shows that Slovaks are still largely unwilling to migrate within their own country meaning the biggest divide between Central Europeans and migrants may not be religion, race or language but the very idea that human beings have a right to pursue a better life somewhere else. The prices for construction works may increase by 9 percent on average. Font size: A - | A + Nearly one-third of construction firms in Slovakia will increase the prices of their work, mostly to create or increase their profit. Moreover, one-fifth of all firms expect their margins to grow, while only one-tenth says the margins will decrease. This stems from the latest analysis of the Slovak construction sector for the first quarter of 2016 published by the CEEC Research company. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The company prepared the analysis based on interviews with more than 100 construction firms in Slovakia. According to the companys head Jiri Vacek, mostly big companies building highways and expressways are considering hiking the prices this year, the Sme daily wrote. The analysis suggests that 27 percent of companies expect their prices to rise by 9 percent on average. On the other hand, 71 percent want to keep prices at the current level and 2 percent consider decreasing them, the TASR newswire reported. The exception are big companies, which plan to increase prices by only 3 percent, and also companies dealing with engineering projects, where the increase may be as high as 13 percent. The main reason is that they want to generate profit, which in many cases fell to a minimum during the crisis years. Some firms even reported a loss, according to CEEC Research. Another reason is the increase in prices for works carried out by subcontractors or the increase in other costs. The main reason for big companies is the increase in works carried out by subcontractors, TASR wrote. Heads of construction companies also said that the margins currently amount to 5 percent. The margins of companies dealing with engineering constructions amount to 10 percent, while in small and medium-sized companies it is 17 percent and in structural engineering it is 16 percent. The priority for the new owner of Bratislavas Cvernovka building is to reconstruct the historical spinning mill, which was declared a cultural monument. Font size: A - | A + Company YIT Slovakia issued a statement on March 24, in which it stressed it will carefully approach the reconstruction of the whole object, which belongs to the closely-watched historical monuments in the capital. It is also preparing changes, which will be made only after the historical research is completed, the Magazin.reality.sme.sk website reported. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement We approach Cvernovka with great respect, as we perceive the genius loci of the whole area, including the spinning mill monument, said Milan Murcko, head of YIT Slovakia, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The spinning mill and its rescue will belong to the companys priorities, Murcko added. Its reconstruction and restoration will be realised as soon as possible, immediately after the end of historical research and the reception of necessary permissions, Murcko continued, stressing the necessity of peoples safety, fire protection and compliance with existing laws and regulations. The investor claims it received the property in very bad technical condition, which has been confirmed also by various inspections. Part of these revelations is also the discrepancy between the real use of the spaces and defined purpose of their use, the company informed in a press release. YIT cannot accept the use of the object for other purposes, as it violates the legislation and poses a high risk to health and life. YIT Slovakia is already discussing with current tenants possible solutions for the object, which would comply with the law and will secure the safety of tenants and also visitors, as reported by TASR. The company informed that it acquired a plot of four hectares in Cvernovka last November. The new project should change the locality into a residential quarter. The beginning of the first objects reconstruction is planned for the second half of next year, the investor said at the time, as quoted by Magazin.reality.sme.sk website. There should be about 800 flats in the new quarter, as well as complete community amenities, shops and parking lots. The beginning of the first phase of the project is planned for 2016. The plan is to create 75 new flats, the website reported. First most people ignored them, later they downplayed them, and in the end it had to yield to them in surprise Font size: A - | A + When two years ago the media published images of fanatics in military outfits carrying guns and marching under the floating black flags, many were left wondering where they came from. All of the sudden in the name of faith and the ideology of their leader they were marching Syrian cities, murdering, spreading terror and fear. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Europe and Slovakia know fanatics too, who similarly claimed to be protecting the nation and the faith, and with the ideology of their leader, marched the streets of cities and murdered their neighbours, classmates, and colleagues, just because they were of different beliefs or origin. In their case the majority at first ignored it, then downplayed them, but in the end had to yield to them in surprise. Just like Nazis in Europe, just like Islamists in Syria, Slovak neo-Nazis march today with the guns over their shoulders, wearing military outfits. For the moment they are not in the streets, only in the forests. Those responsible - the police, the army, and the secret services - are indifferent to them. These extremists train in order to be able to replace exactly them in the event of crisis. Read also: Read also: Kotleba to spend state money on militia Read more They argue they need to protect the nation, just like the Nazis did, or that they need to protect people from the decadent and harmful influence of the degenerated times, like the protectors of the faith do. Trained ideologues again use the frustration of people and unsolved everyday problems to their advantage. They have made their own army, mostly from the youngsters who want to belong, rebel against something, or change things. But the combination of ideology of hate targeted against everything that is different - a different skin colour, different faith, or a different culture, puts them on the same level with fanatics those who killed 30 people in Brussels in 2016, and 130 in Paris in 2015, and 77 in Oslo in 2011, and 64 in Ostry Grun and 84 in Klak in 1945, and thousands or others in another time and in other places. Now neo-Nazi Marian Kotleba wants to provide these trained fanatics with millions of euros, that he will get because of his partys result in the elections, to build his own army. And if the society first ignores and then downplays his efforts, the fanatics in military outfits will quickly move from the forests to the streets. And there they will start, trained and with a gun in their hand, to protect their deformed values from those whom they believe to be threatening them. From us. The Slovak Spectator offers the basic information a foreigner needs to know about education possibilities in Slovakia. Font size: A - | A + Q: How does the Slovak education system look? Q: What do I do when I want to place my child in a kindergarten? Q: What are my options if I dont want my kids to go to Slovak schools? Q: What are the options for kids who dont want to go to international schools? Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Q: When do primary school students typically start deciding which secondary school they want to attend? Q: When do they take entrance exams and when do they know if they've been chosen? Q: What do I do if I want to study at a university and how much does it cost? Q: Where can I learn Slovak? Q: What are my opportunities to requalify in Slovakia? Do you have more questions about studying in Slovakia? Please let us know at spectator@spectator.sk. Q: How does the Slovak education system look? A: Pre-schools are comprised of nursery schools and kindergartens. Nursery schools provide care for children up to three years of age while kindergartens are assigned for children from three to six years of age. Their main function is to care for children and prepare them for primary school. Primary schools provide general, health and physical education as well as religious studies. Primary school lasts for nine years and the curriculum varies, mainly in the higher grades. Primary schools are comprised of nine grades, with compulsory education lasting 10 years. After graduating from primary schools, students must apply to secondary schools. Secondary school education is comprised of three types of schools: gymnasiums, secondary specialised schools and secondary vocational schools. Applicants must pass selective exams for all types of secondary schools. Secondary grammar schools, called gymnasiums, provide general secondary education and prepare students for studying at higher education institutions. The studying lasts four or eight years and ends with the maturita examination. Secondary specialised schools prepare students mainly for occupations in the technical and economic sectors, pre-school education, medical nursery care, and fine arts and design. Students in specialised schools must pass the maturita exam in both general and specialised subjects. Conservatories provide education in fields like music, dancing and the dramatic arts. It generally takes four years to complete ones education at a conservatory. Secondary vocational schools prepare students for various occupations and work activities, which may or may not require training and the maturita exam. The general and vocational sections involve education and training. Studying at those schools takes two to four years to complete. Special schools use special educational and training methods and tools to teach students with mental, sensory or physical handicaps. Post-secondary education: Many secondary vocational schools offer graduates the option to continue their education for two or three more years. This form of education results in an upgrade of an already received qualification. After completion, graduates obtain a certificate which entitles them to become a certified specialist in the respective field. Institutions of higher education can be divided into universities and colleges, depending on the nature of the programme and amount of work involved. Universities and colleges are divided into public, state, private and international institutions. Q: What do I do when I want to place my child in a kindergarten? A: People who want to place their child in a Slovak kindergarten have to fulfil several conditions. The enrolment takes place in May and it is up to kindergartens how long it will take (whether it will be the whole month or just one week). Parents need to bring an application, which contains a doctor's confirmation that the child can visit the kindergarten. Some kindergartens require also other documents, but they need to inform about it. After submitting the application, the kindergarten has one month to decide whether it will accept the child or not. The kindergartens preferentially accept children one year before they are supposed to start visiting primary school, but it also depends on the capacity. There are also private kindergartens, where it is easier to find a place for the child, but the fees are higher. There are also bilingual and trilingual kindergartens in Bratislava with English, Spanish, Russian, German and Chinese languages, and English bilingual kindergartens in Nitra, Senec, Kosice, Pezinok, Banska Bystrica, Zilina and Samorin. A list of some international kindergartens can be found at: greenpages.spectator.sme.sk Q: What are my options if I dont want my kids to go to Slovak schools? A: There are International schools in Slovakia, where the whole education is held in a foreign language. They are, however, private and parents have to pay an annual tuition. A list of some international schools can be found at: greenpages.spectator.sme.sk Q: What are the options for kids who dont want to go to international schools? A: Parents who do not want their children to visit international schools can try to enrol them in a bilingual school. There are several primary (in Bratislava and Trnava), but mostly secondary bilingual schools in Slovakia, including private and religious ones, offering some subjects in Slovak and some in foreign languages. The most frequent type is bilingual grammar school where the studies take five years. They are open for pupils of eighth or ninth grade of primary schools, but applicants need to pass entrance exams. During the first year pupils usually learn mostly the foreign language and then pass the exams at the end of the school year. Q: When do primary school students typically start deciding which secondary school they want to attend? A: It depends on what type of school they want to apply to. Those who want to continue their education at a Gymnasium take entrance exams in the fifth grade. Otherwise, they can apply in the ninth grade, the last year of primary school. Every pupil may apply for two high schools. Primary schools will collect the applications from every student and then send them to high school. Q: When do they take entrance exams and when do they know if they've been chosen? A: Talent tests take place in March and April. Other entrance exams take place in May. The results are known shortly after; the high school will usually publish them on the Internet and also write an official letter to each applicant. Q: What do I do if I want to study at a university and how much does it cost? A: According to the Education Ministry data, there are currently 28 universities and colleges in Slovakia which offer courses in a language other than Slovak, mostly in English. Foreign students, however, have to pay for the studies held in languages other than Slovak. This stems from the law on universities adopted in 2002. The price lists are published on the websites of the universities. The popular schools among foreigners are: - Comenius University's Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin - Comenius University's Faculty of Medicine in Bratislava - Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice's Faculty of Medicine - University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Kosice - Comenius University's Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences in Bratislava - Academy of Performing Arts Bratislava's Theatre Faculty - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava's Faculty of Civil Engineering - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava's Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava's Faculty of Architecture - Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Q: Where can I learn Slovak? A: The Comenius University offers courses of the Slovak language for foreigners. Its Centre for Continuing Education organises every year the Summer University of Slovak Language and Culture. The target groups are foreign applicants who are interested in studying Slovak language, history and culture; compatriots living abroad; descendants of Slovaks living abroad; friends of Slovakia and Slovaks; Slovakists and students of Slavic studies; university workers and students of Slovakistics and Slavic studies at foreign universities; teachers of Slovak language at foreign schools of all types; and foreign workers at various governmental and cultural institutions. Moreover, Comenius Universitys Faculty of Arts also organises summer courses for foreigners, within its summer school of Slovak language and culture Studia Academica Slovaca. Its target groups are Slovakists and Slavists abroad, cultural workers, managers, language teachers, translators and all those interested in studying Slovak language and culture. The faculty also offers evening courses of the Slovak language. Foreigners can also learn the language online, at Slovake.eu, which is the only multilingual free-of-charge website. The lectures focus on various areas and situations and also explain the differences in pronunciation. Q: What are my opportunities to requalify in Slovakia? A: The requalification courses, whose aim is to increase the chances of people to find employment, are offered by the labour offices and also the educational agencies. The labour offices offer the requalification courses only to registered jobseekers, via the RE-PAS project. Jobseekers who struggle to find work in their profession can apply for the course, whose main aim is to obtain new knowledge and skills in a selected profession. Jobseekers, however, cannot attend the same requalification course for five years after the course ended. All costs are covered by the labour offices. The educational agencies have a wider offer of requalification courses, but people have to pay for them on their own. Sources: the Education Ministry, the websites of universities in Slovakia, the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, The J. W. Fulbright Commission webpage, The Academic Ranking and Rating Agency report Husband and wife duo Nick and Lori Bollinger have traded in the more traditional brick-and-mortar notions associated with owning a coffee shop for something a bit more mobilea lot more, actually. Instead of having customers travel to one firmly rooted spot for coffee, the Bollingers established Junction Coffee to personally bring caffeine to their customers via a fully operational, vintage double-decker bus. With a huge vision for community involvement, the Junction bus pops up all over Oklahoma City to build new relationships wherever they are serving coffee for the day. A junction is a place where two or more things meet or are joined, says Nick Bollinger. We wanted to create a place where different people from all different walks of life can come together to feel welcomed and valued. British by birth, the bright red bus is two-story charm on wheels, inviting everyone from schoolteachers to construction workers inside for a coffee break. After ordering their drink of choice on the bottom floor, customers can walk up the narrow stairwell to the second story to sit and chat awhile. The top floor seating area is entirely encased by windows, making it a bright, beautiful place to sip and gaze out at the city skyline. Before Junction Coffee came to be, owning a coffee shop had been the long-time dream job for the Bollingers. They used to walk along the downtown Oklahoma City canal together, eating ice cream and talking about what it might be like to bring people together over coffee. And then one day they drove by a double-decker bus parked in front of a mechanic shop, and the idea came to both of them at the same time: a mobile cafe. We stopped the car and went inside the mechanic shop where we met Rick Miller, the nations premiere double-decker bus mechanic who happens to live right here in our city, shares Nick Bollinger. He was able to connect us with a place in the United Kingdom to import our own bus. But the process of actually getting their bus to America was lengthy and full of red tape. After weaving through all kinds of EPA vehicle importation restrictions, it was a long five months of negotiating and coordinating with eight different governing organizations before the bus finally arrived at the docks in Norfolk, Virginia, all the way from Liverpool, England. Along with Miller, their trusted-mechanic-turned-new-friend, the Bollingers flew out to pick up the bus and then drove it the 1,400 miles home. Somewhere along the road back to Oklahoma, they christened the double-decker with the nickname Maebelle. Originally built in 1974, Maebelle spent nearly twenty years of her life as a public transportation vehicle in London. After that she bounced around among preservation societies and private collectors until (appropriately enough) beginning the third wave of her life as a mobile coffee shop. Before Maebelle was ready to meet customers, however, the Bollingers had to refurbish both the first and second story interiors to meet the needs of a cafe. The windows and two-person seats are original, but almost everything else had to be 100% customized to fit the quirky parameters of the bus. From April to September we got up in the heat of the summer and worked every day, all day. We learned to do everything from welding steel and laying tile to building cabinets and countertops, says Lori Bollinger. There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, literallyNick drilled partly through his finger at one point. But it was all so worth it when we finished. After the grand opening in the early fall of 2015, Junction quickly amassed quite a fandom around its unique concept and high-quality coffee. Junction almost exclusively features local roastersmainly Mariposa Coffee Roastery and EOTE Coffee Companyas part of their commitment to supporting the Oklahoma City community. They use a Compak E10 grinder and pull espresso on a Unic Stella di Caffe, while also batch brewing from a FETCO. There are a few from-scratch syrup options Lori Bollinger makes every week, with monthly specials like peppermint or blood-orange. For light snacking, they also offer locally baked gourmet toasts piled with local produce and spreads like honey-almond goat cheese. And keeping in line with their ethically responsible practices, every cup, plate, lid, and sleeve is 100% compostable. Announcing where Maebelle will be located on any given week through Instagram and Facebook, the Bollingers like to appear where they can meet and serve large groups of people, like at farmers markets, Oklahoma Citys civic center, 5k runs that benefit charities, or busy cross-streets. Our job is to become best friends with the entire city, and its awesome, Nick Bollinger says. We get to meet a huge spectrum of people, Lori Bollinger adds. The bus is a really intimate setting, and sometimes we get to sit and talk to people for hours. I couldnt think of a better way to spend our time. Tiffany Duncan is a freelance writer based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is her first feature for Sprudge. Despite the money given to Turkey in exchange for the migrant deal, the influx will soon return to its previous numbers, according to migration expert Dr. Jan Semmelroggen. Under the agreement, refugees arriving in Greece will be sent back to Turkey, if their plea for asylum is rejected. It also says that for every Syrian migrant sent to Turkey, one Syrian already staying in the country would be resettled in the EU. In return, Brussels will reward Ankara with 3.5 billion euros, grant Turks visa-free travel to the European Union and speed up Turkeys accession to the euro-bloc. "What this policy does is forcing migrants into more clandestine routes that will increase the profit margins of the human traffickers that are operating," Semmelroggen told Radio Sputnik. Zaldostanov himself also noted that he would not be able to make the trip personally, since he is under European sanctions. "I can't get a visa," he said. This year, the biker emphasized, he hopes that the Night Wolves will be allowed to cross the Belarusian-Polish border without any scandal. Andrei Bobrowski, the leader of the motocross, added that this year the bikers hope for a more understanding mood from among Polish authorities. "On May 1, we plan on crossing the border. I hope that this year everything will turn out more reasonably. We are convinced that this will be the case. We flew to Warsaw at the invitation of our Polish friends. Indeed, Polish authorities have demonstrated adequacy in their actions." The Night Wolves' Polish friends include hundreds of Polish bikers, led by Wiktor Wegrzyn, the commander of the Katyn Rally, a Polish annual motocross which takes place across large tracts of European Russia to commemorate the Polish officers killed by Soviet security forces during WWII. Last year, Wegrzyn and hundreds his fellow bikers protested Polish officials' entry ban on the Night Wolves, writing letters and vowing to retrace the Russian bikers' route through Poland, visiting cemeteries and war memorials along the route in honor of the 600,000 Soviet soldiers who fell in Poland during the war. E. sibiricum, dubbed "The Siberian unicorn," was a large rhinoceros-like mammal, measuring up to 6.5 feet tall and about 15 feet long. It had an impressively large single horn, up to several feet long. Existing as early as 2.5 million years ago, the creature likely appeared as something in between the modern rhinoceros and a wooly mammoth. Its habitat was the vast territory from the Don River in Russia to east of modern Kazakhstan. E. sibiricum disappeared from most of its original habitat long ago, with, presumably, only the Siberian population remaining long enough to meet our ancestors. Andrey Shpanski, a paleontologist at Tomsk State University, explains: "Most likely, the south of Western Siberia was a refugium, where this rhino persevered the longest in comparison with the rest of its range. There is another possibility that it could migrate and dwell for a while in the more southern areas." According to a 99-page manifesto, 'Black Flags from Rome' which intelligence agencies have been aware of since January 2015 radicalized Muslims from who have been trained in Syria were told to form 'sleeper' cells in Europe particularly in areas of cities and towns that were heavily populated by Muslims. In an ebook published by ISIS called "Black Flags from Rome" the unholy alliance b/t Left & jihadists is explained pic.twitter.com/lCHqOIB2lh Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) 24 March 2016 The manifesto states that: "While the experienced Islamic State fighters left Syria for Europe, the European Muslims who had emigrated to the Islamic State would train within the Training camps, and nobody doubted neither the Islamic State, nor the West that some of these trainees would be sent back to Europe to form their own secret cells to continue the Jihad and to seek revenge for the Western occupation of Muslim lands. In an exclusive interview with the Russian news network Zvezda , Hajib El-Hajjaji, vice-president of the Committee for Fighting Islamophobia, said that Daesh continues to use the Internet to promote radicalization in Belgium, something that he said is also fueled by the country's socio-economic meltdown. He specifically pointed to the fact that radicalization is first and foremost targeted at young people in Belgium. "One should understand what causes this radicalization. First, there is an unlimited amount of radicalization-related material on the Internet and eliminating it is an absolutely impossible task. The second reason is that the past 10 years have seen our unsuccessful efforts to ride out the social and economic crisis," he said. Elabe's head of political studies, Yves-Marie Cann said: "The lack of a real debate in France surrounding the European Union compared with the UK, is due to political reasons: none of the two major parties of government now advocates a 'Franxit.' "However, the British example might give some ideas that could help to give weight to the Front National [party] and force the two major parties of the left and right to take a position on the subject, and possibly meet their requirements with regard to the European Union on all the tension points of European politics. "Note that fault lines are emerging between different European countries. The Spanish people, Italian and German are mostly, if not overwhelmingly, favorable to the reception of migrants, on the contrary, France, the UK and the Benelux are widely opposed," he said. Increasing Support for 'Brexit' Option Another poll by the University of Edinburgh shows that, in France, a majority of people would like a referendum on EU membership (53 percent) and in Sweden, Germany, and Spain there are more respondents in favor of holding a similar referendum than opposed. Alaa is lucky to live in a safe home and receive financial aid from the Jugend am Werk organization, but at the same time, his self-esteem has been affected by the negative attitude he has encountered from some locals. Alaa describes his experience in Austria as being quite challenging. He has on occasion felt threatened and has found it difficult to fully adapt to his new life. Some footage from refugee camp at Greece Macedonia border. These humans hope That's it, they just hope. pic.twitter.com/pPxWTmKPHz Roman Kosarev (@Kosarev_RT) 28 March 2016 Feelings of loneliness and nostalgia are reinforced by the negative attitudes of some members of the local public. "There are some bad people that want to hurt us [refugees] because they hate us, and dont take the time to figure out what our situations actually are," Alaa explains. "For example one time I was walking in the street after a class in Mozarteum, and it seemed like one woman clearly didnt like me. She eventually came up to me when I was waiting for my bus and punched me. I really dont know why it happened. I was just standing there," Alaa says. Another time, Alaa and his friends were verbally abused when they were on their way home from a theater performance. The offenders rolled down the windows of the cars they were traveling in and started cursing and shouting at the group of friends. The scariest thing for Alaa is that he cannot predict when such attacks might happen, as they come on suddenly. He is in a constant state of fear because he has to always be on guard for possible attacks, and the worst part is he cannot do anything to change the situation. "Sometimes these negative interactions really hurt my dignity," Alaa notes. "Even though I have quite a few friends in Kuchl and Salzburg, I still sometimes feel strange. It's because I feel homesick, and this feeling gets greater when I am attacked, of course," Alaa concludes. Reminiscing About the Past Assad highlighted that the Peoples Council will not play any role in this process. "This process will be carried out between us and the opposition from abroad The Peoples Council regulates the work of the government, but in Syria it does not appoint the cabinet of ministers, he explained. Bashar Assad is not expecting any major changes in the Syrian parliament following the elections scheduled for April 13. In the current conditions I do not expect that we will become witness to any core, major changes, Assad said in an interview with Sputnik. Assad said that now it is not enough to just have new parties, like it was during the 2000 parliamentary elections. You can create 100 parties, but that does not mean that they will represent everybody at the elections. Which form will a Syrian citizen approve for going to vote? This question, as you know, does not get resolved fast. Time is needed for its resolution. Every new party must get its point of view, political program across to the citizensin such difficult conditions it is possible that citizens, due to their nature, will not want to experience innovations, the Syrian president explained. It is possible that when the security situation improves we will have a more positive perspective on this. Then politics will play a more important role for the citizens, than concerns about the questions of daily life. Today, citizens are thinking about their security first of all, about the security of their lives, then about everyday problems, childrens education, health. Only after that they start to think about other issues, he said. The federalization of Syria is impossible, because the country is too small: From the geographical perspective, Syria is a very small country for federalization to exist in it. It is perhaps smaller than most of Russias republics. From the sociological perspective, a federation requires that components of the society are present that may not be able to get along with each other. This has not happened in the history of Syria, but its the main principle. I do not think that Syria is ready for federalization, there are no natural factors for it to be possible, the Syrian president said. Assad stressed that in the end, as a state, we say that we will agree to everything that the people agree to. At the constituent conference in the Hasakah province on March 17, Syrian Kurds announced the creation of a federal region in the country's north the so-called Federal Democratic System of Rojava and Northern Syria. Some 200 delegates from Syrias north, inhabited by Kurds, attended the conference. It is expected that the federation would unite separated national communities as well as their militias to counter Islamic State and Nusra Front militants (outlawed in Russia.) Haldun Solmazturk, a former general in the Turkish Armed Forces and analyst at the UK's Royal Institute of International Affairs think tank, told Sputnik Turkey that Erdogan's visit to the US comes at a critical time for the Middle East, almost 100 years after the empires of the region collapsed and its borders were redrawn. "Today 100 years later we again see that the borders of countries in the region are being redrawn. This is a very serious process, in which the US and some of its allies are playing a big role. The fate of the Middle East depends on the outcome of these processes," Solmazturk said. "So that the same mistakes that were made after the end of the First World War are not repeated, influential players have to be as careful as possible. From that point of view Erdogan's visit is very important." Erdogan is confronted with very serious political opponents in Turkey, the analyst said, and the visit to the US is a way of trying to shore up support amid rising domestic discontent by giving the impression that he has secured the support of the West for his politics, particularly that of the US. "It is not certain that he has been able to do that." "Even if we put to one side the growing disagreement between the US and Turkey over Iraq, Syria and other problems of the region, Erdogan's aggressive rhetoric to Western countries and their diplomats, and also to non-Muslim communities raises concern in the West. I think that during Erdogan's visit to the US this issue will receive a lot of attention." Part of the discussion on the proposed Caspian Sea-Persian Gulf canal, the expert noted, includes focus on proposals to transfer water from the Caspian Sea to central Iran to help address the problems of water scarcity in agriculture. "However, such an effort may carry its own negative consequences, such as a disturbance of the ecological system, climate change and other issues." So far in its history, Amirahmadiyan noted, the financial aspect has always been the main stumbling block when it comes to implementing the Caspian Sea-Persian Gulf canal project. "For Iran and Russia, if they want to implement the project together, it will be necessary, in the current economic climate, to carefully weigh the costs and to make all the necessary calculations, because the construction costs would require enormous investment." "Another important element is logistics. When the canal is built, it will be necessary to somehow establish transit links between the territories to its east and west, which will obviously require additional investment and capital expenditures. Another issue [which must be dealt with] is the difference in elevation between the Iranian regions which must be connected." Finally, "in order for the canal to actually be navigable, it will require a great depth, and a width which is sufficient for the free movement of ships. And that is a big difficulty given the difference in elevation between the Caspian and Persian Gulf area regions. It will be necessary to equip the canal with locks." In any case, Amirahmadiyan said, if implemented, such a project would be of tremendous strategic importance for Russia, providing, through Iran, a naval route to the Indian Ocean. Jeff Weaver, campaign manager for Sanders, sent a letter to the Clinton camp on Sunday with the request. As Weaver put it, "Our campaign continues to believe that the people of New York, the largest April primary, deserve to have the debate held in their state, and that it should be held prior to the New York primary." Weaver received a denial from Joel Benenson, strategist for the Clinton campaign. Brian Fallon, Clinton's press secretary, told reporters that the campaign considers the request to be a "stunt" by the Sanders campaign, "struggling" for attention and making an effort to "get back on people's radar." "The terrorists in Brussels," Carnogursky noted, "had their base in the [city's] Molenbeek district, whose population is 90% migrants from Africa and the Middle East." The former Christian Democratic Movement chairman recalled that one television image out of Brussels, even before the attacks, stuck out in his mind. A group of Swedish journalists "wanted to enter the Molenbeek district with a camera as journalists and, just as white EuropeansThere was a Belgian police patrol on the street, which told the journalists not to go into the area, since the police could not guarantee their safety." "In spite of this, the journalists attempted to enter the area, and right in front of the police local residents started throwing whatever they could get their hands on, pushing and shoving, all while the police patrol looked on. The journalists never did manage to enter the migrant area and this is Western Europe the European Union. And this is something our mainstream media wants to see [in Slovakia] as well." "After Brussels," Carnogursky suggested, "we have to take a step forward. Just as 25 years ago it was necessary to get rid of communism, today it is necessary to at least think about making fundamental changes in our internal and foreign policy. Otherwise we will one day find ourselves in the same place where Western European countries are today." Russian military bases in Syria are not occupation, but means to help strengthen stability and security in the country, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "With Russia we have relations that are over six decades old, they are built on trust and clarity On the other hand, right now, in its policy, Russia is relying on principles, we are also relying on principles. So when Russian military bases appear in Syria, its not occupation, on the contrary its the strengthening of friendship and ties, its the strengthening of stability and security. And thats just what we want," Assad said. #ASSAD TO #RiaNovosti & #Sputnik: Military achievements will lead to accelerating the political solution. Syrian Presidency (@Presidency_Sy) March 30, 2016 Syria to Need Russian Military Presence Even After Security Situation Stabilizes Syria will require Russian military presence even after the security situation in the country becomes more stable, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "If we are talking about the current period the period of the fight against terrorism, yes, certainly we need their presence, because they are effective in the fight against terrorism even if the situation in Syria stabilizes in terms of security," Assad said. "The process of the fight against terrorism is not something quick and fleeting. Terrorism has spread in this region over the course of decades and a lot of time will be needed to overcome it," he noted. The full text of Assads interview to Sputnik will be posted on the Sputnik website on March 30-31. MOSCOW (Sputnik)German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed with his Uzbek counterpart Abdulaziz Kamilov the prospects for their countries cooperating in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Steinmeier, who is OSCE chairperson-in-office, arrived in Tashkent as part of his Central Asian tour. "The foreign ministers discussed various aspects of bilateral relations, exchanged views on issues of regional and international politics. Special attention was paid to the topical issues on the OSCE agenda, which is currently being chaired by Germany as well as the state of and prospects for Uzbek-German cooperation within this organization," the ministry said in a statement. "It seems that kamikaze Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will be found to be guilty of all [of Ukraine's] troubles. Apart from part of his own party, he has almost no sympathizers left in parliament," Mirzayan recalled, citing Fatherland Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko. She had earlier suggested that "it would have been good to vote for Yatsenyuk's resignation at least half a year ago, and even better not to appoint such ignorant and absolutist nihilists to the post of prime minister." "The ruling coalition in Ukraine has virtually self-destructed. The Petro Poroshenko Bloc has decided to withdraw from the coalition until a new prime minister is chosen. The faction has nominated Verkhovna Rada speaker Volodymyr Groisman, a faithful ally of the president, to the post," the analyst added. "It seems that Groisman's appointment has already been agreed upon. There is talk of his ministerial team. They will not be able to manage here without a new group of carpetbaggers; here former Slovakian finance minister Ivan Miklos [a Slovakian citizen] has already given his agreement on appointment to the finance ministry, and the post of deputy prime minister." In fact, Washington and NATO's plans in Syria originate in the policy the alliance has been pursuing since the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. After the collapse of the USSR, the United States began to act as the only superpower, Trifkovic pointed out. She recalled that the first Islamist Mujahedeen which took part in the Yugoslav Wars arrived in the conflict zone with the West's tacit approval. "At that time, nobody cared about the decapitated Serbs," the expert remarked. "Afterwards, the Daesh project emerged in Iraq and Syria and then spread to Libya. The participants of the Yugoslav Wars, the Islamic extremists of Bosnia, as well as the Albanian terrorists from Kosovo and Metohija, are now fighting on the side of the 'Islamic state'," she noted. NATO has earned the reputation of an aggressor: over the past 25 years the alliance has been conducting policies which violated the provisions of the international law. The bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 still serves as a glaring example of such a policy. "The United States plays a decisive role in NATO, so they pursued their political, economic and military interests through this organization The Middle East has a special importance because of the resources that the US would like to overtake. This is actually the real reason for the destabilization of the Middle East," Trifkovic underscored. To facilitate the peace process in Syria, Washington should take the political decision to support the truce and focus on a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict, the expert noted. At the same time, there is still a lot of controversy about NATO's claims that Russia poses a significant "threat" to the US and its allies. It adds nothing to the world's peace and stability. On the contrary, NATO's military buildup and intensive military exercises near Russia's borders aggravate tensions between Moscow and the alliance. Controversy Over Serbian-NATO Agreement Still Simmering "Clearly, the Syrian government values the role Russia has played in defeating the regime change agenda of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Persian Gulf states, along with their western backers, and creating conditions for viable peace talks." Assad was also taking a conservative, traditional view of Russias longstanding support for his country, Jatras pointed out. "The Russian and before that, Soviet naval presence at Tartus has a long history and is seen as beneficial to both sides. Syria has no obligation or, as far as I can see, any interest in allowing any other countrys military presence on its territory," he added. Jatras also noted Assads strong rejection in the Sputnik interview of all Western efforts to create a new decentralized federalized political structure for Syria. "President Assads concern about talk of federalism is well-placed. While the declared Kurdish-led entity of Rojava has been careful to state its identity as being within Syria, other eventualities inconsistent with Syrian sovereignty cannot be ruled out," he cautioned. Then, I'm joined by constitutional law expert Ian Millhiser, author of Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted, to explain today's stunning ruling by the US Supreme Court in favor of public sector unions. The decision in Friedrich v. California Teachers Association is a major turnaround from what had been the expected outcome earlier this year when we spoke to Millhiser in January just after oral argument in what had been regarded as "the biggest legal attack on unions in decades". Thanks, however, to a 4 to 4 deadlock on the Court, in the wake of the recent death of Rightwing activist Justice Antonin Scalia, today's ruling is the opposite of what had been previously expected and "one of the first consequences" of his death, says Millhiser. "Scalia was probably going to be the fifth vote to do some serious violence to the way that public sector unions are funded," he explains, while detailing why today's ruling is very good news for both Democrats and democracy itself in the wake of what had been "potentially an existential threat to unions." "What this decision does mean is that if someone wants to undermine unions, they don't get to take a shortcut. They don't get to go to five Justices and get the Justices to put in place the laws they want for them," Millhiser tells me. He also decodes the Court's somewhat "baffling" order today concerning a challenge by religious activists to the 'ObamaCare' contraception mandate, as well as the latest status of the GOP's seemingly self-defeating obstruction of President Obama's nomination to replace Scalia. M.K. Bhadrakumar, former career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service and the countrys ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001), has provided his thoughts on Russias decision to deploy advanced coastal missile systems on the Kuril Islands and explore the possibility of setting up a permanent naval base for its Pacific Fleet on the island chain. The decision was voiced by Russias Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday, who told the Defense Ministrys board meeting that already this year Moscow will send Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems to the island chain, as well as new-generation Eleron-3 unmanned aerial vehicles. In addition, Russian Navys specialists will start a three-month expedition next month to explore the islands of the Greater Kuril Ridge to discover whether it is possible to create a Pacific Fleet base there. These are of course formidable state-of-the-art Russian missile systems with the capability to protect naval bases and other strategic installations on the coast, defend the coastline in probable landing approach areas and to establish control over the strait zone and territorial waters in areas of high-risk assaults as well as for gaining overall dominance over the sea. Both have a range of up to 300 kilometers, M.K. Bhadrakumar explained in his article for the Asia Times website. "In my professional experience, Elasmotherium sibiricum [Siberian rhinoceros] have been extinct for around 350,000 years. However, to my surprise, I received a different date from my colleagues in Northern Ireland 29,000 years." "Right now, the data's very new," Shpansky said, suggesting it poses more questions than answers. "What do these findings mean? Either the Siberian rhino lived at the same time as prehistoric humans, or there may have been problems with the radiocarbon dating method and more research needs to be done to back or debunk the findings," Shpansky asks. Shpansky suggests that because of the length in time between when it was thought the Siberian unicorn became extinct and the data extracted from the skull discovered in Kazakhstan scientists and archaeologists might need to use a better method other than carbon dating to determine the remains of mammals that disappeared between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. The Siberian unicorn, known scientifically as Elasmotherium sibiricum, is most closely related to the rhinoceros pic.twitter.com/ToJtf1O3e3 Clydeen McDonald (@ClydeenMcDonald) March 29, 2016 The Siberian unicorns were likely to be vegetarians and could weigh up to four tons, standing two meters tall and almost five meters long. The newly discovered data from the skull could lead to further insights into the migration patterns of mammals in Western Siberia. Fyodor Sinitsyn, senior virus analyst at Kaspersky Lab, told Sputnik that the new malware was designated as Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Petr. "This is an unusual piece of malware which rewrites the MBR (Master Boot Record a special boot sector which contains a loader for the installed operating system, as well as information on how the partitions on a computers hard drive are organized) and prevents the system from booting up. Furthermore, it encrypts the MFT (Master File Table) the header for all of the files contained on a hard drive, roughly speaking," Sinitsyn explained. He also added that there are no clues in the malware's code that point to the authors possible identity. However, the web page to which 'Petya' directs its victims to pay the ransom contains the following message in the 'Support' section: "Please write your message in English, our Russian speaking staff is not always available." The Justice Departments position, however, leaves Apple users and shareholders in a perilous position. Federal officials, under risk of perjury, have said that the companys vaunted security software has a flaw that leaves users subject to surveillance or hacking. For that reason, the governments invasive actions against Apple and the privacy concerns of all iPhone users necessitates that the information be released to the company so that they can adapt their security protocol to prevent future intrusions. But that vulnerability may not even exist. The criteria the government uses to determine whether or not a software vulnerability must be disclosed to protect end users from cyberattacks is as follows: 1. Is the system is widely used? 2. Does the vulnerability pose a significant risk to users? 3. Can an adversary nation or criminal group do harm with the vulnerability? 4. How likely is it that you would know the vulnerability was exploited? 5. How necessary is the intelligence that could be gathered by exploiting the vulnerability? 6. Are there other ways to get that intelligence besides exploiting the vulnerability? 7. Could the vulnerability be used for a short period of time before disclosure? 8. How likely is it that somebody else will discover the vulnerability? 9. Can the vulnerability be patched or otherwise mitigated? El Pais reported that since 2011, more than 50 Russian warships, including submarines, frigates and destroyers, have stopped in Ceuta, "to resupply and let their crews rest." According to the newspaper, the MEPs' complaint was "triggered by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank with ties to the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom." "The foundation is a staunch defender of the British presence in Gibraltar, and says that 'Spain's policy of allowing the Russian navy to use Ceuta is hypocritical in relation to its reluctance to allow NATO to [travel directly] between Gibraltar and Spanish ports," El Pais pointed out. The newspaper quoted diplomatic sources as saying that the Russian warships' visits do not violate the EU sanctions' regime, and that neither the EU nor NATO had ever protested the Spanish policy, which implements it "with complete transparency." The sources also said that the visits involve "routine maritime activities and never military activity." Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Madrid has voiced surprise about the fact that "such a common practice as calling into foreign ports" could become a matter of dispute. "The Russian warships' visits take place after permission is requested, in full compliance with international and domestic legislation," El Pais quoted an embassy spokesman as saying. GENEVA (Sputnik)The UN Security Council should be careful in regard to imposing new sanctions on Iran over ballistic missile launch, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday. "Iranians have been lifted from these SC sanctions which have been imposed upon them. But now that the Iranians have launched the ballistic missiles and it is true that it has caused the alarm and concerns. But what kind of sanctions, what kind of a measures should be upright, it should be up to SC members. They are the ones who will analyze whether this ballistic missiles launched were a violations against the references and UN SC resolutions and what kind of measures should be taken. And I hope that the UNSC will be carefully discussing this matter," Ban told reporters. On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 countries, namely the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran to ensure the peaceful nature of Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. MOSCOW (Sputnik)The fourth Nuclear Security Summit is expected to take place in Washington between March 31 and April 1 without Russian President Vladimir Putins participation. The Russian Foreign Ministry has asserted as far back as November 2014 that Russia would not take part in preparations for and the summit itself, citing the United States intent to devise guidelines for, among other organizations, the United Nations, Interpol, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. "The political agenda of summits has long been exhausted," Mikhail Ulyanov told RIA Novosti. Russia participated in every previous Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington, Seoul and The Hague in 2010, 2012 and 2014 respectively. The Stinger is high-powered and high speed surface-to-air missile that can be shoulder-fired. The missile gives its operator an operational edge against helicopters, drones, cruise missiles and fixed-wing aircraft, according to Raytheon. However, the Stinger also has an air-to-air capability that can be integrated into most fixed- or rotary-wing platforms. India joins nations around the globe who recognize that air-to-air Stinger can be a key component of attack and light attack helicopter mission configurations," Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president Duane Gooden stated. "Stinger significantly improves the ability of the aircraft to successfully perform today's missions while countering existing threats." Stinger missiles have been combat-proven in at least four major conflicts, Raytheon pointed out. Such missiles are deployed in 19 nations in addition to being used by all four US military service branches. In 2015, the United States sold Stinger missiles to South Korea, Latvia and Taiwan. US lawmakers have also called on the Obama administration to arm the allegedly moderate Syrian opposition with portable Stinger missiles. Federal Court Hearing Scheduled for Thursday, March 31 in Judicial Watch FOIA Case on Benghazi, Clinton Emails Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch , 202-646-5172WASHINGTON, March 30, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- Judicial Watch announces that a hearing is to be held in the District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, March 31, 2016, on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The hearing is in a Judicial Watch case against the Department of State.On May 8, 2015, the U.S. District Court reopened a FOIA lawsuit seeking documents regarding the State Department's production and dissemination of an advertisement intended to air in Pakistan titled "A Message from the President of the United States Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton" ( Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:12-cv-02034)). Judicial Watch initially filed suit in December 2012, after the State Department failed to respond to a September 24, 2012, FOIA request for all records concerning the advertisement produced by the U.S. embassy in Islamabad. The advertisement was seen as an apology for the Internet video that President Obama, then-Secretary of State Clinton, and other administration officials falsely blamed for inspiring "spontaneous demonstrations" resulting in the attack on the U.S. Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya. The lawsuit was reopened because of the Clinton email revelations.Through this lawsuit, Judicial Watch released Obama administration correspondence containing a letter from Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick F. Kennedy asking Hillary Clinton's lawyer to destroy all electronic copies of a classified email found in records Clinton decided to turn over to the State Department six months before. Clinton's attorney, David Kendall, rejected the request, as Congress and other investigators had demanded electronic records be preserved. The correspondence, added as an attachment to the filing arguing against a protective order in the litigation, also shows Hillary Clinton ignored a demand to turn over all electronic copies of the approximately 55,000 pages of emails she previously returned in paper form.The hearing before Judge Reggie B. Walton is scheduled for:Time: 10:45 am ETLocation: Courtroom 16U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia333 Constitution Ave NWWashington, DC 20001 Legislator's Health Insurance Lawsuit has Obama Administration 'Grasping at Straws' Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net ST. LOUIS, Mo., March 30, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- Last week, attorneys for the United States Department of Health and Human Services filed a document in a civil lawsuit by a Missouri legislator to support the Department's motion for summary judgment that reiterated the same arguments previously rejected by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Thomas More Society is representing Missouri State Senator Paul Wieland and his wife, Teresa Wieland, in Wieland v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, defending the Wieland family against the Affordable Care Act's controversial contraceptive mandate and the substantial religious burden it places on them. The lawsuit, in its simplest form, is the individual state employee's version of the well-publicized Hobby Lobby case in which the United States Supreme Court rejected Obamacare's infringement on religious rights. The Eighth Circuit soundly rejected the United States government's position and sent the case back down to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.In response to the Obama administration's rehashing the same argument already deemed already rejected by the United States Supreme Court. Thomas More Society Special Counsel Timothy Belz stated, "The government is grasping at straws in their argument. The Eighth Circuit agreed with the Wielands that the contraceptive mandate is indeed a substantial religious burden on them, and if an injunction is granted in their favor, then the state-run insurance company would be required under state law to provide a contraceptive-free policy. The court has also disposed of the government's other argument -- that the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate survives strict scrutiny. The Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Sharpe Holdings, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decisions hold that the government flunks the strict scrutiny test."Wieland and his wife Teresa, like the owners of Hobby Lobby and Sharpe Holdings, object on religious grounds to mandated insurance coverage for contraceptives which includes abortifacients such as Plan B and Ella as well as sterilization. The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act assures them of religious liberty that cannot be federally usurped. The Wielands previously had exemption clauses in their policy, which were available to any employee, and easily accommodated by the insurance company, but that is something the Obama administration refuses to acknowledge.The United States Department of Justice filing from March 24, 2016 is available upon request.About the Thomas More SocietyThomas More Society is a national not-for-profit public interest law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered in Chicago, the Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. Visit www.thomasmoresociety.org One incumbent is running in the five-candidate race for two open seats. hidden The extraordinary legal fight pitting the Obama administration against technology giant Apple ended unexpectedly after the FBI said it used a mysterious method without Apple's help to hack into a California mass shooter's iPhone. Left unanswered, however, were questions about how the sudden development would affect privacy in the future, and what happens the next time the government is frustrated by digital security lockout features. Government prosecutors asked a federal judge on Monday to vacate a disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary. The FBI used the unspecified technique to access data on an iPhone used by gunman Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police after they killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, in December. The Justice Department said agents are now reviewing the information on the phone. But the government's brief court filing, in US District Court for the Central District of California, provided no details about how the FBI got into the phone. Nor did it identify the non-government "outside party" that showed agents how to get past the phone's security defenses. Authorities had previously said only Apple had the ability to help them unlock the phone. Apple responded by saying it will continue to increase the security of its products. "We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along," the company added in a statement, while reiterating its argument that the government's demand for Apple's help was wrong. "This case should never have been brought," the company said. FBI assistant director David Bowdich said Monday that examining the iPhone was part of the authorities' effort to learn if the San Bernardino shooters had worked with others or had targeted any other victims. "I am satisfied that we have access to more answers than we did before," he said in a statement. The dispute had ignited a fierce internet-era national debate that pitted digital privacy rights against national security concerns and reinvigorated discussion over the impact of encryption on law enforcement's ability to serve the public. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, said in a statement that while it was "preferable" that the government gained access to the iPhone without Apple's help, the fundamental question of the extent to which the government should be able to access personal information remains unanswered. Issa, a critic of the administration's domestic surveillance practices, said the government's legal action against Apple raised constitutional and privacy questions and that "those worried about our privacy should stay wary" because this doesn't mean "their quest for a secret key into our devices is over." The surprise development punctured the temporary perception that Apple's security might have been good enough to keep consumers' personal information safe even from the US government. And while the Obama administration created a policy for disclosing such security vulnerabilities to companies, the policy allows for a vulnerability to be kept secret if there is a law enforcement or national security rationale for doing so. The withdrawal of the court process also takes away Apple's ability to legally request details on the method the FBI used in this case. Apple attorneys said last week that they hoped the government would share that information with them if it proved successful. The Justice Department wouldn't comment on any future disclosure of the method to Apple or the public. Denelle Dixon-Thayer, chief legal and business officer at Mozilla, which makes the Firefox web browser, said in a statement that "fixing vulnerabilities makes for better products and better security for everyone" and the "government needs to take that into account" and disclose the vulnerability to Apple. Jay Kaplan, a former NSA computer expert who's now CEO of cybersecurity firm Synack, said it is likely Apple will pursue avenues to further lock down their operating systems and hardware, especially as a result of the public announcement of some new technique to crack their phones. US magistrate Sheri Pym of California last month ordered Apple to provide the FBI with software to help it hack into Farook's work-issued iPhone. The Justice Department relied on a 1789 law to argue it had the authority to compel Apple to bypass its security protocols on its phone for government investigators. While Magistrate Judge James Orenstein in New York ruled last month in a separate case that the US was seeking broad powers under that legal argument, the decision wasn't binding in the California case and the Justice Department is appealing. Technology and civil liberties organizations say they're concerned the case is far from settled, with some worrying that smaller companies might not have the resources to fight off similar demands. Apple CEO Tim Cook had argued that helping the FBI hack the iPhone would set a dangerous precedent, making all iPhone users vulnerable, if Apple complied with the court order. He as well as FBI director James Comey has said that Congress needs to take up the issue. Apple was headed for a courtroom showdown with the government last week, until federal prosecutors abruptly asked for a postponement so they could test a potential solution brought to them by a party outside of the US government last Sunday. The encrypted phone was protected by a passcode that included security protocols: a time delay and auto-erase featured that destroyed the phone's data after 10 tries. The two features made it impossible for the government to repeatedly and continuously test passcodes in what's known as a brute-force attack. But with those features removed, the FBI said it would take 26 minutes to crack the phone. A law enforcement official said the FBI would continue to aid its local and state partners with gaining evidence in cases -- implying that the method would be shared with them. The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to publicly comment. High on the waiting list for assistance likely is Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, who told a US House panel earlier this month that he has 205 iPhones his investigators can't access data from in criminal investigations. Apple is also opposing requests to help extract information from 14 Apple devices in California, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York. Associated Press tech2 News Staff The Apple vs FBI fight has finally come to an end. The FBI has managed to unlock the iPhone without Apple's help, as it should have been able to long before the case saw the light of day, and has backed out from the case. In an official statement, Apple reiterated their belief in everyone's right to privacy and the conservation of everyone's civil liberties. Their statement is presented in it's entirety below: "From the beginning, we objected to the FBIs demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the governments dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought. We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, and we will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated. Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy. Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk. This case raised issues which deserve a national conversation about our civil liberties, and our collective security and privacy. Apple remains committed to participating in that discussion." It's been a long and hard fight for Apple and one must certainly commend them for having the courage to stand by their beliefs and slug it out with the government for as long as they did. The victory might be a hollow one however, for Gizmodo reports that some US lawmakers are hellbent on passing legislation that would force companies like Apple to unlock devices on demand. hidden The US Department of Justice will disclose over the next two weeks whether it will continue with its bid to compel Apple Inc to help access an iPhone in a Brooklyn drug case, according to a court filing on Tuesday. The Justice Department this week withdrew a similar request in California, saying it had succeeded in unlocking an iPhone used by one of the shooters involved in a rampage in San Bernardino in December without Apple's help. Prosecutors have not said whether that technique would work for other seized iPhones, including the one at issue in Brooklyn. Law enforcement officials across the country have said they have encountered Apple devices they cannot access. The legal dispute between the U.S. government and Apple has been a high-profile test of whether law enforcement should have access to encrypted phone data. Apple, supported by most of the technology industry, says anything that helps authorities bypass security features will undermine security for all users. Government officials say that all kinds of criminal investigations will be crippled without access to phone data. A federal magistrate in Brooklyn last month ruled that he did not have authority to order Apple to disable the security of an iPhone seized during a drug investigation. The Justice Department then appealed to a district court judge. After filing that appeal, U.S. prosecutors notified the magistrate in the San Bernardino case that a third party had demonstrated a new technique which could access the iPhone in question. The Justice Department disclosed the new technique to the judge one day after the demonstration, and then confirmed its success on Monday, according to court filings, though it did not reveal how its solution works. The U.S. government did not disclose any details in a letter to the Brooklyn judge on Tuesday. Instead, prosecutors only agreed with a request by Apple to delay briefing deadlines in the case, and said it would update the court by April 11 as to whether it would "modify" its own request for Apple's assistance. An Apple spokesman declined to comment. In court filings the company has said it would want to question any potential government claim that the technique which worked in California would not work in Brooklyn. Reuters hidden The US Justice Department has said it succeeded in unlocking an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters and dropped its legal case against Apple, ending a high-stakes legal battle but leaving the broader struggle over encryption unresolved. The abrupt end to a confrontation that had transfixed the tech industry was a victory for Apple, which vehemently opposed a court order obtained by the Justice Department that would have required it to write new software to get into the iPhone. But the larger fight over law enforcement access to encrypted information is by no means over. The technology industry is adamant that anything that helps authorities bypass the security features of tech products will undermine security for everyone. Government officials are equally insistent that all manner of criminal investigations will be crippled without access to phone data. At issue in the Apple case was a county-owned iPhone used by Rizwan Farook, one of the husband-and-wife shooters in the December rampage in San Bernardino, California, in which 14 people were killed and 22 wounded. The couple died in a shootout with police after the attack. After saying for weeks in court filings and congressional testimony that Apple possessed the "exclusive technical means" to unlock Farook's phone, the Justice Department unexpectedly announced on the eve of a court hearing last week that an unidentified outside party had presented it with a technique that might open the phone without help from Apple. In a two-page court filing on Monday, the Justice Department said the government had "successfully accessed the data stored on Farooks iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple." It asked a federal magistrate in Riverside, California, to withdraw the order compelling Apple to assist. Apple had argued that the government request and resulting court order were a massive overreach that would give courts unlimited authority to force private companies to work as their agents. It argued that Congress had specifically declined to give the government such powers when it comes to electronic surveillance and data collection. Tech industry leaders including Google, Facebook and Microsoft and more than two dozen other companies filed legal briefs supporting Apple. The Justice Department received support from law enforcement groups and six relatives of San Bernardino victims. Apple had no immediate comment on Monday. THORNY ISSUES The Justice Department's apparent discovery of an iPhone hacking technique presents thorny questions about how that knowledge will be shared. If the government tells Apple about the details, the company would presumably fix whatever vulnerability was used and thus render the method ineffective. If the government withholds the information, Apple could face a public perception problem about the security of its phones. There are also a number of pending cases across the country where law enforcement officials are asking for access to iPhones. It is not clear if they will have access to the break-in technique. In one New York case, Justice Department officials have to respond by Tuesday to an Apple request to delay the proceedings. That could provide clues as to how the government intends to deal with other iPhone cases. On a conference call for reporters on Monday, a senior U.S. law enforcement official said it was too soon to say whether the governments technique would work on other iPhones, or if it would share information with Apple or other law enforcement agencies. The official also declined to elaborate on what party provided the solution, except to say it did not come from within the U.S. government. He also declined to comment on what had been found on the San Bernardino phone. 'ALL AVAILABLE OPTIONS' The Justice Department suggested on Monday it would keep seeking unorthodox means of getting information, including through the courts when needed. It remains a priority for the government to ensure that law enforcement can obtain crucial digital information to protect national security and public safety, either with cooperation from relevant parties, or through the court system when cooperation fails, Justice Department spokeswoman Melanie Newman said. We will continue to pursue all available options for this mission, including seeking the cooperation of manufacturers and relying upon the creativity of both the public and private sectors. On Capitol Hill, critics of the Justice Department's efforts called for further vigilance. "Those worried about our privacy should stay wary - just because the government was able to get into this one phone does not mean that their quest for a secret key into our devices is over," said Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican who sits on the House Judiciary Committee. Reuters tech2 News Staff Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd will likely report a first-quarter operating profit of more than 6 trillion won ($5.2 billion), exceeding market expectations, South Korea's Korea Economic Daily reported on Wednesday. Citing an unnamed source, the paper said January-March earnings for the world's top smartphone maker were boosted by strong sales of the flagship Galaxy S7 smartphones that went on sale in March as well as a weaker South Korean won. Thomson Reuters StarMine SmartEstimate tips a 5.2 trillion won profit for the period. Samsung Electronics could not be immediately reached for comment. Samsung Electronics, the worlds biggest maker of smartphones and memory chips, announced that it plans to adopt a corporate culture akin to a startup, seeking to become more nimble as growth slows. Samsungs executives will sign a pledge to move away from a top-down culture and towards a working environment that fosters open dialogue. The flagship firm of South Koreas dominant conglomerate will also reduce the number of levels in its staff hierarchy and hold more frequent online discussions between business division heads and employees. We aim to reform our internal culture, execute as quickly as a startup company and push towards open communication and continuously innovate, it said in a statement. With inputs from Reuters hidden Clearing the way for the entry of telecom service retailers, inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission approved a long-pending proposal on virtual network operators, which will offer voice and data services under their own brands without owning network or spectrum. "The Commission has approved a Trai's recommendation on Virtual Network Operator after including clarification it provided. It will need Telecom Minister's approval. A new licence will be issued UL VNO for this. It should be implemented within few weeks," an official source said. "VNO will be able to offer all telecom services provided by a telecom operator with which it has partnered. It can sell services of more than one operator," the source said. A VNO leases bandwidth from various telecom operators to provide voice and data services to customers. VNOs would offer all telecom services permitted under unified licences - permits that were issued in 2013. These players are expected to reduce marketing and sales costs of telecom companies struggling in the sector, besides sharing some operational expenses, too. "VNO will be able to invest in setting up mobile towers and other elements in network required for providing services. However, it will not be able to sign deal directly to interconnect infrastructure laid by it with other telecom operator," the source said. These players may also offer some relief to telecom PSUs, BSNL and MTNL, which have already adopted a revenue-sharing model focusing on reducing capital expenditure. However, these companies will need to change their old licence to unified licence. "VNO will be able to integrate service and offer it to customer as it wants. There will be no limit on integration and offering of services from licence or government that will be available shortly. VNO on its own will be free to use technology required for offering various services," the source said. In case a VNO has partnered with multiple service providers, then it can offer voice call service of one and data service of other player. PTI Technology and healthcare have always gone hand in hand, and with the health of the world in crisis at the moment through the Volleyball results from Thursday Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, 8:34 a.m. -- LAPEER COUNTY -- The Almont varsity volleyball team beat Madison Heights Lamphere and New Lothrop in a triple header at Almont Thursday. Dryden beat Bay City All Saints... Golf and tennis regional results Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, 5:41 p.m. -- LAPEER COUNTY -- Boys' high school tennis regionals and girls' golf regionals took place yesterday. Lapeer girls' golf placed 11th at the Div. 1 regional hosted by Oxford... Friday night football scores Friday, September 30, 2022 10:15 p.m. LAPEER COUNTY Lapeer beat Grand Blanc 39-17 at Lapeer to remain undefeated at 6-0. Almont upset Croswell-Lexington 37-26 North Branch routed Richmond 62-10 Imlay City/Dryden fell to Yale... Summer sports camps/clinics Wednesday, June 15, 2022, 4:40 p.m. -- LAPEER COUNTY -- Below is a list of the summer sports camps and clinics that will take place through early Aug. The regular sports update posting of high... No Addl EC security Second phase UP polls tomorrow Sagar Biswas : Despite gross violation of electoral code in the first phase, the Election Commission [EC] is going to hold the second phase of election in the country's 644 union parishads [UPs] tomorrow [Thursday] apparently without taking any additional security measures to resist violence. Interestingly, the ruling party-backed candidates have already won as 'Chairman' in 31 UPs in the second phase also without any contest. The EC has got over 500 complaints about the violation of electoral code by ruling Awami League nominated candidates in the first phase, where the ruling party men had won in about 54 UPs without balloting. But the EC did not take any visible action and legal step till the date for reasons best known to them. "Members of the law enforcement agencies are asked to start duty two days ahead of voting like the previous phase. The EC hasn't taken any additional measure to resist violence," Deputy Secretary of EC Secretariat Shamsul Alam said on Tuesday. Admitting the fact, Election Commissioner Mohammad Shahnewaz also said that the security forces will be deployed in same style like the first phase. "Yes, we have got some complaints about irregularities in the first phase.We want to warn everybody that tough action will be taken against the law breakers," the Commissioner said. "We won't tolerate, if the law enforcers 'suck finger' seeing incidents of violence in front of them....We won't tolerate, if the presiding officers 'remain mum' seeing ballot stuffing or fake vote in from of them..I want to say, the concerned officials will have to do their best to make the election credible," Shahnewaz further noted. According to unofficial report, about 27 people have so far been killed and over 1200 injured in the electoral violence in different parts of the country. It is alleged that the EC is not preserving the overall information of violence and misconduct. The EC has already sent four 4 crore of ballot papers for holing polls in the posts of 'Chairman', member [general] and member [reserved seat]. The judicial and executive magistrates will be in duty on the voting day. The voting will continue from 8:00am to 4:00pm. The number of 'Chairman' candidate is 2,684. Of them, 1507 candidates are nominated by 17 political parties and the rest 1177 are independent candidates. In this situation, the EC on Tuesday postponed the 3rd phase elections to all UPs in the hilly district of Rangamati, scheduled for April 23. The elections will be held on June 4 as per new directives of EC, "Md.Nazim Uddin, Election Officer in Rangamati district, said. The polls date has been shifted due to non submission of nomination papers in Chairman post from major political parties, including Awami League and BNP, in 19 UPs out of 49 of 10 upzilas in Rangamati due to terror threat by armed cadres of some political parties. "The EC has taken the matter seriously after getting written complaint from Deputy Commissioner of Rangamati about the threat. In this case, the aspirants will get chance to file nomination paper again in these cancelled UPs," Ashfaqur Rahman, Assistant Secretary [election management and coordination cell] of EC said. Meanwhile, being summoned by EC, the Superintendent of Police in Satkhira and five Officers-in-Charge [OCs] of concerned police stations will appear before the Commission today [Wednesday] to submit their statements over the 'ballot stuffing' in 11 centres. The EC had suspended all policemen; those were on-duty at 11 centres, on charge of stuffing ballot with fake seals at 14 centres in the earlier night of the election, official sources said. Referring the massive violence, Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik [SUJAN], a civil society platform working for good governance, has said the polls was marred by violence in 32 districts out of 36 in the first phase where 11 people lost lives on the day of voting around 3,000 injured. Fakhrul now full-fledged BNP secretary general Rizvi elevated to sr joint secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir UNB, Dhaka: After performing as BNP acting secretary general for nearly five years, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has finally been made its full-fledged secretary general. Besides, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has been elevated to senior joint secretary general from party's joint secretary general, while Mizanur Rahman Sinha the treasurer. Eleven days after the party's council, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia appointed the trio to the party's three crucial posts. Rizvi came up with the announcement at a press briefing at BNP's Nayapaltan central office in the morning. The party's 6th national council was held on March 19 at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) in the city. At the council, party councilors empowered Khaleda Zia to form its national executive and standing committees. Fakhrul had been working as the party acting secretary general since 2011 following the death of Khandaker Delwar Hossain on March 16. Fakhrul denied bail, sent to jail again UNB, Dhaka: A court here on Wednesday sent BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to jail rejecting his bail petition in two arson cases, hours after he was made secretary general of party. Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court M Golam Nabi passed the order in the morning after the BNP leader surrendered before the court seeking bail. However, the court granted bail to Fakhrul in one case filed with Motijheel Police Station. Earlier in the morning, Fakhrul surrendered before the court and filed a bail petition through his lawyer Advocate Sanaullah Miah. Earlier, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on February 29 extended the bail of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir till March 15 in three vandalism cases. The court also ordered the BNP leader to surrender before the lower court within 15 days. On January 4 last year, Assistant Sub-inspector of Paltal Model Police Station M Maminul Islam filed a case against 35 BNP leaders and activists, including Fakhrul, for torching a bus of Tanjil Paribahan in Gulistan. On the following day, sub-inspector of the same police station M Manibur Rahman Sujan filed another case against the BNP leader and 49 others for setting fire to a motorcycle of a sergeant in the citys Fakirapul area. On January 6, another case was filed against 50-60 BNP leaders and activists, including Fakhrul, as some miscreants torched a BRTC bus in front of Rajuk Building in Motijheel. Arrest warrant against Khaleda in Jatrabari arson case A court here on Wednesday issued warrants for the arrest of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 27 BNP-Jamaat men in a case filed over an arson attack on a bus at Jatrabari in the city during the BNP-led 20-partys blockade on January 23 last year. Dhaka Metropolitan Session Judge Mohammad Quamrul Hossain Molla passed the order after accepting the chargesheet against 38 people submitted by Jahidul Islam, sub-inspector of the Jatrabari Police Station. The court also asked the officer-in-charge concerned of Jatrabari Police Station to submit a progress report about the order. BNP leaders Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, Salahuddin Ahmed and Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah were among the warranted accused. Of the 38 accused, nine BNP leaders, including MK Anwar, secured bail from the court earlier in the case. On January 23 last year, at least 31 people suffered burn injuries after miscreants hurled two petrol bombs at a bus in Jatrabari intersection. One of the injured later died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. Sub-inspector of Jatrabari Police Station KM Nuruzzaman filed two cases -- one for killing and another for hurling petrol bombs -- under the Special Powers Act on January 24, making Khaleda the mastermind of the attack.-- Dhaka, Mar 30 (UNB) US orders diplomatic, military families out of south Turkey Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to reporters at the State Department in Washington. AP, Washington : The State Department and Pentagon ordered the families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel Tuesday to leave posts in southern Turkey due to "increased threats from terrorist groups" in the country. The two agencies said dependents of American staffers at the U.S. consulate in Adana, the Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave. The so-called "ordered departure" notice means the relocation costs will be covered by the government. In a statement, the military's European Command said the step "allows for the deliberate, safe return of family members from these areas due to continued security concerns in the region." The orders cover the Adana consulate, U.S. military dependents in Incirlik, Ismir and Mugla as well as family of U.S. government civilians at Ismir and Mugla. The State Department also restricted official travel to that which it considers "mission critical." The move comes amid heightened security concerns throughout Turkey due to the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants in neighboring Syria and Iraq and was accompanied by an updated travel warning advising U.S. citizens of an increased threat of attacks. It also comes as Turkey's president is set to arrive in Washington to attend President Barack Obama's nuclear security summit. UP polls in Rangamati rescheduled Rangamati Correspondent : The Election Commission (EC) yesterday rescheduled polling to all 49 union parishads (UP) of Rangamati from the third phase on April 23 to the sixth in June, reasoning in a letter to the district election officer that major political parties could not field chairman candidates. The directive was aimed "at ensuring participation of all", reads the letter directing the rescheduling, signed by EC Deputy Secretary Shamsul Islam. However, several EC officials told journalists the postponement was mainly for the absence of the ruling Awami League's (AL) candidates. There were no AL candidates in 19 UPs and BNP could not in 27 UPs, according to EC's statistics. Local leaders of both AL and BNP showed reluctance fearing attacks by regional political parties in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), according to news reports. There was no BNP candidate in 119 UPs in the first phase, in around 75 in the second and in around 45 in the third, according to EC's documents. "But the EC does not show that much of a headache for it. The commission suspended polling to only a few union parishads considering the absence of BNP's candidate," a deputy secretary told journalists seeking anonymity. "But the commission has taken the Rangamati issue seriously as Awami League could not field candidates there," he added. However, at a formal press briefing at the EC secretariat on Tuesday , Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz claimed the rescheduling was over security grounds. "We think if elections in the region are held in the last phase, violence may be lower," he said. He also threatened to take stern action against law enforcers and polling officials who neglect duties and "are found sitting silent during ballot stuffing or any irregularities". Elections to 712 UPs were held on March 22 and 13 on March 23 in the first phase. Around 645 UPs will go to polls tomorrow in the second phase; around 621 on April 23 in the third and 743 on May 7 in the fourth and around 1,400 in two other phases till June. Customs DC assault Contingent staff to mum over bribe Staff Reporter : A Contingent Staff of Customs Excise has allegedly been assaulted by Value Added Tax (VAT) Deputy Commissioner of Mirpur Division, Rakibul Hasan and his associates on charge of denying fake statement of taking bribe, according to a written complain submitted by the victim. The victim has been identified as Md Idris Ali Molla, Contingent Staff, Customs Excise and VAT Circle of Pallabi 1&2. Rakibul Hasan also had forcibly made a false statement in a blank shit by Idris Ali against Assistant Revenue Officer (ARO) Jahir Raihan for taking bribe Tk 20,000 instead of him, the complain letter said. According to complaint signed by Idris Ali, "Rakibul called Idris at his office at Rahin Plaza in Mirpur Mazar Road around 4:30pm on March 14. He proposed Idris to give a statement for Tk 20,000 was taken by AC Jahir from New R B Classic at 363/3/ 4, Pirer Bagh, Mirpur, Dhaka. Idris rejected his proposal and Rakibul severely stabbed Idris with stick by taking the help of AC Foyej, Arif and Ibrahim." Rakibul also gave him ultimatum for sacking from job and killing, said the statement. Idris was bound to make a video record in this connection at the close-door office after torturing for five hours. The Contingent staff also has been threatened to mum over the assaulting and bribe incident. He also submitted an application to the Commissionrate of Customs Excise and VAT, Dhaka (West) for seeking legal action. Rakibul Hasan, Deputy Commissionerate of Mirpur Division told The New Nation that it was nothing but misunderstanding. Australia reach final for 4th times beating England by 5 runs Australian players celebrate their victory against England during their ICC women Twenty20 2016 Cricket World Cup semifinals match at the Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Stadium in New Delhi, India, Wednesday. Australia won by 5 runs. Australia reached the final of the ICC Women's World Twenty20 for the 4th consecutive time beating England by five runs in the first semifinal at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday. They will play final on April 3 against the winners of West Indies and New Zealand, who will meet each other in the 2nd semifinal on Thursday (Mar 31) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Sent in to bat first, Australian Women's scored 132 runs for 6 in allocated 20 overs. Going to bat, Australian Women's made a good start scoring 41 runs in 5.3 overs in the opening stand. One down batter cum captain Meg Lanning contributed the team highest 55 runs off 50 balls hitting six fours while opener AJ Healy made 15-ball 25 runs, featuring five fours. Besides, AJ Villani (19), AJ Blackwell (11) and EA Perry (10) were the other major contributors for the Australia. NR Sciver grabbed two wickets for 22 runs while LA Marsh and JL Gunn took one wicket each. In reply, England folded their innings at 127 for 7 in allocated 20 overs to eliminate from global meet despite of making 67 runs in 10 overs in the opening stand. Opener TT Beaumont made the team highest 32 runs off 40 balls featuring one four and one six while another opener cum captain CM Edwards hit 29-ball 31 runs with four boundaries. Besides, SJ Taylor (21), KH Brunt (11) and DN Wyatt (10) scored the double digit runs for England. ML Schutt claimed two wickets for 15 runs and EA Perry, RM Farrell, KM Beams, and ER Osborne took one wicket each. Tonu's body exhumed for fresh autopsy The body of Sohagi Jahan Tonu (inset) was exhumed after 10 days of burial at Muradnagar in Comilla for fresh autopsy in compliance with court order on Wednesday. Joynal Abedin Khan : A forensic team of Comilla Medical College has conducted the second autopsy of the body of Sohagi Jahan Tonu. A three-member team led by Dr Kamada Prasad Shaha, Head of the Forensic Department of the medical college, conducted the autopsy and collected necessary samples for investigation. Later the body was handed over the family members of Tonu around 6:00pm. The body was buried in her previous grave. Earlier, the body was exhumed for conducting a fresh autopsy, 10 days after she was found murdered inside the Comilla cantonment area. The body was exhumed from a graveyard at Mirzapur village under Muradnagar upazila on Wednesday morning. A team led by Comilla District Executive Magistrate Lutfun Nahar exhumed the body in the presence of Dhaka CID's Special Police Super Dr Nazmul Karim, Comilla Police Super Md Shah Abidin Hossain and Tonu's father Yaar Hossain. The body has been sent to Comilla Medical College Hospital following her exhumation, said Comilla Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Abid Hossain. Comilla's Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Joynaf Begum on Monday ordered police to exhume Tonu's body. The necessity for exhuming the body of Sohagi Jahan Tonu for a fresh autopsy has raised questions about the investigators' sincerity in probing the murder. The first autopsy on the body was conducted on Mach 21, a day after the Tonu's body was found in the Comilla Cantonment. With the autopsy report yet to be released, detectives obtained a fresh exhumation order from a Comilla court on Monday. "I want to know who should be held responsible for the lapse in the first autopsy," Tonu's father Yaar Hossain told the reporters. "I also respect the court order," said Yaar Hossain, "But I have a question to the authorities as to why should there be a second autopsy?" Yaar also questioned what made the investigators realise seven days after the first autopsy that they needed a fresh one. "I want justice. I seek the honourable Prime Minister's intervention to ensure fair investigation," said Tonu's father, an office assistant of the Cantonment Board. He also said though he had been disappointed seeing no arrest so far, he did not want police to harass innocent people for the crime. When asked if he was under any pressure of any kind, he said, "There is no pressure. I am devastated because I lost my daughter. My health is not good either, so I do not go out." Meanwhile, hundreds of students of Eden College took to the street, protesting the murder of Tonu. Some 300 students formed a human chain in front of the College on Wednesday morning, demanding the punishment to the killers. Later, the protesters blocked the Azimpur bus stand road. The move has raised questions among those who have been staging demonstrations for justice since the news of Tanu's murder flashed on the social networking platforms before the mainstream media picked it up. Comilla Victoria Government College's second-year history student and cultural activist Tonu was found murdered about 400 yards from her house inside the Comilla Cantonment on the night of March 20, according to her family members. Her father Yaar Hossain, an office assistant of the Cantonment Board, filed a case with Kotwali Police Station the following day without naming anyone. Investigators have so far failed to make any breakthrough. The case was initially handed over to DB on March 25, but within few days, the Criminal Investigation Department was given the charge of investigation on Tuesday, its Special Superintendent of Organised Crime Mirza Abdullah Hel Baki said. Nurses demo dispersed: 20 injured Hundreds of Govt hospital nurses staged demonstration at Shahbagh intersection disrupting traffic, demanding their recruitment as per seniority were dispersed as police charged batons, used water canon on them on Wednesday. Staff Reporter : Several hundred demonstrating nurses blocked the city's Shahbagh intersection for five hours on Wednesday, demanding seniority based appointment under the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC). At least 20 nurses were injured in a clash when police charged baton to foil their demonstration in order to free Shahbagh for transport movement. Of the injured, Asma Akhter, Mukul Hossain, Imran Hossain, Ambika, Abdul Latif and Saiful Islam were admitted to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), police said. Abu Bakar Siddique, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Shahbagh Police Station, said, "Some 500 nurses under the banner of 'Bangladesh Diploma Bekar Nurses Association' and 'Bangladesh Basic Graduation Nurses Society' gathered at Shahbagh intersection around 10:00 am. They chanted slogans to press home their demand for posting in the public hospitals as per seniority instead of any entry test under the BPSC. At one stage, they blocked the Shahbagh intersection for five hours. Police requested them to withdraw their programme. But they could not respond to the police and seized the road. Finding no other way, police charged baton and foiled the program." Rajib Kumar Biswas, President of Bangladesh Basic Graduation Nurses Society, told The New Nation on Wednesday, "Police swooped on their peaceful programme and arrested five nurses from the scene" He said, without any provocation police pursued different strategies to disperse the demonstrating nurses around 2:30pm and they threw three sound grenades from riot car. Police also threw hot water and used pepper spray from water canon to disperse them. DMP's Ramna Zone Deputy Commissioner Abdul Baten said: "They blocked the busy road and were not moving away despite repeated requests. We had no choice, but to use force." The government announced to appoint 10,000 nurses on seniority under the BPSC. But the PSC's circular invited applications from all. Earlier March 28, the BPSC published a circular to recruit 3,616 senior staff nurses though the examination (preliminary, written, viva voce and health) instead of congenial seniority based appoint system. Hours after taken to jail Fakhrul granted bail, freed BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir waving to supporters as he was freed to bail hours after taking to jail in connection with arson case on Wednesday. Staff Reporter : After a daylong drama, BNP's newly appointed Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was released on bail from the jail on Wednesday. The BNP leader secured bail in two arson cases after a Dhaka court sent him to the jail rejecting bail pleas. The court did it after he was announced full-fledged Secretary General of the BNP. Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court Md Golam Nabi passed the order of landing him in the jail in the morning after Mirza Fakhrul surrendered to the court seeking bail. Later, the same court granted him the bail hearing the reconsideration petition filed by his lawyer Advocate Sanaullah Miah. The counsel said that they moved the reconsideration petition citing reason that Mirza Fakhrul fell sick after imprisonment. This adds a new dimension to the daylong drama. The morning started with Mirza Fakhrul becoming BNP's full functioning secretary general after a five-year wait. The drama ended in the evening after release of the BNP leader from the Dhaka central jail. Leaders and activists of the BNP and its front bodies accorded a reception to Mirza Fakhrul at the jail gate just after his release. They received the leader with flowers. BNP leaders and activists gathered at Nayapaltan in the morning to greet their new secretary general but were disappointed to hear that the BNP leader had been sent to the prison. The BNP men later brought out a procession in front their party's Nayapaltan office demanding release of their leader. The BNP men also brought out processions in several other parts of the country. Demanding release of Mirza Fakhrul immediately, newly appointed senior Joint-Secretary General of the party Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed in a press briefing at the Nayapaltan office warned that they would go for tougher movement if their leader was not released within short time. Mirza Fakhrul had secured interim bail from the High Court in three cases filed during the BNP-led 20 Party Alliance's movement from January 2015. The Supreme Court had said Mirza Fakhrul should be given bail until the rule was resolved. The rule was resolved in the High Court on November 24 and the BNP leader was granted three months bail, but he sought permission to file an appeal to get a permanent bail. A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha resolved his plea on February 29 and the BNP leader was told to surrender within 15 days. Following the instruction from the apex court, Mirza Fakhrul appeared before the Dhaka court on Wednesday and sought bail in the two cases filed with Paltan Police Station. RCBC comes under fire at Senate INQUIRER.net : RIZAL Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) came under fire at the Senate yesterday after it said it could only have slowed down but not stop the transactions involving the $81 million-later found to have been stolen from the Bangladesh central bank-that were deposited in dormant accounts its Jupiter Street branch. Maria Celia Estavillo, head of the bank's legal and regulatory affairs group, said RCBC did not have the right to retain the funds without a freeze order from the court. What it could do was file a suspicious transactions report, Estavillo said. "Under the law, we have not been given any right to retain the funds," she said at the resumption of the Senate probe into the alleged laundering of the $81 million. But this was unacceptable to Sen. Sergio Osmena III, chair of the committee on banks, who later twitted RCBC for stopping the transfers when only $68,000 of the stolen money was left and the bulk had been withdrawn. "You're telling the whole world, 'send your money to the Philippines because we cannot stop [the transactions].' It will go straight to the casino or to the remittance company,'" Osmena said. Osmena also questioned why the bank's president, Lorenzo Tan, was not alerted on the entry of the $81 million until it was learned that the funds may have been stolen from Bangladesh, and most of the money had left the bank. He said that if he were the bank and a party asked him for a stop payment on the account involving that party's stolen money, he would be obligated to comply. "I may not give the money back until he proves it's his, but definitely I would stop payment," he said. He also said if there was no proof of a legal transaction-such as payment for services-to explain the amount, the bank would have to ask questions. Estavillo said she understood Osmena's logic, "but unfortunately, the laws do not reflect the rights that you are explaining." She said what the bank could do was to "slow down on the processing and make the parties speak." Pressed by Osmena to say whether the bank would allow the transactions to go through or not, she said, "Effectively, it would have the same effect." "It would not have the same effect and you're not being very candid with the committee," Osmena said. Estavillo countered that she was being "very candid." The law simply does not allow banks to just stop transactions, she said, adding that it might be good to amend it to give more teeth to the banks. "Even the regulators do not have that authority," she said. Osmena said he had spoken with several top bankers who said they would exercise their discretion and stop the transaction. Estavillo said that was not RCBC's reading of the law, and all banks have the same obligations and rights. 2nd phase UP polls today Staff Reporter :The second phase of Union Parishad (UP) elections in 644 (UP) will be held today (Thursday) amid fearing violence. The 31 Awami League-backed chairman candidates have already been elected unopposed. The voting will continue from 8:00am to 4:00pm.The Election Commission (EC) has already sent four crore ballot papers for holding polls. The judicial and executive magistrates will do their duties to help ensure fair polls. Election Commissioner Mohammad Shahnewaz hoped that the election would be held in free and fair manner. "We have asked the concerned officials to try their best to make the election credible. We won't tolerate if the Presiding Officers 'remain mum' seeing ballot stuffing or casting of fake votes," he said. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB)'s Public Relations Officer Mohsin Reza told the reporters on Wednesday that over 200 platoons of BGB forces had been sent to union parishads. The polls will be held in 644 unions of 47 districts being participated by 16 registered political parties out of a total of 40, the Election Commission officials said.They said that a total of 2,684 candidates are vying for the chairman posts in the second phase of the polls while 31 chairman candidates of ruling Awami League are already elected unopposed.The Commission officials said that they did not find any nomination papers of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidates in 77 unions. But, BNP claimed that their chairman aspirants were not allowed to submit nomination papers by the ruling party men.Chittagong north unit of BNP Convener Aslam Chowdhury said that the party nominated chairman candidates in 30 unions were being harassed by the ruling party men and the law enforcement agencies. He also said that elections would not be held in free and fair manner.Meanwhile, the Superintendent of Police Satkhira, Chowdhury Manjurul Kabir and five Officers-in-Charge of five police stations appeared in the Commission and the EC revoked them for their failure to deal with irregularities committed on the previous night of the first phase of UP elections on March 22.On the other hand, hundreds of people were injured in many districts in a bid to establish supremacy and influence the voters. In the first phase of the Union Parished polls, at least 27 people were killed and 3,500 were injured in a number of violence. Spl taskforce soon to bring back heist fund Kazi Zahidul Hasan :The government has decided to form a 'special taskforce' soon to bring back Bangladesh Bank's $81 million heist fund that illegally landed into the Philippines financial system last month.Officials of Home and Foreign Ministries, Prime Minister's Office, Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, Attorney General Office, National Board of Revenue and Anti-Corruption Commission will be included in the task force headed by an Additional Secretary of the Finance Ministry.A circular in this regard will be issued in a day or two. The terms of reference will be fixed after its formation, sources in the Finance Ministry said. "The taskforce will be assigned to retrieve the heist fund that allegedly landed in Philippines through five fictitious accounts of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation's (RCBC) Jupiter Branch," a senior Finance Ministry official told The New Nation on Wednesday asking not to be named.He added, a number of local and foreign agencies are investigating into the heist but the taskforce will only work to bring back the fund from Philippines.The official further said that it will closely work with Philippines central bank and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and take all necessary measures to bring back the siphoned off fund from Bangladesh Bank's reserve account held with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.Kam Sin Wong, a Chinese junket operator known in the Philippines as Kim Wong, told the Philippines Senate hearing on Tuesday that the $81 million laundered fund was remitted by two Chinese businessmen, Gao Shuhua and Ding Zhize.The Senate hearing revealed that the $81 million was remitted to five accounts created with fictitious names at the branch of the RCBC on February 5 and then consolidated to the casinos and junket operators through Philrem, a money changer company in Philippines. Wong said, $63 million of the total $81 million went to the Solaire and Midas casinos while the remaining $17 million is still with the Philrem. "The mystery behind the money-laundering was revealed at the Senate hearing. We are hopeful that we should get back our money," said the finance ministry official adding, "The process of bringing back the money will be expedited with the formation of the taskforce". Refugees in deep troubles even in welfare states Hans-Werner Sinn : The armed conflict destabilizing some Arab countries has unleashed a huge wave of refugees headed for Europe. About 1.1 million came to Germany alone in 2015. At the same time, the adoption of the principle of freedom of movement within Europe has triggered massive, but largely unnoticed, intra-European migration flows. In 2014, Germany experienced an unprecedented net inflow of 304,000 people from other EU countries, and the number was probably similar in 2015. Some EU members, including Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Spain, France, and the initially welcoming Denmark and Sweden, have reacted by practically suspending the Schengen Agreement and reinstating border controls. Economists are not really surprised at this. In the 1990s, dozens of academic papers addressed the issue of migration into welfare states, discussing many of the problems that are now becoming apparent. I myself wrote much on the subject at the time, trying - mostly in vain - to raise awareness among policymakers. A fundamental issue is at stake. Welfare states are defined by the principle that those who enjoy above-average income pay more taxes and contributions than what they get back in the form of public services, while those with below-average earnings pay less than they receive. This redistribution, channeling net public resources toward lower-income households, is a sensible correction to the market economy, a kind of insurance against life's vicissitudes and the rigors of scarcity pricing that characterize the market economy and have little to do with equitableness. Welfare states are fundamentally incompatible with the free movement of people between countries if the newcomers have immediate and full access to public benefits in their host countries. In such cases, countries can act as welfare magnets, attracting many more migrants than would be economically advisable, because the newcomers receive, in addition to their wages, a migration grant in the form of public transfers. Only if migrants received only wages could efficient self-regulation in migration be expected. British Prime Minister David Cameron drew the right conclusion from this: Welfare magnetism not only leads to an inefficient geographical distribution of people; it also erodes and damages the magnet. That's why Cameron is demanding a limitation of the inclusion principle, even for intra-European economic migrants. Even if they find a job, says Cameron, migrants should get access to tax-financed welfare benefits only after four years. As it stands, a substantial waiting period is in force only for non-working EU migrants, who must be resident in the United Kingdom for five years to gain full access to public benefits. The proposal does not necessarily imply hardship for EU migrants; it simply means that any support they may require over the four-year period is to be financed by their home country. There is indeed much to be said for frontloading the home-country principle in EU rules: a migrant's country of origin should continue to be responsible for providing social benefits for a certain number of years, until the inclusion principle is applied. It is difficult to see why, for example, a German welfare recipient who is unfit for work should be supported by the Spanish state if he decides to live in Mallorca. It would be equally implausible to deny this person the right to choose his place of abode just to protect the Spanish state. If we are to take the free movement of people seriously, we should slaughter the sacred cow of immediate eligibility for host-state benefits. This of course does not apply to economic migrants from non-EU countries, and even less to refugees. The home-country principle would usually be impossible to apply in these cases. But, for the same reasons outlined above, these migrants cannot be integrated by the hundreds of thousands into the welfare state without jeopardizing the system's viability. Therefore, the currently prevailing wage-replacement benefit system, which is applied when recipients do not work, should be replaced with a system offering wage supplements and community work. This would lower the benefits' net costs and weaken incentives to migrate. Andrea Nahles, Germany's labor minister, recently suggested as much, defending what Germans call the one-euro-jobs concept, which basically converts welfare into a wage. That is sound advice in an otherwise chaotic state of affairs. If freedom of movement within Europe is to be maintained - and if high inflows of non-EU citizens continue - European welfare states face a stark choice: adjust or collapse. (Hans-Werner Sinn, Professor of Economics and Public Finance at the University of Munich, is President of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research and serves on the German economy ministry's Advisory Council.). Courtesy: Project Syndicate Debate centering climate migration Michael Igoe : Visceral, heart-rending images of war lend urgency to policy debates about whether and how to accommodate - or not - people driven from their homes, communities and countries. But more people are displaced by climate-related events than conflict, and international agreements have so far said little about the likely surge of people who will uproot themselves and their families as climate change impacts intensify. As global average temperatures creep higher, and as storms, droughts, floods, and heat waves grow more severe, the international community is poised to face a future characterized by even more climate-related migration. Some people will move in anticipation of climate change impacts; some will move in response to changes they have already experienced. If the status quo persists, many of these "climate migrants" will likely wonder why their rights are not better protected by international laws and norms. A number of efforts are currently underway to change that status quo. Since 2008, 22.5 million people have been forced from their homes due to floods and hurricanes, twice as many as the record 11 million displaced by conflict in 2014. That amounts to one person every second, according to Jan Egeland, director general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who spoke at a briefing during the 21st Conference of Parties in Paris last year. Ninety percent of climate migrants move to or within developing countries, Egeland noted. And climate-related mobility is trending upwards. We are living in "the era of forced displacement," Egeland said. Some of the drivers, such as drought and desertification, are "creeping" disasters, which can take years or decades to make a place unlivable. Faced with deteriorating landscapes, people seek better opportunities elsewhere, and many of these migrants go uncounted. "Many times I ask myself, how come everybody knows how bad Syria and all of these wars are for displacement, and few people understand twice as many are displaced by climate and weather," Egeland said in Paris. And yet while refugees fleeing conflict or persecution find legal protection in the 1951 United Nations convention that established their right to seek asylum, there is no international framework to protect the rights of people displaced by climate change-related weather events, or those who choose to migrate because climate change is staring at them in the face and promising a more difficult future. For those who think such a framework ought to exist, the Paris climate agreement forged at COP21 last year offers some reason for optimism. The agreement includes two references to human mobility. In its preamble the Paris agreement implores states to "respect, promote and consider" the rights of migrants, among other vulnerable groups, when taking action to address climate change. And the agreement calls for the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism - a body created in 2013 to address "loss and damage" caused by climate change impacts - to establish a new task force "to develop recommendations for integrated approaches to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change." The Paris agreement is not the first United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change document to discuss the link between climate change and displacement, but it is the first agreement with so much international buy-in to do so, said Mariam Traore Chazalnoel, an environmental migration expert with the International Organization for Migration. In February the Warsaw International Mechanism Executive Committee - or ExComm - met and worked over four days to create the displacement task force and advance discussions on human mobility and climate change, as directed by the Paris agreement. The takeaway from Paris and from this most recent ExComm meeting, Chazalnoel said, is that "this is a very bureaucratic process." But, she added, "the issue is firmly on their radar. They will work on it over the next few years, and this is a big difference from what happened a few years ago where we had to fight to bring the question of climate displaced persons to the negotiations." Parties to the COP21 treaty understand that they must do something to prepare for and address climate-displacement, "but what that something is, is not exactly clear," Chazalnoel said. The legal protection gap is not unique to climate migrants. Migrants, in general, lack an integrated convention or internationally negotiated document that spells out their rights. Instead, these rights appear in "a disparate system of different norms," some of them established by labor bodies, others by human rights groups, according to Laura Thompson, the IOM's deputy director general. Devex speaks with Ambassador Laura Thompson, deputy director general of the International Organization for Migration, about efforts underway to integrate a "disparate" assortment of migrants' rights protections. But climate-related migration and displacement, which will almost surely accelerate, presents a particular international policy challenge, because the people who relocate because of climate change impacts are usually not the same people whose activities contribute to those impacts. There are sticky issues of liability and compensation at play in these discussions, which the Paris agreement largely avoided in order to stay alive. The Syrian refugee crisis has revealed the political sensitivity and difficulty of building consensus around coordinated migration policy. But that does not mean national governments and international bodies are without options to improve current policy and implementation, the IOM experts pointed out. Legal frameworks already on the books - the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, for example - could be invoked more purposefully as a baseline for climate migrants' protections. There is also a critical and immediate need for better data on climate and environmental displacement, a gap the IOM has sought to fill with a new Atlas of Environmental Migration. And in 2013, 109 countries endorsed the Nansen Initiative to develop a protection agenda for people displaced across borders in the context of disasters and the effects of climate change. The upside of mobility The term "climate refugee," while occasionally invoked, is actually a legal impossibility. "Refugees" flee persecution, often perpetrated by their own countries' governments, and they seek asylum abroad. Considering the extent of human migration, it's hard to keep track of the definitions prescribed for different subgroups - like migrant, refugee and asylum-seeker. Devex breaks down what each term means, as well as why it matters to distinguish among them. Perhaps more important than the legal distinction between refugees and climate migrants is the notion that for people poised to experience climate change, mobility can be a positive, adaptive strategy to improve their prospects and opportunities. "We want to look at this human mobility and migration and climate in a different way, not only the despair, the tragedy, not only when you lose everything but also to prevent, to think in advance, to prepare, to move in a positive way," said Dina Ionesco head of the IOM's division on migration, environment and climate change. In the same way 2015 witnessed a coordinated effort to build commitment around broad global development goals, 2016 presents several high-profile opportunities to consider how a new rights framework for climate migrants might emerge. Numerous groups are looking forward to the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May as an opportunity to link climate change, mobility and rights through international commitments. And on the day before the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in September, U.S. President Barack Obama will host a high-level plenary meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants. With so many parallel discussions and initiatives underway - in frequently overlapping and intersecting development, humanitarian, security, and climate change circles - climate migration policy will have to avoid the twin evils of duplication and neglect. In a busy, critical year for achieving clarity on a coordinated plan to protect climate migrants' rights, policymakers will have to avoid what Ionesco described as, a situation where "everyone's business becomes no one's business." (Michael Igoe is a global development reporter for Devex. Based in Washington, D.C., he covers U.S. foreign aid and emerging trends in international development and humanitarian policy). Mystery over fire in the Sundarbans A DEVASTATING fire in a section of the Sundarbans damaged plants on around 1.66 acres of forestland on Monday raising doubts about the cause of the blaze at the World's Largest Mangrove and UNESCO heritage zone. It is the third time such fires occurred in the past four years. The authority concerned claimed the fire might have originated from a heat wave or burning butts of cigarettes, earthen ovens and such other objects used by woodcutters or honey collectors. A probe committee formed but failed to instantly explore the reason. The mangrove forest is decaying day by day due to relentless but illegal deforestation by local population. As the forest is shrinking valuable animal species are also disappearing or becoming smaller in number. In such situation any devastating fire appears to be suicidal to preserve the mangrove forest which man can't be able to build again. What is frightening is that the fire will not only make animals life unsafe, the break down of natural tranquility will cause fish population in the river and other animal on the land to live in panic in their habitat. There is a growing fear if the situation becomes unsafe in the Bangladesh side of the forest, rare animal species may migrate to the Indian side of the forest. We must say this is sheer indifference and callousness of the government and the authorities concerned to understand what the country may loss if animals being faced by existential threats in the hitherto protected abode desert the Sundarbans The UN-sponsored study points out that large areas of the Sundarbans may be severely affected as early as 2020 because of growing human infiltration pushing the forest towards destruction. Most worryingly, the disappearance of the largest carbon sink in the region would increase global warming and ultimately contribute to change the climate of South-East Asia. Frequent sinking of cargo vassals in Sundarbans rivers and the government indifference to save the water routes is also pushing the forest to the brink. The Rampal Power Plant outside the forest zone is equally threatening to the existence of the forest. There is a growing fear that vested interest groups from home and abroad may be at work to destroy the forest and the fire may not be an exception in that case to achieve their goal. What many believe is that the formation of probe committee is not just enough, the mystery behind the fire need to be adequately unearthed to expose the forces working to destroy the forest. If needed the forest must be sealed to intruders but it can't be allowed to be burned to make room for commercial activities of some people trying to make it an industrial zone. HC`s verdict on state religion saves peace A three-member Special Bench of the High Court Division comprising of Justice Naima Hyder, Justice Qazi Reza-ul-Haque and Justice Ashraful Kamal averted religious violence by rejecting a writ petition filed by a group of 15 intellectuals some 28 years ago. The matter came up for hearing before the Special Bench last Monday. Religious groups were already taking to the street threatening public safety this time as the Court fixed the writ for hearing on Monday. But the Court's rejection of the writ allowed the nation to avert a new crisis. Any contrary decision would have been highly disturbing to peace. Religion is easy to exploit for political purposes, but the question is why sensible people at high places of the state and society like government leaders, politicians and academics always take up such sensitive matter that only wreck peace and unity among the people. The people expect our intellectuals to play their role where they can be most constructive. The writ petitioners demanded that the article A2 of the Constitution that made Islam state religion by former President Gen. Hussain Mohammad Ershad to be declared as unconstitutional, it being a violation of basic structure of the Constitution. Gen. Ershad who had usurped power in a military coup and then became elected President, acted on the belief that induction of Islam as state religion will make him popular as a champion of the cause of Islam, despite the fact he is not particularly a religious man. It was an unnecessary political ploy in a country dominated by Muslims. It was quite irrelevant to make Islam state religion. But the problem lies also in the fact that we have intellectuals who think by denying religious reality of the country, they can claim themselves to be progressive. Islam is the religion of the vast majority of our people in Bangladesh and to make it a state religion or not, it will continue to be so. But denying the inclusion of Islam as state religion would have inflamed religious sentiment of the Muslims with the possibility of disturbing peace seriously. The High Court Division of the Supreme Court boldly rejected the writ petition on the ground that they have no representative character for necessary locus standi for writ petition to be maintainable. But the intellectuals who moved the writ petition did not bother that the Court should not be put in a crisis over a matter that should be best solved politically. Their Lordships certainly played the role of checks and balances of our democratic Constitution. But there are some among the intellectuals to whom creating religious and communal tension is of great importance. Our people need strong role from the intellectuals to build a country free from corruption and incompetence. As because the intellectuals failed the nation, the people are living in fear and feeling unsafe. Company officials say Bell Helicopter, which opened an assembly plant in Lafayette in August, so far has hired 27 of the planned 115 employees who will eventually produce 200 new helicopters annually. Paul Watts, general manager of the Lafayette facility, tells The Advocate the company expects to increase hiring and begin production later this year after Bells new model Jet Ranger 505 X is approved by government air travel officials in Europe, Canada and the U.S. Watts says the company wont reach full employment and full-throttle production until late 2017. He says flight tests of the new model are ongoing in Canada. The state of Louisiana contributed $23.6 million to build the assembly center. The facility is now owned by the Lafayette Airport Commission. 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. The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. Step right up, folks, to the Ted Cruz-John Kasich game. The aim is to push out the candidate who could win in November in favor of the one who can't. Everything else has failed to stop Donald Trump, but the Republicans' strategy of putting their few remaining eggs in Sen. Cruz's basket and insulting Governor Kasich back to the Ohio statehouse is delusional -- as is their assertion that a vote for Kasich is a vote for Trump. Let's take a look: It's hard to believe that any politician could be doing worse than Hillary Clinton, who had a net unfavorable rating of minus 13 in a March Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, but Cruz, at minus 18, manages it. Kasich has a net positive 19. Every poll shows Cruz losing to Clinton. As for the nomination, the proposition that Cruz alone could stop Trump is wrong to anyone who reads exit polls, studies current ones or looks at the map. What's more, Cruz is the most universally disrespected politician in the Republican Party, which he wears as a badge of honor. And Cruz doesn't have Trump's positives, if you can say such a thing about celebrity, a fake everyman persona, disdain, shared by his followers, for policy, and a knack for memorable slogans. Cruz is a careerist who took the outsider route when his persistent efforts to ingratiate himself with insiders failed. In endorsing him, Jeb Bush had much to say about Washington being broken, but he failed to mention that Cruz was largely responsible for breaking it, forcing senseless government shutdowns, spouting nonsense during his preening filibusters, and adding significantly to the bitter enmity on Capitol Hill -- and that's on his side of the aisle. Trump's sobriquet of "Lyin' Ted" doesn't sound all that outlandish to many of those who tried to work with the Texas senator on Capitol Hill. Cruz's conduct worked to make him famous but, until panic set in, no one thought it would work to make him the nominee, much less president. The trend so far when someone gets out is that many of those votes go to Trump. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that were Kasich to drop out today, more than half of his vote would go to the front-runner. Although Kasich is being hammered for continuing to exist, he has a good case for staying in: He governs Ohio, which no Republican has won the White House without, was re-elected there with record numbers, and has high approval ratings for turning the deficit into a surplus and bringing 400,000 jobs to the state. He's pro-life and a fiscal conservative. He over-hugs but has kept out of the mud pit. He wins in every matchup with Clinton, while Trump and Cruz lose by double digits. Therefore, he has to go. National Review's Jeremy Carl writes: "It is long past time to throw Kasich's campaign into the ash heap of history." Sen. Lindsey Graham took a more reasonable approach, objecting that Kasich is an insider in an outsider year. Graham, who once quipped that "If you killed Ted Cruz in the Senate and the trial was in the Senate, nobody could convict you," recently endorsed him for the nomination. On "The Daily Show" last week, he struggled to explain his sudden change of heart: "I don't dislike Ted. Ted and I have a lot of differences. He's my 15th choice. What can I say? He's not completely crazy." The New York Times piled on Kasich with a headline about his nastiness, which was hardly justified by the reporting. Since leaving Congress, where he lived the Reagan dream by ramming through a balanced budget, he's mellowed. He's gotten married, had twin girls, become an evangelical Christian and made peace with his parents being killed by a drunk driver. He has a favorability rating of about 70 percent in his home state, where he won re-election with 64 percent of the vote. But he bugs the Republican base. He isn't going to deport grandmothers. He seems squishy on trade, though he's brought back Ohio despite NAFTA. He took Medicaid expansion dollars as part of Obamacare and justified that decision by saying that he worried about accounting to St. Peter at the Pearly Gates had he not made sure the poorest were covered. Nonetheless, he never waves around a Bible like Cruz and Trump. He may sound too much like a compassionate conservative, but a short time ago that was the kind the Republicans claimed to want. In short, he's electable in the fall. Some Republicans hate that. The ideal would be a two-front war against Trump. Had Cruz not insisted that he was out to win Florida when he had no chance, Sen. Marco Rubio might have taken the state's 99 delegates. In Utah, where Cruz had a chance, the more mature Kasich stood down and it worked. Cruz's win denied Trump any delegates. And in Ohio, with Cruz and Rubio still in, Kasich won decisively, keeping 66 delegates from Trump. Looking forward to northeastern states, Cruz is not going to win moderate conservatives, see the polls above. In Pennsylvania, a Franklin and Marshall survey showed Kasich statistically even with Trump, and Cruz a distant third. To stop Trump, Cruz has to stay out. What Republicans want -- other than the 30 percent voting for Trump -- is not a Cruz win but a brokered convention. There are fewer winner-take-all states left and there's no saying Cruz could win those in a one-on-one matchup against Trump. In moderate states coming up --and where delegates are allocated -- to deny Trump his 1,237 delegates, the party has to reverse its mantra: A vote for Cruz is a vote for Trump. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. /By Azernews/ By Nazrin Gadimova Azerbaijan and Indonesia are drafting a memorandum of understanding to further deepen cooperation in the energy and mineral resources sectors, the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry announced on March 29. The draft document was discussed during the meeting of Natig Abbasov, the countrys deputy energy minister and Husnan Vanani, the newly appointed ambassador of Indonesia to Baku. Abbasov, addressing the meeting, said Azerbaijan is interested in expanding cooperation with Indonesia in sphere of energy, adding that the intergovernmental document is of great importance in this regard. "The Indonesian side has sent its latest proposals on the draft document and now its preparation is being completed," the deputy minister added. The sides also discussed such issues as possibilities of investing in the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan, mutual exchange of experiences and prospects for increasing oil supply to Indonesia. Earlier, the Indonesian government has encouraged the countrys state oil and gas company Pertamina to invest in Azerbaijans oil and gas projects. Indonesia has been importing crude oil directly from Azerbaijan since 2015, which opens up great opportunity for Pertamina to acquire stakes in oil and gas blocks here. In mid 2015, the Indonesian delegation visited Baku to mull energy cooperation and consider opportunities for the joint work with energy-rich Azerbaijan, which enjoys great experience in the oil and gas industry. The trade between Azerbaijan and Indonesia is mostly related to the energy sector, as Azerbaijan emerged as the second biggest supplier of crude oil to Indonesia after Saudi Arabia. The bilateral trade between Azerbaijan and Indonesia reached $101 million in 2007 and increased to around $5 billion in 2015. The trade balance is heavily in favor to Azerbaijan, as the trade volume mainly dominated by Indonesian imports for Azerbaijan's oil. Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree March 29 appointing Sahir Mammadkhanov the countrys first deputy minister of taxes. Previously, Mammadkhanov served as deputy minister of taxes. He supervised the main department for tax policy and strategic studies, the main legal department, the financial and business department, the human resources department and the accounting department. Position of first deputy minister of taxes of Azerbaijan was vacant after Natig Amirov was appointed the presidential aide for economic reforms. Ilkin Valiyev was named the new deputy minister of taxes upon another presidential decree. Earlier, Valiyev served as the head of the main department for tax risks analysis and control. /By Azernews/ By Aynur Karimova Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyevs participation in the 4th Nuclear Security Summit scheduled for March 31-April 1 in Washington is appreciated as an important milestone in Azerbaijan's foreign policy. Samad Seyidov, the chairman of the international and interparliamentary relations committee at the Azerbaijani Parliament, believes that President Aliyevs joining this Summit is very important and significant. Seyidov, who also heads the Azerbaijan-U.S. parliamentary relations working group, toldTrend that the countries participating in the Summit have not been selected randomly. "These states may contribute to the nuclear safety. Therefore, Azerbaijans participation in the Summit is important given the countrys role in solving the problem of ensuring stability and security in the world, he explained. Azerbaijan, which has no nuclear weapons and nuclear power plant, has turned into a state ensuring nuclear safety in the region due to its economic potential. The country has also joined all the international nuclear safety conventions, becoming one of the few countries that ensure stability at a high level. "But unfortunately, there are countries that treat this issue from a completely different position," the MP said. Armenia, which uses nuclear technologies and which has a nuclear power plant, not only failed to ensure nuclear safety, but also a country posing nuclear threat. "The obsolete Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, which does not meet any standards and undermines nuclear safety the most, is still operating in Armenia," he said. Rob Sobhani, the CEO of the US Caspian Group Holdings, believes that the invitation by President Barack Obama to the Azerbaijani President is a reflection of Azerbaijan's strategic importance, religious tolerance, reform-oriented economy and stature as a rising star within the broader Middle East. "Most importantly, inviting President Aliyev to Washington signals the importance of Azerbaijan on the global stage," Sobhani told Trend on March 29. "Azerbaijan is no longer a former republic of the Soviet Union, but a responsible, trusted and reliable partner of the community of nations." He also said that President Aliyevs wise foreign policy of balancing Azerbaijans neighbors, their ambitions and competing interests is another reason for the invitation. "Azerbaijan maintains normal ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia despite underlying tensions," he said, adding that Azerbaijan has also pursued a path of peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict despite the Armenian occupation. "This desire to settle the conflict peacefully is appreciated in Washington. It demonstrates responsible leadership by President Ilham Aliyev," he stated. "Like a flower that blossoms after winter turns to spring, thanks to President Aliyev, Azerbaijan has blossomed into a world power." Azerbaijan greatly contributes to peace and security the world and maintains close relations with the U.S. and other countries that have joined the coalition for fight against terrorism in the world. Azerbaijan has made a significant contribution to the maintenance of security in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ariel Cohen, founder of International Market Analysis Ltd, director of the Center for Energy, Natural Resources, and Geopolitics, senior fellow at the Institute for Analysis of Global Security, stated that a leading nation in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan is a strategically vital partner to the U.S. on combating terrorism, secularism, nuclear and conventional security, energy and foreign policy. To further a stronger partnership, the U.S. should become more active in ensuring Azerbaijans regional security - notably with regards to the Armenia and the resolution of the Karabakh problem, as well as possible threats from religious extremists, Russia and Iran, Cohen told Trend. Meanwhile, MP Aydin Mirzazade believes that such an invitation also approves the high evaluation of Azerbaijan's economic development and is the result of Azerbaijan's contribution to the security in the international arena. "Azerbaijan's invitation to this Summit is an indication of the strong position of the White House to the anti-Azerbaijani campaign of the Armenian Diaspora organizations in the U.S.," he told Trend. Thus, Azerbaijan's joining the 4th Nuclear Security Summit approves the fact that the country has become an important and reliable partner in resolving most pressing and challenging problems of the world. Furthermore, one can expect that participation of President Aliyev in this Summit will pave the way for further development of relations not only with the U.S., but also with other participating countries. Being an important event, the Summit and the bilateral meetings to be held on its sidelines, can contribute to the resolution of regional conflicts and implementation of huge projects. /By Azernews/ By Nazrin Gadimova The Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis will be commemorated on March 31. The date reflects the memory of the bloody and tragic events of Azerbaijan's history that occurred in the early 20th century. Elmira Suleymanova, Azerbaijans Human Rights Commissioner has issued a statement in connection with the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis, voicing hope that the March massacre of 1918 will receive an international legal assessment as an act of genocide. In early 20th century, the Azerbaijani people faced severe challenges as a result of the deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing, genocide and deportation that have been carried out in the last two centuries by the Armenian nationalists and their supporters. The policy of genocide and deportation even more intensified in 1918-20s, when Armenians destroyed hundreds of towns and villages, including 150 Azerbaijani villages in Karabakh. As a result of purposeful ethnic cleanings more than 700,000 Azerbaijanis, including 30,000 Baku residents were brutally murdered. However, after almost 100 years had elapsed after this bloody tragedy, it has not received an international legal assessment as an act of genocide, Suleymanova said . The ombudsman believes that human rights were grossly violated during this genocide. We hope that the world community, international organizations will support the just demands of Azerbaijan that this is a brutal crime committed against humanity. We hope that this genocide will receive an international legal assessment as an act of genocide and the culprits will be punished, the statement reads. We believe that justice will prevail soon, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan will be restored, the violated rights of refugees and internally displaced persons will be ensured. The document was sent to the UN Secretary General, UN Security Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Human Rights Council, European Commission, OSCE, Council of Europe, international and European ombudsman institutes, Asian Ombudsman Association, International Peace Bureau, ombudsmen of various countries, Azerbaijans embassies in other countries and embassies of other countries in Azerbaijan and representative offices of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations. During March-April 1918, hundreds of Azerbaijanis were executed by Armenians in Baku, Shamakhi, Guba, Mughan and tens of thousands of people were expelled from their lands. Armenian Bolshevik troops led by Stepan Shaumyan massacred thousands of people, burnt Islamic shrines and confiscated the 400-million-manat estate of Baku residents. Tezepir Mosque was bombed, and one of the magnificent architectural buildings, Ismailiyyeh, was burnt down. The genocide policy pursued against Azerbaijanis was not limited to Baku. Armenian dashnaks killed 8,027 Azerbaijanis, including 2,560 women and 1,277 children, in 53 villages of Shamakhy, 110 km west of Baku, on March 31. Also, 16,000 Azerbaijanis were murdered in 122 villages of Guba, northern Azerbaijan. The evidence of the Armenian vandalism in Guba is the burial of remains of the genocide victims. The burial was discovered during the construction of a stadium in Guba in 2007. The Special Investigation Commission set up by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on July 15, 1918 collected a great number of documents and submitted them to the government. In 1919, the Azerbaijani Parliament made a decision on marking March 31 as the day of Azerbaijanis' genocide. Though this date was essentially forgotten during the Soviet times, relevant investigations on the tragedy were carried out and books were published after Azerbaijan gained independence from the USSR in 1991. President Heydar Aliyev issued a decree on March 26, 1998 to commemorate March 31 as the Day of Azerbaijanis' Genocide. "I am optimistic about timely implementation of Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)," Albanian President Bujar Nishani told journalists. "TAP, a 878km gas pipeline that will transport 10bn cubic metres of Azerbaijani gas from the Greek-Turkish border to Italy through Albania, is a great opportunity for Tirana to position itself as an energy node in Europe, "Nishani said. "Besides, it will stabilise our electricity generation capabilities, which are reliant on coal and hydropower at the moment... I have visited the construction site (for TAP), where pipes are currently being delivered, and I was impressed by the high standards of engineering involved in the project," he added. TAP's groundbreaking ceremony will take place in late May in Greek city of Thessaloniki. TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor project jointly with the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) and the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP). TAP will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Southern Italy. The project provides multiple opportunities for further transport of Caspian natural gas to some of the largest European markets such as Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland and Austria. TAP is designed for transportation of natural gas of Shahdeniz 2 to Western Europe through Greece and Albania. Annual capacity is 10 bcm of gas. However, it's possible to increase the capacity to 20 bcm. This pipeline will start to transport Azerbaijani gas in 2019. TAP shareholders are: BP 20%, SOCAR 20%, Snam S.p.A. 20%, Fluxys 19%, Enagas 16% and EGL-Axpo 5%. Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the cooperation in political, trade and economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres with the President of the European Council (EC) Donald Tusk during his visit to Brussels. Meanwhile, the parties touched upon the issues of the international agenda, in particular the situation in Ukraine and Afghanistan, as well as issues of counterterrorism, Kazakh presidents press service said March 30. Nazarbayev said that the EC is one of the important vectors of the Kazakh foreign policy and a priority direction of trade and economic cooperation. The president added that Kazakhstans parliament has ratified an Agreement on expanded and strategic partnership with the EC in the current month and it will bring the parties cooperation to a qualitatively new level. Tusk, in turn, expressed his hope that Kazakhstans close partnership with the EC will only become stronger despite the crisis tendencies in the world economy. Despite the ongoing economic challenges across the globe, the residential sector in Cairo, Egypt, continues to thrive, underpinned by a young population base, said a report. The composition of Egypts population continues to be one of the principal contributors to the countrys potential for a thriving residential sector, with more than half of the population under the age of 25, according to global property consulting firm CBRE. When combined with the recent increase in the number of marriages, demand has further strengthened, it stated. Egypts short- to medium-term economic outlook shows slowing GDP growth, with 2015/16 projections cut from 4.5 to 3.8 per cent by the World Bank reflecting limited business activity, foreign exchange shortages and a declining tourism industry, stated CBRE in its Q4 2015 Cairo MarketView. It is estimated that the gap between supply and demand in 2015 is a shortfall of 125,000 units, with demand in the city across low to high income groups reaching 225,000 units, said the report. However, there is a heavy weighting towards housing requirements for those in the low income groups, with this segment comprising 51 per cent of the total, while the high income requirement is much lower at just nine per cent of the total, it added. "Apartment rental rates of medium to high grade stock in the satellite city of New Cairo have experienced steady growth with a two-bedroom unit priced at $1,225 per month in late 2015, up by around 4.75 per cent year-on-year," remarked Mat Green, the UAE head of research and consulting, CBRE Middle East. "In comparison, average apartment rents offered in 6th of October City are significantly lower, with a typical variance of between 30 to 40 per cent recorded during the period 2012 to 2015," he added. On average, a two-bedroom apartment in 6th of October City was priced at $715 per month in 2015, which is down around 10 per cent year-on-year. According to Green, there is less of a variance between these two locations when pricing villa accommodation for rent, although New Cairo City remains the more expensive area. Three-bedroom villa rents in New Cairo have risen year-on-year since 2013 and are now priced at an average of $3,380 per month, which is an increase of four per cent year on year. The average rents for a three bedroom villa in 6th of October City have now reached $2,500 per month. In terms of capital values, there is only a marginal variation in apartment prices between New Cairo City and 6th of October City, with rates in 2015 priced at $1,225 and $1,190 per sq m respectively, according to CBRE. However, villa sales prices vary considerably between the locations of New Cairo City and 6th of October City with a price variation of almost 100 per cent in 2015. At $2,560 per sq m, New Cairo City is the most expensive location for three bedroom properties. The price of villas - on a per sq m basis - remains significantly more expensive than that of apartments, often reaching double the rates, it stated. On the retail sector, CBRE said leading developers and investors from the GCC continued to show a tangible interest in the Egyptian capital. The total stock of regional and super regional shopping mall retail space in Cairo surpassed one million sq m during 2015, with a 20 per cent year on year growth rate. "Retail is viewed as a key growth sector, with significant future expansion potential, with demand driven by a large youth population - around 60 per cent of the Egyptian population are under the age of 30," explained Green. The emergence of a more affluent middle class and a growing acceptance of modern retail concepts are also key drivers behind this growth. With this in mind, an additional one million sq m of space, doubling the current stock, is expected to completed over the next two to three years," said Green. Average retal space rents are currently around $1,400 per sq m and these are forecasted to remain stable through 2016, he added. On the office sector, CBRE said the Grade A commercial office space continues to grow in key satellite locations to the East and West of Cairo. New developments are starting to meet the standards and expectations of multinational occupiers, primarily in the business districts of New Cairo City, where approximately 40 per cent of the total supply is currently located, said the CBRE in its report. "New office supply that is due to be completed in the coming 24 months is minimal at just 60,000 sq m. However, there is a large amount of space expected to enter the market during 2018, if planned construction timelines are achieved," stated Green. Average rentals for leading Grade A projects remain stable, typically quoted between $260 310 per sq m in the New Cairo City Area, while prime buildings in Central Cairo overlooking the Nile river are achieving up to $420 per sq m. Rents in 6th of October City remain lower at $215 per sq m, stated the property expert. Current headline vacancy rates across all office gradings (A-C) in 2015 were approximately 33 per cent, a rate which has risen steadily since 2012. As the pipeline of new stock entering the market slows during 2016, vacancy rates are expected to reduce at a marginal rate, as demand starts to absorb space within newly completed buildings, added Green.-TradeArabia News Service Leading global law firm Dentons said it led the discussion on Fidic (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) contracts at the recent Big 5 Saudi Arabia conference held in Jeddah. The largest event of its kind in the kingdom, The Big 5 Saudi attracted more than 1,200 construction industry specialists to the Saudi city. Despite challenging market conditions across the region, the kingdom's $732-billion construction industry is projected to remain strong as the government continues to roll out major infrastructure development programmes, said a statement from Dentons. The adoption of Fidic-based agreements for government-led projects, such as the Haramain Rail and the Makkah Metro projects, has been a welcome development for international players. Providing insights into the interaction between Fidic and local law in Saudi Arabia, Dentons partner and head of construction in the Middle East, Andrew Jones, said: "Adopting a localised version of the Fidic contracts will encourage parties to review and negotiate the terms. It should provide contractors with more comfort regarding their contractual rights and their risk profile." However, Jones also pointed out that specific amendments will be required to ensure contract terms comply with Saudi Arabian law. Agreeing with Jones, Dentons Jeddah-based partner Anas Akel said: "There will be certain provisions in local law, as well as local norms, that signing up to a Fidic contract will not be able to overcome." However, both agree that the increased adoption of Fidic-based agreements has helped to allay contractors historical concerns regarding unfavourable terms for major projects. Major infrastructure projects, such as the planned metro works and health facilities investment, help to deliver a certain amount of economic diversification which is a key driver for Saudi Arabia, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Airwheel, a leading smart transportation vehicle manufacturer, recently announced that the company will enter the robot and artificial intelligence business. The company launched Airwheel S9, a self-balancing wheeled service robot, at the recently concluded CeBIT in Germany, marking its first step in the artificial intelligence area, said a statement from the company. Airwheel S9 can serve as a mobile robot base, as well as a smart transportation vehicle, and a mobile home monitor. Besides, it is highly scalable, ready to be connected to future extension devices in a cost-effective way, it added. Zuo Guogang, CEO of Airwheel, said: As an international company with a strong brand and a significant market share, we plan to extend our reach to personal companion, household services, smart home appliances, etc. in the future. This is how we will carry on the company, which is also in line with the trend of a smarter society, he said. However, we will not launch new products in haste before the related technologies mature. Well play it safe, being responsible for both our customers and shareholders, he added. In terms of smart transportation vehicles, Airwheel has established itself as a global leader, with more than 100 patents and over 70 certifications worldwide. Its long-term strategic partners include Sony, Panasonic, Google and Qualcomm. The brand has been registered in the worlds 168 countries, enjoying an especially high reputation in Northern Europe and part of Western Europe, said the statement. Along with Airwheel S9, the company also recently launched five new portable smart transportation vehicles, which are regarded as trend-setting products in terms of design and safety performance. As an extension of Airwheels existing product line, these products boasting extraordinary safety, endurance and individual features fully convey the companys dedication to details, material application, function design and safety design, it further added. Entering the new era of Airwheel 2.0, the company will focus on products in four categories, namely portable smart transportation vehicles, smart underwater vehicles, smart air vehicles and service robots, it said. Compared with traditional vehicles such as bicycles and automobiles, self-balancing electric vehicles are less popular, but with advantages in creativity and experience, they also appeal to customers who are open to new ideas. We hold full confidence in the market potential, Guogang concluded. TradeArabia News Service Boeing will eliminate about 4,000 jobs in its commercial airplanes division by the middle of this year and another roughly 550 jobs in a division that conducts flight and lab tests, company spokespeople told Reuters. The plane maker will reduce 1,600 positions in the commercial airplanes division through voluntary layoffs, while the rest of the cuts are expected to be completed by leaving open positions unfilled, spokesman Doug Alder said. "While there is no employment reduction target, the more we can control costs as a whole the less impact there will be to employment," Alder said. The job cuts, which will include hundreds at executive and managerial positions, will not done through involuntary layoffs, Alder said. Boeing will also cut about 10 per cent of the approximately 5,700 jobs in its test and evaluation division, which conducts flight and lab tests, spokeswoman Sandra Angers told Reuters. The company had a total of 161,400 employees as of December 31. Reuters had reported last month that Boeing was considering offering voluntary layoffs to its professional engineers and technical workers. In February, Ray Conner, chief executive of Boeing's airplane business, warned employees that job cuts were necessary to "win in the market, fund our growth and operate as a healthy business." The Seattle Times had earlier reported that Boeing has taken steps to reduce its workforce. Reuters The International Centre of Islamic Economy headquartered at the Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) has officially launched the digital portal of the 'Oasis of Innovation in Islamic Economy'. The launch took place alongside the ground-breaking of the first global oasis dedicated to incubating creative ideas and entrepreneurial projects in support of the international Islamic economy, said a statement. Dr Abdulrahman Bin Saleh Al-Atram, president of the International Centre of Islamic Economy, announced the official launch during a special conference held at Dafza which was attended by government officials, decision makers and leaders of Islamic economy sector. The attendees emphasised the importance of such a proactive step in accelerating the regional and global development of the Islamic economic system, added the statement. The digital portal is a vital tool for facilitating direct access to the advisory services available on the 'Oasis of Innovation in Islamic Economy' which is one of the creative ideas arising from International Innovative Platform for Islamic Economy Products (IIPIEP) 2015, it said. The portal aims to ensure the transformation of creative ideas and ambitious projects into practical products that support the Islamic economic growth process. The commencement of construction works on the 'Oasis of Innovation in Islamic Economy' at Dafza is an important addition to efforts towards fulfilling the objectives of Dubai Capital of the Islamic Economy Initiative as it adopts an interactive methodology that stimulates innovation and supports creative ideas which ensure optimal investment in the concept of the Islamic economy. Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, director general, Dafza, said: The introduction of the digital portal and the ground-breaking of the 'Oasis of Innovation in Islamic Economy' is the result of the close coordination and fruitful cooperation with the International Centre of Islamic Economy, which Dafza hosts in accordance with its efforts to create an ideal environment to instill innovation in the Islamic Economy which has becomes a main contributor to the success of the UAEs Economic Diversification Policy. We are confident that the portal will drive efforts to disseminate the best practices and offer the latest advisory services in support of the development of Islamic products and services conforming to the highest standards of excellence. The new portal will definitely play an important part in achieving our ambitious objective to position Dafza as a key supporter of Dubai's transformation into the capital of the global Islamic economy, he added. Al Atram said: The start of the construction is an important step towards establishing integrated and practical frameworks for transforming creative ideas and innovative projects into actual products that support the establishment of the Islamic economy as a key driver of the global economic system. The 'Oasis of Innovation in Islamic Economy' which was launched at the International Innovative Platform for Islamic Economy Products (IIPIEP) 2015 organised recently by the International Centre of Islamic Economy in partnership with Dafza and in conjunction with UAE Innovation Week 2015 which was held in line with HH UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's declaration of 2015 as the 'Year of Innovation. Besides the 'Oasis of Innovation in Islamic Economy', the IIPIEP 2015 also unveiled other creative ideas such as the 'Endowment Bank' and 'Cash-Financing Through Telecom Services which will help in further developing innovative and pioneering Islamic services and products, it added. TradeArabia News Service The Al-Hasa region in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia can become a major centre for knowledge-based and innovation-driven sectors, and the small to medium-size enterprises, as part of the kingdoms economic transformation strategy, Amin H Nasser, Saudi Aramco president and CEO, has said. In remarks made at the opening session of Al-Hasa Investment Forum 2016, Nasser reaffirmed Saudi Aramcos commitment to play a pivotal role in the kingdoms sustainable economic development and diversification, including focused development in high potential regions, such as Al-Hasa. Nasser said the company is working on multiple fronts with its partners to achieve its objectives. He said the growth potential for Al-Hasa is aligned with Saudi Aramcos business objectives of further enhancing the existing oil and gas value chain, while at the same time expanding and diversifying its portfolio into high-yielding sustainable economic sectors. Nasser said: Al-Hasa is among the richest areas for oil and gas in the world, and we are proud that it is the home of Al Ghawar, the jewel of the kingdom's oil fields and the largest conventional oil field in the world. The companys plan for Al-Hasa is by no means limited to this giant field, as we have ambitious plans to further develop oil and gas in the area. He described the recent discovery of unconventional gas in the basin of Jafurah, near Al-Hasa, as promising with the potential to generate new business and investment opportunities, and highly-specialised jobs for Saudi nationals. Nasser explained that Al-Hasa region holds a vast potential, especially in agriculture, tourism and manufacturing, among others. Al-Hasa region has ample opportunities to make a significant leap in its economy, based on its ever expanding energy sector, advanced agriculture, world-class tourism, small factories and trade, and above all, taking advantage of the conducive business environment, as the area has been for centuries the center of trade routes in the region. The promising potential of Al-Hasa is limitless, he said. He further added: Al-Hasa is one of the ideal sites for small- and medium-sized enterprises specialized in various sectors, especially the hydrocarbon supply system, petrochemical conversion industries which enjoys substantial competitive advantages. In his remarks before an audience of dignitaries and senior officials and representatives from the government, the business community and local institutions, Nasser outlined Saudi Aramcos plans and commitment to support the growth of Al-Hasa, which would benefit its people and its communities. He said one of the most important strategies adopted by the company in its effort to promote economic diversification is domestic value addition, by maximizing the local content of goods and services. This strategy will be driven by the In-Kingdom Total Value Add Program (IKTVA), initiated in 2015 by Saudi Aramco, to increase the percentage of local content of goods and services to 70 per cent over the next five years. Referring to the development of the Energy Industrial City, which was announced by the minister of petroleum and mineral resources during the Al-Hasa Investment Forum 2013, Nasser said the project, currently under development, can position the region as a major centre of growth for small and medium-size enterprises, and for entrepreneurs. He also pointed out that a key Saudi Aramco contribution to Al-Hasas human capital development was the establishment of the National Industrial Training Institute (NITI), the result of a strategic partnership between Saudi Aramco and the Technical & Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC). NITI provides industrial training to young Saudis to help meet market and industry needs, contribute to community growth, provide employment opportunities, and support the kingdoms Saudization efforts. The Al-Hasa Investment Forum is an initiative of the Al-Hasa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Saudi Aramco as a strategic partner. The forum is the premier business and economic event for Al-Hasa and the Eastern Province, and has served as an effective mechanism for stimulating growth and investment activity in Al-Hasa. - TradeArabia News Service Telecom Egypt, the state-owned landline monopoly, said it had struck a deal with Vodafone Egypt under which the mobile operator would release at least E3.34 billion ($381 million) in withheld dividends. Telecom Egypt owns 45 per cent of Vodafone Egypt, which had been withholding dividends since 2012 because of difficulties repatriating profits. In a statement on the stock exchange website on Wednesday, Telecom Egypt said a shareholders' meeting had agreed to settle the dispute, with Vodafone Egypt to pay no less than E3.34 billion in cash dividends. Telecom Egypt is entitled to 1.5 billion of those payments and the dividends would be paid in two equal instalments in April and June, the statement said. A source at the ministry of telecommunications told Reuters Vodafone Egypt, majority owned by UK-based Vodafone Group , was expected to pay 4.5 billion ($503 million) in total. Egypt's stock exchange briefly suspended trading of Telecom Egypt shares on Wednesday, after the government replaced all its representatives on the company's board of directors. The government's new representatives are Tamer Gadallah, Maged Othman, Mohamed Shamroukh, Ashraf Halim, Lobna Helal, Ahmed al-Beheiry and Hussien Gamal Al Deenas. Telecom Egypt said in 2013 it was also owed 8.8 billion Egyptian pounds in interconnection rates by mobile phone providers. Telecom Egypt charges interconnection fees to mobile providers when their customers call fixed-line numbers and vice versa.-Reuters Jumeira Rotana, a leading four-star hotel in Dubai, has welcomed Ulrich Hoffmeister as its new general manager. In his new capacity, Hoffmeister will oversee the hotels operations including 114 rooms, two outlets, one recreation facility, and the ongoing major renovation of the entire hotel adding as well new suite rooms. A native German, Hoffmeister carries over 20 years of hospitality experience. Prior to his appointment, he worked with a number of operators including, Hilton Worldwide, Rosewood, Sheraton and InterContinental Hotels. After his apprenticeship in the hotel and catering business and his subsequent certification in Germany, Hoffmeister started his first position in the stewarding department. He took over his first managerial role with Al Bustan Palace InterContinental in the capacity of duty manager. Next moves and positions included Phoenecia InterContinental Hotel in Beirut as guest relations manager as well as executive assistant manager with the opening of Rosewood Corniche Hotel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hoffmeister joined Rotana coming from Hilton Worldwide, where he headed Double Tree by Hilton Oredea. - TradeArabia News Service Grownup Stuff Fun things for adults. David Starr at Melrose Friday David Starr will be coming through Casper on Friday and making a stop from 7 to 10 p.m., at the Melrose Coffee House, 1511 South Melrose. Starr is an Americana singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer with hundreds of live shows and five solo CDs under his belt. His latest CD, Love And Sabotage, is a 15-song collection that features original compositions, co-writer collaborations and two covers. The new release also showcases Starrs many influences ranging from Southern California country rock to Delta blues to folk. The songs were recorded in several studios with the help of session veterans from Nashville, Denver and Aspen. Starr has shared the stage with such artists as John Oates (Hall & Oates), Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco), John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and numerous others. He has opened for Survivor, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, Restless Heart and The Guess Who. He also has an upcoming 2016 date as opening act for the Marshall Tucker Band. Admission is free with generous tips to the musicians encouraged and coffee drinks and desserts available. SwingSounds at Eagles Senior dance Saturday April 2, 2016 at the Eagles Hall, 306 N. Durbin St. Come and enjoy a relaxing Saturday evening and listen or dance to SwingSounds band playing your favorite true country, western swing, oldies, pop, jazz for your Saturday evening pleasure. Admission $5 per person. Dance is 7 to 10 p.m., with potluck snacks at 8 p.m., and door prize drawings at 9 p.m. Entrance at north door and parking available in the north side parking lot, parking lot across street and the entire parking area at A and Durbin streets. Come out and enjoy a night of dancing and listening enjoyment. Robbie Daniels -- 235-5130 Dance classes at CC The Casper College Community Education Department is offering three dance classes for the month of April, all taught by Machelle Holloway. The first class, Ballroom Dance: Intermediate (CMSV 0038 80), will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sundays, April 3 through Sunday April 17. This class is great for those who need a refresher class or are ready to learn more, said Holloway, adding, This class will get everyone moving to the foxtrot, jitterbug and waltz. The cost is $50 per person, and students must register with a partner. The second dance class, Ballroom Dance: Latin (CMSV 0038 81), will be taught on Tuesday evenings from 7-9 p.m. April 5 through April 26. According to Holloway, those taking the class will learn the cha-cha and salsa with great Latin, ballroom and country music. The cost is $65 per person, and students must register with a partner. The final dance offering for April is Country Swing: Intermediate (CMSV 0039 80). This class is designed for those who have taken 'Country Swing: Beginning' and want to expand on the dance steps learned in that class, Holloway said. She noted that those attending will learn more country swing, two-step and waltz. The three-week Sunday class will run April 3 through April 17 from 6:15-8:15 p.m. The cost is $50 per person, and students must register with a partner. For more information or to register, contact Laura Ryan, community education specialist at 268-3399 or laura.ryan@caspercollege.edu. Symphony season finale April 16-17 The Wyoming Symphony Orchestra is thrilled to welcome back world renowned French horn soloist Eric Ruske for the Finale of our 2015-16 season, April 16 and 17, 2016. Appointed Associate Principle Horn for the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 20, Eric Ruske has toured and recorded extensively with the Empire Brass Quintet, and appeared at Lincoln Center and numerous festivals around the globe. The Finale begins with Tchaikovskys festive Polonaise from Eugene Onegin. Then Mr. Ruske joins us on stage for Mozarts elegant Horn Concerto No. 3, and the lovely Villanelle by Dukas. The orchestra concludes the evening with the playful Ninth Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich. Tickets are available for both Saturday evening, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. and the April 17 Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m., at Casper Colleges beautiful Wheeler Concert Hall. We also offer a Family Pass which gives access to dress rehearsals on the Saturday of each concert weekend starting at noon, $10 for the entire family. Reserve your preferred seats by calling 266-1478 or in person at the office, 225 S. David Street. Tickets are also available at Wind City Books and The Hill Music Company. Discounts are available for students and seniors (65+). Visit www.wyomingsymphony.org for more information. Reading the West book discussion The Natrona County Library and Fort Caspar Museum will continue their book discussion series celebrating all things Western, from rugged heroes and horses to books that ride off into the sunset. Please join us on Tuesday, April 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Library to discuss "Give Me Eighty Men: Women and the Myth of the Fetterman Fight," by Shannon Smith. The discussion is free and open to the public. To participate, pick up your copy at the library's second floor Reference Desk. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Audition for 'Marrying Walt' Casper Theater Company will hold auditions for Marrying Walt by James Danek at 7 p.m., on April 17 at 735 CY Avenue. There are parts for three females and three males of all ages. "Marrying Walt" is a hilarious comedy with a surprise ending. Walt and Mary have been living in sin for many years and Mary believes it is time to get married. They take off for Las Vegas for a quick wedding, and when they return, they find the children are there cleaning up the house. Oh, the things they findand dont find! The performance dates are June 2-5 and June 9-12. If you are unable to be there and want to audition, or for more information, please call Casper Theater Company at 267-7243. The show is directed by Donna Fisher. Adult Coloring Club Drop by the Natrona County Library anytime between 2 and 5 p.m. on Friday for our Adult Coloring Club. Coloring isn't just for kids anymore, it's a way for anyone to overcome stress and get back to their creative side. The Adult Coloring Club meets the first and third Friday of every month from 2 to 5 p.m. for a time of relaxation, conversation, and creativity. Coloring books and pages will be available for you to turn into works of art. Colored pencils, crayons, and markers will be provided. Just bring yourself and enjoy the afternoon. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Craftastic Saturday 'Coffee & Canvas' The Natrona County Library will continue its monthly Craftastic Saturday arts and crafts program for adults on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Crawford Room. This month, while sipping some delicious coffee, you'll create your very own painting that is sure to be a work of art you'll be proud to show off to everyone. Just follow the instructor's direction at the front of the class. Come with friends, paint, sip coffee, and have fun! Supplies and space limited. Materials for this event may not be suitable for children. Craftastic Saturday is free and open to the public, and held the first Saturday of every month. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Book sale, Edible Bookfest Mark your calendars! The next book sale will be held in April. On April 21, we will be having an early bird sale. Fifty tickets will be sold at a price of $10 for the special sale beginning April 4. This will allow our customers to shop exclusively. This event was very well received. Plan to skip those long lines and get your ticket. If this doesn't work for you, the regular sale will take place on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24. Our prices are still very low with $2 for hardbacks and all other prices below that. In addition, on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., we will have two other events. We will have a silent auction of more rare items in the Crawford Room. Many of these items are old enough to be considered antique. Bid prices will be set no higher than 25% of the internet prices. You can pick up some special items for great prices! That afternoon, we are bringing back the Edible Bookfest. This should be a fun event for all. Entry forms are now available on the library website or at the circulation desk. We hope to see all of you in April! Veteran Cigar Night Every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m., all veterans are invited to Veteran Cigar Night at the Casper Cigar Company, 4717 W. Yellowstone Highway, sponsored by Casper Cigar Company. There is no cost to attend. This is a time and place for our community's combat veterans to relax and share their stories with other combat veterans while enjoying a good cigar. Veterans receive 20 percent off cigars. For more information, call Josh Cruse at (307) 337-4400 or josh@caspercigar.com Chicken collectibles on display It's time for chicks to be hatched! Come see the display of chicken collectibles at the Casper Senior Center, 1831 E. 4th St., in Casper. Spring Ring concert April 2 The Wyoming Spring Ring Handbell Festival, endorsed by Handbell Musicians of America, is Friday and Saturday. The public concert will be at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Ramkota Hotel & Convention Center ballrooms, and a free will offering will be accepted. More than 100 handbell ringers are coming from Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, and Utah, and the clinician is Debbie Rice of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Out of the box at Art 321 The Out of the Box exhibition and auction event will be a fundraiser for ART 321, much like the Pallet Project Event last year. These works of art will be judged by a prominent Portland museum curator. The deadline for submission is Saturday by 4 p.m. All works in any media are welcome. Be creative; think out of the box. Pizza boxes, shadow box, jewelry box, photo on a box, sculpture box, repurposed box. Do your creative thing! The exhibit opens April 7 at the first Art Walk of the year. Red Desert presentation at fort Fort Caspar Museum is sponsoring a presentation by Erik Molvar on Saturday, April 16, at the museum from noon to 1 p.m. Wyomings Red Desert: A Century of Conservation History explores the rich and varied conservation history of one of Wyomings most spectacular and enigmatic landscapes. Join us for a virtual tour of some its most remote and secret corners. The audience will come away with a clear understanding of the landscape and wildlife that are found in the Red Desert as well as the long history of conservation efforts by Wyoming people of widely varied backgrounds. This lecture is open to all and free with paid Museum admission; no reservations are needed. Erik Molvar is a professional photographer and wildlife biologist. Wyomings Red Desert: A Century of Conservation History is presented by the Wyoming Humanities Council as part of its ThinkWY Road Scholars Tours program. The Wyoming Humanities Council provides public humanities-based programs in partnership with local organizations and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from private donors and the Wyoming Legislature. Fort Caspar Museums winter hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. Winter admission prices are $1.50 for adults; $1 for youth (ages 13-18 years); and FREE for children (12 years and younger). For more information, call the Museum at 235-8462, or visit our website at www.fortcasparwyoming.com. Fort Caspar Museum is located at 4001 Fort Caspar Road. Art 321 auction event April 22 From 4 to 8 p.m., on Friday, April 22, 2016, the Casper Artist Guild is hosting "Out of the Box," our annual gala and fundraising event in the Art 321 space at 321 W. Midwest Ave. It will be an evening of art, music, food, fun and auctions. We have secured many outstanding live auction packages, including private parties, a guided fly fishing trip, and dining out for a year. Our most exciting package is a week for eight in Cabo San Lucas at the private home of one of our most generous donors, as well as a day of deep sea fishing on a private yacht. Get your tickets soon as we are limiting ticket sales to the first 200 attendees. Hogs and Hops Do you enjoy a nice craft beer? Do you enjoy bacon? So come down to the Yellowstone Garage and enjoy both at the same time. Yes, that is correct, beer and bacon. The Harley Owners Group (HOGS) is proud to host Casper's first beer and bacon festival on April 16. Early bird tickets purchased by March 20 are $35 each or two for $65. Sampling is 4 to 7 p.m., with live music after 7 p.m. Tickets are available online at eventbrite, and at the Oil City Harley Davidson dealership, where only cash or check will be accepted. Harley Ownership Group (HOGS) is a group of Harley Davidson owners who have come together in the area to help the community in which they live. Senior enrichment Free to men and women 60 or older. Join the tap dancing group of Joyce's Senior Stompers. It is moderate, easy, balanced clogging keeping us seniors young. It is great exercise for developing flexibility, helps coordination, increases endurance and strength and helps stimulate our brain in learning different dance routines. Exercise is important to increase lung capacity, burn calories, relieve stress, and it is fun. We meet on Monday mornings at 10:50 a.m. Call Joyce Sisk, 237-4908, for more information. Long Island Medium coming to Casper Theresa Caputo, from TLCs hit show, "Long Island Medium," will be appearing live at the Casper Events Center at 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday, April 6. Theresa will share personal stories about her life and explain how her gift works. She will deliver healing messages to audience members and give people comfort knowing that their loved ones who passed are still with them, just in a different way. Tickets can be purchased at caspereventscenter.com, 800.442.2256, or the Casper Events Center Box Office. Tickets start at $39.75 (plus applicable service charges) and are subject to change. Purchasing a ticket does not guarantee a reading. The Experience brings Theresa face-to-face with her fans, as she lets spirit guide her through the audience. A video display ensures everyone in the venue has an up-close-hands-on experience regardless of seat location. The experience isnt about believing in mediums. Its about witnessing something "life-changing, says Theresa Caputo. Its like Long Island Medium live, witnessing first-hand spirit communication. Advanced Facebook for business The Center for Training and Development at Casper College is offering a short class for owners and operators of a business Facebook page on Thursday, April 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Facebook for Your Business: Advanced (CEU 1077) will be taught by Dana Volney. Those attending the class will learn how to use Facebook to build successful and engaging campaigns for their business, she said. In addition to campaigns, students will learn Facebook marketing fundamentals including how to grow the fan base and drive topical and useful engagement with the business. The class is designed for those who have a current Facebook page that they have used before. The cost per person is $45 and those successfully completing the class will earn .2 continuing education units. All students are asked to bring a tablet or laptop to class. To register or for more information, contact Ann Dalton, workforce training specialist, at 268-2085 or adalton@caspercollege.edu. Chorale Spring Gala May 3 Casper Civic Chorale presents The Great American Songbook featuring the music of George Gershwin on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 at 6 p.m., at the Parkway Plaza. The evening will begin with dinner and dancing to live music followed by the concert at 7:30 p.m. Highlights of the program include Rhapsody in Blue played on piano by Susan Stubson, selections from Porgy and Bess and other Gershwin standards. Tickets are $35 each or $250 for a table of eight. Tickets must be purchased in advance at Donells, Hill Music or WY Music at Sunrise Mall by April 30. Be sure to purchase your tickets early to get preferential seating. Tickets have sold out each of the previous years to the CCC Spring Gala. Act now to ensure that you dont miss out on this unforgettable musical event. For questions, contact Jack at 235-9002. PHOENIX The newest state utility regulator said Tuesday he intends to seek election, even if legislators dont alter the law to absolve him of a potential conflict of interest. Two months after being appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey, Andy Tobin said he wants a four-year term of his own. He will run for one of three slots open this year on the five-member Arizona Corporation Commission. Tobin acknowledged that the commissions ethics lawyer has concluded he cannot vote on any electric rate hike matter where SolarCity has intervened. Thats because Tobins son-in-law is an inventory control specialist for the firm that manufactures and installs rooftop solar panels. The argument is that decisions made by the commission on how much utilities can charge solar customers could affect whether solar companies have to lay off workers. Tobin said he disagreed with the attorneys opinion. But Tobin said even if he cannot vote on such matters, that would not make him ineffective. He said there are plenty of other issues that come before the commission. He said he has not decided whether he will accede to the lawyers conclusion that he has a conflict because of his son-in-law. And that does not take into account that Tobins brother works for Cox Communications, albeit, he said, on the side of the company that handles cable television, which is not regulated by the commission. There may be less to that distinction than Tobin contends: Attorney General Mark Brnovich forced Tobins predecessor, Susan Bitter Smith, from office because she lobbied for Cox. Brnovich said there was no bright line between divisions of the company. On the solar issue, utilities are required to buy the power generated by customers with solar cells. Utilities want to reduce what they are required to pay or eliminate the requirement entirely. They also are proposing peak demand charges for their solar customers, charges they say ensure that everyone pays a fair share of maintaining the electric grid. In Nevada, after utility regulators adopted similar changes, SolarCity laid off workers. That raised the question of whether a similar decision by the Arizona commission would endanger the job of Tobins son-in-law. Based on that concern, a commission attorney told Tobin he could not vote on any matters involving SolarCity. Legislation proposed to alleviate Tobins possible problem spells out that it is not a legal conflict if a relative is employed by a company that might have some interest in a matter before the commission, as long as the company has at least 25 employees in the state and the relative does not assert control or decision-making authority over the entitys management or budget decisions. The legislation was approved by the House and waits a Senate vote. A former House speaker, Tobin was named in January to replace Bitter Smith. At the time Tobin said he was unsure whether he would simply fill out the balance of Bitter Smith term, which runs through the end of this year, or seek to continue. Tobin isnt the only Republican in the race. Three other Republicans are already running for the three open seats: Al Melvin, Rick Gray and incumbent Bob Burns. Democrats Bill Mundell and Tom Chabin have announced they are running for the commission. Tobin has also decided to solicit donations for his campaign, breaking with what has been the practice for several years of commission candidates avoiding private funds in favor of public financing. Proponents of public financing have argued that regulators, who act in some cases like judges, should not take money from donors. I dont think people should be intimidated by folks who make that comment, Tobin said. He also said that running with public dollars does not guarantee there will not be conflicts or ethical problems, citing criticisms of not only Bitter Smith but other current and former commissioners who have been accused of conflicts. Clearly, that hasnt solved the problem at all, he said. Tobin said he has long been opposed to the voluntary system that allows candidates for statewide and legislative office to get public dollars if they do not take outside cash. Joe Smith who works at a gas station who wants to write me a check should feel free to do so, he said. True Concord Voices & Orchestra has had quite a year a nationally released CD that made it to No. 5 on the Billboard charts; a New York City debut, and two Grammy nominations. And this weekend, they will put an exclamation mark on their remarkable season with the world-premiere of what could be the first choral work featuring the Tohono Oodham language. The ensemble, led by Conductor Eric Holtan, will perform the premiere of nationally known and Tucson-based composer Sheldon Currys Concerto Sonora. Its a work that Curry, who moved to Tucson from Nashville years ago so that his son could attend BASIS school, had initially composed as a marimba concerto for Tucson Symphony Orchestra percussionist, Homero Ceron. When Ceron played the piece for Holtan, the True Concord founder imagined how it would sound with voices. Holtan said True Concord commissioned Curry to rework the piece. Curry has two Grammy nominations to his credit and composed one of the biggest selling church anthems of all time Down to the River to Pray from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou. Curry, the music director of St. Andrews Episcopal Church, incorporated texts from poems into the three-part work, beginning with Ofelia Zepedas poem NeneI Ha-sa:gid in the native Oodham language, and Octavio Pazs Piedra Nativa, which is in Spanish. The work closes with a pair of Keats poems sung in English. The idea was to represent the cultures of Tucsons Sonoran Desert, from Oodham and Mexican influences to the Anglos. As far as Curry and Zepeda can tell, Concerto Sonora is the first work that actually uses Oodham language that is written down. Most Oodham songs are passed along orally from generation to generation, with no written record. He wanted the language to be represented, said Zepeda, a longtime University of Arizona linguist who wrote a landmark book on her native Tohono Oodham language. It was kind of experimental. I think in the end its all going to come together. On my end its another innovation for the language. ... which is always a good thing. Curry has spent 30-plus years composing everything from gospel to country songs and conducting church choirs in Tennessee, Texas and Arizona, but he said Concerto Sonora is a first for him in expanding into a language that is foreign to most listeners. Ive never seen or heard anything like it, he said. Out-of-the-box stuff seems normal to me. Its unusual but I didnt ever think this should never be done. Curry said the music has references to the Tohono Oodham ceremonial and traditional dances. It also employs a specially made instrument made by an Oodham craftsman. Ceron will be center stage in the piece and throughout True Concords American Rhythm concert, which the ensemble performs four times beginning Friday, April 1. We started off in our season proper with music for choir and brass, and then it was strings and dance, and then we had concerts focused on voices and a concert with Guy Whatley and the organ, Holtan explained. And now were doing percussion with voices. Its showcasing our versatility of what we do. American Rhythm includes works by Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland. The choir also will perform superstar choral composer Eric Whitacres Cloudburst, which Holtan described as a musical depiction of a thunder storm. Its really cool, he said, describing how the song builds with big cluster chords and arpeggiating piano. Rumbling percussion creates clapping thunder that explodes in a hard rainfall effected by finger snapping. Its a major effect that really works, Holtan said. It doesnt seem contrived as a listener. You really get the sense of rain hitting the rooftops. What a relief it was last week that Arizonas latest election scandal did not happen in Pima County. For once, Maricopa County officials spent the days after the election explaining their steps and missteps. It was the Arizona secretary of state and the Maricopa County recorder who were grilled by angry citizens standing just a few feet away during a hearing at the Capitol Monday. Not officials from Pima County or Tucson. A relief, yes, but we should stash away any satisfaction we might feel. It could have been us. The governing ideology caused the difficult situation in which bad decisions were made, and it is still running the state. Thanks to Arizonas belief in government on the cheap, the Fiasco in Phoenix might well have been the Trouble in Tucson. Just look back a year ago to April 10. County officials were puzzling over how to run this years presidential preference election. One of the options was to go down from 124 planned polling places to 30 voting centers in Pima County. The cost differential between 30 voting centers and operating 124 polling locations is $100,000, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry wrote in a memo to the Board of Supervisors. Hence, it is likely we will conduct the 2016 PPE using 124 polling locations. The Pima County Board of Supervisors didnt make its decision till January, but it opted to spend a little more money and be sure to have enough polling places. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors made the opposite choice. Elections Director Karen Osborne told the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in February, when that board was finally getting around to approving its process for the presidential preference election, that cost was a top concern. Thats why the county decided to set up 60 voting centers around the county, where anyone could vote, instead of more than 200 precinct polling places. We have had, at your direction, to try and keep the (presidential) preference election as cheap as humans can do it, she said. We have tried to do our best to bring you an election we can afford. The result, of course, was people waiting up to five hours in line to vote, and some not being able to vote at all. Theories have abounded that last weeks long lines in Maricopa County were an expression of Arizonas efforts at voter suppression. Depending on who was talking, either Democrat Bernie Sanders or Republican Donald Trump were the intended victims. Its true Arizonas voters and Legislature have been gradually making it more difficult for some to cast a ballot. The first notable step this direction was when we voted to require that voters show ID before they cast a ballot. The most recent was when the Legislature voted this year to make it a felony for most people to deliver a mail-in ballot for another person. But last weeks problems have a different root, one I like to call AZsterity, the Grand Canyon States version of austerity. Its our penchant to cut spending till disaster strikes, then scramble to address the crisis weve created. Look at our former Child Protective Services agency and our public school system for two examples. The state has long ordered counties to carry out presidential preference elections but promised only to reimburse them at the rate of $1.25 per registered voter. That hasnt covered costs. The counties have been subsidizing our elections for years, Pima Countys longtime recorder, F. Ann Rodriguez, told me. The state puts all the rules and gives the funding but they dont give you enough to do what they are telling you to do. That was supposed to change this year. In 2012, the Legislature passed a bill that required the state to reimburse the counties for all their presidential-preference costs. But when the state budget was passed a year ago, it did not include the required funding. Instead it included language reverting to the $1.25-per-voter plan. This was not true of this years Prop. 123 special election, a priority of the governor and legislative leaders that takes place in May. When the Legislature sent the school-funding plan to the governor in October, it included funding to run the election. A bill, HB 2567, is being considered that would cover the counties costs for handling of this years presidential-preference election. But the bill also contains language eliminating the states involvement with running presidential preference elections. The reimbursement should be non-controversial, but the latter change is rightly subject to much debate. Our current system, in which the state pays for the election but only registered party members can vote, is obsolete because it requires the third of Arizona voters who are not registered members of a party to pay for the elections. The question is whether to hand off responsibility for selecting candidates to the parties. The tendency among Republicans has been to shed responsibility for the whole thing and let the parties set up caucuses or some other selection process. But Gov. Doug Ducey surprisingly came out last week in favor of allowing independents to vote in these elections. That would pretty much obligate the state to pay for future presidential-preference elections, because you cant ask the parties to run a selection process that non-members vote in. In my view, Duceys preferred option is the best of two tough choices: Party-run elections that will probably limit participation because of a need for the parties to minimize spending, or state- and county-run elections that increase participation but cost the taxpayers. The $9 million that the counties estimate this years election cost is a small price to pay for well-run, highly participatory presidential-preference elections even if the cost must be a bit higher to ensure Maricopa voters get to vote. It would also be a welcome turn away from the unrealistic expectations of government on the cheap. PHOENIX A federal appeals court Tuesday stopped another bid by state officials and other tribes to block the Tohono Oodham Nation from conducting full-blown gaming at its Glendale casino. In a unanimous ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments that the deal negotiated between the state and the tribe does not permit the Tohono Oodham to operate a casino on land that was not part of its reservation at the time. Justice Carlos Bea, writing for the panel, said its irrelevant whether state officials thought and even contend they and the voters who approved the deal were led to believe that such gaming was not permitted. Bea pointed out that the agreement, formally known as a compact, was negotiated at length by sophisticated parties. And he said the words in that deal are all that matter, no matter what the state and other tribes allege in their lawsuit. The language is unambiguous and not reasonably susceptible to the plaintiffs interpretation that the compact implicitly bars the nation from gaming in the Phoenix area, Bea wrote. He said any evidence to the contrary which is not part of the agreement is legally irrelevant and therefore must be rejected. While this litigation has been going on, the tribe has opened the casino on the edge of Glendale with Class II gaming, something the state cannot regulate. That permits them to operate devices that look like slot machines but use a different kind of program to determine winners. The tribe still wants certification for Class III gaming, which would allow the different slot machines and the ability to operate games like blackjack, poker and roulette. Neither the state nor the Gila River Indian Community, which stands to lose business to the new casino, appear ready to give up, despite Tuesdays ruling affirming the right of the tribe under federal law and the compact to operate Class III gaming. Daniel Scarpinato, press aide to Gov. Doug Ducey, who opposes the casino, said his boss is encouraging the states lawyers to explore all options to make sure Arizonas interests are considered. If this ruling is not overturned, Ducey and the Gila River Indian Community have one more line of attack to kill the casino: federal legislation. The proposal by Republican U.S. Rep. Trent Franks would retroactively alter the 1986 law that gives the tribe the right to buy the Glendale property and operate a casino there. Franks has failed twice to get congressional approval. But Manuel Johnson, spokesman for the Gila River community, said it should be resurrected, saying it would settle the issue, regardless of whether federal courts say the compact is valid. Simply put, the (Tohono Oodham) Nation broke its promise to Arizona voters and to its sister tribes across the state by negotiating in bad faith and opening a casino off traditional reservation lands, something Nation leaders for years assured one and all they would not do, Johnson said in a statement. That claim goes to the heart of both this lawsuit and the federal legislation. Challengers say Tohono Oodham officials took actions during negotiations they contend led everyone, including voters, to believe that gaming would be limited to reservations that existed in 2002. And they said Tohono Oodham Nation representatives were actively involved with leaders of other tribes in preparing documents in support of Proposition 202, the 2002 initiative that gave tribes the exclusive right to operate casinos, which said there will be no additional facilities authorized in Phoenix, and only one additional facility permitted in Tucson. Bea said none of that matters. He pointed out that the compact itself says it contains the entire agreement of the parties. More to the point, it says that no other statement, agreement, or promise made by any party, officer, or agent of any party shall be valid or binding. The bottom line, said Bea, is that federal law allows the tribe to operate Class III gaming at the Glendale site and nothing in the written deal with the state contradicts that. Tuesdays ruling does not end the bid by the tribe to conduct Class III gaming on the site. The states gaming director has refused to issue the necessary permits. Daniel Bergin is claiming that the tribe had a secret plan to build the casino on non-reservation land before the compact was negotiated and voters ratified the language. He contends the tribe hid that fact. That, he contends, makes the tribe legally unfit to operate the casino. The tribe disagrees and is asking U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell to remove the hurdle. Campbell has yet to rule. The Tucson Unified School District has been ordered to improve racial diversity among its teachers. In a district that has spent years under federal oversight for desegregation efforts, U.S. District Judge David Bury has told it to reduce by half the number of schools where racial disparities exist among the teaching staff affecting more than one-third of TUSD schools. The district is to achieve racial balance of its teachers by: Using financial incentives, workload adjustments and potential for promotions to encourage voluntary transfers that improve staff diversity; Prohibiting teachers from transferring to schools where they would create, or exacerbate, racial disparities, and; Prioritizing transfer requests that help with racial balance. Educators who are grounded in the day-to-day experiences of their students and communities bring more-favorable views of students of color and more positive perceptions regarding their academic potential, according to a 2014 National Education Association report on teacher diversity. They frequently teach with a greater level of social consciousness than do others, appear to be more committed to teaching students of color, more drawn to teaching in difficult-to-staff urban schools and are more apt to persist in those settings, the NEA report states. The research also implies that same-race teachers are more effective in teaching students of their respective race. The order stems from TUSDs decades-old desegregation order, which requires TUSD to track its teachers by ethnicity and school to identify significant disparities more than a 15 percentage point difference between African-American and Latino teachers and districtwide percentages at comparable grade levels. While 69 percent of TUSD students identify as African-American or Hispanic, that is true for only 31 percent of the districts teachers. Meanwhile, Anglos make up about 21 percent of TUSDs student population but 66 percent of the teaching staff. Last year, one TUSD school Collier Elementary, 3900 N. Bear Canyon Road did not have a single teacher of color. That has changed this year as one Asian teacher has been hired. Meanwhile, Holladay Elementary, 1110 E. 33rd St., which has a Hispanic student population of 71 percent, had no Hispanic teachers last school year. One Hispanic teacher was hired this school year. Tucson Education Association President Jason Freed, who is white, started his teaching career in a school that was 90 percent minority, and despite not looking like the majority of his students, says he feels he was able to connect and be effective because of his enthusiasm. The value of students being exposed to all walks of life is so that they have a deeper and more enriching experience when it comes to the school setting, but that doesnt mean any one thing, he said. Culture could be part of that, ethnicity can be part of that, gender can be part of that, but so can growing up in the Southwest. We all bring different things to the table, I just dont know that we need to narrowly define what that looks like. Freed says he is alarmed by the message the court order sends. We should be hesitant crossing over to fearful of the language that exists in this court order, he said. Teachers actively choose the site they are at for a myriad of reasons, and theyre where they are because they want to be there. He is also concerned about employee morale when incentives are being given only to certain teachers or if teachers are restricted from transferring to a site that best suits them. We have to find every way to entice educators to stay in the profession as well as for people to choose this as a profession, so any impediment to that end is something we have to be cautious about, Freed said. TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez embraces the court order, challenging as it may be to meet. I think it has the potential as its written, if we can make it work, to have a positive impact, Sanchez said. I dont see it as a negative to have greater diversity on campuses. The TUSD leaders own experience as a student is behind that support, having gone through high school with all white teachers. It wasnt until college that Sanchez says he met his first minority teacher, who inspired him to switch from majoring in chemistry to English. Not to say that all of my Anglo teachers did a terrible job they were great, but I appreciated the opportunity to have some commonality with a teacher early in my college career, he said. If we can get minority teachers to campuses where there isnt as large a presence, those minority kids will see opportunity reflected in those teachers, and where we have Anglo teachers who are in short supply, if they go out to other sites that the same thing can happen their skill and expertise can open the eyes of students to some possibilities. While Sanchez is aware that some teachers may be limited in where they can teach as a result of the order, he hopes that with more than 80 schools to choose from, everyone will be able to find something that is appealing. Under the court order, TUSD is to develop and implement a plan for the next school year that reduces by half the number of schools with significant disparities and to eliminate all significant disparities by the 2017-18 school year. PHOENIX The state House gave final approval Tuesday to a major overhaul of campaign finance laws, including allowing individuals to spend unlimited amounts of money to help raise funds for candidates they support without having to disclose it to the public. On a 31-27 vote largely along party lines, lawmakers agreed to scrap the $100 cap on what people can spend in tickets, food and liquor for fundraisers for candidates. SB 1516 also eliminates existing law that requires groups spending money to influence elections to register first with the state. Those groups also could refuse to disclose donors if they have registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a social welfare organization. It also would allow candidates with large campaign war chests to transfer money to others. The measure, which now goes to the governor, also allows groups to spend unlimited amounts, including corporate dollars, to try to change state law while leaving voters in the dark about who is behind the campaign. I think transparency is a good principle, said Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, the prime proponent of the legislation. But it is not the overarching principle. He cited a 1950s case where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state of Alabama could not force the NAACP to disclose its members in order to do business in the state because it could lead to harassment of those members. Mesnard said donors to dark-money groups are entitled to the same protection, suggesting the government would go after those whose views it does not like. We have a right to speech, which our money is speech, Mesnard said. We have a right to privacy in those associations. But Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, noted that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in the 2010 Citizens United ruling opening the door to corporate donations, said nothing in that decision precludes states from forcing groups seeking to influence elections to disclose their donors. Requiring people to stand up in public for their political acts fosters civic courage, without which democracy is doomed, Scalia wrote. For my part, I do not look forward to a society which, thanks to the Supreme Court, campaigns anonymously and even exercises the direct democracy of initiative and referendum hidden from public scrutiny and protected from the accountability of criticism. Clark, who led the opposition, focused much of his concern on what he called the kingmaker provision allowing inter-candidate transfers. Clark said that permits the person with the money especially a party leader or other elected official to exercise undue influence over other legislators. Those transfers were made illegal as part of a 1986 voter-approved rewrite of campaign finance laws. And Rep. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Phoenix, who was in the Legislature before the change, said she saw how that worked. She said rank-and-file Republican lawmakers were called into the office of Burton Barr, who was the House majority leader and who also had one of the largest campaign finance treasuries in the state. McCune Davis said those lawmakers said they were told that funding for their re-election campaigns was linked to voting for a particular piece of legislation that GOP leadership wanted. Mesnard said he didnt see the big deal. He said the recipients of the money would still have to disclose who gave them the money. But McCune Davis pointed out that campaign finance reports would contain only the name of the other politician who provided the money. What it would not show, she said, is where that politician got his or her money. That inter-candidate transfer provision also bothered Rep. Noel Campbell, R-Prescott, enough for him to break party ranks and oppose the measure along with fellow Republicans Reps. Chris Ackerley of Sahuarita, Kate Brophy McGee of Phoenix and Michelle Ugenti-Rita of Scottsdale. That question of what the public will no longer know is at the heart of the debate over SB 1516. For example, current law allows people to host a fundraiser for a candidate. But the law limits those expenses to no more than $100. SB 1516 removes all limits, permitting someone with resources to put on a $5,000-a-plate fundraiser for legislators and absorb all the costs. So the cost of the affair and even who paid for it would never be reported to the public even though the candidate would know the benefactor. The measure also makes other significant changes. Current law requires those who seek to influence campaigns to first register with the state and then disclose expenditures. And if they spend at least half their money on campaigns, they also are required to publicly list their donors. SB 1516 sets out a presumption that if the IRS recognizes the group as a social welfare group, there need be no reporting at all. Clark said a group could register with the IRS and it could take a year or more long after the election was over to figure out whether it really qualified for that social welfare status. Rep. Randall Friese, D-Tucson, said Arizonans dont need to look far for examples of hidden donations. Campaign finance records show that Save Our Future Now and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club together spent more than $3 million on the 2014 Arizona Corporation Commission campaign. Both groups disclosed their expenditures but have refused to reveal their donors because of the social welfare status. And Friese pointed out that Arizona Public Service Co. has refused to confirm or deny it gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to either group. This has nothing to do with benefiting the voters, Rep. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, said of the measure. RICHMOND, Va. Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has taken her push for tougher gun laws to Virginia and Delaware. Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, announced Tuesday at a Richmond news conference the formation of the Virginia Coalition for Common Sense. The group will advocate for legislation aimed at preventing guns from getting into the hands of dangerous people. A top priority will be advocating for mandatory background checks at gun shows. On Monday, Giffords and Kelly announced the formation of the Delaware Coalition for Common Sense. It hopes to prevent gun sellers from completing a purchase if a background check takes longer than three days. They recently helped form a similar group in Minnesota. Giffords was gravely wounded in the 2011 Tucson shooting spree that left six dead and 13 wounded. Gregory Valencia Shot man in case involving stolen bicycle. Joey Healer Killed man who paid him to run errands. PHOENIX Two inmates who as juvenile killers in Tucson were deemed too dangerous to ever let out of prison will now get a chance to be released someday. The state Court of Appeals said Monday that a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court says life sentences can be imposed only on the rarest of juvenile offenders, those whose crimes reflect permanent incorrigibility. And Judge Philip Espinosa, writing for the unanimous court, pointed out that the justices said their ruling is retroactive, meaning it applies to prior sentences. But the ruling does not guarantee that either Joey Lee Healer, 38, or Gregory Valencia Jr., 37 both behind bars for separate killings in the 1990s will escape their life prison terms. Instead, it gives their attorneys a chance to argue to judges that they should be able to get out eventually. Healer at age 16, killed Chester Iserman, a retired railroad worker, so he could steal his pickup truck. In imposing the life term, former Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo said he considered Healer too dangerous to ever be released. Its not easy to accept that one so young poses a threat to society, the judge wrote. But Leonardo said the evidence showed the 1994 slaying was not impulsive but instead the calculated, cold-blooded murder of the 74-year-old victim, who treated Healer kindly by paying him money to run errands. In the other case, Valencia was convicted in the 1995 killing of 45-year-old Fred George, a south-side Tucson neighborhood activist. Prosecutors said Valencia shot George after the victim confronted teens outside his Midvale Park condominium. George had said he was going to call police about a bicycle Valencia and another teen had stolen. Thats when Valencia shot George once behind the left ear. The defendant is a continuing threat to the community, former Pima County Superior Court Judge Margaret Houghton said at the time. The court believes that the only way to protect the public from Gregory Valencia is through a natural life sentence. Prosecutors argued to the appellate court that the Supreme Court ruling should not entitle the pair to resentencing because their life sentences were not mandatory. But Espinosa said the high court ruling renders a life sentence constitutionally impermissible, notwithstanding the sentencing courts decision to impose a lesser term, unless the court takes into account how children are different and how those differences counsel against irrevocably sentencing them to a lifetime in prison. And he said that, even after taking those factors into account, a court can impose a life term only if it concludes that the juvenile defendants crimes reflect permanent incorrigibility. Help India! New Delhi : A Congress delegation met President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday to seek removal of University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao from his post. We met President Pranab Mukherjee and apprised him about the tense situation prevailing at Hyderabad central university. We have sought the vice chancellors removal as people who are responsible for the tension in educational institutions should not be allowed to continue, senior party leader Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here. Support TwoCircles The former home minister noted that though a case after the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has already been registered against Appa Rao, he had rejoined but neither the human resource development ministry nor police had taken any action against him. Shinde, who had met arrested students and faculty members in a Hyderabad jail on Monday, also charged the Narendra Modi government with igniting communal tensions in educational institutions. They are igniting communal tensions. The people who are heading various ministries and departments are not paying any heed to the atrocities on the backward students, he said. They talk about Babasaheb Ambedkar and are celebrating his 125th anniversary, but they are silent when atrocities are being committed on the people for whom he had fought to get equality as human beings, he added. The delegation, led by party leader in Lok Sabha Mallikrajun Kharge, submitted a ten point memorandum to the president. Its members included Sheila Dikshit, Anand Sharma, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Maken, and Randeep Singh Surjewala. I don't know Patty Duke. I've never heard about her. I haven't read about her until today. Because she passed away, her name rang in cyberspace. In her dying time, she didn't top Twitter's trend. It seems everyone was waiting for her to die before singing her praise. How many talked about her sepsis before she died? How many began to praise her as she struggled on earth? How many people sent her praises? How many mentions did she get on social media? How many people carried her name in their mouths? Perhaps, we are too fascinated with praising those who leave but cannot praise them while they are still with us. It is indeed a shame how we treat these iconic figures. Our so-called heroes/superstars gainour attention during their bright years, but when that light deems after they lose their energetic presence through sickness, age or drugs we quickly move on to the next one. It's a message about our society: whatever is reigning draws our attention, and everything else falls to oblivion. History reveals that we've been an unkind and hypocritical bunch to our stars. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Robin Williams, David Bowie, just to mention those few, have suffered from our collective neglect. We pay much attention to their works and criticise their personal lives. We are too holy to proffer solutions. However, our fascination about their lives when they finally leave earth is worrying. If we cannot worship and adore them even in their trying times, then we should quit writing/posting beautiful epitaphs on social media. It abuses them. Yes, we could argue that it's fair to respect the dead; but what about respecting the living before they die? People, they say, don't usually get the flowers when they can still smell them. Once in a while, it's good to praise the ones who have gone away from the spotlight. Let's make them trend on social media. Wherever Patty Duke is, I hope she rests in perfect peace and may she serve as a lesson to our collective disservice to those we claim to love. "The focus of my work is the profound consideration and the emotion of the ink," says Lan Zhenghui, one of China's leading contemporary artists. His towering new installation Ink Monument has been on view at Art Central Hong Kong at the iconic Central Harbourfront. Commissioned by Art Central's selection committee, Lan Zhenghui's installation Ink Monument stands more than five meters high, with a colossal four-sided column of large-scale ink paintings on rice paper. Lan said he created his new master-work to express the power of sadness and an epic awareness of tragedy. Celebrated Chinese artist Lan Zhenghui is known for his large-scale use of ink, blending traditional Chinese technique with Western expressionism. Provided to China Daily Lan, whose work is regularly exhibited at Ethan Cohen New York Gallery, is set to embark on a US tour later this year that includes a residency at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, New Jersey, and university lectures in multiple US cities. This is the second year that the Art Central selection committee has invited Lan Zhenghui for a major installation. At 2015's Hong Kong Art Week, Lan's installation titled Re-Think was a highlight of the Art Central fair and the entire installation was purchased. Critics have applauded Lan for taking the freehand strokes of traditional Chinese painting to new, monumental levels by infusing them with the abstractions and expressiveness found in modern painting. "What makes this new installation completely different for me is that I have been challenged by dimensions required by the selection committee and translating this into the necessary sense of space - to then construct a dignified phenomenon of transcending tragedy, representing the mortality we all face. I would have liked to reach higher to even greater heights," he said in a statement. Lan says he draws his inspiration from the ink itself. By inhabiting the aesthetic confluence between traditional Chinese Ink painting and Western abstract expressionism, Lan tries to find ways of reinventing both. As he puts it, he lets the ink flow and discover its own momentum through his bold, kinetic, strokes, liberating it from being defined by its form. "But the spirits of Chinese landscapes still linger like ghosts in the canvas," he said. "They haunt both the process - the brushstrokes, the vectoring - and the resulting shapes. Mountains, rivers, storms, even figures, surge and evaporate subliminally." Born in Sichuan province in 1959, Lan graduated in 1987 from one of China's most prestigious art academies - the Sichuan Academy of Art, whose celebrated alumni include Zhang Xiaogang and Zhou Chunya. Lan has focused his career working in contemporary ink painting and calligraphy, with a vision to find new ways of creating art via ink traditions. Known for monumental, large-scale abstract ink paintings, Lan's work, as critics have noted, departs from Chinese ink traditions through his raw individualism, emotional expressiveness, and physicality. The result is bold, varying densities of ink application and the artist splashing ink directly onto the paper. Most recently, Lan's work has been featured in the US in a traveling exhibition titled 28 Chinese, an exhibition of Chinese artists gathered by American collectors Don and Mera Rubell after 10 years of visiting artists' studios in China. The show was launched during Art Basel Miami Beach and has traveled to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the San Antonio Museum of Art. Lan's work has been shown at the China National Art Museum in Beijing; at China's Guangdong Museum of Art; the Gallerie du Monde Hong Kong; The Third Biennial China-Italia in Turin, Italy; the Flemish Museum of Art Museum in Brussels; the Art Institute of Chicago; the International Art Expo in Taibei; the Duolun Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai; at Art Dubai; SDMOMA, Shanghai; and the Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany. His work appears in the public collections of the China National Art Museum in Beijing; the British Consulate at Guangzhou; the Chinese Cultural Centre of Toronto; and the Artron Group of China, among others. He is represented by Ethan Cohen New York and Canadian Fine Arts in Toronto. The artist has been selected by some of the world's leading luxury brands for special projects, including Mercedes-Maybach and Volkswagen Phaeton. Contact the writer at chrisdavis@chinadailyusa.com. (China Daily USA 03/30/2016 page2) Premier Li vows further efforts for clean governance Updated: 2016-03-28 23:11 (Xinhua) Chinese PremierLi Keqiangspeaks during the fourth meeting on clean governance in Beijing, March 28, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] BEIJING -- The Chinese government will further transform its functions, improve accountability mechanisms and strengthen supervision over key sectors plagued by corruption, Premier Li Keqiang said Monday. Li made the remarks during the fourth meeting on clean governance, putting forward requirements for anti-corruption work in 2016. The premier said significant results were achieved in anti-graft work last year, with continued efforts made by governments at all levels on rectifying workstyles, devolving powers, managing public assets and limiting misuse of power. However, corruption still exists in key sectors as anti-graft mechanisms remain weak in some government agencies, state-owned enterprises, public institutions and financial institutions, Li said. Li called for further crackdown on corruption in key sectors to ensure economic growth and social stability amid a more challenging situation of development in China this year. Chinese government will slash more administrative items this year and increase openness, the premier said. Li said the State Council, China's cabinet, will continue inspections of various departments and local governments this year and hold officials accountable if they are reluctant to rectify problems. The premier also proposed an electronic system to make public resource trading more transparent. Financial supervision and regulation should be improved to prevent violations and corruption in the sector, Li said. The meeting was attended by vice premiers Zhang Gaoli, Wang Yang and Ma Kai. Wang Qishan, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, attended the meeting on invitation. Pink fish makes a splash in ancient town Updated: 2016-03-29 02:47 By DENG ZHANGYU(China Daily) A visitor takes pictures in front of the pink Floating Fish in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, on Sunday. Zhang Di / For China Daily After his giant Yellow Duck debuted in Hong Kong three years ago, Florentijn Hofman has made a giant pink Floating Fish for Wuzhen, an ancient water town in Zhejiang province. It is the first time the Dutch artist has made an animal-related work on the Chinese mainland. The 15-meter-long, 7-meter-high fish made from thousands of swimming kickboards for children floats on a pond at a theater in Wuzhen. It was shown to the public on Sunday as part of the Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition. "I got inspiration from Wuzhen and from a Chinese folk story that a fish jumping the dragon gate' brings luck and wealth for people," Hofman said. Six months ago, he was invited by the Culture Wuzhen Company to create a work for the art show, which features works by influential artists. Hofman then visited Wuzhen, one of the country's most popular tourist towns, where he saw windows of wooden houses with fish sculptures and also carp swimming in rivers, from where he says his inspiration came from. The theater looks like a sea world and the dolphin-shaped water area fits well with the fish installation, he said. He chose pink for his fish so that it would stand out from its surroundings. "It looks like a killer whale, but it's not really. ... It has connections to Wuzhen and the Chinese folk story that's why its scales look like the scales of a dragon," he said. Hofman drew the image for Floating Fish, which was completed by Chinese workers using domestically produced materials. All communication for the project was carried out through e-mails, videos, photos and instant messaging. In China, Hofman has been called the "father of the giant Yellow Duck" because of the duck's popularity among Chinese people. However, he says his four children's toys inspired him to do animal-related installations. Besides rabbits, bears, the Yellow Duck and now the fish, Hofman said more animals will be added to his works. He said he hopes visitors can touch the pink fish gently, of course adding that he doesn't like the way in which many public works are treated in China, with visitors not allowed to touch them. "It's just like your neighbor's car. Why not touch it, as long as you treat it gently," he said. Chen Xianghong, president of the Culture Wuzhen Company, said he will buy Floating Fish for Wuzhen after the show ends in June. But some residents are not so impressed. "I don't like the pink fish. It's not a good-looking one. Holman's Yellow Duck is cute, but the fish doesn't fit with the environment of our water town," resident Ye Jun said. The houses in Wuzhen have white walls and gray tiles. Li calls for focus on clean govt, growth Updated: 2016-03-29 08:11 By Zhang Yue(China Daily) Administrations at all levels are required to contribute to the building of the nation's clean governance system while maintaining the economy's growth momentum. The requirement was set forth by Premier Li Keqiang at a State Council meeting on clean governance on Monday. Wang Qishan, head of the nation's anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, was present at the meeting, and provincial governors participated via teleconference. Li stressed that while maintaining "an appropriate range" of economic growth, the government must also make further progress in its fight against corruption and efforts to improve public services. Several key measures will be implemented to establish clean governance and combat corruption this year. First, the government will have to slash more requirements for administrative approval. Investments will no longer require mandatory review unless they are related to security or environmental protection. Second, officials will be held accountable for implementing key policies and projects from the State Council this year, and awards will be given to those who work effectively in this regard. Third, strict inspection will be carried out on special financial funds and government spending, and more money will be spent on weaker sectors and to improve people's livelihood. Li also required government at all levels to provide a clear list of government powers. The government is also required to use Internet technology and big data, both in supervising various departments as well as for future trading of public resources, to avoid any possible corruption. The government made strides last year in establishing effective, clean governance as well as streamlining power. A total of 311 items were removed from the administrative examination and approval list or delegated to lower levels, and items requiring central government pricing were reduced by 80 percent. Government funds were used more effectively as a result of such efforts. Additionally, the Skynet campaign brought back more than 1,000 economic fugitives from overseas last year to face trial. Ji Weidong, dean of KoGuan Law School at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said he believes such efforts will better help China to stimulate market impetus, although a continuous effort will be needed. He also stressed that using Internet technology for data collection in department supervision is a good and effective idea, but added that such supervision must respect market and personal diversity. zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 03/29/2016 page3) Ocean theme park celebrates 2 Updated: 2016-03-29 17:52 By Qiu Quanlin in Zhuhai, Guangdong(chinadaily.com.cn) People create the number 2 in honor of the second anniversary of the Zhuhai Chimelong International Ocean Tourist Resort in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on March 29, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Zhuhai Chimelong International Ocean Tourist Resort, a premium ocean theme park owned by the Chimelong Group, has received more than 25 million visits since it opened two years ago, according to official company figures. The resort, which is located in the free trade zone of Hengqin in Zhuhai, includes the world's largest ocean-themed park, three luxury hotels and an international circus center. The rapid increase of tourists has helped boost passenger flow in the Zhuhai airport, as well as promote the city's oceanic tourist resources, according to the company. In 2015, passenger flow in the Zhuhai airport increased by 41.5 percent year-on-year, according to the local government sources After wide expansion in the local tourism sector, Chimelong Group signed an agreement worth up to 50 billion yuan ($7.68 billion) with the local government at the end of 2015, and plans to increase its presence in the local market in the years ahead. Chimelong Group, based in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, also owns a large safari park in Guangzhou's Panyu district, which is known for its role in helping nurture the world's only live giant panda triplets in 2014. Survey to outline situation of left-behind children Updated: 2016-03-29 21:23 By Luo Wangshu(chinadaily.com.cn) A national survey will be conducted of left-behind children in rural areas, authorities said on Tuesday. The survey, which will run until late July, will be conducted by the ministries of civil affairs, education and public security. Information on the children, including how many there are, as well as their family and education, is expected to be released at the end of August. "There are no accurate national statistics of left-behind children in rural areas. The upcoming survey is designed to understand their real situation and better support those children in need," said Wang Jinhua, head of the Social Affairs Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The survey will focus on children under 16 whose parents are both migrant workers and absent from home, or where one parent is a migrant worker and the other is unable to provide care. Children's personal and family information will be registered. Personal information includes date of birth, sex, education, identification number, residential address, health and whether they board at school. Family information includes parents' working address, the major source of family income and guardian information. According to a survey released by the All-China Women's Federation in 2013, China has about 61 million left-behind children. The Ministry of Education said that in 2015 there were more than 20 million left-behind children in rural areas from grades 1 to 9. "The upcoming survey expands the age, collecting information from 0 to 16, not only limited to the school age kids," said Du Kewei, an official from the Ministry of Education. In recent years, a number of tragedies have called attention to the plight of those children. Last year in Bijie, Guizhou province, four children of absent migrant workers committed suicide at home. They were aged 5 to 13. Also in Bijie last year, a 15-year-old girl and her 13-year-old brother were killed at home. Police found that the girl had been sexually assaulted before she was murdered. Their parents were migrant workers away from home. "The best way to solve the plight of left-behind children is to allow them to grow up with their parents. The survey might be able to allow government to make further policies toward that goal," said Yang Yuansong, a teacher from a rural area in Guizhou. China, Israel to begin talks on free trade agreement as ties deepen Updated: 2016-03-30 08:19 By Zhang Yunbi in Jerusalem(China Daily USA) China and Israel agreed on Tuesday to start long-awaited negotiations on a free trade agreement. The consensus came during talks in Jerusalem between Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While addressing the second meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation after the talks, Netanyahu said, "This (the consensus on starting FTA talks) is a momentous development and we are ready to do so right away." Vice-Premier Liu Yandong talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the second meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Zhang Yunbi / China Daily Netanyahu noted that China is now Israel's third-largest trading partner, with annual trade of over $10 billion. "We have ... the potential for a lot more," he said. Liu said cooperation on innovation is developing rapidly in various fields such as the economy and trade, and she suggested "reinforcing the effective dovetailing of innovation strategies" on both sides. Bilateral trade has increased notably since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992. Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang confirmed in March last year that the two countries had completed a feasibility study for a free trade agreement. Last year, bilateral trade volume reached $11.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5 percent. China's total investment in Israel has reached $6 billion. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told Liu during a meeting on Tuesday that his country hopes to further strengthen cooperation in fields such as science, technology, innovation, agriculture and culture, which would serve the two countries' common interests. Liu Baolai, former Chinese ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, said, "There is still great potential for economic, trade and culture cooperation," since China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) is unfolding and there is a great need to boost growth through innovation. The vice-premier and Netanyahu witnessed the signing by Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Ming and his Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Hotovely, of an agreement to issue 10-year, multiple-entry visas to applicants from each country. The visa agreement comes as the number of exchanges between the two countries is increasing. In January, a visa exemption was granted for holders of diplomatic and service passports. When meeting with Liu, Netanyahu said Israel welcomes more Chinese tourists. Wu Bingbing, a professor of Middle East studies at Peking University, said one of the biggest advantages of the Israeli economy is brainpower, from which China could benefit more through expanded cultural exchanges. On Tuesday, Liu and Netanyahu jointly attended the opening ceremony for the website of the China-Israel Innovation Cooperation Center. zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily USA 03/30/2016 page3) Girl beheaded in Taiwan Updated: 2016-03-30 08:19 By Peng Yining and Cao Yin(China Daily USA) Brutal daytime murder leads to intensified death penalty debate The death of a 4-year-old girl, who was beheaded on Monday in a knife attack in Taiwan, has sparked widespread public anger on the island and criticism of calls to abolish the death penalty. The attack is said to have taken place as the child was cycling toward a metro station with her mother in Taipei. A man leaves a message in a book of condolences at a makeshift memorial near the spot where a 4-year-old girl was killed in Taipei, Taiwan, on Monday. Tyrone Siu / Reuters Police said a 33-year-old man attacked and decapitated the girl with a cleaver in full view of her mother. Bystanders heard the mother's screams and rushed to restrain the attacker until police arrived. The suspect, Wang Ching-yu had been arrested in the past for drug-related crimes and had twice sought medical treatment for mental illness after physical altercations with his family, police said. Television footage on Monday showed angry people gathered outside a police station in Taipei where the suspect was being held. Some attacked the suspect as he was being transferred to the prosecutor's office for questioning. Many went to lay flowers and toys at the spot where the girl was killed. Taiwan resumed capital punishment in 2010 after a five-year hiatus. Executions are reserved for serious crimes, including aggravated murder and kidnapping, but politicians are divided over whether or not to retain it. Hung Hsiuchu, leader of the Kuomintang, wrote on her Facebook page that the crime is "unforgivable". "Can you accept abolishing the death penalty (under such circumstances)?" Hung said in an interview on Monday. She was elected the KMT leader on Saturday. This is the second child-killing case in Taiwan in a year. In May 2015, an 8-year-old girl was slashed to death in her school by a 29-year-old man who reportedly had a mental illness. Tsai Ing-wen, a Democratic Progressive Party politician who will become the island's top leader in May, said in an interview in June 2015 that she believes the death penalty has to be considered along with other measures, and protecting public security is most important. The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, an NGO on the island, said now is not the moment to discuss abolishing the death penalty. "Concern for the victim and victim's family is the most important," the organization said. Ruan Chuansheng, a criminal lawyer in Shanghai, said that removal of the death penalty should be given second thought. "It's a serious case and the way the suspect killed the girl was cruel. But it is an individual case," Ruan said. "I know some legal professionals discussed canceling the death penalty and the view has reached an agreement across the world. There are some countries that do not have such extreme punishment. But whether to remove the death penalty and when to remove it should be in line with regional reality." On Tuesday, another knife attack happened at Taipei's metro station. A policeman was stabbed three times by a 28-year-old man and sent to hospital, China News Service reported. Contact the writers at pengyining@chinadaily.com.cn The suspect in a 4-year-old girl's decapitation, Wang Ching-yu (wearing a helmet), is escorted to a detention center in Taipei, Taiwan, on Tuesday. Huang Shiqi / For China Daily (China Daily USA 03/30/2016 page4) Dancing to a Cuban beat in the shadow of the Great Wall Updated: 2016-03-30 08:08 By Chen Nan(China Daily USA) It's a warm spring Monday afternoon at the foot of Badaling section of the Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing when Cuban dance company, Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba, raises the temperature with a performance fusing ballet, flamenco, cha-cha, salsa and rumba. Thirty dancers fill the stage as they perform thematic works portraying Cuban culture - from the 1950s to the present day, including Hombre, which has the entire female ensemble dancing and Neighborhood, which is derived from Cuban folk dances mixed with rock 'n' roll. "It feels like being in Cuba and experiencing the country's culture," says Gao Tianqi, one of the students from the dance department of Beijing Humanities University. Before the Cuba Vibra! show, Gao and other students from the university interact with the dancers. He even dances the salsa with Cuban dancer Aymara Castellated Rieumont. "We had a great time. The students are great dancers," says 26-year-old Rieumont, who started dancing at 6. "We have performed in China before, but have never interacted with the people in this way. It's so enjoyable." The event is part of the ongoing China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Cultural Exchange, a yearlong program in China, Latin America and the Caribbean. It aims to promote cultural exchanges and boost friendship and mutual understanding among peoples. According to Juan Carlos Coello, company manager of Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba, which has been taking Cuban music and dance around the world for the past 25 years, the troupe had toured 15 cities in China with the gala, Cuba Vibra!, for five weeks three years ago, but the troupe had not managed to visit Beijing then. "Finally, we are here (in Beijing) and there is nothing better than culture and art to bring people together," says the manager. "I have also fulfilled my dream of climbing the Great Wall, something which I have wanted to do since childhood." The troupe also performed at the opening ceremony of the China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Cultural Exchange, with two shows on March 24 and 25 at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center. Founded in 1991 by dancer-choreographer Lizt Alfonso, the Havana-based dance troupe has become Cuba's most popular dance company. Coello says that when Alfonso founded the troupe she wanted to bring something new to Cuba's dance scene. "We want to pass all the passion, emotion and spirit of Cuba to audiences around the world," says Coello. "We want to come back to China soon." Dancers from Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba perform in Beijing as part of the ongoing China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Cultural Exchange.Zou Hong / China Daily (China Daily USA 03/30/2016 page7) High hopes on Xi-Obama DC meeting Updated: 2016-03-30 11:16 By Chen Weihua in Washington(China Daily USA) Leaders will meet at Nuclear Security Summit The meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama will be another important opportunity to advance cooperation and address differences. Ben Rhodes, US deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, made the comment on Tuesday before a scheduled meeting between Xi and Obama on Thursday on the margins of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. It will be Obama's only bilateral meeting during the summit that will be attended by more than 50 heads of state and government. Dan Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, described the meeting as a continuum of senior level engagement between the two countries. The two last met in Washington in September during Xi's state visit to the US. They then met on Nov 30 in Paris at the climate conference. The two presidents also had three phone calls since then. And they also are expected to meet on the margins of the G20 summit in China in September. "I think the high tempo of senior-level engagement with China is a recognition of the fact that this is where problems get solved and decisions get made," Kritenbrink said at a conference call on Tuesday previewing the Nuclear Security Summit to be held on Thursday and Friday. He said the engagement by the two leaders in Paris helped secure an ambitious climate agreement, and their phone call in February contributed to the agreement on the UN Security Council resolution on the nuclear and missile tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kritenbrink said the high tempo of senior-level engagement has allowed the two nations to identify opportunities for cooperation where their interests align, saying, "I think bilateral cooperation with China right now is exceptionally broad and deep, on issues ranging from climate, to nuclear security to development, public health, Iran and Afghanistan." Such engagement also has allowed the two countries to address differences in candid and constructive ways, he said. "We don't paper over these differences; we don't hide them; we don't pull punches in addressing them," he said. US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed the message in a talk at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday on the trilateral relationship among the US, Japan and South Korea. He expressed that while the US worked to assure its allies ad partners, it is also determined to build a cooperative relationship with China. While praising China's role in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Blinken said that as long as the DPRK does not stop and reverse its nuclear and missile programs, the US will have to take steps to assure its own security and that of its allies and partners. He was specifically talking about the consultation between the US and South Korea of a possible deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea against the DPRK nuclear and missile threat. China and Russia have both expressed serious concerns over the possible deployment of the THAAD system. "We believe China's legitimate security concerns must be taken into account, and a convincing explanation must be provided to China. I don't think it's too much to ask. It's a reasonable position," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Washington on Feb 25. It is believed that the X-band radar associated with the THAAD system has a radius that extends to the interior of China and Russia. Blinken insisted that the THAAD system is not directed against China and does not affect China strategically, but he said "we know China does not like it". The US is proposing to go through the technology and specifications with China, according to Blinken. "We would be prepared to explain to them exactly what the technology does and what it doesn't do," he said. "I hope China will take a step on that proposal, gain greater confidence that it's not directed against China," he said. Kenneth Lieberthal, senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, hopes that China will take that offer. "I hope if the Chinese side does take that offer, the US side is able to provide the array of information, and detailed information that specialists on the Chinese side will find satisfy their concerns," Lieberthal said. "After all, this is diplomats articulating worries. But it takes technical people to understand whether the other side is providing credible assurance," he said. Lieberthal noted that there is an array of issues for Xi and Obama to talk about on Thursday. He emphasized the importance for the two big powers to work together to tackle global challenge like the nuclear non-proliferation regarding Iran and DPRK. Describing the tension in the South China Sea as a difficult issue, Lieberthal said all sides need to figure out how to reduce the tension, noting that there is a lot of gray area. "I think it's the responsibility of governments concerned to figure out how to reduce tension and reduce the possibility of an incident or accident that could inflame passions," he said, voicing his concern that everyone at this point is suspicious of the motives and objectives of the other. Inside the US government, the voices and tones often differ. On Tuesday, Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the US is now confronted with simultaneous challenges in Russia, China, Iran, DPRK and violent extremism. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com (China Daily USA 03/30/2016 page1) Czech science/tech head sees new level in China-Czech relations Updated: 2016-03-30 07:34 By FU JING in Prague(China Daily USA) Jaromir Volf,chairman of the Czech Republic's Science and Technology Association The chairman of the Czech Republic's Science and Technology Association said President Xi Jinping's visit to the country will bring bilateral relations to a far-reaching level, and cover such areas as business, trade, investment and personnel exchanges. "This is the most important political event between our two states," Jaromir Volf told China Daily in Prague prior to Xi's visit. Volf said that the agreements to be signed during Xi's visit will be implemented by China's State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) and his association. He said he met with SAFEA officials in November to discuss the personnel exchanges and cooperative agreements. The Czech Association for Science and Technology is an independent legal entity of 67 technical and industrial associations with nearly 100,000 members and serves as an important channel for the Czech government to communicate with technical staff. "We have such a big database and we are ready to cooperate with the Chinese government to select proper experts China needs," said Volf. Volf said he has visited China three times. "I am starting to work and commute between China and Czech frequently and spot experts for both sides," he said. Volf, an engineer, said he will start to work in Shandong province soon under a five-year contract already signed. "I am very excited to work as a bridge builder to deepen mutual cooperation," he said. Volf said every time he receives a Chinese delegation they have shown great interest in working with Czech experts, especially in agriculture and technical areas. In agriculture, he said the Czech Republic is competitive in planting wheat and corn and brewing beer. "China has already shown interests in this area," he said. He also cited other areas where he said the Czech Republic is strong, including mechanical technologies, automation and electronics. "We are ready to cooperate with China in those areas if China offers requests," said Volf. Volf said China is very competitive in science and technology. "The level of science and technology is very high and we have the possibility of delivering two-way exchanges," he said. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn Beijing and Prague form new key link Updated: 2016-03-30 07:34 By An Baijie in Prague and LI Xiaokun in Beijing(China Daily USA) President Xi Jinping and Czech President Milos Zeman review an honor guard in Prague on Tuesday. Xis visit marks the first trip of a Chinese president to the country since the establishment of diplomatic relations 67 years ago. [Photo/XINHUA] China established a strategic partnership with the Czech Republic on Tuesday during the visit by President Xi Jinping to the European nation. It is the first state visit by a Chinese president since diplomatic ties were established with the former Czechoslovakia 67 years ago. Xi and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman signed a joint statement on the partnership after official talks. They also witnessed the signing of nine documents, covering fields such as electronic business and investment. "The strategic partnership has laid a political foundation for future development of our relations," Xi said at a news conference. Zeman has hailed the visit as a watershed in the nations' ties and has estimated that business deals to be signed during Xi's trip could bring in nearly $4 billion in Chinese investment this year. He told China Central Television earlier, "It's a new start, since we used to have terrible relations with China and the previous government gave in to pressure from the United States and the European Union. "We ... formulate our foreign policy based on our own interests." President Xi said on Tuesday the two countries will draw up a guideline to link China's Belt and Road Initiative with the Czech Republic's development strategy and further extend it to China's cooperation with countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The two nations will promote cooperation in fields including infrastructure, financing and high technology and sign deals on large nuclear energy projects, Xi said. "In the past two years, I have met President Zeman five times. We have become good friends and old friends," he said. Following his state visit to China in October 2014, Zeman visited Beijing in September last year to attend the commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). Zeman told reporters on Tuesday that the Czech-headquartered automobile company Skoda will invest 60 billion crowns ($2.48 billion) in China to build factories. "I hope the Czech Republic will become the gateway for China to enter the European Union," he said. In the morning, Xi was greeted with a 21-gun salute at Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech presidency. He also greeted an honor guard. China is the Czech Republic's largest trading partner outside the EU, with annual bilateral trade worth $21 billion. The two countries have agreed to discuss establishing a renminbi-clearing center in the Czech Republic. Ma Junchi, a researcher of European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Xi's visit comes as the two countries in recent years have seen the fastest development since diplomatic ties were established. Zhao Junjie, another CASS researcher, said, "One of every four cars made by Skoda is now sold to China." He said the Czech Republic needs Chinese funding and advanced technology in infrastructure and is eager to explore the huge Chinese market. Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn Slovenia, Turkey call for implementation of migration deal Updated: 2016-03-30 09:05 (Xinhua) LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar and visiting Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir agreed on Tuesday that the EU and Turkey must make joint efforts to implement the agreement on stemming migration as efficiently and fast as possible. Cerar and Bozkir also called for boosting the relations between the EU and Turkey further, agreeing that open dialogue was the best possible way for mutual understanding and co-existence, the Slovenian prime minister's office said in a press release. With regard to visa liberalization, Bozkir said it is of major importance for Turkish citizens, adding that the Turkish government had already adopted all legislation required in April, thus meeting its part of the bargain. The EU leaders confirmed in the summit on March 18 that visa liberalization for Turkish citizens would be sped up by the end of June under the condition of Turkey's meeting all the requirements. Cerar also expressed Slovenia's readiness to continue supporting the process of Turkey's accession to the EU, under the condition that all accession criteria have been met. Before concluding his working visit to Slovenia on Thursday, Bozkir will meet Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec and Parliamentary Speaker Milan Brglez on Wednesday. Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. Firms do not need to hire top talents in all positions, but instead can combine internal promotions with hiring outside talents and outsourcing work, Trinh said. Illustrative image/ Photo motthegioi.vn HCM CITY (VNS) Human resources have a huge bearing on corporate success, delegates told a panel discussion on Integrated mindset held in HCM City yesterday. With existing and future free trade agreements, including the ASEAN Economic Community and TPP, Vietnamese firms are expected to have opportunities to expand their market, but on the other hand, they would face challenges, including fiercer competition and a loss of talent. They should pay more attention to improving their HR strategies to attract and retain talent, Tieu Yen Trinh, general director of Talentnet Corporation, said. Businesses should build professional and methodical business strategies, and then define their HR strategy to satisfy those objectives, she said, explaining this would result in proper talent attraction and retention policies. Firms do not need to hire top talents in all positions, but instead can combine internal promotions with hiring outside talents and outsourcing work, she said. Le Ba Thong, general director of TTT Corporation, which specialises in interior decoration, furniture, architecture, said corporate culture also plays a very important in retaining talent. Edward Foong, general director of Singapore-based Treino Consulting and honorary general secretary of the Singapore Human Resources Institute, said: In Singapore one of the challenges in HR we always face is we cant find people. In Viet Nam, there is a huge amount of talent. The only shortcoming is your English capability. So I encourage you to work hard, to continue to work on your English. With new technological innovations, delegates said, smart use of technology would result in efficient talent management. Organised by Talentnet Corporation, the panel discussion marked the launch of the second biennial Viet Nam HR Awards, which recognise and honour enterprises that have displayed excellence in planning and implementing HR policies, contributing to business efficiency and performance as well as enhancing the quality of their employees lives. Viet Nam HR Awards have been adapted from the Singapore HR Awards by Talentnet Corporation and given in association with the Labour and Social Affairs newspaper. All businesses operating in Viet Nam for at least three years are encouraged to apply for the awards. Registration for the biennial awards is open until May 15, and the awards will be presented in September. Winners would have a chance to participate in the Singapore HR Congress or HR training courses in Singapore organised by the SHRI, Trinh said. This time more Vietnamese firms are likely to stand a chance since, according to her, the focus will be on small and medium sized ones to help them develop confidence in their HR management. o Manh Hung, deputy chairman of the National Assemblys Committee for Social Affairs, hailed the awards, saying the Government is focused on HR development. When the discussion turned to strategies to expand abroad, Thong said businesses must first achieve a strong foothold in their domestic market before thinking of going overseas. Simon Wan, managing director of Cornerstone International Group, said companies need to understand what they are good at and develop their business based on that. - VNS A worker operates towel producing machines in Ha ong-Hanosimex JSC in Ha Nam Province. VNS/VNS Photo Vu Sinh HA NOI (VNS) Viet Nams textile and apparel sector remained passive in global value chains, said Nguyen Cam Tu, deputy minister of industry and trade, at a workshop yesterday in Ha Noi. The workshop discussed ways to promote the participation of APEC small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of textile and apparel global value chains. The event aims to support the deeper and more effective integration of SMEs into the APEC region, said Tu. It also aims to enhance the participation of SMEs in global value chains (GVCs) in general and the apparel sector in particular. The value chain follows the creation of products or services through different production phases, including physical transformation, the input of various manufacturing services, the distribution of products to consumers and their disposal after consumption, the deputy minister explained. These activities can be conducted within the enterprises or among different enterprises of a particular geographical area. In fact, the GVCs are a new and more comprehensive approach to international divisions of labour, Tu said. It means that any enterprise participating in the process of manufacturing can be considered to participate in the GVCs, he added. However, access to international divisions of labour based on GVCs would help enterprises have a better understanding of their position in the global market, and therefore they can actively select appropriate phases to maximise their benefits, he said. It is clear that enterprises in general and SMEs in particular must actively participate in GVCs directly or indirectly, he said. Pham Quynh Mai, deputy director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, did not hesitate to discuss the difficulties faced by the textile and apparel sector despite its fast growth. The sector is still depending on raw materials and materials imported form foreign countries, especially China. This will have a big impact on the countrys textile and apparel sector if the market has disadvantageous changes, she said. To access markets, enterprises need strategies and knowledge, while SMEs should sign design and outsourced manufacturing contracts with large enterprises to learn from their experiences, said Nguyen Huong Tra, a SME development expert at the workshop. VNS Concerns have been raised by the public about the quality of the project as well as the choosing of the Chinese contractor as the pipe has broken 17 times since the completion of the first phase in 2009. Photo zing.vn HA NOI (VNS) A contract relating to the construction of a River Water Project Phase 2 between a Vietnamese water supply company and a Chinese pipe supplier has not yet been signed, said an official. Truong Quoc Duong, deputy general director of the Vinaconex Water Supply Joint Stock Company (Viwasupco), the projects developer, told Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper that the company and Xinxing Corporation were drafting the contract. Viwasupco was making a report on the projects implementation to submit to the Department of Construction and the Citys Peoples Committee, Duong said. The contract, which was supposed to be signed this week, was postponed after Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc instructed the city administration to review the whole project. The deputy Prime Minister also urged Ha Noi authorities to clarify information relating to the project after concerns by local residents. Solutions should be put forward to ensure the project is effectively carried out on schedule, and in accordance with state regulations, he said. Phuc asked local authorities to submit a report on the case by March 31. In a related development, the citys department of construction held a meeting on Monday afternoon with relevant agencies and the project developer to hear Viwasupcos report on how it had sought and chosen the Chinese contract. No competence agencies had raised their voice against the choice of ductile iron pipes or the Chinese contractor, Duong said. The Ha Noi Construction Department would report the case to the citys administration after the meeting, he said. Last week Viwasupco announced that Chinas Xinxing Corporation had won the bid for the supply of materials for the second phase of the a River water pipeline. The firm would supply materials at about 10 per cent less than the approved cost, according to the Viwasupcos press release. Concerns have been raised by the public about the quality of the project as well as the choosing of the Chinese contractor as the pipe has broken 17 times since the completion of the first phase in 2009. The construction of a River Water Project Phase 2 is an important project for providing clean water to people in the capital, and ensuring livelihood security and social stability. Because of the importance of the project, Viwasupco conducted open international bidding to choose contractors with sufficient capacity and experience, the company said in a press release. After a strict and careful selection process, Xinxing Corporation was chosen by Vinwasupco for the supply of ductile iron pipes and fittings. The second phase of the project started last October after several delays. The project is one component of a larger project to supply clean water to nearly 200,000 households living along the chain of Son Tay, Hoa Lac, Xuan Mai and Mieu Mon, as well as the Ha Noi and Ha ong urban areas. Ha Noi authorities have asked agencies to speed up the progress of projects in Ha Noi including the a River Water Project Phase 2 to ensure water supply for urban areas, especially in the summer time. In a written request sent to agencies, Ha Noi Citys Party Committee has also asked water supply companies to operate at full capacity and review water supply systems as a ground for upgrading the existing system. It called for more investment from other sources to develop water supply companies and water supply systems to meet the clean water needs of the citys urban and suburban areas. The Party Committee has also demanded that companies intensify the use of surface water and gradually reduce the exploitation of underground water. VNS President Truong Tan Sang receives the Governor of Primorye Territory Vladimir Miklushevsky yesterday in Ha Noi. VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Khang HA NOI (VNS) President Truong Tan Sang asked Russias Primorye authorities to enlarge its market and connect with neighbouring regions so that Vietnamese products can gain access to the Far East, during a reception yesterday for the Governor of Primorye Territory Vladimir Miklushevsky. Viet Nam and the Primorye Territory have enjoyed sound relations in recent years with increasing numbers of Vietnamese students and enterprises coming to the locality to study or seek business opportunities, President Sang stressed. He said that Primorye leaders need to provide preferential investment policies to Vietnamese ministries and localities, while ironing out challenges in obtaining visas, establishing direct flight links, and working on labour conditions. President Sang also confirmed that Vietnamese ministries and agencies will create optimal conditions to enhance collaboration between the two sides businesses. For his part, Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky underlined the advantages of his localitys external economic policies, which encourage infrastructure construction to lure foreign investment. Being a leading economy in Russias Far East, Primorye has great potential in seafood processing and the wood industry, he said, adding that commodities from the province can easily access the Vietnamese market via the port in Vladivostok. He expressed his hope that the two sides will work together in fields of mutual strength. On the same day, President Sang met with Slimane Boudi, the First President of the Supreme Court of Algeria, in Ha Noi, where he stated that co-operation between Viet Nam and Algeria has unceasingly been broadened to include the law-making and judicial domains, since their establishment of diplomatic ties in 1962. Sang noted that Vietnamese people have always remembered the huge, valuable support and assistance provided by Algeria during wartime and then throughout the countrys rebuilding efforts. Judicial reforms form part of Viet Nams socio-economic development and are the crucial task of Viet Nams relevant agencies, he said. Viet Nam is, therefore, seeking experience in the field from other countries, including Algeria, the President told his guest. Slimane Boudi told the host that the two countries court sectors have established active co-operation and signed tens of cooperative documents in 2015-2016. NS Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged the southern province of Long An to resolve a dispute about maintenance fees between an industrial park developer and companies operating in the park. Photo dantri.com.vn HCM CITY (VNS) Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged the southern province of Long An to resolve a dispute about maintenance fees between an industrial park developer and companies operating in the park. Tan uc Investment Corporation, the developer of Tan uc Industrial Park in Long An Province, has been criticised for improperly resolving the dispute with the Japanese candymaker Tango Candy whose confectionery plant is located in the park. The Tan uc Industrial Park has asked the Japanese firm to pay a total of VN360 million (US$16,138) worth of unpaid infrastructure maintenance fees, plus VN130 million ($5,827) in late payment fines. Tan uc demanded a fee of VN10,018 per square metre per year, but Tango Candy would only agree to pay a rate of VN8,500 per square metre per year. Tango said that it would never pay the amount requested, and said it was willing to have the dispute settled in court. In addition to Tango, of the 121 companies operating in Tan uc Industrial Park, 46 (including 34 foreign firms) have not reached any agreement on the infrastructure maintenance fee, according to Long An Provinces Peoples Committee. The industrial park has been widely slammed for being unprofessional, according to local media reports. Tan uc blocked the entrance to Tangos factory while the two parties are still under negotiation over the payment. The industrial park also temporarily turned off the electricity and suspended water supply. While all Vietnamese firms have paid the fees we asked for, many foreign companies have repeatedly delayed payments for years, so we had to resort to other solutions, Tran Duong, director of public relations for Tan uc, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Sunday (Mar 27). We took this action only on the land plot we own, and we have ensured that employees can enter Tango Candy for work, he said. The blockade was only meant to hinder Tango Candys operations, preventing them from using the services we have invested money in and paid taxes for. Tango Hirosuke, general director of Tango Candy Co Ltd, said he would not have chosen Tan uc Industrial Park if he had been aware of the park operators behavior. Hirosuke said the contract it signed with Tan uc did not include any clauses about infrastructure maintenance fees. With the suspended water supply, Tango Candy had to buy bottled water to maintain operations. But the company still failed to complete two export orders on time, and is now waiting for requests for compensation from its partners, Hirosuke told Tuoi Tre newspaper. He added that he has yet to calculate the material damage caused by the threatening actions from Tan uc. Lawsuit Tran Duong, director of public relations with Tan uc, said the company had filed a lawsuit with the Peoples Court of uc Hoa District, where the industrial park is located. The company director Hirosuke said he was willing to follow the lawsuit, adding that there would be no concession. Tan uc on March 17 erected barriers in front of the companys two entrances, saying that Tango had not paid fees since 2013. On March 18, Tan uc cut the water supply and on March 19, the IP owner placed mounds of dirt in front of the companys entrance. On March 21, the Japanese firms operating in the park asked the Japanese Consulate in HCM City for help. The Long An Economic Zone Management Board set up two public meetings as well as two private meetings to resolve the dispute between Tan uc and Tango Candy. But no agreement has been reached. The uc Hoa District Police in Long An Province summoned the people who erected the barriers and placed the dirt at the companys entrance for further investigation. On March 25, the provincial committee set up a team to resolve the issue. At 1:30pm on the same day, Tan uc cleared all the barriers in front of Tango Candys entrance and committed not to repeat the action. Le Tan Dung, vice chairman of Long An Provinces Peoples Committee, said the case had caused huge losses to businesses operating in the park and had affected the investment environment in the province. The province has asked agencies and districts as well as commune and city committees that have industrial parks to review industrial park operations and resolve any disputes that could affect business production in the province, Dung said. VNS A fire in a 2,000sq.m workshop quickly spread, destroying all equipment and materials. Photo vov.vn HCM CITY (VNS) A fire broke out yesterday afternoon, destroying all equipment in a 2,000sq.m workshop of Bags Connection Vina Company in HCM City. The fire was first discovered by some workers on the first floor of the two-storey workshop. Soon, tall columns of smoke covered the whole workshop located in District 12s To Ngoc Van St. Despite the efforts of company workers and the local firefighters, the blaze quickly spread because the house contained inflammable garment equipment and clothing. Nineteen fire engines and 200 firemen, including professional firefighters, as well as the transport police and local police forces were sent to the site. The fire was extinguished after one hour. A senior police official said the firemen had to wear gas masks to get close to the fire and break glass doors to prevent the fire from spreading to neighbouring places. inh Van Ngan, head of District 12s Fire Fighting Police, said the firemen prevented the fire from spreading to a neighbouring 4,500sq.m store and residential houses. No loss of human life was reported, but the damage to property was worth several billions of ong, with about 100 modern industrial garment machines and dressmaking material being destroyed. The police are investigating the case. VNS A view of the Ninh Hiep Commune Medical Station in Ha Nois Gia Lam District. Despite quality upgrades, local health stations struggle to attract patients, who find it hard to trust them. VNA/VNS Photo inh Na HA NOI (VNS) Despite recent quality upgrades of local health stations, these grassroots facilities are struggling to draw in patients who find it hard to trust them with their well-being. Ngu Hiep Communes health station in Ha Nois suburban Thanh Tri District was acknowledged as reaching national medical standards in late 2006, and has maintained them since then. Yet the station, located only two kilometres away from the heart of the district of 200,000 people, has not received a single mother-to-be to deliver their baby over the last six years, Kinh te & o thi (Economic & Urban Affairs) newspaper reported. This seems unbelievable in a country that has always be alert to keeping the birth rate under control and preventing a population boom. In 2015, the station only took in 1,400 patients, an average of only three or four people a day. Ngu Hiep Commune health station head, Nguyen Thi Nham, said that only a few residents came to the station for health examinations, though about 2,000 had registered their health insurance at the station. The station, fully equipped with an ultrasound machine and a professional delivery room, does mostly vaccination and disease prevention work, Nham said. A completely opposite scene, meanwhile, occurs almost every day in hospitals in central Ha Noi, just 10 kilometres to the west of Thanh Tri District. In the diagnosis department at the national-level Bach Mai Hospital, lines of patients waiting to register for examinations start to fill the lobby as early as 7am. Early in the morning, Nguyen Huu Tuan left his house in the suburban Huu Bang Commune in Thach That District to queue up at the hospital from 6am to check on the sore throat he had had for days. It later turned out Tuan had a case of acute bronchitis that could have been easily treated at the health station in his hometown of Huu Bang. Yet he spent half a day travelling and waiting because he wanted to get examined by a good doctor. o Van Anh from Nam Tu Liem District spoke of spending nearly VN20 million (US$888) to treat her daughters roseola infection over five days at an international hospital in Ha Noi. Yet the treatment her daughter received was no different from that she would have received at the ai Mo Wards health station, located just 200m from her house. The treatment at the station should also have been totally free, as the girl is under six and thus would have been covered 100 per cent by health insurance. Tuan and Anh are following the common thinking that good doctors only work in big hospitals, and they are far from the only ones who believe this. Bach Mai Hospital General Planning Division Head, Duong uc Hung, said that the hospital on average received 4,000 patients a day, a large proportion of which had ailments that could be treated just as well by the medical network at the sub-national level, for example at district hospitals and health stations. By making the choice (of going to big hospitals), the patients are tormenting themselves, he said. The fact that patients tend to pass by their local health systems while struggling to check in at overloaded hospitals has been on-going for years. MoHs Health Insurance Department Head, Tong Thi Song Thuong, estimated that roughly 70 per cent of patients didnt need to go to national-level hospitals for treatment. The MoH was trying to tackle the issue by gradually improving the quality at lower levels, while at the same time reducing health insurance coverage for patients who refuse to visit their local health insurance registered facilities and opt for treatment at a national hospital instead. Yet a change of public attitude towards low-level health networks still needs time as going to large hospitals has always been a habit of Vietnamese people, and habits die hard. VNS Harsh winter: On the way to Phi Nhu Commune in ien Bien ong District, only dead forests were visible. About 2,500ha of forest in many communes have been severely damaged by frost. VNS Photo oan Tung By Bao Hoa IEN BIEN (VIET NAM NEWS) Lo Van Luns family, who lives in a poor household in the district, relies on their buffaloes and agricultural work to keep food on the table. Yet they lost two buffaloes to a cold snap in January that killed hundreds of cattle and damaged wide areas of forest, leaving the districts villagers and authorities much to worry about as they start early preparations for next winter. We had three buffaloes - lost two, Lun said. One of them was a year old. The other was three. Temperatures fell below 0 degrees Celsius in several areas of the district from January 23-28. A total of 358 cattle succumbed to the cold and died, affecting agricultural production and the livelihoods of hundreds of households. There are nine members in our family. There were months during which we ate young bamboo and cassava instead of rice, despite the work we put into our paddy field, Lun said. Losing two buffaloes is such a huge loss for us. As a male buffalo costs from VN50 to 60 million (US$2,243 to 2,691) and a mature cow costs from VN30 to 40 million ($1,345 to 1,794), a cattle means a fortune to Mong ethnic minority households, according to Vu Ngoc Hoanh, head of the districts agricultural division. Losing a buffalo is like having their major source of wealth cut off, he said. A woman in Na Son Commune could not stop crying while cooking the meat of her dead buffalo. Lo Van Tung, another villager who also lost two buffaloes, is worried about how he would continue his agricultural production. We have a big paddy field of 3,000sq.m and four buffaloes, he said. Now that two of them have died, the remaining two are overloaded with work because they must plow and turn soil for the whole field. More than 7,600 cattle died in the northern and central provinces due to the cold snap by the end of January 27, according to the agricultural ministry. ien Bien ong District saw the highest number of dead cattle in ien Bien Province. The most affected communes were Phi Nhu (61 deaths), Keo Lom (46), Na Son (43), Pu Nhi (37) and Xa Dung (37), according to the districts report. Hoanh said there were two main reasons for the cattles deaths. As it has been a custom for the ethnic villagers to let their cattle live in the forest, they leave them there even during cold periods, he said. Despite our advice to return the cattle home early and use different techniques to prevent them from getting sick, villagers continued their practices until the weather got really cold, Hoanh said. At that point, the cattles immune systems had already been weakened, so it was difficult for them to survive. The division had sent official documents to the provinces agricultural department and requested financial support to help farmers repurchase cattle: VN8 to 10 million for a mature cattle ($358 to 447), and VN3 to 4 million ($134 to 179) for a young one, Hoanh said. Nguyen inh Ky, a deputy director of the department, confirmed in a phone interview with Viet Nam News that he had received the districts proposal. We had proposed to the government an aid of VN4 million ($179) per cattle, he said. We will distribute the aid to farmers as soon as we get the governments approval. Loss of grassland The cold period did not only kill cattle, but also destroyed their homes, as the district lost 2,500ha of forest to frost. Temperatures dropped to as low as -9 degrees Celsius during the nights of January 25 and 26, said Lau Chung Sinh, a party secretary of Xa Dung Commune. Frost formed on the trees branches and got so heavy that it broke the trees. They looked like they had been broken by a giant human hand, Vu A Bang, district party secretary, said. It broke my heart to watch hundreds of trees crumble right in front of my eyes and I couldnt stop it. [Sinh] called me in the middle of the night, crying, he said. He, too, was terrified at the sight, afraid the trees would fall onto villagers and kill them. The loss of forest vegetation robs the cattle of their homes and their main source of food. We fear that there wont be enough food left for the goats, let alone bigger cattle like buffaloes and cows, said Lo Van Huong, head of the districts forest protection branch. The authorities marked the damaged forest areas and warned villagers not to exploit the remaining trees. Each household could only collect wood within a designated time slot, according to Hoanh. We are waiting for the rainy season to help the forest grow back, which will start at the end of April, he said. There is hope, as some of the trees have already been sprouting new leaves. To prepare for the cold periods of 2016-17, ien Bien ongs authorities said they would continue communicating with and instructing villagers to protect their cattle. We will build shelters as well as make hay nests for the cattle before a cold period begins, Hoanh said. When the period reaches its peak, it is essential that villagers boil water, cook porridge, and serve it hot to the cattle as if they were a family member to help them preserve energy, he said. VNS Limited sold its land at Perungudi in Chennai to a special purpose vehicle, formed by Brigade Group and GIC Singapore. The company informed BSE that the Board in June 2015 has approved the sale of company's land admeasuring 15.86 acres at Perungudi, Chennai to Brigade Properties Ltd or its nominees/ another SPV formed by Brigade Group and GIC Singapore for a sum of Rs 550 crore. The company said the aforesaid sale transaction has been completed today. The company has sold the aforesaid land together with the buildings on its Perungudi Real Estate PVt Ltd, a SPV of Brigade Enterprise Ltd and Reco-caspia, a GIC Singapore affiliate company, for a consideration of Rs 537.86 crore, said the company. An increase in global political uncertainty has led to a rise in political violence insurance covers being taken by Indian companies. These policies are taken by firms that have investments in foreign markets and exposure to such risks. Ketan Kale, practice leader-credit, political & security risk, JLT Independent Insurers Brokers, said Indian firms are increasingly coming forward to insure their assets globally, especially in regions such as West Asia and Africa. While proposals for covers in volatile markets are not denied, premia are comparatively much higher by as much as 100-600 per cent. JLT Independent recently offered such a policy to a pharma client for Yemen. It was a $10-million cover for political violence. Sanjay Datta, chief underwriting & claims, ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd, says there has been a good demand for these products. Capacity is not a problem since we have a terrorism pool in place. This pool size may increase to Rs 2,000 crore from Rs 1,500 crore. Threats from Islamic State militants, the Syrian conflict, violence by Boko Haram and the migrant crisis in Europe are among the recent risks worrying companies. A recent newsletter on terrorism by global insurance broker JLT has said that traditional terrorism policies were designed to protect against terrorist events where property damage was a major loss component and business interruption a direct consequence of the physical damage sustained during an attack. This is no longer the case, it has added. Evidence that insurance is absorbing only a fraction of the economic impacts that have followed recent terror attacks indicate the (re)insurance sector has been slow to respond to evolving risk dynamics and current products are not meeting the needs of corporations, it said. Chinas former leader mysteriously removed A rare public spectacle has drawn attention at the closing ceremony of China's Communist Party's National Congress, as President Xi Jinping prepares to be handed a third term in office. 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. Apple in the dark on FBI iPhone hack WASHINGTON (AP) The FBIs announcement it mysteriously hacked into an iPhone is a public setback for Apple Inc., as consumers suddenly discover they cant keep their most personal information safe. Meanwhile, Apple remains in the dark about how to restore the security of its flagship product. The government said it was able to break into an iPhone used by a gunman in a mass shooting in California, but it didnt say how. That puzzled Apple software engineers. It also complicated Apples job repairing flaws that jeopardize its software. The Justice Department is dropping a legal fight to compel Apple to help it access the phone, also taking away any legal avenues Apple might have used to learn how the FBI did it. R.I. tourism video features Iceland PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Maybe the state should be called Rhode Iceland. Rhode Island officials yanked a new tourism video, designed to draw visitors to the state, off YouTube Tuesday after eagle-eyed viewers complained it showed a scene shot in Icelands capital, Reykjavik. The states economic development agency confirmed the goof and blamed an editing company. 7 killed in Quebec small plane crash HAVRE-AUX-MAISONS, Quebec (AP) A small plane crashed Tuesday off an island in eastern Quebec, killing seven people, Quebec provincial police said. Among those killed was former federal cabinet minister and political commentator Jean Lapierre. Other members of his family were also believed to be among the victims. They were traveling to the Iles-de-la-Madeleine after the recent death of Lapierres father. Archaeologists dig at Malcolm X home BOSTON (AP) Archeologists are digging at a boyhood home of Malcolm X in an effort to uncover more about the slain black rights activists early life as well as the propertys long history, which possibly includes Native American settlement. The two-week archaeological dig began Tuesday outside a two-and-a-half story home built in 1874 in Bostons historically black Roxbury neighborhood. Among Tuesdays finds was a large piece of fine porcelain, likely part of a dish set owned by the family of Malcolm Xs sister, which still owns the house. Convict: I didnt kill 7-year-old in 1957 SYCAMORE, Ill. (AP) A former security guard serving a life sentence in the 1957 slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl made an emotional statement declaring his innocence and pleaded with a judge Tuesday to consider his bid for freedom as soon as possible, citing a prosecutors scathing review of the investigation that landed him in prison. His legs and wrists shackled, Jack McCullough spoke up from a defense table when it became clear the judge while agreeing to start a process that could lead to a vacated conviction and a new trial was going to adjourn the 20-minute hearing without setting the 76-year-old free. Your honor, Ive been in prison locked up now for almost five years. Im innocent, and I can prove Im innocent, McCullough said in a weak voice from behind a defense table, clearly disappointed. There has to be an end to this somewhere. McCullough was arrested in Washington state in 2011 and convicted in 2012 in Illinois for the slaying of Maria Ridulph, his neighbor in the community of Sycamore. It was one of the oldest cases in the U.S. ever to go to trial. Man guilty of hate crime CEDAR RAPIDS (AP) A man was convicted of a hate crime in the beating of a black man at a Dubuque bar. Jurors in Cedar Rapids deliberated a little more than three hours Wednesday before finding 40-year-old Randy J. Metcalf guilty of committing a hate crime. Metcalf is charged in the January 2015 beating of Lamarr Sandridge, 31, at the Northside Bar in Dubuque. Surveillance video from the bar shows Metcalf kicking and stomping on Sandridges head, even while he lay motionless on the floor. Prosecutors said the beating was racially motivated. Metcalfs attorney didnt deny he beat Sandridge but argued race wasnt a factor in the dispute. Delhi man guilty in fatal crash MANCHESTER (AP) An eastern Iowa man has pleaded guilty in a fatal car crash, but the victims parents dont want him sentenced to prison. Dean Dempster III, 25, of Delhi, pleaded guilty Tuesday to vehicular homicide in an agreement with prosecutors. Dempster was driving a vehicle in December 2013 when it crashed, killing 23-year-old passenger Brittany Honkomp. Delaware County Attorney John Bernau noted the victims parents see no good in sentencing Dempster to prison. Prosecutors have recommended a suspended 10-year sentence, $10,000 fine and $150,000 restitution fee. Sentencing will be April 11. Police say Dempster was drunk and lost control of the vehicle, which rolled into a ditch. Honkomp died from her injuries, while Dempster and four other passengers were injured but survived. Man dies after fall from bridge MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) A Henry County official says a construction worker has died after falling about 20 to 25 feet into a river while working on the Skunk River bridge on U.S. 34. Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee said Tuesday that 28-year-old Yoni Alexy Miranda-Flores had been on top of the bridge Monday doing resurfacing work, when he fell. McNamee said co-workers attempted to help Miranda-Flores, but were unsuccessful. Emergency responders spent several hours searching for Miranda-Flores, whose body was found around 11 a.m. Tuesday about 60 yards from where he fell into the river. McNamee says it appears the cause of death appears to be drowning, but an autopsy will be completed. Man found on street dies MARION (AP) Marion police are trying to find out what happened to a 63-year-old man who was found injured in a street and died later at a hospital. Police say Richard Dick Thompson of Marion was found lying in the street around 4 a.m. Sunday. Hed been at the VIP Lounge in Marion on Saturday night. An autopsy has been performed but the cause of his injuries and death hasnt been determined yet. Woman guilty of theft from day care FOREST CITY (AP) A 42-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $7,400 from a Lake Mills day care where shed worked as its director. Brenda Steinman entered the plea Tuesday to charges of theft and tampering with records. Shes scheduled to be sentenced May 6. Prosecutors say Steinman used company credit cards and other business funds for her personal use when she was director of Lake Mills Community Preschool & Daycare. Woman claims 2nd $100,000 prize CLIVE (AP) An Illinois woman has claimed another $100,000 from the Iowa Lottery. The lottery said in a news release Orintha Galella, of Moline, Ill., picked up her prize Thursday at the regional lottery office in Cedar Rapids. Her husband, John, bought the winning scratch-off ticket March 23 in Bettendorf. The prize came from the $100,000 Mega Crossword game. The lottery said she won a $100,000 prize in 2011 from another Iowa scratch-off game. Waterloo Fire Alarms March 18 3:59 p.m., 506 W. Ninth St., automobile accident. Fire Alarms March 19 12:23 a.m., 306 Park Road, building fire. 3:51 a.m., 777 Isle of Capri Blvd., false alarm. 4:14 a.m., 351 Presley Circle, assist resident. 9:46 a.m., 4413 Nostalgia Lane, assist resident. 10:12 a.m., 414 Belmont Ave., false alarm. 12:27 p.m., 1400 Logan Ave., automobile accident. 1:36 p.m., 2046 Sovia Drive, vehicle fire. 3:49 p.m., 323 Polk St., false alarm. 4:46 p.m., 2422 City View St., false alarm. 6:09 p.m., Bismark and Dundee avenues, automobile accident. Fire Alarms Mach 20 10:36 a.m., 106 E. Third St., false alarm. 5:41 p.m., Hawkeye Road and East San Marnan Drive, automobile accident. Fire Alarms March 21 8:19 a.m., 1425 E. San Marnan Drive, false alarm. 12:04 p.m., 602 Logan Ave., trash fire. 12:59 p.m., 505 Texas St., natural gas release. 4:14 p.m., 1500 Shultz St., investigate complaint. 6:56 p.m., 1524 Shultz St., investigate complaint. Fire Alarms March 22 3:59 a.m., 2723 Crestline Ave., assist resident. 1:39 p.m., 102 South St., assist resident. 3:31 p.m., Cedar Terrace Drive and Foulk Road, automobile accident. 7:37 p.m., 617 W. Second St., unauthorized burning. Fire Alarms March 23 12:05 a.m., 366 California St., assist public. 9:36 a.m., 1421 Liberty Ave., assist resident. 11:21 a.m., 1326 Leavitt St., bathroom fire. 2:53 p.m., Cedar Terrace Drive and Texas Street, bomb scare. 4:13 p.m., 501 Sycamore St., false alarm. 8:04 p.m., 346 Halstead St., natural gas leak. Police Log William Dean Garreston, 47, of Sumner, was arrested March 24 on West Seventh Street for second-offense operating while intoxicated following a traffic stop. Eric Carl Mudd, 50, of 4733 Edgebrook Drive, was arrested March 24 on Independence Avenue for second-offense operating while intoxicated following a traffic stop. Tyria Lorraine Sailes, 22, of 223 Allen St., was arrested March 24 at West Ninth and South streets for second-degree theft. She allegedly failed to return a loaner vehicle from an automobile dealership in April 2015. Veil Jacoby Jackson-Douglass, 33, of 4711 University Ave., No. 40, was arrested March 23 at the police station for credit card fraud. He allegedly made $458 worth of purchase on another persons ATM card Jan. 29. Kerry Allen Johnson, 52, of 947 Newton St., was arrested March 23 for aggravated domestic assault. He allegedly assaulted Geneva Couch Johnson. Luttreal Dwayne Allen, 42, of 1607 Mount Carmel Drive, was arrested March 18 at 431 Riehl St. for serious domestic assault and obstructing emergency communications. He allegedly assaulted Anjelica Marks, 24. Richard Owen Busch, 42, of 619 Johnson St., was arrested March 17 at his home for second-degree sexual abuse. He allegedly had sexual contact with a 10-year-old boy in December. Mark Edwin McConnell, 58, of 3044 San Salvador Drive, was arrested March 17 in the 2500 block of Ninth Street for domestic assault and first-offense operating while intoxicated. He allegedly assaulted Debbie McConnell, 58. DES MOINES Legislative Democrats are cool to GOP ideas of taking money from other parts of the states general fund or infrastructure budgets to finance expanded efforts to improve Iowas water quality, a top Iowa Senate leader said Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, told reporters Democrats want to increase funding for water-quality initiatives, but do not believe a workable bipartisan proposal has emerged at the Statehouse. Several of the plans that weve seen are little more than shell games moving money around, taking money away from somebody for the sake of somebody else, Gronstal said. Most of those plans arent going to work very smoothly up here. Gov. Terry Branstad, who had proposed tying water quality and school infrastructure together in a long-term strategy to address both priorities, conceded Monday his idea may not be embraced in one year and he would be willing to work with lawmakers to address water quality needs this session. However, he has said he also will not approve an extension of the school infrastructure sales tax set to expire 2029 if a share of that money is not part of the long-term plan to address water-quality concerns. Meanwhile, majority House Republicans are working on a separate proposal to fund water-quality programs out of a water metering tax that currently generates about $28 million to the states general fund annually. Gronstal said majority Senate Democrats also are formulating concepts to help us get started but offered few details. Asked how much Democrats were seeking to spend on water quality improvements, more than were doing now was Gronstals response. Weve seen an outline of a plan from the House Republicans; weve obviously seen the governors plan that takes $406 million away from K-through-12 education, from school infrastructure. We have concerns about that, Gronstal said. I dont think there are a lot of people that are thrilled with taking $406 million away from local schools, OK? So the governors proposal in that respect is a pretty big lift over here, the Senate leader added. The House proposals weve seen take money out of the general fund, take money out of the infrastructure fund, dont produce anything new and basically thats just one more way to shortchange K-12 education. House Ways and Means Committee members were working on a bill that would replace the sales tax Iowans pay on metered water with a 6 percent excise tax that would be deposited in an Iowa Finance Authority-administered revolving loan fund to help cities improve their water and waste water treatment facilities. The excise tax would raise about $28 million a year. Committee Chairman Tom Sands, R-Wapello, said the bills provisions represented the backbone framework for funding water quality. The excise tax was chosen because those that are paying will get the benefit, he said, thats why it will go to municipal water and waste water improvements, not farm-related projects. Sands said he hoped the House approach would receive Senate consideration, noting the options are using existing money, raising taxes or diverting money, and there was limited support for diverting it from SAVE the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund which sunsets at the end of 2029. Branstad indicated Monday he was not inclined to support a free-standing bill to extend the SAVE program for another 20 years, to which Gronstal replied Tuesday: We dont see him being extended past 2029, so we can make some decision later on. Gronstal said key legislators were working through a host of budget decisions this week and hoped to agree on details of a fiscal 2017 state spending plan relatively quickly, telling reporters we would like to adjourn on time with April 19 marking this sessions 100th day. CEDAR FALLS Police are investigating a burglary reported early Monday at The Other Place restaurant, 4214 University Ave. Police said a someone took a landscaping brick from a nearby residence and tossed it through an east dining room window to gain access. Eleven bottles of liquor valued at $200 was reported missing as well as a set of keys. The party also apparently exited through the same window; a chair was found next to it. Damage to the window was estimated at $1,000. Man reports yard robbery WATERLOO A Waterloo man said he was beaten and robbed in his own backyard Monday night. Christian Shropshire, 24, told officers he was enjoying a bon fire behind his home at 2401 Idaho St. at about 10:18 p.m. Monday when two men approached him. They demanded money, and one of them pointed a pistol at Shropshire, police said. Shropshire knocked the weapon away, but the attackers began punching and kicking him, and they took money from his wallet before fleeing. Shropshire suffered minor injuries, police said. No arrests have been made. Bremer cases moving forward WAVERLY A pair of criminal cases in Bremer County involving felonies are moving closer to resolution. According to court records, Jeffery Friis, 52, of Sumner, will change his plea April 5. He entered a plea of not guilty in December. Authorities charged Friis with third-offense possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, and eluding. Both are felonies. Friis also is accused of carrying a weapon and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Those charges are misdemeanors. According to criminal complaints, deputy Brian Bockhaus about 10:30 p.m. Dec. 20 attempted a traffic stop but Friis kept driving on Iowa Highway 93 near Tripoli at speeds of 25 mph or more over the speed limit. Authorities later searched Friis vehicle and discovered meth and a homemade sap, a baton or club, in a backpack next to Friis, according to the complaint. In a separate, unrelated case, Travis Thompson, 41, of Cedar Falls, is scheduled to stand trial May 5 in Bremer County District Court. Thompson is charged with two counts of domestic abuse assault, one as a felony and one as an aggravated misdemeanor. According to court documents, on Nov. 22 Thompson choked a female companion twice to the point of almost passing out while both were in his vehicle. The alleged incident happened in the parking lot at Taco Johns in Waverly. The victim then tried to get away from the defendant by trying to exit the car and run inside the store, officer Josh Buhrow wrote in the criminal complaint. The woman got a grip on the restaurants door, but Thompson allegedly pulled her off, and they both fell, according to Buhrow. She scraped her knee and elbow. By The Associated Press Mar. 29, 2016 | 10:32 AM | FRANKFORT, KY Tensions between Republicans and Democrats over Kentucky's more than $65 billion spending plan escalated overnight, with the Republican governor calling a news conference to blame House leaders for refusing to negotiate. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin said he and Republican legislative leaders were willing to compromise to pass a budget before the legislature adjourns for the year. But he said Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo was not being truthful and told reporters not to be played by Stumbo's bluffs. Stumbo told reporters Bevin should spend less time making silly Facebook videos and pick up the phone and call him. Bevin posted a video late Monday night calling on the legislature to pass a budget. 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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. Does it offer live dealer games? Live dealers are much preferred by many over regular virtual versions, so it pays to check this option out too. Most online casinos now offer live dealer games in addition to their regular offerings, allowing you to experience the thrill of the real thing without needing to leave home. Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice It really comes down to personal preference. No two people are exactly alike, so everyone has an opinion on what they like and dislike about each casino. That said, here are some things to consider in order to narrow down your choices Popularity. Check out reviews, forums and Facebook pages to see what other people think of the casino. Also, ask around at work or friends houses who they would recommend to you. You could always take a look at the casinos website too, to see what kind of information they provide about themselves. Reputation. Find out what the general public thinks about the casino. Check out any customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and Google Play to find out more. As far as gaming goes, you can also check out the Better Business Bureau to see whether there have been any complaints against the casino. 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. With all those criteria in mind, heres our top picks Betway: Betway is a relatively new UK casino offering online gambling to residents of the United Kingdom and European Union. They offer hundreds of games across both land based and digital platforms, with plenty of top software providers like Net Entertainment, Microgaming and Yggdrasil Gaming Network. With a generous welcome offer that gives players 100% up to 100, you really cant go wrong with Betway. 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. 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You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit. MIAMI, FL, March 30, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- No matter how good a business owner may perceive their product or service to be, their opinion is meaningless if their target audience does not reciprocate it. In business, locating the target audience should always be the first step for a number of reasons, states sales and marketing firm Florida Business Consulting. Firstly, identifying a target audience will save a business money in the long run. Secondly, developing a product is a costly process, so for a business owner to discover that there is no market interest in a product they have invested in can be catastrophic financially. By locating and connecting with potential consumers before the production process, businesses can appeal for feedback and gain a frank and honest understanding of what it is the market wants. Listening to the target audience in this way will not only secure sales before a product hits the market, but it will also help consumers feel valued and listened to, something which has become increasingly rare thanks to the growth of huge global corporations. About Florida Business Consulting: http://www.floridabusinessconsulting.net/about.html Taking steps to understand a target audience can also provide a business owner with much needed clarity and open their mind to new perspectives. Very rarely in business does a 'one size fits all' approach satisfy consumers. More often than not, businesses will find through research and communication with potential consumers that their product has appeal across far more consumer groups than they first thought. Assessing the differing needs and goals of these potential customers will help a business to tailor their products and services accordingly and offer each consumer solutions that are relevant to their individual situation. Going the extra mile in this way to connect with consumers will have a hugely positive impact on brand loyalty and increase the potential for word of mouth recommendations. As a result this can further the brand's reach outside of their local market territory. Based in Miami, Florida Business Consulting specializes in bringing brands and consumers closer together through face-to-face marketing. Working on their clients' behalf, the firm conducts thorough market research to pinpoint the most promising markets for their clients' brands. Then, after identifying key consumer groups the firm deliver their clients' campaigns direct to consumers, opening up the opportunity for one-on-one communication. This personalized customer experience helps drive brand loyalty, increases sales and helps consumers to make more confident and informed purchase decisions. Florida Business Consulting believes that the success rate of their sales and marketing strategies is due to their commitment to understanding their clients' target audiences. The firm refuses to launch a campaign until every one of their sales representatives is aware of the needs of their target consumers and possesses the product knowledge to deliver tailor-made, effective solutions. Established in 2011, Florida Business Consulting is a privately held marketing and fundraising services company in Downtown Miami. For more information follow the company on Twitter @FloridaBizC # # # Mar 30, 2016 | By Tess The International Data Corporation (IDC) has recently published a report that lays out and analyzes the Chinese 3D printer industry and its key players. The report, called China 3D Printing Market Analysis 2014-2015, released on March 29, 2016, explains that while Chinas 3D printing market continues to be dominated by influential foreign brands, its own local vendors and 3D printing companies are catching up in terms of innovation and are becoming increasingly dominant forces within the Chinese market. Currently, Chinas top five dominant 3D printing companies in terms of revenue are EOS (Germany), Stratasys (US), Renishaw (UK), ZRapid (China), and Solidscape (US), showing a clear indication that the Chinese 3D printing market is dominated by foreign brands and companies. The report also shows, however, that Chinese companies, such as Xery, Flashforge, and Beijing Tiertime are catching up to companies like Stratasys and 3D Systems when it comes to the desktop 3D printer market, likely because of their high quality and competitive prices. Wendy Mok, Research Manager of IDCs Imaging, Printing and Document Solutions research explains, "Foreign brands' maturity in the technology, print stability and print quality help them maintain their top positions in the market. But the gap between foreign brands and local brands is narrowing as local vendors ramp up their effort to improve their printers performance and quality. The report issued by IDC also shows that three Chinese 3D printer companies, Flashforge, Beijing Tiertime, and Winbo, account for about 50% of Chinas 3D desktop printer export market. The success of Chinese 3D printer exports is said to be likely driven by the price competitiveness of made in China products and the demand to provide OEM services to foreign brands. As Wendy Mok explains in detail, "China vendors who are targeting mid-level to high-end users in China and the foreign market will need to start looking at more than just hardware prices as vendors need to incorporate software and services as part of their portfolios. Traditionally, the competitive advantage of Chinese brands in the overseas market is their relatively low price as compared with foreign vendors. New users will always opt for cheaper hardware to test out while existing users that have gained the experience and knowledge in integrating 3D printers into their businesses will tend to opt for foreign brands. The IDC has listed 3D printing as one of six key innovation accelerators, which also include the Internet of Things (IoT), Cognitive Systems, Next Gen Security, Augmented & Virtual Reality, and Robotics. These six points of innovation are expected to fast-track digital transformation in the marketplace and grow significantly, according to reports by the International Data Corporation. The IDC also has an upcoming event on April 15th in Shenzhen, China, which will set its focus on discussing 3D printing markets and innovation. In fact, Keith Kmetz, the Program Vice President of IDCs Imaging, Printing and Document Solutions research, will be hosting a session on Finding Success in 3D Printing to delve into the 3D printer market as it stands and how it can be optimized for those in the industry. Posted in 3D Printer Maybe you also like: Joris Peels wrote at 4/3/2016 6:45:13 PM:No farsoon? Mar 30, 2016 | By Kira Big name car companies have been teasing us with futuristic concept cars that incorporate 3D printed and even 4D printed features for next-level driving experiences. But while Buick, BMW and Ferraris visions may require another 10, 20 or even 50 years to be realized, Local Motors has swerved into the picture with the real deal: the worlds first road-ready 3D printed car, which will be available for preorder as early as this year. With many consumers still unaware of how a 3D printer even worksnever mind how it could be scaled up to produce an entire vehicleLocal Motors decided to create the short yet informative 3D Printing 101: How to print a car video to clarify the many inevitable questions consumers have been asking. As the public relations guy at Local Motors, Im constantly asked by peoplewhether its the media, business partners or folks at the grocery store who see my LM shirtwhat exactly it is what we do as a company, explained Adam Kress, Local Motors PR Manager. In the interest of being as open a company as possible, we decided to simply show you how its done in a way that everyone can understand. The 3D printed caror at least, 3D printed car partsshown in the video are for the LM3D Swim, Local Motors first 3D printed car to enter production. A few quick facts about Local Motors "safe, smart, sustainable" 3D printed car: Roughly 75% of the LM3D is 3D printed although eventually that will go up to 90% is 3D printed although eventually that will go up to 90% The 3D printing material being used is a blend of 80% ABS and 20% carbon fiber Though the underpinnings will remain consistent, Local Motors plans to offer a wide range of fully customizable aesthetic features only possible through DDM and 3D printing technology Crash testing is expected to be complete by the end of 2016, and Local Motors aim is to make their 3D printed cars even safer than traditionally manufactured ones Consumers will soon be able to preorder their 3D printed LM3D through an upcoming Indiegogo campaign, with retail purchases available later in the year The suggested MSRP is currently $53,000 dollars In addition to using additive manufacturing, Local Motors has also partnered with industry leaders to further enhance the driving experience through cutting-edge technologies. These include IBM, to integrate IoT technology through IBM Watson; Siemens Solid Edge to provide CAD modeling; IDEO to renew Local Motors Labs; and SABIC to improve materials. There is a lot of ambition and technological promise packed into the compact and sporty LM3Dyet Local Motors open approach seems to indicate that theyve got nothing to hide, and in fact, that they want consumers to understand and appreciate as much as possible the manufacturing process that goes into each LM3D vehicle.The 3D Printing 101 video, produced by Multimedia Specialist Motaz Hussein, thus shows us the steps involved in moving from digital 3D file to functional 3D printed car part. It all starts with the 3D model, which is carefully designed, converted to .STL, and sent to the mechanical engineering team with specifications for how it should be 3D printed. Next, an operator runs the 3D model through a slicer program, which breaks it down into individual layers. Finally, everything is sent to the BAAM 3D printer. BAAM is Cincinnati Incorporateds Big Area Additive Manufacturing machine. One of the largest 3D printers in the world, this behemoth has previously been used to 3D print a Strati in just six days, a full-scale Shelby Cobra, and even 3D printed house-car-combo that produce and share clean energy. Needless to say, its extremely big, extremely fast, and extremely valuable to the future of 3D printed cars. Once the sliced file has been sent to the 3D printer, the ABS and carbon fiber composite material, which starts out in the form of dried pellets, is heated to 410F (210C) and extruded, layer by layer. Five hours later, the part is complete and ready to be assembled to the larger structure. As the first and only company to take on 3D printed consumer vehicles today, Local Motors is well-aware of its unique position within the industry, and seems to be taking advantage of this to not only bring more awareness to their product, but to the entire 3D printing process. Of course you will have questions, said the company. There is nothing conventional about this car, the way its made, or the company behind it. Whether youre completely unfamiliar with 3D printing or have always been curious about just how exactly a 3D printed car is made, Local Motors 3D Printing 101 is worth a quick watch. In the future, the company plans to produce an entire video series that describes how the 3D printed pieces are prepared and finally integrated into the vehicle. Take a look at the first 3D Printing 101 video guide below: Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Eyal Press in The Nation: In the spring of 2008, a graduate student named Matthew Desmond began renting out a trailer in a mobile-home park on the south side of Milwaukee. Like much of the south side, the parks population was predominantly poor and white, with an outsize number of its residents addicted to drugs or working as prostitutes. After four months, Desmond moved to an equally impoverished, predominantly black neighborhood on the north side of Milwaukee, into a duplex bordering an alley covered in gang graffiti. Unlike most of his neighbors, Desmond didnt live in these places because he had no better options. He was an ethnographer interested in studying the dynamics of eviction, a familiar ritual at his fieldwork sites, where movers arrived seemingly every day to dump the possessions of another evicted tenant on the curb. How often did this actually happen? No one knew. When Desmond searched for data on the eviction rate in Milwaukee, he couldnt find much. The dearth of information might have discouraged some researchers. Desmond took it as a sign that he was onto something. Countless studies have traced the way factors like jobs, wages, and mass incarceration fuel urban poverty, but the role of housing had been curiously overlooked. Since no good data existed, he decided to oversee a survey of his own. When Desmond crunched the numbers, the results were astonishing. As it turned out, eviction wasnt a daily event in Milwaukee; it was more like an hourly one. In a city with less than 105,000 renter households, 16,000 adults and children were being evicted every year, amounting to one in eight renters between 2009 and 2011. The movers were especially ubiquitous in black neighborhoods, where female renters were nine times as likely to be forced out of their homes as women in poor white neighborhoods. More here. 31 December 2015 Financial Report Sydney, Mar 30, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Invigor Group Ltd ( ASX:IVO ) ( HYROF:OTCMKTS ) are pleased to provide the Company's 31 December 2015 Financial Report. Principal Activity The principal activity of the Consolidated Entity is to operate as a digital solutions group capable of delivering both sales and fulfilment capability. It specialises in innovative business intelligence, big data solutions and uses its complementary suite of big data products to source, aggregate, analyse and publish content for the benefit of businesses and consumers. The Company intends continuing to seek investment opportunities which are profitable and synergistic with the overall strategy. During the comparative reporting period, until 18 March 2014, the Consolidated Entity operated as an investment company focused on the information and communication technologies sector. Significant Changes in the State of Affairs Invigor continued transforming itself into a digital solutions group during 2015 through development of product, the acquisition of operating businesses and making other investments. The transformation has been funded by the issue of convertible notes and raising of new equity. Details are provided throughout this Directors' Report. To view the full report, please visit: http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/4737ANM2 About Invigor Group Ltd Invigor Group (ASX:IVO) uses its complementary suite of big data products to source, aggregate, analyse and publish content for the benefit of businesses and consumers. Today its interconnected data sets enable enterprise clients including retailers, brands, shopping centres and government bodies to identify and better understand competitors, consumers, markets and demographics while providing the consumer with the best value-for-money. Using its current products and a pipeline of additional offerings Invigor will have the ability to provide an end-to-end solution spanning sales, product management, business intelligence, marketing, advertising, content creation and distribution, while monetising each step of the process. Bear Paw Pipeline's Environment Assessment Registered Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mar 30, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc. (Bear Paw), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (LNGL) ( ASX:LNG ) ( LNGLY:OTCMKTS ), is pleased to announce that today it has registered its Environmental Assessment (EA) with Nova Scotia Environment. Bear Paw is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5 km natural gas pipeline from Goldboro to the proposed Bear Head LNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Point Tupper, Richmond County, Nova Scotia. The Goldboro to Point Tupper pipeline connects Bear Head LNG to the North American natural gas pipeline network. "We are committed to completing the Bear Paw pipeline project in a manner that protects the natural and cultural environment," said Maurice Brand, President of Bear Paw. "We are putting all the elements in place, with Bear Paw pipeline being one of them, to develop a successful LNG export facility on Cape Breton Island." Bear Paw regulatory, permitting, and certain other costs were contemplated in LNGL's previously disclosed three-year cash management plan. Expenditures for construction of the pipeline shall commence only after financial close of the Bear Head LNG project. "Bear Paw continues to be a positive contributor to the local economy. Bear Paw's investment in pipeline infrastructure will benefit the community, region, and province by creating new jobs and provide economic opportunity through the use of local goods and services. The submission of our EA is another step in achieving that goal," Brand noted. "We thank the landowners, Mi'kmaq, municipalities, and other stakeholders in the community for their continued support in advancing our project." The public is invited to submit comments on the EA during the comment period, which commenced today and will continue until April 29. The EA is available for review online at (www.novascotia.ca/nse/ea) and copies are available at the offices of the Guysborough Municipality, James and Mary Rhynold's in Stormont, Nova Scotia Environment's Port Hawkesbury and Antigonish offices, and Bear Paw's office in Point Tupper. In December 2015, pursuant to the Pipeline Act, Bear Paw filed an application with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to obtain a "Permit to Construct" for a natural gas pipeline and related facilities. Public hearings will begin on 9 May 2016 at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre. About Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc. Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of LNGL, is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5 km (38.8 mile) natural gas pipeline to supply natural gas to the Bear Head LNG terminal in Nova Scotia, Canada. All required initial permits are now in place for Bear Head LNG to construct the liquefied natural gas export facility in Point Tupper on the Strait of Canso southeast of Port Hawkesbury. Canada's National Energy Board and the U.S. Department of Energy have granted export licenses for the facility. LNG produced at the facility will be transported by LNG vessels to overseas markets. About Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd Liquefied Natural Gas Limited ( ASX:LNG) ( OTCMKTS:LNGLY) (LNGL) is an ASX listed company whose portfolio consists of 100% ownership of the following companies: - Magnolia LNG, LLC (Magnolia LNG), a US-based subsidiary, which is developing an eight mtpa or greater LNG export terminal, in the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA; - Bear Head LNG Corporation Inc. (Bear Head LNG), a Canadian-based subsidiary, which is developing an 8 12 mtpa LNG export terminal in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada with potential for further expansion; - Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc. (Bear Paw), which is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5 km gas pipeline lateral to connect gas supply to Bear Head LNG; and - LNG Technology Pty Ltd, a subsidiary which owns and develops the Company's OSMR LNG liquefaction process, a midscale LNG business model that plans to deliver lower capital and operating costs, faster construction, and improved efficiency, relative to larger traditional LNG projects. Additional Lithium Tenements Acquired in WA Brisbane, Mar 30, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) is pleased to announce that it has continued to develop its lithium exploration strategy with two new tenement applications in the Pilgangoora district, Western Australia (Figure 1, see link below). Highlights: - Two new tenements prospective for lithium secured in Pilgangoora district, Western Australia - Targeting rare metal pegmatites, previously unexplored for lithium - Expands lithium tenements in the Pilgangoora district to five covering 624 km2 The new project areas at Friendly Creek (ELA47/3475) and West Wodgina (ELA45/4726) cover 339km2, and secure areas of past tin and tantalum prospecting activity (Figure 2, see link below). The bedrock rare metal pegmatite hosts have not been subject to modern exploration or assessment for their lithium potential. The project areas show similarities with the tin pegmatites at Mt Cassiterite in the Wodgina field which host spodumene bearing albite pegmatites, the Company's target exploration focus. Commencement of field exploration over the Pilbara projects is planned to commence shortly. The acquisition is complementary to the Company's recent strategy shift to focus on both graphite and lithium exploration, and develop the raw materials required for the production of lithium-ion batteries (ASX release, Strategic Entry in to the Western Australian Lithium Market, 17 March 2016). Further acquisitions to further this aim are anticipated. To view tables and figures, please visit: http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/6KS8AJ4Q About Sayona Mining Limited Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:SYAXF) is an Australian, ASX-listed (SYA) company focused on sourcing and developing the raw materials required to construct lithium-ion batteries for use in the rapidly growing new and green technology sectors. The Company has lithium projects in Quebec, Canada and in Western Australia. Please visit us as at www.sayonamining.com.au 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. One out of three internal audit departments worldwide are now outsourcing at least some of their work to a third party, according to a new study. The study, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin School of Business, found that North American companies are leading the trend, with 56 percent of responding companies admitting they rely on outside services. Dereck Barr-Pulliam, assistant professor of accounting and information systems at the Wisconsin School of Business, analyzed data from the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundations 2015 Common Body of Knowledge survey to come up with the numbers. He found that some large companies are using third parties when a particular specialization is needed, while smaller companies may lack sufficient expertise in-house to fully perform internal audit functions. Barr-Pulliam examined the data by industry sector and found that financial companies, publicly traded organizations outside the financial sector, and not-for-profits were the most likely entities to use third party audits. The report recommends some basic steps for chief audit executives to follow before engaging third-party internal audit providers: have a sufficient understanding of the objectives the service provider will fulfill; communicate and document those objectives during the engagement process; provide adequate supervision to the service provider to ensure objectives are met; and clearly delineate which party is responsible for remediation and follow-up on issues noted in the third partys report of findings. The report is available here. Senior business leaders are concerned about some of the proposed tax changes they have heard from presidential candidates and other sources, according to a new survey by Friedman LLP. The accounting and advisory firm released a white paper, 2016 Election Grows Near: Business Leaders React to Proposed Tax Changes, highlighting six key findings: Business taxation is of less concern than individual taxation, but should it be? Sixty percent of the respondents were concerned about the elimination of the individual home mortgage interest deduction while only about 16 percent cared that the partnership and S corporation tax systems could be merged, eliminating most of the best features of each. Businesses are split on whether state and local tax nexus concerns will influence future expansion plans. Nearly half of the survey respondents (47 percent) said state and local tax nexus concerns would not influence their plans to expand their business into new states. Beneficial state and local tax incentives could encourage businesses to move. More than half of respondents (57 percent) indicated state and local tax incentives would influence their choice of whether or not to move, either very much or at least somewhat. Sixteen percent of respondents said incentives would impact their decisions very little and 27 percent of respondents said incentives would not play a role at all. International tax landscape causes widespread concern. For those respondents with international transactions, over half (54 percent) found the international tax environment to be either very overwhelming or somewhat overwhelming. When it comes to intangible property, many businesses may be missing international tax opportunities to reduce their overall tax burden. For international transactions and intangible property, 30 percent of respondents indicated that they would move intangible property offshore if they could achieve an effective tax rate as low as 10 percent. When given the opportunity to share their biggest concerns, the theme among respondents was taxpayers, whether for business purposes or individual purposes, just want action and clarity, said Kimberly Dula, a partner in Friedman LLPs tax practice. This research allows us to understand where the concerns exist and in turn more precisely guide us in empowering our clients. The firm surveyed 116 senior business leaders last fall from companies in the New York City metropolitan area, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Friedman LLP will be hosting a webinar on May 19 at 11:00 AM ET on the findings. To download a copy of the white paper and for more information, visit http://www.friedmanllp.com/2016Election. Kyoorius has announced the advertising jury for the third edition of the Kyoorius Creative Awards, held in association with D&AD. R Balki, Group Chairman, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group and a prominent writer and director of the two Bollywood films Cheeni Kum and Paa will be the foreman of this jury. His latest project, Ki and Ka, releases on Friday, April 1, 2016. The Jury session will be held from May 4 to 7, 2016. The jury for the Kyoorius Creative awards 2016 comprises: R Balki, Group Chairman, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group Jury Foreman Agnello Dias, Co-Founder, Taproot Nima Namchu, Chief Commercial Officer, Havas Worldwide Tista Sen, National Creative Director, J. Walter Thompson Ajay Gahlaut, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Scott McClelland, Executive Creative Director Asia-Pacific, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) Daniel Comar, Regional Executive Creative Director, Geometry Global Scott Dungate, Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy (W&K) Troy Lim, Executive Creative Director, Publicis Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016, previously known as the Kyoorius Digital and Advertising Awards, includes The Media Awards this year. Hence, the Kyoorius Creative Awards will have three juries Advertising, Media and Digital. Kyoorius will call for entries across a total of 15 categories and 135 sub-categories this year. Like every year, the awards will uphold the zero-tolerance policy for scam ads. Kyoorius introduced the concept of Open Jury, the jury sessions that are open to the industry people to watch, learn, check and benefit from the discussions and display of entries. Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO of Kyoorius, commented, Kyoorius is the foremost award show that discovers and celebrates all work that works. We firmly believe that every great work must be awarded without discriminating into Gold, Silver or Bronze. Given that only about 3 per cent win a Blue Elephant and one or two works win a Black Elephant, I am sure that winning a Kyoorius Elephant will be the pinnacle of ones career. Together with D&AD, we meticulously select top creative talent international and national to be included in the jury panel. The juries are selected on the basis of their ability to recognise work that typifies game-changing works in creative communications. I am deeply honoured to have R Balki as the chair (foreman) of the advertising jury this year together with some of the best minds in the industry. The Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016 will be held on June 3, 2016, Dome @ NSCI, Worli - Mumbai. Over 1,500 professionals, including CEOs, Marketing Directors, Brand Managers, Creative and Media gurus, etc., are expected to attend the awards show. Voting in the Senate Each state and territory elects multiple Senators using a preferential voting system. At a federal election only half of the Senate positions for each state typically become vacant, resulting in six Senate vacancies per state, while all territory Senate positions become vacant. Senate ballot papers The order of the party columns on the ballot paper for each state and territory is determined by a random draw held immediately after the declaration of nominations. Some columns on the Senate ballot paper will feature a party logo but some will likely not. This is dependent on each party officially registering a logo with the AEC. Senate ballot papers are white in colour. How to complete your ballot paper On the white Senate ballot paper, you need to either: number at least six boxes above the line for the parties or groups of your choice, or number at least 12 boxes below the line for individual candidates of your choice. Polling officials at the polling place are available to assist voters in completing their ballot paper. If you make a mistake on a ballot paper you may return it to the polling official who issued it and receive a fresh one. Above the line If you vote above the line, you need to number at least six boxes from 1 to 6. Place a 1 in the box above the party or group that is your first choice, the number 2 in the box above the party or group that is your second choice and so on until you have numbered at least six boxes above the line. You can continue to place numbers in the order of your choice in as many boxes above the line as you like. Your preferences will first be distributed to the candidates in the party or group of your first choice, then to candidates in the party or group of your second choice and so on, until all your preferences have been distributed. Below the line If you vote below the line, you need to number at least 12 boxes from 1 to 12. Place a 1 in the box beside the candidate that is your first choice, and the numbers 2, 3, 4 and so on to at least the number 12. You can continue to place numbers in the order of your choice in as many boxes below the line as you like. Hanscom SFS captures best in AF again For the second year in a row, and the third time in four years, members of the 66th Security Forces Squadron at Hanscom Air Force Base are celebrating their selection as the Air Force Outstanding Small Size Security Forces Unit award. Hanscom's defenders beat out 24 other small security forces squadrons throughout the Air Force to earn the best in the service for 2015. "Throughout this squadron there are military and civilian Airmen dedicated to accomplishing the security force mission at home and abroad," said Maj. Joseph Bincarousky, the 66th SFS commander. "That commitment resonates at all levels throughout the squadron to make it literally the best security forces squadron in the Air Force." In an email sent to the workforce, Col. David R. Dunklee, the installation commander, recognized the accomplishment. "Our defenders are the first to greet Team Hanscom to the base; first to respond to emergencies; and will always rush into danger to protect us," he stated. Among the many notable achievements highlighted in the award citation was the high number of deployments the squadron was responsible for in 2015. "Last year, more than 50 percent of the Airmen assigned to the squadron deployed around the globe to protect, defend and fight," Bincarousky said. "Each Airman was charged with tasks such as defending air bases at home and abroad, law enforcement on those bases, combat arms and handling military working dogs." Also included in the citation is the somber reminder of the sacrifice made by fallen defenders Senior Airmen Kcey Ruiz and Nathan Sartain, who were killed when the C-130J Super Hercules they were on crashed shortly after takeoff in Afghanistan. "We continue to honor their legacy each and every day," Bincarousky said. Locally, the 66th SFS remained busy by preparing for a unit effectiveness inspection last spring. During the UEI, Air Force Materiel Command inspectors recognized 11 defenders as outstanding performers. In addition, the squadron's logistics flight was selected as the 66th Air Base Group's and Hanscom AFBs team of the year. The military working dog section was lauded for their support to numerous senior government leader visits to the six-state New England region. Also highlighted in the citation was the participation by many junior and senior enlisted members in force development programs such as first term Airman course and Airman leadership school, as well as active involvement in private organizations such as the Patriot Enlisted Association, top three and many others. Bincarousky added that the squadron's success is indicative of the high-caliber of individuals and teams that make up the squadron. "Excellence is not a goal in this squadron, excellence is the standard for each and every Airmen assigned here," he said. "We had another banner year in 2015, and that success resonates throughout and makes us all better. I doubt this is the last time the 66th Security Forces Squadron captures this award." James announces Office of Energy Assurance Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced the establishment of the Air Force Office of Energy Assurance and conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland March 22. James spoke to more than 600 Air Force basic trainees at the ceremony for the Forward Operating Base of the Future. The FOB of the Future is located at the Basic Expeditionary Airmen Skills Training (BEAST) site, where trainees spend a week in an expeditionary environment during their more than eight weeks at basic military training. Developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the $3.4 million project will demonstrate alternative energy capabilities to reduce a FOBs reliance on diesel by generating on-site renewable energy and reducing overall consumption. While the project is an energy reduction prototype that also advances a culture of energy awareness, the significant goal will be reducing the reliance on fuel convoys in contested FOB environments which have resulted in service member casualties. One zone of the BEAST site was retrofitted with solar panels on tents, enhanced environmental controls, micro-grid technology, and smart power controllers, reducing the energy footprint of the zone by 85 percent. One of the biggest challenges our Airmen face on the battlefield is secure access to energy, the energy we need to accomplish our mission, she said. Natural disasters, terrorism, political instability all of these can impact our access to energy and jeopardize mission effectiveness. However, assured access to energy isnt just a requirement for our Airmen in forward operating environments, its critical to our operating needs at every installation, James said. Through innovative technologies and business models, well create strategic energy agility on our installations, allowing us to sustain our mission even when traditional resources are disrupted, she said. According to the OEA memorandum of establishment, signed earlier this month by James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, the office will develop, implement and oversee an integrated facility energy portfolio, including privately financed, large-scale clean energy projects that will provide uninterrupted access to the electricity necessary for mission success. James said the OEA will take an enterprise-wide approach to identify and facilitate energy projects that provide resilient, cost-effective, cleaner power to Air Force installations. Miranda Ballentine, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and energy, said the office is already beginning to operate and anticipates having 10 large-scale projects in service or procurement across the U.S. by the end of 2017. The establishment of OEA further cements the Air Forces focus on energy resiliency, Ballentine said. The Air Force is taking a holistic approach to our installation energy resources and looking to resilient, cleaner and cost-effective energy projects as a way to enhance the Air Forces mission assurance through energy assurance. In the early morning hours of Feb. 21, a 28-year-old gunshot victim is inside an ambulance en route to University of California Davis Medical Center, the only Level I trauma center in Sacramento, California. The patient, receiving CPR during transport, is fading quickly due to blood loss from multiple gunshot wounds. After a quick evaluation in the emergency department, doctors determine that the wounded man needs an operation immediately if hes going to survive. In the operating room, Lt. Col. (Dr.) Joseph DuBose, a 60th Surgical Operations Squadron vascular and trauma surgeon, notices how quickly the victim is deteriorating. "We needed to buy some time," DuBose recalled. "We had to restore blood flow to his critical organs so that we could conduct the operation he needed to survive. At that point in time with what we had available, we were still trying to muster the tools needed to operate on him. The REBOA (catheter) was not just an answer; it was the only answer that was capable of saving his life." Medical breakthrough In January, the Food and Drug Administration approved the REBOA catheter, or resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta. The REBOA is a device thats inserted into a hemorrhaging vessel and stops or slows blood flow to that injury, while allowing blood flow to continue to other body parts. The idea originated at the 59th Medical Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, the main hub for autopsies performed on combat casualties. "The autopsies showed that the No. 1 cause of potentially survivable deaths by service members is non-compressible hemorrhaging in the chest and core," said Maj. Lucas Neff, a 60th SGCS vascular surgeon. "We have worked on techniques (with the REBOA) that allow us to control the amount of blood flow that can pass while using the catheter. It's like a faucet where you can turn the flow down in areas where there is bleeding without turning it completely off, allowing blood to flow to other important areas." The creation of the catheter was part of a joint collaboration of both medical and non-medical professionals. Building a new device from the ground up took a team effort including assistance from Travis AFB civil engineer and maintenance personnel, who built the machinery and components necessary to craft the device. "It went from a spark of an idea in an Airman's mind to being used to save a life in about five years, which, in terms of device and innovation, is like hyperdrive," Neff said. "That shows that the confluence of having a very significant need and having the right people driving the bus can lead to a solution." Researchers developed the REBOA after identifying a need for a device that can slow bleeding, without damaging vital organs, long enough for the patient to receive the life-saving care that is needed. "I am very proud to have been a part of the innovation that led up to this moment and for the opportunity to put the hard work of diligent Air Force researchers into clinical use," Neff said. "I have no doubt REBOA is a game changer in the civilian trauma world and in the battlefield." DuBose credits his team at the Clinical Investigation Facility on Travis AFB as a crucial part of research and development of the catheter. Clinical Investigation Facility The CIF, located at David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center, is one of seven Air Force medical facilities with formal clinical investigation programs and resources. "The function of the CIF is education and training, first and foremost, of our medical staff, residents, and upcoming trauma and general surgeons," said Maj. Timothy Williams, a 60th SGCS vascular surgeon. "This project and the lines of research that have evolved out of it have been very productive for our residents." While deployed together to Afghanistan in 2014, Williams and Neff discussed catheters and the benefit of furthering the research of their capabilities. "I don't know if I would've gone down this road of research if it wasn't for that deployment," Williams said. "Having actually been there and seen the casualties firsthand brought me to this research." DuBose credits his Air Force training and experience with allowing his patient to survive his injuries on Feb. 21 and walk out of the hospital a few days later. "Air Force research conducted at the CIF directly contributed to saving the life of this 28-year-old father of six," he said. "I have done trauma surgery all of my professional life, including work at three civilian level I trauma centers and three deployments. I can, without reservation, state that REBOA saved his life." (This feature is part of the " Through Airmen's Eyes " series. These stories focus on individual Airmen, highlighting their Air Force story.)Born and raised in Nizhnekamsk, Russia, Anastasia Stuart traveled to the U.S. as a young adult with the intention of only staying a year to improve her English. One year quickly turned into two, and before she knew it, she enlisted into the U.S. Air Force."I've always wanted to use my ability to speak Russian to contribute to the mission in some form or fashion," Stuart said.Although she didn't qualify to be a linguist because she wasn't a U.S. citizen at the time, Stuart continuously searched for opportunities to use her native tongue while working as the NCO in charge of the medical expense performance reporting system at the 6th Medical Support Squadron.In 2014, Stuart stumbled upon the Language Enabled Airman Program (LEAP)."LEAP seeks to develop cross-culturally competent leaders with working-level foreign language proficiency -- leaders who can meet Air Force global mission requirements," said Zachary Hickman, a language division chief with the Air Force Culture and Language Center. "We select Airmen from jobs across the Air Force. They stay in their 'day jobs,' but they gain a level of language and culture learning that allows them to do their day jobs in another language and in another country."Without hesitation, Stuart applied in August 2014 and was accepted two months later. Shortly after, Stuart received notice of her first mission in support of the U.S. European Commands Ukraine Joint Commission Subcommittee activities.In light of the U.S. transferring a $7.6 million expeditionary military field hospital to the Ukrainian government to help enhance the country's ability to treat soldiers, the Expeditionary Medical Support System (EMEDS) team was tasked to go there to train about 80 Ukrainian military members.With knowledge in Russian, as well as the medical career field, Stuart was a perfect match for the five-week temporary assignment. Her job was to translate and interpret for the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) in a number of crucial real-world areas related to subcommittee implementation plans, to include land forces, air force and medical subcommittees."I was in Zhytomyr (west of Kiev), assisting our EMEDS team in training Ukrainian forces on how to set up and use EMEDS tent, and how to use all the equipment that is assigned with it," Stuart said. "Mostly, my job was to translate the instructions and answer questions. I also translated a number of documents for the ODC, including official memorandums, invoices and appraisals."One time, she assisted a meeting between the ODC and DHL shipping company officials."The issue was the delay in shipments of the non-lethal military aid that the U.S. government sent to support Ukraine in the conflict with Russia," she said. "The shipment was sitting in customs, and there was a big misunderstanding on the local customs procedures that needed to be clarified. I was able to use my language and cultural knowledge to smooth the situation, and assist in the development of a new policy for similar future situations."LEAP has allowed Stuart to sustain and even enhance her language abilities, which has been useful in her personal and professional life. It is also a stepping stone to accomplishing her career goal of applying for a defense attache position in an Eastern European country."This trip provided me with a great perspective on the role each and every one of us play in supporting the mission on a global scale," she said. "Ultimately, it was not about just being able to speak a different language, but about building relationships with our Ukrainian partners. Our cultures, the way we think and do things are very different, and without that cultural knowledge, one can't simply build those lasting and productive relationships." Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar has compared 2002 Gujarat riots with 1984 anti-Sikh carnage, alleging that both the massacres were carried out with the support of state machinery. Even, he stressed that there is a fundamental difference between emergency and fascism. Since he delivered this speech, he is grabbing headlines. Both the national political parties (read Congress and BJP) are taking advantages with these riots against each others. Suddenly, ahead of crucial five states assembly elections, Kanhaiya Kumar ignited the topic by stressing that there is a difference between 2002 Gujarat and 1984 anti-Sikh massacre. He alleged that Gujarat violence was carried out through state machinery while the other was caused due to mob frenzy. Anyway, whatever he stated is partially true but there are many theories by different minds and the entire issue landed in debate. Recently, Kanhaiya Kumar met Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders and somewhere he is voicing their opinion and supporting their political agenda too. Dead Congress needs a revival voice as they have miserably lost in some recent elections. Moreover, media should understand whom they want to lift and whom they dont. It is very unfortunate that people are giving importance to the statement made by a student leader. Political parties are getting recipes from him to come up with the issues. Kanhaiyas comments did not go down well even with those who have been his loyal supporters, ever since he was arrested in a sedition case over an event against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. Anyway, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots was as much sponsored by state machinery as 2002 Gujarat massacre. He had also stressed that there was a fundamental difference between Emergency and fascism. He further clarified, that there isnt an iota of doubt that Emergency represents one of the darkest periods of Indian democracy. His organisation, the AISF, is strongly opposed and fought against State repression during Emergency. Both 1984 and 2002 were indeed State-led pogroms, for which justice is still awaited. He feels that the current Central government is relentlessly carrying forward its fascist agenda using State power, as was visible in the recent authoritarian actions against students and all voices of dissent across the country. What we now witness is unprecedented a form of undeclared Emergency. Kanhaiya is not the first person to compare or comment on both these tragedies. Many scholars and commentators have accused the state government of being complicit in the attacks, either in failing to exert any effort to quell the violence or for actively planning and executing the attacks themselves. The United States Department of State ultimately banned Narendra Modi from traveling to the United States due to his alleged role in the attacks. These allegations were centered on several facts. First, the state did little to stop the violence, with attacks continuing well throughout the month of March. Further, some attackers used voter lists and other documents obtainable only with government assistance in order to target Muslim communities and households. Moreover, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), as well as many politicians, including Modi, made inflammatory remarks and endorsed strikes, which further raised tensions in the state. According to Paul Brass the only conclusion from the evidence which is available points to a methodical Anti-Muslim pogrom which was carried out with exceptional brutality. The media has described the attacks as state terrorism rather than communal riots due to the lack of state intervention. Many politicians downplayed the incidents, claiming that the situation was under control. The then deputy superintendent of police stated that the Rapid Action Force had been deployed to sensitive areas in Godhra. Gordhan Zadafia, the then state home minister believed that there would be no retaliation from the Hindu community. Once troops were airlifted in on March 1, Modi stated that the violence was no longer as intense as it had been and that it would soon be brought under control. The violence continued for 3 months with no intervention from the federal government till May. Local and state-level politicians were seen leading violent mobs, restraining the police and arranging the distribution of weapons, leading investigative reports to conclude that the violence was engineered and launched. Throughout the violence, attacks were made in full view of police stations and police officers who did not intervene. In many instances, police joined the mobs in perpetrating violence. At one Muslim locality investigated by Ward Berenschot, of the 29 deaths, police firing into the locality caused 16 deaths. Some rioters even had printouts of voter registration lists, allowing them to selectively target Muslim properties. Selective targeting of properties was shown by the destruction of the offices of the Muslim Wakf board, which was located within the confines of the high security zone and just 500 meters from the office of the chief minister. According to Scott W. Hibbard, the violence had been planned far in advance, and that similar to other instances of communal violence the Bajrang Dal, the VHP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh all took part in the attacks. Following the attack on the train the VHP called for a statewide bandh (strike), and the state took no action to prevent this. The Concerned Citizens Tribunal (CCT) report includes testimony of the then Gujarat BJP minister Haren Pandya (since murdered), who testified about an evening meeting convened by Narendra Modi, on the evening of the Godhra train burning incident. At this meeting, officials were instructed not to obstruct the Hindu rage following the incident. The report also highlighted a second meeting, held in Lunawada village of Panchmahal district, attended by state ministers Ashok Bhatt, and Prabhatsinh Chauhan, and other BJP and RSS leaders, where detailed plans were made on the use of kerosene and petrol for arson and other methods of killing. The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind claimed in 2002 that some regional Congress workers collaborated with the perpetrators of the violence. State and police were clearly complicit in the violence, but some officers were outstanding in the performance of their duties, such as Himanshu Bhatt and Rahul Sharma. Sharma was reported to have said I dont think any other job would have allowed me to save so many lives. This CCT report also said that while Modi remained in power the reconciliation between the Hindu and Muslim communities would not be possible. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom Report in 2003 and 2004 called India a country of particular concern, and cited as one reason for this was the violence in 2002. They also wrote that even though India has a tradition of democracy, minorities are subjected to mass killings and intense violence periodically. It also made note that those who carry out these acts of violence are rarely held accountable for their actions. The Supreme Court of India stepped in, transferring key cases to the Bombay High Court and ordering the police to reopen 2,000 cases that had been previously closed. The apex court also lambasted the Gujarat government as modern day Neros who looked elsewhere when innocent women and children were burning and later interfered with prosecution. Following this direction, police identified nearly 1,600 cases for re-investigation, arrested 640 accused and launched investigations against 40 police officers for their failures. As of April 2013, 249 convictions had been secured, 184 Hindus and 65 Muslims. 31 of the Muslim convictions were for the Train incident in Godhra. Gujarat riots were out of provocation and revenge, with the help of machinery, where as even 1984 too was provocation and government was aware of consequences. Tomorrow I will postmortem the anti-Sikh riots. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Often it has been observed that children instead of studying and attending schools work in polluted and hazardous industries which cause health problems for them. Since large number of poor people resides in India hence parents send their children for work to support them. This situation is prevalent in agrarian societies for a long period of time. Many young boys and girls are very competent and they can combine work with studies. If you visit villages surrounding cities you will notice young girls performing some work and earning money. They also study well. Until 15 years back, I must confess that I was unaware about the marijuana shrub which was growing outside our farmhouse gate. A ten year old boy had informed me about it. The boy was very smart, he could work in the fields, milk and ride the cows and buffaloes and even managed to clear examinations with good marks. When I was staying in community centre CGS colony, the son of our presswala used to assist his father but today he is a state civil service officer. Children must be prohibited from working in factories manufacturing crackers or work places where they may inhale poisonous and fibrous (hazardous) material. They can support their parents until they become self-reliant. The film Boot Polish which revolves around this subject is worth watching. In the film Mother India young Birju was quite bright to be able to help his mother and frighten Sukhi lala. If the government takes initiative to improve sanitation, provide basic education, health care facilities then child exploitation will automatically vanish. When I was studying in 7th standard some of my school mates used to reach school by walking a distance of 5-6 km barefoot. They used to come first and second in the class and not me. Obviously, they also must have been working in the fields to assist their parents. Too much economic disparity exists between the rich and the poor which needs to be addressed on a priority basis. Visit the interior areas of states like Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar and then you can find the difference. The government must take initiative to bridge the gap between the rich and poor which will pave way for inclusive development. It is necessary to provide basic amenities to citizens so that children will be relieved from assisting their parents and will learn and play freely. Let us hope the Maharashtra government sets about mending the basics by totally forgetting empty rhetoric. (The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.) Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray took an aggressive stand against the Deonar dumping ground fire incident and warned its alliance partner BJP to resolve this issue within three months. Uddhav wants the centre, state government and the BMC to work in coordination to find a solution for effective garbage disposal failing which Sena will intervene and address the issue in its own style. Uddhav said, BJP has been keen to politicise the Deonar dumping ground issue for settling political scores with Sena. Already people residing near Deonar, Chembur and other areas are facing health problems due to recurring fires at the dumping ground. The BJP should take the Deonar fire incident seriously and resolve it as soon as possible. Uddhav demanded deployment of security personnel at the dumping ground due to the recurrent fires. He alleged that a mafia raj reigned in Deonar, adding a senior IPS official of the rank of deputy commissioner of police should be put in charge of the dumping ground. Residents of Deonar had already urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to intervene in this matter and relocate the dumping ground outside the city. However, residents wont get respite anytime soon as political parties are involved in blame game over this issue. Few days back Sena MPs, MLAs and ministers had visited the Deonar dumping ground along with mayor Snehal Ambekar. Environment minister Ramdas Kadam then launched a scathing attack on BJP, demanding an inquiry through a special investigation team (SIT). Maharashtra Environment Minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam alleged that the recent incidents of fire at the Deonar dumping ground were the handiwork of BJP and that the ruling party was trying to gain political mileage out of the issue. Kadam said that fire is ploy to defame the ruling Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the run up to the 2017 elections to the civic body. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said, The BMC must take initiative to address the Deonar dumping ground issue. The Environment ministry will only monitor the progress of the work done by the civic body. Air quality in several parts of Mumbai had oscillated between poor and very poor in the wake of the fire. By Anne Dachel Thank you to Mary Kelly Godley for her incredible reporting on HubPages. It should be happening everywhere. Instead, all the major news outlets are telling us how Robert De Niro has redeemed himself by cancelling the showing of Vaxxed at Tribeca. Stories that applaud the censoring of the film are everywhere on Google News at the moment. In this article on HubPages, Mary Kelly Godley gives us the background on Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe. (It may be that shes so well-informed because, as she tells us, her own son is affected.) Godley wrote: While the title in itself may be considered controversial in many quarters the real issue that had everyone up in arms is the fact that the co-writer and director of this documentary is none other than the infamous Dr Andrew Wakefield. Godley explained about Wakefields research on the novel form of bowel disease he and the other researchers found in their study of 12 children, and about how the media has misrepresented everything about their work for years. The article talked about how the actions of Robert De Niro, first endorsing, then cancelling the presentation, set off a firestorm in the media and in the medical community. By even bringing up the subject, De Niro was now in league with the anti-vaccination movement, according to every major news source. Godley reported on the details left out of news stories. Apparently De Niro had met with Congressman Posey on Friday before making the announcement. Bill Posey is a politician who has been actively trying to get the CDC prosecuted for this fraudulent activity. He advocates very strongly that there needs to be a proper investigation carried out with regards to practices within the CDC especially with regards to this scientific study into the MMR and autism. Godley said that De Niro should have expected the immediate backlash that happened after he publicly said he was allowing the film to be shown. (Those of us who are very involved in this controversy are well-aware that there is no tolerance for any dissent when the subject is vaccine safety.) However in summary it was very brave of Robert De Niro to endorse the film to begin with and in doing so it has ensured that Vaxxed: From Cover-up to Catasrophe, is now receiving unprecedented publicity on a scale that it would not have otherwise received. To use the words of Oscar Wilde seem appropriate here: The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about. Godley also looked at all this publicity from a slightly different angle than the rest of us. There have also been some so far unsubstantiated and speculative statements being made on the Social Media that perhaps Robert De Niro already knew that the other members of the festival committee and/or their corporate sponsors would not ultimately allow Vaxxed-From Controversy to Cover-Up, to be part of the Tribeca Film Festivals programme. That the purpose of this scandal was to garner a huge amount of publicity for the documentary and to highlight the fact that free speech and the right to an opposing view are just not applicable when it comes to discussing the issue of vaccination. That the real purpose of his statements were in fact to highlight the lack of freedom to speak surrounding this issue. Very interesting perspective. I cant imagine that any of the vaccine defenders whove attacked De Niro and Tribeca would ever have wanted the media storm weve seen over the past weekend. At present all involved are giving no indication that this might be the case. Instead it seems likely pressure from the Tribeca Film Festival Committee, its sponsors and political interests led to Robert De Niro to removing the documentary from the Tribeca Festival programme. Yet nothing gets people interested in something more than if it has been banned censored or is viewed as too controversial for general viewing. Yet why a documentary produced by a such a well-respected Producer as Del Bigtree would be considered too controversial for general viewing remains rather a dubious theory. Godley also included video of Congressman Bill Poseys appeal for a hearing on the whistleblower on the floor of the House of Representatives, along with the official trailer for Vaxxed. In addition, she posted the fascinating uncut version of a 13 minute interview of the films producer, Del Bigtree, by ABC News. (ABC News used only 5 seconds of Bigtrees comments in their coverage.) In addition, Godley included a statement by Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com: This is the first time in the history of film and media that the totality of the media establishment has condemned a film that none of them have ever viewed, desperately trying to make sure no American ever witnesses the hour and a half of film footage that is now "forbidden" to be viewed in a nation founded on free speech. Web Toolbar by Wibiya Date: 24 March, 2016. Place: Barrie, Province of Ontario, Canada. In recent days, the number of UFO sightings seems to have increased in a quite significative way in Canada. For example, on 13 March, in the Province of Saskatchewan, there were informs of a big explosion in the skies of the city of Saskatoon. Then, only four days later, on 17 March, a bright light would be observed hovering above the city of Maple Ridge, Province of British Columbia. Now, on 24 March, another sighting of an unidentified flying object has been reported, this time in the city of Barrie, Province of Ontario. According to a testimony published on UFO specialised website MUFON.com, two anonymous witnesses saw a group of flashing lights coming from the sky. I saw a flash of bluey green aka turquoise light coming from the sky, attested one of the observers. Then we saw a flash of white light a few moments later, followed by a flash of red, blue lights. It was similar to the colour of the northern lights, continues the report. We thought it may have been lightning, but there where now veins in the sky. Draw your own conclusions For further information: http://mufoncms.com/cgi-bin/report_handler.pl?req=view_long_desc&id=75410&rnd= Long Description of Sighting Report At the time me and my mom where sitting in the living room. It was freezing rain out and the power went out. We lit candles and started to talk about events,news,memories,family outings, stuff family talks about. Then out of the corner of my eye in the sky I saw a flash of bluey green aka turquoise light coming from the sky. My mom saw it too! Then we saw a flash of white light a few moments later, followed by a flash of red, blue lights . But the most prominent colour that was flashing was the turquoise colour. We thought it may have been lightning, but there where now veins in the sky, plus what would explain the blue,red colours, and can lightning be turquoise . It was similar to the colour of the northern lights. We did go outside an saw no unusual craft. That night 15 transformers blue an our city was blacked out for 12 hours. This city known as Barrie Ontario, Canada. Has its far shares of weirdness. From objects an ufos in the sky, to abductions, to a lake monster, and other eerie events. I thought to report it . UPDATE: Air cargo operations at Brussels airport have begun to return to normal over the last couple of days after last weeks attacks that left 15 people dead. The Belgian airport began accepting freighter flights last Wednesday, the day after suicide bombers launched an attack in the airports check-in area, but passenger flights are still grounded. Brussels Airport head of cargo Steven Polmans said that cargo operations were back to normal around two days after the attacks, following the resumption of full-freighter operations. DHL and other full-cargo operators restarted their operations at the end of last week and most operations are now more or less back to normal. Polmans said that trucking volumes had increased because long-haul bellyhold services were still not running. But he added that there were no backlogs on cargo, no delays getting into or leaving the cargo area, which is the other side of the airport from where the attacks took place. In an operational update, Air Canada Cargo said it was accepting general cargo for Brussels and using trucking from Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Heathrow to route shipments to and from Brussels. While all-cargo operations are now back up and running, Brussels Airport chief executive Arnaud Feist said it could be months before the airport is fully operational. The airport has set up a temporary check-in area and workers began to return to work on Monday to test the provisional arrangements. The airport will put enhanced security measures in place including further screening of baggage to take place before passengers reach the departure lounge. It was hoped that some passenger flights would begin today (March 31) but the airport sent a tweet this morning stating that the airport would remain closed at least until the afternoon. When the Belgian government does allow the airport to re-open it will ease back into operations, initially processing up to 1,000 passengers per hour as opposed to the airports average of 5,000. *Article (originally published March 30) updated at 9.15am (GMT) March 31 to include latest information from the airport Share this story March 29, 2016 The scene each day at the Bethlehem checkpoint is horrifying. Lucky Palestinians who have managed to obtain authorization to work in Israel the ticket to life, they call it undergo an exhausting, agonizing wait that can last five hours, even when they arrive early in the morning to beat the crowds. This is the journey thousands must make to reach jobs that help them survive the economic distress in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The inhumane overcrowding to get through the lines at the checkpoint forces many workers to climb the fences just to avoid suffocation. Some workers, many in their 40s and 50s who dont have it in them to withstand the long hours of crowding, try to arrive at 2 a.m. to avoid the misery that will increase as more laborers arrive. The fight for a piece of railing is the hardest of all, said Ahmed Darajah, a 42-year-old father of eight from Beit Sahour who works in a quarry. Only the strong can climb the railing and hold tight to the barbwire fence for hours. Not everyone has the strength to keep hanging in the air all night, and only the strong survive [and keep their place in line]. The rest pray to God. The official name of the checkpoint at Bethlehem is the Rachel Checkpoint, but it is also called Checkpoint 300. Its location wasnt chosen through any planning or forethought, and no one intended for thousands of people to pass through the crossing every day. On Feb. 25, 1994 the day settler Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians at the Cave of the Patriarchs Ilan Biran, commander of the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, ordered that a temporary checkpoint be built quickly in the Bethlehem area to prevent angry Palestinians from getting to the nearby Gilo settlement neighborhood. The deputy brigade commander, Shlomo Tzaban, marked off 300 steps from the Tomb of Rachel, on the outskirts of Bethlehem, and set up the first concrete structure that would become the Rachel Checkpoint. Over the years, it has become a central crossing for Palestinian workers entering Israel from the West Bank. Palestinians must pass through concrete pathways along the separation barrier. At the crossing itself, military police operate carousels that allow only a small group of workers at a time to pass into the security-check area to verify their authorization to work. According to data provided to Al-Monitor by the civil administration, 58,000 workers exit the West Bank to work in Israel each day. An additional 27,000 Palestinians are authorized to work in West Bank settlements. In February, to ease the burden of unemployment in the PA-controlled territories, the security Cabinet authorized 30,000 additional work permits for Palestinians. Since then, the Cabinet has authorized another 7,000 permits to be issued in the coming weeks. Workers from the West Bank enter Israel through 15 checkpoints scattered along the Green Line. Checkpoint 300 is the busiest and most crowded. Civil administration data shows 7,000 workers passing through that checkpoint every day, but according to the Palestinians, the actual number is much higher. The West Bank Labor Association reports that 15,000 workers pass through the checkpoint daily, a figure an Israeli security source also believes to be closer to reality. Regardless of the precise number, the checkpoint was not built to handle today's massive flow. Theres a demand for workers from the Bethlehem area because it is considered a quieter and more moderate area than other areas in the West Bank, the Israeli security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Israeli employers prefer Bethlehem workers because they have a reputation as workers you can relatively depend on. They dont present a security threat like workers from Jenin or Nablus. Hebron-area residents also prefer to cross into Israel through Checkpoint 300 because most of them work in the Jerusalem or Tel Aviv area, and not as much in the Beersheba area [in the south]. The reason workers are unable to cross Checkpoint 300 in a humane and appropriate fashion lies in the way it is administered. The operation of the other crossings from the Palestinian territories into Israel, including the Erez crossing at the Gaza Strip, has been transferred from the IDF to the Defense Ministry, which hires corporate contractors that use advanced security methods. The crossings surrounding Jerusalem have remained the joint responsibility of the IDF, the military police and the civilian Israeli police. The IDF is not against transferring responsibility for Checkpoint 300 to the Defense Ministry and the Ports Authority, but the Israel Police oppose such a move. Giving up control of the crossing would cost the force millions of shekels in lost manpower and budgeting. At the Eyal Checkpoint, operated by the Defense Ministry near the Israeli town of Rosh HaAyin, some 12,000 Palestinian workers pass through daily without crowding, thanks to advanced security methods like those used at airports. By contrast, Jamal Abu Warda, a resident of Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem, told Al-Monitor that almost every day Palestinian workers are sent to hospitals with injuries sustained at Checkpoint 300. This week I arrived at the checkpoint at 2:30 [a.m.] in order to be one of the first in line, Abu Warda said. When I arrived, there was already a long line, but I managed to push in. Suddenly, terrible crowding started. I and a few other workers fell to the ground as others fell on top of us. I felt that I was suffocating. I thought I was dying, but the workers couldnt be stopped because everyone was pushing. "I dont know who thought of it, but then a row of workers formed a human chain and prevented others from falling on top of us. Thats how I was saved. Friends poured water on me and sat me to the side for 15 minutes until I could breathe again. I didnt go to work that day; I went to the hospital. Its a shame that [they] do this to us. What do we want, after all? To live with dignity and to provide food for our kids. Given Abu Wardas testimony and that of many other workers, it seems safe to say that if Israel doesnt improve conditions at Checkpoint 300, it is only a matter of time before disaster strikes there, with Palestinian workers suffocating or being trampled to death. March 24, 2016 CAIRO People are wondering where the relationship between Egypt and Hamas stands. Since Egypt is a sponsor of the Palestinian cause and the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, any decline could end up harming the Palestinian cause in the future. Earlier this month, Egypt accused Hamas of having assassinated Egyptian Attorney General Hisham Barakat last year. About nine months after the assassination, on March 6, Egyptian Interior Minister Magdi Abdel Ghaffar said at a news conference, The Palestinian Hamas movement trained for and planned the attorney generals assassination, which was carried out by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in coordination with members who had fled to Turkey. In response to Cairos accusation, Ismail Haniyeh, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, said, Cairo should reconsider the Egyptian Ministry of Interiors accusations, which he called baseless. The statement made by the Interior Ministry dealt a new blow to the relationship between Egypt and Hamas. In February 2015, an Egyptian court declared Hamas to be a terrorist movement. However, the Court of Urgent Matters retracted the ruling in June. A pivotal change occurred March 12, when a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to discuss the accusations. The delegation met with officials of the Egyptian intelligence services. Reports differ on the outcome. After their meeting, Mousa Abu Marzouk, who was heading the Hamas delegation to Cairo, said, The delegation's visit opened a new page with a friendly discourse with our brothers in Egypt, emphasizing our commitment to Egypts security and our noninterference in its internal affairs. Adviser Ahmed Abu Zeid, a spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, told Al-Monitor, Egypt's commitment to support the Palestinian cause is consistent and authentic. He said, We are committed to supporting any efforts aimed at reaching a final and just settlement for the Palestinian issue that would ensure the rights of the Palestinian people. We will support any serious efforts aimed at achieving Palestinian national reconciliation. Meanwhile, Tarek Fahmy, head of Israeli studies at the National Center for Middle East Studies, noted, We must distinguish between the security position and the political position in how Egypt deals with Hamas. Fahmy told Al-Monitor, Before the Egyptian interior minister announced Hamas involvement in the assassination of the attorney general, there were a number of security contacts between Egypt and Hamas to hold a meeting in Cairo with the general intelligence services, but these efforts were temporarily obstructed after the interior ministers announcement. He added, Hamas wants to show the Arab world that Egypt is a divided nation and the intelligence services are converging with Hamas, while the Interior Ministry is rejecting it. Nevertheless, Egypt insists on keeping a thin thread of the relationship with Hamas. The evidence shows that the Urgent Matters Court rejected Hamas classification as a terrorist movement. Fahmy continued, The meeting between Hamas and a delegation of the Egyptian intelligence services does not mean that there is disagreement between the intelligence services and the Interior Ministry, but rather different priorities, or that roles are distributed in the Egyptian state. He stressed that Hamas believes it can take advantage of the nonexistent dispute between the intelligence services and Interior Ministry. Fahmy denied that Egypt seeks to make new efforts in the national reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. If Palestinians do not do what is in their interests, Egypt will not do it for them, he said, adding, Egypts foreign policy is preoccupied with dossiers that are more important than the Palestinian reconciliation. Palestinian political analyst Osama Shaath told Al-Monitor that Hamas has let down the Egyptian leadership during the reconciliation efforts. It has become very difficult now for Egypt to intervene in the Palestinian national reconciliation, Shaath said. The reconciliation case is a source of concern for Egyptian security more than anything else, because Egypt wants to be reassured about its eastern border in Sinai and will deal with any reconciliation that takes place. Yet Shaath did not seem optimistic, citing the latest Egyptian involvement in the reconciliation. He said, Egypt intervened in September 2014 after the end of the war on Gaza and reached agreements between the PA and Hamas. Yet, the movement ruling the Gaza Strip did not abide by them, and at the time Egypt was disappointed and has not gotten involved since then. Shaath said, The reason for Hamas positions is that it is divided between Hamas at home and Hamas outside Gaza, as Hamas at home is more in control than the leaders outside Gaza. He added, In 2011, [Hamas political leader] Khaled Meshaal commissioned [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate with Israel for a year. Then Mahmoud al-Zahar, a leader of Hamas at home, rejected what Meshaal said. Shaath advised Egyptian officials who want to see the reconciliation succeed to turn to Saudi Arabia for help because it is the only party capable of bringing about a solution satisfactory to all parties by exerting pressure on Hamas. Egypt should address Hamas inside Gaza because it is the key player in solving the crisis, he said. Only 15 days after the first meeting between Hamas and Egyptian intelligence in Cairo, the Hamas delegation returned to Egypt on March 27. According to a Hamas statement on the day of the visit, the delegation returned to inform Cairo of the movements responses to the proposals it received in the first round of dialogue on March 12, and to answer questions posed by Cairo during the previous visit. Despite the secrecy imposed on the talks between Cairo and Hamas, the latter has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with the Egyptian state to improve the relations between the two. Ties have been deteriorating since June 2013 and the strained relationship harms the Gaza Strip significantly, especially when it comes to the Rafah border crossing, which Egypt rarely opens from its side. In the same vein, Hamas recent visit to Cairo doesnt necessarily mean that relations will improve this depends rather on the extent to which Hamas will respond to the Egyptian authorities demands. March 30, 2016 In an attempt to ease the publics concerns, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced a Cabinet reshuffle on March 23. This move, the first since the formation of a new administration led by Sharif Ismail as prime minister on Sept. 1, 2015, included 10 portfolios chosen by Ismail to meet the members of parliaments demands after they had expressed their dissatisfaction with the performance of some ministers, especially in the ministries of finance and investment. The reshuffle was also a reaction to the current economic crisis that forced Egypts central bank to devalue the Egyptian pound by 14%. The newly sworn-in ministers include the ministers of justice, finance, investment, civil aviation, antiquities, manpower, tourism, irrigation and water resources, and the newly established public sector portfolio. The new appointments preceded Ismails statement on March 27, in which the Egyptian premier outlined his Cabinets future plan. It is worth noting that Ismail has recently been subject to accusations and criticism after calling for private meetings at his office with different parliamentary blocs for the purpose of discussing and setting prior agreements concerning the ministerial program before addressing the parliament to obtain trust for the Cabinet as per the new Egyptian constitution. According to Article 146 of the Egyptian Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to decide the future of the newly formed government within no more than 30 days of announcing the ministerial statement. Some Egyptian politicians argue that by holding private meetings with the aim of lobbying certain members of parliament to pass the ministerial program, the prime minister is violating the constitution requiring him to present this program to the parliament in a general legislative session held for this purpose. Ahmad Nafadi, the spokesman of the Modern Egypt Party, said that by agreeing to take part in closed meetings with the prime minister before presenting his program to the parliament and granting him confidence, members of parliament are violating their oaths of office vesting the parliament with the power of overseeing the government. Others, like parliamentarian Mustapha Bakri, interviewed by Al-Monitor, considered that such closed meetings are normal and a new parliamentary tradition imposed by the constitution to expand the Egyptian parliaments powers to include outlining the governments future policies. Khaled Abdulaziz Shaaban, a parliamentary member who took part in the prime ministers private meetings, told Al-Monitor that the recent Cabinet reshuffle came as a result of the pressure put by lawmakers, including him. Shaaban said, We demanded a Cabinet reshuffle for the ministries that fail to achieve the desired results, stressing that the prime minister indeed sought to get our opinions on the ministerial program. Shaaban repudiated the claims that the members of parliament who attended those closed meetings are engaged in electoral fraud in return for passing the ministerial program. If the members of parliament presented their constituencies demands to the prime minister, then this is their duty as representatives, and they did not obtain personal gains, he stated. Following the Cabinet reshuffle and before the official hearing of the ministerial statement at the parliament, several political parties represented in the parliament declared their support for Ismails Cabinet. Speaking on behalf of the Wafd Party members, Mohammad Fouad stated that the partys stance on the ministerial statement was formed following these closed meetings that the party attended. Fouad added that the government reshuffle is in line with the partys views. On March 27, Al-Monitor attended the Egyptian parliament legislative session where Ismail read the ministerial policy statement, which included the governments commitment to raising the economic growth rate to 5-6% by 2018 instead of the current 4.2%, reducing employment from 13% to 11%, boosting gross domestic saving (or percentage of the gross domestic product) from 6% to 10%, and increasing the investment share of the GDP to 18-19% instead of its current less-than 15%. The ministerial statement also indicated that the upcoming period will see the adoption of the concept of contained growth, along with difficult decisions. The statement pointed to alternative approaches in dealing with the threats of the New Renaissance Dam on Egypts share of the Nile waters. After the declaration of the ministerial program, parliamentarian Haytham Hariri told Al-Monitor, Ever since its inauguration, the Cabinet has been serving the interests of the rich at the expense of the poors [interests]. Recently, its performance has not been encouraging enough for us to grant it trust. Nevertheless, the Cabinet seems to be on its way to earning the parliaments confidence after the Cabinet reshuffle that included economic portfolios and since no party has a parliamentary majority capable of forming an alternative Cabinet in the case of withdrawal of confidence, Hariri said. Political expert and president of the elections forum at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies Yusri Izbawi told Al-Monitor, Article 146 of the new Egyptian Constitution put the parliament and the Cabinet in a difficult situation: On the one hand, the [prime minister] is concerned that the parliament will withdraw confidence from the government, and on the other, it is hard for members of parliament to do this as long as there is no party or bloc with a parliamentary majority and capable of forming another Cabinet. Izbawi added, The constitution stipulates the dissolution of the parliament in the event that they did not agree on an alternative Cabinet. For this reason, the prime minister opted for a Cabinet reshuffle instead. Meanwhile, Egyptians are living in anticipation of the new parliaments step in light of its newly acquired constitutional powers that include outlining the governments policy. March 30, 2016 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Ahmed Youssef, a member of Hamas Shura Council and former political adviser to former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, has always sung a different tune, owing to his honesty and moderate positions on political and social issues. His academic background includes a masters degree in media and a doctorate in political science. Youssef has written dozens of books, including American Muslims: A Community Under Siege. Youssef regularly writes articles for local websites criticizing Hamas performance, such as his piece published in 2014 headlined, Have mercy on Gaza and return favor to its residents. In this article, Youssef held both Fatah and Hamas responsible for the ongoing Palestinian division, as these movements put their partisan interests above those of the nation. He also said that Gaza is going through an unprecedented unstable political situation. In another article he wrote in January 2016 for Samanews, Yes, we went wrong, but dare we admit it? he asked, Why do Islamic movements generally fail in politics and governance? Why are their chances of winning dropping at the popular level and why are they unable to keep their promises of change and reform? Youssef's criticism is not limited to Hamas. His office often receives citizens who come to him to complain about the oppression exercised by the Hamas-controlled security forces, asking him to act as mediator. These citizens have included youth activists targeted by a series of arrests after the events of March 15, 2011. Thousands of youths known as the March 15 Movement took to the streets and called for the end of the division between Hamas and Fatah. They raised a banner reading, The people want the end of division, against the backdrop of the Arab revolutions that erupted during the Arab Spring. However, these youths were repressed, beaten and arrested by Gazas security services. Other citizens also appealed to Youssef, especially from the Salafist movement after the security crackdown in April 2015, when the Gaza security services arrested prominent Salafist jihadist Sheikh Adnan Mayt. A series of arrests and house raids of other Salafists followed. Youssef has also criticized security measures against public figures such as the travel ban imposed on novelist Atef Abu Seif in February 2015 because he is a political activist from the Fatah movement. Youssef wrote on Feb. 14, 2015, for Maan News, It is an honor for Hamas to have different or contrary opinions [internally]. This gives us an argument to defend our democracy and our project. Abu Seif told Al-Monitor, Leader Youssef is known for his bold national stances that uphold the national interest over partisan interests and espouses many humanitarian positions. He added, He always stood by the oppressed in the Gaza Strip and strongly opposed and criticized political arrests. He never hesitated in defending political opponents and their right to express their disagreement. Youssefs honesty has often stirred campaigns against him, including one that was waged when he revealed at the end of April 2015 that discussions were being held with the Israeli side through a European intermediary. The discussions revolved around the Israeli prisoners captured by the resistance during the 2014 war, the Gaza port and airport issue and the truce dossier. The report raised a wave of criticism against him on social media and soon ignited a heated debate between him and Hamas leader Ismail Radwan. This was the first public dispute between Hamas leaders. On April 29, 2015, Radwan said in a TV interview, Youssef does not represent Hamas official view and does not reflect its position, but only expresses his personal opinion. He is speaking in his personal capacity, just like any politician or analyst. The dispute resurfaced this month. Youssef had told Arab and local media outlets March 13 that Hamas visit to Egypt is the product of a Saudi initiative, prompting the movement to reply in an official statement confirming that Youssefs statements do not represent its official position. The Hamas delegations visit to Egypt came days after Cairo accused the movement of being involved in the assassination of former prosecutor Hisham Barakat on June 29, 2015. The delegation met with Egyptian intelligence leaders to discuss the relations between Hamas and Egypt and the opening of the Rafah crossing. Some analysts believe that Youssefs statements in this regard embarrassed the Hamas delegation, especially since the movement was on the path to partial rapprochement with the Iranian-Syrian axis and total rapprochement with the Turkish-Qatari axis. Notably, the Saudi-Egyptian axis is a rival of both. Commenting on this statement by Hamas, Youssef stressed that the media must be rigorous when reporting information and statements. Soon after, it was revealed that he is suffering health complications. Youssef, however, denied that his indisposition was caused by the movements statement, which some suspected of being a step leading to his dismissal or exclusion. During a March 24 meeting in his office, he told Al-Monitor, "This was a mild physical setback caused by work pressure. Nothing can prejudice my position within the ranks of Hamas. I have held this position for 45 years. Youssef, a member of Hamas' Shura Council for about six years, said, I will not run as a candidate for any leadership position in the next Hamas internal elections, pointing out that the current aging leaders must step down to give young people an opportunity to take the lead. When turning 60, a man loses his energy and ambition, and his mentality no longer fits the contemporary era, he said. Youssef confirmed that he is not afraid of losing status because of his explicit positions. He added, I have assumed various positions, and I have my standing, of which I am very pleased. I only have to be honest with people. This is our religious, national and social responsibility. He explained that he is different from other political leaders, saying, People feel that I think outside the box, and this is true. I have the courage to declare my political analysis and disclose any information in my possession owing to my experience and historical background. He added, My job is not to commend and praise the leadership or please people by telling them what they want to hear." He confirmed that Hamas is undergoing serious internal reviews, mainly in terms of political partnership with Fatah and other Palestinian parties. Commenting on the criticism against him concerning the alleged discussions with the Israeli side, he said, My office is open to everyone. Europeans come to talk to me since I am fluent in English and I have international relationships. I, on the other hand, undertake to deliver their message to Hamas. But there are some limitations that I cannot breach. Well-connected observers told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Youssef played a major role in persuading Hamas to break out of its isolation by connecting with Western parties and civil society organizations. They also recalled that he opened a channel of communication with Turkey. They indicated that his critical approach is his way of bringing Hamas closer to the people of Gaza and attenuating their aversion toward the movement, especially after the spread of arbitrary security measures and political arrests. The observers added that in his articles, Youssef had called on Hamas to form a political partnership with Fatah and the rest of the Palestinian parties in power in 2006, but no one listened to him. Today, it appears that his idea was the right one. Youssef is often the victim of criticism from within his own party, which sees him as having strayed from the movements political direction. He also faces criticism from the public, which claims he is trying to make Hamas positions look more liberal than they really are. Despite both views, Youssef's is a voice that cannot be ignored and enjoys influence on the Palestinian political scene. March 30, 2016 TEHRAN, Iran Iranian voters shocked Principlists on Feb. 26 in elections for the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body tasked with choosing the supreme leader and supervising him. The list of the moderate Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a big blow to ultraconservatives as two prominent Principlists, Ayatollahs Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi and Mohammad Yazdi, lost their seats in the assembly. Rafsanjani is currently chairman of the Expediency Council and had previously served as president for two terms. By contrast, Mesbah Yazdi had never held a governmental position but was considered the spiritual leader of the hard-line Endurance Front faction. Yazdi had been chairman of the Assembly of Experts at the time of the February elections and had formerly headed the judiciary. The Tehran voting district has 16 seats in the 88-seat assembly, and Rafsanjanis ticket won 15 of them. The ultraconservative Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati struggled to keep his spot in the assembly, but managed in the end to grab the 16th seat. Now, conservatives and moderates alike have their sights set on the assemblys election of a chairman on May 24. Many assume that Rafsanjani, who headed the Assembly of Experts in the past, will be a candidate, but according to a well-placed Iranian source who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, the ayatollah will not be trying his luck unless he senses that danger is approaching. Indeed, a few days after the February polling, Yaser Hashemi, Rafsanjani's youngest son, said, If he [Rafsanjani] determines that another person has the capacity to be chairman, it is highly unlikely that he will run. In fact, according to Al-Monitors source, Rafsanjani and the moderates have asked Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini to step forward and seek the assembly's chairmanship. Amini, 91, is a former Qom Friday prayer leader and is highly respected among all factions. That he appeared on both the Principlists and Rafsanjanis ticket for the February elections serves as an indicator of his stature. Amini has moderate views and is close to Rafsanjani. Indeed, after the 2013 presidential elections, Rafsanjani offered him the leadership of the Expediency Councils Center for Strategic Research, which Hassan Rouhani headed until assuming the presidency that year. Of note, Amini has been critical of the Principlist and former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, publicly lamenting his actions on several occasions. In one instance, Amini, indirectly referring to what he characterized as Ahmadinejads dishonesty with Iranians, remarked, Why do you say there is no problem in the country? Lying leads people not to have trust in government officials. Moreover, Amini is a supporter of Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the Islamic Republics founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. I urged Seyyed Hassan Khomeini to run for the [Assembly of Experts] elections, and I think the assembly will be more effective with his presence, Amini revealed. Darush Ghanbari, a political analyst and former member of parliament, told Al-Monitor, Ayatollah Rafsanjani deserves to be the chairman, because he obtained the most votes in the elections. Nonetheless, if Ayatollah Rafsanjani backs Ayatollah Amini, which is possible, his chances will be great. Plus, Ayatollah Amini is well respected among all of the clerics in the assembly. Meanwhile, according to some reports, conservatives have asked Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, a temporary Friday prayer leader in Tehran, and Ayatollah Mohammad Momen, a member of the Guardian Council, to run for the assembly chairmanship. In this regard, the ultraconservative Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said, The next chairman, for at least the next two years, will be a person who has similar characteristics to [former Assembly of Experts Chairmen] Ayatollah Yazdi, Ayatollah [Ali] Meshkini and Ayatollah [Mohammad Reza] Mahdavi Kani. Added to the mix is speculation about the potential candidacies of the conservative Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and the moderate Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani. Nevertheless, it is possible that no one will step forward if Amini decides to run. Such a scenario has played out in the past. Ayatollah Meshkini was chairman of the Assembly of Experts for 24 years because everyone respected and accepted him. Indeed, no one ever challenged his leadership of the assembly during his tenure. Ghanbari, the analyst, told Al-Monitor, In the case of Ayatollah Aminis nomination, moderates and even hard-liners will support him. It is also possible that hard-line candidates will not run for the election when they realize that their rival will be Ayatollah Amini. Yet, it is not clear whether Amini has accepted Rafsanjanis reported proposal. Of note, Amini declined Rafsanjanis previous offer to head the Center for Strategic Research, citing his old age. A Rafsanjani candidacy is dependent most of all on who ultimately runs. The last time the Assembly of Experts held a vote for the chair, Rafsanjani did not want to run and was willing to stand to the side in favor of other moderate figures. After seeing the hard-liners put forth a candidate, however, he stepped forward, but ultimately lost to Yazdi. Perhaps Rafsanjani's position has not changed since the last election for a chairman. As Yaser Hashemi said, If he [Rafsanjani] senses that the chairmanship will fall into the hands of those who dont deserve it, he will definitely run in the chairmanship election. In the meantime, one can only wait to see whether Rafsanjani ultimately feels compelled to step up to the plate. March 30, 2016 The nuclear agreement between Iran and the six world powers ended a decade of tensions and saw for the first time in over three decades direct, bilateral negotiations between Iran and the United States. But Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not put his guard down against what he sees as American designs on Iran. Domestically, Iranian officials who want better relations with the United States are often labeled as being under the influence or agents of US penetration. Regionally and internationally, it appears that Iranian missiles are perhaps intended to make sure the United States keeps a safe distance from the country. However, not all officials are in line with that worldview. The world of tomorrow is the world of discourse, not missiles, read a March 23 tweet by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has favored better relations with the United States in previous statements. On March 9, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had tested long-range ballistic missiles, which European and US officials said were in defiance of a UN resolution. The missile launch was highly publicized, and afterward, a number of IRGC commanders touted Irans defensive and military capabilities in interviews with Iranian media. Rafsanjanis tweet, which was shared widely online and covered by Iranian media, seems to have caught the attention of Khamenei, who indirectly addressed it in a March 30 speech. In this jungle-like world, if the Islamic Republic had merely pursued negotiations and economic exchanges but not have defensive capabilities, would not even small countries give themselves permission to threaten Iran? asked Khamenei rhetorically. He said that enemy countries would use any means, including dialogue, economic exchanges, sanctions and military threats, in order to pursue its goals in Iran, and that Iran must be ready to confront and defend against all of these tools. In contrast to Rafsanjani, who sees the world of tomorrow as the world of negotiations and not missiles, Khamenei said, These days are the days of everything; otherwise, they will easily take Irans rights. In perhaps his harshest attack on Rafsanjani, he said, If this was said out of unawareness, it is one issue, but if it was said from awareness, it is treasonous. The last time Khamenei and Rafsanjani so publicly diverged on a major issue was the 2009 post-election protests. As a result of that clash, Rafsanjani lost the election for the chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts and has not been given the platform of Tehran Friday prayer leader since. While the missile issue does not present a crisis on the same level as 2009, given statements by IRGC commanders, it is certainly going to be a central focus within Iran. In a March 28 interview with Iranian television, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, suggested that Iran would continue to advertise more missile tests. Considering that we have not made our exercises public in the last two years, maybe it has made the Americans a little bold, said Hajizadeh. Demonstrating Khameneis insistence on domestic missile capability, Hajizadeh recounted that some of the states that had separated from the Soviet Union after its collapse offered Iran missiles at one-fourth the price that North Korea was offering them. He said that while everyone was in favor of purchasing these missiles, Khamenei was the only person to reject the proposal, saying that if they buy them, it would essentially end Irans motivations to make them domestically. On the US sanctions against those involved in Iranian missile production, Hajizadeh said they are intended to make Iranian officials fearful and have no impact. The biggest threat against us is this fear, he added, urging Iranian officials not to worry. He also said that the IRGC is ready in case there is an attack and its only concern is domestically and the princelings [children of high-ranking officials] who have influence on officials. He stressed that they should not be fearful; they should stand strong. March 30, 2016 On March 12, US Consul General Steve Walker visited Al-Sadr Teaching Hospital in Basra to pay his respects to wounded members of the Popular Mobilization Units. The visit marked the first time a US official has publicly met these troops. This is particularly remarkable as until now, the official US position toward the Popular Mobilization Units was negative, and the United States had even demanded that the Iraqi government prevent the forces from taking part in the operations to liberate some areas, such as the city of Ramadi in Anbar, that were freed without their participation by US request. Walker made it clear that the trip was not just a courtesy visit. Accompanied by TV stations such as the US-based Alhurra, which broadcast the visit and his remarks in Arabic, Walker said, The US recognizes the important contribution of the Popular Mobilization Units under the command of Prime Minister [Haider al-Abadi], and most of the Popular Mobilization troops came from the south. This is why I would like to express my condolences to the people of Basra and the south who have lost their loved ones or friends in the war against the Islamic State. Walker expressed his solidarity with the wounded, who welcomed his visit. He told them, The US and Iraqi people are very, very proud of you. The visit coincided with the debate on the Popular Mobilization Units participation in the battle for Mosul. On Feb. 29, the Ninevah Provincial Council voted against their participation in the operations to liberate the city. Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former governor of Ninevah province and head of a small military force consisting of volunteers from Mosul called Hashid Watani (Arabic for "National Mobilization"), said, The Popular Mobilization Units participation in the battle for Mosul is unacceptable and the insistence on such participation implies an insistence on the destruction of Mosul. Although the National Mobilization is a part of the wider organization, there is disagreement between the two. The National Mobilization does not follow the Popular Mobilization Units administration, and the latter does not provide support to the former. However, on Feb. 19, Abadi told the parliament that the Popular Mobilization Units will join in the operation to liberate Mosul, and that he will not surrender to pressure exerted by any of the parties to prevent the force from taking part in the battle for Mosul. The United States seems to stand in solidarity with Abadis position on including the Popular Mobilization Units in the battle for Mosul, contrary to its stance in the battles for Tikrit and Ramadi. The United States banned the force from taking part in the Ramadi operation and prevented it from entering Tikrit. Walker was even quoted as saying during his visit to the hospital that the United States does not have a veto on the force's participation in the battle for Mosul, and that it is up to Abadi to decide. Regional powers have joined the debate. On Jan. 23, Saudi Ambassador to Baghdad Thamer al-Sabhan called the Popular Mobilization Units a sectarian organization with a criminal agenda. His remarks sparked large-scale criticism in the Iraqi street. Some observers feel that Walkers visit and remarks reflect a great shift in the US alliances in the Middle East. Following Irans nuclear deal, US policy has clearly changed, moving away from its old friends in the region, most notably Saudi Arabia, and closer to Iran. In an interview with The Atlantic on March 12, US President Barack Obama criticized Saudi Arabia, which heavily funded Wahhabist madrassas, seminaries that teach the fundamentalist version of Islam. When asked whether Saudi Arabia is a friend of the United States, he answered, Its complicated. Obama added that the Saudis need to share the Middle East with their Iranian foes. The United States seems to have become more aware of the nature of Iraqi actors like the Popular Mobilization Units. In May 2015, the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter IS, retired Gen. John Allen, told CBS News, The militias are not just a single monolithic entity. There are the militias that you and I are used to hearing [about] that have close alignments with Iran. Those are the extremist elements, and we dont have anything to do with that. But there are elements of the [Shiite] militias that volunteered last year to try to defend Iraq from the onslaught of [IS] who were called to arms by Grand Ayatollah [Ali al-] Sistani, and those elements, or the Popular Mobilization Force, as they are known, have been subordinated to the Iraqi higher military campaign or command. Allen concluded that the United States is going to need to assume a positive role in supporting the force in order to defeat IS. Nevertheless, some factions within the Popular Mobilization Units still have doubts regarding the new US attitude. In a statement, Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the renamed Peace Brigades (formerly the Mahdi Army), condemned Walkers visit and criticized stances favoring the visit by politicians and even parties within the organization without naming them. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Zuhairi, a security commander concerned with coordination with the Popular Mobilization Units, told Al-Monitor, The US shift toward the Popular Mobilization Units came after it realized that it has lost a presence in the region and learned about the Popular Mobilization Units huge popularity. This is added to the support for these units by Iran, which is one of the most important regional actors. Al-Monitor interviewed Norman Ricklefs, CEO of Iraq Advisory Group and former adviser to the secretary-general of the Iraq's Defense Ministry and senior adviser to the Interior Minister. He said, The Popular Mobilization Units proved to be efficient and gradually evolved into a more regular force than it was in the past, especially after the operations to liberate Tikrit. It is important and very good to see that the Popular Mobilization Units are increasingly being recognized within international circles. Yet these units need to welcome international support, lower their hostility to the US and make greater efforts to achieve administrative and legal integration in the official Iraqi military forces. March 29, 2016 In a March 18 statement, the Land Defense Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) reintroduced to political discussion terminology no longer often heard. In the statement, the PLO accused right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu of reviving the Allon Plan, so named after the late Labor Party Minister Yigal Allon. The Allon Plan, developed shortly after Israel began its occupation of Palestinian lands in 1967, proposed that Israel relinquish the main Palestinian population centers in the West Bank to Jordan while retaining land along the Jordan River under Israeli military control. In implementing part of the plan, Labor-led governments between 1967 and 1977 created 21 settlements along the length of the Jordan Valley. In addition to Israel having permanent control over the Jordan Valley, the Allon Plan also proposed that Israel annex areas along a corridor connecting the Jordan Valley to the city of Jerusalem, with the possibility of excluding Jericho. Israel also carried out elements of the Allon Plan under Likud administrations, but it has yet to annex the areas it covers, possibly out of concern of international opposition. A PLO report, sent to Al-Monitor and other media outlets, described Israeli actions in the last three months in the Jordan Valley as a continuation of the Allon Plan and the biggest land grab since 2014. It condemned the Israeli civil administration's March 10 designation of 2,342 dunums of Palestinian land in the area as state land. Two months earlier, on Jan. 20, Israel had declared another 1,500 dunums in the valley to be state land. Designating land as such means the Israeli government owns it and can make use of it for whatever purpose it chooses. Madeeha Araj, researcher and author of the PLO report, told Al-Monitor, All evidence points clearly to the fact that the Israeli actions have a political aim namely, to revive the Allon Plan by annexing parts of the Jordan Valley as a first step that will be followed by annexing the entire West Bank. The Israeli Peace Now movement explains on its website how state lands are initially used by the Israeli military but often are later turned over for building exclusively Jewish settlements. An Israeli declaration of state land gives Palestinian landowners 45 days to appeal the decision to Israeli courts, but these appeals are almost always rejected. Jamal Dajani, director of strategic communications and media at the Palestinian Prime Ministers Office, told Al-Monitor that Israel's recent actions are illegal and contrary to peace. Israels decision to appropriate land in the Jordan Valley near Jericho is illegal and proves beyond a doubt that Netanyahu does not abide by previous agreements and does not support a two-state solution to the conflict, he said. Dajani further stated, Israeli leaders need to choose between a lasting peace or apartheid. Their most recent action is clearly aimed at pre-empting an independent Palestinian state. The international community, including the United States, also protested the Israeli action earlier in the month. This decision is, in our view, the latest step in what appears to be an ongoing process of land expropriations, settlement expansions, and legalizations of outposts that is fundamentally undermining the prospects for a two-state solution, US State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters March 15 in Washington. France, Germany, the United Kingdom and United Nations were also among those condemning the reclassification of the 2,342 dunums, located in Area C within the boundaries of the Megilot Regional Council, which includes areas near the Dead Sea. In the failed US-led attempt to kick-start peace talks in 2013-14, US officials had worked on various scenarios concerning the long-term status of the Jordan Valley. Secretary of State John Kerry and retired Gen. John Allen appear, however, to have adopted Israeli concerns in the security plan they presented to the Palestinian leadership in 2013, including Israeli demands to have soldiers stationed in the Jordan Valley for as long as 10, 15 and maybe 40 years. President Mahmoud Abbas said publicly in 2014 that the Palestinians had accepted the possibility in 2013 that Israeli soldiers might remain in the valley three or four years tops and suggested that third-party soldiers, including possibly NATO forces, replace the Israelis after a maximum of four years. There is no distinction between Likud and Labor policy when it comes to Palestinian lands. Both appear to be in total agreement on Israeli settlement policy. The Jordan Valley, the only open land in the West Bank and the only path for Palestinian expansion eastward, is slowly being closed off to Palestinians. Without access to or use of the Jordan Valley, the possibility of an independent Palestinian state will be greatly diminished. March 30, 2016 Interior Minister Aryeh Deri is one of Israels most intriguing politicians. He was CEO of the Ministry of Interior at age 27, interior minister at 29, one of the founders of the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic Shas Party, and a favorite of the partys all-powerful mythological leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Deri was a boy wonder in Israeli politics, and even though he was affiliated with an ultra-Orthodox party, he won over hearts and minds among nonreligious Israelis as well. Deri speaks the language of the man on the street, loves to stir up the media and understands the voice of the masses more than most others. Under his leadership, Shas allowed late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to pass the 1993 Oslo Accord in the Knesset in 1993. The party demonstrated moderation and even diplomatic pragmatism in the 1990s. But then came the criminal investigation against Deri, followed by a bill of indictment for taking bribes. A long court case ensued, leading to a resounding conviction in March 1999. Israels Sephardic-traditional public viewed Deris court case as racist political harassment. After Deri's conviction, Shas soared to 17 mandates in the Knesset in May 1999. However, this was also Deris swan song. He was forced to abandon political life immediately afterward, and he was given a three-year jail sentence, with the court reducing his sentence by one year in 2000. His spot as head of the party was inherited by Eli Yishai, whose views are more extreme right-wing than Deri. Shas became a right-wing party and an automatic ally to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After Deri finished serving his time and also a cooling-off period (Israeli law stipulates that politicians committing an offense involving moral turpitude can only be re-elected after seven years pass since the day they are released from jail), Deri began to make his way back to politics. Meanwhile, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef passed away; he had been Shas undisputed spiritual leader and a Torah giant of the generation in the eyes of hundreds of thousands of Israelis. Deri prevailed over Yishai, regained control over Shas, and made a clean sweep of seven mandates in the last March 2015 elections. He returned to the government and the Cabinet. Now Deri was all grown up, realistic, mature and power-hungry. After he resigned from his position of minister of economy and trade, Deri was appointed interior minister in January 2016. This is the same position he held in his youth and in which he got into trouble with the law and was indicted for criminal offense. On March 29, Channel 2 exposed a new criminal scandal with Deri in the middle of it. It also revealed that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved opening an inspection of Deri's case. This affair threatens, again, to cut down Deris political career, this time for good. And at the same time, it may even fell Netanyahus government as well. Such a development could have deep implications in numerous fronts. The security issue is one of them. Deri is viewed as Israels most reasoned, prudent and responsible minister in the security Cabinet. He is the darling of the military men and the security apparatus, who view him as a calming counterbalance to the surplus of Likud ministers and radical right-wingers who constantly demand more aggressive actions against terror. Deri is one of the more experienced of the government ministers. He was never radical in his beliefs, and in his first round in the Knesset, he succeeded in transforming Shas, the majority of whose electorate tends toward the right, into a pragmatic entity that does not hesitate to join forces with left-wing governments and peace initiatives. Deri is a skilled politician. He excels at creating political connections and building bridges between opposing political personalities. This helps him serve as the governments official maintenance guy, preserving the coalition intact. He is the one who greases the government wheels and helps Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon block foolhardy security initiatives raised by the rest of the Cabinet members. The possibility of Deri being ejected again from the Cabinet and forced to resign is causing the top brass of the Israel Defense Forces to lose sleep, but not only them. Such a scenario worries Netanyahu as well. Politically, Shas was and remains the deciding factor. This time, like always, there will be no government without it. If the police probe will, indeed, morph into a real criminal investigation, the public will demand that Deri be fired or suspended from his role in the government. Ordinarily, a minister in Israel can continue functioning as usual even when he or she is under investigation. The only time a minister must resign is when an indictment is filed; this is a process that can continue for many months, or even many years. Any other minister would continue in his post as usual even when under investigation, but Deri is a special case. The fact that he already went astray, was convicted and incarcerated turns him automatically into a punching bag of the media and of sections of the public. If, indeed, there will be a criminal investigation, very heavy pressures will be exerted on Deri as well as on Netanyahu. The key question is: What will Deri do then? Will he accept the verdict and suspend himself? Or, alternatively, will he decide to fight for his innocence and respond aggressively, politically speaking? Under such circumstances, he could break all the rules and take Shas out of the government, which would lead to the governments immediate downfall. Netanyahu, who in recent days has heaved a sigh of relief and given himself a check mark in his political notebook, has started to worry again. The check mark was the result of Finance Minister Moshe Kahlons announcement that the coming budget for 2017 will be biennial. A biennial budget is an almost sure-fire, two-year insurance policy for Netanyahu and his government, because the odds for bringing down a government on nonbudget matters are very low. But the possibility of an investigation against Deri shuffles the deck once again. Now a new threat enters, and Netanyahu resumes the pose he loves best that of the leader who knows how to survive and fight for his existence. In Israel, according to 2014 legal amendments, a government may be overthrown mainly via the budget. The other methods are almost impossible to carry out. So at exactly this point, in which Netanyahu succeeded in fortifying his government for the next two years, a new threat arrives on the scene. A common Israeli air force expression is, The only thing that can bring you down is something you didnt see coming. Netanyahu never dreamed that Deri would topple him. It hasnt happened yet, but from now on, the possibility is somewhere in the cards. In recent weeks (February-March), quiet feelers have extended between Netanyahu and Zionist Camp leader Yitzhak Herzog regarding expanding the government. But Netanyahu was only playing with Herzog and had no serious intentions. Until now, all that he tried to do was frighten the ultra-Orthodox, who are threatening to cause a coalition crisis in light of the historic compromise with the Reform and Conservative movement over prayer arrangements at the Western Wall. Meanwhile, on March 30, it was revealed that Herzog might also be involved in a scandal of his own. It was published that the police are now investigating suspicions that Herzog violated the party funding law (Israeli law stipulates a maximum donation sum) while running for the Labor Party head position. The situation has indeed become complex. March 30, 2016 Every Monday, at the start of the weekly Likud faction meeting in the Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a statement to the press on a topic or message he wants to promote. This Monday, March 28, the Internet was flooded with comments in support of a soldier who shot and killed a wounded Palestinian attacker after the attacker was captured. In his remarks to the media, the prime minister expressed empathy and understanding for the soldier. Previously, Netanyahu had expressed reservations about the horrific and shameful act, but when he saw which way the public mood was heading, he decided to align himself with it. I heard the words of the father of the soldier," he said. "I have to say that as a father of a soldier, the words touched my heart. IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers, our children, stand before murderous terror attacks by terrorists who come to kill them. They have to make decisions in real time, in field conditions, in stress conditions, in uncertain conditions. I rely 100% on the IDF, on the chief of staff, on the investigation. I trust that the investigation will consider all the conditions that I described, including operational conditions. I am certain that the investigation will be professional and fair toward the soldier." The text may be short, but it captures Netanyahus ability of responding accurately to the public sentiment which tends toward the right. Shortly after the incident, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot sent out his spokesman Moti Almoz, who issued an unusually severe statement. He declared, "An initial investigation into the incident found this to be a very grave incident that contravenes the IDF's values and what is expected of its soldiers and commanders." The statement generated angry reactions among the right. Realizing that the shooting incident was turning into a political battle, Netanyahu decided that he would not leave the field to his rivals on the right. He could not let Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman and HaBayit HaYehudi head Naftali Bennett score points by embracing the soldier and his family. Bennett had actually called the soldiers father on the phone, and Liberman behaved as if he were heading a public advocacy campaign in favor of the soldier. There was one thing that was missing from Netanyahus text. He failed to explicitly back Eizenkot and ignored the unprecedented attacks on the chief of staff. Publicly embracing Eizenkot or at least standing by his side would have done more than any platitudes about how he trusts the IDF and its chief of staff. Instead Netanyahu showed himself to be a dyed-in-the-wool populist, taking the side of the shooter, a murder suspect who has emerged as a cultural icon in his own right. Netanyahu could, for example, have condemned the inflammatory posters that appeared near the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv over the weekend. The signs displayed such statements as Shame on you! Even Ahasuerus let the Jews defend themselves. They attacked Eizenkot for daring to consider the incident grave. Or Netanyahu could have condemned the chief rabbi of the city of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu, who used offensive language to insult the chief of staff and demanded that he be called to order, all the while praising the soldier who killed the assailant and calling him a hero of Israel. Eizenkot became the punching bag of politicians on the right, who fired off unprecedented attacks to score political points at his expense. Netanyahu should have nipped it in the bud, instead of abandoning the chief of staff to the public. Netanyahu is intimately familiar with ways to prop up a controversial figure. If he wanted to, he could have done what President Reuven Rivlin did. He could have stood by Eizenkots side with a few decisive but warm comments. In a speech on Monday to the Yedioth Ahronoth conference about the international boycott, Rivlin said, I sleep much better these days, knowing that Gadi Eizenkot is the chief of staff of the IDF. I trust our army, which is one of the most ethical armies in the world, which knows how to act and which conducts itself intelligently, responsibly and with careful consideration, no matter what the matter at hand is. Our army is not an army of mercenaries. It is an army made up of our children, who are guarding our homes. I trust our army and its ability to investigate the matter and draw the right conclusions. How simple that is to say, and how correct! Even Aryeh Deri, the chairman of Shas, knew how to do the right thing by backing the countrys top general. He said, Gadi is an excellent chief of staff. He is an officer with values. He is responsible and honest. The posters and the incitement against him should be condemned by everyone. The prime minister is a frequent Twitter user. He posts on Facebook daily. The fact that he did not see fit to post anything along those lines speaks volumes. Furthermore, as time goes by, it seems as though he supports the soldier, who (from whatever angle you look at it) executed a terrorist extrajudicially. But when Netanyahu sees Liberman with all sorts of demonstrators standing in front of the military court where that soldiers arrest was extended, accusing the prime minister and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon of abandoning one of their troops, Netanyahu cannot control himself. He cant show the slightest hint of leadership or responsibility. Eizenkot is indeed a tough military man. Nevertheless, this attack against him has far-reaching potential consequences for the IDF as well. Traditionally, the chief of staff is one of the most popular and admired icons of the Israeli leadership, not least because of the responsibility he bears. Some chiefs of staff have been more popular than others, but they were all granted public immunity. In most cases, even politicians have taken care to pay them their due respect. That is why the process underway right now is especially worrisome. It is an attempt to delegitimize the chief of staff, draw him into the political fray, paint him as a leftist and attack his official standing and professionalism. Fortunately, Eizenkot has broad shoulders. He can bear the weight of the attacks. The real problem is that challenging the authority of a chief of staff for simply trying to follow moral and ethical codes is not just damaging to the military. It is also harmful to the state. March 29, 2016 There are only two Lebanese army naval bases in the country. The first is located at the port of Beirut, and the second is in Jounieh, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the capital. The Beirut Naval Base, which is part of the first basin of the port of Beirut, is the country's largest and main naval base. It is at risk of destruction due to the construction of a large tourism project. The first sign pointing at the projects implementation is the creation by the Beirut Port Authority of a new entrance to the first basin. The current entrance is known as al-Bawaba al-Shamiya. Since 1996, real estate plot No. 1506, which includes al-Bawaba al-Shamiya, has been the property of Hariri-owned Solidere, the company founded in 1994 to reconstruct the Beirut central district following the 1975-1990 civil war. Plot No. 1506 is adjacent to plot No. 1501 the location of the naval base. The projects engineering drawing shows the establishment of a yacht club, stretching from the first basin, which includes plot No. 1506 and No. 1501. Alarmingly, plot No. 1501 has been the property of the Phoenicia Village, a project developed by the Kuwaiti Levant Holding Company that invested in 2006 more than $1 billion in the development project in the Beirut central district. Phoenicia Village purchased plot No. 1501 from Solidere, which is now seeking to restore it. The projects development requires that the army evacuate its strategic base. Yet why was a military base built on private property? The documents show that Phoenicia Village acquired the base on Oct. 10, 2007, at the end of the term of former President Gen. Emile Lahoud, during the crisis of the Cabinet, led by then-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The crisis was ignited on Nov. 11, 2006, following the resignation of Shiite ministers affiliated with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement and then-Environment Minister Yacoub Sarraf, who was aligned with Lahoud, after the issue was raised on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in Rafik Hariris assassination, while it had not been on the Cabinets agenda. On that day, Lahoud delivered to Siniora a formal letter saying that the government is now considered unconstitutional and illegitimate, due to the resignation of ministers of the same sect (Shiites), and stressing that all of the governments sessions and decisions taken following the resignation are deemed null and unconstitutional, including the purchase of plot No. 1501. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Lahoud explained that he had refuted and refused to sign all of the decrees issued by the illegitimate government in 2007. He said that former President Michel Suleiman signed them, after he was elected president in 2008 following the Doha agreement. Lahoud added, The Beirut Naval Base crisis is not new. It dates back to the early 1990s when late Prime Minister Hariri led his first government. Back then, Lahoud was the commander in chief of the Lebanese army. He said, Hariri offered me to give up to Solidere the military stations and positions located in the area stretching from the first basin of the port of Beirut to Ramleh el-Bayda, including the Naval Base, Military Club and a plot of land facing it in Raouche. Lahoud added, Hariri had attached to his offer maps of a huge tourism project that would attract international attention. It would be primarily a yacht club that he described as the largest in the Middle East. In exchange for abandoning military positions in Beirut, Lahoud said, A military naval base will be established in Dbayeh and will be three times larger than that of the port of Beirut. Lahoud had rejected Hariris offer, because the Beirut Naval Base is of a great strategic importance related to Lebanons national security. He said, The removal of the Beirut Naval Base is the first step in the [tourism] projects implementation, which will threaten the sustainability of import and export activities via the port of Beirut. This is true particularly since it is the major commercial gateway to Lebanon, and [its removal] will prevent large commercial vessels from entering the port of Beirut for their safety. He added, The closure of al-Bawaba al-Shamiya will have a negative impact on the movement of the Lebanese armys and UNIFILs [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanons] military vessels that are moored to a dock at the first basin. Former Minister Salim Jreissati, a former member of the Constitutional Council that follows up on the matter, told Al-Monitor, The owners of the tourism project have missed that Decree No. 4147 of July 14, 1981, requires an empty space around any military facilities to guarantee their safety and operation. The Beirut Naval Base is one of these facilities and, therefore, the base or any part of it shall not be removed. Jreissati said, Sinioras illegitimate government suggested in 2007 a dangerous circumvention and violation of the law, which consists of switching the classification of plot No. 1501 from being a public property to a private property and transferred its ownership to a private company. He pointed out that Phoenicia Village and Solidere lodged a lawsuit against the Lebanese army in 2010 requiring the military to evacuate the Beirut Naval Base. The lawsuit has been pending since then before the Court of First Instance in Beirut. A single solution is available for the army. It requires that the commander in chief of the army, Gen. Jean Kahwaji, makes the decision to confiscate the Beirut Naval Base under confiscation law No. 550, issued on Oct. 20, 2003 to the advantage of the Lebanese army, in exchange for a financial compensation to Phoenicia Village, particularly since the decree to transfer the ownership of plot No. 1501 is initially null and is no longer valid as a result of the expiry of constitutional and legal deadlines to challenge decrees. Between the importance of the Beirut Naval Base to national security and Phoenician Village ownership of the real estate area, the question is how will this dossier be resolved, particularly since the Beirut Port Authority had made a decision that al-Bawaba al-Shamiya would be closed starting March 28. However, Jreissati noted, The latest information available confirms that the closure has been suspended until further notice. March 29, 2016 On June 19, 2011, a NATO airstrike killed five members of the al-Gherari family as they slept in their adjacent homes in Tripoli. Sixteen people were sleeping at the two houses when, at around 1:15 a.m., at least one missile struck the compound. It killed Karima al-Gherari, her husband Abdullah Nimr, her brother Faraj al Gherari, and Karimas 2-year-old and 7-month-old children. Al-Monitor obtained police reports listing the causes of death as burns sustained from shrapnel, falling debris due to airstrike, and fracture and burns. Five years after the disaster, Al-Monitor tracked down Mohamed al-Gherari, one of the survivors of that night, and visited the compound where the attack took place. His sisters house, the center of the strike, was destroyed. I was sleeping in my room at my familys ground-floor home when the missile hit his sisters house, he said with the pain still visible on his face while he guided Al-Monitor through the rubble of what used to be his home. The family compound had consisted of two three-story buildings. The top floor of one building was slated to become an apartment for Gherari, as he was planning to get married. Unable to bear the memories associated with the building, Gherari moved his father, mother and brother to a rented home. In 2012, he decided to demolish what little remained of his sisters home. Human Rights Watch documented the Gherari case, among others, in its detailed report Unacknowledged Deaths, published in May 2012, about civilians killed in NATOs air campaign in Libya from March to October 2011. Most of those victims are indeed unacknowledged, since NATO claims most were associated with military targets. NATO did say, however, that the Gherari case was an accident cause by malfunctioning equipment. The eight-month air campaign eventually toppled the Moammar Gadhafi regime in October 2011. Estimates of civilian casualties vary widely, from conservative counts of dozens to what appear to be Libyan government-inflated figures in the thousands. During an October NATO conference in Madrid, Al-Monitor asked former US ambassador and NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow whether the alliance has any plans to compensate its civilian Libyan victims. He hesitated and dodged the question, saying, We only reinforced the UNs resolution to protect Libyan civilians from the regimes brutality. After the conference, Al-Monitor repeated the question. The answer: This is not the time nor the place to discuss the issue, but we did not kill any civilians. At the same conference, Al-Monitor asked NATO political adviser Catherine Royle whether she was consulted about the political implications of civilian deaths and if she thought that there was some collateral damage as a result of NATOs operation in Libya. As could be expected, she replied, I cannot comment on operational issues, despite the operations in Libya having ended more than three years ago. Gherari took it upon himself to find out why his loved ones were killed in their sleep. He traveled in 2012 and 2013 to Belgium, where he found a sympathetic lawyer in Brussels, but little else. Al-Monitor contacted the lawyer, Georges Henri Beauthier, by email, but he declined to comment on the case. Gherari has come to live with the reality that answers regarding the attack may be hard to come by. He did not see his lawyer again. When asked if he plans to get back to Brussels, he said, Unfortunately, I cannot afford it. Traveling there requires lots of money and tiring logistics, since even getting the visa means I have to go to Tunisia. Indeed, no Western European embassy is operating now in Tripoli. Back in 2011, while the former regime was still in power and right after his family was killed, Gherari did get medical and financial help from the government. His injured older brother was sent to Tunisia for treatment. One of his injured family members was treated abroad and he also received some financial help. All that changed once the rebel authorities took power in Libya. While there is an entire ministry devoted to serving war victims, Gherari and people like him are not considered victims of Libya. They are victims of NATO, which intervened on the rebels behalf to topple the former regime. Gherari tried to get some assistance from Libyas successive government but little was offered. In the end, Gherari said, I gave up because of the kind of bad treatment and usually complicated bureaucratic procedures I have to go through each time I ask for something. Asked if he will give up his case against NATO, Gherari responded, I will never do that, and I hope to be able to closely follow the case when I have the means to do so. March 30, 2016 Just two years after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered the creation of the Palestinian Civil Committee for Interaction with Israel, its members can check off one item on their agenda. It was hard, sometimes even Sisyphean, but through sheer determination they came up with a way to circumvent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now they hope they can convince Israelis that there are people on the Palestinian side with whom they can talk peace. The members of the committee, headed by Mohammed Madani of Fatahs Central Committee, recently met with Israeli mayors to tell them that the window of opportunity for diplomatic negotiations is closing and that they should take advantage of it before it is too late. Much to their surprise, the mayors were willing to listen. There are people in the Likud Party, including some in Netanyahus inner circle, who are surprised to hear what we have to say, said committee member Elias Zenaniri. They tell us, We didnt know that things were like that on the Palestinian side. Actually, they dont know anything about us. They really believe that Israel is surrounded by wild animals, like Netanyahu tells them. Then they discover that there are no wild animals on the other side, only people who want to live in peace. The last meeting between committee members and a mayor took place about three weeks ago in the Israeli town of Maalot. A similar meeting had been held in January in Nes Tziona, with Mayor Yossi Shevo of the Likud. Shevo had been military governor of the Gaza Strip in the 1970s. As a result of the meeting in Maalot, Shlomo Bohbot, the mayor of the municipality of Maalot-Tarshiha, proposed a reciprocal meeting in Ramallah between Israeli mayors, regional council heads and Abbas. Zenaniri confirmed to Al-Monitor that the Palestinian Authority has begun preparing for such a meeting and that the Palestinian participants plan to reiterate to their guests that there is a partner for peace. Im ready to go to Ramallah right now, Shevo told Al-Monitor. Ive already submitted a request to travel there, but I have yet to receive permission from the defense authorities. Shevo also said that the meetings are important because they are initiated by the Palestinians," adding, "I am glad that there is a branch of the Palestinian government that promotes dialogue with Israeli mayors and council heads. This is the right kind of initiative, because the only way to reach an agreement is through dialogue. According to Shevo, he is not the only Likud mayor whose approach to dealing with the Palestinians is not in accord with the rejectionist diplomatic line espoused by the prime minister. Shevo admits that the political leadership headed by Netanyahu, along with another group in the Likud the ideologues, he calls them are blocking any diplomatic progress with the Palestinians. But that must change, Shevo asserted. I may surprise you by saying this, but I support the creation of a seaport in Gaza. It makes no sense to imprison 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza and then wonder why they launch an intifada. A port in Gaza is important for normalization, both for them and for us. In response to the argument that a port would be used to smuggle guns into Gaza, Shevo stated, It is possible to smuggle weapons in even without a port. Hezbollah doesnt have a port, and look how many weapons they have. Bohbot, a Labor Party member, told Al-Monitor of his desire to engage the Palestinians in a diplomatic process. Maalot is a symbol of coexistence between Jews and Arabs, he said emphatically. Maalot and Tarshiha are two adjacent towns that live side by side. It could be very symbolic for Palestinians and Israelis to talk, listen and share ideas here in Maalot. Bohbot said that when the current wave of terrorism erupted last October, he organized a meeting of Jewish and Arab-Israeli mayors and public figures in Acre. After the meeting, they sent Netanyahu and Abbas a letter calling on them to renew peace negotiations. Abbas congratulated us on the meeting and the initiative, but unfortunately, we have yet to receive an answer from Netanyahu. He is surely not interested, said Bohbot, clearly disappointed. It was a call from lots of mayors, Jewish and Arab alike, from both the Likud and the Labor parties. It was after sending the letter that Bohbot turned to the members of the Civil Committee for Interaction with Israel to suggest that a meeting similar to the one in Nes Tziona be held in his own town. We want everyone in Israel to realize that there is a partner for peace among the Palestinians, said Zenaniri, who went on to note that the message the Palestinians bring to each meeting is that a two-state solution and an end to the occupation are joint strategic interests for Palestinians and Israelis. Of course, the big question is whether these local politicians will be able to persuade Netanyahu to renew negotiations. Bohbot believes that the mayors role is to bring the two sides closer and to attempt to remove any obstacles along the way. For instance, he believes that Abbas insistence on a freeze on construction in the settlements is a mistake. I spoke with the mayor of Maale Adumim, Benny Kashriel, said Bohbot. He told me that Netanyahu isnt building in the territories like people think he is. Besides, everybody, including Abbas, knows that the settlement blocs will remain part of Israel under any diplomatic agreement. Shevo, Bohbot and Zenaniri agree that there is still a long and tortuous road ahead of them, but Shevo commented, Someone has to do it. We cant afford to lose hope. Meanwhile, Zenaniri summarized his groups position, stating, Our goal is to reach every single Israeli, so that they know that people are talking nonsense about us. March 29, 2016 President Hassan Rouhanis first foreign trip of the Iranian New Year was a two-day trip to Pakistan, which began March 25. While he was accompanied by a half-dozen ministers and high-ranking officials, there has been recent criticism that the trip ended without significant tangible achievements, prompting officials from the administration to answer back. A March 29 article from the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), which operates under the administration, accused domestic media of parroting foreign media in their critiques of Rouhanis trip. The article asserts that on the first day of the visit, Iran and Pakistan signed six documents of cooperation, including cooperation between chambers of commerce and also in the fields of universities, culture, insurance and health. According to the IRNA article, there were also discussions of strengthening trade on the border markets and between the Chabahar and Gwadar ports. The article also addressed one of the most lingering issues between the two countries the so-called peace pipeline that is supposed to deliver Iranian gas to Pakistan. Iran has completed the pipeline on its side of the border, but the creation of the pipeline in Pakistan has been plagued by continuous delays. According to the article, Pakistani officials have been pressured by Saudi and American officials to not pursue the Iran-Pakistan pipeline due to international sanctions on Iran and replace it with a pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan. IRNA contends that these alternatives sacrifice the energy needs of more than 180 million people for the desires of foreign countries. The article also maintains that despite attempts by anti-Iranian media to present obstacles to the pipeline, Pakistani officials are well-aware that their rival India has already proposed a pipeline through the sea. Despite American and Saudi pressure to reject economic and security cooperation with Iran, Pakistani leaders have always shown their good intentions, claimed the IRNA article. The article continued that Pakistani leaders, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, despite pressure from Saudi Arabia, which gives the country considerable aid, has been able to successfully balance relations between the two regional rivals, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The article concluded that important mutual interests and goals between Iran and Pakistan cannot be overshadowed by propaganda. While the IRNA article did not reference specific articles that questioned the outcome of Rouhanis trip, other media did. Unfortunately, the achievements of this trip are affected by the propaganda of Saudi and Zionist stations and websites, said Rouhani adviser Hesam al-Din Ashna March 28 in reference to the London-based BBC Persian article headlined Rouhanis fruitless trip to Pakistan. The BBC article asserted that despite Rouhani traveling to Pakistan with a large delegation, he returned empty-handed due to Chinas heavy economic influence and American and Saudi objections. The head of Irans central bank, the governor of Sistan-Baluchistan province, and the foreign, interior, industry, energy and health ministers accompanied Rouhani on the trip. Perhaps in response to the ongoing criticism, on March 29 Fars News interviewed Pakistani parliamentarian Shafaghat Yarkhan, who belongs to Sharifs Muslim League party. According to Yarkhan, the media who said Rouhanis trip was unproductive were biased. He said, The achievements of Rouhanis trip to Pakistan are undeniable, and in the future we will see the positive results of this trip. Yarkhan also said that while the peace pipeline may take time, he was certain that trade between the two countries would increase. March 30, 2016 Boom! Boom! Boom! The crash of artillery fire rarely features in the vocabulary of a parrot, but that is the only sound Heval, a once-loquacious African gray parrot, emits these days. Heval, whose name means comrade in Kurdish, was marooned in the heart of Diyarbakir's historic Sur district during three months of bloody clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish youths fighting for the urban guerrilla arm of the ethno-nationalist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Heval was stuck in Sur for 10 days with no food or water. I was unable to rescue him because of the uninterrupted curfew, the parrots owner, Aladdin Kilic, told Al-Monitor in an interview at his breakfast salon in Diyarbakirs Yenisehir district. By the time I got to him, he had almost perished from hunger and dehydration. He was picking at his own feathers in a state of extreme stress. Kilic feeds Heval a pistachio pinched between his own lips before adding, My boy is on antidepressants now. Heval seems to be on the mend. But other creatures were not so lucky. The conflict has reduced parts of Sur and other neighborhoods in the mainly Kurdish southeast to blackened, bullet-riddled ruins. It's impossible to keep an accurate count, but hundreds of cats, dogs and numerous species of birds have either died or been wounded since round-the-clock curfews were imposed [over Sur] in early December, said Sevgi Ekmekciler, deputy director of Haytap, one of Turkeys top animal rights groups. Ekmekciler told Al-Monitor that many of the animals were killed in the crossfire between security forces and the armed youths who barricaded themselves in the narrow alleyways snaking through the district. Other pets simply starved to death because owners who fled the violence were not permitted to re-enter Sur. Kilic said pigeon fanciers, who kept the age-old tradition alive in Sur, were among the worst hit, losing scores of their most prized birds. Ekmekciler and fellow animal lovers continue to scour the streets of Sur daily for wounded animals trapped under the debris. At the peak of the violence, undeterred by the bullets whizzing above them, her team would bully and plead their way through police barriers to feed and rescue the animals, including a donkey and a bowl full of goldfish. The latest bout of violence between the security forces and the PKK was sparked when the youths who call themselves the Civil Defense Units, or YPS (formerly the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement) declared autonomy in a sprinkling of boroughs across the mainly Kurdish southeast. They grossly miscalculated just how tough the government response would be. Paramilitary forces backed by attack helicopters, armored vehicles and even tanks laid siege to Sur and similarly rebellious neighborhoods to flush the fighters out. The propaganda war waged by both sides makes it hard to assess the precise human casualty toll. But according to the latest tally by the International Crisis Group, at least nine civilians and around 60 members each of the YPS and the security forces died between Dec. 12 and March 9 in Diyarbakir. Animals be they domestic pets, livestock or birds took the heaviest toll, but few noticed. Animal rights remain a somewhat alien concept in the deeply conservative Kurdish region, where many Kurds adhere to the Shafi'i sect of Sunni Islam, which spurns contact with animals and especially with dogs. But awareness is growing along with pet ownership, notes Ekmekciler. Pet shops are springing up in middle-class neighborhoods. In late 2012, pressured by Ekmekciler and fellow activists, Osman Baydemir, the former metropolitan mayor of Diyarbakir, set up a sprawling shelter for animals, complete with ambulances and a clinic on the edge of town. Many were asking why we would spend millions of liras on animals when so many of our people are living in poverty, but a society that cannot be compassionate about animals cannot be compassionate about their fellow humans, Baydemir told Al-Monitor in an interview. Baydemir even allowed himself to be photographed petting an Anatolian Shepherd puppy. His message seems to be getting through. We managed to save 80 cats and 20 dogs, including a husky and a terrier, Ekmekciler said. Many were sent for treatment in Istanbul, where they eventually found new homes. But locals in Diyarbakir also adopted, especially cats. Meanwhile, a campaign to raise funds for dog and cat food for Sur and other afflicted areas has elicited an extraordinary response. We bought 2 tons of food with the donations so far, she said. Ekmekciler speculated that, since the prevailing climate of government repression equates sympathy for human victims of the Kurdish conflict with terrorism, many people might be finding it safer to reach out to animals instead. The town of Cizre on the Iraqi border was the scene of some of the worst violence. More than 200 civilians, including women and children, reportedly died. Faysal Sariyildiz, a lawmaker for the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party, said animals were intentionally targeted. Similar stories emerged from Silvan, another township in Diyarbakir where the YPS rose up. An advocacy group called the Animal Rights Initiative said dozens of cats and dogs were gunned down. Back in Sur, a semblance of normalcy is beginning to return. Shops are slowly reopening and housewives are recovering their haggling skills. Still, plainclothes police officers continue to patrol the area. Some of the inner streets where a handful of YPS corpses are said to be rotting remain off-limits. Dingy canvas drapes still hang across streets demarcating the no-go area, presumably to mask the scale of the destruction. Immune to such strictures, a skinny, blotched tabby darts in. March 29, 2016 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not known for his fondness of diplomats, diplomatic niceties or, for that matter, diplomacy itself. It doesnt matter if the diplomats are Turkish or foreign. He has made his distaste for them known. While he was still prime minister, Erdogan gave Turkeys ambassador in Berlin a public dressing down in 2006 over instructions from the ministry to only accept photographs without Islamic headscarves from women for official documents. He was applauded by expatriate Turkish supporters there, undermining the prestige of the ambassador in the country where he was serving. Erdogan chastised retired Turkish diplomats in 2009 for criticizing his outburst against Israeli President Shimon Peres at Davos, calling them mon cher and suggesting they never supported the good things their country did. Mon cher (French for my dear) is an affectionate greeting Turkish diplomats once used for each other. Today, it is used derogatively toward some Turkish diplomats to suggest their reputed effete and affected nature. This time it was Western diplomats in Turkey who incurred Erdogans wrath. Their sin was attending the trial of prominent journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul. Both face espionage charges for reporting on illegal arms shipments to anti-regime forces in Syria in 2014 by Turkeys intelligence service. The story first appeared last May in Cumhuriyet, whose editor is Dundar, while Gul is its Ankara bureau chief. Erdogan promised at the time that Dundar would pay dearly for his actions, and Dundar and Gul were subsequently arrested and imprisoned. The Constitutional Court, acting on a petition by them, ruled in February that their rights had been violated and they had merely done their jobs as journalists. Their release infuriated Erdogan. He said he did not respect the high courts ruling and would not recognize it, revealing the extent to which he has personalized this case. The attention the case received in the West only fueled his fury. Erdogan was not happy to see US Vice President Joe Biden meet Dundars family during his visit to Turkey in January, especially after Biden reportedly told Dundars son that he had a very brave father he must be proud of. Washington continues to stress that this case and other developments that undermine democracy in Turkey concern it deeply. The EU is being criticized for appearing lenient toward Turkey because it needs to cooperate with Ankara over the flood of refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries. However, none of this has prevented EU diplomats from actively following certain cases in Turkey. The German ambassador and the consuls general of key EU countries as well as Australia, the United States and Canada were present at last weeks hearing in Istanbul over the case against Dundar and Gul. Erdogan was livid after some of the diplomats posted a collective selfie on social media platforms. Who are you? What business do you have there? a visibly angry Erdogan fumed, targeting the diplomats during an address at an Istanbul convention for Turkish entrepreneurs. This is not your country. This is Turkey. You can only act within the consulate building or its borders; the rest is subject to permission, he said. While Erdogan's words sat well with his Islamist supporters and in nationalist circles, retired Turkish diplomats were unanimous in disagreeing with his assessment. Nuzhet Kandemir, a former undersecretary for the Foreign Ministry whose ambassadorial posts included Baghdad and Washington before he retired in 1998 to enter politics, said the diplomats targeted by Erdogan had acted within their duties. It is the job of diplomats to follow political developments in the countries they serve in and report them back. This is part of their job under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Kandemir told Al-Monitor. Once a state accepts a diplomat then it recognizes that diplomats right to act according to the privileges provided to him. What President Erdogan says is not valid, Kandemir went on, adding that Erdogans remarks are demeaning for Turkey. Unfortunately, Turkey is pursuing a highly personalized foreign policy whose beginning or end is not clear. This has become the norm for Turkey, even if it is not normal for the rest of the world, he concluded. That Erdogan was walking on thin ice did not prevent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara from acting to make its dissatisfaction known to countries whose diplomats attended the Dundar and Gul trial. Kandemir said the ministry knows the rules of diplomacy, but its hands are tied because the order is from above. A Western diplomat who wished to remain anonymous due to his sensitive position told Al-Monitor, The appropriate answer had been given to Turkey. He did not elaborate. However, State Department spokesman John Kirby gave a clear picture of what this appropriate answer was. Kirby said during his daily press briefing in Washington on March 29 that the State Department stands by its diplomat who followed the trial. And thats completely in keeping with standard diplomatic practice to observe and report on political, judicial and other developments in host countries. This was not the first time, but it darn sure wont be the last time that we observe these kinds of judicial proceedings, Kirby said, clearly employing a defiant tone to match Erdogan's. The opposition media in Turkey has also been pointing to an ironic twist in this affair. When Erdogan was convicted to 10 months in prison in 1998, while he was mayor of Istanbul, for reciting a poem considered to be incitement against the secular state, he received support from the US consul general and other Western diplomats. Visiting Erdogan in his office, US Consul General Carolyn Huggins said, Prison sentences for elected politicians for what they have said shakes confidence in Turkish democracy. Erdogan, who did not complain about the support he got from Western diplomats then, conveniently prefers to overlook the matter today. March 29, 2016 DIYARBAKIR, Turkey Turkey has been debating the trench and barricade warfare the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has launched in towns in southeast Turkey. Many couldnt understand why the organization chose that method of warfare. But there are widespread allegations in the southeast that the organizations leadership was deceived by reports sent by the PKK rank and file that the people were ready to join a popular uprising. Vahit Cetiner is a shoeshine man on Izzetpasa Avenue in Diyarbakirs restive Sur district. He has been living in the Hasirli neighborhood, which is now a heavy combat zone, for 65 years and shining shoes on the same sidewalk for 50 years. Because of Sur clashes, he lost both his house and his livelihood. He is now back at his job as the situation has calmed down a bit, but he is still not allowed to go home. He doesnt really understand what is going on, but that doesnt stop him from commenting on it: The PKK believed that the people would be on their side. People were supposed to rise along with them. They filled the neighborhood with guns and bombs, but when the bombs started to explode, everyone escaped. There was nobody left standing with them. Who knows if this is Cetiners personal opinion or the serious truth. But similar views have been circulating in the southeast for months. For many, it didnt make sense for the PKK to shift to urban warfare after the Kurdish political movement came out so strong after the June 7 elections. Perhaps Cetiners analysis answers this question. For months, there have been rumors in the region that a popular uprising was imminent and that the PKK had decided on urban warfare counting on these rumors. How was the PKK convinced that its trench and barricade combat technique would prevail? The most serious allegation is that the PKK believed the written and oral reports it was getting from its people in towns. Al-Monitors queries revealed that many people involved in Kurdish politics knew about these reports sent to the PKK command. One person who spoke to Al-Monitor but did not want his name mentioned for security concerns said the PKK made its decision after the 2014 Kobani clashes and the mass protests in Turkey against the government for not challenging the Islamic State (IS). After widespread, violent protests in many parts of Turkey, reports sent to the organization insisted that the people were ready for a popular uprising, and the PKK believed it. The same source said many prominent names in Kurdish politics tried to dissuade the PKK but didnt succeed. This is why the PKK is now trying to determine who misled the organization, the source added. According a news report on March 29, senior PKK commander Murat Karayilan admitted that the PKKs trench warfare was wrong. He reportedly told a pro-PKK news agency that there was no need for such intensive combat in towns. Karayilan signaled that the PKK would return to rural terrain. A regional journalist who is well-informed about the situation spoke to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. He, too, said the PKK leaders were misled. The source said the PKKs urban supporters had misinterpreted the June 7 election results. They thought that the entire electorate would back an uprising in locations where the HDP [Peoples' Democratic Party] got good results. People were told that the PKK had 600,000 militias. These opinions reached the PKK command in the hills. They got carried away and even dug ditches on main highways. That was during the Kurdish-Turkish peace process, and the state tolerated such PKK actions. That boosted the PKKs self-confidence. Then followed the goal of self-government, which the PKK could not reject, the source said. The source said the election results were misinterpreted as justification for the trench and barricade tactics. It was easy to be misled. In Diyarbakirs violent Sur district in the June 7 elections, HDP got 79% the votes, 91% at Sirnak, 89% at Silopi and 90% at Nusaybin. Huseyin Turhalli, a former PKK official, said the organization had been getting similar reports for a long time. Turhalli told Al-Monitor that such reports could only affect the timing of actions: The issue is not about these reports. You also have the Rojava [the term Kurds use to refer to western Kurdistan in Syria] angle and external support received. Then there is the provocation by the state. Reports can only affect the timing of plans and programs the PKK have already made. Some sources familiar with Kurdish politics also cited the comments of Duran Kalkan, a senior PKK official, about the clashes. The balance sheet has been heavy. We didnt expect such a response. We made a mistake. We thought our foes were human beings, Kalkan said. We asked the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), which is the executive council of the PKK, about these allegations. The KCK leadership that responded to Al-Monitors emailed questions rejected the allegations that the urban warfare was prompted by reports from the field. They said there were no such reports and added, The war was launched by the AKP [Justice and Development Party] government and the presidential palace. Kurdish people were defending themselves. The countrys rulers did not want the Kurds to advance their cause through legal means and blocked their path to politics. That was an undeclared coup. The military was ordered to launch major attacks against the PKK. The HDP came under serious pressure. Kurds seeing the situation said as we are sidelined from mainstream politics, denied parliamentary democracy, then we will develop democracy at local levels as the only way to democratize Turkey. KCKs response concluded, Democracy means peoples self-rule. According to security sources as of March 11 in locations such as Diyarbakirs Sur district, Idil, Cizre, Silopi, Derik and Nusaybin towns where the trench and barricade warfare was the most intensive 1,267 PKK militants and 113 security forces personnel were killed. On March 28, the chief of general staff released a balance sheet of operations that have been going on for 265 days since July 22, 2014. Excerpts from this official announcement explain the dimensions of the violence. The announcement said 4,432 terrorists, mostly from the PKK, were killed, while the security sources suffered 377 martyrs; 213 IS terrorists were eliminated. About 300 civilians were also killed. Of 377 security personnel killed, 139 were police, 232 were soldiers and six were village guards. Among 285 civilians killed, 11 were Germans, three were Israelis, two were Iranians and one was a Palestinian. They were killed in attacks by PKK, IS and the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons. In security dragnets targeting the PKK and the Civil Defense Units PKK's armed youth wing, previously known as the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement 10,326 people have been detained. Of that number, 3,387 were arrested. March 29, 2016 "In the last six months customers want a wig like Kate Middleton's hair," says Esti Bergman, the owner of a business that creates and sells high-end wigs to the ultra-Orthodox sector. Last year there was a Farrah Fawcett trend, long and flowing. Middletons style is relatively modest in terms of length and also jauntier. The wigs Bergman creates are expensive: their price tag starts at 7,000 shekels ($1,800) and can reach 20,000 ($5,200), depending on color and length. What's surprising here is not only the concern with appearance on the part of women of the ultra-Orthodox sector, which upholds modesty and obligates them, among other things, to cover their own hair after marriage but also their objects of admiration: a young British duchess and a famous late American actress. Neither belongs to the cultural world of the ultra-Orthodox, a community that is typically closed and conservative, even antiquated. These wigs, in addition to fashion design for ultra-Orthodox women and "daring" lingerie shops for the sector, are somewhat confusing to secular Jews who see ultra-Orthodox style from the sidelines. It seems that concern with appearances should run contrary to the values of this conservative society, in whose most extreme branches the women cover their whole bodies from head to toe. Within the ultra-Orthodox sector some rabbis oppose the use of all wigs, not just beautiful ones, for reasons of modesty. The "modesty" of wigs is a burning issue for the ultra-Orthodox sector, as attested by a question posed by a woman on the Kipa websites Ask the Rabbi section: How is it that ultra-Orthodox women wear wigs that you cant know if [they're] real or not? The answer provided was that some wigs are more modest than a head covering, since they cover all of a woman's natural hair, while with a veil, some of the natural hair could show. Nevertheless, the rabbi noted, In the area of wigs there is some [association with] promiscuity, and some women have wigs that look more natural and prettier than their own hair, and indeed theres a problem of immodesty here. The theoretical debate can sometimes slide into violence, as when extremist ultra-Orthodox men poured oil on ultra-Orthodox women wearing wigs in the Me'ah She'arim neighborhood of Jerusalem, and another ultra-Orthodox man robbed a wig store, allegedly to punish the owner for selling wigs. Bergman says that shes not familiar with this debate. I belong to a sector where the wig is accepted. Theres a length of hair that is suitable according to Jewish law, and whoever deviates from that, its her problem. Im not a 'rebbitzin' [a rabbis wife, charged with teaching brides the laws of family purity] or a Jewish law [expert]. I go with the customer according to her style, each one according to her custom. Ultra-orthodox women's enthusiasm for lingerie takes the debate over modesty one step further. Ariella Sternbach, who works at a lingerie shop at the ultra-Orthodox town of Beitar Illit, tells Al-Monitor, At first I was surprised at the ultra-Orthodox women and what theyre willing to invest in lingerie for example, in lace sets. These are the prettiest and most daring things. Lingerie salespeople can attest that the sectors that invest most in lingerie are Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox. Whoever covers up more outside invests the most in underwear. When I started to work at the shop, I saw a woman choose a very daring fishnet stocking. I thought she didnt realize what she chose and tried to hint to her gently, but she knew exactly what she was buying. Sternbach says that many ultra-Orthodox brides come to the shop to buy sexy lingerie for their wedding night. Some of them wear it under their wedding dress, and some on their first night. Sternbach explains that not only does this fashion trend not run contrary to modesty, it actually suits it. Theres a lot of interest in investing in looking beautiful for the husband, even to wear fancy dresses at home. I remember a client who said that her financial situation wasnt good, but she still bought high-end sets. She explained that its a religious duty, and so its money that God will return. In my view its a very healthy approach, to be modest on the outside and wear it only at home. Its a beautiful thing that contributes to intimacy. Fashion designer Avigail Lorenzi also holds that the desire to look good privately is not immodest. Its true for the fanatics, who could also wear cloaks, she says, For modern Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox women its different. The shop where Sternbach works was the first of its kind in an ultra-Orthodox town. Until then, such purchases were made secretly. The opening of the shop met some opposition because it sold some daring styles in bold colors. We received some strange letters, she recalls, but you have extremists everywhere. A rebbitzin came to check up on us and we told her, if there was no demand, we wouldnt sell it. One of our clients said, 'If your husband isnt interested in this, thats the problem.' Men are strictly forbidden from entering the shop, but some buy things for their wives over the phone. Some of the women come to the shop and ask for a particular color because thats what my husband likes, notes Sternbach. Men may also be involved in the process of choosing a wig. Bergman says, "Some husbands come with their wives to choose something they like. For her, it makes sense. A woman would agree to give up a lot of things before shed give up a wig, she concludes. Its her appearance and her beauty, and she wont compromise it. March 30, 2016 LEIDEN, Netherlands In the private video Mohamed Nidalha showed of his son, Reda, the young man is seen partying. The 19-year-old dances and raps to loud hip-hop music, while behind him, a girl dressed in a tight top cooks something in the kitchen. A bottle of liquor sits on the table. People are smoking. It is an unremarkable video, one that anyone would expect to find on a teenagers cell phone. In June 2014, a few weeks after the video was recorded, Reda Nidalha, a Dutch teenager of Moroccan descent, would leave for Syria to join the Islamic State (IS). He called his younger sister from Turkey and said he was in Istanbul, on his way to help raped women and children in Syria. When Mohamed Nidalha found out that his son was headed for Syria, he tried to stop him. He contacted the Dutch police and secret service, but they said they couldnt do anything because there was no international arrest warrant for Reda Nidalha. Six weeks later, he called us again, saying he was in Syria, Mohamed Nidalha told Al-Monitor. He posted some pictures of himself with guns and military clothes and bragging. According to Mohamed Nidalha, his son had been a normal teenager, albeit a bit of a troublemaker. Reda Nidalha dated girls, drank alcohol and liked to party. He had difficulty with school, because attention deficit disorder affected his concentrate in class. He lost interest in school, but couldn't find an internship. He began hanging out with the wrong crowd and soon got involved in a ring trafficking in drugs. After a while, he decided to quit that scene, but was unable to, because he was being extorted by criminals who said he owed them some 4,000 euros ($4,530). The son, who was close to his father, told him, Dad, I'm in trouble. Mohamed Nidalha recalled, I decided that it was better for Reda to be sent to Belgium for a while, so he could get away from all the problems and the people who were after him. Reda Nidalha went to Belgium, where he stayed for a while with his uncle. At some point, he left his uncles house and moved in with a friend. Looking back now, this probably was a bad decision, Mohamed Nidalha said. It is likely that his son came into contact with members of Sharia4Belgium, a radical Islamist group with lots of members who have traveled to Syria. Mohamed Nidalha explained, Suddenly he kept his beard, started to wear Islamic clothes and talk about religion, something he had never done before. Reda told me, Look, Dad, I am going to the mosque. I am on the right path now. But we had no idea it was this bad. Despite becoming more interested in religion, he didnt change his lifestyle completely, as the video shows. However, three weeks after he moved in with his friend, Reda left the country. Reda Nidalha, one of the estimated 5,000 Westerners who have gone to Syria or Iraq to fight on behalf of IS or Jabhat al-Nusra, is not the only example of a young man with a criminal background who suddenly radicalized. Analysts have found that jihadi terror networks such as IS often attract criminal elements, from those involved in petty crimes to organized crime. Daan Weggemans, a researcher at the Institute for Security and Global Affairs at the University of Leiden and a research fellow at the International Center for Counter-Terrorism, said that although exact numbers are not available, based on his research over the past five years, Reda Nidalha's path might be an increasingly visible trend. It could be that jihad has gone more mainstream and that the step from criminality to jihad has become smaller, Weggemans told Al-Monitor. It is a matter of supply and demand looking for status, fraternity, meaning, adventure, a sense of belonging. These things can be found in a criminal gang or even a cult, but also in terrorist groups. After the March 22 attacks in Brussels that killed at least 32 people, it soon became clear that at least two of the attackers had criminal backgrounds. The El Bakraoui brothers, who were known to Belgian police, had records for armed robbery, shooting at police officers and attempted carjacking. Some of the men responsible for the November attacks in Paris had also been involved in criminal activities, including armed robbery and drug possession. In August, Belgian authorities said that half the Belgium jihadists in Syria and Iraq had criminal records before they left home. According to Weggemans, there are three types of motives for jihad. One is ideological, wherein radical Islam plays a huge role in answering important life questions such as Who am I? What should I do? How should I do it? Another is social, belonging to a tight, close-knit network or circle of friends who influence one another. The other involves pragmatism. The practical motive involves things like running away from something, like debts or enemies, which are push factors. But it also may contain pull factors, like adventure, battles and status, from zero to hero, Weggemans said, adding that one cannot detach this motive from the religious and social aspects. Reda Nidalha appears to have wanted to escape his past, or as his father put it, to start over with a clean slate. Mohamed Nidalha further commented, He was easy to influence. I still cannot believe, two years later, he is with IS. I think about it day and night. A former friend of Reda Nidalha who requested anonymity believes that the religious aspect probably played a lesser role in Reda Nidalha's case. He never bothered about religion, and he had friends from many different cultures. Even when he was already in Syria, he used to talk to me sometimes on social media. I told him I did not agree with his decision. He told me he had a job there and was married. The brothers Brahim and Salah Abdeslam were both involved in Novembers Paris attacks. Brahim Abdeslam blew himself up in Paris, and Salah Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels just days before the March 22 attacks there. CNN acquired footage showing both men partying in a nightclub only months before they carried out the series of deadly attacks in the French capital. The video shows a side of the attackers the public had not previously seen. Mohamed Nidalha rarely hears from his son these days. Reda Nidalha, now 21, sent his father a private message on social media expressing anger that his dad had spoken out in the media. Mohamed Nidalha struggles with having mixed feelings. On the one hand, he is angry at his son for having joined such a horrific organization, but on the other hand, he misses his son and still loves him, despite his choices. Although one might think that young men like Reda Nidalha are only in it for the thrill, the attacks in Brussels and Paris show that they can become even more radicalized, and dangerously equipped, during stays in IS self-proclaimed caliphate, before being sent back to Europe with the goal of staging attacks. Weggemans remarked, I can imagine that when it comes to hardened criminals, who have a record of serious crime or have spent a number of years in prisons, you become emotionally toughened and more able to commit such horrible offenses. Reda Nidalhas father, however, thinks his son is just a naive young man who got sucked into an extremist group that preys on young men like him. I know it is not an excuse, but it might help explain why he went there, Mohamed Nidalha said. The surviving member of a Missouri couple who police say carried out a four-state crime spree is now charged in a carjacking conspiracy in Alabama. A federal grand jury today returned an eight-count indictment against Brittany Nicole Harper, 30, of Joplin. The indictment charges Harper with one count of conspiracy to transport a stolen vehicle across state lines, two counts of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines, three counts of carjacking and two counts of brandishing a gun during a violent crime, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Birmingham. Brittany Nicole Harper Harper's boyfriend, Blake Fitzgerald, died in a hail of police gunfire on Feb. 5. The shooting followed a massive manhunt that started in Escambia County and ended in Santa Rosa County. There was a car chase, then a foot chase, and another car chase. A barrage of gunfire erupted near the intersection of Garcon Point Road and Hammock Trace in Milton just before 1:30 a.m. Fitzgerald was pronounced dead on the scene. Harper, who lawmen said Fitzgerald used as a human shield during the gunfire, was The indictment chronicles a 10-day, four-state crime spree by Harper and Fitzgerald that began in Webb City, Mo., on Jan. 26, when the couple took a 2009 Cadillac on a test drive from a dealership and never returned the vehicle. Highlights of the crime spree, as outlined in the indictment, are as follows, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office: Before arriving in Alabama, the couple broke into a home in Missouri, where they parked the stolen Cadillac in the garage and stole a 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer parked at the home. The couple's first crime in Alabama is listed as a theft at the Walmart in Bessemer on Jan. 30, before the couple drove the Trailblazer to Tuscaloosa, where they forced a motel clerk at gunpoint into the backseat of the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta he had driven to work. Harper and Fitzgerald then drove the Jetta to Hoover, where they tried, unsuccessfully, on Jan. 31, to take a Camaro from a McDonald's employee, and then released the motel clerk in Vestavia Hills. Soon after releasing the clerk, Fitzgerald went into a home on Monte Vista Drive in Vestavia Hills through an open garage door, where he encountered a man and his young sons. Fitzgerald put a gun to the man's neck and began forcing him to the garage, but the husband and father broke free and ran for help. Fitzgerald then forced the man's wife at gunpoint into the homeowners' 2010 Ford Edge and drove away. Harper and Fitzgerald released the Vestavia Hills woman near the Grandview Medical Center on Cahaba River Road in Birmingham, and then drove the stolen Ford Edge to Perry County, Ga. The indictment does name Fitzgerald. It does list other crimes in Georgia and Florida before Harper's arrest in Florida. Authorities said the other crimes listed as part of the conspiracy, but not individually charged in the indictment, include the robbery and kidnapping of a convenience store clerk in Perry, Ga., on Feb. 1, the robbery of Alvin's Island beach shop in Destin, Fla., on Feb. 3, and the robbery of a shoe store and a home invasion and carjacking, all in Pensacola, Fla., on Feb. 4. The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys John B. Felton and Erica W. Barnes are prosecuting. "Anyone who chooses to move from state to state, repeatedly and violently taking whatever they want along the way and threatening the lives of innocent people, has to know that the criminal rampage will not last long,'' U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said in a prepared statement. "Law enforcement will catch up to them." Harper remains jailed in Escambia County where she is charged with robbery, kidnapping, vehicle theft and home invasion robbery. Her bond is set at more than $1 million. A former Falkville High School teacher's aide arrested Monday for having a sexual encounter with a student last fall had a Facebook friendship with the girl before the relationship turned physical. David Thomas Solomon, 25, of Huntsville is charged with being a school employee engaging in a sex act of deviant sexual intercourse with a student. A contract employee, he was terminated when the allegations first surfaced in October. An affidavit filed with the court alleges that Solomon on Oct. 15, 2015, had "sexual intercourse and deviate sexual intercourse" with the girl, who was 17 at the time of the crime, at his father's apartment in Hartselle. School and police officials learned of the relationship four days later. The document alleges that Solomon and the girl had been communicating on Facebook for several weeks before the sex took place. Morgan County Superintendent Bill Hopkins Jr. told WAFF 48 that the district is implementing new training so teachers will know what type of contact with students is appropriate, and what is not. "We are watching and we're going to make sure that the first priority is the safety of the children," Hopkins told the station. "We can always do a better job keeping our children safe, we can never do enough." Solomon is the fourth north Alabama educator arrested in March alone for allegedly having sexual relationships with students. Two teacher's aides at East Limestone High School have been charged, along with a teacher at Decatur High School. Each was arrested in separate incidents. Alabama Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, last week attempted to introduce a bill that would require the kind of training Hopkins is instituting for his staff. After a backlash from teachers on social media, however, Ward said he would not push the issue. A conviction of a school employee engaging in a sex act of deviant sexual intercourse with a student carries a prison sentence of two to 20 years and requires the person convicted to register as a sex offender. A former Franklin County district attorney who was disbarred and labeled a sex offender following a federal conviction in 2008 is hoping to once again practice law. John Fredrick Pilati, 50, of Phil Campbell has filed a petition with the Alabama State Bar Association requesting reinstatement as an attorney. Pilati was disbarred in 2013, more than five years after his conviction. Pilati has a hearing scheduled for May 19, according to the association. He is currently the publisher of the Franklin Free Press, which he co-founded in 2006, and handles the day-to-day operations of WGOL-920, which his biography on the newspaper's website describes as his family's locally-owned radio station. Pilati told AL.com Wednesday that the reinstatement request has been an ongoing process with the state bar association for several years. "Having been involved in the judicial system from all sides, if I'm afforded the opportunity to resume my legal career, I plan to serve my clients with respect for them, their families and their legal problems. I plan to treat my clients with professionalism and respect and want them to realize their time is important to me," Pilati said. He said he hopes to show, if reinstated, that a client's time is as important as an attorney's time. "As our newspaper and radio stations serve the community, I would hope my legal practice would also be a service to others," Pilati said. Pilati was sentenced in federal court in March 2008 to serve three and a half years in prison for fondling five men - ages 17 to 20 years old - after ordering them to strip for searches or to give urine samples for drug tests from 2001 to 2004, when he was the county district attorney. He was elected in 1998 and served until he resigned in April 2004 following an indictment for lying to FBI agents investigating allegations that he extorted criminal defendants for favorable treatment. He ended up serving six months in federal prison in that case. The fondling case, for which he was convicted on five counts of deprivation of civil rights while acting under the color of the law, spun from the initial corruption probe. Pilati denied the allegations that he sexually abused the men, claiming that the charges were revenge by his accusers. U.S. Magistrate Judge John Ott also ordered at Pilati's 2008 sentencing that he register as a sex offender when he was released from prison in 2011. Pilati had appealed that requirement, but was denied. Records show that the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles granted Pilati a pardon of his crimes in December, though his pardon does not restore his right to bear arms or relieve him of the effects of the Habitual Offender Act. His name and photo have since been removed from Alabama's sex offender registry. Nearly every photo of an alligator snapping turtle, taken outside the water, shows the massive reptile's jaws gaping wide, as if a warning to stay away if you want to keep all your digits. The alligator snapper's shell and legs and neck feature sharp protrusions that make the world's largest freshwater turtle look more like a prehistoric dinosaur than the red-eared sliders often found sun-bathing on logs in Alabama's rivers and streams. Alligator snapping turtles can live at least 100 years, and some claim they can live much longer. There are persistent rumors from the 1960s and 70s about alligator snapping turtles being captured with musket balls and Civil War-era bullets embedded in their shells, although those stories are largely unconfirmed. Male snappers grow throughout their entire lifespan, so the really old ones can get really big. Alligator snappers in captivity have weighed in at significantly more than 200 pounds, and older male turtles can have a carapace more than two and a half feet long. But for all their fearsome appearance, the alligator snappers aren't all that intimidating to study, said Jim Godwin, an Auburn University zoologist who has been trapping and tagging alligator snappers and other species in Alabama for 20 years. "They're actually rather easy to work with," Godwin said. "Their necks are relatively short, so they don't have a long reach as far as striking and biting, and the front and the back of the shell provide good handles. "Their bulk is actually kind of a disadvantage to them when they're out of the water, so they're not that hard to work with once we get them in the boat." Once Godwin gets them out of the four foot hoop nets, he's measuring, sexing and tagging the animals before releasing them back into the water. The turtles' thick shells are not overly sensitive, so Godwin drills a small hole near the edge of the shell to attach a stainless steel tag, in case the animal is ever captured again, either by a researcher or a fisherman. Godwin said the very large, 100-plus pound turtles are the exception and not the rule. Most of the the adult snappers he captures weigh between 15 and 30 kilograms, or roughly 33 to 66 pounds. He and his team are careful when handling the wild turtles to protect the animals and themselves. But there was that one time. Godwin had pulled a mid-sized female alligator snapper (about 15 kg, he said) into the boat but was working on another turtle, when the still-netted alligator snapper bit down on his forearm. Godwin said the animal released almost immediately, possibly because the turtle had bitten him through the net, and did not draw blood. "I was not paying attention at the time and I got off lucky," Godwin said. He uses that experience now as a reminder to keep clear of the bite-y end of the turtle. "You see photos of people holding these turtles and their mouths are open and you hear these stories of stuff they can bite in two," Godwin said. "People say they can bite a broomstick in half, but I'm not really sure their jaws are that powerful. "But they look like something that the average person would not want to get near." Living in the deep Posing with its mouth wide open isn't just an intimidation tactic for a turtle that's been pulled out of water. It's also the alligator snapper's preferred hunting technique. The turtle will lay on the murky bottoms of rivers, mouth agape, staying perfectly still for up to 50 minutes with the exception of a worm-like appendage on its tongue, which dances around to lure fish. The turtle is usually described as an opportunistic feeder, a hunter and scavenger, eating live and dead fish, amphibians, crayfish, other turtles, snakes, and sometimes even young alligators. Alligator snapping turtle. (US Fish and Wildlife Service) It hunts mostly at night, in murky waters around the Southeast, making it even more difficult for scientists to study. In Alabama, Godwin said the snappers are mostly found in the southern half of the state, in large rivers which feed into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and throughout the Delta itself, although some have been caught farther north. "We can't go into some of these waters and actually watch them," Godwin said. "Down around Mobile Bay, it's so turbid, there's no visibility. So as far as humans go in studying these animals, we're rather limited." Collecting data on the animals involves setting nets, patrolling on boats and collecting the nets the next day. "They may be in the water there with the other turtles, but they're not coming out on logs," Godwin said. "[Studying alligator snapping turtles] is equipment- and labor-intensive." Endangered or unknown? One of the key questions researchers face with the alligator snapping turtle is just how prevalent they are. Most of Godwin's research on alligator snapping turtles has been for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which distributes funding from the Fish and Wildlife Service to assess the status of animals in Alabama that may be endangered. The Center for Biological Diversity has been pushing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to consider listing the alligator snappers as either an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since 2012. The turtles were once widespread in rivers throughout the Southeast, and to tributaries of the Mississippi River, but commercial hunting made a major impact on the population, as did habitat loss, development and the dredging of rivers. Hunting alligator snapping turtles is now illegal in some states, including Alabama, but populations of the long-living, slow-growing turtles take a long time to recover. Elise Pautler, an attorney for The Center for Biological Diversity said population surveys have showed turtle populations have declined by as much as 95 percent in parts of their range. Pautler said the group first petitioned Fish and Wildlife to consider listing the alligator snapping turtle in July 2012, and a decision was supposed to be issued within 12 months. This month, the Center filed a lawsuit seeking to speed up the decision after waiting more than three years. "If you're petitioning to protect a species, time is of the essence," Pautler said. "If you don't get that species protection, it could just languish. They had until 2013 to make a determination on the alligator snapping turtle and here we are in 2016 and they still have not made a decision." The Wildlife Service did issue a 90-day finding in July 2015 that concluded the Center's petition "presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted for the alligator snapping turtle," and requesting more information on the species. That is the last action of record at Fish and Wildlife. What about in Alabama? Godwin says he can't speak for the full range of the species, but he believes that in Alabama, the snappers are doing all right with the current level of protection. "What I've seen going around Alabama in many of the streams and rivers is if you spend a little time actually searching for alligator snapping turtles we can capture them," Godwin said. "My impression is that in Alabama, they're more secure than we may think they are." Godwin also said that comparing current populations to historical ones is difficult because there is little data on how prevalent the turtles once were. J.D. Kloepfer and Jim Godwin with an alligator snapping turtle captured for scientific research. (Photo by Hugh S. Godwin) "There's been a question out there about whether the alligator snapping turtle's numbers have seriously declined here in Alabama or not," Godwin said. "Back in the 1960s or so, there was a lot of commercial harvesting going on for the soup industry and that was believed to have heavily impacted some of the populations of the turtles, and it probably did, but we don't have the data to support that." Even without commercial harvest, Godwin said the turtles face numerous threats from natural and human-caused sources. Turtle nests are highly vulnerable, to raccoons, wild hogs, dogs, or other animals. "The probabilities of the female having a successful nest with some of her young attain maturity is very low," Godwin said. "So, when we have commercial harvesters come in and they're trapping as many turtles as they can and taking females out of the population, it takes a long time for that population to recover." Godwin said population levels throughout the full range of the species will determine whether it will get protection, but it might make sense for the Fish and Wildlife Service to prioritize their efforts elsewhere. "The [Fish and Wildlife Service] is underfunded as it is with regards to the number of species needing attention," Godwin said. "Adding more species will mean less funds available per species." allen farley Rep. Allen Farley, R-McCalla, reads on the floor of the House of Representatives Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, during regular legislative session in Montgomery, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com) Gov. Robert Bentley last year attempted to stop a Republican lawmaker from presenting concerns over the governor's relationship with a top adviser to state Attorney General Luther Strange. State Rep. Allen Farley, R-McCalla, posted on his blog Monday that he received a phone call from Bentley the night before Farley presented a letter to Strange. The letter, Farley said in his blog, sought the assistance of the AG's office to determine if Bentley "did in fact (in facilitating the alleged adulterous relationship) utilize any of Alabama's resources outside the official capacity of his elected office." When speculation spilled into the public forum last year about a possible affair between Bentley and senior political adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason, Farley said he presented that letter to Strange on Sept. 1, 2015. The night before, on Aug. 31, Bentley called Farley. Bentley made four points in the phone call, Farley wrote in the blog: "There is no affair going on." "There has been jealousy on the part of my wife." "It is Casino Gambling I can tell you." "I don't think you need to get Luther involved in it personally." The embattled governor is scheduled to be in Russellville on Wednesday in his second public appearance since apologizing a week ago for inappropriate comments to Mason in a phone call recorded without Bentley's knowledge. Farley also wrote that Bentley must not have realized that Spencer Collier, whom the governor fired last week as secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, "would kick the governor's closet door wide-open and start throwing out skeletons." Collier went public last week with his perspective of the relationship between Bentley and Mason. Farley also asked in his blog how Bentley could be more concerned with protecting Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, who faces trial in May on ethics charges, rather than keeping his relationship with Mason out of the public eye. Click here to read the full blog. Gov. Robert Bentley on Wednesday reiterated that he has no plans to resign from office, a week after admitting to making inappropriate sexual comments to his top adviser. Speaking to reporters outside the Franklin County Courthouse, Bentley also hinted that there may be personnel changes in his administration - which could be interpreted as an indication senior political adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason will no longer serve in that role. Later Wednesday afternoon, Mason announced her resignation as the governor's senior political adviser. Mason is the woman to whom Bentley was secretly recorded making sexual comments to during a phone call two years ago. Bentley's wife of 50 years, Dianne, subsequently filed for divorce. "I have resigned as Senior Political Advisor to Governor Bentley and will no longer be paid from his campaign fund," Mason said in a statement released by the governor's office. "I have also ended my work with the Alabama Council For Excellent Government. "My only plans are to focus my full attention on my precious children and my husband who I love dearly. They are the most important people in my life. Thank you for your prayers for our family." Bentley spoke briefly at a meeting in Russellville about the county's effort to bring broadband Internet to northwest Alabama. He departed the courthouse meeting to visit Russellville Hospital to discuss rural healthcare issues before returning to Montgomery. "The question is being asked by a lot of people across the state if I have any intentions of resigning," Bentley said. "I have no intentions of resigning. My intentions are to try to make this state better. My intention is to try to work through all the difficulties we are going through. "I have made one statement. I may make some other statements but I will let you know about those. We may have some organizational changes and things. But we're going to work through this and I want the people to the state to know how much I care about them. I want the people of Franklin County to know how much I care about them." Bentley - who described the scandal as "old issues" -- answered a couple of questions related to the scandal, including whether he was concerned his ability to govern the state has been diminished. "Obviously, there are concerns across the state," Bentley said. "I've got to give the explanation I can give and let them know what we're going to do and basically tell them how sorry I am. Have I made mistakes? Yes, I have. And I admit those. We've addressed those and we properly addressed those several months ago. "These are old issues. It's just now that people have heard about them. But we're going to address those and we're going to move on." Updated March 30, 2016 at 3:18 with Rebekah Caldwell Mason's resignation. As rising land and property prices push out the poor, a village of 15ft plots offers an alternative to homelessness. Aye Aye Thin, 44, is worried about her retirement. In six years time, her husband will stop receiving the salary he makes today as a civil servant. Then, Aye, her husband and their five children will have to leave the government house they currently live in. We wanted to buy land, but I dont think we will be able to afford it, says the housewife who also sells some groceries to supplement the 170,000 kyats ($130) her husband earns every month. Aye Aye Thin, like many others in Myanmar, is anxious about the rapid increase in land and property prices that have followed the political reforms launched five years ago, after almost 50 years of military rule. It is 10 times what it used to be, she says. In March 2011, a semi-civilian government, led by former general Thein Sein, took power and started a process of economic liberalisation that allowed foreign investment to flock into the country. In November 2012, a new Foreign Investment Law was passed that allowed foreign investors to sell and lease residential properties, something previously forbidden, when a joint venture with a Myanmar citizen or entity is established. A new Condominium Law was also recently approved permitting foreigners to buy a maximum of 40 percent of units in condominium developments from the sixth storey and above, although most buildings in the country do not meet the conditions set out in the law. After decades of economic isolation, the newcomers have pushed up the price of the land. According to a report released by the real estate research firm Colliers International, in 2014 Yangon had the highest rental prices for prime office space in Southeast Asia, with an average of $87 per square metre 21 percent higher than in Singapore and five times higher than 2011 prices. This is despite all offices in Yangon being below international Grade A building standards, says the report. But, a few kilometres from Yangon, Aye Aye Thin has found a way out of a poverty-stricken future. The Thabarwa Monastery, in Thanlyin Township, is far from the haven of peace and tranquility usually associated with Buddhist temples. The ground floor of the main meditation hall is packed with hundreds of people eating, talking, resting. Some are just visitors who come to meditate, but many are permanent residents. Like Aye Aye Thin, they are landless people with nowhere else to go. There are many families [in Myanmar] who have no land, no home, no money, no job. Their lives are not stable, they have to migrate, says Ashin Ottamasara, the 46-year-old monk who opened the monastery in 2008. According to USAID, landlessness among Myanmars rural population ranges from 30 to 50 percent in a country where 70 percent depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The government changed its policy and people from abroad can [now] come and do business so the price of the land has become very high, says Ottamasara. Noticing the number of landless people seeking refuge at the monastery, he bought an adjacent plot of land in 2012, split it into 15sq ft parcels and gave them away to people who could not afford to rent or buy a house. Today, 10,000 people live on that plot informally known as the 15 feet village. Ottamasara has dubbed the project Saytanar (or Mercy) village and is building a new village, a few dozen kilometres away. Only one thing is asked of those wanting to move into the new village: that they participate in a seven-day meditation retreat at the monastery. At the beginning we were not asking people to do the meditation, but some problems came at the village, the monk explains. I was recommended to do it to know which families were suitable to donate the land to. No proof of income is asked for, however. The village is not only for poor people. It is also for those who want to do good deeds, Ottamasara says. Most of the residents of the 15 feet village ended up there when their unpaid rent bills started to pile up. Daw Win Ye, 45, wandered from one place to another for years just trying to escape the rising rental prices in Yangon. A widowed mother of five children, she earned a modest salary as a cleaning lady that was not enough to cope with the new cost of life in Yangon. I was staying just a few months [in each apartment], before the price went up, she says. Aye Aye Thin, still a candidate for one of the parcels, is not in such a hurry but wants to make sure that she will have a place to live in the future. My mother and my brother will move first to prepare everything, she explains. A complicated system of ownership The ownership system at the 15 feet village is similar to the countrys traditional system. The land is supposed to belong to the monastery and residents have restricted ownership rights insofar as they cannot sell the land. Myanmars 1947 constitution, however, approved just after independence from the British, stipulated that land ultimately belonged to the state. This policy was reinforced after the Ne Win coup detat in 1962 and the implementation of the Burmese Way to Socialism, when several laws strengthened the process of nationalisation of the land. In the current constitution, approved in 2008, the land still belongs to the Union of Myanmar but the text grants citizens the right of private property, right of inheritance, right of private initiative and patent in accord with the law. Yet, despite the constitutional guarantee, people feel there are no institutions in place to ensure these rights, and the government can take the land at any time. Legislation was brought forth to address this kind of land-grabbing by officials, with a number of regulations released over the past few years. One of the most important was the Farmland Law, which states that land use rights can be legally bought, sold and transferred on a land market in the form of a Land Use Certificate (LUS). Those LUSs are granted by local officials, but the rights can be revoked by the Central Farmland Management Body. This power given to the authorities to decide on the land rights, however, leaves the door open to land grabbing. Activists point at land-grabbing as an increasing problem in Myanmar. According to the Myanmar Times, in just under two years, the parliaments Farmland Investigation Commission, the body tasked with scrutinising land grabs, has received more than 30,000 cases. Of these, only two-thirds have been heard, and in fewer than 1,000 a mere 4 percent has it ruled that compensation is justified. According to the law, those whose rights are revoked have no right to any compensation. The Thein Sein government has also been discussing a Draft National Land Use Policy since 2014, as a step towards approving the countrys first Land Law, which may improve access to land for some of the most vulnerable people. The land policy is very clearly pro-poor and there are many provisions that protect against land grabbing, says Nyein Zarni Naing, a lawyer and land specialist from the Land Core Group, a local NGO working on land issues. The current draft of the land policy [also] says something about how to regulate land speculation [to avoid] a large amount of land being owned by someone or a group of people, but it is not very detailed. But it indicates that there is a problem in Myanmar, he continues. One of the challenges of the new law, Nyein Zarni explains, will be the recognition of land rights in those areas troubled by ethnic conflicts and tensions. It is recognised according to the draft but it is still not clear how to do it, the lawyer says. Myanmar has suffered from a long-running civil conflict in border areas with several ethnic groups that have been fighting for decades against the central government. Activists claim that villagers in conflict areas are especially vulnerable to land-grabbing and other rights abuses. A report released last year by the Karen Human Rights Group, a NGO monitoring Karen state, one of the areas in conflict, pointed out that land confiscations linked to infrastructure projects, natural resource extraction, and commercial agriculture projects were on the rise in the region. In October 2015, eight armed groups, including the Karen National Union, the main rebel group in Karen state, signed a National Ceasefire Agreement with the government, but some of other important rebel groups, such as the Wa or the Kachin, refused to sign. As of April 1, however, that task will pass to the longtime opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD), which won last Novembers elections. In their political manifesto published before the vote, the NLD recognised the right to own and to transfer land in accordance with the law and announced livelihood programmes for the landless and itinerant workers. Every farmer working in the field must own his land, says U Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the NLD. A shelter for desperate farmers The 15 feet village is already a busy and well-established community. The streets have names, the market offers a wide range of products, from clothes to food or cooking utensils, and small shops have mushroomed at every corner. The children attend a rudimentary school while adults gather at teashops. There are dentists and private English classes. Although, as in the rest of Myanmar, the people do not own the land, they have started selling and renting their allocated plots. They are doing this informally. Some give a paper saying that they pass the rights on to someone else. It goes against the purpose of the village, but Ottamasara said he could not control what everyone in the village does. Now that the village is at full capacity, the other way to get a place is to find someone who wants to leave. Here land is very cheap. It is impossible to get the same price anywhere else in Myanmar, says Kyaw Ye Khang, an English teacher who paid around $1,500 a year ago for a small plot of land that would have cost at least three times as much just a few metres outside the village. IN PICTURES: Displaced by continued fighting in Myanmars Shan state Tun Shwe, 54, found some prosperity in the village. Like many of his neighbours, Tun Shwe used to be a modest rice farmer in the Irrawaddy River delta. He was drowning in the increasing price of fertiliser and the decreasing yields. The weather conditions are not what they used to be any more. There is no water, he says. When he arrived in the village in 2012, he opened a small shop on Freedom Street, near the market, where he sold groceries and charcoal. Today, his shop is the biggest in the village and Tun Shwe considers himself a flourishing entrepreneur. I have a quiet life now. I dont have to worry about money any more, he says. However, the 15 feet village is far from perfect. The streets are dusty, drinking water is scarce during the summer and the public toilets are easily flooded. One of the main problems is the low standard of living. We are trying to change the houses from bamboo huts into concrete structures, so they dont burn so easily, and I also want to build a crematorium. We have problems with the dead bodies, explains Khin Lay Chit, the manager of the village. But we dont have enough money. The money comes from Ashin Ottamasara himself, who is revered in the village. A portrait of his bony silhouette hangs in almost every house and people flock to see him whenever he leads an alms round in the village. The more I help, the more I can do because I get back a lot of donations. The donations I get back are greater [than the expenses], explains the monk, who receives most of the money from middle-class and wealthy people who visit the monastery or send money from overseas. They know the need of the people here and they want to help. Ottamasara now wants to spread the model of the Mercy villages throughout the country. It is the duty of the government [to help landless people] but I will also help the government and the people by doing this, he says. They may not be rich, but at least they will be able to survive. READ MORE: Myanmars Htin Kyaw sworn in as president Shan state, Myanmar As Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party prepares to take power on April 1, and Htin Kyaw, Myanmars first civilan president is sworn in after more than five decades of military rule, fighting in Myanmars northern Shan State continues, despite a nationwide ceasefire agreement signed by the previous government last October. Thousands of villagers have been displaced as a result. The TaAng National Liberation Army and other ethnic groups have been fighting against government forces for decades, seeking greater autonomy and federalism. The ceasefire deal excluded many groups, including the TNLA, and it was dismissed by some as a last-ditch publicity stunt by the government before an election they knew they were highly unlikely to win against the National League for Democracy party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Meanwhile, clashes continue to be reported between government forces and other fighting groups in tit-for-tat attacks, while the civilian population continues to suffer. Aung San Suu Kyi had not participated in the ceasefire agreement, but in January she announced her partys intention to bring about peace in the country by striving for an an all-inclusive ceasefire agreement. The Judaisation strategy did not only aim at confiscating lands, but also to undermine the rise of Palestinian leaders. Lamis Andoni is an analyst and commentator on Middle Eastern and Palestinian affairs. On March 30, 1976, Palestinians marched against an Israeli decision to expropriate 2,000 hectares of land around the Arab villages of Araba and Sakhnin as a part of a plan to Judaise the Galilee. The Palestinian Land Day marked the first act of collective civil disobedience against the racist colonisation and dispossession of the Palestinians of their lands and rights since the creation of Israel in 1948. It also signalled the failure of Israel to subjugate Palestinians who remained in their towns and villages, after around 700,000 of them were either expelled or forced to flee battles or massacres committed by Zionist armed groups in 1948. A policy of displacement While the newly created state of Israel extended citizenships to Palestinians within its borders who found themselves a minority in their own homeland they were and continue to be subjected to racist policies that aim to deprive them of their lands and rights. Most importantly, though, on that day in 1976, Palestinians who are referred to by Israel as Israeli Arabs declared that they were an inseparable part of the Palestinian people and their struggle a point again and again reiterated by successive protests and uprisings in support of Palestinian national rights. Palestinians inside Israel, the Israeli-Occupied Territories of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza, and those in exile, mark Land Day and view it as an assertion of the Palestinians right to return to their homeland. INFOGRAPHIC: What is land day? It is the right of return, recognised in the United Nations Resolution 194, that drives Palestinians to continue with the commemoration of Land Day regardless of their geographical location. But six decades later, Israel still follows the same policies. In the aftermath of the Land Day, the historic resistance of Palestinians didnt stop Israeli land-grab whether inside Israel or in the Occupied Territories. The land confiscation is not simply part of an official systemic policy to evict Palestinians and replace them with Jewish residents, but part of an endorsed Zionist strategy. Undercurrents of ethnic cleansing According to Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, the official ethnic cleansing campaign was launched even before the establishment of Israel, at a meeting in March 1948 chaired by the Zionist leader and, later, first President of Israel David Ben-Gurion. The ethnic cleansing campaign led to the expulsion of 70,000 Palestinians and the destruction of 601 Palestinian villages in 1948, and the subsequent policies of land expropriation and eviction of Arabs. The protests that Israel suppressed violently and resulted in the killing of six unarmed Palestinians were the first mass assertion by Palestinians of political identity and support for the Palestinian liberation movement. by After the establishment of Israel, the Judisation strategies focused on Arab-populated areas of Negev and Galilee with the declared goal of creating demographic balance which practically means increasing the Jewish population of these areas at the expense of its Arab residents. In 2013 the Israeli Haaretz daily newspaper called for the halt of the long-established strategy, declaring the Judaisation of Galilee means racism, while Israeli professor and architect Oren Yiftachel argued in several studies that Judaisation aims to ensure Jewish control and dominance as well as prevent dispossessed Palestinians from returning to their villages. Yet the latest conclusions by Israeli journalists and writers dont really offer much new except a confirmation of what Palestinians knew and experienced all along that their dispossession was not an accident but part of the very essence of Israels continued colonisation and apartheid strategy. However, the Judaisation strategy in 1976 was not only aimed at confiscating lands, but also to undermine the rise of Palestinian national leaders, and prevent links and communication among the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Thus, the protests that Israel suppressed violently and resulted in the killing of six unarmed Palestinians were the first mass assertion by Palestinians of political identity and support for the Palestinian liberation movement, which was at the time embedded in the PLO. A boost for resistance The irony is that part of the Israeli fears about growing contacts between Israeli Palestinians and Palestinians in the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip was Israels own victory in 1967. It was the Israeli Communist Party co-founded by Arabs and Jews that understood the message and called for a meeting in Nazareth to mobilise for what became Land Day. It was no surprise at the time as the Communist Party provided the only channel for suppressed Palestinians to adhere to their identity and the only representation for their civil rights. OPINION: How impunity defines Israel and victimises Palestinians Leaders and members of the party included famous novelist Emile Habibi, historian Tawfik Toubi and poets Tawfiq Zayyad, Samih al-Qasim and Mahmoud Darwish (who had already left the party by then), who provided the strongest voices for Palestinian nationalism and were the first to defy Israel by contacting the PLO. As such, the Land Day strike practically backfired against the political goals, inspiring one of the most powerful poems written by Zayyad that continues to resonate across the Palestinian generations: In Lidda, in Ramla, in the Galilee, we shall remain like a wall upon your chest, and in your throat like a shrad of glass, a cactus thron, and in your eyes a sandstorm. We shall remain a wall upon your chest Here we shall stay. Lamis Andoni is an analyst and commentator on Middle Eastern and Palestinian affairs. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Fight for a key highway leaves 15 Afghan soldiers dead in the south, while battles in the north rage on. A gun battle with the Taliban killed at least 15 members of the Afghan security forces in the volatile southern Uruzgan province, an official said on Wednesday. The fighting took place late on Tuesday during an operation to reopen an important highway in the province, said Mohammad Nabi Niazo, the Dihrawud district police chief. Taliban gunmen blocked the highway between Dihrawud and the provincial capital, Tarin Kot, for almost four days, he said. Following the deadly firefight, Afghan forces retook control of the road, Niazo said. Eight members of the security forces were wounded during the operation. However, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi told The Associated Press that the battle for control of the highway is still going on. Niazo had no information of any insurgent casualties during the battle. The Taliban have in recent months stepped up their attacks in Uruzgan and neighbouring provinces in the south, including the Taliban heartland of Helmand. In northern Balkh province, meanwhile, fighting on Wednesday killed two police officers and eight insurgents in Charhar Bolak district, said General Abdul Razaq Qaderi, Balkhs deputy police chief. Around 100 Taliban insurgents, including foreign fighters, attacked police check points, Qaderi said. The Taliban were pushed back after reinforcements arrived and right now the battle is going on in neighbouring Jawzjan province. The Taliban did not immediately comment on the Balkh battle. A Bangladesh court issued an arrest warrant for former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia over a deadly fire-bomb attack last year, a prosecutor said. The court on Wednesday also issued arrest warrants for 27 leaders and activists of Khaledas Bangladesh Nationalist Party in connection with the petrol-bomb attack on a bus during a party protest in the capital Dhaka in January 2015. The court passed the order after accepting the charges against them, public prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar said. Early last year, at least 120 people were killed and hundreds injured in political violence, most in petrol-bomb attacks on vehicles amid transport blockades and strikes by the opposition aimed at toppling the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladeshi politics has been mired for years in rivalry between Hasina and Khaleda. Both women are related to former national leaders, and they have alternated as prime minister for most of the past two decades. Khaleda, 70, was not immediately available for comment, Reuters news agency reported. She and leaders of her party have denied the accusations of responsibility for the fire attack, saying the allegations are politically motivated. Government and ELN officials to launch negotiations in an effort to end the countrys five-decade conflict. The Colombian government said on Wednesday it will hold formal peace talks with the second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), amid efforts to end the countrys five-decade conflict. The talks will open a new front in peace negotiations as the government also closes in on a deal in Cubas capital, Havana, with Colombias biggest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Starting as a peasant uprising in the 1960s, and drawing in various armed groups and gangs, the conflict has killed more than 260,000 people, uprooted 6.6 million people, and left a further 45,000 missing. If we can make peace, it will be the end of guerrilla fighters in Colombia, said Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos. Government and ELN officials announced the peace negotiations at a press conference in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas the two sides have held exploratory talks in Ecuador for more than a year. The talks will kick off in Ecuador and then continue in Venezuela, Brazil and Chile and Cuba. The five countries, along with Norway, will act as guarantors of the negotiations. Inspired by Cubas 1959 revolution and established by radical Catholic priests in 1964, the ELN has battled a dozen Colombian governments since it was founded. Al Jazeeras Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Colombias capital, Bogota, said the start of peace negotiations with the ELN was a very important step in the effort to end half a century of fighting. The presence of the ELN in the talks here makes [the prospect of peace] much more real and makes people here more hopeful about being able to ending this very long conflict, Rampietti said. He added that ELNs absence until now from the negotiating table was seen as the elephant in the room in efforts to end the conflict, with many in the government fearing a potential breakthrough in Havana risked allowing the ELN to make inroads into areas under the influence of FARC. Actually, in the last couple of weeks we have heard rumours of supposed ELN fighters operating, or at least moving about, in territory that is under control of the FARC, Rampietti said. Peace efforts Colombias Santos has staked his presidency on ending the conflict with the guerrilla groups. The government has been holding separate talks with the FARC in Havana for more than three years. The two sides say they have made substantial progress over recent months, but last week failed to reach a self-imposed deadline for a final accord. OPINION: Colombias challenging peace process with FARC Yet, as the talks with the FARC have advanced, tensions have remained high over the ELN, which has continued committing attacks and abductions. Unlike the FARC did last year, the 2,000-strong ELN has not yet ordered a ceasefire by its troops, who live in hiding. Yet the group recently freed two hostages, which Santos had placed as a condition ahead of the start of formal talks. The 59-year-old Egyptian, who surrendered after a five-hour standoff, had not seen his family for 24 years. The hijacker of an EgyptAir flight from Alexandria to Cairo has told police he acted because he wanted to see his estranged wife and children in Cyprus. The 59-year-old, identified as Seif el-Din Mustafa, took charge of Tuesdays early-morning flight MS181 by flashing what appeared to be a belt stuffed with plastic wires and a remote control. He forced the plane, with 81 people on board, to be diverted to Larnaca in Cyprus but surrendered after a five-hour standoff. A Larnaca court on Wednesday ordered Mustafa to be held in custody for eight days on suspicion of hijacking, abduction, threatening violence, terrorism-related offences and two counts related to possession of explosives. When someone hasnt seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children, and the Egyptian government doesnt allow it, what should one do? the hijacker told Cypriot police in a statement. The latter counts were connected to his claim of being strapped with explosives, even though the belt he wore is believed to be fake, a police source told Reuters news agency. As he left the court compound in a police jeep, Mustafa stuck his hand out of an open window flashing the V sign for victory. The suspect allegedly commandeered the aircraft 15 minutes after take-off from Alexandria. He approached a flight attendant and showed off the belt, attached to a remote control he held in his hand, investigating officer Andreas Lambrianou told the court. READ MORE: Egyptians wish they were on hijacked EgyptAir flight The suspect asked all passengers and crew to hand in their passports, then gave two messages to a member of the crew, asking that the pilot be informed that he was a hijacker and wanted to land at an airport in Turkey, Greece or Cyprus, but preferably Cyprus, Lambrianou said. In a note, he stressed that if the airplane landed on Egyptian territory he would immediately blow up the plane. At Larnaca airport, Mustafa dropped an envelope on the runway addressed to a Cypriot woman, later ascertained to be his ex-wife. In the letter, the suspect demanded the release of 63 female prisoners held in Egypt. Passengers and crew members of the hijacked plane were brought to Cairo from Larnaca on Tuesday night, sharing the ordeal they went through onboard. Passengers and crew members of hijacked EgyptAir flight reach Cairo from Cyprus, as motive of hijacker remains unclear. Passengers and crew members of the hijacked EgyptAir flight MS181 arrived in Cairo on Tuesday night after the hijacker was arrested at Cyprus Larnaca airport following a five-hour standoff. The plane was flying from Alexandria to Cairo when it was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus on Tuesday morning. The motive of the hijacker, who was wearing a fake suicide explosives belt, remained unclear. Plane captain Omar Al-Gamal briefly spoke to the media before exiting Cairo International Airports arrival hall. Thank God that we are fine and all the passengers are fine. The man was arrested and its all over, thank God, said Al-Gamal. The passengers and crew were unharmed. Eighty-one people, including 21 foreigners and 15 crew, were on board the Airbus 320, Egypts Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement. Many Egyptians took to social media on Tuesday and made light of the hijacking, but passengers told Al Jazeera that they feared for their lives. Passenger Farrah el-Dibany told Al Jazeera that it took a while for those aboard to realise that they were taken hostage. It was the moment that we saw we were flying over sea I was horrified, she said. Thats when we realised something was wrong but nobody imagined that it could be that kind of thing. Then, one of the cabin crew passed by all of the passengers and collected all the passports without giving any reason. He just said that there was a problem and that they could not say anything more. About 45 minutes later, one of the cabin crew members told us that we were hijacked. They didnt say by whom, or what the demands were, or where we were heading. It was a horrifying moment, el-Dibany said. Motive unclear Conflicting theories emerged about the motives of the hijacker, the 59-year-old Egyptian identified as Seif el-Din Mustafa. A senior Cypriot official said Mustafa seemed unstable and the incident did not appear to be politically motivated. The Cypriot state broadcaster said he had demanded the release of women prisoners in Egypt. From the search of the aircraft, no explosives were found not on the 59-year-old suspect, nor on the aircraft itself, Cypriot police spokesman Andreas Angelides told reporters. In the midst of the hijack, witnesses said he threw a letter on the apron at Larnaca airport, written in Arabic, and asked that it be delivered to his Greek-Cypriot ex-wife. After the aircraft landed at Larnaca, negotiations began and everyone on board was freed except three passengers and four crew, Egypts Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fethy said. Soon afterwards, Cypriot television footage showed several people leaving the plane via the stairs and another man climbing out of the cockpit window and running off. The hijacker then surrendered to authorities. Controlled by ISIL and besieged by government forces, residents struggle to survive amid shortage of food supplies. Thousands of Iraqi civilians in Fallujah city are dying of hunger, according to residents and local officials. The citys population, estimated between 80.000 to 100.000 people, is suffering from a shortage of food, medicine and fuel. We are feeding our newborn babies animal [cow] milk, said Um Hussein, 59, a resident of Fallujah. We are under siege. No food and no medicine is being brought into Fallujah. We have been suffering for a long time now, and no one is showing any mercy towards the families, she told Al Jazeera. The city, located in Anbar province, 50km west of Baghdad, has been under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) since 2014 and has come under siege by Iraqi army forces and Shia militia since the launch of a military offensive to drive ISIL out of Anbar province last July. The Anbar province makes up a third of Iraqs territory and is populated mainly by Sunnis. In December 2012, protests broke out in Sunni Arab-majority areas of Iraq after the arrest of guards of then-finance minister Rafi al-Essawi, an influential Sunni Arab, on terrorism charges. [These by Um are the hardest times for the people, who are trapped inside with no safe route to escape. ISIL controls the city from inside and the government forces and the Mobilisation militia from the outside. No one is allowed to leave. Um Hussein, a citizen of Fallujah] The arrests were seen by Iraqi Sunnis as yet another example of targeting one of their leaders by the then government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. A sit-in took place in Ramadi, the largest city in Anbar, for 13 months. The protesters demanded a new constitution and the release of thousands of Iraqis detained without trial, especially women, and to halt the fourth article in the constitution in particular that addresses all terrorism-related issues. According to protesters the law has been employed mainly to target Sunnis. On December 30, 2013, a SWAT team an elite regiment in the Iraqi army, stormed the protesters camps, leaving five activists dead. Soon after that incident, armed tribal fighters took over Ramadi and Fallujah. In January 2014, Fallujah was the first Iraqi city to fall to ISIL. Late last year, the Iraqi army, police and Shia militia imposed a near-total siege on the city. There remained, however, a few routes opened allowing food supplies into the city and few families to flee Fallujah. As the Iraqi army launched a military offensive to recapture Anbar last July, these routes were rendered inaccessible and as the siege became tighter, a humanitarian crisis ensued. READ MORE: Did Iraq governments neglect lead to Mosuls downfall? Hospitals in Fallujah have been operating with minimum capacities because of lack of medical supplies. Also the number of casualties has been increasing owing to continuous bombing by government forces. On Wednesday, medical sources from Fallujahs general hospital said Iraqi forces shelling on different neighbourhoods in central Fallujah killed a woman and injured seven others, including an infant. Also, the price of food in Fallujahs markets has rocketed and bakeries have begun rationing bread. Residents said fuel had become scarce during the cold winter months when temperatures drop close to freezing. Grown-ups survive on dates, but we cant feed the children only dates, one resident told Al Jazeera. People have lost any sense of empathy with us. We are being left to slow death, says Um Hussein. The children in the city cry of hunger. What shall we tell them? In an attempt to bring food supplies to the city, on February 28, ISIL attacked government warehouses in Abu Ghraib, where grains are being stored. ISIL fighters succeeded in taking a number of trucks loaded with wheat and managed to get them inside Falluja. However, the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the city triggered no action on the part of the government, according to Issa Sayyar Al Isawi, Fallujahs governor. The people of Fallujah are short of food supplies, elderly people have no means of getting healthcare and some cases of hunger have been noticed in the city, said al-Isawi. According to him, the city witnessed cases of suicide due to hunger, among them a mother with her three children. Al-Isawi highlights the importance of immediate action to be taken by the international coalition forces and the Iraqi government to drive out ISIL. People of Fallujah are left alone under the mercy of ISIL or death by hunger. Following the news of the humanitarian crisis in Fallujah, activists have launched a social media campaign with the hashtag (#fallouja is dying of hunger), which aims at exposing the humanitarian catastrophe in the city. Mohammed Al Jumaily, a campaign activist originally from Fallujah but based in Istanbul, tells Al Jazeera that the situation inside the city is growing worse every day. People started to grow vegetables in their backyards where it is possible. But that is not helping much. Al Jumaily accused some Iraqi political parties of taking advantage of the current crisis and asking the government to launch an assault on Fallujah rather than ask it to open a humanitarian corridor. Any military assault, according to Al Jumaily, will only lead to more catastrophes in the city. Meanwhile, Um Hussein, who witnessed recurrent battles in the city since 2003, says these times are the hardest. People are trapped inside [the city] with no safe route to escape. ISIL controls the city from inside and the government forces and the Mobilisation militia from the outside. No one is allowed to leave. France President Francois Hollande has said he will stop pursuing a set of constitutional reforms, including a proposal to strip those convicted of terrorism of French nationality. The reforms would have enshrined some security measures implemented under the state of emergency more permanently. Emergency law was enacted after the Paris attacks in November in which at least 10 people died. Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution. I deplore this attitude, Hollande said after a weekly cabinet meeting. I have decided to end this debate. Civil rights groups had strongly criticised the proposals, and international organisations raised alarm over the effects of Frances security crackdown. While the governments version was meant to apply to any French person, the Senate sought to address the fact that stateless persons cannot be expelled from the country, by restricting the law to those with dual nationality. Critics say that would have created two categories of French citizens those that could have their citizenship revoked and those that could not something that they said could fuel racial tensions. The reforms, pursued aggressively by Hollande and his government after a series of attacks in Paris in November left 130 people dead, also prompted former Justice Minister Christian Taubira to resign in protest. The initiative had divided politicians and caused months of heated discussions on what critics said was an inefficient and purely symbolic measure. Hollandes plan to insert into the constitution the rules for a state of emergency was also abandoned. The clause for confiscating passports hit a dead end last week after the opposition-controlled upper house of parliament approved a different version from the one adopted by the Socialist-controlled lower house earlier. Supreme leader defends Irans foreign policy as UNs Ban Ki-moon says ballistic missile tests are a cause for alarm. Irans supreme leader declared the Islamic Republic must advance its missile capabilities while pursuing diplomacy to gain leverage in dealing with world powers giving a nod to both hardline and moderate factions in the country. In talks we must be strong and negotiate in a way not to be deceived, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday in a statement posted on Twitter. Khamenei said the situation calls for both missile and talk and the country must use all means to advance its interests. Khamenei supported last years nuclear deal with world powers, but has since called for Iran to avoid further rapprochement with the United States and its allies, while maintaining its economic and military strength. READ MORE: How big a threat is Irans missiles to regional rivals? If the Islamic Republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country, he said in a separate statement posted in his website. Khameneis comments came as the United Nations Security Council considers its response to the ballistic missile tests carried out by Irans Revolutionary Guards earlier this month. On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Irans missile tests caused alarm, and it would be up to the Security Council to decide whether new sanctions should be applied. Last Saturday, Irans Foreign Minister Javad Zarif defended its effort to boost the countrys missile arsenal saying recent tests did not violate the nuclear deal with the West. Missile deterence In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran, said Iran needs to keep a strong missile deterence in the face of external security threats. Iranians know that the only reason why in the last couple of decades no one has dared to attack the country is because it has the capability to defend itself, said Marandi. The US and several European powers insisted the recent tests defied UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that calls on Iran not to test nuclear-capable missiles, according to a joint letter seen by Reuters news agency on Tuesday. But Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, said the tests did not violate Resolution 2231. You may like it or not that Iran launches ballistic missiles but that is a different story. The truth is that in the 2231 resolution there are no such bans, Interfax news agency cited Mikhail Ulyanov, head of Russians department for non-proliferation and arms control, as saying. Meanwhile in Tehran, more details emerged concerning the last-minute cancellation of President Hassan Rouhanis visit to Austria. An official statement said it was cancelled because of security reasons. Marandi told Al Jazeera that unofficial reports said Iran had objected to the Austrian government allowing the exiled opposition group, Peoples Mujahedeen of Iran, to stage a protest during Rouhanis visit. The group also known as Mujahedeen-e-Khalq was listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States until 2012. Iran has also accused it of supporting former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War. Members of Presidential Council arrive in Libyan capital by sea, defying opposition warnings to not move there. Members of Libyas UN-backed Government of National Accord arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday, defying threats by rival factions that it was not welcome in the capital. Reports of sporadic gunfire and road blocks leading into Tripoli later emerged, with questions raised whether violence would erupt, or a peaceful transition of power would ensue. The Presidential Council was formed under a UN-mediated peace deal late last year in an effort to end the political chaos and conflict that has beset the country since the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi five years ago. It is supposed to replace the two rival administrations one based in Tripoli, the other in the eastern city of Tobruk that have been battling each other for more than a year. Libyan political analyst Mohamed Eljarh said the current crisis was unprecedented. For now we have three governments, all operating out of Libya. What happens next depends on whether both of the other governments will hand over power peacefully, Eljarh told Al Jazeera. Q&A: What next for Libya? Tripolis self-declared government and armed groups that back it had in recent days warned the unity government not to travel to Tripoli . But seven members of the council, including its head and Prime Minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj, arrived in the Libyan capital by sea and set up a temporary seat of power at a naval base. The officials were prevented from flying into Tripoli by the rival government. At this blessed historic moment, we announce to our people the start of National Accord Government work from Tripoli and the beginning of a new era of dialogue and communication with the sons of our people, regardless of their political attitudes, Sarraj told a news conference after his arrival. Yet, in his first remarks after Sarrajs arrival, the head of the acting government reiterated his opposition to the Government of National Accord and urged its members to either surrender or leave. The government of national salvation calls on those illegitimate infiltrators to either hand themselves over and be in safe hands, or to go back to where they came from, Khalifa al-Ghawi, leader of the General National Congress, told reporters. The salvation government is working with judicial and legislative entities, all state institutions and NGOS, as well as community leaders to take the necessary steps to save the country from the threat of chaos and foreign intervention. OPINION: When is the next Libya intervention? Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from Tripoli, said the big question now was whether the members of the council would be able to govern. There are a lot of challenges facing this government here in Tripoli, Abdelwahed said. Three major political entities in Libya are opposing the presence of this government. Martin Kobler, the UN envoy for Libya, welcomed the arrival of the council in Tripoli and urged all public bodies to facilitate a peaceful and orderly handover of power. I call on the Libyan people to extend to the Presidency Council and the Government of National Accord their full support and cooperation, Kobler said. The international community stands firmly behind them and is ready to provide the required support and assistance, he added. The US also welcomed the arrival of the UN-backed government, while France said it would provide its total support to Sarraj. The Government of National Accord can now begin the crucial work of addressing the full range of Libyas political, security, economic, and humanitarian challenges, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. Ahead of its arrival, the council said it had negotiated a security plan with police and military forces in Tripoli and with some armed groups. Even with international support, Sarraj faces a daunting array of challenges and could struggle to impose his will on the Central Bank, the state-run oil company, and other institutions. He is also at risk of being attacked or besieged in his base by rival militias. He is being guarded by battle-hardened militias from the city of Misrata, which saw fierce fighting during the uprising five years ago. But Tripoli is also home to several powerful armed groups, which could move against Sarraj, setting off yet another round of fighting. UN says shooting of wounded Palestinian by Israeli soldier shows clear signs of an extrajudicial execution. The United Nations expressed outrage on Wednesday over the killing of a Palestinian by an Israeli soldier who was caught on camera saying the evidence signalled a clear case of an extrajudicial execution. Anger grew in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday after Israels military court called the video evidence against the soldier inconclusive, with activists demanding that Israel holds its army accountable for the killing of Abed al-Fattah Yusri al-Sharif, 21, earlier this month. READ MORE: Call for justice after Israeli killing caught on video A video of the incident showed the soldier step forward and shoot the Palestinian in the head at close range as he lay motionless on the ground. Fattah and another man, who was earlier shot and killed, were accused of stabbing an Israeli soldier in Hebron. There does not appear to be any provocation on the side of the gravely wounded man, said Christof Heyns, the UNs special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The images shown carry all the signs of a clear case of an extrajudicial execution, Heyns said in a statement. Whatever legal regime one applies to the case, shooting someone who is no longer a threat is murder. It is furthermore troublesome that this was done to no apparent alarm to the other soldiers who were nearby. Head to Head Time to boycott Israel? Also on Wednesday, Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed his concerns about the apparent extrajudicial execution of Fattah. Colville added there were worries the killing may not be a lone incident. We urge the Israeli authorities to ensure all members of their security forces fully comply with their obligation to use force with restraint, only when strictly necessary, and in accordance with the principle of proportionality, and are constantly reminded that killing people who are no longer presenting an immediate threat is a crime, and will be treated as such, Colville said. Its a big lie The Israeli army arrested the soldier, but Lieutenant-Colonel Ronen Shor, the military courts judge, said on Tuesday there was reasonable doubt about the circumstances of the shooting given the complexity of the events surrounding a stabbing incident and the killing of the Palestinians that followed. Shor also ruled that the soldier be held in custody for two more days. Prosecutors earlier said the shooting was intentional and asked the court to extend the soldiers detention until April 7 while the investigation is ongoing. Its a big lie, it was not the right of the soldier to shoot Fattah as the soldier was not in any sort of danger from any of the Palestinians, Issa Amro, director of the Hebron-based Youth Against Settlements activist group, told Al Jazeera. None of the Palestinians killed were found to have any explosives on them. The commander gave a direct order to the soldier to shoot and kill the Palestinian. This is a kind of revenge for them. OPINION: How impunity defines Israel and victimises Palestinians Hundreds of Israeli protesters rallied outside the court on Tuesday in support of the soldier. Demonstrators, as well as some politicians on the right, criticised Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon after he said the soldier acted inappropriately. According to the poll conducted for Israels Channel 2, about 57 percent of Israelis were against the soldiers arrest, and 42 percent of those questioned described the 19-year-olds actions as responsible. Only 5 percent classified the shooting as murder. The UN needs to establish an independent committee to investigate these extrajudicial killings, including that of Sharifs, said Amro. This was not the first case and it wont be the last case. There are videos out there for everyone to see. Also, it is the Israeli military system that needs to be held accountable, not just the soldier. These are war crimes and severe violations to international law. But I dont see anything happening in court. Meanwhile, according to a Wednesday report by the US-based Politico magazine, Senator Patrick Leahy and 10 House members have sent a letter to John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, demanding investigations towards gross violations of human rights by Israel and Egypts security forces. Since October 1, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 206 Palestinians, including protesters, bystanders and attackers. Palestinian assailants have killed at least 29 Israelis, mostly in stabbing attacks. Poll reflects an American public on edge after California massacre and large-scale attacks in Europe in recent months. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they believe torture can be justified to extract information from those suspected of planning attacks, a survey released Wednesday found. The March 22-28 online Reuters/Ipsos poll asked respondents if torture can be justified against suspected terrorists to obtain information about terrorism. About 25 percent said it is often justified, while another 38 percent it is sometimes justified. Only 15 percent said torture should never be used. HRW says Bush should be investigated for CIA torture The poll reflects an American public on edge after the massacre of 14 people in San Bernardino in December, and large-scale attacks in Europe in recent months including a bombing claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) last week that killed at least 32 people in Belgium. Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, has forcefully injected the issue of whether terrorism suspects should be tortured into the election campaign. Trump has said he would seek to roll back President Barack Obamas ban on waterboarding an interrogation technique that simulates drowning that human rights groups contend is illegal under the Geneva Conventions. Trump has also vowed to bring back a hell of a lot worse if elected. Trumps stance has drawn broad criticism from human rights organisations, world bodies, and political rivals. But the poll findings suggest many Americans are aligned with the billionaire businessman on the issue, although the survey did not ask respondents to define what they consider torture. The public right now is coping with a host of negative emotions, said Elizabeth Zechmeister, a Vanderbilt University professor who has studied the link between attack threats and public opinion. Fear, anger, general anxiety: [Trump] gives a certain credibility to these feelings, she said. READ MORE: Why Bush wont be prosecuted over CIA torture About two-thirds of respondents also said they expected an attack on US soil within the next six months. Youre dealing with people who dont play by any rules. And I cant see why we would tie our hands and take away options like waterboarding, said Jo Ann Tieken, 71, a Trump supporter. In November, terrorism replaced the economy as the top concern for many Americans after ISIL attackers killed 130 people in Paris, another poll found. UN-backed government has defied threats and arrived in Tripoli but will this bring stability to the country? Libyas UN-backed Government of National Accord arrived in Tripoli by sea on Wednesday, defying opposition attempts to keep it out of the Libyan capital and set up a base there. The United Nations and the the European Union welcomed the arrival of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who sailed in from neighbouring Tunisia along with six deputies from the Presidential Council. Libya has had two rival administrations one based in Tripoli, the other in the eastern city of Tobruk since mid-2014. READ MORE: Libyas UN-backed unity government arrives in Tripoli Speaking to reporters after his arrival, Sarraj called for unity and pledged to implement measures to alleviate the suffering of civilians. Yet the arrival of the UN-backed government was immediately blasted by the administration in Tripoli, which called Sarraj to either leave the Libyan capital or hand himself in. Al Jazeera spoke to George Joffe, lecturer of Middle East and North African International Relations at the University of Cambridge, about the latest developments in Libya, and whether they could help end the chaos in the country. Al Jazeera: What kind of impact can the arrival of the UN-backed government have if neither side is willing to agree that the other one is in charge? George Joffe: The fact is that there are three governments now in Libya: one in Tobruk, another in Tripoli, and now a second one in Tripoli as well. They are there because the former two are illegitimate the United Nations has carried through negotiations to provide a third legitimate government, now recognised by the international community, and they want to see that government come into office. Al Jazeera: So neither of the other two governments are willing to accept the one that arrived by boat in Tripoli? Joffe: Its a little more complicated than that, because the majority of the assembly in Tobruk is prepared to accept the new government. A significant number of those in Tripoli are prepared to accept it too. There are, however, certain powerful figures who are opposed to it and they are now trying to block its entering. Al Jazeera: What are the most likely scenarios from this? Joffe: Its going to be extremely interesting. The most likely scenario is that in the very near future the new government will call upon European states and the United States to help it control the growth of ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] inside Libya. Also, the Italians in particular want it to come in to control the movement of migrants the migrant season is now just beginning. Al Jazeera: What are the chances of these two aims being successful if the government doesnt have much support? Joffe: On the contrary, I think its got more support than people realise. Theres a large number of moderate figures inside Tripoli who now accept the need for a third government and have stated they would support it. There are some who are opposed to it [but] they are going to be marginalised; they will probably now find themselves sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council, and the same will be true in Tobruk. So I think we may see much greater support than we think. And beyond these two, the new government has got the support of the most powerful militia inside Libya, based in Misrata. Al Jazeera: Does it have the support of the army? In fact, is there a working army? Joffe: That is a major problem. The army, which is really based in the east of Libya at the moment around Benghazi, is opposed to the new government because it requires the head of the army, General Haftar, to step down. Now, unless he can be accommodated, there will be a problem there. OPINION: When is the next Libya intervention? But nonetheless, for the main purpose, that of bringing in additional outside help to train a new Libyan army, that purpose will be achieved. Al Jazeera: So your sense is that this is one step closer to bringing in an element of stability to Libya? Joffe: Its one step towards trying to find a solution to that end. It could still be blocked, it could still be extremely difficult but it is now a possibility. Ban Ki-moon says governments must act with solidarity to alleviate Syria refugee crisis and counter fear-mongering. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on governments around the world to allow in more Syrian refugees and counter fear-mongering about them. At a conference in Geneva on Wednesday, Ban urged countries to act with solidarity, in the name of our shared humanity, by pledging new and additional pathways for the admission of Syrian refugees. He said they can do so through resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labour or study opportunities. The UN refugee agency UNHCR convened a meeting of more than 90 countries at the Swiss UN seat in Geneva, aiming to win new pledges for resettlement and family reunification programmes, as well as study visas. We are here to address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time, Ban said. READ MORE: Smarter assistance for Syrian refugees These programmes are separate from usual asylum procedures. They are aimed especially at helping vulnerable groups, including women, children and people with medical needs. Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq have been hosting most of the five million refugees of Syrias conflict, which has put serious strains on state budgets and public services. Communities hosting refugees in neighbouring countries are exhausted, Ban said. Furthermore, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are stranded in European countries without basic rights or the proper documentation to lead a normal life. READ MORE: Who is weaponising the Syrian refugees? Ban also emphasised that countries should not demonise refugees, but should see the opportunities that the people could bring to their new host countries. Today, they are refugees. Tomorrow, they can be students and professors, scientists and researchers, workers and care-givers, he said. Earlier this year, an international donor conference in London pledged more than $11bn to assist Syrian refugees and internally displaced people in 2016-2020, the bulk of which came from the US and EU member-states. And wealthy countries have pledged 178,000 of the 480,000 resettlement spots needed for Syrians, according to UN estimates. Thailand is in the grip of its worst drought for more than 20 years, with water levels in the countrys biggest dams lower than 10 percent. The current drought has hit the north hardest, with 22 of Thailands 76 provinces affected. Agriculture has been severely affected, and there are genuine fears that taps could run dry within a matter of weeks. Several major reservoirs in the country are below 50 percent of their water capacity. The situation is so bad at the Ubolrat dam they are about to dip into what is locally known as dead storage this refers to the last 1 percent in the bottom of the reservoir. Drastic action is now being taken and it is causing controversy. Thailand recently started pumping water from the Mekong River into its own waterways. Unsurprisingly, this has sparked concern from downstream countries such as Vietnam, which is suffering its worst drought in almost a century. Thailand has also turned to its Royal Rainmakers for help they are the Thai Department of Royal Rainmaking and are responsible for seeding the clouds over the kingdom. As of now, there have not been enough clouds to make this an effective process. Concessions will have to be made for this New Years festival in April. It is called Songkran and it is celebrated with water in fact, lots of water. The original idea was to sprinkle water on family members for good fortune while paying respect to images of Buddha. Now water pistols and buckets are used to drench each other. With no rain in the short-term forecast, the deputy of Bangkok has announced that the city is considering reducing the festival to three days instead of four. Meanwhile, as El Nino continues to weaken, it is hoped that the monsoon rains will be prompt and plentiful. They are due to arrive in June. Prosecutors were right not to charge police who killed Brazilian mistaken for attacker in 2005, European court rules. British authorities were right not to prosecute police officers over the 2005 killing of a Brazilian man shot dead on the London Underground after being mistaken for a suicide bomber, a European court ruled on Wednesday. The judgement by the European Court of Human Rights was a blow to relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes, who have sought for years to have police charged with his killing more than a decade ago. We find it unbelievable that our innocent cousin could be shot seven times in the head by the Metropolitan Police when he had done nothing wrong, and yet the police have not had to account for their actions, Patricia Armani Da Silva, de Menezess cousin, said in a statement. We feel that decisions about guilt and innocence should be made by juries, not by faceless bureaucrats, and we are deeply saddened that we have been denied that opportunity yet again. Mistaken identity On July 22, 2005, an officer shot the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician as police hunted attackers behind failed bombing attempts on the subway a day before. Two weeks earlier, on July 7, four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters on Londons transit system. Police wrongly thought de Menezes was Hussein Osman, one of the attackers on the run, who lived in the same apartment block as the Brazilian. Eleven years on, and still no individual has been held accountable for the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes. And now, nobody ever will. david allen green (@davidallengreen) March 30, 2016 The Brazilian was on his way to work when he was shot seven times at close range by police who followed him on to a carriage. The two officers who killed him testified at an inquest they believed de Menezes was one of the failed bombers. Prosecutors decided not to charge any police officers, although the Metropolitan Police force was convicted in 2007 of health and safety violations and fined for endangering the publics safety during the shooting. Then, it was fined 175,000 ($270,130), after the court heard it had made shocking and catastrophic blunders. #DeMenezes: Worth recalling #ECtHR is not a criminal tribunal/prosecuting authority. Individual crim. liability via #humanrights v complex. Natasa Mavronicola (@NMavronicola) March 30, 2016 The family argued that prosecutors were wrong not to charge any individuals, and that the health and safety offence was an inadequate punishment. Wednesdays ruling came more than eight years after de Menezes cousin, Patricia Armani Da Silva, appealed to the Strasbourg, France-based European court. Lawyers for the family argued that authorities failed in their obligations under European human rights rules to conduct an effective investigation capable of identifying and, if appropriate, punishing those responsible for the shooting. The courts grand chamber, which deals with the most serious cases, said the decision not to prosecute individual officers was not due to failings in the investigation or the states tolerance of or collusion in unlawful acts. In a 13-4 ruling, the judges said authorities had held a thorough inquiry into the shooting and concluded that there was insufficient evidence against any individual officer to prosecute. There were numerous and serious criticisms of the operation that led to his death and of the shooting itself, said Adam Straw, a human rights barrister with Doughty Street Chambers. Despite this, no police officer has been prosecuted. This is consistent with a wider context which suggests that the current legal system is not capable of holding state agents to account for fatal offences. The impact of the Syrian civil war seen through the eyes of refugee children at risk of becoming a lost generation. Filmmaker: Mirna Shbaro In March 2011, protests broke out in Syria which have led to arguably the worst refugee crisis since World War II. While millions of Syrians affected by the uprising remain internally displaced, the majority have fled the country, seeking refuge in neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon. According to official figures from UNICEF, children currently account for just under half of the total number of refugees. These children are now at the real risk of becoming a lost generation. No one would wish this life on any child. They've already been through a trauma when they arrive. They've seen death, bombings and things that no child should see. They lived in a normal home but now they live in tiny rooms and tents. Theyve not only lost friends in Syria, they've sometimes lost family, parents or grandparents. You can't forget these things. by Soha Bsat El Boustany, UNICEF, Lebanon If we dont provide them with education, theyre lost. This is the generation thats going to rebuild their country in a few years. They are the future. The children feel that they cant dream, that they cant hope. They are the future generation who are supposed to rebuild. The children feel their horizons and hopes are limited, says Soha Bsat El Boustany of UNICEF in Lebanon. In this film, children from across Syria who are now in Lebanon and Jordan reflect on what little they remember of the lives they left behind and the difficulties of receiving an education in their current situation. Lilian, 11, and Roaa al-Assaf, 12 years old, live in Jordan. Their father was arrested and they have no news of him; and their mother died back in Syria. I saw how they bombed people. War planes, snipers and missiles. I saw things I shouldnt have seen during the bombings and the troubles, Roaa al-Assaf says. The girls remember the sound of bombs and power cuts pitching their school into darkness. Back at school after a period of trauma and unable to concentrate on their homework, the girls feel they are safe and have a home. Badr El Thaher is also 12 but hasnt attended school since leaving Syria. He works as a delivery boy to help his family make ends meet. He charges $1 for every delivery, using a heavy, oversized wheelbarrow for his transport. Sometimes I get home and feel my back will break, he says, I dont have the strength to walk anymore. In Lebanon, Oday El Sino, 14 years old, is looking towards the future and a home he clearly misses. After the situation escalated in Syria, he didnt have a dream but since enrolling in school in Saadnayel, things have changed. His dream is now to be an engineer and learn how to rebuild my country. Even children who are lucky enough to find a place to enrol at school be it in Lebanon or in Jordan struggle to make the most out of their new lives. With a new curriculums to adjust to, segregation between Syrian and local children and lack of funds to purchase school materials, fleeing the Syrian war appears to be just the beginning of the troubles for Syrias refugee children. In Syria we had books and stationary, but not here, says Saad Ibrahim, 11, We write everything the teacher says on our notepads because we cant afford the books. We ask why many former Afghan translators for the US military risk their lives to return to Afghanistan from the US. During more than a decade of the US occupation of Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan civilians signed up to work with the American military as translators. They often took these jobs despite fears of Taliban reprisal, including death threats. Taliban thought that the interpreters are ears and eyes for the military... youll have to be killed. They don't kill you the easy way if you worked as an interpreter. They will try every maniac punishment first to hurt you. by Wahdat, a former translator for the US military in Afghanistan In exchange, the United States government promised a degree of protection through a visa programme that would provide safe passage to the US when the tasks were complete. The visas, however, are never guaranteed. More than 10,000 Afghans who risked their lives to work with the US over the past 15 years are in limbo, as their applications for Special Immigrant Visas to the US remain in process. According to US law, the process should not take longer than nine months, but many Afghans end up waiting far longer for their paperwork to go through. Thousands of translators have been given visas and relocated to the US. But building a new life has not been easy and many are confronted with a different sort of struggle to survive. Government support beyond the visa is often sorely lacking, making access to employment, housing, and medical service in the US difficult or impossible to attain. Often, there is no one to even welcome the translators upon arrival at the airport. As a result, some translators who made it to the US end up returning to Afghanistan, despite the security concerns they may face. As most US troops have left Afghanistan, Fault Lines investigates why so many translators have been left behind. We follow Afghan translators struggling to survive in the US and those facing death threats from the Taliban at home. When W. Robert Knechels plane landed in Brussels, Belgium, on the morning of March 22, everything was normal. But while the UF accounting professor was waiting to get off the plane, the pilot announced there had been an explosion. You dont know whats going on, and nobody knows whats going on, he said. How do you compare something like this to almost anything? After the destruction cleared, more than 30 had been killed and about 260 were injured after two bombs went off. Knechel, who travels to Belgium three or four times a year to work at a joint research facility outside of Brussels, said he could see smoke from the plane, but he was never in any danger. He texted his wife and his daughter during the hour-long wait on the plane before learning on Twitter that the explosions were caused by bombs, he said. He was herded into a hangar with about 1,000 people, he said. Knechel said he was lucky; he wasnt hurt, and he was able to walk away from the rubble. But the people of Belgium are not so lucky. Ive got some friends where this is their new reality, he said. Lambert Vaes, originally from Belgium and a friend of Knechel, agrees. Its not that the city is all at once unsafe, its just the few people that make others miserable, the 58-year-old said. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now But Knechel said the bombing wont stop him from doing research in Belgium. Im not going to stop traveling, he said. @MelissaGomez004 mgomez@alligator.org An Irish Methodist minister addressed peace after violence Tuesday. Reverend Gary Mason spoke to about 60 people on how hes helping bring peace to Northern Ireland. His presentation took place at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service in the Pugh Hall Ocora at 6 p.m. and was free to the public. Mason, who was not paid to speak, discussed the conflicts that have occurred in Ireland, including instances of terrorism and how they have affected residents. We have a long way to go to deal with that troubled history of 800 years, he said. Memory is a two-edged sword. It can make reconciliation possible or it can hinder reconciliation. Mason told students it is important to accept other identities in order to bring peace. All of us in this room have dual identities, he said. My hope is that there is a blurring of identity. People should see the good in others. Gail Sasnett, the assistant director of public programs for the Bob Graham Center, said more students than she had expected attended the event. We are all about student engagement, and so if we can introduce students to causes they can be passionate about, it gives them an opportunity to learn and engage, she said. Sasnett said she felt Masons talk would be relatable because of the time of year and the latest news on terrorism. He seemed like an appropriate speaker to have in March after St. Patricks Day and also the issues of terrorism that relate to todays conflicts, she said. Grace Chun, a UF psychology sophomore, said she has a friend in Belfast, Ireland, on a year-long mission trip. Chun said she learned a lot about the conflict in Ireland from Masons talk. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now I thought the talk was really interesting, the 20-year-old said. I think it can be applied whether you have faith or not. @merylkornfield mkornfield@alligator.org Reverend Gary Mason speaks to about 60 people on Tuesday evening at Bob Graham Center for Public Service in Pugh Hall. The Irish minister talked about the conflicts and terrorism in Ireland and how it has affected those who live there. A school bus driver struck a pedestrian Tuesday afternoon, appearing to run her over. At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, a woman in her 20s began to walk across a Northwest 13th Street crosswalk when a bus hit her, Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said. The driver of bus number 2215, owned by the Alachua County Public Schools system, told police she did not see the woman, Tobias said. The driver told police she was turning left onto 13th Street from Northwest Seventh Avenue when the crash occurred, he said. Based on a preliminary investigation, Tobias said it appeared the driver ran over the woman with two of the bus front tires. Thankfully, miraculously, she has not suffered any life-threatening injuries, he said. After the crash, a nurse on scene gave the woman first aid until police arrived at about 2:15 p.m., Tobias said. She was awake and alert and talking when officers got here, he said, adding that she was taken to the hospital soon after. Tobias said GPD is investigating the crosswalk light to determine who had the right of way. As police cleared the scene, the bus driver sat on a curb with her two passengers: a young boy and girl. Officials with the school system, who declined to comment, drove the children and driver away from the scene in a marked county car. @martindvassolo mvassolo@alligator.org Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now If you get a traffic ticket, UF has services to help you. At Tuesday nights senate meeting, Jon Adcock, director of Student Legal Services, reminded Student Government senators that UF students have access to legal advice and help. We do the regular things that lawyers do, he said. We do all the same stuff, I just dont take money from (students). After Adcock spoke, SGs newly elected committee chairpersons, who are all Impact Party members, reviewed the duties of each committee. Senate president Jenny Clements and Senate Pro Tempore Smith Meyers spoke about SG working with other groups on campus, like the Student Legal Services. Clements also nominated Wayne Selogy (Jennings, Impact) as chair of the Online Voting Committee. She said 13 senators applied to be on the committee. Budget and Appropriations chairperson Charlie Brown Jr. (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Impact) talked about creating the budget to fund student organizations. Hearings for the organizations begin next week, he said. We feel like the budget we have submitted here is the one that is gonna serve the student orgs and academic orgs and students within those organizations to the best abilities, he said. APPROVED: Funding for Gators Humans vs. Zombies, allocated $104 Devon Leasure as a replacement senator for District A Praveen Varanasi for Budget and Appropriations committee Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Jamie Somerstein and Meaghan Hanley for Information and Communications committee Jacob Holloway for Judiciary committee @MelissaGomez004 mgomez@alligator.org It was only a matter of time until Trump and Cruzs wives were dragged into this bizarre, machismo-fueled Republican primary race. In an election campaign seemingly more concerned with how big Trumps hands are than with actual political discourse, no ones shocked these potential first ladies have been reduced to nothing more than weapons but that doesnt make it any less unsettling. To briefly recap for those readers who have successfully dodged the finger-pointing hype, it all started with an anti-Trump super PAC called Make America Awesome. No, Im serious. According to The Atlantic, the PAC ran an ad in Utah featuring a nude photo of Melania Trump from a 2000 issue of British GQ with the accompanying text, Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday. Despite Lyin Ted Cruzs claim he had no connection with Make America Awesome, Trump threatened to spill the beans about Heidi Cruz via Twitter. The beans remained unspilled, but Trump still managed to retweet a picture comparing Heidi and Melanias physical appearance with the description, No need to spill the beans. The images are worth a thousand words. Chaos ensued. Again, no one is surprised this happened. Despite general rules of civility making it a low blow to bring spouses into the presidential scuffle, it happens. Adding to the Twitter feuds inevitability is Trumps overwhelmingly misogynistic rhetoric, something he frequently employs in his unending feud with Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly. In fact, many people claim the candidates wives are fair game, pointing to Melanias conscious decision to take the GQ photos and Trumps knowledge they would inevitably be used as political ammo. Like it or not, nude bodies dont hold the same gravitas they once did. New York Times columnist Jennifer Weiner makes the observation that now, in the worlds of politics and pop culture, boudoir shots and even sex tapes have gone from guaranteed embarrassments to occasional assets to, sometimes, barely mattering at all. So, while the Utah ad may make an insignificant impact if any on the campaign or on Melania Trumps public image, that doesnt make it any more forgivable. The same goes for Trumps attack on Heidi Cruz and her husbands response of Donald, real men dont attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life. The true issue at hand is these women are being reduced to their bodies, transformed into political currency and used as symbols of their spouses power and masculinities in two different ways. For Cruz, Heidis modesty and his readiness to defend it are testaments to his morality. For Trump, Melanias sex appeal proves his power and social status. Both women are stripped of their personhood and individual accomplishments, qualities that are traded in for the labels of hot and beloved. Cruz may sound chivalrous coming to his wifes defense, but hes equally to blame for employing these tactics. Its misleading to look at this incident solely from the perspective of winning over women and cultural conservatives in the polls. Theres no doubt that a wide swath of voters is turned off by this Battle of the Wives, but thats not the only issue. More than anything else, this feud is a manifestation of the candidates severely misled gender politics, and while the mudslinging may fade into the background, the motives arent going away anytime soon. Marisa Papenfuss is a UF English junior. Her column usually appears on Tuesdays. The European explorers who stumbled upon the Western Cape of South Africa and proceeded to murder the regions indigenous knew they had found their promised land. After all, why should a land and its resources belong to its native inhabitants? Other Europeans who arrived in our hemisphere, who eventually named after an Italian (though they thought it was India), knew they, too, were entitled to that land and should slaughter its inhabitants. European Jewry some millennia later had the same feeling as they escaped the harrowing horrors of the Holocaust and settled in the newly formed state of Israel. These scenarios merit careful juxtaposition, because they shine light on a crucial facet of colonialism: how the arrogant racism of settlers, usually Europeans, begets systems of racial and political separation. Afrikaners in South Africa in the 20th century, having amassed intense political and economic control but still wholly reliant on the native Bantu peoples of the region, had to devise a system whereby they could systematically exploit their labor without granting them civil or human rights. To name their system, they chose the Afrikaans word apartheid, comprised of the adjective apart, meaning separate, and heid, the equivalent of our hood, or ness. Thus, apartheid means separation or separateness. In practice, the policy entailed a series of horrible and dehumanizing laws whereby the natives of South Africa were relegated to de jure servitude and not even given citizenship in the land of their birth. South Africa did, like Israel, provide a safe haven for Jews escaping the horrors of Nazism, such as the family of Percy Yutar, which escaped pogroms in Lithuania. Yutar, disgracefully, served as the state prosecutor who secured Nelson Mandelas life sentence for sabotage and conspiracy against the state. How one can escape a system of despicable racism only to serve another is beyond me, but there is no guarantee victims of historical injustice do not just as soon become victimizers themselves. In 1961, South Africas then-Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd made the admission that Israel like South Africa is an apartheid state. Beyond the moral and ideological solidarity, Israel also furnished logistical and material support for apartheid in South Africa, providing them with arms up until the 1980s despite the international arms embargo and South Africas pariah status. The assertion that Israel is an apartheid state is controversial, but a sobering look at the reality of the situation provides resounding confirmation that Israels policies against the Palestinians amount to nothing short of apartheid, probably even ethnic cleansing. Mindful of semantics, the Zionist state has chosen the word hafrada, which in Hebrew conveys separation, as a descriptor of their system. Physically cut off from their ancestral homelands, Palestinians live in miserable, densely populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza (like South Africas Bantustans) and are subject to a distinct set of laws and unequal treatment as well as indiscriminate attacks by the Israeli military one of the best equipped in the world. The U.S., which unequivocally supported South African apartheid and now operates as Israels sole meaningful ally, too has had its share of de jure segregation. After all, in the face of despicable injustice, white Americans reminded and still remind everyone that, after all, were separate but equal. Focusing on the three wicked political systems aforementioned, it is crucial to find a common theme. Colonialism, as an inherently racist and arrogant practice, draws lines and seeks to erase the humanity of the other, in this case the native. Policies of separation, whether we call them segregation, apartheid or hafrada, naturally ensue, presenting us with distinct realities we can identify as unnecessary evils and against which we should struggle mercilessly. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now History provides the sad reminder of this unfortunate behavior, but also the affirmation that systems of injustice are eventually dismantled through effort and struggle. As for Israels apartheid , just like South Africas apartheid, its days are numbered. A luta continua. Jordan MacKenzie is a second-year UF linguistics masters student. His column appears on Wednesdays. This is a shout-out to the ladies out there, to all of the unexpectedly adorned mothers and regretful soon-to-be baby daddies: We apologize. We apologize on behalf of our state legislature and Gov. Rick Scott, who signed the wide-sweeping anti-abortion bill into law Friday. Now our Sunshine State is on the path to joining other states, such as Texas and Mississippi, with oppressive anti-abortion legislation in circulation or already in place. In all fairness, we at the Alligator would be more sympathetic toward such anti-abortion sentiment if it were framed in moral, ethical terms. But this is not the case by any means. Scott and our state legislature argue that this law is designed to protect women with new safety rules, but we challenge anyone to read its text and find a provision that seeks to genuinely protect womens safety. Amid the questionable language of this law lies the requirement of physicians who perform abortions to obtain admitting privileges at the nearest hospital to their clinic. Now this sounds like a reasonable protection: If something goes horribly wrong during the operation, the woman should be taken to the nearest hospital through this registered physician. But because hospitals generally avoid connections with potential abortion politics, most deny abortion providers applications for admitting privileges. The effect? You get what we saw in Texas, where the number of abortion clinics dropped from 41 in 2012 to 18 in 2015, after the state passed similar admitting privileges legislation. Adding insult to injury, Scotts new law mandates the state will only fund abortions for women who face severe medical consequences from continuing the pregnancy or who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest, which is particularly concerning to us. Not only does this greatly reduce access to a medical service permitted by U.S. law, but it also greatly disenfranchises low-income women with limited health care options. How ironic for Scott, the self-appointed champion of small government, to push forth such wide-sweeping legislation on individual liberty without a single vote cast by his constituents. Whats up with that? Government is supposed to be small and keep its nose out of individuals lives, but if the issues at hand concern womens health and bodies, the government might just have to step in and micromanage the entire process? Were disappointed. For no other reason than the political agenda of our states lawmakers, our state is being cast into the same anti-abortion wind sweeping over southern states and undermining millions of womens rights to choose. To quote comedian John Oliver, Abortion cant just be theoretically legal, it has to be literally accessible. Now, not all is necessarily set in stone. In June 2015, after Scott signed into law a 24-hour mandatory waiting period for women pursuing the procedure, Florida Chief Circuit Judge Charles Francis shut the law down, claiming it violated rights to privacy. At this point, any action to prevent this law would have to come from a similar third party before it comes into effect on July 1 and to think we couldve enjoyed a nice, politics-free Fourth of July weekend. Its a good thing President Obama is normalizing relations with Cuba, because if this trend continues, American women may have to raft 90 miles south of Key West just to find a safe abortion something that is supposed to be available and accessible to them by law. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now (Washington DC 29th March, 2016) - In an interview with Al Jazeera Englishs UpFront, Michael Hayden, former head of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, accused Donald Trump of having already made Americans less safe with his anti-Islam rhetoric. When Mr. Trump says some of the things that he has said - they all hate us, we shouldnt let any of those people in our country - what he does is underscore and underpin the fundamentals of [the ISIL] narrative of undying enmity, he told UpFront host Mehdi Hasan. Asked by Hasan if Trump could therefore be described as a recruiting sergeant for groups such as ISIL and Al Qaeda, Hayden replied: Yes. The retired U.S. general, who ran the NSA and then the CIA under President George W. Bush, also referred to Ted Cruzs recent proposal to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods as very dangerous. We don't have radicalized communities in the United States, Hayden explained. We have some radicalized individuals, but we have it fully within our ability to create radicalized communities, and that kind of rhetoric [by Cruz] actually bends you in the direction of radicalizing communities. On the subject of the ongoing Hillary Clinton email controversy, the former NSA director said what she did was wrong, her explanations are incoherent and it was a terrible mistake. However, he added, whether or not it represents a crime I'll let the American justice system decide. Asked by UpFront host Hasan if he believed foreign intelligence agencies had hacked into, and taken possession, of Clinton's private emails, Hayden replied: Yeah. And by the way, I would move heaven and earth as the director of NSA to get the unclassified emails of several foreign ministers. Hayden said that he would lose respect for scores of intelligence organizations around the planet if they werent already thumbing through the emails. AR's Editor Joe Shea Talks About Elections On Iranian TV Bear Stearns Saved By Fed As Lehman Bros. Falters; Major Bank Failure Looms Over Wall Street, Sends Markets Into 200-Pt. Dive Lie Upon Lie Five Years Into the Iraq War The Administration Still Churns Out Lies by Randolph Holhut A Small Tragedy Even at 90, As Friends Turn Cool She Knows the Show Must Go On by Joyce Marcel I'll Take Me Imagine John Wayne or Arnold In Heels, Silk and a Girdle by Elizabeth Andrews Sen. Nelson Calls For New Fla. Primary; Gov Crist Backs 'Do-Over' Who'll Win? Ask Spock Spock.com Engine Predicts Winners By Site Searches; It Can be Wrong by Jay Bhatti Chatting Up The Cat God Gave Me Dominion Over Him 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 The Deadly Assault and Bush Administration Cover-Up by S. Eben Kirkesby and Andreas Harsono 5427 14th St. West, Bradenton, FL 34207 $6.99 Fish Fridays! Manatee Co.'s Only 24-Hr. FREE Wi-Fi Paid Advertisement On Native Ground AFTER 5 YEARS, WE'RE STILL LIED TO ABOUT IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Next week is the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And it is likely that sometime in the next couple of weeks, the 4,000th American soldier will die in Iraq. [MORE] Momentum OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - It's 1931, and a 14-year-old girl is standing alone on a stage. She's small and lively with dark curly hair, widespread hazel eyes, slender wrists and an open, eager face filled with the wonder of performing. Her name is Rose, and one day she will be my mother. But now she is performing an Eugene O'Neill monologue called "Before Breakfast" for a ladies' club in a wealthy suburb of Long Island. [MORE] One Woman's World COMFORTABLE WITH MYSELF by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I'm not sure but I think I may be socially incorrect. [MORE] On Native Ground ENOUGH FOR A WAR, NOT FOR A PEOPLE by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week, the National Governors Assn. met in Washington, D.C. One of the tasks the NGA had on its agenda was to ask President Bush to increase federal spending on roads, bridges and other public works projects as a way to stimulate the economy. He rejected their pleas out of hand, claiming that infrastructure projects wouldn't offer any short-term economic boost. [MORE] Brasch Words 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] WASHINGTON The DC District Court on Wednesday ruled against the Financial Stability Oversight Council's designation of the insurance giant MetLife as a systemically risky nonbank, though the opinion behind the order was sealed and the reasoning behind the decision remains unclear. In a surprisingly swift decision oral arguments on the case were held Feb. 10 Judge Rosemary Collyer ordered that the FSOC's 2014 designation be rescinded, awarding in favor of plaintiff MetLife. The government can appeal the decision, a move that appears likely given what is at stake for the council. A key reason the Dodd-Frank Act created the council was to allow it to designate nonbanks as a threat to the economy. In its case, MetLife argued that the council had violated administrative law and due process by designating MetLife as a systemically important financial institution. The court found in favor of MetLife on two counts and partially in favor on an additional count, but the complaint that it references is also under court seal. Neither MetLife nor the FSOC immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday morning. During oral arguments in February, Collyer seemed to save much of her criticism for the FSOC, saying that the crux of the argument is whether the interagency council had an obligation to determine the probability of the insurance company's failure before it examined whether the fallout from such a failure would pose risk to the broader financial system. "It seems to me that when you start with a proposition that the world is falling apart the answer is as obvious as the nose on your face," Collyer said. "I'm trying to decide whether that's a reasonable place to start." MetLife recently announced that it would be splitting off parts of its business, comprising roughly $260 billion in assets, into either a new company or as a sale to another firm back in January. But despite reports that it was a response to the FSOC's designation, the company did not specifically cite its SIFI label as a motivator for that move. Dodd-Frank endowed FSOC with the power to designate nonbank entities which may not be subject to traditional prudential or supervisory standards as SIFIs. Such entities are then subject to enhanced regulatory oversight by the Federal Reserve Board, though the agency has not yet completed rules outlining what those standards would be. To date only four nonbanks have been designated as SIFIs: American International Group, Prudential, GE Capital and MetLife. MetLife alone has challenged its designation in court. The judge's order found in favor of counts four and seven in the sealed motion for summary judgement and found in favor of count six in part. All remaining counts in MetLife's motion were denied and FSOC's motion to dismiss was denied. While the motion specifically referenced by the order is under seal, those counts in the original complaint from January 2015 correspond to MetLife's charges that FSOC violated the Administrative Procedure Act, Dodd-Frank and due process by failing to "assess MetLife's vulnerability to material financial distress" (count four) and failed to consider the "economic effects of designation on MetLife" (count seven). Count six in the original complaint is a long and sinewy series of charges regarding the factual basis for FSOC's designation, which MetLife considered to be "unsubstantiated, indefinite" and amounting to "speculation." MetLife argued that FSOC's assumptions about the firm's material distress ran afoul of most industry standards for risk assessment, assumed stress scenarios far in excess of even the most extreme scenarios considered in similar settings, exaggerated counterparties' exposures to the firm and did not take into account the existing state-level regulatory scrutiny that MetLife faces. Former Oklahoma governor and American Bankers Association chief Frank Keating has been named a director of BancFirst in Oklahoma City. Keating, now a partner with the law firm Holland & Knight, joined the 21-member BancFirst board on March 24 as an independent director, the $6.7 billion-asset company said Wednesday. His term expires in May, at which point he will stand for re-election. Keating led the ABA from 2011 until 2015. He joined Holland & Knight in February as an adviser to financial services firms. Keating, a Republican, was the governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003. WASHINGTON MetLife's surprise announcement that it was going to divest itself from several of its business lines is widely seen as a response to its designation in late 2014 as a systemically important financial institution. MetLife was just the fourth nonbank named by the Financial Stability Oversight Council as a SIFI, and the second to shortly thereafter announce plans to break itself up. "You've now seen two of the four firms that were designated actively take steps to restructure their business. That to some degree means that Dodd-Frank is working as intended," said Aaron Klein, director of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative. Yet there is evidence that the conventional wisdom is wrong and that MetLife's breakup may not be a reaction to its SIFI designation at all. Here's why: The breakup does not necessarily make MetLife small enough to escape SIFI designation MetLife is a gargantuan firm with more than $880 billion in assets. Even after it divests itself of the companies it says it plans to break off, it will be a $640 billion company. That's smaller than fellow nonbank SIFI insurance firm Prudential but larger than American International Group, the first nonbank to be designated. On size alone, the breakup does not take MetLife out of the orbit of what the FSOC might consider to be a systemically important firm. The breakup does not divest MetLife of many of the businesses the FSOC was worried about The breakup does divest MetLife of a few of the riskier business lines that the FSOC was worried about when it designated MetLife in December 2014 namely, the new company will take with it 60% of its variable annuities business, which the interagency council said was riskier than alternatives like whole or term life insurance because it can be withdrawn by the customer. But the legacy company will keep a number of other business activities that were cited by the FSOC: its securities issuances, guaranteed investment contracts, derivatives positions and certain capital market products, to name a few. It's probable that selling off a chunk of the variable annuities business would lessen its systemic footprint, but it's not clear it would be enough for the council to de-designate the firm. "The sale of these life insurance assets should reduce the capital requirements set to be imposed on MET as part of its designation as a non-bank SIFI," Cathy Seifert, a Standard & Poor's equity analyst, said in a market note on Wednesday morning. "We anticipate that the sale of these assets will lessen and not eliminate its burden as a SIFI, however." The "regulatory environment" cited by the firm might not have meant the FSOC Part of the reason so many people believe MetLife is splitting itself up due to its SIFI designation is because its chairman and CEO Steven Kandarian mentioned the "economic and regulatory environment" as a reason for the change. But he may have been referring to other regulatory policy matters, such as higher capital requirements. The International Association of Insurance Supervisors an international regulatory standards group recommended higher capital standards for variable annuities in a report last fall, which was developed at the direction of the Financial Stability Board, of which the Federal Reserve Board is a key member. The new business created by the split will take with it 85% of MetLife's U.S. universal life with secondary guarantee business a line similar to whole life insurance but with an added cash value. Those kinds of business lines are generally highly capital-intensive compared to some of the businesses that will remain in the legacy MetLife. The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, is still working on its rules to establish capital standards for nonbank SIFIs, but Congress gave it the power to treat insurance companies differently from banks in 2014. The Fed and MetLife declined to comment for this story. MetLife isn't planning to change direction regarding its lawsuit At the moment, MetLife has made it clear that it has no plans to ask the FSOC to reconsider its designation or drop the lawsuit it issued last year against the interagency council. It continues to argue that it is not systemically risky, either in its current form or its proposed new one. The firm has not shied away from criticizing the FSOC in the past, either during its designation process or afterward. If the SIFI designation were the cause of its breakup, it seems likely it would say so directly. So far, it hasn't done so and doesn't appear likely to. To be sure, even if MetLife is not pursuing a de-designation or withdrawing its lawsuit, the breakup is still important and has political and regulatory ramifications. Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation at the Cato Institute, said that the political importance of MetLife's breakup is going to be in the eye of the beholder: an opponent of the FSOC and the Dodd-Frank Act will see it as an example of overzealous regulation causing a profitable firm to make itself less competitive, while a supporter will view it as proof that the system works. The breakup could also give Republicans in Congress added momentum to push legislation to more clearly articulate the de-designation process. "This is not going to change a lot of minds," Calabria said. "I don't think it changes the overall political environment, but it does change the momentum toward whether there does need to be some kind of legislation clarifying the de-designation process." Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, said that even if MetLife stays a SIFI, the oversight council will probably face greater pressure to define its off-ramps for designation. "It certainly will require FSOC to take a fresh look at de-designation, which I think it would otherwise not be been prepared to do in next year or two," she said. For his part, the Bipartisan Policy Center's Klein says that regardless of whether MetLife seeks de-designation, if one believes that the company's actions have reduced its systemic risk, then its actions should be applauded. But the episode reveals some structural shortcomings of the SIFI designation process namely that the question of how much systemic risk is too much is a subjective question and the determination is binary. If a company be it MetLife or some other nonbank SIFI makes an attempt in the future at reducing its systemic risk but finds its moves rebuffed, "it would indicate a lack of communication and understanding between the FSOC and the companies," Klein said. "There's now a line forming at the checkout stand of the SIFI Hotel," he added. "We'll find out if it's a Hotel California, or if you can really check out anytime you like." Pope Francis, it seems, can't stop squandering whatever little true moral capital he has left. Last week the ageing pontiff, who is much given to periodic bouts of showboating, decided to drop to his knees before several recent Muslim migrants to Europe (call them "refugees," if you will) from North Africa and the Middle East. He then proceeded to wash the asylum seekers' feet with holy water before wiping them clean and kissing them. A cringe-worthy spectacle that was. It was a customary rite for Holy Thursday, of course, during which a regnant Vicar of Christ may choose to reenact a public act of humility by emulating Jesus, who washed the feet of his disciples prior to his crucifixion. But not for Francis simple humility. Instead, the media-savvy pope could not resist the temptation to use the contrived photo-op to continue leading beleaguered Europeans down a primrose path by way of "moral guidance." There the Holy Father was, sanctimoniously harping on his oft-repeated homily that Europeans besieged by militant Islam should throw their arms and houses wide open for the massive influx of Muslim migrants who are threatening the very social, political, and religious fabrics of their societies. I like it a lot when I see nations, governments, who open their hearts and open their doors (to migrants), His Holiness asserted. Right. I'll like it a whole lot more when I see him open the Vatican's own doors instead. Let me know when that happens. Simultaneously, the pontiff was trotting out fatuous "We're-the-World" platitudes. We have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we want to live in peace, he intoned. His Holiness should tell that to the countless Islamists who are plotting endlessly to murder as many Europeans as they can and whenever they can. Some of them have just slaughtered 31 commuters in a series of suicide bomb attacks in Brussels. A prime suspect behind the bomb attacks at the city's airport is a Belgian-born Muslim, Faycal Cheffou, ("the man in the hat" from security footage), who happens to be -- wait for it -- a "rights activist" for Muslim migrants. The irony of that should not be lost on us. Meanwhile, over in Lahore, Pakistan, while local Christians celebrated Easter Sunday, an Islamic suicide bomber self-detonated among them, killing at least 70 men, women and children. And Francis' response to the brutal war on Christendom and the West? He kisses the feet of people from the very religion responsible for it. Then again, this is a man who has called the Brussels bloodbath a "gesture of destruction," thereby making it sound as if this latest Islamic terror attack was nothing more than a passing nuisance. If this is the kind of "moral infallibility" that the head of the Vatican can muster these days, his flock is doomed. Francis doesn't just want European Christians to "turn the other cheek"; he wants them to emulate him by bending the knee to people many of whom make no secret of their desire to murder or subjugate all non-Muslims. Any minute now the pope might grab a guitar and launch into a soulful rendition of "Give Peace a Chance." And he wasn't done yet. All of us, together: Muslims, Hindi, Catholics, Copts, Evangelicals. But brothers, children of the same God, the pope pontificated. For starters, Hindi is a language, not a people, but let's let that pass. He also neglected to mention Jews. What's up with that? But let's ignore that, too. What's most galling is his mindless, politically-correct ecumenism. It may have escaped His Holiness's attention, but Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, not to mention Hinduism, are contradictory and mutually exclusive religions. Islam denies the divinity of Jesus, or even that Jesus died on the cross. Hindus believe in a vast pantheon of deities and reject the monotheism of the three Abrahamic faiths. Either Jesus atoned for the sins of humanity, as per the teachings of Christianity, or he didn't, as per the teachings of Islam. Either Mohammed was a perfect example for all people in all ages to follow, as Islam has it, or he was a terrible example that no one should follow, as many non-Muslims contend, and so on and so forth. Francis is the Catholic Church's first pope who is an out-and-out social justice warrior. That's not a compliment. Like many a self-styled SJW, he prides himself on moral virtues he hasn't earned or demonstrated. He is dangerously deluded if he thinks that his protestations of love will sway the suicide bombers. Needless to say, pious Muslims rarely if ever reciprocate his and his likeminded "progressive" fellow travelers' sycophantic overtures. "We want to live in peace, integrated, the pope avowed. We all do. But whose fault is that there is no peace in Europe and that certain immigrants have refused to integrate into their host societies? What unites all those immigrants who have remained stubbornly and often violently unassimilated -- from France to Germany to Belgium to Holland to Sweden to England -- is that they all happen to be... Muslim. Across the continent, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, animists and atheists all get on very well, thank you very much. It's many Muslims who can't get along with anyone else, and often each other. The very same day the pope was on his knees kissing the feet of random migrants outside an asylum center in Rome, a Muslim shopkeeper in Glasgow, who seem to have been blissfully well-integrated indeed, was savagely murdered by two other Muslim men in what police described as a "religiously prejudiced" attack. A few hours before he was stabbed to death, Asad Shah relayed a heartfelt public Easter message on Facebook to his Christian friends. By doing so, he violated one of Allah's commands to Muslims. "O ye who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for friends!" the Koran (5:51) counsels. "They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk." Yet many Europeans can't stop wanting to befriend Muslims, a lot of whom would instead prefer to see them dead. After every new act of savagery on European soil by Islamic terrorists comes the usual merry-go-round of feckless groveling, spearheaded by the likes of Pope Francis. The script has by now been perfected to a T. First, there's a bit of a shock at the callous brutality of the attackers and a bit of tough talk about waging war on a nebulous miasma of "radicalism," which "knows no religion." That done, it's on to distancing the self-proclaimed soldiers of Allah from Islam by claiming they have misunderstood a fine and peaceful religion and violated Islam's core teachings of universal brotherhood among all people (which happen not to exist). That is then followed immediately by warnings, repeated ad nauseam, of an imminent backlash (which never materializes) by "bigoted," "racist" and "xenophobic" Europeans against innocent Muslims who, we're told, are the real victims of Islamic terrorism. Finally, the crescendo of misdirection culminates in lectures to Europeans on their failure to integrate Muslims better and calls on them to atone some more for their forefathers' alleged misdeeds against the great religion of Islam. To hell with all that. Peace will come only when it's not native Europeans but Muslims who are expected to engage in extensive soul-searching apropos the self-evident failures of their communities and societies. Europeans have not failed Muslim immigrants. It's many Muslim immigrants in Europe who have failed their host societies by refusing to integrate and become productive members of them, even as they continue to incubate an atavistic grievance culture of violent jihadism. Pope Francis should man up and get up from his knees. Groveling isn't a virtue in the face of violent jihad; it's a sign of weakness and moral cowardice. Then again, the stalwarts of the Islamic State have openly declared war against the Vatican ("We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women, by the permission of Allah, the Exalted") will like a pope on his knees just fine. No good deed goes unpunished. The campaign by the U.S., Western countries, Kurds, and Russia against ISIS has succeeded up to a point. ISIS, the self-created Islamic Caliphate is shrinking. It has lost about 40 per cent of the territory it held in Iraq, and 20 per cent in Syria, and lost cities including Mosul, Ramadi, and Palmyra, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is in danger of losing Raqqa. However, as a result, ISIS has changed its priorities. Its objective now is to increase influence, not expand territory, and to export terrorism. The ISIS Caliphate poses a greater danger to the world by sending its critical mass of foreign fighters, who swear allegiance to ISIS, back home to their countries to become sleeper cells, preparing to inflict mass casualties in cities in their own country. In Britain, MI5 reports that 25 serious attacks are being planned by at least 50 of the 450 jihadists who have returned to the country. Spain has received threats primarily because it ended Muslim rule in Andalusia in 1492 after Muslims had ruled there since 711. The danger is serious because of the high degree of organization and logistical skills manifested by the jihadists, and their ability to obtain weapons. The terrorists killed and arrested in Brussels in March 2016 had an arsenal of homemade bombs, containing chemicals, acetones, nails, and screws. What is frightening is the increasing skill and sophistication of the jihadists in mounting attacks, and ability to use encryption for electronic communication. Indiscriminate random Islamist terrorism is not new. It was evident in the attacks on the Paris Metro in 1995, and the attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1995. What is new is the increase in the scale of the Islamist challenge. Optics are important and the belief that Islamist extremism is winning attracts people. A Western particularly U.S. administration policy of restraint is not sufficient to meet and overcome that challenge. Expressions of anger and outrage, though understandable, are not enough. French prime minister Manuel Valls has used the right vocabulary is speaking of war against the Islamist challenge. That approach is not an expression of unwarranted fear, or an exaggerated response to what has been regarded by some in the U.S. administration as simply political violence. To respond strongly to the challenge of those who seek death for themselves and for innocent people is not to take ill-judged and counterproductive actions. For some time, Western European countries have been targeted, largely because of their diversity and considerable Muslim population that makes them an easy target. In those countries ISIS terror cells are present. More than 31,000 foreigners from 129 countries have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for ISIS, and of these more than 400 fighters have been sent from Syria to Europe to carry out multiple attacks. Their task has been made easier by the Schengen open borders arrangement allowing free movement between countries, thus allowing terrorists to move around freely, making the task of policing difficult. Though Western liberals and leftists are reluctant to acknowledge it, Western democratic countries are in for a long war. The list of major cities attacked continues: Madrid in 2004, London in July 2005, Paris in November 2015, Brussels on May 24, 2014 and again in March 22, 2016. The terrorists are likely to strike anywhere in the world. Their goal is destruction, not integration into democratic societies. It is particularly poignant that terror has been inflicted a number of times on Brussels, the de facto capital of Europe because it is the site of both the EU and NATO, that has in effect become the jihadist capital where terrorist attacks have been planned and the terrorists have hidden, The essential problem is that Europeans have been reluctant to adopt a unified response to the terrorist threat and have found it difficult to agree on the migrant crisis. It is clear that some supposed migrants seeking refuge in Europe have been terrorists in disguise. Arrests have shown that two of the attackers in Paris in November 2015 entered Europe, from Greece to Belgium and France, by claiming to be refugees. Europe does not have enough police resources to trace the false immigrants. But it also needs to recognize that the issue is not a police problem but a national security problem. Events over recent months have demonstrated missed intelligence opportunities, and incompetence in handling of Islamist networks. One striking case involved Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian of Morocco origin who organized a number of attacks in Belgium and France and was the mastermind of the Paris attack on November 13, 2015 that killed 130 people. European intelligence authorities could not detect that he was linked to a number of international groups and to various terrorist acts such as the Paris-Amsterdam train attack, and attack on Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014. He proclaimed he was proud of overcoming the bloated image of the Crusader intelligence. Another case relates to Salah Abdeslam, a Belgium-born French national of Moroccan descent, involved in and alleged ringleader of the attack on Paris. He was able to rent cars and hotel rooms, and received considerable support while a fugitive before he was arrested in Brussels on March 18, 2016. He was linked to 3 men posing as Syrian refugees in southern Germany before the Paris attacks. European authorities acknowledge the inadequate performance of surveillance groups: the Club de Berne (European Security Services), Club de Madrid (European Intelligence Services), Europol, and the Situation in the European Commission. But Europol has not been successful in sharing information across the 28 states of the EU. It is time for Western leaders to recognize the true nature of the enemy. In the early history of Islam the rulers imposed obligations and taxes on non-Muslims but did not demand their deaths. The Islamist extremists today are based on Salafism, the return to true Sunni Islam, the policy of pious predecessors, stressing martyrdom and millennial aspirations, and espousing violence and jihadism. ISIS targets individual citizens of democracies, countries that do not base public policy on religious principles. The terrorists have not only killed numerous innocent people, they are also changing the life and habits of democratic citizens, some of whose habits might offend Islamist extremists. Western countries must improve surveillance and policing, and this means sharing information in the effort to overcome and end terrorism. They must employ tactics to overcome it as France has done in adopting strong measures, such as putting terrorist suspects under house arrest and giving the police authority to search premises without judicial warrants. Everyone is conscious that in democratic societies there must be an appropriate balance between civil liberties and security. But the overriding fact it that Islamist terrorists have forced war on the West. The root causes of Islamist terrorism are Islamist terrorists, and they must be ended. I can actually feel brain cells explode every time I hear that line. That one and, Thats not who we are. The nonsense of those sentences needs exploration before someone carves them in stone. Lets look at the word values. The word comes to us from Old French, no doubt riding across the English Channel with William the Conqueror in 1066. (That alone should give us pause.) At that time it meant to be worth -- William was so interested in the worth of all the lands hed conquered that he took an inventory called The Domesday Book. Value appears not to have been used then in the philosophical way it is today. Today, especially when presented in the vague plural, it refers to whatever current, politically correct ideas waft about the interbunk, or to which propaganda is trending. Values are not the same thing as morals. A person who espouses values will place a womans career options above the life of an unborn child, thereby choosing success over the moral prohibition against committing murder, against the idea that every person is a valuable creation of God. Values allow us to indulge our desires, to seek self-actualization (as if we arent actually here unless we do) rather than to have concern for how our actions affect the welfare of those with whom we interact. Values are a human construct. Morals come from God -- Thou shalt not have other gods before me, (Exodus 20:3). People who think in terms of values readily adopt new ones when they become popular. A value is infinitely flexible. A moral person, on the other hand, sees the rules by which he lives as something permanent and immutable, as something God instituted for the blessing of us all. A person whose decisions are based on values rarely knows what those values are outside of non-specific catch phrases: multiculturalism, peace, hope and change, self-expression, progressivism, socialism, LGBT. Whatever is currently politically correct is a value. Values have no logic behind them, are based instead on feelings. Morals have reasons - for instance, society is based on the family, therefore any behavior that threatens the family is verboten. Values lean on ones personal desires, morals on the concern for the preservation of an entire society. If a culture begins to lean more on values than morals the entire society is at risk - a values culture does not recognize the dangers of this world. Look at Sweden. On the Ignlehart and Welzel *world values map" Sweden ranks at the top for self-expression and secular-rational values, obviously at the pinnacle of societal evolution - multicultural to the extreme, thoroughly socialistic, heavily secular, yet it is now the financially fragile, Muslim-infused rape capital of the world. Yay values! Inglehart and Welzel dont rank self-preservation as a value on their chart. They value (double entendre intended) self-expression as the superior concept. I doubt that Swedish women would agree. What good is self-expression if you have to hide at home? Japan also ranks high on this chart, not as self-expressive as Sweden, but high on the secular-rational axis. Japan is more aware of the dangers of Islamic intensity than Sweden, and has wisely kept a lid on Muslim immigration, but Japan is also failing to thrive; they are not replacing their population - even sex is no longer a sought-after activity and suicide rates are alarming. Neither Sweden nor Japan is flourishing, despite their values, which causes me to conclude that values are an inadequate basis for a civilization. It is interesting that Inglehart and Welzel dont deal with morality and its place in the world. They use the term traditional values instead, largely, I suspect, to avoid giving any respect to this age-old idea or to the possibility that God is at all involved. Morals are not, in their view and in the view of much of academia, divinely inspired, but are, like the so-called rational or scientific values merely primitive manifestations of the same make-it-up-as-you-go miasma. Interestingly enough they see Islamic traditional values as an equivalent to the Christian worldview, never mind the fact that murder is admired in the former and abhorred in the latter, or that women are enslaved in the one and idolized in the other. After all, there is no talk of what is good and what is evil; neither, in the modern view, is relevant or useful. In this modern world, based as it is on evolutionary thinking and the idea that were always getting better, smarter, more sophisticated, values are seen as superior in every way, never mind history and the mountains of evidence to the contrary. The womens rights value has robbed our country alone of fifty million unique individuals. The socialism value has destroyed prosperity. The world peace value has rendered all of Western civilization unable to defend itself against radical Islam - prudently closing our borders, retaining enemy combatants, extracting information from detainees -- all these common sense policies are no longer who we are. God help us. We live in a world created by God and provided by God with instructions for survival. He has done this because He has a purpose for our existence, and He knows that evil is in the world. We are not improving our ability to make workable civilizations - one look at the 20th century proves that - never in all of human history have so many people died so violently, so horribly, and it has been Christian American morality that, over and over again, has come to the rescue. In fact, America has been one of the last holdouts for living as God instructed us. That is who we are. I tremble at the idea that these divine guidelines for living, these rules for both survival and prosperity can be supplanted with synthetic, pathetic, mass-produced values. Deana Chadwell blogs at www.ASingleWindow.com and is an adjunct writing professor at Pacific Bible College in southwestern Oregon. During his recent trip to Argentina, President Barack Obama told a group of young people, "I think for your generation, you should be practical and just choose from what works. You don't have to worry about whether it neatly fits into socialist [or communist] theory or capitalist theory you should just decide what works[.]" He followed up this inanity by saying health care, life expectancy, and education are very good in (Communist) Cuba. He noted, "But you drive around Havana and you say this economy is not working. It looks like it did in the 1950s." (He did not use words like "impoverished" and "squalid" to describe what he saw.) So let's say one tells people that instead of distinguishing between being a good, law-abiding citizen and being a criminal say, a bank robber we just look at the practical side, the "results," of the two modes of living. Males in jail for ten or more years for bank robbery can bench-press much heavier barbells than males of the same age who have not been incarcerated for a similar period of time. Similarly, males incarcerated for bank robbery have a much lower incidence of alcoholism than do males of the same age who live outside the penitentiary. On the other hand, income levels of males outside the walls of the prison are on average much higher than those on the inside. Keeping these distinctions in mind, there are practical pros and cons to justify both conditions of life, and the emphasis on good citizenship as a desideratum as opposed to criminal behavior is just so much fluff. One can see how Obama's "pragmatism" is both laughable and pathetic. Listen to the dichotomous thinking that our dear president wants to discourage. There is no significant difference between the sanctity of property ownership and a society where there is no ownership (thus no need for contracts). There is no significant difference between a society where the government is the only employer and a society where competing companies hire people. There is no significant difference between a society where there are infinite regulations that discourage entrepreneurship and a society where entrepreneurship is encouraged. There is no significant difference between a country that has a vast network of private banking with access to funds competing for venture capital and a country where all the banks are owned and controlled by the government. There is nothing to distinguish as superior countries where invention is incentivized by copyright laws that give proprietary rights to those who develop new medicines and other inventions for the common benefit. There is nothing to distinguish as superior a country where many workers can quit their jobs and look for a better paying job or start their own business without "permission" from the government. There is no relevant difference where real estate is advertised, and people can move about from place to place, choosing their own residences within the practical parameters of their taste in environment and price limitations. There is no relevant difference in being in a country where you can choose your own doctor (this freedom is being eroded under Obamacare) and get second opinions from practitioners of your choosing. In short, there is no significant or relevant difference between economic freedom and economic bondage. Obama touts the wonderful health care and life expectancy of Cubans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), our average life expectancy is 79, and theirs is 78. If that one year translates into one more year of work for each person, then that is 320 million work years per year in the U.S., a monumental difference in terms of quality of life for those living in the USA versus Cuba. Obama touts Cuban health care as outstanding. Is there even one person who would fly from the USA to Cuba for medical treatment? But we can be certain that many would fly to the USA from Cuba if they had the chance and needed, say, cancer treatment or even treatment for allergies. Similarly, regarding education, how many Americans would choose to attend the University of Havana rather than go to any state university in the USA? Yet we can be certain that if given the choice, so many Cubans would opt to attend one of our universities rather than the University of Havana. So let us understand now and forever that President Obama's Argentine reasoning is puerile at best. We do everything better than Cuba. Our two countries are non-comparable. Capitalism is the source of all real and lasting prosperity, while communism is a failed concept despite some intellectual adherents like our president who are, almost congenitally, unable to admit the dismal failures of that system. Notwithstanding the president's disclaimer, we can readily see that our country's strength has been diluted by too much socialism. We must tame the culture of bureaucracy; of huge governmental programs; of over-regulation; of excessive taxation; of "give me, give me"; and of impossible debt used to fund our so-called mixed economy. The Republican Party is circling the drain, as an absolutely trivial incident is being blown up to crisis proportions, and the existing party fracture into pro- and anti-Trump factions delivers an image of hapless and out-of-control viciousness to to the swing voters that determine the outcome of presidential elections. The nations political media are giving obsessive coverage of the charging and brief arrest of Donald Trumps campaign manager Corey Lewandowski for simple battery, a misdemeanor. Surveillance video of the March 8 incident that is the basis for the charge has been screened on the nations televisions many times since its release yesterday, but is embedded below for the few readers who may not have seen it over and over again. In classic he said/she said fashion, the evidence is being formed into competing and incompatible narratives, despite the fact that a consensus view could have been achieved quickly and almost painlessly. Now that battle lines have been drawn, a new and ridiculous trial of the century is slated to unfold, quite possibly dominating the nations attention during a momentous presidential campaign on which hinges the fate of the nation, should Donald Trump gain the GOP nomination. Donald Trump and his supporters make the perfectly valid point that Ms. Fields was apparently touching his arm in attempt to ask him a question as a crowd followed Trump out of a just-concluded news conference. He joked last night in Milwaukee that it "has never been the same," making the point that he might be able to file similar charges against Ms. Fields. Lewandowski then grabbed Ms. Fields and pulled her away from Trump. If we credit the evidence of the finger-shaped bruises on her arms she later photographed and the audio recording made at the time in which she exclaimed to a Washington Post reporter about the incident, then it appears Lewandowski used excessive force in grabbing her and protecting his boss. As many people have noted, a simple apology from Lewandowski would have sufficed, and that appears to be exactly what Fields wanted. Had both sides chosen the path of graciousness, Ms. Fields could have apologized for laying a hand on Trump as she attempted to do her job. Instead of choosing to de-escalate, Lewandowski and Trump went on the attack, accusing Fields of being delusional and outright denying that Lewandowski ever touched her, a position refuted by the video embedded above (that, incidentally, Trumps cameras recorded, and which his organization, to its credit, turned over to police, as it was obligated to do). The escalation that since taken place has seen both sides digging in, and each preaching to the choir of its supporters. Trumps camp takes pride in the fact that the candidate is not throwing Lewandowski under the bus. His loyalty to his people is a value that resonates strongly with many people, sick of the way that the mere accusation of wrongdoing, justified or not, often leveled on grounds of political correctness has destroyed many careers. But the anti-Trump faction which includes his GOP rivals, nearly all of the media, the Hillary campaign, the Sanders campaign, and feminists -- depicts Trump as a misogynist, Lewandowski as a brute, and both men as hotheads. Having attacked Fields in very personal terms (last night in the Milwaukee candidate forum, Trump suggested she might have gotten the bruises elsewhere suggesting she could have fabricated evidence in what is now a criminal case), they are now pictured as harrassers of a damsel in distress. This is a prefect set up for victimology, a default setting for the media and the left. There is one serious question that a quite logical extension of the pattern of escalation here, and it relates to an existing doubt about Trump that is quite widespread. If a trivial incident like this can be blown up into a crisis, how would a President Trump handle the myriad potential crises that face the nation as tyrants, thug regimes, and even putative allies play brinksmansho games with the United States? Probably the most interesting question posed to Trump last night from the audience in Milwaukee was from a female, who asked when ws the last time he had apologized. After being caught off guard and thinking a moment, the most recent example he could some up with was apologizing to his mother over using foul language. It was a telling answer, revealing that the adult Donald Trump never apologizes, even in private. That he is willing to escalate such a trivial incident raises questions about statecraft when the fate of nations is at stake. Mr. Trump likes to evade answering questions about how we would act as president by averring that he doesnt want to let potential enemies know win advance what he would do. Unpredictability is a virtue, he avers. However, in some ways, Donald Trump is utterly predictable. Let me assure you that I hate illegal immigration as much as Mr. Trump. Illegal immigration mocks the rule of law, from the employer taking advantage of his competitors with cheap labor to document fraud to a border that is a national security concern. In other words, it is a bad system that we've allowed to get out of control. Donald Trump proposes deporting people. He has not really explained how he would do it but my friend Israel Ortega believes that it will expand government a lot: Start with Trumps call to forcibly deport an estimated 11-12 million illegal immigrants, including children and the elderly. When pressed on specifics, Trump says he intends to do deport people humanely and orderly. But even taking this statement at face value, Trump is proposing nothing less than the creation of the largest police state in our history. As the scholars at the American Action Forum have recently pointed out, the federal government would need to spend from $400 to $600 billion over 20 years to remove the current undocumented population. Of course, that number is subject to change considering the scant exact numbers of a population largely living in the shadows. The AAF study also estimates that in order to prevent future illegal immigration, the federal government would need to commit to an additional $315 billion toward border security over the same period. Trump tells us that a country needs borders and he is correct. He says that people should respect our immigration laws and he is correct again. However, there are smarter ways to fix the problem than exploiting our fears. Go ahead and build the fence. It will actually help both sides, even if the Mexican political class does not admit it publicly. Go after employers and make it really costly to hire someone without papers. Send repeat employers offenders to jail and you will see illegal immigration stop very fast. Finally, offer people here a guest worker visa that allows them to work. It would not be not a path to citizenship and would require be renewal from time to time based on our economic needs. It makes more economic sense, as Israel Ortega explains in the aforementioned article, than having police officers drag out women and children from their homes. Illegal immigration is bad and I repeat that Mr. Trump is right. However, proposing real solutions is what we expect from our leaders. Sorry, but we are not hearing any real world solutions from Mr. Trump. P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. A poll conducted March 24-26 by Morning Consult reveals that an outright majority of U.S. voters support Donald Trump's proposed ban on Muslim entry into the country. Among those surveyed, 50% were in favor of such a ban versus just 38% opposed and 11% who had no opinion. Almost three quarters of Republicans (71%, with 20% opposing) support the ban, as well as 49% of independents (36% opposing) and 34% of Democrats (56% opposing). Similarly, a clear majority (49%) of all voters support Ted Cruz's call for additional law enforcement patrols of Muslim neighborhoods, with only 36% opposing. Support was highest among Republicans (70%, with 20% opposing) but also significant among independents (46%, with 34% opposing) and even Democrats (35%, with 52% opposing). Support is also growing for more intense measures to deal with security threats against the American homeland. Forty-five percent of those surveyed said "the United States needs to stop tying its hands and start using enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, against suspected terrorists in order to defeat ISIS." Just 34% disagreed with this view. According to the U.S. news media, Donald Trump is a dangerous extremist whose rhetoric is inciting violence at his rallies. The protestors are innocent as lambs, gentle people who are being violently assaulted by Trump supporters. Trump's jack-booted white-trash constituency is mercilessly punching and kicking anyone who dares to object to his inhumane racist and xenophobic policies. This moralistic fairy tale is utter nonsense. It is the exact opposite of the truth. As Trump himself has pointed out, these "protestors" are more aptly described as "disruptors." Their intent is not to exercise their own First Amendment rights but to silence people they disagree with. Trump's rallies across the U.S. have attracted tens of thousands of people. Before they were intentionally disrupted, these gatherings were entirely peaceful. Trump's supporters are not "white trash." On the contrary, they're the very salt of the earth: the law-abiding and hard-working people who pay their taxes and make this country work. These people want nothing more than to be left alone and participate peacefully in the democratic process of self-governance. The saying is that the exception proves the rule. But the news media have made the exception into the rule. Masters of deceit and propaganda, they long ago discarded any pretense of objectivity. In North Carolina last March 9, an elderly white Trump supporter struck a young black man being escorted out of a Trump rally by law enforcement. The video recording of this incident has been shown more times than the Rodney King beating. One night, NBC news literally replayed it three times within fifteen seconds. The implication is that Trump is guilty by association. This is an absurd logical fallacy. A man is not guilty by association. And if we are to judge Mr. Trump by the behavior of his supporters, why choose the one person who became violent? Would it not be more reasonable to base our assessment on the tens of thousands of people who remained peaceful? Who would have thought such a bad man could win so many elections? Mr. Trump's detractors have run through the entire English lexicon of insulting epithets. Perhaps they implicate themselves by protesting too much. If Mr. Trump suffers from any fault, it is a refusal to function as a punching bag. Some consider this to be a sterling virtue in a Presidential candidate. If people want to oppose Donald Trump's candidacy they have a thousand ways to do so. Instead of disrupting Trump's rallies, they could hold their own rallies (would anyone attend?). They could write editorials, letters to the editor, and make comments on the internet. They could march up-and-down on the street holding up signs denouncing Trump. They might even try (gasp) voting. Everyone in our society has a multitude of ways of freely expressing themselves. But the protestors do not want to merely express themselves. They want to impose their political views by force. If they don't like what you're saying, they're going to shut you down and shut you up. In Phoenix last March 19, protestors blocked a major highway leading to a Trump rally. This was not a peaceful or lawful act. It was a forceful way of stopping people who merely wanted to peacefully assemble and work for democratic change. Not only were Trump's supporters affected, so was anyone who happened to be traveling on that highway. This included people with medical emergencies desperately trying to reach a hospital. The political season is just warming up. We have witnessed the beginning of the violence, not the end. So let's be entirely clear about what is happening here. The people who are disrupting Donald Trump's rallies are not merely a threat to the Trump campaign. They are thugs and criminals who are endangering everyone's right to free expression and democratic governance. Dr. Deming is professor of arts and sciences at the University of Oklahoma, and the author of Science and Technology in World History (McFarland, 2010, 2012, 2016). With the rise in serious security breaches, ever-increasing government surveillance and hackers getting smarter and smarter, secure devices has become a thing from the past couple of years. Big firms like Sikur have released the GranitePhone and while they offer both the hardware and the software, CopperheadOS aims to provide just the latter. The CopperheadOS was launched a year or so ago, and was designed to offer users a totally secure environment for those that value their privacy. Together with the Guardian Project and F-Droid the three projects hope to offer a free, secure and open source mobile ecosystem that contrasts the big, corporate models from Apple and Google. As a quick background, each of the three has a role to play, the Guardian Project offers developers open source libraries for developers as well as creating their owns secure apps while F-Droid is akin to an app store for Free and Open Source Software (often referred to as FOSS) apps. CopperheadOS meanwhile, is essentially a fresh version of Android that is built from the Android Open Source Project to be totally secure and private, while practically severing any ties with Google services. The platform was previously based upon CyanogenMod, but technical difficulties led them to some back to the AOSP code base. This means that, currently, the CopperheadOS is only available for the Nexus 5, Nexus 5X and Nexus 9. Support for the Nexus 6, Nexus 6P and Nexus 9 LTE models is in the works, but only Nexus and Pixel devices will ever be support by CopperheadOS. To ensure that the team doesnt accept outside investment that may compromise our morals the team is appealing for help. Advertisement Donations can be made to the project whenever people feel the need to, but just how and when the crowdfunding project gets underway is unclear. This latest announcement appears to be more of a filing of intent than anything else, but hose looking at the CopperheadOS and further ecosystem with curiosity will probably be happy to see them turn to crowdfunding. Those interested in some background and to learn more can take a look at the source link below. Taiwans Foxconn Electronics and Japans Sharp Corporation released a joint statement this week, announcing that the two companies have finally inked the deal that gives the Taiwanese contract manufacturer a controlling stake in the Japanese tech company known best for manufacturing high-quality display panels. According to the terms of the deal, Foxconn has reportedly agreed to pay 389 Billion Yen ($3.5 Billion) to acquire a 66 percent stake in the company, having earlier offered as much as 489 Billion Yen ($4.39 Billion) for the same amount of equity. The 100 Billion Yen ($898 Million) reduction from the earlier offer is understood to be on account of some previously undisclosed liabilities that Foxconn only got to know about after having made the earlier offer. Foxconn Chairman, Mr. Terry Gou, had been looking to acquire Sharp Corp. for a few years now, but the Taiwanese contract manufacturing giant wasnt, by any means, the only company bidding for the beleaguered tech company from Japan. The original list of prospective buyers also included a Tokyo-based investment firm called the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). The firm was said to be backed by the Japanese federal government, which was apparently unwilling to let a foreign company buy out a prestigious entity like Sharp, which was the first-ever company to have manufactured television sets in the country. The company also has a large number patents and other assorted intellectual property assets, along with its state-of-the-art production facilities, which is what apparently convinced Foxconn to shell out the big bucks for the loss-making enterprise. Advertisement While Foxconn paid around 88 yen per share to acquire the controlling stake in Sharp, the Japanese companys shares rose 3.9 percent in Wednesdays trading on the Nikkei stock exchange in Tokyo, to end the day at 135 yen. Foxconns chairman, Mr. Gou, who pursued Sharp for four years before finally getting to acquire the company, sounded positive, saying, I am confident that we will unlock Sharps true potential and together reach great heights. Analysts also expressed satisfaction at the deal finally going through after hitting many a stumbling block over the past few weeks or so. According to Mr. Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo, This is positive for Sharp, although its hard to imagine that Foxconn wont have to keep providing funds. It is becoming increasingly evident how important virtual reality is becoming as an industry. To see how evident it is, you only have to look at the number of manufacturers who are literally lining up to jump aboard the platform and bring to market either their own VR solution or at the very least, software and services which can be used with the increasing number of VR headsets that are coming through. A momentum which is only likely to increase going forward as well. While most of the big name products seem to place a focus on the gaming (or general media consumption) aspects of virtual reality, it seems industries which are equally likely to benefit from the virtual reality movement is services like property management and tourism. Both of these markets have always made use of images and videos to lure customers in and it seems virtual reality is certainly the next step in creating content which can offer the viewer/buyer/traveler a better way to get a closer look at a property rental, vacation destination, beach, hotel or otherwise. In fact, Google has today announced the open souring of a new feature which will certainly be beneficial to any app or website developer who is looking to include more virtual reality content going forward. Advertisement VR View is Googles latest announced developer tool and is one which will essentially stitch together 360 images or videos, in a view to creating interactive VR experiences which can then be better consumer through VR headsets and viewers. For Android apps, this will mean including a few lines of code to the Cardboard SDK, while website developers can include the content quite easily by adding the interactive experience as an iframe command. As this has been released as open source, VR View is free to be further modified in any way by anyone to better match their individual needs or the needs of their apps or sites. Those interested in reading more about VR View or how to include the feature on an Android app or website, head through the source link below to the Google announcement where you can also grab the GitHub link. Over the past couple of months or so, the fabled Huawei P9 has been the subject of numerous leaks and rumors, and as we approach the end of March and the smartphones expected debut, it looks like the flagship in question is ready to hit the benchmarks. Earlier today, a handful of screenshots detailing the smartphones specifications and performance levels in the AnTuTu v6.0 benchmark popped up on the Chinese microblogging network going by the name of Weibo, and, sure enough, the Huawei P9 does seem to make use of the companys latest proprietary chipset, the Kirin 955. According to new data gathered by AnTuTu, the upcoming Huawei P9, model number EVA-AL10, features a Full HD (1920 x 1080) display with unspecified dimensions (presumably a 5.2-inch panel), a HiSilicon Kirin 955 chipset, a Mali-T880 MP4 graphics chip, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal storage, and a 13-megapixel camera complemented by an 8 MP front-facing sensor. The smartphone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box likely to be covered by Huaweis proprietary Emotion UI (EMUI). As far as performance in AnTuTu v6.0 benchmark goes, the Huawei P9 powered by the Kirin 955 appears to score 96,043 points. In contrast, the Kirin 950 chipset is generally able to top around 85,000 points in the same test, so the Kirin 955 SoC clearly seems to represent a noteworthy upgrade over the Kirin 950. On the other hand, the Huawei P9 still falls behind the Meizu Pro 6 in AnTuTu v6.0. The latter is powered by a MediaTek Helio X25 10-core processor coupled with a Mali-T880 MP graphics chip and was able to score 99,948 points in AnTuTus benchmark. Advertisement Raw performance aside, the Huawei P9 is expected to feature a number of interesting, high-end features, such as a pressure sensitive display, a fingerprint scanner, a USB Type-C connector, and judging by a handful of recently leaked photos, the smartphone could also boast a dual-camera setup on the back panel, along with a two-tone dual-LED flash. The Huawei P9 should debut in a week from now on April 6 in London. As yet there are no official details regarding the Huawei P9s launch price, but judging by the Huawei P8s initial price, the sequel should cost roughly 350 or more, depending on storage options. These days our smartphones go wherever we go, they tell us how to get there, they help us get a ride home when weve had one too many, and they basically help us stay tethered to the outside world no matter where we are. As such, we end up using our smartphones in some, shall we say, interesting situations. Its well-documented that a lot of people use their smartphones while on the toilet, when cooking in the kitchen and well, pretty much everywhere else we find ourselves throughout the day. While modern humans often wash their hands frequently and have a good grasp on hygiene, our smartphones are the devices that end up picking all of this dirt and bacteria up from our travels. If you think shiny devices like the Galaxy S7 Edge pictured above are fingerprint magnets, youll need to think again, as theyre also magnets for all types of nasty bacteria, and you should be cleaning that phone of yours. Philip Tierno, a Microbiologist and Pathologist at the New York University School of Medicine suggests that it is wise to periodically clean your phone. Tierno goes on to say that he cleans his phone at the end of every day with a simple wipe and that while its okay to miss a day or two of cleaning, its unwise to never clean your device. This makes a lot of sense, even if it does sound a little bit over-the-top. All the bacteria that you innocently pick up throughout the day from opening doors, shaking hands, eating food and so on all end up on your smartphone. It sounds pretty much as though this is the modern day equivalent of dirty keyboards. During the late 90s and early 2000s it was common for stories of filthy keyboards harboring all sorts of germs and bacteria to hit the news, and just as weve learned to clean our keyboards, weve probably learnt to clean our smartphones. Advertisement Keeping a device clean is also just common sense, after all the better a device looks at the end of a contract or when you want to move up the ladder, the more itll be worth. Cleaning your device with a simple microfiber cloth will get the job done for the most part, but regularly cleaning with something a little more thorough probably wont hurt, and if you covet your smartphone like many of us do, youll want to keep it looking its best. The six-year-long legal battle between Oracle and Google over unlicensed usage of Java in Android OS continues. After both companies were accused of intentionally selecting discreditable jury earlier this month, the latest update regarding this neverending case concerns actual damages Oracle is demanding from Google. Specifically, the Redwood City-based company wants Google to pay no less than $9.3 billion for using portions of the Java platform in the most popular mobile OS in the world. Basically, Oracle is claiming Google needs a license to do that and is guilty of infringement, Google is claiming its controversial application of certain parts of Java code is protected by the US doctrine of fair use, and the jury cant decide in whose favor to rule since 2012 when the case originally went to trial. A new trial is therefore scheduled for May 9th and this latest estimation of damages comes from related court documents. The estimate was given by an unnamed expert hired by Oracle and could still be reduced before the trial officially begins, but right now its about 10 larger than what the company originally demanded from Google in 2012. Most of that figure specifically $8.829 billion pertains to profits apportioned to infringed copyrights while Oracle claims that its actual damages from Googles infringement amount to an additional $475 million. Naturally, Google has hired its very own damages expert who will undoubtedly give a significantly smaller estimate, though it remains to be seen how small exactly. While its still way too early to predict how long will the upcoming trial take to be resolved, we can guess that Google will pay about half of that $9.3 billion figure if it loses the case as thats how juries tend to settle disputes in which damages estimates vary as greatly as they do in this scenario. Naturally, a potential settlement between the two could result in Google paying even less. In any case, we can be sure that Oracles claim wont increase again in the future as the latest estimate takes all Android versions up to Marshmallow into account and as Google recently revealed, Android N and future iterations of its mobile OS will completely ditch Java. AT&T is once again looking for a phone that can cut out Google, but still run Android. There was the Amazon Fire Phone (and the various Facebook phones before that) all of which failed, miserably for the carrier. Cyanogen Incs CEO Kirt McMaster has been pretty blunt about making an OS that runs Android but doesnt use any of Googles services. Thats not something new its something that works well in China, mainly due to Google being blocked there but something that hasnt worked out too well in the US. According to this report, Cyanogen is supposedly working with ZTE to make this phone and itll be sold on AT&Ts network. The report actually sounds a whole lot like the Amazon Fire Phone. The reason that AT&T is so interested in a phone that doesnt run Google, is so that they can load it up with even more pre-installed apps. After all, AT&T does have a few services they want to push their users to use, like newly acquired DirecTV. Advertisement Things would break down with ZTE building the phone, Cyanogen making the software and AT&T selling and offering service for it. Right now it looks as if it would be exclusive to AT&T, which shouldnt be a big surprise. However, ZTE may not be in the running anymore, after the US government came after them for supplying Iran with electronics. Remember, Iran is under a trade embargo with the US, so this was not a good look for ZTE. There was a temporary export ban placed on ZTE, which has since been removed. But they should be treading lightly right about now. Cyanogen, before, has said that they could build an OS running on Android without Google. This isnt that surprising considering the fact that Microsoft has given them some funding, and weve seen Microsoft apps make their way into Cyanogen OS as of late. In fact, Cortana is already on Cyanogen OS devices that are already available. Cyanogen could also use Amazons suite of apps to fulfill other gaps in their OS, like the app store. Right now, its important to treat this as a report or a rumor. While it does come from The Information, which means its likely true, its still important to take this with a grain of salt. Of course as we learn more, well be sure to pass that along. Googles self-driving cars have been making their way across the United States, racking up millions of miles in test driving, both simulated and actual. Planned tests in Canada have been put on the table as well, though it may take a while for those plans to come to fruition. Even with all of the test tracks and cities that the autonomous automobiles show up in, there are a great many places where theyre still not authorized to conduct road tests. One of those places is Rhode Island, but that may soon change. Rhode Island Senator Joshua Miller put a bill on the table that could legalize self-driving cars. The new bill proposes to add some language to existing automobile laws, essentially stating that anybody with a valid drivers license can operate an autonomous vehicle in fully autonomous mode. Although autonomous vehicles arent explicitly banned in most areas, this situation can lead to a lack of clarity in regards to whether operating those vehicles is legal, as well as how liability issues, such as accidents, would be handled. Should the bill pass, Rhode Island would join Florida as one of the few states in the eastern half of the nation to make a law that explicitly speaks to the legality of fully autonomous vehicles of the sort that Google has been producing and testing. As the law would stand, only allowing licensed drivers to operate them, the sort of transportation revolution that some envision would not quite be possible. The law could always change after the fact, however, to accommodate unlicensed drivers, allowing for unowned cars and personal transport for those unable to drive. Advertisement According to the bill, the person who engaged the vehicles autonomous functions would be considered the driver for liability purposes. If the bill passes, it could set a precedent for future dealings with liability in autonomous vehicles, which has historically been a touchy subject. The issue with this is that it may clash with possible future allowances in the laws for disabled or otherwise non-driving individuals. In the case of Googles self-driving cars, this could mean that Google, the person in the car or the engineer that initially activated the vehicle could be held responsible. Similar legislation is on the table throughout the northeast U.S., mostly in the preliminary phases. In the smartphone world, there are rumors and then there are rumors. To differentiate, the first are ones which could be considered to be firm rumors (if there is such a thing), while the second are simply rumors, with no particular grounding other than the rumor itself. For the record, this falls very firmly into the second rumor category, but here are the details. According to BBCzech, a Czech BlackBerry focused website, there are two incoming BlackBerry Android smartphones set for 2016. Now the details are very light at the moment with the report not going into specifics on either of the two devices. However, the report does claim to have the information on good authority and that the two Android-powered BlackBerry smartphones will come with the codenames Hamburg and Rome. In terms of the difference, Rome is said to be the more high-end of the two and will adopt a similar approach to the BlackBerry PRIV, with both a touchscreen and hardware keyboard included. In contrast, Hamburg is said to be more of a mid-range device and one which will not sport a BlackBerry iconic keyboard and instead will only come with a touchscreen. Much of the rest of the details remain unknown. With the exception that Hamburg is said to be arriving in the Autumn of 2016, with Rome following later in the year and before 2016 closes out. Advertisement While there is little to go on, the names alone (if correct) do seem to be continuing the codename scheme in use with BlackBerry as the PRIV was noted coming with the codename Venice. Likewise, rumors have been circulating for months that BlackBerry was planning on introducing another handset, but one which was using the Vienna codename. However, this latest report looks to specifically squash that rumor and states that it is very unlikely that there is an incoming Vienna smartphone and instead only Hamburg and Rome. Of course, to balance the rumors, it was only a couple of days ago that reports came through detailing that BlackBerry could be preparing to exit the hardware sector altogether. Either way, these are the two latest, albeit contradicting, reports coming through on BlackBerrys Android future. When it comes to streaming music services, Android users have their pick from a handful of different options from Spotify, to Play Music, to Pandora, to Tidal, and now even Apple Music. Samsung device owners can also get their hands on Samsungs own streaming music offer called Milk Music, which at one point was rumored to be closing down and making way for Tidal as Samsung was rumored to be purchasing the streaming service. Samsung later confirmed that the Tidal acquisition was not true, but they did not comment on the nature of Milk Music shutting down. While Samsungs global plans for Milk Music still remain a mystery, as of today the company has confirmed that they will be closing down the Milk Music service in Australia. What this means for the remainder of Samsungs users of the service in other regions is still unclear, but with the service shutting down in at least one market that leaves the open the possibility that Samsung could be starting the service closure with Australia and moving to other regions around the world in the future. For those in the Australian market, Milk Music was not available for long, having just a little over one year in active status by the time Samsung plans to close the streaming service at the end of next month on April 28th, at which point customers will no longer be able to access the streaming music or cached music from the service. Advertisement While there is no way of knowing if Samsung has plans to close the service in other markets, for now, Milk Music will stay open in the U.S. and other regions. A situation like this may have seemed inevitable though as the streaming music market in Australia is reportedly very competitive, and with other offerings like Play Music and Spotify that can be installed by virtually any Android user from any device, Samsung had their work cut out for them with Milk Music as its limited to Samsungs Galaxy devices. Although the service will be closing for Australian Samsung device owners, they will be offering users the chance to sign up and become members of Googles Play Music starting with a three-month free trial period. Thats a total of AU$35.97 that Samsung is floating for each and every Milk Music customer in the country. Few will deny that Samsung Gear VR headset is a really cool gadget, and the good news is that Samsung will likely make it even cooler and more intuitive in the future. For example, why fiddle with the devices touchpad while its mounted on your head and youre browsing the Internet when you can simply stretch your neck for a bit and wave in order to select and click whatever it is that you want to select and click? Thats the basic idea of Samsungs latest patent which unofficially surfaced on the Internet just yesterday. More specifically, the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer is working on a sensor which can be installed on the side of the Gear VR headset and is capable of in-air gesture detection which triggers clickable events. So, would the act of opening something like a photo theoretically be as easy as waving in a couple of directions until its selected and then doing one final gesture in your hand in order to actually view it? As a matter of fact, it would be even easier than that as Samsungs latest invention connects cursor control to head movement while waving is only necessary for confirmation, i.e. actual clicking. As the patent which can be viewed at the link below explains, users can move their head left, right, up, and down for the purposes of cursor control and general navigation, while focusing on a part of an image, activating an app icon, or selecting a menu option is as easy as waving once over the side of the headset where the motion-detecting sensor is located. Unfortunately, the discovered parts of these documents dont go into great detail regarding the actual specifics of Samsungs latest invention so we cant be sure whether this sensor can differ between different motions, i.e. gestures. Theres no doubt the actual documentation is much more specific as it was just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office in late February which surely wouldnt have happened if the patent was as vague as the sensor knows when you wave and pretends youve actually pressed a button when that happens. In case youre still on the fence about whether to purchase Gear VR or not and also happen to be looking for a new smartphone, you can still get the headset for free if you order either the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge by the end of the month. Mobile payments are more of a thing now than they have ever been in the past, and users have their choice of more than a single option. Samsung Pay is one of those options and while it is only available on a selection of Samsungs Galaxy devices, it is the most compatible when it comes to supported businesses thanks to the use of the MST technology inside of Samsung Pays software. This enabled it to work at any institution where you could normally swipe a credit or debit card. The app will still have to support your bank of course, which is no different from other options like Android Pay, and as of an earlier announcement today Samsung has just added support for a handful of new banks and credit unions to expand the compatibility of the application and service for more users in the U.S.. This is in addition to the support they have added this morning for 9 different Chinese banks. While Samsung Pay already supports a pretty large number of the major banking institutions and credit unions within the U.S., todays update brings in support for Fidelity, Old National, BHCU, Bank of England, Altra Federal Credit Union, Benchmark Federal Credit Union, Blackhawk Community Credit Union, Founders Federal Credit Union, Greater Texas Federal Credit Union, Henrico Federal Credit Union, Kern Schools Federal Credit Union, Justice Federal Credit Union, MSU Federal Credit Union, NuMark Credit Union, Star One Credit Union, and TruWest Credit Union. Advertisement While 16 new supported banks and credit unions is a decent addition to the continually growing list, there are still many banks and credit unions around the country which have yet to add support, and these will mostly be the smaller banks and credit unions that customers will be waiting on. Beyond that, Samsung Pay users will also want to familiarize themselves with which cards their bank issues which are also supported by the Samsung Pay platform, as Samsung notes that not all cards from each supported bank or credit union will be compatible. If your bank or credit union wasnt included as one of the 16 new institutions that were added today, theres a chance you may have missed it gaining support previously, and you can check the full list from Samsungs support page for the service, which will also be where you can find which cards from which banks are compatible with the app. Samsung is no stranger to the ups and downs of business and, despite years of going nowhere but up, 2015 and 2014 saw the firm lose profits compared to previous years. Its arguable that to expect any company to keep on rising at the sort of growth that Samsung were experiencing is naive, but Samsung seems to be back on track, getting back to normal so to speak. Analysts are predicting Samsung to post Q1 2016 results that will not only meet, but exceed them. Coming off the back of the newly-launched Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge its not surprising that Samsung will have a good Q1 2016, but it is encouraging to hear that theyll be doing better than expected. Reports out of South Korea point to Samsung posting as much as 6 Trillion Won ($5.14 Billion) during the first quarter of the year. This is not only a slight improvement over last years 5.98 Trillion Won from the same period last year, but an improvement over earlier analyst suggestions that Samsungs profit could fall to as low as 4 Trillion Won. Previously, figures collected from 24 different sources suggested Samsung reaching 5.17 Trillion Won in profit, but since a successful launch of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, this figure has been revised and improved upon. Its said that the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge have reached shipments of 10 Million units combined, all this in just 20 days or so after the official March 11th launch date. Advertisement With the return of water-resistance as well the microSD card slot, its no wonder people are excited about the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. While these figures arent final, and are only predictions from analysts, it appears as though Samsung have made the most of their recent device launch. As big names all across the spectrum struggle to make inroads into important markets like China, Samsung is still doing well in North America, and has become a big name in India, another important market in the East. As the first three months of 2016 come to a close, we should know more about Samsungs Q1 2016 figures, but for now we only have predictions to go on. In case youve purchased your brand new Samsung Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge from Verizon or have ordered the Verizon version of either device from Best Buy, you may have already been using your device for almost three weeks when the first pre-orders started shipping. Unfortunately, it probably wasnt long until youve realized that your latest and greatest flagship doesnt come with a preinstalled version of Samsungs default web browser. While that was only an inconvenience, the real problem was the fact that the said app was listed as incompatible with S7 and S7 Edge on Google Play Store. Neither Verizon nor Samsung made any official statements on the issue for weeks but luckily, that issue is no more as of yesterday. Specifically, simultaneously with the release of the latest, 4.0 version of Samsungs Internet browser, the app also got updated with support for both Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. At the time of writing this, the app has already been out for over 24 hours in all parts of the world, so you should definitely be able to download it from the Play Store if you search for Samsung Internet for Android, i.e. its official and completely non-catchy name. The apparently-not-so-integrated-mobile-browser support for these two Verizons devices also came at a pretty great moment in time because the said update features a whole bunch of long-sought improvements and novelty features which owners of Samsung smartphones and tablets have been waiting for months, if not years. Probably the most important thing from that lot is the new API which Samsung has released in order to enable mobile developers to create third-party ad-blocking extensions for its browser. Other than that, Samsung Internet for Android now also boasts the so-called Secret Mode which is focused on privacy and basically functions as Google Chromes Incognito mode. In other words, it gives you the option of browsing the Internet without cookies, saved web form data, stored browsing history, and anything else of the sort. Other cool features include Secure Web Auto Login, KNOX support, Content Cards, and many more things. So, Samsungs Android browser now not only supports Verizons versions of S7 and S7 Edge but has also never been a more viable option for browsing the Internet from ones smartphone than it is at this very moment. (ANSA) - Cairo, March 30 - Egyptian National Prosecutor Ahmed Nabil Sadeq and Rome Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone have agreed to continue exchanging information until those who tortured and murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo are brought to justice, the Cairo prosecutor's office said in a statement Wednesday. The two prosecutors spoke Monday on the phone. Also on Wednesday, the Rome prosecutor's office dismissed as "unreliable" a tip that Regeni's vicious murder may be linked to an archeological artifacts-trafficking gang. The tip came in an anonymous letter delivered to the Italian embassy in Cairo. The chair of the parliamentary intelligence committee COPASIR also dismissed as "a hoax" the allegation that Regeni may have been implicated in archeological trafficking "It is another fabrication that offends his memory," said Senator Giacomo Stucchi. (ANSA) - The Hague, March 30 - Italy's representative told an arbitration tribunal in The Hague on Wednesday that Italian marine Salvatore Girone must be allowed to return to his homeland otherwise he risks four more years in India. Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. He has been not been able to leave India, aside from a few brief permits, since the incident. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is back in Italy after having a stroke in 2014. The Italian government has taken the marines case to international arbitration after repeated delays in the handling of it in India. Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal, said Wednesday that the arbitration "could last at least three or four years" which means that Girone risks "being held in (New) Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight years". Azzarello added that this would amount to a "grave violation of his human rights". "Girone is forced to live thousands of kilometres from his family, with two small children, deprived of his freedom and his rights," said the ambassador. "The damage to his rights regards Italy, which is suffering severe and irreversible detriment by his detention, and the exercise of jurisdiction by an Italian State body". Azzarello said that the marines were involved in the incident relating to the Enrica Lexie ship while on an anti-piracy mission for the State and therefore benefit from immunity. He also said that India had not "respected the basic principle of due process" - that of "presenting a charge". India said in written observations to the tribunal that Italy's petition for Girone's return to Italy was "inadmissible". "There is the risk that Girone would not return to India in the case that Delhi were recognised to have jurisdiction," said the observations deposited on February 26 and made public on Wednesday. India said it would need "assurances" in this regard from Italy to allow Girone to return, adding that those given by Rome up to now were "insufficient". New Delhi also stressed that "Salvatore Girone is not in prison. He lives in the residence of the Italian ambassador in New Delhi". Therefore, it argued that Girone lived "well" and in "reasonable conditions", saying his family can visit him. "What is truly irreversible is the death of the two (Indian) fishermen," it added. Azzarello dismissed these assertions. "The only reason why Sergeant Girone is not authorised to leave India is that he represents a guarantee that Italy will make him return to Delhi for an eventual future trial," he said. "But a human being cannot be used as a guarantee of the conduct of a State. "Italy has already made the commitment to respect any decision of this tribunal and it intends to reiterate it in the most solemn way. He said this included a commitment to "take Girone back to India" if the arbitration recognised Indian jurisdiction. The tribunal is set to give its decision of the petition for Girone to return to Italy in a month. "It's not a question of being optimistic or pessimistic, but obviously Italy is hopeful, based on its solid humanitarian and legal reasoning, otherwise it would not have come here," Azzarello told reporters at the fringes of a hearing on Wednesday. The marines case is on the agenda of Wednesday's EU-India summit in Brussels, ANSA sources said Tuesday. The meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker will also discuss the case of six British security guards and 14 Estonian nationals who have been handed jail terms by India for illegal possession of arms on a ship. (see related) (ANSA) - The Hague, March 30 - India said in written observations handed in to The Hague arbitration tribunal on the marines case that Italy's petition for Salvatore Girone's return to Italy was "inadmissible". "There is the risk that Girone would not return to India in the case that Delhi were recognised to have jurisdiction," said the observations deposited on February 26 and made public on Wednesday. India said it would need "assurances" in this regard from Italy to allow Girone to return, adding that those given by Rome up to now were "insufficient". New Delhi also stressed that "Salvatore Girone is not in prison. He lives in the residence of the Italian ambassador in New Delhi". Therefore, it argued that Girone lived "well" and in "reasonable conditions", saying his family can visit him. "What is truly irreversible is the death of the two (Indian) fishermen," it added. The representative of the Indian government, Neeru Chadha, will address the tribunal later on Wednesday. (ANSA) - Chicago, March 30 - Italy is attracting businesses and investments once more thanks to his administration's wide-ranging reforms, Premier Matteo Renzi told reporters Wednesday during a visit to the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) near Chicago. "Italy is a stable country once more - thanks to the government's reforms," Renzi said. "The plus sign has finally reappeared after three years of (economic) crisis. There is a general economic slowdown but we have returned to the group of those who have a plus sign," he added. "Now we must work out how to invest more, from ultra wideband to infrastructure to research". He added that "in my first three years in office I did what should have been done 20 years ago. In the next two, we will focus on the future - we will work out the Italy of the next 20 years". (ANSA) - Chicago, March 30 - Italian exports to the United States grew from 29 to 36 billion euros in 2015, Premier Matteo Renzi said in Chicago on what is the second stop on his three-day mission. "We are investing in research, innovation and education," the premier added. "All the conditions are there for Italy to attract investments. Tomorrow we will seal an important deal with IBM," Renzi told reporters. "If we stop arguing (among ourselves) Italy is a growth country, one that creates jobs, value and culture," he added. (ANSA) - Geneva, March 30 - Italy is in the front line in the refugee crisis and has saved hundreds of thousands of lives in the Mediterranean, 3,700 in the last five days alone, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Wednesday at the UN's High-Level Conference on Syrian refugees. Addressing the one-day conference in Geneva, Gentiloni illustrated Italy's initiative of humanitarian corridors, "which can be an initiative that can be emulated by other countries". As for Syrian refugees in particular, Gentiloni said Italy had agreed to take 1,500 more people by the end of 2017 within the framework of the ongoing EU-funded reception programme, as well as facilitating visas for families to reunite. The EU has agreed a 'one in, one out' programme with Turkey to return new Syrian arrivals from Greece, with Ankara taking back one economic migrant for every refugee whose asylum claim is recognised. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Geneva conference more needs to be done to provide resettlement and other answers for their plight. "We are here to address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time...This demands an exponential increase in global solidarity," he told the gathering at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, attended by the representatives of 92 countries together with governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Some 4.8 million Syrians have been forced to flee across borders by five years of war, while another 6.6 million are internally displaced. While talks are underway to find lasting peace, the UN chief said more countries need to step up and provide solutions for Syrian refugees. (see related) (ANSA) - The Hague, March 30 - Italy told an arbitration tribunal in The Hague on Wednesday that Italian marine Salvatore Girone was being illegitimately used as a human security by India. "The only reason why Sergeant Girone is not authorised to leave India is that he represents a guarantee that Italy will make him return to Delhi for an eventual future trial," said Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal. "But a human being cannot be used as a guarantee of the conduct of a State". Azzarello dismissed India's assertion that Italy would not make Girone return even if the tribunal eventually ruled that New Delhi had jurisdiction over the case regarding allegations that he and another Italian marine killed two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. "Italy has already made the commitment to respect any decision of this tribunal and it intends to reiterate it in the most solemn way," Azzarello said. He said this included a commitment to "take Girone back to India" if the arbitration recognised Indian jurisdiction. (ANSA) - The Hague, March 30 - Italy's representative told an international tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Wednesday that Italian marine Salvatore Girone must be allowed to return to his homeland otherwise he risks being held in India another four years without charge. This would violate his human rights and the principle of due process, Ambassador Francesco Azzarello told the court. Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. In spite of the fact that India has not brought charges he has been not been allowed to leave - aside from a few brief permits - since the incident. Fellow serviceman Massimiliano Latorre is back in Italy after suffering a stroke in 2014. Italy has taken the marines case to international arbitration after repeated delays in its handling by India. Azzarello said the arbitration might last another three to four years, which means that Girone risks "being held in (New) Delhi, without any charges being brought, for seven to eight years in total". This, he said, would be a "serious violation of his human rights". "Girone is forced to live thousands of kilometres from his family (and) two small children, deprived of his freedom and his rights," said the ambassador. "Italy is suffering severe and irreversible damage by his detention". Azzarello said India has not "respected the basic principle of due process - that of bringing a charge". India replied that the four-year delay in charging the marines was due not to negligence but to Italian obstructionism in lodging repeated appeals and petitions. "Italy cannot now complain of the consequences of its conduct," Neeru Chadha said. She further argued that Girone must not be sent back, because the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) last summer turned down Italy's appeal to let him come home. "Nothing has changed since then," Chanda told the court. "From the Indian point of view, it is difficult to...justify a new request" and such a plea is therefore "inadmissible", Chandra said. The tribunal is set to rule on Italy's petition in a month. (see related) (ANSA) - The Hague, March 30 - An arbitration tribunal in The Hague was told Wednesday that the rights of both Italy and Italian marine Salvatore Girone were being hit by his inability to leave India. "Girone is forced to live thousands of kilometres from his family, with two small children, deprived of his freedom and his rights," said Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal. "The damage to his rights regards Italy, which is suffering severe and irreversible detriment by his detention, and the exercise of jurisdiction by an Italian State body". Azzarello said that the marines were involved the incident relating to the Enrica Lexie ship while on an anti-piracy mission for the State and therefore benefit from immunity. He also said that India had not "respected the basic principle of due process" - that of "presenting a charge". (ANSA) - Jerusalem, March 30 - Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said Wednesday that he saw eye-to-eye with Avigdor Lieberman after meeting the head of the right-wing nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party on the second day of his visit to Israel. He said he agreed with Lieberman, who has previously held a variety of cabinet positions, including foreign minister and deputy prime minister, on issues including the European Union, the asylum-seeker crisis and Turkey. "Lieberman expressed all his doubts about Europe, an entity that has lost its identity, denying its Judeo-Christian roots. He called it a soulless Europe," said Salvini, whose party is Euroskeptic and takes hardline stances on migration issues. "Lieberman was extremely hard (on Turkey), calling it a dictatorship and I support that - never mind entry to Europe". Salvini said that the pair also agreed on the need to intervene "in any way possible" against ISIS, including with action on the ground, "above all in Libya". He said they both thought that migrant flows brought "dangers of all kinds". Salvini also visited Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and blasted Islamist extremists as today's Nazis. "The new Nazis are those who kill in the name of Allah," he said. "No one should look the other way, as we did then, when faced with new lunatics who spill the blood of innocents. "If Hitler had been stopped, there wouldn't have been six million deaths. "If today someone thinks that it's possible to talk to the new Nazis, it reminds me of Europe of the 1930s". (ANSA) - Rome, March 30 - Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Wednesday hailed the arrival in Tripoli of Libya's presidential council as a step towards a national-unity government. "It is another step forward for the stabilisation of Libya. On the basis of the determination of Premier (Fayyez al-) Serraj and the presidential council fresh progress is now possible for the Libyan people. Italy has always been in the front line with numerous diplomatic initiatives for the goal of the stabilisation of Libya". A national-unity government is the essential prerequisite for stabilising the north African country. (ANSA) - The Hague, March 30 - Italy's representative told an arbitration tribunal in the Hague on Wednesday that Italian marine Salvatore Girone must be allowed to return to his homeland otherwise he risks four more years in India. Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. He has been not been able to leave India, aside from a few brief permits, since the incident. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is back in Italy after having a stroke in 2014. The Italian government has taken the marines case to international arbitration after repeated delays in the handling it in India. Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal, said Wednesday that the arbitration "could last at least three or four years" which means that Girone risks "being held in (New) Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight years". Azzarello added that this would amount to a "grave violation of his human rights". GENEVA - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday opened the high-level conference in Geneva focusing on refugees from Syria by saying participants needed to confront the ''greatest crisis'' of refugees and displaced people of our times and calling for an exponential increase in ''global solidarity''. The conference is set to focus on the need to significantly widen resettlement programs and other responses to this crisis. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called on representatives of about 100 countries gathered in Geneva to ''act with solidarity'', working on new and additional pathways for the admission of Syrian refugees. Ban opened a conference on securing resettlement places for those displaced by the Syrian conflict. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that at least 10% of the 4.8 million refugees who have fled to neighboring countries need to resettle or require another form of admission to a third country. Ban said the 480,000 figure was a ''relatively small number'' compared with those being hosted by Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Grandi (UNHCR), alternative avenues for Syrians. Resettlements to other countries and visas for education, work ''We can't respond to the refugee crisis by closing doors and erecting barriers. The magnitude of this particular crisis shows us unmistakably that it cannot be business as usual, leaving the greatest burden to be carried by the countries closest to the conflict'', UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the conference. ''Offering alternative avenues for the admission of Syrian refugees must become part of the solution, together with investing in helping the countries in the region'', said Grandi. He noted that other pathways include more flexible mechanisms for family reunification, such as ''extended family members, labour mobility schemes, student visas, scholarships, as well as visas for medical reasons.'' The resettlement of refugees must extend to new countries, he also noted, observing that last year only 12% of refugees in need of resettlement, who are usually the most vulnerable, were resettled. For Grandi, humanitarian visas and those for students, work permits and the possibility to reunite a family would be secure pathways for many other refugees, including those who are most at risk of falling into the hands of traffickers or have the competence and talent that will be necessary one day to rebuild Syria. Grandi recalled that almost five million Syrian refugees have fled to neighboring countries and only half of the 12 billion dollars pledged in aid for Syria and the region at a recent conference in London have actually been donated. In Europe - he finally observed - the attention has moved from hosting refugees to boosting restrictions and closing borders. As a result, some 55,000 refugees and migrants in Greece are in desperate conditions. MOSCOW - ''Terrorism is the real problem. It is directly supported by Turkey. It is directly supported by Saudi Arabia's royal family and by a certain number of western states, in particular by France and the United Kingdom'', Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Sputnik, a media close to the Kremlin. ''We must fight terrorism at an international level because it does not only involve Syria: there is also terrorism in Iraq'', he added. The migration flow from Syria is not only due to ''terrorism and the security issue'' but also to ''sanctions introduced by the West'' against Damascus, also said the Syrian president. ''Many have left areas where there is no terrorism due to the living conditions'', he added. ''This is why, as a State, we must move forward, at least on a basic level, to improve the economic situation and the services sector. It is what we are doing in terms of reconstruction, even before the crisis is over, so as to reduce migrant flows''. Syria's transition phase must occur ''within the framework of the current constitution'' and must provide for a ''government of national unity'' including ''various political forces'', Syrian President Bashar al Assad also said. This government, he continued, must include members of the opposition, independent candidates, members of the current government and others. The primary objective of the national unity government would be to ''work for the new constitution and make the Syrian people vote for it'', only afterwards the transition to the new constitution ''can take place''. Speaking about Syria's reconstruction process, the Syrian president, whose position has been boosted by the last victories on the ground, said it will be mainly be entrusted to Russian, Chinese and Iranian companies , countries that have remained allies throughout the crisis. ''Naturally - he added - western countries will instruct their firms to take part in the reconstruction, which is a profitable process for the companies but we will be asking first to countries that have supported Syria during the crisis - Russia, China and Iran''. PALERMO - An oil spill that occurred recently west of the Kerkenna Islands in Tunisia raised concern in Italy over potential effects on the coasts and the beaches of the Pelagie Islands. A state of alert was announced and an assessment of the protected marine area was conducted to understand the oceanographic dynamics and the odds of the oil moving towards the Italian archipelago. The data gathered in recent days included in the 'Bollettino Straordinario Dispersione Idrocarburi' issued by the IAMC-CNR oceanography group of Oristano show that in the 24 hours after the spill, the oil moved towards the coasts of the Kerkenna Islands and not towards the Pelagie. ''The incident in Tunisia shows, nonetheless, how dangerous extractive activities are in the Mediterranean,'' Lampedusa mayor Giusi Nicolini said, ''and how important it is to safeguard the environmental health and the beauty of the Pelagie sea and that of all the small islands of the Mediterranean, since they belong to the environmental heritage of the country and that their inhabitants get sustenance exclusively from fishing and tourism.'' The marine protected area of the Pelagie islands, managed by the Lampedusa municipality, in any case immediately asked the environment ministry for a permanent presence in the archipelago of an anti-pollution boat in order to be able to intervene quickly and bolster the effectiveness of the actions. The ministry ordered the immediate intervention in the archipelago of one of the six anti-pollution vehicles deployed along the Sicilian coasts, as a preventative measure should the two islands be threatened by similar sources of pollution. Mideast: Israel, Arab Israelis hold general strike today Anniversary of 1976 Land Day against confiscations (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MARCH 30 - Israel's Arab population on Wednesday will be holding a general strike and demonstrating on the 40th anniversary of Land Day, commemorating protests on March 30, 1976, against the confiscation of Arab lands ordered by the Israeli government. Six demonstrators were shot dead by police in the ensuing violence. The Arab population, at the initiative of the United Arab List (the third party in the Knesset with 13 MPs out of 120), will participate Wednesday in gatherings and marches in the Negev and Galilee. The main demands, explained party leader Ayman Odeh, concern the recognition of Arab villages still considered as 'illegal' and significant funding to help the economy of the Arab population. (ANSAmed) Migrants: 1,500 arrivals in single day, Emergency in Sicily 'Central Med migration route being used again', says NGO (ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 30 - The humanitarian NGO Emergency is providing healthcare assistance to approximately 800 migrants that have disembarked in the Sicilian town of Augusta from the Italian Navy's 'Aliseo' vessel. Over 1,500 migrants have arrived in the past 24 hours. ''The numbers seen in these days confirm that there has been a significant resumption of the central Mediterranean migration route,'' the NGO's cultural mediator Khalid told ANSA. He said that he had been especially touched by the story of the numerous families that disembarked on Tuesday in Pozzallo. One young couple from Gambia had left on a dinghy towards Italy after spending six months in Libya. ''When they told me that their daughter was named Aida,'' the man said, ''I did not know whether to be more surprised by the name - taken from the (Italian, Ed.) opera - or by the fact that at only two years old, Aida had already spent a month in Libyan jails and crossed the Strait of Sicily in a dinghy.'' Hundreds of other people from Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Gambia, Eritrea and Ethiopia had travelled alongside the couple to Italy. Some 730 in total, including young men, women and children rescued in several different operations only a few miles from the Libyan coasts and taken onto the Siem Pilot, a Norwegian-flagged ship taking part in the Frontex mission. Emergency was in Pozzallo on Tuesday with a team that included a general physician, a nurse and two cultural mediators. No specific medical problems were recorded, but nine pregnant women were transferred for check-ups to local healthcare facilities. Emergency has been working in Sicily since 2015 with two mobile clinic to provide healthcare assistance to migrants when they land on the island. (ANSAmed). Assad: transition with current Constitution, then vote Syria's reconstruction to firms from Russia, China, Iran (ANSAmed) - MOSCOW, MARCH 30 - Syria's transition phase must occur ''within the framework of the current constitution'' and must provide for a ''government of national unity'' including ''various political forces'', Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Sputnik. This government, he continued, must include members of the opposition, independent candidates, members of the current government and others. The primary objective of the national unity government would be to ''work for the new constitution and make the Syrian people vote for it'', only afterwards the transition to the new constitution ''can take place''. Speaking about Syria's reconstruction process, the Syrian president, whose position has been boosted by the last victories on the ground, said it will be mainly be entrusted to Russian, Chinese and Iranian companies - or those from countries that have remained allies throughout the crisis. ''Naturally - he added - western countries will ainstruct their firms to take part in the reconstruction, which is a profitable process for the companies but we will be asking first to countries that have supported Syria during the crisis - Russia, China and Iran''. (ANSAmed) Gentiloni hails step forward to stabilising Libya 'Now more progress possible' (ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 30 - Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Wednesday hailed the arrival in Tripoli of Libya's presidential council as a step towards a national-unity government. "It is another step forward for the stabilisation of Libya. On the basis of the determination of Premier (Fayyez al-) Serraj and the presidential council fresh progress is now possible for the Libyan people. Italy has always been in the front line with numerous diplomatic initiatives for the goal of the stabilisation of Libya". A national-unity government is the essential prerequisite for stabilising the north African country. (ANSAmed). Gentiloni urges Egypt to improve on Regeni case 'If we don't have convincing responses, we'll take next steps' (ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 30 - Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Wednesday said Egypt must improve its investigative cooperation with Italy on the Giulio Regeni case, or Italy would "take the next steps". Regeni, 28, was an Italian doctoral student who was tortured and murdered in Cairo earlier this year. "Faced with lack of cooperation, we'll evaluate the possible measures, but we hope that relations between Italy and Egypt can make way for the improvements necessary. If that's not the case, I repeat, we will be very ready to consider the consequences," Gentiloni told Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Gentiloni rejected the various stories presented by the Egyptian government to explain Regeni's killing. "The endless stream of improbable leads multiplies the family's pain and offends the entire country," he said. Regeni went missing in the Egyptian capital on January 25, and his mutilated body was found on February 3 in a ditch on the city's outskirts. In the interview, Gentiloni also spoke of Italy's position in working towards political stability in Libya, and said it was "not an Italian position but one of the entire international community". "It needs to be pursued, taking into account that time isn't unlimited," Gentiloni said. He said military action as the only option in Libya could be "counterproductive". "There are 5,000 Daesh (ISIS) fighters, but 200,000 local and Islamic militia members, many of whom could transfer to the ranks of the jihadists," he said. "Today Daesh is seen as a foreign presence being fought by Libyan forces. The danger is in increasing the water they're swimming in with an exclusively military response". (ANSAmed). Hollande drops plan to strip terror convicts of citizenship 'Terror threat never this high, strong EU action needed' (ANSAmed) - PARIS, MARCH 30 - French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday announced at the Elysee, after a council of ministers, that he is dropping a constitutional reform plan promised four months ago in the wake of terror attacks. Hollande, whose popularity dropped to a new record low of 18% yesterday, will not be gathering both houses for an extraordinary congress in Versailles to make lawmakers vote to include in the constitutional charter the state of emergency and to strip terror convicts of their French citizenship. Leaving the customary council of ministers held Wednesday at the Elysee, Hollande announced he had ''decided to close the constitutional debate'' because he had not succeeded in getting backing for his proposal. The most controversial rule, which divided the majority and was opposed by the right, concerned stripping convicted terrorists with a dual citizenship of their French nationality. Such a measure would have been impossible for those with just one passport as they would have become stateless. ''I will not stir from the engagements I have taken to guarantee the country's security'', added the head of state. The terror threat ''has never been this high'', stressed Hollande in a live message to French citizens, announcing he was giving up on the constitutional reform. ''The war will still be long'' and ''determined action at a European level is necessary'', he added. (ANSAmed). Libya: Sarraj declares national unity gov't in force Reports Al Jazeera (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MARCH 30 - Fayez Al Sarraj on Wednesday declared the entering into force of the national unity government, reported Al Jazeera with a live broadcast of a short statement made by the prime minister-designate. "Unify Libyan efforts against the Islamic State (ISIS)'', said AL-Sarraj, in the statement released in Tripoli and broadcast by Al Jazeera. In reading the text, Sarraj underscored his ''attachment to national conciliation'' and the desire to ''keep faith with the principles of the February 17 revolution'' in 2011 that led to the fall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime. He also noted his ''attachment to state institutions with the participation of all Libyans'' and the ''ceasefire''.(ANSAmed). CAIRO - The television station Al Jazeera and a Libyan broadcaster announced on Wednesday the arrival in Tripoli of the presidential council under Prime Minister-Designate Fayez Al-Sarraj. An Al Jazeera correspondent reported the presidential council had arrived in Tripoli, while Libya's Channel said that the president and members of the presidential council of the national unity agreement had arrived in Tripoli. The outlet also confirmed that Sarraj had arrived. Several Libyan media outlets reported that the Libyan presidential council had arrived in Tripoli via sea at the Abusetta naval base. Migrants: Grandi (UNHCR), alternative avenues for Syrians Resettlements to other countries and visas for education, work (ANSAmed) - GENEVA, MARCH 30 - ''We can't respond to the refugee crisis by closing doors and erecting barriers. The magnitude of this particular crisis shows us unmistakably that it cannot be business as usual, leaving the greatest burden to be carried by the countries closest to the conflict'', UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Wednesday told a high-level UN conference on Syrian refugees. ''Offering alternative avenues for the admission of Syrian refugees must become part of the solution, together with investing in helping the countries in the region'', said Grandi. He noted that other pathways include more flexible mechanisms for family reunification, such as ''extended family members, labour mobility schemes, student visas, scholarships, as well as visas for medical reasons.'' The resettlement of refugees must extend to new countries, he also noted, observing that last year only 12% of refugees in need of resettlement, who are usually the most vulnerable, were resettled. For Grandi, humanitarian visas and those for students, work permits and the possibility to reunite a family would be secure pathways for many other refugees, including those who are most at risk of falling into the hands of traffickers or have the competence and talent that will be necessary one day to rebuild Syria. Grandi recalled that almost five million Syrian refugees have fled to neighboring countries and only half of the 12 billion dollars pledged in aid for Syria and the region at a recent conference in London have actually been donated. In Europe - he finally observed - the attention has moved from hosting refugees to boosting restrictions and closing borders. As a result, some 55,000 refugees and migrants in Greece are in desperate conditions. (ANSAmed) Migrants: Turkey to set up first camp for readmission 5,000-person capacity in Manisa on the Aegean coast (ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MARCH 30 - The first camp to receive Syrian refugees sent back to Turkey from Greece as part of an agreement with the EU will be built in the western province of Manisa, near the Aegean Coast. The camp will be able to hold up to 5,000 people, the deputy director of the Turkish Red Crescent, Kerem Kinik, told the state-owned news agency Anadolu. He did not say when they expected it to be completed. On the basis of the agreement signed with Brussels, the readmission into Turkey of Syrians that arrived in Europe starting from March 20 should start on Monday. At the moment, however, it is not clear where they will be taken. The Red Crescent already hosts about 250,000 Syrian refugees in 22 camps in the southeastern part of the country. Over 90% of the 2.7 million Syrians in Turkey live outside of organized facilities. (ANSAmed). MOSCOW - Moscow expressed ''disappointment'' over the decision taken by western countries who blocked a UN Security Council statement on the liberation of Palmyra drafted by the Russians. ''We thought - said the spokesman of the foreign ministry quoted by Tass - that the delay in reactions by western capitals concerning the liberation of Palmyra was a coincidence: it appears now clear that it is a systematic approach''. Meanwhile China has appointed a special envoy for Syria ''for a political solution'' in a country torn by a domestic and regional war. According to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, quoted today by the pan Arab press, the 62-year-old Chinese diplomat Xie Xiaoyan, a former ambassador to Iran, Ethiopia and the African Union, has been tasked with following negotiations between the sides, ongoing in Geneva, to support the process that leads to a ''political solution''. China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has always followed in Russia's footsteps of unconditional support to Damascus, Moscow's staunch ally. In this context, Beijing has used four times its veto power in favor of the Syrian government, the last time to block a resolution to start an investigation on war crimes committed in the country. The Chinese government has however shown interest in gaining contacts with exiled oppositions supported by western countries and Arab countries of the Gulf. Over the last year, delegations of Syrian members of the opposition living in exile have been invited by the Chinese foreign ministry. The last time was in January, a few days after the visit to Beijing of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Muallim. Terrorism: Assad - Ankara Riyadh Paris and London support it 'Migrant crisis caused by western sanctions against Syria' (ANSAmed) - MOSCOW, MARCH 30 - ''Terrorism is the real problem. It is directly supported by Turkey. It is directly supported by Saudi Arabia's royal family and by a certain number of western states, in particular by France and the United Kingdom'', Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Sputnik, a media close to the Kremlin. ''We must fight terrorism at an international level because it does not only involve Syria: there is also terrorism in Iraq'', he added. The migration flow from Syria is not only due to ''terrorism and the security issue'' but also to ''sanctions introduced by the West'' against Damascus, also said the Syrian president. ''Many have left areas where there is no terrorism due to the living conditions'', he added. ''This is why, as a State, we must move forward, at least on a basic level, to improve the economic situation and the services sector. It is what we are doing in terms of reconstruction, even before the crisis is over, so as to reduce migrant flows''. (ANSAmed). Al Mehairi is the first female Emirati to be named general manager of a region at the airline. In total, more than 130 Emirati women are employed in various management development programs as part of the airlines workforce. Based in Toronto, Al Mehairi will lead the further development of the airlines commercial strategy in Canada. She will also be responsible for further growing Etihad Airways relationships with its travel trade and corporate customers and will report to Martin Drew, Senior Vice President of The Americas for Etihad Airways. Al Mehairi joined Etihad Airways in 2010 as part of the airlines Graduate Management Program, where she was trained in multiple aspects of Etihad Airways fast-growing operations. As the national airline of the UAE, Etihad Airways is committed to developing a successful Emirati leadership team and we value the important roles that Emirati women have at our airline, said Martin Drew, senior vice president of The Americas - Etihad Airways. We are especially pleased to announce the appointment of Fatma to this key leadership position. Fatma has a wealth of experience with Etihad Airways and her dedication to our company makes her an invaluable addition to the team in Toronto and in The Americas. Al Mehairi who assumes her new role this week, replaces Craig Thomas, who has been appointed vice president - U.S.A. for Etihad Airways. As a proud graduate of Etihad Airways Graduate Managers Development Programme and now a part of the Americas team, I look forward to further increasing our already strong commercial ties within Canada an important market for our airline and raising awareness among corporate customers about the unmatched world-class product and hospitality offerings we provide for our guests, said Al Mehairi. The addition of Birmingham marks the fourth U.K. gateway for Qatar Airways after London Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh, with the eight weekly services operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker said: We are delighted to commence services to Birmingham, our fourth U.K gateway. This vibrant and economically powerful region represents an important addition to our worldwide network and is a testament to our commitment to the U.K. Passengers now have access to more than 150 global destinations, accessed via 73 flights per week from the U.K., facilitated by smooth transfers through our home and hub, Hamad International Airport. Qatar Airways now operates 73 flights per week to the U.K., with 42 flights per week to London Heathrow, 16 to Manchester, seven to Edinburgh and eight to Birmingham, from its state-of-the-art hub, Hamad International Airport. Hamad International Airport offers 40,000 square metres of combined retail, food and beverage facilities, establishing the airport as a premier shopping and dining destination. With more than 70 retail outlets offering an unprecedented selection of designer labels, high street fashion, electronics and gourmet foods, the airport also features an airside hotel, complete with swimming pool, squash courts and spa. The British Ambassador to Qatar, Ajay Sharma said I was delighted to be able to travel on the inaugural flight from Doha to Birmingham. The launch of this new route will open up further opportunities for both Qatar and the U.K. Just like Doha, Birmingham and the surrounding area is host to a number of investment projects and tourist destinations that will appeal to investors and visitors. I am certain that this route will successfully enhance the partnership between our two countries. Birmingham Airport chief executive officer, Paul Kehoe added: We are extremely excited to be welcoming Qatar Airways to Birmingham Airport. Connecting the economically vibrant West Midlands region with the rapidly developing capital city of Doha will be hugely beneficial to passengers at both ends of the route. Additionally, the large selection of onward connections on Qatars network gives our long-haul travellers access to more of the most popular destinations around the world from Birmingham. Le CBD, cette molecule active du cannabis a aujourdhui le vent en poupe. Et cela est en grande partie du au fait quil permet... Best Law Products and Services Would you like to submit an article in the Law category or any of the sub-category below? Click here to submit your article. Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us. Best Internet Products and Services Would you like to submit an article in the Internet category or any of the sub-category below? Click here to submit your article. Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us. By Dezan Shira & Associates Editor: Alexander Chipman Koty In the first segment of our series on investment protection in ASEAN, we explored protection afforded to investors under the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA). Available uniformly to all firms utilizing regional management hubs within ASEAN, this multilateral framework provides a significant source of risk mitigation in a variety of circumstances. For more information pertaining to the specific definitions, dispute resolution mechanisms, and limitations of the agreement, please click here. In contrast to ASEAN-based investors that are protected under AICA, the level of protection for foreign investors largely depends on bilateral investment treaties (BITs) between individual countries. While some agreements offer similar provisions to ACIA, others are less extensive or unaccommodating and vague. This pattern persists even for ASEANs biggest investors: the EU, Japan, and the U.S. For those considering investment within the region, it is critical to understand the level of protection that will be afforded to an investment as a result of its origin. Investment from the EU The EU and ASEAN have both expressed interest in creating a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) between the two regional associations. At this time, however, most EU members rely on BITs between individual countries. The Netherlands, a popular base for holding companies, has agreements with several South East Asian countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Two of its most recent agreements with ASEAN members are with Cambodia and Laos, which came into force in 2006 and 2005, respectively. The Netherlands agreement with Cambodia lists the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, and alternatives agreed to by special arrangement or according to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) as options for dispute resolution. On the other hand, current bilateral arrangements between the Netherlands and Laos only list ICSID proceedings as an option for dispute resolution with comparatively little room for alternative arrangements. Further, while there is language for non-discriminatory protection of investments in the treaty with Laos, there is no specific mention of the terms expropriation or nationalization. The Netherlands treaties with Cambodia and Laos exemplify the inconsistent nature of investment protection for foreign investors operating in ASEAN. Even though the Netherlands has specific investment protection clauses with both countries, they are not equally accommodating to investors. Investment from Japan Similarly, Japan has an FTA with ASEAN, and BITs with members such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam, but no comprehensive investment protection. While the FTA between Japan and ASEAN delineates guidelines for trade in goods, it only provides general protection for investments. The sides are currently negotiating an amendment to the chapter on investments to add more specific protections and dispute resolution processes. In terms of BITs, Japan generally has more consistent dispute resolution mechanisms than the Netherlands, holding options for ICSID, UNCITRAL, and alternatives with all of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. However, its asset protection is not as strong as the provisions found in ACIA. While the treaties with Myanmar and Laos both contain compensation in the event of expropriation, compensation is based upon the market value when the investment was expropriated or when the expropriation was announced. In contrast, even though compensation based on market value before expropriation is also not expressly guaranteed in ACIA, the wording found in ACIA at least offers investors more room for argument and interpretation. Investment from the U.S. In relation to the Netherlands and Japan, the U.S. has even less certainty in investment protection. Though it signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with ASEAN in 2006 and an FTA with Singapore, it does not have a BIT with any other South East Asian country. As such, the U.S. and any other country lacking a BIT must adhere to host countries domestic laws. However, the upcoming TPP, which includes ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, will give the U.S. more investment protection in the region when it comes into effect. Harmonization of ASEAN members domestic policies has gradually occurred in congruence with promotion of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), with countries such as Vietnam realizing the advantages of having a modern investment protection scheme. Myanmar and Laos, ASEANs least developed countries, have made some progress but continue to lag behind. These countries have adopted many contemporary legal measures but suffer from vague language and a circumspect commitment to asset protection. Even Malaysia and Thailand, two countries with business-friendly reputations, have not incorporated the principle of national treatment to foreign investors. In terms of dispute resolution, Singapore, Malaysia, and more recently, Indonesia are supporters of international arbitration. Once again, ASEANs less developed countries do not offer as many safeguards as their more developed counterparts. Laos, for example, attempts to provide objectivity through an alternative court system technically independent from the government, but does not preserve access to international arbitration as a right. In the absence of a BIT negotiating greater investment protection, foreign investors have fewer long term guarantees and are more vulnerable to a country changing its laws. Key Takeaways Investors establishing operations within ASEAN gain access to preferential investment policies designed to develop the AECs integrated single market. ASEAN-based investors benefit from provisions such as most-favored nation (MFN) treatment that ensure competitive access in the region. Singapore, in particular, stands out as an advantageous base for foreign investors due to its stable and low tax environment, ASEAN membership, and bevy of international agreements such as BITs, FTAs, and double taxation agreements. In developing a market entry strategy to ASEAN, foreign investors must be conscious of the regions varied levels of development and the strategic consequences of establishing operations in one country over another. 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 asean@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. Annual Audit and Compliance in ASEAN For the first issue of our ASEAN Briefing Magazine, we look at the different audit and compliance regulations of five of the main economies in ASEAN. We firstly focus on the accounting standards, filing processes, and requirements for Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. We then provide similar information on Singapore, and offer a closer examination of the city-states generous audit exemptions for small-and-medium sized enterprises. The Trans-Pacific Partnership and its Impact on Asian Markets The United States backed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) includes six Asian economies Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, while Indonesia has expressed a keen willingness to join. However, the agreements potential impact will affect many others, not least of all China. In this issue of Asia Briefing magazine, we examine where the TPP agreement stands right now, look at the potential impact of the participating nations, as well as examine how it will affect Asian economies that have not been included. An Introduction to Tax Treaties Throughout Asia In this issue of Asia Briefing Magazine, we take a look at the various types of trade and tax treaties that exist between Asian nations. These include bilateral investment treaties, double tax treaties and free trade agreements all of which directly affect businesses operating in Asia. by Xin Yage Chou Yong-mei has been in television for a long time. As she worked on programme dedicate to the pontiffs life and message, she met Catholics to understand better her subject matter. After a long temporal and spiritual journey, she decided to be baptised. When I met real Catholics, in flesh and blood, I saw their dedication and the strength of their faith. I was impressed by the quantity and quality of services provided by many members of the community. Taipei (AsiaNews) As in previous years, Taiwan's Easter Vigil saw the baptism of many catechumens in various parishes. Varying in age infants, teenagers, and adults and from different backgrounds, they took this important step and came to the most important liturgy of the year. One of those who answered the calling is particularly interesting. Chou Yong-mei () has been involved in TV for many years. Although she did not start out as a Christian, she worked in the past two years on a TV series on the life of Pope Francis, which will be aired new month. Married with children, she worked for a major Taiwanese broadcaster for more than 20 years. In January 2014, she landed a job with Kuangchi Program Service (KPS, ) to work on a famous advertising campaign on the values of Taiwans society and democracy. Given her experience and talent, the project was a success, which led to a new one on the life of Pope Francis for a national channel. How did it start? "At first I was contacted to draw up a draft for a series of seven-minute clips on Pope Francis. I began to read his messages and his biography and to listen to some of what he said. I quickly realised that it could not be done in short bits. So I asked the president to produce a longer programme of 30-minute episodes. What Pope Francis had to say was far too important and had to be presented in its entirety, with examples from real people in real life." Moreover, "I had to get more information and learn more since I was not a Catholic. I decided to enrol in catechism to understand how it all worked. When I met real Catholics, in flesh and blood, I saw their dedication and the strength of their faith. I was impressed by the quantity and quality of services provided by many members of the community and by many organisations that I did not even know were Catholic." Then you started shooting the first episodes. "Yes, I decided to film the work of Catholic communities, especially with the needy, and the commitment of many believers and religious unknown to the media. We focused on Taiwans marginal groups, villages and rural areas, those that do not appear on the front page. The more we filmed people, the more we became passionate about this programme. The director and the entire crew were very attentive, and had great patience. We felt good from the start." What was the main idea, the main inspiration? "From the start, from the first draft, I always thought: 'Who does this sentence by the pope remind me? Who does this homily touch? Or this message? Perhaps a student in distress, or a single mother, or an older couple? So I researched in the various parish communities and made precise choices." At the beginning, "there was a message of joy for marginalised people. We went to tape a community of nuns working in an Aboriginal area where they produce upbeat musical shows. The nuns play big drums on stage, and are full of energy. We realised it was the right thing to tape for television and broadcast at the beginning of the series. We did not tape only the show. We also filmed the beneficiaries of their work among the underprivileged. Finding such energy among those who work for the marginalised impressed me a lot." Similarly, "seeing so many Catholics work together to solve real problems in everyday life, work and family impressed me. After that, participating in catechism was no longer tied to my desire to be better informed; it became part of my life. Thus, during a trip with the crew I came to understand the reason for the television programme and catechism classes: I wanted to offer my energy for the benefit of society. I saw this strength coming from the choice of faith, which is the basis of the mission, in my case in the media world." From that moment onward, "I convinced myself that I had to ask to be baptised. I decided right away. I realised that Christians know how to accompany in real life. They understand peoples difficulties. For this reason, the great work Catholics do in society, not only in the Church, is included in the programme. We want to reach a young audience, so we chose two young hosts who know how to laugh and joke naturally when presenting important issues." When the casting was done, "I focused on how they knew to show inner and outer joy. We do not put Pope Francis on the air to worship him. For the same reason, we did not film believers, nuns or priests to turn them into heroes. We present the work of an entire community supported by great ideals for the common life, attentive to the problems of every day. To me that seems to be the spirit of Pope Francis. Even the title 'Oh my God!' was chosen in this atmosphere of being close to reality. We often use such an interjection in various contexts: either when we are tired of something or surprised by something special in ordinary life. I am sure that those who will see the year-long weekly programme will be touched by the contents as they touched me." The programme on Pope Francis and Taiwan is entitled 'Oh my God!', and is produced by KPS. It will be broadcast on the Dong Feng channel (, Azio TV) starting Saturday evening, 16 April. Msgr. Jerzy Maculewicz describes the Easter celebrations of Tashkent Catholics. Adults and children were baptized. National television stations broadcast the ceremony. The story of a woman over age 60, who converted when she fled the civil war in Uzbekistan. "She saw around her only death and turned to God". Tashkent (AsiaNews) - When "we believe in God and trust in Him, even if we are in a situation with no way out, like when the people of Israel were in front of the waters of the Red Sea, God hears the cry for help of His people. God hears the cry and opens the way. If we believe in Him, He will also open our way and save us as he saved the people of Israel". This was the message that Msgr. Jerzy Maculewicz, apostolic administrator of Uzbekistan's Catholic Church, gave the new believers baptized on Easter night in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Tashkent. The ceremony took place in 4 languages, according to the composition of the faithful. Before the liturgy, which began at 8pm, the faithful brought eggs, meats and other foods to be blessed by the parish priest. The Catholic Church of Uzbekistan began to flourish in the nineties, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the independence of the country. The Christian community is divided into five parishes, located in the major cities. The majority of the population, over 95%, is made up of Muslim faithful. Christians represent 2.3% of the inhabitants, of which 0.1% are Catholic. In Tashkent the community has about 400 faithful. The Easter vigil drew the attention of four national television stations, who wanted to film the whole ceremony. "I have spoken to reporters and I sent a message of joy and peace to the entire population of Uzbekistan". The bishop said: "It is important that the TV channels aired our liturgy, because in this way the country has learned that Catholics celebrate Easter". Later the real celebration began, which lasted for over four hours. "This ceremony is very long - he explains - because of the readings in the four languages representative of our community: Russian, English, Korean and Polish". It must be said that there is still no liturgical book in the Uzbek language. Although the Mass was long, "no one was tired. Indeed, at the end of the liturgy some of the faithful stayed to exchange greetings". The apostolic administrator reports that two groups of believers were baptized: during the vigil 12 adults between 15 and 65 years of age; On Sunday morning another children's group. He says: "It was a beautiful moment, while we felt that the risen Jesus was with us, in our midst. I told the new Catholics: 'For you today a new life begins, you receive new pure hearts. You can start a good life. Of course, it will not be without problems, but God will be with you". In particular, the bishop tells the story of a lady of 60 "who was very emotional before her baptism and cried. Then the next day she came to me to tell me that she was really happy, that the ceremony of her entry into the Christian community had been the best thing that had ever happened in her life. " "An adult convert he continued - marked by a deeply painful episode. Msgr. Maculewicz tells that the lady had no religious affiliation, but decided to become a Christian as she fled from her country of origin, Kyrgyzstan, at the outbreak of civil war after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. "While the soldiers were firing on her group, killing some of her friends, she turned to the Lord and vowed to become Catholic if he saved her life. So it was, and after a long process of education, she is now overjoyed at having become part of the Christian community". In a joint session of parliament the president Htin Kyaw promises "loyalty" to the people of Burma and outlines the challenges facing the new government. The priority is a nationwide cease-fire with ethnic minorities. 17 new ministers also sworn in, including Aung San Suu Kyi. On April 1, the inaugural session. Naypyiadaw (AsiaNews) - In a joint session of parliament the new president of Myanmar has sworn his oath, together with the two Vice Presidents and the new ministers. Htin Kyaw, a faithful supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi and the first non-military president in 50 years, will officially take office on April 1, succeeding the retired General Thein Sein. The new ministers also included the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), who will head the ministries for Foreign Affairs, the Presidential Office, the Education and Energy. The "Lady" is the only woman in the new government, which is composed of 17 of her own men. As per the Constitution, the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs and Borders were awarded to three military officials. In a short speech to the members of the Chambers, Htin Kyaw promised "loyalty" to the people of Burma and outlined the challenges facing the new government. The priority, he said, is to reach a nationwide cease-fire, to stop conflicts between ethnic minorities and the central government that continue for decades. "National reconciliation" is one of the points on which Aung San Suu Kyi has insisted most in recent weeks, choosing as vice presidential candidate Henry Van Thio, a Christian Chin, a sign of willingness to involve everyone in the democratic process. The new president also spoke of the need to reform the constitution to align it to modern democratic values. According to many analysts, this will be a point of friction between the new government and the military which holds 25% of parliamentary seats, and thus will be able to veto on any attempt to change the Charter, for which more than 75% of votes are required. The Constitution also contains a specially tailored law which prevented Aung San Suu Kyi from running for president, a position that is closed to those who have family members not of Burmese nationality (her two sons are British). Despite this, the NLD leader said she will rule "over the president." The democratic process was born after the landslide victory of the NLD in the November elections. The vote has raised hopes in the population, according to Card. Bo, archbishop of Yangon. In his message for Easter he stated that "the river of democracy is slowly pouring into the desert of despair" and he listed the many "signs of the resurrection of the country that we see around us". by Wang Zhicheng An estimated 20,000 people were baptised on Easter night. Just outside Shanghai, 27 baptised people join a community of 100. Rampant materialism and individualism drive people to convert. Underground communities celebrated Easter without songs and in small groups. Beijing (AsiaNews) On Easter night, more than 100 adults were baptised in Beijings Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (pictured). Wrapped in a white robe, accompanied by godparents, they confessed their adherence to faith in Jesus Christ who died and rose again, baptised by Archbishop Joseph Li Shan. The same ritual was repeated in all of Chinas Catholic churches during Easter eve vigil. In recent years, more than 20,000 new believers are baptised at this time of the year. Some 27 baptisms took place in a parish just outside of Shanghai, in an area home to almost a million people. The local congregation includes only a hundred members; hence, with the newcomers who joined on Easter night, the community has grown by more than 25 per cent. Christmas, Pentecost and the Assumption provide other occasions for baptisms. About 100,000 adult baptisms occur each year in the Catholic Church. The number of annual baptisms in underground Protestant Churches (not subordinated to the government-controlled Three Autonomies Movement) is even higher. For the government, in particular the Religious Affairs Ministry, the rising number of Christians in the country is a source of concern. Some estimates put the number of Christians at around 100 million, more than the number of members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), estimated to be around 85 million. For some observers, the Communist Party itself is to blame for the growth of Christianity in the country. As theoretical and practical materialism drive people to seek wealth and consumption, people are left bereft of meaning. For many of the newly baptised, economic wellbeing was not enough. They sought something deeper, i.e. non-material values. A bishop in central China described this as a great thirst for God. Materialism has led to widespread individualism and exploitation. Many people especially migrants who moved to the cities to work feel alone and with no one to help them. Paid low wages, they are treated like slaves. "After I met some Catholics, I felt accepted and welcomed as a person with dignity, not valued for my wealth or poverty, said one of the newly baptised. This years Easter celebrations took place without tensions. Police told believers to carry out their services "without singing and in small groups, and even underground communities were able to hold Masses and liturgical services without much of a fuss. In Zhejiang, where crosses and churches have been targeted for demolition, Zhang Kai, a Protestant lawyer was released not long ago after six months in jail. Detained for defending his co-religionists against abuses, he thanked Wenzhou police for taking care of me all this time". According to the UN, the war has taken on "terrifying" proportions for the youngest. A third of the more than 3 thousand victims are under 18. In a year 10 thousand children have died due to lack of vaccines and cures. A further 320 thousand suffer severe malnutrition. They are also denied education, 1600 schools closed and 50 more have been targeted in attacks. 848 cases of children involved in the conflict. Sanaa (AsiaNews / Agencies) At least six children have been killed or maimed by bombings since the start of Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen in March last year. This is according to the United Nations which warns that the conflict is taking on "terrifying" proportions for the youngest. In a report published in recent days, UNICEF the UN agency for children - said that about a third of the more than 3 thousand civilians killed in the Arab country are children. Julien Harneis, UNICEF representative in Yemen, said that "children are not safe anywhere in Yemen," and that even "play or sleep has become dangerous". Last year at least 10 thousand children under the age of five died from easily preventable diseases, due to the exhaustion of the vaccines and the lack of adequate medical care. Last week there were some (tentative) hopes for a breakthrough in the conflict, when the fighting fronts agreed to a ceasefire ahead of peace talks scheduled for April 18. Many hoped in the truce would stop the escalation of a war that has devastated a nation that was already among the poorest in the world. According to UN estimates, 82% of the population is in "desperate" need of humanitarian aid, with at least 320 thousand children considered "severely malnourished". The scale of the suffering, they add, has reached "shocking" levels. In addition, basic services and infrastructure are "on the brink of total collapse." Last year at least 63 health facilities were targeted in attacks and three were occupied for military purposes. Often children cannot attend schools, which were targeted in "direct attacks" on 50 occasions; a further 50 have been occupied by fighters. About 1,600 schools are closed for security reasons or because damaged; while others still are being used to house a portion of the 2.4 million internally displaced by the conflict. Finally, there were 848 reported cases of children involved in the conflict, some of which were under 10 years of age. Since January 2015, Yemen has been the scene of a bloody civil war pitting the countrys Sunni leadership, backed by Saudi Arabia, against Shia Houthi rebels, close to Iran. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against the rebels in an attempt to free the capital For Saudi Arabia, the Houthis, who are allied to forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, are militarily supported by Iran, a charge the latter angrily rejects. Groups linked to al Qaeda and jihadist militias linked to the Islamic State group are active in the country, which adds to the spiral of violence and terror. According to sources of the World Health Organization (WHO) more than 6,200 people have been killed in the war; for the United Nations there is a strong risk of a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Yemen. The Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, Global Times, is praising a Chinese citizen accused by the US government of hacking defense establishments. US government said that Su Bin, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to hack into the computer networks of several major US defense contractors. Global Times said Su deserves to be respected for his services to the country even if he is guilty of hacking. Chinese foreign ministry has denied any involvement in the Su case but insisted that the US should ensure the privacy and legal rights of Chinese citizens on US soil. "We have no reliable source to identify whether Su has stolen these secrets and transferred them to the Chinese government. If he has, we are willing to show our gratitude and respect for his service to our country," the paper said. It said China needs special agents to gather secrets from the US on "the secret battlefield without gunpowder". Su deserves credit whether he was recruited by the Chinese government or merely driven by profit motive. It referred to the case of Edward Snowden, who revealed the global US surveillance program PRISM. US refuses to reflect on its own behavior in encouraging spying but "keeps criticizing China for espionage without solid proof," it said. "China should uncover Washington's brazen hypocrisy with concrete evidence," the paper said. Though China lags behind in certain technologies, it has the capability to fight back in the spy war, the paper said. Su was arrested in Richmond in the summer of 2014, and extradited to the U.S. in February. He is a Chinese citizen and permanent resident of Canada. The men targeted fighter jets such as the F-22 and the F-35, as well as Boeing's C-17 military cargo aircraft program, according to court papers. Su's attorney, Robert Anello, declined to discuss the case in detail with CBC except to say that Su is "hopeful to move on with his life." The US government has struck a deal with Canadian authorities that he would receive no more than five years in jail even if he pleaded guilty. Guest Commentary By Mike Morris Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety The dangers of a gang lifestyle are significant. Those engaged in gang activities risk not only their own lives, which are cut short on average by age 30, but also those of their families and communities. More than ever, cowardly attacks on our busy streets are endangering the lives of innocent bystanders. This is why, beyond recent additions of members to Surreys RCMP Detachment and the significant provincial anti-gang resources that have been on the ground since day one, we want to reinforce our efforts to keep young people out of gangs. British Columbias Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU-BC) has created the End Gang Life program, focusing on provincewide anti-gang prevention strategies targeting at-risk youth. CFSEU-BC receives $60 million a year from our government, which means not only significant support for the efforts of police on the front lines, but also resources to keep young people out of gangs in the first place. The End Gang Life program has been a continued success in many communities, and I can say with confidence that our anti-gang officers are engaging with the South Asian community. CFSEU-BC is an original partner with the RCMP, Gurdwara leadership and the South Asian Community Coalition Against Youth Violence (SACCAYV) in the Sikh Leadership and Police Committee on Gang Violence. This partnership has resulted in the first-ever meetings between police and all temple leaders at the RCMPs Pacific Regional Training Centre in 2014 and 2015, and several follow-up newsletters to the South Asian community and distributed through the Gurdwaras. CFSEU-BC has also distributed approximately 60,000 English/Punjabi Understanding Youth and Gangs A Parents Resource booklets to community partners, Gurdwaras, and to families at South Asian youth events and Vaisakhi parades. Additionally, a Punjabi-speaking officer working within CFSEU-BC has taken part in almost two dozen radio and television interviews to address gang issues and prevention. CFSEU-BCs Community Engagement Officer has spoken to youth and families at nearly two dozen South Asian community events, Gurdwaras, schools and police-hosted community safety forums. Collaboration and communication between the Province, police agencies and community leaders are stronger than ever. Were all working together to protect public safety and enact real change in young peoples behaviour. CFSEU-BC is knocking on doors and engaging families, identifying gang up-and-comers in the community and talking to their parents, and visiting youth and young adults in custody to start the conversation on gang-exit strategies. These initiatives are making a difference and the community is listening, as consistently demonstrated in the well-attended community safety forums hosted by police. But there is still more that we can do together. Now, we need the families and friends of those directly involved in ongoing gang activities to do the right thing and come forward to police. For those involved in gang life, or those being pressured to join a gang, I assure you that you will end up injured, dead or convicted and behind bars. Our government is committed to ensuring that families and communities are safe. Those who choose not to heed these warnings will find no safe haven in British Columbia. By Herman Thind Special to The Post A racial slur against a former Vancouver Park Board commissioner with a South Asian background is creating a social media furor. Meanwhile, a protest group is championing an online petition calling for the firing of British Columbias only deputy minister of colour. To many, these are disturbing signs that racism is on the rise in British Columbia just one week after the Hands Against Racism campaign launched its second year. In a recent incident, Niki Sharma, who is running to be a director of the Vancity Credit Union and previously served on the park board, received an offensive tweet saying you people are taking [o]ver our country. Meanwhile, a digital map tracking anti-Muslim incidents in Canada shows that British Columbia is on track for 2016 to be twice as bad a year as 2015. Fazil Mihlar is the subject of the online petition campaign. He is a prominent South Asian intellectual with a long track record in public life. Mr. Mihlar, according to his LinkedIn profile, came to the civil service relatively late in his career after many years in charge of the opinion pages of the largest-circulating Canadian newspaper west of Toronto, the Vancouver Sun. Before that he worked for RBC Economics and spent several years with a think tank widely known for its conservative views, the Fraser Institute. Ms. Sharma is a lawyer who represents residential school survivors, works closely with First Nation governments and has been connected with many progressive causes. Her affiliation with Vision Vancouver suggests she and Mr. Mihlar would not agree on everything. Yet in both cases they are high achievers with visible minority backgrounds and both are under attack for reasons that have nothing to do with their performance. When Mr. Mihlar was appointed to an assistant deputy minister role a couple years ago, his successor as editorial pages editor of Vancouver Sun had this to say: The smartest guy in the room is now the smartest guy in government. Newspaper colleagues of Mr. Mihlar say that one of his jobs was to run the newspapers editorial board, which is where politicians, business tycoons and policymakers come for their ideas and records to be put to the test. There were groups who feared coming to an editorial board run by Fazil, because his questions were so tough, recalls one former colleague. It didnt matter who they represented everyone got the same treatment. On his watch, coming unprepared was not a good option. Apparently LeadNow has launched its petition because it thinks that Mr. Mihlars time with the Fraser Institute should cause him to be stripped of employment as the deputy minister responsible for climate change policy. There is no sign that LeadNow has any particular policy grievance with Mr. Mihlars handling of a particular issue, and they are not questioning his competence. They just dont like him. To be skewered for being bright is a problem some people might love to have. But is it actually dangerous to have intelligent people leading our civil service and seeking elected positions? In both incidents, other motives appear to be at work. One view attributed to him in a speech he gave at the University of Northern B.C. before leaving journalism is that the ban everything crowd is quick to critique and oppose B.C.s resource extraction industries, but slow to provide solid alternatives for economic development. Its hardly a radical position, even though some people would probably disagree with it. So you have to wonder why LeadNow is hellbent on damaging Mr. Mihlars character rather than trying to explain why it has a better idea. Mr. Mihlar has origins in Sri Lanka, a country that has had some rough times yet remains a place of rare co-operation. Its widely known that Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians live there in peace today because of a determination to hear and respect a whole range of viewpoints, however trying that can be at times. Canada thinks of itself highly in this area too, but actions like LeadNows seem to test our reputation for tolerance. In a democracy like India, the worlds largest democracy, a vast range of noisy viewpoints compete for voter attention. This is what many South Asian immigrants are used to. The idea that winning a debate by snuffing out the other viewpoint is, quite clearly, foreign to the Indian perspective. Will these disturbing acts of intolerance drive out the next generation of leaders of colour? Lets hope not. Ms. Sharma has refused to delete the offensive comment, a decision she explained in this Huffington Post column. If Mr. Mihlar is fired for being too smart, that would be a sad statement on who we are as a society. And it will send a clear message to visible minorities that they are not welcome in the upper echelon of leadership. Only time will tell if the LeadNow people get enough signatures to force the casting aside of Mr. Mihlars legendary abilities. Herman Thind is the Principal of Buzz Machine, a social media company based in Vancouver. Photo caption: Professor datejie green (left), and two of her students, Michael Chachura (centre) and Fatima Al-Sayed (right), pose in front of the class discussion board after a critical journalism course lecture at the University of Toronto campus in Scarborough, Ont./ Photo Credit: Marcus Medford By Marcus Medford Special to The Post Journalism students say they find value in learning how to report on immigration and race issues. Many would like to see more specialized courses focused on diversity and inclusive reporting. Theres never been a time in my life when this has been more important, says second-year journalism student from the University of Toronto, Tijuana Turner, referring to the current refugee situation and Justin Trudeau pledging to bring 25,000 Syrians to Canada. For example, describing it as a flood of refugees isnt okay when most people associate a flood with disaster, she explains. Turner moved to Canada from Jamaica two years ago to study at the University of Torontos Scarborough campus (UTSC). She says the course Covering Immigration and Transnational Issues offered at UTSC, which teaches students to analyze news coverage, has helped raise her awareness. The course includes material on how media outlets frame stories related to race and immigration and how these frames can shape peoples perspective. Before taking it, certain things went over Turners head, she explains, but shes become more critical. You shouldnt start by saying Refugee Tom... That's not inclusion, thats us vs. them. You should try saying, Tom, who is a refugee, Turner explains. Teaching critical journalism datejie green is the Asper Fellow of Media at Western University and a lecturer at UTSC. green teaches Critical Journalism, which she describes as a mobilizing, embodied, intersectional approach to journalism meant to give students a fresh set of eyes to critically engage journalism. The course examines how media cultures address gender, ability, class, sexuality and race. We want to learn about intersectional ways of thinking and mobilize that critical analysis to make sense of everything and write respectfully, green shares. These are not static, abstract ideas that we learn and leave in classrooms; these are things journalists need to have at their disposal. Class discussions involve examining the impact and importance of perspective in media. greens objective is to cross cultural divides in a humanizing way. She says she is open with students about her experiences as a woman, as someone whos black, lives with mental illness and is a lesbian and how it relates to perspective. That shouldnt detract from my validity as a journalist or a teacher; its just a frame. But it allows me to explain how my body is experienced, why and whats the impact, green explains. Fatima Al-Sayed is a second-year journalism student in green's class. She says the course is extremely important because students become aware of different perspectives, which helps journalists not to write from pre-conceived ideas or ignorance. As a woman who wears a hijab, I know the image the media portrays of me because its my day-to-day life, Al-Sayed explains. I feel like my role in journalism is to change that perspective, but I cant if I get pulled into that kind of thinking. Integrating diversity lessons throughout j-school Specialized courses arent the only way to teach these concepts in journalism school. At Langara College in British Columbia, lessons about perspective and diversity are integrated into every course, explains Frances Bula, chair of the journalism program. Bula says that in addition to having classrooms and newsrooms that are ethnically diverse, its crucial for students to understand the importance of diversifying their sources. From day one, we talk about the importance of diversity and the dangers of getting too comfortable talking with people from a similar age, gender, race, or income background, Bula explains. Journalists should also look to groups who may not have access to the media or may not speak perfect English, Bula adds. Petti Peg Fong, the assistant department chair at Langara, says courses solely about reporting on race and ethnicity arent necessary for journalism students. She adds, though, that its important for students to understand that audiences and sources come from all different backgrounds to help prevent stereotypes being perpetuated by the media. This is taught throughout other courses, she explains. Students role in addressing media bias A study from Australia noted that negative and stereotypical coverage of Muslims can foster alienation, which plays into the hands of extremists, says Brad Clark, the journalism and broadcasting chair at Mount Royal University in Calgary. Clark did his doctoral dissertation on representations of ethno-cultural minorities in Canadian media. Clark says that news gathering should be more inclusive, especially stories that focus on specific communities, or else it runs the risk of stereotyping and misrepresenting. He also says that journalism students can play an important role in addressing implicit biases of mainstream media. They must be allowed to influence news gathering when it strays into the realm of the stereotypic, he says. Students need to understand that sometimes it is OK to explore the experience of race, that talking about race isnt the same as being racist. These issues have become increasingly relevant for j-school students to explore, says Lysia Filotas, a second-year journalism student at Carleton University in Ottawa. Carleton, like Langara doesnt have a course dedicated to reporting on race and ethnicity, but incorporates it in lessons, something Filotas finds valuable. As a reporter, its important to learn how these topics colour ones world views and how not to project that onto someone else during the interview and writing process, she explains. This piece was originally appeared in New Canadian Media (newcanadianmedia.ca). See newcanadianmedia.ca/item/33929-inclusive-reporting-courses-are-critical-j-schoolers-inclusive-reporting-courses-are-critical-j-schoolers Three boys and a girl that made it to adulthood...in spite of me! Was tough in the begining because they were my step kids and I could only discipline and teach as their mother allowed, or had my back (which my wife did). Best advice? This is going to sound silly, but earn their respect. That does not mean to pander or placate. You still hold them accountable, you are still the parent, but you do so with honor and integrity. By that I mean that you communicate with them, teach them to rationalize, to understand why you do what you do. When they shout, "I hate you", you tell them that you know, that you still love them, and you are issuing that punishment because you do love them more then life itself and that even though it hurts you, that you have your own child telling you that they hate you, you have to do the right thing, teach them responsibility for their actions. My eldest son fell in with a bad crowd. They broke some windows in an old building once...and got caught. Cost each parent 500.00 to keep our son's from having a record. He spent the next week moving a pile of rocks from one side of the yard to another. Hated me. Last day I brought lunch out, and we sat and talked about life, crime, and the price to be paid. At the end of it, after explaining that this is what prison is like, what working like a minimum wage laborer with a criminal record was like, I explained that every rock he picked up that week was like a punch in my gut, because it was the last thing I wanted to see or do. I told him that I wanted this to be the last incarceration, last pile of rocks that I ever wanted my son to move, that there was a better way, better things in life to aspire to. he then asked me about the 500.00. Hugged him, told him to take the rest of the day off, he had paid his dept. I did sort of the same thing when my daughter was about to go out with friends....with half her tits hanging out...and I made her go change. Whole lot of teaching about self respect, not living for male approval, but earning male respect...as her mother has (was easier as her mother was a great example, respected by all, especially men). Had to teach her to impress herself first, and if done right, men will want her attention rather then the other way around, and that would allow her the opportunity to pick the best man for the job when she decided to settle down not because she needed, but because her life was set and she wanted it, and him...because friendship and love beat hotness in the long run every time (analogy of the tortoise and the hair type of thing) I was stern (no DJ, not you!), but I was a loving, caring, hugging a man as I could be. We did all the silly. We played vid games, I was the clown at the beach, on the ski slopes, always making them laugh, but teaching every step of the way. Above all, I taught them to be happy, even in tough times. I also showed them how a man is suppose to love his wife, how a good relationship works, sacrifices for each other...every single day. I kept them close, and I led by example. Whether they "hated me", or loved me at any given time, they respected me as the guy that always did the right thing, and the guy they could always go to for help and advice...and they did. That respect allowed me to teach them everything that needed to be taught, to penetrate those brains of mush so that they could survive this adventure called life. Its a job, a full time pain in the ass job that will suck the youth and life right out of you...and if you do it right, you will love every minute of it. it is Easter today. They are coming over....and I can't wait as they are the best people that I know, and we'll have our usual great time. I'll get that chance to sit with them, catch up, talk about life...and silently bask in the joy, the results of the fruits of my years of labor. Ats what I did. Others mileage may vary. Edited on March 27, 2016 at 12:23 UTC by the author Hair Styling Tips For Latinos The Best Hair Styling Tips For Latinos From Celebrity Barber Marcos 'Reggae' Smith To celebrate the diversity and individuality of Hispanic millennials, Unilever the personal care brand behind AXE and Dove has launched the #100PorCientoTu campaign, which focuses on bringing Latinos passion for music and style to life. The brand partnered with beauty and grooming influencers and experts to share trends and tips with its community. Celebrity barber Marcos Reggae Smith is one of them. aLatino men are not new to being conscious about their hair and grooming. Ever since we were little, our moms always made sure we looked put-together before we went anywhere because we were not just representing [ourselves] but [our family] as well, he says. According to Smith, Latinos can express themselves and the vibrancy of their culture by owning their natural look but giving it a trending spin. If you have very curly hair, own those curls and add a light fade on the side. If you have very wavy hair, incorporate a wavy comb over with an etched-in part. Express your character, your style express yourself. Thanx to my @unileverusa partnership for inviting me to the @nickyjampr concert to help launch our campaign for #100PorCientoTu. Its on!! Check the link in my bio for more info #thatbarberlife aiaiaiaiai A photo posted by REGGAE (@regdabarber) on Mar 3, 2016 at 8:08pm PST Hair Trends For Latino Men Smith says the fade is a popular hair trend. [It] is popular amongst Latino men and can be adapted to any type of hair coarse, straight, wavy, thick or thin. This look is clean and fresh and it conveys confidence. He adds that this cut can take on different variations through styles like a modern comb over, an undercut, a pompadour, a frohawk, a messy look or loose curls on top. These styles are easily created and maintained with hair products like matte gel, flexible paste or pomade depending on your type of hair and style. RELATED: Take It From The World's Oldest Barber - This Is How You Should Be Styling Your Hair A photo posted by ??franchobarber?? (@franchobarber) on Mar 7, 2016 at 4:53am PST How You Hair Says A Lot About Who You Are You might put a lot of thought into your outfit, but dont underestimate the power of your hair when it comes to expressing your personality. Your style and how you represent yourself is the first thing anyone can see about you. This includes your hairstyle, which is part of your unique calling card. It can convey whether you are outgoing, trendy, reserved or just a simpler man, Smith says. It is your form of self-expression, and ultimately a part of your identity. RELATED: Leave All Those Played Out Hairstyles Behind And Try One Of These New Cuts Instead Shutterstock; LDarko How To Take Trends And Make Them Your Own aTrends are great because they give you a new option that you can choose to try once or twice even if you end up realizing that its not for you and youre happy with your current look. There is no need to be scared of looking ridiculous about rocking a new trend, just adapt it to your usual style. I think that men have taken trends and made them their own by simply adding a touch of individuality, Smith says. Take some of the popular hairstyles or grooming trends. The modern comb over is represented very differently from man to man. Some get the part etched-in; some have their hair much longer on the top or a skin-tight fade. Its all about that touch of you that is incorporated into the trend. No one wants to look exactly like the guy next to him. Shutterstock; Nejron Photo And whether your style is edgy or conservative, be unapologetic about it and don't forget about your facial hair. aSome guys style their hair in such a unique way that unapologetically separates them from the rest, says Smith. Facial hair also plays a big role in a mans individuality. Long, short, faded, a beard it's all part of your style. It can complement a look but it complements your hairstyle [above all]. The targeting of law firms by computer hackers has been highlighted by two separate reports. Major law firms in the US, including Wall Street favourites Cravath Swaine & Moore and Weil Gotshal & Manges, have been hacked with the intention of stealing information to use in inside trading, according to the Wall Street Journal. An investigation has been launched by the US attorneys office and the FBI. The attacks are believed to have taken place some months ago.Meanwhile, the FT reports that 85 million (AU$122 million) has been stolen from British law firms in the past 18 months through so-called Friday Afternoon Fraud. In these cases, it is often smaller law firms that are targeted as they often have less sophisticated online security. The criminals use email to download malware onto law firm computers, wait for details of an imminent money transfer, and request via a legitimate-looking email for that funds are transferred to a different account.There were a record number of new cases filed with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre in 2015, a rise of 22 per cent. The 271 cases came from 55 jurisdictions. The total sum in dispute was also a new high, reaching S$6.2 billion, up 24 per cent from 2014 and beating the previous record of $6 billion set in 2013.International law firm Hogan Lovells has added a new partner to its headcount in Asia-Pacific. Lisa Yano has joined the firms Tokyo corporate practice, increasing its cross-border M&A offering into and out of Japan. Yano is US qualified and registered as a foreign legal consultant in Japan. She is fluent in Japanese as well as English.A lawyer survived the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels not once, but twice; and helped those caught up in the blasts. German Marc Schreiner flew from Berlin to Brussels last Tuesday morning, arriving just moments after the suicide bombers had detonated their devices leaving multiple deaths and injuries.He left the airport in a taxi and headed into the city, speaking to colleagues on route to reassure them that he was safe, but as he was dropped off near the Maelbeek metro, a bomb blasted the station. Schreiner went into the station and helped people find their way out of the devastation before smoke forced him to turn back. He was uninjured in the attacks and was back in Berlin later that day. A law graduate who took her law school to court after she was unable to find a job, lost her long-running battle against California-based Tomas Jefferson School of Law last week. Anna Alaburda graduated top of her class back in 2008 but was burdened with a student debt worth $150,000. She claimed that the schools post-graduation employment statistics were misleading. But her lawsuit was dismissed by a jury by a majority of 9-3. Alaburda claimed that she would not have enrolled at the law school had she not been mislead by her job prospects, Legal Cheek reported. Thomas Jefferson attorney Michael Sullivan acknowledged isolated mistakes and clerical errors in the schools data collection but said there was no evidence the school lied. This is not, you know, Trump University, he said. It is so not that. It is such a really excellent law school. According to Legal Cheek, it is not known whether Alaburda will appeal the decision. Hey guy's how's it going? First of all I just wanna say a big cheers to you all, this is my first time posting but I have been browsing these forums and have found it very useful and helpful as my and my partner are getting our On-shore 820 visa under way! I've just ran into a bit of a bump and can't really find a straight forward answer on the internet so I thought it would be better to ask you guys directly.. My girlfriend is from France, she is currently in Australia on an e-visitor (subclass 651), and here 3 months will expire in the next 8 weeks. She has already used her first and second work visa for Australia. We are looking currently in the process of doing the on-shore partnership visa with me as her sponsor, and my question is: How will I be able to get her to work on a bridging visa whilst our partnership visa is being processed? Somewhere it said to prove financial hardship, what do we need to supply to prove this? She would like to visit her family in France for christmas and return to Australia, will she be able to apply for this bridging visa and also work? Thank you for taking your time to read this, Cheers! All-new Toyota MPV sticks to tried and tested formula with traditional body-on-frame chassis, hydraulic steering and the same wheelbase. Its taken Toyota more than ten years to introduce a replacement for the Innova which, in todays age of shorter lifecycles, makes the current car two generations old. However, age hasnt bothered Innova buyers and for a car about to be phased out, demand is still strong. Few cars evoke as much loyalty as the Innova which, after a decade of impeccable service, has garnered a huge fan following. Which is why Toyota was reluctant to tamper with a proven formula and the big conundrum for the Japanese automaker was how to improve on something thats worked perfectly for years. Not surprisingly, Toyota has played safe and the all-new Innova, which comes with a new suffix Crysta, is more of an evolution than a revolution. However, every part of the car has been changed, says Hiroki Nakajima, managing officer, Toyota Motor Corporation and the chief engineer of the Innova. After ten years, we felt we needed to change the entire structure of the new Innova to meet all future legislations and, of course, customer requirements. There are no carry-over parts and even the body-on-frame is newly developed and a hundred percent new. KEEPING IT SIMPLE Starting from a fresh sheet of paper, one would have expected Toyota to go in for a hydroformed chassis, a trend even homegrown Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are following. But Toyota has stuck to a conventional tubular chassis. Hydroforming helps reduce weight, especially in heavy ladder chassis; so, why didnt Toyota adopt this technology for the new Innova? Yes, hydroforming is a good way to reduce the weight itself. However, from the manufacturing point of view, we have to produce the same vehicle not only in India, but also other markets like South Africa, Argentina, Venezuela, etc. It can be very difficult to get the material for the hydroforming process in some countries and we have to then import it, which dramatically increases prices. So, we use a material that we can get easily and for that, we have decided to use the conventional method of construction, explains Nakajima. As a result, the new Innova is heavier than the outgoing one but Nakajima is not fussed by the approximately 200kg increase in weight and says, Weve changed the frames cross section size and torsional rigidity is a lot better; this has greatly improved riding comfort, one of our priorities. The new Innova also comes with the same 2750mm wheelbase as before and again, Nakajima didnt want to tamper with what he considers is the perfect dimension. I had many opinions on the wheelbase length, but size wise, what we have is ideal for India and other markets too. Toyota also uses an old-school hydraulically assisted power steering instead of the new electrically assisted ones. Again, the reason is not to compromise a shred of reliability. From a quality and durability point of view, hydraulic steerings are better especially in rough road conditions where it is difficult to use EPS (electric power steering). Since the steering is shared between the Innova, Fortuner and Hilux, even the new Innova gets hydraulic steering, explains Nakajima. SPENDING WHEREIT MATTERS Nakajima has spent his development budget wisely, which is where the customer can see it. Complementing the improved ride and handling are a pair of diesel engines which come with a huge increase in power and torque. Even the base 147bhp 2.4 diesel is 44.12 percent more powerful than the outgoing and outdated 2.5 motor, which makes the Crysta dramatically better to drive. We reduced the displacement slightly to increase fuel efficiency but power and torque are much better now, says Nakajima. What will blow customers away are the interiors where Toyota has pulled out all stops. We have focussed on improving the roominess, especially in the second row. Now, the distance between the drivers seat and second-row seat has been increased from 980mm to 1000mm and this was a big challenge. Did the 210mm increase in the overall length of the car help with the interior packaging? The increase in length was more to do with meeting future pedestrian crash regulations. What Nakajima is particularly proud of is the dashboard, which now looks far more upmarket and luxurious. We have a one-piece dashboard and the panel has one piece going from one end to the other. Its made from one injection moulding piece, says Nakajima proudly. All this, however, points to a car that threatens to be more expensive than the outgoing one. Nakajima acknowledges that the material cost will be more than before but reassures us by saying, We cant disclose details of our costs but since we use several parts that are common between the Innova, Fortuner and Hilux, there shouldnt be a big jump. That remains to be seen when the car goes on sale next month but the fact is that there are already people, blank cheques in hand, waiting in queue. Few cars can command their price the way the Innova does and with the new model, Toyota is all set to milk its new cash cow. A Chiron, wearing the two-tone scheme that greeted us at the Swiss event, was recently spotted in Manhattan (hat tip to the Bugatti Veyron unofficial Facebook page for the image. However, this is not a customer enjoying his Veyron successor.Instead, we are, most likely, treated to Bugatti's new Manhattan dealer receiving its Chiron. After all, the automaker did open two dealers last fall (the other one was Bugatti Miami) without having a car to sell, so the shenanigan we're probably looking at is only normal.We're talking about Manhattan Motorcars, located at the corner of 51st Street and 11th Avenue. This isn't a Bugatti-exclusive location and while it does also trade cars from other top-tier VW Group brands, such as Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche, it also covers marques like Lotus, Koenigsegg and Rolls-Royce. Yep, not a bad place to visit if you find yourself in New York.So the Chiron you see here will probably enjoy the 1,000 square foot space destined for the French automaker.Returning to the Chiron, we'll probably have to wait for fall in order to see the machine being driven on the street. When that happens, keep in mind you're looking at a vehicle that cost at least $2.6 million. And with only 500 set to be built, which does make for 50 more than in the Veyron's case, don't expect such encounters to come all that often.170 units of the Chiron have already been spoken for, though, so while we urged caution above, we could see one adorning your local Cars and Coffee event, so have your smartphone ready.: We've added a gallery of the Chiron enjoying some peace and quiet on the dealership floor. More importantly, Bugatti seems to be testing the US-spec Chiron with different details, such as the impact bumpers, reflective side elements and the expected rear number plate format, so the car seen here, which should be the Euro-spec mode, might just be visiting the Manhattan Motor Cars. NHTSA Instead, the recall is focused on Chevrolet Caprice Police Pursuit cars, like the one in the photo attached to this article. GM will recall 6,280 units to fix a potential problem in the power steering system.The recall action affects cars that belong to the 2014, 2015, and 2016 model years, and has come to public attention along with the filing of specific documents to theAccording to the recall papers, General Motors has discovered that the power steering system can lose assistance because of a corrosion issue on a torque sensor connector.The problem can appear on vehicles with heavy usage, so this could be a problem especially for the Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicles of the 2014 and 2015 model years, but the 2016 cars might also be affected if they were driven many miles in a short period, as most police cars are.The defect affecting the mentioned Chevrolet Caprice vehicles does not mean a complete failure of the steering, but the driver will have to put more effort and force to steer the car.Since the Caprice police cars involved in the callback campaign are Police Pursuit Vehicles, having an issue with the steering system could be extremely dangerous for the officers on board, as if they did not have enough things to worry about while on the job. Fortunately, no accidents or injuries have been reported related to this glitch.General Motors has discovered the issue after the La Grange police department in Illinois reported a loss of power steering to the carmaker, Automotive News details. The company looked into the matter and filed the required paperwork to be able to fix those cars.Like in the case of a conventional recall, General Motors will replace the affected components at no cost to the owners of the vehicles. Dealerships will take care of changing the steering gear assembly. NHTSA The second dates a little further behind and involves Japanese airbag inflator maker Takata. Few people had heard the name before the scandal broke out, but Takata supplies its products to a lot of the industry's big names, including Honda, Toyota or Nissan, but also American or European brands.Already the protagonist of the largest recall ever, Takata's woes could be far from over. Estimating the cost it would have to face should all of the cars equipped with its airbag inflators be recalled, the company came up with a truly scary sum: 2.7 trillion yen, which equals to $24 billion. In other words, more than Takata could ever afford.This piece of news led to the most severe plunge for Takata's stocks, dropping by roughly 20 percent to 414 yen and bringing the company's market value down to $307 million. But Takata wasn't alone in this dip, dragging Japanese carmakers Honda (-3.6 percent), Nissan (-3.7 percent) and Toyota (-2.5 percent) along with it.Even if this is the worst-case simulation, it shows the company has seen some possibility, Ken Miyao, an analyst with Tokyo-based market researcher Carnorama, told Bloomberg . The question is how much the carmakers want to split the costs. But even if Takata only bears half of the cost, this would still be beyond their scope.Until now, there were nine fatalities in the US that have been attributed to faulty airbag inflators made by Takata, but their ubiquitousness makes other incidents a very likely possibility. Thehas given the Japanese company until the end of 2019 to either prove the inflators are safe, or come up with an explanation for what's happened. An independent researcher concluded that it was moist leaking inside the inflators that caused the previous incidents, but Takata is yet to confirm these findings. Photo via Atomic Taco/Flickr. Avis Car Rental has announced one-way rate deals for customers traveling from Florida and Arizona to select destinations in the United States. This special offer gives customers the ability to rent a car in one place and return it in another all with unlimited mileage and no drop fees, according to the company. Customers leaving Florida can rent an economy, compact, mid-size, standard, or full-size vehicle for $7.95 per day. Convertibles are available for $14.95 per day and SUVs including intermediate-sized, standard, and standard elite models are available for $17.95 per day. Vans are also available, with passenger vans at $7.95 per day and minivans at $24.95 per day. Customers departing Arizona can rent an economy, compact, intermediate, standard, or full-size vehicle for $7.99 per day or $54.99 per week. Premium vehicles and intermediate SUVs are also available for $16.99 per day or $118.99 per week. "The warmer weather is just around the corner, so this is the time to start planning that trip back north from Florida or back west from Arizona," said Scott Deaver, Avis Budget Groups executive vice president and chief marketing officer. "We're happy to offer snowbirds and others wishing to travel one way from these great states a money-saving way to do so." The Florida offer is valid for rental pick-up through June 30, 2016. The Arizona offer is valid for rental pick-up through May 31, 2016, according to Avis. Vehicles must be rented from and dropped off at select locations. For information on participating locations or to make a reservation, customers can visit www.avis.com and access the promotion details through the "offers" section. Or they can call 1-888-777-AVIS and mention Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) S705900 for the Florida offer or A081600 for the Arizona deal. Enterprise Fleet Management's new customer login website helps fleet customers lower their total cost of ownership. Photo courtesy of Enterprise Holdings. Enterprise Fleet Management, an affiliate of Enterprise Holdings, has been named a finalist in this years InformationWeek Elite 100. With this annual industry award, InformationWeek magazine honors U.S. companies for setting the bar on innovative and creative information technology (IT) programs that improve business operations. Enterprise Fleet Management operates a network of more than 50 offices, which manages nearly 400,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada and provides local service to businesses, government agencies, and organizations with medium-sized fleets, according to the company. Enterprise Fleet Management earned its spot on this years Elite 100 list for developing a customer login website, EFMFleetAccess. The website provides insight into fleet performance and key metrics, thereby enabling customers to maximize the value of their fleet and lower their total cost of ownership, according to the company. Our companys greatest strength is our team of fleet management professionals, said Steve Bloom, president of Enterprise Fleet Management. However, since our employees cant be on-site every day for all of our customers, we sought a way to supplement our teams efforts with a website that empowers our customers to manage some day-to-day fleet activities on their own. This website gives customers actionable information about their fleet a real time to-do list that tracks things such as maintenance, license plate renewals, and vehicle lease status. InformationWeek magazine has been publishing its Elite 100 list since 1995. We are sincerely proud of this cutting-edge recognition, said Bloom. The fact is, being family-owned is a key advantage in todays highly competitive marketplace. Our financial strength and stability are unmatched in the industry, thanks to a conservative and disciplined long-term approach to managing our business. Toyota will provide show attendees with a virtual reality experience of the new technologys safety features. Photo courtesy of Toyota. At this years International Car Rental Show, Toyota will showcase its new Safety Sense technology. During exhibit hours, Toyotas booth will provide show attendees with a virtual reality experience of the technologys safety features. The Toyota Safety Sense package is designed to support the drivers awareness, decision-making, and vehicle operation over a range of speeds. According to Toyota, features include the pre-collision system, pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, lane departure alert, automatic high beam, and dynamic radar cruise control. The safety technology addresses three areas of accident protection: preventing or mitigating rear collisions, keeping drivers within their lane, and enhancing road safety during night-time driving, says Toyota. At Toyota, we believe that the ultimate desire of a society that values mobility should be the eventual elimination of traffic fatalities and injuries, said Bob Carter, senior vice president Automotive Operations at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. Studies indicate that advanced active safety technologies can have a profound effect on automotive safety. Toyota is proud to expand the availability of these technologies and to do so at an excellent value proposition for our customers as well. For 2017, the Safety Sense package will be available as an optional accessory on the Toyota Yaris, Avalon, RAV4, Prius, Highlander, and Corolla, according to the company. The 2016 International Car Rental Show will be held April 17-19 at Ballys Las Vegas. Click here for the full schedule. The Weekender has a SocialFlight agenda that runs cross-country, from flyouts to a daylong expo. On Saturday, join the crowd at Rancho Cylinderos, on the south side of Sampley Field in Aguila, Arizona, for a free breakfast by flying or driving in. Gather at the hangar on the southwest end of the flight park under the control tower. Also Saturday, the New England Aviation Safety Expo will be held at the Eaton-Richmond Center, Daniel Webster College, Nashua, New Hampshire adjacent to Boire Field Airport. The event is free and open to the public. It will feature exhibits and classes for all aviation enthusiasts, but is designed specifically to educate and promote safety for general aviation pilots throughout New England. The Oklahoma State University Flying Aggies host their second annual Fly-In on Saturday at the Stillwater Regional Airport, featuring live and static aircraft displays, an OSU Flight Team Demonstration as well as airplane rides over Stillwater. All proceeds will go toward the national-qualifying OSU Flight Team. On Sunday, join the Antelope Valley 99s in California on a flyout to six airports starting at Fox Airfield, then on to Mojave, California City, Rosamond, Tehachapi and Inyokern, picking up poker cards at each. Returning to Fox, a Santa Maria-style barbecue will be served, poker hands ranked and prizes awarded. Funds raised go to flight training scholarships. For more on this weekends events, visit SocialFlight. WHO WE AREMakers & Allies is an award-winning design and branding studio producing exclusively for the wine, craft, and spirits industry. Were a multi-talented creative crew that has learned how to play at the top of our game together. Were pre Armenias National Security Service (NSS) partly publicized on Wednesday what it described as evidence of a coup detat that was allegedly planned by members of an obscure militant group arrested late last year. A senior NSS official leading the high-profile investigation said the apparently well-armed group plotted to seize the presidential palace and other key government buildings in Yerevan and even considered blowing up President Serzh Sarkisians aircraft. We are talking about the possibility of taking such an action during presidential planes departure [to Switzerland] on December 1 for a meeting with the president of Azerbaijan, said the official, Mikael Hambardzumian. They discussed a concrete place where that could be carried out: the area adjacent to the Zvartnots airport [just outside Yerevan.] We have inspected that site and I can say that we believe it was physically possible to do that because during takeoff and landing the plane flies at a fairly low altitude and is reachable, Hambardzumian told a news conference. But I must stress that Artur Vartanian did not make a decision on that. It was only being discussed, he added, referring to the alleged ringleader. Vartanian and a dozen other individuals were detained in November in a dawn raid on a Yerevan house conducted by the NSS and the Armenian police. The security forces found large quantities of weapons and explosives stashed there. The NSS arrested more than 20 other persons, among them two veteran politicians, in the following weeks. It said later in November that Vartanians group planned to kill senior Armenian officials and carry out other terrorist attacks. Vartanian reportedly lived in Spain from 1997 until his return to Armenia last April. In 2015, the 34-year-old announced the establishment of a nationalist group called Hayots Vahan Gund (Armenian Shield Regiment). A video posted on Facebook showed a uniform-clad Vartanian reading out a statement in front of nine other armed men who also wore army fatigues. He said the Armenian Shield will put up armed resistance to terrorists threatening Armenians in Syria and other parts of the world. The NSSs Hambardzumian said the core members of the group underwent secret military training in Vartanians paternal village in central Armenia in August-September 2015. He released a photograph, purportedly taken in a village house, of 10 masked and armed men standing under an Armenian Shield banner. According to Hambardzumian, the group subsequently drew up detailed plans for the seizure of the presidential administration, government, parliament, Constitutional Court and state television buildings in Yerevan. He said NSS investigators have found a pre-recorded video of a televised address which Vartanian planned to deliver after the coup. The investigators will not make the videotaped message public for now, he added. The NSS publicized instead an English-language statement which the group allegedly planned to send to foreign diplomatic missions in Armenia. The document dated November xx 2015 invited their representatives to an information meeting with members of a transition government formed by a Free Armenia Committee. Hambardzumian said that as part of the coup plot Vartanian and his associates also monitored the work of Sarkisians personal security service and secretly filmed the president when he attended the inauguration on September 24 of a newly built Armenian Catholic church in Gyumri. While attending the ceremony, Artur Vartanian wore a church choir uniform in order to avoid being spotted, claimed the top investigator. Incidentally, a Gyumri-based Catholic priest, Father Anton Totonjian, and a journalist with the local Radio Mariam radio station belonging to the congregation were among those arrested in November. They both deny aiding the alleged coup plotters. The journalist, Lilit Torosian, was released from pre-trial custody pending investigation in January. Most of the other suspects have also denied the accusations levelled against them. Vartanian admitted through a lawyer in December that he and his associates possessed the firearms and explosives confiscated by the NSS. But the lawyer insisted that those weapons were not directed against Armenia and its citizens. In Hambardzumians words, 33 individuals have been charged in the probe and 25 of them remain in pre-trial detention. The NSS official further claimed that the investigators have identified the person who financed the alleged conspiracy. We know the financer and we have charged him as part of the criminal case, he said, refusing to name that person. The origin of the money is also clear to us. The group received about $65,000. The suspect resides and works in the Republic of Armenia. I cant tell you more at this point, added Hambardzumian. 30 March 2016 12:30 (UTC+04:00) By Nazrin Gadimova The Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis will be commemorated on March 31. The date reflects the memory of the bloody and tragic events of Azerbaijan's history that occurred in the early 20th century. Elmira Suleymanova, Azerbaijans Human Rights Commissioner has issued a statement in connection with the Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis, voicing hope that the March massacre of 1918 will receive an international legal assessment as an act of genocide. In early 20th century, the Azerbaijani people faced severe challenges as a result of the deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing, genocide and deportation that have been carried out in the last two centuries by the Armenian nationalists and their supporters. The policy of genocide and deportation even more intensified in 1918-20s, when Armenians destroyed hundreds of towns and villages, including 150 Azerbaijani villages in Karabakh. As a result of purposeful ethnic cleanings more than 700,000 Azerbaijanis, including 30,000 Baku residents were brutally murdered. However, after almost 100 years had elapsed after this bloody tragedy, it has not received an international legal assessment as an act of genocide, Suleymanova said . The ombudsman believes that human rights were grossly violated during this genocide. We hope that the world community, international organizations will support the just demands of Azerbaijan that this is a brutal crime committed against humanity. We hope that this genocide will receive an international legal assessment as an act of genocide and the culprits will be punished, the statement reads. We believe that justice will prevail soon, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan will be restored, the violated rights of refugees and internally displaced persons will be ensured. The document was sent to the UN Secretary General, UN Security Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Human Rights Council, European Commission, OSCE, Council of Europe, international and European ombudsman institutes, Asian Ombudsman Association, International Peace Bureau, ombudsmen of various countries, Azerbaijans embassies in other countries and embassies of other countries in Azerbaijan and representative offices of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations. During March-April 1918, hundreds of Azerbaijanis were executed by Armenians in Baku, Shamakhi, Guba, Mughan and tens of thousands of people were expelled from their lands. Armenian Bolshevik troops led by Stepan Shaumyan massacred thousands of people, burnt Islamic shrines and confiscated the 400-million-manat estate of Baku residents. Tezepir Mosque was bombed, and one of the magnificent architectural buildings, Ismailiyyeh, was burnt down. The genocide policy pursued against Azerbaijanis was not limited to Baku. Armenian dashnaks killed 8,027 Azerbaijanis, including 2,560 women and 1,277 children, in 53 villages of Shamakhy, 110 km west of Baku, on March 31. Also, 16,000 Azerbaijanis were murdered in 122 villages of Guba, northern Azerbaijan. The evidence of the Armenian vandalism in Guba is the burial of remains of the genocide victims. The burial was discovered during the construction of a stadium in Guba in 2007. The Special Investigation Commission set up by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on July 15, 1918 collected a great number of documents and submitted them to the government. In 1919, the Azerbaijani Parliament made a decision on marking March 31 as the day of Azerbaijanis' genocide. Though this date was essentially forgotten during the Soviet times, relevant investigations on the tragedy were carried out and books were published after Azerbaijan gained independence from the USSR in 1991. President Heydar Aliyev issued a decree on March 26, 1998 to commemorate March 31 as the Day of Azerbaijanis' Genocide. -- Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 14:35 (UTC+04:00) By Nazrin Gadimova Armenias participation in the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution is an imitation and aimed at deceiving the international community. Hikmet Hajiyev, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry made a statement while commenting on the decision made by the House of Representatives of the Hawaii state of the U.S.. Two anti-Azerbaijani resolutions (SR 60 and SCR 93) were introduced at the Hawaii State Senate on March 10 by legislators, who were misled by radical Armenian special interest groups. If adopted, the Hawaii State Legislature would have recognized the illegal regime Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which has been established on Azerbaijan's territory occupied by Armenia following its invasion and ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijan's lands in 1991-1994. The Hawaii State Senate leadership has officially rejected the mentioned resolutions thanks to measures taken by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, and issued a formal statement on the issue. In this statement, the Senate expressed support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with the U.S. policy, emphasizing that the Hawaii State Senate will not accept these resolutions, Hajiyev reminded. Following this failure, Armenia and the Armenian lobby in the U.S. have appealed to the House of Representatives of the local legislative body of the Hawaii State aiming to continue the provocative and insignificant actions. All these prove that Armenias participation in the negotiation process on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an imitation and aimed at deceiving the international community. Armenias real aim is to annex Azerbaijani territories, Hajiyev said, adding that the U.S. supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders. Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war. Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia has continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France, and the U.S. have produced no results so far. -- Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 18:39 (UTC+04:00) By Nazrin Gadimova Azerbaijan will commemorate one of the bloodiest pages in countrys history on March 31 the Day of Genocide committed by Armenians in 1918. A series of ceremonies, conferences, round tables and exhibitions dedicated to this massacre are being held in the country on these days. Addressing one of these events, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office said Azerbaijans economic and military power terrifies Armenia. He said Armenians always try to put themselves offended in a bid to carry out their dirty plans wherever they live. Touching upon issue of global terrorism, Pashazade said Azerbaijan is against this phenomenon and then urged the world to unite in the fight against terror. When the terrorist attacks occurred in France and Belgium, the world media wrote about it, while the attacks in Turkey and Pakistan were not covered so much, Pashazade said, blaming double standards prevailing in the world. Another event dedicated to the genocide was held at Baku State University. University Rector Abel Maharramov, addressing the event, said that Armenians who have created their own state on the ancient Azerbaijani lands showed aggression against Azerbaijani people throughout history. Maharramov recalled that the international community remains indifferent to the appeals of Muslim states on the elimination of Dashnaktsutiun, ASALA and other Armenian terrorist organizations. Azerbaijans Armed Forces also commemorate the genocide victims, holding a series of events with the participation of veterans, scientists and historians. In 1918, while the entire world was involved in World War I, the Armenian armed brigades, by using the prevailing anarchic situation in the region, attempted to exterminate the Azerbaijani nation. Armenian terrorists committed atrocities, to a degree of brutality and viciousness that words can begin to describe the horror of those days. They executed about 15,000 innocent people in Shamakhi, Guba, Irevan, Zengezur, Karabakh, Nakhchivan and Kars. Though this date was essentially forgotten during the Soviet times, relevant investigations on the tragedy were carried out and books were published after Azerbaijan gained independence from the USSR in 1991. President Heydar Aliyev issued a decree on March 26, 1998 to commemorate March 31 as the Day of Azerbaijanis' Genocide. -- Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 16:04 (UTC+04:00) By Aynur Karimova Since majority of OPEC nations along with non-OPEC Russia have decided to attend the Doha meeting scheduled for April 17 to discuss oil production freeze plans, all eyes were on Iran, which recently refused from participating in the meeting. Experts believe that such a decision of Tehran is understandable as the Islamic Republic suffered a severe decline in oil exports following the international sanctions imposed on it due to its nuclear program. Anne Korin believes that Iran realizes that the oil freeze plan is basically meaningless and falls short of what it desires. "As far as Iran is concerned, despite the hand-waving from the Saudis about a freeze, this is a continuation of proxy war in the economic arena," the co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security told Trend on March 28. She said that if the Saudis really wanted to drive prices up, they would have pushed through a significant production cut. They very well know a freeze won't have impact until growing demand soaks up excess supply, which will take quite a while, she added. In February 2016, energy ministers of three OPEC members - Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar - and non-OPEC state Russia met in Doha to deal with decreasing oil prices and relieving the glut on the world oil market. They agreed to freeze the oil output at the level of January 11. Iran, which eyes regaining its pre-sanctions share in the oil market, has already announced that it will not join the oil production freeze plan. The country produced about 2.9 million barrels per day in January and the government is talking about adding a further 500,000 bpd to exports. Iran wishes to increase the inflow of petrodollars to the state budget by returning to the world oil market. Meanwhile, Fereydoun Barkeshli, the former general manager at National Iranian Oil Company in OPEC, announced that Iran has lost more revenues from sharp fall in crude oil prices since 2013 than the entire loss under the crude oil embargo since 2008. Therefore, Barkeshli believes, Iran should welcome every opportunity, including an output freeze, if there are enough indications that Saudi Arabia and Russia are willing to help coordinate market balance. I consider the Qatar meeting of major OPEC and non-OPEC ministers a major breakthrough, very much in line with OPEC tradition and style of shaping up and engineering international oil market, he told Trend, adding that in fact OPEC hadnt made such a gesture for years due to the fact that market somehow automatically balanced itself and that geopolitical factors de-linked themselves from oil market fundamentals. In fact, I personally watch the market with some excitement since it reminds me of the 1980s and 1990s when OPEC style was very much in place, Barkeshli stated. However, this time the situation around the market is even more complicated due to the emergence of Russia and the shale oil, he added. OPEC and Russia, in fact, never looked eye to eye when it came to cutting production, though Russian delegates politely attended some OPEC conferences and gave indications of cooperation without giving up a single barrel to support market stability, heexpalined. Barkeshli believes that "freeze for freeze" is a good start. "It is true that neither Saudi Arabia nor Russia have much more to add to the market, but the gesture is positive and in OPEC tradition of reaching consensus one step at a time, he noted. He further added that Iran has been forced out of the market for some years and all other producers supplied [the crude] at full force. In the past when a country was deprived of its production quota it was supposed to pass its quota to another member as a quota loan. That meant that once a member was able to return to the market, it would get back its production quota. Unfortunately, OPEC gave up its quota policy back in 2012, but no producer expects Iran to freeze its crude production at the current level, Barkeshli said, adding that there are currently 1.23 billion barrels of idle crude oil in the market and over four millions barrels of excess daily production of crude oil is supplied to the market. -- Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 09:30 (UTC+04:00) Ilgar Muradov was appointed the member of the Board of Directors at Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Body and Ibrahim Alyshov was named the Supervisory Bodys CEO upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs decree, the Supervisory Body reported on March 29. Previously, Muradov served as deputy chairman at the State Securities Committee, while Alyshov was serving as the chairman of the Caspian Development Banks Supervisory Board. Nigar Mammadova has been recently named the deputy head of the Board of Directions of the Financial Market Supervisory Body. Rufat Aslanli heads the Board of Directors of the Financial Market Supervisory Body. President Ilham Aliyev decreed in February 2016 to establish the Financial Market Supervisory Body. The Supervisory Body was created for the purpose of licensing, regulating and controlling activities of the securities market, investment funds, insurance and credit institutions (banks, non-bank credit organizations, postal operator) and payment systems. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 09:27 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on March 29 appointing Sahir Mammadkhanov the countrys first deputy minister of taxes. Previously, Mammadkhanov served as deputy minister of taxes. He supervised the main department for tax policy and strategic studies, the main legal department, the financial and business department, the human resources department and the accounting department. Position of first deputy minister of taxes of Azerbaijan was vacant after Natig Amirov was appointed the presidential aide for economic reforms. Ilkin Valiyev was named the new deputy minister of taxes upon another presidential decree. Earlier, Valiyev served as the head of the main department for tax risks analysis and control. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 10:05 (UTC+04:00) A new print edition of the AZERNEWS online newspaper was released on March 30. The new edition includes articles about Azerbaijani genocide by Armenians that seal bloodiest page in nation's history, Baku FTZ to be true catalyst for regional transport development, Baku among Top 50 greatest cities in the world, more travelers visit Azerbaijan during Novruz, etc. AZERNEWS is an associate member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). The online newspaper is available at www.azernews.az. 30 March 2016 10:31 (UTC+04:00) The invitation by President Barack Obama to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to attend the Nuclear Security Summit 2016 is a reflection of Azerbaijans strategic importance, religious tolerance, reform-oriented economy and stature as a rising star within the broader Middle East, says Rob Sobhani, the US Caspian Group Holdings CEO. The Nuclear Security Summit 2016 will be held in Washington, D.C., March 31 April 1. Most importantly, inviting President Aliyev to Washington signals the importance of Azerbaijan on the global stage, Sobhani told Trend in an email March 29. Azerbaijan is no longer a former republic of the Soviet Union, but a responsible, trusted and reliable partner of the community of nations. He also said that President Aliyevs wise foreign policy of balancing Azerbaijans neighbors, their ambitions and competing interests is another reason for the invitation. Azerbaijan maintains normal ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia despite underlying tensions, noted Sobhani, adding that Azerbaijan has also pursued a path of peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict despite the Armenian occupation. This desire to settle the conflict peacefully is appreciated in Washington, he noted. It demonstrates responsible leadership by President Ilham Aliyev. Like a flower that blossoms after winter turns to spring, thanks to President Aliyev, Azerbaijan has blossomed into a world power, added Sobhani. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 13:00 (UTC+04:00) By Fatma Babayeva The Azerbaijani parliament will discuss a new draft law and an amendment to the existing law related to the medical field in its next sitting. The bill on Reproductive Health has received feedbacks from three governmental organizations and the Caucasian Muslims Office, said Ahliman Amiraslanov, chairman of the parliamentary committee on health issues, addressing the committee meeting on March 28. "We have already received the appropriate feedback from four governmental agencies - Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Justice, State Committee for Family, Women and Children and the Caucasian Muslims Office. All these institutes were positive on the draft Law on Reproductive Health, he stressed. We could coordinate the disputable clauses of the bill, the MP added. The committee expects to receive feedbacks from other institutions soon to finalize the consideration of the bill at the committee, and submit to parliament. "There is a serious need to adopt the law," said Amiraslanov. Amendments to the Law on Psychiatric Care were also proposed to the parliament. In accordance with the existing legislation, individuals receiving compulsory treatment for mental disorder can be released from a psychiatric hospital only by a courts decision, which will change or annul the application for mandatory treatment. The parliamentary committee on health issues discussed the amendments proposed to the Law on Psychiatric Care at its meeting on March 28. The amendment will adjust the existing law to the on Amendments to the Criminal Code, Amiraslanov emphasized. The amended law stipulates extending, changing or repealing compulsory treatment of patients with a mental disorder by a decision of the court of first instance. The court will consider the appeal based on a proposal by the administration of medical institutions carrying out such treatment and obligatory records about the conclusions of medical psychiatric commission. The bill was recommended for consideration at the next plenary session of the parliament. --- Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 11:35 (UTC+04:00) By Aynur Karimova Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyevs participation in the 4th Nuclear Security Summit scheduled for March 31-April 1 in Washington is appreciated as an important milestone in Azerbaijan's foreign policy. Samad Seyidov, the chairman of the international and interparliamentary relations committee at the Azerbaijani Parliament, believes that President Aliyevs joining this Summit is very important and significant. Seyidov, who also heads the Azerbaijan-U.S. parliamentary relations working group, told Trend that the countries participating in the Summit have not been selected randomly. "These states may contribute to the nuclear safety. Therefore, Azerbaijans participation in the Summit is important given the countrys role in solving the problem of ensuring stability and security in the world, he explained. Azerbaijan, which has no nuclear weapons and nuclear power plant, has turned into a state ensuring nuclear safety in the region due to its economic potential. The country has also joined all the international nuclear safety conventions, becoming one of the few countries that ensure stability at a high level. "But unfortunately, there are countries that treat this issue from a completely different position," the MP said. Armenia, which uses nuclear technologies and which has a nuclear power plant, not only failed to ensure nuclear safety, but also a country posing nuclear threat. "The obsolete Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, which does not meet any standards and undermines nuclear safety the most, is still operating in Armenia," he said. Rob Sobhani, the CEO of the US Caspian Group Holdings, believes that the invitation by President Barack Obama to the Azerbaijani President is a reflection of Azerbaijan's strategic importance, religious tolerance, reform-oriented economy and stature as a rising star within the broader Middle East. "Most importantly, inviting President Aliyev to Washington signals the importance of Azerbaijan on the global stage," Sobhani told Trend on March 29. "Azerbaijan is no longer a former republic of the Soviet Union, but a responsible, trusted and reliable partner of the community of nations." He also said that President Aliyevs wise foreign policy of balancing Azerbaijans neighbors, their ambitions and competing interests is another reason for the invitation. "Azerbaijan maintains normal ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia despite underlying tensions," he said, adding that Azerbaijan has also pursued a path of peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict despite the Armenian occupation. "This desire to settle the conflict peacefully is appreciated in Washington. It demonstrates responsible leadership by President Ilham Aliyev," he stated. "Like a flower that blossoms after winter turns to spring, thanks to President Aliyev, Azerbaijan has blossomed into a world power." Azerbaijan greatly contributes to peace and security the world and maintains close relations with the U.S. and other countries that have joined the coalition for fight against terrorism in the world. Azerbaijan has made a significant contribution to the maintenance of security in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ariel Cohen, founder of International Market Analysis Ltd, director of the Center for Energy, Natural Resources, and Geopolitics, senior fellow at the Institute for Analysis of Global Security, stated that a leading nation in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan is a strategically vital partner to the U.S. on combating terrorism, secularism, nuclear and conventional security, energy and foreign policy. To further a stronger partnership, the U.S. should become more active in ensuring Azerbaijans regional security - notably with regards to the Armenia and the resolution of the Karabakh problem, as well as possible threats from religious extremists, Russia and Iran, Cohen told Trend. Meanwhile, MP Aydin Mirzazade believes that such an invitation also approves the high evaluation of Azerbaijan's economic development and is the result of Azerbaijan's contribution to the security in the international arena. "Azerbaijan's invitation to this Summit is an indication of the strong position of the White House to the anti-Azerbaijani campaign of the Armenian Diaspora organizations in the U.S.," he told Trend. Thus, Azerbaijan's joining the 4th Nuclear Security Summit approves the fact that the country has become an important and reliable partner in resolving most pressing and challenging problems of the world. Furthermore, one can expect that participation of President Aliyev in this Summit will pave the way for further development of relations not only with the U.S., but also with other participating countries. Being an important event, the Summit and the bilateral meetings to be held on its sidelines, can contribute to the resolution of regional conflicts and implementation of huge projects. -- Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 16:36 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli The law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan carried out successful operation to prevent production of counterfeit currency, its smuggling and introduction into circulation, which is a serious threat to the financial system. As a result, two residents of Baku, previously convicted Nahid Nagiyev and his relative Fazail Javadov were arrested while selling $10,000 in fake U.S. currency for $3,000. The detainees claimed that they bought the fake USD abroad and then brought back into the country. Police reported that the protection signs in foreign currency were forged very skillfully, which made it difficult to distinguish from genuine banknotes. The investigation is underway. Earlier in February, the police arrested a resident of Beylagan region, Emin Abushov, who was trying to sell some $79,600 counterfeit USD for 49,000 manats. Emin and his partner, Georgian citizen Ali Rustamov organized the smuggling of fake U.S. currency from Iran to Azerbaijan, taking advantage of the high demand for foreign currency in Azerbaijan. Today, fake currency is being manufactured using everyday office equipment due to improvements in scanners, printers and printer inks, experts say. Therefore, no one is immune to such a "surprise" in his/her purse. Informational material on how to detect counterfeit money is available to the public at local banks. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 18:24 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli The successful development of military and security cooperation between Azerbaijan and Egypt is high on the agenda of talks in Baku, as a delegation led by the border guard commander of the Egyptian Defense Ministry visits the country. The Egyptian delegation led by Ahmed Ibrahim Mohammed Ibrahimi arrived in Baku on March 29 to mull issues of mutual interest in a number of areas. During the visit, Mohammed Ibrahimi was received by President Ilham Aliyev, who voiced that he attached great importance to further developing the friendly relations between the two countries. Pointing to successful cooperation between the border services, the head of state emphasized the significance of developing relations in the military and security areas. President Aliyev said that high-level reciprocal visits would contribute to the enhancement of these relations. The Egyptian official also pointed to the friendly relations between the two countries, noting that Egypt is also interested in developing cooperation between the two countries. Describing cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Egyptian relevant agencies, Mohammed Ibrahimi said that this cooperation covered security, military-technical and other fields. Underlining Azerbaijan's good experience in military-technical sphere and trainings, he stressed the importance of exchanging experience between the two countries' border services. During the visit, Mohammed Ibrahimi also met Emergency Situations Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov and discussed several issues of mutual interest. Heydarov stressed that the relations between the two countries are developing day by day, adding that the two states also successfully cooperate in preventing and elimination of emergency situations and their consequences. During the meeting between the Egyptian delegation and Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, the sides stressed they would exchange information and experiences in the fight against terrorism. Regarding the relations between the two countries in the military sphere, Hasanov emphasized the prospects of cooperation between the relevant structures of the two countries. The minister informed the guest about the military-political situation in the region, the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 09:38 (UTC+04:00) By Fatma Babayeva The real estate market has revitalized in Azerbaijan in January to February as its housing segment demonstrated traditional activity for spring season. The forecasts on possible rise in the housing prices in the long-term are regarded as one of major factors for increased activities on the market. Now the prices are comparably lower than the previous months, triggering demand for purchase of houses. Declining prices throughout last year resulted in stagnation this year, but later caused an increase in housing market. Some 1.02 percent decline was observed in the prices of real estate market from September to October 2015. The situation has stabilized later and the prices of the secondary housing remained unchanged in Baku in February, consulting company MBA Group indicated in its reports. The market offers apartments with a price ranging from $1,200 to $ 1,600 per square meter (14.5 percent, the average cost $1,345 per square meter) and those costing more than $ 1,600 per square meter (6.1 percent, average cost - $1,954 per square meter). An extraordinary activity on the secondary housing market was recorded in Baku in February on the background of a significant decline in property prices forecasted by real estate experts for the spring-summer period. The total area of new housing commissioned in Azerbaijan in January-February amounted to 269,500 square meters, which is by 2.5 percent more compared to the same period of the last year, the State Statistics Committee told Interfax-Azerbaijan agency. In February, 155,800 square meters of new housing were commissioned in Azerbaijan. The committee said that 101.3 million manats (decline to 36.5 percent) were invested in housing sector during January-February 2016. Real estate experts forecast a decline in property prices for this spring-summer period. Although some experts believe that real estate prices have already tumbled, the others say the prices will further decrease until late 2016 associating this with the market stagnation by force of external and internal factors -- worldwide economic instability, as well as fluctuations of national currency. An average period of object staying in the real estate market amounted to 180 days in February. This figure is four percent less than in January 2016, well demonstrating the increased activity on the secondary housing market. Increase in the number of buyers, in turn, has led to an increase of the market operations by eight percent. Experts also believe that demolition of old buildings, which was recently announced by the countrys authorities, will affect the real estate market. The Emergency Ministry has recently declared that a construction company should demolish old buildings and construct another instead. This solution will give an impetus to revitalization of construction firms activities, experts believe. According to the activity coefficient, Nasimi, Yasamal and Narimanov districts are the most attractive areas in Baku. -- Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 18:03 (UTC+04:00) By Aynur Karimova Azerbaijan, which is keen to develop the national economy and draw foreign investment in both oil and non-oil sectors, attracted $7.5 billion foreign capital in the form of direct investments in 2015. The Central Bank's balance of payments, published this week, shows that the share of the oil and gas sector in the structure of these investments amounted to 88.5 percent, while the volume of direct investments drawn to the non-oil sector totaled to $860.4 million, or 11.5 percent of the total volume of FDI. The figures show that foreign investments attracted to the non-oil sector is much less than those drawn to the oil sector. Economist Ogtay Hagverdiyev believes that Azerbaijan, eyeing to develop the non-oil sector of the economy, should draw foreign investments in the country by all means. "It is necessary to study the experience of China, Kazakhstan and other countries that have established free trade or free industrial zones in their territories," he told local media. "They have created such business environment that attracts foreigners." The expert reminded that foreign companies prefer to work in such territories, which have an access to the world oceans. Therefore, it would be better to create a free trade zone in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, as Nakhchivan enjoys a direct access to Iran, and from there to the Persian Gulf and to the world oceans. Promoting materials about Azerbaijan's investment climate and doing business conditions in the world media would also give a very good result, according to Hagverdiyev. "In particular, it is necessary to mention that Azerbaijan is looking for investors for the construction of various plants, factories. Mentioning the conditions that would attract foreign investors would be of importance as well. For example, to specify that the constructed plant should produce competitive products, and to mention that after the completion of the facility construction and its exploitation the government will not levy taxes from the investor so that it could recoup all costs within 2-5 years." Experts also propose to further simplify the registration process and accommodation of foreign citizens in the territory of Azerbaijan, claiming that it will give an impetus for attracting a new inflow of investment and developing various sectors of the economy. In early 2016, President Ilham Aliyev set a target before the government: to increase the volume of foreign investment, particularly in the non-oil sector of the economy. The government takes decisive measures towards increasing the attractiveness of the country for foreign investors. In this regard, privatization is considered to be one of the important tools for ensuring inflow of foreign direct investment to the country. Also, the development of local production is other option for inflow of funds. In this regard, the Azerbaijani government is keen to further transfer oil and gas revenues to the non-oil sector as the development of this sector is expected to enable Azerbaijan not to depend on imports. Also, taking the current economic processes into account, investing in Azerbaijan is also advantageous because of the low exchange rate of the national currency, the manat and the availability of specialized personnel. Azerbaijan also focuses on development of the transport infrastructure. In recent years, the government has invested billions in the development of marine, railway, road and social infrastructure as developed infrastructure and good business climate are the main conditions for attracting foreign direct investment in each country. Azerbaijan also applies the principle of "single window" for transport of transit cargoes through its territory via the railways, maritime transport, ports and terminals. Azerbaijan has reduced transit costs by around 40 percent for foreign carriers heading to the Kazakh port of Aktau and Turkmenbashi port of Turkmenistan. The government applies a 30-percent discount on the services of transit of oil and oil products by railway and transshipment via the sea terminals. Such measures are aimed at further increasing Azerbaijan's attractiveness for foreign investors and opening doors for investments. Today, a struggle for the investments intensifies in the world, and Azerbaijan will have to compete for its share. -- Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 14:47 (UTC+04:00) The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $28.35 million to five local banks through the auction held by Azerbaijans Central Bank (CBA) March 30, SOFAZ said March 30. SOFAZ offered $100 million for sale through the auction, and will continue selling foreign currency through auctions in 2016. The foreign currency is sold as part of SOFAZs transfers to the Azerbaijani state budget, which are envisaged to stand at 7.615 billion Azerbaijani manats in 2016. SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million. As of January 1, 2016, SOFAZ assets reduced by 9.5 percent compared to 2014 ($37.1 billion) and were estimated at $33.57 billion. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 16:19 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) has launched a new campaign as part of its AZAL Miles frequent-flyer program. Participants of the program, who will fly to Berlin and Paris in the period from April 1 to June 1, 2016 , will be able to earn twice as much status and travel points. Baku-Paris-Baku flights are operated 4 times a week - on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Departure from Heydar Aliyev International Airport at 06:35 in the morning Baku time, arrival at Charles de Gaulle Airport - at 10:05 local time. Departure from Paris - at 11:25 local time, arrival in Baku - at 18:35 Baku time. Direct Baku-Berlin-Baku flights, which were resumed in late March, are operated twice a week - on Tuesdays and Sundays. Departure from Heydar Aliyev International Airport at 07:00 in the morning Baku time, arrival at Tegel International Airport - at 09:55 local time. Departure from Berlin - at 10:55 local time, arrival in Baku - at 17:25 Baku time. Flights to Paris and Berlin will be operated with comfortable Airbus A320 and A319airliners, which have economy and business class cabins. Detailed information about AZAL Miles frequent-flyer program is available at: https://www.azal.az/en/azal-miles/miles-programme Those who are not a member of the program yet, can be registered on the following link: http://ffj2.loyaltyplus.aero/j2loyalty/register.jsf?lang=eng --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 10:40 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Bakus Natavan gallery will host a photo exhibition titled Chasing the light by Azerbaijani photographer Mark Rafaelov on March30, Trend Life reports. The event, scheduled for 7 p.m., will feature pictures taken with a smartphone camera. Rafaelov, commenting on the project, spoke about technological progress and its impact on modern society. When the first device recognizable as a smartphone was presented, I understood that everything that Ive been taught at the Academy or trainings have lost its importance and means nothing at all. Today, everyone can afford to buy a device with camera to shoot high-quality photos without any knowledge's of coloristic, photography skills and experience... Photojournalism is gradually losing its meaning, because any tourist with smartphone can leave behind a professional photographer. Quantity takes precedence over quality", he said. However, Rafaelov admits that as time passes, his aversion disappeared and as a result he had bought the first smartphone. "Firstly, I reluctantly shot everything that seemed more or less interesting. A little later I appreciated my ability to shoot in any situation, regardless of whether I have a photo camera with me or not. Moreover, I could easily find a place and time on all photos made with smartphone that was certainly a huge plus. The quality has gradually returned to the first place. And sometimes, smartphone helps us to take picture where it's banned or when we just don't have time to prepare the camera," said the photographer. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 09:51 (UTC+04:00) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani postponed a two-day visit to Austria indefinitely for security reasons on Tuesday, the evening he was supposed to arrive in Vienna, his Austrian counterpart's office said, Reuters reported. It was not clear what the security reasons were, a spokeswoman for Austrian President Heinz Fischer's office said. She said a planned Rouhani visit to Baghdad immediately before the Austrian trip had also been postponed for security reasons. "We were working (on preparations) until 5, 5:30 p.m.," she said shortly before 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT). Rouhani had been due to hold meetings with Fischer and other officials on Wednesday and Thursday. Fischer issued a statement expressing his regret at Rouhani's move, adding: "Of course, it goes without saying that each state must make its own decisions about security and the head of state's security." --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 09:58 (UTC+04:00) Istanbul police is holding a special operation to detain those suspected of having ties to terrorist organizations, Anadolu agency reported March 30. There are already the detained ones during the operation carried out in several districts of Istanbul. Turkey has faced deadly terrorist attacks in recent weeks. On March 13, a car bomb attack in Ankara left 37 people dead. Istanbul was also targeted by a suicide attack on March 19, leaving five people dead. Turkish authorities have accused Daesh, the PKK and the PYD terrorist groups for the attacks. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 14:22 (UTC+04:00) By Aynur Karimova Iran, which sits on huge oil and gas reserves, is interested in developing the alternative energy and has recently focused on fostering this field. The Islamic Republic has expressed interest in cooperation with Slovakia in the renewable energy sector. Bahman Salehi, the CEO of the Iranian Sanir Company, said that his company is willing to engage in cooperation with Slovakia to carry out projects in the field of renewable energy. He further added that Sanir, the Islamic Republic's water management service and equipment company, also intends to apply the Slovak technology to export goods and services to regional countries, IRNA news agency reported on March 29. Salehi's statement comes in the wake of Slovak Economy Minister Vazil Hudaks visit to Iran in early March, during which the sides considered cooperation in renewable energy, nuclear energy, car manufacturing, telecommunication, waste management, and in other sectors. During his visit, Hudak also paid a visit to the Sanir Company and explored venues of cooperation with this Iranian company. Slovakia meets 40 percent of its energy demand from renewable sources. The country is expected to become the rotating chair of the EU in the coming months. The Sanir Company has so far carried out 200 projects in the region, East Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The company is currently carrying out 17 projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Oman, Iraq, Ethiopia, the Iraqi Kurdistan, Sri Lanka, and Armenia. In Iran, renewable energy makes up less than one percent of energy used in the country. Being the world's 14th biggest owner of solar power plants, Iran's renewable energy potential is huge. Only the wind capacity of the country is estimated by experts at 30,000 megawatts. Officials expect to meet 10 percent of Irans electricity needs by solar and wind power plants by 2022. They also say that the country's solar and wind power plants will generate 12,000 megawatts of electricity annually. Currently, Iran is cooperating with the foreign companies to develop the renewable energy sector. It trades power with Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. -- Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 16:11 (UTC+04:00) Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed the cooperation in political, trade and economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres with the President of the European Council (EC), Donald Tusk, during his visit to Brussels. The parties also touched upon the issues of the international agenda, in particular the situation in Ukraine and Afghanistan, as well as issues of counterterrorism, Kazakh presidents press service reported on March 30. Nazarbayev said that the EC is one of the important vectors of the Kazakh foreign policy and a priority direction of trade and economic cooperation. The president added that Kazakhstans parliament has ratified an Agreement on expanded and strategic partnership with the EC in the current month and it will bring the parties cooperation to a qualitatively new level. Tusk, in turn, expressed his hope that Kazakhstans close partnership with the EC will only become stronger despite the crisis tendencies in the world economy. Kazakhstan has asked the European Union (EU) for a visa-free regime for its citizens traveling for 15-30 days. The remarks were made by President Nazarbayev following the talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Kazakhstan cancelled the visa regime for short-term travels for the majority of European countries and the US in July of 2015. It is a temporary regime and has been introduced for one and half year. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 30 March 2016 13:32 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Nowadays, medical tourism is growing in popularity turning into a global tendency of the modern tourism industry. The number of patients struggling to afford or find the right treatment overseas is booming, with many countries seeking to offer high-quality health care at a good price. The 2015 data shows that about 100 million of 1 billion tourists in the world traveled abroad to make use of medical tourism services. The rise of medical tourism over the past years, has given the Azerbaijani tourism industry a wakeup call to start making active efforts to revive the sector. Sunny Azerbaijan, enjoying natural medical resources such as mineral waters and various types of oil and volcanic muds, can be an ideal place for an amazing adventure, extraordinary holiday, and useful treatment for strengthening health. The countrys authorities began to research the natural medical resources located in various parts of the country, and established several resorts networks already in the second half of the 20th century. Today, the country offers a number of resorts, sanatoriums and hotels for climatic, balneal, mud therapy and numerous salt caves. Not just local tourists but even international tourists take thermal spa holidays or health-related trips to Azerbaijan. The medical tourism is very profitable, since health tourism is relevant all year round. The welcoming of a new face of tourism will open up plenty of opportunities to tourism industry professionals and allied businesses, experts believe. Medical tourists have higher average expenditures as compared to regular tourists and they spend more time in the country. Ruslan Guliyev, the head of the Medical Support and the Thermal Tourism Association of Azerbaijan claims that the medical tourism is one of the most promising directions for development of the domestic tourism. The expert underlined the necessity to develop this kind of tourism, since Azerbaijan has large reserves of mineral water, therapeutic mud, and well-known Naftalan, crude oil, renowned for its curative properties. Health centers such as Naftalan, Duzdag, Istisu, Qalaalti have been very popular since the Soviet period, and were visited by many Soviet republics. Today, tourists continue to visit these places for health purposes, he said. The medical tourism in Azerbaijan has been noticeably improved after the adoption of the state program on development of resorts in 2008-2009. To boost the sector, there was established the Association to support the health and thermal tourism in Azerbaijan, as well as modern medical and health centers were opened in Baku, Naftalan, Nakhchivan and other regions of the country. Just to name a few one can show Galaalti, Istisu and Naftalan. Here tourists can spend some time away from home to relax, improve physical and mental well-being, and look for therapies at spas, wellness resorts and hotels. For centuries the country was known as the land of healing oil exported like rare medicine via the Silk Road. Naftalan oil popularized Azerbaijan long before the oil boom that made Baku world famous in the 19th century. Along with the oil exploitation that started in Baku, industrial exploitation and processing of Naftalan oil began, making it famous in the West. Its medicinal uses are very wide and it is used to treat over 70 illnesses and known as a marvelous ointment treating skin diseases. Istisu or Hot Water located in Masalli, a beautiful and unique city is another healing water of thousands diseases. The water, coming from the bowels of the earth at a depth of 90-250 meters is rich with hydrogen sulphide, calcium, sodium, chloride, magnesium hydrocarbons, and iodine. The marvelous Istisu spring helps people to cope with diseases such as rheumatism and its adverse effects, skin diseases, kidney and urinary tract problems, radiculitis, prostate hypertrophy, liver disease, biliary tract problems, infertility, gastro-intestinal diseases, traumatic injuries, etc. For treatment the patients with respiratory problems should certainly visit Duzdag salt caves in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Azerbaijans nature, cuisine and lifestyle are noteworthy, as here medical tourists can combine their trip with holiday in their favorite destination in Caucasus Mountains. The countrys mild climate with the breathtaking landscape including forests, mountains, rivers and waterfalls will not leave anyone indifferent. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3.0 ( - - ): editor [at] bahrainmirror.com US spice brand McCormick has upped its offer on Premier Foods to 65p a share. This is the third offer the company has made for Premier, following unsolicited offers at 52p on 12 February, and 60p on 14 March. In a statement, McCormick urged Premier to now fully engage with it to agree a recommended offer, and said its offer valued the company at an enterprise value of 1.5bn. A spokesman for Premier Foods told British Baker the board needed to consider the offer before making a statement and added that any comment on how a deal with McCormick might affect Premiers proposed cooperation agreement with Nissin would be speculation. She said: I think it is a bit early to talk and the board needs time to consider. In a statement, the company said: McCormick believes this revised offer should be well received by Premier Foods shareholders, employees, pensioners, creditors, and other stakeholders. McCormick continues to believe that, with its 127-year heritage, it would be an outstanding custodian for the Premier Foods brands, and, with the strength of its balance sheet, can provide benefits for Premier Foods, its pensioners, creditors and other stakeholders, which Premier Foods current capital structure cannot deliver, with or without the proposed co-operation with Nissin Foods. Premier Foods share price jumped this morning in the wake of the announcement, climbing to 60.50p per share at 9.34am from 56.50p at 4.30pm yesterday. It has also emerged that Japanese instant noodle firm Nissin yesterday upped its stake in Premier Foods from 17.27% to 19.90% after buying a further 21.7 million shares. "a puzzle" Hossam Zeitoun, assistant professor of strategy and international business at Warwick Business School, said: "It is a puzzle why McCormick didnt buy the 17.3% stake that ultimately went to Nissin. Possibly, McCormick wants to ensure due diligence before making a bigger investment. McCormicks new offer makes it more likely that Premier Foods will open its books. This would enable McCormick to make a careful assessment, which might result in an even higher offer for Premier Foods shares." He added: "Nissin bought its stake at 63p per share and could potentially resell its stake at a small profit. However, Nissin has more long-term objectives and is likely to be reluctant to resell its stake. Nissins stake remains an obstacle for McCormick, which is seeking full control of Premier Foods." This Week, Daiquiri Dick's Offers The Flavors of Oaxaca Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - There's no better place to sample authentic Mexican cuisine than in Mexico. And in Puerto Vallarta, there's no better place to try it than at Daiquiri Dick's Restaurant, where this week's special menu features the Flavors of Oaxaca through April 3, 2016. Known internationally for its exquisite cuisine, Oaxaca (wah-ha-ka) is one of Mexico's most important food regions. Because of its mountain ranges, the state, located in the southwestern part of Mexico, has a number of climates and cultures, which contributes to making the food the most varied in Mexico. The cooking of each region is characterized by local ingredients and to some extent cooking methods. Daiquiri Dick's Executive Chef Ignacio Uribe, Chef de Cuisine Hugo Mejia, and Sous Chef Rogelio Garcia have developed a menu reflecting the many flavors of Oaxacan food. This special a la carte dinner menu is served from 5 to 11 pm through April 3, 2016. Appetizers Tomato and Panela Cheese Salad with radish, avocado and cilantro Mexican Shrimp Soup Tlatixhuilli Style Chicken Garnachas with Avocado Sauce, cabbage and red onion Main Courses Pork Tenderloin with Black Oaxacan Mole, served over sweet potato puree Duck in Oaxacan Green Mole: thickened with masa-harina; with tomatillos, onions, cilantro and white beans, served with green rice Escolar (butterfish) in Oaxacan Black Chipotle Sauce, served with Pureed Plantains Desserts Chocolate Oaxacan Flan Churros with Chocolate Sauce The regular a la carte menu is also available. During the spring season reservations are recommended, 222 0566. Just a note about the restaurant's reservation policy: Reservations are held for a maximum of 15 minutes. They do not guarantee particular tables, although they make every effort to accommodate requests. This policy is in place to ensure the integrity of all reservations. Daiquiri Dick's - An Exceptional Experience. Open daily from 9 am to 11 pm, Daiquiri Dick's offers elegant dining in a relaxed atmosphere for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Visa, MasterCard and Banamex accepted. Reservations are recommended and can be made online at ddpv.com. You, Too, Can Help PV Students With Their Education! Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Don't miss Becas Vallarta's 2015-2016 season finale fundraiser - Breakfast at Coco's Kitchen on April 13th at 10:00 am. Coco, always a magnificent hostess, is planning a great menu, and there will be an array of great prizes for the raffle and exciting silent auction items. The price is a very reasonable $200 pesos per person. Becas Vallarta, A.C. provides scholarships for over 300 students in middle school, high school and university. Most of these students would not be able to attend school if it were not for the scholarship they receive. While Mexico's schools are open to all students, students cannot attend without the proper supplies and uniforms, both for class and physical education. The volunteers at Becas Vallarta are dedicated to raising money to provide scholarships for Vallarta's young people, 8th grade through university. To qualify for a scholarship students must come from a Puerto Vallarta family of limited economic resources, maintain a grade point average of 8.5 and be a good citizen in school and at home. Once they earn a scholarship we continue it as long as they meet criteria. Becas Breakfasts also allow seasoned members of the community to mingle with one another, and the opportunity to connect with new attendees looking to contribute to such an important cause. For further information, please contact Suzanne Erikson at (322) 221-5599, Terry Prill at 221-5465, or Mariel Fregoso at 221-0789. Note: Coco's Kitchen is located at Pulpito #122 on the South side of Puerto Vallarta. Ebola in Sierra Leone: the role of faith leaders Faith leaders played a key role in tackling the Ebola crisis, as this new film from Christian Aid shows The second anniversary of the Ebola epidemic, which killed and orphaned thousands in west Africa, passed recently.During this crisis, Christian Aid was among the organisations supporting faith leaders, like the Revd Christiana Sutton-Koroma, to help educate and protect their communities from the deadly virus.'You cannot succeed without engaging the religious leaders,' she said. 'They know their communities, they know their people. They are trusted voices. And when the people listen, they will actually adhere to the preventative messages.' Another Christian leader, Father Peter Conteh, was moved by the plight of a little girl he wasnt able to help. He said, 'One particular situation touched my heart. Members of our church were sick. It was at the peak of Ebola, and we had only a few ambulances. We went to the house, but the mum and dad were already dead. There was a six year old child stretching out her arms to us. 'But it was too dangerous what could we do? We were pestering the medical people to come, but it was not possible. Forty eight hours later we got the ambulance but the kid had died. I went home in tears. This girl was stretching out her hands and I was helpless.' Father Peter was not able to help the little girl, but by educating others in his community he has helped protect many more from the deadly disease. Watch the full film Ebola in Sierra Leone: the role of faith leaders to find out how. Baptist Times, 30/03/2016 Two Lakeland men have been making countless trips to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to help some of the poorest people in the world. Mike Williams and Shawn Maguire have been friends since 1980 when they were classmates at Evangel Christian School. They now share a common bond of doing missionary relief work. Williams works full time for his ministry called Cups of Cold Water in the Dominican Republic. Maguire works for Lakeland Electric and spends his spare time traveling to Haiti with teams of volunteers for his ministry called 316BESALT. Maguire often takes teams of volunteers to the Dominican Republic to help Williams. That was the case on a recent trip the two men made to the city of Sosula in the Dominican Republic. Maguire brought along a team of about a dozen volunteers. Cups of Cold Water hands out food and clean water to people who live around the citys dump. Many of the people are illegal immigrants from Haiti who cant get regular jobs so they search through the garbage. Each and every day they come out here looking for something they can recycle. Something they can eat. Babies are born here. People die here, said Williams. But while they are in the dump they find a box of food and there is a half-eaten hamburger in it. Thats their lunch, said Maguire. When the men and their volunteers hand out birthday cake one day they are swarmed by hungry people. The Haitians are all over us but we are 100 percent safe, said Maguire. They actually love us. Because they know we are there to love them. On their recent trip they also brought several hundred pairs of shoes to give away. The were collected with the help of the City of Lakeland. They also helped to paint peoples homes. Cups of Cold Water has several ministries to help keep young women from being pushed into a life of prostitution. Sometimes its the parents that send their oldest daughter into the streets to bring income back to the family," said Maguire. Cups of Cold Water helps to teach the women sewing skills to earn money and there is a pregnancy center that provides clothes and diapers. The love that the men and their volunteers receive makes their work rewarding. Once you go on a trip with me on one of the trips youll go back, said Maguire. A Polk County mother is fighting a senior living community after the board wouldn't allow her to move in with her daughter with special needs. Linda Haase says she couldn't wait to move into Skyview Estates. The quiet, gated mobile home community only allows people over the age 55 to move in. If the resident's spouse or dependent is in the home, the person must be 45 or older. But Haase has a 26-year-old daughter named Nikole with cerebral palsy. Nicole can't live alone, and needs her mother for care. "The main reason I want to live there is because my familys there. My parents are there, my sisters there, my brother-in-laws are there," Haase said. Haase says the board at Skyview Estates refuses to let her move in, even after she filed a complaint detailing her daughter's condition. In fact, board members recently met and approved hiring a lawyer to fight the complaint. Haase believes the board of the community is violating the Fair Housing Act. Board members would not talk to Bay News 9 for comment, but at the recent meeting, some expressed concern over keeping their senior living status. Some community members worry if they break the rules and let one person in, the whole community will change. The Florida Commission on Human Relations can't comment on specific cases. But a lawyer there tells Bay News 9 that the Fair Housing Act requires housing providers, including condominium associations, to make reasonable accommodations to their policies. That could include a waiver of occupancy on age limits in order to approve a live-in caregiver for a disabled resident. A final decision should come down this summer on whether Haase will be allowed to move in. It coordinates missions, prevent attacks and works around the clock to keep America safe. And now, MacDill's CENTCOM - home of U.S. Central Command - is welcoming new leadership. Army General Raymond A. Thomas III and current U.S. Special Operations Commander Joseph Votel moved Wednesday into two of the nation's top positions in the fight against terrorism. The big moves that took place at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa will be felt around the world in the war on terror. Thomas took over special operations command from Votel. Thomas comes to MacDill from Fort Bragg, where he was in charge of Joint Special Operations Command. Thomas is a veteran of the Army's elite Ranger light infantry force. He has also held key positions with counter terrorism units, including Delta Force. Also today, Votel took over as head of Central Command. In that role, Votel will oversee security interests in 20 nations from the Arabian gulf to Central Asia. Starting Friday, April 1, Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT) will begin limited express service between Bradenton and St. Petersburg through its MCAT Connexion. Officials say the first bus daily will depart from the DeSoto Station starting at 9 a.m., and should arrive at the Bay Pines Veterans Administration Hospital/Medical Center by 10:15 a.m. A return trip departs at 10:40am. A second run to St. Pete starts at 2 p.m. and returns at 3:40 p.m. William Steele, Transit Manager for MCAT, worked with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) to create the new Skyway Connexion Limited Stop Express. He says his twenty years working for PTSA helped to build this collaboration. "They're open to the inter-county service because it serves a market that they'd like to fulfill, as well," said Steele. Steele goes on to say the new service across the Howard Frankland Bridge opens job opportunities, shopping, and services to MCAT Customers they could not reach previously. For additional information on the new Skyway Connexion Limited Stop Express Service, visit the MCAT Website. Here's what you need to know about the Bay area's weather for Thursday: Areas of patchy fog in the morning Lows in the 60s Thursday partly sunny & warmer Skies will be partly cloudy into early Thursday morning. Temperatures will be comfortable, bottoming out in the low to mid 60s inland and upper 60s to near 70 at the coast. There will be some areas of patchy fog in the morning that will burn off after sunrise. Thursday will be another nice day, but much warmer. Skies will be partly sunny with some high clouds passing from time to time. High temperatures will top out in the low to mid 80s near the coast and upper 80s inland. Thursday night will be partly cloudy with lows in the upper 60s to low 70s. Friday will be similar with partly sunny skies and highs in the mid to upper 80s away from the coast. Clouds will be on the increase but there will only be a 20 percent chance of an afternoon shower over inland areas in the afternoon. The best chance of rain is on the way for Saturday with a cold front passing Sunday morning. Quite the Run of Sun and Fun Through Weekend for Oregon Coast, Portland: in the 70's Published 03/29/2016 at 6:51 PM PDT - Updated 03/30/2016 at 4:14 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) UPDATED: Chances of rain on the weekend have diminished this run may go longer. Portland will be in the 70's for the next few days and the Oregon coast will reach those numbers at times as well. Prepare for about four big reasons to play hooky from work: one for each day this week. (Photo: sun and fun above Manzanita). It all began Tuesday, at least on the Oregon coast: with glorious sunny conditions, no clouds and a run of warm temps that will last until about the weekend. Maybe longer, however. Tuesday, Portland and the beach towns have seen nothing but blue skies. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland said tonight on the coastline will be mostly clear with temps in the 40's. Wednesday will be sunny with highs 60 to 70 in areas like Cannon Beach, Seaside, Manzanita, Newport, Pacific City, Lincoln City or Yachats. Winds will remain low around 5 to 15 mph, coming from the northeast. At night, winds get lighter with lows in the 40's. Thursday and Friday are more of the same, with no clouds, bundles of sun and light winds. On Saturday, clouds start to move into the north and central coast, but conditions stay dry and in the 50's. Current models, as of Wednesday, are predicting no rain but some clouds over the weekend. . Later in the next week, beyond Monday, it's cloudy to mostly cloudy, with some chance of rain and highs around 55. However, even the NWS admits these forecasts hold the possibility the good weather will hold out longer. An upper level ridge of high pressure will continue to build across the Pacific Northwest [Tuesday night], developing into an omega block that will dominate the weather pattern through the remainder of the week, the NWS said. This pattern will bring dry, pleasant weather with mild daytime temperatures and cool nights. Then, however, the offshore flow will start decreasing Wednesday yet the pleasant weather will continue. Daytime temps will run five to 10 degrees above normal through Friday. After that, the ridge of high pressure aloft will start to move eastward and a weak disturbance attempts to move in, bringing more clouds and chances of rain over the weekend. The NWS said there is a chance those later forecast models may not be correct, but so far the confidence in increased clouds is moderate to high. A helpful hint for the Oregon coast: these are conditions when the tide line may well be warmer than the town a few hundred feet away, thanks to the lack of winds. Standing close to the water, the sun will reflect off the ocean and greatly increase the temperature while you're on the sand or on rocky shelf areas. You may likely need sun lotion for a visit to the beaches this week. More Oregon Coast Weather. Oregon Coast Hotels for this - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Port Arthur's taxpayer-funded economic development group has turned its back on a proposed slaughterhouse for cattle, goat and sheep, forgoing hundreds of jobs amid public anxiety that the plant would stink. The Economic Development Corp. wrote a new land-use rule specifically banning slaughterhouse and meat processing facilities on the property Riceland Farms sought to develop its plant. "It's very discriminatory toward a particular business when you single them out like that, in my opinion," said Floyd Batiste, the EDC's chief executive who supported the project. "I think it sends a very negative signal when you have a board picking and choosing what type of industry they want." The measure passed by a 5-1 vote, with one abstention and two board members absent. Port Arthur's city council will decide whether to approve or reject the EDC's recommendation. More for you Slaughterhouse proposal in Port Arthur up for debate Langston Adams, the board member who introduced the motion to reject the plant, said nearby families and businesses located in the park worried the plant would emit a foul odor and overwhelm sewage systems with wastewater. "In this particular case, the slaughterhouse would not bring jobs - it would cost jobs," Adams said. "Future businesses won't come to our business park, and you could potentially lose some of the business that you've got." The setback was another for the Riceland Farms proposal, which initially targeted Winnie but moved on after facing expensive infrastructure problems and some Chambers County resistance. The company in January sent the EDC a letter of intent to buy up to 10 acres, with an option to by 30 more, for a meat processing facility. The project, backed by the Javed family and former Congressman Nick Lampson, would have included an office space and three barns in addition to a slaughterhouse capable of processing up to 800 cattle and 10,000 goats or sheep per week. Riceland Farms said in its letter of intent it would employ as many as 180-210 workers at the site. Lampson could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The facility would have been the only USDA-inspected slaughterhouse in Southeast Texas. Of the more than 50 such facilities scattered throughout Texas, none are closer than Houston, according to a USDA database. Melissa Davis, who has operated Nance Meat Processing, a small-scale slaughterhouse, for 35 years, previously said the plant could have benefitted local ranchers. "It would be great for the local farmers around here, people who are raising their own goats and (cattle), to sell locally," Davis said. Voters created the EDC in 1989, agreeing to fund it with a half-cent sales tax. The corporation, which has about 250 acres of developable property, offers business a job-creation incentive ranging between $1,000 and $17,000, grants and loans for capital investment, and assistance in purchasing land, among other incentives. A board of nine appointed members governs the EDC, whose policies also need City Council approval. The project was proposed for land one mile away from the hub of the business park at Jade Avenue west of West Port Arthur Road, which Batiste said has more than a dozen tenants. Lampson previously said the facility would use a modern system to kill and slaughter the animals in a humane manner - one at a time, without being able to witness another animal's death for example - and keep the odor down. "This is a packing plant from the future," Lampson said previously. EBesson@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/EricBesson_news This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A South Texas family is mourning the death of a Corpus Christi high school graduate, mom and Air Force wife who was killed in the March 22 Brussels terrorist attacks, according to a U.S. congressman. U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, identified Gail Minglana Martinez, a 41-year-old mother of four and wife of Air Force Lt. Col. Kato Martinez, as a victim of the attacks and has spoken to her brother, according to the Associated Press. Gail Minglana Martinez graduated from Flour Bluff High School in 1992, in Corpus Christi, where some of her family still lives, according to KIII TV and 12 News Now. The Martinez family moved from Texas to places like Guam as part of Kato Martinez's military duties, according to the Pacific Daily News. They currently lived in the Netherlands, where the airman was assigned to Joint Force Command Brunssum to serve as a military assistant to the commander, the AP reported. At least four Americans were killed in the March 22 bombings that killed more than 30 and injured more than 100 in Belgium's capital. RELATED: Islamic State claims deadly bombings in Brussels Gail Martinez's extended family told the AP in statement on Tuesday that they have been in contact with her husband, but did not disclose details of his or their children's exact conditions. The Air Force Times reported family and friends said the father was in an intensive care unit, while the children were recovering from burns." RELATED: La Frite hosts happy hour fundraiser for victims' families in Brussels Dexter Miranda, Gail Martinezs cousin and Corpus Christi resident, honored her in a Facebook post on March 26. RELATED: Dikembe Mutombo was at Brussels airport during attack [] many people are under the assumption those terrible attacks wont happen to us or anyone we know, he said. Reality hit home today after our cousin and her entire family were among the victims [] Gail Minglana Martinez will be dearly missed. The military couple had celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary last August, according to Gail Minglana Martinezs Facebook. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye Today is National Doctors' Day, and this year marks the 26th year our nation takes time to recognize the medical field's pioneers, according to Doctors' Day. Here are five key points on National Doctors' Day history. 1. Congress designated March 30 as National Doctors Day in 1991. 2. Following the decision, former President George Bush issued a proclamation urging Americans to honor the day with appropriate programs and activities. 3. In his proclamation, President Bush recognized Daniel Hale Williams, MD, and Charles Drew, MD, two African American physicians who were considered great innovators in medical research. 4. The president also honored Thomas Dooley, MD, for his humanitarian work. Former President Bush also recognized the National Institutes of Health. 5. In his proclamation, former President Bush made a tribute to those medical professionals serving members of the Armed Forces and Reserves. More healthcare news: States to settle and states to flee The 10 best & 10 worst states for physicians Practicing engaged medicine at ASCs How videotaping surgery promotes transparency & patient engagement SCA, HealthEast partner on Maplewood Surgery Center merger; Medical Facilities Corp. names Britt Reynolds CEO 5 key notes on ASC companies R. Gregory Scheible, MD, is the first physician Indiana to implant Apollo Endosurgery's Orbera intragastric balloon in a patient using a non-surgical procedure, according to a Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly. Here are four points: 1. The FDA-approved procedure involves placing a deflated silicone balloon into a patient's stomach. 2. The balloon is then filled with saline and the patient carries it in his stomach for six months to help manage portion control. 3. The procedure is intended for patients with a body mass index of 30 to 40 who have tried other weight-loss techniques. 4. Dr. Scheible, a gastroenterologist with Parkview Physicians Group, performed the procedure at Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. More articles GI/endoscopy: 50%+ of colonoscopy perforations require surgery: 5 insights Considering alternative payment models in GI: 6 takeaways 8 things to know about gastroenterologist salary On March 28, MedStar Health, based in Columbia, Md., shut down its computer networks to halt the spread of malware that stopped certain users from logging into the system. The virus did not affect patient records or the health system's Cerner system, according to a MedCity News report. Here are seven things to know about the cyberattack and the health system's response. 1. Cerner's solutions, including the MedConnect EHR, at the health system were taken offline as a precaution, according to the MedCity News report. The EHR is back online at some of the health system's locations. 2. During the system downtime, MedStar turned away some patients, according The Washington Post. The health system's IT was down across its 10 hospitals and more than 250 outpatient locations. 3. The hospital released a statement yesterday saying it was working to restore the majority of its IT systems. According to The Washington Post, hospital staff can view patient records but cannot update them. While the systems are down, MedStar is relying on paper documentation and backup systems. 4. There was speculation the attack was another ransomware incident, but MedStar does not indicate as such in its statement. The Washington Post reports a number of health system employees said they saw pop-up messages on their computers demanding payment in bitcoins, including one woman who said a pop-up ransom note demanded the equivalent of roughly $19,000. MedStar makes no mention of the nature of the virus. 5. "Despite the challenges affecting MedStar Health's IT systems, the quality and safety of our patients remains our highest priority, which has not waned throughout this experience. Fortunately, the core ways in which we deliver patient care cannot be altered, manipulated or harmed by malicious attempts to disrupt the services we provide," said Stephen R.T. Evans, MD, executive vice president of medical affairs and CMO of MedStar Health in the prepared statement. 6. Though hospital spokespeople denied the incident impacted patient safety, The Washington Post included anonymous quotes from clinical staff members saying otherwise. Two nurses commented on the "chaotic" environment caused by the downed IT systems, while a physician indicated the situation affected patient safety, according to the report. 7. The FBI is investigating the malware attack. Seth Warren, president and CEO of Laconia, N.H.-based LRGHealthcare, is resigning, effective April 15. Here are three things to know about Mr. Warren and his departure. 1. The hospital said Mr. Warren's decision to leave is "strictly for personal reasons and came with much thought and consideration." 2. Mr. Warren's resignation comes as LRGHealthcare is in the process of an ongoing transformation. Due to the changing landscape of healthcare and financial challenges, LRGHealthcare has been working with consultant group Prism Healthcare Partners since the beginning of the year to review the organization's operations and processes for better cost efficiency. The combined LRGHealthcare and Prism teams have already identified and are in the process of implementing $15 million to $21 million in annualized benefits, according to Ramona Lacy, managing partner of Prism Healthcare Partners. These initiatives include clinical, physician operations, strategy, workforce and non-labor costs and revenue enhancements. 3. Both LRGHealthcare and Mr. Warren stress that his departure has nothing to do with the changes the organization is undergoing. More articles on executive moves: Baptist Health opens new valve clinic, names structural heart director Former Ky. governor joins Baptist Health Paducah: 3 things to know CHS appoints CEO of Mississippi hospitals: 3 things to know Most patients think it is too difficult to find out if their physician is one of thousands currently practicing on probation, a survey by Consumer Reports reveals. The survey results indicate 82 percent of American consumers would want to know if their physician was on probation and why. It also indicates 66 percent of Americans would prefer physicians on probation abstain from seeing patients until their probationary period is up. Through this survey and its Safe Patient Project, Consumer Reports compiled a report, "What You Don't Know About Your Doctor Could Hurt You," which shows it may be difficult and time-consuming for patients to find out what they want to know about their physicians online. "You can find out more about the safety record of your toaster and whether or not it's going to catch on fire than you can find about your physicians," patient-safety advocate Robert Oshel, the former associate director for research and disputes at the National Practitioner Data Bank, said in a statement announcing the report. Information from the NPDB shows about 2 percent of physicians are responsible for half of all malpractice payouts. Malpractice is not considered an exact measure of poor quality care, but multiple infractions can be a red flag, according to the report. If a physician was in the 2 percent responsible for half of all malpractice payouts, a patient would likely want to know. However, patients do not have access to the NPDB it can only be accessed by hospitals, physicians, law enforcement, insurance companies and a limited few other organizations, according to the report. Consumers are left to consult state medical board sites, which can be difficult to navigate and understand. Consumer Reports' Safe Patient Project is pushing for more transparency surrounding physicians' disciplinary history, according to the report. It calls for physicians to tell patients if they are on probation and why, and for state medical boards to present physician records in a consistent, accessible and understandable way. It also calls on state boards to be more aggressive in pulling licenses of physicians who pose a danger to patients and for state boards to include more consumer representatives. Lastly, to help level the playing field, Consumer Reports calls on the NPDB to open its records to the public. More articles on integration and physician issues: Nebraska Medicine to operate Internal Medical Associates Consumer Reports publishes new primary care physician group ratings for 8 states Almost a third of pediatricians report burnout in first decade of careers Omaha-based Nebraska Medicine is set to take over operations of Internal Medical Associates in Grand Island, Neb., July 1. Physician partners at Internal Medical Associates recently approached Nebraska Medicine to operate the clinic. Each year, the Internal Medical Associates serves more than 10,500 patients. The clinic includes six internal medicine physicians, one rheumatologist and four advanced practice providers. "It's after careful consideration that we determined it is in the best interest of our patients to join the Nebraska Medicine system," Jennifer Brown, MD, a physician at Internal Medical Associates, said in a prepared statement. "With a complex and constantly-changing landscape in the healthcare industry, the partnership will allow us to focus our time and energies on where our true passion lies: caring for the whole patient for life." More articles on integration and physician issues: Why do medical students want to tweak their examination process? 8 cities and states with the shortest wait times to see a physician 99% percent of primary care physicians overprescribe addictive painkillers Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed a bill Friday allowing pharmacies to provide naloxone, a medicine that reverses heroin overdose, without a prescription from a physician, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The bill enables pharmacists to dispense the emergency opioid antagonist similar to how they provide the flu shot or epi-pens to individuals with allergies, according to the report. The passage of the bill comes as Florida communities combat a growing heroin epidemic. Heroin use has accelerated as state authorities have cracked down on "pill mills," or corrupt general practitioners who dispense narcotics to people without legitimate need. Heroin-related deaths in OrangeCounty soared from 14 in 2011 to 84 in 2015, according to the report. "Expanded naloxone pharmacy access is good public health policy that will save lives," said Kevin Sherin, MD, director of OrangeCounty health department, according to the report. "I commend the governor and the Legislature for acting quickly." Portland police are investigating the death of a Maine Medical Center patient who died after falling or jumping from a sixth floor window of the Portland-based hospital Tuesday evening, according to The Portland Press Herald. Portland police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, which was reported to the department at 5:10 p.m. Tuesday. Maine Medical Center spokesman Clay Holtzman told the Herald the patient was male, but his has name has not been released. Mr. Holtzman said the hospital is cooperating with police in their investigation. "Our thoughts go out first and foremost to the individual's family during this very difficult time, as well as our shocked and deeply saddened staff," Mr. Holtzman told the Herald. Maine Medical Center is a 637-hospital and the flagship of MaineHealth. More articles on healthcare news: MedStar recovering from computer virus: 7 things to know Mountain States Health Alliance CEO expects up to 1,000 job cuts if merger falls through The American Medical Association has warned the California Department of Insurance that Anthem acquiring Cigna would be harmful to California's healthcare marketplace. "California should act to block the harmful merger and foster a more competitive marketplace that will operate in patients' best interests," said AMA antitrust attorney Henry Allen during the testimony. "The state's fragile healthcare system should not be left vulnerable to a giant health insurance company with anticompetitive market power." The AMA, which conducted an analysis to substantiate its claims, claimed Anthem is severely dominating the majority of health insurance markets in California, thereby limiting competitors from entering the markets. "Competition, not consolidation, is the right prescription for California's health insurance markets and underscores what is ultimately at stake: the health and safety of the state's patients," Mr. Allen said. Moreover, Mr. Allen noted although Anthem has said the merger will lower healthcare costs, it hasn't generated any evidence to support such a claim. Instead, the consolidation could result in higher premium costs, according to Mr. Allen. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Belfast-based energy company Viridian has been bought by private equity firm I Squared Capital in a deal reported to be worth 1bn (0.78bn) Belfast-based energy company Viridian has been bought by private equity firm I Squared Capital in a deal reported to be worth 1bn (0.78bn). Viridian is a leading independent energy company in the all-Ireland market, with two main brands - Power NI in Northern Ireland and Energia in the Republic. The firm, which employs 480 people, has a 20% share of domestic electricity sales volume on an all-Ireland basis. It additionally has a 27% market share of business electricity sales volume. Power NI supplies electricity to around 610,000 homes and businesses in Northern Ireland, while Power NI's Power Procurement Business manages 600MW of contracted generation capacity in Northern Ireland. I Squared Capital, which owns renewable energy and pollution control businesses in the US, India and China, is buying Viridian from Bahrain's Arcapita Bank BSC, following a lengthy auction process. I Squared was formed in 2013 by former Morgan Stanley executives. It pushed ahead with its Viridian bid despite the potential risk that Britain will vote in June to give up its EU membership. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but is understood to be in the region of 1bn. Economist John Simpson said he was disappointed at the news of the acquisition of Viridian by another foreign investment firm. "It's not really a happy day," he said. "That is because we have a major utility company now owned by an investment company whose primary motivation will probably be to make sure they get sensible return on their capital. "While that is sensible enough, it doesn't really give it much integration with the local scene. "I would be happier if part of the announcement said they are going to set up a local board or local advisory board for Northern Ireland and the Republic, or one for the whole of Ireland." Ian Thom, Viridian chief executive, said that over the past decade the company had cemented its position as Ireland's leading independent integrated energy business. "We are excited by the opportunity to work with I Squared Capital, which brings a proven track record of successfully operating and helping to expand businesses such as Viridian," he added. I Squared, which has offices in New York, London, New Delhi, Houston and Singapore, said it would use the Viridian acquisition to push into Britain. "That's certainly one thing that we would actively consider," added Gautam Bhandari, a partner at I Squared. "It's a buyer's market at the moment." According to Viridian's latest accounts, which were filed in January, turnover reached 90.3m (70.8m) for the 12 months to March 31, 2015. This was down from the previous year, when it recorded revenues of 132.1m (103.6m). It emerged in September that Arcapita was putting the business up for sale. The firm, which bought Viridian in 2006 for 1.6bn, had been looking to exit since at least 2013. Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie are set to film in Ireland Eastenders stars Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie have said they can't wait to swap the cobbled streets of Walford for the piers and jetties of Waterford. The pair, who play Kat and Alfie Moon in the popular soap, are due to shoot a new six-part spin-off series in the picturesque village of Dunmore East next month. The series will follow the Moons as they search for Kat's long-lost son. It should hit TV screens this autumn. Shooting will begin once the pair finish touring with stage show The Perfect Murder. Richie said the series will pack an emotional punch as "Alfie's got a brain tumour and Kat has a son". "To have a whole drama focused around Kat and Alfie is a huge honour for us both and we just can't wait to start filming," he added. It's not the first time that the Eastenders cast and crew have decamped to Irish shores. In 1997, Pauline Fowler, played by Wendy Richard, travelled to the Republic in a bid to find her long-lost half-sister. The three episodes caused uproar with viewers, due to the less than flattering depiction of life in the Republic. In one scene, a man poured a pint over Pauline's head before demanding that she coughed up cash for the drink. In another scene, farm animals wandered the streets of Dublin. But Richie assured would-be viewers of his show that it will not parody Irish life or "play the dopey card". Wallace and Ritchie have an extensive fanbase in the Republic and brought their stage show to Dublin's Bord Gais Energy Theatre in February. Wallace said working on the spin-off series was a dream come true. "I have always loved working on EastEnders so when I heard of this new drama to take Kat and Alfie outside of Walford, I couldn't believe our luck," the actress said. And she added: "To be exploring the next chapter for Kat as well as working alongside my best mate, Shane, is a dream come true." A big-budget Top Gear trip had to be cancelled after the team were not permitted to fly to Kazakhstan. According to reports, presenters Rory Reid, Sabine Schmitz and Eddie Jordan were trying to make their way to the former Soviet state alongside around 40 crew members - but they did not get further than Moscow. The BBC told the Press Association: "Through no fault of the Top Gear team, the airline carrying them was not permitted to fly from Moscow to Kazakhstan and so they returned to London. "They intend to visit Kazakhstan in the future to shoot the planned film there. The BBC will be looking to recoup the cost of the flights." According to The Sun, the failed trip cost around 500,000. The problem was apparently down to a dispute between Kazakhstan and Russian airline Aeroflot which forced the team to return empty-handed. The revamped BBC2 motoring show has been hit by a series of problems as the new presenting team, headed by Chris Evans, takes over the controls. In one incident, presenter Matt LeBlanc and rally driver Ken Block performed "doughnuts" around the Cenotaph in central London. The stunt sparked outrage after photos showed large tyre circles left on the streets surrounding the war memorial after filming had completed. The show's host, Chris Evans, apologised on his BBC Radio 2 show, saying he "completely understood the furore" surrounding the photographs and that "it was unwise to be anywhere near the Cenotaph". The show's executive producer Lisa Clark also resigned in December, five months after taking up the role. BBC executive Clare Pizey has now been brought in as head of editorial content. A tweet sent by Eamonn Holmes about the importance of Easter Sunday has provoked some mocking and acerbic responses on Twitter. The Belfast-born celebrity, who is married to his This Morning co-host Ruth Langsford, used his page to inform followers of the special occasion. He wrote: "Since you are unlikely to read it anywhere else... let me tell u today is the most important day in the Christian Calendar... #EasterSunday' The 56-year-old's statement to his 900,000 followers quickly provoked a reaction, sparking more than 1,700 likes and 420 retweets, with many responding to the father-of-four with sarcasm and others thanking the Sky News presenter for reminding them of the day. In a seemingly mocking tweet, Amoebatron wrote, "Thanks Eamonn for opening my eyes", while Nick Sheridan posted, "Not heard of this. Are there any books, films, public school or persistent global institutions where I can learn more?" David Jackson added: "Tell me what happened then all those years ago. I would love to know. Jesus did what?" And Tony Jackson tweeted: "All that compulsory Christian RE & school church services we suffered must have been a bad dream." Another Twitter user added: "Mate, cheers for the heads up. Just Googled 'Easter'. Had never even heard of it before." Holmes' Twitter presence has been particularly heavy over the past month after an operation has kept him off work. The presenter underwent double hip replacement surgery in February, and the operation has seen him take time away from the This Morning sofa. He is expected to return to the popular show in 10 weeks' time. In the meantime, while Eamonn recuperates, Ben Shephard has taken over presenting duties. Workaholic Holmes recently started a new job with TalkRadio - an all-speech offshoot of UTV's national cash-cow Talksport - and his first guest on last Sunday's morning show was Apprentice star Karren Brady. Last year, he became Britain's most prolific presenter after signing up to host a documentary series about the super-rich on Channel 5 - a deal that meant he held contracts with four of the big five broadcasters at the same time. His normal day job is anchorman on the Sky News Sunrise programme, but, along with wife Ruth, Eamonn also presents the This Morning programme for ITV on Fridays. The former UTV journalist was also an occasional presenter on Songs Of Praise and other programmes for BBC. With the TalkRadio deal, Holmes is once again living up to his reputation of rarely turning down jobs. He once told an interviewer that, having grown up in a Belfast council estate in an environment where unemployment was constantly knocking on the door, it was not in his nature to reject offers. Author David Magee at a book signing for his first novel Closure A Northern Ireland man is planning to be a best-selling author - at the age of 77. David Magee can already claim to be a big hit because Waterstones has invited him in three times to sign copies of his first novel, Closure - but on each occasion the book has been sold out. His thriller - which hit the shelves two months ago - is about a British military operative turned private investigator whose missing person case takes him into the republican heartland of north Belfast. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Magee, a retired Army officer with 31 years' service who now lives in Bushmills, said it's not about the money. "I don't want to be rich, it's about being a success," he said. "I always wanted to write a book. I didn't get much of an education at school but I educated myself in the Army. "When I retired I decided I was going to be a writer and now I'm a writer. It's a bit late in life, but there you go." The Belfast native's debut thriller, in which hero Jack Brennan is hired to find a woman's husband who vanished without trace, has garnered rave reviews from readers. He said his wife Jaqueline (73) is also thrilled with his writing success, as are their children Dawn (46), 45-year-old Billy, Margaret (42) and 34-year-old twins Herbert and David. He said that Closure draws on his own personal experience of living and working in Belfast for 16 years during the Troubles from 1969 onwards. "The book gives an insight into the way things worked in the world of rackateers and terrorism," he said. Mr Magee said that when he left the Army in 1985 he took a job as a sales manager with a Belfast office equipment company that he later co-owned. The grandfather-of-five, who also has four great-grandchildren, said that he dedicated himself to his novel when he retired to the north coast four years ago. "I started my book eight years ago and then set it aside until I retired and moved to Bushmills and got to grips with it again," he said. "In 2014, I initially put it up on CreateSpace, a self-publishing platform that belongs to Amazon, to some very good reviews. "I then found a local publisher, a Ballygowan-based company called Spinetinglers Publishing, gave it a new cover and had it re-edited and Waterstones snapped it up. "That was two months ago. It's selling very well. They keep asking me to come in and sign some copies but when I go in they're out of stock. That has happened three times so far." He added: "I don't have the actual sales figures but it's not about money with me, it's about success." Even more success appears to be on the cards for Mr Magee, as he already has a taker for his second offering. "Waterstones have said they'll take my next book, Jokerman, which is about a serial killer in New York," he revealed. MP for the area Gregory Campbell branded the graffiti disgraceful and said the vandalism was disrespectful to the community A church in Coleraine has been targeted by graffiti vandals for the second time in less than a year. The Salvation Army church on the Ballycastle Road was defaced by spray-painting thugs on Easter Sunday, with the words "f*** ISIS" being daubed on the wall. It is the second time that the church wall has been targeted. Last September, "Refugees Not Welcome" was sprayed there in red paint. Police investigated the first attack as a hate crime in the belief that the slogan expressed opposition to up 50 refugees being housed in the Co Londonderry town. In response to the racist slur, a Salvation Army spokesman said at the time: "We are saddened by the vandalism of our church wall in Coleraine. "We have reported the incident to the police and are in the process of having the graffiti removed. "We welcome all people to our church and have a good relationship with the local community in which we serve." The latest vandalism appalled local politicians, who came together to condemn those responsible. MP for the area Gregory Campbell branded the graffiti disgraceful and said the vandalism was disrespectful to the community. "It is abominable," the DUP representative added. "Whoever is responsible should understand that any property that is being used as a place of worship in any town should not be defaced or used for slogans. "Spraying profane slogans on a place of worship is disrespectful and not helpful to any member of the community. Hopefully it will be cleaned as soon as possible. "Anyone with information on how it came to be there should hand it to the police." The DUP man's views were echoed by local Ulster Unionist councillor William McCandless, who described the attack as going against the grain of Christianity. "It is unfortunate that the Salvation Army church in Coleraine has been targeted again with graffiti concerning Islamic terrorists," he said. "On Easter Sunday, the highlight of the Christian calendar when the theme is of sacrificial love, why write a message of hate? "I would appeal for anyone who has knowledge of this attack on the church to report it to the PSNI." A man accused of operating a cannabis factory just doors from a local courthouse claimed he was only there to examine a washing machine, a judge was told today. Joseph McGuigan was arrested as part of a police operation involving the seizure of 106,000 worth of plants in Limavady, Co Derry earlier this month. Details emerged as the 53-year-old was granted bail at the High Court in Belfast. McGuigan, of Robertson Crescent in Limavady, is one of two men charged with cultivating cannabis and possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply. They were detained on March 16 following a probe involving surveillance at a property on Linenhall Street in the town. The premises were said to be located just a few doors away from the local courthouse. At a previous hearing it was claimed bedrooms had been converted into growing and seeding rooms, with more than 200 plants recovered. McGuigan and his co-accused, Joseph Hughes, 46, of Rathbeg Crescent in Limavady, were arrested outside after allegedly being seen exiting the property. According to police McGuigan shouted to the other man: "Joe, just tell them we were fixing the washing machine." Prosecution barrister Robin Steer argued today that it would be impossible for the defendant not to know drugs were being grown in the house. Opposing bail, he added: "This is clearly an operation involving a number of people, due to the scale." It was disclosed that a safe has also been seized from a house as part of the same investigation. Defence counsel contended, however, that the current case against McGuigan is based entirely on circumstantial evidence. She claimed it could take more than a year for forensic examinations to be completed. The barrister also submitted that when detained her client actually said: "F*** you and that washing machine." Stressing his continued denial of the offences, she told the court he had been asked to go there to look at the appliance. "It was for the purpose of selling on this washing machine for profit," she added. With Hughes having previously secured bail, Madam Justice McBride ruled that McGuigan should also be released from custody. The judge ordered him to have no contact with his co-accused and to abide by curfew and electronic monitoring conditions. The independent police watchdog is examining the circumstances of the spray's use A police commander has said he deeply regrets that children came into contact with CS spray used by officers reacting to disturbances a t a loyal order parade. The Police Ombudsman complaints watchdog is investigating the circumstances in which the spray was deployed during an altercation at the end of the parade involving junior members of the Orange Order in south Belfast on Tuesday evening. Police said two officers were injured and damage was caused to a police motorcycle when adult participants in the parade attacked them on the Ormeau Road. Parade organisers claim police over-reacted and criticised the use of CS spray in an area where children were present. They have said a number of children developed swollen lips and eyes after coming into contact with the spray. Chief Superintendent Chris Noble insisted the incapacitation spray was only directed at those assaulting his officers. He added: "Any subsequent contact any children or young people had with CS spray particles is deeply regretted." Mr Noble said trouble flared when two neighbourhood officers escorting the parade tried to prevent cars being damaged by passing participants. "Just after 5.10pm, police spoke with parade organisers about some band members who were walking in amongst parked cars and traffic," he said. "A police officer then asked the band members to step back but they simply disregarded his requests. "At that point one of the officers tried to move bandsmen away from brushing against parked cars when he came under attack by a section of the band. "The other officer got off his motorcycle to assist his colleague when he was also attacked and the police motorbike damaged. "Due to the number of people attacking the officers, they defended themselves with their batons. CS incapacitant spray was directed only on the people attacking them and the incident was brought under control. The two officers received minor injuries." A 26-year-old man was arrested and later charged with disorderly behaviour and two counts of assaulting police. Mr Noble said the use of CS spray was "tightly scrutinised" and officers used their "judgment" as to when it was required. "After a busy day of successful and peaceful events across Belfast, unfortunately an incident towards the end of the day, which could have been avoided had some bandsmen followed police directions, has become the news headline," he said. The senior officer added: "Senior colleagues were in communication with community representatives and politicians last night following the incident and I would be happy to meet with any band members, organisers or anyone in the local community who have concerns about this incident in the days ahead." A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman's office appealed for any witnesses to come forward. "We were notified by police about the use of CS spray during an incident on the Ormeau Road yesterday and have since received a number of complaints about what happened," he said. Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster said she had spoken with Chief Constable George Hamilton about the incident. Ulster Unionist representative Rodney McCune said the use of CS gas raised serious questions about the PSNI's judgment. "Deploying CS gas is far from a conventional or proportionate way to respond to suspected criminal damage," he said. Social media image of a PSNI officer supporting a ladder for a man raising a flag on the Glen Road, Belfast A DUP Assembly member has condemned a policeman for securing a ladder a man was climbing to erect a tricolour. North Belfast MLA William Humphrey called the officer's assistance "inappropriate" and said he intended to raise the issue with PSNI chiefs. "I don't think that's it's appropriate for police to be helping people who are decorating the streets with Irish flags for a parade which is effectively for republicans," he added. "We hope to meet with the police about a range of issues that have caused concern to us. "There are issues about parading and about the lack of police in Lurgan and Coalisland compared to the level of policing at Twadell Avenue on Monday morning for the Apprentice Boys' parade. "Police need to be seen to be acting in an impartial and balanced way, and we are concerned about some of the things that we have seen over the past few days. "It looks to me that the police have not been balanced in how they have been policing. "We are at the start of the parading season and I don't think we have had a good few days because of the behaviour of republicans who have gone out of their way to break the law and put the police in a difficult position." But Sinn Fein MLA Fra McCann described Mr Humphrey's comments as "pathetic". "Thousands of people took part in Sunday's commemoration of the Easter Rising in Belfast," he added. "It was one of the largest commemorations seen in Belfast for decades and was held in a respectful, dignified and family- friendly atmosphere. "It is pathetic that William Humphrey has chosen to be offended by a non-story." The policeman in question was photographed securing a ladder outside McEnaney's bar on the Glen Road in west Belfast over the Easter holidays. A senior police officer denied the officer was helping the man put up the flag and said he was "quite right" to step in and ensure the man was safe in windy conditions. Superintendent Paula Hilman added: "Police officers in west Belfast were involved in the policing operation around the commemoration of the Easter Rising. "The weather conditions were blustery and an officer on duty at the Glen Road observed that a ladder which was positioned against a building was starting to move in the wind. "The officer quite rightly put his foot against the bottom rung of the ladder to steady it and prevent the man using the ladder from being hurt." A Sinn Fein MLA has been slammed over anti-British comments made during an Easter commemoration in a border village. claimed the British empire "was built on oppression, discrimination, torture and death". He also hailed IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands as "a revolutionary and visionary in the same vein as James Connolly and Padraig Pearse". The remarks, made during a Sinn Fein Easter commemoration in Pettigo, on the Donegal-Fermanagh border, have angered unionists and victims campaigners. Ken Funston, whose brother was murdered by the IRA near Pettigo, accused Mr Lynch of being ignorant of the pain of victims. "I find it absolutely incredible the continued insensitivity of Sinn Fein, and how completely ignorant they are of the plight of victims of the Troubles," he said. Mr Lynch is a Fermanagh-South Tyrone MLA and a former IRA commander. He was captured by the SAS in 1986 while trying to blow up members of the security forces near Rosslea. His accomplice, Seamus McElwaine - named by First Minister Arlene Foster as the man who previously tried to shoot dead her father - was killed. Mr Lynch was seriously wounded and spent several months in hospital. He received a 25-year prison sentence for possession of explosives and a rifle, but was released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He was elected to the Assembly in 2011, and is one of four Sinn Fein candidates standing in the constituency in May's Assembly election. Speaking at Monday's event, Mr Lynch said the 1916 Rising was one of the reasons he joined the IRA. "The British Empire was built on oppression, discrimination, torture and death. Ireland, which had endured centuries of occupation, was no different," he said. Mr Lynch went on to say the Provisional IRA had the same legitimacy as the men of 1916. "There are those who would have us believe that these men and women cannot be equated with those of 1916," he added. Mr Lynch's comments drew condemnation from the family of Ronnie Funston. The 28-year-old, a former UDR member, was shot dead in March 1984 while working on the family farm at Lowery near Pettigo. The family was also present at Tullyhommon, where the IRA had planted a bomb on the same day it blew up a Remembrance Sunday event in 1987. The device was four times the size of that in Enniskillen, but failed to explode. His brother Ken said: "Ronnie was a civilian murdered on his tractor in 1984 in the Tullyhommon area by the IRA. Yet this weekend Sean Lynch of Sinn Fein, who was arrested when attempting to commit murder in Fermanagh, is addressing the people of the adjoining village of Pettigo. "Did the organisers consider the impact of this, did they consider inviting me to speak? No, of course not. There is much talk of a shared society, but as a border unionist, I don't feel part of it." Kenny Donaldson from the Innocent Victims United campaign group also criticised the remarks. "Sean Lynch may be an MLA these days but he is also a convicted terrorist who is linked to many terrorist attacks upon the minority community of Co Fermanagh - particularly the south Fermanagh area," he said. A shadowy dissident republican group which killed a prison officer just weeks ago has publicly stated it plans to kill more jail staff. The statement from the group known as the IRA came shortly after a statement from the Continuity IRA declared it will "strike at will at the British forces of occupation". Prison Officer Adrian Ismay died after his van was blown up by the group close to his home in east Belfast on March 4. It has been reported by a Belfast newspaper that the group issued an Easter statement signed by its "Army Council". "IRA armed actions against Britain and her agents are as legitimate as they were in 1916," the statement says. "The volunteer soldiers of the IRA are ready and determined to take the war to the age-old enemy of our nation. "This will remain so until the revolution comes to its certain conclusion - the establishment of a 32-county socialist republic." On Saturday in Lurgan a masked man read out a statement which he said was on behalf of the Continuity IRA, which shot dead PSNI Constable Stephen Carroll in 2009. "We continue our resolve to continue the struggle against British rule," it said. "The volunteers of the Continuity Irish Republican Army will continue to strike at will at the British forces of occupation. "That is the most fitting tribute we can make to the men and women of 1916." Earlier this month Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr said the PSNI has prevented several attempted murders by dissident republicans since Mr Ismay's death. The PSNI has warned it expected dissidents to attempt to carry out more attacks over the Easter period as republicans gather to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising. Mr Kerr said there is deep concern about the numbers involved in dissident organisations and their increasing capabilities. He claimed police are preventing or disrupting three or four planned or attempted attacks for every one that takes place, adding there are "several hundred active dissident republicans" who are led by a small group of people with "significant terrorist experience". Ukip MLA David McNarry, who sits on the Assembly's regional development committee, said officials needed to be more open Hundreds of homeowners could be left facing huge bills because of problems over who is liable for upgrading their sewerage systems. More than 600 properties at 21 sites across Northern Ireland have unadopted sewers. As it stands, there is insufficient or no funds in place to cover the cost of repairs. A 2.3m shortfall exists, with officials warning responsibility could ultimately lie with individual homeowners. The Department for Regional Development (DRD) said it was an "ongoing issue". It has undertaken a review into the matter. Sewers and lateral drains connected to the public network used to be the responsibility of the property owner. Most are now maintained by Northern Ireland Water. In the case of private or unadopted sewers, individual homeowners may be responsible for their maintenance. Documents presented to the Assembly's regional development committee provide an insight into the extent of the problem. Some 21 sites have been identified where there is insufficient or no bond in place to cover the cost of remedial repairs. The estimated value of these repairs is around 2.7m, with just 421,000 of bond cover in place - leaving a shortfall of 2.3m. The affected sites, comprising more than 600 homes, are located across eight of the 11 new council districts. These include: A 49-house site in Co Down where the outfall sewer has to be constructed in "very poor ground conditions". A 257,000 shortfall exists; A 29-house site in Co Fermanagh where "80% of all sewers" have to be relaid, and where a 21,000 shortfall exists; And a 25-house site in Co Antrim, where no progress has been made to complete the sewer system, despite promises from a developer, and where the shortfall is 200,000. DRD has refused to disclose the exact locations, citing "commercial sensitivities". It could not confirm that each affected householder was aware that their property may be affected. Ukip MLA David McNarry, who sits on the Assembly's regional development committee, said officials needed to be more open. "DRD and NI Water are suppressing from these homeowners the extent of the problems," he said. DRD said that where the bond is insufficient to cover the cost of remedial works to bring the sewers to an adoptable standard, NI Water is currently unable to carry out the upgrade works. This is because the company is not financed to carry a contingency fund to cover such works. In documents seen by this newspaper, it states: "The responsibility rests with the developer's successors/assignees and responsibility may ultimately remain with those who are connected to the private unadopted sewerage system." Mr McNarry said the value of affected homes could suffer. "Whatever the causes, the owners who purchased their homes in good faith are not at fault and should not be penalised," he added. DRD was asked to detail which sites were affected. A spokesperson said the department could not release this information "as it has commercial sensitivities attached to it". Asked if each homeowner had been made aware that they could be liable, the spokesperson added: "NI Water has informed the department that it is in frequent contact with residents, residents groups or public representatives in the developments." Samuel Williamson is believed to be the youngest soldier killed in First World War while serving with the Ulster Division A wreath was laid at the war memorial in Carrickfergus during the junior Orange parade Some of the young bandsmen were a bit distracted at the junior Orange parade yesterday Some of the young bandsmen were a bit distracted at the junior Orange parade yesterday One of the youngest soldiers killed in the First World War has been remembered by the most junior members of the Orange Institution a century after his death. Belfast-born Samuel Williamson of the 36th Ulster Division was just 16 years old when he was killed by a large party of German soldiers while on patrol on March 29, 1916. Members of the Junior County Grand Orange Lodge of Belfast learned about his history, and during their annual Easter Tuesday parade, which was held in Carrickfergus yesterday, laid a wreath in his honour at the town's war memorial. More than 1,000 brethren and bands took part in the main parade, which proceeded from Prince William Way at 12.30pm to Joymount car park. Senior officers and juniors representing three Belfast districts and a number of other lodges from across Northern Ireland, accompanied by as many as a dozen bands, took part. Among the dignitaries on parade included junior grand master Roy Nixon, as well as a number of visitors from Scotland and England. Wreaths were laid as a mark of respect at the town's war memorial for the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, and in particular to Samuel Williamson. The Rev Mervyn Gibson, chaplain of the County Grand Orange Lodge of Belfast, led a special remembrance service. Samuel Williamson is believed to be the youngest soldier killed in First World War while serving with the Ulster Division. He was born in Tigers Bay before his family later moved to Carrickfergus. He was just 14 years old when he followed his older brother Willie by joining the Army, even falsifying his age to enlist in the 9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (West Belfast Volunteers). The young soldier undertook training at the tender age of just 15 before landing in France as part of the 36th Ulster Division. He fought bravely for several months before he was part of a patrol that was surprised by a large party of Germans on March 29, 1916. During the fighting that followed, he was killed at just 16 years of age. Writing to Samuel's mother, a Presbyterian chaplain said: "He was a good soldier, and died bravely while performing a very difficult and dangerous duty. His death is much deplored by all his comrades and officers." Samuel is buried in Sucrerie Military Cemetery at the Somme. The junior Orange parade has been held annually since 1919 and rotates around a number of host towns in Northern Ireland. Police at the scene of the disturbance on the Ormeau Road. A 26-year-old man was charged with two counts of assault on police and disorderly behaviour. Police have said they "deeply regret" any child or young person who was affected by CS spray used to help protect officers under attack during disorder at an Orange Order parade. Two PSNI officers were injured after disturbances broke out on Belfast's Ormeau Road at a band parade on Tuesday evening. A senior officer said the matter could have been avoided had bandsmen "followed police directions". Read More Police have charged a 26-year-old man with two counts of assault on police and disorderly behaviour. Community representatives claimed children as young as five were affected by the use of CS spray. The mother of a 12-year-old member of the parade contacted the BBC's Talkback programme on Wednesday lunchtime. She claimed her son was sprayed directly in the face by an officer and was taken to hospital for treatment. She said he was to attend an appointment to have his eyesight checked. "There was no justification for this," she said. "There was never a car damaged and if there was is that justification for spraying a 12-year-old directly in the face?" Following a day of numerous police media interviews on the matter, the PSNI issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon outlining their view of events. Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said: After a busy day of successful and peaceful events across Belfast, unfortunately an incident towards the end of the day, which could have been avoided had some bandsmen followed police directions, has become the news headline. Following this incident a 26-year-old man has been arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour and two counts of assault on police so we are limited with the amount of detail we can discuss. Our investigation into this incident is ongoing and following standard procedure, the Police Ombudsman has also been informed regarding the use of CS incapacitant spray and we will co-operate fully with their enquiries. What we can say is that two police officers, one on a motorcycle, were in attendance at a band parade in the Ormeau Road area of south Belfast on Tuesday, March 29. Just after 5.10pm, police spoke with parade organisers about some band members who were walking in amongst parked cars and traffic. A police officer then asked the band members to step back but they simply disregarded his requests. "At that point one of the officers tried to move bandsmen away from brushing against parked cars when he came under attack by a section of the band. The other officer got off his motorcycle to assist his colleague when he was also attacked and the police motorbike damaged. Due to the number of people attacking the officers, they defended themselves with their batons. CS incapacitant spray was directed only on the people attacking them and the incident was brought under control. The two officers received minor injuries. Shortly after, a 26-year-old man was arrested. He has since been charged with disorderly behaviour and two counts of assault on police." The police officer continued: "The use of CS incapacitant spray is tightly scrutinised within the PSNI and officers use their judgement when it comes to a graduated response to any threat that they may come under. As is standard procedure, the Police Ombudsman has been informed in regard to the use of CS incapacitant spray. We welcome the Ombudsmans investigation and we will co-operate fully with their enquiries. "Any subsequent contact any children or young people had with CS spray particles is deeply regretted. Senior colleagues were in communication with community representatives and politicians last night following the incident and I would be happy to meet with any band members, organisers or anyone in the local community who have concerns about this incident in the days ahead. CHILDREN WITH 'SWOLLEN EYES AND LIPS' Noel Liggett, District Master of Ballynafeigh District and the County Secretary for Belfast Junior County Lodge said the spray caused children to have swollen eyes and lips. "Around 20 children were on parade with us yesterday, the average age would be six, seven, eight and nine," he told the BBC. "I was quite shocked to see many young children in a state of shock. "Five of them had suffered the effect of CS gas and a number of young children in the band had also suffered the effects of the gas." He said that the incident was down to "poor policing on the ground and a lack of communication". "During the incident PSNI officers deployed CS spray into the parade, many of whom were young boys and girls aged between five and 11, who were affected by the spray," he added. He said it was "completely false" that cars had been damaged, as police had claimed, and that the CS spray was used "indiscriminately". The incident sparked widespread anger and First Minister Arlene Foster has spoken to Chief Constable George Hamilton about it. COMPARISONS DRAWN OVER HOLYLANDS POLICING Questions have also been raised over the PSNI's approach to the parade in comparison to the St Patrick's violence in the nearby Holylands area. Spoke with chief con this evening about events on Ormeau Road. Meeting with senior police to follow with Chris Stalford @CDMStalfordDUP Arlene Foster (@DUPleader) March 29, 2016 In the wake of the incident, images have appeared on social media of one of the police officers involved. Police said they were aware of the posts. The Police Ombudsman confirmed that the spray was used during disorder on the Ormeau Road at about 5.15pm. One female adult attended Dundonald Hospital and was treated for the effects of CS spray. She was later discharged. The Belfast Health Trust said it there were no admission to its wards for the effects of CS spray, that it was aware of. And the Ambulance Service said it did not attend the incident. Superintendent Darrin Jones, speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Ulster, said band members were "brushing up against cars" and officers were trying to "cajole" them away from the vehicles. Later police said they "believed" cars had been damaged. Darrin Jones said the incident concerned adult members of the band. "This went from flash to bang very quickly and was over almost as soon as it began," he said. He added: "This involved Ballynafeigh Junior Orange Order parade with two neighbourhood police officers, one on the side and one in front on a motorcycle. "The band in question is the South Belfast Young Conquerors - which is a massive band and has numerous numbers in its ranks. "As they were coming up the road they were coming into contact with parked cars. "One officer was trying to resolve the situation by nudging band members away from the cars at some stage a couple of members attacked that officer and he drew his baton to protect himself. "The officer in front on the motorcycle saw what was happening and got off his motorcycle to assist and was set upon by members of the band. "Because of the numbers and because they were isolated, one officer felt it proportionate and reasonable to draw his CS spray and use it on those attacking him." The senior officer said the use of force and particularly the use of CS spray was tightly scrutinised. INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED BY POLICE OMBUDSMAN He said a referral has been made to the Police Ombudsman and urged witnesses to contact investigators, or the PSNI. PUP community worker Ian Shanks visited the homes of some of those affected. He said: "I've been in houses where they were screaming in pain. The kids are from five years old. They are terrified. "Some of them are in hospital. Everyone wants answers - this won't be left until police are held to account. This went way out of proportion." Belfast DUP councillor Christopher Stalford said there was a stark contrast to the police actions on Tuesday night compared to the approach to violence in the Holylands area during the St Patrick's Day celebrations. "I think many people would have liked a more robust approach taken in the Holylands," he said. He continued: "I have contacted senior PSNI officers regarding the incident on Ormeau Road. Meeting in the days ahead I hope. Serious questions need answered." The South Belfast Young Conquerors band issued a statement on Facebook criticising the police. "Unfortunately, our Easter Tuesday was marred by the incompetence of our police force," they said. "Our band was subjected to the force of a police officer trying to protect parked cars. What happened after this is a matter for us to pursue with the legal side, but spraying our kids with mace spray unjustified is not on." DUP MLA Emma Pengelly said: "All policing must be appropriate and proportionate. The Police Ombudsman has been notified and there must be a full examination of what took place. "Anyone who was present should come forward and give information to the Police Ombudsman." SDLP MLA Claire Hanna said: "I have spoken to senior PSNI officers after being contacted about an incident on the Ormeau Road this evening relating to a marching band from Carrickfergus. "Police will be reviewing CCTV from various sources to corroborate officer report and I understand that they have given a full report to the Police Ombudsman. "There has been substantial amount of comment about the incident on social media, including by political representatives. "Unless people were actually witness to the events they should be very circumspect about their comments. The wires of policing and politics should not cross and it is inappropriate for representatives to use this incident to escalate tensions before the full facts are known. "Ormeau is an exceptionally diverse and well integrated area and it is vital that any tensions are reduced ahead of the marching season." Police will be conducting fresh searches this week in a bid to find a missing 66-year-old man who disappeared eight-months ago. Norman Galbraith was last seen at his Ballymoney home at Queens Avenue on Friday July 31, 2015. He was wearing a navy fleece, navy tracksuit bottoms and black shoes. A wallet belonging to Mr Galbraith was found a few days after he went missing on the Burnquarter Road just outside Ballymoney. Norman is originally from the Castlerock area and it is possible he was heading in that direction. As the further searches are planned to take place this week, police are keen to remind the public of Norman's last known movements and what he was wearing. Detective Sergeant Kelly Gallagher said: This has been a very difficult time for the family and friends of Mr Galbraith however I know they are appreciative of the public support over the last 8 months. With further searches planned for this week we want to take this opportunity to remind everyone of Normans last known Even 8 months on this appeal might help jog someones memory and we will follow up on any piece of information we receive. You can contact us on the non-emergency number 101. We are grateful to the Community Rescue Services for the ongoing efforts of their volunteers and we would once again remind landowners in the Ballymoney, Articlave and Coleraine areas to check sheds and outbuildings. The more regular service had been due to start on April 10 Plans to run Dart services every 10 minutes have been derailed. Rail chiefs said they are shelving the proposed increased frequency over a row with union bosses. Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe last year announced plans to run weekday Dart services along Dublin's east coast every 10 minutes. But trade unions representing drivers said there was no agreement on the proposals. The more regular service was due to start on April 10. Irish Rail has blamed "trade union intransigence" for scuppering its planned timetable changes. Both Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union represent Dart drivers. An Irish Rail spokesman said: "We apologise to customers that it has not been possible to introduce the expanded frequency. "Irish Rail will however increase train size on a range of peak Dart services to address growth in passenger numbers. "From April 10 we will deliver extra peak capacity for thousands of customers in both morning and evening peak." Irish Rail alleges that trade unions are using " the requirements of our customers as a bargaining chip in pursuit of completely separate issues" including pay rise claims of up to 25%. The semi-state company said it has already trained extra drivers for increased frequency on Dart services. "The trade unions have also damaged the interests of drivers, as the extra drivers who had been trained to allow the service to expand will reduce the need for additional hours from drivers within the existing schedule," the spokesman added. But Siptu said there are simply not enough drivers or trains. Union organiser Paul Cullen said Irish Rail claims on the stalled 10-minute service had no basis in fact. "To run such a service requires at least an additional 20 drivers and these workers will not be in place until June," he said. "There are also currently not enough train units to operate a 10-minute Dart service in a manner which will actually increase operational capacity. "What management had proposed was a more frequent service but with less capacity per train." Siptu said drivers will not take on any extra duties until progress has been made between both sides in an ongoing dispute over workload and an outstanding pay claim. Irish Rail said existing commuter services will remain unchanged until further notice, bar some minor changes to the Dublin/Belfast Enterprise services from April 10. NBRU general secretary Dermot O'Leary accused Irish Rail of "peddling untruths". "Blaming Dart drivers and their trade unions is disingenuous in the extreme. Peddling untruths in relation to the availability of newly-trained drivers is complete and utter fabrication and is designed to deflect away from the fact that management at Irish Rail did not engage in the necessary advance planning for recruitment and negotiations with its staff. "Refusing to engage with worker representatives on issues in relation to pay at a time when passenger numbers and revenue are heading back to peak levels is neither tenable nor sustainable." Mr O'Leary repeated his union's warning of a "summer of discontent" on Irish railways unless progress is made on pay claims. Over 40 per cent of Tory voters would like to see Boris Johnson takeover from David Cameron Boris Johnson is the clear favourite among both the public and Conservative voters to succeed David Cameron, according to a survey for The Independent. ORB found that 38 per cent of people want the Mayor of London to take over as Tory leader from Mr Cameron, who has said he will step down before the 2020 general election. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is favoured by 16 per cent, pushing George Osborne, the Chancellor, into third place on 9 per cent. Among those who voted Tory at last years election, 42 per cent would like to see Mr Johnson succeed Mr Cameron, with 23 per cent backing Mrs May and just 14 per cent Mr Osborne. There is growing concern among Tories who oppose Mr Johnson that he is likely to win the Tory leadership after coming out against Britains membership of the EU. The final decision rests with the partys 150,000 members. The survey of 2,000 people suggests the Chancellor has suffered a backlash from his trouble-hit Budget this month. He was forced to make a swift U-turn over 4.4bn in cuts to disability benefits after the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith as Work and Pensions Secretary. Only 28 per cent of people agree that Mr Osborne is doing a good job in managing the UK economy, while twice as many (57 per cent) disagree with this statement. However, the Chancellor has not lost the confidence of Tory supporters; 56 per cent of them believe he is doing a good job, while 29 per cent do not. There is overwhelming public opposition to further cuts in welfare, according to ORB. The idea is opposed by seven out of 10 people (69 per cent). Only one in five people (20 per cent) disagrees. The finding comes after ministers said they had no plans for a further raid on the welfare budget after dropping controversial proposals to cut Personal Independent Payments (PIPs) for the disabled. Mr Osborne hopes the 4.4bn black hole in his spending plans will be filled by the higher tax receipts that economic growth would generate. But he has not entirely ruled out looking again for welfare savings if that does not materialise. Expand Close Home Secretary Theresa May is favoured by 16 per cent, pushing George Osborne, the Chancellor, into third place on 9 per cent / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Home Secretary Theresa May is favoured by 16 per cent, pushing George Osborne, the Chancellor, into third place on 9 per cent In a sign that the appetite for austerity measures may be waning, 50 per cent of Conservative supporters oppose more welfare cuts while only 36 per cent disagree. Further cuts are opposed by 84 per cent of Labour voters and 71 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters. The figures suggest that the Government may have to look elsewhere for savings if its sums do not add up or abandon Mr Osbornes plan to run a 10bn surplus by the 2020 general election. Public opinion on Europe has shifted in favour of continued membership in the past month, according to ORB. Some 51 per cent of people say that the UK should remain a member of the EU, while 49 per cent want to leave it. Last month ORB found that 52 per cent wanted to withdraw from the EU and 48 per cent to stay. The latest survey found that women (53 per cent) are more likely to support remaining in the EU than men (49 per cent). A majority of men (51 per cent) back leaving. So do a majority of Tory voters (56 per cent). Expand Close Only 28 per cent of people agree that George Osborne 'is doing a good job in managing the UK economy' / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Only 28 per cent of people agree that George Osborne 'is doing a good job in managing the UK economy' There is a stark generation gap, with EU membership supported by 77 per cent of 18-24 year-olds but only 40 per cent of those aged 65 and over. In campaigners admit they face a huge challenge in persuading young adults to vote in the June referendum. Older voters are much more likely to turn out at general elections and so a differential turnout in June could decide the outcome. The result appears on a knife edge. Despite the narrow lead for the In camp, more people (44 per cent) say they have felt more inclined to vote to leave the EU in the past seven days than those who feel more inclined to vote to remain (40 per cent). Support for membership is highest in Scotland (62 per cent) and London (56 per cent) but lowest in the Eastern region, where 40 per cent want to remain and 60 per cent to leave. Expand Close Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to step down before the 2020 election / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to step down before the 2020 election Four out of five people (81 per cent) agree that the terrorist attacks in Brussels highlight the need for EU nations to stand together against terrorism, while only 10 per cent disagree. Independent The plane was hijacked on a flight from Alexandria to Cairo in Egypt, and forced to divert to Cyprus (AP) A British hostage who posed for a photo with the Egyptian plane hijacker has arrived back in the UK. Ben Innes, from Leeds, decided to take a picture with the bogus bomber despite the man apparently having explosives strapped to his waist. Arriving at Manchester Airport he was filmed allegedly snatching the phone from the hands of an ITV camerawoman. The 26-year-old health and safety auditor claims he threw "caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity". "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it. "I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever," he told The Sun. Mr Innes's mother had earlier expressed her relief at his safety and said the family was looking forward to having him home. The hijacker, Seif Eddin Mustafa, 59, appeared in court in Cyprus on Wednesday to face a series of charges after sparking a dramatic stand-off on the tarmac at Larnaca airport. After being arrested for threatening to blow up an EgyptAir flight, he asked police: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years?" On Wednesday a picture of another hostage posing with Mustafa emerged. It appeared to show an air stewardess, named in reports as Naira Atef, smiling and standing next to him. Four Britons were on the flight from Alexandria to Cairo on Tuesday when it was forced to divert to Cyprus due to a man wearing a fake suicide belt. The Cypriot court ordered Mustafa to be detained for eight days as he faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Handcuffed Mustafa flashed the "V'' for victory sign out of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca courthouse after the hearing. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect told police: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" Cypriot officials described him as "psychologically unstable" following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Mr Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. The prosecutor said Cypriot authorities will ask for Interpol's help to find out how the suspect managed to get the fake explosives belt through airport security in Egypt. Tuesday's hostage drama ended peacefully when police arrested the suspect after all 72 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A320 aircraft were released. Most of those on board were freed shortly after the plane landed at Larnaca airport on the Mediterranean island on Tuesday morning, but the hijacker held seven people hostage for a number of hours before the stand-off came to a conclusion. The incident comes just five months after 224 people were killed when a Russian aircraft crashed over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft in October, and the extremist Islamic State group said it was responsible. A jealous husband decapitated his wife of 30 years, broke her head into pieces and flushed them down the toilet in an act of "pure hatred", a court was told yesterday. Crane driver Dempsey Nibbs, (69), said he beheaded Judith Nibbs (60), the mother of his two children, because he thought she was a "snake". However, the Old Bailey murder trial was told Nibbs had shown no signs of mental illness in the wake of the horrifying killing at the couple's home in Hoxton, east London, in April 2014. Prosecutor Crispin Aylett, QC told jurors to "brace themselves" as he outlined the gruesome case. He told how the couple's relationship had soured in the spring of 2014 as Nibbs suspected his wife of having affairs. The victim had confided in her sister and a colleague at a meals on wheels service that the defendant had threatened to kill her and grabbed her by the throat. During a row on April 7, Ms Nibbs, who is originally from Kirkham, near Preston, Lancashire, admitted seeing other men, taunting Nibbs by saying: "I have had sex eight times." Days later, on the night of April 10, Nibbs attacked her in their Hoxton flat and knocked her out, Mr Aylett said. He told jurors: "Having attacked his wife, the defendant then took up a kitchen knife and cut off her head. "Nor does the horror end there. Having decapitated his wife, the defendant began to break her head into pieces with a mallet and a metal bar. He then flushed the pieces down the lavatory. "Quite why the defendant decapitated Judith and then disposed of her head is not entirely clear, but it may well be that he did it out of pure hatred at the sight of his wife's face." After the killing, Nibbs wrote a suicide note addressed to his son, Kirk (30), and rang police to say they would find "a couple of dead bodies" at his home. A paramedic was first on the scene, but he was "fobbed off" by the defendant. A police officer then arrived and, seeing the headless corpse through the letter box, kicked in the door. He found Nibbs with a shotgun in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other which he used to stab himself. Nibbs was taken to hospital with stab wounds to the neck and stomach. Mr Aylett told jurors the defendant admitted killing his partner but said that he had been "defending himself". Nibbs, of the Charles Estate in Hoxton, denies murder and obstructing the coroner from holding an inquest in the violent death of Judith Nibbs by disposing of her decapitated head. The trial continues. The family of Jean Charles de Menezes have lost a human rights challenge over the decision not to charge any individual police officer following his death. A case brought by relatives of the Brazilian, who was mistaken for a suicide bomber and shot dead by police marksmen more than a decade ago , was rejected by European judges. Lawyers for the family argued an assessment used by prosecutors is incompatible with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which covers the right to life. However, the European Court of Human Rights' Grand Chamber found there had been no violation. Mr de Menezes's cousin Patricia da Silva Armani said the family are "deeply disappointed". She said: "We had hoped that the ruling would give a glimmer of hope, not only to us, but to all other families who have been denied the right to justice after deaths at the hands of the police. "We find it unbelievable that our innocent cousin could be shot seven times in the head by the Metropolitan Police when he had done nothing wrong and yet the police have not had to account for their actions. "As we have always maintained, we feel that decisions about guilt and innocence should be made by juries, not by faceless bureaucrats and we are deeply saddened that we have been denied that opportunity yet again." Lawyers for the family claimed the evidential test applied by the Crown Prosecution Service - that there should be sufficient evidence for a "realistic prospect" of conviction - is too high a threshold. It means that, in effect, the decision not to bring a prosecution was based on a conclusion that there was less than a 50% chance of conviction, they argued. The Strasbourg court said: "The frustration of Mr de Menezes's family at the absence of any individual prosecutions is understandable." However, its judgment concluded that "it cannot be said that the domestic authorities have failed to discharge the procedural obligation under Article 2 of the Convention to conduct an effective investigation into the shooting of Mr de Menezes which was capable of leading to the establishment of the facts, a determination of whether the force used was or was not justified in the circumstances and of identifying and - if appropriate - punishing those responsible". Article 2 did not require the test to be lowered in cases where deaths occurred at the hands of state agents and all aspects of the authorities' responsibility for the shooting had been thoroughly investigated, the court found. The decision not to prosecute any individual officer was not due to any failings in the investigation "or the State's tolerance of or collusion in unlawful acts", the judgment said. It added: "Rather, it was due to the fact that, following a thorough investigation, a prosecutor considered all the facts of the case and concluded that there was insufficient evidence against any individual officer to meet the threshold evidential test in respect of any criminal offence." The complaint also challenged the domestic definition of self-defence but the court found the test applied was not significantly different from its own standard. Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot by firearms officers at Stockwell Underground station in south London on July 22 2005, a fortnight after the July 7 bombings. The following year the CPS announced that no individual should be charged in connection with Mr de Menezes's death. In 2007 the Met was fined 175,000 after being convicted of breaching health and safety laws. An inquest jury later rejected the police account of the shooting and returned an open verdict. The coroner had ruled out a verdict of unlawful killing. In 2009, the electrician's family agreed an undisclosed settlement with Scotland Yard. Following the judgment on Wednesday, de Menezes family solicitor Harriet Wistrich said it was a "very disappointing decision" but noted that four of the 17 judges dissented. A government spokesman said it " considers the Strasbourg court has handed down the right judgment", adding: "The facts of this case are tragic, but the Government considers that the court has upheld the important principle that individuals are only prosecuted where there is a realistic prospect of conviction." The Government has been criticised for refusing to recall Parliament to discuss the steel crisis amid fears that thousands of jobs could be axed. Ministers have also signalled opposition to nationalising the industry while efforts are made to find a buyer for Tata Steel plants. The Indian conglomerate shocked unions by deciding to sell its loss making UK business, threatening huge job losses. The Government turned down calls from the Labour Party to recall Parliament but announced that the Prime Minister will chair a meeting of ministers on Thursday morning in Downing Street. Business Secretary Sajid Javid cut short a business trip to Australia and spoke to the chairman of Tata Group. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also cut short a holiday and travelled to Port Talbot, site of the country's biggest steel plant. He wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to hold a special session of Parliament. The Welsh Assembly is being recalled next week to debate the future of the industry. A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said: "Ministers will continue to hold briefings to update representatives of other parties on the situation but we have no plans to recall Parliament. Our focus is on finding a long-term sustainable future for steel making at Port Talbot and across the UK." Mr Javid said the UK steel industry was "absolutely vital for the country", adding: "I'm deeply concerned about the situation. I think it's absolutely clear that the UK steel industry is absolutely vital for the country and we will look at all viable options to keep steel making continuing in Port Talbot. "We are also very much alive to the human cost and we want to make sure no worker is left behind so where workers are affected that we are doing everything we possibly can to help them and their families." But he said he did not think nationalisation was "the solution" to the crisis. "At this stage, given the announcement from Tata has just come out, it's important I think we talk to them properly and understand the exact situation and we look at all viable options," he said. "I don't think nationalisation is going to be the solution because I think everyone would want a long-term viable solution. "And if you look around Europe and elsewhere I think nationalisation is rarely the answer, particularly if you take into account the big challenges the industry faces." A spokesman for the Community union said it was "extremely worrying" that Business Minister Anna Soubry stressed this morning the Government was looking at all options to retain steel, but within hours it had ruled out nationalisation. "We are also concerned that the Government does not regard the steel crisis as of sufficient priority to recall Parliament. " That would not have been a disproportionate response given the thousands of jobs affected and wider strategic impact on the UK economy." Mr Javid had faced criticism from union officials and opposition MPs for not travelling to Mumbai to lobby the board of Tata. He was in Australia on a business trip and was due to speak at an invite-only meeting of business leaders in Sydney, but will now return to the UK earlier than planned. Mr Corbyn said the news that Tata was preparing to sell its UK assets puts "thousands or jobs" and "a strategic UK-wide industry" at risk, in his letter to the Prime Minister. "Steelworkers and their families will be desperately worried about the uncertainty. The Government is in disarray over what action to take. Ministers must act now to protect the steel industry, which is at the heart of manufacturing in Britain and vital to its future," he wrote. Around 40,000 jobs could be lost if no buyer is found for Tata Steel's UK business, according to analysis by the IPPR think tank. It said the firm's UK business employs 15,000 people, with a further 25,000 jobs in the supply chain estimated to depend on steel plants. Supply chain job losses are also likely to hit manufacturers and suppliers of iron, manufacturers of machinery, and processors and suppliers of coke and petroleum, some of which will be based outside of the UK, it was found. The Government has called on Tata to give enough time for buyers to be found for its UK business in a bid to save thousands of jobs. Ms Soubry said: "We want enough time to be able to secure a buyer. That will take months." Workers at Port Talbot appeared shocked by the news as they clocked on following last night's announcement in Mumbai. Unite union secretary and steelworker Mark Turner, who has worked at the plant for 11 years, said: "We were really surprised by the announcement because the one thing that the company told us that would not happen is that they would put us up for sale." He added: "Everything is up in the air. All options are on the table: closure still has not been taken away." Speaking in Port Talbot, Mr Corbyn called on the Government to "intervene" and ensure British-made steel is used to build infrastructure in the country. He said: "We are saving an industry that will provide the basis of all the goods that we all need. "What is made in Port Talbot, ends up in everything we use. It ends up in every can of drink we get, tin can, every food we eat from a can, and many, many other things come from that. "The railways of this country are made from steel in this country. "So the last point I would make is this, we also need a government that is prepared to intervene and say that there should be strategic procurement of steel from steelworks in Britain for the railways, the bridges, the buildings, and all the other things that we are constructing in this country." Dave Hulse, from the GMB union, said: "David Cameron should be ashamed of himself for ruling out a recall of Parliament. "He makes out that the Government cares about working people but this clearly confirms that holidays are more important than the members we represent and the communities that they come from. "Sajid Javid says he does not think that nationalisation is the answer. If he is committed to doing the right thing then he has to rethink and listen to everyone connected with the steel industry or our steel manufacturing base will be lost forever." Community's general secretary, Roy Rickhuss said: "Seeing confusion and mixed messages from ministers will only increase the worry of steelworkers across the UK. "The fact that one minute they are saying they are looking at all the options and the next they're saying some form of nationalisation is not a solution shows a government divided and without the political will to take the tough action necessary to save our industry. "We don't want Sajid Javid rushing back from Australia to repeat the mistakes he and his colleagues made over Redcar. It is also too soon to be talking about measures to mitigate job losses. People still have jobs now and the Government should be focused on ensuring that their employment and steel making continues. Rather than the Prime Minister sitting down with his ministers, perhaps he should heed our call to meet me and I can help set him and his Government back on the right path. "Steelworkers need a government that will protect their jobs and ensure a long term future for British steel making. "It's disappointing the Prime Minister doesn't see this issue as a sufficient priority to recall Parliament and give MPs from worried steel communities across the UK the opportunity to debate the issue and hold the Government to account." In a telephone call to discuss the situation, Mr Cameron and Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones agreed to do " everything possible" to secure the future of steel making at Port Talbot and elsewhere in the UK. "The PM and First Minister pledged to work to support a sales process that delivers a sustainable long term future for the plant. They also agreed to remain in close contact in the days ahead at both official and ministerial level," a No 10 spokesman said. Diabetes UK has welcomed changes to the rules which previously saw a number of people with the condition lose their licence "unnecessarily" Drivers with diabetes will no longer lose their licences "unfairly" after changes to European driving laws, a charity has said. Diabetes UK has welcomed changes to the rules which previously saw a number of people with the condition lose their licence "unnecessarily". If sufferers had one or more episodes of severe hypoglycaemia - which is when a patient's blood sugars drop to dangerously low levels - and required assistance from another person, they would have to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The charity said that the DVLA does not currently differentiate between daytime and night-time episodes of hypoglycaemia, meaning that some people with diabetes are losing their driving licence unnecessarily. After a review of evidence, the European Commission has said that the driving ban for people experiencing recurrent severe hypoglycaemia when asleep should be lifted. The charity said the DVLA will be asked to make the changes by 2018. Tata Steel workers are seen at the Tata sports and social club waiting to meet with British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn close to the company's works at Port Talbot, south Wales, on March 30, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has cut short a holiday and travelled to Port Talbot, site of Tata Steel - the country's biggest steel plant. He wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to hold a special session of Parliament to discuss the steel crisis amid fears that thousands of jobs could be axed. The Government turned down calls from the Labour Party to recall Parliament but announced that the Prime Minister will chair a meeting of ministers on Thursday morning in Downing Street. Ministers have also signalled opposition to nationalising the industry while efforts are made to find a buyer for Tata Steel plants. The Indian conglomerate shocked unions by deciding to sell its loss making UK business, threatening huge job losses. Business Secretary Sajid Javid also cut short a business trip to Australia and spoke to the chairman of Tata Group. The Welsh Assembly is being recalled next week to debate the future of the industry. A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said: "Ministers will continue to hold briefings to update representatives of other parties on the situation but we have no plans to recall Parliament. Our focus is on finding a long-term sustainable future for steel making at Port Talbot and across the UK." Mr Javid said the UK steel industry was "absolutely vital for the country", adding: "I'm deeply concerned about the situation. I think it's absolutely clear that the UK steel industry is absolutely vital for the country and we will look at all viable options to keep steel making continuing in Port Talbot. "We are also very much alive to the human cost and we want to make sure no worker is left behind so where workers are affected that we are doing everything we possibly can to help them and their families." Expand Close Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives at the Tata sports and social club to meet with union representatives and Tata steel workers close to the company's works at Port Talbot, south Wales, on March 30, 2016. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives at the Tata sports and social club to meet with union representatives and Tata steel workers close to the company's works at Port Talbot, south Wales, on March 30, 2016. AFP/Getty Images But he said he did not think nationalisation was "the solution" to the crisis. "At this stage, given the announcement from Tata has just come out, it's important I think we talk to them properly and understand the exact situation and we look at all viable options," he said. "I don't think nationalisation is going to be the solution because I think everyone would want a long-term viable solution. "And if you look around Europe and elsewhere I think nationalisation is rarely the answer, particularly if you take into account the big challenges the industry faces." A spokesman for the Community union said it was "extremely worrying" that Business Minister Anna Soubry stressed this morning the Government was looking at all options to retain steel, but within hours it had ruled out nationalisation. "We are also concerned that the Government does not regard the steel crisis as of sufficient priority to recall Parliament. Expand Close Tata Steel workers wait for British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn at the Tata sports and social club close to the company's works at Port Talbot, south Wales, on March 30, 2016. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tata Steel workers wait for British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn at the Tata sports and social club close to the company's works at Port Talbot, south Wales, on March 30, 2016. AFP/Getty Images " That would not have been a disproportionate response given the thousands of jobs affected and wider strategic impact on the UK economy." Mr Javid had faced criticism from union officials and opposition MPs for not travelling to Mumbai to lobby the board of Tata. He was in Australia on a business trip and was due to speak at an invite-only meeting of business leaders in Sydney, but will now return to the UK earlier than planned. Mr Corbyn said the news that Tata was preparing to sell its UK assets puts "thousands or jobs" and "a strategic UK-wide industry" at risk, in his letter to the Prime Minister. "Steelworkers and their families will be desperately worried about the uncertainty. The Government is in disarray over what action to take. Ministers must act now to protect the steel industry, which is at the heart of manufacturing in Britain and vital to its future," he wrote. Around 40,000 jobs could be lost if no buyer is found for Tata Steel's UK business, according to analysis by the IPPR think tank. It said the firm's UK business employs 15,000 people, with a further 25,000 jobs in the supply chain estimated to depend on steel plants. Supply chain job losses are also likely to hit manufacturers and suppliers of iron, manufacturers of machinery, and processors and suppliers of coke and petroleum, some of which will be based outside of the UK, it was found. The Government has called on Tata to give enough time for buyers to be found for its UK business in a bid to save thousands of jobs. Ms Soubry said: "We want enough time to be able to secure a buyer. That will take months." Workers at Port Talbot appeared shocked by the news as they clocked on following last night's announcement in Mumbai. Unite union secretary and steelworker Mark Turner, who has worked at the plant for 11 years, said: "We were really surprised by the announcement because the one thing that the company told us that would not happen is that they would put us up for sale." He added: "Everything is up in the air. All options are on the table: closure still has not been taken away." The Big Sheep has asked people on their roller coaster to stay quiet A theme park in England has banned visitors from screaming on their rollercoaster. The Big One ride at The Big Sheep park in Devon opened last Friday but they had had to put up signs asking people not to scream on the ride as they dont want to upset their neighbours. Visitors have been urged to enjoy themselves but asked not to make a sound as they race around the 400m long ride. But it comes with a sign saying: This is a family ride not a white knuckle thrill ride. Enjoy the views but we love our neighbours. PLEASE DO NOT SHOUT OR SCREAM! Thank ewe. The attraction claims that their new ride is the "biggest, highest and fastest" roller coaster North Devon has ever seen, reaching heights of up to 13m. Our customers @bigsheepdayout are absolutely loving the mega new family roller coaster - are you brave enough ? pic.twitter.com/u4CmlWOMJn Rick Turner (@RickTurnerDevon) March 29, 2016 The park owners had faced a five year battle to get planning permission for the ride because of concerns from local residents about the noise. Israels Sephardic Chief Rabbi has sparked controversy after saying non-Jews should not be allowed to live in Israel unless they follow a set of Jewish laws. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said non-Jews who fail to live by the seven Noahide laws should be expelled to Saudi Arabia, The Times of Israel reports. Speaking in a sermon on Saturday, the Chief Rabbi said: If our hands were firm, if we had the power to rule, then non-Jews must not live in Israel. If a gentile does not agree to take on the seven Noahide Laws, we should send him to Saudi Arabia. The seven Noahide Laws are a basic moral code outlined in the Talmud. They prohibit actions such as blasphemy, murder, illicit sexual relations, theft and eating live animals, according to The Times of Israel. Rabbi Yosef added that non-Jews who do agree to abide by the laws will be allowed to remain in Israel in order to serve Jews. Who, otherwise be the servants? Who will be our helpers? This is why we leave them in Israel, he said. Rabbi Yosefs comments have been heavily criticised by the human rights agency Anti-Defamation League, who have called on him to retract the statements. Jonathon Greenblatt, ADLs CEO, and Carole Nuriel, acting Director of ADLs Israel Office, said in a statement the comments were shocking and unacceptable. It is unconscionable that the Chief Rabbi, an official representative of the State of Israel, would express such intolerant and ignorant views about Israels non-Jewish population including the millions of non-Jewish citizens. As a spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef should be using his influence to preach tolerance and compassion towards others, regardless of their faith, and not seek to exclude and demean a large segment of Israelis. This is not the first time Rabbi Yosefs comments have stirred controversy. Earlier this month, the Rabbi was criticised for suggesting Israelis should kill knife-wielding terrorists without fear of the law, the Jerusalem Post reports. "If a terrorist is advancing with a knife, its a mitzva [commandment] to kill him, he said in Jerusalems Yazadim Synagogue. One shouldnt be afraid that someone will petition the High Court of Justice or some [army] chief of staff will come and say something different, he added. Independent Donald Trump's campaign manager has been charged with assault (AP) Donald Trump has vowed to stand by his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski after he was charged with simple battery following an altercation with a female reporter. Mr Trump said he doesn't "discard people" and called the situation "very unfair" to Lewandowski, one of his closest advisers. He said he hopes the matter doesn't change Lewandowski's role on his campaign. Mr Trump spoke to reporters on his plane shortly after landing in Wisconsin for a rally ahead of the state's April 5 primary. Police in Jupiter, Florida, issued Lewandowski with a notice to appear before a judge on May 4 for the misdemeanour charge. A surveillance video released by the police appears to show Lewandowski grabbing a reporter for Breitbart News as she tried to ask Mr Trump a question during a March 8 campaign event. The charge carries up to a year in jail. The Trump campaign said Lewandowski "is absolutely innocent of this charge". "He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court," said the statement. "He is completely confident that he will be exonerated." Mr Trump himself called Lewandowski "a very decent man" on Twitter: "Look at the tapes - nothing there!" A police report obtained by AP includes an interview with the reporter, Michelle Fields. "Lewandowski grabbed Fields' left arm with his right hand causing her to turn and step back," reads the report. Fields showed police her left forearm which "appeared to show a grabbing-type injury," according to the investigating officer. In a second piece of bad news for Mr Trump, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker endorsed his rival Ted Cruz in the Republican race for the party's nomination. Mr Walker said his endorsement was not part of mainstream Republicans' drive to block front-running Mr Trump but support for "a strong new leader". The Wisconsin governor, who was briefly in the race for the Republican nomination, announced his support for Mr Cruz and said he is "in the best position by far to both win the nomination of the Republican Party and then go on to defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall". Mr Trump planned to make his first campaign appearance in Wisconsin before joining Ohio governor John Kasich and Mr Cruz for a CNN interview. It is unclear how much Mr Walker's endorsement will help Mr Cruz. The governor's approval rating has not cracked 40% in more than a year. Wisconsin has 42 delegates, with 18 going to the state-wide winner and 24 divided among the winners in each of the state's eight congressional districts. Mr Trump heads into Wisconsin with 739 delegates to Mr Cruz's 465. Kasich lags behind with 143. It takes 1,237 to assure the nomination. 'It was probably one of the most shocking experiences of my life and I saw things I wish I'd never seen, heard things I don't think I'll ever forget. It's important to try and impart some of that - the shame that the international community should feel at what is happening and what is being allowed to happen. That's all I can do, but it's something." Thus Eimear McBride in last Saturday's Irish Times. She had just returned from a seven-day visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. "Living in the West Bank is like being trapped in a cage," she continued. "The walls of the cage are being wound ever tighter around the Palestinian people. It's hard to see that kind of suffering and believe there is an end in sight." McBride is author of the brilliant A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing, published in 2013, winner of the Goldsmiths Prize that year and, the following year, of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. She had travelled with photojournalist Taiye Selasi, the Indian novelist Hari Kunzru and Israeli writer Ala Hlehel. They were among a group of more than 30 writers invited by Breaking The Silence to visit the region and to contribute a chapter each to a book to be published in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War and the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and east Jerusalem. Others taking part will include the Irish writer Colm Toibin and Nobel prizewinner Mario Vargas Llosa. Breaking the Silence comprises Israeli soldiers who have served in the Occupied Territories. They gather and publish testimonies from fellow soldiers so as to reveal the truth of life under occupation. Spokespersons for Breaking the Silence have visited the north in recent years to describe their aims and activities to audiences of mainly pro-Palestinian activists and Christian groups. Meanwhile, back in the USA, presidential candidates are striving to outdo one another in their pledges, if elected, to do everything in their power to defend the occupation, increase arms supplies to the Israeli defence forces and generally put the weight of the US behind Israel's maintenance of the oppression of Palestinians. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) held its annual gathering in Washington last week, attended by presidential hopefuls and a concatenation of Congresspersons anxious to avoid the appearance of being insufficiently supportive of whatever it is Israel happens to be doing to suppress Palestinian rights. The current leader in the Republican race, Donald Trump, reportedly drew wild applause with his promise to bow to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tear up the nuclear deal with Iran, negotiated last year by Barack Obama. He condemned the knife murders of Israeli civilians by Palestinians while offering not a word of disapproval of Israel's use of artillery, missiles and planes to murder Palestinians. Coming to the podium after Trump, Ted Cruz had to go one better. He declared that there was no such place as Palestine and, therefore, no need for restraint in taking it over. Hillary Clinton's most popular promise was to use the power of the presidency to combat the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). She, too, undertook to increase arms supplies to Israel and announced that the first leader she would invite to the White House would be Netanyahu - a direct repudiation of Obama's refusal to invite Netanyahu when the Israeli prime minister turned up in the US to campaign against Obama's Iran deal. Interestingly enough, Bernie Sanders, the only Jewish candidate still standing, was the only one who dared skip the convention. His offer to appear by video-link was dismissed by an affronted Aipac leadership: how dare he not come when called? In a letter to the convention, Sanders declared backing for an (eventual) end to the occupation but was careful to speak of the safety of Palestinians, rather than of a safe Palestinian homeland. Still, against a background of the violent rhetoric of his rivals, Sanders was relatively progressive. The soldiers of Breaking The Silence have joined with the writers to try and break through obdurate resistance to observable truth and to encourage a no-holds-barred dialogue on the future of Palestine/Israel. They have the goodwill of organisations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, the human rights group B'Tselem and many others - including the BDS campaign - who earnestly desire a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Eimear McBride is wonderful writer and rooted here in the north. She has never been associated with taking a political stance. Perhaps some of those who continue to ignore the case for the Palestinians will think on what she has to say - and think again. Satellite communication consultant Roger McKinlay believes the world is losing its way due to over-reliance on navigation aids Basic navigation skills are under threat because of our increasing dependence on satnav technology, a leading expert has claimed. Satellite communication consultant Roger McKinlay, former president of the Royal Institute of Navigation, believes the world is losing its way due to over-reliance on navigation aids. Writing in the journal Nature, he argues navigation and map reading should be on the school curriculum. Describing navigation as a "use-it-or-lose-it" skill, he warned: "If we do not cherish them, our natural navigation skills will deteriorate as we rely ever more on smart devices." Mr McKinlay, who is based in Leatherhead, Surrey, said navigation had "invaded our dreams of the future" with predictions of fleets of driverless cars and swarms of drones delivering goods to people's homes. He doubted such visions would ever become a reality given the inherent fallibility of navigation technology. "Satellite navigation is unreliable because it does not work well indoors or in built-up areas," he pointed out. In a crowded or closed environment, signals could "bounce around" and give false information. The way innate navigation skills were eroded by technology had been demonstrated by simulator studies, said Mr McKinlay. He wrote: "Drivers in a simulator who follow satellite navigation instructions find it more difficult to work out where they have been than those who use maps. "Instructed drivers also fail to notice that they have been led past the same point twice. "Mountain rescue teams are tired of searching for people with drained smart phone batteries, no sense of direction and no paper map." With 80% of the world's adult population likely to own a smartphone by 2020, access to satellite navigation was "ubiquitous". More satellites were being launched to improve coverage. By 2020, 20 orbiters from the European satellite navigation system Galileo would compliment the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russian GLONASS network. China had just launched the 21st satellite in its BeiDou system. However, navigation is about "more than knowing your position", Mr McKinlay stressed. "Newspapers regularly pick up 'satnav' disaster stories - such as a lorry bound for the Mediterranean that arrived at Gibraltar Point near Skegness in the United Kingdom," he said. "A sense of direction, a sense of scale and a map are essential. "Mobility will not become intelligent unless we break two bad habits. "First, we must recognise that digital navigation tools do not come for free. They rely on expensive infrastructure - satellites or ground stations - that governments have to pay for. "The United States invested more than 10 billion dollars (6.94 billion) to put the GPS satellites in place and spends around one billion dollars (694 million) each year to maintain the service. "Second, we should make better use of our innate capabilities. Machines know where they are, not the best way to get to a destination. It might be more reliable to employ a human driver than to program an autonomous car to avert crashes." Mr McKinlay concluded: "Schools should teach navigation and map reading as life skills. "The introduction of computers and calculators has not removed the need to understand numbers. The US Navy has started to teach celestial navigation again as a back-up skill. "Navigation is where complex systems meet capable users." The story of Mary Poppins author Pamela Travers, or P.L. Travers, as told in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), is not only about her reluctance to part with her childrens book Mary Poppins, but about why she wrote it in the first place. In that vein, Saving Mr. Banks shares a lesson about experience. For two weeks in the 1960s, Travers goes to Hollywood to oversee how her book would be made into a film. The film will be made if she agrees to sign away her rights. As Travers struggles to let filmmakers produce her book, there are several childhood moments that build and build until there is a point to it. Episodes in Travers young life, at turn of the century Australia, are told in flashback and unfold to explain why the book Mary Poppins was conceived. Sometimes people never come to terms with incidents of childhood though incidents can shape adult identity. Travers (played by young Australian actress Annie Rose Buckley) looks up to her father as most children would look up to their fathers. Children can so idolize their parents, but when adults fail to measure up, children are shocked and dismayed, which can have a life altering effect. Travers Goff (Collin Farrell) is a banker, and tries to be a good father, but he has his problems. But there is hope when we understand something vital that is life changing: parents have problems, too. Knowing this can release adults, who were once children that idolized their parents. With people, human is what you get. Knowing this can liberate the person expecting more. A challenge for an author is to sign away film rights to a published work. This tendency is because a writers characters are precious and the writer has invested a significant amount of personal pride in a work as a whole. The finished product shouldnt be tampered with. However, a few authors seem to have no such qualms and adamantly say yes to a movie deal. However, Pamela Travers does have a problem with it. There are all sorts of challenges in life. In Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Pamela Travers challenge is handing over her rights to Walt Disney so he can produce her childrens book Mary Poppins into a film. Walt Disney has been trying to get the rights for twenty years. When Disney knocks on her door again, Travers needs money, as if that is an incentive, which its not, but her representative says she must give Disney a chance, aware she needs the money. Travers (Emma Thompson) takes the trip from London to Los Angeles to settle the matter with Walt Disney (Tom Hanks). The time in Hollywood, during two weeks in the 1960s, will enable her to see how they will handle her beloved work. Travers huffs and puffs, the demanding author requiring every t crossed and every i dotted. She will not have animated penguins and Dick Van Dyke in the live action film. She disagrees that Van Dyke is a great actor. Laurence Olivier and Alec Guinness are greats, she protests (both British actors by the way). She crosses with Walt Disney on a number of times, claiming hes manipulating her. Walt Disney puts on everything for Travers to agree to the deal. Hes charming, sensitive and compassionate, but Travers can see right through it. She fears Mary Poppins may go through the Hollywood machine before it reaches the screen and her beloved characters that she is attached to become manufactured. Her book may become meaningless. Eventually, after all his hard work at trying to convince her that her book is in safe hands, Disney is adamant that Travers wont sign away the rights to her book. However, she is missing the big picture of how Mary Poppins can reach a wider audience and touch the hearts of more children and adults. Will Travers relent? We all know how the story turns out. Mary Poppins won five Academy Awards. Challenges, as difficult as they are, can be overcome. The Lion of Africa is suffering, and the news media isn't talking about it. In the 1980s, when famine-ravaged Ethiopia needed help, the world responded. That's not happening this time, and conditions are now worse in-country than were seen at the height of those troubled times. Unfortunately, it's expected to get worse. Promised rains failed to materialize, and the crops are dying and livestock is suffering. Worst of all, hundreds of thousands of children and their families are at high risk of malnourishment. Even though the nation took steps to prepare for the worst once the famine of 1983-85 ended, large swaths of the country are in dire need of help from the international community. Statistics On The Ethiopian Drought Unless rain comes, the predictions are dire for this country. So far, 75% of all harvests have been lost since the lack of rain began. One million livestock have already died. With no way to sustain these animals, small farmers have had no choice but to cull their herds. Those early decisions are adding up and increasing the risk of food insecurity. And, that food insecurity is a very real threat. Currently, 430,000 children are at high risk of experiencing malnutrition in the very near future. Of course, so are their families. Before the drought ends, it is expected that somewhere between 10 and 15 million Ethiopians will require at least some sort of food assistance. That's hard to accept for these proud people. Causes Of The Ethiopian Drought This current year is one of the driest in East Africa since 1950/51. For two consecutive growing seasons, the rains did not materialize. Because of the effects of climate change, droughts and extended periods of dryness are affecting this region of the world. As temperatures continue to rise globally, the countries of East Africa have become increasingly vulnerable. However, it is not just the changes in the weather that are causing water shortages. Politics plays a large part in the problem, as well. Since most of the rural areas of Ethiopia rely on wells and cisterns for their daily water needs, when water levels drop, the concentration of contaminants often become too high for it to be safe to drink. The disease often runs from village to village as a direct result of lower levels of water. The politics of water has impacted the problem in a major way. Before the water from the Nile was subdivided and sent to so many different nations, Ethiopia had an abundant supply of water to nourish its people and its crops. Today, it only receives a trickle of the river: Not enough to sustain itself when the rains fail to deliver on their promise. When El Nino arises and gives a blast of hot air to this struggling nation, the resources are not there to deal with a problem of this magnitude. What Is Being Done To Help Ethiopia? After the famine in the 1980s, steps were taken by the Ethiopian government to protect its people should condition once again worsen. That's one of the reasons the press hasn't been reporting on the problem. No one expected the problem to become so large. However, it has, and the nation requires help. In some cases, entire families have been forced to flee their homes and move to refugee camps set up for the purpose. Once there, they are given access to basic life necessities such as food, water, shelter and hygiene. However, in many far-flung reaches of the country, there is no help readily available. In many of these communities, children are dropping out of school to trek long miles to fetch water. Gone for long hours each day, these kids head out in the morning for the nearest well still bearing water and return home late at night carrying their heavy burden. The sad truth is that another generation of children from Ethiopia are losing their best chance at escape from poverty since they can no longer receive an education. Efforts to distribute food and water supplies to these regions that are often plagued by conflict are underway. For many small farmers, the fear is returning as they remembered the high death toll from the famine thirty years ago. No one wants a replay of that time when entire villages died due to the spread of diseases brought on by unsanitary conditions. Currently, the government of Ethiopia is asking for $1.4 billion dollars in aid to help its people. While the plans made in the aftermath of the famine in the 80s have curtailed some of the worst effects of the drought, those plans simply are not enough to deal with the magnitude of the problem. As food, water and supplies are brought into the country, the nation struggles to distribute it to prevent the loss of life and maintain public health. What Can You Do To Help Ethiopia? Ethiopia can take care of its people during this drought, but it cannot do it on its own. It has asked countries like the United States for help, and those nations are doing everything that they can. However, even this is not enough. Fortunately, in the thirty years between the famine and this current drought, Ethiopia experienced a period of robust growth. During that time, the nation invested in its infrastructure. It now has an excellent road system and made improvements in the agricultural sector. That wise investment means that donations can now be rapidly sent to areas that are afflicted the worst. However, the country remains fragile. Since the nation has proved to be a leader in its region in the recent past, hopes are high that help will come to keep this proud nation on its upward spiral. And, you can help. Consider making a donation here to help Ethiopia in its time of need. Your donations will be used to provide food, water, and sanitation to prevent deaths from infectious disease. The Lion needs your help, and it needs it now. By Yasin Aberra Updated at 4:55 p.m. ET on 2016-03-30 Bangladeshi opposition leader Khaleda Zia and 27 officials from her party are being falsely blamed for a deadly fire-bombing of a bus during anti-government protests last year, her lawyer said Wednesday after a court issued warrants for their arrests. Madam [Khaleda Zia] and the other leaders have no involvement with the arson attack. This is a false case, Sanahullah Mia, the chief lawyer for Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), told BenarNews. The warrants out for Zia and the others are a case of political harassment, Mia suggested. It is not the first time that an arrest warrant has been issued for the chairwoman of Bangladeshs main opposition party. Madam [Khaleda Zia] is respectful to laws; she did not know about the case. We will fight in the court against the warrant order, the lawyer added. On Wednesday, a Dhaka court accepted criminal charges and issued warrants against Zia and the 27 other party leaders for their alleged roles in abetting an act of arson that killed one person and injured at least 20 others on Jan. 23, 2015, lawyers said. The act, which was the petrol-bombing of a bus in Dhakas Jatrabari area amid BNP-led protests, killed a man in his sixties, Nur Alam. After Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah issued the warrants, the Metropolitan Session Court was to send the warrant for Zias arrest to the police station in the Gulshan neighborhood of Dhaka where she lives, prosecutor Shah Alam Talukder told reporters at the courthouse. Meanwhile, another court in Dhaka jailed BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on arson charges stemming from a separate case, after he turned himself in to authorities on Wednesday, Mia said. Later in the day, the court granted him bail on health grounds, according to Mia. Violent protests The protests took place during a three-month economic blockade led by the BNP in early 2015. The anti-government protests started on Jan. 5 the first anniversary of the ruling Awami League partys victory in the 2014 general election, which the BNP-led opposition bloc boycotted. The BNP stayed away from the polls because the ruling party had refused to allow a non-partisan caretaker administration to govern Bangladesh during the electoral season, as stipulated in the countrys constitution. The BNP had also demanded that snap polls be called under a caretaker government. The protests turned violent. Buses were frequently fire-bombed or attacked with Molotov cocktails. At least 120 people were killed. According to their charge sheets, four suspects who were arrested last year in connection with the Jan. 23 bus fire-bombing in Jatrabari confessed to police that they were following instructions from some BNP officials to create anarchy by committing such acts. Political harassment: BNP leaders Zia spent those three months holed up in her offices, where police had barricaded her inside to prevent her from leading the protests in public. Apart from the new charges, she also faces five charges of corruption. In February 2015, another court issued an arrest warrant for Zia and two other people accused in a pair of graft-related cases. But police did not her because, for reasons unknown, the warrant never reached the Gulshan police station. Among the others named in Wednesdays arrest warrants is BNP Joint General Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, who, during a news conference, accused the government of using the warrants as a way to suppress the opposition. Alamgir echoed the accusation after posting bail Wednesday. The government has been harassing desh netri [country leader] Khaleda Zia, me and other BNP leaders for political reasons, Alamgir told reporters as he left the Dhaka Central Jail. An earlier version of this report misidentified the speaker in the photo. Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff, the director of the Malaysian polices Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department, speaks during a press conference in Bangkok, at which the arrests of two Malaysians (seated) on drug smuggling charges were announced, March 30, 2016. Thai police Wednesday announced the arrests of two Malaysians who were allegedly caught with more than one-quarter ton of crystal methamphetamine at a southern border crossing. Following a tip-off from authorities in neighboring Malaysia, Chang Kim Sui, 49, and Lim Yean Hooi, 37, were arrested Tuesday at the Sadao checkpoint in Songkhla province, while trying to enter Malaysia, officials said. The two were driving separate cars and were carrying a total of 282 kilos (621 pounds) of methamphetamine, also known as Ice, in the trunks, police told reporters in Bangkok. The arrests and haul was the second major drug bust involving Malaysian suspects on the Thai-Malaysia border in less than a week. Chang and Lim were charged with possession of narcotics for sale, and could face the death penalty if convicted, police said, adding that both men admitted their guilt. This is the biggest bust we have made in several years, Thailand Police Chief Chakthip Chaichindda told reporters at a news conference in Bangkok, where the suspects were presented and the confiscated Ice was displayed. Police also presented a Thai suspect arrested separately with three kilos of the drug. Police Lt. Gen. Rewat Klinkesorn, the chief of Thailands anti-drugs bureau, said Malaysian narcotics police tipped off his officers about the suspected traffickers. He said both suspects rented a house in Sadao district for months, and police surveyed them before finally catching them. They both are drivers and had they successfully entered Malaysia, there would be new drivers taking over driving the cars, he said. Rewat declined to identify where the drug was manufactured, but said Ice could travel from Myanmar to Laos, en route to Vietnam. Because of crackdowns, traffickers chose northern and northeastern Thailand as a new transit route. Much of the drugs are destined for the United States, Europe and Australia. War can be won only with mutual cooperation On March 24, Thai police announced the arrests of 15 Malaysians suspected of trying to smuggle 226 kilos (498 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine and eight kilos (17.6 pounds) of heroin aboard a train heading to Padang Besar, a southern Thai town on the Malaysian border. At that time, police said a one-kilo packet of Ice fetched 300,000 to 500,000 baht (U.S. $8,494 to $14,154) in Bangkok, meaning the 262 kilos seized on Tuesday could have a street value of as much as 141 million baht (nearly U.S. $4 million). Deputy Police Chief General Pongsapat Pongcharoen who was present at Wednesdays briefing said the traffickers arrested Tuesday appear to have no links with the group arrested last week, but police are trying to determine if the Ice was made in the same facility. We tried to check out connections of different lots. We will have lab tests of this lot and the other lot seized by railway police to see if they share common ingredients, he said. Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff, chief of Malaysias Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department, joined Thai officials at the press conference. In 2015, Malaysia confiscated drugs valued at 280 million ringgit (U.S. $71.3 million), he told reporters. From January through March this year, officers confiscated drugs valued at 60 million ringgit (U.S. $15.2 million). Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha attends a military parade ceremony for his retirement as army commander in chief at King Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Nakhon Nayok province, Sept. 29, 2014. Updated at 11:12 a.m. ET on 2016-03-31 A commission appointed by Thailands military-controlled government on Tuesday unveiled a proposed new constitution, amid warnings from the junta that it would go after people who criticized the draft charter. The new constitution will be voted on in a nationwide referendum set for Aug. 7, Meechai Richuphan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), told a news conference in Bangkok as he unveiled the 105-page document. The referendum would mark the first time that Thais go to the polls since the junta seized power in May 2014, and later invoked Article 44 of the interim constitution granting the military absolute power. Elections are to follow later at an unspecified date. In September, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha announced that elections would take place in Thailand in July 2017 at the earliest. But the proposed charter contains a controversial clause that rights advocates have criticized for allowing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) the formal name for the junta to hand pick all 250 senators, including 6 officers from the militarys top brass. Asked why we, the drafting commission, had a provisional clause to allow appointed senators, the answers are the NCPO feels its past efforts to bring back peace are not quite done yet. A pledge to reform politics was not fulfilled yet, Meechai told reporters. The new constitution aims to reform the nations politics and stamp out corruption, he said. Prolonged control However, the clause about senatorial appointments is making elected officials and other politicians nervous, said retired Lt. Gen.Nathadej Meksawat, an observer of Thai politics. What is getting in the way of politicians are NCPO-appointed senators who will counter-balance an elected government, he told BenarNews. Meanwhile, a representative of Human Rights Watch (HRW) voiced skepticism about the draft charter putting Thailand firmly back on a democratic path. We are trying to hold the junta accountable to its pledge to return to civilian democratic [rule] to Thailand, but this draft charter is showing the opposite, Sunai Phasuk, with HRWs Thai office, told the Associated Press. It doesnt give any promise of a democratic transition, but rather a prolonged control of the military, Sunai added. Thailand-based academic Paul Chambers told Agence France-Presse that the draft constitution was a charter which expands military and judicial power at the expense of democracy. As for the upcoming referendum, Prime Minister Prayuth has not made it clear what would happen if the proposed charter is rejected at the polls. Officials will take immediate action In the days prior to the draft constitutions unveiling on Tuesday, junta officials said they had stepped up efforts to ensure order ahead of the constitutional referendum. If any group creates misunderstanding or confuses society, officials will take immediate action to restore order, Army chief Theerachai Nakvanich was quoted as saying in the Bangkok Post. On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said he would propose that the NCPO re-educate politicians who displayed unruly behavior after being summoned for attitude adjustments. The warning came after Thai officials had reportedly summoned two politicians for so-called attitude adjustment detention sessions. They included Pheu Thai party member Watana Muangsook, who posted a comment on Facebook suggesting that the prime minister should take responsibility if the proposed charter was rejected in a referendum. A human rights group issued a statement Saturday expressing grave concern about the detention of Watana and fellow party member Worachai Hema. The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights calls for the National Council for Peace and Order to respect the right to exercise the freedom of expression of people which is [a] fundamental right provided in Article 4 of the interim Constitution [of] 2014 and the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] to which Thailand is a state party, the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said. An earlier version of this report incorrectly identified Worachai Hema as the person who posted a comment on Facebook about the prime minister taking responsibility if the proposed charter failed in the Aug. 7 referendum. Theerawan Charoensuk faces a sedition charge for this picture of herself holding a keepsake bowl she received from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thai authorities have arrested a woman for sedition over a photo she posted on Facebook, drawing criticism from rights activists as another move by the junta to silence peaceful dissent. Theerawan Charoensuk, 57, was arrested Tuesday and released on bail pending a military trial, after posting a photo of herself holding up a red plastic bowl inscribed with Thai New Years greetings from ousted Prime Ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and Yingluck Shinawatra. Red is the color associated with the Shinawatras political party. Theerawans arrest came on the day that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha issued a decree granting the military broader powers to arrest and detain people. Sedition charges for a Facebook photo expressing symbolic support for Thailands political opposition shows the military juntas utter disregard for peaceful dissent, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday in a statement. The arrest over the red bowl seen in the picture demonstrates that the juntas intolerance of dissent has reached the point of absolute absurdity, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said. When military courts try people for posting photos with holiday gifts from deposed leaders, its clear that the end of repression is nowhere in sight, he added. Is it legal to support an outlaw? On Tuesday, Prayuth, a retired army general who replaced Yingluck Shinawatra as prime minister following a military coup in May 2014, told reporters that the bowl was inscribed with the name of a fugitive, which is an act of sedition. He was referring to ex-PM Thaksin who lives in exile. Look at the inscribed materials, they are of an outlaw. Is it legal to support an outlaw, a fugitive? Prayuth said. The sedition here means [Theerawan] does not obey the laws, he added. A military court in the northern province of Chiang Mai, a stronghold of the Shinawatras, freed Theerawan on bail set at 100,000 baht (U.S. $2,780), pending a military trial. She faces up to seven years in prison, if found guilty of the sedition charges. Journalist barred from attending press event abroad Her arrest occurred amid a growing atmosphere of fear in junta-ruled Thailand, which has seen a clamp-down by the military on civil liberties, public protests and free speech. This week the junta denied a journalists request to travel to Finland in order to attend an event in May marking World Press Freedom Day. Pravit Rojanaphruk, a senior writer at Khaosod English, a Thai news website, said Wednesday that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) the official name for the junta had rejected his request to allow him to leave the country for the Finnish trip. I heard of the denial by phone this morning. The NCPO did not reply in writing and has not clarified the reason for denial, Pravit told BenarNews. Since the junta toppled Yinglucks government two years ago, Pravit, a former columnist for The Nation newspaper, twice was summoned by the authorities for so-called attitude adjustment detention sessions after he had published articles that were deemed as critical of the military-controlled government. Expansion of police-like powers Meanwhile, Prayuth Chan-o-cha declared in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday that he was authorizing military officers to take on new police-like powers. These would allow soldiers to arrest people suspected of committing 27 types of crimes, including defamation loan sharking and gambling, the Associated Press reported. The powers give soldiers the authority to summon, arrest and detain suspects in non-prison facilities, search peoples premises and seize assets at their discretion. The new powers are an extension of Article 44, a clause in Thailands interim constitution, which the junta invoked last year and that granted the military sweeping law-enforcement powers, according to reports. "These measures are another affirmation of the strengthening of a military state," Sunai Phasuk, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Thailand, told Reuters, referring to the militarys new powers. Almost two years after Yala, a town in Thailands insurgency-wracked Deep South, suffered a spate of motorcycle- and car-bomb attacks, students there are playing a role in promoting peace. On March 28, they picked up brushes and painted unsightly roadside bomb barriers with attractive patterns and designs based on local themes. Sombat Yotathip, the dean at Yala Rajabhat University, led the initiative. The barriers were erected in direct response to bombings in the heart of the town that saw several people injured and killed in April 2014. Unlike other parts of Thailand, especially the capital Bangkok, graffiti is relatively rare in the Deep South, especially in urban areas under strict surveillance by authorities using closed-captioned cameras. The plain white barriers still stand out, not only as a constant reminder of past violence, but also as an eyesore in the otherwise attractive town. Seeing all the creative colors, patterns and designs will help change the narrative, making the barriers more attractive. Looking at all the imaginative images that are being painted will help relieve peoples stress, Sombat told BenarNews. Also, getting our youths to work together on this project can help develop harmony in the region. People who pass by and see their art will admire these young artists talents. The project is also a good way for art students to practice their drawing skills, he added. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). 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BILD in the LesbosRefugee Jail 1350 people are stuck in the deportation prison 1350 people are stuck in the deportation prison | The entrance gate to the refugee jail in Moria Von: Von LIANA SPYROPOULOU You cannot go outside. Not for cigarettes, not for a sandwich, and not for a SIM card. Please go back. GO BACK! Behind the iron gate of the Moria deportation prison on the island of Lesbos, the drama is unfolding. On the one side, there are refugees who arrived after March 20 and who are now realizing that they are prisoners. They are scheduled for deportation. On the other side, Greek police officers are doing their jobs. Since the 21st of March becomes the camp for receiving refugees Moria to an deportation prison converted Ever since the refugee deal between the EU and Turkey came into effect, the centres for registration (the so-called hotspots) have been transformed into prisons. The media have no access. They are only allowed to film from across the street. BILD nonetheless managed to get permission to enter Greeces biggest deportation prison, on Lesbos. Lesen Sie auch We are not thieves, we are not murderers! Why are we in prison? asks Elhan Hashemi (14), from Afghanistan. She arrived on Lesbos with her family last Tuesday. She did not know anything about prisons and deportations to Turkey. BILD-reporter Liana Spyropoulou speaks with the boss of the camp, Dimitris Amoutzias Captain Dimitris Amoutzias is the commanding officer of Moria. He has not slept for a week. We are implementing our side of the agreement. Everyone who arrives here is arrested. 1,350 refugees have arrived in Moria since Sunday, March 20. Thats more than we can cope with, he says. We are already overburdened. And as soon as the strong winds are gone, the influx of refugees will begin again. The truth is that Greece is profiting from the weather, and this has been the case for two days. Due to strong winds, there have been almost no new arrivals at all. Thousands of people are already on different islands, however. Many of them have no shelter and no food. There have not been enough meals, since the NGOs ceased their efforts in protest against the agreement. Elhan Hashemi (14) from Afghanistan bursts into tears. Their father Mohammed Aref (51) comforts them The traffickers told us that we have to register at the hotspot and stay here for up to three days. Then we will get our papers, Elhan Hashemi says. We cannot go back to Afghanistan! The Taliban will take my father and kill him! They told him that they will cut his head off. They will kill us all. PLEASE HELP US! Auch interessant She starts to cry. Her father Mohammed Aref (51) cries with her, only quietly. But fear and hopelessness are written on his face. As we walk around Moria, we notice that high fences are being erected, and there are more guards. They are regular officers who previously worked in government districts. In only two days, they have had to get used to their new roles as prison guards. Now we are the bad guys, says the officer at the gate. He does not want to mention his name. It is easier for me to send back men who want to go outside to buy cigarettes. But it is really devastating when parents with their babies are begging me. I expect protests and riots And WE are the ones who have to confront them and deal with it. This will not be easy A few metres from the gate, Mohammad al-Hammadi (30), from Syria, is sitting on the ground with a few fellow countrymen. He arrived one day after the agreement came into effect. Lesen Sie auch I knew of the deal, but I was already in Turkey and my wife and our two-year-old son have been in Germany for three months now. They live in Mainz. They need me there. I will not go back to Turkey, because the police there beat me. And I will also not go back to Syria, since the war is still going on there and the country has been destroyed. 1,350 people of all ages, with no home, no hope, and no future behind fences. This is their situation after having survived war, trafficking, and dangerous journeys in order to start a better life. For Immediate Release, March 29, 2016 Contact: Loyal Mehrhoff, (808) 351-3200, lmehrhoff@biologicaldiversity.org Hawaii Endangered Species Gain 157,000 Acres of Protected Habitat More Than 100 Hawaiian Plants, Animals Get Critical Habitat Designations HONOLULU The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today protected 157,000 acres of critical habitat for 125 species of plants and animals from the Hawaiian islands of Molokai, Maui and Kahoolawe. The species range from plants like Haleakala silversword; the state flower, mao hau hele (Hibiscus brackenridgei); and bird-pollinated lobelias as well as a tree snail and striking forest birds like the Akohekohe or crested honeycreeper. Invasive species, habitat loss and the effects from introduced pigs, goats and deer are the primary threats to these species. Critical habitat will speed restoration efforts for many of these imperiled species so Im glad to see that happen, said Loyal Mehrhoff, endangered species recovery director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The Endangered Species Act continues to save hundreds of Hawaiian species from extinction and can be a significant force to save these species too. With more endangered species than any other state, Hawaii continues to be on the front line of the extinction crisis. The 135 species addressed in todays rule include two birds, three snails and 130 plants. However, only 125 species actually received critical habitat. The final rule excluded critical habitat for 10 species. A total of 84,892 acres were excluded from critical habitat because they are included in management plans and agreements thought to benefit these species. An additional 29,170 acres were removed from critical habitat. The lack of designated critical habitat for these species is a concern if the management agreements do not hold up or are ineffective, said Mehrhoff. Were also concerned with the removal of 9,800 acres of lowland rainforest from critical habitat designation on Maui. 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. Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia Although the packaging industries in developing markets are faring better than those in advanced and highly developed countries, such as the US and the UK, there are numerous challenges to be faced during 2016, which will probably see global growth nudging higher, a cooling Chinese economy having an impact on Africa and subdued world trade. So said Roy Campbell, partner of Deloitte and member of the firms Consumer and Industrial Products Group: Process Industries Sector, when addressing delegates at the Propak Conference and Exhibition at NASREC last week. There was also no doubt that Africa was rising in the packaging market stakes and the industry is set to grow as new opportunities are found. Assisting with this growth is the forecasted GDP growth in sub-Saharan Africa that is expected to be 4% per annum this year and is above the global average. One of the major factors that will contribute to further growth is the fact that Africa has youth on its side. The continent is presently home of 25% of the worlds under-18s and it is expected that this will grow to 50% of the global total by 2100. Lacklustre SA Although the outlook is very positive for Africa - and East Africa in particular - South Africa is showing lacklustre growth. Nationally, three major issues have to be accounted for. The first is lower growth, which has seen the country slowing down significantly in 2015 and into 2016, with economic growth dropping well below those of the worlds average, advanced and developing economies. The second is falling commodity prices, which reached their lowest point towards the end of 2015. The third is higher borrowing costs. All this has been exacerbated by the drought, leaving the country in a position where it is facing the possibility of an investment rating downgrade, Campbell said. Drawing on insights by Dr Martyn Davies of Deloitte Frontier Advisory, Campbell noted that the impact of China on sub-Saharan Africa could not be ignored. Research undertaken between 1980 and 2015 had indicated that there was a direct correlation between the economic fortunes of China and that of the African sub-Sahara region. When Chinese GDP growth dropped, this was followed by a corresponding drop in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, for example, Chinese growth dipped to just above 6% and the sub-Saharan Africa region dropped by a corresponding amount to below 4%. China rebalances China is in the process of rebalancing its economy and these structural reforms are having an impact on global markets. The impact on resource-rich African economies has been particularly felt as the Chinese move from an investment-driven economy to one in which consumer and services feature more strongly. There is no doubt that Chinese policy on Africa is moving. The China-enabled golden growth decade has passed and Africa, like China, must rebalance. African businesses need to refocus their value propositions, said Campbell. To the consumer packaging market, changes meant taking cognisance of key global trends, said Campbell. These included: Taking note of the increase in demand for premium packaging; The emergence of biodegradable plastics; A move to increased use of multipacks and small packs; and A need for sustainability and innovation. The growth drivers in the global market are: the need for customer convenience; growing demand from the healthcare industry; and the rise in disposable income that is leading to changes in consumer demand. With these trends and drivers, key strategic choices have emerged within exceptional companies. The first choice is that an aspirational exceptional company should focus on better rather than cheaper, so that value is created, problems solved, and the business does not compete only on price. The second focus should be on revenue growth, which should be placed before cost cutting. With these two issues in focus, this leaves a business with many other choices, provided they are staying true to the first two. Innovation remains paramount as it gives a company the edge, said Campbell. The South African Poultry Association has asked the International Trade Administration Commission to impose an agricultural safeguard on some European chicken products that can enter the domestic market duty-free. The application has drawn the ire of meat importers, who argue local poultry producers are acting against the best interests of consumers. If the application were approved, provisional safeguard tariff duties of 37% would be imposed on European Union (EU) chicken-in-bone portions. In terms of the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement of 2004 between SA and the EU, chicken can be imported duty-free. Last year, about 156,000 tonnes of EU bone-in-chicken portions valued at R2.3bn were sold on the South African market. Total imports amounted to 192,390 tonnes, showing that the bulk came from the EU. The duty-free regime kicked in in 2012, when 112,629 tonnes of EU bone-in chicken portions came into SA, compared to 62,271 tonnes the previous year. In addition to this sharp increase in EU bone-in-chicken imports, local poultry producers have to contend with annual imports of 65,000 tonnes of US bone-in-chicken free of the antidumping duty that prevailed prior to the agreement reached this year between the US and SA. Concluding this agreement was a condition for continued duty-free access for South African agricultural products to the US under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The SA-EU agreement provides that provisional agricultural safeguards can be imposed if the local industry can show that the imports are causing a "serious disturbance" to the local poultry market. The application for a safeguard has to demonstrate that exceptional circumstances exist and be substantiated by facts relating to the rate and volume of the increase in imports and their harmful effect on local prices. South African Poultry Association CEO Kevin Lovell said on Tuesday the local industry was facing low prices, dramatically rising input costs and a "relentless flood" of cheap imports. However, Association of Meat Importers and Exporters SA CEO David Wolpert accused local poultry producers of protectionism and blaming imports for their woes instead of examining their business models. He estimated that chicken prices would rise 25% to 37% if a safeguard was imposed. This would have much the same effect as an antidumping duty except that it would operate in a three-year cycle. "The South African Poultry Association is essentially looking to institute protectionist action, in the form of a 37% import tariff on EU bone-in-chicken," Mr Wolpert said. "Efforts to institute tariffs on imported meat from the EU will directly compound existing economic pressures on SAs poorest consumers." Lovell rejected the accusation that local producers were uncompetitive, citing a Dutch study that showed that EU poultry production costs were much higher than those in SA and other parts of the world. "It is also noteworthy that SA has no access to EU markets since their duty-free quota is not available to us; we would pay a duty of more than R15 per kilogram for boneless cuts. "South African producers have encountered growing trade protection in export markets, with Namibia for example and the US, which continues to use spurious arguments around phytosanitary issues and avian influenza to prevent access by South African chicken," he said. "The 28 countries of the EU, the US and Brazil, all have a comparative advantage over South African poultry producers by subsidising either their domestic poultry industries or the essential input industries to poultry production, namely maize and soya beans. SA does not support maize farmers at all, with limited support for soya bean farmers, nor does it support its poultry meat industry." Nineteen years from now South Africa will be facing severe water shortages as demand outstrips supply despite planned government interventions, according to a study to be released today by the Institute for Security Studies. The study's findings suggest that agriculture, municipalities and industry will be drawing 18.9-kilolitres of water, up from 15.6 in 2014. This represents a gap between usage and supply of 0.57-kilolitres. According to the research, agriculture is South Africa's largest water consumer, with 8.9-kilolitres in 2014, followed by municipalities at 5.6-kilolitres and industry at 1.1. Another big water consumer, the study found, was electricity generation, which uses 2% of water consumed in South Africa. One other factor influencing water usage was a rising GDP, said researcher Zach Donnenfeld. Citizens with higher incomes were less concerned about conserving water since they could pay for it. The researchers said remedial strategies would have to involve the raising of existing dam walls and the construction of new dams. This could increase the amount of water available for use to 3.5-kilolitres by 2035. "On paper these reconciliation strategies don't look good but it is not impossible to turn this around. "But it will require additional planning and strategies from the government, industry and individuals," said Donnenfeld. These included using renewable energy, infrastructural repairs by municipalities and more advanced agricultural practices. However, Professor Michael Muller of Wits University said plans that would ensure South Africa's water security until 2035 were already in place. The main concern was more with delays in construction on projects such as the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme. Another problem is that 55% of municipalities could not provide sufficient information regarding their levels of non-revenue water. The study said ground water was an under-utilised resource. Source: The Times With seven solar farms successfully generating renewable energy at its buildings across South Africa, Growthpoint Properties is now embarking on its largest solar installations yet, with two projects on the rooftops of its Northgate Mall and Brooklyn Mall in Johannesburg and Pretoria, respectively. Each with a capacity of nearly 1,2MWp. Growthpoint's solar farm at its Airport Industria building Power for 2,500 homes Werner van Antwerpen, head of sustainability, reports: Growthpoint has already passed the halfway mark in achieving its goal to install rooftop solar farms capable of generating an impressive 6MWp. Or, in other words, enough solar energy to power nearly 2,500 average South African homes. Harnessing energy from the abundant South African sunshine, the company has already completed the installation of photovoltaic solar panels with the capacity to generate over 3,2MWp at seven of its office, retail and industrial properties. Landmark assets These solar farms are at its landmark assets across the country, including Cape Towns V&A Waterfront, Constantia Village, Bayside Mall and Airport Industria. Its InfoTech building in Pretoria, Waterfall Mall in Rustenburg and Lincoln on the Lake office building in Umhlanga also benefit from solar power generating installations. A further four projects are underway, expected to generate some 2,7MWp of renewable energy. Besides its Northgate and Brooklyn Mall installations, it is also establishing solar farms at Kolonnade Shopping Centre in Pretoria and its office property at 33 Bree and De Waterkant in Cape Town. And this is only the beginning, over 70 buildings have been identified across its portfolio for possible future solar PV installations. A more sustainable built environment Our solar farms are one way we are creating a more sustainable built environment for South Africa. It also delivers on our ambitious commitment to sustainability, energy efficiency and green building, made on Buildings Day at COP21 in Paris last December We are committed to increasing solar energy generation, making all our 185 office buildings energy and water efficient, and ensuring all our long-term office investments and new developments are certified green buildings. Were already putting our commitment into action. We want to create buildings and workplaces that support the health, happiness and well-being of the people who use them places for people and businesses to thrive, Rudolf Pienaar, divisional director: office sector says. The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) has opened a new engineering materials laboratory that will see road materials from across the Eastern Cape now tested in Port Elizabeth. The facility will also double up as a skills development centre where graduate engineers in SANRALs experiential learning programme can get invaluable exposure to and even focus on materials engineering. The civil engineering materials testing lab enables SANRAL to test the properties of construction materials used in road maintenance activities as well as in development and upgrading of the national roads. It will also give SANRAL a second-tier quality assessment tool through comparative or correlation tests done independently from, but concurrently with, the tests of site material labs conducted on conventional road engineering projects in the province. Having an independent comparison is widely regarded as one of the most valuable tools to check the site labs accuracy, says Sean Strydom, SANRAL southern region materials specialist. The accuracy of test results have a significant impact on whether we accept or reject the quality of work in our efforts to deliver roads that are in line with international standards. Any additional assurance of the accuracy is of great value. Remote site labs Through this initiative, we will be able to ensure that remote site material labs are compliant with the quality management standards similar to what is required for the accreditation of a materials testing labs through the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS), he says. The new engineering materials laboratory consists of testing facilities to determine the properties of soils and gravel, asphalt, concrete and bituminous binders. On a more advanced level, the lab has been equipped with a Dynamic Shear Rheometer to understand the viscoelastic behaviour of binders used is seal and asphalt surfacing, at medium to high temperatures. Other testing infrastructures will allow SANRAL to conduct oxygen permeability, water absorptivity and chloride conductivity tests on high durability concrete. In terms of geotechnical testing, drained and undrained triaxle testing on undisturbed or reconstituted samples which will be of huge assistance in the monitoring of potentially unstable slopes along the national road network in the region. The new road material testing facility will also serve as a training facility where SANRALs Centre of Excellence students can build their understanding of materials engineering through practical experience. The centre currently houses 26 engineering graduates from across South Africa on a three-year in-house experiential training programme, which will assist them to be able to register as professional engineers. Fundamental knowledge From a developmental perspective, it is critical to ensure that South Africas future engineers have a fundamental understanding of the properties of the materials used in road infrastructure development, says Simon Peterson, SANRAL southern region manager. The current generation of senior engineers was deployed to commercial or provincial laboratories after they complete their studies. It was very much part of the development plan at that time. Unfortunately, as time progressed, disinvestment in road materials testing facilities occurred. In fact, only one provincial road materials testing facility in the country has maintained its SANAS accreditation, said Peterson. The idea is for upcoming engineers, who are enrolled on our three year experiential training programme, to spend between three and four months at the road materials testing lab, he said. The graduates will be doing hands-on testing, and they will be guided to understand the limitations of road material tests in terms of the methods and the interpretation of the results. According to Strydom, there are also plans on the cards to use the facility for the summative assessment of a new road materials testing qualification which is currently being developed with sponsorships from the Southern African Bitumen Association (SABITA) and SANRAL. As an additional spin-off, our lab can be used as an assessment centre for the new materials testing qualification. The summative assessment is the evaluation of a practical skills set, and tests have to be conducted before an assessor. Preparation of the equipment and materials used for the evaluations and the evaluation itself can take place at this lab, he said. Marking a milestone in the pan-African airline's growth plans, fastjet 's first flight between Johannesburg and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe took off on Friday, 25 March 2016. The flight was fastjets first international route from Victoria Falls and was launched in response to strong passenger and tour operator demand from within the South African market. fastjet has been engaging with South African tour operators to deliver inclusive packages to encourage more South African visitors to fly to Victoria Falls, to enjoy the many adventure and safari activities available. Becoming a gateway to central and Southern Africa Services between Johannesburgs O.R. Tambo International Airport and Victoria Falls International Airport now operate twice a week on Fridays and Sundays, using fastjets modern Airbus A319 jet aircraft with seating for up to 144 passengers. Flights will depart Victoria Falls at 12.40pm and land in Johannesburg at 2.15pm, with a flight time of 1 hour 35 minutes. The return flight from Johannesburg departs at 2.55pm and lands in Victoria Falls at 4.35pm. The Zimbabwean government has invested a substantial US$150 million in upgrading Victoria Falls International Airport, with the intention of it becoming a gateway to central and Southern Africa, said Richard Bodin, fastjets chief commercial officer. Affordable travel key to tourism growth We believe that affordable air travel is key to the continued growth of tourism between Zimbabwe and South Africa, with Victoria Falls being long established as a drawcard for tourists from Southern Africa, and elsewhere in the world, said Bodin. We expect many of our passengers on this route to be first-time visitors to Victoria Falls, who would otherwise not have been able to afford to travel to what is a popular holiday destination for Southern Africans. Supporting this expectation is research undertaken by fastjet showing that more than one-third of its passengers were first-time flyers only able to afford air travel for the first time by choosing to fly on the airline. This new route between Victoria Falls and Johannesburg follows closely on the success of fastjets route launches between Harare and Victoria Falls, and Harare and Johannesburg. fastjet recently increased the frequency of its flights from Harare to Johannesburg and now offers double daily flights on each day of the week - apart from the weekend - making a total of 24 flights per week between the two cities. Three months after being named chief operating officer of Toyota SA to ease the workload on long-time president and CEO Johan van Zyl, Andrew Kirby has been elevated again, to replace him. Kirby will become president and CEO on 1 April. Van Zyl, who has run the company since 2002 - the year the Japanese parent bought control from the founding Wessels family - will become chairman. Van Zyl will also step down from his role as CEO of Toyota's Africa region, to be replaced by Tokyo-based Takeshi Isogaya. However, he will remain CEO of the global company's Europe region, based in Brussels. Van Zyl has been operating under extraordinary pressure since 1 April last year, when his European appointment meant he was simultaneously head of activities in SA, Africa and Europe. The three jobs have required him to spend two weeks of every month in Brussels, one in Tokyo and one in SA. Toyota SA builds cars and commercial vehicles in Durban but its corporate headquarters are in Johannesburg. The Europe region alone has eight manufacturing plants. Unexpected strain At the time of his European appointment, Van Zyl said he expected his combined workload to be "manageable". But, back in Johannesburg last month, he admitted privately that the strain of the three jobs was getting to him. He also recently relinquished his position as president of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA. He was replaced by Nissan SA MD Mike Whitfield. Toyota SA last month launched the eighth generation of its main locally built product, the Hilux bakkie - the result of an investment thought to be worth nearly R5bn. The Durban assembly plant has capacity to build up to 140,000 of the vehicles annually. With 56 export markets in Africa and Europe, nearly 50% of production is likely to be shipped overseas. Durban also builds the Corolla and Quest cars, and the Quantum Ses'fikile minibus taxi. In a statement yesterday, the global company, Toyota Motor, said Van Zyl's experience would not be lost to Toyota SA. "His role will be of a more strategic nature and he will continue to guide and support the Toyota SA management," it said. Source: Business Day On the next Biz Takeouts Marketing & Media radio show on Thursday, 31 March 2016, from 9-10am, show host Warren Harding looks at the upcoming NetProphet 2016 event hitting Cape Town on 7 April 2016 at the Artscape and we're joined in studio by entrepreneur and founder of Flightsiteagent.co.za, Rian Bornman. We speak to Adrian Bush, director of Ramp Foundation to find out more about the event, what we can expect this year, the speakers and what goes into the event. We also look at the various events happening all through next week leading up to NetProphet. A week of innovation and technology in SAs Silicon Cape. Then we look at the growth story of Flightsiteagent and talk entrepreneurship. Three years ago, the SAs first GDS-free online travel provider for ITCs, FlightSiteAgent - a division of online travel agency FlightSite - launched. Offering members who dont necessarily have prior travel experience access to competitive air, hotel, car and bus fares to sell onto family and friends at a mark-up, since 2013 its doubled its turnover every year and today reports that its 500 active agents make 125 bookings a day, generating R80m in deposits per annum. This despite the industrys initial scepticism about its viability. We find out more from Flightsiteagent.co.za founder Rian Bornman about the launch, the growth and what he has learnt. 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. Vodacom, in partnership with Samsung, has donated a digital classroom to the Seloutjo Secondary School in Ga-matlala, Limpopo. Limpopo Education MEC, Ishmael Kgetjepe, unveiled the new equipment which has been given to the school - 26 tablets, a laptop, an interactive whiteboard, a data projector, a printer, educational aids and free Internet connectivity. This gift will change the future of education specifically for our learners in the long-term, especially if our school governing bodies, teachers and the school management put measurements in place to secure these new tech tools. It is through technology that everyone can receive the same quality of education, Kgatjepe said. Not only does technology enable quality learning on tablets and interactive boards, its also becoming the cornerstone for enabling mass social progress in education which is the future, Vodacom business chief officer, Vuyani Jarana, added. Access to ICT tools Many learners in South Africa do not have access to the basic learning requirements like textbooks, which makes excelling at school more difficult especially in the underprivileged environments. The Vodacom e-learning initiative gives access to ICT tools and, more importantly, the connectivity where and when they most need it. In the first phase roll-out which ended in March 2015, Vodacom connected 371 previously disadvantaged schools across the country, equipping them with ICT tools. For the second phase, which started in August 2015, Vodacom intends to connect 700 schools nationally. In Limpopo, Vodacom aims to equip and connect 50 schools, including Seloutjo Secondary School. The e-learning solution will serve as a learning platform with free Internet access to education content for learners in Grades 8 to 12 across the country. Over and above this, learners who are Vodacom subscribers will also be able to access classroom content, which is curriculum aligned on their mobile device across all major subjects, for free. This is because Vodacom has zero rated browsing on the site for its customers. Help for teachers e-Learning makes learning interactive and simpler for learners and educators. It equips educators with mobile technology to help improve the classroom experience using rich digitised media content. Learners can now complete lessons from their school syllabus, which will help them improve their marks. They can also track their progress and see how they are performing compared to other students in a fun, easy and interactive way, added Jarana. Internet connectivity is an added advantage providing learners with the opportunity to study at home. Educators are able to create lessons, schedule remote lessons and log, monitor and report on learner progress. Bizcommunity's own brand story wraps up #BrandManagerMonth with Terry Levin sharing insight into her brand objectives for the year as well as how a few of her favourite brands have realised the importance of differentiation from parity products. What brands are you personally responsible for? Levin: I have the privilege of managing Bizcommunitys brand image and communications as well consulting to some other retail brands in sub-Saharan Africa. Does the Bizcommunity brand support any sub-brands? Levin: Bizcommunity Publishing South Africa is the mother brand, which has given birth to sub-brands such as BizTrend Reports, BizTakeouts Radioshow and BizPressOffices, each of which have their own unique character, but need to fit into the overall Bizcommunity brand hierarchy. Whats on your wish list for brand objectives for 2016 Levin: Branding is the glue that allows a company to hold fast to its mission and vision, to ensure all touchpoints and communications reinforce the perceptions of the brand name and what it stands for in the minds of stakeholders and the team. This year, Bizcommunitys platforms, which have been in consolidation phase for a while, will provide a springboard from which to expand our scope. The team also recently moved into new premises in trendy Woodstock and we are hoping to use the newly renovated space as a flagship brand showcase. What activations do you have planned for your brand stable for the year? Levin: We will definitely be looking at innovation in our media partnerships and product offerings. Also improved means to deliver on our responsibility and brand promise to showcase and promote stakeholders within the broad-based B2B niche we have carved for ourselves in South Africa and Africa. Is your brand using content as part of your marketing strategy? Levin: B2B content is the heart and soul of Bizcommunitys brand offering. We are continually working on new sticky content strategies, as well as nurturing and distributing the content from our stakeholder networks. What do you see currently as the main challenges and opportunities for your brand sector? Levin: Differentiation is key. Branding adds unique flavour and emotion to a parity category such as online digital media. Part of our challenge is to maintain Bizcommunitys reputation as a premier Afrocentric media brand and to monitor consistency of brand tone and relevance across all touchpoints. The digital milieu is ever-changing. Its like the sport of surfing, continually evaluating which wave to catch and the need for tactics to allow you to stay on top and look stylish. Have you hired any new team members this year, if so what sort of job descriptions have you filled? Levin: In line with our brand promise of growing business communities, we have our hearts set on an expanded internship programme and will be rolling this out to find raw talent to support our community-building objectives. What do you love most about your brand? Levin: Bizcommunity positions itself somewhere between two other brands with red corporate identities Swissair and Virgin where the first is known for precision, excellence and stripped-down design, and the second for a maverick image, with licence to entertain, surprise and amuse. Biz is an ethical brand, with the responsibility of promoting sustainable initiatives in our region. I love that the Biz site has always been a democratic meeting place and the amazing knowledge sharing that goes on daily within our channels between professionally minded readers from jobseeking millennials to senior management. I also love that we are in the proud position to be able to showcase our amazing South African and African companies and individuals to a growing international readership, which now makes up 20% of our audience, proving the relevance of our content and region in a global context. What do you love most about the South African consumer? Levin: Being South African feels like being part of an elite club. I love the way South Africans continually defy stereotypes and the infinite potential for new cross-cultural typologies to be tapped. What are your own favourite brands? Levin: Personally, I like brands that celebrate their national or regional origins. The Italians really get this right brand names such Ferrari, Gucci, Prada, Martini, Bulgari, Barilla, etc., have global relevance without sacrificing any national mystique. For me, the Indian identity of the Cobra Beer brand, breathes life into increasingly homogenous global brands. Brands are obliged to anticipate user experience and touchpoints. An example is Ferrero Rocher choccie balls, which differentiate the on-shelf and unwrapping interfaces from parity products. FR have also taken a transparent stance on only using sustainably sourced palm oil in their products. For me brands that cover these three bases transparency of source, sustainability and user interface are favourites. It is no accident that some of my favourites Apple, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are also some of the worlds biggest brand names, because they have anticipated interfaces to give consumers a seamless UX. Closer to home, we have to take hats off to Nandos for their consistently fearless use of humour and passion for their South African/Portuguese origins, as well as to feisty local media brands such as The Mail&Guardian, The Daily Maverick, eNCA and of course Bizcommunity. What inspires you, personally? Levin: I am a Pan-Africanist who believes that Africa still has lessons to teach the world, am inspired by the creativity, ingenuity and resourcefulness of Africa and the fact that despite many adverse factors we still manage to excel in so many sectors. Perhaps there is a little bit of Mandela in all of us we use adversity as a ladder to higher goals. I like to read real books, especially biographies. A Man of Good Hope, in which local author Jonny Steinberg so compassionately transcribes the story of Somalian refugee Asad Abdullahis flight across Africa to Cape Town, is a must read. After seeing the movie The True Cost, about the scale of the human and environmental costs in the fast clothing industry, I am inspired by local manufacturers and mindfulness in consumption. I think SAs fashion and decor magazines, interior designers, coffee shops, yoga studios, organic farmers, NGO communities and much of the hospitality industry are getting it right in terms of global excellence. Members of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) confiscated the entire print-run of El Ayam daily newspaper in Khartoum in the early hours of Sunday. No reasons were provided, editor-in-chief Mahjoub Mohamed Salih, told Radio Dabanga. Salih, who founded the newspaper in 1953, said that an article published previously could be the reason. "The confiscation on Sunday may have been just a punishment by the security apparatus, causing financial losses to El Ayam, as we have to pay for the printing press. "Confiscating print-runs also means a violation of the freedom of publication and expression stipulated by a number of Sudanese laws and the 2005 Interim Constitution, but the NISS clearly stands above the law," he commented. SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo Inc. has given prospective buyers until April to present preliminary offers for some of its assets, the Wall Street Journal reported late on Monday. In letters to potential suitors, the troubled Internet company asked them what assets they were interested in, how they would finance such acquisitions and what terms would have to be met on their end, the newspaper said, quoting people familiar with the matter. The paper said some buyers might be interested in Yahoo's core web business or parts of it, while others might bid for stakes in Alibaba or Yahoo Japan. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who took over in 2012 with the mission of boosting growth, is in an increasingly difficult position as she has failed to show concrete progress. Although Yahoo is one of the best-known names on the Internet and is used by around one billion people, it has fallen behind Google in Internet searches and has been steadily losing ground in online advertising. Ironically, Mayer joined Yahoo as chief executive from Google a result of a proxy war launched by an activist investor group. While Mayer has injected some energy and glamour into the company, Yahoo's finances have failed to improve and its core operations are valued in the market as worthless, with the company's valuation propped up by its stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. In February, Yahoo said it was cutting 15 percent of its workforce and narrowing its focus as it explores "strategic alternatives." The announcement, coming with the release of a big quarterly loss, offered the first sign that Yahoo may be open to a sale or merger after years of struggling to regain its former glory. The California company reported a loss of $4.43bn in the final three months of last year, due mostly to lowering the value of its US, Canada, Europe, Latin America and Tumblr units. The Journal said some 40 companies potentially interested in Yahoo have signed non-disclosure agreements in recent weeks but Yahoo wants to narrow the field. Yahoo had no immediate comment to the Journal report. Source: AFP Last week in Burundi, a rebel force assassinated two of President Pierre Nkurunziza's top army officers and tossed grenades at an army hospital, injuring four. In neighboring Rwanda President Paul Kagame continues to claim that the constitutional referendum allowing him to stay in power until at least 2034 is the people's will. In Uganda, presumed President-elect Dr. Kizza Besigye remains under house arrest, as he has since February 18 elections, while President General Yoweri Museveni continues his 30th year in power. In governors elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila has consolidated control of local government that will make it easier for him to hold onto power in the November election, even though he is constitutionally barred from another term. At last week's UN Security Council meeting on the African Great Lakes Region, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power criticized the presidents of all four countries for clinging to power. Rwanda's Ambassador, Richard-Eugene Gasana, responded with this argument for Rwandan exceptionalism: "First of all I think and I hope she won't confuse her name with her assignment. Mrs. Power doesn't have power on Rwanda. In reaction to her remarks, we need, first of all, to caution her in lumping together the approaches of the four countries. There is no one size fits of all solutions pointing to the challenges the region is confronted with. While we comment, we comment her remarks as to the positive trajectory achieved by Rwanda, in economic and social fields and in Rwanda, playing a key role in maintaining peace and security at the international arena. There is a need, there is a need to emphasize here that Rwanda's achievement did not occur, did not occur in a vacuum. Indeed, the success Rwanda encountered stemmed from many factors including good governance and an enlightened leadership led by His Excellency President Paul Kagame that put together, singlehandedly, solutions tailored to the Rwandan situation in the immediate aftermath of the genocide against the Tutsi." Gasana then decried the UN Security Council for failing to intervene to stop the genocide in Rwanda in 1994: "You were on the Security Council in 1994. On a daily basis, having ten, over 10,000 people killed. What have you done? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. We want this man there. He was the only one to take his responsibility and come and stop the genocide. He is our hero. " Kagame's claim to have stopped the genocide has been challenged by a long list of academics, journalists, ICTR defense lawyers, and even the BBC. And, General Kagame's former chief of staff, Theogene Rudasingwa, has said that, in 1994, their public position was to call for UN intervention but their private position, in conversation with top US officials, was to oppose an intervention because it might have stopped them from concluding their four year war by seizing power in Rwanda. Gasana praised Rwandan democracy and claimed that Kagame is the people's choice: "That well-tested system has prompted the people to keep this very precious man, the president we have today, namely President Kagame, at the helm of the nation." After insisting that the UN Security Council and the US Ambassador must stay out of Rwandan affairs, Gasana said that they would lose relevance if they failed to intervene on the ground in Burundi. 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If you make a complaint to us, we will acknowledge your complaint in 14 days and will advise you whether we require further information to assist us in resolving your complaint. If you are not satisfied with our response or determination to your complaint, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Director of Compliance Office of the Australian Information Commissioner GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 Phone: 1300 363 992 13. How to contact us Write to us The Privacy Compliance Officer William Inglis & Son Ltd PO Box 388 Moorebank NSW 2170 Australia Email us Email: info@bloodstock.com.au Call us Phone: 02 9399 7999 Led by the Health Convergence Core Group (HCCG), which is composed of eight border-based and ethnic health organizations, the health organizations made the above demand at the twice yearly meeting on health reforms in Burma held in Mae Sot, Thailand from March 24 to 25. The Burma Medical Association (BMA)s director Saw Nay Htoo told KIC that he hopes that the new government will listen to the (HCCG) concerns. If the new government recognizes our existing health organizations, health policies, and health workers, many health-related burdens of the new government will be lifted, he said. During the meeting, ethnic health organizations expressed their desire for a decentralization of the health system. They proposed different system with a division of power and the involvement of local grass roots organizations. Around 110 people from 21 border-based social organizations, support groups, and HCCG members attended the meeting. Those attending discussed a list of health services and policies and health-related issues that need to be discussed with the new government. HCCG said it has been drafting the health system and policies that are in line with the federal union since 2014. The group has plans to continue discussion with the new government including health issues relating to the peace processes. Saya Philip, director of the Karenni Mobile Health Committee (KnMHC), said the government needs to establish a health system that targets the needs of ethnic people. The new government needs to carry out special health schemes for the ethnic areas. I want them to listen to the voices of the local ethnic people and organizations in carrying out [the schemes]. For example, no matter how talented the health officer is in the mainland, he or she wont be able to work effectively if he or she doesnt understand the local language, Saya Philip said. Ethnic health organizations have been providing a range of medical services for a number of years. This includes maternal and child welfare services, reproductive health, family health, clean water and environment, infectious disease control, health education, health news system, nutrition and vaccinating children under the age of five. HCCG was established in May 2012 with four ethnic health organizations and four community-based health organizations that operate in border and ethnic areas. The groups aim is to improve health coverage in ethnic and remote areas. It looks like you have reached this page in error ... The content you are looking for has either moved, or if you typed in the address there might have been a mistake. If you believe there has been a technical error please let us know. Most Popular Destinations WASHINGTON Municipal market participants want to know why it has taken securities regulators so long to stop Christopher Brogdon from swindling investors by misusing for personal gain the proceeds of bonds and private placements that were supposed to finance the purchase and renovation of senior living facilities. The SEC got a U.S. district court judge to freeze the assets of the Atlanta businessman on Friday and filed a lawsuit against him and his associates for misleading investors. But sources said Brogdon's scams have been ongoing since the mid-1980s. "It's incredible," said one lawyer who did not want to be identified but remembered a 1993 article on Brogdon in Forbes magazine entitled "Hello Sucker." The article described how Brogdon and his then-partner Edward (Gene) Lane, were still milking investors after being barred from the securities industry by regulators. Lane is now deceased. In a complaint filed Friday against a firm involved with Brogdon's financings, the Federal Industry Regulatory Authority noted that Brogdon had twice been barred from the securities industry, once for "egregious misconduct" involving unauthorized transactions and later for a separate "scheme" involving financial misconduct. Brogdon had also been indicted for racketeering, theft, and Medicaid fraud, and had been found liable for breaching a stock repurchase guarantee agreement. In addition, several entities he controlled had filed for bankruptcy, according to FINRA. Bondholders also contend the SEC's lawsuit against Brogdon and FINRA's complaint against the Cantone firm might be the beginning of a series of enforcement actions against Brogdon associates and accomplices. Bernard Miskiv, a retired optometrist who lives in Kissimmee, Fla. and said he invested about $300,000 in bonds for Brogdon's projects, contends the action against Brogdon is "just the tip of the iceberg." Miskiv said he finds it hard to believe that Brogdon's alleged fraud didn't have additional help to go on for years without detection. "How else could it go on for such a long time?" Miskiv asked. "It's impossible." Miskiv said he and a confederation of about 40 other investors who also bought the bonds through a shared broker are currently "shopping around" for an attorney to bring a lawsuit against Bank of Oklahoma Financial, which was trustee for many of the Brogdon deals. Miskiv said he blames the bank for enabling Brogdon's conduct and wants it to make the investors whole. "This stuff is unbelievable, what's going on," he said. "The bank has got to pay us off, has got to be forced to pay us off." Bank of Oklahoma has filed its own suit against Brogdon and has said repeatedly that it is cooperating fully with regulators in regards to their business with him. The SEC filed its complaint with the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and is requesting a jury trial. It is also requesting that Brogdon return his ill-gotten gains with interest and penalties and be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company. The SEC also wants the court to impose a receivership on the entities that Brogdon owns or controls. The SEC found that since 1992, Christopher Brogdon raised more than $190 million for his nursing home and retirement community projects through 54 conduit municipal bond transactions and private placements. In total, the SEC alleged Brogdon committed fraud through at least 43 entities he owns or controls. The offering documents given to investors for these projects said that the money to be raised would be used for purchasing, constructing, or renovating specific projects. The investors were supposed to receive interest from the revenues generated by the projects in which they believed they were investing. Instead, Brogdon, as early as 2000, commingled the investor funds and used the money for personal expenses and other business ventures, including restaurants and commercial real estate holdings, the SEC said. Brogdon also consistently failed to file required financial statements and drew down on debt service reserve funds to make interest payments to his investors, without disclosing his actions or replenishing the funds. As a result, there were multiple times when interest or principal payments were due and he relied on third-party lenders to make his payments, according to the commission. "As alleged, Brogdon deceived investors about the true nature of these investment opportunities," said Sanjay Wadhwa, senior associate director of the SEC's New York Regional Office. "Brogdon falsely promised investors they were investing in specific senior living projects when in reality they also were funding his personal expenses and other businesses, including some that are struggling financially." Brogdon has been in the nursing home, assisted living, and retirement home community business for more than 25 years. He owns seven other real estate and restaurant business ventures throughout Georgia and the surrounding states and has been associated with retirement and healthcare companies since the early 1990s. He was censured, fined, and barred from the securities industry by NASD, the predecessor to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, in 1986 when he was found to have effected transactions in securities while failing to maintain adequate net capital. NASD additionally found he had withdrawn cash and securities investments from the firm's accounts while the firm was deficient in net capital. The SEC's complaint also names Brogdon's wife Connie Brogdon, who had a majority equity interest in many of the entities Brogdon uses to own, operate, or lease his facilities. His son Tygh Brogdon is named in the complaint as well because of his role as president of Brentwood Healthcare, which managed at least six facilities cited in the SEC's complaint. In addition to his family, the complaint also names several other business entities associated with Brogdon as defendants. In total, Brogdon was found to have raised at least $168 million through municipal revenue bonds issued in conduit deals, or certificates of participation in the bonds. He also raised at least $22 million through private placement offerings, usually comprised of equity and debt. The SEC found that Brogdon continues to control the borrower entities in each of the offerings they cited. The SEC cited several examples of Brogdon's misappropriation of offering proceeds. In the spring of 2013 he raised money through two offerings for a retirement housing development referred to as the "Arcadia Project" in Conyers, Ga. The offerings included COPs in the Development Authority of Clayton County, Ga.'s revenue bonds and in the Savannah Economic Development Authority's subordinated mortgage healthcare facility revenue bonds, as well as Cherokee Financial's COPs in a 10% promissory note issued by Arcadia Partners. The confidential disclosure memorandum given to investors, said that $1.4 million of the proceeds would be used to construct the Arcadia Project and that the private placement investors would be paid interest and principal from the revenues of the project. Instead $177,936 of the proceeds were used to make quarterly interest payments back to the investors in the Cherokee Financial private placement and $644,158 of the proceeds financed undisclosed expenses and payments, including some associated with his restaurants and his wife's personal account. In another example, Brogdon raised $2.15 million through COPs in the Development Authority of Clayton County, Ga.'s first mortgage revenue bonds. Instead of using $425,000 of the proceeds as working capital for the facility that served as the source of payment of debt service on the bonds, Brogdon used the money to pay loans on an unrelated nursing home and commercial property owned by his Brogdon Family Company LLC. He also used the money to pay an employee's salary at one of the companies he co-founded and transferred $74,000 to his wife's personal account. His misconduct continued through at least Oct. 8 of this year, according to the SEC. As recently as September 2015, he used commingled funds from unrelated facilities to satisfy debt service obligations on three outstanding bond offerings and as recently as November he used a personal line of credit to make debt service payments on two bond offerings that did not include that source of funding in their official statements. "Unless the defendant is permanently restrained and enjoined, [he] will again engage in the acts, practices, transaction and courses of business set forth in this complaint," the SEC said. The commission found Brogdon violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, which prohibits fraud and misrepresentations in the offer or sale of securities, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as well as Rule 10b-5 in that section, which refer to manipulative and deceptive devices. He also violated Sections 20(e) of the Exchange Act, on liability of controlling persons, and Section 15(b) of the Securities Act, on registration of municipal dealers, according to the commission. Meanwhile, FINRA charged Cantone Research majority owner Anthony Cantone, and his wife Christine, with making fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions of material facts in connection with the sales and extensions of more than $8 million of COPs in certain promissory notes that were executed on behalf of one of several entities controlled by Brogdon. FINRA said they failed to disclose, among other things, Brogdon's past troubles with securities regulators and U.S. attorneys, as well as the bankruptcy filings of companies he controlled. According to FINRA, four of five of the promissory notes have defaulted, resulting in about $6 million of losses to investors, while CRI and Cantone received commissions and other payments of more than $1 million from the offerings. The Stinger weapon system. Photo: US DoD TUCSON, ARIZONA (BNS): The Indian Ministry of Defence has signed an agreement with the US Department of Defence to acquire Stinger air-to-air missiles made by Raytheon Company. As part of the deal, India will receive 245 Stinger air-to-air missiles, as along with launchers and engineering support, Raytheon said in a statement. "India joins nations around the globe who recognize that air-to-air Stinger can be a key component of attack and light attack helicopter mission configurations," said Duane Gooden, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president. "Stinger significantly improves the ability of the aircraft to successfully perform today's missions while countering existing threats." Combat-proven in four major conflicts, Stinger has more than 270 fixed-and rotary-wing intercepts to its credit. It is deployed in 19 nations and with all four US military services, it said. India's Stinger acquisition is part of a $3.1 billion deal with the US that includes combat helicopters, weapons, radars and electronic warfare suites. The combination of supersonic speed, agility, highly accurate guidance and control system and lethal warhead gives Stinger the operational edge against all classes of helicopters, UAVs, cruise missiles, and fixed-wing aircraft. Stinger not only has a surface-to-air capability from land and sea, but also an air-to-air capability that can be integrated into most fixed-or rotary-wing platforms, it added. HYDERABAD (PTI): The Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), a research and development centre of the US space agency NASA, is working hard on a manned mission to the Mars by 2020, a top official and a scientist of JPL has said. Larry James, Deputy Director, Jet Propulsion Lab, said on Tuesday that it was also working on how to deflect an asteroid in a path of collision with the Earth. Dr James delivered a lecture on 'JPL: Exploring Our World, The Solar System And The Universe', organised by the US Consulate here. Speaking about asteroids and near earth objects which can crash into the Earth, James said NASA was exploring how the orbit of an asteroid can be altered by sending a spacecraft. Search for water on Mars will continue, but the biggest challenge before the scientists will be to put an astronaut on the red planet, he said. US space scientists were collaborating with Indian space agency ISRO for some of these projects, he said. Later, James inaugurated a 3D Universe facility at the B M Birla Science Centre here. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at the launch of the first Indigenous Composites Sonar Dome at Defexpo-16 in Goa on Tuesday. A PTI Photo. QUEPEM, GOA (PTI): India's first indigenous composites sonar dome, a ship's underwater eyes and ears, was on Tueday flagged off by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar from here to be delivered to Mazgaon docks in Mumbai. Designed and produced by a Defence and Research Development Organisation (DRDO) lab in Pune, the sonar dome is a first of its kind in the country and has been manufactured by a composites manufacturing company. This is a huge contribution by Indian Industry to the 'Make in India' movement, Defence Ministry officials said. Only a couple of companies worldwide have the capability of realising such structures. All anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ships have a sonar array fitted to the ship structure below the waterline. The sonar functions as the ship's underwater eyes and ears. The sonar dome is a structure fitted over the sonar array so that its electronics and sensors are not exposed to surrounding hostile environment and has to be structurally sound as well as acoustically transparent. It has been designed by Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), a DRDO laboratory based in Pune and manufactured by Goa-based composites manufacturing company Kineco. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/03/2016 (2398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. EDMONTON Stantec Inc. is buying MWH Global Inc., a Colorado-based engineering, consulting and construction management firm, in an all-cash deal valued at US$795 million, including $2 million in debt. Edmonton-based Stantec says the acquisition of MWH Global and its 6,800 employees around the world, will position it as a global leader in water resources infrastructure. It will also boost its presence in a number of countries, including key targeted geographies that include the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America, Europe and the Middle East. The acquisition will be financed through a combination of an equity financing and new credit facilities. These include a bought-deal C$525-million public offering of subscription receipts at an offer price of $30.25 apiece, as well as up to an additional $79 million in gross proceeds under an over-allotment option. Other financing will include an $800-million senior secured revolving credit facility, of which about $233 million will be drawn, and a $450-million senior secured amortizing non-revolving term credit facility. MWH brings a global presence and reputation in water infrastructure that will advance Stantecs position as a top-tier design firm within the highly attractive global water market, Stantec president and CEO Bob Gomes said in announcing the deal in a statement issued after market closed. Together, we share a commitment to our communities and have the combined talent to support the most technically advanced clients and projects locally and around the world. MWH has a network of some 187 offices in 26 countries. Edmonton-based Stantec employs more than 15,000 people in over 250 locations offering consulting in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management and project economics. Already have an account? Log in here LA RONGE, Sask. - A charge of public mischief has been laid after someone told workers at a northern Saskatchewan grocery store that a variety of food products on their shelves had been contaminated with a dirty needle. We need your support! 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! Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO The University of Toronto has rejected recommendations to sell off its fossil fuel investments, but says it will consider environmental, social and governance factors in making investment decisions. The decision was immediately labelled cowardly by the group that has been pushing the university to divest from companies that contribute to climate change. We have the support of hundreds of faculty, alumni and students, said Amanda Harvey-Sanchez of 350Toronto.org, which began the campaign with a petition in support of divestment. For president Gertler to go against his own committee is shameful and appalling. In a report released Wednesday, university president Meric Gertler said not investing in fossil fuels would have limited impact because such firms only account for one-quarter of Canadas greenhouse gas emissions. Gertler said it would be more effective for the institution to work with other organizations to increase transparency about carbon use and encourage companies to emit less. He said the university will come up with principles to enable consideration of such factors in future investments, look for ways to use its shareholder influence to reduce climate risk and report annually on those efforts. Outside consultants and the universitys own financial managers have been asked to come up with a set of responsible investing guidelines by July 1, said Gertler. We will be looking for investments that offer our beneficiaries the best possible return, understanding we have to appraise that long-term investment performance in a way that takes into account things like climate-related risk. It will also consider signing on to the Carbon Disclosure Project as well as the Montreal Carbon Pledge, in which investors disclose the carbon footprint of their investments, said Gertler. These are all substantive measures that will actually have more impact on addressing the challenge of climate change than divesting will. A divestment report by a panel of university faculty members presented to Gertler last December went much farther. It suggested the university should drop investments in companies that knowingly distribute misinformation about climate change or get more than 10 per cent of their revenue from unconventional fossil fuels or aggressive extraction, such as open-pit oilsands mines, Arctic drilling or thermal coal. Gertler said none those types of investments are likely to be approved once the university gets its new guidelines. Well probably end up in a pretty similar place (to the December recommendations). Harvey-Sanchez, a student at the university, said Gertlers response to those recommendations assumes we can reward people for doing a bad thing well. Its cowardly because he has the support of the entire U of T community for divestment. His decision is going against all of that support and its a political move. She said the issue isnt dead. We have a lot of options and well have to look at them all carefully. The University of Toronto Asset Management Corp. had $7.4 billion under management at the end of 2014. Universities across Canada have been weighing whether to dump their holdings in fossil fuel companies. Concordia University in Montreal became what is believed to be the first Canadian university to adopt a partial divestment policy in December 2014, although that measure only applied to a $5-million fund a fraction of the schools $130-million endowment. The University of Calgary, McGill University in Montreal and Dalhousie University in Halifax have all decided against divestment, as did the University of British Columbia, which instead promised to create a low-carbon investment fund. University presidents across the country talk about this frequently, said Gertler. By Bob Weber in Edmonton. Follow him on Twitter at @row1960 Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Brandon University president Gervan Fearon inked a memorandum of understanding Tuesday that makes it easier for pre-professional science students at BU to become a doctor or veterinarian via a stint on the southern tip of an idyllic Caribbean island. Provided they are up to snuff academically, BU science grads are now guaranteed entry to medical and veterinary schools at St. Georges University in Grenada, in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. You make an expression that this is your path right at the beginning. That doesnt preclude that individual from having that guarantee and still applying to the University of Manitoba, Fearon said. Tom Bateman/The Brandon Sun Brandon University president Gervan Fearon, left, and Benjamin Robinson, assistant director of admission in Canada for St. Georges University in Grenada, sign a memorandum of understanding at BU on Tuesday. The agreement guaranteeing BU science grads entry into St. Georges is expected to send as many as six more students to the West Indies each year. The agreement will act as a safety net for aspiring physicians at BU who miss the cut for one of the U of Ms 110 spots, he said. But the safety net doesnt come cheap. A years tuition at St. Georges costs US$52,000, according to the universitys assistant director of admissions for Canada, Dr. Benjamin Robinson, who was in the Wheat City to sign the MOU. In 2014, The New York Times tabulated the schools tuition and fees for four years to be US$246,400. There are academic and needs-based scholarships available at SGU, Robinson added. Annual fees and costs for medical school at the University of Manitoba are approximately $12,700. If (the students) decide later on to go to Manitoba, were going to be the first to congratulate them, Robinson said, himself a SGU medical school graduate. But at the end of the day, its so competitive to get into a Canadian medical program. This gives them a chance to do what their dreams are. Weve got some of the best beaches in the world Its a very safe place, its a $350-million purpose-built campus. Austin Gulliver, BUs acting dean of science, said that on average, five or six graduates of BUs science program are accepted to the U of M medical school. Tuesdays agreement could send as many as six more students to the West Indies each year. Currently, Gulliver said a small number of BU pre-med school students go abroad, mainly to schools in Australia, the Caribbean and the U.S. The difficulty for them is returning back to (Canada) that is somewhat problematic for residencies. This will assist getting around that barrier, he said. Residency placements are structured preferentially for students from Canadian medical schools. Students who studied elsewhere are eligible for about 10 per cent of Canadian residencies, Gulliver said. SGU grads are often competitive for those placements, however. Our student success rate is amazing we put more people in residencies in the last six years combined than any medical school in the world, Robinson said. There is a demand for new graduates. The provinces Labour Market Forecast predicts that there will be 1,300 job openings for physicians, dentists and veterinarians in Manitoba by 2021. I believe theyre paying a lot more attention in Canada both to recruiting students and getting them back into the country, Gulliver said. Fearon said ensuring the future doctors will return to Manitoba after studying in the West Indies is absolutely a concern. Any time we think of domestic students going abroad to study, whats the implications of certification when they come back? he said. The other side of it is, there are a lot of international students who do come to Brandon who are actually hoping to practise medicine in their own country, so in that regard it does provide a direction venue for those students. The MOU is part of a new focus by BU recruiters on the Caribbean and Latin America. Fearon said the economic impact of international students on the Canadian economy is equivalent to the national timber industry. Of BUs approximately 3,200 students, five per cent are currently from outside Canada. Fearon said the university is hoping to increase the number of international students to 10 per cent in the next three to five years. Wed like to see our entire enrolment to grow from 3,200 up to about 4,000 or just above those kinds of numbers (in three to five years), he said. tbateman@brandonsun.com Twitter: @tombatemann Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The federal government has failed to provide equitable funding for education on reserves, much as it failed to put in appropriate funding for child welfare services, says First Nations advocate Cindy Blackstock. Blackstock, president of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, testified about the First Nations education crisis at a Thunder Bay, Ont. inquest on Wednesday. A jury is examining the deaths of seven young people who died after they had to leave their isolated communities to attend school. What Ive seen in the evidence, in education, is the same pattern we saw in child welfare, which is for many years and in fact decades, the federal government has known that it underfunds First Nations education, Blackstock said in an interview prior to her testimony. That underfunding of First Nations education is directly linked to poor outcomes for First Nations students that get in the way of the lives they wish to have. The inquest, which is being conducted in phases, is exploring what happened to 15-year-old Jethro Anderson, 18-year-old Curran Strang, 21-year-old Paul Panacheese, 19-year-old Robyn Harper, 17-year-old Kyle Morrisseau, 15-year-old Jordan Wabasse and 15-year-old Reggie Bushie. Their deaths occurred over a decade from 2000 and 2011 but they endured a shared struggle that impacts First Nations kids across the country, Blackstock said. Ive often said when I think about education, I think about Shannen Koostachin (from Attawapiskat), she said. There was a girl who was going to school and there was a high school in her community, but it was so underfunded, theres no way that she would have had the education she needed. Canada has been placing First Nations kids in situations where their deaths are far more likely, Blackstock added, noting Koostachin died in a car accident while trying to get to school. When you send 13 year olds off to go to school hundreds of miles away because they are denied an equitable education theres something really wrong with that, she said. Thats setting them up for a lot of risk. Many communities lack high schools, which forces young people to live in boarding houses closer to available facilities, said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler. Fiddlers organization, which represents northern Ontario reserves, is one of the parties with standing at the inquest. For the most part, you dont have a choice but to go to high school whether it is in Sioux Lookout or Timmins or Thunder Bay, he said in an interview earlier this year. Its an experience that Fiddler knows first-hand. I was one of those kids, he said. The Liberal government has said improving education outcomes for First Nations children living on reserve is critical to improve their quality of life and to build stronger communities. In Finance Minister Bill Morneaus first budget released last week, the federal government earmarked $2.6 billion over the next five years for primary and secondary schooling in communities though the government extended its window from the four years outlined in its campaign platform. The funding also significantly ramps up in later years, with $801 million set to flow in the last year of the five-year period, which falls outside the Liberal mandate. Blackstock said the governments current fiscal plan means children will continue to experience discrimination while growing up. When you think about it, if you have a child in Grade 8 right now, theyre not going to see that money until they graduate from high school, she said. In January, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in favour of Blackstocks society and the Assembly of First Nations after a lengthy legal battle on child welfare spanning nine years. It found First Nations are adversely affected by the services provided by the government and, in some cases, denied services as a result of the governments involvement. Follow @kkirkup on Twitter Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/03/2016 (2398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin says the G20 needs to widen its economic mandate to include helping United Nations agencies fight diseases and cope with a record number of refugees. Martin offers that prescription for an international club that he helped to create, and that many, himself included, now find ailing, in a Tuesday night speech in Ottawa. Martin was one of the driving forces behind the G20 in the late 1990s when he was Canadas finance minister. Back then it was club for finance ministers, who were meeting to deal with what was then a financial crisis in Asia. In 2008, world leaders took the G20 over and it became the worlds leading economic organization in the fight against the Great Recession. After a handful of emergency leaders summits, the G20 became a permanent club in 2010 when then-Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper hosted it in Toronto. Martin says the G20 needs to focus more broadly, to find a way to help UN humanitarian agencies on the front lines of world crises the World Health Organization, the World Food Program and the High Commissioner for Refugees get the money they need to help people. The fact is, with 60 million people now displaced worldwide, the UNs humanitarian agencies are almost as starved for international support as are the people they are trying to help, Martin says in prepared remarks to an international affairs conference hosted by the University of Ottawa. Martin blamed the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 not on the WHO, which has been widely criticized for its inaction, but on the UN member countries that did not give it adequate funds. It was the fault of every UN country which failed to enable the WHO through better direction and increased funding, to track diseases over the long term, Martin says. Martin says he realizes that hell be accused of advocating mission creep by critics. But he maintains the G20 doesnt have the luxury of dealing only with a self-defined portion of globalization. Martin says that since the 2008 recession the world now faces threats from terrorism, the spread of disease, climate change, food security and the mass migration of people. He says these are pressing realities for the world and no borders can withstand them. He also says the new Liberal governments foreign policy, with its emphasis on engaging with global organizations, leaves it well placed to lead the change. Martin says Canada can help bridge divisions between the G20s disparate members and reinforce the strength of the institution as it moves forward. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Theres no pricey government ad campaign in the works to promote the first federal Liberal budget, says Finance Minister Bill Morneau. But that doesnt mean no advertising will roll out eventually, nor does it mean taxpayer funds arent being used now to sell the big-spending Liberal blueprint. Morneau was in New York on Wednesday as part of his budget road show and will be in Paris on Thursday with travel costs that should be itemized and reported under any new system designed to check government self-promotion, according to Brand Command, an important new book on centralized government communications. Finance Minister Bill Morneau, the keynote speaker at a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Association of New York, speaks to the press before delivering his remarks, at the Yale Club, in New York, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) We as a government have decided to take a much different approach in how we present ourselves more broadly and were going to be very careful about what we spend in all areas of advertisement and this is no exception, Morneau said Tuesday during a budget-promoting stop in Montreal. We wont be doing any paid advertising for the budget. Finance officials offered a more nuanced assessment Wednesday. Once the budget is passed in Parliament, the government may do paid promotions to inform Canadians of specific measures that affect them, such as changes to the student loans program. But rather than big-budget TV spots common under previous governments, the Liberals say theyre looking at targeted, digital campaigns. The promotional campaign is already quietly underway. Finance Canada has created a dedicated, budget web page, complete with a cheery animated video portraying the documents voter-friendly highlights. The page and video are being promoted on social media by a variety of federal departments. Theres also a full-page budget ad in the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal under the name of the local Liberal MP. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, spent his second day in Alberta pitching the governments changes to employment insurance and other budgetary measures, while other ministers are spreading the gospel elsewhere across the country. Without a multimillion-dollar government ad campaign, establishing the Liberal brand around the new budget is clearly a priority. Alex Marland, a political scientist at Memorial University, writes in Brand Command, released this month by UBC Press, that promoting a brand is critical to government communications in the fast-paced, digital news age. The former Conservative government came under frequent fire for spending tens of millions of dollars on ads touting the benefits of its economic action plan, which was a whole-of-government branding exercise for the annual federal budget. It also used public resources to redo government web sites in Conservative blue and rebrand the government of Canada as the Harper government. Finance Canada alone spent $8 million on action-plan ads last year the second-biggest single government ad campaign after recruiting advertising by the Defence Department Other government departments and agencies, including the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada, each spent more than $6 million on blue-tinged, budget-themed advertising last year. The Liberals campaigned last fall on a promise to appoint an advertising commissioner to help the auditor general ensure all government ads are non-partisan and represent a legitimate public service announcement. That promise has yet to be fulfilled. Trudeau critics like to attack what they see as an image-driven prime minister, but Brand Command chronicles the extent to which the Stephen Harper government obsessed over image-making to establish a Conservative brand. Marland argues Trudeau will find it very difficult to resist the systemic forces that tend to centralize governments, including the need to establish an easily identifiable brand. But he also observes that the camera-friendly Trudeau has a leg up in the branding game. Among Marlands prescriptions for reforming federal communications is an annual report on media pseudo-events, such as photo-ops, speeches and announcements away from Parliament Hill, including travel, signage, room rentals and other expenses. Hed also like to see all government of Canada communications in red and white only while barring political parties (hello Liberals) from using those colours and the red Maple Leaf prominently in their design and logos. Above all, what must be limited is the publicity states contribution to the fusion of party and government brands, Marland writes. Follow @BCheadle on Twitter Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. PIKANGIKUM, Ont. Nine members of one family, including three children under five, have died in a house fire in a remote northern Ontario First Nations community that is no stranger to human tragedy. A resident of the Pikangikum First Nation who did not want to be identified said three generations of a family died in the blaze that destroyed their home late Tuesday. The resident identified the victims as Dean and Annette Strang, their son Gilbert, their daughter Faith, Faiths three young children and two common-law partners. Police tape marks off a smouldering house on the Pikangikum First Nation, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Nine people are believed to have died in a house fire on Pikangikum First Nation, says the member of Parliament for the riding that includes the northwestern Ontario community. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Kyle Peters Ontario Provincial Police Const. Diana Cole said the fire broke out late Tuesday in the remote community near the Manitoba-Ontario boundary that has been plagued by suicides. The cause of the fire is under investigation and police remain on the scene, Cole said. Alvin Fiddler, grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation which represents First Nations in northern Ontario, said he spoke Wednesday with Pikangikum Chief Dean Owen, who sounded exhausted. The shock of losing so many people in one tragic event is overwhelming, said Fiddler. Theres a tremendous loss and overwhelming grief that all of us are feeling. Fiddler described Pikangikum as ground zero when it comes to infrastructure requirements such as housing, access to clean drinking water and the capacity to fight fires. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences to the community and said his government will work to improve conditions for First Nations people. We continue to be engaged with provincial and indigenous leadership on how to build better infrastructure, how to secure the future for indigenous youth and their communities, he said during a visit to Edmonton. This is not just about the moral, right thing to do. Its about investing in our shared future in this country. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne took to Twitter to offer her condolences to the community. My thoughts are with the First Nations community of #Pikangikum and those who lost loved ones in last nights devastating house fire, Wynne tweeted. Carolyn Bennett, minister of indigenous and northern affairs, issued a statement Wednesday extending heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the victims families and the community. Officials of my department are reaching out to the First Nation to offer our condolences and to identify any support that we can provide to meet the communitys needs, Bennett said. A trauma team is currently in the First Nation to provide counselling and support to those in the community, a spokeswoman for Bennett said in an email Wednessday evening. Bennett also said Health Minister Jane Philpott would be working with local and First Nation leaders, along with the province, to determine what else will be needed to support the healing process. Those familiar with the remote fly-in community say the fire is shocking, but not especially surprising. Deplorable living conditions in Pikangikum have been the subject of public debate for decades. The communitys struggles with poverty and suicide rates have been well-documented, but visitors say that awareness has done little to bring about real change. Joseph Magnet, an Ottawa-based law professor who has represented the community, said he has visited all of the overcrowded homes in the community. Youre dealing with very, very small houses in which you will sometimes have as many as 15 people sharing a single room without toilet facilities, using a bucket, without running water in the house, and without proper cooking facilities, he said. Its a very, very sorry situation that really should have urgent attention. The homes wouldnt meet anybodys fire code regulations, Magnet said. Local MP Robert Nault said discussions were ongoing about sending in support to help deal with the whole issue of mourning. It affects everyone in the community whenever theres a tragedy like this or a suicide, he said. This is a community thats had a history of suicides and tragic situations, so this community has been in a constant crisis for a number of years. Nault said he was to meet Thursday with two health ministers to discuss what he called the crisis in the North. Not specifically about this incident, but obviously to talk about mental health, health-care delivery, the suicides, he said. Pikangikum has the largest suicide rate of any community in the western world I think over 400 in the last couple of decades. The community has also been grappling with a long-standing water contamination issue, Magnet said. A federal government website indicates Pikangikum has been under a boil water advisory since January 2006. Kyle Peters, the First Nations education director, described the mood in the community as extremely sad. Its probably one of the most difficult times. Im trying to set up travel for immediate family affected by the loss. Some as far as Alberta, some as far as London, Ont., and even Moosonee, I believe, Peters said. Crisis teams were being dispatched from neighbouring communities, he added. Pikangikum has also been dealing with education issues for years. Its school burnt down in 2007, and was replaced only by portables. And in 2012, the community closed down almost all of its classes after most of the non-local teachers left because of mould growing in their residences. At the same time, young people in the community have been struggling with addictions and poverty, resulting in numerous youth suicides over the years. By Michelle McQuigge and Peter Cameron in Toronto, with files from Dean Bennett in Edmonton Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had Joeseph. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WASHINGTON As world leaders gather to discuss potential security lapses that might allow terrorists to obtain nuclear material, the summit host insists there wont be any finger-pointing. Dozens of leaders will use the two-day event that starts Thursday to make announcements on their own commitment to securing nuclear material. Among them will be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, although Canada is considered a low-risk country by international observers. So which are the high-risk ones? The White House wont say. At least not in any public statements in briefings leading up to the fourth and final nuclear-security summit of Barack Obamas presidency. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a roundtable discussion on employment insurance in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, March 29, 2016.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh The purpose of the summits is not to name and shame, said Laura Holgate, a top administration official for nuclear safety and organizer of the Washington gathering. The purpose of the summits is to identify steps that we can take together, and certainly, individual steps that individual countries can make. Its a place to create peer pressure, if you will. But you will not hear us say in an official context or any other context that we have particular concerns about particular countries. These summits stem from a 2009 Obama speech in which he called for the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. He conceded that might not be achieved in this lifetime but he set shorter-term objectives: One was securing nuclear material to keep it from terrorists. Results have been mixed. Despite progress in consolidating supplies, removing material from numerous countries and adding protections, administration officials concede certain spots remain a concern. So where are they? Troubling incidents occurred recently in Belgium. The White House says its satisfied proper protocols are in place there including the recent deployment of soldiers to nuclear sites. But an Islamist militant linked to the Paris attacks had gathered surveillance video of a nuclear plant employee. Two plant employees left to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State. Another plant worker was just found shot to death in his home a killing Belgian police said was criminal, not terrorism. One employee tampered with a turbine in 2014. Belgium isnt listed as a top concern on the Nuclear Threat Index. Of the 24 countries profiled this year under the non-government study, the biggest concerns were: North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel, China and Russia. Canada was listed as the third safest. It scored high marks in 18 categories, but was middle-of-the-pack in two: in the potential terrorist presence in Canada and in how materials were dispersed across numerous sites. Trudeau said he took the issue seriously. Everyone is concerned about nuclear weapons, he told Edmonton radio station CHED on Wednesday. One of the things weve seen around failed states, around the virulence and the resources of terrorist organizations, is theres a nightmare scenario in which terrorists could get their hands on a dirty bomb or nuclear weapon. Those threats are spelled out in a new 166-page study by the Belfer Center at Harvard University. It calls 2016 a pivotal year in nuclear safety, as leaders prepare for the post-Obama world. U.S. officials said therell be dozens of announcements including commitments that would apply to international organizations that work on the issue. Citing those existing forums, Russias Vladimir Putin is skipping this years U.S.-led summit. The Harvard study says the freeze in Russia-U.S. relations is one trouble spot. It concludes: Nuclear security has improved dramatically since the 1990s in Russia which has the worlds biggest stockpiles, spread in the largest number of buildings. But significant weaknesses have persisted or worsened. They include widespread corruption; organized crime; Islamic extremism; economic problems; a cut in Russias nuclear-safety budget and stalled co-operation with the U.S., following sanctions prompted by the Ukraine invasion. Security surrounding Russias nuclear stockpile has improved dramatically since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Fences around facilities have been mended, staff are paid regularly, guards stand their posts and electric bills are paid on time, says the paper. It is significantly more difficult to steal weapons-usable nuclear material in Russia than it was 20 years ago. Pakistan has a rapidly growing arsenal and powerful terrorist groups. Repeated terrorist attacks on heavily guarded facilities in Pakistan often appearing to have insider help highlight the ongoing risk. Yet Pakistan has made major efforts to keep the supply safe. By some estimates, it says, 25,000 soldiers are available to guard Pakistani nuclear stocks and facilities. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/03/2016 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MONTREAL TransCanada will have to fight just one injunction request related to its Energy East pipeline project after a court ruling Wednesday. An environmental law group, acting on behalf of several organizations, was seeking an injunction to force TransCanada (TSX:TRP) to be subject to Quebecs Environment Quality Act. But Quebec Superior Court Justice Martin Castonguay ruled the legal proceedings can be folded into a similar court action that has been launched by the Quebec government. Quebec wants TransCanada to provide a more detailed account of its Energy East proposal, which would result in a more complete environmental review process than the one currently taking place. TransCanada lawyer Robert Torralbo argued it was up to Quebecs attorney general to ask the courts to force a company to respect a law and that citizens cannot make such a demand unless the government refuses to do so. Although Castonguay noted the environmental law groups application for an injunction came before the Quebec governments, he ruled that it was reasonable to combine the requests to avoid multiple, similar cases. Quebecs environmental review agency is scheduled to begin a second round of public hearings into the Energy East proposal on April 25. The first hearings wrapped up in March with citizens from across the province grilling TransCanada executives on the risks and costs associated with the pipeline. Energy East would bring 1.1 million barrels of oil a day from Alberta and Saskatchewan through Quebec and onto News Brunswick for overseas shipping. Environmentalists argue the pipeline will increase Canadas greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the country from meeting its climate change commitments. Proponents of the pipeline say Albertas oilsands need to be developed for the country to grow its GDP and have the money available to transition to a lower-carbon economy. CASPER, Wyo. Two local teenagers are facing felony assault charges for allegedly bursting into the home of an acquaintance in Mills on Monday and threatening him with weapons. Christopher Leroy Nelson and Gage Thomas Cordova, both 18, are charged with aggravated assault and battery, according to an arrest affidavit. Nelson also faces a charge of aggravated burglary. Mills police officers responded about 8:15 p.m. to a home on Fourth Avenue, the affidavit states. A man said Nelson and Cordova had come into his home and threatened his son with a tire jack and a knife. He said he heard a knock at the front door and another family member had gone to open it. Nelson allegedly pushed past her and entered the house without permission, according to the affidavit. Nelson then began yelling at the mans son, who grabbed the handle of the tire jack and told Nelson to leave the house. He pushed Nelson several times to keep him moving until he was out of the house. The man said Cordova was holding a knife, the affidavit states, and threatened to gut his son. Police found Nelson and Cordova that evening in a car traveling on Yellowstone Highway. When interviewed, both admitted to entering the home without permission and to being armed, according to the affidavit. Nelson said he was upset about rumors that were being spread about him. The Limerick History Gazette, dedicated to finding and publishing previously unavailable images of Limerick city and county, is creating a lot of excitement for Limerick people at home and abroad. The page has already recruited in excess of 10,000 members and gathered over 5000 previously unpublished images which are all posted and freely available to view on its page. Archive creator, Gerry Hannan, known from his broadcasting days in Limerick and author of four books, returned to Mary Immaculate College to study History and Media and graduated in 2014. He is currently doing a Masters Degree Course in International Entrepreneurship Management at Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick and this project forms the basis of his Masters Dissertation. He is being assisted by fellow Limerickman and local history lover Terence Jnr Keehan. Hannan set about creating the archive in January 2016 and in its first few weeks the idea captured the imagination of thousands of Limerick people who became members and are now contributing images to the archive. Gerry explained that he believes that the best photographs in the world which capture history are the random shots ordinary people take at home with members of their own families or at family events. Gerry says that as a child he went to visit a deceased grand aunts home in Kildare and found some very old photographs tucked away and these images were of great historical importance, "from that moment on I wondered how many such images are actually In existence and how can they be gathered and archived for future posterity?" The long term plan for the Limerick History Gazette is to gather 20,000 previously unpublished images of Limerick in the 20th Century. Hannan hopes the project will be completed for Limerick 2020 and will then be gifted in its entirety to the people of Limerick for all future generations. Hannan is appealing to the people of Limerick to engage with Limerick History Gazette and to become an active member and post photographs that will otherwise fade away into oblivion. "Our ultimate aim is to provide future generations of Limerick people, wherever they may be in the world, with a significant archive of what life was like for the people of our, our parents, and grandparents generations in their native city." Take a peak at some of the photographs below! By Daniel McConnell Political Editor Under-fire Taoiseach Enda Kenny will make contact with Fianna Fail about the formation of a new Government this weekend, it has emerged. Having been pressurised yesterday by Independent TDs to reach out to Micheal Martin, Mr Kenny made the pledge during a meeting with independents at Government Buildings. The acting Taoiseach insisted that he would seek to finalise the agreement with the independents, which he would hope to do by Friday, before making contact with Mr Martin. Several of the independent TDs, speaking to the Irish Examiner, have voiced their frustration at the process which they have said is at a stalemate. On one level it is positive to have these consensus discussions, but in terms of forming a Government, we are going nowhere, one TD said. It has also emerged that claims made by Minister Richard Bruton this morning - that the party will not support a minority government led by Fianna Fail - has greatly angered some of the independent TDs. They are acting sometimes as if they still have 76 seats, not 50. They seem to forget they lost the election, said another. Todays meetings saw issues such as education, climate change, flooding and justice discussed. On a lighter note, Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae raised the issue of his home being broken into, which brought some humour and hilarity to the turgid talks. Independent TD Katherine Zappone pressed the issue of the Eighth Amendment being a major priority for women, and was given a sympathetic hearing by Health Minister Leo Varadkar. But Mr Healy Rae clashed with her, saying he completely disagreed with her position. By Daniel McConnell, Political Editor Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his negotiating team have proposed new rapid response units and CCTV cameras along the road network in a bid to tackle rural crime. The proposals were contained in a five-page document circulated to Independent TDs at todays crucial talks aimed at forming a Government, obtained by the Irish Examiner. The proposals are scant on specific costing details and nothing has been agreed by the sides, as frustrations mount. The document contains no commitments to reopen rural garda stations. The departure of the Green Party from the talks has heaped pressure on Mr Kenny as his bid to form a Government now looks to be unravelling. Meanwhile, Mr Kenny today warned the group of Independents that the choice facing them is either support for a minority Fine Gael government or another election. Mr Kenny said the choice was a stark one and they needed to be fully aware of the consequences if a minority government could not be formed. This was Mr Kennys most explicit description of the current situation and is the first time he has addressed the possibility of a second election. Mr Kenny told the meeting that Coalition was not an option because Fianna Fail had ruled it out. He said his party could not support a minority government led by Micheal Martin. Senior Fine Gael sources insist Mr Kenny will secure the support in the coming days to form a minority government despite the decision of the Green Party to exit negotiations. He was said to have confirmed that he would make contact with Fianna Fail by the end of the week. The Fine Gael leader also came under renewed pressure to contact Mr Martin during todays talks. According to sources, Mr Kenny said he would reach out to Mr Martin when Fine Gael and the Independents have agreed a Programme for Government. The sides are now discussing education this afternoon and among the promises are confirmation that they intend to introduce a second pre-school year. Adi Roche is to been given the freedom of Cork city. The campaigner has been at the forefront of efforts to support the people of Chernobyl since one of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986. Ryanair says repeated strike action by Air Traffic Controllers in France is causing huge disruption for air travel cross Europe. The airline has condemned the union, which has held three work stoppages in the past two weeks. Ryanair has created a petition, which it hopes will lead to changes around the rules for Air Traffic Controller strikes - across the continent. Ryanair's Chief Marketing Officer Kenny Jacobs, is calling on the EU to take action: Once we get a million people to sign up to our petition, we will go to Europe and demand that they look at changing the legislation so Europe cant be blackmailed by a tiny French ATC union. So we would ask all customers to keepeuropesskiesopen.com and sign the petition. It is always amazing to me how, in the political arena, the good intentions and programs of some, can be misconstrued in such a way that will actually cause harm to the very people the programs were designed to protect. The clientele at MDC, the good people of Boulder, and the state of Montana could potentially be taken for a ride if the citizens of Montana, and the Legislature, do not wake up and stay vigilant. In the 2015 legislative session, we stood strong as a bipartisan legislature to make the very difficult decision to close the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder. The decision was extremely difficult, but in the end was the right thing to do. With the testimony of abuse and neglect over the years, it was apparent the state was failing the very people we were charged with caring for. Bullock received the same information, and apparently agreed with the findings, by signing SB411. With the main objective being to protect those at MDC who are less fortunate than the rest of Montana's citizens, the sponsor of the bill took great care, and worked across the aisle, to make sure the closing of MDC, would be as painless as possible. Additionally, the sponsor of the bill included language in SB411 making sure the State of Montana would fulfill a perceived obligation to the people of Boulder, to help in any way possible, making sure the small community of Boulder could survive. Clear directive The directive in SB411 was very clear. Close the Montana Developmental Center, develop better solutions for people currently at MDC, and re-purpose the facility at Boulder. It is with great disdain that I read in the headlines, an attempt by some, to confuse the issue of why the Legislature and governor actually made the decision to close MDC. The misguided blame against the sponsor of the bill is nothing more than an ill-fated attempt to derail the process of the commission, appointed by the governor, to carry out the tasks directed by SB411. The most important objective should be to take care of the client base at MDC. The commission has begun that process of moving more than half of that clientele into a community-based program, where they belong. The commission is to be commended, and should continue to look at options to finalize the process, acknowledging that Montana still needs a secure facility, for those forensic clientele than do not belong in our communities. This can be done. We need leadership on the commission that will allow the members to look at all options before finalizing their plan for closure. Many states do not have state-run facilities like MDC. Montana should be no different. Missed opportunity? Secondly, I am saddened for the good people of Boulder who have to bear the brunt of this decision, but have asked the state to at least look at how we can re-purpose the facilities at Boulder to allow the community to survive. As this process unfolds, I become agitated when I learn of the recent 20-year, $25 million lease agreement signed at a non-state owned facility in Galen. The leasing of this facility, completed without legislative oversight or knowledge, will house a forensic population from the overcrowded Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs. Why wasn't Boulder considered for this population? Knowing that the directive of SB411 was to re-purpose the state-owned facility at Boulder, would one not wonder why the Boulder facility was not high on this list? Without a doubt, some remodeling would have had to happen, but this clientele may have been perfect for Boulder. Has the commission, tainted by a lack of information needed to make good decisions, missed an opportunity to fulfill the legislative directive to re-purpose Boulder? You can bet the 2017 Legislature will be asking these questions. Governor Bullock, where is your leadership? You appointed this commission, and the chairman is your budget director. You signed SB411 to protect the clients at MDC. We need to close this failed state institution, as directed with your signature on SB411, and we need to re-purpose the facilities in Boulder. Stand by your decision Governor Bullock. The 2017 Legislature, the good people of Boulder, and the citizens of Montana will stand for nothing less. Ruby Walsh has yet to decide which of Willie Mullins' team he will ride in the Crabbie's Grand National at Aintree on Saturday week. Mullins still has five in the world's greatest steeplechase - Sir Des Champs, Ballycasey, Turban, Boston Bob and On His Own - but at this stage the Closutton maestro's stable jockey cannot say which he will partner. However, he played down his chances of winning for a third time after Papillon in 2000 and Hedgehunter in 2005 as he considers all of the champion trainer's five possibles to be "longshots". "We have five in it. Sir Des Champs is Gigginstown's so I don't know what Bryan (Cooper, their retained rider) is doing," Walsh told At The Races. "We've Ballycasey, Turban, Boston Bob and On His Own. I'd imagine Patrick (Mullins) will ride On His Own. "They are five long-shots and any of them, on their best day, could run a big race, but whether their best days are behind them or not now is questionable." After enjoying a superb Cheltenham Festival with seven winners, Mullins is a serious contender to being crowned champion trainer in the UK for the first time to add to his many Irish title triumphs. .@WillieMullinsNH is planning a raid on Aintree with some of his stable stars travelling to Liverpool https://t.co/OSnxfEFORu At The Races (@AtTheRaces) March 30, 2016 A strong raiding party including Champion Hurdle heroine Annie Power and the brilliant Vautour is likely to be in action at Aintree next week and Walsh believes just being in with a chance of being British champion is a "massive achievement" for Mullins. "Even to be in with a chance of winning it is incredible and you've seen how much money he has amassed here in Ireland as well," said the jockey. "He is a brilliant trainer, he's a gentleman to work for and it would be a massive achievement, but he's very good at putting his horses in the right races. "Doing that is a huge thing and Willie is brilliant at it." An Italian passenger has been speaking about how Europeans aboard the recently hijacked EgyptAir flight feared for their lives. A man identified as 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa diverted the flight to Cyprus by threatening to blow it up with a fake explosives belt. Passengers on board described an unnerving situation in which the hijacker looked for foreigners by sorting through their passports and kept five of them on the plane after freeing the non-Western passengers. "He wanted the foreigners ... only foreigners. He didn't want Egyptians or double nationalities," flight attendant Rouida Ihab told The Associated Press. Italian passenger Andrea Banchetti said passengers were calm through the ordeal but admitted: "(I was) going out of my mind" when the hijacker let non-Western passengers off the plane, leaving behind only five European passport-holders including himself. "We looked each other in the eyes and we said: 'Here we are. We're at the end of the line. It's over,'" the 47-year-old mechanic told the Rome daily La Repubblica. Egypt has now formally asked Cyprus to extradite a detained Egyptian man who authorities say admitted the hijacking. The extradition request from Egypt's General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek came shortly after a Cypriot court ordered that the suspect, identified as 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, remain in police custody for eight days to assist the hijacking investigation. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect faces preliminary charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Judge Maria Loizou said she approved the police request for the maximum eight-day detention because of fears that the suspect might flee and because he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police. Tuesday's hijacking, which started when authorities said Mustafa claimed to have explosives in a belt and forced a flight from Alexandria to Cairo to land in Cyprus, ended peacefully about six hours later. Most of the 72 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A320 were released soon after the plane landed, although a handful were held for longer. All were let go before Mustafa was arrested when he tried to flee on foot after leaving the plane, police said. Lambrianou said after Mustafa was arrested, he told police: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" Egypt's interior ministry said Mustafa had a long criminal record but had finished serving a one-year prison term in March 2015. An official at the general prosecutor's office said there was no travel ban on Mustafa. A Cypriot police official told the AP that Mustafa's criminal record on the island stretched back to 1988, when he was convicted on six counts of forging passports and handed a suspended sentence. He was later deported to Egypt following domestic violence charges by his then-Cypriot wife. He re-entered Cyprus on an assumed Qatari identity, but was tracked down and again deported to Egypt in 1990. Mustafa and his Cypriot wife divorced in 1994. The couple had four children but one child has since died, according to a relative. After the hearing, a handcuffed Mustafa flashed the "V'' for victory sign out the window of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca court house. Cypriot officials had described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable" following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Mr Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. Mr Lambrianou said 15 minutes into flight MS181 Mustafa demanded that the aircraft be diverted to an airport in Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. Despite an initial refusal from Cypriot authorities, the plane eventually landed in Larnaca after the pilots warned about low fuel. The police prosecutor said witnesses saw Mustafa wearing a white belt with pockets that had cylindrical objects stuffed inside. Wire protruding from the cylinders led to what appeared to be a detonator in his hand. Among those forced to stay on the plane longer was Ben Innes, a British man pictured in a photo with Mustafa that quickly made the rounds on social media. Innes told The Sun newspaper he wanted to take "the selfie of a lifetime" while the incident was unfolding. The bizarre photo, taken by a member of the cabin crew and shared on social media, shows him smiling next to Mustafa, who has his jacket open to reveal the fake explosive belt. "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway," Mr Innes, 26, told the newspaper. He told The Sun he had been texting his mother throughout the ordeal. Mr Banchetti told La Repubblica he should have "slapped" Mr Innes for taking the photo. "That guy could have had a potato in his belt, but how do you go up to him that way and take a photo of him?" said Mr Banchetti. "'Are you a fool?' I said in English." Mustafa had threatened to detonate the belt if police attempted to "neutralise" him, Mr Lambrianou said, but he eventually gave up after the crew and passengers were released. Hillary Clinton has taken aim at Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies as well as violent incidents at some of his rallies in a new television ad campaign set to run in New York. Democratic hopeful Mrs Clinton claims in the ad that while some people say America's problems can be solved by "building walls" and "banning people based on their religion", New Yorkers know better. "Donald Trump is running a cynical campaign of hate and fear... he is pitting Americans against each other."https://t.co/bmFLgdCTJO Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 29, 2016 The TV spot shows a clip of a man being punched at a recent Trump rally and briefly flashes a sign from one of the billionaire's new hotels. New York holds its Democratic and Republican primaries on April 19. Mrs Clinton still faces a strong challenge from Democratic rival Bernie Sanders. However, it is notable that the ad focuses on Mr Trump, the Republican frontrunner and a native New Yorker. None of the three Republican presidential candidates have committed to support whoever the party chooses to fight the election later this year. This contradicts the stance that Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich took early in the campaign, when they agreed they would back the party's eventual choice. The three were asked this question again on Tuesday night in town hall appearances in Milwaukee, hosted by CNN. Mr Trump, who is the front-runner, replied: "We'll see who it is." Mr Cruz said: "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and children." Similarly, Mr Kasich said: "I will wait and see what happens." Wisconsin's April 5 primary looks pivotal in the Republican race. If Mr Cruz wins, it would narrow Donald Trump's already tight path to the nomination and raise the prospect of a contested party convention. Delegates there might turn to other candidates if the billionaire fails to win on the first ballot. Mr Trump arrived in Wisconsin fending off another controversy after campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with misdemeanour battery in Florida over an altercation with a female reporter earlier this month. Mr Cruz has picked up support from Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, a former Republican presidential contender. Mr Trump heads into Wisconsin with 739 delegates to Mr Cruz's 465, while Mr Kasich lags behind with 143. Wisconsin has 42 Republican delegates, with 18 going to the state-wide winner and 24 divided among the winners in each of the state's eight congressional districts. Mr Trump told supporters at a rally that "if we win Wisconsin, it's pretty much over," noting his significant delegate lead over both his rivals. He would need 1,237 delegates by the end of the primary season to capture the nomination and avoid a contested convention. Among the Democrats, based on primaries and caucuses to date, Mrs Clinton has 1,243 delegates to Bernie Sanders' 975. Including superdelegates - party leaders who are free to support any candidate - Mrs Clinton has 1,712 delegates to Mr Sanders' 1,004, leaving her shy of the 2,383 it takes to win the nomination. After sweeping three western state primaries over the weekend, Mr Sanders is hoping to trim Mrs Clinton's commanding lead in the delegate count and claim momentum with a victory in Wisconsin. An unprecedented refrigeration structure resembling giant ice lollies has been approved by Japanese regulators to help create a frozen underground barrier around the Fukushima nuclear reactor buildings and contain contaminated water. The Japanese nuclear regulation authority said the structure, which was completed last month, can now be activated. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power, plans to turn on the ice wall on Thursday in an attempt to minimise the risk of contaminated water escaping. Nearly 800,000 tonnes of water already stored in 1,000 huge industrial tanks at the plant has been hampering the decontamination of the nuclear facility since the 2011 quake and tsunami. The plan has been delayed for more than a year because of technical uncertainties. Some experts are still sceptical about the technology involved and question whether it is worth the huge costs. Authority chairman Shunichi Tanaka cautioned against high expectations because the project in part relies on nature. "It would be best to think that the natural phenomenon doesn't work the way you would expect." The 35 billion yen (312m) government-funded project includes pipes inserted 100ft underground and designed to freeze the soil around them, like giant ice lollies. They are intended to form a wall just under one mile long around the reactor and turbine buildings in order to contain radioactive water in the area and keep out groundwater. Similar methods have been used to block water from parts of tunnels and subways, but such a structure that huge surrounding four buildings and related facilities is untested. A smaller wall was used to isolate radioactive waste at an US department of energy laboratory in Tennessee, but only for six years. A test using part of the ice wall has effectively frozen the ground around it, and officials hope that the ice wall would be successfully formed within several months, according to Shinichi Nakakuki, a spokesman for the utility known as Tepco. Tepco officials say they hope the ice wall would effectively cut down the groundwater inflow into the area to about one-eighth of what it used to be and eventually dry up the turbine basements by 2020 - confining contamination to the three melted reactors. A lion has been shot dead after straying from a Kenyan national park and injuring a man outside Nairobi. The animal was killed by wildlife officials after it injured a man in the Kajiado district, some 35 miles from the Kenyan capital. Former Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius will face sentencing for murder in June. The 29-year-old faces a lengthy prison term after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier conviction of manslaughter and found him guilty of murder for his shooting of Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013. The South African double amputee sprinter's agent, Peet van Zyl, told Press Association Sport on Wednesday he expects sentencing to be from June 13-17. Pistorius insisted he thought his girlfriend was an intruder behind a toilet door in his home and was initially found guilty of culpable homicide, or manslaughter. However, that verdict was upgraded by South Africa's Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein in December. A 15-year prison sentence is the minimum punishment for murder in South Africa. However, the law allows for a lesser sentence to be imposed in exceptional circumstances and the time already served by Pistorius will likely be taken into account. The 'Blade Runner' was released in October 2015 after serving less than a year of his original five-year sentence, with the remainder to be completed under house arrest. A Billings contractor along with two Billings companies and a Chippewa Cree tribal member are facing federal conspiracy charges stemming from a large, ongoing corruption investigation of the north-central Montana tribe. Kevin David McGovern, 46, of Billings, and Brian Kelly Eagleman, 53, of Box Elder, an elected member of the tribes business committee and co-chairman of the tribes Roads Division Oversight Committee, pleaded not guilty to multiple counts in an indictment during an appearance Tuesday in Great Falls before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Johnston. Two of McGoverns companies, MC Equipment Holdings LLC, a heavy construction equipment rental company based in Billings, and MT Waterworks LLC, a pipe and pipe-fitting supply company based in Billings, also were named as defendants in the indictment. McGovern is charged with conspiracy to defraud the Chippewa Cree Tribe, defrauding the tribe and bribery. McGovern was Yellowstone County's public works director for four months when he resigned in 2004 to start CMG Construction Inc. with two other partners. CMG Construction specializes in site development and construction and was a subcontractor who did earthwork on the new James F. Battin Federal Courthouse in downtown Billings. McGovern also was featured in the 2006 edition of Billings Business' 40 Under Forty, which honors 40 high-achieving professionals, business owners, managers and artists who are working to make the community better. McGovern worked for 11 years for the former JTL Group Inc. before going to the county. Eagleman is charged with conspiracy to defraud the tribe, defrauding the tribe and theft from an Indian tribal organization. The Chippewa Cree Tribe is headquartered in Box Elder on the Rocky Boys Reservation. The indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, is the latest in a series of criminal charges federal prosecutors have brought against numerous tribal officials and non-tribal people accused in a broad corruption scheme in which federal dollars for various projects have been stolen or misappropriated. One of the central figures in the corruption scheme was Tony Belcourt, a former state legislator who was the chief executive officer and contracting officer for the Chippewa Cree Construction Corporation, which the tribe created to manage a large federally funded project to bring drinking water to the reservation. Belcourt, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $667,000 restitution for his guilty pleas, took bribes and kickbacks from consultants who were awarded federally funded contracts. Belcourt also was a majority owner in MT Waterworks, which he started with money he got in a pipe-shipping kickback scheme with another co-defendant, Tammy Leischner of Laurel. McGovern also was an owner in MT Waterworks. The latest indictment alleges McGovern conspired with Belcourt and others to sell an asphalt mixer, known as a hot plant, at a premium price to the tribe by enticing a tribal official to promote the sale with the promise of receiving a finders fee, giving the official a financial interest in the sale of the equipment at the highest possible price. The prosecutors said McGovern told Belcourt in the fall of 2011 that MC Equipment Holdings wanted to sell a hot plant it had bought 18 months earlier for $1.2 million. McGovern told Belcourt that the company would pay him a finders fee equal to however much Belcourt could get over and above the asking price, the indictment said. Using his influence and tribal connections, Belcourt got the tribe to approve the purchase of the hot plant for $1.7 million. MC Holdings received four tribal payments totaling $1.7 million in February 2012. Then in April 2012, McGovern paid Belcourt $91,800 from an MT Waterworks account, the indictment said. McGovern also issued a check for $229,000 from a MC Equipment Holdings account payable to Huston Leasing, a Havre company owned by Shad Huston. Huston was sentenced in February to more than three years in federal prison and ordered to pay $500,000 restitution for his convictions in a corruption scheme. Prosecutors said Huston gave tribal officials cash and gifts in return for lucrative contracts for work on the reservation paid for with federal money. Huston, the indictment said, deposited MC Equipments $229,000 check and made various payments to others, including $50,000 to the IRS for the benefit of Eagleman, and $12,558 for the personal benefit of Bruce Sunchild, who was the tribal chairman. Sunchild is serving a prison sentence in a separate corruption conviction. The indictment accuses Eagleman of working with others to buy the hot plant from MC Equipment using tribal money well knowing that the hot plant was unnecessary and would likely remain unused, and that the sales price was significantly greater than the actual sale price of a hot plant so that the participants would all personally benefit from the transaction. The judge continued McGoverns and Eaglemans release pending trial. The maximum penalty for defrauding the tribe is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The companies as corporate defendants face a maximum fine of $500,000 on each count. The case will be heard by U.S. District Judge Brian Morris. French police have evacuated nearly 1,000 refugees and migrants from a makeshift camp near a Paris Metro station. The operation was peaceful and authorities offered them temporary lodging and help applying for asylum, the French interior ministry said. People gathered at the station reportedly included people from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan who had been living beneath elevated train tracks for the past few weeks. The Paris transit authority closed the Stalingrad Metro station during the operation. The area has seen multiple camps in recent years which are periodically cleared out. The ministry said "the street should not be a refuge" for people fleeing persecution, and described the evacuation as being necessary for public order, public health and humanitarian reasons. France has not seen nearly as many Syrian refugees or other migrants over the past year as Germany or countries further east, but it has experienced tensions around the northern port of Calais, where people converge in the hope of crossing into Britain. Meanwhile, the flow of refugees to the Greek islands seems to be on the rise again as the weather gets warmer. Figures released by the Greek government showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until this morning. That number represents a three-fold rise compared to arrivals in previous days. In Turkey, the coast guard said it rescued dozens of mostly Syrian refugees as they tried to reach Greece in an inflatable dinghy. Off the coast of Libya, a German combat ship rescued scores of people who were trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa into Italy's southern islands. A new European Union-Turkey agreement comes into effect next week to curb the flow of refugees. KARACHI: Gold prices on Friday lost some value on the local market, traders said. They dropped by Rs500 to Rs147400... SINGAPORE: US oil may test a support at $83.78 per barrel, a break below which could open the way towards... CASPER, Wyo. Two men are facing felony charges for allegedly breaking into multiple Glenrock homes and stealing firearms, among other items, according to a Glenrock police official. Michael Allison, 22, and Garrett Huffer, 19, are charged with two counts of aggravated burglary, said Chief Tim Hurd. Officers responded March 17 to a home on Rimrock Road in Rolling Hills to investigate a burglary. Police determined which vehicle might have been involved in the burglary, and then connected that car to Allison, the chief said. Police arrested Allison on March 19. Allison admitted to committing the Rolling Hills burglary, as well as one earlier in March on Second Street in Glenrock, Hurd said. Officers were able to recover some of the guns stolen from the Rolling Hills residence, as well as $7,000 in other property, including jewelry and deer mounts. During the investigation, police learned Huffer was also involved in the burglaries, Hurd said. When interviewed by officers, Huffer admitted to taking part in the break-ins. Investigators also learned Allison and Huffer were involved in transporting methamphetamine, Hurd said. At that point, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation took over to look into the drug allegations. That investigation is ongoing. Allison lives in Evansvile. Huffer is from Glenrock. LAHORE: The activists of PTI took to the streets on Friday in protest after the Election Commission of Pakistan... Ukraines military tightened the noose around Russian forces occupying the southern city of Kherson as the... A judge has estimated Danny Klobucar's "brutal and pitiless" killing of a frail, elderly grandfather would have attracted a 20-year sentence, had he not been mentally impaired at the time. But Justice Hilary Penfold has again raised questions about flawed legislation requiring her to guess a sentence for murder on a series of hypotheticals. Danny Klobucar was found not guilty of murder by way of impairment, but it was estimated he would have received a 20-year sentence if guilty. Klobucar, 27, was found not guilty by way of mental impairment for the killing of Miodrag Gajic, 71, on New Year's Day in 2014. Mr Gajic was beaten to death in his unit, suffering up to 10 blows to the head. Those looking for when the next financial crisis might be should set a reminder for January 1, 2018. That's when a host of new rules are scheduled to come into force that are likely to further constrain lending ability and prompt banks to only advance money to the best borrowers, which could accelerate bankruptcies worldwide. As with any financial regulation, however, the effects will start to be felt sooner than the implementation date. Two key rules are slated for 2018: the leverage ratio set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and International Financial Reporting Standard No. 9, defined by the International Accounting Standards Board. Other rules that require banks to stop using their own internal measures to assess risk start to be introduced from next year. Basel III has already been blamed for reduced liquidity in global markets and slower credit growth. What's about to be rolled out will be a steroid shot to that. People are not as annoyed by mobile advertising as you might think, according to Nielsen, which has released a new audience measurement system aimed at capturing the total digital audience that advertisers could reach in Australia. The research for online advertising industry body the Interactive Advertising Bureau shows that Australians spend more time browsing websites and apps on their smartphones than on any other device. Australians spend more than 28 hours per person per month browsing on mobiles, versus 24 hours on computers and less than 20 hours on tablets. Credit:Glenn Hunt They spend more than 28 hours per person per month browsing on mobiles, versus 24 hours on computers and less than 20 hours on tablets, according to Nielsen. That is even though 18 million people use computers to browse the web versus 13 million browsing both websites and apps on smartphones which have less screen "real estate", increasing the risk that advertising could be intrusive. India's finance minister, Arun Jaitley, has hopes of a quick breakthrough in a long-awaited trade deal between Australia and India, and says there are huge investment opportunities in his country for Australia's $2 trillion superannuation industry. Mr Jaitley, who is one of the most powerful figures in the BJP-led Indian government, also highlighted the prospects for Australian miners and niche manufacturers, especially food processing, in the world's fastest-growing major economy. India's growth rate has the potential to accelerate from its current 7.5 per cent to more than 8.5 per cent if global economic conditions become more favourable and the subcontinent's next monsoon is good, he said. Mr Jaitley, who is visiting Australia, said he hopes the huge coal mine proposed by India's Adani Group in Queensland's Galilee Basin will go ahead. The project has been plagued by controversy and hold-ups, including a successful legal challenge to a federal environmental approval. Almost half of all fast-food outlets audited by Australia's workplace watchdog are underpaying their staff, and the overwhelming majority violate payroll obligations. The Fair Work Ombudsman's nationwide investigation into the fast-food sector has alarmingly revealed just 53 per cent of 565 spot-checked employers have been paying their staff correctly. The findings add to concerns about exploitation and illegal wages in the Australian hospitality industry, where a where a black economy of cash-in-hand jobs appears to be deep-rooted. In one recent case, the operators of popular Asian take-away store Bing Boy told authorities that wages of $10 an hour were "common" and $13 an hour was considered "good pay" for hospitality staff in Australia. On May 19, 20,000 bottles of wine from William Koch's cellar will go to auction at Sotheby's. The blockbuster sale, spread across three days, represents close to half of the billionaire's total collection and was acquired over the course of nearly 40 years. "He's bought on scale," said Connor Kriegel, head of auction sales for Sotheby's Wine, who organised the sale from May 19-21. "Whenever he saw an opportunity to buy the things he loved, he bought." William Koch's collection, which will be broken up into about 2700 lots, is estimated to sell for up to US15 million ($19.6 million). Credit:Sotheby's/Bloomberg Koch's collection, which will be broken up into about 2700 lots, is estimated to go for $US10.5 million to $US15 million ($19.6 million). More than 120 lots are from the coveted Chateau Latour, including one that consists of six 1961 magnums, which carries an estimate of $US42,000 to $US60,000. There are also more than 80 lots of Chateau Mouton Rothschild; one, composed of 10 bottles of Mouton's 1945 vintage, is expected to sell for $US80,000 to $US120,000. "That's one of the most legendary wines," said Kriegel. "It's the wartime vintage, and it's one of the greatest wines they've ever made. To see it on such a scale is pretty spectacular." The 73-year old Florida-based oil and carbon billionaire, whose boat won the America's Cup in 1992, has made headlines with his wine collection before; there were the four bottles that had once belonged to Thomas Jefferson, for which Koch paid $US500,000 and then later determined were fake; and then there was the 2005 discovery that a fine-wine dealer named Rudy Kurniawan had sold him 211 suspicious bottles totalling more than $US2 million. (Koch filed suit, and Kurniawan was eventually sentenced to 10 years in jail.) 'Treachery' in caucus The latest dramatic clash in Labor's leadership crisis between the federal parliamentary leader, Mr Calwell, and his deputy, Mr Whitlam, had left the party bitter, angry and deeply divided. Caucus met "in a heated atmosphere with embittered charges of treachery and of 'cockatoos' watching comings and goings at secret meetings", with Mr Calwell accusing Mr Whitlam of "disloyalty and unworthy conduct". Gough Whitlam, left, and Arthur Calwell at a press conference after a caucus meeting in 1966. Death penalty for Ryan Pentridge Prison escapee Ronald Ryan, 41, was found guilty of the murder of warder George Henry Hodson and sentenced to death in the Criminal Court, while his fellow escapee, Peter John Walker, 24, was found guilty of manslaughter and remanded for sentence. The verdict was reached after seven hours of deliberation by the jury. Ryan maintained his innocence and showed no emotion as Justice Starke delivered the sentence. Everyone knows that at some point, if we want to contain climate change, we'll need to stop building polluting power plants. New research suggests that moment may come much sooner than we realise. In some areas, the world is making progress towards reducing harmful emissions. This year the Business Council for Sustainable Energy reported that the use of coal-fired plants for electricity generation in the United States fell to its lowest level in 60 years. Some of the biggest US coal-mining companies have filed for bankruptcy. Electricity from coal appears likely to become increasingly rare in China too. That's good news for anyone hoping that humanity might still manage to reduce carbon emissions enough to avoid warming the Earth's climate past the two degrees Celsius that scientists regard as dangerous. Even so, trends globally aren't so encouraging. Developing nations plan to build many more fossil-fuel generating stations, and global carbon emissions are still increasing. Electricity generation still contributes about one-fourth of all human-created greenhouse gas emissions. The crucial question, then, is whether we will manage the transition to zero carbon production in time and how much time we have. Malcolm Turnbull's feted show of strength in recalling Parliament to pass tough industrial legislation tempts fate for him in a different way. And that is in the increasingly weak position of his Cabinet Secretary and the colleague he brought back from the cold, Senator Arthur Sinodinos. Malcolm Turnbull must do what any premier would do if a similar situation unfolded in any state across Australia. Credit:Daniel Munoz Here's the problem: the core of what the Prime Minister wants to achieve is legislation for a tough building industry watchdog, the Australian Building and Construction Commission. To win cross bench support, he looks like he might bow to calls for similar watchdogs to apply to other industries and to reach into federal politics in a way not seen before. If the Turnbull government is returned and the Greens hold the balance of power then they will not only be in a powerful position but a potentially dangerous one for them. Their identity is most under threat when they are, in effect, allied with the conservative parties. If they assent to too much government legislation they may outrage their core supporters as the Democrats did in 1999. If they regularly block legislation they will be subject to media outrage, just as the micro-parties have been. It will be an unenviable but powerful position. But they are a puzzle at the moment. Will they go forwards or backwards or remain stationary in 2016? What happens may also determine the future of the major parties. In particular, will the Greens return to a balance of power position in the Senate after time out of the limelight because of independent and micro-party senators? With a double-dissolution election in the air, the Greens have united with the Turnbull Coalition government to pass the legislation to reform the method of Senate voting. There is no suggestion that either a double-dissolution election or an alliance with the Coalition parties will cause their demise. The Greens may be at a crucial stage in their growth as a force in Australian federal politics. They are now at an age where some of their predecessor minor parties, such as the Democratic Labor Party and the Australian Democrats, began to falter. The DLP disappeared at the 1974 double-dissolution election, which they had backed, while the Democrats' ultimately fatal moment was their ill-fated agreement with the Howard Coalition government in 1999 to negotiate a compromise on the GST. If Bill Shorten leads the opposition to victory only to be faced with a Greens crossbench in the Senate then the battle will be resumed for supremacy in progressive politics. On the face of it, this relationship should be more workable but the chaotic Senate debate over voting reform showed how much Labor enjoys attacking the Greens. It is seen as good sport but with a hard edge. The Greens have quite a lot going for them at the moment. They are riding high in the polls, perhaps 3 per cent higher than their vote at the 2013 elections. Most polls concentrate on the House of Representatives where the Greens vote appears to be holding at about 11 per cent which is more than 2 percentage points higher than the 8.6 per cent the party polled at the last election. It was higher after Richard Di Natale became Greens' leader in May last year but plunged as Malcolm Turnbull soared in the polls in September before settling at the current level. If this support holds the Greens should keep about the same number of senators after a double-dissolution election. Currently their 10 Senators are comprised of two each in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia and one each in NSW and Queensland. Any losses, perhaps in South Australia where Nick Xenophon has strong support, may be made up elsewhere. The micro-parties will campaign against them to exact some retribution but the likely impact of this remains unclear. Whether that number is enough to hold the balance of power is difficult to predict as it primarily depends on the balance between the Coalition and Labor. A Labor government would certainly depend on Greens' support while it is possible that the Coalition, with a greater number of senators, may be able to put together a majority with the support of Xenophon and another Xenophon team member plus one or two surviving micro-party senators such as Jacqui Lambie in Tasmania. Di Natale, called the Black Wiggle by his Labor detractors because of his recent magazine photo shoot, remains one of the party's strengths as he is still widely well regarded as an intelligent and presentable leader. Outside the Green core of voters he is regarded highly as a centrist who is willing to negotiate with both sides. Since 1938, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced the first federal minimum wage in the U.S., a debate has raged about whether wage floors help or hurt workers. But thanks to a radical economic experiment in California, we may be only a few years away from having a definitive answer. California Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators have reached an agreement to raise Californias minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. Under Californias plan, its minimum wage already one of the highest in the nation at $10 an hour would rise to $10.50 in 2017, $11 in 2018 and a dollar each year through 2022. By 2022 we should know for sure how the change will affect California. In the meantime, here are ten things you should know about the ongoing minimum wage debate: 1. Both sides of the debate believe they are arguing in defense of the poor. Most people who support or oppose minimum wage laws and/or increases share a common objective helping the working poor. Because both sides have noble intentions, the merits of the debate over minimum wage laws and minimum wage increases should be based on empirical evidence that it will actually help, rather than harm, the poor. 2. Economists disagree about the effects of small increases in minimum wages. Its true that economists disagree about the effects of the minimum wage on employment and the living standards of minimum wage earners. But almost all of the disagreement is about relatively small increases (less than 20 percent). Almost all economist agree that significant increases to the minimum wage or attempts to bring it in line with a living wage (e.g., $12-15 an hour) would lead to significant increases in unemployment. Even some liberal economists warn that increasing the wage to $15 an hour would harm employment. 3. The primary argument for minimum wage increase is that is increases the value of the workers labor. The efficiency wage theory of labor holds that higher real wages improve labor productivity by reducing worker turnover and the associated costs of hiring and training new workers, by reducing the incentive for workers to unionize, and by increasing the opportunity cost of being fired thereby giving the worker incentive to be more productive. Under this view, small increases to the minimum wage will have no deleterious employment effects. The assumption is that paying higher wages increases worker satisfaction, thus reducing turnover. This is a reasonable assumption only it there is a price disparity between similar jobs. Given a choice between working at American Eagle for $7.25 an hour and at the Gap for $10, most would prefer to fold sweaters for the higher wage. They will even be willing to work harder (thus increasing their labor value) to appeal to an employer paying the higher wage. But if every store in the mall (and every other job in the area) is required to pay $10 an hour, then the decision to switch jobs will be based mainly on non-monetary factors. But there is another element that is often overlooked in discussions about minimum wage increases. Because of the labor price differential, Gap can be more choosy about who they hire; their willingness to voluntarily pay a higher minimum pay gives them an advantage over other employers since theyll have more applicants to choose from. Unless their store managers are incompetent, Gap will only be hiring people whose labor is truly valued at $10 a hour. In other words, they will be getting what they are willing to pay for. That is why conservatives claim government-mandated negates the effects of the efficiency theory and can kill jobs. Not only will businesses that were willing to pay more lose their advantage in hiring, those not willing to pay more will fire/not hire people whose labor is valued at less than $10 an hour. Once minimum wages are raised, turnover rates also increase as people decide to stick with or leave a job based on other factors. And the people who will never be hired (e.g., low-skilled workers, new immigrants) are shut out of the labor market completely. 4. The primary argument against minimum wage increases is that it discriminates against those who have low-skills. Milton Friedman once described the minimum wage as a requirement that employers must discriminate against people who have low skills. As Anthony Davies explains, the minimum wage prevents some of the least skilled, least educated, and least experienced workers from participating in the labor market because it discourages employers from taking a chance by hiring them. In other words, workers compete for jobs on the basis of education, skill, experience, and price. Of these factors, the only one on which the lesser-educated, lesser-skilled, and lesser-experienced worker can compete is price. 5. The minimum wage redistributes wealth from the low-skilled poor to the more skilled working poor and middle class. Many supporters of minimum wage increases mistakenly believe that increases in wage rates are transfers of wealth from employers and investors to the workers. But as Anthony Davis explains, the money to pay for the increased wage must come from at least one of four places: higher prices for consumers, lower returns to investors, lower prices to suppliers, or a reduced work-force. Empirical research has shown that the primary effect of minimum wage increases is reduced employment, which essentially transfers the wealth (in unearned wages) from the less skilled to the more skilled working poor and middle-class teenagers. 6. The most frequently cited empirical research in favor of minimum wages increases was proven wrong. The most famous empirical study in favor of the minimum wage is David Card and Alan B. Kruegers 1994 study of New Jerseys minimum wage hike of 1992. Their study found that the increase in the minimum wage had no negative effect on employmentin fact, it had a slightly positive effect (though it also found that prices at fast-food restaurants increased). The main criticism of the research was that they did not measure actual employment data, but only surveyed store managers by telephone, asking whether the managers had hired or fired, or intended to hire or fire, workers following the increase in the minimum wage. However, two follow-up studies that looked at the actual payroll data found that the increase in the minimum wage in New Jersey led to a decline in employment in the fast-food industry the opposite effect claimed by Card and Kruegers study. (Note: In New York Times op-ed last fall, Krueger wrote that a $15-an-hour national minimum wage would put us in uncharted waters, and risk undesirable and unintended consequences.) 7. Minimum wage increases disproportionality affect African Americans. Employment among African American males between the ages of 16 and 24 is disproportionately responsive to the minimum wage. A ten percent increase in the minimum wage would reduce employment by 2.5 percent for white males between the ages of 16 and 24, 1.2 percent for Hispanic males between the ages of 16 and 24, and 6.5 percent for African American males between the ages of 16 and 24. Professors Even and Macpherson estimate that in the 21 states fully affected by the federal minimum wage increases in 2007, 2008, and 2009, young African Americans lost more jobs as a result of minimum wage hikes than as a result of the macroeconomic consequences of the recession. 8. Few people actually earn a minimum wage. Workers earning $7.25 per hour represent only 4.7 percent of the nations 75.3 million hourly-paid workers and 2.8 percent of all workers. 9.The majority of minimum wage earners are young (50.6 percent are ages 16 to 24) and almost 1 in 4 are teenagers (24 percent are ages 16 to 19). 44 percent are in food-preparation and serving-related occupations ; 15 percent are in sales and related occupations, and the rest are scattered. 10. Historically, minimum wage laws have been used to discourage immigration and oppress the poor and minorities. A minimum wage was seen to operate eugenically through two channels: by deterring prospective immigrants and also by removing from employment the unemployable. As Thomas C. Leonard explains, progressive economists in the early 1900s believed that the job loss induced by minimum wages was a social benefit, as it performed the eugenic service ridding the labor force of the unemployable. More recently, businessman and political activist Ron Unz has argued that increases in minimum wages are necessary to reduce both legal and illegal immigration. As Unz says, Critics of a rise in the minimum wage argue that jobs would be destroyed, and in some cases they are probably correct. But many of those threatened jobs are exactly the ones that should have no place in an affluent, developed society like the United States, which should not attempt to compete with Mexico or India in low-wage industries. Sofia Coppola is set to direct the remake of a Clint Eastwood film, according to reports. Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning are said to be attached to an adaptation of The Beguiled (1971), which was directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) and starred Eastwood Kirsten Dunst, second from left in The Virgin Suicides. The story first appeared in The Tracking Board. Variety quotes "an individual familiar with the deal" confirming that Coppola is in the frame to write and direct the film. The Beguiled, adapted from a 1966 novel by Thomas P. Cullinan, is a quasi-Gothic period piece, a story of repression, fantasy and suspense. It takes place during the Civil War; Eastwood plays an injured Union soldier who takes refuge in a girls' boarding school that has ties to the Confederate side. Masterchef favourite Gary Mehigan has urged Perth food enthusiasts to do what he can't - get some noodles into them. Mehigan will be in Perth without his two judging amigos, George Calombaris and Matt Preston, for an intimate conversation with foodies at the Heath Ledger Theatre as part of WAtoday's Good Food Month. He plans to give his audience a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the popular reality TV cooking show. But he's spewing he'll miss sampling some fantastic street food at Perth's Night Noodle Markets, which kick off at Elizabeth Quay tonight until April 10. Thousands of chronically ill patients will receive tailored health services under a trial the Turnbull government intends to roll out nationally. The Prime Minister's office released part of the government's primary healthcare review - which it received in December - late on Wednesday, ahead of a crucial meeting with state and territory leaders about health and education funding on Friday. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's office has released part of the government's primary healthcare review. Credit:Daniel Munoz The review, chaired by former Australian Medical Association President, Dr Steve Hambleton, recommended establishing Healthcare Homes "which provide continuity of care, coordinated services and a team-based approach, according to the needs and wishes of the patient." Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Health Minister Sussan Ley said in a statement that they would establish a trial of Healthcare Homes, which allowed patients with multiple chronic illnesses to nominate a GP practice as their "home base". This practice would coordinate a healthcare package tailored to their conditions, they said, billing it as "one of the biggest health-system reforms since the introduction of Medicare 30 years ago". Getting to the Bottom of Lapido Medias Hit Piece on Israel | Main | Palestinian School Names Basketball Game after TerroristWith EU Funding March 30, 2016 Analysts: Islamist Terror Deaths up 774 percent A March 28, 2016 analysis by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), a Washington D.C.-based organization that monitors extremist groups, found a stunning increase in deaths caused by radical Islamic terror.? IPT says the threat from Islamic-rooted terrorism continues to grow. IPT calculated that an average of 3,284 people were murdered in terror attacks from 2007 to 2011. The next year, 2012-2013, that figure jumped to 9,537. From 2014 to 2015, 28,708 people died in Islamist terror attacksa 774 percent increase from the 2007-2011 statistics. IPTs report was compiled using research from a variety of sources, including the University of Maryland Global Terrorism Database. The Investigative Project notes: The growth in terrorist victims corresponds to a wider theater of operations for terror groups. From 2001-2006, the threat was dispersed in area and occurring primarily in 10 countries, including the U.S. and Russia. By 2014-2015, significant Islamist terrorist activity could be found in 18 countries, with most concentrated in Africa and the Middle East.? Not surprisingly, terrorist attacks have also seen a marked increase. IPTs analysis detailed 493 terror attacks from 2007-2011, increasing to 1,440 assaults between 2012 and 2013. By 2014 to 2015, there had been 2,930 recorded onslaughts by Islamic fundamentalists. The report identified the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as an obvious cause? for the spike, but noted that the data also showed the problem of Islamist terror is worsening beyond the reach of ISIS.? The skyrocketing number of terrorist attacks and resultant fatalities is one of several trends identified in the report. IPT noted that Africa has become a primary growth target,? with an increase that has been led primarily by three Islamist organizations?: ISIS affiliate Boko Haram in Nigeria and nearby countries, al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab, primarily in Somalia and Kenya and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which refers to north Africa. The increase in terrorism also has extended across the Atlantic Ocean. Noting a report by George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism, CAMERA wrote on Dec. 7, 2015 that Islamic terror in the United States is at a height not seen since the Sept. 11, 2001 al-Qaeda terror attacks that murdered 2,977 people? (Washington Times Notes Record Terror Levels?). GWU reported that fifty-six individuals have been arrested? in the United States on suspicion of plotting or helping support? ISIS in 2015. Identifying what it considered to be another trend, IPT said that Western interventions, such as U.S. and NATO operations in Libya in 2011 that helped lead to the ouster of dictator Muammar Qaddafi and his government, have inflamed instability. Failed states, or countries in which the reach of governments does not fully extend to its geographical borders, such as Nigeria and Pakistan, also were highlighted as being contributing factors to the growth of Islamist terror. In addition to noting increasing terror threats in Africa, the report predicts that Thailand, the Philippines, India and Bangladesh will become more susceptible to an increase in attacks due to their perception as soft targets.? IPT also sees Europes security systems as being unable to respond to the rising challenges associated with the mass migration of refugees. Violence in Europe will increase in size and scope as Islamists exploit its nearly unregulated immigration system and Muslim enclaves such as Molenbeek in Brussels become more widespread.? Yet, Europe may be able to learn counterterrorist lessons from Israel. A March 30, 2016 policy paper by an Israeli think-tank, the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, stated that Israel can advise Europe on strategies like effective intelligence collection, disruption of enemy money supply and interference with enemy access to the internet.? The report, Israel and Europe After Brussels: What Insights Can We Share?? by former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Col. Dr. Eran Lerman, recommended extensive intelligence collection and data-mining as a foremost step in countering jihadi terror. Close cross-national cooperation and a strong and dedicated? group of intelligence analysts also are emphasized. The analysts, Lerman noted, must be people who are not afraid to speak truth to power.? That truth begins with an acknowledgement that Islamist terror is increasing, claiming more victims even as the fight against it expands. Posted by SD at March 30, 2016 03:34 PM "The religion of peace". Posted by: Al Neuman at April 7, 2016 04:49 PM Guidelines for posting This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material. Post a comment A former University of Wollongong psychology student who filmed up a fellow student's skirt for more than an hour in the campus library last October still can't say what prompted him to do it, a court has heard. Nicholas Toso, 20, said he was sorry for what he'd done but couldn't explain his actions during an interview with a NSW Community Corrections officer tasked with preparing a sentencing options reports for his court appearance on Tuesday. Nicholas Toso leaves Wollongong Court with his mother after learning he may have to attend a sex offender's program. Credit:Illawarra Mercury The court heard Toso and the victim were sitting in neighbouring study booths when Toso took advantage of the woman's partially open legs to film up her skirt on October 15 last year. The woman noticed Toso acting suspiciously with his phone in his hand as she got up to leave about an hour later and informed the librarian. If James Packer does not want to build a casino and apartment complex without reducing its impact on public land, the NSW government should tell him to walk away from the project, according to the head of the state's peak body for architects. The Secretary of the NSW Department of Planning, Carolyn McNally, on Tuesday released a report that rejected the most substantial changes to the apartment complex and casino recommended by an independent design review panel. The decision has angered Shaun Carter, the president of the NSW Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects. Strangled to death at the hands of her boyfriend, Bianca Girven was one of the many women remembered on Wednesday at the unveiling of a domestic violence memorial in Brisbane. Bianca was murdered exactly six years ago today, her mother Sonia Anderson told an intimate crowd of domestic violence survivors, friends and family at the unveiling at Emma Miller Place. People attend the official unveiling of Brisbane's first domestic violence memorial. Credit:Chris Hyde "Those that die at the hands of the person who once said 'I love you' are dying heinous deaths," Ms Anderson said. "They could be your sister, your daughter; they are dead because they merely dared to love, they were after the dream of loving somebody and being loved, they did nothing wrong. A man has been charged over a terrifying road rage attack in Brisbane's south earlier this week. Video emerged of the incident on Thursday showing a man punching and kicking a car after swerving to make it stop. On Thursday night police confirmed they had charged a 39-year-old Oxley man over the incident. He has been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, wilful damage and public nuisance and will face Richlands Magistrates Court on April 28. The re-emergence of black lung in Australia must prompt an urgent review into coal dust exposure levels and a national reporting scheme for the disease, a health body says. A Senate inquiry into the recurrence of potentially deadly black lung, or coal workers' pneumoconiosis, began last month following six confirmed cases in Queensland. The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand has weighed in on the black lung debate. Credit:Ryan Stuart The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand on Thursday called for a nationwide response to the re-emergence of the disease, which was thought to have been eradicated in Australia decades ago. "It is unacceptable that any new cases of coal workers pneumoconiosis should be occurring in Australia in 2016," TSANZ president, Professor Peter Gibson said. A drive-by shooting has seen a home on Brisbane's south targeted for the second time in a week. Police said a vehicle pulled up outside the Shelduck Place, Calamvale, home about 4.30am, before someone fired four shots at the door of the house. Police say it is the second time in a week that shots have been fired in the street. Credit:iStock People were inside but no one was hurt. Detectives were investigating whether the shooting was linked to a similar incident last Wednesday, where shots were fired into a parked vehicle outside the house. Landmarks identify and define cities. Town-planning instruments usually protect these landmarks from development that does not respect the setting. But inappropriate development is placing one of Brisbanes most important landmarks in danger. A proposed 47-storey tower threatens Customs House, on Queen Street, from being seen as it was intended to be. Such developments are neither a new problem nor unique to Brisbane. The Toaster apartment building has compromised the view of the Sydney Opera House. In Melbourne, the proposed shards of Federation Square threatened the view of St Pauls Cathedral from St Kilda Road at Princes Bridge. The impacts of both of these actions were very much an afterthought. Intended view of Customs House from the north. Postcard circa 1900 In London, it was realised as the Shard Tower was being constructed that it would affect the view of St Pauls Cathedral. Lord Mayor Boris Johnson thus moved to protect views of the cathedral from specific vantage points with a clear viewshed diagram to ensure the dome can still be seen from identified locations. This demonstrates how best to pre-empt what may happen in the future, prevent unsuitable outcomes and protect views of landmarks. The Customs House case study A 19-year-old man who allegedly injured a woman's breast when he touched her inappropriately has been charged after more than 20 people came forward to police. He was allegedly part of a group of men who approached two women handing out business cards on Eagle Street on Thursday. Police charged the 19-year-old Ashgrove man with sexual assault. Credit:Jorge Branco Police alleged he "inappropriately touched" the woman on the chest, leaving her with an injury, before the group fled toward Charlotte Street and into a Guzman Y Gomez fast food outlet. Detectives investigating the case released CCTV of a man yesterday, sparking more than 20 calls to Crime Stoppers and social media tips. The number of domestic violence victims seeking help from Queensland community legal centres has doubled in five years, a new report shows. Lawyers say the centres are struggling to cope with demand and will have to turn away more victims unless the federal government reinstates funding set to be cut in 2017. There's been a surge in victims seeking help from community legal centres. The Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services' report shows the number of requests for information and legal advice at the centres skyrocketed between 2011 and 2015. General inquiries increased from 1593 to 3482, while the number of cases in which legal advice was given jumped from 4711 to 7863 over the five-year period. Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt has rubbished the idea of a separate north Queensland state, saying the region would not have enough money to fund even basic services if it went it alone. Mr Pitt, whose electorate of Mulgrave sits to the south of Cairns, says revenue from mining and tourism, the north's key industries, would be nowhere near enough for the region to secede. Curtis Pitt says coal mining royalties couldn't fund a breakaway state in north Queensland. Credit:Glen Hunt "The revenue (would be) nowhere near enough to provide the crucial health, ambulance, education, transport and police services needed, let alone new infrastructure," he told The Courier-Mail. Federal Dawson MP George Christensen is lobbying north Queensland politicians to support a referendum on the breakaway plan and has cited coal mining royalties as a key funding source for the possible new state. Passengers at Melbourne Airport can expect lengthy delays on Thursday and Friday as staff go on strike. Border Force staff plan to walk off the job at international terminals during both morning and evening peak times as families try to fly out for school holidays. Airport workers have remained without a new employment agreement and pay rise for almost three years. Credit:Joe Armao Flow-on delays are expected to hit domestic flights as well. Airport authorities are advising passengers to arrive early and head straight to immigration if flying internationally. At 7.30 on Thursday morning, Melbourne Airport's international departure list was not showing any delayed flights. Staff are expected to walk off the job closer to 9am. Striking Border Force staff will be replaced with management and contractors, who the government has been forced to fly in from Canberra. Workers from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, which runs the quarantine section at international airports, will also go on strike. This may cause long delays for passengers arriving from overseas, the airport is warning. The rolling strikes are expected to continue until April 7. The strike is the latest action in an industrial dispute that has dragged on for two years. The Community and Public Sector Union has been fighting with the government over pay and entitlements, with both sides refusing to budge. Major Crime Squad officers have charged a seventh person in relation to the murder of Patrick 'Paddy' Slater near Esplanade train station during a post-Australia Day brawl. The 23-year-old Yangebup man will appear at Perth Magistrates Court on March 30 accused of the crime outside the station, now renamed Elizabeth Quay. Patrick 'Paddy' Slater. Four other men, Christopher James Birdsall, 29, Dylan Terrance Wayne Anthony, 19, Clinton Frederick Mead, 19, and Robert Christopher James Pickett, 19, have also been accused and have made initial court appearances. An 11-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy have also been accused and have made their first appearances in Perth Children's Court. Premier Colin Barnett has announced an upcoming conference on liquefied natural gas as a major tourist drawcard for WA, despite issuing a media release five years ago that Perth was chosen as the host city. The Yes Minister moment came a day after Mr Barnett made himself Tourism Minister as part of his Cabinet reshuffle, a move the opposition claimed was grandstanding after the recent launch of Elizabeth Quay and imminent openings of Perth City Link and Perth Stadium. The original media release on the LNG conference from Colin Barnett in 2010. Media were lured to Mr Barnett's press conference on the promise of a "major event" that would "showcase Perth to the world" but were left bemused as the big reveal had already been made by the Premier in November 2010. Conferences do not showcase Perth to a global audience; that's left to big-ticket events with global broadcast rights, such as the Red Bull Air Race, Rally Australia and the recent Perth International. A Gosnells man is fighting for life after being the third cyclist on Tuesday to be hit by a car in Perth. The 43-year old man was knocked from his bicycle by a white ute at the roundabout intersection of Dorothy and Hicks Streets in Gosnells about 3pm. The man was hit in Gosnells hours after Gabriele Schiller-Brett sustained fatal injuries at this Halls Head intersection. Credit:Nathan Hondros An ambulance rushed him to hospital where he remains in a critical condition with serious head injuries. The driver was uninjured and is assisting Major Crash with inquiries. Slider1_DDG114.jpg Ingalls Shipbuilding will host a christening ceremony Saturday for the Ralph Johnson (DDG 1114), the company's 30th Aegis-class destroyer for the U.S. Navy. (Ingalls Shipbuilding) PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Ingalls Shipbuilding will christen its 30th Aegis-class destroyer Saturday when the company hosts a christening ceremony for the Ralph Johnson (DDG 114). Sean Stackley, Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Navy, will be the keynote speaker. Other scheduled speakers include U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, ship sponsor Georgeann McRaven -- wife of Navy Adm. Bill McRaven -- and Helen Richards, sister of the ship's namesake, Ralph Johnson. Johnson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration, for his actions during the Vietnam War. A Marine Corps private, Johnson shouted a warning to his fellow Marines and then threw himself on an explosive device, giving his life to save the life of another Marine and preventing the enemy from penetrating his sector of the patrol's perimeter. A native of Charleston, S.C., Johnson was 19 when he was killed. He had only been in Vietnam a little over two months when he died heroically. President Richard Nixon awarded Johnson the Medal of Honor posthumously in April 1970. In 1991 -- 23 years after his heroic act -- the Veterans Hospital in Charleston was renamed the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Hospital. Saturday's ceremony begins at 10 a.m. A toddler has drowned in a backyard swimming pool in Mullaloo on Tuesday afternoon. Nine News Perth reporter Michael Genovese told Radio 6PR the boy, aged three, died while on holiday in Perth from the United Kingdom with his family. Royal Life Saving NSW has reported that half the state's primary schoolchildren are unable to swim by the time they enter high school. He was rushed to Joondalup Health Campus around 6pm after being found face down in the pool but could not be revived. "An ambulance was called and arrived within minutes but paramedics couldn't find a pulse," Mr Genovese said. A man has been charged by police over an alleged road rage incident on West Coast Highway in February, where he smashed the windscreen of a Perth family's car. The family was driving along West Coast Highway near Floreat Beach in a Honda Accord around 3.30pm on February 21, when the father, who was in the passenger seat, filmed a group of six cars allegedly spinning their wheels which created a bloom of thick smoke. The victim's tell Nine News Perth the man jumped on their car's bonnet. Credit:Nine News Perth It is alleged a Holden Commodore overtook the Honda then swerved in front of the car forcing it to stop. The driver of the Commodore then allegedly jumped onto the windscreen, causing it to shatter covering the family in glass. A senior strategist backing Donald Trump's presidential campaign has resigned in disgust, warning his fans that he's not up to the job of president and doesn't want it, but "his ego has taken over". Stephanie Cegielski implores Trump's fans to see that the real Donald Trump behind the public character is a dangerous know-nothing who cares only about himself. Ms Cegielski said she had fallen in love with the idea of "the protest candidate who was not bought by corporations and could straight-talk his way to a new debate for America". So she signed up a year ago as communications director of the Make America Great Again Super PAC, an independent fundraising committee promoting Trump's candidacy. When asked point blank if he would pledge his support to the nominee, Trump answered: "No, I don't any more... I have been treated very unfairly." All three of the remaining Republican presidential candidates said Tuesday at a CNN Town Hall in Milwaukee that they no longer feel beholden to the "loyalty pledge" they signed in September not to run as a third party candidate and to support the party's presidential nominee. Asked three times whether he would support Trump as the party's nominee, Texas Senator Ted Cruz refused to give a yes or no answer. "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and my family," Cruz said. "I think nominating Donald Trump would be an absolute train wreck. I think it would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton." Donald Trump participates in a CNN town hall meeting in Milwaukee on Tuesday. Credit:AP Ohio Governor John Kasich also dodged the question of whether he would support whoever became the Republican nominee, but left open the possibility that he might not. "Maybe I won't answer it either," Kasich said. "I don't want to be political here: I've got to see what happens." RNC chairman Reince Priebus visited Trump in his Manhattan office in September, when Trump officially signed a pledge to support the eventual nominee after threatening to run as a third-party candidate if he was treated unfairly. Both Kasich and Cruz said at a debate earlier in March that they would support Trump if he were to win the nomination. Trump, who spoke Tuesday after Cruz, said that he was fine not having Cruz's support. "I don't want to have him be tormented. Let me just tell you, I don't want his support," Trump said. "I don't need his support. I want him to be comfortable." PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- One man is dead and another hospitalized after stabbings at a Pascagoula apartment complex Tuesday. According to Shannon Broom, Director of Special Operations for the Pascagoula Police Department, 41-year-old Joel Marvin Thornton of Jackson County died as a result of stab wounds received in the incident. Broom said police received a call of a disturbance at Tall Pine Apartments on Hospital Road at about 11:34 a.m. Tuesday. Officers initially could not locate the disturbance and after speaking with residents in the parking lot, learned the apartment number police had been given did not exist. Roughly 20 minutes later, police were notified by Singing River Hospital that two men were in the emergency room with stab wounds. Officers arrived at the hospital and determined both men had been stabbed at Pine Tree Apartments. Returning to the apartment complex, officers began investigating and learned the location of the stabbings. The residents of the apartment advised that three white males had kicked in the door of the apartment and demanded money. A fight ensued and one of the residents of the apartment grabbed a kitchen knife and and stabbed two of the three men, who then fled the scene. According to Broom, investigators believe the incident stemmed from an earlier situation which was described as a drug deal gone bad -- one of the apartment residents stole drugs from one of the men who later kicked in the apartment door. Police have not released the identities of any of the persons involved in the incident, other than Thornton. Investigators turned over information to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, which has opted to present the case to a Grand Jury to determine if charges are warranted. Latest News NAB reveals six market megatrends for brokers More opportunities for investors, first home buyers Firstmac shifts up a gear on auto loans National sales manager appointed to pursue growing market Concern about the impact foreign money has on house prices is not unique to Australia, with Canadas central bank expressing concern about how the flow of foreign capital into the countrys real estate market is being tracked.According to a Bloomberg report last week, calculations by Peter Routledge, a financial analyst at the National Bank of Canada, suggest that Chinese investors purchased C$12.7 billion worth of residential real estate in the Canadian city of Vancouver in 2015, which represents 33% of the total C$38.5 billion sold in the year.In Toronto, Chinese buyers are estimated to have accounted for 14% of purchases, or about C$9 billion of the C$63 billion worth of sales that happened in 2015.The analysis came days after the Canadian government announced it will spend C$500,000 over the coming year to research foreign buyers, an amount Routledge suggested will likely do little to give the country a better understanding of the scope of foreign investment."Investing only 25.7% of the cost of an average price of a detached home in Vancouver is, at the very least, a touch on the low side," Routledge was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. Charles Pittar , chief executive officer of Juwai.com, an online platform that markets Australian real estate to Chinese buyers, told Australian Broker's sister publication, Your Investment Property, that governments should be committed to providing information about foreign buyers as it would help clear misconceptions about their impacts on housing markets.Weve always advocated better information gathering. At Juwai.com, we think more transparency will help Australians realise how important offshore investment is, and how beneficial it is, Pittar told Your Investment Property Magazine.The recent Parliamentary inquiry looked into offshore real estate investment and concluded it was vital to improving supply and moderating price gains and affordability, he said.In Australia the latest official figures on foreign buyers are from the Foreign Investment Review Boards 2013-14 financial year report; however a Treasury department spokesperson said the 2014-15 report will be released shortly.While recent government figures arent available, Pittar said market research shows Chines buyers do account for a significant portion of Australian real estate.Credit Suisse believes that Chinese buyers account for 15% of all new home buying today, and will account for about 20% by 2020. Meriton stated that foreign buyers make up about 13% of buyers of its new units. There are premium agents in particular markets like Mosman for whom Chinese make up about half of all buyers, he said."In Melbourne, the NAB says about 30 per cent of apartment sales are from overseas buyers. Its an important market, which nobody should overlook.Pittar said those levels are likely to increase in coming years, with their being no sign of Australian real estate losing its attraction to buyers from the Asian superpower.We dont see any indication that Chinese are losing interest in Australian property. Quite the opposite, we expect Chinese investment in Australian real estate to set new records by 2020. All the push factors are still in place. China has a vast amount of pent-up demand for international real estate. As their second most popular market, Australia stands to benefit from the immense growth in Chinese international investment that will take place in the coming years.In February, our users made 39.7% more buying enquiries to property sellers than a year earlier, which suggests that the trend is up." Latest News NAB reveals six market megatrends for brokers More opportunities for investors, first home buyers Firstmac shifts up a gear on auto loans National sales manager appointed to pursue growing market Sydneys housing affordability crisis is being artificially exacerbated by lunacy tax incentives, a new report has claimed.According to the analysis by the UNSW's City Futures Research Centre, up to 90,000 properties are sitting empty in some of Sydneys most sought-after suburbs as investors chase capital gains over rental returns.The analysis researchers, Professor Bill Randolph and Dr Laurence Troy, said this is thanks to the "perverse outcomes" of tax incentives such as negative gearing, Fairfax has reported.Leaving housing empty is both profitable and subsidised by government," Randolph and Troy told Fairfax."This is taxation lunacy and a national scandal."According to Fairfax, the 2011 census revealed that in Sydney's emptiest neighbourhood of the CBD, Haymarket and The Rocks, one in seven dwellings was vacant.Close behind were Manly-Fairlight, Potts Point-Woolloomooloo, Darlinghurst and Neutral Bay-Kirribilli, which all had vacancy levels above 13%. These neighbourhoods, together with central Sydney, account for nearly 7,200 empty homes.The UNSW analysis of the 90,000 unoccupied dwellings across metropolitan Sydney compared the number of empty homes in a suburb against the rate of return investors made by renting out a property.It found that properties in neighbourhoods with lower rental yields and higher expected capital gains were more likely to be unoccupied.Gordon-Killara on the north shore had the highest share of vacant apartments, with more than one in six unoccupied on Census night, according to Fairfax. By contrast, only one in 42 dwellings (2.4%) in Green Valley-Cecil Hills, in Sydney's west, was unoccupied.These results suggest property investors in some of Sydney's most desirable areas have become indifferent to whether their investment property is rented or not. Instead, investors are chasing capital gains with rental losses offset by negative gearing and capital gains concessions.According to Troy and Randolph, this calls into question Sydneys housing supply and affordability problem.If you choose to accept that there is a housing shortage in Sydney, then the sheer scale and location of these figures strongly suggest that this is an artificially produced scarcity, they said, according to Fairfax. PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Hubert Patrick Anderson, one of two suspects in the capital murder of a Biloxi man near Ocean Springs last week, has been transferred from Harrison County, where he was arrested, and is now incarcerated at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center. According to Sheriff Mike Ezell, Anderson will make his initial appearance in Jackson County Court Thursday at 9 a.m. Anderson, 35, and Rita Olivia Johnston, 36, are charged with the capital murder of 29-year-old Donta Lashawn Banks, whose body was found laying on a dirt road in Ocean Beach Estates -- a sprawling development adjacent to the St. Andrews community southeast of Ocean Springs. A sheriff's deputy on routine patrol found the body. 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. If convicted of the capital murder charge, Anderson and Johnston face the death penalty or life in prison. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Dont fugheddaboutit! Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders could face off in a hotly anticipated war of words in Brooklyn ahead of the April 19 primary, after the former New York senator finally said Tuesday that she is open to a debate in Kings County amid mounting pressure. Now local Berners say the two camps must lock it in so Brooklynites can hear for themselves where the two candidates stand on the issues. A debate is extraordinarily important, said Sunset Parker Paul Brown, who decided to volunteer with the Sanders campaign after travelling around Vermont and speaking to the senators constituents. People need to know first-hand where these candidates stand. Sanders first threw down the gauntlet for a Brooklyn debate back in January, but the Clinton campaign refused to respond publicly until Monday, when one of the former secretary of states strategists fended off the question by saying on CNN that the tone of Sanders campaign had become too negative. Lets see the tone of the campaign he wants to run before we get to any other questions, said Joel Benenson, who also inadvertently complimented his bosss opponent when he speculated that Sanders would campaign in New York like a Brooklynite while Clinton would stump like a senator. Sanders fans responded with a barrage of tweets under the hashtag #ToneDownForWhat? demanding Clinton agree to the debate, and on Tuesday night, she told reporters at an event in Wisconsin she now is open to a Borough of Kings battle royale. If they can find a mutually agreeable date in the next couple of weeks before New York, I think it could happen, Clinton staffer Brian Fallon subsequently told Bloomberg. Sign of the times: Hillary supporters Terryl Donovan and Lisa Chamberlain at an organizing event in Park Slope on Tuesday night. Photo by Jason Speakman And Brooklyn Clinton supporters say theyre excited to see their top pick go head-to-head with Sanders on local turf, too. I think it would be exciting, said Park Sloper Lisa Chamberlain, who is volunteering with the Clinton campaign and suggested the verbal wrangle could take place at the recently renovated Kings Theatre in Flatbush. Hillary is an excellent debater I definitely support her asking Sanders to tone down the negativity, but she has nothing to lose. But, they say, it will probably be more spectacle than substance, and theyre not sure there is much either candidate can say at this point that politically engaged Brooklynites havent heard. I generally think that more transparency is better, said Gowanus resident Chandler Sante, who says he likes both Democratic candidates but prefers Clinton. I think the optics on this are being played out because this is Hillarys home turf, which is ridiculous because we know what there positions are. Both candidates are hoping to capitalize on their ties to the borough Clinton placed her campaign headquarters in Brooklyn Heights, while Sanders was born and raised in Flatbush before inexplicably defecting elsewhere. Clinton has handily out-earned her rival in Brooklyn so far Kings County fans donated around $1,646,000 to her campaign as of last month, while local Sanders supporters have only donated around $581,000, according to disclosure data. But Sanders has the numbers on his side he scored more than 7,000 individual contributions from the borough, while Clinton received more than 5,000. The Clinton campaign did not return request for comment by press time. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Theyre already warming up. Officials havent announced this summers inaugural concert lineup at the still-under-construction Coney Island Amphitheater, but bands are busy selling tickets anyhow. A search of ticket-sellers including Ticketmaster, which owns the seaside amphitheaters operating company Live Nation reveals that at least six acts have signed on to perform. Perhaps the biggest group slated is classic rock pioneer Boston, which will blow in from Beantown on Aug. 10, according to the bands website. Heres the fullest lineup we could find: Staten Island comedians Impractical Jokers, who are no strangers to Coney Island, will yuk it up on July 1, according to a Ticketmaster listing. Nebraskan funkrockers 311 (not named for the popular New York complaint line) will take the stage on July 16 alongside Jewish reggae icon Matisyahu, who lived in Crown Heights for years before defecting to the West Coast, a search of Ticketmasters website shows. White-boy stoner reggae act Slightly Stoopid plays July 23, according to artist-tracker SongK ick.com Alt-metal rockers Deftones will set ears ringing on Aug. 5, according to Ticketmaster. And similar-veined Shinedown is set to play two days later on Aug. 7, SongKick reports. Celtic punks Flogging Molly are having a seisun on Aug. 26, according to ticket purveyor Vivid Seats.com Amphitheater management did not return a request for comment, but the full concert schedule is due out mid-April, a representative said. Tickets for the shows range from about $35 to upwards of $70. None of the acts appear to be part of the free, Seaside Summer Concerts Series that the borough presidents office puts on organizers have not released the seriess schedule. Reach reporter Max Jaeger at mjaeg er@cn gloca l.com or by calling (718) 2608303. Follow him on Twitter @JustTheMax. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams It is Gothams greatest reboot since The Dark Knight. A dynamic duo has swooped in to save Brownstone Brooklynites suffering from the loss of Park Slopes Bergen Street Comics last year, recently opening a new comics emporium in Cobble Hill where they aim to keep the defunct stores legacy alive by recreating its strong local ties and laid-back atmosphere. Their relationship with the community and the vibe of their store is what were hoping to emulate, said Park Sloper Cabe Schreger, who started planning the shop with buddy Davey Kourtesis after Bergen Streets owners closed their doors in September. The Brooklyn natives and recent college graduates opened Mama Says Comics Rock at Court and Degraw streets in mid-March only a few blocks from the old site of another beloved local comic shop, Rocketship, which closed in 2010. Like its inspiration, the store carries a mix of big-name Lycra-clad heroes and obscure indie titles that will please fans across the spectrum, Schreger says. In addition to comics and graphic novels from well-known publishing juggernauts such as Marvel and DC, they plan to showcase a different independent artist each month, and will also be the exclusive purveyor of Gowanus publisher So What? Press which put out a comic about an evil monster lurking in the murky depths of the Gowanus Canal. The pair also plan to host signings, workshops, and drawing classes. It isnt just Bergen Street refugees patronizing the boutique Schreger says many of the areas young families come in looking for a way to get their kids excited about reading. Adult newbies have also made their way in, and he says it is a thrill introducing them to their first comic books. Its really exciting for us to watch people get into comics at the get-go, said Schreger, who started out as a Batman fan before delving into more obscure comics. And though it may never bring in Bruce Wayne-level bucks, the smiling customers more than make up for it, he said We wouldnt necessarily be in print marketing if we were hungry for the millions, said Schreger. Were doing it because we love the community and we think a lot of people involved around comics are really great. Mama Says Comics Rock [306 Court St. at Degraw Street in Cobble Hill, (718) 7973464)]. collage.jpg Grand larceny suspects (left to right): Alicia Carmack, Eric Lewis Hunter and Buford Lashaun McLaurin. (George County Jail) LUCEDALE, Mississippi -- Three suspects have been arrested and charged with grand larceny after a George County deputy found them in possession of a lawnmower stolen from the county barn. According to George County Sheriff Keith Havard, the deputy was on routine patrol around 4:40 a.m. Tuesday when he spotted a truck and trailer, with a lawn mower loaded on the trailer, stuck in a ditch along Highway 26. The deputy stopped and was speaking with the three individuals when he noticed lawn mower tracks leading back to the Beat 4 County Barn. The three suspects -- 36-year-od Eric Lewis Hunter of Greenville, Miss., 34-year-old Buford Lashaun McLaurin and 30-year-old Alicia Carmack, both of Gulfport, were taken into custody and charged with grand larceny. All three are in the George County Regional Jail awaiting an initial court appearance. latest news October 3, 2022 Dee Gambit Hundreds if not thousands of new and returning TV shows and movies are released every month your options of what to watch are endless. Variety, they say is ... The ladies of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills have been in beautiful Dubai for less than a day and theyre already rehashing the overplayed drama that has plagued the group for months. Hopefully, they can find some time to set petty gossip aside to enjoy the most luxurious hotel this franchise has ever seen, however highly unlikely that may seem. Lets get to it in this episode, Dubai Daze. RHOBH Cast Shake-Up: Find Out Whos Out for Season 7 >>> The Wonders of Dubai Lisa Vanderpump and Kyle squeeze themselves into wet suits to spend an afternoon swimming with sea lions. The ladies have a ton of fun getting kisses from the sea lions. Lisa wants to get one of her own for Villa Rosa. Eileen and Erika opt to see the aquarium instead. As they admire the view, they discuss the previous night. Erika doesnt understand where Lisa Rinnas anger toward Yolanda is coming from. She thinks its unfair of someone to criticize someone so sick. Eileen, ever the problem solver, encourages Erika to bring up her problems to Lisa Rinna. The other two ladies, Kathryn and Lisa Rinna, go for the spa treatment for the day. Lisa Rinna says she shouldnt be shamed for her opinions, but Kathryn says only if those opinions are coming from a place of honesty and not judgment. She also thinks that Yolanda put herself on social media to be discussed, so why shouldnt they discuss it? Again, Kathryn reminds her that she did put herself on social media but not to be so harshly judged. Later that evening, Lisa Rinna and Eileen meet up before they join the rest of the ladies. Eileen tells Lisa about her conversation with Erika. Eileen says that if Lisa Rinna is really being honest, she should come clean about all of her accusations about Lisa Vanderpump and Kyle gossiping about Yolanda. She says that Lisa has a lot to say to her, but face-to-face with the other women shes not as brave. Lisa says shes not quite ready to jump on the Vanderpump is manipulative train, even if she knows its true. Shes a close friend and she doesnt want to hurt her. Desert Chic The ladies get on a bus to go to the desert. Erika, in her desert chic look (a mohawk braid and a dark, smoky eye), is ready to get out and see some of the countries shes never been to before. They meet their desert guide, who helps them tie their head scarves for a buggy ride through the desert. Then theyre treated to a show of falconry where they all get a chance to pose for glamorous pictures with the falcon, Gizmo, and a beautiful desert backdrop. Next on the schedule is a beautiful Arabian Nights dinner set in the middle of the desert complete with a henna artist, camel milk drinks and a dancer that reminds Kyle of her own hair-whipping prowess. Some of the ladies opt out of the camel meat dinner though (Lisa Vanderpump refuses to eat Humpy), but Kathryn would rather have the full experience of the culture even if it is a little gamy. Things are going nicely until Lisa Rinna starts running her mouth about Yolanda again. Erika asks her if she doesnt like Yolanda. Lisa says the two of them have a ways to go. Then Lisa Rinna asks Erika if she likes them, and she says she likes them all more now than she did upon meeting them, but thats just because shes slow to trust people. Lisa Rinna asks Erika if she judged them upon meeting them and she says shes not one to judge. But Lisa says she judged Erika for having such a sexual music video. Erika cant believe that someone who posed twice for Playboy is coming for her. After that, Erika visibly disengages and is through with the conversation. She says theres no way she can open up to Lisa Rinna more when she sees her being so nasty and judgmental to her friend. The rest of the ladies leave the Lisas alone to go smoke some hookah, something that Eileens an apparent expert at. Rinna confronts Vanderpump about how she tried to manipulate Rinna into bringing up the Munchausen topic while completely taking herself and Kyle out of the conversation in front of the cameras. Vanderpump denies, denies, denies and says she would never have used the M word. Rinna can hardly believe that someone is lying like that straight to her face. Kim Richards Talks Rehab and RHOBH Co-Stars >>> Lets Make a Deal The next day, the ladies go to the Dubai market for some shopping. They all feel like theyre straight out of the Sex and the City movie. Eileen is a bargaining monster and it makes her feel alive and free. Eileen says that when you go to a new country, you have to eat their food and wear their clothes. Kathryn has a problem with wearing the clothes, though, when a cockroach crawls over her when she tries on a caftan. Later, Kyle, Kathryn and Lisa Rinna go to lunch while the rest of the ladies nap. Rinna talks about her moment with Vanderpump from the night before. Kyle says she knew about the conversation that Rinna and Vanderpump had off-camera. Not only that, but Kyle says that Vanderpump tried to get Kyle dragged into it too and pit her against Lisa Rinna. But Kyle knows Vanderpump too well and refused to get caught up in her web. Lisa Rinna cant believe that Kyles been sitting on this and just letting her flail in the wind. She says shes tired of being their scapegoat. Lisa Rinna goes to Eileens suite before dinner because shes the one person she can trust. What shes saying is this: Lisa Vanderpump encouraged her to drag Kyle into the Munchausen conversation. Then when she left, Lisa Vanderpump tried to tell Kyle that Lisa Rinna was the one who wanted to drag Kyle into the argument. She thinks she was trying to pit them against each other and change the story to make herself look better, and shes not going to allow her to do that anymore. What Eileen cant believe is that Kyles completely okay with her friend just throwing her under the bus like that. She thinks its finally time for Lisa Vanderpump to start being accountable for her actions. The ladies take a red carpet to their beachfront dinner. Lisa Rinna talks with the ladies before Vanderpump and Kyle arrive. Erika encourages her to speak her truth, and she supports Lisa Rinna in her endeavor even though she thinks she looks too good in her babyface Versace to be fighting on a beach in Dubai. When Vanderpump and Kyle arrive to dinner, they can feel the tension. Lisa Rinna tells them she has to get all of this off her chest. To her credit, she holds her own against Vanderpump in the face of her constant denial. She tells Vanderpump to stop deflecting and take responsibility for the part shes played in all of this. Kyle tries to jump in to defend Lisa Vanderpump. But all she manages to do is validate Lisa Rinnas claim because shes not willing to lie for Vanderpump. She says, yes, they were all talking about Yolanda, but Lisa Rinna is the one who brought up Munchausen. And, yes, Lisa Vanderpump tried to start more drama, but shes okay with that because shes in a good place with her friendship with Lisa Vanderpump. But Eileen and Lisa Rinna arent okay with her lying. Lisa Rinna says that Vanderpump changed the story and made her the bad guy, and shes disappointed in her for that. Vanderpump says in her confessional that shes disappointed in Rinna too. Theyve been friends for a long time, but now she feels betrayed. Lisa Vanderpump tries to get up and walk away, but Kyle wants to keep everyone there until its all resolved, which doesnt look like its happening anytime soon. Eileen tells Lisa theyre not bullying her, and Rinna tells her to stop playing the victim. Erika says that in order for Lisa Rinna to move on, she needs Lisa Vanderpump to 100% own what she did and said, and if she doesnt hear what she wants to hear, she wont be able to let go. Next time, Eileen continues to stand up for herself. Its about time. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 9pm on Bravo. (Image courtesy of Bravo) Media Advisory: UB to host Refugee Health Summit this Saturday Issam Smeir, a native of Jordan and a counselor who specializes in trauma treatment for refugees, victims of torture and severely abused and neglected children, is the keynote speaker for UB's third annual Refugee Health Summit. BUFFALO, N.Y. The University at Buffalo will host its third annual Refugee Health Summit from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, at the Arthur O. Eve Educational Opportunity Center, 555 Ellicott St., Buffalo. Media are invited to attend. For press arrangements before Saturday, contact David Hill in the UB Office of Communication, 716-645-4651. On-site contact is Pavani Ram, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health, 716-829-5380. This years presenter is Issam Smeir, a native of Jordan who, in his role with World Relief, works directly with refugees from 23 countries and trains World Relief staff in areas of trauma and cultural competency. Smeir also offers supervision to psychotherapists and psychiatrists in Arab Spring countries through clinical consulting with the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims based in Copenhagen, Denmark. His keynote address is titled Battling on two fronts: Trauma and cultural adjustment. The event is open to the public. Participants are asked to register. Approximately 130 people have registered to attend. The morning session is free and will feature local refugee health program and project updates, Smeirs keynote address and a panel session on trauma and cultural competency in Buffalo. The afternoon session costs $10 and will include a training session, led by Smeir, on conflict and peacemaking across cultures. Smeir will help participants understand cultural differences in handling conflict and steps to take when experiencing conflict across cultures. This years summit focuses on trauma-informed, culturally engaged care. Participants can learn about the ways in which individuals work through trauma and cultural adjustment, how that can affect their physical and mental health, and how practitioners, clinicians and social service providers can provide the support and care that is needed, said Jessica Scates, a co-organizer of the event with Kim Griswold, MD, MPH, who holds faculty appointments in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the School of Public Health and Health Professions. Scates serves as administrative coordinator to the UB Community for Global Health Equity, a co-sponsor of the event along with the School of Public Health and Health Professions Office of Global Health Initiatives. In addition to UB, several local agencies and organizations will be represented, including area health clinics, hospital systems, social services, Erie County, resettlement agencies, refugee communities and community support centers. The summit was created three years ago to help identify barriers and explore solutions to culturally engaged health care for refugee populations in Buffalo. FloPlast is the latest plumbing supplier to join the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF). Plumbing and heating is now one of the fastest growing areas of BMF membership, with 200 merchant and supplier members operating in this sector. With its head office and manufacturing facility in Kent, FloPlast specialises in areas including PVC-UE roofline, window and cladding, rainwater, soil and waste, underground, hot and cold plumbing and MDPE systems. FloPlast has developed a product and service package designed to support merchant sales. This includes merchant staff training, technical/specification advisory service, knowledgeable & dedicated sales force, one-to-one customer support, bespoke marketing material and much more. BMF managing director John Newcomb said: Im delighted to welcome FloPlast into BMF membership. Im sure they will get great benefits from being part of our P&H Forum. Since it was established three years ago, it has become one of our most actively supported resources. I look forward to seeing FloPlast at the forthcoming Forum, on 5 April. 5 changes to you, your seafood and the Shore from warming Atlantic Senior engineers at French energy firm EDF have called for at least a two year delay to the controversial Hinkley Point C project near Burnham-On-Sea and recommended a redesign of the reactor technology, according to national media reports this week. The Financial Times says an internal white paper written by dissenting EDF engineers argues that Hinkley Point is so complex and untested that the company should announce a later completion date than its target of 2025. The paper, circulated among top executives, says the realistic service date will be 2027 due to the size of the project and continuing design modifications to the European Pressurised Reactor system. The white paper also makes the case for a new EPR, calling on the company to redesign the current reactor technology to make it smaller, cheaper to build and less complicated. But EDF said in a statement on Tuesday (March 29th) that it is sticking to the planned timetable. The date for the first operation of Hinkley Point C has not changed. It will be in 2025, it said. EDF has been hit by internal tensions over Hinkley Point C, with chief financial officer Thomas Piquemal stepping down earlier this month over concerns that the project could threaten the companys future. Critics have also raised concerns over the 18bn cost given EDFs stretched finances. Two other projects in France and Finland using the same EPR technology are both severely delayed and billions over budget. The period of economic boom has exacerbated the asymmetry between customers and banks, and this aspect has created the need to create an entity that would provide consumers with the option for the alternative resolution of disputes with banks, namely the Center for Alternative Resolution of Lawsuits in the Banking System (CSALB), says Bogdan Olteanu, the deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR). The official of the Central Bank said: "The financial sector has made this financial effort that I praise, to find the necessary mechanisms for this structure, to remove the need for consumers to bear any costs". The creation of the SAL has produced a series of controversies, as many people feel that it is a complicated process. Bogdan Olteanu said, quoted by Agerpres: "For one of the parties, for the banks, what is so complicated is that there currently is a system that treats them asymmetrically compared to the treatment that consumers get! Yes, that's how things work nowadays, at least in Europe. There is an asymmetry in treatment that balances out the relationship between consumers and banks and it is natural for it to be that way, because there is an asymmetry in accessing information, there is an asymmetry in the processing of that information between consumers and banks, and then the institutional system rebalances the relationship which makes it possible, for instance, for a decision rendered here to be mandatory, while consumers are allowed to challenge it further if they do not agree with it". In the opinion of the NBR deputy governor, lawyers are against the system because they are losing money the moment consumers decide not to go to court to resolve the lawsuit with the bank and they go to the Center instead: "It is a success and I want to celebrate it. We are among the countries that have succeeded in building such a Center. I hope that next year we are going to find that we have also made it functional. (...) Good luck to banks in scrubbing their reputation of the dirt that has accumulated during the boom period. We are, I hope, on the right path to reestablish this relationship of trust, where citizens go to confidently deposit the money earned through their work with the bank, and other citizens go in with confidence to borrow that money, to use it and then pay it back, so that the depositor can get it back at any time". Speaking about the fact that the president of the SAL has worked in banks for over ten years, Paunescu explained that the College for the Coordination of the CSALB needed experienced people, with financial knowledge The Center for Alternative Resolution of Lawsuits in the Banking System (CSALB) represents a viable solution for reestablishing the balance between consumers and the financial-banking institutions, as the procedure is free of charge for consumers and subject to a deadline of 90 days, says Alexandru Paunescu, the head of the Legal Department of the NBR and a member in the College for the Coordination of the Center. He explained: "Why is this Center for Alternative Resolution needed? Because of the context that we are in - with consumers not trusting financial banking services and the existence of a large number of ongoing lawsuits. For those reasons, the Center has been seen as an option for reestablishing the balance between consumers and the financial and banking institutions, as a viable solution to reduce the costs tied to resolving these lawsuits in court. These costs are derived from the long periods needed for resolution through the courts, by the diverging interpretations of the courts in similar cases and the by the unpredictable solutions of the courts. From the point of view of the relationship between consumers and the Center, the benefits of alternative resolutions are certain: the procedures are initiated at the consumers' initiative, they are free of charge and they take less time than the resolution of a classic lawsuit in court". According to him, the actual resolution of the litigations will be done by conciliators, who will be selected based on criteria stipulated in the Ordinance for the creation of the Center and according to a methodology set by the management of the entity, namely by the College for the Coordination of the Center. The SAL center will be financed by the financial-banking institutions, and the contribution has been set at 600,000 Euros per year, but the conciliators will not be paid directly by banks, but instead will be compensated directly through the Center, regardless of the solution given, whether it was in favor of the borrower or of the bank, Paunescu further says. He also said that those conciliators will be independent from banks. Concerning the quota that each institution will need to contribute to the budget of the Center, it will be decided according to the "market share of the bank on the retail segment and based on the number of lawsuits" which the bank has under way with consumers, said Alexandru Paunescu. The financing of the SAL Center, as well as the members of its executive structure are two of the aspects criticized by some specialists and consumers, among others, as there are concerns that if the funding is coming from the banking system, then the decisions could be subjective. The SAL center is led by a Coordination College made up of five members, one from the NBR< the ANPC, the RBNA and the consumer associations, and one independent member, elected by the other four. Consumers have doubts over the fifth member of the College, "who should be independent". Simona Valceanu, who holds the position of president of the College, has been employed by several banks between 1997 and 2009, and was the head of the Legal Department of the headquarters of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR). Previously, the position of independent member of the Coordination College was held by Brandusa Stefanescu, former judge and former vice-president of the International Court of Arbitrage of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania. "Her replacement in the College has not been explained in any way so far. Besides, the entire activity of the Coordination College lacks transparency, as the website of the institution provides very little information about its activity since its creation", the Association of Romanian Financial Services Users (AURSF) stated recently. Speaking about the fact that the independent member who also holds the position of president of the College currency, has a vast expertise in the banking sector, Alexandru Paunescu explained that the College needed experienced people, with financial knowledge, but he said that the members of the College will not be in charge of resolving lawsuits, but will only provide the infrastructure needed for the procedures. The Center currently has five ongoing cases, and people interested can obtain information about this procedure from the website of the entity. In the coming period, several operations to increase awareness of for this Center will be performed, as banks are required through the ordinance to notify their customers about the existence of this entity. For now, there are 12 conciliators who are certified for the resolution of such lawsuits, a number which is considered sufficient for the time being, since according to estimates, a conciliator can manage about 10 cases a month. Concerning the actual procedure for sending in the complaints, submissions will take place predominantly via electronic means, but the option of conciliators traveling to the plaintiff's home is also being considered, for plaintiffs not living in Bucharest. Furthermore, according to Paunescu, "the litigation can even be resolved without the parties being present". Displeased customers ought to know that they can talk to this center only after presenting proof of having attempted to work out an amicable solution with the bank. That proof can consist of an e-mail received from the bank or of the request submitted with the bank with a registration number, which has not received an answer within a "reasonable" delay. Consumers should also know that complaints over amounts smaller than 1,000 lei or those made in bad-faith, which can obstruct the activity of the Center. Pandelica, ANPC: "The SAL center can simultaneously help relieve the workload of the courts, which will be busy with the giving in payment and with the insolvency of individuals" The Center for the Alternative Resolution of Lawsuits in the Financial-Banking System (CSALB) will help relieve the workload of the courts pertaining to the lawsuits between borrowers and banks, will ensure a balanced way of resolving the disputes between the two parties, and its credibility will be reinforced after the resolution of the initial cases, says the president of the National Consumer Protection Authority, Bogdan Pandelica. According to him, the normalization of the relationship between lenders and consumers can only happen through efficient communication with consumers, backed by complete, coherent and precise information. "There is currently a large range of ways to resolve these issues: mediation, the institutions of the state, the ANPC, the courts. (...) The alternative resolution of the lawsuits is a new way of resolving disputes, an amicable one. From the point of view of the amicable nature, this system is nothing new. The system is different from mediation (...). Ensuring equidistance when a case is being analyzed is primordial, and conciliators will need to take on the role of a judge, to see things from both points of view, to remove any biases", Pandelica further said. He explained that this new center can help relieve the workload of the courts, which will be busy with the giving in payment and individual insolvencies. The SAL center began its operation this year. FOR KING AND ANOTHER COUNTRY Shrabani Basu Bloomsbury India 442 pages; Rs 599 One of the best-known war poets of English Literature, Wilfred Owen died in the trenches, aged 25, seven days before World War I ended. The lines of poetry that he carried in his notebook during the war were "When I go from hence, let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable" from Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali. Shrabani Basu in her book For King and Another Country talks about how this fact often moved her. It was, however, much later that she realised that there was a deeper connection to India in World War I. While the names of Indian soldiers who died fighting in World War I is commemorated on the India Gate, few in India know about the lives of these soldiers who crossed the Kala Pani for the first time, to die in foreign fields. Ms Basu notes, "There were Indians too fighting in those same trenches, shoulder to shoulder with their 'Sahibs' with unquestioning loyalty." The Indian contribution to World War I cannot be underestimated. By the end of the war, nearly one and a half million Indians (including combatants and non-combatants) had gone to the frontline. Indians comprised the largest volunteer army from any of the colonies (even larger than the combined armies from Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland). By the end of the war, the dead and missing were almost 72,000, and many more were wounded and disabled. Ms Basu explains what participation in the War meant for the different parties involved. For Britain, taking the Indian Army to war would send out a powerful message to the world. To its allies, France and Russia, it would portray the solidarity between Britain and its largest colony. To the Germans, the message would be that a large naval power could call upon the military might of its global empire. To the Indian political class, loyalty to the British Empire could gain "brownie points" in future negotiations for autonomy and eventual self-rule. To the soldiers, it was a chance to go to vilayat. The book brings the war to life through six soldiers, three Maharajas, two airmen and a cleaner. Ms Basu details the roles of some of the British viceroys, generals, members of the Cabinet among others. Using the thousands of letters soldiers wrote home, Ms Basu notes their despair, anxiety and loyalty to the King and the British Empire. She also expounds on the camaraderie and racism they faced while fighting Britain's battles. The book highlights fascinating facts about the logistics of the war - how Indian soldiers were looked after and their needs met by different sources. Comfort food items to cope in the trenches such as boiled sweets, gud, papad, and pickle often made their way. Coconut oil for the their hair was sourced from India. Copies of the Guru Granth Sahib for the Sikhs, and the miniature Quran (Pansuras) for Muslims were sent across. Establishing separate kitchens for Hindus and Muslims created a "logistical nightmare" for the British. Often orderlies were killed in crossfire while transporting food to the trenches. Ms Basu depicts how the Indian caste system seeped into the European battlefields, as an untouchable cleaner Sukha died of pneumonia in 1915, and neither the Muslim nor Hindu soldiers stepped up for his funeral. Finally, a church in Brockenhurst offered a space in the graveyard. "It tells a lot about our social system," Ms Basu concludes. Letters Indian soldiers wrote home were first submitted to British censorship authorities. The outgoing letters were censored to ensure they did not contain information about the war, or portray English society in a negative view, which could impact future recruitment. So the Indians formed their own code, using "red pepper" to refer to the British and "black pepper" for Indian soldiers. The censors soon identified these codes and would come to understand the mood troops based on them. Newspapers such as Ghadar, Bande Mataram and The Indian Sociologist had to be confiscated before they instigated mutiny. The book concludes with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, which took place barely five months after the war. 400,000 people from Punjab had fought in the war, and this massacre was seen as "a cruel reward for their loyalty." Ms Basu looks at this incident through the eyes of one of the most prominent airmen of the War, Hardit Singh Malik. "Malik who had so proudly flown his Sopwith Camel aircraft over Belgium and France, risking his life for the allies, watched in horror as his colleagues from the RAF pounded his homeland with bombs killing innocent civilians." This was among the first time air power was used against non-combatants. As seen in her previous books, Victoria and Abdul and A Spy Princess, Ms Basu has a knack for picking esoteric slices of history that are not adequately explored. At a time when nationality and nationalism are topics of debate, and history finds itself often divorced from facts and in the hands of interpretation, Ms. Basu's book adds a nuanced understanding of the Indian identity before independence. The books unwraps concepts of loyalty, patriotism, nationhood and analyses the motivations of the Indians for participating and dying in a foreign war. Vijay Mallya, chairman of defunct Kingfisher Airlines has finally come to the negotiation table and is willing to settle all his claims for Rs 4,000 crore. The amount is less than half the Rs 9,000 crore he owes to a consortium of banks, which contains nearly Rs 6,963 crore in borrowed principal. Banks have asked the Supreme Court for time to consider the proposal. Malllya earlier this month left India for the UK after striking a deal with Diageo Plc to step down from the chairmanship of United Spirits Ltd. In return, the UK-based liquor major agreed to pay him about Rs 500 crore over a five-year period, on condition that Mallya would adhere to a global no-compete clause with the exception of the UK. While its good that Mallya is willing to settle the issue of his dues he had even given banks a personal guarantee here are five questions about the whole episode that immediately come to mind. 1. Is Mallya buying time by making such offers to banks? Earlier, it had been reported that Mallya had offered Rs 2,000 crore as a settlement amount, but when the bankers rejected the offer he increased it to Rs 4,000 crore. Clearly if Mallya can jump in increments of Rs 2,000 crore he has the money and is playing with the banks on who will blink first. 2. If he had the money, why did Mallya leave the country? It seems money is not the only problem Mallya is facing. He has been pulled up by the court in a money laundering case, too. Irrespective of the fact that he repays the banks, he might face punishment under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act. 3. Why did Mallya not pay salaries of his employees? Nor did KFA pay forward the income tax deducted at source from employees, which was the first trigger for the airlines accounts being frozen. It was comparatively a smaller amount and he could have taken an honourable exit. 4. Will the bankers get away scot-free by recovering at least part of the money owed them? Banks have lent at irrational valuations. They are partly to be blamed for the mess they created for themselves. Will a settlement mean that roles of all those involved in clearing the loans will be settled too? 5. Finally, questions on the recovery process will be raised. In the case of Kingfisher Airlines, around 81 hearings have already taken place since 2013 but the recovery process has not yet started. Bigger with their legal power and financial muscle are able to delay recovery proceedings which a retail borrower cannot. Marking its entry into the defence sector, the Adani Group has signed a statement of intent with Elbit-ISTAR and Alpha Design Technologies Pvt Ltd to cooperate and work together in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in India. Adani Aero Defence Systems & Technologies Ltd plans to create a tiered vendor base, for supporting indigenisation and localisation requirements, It seeks to setup a final assembly and integration line including MRO facilities, by incorporating true transfer of technology for supporting the product range during its lifecycle, Adani Group stated. The group added that as the next frontier of technology, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) provide multi functional capability, especially that of seeing and hearing in providing information advantage to war fighters and net security providers. A fully-owned subsidiary of the Adani Group's flagship Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) has been formed with interest in design, technology development, technical collaboration, system integration services for aerospace & defence equipment and systems. An Israel-based international defence electronics company, Elbit Systems Ltd. is engaged in a range of defense, homeland security and commercial programs globally. Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries operate in the areas of aerospace, land and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance as well as unmanned aircraft systems. Elbit Systems is also engaged in advanced electro-optics, electro-optic space systems, EW suites, signal intelligence systems, data links and communications systems, radios and cyber-based systems. On the other hand, Alpha Design Technologies Pvt Ltd. is a Telangana-based company, specialising in design, development and production of defence electronics and avionics equipment & systems, airframes, upgradation of cockpits, opto-electronics, Thermal Imager based fire control systems, communications including SDR, EW and microwave systems, software, indigenization and obsolescence management in defence systems. The statement of intent is being made as part of the companies' commitment to the Make in India scheme, Adani Group further stated. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that he would pay Rs 4,000 crore by September as settlement for a default on loans to banks.Lenders, however, are taking the offer with a pinch of salt. They claim the submission of a plan to repay six months later is hardly satisfactory.The promoter of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines would have to show specific assets and money for repayment. The banks want to see the money, said one of them.A senior advocate appearing for the consortium of banks, which has taken Mallya to court for default, said the proposal was submitted in a sealed envelope by the Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), United Breweries and Kingfisher Finvest, along with their promoters. Mallya owes the consortium, led by the State Bank of India, Rs 6,903 crore.He left India on March 2 and his exact whereabouts are not known. A Bench comprising Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice R F Nariman allowed the consortium of banks a week's time to respond to the proposal and posted the matter for hearing on April 7.A public sector bank official said: It is not a normal bank-borrower issue and also can't been seen as routine settlement case. Banks are conscious of fact that it (plan) comes with much delay and after filing of suits against KFA and Mallya in various legal forums for recovering dues.Banks have not had satisfactory experience in recovering money by selling assets. The auction for Kingfisher House, KFAs headquarter in Mumbai, failed to get even a single bid. They have also put the trademark and brands of KFA on the block to get money. ALSO READ: Vijay Mallya submits Rs 4,000-crore settlement plan to Supreme Court A Bank of Baroda executive said: The money (lent to Mallya and his companies) is public money. Any step to write-off any part will certainly create uproar. A State Bank of India (SBI) executive said: Assessments indicate there are assets worth over Rs 8,000 crore, which either belong to him or have his imprint. These could be used for recovery. This is a case of willful default so we will have to drive a hard bargain, agreed two other public sector lenders. SBI and Punjab National Bank have already declared Mallya and KFA as wilful defaulters borrowers who fail to pay dues despite having the assets to do so. A senior public sector banker said while there was no direct participation or involvement, the Prime Minister's Office was closely monitoring the Mallya case. UB Group stocks, led by United Breweries, soared by up to 12.2 per cent on Wednesday. Shares of United Breweries (Holdings) zoomed 12.20 per cent to settle at Rs 20.70 on the BSE. During the day, it jumped 15.71 per cent to Rs 21.35. McDowell Holdings rose 4.36 per cent, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers was up 1.82 per cent and United Breweries 0.21 per cent. A lawyer for Mallya also told the Supreme Court that Kingfisher could pay another Rs 2,000 crore to banks if it wins a lawsuit seeking damages from a plane engine maker. The lawyer did not give a time frame for that payment. Mallyas UB Group did not reply to a request for comment on the repayment offer. Kingfisher, once Indias second-biggest airline, ceased operations more than three years ago after a stretch of losses, leaving creditors, suppliers and employees with unpaid dues. Once known as the King of Good Times for his extravagant lifestyle, Mallya has denied that he had fled India and said he would comply with laws. Media reports have traced him to the Hertfordshire village of Tewin, north of London, where he owns a house. Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for Kingfisher and Mallya, confirmed that he was in UK, from where he had a video conference with his counsel on Tuesday. Where are you? Are you back in India? the judges asked the counsel. The Media has vitiated the atmosphere, Vaidyanathan said. The Bench said media ultimately stands for the public interest. They just want the money taken from the banks to be brought back. Major e-commerce companies such as Amazon, Flipkart or Snapdeal are unlikely to do away with attractive sales and discounts, said people tracking the sector, a day after the government announced it was allowing up to 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the segment. The government guidelines say online marketplaces must not influence the sale price of goods and services but experts say e-commerce majors categorise discounts under marketing expenses. All companies have a budget for marketing and the discounts are accounted for in their marketing budget. The government statement is anyway quite broad-based and does not say anything about not giving discounts or staying away from predatory pricing. Companies can always say it is part of their marketing budget, said a senior executive of a Delhi-based e-commerce entity. A relevant example is the car market, where deep discounts are given by manufacturers and by dealers. It gets accounted under marketing expense in the balance sheet and not as discounts. Sector experts say, though, that marketing and advertising strategies might change. For instance, the billboards across cities talking of big-bang sales might fade away for a while but not discounts. In fact, the government guidelines are open to wide interpretation. Theres no mention of discounts or predatory pricing. The key line simply says, E-commerce entities providing a marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall maintain a level playing field. The point is, how will anybody ensure if the platform owner is influencing the sale price of goods or not, ask insiders. I do not think it will have any effect on the discounting strategy. E-commerce players are still acquiring customers and if they stop giving discounts, it will surely impact their growth, argued Arvind Singhal, founder of Technopak. However, the way they offer discounts might change, he said. Any government move to tinker with e-commerce discounting will be anti-consumer, he added. It is not the governments business to be worried about discounting. Theres the Competition Commission of India to keep these companies in check, he noted. The new guidelines also absolve the platform owners of responsibility for customer satisfaction. Post sales delivery of goods to the customer and customer satisfaction will be responsibility of the seller. It is here that some analysts, who did not wish to be named, said platform owners should be held responsible, as a buyer trusts companies like Amazon, Flipkart or Snapdeal and therefore transacts on these sites. Traditional retailer associations, though, are happy that some checks have been brought into the e-commerce sector, becoming a formidable opponent to physical stores. But, agrees Kumar Rajagopalan, chief executive, Retailers Association of India: I dont think discounting will stop. Theres always a worry about predatory pricing, he said, adding companies can easily offer cash-back schemes. NEW RULES We have lost a true lesbian pioneer in the passing of Leslie Cohen. Whether opening the first upscale lesbian club Sahara in NYC in 1976 ... As technology continues to penetrate Indian enterprises, investors are on the lookout for companies that are disrupting classical industries. This is one of the biggest opportunities for private equity (PE) investors, Renuka Ramnath, founder of Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a firm that manages close to $1.1 billion in PE funds, tells Alnoor Peermohamed in an interview. Edited excerpts: Your portfolio is made up of offline companies (those that are not accessible on the internet) rather than new-age technology firms. Is it a conscious strategy? For Multiples, it was the first fund and I had to get that right. The risk parameters were very well-defined and its performance was pretty much the foundation for Multiples. I did say I would invest in emerging opportunities. If you look at India Energy Exchange, a very large investment in my portfolio, its an emerging opportunity. A power exchange is not commonplace; I was taking a view that a greater amount of power will be bought and sold on an exchange rather than through bilateral trade. Those were a permissible investment thesis for me, but front-end e-commerce required that you would participate in subsequent rounds of funding. You would burn cash with the confidence that you are deepening your brand and increasing your customer connect. That is a much higher level of risk-taking than what I was comfortable with in the first fund. I dont see Multiples as a fund that will do more venture capital-type of funding. It will be more of later-stage classical private equity, which is investments in traditional sectors like steel, cement and agriculture, and distress turnaround. The Vikram (Hospital) kind of situation (Multiples bought ICICI Venture Funds Managements 64 per cent stake in the Mysuru-based hospital, besides infusing direct capital) is a very big opportunity for us, as we can bring capital, management capability, good governance, other investors, and can raise debt in the company. All these are natural for me to do, rather than betting on the next technology breakthrough or something like that. Are there enough opportunities in the classical PE space? Plenty. I am predicting the biggest change waiting to happen, and already happening, is change of ownership. Many companies are held by families. In many situations the beneficiaries of these family-owned companies run into hundreds. Families are also under pressure to monetise their businesses and give it to the second generation, third generation, and fifth generation, whatever it is, because those kids are not interested in being a part of the family enterprise. Their passion is something else. They want to do something more new age, and capital is what they want, not a small piece of some traditional family enterprise. I see that as a very big opportunity for PE. Can you put a number on this market? It is difficult to put a number, but I would say that by way of market cap if we move to 2025, I am expecting that $20-25 billion of market cap will be private equity-owned. If you add up the money that has come in through PE in the past 10-12 years, the cumulative would be $80-85 billion, of which $35 billion has been returned through divestments. So, we still have $50-55 billion with us in private equity. Currently, were adding at about $15 billion per year. I expect this number to go up because the confidence in India is coming back. Big PE players have pumped money into e-commerce firms and that has hurt them. Do you foresee a similar trend in the more classical PE space as India becomes a more favourable investment destination? Not really. People talk about too much money coming in, chasing too few deals. The kind of money we raise, we have to invest it over four years. We are monitored by our investors as to what disciplines weve put it in. Ive raised about $700 million and I commit 50 per cent of the fund in the first year. My investors will really turn the heat on me and, god forbid, if those investments go bad, they will not again give me money. Whats the general economic outlook for India? Investor confidence has risen a lot from what I experienced three or four years ago. The years 2012 and 2013 were really the worst years for India, where nobody even wanted to hear about us. Investor appetite for India has gone up quite phenomenally but I dont see a lot of fresh investments happening. It only about some set of shareholders exiting and a new set coming in, but theres no fresh capital expenditure. I think that is still two years away all this Make in India and existing companies coming up with new capital expenditure plans and infrastructure kicking off in a big way. I still see some distance, as people are still dealing with their legacy issues fixing balance sheets, utilising unutilised capacities. The first Indian e-commerce company (Infibeam) recently came out with an initial public offering. Are retail and private investors ready for it? I dont think it will be detrimental to e-commerce companies in any way. When you say private investors, there are speculative investors, there are informed investors and then there are investors through mutual funds. Generally, governance levels have gone up because of the amendments to the Companies Act, responsibility on the boards, listing guidelines requiring huge reporting and transparency that is required by both Sebi and stock exchanges. Individual investors are on a far better wicket, figuratively speaking, compared with 10 or even 20 years ago. This article has been modified. Please see the clarification at the end. With Tata Steel planning to sell its UK business after admitting an impairment of 2 billion (Rs 19,100 crore approx) on Wednesday, the company has joined a growing list of Indian companies that lost money in overseas acquisitions. Be it Mukesh Ambani, the Tatas, the Birlas or Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti Airtel, barring Tata Motors almost all companies have lost value by getting their timing wrong on their overseas acquisitions. On Wednesday, Tata Steel announced that it would sell its British steel making business because cheap Chinese products were making Made-in-UK steel unviable. In 2006, Tata Steel shook the global steel industry with its audacious bid of $12.7 billion for Corus Steel. It was the biggest acquisition by any Indian company and is also among the worst performers in creating value for shareholders since the acquisition. Within months, Kumar Mangalam Birla's Hindalco announced a $6 bn bid for aluminium product maker Novelis. Bharti Airtel announced a $10.7 bn bid for Zain's African operations in 2010. Over the years, Hindalco and Tata Steel had to write off investments. The silver lining is the Jaguar-Land Rover acquisition by Tata Motors and Taro by Sun Pharma, which resulted in good returns for shareholders. Experts say Indian companies failed mainly due to the 2008 financial crisis and more recently due to the commodity and oil crash. Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, which invested close to $8 bn in shale gas joint ventures in the US is getting negative returns on its investments. The oil crash worldwide has made shale gas exploration unviable and Reliance Industries is looking at ways to cut its losses. "With global commodity prices moving down sharply and markets being inundated with cheap imports, the viability of several industries has been challenged. This has been a double whammy for companies with assets overseas as they have been buffeted in both the domestic and global markets. Lowering costs becomes difficult as it is not possible to go in for major staff cuts, and several companies have had their profits pruned," said D R Dogra, CEO and MD of Care Ratings. Experts suggest Indian companies should be judicious in acquisition abroad and sell their foreign assets. Besides, companies need to maintain the right blend of business from domestic and overseas operations and build their value-at-risk models accordingly. "This way they will be able to carry the losses on the consolidated balance sheet for a prolonged period until things turn around," said Dogra. Most of the Indian companies are already taking steps to cut their losses. Bharti Airtel demerged its tower business in Africa and sold 8,300 towers for $1.7 bn last October. Reliance Industries sold its Eagle Ford pipeline asset for $1.07 bn last June. The Adani and GVK groups have frozen their investments in their new coal mines in Australia. Suzlon sold its German subsidiary Senvion (earlier known as Repower) for ^1 bn (Rs 7,200 crore) in January last year. CLARIFICATION In an earlier version of this article, it was wrongly mentioned that Bharti Airtel has written off investments related to its Africa operations. We regret the error. Last month, Tata Sons-promoted Company, or IHCL, announced its exit from a property in Jaisalmer, the Gateway, which it had managed for the last several years. This was the hotel chain's third exit in four months after it ended management contracts for Gateway properties in Ahmedabad and Jodhpur. The company, which operates hotels under the Taj, Vivanta by Taj and Gateway brands, has also checked out of three Taj properties in the last two years. While IHCL has been adding new properties every year, this attrition has not escaped the attention of analysts and rivals. IHCL did not provide reasons for moving out of the Jaisalmer, Ahmedabad and Jodhpur properties, but speculation is rife that it could be an effort to shore up the company's bottom-line. With stuck investments, churn in senior management, no profits since 2011-12 (annual and consolidated), and a huge debt burden of over Rs 5,000 crore on its books, the 114-year-old IHCL needs to do all it can to bounce back at a time when competition is increasing by the day - the Marriott-Starwood combine is set to add over 70 new hotels across segments in the next five years in the country. While IHCL has said it will add seven new properties (excluding Roots Corporation which runs Ginger) in 2016-17, these will all be under the Vivanta by Taj and Gateway brands only - no new Taj hotel is expected to open during the year. The reason is not hard to find: a luxury hotel can cost upwards of Rs 1 crore a room, which can strain IHCL's balance sheet further. Abroad too, the luxury plans of IHCL seem to be on hold. Stuck in China A strong footprint in China, the world's largest luxury market, was one of IHCL's ambitious projects. In 2008, it became the first Indian hospitality company to forge a partnership in China for setting up luxury properties there. A management contract was signed by an IHCL subsidiary, Taj International Hong Kong, to run the Temple of Heaven Park property in Beijing. In close proximity to the Temple of Heaven, constructed in 1420 and used by Emperors of the Ming dynasty, it was to be a 46-room luxury hotel. Meanwhile, having waited for several years, IHCL was forced to abort its plans to take over Bermuda-based Orient Express Hotels (now Belmond), thanks to the lack of interest from the target company. Last month, it started liquidating six- to eight-year-old shares in Belmond at a price which is bound to raise eyebrows. At an average selling price of $9.4 a share, IHCL took a massive haircut compared to the average purchase price of $35 a share. The sale price was also lower than the $12.63 a share offered by it to buy Belmond in 2012. IHCL had collectively paid around Rs 1,200 crore for the Belmond shares. The share sale was to release money locked in an unproductive investment. IHCL needs money urgently to cut its debt which jumped to Rs 5,337 crore by the end of December from Rs 4,075 crore on March 31, 2015, at the gross consolidated level. The company did not disclose details of debt repayment coming up in 2016-17 when contacted through email. Another such investment is the Rs 680 crore IHCL paid to acquire Sea Rock Hotel in Bandra, Mumbai, in 2009: redevelopment plans have been stalled for six years following some public interest litigation. IHCL had planned to combine the existing Land's End Hotel with Sea Rock to form the largest hotel in the city. Losses abound IHCL has been under financial duress for the past three years. High finance cost has eroded its margins, even as the company stares at possibly its fourth consecutive yearly loss at the consolidated level when it closes its books on March 31. Sarna had indicated that profits would be two years away. Then there are the external factors. The mega merger of Starwood and Marriott announced in November will hurt Indian hotel companies, especially IHCL, believe market experts. With a combined inventory of 18,000 rooms in India, Starwood-Marriot is way ahead of IHCL which has just under 14,500 rooms. "Starwood and Marriott have properties in important cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, which are the main revenue drivers. With their huge base of loyalty memberships, these will become benchmark properties in the coming period," says a Mumbai-based analyst. Marriott and Starwood have a combined membership of 75 million, which will help them market their inventory aggressively. In a recent interview to Business Standard, Starwood Hotels and Resorts President (Asia Pacific) Stephen Ho said: "India has some great local brands like Taj, Leela and Oberoi, but their presence is largely in India. Outside the country their presence is not significant. Our global loyalty programmes and marketing strength will help us drive our India business." Meanwhile, the IHCL stock has been range-bound over the past year, trading between Rs 115 and Rs 90. The appointment of Sarna, who is rated highly in the industry, as managing director in 2014 and the shake up in the organisational structure in order to give more powers to general managers have added stability to the stock. An added silver lining is that the business environment is picking up. Foreign tourist arrivals are hitting new highs every quarter. In the October-December quarter, arrivals stood at more than 2.4 million, the highest for any quarter, according to the Union ministry of tourism. With the global economy on the mend, arrivals are expected to continue their upward march in the coming quarters. To seize the opportunity, IHCL will look to add new resorts and hotels at popular tourist spots. "The group will expand its portfolio to include four new hotels in four new destinations with over 300 rooms by December 2016. These will be Meghauli Serai, a Taj Safaris lodge in Chitwan, Nepal; Vivanta by Taj Amritsar; The Gateway Resort Ajmer and The Gateway Resort Corbett," said a recent statement from IHCL. New properties will be opened through management contracts rather than through ownerships, which has been the traditional route for the company. IHCL is going asset-light to expand without increasing its debt burden. Kalyani Group and Fabbrica D'armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A, Italy, part of Beretta Defence Technologies (BDT), are in advance level of discussions to form a strategic partnership for providing state-of-the-art small arms for security forces. Baba Kalyani, Chairman of Kalyani Group said, "We want to provide state-of-the-art solutions in the small arms segment so that our security forces are equipped with the best in the World. The Kalyani Group which has been an active supplier of indigenous solutions to the Indian security forces has decided to partner with Beretta for the same." Fabbrica D'armi Pietro Beretta, S.p.A, produces assault rifles, carbines, complete range of pistols and tactical clothing and accessories. One of the biggest hurdles that the e-commerce industry faces following the government guidelines on 100 per cent FDI in the sector is how to restructure their vendor sales system as per the new norms. This need arises from the fact that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has said that an e-commerce entity will not permit more than 25 per cent of the sales through its marketplace from one vendor or their group companies. Some companies are already seeking review of this clause. At least two top e-commerce companies operating in India Flipkart and Amazon will now have to go for rejig, industry watchers said. WS Retail, a familiar name to anyone who has shopped on Flipkart, is believed to account for more than 70 per cent of total sales on the platform. While Flipkart promoters Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (not related to each other) sold their stake in WS Retail to former OnMobile global chief operating officer Rajeev Kuchhal and some other investors in 2012, the vendor continues to be dominant on the site. This would have to end now. In financial year 2015, WS Retail, which was founded by the Bansals, nearly tripled its turnover to Rs 10,163 crore, according to the Registrar of Companies. Almost in sync, Flipkart India, the wholesale arm of the Bengaluru-based firm, also reported a threefold rise in revenue in FY15 to Rs 9,351 crore. Flipkart has a few more registered companies under its name and therefore the full revenue of the group could not be calculated. As for Amazon India, the most prominent vendor is Cloudtail, which makes up for about 40 per cent of the sales on the platform. Cloudtail, according to industry insiders, is a 49:51 joint venture between Amazon Asia and Catamaran, Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthys personal investment vehicle. Cloudtail is a subsidiary of Prione Business Services, an entity with equal investment from Amazon Asia and Catamaran. It reported a loss of Rs 31.7 crore for 2014-15 on sales of Rs 1,145 crore. Paresh Parekh, tax partner Retail & Consumer Products, EY, said some of the new conditions regarding limit on single vendor sales through marketplace could impact some existing players. E-commerce Coalition Secretary Aamir Jariwala argued that unnecessary restrictions on the number of sellers and sole responsibility on them for warranty and guarantee will throttle the growth of the industry. Jariwala said the government should review these conditions. The Patent Office has refused to proceed with a divisional patent application of Wyeth, now part of Pfizer, for an invention as the claims are within the claims of parent application. This comes at a time when some patient groups and others has been alleging that the divisional patent provisions are used by the patent owners to extend the patent life. The order comes in a patent application filed by Wyeth for an invention related to methods of removing high molecular weight aggregates from an antibody preparation using hydroxyapatite chromatography. The agent representing the company responded to various objections raised by the Patent Office and said that the revised claims could be considered for patent. The Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs, Kolkata refused to allow the divisional status of the application and considering various arguments and documents, refused to proceed with the application for grant of patent. It may be noted that the divisional applications filed by the originator has been a bone of contention in various legal forums. Earlier a patient group has approached the Delhi High court seeking direction to the Patent Authorities to look into various divisional patent applications so that it should not be used for evergreening of patent. Besides, an order from the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) related to the divisional applications, which according to reports, was challenged in the High Court of Calcutta. According to Section 16(1) of the Patents Act, 1970, a patent applicant can file a further application (for divisional patent), before the time of grant of patent, if he/she so desires or to address the objection of the Controller of Patent that the claim in the first patent application relate to more than one invention. In such instance, the patent applicant can file a further application, but has to ensure that the main application and the divisional applications may be amended to ensure that neither of the complete specifications include a claim for any matter claimed in the other. Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra), which has a consumer base of three million in Greater Mumbai, has proposed an average tariff increase of 5.26 per cent for 2016-17. The company, in its petition before the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, has argued that the hike has been proposed till 2019-20 to fill up the revenue gap of Rs 1,325.67 crore. MERC will discuss RInfra's tariff revision proposal at the technical validation committee and hold the public hearing before passing its order. According to the company's tariff proposal, of the three million consumers, around two million consume 0-500 units a month. They are expected to get a high-tariff shock. The company has proposed a tariff of Rs 5.93 against Rs 5.39 per unit for consumers with monthly consumption of 0-100 units, an increase of 10 per cent, for 101-300 units Rs 8.31 against Rs 7.69 (8 per cent), for 301-500 units Rs 9.78 against Rs 9.38 (4 per cent). RInfra official, who did not want to named, told Business Standard that the tariff for 0-500 units can be comparable with its rival Tata Power for the low paying consumer category after the latter submits its tariff revision proposal in the mid April. As on date, Tata Power's tariff revised from June 1 last year for 0-100 units is Rs 2.05 per unit, for 101-300 units Rs 4.21 and for 301-500 Rs 8.42. Analysts say the difference in tariff if widened between two distribution utilities may lead to further migration of low paying consumers of RInfra to Tata Power. Since 2009 till date, nearly 500,000 consumers of RInfra from 0-500 units have shifted to Tata Power. RInfra spokesman declined to comment citing the ongoing regulatory process. As far as high tension (HT) industry consumers is concerned, R Infra has proposed tariff of Rs 10.55 against Rs 9.85 (7 per cent), for HT commercial 1% decrease to Rs 11.29 from Rs 11.37 per unit and for metro and monorail Rs 10.26 against Rs 9.82 per unit (4 per cent). RInfra has projected net aggregate revenue requirement comprising supply and wire business at Rs 7,075 crore with average cost of supply at Rs 8.60 per unit. India's consumer story is seeing an interesting twist - while fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are continuing to show signs of huge stress, the consumer durables sector is growing at a fast clip. Figures provided by IMRB Kantar Worldpanel show growth in sales of FMCG products have remained in low single digits in the past few quarters, but growth in consumer durables and appliance have ranged between 10 and 17 per cent, according to Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA). Experts say there are several reasons for this divergent trend. Though the rural distress due to deficient monsoon, poor harvests and lower rural disposable income remains a common theme for both, it has hurt the FMCG market more. That, according to the Boston Consultancy Group, is explained by the fact that the contribution of the rural market is relatively low in durables (25 per cent) than in FMCG (45 per cent). The low penetration of consumer durables in Indian households has also helped in boosting air-conditioner and washing machine sales by 15 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, during 2015-16, according to CEAMA. Television sales grew by 15 per cent partly due to replacement buying and partly due to the fact that TV penetration in India is 60 per cent, against the global average of 90 per cent. Renewed growth in sales prompted durable manufacturers put more stress on strengthening their base in India last year. While, Haier announced Rs 470 crore investment to expand its manufacturing unit in Pune, Videocon earmarked Rs 1,000 crore for expansion and upgradation over the next three years. Sony started manufacturing its Bravia range of TV panels after a decade in India. Easy consumer finance in urban and semi-urban markets makes purchase of durable items easier as well. Take Manoj, a driver in Delhi, who bought a television set in February to watch the ICC World Twenty20 matches. While his employer is watching her grocery bills, easy finance helped Manoj buy the TV. An equated monthly instalment scheme was unheard of in Manoj's village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. The growth in consumer durable sales this year is also on a lower base. "A dip in sales earlier made the figures this year look better. Between October 2013 and October 2014 the sector shrank by 35 per cent," says Rajat Wahi, partner and head, consumer market, KPMG in India. According to Abheek Singi, senior partner and director, Asia Pacific and India, The Boston Consulting Group, FMCG companies need to expand their distribution to beat the slowdown. Around 250,000 of the country's 630,000 villages are catered to by FMCG companies. "About 55 per cent of FMCG sales are influenced by marketing factors and the rest by macroeconomics. There is still a strong chance for driving growth for FMCG brands," a Nielsen report stated recently. According to the report, consumers spent less on non-essentials like breakfast cereals, ketchup and coffee to save more. The effect is seen on some of the country's top FMCG companies. Volume growth of Hindustan Unilever remained at six per cent during the December quarter, after it grew by seven and six percent in the previous two quarters respectively. Dabur, which started the 2015-16 fiscal with 8.1 percent growth in April-June, shrunk by 2.5 per cent in December, after growing by five percent during the September quarter. Colgate-Palmolive's sales volume grew by one percent in December down from three and 2.5 percent in the previous two quarters. Godrej Consumer and Britannia remained ahead of its peers with volume growths ranging between nine and 13 percent during 2015-16. Although, Marico posted 10 percent growth in December, its sales grew by mid-single digits during the previous two quarters. On Friday (April 1), Frontier takes over Verizon's territory in Florida, Cali and Texas. "The $10.5 billion acquisition is a big move for Frontier.... The company's current workforce of 19,200 will increase to about 29,200 and its customer base will jump from 3.4 million people to 7.1 million. The move will also boost Frontier's annual revenue from $5.6 billion to $11.4 billion." [source] Why did Frontier roll out a new brand, Frontier Vantage, for video, broadband, and voice products when it is acquiring more FiOS assets? So now it has to launch a new brand AND re-brand Verizon and FiOS assets. Fun. Looks like Charter will be approved to buy both TWC and Bright House Networks. FirstLight Fiber will be acquired by Oak Hill Capital Partners from its current private equity owner, Riverside Partners. Verizon Enterprise experiences a huge data breach that exposed 1.5 Million Customers' Information. HyperOffice is partnering with Verizon to distribute its Share.to communications suite from Verizon Cloud infrastructure. Communications Sales & Leasing, Inc. entered into an agreement with Windstream Holdings, Inc. to acquire 32 wireless towers owned by Windstream. According to an Accenture study, US companies are losing Customers as consumers demand more Human Interaction. "Too much reliance on digital technologies has given rise to 'human-less' customer services" that are estimated to cost business $1.6 Trillion in switching costs. Cisco is buying CliQr for $260M to expand its hybrid cloud management solutions. The Corus group - born out of a deal between British Steel and Koninklijke Hoogovens in 1999 - has failed the merger test once before. The Anglo-Dutch merger was meant to revive the ailing British Steel which had incurred a net loss of 81 million in the year ended March 31, 1999. But it did not help much as rationalisation, labour unrest and cultural mismatch followed soon. Kwintessential, which helps businesses wade through the challenges of globalisation, listed the company's problems as: absence of clear leadership, severe lack of communication between departments, low morale of labour force, poor productivity and poor organisation. Cultural differences apart, there was another major problem. When Corus was formed out of the merger, heavy investments were made in the Dutch side of the operations. As a result, the Dutch operations (Ijmuiden) became a world-class unit while British Steel continued to be a drag. The issues reflected in the company's financials. Corus' stock market value in 1999 was $6 billion but fell to $230 million in 2003, prompting Corus to look for a buyer. Many companies, including ArcelorMittal, explored the option. Finally, in 2007, Tata Steel bought Corus in a $12 billion deal, what was the biggest foreign acquisition by an Indian company till then. Steel was at the peak of its cycle and Tata Steel paid 608 pence a share, a premium of 34 per cent to the original offer price to ward off a challenge from Brazilian miner and steelmaker CSN. For CSN, however, it might have been different because of the raw material support. Save for one good year, Corus has remained a problem for Tata Steel. The steel market started deteriorating from the second half of 2008-09, and the company went for restructuring. The fact that there were three CEOs since acquisition didn't help. "All the CEOs were from diverse European backgrounds. It would have made more sense to have an Indian CEO at helm," an industry said. In March 2011, Tata Steel sold Teeside Cast Products to Sahaviriya Steel of Thailand for $467 million. So the latest decision to explore all options for portfolio restructuring, including the potential divestment of Tata Steel UK in whole or in parts, is a culmination of events and not completely out of the blue. Uday Chaturvedi, who had worked for more than 40 years with Tata Steel and had a stint as managing director of Corus Strip Products, a unit of Tata Steel Europe, is not surprised that Tata Steel is exploring the option of divesting its UK units. "I had foreseen in 2012 that this would happen. Tata Steel had put in huge amount of financial resources but the technical resources were not there," Chaturvedi said. Tata Steel's former managing director, J J Irani, said he was happy that the Tata Steel board had taken the decision to divest the UK business. today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Ex-Servicemen Corporation or MESCO), for creation of employment opportunities for ex-servicemen of Indian Army. This is in response to solution for the Defence Ministry's prestigious $10 billion combat vehicle programme. As one of the indigenisation partners for the development of FICV (Future Infantry Combat Vehicle), the MoU was signed at the ongoing DefExpo 2016 in Goa. Ravi Pisharody, Executive Director, Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors said, "Through this partnership, we will be even better positioned to involve the Small & Medium Scale Enterprises in defence equipment manufacturing and at the same time cater to the opportunities available right here in India." MESCO, a Maharashtra government undertaking, of the Mahasainik Industrial Estate (MSIE), is India's first unique ex-servicemen industrial estate set-up in Pune in 2002, for the establishment and resettlement of ex-servicemen, with the moto of 'Service with Discipline'. MESCO's objective is to provide reasonable employment to ex-servicemen of the state nearest to their homes, within their district by undertaking various commercial activities. Having bagged over 270 contracts, MESCO operates in thirty-four districts and employs over 11,000 ex-servicemen. Tata Motors recently also signed a strategic agreement with Bharat Forge Limited (BFL) and General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) of the US, for the Defence Ministry's prestigious Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) program. Tata Motors will lead the consortium, playing on its strengths related to Design, Development & Integration of mobility platforms, with Bharat Forge Limited as a partner, bringing on board its competence in local manufacturing. General Dynamics Land Systems will bring in its much proven expertise in combat vehicle programs, as a SOSI (a system of systems integrator), enabling Tata Motors, the lead integrator, to offer a truly indigenous solution for this 'Make' (in India) programme. After Tata Steel, the second-largest steelmaker in Europe, on Wednesday announced its intention to sell its UK business to rein in deteriorating financial performance, the fate of about 12,000 workers (direct and indirect) employed at the plant is at stake. Harish Patel, national officer (metals and foundry) of Unite, Britain's largest trade union, spoke to Aditi Divekar on phone about the union's plans to protect the workers' interest. Edited excerpts: Now that Tata Steel is planning to sell its UK business, what is going to be your role as a trade union? We are absolutely devastated by the Tata Steel decision. At least 12,000 workers will be affected by this decision across the UK site. There is also going to be a knock-on impact on the downstream industry, the supply chain. We are going to ensure government intervention and we are also going to ask Tata Steel to bring a single responsible owner who will take over the operations entirely and not in parts. Also, we are also going to ask for a long-term investor and will not settle down for any venture capital as our employer. It's difficult to get a buyer in this market. Moreover, this unit is loss making. What if Tata Steel is not able to get anyone to buy this unit? The steel industry is the foundation industry of the UK. We are going to put pressure on the government for investment because this is not just about the workers but it is about the community and the future of manufacturing in the UK. It has to be restored. It is not only about keeping the jobs of the workers at the facility. It is about the steel industry, which is heart of manufacturing. This is the only steel plant in the UK which makes steel from iron ore. So, it is important to get the right owner. What kind of pressure are you going to put on the government? The government has said it will intervene, but so far there has been no concrete position. We are going to demand that the government buy the asset and does proper assessment before selling it to a new company. The trade unions along with representatives of the UK government and the Tata Steel management will be meeting on Friday. In the meeting, we'll make sure there will be no piecemeal selling of assets and that at least six months time is given by Tata Steel to look for a buyer whose aim is to do business with the idea of transforming the operations in the long run. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), the agency investigating foreign exchange violation, has issued notices to 30 Indians whose names are on a list of account-holders shared by HSBC in Switzerland. Confirming the development, the ED said, "The notices were served to the individual under Section 37 of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) seeking information on assets." Sources said the agency has asked the respective Swiss bank account-holders to disclose details of their domestic and overseas accounts from 2005 to 2015. The recipients of these notices are mostly based in Mumbai and Bengaluru. An official said these people have a substantial amount in their bank accounts. "Attachment of accounts can be made in a bid to prevent siphoning of money to other friendly countries, before the investigation comes to a logical conclusion," said an ED source The move came after a special investigation team (SIT) on black money had wanted these cases to be probe by the enforcement directorate for possible foreign exchange violations. The probe gained momentum recently when the Indian government started receiving a slew of information from authorities abroad, especially Singapore and Hong Kong. Sources privy to the development said the situation has now changed and "we are finally obtaining data from various parts of the world which was so far restricted due to treaty obligations". A highly placed sources said Singapore had recently shared a new list of 1,200 individuals across the globe; one-third of those were Indians. Around 200 individuals on the list were from Mumbai alone, and 20 per cent of them were non-resident Indians (NRIs). "If the probe agency establishes the presence of unaccounted overseas wealth in these accounts, the account-holders would be liable for harsh action. With the new law, even an NRI status won't help," said a former senior I-T official on condition of anonymity. A number of people on a list provided by the French government a few years ago, after the details were allegedly stolen by an employee, had seen charges slapped on them under FEMA and anti-money laundering Acts. The income-tax department was investing the case and had launched prosecution against 140 individuals. So far, undisclosed income of more than Rs 3,000 crore deposited in foreign bank accounts has been brought under the tax net. According to official data, 628 Indians were on the HSBC list; 200 were either non-residents or untraceable, leaving 428 actionable cases. The net amount of peak balance for these 428 cases was about Rs 4,500 crore, a government data had said. The list that had come out in early 2015 featured names of 1,668 Indians while the number of actionable cases stood at 1,195, after taking into account duplication and other factors. Collectively, these accounts had a balance of Rs 25,420 crore till 2007. However, tax department already said it had the old data. The talks between the Odisha government and representatives of Federation of All Odisha Traders' Association (FAOTA) failed on Wednesday on withdrawal of VAT on pulses, wheat and wheat products. Traders are hell bent in their decision to go ahead with stopping of importing of essential food grains to Odisha from April 1. They had threatened to stop the import of essential commodities pulses, edible oil , sugar, rice, wheat and wheat products from other states from April 1 protesting against five per cent value added tax (VAT) imposed on pulses, wheat and wheat products by the state government. As many as 25 states have exempted VAT on pulses, wheat and wheat products. "On March 26 meeting , the government had agreed to reduce VAT on pulses from the existing five per cent to one per cent. The government had agreed to take a call on wheat and wheat products in today's meeting. Strangely, the government today changed its stance completely and resorted to dilly dallying tactics. We will go ahead with our call on banning of import of all essential food items to the state", said Sudhakra Panda, general secretary , FAOTA. The ban will continue indefinitely until the government withdraws the levy, he added. The traders had gone on a two-day stir in December 2014, stopping import of pulses, wheat and wheat products to press for their demand for waiver of VAT. Last year too, the traders had resorted to five-day strike before calling it off with the government forming a committee to examine their demand to lift VAT. They have been demanding one per cent VAT slab for pulses, wheat and wheat products. This can fetch the state government assured revenue of Rs 60 crore. Of its consumption of 0.9 million tonne of pulses, Odisha imports an overwhelming majority as it produces only 0.12 million tonne. The turnover of pulses trade is estimated at Rs 6800 crore. Similarly, the state's wheat consumption is 1.2 million tonne and a bulk of it is met through imports. " The meeting held under the chairmanship of finance minister decided that the next round of discussions on the issue will take place after the ongoing assembly session. We appeal traders to withdraw their decision to stop the import of essential commodities for the greater cause of the consumers", said Sanjay Das Burma, minister for food supplies and consumer welfare department. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for issuing two ordinances, including one to authorise expenditure beyond Friday in Uttarakhand in view of the political crisis there. The Cabinet, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Brussels, met to also approve another ordinance that seeks to bring in changes in the Enemy Property Act, 1968. The Cabinet recommended re-promulgation of an earlier ordinance issued in January as Parliament could not pass a bill to replace it within the stipulated time. The President had on the ... The sooner the India-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is signed, the better, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while addressing the ethnic Indian media on Wednesday at the Shangri-La hotel in Sydney's central business district. When asked if signing the FTA was a priority for his government and if the FTA would address services and make material concessions to attract Australian companies to operate and partner in India, Jaitley told Business Standard, "This is at the negotiations stage; therefore, it is not fair for me to comment." Recently, while delivering the 2016 Lowy Institute for International Policy annual speech, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said, "Trade with India has not looked this promising for hundreds of years. That's why, to aid the transition to a new and more diversified economy, I'm placing a high priority on the conclusion of a free trade agreement with India - as complex as those talks have been." Jaitley said, "It (FTA) was a priority even when the Indian Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) was here in 2014. He (Modi) wanted this to be done in 2015. So, we have already crossed the deadline. The sooner the better." The minister was quizzed by the ethnic media on a wide range of topics from Adani's coal mine to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) issue back home. Jaitley said Adani's pit-to-port Carmichael coal project in Queensland was "not really" on the agenda. "This is a subject which is internal to Australia and that is not a subject for the purpose of my visit. But, in the course of my discussions, one of the ministers of the Australian government has informed me that as far as the government of Australia is concerned, they are trying their best to stick to the contract, subject to whatever other influences in a democracy are there." On the question of how much of a dent had incidents like JNU made on the image of India abroad, Jaitley said, "I don't think it is an issue of creating any dent to an image, for the simple reason that no country - however, liberal - can allow an agenda, which openly speaks in terms of breaking up the country. India is a liberal society; it is a democratic society. It allows free speech, but even under our Constitutional order, sovereignty of India is an exception to the principle of free speech." When asked to list the two-year-old Modi government's achievements and challenges, Jaitley said, "It has maintained a direction and the government has not committed any major mistake. More so, the government is perceived to be more decisive and, certainly, corruption has disappeared from the corridors of New Delhi. I think the challenges will still be fighting poverty, strengthening India's agrarian sector and building infrastructure." He emphasised that "there are areas of Australian expertise, which can do a considerable amount of good to the Indian economy. For instance, in the recent Budget, I have opened the food processing sector to 100 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment). This is an area where Australia has done a lot. Mining is another area." Jaitley said there's considerable opportunity available in the power sector - in thermal, hydel and renewable energy. On when the first smart city would be completed, Jaitley said, "It will take time. Twenty cities have already been identified and their partners have been found so the actual development works on those areas can take place." India is seeking Australian expertise in building smart cities. David Holm, director at Cox Richardson, Sydney's leading architectural and planning practice, told Business Standard, "India can be a template for the way cities should be over the next century. But, one of the great blocks we have in India is working with the bureaucracy. Most of the work we do (in India) is with private entities and they solve a lot of the issues of governance and contracts." To commemorate two years of its rule, the Narendra Modi government is planning to penetrate deep into the hinterland, rural areas and Tier-2 towns with a balance sheet of its achievements. Officials said though much of the plan is still in the works, the thrust is to take the message to the grassroots. The rural engagement programme might not be limited to two-year celebrations but become a regular affair, officials added. Ministers and party leaders have been told to travel across the country to make the common man aware of the policies and programmes undertaken by the government in the past two years. Unlike in the past (celebrations on the completion of 100 days and one year of the Modi government), the focus this time seems to be more on spreading the message across the country, said an official. He said a high-powered team of senior ministers might also be constituted to plan the event. Instead of the usual Delhi-centric press conferences, ministers and leaders will hold such conferences in small towns and cities. The 2016-17 Budget, which the government has termed as pro-poor and pro-rural, will act as a reference point for the ministers. The programmes announced in the Budget, such as gas connections for the poor and digital literacy mission for rural India will all be highlighted as being pro-poor achievements of this government, the official explained. Besides, officials have been asked to use social and new-age media extensively to spread the governments message. A new thing the Centre plans to do for its two-year celebrations is to highlight the actual change that happened on the ground, since May 2014. For example, the campaign material will highlight the condition of foodgrains in warehouses before and after 2014. Also, how initiatives such as digitisation are making a tangible impact on the ground. On Modis pet project, Swachh Bharat Mission, the official said the government wants to transform it into a national programme rather than limiting it to a few ministries and departments. It is expected to be a continuous affair and all ministries and departments are expected to own the scheme for 15 days a month, during which they would organise events related to the mission. One of the milestones achieved by Indian television industry in 2015 was the launch of a new ratings system under the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), an industry body compromising broadcasters (60 per cent), advertisers (20 per cent) and media agencies (20 per cent). The launch was hailed by many as a turning point in TV audience measurement with a more transparent process and bigger panel/sample size of people-meters in place. However, Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister of communication and information technology, on Wednesday said the new system was also lacking in some aspects. Addressing the inaugural session of FICCI-Frames 2016 in Mumbai, Prasad said, I am not happy with the TV ratings system. I never approved of TAM and I am not very impressed by the new alternative either. How can a few hundred boxes tell me what show is number one? Something should be done to make the television ratings more accurate. BARC started releasing data last year. For around eight months, it co-existed with TAM, which had a monopoly on television ratings measurement in India. However, the two combined their resources earlier this year. And from March 1, only BARC releases television viewership data while TAM has exited the business. The main reasons behind the formation of BARC were that broadcasters were unsatisfied with the TAM sample size (which was around 9,000 people-meters) and it did not cover rural territories. While the Neilsen-Kantar JV finally ramped up its sample size to 12,000 people-meters last year, it was too little too late. Apart from small sample size, there were allegations regarding irregularities within TAM. Reacting to Prasads observation, Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India said, We believe the minister expressed a view on improvements and changes in TV audience measurement in India with the launch of BARC Indias services. BARC India strictly follows government guidelines on the matter. We have expanded the coverage with a doubling of sample homes to 20,000 within the first year of launch, and inclusion of rural India for the first time ever. We have plans for expanding the panel as per government guidelines too. We are a joint industry body and the number of meters is guided by industrys affordability and statistical needs. The number is as agreed by all stakeholders of the industry. Industry has welcomed and accepted BARC India datas robustness and fidelity, he added. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday allowed all companies engaged in the infrastructure sector to raise external commercial borrowings with a minimum maturity of five years, including those non-banking finance companies (NBFC) regulated by the central bank. The borrowings have to be fully hedged, the central bank clarified in a notification on its website. The individual limit of borrowing under the automatic route is $750 million. NBFCs engaged in the infrastructure space were earlier allowed to raise ECB funding, but there were certain limitations. For example, NBFC-AFCs (asset finance companies) had to ask permission from RBI if they had to raise money beyond 75 per cent of their net owned funds. Also, the total limit was capped at $200 million annually. By putting the NBFCs directly in the category of infrastructure, RBI has made it easier for these firms to raise additional resources of up to $750 million, provided they use the proceeds only for financing infrastructure, and not for their own use. This will likely help companies like Srei and Shriram Finance that are engaged in lending to various infrastructure related sectors such as transport and equipment financing. The central bank expanded the scope of ECB in view of prevailing external funding sources, particularly for long-term lending and the critical needs of infrastructure sector of the country. Expanding the scope of the definition of infrastructure, the apex bank said exploration, mining and refinery sectors would also be considered as part of the infrastructure sector. While companies in the infrastructure space can utilise the proceeds for their own needs, NBFCs engaged in financing the sector should use the proceeds only for financing infrastructure. Additionally, holding companies and core investment companies can use ECB proceeds only for onlending to infrastructure special purpose vehicles. Origin of National Doctors' Day George Bush Proclamation 6253 - National Doctors Day, 1991 February 21 1991 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation by President George Bush More than the application of science and technology, medicine is a special calling, and those who have chosen this vocation in order to serve their fellowman understand the tremendous responsibility it entails. Referring to the work of physicians, Dr. Elmer Hess, a former president of the American Medical Association, once wrote: "There is no greater reward in our profession than the knowledge that God has entrusted us with the physical care of His people. The Almighty has reserved for Himself the power to create life, but He has assigned to a few of us the responsibility of keeping in good repair the bodies in which this life is sustained." Accordingly, reverence for human life and individual dignity is both the hallmark of a good physician and the key to truly beneficial advances in medicine. The day-to-day work of healing conducted by physicians throughout the United States has been shaped, in large part, by great pioneers in medical research. Many of those pioneers have been Americans. Indeed, today we gratefully remember physicians such as Dr. Daniel Hale Williams and Dr. Charles Drew, who not only advanced their respective fields but also brought great honor and pride to their fellow Black Americans. We pay tribute to doctors such as Albert Sabin and Jonas Salk, whose vaccines for poliomyelitis helped to overcome one of the world's most dread childhood diseases. We also recall the far-reaching humanitarian efforts of Americans such as Dr. Thomas Dooley, as well as the forward-looking labors of pioneers such as members of the National Institutes of Health, who are helping to lead the Nation's fight against AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases. These and other celebrated American physicians have enabled mankind to make significant strides in the ongoing struggle against disease. However, in addition to the doctors whose name we easily recognize, there are countless others who carry on the quite work of healing each day in communities throughout the United States -- indeed, throughout the world. Common to the experience of each of them, from the specialist in research to the general practitioner, are hard work, stress, and sacrifice. All those Americans who serve as licensed physicians have engaged in years of study and training, often at great financial cost. Most endure long and unpredictable hours, and many must cope with the conflicting demands of work and family life. As we recognize our Nation's physicians for their leadership in the prevention and treatment of illness and injury, it is fitting that we pay special tribute to those who serve as members of the Armed Forces and Reserves and are now deployed in support of Operation Desert Storm. Whether they carry the tools of healing into the heat of battle or stand duty at medical facilities in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere, these dedicated physicians -- along with thousands of nurses and other medical personnel -- are ital to the success of our mission. We salute them for their courage and sacrifice, and we pray for their safety. We also pray for all those who come in need of their care. In honor of America's physicians, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 366 (Public Law 101-473), has designated March 30, 1991, as "National Doctors Day" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 30, 1991, as National Doctors Day. I encourage all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth. GEORGE BUSH Citation: John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters,The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California (hosted), Gerhard Peters (database). Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb. edu/ws/?pid=47267. Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley delivers Keynote Address at Make in India Conference in Sydney; Stresses on the need for manufacturing growth to ensure employment for youth of the country. . The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley inaugurated and addressed the "Make in India Conference Collaboration for Growth with Mutual Benefit in Sydney today. . . During his Keynote Address, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley highlighted the various steps undertaken by the Indian Government to facilitate ease of doing business and create an investor friendly climate in the country as part of the Make in India initiative. He stressed on the need for manufacturing growth to ensure employment for youth of the country. . . The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley further mentioned that the Government has taken concrete steps for cutting red tape, simplifying rules and procedures including delicensing the business environment among others. He said that the Government is working towards making tax regime transparent, stable and predictable. . . The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that Make in India has become the biggest global brand which India has ever created. He said that India has become one of the fastest growing large economies in the world. India has been ranked as the most attractive investment destination by several global agencies and institutions, the Minister added. . . The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley mentioned about various FDI reforms undertaken recently by the present Government for attracting foreign investment in particularly in sectors such as Railways, Defence, Services and Manufacturing. He said that the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) has been set-up which will be professionally managed and mainly invest in commercially viable infrastructure projects. . . Later a Plenary session on Doing Business in India was held where Government, polices, reforms and taxation issues were discussed. Three parallel Break-Out Sessions on Mining and Resources, Agribusiness and Smart Cities & Urban solutions were also held during the one day Conference. . . Among other speakers at the "Make in India Conference included Mr Andrew Robb, Special Envoy for Trade, Australia, Mr Navdeep Suri, High Commissioner of India to Australia, Mr Jonathan ODea MP, Parliamentary Secretary for major Events and Tourism, Government of New South Wales(NSW), Mrs Kalpana Awasthi, Joint Secretary, DIPP and Mr Sumit Mazumder, President, CII. . . The event was jointly organised by Department of Industrial Policy and Planning (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India; Consulate General of India(CGI), Sydney and Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) and was supported by Austrade. The event was attended among others by a large number of representatives of Australian and Indian businesses. . . The Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Australian future and super funds be exposed to India. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley raised this point during his bilateral meeting with the Treasurer of Australia Mr Scott Morrison in Sydney today. Shri Jaitley called for increase in investment by Australia businesses in India as they can get better returns on their investment. Shri Jaitley said that India wants to be benefitted by Australian experience in implementing GST. He said that India is also ready for GST and hoped that it will soon become a reality. . . Speaking on the occasion, Mr Morrison said that Australia is keen to further increase its investment in India. Mentioning the recent developments in bilateral and strategic cooperation in multiple areas, he emphasised the common interest of both countries in promoting policies to sustain economic growth and create jobs for the youth. Both the leaders discussed the economic situation in both countries as well as globally. Expressing happiness over the growing bilateral trade and investment, they agreed to continue and enhance economic engagement and collaboration. . . The Meeting was also attended among others by the officials of Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Reserve Bank of India from Indian side and senior officials from Australia Treasury and Reserve Bank of Australia from Australian side. . . The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the North eastern region along the international borders should be developed for the overall development of the region. There are regional and cultural similarities on both sides of the international borders, the Minister said. He was addressing at the seminar on Sub Regional Cooperation between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh here today. . . During the inaugural session, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the business, all over, is evolving and it has to be carried forward professionally. He said that India is on the threshold of becoming a super power and for that, he emphasized on the youth power and the equitable growth of all the regions within India. He said that North East India needs little push in the developmental aspect and the Ministry of DoNER takes care of this aspect in coordination with other ministries. . . Dr Singh said that a number of initiatives have been taken in the recent past for the overall development of North East region, such as Destination North-East festival and designating Sikkim as the first organic state in the country. Stressing upon trade and business, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that without creating stakeholders, we cannot proceed and the stakeholders need to be facilitated. He said that, in food industries for example, the food items produced should be of cost effective and authentic. . . Dr. Jitendra Singh said the North East India has a huge potential for start ups and for this purpose, venture funds and other initiatives can be provided for the start ups in North East India. He said that, in years to come, North East India will become the destination for young start ups. Dr. Jitendra Singh said that there are some challenges in Indias march towards global economy such as optimum utilization of resources, optimum channelization of youth energy and best use of technology. . . On Indias Act East" policy, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it is his considered view that to Act East" effectively, we first need to act for the development of North Eastern region along the international borders. He said that connectivity is an issue in the North East India and in this regard, he suggested that new airports and chopper service can be an option. . . The daylong event consisted of four sessions to discuss the subjects like Economic Cooperation in the Sub Region, Trends and patterns of trade between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, Economic Cooperation through connectivity and FDI. . . The seminar was attended by senior officers of Ministry of DoNER. . . PM addresses Indian Community in Brussels The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today addressed the Indian Community in Brussels. He described the Indian Community as the Lokdoot" of India. . . The Prime Minister recalled the horrendous terror attack in Brussels last week, and offered condolences to the families of the victims. He described terrorism as a challenge to humanity. He said the need of the hour is for all humanitarian forces to join hands to fight it. . . The Prime Minister said that despite the huge threat, the world is not able to deliver a proportionate response to terror and terms such as good terrorism" and bad terrorism" end up strengthening it. Shri Narendra Modi described how India has faced this scourge for forty years, which many described as a mere law and order problem for a long time, until 9/11 happened. He declared that India would not bow to terror. Shri Narendra Modi said he has spoken to many world leaders and emphasized the need to delink religion from terror. He recalled the Global Sufi Conference in New Delhi recently, where liberal Islamic scholars had denounced terrorism. He said this approach was essential to stop radicalization. The right atmosphere had to be created to end terror, he added. . . The Prime Minister regretted that the United Nations had not been able to come up with a structured response to terrorism. He said the UN has not been able to fulfill its responsibility in this regard, and had not come up with a suitable resolution. He warned that institutions which do not evolve appropriate responses to emerging situations, risked irrelevance. . . The Prime Minister also mentioned that the whole world which is passing through an economic crisis, had recognized India as a ray of hope. He said India has become the fastest growing large economy in the world, and this is not because of good fortune. He said this has happened despite two successive drought years. He said that this is the result of good intentions and sound policies. Talking about 2015, the Prime Minister said he wished to give an account of the work done by the Government. He mentioned ethanol blending of petrol, and ending urea shortages through enhanced production, and neem coating. . . He said poor had been provided LPG connections in large numbers. He said this was largely due to the give-it-up campaign for the well-off to surrender their LPG subsidy, and 90 lakh people had done so. He also mentioned Union Budget commitments in this regard. . . He said that maximum production of power and coal also happened in 2015. He said that investment in Railways has been enhanced substantially, because he believes that the Railways can be the spine of the Indian economy. He said car production and software exports had also reached maximum numbers in 2015. . . He said 21 crore new bank accounts have been opened, as part of the financial inclusion drive. The Prime Minister explained how the concept of Jandhan Aadhar Mobile" (JAM) had helped reduce corruption and leakages in LPG subsidy. He said over 18,000 villages had remained unelectrified after nearly seven decades of Independence, and he had promised to have them electrified within 1000 days. He expressed satisfaction that over 7000 such villages had been electrified till now. He also mentioned pick up in the pace of road construction. He said the whole world was surprised when he had declared a target of 175 GigaWatts of renewable energy, but the country was now on track to achieve it. He said the commitment to deliver One Rank, One Pension for the Armed Forces had also been fulfilled. . . The Prime Minister said the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh was an example of how contentious issues could be resolved peacefully. He mentioned the Narendra Modi App, and suggestions he had received on India-Belgium relations. . . The Prime Minister also mentioned recent decisions taken for the benefit of NRIs. . . The Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi reviewed the working of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh at its 56th Governing Board Meeting held in New Delhi today. Addressing the members, the Minister appreciated the efforts made by the officials of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh in launching the Mahila E-Haat recently. Mahila E-Haat, an online marketing platform for women was launched on 7th March, 2016 by the WCD Minister, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi. Mahila E-Haat is a unique online platform where participants can display their products for sale. . . Addressing the members at the Board meeting today, Smt Maneka Gandhi said that the goal of Mahila E-Haaat is to have at least one lakh vendors display their products at the site. Several issues pertaining to Mahila E-Haat were also discussed like arranging logistics for pickup and delivery of products, signing of MoU with e-Bay, optimization of Mahila E-Haat on search engines, design and quality of products and training of vendors among other things. She also reviewed the vacancy situation in the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh as well as the recovery of outstanding loans. Smt Maneka Gandhi appreciated the RMK officials for their efforts made to recover loan from defaulters over the last two years. She instructed them to take further appropriate measures for the recovery of remaining loans. The officials of RMK assured that all steps will be taken in this regard. . . Secretary, WCD, Shri V. Somasundaram, Vice-President of RMK, Smt Nandini Azad, Executive Director of RMK, Smt Rashmi Saxena Sahni and other members of the Board attended the meeting. . . Rattled by Indian giant Tata Steels move to sell its loss-making business in the UK, the British government on Wednesday said it was looking at all options, including taking a temporary stake in the countrys biggest steelworks at Port Talbot to save thousands of jobs. Business Minister Anna Soubry said the government was prepared to look at all the options to allow time for a buyer to be found to save thousands of jobs. Tatas British business employs about 15,000 workers, including 4,000 at Port Talbot, the country's biggest steelworks. Tatas Port Talbot site alone, which employs 5,500 people, is estimated to be losing 1 million a day. As the British government looks at various options to salvage the situation, Cameron is likely to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss the fallout of Tata Steel's decision to sell its loss-making business in the UK. According to British daily Telegraph, Cameron has decided to cut short his family holiday amid threat of job losses. When asked on the BBCs Today programme whether the government would be prepared to nationalise Tata's remaining steel plants, she said: We are, and have, and continue to look at, all options and I do mean all options. But what we first want to achieve is from Tata is this period of time to allow a proper sale process. However, when pressed, she said there was a limit to what the government could do: We have to be very careful because we have these state aid rules, which have been established for well over 50 years. She said there was sympathy for Tata which had invested an extraordinary amount in its UK steel operations. Nine years after acquiring Corus to become Europe's second largest steel maker, Tata Steel has decided to sell its UK business as the company battles to control its "deteriorating financial performance". The Board of one of the world's largest steelmakers met yesterday to decide on the future course of action in a bid to steer its embattled operations in Europe out of the rut, which face supply glut, increase in cheap imports from China amidst a continued weakness in demand in the European markets. The UK and Welsh governments earlier issued a joint statement saying they were "committed to working with Tata and the unions on a long-term sustainable future for British steel-making. "Both the UK and Welsh governments are working tirelessly to look at all viable options to keep a strong British steel industry at the heart of our manufacturing base." Meanwhile, the general secretary of the trade union Community, Roy Rickhuss, who met representatives from Tata in Mumbai yesterday to plead the case for the UK business, said he would fight hard. "We will not let the steel industry in the UK die. We are not going silently into the night. We will make sure we do everything we can to create a sustainable industry in the UK." Steel making was once a major UK industry, employing 250,000 at its peak. Republican front-runner Donald Trump abandoned a pledge to support a party presidential nominee other than himself, a sign of increasing friction with chief rival Ted Cruz. "No, I don't anymore," Trump replied, when asked at a CNN town hall event whether he still supported a pledge he made last year to support whoever is the Republican nominee for the November 8 election. Trump's signing of a loyalty pledge last September was important in helping him gain credibility within the Republican National Committee. The pledge was also signed by all his rivals for the presidential nomination. His aboutface came as he tries to fend off a challenge from Cruz, a US senator from Texas, who is running second to the New York billionaire in the race for the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination. The US is in the midst of one of the longest economic expansions in its history. Even American factories have lately added hundreds of thousands of jobs. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is stumbling. Even China. Yet, at perhaps the least likely moment in the last several decades, misgivings about globalisation are playing a starring role in the presidential election. Why now? Read more from our special coverage on "DONALD TRUMP, US ELECTIONS," China one of great thefts of all times: Trump Anger about unbalanced trade has helped to fuel the rise of Donald J Trump, the Republican front-runner, and the success of senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in his bid for the Democratic nomination. The manifest anger also has pushed their principal rivals, Republican senator Ted Cruz and the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, to toughen their own trade rhetoric. It is a situation that has surprised many experts because polls show voters' concern about the overall health of the American economy has declined significantly in recent years. Yet, many Americans are just taking stock of the transformations wrought by global trade. In two dozen conversations with voters across the country, only two said they had heard of the proposed new trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), involving the United States and a host of Pacific Rim nations. Instead, the concerns they expressed were about changes in their own lives and communities over the last couple of decades. "When we first did that big trade agreement, I thought it was a good idea, but now I'm getting a little more conservative about it," said Phyllis Arthur, a 74-year-old Republican from Walnut Creek, California "I think we're being overwhelmed by the goods coming in. That's practically all that's available in the stores." Kevin White, a 47-year-old Democrat from Dayton, Ohio, said it was hard to find a job. He used to work at a hospital; now he gets federal disability payments. "The jobs went overseas," lamented White. "Then people couldn't afford their mortgages and we had a crash and nobody was able to buy anything." Douglas Irwin, an economist at Dartmouth College, who studies trade, said the impact of China's economic rise had become more visible in recent years, even though the worst effects of its rise may already be in the past. Between 2000 and 2011, imports from China grew to equal 2.6 per cent of American economic output, up from around one per cent. That "unprecedented shock" was much larger than that from the increase in Japanese imports in the 1980s or Mexican imports in the 1990s, Irwin said. China's rise, fuelled in part by currency manipulation to make its exports cheaper, played a key role in the loss of roughly five million American manufacturing jobs. Those losses, however, were offset and obscured during the housing boom by a rise in construction jobs. Now, both the factory jobs and the construction jobs have gone away. Rationally, said Irwin, "It's too late to get upset about China." The United States is no longer losing factory jobs. It has added 600,000 over the last five years. Beijing is no longer suppressing its currency; it's now trying to prop up the value. Politically, however, it appears that the moment is perfectly ripe. Ahead of another Rust Belt primary next Tuesday in Wisconsin, Trump is pressing for "fair trade" with foreign countries, while Cruz has adopted similar language. "We're going to see millions and millions of new high paying jobs," Cruz told a crowd at an Oshkosh plastics factory on Monday, "coming back to America, coming back from China, coming back from Mexico." Personalities also appear to be playing a role. Trump has proved an unusually effective spokesman for concerns among Republican voters. "You look at those empty factories all over the place, and nobody hits that message better than me," he said after winning the Republican primary in Michigan this month. Sanders has connected with a Democratic base whose support for President Obama may have damped longstanding concerns about trade. Trump and Sanders have also succeeded in focusing anger on trade as an explanation for broader economic problems afflicting many Americans. Trade flows make up a small part of America's economic activity. The primary explanations for the stagnation of middle-class incomes are necessarily domestic. "They are following in the footsteps of politicians of all stripes who have found it convenient to blame the boogeyman of unfair trade for domestic economic problems," said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell economist. "Tough talk on trade is an easy way to distract attention from taking on difficult domestic challenges." Mainstream economists regard the evidence as unequivocal that trade has produced significant benefits for the American economy and the average household. Yet, much of the American public has long been sceptical. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found that 61 per cent of respondents favoured more trade restrictions to protect domestic industry, just as a majority of respondents has favoured increased restrictions in every such poll since 1988. 2016 The New York Times News Service continue to trade on a higher note amid firming trend in the global equities after US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen indicated that the central bank would move cautiously in regards with interest rate hike. Also, prospects of an interest rate cut by the RBI at its forthcoming monetary policy review spurted buying across the board. At 2:45 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,306, up by 405 points while the Nifty is quoting at 7,729, up 132 points. ___________________ (updated at 2:45pm)Benchmark indices have extended gains and are trading near days high with Sensex and Nifty50 surging over 1% each. By 12:56 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 25,227, up by 327 points while the Nifty was quoting at 7,699, up 102 points. Top gainers from the Sensex pack are Lupin, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, GAIL and Adani Ports, all surging between 3%-5%. Shares of Tata Steel are up over 2% at Rs 311 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the board of directors at its meeting held on Tuesday to review the performance of the loss making European business decided to explore all options for portfolio restructuring including potential divestment of Tata Steel UK in whole or in parts. ----------------------------------------- (updated 11:30 am) have maintained momentum and are trading higher on the back of visible buying across the board. The uptrend in the Asian peers following Janet Yellens cautious tone has also buoyed the local equities. By 11:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 25,145, up by 245 points while the Nifty was quoting at 7,674, up 77 points. Broader are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 1%-1.4%. Also, market players are expected to remain volatile ahead of the March series futures and options contracts expiry. In the commodity space, U.S. crude CLc1 added 29 cents to $38.57 a barrel, after falling around 3% on Tuesday. Brent LCOc1 rose 24 cents to $39.38. Extending its rising streak for the fourth day, the rupee appreciated by 16 paise to 66.38 against the US dollar in early trade today on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks amidst continued foreign fund inflows. KEY STOCKS Sectorally, healthcare, capital goods, consumer durables, and energy shares are rallying nearly 2%. Individually, barring Maruti Suzuki and HDFC, all other stocks are trading in positive. Lupin has rebounded in trades today after a sharp slump yesterday. The drug major received a total of three observations relating to violation of production norms at manufacturing facilities at Mandideep, Madhya Pradesh from the US Food and Drug Administration. Post the news, the stock touched 18-month low. The stock has gained nearly 3%. Sun Pharmaceuticals has acquired Novartis branded drug portfolio in Japan for $293 million (Rs 1,900 crore). With this, Sun will gain a strong foothold in Japan, the world's second largest drug market after the US. Shares of Sun Pharma have advanced 2%. Tata Steel has gained around 1.5%. The company is considering the sale of its entire UK business to stem heavy losses, a move that would draw a line under its almost decade-long foray into Britain's declining steel industry. Banking space is also rallying ahead of the RBI monetary policy, which is scheduled next week. SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, all have gained between 0.5%-2.5% each. Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, is preparing for a soft launch of its 4G services soon, Credit Suisse said. Jio has already launched services for Reliance group employees and their friends three months back. Reliance Industries has gained 1.5%. Among other stocks, Reliance Defence Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd have decided to set up a joint venture (JV) company in India in the areas of air-to-air missiles, air defence systems and large aerostats. The stock has gained 1%. TVS Motor Company (Rs 326) and Ashok Leyland (Rs 108) have hit their respective lifetime high on the BSE in early morning trade. Currently they are trading up by 2.5% and 1% respectively. Shares of cancer-care network operator, HealthCare Global Enterprises, have listed at Rs 210 - a discount of 4% against its initial public offer (IPO) of Rs 218 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock made a weak debut at the bourses, falling nearly 20% to Rs 175 posts its listing on the NSE so far. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 212. is locked in lower circuit for second straight day, down 5% at Rs 444, also its 52-week low on the BSE, after the company said it has not yet received the signed limited review report from the auditors. In past six trading sessions, the stock dipped 22% from Rs 569 on March 18, after the BSE in a notice dated March 18, 2016 said that pursuant to Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) circular, along with four other companies will be shifted to Z group with effect from March 28, 2016 due to non-compliances for two consecutive quarters i.e. September 2015 and December 2015 for the Clause 41 of the erstwhile Listing Agreement. CLICK HERE TO READ NOTICE. The scrips which form part of the 'Z' group are compulsorily settled on a trade-to-trade basis. If a company is shifted for settlement on trade-to-trade basis, selling or buying of shares in that scrip results into giving or taking delivery of shares at the gross level and no intra-day netting off/squaring off is permitted. in a regulatory filing said, that the board at their meeting held on March 29, reviewed the classification of shares of the company into Z category. The company said it has not yet received the signed limited review report from the auditors and the audit committee would take up again the matter with the Statutory Auditors to submit their limited review report on an immediate basis. In order to assist the audit committee, the audit committee has sought the opinion of an Independent Agency in this regard. Considering the present situation and the past track record of the company the company request the Bombay Stock Exchange to consider delay in signing of the limited review report by the auditors and ongoing review process as a justifiable reason, in terms of the notification issued by the Sebi for deviation from the standard operating process in case of non-compliance, with respect to disclosure of financial results. Till 12:14 PM, around 11,000 shares changed hands against an average 69,000 shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on the BSE. There were pending sell orders for 63,738 shares on the BSE. The stock tanked nearly 60% from its 52-week high of Rs 1,072 touched on July 2, 2015 in intra-day trade. The Supreme Court on Tuesday put the capital and commodity regulator in a spot. It asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to do something the latter has never tried before, asking it to undertake a nationwide sale of real estate properties of the controversy-ridden Sahara group of companies. According to details given before the SC in 2013, the exercise could involve 86 properties in 71 cities, covering a total area of 7,161 acres. As many as 3,268 title deeds in Sebi's possession would undergo scrutiny and be prepared for sale. CRACKING THE CODE 1,747 acres in Pomgaon and Kumheri villages in Maharashtra could be key assets These properties were valued at around Rs 11,000 crore in December 2013 Consultants say process very complex Sebi will take strength from massive verification process it undertook before Sahara might offer assistance/inputs Support from court would be crucial if disputes arise. Sebi sources told Business Standard it had no internal mechanism to manage sale or auctions at this scale. The court has suggested an external agency be appointed for the task; hence, Sebi officials might not have to engage directly, in the initial stages. "Sebi will also have to take the help of outside agencies to dispose of Sahara property. Verifying title deeds is likely to be the biggest challenge. Sebi will soon finalise the roadmap for managing this task," the source added. The SC has allowed a fee for the agency and other expenses linked to the sale to be recovered from the money already deposited by Sahara. It could also take the guidance of retired judge B N Agarwal, who will monitor the whole process. 'How can we?' This was not the first time the court proposed such a move. Several times in past hearings, Sebi counsels had expressed inability to take this up, saying the regulator neither had the expertise or the resources for such a task. Even during Tuesday's hearing, Sebi counsel Arvind Datar suggested "Sahara being a real estate player itself is better placed to execute the task", and that they should sell these and remit the money due. The regulator also appeared more inclined to pursue the official receiver route. However, on Tuesday, the bench headed by the chief justice, T S Thakur, was in a mood to persuade a bit more, finally making Sebi agree. A combination of factors, including the inability to sell expressed by Sahara, the continuing delay in enforcement of the court's orders to deposit the dues, and group's chief Subrata Roy's incarceration, now entering its third year, seem to have tipped the scales. Roy is lodged in the capital's Tihar jail since March 2014, for not complying with the apex court's August 2012 order. This had directed two group entities, Sahara Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, to repay Rs 24,029 crore raised from 29.6 million investors, along with annual interest of 15 per cent. The dues have swelled to nearly Rs 40,000 crore, according to Sebi calculations. Ahead A senior executive with an international realty consultant said the process needs to proceed in two or three stages. First, the value of each of these properties needs to be assessed. Then, the process of sale or auction. "All properties cannot be sold overnight. Not only the number; some properties might be special and need detailed due-diligence and negotiations," the consultant said. Sources close to the Sahara group indicated while the group would be ready to help with any inputs or assistance required in the sale process, Sebi was clearly in the "driver's seat". They recalled an earlier instance where the regulator had not made use of 50 executives it had offered for assistance. Earlier Sebi is not a stranger to such uphill tasks, especially in this six-year-old case. In March 2014, the regulator had told the court it had cracked the maze of 127 truckloads of documents given over by Sahara. "For one year, 600 people have worked day and night and the task is complete," Sebi had said. The group had handed over 30.4 million application forms and 22 mn refund vouchers in those truckloads, jumbled in different cartons. Sebi bought 200-odd scanners. It employed 200 people in three daily shifts to scan all the documents and assign a control number. "Today, we are in a position to say if we give the control number, both the form and refund voucher would come out," it had said in 2014. The task The present task is not as voluminous, if far more complex. The consultant quoted earlier said: "It could take months." According to Sahara, land parcels totaling 1,747 acres in Pomgaon and Kumheri villages near its Aamby Valley project (Pune district) form the biggest chunk of the properties submitted to Sebi. These parcels were estimated to be worth Rs 11,000 crore, at December 2013 prices. Disposal of this chunk alone would mean half of Sebi's task is complete. Faridabad, Noida, Muzzafarnagar and Haridwar account for another Rs 1,200 crore, according to the 2013 estimates. Sebi might go for liquidation of these big assets initially, consultants opined. These properties together account for a little over 60 per cent of the Rs 20,000 crore these title deeds are estimated to be worth. The 71 locations included other places such as Ajmer, Aligarh, Kanpur, Jhansi, Kochi, Coimbatore and Tiruchi. Apart from the commercial aspects, due- diligence of these title deeds, which number over 3,000, could be tricky. "There could be encumbrances, power of attorneys and other complications. It is also possible that some of these owners come forward (with objections). In that case, the court should sanitise these properties to ensure the buyer gets a clear title," the consultant added. Where SC needed Problems had surfaced in two large deals sanctioned by the court for properties in Choma village, near Gurgaon, and Vasai near Mumbai. In the 185-acre Choma property, Divine Infra Solutions, the buyer, had alleged Sahara did not offer a contiguous stretch of land as agreed earlier. It finally paid the dues after the SC directed personal appearance of directors. Similarly, Sai Rydam Realtors cited issues in development potential of the 270-acre Vasai property, delaying payment of dues of Rs 981 crore. On Tuesday, the court directed appearance of Sai Rydam's directors. Such judicial support would be crucial to Sebi's success in Uphill Task-2. After a free fall over the past few years, the share price of sugar companies jumped sharply in March, amid expectations of an increase in their realisations in future. The upsurge continued on Wednesday, with the share price of most sugar companies increasing up to 19 per cent. Dwarikesh Sugar recorded a 97 per cent jump in its stock this month; it closed at Rs 201.1 on Wednesday. Upper Ganges Sugar had a 95 per cent spurt in its stock price, to end at Rs 111.1 apiece on Wednesday. Upper Ganges shot up 19.3 per cent, followed by Dhampur Sugar of 15.4 per cent, Bajaj Hindusthan 9.3 per cent and Balrampur Chini 7.8 per cent. Shree Renuka Sugar recorded a 25.1 per cent jump in its stock price in March and 4.8 per cent on Wednesday, to Rs 14.60 a share. According to sources in the know, the cane commissioner had met food ministry officials to discuss production figure. Indias sugar production will fall further to 25.6 million tonnes (mt) according to the governments revised estimates. Last year, overall sugar production was 28.3 mt. The International Sugar Organisation has estimated global sugar deficit at five mt for this year. This will be the first year of deficit after several years of surplus. This has helped a rebound in global sugar prices. In India also, sugar prices have been rising steadily. So, when India wants to export its prices need to follow the global move, said Abinash Verma, director-general, Indian Sugar Mills Association. Sugar prices in Vashi wholesale market here have increased to Rs 3,607 a quintal, an eight per cent rise from the beginning of March. Experts expect the price to rise further in the weeks to come. Maharashtras sugar output in is estimated to decline to six mt in the 2016-17 crushing season from an estimated 8.5 mt in the 2015-16 season and 9.3 mt in 2013-14. Sowing of cane has been very low this year due to drought in most growing centres in the state. So, we estimate sugar output to decline to six mt in the next crushing season, said Sanjiv Babar, managing director of the Maharashtra State Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories. This raised hopes for a surge in sugar prices and realisation of sugar mills that have been reeling under severe profit pressure. Leo Puri, chief executive officer of UTI Mutual Fund, tells Chandan Kishore Kant an Initial Public Offering of stocks is the only feasible way forward and should be allowed without more delay. Excerpts: What is the update on the plan to list UTI MF? The asset management company (AMC) and trustee board have proposed it be listed and sought approval from the government. Since the shareholders (four government financial institutions have the majority; there are private minority shareholders) have not been able to reach a consensus, this matter is awaiting approval from the ministry of finance. As soon as we get that approval, we will be well positioned to undertake steps towards listing within six months or so. Thats the view of UTI AMC. Any communication from the government? None from the ministry. Essentially, there has been a discussion between the ministry and the shareholders. I think we should be very close to resolution and are anticipating some communication shortly. What makes you hopeful? From our perspective, the logic of an IPO has always been very strong. It is a method by which all the shareholders will get price discovery and a very fair exit. It will be well rewarding. Second, it will allow UTI to become a board-governed, independent, listed entity, the right business model for an asset manager not a subsidiary of a bank or a corporate. Third, it will ensure a unique institution such as UTI, with 10 million folio holders and the largest reach in terms of number of investors, can continue to play an important role in capital market development. Finally, it will also represent commitment to continued economic reform, in terms of development of both institutions and markets, a posture the government has sought to take. We do not see any other alternative which can make that much sense. Are Sebi (the capital regulator) and other shareholders kept in the loop? Another benefit of an IPO is that it resolves the regulatory issue. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has always wanted to resolve the conflict of interest. An IPO will help us resolve that, as it will provide an exit to shareholders with their own AMCs. It is an uncomfortable situation for us. How will the shareholding look after the proposed IPO? That decision will be taken by the shareholders. It is not for us to tell them they should sell. We have to take into account the regulatory issue and conflict of interest. So, the IPO will be a minimum 26 per cent (of total equity); beyond that, it will be up to the shareholders. The proportion of shares to be offloaded will be decided once we obtain the IPO approval. Is there still disagreement between UTI AMC shareholders? Based on what Ive read in the press, that appears to be the case. Ultimately, we have to find a way of resolving these. As explained, we dont see any other feasible proposal. Is six months enough to get all stakeholders on the same page? Six months is from the time of getting approval. We are hopeful the approval will come soon. The delay is harmful for UTI MF, an institution created for the benefit of our financial system and market. I am sure this will spur us to a quick resolution as opposed to a further delay, given the downsides. So, are you hopeful the IPO will take place in 2016? I certainly hope so but the decision is not ours. A Dhaka court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against former Bangladesh prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia and 27 others in connection with a case of arson attack on a passenger bus in Jatrabari locality of Dhaka in January last. Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after accepting the charges against the accused, reports the Daily Star. The court has further directed officer-in-charge of the Jatrabari Police Station to submit a report by April 27 on the execution of the arrest warrant. Italy's representative told an arbitration tribunal in The Hague on Wednesday that marine Salvatore Girone must be allowed to return to his homeland otherwise he risks four more years in India. Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. He has been not been able to leave India, aside from a few brief permits, since the incident. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is back in Italy after having a stroke in 2014. The Italian government has taken the marines case to international arbitration after repeated delays in its handling by India. Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal said that the arbitration could last at least three or four years which means that Girone risks being held in New Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight year. Azzarello added that this would amount to a grave violation of his human rights. Delhi Police on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of five persons who were allegedly involved in the assault of three Madrassa youth at a park in the city's Begampur area. Police said that the arrests had been effected under Sections 323, 325, 506, 341, 34 and 36 of the Indian Penal Code. Three Muslim youth- Dilkash, Mohammad Ajmal and Naeem-- were allegedly beaten up as they refused to chant pro-religious and slogans such as 'Jai Mata Ki' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. The victims called up their teacher Hafiz, who then called up the police. They were rushed to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for immediate treatment. Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, who has recovered from his long ankle injury, is all set to make a comeback in the ODI tri-series to be played in West Indies. The 25-year-old was excluded from the ongoing World T20 after he failed to recover fully from a foot fracture sustained during the opening day of the historic day-night Test against New Zealand in Adelaide. Reflecting on his inclusion, national selector Rod Marsh said that the team were pleased to have him back and expressed his confident about Starc's fitness for the series. "Mitchell has progressed very well in his rehab and the medical staff are confident he will be fit to play in this series.It is extremely pleasing to have a bowler of his calibre back in the side," Marsh was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. Besides Starc, other notable selection include uncapped batsman Travis Head while Test spinner Nathan Lyon have also earned call-up in the 16-man squad. Marsh said that Lyon had bowled extremely well in the West Indies in previous years and that they were hoping to see the same kind of performance from him. Fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile, who had not played in an ODI series since the tour of England last year, has also been named for the tri-series, which will also feature South Africa. Australia will play their opening match against West Indies in Guyana on June 5. Australia squad: Steven Smith (captain), David Warner (vice-capt), George Bailey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.(ANI) . Seven people have died after a small private plane in which they were travelling crashed on an island off the east coast of Quebec province in Canada. Authorities said the plane crashed as it was approaching the Iles-de-la-Madeleine Airport in windy and snowy weather. Jean Lapierre, a broadcaster and former Canadian transport minister, and members of his family were among the victims, the Guardian reports. Lapierre, who was 59, worked as a political analyst for CTV and other Canadian media outlets. Lapierre's wife, two brothers and sister died in the crash. They were travelling to the funeral of Lapierre's father, TVA said. He also served as a member of parliament from 1979 to 1993 and again from 2004 to 2007. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin said that Lapierre was a very good political analyst and a superb political figure, and added that it was a great privilege to work with him. Officials with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada travelled to Havre aux Maisons Island in the Magdalen Islands of Canada to determine the cause of the crash. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his sorrow over Lapierre's demise on Twitter. All three GOP candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich have revoked their pledge to support each other on the eventual Republican nominee in a television town hall in Milwaukee with CNN on Tuesday night. When asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper if he continued to pledge to support whoever the Republican nominee is?. Trump said "No, I don't anymore." The New York billionaire front-runner said that he has "been treated very unfairly" by the Republican National Committee and party establishment figures. Trump also accused rival Cruz of "essentially saying the same thing" in response to a question about the pledge. Kasich, meanwhile, said "All of us shouldn't even have answered that question," on the pledge party officials asked all the candidates to sign in September. Cruz when asked the same question by Cooper earlier, said, "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and my family ... I think nominating Donald Trump would be an absolute trainwreck, I think it would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton." The real estate mogul said that he doesn't need Cruz's as he had tremendous support right now from the people. "I don't really want him to do something he's not comfortable with," trump said. During the first GOP debate in August 2015 the party loyalty pledge had initially come up. At the time, Trump was the only candidate in the Fox News hosted debate to decline to rule out an independent presidential bid. Trump had earlier pledged to allegiance to the Republican Party and for the conservative principles for which it stands. He affirmed that if he does not win the 2016 Republican nomination for President of the United States, he would endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it was. As three new Sikh American soldiers have filed another lawsuit in a federal court against the U.S. Department of Defence for enforcing no beard rule in the military, senior counsel at the Becket Fund Eric Baxter, who is representing the three Sikh soldiers on Wednesday said the government really hasn't given any good reason why it can't let patriotic Americans of all religious flavours to serve in the military without compromising their religious beliefs. Talking to ANI here, he said this case is about Sikh Americans serving in the U.S. military. "Sikhs have a long history of serving in the U.S. military from the War 1 through the Vietnam War. But in the 1980s, for some reasons, the government started enforcing its no beard, moreover against Sikh Americans. So, now we have four clients, who are representing their right to serve their country." When asked how hopeful he was of a victory in the case, Baxter said, "We are very hopeful. We have been before this judge one time here in the District of Columbia and she viewed our case very favourably. The government really hasn't given any good reason why it can't let patriotic Americans of all religious flavours to serve in the military." "One argument the government has made is that beards may create a safety hazards if gas mask formed CO, but the truth is there are hundred thousand soldiers even in time in the military, who have beards for medical or other reasons. Sikhs were certainly in the past and never had any safety problems with their beard. So, we think the government has no case," he added. Talking about the current status, the counsel said there are four Sikh Americans, who are serving in the army currently with their beards in place. "They have accommodations, but the government is still refusing to make them permanent. Every time they are transferred from their duty station, they have to re-apply for accommodations. There are still a number of Sikhs who would like to serve, but can't apply due to the beard row," he said. Asked about the argument that goes in their favour, he said Sikhs have served militaries around the for a long time. "They are allowed to serve in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and India, of course. There is simply no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to serve in the American Army as well." "The army has to make a decision on our first client Captain Simratpal Singh, who is a Brown Star recipient. They have to let us know tomorrow whether they are going to accommodate him; if they do, then it will be a victory for Sikh Americans and for all of us. And, if they deny the accommodation, then we have a very tight schedule in April to go to a court and get the court to change the army's mind for us," he said while talking about the future course of action. Specialists Kanwar Singh and Harpal Singh and Private Arjan Singh Ghotra each seek to serve their country without being forced to compromise their religion in the process. The lawsuit, filed by the Sikh Coalition, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and McDermott Will & Emery, demands that the Army accommodate their religious articles of faith, including turbans, unshorn hair and beards, so that each can begin Basic Combat Training with their various units in May. The lawsuit was filed after the U.S. Department of Defence ignored a written demand letter that was sent on March 23. Hitting out at Pakistan for 'cooking up' and planting stories against India, the government on Wednesday said that the arrest of an alleged Indian spy and his subsequent 'confession' was an attempt to malign India's image but assured that there are no takers for such fabricated claims in the international community. "The MEA has already come out with a statement regarding the forged, doctored video and the made up story being created by the Pakistani establishment. We don't have to rake after that and I feel that there is an internal game within the Pakistani establishment, there government, Prime Minister and their agencies," Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told the media here. Asserting that Islamabad is cooking up stories and creating doctored videos to defame India, he added that the fabrication will not have any takers in India and in the international community. The Pakistan government yesterday released alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav's confessional video in which he is shown owning up to clandestine activities in the country. The Indian government rejected the allegation that Jadhav had acted at its behest and counter-charged that the former navy officer was tutored by the Pakistanis. "We have seen a video released by Pakistani authorities of a former Indian naval officer, doing business in Iran, who is in Pakistani custody under unexplained circumstances," the external affairs ministry said in a statement. "The video has this individual making statements which have no basis in fact. That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring," it said. The external affairs ministry statement said that it was also relevant to note that despite its request, consular access has not been given to an Indian under detention in a foreign country, as was the accepted international practice. "We are naturally concerned about his well-being in these circumstances," it said. "The government categorically rejects allegations that this individual was involved in subversive activities in Pakistan at our behest. Our enquiries reveal that he apparently was being harassed while operating a legitimate business from Iran." The video was aired during a joint press conference by Pakistan's information minister Pervez Rasheed and Army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa in Islamabad. The video shows Jadhav saying he is a serving naval officer, he joined the intelligence services since 2003 and has been running a spy operation in Balochistan from Iran with the aim of instigating terrorist incidents there. Condemning the terrorist attacks that have taken place across the recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel on Wednesday agreed that enhanced bilateral and international cooperation is necessary to prevent and combat violent extremism and terrorism, including early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and strict compliance with all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions designating terrorists and terrorist groups. The two leaders also resolved to work together to drive forward international efforts in forums like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Recognising the urgent need to disrupt terrorist networks and their financing channels, eliminating terrorist safe havens, training infrastructure and cross-border movement of terrorists, the two Prime Ministers underlined the need for all countries to effectively deal with terrorism emanating from their territory or territories under their control. India and Belgium reiterated that there should be "zero tolerance" for terrorism-related activities, including those that are sponsored by state actors and entities and where terrorism is used as an instrument of state policy. Reaffirming that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group, both nations resolved to work together to better understand the phenomenon of radicalisation, and counter the misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred and violent extremism or perpetrating terrorist acts. Agreeing to facilitate regular exchanges of civil society to promote the values of peace, tolerance and inclusion, the two leaders reaffirmed their shared conviction that the values of humanism will prevail in countering the divisive propaganda of hatred and intolerance espoused by the forces of extremism and terrorism. Recognising the need for enhanced cooperation in criminal matters, they committed to begin negotiations on bilateral agreements for Mutual Legal Assistance, Extradition and Transfer of Sentenced Persons at an early date. The attacks on Brussels airport in Zaventem and Maalbeek metro station on the morning of March 22 killed 32 people, three suicide bombers and injured more than 300. The attacks were reportedly claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group. During a meeting with the selected Members of the European Parliament (EMPs), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India was very keen to build closer relations with the EU (European Union) in areas of trade, technology and tourism. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup quoted Prime Minister Modi as saying, "India is the world's youngest country. The EU has resources and technology and we have the manpower, so it could be a win-win partnership." The Prime Minister also talked about various investment opportunities in India and various Indian sectors which have been opened up for FDIs such as defence, insurance, railways, food processing, and creation of the India Infrastructure Investment Fund, said Swarup. The Prime Minister said he recognised these EMPs as playing a very important role; in fact, they were really link between Europe and India. Swarup said the Prime Minister began his meeting with EMPs by saying that he was delighted to meet his fellow parliamentarians. The Prime Minister mentioned that the European Parliament, the largest Parliament in the with more than 700 members, was not in session, so he especially appreciated the gesture from those who had chosen to come to meet him, as many of whom were in fact not resident of Belgium and travelled from longer distances, he added. "Some of these parliamentarians have links with India such as MEP for reunion of islands is a fourth generation Gujarati and that was the reason why they were invited for the interaction with the Prime Minister," he said, adding that some of these people even participated in the Art of living event held in Delhi recently, and had opportunity of meeting the Prime Minister there as well. Paying homage to the victims of the terrible terrorist attack that recently took place in Brussels, The Prime Minister said it was probably the biggest attack that Belgium had faced since the Second War. The Prime Minister also recalled that India had also lost a very young and bright mind in the form of Mr. Raghvendra Ganeshan from Chennai, who died in the Metro blast, he said. The MEA spokesperson said the MEPs lauded the vision of Prime Minister Modi for making India into a more progressive and a modern nation. They said they were in sync with the Prime Minister's economic vision and various flagship programmes that he had launched, he said. Some of them raised issues such as retrospective taxation, to which the Prime Minister replied that it was an old issue, and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already given assurance in Parliament, said Swarup, adding that there were also some discussions about implementation, to which the Prime Minister said his government was in fact known as a government which implements policy decisions. "The Prime Minister said we not just announce things, we first prepare a roadmap and only after that we announce those things. Swarup said there was also some discussion on cultural issues, and Prime Minister said that at a time when the was increasingly being divided, yoga had emerged as a uniting force. "It was a force for wellness and wellbeing; and, in fact, through yoga people of the world had been able to come together," said Prime Minister. There was some discussions on the U.K. remaining in the EU or not and on the issue of regulation of Internet and domination of Internet by a few global players as well. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday said that India would abide by the result of the arbitration process in the repatriation of an Italian marine who was detained in New Delhi in connection with shooting of two fishermen. Responding to a question that Italian marine case would likely be raised in the India-European Union Summit, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said it is no longer a bilateral matter between India and Italy, as the Italians have appealed to the UN tribunal and matter is now with them. "From technical point of view it is no longer a bilateral issue and there is an arbitration process going on now and whatever is the arbitration process both Indian and Italy have agreed to abide by, so let us await the result of the arbitration process, whatever will be the decision would be accepted by both countries," Swarup said. Meanwhile, Italy's representative told an arbitration tribunal in The Hague that marine Salvatore Girone must be allowed to return to his homeland otherwise he risks four more years in India. Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. He has been not been able to leave India, aside from a few brief permits, since the incident. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is back in Italy after having a stroke in 2014. The Italian government has taken the marines case to international arbitration after repeated delays in its handling by India. Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal said that the arbitration could last at least three or four years which means that Girone risks being held in New Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight year. Azzarello added that this would amount to a grave violation of his human rights. The police on Wednesday arrested independent legislator from Maharashtra Bacchu Kadu, who had allegedly slapped a bureaucrat yesterday after a scuffle over allowing lawmakers' associate to live in government quarters. "We have arrested MLA Bacchu Kadu and will produce him in court tomorrow," said Mumbai DCP Manoj Sharma. Independent MLA from Achalpur Bacchu Kadu on Tuesday allegedly slapped B R Gavit, deputy secretary, General Administration Department (GAD) over latter not allowing his associate to live in government quarters. Kadu's associate who is currently living in government quarters has been allotted a flat under the 10% scheme. A complaint was registered with GAD in this connection. Kadu went to Gavit on behalf of his associate who wants to hold on to government accommodation. However, Gavit informed him that it was not possible as he already had a flat under the 10% scheme. The discussion between the two soared up and infuriated by Gavit's adamant stand Kadu slapped him. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday described Delhi Chief Minister as a 'Naxalite' who was supporting anti- elements while accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of surrendering to Pakistan. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said, " and the Congress, they are all opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party. That man (Arvind Kejriwal) is a Naxalite, he will say anything at any time. If we take a hard line on Pakistan, he will say, why have you taken a hard line?. If you take a soft line on Pakistan, he will say, they have invited Pakistan and all that? That man is a complete 420 (cheat). How can I take him seriously?" As Indian and Pakistan officials met at the Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in Delhi to take stock of the probe into the Pathankot attack, opposition parties slammed the government for giving the Pakistani team, 'unfettered access' to the Pathankot air base. The five-member Pakistani Joint Investigating team (JIT) is headed by Chief of Punjab's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Muhammad Tahir Rai and comprises Lahore's Deputy Director General, Intelligence Bureau, Mohammad Azim Arshad, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Lieutenant-Colonel Tanvir Ahmed, Military Intelligence official Lieutenant-Colonel Irfan Mirza and Gujaranwala CTD Investigating Officer, Shahid Tanveer. Following inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs about a possible threat to the JIT by the Islamic fundamentalist organizations based in Pakistan and their proxies in India, the Punjab Police made arrangements to provide 25 bulletproof cars to ferry them and the Investigation Agency (NIA) officials in Pathankot and to areas close to the border. The note was sent after the JIT members arrived in India, sparking a political storm over whether they should be given access to the airbase. Expressing deep shock and anguish at the dastardly terrorist attacks here last week and condemning them in the strongest possible terms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel on Wednesday reaffirmed their belief that no issue or cause can justify dreadful and indiscriminate acts of violence against innocent people. In a joint statement released after bilateral talks, the two Prime Ministers agreed the growing menace of terrorism knows no boundaries and its root causes and manifestations must be tackled through united efforts by the international community. Underlining that terror cannot defeat freedom and liberty, the Prime Ministers reiterated, "These fundamental values have always strengthened our shared resolve to fight against such inhuman acts of terror." On behalf of India, a nation confronted with terrorism for decades, Prime Minister Modi expressed solidarity with Belgium in this tragic hour and offered heartfelt condolences for the loss of several lives and prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured. Earlier, during a meeting with prominent Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) here, the Prime Minister said it was probably the biggest attack that Belgium had faced since the Second War. The two Prime Ministers underlined the excellent relations between Belgium and India and their shared commonalities as two mature democracies committed to the rule of law, federalism and pluralism. Noting that diplomatic relations between India and Belgium were instituted in 1947, they welcomed the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Belgium in 2017 as an occasion to commemorate and commit to further strengthening of bilateral relations. They looked forward to a state visit to India by King Philippe of Belgium in 2017 as a key event in the commemoration. Lauding the vital role played by, and the supreme sacrifice made by more than 9,000 Indian troops in Flanders fields, Belgium, during the First War, the two Prime Ministers recalled India's participation in the inaugural commemorative events held at Nieuwpoort and Ypres in Belgium in October 2014, and welcomed the ongoing commemorative celebrations underway till 2018. Acknowledging the growing convergence of views on regional and international issues and expressing their commitment to work together in close partnership on a range of issues of mutual interest, the Prime Ministers welcomed the inception of an institutionalised political dialogue between India and Belgium. Prime Minister Michel reiterated Belgium's support for India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Underlining their shared interest in strengthening global non-proliferation objectives, Belgium welcomes India's aspiration to become a member of the four multilateral export control regimes, namely, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group and Wassenaar Arrangement. India and Belgium agreed to work together for India to become a member of these regimes. Taking note of the federal structure in both countries, the two leaders encouraged mutually beneficial partnerships and cooperation, including at the level of the States and the Union Territories of India, the Regions and Communities of Belgium. Prime Minister Modi is in the Belgian Capital for the first leg of his three-nation four-day tour, which will take him to the US and Saudi Arabia. Rejecting the perception that Islamabad is engaged in a nuclear race with New Delhi, Pakistan's envoy in Washington, Jalil Abbas Jilani said that the nation did not have a reckless nuclear strategy. "It is disingenuous to create a perception that Pakistan has some grand strategy to recklessly build a nuclear arsenal to its own and the region's peril," the Dawn quoted Jilani as saying. The upcoming Nuclear Summit in Washington, which is the fourth and final of President Barack Obama's administration has brought focus on Pakistan's tactical nuclear weapons because of its agenda. This led to a series of stories in the US media, claiming that terrorists could only access nuclear weapons in Pakistan because it is making small-sized (tactical) weapons and also because terrorists are actively fighting government forces in that country. However, Ambassador Jilani speaking to Dawn, rejected the claim that Pakistan had the fastest growing nuclear arsenal as a "misplaced opinion based on theoretical assumptions". "The oft-paddled opinions on so-called tactical nuclear weapons are off the mark. Pakistan's short-range missile is not a unique weapon system in South Asia. India also has such missiles for tactical use in the battlefield," he said. Pointing out that last week India tested a long range submarine launched missile, Jilani said that it demonstrated the India has operationalised a nuclear triad. "India arms imports, according to a Stockholm think-tank, increased by 90% over the past five years as compared to previous five years. India tops this unprecedented level of armament with war fighting doctrines such as cold start to win a war below nuclear threshold," he added. Jilani asserted that concerns about a nuclear race in South Asia could be resolved if India agreed to start a dialogue with Pakistan on a Strategic Restraint Regime. "India has refused to consider this long-standing proposal by Pakistan. The ball is now in India's court. Our troubled history with India, potential of outstanding conflicts to create tensions, deep-seated mistrust and India's continued accumulation of conventional and nuclear capabilities leave Pakistan with no option but to invest in its own nuclear capability for defence," he added. The ambassador pointed out that India separated weapon-grade plutonium in 1964, 22 years before Pakistan could even enrich uranium. If the assumptions applied to Pakistan were also applied to India, it would show that New Delhi has "a much larger nuclear arsenal" and is "moving towards MIRVs (a multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle), which is ostensibly a destabilising move," Jilani said. "The country having the largest nuclear programme outside Non-Proliferation Treaty Regime is India and it continues to follow a maximalist approach in expanding its nuclear arsenal," he added. Jilani also urged the community to note that a significant portion of India's nuclear programme was outside any safeguards. Quoting from a recent report by the Institute of Science and Studies, Washington, he claimed that India had 32 tons of plutonium in spent fuel along with reprocessing plants without safeguards. "Availability of significant amounts of unsafeguarded nuclear materials and unsafeguarded reprocessing plants requires no further imagination to understand its likely military use," Ambassador Jilani said. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said Pakistan has for the first time acknowledged that the terror attack in Pathankot had its roots in that country. Speaking an election rally in Assam's Thowra assembly constituency, Singh said Pakistan had been continuously saying that it has no involvement in militant and terror activities in India. He said, however, now Pakistan has acknowledged that the Pathankot attack and filed an FIR. He said the Pakistani probe team has come to India and our team is going to Pakistan. Singh said the change has come due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's astute and positive political capability. He said, all the countries of the world are acknowledging that India's strength is increasing. After visiting the site of the Pathankot terror attack yesterday, the Pakistan Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on Wednesday met Investigation Agency (NIA) officials here at their headquarters. The probe team arrived in the capital on March 27 and visited the headquarters of the Investigation Agency (NIA) the next day. However, it did not demand any input of the investigation carried out by the Indian agency. The NIA, on its part, gave a detailed presentation to the JIT on the evidence collected during the course of the Pathankot terror attack probe. The probe team visited the Pathankot air base yesterday and begun the probe into the deadly terror attack by visiting the site of the incident. After the Pakistani probe team's visit to India, it is reported that the NIA officials will make a return visit to Pakistan to probe the role of Azhar and his brother Abul Rauf in the deadly terror attack at the Pathankot air base. The NIA is expected to seek access to Azhar, his brother Rauf and some key players like Kashif Jaan, identified by Indian investigators as the main handler of the slain terrorists. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to attend the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit here on Wednesday during which discussions on trade, investment, and technology partnership between India and the E.U are expected to be held. Apart from meeting European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker and President of the European council Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister also held talks with the board members of the Association of Diamond Traders on the sidelines of the summit. Prime Minister Modi had, during a joint address with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michels, said that India-E.U Trade and Investment Agreement could enable all the European countries, including Belgium, to benefit from India's strong economic growth. Prime Minister Modi, who arrived in Brussels today for the first leg of his three nation tour of Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia, paid tribute to the victims of the deadly terror attacks at the Maelbeek metro station and laid a wreath at the site. Highlighting that the scourge of terrorism is increasing across the globe, visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that it was important for all nations to fight this menace, and added that India has been battling terrorism for 40 years. Prime Minister began addressing the luncheon meeting by first paying tribute to the 32 victims killed in a suicide bomb blast in the Belgian capital last Tuesday. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and other officials were also present in the meeting. In a tweet, Ministry of External affairs spokesperson, Vikas Swarup, quoted the Prime Minister, as saying that, "Today, we live in an interdependent and India offers a huge opportunity not just a market, but as a huge talent pool. He said that India was developing its port sector in a big way and asserted that the nation's inland waterways offered opportunities for Belgian businesses. Emphasising that diamonds were an old link between the two countries, he said that it provides employment to many back home and is another sector of promise. Highlighting his productive discussions with his Belgian counterpart, Prime Minister Modi said that from science and technology to trade, more can be done between the two nations. He also highlighted the ties of blood with Belgium, he said that 130,000 soldiers from India fought in Belgium, 100 years ago and 9000 had made the supreme sacrifice. Ending his speech, Prime Minister invited everyone to explore opportunities in India pressing that it is was the fastest growing economy in the . Belgian Prime Minister had earlier said that the India and Belgium relationship was full of potential. Prior to the luncheon, Prime Minister Modi met leading Belgian CEOs at Egmont Palace. He held talks with his Belgian counterpart and even inspected the parade at the Egmont Palace. Earlier today, accompanied by Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reyndersby, and Indian officials, including Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, the Prime Minister paid tribute to the victims of the deadly terror attacks at the Maelbeek metro station and laid a wreath at the site where a suicide bomber blew himself up. He also remembered India's Infosys employee Raghavendran Ganesan, who was killed in that explosion. Modi arrived in Brussels for the first leg of his three nation tour of Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia, this morning where he will participate in the European Union-India Summit India-EU Summit and hold bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel. Modi's round of meetings in the day in Brussels began with an interaction with Members of the European Parliament and the Belgian Parliament. Honouring the cultural ambassadors of India, Prime Minister Modi met with leading Belgian Indologists. Upon his arrival this morning in Brussels, he was given a red carpet welcome and a guard of honour. This is the Prime Minister Modi's first official visit to Belgium. Prime Minister is also expected to sign several agreements with European Union member nations. The Prime Minister, later in the day, will hold meetings with a cross section of the Indian Diaspora in Belgium and also interact with Board Members of the Association of Diamond Traders in Belgium. The same evening, he will address a community programme and interact with Indian diaspora. European Union officials said, Prime Minister Modi's decision to attend the EU-India Summit amid heightened security concerns in the region is a welcome sign that both sides are keen to re-establish a relationship that has been languishing in recent years. European officials hope the closed-door summit will yield a joint statement and an agenda that will serve as a roadmap for EU-India cooperation in what is referred to as Action 2020. This includes concrete priority actions for the strategic partnership between the two sides over the next five years. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel and held talks in Brussels on Wednesday. Prior to the meeting Modi inspected the parade at Egmont palace. Modi earlier paid tribute to the victims of the deadly terror attacks at the Maelbeek metro station and laid a wreath at the site where a suicide bomber blew himself last Tuesday kill at least 32 people. Accompanied by Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Didier Reyndersby and Indian officials including Minister of State, Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, the Prime Minister paid his respects at the site of the attack. Modi arrived in Brussels for the first leg of his three nation tour of Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia, this morning where he will participate in the European Union-India Summit. This is the Prime Minister Modi's first official visit to Belgium. European Union officials said, Prime Minister Modi's decision to attend the EU-India Summit amid heightened security concerns in the region, is a welcome sign that both sides are keen to re-establish a relationship that has been languishing in recent years. European officials hope the closed-door summit will yield a joint statement and an agenda that will serve as a roadmap for EU-India cooperation in what is referred to as Action 2020. This includes concrete priority actions for the strategic partnership between the two sides over the next five years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the signing of loan agreement between the Lucknow Metro and the European Investment Bank at the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit here on Wednesday. "Fast-tracking urban transport. Leaders witness signing of loan agreement 4 Lucknow Metro w/ European Investm't Bank," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. Prime Minister Modi earlier took part in the India-EU summit, during which discussions on trade, investment, and technology partnership between India and the E.U. were held. Apart from meeting European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker and President of the European council Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister also held talks with the board members of the Association of Diamond Traders on the sidelines of the summit. Prime Minister Modi had, during a joint address with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michels, said that India-E.U Trade and Investment Agreement could enable all the European countries, including Belgium, to benefit from India's strong economic growth. Prime Minister Modi, who arrived in Brussels today for the first leg of his three nation tour of Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia, paid tribute to the victims of the deadly terror attacks at the Maelbeek metro station and laid a wreath at the site. United States President Barack Obama will on Thursday convene a trilateral meeting with President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit. The White House in its statement said that this meeting would be an opportunity for the three leaders to discuss common responses to the threat posed by North Korea and to advance areas of trilateral security cooperation in the region and globally. Pyongyang in its recent move has aggressively fired ballistic missiles and had warmed both Seoul and United States of nuclear attack. Despite being warned by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to refrain from actions which violate the UN resolutions, North Korea gives no ears. The Security Council had this month imposed strictest sanctions to North Korea after it carried out its fourth nuclear test in January and fired a rocket in February, but Pyongyang seems to remain undeterred. US President Barack Obama had also signed an order implementing tougher sanctions unilaterally by Washington outlined in the recent UN sanctions, Seoul followed the same suit. Pro-Mumtaz Qadri supporters' protest at D-Chowk ran into its fourth day on Wednesday, with protesters refusing to cease their demonstration saying they are willing to die even as armed security forces ready themselves to clear the Red Zone. The Pakistan Government had on Tuesday given ultimatum to the protesters to leave the venue. But after they refused to follow the ultimatum, the government issues a second call, saying security forces would begin an operation to clear the area on Wednesday morning. However, there has been no fresh warning from the government even as the warning expired. The protesters, on the other hand, said they would not move until the government accepts their 10 demands. While army troops are standing guards at government buildings near the protest site, more than 7,000 security forces have been poised to clear the sit-in, including the Rangers and Frontier Corps, with reinforcements from the Punjab police, reports Dawn. The government is still thinking as to what course of action could be taken to clear the highly-sensitive area outside Parliament. The protesters, in front of Parliament, issued a list of 10 demands under the banner of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool (SAW), including unconditional release of all Sunni clerics and leaders booked on various charges such as terrorism and murder. They also demanded Qadri be recognised as a martyr and the conversion of his Adiala Jail cell into a national heritage site, assurances that blasphemy laws will not be amended and removal of Ahmadis and other non-Muslims who occupy key posts. The protesters further demanded the execution of blasphemy accused Aasia Bibi, the woman former Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was killed for defending. Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had on Tuesday warned protesters that the government would clear the area "at any cost" if they refused to disperse on their own overnight. However, protesters have pressed ahead their demands and continued their sit-in. Qadri, an Elite Force commando, was executed at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on February 29. He shot Taseer 28 times in broad daylight in Islamabad's Kohsar Market on January 4, 2011. Qadri had said he killed Taseer over what he called the politician's vocal opposition to blasphemy laws of the country. Russia has said that it will be skipping the Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted by United States President Barack Obama in Washington on March 31 to April 1. According to reports, the Deputy National Security Adviser to the White House National Security Council, Ben Rhodes, called Moscow's move a missed opportunity. "Russia's decision to certainly not participate at a high level we believe is a missed opportunity for Russia above all," media reports quoted him, as saying during a conference call. Noting that the United States and Russia continue to cooperate and discuss issues related to nuclear security, Rhodes said, "Frankly, all they're doing is isolating themselves in not participating, as they have in the past." Leaders from across the would gather here Thursday for a two-day summit that will focus on global nuclear concerns, particularly the potential for a terrorist organization to obtain nuclear materials. The summit, which has been held every two years since 2010, will comes as leaders are concerned about the increasing threats from terrorist, mainly Islamic State, seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon. Taking a dig at a proposed visit of a Investigation Agency (NIA) team to Pakistan to nail down Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar's alleged involvement in the Pathankot air base terror attack, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday termed it as a mere 'chai pe charcha', adding that these kinds of visits between India and Pakistan agencies keep on happening and end up without result. "Tea party is going on. We want Azhar Masood, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim. Should our investigation go that far or should our people just visit Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi and return? Their team came and it constituted ISIS member.we have seen that. Our people would also go there. These visits would go on. This is a mere chai pe charcha," Shiv Sena chief Sanjay Raut told ANI. After the Pakistani probe team's visit to India, it is reported that the NIA officials will make a return visit to Pakistan to probe the role of Azhar and his brother Abul Rauf in the deadly terror attack at the Pathankot air base. The NIA is expected to seek access to Azhar, his brother Rauf and some key players like Kashif Jaan, identified by Indian investigators as the main handler of the slain terrorists. The five-member Pakistani team visited Pathankot on March 29 and was given restricted access to the airbase attacked by terrorists on January 2 killing seven security personnel. A trusted confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, U Htin Kyaw, formally took oath as Myanmar's first elected president from a non-military background in 54 years in parliament on Wednesday. In his first address to the nation, the 69-year-old former academic asked for patience. U Htin was sworn in before the Union parliament, taking his oath in unison with his two vice presidents - former general U Myint Swe and ethnic Chin Christian Henry Van Thio. Following the swearing in, his ministers, including National League for Democracy (NLD) leader who is barred by the constitution from the presidency, took their oaths, completing a 144-day transition period since it won general elections against the military last November. President U Htin Kyaw in his address pledged his government would work towards establishing a constitution that would guarantee a federal democracy and the lifting up lives of the people. "The new government will try with commitment to fulfill the people's long waited political desires. We need to be patient to reach our goals," the Myanmar times quoted him as saying. He also said that his government would also strive for "national reconciliation" and achieving peace. U Htin and his cabinet then moved to the presidential palace for a formal handover ceremony with outgoing president U Thein Sein. The President and Vice Presidents pledged of being faithful to the people of the republic of the union of Myanmar. NLD leader, Suu Kyi was seated to U Htin Kyaw's left as he rose in parliament to take the stage for the brief swearing-in. It has been confirmed to parliament that she would hold four ministerial posts, including that of foreign minister. Many wanted 70-year-old NLD leader to be the new president, but refusal from the refusal of the military to amend the constitution that bars her from the top post on the grounds that her sons are foreign nationals stopped her from securing the coveted post. Questions remain if Suu Kyi could yet become president after amending section 59(f) of the charter over the five-year term of the new government. Meanwhile, swearing in of other ministers is still in progress. In an attempt to diffuse some of the tension regarding the money laundering charges against him, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya on Wednesday submitted a proposal before the Supreme Court to repay Rupees 4000 crores of bad debt by September 30, 2016. The apex court directed the consortium of banks to get instructions and respond to the proposal. Mallya's counsel said that negotiations are underway with the banks and the next date of the hearing has been set on April 7. When his counsel was asked about Mallya's current location and whether he was back in India, the former replied that his presence was not needed in the matter. Asserting that Mallya's proposal should be kept in a sealed envelope, his counsel said that negotiations with the banks are underway, but the media is exaggerating the issue, to which Justice Kurien Joseph observed that the 'media ultimately stands for public interest'. Meanwhile, the banks have told the apex court that they need time to review the proposal. Earlier, the auction for Kingfisher House ended with lenders to the grounded airline failing to get any bids. The base price of Rs. 150 crores for the office at Andheri in Mumbai's western suburbs was reportedly "too high". The Enforcement Directorate had earlier asked Mallya to make a "personal appearance" on March 18 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). But the flamboyant business magnate asked for a date in April, making it clear that he would not be able to appear before that. Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought out in India over charges of money laundering, claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects and asserted that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit. Prince William and Kate Middleton are all set to make a pilgrimage to the beautiful Taj Mahal, where Princess Diana's memory is said to be kept alive, during their visit to India next month. "Prince William feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mother's memory is kept alive by so many who travel there," Cambridges' communications secretary Jason Knauf said in a statement, E! Online reports. He added twenty-four years on from Diana's visit to the Taj, the duke and the duchess are looking forward to seeing this beautiful place for themselves and creating some new memories. During their trip, the 33-year-old Duke of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cambridge will pay tribute to the 166 people killed in the 2008 attacks at the Mumbai hotel. They will lay a wreath and meet the staff who helped protect guests during the attack. The royal couple, who will also pay visit to Kaziranga National Park in Assam, will also be visiting Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest monastery in Bhutan. It is being said that Princess Diana was photographed at the Taj Mahal during her visit to India in 1992, an image that has become famous for embodying the Princess but also for the demise of her marriage with Prince Charles. William and Middleton will visit the monument of love in April, 24 years later Princess Diana had visited. Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the nation would not tolerate any kind of border blockade and the government would not tolerate such activities. Oli was inaugurating the silver jubilee celebration of the Federation of Contractors' Association of Nepal in Ratnanagar of Chitwan today, reports The Himalayan Times. The Prime Minister said in Chitwan today that the government cannot just look at Nepali people's suffering because of someone's whim." Oli added that the government would extend deadline of infrastructure development projects by a year considering impacts of the earthquake and the border blockade last year. He warned the contractors against any unnecessary delay. More than 1,200 construction businesspersons have gathered in Chitwan for the function. The Prime Minister, who recently visited India and China, said the government would maintain friendly relations with both the neighbours. Ministry of Finance30-March, 2016 10:36 IST The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Economic Reforms are widely accepted in India especially the reforms in taxation and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) among others. The Finance Minister said that India faces three major challenges now viz. boosting Exports in view of shrinking global trade, increase in private investment and better hope for monsoon this year after insufficient rains in last two consecutive years. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley was making his Opening Remarks during his meeting with the Foreign Minister of Australia, Ms Julie Bishop in Sydney today. On the second day of his four day official visit to Australia, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that there is lot of scope for foreign investment in India in various sectors which have now been opened for FDI including Railways, defence and manufacturing among others. The Finance Minister talked about the various initiatives and reforms measures undertaken by the present Government in India in last 22 months and invited Australian businesses to invest and make in India. Speaking on the occasion, the Australian Foreign Minister of Australia, Ms Julie Bishop said that Australia can play a major role in providing various services to India especially in field of innovations, R&D and designing, vocational training and skill development among others. The Finance Minister informed that start-ups are being launched in India to boost innovations and young entrepreneurs among others. Shri Jaitley thanked the Australian Foreign Minister for concluding the Administrative Arrangements on civil nuclear cooperation to facilitate the flow of Uranium. Recalling the recent high level visits between two countries, both the leaders expressed satisfaction over ongoing cooperation in multiple areas of bilateral cooperation. They discussed various bilateral and global developments. They highlighted the importance of people-to-people contacts and welcomed the forthcoming Festival of India in Australia and growing tourism and cultural exchanges among the two countries. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Ashok Leyland rose 1.31% to Rs 108.05 at 9:28 IST on BSE after the company said it has won a defence contract worth Rs 800 crore from Indian armed forces. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 29 March 2016. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 194.29 points or 0.78% at 25,094.75. On BSE, so far 2.08 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 16.25 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock hit a high of Rs 108.60 so far during the day, which is a record high for the counter. The stock hit a low of Rs 107.90 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 63.85 on 27 April 2015. The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 284.59 crore. Face value per share is Rs 1. Ashok Leyland said it has won a defence contract worth Rs 800 crore from Indian armed forces for supply of advanced-technology products - 450 units of Field Artillery Tractor (FAT) 6x6 and other similar Super Stallion vehicles; and 825 units of Ambulance 4x4. Net profit of Ashok Leyland rose 519% to Rs 198.63 crore on 22.5% growth in net sales to Rs 4029.46 crore in Q3 December 2015 over Q3 December 2014. Ashok Leyland is the second largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in terms of sales in India. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Gloster surged 6.86% to Rs 595.20 at 12:59 IST on BSE after the company said its board of directors approved 1:1 bonus issue of shares. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 29 March 2016. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 312.45 points or 1.25% at 25,212.91. On BSE, so far 9,088 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 2,282 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 665 and a low of Rs 580 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 768 on 29 December 2015. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 166 on 22 April 2015. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 29 March 2016, surging 44.83% compared with Sensex's 8.25% rise. The scrip had, however, underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 9.21% as against Sensex's 4.52% fall. The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 5.23 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. Meanwhile, Gloster's board of directors at a meeting held yesterday, 29 March 2016, approved the proposal for the amalgamation of company with Kettlewell Bullen & Company (Kettlewell) with effect from 1 January 2015. Kettlewell is a non-banking financial company (non-deposit accepting) registered with the Reserve Bank of India. It is one of the promoter group companies of Gloster. Under the scheme, the shareholders of Gloster (excluding Kettlewell) shall be issued four equity shares of Kettlewell for every five equity shares held in Gloster. The scheme of amalgamation is expected to enable better realisation of potential of the businesses of the companies, yield beneficial results and enhanced value creation for the companies and their respective shareholders, Gloster said. The scheme shall be subject to the approval of the stock exchange, shareholders and the High Court of Calcutta and other statutory authorities. Gloster's net profit rose 173.7% to Rs 6.35 crore on 41.9% growth in net sales to Rs 105.47 crore in Q3 December 2015 over Q3 December 2014. Gloster is a leading manufacturer & exporter of all types of jute & jute allied products, woven & non-woven jute geotextiles, treated fabric-rot proof, fire retardant, jute products for interior decoration & packaging of industrial & agricultural produce. Powered by Capital Market - Live News The Central Board of Direct Taxes signed 11 unilateral APAs on 28th March, 2016. With this signing, India has entered into 59 bilateral and/or unilateral APAs. The Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) programme was introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 to provide a predictable and non-adversarial tax regime and to reduce litigation in the Indian transfer pricing regime. 50 of these agreements have been signed in the current financial year. The agreements cover a range of international transactions, including corporate guarantees, royalty, software development services, IT enabled services and trading. The agreements pertain to different industrial sectors like telecom, media, automobiles, IT services, etc. Some of the agreements have rollback provisions and provide certainty to the taxpayers for 9 years with regard to the covered international transactions. Rollback provisions in APAs were introduced in the July 2014 Budget to provide certainty on the pricing of international transactions for 4 years (rollback years) preceding the first year from which APA becomes applicable. With the notification of Rollback rules in March 2015, the taxpayer has been provided the option to choose certainty in transfer pricing matters with the Government for a total of nine years (5 future years and 4 prior years). Since the notification of the APA scheme on 30.08.2012, approximately 580 applications for APAs have been received and about half of these contain a request for the Rollback provisions. The number of applications is indicative of the wide international and national appreciation of the India's APA programme's ability to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner. Powered by Capital Market - Live News From Novartis AG and Novartis Pharma AG Sun Pharmaceuticals announced the acquisition of 14 established prescription brands from Novartis AG and Novartis Pharma AG (together 'Novartis') in Japan. According to the agreements entered into between the parties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharma will acquire the portfolio consisting of 14 established prescription brands from Novartis for a cash consideration of US$ 293 million. These brands have combined annualized revenues of approximately US$ 160 million and address medical conditions across several therapeutic areas. Under the terms of the agreements, Novartis will continue to distribute these brands, for a certain period, pending transfer of all marketing authorizations to Sun Pharma's subsidiary. The acquired brands will be marketed by a reliable and established local marketing partner under the Sun Pharma label. The local marketing partner will also be responsible for distribution of the brands. Powered by Capital Market - Live News A total of 34 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in air strikes and bomb attacks in Iraq's western province of Anbar on Wednesday, a provincial security source said. In one attack, three suicide bombers drove their explosive-laden vehicles into the positions of the security forces in Thirthar area north of the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad. The troops destroyed the vehicles with guided anti-tank missiles and killed the three suicide bombers aboard, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Separately, 17 IS militants were killed in an air strike by US-led coalition warplanes on near the town of Heet, some 160 km west of Baghdad, the source said. Meanwhile, coalition warplanes bombarded a fuel station used by IS militants in the town of Heet, killing 14 IS militants and destroying three fuel truck tanks, the source added. In Anbar province, three security members were killed and five others wounded when trying to defuse two roadside bombs in the provincial capital city Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, the source said. Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni paramilitary tribal units have been battling IS militants to repossess control of large territories in northern and western Iraq, seized by the IS since June 2014. The troops have so far recovered Ramadi, the provincial capital of the country's largest province of Anbar last December. Coming from a Ludhiana-based family known for its woollens business, Abhey Oswal -- who died in Moscow on Tuesday night -- was an aggressive businessman adept at acquisitions and venturing into new areas, besides being instrumental in setting up the world's largest grassroots phosphoric acid plant. Joining the family business in his 20s, Abhey Oswal set up a frantic pace to be counted as one of the high-profile industrials in no time. He set up Oswal Agro Ltd. in 1979 and was active in acquiring ICI's plant near Kolkata, Union Carbide's unit in Mumbai and Jagatjit Industries' sugar mill in Punjab. In the 1980s, he was regarded as the 'next Ambani' for his aggressive business plans. He later realised his aggressive business plans and diversified activities were not helping his companies to grow. He changed course and started focusing on the fertiliser business, veering away from sugar, vanaspati and rice. Just as the Ambanis are known for owning the world's largest refinery, Oswal played a pivotal role in establishing the world's largest grassroots phosphoric acid plant at Paradip in Odisha. But unfortunately, his astronomical growth was followed by controversies. He was arrested in 1990 by the Enforcement Directorate for Foreign Exchange Regulation Act violations and was charged with avoidance of custom duty. Oswal set up his one million tonne capacity ammonia urea plant in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, with a capital outlay of Rs.1,368 crore. His elder son, Pankaj, is carrying on his father's legacy in the fertiliser business and has set up one of the world's largest ammonia plants in Perth, Australia. Diversification seemed to be in Abhey Oswal's DNA. In 2005, he entered the healthcare market, and concentrated on developing life saving medicines, particularly for cancer and diabetes. Son of late Lala Vidya Sagar Oswal and brother of leading industrialists Jawahar Oswal, Jangi Lal Oswal and Neelam Oswal, the 67-year-old Abhey Oswal died of heart failure in the Russian capital on Tuesday night. The business tycoon was on a visit to a research centre in Moscow where he was to launch some medicines developed by his company. He is survived by his wife Aruna, two sons Pankaj and Shail Oswal and a daughter Shalu Jindal, who is married to high profile industrialist Navin Jindal. All the victims of the Brussels terror attacks have now been identified, the Belgian public prosecutor has confirmed. The magistrate Ine Van Wymeersch on Tuesday confirmed that 17 Belgians and 15 foreigners were killed in the attacks on March 22, Xinhua reported. Among the killed foreigners were four Americans, three Dutch, two Swedish, one Indian, one Chinese, one Briton, one Peruvian, one from France and one from Italy. As many as 94 people remained in hospital undergoing treatment. About half of them were in intensive care and another 30 in a specialist burns unit. About half of the injured were foreigners with 20 different nationalities. CPI-M veterans V.S. Achuthanandan and his known rival Pinarayi Vijayan figure in the first list of 124 LDF candidates announced in Kerala on Wednesday. The list also includes film star Mukhesh and two journalists, Vaikom Viswan, convenor of the Left Democratic Front, announced here. The Kerala assembly election will take place in May. "The remaining 16 candidates will be announced in the coming days as talks are on at various levels. The LDF manifesto will be released on April 5," Viswan said. The LDF, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist, on Monday finalised seat sharing agreement among Left allies. The CPI-M will contest 92 seats, the Communist Party of India 27, the Janata Dal-Secular five, the Nationalist Congress Party four and the Congress-S and Kerala Congress one seat each. Among the parties having a tie-up with the LDF, the Kerala Congress-Democratic will contest four seats and the Indian National League (INL) three. There will be a candidate each from the Kerala Congress-Pillai, Communist Marxist Party (CMP) and Revolutionary Socialist Party-L (RSP-L). Former chief minister Achuthanandan, 92, is contesting for the fourth successive time from Palakkad. He is the eldest candidate. Jaik C. Thomas, who turns 26 next month, is the youngest LDF candidate. He will take on Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in Puthupally constituency in Kottayam district. Popular actor Mukhesh is one of the two film stars in the list. He will contest from Kollam. His selection had been opposed by party activists who favoured former state minister P.K. Gurudasan, the outgoing legislator. The second film star is K.B. Ganesh Kumar, a legislator for 15 years who last year quit the Congress-led UDF to join the Left. The two journalist candidates are M.V. Nikesh Kumar and Veena George, both from Reporter TV channel. Kumar is the son of former firebrand CPI-M leader late M.V. Raghavan. He will be an independent candidate from Azhikode constituency which his father won after leaving the CPI-M in the 1980s. George was a surprise choice and will battle Congress veteran K. Sivadasan Nair in Aranmula constituency in Pathanamthitta district. "We have picked candidates from a wide spectrum of professions," said Viswan. In the outgoing Kerala assembly, the LDF had 68 seats. In 2011, it was made up of six parties and had a tie-up with the INL. This time, the LDF has got four more parties into its fold: breakaway factions of Kerala Congress-Mani, Kerala Congress-Democratic, RSP-L and the CMP led by Aravindakshan. Ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit here, the National Security Advisors of the US and India have discussed counter-terrorism cooperation, including against Pakistan-based groups Lashkar-e-Taeba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, responsible for the Mumbai and Pathankot terror attacks. The issue came up for discussion at a meeting on Tuesday between India's Ajit Doval and US NSA Susan E. Rice at the White House, according to a statement by National Security Council Spokesperson Ned Price. The two also "exchanged views on the terrorist threat posed by ISIL in the region and the importance of combating the ideology that fuels such groups," he said. "Additionally, they exchanged views on the prospects for commercial progress this year under US-India civil nuclear cooperation," Price said. Rice reiterated US support for India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and Missile Technology Control Regime, he said. Meeting in the shadow of the Brussels and Lahore terror attacks, leaders from 50 nations including Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to discuss how to reduce the threat posed by nuclear terrorism. The 4th and last Nuclear Security Summit here under President Barack Obama's watch on March 31 and April 1 caps off a six-year-long effort to prevent terrorists and other non-state actors from gaining access to nuclear materials and technologies. A senior administration official said here on Tuesday that the US looked at Modi's presence "as a chance to highlight steps that India has taken in its own nuclear security to go beyond, perhaps, some of the activities that it has done before". "We really would like to see an even deeper bilateral cooperation with India proceed going forward out of the summit," Laura Holgate, special assistant to the US president, told foreign media in a preview of the summit. "So I hope that that will be something that we can work on more closely going forward," said the official who also serves as senior director for weapons of mass destruction terrorism and threat reduction at the National Security Council. Modi, who is making his third visit to the US in two years reflecting the transformation in India-US ties, is expected to have a separate bilateral meeting with Obama on the sidelines of the summit. He was also expected to meet with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, but the latter cancelled his Washington visit in the wake of the Lahore attack. (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) Meeting in the shadow of Brussels and Lahore terror attacks, leaders from 50 nations including Prime Minister Narendra Modi are gathering here to discuss how to reduce the threat posed by nuclear terrorism. The 4th and last Nuclear Security Summit here under President Barack Obama's watch on March 31 and April 1 caps off a six year long effort to prevent terrorists and other non state actors from gaining access to nuclear materials and technologies. A senior administration official said here Tuesday that the US looked at Modi's presence "as a chance to highlight steps that India has taken in its own nuclear security to go beyond, perhaps, some of the activities that it has done before." "We really would like to see an even deeper bilateral cooperation with India proceed going forward out of the summit," Laura Holgate, special assistant to the President told foreign media in a preview of the summit. "So I hope that that will be something that we can work on more closely going forward," said the official who also serves as senior director for weapons of mass destruction terrorism and threat reduction at the National Security Council. Asked to spell out what more the US expected India to do in the coming days to secure its own nuclear facilities, Holgate said: "I'll let India speak for itself on those points. It's not for me to characterize their steps that they're taking." "But we - every country can do better, and we're eager to work with any country who wishes to work with us to improve nuclear security," she added. In response to a question about concerns expressed to US Congress about Pakistan's deployment of weapon-grade nuclear weapons, a senior official said the US has "a very solid cooperation with Pakistan on nuclear security." "They have developed their own Nuclear Security Centre of Excellence in recent years," said Rose Gottemoeller, under secretary of state for Arms Control and International Security. "We continue to work with them on the nuclear security front." "Our concerns regarding the continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan relate to a reality of the situation: When battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed forward, they can represent an enhanced nuclear security threat," Gottemoeller said. "It's more difficult to sustain positive control over systems that are deployed forward. We found this lesson ourselves out in Europe during the years of the Cold War," she said. "And so I do think that that is a reality of the situation. It's not related particularly to any one country," Gottemoeller said. "Wherever battlefield nuclear weapons exist, they represent particular nuclear security problems." On Friday, Pakistan's top nuclear security adviser, Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, rejected calls from the US to curb Pakistan's reliance on tactical nuclear weapons. "We are not apologetic about the development of the TNWs [tactical nuclear weapons] and they are here to stay," he said at a seminar in Islamabad following Gottemoeller's testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "So, we are really quite concerned about this, and we have made our concerns known, and we will continue to press them about what we consider to be the destabilizing aspects of their battlefield nuclear weapons programme," she told the panel. Modi who is making his third visit to the US in two years reflecting the transformation in India-US ties is expected to have a separate bilateral meeting with Obama on the sidelines of the summit. He was also expected to meet with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, but the latter has cancelled his Washington visit in the wake of Lahore attacks. (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) Chairperson of Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed on Wednesday as the country's new minister of foreign affairs. Suu Kyi will concurrently hold three other portfolios in the new government led by President-elect U Htin Kyaw, Xinhua reported. The appointment was announced by Speaker of the Union Parliament U Mann Win Khaing Than at the government cabinet swearing-in ceremony. Approved by the Union Parliament, the three other ministries to be headed by Aung San Suu Kyi are the Ministry of President Office, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Electricity and Energy. Noting that India is currently rated as the most attractive investment destination by many global agencies, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday invited Australian businesses to invest in India to help the country become a low-cost manufacturing destination. "India could manage to become a very low-cost service provider but failed to transform into a low-cost manufacturing," Jaitley said, launching a 'Make in India' conference here on the second day of his four-day Australia visit. Describing the various recent reforms for attracting foreign investment, Jaitley said sectors like railways, defence and manufacturing now offer huge scope for investments with liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) norms. At a bilateral meeting earlier in the day with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Jaitley listed various reforms by the National Democratic Alliance government. He also said India faces three major challenges - to boost exports in a situation of shrinking global trade, increase private investment and the impact of two consecutive years of poor monsoons. "For two consecutive years, we are the fastest growing economy in the world. When we measure ourselves by our own standards, we believe that 7.5 percent does not reflect our true potential," India's finance minister said. India has to invest in its infrastructure in a bid to prepare a base for an economy of major size, he said. "Manufacturing must occupy a space," he said. Speaking on the occasion, Bishop said Australia can play a major role in providing various services to India especially in the field of innovations, research and development (R&D), vocational training and skill development, among others. Jaitley thanked the Australian foreign minister for finalising the administrative arrangements on civil nuclear cooperation to facilitate uranium supplies to India. Speaking to mediapersons here later, Jaitley dismissed reports that he would push for funds for the Adani Group's $16.5 billion coal mine project during his meetings with Australian leaders, saying this was not on his agenda. "This is a subject which is internal to Australia and this is not the purpose of my visit," he said. Last month, Australia's Queensland state Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) issued a final environmental authority (EA) for Adani's Carmichael coal mine project located near the ecologically sensitive Great Barrier Reef, but with about 140 conditions. --Indo-Asian News service bc/sd/bg The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has called for a nationwide bank strike on May 25 in support of various demands, a union leader said on Wednesday. AIBEA general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam told IANS that the demands include making banking a fundamental right, end to privatization of government banks, infusing sufficient capital in banks, declaring wilful loan default a criminal offence and punishing the guilty for bad loans. Venkatachalam said there was an alarming increase in bad loans in banks, and this stood at Rs.361,000 crore as on January 31, 2015. A man who posted a smiling selfie with the EgyptAir hijacker and which went viral on the social media has been identified as a 26-year-old Briton, the media reported on Wednesday. Benjamin Innes, who is from Leeds but lives in Aberdeen, was held hostage along with 56 passengers on EgyptAir MS181 flight by Seif El Din Mustafa. Mustafa had personal motives to hijack the plane and his action was later linked to his ex-wife, who is a Greek-Cypriot and lives in Larnaca. Innes, seen in the selfie with Mustafa, posed it to his friends on Twitter with a message: "You know your boy doesn't f*** about. Turn on the news lad!!!" A friend replied: "Is that a bomb attached to the guys chest? You ok? Let us know when you get off." According to Daily Mail, Innes is believed to have approached Mustafa while being held hostage on the tarmac and sent the photo to one of his flatmates as well as other friends. "I have no idea why he took the selfie but I imagine he probably volunteered to take it as he's no afraid to shy away from anything," Innes' friend Chris Tundogan told MailOnline. The social media went wild over the photo with the hijacker and several Twitter users lauded the British man for the daring "selfie. Later, the Cyprus foreign ministry announced the arrest of the hijacker, who had taken charge of the Airbus 320 when it was on its way from Alexandria to Cairo saying he was armed with explosives. The plane was flown to Larnaca in southern Cyprus. Cyprus officials who had held intense negotiations with the man said he would be interrogated at length. One Egyptian officer dubbed him "mentally unstable". Soon after it landed in Cyprus, the hijacker freed most of the passengers, holding back only four crew members and three passengers whose nationality was not disclosed by officials. As the negotiations continued with the man, the seven escaped -- six of them simply walking out of the step ladder and the seventh hurling himself out of the cockpit window. Earlier, the hijacker was mistakenly identified as Ibrahim Samaha, also an Egyptian. Samaha, however, turned out to be an innocent passenger. Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday said that "chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' should not be a fashion but passion for every Indian". "Nationalism is in the DNA of every true Indian. But it is a matter of concern if there is any baseless debate on patriotism and nationalism," the minister said while addressing the national conference of Chairman and Chief Executive Officers of the State Waqf Boards. "Patriotism is not a part of compulsion but it's a part of passion," the minister added. Naqvi also said that there was no need for distributing "certificates of nationalism and secularism". His comments come in the wake of a controversy over chanting of the nationalist slogan, triggered when Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said earlier this month that the youth should be made to chant it. Bhagwat later clarified that no one should be forced to chant the slogan. The minister said that the Narendra Modi government was moving forward with "strong commitment" to over-all development of all sections of the society including minorities. "Inclusive growth of Muslim community is our target and no negative agenda will succeed in the path of achieving this target," the minister said, adding that protection and development of Waqf properties was an important step in this regard. There are 31 State Waqf Boards and 4,27,000 registered Waqf properties across the country besides other non-registered ones, he said, and expressed concern that Waqf boards in several states were under control of "Waqf mafia" due to which properties were not being utilised properly. Naqvi said that even after the new Waqf Act, several states were not able to utilise Waqf properties for socio-economic-educational empowerment of the community. "Several Waqf properties have been encroached by Waqf mafia. There is a need for a campaign on war-footing in this regard," he added. China will partner with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to set up a special law enforcement college in a bid to tackle rampant cross-border crime. The China-Asean law enforcement college, which will be housed within the Yunnan police officer academy, will be funded by the ministry of public security, it said on Tuesday. Cross-border crime and terrorist activities, the manufacture and trafficking of drugs, human trafficking, firearms smuggling, illegal immigration, cybercrime and telecom fraud have become more prevalent and complex in recent years and pose a serious threat to regional security and stability, China Daily quoted experts as saying. "It's more than necessary to set up such a college to strengthen law enforcement cooperation between China and Asean countries to combat cross-border crimes. We need to maintain regional security and promote economic prosperity," said a senior official at the ministry's international cooperation bureau. According to the ministry, in addition to setting up the college, China and Asean will enhance communications and hold regular visits as well as exchanges between teachers and students. They will also conduct joint research into relevant cases and share practical experiences. The ministry said that China will train 2,000 police officers from Asean countries to help them improve their tactics and ability to combat border crime. The partners plan to set up a committee to share information. There will also be annual round-table conferences between the ministry and law enforcement authorities from Asean countries. Seng Phally, president of the police academy of Cambodia, said: "We urgently need to seek help in fighting human trafficking and drugs manufacturing and smuggling." He said the educational facility will sharpen the focus of enforcement agencies. "Such a college will provide targeted training programmes to our police officers, then help them improve their evidence collection techniques and their attack capabilities to cope with trans-national crimes." The opposition Congress in Tripura on Wednesday burnt effigies of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, and called for a 24-hour shutdown on April 18 demanding a CBI probe into the assassination of former health minister Bimal Sinha 18 years ago. "The Congress has called a 24-hour strike on April 18 demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the assassination of Bimal Sinha in 1998 and the resignation of the chief minister," Tripura Congress president Birajit Sinha told reporters. "Without the CBI inquiry, the real truth would not be revealed. "As the Yusuf Commission report accused Sarkar, the Congress has no other alternative to raise these demands and launch a massive stir," he said. Birajit Sinha, a former minister -- who was accompanied by party legislator Gopal Roy and the party's women's wing chief Kalyani Roy -- said the Yusuf Commission report blamed the then Left Front government, Left parties and the chief minister. "Hence, Sarkar has no morality to remain the chief minister and home minister of the state." The judicial inquiry commission headed by retired Calcutta High Court Justice M.A. Yusuf submitted its report to the state government in January 2000. It was presented in the assembly on March 23 following a Tripura High Court order. The commission was formed in 1998 to probe the assassination of Bimal Sinha and his brother by the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura on March 31, 1998, at Kamalpur in northern Tripura. The ongoing session of the assembly on Monday witnessed bedlam over the assassination. Commenting on the report, opposition leader Sudip Roy Barman said: "To hush up the real truth, the Left Front government has not cooperated with the inquiry commission. The state government, headed by Chief Minister Sarkar at that time, had rejected the Congress's demand to probe the assassination by the CBI." According to the Yusuf Commission report, neither the state government nor Tripura Police was responsible for Bimal Sinha's killing. It said he was solely responsible for his and his brother's killing. Reacting to the Congress's allegations, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) central committee member Bijan Dhar said: "Their allegations are wild and a complete lie. If they have any such evidence, why did they not submit the same before the judicial commission when it sought the views of all concerned during the probe?" Challenging the Congress, Dhar and party central committee member Gautam Das said that if the Congress failed to prove its charges, its members must resign from the assembly. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday sought the return of the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to the AAP government, saying corruption was rising in the national capital. Addressing the Delhi assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party leader also called for "cooperative federalism" in the city and sought the central government's help to run the capital better. "We need cooperative federalism for Delhi," he said, listing specific demands including the return to his government of the ACB which was taken away from the AAP government last year. He said corruption and bribery were again showing a rise in Delhi. Kejriwal also urged Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to either return or approve the 16 or so bills pending with him. "If they cannot be approved, please return them to us," he said. The chief minister also sought the central government's help to take control of land held by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) so that the AAP government can build hospitals in the city. Kejriwal's speech was welcomed by loud thumping of desks by AAP legislators. Even the three BJP members backed his plea for a better understanding with the central government. "We support the chief minister on this issue," said Vijender Gupta, who heads the three-member Bharatiya Janata Party group in the 70-seat house where the AAP commands 67 legislators. The AAP and central governments have been locked in a bitter fued over issues of governance ever since Kejriwal led his party to a sweeping win in February last year. The CPI-M on Wednesday dubbed the government move to allow 100 percent FDI in e-commerce retail "an outright surrender to the big foreign e-commerce retail firms" and demanded its scrapping. "This is clearly announced to appease foreign capital on the eve of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi's US visit," the Communist Party of India-Marxist said in a statement. "It is also a surrender to the pressures of the EU (European Union) keeping in mind the ongoing Free Trade Agreement talks with EU and the prime minister's visit to Brussels." The CPI-M said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been vocal against the FDI in retail trade when it was in the opposition. "Now it has done a somersault. Allowing of FDI in e-commerce will facilitate the backdoor entry of FDI in retail. This will affect the livelihood of lakhs of small retailers in the country." The CPI-M demanded that "this harmful policy be immediately rescinded". CPI-M leaders will be sharing the stage with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi who would address three rallies in poll-bound West Bengal on Saturday. The Congress, which has entered into a seat-sharing arrangement with the Communist Party of India-Marxist spearheaded Left Front, had invited the Marxist leaders for Gandhi's three rallies in Kulti and Durgapur in Burdwan district and Bankura. Confirming the development, CPI-M leader Rabin Deb said the presence of Marxists leaders at the rallies will send out a positive signal to the people. The development came on a day when Congress leader Abdul Mannan released "Lortey Hobey Eksathey" (Have to Fight Together), a booklet harping on the necessity of the Congress-Left tie-up. The book was released in the presence of several Congress and Marxists leaders and former Supreme Court judge A.K. Ganguly. "Under the current political scenario, this tie-up is imperative to oust the despotic Mamata Banerjee government under which everybody is under attack. From democracy to the common people, from institution to even the police, none are spared," said Ganguly. Ganguly also attacked Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for ridiculing the tie-up. "This is not the first time the Left and the Congress have come together. Her constant attack of the tie-up is an indication of her apprehension that this tie-up will be able to achieve its target is ousting this despotic government," he said. Calling the formation of the tie-up historic, Mannan said it was important for both the Congress and the Left Front to "come out of the shadow of the past" and plan according to the situation to achieve the aim of ousting the Trinamool regime. Reflecting on the success of the 'Grand Alliance' in Bihar where old foes RJD and JD-U joined hands with the Congress against the Bharatiya Janata Party, the booklet asserts the same can be done in Bengal. "If it can be done in Bihar, it can be done in Bengal also. The Left and Congress along with the civil society can join forces to defeat the Trinamool," said Mannan quoting the booklet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said a creative approach was required to advance the stalled India-EU talks for a mutual free trade agreement that would benefit both the sides. Ahead of the 13th India-European Union Summit here on Wednesday, Modi said: "I feel that a progressive path and creative mindset to the India-EU Trade and Investment Agreement can enable all the European countries, including Belgium, to benefit from India's strong economic growth." Addressing mediapersons, with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel alongside him, he said: "For India, EU is one of our strongest strategic partners. Trade, Investment, and technology partnership between India and the EU would be one of the focus areas of our discussions." Among other issues on the agenda, the two sides will address the ongoing negotiations for a Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) with an aim to instil some political impetus to the stalled talks. The free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the EU were called off last year in response to the bloc's ban on sale of around 700 Indian pharma products. In July last year, the EU had banned over 700 pharma products of GVK Biosciences, Hyderabad, for alleged manipulation of clinical trials. The last round of the FTA talks, started in 2007, was held in May 2013 without any breakthroughs owing to EU concerns on high tariffs on cars and wines, while India's concerns are in the area of services. India's exports to the European Union in 2014-15 contracted around 4.5 percent to $49.3 billion, while imports fell over 2 percent to $48.8 billion. Referring to his earlier meeting along with Michel with Belgian chief executives, Modi invited the Belgian government and companies to invest in India's ambitious development projects like Digital India, Start-Up India and Skill India. "Belgian businesses can make their global supply chains more cost effective by manufacturing in India," he said. "India's goal to modernize infrastructure, especially railways and ports, and building of 100 plus smart cities also presents a unique investment opportunity for the Belgian companies," he added. --Indo-Asian News Service bc/rn/bg Egypt's public prosecution officially asked Cypriot authorities on Wednesday to extradite a national who hijacked and forced an Egyptian plane to land at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus on Tuesday, media reports said. The prosecution sent an official letter to the authorities in Cyprus, demanding the handing over of the highjacker for interrogation, state-run MENA news agency reported, according to Xinhua. EgyptAir's Airbus 320 was in a domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo when it was hijacked by Seif-Eddin Mostafa, a 59-year-old Egyptian, who wore a fake explosive belt and forced the crew to land in Larnaca Airport. Mostafa, who is held now by Cypriot police, surrendered six hours after he seized the plane. All the 81 passengers, including 21 foreigners, were released unharmed and returned to Egypt on Tuesday. Egyptian officials said the incident was not terror-related and that the hijacker was "a fraudulent and a forger" who faced relevant charges in lawsuits. Egypt's interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the man had a Cypriot ex-wife, adding he had been sentenced to one year in jail but escaped during the 2011 political turmoil, then went back to prison in January 2014 and was released last year. As many as 58 of the 296 candidates contesting the first phase of the assembly polls have declared that they have pending criminal cases against them, NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Wednesday. The NGO said 20 per cent of the contesting candidates have admitted in their affidavits filed with the Election Commission that they have criminal cases against them. "Shyam Sundar Pandey and Hemant Prabhakar of CPI (M), contesting from Salboni and Asansol Dakshin, respectively, have declared that cases related to murder are pending against them. In a statement, ADR said 49 other candidates have declared that they have serious criminal cases including attempt to murder, rape, kidnapping, robbery and crimes against women pending against them. A total of 49 out of 294 constituencies will go to the polls in two rounds in the first phase. Voting for 18 seats will be held on April 4, and for 31 on April 11. The NGO, which works for cleansing politics, said Gobordhan Bagdi of the JMM who is contesting from Raghunathpur (SC) and Para (SC) constituencies has a case of attempt to murder pending against him. Chunibala Hansda of Jharkhand Party (Naren) from Jhargram constituency has also declared a case of attempt to murder against him. A total of 15 of the 49 candidates of the BJP, 12 of the 49 from Trinamool Congress, 8 of the 30 from CPI-M, 5 of the 13 from the Congress, 4 out of 9 of the JMM, and 6 of the 36 Independent candidates have also declared that criminal cases are pending against them. Smaller parties like Socialist Unity Centre of India-Communist and All Jharkhand Students Union have also fielded candidates with shady backgrounds. One of the 40 SUCI-C candidates and two of the 12 of the AJSU also have criminal cases pending against them, ADR said. Five constituencies of Salboni, Purulia, Jamuria, Pandabeswar, Indus and Kulti, which are going to polls in the first phase, have three or more candidates with declared criminal cases. The average worth of assets of all candidates in the first phase is Rs 48 lakh. Of 296 candidates, 23 have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, while 102 candidates are women. Aam Aadmi Party legislator from Palam Bhavna Gaur on Wednesday said that extremism is taught in school textbooks and the Delhi government must work to stop it. "This is a very grave situation and it is the responsibility of every government to keep a check on it. Therefore, the Delhi government should also take necessary steps regarding the same," Gaur said, speaking in the assembly during the budget session. The Delhi government has laid special emphasis on in this year's budget. The sector was allocated the maximum share of around Rs.10,000 crore. In his budget speech, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also outlined his government's strategy on by focusing on infrastructure, energetic teachers and model syllabus. Bhavna Gaur also epressed concern over brain-drain in the country. "The intelligent and efficient work force is migrating out of the country. The Delhi government should work towards stopping brain-drain," the AAP legislator said. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is battling increasing disquiet within the Congress party even as the BJP seems confident of clawing back to power in the hill state. After three years in power, a section of Congress leaders, including young legislators, say they feel suffocated vis-a-vis Virbhadra Singh, who is at the helm for a sixth time and is known for his autocratic style. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is confident of regaining the ground it lost in the 2012 assembly election. It also feels that the Virbhadra government is on the brink of collapse following fresh revelations as the Enforcement Directorate probes the chief minister for money laundering. Two-time BJP chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has hinted that many Congress legislators were unhappy with Virbhadra Singh and were in touch with him, and an Uttarakhand-like situation cannot be ruled out. Undeterred, a shrewd Virbhadra Singh, who will meet Congress party in-charge Ambika Soni in New Delhi on April 2, said: "The BJP will never succeed in my political murder." Congress insiders say it is high time to end the discontentment among a section of legislators. "Virbhadra Singh needs to bring in new faces and make changes in his government. It will be too late if he fails to do it now," a senior party leader who didn't wish to be identified told IANS. He said three under-performing ministers - Vidya Stokes, 89, Sujan Singh Pathania, 73, and Thakur Bharmouri, 69 - could be replaced in the 12-member cabinet with new talent. Speaker B.B.L. Butail is 75-years old. Second-time legislators Rajesh Dharmani (Ghumarwin) and Rakesh Kalia (Gagret) were among the youth leaders whose names were doing the rounds for ministerial berths when the first cabinet was constituted. But they were ignored. Another young sulking legislator is Rohit Thakur, the grandson of former chief minister late Thakur Ram Lal and a prominent apple grower. So is former education minister and firebrand legislator Asha Kumari. The fissures within the Congress surfaced twice at vice president Rahul Gandhi's election rallies in the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when his "young brigade" complained that they were deliberately sidelined. At a rally in Bilaspur town, Gandhi took with him Dharmani to the dais where Virbhadrda Singh and other senior leaders were seated. Dharmani had not been invited to the stage though he was the local legislator. Similarly, a group of young turks told Gandhi that they were not getting due respect from party leaders in the state. Dharmani resigned as a chief parliamentary secretary just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. A political crisis was sparked in 2013 by the purported resignation of Transport Minister G.S. Bali who was miffed with Virbhadra Singh. Bali, who sent his resignation to the party leadership in New Delhi, later backtracked. Last year, Bali vowed to launch a statewide march to raise the issue of unemployed youth. Political observers say the Congress central leadership seems to have adopted a wait-and-watch policy on the fresh revelations by the Enforcement Directorate against the chief minister. "Probably they are awaiting the outcome of the investigation. If something adverse happens, the leadership may force Virbhadra Singh to step down and pitch for (senior minister) Kaul Singh," said an observer. Kaul Singh was in the race for chief ministership in 2012. Accusing the Centre of misusing government agencies against him, Virbhadra Singh, 82, has said his government was stable despite political manoeuvring by the BJP. In the 68-member assembly, the Congress has a wafer-thin majority with 36 members. The BJP has 26 legislators. There are five independent legislators and one from the Himachal Lok Shakti Party. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in) Keeping alive the flavours of Nagaland in momos, Dzukou Tribal Kitchen, a restaurant serving authentic naga cuisine, has organised the Naga Raja Mircha Momo Festival in the national capital. The festival offers hot momos available in veg, chicken and pork topped up with a sauce made from the most scorching chilly in the world "Naga Raja Mircha". "Though momos are not originally a dish from northeast but people love it. I wanted to give a touch of Nagaland flavour to the momos. And what better can be than the famous naga raja mircha being added to the dish?" head chef and owner of Dzukou Tribal Kitchen, Karen Yepthomi, told IANS. "Our attempt is to keep alive the flavours of the state in different cuisines. We keep doing different food events to invent new dishes," added Yepthomi. The finely minced chicken stuffing, wrapped warmly in a thin coat of wheat flour, largely enhancing the raja mircha flavour, is served along with spicy chutney again made with the naga mirchi. The pork momos were more delicate and juicier with an added touch of coriander along with chutney topped over it. But the vegetarian momos kept pace with chicken and pork momos. Equally mouth-watering, the veg momos had a combination of vegetables with rich raja mirchi. The six pieces served in a plate are good enough to fill your tummy. Save some space for water as that is required in large quantities as you tackle the raja mircha! FAQs: Where: Dzukou Tribal Kitchen, Hauz Khas Market. Festival on till 13th April. Price: Rs. 250 (Veg); Rs. 300 (Non-Veg) (Somrita Ghosh can be contacted at somrita.g@ians.in) The students' union of the University of Hyderabad has urged President Pranab Mukherjee to sack Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao to restore peace in the university. In a letter to the president, who is the Visitor of the university, the union said Rao was an accused in the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and also unleashed brutal violence on the students. Students' union president Zuhail K.P. told reporters that they sought the president's intervention to save the university from further damage. He brought to the notice of the president that the two-member fact finding committee appointed by the human resource development ministry to investigate the disciplinary action on five Dalit research scholars which led to the suicide of Vemula pointed out that the university administration under Appa Rao mishandled the case. Appa Rao was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment to suicide. The high court did not grant him bail while the judicial commission formed is still probing the matter, the letter said. It was also brought to the president's notice that Appa Rao, instead of waiting for the judicial commission's report, showed utter contempt for the judicial process by cancelling his leave and resuming office on March 22 with the help of some teachers loyal to him and ABVP students. Zuhail said that when the students protested his resumption of office, he "unleashed brutal violence on the protesting students to levels unheard of in the university history". Telangana Police arrested 24 students, two professors and one media person after a baton charge and booked many others including women. The letter alleged that Appa Rao with the help of 'loyal' non-teaching staff closed the hostel messes, cut off water supply and disconnected internet. India and Belgium on Wednesday resolved to work together in the fight against terrorism, according to a joint statement issued after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel here. "The leaders expressed deep shock and anguish at the dastardly terrorist attacks in Brussels last week and condemned them in the strongest possible terms," the statement said. At least 35 people, including an Indian national, were killed in twin explosions at Zaventem airport and in another explosion at a metro station in the Belgian capital on March 22. "Reaffirming that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group, India and Belgium resolved to work together to better understand the phenomenon of radicalisation, and counter the misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred and violent extremism or perpetrating terrorist acts," the statement said. Modi and Michel also called for early adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCO=IT) and strict compliance with all relevant UN Security Council resolutions designating terrorists and terrorist groups. "The two leaders also resolved to work together to drive forward international efforts in forums like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)," the statement said. On economic cooperation, the two prime ministers welcomed the "robust bilateral economic engagement" between the two countries. Belgium is India's second largest trade partner in goods in the European Union (EU) and India is Belgium's second largest export destination outside the EU. Recognising the importance of the diamond sector in bilateral trade and the ongoing cooperation in the framework of the Kimberley Process, the two leaders resolved to further consolidate this mutually beneficial partnership. "The leaders recognised the key role of the services sector in the two economies, and encouraged partnerships between services sector industries particularly in the areas of information technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and renewable energy," the statement said. Realising the need to tap into the full potential of the EU-India strategic partnership, the two leaders looked forward to the resumption of negotiations on the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) on mutually-agreed terms. "The two prime ministers welcomed the conclusion of the amending protocol that makes the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) more comprehensive and contemporary," the statement said. The two prime ministers also welcomed the progress under the MoU on renewable energy between the competent Belgian authorities at federal and regional levels and India's ministry of new and renewable energy of India, and the inaugural meeting of the joint working group earlier this month identifying smart cities, waste to energy, small wind turbines, water purification technologies involving renewable energy and zero emission buildings as priority areas for joint collaboration. "Noting the longstanding cooperation between the two countries in the ports sector, they welcomed the imminent extension of the agreement between the government of Flanders and the ministry of shipping for another two years, as well as the ongoing collaboration between the Port of Antwerp and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to develop a joint training centre under the MoU (memorandum of understanding) signed in February 2015," the statement said. On people-to-people ties, Modi and Michel welcomed the numerous projects in collaborative research, student mobility and exchange of faculty between higher educational institutions of Belgium and India. "They looked forward to further strengthening of the academic engagement between institutions on both sides," the statement said. "Noting that 40,000 Belgian tourists visit India every year and Belgium receives about 60,000 Indian tourists every year, the two Leaders welcomed the e-tourist visa facility extended by India to Belgian nationals to promote tourism," it added. The 13th India-EU Summit got underway here on Wednesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance. "Getting down to the nuts & bolts of democracy. 13th #IndiaEU Summit begins with a restricted meeting," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted. The summit is being held after a gap of nearly four years. India and the European Union started holding the summit meeting in 2000. In 2004, the relationship between the two sides was turned into a "strategic partnership". On Tuesday, ahead of his departure for Brussels, Modi said in a statement that the EU was a vital trading partner and the biggest export destination for India. "This summit will advance our multifaceted engagement across a whole range of domains," he said. Prior to the summit, Modi met with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker. The prime minster attended the summit after having completed his bilateral engagements with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel earlier in the day. Wednesday is the first day of Modi's three-nation tour that will also take him to the US and Saudi Arabia. The Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) on Wednesday petitioned External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for an early release of the bodies of Indian fishermen which are decomposing in a Pakistan morgue. In a statement, PIPFPD general secretary Jatin Desai said that while one fisherman, Vaaga Chauhan, died on December 12, 2015, nearly four months ago, Ratan Das passed away on February 8 this year. Both hailed from the coastal Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Their bodies have been lying in the Edhi Trusts' morgue in Karachi, and despite all efforts by their families they have not been released and handed over for the last rites. "We learn that the bodies of the two fishermen have already started decomposing, and if they are not sent back in the next couple of days, they may not be in a state to be transported. It's a matter of serious concern," Desai said. On Tuesday, he wrote to Sushma Swaraj appealing her to understand the pain and anguish of the families of the deceased who want to perform the last rites. "Ideally, whenever someone dies, the body should be sent back to his/her home country in the next available flight. There cannot be any justification for keeping bodies for months. This is happening regularly in the case of poor fishermen," Desai said. Urging the governments of India and Pakistan to view the issue from a humanitarian angle, the PIPFPD said the two neighbours should evolve a permanent solution to the dead fisherfolk concerning both sides, instead of pointing fingers at each other. India has not bent before terrorism and will never do so, Prime Minister said to an euphoric Indian community gathering here, while offering deepest condolences for the March 22 Brussels terror bombings. Addressing a packed Indian community event at the Brussels Expo, winding up a day choc-a-bloc with official diplomatic events, Modi said the world needs to unite against terrorism and should stop differentiation between good terror and bad terror. "Terrorism is a challenge for humankind, not just any one country or region. Those who believe in humanity should join together to tackle terrorism," said Modi to a cheering crowd. "India has not bent before terrorism, and there is no question of bending. But the challenge is a huge one. I have spoken to many important leaders, including religious ones, and explained them of the need to delink terror from religion. No religion teaches terrorism," he said. He said the United Nations faces the danger of becoming irrelevant if it fails to tackle terrorism. "In recent days in India, liberal Islamic scholars held a big meeting, linked to Sufism? They said those who speak of terror are un-Islamic. The more such voices rise, the faster the radicalisation of youth can be prevented. Can't tackle terrorism with only bombs and guns. Misfortune of the world is that the UN does not know how to tackle terrorism," he said. He said the UN was born out of war and is unable to look beyond it. "Don't know when the UN will tackle terrorism, or how. But seeing the conditions that prevail, it faces the danger of becoming irrelevant. It needs to go along with the times," he said. Modi said that during his numerous meetings the entire day, with the Belgian leadership and with the EU, the centre point of talks was terrorism. Italy on Wednesday told an arbitration tribunal in the Hague on Wednesday that Italian Salvatore Girone must be allowed to return to his homeland otherwise he risks four more years in India. Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two Indian fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. He has not been able to leave India, aside from a few brief permits, since the incident, Ansa news agency reported. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is back in Italy after he suffered a stroke in 2014. The Italian government has taken the marines' case to international arbitration after repeated delays in its handling in India. Ambassador Francesco Azzarello, Italy's representative to the tribunal, said on Wednesday that the arbitration "could last at least three or four years". It means that Girone risks "being held in New Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight years", he said. Azzarello added that this would amount to a "grave violation of his human rights". Azzarello also said that he was hopeful about the petition to bring Girone back from India. "It's not a question of being optimistic or pessimistic, but obviously Italy is hopeful, based on its solid humanitarian and legal reasoning, otherwise it would not have come here," Azzarello said. Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on Wednesday approved the use of an underground "wall of ice" at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant to help contain spills of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean. After several delays, the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), on Thursday will be able to begin the process of freezing the ground around the buildings that housed the four reactors that were most affected by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. "This operation is a challenge, and it is necessary to carry it out with extreme care, and with all necessary details (for follow-up)," said the regulator's president Shunichi Tanaka at the end of a meeting held on Wednesday, NHK reported. NRA had wanted to carefully analyse this project, originally raised in 2013, to certify that Tepco, which has a long history of negligence, can properly manage the system without causing additional leaks of radioactive water in the facilities. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 pipes have been inserted into the earth at a depth of 30 metres (98 feet) around the four units, for the procedure. Through these pipes a saline solution at a temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius will be injected to freeze the ground in contact with the pipes and create a frozen barrier to prevent groundwater from seeping into the buildings and mix with polluted refrigerant. The goal is to reduce the amount of radioactive water that accumulates in the basements of the buildings and prevent its leakage into the Pacific Ocean. Currently between 150 and 200 tonnes of water penetrate into the structures daily and this system is expected to reduce the amount to only 50 tonnes at full capacity. The process of creating the wall will be completed in three phases, the first of which will take three months, and its effects will be felt within 40 days approximately. The Supreme Court was told on Wednesday that beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya has on Wednesday morning offered to pay Rs.4,000 crore for settling outstanding dues against the grounded Kingfisher Airlines on account of loans extended to it by a consortium of 13 banks headed by the State Bank of India. The apex court bench of Justice Kurien Joseph and Rohington F. Nariman was also told that Mallya has offered another Rs.2,000 crore that he expects to get, if he succeeds in his suit against multinational General Electric. Mallya's counsel said that the proposal for the payment of Rs.4,000 crore by September was made to the chief general manager of the State Bank of India (SBI). The SBI told the court that it needed a week's time to consider the proposal made by Vijay Mallya, and submitted that way back in 2013 the bank had filed a suit claiming Rs.6,903 crore plus interest thereon. In a query from the bank about Mallya's location, his counsel told the court that he was still abroad but had two video conferencing sessions with the bank officials after his departure from India to London. The district and sessions court here on Wednesday told Chungkham Taratombi, mother of Chungkham Sanjit, a victim of an alleged extra judicial killing, that she could approach the higher court if she so desired. M. Manoj, judge of the District and Sessions court, Imphal west said it in his verdict. The mother filed a petition, seeking another investigation in the light of the confession by a police head constable Thounaojam Herojit that following orders of a superior officer he shot dead Sanjit, an unarmed former insurgent who was overpowered. The ruling was given on the second and final day of hearing on Wednesday. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel argued there was no need for further investigation. Taratombi in her petition pointed out that the head constable has publicly confessed to have killed her son due to the order from a superior officer. Judge Manoj said a trial is going on in his court. But it does not have jurisdiction over the matter prayed for. It may be recalled that eight other policemen are facing trial in connection with the killing of Sanjit on July 23, 2009 in the heart of Imphal city. A pregnant woman, Thokchom Rabina who was walking with her young son, was also killed by a bullet which hit her on the forehead. Police have not been able to solve the mystery of where that bullet came from. On January 25, Herojit told some reporters that he shot dead Sanjit inside a pharmacy on the orders of a superior officer. The officer implicated in the crime had denied the charge as "malicious, concocted and motivated". Herojit appeared in the court with his confession. He said, "I committed the crime and I am ready to accept any punishment". Meanwhile, Babloo Loitongbam, the executive director of Human Rights Alert, deposed before judge Manoj that he had supplied the photographs which tend to establish that the unarmed Sanjit was accosted in the street, pushed inside a pharmacy and his dead body was dragged out after some minutes. He said, "I gave the photographs to the Tehelka magazine. But as per request of the photographer I am not disclosing his name." Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had reacted to the confession of the fake encounter saying: "It is a serious matter and it would be looked into." Kiren Rijiju, the minister of state for home, said, "My department will instruct the Manipur government to provide security to the head constable." Herojit, however, has not demanded any security guards and is staying on his own. Seven CRPF troopers were killed on Wednesday when Maoists used concealed explosives to destroy their truck in a remote part of Chhattisgarh, police said. The improvised explosive device (IED) used in the attack was so powerful that it sent the vehicle in which the troopers were travelling flying several feet high in the air and created a huge crater. The Central Reserve Police Force personnel died instantly, their bodies blown apart in the deafening blast on a newly-repaired road at Malewara in Dantewada district, about 400 km south of capital Raipur. It was the biggest attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh in recent months. The dead security personnel were in civilian clothes and were returning to their base after a holiday, police officials said. "It was a massive blast. The vehicle flew several feet up in the air and then landed on the ground in four pieces," Director General of Police D.M. Awasthi told the media. The CRPF personnel belonged to the 230th battalion. Police officials who rushed to the spot within 45-50 minutes said the deceased were unarmed. Local tribals who first got access to the blast site and tipped off police about the incident said the bodies of the CRPF men were beyond recognition as their body organs were found strewn several metres from the attack site. Chief Minister Raman Singh denounced the killings and called it "a clear sign of frustration among Maoists who are feeling the heat of increased police presence in their strongholds. "I salute the supreme sacrifice of the seven CRPF men. The attack has strengthened my resolve to weed out Maoism from the state," he said in Raipur. Initial probe indicated that five to nine Maoists executed the blast for which excess of 40 kg of explosives could have been used to rattle the mini truck. Dozens of heavily armed paramilitary troopers launched an operation to track down the insurgents who reportedly slipped into nearby forests after the bloodbath. Officials at the Chhattisgarh Police headquarters here dubbed the attack "a classic case of failed intelligence network" in the Maoist heartland of Bastar which includes Dantewada district. Home Minister Ajay Chandrakar presided over an emergency meeting of top police and home department officials in Raipur to assess the situation in the wake of deadly attack. Six renowned fashion designers from India and Pakistan showcased key looks for the upcoming season, inspired by luxurious, lightweight Merino wool fabrics here. The Woolmark Company brought together designers Nachiket Barve, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rahul Mishra, Troy Costa, Gaurav Jai Gupta and Pakistani designer Omar Farooq, who presented their works at an event. Their collections highlighted the versatility of the trans-seasonal fibre and reflected each designer's personal aesthetics. Farooq unveiled Oriental Opulence, a collection of embroideries, jacquards, knitting, embellishments and printing to create rich textile, bringing traditions to contemporary fashion. "Taking contradicting forces and realising their complimenting nature; toying with negating dynamics, to create harmonising effects; meshing together the disconnected to breed a connection - Oriental Opulence is an attempt to look for divinity amongst the earthly," said the Pakistani designer, who has styled actor Fawad Khan in the past. Barve, known for intricate surface details in his clothes, presented a line called Tulipmania, inspired by the delicate flower. Bollywood actress Aditi Rao Hydari was seen as the showstopper. "Merino wool as a fibre has been inspiring my work over the last few seasons consistently... The versatile cool wool fabric has been reimagined for eveningwear and occasion wear through this collection, in a way that's glamorous yet sensual," Barve said in a statement. Gupta experimented with Merino wool by using it with an interesting array of blends. He said: "It all started with American travel and art photographer Trey Ratcliff's images from Tokyo as a reference point. Hand-woven fabrics have been developed in merino wool, monofilament silks, cotton, zari and stainless steel. The collection - Mumuksha consists of separates for both women and men along with saris." International Woolmark Prize 2014-Womenswear Winner Mishra's collection, which was titled as the Fourth Dimension, was inspired by metamorphosis in life. Rajesh Pratap Singh, known for his understated designs, presented a simple yet flawless collection highlighting the fluidity, drapability and versatility of Merino wool. "Oversized silhouettes are predominant in the collection and many garments are reflective of traditional Indian costumes but with a modern twist and relevance for today's man," he said. Costa, who has styled Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, presented his collection inspired by La Bella Figura, meaning the good impression. It was marked by "structured silhouettes of bespoke tailoring". The designers' collaboration showcase also focused on the Make in India concept, highlighting the journey of Australian Merino wool to the weavers, manufacturers, brands and designers in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday morning arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia. "PM @narendramodi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels," ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. During the course of the visit, the prime minister will attend the India-EU summit and the global nuclear security summit in the US. On his daylong visit to Brussels on Wednesday, Modi will hold a bilateral summit with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and then attend the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit. On March 31, the prime minister will leave for Washington to attend the two-day Fourth Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama. On his way back, he will drop in at Riyadh for a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia on April 2-3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told the business leaders of Belgium that while diamonds remain India's age-old link with their nation, new opportunities have opened up in his country, notably in IT and infrastructure. "Diamonds are, of course, an old link between us. It provides employment to many in India. IT is another sector of promise," the prime minister, who arrived here Wednesday morning, told the Belgian CEOs over a luncheon meeting. According to India's foreign office, around 2,500 Indians are based in Antwerp, dealing mainly in diamond trade. "Today we live in an interdependent world. India offers a huge opportunity -- not just a market, but also as a huge talent pool," Modi said, and gave the examples of ports and inland waterways as areas that can offer them attractive opportunities. The prime minister, who started his address expressing concern over terror attacks in Brussels earlier this month, said India has also been battling the menace of terorism for over 40 years. He said India also has "ties of blood with Belgium". "Some 100 years ago, 130,000 soldiers from India fought in Belgium and 9,000 of them made supreme sacrifices," he recalled and referred to the participation of Indian solders in World War I at West Flanders. Belgians hold an annual commemoration to this sacrifice and have installed a memorial for the lost Indian soldiers in 2001 in the City of Leper. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday laid a wreath at the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, one of the sites of the March 22 terror attacks in the Belgian capital. Indian Infosys techie Raghavendran Ganesan was among the many who were killed when a bomb ripped through a train carriage at the station, located in the heart of Brussels and close to the EU headquarters. Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders briefed Modi about the terror attack. The prime minister "remembers Raghavendran Ganeshan and other victims of the tragic attack," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. From Maalbeek, Modi headed for Egmont Palace to meet Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Later, Modi will participate in the 13th India-EU summit. He will end his visit to Belgium by addressing the Indian Diaspora. In his pre-departure statement, Modi paid tribute to the Brussels bombing victims. "No words are enough to salute the resilience and spirit of the people of Belgium," Modi said. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the wake of the horrific attacks in Brussels and share the grief of those who lost their loved ones." More than 30 people were killed in twin explosions at the Zaventem airport and one at the metro station in the Belgian capital on March 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met European Council President Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker here on Wednesday. "Celebrating the world's largest democratic entities. PM @narendramodi w/ Prez @donaldtusk & Prez @juncker EU #IndiaEU," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted along with a picture of the three leaders. Modi will attend the 13th India-EU Summit after having completed his bilateral engagements with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel earlier in the day. Wednesday is the first day of Modi's three-nation tour that will also take him to the US and Saudi Arabia. Visiting the Belgian capital that is yet to recover from the horror of the March 22 terror attacks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India shares "the depth of sorrow and grief" of the Belgian people as it has itself experienced terrorist violence on countless occasions. Modi, who laid a wreath at the Maalbeek metro station that had been hit by a massive suicide bombing on March 22, offered deepest condolences to the families of those killed in the terror strikes in Brussels last week. In his press statement after holding talks with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, Modi said: "Having experienced terrorist violence ourselves on countless occasions, we share your pain. In this time of crisis, the whole of India stands in full support and solidarity with the Belgian people." Modi also proposed resuming bilateral talks on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. "Negotiations on Extradition Treaty and a Treaty on Exchange of Sentenced Prisoners could be concluded expeditiously," he said. Indian Infosys techie Raghavendran Ganesan was among the many killed when a bomb ripped through a train carriage at Maalbeek station, located in the heart of Brussels and close to the EU headquarters. Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders accompanied Modi to the Maalbeek station and briefed him about the attack. Seeking to enhance bilateral business ties, Modi also met business leaders of Belgium. In his address, Modi said that while diamonds remain India's age-old link with their nation, new opportunities have opened up in India, notably in IT and infrastructure. "Diamonds are, of course, an old link between us. It provides employment to many in India. IT is another sector of promise," the prime minister told the Belgian CEOs over a luncheon meeting. Around 2,500 Indians are based in Antwerp, dealing mainly in the diamond trade. "Today we live in an interdependent world. India offers a huge opportunity -- not just a market, but also as a huge talent pool," Modi said, and gave the examples of ports and inland waterways as areas that can offer them attractive opportunities. He said India also has "ties of blood with Belgium". "Some 100 years ago, 130,000 soldiers from India fought in Belgium and 9,000 of them made supreme sacrifices," he recalled and referred to the participation of Indian solders in World War I at West Flanders. Belgians hold an annual commemoration to this sacrifice and have installed a memorial for the lost Indian soldiers in 2001 in the City of Leper. In the morning, the prime minister arrived to a red carpet welcome and was warmly greeted by a large crowd of Indian diaspora, who waved the Indian tricolour. Many mobbed him for autographs, which the prime minister smilingly signed. Later, the two prime ministers jointly remote activated Asia's largest optical telescope, ARIES, located in Nainital, Uttarakhand in India. "ARIES project is not just a government-to-government initiative, it is a win-win collaboration between private sectors as well," he said after the inauguration. Located at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) at Devasthal near Nainital, it is a 3.6-metre telescope. India has collaborated with a Belgian company called AMOS to produce this infrared steerable optical telescope which is the first of its kind in the whole of Asia. Modi is to attend the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit later in the day. Brussels is the first leg of his three-nation tour. He travels to Washington on Thursday to attend the two-day Fourth Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama. He will visit Riyadh for a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia on April 2-3. Offering his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the March 22 terror attacks in Brussels, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that an extradition treaty between India and Belgium should be expedited. "My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones to the terror strikes in Brussels last week," Modi said in his address to the media after jointly remote activating with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel Asia's largest optical telescope located in India that has been built with Belgium's help. "Having experienced terrorist violence ourselves on countless occasions, we share your pain," he said. At least 35 people, including an Indian national, were killed in twin explosions at Zaventem airport and in another explosion at a metro station in the Belgian capital on March 22. Stating that India stood in full support and solidarity with the Belgian people, Modi said: "As part of our efforts to respond to this common challenge we could resume discussions on a mutual legal assistance treaty. Negotiations on extradition treaty and a treaty on exchange of sentenced prisoners could be concluded expeditiously." He said that India and Belgium shared a long history of friendship. "A hundred years ago, more than 130,000 soldiers from India fought in the First World War alongside your countrymen on Belgian soil," the prime minister said. "More than 9,000 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice." Modi said that India was ready to welcome Belgian King Phillipe next year which will mark 70 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Stating that his talks with Prime Minister Michel earlier in the day covered the whole spectrum of ties, he said: "A system of bilateral foreign policy consultations would recommend concrete ways to upgrade our partnership." Referring to the economic opportunities India offered to the world today, he said that the country's macroeconomic fundamentals were robust, and at 7 percent plus, it was one of the fastest growing economies of the world. "I believe that a combination of Belgian capacities and India's economic growth can produce promising opportunities for businesses on both sides," he said. "Prime minister and I have just held a productive interaction with Belgian CEOs and business persons earlier today. I invite the Belgian government and companies to pro-actively associate with India's ambitious development projects including Digital India, Start Up India and Skill India." According to Modi, Belgian businesses can make their global supply chains more cost effective by manufacturing in India. "India's goal to modernise infrastructure, especially railways and ports, and building of 100-plus smart cities also presents a unique investment opportunity for the Belgian companies," he said. "These partnerships can help us reach new heights in our trade and commercial partnership. I have invited Prime Minister Michel to visit India with Belgian businesses to see first-hand the reality of India's economic and political promise. Clearly, it is not just diamonds that can bring shine to our partnership." Stating that climate change was one of the greatest challenges before mankind, Modi said he and Michel "have agreed to enhance our cooperation in renewable energy". "We would also build partnerships in areas such as harnessing waste for energy, small wind turbines and zero emission buildings. Advancement in S&T (science and technology) and high technology areas is of particular importance for India's development priorities," he said. Referring to the activation of the telescope, he said it was an "inspiring example" of Indo-Belgian collaboration. "The work is also afoot on other agreements in the areas of information and communication technology, audio-visual production, tourism, biotechnology and shipping and ports," the prime minister said. Referring to the India-European Union (EU) summit he is scheduled to attend later in the day, he said trade, investment, and technology partnership between the two sides would be one of the focus areas. Wednesday is the first day of Modi's three-nation that will also take him to the US and Saudi Arabia. The wife of a CRPF trooper from Kerala who drowned in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday hit out at CRPF officials, accusing them of showing disrespect to her husband's body. "My husband was treated like a dog. They could have at least used a cloth to cover his body," said Lini, wife of the 33-year-old Anil Achenkunju. "Would they have done this if the person who died was an officer? Since my husband was only a jawan, he was treated like this," she told the media here. Lini blamed both Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials and the home ministry for the manner in which the body was brought to Kerala in a mere plastic cover. Achenkunju, who hailed from Chingoly in this district, drowned in a water tank in Chhattisgarh on March 24. His body was brought here on Saturday in a decomposed state. Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told the media in New Delhi that he had taken up the issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and said it was "very unfortunate this happened". "The deceased is from my constituency and I know them. The state government will do its duty as the deceased was the only breadwinner in the family," said Chennithala. The union home ministry has said that due action would be taken once the inquiry into this incident takes place, he said. Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday called for a change in attitudes to enable people with disabilities to realise their potential in an enabling environment. He released an 'Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index' that enables organisations to reflect on their policies and organisational culture in aid and support of differently abled people, employment of such people and adaptations to meet their needs at workplaces. The index, based on which organisations can be ranked, encourages them to recruit more disabled people and give them equal opportunities. Naidu called for enabling access to such people in buildings and workplaces, public transport and information and communication technology eco-system. The minister called for changes in stigmatised attitudes and responses to disabled people to make them contribute to community life. "Among every one lakh people in the country, 1,755 people have one or the other disability. About 8.40 percent of rural households and 6.10 percent of urban households have at least one disabled person," Naidu said. The minister said about 47 percent of the disabled never married and about 55 percent are illiterate. "These statistics suggest that society's inadequate and improper response to the disabled people make their lives more difficult and challenging," Naidu said. He called for provision of ramps in public buildings, adaptation of toilets for wheelchair users, things like Braille symbols in elevators and lifts, ramps in hospitals and other public places like bus and railway stations and airports to provide easy access to disabled persons. Actress Naomi Watts is in negotiations to join Brie Larson in "The Glass Castle", an adaptation of writer Jeannette Walls's memoir. The comedy drama reunites Larson with her "Short Term 12" director Destin Daniel Cretton, and tells the story of a successful young woman who was raised by dysfunctional and nonconformist parents. Her world gets turned upside down when they move to New York to be near her, reports hollywoodreporter.com. Woody Harrelson is already on board to play the woman's alcoholic father and if all goes well, Watts will play her eccentric mother. The project is looking to begin production in June in Montreal. The NIA on Wednesday hoped that Islamabad will reciprocate India's gesture of allowing a Pakistani team to visit the IAF base in Pathankot to probe a terror attack by Pakistani terrorists. NIA spokesman Sanjeev Kumar said it had been "agreed" that the kind of cooperation India had provided to the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team would be reciprocated. "This is the reciprocity agreed," Kumar told reporters after discussions for a third day with the Pakistani investigation team. The remarks appear to indicate India's intention to get similar access in Pakistan to pursue the investigation into the terror attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2. India says the attack was masterminded by Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar. The terrorists who killed seven Indian security personnel at the base ended up getting killed after an 80-hour gun battle. On Monday and Tuesday, the NIA submitted evidence to the five-member Pakistani team on the terrorist attack. The Pakistani officials visited Pathankot on Tuesday. According to NIA sources, the evidence provided to the team prove India's claim that the Pathankot attack was planned in Pakistan. The visiting team comprise among others ISI official Lt. Colonel Tanvir Ahmed and military intelligence officer Lt. Colonel Irfan Mirza. NIA chief Sharad Kumar said the process of handing over the evidence and related documents to the Pakistani team had started and "we have given our list of demands to them". Sharad Kumar added: "The witnesses will be examined tomorrow (Thursday)." The NIA chief said the Pakistani team told him that Pakistani authorities had "detained certain people" in connection with the Pathankot case. Remember when several education policy advocates said that they were largely uncertain about how Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would handle federal education policy ? During a GOP town hall event in Milwaukee on Tuesday hosted by CNN, Trump threw what many people might think is a real K-12 curveball. The real estate developer was asked by a voter what he thinks are the top three functions of the federal government. After naming national security, Trump also cited education and health care as the top priorities. When CNN moderator Anderson Cooper subsequently reminded Trump that hed previously expressed opposition to the federal governments role in education (more on that in the moment), Trump seemed to shift his position. He said that he wants education policy power to devolve to the states, and added that he saw education as a top issue for the nation. So whats the broader context for Trumps statements at the town hall? As we highlighted previously in our K-12 policy election guide , Trump has called the U.S. Department of Education a massive behemoth. At different points, he has said hed either get rid of it, or slash it way, way down. His closest rival for the GOP nomination, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, has repeatedly called for the elimination of the Education Department, while fellow Republican presidential hopeful Ohio Gov. John Kasich wants many of its programs consolidated into four big block grants and sent to states. In a Facebook video posted by his campaign about education , Trump stressed that under his presidential administration, local school boards would have priority over running schools. And he also hasnt been a big fan of American students achievement on the world stage , at least as far as international test scores go. None of those previously stated positions seem to jibe naturally with Trumps (initial, at least) statement Tuesday that education should be a top federal government priority. At least in theory, Trump should be pleased by the Every Student Succeeds Act, the new version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act signed by President Barack Obama last December. ESSA gives states and districts significantly more power over things like teacher evaluations and school turnarounds. (It even includes a block grant. ) But Trump hasnt addressed the new law when hes mentioned education, including during CNNs town hall. Some conservatives might argue that just because education is a major priority for the country, that doesnt mean people should be big fans of the Education Department . But others might say its contradictory for Trump to claim that the federal government should make education one of its top three priorities, yet also to want policy power to devolve to states, while simultaneously (according to his previous statements) drastically cutting or ending the Education Department. In his own appearance at CNNs GOP town hall event, Cruz reiterated his desire for reducing Washingtons role in education: I think the federal government needs to get the heck out of it. And he also pledged that on his first day as president, he would direct the Education Department to end the Common Core State Standards. However, states adopt content standards, and the department cannot terminate the common core. Cruz also said that school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century. Other than his stance on the common core, thats Cruzs favorite position to highlight publicly when it comes to K-12 policyhes even used that phrase about civil rights before. And Kasich made a pitch for shifting more control over education, along with other policy issues, out of Washington and to the states. He then said that states, in turn, should consider shifting more policy power in general to local government. Photo: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a news conference in New York last September. AP Photo/Julie Jacobson Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . The Nigerian government on Wednesday denied an online media report credited to a top office that Boko Haram insurgents still controlled two local government areas in the restive northeast region. Minister of Defence Brig.-Gen. (rtd.) Mansur Dan-Ali disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, the country's capital city, Xinhua reported. The minister denied reports in the same medium credited to him that the abducted female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, were being used as suicide bombers. The minister said he was quoted out of context, as he did not imply what was reported by the online medium. The minister was a guest in the studio of Voice of America, where he spoke in Hausa language, on the appraisal of the successes recorded in the ongoing war against terrorists in the northeast. He said before now, over 60 local government areas were under the occupation of Boko Haram in the north-east, but now only two were having some remnants of Boko Haram activities and not under their complete control. On the issue of the Chibok girls, the minister said he was not referring to the girls abducted on April 14, 2014 from Government Secondary School in Chibok. Rather, he was referring to other girls abducted by the terrorists from the local government areas. The Bombay High Court on Wednesday observed that there is no law to prevent women from entering a place of worship and if men are allowed, women too should be permitted. The observation came during a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Nilima Vartak and activist Vidya Bal who have challenged the ban on entry of women at the well known Shani Shingnapur Temple in Ahmednagar district. A division bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice M.S. Sonak said that any temple or person imposing such restrictions could attract a six-month jail term in Maharashtra. "If a male can go and pray before the deity, then why not women; and it is the duty of the state government to protect women's rights," Chief Justice Waghela said. "If the concerns were about the sanctity of the deity then the state government must make such a statement," the court said, and pointed out that under the Maharashtra Hindu Place of Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act, any temple or person banning any person from entering a temple can face a six-month jail term. Directing the government to give wide publicity to the law and issue circulars for the benefit of the general public, it asked the government pleader A. Vagyani to make a statement whether the government would ensure entry for women in the temple. The petitioner has sought entry for women not just inside the Shani Shingnapur Temple, but also in its sanctum sanctorum, and said banning of women there is "illegal, arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights" of citizens. Since the past few months the Shani Shingnapur Temple has been in the news after attempts were made by the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (BRB) activists to storm its sanctum sanctorum. The temple management has made it clear that women would not be permitted on the open-to-sky temple's footsteps leading to the black stone signifying the sun god. The BRB president Trupti Desai has said they would not relent till women are permitted full entry to the Shani Shingnapur Temple and also the Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik, where women are not allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum. Sri Lanka on Wednesday said there was no threat to the country's security though a suicide jacket and explosives were found from a house in north where the Tamil Tigers once held sway. There was no threat to the national security despite allegations by the opposition that the Tamil Tiger rebels may try to regroup, Xinhua news agency quoted defence secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi as saying. "We recover various kind of ammunition very often as these were all hidden by the LTTE during the war. So the question of our national security being threatened does not arise," Hettiarachchi said. Opposition parliamentarian and former president's son, Namal Rajapakse on Wednesday tweeted that recovery of a suicide jacket and explosives in the former war-torn north earlier in the day raised questions if the Tamil Tiger rebels were trying to regroup in the island nation. However, Hettiarachchi said that the recovery was "nothing extraordinary" as such explosives and ammunition were hidden by the rebels during the war period. In addition to the suicide jacket, police also discovered a stock of explosives and bullets which were hidden in a house in Chawakachcheri, in the north. Police had reportedly raided the house on a tip-off that the owner had in his possession drugs and marijuana and the suspect had fled the area during the raid. The opposition has called on the government to take responsibility for the "breakdown in security" and take control of the escalating crime rate. The now vanquished Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) liberally used suicide bombers to target opponents during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka that ended in 2009. Union Minister Jeetendra Singh on Wednesday said the North East has huge potential for start ups and that venture funds and other facilities can be provided for the start ups. "In years to come, North East will become the destination for young start ups," he said, addressing a seminar on sub-regional cooperation between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Singh, minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), said that "For India's "Act East" policy to be effective, we first need to act for the development of North Eastern region along the international borders. "The areas along international borders should be developed for the overall development of the region," he said. He said that India is on the threshold of becoming a superpower and for that there should be full realisation of youth power and equitable growth of all the regions in the country. The daylong event saw discussions on topics like economic cooperation in the sub region, trends and patterns of trade between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, economic cooperation through connectivity and FDI. Ahead of the crucial Nuclear Security Summit, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has claimed he alone can solve the problem of Islamist terrorism with a nuclear armed Pakistan posing a "vital" issue. "Pakistan is a very, very vital problem and really vital country for us because they have a thing called nuclear weapons," he said participating in a town hall style meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday. "They have to get a hold of their situation." "When I see that and when I see it put in a park because it was mostly Christians, although many others were killed other than Christians, I think it's just absolutely a horrible story," Trump said, referring to the Lahore terrorist attack. "But I'm talking about radical Islamic terrorism," Trump said on the event hosted by CNN. "I will solve it far better than anybody else running" for presidency. Asked about his comment that he might support Japan and South Korea developing nuclear weapons of their own given his stated concern for nuclear proliferation, Trump said because "North Korea has nuclear weapons" though it "doesn't have a carrier yet". Asked if letting other countries get nuclear weapons, wasn't proliferation, he said "Maybe it's going to have to be time to change, because so many people, you have Pakistan has it, you have China has it. You have so many other countries are now having it." "At some point we have to say, you know what, we're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea, we're better off, frankly, if South Korea is going to start to protect itself, we have," he said. "It's going to happen, anyway," Trump said. "It's going to happen anyway. It's only a question of time. They're going to start having them or we have to get rid of them entirely." "But you have so many countries already, China, Pakistan, you have so many countries, Russia, you have so many countries right now that have them. "Now, wouldn't you rather in a certain sense have Japan have nuclear weapons when North Korea has nuclear weapons? And they do have them. They absolutely have them. They can't -- they have no carrier system yet but they will very soon," Trump said. Trump's comments about Pakistan's nuclear weapons came after a senior administration official expressed renewed concern about the nuclear weapons in a preview of the summit here on March 31 and April 1. "Our concerns regarding the continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan relate to a reality of the situation," said Rose Gottemoeller, under secretary of state for arms control and international security. "When battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed forward, they can represent an enhanced nuclear security threat," she said. "It's more difficult to sustain positive control over systems that are deployed forward. We found this lesson ourselves out in Europe during the years of the Cold War," she said. "And so I do think that that is a reality of the situation. It's not related particularly to any one country," Gottemoeller said. "Wherever battlefield nuclear weapons exist, they represent particular nuclear security problems." On Friday, Pakistan's top nuclear security adviser Khalid Ahmed Kidwai rejected calls from the US to curb Pakistan's reliance on tactical nuclear weapons. "We are not apologetic about the development of the TNWs (tactical nuclear weapons) and they are here to stay," he said at a seminar in Islamabad following Gottemoeller's earlier testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) The government on Wednesday accused Pakistan of "cooking up" stories to defame India and of releasing a "doctored video" in which an arrested Indian ex-naval officer is heard purportedly "confessing" to New Delhi's alleged involvement in terrorist activities in Balochistan. Addressing reporters, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said: "The MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has already come out with a statement regarding the forged, doctored video and the made up story being created by the Pakistani establishment. We don't have to pay attention to that, and I feel that this is an internal game within the Pakistani establishment, their government, the prime minister and their agencies." Pakistan on Tuesday released a video purportedly showing the arrested Indian, Kulbushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad has accused of being a spy, as saying that he had been directing various activities in Karachi and Balochistan "at the behest of RAW", (Research and Analysis Wing) the Indian intelligence agency, and that he was still with the Indian Navy. "Doctored videos made by Pakistan will have no effect on international platforms. They are cooking up stories and doctoring videos to defame India," Rijiju added. India on Tuesday dismissed as baseless the remarks made by Jadhav. "We have seen a video released by Pakistani authorities of a former Indian naval officer, doing business in Iran, who is in Pakistani custody under unexplained circumstances," the MEA said in a statement. "The video has this individual making statements which have no basis in fact. That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will, not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring," it said. Dubbing BJP legislator Om Prakash Sharma a "habitual offender", the Delhi assembly's Ethics Committee on Wednesday recommended his expulsion for his misconduct in the house. While senior BJP legislator Vijender Gupta said the report was biased, Sharma -- who was recently shown on TV beating up a CPI activist outside a court here -- said he will move the Delhi High Court on the issue. "Given the fact that Om Prakash Sharma, in addition to being found guilty in the very serious matter under investigation, also has to his credit the record of being named by the speaker most number of times for indecorous conduct in the house," the committee said in its report. "The committee is left with no choice but to recommend Sharma's expulsion from the membership of the sixth legislative assembly of the government of NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi." It is the second report of the nine-member committee chaired by Aam Aadmi Party legislator Narayan Dutt Sharma. In its earlier report in November last year, the panel recommended a fine on BJP legislator Sharma, who represents Vishwas Nagar, for breaking a microphone in the assembly. The report said: "He has a history of repeatedly interrupting the proceedings of the house. It is imprudent enough to rush menacingly towards the leader of the house when he's addressing the house. "(He) has a record of being fined and warned against unruly behaviour by the house after duly found guilty by the Ethics Committee once earlier for damaging a mike. He has shown neither remorse nor sign of learning from his past mistakes and is a habitual offender," the committee added. Sharma was suspended from the assembly for two days in November 2015 for making derogatory remarks against AAP legislator Alka Lamba during an argument over homeless people's deaths. The BJP legislator said: "We will approach the high court to challenge the report." The committee chairman, Narayan Dutt Sharma, told IANS: "We called Sharma and asked him several times to admit to his mistakes and apologize. But he neither conceded nor admitted his mistakes. He didn't even show a sense of guilt. Sanjeev Jha (AAP MLA), who sits next to him in assembly, was one of those who reported his unruly behaviour." BJP's Vijender Gupta told IANS: "The report is biased. Not a single committee member is from the BJP. All are from AAP. It is sheer misuse of brute majority. We will move the high court." The Aam Aadmi Party has 67 members in the 70-member assembly. Three seats are with the BJP. The much awaited passenger train service between Tripura and the rest of India is likely to start in April, a railway official said on Wednesday. "After completion of all technical, logistical and administrative formalities by mid-April, the train will start running via Guwahati," said spokesman Pranav Jyoti Sharma of the Northeast Frontier Railway. He said the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Shailesh Kumar Pathak, was now examining the technical aspects of the newly laid Agartala-Badarpur (Assam) broad gauge railway line. Pathak, who met Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Tuesday, told reporters that the broad gauge line laid up to Agartala was "excellent and unique". The first commercial freight train arrived in Tripura on February 22 from Assam's Badarpur town. Assam's Barak Valley was brought on the broad gauge rail map last year. A regular passenger train service between Silchar and Guwahati started on November 21 last year. Former Real Madrid star Kaka has said that the fans of the former European Champions should show more respect to their talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has scored over 350 goals since joining Real from Manchester United in 2009. In these seven seasons, he has won the Champions League once and has bagged one La Liga title. But the 31-year-old has still been subjected to criticism from sections of the Madrid crowd. "Cristiano is a great player, I am not just talking about his quality, but in terms of what he has contributed to Madrid," Kaka was quoted as saying by goal.com on Wednesday. "I would like to see the fans have more respect for Cristiano for what he has done for this club. Sometimes I hear whistles against Cristiano and it's not good after all he has done," the former Brazil star added. Ronaldo's Real Madrid contract expires in 2018, but the Portuguese winger has been linked with a move away from the Spanish heavyweights. However, Kaka believes Ronaldo should stay put at the Santiago Bernabeu. "I recommend that he stays in Madrid. The proportion that things happen there is very big, on both sides," he said. "If things do go well the proportion is big, but if they don't then it's also still big. Much of what has happened with Cristiano and the name he has today is because he played at Real Madrid." Russia's official unemployment rate increased by seven per cent since the beginning of 2016, the country's ministry of labour and social protection said. "From January 12, 2016 to March 23, 2016, there is an increase in the number of unemployed citizens registered in employment agencies, by 69,900 people (or seven per cent)," Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying in a statement. The employment situation has improved compared with the same period in 2015, when the unemployment rate grew 12 per cent. The ministry of economic development has predicted, based on the oil price of $50 per barrel, that Russia's unemployment rate in 2016 will be 5.8 per cent. Common Sense Education has launched a new initiative to help K-12 schools evaluate the privacy and security practices of education technology tools. Forty districts participated in the development of the groups new Information Security Primer for Evaluating Educational Software , published earlier this week. The goals of the Common Sense Privacy Evaluation Initiative are twofold, according to the release, originally issued at the SXSWedu conference in Austin, Texas earlier this month: To help districts review and apply a common set of privacy standards to the applications they use, and to help the K-12 educational software industry simplify and standardize privacy policies according to legal statute and FTC guidelines, as well as data handling best practices. The project began in 2014, with an initial group of districts that included the Houston Independent schools and the Fairfax, Va. county schools. According to a blog post by Bill Fitzgerald , the director of Common Sense Medias Privacy Evaluation Initiative, the primary audiences for the new primer are district staff and ed-tech vendors. The hope is to provide those groups with guidelines for a basic level of security testing that can be done as districts consider whether to adopt new ed-tech products and services. The primer focuses on a variety of security-testing scenarios, including technical documentation for running such tests, as well as advice on how to responsibly disclose security issues when they are found. The expertise of our partner districts, and their day-to-day experience evaluating software and working with vendors, grounds this work in the realities faced by students and teachers using technology, Fitzgerald said in a statement. Student-data privacy has been a hot-button issue in K-12 for over two years , as both lawmakers and district contracts have struggled to keep up with the rapidly changing technologies adopted by teachers and schools. A published version of the new security primer is available on Common Sense Medias Graphite website. The document is intended to evolve with continued feedback, however; a working version is also available on Github. Along with Fitzgerald, the documents primary authors are Tony Porterfield, a software engineer and parent who has been vocal around ed-tech security practices, and Jim Siegl, the technology architect for the Fairfax, Va. school district. The project is funded by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. See also: The State Bank of India (SBI)-led consortium of banks on Wednesday confirmed an offer to settle dues from defunct Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. "The bank along with other consortium members will examine the same (offer)," the state-run SBI said in a terse one paragraph statement in Mumbai. The bank, however, did not mention the terms of the offer or the amount the debt-ridden airline has proposed to pay. Earlier in the day, Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya told the Supreme Court through his counsel that he had offered to pay Rs.4,000 crore to settle outstanding dues against the grounded airline. Mallya, who is out of the country since March 2, also told the apex court that he had offered another Rs.2,000 crore he expected to get if he would win a law suit against US multinational General Electric. Mallya's counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan told Justice Kurien Joseph and Justice R.F. Nariman that his client (Mallya) had made the proposal to settle the dues to the SBI chief general manager early on Wednesday (through video conference). The banks' consortium's counsel S.S. Naganand told the division bench that the SBI needed a week's time to consider Mallya's proposal to settle the dues. Accepting the plea, the bench gave the consortium a week to respond and posted the next hearing to April 7. Mallya and the airline jointly owe Rs.7,800 crore to the consortium, including Rs.1,600 crore to the SBI. The SBI and Punjab National Bank had declared Mallya, the airline and his holding firm (United Breweries Holdings Ltd) as 'wilful defaulters' in 2015. Besides SBI, other banks that gave loans to Kingfisher include State Bank of Baroda, State Bank of Mysore, Axis Bank, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, UCO Bank and United Bank of India. Over a hundred students were on Wednesday denied entry by the Delhi Police into Manipur Bhavan here to meet rights activist Irom Sharmila. Earlier in the day, Sharmila was acquitted by the Delhi High Court in an attempt-to- suicide case registered in 2006 after she sat on a fast-unto-death at the Jantar Mantar here. Sharmila, 42, has been on a fast for 16 years in Manipur to demand the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in her state. These students from the North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Association had gathered in front of the Manipur House to extend solidarity to Sharmila in her struggle against AFSPA. Later, Sharmila briefly came out to meet the students. JNUSU vice president Shehla Rashid, who addressed the students, said: "We salute Irom Sharmila in her fight against AFSPA. There has been a victory today... but it is not a complete victory. There are fresh cases against her and as long as she fights, we have to keep supporting her in her fight against AFSPA." "She was brought here but not allowed to address us. We condemn this attitude of the authorities and some agencies which do not want us to meet Sharmila," she said. A peaceful march was also held from Manipur Bhavan to the gate of South Asian University here. Manipur Students Association leader Seram Rojesh said: "When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, Sharmila came to Delhi and wrote a letter to him. But Modi doesn't have time to meet Sharmila. The media should ask him why he is afraid of Sharmila." A Su-25 jet crashed in Russia's Primorye region close to the small town of Chernigovka, the Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday. The pilot of the fighter ejected and his life was not in danger. No casualties were reported in the crash, Xinhua news agency quoted the ministry as saying. The Sukhoi Su-25 is a single-seat, twin-engine fighter developed in the former Soviet Union by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. Superstar Rajinikanth will join the sets of Tamil magnum opus "2.o" from Wednesday to shoot some crucial portions at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here. "Rajinikanth arrived in Delhi with his daughter last evening. He will join the sets of the film from today (Wednesday). As soon as he completes this schedule, he will head to Morocco next," a source from the film's unit told IANS. Directed by Shankar, the film is the sequel to Tamil blockbuster "Enthiran". Akshay Kumar plays the antagonist in "2.o", which marks his Tamil debut. The film also features Amy Jackson, and she's believed to be the only lady on the sets. Aung San Suu Kyi's journey in the battle for democracy, much of which was spent in detention, has culminated into being appointed Myanmar's new foreign minister, though she has had made it clear that she will wield more effective power than the country's president. Suu Kyi was sworn-in on Wednesday and will concurrently hold three other portfolios in the government led by her confidant and handpicked President U Htin Kyaw. She will also be the minister in the president's office, minister of education and minister of electricity and energy. The international icon for democracy, Suu Kyi peacefully fought the country's oppressive military regime that put her under house arrest for 15 years, in a bid to quell her efforts to make the people of the Southeast Asian nation the real fountainhead of power. But "The Lady" -- as she came to be known as -- never succumbed to the ruling junta and continued her battle even when she was held incommunicado in Rangoon, now called Yangon. Suu Kyi, inspired by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, was in detention in some or the other form during much of her time between 1989 and 2010. But she battled on earning herself an iconic status that made her an international symbol of peaceful resistance in the face of oppression. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 when the committee chairman for the award called her "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless". And when finally power came to her, she was barred from becoming president because the country's constitution, written by the military, prevents anyone with close family ties to someone who "owe allegiance to a foreign power". Suu Kyi's two sons are British passport holders. Nevertheless, the 70-year-old leader has vowed to take up a role "above the president". How that would be practiced is not clear. But, with her lifelong friend and confidant sworn in as the new president, Suu Kyi may not be too far from calling the shots -- even though remotely. Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, General Aung San, was born in 1945. Her father was assassinated during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence, when she was only two. She went to an elite English medium school in Burma until 1960. In that year, her mother was appointed ambassador to India and the young Suu Kyi further studied at Delhi University before she went to Oxford, where she met her future husband, the British scholar Michael Aris. The couple had two children. She was living a quiet life with her family in the United Kingdom until 1988. She returned to her homeland when her mother fell ill, leaving behind her husband and sons to nurse her dying mother. But she found that her nation needed her more when she saw the mass slaughter of Burmese who had risen against the brutal rule of military strongman U Ne Win. She raised her voice and began a non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights. During her continuous detention, she was offered permission to visit her family in the UK. She refused. She knew if she left, she won't be allowed to return. Her husband died in 1999 and she could not even attend his last rites. Restrictions were finally relaxed in 2011. She was allowed to travel outside Yangon and hold political rallies for the National League for Democracy (NLD). She was allowed to contest elections for the first time In January 2012. She won easily in the elections and was sworn as a parliamentarian. That year Suu Kyi visited Thailand, her first trip outside Myanmar since 1988. She also travelled to Europe and China. Her NLD won the landmark elections in November 2015. The party secured large enough majorities of seats in both legislative chambers to allow the party to form the new government. Despite her iconic status of political freedom, Suu Kyi has come under fire from human rights advocates all over the world for failing to defend Myanmar's Rohingya minority. Members of the ethnic group -- mostly Muslims -- are subjected to harsh and humiliating restrictions, including forced labour. They don't have citizenship rights. She was recently accused of Islamophobia when she was shown apparently getting angry in a 2013 interview being conducted by BBC presenter Mishal Hussain. The interview appeared in news last week when British media reported that she was so angered by the interview's focus on Rohingya that she was heard muttering, presumably to an aide, "No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim." But those may be seen as minor blips in the life of a woman who stood as a bulwark against the all-encompassing power of a military junta. Tata Motors hopes to get orders for the supply of its vehicles to Thailand's army soon, a senior company official said on Wednesday. India's leading heavy vehicle manufacturer was also looking to sell its vehicles in the commercial markets in Thailand and Myanmar, said Vernon Noronha, vice-president, defence and government business, Tata Motors. "We have traditional markets in Africa. We are now trying to enter Myanmar. As many as 715 of our vehicles have passed the test for Royal Thai Army. We hope to get some commercial orders in the coming months," he told reporters on the sidelines of the DefExpo 2016 in south Goa's Betul village. Noronha said that said Tata Motors had finalised a deal with the Centre to supply over 1,400 high-mobility multi-axle vehicles for the Indian army and their manufacture had begun. He said that Tata Motors was contemplating manufacture of combat vehicles and even tanks in future, if and when the central government allowed private companies to do so. Having suffered nearly $3 billion in losses on its UK operations, is exploring to put its entire portfolio there up for sale, some 10 years after it forayed into Europe by acquiring Anglo-Dutch Corus for over $8.1 billion. The decision comes less than a week after UK said it has reached an agreement to sell its Clydebridge and Dalzell steel facilities in Scotland to the local government, which will, in turn, hive it off to Liberty House, an international steel and non-ferrous metals group. "The board on Wednesday reviewed the recent performance of the European business of the, more specifically of Tata Steel UK. It noted with deep concern the deteriorating financial performance of the UK subsidiary in the last 12 months," a company statement said. "Following the strategic view taken by the Tata Steel board regarding the UK business, it has advised the board of its European holding company, Tata Steel Europe, to explore all options for portfolio restructuring including potential divestment of Tata Steel UK, in whole or in parts." The company said while the global steel demand, especially in developed markets like Europe, has remained muted following the financial crisis of 2008, trading conditions in the UK and Europe have rapidly deteriorated more recently. "These factors are likely to continue into the future and have significantly impacted on the long term competitive position of the UK operations in spite of several initiatives undertaken by the management and the workers of the business in recent years," it said. "Even under these adverse market conditions, Tata Steel group has extended substantial financial support to the UK business and suffered asset impairment of more than 2 billion in the last five years," it said. "Given the severity of the funding requirement in the foreseeable future, the Tata Steel Europe board will be advised to evaluate and implement the most feasible option in time bound manner." The board also reviewed the proposed restructuring and transformation plan for strip products in UK prepared by the European subsidiary in consultation with an independent and internationally reputed consultancy firm. The board, according to the company, came to a conclusion that the plan is unaffordable, needing material funding support in the next two years, in addition to significant capital over the long term. Since the assumptions behind it are inherently risky, and its likelihood of delivery is highly uncertain, the board also concluded it will not be able to support the investments necessary to proceed with the proposed strip products UK transformation plan. Tata Steel's web site says it is the second largest steel producer in Europe with a diversified presence across the continent. It has a crude steel production capacity of over 18 million tonnes per annum there -- more than two thirds of the group's total capacity. In UK and Ireland it has three steelmaking facilities at Port Talbot, Rotherham and Scunthorpe, with a combined crude steel production capacity of 11 million tonnes per annum. Having suffered nearly $3 billion in losses on its UK operations, Tata Steel is exploring to put its entire portfolio there up for sale, some 10 years after it forayed into Europe by acquiring Anglo-Dutch Corus for over $8.1 billion. However, steel sector analysts are of the view that it is going to be difficult for the Indian group to find a buyer at this juncture when the sector is facing a downturn. The decision comes less than a week after Tata Steel UK said it has reached an agreement to sell its Clydebridge and Dalzell steel facilities in Scotland to the local government, which will, in turn, hive it off to Liberty House, an international steel and non-ferrous metals group. "The Tata Steel board today reviewed the recent performance of the European business of the, more specifically of Tata Steel UK. It noted with deep concern the deteriorating financial performance of the UK subsidiary in the last 12 months," a company statement said. "Following the strategic view taken by the Tata Steel Board regarding the UK business, it has advised the board of its European holding company, Tata Steel Europe, to explore all options for portfolio restructuring including potential divestment of Tata Steel UK, in whole or in parts." The company said while the global steel demand, especially in developed markets like Europe, has remained muted following the financial crisis of 2008, trading conditions in the UK and Europe have rapidly deteriorated more recently. "These factors are likely to continue into the future and have significantly impacted on the long term competitive position of the UK operations in spite of several initiatives undertaken by the management and the workers of the business in recent years," it said. "Even under these adverse market conditions, Tata Steel group has extended substantial financial support to the UK business and suffered asset impairment of more than 2 billion pounds in the last five years," it said. "Given the severity of the funding requirement in the foreseeable future, the Tata Steel Europe board will be advised to evaluate and implement the most feasible option in time bound manner." Reacting to the development, Akash Gupta - associate director, Fitch Ratings, told IANS: "Fitch continues to include the European operations while analysing Tata Steel in the absence of any firm plans/agreements on restructuring/sale. The European operations are a drag on the consolidated financial profile on account of the EBITDA losses." Steel sector analysts told IANS that the UK and also the European operations were posing problems for the Tata Steel for a long time. "The Indian group has been patient for a long time and it would be difficult to continue to be so," an analyst, not wanting to be named, told IANS. However, it is not going to be easy for the Tatas to find a buyer for the plant given the market conditions, the unions at the plant and other issues. Shifting the plant to India is also not a feasible option as the European plants are old though the Indian group might have invested in upgradation, analysts told IANS. The Tata Steel board also reviewed the proposed restructuring and transformation plan for strip products in UK prepared by the European subsidiary in consultation with an independent and internationally reputed consultancy firm. The board, according to the company, came to a conclusion that the plan is unaffordable, needing material funding support in the next two years, in addition to significant capital over the long term. Since the assumptions behind it are inherently risky, and its likelihood of delivery is highly uncertain, the board also concluded it will not be able to support the investments necessary to proceed with the proposed strip products UK transformation plan. According to Tata Steel, it has been in deep engagement with the UK Government in recent months seeking support to achieve the best possible outcome for the UK business, within the restrictions of State Aid Rules and other statutory limits. "These discussions are ongoing and will continue. Discussions will also continue with Greybull in relation to a sale of the UK long products business. The UK Government is also involved in the latter discussions," Tata Steel said. Meanwhile, at the bourses Tata Steel's decision on its UK operations found favour. The company's scrip closed at Rs.324.40, up from the previous day's closing price of Rs.303.90, at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Tata Steel's website says it is the second largest steel producer in Europe with a diversified presence across the continent. It has a crude steel production capacity of over 18 million tonnes per annum there -- more than two-thirds of the group's total capacity. In UK and Ireland, it has three steelmaking facilities at Port Talbot, Rotherham and Scunthorpe, with a combined crude steel production capacity of 11 million tonnes per annum. The Telugu version of superstar Vijay-starrer Tamil actioner "Theri", which is slated for release in theatres on April 14, has been titled "Policeodu". "The makers are yet to officially announce the title. However, it has been titled 'Policeodu' in Telugu," a source from the film's unit told IANS. Producer Dil Raju has bagged the Telugu dubbed rights of the film, which is directed by Atlee. Although an action entertainer, "Policeodu" is tipped to be about the emotional bond between a father and his daughter. Besides Vijay, the film also stars Amy Jackson, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and veteran filmmaker Mahendran, who debut as antagonist. G.V. Prakash has composed the tunes for the film, which happens to be his 50th album. Eight days after a horrific terror attack in Belgium left 34 people dead, an Indian working at the Brussels airport says the country is yet to recover from the trauma. But the carnage has brought together Indians of all hues living in the country. And those who survived the twin explosions at the Zaventem Airport departure lounge, with or without injuries, feel their lives have changed forever, Andre-Pierre Rego said. Mumbai-born Andre came to Brussels in 1983 to pursue studies. He ended up staying on in the country, and now works at the Brussels Airport with the Swissport Lost and Found Baggage Tracing Service. Andre was on duty when suicide bombers detonated themselves in a crowded section of the airport on the morning of March 22. Andre escaped unscathed but the deafening blasts have affected him deeply -- and changed forever the lives of those who were at the departure hall. "The departure area was thronging with passengers checking in for international flights out of Brussels when all of a sudden (there was this massive) bang," he told IANS in a phone and email interview. "You cannot explain in words the actual effect of a bomb exploding," said Andre, who has previously worked with Jet Airways. The first explosion itself triggered chaos. "(There were) bags everywhere, people (were) running towards the two remaining exits, screaming in shock and pain, through thick smoke," Andre said. "And 20 seconds later there was a second bigger explosion at the other end. That's when the ceiling came crashing down. "There was more screaming as panic stricken passengers and airport staff ran towards the only available exit in the middle of the departure hall. While the injured ran, the lifeless and panic-stricken lay still," said Andre." In no time, the departure area looked like a war zone, after the heavy amount of explosives used by the suicide bombers ripped through machines, baggages, electric fittings and the false ceiling. There were body parts -- and blood. And pain. "People climbed and jumped over bags, baggage trolleys and even over each other to get out through the only door though the shattered glass had left gaping holes wide enough for them to exit. But the human mind cannot think logically," Andre said. At least 15 people died in the airport. The others were killed in an equally powerful explosion that ripped through the metro carriage in the heart of Brussels, near the European Union headquarters. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks. An Infosys employee, Raghavendran Ganeshan, was killed in the explosion at the metro station. Two crew members of Jet Airways were also injured at the airport. One of them, Neha Chaphekar, became the face of the terror after her photograph was widely published by the Western media. Andre said the Belgian capital "was overwhelmed with sirens of ambulances, police cars and fire brigade racing to transport the injured to the 25 different hospitals. "Many of the injured are still in Intensive Care. The death toll can still rise." Before the mobile network got jammed, Andre's sister from India sent a text message enquring about his welfare. "That was the only moment when I actually did feel tears welling in my eyes. I said I was ok. She messaged back: 'Praise God. I love you. Just realized how much'." Andre said the terror attack had affected the entire Indian community in Belgium. "Muslims, Catholics, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains... "It has brought us closer and made our friendships stronger. Religion doesn't matter. Indians in Brussels remain Indians. We are strong-minded and our upbringing teaches us to live in harmony. Generally, we succeed. "On March 23, Holi was being celebrated in India. I remember messaging a friend in India that we should brainwash the jihadists to fight a 'Holi' war and to use guns with coloured water as ammunition," Andre said. (Kavita Bajeli-Datt can be contacted at kavita.bajeli@gmail.com) Twelve current and former Detroit public schools principals, an assistant superintendent, and a well-connected school vendor are facing federal charges for their alleged roles in a bribery and kickback scheme. The owner of school supply company Allstate Sales is charged with paying $908,500 in kickbacks to at least a dozen Detroit principals who used him as a vendor in exchange for money. Among the principals charged is the head of Spain Elementary-Middle School, a decaying Detroit building thats slated to receive more than $500,000 worth of donations and renovations secured by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres . As part of the scheme, the principals charged in the case would certify and submit phony invoices for the school supplies to the Detroit districts assistant superintendent, who steered close to $3 million dollars in business to Allstate Sales, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said Tuesday. According to the Detroit Free Press, the assistant superintendent charged in the case had the authority to select vendors and order supplemental resources such as maps and workbooks for a number of schools. She previously worked with Allstate Sales owner during her time as a principal in the district. The vendor, Allstate Sales, was paid in full for the supplies and materials, which included auditorium chairs, workbooks, and paper. but the goods were rarely delivered, McQuade said. The charges come at a critical time for the Detroit public schools as Michigans state legislature mulls the future of the troubled, financially strapped district, which has been under state control since 2009. Gov. Rick Snyder has proposed a bailout plan to help pay off the districts $515 million operating deficit. Overall, rescuing the district is expected to cost about $715 million over a decade. To ensure that the school district wont run out of cash in April, state lawmakers passed a nearly $49 million emergency funding package for the district last week. Gov. Snyder signed the legislation Tuesday. Teacher and parent protests this winter shed light on the districts financial struggles and decaying school buildings. But the indictments and wide-ranging corruption investigation could raise questions among lawmakers considering a long-term solution to Detroits problems. The majority of central trade unions have called for a one-day nationwide strike on September 2 in protest against the central government's decision to amend labour laws, the leader of a union said. "The central trade unions have called for a nationwide strike on September 2 this year against the central government's decision to amend the labour laws," M. Shanmugam, general secretary of the Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), told IANS. He said the decision to go on strike was announced at the national convention. According to Shanmugam, as a run-up to the September 2 strike, unions will hold joint conventions across the country. He said the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) did not attend the trade unions meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday. The unions are opposed to the central government's decision to amend the labour and other laws giving a free hand to the employers. US presidential candidate and Republican front-runner Donald Trump is more popular in China than his rival and Democrat Party front-runner Hillary Clinton, according to a survey on Sunday. Trump, who has on many occasions held China responsible for what he calls the US's current economic decline, found favour among 54 percent of the respondents, Global Times reported. "He is... a businessman of pragmatism. Trump simply blames the economic problems of the US and the trade deficit on China," expert Li Fu said. The survey was conducted online through the website Huangqiu.com and shows a rise in the popularity of the Republican candidate in China, already evident in the many online fan clubs that have sprung up, with names ranging from "Trump fan club" to "Great man Donald Trump." "The poll has shown Chinese netizens' discontent over the Democratic Party's policy toward China," Wu Xinbo, director of the Centre for American Studies at Fudan University, said. A shift in the foreign policy of the US with regards to the Asia-Pacific region, which began during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state and is being continued by her successor, John Kerry, has been very unpopular in China and has coincided with a spike in military tensions between China and neighbouring countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan. Meanwhile, Global Times earlier this month published a highly critical editorial on Trump's rise in the race to the White House, emphasising his "racist and extremist" character and warning of serious consequences if he were to become the next president of the US. The US looks at India, a regional power that is committed to advancing the rules-based international order, as "a key player and an important partner in advancing maritime security in the Indo-Pacific." "By far the area of greatest potential is in maritime security, especially as we engage in unprecedented cooperation with India, the region's largest maritime power," Nisha Desai Biswal, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said here Monday. "As the economies of Asia continue to rise, so too will the need for greater maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region," she said dilating on US policies and priorities for 2016 in South and Central Asia at Centre for a New American Security. "So as a regional power that is committed to advancing the rules-based international order, India has become a key player and an important partner in advancing maritime security in the Indo-Pacific," she said. "As such, our bilateral cooperation is increasingly taking on trilateral and multilateral aspects," Biswal said noting last year, US annual naval exercise with India, MALABAR, also included ships from Japan's world-class navy Maritime security was also a central focus of the inaugural US-India-Japan ministerial in New York last September. And last summer, for the first time Indian vessels joined the US, China, and twenty other nations in the RIMPAC exercise, the world's largest international maritime exercise. Defence trade between India and US has increased substantially, from a mere $300 million just over a decade ago, to close to $14 billion today, Biswal noted. And through the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative, for the first time ever the two countries are working together with another country on its indigenous aircraft carrier development programme. "In the not-too-distant future, we hope to see the day when the US and Indian navies, including our aircraft carriers, are cooperating on the high seas, protecting freedom of navigation for all nations," Biswal said. "There is no question that a rising India, now the world's fastest-growing large economy, is and will continue to be the engine of South Asia's growth." "So looking across the entire spectrum, I think a picture emerges of a South and Central Asia region of rising importance in Asia, as well as to the United States," she said. "The biggest factor is of course India, and the economic resurgence that is underway there." According to the US-India Business Council, almost 30 US companies have invested over $15 billion in the last year and a half, with over 50 US firms expected to ink more that $27 billion worth of deals over the next year. "Much of the focus has been on the economic partnership, and while there continue to be challenges, we have seen a dramatic rise in US investment in India, which today outpaces US investment in China," Biswal said. (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) Actor Wentworth Miller, protagonist of American TV series "Prison Break", says he battled with suicidal depression. The 43-year-old shared on his Facebook account that he was once suicidal and addressed a meme highlighting his past weight gain, reports people.com. "Today I found myself the subject of an internet meme. Not for the first time. This one, however, stands out from the rest. In 2010, semi-retired from acting, I was keeping a low-profile for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I was suicidal," Miller posted. "I was looking everywhere for relief, comfort, distraction. And I turned to food. It could have been anything, drugs, alcohol, sex. But eating became the one thing I could look forward to. Count on to get me through. And I put on weight. Big deal," he added. The actor also said he was "ashamed and in pain" at the time, and suffered in silence, adding that he even contemplated suicide. "Now, when I see that image of me in my red t-shirt, a rare smile on my face, I am reminded of my struggle. My endurance and my perseverance in the face of all kinds of demons. Some within. Some without. Like a dandelion up through the pavement, I persist," he added. It's perhaps the law of unintended consequences. The Indian government had earlier this month banned the cough syrup Phensedyl, among a host of drugs. But the Delhi High Court on March 16 granted an interim injunction to drugmaker Abbott against the government action. The pro and con of banning a drug would be taken up by the court. But in this part of the world, the border guards were heaving a sigh of relief that they would have to cope with one less headache -- a premature sigh, it would now seem. Because Phensedyl is smuggled across to Bangladesh for its addictive quality. The codeine-laced cough syrup is consumed there in large quantities, against the recommended small doses, to get a kick. With the consumption of alcohol prohibited in the Islamic state, Phensedyl addiction has been on the rise. Dhaka had urged New Delhi to ban the drug that is manufactured in India. With a bottle (100ml/Rs.97 equivalent to $1.5) fetching nearly 10 times its Indian market price in Bangladesh, Phensedyl smuggling has been a lucrative industry involving a number of gangs operating across the over 4,000 km Indo-Bangladesh frontier. West Bengal, which shares over 2,200 km of the border with the neighbour, has been a major area of operation for the illicit trade. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) South West Region Commander Khondoker Farid Hassan said a ban on the drug in India would play a large role in improving bilateral relations between the two countries and their border guards. "Already banned in Bangladesh, the call for banning it by India has been there for some time. We are very happy that it has now materialised. It's a very welcome move by India," Hassan had told IANS before the court order came. At the joint exercise between the Border Security Force (BSF) and the BGB at the Sundarbans, Hassan had hoped that the smuggling of the drug would come down drastically. Hassan, along with BSF Inspector General Sandeep Salunke, recently supervised the "Sundarbans Maitri" three-day drill on board the Kamakhya floating border outpost at the "T - Junction" riverine area of Sundarbans where the forces jointly conducted search operation on cargo vessels on their way to Bangladesh on the Ichhamati river. According to the Bangladesh Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna and Rajshahi are widely affected by Phensedyl addiction, with Rajshahi being the major market for the drug's clandestine trade. According to surveys by rights activists and organisations, over two million of the 166,280,712 Bangladeshi population is addicted to drugs, mostly Phensedyl. Considered a serious offence in Bangladesh, Phensedyl peddling is punishable with life imprisonment. As per the latest report by the DNC, over 700 litres of Phensedyl was seized across Bangladesh between 2010 and 2015, with 384 litres being seized in 2015 alone. In the last three years, the BSF had seized nearly 700,000 bottles of Phensedyl worth about Rs.7 crore. Not only is Phensedyl smuggled across the border, several units had come up in South Bengal to illegaly manufacture the spurious syrup. The BSF had destroyed several such units near the South Bengal frontier. BSF's Salunke said that to attract the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the seizure had to be a minimum of 10,000 Phensedyl bottles. The ban would of course have helped. But now the two forces across the international border would be watching with interest the legal battle unfolding in the courts. (Anurag Dey can be contacted at deyvil@gmail.com) Separatist guerrillas on Wednesday fired at a woman in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. She was taken to hospital in a critical condition with multiple bullet wounds, police said. Militants entered a house in Noorpora (Tral) village of Pulwama district in the evening and fired from close range at Hameeda Begum, wife of Gulam Hassan, a police officer told IANS. In the run-up to the 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar, state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had repeatedly accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having insulted Bihar and the average Bihari. Congress President Sonia Gandhi appears to have taken a leaf out of Kumar's book, as she is pressing the insult charge against Modi during her campaign in Assam that goes to the polls next month. On Wednesday, she alleged "discrimination" against Assam by the Modi government, and asked: "Why are brothers and sisters of the Northeast and Assam being insulted so much? Why is (state chief minister) Tarun Gogoi being insulted this much? Why are people of Assam being insulted so much?" A couple of weeks back, the Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) co-sponsored an Advancing Asia Conference in Delhi. Two major addresses from the host nation were delivered, respectively by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. From the tone and content of Modi's address one wonders whether it was also drafted on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road in Mumbai. After Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh seems to have joined the growing list of National Democratic Alliance ministers trying to reach out to the common man through social media platforms. Singh heard the plight of one Sumit Dass from Keonjhar district in Odisha, who wanted to open a dairy project in his district but could not connect with either the local minister of agriculture or Singh. Dass had applied online for subsidy under the Agriculture Policy of 2013. He tweeted his plight and tagged Singh's Twitter handle and was pleasantly surprised when the minister replied. Singh spoke to the state agriculture minister and some others to get the work done. A 10 per cent jump in German Metro AG's shares on March 30 is impressive, yet still just a pre-taste of the full valuation uplift the demerger of the clumsy retailing giant can provide. The group's food unit and its retail electronics business had few synergies, but created a big valuation discount. If Metro can close half the valuation gap to peers, and Russia doesn't deteriorate further, shareholders should be significantly better off. Metro's Chief Executive Olaf Koch, in charge since 2012, has already turned the conglomerate into a leaner and more focused company, selling its Kaufhof department stores in Germany, supermarkets in Eastern Europe and Turkey, and wholesale markets in several countries. By the end of 2015, net debt stood at just one times EBITDA, down from 1.6 times two years earlier. Moreover, profitability at the consumer electronics unit Media-Saturn has improved. Now to take apart the conglomerate discount. Metro, including its debt, trades at merely 4.3 times expected 2017 EBITDA, compared to an average of 6.5 times for the wider European food retail sector. Focused consumer electronics retailers like Dixons and Darty - the latter having recently attracted dueling takeover approaches by rival Fnac and South Africa's Steinhoff - on average are valued at around seven times next year's EBITDA. Some discount may be justified by concerns over Metro's Russian cash and carry business, which has been suffering from the weak rouble. Yet halving the valuation gap to standalone rivals would mean the food could be worth around Euro 9.6 billion including debt, while the consumer electronics division Media-Saturn could fetch around Euro 4.3 billion. Take off net debt of Euro 2.5 billion, and adjust for minority investors in Media-Saturn, and the group could have an equity value of Euro 11 billion - around a third above the company's market capitalisation on March 29. Divide and rule is a winning strategy. This post was written by Stephen Sawchuk and originally posted on the Teacher Beat blog. In a major shift in the education advocacy world, the controversial nonprofit StudentsFirst, which was launched by former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee, will soon join forces with the 50 State Campaign for Achievement Now, or 50CAN, a separate advocacy network. The news appears to have been first reported by The Los Angeles Times Joy Resmovits. The shift raises new questions about how the two organizations will coordinate their advocacy and political activities moving forwardand adjust to what seem to be a rapidly changing policy landscape in the wake of the Every Student Succeeds Act. StudentsFirst dates from 2010, when Rhee announced on Oprah that the new group would raise $1 billion to improve education for students, largely by serving as a counterweight to teachers unions. The organization never came close to that fundraising goal, although it did have a strong presence in a number of states, like Alabama and Tennessee. But it struggled to gain traction in California, ultimately reducing staff there. In 2015, it dissolved its independent Connecticut organization. Currently, StudentsFirsts website lists it as active in Alabama, California, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The 50CAN group advocates for a variety of policies, including equitable funding for students, teacher evaluation reform, and interventions for low-performing schools. Its active in seven states: Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. As Education Week reported extensively in 2012, StudentsFirst was one of several groups that established tiered organizational structures to give themselves maximum flexibility in the advocacy world , most notably by establishing separate education/advocacy and lobbying/political wings. (Wondering whats permissible under these different structures? Its mind-blowingly complicated, but fortunately, you can check out our interactive game to learn the rundown .) So why the merge? The spirit is that we want to make available to local advocates on the ground the biggest possible toolbox of advocacy tactics, said Marc Porter Magee, the CEO and founder of 50CAN. Its not a one-size-fits-all model; there may be some states that never work in the political world. Records confirm that StudentsFirst and 50CAN have focused on different kinds of work. Under the groups most recent publicly available nonprofit filings, from 2013, StudentsFirsts lobbying/political arm spent some $1.2 million on campaign work and independent expenditures, while 50CAN spent only a bit more than $11,500 on those activities. That year, StudentsFirst also raised $16 million for its lobbying/political wing and $7 million for its educational/advocacy wing. 50CAN, meanwhile, in 2013, raised just over $200,000 for its political wing and $5.5 million for its educational wing. (These tallies dont include StudentsFirsts autonomous New York chapter or 50CANs independent Connecticut chapter.) Jim Blew, the president of StudentsFirst since 2014, said the merger also makes sense because ESSA returned significant leverage to the states, and customized state-policy work will be more important than ever. We are in our DNA a much more political organization; 50CAN is much more of a policy shop, he said. That is even reflective of how weve approached talent. Weve hired political people and taught them education policy; theyve hired education policy people and taught them politics. It will be interesting to see how those cultural differences play out. The 50CAN network has prided itself on being bottom up, while StudentsFirst, with its embrace of A to F grading systems and teacher evaluation based in part on student scores, has a reputation of being more top down. It has certainly been more polarizing, thanks in part to Rhees role in launching it. The combined group will have about 80 people in all, and there will be some consolidation, Magee and Blew said. Most of those details have to be worked out over the next 60 days; for now, the merger agreement exists mostly on paper. Apropos the report, "Mamata Banerjee cautions people against voting for CPI(M)" (March 27), it is apparent from the West Bengal chief minister's scathing attacks that seat adjustments between the Left Front and the Congress have become a matter of concern for the Trinamool Congress in the state's Assembly polls. A lot of developmental work has been done in Jangalmahal. Banerjee's (pictured) government has been able to establish peace in the area. After the death of Maoist leader Kishenji in an allegedly fake encounter and the surrender and arrest of a number of Maoist activists, the outfit has been in disarray in Jangalmahal. Employment drives such as recruitment in civic police service have helped the youth return to the mainstream. Jangalmahal has seen almost no violent activities in the last four years or so. Banerjee, although confident that her party will fare well in Jangalmahal, wants to leave little room for Opposition parties in that constituency. The party seems set for a good start in the first phase of polling in Jangalmahal on April 4. Buddhadev Nandi, Bishnupur Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201 E-mail: letters@bsmail.in All letters must have a postal address and telephone number The states spooked markets recently by borrowing too much. Are they going to do it again? We take a close look at Budget documents and find that while states might well flounder again, the central government could play the knight in shining armour. Amidst negative news for the pharmaceuticals sector, Sun Pharmas deal to acquire 14 prescription brands from Novartis AG and Novartis Pharma AG in Japan has bought some cheer. Deal valuations are attractive at 1.83 times sales, given that Sun Pharma will be paying $293 million (Rs 1,960 crore) for these brands that have annual sales of $160 million (Rs 1,070 crore). The move will significantly strengthen Suns limited presence in Japan, the worlds second largest health care market. So far, only Lupin has been able to crack the Japanese market its only recently that Biocon too announced a deal that will give it inroads into Japan. By December IMS data, the Japanese pharma market was estimated at $73 billion (seven per cent of the $1-trillion global market). By acquiring known brands, Sun targets to build its own brand. From day one, the acquired brands will be marketed and distributed by a local marketing partner under the Sun Pharma label. At a later stage, the marketing and distribution rights could get transferred to Sun, say analysts at Credit Suisse. It is during such a stage that Sun might enter the generics space with other products. The stock was up over two per cent on Wednesday. There are other positives, too. The company is likely to see better March quarter performance, driven by the launch of oncology drug Gleevac generics. However, the Street will be eyeing the developments on Halol plant remediation. The company had indicated the remediation to be completed by the next quarter. This will be crucial and any cue on clearance of the plant by the US regulator will act as a trigger, leading to re-rating. Most analysts have a target price ranging from Rs 760 to Rs 900 and are likely to rework their target prices after results. The consensus target price, by analysts polled on Bloomberg since start of February, is Rs 909 for the stock trading at Rs 812. Global banks are tying themselves in knots over Britain's June 23 referendum on European Union membership. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has gone as far as to tell managers to avoid the word "Brexit" in talks with clients, the Financial Times reported on March 29. Silence is helpful. More so would be greater efforts to make banks' views valid outside London's financial ivory tower. It is logical enough that senior employees of large banks favour the UK staying in Europe. There are counterexamples, but Goldman Sachs, J P Morgan, Citi and HSBC have all backed staying in the bloc. Goldman and J P Morgan have even funnelled money to the campaign to remain. If the UK left and lost its financial "passport" to Europe, many traders and operations might be unable to stay and could decamp to Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam or Dublin. There's a strong case for saying that banks should keep quiet. Wall Street is tainted in the minds of many Brits, and it's not clear that what benefits London helps everyone else. The gross value added by the capital has increased twice as fast as the north-east of England since 2009, according to official UK data. Supermarkets like Tesco, J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison, which operate nationwide, have kept their counsel on Brexit. Banks can better claim a role in the debate by showing they benefit the whole country. J P Morgan employs 4,000 people in the seaside town of Bournemouth - almost as many jobs as hang in the balance at the failing Port Talbot steel plant that Indian conglomerate Tata has put up for sale. With 2.2 million jobs in the UK - two-thirds outside London, according to TheCityUK - finance is more strategic in employment terms than steel. Global financial firms ought to do more to build on that. Goldman Sachs is one of the few that hasn't hired outside London. That offsets its pro-European Union efforts. Deutsche Bank, Citi and Bank of America have hired thousands of staff in Birmingham, Belfast and Chester respectively. That is a good start. For big finance in general, pledging to add many more workers away from the capital - if the UK votes to stay - would put them in a better position to make a difference. The High Court on Wednesday stayed an interim order of a single-judge Bench calling for a floor test in the Assembly on Thursday. A Division Bench of Chief Justice K M Joseph and Justice V K Bist also fixed April 7 as the next date of hearing. The Centre had challenged the single-judge Benchs order on the floor test. The Centre has been asked to file an affidavit on April 5, while dislodged Chief Minister Harish Rawat has been given time until April 6. On behalf of the Centre, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi challenged the single-judge Benchs decision saying there cannot be two dispensations (Presidents rule as well as the government) at the same time if a floor test was to be held on Thursday (March 31). He urged the court to stay Tuesdays order by Justice U C Dhyani. In a separate move, the high court fixed April 1 as the next date of hearing on a case pertaining to the disqualification of the nine rebel Congress Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The rebels had challenged Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwals decision to disqualify them under the anti-defection law on various grounds, including the passage of the appropriation Bill. The single-judge Bench headed by Justice Dhyani had also allowed the nine disqualified Congress MLAs to cast their votes on March 31 pending a final order. The Congress was unhappy and had planned to challenge this aspect of the order. Ordering the floor test on Tuesday, Justice Dhyani had observed that invoking Article 356 of the Constitution by the Centre was a colourable exercise of power. Democratically-elected Houses should not be demolished in such a fashion. Floor test is the only test to prove the majority, he had said, even though he ruled out staying the effect of the proclamation under Article 356 at this stage. On Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kailash Vijayavargiya welcomed the order, stating that the earlier order was given in a hurry. Rawat said he hoped the court would do justice. On Tuesday, the government had prorogued the Budget session of Parliament. The Lok Sabha was prorogued to enable the President to order finances to the state from the Consolidated Fund of India. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted: Democracy damned! Sudden proroguing of Parliament by Modi Govt is a clear act of legislative dishonesty and constitutional impropriety! Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu dismissed Congress criticism as illogical. A situation is created in a state where there is constitutional breakdown. The state could not get its Appropriation Bill passed. If the Appropriation Bill is not passed, the employees of the state will not get their salary from April 1 and the development of the state will come to a standstill, he added. A trainee pilot and his instructor were today killed when their trainer aircraft crashed in farmland in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The crash took place this morning in Yanjia Village, Qianyang County. Nobody was hurt on the ground, state-run Xinhua agency reported. The local government identified the victims as a 27-year- old trainee and a 32-year-old male instructor in an aircraft owned by Shaanxi Phoenix International Flying College Co. It was used to train pilots for regional airlines. Witnessed said they saw the aircraft, with "Phoenix Flying College" written on its body, spin out of control and hit the ground. A lion was shot dead in Kenya today after attacking a man, while trackers in South Africa searched for a lion whose own escape from a park prompted appeals to wildlife officials to relocate it rather than kill it. The two cases of African lions on the loose highlight the difficult balance between protecting people and conserving lions, whose numbers have declined dramatically over the past century because of unregulated hunting, a loss of habitat and growing conflict with livestock herders. Concern about the threatened species intensified last year when an American dentist killed a lion named Cecil in a hunt in Zimbabwe that officials said was illegal. The circumstances of the stray lions also fueled questions about whether to dart a potentially dangerous predator with a tranquilizer and return it to a fenced area, or kill it before it can attack people. Such decisions depend on factors including the training of wildlife experts, their resources and whether the area where a lion is roaming is densely populated. In some cases, local residents have killed lions before officials arrived on the scene. Wildlife officials in Kenya shot the escaped lion several times after it injured a man in the Kajiado district, 57 kilometers (35 miles) from Nairobi, the capital, said Paul Udoto, a spokesman for the Kenya Wildlife Service. Officials had planned to capture the lion and save it from a crowd, Udoto said. But by the time officials arrived, the animal had become too agitated and dangerous, he said. "We didn't have a chance to save the lion," he said. Another senior Kenyan wildlife official, Kitili Mbathi, blamed a faulty electrical fence for the escape of the lion from Nairobi National Park. "The lions periodically test the fence to see if there is a charge in it, and when there is no charge sometimes they will jump over and try and get to the livestock that is being kept next door to us at the army barracks" or in other nearby animal enclosures, he said. It was the second incident this month involving a stray lion in Kenya. On March 18, a lion mauled a pedestrian in Nairobi before being captured. Nairobi National Park, which covers 117 square kilometers (45 square miles) on the outskirts of the city, is home to endangered black rhinos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes and diverse birdlife. The park is not entirely fenced and its wildlife is under growing pressure as the city expands. Three public sector lenders, including Oriental Bank of Commerce and Vijaya Bank, today received approval from the government for capital infusion of up to Rs 1,000 crore. " Ministry has conveyed its decision to infuse capital funds to the tune of Rs 300 crore in the bank by way of preferential allotment of equity in favour the Government of India," Oriental Bank of Commerce said in a statement. Besides, United Bank of India will get Rs 480 crore while Vijaya Bank will get fund infusion of Rs 220 crore by way of preferential allotment of equity in favour of the government of India. This is part of government's plan to infuse Rs 5,050 crore in public sector . In the second and the last tranche, government has infused capital in eight . include Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank and Syndicate Bank. In the first tranche, as many as 13 public sectors banks were given fund support of Rs 19,950 crore. Of this, SBI got the highest amount of Rs 5,393 crore. Besides, the government infused Rs 2,229 crore in IDBI Bank, Rs 2,009 crore in Indian Overseas Bank and Rs 1,732 crore in Punjab National Bank. Last year, the government had announced a revamp plan 'Indradhanush' to infuse Rs 70,000 crore in state-owned banks over four years, while they will have to raise a further Rs 1.1 lakh crore from markets to meet their capital requirements in line with global risk norms Basel-III. In line with the blueprint, PSU banks will get Rs 25,000 crore this fiscal and also in the next fiscal. Besides, Rs 10,000 crore each would be infused in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Chinese President Xi Jinping has wrapped up his trip to the Czech Republic by overseeing the signing of 30 business deals that could bring almost USD 4 billion of Chinese investment. The deals were inked today, a day after Xi signed a strategic partnership with the country that was once a critic of China's human rights record. Xi's visit is a result of a more business-oriented Czech approach to China than the one that prevailed under the late President Vaclav Havel, a prominent proponent of human rights. The deals focus on tourism, banking, energy and car making.His three-day visit prompted a number of protests. Prague archbishop Dominik Duka called on Xi to respect human rights in China during a gala dinner at the Prague Castle. Scientists have developed 3D computer models of the bodies of the gigantic sauropod dinosaurs to analyse how their size, shape and weight-distribution evolved over time. Sauropod dinosaurs include the largest land animals to have ever lived. Some of the more well-known sauropods include Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus. They are renowned for their extremely long necks, long tails as well as four thick, pillar-like legs and small heads in relation to their body. To date, however, there have been only limited attempts to examine how this unique body-plan evolved and how it might be related to their gigantic body size. Using 3D computer models, researchers from the University of Liverpool and Imperial College London, found evidence that changes in body shape coincided with major events in sauropod evolutionary history such as the rise of the titanosaurs. The early dinosaurs that sauropods evolved from were small and walked on two legs, with long tails, small chests and small forelimbs. The team estimated that this body shape concentrated their weight close to the hip joint, which would have helped them balance while walking bipedally on their hind legs. As sauropods evolved they gradually altered both their size and shape from this ancestral template, becoming not only significantly larger and heavier, but also gaining a proportionally larger chest, forelimbs and in particular a dramatically larger neck. The findings show that these changes altered sauropods' weight distribution as they grew in size, gradually shifting from being tail-heavy, two-legged animals to being front-heavy, four-legged animals, such as the large, fully quadrupedal Jurassic sauropods Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. The researchers found that these linked trends in size, body shape and weight distribution did not end with the evolution of fully quadrupedal sauropods. In the Cretaceous period - the last of the three ages of the dinosaurs - many earlier sauropod groups dwindled. In their place, a new and extremely large type of sauropod known as titanosaurs evolved, including the truly massive Argentinosaurus and Dreadnoughtus, among the largest known animals ever to have lived. The computer models suggest that in addition to their size, the titanosaurs evolved the most extreme 'front heavy' body shape of all sauropods, as a result of their extremely long necks. "As a result of devising these models we were able to ascertain that the relative size of sauropods' necks increased gradually over time, leading to animals that were increasingly more front-heavy relative to their ancestors," said Karl Bates from University of Liverpool. "These innovations in body shape might have been key to the success of titanosaurs, which were the only sauropod dinosaurs to survive until the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, 66 million years ago," said Philip Mannion from Imperial College London. Burner Phones Could Be Made Illegal You probably know about burner phones from televisions shows -- they are cheap, untraceable, disposable cell phones, and they may soon be a thing of the past if California Congresswoman Jackie Speier has her way. She has proposed a bill that would require everyone buying a phone in the US to register with a personal identification. The proposed bill is meant to minimize crime and terrorist activities, eliminating opportunities for exchange between criminal elements. Although Speier may be underestimating the creativity of criminals and determination of terrorists, the proposal is certainly getting the attention of lawmakers and media. The Proposed Bill According to Speier, who announced the proposed bill in a Facebook post, "This bill would close one of the most significant gaps in our ability to track and prevent acts of terror, drug trafficking, and modern-day slavery." Speir points out that the Paris terror attacks of last year were managed with burner phones, and says that focusing exclusively on phone encryption issues leaves a gap that can be closed. Speier said that failure to address the burner phone issue was a risk that Americans could not afford, in light of recent terror attacks in Pakistan and Belgium. Burner phones are not just a threat in the context of terror but everyday crime as well. There has been increasing attention paid to the prevalence of cell phones in prison, too, which have allowed convicts to communicate freely with civilians and to conduct crimes while locked up inside. Igniting Imaginations It seems very likely that the bill will excite many legislators eager to act to do something to combat terror, which is difficult to fight. But the truth is that requiring identification for burner phones alone will not eliminate crime or terror. What may happen, however, is that a burner phone black market will be created, adding yet another item of contraband to the list of things they sell. Related Resources: India has seen the fourth biggest outflow of high net worth individuals globally in 2015 with shifting of 4,000 millionaires abroad, says a report. According to a report by New World Wealth, some 4,000 uber-rich Indians have changed their domicile in 2015, while France saw the maximum outflow of millionaires with as many as 10,000 super rich leaving the country. The report however noted that the migration of super rich from China and India is not a "concern". "The outflows from India and China are not particularly concerning as these countries are still producing far more new millionaires than they are losing," the report said and added that "once the standard of living in these countries improves, we expect several wealthy people to move back". In terms of countries ranked by millionaires outflow, France was followed by China in the second place with 9,000 millionaires leaving the country while for Italy, at third position, the figure stood at 6,000. On France, the report said, the country is being heavily impacted by rising religious tensions between Christians and Muslims, especially in urban areas. "We expect that millionaire migration away from France will accelerate over the next decade as these tensions escalate," the report said. It further noted that other European countries where religious tensions are starting to emerge such as Belgium, Germany, Sweden and the UK will also be negatively affected in the near future. Other countries that saw significant millionaire outflows include Greece (3,000), while Russian Federation, Spain and Brazil saw 2,000 such outflows each. In terms of millionaire inflows, Australia topped the chart as it saw as many as 8,000 uber rich people shifting base there, followed by the US(7,000) and Canada (5,000) in the second and third place respectively. Millionaires, otherwise known as 'high net worth individuals' or 'HNWIs' refer to individuals with net assets of $1 million or more excluding their primary residences. Four persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in the murder of a former Sarpanch in Odisha's Koraput district, police said today. The body of Gobardhan Bhumia (37), former Sarpanch of Tentuligumma was recovered by the police on March 13 when it was lying in a pool of blood at Sarandajodi ghat road under Boipariguda police limits. The four persons, arrested yesterday, have been identified as Ananda Naik, Dasarath Machha, Purna Chandra Naik and Sadana Barik, police said. During interrogation, the four have confessed that the murder was fallout of a rivalry among the Maoist supporters. Police said the Maoists after murdering Bapi Samanta of Dandabai under Boipariguda police limits on charges of being a police informer on January 7, 2016, had left a poster at the crime spot in which they had named 10 people whom they had warned not to indulge in anti-Maoist activities. The names of Ananda and Purna figured in the list though they were Maoist supporters. Fearing rebel attack, they fled the village. Later, they approached Bhumia, who was a staunch Maoist supporter, to mediate in the matter, said Sub-divisional Police Officer (Jeypore), Rajendra Senapati. When Bhumia did not pay heed, the duo suspected him of misguiding the Maoists and decided to kill him, the officer said. Ananda and Purna thought Bhumia had mislead the Maoists against them. Hence, the duo hired Dasarath and Sadana for Rs 60,000 to murder Bhumia. Dasarath and Sadana waylaid Bhumia at the ghat road and killed him with an axe, the SDPO added. The Madhya Pradesh unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today opposed the BJP government's move to raise the salary and alllowances of MLAs in the state. "When AAP government had raised the salary of its MLAs in Delhi, BJP staged a massive protest against it and today it is doing the same thing in Madhya Pradesh," AAP national spokesperson and MP Coordinator Alok Agarawal said in a statement. "It is highly shameful on the part of state government to raise the salaries of legislators especially when it is reeling under heavy debt, farmers were not getting compensation and it is a big example of the government's anti-people act," he added. MLAs in Madhya Pradesh are set to become richer with the government giving a nod to hike their salary and allowance. This decision was taken today at the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Aam Aadmi Party today staged a protest in front of the residence of Madhya Pradesh Minister Gopal Bhargava for organising a folk dance festival in Bundelkhand region notwithstanding the drought and water crisis. "Is it proper to organise 'Rai Dance' of 101 Bedni (SC) women in the drought-affected Bundelkhand region in the name of tradition when people are migrating from there in search of jobs and farmers committing suicide allegedly due to mounting crop debts," AAP state unit secretary Akshay Hunka said. The festival -- Rahas Lokotsav -- is organised in the Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Cooperatives Minister's Garha Kota constituency in Sagar district. The festival is held on various occasions during summer season. The AAP leader asked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to immediately cancel the event in view of the prevailing drought situation in the region. "On one hand, the state government has launched a scheme 'Jaavli Yojna' for the rehabilitation of Bedni women, who used to perform Rai dance, while on the other it is organising a such event in the name of tradition. "What message the government is trying to give to the society by organising such an event," Hunka asked. However, Bhargava countered the charge, saying AAP is "ignorant" about the traditions of Bundelkhand. "AAP is not aware of the prevailing traditions of Bundelkhand region. It (the festival) has been organised in the area since last 212 years. Who am I to stop this traditional dance which is being organised in the entire region on various occasions," he said. Bhargava said the AAP is raising the issue as they don't have any "political plank to pursue". An Afghan official says at least 15 members of the country's security forces have been killed in a gunbattle with the Taliban in southern Uruzgan province. Mohammad Nabi Niazo, the Dihrawud district police chief, said Wednesday the fighting took place late Tuesday during an operation to reopen an important highway. He says that for four days the Taliban blocked the highway between Dihrawud and the provincial capital, Tarin Kot. He says Afghan forces have retaken control of the road. He did not have information whether any Taliban fighters were killed. The Taliban have stepped up their attacks in Uruzgan and neighboring provinces in the south, including Helmand where much of the world's illicit opium is produced. The crop, along with other contraband, funds the insurgency, now in its 15th year. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh today promised that the Congress government will set up a powerful institution of the Lokpal which will include the Chief Minister within its jurisdiction. "We will clean up the system from the top," he said. The former chief minister said there will be "zero-tolerance" towards corruption and that his government will set up a strong institution of the Lokpal. He recalled his tenure as the CM during which he had jailed then "corrupt" chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission besides dismissing 32 corrupt officials from services. The PCC president was here to interact with the office bearers of the Amritsar rural and urban district units to take their feedback for the assembly elections due next year. Responding to party workers' demand to "avenge" resgistration of "fabricated" cases against them, Amarinder said those will be withdrawn the day a Congress government was formed and those involved will be subjected to "reciprocal" justice. The Punjab Congress chief said unlike in the past, tickets this time will be given only to deserving candidates based on their chances of winning the elections. The PCC president said when Congress forms the government, it will work towards implementing the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission for the welfare of farmers. He also attended a protest meeting of the Jewellers' association here where he criticised the "insensitivity" of the central government towards the jewellers and supported their demand for withdrawal of one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. Gearing up to challenge both Congress-led ruling UDF and CPI-M headed LDFopposition in Kerala in the May 16 Assembly polls, BJP President Amit Shah would launch the election campaign of NDA in the state on April 9. "People of the state are fed up with the successive governments of UDF and LDF and want a change," Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said today, while announcing Shah's visit, during the launch of the NDA Kerala unit here. "The BJP-led NDA is the political alternative for the people of Kerala," Nadda, who is in-charge of party affairs in the state, said, adding the formation of NDA in the state is a "historic moment". Nadda slammed both UDF and LDF governments saying, while UDF leaders from Chief Minister to Ministers and MLA's were involved in some scams and scandals, CPI-M has lost its strength on ideology and so they have turned to violence. "Left have lost there ideology. Wherever they are in power, they are intolerant," Nadda said while inaugurating the state convention of its leaders here. Several BJP cadres have lost their lives in the attacks by CPI(M) workers and "it is still continuing". Attacking the ruling UDF, Nadda said, "the bad name brought to the state due to scandals and scams with involvement of Chief Minister and other ministers have to be removed." Seeking people's mandate in favour of NDA, he said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country was going forward in right direction. "Kerala should also get the benefit of the growth," he said. BJP, which has failed to break the bipolar politics of UDF and LDF and taste victory in Assembly and parliament polls,this time has found a powerful partner after its tie-up with newly formed Bharat Dharma Jana Sena by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, an outfit of backward Ezhava community. Other minor partners in the NDA in the state include afaction of Kerala Congress led by former Union Minister P C Thomas, JSS led by former MLA Rajan Babu, Kerala Vikas Party, and Lok Jansakti Party. Nadda also highlighted various welfare schemes initiated by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and said "poor and marginalised people in the country are the beneficiaries". Referring to the crop insurance scheme of the NDA, Nadda said,"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision is to ensure 100 per cent coverage for farmers. Every farmer in the country is insured under the scheme. We are working on that way." The state convention was attended by BDJS President Thushar Vellappli, BJP State President KummanomRajasekharan, Former Union Minister O Rajagopal among others. Melting ice from Antarctica could raise oceans by a metre before 2100 at current rates of greenhouse gas emissions, doubling previous forecasts for sea level rise, according to a study released today. Such an abrupt change would spell disaster for major cities and coastal areas across the globe, forcing hundreds of millions of people to seek higher ground. Over a longer time scale, the study concluded, the picture is even grimmer: within 500 years, Earth's once-frozen continent will have lifted water lines by more than 15 meters (50 feet), reconfiguring the planet's coastlines. "Frankly, I hope we're wrong about this," Robert DeConto, lead author of the study and a climate scientist at the University of Massachusetts, told AFP. But independent experts contacted by AFP said the study was probably on target. While sharing DeConto's sense of alarm, they praised the new research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, as "really good science." Up to now, estimates of how many centimetres or inches Antarctic melt-off would add to the world's oceans over the next 85 years have been conservative. The latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a federation of several thousand scientists that report to governments on global warming and its impacts, put that number at about a dozen centimetres (five inches), all of it from a relatively small section called the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The IPCC predicted that total sea level rise from all sources -- including the expansion of water as it warms, melting glaciers, and the Greenland ice sheet -- would probably not top a meter by century's end. But the low figure for Antarctica had more to do with gaps in knowledge than differences of opinion. Scientists have long struggled, for example, to understand the role Earth's southern extremity played during earlier periods of global warming -- 125,000 and three million years ago -- when temperatures barely warmer than our own raised oceans to levels six-to-10 metres higher than today. "In both cases, the Antarctic ice sheet has been implicated as the primary contributor, hinting at its future vulnerability," the study said. But how, exactly, the planet's ice continent -- far colder than the Arctic, and thus less subject to melting -- disintegrated remained a mystery. The government today slapped anti-dumping duty on import of tiles from China to protect the domestic industry. Anti-dumping duty of USD 1.37 per square meter was imposed on import of glazed/unglazed porcelain/vitrified tiles in polished or unpolished finish with less than 3 per cent water absorption for a period of six months, CBEC said in a notification. An investigation by Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) found that tiles from China are being "exported to India below normal value", CBEC said. "The anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be levied for a period not exceeding six months (unless revoked, amended or superseded earlier) from the date of publication of this notification in the Gazette of India and shall be paid in Indian currency," CBEC said. In a separate notification, CBEC also imposed anti-dumping duty on import of 2-Ethyl Hexanol (2EH), which is used for manufacturing specialty chemicals, from the European Union, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and United States of America. The anti-dumping duty USD 53.63 to 107.30 per ton was imposed on import of 2EH from Malaysia and USD 15.55 per on supplies from Korea for five years. Imports from EU would attract USD 45.47 to USD 113.47 per ton. Anti-dumping duty of USD 29.61 per ton would be imposed om imports from US, USD 42.45 per ton on imports from Taiwan and USD 45.67 per ton on imports from Indonesia. 2EH is used to manufacture various chemicals that further serve diverse industries that include automotive, paints, and building & construction. CBEC said DGAD has in its investigation found the 2EH had entered the Indian market from the European Union, US, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Indonesia at prices less than their normal values and the dumping margins of the dumped imports from these countries are substantial and above de minimis. Domestic industry has suffered material injury because of this, it said. "The anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette and shall be paid in Indian currency," CBEC said. The ruling Telugu Desam Party yet again beat the YSR Congress in a political game in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly today by thwarting an attempt by the lone Opposition to seek a division votes on the Appropriation Bill. On the last day of the Budget session, the House adopted the Appropriation Bill by voice vote after Legislative Affairs and Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu asserted that there was no scope for a division on the Bill and it should be passed only by voice vote. Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, too, endorsed this and put the Appropriation Bill to vote. It was carried by voice vote and the Speaker immediately adjourned the House sine die. This was a third time the YSRC was defeated in a battle of political wits by an astute TDP during the Budget session. The YSRC issued a whip to its members last week asking them to be present in the House and vote against the Bill. The lone Opposition party's only intention was to get eight of its MLAs, who crossed over to the TDP recently, disqualified. After a discussion in the House, Leader of Opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said his party was opposing the Bill and sought a division of votes. Yanamala said the division was being sought only with a political motive and there was no scope under the Indian Constitution and the Rules of Procedure for such vote. "No voting is allowed on the Appropriation Bill. You are seeking a division only to serve your political interests, unable to protect your own members," he said. "You moved a no-confidence motion against the TDP-led Government and then against the Speaker. You could not issue a whip at that time. Now, you issued a whip one week in advance without even knowing the rules. This in itself is a folly." Jagan hit back at the ruling party. "You are purchasing our MLAs using your ill-gotten money. You are trying to shield them. There are provisions that allow for division (of votes) on any Bill," Jagan argued. The Speaker said the Appropriation Bill was not connected with politics. "It is the State's Budget. Seeking a division is not in the State's interests. You may have some other interests that are not connected to the House." Kodela said he read the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure and also consulted experts in New Delhi on the issue. "Articles 203 and 204 of the Constitution are very clear on this. Not even an amendment could be moved on the Appropriation Bill. Even Rule 138 (1) does not permit any division," the Speaker asserted. He then put the Bill for the consideration of the House. It was adopted by voice vote even as the YSRC members tried to create a din. The Speaker then adjourned the House sine die, after announcing that the Budget session was conducted for 15 days in which 10 Government Bills were passed. "This is moral victory for YSRCP," Jagan later claimed. Had the Government conducted a division (of votes) on the Appropriation Bill, the MLAs who defected to the TDP from the YSRC would have got disqualified, the Leader of Opposition told newspersons after the House was adjourned sine die. Violation of the whip would have enabled the YSRC build a case against the rebel legislators and seek their disqualification. "The TDP tried to protect the MLAs it has purchased using ill-gotten money. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has no guts to make those MLAs resign from their posts and seek a fresh mandate," Jagan said. The TDP Government, he pointed out, secured Rs 22,000 crore under public deposits but diverted the funds for different purposes. "The state government spent the money according to its will though the Centre and the RBI did not permit. This is a crime under which Chandrababu could be jailed." "What more reason is required for us to oppose the Appropriation Bill," he asked, adding the government did not show any accounts for the Rs 22,000 crore public deposits in the Budget. "The Constitution clearly says a division should be allowed if sought. But the Speaker ignored us even after I read out the relevant provisions," Jagan lamented. My favorite professor, the one who influenced me personally the most, was Michigan-born artist David Barr. He created iconic public sculptures and conceptual art that can be found throughout the world. If you've ever been to Detroit, you've seen his work without knowing it. I spent 4 semesters with him and his teachings had a lasting impact on me. I took a shine to David the moment I met him because of the unique way he shared his life with others. He reminded me so much of my Uncle who I'd always idolized. David Barr died on August 28th, 2015 and I miss him. I think of him often because of a gifts he gave me at the beginning of each class he would share a story or artifact from his life and travels. While you sat through his lessons, he'd famously throw you off track with tangents that seemed arbitrary but would always hook back in the end. The complex and cyclical nature of his storytelling is reflected in many of his art pieces. I miss his tales and the one I talk about most often is the story of his 1981 conceptual art piece called The Four Corners Project. It took him 10 years to complete and though it was tough to accomplish, the idea was simple to create the world's largest sculpture by using the largest cyclical object in the world The Earth itself. The art piece involved creating an imaginary tetrahedron by planting 4 smaller ones at 4 precise locations. The imaginary planes that connected the pyramids formed his vision a permanant tetrahedron inside the Earth. Before he did this, he created the following rules for himself: 1 Each of the 4 areas needed to be untouched by western technology 2 One of the points had to be on Easter Island 3 Each of the 4 positions needed to be on land David Barr and a team of friends and videographers traveled to Easter Island, the African Kalahari Desert, the Greenland ice sheet and the Kuk swamp in New Guinnea to complete the piece in the mid 80's. The video on The Four Corners Project may seem a bit dated but the concept behind it will be passed down from generation to generation. What could be more cyclical than that? Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh today called on Governor of Haryana and Punjab Kaptan Singh Solanki at Haryana Raj Bhavan here. This was a courtesy call on the Governor, an official spokesman said. Lt Gen KJ Singh GOC in C Western Command was also present on the occasion. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul has urged the Centre for enhancement of fund from the existing Rs 12,000 to Rs 40,000 per unit of Individual House Hold Latrine (IHHL). While highlighting the border sensitiveness of the state and its difficult terrain, the chief minister made the plea during a meeting with Union Minister of State for Drinking Water & Sanitation Ram Kripal Yadav in his office here yesterday, an official release said here today. Pul informed the cost of construction materials are very high in the state owing to difficult terrains and high cost of transportation. He pressed for modification of the present half concrete structure to a full concrete structure for longer durability and also to provide fund for a complete set of toilet with attached bathroom. The chief minister assured the union minister to achieve the target of cent per cent open defecation free by 2022 and sought the support from the centre to provide special package for the North east. He also asked the Centre to provide fund from some other alternative means as progress of various developmental projects in the state are in stake due to non-materialization of loan from World Bank, Asian Development Bank, BRICS etc. He expressed gratitude to the Centre that has always been positive about the development of this border state. The Centre has released an additional fund of Rs 8. 71 crore to the government of Arunachal Pradesh under the Public Health Engineering & Water Supply (PHED & WS) department, the union minister informed. The Union minister reiterated that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is giving special emphasis to the North East and the central govt is very keen towards the development of the region, particularly the border state of Arunachal with special focus on its international border. He informed that north east is getting the highest allocation of fund in the recent fund distribution among the states in the country. Yadav appealed to the state government to make Arunachal - Open Defecation free by 2019, before the national target of 2022. He also appealed to the state to emulate small state like Sikkim which has become an open defecation free state, urging to focus more on remote and interior areas. Satisfied with the achievement made by the state government in Drinking Water & Sanitation, he assured all possible support and help from the union government in the developmental arena of the state and asked the state government to send proposals including for the pending ones. The union minister stressed on water supply connection along with the sanitation saying that without water supply, sanitation is incomplete. He lauded the efforts of the state government for putting a huge target of 40,000 Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) in the state budget 2016-17 and assured to extend all possible support from the Centre. He also appreciated the way IHHL are being implemented in the state. Urging the department to take up the toilet construction in schools under the CSR schemes of the PSUs operating in the state, the union minster informed that Prime Minister has given directives to all the PSUs to invest in sanitation, the release added. A sessions court today rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a man whose name came to the fore as an accomplice of the alleged henchman-cum-sharp shooter of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu during investigation by police. The sharpshooter Kartik Haldar, arrested earlier this month for allegedly shooting dead three witnesses in rape cases against Asaram, had conveyed K D Patel's name to police. The court of Additional Sessions Judge N G Dave rejected the bail plea on the ground that the crime under consideration was of serious nature. Patel's counsel said they would move the High Court for pre-arrest bail. Haldar had told police that Patel was one of his aides who was involved in the murder of at least three witnesses and assaulting four others who had testified against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai in rape cases. Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhattisgarh in a joint operation by ATS and Crime Branch unit of city police. Patel had allegedly attacked one Raju Chandak, a devotee-turned-baiter of of Asaram, in December 2009 for making a statement against the self-styled spiritual leader in connection with the death of two boys in Asaram's ashram in 2008. Haldar had told police that Patel and another accused, Arjun Sindhi, were involved in the attack. Chandak, however, survived the bid on his life. Asaram has been lodged at Jodhpur jail since August 2014 in connection with a rape case filed against him by police. A Gandhinagar court on Tuesday framed charges against him for raping two Surat-based sisters. The brutal five-year conflict in Syria has cost the country over USD 200 billion, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview released today, insisting Damascus would look to Russia, China and Iran to rebuild the nation. "The economic damage and the damage to infrastructure exceeds USD 200 billion," Assad told Russian state agency RIA Novosti. "Economic issues can be settled immediately, when the situation stabilises in Syria, but rehabilitating the infrastructure will take a long time," he said in comments translated into Russian. The Syrian strongman said any future contracts to help rebuild the country would be handed out to companies from nations that had backed Damascus during the bloody conflict. "Of course we expect that this process will be based on three main countries that supported Syria during this crisis -- Russia, China and Iran," Assad said. Russia has deployed its military to Syria to back up troops loyal to longstanding ally Assad with a bombing campaign, and the Syrian leader said Moscow's forces would be needed in the country for some time to come. "We need their presence as they are effective in the fight against terrorism even if the situation in terms of security in Syria is stabilising," he said, adding that Russia's bases were also required to maintain "balance in the world". Moscow announced it was withdrawing part of its forces from Syria on March 14 after a ceasefire between Damascus and moderate opposition saw fighting drop. Russia has, however, continued air strikes against Islamic State jihadists and played a key role in helping Assad's forces reclaim the ancient city of Palmyra at the weekend. Assad also said that the transitional government of his war-torn country should include both the regime and the opposition. He said that it would be "logical for there to be independent forces, opposition forces and forces loyal to the government represented there". In the interview, Assad did not touch on his own future, saying only that the makeup of the transitional government should be agreed upon at the negotiations in Switzerland. "There are many questions that need to be discussed in Geneva, but there are not difficult questions," Assad said. "I don't consider them difficult, they can all be resolved." The West and Russia say they are pushing for a transitional government to be set up and a draft constitution established by August according to a plan agreed by world powers last year. He said a preliminary draft version of the constitution could be drawn up "within a few weeks", but insisted that the country would only adopt a new constitution "after the Syrian people vote on it". Assad rejected the prospect of Syria becoming a federal state -- an option the Kurds have pushed for -- saying the country was too "small" for such a political structure. President Bashar al-Assad said today that any transitional government in Syria should include both the regime and opposition, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged greater efforts to tackle the country's refugee crisis. In an interview published, Assad told Russia's RIA Novosti state agency it would be "logical for there to be independent forces, opposition forces and forces loyal to the government represented" in any transitional body. Assad did not specify which opposition groups should be included in the government but the statement comes as Damascus faces international pressure to compromise at UN-mediated talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict that has killed some 270,000 people. In a sign of how high the stakes are, the UN chief exhorted a conference in Geneva "to address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time" which has seen an estimated 4.8 million Syrians fleeing their homeland. "There is no alternative to negotiating a political transition that will lead to a new Syria," Ban said. Talks led by Ban's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura paused last week, but the sides remained deadlocked over the fate of Assad, whom the opposition insists must leave power before a transitional government is agreed. In the interview, Assad did not touch on his own future, saying only that the makeup of the transitional government should be agreed upon at the negotiations in Switzerland. "There are many questions that need to be discussed in Geneva, but there are not difficult questions," Assad said. "I don't consider them difficult, they can all be resolved. The United Peoples' Party (UPP), the alliance partner of Congress, today released its manifesto for the upcoming Assam Assembly election promising to bring all-round development in the Bodoland area. UPP president U G Brahma released the manifesto here pledging development in the region encompassing all the sectors including infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, forest & eco-tourism, power and industry. Congress on March 6 said it will contest the Assembly polls in an understanding with UPP in Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD). The UPP manifesto also promised to establish a Bodoland Bamboo Control and Development Centre, Textile Industry, Bodoland Tea Board, Indo-Bhutan Trade Centre in the BTAD area by encouraging trade and small industries. Brahma said if voted to power, the Congress-UPP alliance government will lay maximum stress to form a corruption-free BTC administration dissolving the present Hagrama Mohilary-led BPF administration. Steps would also be taken to resolve all political issues and problems of different Bodo groups to bring peace, unity and integrity in the region. Maharashtra government employees working at the Mantralaya, the state secretariat, today called off their protest against the alleged assault on an official by an Independent MLA. The Mantralaya employees had gone on a flash strike yesterday to protest against the incident and demand action against the legislator. The protest continued today, with the staff assembling in Mantralaya, seeking action against Achalapur MLA Bachchu Kadu, against whom an FIR has been lodged. However, in the evening, the Mantralaya staff decided to call off the protest. The agitation has been put on hold till April 4. "It is not alright to hold people of the state to ransom because of one MLA," Mantralaya employees union president Ramchandra Dhanawade said. Earlier, Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse announced an enquiry by the Chief Secretary into the alleged assault. "The chief secretary has been asked to submit a report and we shall take action based on the recommendations," he said. Kadu, along with a clerk Ashok Jadhav, hag gone to meet B R Gavit, Deputy Secretary, General Administration Department yesterday. He was insisting that Jadhav be allowed to continue to stay in the government quarters and be alloted additional accommodation, in violation of norms, a Mantralaya official said. The officer apparently refused to entertain his demand. An infuriated Kadu allegedly abused and hit him hard on the head, the Mantralaya official said. Reacting to the episode, Kadu told reporters that the government was supporting an officer who harassed people. "Instead of taking action against me, the government should act against such officers. What I did is for the common people," he said. A three-term MLA from Achalpur in Amravati district, Kadu, back in 2009 had also assaulted a clerk in Mantralaya after he had refused to release an order. Making a statement in the Assembly today, Kadu denied having assaulted the official. "I did not beat him. Had I beaten him, I would have said so. If such false allegations are being levelled, should we (legislators) stop going to Mantralaya," he asked. "Jadhav wanted to continue living in the quarters for two more years on medical grounds. I was trying to explain this to him (Gavit)," Kadu said. "Organised 'dadagiri' (intimidation) (by government officials) should stop," Kadu said, making a reference to the protest by the Mantralaya staff over the incident. Embattled Bangladeshi ex-prime minister and main opposition leader today faced another setback when a court here issued an arrest warrant against her over a deadly arson attack on a passenger bus during an anti-government protest campaign last year. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order against the 70-year-old chairperson of the main opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and 27 from her party after accepting police's chargesheet in the case. Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah, after accepting the charges against 38 people including the 28, passed the order in connection with the arson attack in Jatrabari area here in January last year when Zia's party spearheaded a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government. "The court issued the arrest warrant against begum Zia in connection with an arson attack on a passenger bus in January last year," an official of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's court told reporters. He said Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order and asked police to execute the warrant and submit the compliance report by April 27. Lawyers and legal experts, however, said Zia was likely to get a chance to secure bail appearing in the court ahead of the deadline. Last year, Zia was charged by police with masterminding the arson attack on a bus that left 29 people injured, nine of them critically, days after Hasina said the former premier could be put on trial for recent violence. Today's arrest order is yet another blow to the beleaguered two-times former premier, who has described previous cases, including corruption-related, against her as politically motivated and aimed at keeping her out of politics. The development came hours after another court in the capital sent BNP's just-elected secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, accused of several identical charges of sabotage, to jail but soon after, ordered his release as his lawyers said he fell sick after his imprisonment. Alamgir's imprisonment order came hours after BNP announced him as the secretary general of party, six years after he served as the acting secretary general of the party. Soon after the announcement, Alamgir appeared before the court with a prayer for bail on expiry of his existing bail, granted earlier High Court. "The magistrate denied his prayer and ordered him to be sent to jail... Hours later the same court granted him bail as his lawyers filed a fresh petition saying their client became sick in the prison," an official of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court told PTI. Beleaguered Bangladeshi ex-prime minister and main opposition leader Khaleda Zia today faced another setback when a court here issued an arrest warrant against her for instigating a deadly petrol bomb attack on a bus during an anti-government protest campaign last year. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order against the 70-year-old chairperson of the main opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and 27 others from her party after accepting police's chargesheet in the case. Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah, after accepting the charges against 38 people including the 28, ordered Zia's arrest in connection with the arson attack in Jatrabari area here in January last year when Zia's party spearheaded a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government. "The court issued the arrest warrant against begum Zia in connection with an arson attack on a passenger bus in January last year," an official of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's court told reporters. He said Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order and asked police to execute the warrant and submit the compliance report by April 27. Lawyers and legal experts, however, said Zia was likely to get a chance to secure bail appearing in the court ahead of the deadline. Last year, Zia was charged by police with masterminding the arson attack on a bus that left one person killed and 30 others injured, nine critically, days after Hasina said the former premier could be put on trial for recent violence. The January 23 incident was one of many bomb attacks that Bangladesh witnessed in the three months since early January last year when the BNP-led 20-party alliance started an indefinite blockade. Today's arrest order is yet another blow to the embattled two-time former premier, who has described previous cases, including corruption-related, against her as politically motivated and aimed at keeping her out of the country's politics. The development came hours after another court in the capital sent BNP's just-elected secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, accused of several identical charges of sabotage, to jail but soon after, ordered his release as his lawyers said he fell sick after his imprisonment. Alamgir's imprisonment order came hours after BNP announced him as the secretary general of party, six years after he served as the acting secretary general of the party. Soon after the announcement, Alamgir appeared before the court with a prayer for bail on expiry of his existing bail, granted earlier High Court. An official of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court told PTI: "The magistrate denied his prayer and ordered him to be sent to jail... Hours later the same court granted him bail as his lawyers filed a fresh petition saying their client became sick in the prison. Two persons were today shot at allegedly by two men riding a motorcycle outside Dwarka court in southwest Delhi. One of the victims, identified as Ankit Dagar, is accused in a case and had come to the court for hearing today, a police officer said. In the afternoon, Dagar had a heated argument with the complainant's family. After this, when he was standing at a juice stall outside gate number 3 of the court, two men riding a motorcycle opened fire at him. While one bullet hit Dagar, another hit an attendant at the juice stall. By the time security personnel reached, the accused had fled from the spot. The injured were taken to a hospital and police have registered a case, the officer said. It is suspected that the duo had come to kill another person who is a witness in a separate case listed to be heard at the court today. Police have identified some suspects and efforts are on to track them down, the officer said. As America's prison populations swell, as mental heath services for inmates are withdrawn, and as the range of offenses for which inmates can be sent to inhumane solitary confinement soars, the prison system has hit on an obvious solution: just lock two angry prisoners, possibly with untreated mental illnesses, in a cell so small they have to take turns standing up, for 23 hours a day. The rates of murder in these doubled "solitary" cells has skyrocketed. The families of the dead inmates are usually denied justice, though sometimes they can find civil rights lawyers to represent them. One notorious site for "doubling" is Menard Correctional Center in southern Illinois, but 80% of the federal inmates in solitary have a cellmate, in a lockbox designed to barely house one person, so small you can't even do pushups in it cells so small inmates get bedsores from living in them without being able to move around. These prisoners are expected to serve years, even decades, in these conditions. "We've done this utterly bizarre thing, which is to put two people in cells that were built for one and leave them both in there for 23 or more hours a day," says Craig Haney, a psychologist who has studied solitary for more than 30 years. "The frustration and anger that's generated by being in isolation is intensified by having to navigate around another person's habits, trials, and tribulations." "I've heard it described as a powder keg," says Eddie Caumiant, the union spokesman for Menard's correctional officers. "An accident waiting to happen."The cells are more cramped, the inmates' movements, more limited. There's the unrelenting pressure of living with another, potentially mentally ill or dangerous person a pressure that can fester into paranoia and rage. "You never know what to expect from a crazy person because there are so many types of crazy," Daniel Delaney wrote in a letter to The Marshall Project. Delaney is currently at ADX Florence in Colorado for killing his cellmate in solitary in 2010 at another federal prison. "A lot of crazy people don't shower or clean up after themselves. Some make funny noises. Some just tear out pages from books and turn 'em into little pieces of paper confetti. And of course, some crazy people are violent." In Menard, double-celled prisoners are placed in rooms that are a foot-and-a-half narrower than those in general population (too narrow, one inmate has said, to do push-ups). Gerard Schultz, who was double celled at Menard for a cumulative eight months, explained in a letter that he had to create a schedule with his cellie to determine when someone could stand up. Alan Mills, the executive director of the Uptown People's Law Center, a Chicago legal nonprofit, reported meeting two double-celled prisoners who had developed bedsores from lack of movement. The Deadly Consequences of Solitary With a Cellmate [Christie Thompson and Joe Shapiro/Marshall Project] Six Nigerien soldiers have been killed and three others wounded in the country's southeast in an attack blamed on Boko Haram, the interior ministry said in a statement read on state radio. The soldiers were killed in an ambush "by Boko Haram terrorists" at around 6 am yesterday as they were patrolling some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Diffa, the regional capital near Nigerian border, the statement said. Boko Haram has suffered substantial setbacks in recent months in the face of a counteroffensive by national armies from the region. At least 17,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched an insurgency in 2009 to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. More than 2.6 million people have fled their homes since the start of the violence but some of the internally displaced have returned home after troops began the fight-back last year and recaptured territory. A regional force involving troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin is to deploy to fight the Islamists. Boko Haram seized hundreds of children from a remote town in northeast Nigeria in late 2014 but initial calls to report the kidnapping were ignored with locals fearful of the government's response. A local government administrator, a local chief, another elder and a resident all said some 300 children were among the 500 girls, boys and women taken from Damasak on Monday November 24, 2014. The numbers involved surpass even the 276 schoolgirls who were taken from Chibok in April the same year, which drew worldwide condemnation and calls for action. But the government of former president Goodluck Jonathan in March last year denied reports of the Damasak kidnapping while a local senator and a senior intelligence source also doubted the claim. The administrator, whose seven-year-old child was among those abducted, said: "We kept quiet on the kidnap out of fear of drawing the wrath of the government, which was already grappling with the embarrassment of the kidnap of the Chibok schoolgirls. "Every parent was afraid to speak out," he said on condition of anonymity. Locals who managed to flee alerted their political representatives in the Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives but "they kept mute and ignored us", he added. "The government didn't want the out," he said, explaining the decision to speak out publicly came after Human Rights Watch highlighted the case yesterday. "They went to the private school and Islamic seminaries and carted away children as young as five," added the local chief, who also asked not to be identified. "They also went into town and forcibly seized children from their mothers, children too old to be breastfed. My 16 nephews were among the children kidnapped. They were aged between five and 16." Hundreds fled across the river that separates Damasak from Diffa in neighbouring Niger but many drowned, he said, adding that he returned to bury "over 200 dead bodies in mass graves". The Damasak elder said the insurgents killed more than 200 in the initial attack, which happened on market day. HRW's report interviewed multiple witnesses to the abduction, who said the hostages were initially kept at a primary school, which was then turned into a military base. A British man has shot to fame after clicking "the selfie of a life time" with the hijacker of the EgyptAir jet during the hostage drama in Cyprus, an act he said was aimed at staying "cheerful". Benjamin Innes was one of the last captives to be released by Seif al-Din Mustafa during yesterday's six-hour hijacking episode and took a picture with the man who claimed to be wearing a suicide vest. A photograph shows Innes grinning broadly as he stands next to Mustafa in the cabin of the hijacked Airbus 320 as it sat on the runway of Cyprus's Larnaca airport. He was one eight Britons reported to be on plane. Innes, 26, was rapped by security experts last night for risking passengers' lives with his astonishing hijack photo. Innes was among the 62 people on board an EgyptAir flight from Alexandria to Cairo yesterday when Mustafa seized control and threatened to detonate a bomb belt. Mustafa forced the Airbus A320 to land in Larnaca, Cyprus. Innes took his chance to take "the selfie of a lifetime" during the deadlock, which saw the jet surrounded by heavily armed troops. The health and safety auditor from Leeds said, "I'm not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it." "I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever," he told The Sun. Innes said panicking passengers calmed down once the plane landed and Mustafa allowed women and children to leave. But he was one of three foreign passengers and four crew made to stay with the hijacker, who began issuing bizarre demands. "I could see he had what looked like a bomb and I was scared, but he didn't seem particularly anxious as we first landed. He eventually let virtually all the passengers leave, but I was left behind with two other Brits," Innes said. "After about half an hour at Larnaca I asked for a photo with him as we were sitting around waiting. I thought, 'Why not? If he blows us all up it won't matter anyway'," he said. "I also thought it would be a way to see whether his device was real. I could see something taped around his waist and he was holding on to some kind of a trigger. It was hard to be sure, but I reckoned it was more likely to be fake after I got a close look at it," he added. The Union Cabinet tonight recommended repromulgating an Ordinance to amend the nearly 50-year-old Enemy Property Act to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China after the wars. "We had passed an Enemy Property Ordinance, which was ratified by the Lok Sabha and when it went Rajya Sabha, it was referred to a Select Committee. The duration of this Ordinance is going to expire in the first week of April. "Therefore that Ordinance has also been repromulgated till the receipt of the report of the Select Committee. We had revalidated till it (the report on the bill) does not come from the Select Committee," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the Cabinet briefing. The first ordinance was promulgated in January and a bill to replace the executive order was introduced in Parliament in the Budget session. Today's Cabinet was chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is away in Brussels. While it was cleared by the Lok Sabha, the opposition in the Rajya Sabha forced the government to refer it to a Select Committee of the Upper House. Since there were little chances of the bill replacing the ordinance getting Parliamentary nod soon, the Rajya Sabha was prorogued yesterday to ensure a fresh ordinance could be issued. An ordinance lapses if it is not replaced by an Act of Parliament within six weeks or 42 days of the beginning of a Parliament session. Home Minister Singh had told the Lok Sabha recently that the measure does not pertain to Pakistan alone, but also to those Chinese who left India after the 1962 Sino-India War. In the wake of the Indo-Pak war of 1965 and 1971, there was migration of people from India to Pakistan and, under the Defence of India Rules framed under the Defence of India Act, the Government of India had taken over the properties and companies of such persons who had taken Pakistani nationality. These enemy properties were vested by the Central Government in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India. The amendments say that once an enemy property is vested in the Custodian, it shall continue to be vested in him as enemy property irrespective of whether the enemy, enemy subject or enemy firm has ceased to be an enemy due to reasons such as death etc. The new provisions also ensure that the law of succession does not apply to enemy property; that there cannot be transfer of any property vested in the Custodian by an enemy or enemy subject or enemy firm and that the Custodian shall preserve the enemy property till it is disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The amendments are aimed at plugging the loopholes in the Act to ensure that the enemy properties that have been vested in the Custodian remain so and do not revert to the enemy subject or enemy firm. The Enemy Property Act was enacted in the year 1968 by the Government of India, which provided for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the Custodian. The Central Government through the Custodian of Enemy Property for India is in possession of enemy properties spread across many states in the country. In addition, there are also movable properties categorized as enemy properties. In the wake of recent incidents of cruelty towards animals, including the assault on police horse Shaktiman, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has asked the Centre to enact the draft Animal Welfare Bill, 2014, which deals with such crimes. Major General (retd) RM Kharb, Chairman of AWBI, a statutory advisory body under the Union Environment Ministry, has written to minister Prakash Javadekar saying it is "extremely distressing" that the Bill still remains in "cold storage." "A strong animal protection law is the need of the hour, not just in view of the rise in animal abuse and crimes against animals, but also because there is a very high level of positive interest among many people in ensuring that animals are protected. "The draft Animal Welfare Bill, 2014, is reflective of the Supreme Court's vision and... Also provides for substantially higher penalties than the existing provisions. I urge the ministry to consider the Bill and work towards its enactment," Kharb said in the letter. He said he had earlier written to the ministry in March last year seeking the enactment of the Bill, which provides for substantially higher penalties than the "distressing" low amounts of Rs 50 or Rs 100 currently prescribed even for the most heinous and barbaric crimes against animals. "Animal abuse seems to have peaked and mindless cruelties are suffered by our defenceless animal friends. Enacting the draft Animal Welfare Bill 2014 submitted by AWBI to the ministry is, therefore, the need of the hour," Kharb said. Activist groups said the rise of animal abuse cases, including the assault on police horse Shaktiman in Dehradun, the cold-blooded murder of puppies in Delhi and Bengaluru and the acid attack on a pony in Hyderabad, has put the spotlight on the pressing need to strengthen animal laws in the country. There is a demand that punishment in cases of animal abuse be made compoundable. "It is imperative that punishment for animal cruelty is made adequate and Animal Welfare Bill, 2014, be introduced to establish higher standards of animal welfare in the country," said NG Jayasimha, managing director of Humane Society International-India. A 50-year-old former vice governor of south China's Hainan Province was today sentenced to 12 years in prison for massive corruption charges. The Tianjin No 1 Intermediate People's Court handed down the first trial sentence to Ji Wenlin and ordered him to pay 1 million yuan (USD 154,000) in fines. During the trial, the court heard that Ji took advantage of his posts in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the Ministry of Public Security and Hainan, to seek benefits for others. He also demanded and received a huge amount of bribes and assets, which investigators suggest could be worth around 20 million yuan, state-run Xinhua agency reported. The court said a lenient sentence was given as Ji confessed to his wrongdoings and exposed other criminal evidence during the investigation. Ji was elected vice governor of Hainan Province in January 2013. He was removed from office and put under investigation by discipline authorities in February 2014. This is the latest in a series of trials of former high-ranking officials netted in China's anti-corruption campaign started by Chinese Primier Xi Jinping after assuming office in November 2012. Li Dongsheng, former vice minister of Public Security, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes in January. Jiang Jiemin, former head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in October last year. China has set up a USD 24 billion Integrated Circuits project in Central Hubei province aimed at boosting the country's production of memory products. The construction for the Integrated Circuits (IC) project started on Monday in the East Lake High-tech Zone in Wuhan City, capital of Hubei, state-run Xinhua agency reported today. The project focuses on research and development of memory products. Monthly production capacity is expected to reach 300,000 chips in 2020 and one million in 2030. Hubei has set up a special investment fund of 50 billion yuan (USD 7.7 billion) to support the IC industry. An investment of USD 24 billion was expected in the next five years, the report said. The IC industry is a strategic emerging sector for China, with huge investment to be poured into it. In 2014, China's cabinet issued a guideline on the development of the industry to stimulate IC companies and accelerate the pace in order to catch up with international leaders in the industry. China, which relies heavily on imports of IC, has established a national Integrated Circuit investment fund of 138 billion yuan (USD 21.3 billion). In 2014, the country's IC imports hit USD 218 billion, of which memory products accounted for about 25 per cent. With this project, China's capacity in memory products will keep up with or surpass that of countries like the Republic of Korea in five to 15 years, said Zou Xuecheng, a professor of semiconductor engineering at Wuhan's Huazhong University of Science and Technology. An IC also referred to as a chip or a microchip is a set of electronic circuits on one small plate of semiconductor material, normally silicon. They are used in virtually all electronic equipment today and have revolutionised the world of electronics. China's activities in the disputed are "destabilising" and may pose a threat to commercial trade routes in the region, a top US military general has said, asserting that such developments could erode America's "competitive advantage" in Asia. "In the South China Sea, Chinese activity is destabilising and could pose a threat to commercial trade routes," General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said before the Center for Strategic and Studies, a top American think-tank. "While our exercise of freedom of navigation provides some assurance to our allies and partners, it hasn't stopped the Chinese from developing military capabilities in the South China Sea, to include on territories where there is a contested claim of sovereignty," Dunford said yesterday. Noting that the US policy emphasises on opportunities to cooperate with regard to China, Dunford said the Pentagon was closely tracking China's rapid military modernisation, its expanded presence in Asia and increased military presence outside of Asia. "While Chinese military investments, capability development and intentions are opaque, it's clear they're investing in a manner that balances requirements for large conventional forces, a growing navy, an increasingly sophisticated air force and advancements in nuclear, space and cyberspace," Dunford said. "These developments, over time could erode our competitive advantage in Asia and they certainly will challenge our ability to assure access in a fight," he said. Dunford said the US is now confronted with simultaneous challenges from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and violent extremism. "The threat from the Islamic violent extremism is certainly the most pressing challenge we face right now," he said,adding that the Russian military presents the greatest array of threats to US interest. "Despite declining population, shrinking economy, Russia has made a significant investment in military capabilities," he said. Dunford said the dreaded ISIS is clearly a transregional threat and the US was looking for an opportunity to address the wider challenge. "While the fight against ISIL dominates the headlines, we also continue to face an extremist challenge in the homeland and our interest in South Asia," he said. "From my perspective, the constant pressure we put on al Qaeda in that region over the past 14 years has prevented another 9/11, but the threat has not been eliminated - and of course, I'm talking about largely the Afghanistan-Pakistan region," Dunford said. "Pitching for an effective counterterrorism partner and platform in Afghanistan," Dunford said while the focus had been on Al-Qaeda, the recent rise of the ISIS in the Khorasan has further complicated the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Colombia's government has launched peace negotiations with the country's second-biggest guerrilla group, setting its sights on a total end to a bloody half-century conflict. Bogota hopes the talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) will bring it on board alongside Colombia's biggest rebel force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in a bid to end what is seen as the last major armed confrontation in the West. "If we achieve peace, it will be the end of the guerrillas in Colombia and therefore in Latin America," said the country's President Juan Manuel Santos. His chief negotiator Frank Pearl and ELN commander Antonio Garcia announced the decision in a joint statement earlier after meeting yesterday in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. The government and ELN "have agreed to set up public talks... In order to sign a final accord to end the armed conflict and agree on changes in search of peace and equity," they said. The ELN is a leftist group like the FARC but they have fought as rivals for territory in a many-sided conflict that started as a peasant uprising in 1964. While the FARC has observed a ceasefire since last year as its own peace talks have advanced, the ELN has continued attacks. Accords bringing in the government and the FARC and ELN would establish peace between the main remaining players in the conflict, which over the decades has drawn in right- and left-wing guerrillas, government troops and gangs. "A peace process with the ELN means that Colombia now has the opportunity to end completely the 52 years of armed conflict with both guerrilla groups," said Kyle Johnson, an analyst at the International Crisis Group. The government and ELN said six other countries will act as guarantors of the peace process: Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Norway and Venezuela. The FARC's chief negotiator Ivan Marquez called it "a historic moment for Colombia," in a Twitter message. South American regional bloc UNASUR said in a statement the new negotiations were the "missing piece" of the peace drive. Cuba and Venezuela were among countries that hailed the breakthrough. Congress senate members of Maharaja Sayajirao University today surprisingly proposed to confer honorary doctorate degree on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and megastar Amitabh Bachchan, but the move was rejected by the varsity administration as an attempt at "cheap publicity". Senate member Amar Dhomse proposed conferring the degree on Modi, while Kamal Pandya, another representative in the key university body, proposed the name of Bachchan, who is the brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism. Narendra Rawat, a senate member and General Secretary of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, proposed the name of Nita Ambani, who heads Reliance Foundation, for award of honorary doctorate degree by the university. Dhome and Pandya also belong to Congress, the main Opposition party in Gujarat and a bitter critic of Modi. They wanted to put forward their proposal at a meeting of senate, a body which discusses university-related policies, to be held tomorrow. However, the university administration rejected the proposal, saying consent of the dignitaries concerned was not obtained. Prof Parimal Vyas, the Vice-Chancellor, asserted that conferring honorary degree of doctorate on Modi is not an issue to be debated at the tomorrow's annual general meeting of the senate. "Without obtaining consent from the dignitaries concerned, how can such a degree be conferred on them?" he asked. "This seems to be an attempt to gain cheap publicity," Vyas said. "We rejected their proposal, which they wanted to be part of the Senate's agenda, on technical ground." "The university has decided to confer honorary degree of doctorate on A M Naik, Chairman and MD of L&T Group, and Dilip Sanghvi, Founder of Sun Pharmaceuticals. Both of them have given their consent for it," he added. The most toxic debt in America is student debt: your student loans (originated by universities, backed by the federal government, and handed off to banks, who securitize them) are subject to virtually unlimited (and uncontestable) penalties and fees, and are immune to bankruptcy, and are the only form of debt that can be taken out of your Social Security. That's why it's so important that Judge Carla Craig of Brooklyn's US Bankruptcy Court just ruled that a "bar loan" that Citibank offered to law students isn't a student loan, "The fact that [Citibank's] underwriting standards required [Campbell] to be a law student does not turn an arm's length consumer credit transaction into a 'benefit' within the meaning of [the bankruptcy code]." The bankruptcy case was fought by Lesley Campbell, who graduated from Pace University Law School in 2009 with nearly $300,000 in student loans, and ended up in a $50,000/year job at a hotel. Campbell's lawyers described the ruling as "a seismic development" that "flips the script for thousands of people who our client believes have fallen victim to predatory loan practices and been told they cannot discharge these loans." If the ruling stands, you can expect many of America's struggling ex-students especially Millennials, who face dismal job prospects despite advanced degrees to use the bankruptcy system to walk away from the usurious conditions imposed upon them by some of the nation's biggest, most profitable financial institutions. U.S. bankruptcy code states that among the obligations that can't be canceled include funds received as an "educational benefit," scholarship or a stipend. Campbell wanted the loan to be canceled, or "discharged," when seeking bankruptcy relief, arguing that it wasn't an "educational benefit" under the U.S. bankruptcy code. Citibank moved to dismiss that claim, arguing that the loan was an "educational benefit" in the fact that the eligibility for the bar loan was dependent on the plaintiff being a law student. But Judge Carla Craig of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn wrote in her decision on Thursday, "However, this argument could be advanced by the myriad private lenders who provide funds to borrowers who are taking educational or training courses." "The fact that [Citibank's] underwriting standards required [Campbell] to be a law student does not turn an arm's length consumer credit transaction into a 'benefit' within the meaning of [the bankruptcy code]," Craig wrote in her opinion. Judge's Ruling on Law School Grad's Debt Could Signal 'Seismic' Shift in Loan Practices [Susanna Kim/ABC] (via Naked Capitalism) (Image: Pixabay) A Congress member in Maharashtra Legislative Council today objected to state government's Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill, saying it will "impinge" on customs and cultural traditions. Opposing the 'Maharashtra Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill', MLC Haribhau Rathod said, "The cultural traditions of Banjaras in VJNT category existed for thousand years. People do not need to go to court of law for redressal of their grievances. The 'shakhas' of Banjaras function like Lok Adalats." The bill, which will be introduced in the ongoing Budget session, seeks to crackdown on extra-judicial bodies like caste, community panchayats or 'gavaki.' Stressing that government cannot disturb the language and culture of Banjaras, the Congress MLC said, "I will oppose if you bring this bill on banning caste panchayats. You cannot disturb our language by bringing the law. It's our tradition." The debate on social boycott and caste panchayats was started by Shiv Sena's Neelam Gorhe. She said 42 types of atrocities have been listed as those committed by caste panchayats and argued that some of the verdicts given by such panchayats and practices sanctioned by those are "inhuman". "While the Home Ministry is to implement the law, the Social Justice Ministry should be empowered to rehabilitate the socially ostracised persons and families," Gorhe said. Replying to the debate, Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde agreed to Gorhe's demand to hold a meeting with representatives of voluntary organisations, 'Andhashradha Nirmulan Samiti' and others to hear their views on the proposed legislation. Stating that the caste panchayats function like parallel courts of law, he said, "The bill provides for three-year jail term, Rs 1 lakh fine and the offences committed so will be cognisable and bailable." "Altogether 68 such cases were registered in the state and 770 accused have been arrested. Most cases (46) were detected in Raigad district and 737 accused were arrested," Shinde said. Congress candidates' list in Kerala seems to have run into rough weather with sharp differences cropping up between Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and KPCC President, V M Sudheeran, over finalisation of certain candidates for the May 16 Assembly polls. Even as firefighting efforts are on, party sources said the differences were over the reported "stringent norms" put up by Sudheeran on fielding certain sitting MLAs, including ministers. According to a media report, Sudheeran insisted that persons facing allegations should not be given seats and those who had contested more than four times should make way for younger and new faces. However, Chandy, who felt that those close to him were being targeted, was of the opinion that if norms were to be strictly followed, he also would come under its purview and keep away from polls. Putting up a brave face, Kerala Home Minister, Ramesh Chennithala, who is in New Delhi along with the chief minister and KPCC President, told reporters that "there are no differences of opinion in the party." "The congress election committee, headed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, will be taking a final decision ... there are no differences. All these are speculatory reports," he said. Sudheeran said the screening committee will meet again on April 1 and finalise the list of candidates. "There is no crisis over finalisation of candidates as is being stated in the media," he said. He said he had met Congress Vice-President, Rahul Gandhi and apprised him of the situation. "Everything will go ahead smoothly. Discussions are continuing," he added. The CPI-M today said its leaders would share stage with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his campaign on Saturday for the upcoming Assembly election in West Bengal. "We have decided to accept the invitation of Congress party regarding joint campaign during Rahul Gandhi's visit. A senior party leader along with respective Left Front candidates will be present on the platform in all three meetings of Rahul Gandhi on April 2," CPI-M state secretariat member Shyamal Chakraborty told PTI. According to senior Congress leaders, CPI-M leaders' sharing stage with Rahul Gandhi during poll campaign will send out a positive message in favour of the alliance which will enhance coordination at the grassroots level. The CPI-M and the Congress, which have entered into an electoral pact, have organised joint rallies and unitedly campaigned for alliance candidates. With Kerala Assembly polls inching closer, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan today met Thrissur Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath in a bid woo the Catholic Church here ahead of the release of its candidate list. Balakrishnan met the Archbishop at the Bishop's house and held discussions. "We normally meet prominent persons and exchange views and when an opportunity arose, this meeting with the Archbishop was held," Balakrishnan told reporters after the meeting. "We had a friendly discussion," he said, adding, LDF maintained cordial relations with everyone. The Church's stand and needs were made clear by the church leaders and they handed over a letter to Balakrishnan. A neck and neck race is expected in the Kerala Assembly elections slated for May 16 as the outcome is crucial for the ruling Congress-led UDF, CPI(M)-led LDF and also BJP. Asked about former Government Chief Whip P C George, who was denied a ticket by the LDF, he said,"CPI(M) was not the enemy of P C George. But his biggest enemy was his tongue," he said. The meeting with the Archbishop is significant as the party had differences with the Church on certain matters earlier. The Catholic Church had few years ago written a pastoral letter recommending a "liberation struggle" on the lines of the one in 1950's to liberate the education sector in Kerala from the state control to enable private managements charge fees and capitation fees without government's intervention. This was not taken kindly by the then party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan who had demanded withdrawl of the letter. Vijayan had also in 2007 called Thamarassery Bishop a "wretched creature". JNU Teachers Association has condemned the reported suspension of Central University of Jharkhand Dean for inviting a JNU professor to an event and has demanded a public apology from the Jharkhand varsity's VC in this regard. Dean of the Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ) Shreya Bhatacharji was suspended earlier this week by the Vice-Chancellor Nand Kishore Yadav for inviting JNU professor NM Panini to an event to mark Sardar Patel's birth anniversary earlier this month. "The suspension order issued by the university to Bhatacharji says that Panini is considered as mentor of the group of students of JNU, who were involved in anti- activities in JNU campus recently. The invitation without examining his credentials, led to widespread criticism resulting in tarnishing of university and VC's reputation," a member of the JNUTA said. "The presumption underlying the accusation - that the credentials of the invited scholar, were questionable as he is considered to be mentor of the group of anti-nationals would be laughable if it were not a scandal. "We demand immediate withdrawal of the suspension orders and termination of all disciplinary proceedings against Bhatacharji. We also demand that the VC of Jharkhand university issues a public apology to Panini," JNUTA said in a statement. Panini, who did not eventually attend the event scheduled on March 19 after he was informed of the cancellation, has said he is "upset and appalled at the suspension of Bhattacharji". Meanwhile, VC Nand Kumar today said they will take a call on the suspension tomorrow. "We are waiting for the report (of a three-member committee). We expect to get the report by 8 am tomorrow and by afternoon a decision will be taken," Yadav told PTI. "Yes," he said when asked whether her suspension would continue till then. Public sector lender Dena Bank has raised Rs 65 crore by issuing over 2 crore shares to LIC on preferential basis. Andhra Bank also said it has sold over 4.23 per cent stake to LIC on a preferential allotment, without disclosing the amount. Post the acquisition of additional shares in Dena Bank, LIC's stake in the lender has gone up to 14.5 per cent from 11.63 per cent earlier, Dena Bank said in a regulatory filing today. "Upon receipt of funds from LIC, the Issue Committee of the Board of Bank at its meeting held on March 30, has allotted 2,16,76,267 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 19.92 per share amounting to Rs 64.86 crore to LIC of India, on preferential basis", the bank said. Post the allotment, government's shareholding has decreased to 62.89 per cent from existing 65 per cent, it said. The bank's scrip was trading at Rs 29.05, up 2.47 per cent, on BSE. Meanwhile, Andhra Bank said it has sold over 4.23 per cent stake equivalent to 28,853,210 shares to LIC on a preferential allotment. The price per unit at which Andhra Bank sold shares to LIC was not provided. After the additional stake buy in Andhra Bank, LIC holds more than 14.39 per cent in the lender, from earlier over 10.15 per cent. Shares of the Andhra Bank were trading at Rs 51.70, up 3.50 per cent, on BSE. (REOPENS DCM 33) In a separate filing to exchanges, state-owned Vijaya Bank said it will raise Rs 226 crore by allotting shares to LIC on preferential basis. It said the bank has decided "to raise capital, offering, issuing and allotting 7,34,41,008 equity shares to LIC on preferential basis for cash at issue price of Rs 30.75 per share aggregating up to Rs 226 crore". The decision was taken at bank's extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on March 29. Natural and man-made disasters cost USD 92 billion (81.24 billion euros) in 2015, compared with USD 113 billion in 2014, the Swiss reinsurer Swiss Re said in report today. Global insured losses were USD 37 billion, far below the USD 62 billion annual average of the last 10 years, it said. The biggest single insured-loss of the year was the twin explosions at the port of Tianjin, northeastern China, in August which was estimated to cost between USD 2.5 and USD 3.5 billion. This was followed by a storm in the United States in February, which left insurers with a bill of USD 2.1 billion. Out of 353 disaster events, 198 were natural catastrophes, the highest number in any one year, Swiss Re said. The report is the final version of a preliminary estimate last December which said all disasters in 2015 cost USD 85 billion. Around USD 80 billion of the USD 92 billion losses came from natural disasters, led by the earthquake in Nepal, which cost USD 6 billion -- a figure that includes damage reported in India, China and Bangladesh -- and killed nearly 9,000 people, making it the deadliest single disaster event in 2015. The report said the blasts in Tianjin, which also killed 173 people, were the costliest insurance loss event ever in Asia, and the third costliest worldwide, on a list headed by the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States, estimated at USD 25.2 billion. The Tianjin disaster "has put a spotlight on accumulation risk in large transportation hubs such as ports," the report noted. "The imposition of an exclusion zone at the site due to the risk of follow-up explosions and clean-up operations made it very difficult for insurers to assess the losses arising from the many damaged or destroyed assets, such as the many cars in transit at the port," it said. DMDK leader Premalatha today hit out at DMK Treasurer M K Stalin, asking him "not to do cheap politics by luring DMDK partymen" to his party fold. Referring to Yuvaraj, North Chennai DMDK secretary, joining DMK, she said, "Stalin is doing cheap politics by luring" DMDK partymen. Addressing an election meeting, she urged her partymen not fall prey to "offers made by DMK or others", and said the district secretaries would get a fair chance to become ministers if they come to power. Earlier in the day, Yuvaraj joined DMK in the presence of senior party leaders in Chennai. Contrary to demands of her allies, including MDMK and Left parties, to close state-run TASMAC liquor outlets, she said sales at such shops would be reduced in a phased manner, if her party was elected to power. Petrol would be sold at Rs 45 per litre irrespective of price fixed by petroleum companies, she said. She assured the gathering that her party would take steps to improve infrastructure facilities in Dindigul, Tiruchirappalli, Tuticorin, among others. Meanwhile Sudeesh, senior DMDK leader, who addressed an election meeting at Kovilpatti in Tuticorin district, claimed MDMK chief Vaiko would be the deputy chief minister if DMDK-PWF was elected to power. "I am confident that Vijaykant will be the chief minister. If the people elect me, I will be MLA. But one thing is sure that if DMDK-PWF comes to power, Vaiko will be the deputy chief minister," he said. He claimed that if the combine was elected to power, VCK leader Thirumavalavan would be education minister, and G Ramakrishnan of CPI(M) local administration minister, and CPI state secretary Mutharasan Finance Minister. Earlier, Vaiko donated a ring to Thirumavalavan. VCK has got 'ring' as its election symbol. Security Adviser has called on his US counterpart Susan Rice at the White House during which the two officials discussed bilateral and regional issues in addition to reviewing the counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. Doval is in the US to attend the Nuclear Security Summit this week which is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would lead the Indian delegation, is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow. The two Security Advisers are understood to have reviewed the progress made on the decisions taken by Obama and Modi during their meetings last year in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and in Paris on the sidelines of the summit on climate change. Doval is scheduled to meet Secretary of State John Kerry at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department today. The Election Commission of India is examining the reply of West Bengal Home department on a BJP complaint that two Kolkata Police personnel allegedly tried to bribe its national secretary Rahul Sinha in return for help to smuggle out cattle to Bangladesh. "We have received the reports from the Home secretary and sent it to the Election Commission of India for their consideration," Deputy chief electoral officer Amitjyoti Bhattacharya said. They had sought a factual report with all the details from Home secretary yesterday after Sinha complained before the Chief Electoral Officer. Subhasish Ray Choudhury, an ASI of the Special Branch, and constable Aminul Rahman have been placed under suspension by the police pending inquiry into the allegations. Reporters from Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post obtained a huge trove of email from Unaoil, a business run by a rich Monaco family, that reveal that the family ran a corrupt bribery empire that spanned the world's oil-producing states, and that they world with companies like Rolls-Royce, Halliburton, Leighton Holding, Samsung and Hyundai, to rig contracts through a system of bribes and kickbacks that looted the national treasuries of some of the world's poorest countries. A particular victim of Unaoil's corruption is Iraq, whose oil fields were drained by giant western companies without meaningful benefit to the war-stricken Iraqis, thanks to Unaoil's help in bribing top Iraqi officials on behalf of the largest blue-chip companies in the world. Unaoil also ran bribery rings in Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Kuwait and the UAE, with massive bribes being paid directly to the senior bureaucrats and elected leaders of those countries, from Assad's top fixer in Syria to the son of Yemen's former prime minister. Unaoil is owned by the Ahsani, a jet-setting member of the global elite who sit on the boards of charities and rub shoulders with world leaders and billionaires. They laundered their money through (where else) the City of London. The first story in the series, "The Bribe Factory," is out now. It's explosive as hell, and there's a lot more to come. Many countries have laws on the books that make executives at firms engaged in bribery personally, criminally liable. Maybe this, finally, will be the moment when we learn how far the impunity of the criminal elites really goes. But the evidence of their own internal email cache, leaked to Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post, clearly demonstrates that the multi-million dollar fees Unaoil takes from its clients are funnelled into an industrial scale bribery operation which further entrenches corruption among the powerful few. Bankers in New York and London have facilitated Unaoil's money laundering, while the Ahsanis have built a major property investment business in central London. Since 2007, Unaoil has been certified by anti-corruption agency Trace International. This in itself raises serious questions about the worth of such international accreditation. But for the western companies confronted with questions under anti foreign bribery laws in their own jurisdictions, Unaoil appears to be a reputable and discrete middle-man, giving listed businesses what is known as "plausible deniability". Companies approached by Fairfax Media and The Huffington Post about their contracts with Unaoil have emphasised they have strong anti-corruption policies, and are committed to investigating their dealings with Unaoil. THE COMPANY THAT BRIBED THE WORLD [Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Michael Bachelard & Daniel Quinlan/The Age/Huffington Post] Enforcement Directorate (ED) today filed its first chargesheet in the Rs 870 crore Maharashtra Sadan scam and related money laundering cases in which veteran NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, his son Pankaj and nephew Samir have been named. ED officials said the 11,150-page prosecution complaint, also called chargesheet in police parlance, was filed before the Registrar of City Civil and Sessions court here. "The accused persons named in the criminal complaint include Chhagan Bhujbal, Samir Bhujbal, Pankaj Bhujbal, corporates like D B Realty, Balwa group of companies, Neelkamal Realtors and Builders Private Limited, Neelkamal central apartment LLP and Kakade Infrastructure. "The other individuals named in the complaint are Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Sanjay Kakade and others," the agency said in a statement. Chhagan Bhujbal is also a former deputy chief minister and an ex-PWD minister. ED officals said about 30 witnesses have also been named in the chargesheet, which has been filed by furnishing documentary evidence and questioning of the accused in the case till now. "Details of attachments made under PMLA laws in the case have been furnished in the chargesheet," they said. The chargesheet has been filed on the basis of two PMLA FIRs filed by the agency which includes cases to probe the RTO office building and other infrastructure projects. The ED took cognisance of ACB FIRs to register its money laundering cases last year. Bhujbal, along with his ex-MP nephew Samir, have been arrested in the case by the ED and they are at present in jail. "Further identification of money trail and the assets generated out of the proceeds of crime is in progress. If required supplementary chargesheet/s will be filed in due course of time," it said. The agency has filed two FIRs against Bhujbal, his family members and others under anti-money laundering laws, based on Mumbai Polices' ACB FIRs, to probe alleged irregularities in the construction of Delhi-based state guest house Maharashtra Sadan and the Kalina land grabbing case. The Bombay High Court, in December, 2014, had constituted a Special Investigation Team comprising the ED and the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to conduct the inquiry against the politician and others. The ACB complaint names Pankaj and Samir and they had been booked under IPC Sections related to cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and relevant provisions of Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act. It has attached assets worth an estimated Rs 330 crore in the case till now. The new Maharashtra Sadan in national capital Delhi was built at a cost of Rs 100 crore when Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra. Sri Lankan police today recovered a suicide jacket along with a stock of explosives and ammunition during a raid on a house in the country's former warzone in the Tamil dominated northern province. One suicide jacket, four side chargers, three parcels containing about 12 kilogrammes of TNT, two packets containing 100 rounds of 9mm pistol ammunition and two battery packs used to detonate side chargers were found in the house in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, police said. Commenting on the discovery of explosives, the Defence Ministry Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi said that there was no threat to national security. Explosives and ammunition recoveries are reported very regularly from the former war affected areas, he said. Investigations are currently going to arrest the owner of the house who fled the area. Police further said it is suspected that the explosives and other items had been stored at the house since the period of the war. Chavakachcheri was a battle site when Sri Lanka fought Tamil Tiger rebels for nearly 30 years before the war ended in 2009. Chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir State Accountability Commission (SAC) Justice B A Khan today demanded that the Lokpal Act must be extended to the state to empower the Commission to investigate and prosecute graft cases. "The State Accountability Commission was founded in 2002 with an aim to eliminate corruption from the system but gradually the successive governments eroded its jurisdiction. We demand that the Lokpal Act be extended to the state of Jammu and Kashmir," Khan, also a former Chief Justice of J&K High Court, said during an interaction with media persons here today. He said when the SAC was founded, it had all the government departments, bureaucracy, universities under its purview but successive state governments eroded its authority and left only the political class within its ambit. "Only the political class which include the Chief Minister, other ministers and political appointees are left under the purview of SAC. It could only give its recommendation and has no control over the action taken," he said. Khan said most of the recommendations given by the Commission were gathering dust in the cupboards of the secretariat. "We are not ashamed to say that for the past six months we have not received a single complaint against anybody", he said. Maintaining that parliamentarians and legislators framed laws and carried out amendments as a "routine exercise" without "application of mind", he said because of that many laws failed to meet their intended objectives. He said there is a "casual approach" to framing laws as bureaucrats do not hold discussions with the legal fraternity and the concerned minister before taking a bill to the legislature. A three-member gang today allegedly stabbed a man, who was going to appear before district court in connection with his bail norms, in full public view but he escaped with injuries as people intervened. 25-year-old Karthik, against whom many cases have been registered, was going to the court to sign before it, when he was attacked, police said. However, people intervened and rescued him, even as the trio managed to escape, they said. Karthik, with injuries on his hand and forehead, got himself admitted to a government hospital but when police reached there, he "gave them the slip", police said. Since there was no complaint about the attack, police are yet to register a case and "are searching for Karthik to take a complaint on the attack," police said. In a bizzare incident, a pregnant woman in China has died after her neck got struck in a roadside guardrail, triggering discussions on social media over the safety of such facilities. Pictures and video clips have made the rounds online showing a woman kneeling motionlessly with her neck trapped between the steel bars of a guardrail while several passersby tried in vain to break the rails. The was among the most-read topics today on Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging site, attracting heated debate on whether it was just a rare accident or had something to do with the rail's defective design. Police in Mizhi County, Shaanxi province said the death of the woman, who was eight months pregnant, on Monday was an accident. Surveillance footage and an on-site investigation suggested the woman might have experienced dizziness and accidentally gotten her neck trapped while fainting beside the rail between the sidewalk and the vehicle lane, police said, adding that the exact cause of the death could not be determined until after an autopsy. It is not the first reported death involving China's roadside guardrails in recent years. In 2013, a young woman died after reportedly trapping her neck in a guardrail in downtown Beijing. In 2015, an elderly man died in a similar situation, also in Beijing. Goa Congress today condemned Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar's statement welcoming defence equipment manufacturing units in the state, arguing that it would cause severe pollution and stress the existing infrastructure. "It is to be noted that defence equipment manufacturing, if it is a heavy industry, such as Heavy Vehicles Factory Avadi in Chennai, will be a red category industry that will cause severe pollution and will burden the existing infrastructure," Congress Goa spokesman Sunil Kawathankar told reporters today. During the inauguration of Defexpo, Parsekar had appealed to the defence sector companies to invest in Goa. Kawathankar said such industries are power guzzling units and today when the existing industries itself are struggling for power, CM's statement raises serious concerns. "Moreover, such heavy industry will attract workforce from outside Goa, burdening the already overstressed state with migrant population as we have seen that most of the mega industries have migrant workforce and not Goans," he said. "Government has no plans to ensure that jobs are given to Goans in the existing industrial setups. The investments invited through Investment Promotion Board, too, will employ non-Goans from neighboring states just like the casinos where Goans merely hold 10-15 per cent jobs as compared to the workforce from other states," the spokesman said. "In such circumstances, why should Goa and Goans face the burden of such industries which will not even create employment for the local youths?," he asked. Kawathankar alleged that thestate government has failed to create 50,000 jobs annually, which meant 2,50,000 jobs in the last four years. "Hence, the government should at least devise a mechanism to ensure Goans get jobs in the existing establishments," he said. The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) today filed a complaint against nine persons, including two retired engineers and six contractors, for alleged fraud and corruption in the execution of the Mokhabardi lift irrigation, part of the Gosikhurd inter-district irrigation project. Based on the complaint, cases were filed against them by the city police. Superintendent of Police Milind Totre of Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Nagpur, who investigated the scam, lodged a formal complaint with Sadar Police Station here in the city, under whose jurisdiction the office of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) falls. "Offences under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and IPC sections 420 (cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 101 (causing any harm other than death) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) were registered against the nine accused," Totre told PTI. He said the offence is related to earth-work of Mokhabardi lift irrigation work under Gosikhurd project. The two engineers, now retired from the VIDC and a serving senior divisional accounts officer along with nine contractors were involved in irregularities in the tender process and formed a ring by submitting illegal documents for bidding. Retired Chief Engineer Sopan Suryawanshi (65), retired executive engineer Umashankar Vasudeo Parvate (59), serving senior divisional accounts officer Chandan Tulshiram Jibhkate (57) with R J Shah and Company, a joint venture firm from Mumbai and D Thakkar Construction Company, Kalindi Rajendra Shah (67), Tejaswini Rajendra Shah (64), Vishal Praveen Thakkar (36), Jigar Praveen Thakkar (38), Praveen Nathalal Thakkar (67) and one Arun Kumar Gupta were booked today. According to Totre, the R J Shah & Company and D Thakkar Construction Company submitted four tenders and the initial bidding amount was paid by Thakkar company. Thakkar had no previous work experience of canal earth work and in irrigation work, but submitted bogus and illegal papers to bag the contract in year 2009. "This was the second such major offence in the alleged Rs 70,000 crore Gosikhurd Irrigation scam," he said. Government today extended the safeguard duty on some steel imports by two years, till March 2018, to protect domestic industry from onslaught of cheap supplies from China amid a global glut. The duty will however be reduced to 10 per cent in stages over the next two years. The government had first imposed the safeguard duty in September last year. Last month a floor price on imports was set to deter countries like China from undercutting domestic industry, the first such move in more than 15 years. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in a notification said the 20 per cent safeguard duty would apply on import of "hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy Steel in coils of a width of 600 mm or more" till September 13, this year. The duty would drop in stages to 10 per cent for the six months through March 2018. It will be 18 per cent for period between September 14, 2016 to March 13, 2017; 15 per cent during March 14, 2017 to September 13, 2017; and 10 per cent during September 14, 2017 to March 13, 2018. Facing domestic economic downturn, China had last year raised its exports of steel products, leading to new duties in several markets like India and the European Union, as well as anti-dumping investigations. CBEC said the Director General (Safeguard) had in its preliminary findings on September 9, 2015 had come to the conclusion that increased imports of these steel products into India has "caused and threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry and producers". Thereafter provisional safeguard duty for 200 days with effect from September 14, 2015 was imposed. In its final findings, Director General (Safeguard) has recommended the imposition of safeguard duty for a period of two years and six months from the date of levy of provisional safeguard duty. The safeguard tax will not be imposed on steel products imported at or above the floor price, CBEC said. An environment ministry panel has recommended green clearance with some riders to state-owned CIL's coal mining project in Jharkhand. Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), an arm of CIL, was seeking green clearance for expansion of Ashok open cast project (OCP) in Chatra district of Jharkhand from 10 million tonnes per annum to 14 MTPA. "The Committee (Expert Appraisal Committee), after detailed deliberations...Recommended for grant of environmental clearance to the project with the specific conditions," an official source said. The conditions according to EAC are that as against the proposal for 14 MTPA (million tonnes per annum), the project proponent will not exceed 12 MTPA, and this production permission is limited to the forthcoming year 2016-17 only. "Production enhancement beyond 12 MTPA would depend on appreciable improvement in the ambient air quality data," the official source added. Besides, the project proponent has to immediately undertake adequate dust mitigative measures. "73 project affected families (PAFs) have been shifted as on date but 127 number PAFs have yet to be shifted. It has been agreed by the PP that the balance number of 127 PAFs would be definitely shifted by 30th September, 2016," the conditions added. "This is a proposal for one time capacity expansion of Ashok OCP...As per the demand and supply scenario in CCL, there will be a deficit of 7.28 Million Tonne of coal up to 2016-17 which takes into consideration the proposed expansion of Ashok OCP also. As such, the present proposal is of vital importance to CCL," the source said. Coal India Ltd, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic dry fuel's production, is targetting to achieve an output of one billion tonnes by 2020. Hollywood actress Halle Berry stirred up social media by launching accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with a racy photograph. The Oscar winner kept her back to camera in the shot, which appeared to be taken during a forest walk. She shared the snap across all three platforms as she joined the social media world, reported ABC . Berry added a caption to the post on Instagram, which read: "Hi everyone. Welcome! Today is a very exciting day for me... I'm looking forward to sharing our world through images that reflect my emotions and perceptions. "I am in awe of photography and its ability to capture and reflect this extraordinary world that we live in. I'm excited to share with you my love of nature, the arts, fashion and much more in the hopes that the images will inspire, promote conversation and bring you joy." After officially logging on, the 49-year-old actress signed up to follow Adele, Alicia Keys, and Bruno Mars on her social media accounts. Berry has just returned from a family vacation with her estranged husband Olivier Martinez. The Oscar winner split from the French actor in October after two years of marriage, and they both subsequently filed papers for divorce in a Los Angeles court, but last week the former couple was photographed together as they arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to board a flight with their two-year-old son Maceo and the actress' eight-year-old daughter Nahla, from her relationship with French-Canadian model Gabriel Aubry. Police violence is America is a statistical black hole, where data collection on shootings and killings are kept in haphazard or nonexistent form across local, state and federal levels, leaving scholars to piece together statistical pictures using techniques developed to reconstruct genocides from survivors' accounts. Dominican University historian David M Perry and disability rights activist Lawrence Carter-Long have collaborated on a paper for the Ruderman Family Foundation (a disability rights nonprofit) that attempts to determine the proportion disabled people among those killed by America's police. They concluded that up to half of the people killed by police in America had some form of disability, including mental illness, autism, developmental delays, and other problems that make it difficult for people to communicate with police and understand police instructions. After examining coverage over the past three years, Perry and Carter-Long say it is shocking that the prevalence of disability is not being accurately, or commonly, reported. "Media coverage of police violence fails to recognise or report the disability element when Americans are injured or killed by law enforcement, resulting in their stories being segregated from the issue in the media," they conclude. Raising public awareness is vital to build pressure for change, and this is urgently needed in demonstrating the links between police aggression and disability. We know from campaigning work in the UK and the US that encountering the police or criminal justice system can be an extremely traumatic, confusing and, at worst, deadly experience for someone with a serious mental health problem or with intellectual disabilities. Up to half of people killed by US police are disabled [Mary O'Hara/Guardian] (via Naked Capitalism) A 45-year-old woman from Thane, who was subjected to harassment by her employer in Saudi Arabia, will return to India tomorrow, thanks to Ministry of External Affairs' prompt response and social media through which she reached out for help. A local journalist, Imran Memon, who took up the issue with the MEA, said the woman had gone to Abha city in Saudi Arabia to work as a domestic help on March 9 but was subjected to cruelty right from the day one after her employer seized her passport, suitcase and other belongings. According to Memon, who was in touch with her family,the woman was allegedly made to starve and confined to a small room. She was also made to do domestic chores at three other places. Her husband works as a driver here, while two sons are also in Abha and work as drivers. She got the work through an overseas placement agency in Bhindi Bazar in South Mumbai. The family agreed to take up the job in need of money due to severe financial constraints. Her son went to her employer's house to see her, but was denied entry and allegedly demanded a big sum for her release, Memon said. She was not allowed to make calls back home and the only communication she had with her husband was over messaging app, Whatsapp, through which she clandestinely sent a video to her husband, narrating her ordeal. One of her relatives took up the matter with the MEA with the help of Menon. The woman's husband had also approached Naya Nagar police station to lodge a complaint yesterday but got information that his wife would have been rescued by local aunthorities there. Lenders to defunct Kingfisher Airlines today said they have received an offer to settle loan from the company and they will examine the proposal. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines today submitted a proposal in the Supreme Court for repayment of Rs 4,000 crore out of the loan amount of Rs 6,903 crore to the consortium of banks, led by State Bank of India, by September this year. "The consortium of banks led by SBI confirms receipt of an offer for settlement of dues from Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. The bank, along with other consortium members, will examine the same," SBI said in a statement here today. The statement, however, did not disclose the amount Mallya has offered to repay to the banks. Today's proposal for repayment in the Supreme Court was submitted by Mallya, Kingfisher, United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd and Kingfisher Finvest (India) Ltd. A bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman allowed the consortium of banks a week's time to respond to the proposal and posted the matter for further hearing on April 7. On March 9, the government had informed the apex court that Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for allegedly defaulting on loans of over Rs 9,000 crores from various banks, had left the country a few days back. Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines owe Rs 7,800 crore to the consortium led by SBI, which had an exposure of over Rs 1,600 crore to the airline. Other lenders include Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Federal Bank, UCO Bank and Dena Bank. Last year, SBI declared Mallya as wilful defaulter while Punjab National Bank had also declared him, his group holding company United Breweries Holdings and Kingfisher Airlines as wilful defaulters last month. The Bombay High Court today directed Maharashtra government to take steps on a war-footing to address the issue of water scarcity and drought situation across the state. "Time is running out. The next two-three months are very crucial. Unless you (government) do something on a war-footing basis there will be disaster. You need to find a permanent solution," a division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade said. The court was hearing a public interest litigation by H M Desarda, a professor from Pune, seeking quashing of the state government's decision to release one TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water for every 'shahi snaan' at Kumbh mela, as the state is reeling under a drought-like situation. The high court had earlier directed the government not to release water for the shahi snan and that water should be released only for drinking and domestic purposes. "It is common knowledge that several villages and cities in Maharashtra are facing severe water shortage. More than thousands of persons (farmers) have committed suicide in Marathwada and Vidarbha region of the state due to drought like situation. If firm steps are not taken immediately then there will be further destruction," the court said. It further said that the government should formulate a plan to come up with a permanent solution. The court asked the government to file an affidavit on what steps it will take and posted the petition for hearing next week. The Gujarat High Court today disposed of a plea demanding prosecution of state minister Shankar Chaudhary for allegedly obtaining a fake MBA degree and asked the petitioner to approach it only after exhausting other options. A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice A S Dave asked the petitioner Farsu Goklani to explore other options to pursue the case. The bench said they would entertain the petition only after the petitioner has exhausted other options like filing FIR with police. Goklani had contended that as per the information obtained by him through RTI, Chaudhary, Minister of State for Health, Transport and Urban Housing, passed his higher secondary examination in 2011 and got his MBA degree from Vadodara-based National Institute of Management within a year in 2012. Goklani stated that no institute in world offers MBA degree in just a year and that too on the basis of class XII. He demanded that Chaudhary be prosecuted for submitting false details regarding his degree in his election affidavit. Goklani demanded that Election Commission should cancel Chaudhary's candidature. He also demanded that the minister be sacked from the Anandiben Patel cabinet. Chaudhary, an MLA from Vav Assembly seat in Banaskantha district, was made minister after Patel took charge in May 2014 from the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The Gujarat High Court today upheld a special court's order to quash trial against two persons accused in a case of "ISI conspiracy", which was allegedly hatched to avenge 2002 post Godhra riots, citing grounds of "double jeopardy". The high court observed that the duo cannot be tried in this case again as it is related to the Haren Pandya murder case, in which the trial has already got over. The duo-- Ashgar Ali and Mohammad Rauf-- were among nine people convicted by a special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court in the 2003 murder of former state Home Minister Haren Pandya, but later acquitted by the high court. A division bench of Justice K S Jhaveri and Justice G B Shah today held as valid the reasoning given by the POTA court while upholding its order against them in 2007 in the "ISI conspiracy" case. The state government had challenged the lower court order in the high court. The high court observed that since the duo had already been convicted in Haren Pandya murder case (though they were later acquitted), they cannot be tried in another case that is also related to the murder case, as it would amount to "double jeopardy" and will be in violation of Section 300 of the CrPC. Section 300 of CrPC says a person, once tried by a court and convicted or acquitted, cannot be again tried for the same offence. The duo was among nine of 12 accused, who were convicted by a POTA court in a case pertaining to the murder of Pandya in 2004, which was investigated by the CBI. The matter was challenged in the high court, which acquitted all the convicts. The judgement was challenged by CBI in Supreme Court, where the matter is pending. In 2007, Ahmedabad crime branch had filed a case in which the duo was among around 100 accused, named for hatching a larger conspiracy to avenge the 2002 Gujarat riots, and the murder of Pandya was allegedly a part of the same conspiracy. Pandya, home minister in the BJP government then headed by Narendra Modi, was shot dead in 2003 in Ahmedabad. The CBI, which investigated the case, held that Pandya was murdered to avenge the 2002 communal riots. The head of Libya's UN-backed unity government arrived in Tripoli today following months of mounting international pressure for the country's warring sides to allow him to start work. UN special envoy Martin Kobler hailed the arrival of prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj, urging a "peaceful and orderly handover of power" and praising his "exceptional personal courage". Sarraj, a businessman named the government chief under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal in December, and several members of his cabinet arrived by sea with a naval escort. Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran the capital, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognised parliament to flee to the country's remote east. International leaders, increasingly alarmed by the rise of jihadists and people-smugglers in the impoverished North African state, have urged Libya's political rivals to support the unity government. But so far the two rival administrations have refused to cede power. A presidential council formed under the December deal confirmed on its Facebook page that Sarraj and several other members had "arrived safe and sound in Tripoli". Kobler wrote on Twitter that their arrival "marks important step in #Libya democratic transition & path to peace, security and prosperity." Sarraj and his cabinet had previously been blocked from entering the capital by the authorities there, who even closed the airspace several times to prevent them flying in. It was unclear if their arrival had been agreed in advance with the Tripoli government, which had announced on Friday a "maximum state of emergency" as Sarraj's cabinet prepared to head to the capital. After reaching Tripoli, Sarraj, who had been in Tunis yesterday, and his colleagues had lunch and met with officers at a naval base where they docked, a security official told AFP. Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha has held wide-ranging talks with Israeli defenceofficials to review cooperation and explore new possibilities as he visited top military installations in the country. Air Chief Marshal Raha, who is here on a four-day "goodwill visit" to Israel, had a discussion with Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who had served as Israel's Chief of Staff before joining politics. Raha was extended a warm welcome at Israel Defence Forces (IDF) headquarters in Tel Aviv on Monday. "This visit is a step towards strengthening cooperation between the countries," an IDF Unit's Spokesman said. "The visit will help boost robust bilateral military ties between the two countries. Israel attaches immense importance to its defence cooperation with India and we are working together to enhance ongoing collaboration in various areas," a media adviser to the defence ministry told PTI. Raha yesterday also visited the Israeli Air Force Flight School at Hatzerim air base among other operating Israeli Air force installations. Meanwhile, in efforts to deepen its engagement with India in the defence sector and express an intent to participate in "a big way" in the Make in India campaign, 28 Israeli defence companies will be presenting an extensive collection of advanced tools and technologies in Goa at Defexpo 2016. Some of Israel's technologies on display at Defexpo include active defence systems, tactical medical equipment, a wide range of sensors, command control and communications (C3) solutions, electro-optical systems, various robotics, fire control solutions, unmanned systems nd navigation devices. "India is a country with tremendous capabilities. Israel's large presence at Defexpo reflects our desire to strengthen ties with Indian companies and increase local production of military technologies," Brigadiar General (Ret) Mishel Ben Baruch, Head of SIBAT (Israel's defence ministry department regulating international cooperation) was quoted in a press release as saying. "Many of the Israeli companies at the exhibit are already working closely with Indian companies, creating local job growth through domestic production. We are confident that this relationship will result in the advancement of large projects for the Indian defence forces," he added. Israel has said it attaches immense importance to its defence cooperation with India as Indian Air Force chief held a wide-ranging talks with Israeli defence officials to explore possibilities of mutual cooperation. Air Chief Marshal Raha, who is on a four day "goodwill visit" to Israel, yesterday had a half an hour discussion with Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who had served as Israel's Chief of Staff before joining politics. Raha was extended a warm welcome at Israel Defence Forces (IDF) headquarters in Tel Aviv yesterday. "This visit is a step towards strengthening cooperation between the countries," the IDF Spokesman's Unit said. "The visit will help boost robust bilateral military ties between the two countries. Israel attaches immense importance to its defence cooperation with India and we are working together to enhance ongoing collaboration in various areas," a media adviser to the defence ministry said. Raha today also visited the Israeli Air Force Flight School at Hatzerim air base among other operating Israeli Air force installations. Meanwhile, in efforts to deepen its engagement with India in the defence sector and express an intent to participate in "a big way" in the Make in India campaign, 28 Israeli defence companies will be presenting an extensive collection of advanced tools and technologies in Goa at Defexpo 2016. Some of Israel's technologies on display at Defexpo include active defence systems, tactical medical equipment, a wide range of sensors, command control and communications (C3) solutions, electro-optical systems, various robotics, fire control solutions, unmanned systems and navigation devices. "India is a country with tremendous capabilities. Israel's large presence at Defexpo reflects our desire to strengthen ties with Indian companies and increase local production of military technologies," Brigadiar General (Ret) Mishel Ben Baruch, Head of SIBAT (Israel's defence ministry department regulating international cooperation) was quoted in a press release as saying. "Many of the Israeli companies at the exhibit are already working closely with Indian companies, creating local job growth through domestic production. We are confident that this relationship will result in the advancement of large projects for the Indian defence forces," he added. A large number of gold and jewellery establishments remained shuttered today as traders continued their strike to protest the Budget proposal to levy one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. Most jewellery houses have been closed since March 2, demanding withdrawal of the proposed excise duty. Thousands of jewellers and workers in the industry staged a dharna at 'Bara Choraha' in Kanpur today protesting against the proposal, Mahesh Chandra Jain, President Uttar Pradesh Sarafa Association told PTI. However, most of the jewellery showrooms in Tamil Nadu were open for regular trading. 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. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget 2016-17 proposed one 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. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday met President Pranab Mukherjee and asked him to intervene in the matter. The Maharashtra government is holding talks with yoga guru Baba Ramdev for providing him land to set up a food park of Patanjali Yogpeeth at Mihan in Nagpur. Answering a supplementary query raised by a member during Question Hour, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis lauded the work done by Ramdev for helping farmers. "There has not been any land allotted to Patanjali in Mihan as yet. But, we are in talks with them. They have a highly successful food park at Haridwar, which is a Rs 5000 crore business, which helps farmers directly," Fadnavis said. He said Ramdev's company has shown intention of setting up the Food Park at Mihan and Patanjali would be given land if all technicalities are worked out. Fadnavis also told the House his government has sent notices to 30 entities in the past 17 months who have taken land but have not started their industrial units yet. Out of which land of eight has been taken back, he said. He said the government plans to dedicate 500 acre space to develop Agro Processing Industries at Mihan and special incentives will be provided for the purpose. The multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Mihan (Nagpur) is the biggest development project currently underway in Nagpur in terms of investments. Congress' Manikrao Thakre then said that for Agro Processing units to come up, the government will have to offer competitive electricity rates and better facilities to industries, compared to neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In his response, Fadnavis said the electricity rates in SEZ are already lower than adjoining states and that Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule is working on a proposal to provide cheap power to industries in Vidarbha, Marathwada, North Maharashtra, and backward parts of Western Maharashtra. "The state cabinet will soon give a nod to this proposal," the CM said, adding that in the Agro Processing zone, his government will develop training centres and undertake extension activities to promote sustainable Agro Industries. Expecting to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with India within two months, a high level Australian delegation will visit New Delhi next week to iron out the pending issues. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is on a 4-day visit to Australia, today said the talks on FTA are at negotiation levels and being dealt by the Commerce Ministry. "Its not fair to comment on that as they are at negotiations level... They are at fairly advanced stage," said Jaitley, who was meeting Andrew Robb, former trade minister and now Australia's special envoy for trade. Jaitley said Robb will visit New Delhi next week to hold talks on FTA with the Commerce Ministry. Robb confirmed his upcoming visit, saying that the FTA deal conclusion could happen within two months if there was political will on both side. "I think we have reached a point in negotiations where it's a mutually beneficial arrangement, but I need to test that with my counterparts next week," Robb said. The talks for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) also known as FTA between India and Australia were started in 2011 to provide fillip to both trade and investments between the two countries. Several rounds of negotiations have been completed for liberalising trade and services regime besides removing non-tariff barriers and encouraging investments. Last month Robb had said that he and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took stock of the progress of talks in Nairobi in December last year. "We sat down in Nairobi, we had a long session with their officials and the minister and we took stock at where we were and how much longer we could expect and we both agreed that and the officials concurred that in the first half of the year (2016) we can finish this," Robb had told PTI then. Australia is pushing for tariff reduction in dairy, fresh fruit, pharma, meats and wines. On the other hand, India wants zero duty on auto parts, textiles, and fresh fruits, including mangoes and greater access in services sector. The bilateral trade stood at USD 13 billion in 2014-15 as against USD 12.12 billion in the previous fiscal. A 26-year-old Indian-origin man was today sentenced to 20 years in prison in South Africa for orchestrating the murder his father. Jibraeel Mohideen was sentenced after confessing to the crime. Mohideen told the Pietermaritzburg High Court that he and his mentally-challenged twin sister had endured years of emotional abuse at the hands of his father, prompting him to hire a hit-man to kill his father. "I was wracked with guilt and after agonising over my actions I owned up to my involvement in my father's murder to members of my family. I then handed myself over to the police and assisted them in arresting my co-perpetrators," Mohideen told the court. Mohideen pleaded guilty alongside one of co-accused, hired hit man Zandisile Mtshali, 32, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Two other accused, who assisted in hiring the hit-man, were remanded in custody. Motorcar dealer Mohamed Ashraf, 57, died at his residence after his throat was slit following multiple stabbing and battering with a hammer. Judge Rishi Seegobin described Mohideen's crime as the worst sin any child could ever commit, adding that it was particularly repulsive that Mohideen had killed his own father. Seegobin said it was disturbing that although Mohideen was old enough to have considered severing ties with his father, he opted for a terrible criminal route instead. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over the issue of installing CCTV cameras and lighting dark spots across the national capital, funds for which have been earmarked in the budget. The meeting at the Lt Governor's residence was also attended by Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma. Kejriwal said a detailed plan will soon be announced on the implementation of the measures. While Rs 114 crore was set aside to ensure adequate lighting at around 42,000 spots in the city, the government had also announced an initial allocation of Rs 200 crore for installing CCTV cameras and surveillance systems. "We are preparing a detailed plan on how to implement the projects and will announce it soon. Delhi government will also monitor the CCTV feed," Kejriwal said. Presenting the Rs 46,600 crore budget for 2016-17 in the Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had set aside Rs 1,068 crore for women's safety, security and empowerment. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today claimed that the insurgency situation has improved considerably in the last 18 months since BJP came to power at the Centre and appealed to all militant outfits in Assam to give up arms and come forward for talks. "The insurgency situation in the country has improved considerably and is under control during the last 18 months and I am not making this claim myself but political analysts have been pointing this out," Singh told an election rally here. It is a fact that "incidents keep happening in Assam and when Adivasis were killed by militants in 2014, immediately rushed to Guwahati and in a meeting with the Chief Minister had clearly stated that violence and terror will not be related at any cost", he said. "As the Union Home Minister, I want send a message to all militants to give up the path of violence and arms. If they have any problem, they must end violence and talk to us. We are prepared to hold talks and settle all issues only if there is no violence and killing of innocent people," Singh said. He said, along with infiltration, there has been huge inflow of fake currency notes from Bangladesh and it is a matter of great concern as it ultimately ends up controlling the economy. "Congress never paid attention to this problem but we are committed to solve this problem and will check the entry of fake currency from the neighbouring country," Singh said. Continuing his tirade at Congress, Singh said the party's president accuses BJP of inciting violence but "most riots occur in Congress-ruled states and not in those where BJP is in power". "The riots of 1983 in Nellie and the 1984 Delhi riots took place during Congress rule. The Congress should look into their conscience before making such baseless allegations," Singh said. He said during the last two years of BJP rule at the Centre, there was no allegation of corruption and the party has "zero-tolerance towards corruption". He referred to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as "a senior citizen whom he respects and will not like to comment on him", but said "the Congress has ruined the state during the last 15 years of its rule with the problems of poverty, unemployment, power, road connectivity still persisting." He said that the condition of tea garden workers was deplorable as even after "fifty years of independence, they were not under the Plantation Labour Act. Who stopped the Congress from implementing the Act in the gardens?" "People from all over the world come to see the tea gardens but are shocked by the deplorable condition of the workers. Let our government come to power in the state and we will not leave any stone unturned in improving their condition," Singh said. Singh said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first Prime Minister to emphasise on the development of the North East and set up a separate ministry for the region while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allocated Rs 33,000 crore for the development of the region. "It is the BJP's priority to connect each North Eastern states through roads, rail and Internet connectivity. The Centre is also committed to developing waterways on the Brahmaputra with work on 17 waterways to start soon while rail connection from Agartala to West Bengal via Bangladesh will also start soon," he added. The Prime Minister has also announced that "more than one crore poor people will be given free gas cylinders, farmers income will be doubled by 2022 and youths who want to work and earn will gain employment through skill development," he said. "It was sure and certain that the BJP will come to power with the ABP-Nielson survey also confirming that the party will form the government in Assam and I appeal to people to vote and make the party win with an absolute majority," the minister added. Accusing Congress of sidelining the sacrifices of Army soldiers, Union Minister today said the party is plotting plans to "divide India" to suit its political interest. "Congress in its political interest has set aside the sacrifices of Indian youth and soldiers to stand with those on the other side," Irani said during an election campaign rally in Assam but refrained from naming the country she was hinting at. Further assailing Congress, the Union HRD minister said, "Question arises as to those who in their political interest are ready to divide India. Does the Congress have the right to get your vote? "No. Then tell every Indian to press the lotus button on election day to make our BJP victorious and brighten your future," Irani said. In a bid to wean the young vote bank in Assam, she said, "The youth of Assam want to work but their biggest problem is that they are told to first keep money on the table if they want a job. "If they have money, then would they go for jobs?" she asked. She said if the youths want to do business they need loans for which banks ask them to keep their mother's jewellery, father's farm land or house as guarantee against loans. "If they have all these things then would the youth go to the banks for loans?" Irani said. "For this reason, Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the 'Mudra Loan Yojana' so that all youth of the country become self-reliant, go to banks and get loans without keeping anything as collaterals," she said. "The Prime Minister ordered the banks to grant youths loans from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh under the Yojana. Neither the Congress when it was at the Centre nor in Assam made such a scheme," Irani said. The Union HRD minister hit the campaign trail by addressing poll meetings at Katigora, Silchar and Karimganj as well. Pakistan government today promised not to amend the country's controversial blasphemy laws to end a major stand-off with thousands of Islamists who had besieged the capital city for four days, demanding "martyrdom" for the assassin of Punjab's liberal governor Salman Taseer. The protest leaders held talks with the government representatives which were "successful", paving way for ending the protests peacefully without any bloodshed or violence, state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) reported. Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan told reporters that protestors have called off the demonstrations after talks with government officials. "We will take the opposition parties and parliament into confidence about banning protests in Red Zone in Islamabad," he said. According to the seven-point agreement between officials and protesters, the government assured the protesters that blasphemy laws will not be amended, a key demand of the supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, who was executed in late February, five-years after he assassinated Taseer over his calls to amend the blasphemy laws. The government also agreed to release hundreds of "innocent" people arrested during the four-days old stand-off at Islamabad's Red Zone. The government also promised not to show any leniency towards anyone convicted for blasphemy. Khan said that 1,070 protestors were arrested in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and those found innocent will be released. However, there was no assurance on declaring Qadri a "martyr", another key demand of protesters, and execution of blasphemy convict Christian women Aasia Bibi who was sentenced to death in 2010 by a court. Qadri, who was Tasser's security guard, had killed the governor of Pakistan's most populous state in 2011 after he visited Aasia Bibi in her jail cell and expressed support for her, even promising a presidential pardon to the mother-of- five. To another demand of imposing Sharia in the country, it was decided that the clerics would submit detailed proposals to the ministry of religious affairs. For checking alleged obscenity on media, the two sides agreed that protest leaders will file complaints to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority. Italy today asked the judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) here to order India to release its detained marine Salvatore Girone otherwise he risks four more years in India without any charges being made which would amount to "grave violation of his human rights". The PCA is hearing the oral arguments by the two sides in the matter today and tomorrow. The arbitration "could last at least three or four years" which means that Girone risks "being held in (New) Delhi, without any charges being made, for a total of seven-eight years", Italy's representative told the court, Italian agency ANSA reported. Girone is one of two Italian marines accused by India of killing two of its fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in 2012. He has not been able to leave India, aside from a few brief permits, since the incident. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is back in Italy after having a stroke in 2014. The two marines on board ship 'Enrica Lexie' are accused of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012 off the Kerala coast after mistaking them for pirates. The Italian government has taken the marines case to international arbitration after repeated delays in the trial in India. (Reopens FGN 21) Girone however "is obliged to live thousands of kilometres (miles) away from his country and family, with two children still at a tender age" and is deprived of "his liberty," Italian ambassador Francesco Azzarello told the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). "He has not been subjected to any charge... His rights are seriously suffering," said Azzarello at the Hague-based arbitration body, set up in 1899 to rule in disputes between states and private entities. Girone should be allowed to come home "pending the final determination of this tribunal," Azzarelo was quoted as saying by AFP. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an advisory to all state chief secretaries and DGPs, asking them to ensure the safety and security of students from Jammu and Kashmir against harassment, a government spokesman said here. The MHA has requested the chief secretaries and DGPs concerned to identify a designated police officer in their state to whom any complaint of harassment could be directly conveyed for ensuring timely action, the spokesman said. The Delhi Police has also nominated an Special Commissioner rank official to deal with any such cases. "Taj Hasan, Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), has been assigned the responsibility of personally dealing with any complaint or problem faced by any J&K student studying in Delhi," he said. Promising better returns, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today invited Australia's sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to invest in India. During a bilateral meeting with AustralianTreasurer Scott Morrison heretoday, Jaitley sought investments in India by the Future Fund, Australia's sovereign wealth fund, as also by the Super Fund, the country's multi-industry superannuation fund. Jaitley also called for higher investments by Australian businesses in India, saying they can get better returns on their investments. He also said that India wants to benefit from the Australian experience in implementing GST, saying India is ready for GST rollout as hoped the new indirect taxation regime will soon become a reality. During the meeting, Morrison said Australia is keen to further increase its investment in India. Talking about recent developments in bilateral and strategic cooperation in multiple areas, he emphasised on the common interest of the two countries in promoting policies to sustain economic growth and create jobs for the youth. The two leaders discussed various global and bilateral economic issues and agreed to continue and enhance the economic engagement and collaboration of the two countries. The meeting was also attended by the Finance Ministry and RBI officials from the Indian side, as also by the senior officials from Australia Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today supported his cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal's remarks that he could not reach out to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister or the state ministers during the last 22 months of his tenure. "What Piyush Goyal has said is true. That is the experience of people (of the state)," Javadekar, who is also the BJP's poll-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, said. Goyal in his reported remarks at a meeting in Delhi had said he was unable to meet the Chief Minister or state ministers during the last 22 months of his tenure. The MoS for Power had reportedly during a speech on 'Making India a Global Economic Superpower' at a conference in New Delhi on March 25, said, "It (Tamil Nadu) is a state within a state and is part of the country where I can't even reach out to the Chief Minister." The ruling AIADMK had yesterday hit back at Goyal over his remarks, terming it as "baseless allegations" and charged him with trying to seek "political mileage" in poll-bound Tamil Nadu. In a rebuttal, Party Treasurer and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam said, "There is no iota of truth in Goyal's remarks that he was neither able to meet the Chief Minister nor state Ministers during the last 22 months." Deserted by former allies, BJP is cobbling together a new alliance with smaller parties in Tamil Nadu for the May 16 Assembly election. Javadekar had recently announced, "BJP along with our friends, Indiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK), New Justice Party (NJP) and some other parties who are willing to come with us, is contesting the upcoming Assembly (polls)." An honest essay has numerous characteristics: original thinking, a good structure, balanced arguments, and plenty more. But one aspect often overlooked is that an honest essay should be interesting. It should spark the readers curiosity, keep them absorbed, make them want to stay reading and learn more. An uneventful article risks losing the readers attention; whether or not the points you create are excellent, a flat style, or poor handling of a dry subject material can undermine the positive aspects of the essay. The matter is that a lot of students think that essays should be like this: they believe that a flat, dry style is suited to the needs of educational writing and dont even consider that the teacher reading their essay wants to search out the essay interesting. You might want to have online essay editor service to boost your confidence in writing with an error-free output. Academic writing doesnt need to be and shouldnt be bland. The excellent news is that there is much stuff you can do to create your essay more attractive, while youll be able only to do such a lot while remaining within the formal confines of educational writing. Lets study what theyre. Have an interest in what youre writing about Dont go overboard, but youll be able to let your passion for your subject show. If theres one thing bound to inject interest into your writing, its being fascinated by what youre writing about. Passion for a subject matter comes across naturally in your essay, typically making it more lively and fascinating and infusing an infectious enthusiasm into your words within the same way that its easy to talk knowledgeably to someone about something you discover fascinating. Include fascinating details Another factor that may make an essay boring maybe a dry material. Some topic areas are naturally dry, and it falls to you to form the article more interesting through your written style and by trying to seek out fascinating snippets of knowledge to incorporate, which will liven it up a small amount and make the data easier to relate to. 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Avoid repetitive phrasing Please avoid using the identical phrase structure again and again: its a recipe for dullness! Instead, use a variety of syntax that demonstrates your writing capabilities and makes your writing more interesting. Mix simple, compound, and complicated sentences to avoid your paper becoming predictable. Use some figurative language Using analogies with nature can often make concepts more accessible for readers to know. As weve already seen, its easy to finish up rambling when youre explaining complex concepts mainly after you dont know it yourself. One way of forcing yourself to think about a couple of pictures, present it more simply and engagingly is to form figurative language. This implies explaining something by comparing it with something else, as in an analogy. Employ rhetorical questions Anticipate the questions your reader might ask. One of the ways ancient orators held the eye of their audiences and increased the dramatic effect of their speeches was by using the statement. A decent place to use a statement is at the top of a paragraph, to steer into the following one, or at the start of a replacement section to introduce a brand new area for exploration. Proofread Finally, you may write the top interesting essay an instructor has ever read. Still, youll undermine your good work if its plagued by errors, which distract the reader from the particular content and can probably annoy them. Jewellers today held demonstration at Bada Chauraha here to protest imposition of one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. The demonstration held under the banner of Uttar Pradesh Sarafa Association. "Around five lakh jewellers including 10,000 from Kanpur have been on strike since March 2, 2016. Thousands of wholesale and retail markets are closed," Uttar Pradesh Sarafa Association President Mahesh Chandra Jain said. "We are more concerned about employees, daily wages workers and small scale traders. They have the crisis of bread and butter now", Jain told PTI. "We will not call off our strike till the government rolls back proposal of 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery," he said claiming traders are suffering losses of crores of rupees due to ongoing strike. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget 2016-17 proposed one 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. In the backdrop of Jharkhand government's proposal to develop Industrial Corridor including one between Ranchi-Jamshedpur in the state, the main opposition JMM has demanded the government develop the unused airstrip at Chakulia, around 55 km from here, as a Cargo airport to boost economic activities in the mineral-rich region. Spread over 650 acres of land, the airstrip was built by Britishers as a back-up airport during the World War II in Chakulia-Dalbhumgarh under Baharagora assembly constituency and lying idle since then, local JMM MLA, Kunal Sarangi, said here today. It was the best suitable location to develop an airport as the land of the airport was readily available and the long stretch of the tarmac was also in good condition despite lying idle for decades, Sarangi, who is also the Chief Spokesman of the party said. The demand to develop unused Chakulia airport as a Cargo or Commercial airport has been raised several times in the state assembly including the recent budget session, he said adding that the state government had also responded by forwarding the proposal to the Chairman of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for necessary action. During a recent meeting in Delhi, the immediate past Chairman of AAI, R K Srivastav have also confirmed receipt of a letter from Jharkhand government in this regard, JMM leader said. As the unused airport needed small investment to develop it, Sarangi demanded that AAI should now conduct a feasibility study whether the airport was suitable for a Cargo airport or Commercial. Land acquisition is a major problem for any development project but the major part of land of the airport comprised of Union and state government as well as forest while small portion of it was a raiyat land (private land), he said. Sarangi claimed that one of the major reasons behind the development of Gujarat was connectivity as the state has eight airports across the state. A group of JNU students were not allowed to meet Manipuri human rights activist Irom Sharmila who was in city in connection with hearing of a 2006 case of attempted suicide, the charge which was dropped today. The students were stopped at the barricade that was drawn by the police near Manipur House where Sharmila had put up. The police reasoned that they could not allow Sharmila to address the students since she was still under judicial custody after refusing personal recognizance bond on offer on March 22 earlier this month. After an-hour long negotiation, Sharmila emerged on the other side of the barricade to the loud cheer of the students. She acknowledged the students' support through hand gesture as the students raised slogans against the AFSPA, against which Sharmila has been fasting for the last 16 years to get revoked. "Revoke AFSPA!", "AFSPA down down" "Irom Sharmila Laal Salam" were among the few slogans that were raised in support of the "Iron Lady of Manipur". The 1958 AFSPA rule, which is in effect in many parts of northeastern India and Kashmir, gives security forces sweeping powers to search and shoot on sight, and is criticised for allegedly allowing security personnel to abuse human rights. JNUSU Vice President Shehla Rashid condemned the "state agencies" for not allowing Sharmila to address the students. "We condemn this attitude of the state agencies who do not want us to meet Sharmila and support her cause. We need to keep fighting," said Rashid. Although Sharmila could not address the students, the latter celebrated the dropping of charge of attempt to suicide. "Today is a day of victory for people who fight against oppression. Our fight is long but we will win this fight because our fight is for a genuine cause. They rape our women and sisters. We will continue our fight against this," said Chinglen Khunukcham, Convener of North East Forum for International Solidarity. The students then held a march from near Manipur House to the main road at Chanakyapuri while raising slogans against AFSPA and in support of Sharmila. The report of the Judicial Commission of Enquiry, headed by retired High Court judge Justice P K Mohanty, into the sensational Pipili gang rape and murder case, was submitted to the Odisha government today. The Commission Secretary submitted the report to the state home secretary at Bhubaneswar, commission sources said. A 19-year-old dalit girl of Arjungada village of Pipili in Puri district was allegedly raped by four youths on November 29, 2011 and was brutally strangulated following which the girl had slipped into coma. She could not recover from the comatose state and died on June 20, 2012 while undergoing treatment at SCB medical college and hospital here. However, bowing to huge public outcry as the case had political connotations, the state government had ordered judicial probe into the incident in January 2012 and the Commission was asked to submit its report within three months. The Commission had received less than hundred affidavits and it had issued notices to 11 others, including Pipili BJD legislator and the then state agriculture minister Pradip Maharathy under section 8-B of Commission of Enquiry Act. While Maharathy did not appear, the Commission recorded statements of only 55 witnesses in 111 sittings and submitted its report more than four years after the incident. The Karnataka Assembly today adopted a resolution, seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in resolving the inter-state Mahadayi river dispute, amid protests by Opposition BJP members. The resolution said that keeping in mind protests and conflicts in Karnataka and inter-state cordiality and to facilitate diversion of Mahadayi to the state, the Prime Minister should intervene and invite Chief Ministers of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka to resolve the dispute. As Water Resources Minister M B Patil started reading out the resolution, Leader of the Opposition BJP Jagadish Shettar said any decision taken by the House would legally harm the interests of the state and amounts to politicising the issue. Acknowledging the statement made by Law and Parliamentary Minister T B Jayachandra and Patil, Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa said as per rules, the House has the powers to adopt a resolution on matters concerning public interest, in spite of the case pending before the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal. Shettar said BJP was ready for a debate, but before taking any decision on seeking Prime Minister's intervention, the government should seek legal opinion to protect the interest of the state. Quoting from the rule book of parliamentary procedures, Shettar said the House cannot adopt a resolution if a matter is pending before any court or a tribunal. Countering the arguments and quoting from the parliamentary rule book, Jayachandra said there have been innumerable instances in the past when the House had taken decisions over Cauvery and Krishna water disputes despite the matter pending before various tribunals and courts including the Supreme Court. Industrial paints maker Kansai Nerolac today said it has completed sale of its land in Chennai to realty firm Brigade Properties for over Rs 535 crore. Kansai Nerolac in a BSE filing said that the sale transaction completed today. The company sold land together with the buildings on it to Perungudi Real Estates Pvt Ltd., an SPV of Brigade Enterprises and Reco-Caspia, a GIC Singapore affiliate company for a consideration of Rs 537.86 crore, it added. In June last year, Kansai Nerolac had said its Board of Directors of the company have approved the sale of the company's land admeasuring 15.86 acres at Perungudi, Chennai to Brigade Properties Pvt Ltd or its Nominees/ another special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by Brigade Group and GIC Singapore for a sum of Rs 550 crore. Brigade Properties is a 51:49 joint venture between Bangalore-based realty company Brigade Enterprises and GIC of Singapore. Shares of Kansai Nerolac settled 0.16 per cent higher at Rs 280.65 apiece on the BSE. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today rejected in the Assembly the Opposition demand for waiving farmers' loans and rolling back budgetary hike in taxes on petrol and diesel while asserting that his government had maintained fiscal discipline. Winding up the debate on the state budget for 2016-17, he said, "We have not committed any financial indiscipline. I'm making it very very clear. It is a very balanced budget. Our financial position is good and we are not in debt trap." Siddaramaiah, who holds the Finance portfolio and had presented his 11th budget in his political career on March 18, defended it as 'forward looking', 'pro-development' and 'growth oriented' and claimed the Congress would return to power in the 2018 Assembly polls. He said he had already announced a package for farmers and it was not possible to write off the loans now. Unhappy with the Chief Minister's reply, BJP members walked out of the House as he did not respond positively to their demand for a farm loan waiver in view of the consecutive drought affecting most parts of Karnataka, which had also reported spike in farmers suicides last year. Noting that Karnataka had not raised the tax on diesel and petrol in the middle of the year, Siddaramaiah rejected their demand for the withdrawal of the proposal to hike tax rate on petrol from 26 per cent to 30 per cent and diesel from 16.65 per cent to 19 per cent. The Chief Minister's attack on Centre for not transferring the benefits of fall in crude oil prices led to heated arguments between BJP and Congress members. "I have become the Chief Minister by the blessings of the people and as per wishes of my party high command. With the blessings of the people, we will once again come and sit here after 2018 assembly elections," he said. Reacting to this, Opposition leader Jagadish Shettar said the Chief Minister was dreaming about coming back to power, but the reality is "Siddaramaiah will be the last Congress Chief Minister, write it on the wall." Siddaramaiah hit back, saying the Opposition leaders were chasing an "illusion" and had not understood the reality after their performance in the Taluk and Zilla Panchayat elections. On criticism that he has forgotten his past after becoming Chief Minister, Siddarmaiah said he has never forgotten the path walked by him to achieve success. Social justice and inclusive growth were foundations of his government, he said. Siddaramaiah recalled his college days when he had to stay in a hostel room in Mysuru where had to cook food and wash dishes and said some of his government's schemes were drawn from his experience those days. The Chief Minister also listed out various achievements of his government, including its 'online APMC' model being implemented across the country, the nation's first startup policy, Mysuru being named cleanest city for the second time. "Looking at last three years, I feel satisfied. We have been able to fulfil most of the promises made to the people of the state," he said. Siddaramaiah rejected the opposition's criticism of cut in allocations to various departments and putting tax burdens on middle class. He said in spite of worst drought, more severe than the ones in 1972 and 1985, the state had been able to reach the tax estimates and the criticism about government's inability to collect taxes effectively is "far from truth". "We have in no way stumbled in our financial management," he asserted. Stating that Karnataka's contribution to India's GDP has increased from 5.5 to 7 per cent, the Chief Minister said the state's GSDP has declined due to acute drought in the state from 7.8 in 2014-15 to 6.2 per cent in 2015-16. "I expect it to increase next year, while praying for good rains and good crops," he said. Hitting out at BJP for repeatedly accusing the government of borrowing high loans, Siddaramaih said the loan "we have taken is within the limit of 25 per cent of GSDP as mentioned in the norms. It is about 24.57 per cent. Continuing the war of words over Union Minister Piyush Goyal's accusation that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was "inaccessible", DMK president M Karunanidhi today said she should answer him rather than her ministerial colleagues pitching in. "Is it not proper for the Chief Minister to come forward to answer the accusation of the Union Ministers?" he asked in a statement. Karunanidhi referred to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar too supporting Goyal's remarks that he could not reach out to Jayalalithaa or state ministers in the last 22 months of his tenure. "What Piyush Goyal has said is true. That is the experience of people (of the state)," Javadekar, the BJP's poll-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, had said in Delhi yesterday. Referring to state ministers O Panneerselvam and Natham R Viswanathan's rebuttal at Goyal, Karunanidhi said, "Their statements were polemic against Union Ministers (Goyal and Javadekar), which did not answer the accusations." He asked whether Goyal had sought an appointment with Jayalalithaa to discuss the state's power issues and questioned as to "why an opportunity was not given to him to meet her." Slamming Panneerselvam and Viswanathan, he asked, "Could these Ministers easily meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa?" The DMK chief had earlier asked Jayalalithaa to respond to Goyal's charge. Panneerselvam and Viswanathan had slammed Goyal for seeking political mileage and indulging in cheap politics. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today he was ready to work with the opposition and sought help of Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta's help in getting approval of the Bills passed by the Assembly, which are pending with the Centre for several months. "There are few bills, where rule was followed but still they are pending with them (Centre). You please get these bills from them," Kejriwal told the Opposition leader in Assembly here. Kejriwal said that the city government and the Opposition will show 'cooperative federalism' in the national capital. Kejriwal said he was ready to work with the Opposition as they are integral part of the assembly. "I want to put a proposal before the House. I want to work with the opposition as they are integral part of the assembly. I would request the opposition to tell the mistakes of government and we will correct it. "In return, they must get the bills cleared, which are pending with the Central government. Lets divide work," the Chief Minister said while taking a part in discussion over Budget. He also cited few technical issues with the Bills and said if Central government is not clearing it then they must return it. "We will get it done but you get our work done by Central government. As per the act we could have taken the approval of Centre after passing the bill in the assembly," he said. The Chief Minister also targeted the Centre for making the Anti Corruption Branch of Delhi government dysfunctional. He claimed his government had ended the corruption in 49-day rule because ACB was with us. Currently ACB is lying defunct. You please ask them to give our ACB back. Ask DDA to give us land and Central government to give fund for municipal corporations. "You can shake hand with ISI, Nawaz Sharif then what is the problem in making Delhi government your friend," Kejriwal said in the assembly while targeting the Central government for JIT visit to Pathankot Gupta asked Kejriwal to follow constitution as in most of the cases prior approval of Central government was not taken. Iran's supreme leader said today that missile power was key to the country's future security, slapping down moderates who say the focus should be on diplomacy. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran, praised the powerful Revolutionary Guards for their "show of advanced and precise missiles" in recent tests that drew Western criticism. "In this jungle-like world, if the Islamic republic seeks negotiations, trade and even technology and science, but has no defence power, won't even small countries dare threaten Iran?" Khamenei said in remarks published on his official website. "Our enemies are constantly enhancing their military and missile capabilities and given this how can we say the age of missiles has passed?" His comments appeared aimed at ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a senior leader of the reformist and moderate camp, who last week tweeted: "Tomorrow's world is the world of dialogue not missiles." They also came a day after the United States, France, Britain and Germany said Iran's recent ballistic missile tests violate UN Security Council resolutions. The same four countries, along with Russia and China, reached the historic agreement with Iran last year that saw Tehran scale down its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Iran has twice tested ballistic missiles since the July 14 deal, prompting Western condemnation and new US sanctions. "The enemies of the revolution... Use dialogue, economic trade, sanctions, military threats and any other means to further their goals," Khamenei said. "We should be able to confront and defend in all of these fields." He said those who believe only diplomacy is the key to Iran's future are acting out of "ignorance or treason". Brazil's controversial former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was to lead a rally today against the impeachment of his successor, President Dilma Rousseff, as the political temperature rises. Pro-government organisations and the leftist Workers' Party were arranging protests in 31 cities across the country, with the main one expected in the capital Brasilia. Lula, who founded the Workers' Party and remains a heavyweight figure on the left, called for supporters to take to the streets on his Facebook page. Similar rallies supporting Rousseff against impeachment proceedings in Congress saw some 270,000 people turn out on March 19, according to police estimates. The opposition, meanwhile, staged much larger rallies on March 13, as both sides increasingly try to prove their strength on the street. Rousseff is scrambling to rebuild support in Congress after her coalition's main partner, the centrist PMDB, voted Tuesday to quit. Rousseff yesterday described the impeachment proceedings -- based on allegations that she illegally boosted government spending during her 2014 reelection -- as baseless and a "coup" attempt. Although Lula is highly popular on the left, he has become a hate figure for the opposition and faces charges linked to a massive corruption probe at state oil company Petrobras. Congress in Maharashtra today accused the state government of "dilly-dallying" the acquisition of the Indu Mill land here for Babasaheb Ambedkar's memorial and alleged it was indulging in politics in the name of the architect of Indian Constitution. The National Textile Corporation (NTC) is ready to hand over the Indu Mill land. However, BJP-led government in Maharastra is dilly-dallying and hasn't completed the acquisition process, leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said. According to him, "the BJP-led state government is indulging in politics in the name of Ambedkar". "The Prime Minister performed 'bhumipujan' of the land. However, it is yet to be acquired by the state government," Patil told reporters. NTC is willing to hand over the land but in absence of any concrete action on part of the state government, the acquisition hasn't taken place yet, he claimed. The man accused of hijacking an EgyptAir plane and forcing it to land in Cyprus was remanded into police custody for eight days during his first court appearance today. Police told the court in Larnaca that 58-year-old Egyptian Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa faces possible charges of hijacking, kidnapping people with the aim of taking them to an unknown destination, reckless and threatening behaviour and offences that breach the anti-terror law. The accused did not speak in court. But as he left in a police car, he gave the victory sign to journalists attending the hearing at the courthouse, which is less than a kilometre (half a mile) away from Larnaca airport where the hijacking unfolded on Tuesday. Mostafa, who has a Cypriot ex-wife, will not face any formal charges until a later hearing and only at that point will he be expected to enter a plea. Cyprus authorities have described Mostafa as "psychologically unstable" and said the case was not "terrorism-related". He is accused of forcing the plane to divert to Larnaca airport on the island's south coast on Tuesday by threatening to detonate an explosives belt that turned out to be fake. Authorities allege that his motives were personal and related to his Cypriot ex-wife with whom he is reported to have had children. The hijacking triggered a six-hour standoff at the airport and the closure of the main entry point for tourists to the Mediterranean resort island. Most of the 55 passengers on the plane -- originally travelling from Alexandria to Cairo -- were quickly released after it had landed. But some escaped only minutes before the standoff ended, including one uniformed man who was seen clambering out of a cockpit window and dropping to the ground. A 28-year-old farmer, who is out on bail for allegedly abetting his wife's suicide, today allegedly set his 11-month-old son afire and later buried the body in his farm here as he wanted to remarry. The farmer Tamil Selvan, a resident of Jamin Elampillai village, was recently released on bail from prison where he was lodged on charges of abetting his wife's suicide, police said. He today went to his father-in-law's house and forcibly took his second son along with him to his farm, where he murdered the child, they said. After committing the crime, he lodged a missing complaint with the police. However, during interrogation, he confessed to having killed the child as he wanted to remarry, police said. His wife had committed suicide last year. In her dying declaration, she had mentioned that she was "harassed" by her husband for giving "birth to the second child", police said. The body of the child was exhumed and sent to Salem Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Government Hospital for postmortem. A man was injured by a lion that was subsequently shot dead by wildlife rangers as it roaming outside the Kenyan capital Nairobi today. It is the fourth time this year that lions have roamed outside Nairobi National Park and the second time someone has been injured by a lion in less than two weeks. The dark-maned male lion was shot by a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) ranger after it hurt a passer-by near Isinya, a built-up area south of the capital where onlookers were gathering to stare at the agitated animal. "The stray lion that was roaming in Isinya has been shot dead after injuring a person," said KWS spokesman Paul Udoto. Udoto said the injured man had been taken to hospital and the animal shot "after it (had) become wild". In previous incidents this year the lions have either been herded back to the 117 square kilometre park or have returned of their own accord. The reserve is almost surrounded by a fast-growing city of over three million people. Earlier this month a 63-year old man was injured when a lion clawed at him close to a busy highway where motorists were honking their horns and snapping photographs and videos as they drove by. The park is not entirely fenced to enable traditional migration by animals in search of grazing. The big cats are under growing pressure as one of Africa's fastest growing cities expands onto ancient migration routes and hunting grounds. Conservationists say lions lived there before people in the area and are not "escaping" the park nor "straying" into human settlements, rather people have moved into the lions' habitat. In mid-February, two lions spent a day wandering through Kibera, a densely-packed city slum, before returning to the park, and days later more lions were spotted in town. A Special CBI judge today convicted a former Commander Works Engineer of Military Engineering Services (MES) of bribery and sentenced him to 4 years' rigorous imprisonment. The official from Sriganganagar Military station, RK Mathur was also slapped a fine of Rs 15,000. CBI had registered a case against Bansal, under sections7 and 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act 1988 on December 29, 2011 after he was caught red handed accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 for clearing the bills of the complainant in the case. The CBI had laid a trap following the complaint and arrested Bansal. A charge sheet was filed against Bansal in the CBI court, Jodhpur, on March 30, 2013. A 15-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gangraped by two persons in Sikanderpur area here, police said today. The accused, Dharmendra Chauhan and Ajay kidnapped and raped the minor on Monday, they said. However, they were arrested yesterday after the victim's father lodged an FIR, police said. The US has been monitoring the movements and operations of the Taliban inside Pakistan, the Obama administration has said, days after a Taliban faction carried out the Easter Sunday bombing in Lahore that claimed 74 lives. "We have obviously been monitoring as best we can the Taliban's movements and operations inside Pakistan and the danger, the still, the very real danger that they continue to pose to the people of Pakistan," State Department Spokesman John Kirby said. "I do not think anybody is under any illusion that the Punjab area has been one worth watching. To the degree we have spoken to Pakistani leaders about operations in North Waziristan and along that spine, it is because that has been for a very long time considered a safe haven by members of the Taliban and other extremist groups," he said, when asked about the presence of large number of Taliban militants in Punjab. "It is a very fluid situation and it is something we are continually watching and continually discussing with Pakistani leaders," Kirby added. On Sunday, a suicide bomber of Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, blew himself at a park in Lahore, killing 74 people so far including 29 children and 10 women. Some 20 of the deceased were Christians. More than 300 people were injured in the blast. Two persons received bullet injuries after two motorcycle-borne men allegedly opened fire outside the premises of Dwarka court in southwest Delhi today in what police suspected the assailants had planned to kill one of the victims. One of the victims, identified as Ankit Dagar, is accused in a molestation case and had come to the court for hearing today, a police officer said. The other, identified as Arif, turned out to be an attendant at a juice stall outside the court, police said. The police have identified the accused and teams have been formed to nab them at the earliest, a senior official said. Dagar, a property dealer in Najafgarh area, was booked in a molestation case around two years ago on a complaint by a woman known to him. In the afternoon, Dagar had a heated argument with the complainant's family, following which he went to a juice stall outside gate number 3 of the court, police said. Suddenly, two motorcycle-borne men, who were wearing helmets, stopped nearby and allegedly opened fire. While the first bullet missed Dagar and hit Arif, the second hit Dagar in the abdomen. The assailants fled the scene by the time security personnel could arrive there, police said. After being shot at, Dagar managed to enter the court premises again in order to save his life. However, on his way to the entrance, he also ended up being hit by a car. Arif, started screaming for help and ran towards the metro station, where he collapsed. Both were rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and later referred to another, where Dagar's condition is stated to be critical, while Arif is out of danger. The police have registered a case of murder and identified the accused with the help of CCTV footage and what Dagar told police officials while being taken to hospital. He told police that the woman complainant's brother was behind the attack, police said. The ten convicts found guilty in the multiple blasts that rocked the city between 2002 and 2003, today pleaded for leniency before a special POTA court and sought minimum sentence. A special court had yesterday convicted 10 out of the 13 accused in connection with the multiple blasts that had claimed the lives of 13 people. Key accused and alleged SIMI member Saquib Nachan today told special judge P R Deshmukh that he had surrendered before the police on his own following the direction of the Bombay High Court. "A bomb blaster will never do so. I have undergone eight years in jail. Since June 2005 till today, I have been appearing before this court," he said, adding that for the past two years, he has been unable to attend other court, which is hearing a similar case. Nachan also said that he has suffered for the past ten years (due to the case). "This terror attack has cost us very heavily from 2003," he said, adding that at the time of his arrest he had three kids and now he is a grandfather. Nachan also said his sons have suffered a lot as they were referred to as "son of a terrorist". "Education of two sons had to be curtailed and the emotional hurt caused is irreversible," he said. He said that his father, who expired last month, had taken him to the high court and made him surrender. "He asked me just one question 'Tumne blast kiya kya?' (were you involved in blasts?), to which I replied in the negative," Nachan told the court. He said he has advised other accused to view the court verdict "positively". Another accused, Muzammil Ansari, told the court that he has been falsely implicated and he respects the verdict of this court. Ansari also said he had to take the responsibility of his family from a very young age. "During the course of investigation, I was illegally detained and tortured. It was the most difficult period of my life," Ansari said, adding many witnesses deposed against him falsely. Another accused Anwar Ali said after his arrest he was sacked from his job at the National Defence Academy (NDA). In a combined charge sheet filed against 15 accused in the Mulund, Vile Parle and Mumbai Central blast cases, police had charged them with offences under POTA, the Explosive Substances Act and preparation to wage war against the nation and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code. A total of 62 cases had been filed in Mumbai till February against people for manhandling or assaulting policemen on duty - the highest for a city in Maharashtra, the Legislative Council was informed today. Alarmingly, out of these, charge sheets in only seven cases have been filed. In all, the state registered 179 such cases, of which only 19 have reached the charge sheet stage. These details came to light in a written reply given in the Upper House by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to a starred question by Vikram Kale of NCP. Kale had sought details of district-wise cases of manhandling of police personnel by the public and action taken against the offenders. In his written reply, the Chief Minister, who also handles the Home portfolio, said 57 cases were registered against people in Mumbai City district, of which charge sheets filed in just seven. Five such cases were filed in Mumbai Suburban district but none has reached the charge sheet level. Apparently explaining the delay in taking such cases to logical conclusion, Fadnavis said charge sheets in offences related to assault on government officials, including policemen, are filed after collecting credible evidence and completing due investigation. The government tries to ensure that the accused get maximum punishment under the law, he said. Besides Mumbai, most number of such cases were reported from Thane (17), Aurangabad (13) and Pune (12) districts. While no charge sheets were registered in Thane and Pune, only two cases reached the court in Aurangabad. On February 19, a mob at Pangaon village in Latur district attacked Assistant Sub-Inspector Yunus Shaikh for trying to stop them for hoisting a flag at a controversial spot. In another incident, Shiv Sena leader Shashikant Ganpat Kalgude was arrested on charges of assaulting a woman traffic constable in Thane on February 27 when asked to show his driving licence. The Municipal Workers' Union from Margao town in Goa have decided to approach authorities after a woman officer who had accused 17 workers of outraging her modesty in 2014 was re-posted in the council recently. "A total of 17 workers from Margao municipal council are currently facing trial at Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Margao for outraging modesty of the Chief Officer during her posting in 2014. Now she is back and this has put these workers in a piquant situation," Goa Municipal Employees' Union General Secretary Anil Shirodkar told PTI. Margao Municipal Council is located in South Goa and is considered to be one of the most important civic bodies in the state. The Chief Officer in heR complaint lodged with Margao police on February 26, 2014 had alleged that 17 workers had outraged her modesty during an agitation. The case was charge-sheeted by Margao police. "The complaint had strained relations between the Chief Officer and the workers. She is now posted back. The workers are afraid that she might file another similar complaint against them unnecessarily," Shirodkar said. Nagaland government Land Resources Department in collaboration with the Coffee Board of India is taking up coffee plantation covering an area of 5,000 hectares across the state by 2019-2020. The plantation will be carried out by 10,000 household in all the districts of the state, Director of Land Resources Department, Mhathung Yanthan told reporters here today. Kohima district will have the highest cultivation in a total area of 774 hectares by 1,548 households while Kiphire and Longleng districts have the least with 345 hectare each for 690 households. The programme commenced during 2015-16, wherein 6 lakh coffee saplings were raised and planted in 230 hectares by 450 households in seven districts of the state. According to the plan, the land to be used for coffee plantation will be 917 hectares in 2016-17, 1,190 hectares in 2017-18, In 2018-19 1,710 hectares and 953 hectares in 2019-20, Mhathung said. Coffee plantation had been taken up in the state some decades ago but it was stopped as the farmers faced problem of market avenues. As a part of the plan, the Department has invited South African coffee expert Dr Pieter to provide required technical and marketing techniques to the coffee farmers of the state. Stating that the department has worked out the marketing strategy, he expressed hope that the state would be able to produce quality organic coffee for export as well as for local consumption. Pieter said he is optimistic that Nagaland has infrastructure, natural fertile soil and favourable climatic condition for for large scale coffee production. In the projected 5,000 hectares, Nagaland can produce over 8,000 MT of coffee within the next five years, said Pieter who visited some of the selected coffee plantation areas in Kohima, Wokha, Zunheboto and Mokokchung districts. Justifying the imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today slammed the Congress leadership, asking it to "introspect" why its legislators are leaving the party instead of blaming the central government. Naidu was also dismmissive of the remark of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who said that the Modi government wants to topple the AAP government in Delhi. "I saw the Delhi Chief Minister saying this that after Uttaranchal, then Himachal, then Delhi... They are trying to divert the attention of the people from their failures and then trying to put the blame on the Centre. The Centre has no role at all. These people, who are talking of murder of democracy, it is like shedding crocodile tears," he said. Asserting that the Centre has no habit of pulling down any government and it is "all false propaganda", Naidu blamed the internal crisis in on Congress. "If any party's MLAs fall out with the party how can one blame the Centre. It has become fashion to criticise the Centre for each and everything," Naidu said. Seeking to shift the blame on the leadership of Congress for "defection" of its MLAs, Naidu said, "The Congress leadership must introspect why its legislators are defecting. The Congress legislators are fast losing confidence in their leadership." Congress has accused the Centre of having "murdered democracy" by imposing President's rule in . Rejecting the charge, Naidu said, "Congress and its supporters dismissed 91 non-Congress governments and now they are giving us sermons." "It is the Congress party which has always encouraged defection and they have propounded a new theory, if others join them its affection, if people go out it, it is defection," Naidu said taking potshots at the opposition party. Citing constitutional breakdown in the state, Naidu dismissed opposition's criticism over the prorogation of the Budget session of Parliament and insisted that it was done to give finances to the state. "There is no logic in the criticism of the opposition. A situation is created in a state where there is constitutional breakdown, the state could not get its Appropriation Bill passed. If the Appropriation Bill is not passed, the employees of the state will not get their salary from April 1 and the development of the state will come to a standstill. "So it is the duty of the Government of India, as a custodian of the Constitution to take care of such a situation and you cannot do it, if Lok Sabha is not prorouged. So we have proposed to prorogue the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha," Naidu said. Drug firm Natco Pharma today said its board has approved to sell its 'Save Mart Pharmacy Stores' in the US. The company's board, which met today, has approved the sale of US stores - a non-core business of the company, Natco Pharma said in a regulatory filing. The stores are owned by Natco Pharma Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. The company however did not disclose financial details as well as reasons for the sale of the assets. Natco Pharma was incorporated in Hyderabad in the year 1981 with an initial investment of Rs 33 lakh. With a modest beginning of operations as a single unit with 20 employees, Natco today has five manufacturing facilities spread across India with dedicated modern research laboratories, capabilities in new drug development. The company currently employs more than 3,200 employees. Natco stock closed Rs 399.20, up 1.69 per cent, on BSE. NCP MLA Ramesh Kadam, accused of massive irregularities in the state government-run Annabhau Sathe Development Corporation (ASDC), has indulged in corruption to the tune of Rs 500 crore, Minister of State for Social Justice Dilip Kamble said here today. Replying to a calling attention notice in the state Assembly by Anil Gote (BJP) and others, the minister said the CID report in the case has found Kadam was instrumental in purchase of 59 luxury cars from the Corporation's funds. The vehicles were used by NCP functionaries, including some district and tehsil unit chiefs, the minister said, tabling the CID report in the House. "We will ensure that those behind corruption in the corporation are arrested within a month," Kamble said. Gote demanded the names of those who used the luxury cars be announced in the Assembly. NCP MLA Shashikant Shinde objected to Kamble's reply, saying the Minister cannot comment as the matter is sub-judice. Kadam was arrested from Pune in August last year by the state criminal investigation department (CID). Republican presidential front- runner Donald Trump has said he wants to protect the rights of of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other minority groups in the US but asserted that there was a need to recognise the "very serious problem" of "radical Islam" at the same time. "I want to do that also, and I do want to do that, but I at the same time we have to recognise we have a serious problem (with regard to Islamic fundamentalism)," Trump said during a CNN town hall when asked about protecting the rights of minority groups like Muslims, Sikhs, Jews and others inside the United States. The question in this regard was asked by Lt (rtd) Brian Murphy, who was the first the officer to report to Gurdwara massacre in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in 2012. At the risk of his life, he had saved a number of Sikhs. He was shot at 15 times. "In Milwaukee, you heard about the Sikh temple shooting. Six people were killed. 99 per cent of the men in the United States who wear turbans are actually Sikh and not Muslim. How would you suggest we help educate the public and not alienate these groups and, at the same time, how do we protect the constitutional rights of minority groups like the Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Jews, while still addressing radical Islamization?" Murphy asked Trump during the town hall. Trump responded to the question from Lt Murphy, saying, "We have a tremendous problem with radical Islam whether we like it or we don't. We have a president who won't talk about it," "When I called for the temporary banning (Muslims), we have to look at it. We have a serious problem, I think you'll admit that, Brian. We have a very, very serious problem with radical Islam, and if we don't want to discuss it, and if we don't want to look at it, we're never going to solve the problem," the 69-year-old real estate tycoon said. "We have to be extremely strong with ISIS. We have to wipe ISIS off the face of the Earth so fast and so violently we have no choice. We have no choice," Trump said in response to the question. The United States, he said, needs to be very vigilant. "Very smart, and frankly, Brian, we have to be very tough because it's only going to get worse," he said. Trump argued that thousands of people were being allowed into the country over short periods of time coming "supposedly from Syria". "We have no idea who they are, we have no idea where is their paperwork. They have no paperwork; they have no identification. They're coming into this country and it's going to be a big, big problem," he argued. "We have to be extremely vigilant in those areas, we have to look very seriously at the Mosques. Lots of things happening in the Mosques, that's been proven. You look at what's going on in Paris where Mosques are being closed, OK? And, we have to look very, very seriously," Trump said. Former maths teacher Faustin-Archange Touadera today pledged to "preserve peace" as he was sworn in as president of the Central African Republic after polls aimed at restoring stability in the conflict-ridden country. Touadera, 58, was the surprise winner of February's run-off election, which was held after three years of inter-communal violence between Muslim and Christian militias that left thousands dead and displaced more than 400,000. "I pledge to wholly respect the constitution ... And preserve peace," he said, also promising to "carry out my duties without any ethnic bias." The ceremony was held at the main stadium in the capital Bangui, which has a capacity of 20,000, and was attended by leaders from nearby countries, including President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea and Denis Sassou Ngeusso from the Republic of Congo. It marks the last stage of the political transition that began after the toppling of Christian former president Francois Bozize in 2013 by a rebellion of the predominantly Muslim Seleka militia, which sparked a backlash from a rival Christian-dominated militia. The elections came after 93 percent of voters backed a constitutional referendum that cleared the way for the vote and also followed Pope Francis' groundbreaking trip in November, his first to a war zone, during which he made an impassioned plea for peace and reconciliation. New Zealand batsmen frittered away a fantastic start in front of some splendid death bowling by England to post a below-par 153 for eight in the first semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20, here tonight. The England bowlers came under the pump during the first 10 overs giving away 89 runs but were once again brilliant at the death conceding only 64 runs in the last 10 overs to stop New Zealand from setting an imposing target. Much of the credit must go to Ben Stokes (3/26 in 4 overs) for his wonderful bowling at the death and ably complemented by Chris Jordan (1/24 in 4 overs) as seven wickets fell in the back-10. In between them, the duo bowled 23 dot balls, which meant 3.5 overs went without runs. The foundation of the Black Caps' innings was laid by the 74-run stand for the second wicket between left-hander Colin Munro (46 off 32 balls) and skipper Kane Williamson (32 off 28 balls). Their style of batting was in contrast to each other yet entertaining in its essence. While Munro was more unorthodox and adventurous in his shot selection, every shot that Williamson hit were copybook ones. Once both of them departed, it was Corey Anderson (28 off 23 balls), who tried to keep up the pace but didn't succeed entirely. Anderson hit Adil Rasheed (0/33 in 4 overs) for a straight driven boundary with New Zealand maintaining an 8 per over run-rate till the 15th over. He then hit Liam Plunkett (1/38 in 4 overs) for a six over deep mid-wicket but was finally holed out in the deep by Jordan off Stokes' bowling. Sent into bat, Martin Guptill (15) started on a positive note getting a couple of boundaries off David Willey but his flashy batting cost him dearly in the left-arm seamer's next over as he tried another heave only to edge one to Jos Buttler behind the stumps. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu government over increasing cases of children going missing from different parts of the state. The Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that in Tamil Nadu, the number of missing children is on a rise. More than two children go missing every day in the State and as such, during the first three months of the current year, 271 children have gone missing from different parts of the State, said an NHRC statement. Reportedly, police do not investigate these cases seriously as these missing children belong to poor segments of society. Observing that "can there be a bigger pain for the parents and the little children than losing each other", the Commission said that the contents of the media report, if true, raise serious issue of violation of human rights of the victim children and their parents. Accordingly, notices have been issued to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, Government of Tamil Nadu calling for detailed reports in the matter. They have been given four weeks to respond. "The Commission has also drawn their attention to the judgment of the Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No 75/2012 dated May 10, 2013 wherein a number of directions, including mandatory registration of FIRs and prompt investigation in the matter of missing children, were issued. "The NHRC has issued a number of recommendations and guidelines on the issue of missing children, which were also noted by the Supreme Court while hearing the matter," the statement said. According to the media report, carried on March 23, the number of missing children cases in Tamil Nadu is on increase from 441 cases in 2014 to 656 children in 2015. In Chennai itself, 114 children went missing in 2014 and this number rose to 149 (including 71 girl children) in 2015. Reportedly, 58 children have gone missing from Chennai this year, so far. Reportedly, the mafia that controls bagging and even those involved in child prostitution and adoption rackets could be behind these disappearances, the statement said. Although, begging is banned in Chennai seldom, any action is initiated against the practice. Baggers are often found accompanied by toddlers and infants. As of now, reportedly, there is no system in place to check the origin of these people and find out if the children accompanying them are legitimately related to them, it added. A Dutch minister today backpedalled on his claim that the FBI had notified the Netherlands about US concerns over two Belgian suicide bombers before the Brussels attacks, admitting there had been "an error". Under-fire Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur said: "I understand that an error was made about who sent the information." The Dutch police liaison officer in the embassy in Washington had in fact "received the information from another large American intelligence service -- namely the Intelligence Division of the New York Police Department (NYPD)," the minister said. The tipoff was passed along "without the source, and it was accepted in the Netherlands that the information had come from the FBI." Van der Steur had told the Dutch parliament yesterday that the FBI had notified the Netherlands of its concerns over suicide bombers Ibrahim El Bakraoui and his brother Khalid six days before the March 22 Brussels attacks. Dutch police had received an FBI report sent March 16 "in which there was notification of Ibrahim El Bakraoui and his brother Khalid's criminal backgrounds and Khalid's terrorist background," he said yesterday. The following day "the issue came up during bilateral contact between the Dutch and Belgian police," said Van der Steur. "The radical background of both the brothers was discussed." But his comments were immediately queried by Dutch MPs who asked why the FBI would inform the Netherlands and not Belgium. The minister, who has been criticised for what has been seen here as some intelligence blunders, said he would ask the NYPD why it had not informed Belgium of its concerns. Ibrahim El Bakraoui was one of two bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on March 22. His brother Khalid blew himself up at Maalbeek metro station. A total of 32 people were killed in the attacks. Belgium's federal police said it had not received any information direct from the FBI on March 16 about the Bakraoui brothers, and also said the two men were not raised in the meeting with the Dutch police. Under pressure at home and abroad over an apparent series of missed clues about criminals linked to jihadist networks, the Belgian government has however admitted mistakes were made. In the most glaring such example, Turkey accused Belgium last week of ignoring a clear and present danger by revealing it had deported Ibrahim El Bakraoui as a "terrorist" suspect last year, after arresting him near the Syrian border. The Dutch justice minister last week confirmed that Turkey sent Bakraoui back to the Netherlands in July, but stressed he had not been known to Dutch law enforcement nor was he on any watch lists. US President Barack Obama today telephoned Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to express condolences over the "callous and appalling" terrorist attack in Lahore. "Obama today spoke by phone today with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan to express condolences over the recent terrorist attack in Lahore," the White House said in readout of the phone call. "This callous and appalling attack against innocent civilians, many of them women and children, underscores the critical danger that terrorism poses inside Pakistan, throughout the region, and around the globe," the White House said. During the phone call, Obama expressed his understanding of Sharif's decision to cancel his visit to the US and remain in Pakistan following this terrorist attack. "The President reiterated the US commitment to partner with Pakistan to counter terrorism," the White House said. Sharif, who was scheduled to attend the Nuclear Security Summit here this week cancelled his US trip following the terrorist attack that killed more than 70 people. US President Barack Obama today described as "historic milestone" the swearing-in of Myanmar's first civilian president in decades that marks a significant power-shift ending military rule. Congratulating U Htin Kyaw, Obama said he "looks forward to working with him and the new government". "U Htin Kyaw's inauguration represents a historic milestone in the country's transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government," he said in a statement. This extraordinary moment in Myanmar's history is a testament to its people, institutions, and leaders who have worked together to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and it speaks to the significance of the reforms the country has undertaken since 2011, he said. Obama said the county will face significant challenges going forward, including achieving broad-based economic development, advancing national reconciliation, and promoting the rights and freedoms of all its people. "The United States looks forward to being a friend and partner of the new government and the people of Burma as they make progress toward building a more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous future," he said. The 69-year-old president, a close aide of Aung San Suu Kyi, was today sworn in as president of Myanmar, that entered a new era with the Nobel Laureate's democracy movement assuming power after 50 years of military domination. President Barack Obama is commuting the prison sentences of 61 people serving time for drug-related offenses. White House counsel Neil Eggleston says more than a third of the inmates were serving life sentences. Obama's commutation shortens their sentences. Most will be released July 28. All of the inmates are serving time for drug possession, intent to sell or related crimes. Most are nonviolent offenders, although a few were also charged with firearms violations. The commutations bring to 248 the number of inmates whose sentences Obama has commuted. The White House says that's more than the past six presidents combined. Obama will meet Wednesday with people whose sentences were previously commuted under Obama or under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush. US President Barack Obama would hold a tri-lateral meeting with leaders of South Korea and Japan on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, during which they are expected to discuss North Korea and security situation in South China Sea, the White House said today. "This meeting is an opportunity for these three leaders to discuss the threat posed by North Korea, and to discuss how we can advance our trilateral security cooperation," the Deputy National Security Advisor, Ben Rhodes, told reporters during a conference call. Dan Kritenbrink, National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs said the prime focus of the tri-lateral meeting would be North Korea. "I think the three leaders will clearly demonstrate their unity in our commitment and our firm resolve to deter and defend against North Korean aggression," he said. The three countries recognise that our security is linked and that it's essential that they work closely together to meet this challenge. "I anticipate that they will call upon all in the international community to join in vigilantly implementing UN measures on North Korea," he said. Leaders of US, Japan and South Korea will also discuss their tri-lateral security cooperation that goes well beyond the Korean Peninsula, he said. "I anticipate that they will discuss a range of issues, including defeating ISIL to promoting global health to combating climate change, as well," he added. Responding to a question, Rhodes said that given the shared threat posed by North Korea, and given the many shared interests between the Republic of Korea and Japan, the Obama Administration believes that facilitating greater security cooperation and improved relations is good for both countries, good for the US, and good for the Asia-Pacific broadly. "On the South China Sea, I'd just say that we once again reiterated the principles that we would uphold as it relates to maritime disputes in the South China Sea -- most recently at Sunnylands," he said. "Non-militarisation was certainly one of those principles, along with the peaceful resolution of disputes, support for resolving the issues consistent with international law. That's not to single out China. That's a principle that we would support as it relates to any country," he said. "We will be very clear where we believe that there is behavior that is counter to those principles, just as we're very clear in our own interests in promoting international principles like freedom of navigation," Rhodes said. China contends it has a historic right to most of the South China Sea, claimed by five other nations including Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei. China has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres of land in the past two years near disputed sea lanes in South China Sea crucial for world trade. US President Barack Obama is expected to press his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to reign in North Korea's leadership during a meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, the White House said today. Obama and Xi are scheduled to meet in Washington tomorrow. "This will present an opportunity to address the threat posed by North Korea and also to advance US and China cooperation on a range of issues," Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters during a conference call to preview the National Security Summit. "It in their interest. The destabilisation in their neighbourhood, these provocations out of North Korea, that is only counterproductive for China," he said. "They do not benefit at all from seeing that type of behavior emanating from North Korea. So we do believe that we have a shared interest in preventing destabilisation on the Korean Peninsula and in promoting denuclearisation. And that's the basis on which we're able to pursue cooperation," he said. China, he noted, has stepped up in many ways in terms of applying pressure on North Korea. "The fact is, it has to over time affect the calculus of the North Korean leadership. And thus far, they have not shifted course and upheld their own commitments to denuclearisation and that's why we will of course have a continued dialogue with both China and South Korea and Japan," he said. Dan Kritenbrink, National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs said the two leaders will have a candid exchange on areas where they continue to have significant differences, including things such as human rights, cyber, maritime issues, as well. The Obama-Xi meeting, he said, is part of a continuum of senior-level engagements between the two countries. "President Xi was here for a state visit last September. The two presidents then met in Paris on November 30 on the margins of the Paris climate summit. And the two have had three phone calls since then. We also anticipate that they will meet again on the margins of the G20 in China in September," he said. Kritenbrink said the high tempo of senior-level engagement with China is a recognition of the fact that this is where problems get solved and decisions get made. Obama's direct engagement with Xi during the Paris climate negotiations helped to move forward the joint efforts and secure an ambitious climate agreement, he noted. Also, Obama's phone call to Xi in February supported reaching an agreement on impactful UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea, he said. Sensing and control technologies firm Omron today said it aims garner revenue of $50 million (around Rs 330 crore) from its new integrated tamper detection solution. The solution, conceptualised in association with Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL), will help utilities detect and curb the losses caused by power theft. "This is world's first of its kind solution aimed at to addressing national level concerns of power theft in the electricity sector in India. We are in discussions for deploying the solution in India," Omron Electronic and Mechanical Components business division India Country Business Head Vinod Raphael told PTI. He added the company expects to get $50 million business by 2020 from the tamper detection business. Transmission and distribution (T&D) losses remain one of the major concerns for the power sector in India. Various industry reports suggest that India ranks fifth globally in terms of installed capacity but more than 300 million people do not have access to electricity. "Though it is difficult to reckon the proportion of power theft in the T&D losses, it is certainly one of the major concerns for the utilities. Omron's solution for smart meters is multi-functional and imparts a unique artificial intelligence for detecting all kinds of (electrical and non-electrical) tampering," Raphael said. He said the government plans to install 35 million smart meters in the country by 2019, which will allow Omron to tap into various business opportunities. "We will widen our customer outreach by associating with more utilities and contributing our bit towards developing a sturdy infrastructure in the power sector benefitting the utilities and the end-consumers," he said. Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij today said though the outlay for health department in the state budget 2016-17 has been hiked by 37 per cent, yet it was "not up to my expectations". "It is not up to my expectations, though the state government raised budget by 37 pc for health," Vij said while replying to a question in the Assembly here today. He said the budget for health has been raised by 37 per cent to Rs 3,916.94 crore for 2016-17, as against Rs 2,857.28 crore in 2015-16. "I am still saying it (outlay) is not what I had expected and even not which was required. But we are considering making alternative arrangements. If the need arises, we will approach the World Bank (for funds)," he said. Earlier, Leader of Opposition Abhay Chautala pointed out that only Rs 13 crore had been raised in plan budget for health. "How can you improve health services with such meagre increase?" he said. Vij further said that as per a study conducted by him of government hospitals, he found that against the bed capacity of 100, as many as 217 patients have been admitted. "How can we provide medical treatment? People abuse doctors and they are not thanked for admitting patients despite shortage of bed capacity. We should be thanked because we ask people to come for treatment despite lesser number of beds in hospitals," he said. "But we will raise the bed capacity of hospitals," he added. Expressing commitment towards improving health services in the state, Vij said 84 hospitals in Haryana would be accredited by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) for providing national-level facilities. An MoU would soon be signed. This project would cost about Rs 1,000 crore, he said. Vij said the facility of houses would be provided to a maximum number of doctors and other employees in hospitals so as to ensure their presence in hospitals. The state government has taken many steps to improve the sex-ratio, including the decision to give Rs one lakh as cash award to those who inform about involvement of a doctor in female foeticide. If any innocent doctor gets caught, he also has the opportunity to appeal against it. BJP MLA Umesh Aggarwal said sometimes, informers give wrong information to get Rs 1 lakh reward and raids are conducted on innocent doctors. The Health Minister said while the previous Congress government had spent Rs 200 crore on advertisement of "No. 1 Haryana", but for a long time it kept allocating only two per cent of the budget for health department. Therefore, the condition of healthcare services provided at hospitals became "pitiable" and patients had to face many difficulties. But with the efforts by the present government, maximum number of people are being provided with improved healthcare facilities. Rapper P Diddy has unveiled plans for a new charter school in the Harlem area of New York City. The 46-year-old rap mogul said it is a "dream come true" to be founding Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School after working in partnership with Capital Preparatory Schools for five years on plans for the establishment, which will open its doors for the first time in September, reported Female First. He said of the venture, "I want to impact the lives of young people in my community, and build future leaders. The first step is offering access to a quality education. "Every young person should have the tools they need to succeed. All our children should be able to pursue their dreams. That is something I can impact with this school." The school, which is located in the Harlem area of New York City, will be free and is open to students in grades 6-12. Admission is currently open to all New York state residents, and applications will be accepted until April 1. The school will initially take 170 sixth and seventh graders, and enrollment will gradually expand up to a capacity of 700 students. The founder of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut, Steve Perry, will oversee the school, while Orlando-based educator Danita Jones will be its principal. Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, and Perry have been privately meeting with community leaders and education experts to establish the curriculum for the new classes. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said Pakistan has for the first time acknowledged that the terror attack in Pathankot had its roots in that country. "Pakistan had been continuously saying that it has no involvement in militant and terror activities in India. But now it has acknowledged the Pathankot attack and filed an FIR. Their (probe) team has come here and our team is going to Pakistan," Singh told election rallies in Assam. "This is due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's astute and positive political capability. All the countries of the world are acknowledging that India's strength is increasing. Modi has established India's importance in the global scenario," Singh said. Accusing Congress of continuously misleading the people of the country, he said, "I have been in politics all my life, but I don't indulge in the politics of misleading people of the country. I don't do politics like Congress. 55 Indian fishermen were apprehended and their 10 boats seized by Pakistan authorities near international maritime border line (IMBL) off Kutch coast in Gujarat this morning, according to Porbandar-based National Fishworkers' Forum. The fishermen, all belonging to Okha in Devbhoomi Dwarka district of Gujarat, were apprehended by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) near IMBL, National Fishworkers' Forum secretary Manish Lodhari told PTI. "Thirteen fishing boats carrying fishermen from Okha in coastal Gujarat were out in the sea for fishing when the PMSA apprehended ten boats carrying around 55 fishermen. Three boats managed to return today and the fishermen informed us about the incident," Lodhari said. This is the third incident in less than two months of fishermen being apprehended by Pakistani authorities. Early this month, the PMSA had apprehended 18 fishermen with three boats off Gujarat coast. On February 7, the agency apprehended 12 fishermen and seized two boats. Today's incident comes over a month after Pakistan released 172 Indian fishermen lodged in Karachi jail for allegedly violating the IMBL in two batches. The number of Indian fishermen lodged in Pakistan jails has gone up to 450, Lodhari said. "Recently, we learnt that 18 fishermen have been behind bars in the Karachi jail since last three years, and wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask Pakistan to release them along with others lodged there. The government responded saying that they are working in that direction," he said. A 34-year-old Frenchman arrested last week has been charged with a string of terrorism offenses for allegedly plotting an imminent attack and operating an explosives arsenal of what prosecutors called "unprecedented scale." Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said today that the suspect, Reda Kriket, is accused of participating in a terrorist group with plans for at least one attack, possessing and transporting arms and explosives, and holding fake documents, among other charges. Kriket is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2014 and 2015 and made several trips between France and Belgium, Molins said. At least three other people are in custody in the case in Belgium and the Netherlands. Molins did not say whether Kriket's purported plot was linked to the Islamic State network behind last week's attacks in Brussels and last November's attacks in Paris. Before the Paris attacks, Kriket and the suspected Paris plot ringleader were convicted in absentia last summer on terrorism charges. Two Algerians believed linked to Kriket's alleged plot are being held in Brussels. The Belgian federal prosecutors' office said today that the men, identified as Abderrahmane A. and Rabah M, will face a hearing April 7. Another Frenchman linked to Kriket, Anis Bari, is being held in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, Molins said. Bari is resisting extradition to France. Among things found when police searched Kriket's apartment in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil on Thursday were 500 grams of the explosive TATP, 1.3 kilograms of industrial explosives, several bottles of oxygenated water and acetone, material to make detonators, five automatic rifles, seven cell phones, stolen passports and two computers showing links with jihadi groups, Molins said. Also today, French President Francois Hollande decided to abandon proposed legislation that would have revoked citizenship for convicted terrorists and strengthened the state of emergency, because differences between the two houses of parliament could not be resolved. He had submitted the two proposals days after the November 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. The Philippines may invest in its first ever submarine fleet to help protect its territory in the disputed South China Sea, President Benigno Aquino said today. The impoverished nation, which has never before operated submarines and until now relied on US surplus ships, has been ramping up its defence spending in response to China's military expansion in the region. China claims almost all of the South China Sea -- home to some of the world's most important shipping routes -- despite conflicting claims from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. Aquino said the Philippines could lose its entire west coast should China succeed in enforcing its claims. "We've had to accelerate the modernisation of our armed forces for self-defence needs," Aquino told reporters in Manila. "We are a natural transit point into the Pacific and we are now studying whether or not we do need a submarine force," he said. 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. China's military significantly dwarfs that of the Philippines, despite Aquino's efforts to boost defence spending to record levels and the acquisition of new warships and fighter jets. This year China's proposed defence spending of 954 billion yuan (USD 147 billion) is approximately 59 times that of its small neighbour, which stands at 115.8 billion pesos (USD 2.5 billion). The Philippines has turned to its long time ally the United States and former wartime foe Japan to boost its military hardware in order to counter China. It has also asked a United Nations-backed arbitration body to declare China's sea claims as illegal, with a ruling expected later this year. China did not participate in the arbitration hearings at The Hague, citing its sovereignty over the area. Aquino said the South China Sea dispute "concerns every country" since it could disrupt trade in the busy shipping lane, through which about a third of the world's oil passes. "The uncertainty breeds instability. Instability does not promote prosperity," he said. Wrapping up his visit to Belgium, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night left for Washington where he will attend the as part of his three-nation tour. "Thank you Brussels! An intense day of diplomacy ends as PM @narendramodi emplanes for Washington DC," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. Modi will attend the in Washington on Thursday and Friday and from there he will travel to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation. In Brussels, Modi attended the 13th India-EU Summit and held bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met top European Union leaders at the 13th EU-India Summit here to set out concrete priority actions for the strategic partnership in areas like trade and investment, climate, energy, water and migration in the next five years. "Getting down to the nuts & bolts of diplomacy. 13th #IndiaEU Summit begins with a restricted meeting," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. The Summit was followed by a working dinner which was attended by European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker. Presidents of European Parliament Martin Schulz & Investment Bank Werner Hoyer also joined the prime minister at the dinner. After the talks, the two sides witnessed signing of a loan agreement for Lucknow Metro with European Investment Bank. The two sides are expected to adopt declarations on a water partnership and an energy and climate partnership. The summit will also serve to enhance cooperation on counter-terrorism, research and innovation, the digital market and human rights, according to a statement issued by European Council President's office before the meeting. "Discussions will focus on latest developments in the EU's and India's respective neighbourhoods. This includes the situations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea, Nepal, Syria and Ukraine," it said. The leaders are expected to reaffirm the G20's key role in achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth. They are expected to underline the importance of implementing the comprehensive agenda adopted at the last G20 summit, it added. The EU-India strategic partnership was launched in 2004. The last EU-India summit was held in Delhi in 2012. The leaders are also likely to address the ongoing Free Trade Agreement negotiations with an aim to instil some political impetus to the stalled talks, the statement added. While stating that diamonds remain India's historic link with Belgium, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invited the key European nation's business leaders to invest in India's IT and infrastructure sectors. "Diamonds are, of course, an old link between us. It provides employment to many in India," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a tweet quoting the Prime Minister. Almost 84 per cent of the world's rough diamonds pass through Antwerp and the Belgian city is today the world's largest diamond trading centre with a turnover of over USD 54 billion. Indian traders own a large part of this diamond trade in Antwerp. "Reflecting on the wide range of our engagements, PM says it is not just diamonds that can bring shine to our partnership!," Swarup said in another tweet. Modi also spoke on the various aspects of cooperation such as renewable energy, science and technology, space research, IT, tourism, biotechnology, shipping and ports. "I feel that a progressive path to India-EU Trade and Investment Agreement can enable all to benefit from India's strong economic growth," the Prime Minister said as he invited Belgian corporates and businesses to explore opportunities in India, the world's fastest growing economy. Recalling India's historic links with Belgium, the Prime Minister said, "We have ties of blood with Belgium. 100 years ago 130,000 soldiers from India fought in Belgium and 9,000 made the supreme sacrifice". Modi's visit to Belgium comes days after the March 22 terror attack here in which at least 32 people were killed, including an Indian, Raghavendran Ganeshan, who was an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. The 13th India-EU Summit is being held after a gap of four years. The last summit was held in New Delhi in 2012 and negotiations remained deadlocked over several key issues. The two leaders hoped that efforts would be "undertaken to maintain air connectivity between Belgium and India either through direct flight or through code-share operations". They took note of the vibrant passenger traffic between the two countries as well as recognised the need for direct passenger flights, the joint statement said. The leaders also welcomed the ongoing negotiations to cooperate in the area of Information Communication Technology and Electronics (ICT&E) and look forward to early conclusion of an agreement, the statement said. The cooperation would touch upon various areas including including e-governance/mobile governance, cyber security, institutional framework between major research institutions, education and training in ICT. The two Prime Ministers "welcomed the progress under the MoU on renewable energy between the competent Belgian authorities at federal and regional levels and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of India", the statement said. The inaugural meeting of the joint working group was held on March 14 where smart cities, waste to energy, small wind turbines, water purification technologies involving renewable energy and zero emission buildings were identified as priority areas for joint collaboration. According to the statement, the leaders took positive note of the active cooperation in science and technology under the intergovernmental agreement between India's Department of Science and Technology and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office. Modi and his counterpart welcomed the technical activation of an optical infrared telescope in Devasthal in India "as a concrete demonstration of successful collaboration". It has been jointly developed by ARIES (Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences) of India and the Belgian company AMOS (Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems) Among others, the two leaders welcomed the upcoming signature of the finalised memorandum of understanding between the Department of Biotechnology of India and the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) for cooperation in the field of biotechnology. Both sides welcomed the imminent extension of the agreement between the Government of Flanders and the Shipping Ministry for another two years. There is also ongoing collaboration between the Port of Antwerp and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to develop a joint training centre under the MoU signed in February 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly pitched for resumption of talks on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and other instruments to combat the common challenge of terrorism during his talks with Belgian premier Charles Michel, days after a series of terror attacks in the Belgian capital that left over 30 people dead. During the talks, the two leaders covered whole spectrum of bilateral ties. Modi, who arrived here today on a day-long visit, invited Belgian government and companies to pro-actively associate with India's ambitious projects including 'Digital India', 'Start Up India' and 'Skill India', asserting that combination of Belgian capacities and India's economic growth can produce promising opportunities for businesses on both sides. Referring to various partnership possibility between the two countries, Modi said Belgian businesses can make their global supply chains more cost effective by manufacturing in India. "Clearly, it is not just diamonds that can bring shine to our partnership," he added. Ahead of his talks, Modi laid a wreath of white flowers at the Maalbeek Metro station in the Belgian capital where a suicide bomber blew himself up killing scores of passengers, including Raghavendran Ganeshan, an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. "Last week has been a sad week for Belgium. Let me say Prime Minister that we share the depth of sorrow and grief that the people of Belgium have experienced in the last 8 days...Having experienced terrorist violence ourselves on countless occasions, we share your pain. "Prime Minister, in this time of crisis, the whole of India stands in full support and solidarity with the Belgian people. I deeply appreciate your welcome and the time that you have devoted to me despite pressing demands on you. "As part of our efforts to respond to this common challenge we could resume discussions on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Negotiations on Extradition Treaty and a Treaty on Exchange of Sentenced Prisoners could be concluded expeditiously," Modi said after his talks with Belgian leader. Modi's visit comes just days after the March 22 terror attack here in which at least 32 people were killed. Describing India as "one of the brightest economic opportunities" in the world today, Modi said its macroeconomic fundamentals are robust, and at 7 per cent plus, the country was one of the fastest growing economies of the world. India's goal to modernise infrastructure, especially railways and ports, and building of 100 plus smart cities also presents a unique investment opportunity for the Belgian companies, he said, adding that these partnerships can help the two countries reach new heights in their trade and commercial partnership. Modi said he has invited Prime Minister Michel to visit India with Belgian businesses to see first-hand the reality of India's economic and political promise. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges before mankind and the two countries have agreed to enhance their cooperation in renewable energy, he said. "We would also build partnerships in areas such as harnessing waste for energy, small wind turbines and zero emission buildings. Advancement in S&T and High technology areas is of particular importance for India's development priorities," the Prime Minister said. Noting that India and Belgium share a long history of friendship, Modi said a hundred years ago, more than 130,000 soldiers from India fought in the First World War alongside Belgians on Belgian soil and more than 9,000 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice. "Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of India-Belgium diplomatic ties. To celebrate this important milestone in our friendship, we look forward to welcoming His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium in India next year," he added. A 32-year-old man was arrested from Navi Mumbai within hours after he allegedly kidnapped a four-year-old boy from suburban Kandivli, police said today. Surendrakumar Vishwakarma alias Rakesh was picked up from his Ghansoli residence in Navi Mumbai yesterday by the sleuths of crime branch after he allegedly abducted the boy from his house at around 1 PM. On receipt of the complaint, the crime branch started tracking Rakesh's location through his mobile phone before zeroing on in Ghansoli area. The team launched a search and found the boy at the house of Rakesh who was about to flee to Uttar Pradesh, said senior crime branch inspector Chimaji Adhav. According to police, Rakesh and his friend are carpenters by profession and the latter had worked at the house of the boy's father a week earlier. Police suspect that Rakesh gained access to the boy's house through his friend and allegedly abducted the child after luring him outside with chocolate. Police are probing the exact role of Rakesh's friend in the crime. A US soldier who murdered his young Panamanian mistress while stationed in the country was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a US court martial, the Panamanian government said. Army Master Sergeant Omar Velez-Pagan, 37, was given the punishment yesterday by the military court in Fort Bragg, North Carolina after being convicted Monday of the June 2014 murder of Vanessa Rodriguez, 25, Panama's foreign ministry said in a statement. He was found guilty of killing her by crushing her head with his car, as well as adultery, steroid use and obstructing justice by trying to hide her body in rural land near a river in southern Panama. During sentencing, Velez-Pagan asked for forgiveness from his victim's family and the Panamanian people, the foreign ministry said. Velez-Pagan last week admitted in court to all the crimes except murder. He was arrested in 2014 by Panamanian police and handed over to US officials, who sent him to the United States for detention and trial. Rodriguez's parents previously said they feared Velez- Pagan would escape punishment, but reportedly expressed satisfaction with his conviction. The US soldier was stationed in Panama on a one-year posting to help train a local police unit. While there he cheated on his American-based wife with Rodriguez, breaking military rules. As well as the prison sentence, the Fort Bragg court ordered that Velez-Pagan be stripped of military pensions, have pay forfeited, be demoted to private and be dishonourably discharged. The foundation day of Rajasthan was celebrated today with an elaborate programme being organised here tonight in the presence of Governor Kalyan Singh and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. A parade included march past by BSF mounted on camels, police mounted on horses and three bands, including that of Rajasthan police. Seven tableaus from seven divisions of the state - Ajmer, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur - were displayed in which folk dancers rendered performances like Kachchi Ghodi, Lathmar Holi, Kalbeliya, Gair, Chakri, among others. Other performances were also given in the function at Janpath. Tourism Minister Krishnedra Kaur and other ministers, Chief Secretary C S Rajan and others were present on the occasion. Rajasthan was formed on March 30, 1949, when Rajputana - the name adopted by the British Raj for its dependencies in the region - was merged into the Dominion of India. In a U-turn, all three Republican presidential candidates have reneged on their pledge to support the party's eventual nominee, further exacerbating divisions within the party. Republican presidential candidates - Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich - said during a CNN-organised town hall in Wisconsin yesterday that they were no longer committed to their previous pledge of supporting the eventual Republican presidential nominee. "No. I don't anymore," Trump, the Republican Presidential front-runner, said when asked if he will continue to support the party's nominee. The development might end up handing the November 8 presidential elections to the Democratic party on a platter, and might make things easier for its possible presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to enter the White House. "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family. I think that is going beyond the line," Senator Ted Cruz from Texas said in response to a similar question. "Donald is not going to be the Republican nominee. We're going to beat him. Listen, I think nominating Donald Trump would be an absolute train wreck. I think it would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton," Cruz said. Last to appear during the town hall, Ohio Governor John Kasich said he will not support a nominee who divides the country. "I got to see what happens. If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country, and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them, but we have ways to go. Let's see how this all folds out, and then I'll let you know," said Kasich, who so far has won only one of the 27 primaries. Trump is leading both the delegate count and the number of States won, but is quite far behind the 1237 delegates needed to won the Republican presidential nomination. At the start of the Republican primaries all the presidential candidates had pledged that they would support the eventual nominee of the party. However, things now seems to have changed specially after the bitter and personal fight between Cruz and Trump. Trump alleges that a pro-Cruz political action committee had circulated a nude picture of his wife - a former model - in an anti-Trump advertisement. Cruz has denied the allegation and has accused Trump of launching a personal attack against his wife, a claim the real-estate tycoon has denied, saying he was fighting back as this was all started by Cruz. Trump yesterday said he did not need the support of Cruz. "He doesn't have to support me. I have tremendous support right now from the people. I'm way over two million votes more than him," Trump said. He said that the Republican establishment had treated him very unfairly. "I've been treated very unfairly. I think by, basically, the RNC, the Republican party, the establishment," he said. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Susan Rice exchanged views on terror threat posed by the ISIS in the region besides enhancing counterterrorism cooperation against LeT and JeM, the White House said today. Doval, who is in the US to attend the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) being hosted by US President Barack Obama and beginning tomorrow, met Rice at the White House. "Rice and Doval exchanged views on the terrorist threat posed by ISIL in the region and the importance of combating the ideology that fuels such groups," Ned Price, Spokesman of the US National Security Council at the White House, said using a different acronym for the Islamic State or ISIS. They also discussed US-India counterterrorism cooperation, including against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), he said. "Additionally, they exchanged views on the prospects for commercial progress this year under US-India civil nuclear cooperation," Price said. During the meeting, Rice reiterated America's support for India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and Missile Technology Control Regime, he said. Doval is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would lead the Indian delegation, is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow. Defending the decision to allow a Pakistani team to visit an IAF base in Pathankot to probe the terror strike, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju today said no one should do politics on national security issues. "It is a matter of national security, political colours should not be given," he told reporters here. Rijiju was responding to a question on criticism faced by the government from several political parties over the decision to allow the Pakistani team to visit India in connection with their probe into Pathankot terror attack. Congress said the Modi government has set a "wrong precedent" and wondered why 'biryani' was being served to the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which also includes an ISI representative. AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "surrendering" to Pakistan by allowing its investigators to probe the Pathankot attack and said instead Indian probe agencies should have gone to that country where "actual masterminds are sitting". Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut while terming the government's decision as "wrong" said rather an Indian team needs to be sent to Pakistan to probe those behind the terror strikes. Raut also reminded the Centre that not India, but Pakistan is an accused in the Pathankot strike. Waving black flags and placards, scores of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers stood outside the IAF base in Pathankot yesterday protesting against the visit and shouted anti-Pakistan slogans. The slogans of azaadi again filled the air in Delhi as hundreds of students and teachers marched towards Rashtrapati Bhawan here today to request the President to take action against the Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad university. The protest march organised by Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice-Delhi Chapter, which began from Mandi House was halted by police near Jantar Mantar where the students held a meeting to express solidarity with the HCU students. Addressing the gathering, JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, who is out on bail in a sedition case, appealed to students to continue their fight for "social justice". "The condition in HCU is worse that what we saw in JNU. I personally saw that. I therefore appeal you to continue your struggle and express solidarity with HCU students only then will we be able to achieve the social justice we are aiming for," said Kumar. The demonstrators appealed to President Pranab Mukherjee requesting him to take action against police clampdown in HCU. "The President is the visiting officer of the Central universities in India and so he should to take a stand in this case (HCU). He will have to answer if he is willing to take action against those responsible for what-all is happening there. He should answer if he is willing to stand for with Rohith's mother," said JNUSU's General Secretary Rama Naga. "Many efforts are being made to break our solidarity. Students are being deprived of basic amenities in HCU. You can cut off food supplies but you cannot cut off our solidarity," he added. A group of students, who were opposing Appa Rao Podile's return as the VC after a two-month leave following the row over Vemula's suicide, had allegedly vandalised the VC's official residence and pelted stones on police. Later, the police lathi charged them and arrested the 25 students, besides the two faculty members, who were later released on bail. Extending their support to the HCU students, the demonstrators in Delhi raised slogans for "azaadi" from "Brahmanwad, Manuwad and Sanghwad", and demanded that HCU's VC be removed from his post. JNU students have been agitating in the national capital 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. Regional authorities in Russia's Far East say a military jet has crashed into a village, but its pilot ejected safely and no one was hurt on the ground. The Primorsky region administration said the Su-25 warplane went down today during a routine training mission. The cause of the crash wasn't immediately clear. Rossiya state television showed the jet streaking down and then exploding in the village of Chernigovka. It interviewed a resident who said the plane crashed into a barn just outside his house. The Su-25 is a twin-engine ground attack aircraft that has been a mainstay of the Soviet and then Russian air force since the 1980s. It has also been widely exported. Su-25 planes have recently been involved in the Russian air campaign in Syria. Actor Sean Astin has paid a touching tribute to his mother Patty Duke, who died on Tuesday. She was 69. Astin, 45, who starred in "The Goonies" and "The Lord of the Rings" film series, has also started a CrowdRise mental health project to honor his mother, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982. The actor called his mother a "tireless warrior" in his tribute on the CrowdRise page, detailing how she campaigned and lobbied for mental health awareness, which he now wants to continue. Astin said the campaign is already helping him deal with his loss. "I feel rock solid at this moment because I'm charged with a sense of mission for her," the actor said. "So, it's great to have purpose. There's some things in her life that she'd like to continue after her, and we talked a lot after that. The moment of someone's passing, particularly a public person, generates a pulse, so I just want to honor that." He continued: "At that time in the mid-80's, when she 'went public' with her diagnosis and sharing her story about her mania and her depression and all that. I don't know how many actors or celebrities had, kind of, done that. "I go around and give speeches on this kind of carrying the torch for her and stuff, and I would say that the world now is infinitely more understanding and compassionate, and yeah, there's still stigma, but it's a different world out there... As West Bengal prepares to vote in a few days, sex-workers in the state despair over the unfulfilled promises made to them by political parties in the preceding elections and say they want "concrete" measures this time. Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, representing 1,50,000 sex workers in West Bengal, said they felt cheated because no political party had kept its promise to look into their demands, let alone fulfilling them. "Whenever elections come, political parties make tall promises, but none of them is kept. We have been regularly placing a charter of demands for the last several years, but nothing has come of it," president of All-India Network for Sex Workers and Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee Bharati Dey told PTI. Frustrated, the roughly five million sex-workers in the country under the All India Network for Sex Workers (AINSW) want to exercise the NOTA (None Of The Above) option in ballot papers to express their disapproval, Dey said. The AINSW is a national network of sex-workers across the country spread across 16 states. "We will send letters to political parties listing our demands and raising issues that concern sex workers and their families," she said. The demands that the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) has flagged over the years are: pension rights for retired sex workers, removal of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), legalisation of the profession, covering sex-workers under labour laws and setting up of self-regulatory board for sex-workers to stop minors from being forced into the profession. "None of these demands has been met by the respective state and central governments. But these are the basic rights which a sex worker needs to be given to be able to lead a proper life," said Mahasweta Mukherjee of the DMSC. Parul, a 35-year-old sex-worker of Sonagachi, the biggest red light area in Asia, said, "Minorities and backward classes get the attention which we do not. We also have family members who are also voters. So we should not be ignored, or else we will go in for the NOTA option," she said. State Women Development and Social Empowerment Minister Sashi Panja said that the TMC government had taken several initiatives for the development of sex-workers and their children. The project, christened 'Muktir Alo' (Light of Freedom), a pet project of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is aimed at bringing back the sex workers and their children to the mainstream. "This is the second phase of the rehabilitation programme for sex-workers and their family members as well as those girls who have been rescued from flesh trade," she said. Under the project, the government wants to train them in dancing, acting and singing, so that they can get an opportunity in movies and serials, Panja said. Oil giant Shell has been dragged into a corruption probe linked to a major offshore deal in Nigeria, the company confirmed today. Following revelations in the Italian media, the Anglo-Dutch group said that its offices had been "visited" by anti-fraud investigators. "We can confirm that representatives of the Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) and the Dutch Public Prosecutor recently visited Shell at its headquarters in The Hague," a spokesman said. "The visit was related to OPL 245, an offshore block in Nigeria that was the subject of a series of long-standing disputes with the Federal Government of Nigeria. Shell is cooperating with the authorities and is looking into the allegations, which it takes seriously." Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported earlier that the Dutch investigators were working in collaboration with Italian prosecutors looking into Shell and Italian energy group ENI's 2011 acquisition of joint exploitation rights to OPL245, which is estimated to contain up to nine billion barrels of crude. Prosecutors in Milan have been investigating ENI executives involved in the deal since 2014. Under the licensing accord, ENI made a payment to the Nigerian government of $1.09 billion to secure joint ownership while which already owned a 40-per cent stake, handed over $200 million. Most of this money was subsequently passed on to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company believed to be controlled by Chief Dan Etete, a former Nigerian Oil Minister. In an episode that has come to be regarded as emblematic of Nigeria's problems with corruption, Etete had awarded the rights to the block to Malabu in 1998, at a time when he was close to Nigeria's then-military dictator General Sani Abacha. The probe into ENI was triggered after an intermediary in the deal, Emeka Obi, sued Malabu in Britain's High Court and won an order that the company pay him $110 million in unpaid fees. ENI has always maintained that its actions in Nigeria have been beyond reproach and that all the money it had paid in Nigeria had gone directly to the government. Shell also insisted it had not been involved in any wrongdoing. "Shell attaches the greatest importance to business integrity," a spokesman said. "It's one of our core values and is a central tenet of the principles that govern the way we do business. All employees are expected to uphold these principles and failure to do so will result in consequences up to and including dismissal. In a novel protest for release of water from a dam to his constituency, a Congress MLA today entered the Madhya Pradesh Assembly wearing only 'dhoti', causing flutter in the House which led to its adjournment as BJP and opposition parties squabbled over his act. Ram Kishore Dogne, who represents Harda seat, entered the House during Zero Hour demanding that water be released from channels of Tawa dam to his area. Objecting to his act, the Treasury benches said Dogne's behaviour is against the decorum of the House as women members were also present on floor. Panchayat Minister Gopal Bhargava said the Assembly is known for its rich history and decency while the Legislative Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra said the MLA's act was aimed only at grabbing headlines. However, BSP MLA Usha Choudhary came out in defence of Dogne, saying that even Mahatma Gandhi wore dhoti throughout his life and freed India from the British rule. Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat recalled that a former CPM member Ramlakhan Sharma had once came to the House wrapped in cloth below his waist. Intervening into the matter, Speaker Sitaram Sharma said Dogne has come to the House with a problem. "This House is not for staging protest and please don't bring Mahatma Gandhi into it and give example of the former member," he added. "Seek answers to mitigate people's problems," the Speaker told the members. However, members of BJP, Congress and BSP continued to trade charges and created a bedlam, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for 10 minutes. Dogne then met the Speaker in the latter's chamber. Emerging from the meeting, Dogne told PTI that Speaker had assured him that he will talk to principal secretary of water resources department for the release of water from the dam. However, the MLA vowed that he will continue to be in the same attire till the work starts on ground on his demand. The sit-in 'Satyagraha' here by thousands of farmers, on various agrarian issues including loan waiver, entered the second day today. The agitation was going on in a peaceful manner, an official of the city police control room said. The farmers under the banner of Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha (affiliated to the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS)). yesterday launched an indefinite sit-in protest on various agrarian issues including loan waiver, fair and remunerative price, drought relief, electricity bills etc, at Anant Kanhere ground in the city. The farmers are demanding stringent implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), and forest land, pasture land and temple land to be vested in the name of the actual tillers (owners). (Reopens CAL1) A negotiation to solve the displacement as well as other issues of workers engaged with the power plant had concluded without arriving at any decision, triggering the violence, officials said. While one group of villagers under the aegis of Nagrik Chetana Manch went for talks with Inland Power authorities, the second group got involved in ransacking, they said. FIRs were lodged against 91 persons for unleashing violence, attacking government officials and police personnel, police said. Senior police and administrative officials are camping in Gola and keeping a close vigil over the situation. The administration has imposed section 144 of CrPC, Deputy Development Commissioner Sunil Kumar said, adding the situation is under control. Meanwhile, the protesting outfit has called a day-long Gola shutdown to protest the police firing. The only private sector power plant near village Tonagatu under Gola block is a unit of Inland World Logistics and the 63 MW project involves installing two units each. While the first unit was commissioned and started power generation from May 2014, work on the second unit is on and is scheduled to be completed by 2017. The power plant management could not be contacted despite several attempts. (Reopens MES4) Meanwhile, two rounds of talks held tonight by the college management with the striking students failed as the latter stuck to their demand of the Principal's resignation. The students said the management was prepared to keep the Principal away from college activities for this academic year only but was not ready to seek her resignation. This was not acceptable to them, they said, adding, they would intensify their agitation from tomorrow. will invest over Rs 300 crore within 5 years to expand network as it looks to tie up with more states to open labs in government-run hospitals. The company has already entered into partnerships Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh governments to establish labs in government run hospitals in these states. Read more from our special coverage on "SRL DIAGNOSTICS" There is no regulation in diagnostics sector in India: Sanjeev Vashishta "The company is coming up with 150 labs in domestic market and 50 labs in international market in the next five years, which will be an addition to 306 labs that SRL has till now," SRL Ltd Chief Executive Sanjeev Vashishta said in a statement. In order to fund the expansion plan, it has drawn up "an investment of more than Rs 300 crore in next five years". On the partnership with state governments, he said: "The infrastructure development in Indian diagnostic sector is limited and government has realised the need for PPP model to provide affordable and accessible diagnostics to the masses and to fill this existing vacuum." He further said: "We are also looking forward to extend our relationship with other state governments to ensure accurate and quality diagnosis is available to maximum number of people in the country." With plethora of unaccredited labs in these cities, such initiatives will also help raise the benchmark in diagnostic services in tier II and III cities, Vashishta added. In Himachal Pradesh, SRL now operates 24 labs, while in Jharkhand it has set up labs in government hospitals 12 districts in this fiscal. It had recently entered into a partnership with Uttar Pradesh government to establish collection centers in 22 districts to provide over 150 specialised tests. On the overall network expansion, the company said it plans to set up labs in places, including Cuttack, Hubli, Faizabad, Goa, Nashik, Allahabad, Karimganj. In the international market, it is eyeing Congo, Nigeria, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, the company said. An EgyptAir stewardess says the man who hijacked her plane checked passengers' passports to find out who was not an Arab. Rouida Ihab told The Associated Press that the hijacker "wanted the foreigners ... Only foreigners. He didn't want Egyptians or double nationalities." She also says the initial confusion about his identity came about because the hijacker was sitting in a seat that had been assigned to another passenger. Authorities say Seif Eddin Mustafa, a 59-year-old Egyptian, has admitted hijacking a domestic EgyptAir flight yesterday and diverting it to Cyprus by threatening to blow it up with a fake explosives belt. He has been detained in Cyprus. Attracted by mathematician Anand Kumar's pioneering Super 30 initiative, which mentors students from underprivileged sections of the society free of cost for admission to IIT, a famous writer from Sweden has come to Patna to write a book on it. Peter Wennerholm, who spent two years with the Swedish Embassy in India, said he was writing a book on education in India with focus on social innovation. "Super 30 is an inspiring story. I had read about it and got to know how it was making the difference," he said. Wennerholm said the book would deal with innovative practices in educations through social interventions. "I have talked to Kumar and also met the students," he said. "We want to focus on economic condition in the Eastern India and how students from poor families strive for success using education as a tool. Super 30 is a place which helps them realise their dreams, with so many students reaching IITs and now also to Japan. Some of them may also go to US, UK and other countries for higher education," he said. Thanking Wennerholm for proposing to write a book on him, Kumar said : "It feels good to see people from across the world, especially those from developed countries, appreciating my small initiative and coming all the way to Patna to know more about it. It inspires me further." A few months ago, a team from Japan's leading channel, Tokyo TV, had made a documentary on Super 30. Channels from other countries had also visited Patna earlier to capture the essence of Super 30. Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee today flatly rejected a demand from President Bashar al-Assad for any transitional government to include his regime. "International resolutions speak of... The formation of a transitional body with full powers, including presidential powers," HNC senior member Asaad al-Zoabi said, adding "Assad should not remain for even one hour after the formation" of this body. Assad made the demand in an interview published today, saying it would be "logical for there to be independent forces, opposition forces and forces loyal to the government represented" in any transitional body. Amid Tata Steel's plans to exit its loss-making UK business, trade unions asked British Prime Minister David Cameron to save the crisis-ridden sector and demanded nationalisation of the mills. Tata Steel, the second largest steelmaker in Europe, announced plans to sell UK business as it battles to control its "deteriorating financial performance", almost a decade after it bought steel giant Corus for over $14 billion. Commenting on the "uncertain future" of UK, Britain's biggest trade union Unite's General Secretary Len McCluskey today said: "The growing chorus of calls for renationalisation cannot be ignored by the Conservative government." McCluskey said the message must go out now from the Prime Minister that he will take all steps to keep steel plants functioning and people in work. "We are now in the grip of an industrial crisis. Decisions taken in the days to come will determine not just the future of 19,000 workers and their families, across 14 sites, but the very success of this government's own economic programme," he said. This is the time for the government to say categorically that these assets will be taken into safe-keeping because without them the economy will not flourish, McCluskey said. "The unity of voices, from business to government, to say that temporary nationalisation is the way forward must not be ignored. This helped save the Scottish plants. It has ensured that the Ilva plant in Italy survived. It must be deployed for the rest of the Tata operation," he demanded. Community, the largest trade union in UK steel industry, called for an urgent meeting with the British Prime Minister. Its General Secretary Roy Rickhuss, who held extensive talks with Board in the last two days in Mumbai, said the UK is now on the verge of a national crisis. withdrawing completely from the UK risks destroying the entire steel industry. That would be a disaster both for those communities reliant on steel jobs and Britain's entire industrial base, he feared. "Today, I am calling on David Cameron to meet with me urgently to discuss how his government and my union can work together to safeguard future of our steel industry. Community stands ready to play our part in averting that national crisis - the Prime Minister must now stand up and play his role too," he said. Meanwhile, in a joint statement, the UK and Welsh Governments said: "This is a difficult time for workers in Port Talbot and across the UK. During the review process, we remain committed to working with Tata and the unions on a long term sustainable future for British steel making. "Both the Welsh and UK governments are working tirelessly to look at all viable options to keep a strong British steel industry at the heart of our manufacturing base. Three persons including two women were killed and five others injured today when their SUV overturned on Indore-Bhopal road near a petrol pump here, police said. Three persons were killed on the spot when the jeep overturned early this morning near a petrol pump close to Pagaria Ghati on Indore-Bhopal road, Ashta Police Station In-charge, V D Veera said. Probably the driver of the jeep dozed-off while driving which resulted in the mishap, he said. The injured were admitted in the Sehore district hospital, he said. The deceased persons were identified as Naved Kamran, Tanveer Syed and Yasmin Syed, the police official said. The victims belong to Shujalpur town and were returning from Gujarat after taking part in a programme. A case has been registered in this regard and further investigations are on. Tobacco growers today said the implementation of proposed 85 per cent pictorial warnings on tobacco products would be "suicidal" for farmers and will boost illegal trade of cigarettes. The Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA), a non-profit organisation representing the causes of tobacco growers, has urged the Prime Minister to "align policies for graphic health warnings with other tobacco producing countries and safeguard farmer livelihoods under threat due to propaganda by globally funded NGOs." The federation said that implementation of health warnings on tobacco products at 85 per cent of both sides of the pack size would be suicidal for the Indian tobacco farmers. "Increasing the size of the Health Warning to an unreasonably large size of 85 per cent will virtually make all cigarettes unbranded, giving an immediate boost to smuggled & illegal cigarettes since these will not carry or carry very small health warning," the association said in a statement. A Parliamentary panel has termed as "too harsh" the government's proposed 85 per cent pictorial warnings on tobacco products and recommended a drastic reduction in size. The chairman of the Committee on Subordinate Legislations Dilip Gandhi recommended the size of the warnings to be increased from present 40 per cent to 50 per cent. The health ministry's directive is likely to come into effect from April 1 this year. On the Parliamentary panel's recommendation, FAIFA said: "This is discriminatory and will damage farmers immensely. Such a warning size of 50 per cent is also much larger than the average of 20 per cent among the top five tobacco producing countries and the global average warning size of 31 per cent". The top three cigarette consuming countries -- the US, China and Japan -- that account for 51 per cent of global cigarette consumption have only text based warnings (about 30 per cent in size) and have not adopted pictorial warnings, the association said. (Reopens ERG9) Neog said sale of loose cigarettes and other tobacco products also violate section 7 of Cigarettes & Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 2003, which mandates that only tobacco products with specified health warnings can be sold in the country. Dr Deka further said that efforts were made to culturally change the mindset of the people on consumption of tobacco through awareness and sensitisation of the people. Stating it was not easy to totally stop consumption of non-smoking tobacco as it is part of custom in the state, she said, an endeavour was being made for approaching the issue through religious leaders to save lives and prevent future deaths due to tobacco use. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump talks with members of his staff while visiting the Chez Vachon restaurant. Photo: AP/PTI Women who get abortions should receive "some form of punishment," Republican front-runner said today, without indicating specifically what the punishment should be. The comments came in a heated exchange with MSNBC's Chris Matthews during the taping of a town hall in Wisconsin, which holds its primary next week. "There has to be some form of punishment," Trump told Matthews in the exchange over whether abortion should be banned. Pressed by Matthews on the nature of that punishment, Trump responded, "I haven't determined what the punishment should be." Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton quickly responded on Twitter, noting Trump's comments and adding, "Just when you thought it couldn't get worse. Horrific and telling." Trump also described himself as "pro-life with three exceptions," but didn't provide details as to what those exceptions should be. The New York billionaire arrived in Wisconsin fending off another controversy. His campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with misdemeanor battery in Florida yesterday over an altercation with a female reporter earlier this month. Wisconsin's April 5 primary looks pivotal in the Republican race. If Texas Senator Ted Cruz wins, it would narrow Trump's already tight path to the nomination and raise the prospect of a contested party convention. Delegates there might turn to other candidates if the billionaire fails to win on the first ballot. Cruz has picked up support from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a former Republican presidential contender. Trump heads into Wisconsin with 739 delegates to Cruz's 465. Kasich lags behind with 143. Wisconsin has 42 Republican delegates, with 18 going to the statewide winner and 24 divided among the winners in each of the state's eight congressional districts Trump would need 1,237 delegates by the end of the primary season to capture the nomination and avoid a contested convention. All three Republican candidates now say they aren't committing to supporting whomever the party chooses as its nominee for the November election. Shiv Sena today came out strongly against ally BJP over imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand, saying it had "strangulated democracy" in the name of morality and cautioned that this may create instability and anarchy in the country. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party also said that its alliance with BJP in Maharashtra is "temporary and borne out of political compulsion", and there is "no question of morality or immorality" in the tie-up. The Centre had on Sunday brought under President's rule citing a Constitutional breakdown in the wake of a rebellion in the ruling Congress. "The BJP used nine rebel Congress MLAs to bring instability in government," the Sena alleged in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'. "If the government had lost majority, the decision should have been taken in the state Assembly. The Governor had even given time to the government to prove its majority by March 28, but a day before that President's rule was imposed. What did the BJP gain out of it?" it asked. "We are against the corrupt practices of Congress. But, a government in power by democratic means, should be ousted by democratic means only. It will not be long before all this creates instability and anarchy in the country," the junior alliance partner said. "We are not concerned about the Congress losing power. But, as the Opposition parties say, you strangulate democracy? In a democracy, the voice of the Opposition is of paramount importance. A one party rule is worse than emergency or dictatorship. The country will be ruined if the Opposition is eliminated and poison is thrown at allies," it lashed out. The Sena said that the present coalition in Maharashtra was out of political compulsions. "The Sena is with the government because we do not want instability and lawlessness in the state. There is no question of morality or immorality here but this a temporary arrangement borne out of political compulsions," it said. Following the imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand, the Congress had slammed the decision calling it a "murder of democracy" and a "black" day. Meanwhile, the Uttarkhand High Court yesterday ordered a floor test in the Assembly on March 31, giving a new turn to the political developments in the state. For Charles Viva, a UK-based plastic surgeon who has spent decades stitching together the disfigured and burnt bodies of acid attack victims across the globe, often for free, the presence of strong laws act as deterrents against perpetrators of the inhuman crime. Viva, a retired NHS doctor of Sri Lankan origin was here recently with a volunteer team of surgeons and clinicians from the UK chapter of the global NGO Interplast to undertake free reconstructive surgeries on victims of burns and acid attacks. "The effect of acid attacks causes the same amount of trauma to victims in every country be it in India, UK or anywhere else in the world. However, we have very strict laws where if somebody throws acid they are definitely put behind bars for 10 to 15 years. So there is a strong deterrent," says Viva. According to a spokesperson at the W Pratiksha Hospital in Gurgaon, where the surgeries took place, the team from London performed over 30 surgeries on burn, acid and cleft-lip victims from the economically weaker section. The project titled 'Project Revive' received support from the Acid Survivor Foundation of India (ASFI) and the NGO Ritinjali. Among those who were operated upon was 30-year-old Anupama from Bihar, a 7-year-old boy who slipped and fell on acid while playing in his home and others who underwent a free surgery. According to Viva all burns are preventable. "In England we had a good response if we educate not only grown ups but also children we can make a difference," he said. The NGO ASFI had last year launched a Global Trauma Informed Care Kit (TICK), a guidebook of information with emergency phone numbers and pointers on what to do besides information on legal help for survivors. The organisation estimates that the northern part of the country has the highest incidents of acid violence, accounting for 58 per cent of the attacks with the eastern part of the country accounting for 18 per cent, followed by that in the west at 16 per cent and the southern region at 8 per cent. "People should be made aware of the steps in case of attacks. If immediate attention is given to a patient, the results can be better," says Viva. "Patients here who live in remote areas do not have access to proper care but in other countries also the situation is exactly the same because they don't know to deal with it," says Viva. Viva, who has performed surgeries in war-torn Afghanistan, Pakistan and in parts of Africa says the kind of injuries he sees in conflict areas are different than the ones in other areas. "In areas of conflicts we see a lot of injuries, some of which are sustained after stepping on landmines. There are also burns from petrol bombs," says Viva. Acid attacks are often difficult to treat and doctors say that affected area should be cleaned with large amounts of water and acid-soaked clothes should be removed as soon as possible. Searing pain besides scarring and disfigurement are other symptoms that victims have to cope with besides severe psychological and emotional trauma. "Often a patient has to undergo as many as 10 to 15 operations. If immediate attention is given they might not need so many operations," says Viva. Since acid eats up the skin very fast and causes damage to a lot of structures, doctors say it is much too painful to undertake reconstructive surgeries in one go even under anesthesia. Viva says it takes him between 45 minutes to one hour and longer for most operations depending on the nature of injuries. While he often face grim and traumatic stories, the surgeon says sometimes he is surprised by the positivity of his patients. "Once I had a family of nine who had acid thrown on them come to me for treatment. There were two sisters who had lost an eye each in the attack but the entire family was so positive in their approach to life and I learned a lot from them. "Another time we had a 16-year-old acid survivor who was six months pregnant when she lost eyesight after the attack. We worked with an eye surgeon and managed to restore sight back in one eye and she was finally able to see her son. She has helped us create more awareness and helped other people but she had to pay a big prize for it, says Viva. The doctor said he was visiting India after many years, the last trip to the country was to Madhya Pradesh. "People hear about us and they ask us whether we would come and do the procedures for them. We work with volunteers who adjust their annual vacation time to travel to different countries. We do whatever we can for patients. We have been invited to Ranchi next," says the over 80-year-old plastic surgeon. Uttar Pradesh cabinet today approved a 50 per cent hike in the pension given to those who were imprisoned during the Emergency as political prisoners. Loktantra Senanis, people who were put behind bars by Indira Gandhi regime for resisting the Emergency during the 21-month period in 1975-77, are currently given Rs 10,000 as pension. The decision to increase the pension was taken in a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The government order will be effective from April 1, 2016 or its date of issuance, which ever is later, a government spokesman said. The cabinet aslo decided to include 29 Sanskrit secondary schools and degree colleges in the list of institutions eligible for grants, he said. The United States will step up its troop presence in eastern Europe in response to "an aggressive Russia," with continuous rotations of an additional armored brigade beginning in early 2017, the US military said today. The rotations will bring the US Army's presence in Europe to three fully manned combat brigades, the US European Command said. A brigade comprises about 4,200 troops. "This Army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO Allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere," General Philip Breedlove, the top US commander in Europe, said in a statement. "Our allies and partners will see more capability. They will see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernised equipment in their countries," he added. Defence Secretary Ash Carter last month unveiled the Pentagon's proposed budget for next year, which includes USD 3.4 billion -- quadruple last year's amount -- for operations in Europe. The cash will fund the so-called European Reassurance Initiative that aims to deter Russia from carrying out additional land grabs after its 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. "These efforts demonstrate strong alliances and partnerships backed by demonstrated capability, capacity and readiness to deter aggression," Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal said. "We have been clear that we will defend our interests, our allies, and the principles of international order in Europe." The Pentagon's beefed-up European presence means US forces will increase military exercises with ally nations and train with new equipment such as tanks and artillery pieces. Latvian Defence Minister Raimonds Bergmanis said the deployment bears out commitments made by President Barack Obama in a speech in Tallinn in September 2014. "This decision is particularly important after President Obama's statement," Bergmanis said. "Then, the US president said that Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius are just as important to protect as Berlin, Paris and London." The US military has about 62,000 permanently assigned service members in Europe. A group of veterans today came out in open support of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy official arrested by Pakistan on charges of spying, and demanded "strong action" by the government in securing his immediate release and return home. At a press conference, the military veterans even demanded reviewing of all treaties with Pakistan, including the water sharing agreement, to demonstrate such a strong approach. The group, led by AAP MLA Col (retd) Devendra Sehrawat, claimed that Jadhav was "abducted" from Iran by Pakistan's spy agency ISI and was taken to Pakistan. The External Affairs Ministry had yesterday also alleged that he could have been "abducted" from Iran. Sehrawat said veterans across the country will write to President Pranab Mukehrjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to secure his release. Another veteran, Col (retd) Rajesh Bhardwaj claimed the ex-Navy officer was a batch mate of Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore at the National Defence Academy (NDA) academy, Pune. The veterans also said Rathore should also help in facilitating Jadhav's release. Jadhav had been arrested recently in Pakistan, which described him as an officer of the Indian Navy, a claim debunked by the Indian government. India said he had no link with the government since his premature retirement from the Navy. "We are all concerned about his arrest. We all feel that the ISI has conducted a full-scale operation under which he was abducted from Iran and then brought to Pakistan. We have cross-checked this with Iranian officers who had trained with us at the NDA," said Sehrawat. Pakistan armed forces had yesterday released a video purportedly of Jadhav in which he admitted to having been involved in terror activities in Balochistan, a charge rubbished by India. "Jadhav was made to give statements under duress," Sehrawat said. Maj (Retd) T C Rao, another veteran and convenor of the Indian Martyr Foundation, demanded that the Indian government summon the Pakistan High Commissioner and raise the issue with him. "The government needs to put pressure on the Pakistani government to ensure release of Jadhav. We demand that all treaties with Pakistan including the water sharing agreement and trade concessions be reviewed. It also needs to demonstrate a strong action in this case," Sehrawat said. Bharadwaj said he had trained with Jadhav at the NDA. "He was a brave officer of the Indian Navy. It's sad that the government is disowning him now. I have been trained with Jadhav. He was my senior at the NDA. In fact, he and Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore were batch mates at the NDA. He (Rathore) should help in ensuring his release," Bharadwaj added. State-owned Vijaya Bank today said it has raised Rs 500 crore from Tier I bonds to meet Basel III requirement. "In this regard it is further being informed that bank has raised Rs 500 crore of Tier I bonds at a coupon rate of 11.25 per cent per annum from Rural Electrification Corporation," Vijaya Bank said in a statement. The United States and other Western powers believe Iran's recent ballistic missile launches violate UN resolutions, and have asked the Security Council to address the issue. Washington, Paris, London and Berlin said as much in a letter dated Monday to the Spanish ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi, who is in charge of the issue within the council. The same powers last July signed an historic nuclear accord with Tehran to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. The letter obtained by AFP says the missile launches were "destabilizing and provocative" and defied a 2015 UN resolution, number 2231. The resolution includes the terms of the nuclear accord. That agreement lifted most international sanctions imposed on Iran. But it maintained a ban on Iran's launch of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The joint letter said the two kinds of missiles fired by Iran in March (Shahab-3 and Qiam-1) "are inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons." Iran argues that these missiles are not covered by the UN resolution. The four signatories of the letter also called on the Security Council to meet in its so-called 2231 format. This is a procedure established to monitor Iran's nuclear activities since the old sanctions committee was disbanded after the nuclear accord was reached. Diplomats said the meeting was expected to be held Friday. But no firm decisions are expected since Russia refuses to implement new sanctions against its ally Iran. "The goal is to send a message to the Iranians that we are watching," one diplomat said. A closed-door meeting of the Security Council on March 14 failed to yield any consensus. The White House today said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should not be part of any transitional unity government, echoing views from regime opponents inside the war-shattered country. Responding to an interview in which Assad argued his regime should take part in a transitional government, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Assad's own participation would be a "non-starter. The rich natural heritage of the geographically-diverse West Bengal has now become a motif for the Election Commission to attract voters to polling booths. Each of the districts in the state have launched varied election mascots like tiger, red panda, rhinoceros, dolphin or even rivers like Teesta. Sporting a typical white Bengali dhoti is the mannequin of a tiger which is being displayed in various places as mascot of the voter awareness campaign in South 24 Parganas adjoining Kolkata. "We are lucky to have the national animal in our district which is part of the Sundarbans. We thought that tiger is the most appropriate creature which can represent our district and ask voters to exercise their right in a free and just manner in the upcoming Assembly elections," district magistrate Dr P B Salim told PTI. Besides posters and effigies, even men dressed like a tiger can be seen in voter awareness campaigns. The Election Commission had issued instructions to all districts asking them to chose mascots that would be used to spread awareness among voters, deputy Chief Electoral Officer Amitjyoti Bhattacharya said. In the hills of Darjeeling, where the cute little creature can be spotted on tree branches, the administration has made Red Panda as their election mascot. Similarly in Alipurduar district, which houses a number of forests in the Dooars region, rhino is the mascot. Jaldapara National Park which is home to the Asiatic one horned Rhinoceros is part of the district. In Hooghly district, dolphin has been made the symbol of voter awareness. The Gangetic river dolphin is India's national aquatic animal and can be spotted in the river, also known as Hooghly. Jalpaiguri district authorities have chosen Teesta river while South Dinajpur is content with Atri river. Malda, on the other hand, is using its famous Fazli variety of mango to lure voters. Going beyond natural heritage and biodiversity, few districts are also using cultural themes in the campaigns. Howrah district for example has "Bantul the Great", created by renowned comics-writer Narayan Debnath; Nadia has 'Votegopal', imaged out of Gopal Bhar, court jester of Raja Krishnachandra, the medieval king of Nadia. North 24 Parganas is using the famous cartoon character of Micky Mouse, popular among adults and children alike. A couple of districts have also used their own creativity to sketch new characters. Purulia has the fictitious "Voteswar" character while South Dinajpur has also created a fictitious character of 'Votu da'. EC officials said the campaigns have been designed keeping in mind the tastes and preferences of the voters of the district. Maharashtra Governor C H Vidyasagar Rao today said he would ask the state government to accord approval for setting up a medical college in Bhiwandi in the district. "Telugu people have a major share in making of Bhiwandi - a power-loom town. And due to their hard-work and dedication they have become one with Maharashtra," Rao said after inaugurating a guest house constructed by the Akhil Padmashali Samaj at Bhiwandi. Referring to the demand by the members of the community for a medical college for Bhiwandi, the Governor said he would direct the state government to accord sanction for it. "Telugu people had come down to Bhiwandi for running the power-looms and the fact that they have created their own identity is a matter of pride," he added. Among others, Bhiwandi MP Kapil Patil was present on the occasion. Sending out a strong message, Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla today warned she will recommend dissolution of state Waqf boards if they fail to perform duties even as she suggested "blackening" face of a Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA for allegedly encroaching Waqf properties in Bhopal. Addressing inaugural session of 'National Conference of Chairpersons and CEOs of State Waqf Boards' here, Heptulla suggested representatives of Madhya Pradesh Waqf board to organise protest against legislator Arif Aqueel for allegedly grabbing Waqf properties worth Rs 500 crore. The Minister noted "some board members" have encroached upon properties of boards in different states and made a strong pitch for action against them. Heptulla also expressed anguish over representatives of Waqf boards from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and poll-bound Assam not turning up for the conference and accused them of lacking "interest and seriousness" towards issues concerning the communities. "If any Waqf board is not performing (its duties) then I will recommend its dissolution. I will ask Chief Ministers of (respective) state governments to form new Waqf boards as the existing ones are not performing. "If you (state boards representatives) have problems with state governments, let me know. There is nothing to be afraid of," Heptulla said responding to complaints made by a representative of Meghalaya. During the meeting, Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board chairman Shaukat Mohammed Khan accused Aqueel, also a member of the state board, of encroaching upon 34 acre Waqf property. Khan claimed the Bhopal property costs over Rs 500 crore and asked the Centre to press state government for action against the MLA. Responding to the same, Heptulla asked Khan to give his complaint in writing and assured she will take up the matter with state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "See, let me tell you. There are several ways (of dealing against those encroaching/grabbing on properties). One is legal option and the other is Gandhian way. "How many of you have gone there and staged dharna? How many of you staged agitation? This belongs to our communities. These (properties) are our heritage. Why don't you organise people, (against) this man's encroachment? His face should be blackened before public for he has grabbed property worth Rs 500 crore," she said. The Minister asked representative of different boards to "agitate" against wrongdoings and "speak up" on issues troubling them so that solution can be worked out. The US would like to see "deeper bilateral cooperation" with India on nuclear issues, the White House has said, ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit here this week which would be attended by world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We are certainly looking forward to Prime Minister Modi's visit (to attend the summit)," Laura Holgate, Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism and Threat Reduction, said. "We are looking at this opportunity as a chance to highlight steps that India has taken in its own nuclear security to go beyond, perhaps, some of the activities that it has done before. "We really would like to see even deeper bilateral cooperation with India proceed going forward out of the summit. So, I hope that will be something that we can work on more closely going forward," Holgate told journalists at the Washington Foreign Press Centre. In New Delhi before Modi's departure, a senior diplomat said India expects that the summit would contribute further to raising high level awareness of the threat of nuclear terrorism and the need to strengthen international cooperation against terrorists and nuclear traffickers. "We also expect that the summit would help bolster legal, institutional and enforcement measures to strengthen the security of nuclear material, radioactive sources, associated facilities and technologies," said Amandeep Singh Gill, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs). "We also expect the summit to uphold confidence in the safe, secure and safeguarded extension on nuclear power which would be a critical requirement of reaching national and international goals on non-fossil fuel energy," he said. India expects that those who have not done so would sign up to and implement the legally binding instruments related to nuclear security. "The International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its 2005 amendment, and obligatory reporting under the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 which was adopted in 2004 and which has prohibitions and obligations related to non-state actors and export controls," Gill added. The Nuclear Security Summit is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1. Modi, who would lead the Indian delegation, is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow. Tommy Hilfiger enjoyed reflecting on his life and over 30 years in the fashion industry when he wrote his memoir "American Dreamer". The 65-year-old fashion label boss - who launched his self-titled fashion house in 1985 - has found it "interesting" reflecting on his over 30-year career in the fashion industry as he penned the book, reported Women's Wear Daily. "'American Dreamer' is a reflection on my experiences in the fashion industry from the last 30-plus years. It has been incredible to look back on the moments that have defined both my career and my personal life - from my childhood and origins in the fashion world to my enduring passion for pop culture and America. It's been months and months of writing. It's like therapy," he said. The book documents Hilfiger's beginnings in Elmira, New York, in a family of nine children to his first foray into the fashion business with his store The People's Place, bankruptcy at 25 and the creation of his multi-billion dollar brand. In the tome, Hilfiger also discusses his life with his ex-wife Susie - with whom he has four children, Alexandria, 31, Elizabeth, 23, Kathleen, 20, and Ricky, 26 - and current spouse Dee and their young son Sebastian. "American Dreamer", written in collaboration with Peter Knobler, will be released November this year Hilfiger founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation - with support from The Murjani Group - in 1985 and took his company public in 1992 when he launched his signature menswear collection. His classic all-American and preppie-inspired designs turned the brand into a worldwide success and in 1995 he was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. China today termed the recent anonymous letter demanding President Xi Jinping's resignation as an attempt to "sabotage" the country's stability, asserting that such moves are doomed to fail. "Any attempt to sabotage China's stability will be in vain," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a reporters here in the first official comment on the letter which was posted earlier this month on a state-backed website. The anonymous letter, which accused Xi of promoting personality cult, appeared briefly on Wujie Newsofficial website, was written in the name of "loyal Communist Party supporters". While appreciating Xi's sweeping anti-corruption drive, it accused him of promoting "personality cult, not allowing 'rash opinions of central leadership', creating a 'one voice party' method" and disregarding the collective leadership principle. "We make this request out of consideration for the Party cause, out of consideration for the nation and its people-and also out of consideration for your personal safety and that of your family," said the letter published by a host of foreign media outlets. Twenty people including a columnist of the website were detained in connection with the letter to 62-year-old Xi, who is the ruling Communist party Chief and head of the military. The columnist Jia Jia was subsequently released while the fate of 19 others is still not known. The letter created an uproar in the media circles here as the state-run media operates under tightly controlled supervision of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). A well-known Chinese dissident Wen Yunchao living in the US said three members of his family, living in China's Guangdong Province, had also been detained in connection with the letter, the BBC reported. A top journalist at a state-run Chinese newspaper resigned yesterday, complaining of tight official control over the media. Yu Shaolei, an editor at Southern Metropolis Daily, posted a resignation note online, saying he can no longer follow the Communist Party line. Yu, who edited the cultural section of the newspaper, posted a photo of his resignation form on his Sina Weibo microblog account. Under the "reason for resignation" section, he wrote, "Unable to bear your surname". This was in reference to Xi's tour of state media outlets in February when he said journalists must give absolute loyalty to the CPC and "bear the surname of the Party" Chinese media outlets are subject to censorship, with government control tightening in recent years. A youth today allegedly hacked his 65-year-old mother to death following a quarrel at Radheshyam Nagar Chowk in the district. Mukesh Nunia (20) allegedly attacked his mother Hemsari with a sharp weapon following a heated argument over some family matters, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Chandrika Prasad said. The woman died on the spot due to severe injuries on her neck and other parts of the body, he said. The accused has been arrested and the weapon was seized, Prasad said, adding the the body has been sent for post-mortem. By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC oil output is rising in March, a survey found, as higher supply from Iran after the lifting of sanctions and near-record exports from southern Iraq offset maintenance and outages in smaller producers. The survey also found no major change in production in top exporter Saudi Arabia - another sign that Riyadh is serious about freezing output to support prices, which hit a 12-year low near $27 a barrel in January but have since recovered to $40. Producers are meeting on April 17 in Qatar to discuss the plan. "The production freeze has put a floor under the price," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. "We see a risk of a short-term setback if the meeting produces a disappointment." Supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has risen in March to 32.47 million bpd from 32.37 million bpd in February, according to the survey, based on shipping data and information from sources at oil companies, OPEC and consultants. The biggest rise came from Iran following the lifting of Western sanctions in January. Tehran, which wants to recover market share it lost under sanctions, has said it will not take part in the production freeze. Iran has increased output by 230,000 bpd since December, according to surveys. Iranian officials say the increase in supplies is much larger. Iraq, OPEC's largest source of supply growth in 2015, managed to raise output. An increase in southern exports to what may be a new record in March offset disruption to flows along a pipeline carrying oil from the Kurdish region. Angolan exports rose. In countries where output has fallen, the drop was the result of outages and maintenance rather than voluntary restraint. Output declined in the United Arab Emirates, where work on oilfields that produce Murban crude is curbing production. The maintenance will not be completed until April. There was a further decline in Nigeria due to a whole month of disruption to the Forcados crude stream operated by Royal Dutch Shell's local venture, but this was partially offset by higher supply of other grades. Libyan output, already at a fraction of rates seen before the country's civil war, fell due to a power outage. Supply in Venezuela edged lower. Saudi Arabia kept output steady compared with February, sources in the survey said, citing stable to slightly lower exports in March. Saudi production was assessed at 10.18 million bpd versus 10.20 million in February. OPEC production has surged since the group in November 2014 abandoned its historic role of cutting supply alone to prop up prices, in the hope that lower prices would curb the growth of more costly-to-develop competing supply sources. The extra OPEC crude added to a global glut, and this year's output freeze agreement represents the first cooperation on supply policy between OPEC and non-OPEC since 2001. (Editing by Dale Hudson) TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Takata Corp could face about $24 billion in costs to recall its airbag inflators in a worst case scenario, Bloomberg reported, sending its shares tumbling by a fifth to an all-time low. A scenario involving the withdrawal of all airbag inflators made by Takata containing ammonium nitrate - the explosive chemical used in potentially faulty air bags at the centre of a global recall - would affect 287.5 million inflators, Bloomberg quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying. A Takata spokeswoman declined to comment on the report, saying that the company does not disclose global production figures for specific products. The $24 billion figure exceeds by far industry estimates that Takata could face a recall bill of more than $3.5 billion if it is found to be responsible for the defective airbag inflators recalled to date, and dwarfs the company's current assets of about $1.3 billion as of December. Shares in Takata plunged by their daily limit to give the struggling company a market value of just $302 million. More than 50 million airbags around the world have been recalled to replace Takata's inflators, which can explode with too much force and spray metal shards inside vehicles. Globally, 10 deaths have been linked to the issue, mainly in the United States. As many as 120 million Takata airbag inflators containing ammonium nitrate are installed in vehicles on U.S. roads alone. last month reported that U.S. auto safety regulators are examining whether more of the company's inflators will be recalled because they may endanger drivers. The company has already been fined $70 million by U.S. transport authorities. It also faces class action suits in the United States, where the majority of airbag-related injuries occurred. A handful of investigations by Takata, automakers and transport authorities are currently underway to determine the root cause of the inflator defect, and automakers have said they would discuss how to split the cost of the recalls with Takata once the cause is identified. Major automakers including Honda Motor Co Ltd and Toyota Motor Corp have said they will stop using Takata airbag inflators in new vehicle models, and have been sourcing replacement inflators from alternative suppliers. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) By Andy Bruce and Kate Holton PORT TALBOT, Wales/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain battled to save its steel industry on Wednesday after Tata Steel put its British operations up for sale, leaving thousands of jobs at risk as a result of cheap Chinese imports. The move comes less than three months before Britons vote on the country's membership of the European Union in a referendum dominated by concerns about the economy. The government said it was working to broker a deal with potential buyers after Tata Steel sought to end its almost decade-long venture in Britain, which employs 15,000 people but has been hit by high costs and Chinese competition. "This is my fourth time that I've been placed under the threat of redundancy," 51-year-old steelworker and union representative Mark Turner said outside Tata's plant in Port Talbot in Wales, Britain's biggest steel works. "If this shuts, there is nowhere else to go." The move could have an impact on Britain's closely fought June 23 vote over whether to stay in the EU. Britain's eurosceptic media have blamed Brussels for preventing London from taking greater steps to protect the industry and one of the campaign groups hoping to lead Britain out of the EU said it was "killing our steel". But supporters of EU membership said the bloc was not responsible for the industry's plight and that the EU was a big buyer of British steel. Britain's business minister Sajid Javid said he was seeking investors to take over the assets. "There are buyers out there," he said as he cut short a trade trip to Australia to return to Britain. "It might require some kind of government support and we are more than ready to look at all ways that we can provide commercial support." Javid rejected a call from the opposition Labour party for the government to take a stake in the industry. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn travelled to Port Talbot to criticise the government for not responding more strongly to the surge in imports from China. "It seems to me that too many people are not prepared to say to the Chinese government: sorry, your behaviour is not right, not fair, not proper and certainly not within the rules of the World Trade Organisation," he said. Steelmakers in Britain pay some of the highest energy costs and green taxes in the world, which, along with cheap Chinese steel imports, mean it could be hard to find a buyer. Analysts said Tata would likely struggle to find a buyer for the entire UK division but could try to sell it in parts. The sale ramps up pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron's right-leaning Conservative government, which has sought to cultivate closer ties with China. His fate already hangs in the balance over Britain's future in the EU, and his government, which is campaigning for Britain to stay in the bloc, has sought to avoid controversies during the run-up to the vote. However the Conservatives are still resented in Britain's industrial heartlands for the demise of mining and manufacturing under former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. A vital part of the economy through the 19th and 20th centuries, many of Britain's former steel towns have been decimated by the industry's decline since its peak in the 1970s. The Port Talbot plant, which dominates the small coastal town with its giant furnaces, still employs about 4,000 people, and Tata is one of the biggest private companies in Wales. COLLAPSING STEEL Tata Steel's problems in Britain arose almost as soon as it bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2007. Industry bankers said Tata overpaid for Corus at the peak of the market. Despite heavy investment, Tata Steel struggled to compete. Cameron's government has said it is taking measures to help the steel sector but the fundamental problem remains the collapse in the price of steel, caused by overcapacity in China. Britain imported 826,000 tonnes of Chinese steel in 2015, up from 361,000 two years earlier, according to the International Steel Statistic bureau. EU diplomats say that Britain tends to vote against anti-dumping duties due to its free trade approach. Tata Steel is the second-largest steel producer in Europe. It has a crude steel production capacity of over 18 million tonnes per annum in Europe, but only 14 million is operational. Two of its three main European units, Port Talbot and Scunthorpe, are in Britain, with the rest in the Netherlands. Its share price has halved in the past five years over which it wrote down the value of its UK assets by $2.9 billion. of the sale prompted talk amongst industry analysts and bankers of a wider consolidation of the European steel sector. Tata said it was still in talks with investment firm Greybull Capital over the sale of its British long products unit at Scunthorpe. A source close to Greybull said it was unlikely to be interested in the new assets coming to market however. ($1 = 0.6956 pounds) (Additional reporting by Clara Ferreira Marques and Promit Mukherjee in Mumbai and Paul Sandle, Freya Berry and Clara Denina in London. Editing by Stephen Coates, William Schomberg, Peter Graff and Giles Elgood) By Suchitra Mohanty and Devidutta Tripathy NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Embattled tycoon Vijay Mallya has proposed to repay 40 billion rupees ($603 million), less than half of what his defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes to creditor banks who have approached the nation's highest court to recover their dues. Mallya, who left India on March 2 and whose exact whereabouts since then are not known, made the offer on Wednesday to the group of lenders led by State Bank of India to pay the sum by end-September. A lawyer for Mallya also told India's Supreme Court that Kingfisher could pay another 20 billion rupees to banks if it wins a lawsuit seeking damages from a plane engine maker. The lawyer did not give a time frame for that payment, while a spokesman for Mallya's UB Group did not reply to a request for comment on the repayment offer. The court has sought the banks' response within a week to Mallya's proposal. It will hear the case next on April 7. Separately, State Bank of India, the nation's top lender, said it had received an offer for "settlement of dues" on Wednesday, and was examining the offer. Kingfisher, once India's second-biggest airline, ceased operations more than three years ago after a stretch of losses, leaving creditors, suppliers and employees with unpaid dues. As of last November, it owed the group of banks about $1.4 billion including interest and fees. The creditor banks stepped up pressure on Mallya - who gave a personal guarantee for the Kingfisher loan - after he agreed to a $75 million settlement with Britain's Diageo Plc last month to give up his chairmanship and board position at top Indian spirits maker United Spirits Ltd. After stepping down, Mallya said he would spend more time in England where his children live. Once known as the "King of Good Times" for his extravagant lifestyle, Mallya has denied that he had fled India and said he would comply with local laws. Media reports have traced him to the Hertfordshire village of Tewin, north of London, where he owns a house. Mallya's case has taken centre stage at a time when the central bank and the government have begun a crackdown on bank loan defaulters to clean-up the nation's ailing state-run banks. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government had asked banks to go "all out" in their efforts to recover money from Kingfisher. ($1 = 66.3950 rupees) (Reporting by Suchitra Mohanty and Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and David Evans) NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Embattled tycoon Vijay Mallya has proposed to repay 40 billion rupees ($603 million), less than half of what his defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes to creditor banks who have approached the nation's highest court to recover their dues. Mallya, who left the country on March 2 and whose exact whereabouts since then are not known, made the offer on Wednesday to the group of lenders led by State Bank of India to pay the sum by end-September. The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday sought the banks' response within a week to Mallya's proposal. It will hear the case next on April 7. Separately, State Bank of India, the nation's top lender, said it had received an offer for "settlement of dues" and was examining the offer. Kingfisher, once India's second-biggest airline, ceased operations more than three years ago after a stretch of losses, leaving creditors, suppliers and employees with unpaid dues. As of last November, it owed the group of banks about $1.4 billion including interest and fees. A spokesman for Mallya's UB Group did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment on whether 40 billion rupees is all Mallya wants to pay the banks or it is the first installment of repayment. The creditor banks stepped up pressure on Mallya - who gave a personal guarantee for the Kingfisher loan - after he agreed to a $75 million settlement with Britain's Diageo Plc last month to give up his chairmanship and board position at top Indian spirits maker United Spirits Ltd . After stepping down, Mallya said he would spend more time in England where his children live. Once known as the "King of Good Times" for his extravagant lifestyle, Mallya has denied that he had fled India and said he would comply with local laws. Media reports have traced him to the Hertfordshire village of Tewin, north of London, where he owns a house. Mallya's case has taken center stage at a time when the central bank and the government have begun a crackdown on bank loan defaulters to clean-up the nation's ailing state-run banks. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government had asked banks to go "all out" in their effort to recover money from Kingfisher. ($1 = 66.3950 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Suchitra Mohanty and Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Jacqueline Wong) A PR crisis occurs when negative events or reviews threditoraten to impact your brand reputation. Bad PR is likely at some point, but how your company responds can determine how detrimental the impact becomes. These six tips can help you navigate a PR crisis, limit the damage to your brand and emerge the other side unscathed. This article is for small business owners interested in strengthening and protecting their brand reputation. Public relations is a concept every small business has to deal with at some point. From online reviews to general customer satisfaction, if you run a business that has to deal with the public, youre in the public relations business. Part of public relations is effectively dealing with negative news and events related to your business. Accidents happen. Problems pop up. Your business can never be fully safe from potential negative events that could impact your relationship with your customers. Whats important, however, is understanding how to handle these problems when they occur, so you can mitigate damage and ensure your business weathers the PR storm. What is a PR crisis? Most businesses will face a public relations crisis at one time or another. From a string of bad reviews to a serious executive scandal, a negative incident can have a powerful impact on a companys reputation. No one expects you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be human and that shows in the way you handle such instances. A PR crisis is when any negative event or review related to your business gains traction in the public sphere. It could be related to an unhealthy business practice, a customer accident at your location, or an internal, employee-related issue. PR crises are important because they can taint your small businesss image in the minds of your customers. Whats more important to understand about PR crises: You likely cant control their outcome. While there are some strategies you can implement to mitigate damage, once the information is out there, your business is going to have to roll with the punches and do its best to turn a wrong into a right. Example of a PR crisis Two examples of PR crises come from two of Americas most well-known companies: Facebook and Uber. Facebook had to deal with data privacy issues related to Cambridge Analytica, which may have affected the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Uber struggled with internal issues regarding sexual harassment and hostile work environments. In both cases, each company made mistakes that small businesses can learn from. For example, these companies did their best to acknowledge the issue, like when Facebook claimed that something happened, rather than something was done (by them). Or when Uber attempted to pave a smoother path, to move in a new direction, as if solving the issue were that simple. Insincerity is a major concern with these apologies, especially when some of the damage is deeply rooted in discriminatory beliefs and criminal actions. At times, it seems that all these companies are doing is sweeping the issue under the rug and hoping society forgets it ever existed. Key takeaway: A PR crisis threatens your brand reputation and can happen to any company. Sincerity and genuine concern is the best way to respond. What effect does a PR crisis have on your business? While a PR crisiss effect may seem intangible at first, it will definitely affect your business in the long run. Customers and clients want to interact with businesses they trust. If your company is caught in a PR storm, it puts that trust in jeopardy. While at first the issue may seem simple or small, if the PR crisis isnt handled properly, it can grow into a major issue. Facebook is a perfect example. The Cambridge Analytica PR crisis changed the way Americans viewed Facebook. For instance, while over half of Americas teens are using Facebook, it no longer dominates the teen social media landscape. While other technologies and platforms can account for this change, Facebooks data privacy issues play a major role in the companys future relationship with new and existing customers. Key takeaway: PR crises can have a material impact on your ability to do business. Limiting the fallout related to a PR crisis is essential to surviving and rebuilding brand reputation. How to handle a PR crisis Every business should have a PR crisis team and plan in place. Business News Daily asked experts what to do and not to do if your company finds itself in the middle of a PR crisis. Here are six tips to navigate the storm. 1. Appoint a response team Your business should already have a response team in place before a crisis even hits. However, during a controversy, youll want to appoint a response team quickly to ensure the right people are speaking on behalf of your company. Its important that the organization is able to react fast and speak with one voice, which is difficult to achieve when multiple people begin to speak on its behalf, said Evan Nierman, founder of Red Banyan. He said the most effective teams are made of both in-house professionals who have inside knowledge of the company and external experts who can see that situation from a journalistic perspective. Editors note: Looking for the right reputation management service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs. 2. Devise a strategy and brief your team. Protocol is essential to the proper management of your crisis communications efforts. Sabina Gault, CEO of Konnect Public Relations, said each member of your response team should understand their responsibilities and know whether to take a proactive or reactive approach in their media coverage of the incident. Whatever the strategy is, the company must relay protocol to any and all persons who could be approached to speak on their behalf, said Gault. This means informing all employees, stakeholders, board members, etc., of who is to be speaking with [the] media and how they are to direct any inquiries. This will save the company from having to explain comments from any unofficial company representatives later. 3. Craft your message Once you and your team have gathered all the facts about the incident, you should agree on how you will frame your response. Think about the most transparent way to address the situation and what your company has done or will do about it without placing external blame. The best way to handle a crisis is to just be open and honest with your audience, said Joe Culotta, communications manager for the Hispanic Leadership Fund. The sooner you apologize and admit your mistake, the sooner people can forgive you. Also, the faster you handle the problem, the sooner people will stop trashing you on social media. Culotta referred to how Starbucks handled their recent scandal as a prime example of what to do: Apologize right away, take responsibility for the occurrence, and make it clear that it wont happen again. If the company has a large following on social media, make it more personal by having the president or CEO of the company apologizing for their mistake, he said. The more visual you could be, the better. However, in some instances, it may be better not to release a statement, said Bill Pinkel, account director at Reputation Management. Its important to be patient while still being responsive, and not to make too many statements. Often, it is better to say nothing in response to a crisis, he said. In legal situations where an apology is an admission of guilt, an apology wont slow down the blowback from a story. A press release can flood the internet with content on the crisis topic, [which] tells search engines it is a prevalent topic [and] could make cleaning up a companys online reputation more difficult. 4. Identify and address the affected parties You should identify the people who need to know about the situation, such as employees, stakeholders, business partners, customers and the media. Gault noted that the audience will depend on the context of the situation, but regardless of whos receiving your message, you should make sure it is sent out in a timely manner. Pinkel suggested sending messages or a press release to known and friendly press contacts who are likely to portray the story in a fair or favorable light. But media outlets are quick to pick up stories once they break, so you should have prepared statements and press releases ready to go before youre approached by reporters. 5. Monitor the situation Assessing your brands image is especially important following a PR crisis. You will need to keep an eye on inbound and outbound communications to address follow-up questions or concerns. Its necessary to exercise extreme caution and care when dealing with customers and partners, said Morgan Mathis, vice president at Highwire PR. Its important to also track what people are saying about your company online. Companies are at risk of losing 22 percent of their business with just one negative article on the first page of search results, according to Reputation Management. Look at Google images, online review sites, social media platforms and even your own website for any negative, user-generated content. A key component of effective crisis communications is understanding what various audiences and stakeholders are saying about an organization at any given time, said George Sopko, vice president of Stanton. He suggested establishing monitoring systems that quickly uncover negative trends before they become a bigger problem and migrate to the media. Sopko also recommended monitoring the companys brand and crisis keywords, influencers and competitors. 6. Review and learn from the situation Once the crisis is over, Nierman suggests conducting a post-action review. Look at how well your staff and management handled the situation, he said. Discuss what could have been done differently and what changes are necessary to prevent a similar situation. In an infographic on the topic, Reputation Management recommended focusing on recovering your credibility after a crisis. Shift the conversation to positive news from your brand. Key takeaway: When a PR crisis occurs, devise a strategy and adhere to it. Address the problem sincerely and own responsibility. Implement actionable solutions and continue to learn from the incident. What not to do during a PR crisis When creating and executing your media-response strategy, our expert sources warned against the following tactics. Lashing out Even if the opposing party has said something completely false about your company, it is never a good idea to respond negatively or blame the complainant for the situation, Mathis said. You need to think strategically and put any emotions on the back burner, she added. Offering no comment Not having answers to potential questions is the worst thing you can do during a crisis, said Nierman. But, sometimes, you truly cant give a good answer with the information you presently have. While using no comment is better than making something up just to give an answer (which our sources agreed is never the right choice), its easy to see how this phrase can be misconstrued as trying to cover up or avoid an issue. If you dont have enough information to give a solid response, say so, and assure the person asking that you will issue a statement when you have more details. Responding too quickly or too slowly Handling a PR crisis is all about timing. You dont want to give a premature response before you have all the facts, Gault said. Having to backtrack or contradict previous statements later could further damage your reputation. Delaying your response time wont do you any favors either. Dwelling on the situation Mathis reminded business owners that the news cycle is short, and the situation will almost certainly blow over. A period of bad press is often just a hiccup on your path to success you shouldnt let it completely distract you from running your business. People can forgive and forget your mistake, but they wont forget how you conducted yourself in the process, she said. Always remember to use good taste, no matter how bad [the outlook] seems, Mathis said. Its important to handle the situation the right way. Key takeaway: Do not lash out and blame others. Address the situation by responding in a measured, sincere way. Move on from the incident and learn from it. Additional reporting by Matt DAngelo, Saige Driver and Nicole Fallon. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article. You want to make sure you prepare thoroughly before starting a business, but realize that things will almost certainly go awry. To run a successful business, you must adapt to changing situations. Conducting in-depth market research on your field and the demographics of your potential clientele is an important part of crafting a business plan. This involves running surveys, holding focus groups, and researching SEO and public data. Before you start selling your product or service, you need to build up your brand and get a following of people who are ready to jump when you open your doors for business. This article is for entrepreneurs who want to learn the basics steps of starting a new business. Tasks like naming the business and creating a logo are obvious, but what about the less-heralded, equally important steps? Whether its determining your business structure or crafting a detailed marketing strategy, the workload can quickly pile up. Rather than spinning your wheels and guessing at where to start, follow this 10-step checklist to transform your business from a lightbulb above your head to a real entity. How to start a small business 1. Refine your idea. If youre thinking about starting a business, you likely already have an idea of what you want to sell online, or at least the market you want to enter. Do a quick search for existing companies in your chosen industry. Learn what current brand leaders are doing and figure out how you can do it better. If you think your business can deliver something other companies dont (or deliver the same thing, only faster and cheaper), or youve got a solid idea and are ready to create a business plan. Define your why. In the words of Simon Sinek, always start with why,' Glenn Gutek, CEO of Awake Consulting and Coaching, told Business News Daily. It is good to know why you are launching your business. In this process, it may be wise to differentiate between [whether] the business serves a personal why or a marketplace why. When your why is focused on meeting a need in the marketplace, the scope of your business will always be larger than a business that is designed to serve a personal need. Consider franchising. Another option is to open a franchise of an established company. The concept, brand following and business model are already in place; all you need is a good location and the means to fund your operation. Brainstorm your business name. Regardless of which option you choose, its vital to understand the reasoning behind your idea. Stephanie Desaulniers, owner of Business by Dezign and former director of operations and womens business programs at Covation Center, cautions entrepreneurs against writing a business plan or brainstorming a business name before nailing down the ideas value. Clarify your target customers. Desaulniers said too often people jump into launching their business without spending time to think about who their customers will be and why would want to buy from them or hire them. You need to clarify why you want to work with these customers do you have a passion for making peoples lives easier? Desaulniers said. Or enjoy creating art to bring color to their world? Identifying these answers helps clarify your mission. Third, you want to define how you will provide this value to your customers and how to communicate that value in a way that they are willing to pay. TIP: To refine your business idea, identify your why, your target customers and your business name. During the ideation phase, you need to iron out the major details. If the idea isnt something youre passionate about or if theres not a market for your creation, it might be time to brainstorm other ideas. 2. Write a business plan. Once you have your idea in place, you need to ask yourself a few important questions: What is the purpose of your business? Who are you selling to? What are your end goals? How will you finance your startup costs? These questions can be answered in a well-written business plan. A lot of mistakes are made by new businesses rushing into things without pondering these aspects of the business. You need to find your target customer base. Who is going to buy your product or service? If you cant find evidence that theres a demand for your idea, then what would be the point? Free download: Here is our business plan template you can use to plan and grow your business. Conduct market research. Conducting thorough market research on your field and demographics of potential clientele is an important part of crafting a business plan. This involves conducting surveys, holding focus groups, and researching SEO and public data. Market research helps you understand your target customer their needs, preferences and behavior as well as your industry and competitors. Many small business professionals recommend gathering demographic information and conducting a competitive analysis to better understand opportunities and limitations within your market. The best small businesses have products or services that are differentiated from the competition. This has a significant impact on your competitive landscape and allows you to convey unique value to potential customers. Consider an exit strategy. Its also a good idea to consider an exit strategy as you compile your business plan. Generating some idea of how youll eventually exit the business forces you to look to the future. Too often, new entrepreneurs are so excited about their business and so sure everyone everywhere will be a customer that they give very little, if any, time to show the plan on leaving the business, said Josh Tolley, CEO of both Shyft Capital and Kavana. When you board an airplane, what is the first thing they show you? How to get off of it. When you go to a movie, what do they point out before the feature begins to play? Where the exits are. Your first week of kindergarten, they line up all the kids and teach them fire drills to exit the building. Too many times I have witnessed business leaders that dont have three or four predetermined exit routes. This has led to lower company value and even destroyed family relationships. A business plan helps you figure out where your company is going, how it will overcome any potential difficulties and what you need to sustain it. When youre ready to put pen to paper, these free templates can help. 3. Assess your finances. Starting any business has a price, so you need to determine how youre going to cover those costs. Do you have the means to fund your startup, or will you need to borrow money? If youre planning to leave your current job to focus on your business, do you have money put away to support yourself until you make a profit? Its best to find out how much your startup costs will be. Many startups fail because they run out of money before turning a profit. Its never a bad idea to overestimate the amount of startup capital you need, as it can be a while before the business begins to bring in sustainable revenue. Perform a break-even analysis. One way you can determine how much money you need is to perform a break-even analysis. This is an essential element of financial planning that helps business owners determine when their company, product or service will be profitable. The formula is simple: Fixed Costs (Average Price Variable Costs) = Break-Even Point Every entrepreneur should use this formula as a tool because it informs you about the minimum performance your business must achieve to avoid losing money. Furthermore, it helps you understand exactly where your profits come from, so you can set production goals accordingly. Here are the three most common reasons to conduct a break-even analysis: Determine profitability. This is generally every business owners highest interest. Ask yourself: How much revenue do I need to generate to cover all my expenses? Which products or services turn a profit, and which ones are sold at a loss? Price a product or service. When most people think about pricing, they consider how much their product costs to create and how competitors are pricing their products. Ask yourself: What are the fixed rates, what are the variable costs, and what is the total cost? What is the cost of any physical goods? What is the cost of labor? Analyze the data. What volumes of goods or services do you have to sell to be profitable? Ask yourself: How can I reduce my overall fixed costs? How can I reduce the variable costs per unit? How can I improve sales? Watch your expenses. Dont overspend when starting a business. Understand the types of purchases that make sense for your business and avoid overspending on fancy new equipment that wont help you reach your business goals. Monitor your business expenses to ensure you are staying on track. A lot of startups tend to spend money on unnecessary things, said Jean Paldan, founder and CEO of Rare Form New Media. We worked with a startup that had two employees but spent a huge amount on office space that would fit 20 people. They also leased a professional high-end printer that was more suited for a team of 100; it had key cards to track who was printing what and when. Spend as little as possible when you start, and only on the things that are essential for the business to grow and be a success. Luxuries can come when youre established. Consider your funding options. Startup capital for your business can come from various means. The best way to acquire funding for your business depends on several factors, including creditworthiness, the amount needed and available options. Business loans. If you need financial assistance, a commercial loan through a bank is a good starting point, although these are often difficult to secure. If you are unable to take out a bank loan, you can apply for a small business loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) or an alternative lender. [Read related article: Best Alternative Small Business Loans] Business grants. Business grants are similar to loans; however, they do not need to be paid back. Business grants are typically very competitive, and come with stipulations that the business must meet to be considered. When trying to secure a small business grant, look for ones that are uniquely specific to your situation. Options include minority-owned business grants, grants for women-owned businesses and government grants. Investors. Startups requiring significant funding upfront may want to bring on an investor. Investors can provide several million dollars or more to a fledgling company, with the expectation that the backers will have a hands-on role in running your business. Crowdfunding. Alternatively, you could launch an equity crowdfunding campaign to raise smaller amounts of money from multiple backers. Crowdfunding has helped numerous companies in recent years, and there are dozens of reliable crowdfunding platforms designed for different types of businesses. You can learn more about each of these capital sources and more in our guide to startup finance options. Editors note: Looking for a small business loan? Fill out the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs. Choose the right business bank. When youre choosing a business bank, size matters. Marcus Anwar, co-founder of OhMy Canada, recommends smaller community banks because they are in tune with the local market conditions and will work with you based on your overall business profile and character. Theyre unlike big banks that look at your credit score and will be more selective to loan money to small businesses, Anwar said. Not only that, but small banks want to build a personal relationship with you and ultimately help you if you run into problems and miss a payment. Another good thing about smaller banks is that decisions are made at the branch level, which can be much quicker than big banks, where decisions are made at a higher level. Anwar believes that you should ask yourself these questions when choosing a bank for your business: What is important to me? Do I want to build a close relationship with a bank thats willing to help me in any way possible? Do I want to be just another bank account, like big banks will view me as? Ultimately, the right bank for your business comes down to your needs. Writing down your banking needs can help narrow your focus to what you should be looking for. Schedule meetings with various banks and ask questions about how they work with small businesses to find the best bank for your business. [Read related article: Business Bank Account Checklist: Documents Youll Need] Key takeaway: Financially, you will want to perform a break-even analysis, consider your expenses and funding options, and choose the right bank for your business. 4. Determine your legal business structure. Before you can register your company, you need to decide what kind of entity it is. Your business structure legally affects everything from how you file your taxes to your personal liability if something goes wrong. Sole proprietorship. If you own the business entirely by yourself and plan to be responsible for all debts and obligations, you can register for a sole proprietorship. Be warned that this route can directly affect your personal credit. If you own the business entirely by yourself and plan to be responsible for all debts and obligations, you can register for a sole proprietorship. Be warned that this route can directly affect your personal credit. Partnership. Alternatively, a business partnership, as its name implies, means that two or more people are held personally liable as business owners. You dont have to go it alone if you can find a business partner with complementary skills to your own. Its usually a good idea to add someone into the mix to help your business flourish. Alternatively, a business partnership, as its name implies, means that two or more people are held personally liable as business owners. You dont have to go it alone if you can find a business partner with complementary skills to your own. Its usually a good idea to add someone into the mix to help your business flourish. Corporation. If you want to separate your personal liability from your companys liability, you may want to consider forming one of several types of corporations (e.g., S corporation, C corporation or B corporation). Although each type of corporation is subject to different guidelines, this legal structure generally makes a business a separate entity from its owners, and, therefore, corporations can own property, assume liability, pay taxes, enter contracts, sue and be sued like any other individual. Corporations, especially C corporations, are especially suitable for new businesses that plan on going public or seeking funding from venture capitalists in the near future, said Deryck Jordan, managing attorney at Jordan Counsel. If you want to separate your personal liability from your companys liability, you may want to consider forming one of several types of corporations (e.g., S corporation, C corporation or B corporation). Although each type of corporation is subject to different guidelines, this legal structure generally makes a business a separate entity from its owners, and, therefore, corporations can own property, assume liability, pay taxes, enter contracts, sue and be sued like any other individual. Corporations, especially C corporations, are especially suitable for new businesses that plan on going public or seeking funding from venture capitalists in the near future, said Deryck Jordan, managing attorney at Jordan Counsel. Limited liability company. One of the most common structures for small businesses is the limited liability company (LLC). This hybrid structure has the legal protections of a corporation while allowing for the tax benefits of a partnership. Ultimately, it is up to you to determine which type of entity is best for your current needs and future business goals. Its important to learn about the various legal business structures available. If youre struggling to make up your mind, its not a bad idea to discuss the decision with a business or legal advisor. Did You Know: You need to choose a legal structure for your business, such as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or LLC. 5. Register with the government and IRS. You will need to acquire a variety of business licenses before you can legally operate your business. For example, you need to register your business with federal, state and local governments. There are several documents you must prepare before registering. Articles of incorporation and operating agreements To become an officially recognized business entity, you must register with the government. Corporations need an articles of incorporation document, which includes your business name, business purpose, corporate structure, stock details and other information about your company. Similarly, some LLCs will need to create an operating agreement. Doing business as (DBA) If you dont have articles of incorporation or an operating agreement, you will need to register your business name, which can be your legal name, a fictitious DBA name (if you are the sole proprietor), or the name youve come up with for your company. You may also want to take steps to trademark your business name for extra legal protection. Most states require you to get a DBA. If youre in a general partnership or a proprietorship operating under a fictitious name, you may need to apply for a DBA certificate. Its best to contact or visit your local county clerks office and ask about specific requirements and fees. Generally, there is a registration fee involved. Employer identification number (EIN) After you register your business, you may need to get an employer identification number from the IRS. While this is not required for sole proprietorships with no employees, you may want to apply for one anyway to keep your personal and business taxes separate, or simply to save yourself the trouble later if you decide to hire someone. The IRS has provided a checklist to determine whether you will require an EIN to run your business. If you do need an EIN, you can register online for free. Income tax forms You also need to file certain forms to fulfill your federal and state income tax obligations. The forms you need are determined by your business structure. You will need to check your states website for information on state-specific and local tax obligations. You might be tempted to wing it with a PayPal account and social media platform, but if you start with a proper foundation, your business will have fewer hiccups to worry about in the long run, said Natalie Pierre-Louis, licensed attorney and owner of NPL Consulting. Federal, state, and local licenses and permits Some businesses may also require federal, state or local licenses and permits to operate. The best place to obtain a business license is at your local city hall. You can then use the SBAs database to search for licensing requirements by state and business type. Businesses and independent contractors in certain trades are required to carry professional licenses. One example of a professional business license is a commercial drivers license (CDL). Individuals with a CDL are allowed to operate certain types of vehicles, such as buses, tank trucks and tractor-trailers. A CDL is divided into three classes: Class A, Class B and Class C. You should also check with your city and state to find out if you need a sellers permit that authorizes your business to collect sales tax from your customers. A sellers permit goes by numerous names, including resale permit, resell permit, permit license, reseller permit, resale ID, state tax ID number, reseller number, reseller license permit or certificate of authority. Its important to note that these requirements and names vary from state to state. You can register for a sellers permit through the state government website of the state(s) youre doing business in. Jordan says that not all businesses need to collect sales tax (or obtain a sellers permit). For example, New York sales tax generally is not required for the sale of most services (such as professional services, education, and capital improvements to real estate), medicine or food for home consumption, Jordan said. So, for example, if your business only sells medicine, you do not need a New York sellers permit. But New York sales tax must be collected in conjunction with the sale of new tangible personal goods, utilities, telephone service, hotel stays, and food and beverages (in restaurants). Key takeaway: Register key documents like articles of incorporation or an operating agreement, a DBA, an EIN, income tax forms, and other applicable licenses and permits. 6. Purchase an insurance policy. It might slip your mind as something youll get around to eventually, but purchasing the right insurance for your business is an important step to take before you officially launch. Dealing with incidents such as property damage, theft or even a customer lawsuit can be costly, and you need to be sure that youre properly protected. Although you should consider several types of business insurance, there are a few basic insurance plans that most small businesses can benefit from. For example, if your business will have employees, you will at least need to purchase workers compensation and unemployment insurance. You may also need other types of coverage, depending on your location and industry, but most small businesses are advised to purchase general liability (GL) insurance, or a business owners policy. GL covers property damage, bodily injury, and personal injury to yourself or a third party. If your business provides a service, you may also want to consider professional liability insurance. It covers you if you do something wrong or neglect to do something you should have done while operating your business. 7. Build your team. Unless youre planning to be your only employee, youre going to need to recruit and hire a great team to get your company off the ground. Joe Zawadzki, CEO and founder of MediaMath, said entrepreneurs need to give the people element of their businesses the same attention they give their products. Your product is built by people, Zawadzki said. Identifying your founding team, understanding what gaps exist, and [determining] how and when you will address them should be top priority. Figuring out how the team will work together is equally important. Defining roles and responsibility, division of labor, how to give feedback, or how to work together when not everyone is in the same room will save you a lot of headaches down the line. 8. Choose your vendors. Running a business can be overwhelming, and you and your team probably arent going to be able to do it all on your own. Thats where third-party vendors come in. Companies in every industry from HR to business phone systems exist to partner with you and help you run your business better. When youre searching for B2B partners, youll have to choose carefully. These companies will have access to vital and potentially sensitive business data, so its critical to find someone you can trust. In our guide to choosing business partners, our expert sources recommend asking potential vendors about their experience in your industry, their track record with existing clients and what kind of growth theyve helped other clients achieve. Not every business will need the same type of vendors, but there are common products and services that almost every business will need. Consider the following functions that are a neccessity for any type of business. Taking payments from customers: Offering multiple payment options will ensure you can make a sale in whatever format is easiest for target customer. Youll need to compare options are find the right credit card processing provider to ensure youre getting the best rate for your type of business. Managing finances: Many business owners can manager their own accounting functions when starting their business, but as your business grows you can save time by hiring an accountant, or comparing accounting software providers. 9. Brand yourself and advertise. Before you start selling your product or service, you need to build up your brand and get a following of people ready to jump when you open your literal or figurative doors for business. Company website. Take your reputation online and build a company website. Many customers turn to the internet to learn about a business, and a website is digital proof that your small business exists. It is also a great way to interact with current and potential customers. Take your reputation online and build a company website. Many customers turn to the internet to learn about a business, and a website is digital proof that your small business exists. It is also a great way to interact with current and potential customers. Social media. Use social media to spread the word about your new business, perhaps as a promotional tool to offer coupons and discounts to followers once you launch. The best social media platforms to utilize will depend on your target audience. Use social media to spread the word about your new business, perhaps as a promotional tool to offer coupons and discounts to followers once you launch. The best social media platforms to utilize will depend on your target audience. CRM. The best CRM software solutions allow you to store customer data to to improve how you market to them. A well-thought-out email marketing campaign can do wonders for reaching customers and communicating with your audience. To be successful, you will want to strategically build your email marketing contact list. The best CRM software solutions allow you to store customer data to to improve how you market to them. A well-thought-out email marketing campaign can do wonders for reaching customers and communicating with your audience. To be successful, you will want to strategically build your email marketing contact list. Logo. Create a logo that can help people easily identify your brand, and be consistent in using it across all of your platforms. Also, keep these digital assets up to date with relevant, interesting content about your business and industry. According to Ruthann Bowen, chief marketing officer at EastCamp Creative, too many startups have the wrong mindset about their websites. The issue is they see their website as a cost, not an investment, Bowen said. In todays digital age, thats a huge mistake. The small business owners who understand how critical it is to have a great online presence will have a leg up on starting out strong. Creating a marketing plan that goes beyond your launch is essential to building a clientele by continually getting the word out about your business. This process, especially in the beginning, is just as important as providing a quality product or service. Ask customers to opt in to your marketing communications. As you build your brand, ask your customers and potential customers for permission to communicate with them. The easiest way to do this is by using opt-in forms. These are forms of consent given by web users, authorizing you to contact them with further information about your business, according to Dan Edmonson, founder and CEO of Dronegenuity. These types of forms usually pertain to email communication and are often used in e-commerce to request permission to send newsletters, marketing material, product sales, etc. to customers, Edmonson said. Folks get so many throwaway emails and other messages these days that, by getting them to opt in to your services in a transparent way, you begin to build trust with your customers. Opt-in forms are a great starting point for building trust and respect with potential customers. Even more importantly, these forms are required by law. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 sets requirements for commercial email by the Federal Trade Commission. This law doesnt just apply to bulk email; it covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service. Each email in violation of this law is subject to fines of more than $40,000. TIP: Create a strategic marketing campaign that combines various marketing channels, like a company website, social media, email newsletters and opt-in forms. 10. Grow your business. Your launch and first sales are only the beginning of your task as an entrepreneur. To make a profit and stay afloat, you always need to be growing your business. Its going to take time and effort, but youll get out of your business what you put into it. Collaborating with more established brands in your industry is a great way to achieve growth. Reach out to other companies and ask for some promotion in exchange for a free product sample or service. Partner with a charity organization, and volunteer some of your time or products to get your name out there. While these tips will help launch your business and get you set to grow, theres never a perfect plan. You want to make sure you prepare thoroughly for starting a business, but things will almost certainly go awry. To run a successful business, you must adapt to changing situations. Free download: Weve created a sales plan template you can use to scale customer acquisition. Be prepared to adjust, said Stephanie Murray, founder of Fiddlestix Party + Supply. Theres a saying in the military that no plan survives the first contact, meaning that you can have the best plan in the world, but as soon as its in action, things change, and you have to be ready and willing to adapt and problem-solve quickly. As an entrepreneur, your value lies in solving problems, whether that is your product or service solving problems for other people or you solving problems within your organization. FAQs about starting a business How can I start my own business with no money? You can launch a successful business without any startup funds. Work on a business idea that builds on your skill set to offer something new and innovative to the market. While developing a new business, keep working in your current position (or day job) to reduce the financial risk. Once youve developed your business idea and youre ready to start on a business plan, youll need to get creative with funding. You can raise money through investments by pitching your idea to financial backers. You could also gather funding through crowdsourcing platforms like Kickstarter, or set aside a certain amount of money from your weekly earnings to put toward a new business. Finally, you can seek out loan options from banks and other financial institutions as a way to get your company up and running. What is the easiest business to start? The easiest business to start is one that requires little to no financial investment upfront, nor should it require extensive training to learn the business. One of the easiest types of new business to launch is a dropshipping company. Dropshipping requires no inventory management, saving you the hassle of buying, storing and tracking stock. Instead, another company will fulfill your customer orders at your behest. This company will manage the inventory, package goods, and ship out your business orders. To get started, you can create an online store by selecting curated products from the catalog available through partners. When is the best time to start a business? Each persons ideal timeline for starting a new business will be different. First and foremost, you should start a business when you have enough time to devote your attention to the launch. If you have a seasonal product or service, then you want to start your business a quarter before your predicted busy time of the year. For nonseasonal companies, spring and fall are popular times of years to launch. Winter is the least popular launch season, because many new owners prefer to have their LLC or corporation approved for a new fiscal year. Skye Schooley contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article. Voting has gotten underway to elect the 15th President of the Irish Farmers Association. Voting got underway in IFA branches across the country last night and will conclude on Friday, April 15th. There are 947 branches in total. Over 60 branches will vote tonight. They include: Bere Island (West Cork), Valentia Island (Kerry), Churchill-Glenswilly (Donegal), Ballyragget (Kilkenny), Drumshanbo (Leitrim), Achill Island (Mayo), Strokestown (Roscommon) and Boolavogue (Wexford). The National Count will take place in the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin on Tuesday, April 19th. The next President of the Irish Farmers Association will take up office immediately and the AGM will be be held on Wed, April 27th in the Irish Farm Centre. IFA National Returning Officer Jer Bergin says, "The IFA election is unique as it allows every member the chance to hear what candidates are offering, and then they have a vote in the national contest. This years election will be run on one member one vote. The final debate takes place in Offaly tomorrow night." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us UK-based SME finance specialist, BMS Finance, have today announced the launch of a dedicated 30 million fund to provide growth capital to SMEs in the Irish market. BMS focuses on supporting entrepreneur and owner managed businesses but will also look at venture capital or private equity backed businesses. The fund will be sector agnostic but will not be seeking property or property development investments. It will provide debt finance to high-growth Irish SMEs for working capital, contract wins, capital expenditure, acquisitions and MBOs. BMS Finance Ireland is backed by investors including the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. Finance will be provided on a senior secured basis, without the need for personal guarantees or personal security. Loan sizes ranging from 0.5 million to 5.0 million will be considered with the focus on loans from 1.0 million to 3.0 million. BMS Finance Ireland will complement BMS's existing UK fund, which is backed by the British Business Bank and provides similar finance to UK-based SMEs. BMS intends to open an office in Dublin to support the new fund and has identified a number of key hires which will be announced in the near future. Director of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Eugene OCallaghan said, "Our market research has shown that early stage Irish SMEs and those with limited available collateral often struggle to raise terms loans in the 1m to 3m range." He added, "This investment demonstrates the Ireland Strategic Investment Funds ability to attract an experienced manager and co-investors into the Irish market to provide a product that addresses this financing gap." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us The latest CSO data released today shows that the number of overseas visits to Ireland between December 2015 and February 2016 increased by 17.1% compared to the corresponding period of 2014/2015. The data shows that North America was up by 13%, visits from Mainland Europe were up by 14.4%, Great Britain registered an increase of 21.2% and visits from the rest of the world increased by 8.8%. CEO of Failte Ireland, Shaun Quinn today commented, "While this visitor data relates to a small share of the overall season, it is nonetheless very encouraging, particularly when combined with industry reports of strong trading over both the St Patrick's Festival and the Easter period." Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring added, "Further positive data in relation to our visit numbers is very encouraging for the tourism sector. I am sure that the visitors we have welcomed so far this year have enjoyed everything that we have to offer, including, most recently, the St. Patricks Festival which started the tourism season in spectacular style. Our tourism industry has an exciting range of festivals and events lined up for visitors to experience for the remainder of the year." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us It was announced today that Bristol-Myers Squibb have collaborated with the National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) in Dublin to establish a process science and technology laboratory that will strengthen productivity of manufacturing processes for biologicals. The new lab will house a team of 12 Bristol-Myers Squibb scientists who will advance complex bioprocesses used to produce BMSs biologics products and benefit from close collaboration with the scientific staff at the NIBRT. The laboratory is expected to be operational by June 2016. The collaboration comes ahead of Bristol-Myers Squibbs plans to open a new 900 million state-of-the-art, large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in Cruiserath, County Dublin, near Blanchardstown that will produce multiple therapies for the companys growing Immuno-Oncology portfolio. The manufacturing facility is estimated to be operational in 2019. The Cruiserath facility, which will employ up to 400 skilled science, professional and technical staff, will produce multiple therapies for the companys growing biologics and diversified specialty medicines portfolio. 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. They employ 25,000 people worldwide, including 550 in Ireland. The National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training, NIBRT, is a world-class institute, delivering training and research solutions for the global biopharmaceutical industry. Partnering with all higher education institutes as well as industry, NIBRTs state of the art training facility supports international best practice in biologics operations. President of Global Manufacturing & Supply at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lou Schmukler today commented, "Bristol-Myers Squibb has a robust and growing portfolio of approved and investigational biologic medicines across multiple therapeutic areas, and NIBRTs facilities and training capabilities will provide innovative and state-of-the-art support for our Cruiserath facility." He added, "Our people and operations in Ireland are integral to helping Bristol-Myers Squibb deliver innovative medicines to our patients around the world." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us It was announced yesterday that some of Irelands most creative minds will compete at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June. The Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI) is the official representative for Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Ireland. To qualify for the event, young people working in ad agencies were asked to create a campaign for 2016 charity partner Peter McVerry Trust. This year, the Young Lions film winners will get the opportunity to work with Oscar nominated Director of Room, Lennie Abrahamson, who will shoot the winning script from the new Young Lions film category. The winning campaign will be shot by top commercial production company Pull the Trigger before being aired in Irish cinemas later this year. Ireland will have three Young Lions teams, six young professionals, competing against the best young advertising talent in the world. This is the largest number of young creatives Ireland will have competing at Cannes Young Lions to date. The winning teams from the three categories are: Film Young Lions: Laura Halpin and Ronan Jennings from Havas Worldwide Dublin Cyber: Ciara Harrison from Carat and Johanna Molloy from Vocal Media: David Thompson and David Wright from Starcom Film Director, Lenny Abrahamson commented, "As a big admirer of the Peter McVerry Trust, Im delighted to be involved in this project to highlight the homelessness crisis in Ireland, and the very practical, positive solutions that PMVT provide." He added, "Advertising was a big part of my development as a film maker. The opportunity to try new technologies, push performances, and squeeze a narrative into 30 seconds was a great training ground. There is an additional pleasure with this film, in helping young creatives in Ireland move forward in their careers, representing the best of our emerging local talent on a world stage, at Cannes Young Lions." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us It was announced today that Regatta Great Outdoors will officially opened a new store at MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre in Kilkenny. This new move will create six new jobs in the store plus two new regional staff to support their growing estate of stores. The store is the first of several planned store openings this year. CEO of the Kilkenny Chamber, John Hurley today welcomed the news, "We are delighted to have Regatta joining the many excellent retail stores in MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre. We feel Regatta will add to the diversity and choice of stores within the centre and we hope to continue to build Kilkennys perception as a go to shopping city." Regatta Ireland Director, Brian Fox added, "We are delighted to recently open our seventh standalone store in MacDonagh Junction and hope to attract new footfall to the shopping centre as well as creating jobs in the vibrant city of Kilkenny. With plans to open three more stores in the first half of this year we are expecting retail growth for Regatta and the creation of more jobs within Ireland." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us Ryanair yesterday called on the European Commission to take action to prevent the skies over Europe being closed by French ATC unions. They claim that the European Commissions failure to prevent these repeated cancellations makes a "mockery" of the single European market and Commissioner Junckers claims about making Europe competitive. Ryanair have also called on the European Court to reverse its previous rulings that EU airlines must pay out to passengers in such cases of ATC strikes which airlines have no control over and yet by law, cannot recover these sums from French ATC unions. Ryanairs CMO Kenny Jacobs said, "Its time for the European Commission to act to protect the interests of Europes passengers who are frequently held to ransom by the French ATC union. "You cannot have an effective single market in Europe but then allow a tiny French union to close down half the skies over Europe, causing hundreds of thousands of passenger flights to be cancelled or delayed, when these passengers cannot be re-accommodated because all other flights are heavily booked during the peak Easter holiday period." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us Twenty-First Century Fox Inc is interested in acquiring a minority stake in Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, the New York Post reported, citing sources. Viacom has so far given Fox the cold shoulder, the newspaper said on Wednesday. Twenty-First Century Fox and Viacom could not immediately be reached for comment. Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said in February the company was considering selling a "significant" minority stake in its Paramount Pictures movie studio. Earlier this month Dauman said that Viacom had received interest from three dozen companies for the stake. Hollywood studio DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc also said this month it would be interested in a merger with Paramount Pictures. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie On February 29, 2016, the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council met in Baku for the second time and asserted that the diversification of EU energy sources remains a key component of the Unions energy security policy. But the project faces serious hurdles. After many years of discussions with potential gas suppliers, Brussels has only been able to secure 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Azerbaijani gas per year for the corridor, a tiny fraction of EU members needs. Without securing significantly larger new gas supplies, it will be difficult economically and politically to justify such a large and expensive infrastructure project. While EU officials continue to assert their commitment to the corridor, it is unclear whether Brussels is moving toward the pragmatic approach necessary to secure more gas for the scheme or if we are only witnessing further rhetoric from bureaucrats. BACKGROUND: Despite prolonged turmoil in energy markets due to the fall in oil prices, Brussels has reiterated its support for the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), intended to reduce the Unions dependence on Russian gas. The participants in the SGC meeting in February called the scheme a strategic project and praised the beginning of its practical implementation. At a later conference in Brussels on EU energy cooperation with its eastern neighbors and Central Asia, the European Commissions Vice-President responsible for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, expected significant progress this year with the Southern Gas Corridor, a pipeline chain of 3,500 kilometers with an estimated cost of US$ 45 billion. The EU has made a diversified gas supply strategy a key priority. Currently, Europe imports about 400 bcm of gas per year. Russia remains Europes main supplier of natural gas, providing 40 percent of all Union imports. According to Brussels, the EUs overall demand projected for 2030 will remain more or less the same as today, and will amount to 380-450 bcm per year. The SGC was designed to connect the EUs energy market to new sources of gas in the Caspian region, the Middle East, and the East Mediterranean over the long term. As one of the EUs priority energy projects, at a cost of about US$ 45 billion, it needs to provide up to 20 percent of the EUs gas needs (or 60 bcm per year) to be economically and politically viable. The project concept calls for the first gas supplies via SGC to come from Azerbaijans gas condensate field Shah-Deniz 2 (SD2) and reach Greece and Italy in 2020. SD2 would connect to EU markets via three pipeline projects: the expanded South Caucasus pipeline (SCP), the trans-Anatolian pipeline (TANAP), and the trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP). SCP currently carries 8-9 bcm of gas per year from Azerbaijans Shah-Deniz Stage 1 (SD1) to the Turkish market. It needs to be expanded to accommodate SD2 production, which is expected to peak at 16 bcm per year. With 6 bcm delivered to Turkish domestic consumers, only 10 bcm per year would be left for the European market. Brussels has stated several times that a Trans-Caspian pipeline (TCP) can be built to supplement these flows at a later stage with Turkmen gas. Brussels continues to treat TCP as an important component of SGC; it could potentially provide 30 bcm of Turkmen gas per year, half of the Southern Corridors projected capacity. Plans for TCP, stretching 200 kilometers across the Caspian seabed, have been under discussion since the late 1990s. Technically, it should not be a costly undertaking, but politics have provided a much bigger impediment. Unresolved legal disputes on the Caspians status among its littoral states, plus outright opposition to the idea from Russia and Iran, have blocked construction. While Brussels (and Ankara) have sought to broker an agreement between Baku and Ashgabat to move the project forward, neither Russia nor Iran want to give way to competitors. IMPLICATIONS: Securing the gas supplies necessary for a full-scale implementation of the scheme is a crucial issue. SD2 gas will not suffice to justify the corridor. Azerbaijani officials recently asserted that their country can produce more gas from other fields and expand its export capacity, allowing it to play an even stronger role in the scheme. During the February Ministerial meeting, Baku declared that Azerbaijans gas reserves alone are sufficient to fill SGC. But this statement is questionable, especially in terms of scale and time of implementation. Even if Azerbaijan has enough reserves it will hardly be able to develop them quickly enough to fully supply SGC. In the current energy market, with many international producers scaling back investment considerably, it will be difficult to attract funding for expensive deep offshore gas fields in the Caspian Sea. In the short to medium term, only Turkmenistan has enough gas and capacity to fill SGC. Last May, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and the EU made a new effort to push ahead with full-scale implementation of the project. In Ashgabat, the parties signed a declaration on further cooperation on gas and agreed to prepare a draft legal Framework Agreement on natural gas supply from Turkmenistan to Europe. A Working Group at the level of Deputy Ministers has begun working on organizational, legal, commercial, technical and other issues, related specifically to Turkmen gas supplies to Europe. Yet no details about this initiative have been reported, leading to speculations that this is just another bureaucratic move. Recently, the EUs energy chief Sefcovic said that Brussels priority is a timely and full-scale implementation of SGC. He downplayed the possibility of using Iranian gas in SGC, an option discussed last year, but stressed that Brussels together with Baku, Ashgabat and Ankara has been eyeing the possibility of bringing Turkmen gas into Europe. Sefcovic said that during the meeting of the Turkmen gas Working Group in Istanbul this February, two options of how Turkmen gas could be supplied to Europe were put on the table and these possibilities will have to be assessed by all governments. However, he did not provide details on options or clarify whether the governments of all Caspian littoral states or only signatories of the Ashgabat declaration would assess these options. Last year, Sefcovic brought up an Iranian option, along with TCP, saying that the easing of relations with Iran might allow the EU to receive Turkmen gas via an overland pipeline through Iranian and Turkish territory. An Iranian route would have a number of advantages over a line under the Caspian. But since Russia shares strategic interests with Iran on many complex political issues in the region, including blocking the trans-Caspian line, it is unclear whether Iran would seriously consider this option. Ashgabat has a strong interest in diversifying its gas exports and entering the European market. It has built the necessary domestic infrastructure to ensure gas deliveries from its main gas fields to the Caspian Sea area. But it still needs to overcome key obstacles. EU supporters of the Corridor need to move beyond statements of intent towards practical steps to implement projects like TCP. This requires an active and pragmatic policy from Brussels. The current standoff between Brussels and Moscow over Ukraine, and recent Russian actions in Syria have made TCP implementation even more complex. As long as the standoff between the EU and Russia continues, the implementation of TCP remains unlikely. CONCLUSIONS: It remains to be seen whether significant progress can be made towards implementing SGC in the near future, or if Brussels recent statements about the project and Turkmen gas are just more rhetoric from bureaucrats. Meanwhile, the most likely scenario is that only a limited volume of gas from the Caspian region will be available for SGC. This significantly diminishes SCGs importance, since available volumes will not suffice to substantially diversify the EUs gas consumption or indeed motivate the economic and political investment required to realize SCG. AUTHORS BIO: Najia Badykova is the head of Antares Strategy consulting. Image Attribution: news.xinhuanet.com, accessed on March 25, 2016 Contributed photo Clara Driscoll (shown in 1905) led a campaign to save the Alamo, which was in danger of being demolished to build a hotel. Her brother Robert Driscoll Jr. (shown in the 1920s) was one of the leaders behind the drive to build the Port of Corpus Christi. Daniel O'Driscoll, a sergeant in the U.S. Army at Fort Jessup, La., left to join the Texas Revolution, fought in the battle of San Jacinto and received land grants around Refugio. He married a widow, Catherine Duggan, whose husband died of cholera on the voyage from Ireland. Daniel O'Driscoll owned a tavern in Refugio and served as a county commissioner. The couple had two sons, Jeremiah born in 1838, and Robert born in 1841. O'Driscoll died in 1849 after he was hit in the head with a cane wielded by Michael Whelan, a fellow commissioner. Catherine would follow Whelan around and point an accusing finger "You killed my husband!" When Catherine died in 1852 her sons Robert and Jeremiah (Jerry) became the wards of their half-sister, Mrs. Daniel Doughty. Jerry and Robert Driscoll (they dropped the "O") fought in the Civil War and returned to Texas to expand the cattle operations their father left them. The brothers were in the cattle business with Dan Doughty and John Howland Wood of St. Mary's. The Driscoll brothers soon owned cattle and land in Refugio, Victoria and Bee counties. Robert Driscoll married Julia Fox, a petite blonde, and they had two children, Robert Jr. born on Oct. 31, 1871, in Victoria and Clara born April 2, 1881, in St. Mary's. When Clara was a toddler and the family was living in a boardinghouse in Rockport, the boarders taught her to chant in a singsong voice, "I'm the black-eyed beauty, the belle of Rockport." She actually had brown eyes like her father and flaming red hair like her mother. In 1884, D.C. Rachal purchased Martha Rabb's old ranch and after one bad winter he sold out to Robert Driscoll. Driscoll moved his family to the 83,000-acre Palo Alto Ranch, 22 miles west of Corpus Christi, near today's Driscoll. Robert Driscoll added to his holdings, buying the 53,000 acre Sweeden ranch and La Gloria ranch in Duval County, the 20,000 acre Los Machos ranch in Jim Wells and the 8,000 acre ranch near Skidmore that he named the Clara Ranch after his daughter. Clara grew up on the ranch, where one of their favorite diversions was a South Texas version of fox hunting. They kept greyhounds for chasing coyotes which, it was said, could run the pants off any fox. During roundup, Clara would join her father who would crack eggs in a shovel, fry them over a campfire and eat them out of the shovel. Clara's father disliked being cruel to livestock and prevented his ranch hands from using quirts or unduly frightening the cattle. In the early 1890s Clara went away to school. She went first to Peebles and Thompson's in New York, a boot camp for young ladies, and on to a French convent near Paris called the Chateau Dieudonne, a far cry from chasing coyotes through the brush. Robert Jr. went to Princeton, where he got into trouble and was reprimanded by the school president, Woodrow Wilson. He graduated with a law degree in 1893. Julia Driscoll took Clara and Robert Jr. on a round-the-world trip. They spent a summer in India and visited most of the watering holes of Europe. Clara sent travel dispatches to the San Antonio and Corpus Christi papers under the pen name"A Texas Girl." Julia Fox Driscoll died in London on May 23, 1899. Clara and Robert brought her body back for burial in San Antonio. Not long afterward the 22-year-old Clara wrote letters to the Corpus Christi Caller and San Antonio Express describing the plight of the Alamo. Part of the Alamo property was up for sale to private developers. Clara started a campaign to save the convent portion of the Alamo, where much of the fighting took place, which was in danger of being demolished to build a hotel. When the Alamo campaign fell short of the needed funds, Clara put up $18,000 of her own money, along with $7,000 raised by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and with this $25,000 they made a down payment on the convent property. They needed $75,000 to buy the site. They didn't have the remaining $50,000 by the deadline so Clara signed five personal notes for $10,000 each. The state was shamed into refunding her money and taking the property off her hands. This second battle of the Alamo was one of those rare victories when everyone agreed the right side won. So Clara became the woman who saved the Alamo. It was a heady time. Her novel "Girl of La Gloria" and a collection of stories, "Shadow of the Alamo," were published and her play, "Mexicalli," was produced by the Schubert Theater. She married a former legislator from Uvalde, Henry "Hal" Sevier, whom she met while lobbying the Legislature for funds for the Alamo. Clara Driscoll and Hal Sevier married on July 31, 1906, at the chapel of St. Patrick's Church in New York City. At the wedding, Robert Jr. whispered to a friend, "I thought she would never make it. Now I hope I won't have to be her valet anymore." The New York Journal reported that, "When the demolition of the Alamo was threatened, Miss Driscoll displayed her patriotism by purchasing the property and presenting it to the state. Sevier, who was not acquainted with her at the time, of his own volition introduced a bill in the Legislature to reimburse her. Although the measure was hotly opposed he forced its passage. Mutual friends introduced them." The newlyweds spent their honeymoon in Europe and returned to New York, where Sevier worked for the New York Sun and they lived next door to Theodore Roosevelt. In the first decade of the 20th century, Robert Driscoll Sr. made a deal to sell 78,000 acres of Driscoll ranchland to prospective farmers. The lands west of Corpus Christi were opened to agriculture. Settlers moved in and new towns flourished, including Robstown, named for Robert Driscoll Sr., and Driscoll, named for the family. Robert Driscoll Sr. died in 1914. He was buried in the family plot at the Masonic Cemetery in San Antonio. People who knew him thought he was one of the best cattle ranchers in Texas. Clara said, "There never was a better cattleman anywhere." (This is the first of two columns on Clara Driscoll and family.) SHARE Wednesday MEETING: The Port Aransas Art Center will host its annual All Member Meeting at 1 p.m. at Art Center Classroom, 323 N. Alister St., Port Aransas. Cost: Free. Information: 361-749-7334. Thursday CONCERT: Tubist Mike Forbes will perform his own compositions for tuba and piano at 7:30 p.m. at Wolfe Recital Hall, Del Mar College East. Cost: Free. Information: 361-698-1604. LECTURE: The Department of Communication and Media at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority present the COMM Week Keynote Address by political communication scholar Mitchell McKinney. The event will be at 7 p.m. at the Island University campus in the University Center, Lonestar Ballroom. Cost: Free. Information: www.facebook.com/TAMUCCDCM. For more events check Caller.com/vivacc Caller-Times file When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Lori Stone (right), the wife of Texas A&M University-Kingsville assistant band director Jeff Stone, remains hospitalized days after she was pulled from her burning home. Jeff Stone is also hospitalized, recovering from a broken hip. He was not home at the time of the fire. SHARE By Beatriz Alvarado of the Caller-Times The wife of a Texas A&M University-Kingsville assistant band director remains hospitalized days after she was pulled from her burning home, a longtime friend confirmed. Lori Stone, Jeff Stone's wife, was home alone when the fire broke out, James Scoggan said. Jeff Stone, Calallen High School's former band director who also is a member of the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, was recovering from a broken hip at a hospital when the fire broke out. Corpus Christi Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Andy Cardiel said firefighters were called to the 500 block of Del Mar Boulevard about 3 a.m. and found Lori Stone unconscious. She was taken to a San Antonio burn unit in critical condition. Cardiel said Wednesday the house was destroyed and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Julie Payne Davis, education and production coordinator for the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, set up an online fundraising account to help the couple. The account will help garner financial support to cover "any and everything" they need," Davis said. HOW TO HELP Go to www.youcaring.com and search for the "Help Jeff and Lori Stone rebuild and heal" campaign GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Jessica Hester, the mother of the late Brooke Hester, receives hugs from her daughter's former classmates after meeting with author Mark Clark on Tuesday at Santa Gertrudis School in Kingsville. Clark wrote a book that was inspired by Brooke. SHARE Contributed Photo Brooke Hester GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Author Mark Clark reads "The Princess & The Parakeet" to former classmates of Brooke Hester on Tuesday at Santa Gertrudis School in Kingsville. Clark wrote a book that was inspired by Brooke, who died last year from cancer. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Crafted flowers and information on information on "The Princes & The Parakeet" by author Mark Clark are located on a table Tuesday at Santa Gertrudis School in Kingsville. Clark wrote a book that was inspired by 8-year-old Brooke Hester, who died last year from cancer. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Alexander Caeden places a crafted flower on his shirt as author Mark Clark reads "The Princess & The Parakeet" to former classmates of 8-year-old Brooke Hester on Tuesday at Santa Gertrudis School in Kingsville. Clark wrote a book that was inspired by Brooke, who died last year from cancer. By Beatriz Alvarado of the Caller-Times KINGSVILLE Once upon a time there was a princess who inspired people long after she was gone. To the princess, a character inspired by 8-year-old Brooke Hester who died of cancer last year, "every hour was precious; every minute, a new blessing; every second, a jewel to dazzle her." Author Marc Clark read the first chapter of "The Princess and the Parakeet" on Tuesday to what would have been Brooke's third grade class at Santa Gertrudis School. "(Princess Brooke) would dress in the brightest colors on her darkest days, and stroll through the hallways, singing," Clark recited from his book. The stop was part of the Texas leg of the Fairy Tale Book Tour, which moves on to Houston and Dallas before hitting New Jersey and New York. Clark wants to publish the book this year as his first hardback, but is short about $15,000. A GoFundMe account was set up to raise funds for the publication and proceeds also will benefit a nonprofit Brooke inspired before she died Brooke's Blossoming Hope for Childhood Cancer Foundation. Clark first met Brooke when he was gathering story ideas from pediatric cancer patients at Texas Children's Hospital for his 2014 publication, "The Royal Fables: Stories From the Princes & Princesses of the Texas Children's Hospital." Clark, of New York, visited Brooke to share some of his new material several weeks before she died. Clark recalls Brooke's greeting: "I thought you came so I can give you another idea for a book." The visit spawned a seven-chapter fable that features Brooke, her family and a white parakeet with golden feathers on its head. Brooke suggested the bird "used to be a prince, but was turned into a parakeet by a jealous sorcerer." The sorcerer is out to ruin everyone's life in the book, but Princess Brooke stayed positive, much like the optimism she had throughout her 5-year battle with stage 4 neuroblastoma. "She's the perfect example of how one person can change the world by keeping hope alive," Clark said. Brooke's mother, Jessica Hester, teared up Tuesday as Brooke's former classmates walked past her. "When I look at that group of 22 students I know it should be 23," she said. Brooke's death, although excruciatingly painful, garnered extensive support for the foundation, Hester said. The nonprofit has tripled in size since her death funds raised for pediatric cancer research doubled and the hand crafted care packages for child cancer patients the foundation distributes grew from 21,000 to 52,000. "And it hasn't even been a year," Hester said. "What Marc has done is so special. Brooke wouldn't have it any other way." Twitter: @CallerBetty HOW TO HELP Donate to Marc Clark's "A Fairytale For Our Fairy Princess" campaign: www.gofundme.com/r5a2a CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/CHRIS SHANKLIN A barge mooring facility installed along the east shore of the Lydia Ann Channel near Port Aransas has drawn criticism from local residents upset that they were not given an opportunity to comment. A lawsuit involving the project is still ongoing. SHARE By David Sikes of the Caller-Times A group called Friends of the Lydia Ann Channel convinced a federal judge there were enough oversights, missing details or misinformation in the permitting process to warrant a trial and full re-evaluation of a barge mooring project near Port Aransas. Group members called the Wednesday decision a partial victory in what may be a long legal process involving their lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack ordered the parties to proceed with the discovery process. A trial date is scheduled for Feb. 14, 2017. The friends group filed a lawsuit last year seeking a revocation of the permit, removal of the barge moorings and restoration of the affected habitat along the channel. They cited the storage facility's potential harm to environmental, recreational, historical and archeological treasures. Wednesday's court appearance followed the Corps' suspension of its January 2015 letter of permission for the now-completed project, which is fully operational. Jack said the 2014 permitting process by the Corps that allowed construction of the project "does not pass the smell test," referring to the application as "unbelievably incomplete" and lacking independent environmental scrutiny. While lawyers for the Corps argued Wednesday that proper protocol was followed from the start, a March 23 letter from the Corps indicates that a recent inspection reveals the project is not in compliance with the permit. The suspension triggers a re-evaluation process, which could result in revoking the permit and shutting down of the operation. Attorneys for the Corps said the re-evaluation process could take up to a year. Federal attorneys said the Corps is not authorized to revoke the permit at this time, a point disputed by the friends group's attorney Douglas Kilday. Construction of the project began in 2015 by a local company called Lydia Ann Channel Moorings LLC, which is co-owned by local oral surgeon Bryan Gulley. Gulley said his company followed the rules. "We've been very good stewards of the property and I believe we will prevail," Gulley said. Before construction began, Gulley said the enterprise would address complaints of barges being pushed against San Jose Island near the channel while awaiting passage into the port. The company installed about 70 mooring structures, fewer than the proposed 82, between 75 and 12 feet from the island at a depth of 12 feet, he said. Attorneys for the friends group dispute that this depth is maintained throughout. Gulley said the project involves a line of 30-inch hollow, steel cylinders positioned 100-200 feet apart, stretching for slightly less than the proposed 8,000 feet. These mooring structures are called dolphins. Tugboats and/or barges would be secured to them by ropes or cables temporarily while awaiting dispatch. The friends group said what was proposed as a simple short-term storage facility is now a long-term mooring operation and refueling station, resulting in an environmental hazard, the scope of which was not addressed in the permit. The group is declaring the Corps failed to comply with the Endangered Species Act and did not conduct a proper environmental impact studies. They claim the permitting process was hurried and should have allowed for public input. Jack asked Corps attorneys whether the Corps officials involved in the original letter of permission would be the same staffers conducting the re-evaluation. "Should the people who were so cavalier about this environmentally sensitive area be in charge of the re-evaluation?" Jack asked, adding that it appears few independent determinations of potential harm were requested or conducted by the Corps. A Corps spokesman said last year the original process did include scrutiny from Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Texas General Land Office, the State Historic Preservation Office and U.S. Coast Guard. Corps officials also met with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and state Rep. Todd Hunter's office during the early stages. Those agencies had no major concerns that would block the project outright, according to Isidro Reyna, deputy chief of public affairs for the Corps' Galveston office. Concerns included the need for a submerged land lease agreement with the GLO before the project could proceed. This was granted. The Corps had concerns regarding a historic shipwreck in the vicinity but a survey satisfied that issue. Ultimately, the Texas Historical Commission did not intervene. The agencies also asked the company to provide an emergency pollution plan in the event of a toxic spill, which a Corps spokesman said was submitted. There were seagrass concerns, but those were unfounded, according to Corps of Engineers documents. And the U.S. Coast Guard determined the operation would pose no navigational problems. Public outcries grew louder as construction began last year and eventually the friends group circulated a petition and began raising funds for a legal assault. "FLAC (Friends of the Lydia Ann Channel) is not just a handful of folks upset over this project," said James King, one of the original organizers of the friends group. "There's a lot of people unhappy about this, and that's who's helping to fund this lawsuit." Twitter: @DavidOutdoors The digital advertising ecosystem is gaining rapid strides, and rightfully so, because digital is the most addressable and measurable medium. It offers clients the opportunity to target very precise audiences, with very relevant content, at the most appropriate time. However, digital advertising is still divided into two groups: brand advertising and performance advertising. Brand advertising is primarily perceived as a method of creating awareness and starting a relationship with the consumer. Performance advertising, on the other hand, is viewed as a way to close the marketing loop through sales and other user-initiated actions, such as coupon codes, unique phone numbers, links, leads and app installs, among others. When you consider the fuzzy goals of brand ads and the concrete objectives of performance ads, it's not surprising that advertisers have become accustomed to holding the former to a lower standard of accountability than the latter. But it is this very kind of thinking that needs to be a thing of the past. Heres why: Mobile videos new metrics Mobile is now an integral part of the average consumers lifestyle, with 45 per cent of all screen time spent on mobile devices, pushing desktop and TV to the wayside. As a result, mobile video is now in high demand and is the fastest growing digital formata key driver of growth for the digital advertising ecosystem. While television, print ads, and standard display ads have their place in a companys overall advertising strategy, relying solely on traditional metrics (impressions, clickthroughs) is no longer safe. Consumers now have far shorter attention spans and are approached by brands at many different touchpoints, so the pressure is on to capture their attention with an engaging medium (video) and on a highly personal device (mobile). The industry as a whole must focus on metrics that truly drive brand performance, and those are key performance indicators (KPIs) that show post-click engagement. Video completion rates are just the start; soon we will see emphasis on interactions within or beyond those videos that demonstrate true engagement. InstantPlay allows for no-buffer HD video ads on mobile, increasing completion rates by 2.5X and engagement rates by 5X the industry average, respectively. The big data tidal wave AsiaPacific currently boasts more than a billion smartphone users, and this number is expected to rise to more than 2 billion by 2020. This not only provides brands and marketers with access to a powerful advertising medium, it enables deeper audience targeting and effective programmatic buying. That is, as the volume of mobile users increases, the amount of data available for advertisers use will as well. Audience targeting enabled by big data can be one of the most powerful tools for brands to exponentially increase the effectiveness of their campaigns. For instance, AskMeBazaar, a well-known e-commerce site in India, wanted to establish its portal as the leading destination for online shopping by offering specific products to consumers based on their preferences. Working with my company, the brand delivered a tailored message to every consumer every time they went online, based on browsing data. That meant over 1,500 creative versions delivered each week, with a total of 200 campaigns across multiple specific audience segments to match 34 categories of relevant products. This targeting and customisation resulted in more than 3,800 sales per day and over 260,000 unique transactions80 per cent of which were done on mobile. Delivering specific ad content based on audience data can ensure high consumer engagement, resulting not only in higher brand awareness but also sales results. Rise of m-commerce Total e-commerce sales in 2015 topped $300 billion, and Forrester has predicted total m-commerce transactions to jump to $142 billion this year from $115 billion in 2015. By 2020, mobile devices will account for 48 per cent of e-commerce sales. As mobile devices become more sophisticated and vendors of location technology emerge, advertisers are beginning to get hyper-local and to experiment with in-store marketingpromoting specific items or sending push notifications. We are now at a critical point, where we have to think beyond brand awareness and customer acquisition and shift our attention to conversionsmaking it easier for customers to complete their journey to purchaseand retention, or building brand loyalty and post-sales engagement that will create deeper lifetime value. As you can see brand advertising and performance advertising are not mutually exclusive. As mobile video, big data and m-commerce become more prominent, advertisers must move away from the old ways of buying media to maximise the ROI of their digital investment. Brand performance advertising is not only the new era of advertising, its the new era of doing business online. Vikas Gulati is managing director of Opera Mediaworks Asia The retail brand's current creative agency of record is Grey Group Singapore, which it has worked with since 2011. When contacted, Grey declined to comment on the matter. The company told Campaign Asia-Pacific that it is in search of "a creative partner who understands retail business in todays competitive climate." The brand reported that it spends approximately SG$4 million (US$2.9 million) annually on marketing, which is inclusive of media, creative and digital. Metro opened its first Singapore-based outlet in 1957 and today has a chain of three department stores, five Monsoon Accessorize stores and one M2 specialty store. Parent company Metro Holdings posted a net profit of S$55.9 million (US$40.8 million) for the three months ended 31 December, the third quarter of its 2016 financial year. The company reported that notwithstanding a subdued retail environment, the retail divisions sales increased marginally by S$0.2 million (US$146,054) to S$39.1 million (US$28.5 million). Metro previously worked with Batey from 2006 to 2010. Adknowledge Asia is a joint venture between Axiata and Adknowledge, and is the exclusive partner of social and video advertising technology platform, AdParlor. Sutton moves into the new role from his previous position as senior vice president, operations for Adknowledge Asia. He will report to the board, which includes Adknowledge Inc. Global CEO Ben Legg, who has been overseeing AdParlors expansion across the region. Legg said that Sutton boasts 13 years of invaluable experience in digital advertising in Asia, is a champion of programmatic and data-driven advertising and is well positioned to lead the business. This change will also see Damien Lavin, managing director for SEA and ANZ, promoted to chief revenue officer. Lavin will be responsible for customer acquisition and service across all of Adknowledge Asias offices, reporting to Sutton. The companys expansion plans for 2016 include doubling headcount through growth in existing markets (Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, India, the Philippines and Taiwan) as well as entering four new markets. It currently services advertisers and agencies through its local team of 140 people in nine markets. Sutton said that by 2018 all major advertisers are expected to be spending in excess of 50 percent of their budgets online and shifting their TV budgets to online platforms, with a 70 percent share going to the likes of Facebook, YouTube and programmatic TV. AdParlor is well placed to service this demand with a potent combination of direct access to these publishers, consolidated technology, exclusive data partnerships and local customer service, he added. I have an amazing team around me and look forward to working with them to expand into new markets, double our headcount and further consolidate our market leading position." Miranda Dimopoulos, CEO and ambassador to SEA IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Singapore welcomed AdParlor to the market, in a statement. We love working with new members to increase digital understanding and showcasing the power of technology platforms, she said. As the IAB, we want to prove that return on investment for digital is just as easy to understand as traditional media models, to help increase digital spend to match where our consumers are spending their time, which is largely on mobile consuming video via social. Last week this ad from Tesco Lotus Thailand featured in the Campaign Asia-Pacific Viral Chart, which is compiled weekly by Unruly and analyses shares of ads and branded videos posted by a curated list of Asia-based brands. This week, Ad Nut discovered that Tesco took the video down after netizens and media criticised it for a scene that showed a house maid being slapped. Ad Nut has salvaged the video for your viewing here, and added some of the social-media comments it sparked. Leo Burnett Thailand has issued the following statement regarding the video: This scene is actually from a classic Thai drama, which the agency tweaked to add a sense of humour to it. As you see, this particular scene is part of a series of scenarios of people eating chips in the spot. In fact, this work is tracking well locally, as the locals are familiar with this classic scene. However, as this has since become an issue outside of Thailand, the client has decided to pull it. Ad Nut has seen lots of Thai TV programmes, and to be honest, people get slapped all the time. Yet Ad Nut can also understand how people outside the country would see the video as offensive. Was Tesco right to pull the work? Let Ad Nut know by commenting below or on Twitter @CampaignAsia. Here are the scenes involving the maid: | BY Ricki Green | Curious director, Zia Mandviwalla, has made her name and built a showcase of awards through her characterization, beginning with the short film Night Shift, that brought in many of her seventeen international film awards and was selected to compete for the Palme DOr at the 2012 Cannes International Film Festival against nine other international competitors. Mandviwallas skill at telling stories though her characters has just produced another galvanizing commercial for NZTA with Clemenger BBDO Wellington. It is simply a film about what parents dont see when their kids are driving on their provisional licences. Many parents have an ambivalent attitude to the two restrictions of provisional licenses to neither drive between 10pm and 5am nor carry passengers unless supervised. But with more than two- thirds of New Zealand teenagers breaking the rules, the issue needed to be brought further up the list of worries for parents. NZTA had an important message to deliver. How Mandviwalla and Curious did that matters to all New Zealand drivers. Mandviwalla got a little help from her own experience to fully understood the brief. Says Mandviwalla: As a teenager I spent a lot of time riding in fast cars usually as a passenger. And there were so many times when situations teetered on the brink of real danger. It was easy for the most innocuous situation to escalate and quickly grow out of control. I was never in a major accident, but I know a lot of people who were. Then her talent as a director shaped the solution. Says Mandviwalla: I wanted to capture this kind of tension here to show how you can be a responsible young person, you can have the very best of intentions and yet a situation can quickly slide out of your control. The campaign has launched on television and cinema. It is also running online through TVNZ On Demand and 3Now On Demand, and is supported by print and radio. Says Mandviwalla: Getting the right tone and tenor of these characters was vital to us all. And it was a pleasure to bring these girls to life with Emily and Steve [Clemenger BBDO creatives, Steve Hensen and Emily Beautrais]. None of us had forgotten what it was to be young and behind the wheel and we all worked to create a spot that would resonate with parents across the country, who could see their young peoplein these characters. Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at 8:42PM Screenshot courtesy of Daily Mail Snapchat is honing in on its competitors with the new features the messaging service integrates into its app. Its new Chat 2.0 hopes to bring a more intuitive chatting experience for its users. The feature makes it easier to share videos, short audio notes, and stickers to help you communicate with friends within the app. As stated on Snapchats blog: What we love about the new Chat is how easily you can transition between all these ways of communicatingjust like you do in person. When thats possible, you arent texting, calling, or video chatting youre just talking. The app also gets a new Auto-Advance Stories feature that lets stories from your friends play one after another. You can swipe to skip ahead in a story or pull down to exit completely. Source: Droid Life "My motivation is led by my heart to try and be a voice for the elephants, but I am also trying to combine that with making this a business," Ms Godwin said. The fact that most of the materials employed in del Castillo's sculptural tableaux have been recycled adds an additional level of social commentary on what society chooses to discard, so that this detritus can come back to haunt the society that rejected it. Most of the figures in this exhibition have a ghost-like presence and an ambiguity in their possible levels of meaning. I touch is a strange armless, life-size mannequin with a handle from a suitcase around its waist and with a head, sunk into the body without the benefit of a neck, bearing an agonised expression. Above a neon sign announces "i touch". The artist describes herself as a "lapsed Catholic" and for me the piece may touch on the institutionalised sexual abuse in the Catholic Church as well as serving as a comment on the irony of a handless figure proclaiming the sense of touch. Other memorable neon creations at the exhibition include Reset, Discard and Her Pride. "The prizes won't last forever, but the main point of this was to curb the culture a bit so that students realise it's not such a big deal getting to school actively and that anyone can do it, particularly those who live close by," he said. But he said while the ACT government strongly supported the move, none of the four options on the table was ideal or in line with consumer expectations, and described the definitions as a "watering down" of the animal welfare model code of practice. [Your Business Name] Contact Info Phone: Fax: Email: Web: CAPITOLHILLCUBANS.COM Business Overview Geographic Area Line of Business Brands We Carry Products and Services Discounts Offered Additional Information Business Hours Timezone We Accept 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. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. The University of Mumbai has received invitation from Dubai and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to set up its campus there. As per the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, Indian universities require permission from UGC to open its campuses in foreign countries. Sanjay Deshmukh, the vice-chancellor MU, who is also a member of the committee, which drafted the recent version of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, has been working to include the clause that would permit universities to have an offshore presence. While announcing the university's budget for 2016-17, Deshmukh said a budgetary provision of Rs 20 lakh has been set aside for the purpose. The inviting countries will set up the campuses and the university will have to conduct academic activities there. For its own students who wish to study abroad, the university will apply for membership to the College Board code. This will give Mumbai University students information access to 6,000 American colleges. "We will take more memberships of European and south-east Asian countries where our students head. This will put them in a comfort zone in terms of accessing information," said Deshmukh added. The university budget, which has projected surplus of Rs 63 crore from the previous Rs 74 crore, has earmarked funds for various developments in the university including, inter-university and institutional association for student and faculty exchange and development of dual-degree programmes. University plans online MBA programme The university is also contemplating to begin an online MBA programme in collaboration with Ural Federal University in the coming academic year . The Russian university's collaboration will offer 17 specializations for students to choose from. Students will earn a certificate degree at the end of the first year and a degree on completing all the 106 credits in the two-year-long course. TOI 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... Special prosecutor issues report on Liggett campaign The Comet sponsored a sheriffs candidate debate on Sept. 29. After the debate, Sheriff candidate and deputy Tony Liggett provided... 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... China got first dibs to the Murano Hybrid last year, as it was deemed a key market for Nissans global business, and now it has been revealed that itll make it Stateside, too. The info comes from the Environmental Protection Agency, which has published the green SUVs fuel consumption numbers. Powered by a new supercharged 2.5-liter petrol four-cylinder that delivers 250hp and 243lb-ft (329lb-ft) of torque and a a 15kW (20hp) electric motor with a compact lithium-ion battery, the front- and all-wheel drive versions return 28/31/29 mpg (8.4/7.6/8.1 lt/100 km) and 26/30/28 mpg (9.0/7.8/8.4 lt/100 km) in city/highway/combined respectively. Its hybrid system is controlled by the firms Intelligent Dual Clutch System, where one clutch is placed between the internal combustion unit and the electric motor and the other one between the transmission and the electric motor. Its hybrid powertrain is said to deliver the equivalent of the 3.5-liter V6 engine, while offering superior fuel economy. Joining the 3.5-liter V6 that is, so far, the only variant of the redesigned 2016 Murano that is available in the US, the Hybrid marks the Japanese brands return to the segment, as in 2015 it pulled both the Infiniti QX60 Hybrid and the Pathfinder Hybrid from its US line-up. Pending the official release, details on availability and pricing will be available at a later time, but it is expected to hit the showrooms sometime this year. Note: Nissan Murano V6 pictured PHOTO GALLERY The updated Forester has landed in the UK, following its launch in Japan last fall. Priced at 25,495 ($36,400) OTR for the entry-level 2.0i XE version, the revised SUV is characterized by the redesigned grille with a new mesh design, L-shaped chrome trim on the front bumper, black detailed headlights and LED combination rear lamps. For an extra cost, the adaptive LED front lights can be added to the package. In the cabin there are new soft-touch materials, piano black and metallic trim, cloth and leather upholstery options and higher-res TFT displays and 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with navigation. Subaru has also added additional soundproofing, retuned the suspension and optimized the gearboxes. The 2016 Subaru Forester is still offered with three boxer 2.0-liter, four-cylinder mills: a naturally aspirated 2.0i petrol unit with 150 PS (148 HP), a 2.0D turbodiesel rated at 147 PS (145 HP) and a 241 PS (238 HP) DIT turbocharged petrol. The first two get a standard 6-speed manual or an optional CVT, while the DIT gets a CVT on the XT trim. Full pricing info for the UK market is available below. PHOTO GALLERY Occasionally, Carscoops readers turn up prototypes that even we arent sure what they are, like this identical pair of heavily disguised minivan testers spotted over the weekend in California. I was at San Francisco and saw two Toyota Voxy(?) prototypes driving in front of my car, about to enter Lombard street, writes Jay. While Jay is right to suspect that the two minivans could be from a Japanese carmaker seeing that they were both right-hand drive, we cant say for sure if theyre related to the current JDM Toyota Voxy, as they differ significantly from the model sold in Japan, sporting a completely different profile window line and front end. Whats more baffling is that they also differ from other existing medium and large minivans from the Land of the Rising Sun, such as the Nissan Serena (this one probably comes the closest), Honda Stepwgn and Mitsubishi Delica, of which weve attached pictures below for your reference. Perhaps the minivan model is not from a Japanese brand it could be from a Korean or Chinese automaker, for example. So, how about you test your car-spotting skills and let us know what you think the mystery van is in the comments below? The other obvious question is what were these testers doing here in the States, where the market for minivans has been on the decline for years. Thanks to Jay for the scoop! Photo Gallery CURRENT JDM MINIVANS In between celebrating Octavia milestones and developing a production version of the VisionS study, Skoda is keeping investments flowing in its largest global market, China. In the presence of Chinas and the Czech Republics presidents, a memorandum was signed between Volkswagen, Saic Motor Corporation Limited and Skoda Auto, which includes a plan to invest around 2 billion ($2.2 billion) over the next five years in the development of the Skoda model range in China. With todays agreement well be strengthening our brands presence on the Chinese market. In the coming years, well rapidly expand Skodas offering to include forward-looking vehicle concepts and modern technology. Our aim is to double Skoda deliveries in China by 2020, said the brands CEO, Bernhard Maier. With its joint venture partner, Skoda is preparing a comprehensive SUV campaign for the Chinese market, during which the VisionS concept will be presented locally for the first time at the end of April. The study provides a glimpse of a new large Skoda SUV, which will reportedly debut in production form at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, going on sale in Europe shortly after. The Old Continent wont be the only market where the Czech automaker plans to offer the Kodiak (name not confirmed), as this will hit dealerships across China in the first half of 2017. Skoda is optimistic when it comes to the success of the upcoming SUV in the Asian country, as customers have shown interest in the Yeti, produced at the Anting plant, with a 6 cm longer wheelbase compared to the European version. Up to date, Skoda has sold more than 1.7 million vehicles in China, after it launched local production in mid-2007, with the Octavia at the heart of the brand. In close cooperation with Saic Volkswagen Automotive Company Limited, the automaker began production of the Fabia supermini the following year, at the Anting plant, near Shanghai, with the facility celebrating the millionth Skoda produced in China, almost three years ago. Skodas deliveries in China have increased from 27,300 units, in 2007, to 281,700 in 2015. PHOTO GALLERY The US Federal Trade Commission has filed suit against the US arm of VW for false advertising. More specifically, FTC accuses Volkswagen of deceiving customers with their Clean Diesel advertising campaign into buying more than 550,000 diesel vehicles based on false claims of them being environmentally friendly when they were equipped with hidden defeat devices to pass emissions tests. For years Volkswagens ads touted the companys Clean Diesel cars even though it now appears Volkswagen rigged the cars with devices designed to defeat emissions tests, said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. Our lawsuit seeks compensation for the consumers who bought affected cars based on Volkswagens deceptive and unfair practices. The Federal Trade Commission said in their statement that they are seeking a court order requiring Volkswagen to compensate American consumers who bought or leased an affected vehicle between late 2008 and late 2015, as well as an injunction to prevent Volkswagen from engaging in this type of conduct again. Prior to this, Volkswagen had received more than 500 civil lawsuits in the wake of the emissions scandal by customers, along with some of the U.S. states and the Justice Department back in January, which is seeking up to $46 billion for violation of environmental and emission laws. US regulators have given Volkswagen an extended deadline on April 21 to present how they plan to fix the affected diesel vehicles, after failing to comply with the original March 24 deadline. VIDEO Americans will have a chance to discover Long Way North later this year thanks to a pickup from stateside distributor Shout! Factory. The film had its North American premiere this month at the New York International Childrens Film Festival this month. In an interview that took place at the Anima festival, Chaye spoke to Cartoon Brew about how he worked his way up from storyboard artist into the directors chair, why a film production can be better when all of the studios artists work together in the same room, and the impossible task of competing against cutthroat American film studios. Cartoon Brew: You recently toured the American studios to promote the film. What kind of responses did the film receive? Remi Chaye: American people are so expressive. There was a lot of Fantastic! and Awesome! following the screenings. Sometimes youre not sure how much they actually like it when they say that, but then again, I dont think Pete Docter would spend an hour talking to us following the screening at Pixar if he had been annoyed by it. One thing I noticed that was strange to the Americans is our frequent use of holds. In American animation, something has to move all the time. Europeans are closer to Japanese animation in the way that we make greater use of silence. Personally, I very much enjoy those type of Japanese films where nothing happens except drinking tea. In your presentation at the Anima festival you mentioned it took three years to get enough investors on board to make the film. What made it so difficult? Remi Chaye: Having an original story with unknown creators didnt help, but also European 2D animation as a whole is just a risky business. Sadly enough, lots of independent animated movies are commercial failures, because we have to fight against huge American marketing machines like Zootopia and Star Wars. You have this saying in America Winner takes all. Thats what their marketing strategy is like. They do not only want to sell their own movies they want to saturate the whole market. This kind of all-absorbing, aggressive marketing makes it hard for films like Long Way North to exist. Long Way North cost 6.4 million euros, which is slightly above the European average. Nonetheless, its a tiny budget for the films quality. How did this limited budget influence the end result artistically? Remi Chaye: One of the things we had to reduce a lot was the lighting on the animation. I had planned to have animated lighting throughout the whole movie, but was forced to limit that to a certain amount of shots. That was hard for me to accept. The main difficulty, however, was the quotas. Every time an animator would unnecessarily move a characters shoulder, we would go over budget. Animation quotas varied from 1.8 to 2.2 seconds a day. More time was given for emotional scenes, less for action scenes. So whenever characters were running and jumping, we just had to accept what could be done in 1.8 seconds a day. But during emotional and subtle moments, like Sasha realizing the boat isnt where she thought it would be, this is what I wanted the animators to spend time on. Working with a limited budget comes down to choosing where you spend the money and energy in every phase of the process. If you give an artist two days for a background, it will be better than in two hours. So, if you give the artist two hours to do the background, then you have to accept the result, even if its not exactly what youd want it to be. Its as simple as that. Do you see a way to reduce the production budget any further for a future film? Remi Chaye: The only way we could reduce costs further would be to lower the wages, which are modest already. I wouldnt want that. Actually Ive heard about people working (partly) for free on European feature productions, but to me thats not a solution. If you have to rely on people working for free, whether it be supervisors or interns, the fact is that the industry is dead. I personally dont accept anyone working for free, and I ask my films producers not to accept it either. In that sense, I guess Im a socialist but dont tell the Americans! Id lose all chances at American success. [Laughs] Brew readers have been raving about Long Way North ever since the release of its concept trailer. Fans especially seem to love the films unusually spare sense of design. Remi Chaye: To me, drawing is about interpreting reality its a way to look at a chair, to make the spectator interpret that chair in a way that says something. I think the style of Long Way North is a way to look at reality through light, shapes, and colors, evoking emotion and tickling the imagination. Reproducing reality, with reflections and everything it doesnt really interest me. I dont want to spend the budget on showcasing each of Sashas hairs in detail. The simple shape of her hair, combined with the rhythm the wind adds to it, contributes to the films poetry. Another unique design choice you made was the absence of outlines Remi Chaye: The thing with outlines is that they are, more or less, black. So when your designs have an outline, all of the films colors have to go with that black color, limiting your color palettes and spectrums. The absence of outlines gave us the freedom to explore a lot of different color palettes throughout the film, not just those pulling towards black. You started out as a comic book artist and illustrator. What made you turn to animation? Remi Chaye: Being out of illustration work for a while , I started working as a storyboard revisionist. Having worked at home by myself for ages, the ambience of an animation studio made a big impression on me. Animation is a collective art. Its such a pleasure listening to each other and adding up different artistic skills. Artistically too, animation is an interesting medium. I like the fact that you have the same tools at your disposal as when youre painting, which enables you to express emotions through the way you paint a sky for example, plus the tools of cinema. This combination is really powerful. Starting out as a self-taught storyboarder, how did you transition to directing? Remi Chaye: Here and there people started to ask me to direct small TV specials and such, but I felt I lacked the necessary skills. As a storyboarder, I had worked for directors who were not up to the job, and I didnt want to become one of them. So, at 33 years old, I signed up for a fantastic school called La Poudriere. When you are self-taught, your feelings tell you what works and what doesnt, but you cant analyze them. Art school gave me the tools to structure and communicate my feelings, which is one of the most important things a director needs to be able to do. After La Poudriere, were you ready to be the director you wanted to be? Remi Chaye: Not really. At La Poudriere I directed several short animated films, but I hadnt yet felt the size of a feature-length production. So when Tomm Moore, director of The Secret of Kells, was looking for a storyboarder, I told him, Im interested, but besides a storyboarder, Id like to be your assistant director. While working as an assistant director on Kells, and after that on The Painting, I got to understand the workings of the big machine that feature filmmaking is management, pipelines, naming rules, the industry, balancing art and budget as well as how to tell a story of that length. Only after that I felt ready to direct my own feature-length film. Youve assembled an amazing team for the film, amongst which Marie Vieillevie as your assistant director. How do you balance your vision with those of the artists on your team, such as Marie, who also directs films in her own distinctive style? Remi Chaye: I dont feel that being the films director, I should tell people to do things a certain way. Rather, I make use of their skills by listening a lot. I see a film as a collective work of art; the artists I work with take a step towards me, but I also take a step towards them. I think the final style of the film is somewhere in the middle, in between all the different artists and their skills. That being said, one of the coolest things about our team was actually to work with so many directors. Animation is all about doing a small piece of the total work, putting every little brick in the right place to build a wall. So when an artist whos a director themself is putting a brick in the wall, not just understanding their own little brick but the whole wall, that artist is more likely to pick the right size of the brick and put it in the right place. On the films production blog we can see the studio space during production. It looks quitecozy. Remi Chaye: It was packed. During summer it was really hot in Paris and we were in the studio with about 40 people. Animators, layout artists, supervisors, me we were all working in the same room. There wasnt really a hierarchy, which actually had a big advantage. When Id discuss storyboards, layouts, or animation with the supervisors, the whole team could hear us. Unconsciously, all artists would soak up our discussions. So once it was time for the animators to animate their shot, they would completely understand what they were doing, because they had heard all the problems and solutions, the whys and the hows the supervisors and I had discussed. What kind of films would you like to make in the future? Remi Chaye: Id love to continue making 2D animated fictional adventures like Long Way North. Id like to add a little bit more of comedy though. Not gags comedy. Gags are visual or standalone jokes, while comedy is a situation that can last for ten minutes. Far too often the use of many gags in a row leads to losing the actual point. Youre presenting your next feature-length adventure in concept at Cartoon Movie. Can you tell me a bit about it? Remi Chaye: A Childhood of Martha Jane Canary is based on the life of Calamity Jane [an American frontierswoman who lived from 1852 to 1903]. Its a bit strange for a European guy like me to do a Western thats actually the reason why we try not to make a Western. [Laughs] We wont be using the iconography of the genre, but it will shine through in other aspects of the film. We want to tell the story of a girl that discovers a life with freedom that of a boy. When she refuses to go back to her old life as a housewife, the adventure starts. Calamity Jane is such an interesting character. Shes like a stray dog, affectionately licking your face first and then stealing the bread in your pocket. Shes an uneducated liar with a long-lasting laugh and lots of imagination. Its a lot of fun to write her story, and a lot of fun to draw, too. Were planning to use the same style, team, and pipeline as Long Way North, rather than reinventing the wheel. I hope the new film will take five years to realize, rather than ten Cartoon Movie has proven very successful for Long Way North, so lets see what will happen there for A Childhood of Martha Jane Canary. Photo: YouTube Maybe the state should be called Rhode Iceland. Rhode Island officials yanked a new tourism video, designed to draw visitors to the state, off YouTube in embarrassment on Tuesday after eagle-eyed viewers complained it showed a scene shot in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik. The state's economic development agency, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, confirmed the goof and blamed an editing company. The state released the video at a meeting on Monday night and posted it online Tuesday for a new campaign. The video's intro features a skateboarder outside a glass building and has a narrator saying, "Imagine a place that feels like home but holds enough uniqueness that you're never bored." People on social media said: Hey, that's not Rhode Island that's the Harpa concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavik. Designer Greg Nemes visited Iceland in October and said he recognized the photogenic building, which has a steel framework and an exterior skin of differently colored glass panels. "It was pretty unmistakable to me, so I did some digging around and posted on Facebook about it," he said. Social media users agreed with him, posting side-by-side photos of the building in the Rhode Island ad and Harpa. Early Tuesday, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation's art director said he could "assure that all shots" were in Rhode Island. But later Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the agency confirmed that the building in the state's tourism ad is Harpa and said an editing company used the wrong footage. "As the Commerce Corporation put this presentation video together, explicit instructions were given to the local firm that helped with editing to use only Rhode Island footage," spokeswoman Kayla Rosen said in an email. "A mistake was made. Once the mistake was identified, the video was removed." She said the video, which cost $22,000 to make, is being updated at no cost to the Commerce Corporation or the state. It's not the first time people have been embarrassed because they used incorrect footage in their promotional videos. In February, a TV ad for Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, opened with a scene from Vancouver, Canada. In 2007, Tennessee's tourism department caught flak for using a photo taken in Alaska. And in 2014, the Republican candidate for governor in Rhode Island was called out after he filmed a TV ad in Ohio. On Twitter, Rhode Island state Rep. Daniel Reilly, a Republican, questioned the cost of the state's tourism video and its use of stock footage of Reykjavik. He added the hashtag #nicejob. Nemes, who teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design, said he wasn't on a crusade to bring anyone to justice and there's a lot to like about the state's tourism video. He said he just questions why Rhode Island needed a scene from elsewhere to look good. The state released the video and a new logo, with the slogan "Cooler & Warmer," as part of a $5 million integrated campaign to attract tourism and business. Photo: Google Maps City staff head back into meetings with North Okanagan Regional District officials this week to sort out what's causing the big stink at Vernon's Polson mall. The city has pointed the finger at NORD's septic receiving facility, but regional officials believe the odour wafting through the area is emanating from other organic material. No matter where it's coming from, Coun. Catherine Lord says it has to be dealt with. It doesn't make the smell go away. What are the next steps? Lord asked city staff, Tuesday. We have to do something about it. The problem that people don't see is that some of the dumping that goes on at the septic facility happens at nighttime, explained Mayor Akbal Mund. The regional district's belief the smell is the result of composting material from a former mill may partly be true, conceded the mayor. If it's composting, you'd probably smell that more in the summer months than the winter months, said Mund, adding that the smell is more noticeable in the summer. We're working with the regional district as we've obviously had residents complain about it. Photo: The Canadian Press The killer whales that spend time in the inland waters of Washington state are already tagged and tracked, photographed and measured. Researchers follow them by drone and by sea, analyzing their waste and their exhaled breath. Now, experts want to add another layer to the exhaustive studies: individual health records for each endangered whale. The records would take existing research on the creatures and combine it in one place. The idea is to use them to monitor the orcas' health trends individually and as a population. It's similar to people having one medical record as they move from one doctor to the next or between specialists. Eighty-four orcas typically appear in Puget Sound from spring to fall. "The goal is to really start getting a lot of data and pull them together in a way that permits easier analysis," said Joe Gaydos, a wildlife veterinarian at the University of California, Davis, and chief scientist with the SeaDoc Society, which is part of the university's School of Veterinary Medicine. "Ultimately, the real benefit of any health record is to help make (management) decisions," he added. For example, if an orca appears emaciated or is in bad shape during certain times of the year, wildlife managers can access the animal's health history to see what's going on and what they could do about it, he said. Understanding the factors that affect an orca's health will ultimately help pinpoint the key threats and how to reduce them, experts say. "It will be really powerful to rule out things that aren't important and focus in on what's really important," said Lynne Barre with NOAA Fisheries. She said that will help inform research and management decisions in the long run. The project aims to pull together data on behaviour, reproductive success, skin diseases and other study areas to allow for integrated analysis, she said. Scientists have enough data that they can now connect the dots to get meaningful answers, said Brad Hanson, an NOAA Fisheries wildlife biologist. More than two dozen wildlife experts met in Seattle on Tuesday to develop plans for health records for the orcas. The meeting was sponsored by SeaDoc Society, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and the National Marine Mammal Foundation. Many details are still being worked out, including who will maintain the data and how people will access it. But an initial database would be launched this summer using readily available information, such as sex, age, gender and other details, Gaydos said. Other information would be added next year. Elsewhere, scientists have studied individual animals to monitor their health, including North Atlantic right whales. Using a database of hundreds of thousands of photographs taken over decades, researchers at the New England Aquarium and others have studied the body and skin conditions of about 400 individual right whales to assess their health. Individual Puget Sound orcas are identified by unique black and white markings or variations in their fin shapes, and each whale is given a number and a name. The Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island keeps the federal government's annual census on the population. The three families the J, K, and L pods are genetically and behaviourally distinct from other killer whales. They use unique calls to communicate with one another and eat salmon rather than marine mammals. Their numbers have fluctuated in recent decades as they have faced threats from pollution, lack of prey and disturbance from boats. They were listed as endangered in 2005. Photo: The Canadian Press Police in southern Arizona are at odds with a small Indiana town over a Tommy gun taken from notorious gangster John Dillinger during an arrest more than 80 years ago. Officials in Peru, Indiana, want the Colt Thompson submachine gun turned over that Tucson police confiscated in 1934 when they took Dillinger into custody and now display at police headquarters, The Arizona Daily Star reports. Peru officials told local newspaper Kokomo Tribune that they believe the weapon was stolen from police there in 1933 when a Dillinger accomplice posed as an insurance agent and asked police to lay out their guns so he could give them a quote. Dillinger, accomplice Harry Pierpont and others returned to the police station that night and held officers at gunpoint while stealing several items, including the Tommy gun, said Peru City Attorney Pat Roberts, whose father was one of the officers on duty. After other robberies nationwide, the outlaws were caught in Tucson. "We understand it's a big part of their history," Tucson police Sgt. Pete Dugan said of the request for the gun. "But it's also a big part of Tucson's history." Dillinger and his accomplices had several weapons when they were arrested, and it can be difficult to determine the origin of each, Dugan said. Peru officials say the gun's serial number can prove their claim. Photo: The Canadian Press California drought surveyors will trudge through deep snow Wednesday to manually measure what could be close to a normal Sierra Nevada snowpack for this time of year. A year ago, Gov. Jerry Brown stood on the same spot then a dusty patch of ground with no snow to announce that the dire drought required residents to cut back water use by 25 per cent. Statewide, the snowpack was then at five per cent, marking a record low. An El Nino weather system has delivered considerably more wet weather this year mostly in Northern California but not enough to end the drought, said Doug Carlson, a state Department of Water Resources spokesman. "The hope had been that we might be able to ride on the back of El Nino and receive an awful lot of precipitation," Carlson said. "We haven't seen that above-average situation play out." Northern California saw the most rain and snow, lifting the state's three largest reservoirs to above normal levels and bringing the snowpack to nearly average depth. But electronic monitors stationed throughout the Sierra Nevada reveal that statewide, the snowpack's water-content is at 87 per cent of normal. Little rain and snow hit Southern California, leaving most of its reservoirs low, and it will take years to replenish the overdrawn groundwater that has seen the state through the first four years of the drought. "We're looking at a long-term recovery and not a one-shot wonder," Carlson said. Still, state water board spokesman George Kostyrko said agency officials expect to soon re-open a discussion of the conservation order issued by Brown. California's snowpack is a key indicator of the state's water condition. Typically at its deepest on April 1, the snow then melts through the warm months, rushing down streams and rivers into lakes and reservoirs, providing roughly one-third of the state's water. The melted snow goes to farms in the nation's leading agricultural and most populous state. In 2015, surveyors performed the final snowpack survey of the wet season on April 1. This year officials say that because of the improved conditions, they may return to the mountains in early May to measure the snow for insight into how much runoff they can expect. Officials at the State Water Resources Control Board have said they may relax or even set aside strict conservation requirements, depending on how much rain and snow has fallen. Strong El Nino storms in early March have some water districts questioning whether a drought emergency still exists and if residents should still be required to take shorter showers and let their lawns turn brown. Leaders of local water districts say the state needs to save the emergency declaration for the true emergencies, fearing they will lose credibility with the public the next time drought hits and they're asked to conserve. If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,... Meeting Russian requirements ICR Research By Published 30 March 2016 Since entering the Russian market in 2001 with the acquisition of the 1Mta Cesla cement plant, HeidelbergCement has expanded its local operations significantly. In this exclusive interview, Mihail Polendakov, general manager of HeidelbergCement Russia, speaks to ICR about plans for the future and adapting to changing demand requirements. From the single Cesla cement plant in the city of Slantsy, Leningrad region, HeidelbergCement has grown its operations in Russia to include three cement plants, two terminals and one aggregate facility. With Russias market dynamics changing rapidly, the company is adapting to shifts in requirements. ICR: Has HeidelbergCements growth in Russia been achieved organically, through acquisitions, or both? What is the companys current footprint in the country? Mihail Polendakov (MP): We have managed to build a brand new cement plant of 2Mta capacity next to our raw material limestone deposits near the village of Novogurovsky, Tula region. The plant was commissioned on 14 July 2011. Currently it is fully utilised and we sell all the cement that it produces. In addition, we finally acquired 100 per cent control of CMC, our cement plant in Sterlitamak, Republic of Bashkortostan, in 2013. In the Russian Federation [RF], we currently have a capacity of around 5Mta. To continue reading this story and get access to all News, Articles and Video sections of the CemNet.com website, please Register for a subscription to International Cement Review or Login India: railway holds talks with cement industry ICR Newsroom By 30 March 2016 Ravindra Gupta, general manager of South Central Railway (SCR), met with the domestic cement industry to assure them of all possible help from the railways to improve the movement of cement by rail. The general manager advised representatives of UltraTech Cement, Vasavadatta, Kesoram, Vikat Sagar, Manikgarh, Ramco, My Home, India Cements, JayPee, Pennar, Zuari Cements to use the concessions offered by railways in notified Empty Flow Direction routes and plans drawn for short and long lead distances. The meeting was held on Monday at Rail Nilayam in Secunderabad to discuss plans and strategies to improve cement transport and increase the share of rail transport in cement distribution. Representatives from the cement industry explained their needs to the rail company in terms of operating and commercial support. Issues raised included freight discount schemes and settlement of claims. They expressed confidence that, the share of cement loading on railways will see an increase in the ensuing period. Published under 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.... Victim Josh Rozman, of Tampa, Fla., flanked Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, speaks during a press conference to announce legal action against a Chicago-area debt collection operation that they allege coerced consumers into paying payday loan debts that the consumers did not owe, Wednesday, March 30, 2016, in Chicago. (Anthony Souffle / Chicago Tribune) Thousands of U.S. consumers lost at least $3.8 million after a network of Westmont-based businesses coerced them into paying loan debts that they either didn't owe or owed to others, state and federal agencies said Wednesday. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, at a joint news conference with Todd Kossow, the Federal Trade Commission's Midwest acting director, estimated that Illinois consumers were scammed out of about $1 million by six local companies, including Stark Recovery, Ashton Asset Management, HKM Funding and Capital Harris Miller & Associates. Advertisement The FTC and state of Illinois have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago against the six companies from Westmont, in DuPage County, and their operators, Hirsh Mohindra, Gaurav Mohindra and Preetesh Patel. Neither the three nor their lawyer could be reached for immediate comment. The lawsuit alleges harassing and abusive conduct; false, deceptive or misleading representations to consumers; and violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, among other things. Madigan and the FTC said a federal court has temporarily halted the businesses' operations. Advertisement The complaint said that, since at least 2011, the defendants targeted consumers who had received, inquired about or applied for payday loans, typically online. The defendants then allegedly called consumers, told them they were delinquent on payday loans or other short-term debt, and pressured them into paying debts they either did not owe or that the defendants had no authority to collect. The FTC and Madigan's office said they're not certain how the Westmont parties got consumers' detailed financial and personal information; possible theories are that the payday loan sites might have been bogus or the sites may have been lead generators that sold the information to unscrupulous parties. The defendants allegedly used that detailed information, including Social Security numbers, to convince consumers that they immediately owed money to them when in fact they didn't. They also allegedly threatened them with lawsuits or arrest and falsely said they would be charged with "defrauding a financial institution" and "passing a bad check." Besides harassing consumers with phone calls, the defendants disclosed debts to the consumers' relatives, friends and employers, the lawsuit said. In response to the defendants' repeated calls and alleged threats, the lawsuit said, many consumers paid the debts, even though they may not have owed them, because they believed the defendants would follow through on their threats or they simply wanted to end the harassment. Tampa, Fla., resident Joshua Rozman, who was at the news conference, said he had taken out two payday loans to pay the rent when one roommate moved out and another lost his job. Advertisement In June 2015, he said he began receiving calls from Stark, which claimed that he had defaulted on a $300 payday loan that he took out a few months earlier. The callers said he now owed $800. They knew all of his personal information and threatened legal action. Rozman said he paid Stark the $230 he had in his bank account and then became suspicious. He checked with his lender and found he didn't owe anything. The company then got more aggressive and eventually began contacting his sister. He eventually filed a complaint with the FTC. byerak@tribpub.com Twitter @beckyyerak The city is abuzz with all things Vincent Van Gogh, thanks in large part to the Art Institute of Chicago's current exhibit centered on the artist's renowned "Bedrooms" paintings. An intimate look at Van Gogh's quest for home, the exhibit is drawing record crowds, which means waiting in line for who knows how long. (Or you can make like us and strategically follow the Art Institute on Twitter for tips on when to swing by.) Rather than hold your breath, why not get a meal while you can? To celebrate the master's birthday Wednesday and to help you get into the spirit of the exhibit, we have a Van Gogh-inspired food and drink itinerary, from Dutch pancakes to absinthe-soaked cocktails. Use it throughout the run of the exhibit, which ends May 10. Think of it as life imitating art. Advertisement Breakfast Honor Van Gogh's Dutch roots, and fortify your belly with a stop at Pannenkoeken in Lincoln Square. The namesake Dutch pancake a platter-size, crepelike disk that is simultaneously crispy and spongy comes in 12 variations, savory and sweet. The chocolate-banana pannenkoeken is a solid choice, but the apple-ginger option ($10.95) is a treat. Served open-face, a generous helping of thinly sliced apples covers the surface, topped with ginger marmalade and lightly sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar. 4757 N. Western Ave., 773-769-8800 Advertisement Lunch Located in the Art Institute itself, Terzo Piano is offering a special "Bedrooms"-themed prix-fixe menu until the exhibit closes in May. Chef Megan Neubeck took inspiration from the three permanent homes of the "Bedrooms" paintings (Amsterdam, Chicago and Paris) to craft her three-course menu ($25). The first course is salmon tartare served with a potato gaufrette (waffle-cut potato), cress and caperberries. A caramelized onion soup made with Revolution Brewing Co. Eugene porter, beef stock and local Gruyere makes up course two. And the meal finishes with a traditional palmier. Pair your meal with either the nonalcoholic Yellow House a house-made Meyer lemon-and-parsley soda ($5) or the Van Gogh's Jaded Lady, a cocktail of North Shore Sirene Absinthe, Tru Lemon Vodka, Meyer lemon-parsley simple syrup, Peychaud's bitters, lemon and soda ($14). 159 E. Monroe St., 312-443-8650 Cocktail hour Taking cues from Van Gogh's love of absinthe, Michael Douglas, beverage manager of Bernard's Bar at the Waldorf Astoria, created the Vincent cocktail ($16). Inspired by the artist's "The Potato Eaters," he starts with a base of potato vodka, then adds yellow Chartreuse and lemon juice to balance out the flavors. 11 E. Walton St., 312-646-1300. Over at the JW Marriott Chicago Lobby Lounge, bartender Damian Arms honors Van Gogh with three cocktails. The Yellow House ($15) named after the home of the bedroom itself makes use of herbaceous Suze and Lucid Absinthe, topped with sparkling wine. For something different, try the Breakfast in Bed ($14), made with Bols Genever, orgeat, house-made coffee star anise syrup, cream, orange and mole bitters. The third cocktail, the Repetition ($16), is a complex-yet-balanced mix of gin, Chartreuse, raspberry syrup, and lemon and grapefruit juices. 151 W. Adams St., 312-660-8200. Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > Dinner Influenced by European techniques, chef Adam Grandt serves up New American cuisine at Andersonville bistro Vincent that is as innovative as it is comforting. Start with an order of the tempura shishito peppers ($8) or the playful chicken-fried pork belly, served with a sweet potato waffle ($14). Choose from entrees like beet-poached salmon ($24), or opt for P.E.I mussels prepared one of four ways, such as with curry, saffron and coconut cream ($22). 1475 W. Balmoral Ave., 773-334-7168. Dessert Advertisement Before you head to your own bedroom, stop by Lakeview's Dutch-and-Indonesian restaurant, De Quay. Three Dutch desserts grace the menu, but the go-to order here is the stroopwafel, a house-made, caramel-filled waffle cookie served with vanilla bean ice cream ($7). 2470 N. Lincoln Ave., 872-206-8820 If you're lucky enough to have scored the Art Institute's Van Gogh-inspired bedroom, available via Airbnb, you have no excuse to not dream of starry nights. jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com @joeybear85 With kidney disease prevalent in their family, Lori Hoffman, from left, Lou Montgomery, Stephanie Chissoe, Debra Warner, Kathleen Barrowclough and Nancy Pyle all have something else in common: Each now has one kidney. (Michael Bryant / Philadelphia Inquirer) PHILADELPHIA Like most of us, Kathleen Barrowclough, 70, was born with only two kidneys. So, she couldn't save both her brother and her sister, who each needed a kidney transplant to stay alive. Advertisement "My brother said, 'I won't take your kidney, because Nancy is going to need it,'" Barrowclough recalled, and although the story is 20 years old, the retired nurse from Hockessin, Del., can't say it without a catch in the throat. "He refused," she said, and then bravely made a stab at a joke about needing Kleenex. Advertisement In 1997, Nancy Pyle, now 75, received her sister's kidney. By that time, their brother was dead of an unrelated cancer. "My sister, I consider my angel because she has given me life, and I can never repay her," Pyle said. Mountains of emotion complicate the landscape of organ transplants, and Barrowclough's family has experienced all of them. Hope, fear, sorrow, but most of all, a family loyalty remarkable even to seasoned medical professionals. On average, 22 people die daily waiting for an organ transplant, according to UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, a Virginia nonprofit that promotes organ donation. An estimated 122,000 patients need organs. Of them, 100,000 are seeking kidneys. Survival chances improve if a friend or relative will donate. But, how do you ask? Do you ask? What if your child offers? Do you say yes? Do you turn him or her away? Pyle, of Norman, Okla., stayed on dialysis for years, waiting for a donor, hoping to avoid turning to her sister, afraid that it would come back to haunt her if she and her sister fought, as sisters do. "I was afraid to let her donate," Pyle said. "I was afraid it wouldn't work. What if I took her kidney and something happened? I'd be blamed for it." Since then, donating kidneys has become almost a family ritual, complete with donors and recipients wearing matching bracelets. Advertisement Generations ago, the sisters' grandparents, Ruby and Stephen Dashiell, married a little too close on the family tree for optimum genetic health. Related somewhat as cousins, both had polycystic kidney disease, a genetic condition in which cysts form on the kidneys and ultimately block their function, leading to death. Because both had the condition, they passed it to their seven children, and all died of it, including Barrowclough and Pyle's father. If only one spouse has it, there's a 50 percent chance that each offspring will be spared. When they learned of the family scourge, Pyle decided not to research if she had it "because you couldn't get health insurance if you had a pre-existing condition (then)." Eventually, she learned she had it and had passed it on to one of her two daughters, Melanie Darrow. Her other daughter, Stephanie Chissoe, 48, of Washington state, donated a kidney to her sister. "I always knew this is what I wanted to do. I felt honored that I could do my part," Chissoe said. "It takes a village, and we can all do this to help each other. We never felt any pressure. We had to force our kidneys on my sister." Barrowclough was the only sibling out of three to escape the condition, which meant her children did, as well. Her daughters, Lou Montgomery and Lori Hoffman, each with two healthy kidneys, each donated a kidney to a cousin. Advertisement Montgomery, 46, of Newark, Del., donated hers to Darrow, when the kidney from Chissoe failed. Hoffman, 45, of New Castle, Del., donated hers to Debra Warner, 55, of Newark, in a complicated switch. Warner's and Hoffman's blood types weren't compatible, so Hoffman donated her kidney to a woman, and her husband donated his kidney to Warner. As Warner got sicker and sicker, she hid her condition from her family, even knowing her cousin Lori would be willing to help. "I didn't want to put that on her," Warner said. Warner is the daughter of Barrowclough's brother the one who died. "I felt some satisfaction that my daughter could help Deb, because I couldn't help my brother," Barrowclough said, her voice again catching. "But if I weren't able to give Nan my kidney, she wouldn't be here today." Advertisement In 2015, 30,973 organ transplants were performed, and of them, about 5,000 came from a living donor. Kidneys from living donors last longer and work more quickly, doctors said at a recent meeting of kidney donors and recipients including Barrowclough and several family members at Jefferson Transplant Institute. The operation is relatively painless, with most patients released in two days. Recuperation takes a month, and costs are typically covered by the recipient's insurance. Doctors and other staffers suggested asking for kidneys on social media, making the request more general to avoid pressuring anyone. Family members can act as donor champions, asking others to donate to spare the recipient an awkward conversation. Philadelphia resident Joseph McMillian, 66, didn't stay for the whole meeting. A former carpenter, he's been on dialysis for four years. Early on, he mustered the courage to ask his son to give him a kidney. But, he said, his son turned him down flat and refused to learn about it. "I wish I had never asked him," McMillian said, because his son's refusal to even consider the option hurt him to the quick and changed their relationship. They haven't been in touch. McMillian marveled at the closeness of the panel families who shared their stories at the event. Advertisement Maybe, before his health degenerates completely, a donor will come through, he said. Meanwhile, he said, as he walked to the bus, he can't afford to lose hope. "Hope," he said. "That's all I've got." As the Chicago Teachers Union prepares for a one-day walkout Friday, the legality of the labor action is open to strong debate. Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool insists it would be illegal, and Gov. Bruce Rauner calls it an "abuse of power." Even union members have sought reassurances they won't be breaking the law. Advertisement But the union argues its members can strike under a federal law that opens the door to a walkout if an unfair labor practice occurs in this case, the Chicago Public Schools' decision to stop paying raises based on experience and educational attainment. While CPS has decided not to take legal steps to prevent Friday's walkout, the district could bring the issue before the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board or state courts for a ruling. One major question would be whether CTU can strike outside the mandates of state law. Advertisement "While it seems hard to believe, this may be the first time the board has really been faced with this situation," said Robert Bruno, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Labor & Employment Relations. "It's really clear in the private sector that workers can engage in unfair-labor-practice, contract-enforcement strikes," Bruno said. "It's perhaps not really clear, based on past practice, whether the education law in Illinois should be interpreted that way." State law restricts when teachers can strike if contract talks with CPS reach an impasse. That law, which CPS attorneys argue provides the only legal avenue for a teachers' strike, doesn't directly address what's set to occur Friday. The union is relying on a 1956 U.S. Supreme Court decision that, in the union's interpretation, says private-sector workers don't have to comply with notice and timing requirements for a strike if an employer has engaged in an unfair labor practice. CPS has engaged in an unfair labor practice, the union argues, by ending longstanding "step and lane" raises based on experience and education, which were a part of the contract that expired June 30. The union filed a complaint with the state educational labor relations board, but lost an initial bid to have the district immediately reinstate the raises. The case, however, is still pending. CTU employed similar reasoning when it geared up to strike after Claypool said in February that the district would stop paying the bulk of teacher pension contributions, a key sticking point in contract negotiations. The union argued that ending the pension contributions would be an unfair labor practice, and allow CTU to call a strike months before a state-mandated timeline for talks is completed. Advertisement "The union's view is that if it's not striking over the contract, but is instead striking over an unfair labor practice under that Supreme Court decision, it need not fulfill all those statutory requirements for a strike before engaging in an unfair labor practice strike," CTU attorney Robert Bloch said at the time. "Our view is that, in accordance with that Supreme Court decision, it's not necessary to satisfy all the (state law) impasse procedures unless you're striking over a contract." CPS labor attorney James Franczek said the Supreme Court case deals with the National Labor Relations Act, which "has absolutely no applicability to the Chicago Public Schools system or to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act." "Strikes are illegal, they're prohibited except under very specific circumstances," said Franczek, who helped write the state law that makes it harder for teachers to strike. "The only way you can strike at CPS is if you comply with that (state) statute." State laws governing labor actions by public employees are often modeled after federal laws, experts said. But states aren't necessarily bound by federal case law, one labor attorney said. "There are going to be significant distinctions between how the public-sector employees are governed, and what their rights are, versus the private sector," said Adam Wit, a labor attorney with Littler Mendelson in Chicago. Advertisement Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "Where the concepts line up, I don't think it's uncommon for a state board or a state court to look to federal law for guidance," Wit said. "But it wouldn't go beyond that. It's not binding." If CTU's action is brought before the state educational labor relations board, Bruno said a key question will be how much weight should be given to federal law governing private workers. "When you don't have any practices really to go on in the state and you're going to get two countering arguments about how (state law) is interpreted one of the questions is: 'How appropriate is using the interpretation of the private-sector law to help you understand the provisions made available under the public sector law?'" Claypool said that while CPS probably won't be able to use legal means to stop Friday's walkout, the district will evaluate its legal options after the one-day strike is over. "I think it's important to make clear the law is what it says it is," Claypool told reporters last week. "I think that's important for, not just for this day but for years to come. I think it's important for people to understand what the law is. Some of these crazy statements that have been made, I think, need to be put to rest. The law means what the law says, and this is an illegal strike." jjperez@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @PerezJr Former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds speaks to members of the media at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after receiving a six month jail term on May 10, 2018, for failing to file tax returns for four years. Reynolds fought the misdemeanor tax charges against him until the eve of his sentencing hearing. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) A federal judge on Wednesday refused to allow indicted former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds to extend his stay in South Africa for another two weeks and said he wanted to be notified immediately if he didn't return by Thursday as expected. Reynolds wants to delay his May 2 trial on misdemeanor tax-evasion charges so he can assist a daughter who may need spinal surgery. Advertisement At a hearing Wednesday in federal court in Chicago, Reynolds' lawyer, Richard Kling, said the former congressman wanted to delay his trial for six months, citing a letter from his daughter's doctor explaining she will likely need surgery for scoliosis in the near future. U.S. District Judge John Darrah, however, said he shared prosecutors' concerns that the request seemed open-ended and that there was no guarantee the situation will have changed in six months. The judge requested more specific information about the daughter's treatment schedule before he rules on the continuance next month. Advertisement Reynolds, who is free on bond, has been allowed to travel several times to Africa since pleading not guilty last year to a four-count indictment charging him with failing to file federal income tax returns. In November, he drew a warning from Darrah after it was revealed he had traveled to Zambia without court authorization to see a doctor there about his daughter's condition. Reynolds had told court officials he would be returning on Thursday from his latest court-authorized trip to Africa, but Kling asked the judge for a two-week extension. Darrah refused. On Tuesday, Reynolds apparently referenced his travel issues on Twitter, saying in a post, "People would be startled at just how cruel and cynical the government can quietly be. Will even use a child's illness as leverage." Reynolds, 63, was accused of failing to file an income tax return from 2009 through 2012. Each misdemeanor count carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $250,000 fine. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > He has clashed with court officials several times since the indictment was brought. In August, he blasted efforts by court officials to have him placed on electronic monitoring while on bond, saying he was being punished because of the color of his skin. "In 2015, they want to treat a black man like he's a slave," Reynolds said at the time. Once a rising political star, Reynolds had a spectacular fall from grace when he was convicted in 1995 on charges of criminal sexual abuse, child pornography and obstruction of justice for having sex with a 16-year-old former campaign intern, then trying to sabotage the case against him. He was sentenced to five years in prison. In 1997, while serving his state prison sentence, Reynolds was convicted again this time in federal court on 15 fraud counts related to illegally raising campaign cash and defrauding banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was sentenced to 61/2 years in federal prison. Advertisement But hours before leaving office in 2001, President Bill Clinton commuted Reynolds' federal sentence with two years left to serve. jmeisner@tribpub.com Twitter @jmetr22b Emma Lozano of Lincoln United Methodist Church holds a printout of the church's front door, which has been vandalized two days in a row, she said, Tuesday March 29, 2016. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) For two days in a row this week, neighbors of a Pilsen neighborhood church have awakened to see racist graffiti on the church's doors. Swastikas and the message "Rape Mexico" were scrawled Monday and Tuesday in white paint across the glass doors of Lincoln United Methodist Church, 2242 S. Damen Ave. Advertisement Lincoln United Methodist is the sister church to Adalberto United Methodist in the Humboldt Park neighborhood where Elvira Arellano, a Mexican immigration activist who was living in the U.S. illegally, sought sanctuary for more than a year starting in August 2006. On Easter Sunday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to the Lincoln congregation about the importance of immigration reform for Christians. "We've always been in defense of keeping families together," said Sara Walker, a member of the church since 2012. "We believe that Jesus and his family were migrants themselves." Advertisement Emma Lozano, pastor of both Lincoln and Adalberto, blames widely publicized remarks by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for inciting the vandalism. Trump has suggested building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and has described some Mexican immigrants as "rapists." "The rhetoric that's coming out of these presidential campaigns is really fueling the courage of these people who feel threatened by the growing Latino community," she said. "These words that are being said 'Mexicans are coming here to rape' those words do fuel violence and fuel anger, and someone is acting out of that." Chicago United Methodist Bishop Sally Dyck urged prayers for the congregation and vandals alike, even as she characterized vandalism aimed at the nationality or ethnicity of people as particularly "deplorable." Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "In addition to the churches and communities, we pray for those who did this vandalism that they may experience healing from the pain and anger that would cause them to do it," Dyck said. "As Christians we must all speak out against hateful speech such as this graffiti," she added. "It's a violation of the sacredness of the people in the church and community." On Tuesday, a church musician scrubbed the graffiti from the windows after the vandalism was reported to Chicago police. Church members stood guard late into the night Wednesday to discourage the vandals' return. "Our neighbors didn't want to see it either," Lozano said, adding that she held on to photographs to share with police and the public. She said the congregation and its leaders will not back down from showing solidarity with immigrants. "We're going to be more vigilant and ask our neighbors to do the same," Lozano said. "I really believe God is going to protect us. We just need to let people know what is happening and they should not fear people who are already here. Their families are trying to stay together." Advertisement mbrachear@tribpub.com Twitter @TribSeeker Surrounded by family, Eddie Johnson is sworn in as the new Police Superintendent by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on April 13, 2016. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) Aldermen and top City Hall officials are considering a pair of plans that would allow the Police Board to avoid conducting a second national superintendent search after Mayor Rahm Emanuel rejected the three recommended finalists and installed his own candidate, sources familiar with the discussions said Tuesday. The behind-the-scenes maneuvering to bail out the Emanuel-appointed Police Board came the day after the mayor publicly introduced Chief of Patrol Eddie Johnson as interim superintendent, a job for which the veteran officer had not applied. Advertisement Under city code, Emanuel is required to hire the police superintendent from a slate of candidates reviewed and approved by the Police Board. When Emanuel officially rejected the panel's three finalists Monday, the decision also sent the board back to work to conduct another search. Emanuel left open the possibility that he still could name someone other than Johnson to the job permanently, but he also joked that he expected the veteran cop to apply this time around. Johnson said he didn't initially seek the job because he had just been promoted to chief of patrol by then-interim Superintendent John Escalante and he wanted to support Escalante's effort to lead the department permanently. Advertisement Since Emanuel promoted Johnson, some of the board's nine members privately have expressed that they have little interest in conducting another nationwide search when its main purpose would be to allow the mayor's now-favored candidate to formally apply, said sources familiar with the discussions who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Instead, leaders on the City Council, with input from the Police Board, have begun weighing two options to sidestep another search. The first would involve passing an ordinance that would allow a mayor to reject the Police Board's finalists and name his own candidate for the job, so long as the Police Board and the City Council approve his nominee. The second option would be an ordinance to create a special one-time exemption and allow Emanuel to appoint Johnson to the superintendent job permanently without any involvement from the Police Board. The City Council would retain its role in approving the appointment. While both approaches would save the panel the work of another search that likely would turn up few new candidates after Emanuel's glowing endorsement of Johnson, passing such ordinances also would serve as a public acknowledgment by aldermen that the current Police Board search process is somewhat flawed. For his part, Emanuel has noted that no other appointment he makes as mayor requires a separate board to vet and recommend candidates in advance. During a Tuesday night appearance on WTTW-Ch. 11's "Chicago Tonight," Emanuel was asked whether the Police Board would conduct another search. The mayor responded that "there's a lot of conversations going on" among aldermen about that topic. "While he's the interim superintendent, they're looking, and as I said, 'Let's come up with some ideas we can look at,'" Emanuel said of aldermen. "The Police Board plays a role. This is a one-time situation, and they'll explore it." Advertisement Emanuel did not mention the specific proposals that are being kicked around City Hall, but he did imply that conducting another search and having Johnson sit through Police Board interviews would be an unwanted distraction. "Everybody, now that we have a consensus about a person, is exploring a way to remove the word interim, put a period at the end of the sentence, so we can all move forward," Emanuel said. "People are exploring different things. We'll see it. I wanted Eddie Johnson 100 percent focused on his job." bruthhart@tribpub.com Twitter @BillRuthhart A Capitol cop watches as members of the media work in the foreground on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 28, 2016. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP) WASHINGTON The U.S. Capitol complex reopened amid visibly higher security Tuesday, a day after police say officers shot and wounded a man who pulled a weapon at a security checkpoint as he entered the underground Capitol Visitor Center. Larry R. Dawson of Tennessee, whom Capitol Police identified the man as the suspect, remained hospitalized and will not make a court appearance on Tuesday, said spokesman Bill Miller of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Advertisement The 66-year-old was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer while armed. Dawson underwent surgery at a local hospital and as of late Monday was in stable but critical condition, police said. Dawson disrupted a House session last October by yelling he was a "Prophet of God." He was issued a "stay away order" by the District of Columbia Superior Court that same month that required him to avoid the Capitol grounds, court documents show. Advertisement Monday's incident, in which a bystander was slightly wounded, occurred at the tourists' entry point to a building that had heightened security even before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has had periodic scares ever since. With last week's suicide attacks in Brussels, Belgium, that killed 35 people fresh on people's minds, Capitol Police Chief Matthew R. Verderosa held a brief news conference at which he said terrorism seemed unlikely. "We do believe this is an act of a single person who has frequented the Capitol grounds before and there is no reason to believe that this is anything more than a criminal act," Verderosa, who became chief this month after about three decades on the force, told reporters. There appeared to be more police officers than usual at some posts outside the buildings as the Capitol and its surrounding buildings resumed business Tuesday. Even so, the reopening was marred as police investigated a pair of suspicious packages at the Capitol's East Front and Library of Congress Jefferson Building. By mid-morning, both packages had been declared harmless and road closures just outside those buildings were lifted. Verderosa said he did not know how many officers had fired at the suspect in Monday's incident. He said no officers were injured. Verderosa said a weapon had been recovered at the scene and the suspect's vehicle had been found on the Capitol grounds and would be seized. He also said a female bystander suffered minor injuries. Later Monday, spokeswoman Susan Griffiths of George Washington University Hospital said that hospital was about to release a patient it had treated for minor injuries and whom it did not identify. Advertisement Miller of the U.S. Attorney's office said that after Dawson's October arrest, he did not appear in court as scheduled the following month. Miller said a bench warrant was issued for his arrest and in January. Dawson wrote the court a letter in which he claimed to be exempt from laws because he is a prophet of God. "No longer will I let myself be governed by flesh and blood, but only by the Divine Love of God," he wrote, adding four exclamation points. Other court paperwork said Dawson said he was previously in the Army and was honorably discharged in 1971. An attorney listed as representing him in the case from October, John Copacino, did not immediately return a telephone message and an e-mail requesting comment Monday afternoon. Records show Dawson was previously licensed in Tennessee to work as a funeral director. After his license expired in 2004, the state's Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers voted three times to deny requests from Dawson to reinstate his license, citing the "applicant's lack of good moral character." Kevin Walters, a spokesman for the state funeral board, said the denial resulted from an incident that occurred while Dawson was working as a school bus driver in a Nashville suburb. Dawson had written a letter to a young girl saying that God had told him to have sex with her, Walters said. Advertisement In 1998, before the Visitor Center was built, two Capitol police officers were fatally shot by a gunman who stormed a security checkpoint inside the Capitol itself. That shooter, Russell Eugene Weston Jr., was wounded and is custody at a federal mental facility. Monday's incident, which Verderosa said began at 2:39 p.m. EDT, unfolded with Congress on recess and the capital swarming with springtime tourists, and with nearly all lawmakers away on recess. The Capitol was on lockdown for about an hour Monday and the White House also was briefly locked down. Associated Press President Barack Obama walks across the South Lawn of the White House from Marine One on March 29, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Carolyn Kaster / AP) During an emotional and often intensely personal panel discussion, President Barack Obama listened Tuesday as a 35-year-old mother of two described her descent from prescription drugs into heroin addiction. "It slowly happened," said Crystal Oertle of Ohio as she sat beside the president. "It is crazy to think of the things I did, but it was necessary for me to function. . . . I've had to steal. I have stolen from department stores to feed my habit. I have been involved in drug busts a couple of times." She has now marked a year of recovery. Advertisement A Baltimore doctor described her feeling of helplessness as she watched one patient spiral downward and overdose because no treatment options were immediately available. And a 28-year-old father described how he had been in and out of recovery seven times. The president came to Atlanta to participate in the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit at a time when Americans are overdosing from prescription opioids and heroin in record numbers. Obama has made the nation's heroin and prescription drug epidemic a priority in his second term, and the scourge has been one of the few areas in which the White House has been able to draw bipartisan support from Congress. Advertisement Obama spoke of the problem of drug addiction in unusually personal terms. He made reference to his own drug use as a young man, which he described in a memoir before he became a politician. "When I was a kid I was - how would I put it? - not always as responsible as I am today, and in many ways I was lucky because for whatever reason addiction didn't get its claws in me," he said. A few minutes later, he repeated himself: "I was lucky, and I don't know why," Obama said. Even as he promised to fight the drug cartels, Obama was insistent that addiction was a medical problem that requires more help from the government. "This is a straightforward proposition of how do we save lives," he said. "It doesn't do us good to talk recovery after people are dead." He has proposed $1.1 billion in new funding to battle heroin addiction - more than double last year's budget - with the vast majority of that money going to expand access to medications designed to help addicts struggling with severe withdrawal. Drugs such as buprenorphine combined with therapy have proven to be the most effective treatment for addicts, but major shortages of physicians trained to administer it make progress difficult, especially in rural areas, Obama said. Today as many as 1 million Americans need treatment for opioid addiction but are unable to get it. That issue is one of the few for which Obama has been able to muster support, if not funding, from Republican lawmakers. Obama was introduced Tuesday by Republican Rep. Harold Rogers, who played a key role in the summit and whose district in eastern Kentucky coal country has been ravaged by drugs. The president used his appearance to make the case for a big budget increase to expand treatment for addiction, particularly in rural communities, where he traditionally has not won much support. "The $1.1 billion is not allocated by Congress," Obama said of his budget request. "I want to be very clear about that. This is still an area that is grossly under-resourced." The White House on Tuesday announced modest measures that don't require congressional backing and are designed to make treatment more available to those suffering addiction. To address the physician shortfall, the Department of Health and Human Services said it would double the patient limit for doctors prescribing buprenorphine to 200. Advertisement "This change has taken far too long," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who has called for expanding that cap to 500 patients. The White House also plans to spend $94 million to help 271 community health centers increase their services to addicts, a move that could open up treatment to as many as 124,000 new patients. It also would direct $11 million to help states purchase and distribute naloxone, which is injected to block or reverse an overdose. The panelists' stories are "heartbreaking," Obama said. "And the fact is that for too long we have viewed the problem of drug addiction in our society through the lens of law enforcement." In today's global economy, Obama emphasized that the most effective counter-drug policy is one that prioritizes reducing the demand for drugs at home. "The only way we reduce demand is if we are providing treatment and thinking of this as a public health problem and not just a criminal problem," he said. Public health officials have said the current heroin epidemic was triggered by a spike in prescriptions for short-acting opioid pain medications starting a decade ago. "We arrived here on a path that was paved with good intentions," U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy said at the summit. But "the results have been devastating. We have nearly 250 million prescriptions for opioids written every year. That's enough for every person in America to have a bottle of pills and then some." The Food and Drug Administration recently said it would begin requiring new warnings about the risk of addiction for these medications, which are often prescribed after surgery, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called for a "culture shift for patients and doctors" away from the highly addictive painkillers. Only this month did the CDC issue its first national recommendations on prescription opioids, urging doctors to use more caution and consider alternatives before they prescribe the highly addictive narcotic painkillers. Advertisement Obama insisted that real solutions would require more money, as well as a change of approach in communities across the country. "Today we are seeing more people killed because of opioid overdose than traffic accidents," he said. "This is not something that is restricted to a small set of communities. This is affecting everybody." Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump films a town hall meeting for MSNBC with Chris Matthews at the Weidner Center located on the University of Wisconsin Green Bay campus on March 30, 2016 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Tom Lynn / Getty Images) MADISON, Wis. Frustrated Republicans grappled with new fears about Donald Trump's impact on their party Wednesday, as the billionaire businessman's campaign rivals targeted his punitive plan for fighting abortion and extraordinary defense of his campaign manager, who police say assaulted a female reporter. Concern rippled through Republican circles nationwide, yet few dared criticize the GOP front-runner directly when pressed, leery of confronting the man who may well lead their election ticket in November. Advertisement Their silence underscored the deep worries plaguing the party's leaders particularly its most prominent women who are growing increasingly concerned that a Trump presidential nomination could not only cost the 2016 election but also tarnish the party brand for a generation of women and young people. "A nominee who cannot speak to women cannot win," New Hampshire party chairwoman Jennifer Horn said, though declining to rebuke Trump by name. Advertisement Trump added to his challenge when asked to explain his prescription to fight abortion, a subject that remains highly controversial decades after the Supreme Court legalized it. He told MSNBC during the taping of a town hall-style event in Wisconsin that abortions should be banned and, if they are, women who get them should receive "some form of punishment." That sparked an immediate backlash from both sides of the debate, and Trump's campaign quickly backtracked, releasing a statement that sought to take back his words. It said that only those who perform abortions would be "held legally responsible, not the woman." "The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb," the new Trump statement said. The abortion comments came as Trump questioned the findings of Jupiter, Florida, police, who charged his closest political adviser, Corey Lewandowski, with misdemeanor battery on Tuesday after examining surveillance video of an incident in which a reporter said she was grabbed and shoved. The police report said the woman's arm revealed "bruising from what appeared to be several finger marks indicating a grabbing-type injury." "I don't know who created those bruises," Trump said Wednesday. The Republican front-runner suggested his campaign manager was simply trying to protect him from Michelle Fields, a reporter for Breitbart News at the time, who was trying to ask him a question after a March 8 campaign appearance. "She's got a pen in her arm which she's not supposed to have and it shows that she's a very aggressive person who's grabbing at me and touching me," Trump said. "Maybe I should file charges against her." As Trump assailed Fields from a television studio, Republican rival Ted Cruz surrounded himself with women as he courted Wisconsin voters ahead of the state's high-stakes primary next Tuesday. Cruz leads the state by 9 points among likely voters, according to a Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday. Advertisement Cruz campaigned in Madison with his wife, mother, two daughters and even their nanny in what he called a "celebration of women." "We're here because we love our families," Cruz declared, declining to repeat his harsh criticism of Trump from the day before. "Women are not a special interest. Women are a majority of the United States of America. And every issue is a women's issue." Women favored President Barack Obama by 11 points over GOP nominee Mitt Romney in 2012, a divide highlighted in the Republican National Committee's post-election study. "Our inability to win their votes is losing us elections," the report's authors wrote. Yet Trump is poised to fare worse among women than Romney in a general election, according to recent polls that put his negative ratings nearing or even eclipsing 70 percent among women. The RNC recommended that prominent female elected leaders be featured to promote the Republican brand, listing several, including South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Haley's office said she was "unavailable for comment" Wednesday, among other female Republican officeholders who didn't respond to AP requests for comment. They included Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Reps. Kristi Noem of North Dakota and Mia Love of Utah. Advertisement Liz Johnson, communications director for Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who is in a tough re-election fight, issued this statement: "As a longtime prosecutor, Kelly believes Mr. Trump should leave this case to the criminal justice system, instead of wrongly trying it in the media." The Trump campaign was in discussion with the Republican National Committee about arranging a meeting with Chairman Reince Priebus on Thursday. Trump is the undisputed GOP front-runner in the nomination fight, but should he lose Wisconsin, his foes would have a realistic chance of denying him the delegate majority he needs to claim the nomination before the July convention. In such a scenario, Republican delegates would select their presidential nominee in what would likely be a messy televised gathering. Leading Democrat Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, attacked Trump's rhetoric on women and minorities as she campaigned in New York. "Just listen to Donald Trump. He plays coy with white supremacists. He says demeaning and degrading things about women," she declared. Associated Press I voted for Barack Obama in 2008. I am also a woman who was over 50 years old back then and am now pushing 60. Before and after the latest primary contests in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska, the discussion among Democrats choosing sides between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders too often in vociferous tones that border on a progressive version of Trumpism focuses on arguments for and against gender identity. Advertisement But the discussion misses why women of my generation continue to see the significance of a woman being taken seriously as a candidate for the presidency. And the discussion stretches beyond party lines and allows us to look at a legacy of gender inequities. We as a generation of women are far more forgiving of what younger voters decry as Clinton's lack of authenticity. Advertisement In 2008, I voted for Obama for president because I so strongly objected to the Iraq invasion and believed and still believe that Clinton knew it was wrong, but she was already planning a run for president and went along. Like many younger women today as well as younger men and people of both sexes of my generation it's hard to see that move as anything other than political expediency and morally wrong. Likewise we view as problematic Clinton's failure to come out much sooner for marriage and gender equality. It's far more likely than not especially considering Bill Clinton's attempt in the 1990s to bring gender justice to the military and the backlash against it that Hillary, like Obama, has always favored all forms of equality but held back for clearly political reasons. Let's credit Sanders' supporters with being uncompromising on principle not exhibiting sexism on these issues. But there is another barrage of hostility being fired at Clinton particularly among younger women that I, and many women of my generation, feel is misaimed. In blistering critiques, Clinton is criticized for lacking "authenticity." By this, I assume her critics mean she does not show the world her true feelings or real emotions. But criticisms and jokes about her "stiffness" or her supposedly fake smile completely miss the challenge to authenticity for women who came of age in Clinton's generation. Even Jimmy Kimmel's now viral "mansplaining" skit miss the point. All of this may be why some women from the "feminist generation" fired back so hard. I am a highly educated, intelligent and successful woman, and I could not have succeeded in the legal and business worlds as my authentic self. The "me" I am most comfortable with is naturally shy, fairly soft-spoken, inclined to care too much about how what I say and do affects other people. I see great value in kindness. I tried being "me" early in my career, and it simply didn't work. I was deemed "too nice" by a man who interviewed me for a job at a bank, and a man interviewing me at a major newspaper as a business writer was far more interested in knowing "what color are your eyes anyway?" than whether I could do the job. Advertisement In my first year as an associate at a law firm, men I worked with praised my work but questioned whether I was tough enough to do the job. The value of my brains and my thoughts was lost in the soft-spoken projection of my voice. For 25 years, I learned to speak much more forcefully and make it clear at all times that I knew when I was right. I saved "nice" for friends and home. I wore mostly black business suits with white blouses that said nothing about me as a woman. I also gave up contact lenses for glasses. This other me succeeded. I was a highly compensated attorney and legal "boss" in multibillion dollar companies. And there was never a day when I felt entirely comfortable being myself. That was from the late 1980s until I left the corporate world in 2007. It would be nice if I could say the world has changed. I don't really think so. More women are better educated, as women represent the majority of people enrolled in colleges and universities in the U.S. But they're still being paid only 79 percent of what men are being paid, regardless of the occupation and the level of education required, and still are concentrated in the lowest paying jobs. Advertisement And, we've learned that when women are given jobs in higher paying fields, rather than their pay going up, everyone's pay is brought down. Women attorneys fit right in. In my profession of law, although women now make up close to 50 percent of most law school classes (including at the top 10 law schools), they are still only 17 percent of equity partners in law firms. Women are only 17 to 21 percent of general counsels in Fortune 500 and Fortune 501-1000 companies. At law schools, women make up only 20 percent of law school deans, and they make up fewer than 30 percent of federal and state judges. Here's where Clinton's supposed lack of authenticity provokes so much frustration. She has painfully lived with the consequences of being authentic as it played out in public. Very few people question her intelligence, and by all accounts, she was a highly skilled and successful attorney. She also used to use her own name Rodham. That changed quickly when Bill Clinton ran for president and even use of her own surname as a middle name drew harsh criticism. Today she is Hillary Clinton. Advertisement Beginning with Bill's first run for the presidency, attention has been focused on her attire and appearance. Then and now, the observations are sometimes cruelly critical. At a recent fundraiser for Bernie Sanders, a comedian thought a funny joke was to disqualify Hillary as president because of her "cankles." No wonder she wears pantsuits! Recently, male commentators pointed out Clinton was "shouting," rather than discussing the content of her speech. While people might also point out that Sanders is shouting, no one is missing the substance of his message. Unlike Clinton, male commentators are not telling Bernie to "smile." I certainly don't agree with Gloria Steinem's criticism of younger women who support Sanders. But I do understand the frustration of women who fought so hard for the rights many younger women assume are permanent. I also don't think it's necessary to send these younger women to hell as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright suggested. But criticizing Clinton for her lack of authenticity as opposed to her positions is sexist. I suspect, the same will be true for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren if we ever get to see her plunge into presidential politics. Who can judge the authenticity of a politician? Or anyone? Leveling the criticism of inauthenticity at the only woman running for president in 2016 is the wrong topic for debate. Let's focus on what she has to say instead of whether she smiles sincerely when she says it. Nancy C. Loeb is the director of the Environmental Advocacy Center and assistant clinical professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. A week ago, I spent a good deal of time on the phone with a woman in Manila. Her name is Carolina and she works for Microsoft, which insists on compelling me to "upgrade" to Windows 10. I tried, but for some reason it did not work. My computer froze and so I had Microsoft walk it back to Windows 7 whereupon, a bit later, Microsoft struck in the middle of the night and "upgraded" me one more time, and one more time my computer froze. That's how I wound up with Carolina. I'd like to think that she helped the FBI unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorists. Carolina took over my computer. (She had my permission.) The cursor started taking orders from the Philippines. It skipped all over the screen and then into this folder and that folder, things opening and closing, my (digital) life unfolding before me, Carolina hopping here and then there, probably jumping into my sock drawer and arranging things by color (there must be an app for that) and, finally, pronouncing the problem solved. The computer was returned to my control and Microsoft, I was assured, would never again take command of my computer and "upgrade" me to Windows 10, which, for some reason, my computer is allergic to. A week later, Microsoft tried again. Advertisement While all this was happening, the FBI and Apple were fighting over whether and how to unlock Syed Rizwan Farook's iPhone, which could contain important information maybe relating to a future terrorist plot. Apple spurned the FBI's request, maintaining that if it unlocked this single phone, the method for doing so would leak and every 14-year-old kid would be hacking cellphones instead of developing useful assassination skills on some computer game. As if to prove that this was not a trivial concern, some third party did indeed show the FBI how this is done. The phone spilled its secrets, and the Justice Department dropped its case against Apple. But nothing has been settled. While Apple and the government were duking it out in court, local prosecutors across this great nation cut and pasted the FBI's request and demanded the keys to the cellphones they had seized in their own investigations. You could almost suspect they did this in cooperation with Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, who had argued that if the company opened the door for the FBI, every sheriff who has just made a marijuana bust would be at the courthouse door seeking a search warrant. Advertisement As sometimes happens in life, both sides had a case, but from the start I tilted toward the FBI. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, murdered 14 people and wounded 22 others and this cannot be allowed to happen again. But while I was still mulling this matter, Carolina clarified things. There she was digging around the innards of my computer, doing things I did not understand, and while she had my permission, she nevertheless came to represent all the people and companies and God-only-knows-what who I deeply suspect muck around in my computer all the time. I have steadied myself for the counterattack the assurance from the biggies (Google, Amazon, etc.) that this does not happen. Maybe not. But I am told that my location is tracked and my buying habits are known and "cookies" incessantly tattle on me. Some people I know have had their emails filched by the North Koreans or somebody and wind up on the Internet for the malicious or the merely curious to peruse. What privacy is the nice Mr. Cook talking about? I long ago gave up any expectation of privacy. While I fear the government more than I do private enterprise the government, after all, has guns and jails and a U.S. attorney can ruin your life on a whim I nevertheless feel that nongovernmental actors (I love that term, makes me think of George Clooney) are on me all the time, trailing me, tailing me, watching me: "Hello, Richard, we have that shirt you were looking at." Loss of privacy? It seems gone. After all, it was not the FBI and certainly not Apple that discovered how to bust the phone. It was a private company maybe, I'd like to think, sweet Carolina. Washington Post Writers Group Richard Cohen is a Washington Post columnist. cohenr@washpost.com Teacher Chelsea Pickett, right, tutors eighth-graders Jalela Neal, from left, and Lonjanae McNeal after school at Amandla Charter High School in Englewood on March 2, 2016 after a state commission overruled the CPS decision to shutter the school and two others. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune) State lawmakers wisely created a charter schools appeals board five years ago for a good reason. Hostile local school leaders, and the teachers unions that help elect them, often seek to protect their turf read: funding by blocking competition from quality charter schools. Earlier this month, however, the Illinois State Charter School Commission ventured into perilous terrain: It put a brick on Chicago Public Schools' plan to close three academically struggling South Side charter schools at the end of this school year. Advertisement In three votes the commission ruled 6-0 that the district broke its own protocols and state law in moving to close the schools Amandla Charter High School in Englewood, Shabazz International Charter School's Sizemore Academy in West Englewood and Bronzeville Lighthouse Charter Elementary School. In preparation for Friday's one-day teachers strike Chicago Teachers Union staff passed out picket signs and flyers to teachers. March 30, 2016. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) CPS disputed the state board's action and last week challenged its rulings in Cook County Circuit Court. The district says the commission has overstepped its authority. The commission "ignored its own academic standards to keep three poor-performing schools open, despite their clear records of failing students who deserve a quality education," CPS chief Forrest Claypool said in a statement. Advertisement Where do we stand? With both sides. Except for deploying all these lawyers at taxpayer expense. Let us explain: This page backed CPS last year when it set a new policy to clamp down on charter schools that don't perform well, raising the prospect that tougher standards would force more charters to close. Failing charters like failing neighborhood schools cheat students of the outcomes-oriented education they deserve. But we've also supported the state commission in its battles to help quality operators open schools in standoffish districts where children desperately need better educational alternatives. Now the cash-starved CPS and the state commission are in court, spending money on lawyers. Maddening. We won't rehash the legal arguments or guess how a judge may rule. Suffice to say that CPS is right to move more quickly to close underperforming charters. That assures accountability to students. "We cannot create more good schools for our children by accepting more failing schools," Mary Bradley, CPS top officer responsible for charter schools, told the commission before it decided to keep the South Side charters open. Exactly. The rap on CPS used to be that it wasn't tough on failing charters. Now it looks to be. And suffice to say that the state commission has sparingly wielded its power to foist charter schools on recalcitrant districts. Charter critics who portray this decision as a cave to the charter movement are dishonestly pretending that history started last week. It didn't. But in this case, consider: Suppose the commission instead had denied appeals from the charter schools to stay open. CPS officials had guaranteed the affected students entry to higher-performing, district-operated schools within a mile of their old campuses. Isn't that a better outcome for some 1,000 students now in those floundering charters? If the commission's ruling stands, and if the charters meet criteria set by the commission, its staff will oversee the three schools. Hmm. Two separate bosses running CPS schools is one boss too many. Advertisement The commission would control funding for those schools, yet that money is deducted from CPS' general state aid. Depending on spending levels the commission sets, the district it has a $480 million budget shortfall could be on the hook for still more cash it doesn't have. Commission Executive Director Hosanna Jones tells us that the commission will continue to enforce high academic standards for the three charters to achieve. We hope so. But however the court rules, this spat shouldn't slow CPS' bid to close underperforming charters. Nor, though, should this spat deter the state commission from giving charters in hostile districts a fair chance to serve students. In sum: CPS has a long waiting list for many of its charters. That's persistent demand stoked by parents and students seeking a better education than children are receiving in neighborhood schools. Charters that don't measure up should be closed. CPS should welcome new operators with proven track records, or promising prospects, of excellence. Advertisement Yet the state commission has to vigilantly referee these disputes. Because: None of us should think that most bureaucrats and school personnel in Illinois' public education industry want to see more good charters: Those schools, like many parochial and other privately run schools, are thriving proof that when schools have to excel to stay in business, many of them will ... find ways to excel. Follow the Editorial Board on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook. Michael Burrei, a former chief technology officer at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, has been charged with allegedly engaging in a financial crimes scheme, officials said. (Karen Ann Cullotta / Pioneer Press, Arlington Heights Police Department) A former employee of an Arlington Heights private school has been charged with allegedly engaging in a financial crimes scheme for his personal benefit, officials with the Office of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said Wednesday. Michael Burrei, 41, a former chief technology officer at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, was charged with the felony offenses of theft from a school or place of worship and continuing a financial crimes enterprise following an investigation by the State's Attorney's Financial Crimes Unit and the Arlington Heights Police Department, officials said. Advertisement Burrei, who reportedly resigned from his position at the private school in January 2015 and relocated to Nashville, Tenn., is alleged to have transferred more than $293,000 in school revenues for his own personal use over the course of a 15-month period, officials said. According to prosecutors, Burrei created a PayPal account in July 2013 to link to the school's website and to enable purchases to be made from the school's online store. The revenue generated by the site was allegedly deposited directly into the PayPal account which was managed solely by Burrei, prosecutors said. Advertisement Investigators determined that between August 2013 and November 2014, more than 100 transfers were made from the PayPal account administered by Burrei into his personal checking account, officials said. According to investigators, Burrei was also incurring extensive personal expenses during this time, debiting between $10,000 and $35,000 per month from his checking account. The school's PayPal account was closed by Burrei without the authority of administrators from the Christian Liberty Academy on Dec. 29, 2014, with a zero balance, investigators said. When school officials confronted Burrei about his closing the account, he allegedly said he was not responsible and claimed that the account had over $273,000 in it, officials said. Detectives from the Arlington Heights Police Department located Burrei at his residence in Nashville earlier this year, where he allegedly admitted to making the transfers to his personal account and agreed to return to Illinois to surrender to authorities, officials said. Officials at Christian Liberty Academy were not immediately available for comment Wednesday. According to the state's attorney release, Burrei appeared in court Wednesday in Rolling Meadows, where a Cook County judge set his bond at $100,000, with his next court date set for April 22. kcullotta@tribpub.com Twitter @kcullotta Advertisement George Houde, a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune, contributed to this report. Geneva and St. Charles police are investigating three residential burglaries that have occurred since March 21, and are asking residents to be mindful of suspicious behavior in their neighborhoods. Police believe all three burglaries occurred during daytime hours and at least the first two, both on March 21 in St. Charles, fit the pattern of other daytime burglaries that have occurred in the southeast part of town over the last several months. Advertisement Of the three recent incidents, the first happened sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. March 21 in the 1500 block of Jobe Avenue in St. Charles. Someone entered by forcing open a kitchen window, then rummaged through the house, according to St. Charles police. Cash and a digital camera, worth an estimated $350, were taken, according to police. The burglar then left through the back sliding door. The second burglary occurred the same day in a shorter time window, between 7:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., in the 1700 block of South Fourth Place in St. Charles. In that crime, the burglar shattered a window in the back of the house to make entry and took jewelry and electronics, including two laptop computers, worth more than $9,000. Two doors in the house were unlocked during that burglary, according to St. Charles police. Advertisement The third burglary took place one week later, on March 28. That residential burglary was reported at 12:50 p.m. in the 1000 block of Westfield Course, Geneva. Officers who responded to the scene found that a rear window was broken and jewelry of an unknown value was reported missing, according to Geneva police. Most residential burglaries occur during the day because that's when homes are most likely to be empty, according to Geneva police. Daytime burglars commonly knock on doors to see if the resident is home and, if someone answers the door, pretend to be looking for someone or try to pass for a solicitor, according to St. Charles police, who caution that city-approved solicitors are given a photo ID card they must prominently display. The police department will ramp up patrols in residential areas throughout Geneva and encourage residents to take extra safety measures including trimming bushes around windows and doors; locking doors and windows and securing window wells; keeping all valuables out of view; and installing motion-activated lighting and burglar alarms. Police from both departments are encouraging residents who notice any suspicious activity to report it to the police as soon as possible by calling 911. Geneva police are asking anyone with information about the Westfield Course burglary to call the Investigations Division at 630-232-4736, and St. Charles police are asking anyone with information about the two burglaries in that city to call Investigations at 630-377-4435 or make an anonymous tip by calling 866-378-4267. hleone@tribpub.com Lincoln Way North parents and students protest outside of the Will County Courthouse in Joliet on March 30, 2016. (Mike Mantucca / Daily Southtown) A Will County judge Wednesday rejected a request for a temporary restraining order to keep the closing of Lincoln-Way North High School from moving forward, in part because students are not party to an ongoing lawsuit brought against the school district so arguments about how the shuttering of the school might impact them could not be considered. Ironically, that decision came shortly after North students rallied in front of the courthouse in support of keeping their school open, and at a hearing at which they were in attendance. Advertisement An attorney for the plaintiffs said Wednesday ruling may be appealed, and the lawsuit will be amended to make clear students have a standing in the case. During arguments at Wednesday's hearing,, Will County Associate Judge Roger Rickmon took note that the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit are only identified as taxpayers and residents of Lincoln-Way Community Unit High School District 210. None are identified as parents of students in the district. Advertisement "Where are the students?" Rickmon asked, as an attorney representing the group argued that a school closure would adversely impact students. A group of parents and residents, calling themselves Lincoln-Way Area Taxpayers United, filed the suit in December in an attempt to keep the Frankfort school open. School board members in August approved the controversial plan to close North, while keeping the district's other three high schools open, as a way to address the district's financial problems and avoid a state financial oversight committee from becoming involved. A courtroom packed with students and parents listened quietly as Rickmon issued his ruling. Several Lincoln-Way North High School students took time from their spring break to attend the court proceedings for the first time. "I think what we want to show is that it's not only the parents who care," North sophomore Sam Grobmeier said during the rally. "We're out here on our spring break because we believe the four schools can stay open." Others said they hoped their efforts would let Rickmon know that students were vested in the case. "We're hoping to show the judge and the community that we do care," North sophomore Mike Trost said. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > In addition to saying student's concerns can't be considered, Rickmon found the plaintiffs did not establish a clear right that needed protection or showed that the group would suffer "irreparable harm" if an injunction preventing North's closure was not granted. He also found that the plaintiffs did not show a "reasonable likelihood of success" in the case. In arguments Wednesday, District 210's attorney Bill Gleason suggested any "conversation about students" was "irrelevant for purposes of the argument" before the judge. Advertisement "You can read through the laundry list of plaintiffs who are listed here," Gleason said. "They are taxpayers and an Illinois corporation. There (are) no students who are even listed as plaintiffs." LWATU attorney Stephen Eberhardt said he plans to file an amended complaint next week and clearly identify the plaintiffs as parents of students to show that students have standing in the case. "Our next step is to say, 'Oh yes they do,'" Eberhardt said. Eberhardt said he also may appeal Rickmon's ruling, noting that it is reasonable to argue the impact on students in the case. He noted he did not initially identify plaintiffs as parents of students because he did not believe he was legally required to do so. Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Park Forest police Officer Tim Jones, right, with Detective Justin Rimovsky. Jones was shot March 19, 2016, during a gunfight with a burglary suspect and remained in critical but stable condition March 21. (Park Forest Police Department) As a Park Forest police officer remains unconscious and hospitalized after being shot in the head, an online fundraising effort continues to draw financial support to help cover his medical expenses. A GoFundMe page dedicated to Officer Tim Jones exceeded its goal of $50,000 by Tuesday and set a new goal Wednesday of $100,000. Advertisement Jones, a one-year veteran at Park Forest, was repeatedly shot in the head on March 19 during a gunfight with 21-year-old Thurman Reynolds after police responded to a morning call about a break-in at a vacant house in the 300 block of Neola Street. Reynolds, who was unemployed and had been evicted from an apartment he shared with a girlfriend, was killed in the shootout. Reynolds, of the 400 block of Huron Street in Park Forest, exited the vacant home and opened fired after police had set up a perimeter around the building, police said. Jones was struck by three shots in the neck, jaw and head, according to Park Forest Village Board Trustee JeRome Brown, who has visited with the family in the hospital. One bullet exited Jones' head. Advertisement "He's breathing on his own, but he's still not conscious," Brown said. "He's recovering. He still is not speaking, but they did add a feeding tube." Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 15 Left: Police officers from various departments investigate the shooting scene where Park Forest police Officer Timothy Jones was shot and critically wounded on March 19, 2016. Right: Officer Timothy Jones in an undated photo. (Chicago Tribune; Handout) Jones' condition has improved while at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, but he still has not spoken since undergoing surgery on March 20, authorities said. He has shown signs of movement, Brown said. Jones' family and members of the law enforcement community have remained at his bedside night and day since he was airlifted to the hospital. The family is in "great spirits" and the officer's father, Chief William Jones of the Country Club Hills Police Department, is optimistic about his son's recovery, Brown said. Authorities have declined comment on the investigation into the incident. The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force is investigating the officer-involved shooting. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The shooting shocked the small south suburban community, which has experienced an increase in reports of violence in recent years. Two days after Jones was shot, hundreds gathered at St. Irenaeus Church in Park Forest to pray for his recovery. His family did not attend and has requested privacy. "We are so overwhelmed and honored by the outpouring of love and support for Tim and his family!" reads a post on Jones' GoFundMe page. "Our most humble gratitude and love for your support!" Advertisement All proceeds from the GoFundMe page are going to support Jones and his family in paying for his care. Supporters have adopted the hashtag #TimStrong for social media as a show of support for the popular officer. Meanwhile, 20 percent of sales made from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at the Matteson Culver's, 20716 S. Cicero, will be donated to Jones and has family, Brown said. Donations can be made by visiting www.gofundme.com/timstrong. Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Arnie Kimmel, CEO of Franciscan Alliance, gives a speech after a Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board meeting at the Bolingbrook Golf Club in Bolingbrook, Ill. on Tuesday, Mar. 29, 2016. (Mike Mantucca-Daily Southtown) (Mike Mantucca / Daily Southtown) A state review board Tuesday approved Franciscan St. James Health's plan to end inpatient operations at its aging Chicago Heights campus while expanding a newer facility in Olympia Fields. The approval by the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board came after Franciscan St. James agreed to provide funding for additional ambulance coverage for some communities impacted by the closing of emergency room services in Chicago Heights. Advertisement The Catholic health system said it is too costly to operate both hospitals, noting that portions of the Chicago Heights facility are more than 100 years old. Parts of the 312-bed hospital at 1423 Chicago Road would be torn down, but St. James plans to continue some outpatient offerings there. The two hospitals have a combined occupancy rate averaging 40 percent, according to Franciscan St. James, which is part of Indiana-based Franciscan Alliance. Advertisement Franciscan St. James Health plans to spend nearly $115 million to expand and renovate its Olympia Fields hospital, at 20201 Crawford Ave. Also expanded would be its Franciscan ExpressCare urgent care center, 211 Dixie Highway, in Chicago Heights, which would offer around-the-clock urgent care. Mike Bruni, left, of External Affairs congratulates Arnie Kimmel, CEO of Franciscan Alliance, during a Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board meeting at the Bolingbrook Golf Club in Bolingbrook, Ill. on Tuesday, Mar. 29, 2016. (Mike Mantucca-Daily Southtown) (Mike Mantucca / Daily Southtown) Chicago Heights officials and some area first-responders, including local fire chiefs, had asked that Franciscan St. James maintain an emergency room presence in Chicago Heights. They are concerned that merging all emergency care at the Olympia Fields location could result in longer ambulance transport times, and the possibility of the Olympia Fields hospital's emergency room having to go on bypass due to high patient loads. Franciscan will provide $1.5 million to communities including Crete, Ford Heights, Sauk Village and South Chicago Heights to provide added ambulance coverage for patients going to the Olympia Fields hospital. Because those are among the communities farthest from the Olympia Fields hospital, the money will enable them to contract with private ambulance service providers to ensure that if one ambulance is going to, or coming from, Olympia Fields, additional ambulances will be available for other calls, according to Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez. Franciscan will also be accepting health care coverage provided by Cook County to low-income residents at its facilities, which previously didn't accept the insurance, Arnie Kimmel, Franciscan St. James' chief executive told the health facilities board. In addition, Franciscan St. James will provide $1 million to help Chicago Heights with the redevelopment of land adjacent to the Chicago Heights hospital. Franciscan St. James had previously said it would be more than two years before inpatient services would end in Chicago Heights while work to expand the Olympia Fields location is completed. Franciscan anticipates finishing the expansion by October 2018. Along with modernizing a medical office building next to the Chicago Heights hospital, Franciscan St. James will offer bariatrics and obesity treatment programs in Chicago Heights, according to Kimmel. Advertisement At Olympia Fields, 24 medical/surgical beds will be added as well as six intensive care unit beds and a 14-bed physical rehabilitation unit. The total cost of Franciscan St. James' investment is $137 million, which includes about $7 million in demolition costs for tearing down portions of the Chicago Heights hospital, $5 million to renovate areas of that hospital that will remain in use and costs for expanding the ExpressCare facility, Kimmel said. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > He told the board that consolidating inpatient operations at Olympia Fields will save Franciscan St. James between $18 million and $20 million annually. The state board, meeting in Bolingbrook, also approved plans by Palos Community Hospital to expand its South Campus in Orland Park at 153rd Street and West Avenue. Plans include building a four-story medical office building and a 125,000-square-foot underground parking garage, but the expansion was also going to spell the end of the Palos Health and Fitness Center at the south end of the property. Palos Community and Orland Park, which owns property to the south and west of the Palos site, are working on a land swap that will enable the hospital to do the expansion and spare the fitness center. Tim Brosnan, the hospital's vice president of planning and community relations, told the health facilities board that the hospital heard the "significant and sincere" concerns expressed about the possible demise of the fitness center and is working on a development agreement with the village. He said there will be some revisions of the layout of some aspects of the $133 million project, mainly related to vehicle access, but that Palos didn't anticipate the modifications would alter the planned June 2019 completion date for the project. Advertisement A lawsuit filed asking for a temporary injunction to stop the state board's vote on Palos Community's original plan, which included closing and demolishing the fitness center, was also voluntarily dismissed, according to Juan Morado, the board's general counsel. mnolan@tribpub.com A man examines baijiu during a liquor-tasting contest in Bozhou, Anhui province. [Photo/China Daily] Young and middle-aged Chinese consumers are taking a shine to Chinese white liquor called baijiu, thanks to innovative marketing and packaging strategies of alcoholic drink makers. Sun Bowen, 48, a Shanghai-based beverage wholesaler, saw evidence of the trend when he visited the 94th China Food and Drinks Fair in Chengdu on March 24. He was impressed by the fashionable designs of packaging material and containers for Chinese white liquor products on display. "Those little bottles of silver, purple, pink and neon look so shiny and glamorous with slogans and cartoon images. Young people in their 20s and early-30s really like them. In the past, only a small number of brands would try to use such designs. We market insiders used to think such stuff was too flashy and wouldn't last long. But now, such styles have become part of the mainstream. Many top brands have launched such products," said Sun. To go with the flow, Sun placed some orders for such products at the fair. He is confident they will sell well in Shanghai. "Old liquor consumers are brand-sensitive. They prefer liquor that tickles their tastebuds. But young consumers are packaging-sensitive. They prefer bottles that are eye candy. If we lose younger consumers, the white liquor sector would struggle to survive, given their exposure to a wide range of choices from all around the world," Sun said. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. Kenya and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) have signed an agreement for the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line from Naivasha in northwest Kenya to Malaba in western Kenya. A statement from the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) received on Tuesday said the Chinese firm will develop Naivasha-Kisumu/Malaba SGR project, Kisumu Port and the Inland Container Depot at a total cost of $5.3 billion. "The government has secured a loan from Chinese government to support the development of Phase 2A (Nairobi-Naivasha) and construction will commence in 2016. The total contract price for this section is $1.5 billion," Kenya Railways said. The Commercial Contract for the construction of Phase 2A of the Nairobi - Naivasha SGR was signed by CCCC in September 2015. China agreed to fund the first phase of a standard gauge railway line linking the East African nation's port city of Mombasa to Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan. Kenya Railways said the four commercial contracts for the development of the four elements of the project include Naivasha-Kisumu, Kisumu-Malaba, Kisumu Port Development and Modernisation and expansion of the Inland Container Depot at Embakasi in Nairobi. "The signing of these contracts valued at $5.3 billion marks yet another significant milestone regarding the Kenya-China cooperation for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries," it said. The railway firm said Kenya recognizes the task of developing and efficiently running the project is not a walk in the park and has initiated a training programme to build capacity and equip Kenyans with the necessary skills required to build the rest of the network and subsequently operate it efficiently. A ship loaded with three tanks weighing about 60 tonnes each is nearing Shanghai during a pioneering two-week journey starting from southwest China's Yibin City along the Yangtze River. Such a shipment from China's inland along the mighty Yangtze would have been impossible just a few years ago when only small docks for barges, ferries and fishing boats dotted Yibin's banks. Yibin, an industrial city known for coal mining and liquors, used to rely on trucks and trains to transport goods, even though it is where two upper tributaries meet to form the main section of the Yangtze. Local authorities began developing a major port in Yibin in 2010, amid broader work by China to turn the Yangtze into a "golden waterway" with an enhanced role as the cargo artery between the wealthy coast and the vast under-developed inland. Central and local governments see increasing trade as the key to strengthening economies away from the coast. On March 25, the Communist Party of China Central Committee passed a guideline on developing the Yangtze River Economic Belt, stressing that the program must be driven by market principles and have green credentials. Yibin was years ahead of the curve. Its port with five docks is designed to handle half a million containers and 2.24 million tonnes of cargo every year. Ships of up to 3,000 tonnes can set sail even in the dry season. Transporting giant goods like the tanks by land is extremely difficult, as they would overload lorries or trains and have to be dismantled to pass through tunnels or bridges. The costs tend to be very high, explained Yuan Daiqian, general manager of Jiangyuan Chemical Engineering Machinery, which manufactured the tanks for a fertilizer plant being built by Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi in Turkmenistan. Thanks to the Yibin Port and new shipping routes, "we can do business that was not possible before," Yuan said. His company has manufactured 71 pieces of large equipment for Mitsubishi's project, including the tanks. They will head for Turkmenistan from Shanghai, where the Yangtze empties into the sea. Shanghai International Port Group and the government of Yibin co-funded the construction of Yibin Port. Yibin's shipping industry has grown rapidly as investment has flowed to infrastructure along the Yangtze River. The volume of goods passing through Yibin harbor has been growing at an average 130 percent a year since the port became operational in 2010. It handled 200,000 containers in 2015 and 66,000 in the first quarter of 2016. China's development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt has accelerated since a plan approved by the government in September 2014. There is certainly a lot riding on it. The belt includes nine provinces and two municipalities. It spans 2.05 million square km and accounts for more than 40 percent of China's population and economic aggregate. Yibin, a city of about five million people, is nudging into the global market through better connection with big cities along the river. It has launched shipping routes to Japan and the Republic of Korea via central China's Wuhan and east China's Nanjing and Shanghai. It is also planning four routes to Southeast Asia. As a result, Yibin's foreign trade reached 890 million U.S. dollars and 950 million U.S. dollars in 2014 and 2015, growing at 9.1 percent and 7 percent year on year, at a time when China's overall foreign trade has stalled. To help e-commerce, Yibin is also building a bonded warehouse where imported goods can be stored without paying duty. With a storage area of 53,000 square meters, the warehouse is due to open before the end of June. "The golden waterway has boosted Yibin's shipping cooperation with cities along the Yangtze, opening up markets for local companies and improving their competitiveness by saving transport costs," said Liu Zhengyu, board chairman of Yibin Port. "When e-commerce gets going, this industrial city will become a major trading center in southwest China," Liu said. A weird murder case has been cracked in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, indicating that a man who has a physical disability hired a killer to kill himself, announced local police on Tuesday. The police in Zhengzhou City said they worked for 38 days to crack the case and the murder suspect has been arrested. However, the victim is still in a coma. On the afternoon of Oct. 11, 2015, an attendant in a hotel in Zhengzhou suddenly heard a weak voice asking for help from a room. When he opened the door, he found a young man lying on the bed covered in blood, reported the Zhengzhou Evening Post. The hotel manager called the police and told them that at noon another young man wheeled the disabled victim into the hotel, and that he never thought something like this could happen. The victim was discovered with more than 10 wounds in his belly and has been in critical condition ever since. Zhengzhou police set up a special unit to investigate the case and collected video clips from monitor cameras placed along the roads in 180 locations. The videos show that the suspect removed the victim from a hospital, went to a bank to get money and then bought two mobile phones and a knife. The two went to the hotel at around 11:00 a.m. According to the police investigation at the hospital, the victim was suffering from a car accident which had caused him paraplegia years ago and didn't speak too much since then. On the day of his attempted murder, a young man claiming to be the cousin of the victim removed him from the hospital to "get some fresh air" and never came back. The police investigated the victim's laptop, found a lead in the victim's QQ instant message records and located the suspect in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province. The suspect was arrested on Nov. 18, 2015. The suspect has confessed to police that he read online in March 2015 regarding the commercial opportunity of helping others commit suicide. In such scenarios, the clients usually resolve not to contact the police and leave all their money and property to the commissioned killer. As a result, he decided to start this business very soon and was contacted by the victim in September. The victim told the suspect that he had lost all faith in future life and wanted to be killed, while promising a monetary reward for the killer. The suspect went to Zhengzhou on Oct. 10, 2015 and was paid 70,000 yuan (US$10,794) on Oct. 11 to kill the victim. He then proceeded and escaped. The police said the suspect has been arrested for the crime of attempted intentional homicide. Nearly 80 percent of Chinese students have chosen to return home after studying abroad since the late 1970s, a recent report from a government-backed agency revealed. An overseas returnee attends an interview at a job fair in Beijing. [File photo] From 1978 to 2015, more than 4.04 million Chinese students went to study overseas. Of this number, nearly 2.78 million people finished their education and nearly 2.22 million people, or 79.87 percent, returned home for career development, according to a blue paper released by an agency under the Ministry of Education. In 2015, the ratio of Chinese students going abroad for education to those returning home after pursuing overseas education lowered to 1.28:1, compared with 3.15:1 in 2006. The majority of the returnees, 80.7 percent of the total, returned home with a master's degree. Most of them studied in the UK, the United States, Australia and France. The most popular majors were management, science and economics. Nearly half of the returnees hoped to work in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the four most developed cities in China. More than three tenths of them wanted to work in the financial industry. "You might live an affluent life overseas, but you will achieve your full career potential in China with the country's many favorable policies," said Chen Peng, who returned to China in 2009 after obtaining a doctorate at the University of Chicago. Chen was born in the late 1970s. In 2009, he joined a project run by the prestigious Peking University with the aim of promoting young talents. Later, he joined an inter-university research center sponsored by three ministries. In 2014, he was promoted to the rank of professor and became one of the youngest professors at Peking University. China's State Council on Wednesday announced a string of new policies to encourage innovation as the country seeks to foster new engines for growth. China will set up three new "national innovation demonstration zones" in the provinces of Henan, Shandong and Liaoning, bringing the number of such areas to 14, according to a statement issued after a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The zones, including Beijing's Zhongguancun, known as "China's Silicon Valley," and Shanghai's Zhangjiang high tech zone, have been created to pilot new ideas and development models for use nationwide. Expansion of the program is aimed at fostering trailblazers for China's economic restructuring and transformation, according to the statement. The State Council will test innovative reforms in China's financial hub of Shanghai over three years, including exploring new financial service models and simplifying foreign investment rules. Government intervention will be further reduced to create an amicable environment for business start-ups and innovation, the State Council pledged. To boost employment and sustain growth, the Chinese government has stressed the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in its 13th five-year plan. A wide range of measures has been unveiled, including financial support, facility construction and administrative assistance, for start-ups. At Wednesday's meeting, the council also decided to foster city clusters centered around Chengdu and Chongqing to stimulate economic potential in western regions. Average sea levels are rising faster in China's coastal region than most other places in the world, affecting the coastal environment in various ways, the national marine authority said. Instead of only threatening the relocation of communities and homes in the short term, rising seas are also causing damage to coastal soil and vegetation. Chinese scientists are still studying and debating how long the trend of rising sea levels is going to continue. Sea levels started rising in the 1980s, and the trend is likely to continue, even accelerate, because of climate change, according to marine officials. "China's coastal sea level on average rose by 3 millimeters a year from 1980 to 2015, higher than the global average," said Xiang Wenxi, deputy director of the National Marine Data & Information Service, a think tank affiliated with the State Ocean Administration. In 2015, the average sea level along China's coast was 90 mm higher from 1975 to 1993, a benchmark for comparison, making it the fourth-highest since 1980, said the Bulletin on Sea Levels of China, issued by the administration on Tuesday. Seas are rising because they absorb large amounts of heat caused by climate change, which has also accelerated the melting of land-based glaciers and the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, said Huang Lei, an engineer with the National Climate Center, last week. Since 1993, waters from melted land-based glaciers have made seas across the globe to rise 0.76 mm a year, and the melted ice sheets from the polar regions have caused them to rise by another 0.6 mm annually. "The rise in sea levels has been forecast to continue and even accelerate in the future," Huang said. The national marine authority agreed with that assessment. In the coming 30 years, Shanghai, a coastal metropolis with a population of more than 24 million, will see the sea along its coast rise by 75 to 150 mm, after rising 105 mm more than the benchmark level, the bulletin said. Moreover, Tianjin, another port city about 950 km north of Shanghai, could see its coastal waters rise by 100 to 195 mm. "Rising sea levels will weaken the protective shield of sea dykes and harm some plants, decaying mangrove forests in the southern coastal regions," said Liu Kexiu, another senior researcher with the ocean administration's think tank. But he added that human activities have caused more damage to the precious mangroves. More importantly, high seas aggravate storm surges, exacerbate flooding, erode shorelines, cause seawater invasion, inundate crops and homes, threaten livelihoods and even worsen marine disasters, said Liu, adding that the cities and people in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions have suffered more than those in other regions. Kenyan security officers have seized raw ivory worth 64,000 U.S. dollars at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi. Airports CID commander Joseph Ngisa said on Wednesday the consignment which was disguised as gemstones was destined for Thailand from Mozambique when it was seized during the screening stage. "We seized the consignment which was disguised as gemstones on Tuesday night. It had 18 pieces of raw ivory valued at 6.4 million shillings (64,000 dollars), which we discovered at the screening centre," Ngisa told Xinhua by telephone. "The transit cargo was from Maputo, Mozambique and destined for Bangkok, Thailand. We have launched investigations to trace its source with a view to arresting the suspect. So far, no arrest has been made," Ngisa added. He said they have liaised with their counterparts in Maputo who are pursuing the case and would take necessary action on the suspects. The incident came after Kenya Airways announced it has signed a declaration aimed at preventing wildlife trafficking to help wipe out poaching which is rampant in Africa. The initiative aims to support efforts to prevent the growing trade in illegal wildlife and products around the world to ensure that illegal products, including ivory, do not move through transportation organizations. The latest seizure came in the wake of a surge in wildlife poaching across Africa with elephants and rhinos among the worst hit. It also comes as Kenya is preparing to burn the largest ivory stockpile of 120 tonnes in April during a summit involving African leaders, conservation experts, philanthropists and corporate leaders to show Kenya's commitment to fight poaching and illegal ivory trade. Flash Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has caused a media storm on Tuesday after allegedly "dropping in" on a teenage surfer on the nation's far north coast, drawing comparisons to political infighting in the lead up to a national election. "Dropping in," or catching a wave after another surfer is already up and riding, is one of the cardinal, unwritten rules of surfing; you just don't do it. Abbott was snapped dropping in on 17-year-old Ivy Thomas at Tea Tree Beach on Queensland state's Sunshine Coast on Monday -- approximately 140 kilometers north of Brisbane -- who said it was "the best thing ever" to see him as "just a normal person" cheering everyone on in the water. "He dropped in and I kind of didn't know how to react," Thomas said. "I was expecting him to be way worse but he could actually surf." "Only in Australia that you get dropped in by the former prime minister." Political commentators on Tuesday said the image of Abbott "dropping in" is an apt description of the former PM's plan to travel around the country, dropping in and "messing up (current Prime Minister) Malcolm Turnbull's election campaign. Abbott, dismayed at not being given an official campaign schedule, organized his own election tour campaigning in marginal seats, insisting he is lending a helping hand and not undermining Turnbull. Abbott has previously said the Turnbull-government would be campaigning on policies introduced under his leadership. Turnbull deposed Abbott in a backroom party coup in September 2015. Flash China and the Czech Republic on Tuesday agreed to elevate their ties to a strategic partnership during Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the country, as the two nations inked a host of intergovernmental agreements to promote ties in various areas. Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman sign a joint statement on lifting the two countries' ties to a strategic partnership after their talks in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 29, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) The agreement came after Xi held talks with his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman at the Prague Castle, the seat of the Presidential Office of the Czech Republic. During the talks, the two presidents discussed issues concerning bilateral ties, China-EU relations as well as cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries, reaching broad consensus. Hailing the positive momentum of bilateral ties and the flourishing economic cooperation, Xi said China is ready to work with the Czech Republic to cherish the sound yet hard-won bilateral relations, consolidate the traditional friendship and strengthen mutual political trust and promote pragmatic cooperation. The two sides agreed to strengthen the synergy of China's "Belt and Road Initiatives," and the Czech development strategies, and jointly draw up a cooperation plan between the two countries, so as to serve as the framework for guiding their practical cooperation in the next period. The two presidents agreed to redefine the bilateral ties in the hope of seeking more common interests and conducting cooperation on a deeper level. The two sides decided to firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns in order to ensure the long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, calling for coordination and cooperation on major international and regional issues so as to contribute to world peace, development and cooperation. The two countries issued a joint statement on lifting their ties to a strategic partnership after the talks, in which the two sides agreed to continue making close high-level contacts as the exemplary for over-all relations, enhancing friendly cooperation between ministries, legislative bodies and local governments. The two sides also decided to establish an intergovernmental strategic dialogue mechanism to map out the future development of the bilateral ties. A ministerial or vice-ministerial level cooperation committee will be set up, and meetings of the committee will be held in China and the Czech Republic in turns, said the joint statement. The two presidents agreed to enhance productivity cooperation in manufacturing industry such as machinery, automobile and aviation, deepen cooperation in such fields as finance, nuclear energy, traditional Chinese medicine, air transportation and industrial park to establish all-dimensional connectivity, and pushing forward innovation cooperation in emerging fields such as e-commerce, communication, artificial intelligence industry, nanotechnology and environment protection, in order to forge new development points for bilateral economic and trade cooperation. The two sides also agreed to broaden people-to-people and cultural exchanges in various fields, develop understanding-building projects, deepen cooperation in education, tourism, local-level and sports, and increase the scale of exchange students, so as to consolidate the social foundation for the long-term and steady development of bilateral ties. Besides the joint statement to establish strategic partnership and an MOU to jointly plan for future ties, the two governments also inked agreements on e-commerce, investment, science and technology, tourism, culture and aviation. Calling China "a major economic partner" of the EU, Zeman said his country is willing to deepen mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation with China and play a conducive role in pushing China-CEE cooperation forward. The Czech Republic is committed to becoming a gateway for China to the EU and a hub of transportation, logistics and finance, he said. The two presidents agreed to promote the development of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, implement the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda and jointly make positive contributions to the building of China-EU partnerships for peace, growth, reform and civilization. The two countries also support a China-EU investment agreement to be reached through negotiations as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the two presidents believe that the China-CEE cooperation and China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership are complimentary to each other, thus they shall stick to the spirit of mutual respect, mutual assistance and mutual benefit, deepen the interconnection of their interests, and work hard to comprehensively link the China-CEE cooperation with the "Belt and Road Initiative," in order to promote China-EU connectivity and cooperation, and contribute to Eurasia connectivity. Prior to the talk, Zeman held a grand welcoming ceremony for Xi with a 21-gun salute at the Prague Castle. During the ceremony, an officer from the Czech honor guard spoke in Chinese, inviting Xi to inspect the soldiers. Xi, in turn, thanked the soldiers in Czech after finishing the inspection with Zeman. In remarks to the press after holding their bilateral meeting, Zeman said he is proud of the economic ties between the two countries, and treasures Xi's friendship. Xi thanked Zeman for his warm welcome and said he felt right at home. Xi arrived in Prague on Monday for a three-day state visit to the European country. It is the first state visit by a Chinese president in 67 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. It is also Xi's maiden visit to the CEE region since he assumed presidency in 2013 and his first trip to Europe this year. Flash Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the leader of the Czech Chamber of Deputies Tuesday on further promoting bilateral ties and China-Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) cooperation. Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Jan Hamacek, chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament, in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 29, 2016. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) China regards the Czech Republic as an important cooperation partner in the CEE region and is willing to work with the Czech side to strengthen synergy of the two countries' development in combination with the "Belt and Road Initiative," Xi said during a meeting with Jan Hamacek, chairman of the Czech Chamber of Deputies. With strong economic complementarity and the comprehensive development of bilateral ties, it is the right time with great momentum to enhance China-Czech cooperation in such fields as trade and economy, industry and culture, said the president. China is willing to continue to expand mutually beneficial cooperation with the Czech side and keep consolidating public support in both countries, so as to promote the constant, healthy and steady development of bilateral relations, Xi said. On legislative cooperation, Xi noted that China's National People's Congress and the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament have played an important role in each country's politics. "Strengthening their communication and exchanges is conducive to the friendship and trust between the two peoples, and will create a positive atmosphere for the development of bilateral ties," Xi said. The president encouraged legislative bodies of the two countries to strengthen exchanges and dialogue on management of state affairs and legislative supervision, and actively provide advice and suggestions on promoting bilateral relations and practical cooperation. For his part, Hamacek said he is very pleased by the establishment of the Czech-China strategic partnership during Xi's visit, adding that nurturing ties with China is the priority of his country's foreign policy. Czech-China cooperation in various fields including trade and economy, industry, medicine, tourism, aviation, environment protection and culture has brought tangible benefits for the two peoples, the chairman said. The Czech side speaks highly of China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative and stands ready to actively participate in China-CEE cooperation and promote Europe-China relations under the framework, Hamacek said. He said the Czech Chamber of Deputies is willing to enhance exchanges with the Chinese legislative institution and make efforts to deepen Czech-China friendly cooperation. Xi arrived Monday in Prague for a three-day state visit. It is the first state visit by a Chinese president in 67 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. Flash Sudanese army on Tuesday said it controlled Um Sirdiba town, a stronghold of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector in South Kordofan State. "The army is continuing its advancement towards its planned targets at all axes. It is maintaining the initiative and closing on the rebels," Ahmed Khalifa Al-Shami, Sudanese army spokesman, said in a statement. "The army has managed to liberate Um Sirdiba town, the main stronghold of the rebels at Kadogli sector and one of their important command centers," he noted. He said the army also liberated al-Mushtaraka area and inflicted heavy loss of lives and equipment among the enemy that are currently being listed. Al-Shami further said the Sudanese army on Tuesday also repulsed a desperate attempt by the rebels to restore Al Karkaraia area which was liberated on Monday, saying "we have defeated them, where 55 rebels were killed and scores others injured." On Monday, the Sudanese army announced the liberation of five strategic areas in South Kordofan after attacking the rebels of the SPLM/northern sector. The SPLM/northern sector has been fighting the central government at Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas since 2011. Last week a most recent round of talks between the government and the SPLM/northern sector rebels failed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, under the patronage of the African Union. Khartoum unilaterally signed on a road-map deal proposed by the African mediation, while the SPLM/northern sector and other Darfur rebel movements declined to sign the deal. Flash NATO needs to be ready for an air defense mission in the Baltic States, NATO supreme allied commander general Philip Breedlove noted on Tuesday, during his visit in Lithuania. Breedlove met with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and chief of the Lithuanian Armed forces Jonas Vytautas Zukas to discuss security situation in the region. The meeting focused on the contribution of the United States to security in the Baltic countries and strengthening their air defense, said the Lithuanian president's office. Breedlove highlighted the difference between NATO's air policing activities in the Baltic skies and the air defense mission. "The Baltic air policing is a peace time mission, but I think that the alliance does need to be ready for the air defense mission," he said. He noted that the alliance is "looking at that capability." "This is a task that has been given to our headquarters to develop options for our political leadership to consider," he said. Since Lithuania, a small Baltic state, doesn't have its own air defense capabilities, air forces from different rotations of NATO member countries have been conducting air policing since 2004 from Lithuanian air base in Siauliai, northern Lithuania. "We want a bigger contribution from our allies or clear understanding on how the transition from the air policing to the air defense mission is to take place," Zukas told the press conference. During his visit in Lithuania, Breedlove also received the cross of commander of the order of merits to the Lithuanian state, a state award from the Lithuanian president. The award was given on the 12th anniversary of the country's NATO membership. It's the second NATO high-profile visit in Lithuania in recent days focused on security issues in the region. Last week, the North Atlantic Council (NAC) paid a visit to Lithuania to discuss the key security issues in Eastern Europe before the upcoming NATO's summit in Warsaw in July. Before the summit, Lithuanian leaders have been seeking a stronger presence of allied forces in the region and more security commitments. Lithuania has stepped up its defense capabilities since 2014 amid tensions in the Eastern Europe. Flash Nguyen Sinh Hung, chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly (NA) and chairman of the National Election Council, was relieved from duty here on Wednesday at the ongoing 11th session of the 13th NA. Hung was relieved from duty of NA Chairman with 431 "yes" out of 473 valid votes. His relief from duty of the National Election Council chairman was made with 430 "for" votes and 41 "against" votes. Earlier in the morning, the NA Standing Committee proposed to relieve Hung from duty of the two positions. After discussion, NA deputies cast votes. A resolution on relieving Hung on duty of two positions was adopted by the NA on Wednesday afternoon. Later in the afternoon, the NA Standing Committee submitted a personnel draft to the NA for the election of a new NA chairperson and chairperson of the National Election Council. The election will be conducted on Thursday. Following Vietnamese legal regulations, the working tenure of NA chairperson is coincident with NA tenure. In late January, Hung was not elected to be among 200 members of the new Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee. At the second session of the 12th Central Committee of the CPV in early March, Vietnamese party chief Nguyen Phu Trong said the central committee reached high consensus that it is needed to soon replace and re-arrange key leadership positions in order to promptly implement the resolution of the 12th national party congress. During the 12th National Congress of the CPV in January, Vietnamese officials and media said the 12th CPV Central Committee's Politburo member, Vice Chairwoman of National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has been nominated to run for the position of NA chairwoman. Nguyen Sinh Hung, born on January 18, 1946, joined the CPV in 1977. Hung was a member of the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th CPV Central Committee (CPVCC), a member of the Politburo of the 10th and 11th CPVCC and deputy of the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th NA. Flash China has urged the Japanese government to "act prudently" and "adhere to a peaceful development path" after Japan's controversial new security laws came into effect on Tuesday. In blatant violation of the country's pacifist Constitution, which restricts Japan's military action in self-defense, the new security legislation gives the green light to overseas military operations by the Self-Defense Forces. The laws have drawn wide criticism from Japan's neighbors and the international community for threatening to destabilize the Asia-Pacific. "We urge Japan to learn from history," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei at a routine press briefing on Wednesday. "The Japanese government should listen attentively to the call for justice from Japan and the international community." The Japanese side should take the security concerns of its Asian neighbors seriously, act with prudence in the military and security fields, and stick to the path of peaceful development, Hong stressed. Hong said that "some forces in Japan have been trying to push forward their domestic political agenda by fabricating the so-called 'China threat'. We are firmly opposed to that." "China asks Japan to refrain from doing anything that undermines China's sovereignty and security interests as well as regional peace and stability," said the spokesperson. Flash Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday supported the missile program of the country held up by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). "If the Islamic republic relies only on dialogue, economy, technology and science but does not think about its defense power, it is possible even for the weak nations to threaten the Iranians," Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website. "Those who argue that the future of the country lies in negotiations with the world not in developing the missile program, are either ignorant or traitors," Khamenei said, stressing that the future of the country requires empowerment in all areas. The Islamic republic should equip itself with military might and diplomacy so that it cannot be cheated, he said. In the meantime, the showcase of IRGC's advanced and precise missiles pleases the nations who have suffered the U.S. and Israel atrocities, he added. The White House has criticized Iran's missile program as a threat to the regional and international peace. Last Thursday, two Iranian companies and a few Iranian individuals were blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department following IRGC's recent ballistic missiles tests. Accordingly, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said Thursday that Iran would enhance its missile power despite new U.S. sanctions aimed at curbing its defense capabilities. In line with a decree by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the Islamic republic will respond to any "meddlesome U.S. measure" against its defense program by boosting the country's missile might, Jaber Ansari said in response to fresh U.S. embargo on two Iranian firms allegedly linked to Iran's ballistic missile program. A train pulls into a station in Luoyang city, Henan province, June 30, 2015. [Photo/IC] NAIROBI - Kenya and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has signed an agreement for the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line from Naivasha in northwest Kenya to Malaba in western Kenya. A statement from the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) received on Tuesday said the Chinese firm will develop Naivasha-Kisumu/Malaba SGR project, Kisumu Port and the Inland Container Depot at a total cost of $5.3 billion. "The government has secured a loan from Chinese government to support the development of Phase 2A (Nairobi-Naivasha) and construction will commence in 2016. The total contract price for this section is $1.5 billion," Kenya Railways said. The Commercial Contract for the construction of Phase 2A of the Nairobi - Naivasha SGR was signed by CCCC in September 2015. China agreed to fund the first phase of a standard gauge railway line linking the East African nation's port city of Mombasa to Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan. Kenya Railways said the four commercial contracts for the development of the four elements of the project include Naivasha-Kisumu, Kisumu-Malaba, Kisumu Port Development and Modernisation and expansion of the Inland Container Depot at Embakasi in Nairobi. "The signing of these contracts valued at $5.3 billion marks yet another significant milestone regarding the Kenya-China cooperation for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries," it said. The railway firm said Kenya recognizes the task of developing and efficiently running the project is not a walk in the park and has initiated a training programme to build capacity and equip Kenyans with the necessary skills required to build the rest of the network and subsequently operate it efficiently. WASHINGTON - The United States welcomes China's initiatives to increase world infrastructure investment, which can benefit current global financial architecture, US officials said Monday. "We welcome the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Belt and Road Initiative," said Ziad Haider, a State Department official. The United States also recognizes China's effort to narrow the massive gap in infrastructure around the world, Haider told an event held by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a think-tank based in Washington DC. The CSIS held the event to discuss the implications of China's Belt and Road Initiative and the AIIB toward the global infrastructure development. Statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce showed Chinese enterprises directly invested $14.82 billion into 49 countries within the cooperation framework of the Belt and Road Initiative last year, up 18.2 percent compared with the previous year. The AIIB was officially established late last year, with an authorized capital of $100 billion. The bank was formed by 57 members from developed countries like Britain, France and Germany and emerging and developing countries like Brazil, South Africa and Pakistan. "The AIIB represents a response to a genuine need for greater investment to address a global infrastructure deficit," said a report issued by the CSIS at the event. The US Treasury Department strongly supports domestic, bilateral and multilateral efforts to increase global infrastructure investment, as quality infrastructure investment will boost a country's economy significantly, said John Hurley, director of International Debt and Development Policy of the US Treasury Department. Hurley said that finding ways to finance necessary investment in infrastructure in developing countries is one of the big challenges today. "Emerging and developing countries will need an estimated 1 trillion (dollars) in infrastructure investment by the year 2020 just to sustain current economic growth," Hurley said "We continue to have conversations with China and other AIIB members," said Hurley, adding that the AIIB is complementing the current international financial architecture. "We've seen recent reports of the AIIB co-financing projects with the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank and this is something that we strongly welcome," Hurley said. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt that links China with Europe through central and western Asia by inland routes and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road that connects China with Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe by sea routes. Didi Chuxing, a car-booking mobile app owned by Didi Kuaidi, is shown on a mobile phone, Sept 17, 2015. [Photo/IC] Car-hailing platforms Didi and Uber promise to take care of the fine drivers face when caught offering ride in their private cars, reported cnr.cn. The move is in response to Shanghai police's decision to increase inspection of car-hailing services, and impose up to 50,000 yuan in fine and six-month suspension of driving license, said the news site. Despite increasing popularity, most ride-sharing companies still lack legitimacy in China, as the regulations do not allow private cars to be used for paid rides. Besides administrative penalty, drivers who get caught will see negative impact on their credit rating, Chen Chaohui, deputy director of the Law Enforcement Department of Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, told the cnr.cn. The city will also intensify inspection on ride-sharing platforms to punish their matching riders with vehicles that have no operation qualification, said Chen, adding that the fine ranges from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan. In response, Didi texted drivers last week, saying the company will compensate the fine in full, according to the website, while Uber told its private-car drivers that their driving license would be returned once the fine is paid. Yidao, another ride-hailing platform, said the company offers subsidy to all drivers across the country whose working hours are lost due to inspections. The tightened check came as the Ministry of Transport unveiled a draft regulation seeking to ban private cars from offering ride services in October. Under the rules, which are due to take effect later this year, car-booking platforms must also obtain permits from local authorities. Gao Yuan contributed to this story. People ride bicycles past a branch of PICC in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, June 14, 2014. [Photo/IC] Chinese major insurers will take a conservative approach in the capital market this year, given the rising fluctuation and growing risks. "We will stick to our prudent investment approach this year to ensure our sufficient solvency ratio," said PICC Group's vice president Wang Xiaoqing. The investment return of PICC Group reached a record high 7.3 percent since 2008, according to the company's annual report. That is contributed to a bullish stock market in the first half of 2015. The investment situation of 2016, according to Wang, is much more severe than that of last year. "The fragile equity market, low return of fixed-come securities and rising credit default risks all weigh on insurers," said Wang. "For PICC, we will reduce investments in the equity market and choose more long-term investment in quality assets." In 2015, PICC made a number of big deals, including a 19.99 percent stake purchase in Huaxia Bank and a stake investment in to Ant Financial. "The fluctuation of this year's capital market has beaten our expectation. And we will be more defensive in our investment strategy this year," said Li Quan, president of New China Asset Management Corporation Limited. "We will patiently wait for appropriate investment opportunities." New China Life Insurance Co's investment return hit 7.5 percent last year, up 1.7 percentage points than that of 2014, the company's annual report showed. Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based IEA. [Photo provided to China Daily] China is very likely to meet the target of having 15 percent of its energy demand coming from renewables by 2020, said the head of the International Energy Agency. Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based IEA, said on Wednesday that he doesn't see any reason for China to fail to reach the target as long as the country's push for renewable energy continues. "China has made some major moves in energy transition. It is No 1 in wind energy production, No 1 in solar energy production and No 1 in hydropower energy," Birol told China Daily in an exclusive interview in Beijing. "At the same time, its coal consumption declines. China last year was the champion of the world in terms of reducing carbon emissions," he said. According to a projection made on Wednesday by Sun Longde, vice-president of PetroChina Co, China's energy consumption is expected to peak in 2035 as its economy rebalances. Birol didn't project on which source of energy will play major role in China' s energy mix in the long run as he sees the country is diversifying its energy mix and making its energy system more efficient at the same time. "We will see more renewable energy, more natural gas, more nuclear power, and less coal in China," he said, adding that the Chinese government's determination is crucial because the low price of oil and natural gas may complicate the growth of renewable energy worldwide. Birol, who came to Beijing to attend a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of China-IEA Engagement, announced on Wednesday that the IEA and China's National Energy Administration started the process of the establishment of a joint energy cooperation center in Beijing. The IEA-China Energy Cooperation Center will help China access energy-related advice and share the IEA's expertise in energy. The global landscape for the beer market has changed dramatically over the past decade, as growth in China benefited mainland brands. According to Bloomberg Businessweek citing Euromonitor International, the world's leading independent provider of strategic market research, China Resources Enterprise's flagship beer Snow continued to be the best-selling beer brand in the world by market share, enjoying high brand awareness across China and beyond. Euromonitor's 2015 rankings show among the world's top 10 best-selling beers, four are from China based on market share. This is mainly because the large population in China is projected to generate a steady market demand for beer. The company said volume sales of beer in China are still expected to be positive in the forecast period, though at a slower momentum, despite the influence of the anticorruption policy and the economic slowdown. No 10 Coors Light (US) 2005 rank: 7 Market share: 1.3% BEIJING - Underpaid teachers, uneven distribution of resources, and high fees. These predicaments have plagued China's education system for decades. However, with the emergence of online courses, they may be a thing of the past. Cure-all Tech-savvy teachers are making a fortune without stepping out of their homes. Chinese writing teacher Xie Mingbo recently quit his job as a classroom teacher to turn his attention to teaching online. Xie, 33, offers live and recorded lessons on his website. "Writing skills for senior high schoolers," a 15-lessons pre-recorded course that costs 499 yuan ($76.5), has got about 300 orders. A live-broadcast lesson on preparation for the 2016 college entrance examination is 799 yuan for 24 lessons. Xie said each of his courses has at least 100 paid followers, making him a teacher to about 4,000 students. He earned more than 1 million yuan last year. "Instead of teaching the same thing over and over to different classes, I just record it once and use the rest of time to improve my teaching," said another online teacher. For students and parents, online courses can save them money, as tuition fees are a fraction of that charged by brick-and-mortar cramming institutions. With more courses to choose from, students can manage their own time and their classrooms can be anywhere. Even parents can join the learning. "Online courses save me time, and money. I don't have to send my kid to school and pick him up, it really saves me tons of trouble," said one parent. Grey area According to a report on China's Internet development, released in January, 110 million Chinese Internet users had tried online education in 2015. A separate investigation conducted by Beijing-based Tianto Info Consulting forecast that online education industry will expand by 28 percent year-on-year in 2016. However, Xiong Bingqi, vice president of 21st Century Education Research Institute, said online teaching by school teachers is not allowed under existing rules. "Teachers may shift their focus and energy to their online teaching, and that will inevitably affect their performance at school. This is unfair to school-goers," Xiong said. The effectiveness of online education has also been questioned. Education experts are worried about the quality of online courses and credibility of many online teachers. Liu Chengbo, a researcher with the Department of Education, said education relies on the influence teachers have on students, which is best developed through face to face interactions. Liu added that traditional classroom education took a holistic approach to development, teaching children social responsibility, innovative thinking, interpersonal skills and problem solving ability, which can never be satisfied by online education. Supervision in need The central government has proposed to speed up the building of a learning society, by supporting the opening and sharing of learning channels, and developing online and distance education in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). Thus, "independent teachers" are expected to become a part of the wider education-support network in China, according to industry insiders. He Qiang, CEO of Sanhao.com, a popular online tutoring site, said during a forum on individualized education that the industry must follow the rules of the Internet and market, and most importantly, objective laws of education. "For education, no matter online or offline, technology is just the assistance, quality is the most important," he said. Fang Haiguang, associate professor from the educational technology department of Capital Normal University in Beijing, called for universal standards and assessment methods that would apply to online schools, teachers and courses. The death penalty is likely to be abolished for some crimes if proposals to amend the law are accepted by China's top legislative body. These include (clockwise): organizing prostitution, smuggling weapons and ammunition, and smuggling counterfeit banknotes. XINHUA/CHINA DAILY A proposed amendment to China's criminal law could see the abolition of capital punishment for a number of non-violent offenses, including illegal money lending, as Cao Yin reports. When she learned about a proposal to amend China's criminal law and abolish capital punishment for the crime of "illegal fundraising", Zeng Shan took a deep breath and sat quietly, remembering her father, Zeng Chenjie, who was executed for the crime in July 2013. FACTFILE The death penalty is likely to be abolished for the following crimes if proposals to amend the law are accepted by China's top legislative body: 1. Smuggling weapons and ammunition 2. Smuggling nuclear materials 3. Smuggling counterfeit banknotes 4. Counterfeiting banknotes 5. Collecting funds through fraudulent or illegal fundraising 6. Organizing prostitution 7. Coercing people into prostitution 8. Interfering with military duties 9. Spreading rumors during wartime After a while, the 25-year-old broke her silence: "Maybe other people suspected or convicted of this charge will not face the death penalty in the future." Illegal fundraising involves private individuals who set themselves up as moneylenders and then invite "investors" to contribute to the principal fund, on the understanding that the extremely high rates interest the borrower is charged will bring them a huge profit. The money is then loaned and the operation is administered by the fundraiser. If the money is repaid at the agreed rate, all is well, but defaults are common, and when they occur, investors often appeal to the local government for redress, thus bringing the activities of the fundraisers to the attention of the authorities. However, few investors obtain compensation, because under a 2011 regulation issued by the Supreme People's Court, China's highest judicial body, private lending is only allowed if the interest charged is not more than four times the central bank's benchmark lending rate, and most illegal fundraisers charge rates that are many times in excess of the legal ceiling. In May 2011, Zeng Chengjie, an entrepreneur from Changsha, the capital of Hunan province in Central China, was convicted of generating more than 3.4 billion yuan ($554 million) via illegal fundraising. He was sentenced to death by the city's intermediate court. In June 2013, the Supreme People's Court reviewed and upheld the sentence. The 55-year-old was executed a month later. 'Economic misbehavior' At the end of October, a session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, discussed abolishing the death penalty for nine crimes, five of which relate to "economic misbehavior", including illegal fundraising. According to Yi Shenghua, a criminal lawyer in Beijing, the reduction in the number of crimes subject to capital punishment has become a trend as China's lawmakers revise the criminal law. He said most of the calls for abolition relate to economic, non-violent crimes. Under the law as it stands, 55 crimes are subject to the death penalty, a reduction from the 68 on the statute books before a 2011 amendment cut the number by 13. Yi described Zeng Chengjie's case as the catalyst that accelerated the process of abolishing the death penalty for illegal fundraising, which most legal professionals consider a sensible and humane policy. "Zeng Chengjie should be the last person to be sentenced to death for illegal fundraising," he said. "In reality, though, very few people are sentenced to death for this crime. Usually, the sentence is only handed down to people whose misdemeanors are particularly serious, such as raising a huge amount of money, or whose actions cause mass disturbances or damage social stability." In 2012, Wu Ying, 32, an entrepreneur from Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, was sentenced to death after being convicted of illegally raising 770 million yuan between 2005 and 2007, and then failing to pay back the investors. However, the Supreme People's Court stepped in and overruled the local court. Wu's death sentence was suspended for two years, and was later commuted to a lengthy prison term, which she is still serving. China will partner with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to set up a special law enforcement college in Southwest China's Yunnan province in a bid to tackle rampant cross-border crime, according to the Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday. The China-ASEAN law enforcement college, which will be housed within the Yunnan Police Officer Academy, will be funded by the Ministry of Public Security. Cross-border crime - terrorist activities, the manufacture and trafficking of drugs, human trafficking, firearms smuggling, illegal immigration, cybercrime and telecom fraud - have become more prevalent and complex in recent years and pose a serious threat to regional security and stability, said experts. "It's more than necessary to set up such a college to strengthen law enforcement cooperation between China and ASEAN countries to combat cross-border crimes. We need to maintain regional security and promote economic prosperity," said a senior official at the ministry's International Cooperation Bureau who declined to reveal his name. According to the ministry, in addition to setting up the college, China and ASEAN will enhance communications and hold regular visits as well as exchanges between teachers and students. They will also conduct joint research into relevant cases and share practical experiences. The ministry said China will train 2,000 police officers from ASEAN countries to help them improve their tactics and ability to combat border crime. The partners plan to set up a committee to share information. There will also be annual round-table conferences between the ministry and law enforcement authorities from ASEAN countries. Seng Phally, president of the Police Academy of Cambodia said: "We urgently need to seek help in fighting human trafficking and drugs manufacturing and smuggling." He said the educational facility will sharpen the focus of enforcement agencies. "Such a college will provide targeted training programs to our police officers, then help them improve their evidence collection techniques and their attack capabilities to cope with transnational crimes." Azizan Bin Abu Taat, commandant of the Malaysia Royal Police College, said the initiative will also help combat terrorism. "Terror attacks have become more complex and devastating and the terrorists will plan to stage attacks anywhere in the world where they can attract people's attention," he said. "They could even launch chemical, nuclear or biological attacks. It's more than necessary to set up such a college to enhance judicial cooperation with relevant countries to foil terror attacks and combat other transnational crimes, including human trafficking and illegal immigration." Also, a comprehensive law enforcement and security cooperation center near the Mekong River will be established in the second half of the year in Jinghong, Yunnan province. It will help in the sharing of intelligence, the investigation of cases and offer training programs. The center will support the efforts of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. TIANJIN - Ji Wenlin, former vice governor of South China's Hainan province, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption on Wednesday. The Tianjin No 1 Intermediate People's Court handed down the first trial sentence and ordered 1 million yuan ($154,000) in fines. During the trial, the court heard that Ji took advantage of his posts in Southwest China's Sichuan province, the Ministry of Public Security and Hainan, to seek benefits for others. He also demanded and received a huge amount of bribes and assets, which investigators suggest could be worth around 20 million yuan. The court said a lenient sentence was given because Ji confessed to his wrongdoings, turned in bribes and exposed other criminal evidence during the investigation. Ji, 50, was elected vice governor of Hainan province in January, 2013. He was removed from office and put under investigation by discipline authorities in February, 2014. This is the latest in a series of trials of former high-ranking officials netted in China's anti-corruption campaign. Li Dongsheng, former vice minister of Public Security, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes in January. Jiang Jiemin, former head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in October last year. About 3,000 foreigners, mostly from Southeast Asian countries, have been arrested since Feb 20 for illegally entering China as part of a crackdown on people smuggling. The Ministry of Public Security has also apprehended 142 organizers, including 29 from Southeast Asia and South Asia, it was revealed at a news conference on Wednesday morning. The foreigners were transported to coastal areas in Guangdong province, where some were enrolled in local factories, and others were smuggled to Hong Kong. A large number of the immigrants committed crimes, both on the mainland and in Hong Kong, said Yin Chengjun, division head of the Ministry of Public Security's border control bureau. "These activities are well organized and involve suspects from both the mainland and Hong Kong, forming a complete chain of people smuggling," he said. China raises allowance for intangible heritage practioners (Xinhua) Updated: 2016-03-30 20:13 BEIJING -- China will increase the allowance given to practioners of intangible heritage, as many practices are in danger of dying out, according to the Ministry of Culture (MOC) on Wednesday. Allowances have been given to iconic figures of national-level intangible heritage practices since 2008. The minimum allowance, which currently starts at 8,000 yuan ($1,235 dollars) per person per year, will be raised to 20,000 yuan per person per year, according to the MOC. The allowance is designed to support pedagogic activities, and is not a living allowance. Ma Shengde, an MOC official, said the increase would encourage leading figures to pass on their skills. According to official figures, 295 out of 1,986 practitioners of national-level intangible heritage have passed away. To prevent the practices from being forgotten, the MOC also started to collect detailed records of the practices and their leading practitioners. China rolls out new policies to encourage innovation (Xinhua) Updated: 2016-03-30 20:34 BEIJING -- China's State Council on Wednesday announced a string of new policies to encourage innovation as the country seeks to foster new engines for growth. China will set up three new "national innovation demonstration zones" in the provinces of Henan, Shandong and Liaoning, bringing the number of such areas to 14, according to a statement issued after a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The zones, including Beijing's Zhongguancun, known as "China's Silicon Valley," and Shanghai's Zhangjiang high tech zone, have been created to pilot new ideas and development models for use nationwide. Expansion of the program is aimed at fostering trailblazers for China's economic restructuring and transformation, according to the statement. The State Council will test innovative reforms in China's financial hub of Shanghai over three years, including exploring new financial service models and simplifying foreign investment rules. Government intervention will be further reduced to create an amicable environment for business start-ups and innovation, the State Council pledged. To boost employment and sustain growth, the Chinese government has stressed the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in its 13th five-year plan. A wide range of measures has been unveiled, including financial support, facility construction and administrative assistance, for start-ups. At Wednesday's meeting, the council also decided to foster city clusters centered around Chengdu and Chongqing to stimulate economic potential in western regions. BEIJING -- China will encourage more non-profit funds to protect cultural relics, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) announced on Wednesday. China has spent 60 billion yuan ($9.3 billion) on protecting cultural relics during the past five years, said Zhu Xiaodong, director of policy and law department of the SACH. The money went to more than 10,000 projects but did not cover privately owned cultural items, said Zhu. Though cultural relics held as private property are included in the government programs, a lack of proper funding has left privately owned relics basically unprotected. Zhu said the SACH will help establish non-profit cultural heritage funds with the help of the Ministry of Finance, to channel in both state subsidies and private capital for cultural relic protection. China's traditional villages are in most urgent need of protection, said Zhu. Among the 11,000 registered cultural relics in these 2,555 villages, 6,600 are in the possession of private owners. At a time when China is striving to boost innovation in every business sector, entrepreneurs are urging for a better protection of intellectual property rights. Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, chairman of Tencent Holdings, one of the country's largest Internet service providers, said although the government has taken many measures, online piracy continues to hinder the development of Internet industries in China. "The loopholes in intellectual property rights protection mechanism have led to rampant piracy and low activity to create new things and to innovate," he said while attending the annual national legislative session in mid-March, urging the government to blacklist copyright violators and to increase the compensation and fines paid by violators. His suggestion was echoed by Dong Mingzhu, president of the Guangdong-based appliance giant Gree Electric Appliances. "The biggest annoyance for a company whose fate depends on innovation is that our patents are often stolen by others and that no one stands out to safeguard our rights," Dong said. She also called on the government to severely punish copyright infringements to nurture innovation and originality. Ge Junjie, vice-president of Bright Food, a Shanghai-based food giant, said his company is planning to develop a host of products based on a unique type of fungus, but has found that there are a lot of online food vendors profiteering from the loopholes in IPR protection. "This kind of fungus has a huge market potential, but some small food or medicine companies steal formulas from others and use fake materials to make what they claim have high concentrations of this fungus," he said. In addition, several foreign nations such as Japan and South Korea have realized the economic value of fungi and are importing large amounts of fungus materials from China to develop foods, he said, adding that poor awareness and lax protection of intellectual property rights will result in China's defeat in competition. He suggested intellectual property, health and commerce authorities work together to crack down on copy infringements and to improve IPR protection for fungi product industry. Shen Changyu, the commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, said earlier this month that intellectual property protection is a "basic support to innovation and entrepreneurship". He said his office would issue stricter policies and measures and help lawmakers revise the Patent Law. Moreover, a certain number of quick-response IPR centers would be set up to handle infringement claims in a timely manner, he said. zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn Players try games produced by Tencent at an entertainment show in Beijing. Provided to china daily (China Daily 03/30/2016 page17) Editor's note: The following overview of the Czech Republic's economy is provided by CzechInvest, the government agency of the Ministry of Industry and Trade responsible for investment and business development. CzechInvest offers consulting on foreign direct investment and information on the overall business environment and investment opportunities in the Czech Republic. It has an office in Shanghai. The Czech Republic is the most highly developed industrialized economy among the Central and Eastern European Countries. The economy's performance in 2015 was very strong and with GDP growth of 4.3 percent, the country ranks among the fastest-growing economies in the European Union. According to a number of economic, social and political indicators, the Czech Republic also ranks among the world's most advanced countries. Industrial production accounts for 47.3 percent of the country's commercial economy, which is more than in any other EU member state. The Czech Republic hosts over 100,000 foreign companies of all sizes, including well-known multinational companies such as ABB, Foxconn, Honeywell, Continental, Ford, Panasonic, IBM, Microsoft, DHL, Astra Zeneca, Rockwell, Procter & Gamble, Renault, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Tyco, TPCA, Hyundai and Volkswagen, which all have significant subsidiaries in the Czech Republic. Advantages and benefits The Czech Republic offers a strategic location right in the middle of Europe, which drastically reduces the logistics costs associated with serving the Eastern and Western European markets. The significance of the Czech Republic as a transit hub has grown since it became a member of the EU Single Market. The main investment opportunities in the Czech Republic are in aerospace, the automotive industry, clean-tech and energy, electronics, business support services, engineering technology and machinery, software and ICT, and nanotechnology and nanomaterials. The Czech Republic has one of the highest concentrations of automotive-related manufacturing and design activity in the world. The combination of a strong engineering background, extensive testing experience, excellent product reputation and high product reliability in various climatic conditions reinforces the Czech Republic's competitiveness at the global level and enables further development of characteristically high-quality aerospace products. A recent major achievement has been the introduction of the new GE H80 turboprop engine designed, developed and produced in the Czech Republic. With national and EU support, the Czech Republic creates a broad range of opportunities for investors to design, manufacture and deliver new technologies for environmental protection and energy savings for more than 700 million consumers in the European market. As shown by the FDI Benchmark 2015, in terms of the individual quality criteria within the Presence of Industrial Clusters category, the industry specialization of Czech nanotechnology is ranked the third-highest in the world followed by the Republic of Korea (fourth), Germany (fifth) and Japan (sixth). The top two countries are Switzerland and the United States. Czech companies have already made a significant mark on ground-breaking technologies in relation to hologram production, nanofibers, speech recognition software, hyaluronic acid, cybernetics, stem-cell research and astrophysics (the Czech Republic has the densest concentration of astronomical observatories in the world). The Czech Republic has also emerged as Europe's top location for the offshoring and outsourcing of IT services. Chinese investments The Czech Republic is very open to Asian countries. Furthermore, its workforce adapts easily to Asian cultures, which makes it easier for companies to operate here, especially in the manufacturing industry. This is one of the key reasons why the Czech Republic has become a top location for over 350 Asian companies, of which about 50 percent operate production facilities here, including the Chinese firms Changhong Electric Co, Shanxi Yuncheng Plate-making Group, Yapp Automotive, Shanghai Maling (Bright Food Group Co), Huawei, ZTE, Noark Electric Europe HQ (CHINT Group) and CRRC Corporation, which operates a research and development center in cooperation with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague. The latest investments include those of the multinational white goods and electronics manufacturer Hisense, which established a manufacturing plant in the Plzen region that allows it easy access to the Western European market, and Beijing West Industries, which broke ground on a new automotive suspension manufacturing plant in the city of Cheb, near the border with Germany, where many of BWI's customers are located. (China Daily 03/30/2016 page8) St. Vitus Cathedral is a popular tourist attraction in Prague. An increasing number of Chinese tourists are visiting the Czech Republic. Photos provided to China Daily A 71-year-old Chinese tourist was waiting to board a plane to his dream destination on Sunday. Lao Bian was due to take a direct flight from Beijing to Prague, lured not by the city's famous charm or culture, but by the strength of its industry. "I used to be an automobile mechanic," Lao explained. "I'm impressed by the machinery and cars made in the Czech Republic." The direct air link between Prague and Beijing, which takes about 10 hours, officially went into operation on Sept 23 last year. It has significantly boosted ties between the two countries and led to their more intensive cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, tourism and healthcare. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said he considers this "very good news" for the Czech Republic. It's also good news for Chinese people like Lao, who want to visit the country. In an article written for the Czech newspaper, Pravo Daily, President Xi Jinping said people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries are flourishing. "The Czech Republic is an attractive destination for Chinese tourists, who made a record number of visits here in 2015, more than 300,000, making tourism a bright spot in China-Czech cooperation," Xi wrote. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic has become the second-biggest trading partner of China in the Central and Eastern Europe regions, and China has become the Czech Republic's second-biggest trading partner next to the European Union. Two-way trade between China and the Czech Republic exceeded $11 billion in 2015. To welcome Xi during his visit, more and more Chinese elements were seen in Prague, such as Chinese flags fluttering along the main streets near Prague Castle, the seat of the President's Office. Standing above a traffic roundabout by the Vltava River is a huge billboard with a slogan in both Chinese and Czech reading: "Welcome to the Czech Republic". "The Chinese president's visit to Prague is a very exciting moment and I am very proud that my country is the first and only country he is visiting in Central and Eastern Europe," Czech antiquary Oldrich Hejtmanek told Xinhua News Agency in downtown Prague. Hejtmanek's gallery has a collection of over 1,000 Chinese works. He said that his clients used to be mostly from China but now the situation is changing. "More local people have begun to understand and appreciate the Chinese arts. I want to show them, especially young people, how incredible Chinese artworks are," he said. Hejtmanek said that he "100 percent" believes Xi's visit will be a new start for relations between China and the Czech Republic, as well as with other CEE countries. China and the then Czechoslovakia established diplomatic relations in October 1949, only five days after the People's Republic of China was founded. After 67 years of time-tested development, bilateral ties have entered a new phase of fast and fruitful development. (China Daily 03/30/2016 page7) Energy company sees opportunity on the horizon as 'going out' strategy harvests rich dividends CEFC China Energy Co is a private enterprise aiming to serve the national industrial interest by building a modernized and internationally competitive corporation that expands cooperation in the international energy economy and achieves influence in the energy industry. Since its establishment in 2002, CEFC China has gained international competitiveness and exerted brand influence in the energy and financial industries under the leadership of Chairman Ye Jianming over the past decade. The company is a Fortune Global 500 company, with annual revenue of over 220 billion yuan in 2015. In 2015, World Brand Lab listed the company, which has a brand value of 41.26 billion yuan, as one of the World's and Asia's 500 Most Influential Brands. It was also honored as one of the Top Ten Most Influential Chinese Enterprises and Top Ten Most Internationally Competitive Chinese Enterprises by the China Most Influential Brand Names Summit Forum. In recent years, by utilizing resources accumulated on its public energy diplomacy platforms, CEFC China has made full use of its advantages in resources, mechanism and brand. CEFC China is also seizing on the investment opportunities in the international energy industry to actively serve the Belt and Road Initiative. The company has an international platform and strategy underpinned by its terminals in Europe, which enables its acquisition of equities and rights of upstream oil and gas resources. With the Czech Republic as a strategic pivot, the company is engaging in international investment banking and promoting international industrial capacity cooperation to help transform and upgrade the Chinese economy. I. Serve the Belt and Road Initiative by Energy Cooperation CEFC China has developed downstream terminals in the European oil and gas market. Its main focus is on expanding upstream oil and gas resources and rights in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa based on an integrated downstream terminal system. On Dec 14, 2015, in the presence of Premier Li Keqiang and Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov, CEFC China signed a cooperation agreement in Beijing with KazMunayGas, the national oil and gas company of Kazakhstan, acquiring a controlling stake in KazMunayGas International. KMGI owns refineries in Europe. It trades and transports an annual capacity of 14 million tons of crude oil. It also owns over 2,000 gas stations in several countries including Spain, France, Romania and Bulgaria, and provides EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) services for oil and gas exploration, exploitation and refining. In the future, the company will acquire downstream terminal logistic enterprises in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea regions and in Central and Eastern Europe, including Turkey, Germany, France, Switzerland, Romania, Poland and Israel. The company will also continue making targeted investments in national oil companies. The acquisition of KMGI advances its business involvement in European terminals and the establishment of an integrated industrial network covering refineries, storage sites and sales centers in Europe. Underpinned by its terminal network in Europe, CEFC China cooperates with the national oil companies of Kazakhstan, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Chad and Angola to obtain oil equities and rights. It has established cooperation with KMG; with Abu Dhabi; with the Chadian government to obtain equities in upstream oil and gas blocks; with CNPC International Ltd over the equities and sales rights of the H block oil site in Chad; with CPC Corp of Taiwan to obtain equities and sales rights of oil and gas blocks in Chad; with Gazprom Neft to jointly invest in and develop three oil blocks in the East Siberian Regional Baikal Project; and with Yunus-bek Yevkurov, president of the Republic of Ingushetia of the Russian Federation, to transform and develop oil fields in Ingushetia and establish an energy investment bank. It has also created an energy fund with Qatar. As China allows more refiners to use imported crude oil and to apply for import licenses, the oversupply in refined oil products has intensified in the Chinese market. It has become imperative to open up export rights to refined oil products and increase exports to balance domestic and overseas resources. Consequently, deepwater ports with storage facilities along coasts and rivers in China have become key strategic points. CEFC China is constructing a national oil reserve and commercial storage base with a planned storage capacity of 12 million cubic meters in Yangpu, Hainan province, and a large oil reserve base covering 10 million cubic meters in Rizhao, Shandong province. The company is working with the Rizhao Port Group to invest in the construction of energy logistics and warehousing facilities, including a 300,000-tonnage oil wharf, a 600,000-cubic-meter port oil warehouse and LNG receiving terminals. CEFC China is cooperating with the reserve storage of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and with KMG in renminbi-denominated oil delivery via 2.8-million-cubic-meter storage facilities as part of the first phase of the Hainan Yangpu oil reserve base. Through Hainan Yangpu oil reserve base, CEFC China is processing resources and exporting refined oil products to overseas markets, mainly to Southeast Asia, making full use of the capacity of domestic oil refineries and increasing its reach in the international energy industry. In line with the national strategy of developing a mixed-ownership economy, CEFC China is working with major State-owned enterprises to jointly obtain overseas energy resources and equities. It has cooperated with China Railway Engineering Corp to found CREC Central Asia Natural Gas Logistics, CREC & CEFC Lubricant, Wuhai Tietong Petroleum and other companies. This route transports oil and gas from Central Asia into China through its Dostyk Gas Terminal by railway, providing transportation and sales services for liquefied natural gas, petroleum products and lubricant. It holds stakes in the refineries of China National Chemical Corp to process crude oil from Russia; purchased nearly 20 percent of equities of China Natural Gas Corp, a subsidiary of Kunlun Energy Co Ltd, to broaden its network of natural gas terminals; and signed a cooperative deal with China Shipbuilding Industry Corp to convert large oil tankers into floating oil storage units in Singapore with an aim to form an integrated management network of oil storage, transport and trading covering China and Southeast Asia. The company is also striving to build national petroleum reserves and logistics bases by collaborating with Guangdong Guochu Logistics in managing petroleum storages and wholesales. II. Establish Financial Platforms and International Investment Bank CEFC China has drawn up a financial development strategy for its energy business layout. It has obtained licenses for a full range of financial services, aiming to build an international investment bank highly specialized in energy and finance. To this end, the company has established financial platforms in securities, trust, futures, banking, financial assets transaction and online insurance to increase its financial returns and reduce costs. CEFC China became a majority shareholder of J&T Bank when it signed an agreement in the presence of the heads of state of China and the Czech Republic. As one of the joint initiators, J&T Bank, on behalf of the Czech government, will set up an investment fund for 16 Central and Eastern European countries together with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. CEFC China is also on track to set up an Energy Industry Fund with Abu Dhabi and an Energy Development Fund with Gazprom Neft, to acquire and develop upstream resources and securitize its acquired assets in a step-by-step process. III. "Going out" faster with Czech Republic as a Pivot Point Lying in the heart of Europe, the Czech Republic is endowed with strong geostrategic advantages and well-equipped with mature industries and advanced manufacturing technologies. In recent years, Sino-Czech ties have developed and mutual political trust has deepened. The bilateral relations are at their best in history. The Belt and Road Initiative offers a golden opportunity for Chinese enterprises to expand investment and seek cooperation in Europe. On Nov 26, 2013, Premier Li Keqiang and leaders of CEE countries attended the China-CEEC Summit in Romania to work with all parties in formulating and issuing the Bucharest Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, a step to deepen the China-CEEC "16+1" cooperation mechanism. In keeping with the initiative, CEFC China took the lead in making industrial investment in the Czech Republic and mapped out its European market strategy, acting as a vanguard of Chinese enterprises in investing in the Czech Republic and CEE countries. On Oct 27, 2014, CEFC China signed a cooperation agreement with J&T Finance Group at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, which was witnessed by the heads of state from both countries. With banking and financial services as its core businesses, J&T is also engaged in energy and culture. Its subsidiary banks have branches in many European countries, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland and Russia. Through private placement and rights issue, J&T sold 50-percent of its shares to CEFC China, and the latter became the first Chinese private company to have a majority stake in a European bank. CEFC China is the largest investor in the Czech Republic among Chinese companies in terms of its investment volume. Upon a visit to CEFC China headquarters in Shanghai on Sept 5, 2015, President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic met with CEFC China Chairman Ye Jianming and witnessed the signing of multiple cooperation projects between the company and its Czech partners. CEFC China established its second headquarters in the Czech Republic, making international investment with the European country a pivot point and playing the role of an international investment bank. It also acquired several companies in the nation, including an airline as well as media and brewing companies. With its strength in overseas resources and brand presence, CEFC China will make further efforts to cooperate with State-owned companies in jointly "going out" with an aim to promote international industrial capacity cooperation and upgrade Chinese domestic industries. zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn The ZIBA Building located in the center of Prague. CEFC China has purchased the building to use as its second headquarters in Europe. Players of SK Slavia Praha Football Club. CEFC China has purchased the soccer club. Photos provided to China Daily A sketch of CEFC China's Shanghai headquarters. The banking building of J&T Finance Group in Prague. CEFC China has acquired a 50 percent stake to become its biggest shareholder. Night view of an oil field in Kazakhstan. CEFC signed a strategic cooperation agreement with KMGI to jointly develop energy and oil fields. Crew members pose beside an aircraft of the Czech Travel Service, in which CEFC China acquired a 10 percent stake. (China Daily 03/30/2016 page6) Madagascar: Dream Island at the End of the World was released by Chongqing Publishing House in February.[Photo provided to China Daily] A long time ago, after an island had separated from a vast landmass, its plants and animals grew in relative isolation. As a result, much of Madagascar's flora and fauna are rarely found elsewhere, making the world's fourth-largest island the perfect destination for travelers seeking to see nature in all its diversity. The country gained global popularity, including in China, after Hollywood released the 2005 animated film, Madagascar. Cheng Yuanyuan, from Beijing MooNbooks Co, is among the many Chinese who are attracted to the island located in the Indian Ocean off the African coast. A fan of King Ringtail Julien XIII, the film's lemur character, Cheng thought about publishing a book about the island. But scarce material on the subject in China posed challenges for the project at the time. A book has been released, since Cheng's team partnered with Yang Min, a former Chinese ambassador to Madagascar. Madagascar: Dream Island at the End of the World was released by Chongqing Publishing House in February. The publisher called it the first such book about the country. "Take the book and an air ticket, and you can start to explore the great island," says a statement from the publisher. [Photo/IC] For two weeks, the 93 Park and the National Capitol building, two of Bogota's emblematic locations, have been decorated with eye-catching terracotta warrior lanterns, a rare scene in the South American city. The show, part of the 15th Iberoamerican Theater Festival, is inspired by the terracotta warriors discovered at the tomb of China's first emperor, who reigned in the 3rd century BC. The show is also included in the program for the year of cultural exchanges between China and Latin America, which was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Latin America in July 2014. "For the majority of Colombians, it is surely a very interesting exhibition, but when you get close you get to know the history behind it," said Andres Camacho, a visitor. Camacho's remarks were echoed by Chinese ambassador Li Nianping, who said at the exhibition's inauguration that the show contributed to strengthening Colombians' awareness of China's history through art. "Geographically, China and Colombia are very far away, with different cultures and histories, which is why it is even more necessary to increase mutual understanding," the ambassador told Xinhua. Also this week, Colombian dance group Pasion Caribe will perform in Beijing. Rosana Lignarolo, director of Pasion Caribe, was excited at the opportunity to perform the shows for the first time in China and she spoke highly of cultural interactions between the two countries. "Hopefully, it can become a regular event and not only for one-time celebrations so that we can keep our cultures connected," Lignarolo told Xinhua. Colombia expects to hold more Chinese culture events this year, after Jilin Song and Dance Ensemble and Shanghai Jiangzhou Drum Company have successfully performed in Bogota recently. A screen shot of the South Korean TV series Descendants of the Sun [Photo/IC] A South Korean TV series, Descendants of the Sun, has become quite a sensation in China recently, with online views numbering more than 1.5 billion, since the first episode hit the airwaves on Feb 24 on iQIYIa major video website. By the way, this 16-eposide series is the first Korean TV drama to air simultaneously in South Korea and China and it has received enormous attention in both of the countries, with an audience rate of 31.6% on KBS and a reviewing score of 8.6/10 on Douban.com, one of Chinas biggest online social communities, beating the previous hit My Love from the Star (2013). But is it really all that good, you may ask? And what makes it so sensational? Well, to get to the bottom of it, I watched it online (10 episodes by now), and have come up with some possible answers. Clue No.1: Tight plots and straight-forward love The main plot involves a standard love story about a UN peacekeeper, Capt. Yoo Si-jin (stars Song Joong Ki), and a doctor, Kang Mo-yeon ( stars Song Hye-kyo). But, what makes it different from most other South Korean TV soaps, which take absolutely ages for the protagonists to finally confess their feelings for each other after a whole bunch of messy troubles and struggles (normally about 8 episodes),in Descendants of the Sun is that they come in a more natural way. It's like this: they first meet in a hospital, feel a mutual attraction, jot down each other's number, and schedule the first date (which of course gets screwed up by a military emergency) already in the first episode. This business of falling in love at first sight and being honest and frank about their affection instead of being shy or hiding their feelings is, quite frankly, a real leap for a South Korean soap. And the straight-forward, no-nonsense approach to love has won many hearts, especially those of people who are tired of the old Korean drama routines and Cinderella stories. Clue No.2: Bigger theme, wider perspective At the same time, what makes this drama really stand out is that its plots are built around some new elements that are not part of the hackneyed urban romance -- medical profession, soldiers, peacekeeping work, earthquake, a disaster, rescue work -- all of which breathe new life into this particular series with a broad theme, and take it to a new level, presenting not just romance, but a greater love, one for humanity. For example, Episodes 6 and 7 focus on rescue work that involves both doctors and soldiers in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. At the most dangerous period, their devotion to work, respect for life and faith in humanity seem to sparkle amidst all the ruin. The plot goes much deeper than romantic love and reflects the series' title "descendants of the sun", which, may also be a little bit jingoistic, but then, everyone does that, don't they? [File photo] With some 30 million kids in China playing the piano and many world famous keyboard stars such as Lang Lang, Li Yundi and Yuja Wang, the country is rightly considered a big player in the piano world. So, it was seen as unusual that the country had no important international piano competition. But this anomaly is set to be corrected in the next few months. The first Arthur Rubinstein International Youth Piano Competition will be held in Beijing from Sept 29-Oct 9. Arie Vardi, the renowned Israeli pianist and jury chairman of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition will serve as jury chairman of the youth contest in Beijing. Other jury members will be Idith Zvi, artistic director of the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition; Russian pianist Vladimir Ovchinnikov, who is jury chairman of the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition; Dmitri Alexeev, jury member of the Chopin International Competition; Susan Starr from the United States; and Chinese pianist Dan Zhaoyi, who is also Li Yundi's teacher. Chinese pianist Wang Xiaohan will serve as the youth competition's artistic director. All the jury members will give master classes during the contest. The competition is open to pianists from around the world who have not crossed their 18th birthday by Sept 29. Registration is open until April 29, and more information can be found on www.arubinstein.org. The first prize will be $30,000, the second $20,000 and third $10,000. A special award will also be given for best performance of Chinese- or Israeli-commissioned pieces. The China event is just the latest among other global contests which include the International Chopin Piano Competition (Poland); the International Tchaikovsky Competition (Russia); the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (US); and the Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition (Israel). The Rubenstein competitions were started in Tel Aviv in 1974 to carry forward the artistic legacy of Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982) and to discover new talent and foster emerging careers. Emanuel Ax won the first prize at the first event in Israel. The current jury chairman, Arie Vardi, has taught Chinese pianists Li Yundi, Chen Sa and Wang Xiaohan at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Hanover, Germany. Explaining how the idea for the China event came about, Zvi spoke of her interactions with Wang. "I've known Wang for 15 years. He is a talented pianist. And now that he teaches at the middle school attached to the Central Conservatory of Music (in Beijing), he wants to do something to discover younger talents and help to pave the way for their later careers." And so Zvi and Wang started to talk about the possibility of a youth competition being held in China in Rubinstein's name in 2014. "It is a fantastic idea to cooperate with our Chinese counterparts to run the competition here," she says. "The Arthur Rubinstein Master Competition is a valid international forum for showcasing pianists and aspiring young talent. We are honored to work with them and maintain its high standards," says Wang. Chinese pianist Zhou Guangren, 88, who attended the Rubenstein competition in Tel Aviv in 1955, says: "I'd never thought such a prestigious international competition would be held in China." The Rubinstein competition is special to her because it was the first international competition she attended. "Later I attended more than 20 other contests and even served as a jury member at some of them. But the Rubinstein competition was the one that really impressed me with its high quality." chenjie@chinadaily.com.cn Users of social-networking app WeChat on Tuesday found their feeds full of blurred pictures, many accompanied by flirty captions. [Photo/IC] THE FIRST HIGH SCHOOL of Cangzhou, Hebei province in North China, expelled 12 students in March after they were found carrying or using their cellphones on campus. The education authorities in Cangzhou have confirmed that the 12 students have not returned to school since they were told to withdraw, and the school recently announced through its official social media account that it will stick to its decision to expel the 12 students to set an example for other students. Beijing Times commented on Tuesday: Of course the school has the right to expel the students in some extreme cases, such as if they commit a serious crime. However, expelling the students because they brought their phones to school seems a hard decision. The students also have the right to receive an education and any decision to expel students should be made with prudence. When students break school regulations, cautioning or communicating with their parents are good ways to help them correct their behavior. If the school wants to justify its action, it first has to prove it has the legal right to expel the students for bringing their phones on campus. Then it has to prove that it has fulfilled its obligation to try and educate these 12 students but they resolutely refused to accept the supervision of the management, and that the parents failed in their duty to persuade their children to behave according to the school regulations. The Shanghai Disney Resort is Disney's sixth resort worldwide.[Photo/Xinhua] That the official website of Shanghai Disney Resort crashed on Monday, shortly after it began selling tickets for its opening day on June 16, fully testifies to the popularity of any well-designed tourist attraction. It is a hard-won achievement for Disney theme parks to remain so popular after the first one opened six decades ago. Their popularity shows good tourist attractions do not need to be based on famous mountains and rivers, or historic architecture, and that those based on novel ideas and continuous innovation can maintain their popularity. The opening of the Shanghai Disney Resort, Disney's first theme park in the Chinese mainland, is expected to further promote the development of the tourism market in Shanghai and other parts of the country. The domestic tourism industry in a country will boom after its economic development reaches a certain level and people have enough disposable income to spend on travel and leisure experiences, rather than having only enough money to meet their basic needs. As an increasing number of Chinese people travel abroad, Shanghai, as a longtime domestic tourist destination, faces the challenge of how to develop new tourist products to retain its attractiveness to the ever-expanding options for Chinese travelers. In this sense, the opening of the Disney theme park and its smooth operation will help reinforce Shanghai's image as one of the top tourist destinations in China. What Shanghai should now focus on is how to efficiently run the theme park, its commercial derivatives and related services, to boost its entire tourism industry. To increase its popularity and competiveness, Shanghai also needs to work hard to prevent tourists being cheated, something that has been encountered in other popular tourist destinations. The lasting popularity of the Disney theme parks comes from their endless innovations and their ability to cater to the changing tastes of tourists and this should offer lessons to the operators of domestic tourist attractions. People gather around a memorial in Brussels following bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium, March 22, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] A powerful blast ripped through a park crowded with families in Lahore, Pakistan, on Sunday evening killing at least 70 and injuring more than 300. Many of the victims were women and children. The suicide attacker targeted members of the Christian minority community when they were celebrating Easter Sunday. On the same day a pipe bomb detonated about 5 miles from Disneyland in California, causing damage to the walls of a shuttered business establishment, according to local authorities. Police said no injuries had been reported. Lahore's blast has something to do with the continuing sectarian clashes in Pakistan, where religious disputes, even serious confrontations, are often reported. The United States, too, is no stranger to sporadic attempts to threaten its public security. The two incidents seem to be part of the increasing number of extremists-led attacks, especially in the West. Only a week ago, the terrorist attacks in Brussels killed 35 people and left more than 260 injured (some of them critically). But saying that no country is safe from terrorism may be going too far, and could easily spread unnecessary panic and fear. On the surface, these attacks are connected with the notorious Islamic State or the Taliban, but terrorism has begun to take shape in Europe from within, not the other way round. In other words, the surge in extremist activities and attacks that have taken a toll on Europe may not be new to many regional players. On the other hand, there is an inherent tendency in Europe that suggests homegrown jihadists have become a major security threat because they have little to do with European civilization. But the fact is, they are basically European citizens (although many are first-generation immigrants) who have become the "standard-bearers" of "Islamic extremism". These Islamic extremists are familiar with local social rules, adept at using Internet tools and have access to various financing channels. For them, Islam is just a convenient means of spreading terrorism, not spiritual inspiration in any sense, because what they are trying to do is challenge the mainstream ideology and order. Some Muslims have been known to jump into parochial and sectarian clashes, which normally are driven by regional and tribal sentiments, and hence are less likely to mount coordinated and organized attacks in the face of strong local security arrangements. The IS group's brutality and efficiency is the result of its capability to recruit ignorant or fanatical youths by offering them financial support. As such, the IS group has nothing to do with any Islamic creed or sect. As the Syrian civil war de-escalates, thanks to the US and Russia agreeing to endorse a cessation in hostilities in the country, more terrorists might be forced to travel back to Europe to wreak more havoc. Against the backdrop of waning Western control over global and regional governance, bloodthirsty extremists may find it easier to fill the void and expand their turfs in some small, fringe countries in the Middle East. It is these already weakened countries, not European nations or the US, which will face bigger security threats, because to a point, they are the victims of the so-called Islamic terrorism that has emerged in the West. The author is an associate professor at the University of International Relations. LI FENG/CHINA DAILY The Czech Republic can be seen as a logical partner for China's expansion in European Union markets because of the relative quality of its institutions and infrastructure, sound and stable banking, social stability, security and, most importantly, its advantageous geographical location, especially its proximity to the economic powerhouse of Germany. The Czech Republic has a fairly good macroeconomic structureone of the highest growth rates in Europe (4.3 percent in 2015), a low unemployment rate (5 percent in 2015) and low public debt (41 percent of GDP). While the basic axioms of the Czech foreign policy remain stable, quite a few high-ranking Czech politicians welcome Chinese partners and most Czech political parties are trying to have at least some "Chinese connection". The evaluation of the future effects of President Xi Jinping's visit to the Czech Republic is more complex than what many external observers realize. Many agreements will be signed, but their relative economic importance may be diminished by the already high inflow of foreign direct investments, especially after 1997, into the Czech Republic and the important role of foreign companies in the Czech economy. Available economic data and the logic of international economic relations suggest there are many interesting fields for future cooperation besides tourism with Chinese investors. Chinese companies are likely to find the well-developed Czech supplier base because its proximity to Germany is very attractive. Our expectations should be realistic, thoughwhile the share of China in Czech exports is expected to steadily grow thanks to the increasing importance of China in the global economy, and improving mutual trust and connecting infrastructure, the Czech economy will preserve its focus on European markets. After all, China will trade with, and invest in, the Czech Republic mainly because it is so well integrated in the European economy. Many of the economic effects even in the future will be indirectChinese consumers will buy many German products whose parts and components are produced in the Czech Republic. Czech economic experts and businesspeople seem to view the Belt and Road Initiative, the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, as an ambitious and potentially beneficial strategy worth participating in. But quantitative evaluation of the actual benefits is difficult for lack of implementation details. The differences between the Czech Republic and other countries included in both the Belt and Road Initiative and 16+1 (China and the 16 Central and Eastern European countries) initiative suggest that effects can have different structures. The Czech Republic's infrastructure is far from perfect. However, its main problem does not seem to be financing, but rather issues related to poor coordination, red tape and even corruption. We expect most of the effects to be trade-related and they will significantly depend on the effects of the Belt and Road Initiative on third countries, especially those en route from China to the Czech Republic. The initiative can thus create opportunities for Czech companies in China and vice-versa because of lower transportation costs and better transportation, as well as help increase exports and other opportunities induced by economic growth and improved stability in the weaker regions. The indirect effects could be very positive but remain vulnerable to a number of factors, which include geopolitical risks and significant implementation issues because of corruption. Indeed, finding the right recipe for providing "public goods" in the form of infrastructure financing while avoiding abuse of funds could be the biggest long-term positive contribution of the initiative to global stability. China can try to reduce the implementation risks by incorporating three basic principles into the initiative. First, it has to lay emphasis on accountability and fighting corruption also at the international level. Second, it has to be aware of the diversity, including political differences, both among and within participating countries. And third, it should be cautious about the outcomes, especially while making the expectations public on either side. China should be willing to accept even what may appear to be cheeky ingratitude of the participating countrieswhich after investments of billions of dollars by China may still complain because exaggerated promises led to even higher expectations of faster gains. The prospects for future relations are bright, but much mutual patience and tolerance for diversity, including diversity of opinions, will be required. The author is a researcher at Center for Economic Research and Graduate EducationEconomics Institute in the Czech Republic. Xu Dazhe, head of the China Atomic Energy Authority, greets Ernest Moniz, US secretary of energy, at a ceremony in Beijing on March 18. Wei Xiaohao / China Daily The fourth Nuclear Security Summit, to be held in Washington on Thursday and Friday, is one of the few major signature programs initiated by US President Barack Obama. The others include health reform, financial reform, ending the war on terror, resetting US-Russia relations, Global Zero and mitigating climate change etc. Obama has succeeded in his climate change agenda, but failed in "resetting" relations with Russia. The withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq seems to have caused more harm than good, given the rise of the Islamic State, and he has not made any substantial progress on the Global Zero campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons. In the light of these facts, the Nuclear Security Summit has become Obama's major policy initiative to promote global security against nuclear terrorism. Nuclear security is a very important security issue. Given the lethality of nuclear weapons, the wide use of civilian nuclear energy and the transnational nature of global terrorism, and the possible coupling of such elements, the international community is haunted by the nightmare of nuclear terrorism. Fears over the theft of nuclear weapons and materials, as well as sabotage of nuclear facilities, are well founded. Indeed no nuclear-capable state has impregnable nuclear security, as assessed by the three Nuclear Materials Security Indices, published by the Nuclear Threat Initiative in 2012, 2014 and 2016. No wonder Obama has chosen nuclear security as one of his top agendas. Since the Nuclear Security Summit is aimed at forging a consensus on heightened state protection of nuclear facilities and control of nuclear materials and global cooperation in this regard, the international community expects it to make exemplary progress. The US and China are two of the major nuclear stakeholders. Since both are nuclear-weapon states and major producers of nuclear power for civilian use, they share a responsibility to place their nuclear weapons and nuclear facilities under most stringent state security. As of the end of October 2015, in Chinese mainland 27 nuclear generating units had been in operation, with a total installed capacity of 25.5 GW, and another 25 nuclear generating units with a total installed capacity of 27.51 GW had been under construction. The scale of China's ongoing capacity construction is the highest in the world, and its total nuclear power capacity, in terms of energy and number of plants, including both operational and under construction, is ranked fourth and third in the world. Despite China's excellent record of nuclear safety and security, it faces challenges to make sure its growing civilian nuclear power program will be not be sabotaged. Thus Beijing-Washington cooperation to lift China's domestic capacity as well as those for other countries will ensure nuclear security for the Asia-Pacific region. At the first Nuclear Security Summit in 2010, Beijing and Washington forged a partnership to co-build a China-based Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security, with China building and operating the facility and the US offering technical support. It was completed and started operations recently, and now stands as a tangible symbol of cooperation on nuclear security across the Pacific. The last three Nuclear Security Summits have addressed various aspects of nuclear security, including the global nuclear security system, the International Atomic Energy Agency, nuclear materials, radioactive sources, nuclear security and safety, transportation, nuclear inspection, nuclear culture, intelligence cooperation, illegal trafficking and nuclear forensics, etc. The summits have also proposed 19 non-binding commitments or incentive measures. China has been quick to implement some of these measures. It has also pledged to cut the use of highly enriched uranium as much as possible, depending upon the viability of its economy and technology. And it has helped Ghana convert its highly enriched uranium-based research reactor to a low enriched uranium-based one, making it less vulnerable to the threat of nuclear terrorism. Besides, China is collaborating with the US to reconfigure Iran's heavy water reactor in Arak to make it more proliferation resistant. All these moves will help promote a "new type of major-country relationship" between China and US. The author is a professor at and associate dean of the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University. Virtual reality games, intelligent robots, cameras as thin as pieces of paper and many other creative products and ideas are vying for bragging rights and seed money at the 2016 Asia Beat Xiamen, a competition for international startups and innovations. Under the theme of "fundraising and market entry", the competition, held from March 17 through 19, in the coastal city in Fujian province comprises about 80 teams from 15 countries and regions across the Asia-Pacific region, including the United States, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Israel. The event was sponsored by the Xiamen development and reform commission, the science and technology bureau, the government of Jimei district and the administration of Xiamen Torch High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, and organized by Atwork, a local hackerspace operator. In the preliminary round on Thursday, 12 teams stood out from four groups. Chandashi from China won the final round on Friday, winning the $10,000 prize. Founded less than six months ago, it is a specialist in big data analysis and optimization of distribution channels. Collaborating with many app distributors including Apple, it accumulates hundreds of gigabytes of data a day, based on which it analyzes how users find and acquire apps to help app developers promote their products and ads efficiently. The international competition also includes forums and conferences, gathering about 100 investors and 50 speakers, as well as exhibitions with 120 booths. It attracted 3,000 attendees. The event covered a wide range of fields, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, e-banking, the Internet of Things and cross-border commerce. The organizers said the event serves as a platform to promote innovation and business opportunities in Asia. They said it will help competitors tap into Asia's emerging markets. As China's economy continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace, Xiamen has turned into a major hotspot for investment and entrepreneurship. "The Internet business is growing robustly in Xiamen," said Yao Jincheng, co-founder and CEO of Atwork. "Despite being of a smaller scale than megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai, the city has attracted domestic and overseas entrepreneurs thanks to its unique geographic advantage and entrepreneurial environment." A Belt and Road Startups Network was launched during the event, its members including entrepreneurship service agencies and hackerspace operators in countries and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The members in the alliance will cooperate in financing and holding promotional campaigns to reduce business risks for startups. Cities in Asia will host the annual Asia Beat campaign. The first was held in Taipei in 2014. zhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn China's Global Newspaper Sorry, the page you requested was not found. Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Chinadaily.com.cn, try visiting the Chinadaily home page Vietnam's seaside city Nha Trang is among the hot destinations for Chinese visitors.[Photo provided to China Daily] The number of Chinese visitors to Vietnam has risen by 65.9 percent year-on-year in the first three months of 2016, the country's General Statistics Office said on Friday. According to the statistics, 580,500 visitors from China arrived in Vietnam from January through March. According to a report posted on the GSO's website on Friday, Vietnam is expected to receive over 2.45 million visitors, up 19.9 percent year-on-year. In March, the country is forecast to receive 820,500 foreign visitors, down 1.6 percent compared to the previous month and up 28.3 percent year-on-year. During the past three months of this year, over 1.9 million international tourists traveled to Vietnam by air, up 16.8 percent year-on-year. The numbers of those traveling to Vietnam by road and by sea is set to reach 435,600 and 37,000, respectively. From January through March, Vietnam also expects to see an increases in foreign visitors from South Korea (408,100, up 30.2 percent), China's Taiwan (122,700, up 15.2 percent), Russia (108,800, up 13.5 percent) and the United States (164,700, up 14.3 percent) among others, the GSO says. Vietnam expects 8.5 million foreign tourists in 2016, up 6 percent year-on-year. The special "breast-feeding seat" is encircled by pink curtains on a bus in Pingxiang city, East China's Jiangxi province. [Photo/people.com.cn] Feel embarrassed of breast-feeding in front of others on a bus? More cities in China have started creating private spaces on public transport to help the mothers. Pingxiang city of East China's Jiangxi province has become the latest to adopt the idea to set up special seats for breast-feeding mothers on 10 buses on four routes, a plan which won applause from the majority of Internet users. The special "breast-feeding seats" are near the door and have pink curtains mothers can draw around them for privacy. Other passengers could open the curtain and take the seat when there are no breast-feeding mothers onboard. When mothers carrying babies get on these buses, drivers will remind them to take the special seats. A senior manager of the city's bus company said if there is a positive response more seats will be added. According to an online poll on Sina Weibo, the Twitter-like service in China, the response from most respondents has been positive. Some other cities had set up the special seats on buses in past years, such as Zhengzhou, capital city of Central China's Henan province, in August 2013 and Jinhua city of East China's Zhejiang province in September 2014. Passengers evacuate a hijacked EgyptAir plane at Larnaca airport in Cyprus on Tuesday.[Photo/Agencies] LARNACA, Cyprus/CAIRO - An EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus on Tuesday by a man with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt, who was arrested after giving himself up. The passengers and crew were unharmed. Eighty-one people, including 21 foreigners and 15 crew, were on board the Airbus 320, Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement. Conflicting theories emerged about the motives of the hijacker, an Egyptian. A senior Cypriot official said he seemed unstable and the incident did not appear related to terrorism. The Cypriot state broadcaster said he had demanded the release of women prisoners in Egypt. In the midst of the hijack, witnesses said he threw a letter on the apron at Cyprus' Larnaca airport, written in Arabic, and asked that it be delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife. After the aircraft landed at Larnaca, negotiations began and everyone on board was freed except three passengers and four crew, Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fethy said. Soon afterwards, Cypriot television footage showed several people leaving the plane via the stairs and another man climbing out of the cockpit window and running off. The hijacker then surrendered to authorities. Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said the hijacker had threatened to blow himself up and demanded that the aircraft be refueled and head to Istanbul. "It looks like he realized his demands would not be met, allowing the last two hostages, Britons, to flee the aircraft. He also tried to leave, running out. He was arrested," said Kasoulides. "The explosives on him were examined. They weren't explosives, but mobile phone covers." Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said the hijacker would be questioned to ascertain his motives. "At some moments he asked to meet with a representative of the European Union and at other points he asked to go to another airport but there was nothing specific," he said. LJUBLJANA - Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar and visiting Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir agreed on Tuesday that the EU and Turkey must make joint efforts to implement the agreement on stemming migration as efficiently and fast as possible. Cerar and Bozkir also called for boosting the relations between the EU and Turkey further, agreeing that open dialogue was the best possible way for mutual understanding and co-existence, the Slovenian prime minister's office said in a press release. With regard to visa liberalization, Bozkir said it is of major importance for Turkish citizens, adding that the Turkish government had already adopted all legislation required in April, thus meeting its part of the bargain. The EU leaders confirmed in the summit on March 18 that visa liberalization for Turkish citizens would be sped up by the end of June under the condition of Turkey's meeting all the requirements. Cerar also expressed Slovenia's readiness to continue supporting the process of Turkey's accession to the EU, under the condition that all accession criteria have been met. Before concluding his working visit to Slovenia on Thursday, Bozkir will meet Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec and Parliamentary Speaker Milan Brglez on Wednesday. Vice-Premier Liu Yandong has voiced hopes that universities in China and Israel will nurture high-end talents and boost business startups and entrepreneurship. She made the calls in Jerusalem on Tuesday when addressing the first China-Israel forum that gathered presidents of universities. Both nations have profound traditions in stressing culture and education, they have their own characteristics when it comes to their own higher dedication, and it is feasible to be complementary to each other and join hands to move forward, Liu said. Universities from both sides are hoped to learn from each other to play a leading role in serving the two-way relationship and boosting people-to-people friendship, she said. The universities are expected to be incubators of high-end talent and a locomotive of innovation and entrepreneurship, she said. Universities are hoped to project vision and become think tanks that map out blueprint for future, she added. Liu is in a three-stop visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from Friday to Thursday. There is "great potential" for China-Israel trade, said Vice-Premier Liu Yandong while meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Last year, the two-way trade volume was $11.4 billion, with a year-on-year growth rate of 5 percent. China's total investment in Israel reached $6 billion. Liu said the two nations helped each other through the wartime and nurtured deep friendship, which "made a sound basis" for the two-way relationship. Beijing hopes to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen political mutual trust, expand economic and trade cooperation and advance cultural exchanges, Liu said. Rivlin said his country hopes to further strengthen cooperation in fields such as science, technology, innovation, agriculture and culture, which serves common interests of both sides. Liu is in a three-stop visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from Friday to Thursday. High-level exchanges between China and the two Middle East countries have maintained a high frequency. In November last year, Vice-Premier Wang Yang paid a visit to both Palestine and Israel. In May, 2014, Liu paid a five-day official visit to Israel also. Chinese companies are seeking a new development pattern in the new economic environment toward "Green Companies". Ma Weihua, founder and vice chairman of CEC, says that companies, entrepreneurs, and the whole business industry will change dramatically in the next ten years impacted by the new technological revolution. Chinese leading entrepreneurs such as Liu Chuanzhi with Lenovo, Jack Ma with Alibaba, and Ma Weihua, former president of China Merchants Bank, are discussing a series of subjects about "green development", exploring to rejuvenate the industry with science and technology development in the upcoming China Green Companies Summit. Organized by China Entrepreneur Club, the entrepreneurs, more than three quarters of whom are founders and executives of famous Chinese companies, will talk over more than 20 topics involving supply-side reform, Internet and sharing economy, and entrepreneurship situations in the summit, which will be held in Jinan, east China's Shandong province, at the end of April. "We have brought up the theory of building green rules, green order, and green ecology' in the business community in China, because it's important for the companies to become green in all ways," said Liu Huadong, founder and vice president of China Entrepreneur Club. Established in 2006 by more than 30 leading entrepreneurs, CEC is a business organization and NGO, which has been promoting a sustainable development and of economy and socializing entrepreneurshipspirits. As a leading entrepreneur in China, Zhu Xinli, chairman of Huiyuan Juice Group, is inviting entrepreneurs around the world to attend the coming summit in his hometown in Shandong province. 'A prosperous and stable neighbor serves China's best interests' Myanmar's new president U Htin Kyaw and National League for Democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrive at parliament for the presidential inauguration ceremony in Naypyitaw on Wednesday. Stringer / REUTERS Ties between China and Myanmar will embrace an even brighter future after Myanmar's political transition, according to the Chinese ambassador to the Southeast Asian nation. Hong Liang said a stable and economically prosperous Myanmar also contributes to China's economic and security interests. "When our two countries established diplomatic ties, we decided to take the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which have become internationally recognized norms governing nation-to-nation relations, as a guide to our bilateral ties. We will continue to uphold these principles," the ambassador said. Hong made the remarks in an interview with China Daily in Yangon before U Htin Kyaw was sworn in as the country's new president on Wednesday. U Htin Kyaw, from the ruling National League for Democracy, won the presidential election on March 15 through a secret ballot held by a NLD-dominated parliament. There are high expectations that he and his party will push for domestic national reconciliation as well as boost economic and social development to improve people's livelihoods. The presidential inauguration ceremony was held in Naypyitaw, Myanmar's capital. The NLD, led by its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, swept to victory in elections in November. Since then, ways in which the NLD will lead Myanmar onto a better road to development and handle its relations with key international partners, including China, have been in the regional and global spotlight. Sharing a border of more than 2,000 kilometers, China and Myanmar have maintained good-neighborly ties for more than six decades. A new government in Myanmar is widely perceived by both countries as a good opportunity for them to re-engage and reconnect with each other. GENEVA -- China is now holding discussions with related countries and international organizations in order to deliver the committed humanitarian aids to the Syrian people as soon as possible, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday. Speaking on Wednesday's United Nations (UN) high-level meeting on Global Responsibility Sharing for Syrian Refugees, Fu Cong, deputy head of the Chinese Mission to the UN at Geneva, said that through various UN agencies, China has so far provided 685 million RMB ($106 million) of humanitarian aids to Syria and the neighboring countries. In addition, Fu said, while attending the G20 summit last November, Chinese President Xi Jinping also pledged 100 million dollars of humanitarian aid to various countries and international organizations. According to the Chinese diplomat, this includes 2 million dollars to agencies like UNHCR, WTO and WFP respectively, and 500,000 dollars to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Fu added that during the visit to the Middle East this year, President Xi also announced 230 million RMB ($36 million) of humanitarian assistance to Syria and other regional countries. Fu noted that just last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced in London that China will provide 10,000 tons of food assistance to help overcome the food shortages in Syria and the region. "The most urgent thing for the Syria refugees now is to provide them supports to protect their rights of survival, security and dignity. At the same time, the Syrian refugee problem should not be treated isolated, and the international community must seriously consider the root causes of the Syrian crisis," Fu noted. This satellite image shows the Yongshu Jiao of China's Nansha Islands. [Photo/Xinhua] Beijing and Hanoi have agreed to seek fundamental solutions to disputes over the South China Sea through dialogue, with their defense ministers concluding talks on Wednesday. The two countries have "both the wisdom and capability to control disputes and tackle the South China Sea issue properly", State Councilor and Defense Minister Chang Wanquan told reporters. He was speaking at a joint news conference in Pingxiang, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, after holding "candid" discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart, Phung Quang Thanh. The two held a third border meeting that started on Monday in Lang Son, Vietnam. Thanh said at the news conference that although Vietnam and China hold different positions on the South China Sea, "we both agreed to handle the issue through peaceful and friendly negotiations on the basis of international law, while abiding by the consensus reached by our leaders". Bilateral ties have been hampered in recent years, as the two countries both claim territory in the South China Sea. Before the border meeting, Chang met on Sunday in Hanoi with Thanh and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, who said Vietnam values cooperation with China. He added that military cooperation has played a major role in pushing forward relations between the two countries. Trong visited Beijing in April last year, and President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi in November, helping to improve bilateral relations. Chang said the two militaries have reached a consensus to increase high-level exchanges and boost personnel training, as well as expanding cooperation on military academic research, the defense sector and UN peacekeeping. Sharing a border of more than 1,450 kilometers, China and Vietnam started joint border patrols in 2012, and on Wednesday morning the two ministers witnessed patrols on both sides of the border. Chang said the aim of the latest border meeting is to implement the agreement reached by the two countries' leaders, and strengthen the political trust and pragmatic cooperation of both armies to contribute to peace and stability along the border. Major Wang Mingwen, head of the Chinese patrol squad, said the joint patrols help to avoid misunderstandings and conflict between the two armies in handling problems such as "incursions" by people living near the border to plant crops, or other illegal activities. By conducting the patrols, communication with the Vietnamese can be established to unify their countermeasures when dealing with similar problems, Wang said. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thang, head of the Vietnamese squad, said the joint patrols also help to strengthen friendship and trust between soldiers. Jia Duqiang, a researcher of Southeast Asia studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' National Institute of International Strategy, said the ministers' remarks show that the two countries will not let the South China Sea dispute affect overall relations. Jia said the experience and trust accumulated in previous border negotiations will be conducive to the eventual solution to the South China Sea dispute, which is the only remaining border dispute between the two countries. Wang Qingyun in Beijing contributed to this story. Contact the writers at wangxu@chinadaily.com.cn At the invitation of President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Prague to start his state visit on March 28. This is the first visit of China's head of state to the nation since the establishment of diplomatic relations 67 years ago. It's Xi's first visit to a Central-Eastern European country and to Europe in 2016, which is expected to open a new chapter for bilateral relations. The Czech Republic is an important country in Central-Eastern Europe and European Union, and a major country player under the "Belt and Road" initiative, which holds an important strategic position to push for the "16 + 1 cooperation" and China-EU relations. Xi had published a signed article, "Time to Renew and Energize China-Czech Ties" in the Pravo Daily on Saturday. He expressed support for future development of bilateral relations. President Xi and Czech leaders are expected to engage in sincere, in-depth exchange of views, promote the "Belt and Road"initiative, "16+1 cooperation", China-EU relations, international and regional issues of common concern. Both sides will sign many cooperation agreements. Bilateral relations would usher in a new chapter in history. "16 + 1 cooperation" and China-EU relations will gain new momentum. By Xu Xiujun, deputy director of International Politics and Ecomonics Department, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; cartoon drawing by Wang Dongjie Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Czech President Milos Zeman wave to the press before holding an informal meeting at the Lany chateau, the host's private residence, March 28, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] PRAGUE - China and the Czech Republic on Tuesday decided to establish strategic partnership during Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the country. President Xi Jinping arrived at Prague's international airport at about 2 pm local time (8 pm in China) on Monday for an historic three-day visit. It's the first time that a Chinese president has paid a state visit to the Czech Republic since the two countries established diplomatic ties 67 years ago. Xi's plane was escorted by two Czech fighter jets when it entered the country's airspace. In a written statement released shortly after Xi's arrival, the Chinese president said that through this visit, he hopes to boost political trust and promote pragmatic cooperation with the Czech Republic. During the visit, the top leaders of the two countries will hold talks and exchange views on issues including developing strategic connections in pushing forward China-proposed Belt and Road constructions, improving bilateral ties and enhancing China-Central and East European Countries cooperation, according to the statement. US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks about China and US-Japan-ROK trilateral relationship at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday. Chen Weihua/China Daily The meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama will be another important opportunity to advance cooperation and address differences. Ben Rhodes, US deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, made the comment on Tuesday before a scheduled meeting between Xi and Obama on Thursday on the margins of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. It will be Obama's only bilateral meeting during the summit that will be attended by more than 50 heads of state and government. Dan Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, described the meeting as a continuum of senior level engagement between the two countries. The two last met in Washington in September during Xi's state visit to the US. They then met on Nov 30 in Paris on the margins of the climate conference. The two presidents also had three phone calls since then. And they also are expected to meet on the margins of the G20 summit in China in September. "I think the high tempo of senior-level engagement with China is a recognition of the fact that this is where problems get solved and decisions get made," Kritenbrink said at a conference call on Tuesday previewing the Nuclear Security Summit to be held on Thursday and Friday. He said the engagement by the two leaders in Paris helped secure an ambitious climate agreement, and their phone call in February supported the reaching of the agreement on the UN Security Council resolution on the nuclear and missile tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kritenbrink said the high tempo of senior-level engagement has allowed the two nations to identify opportunities for cooperation where their interests align, saying, "I think bilateral cooperation with China right now is exceptionally broad and deep, on issues ranging from climate, to nuclear security to development, public health, Iran and Afghanistan." Such engagement also has allowed the two countries to address differences in candid and constructive ways, he said. "We don't paper over these differences; we don't hide them; we don't pull punches in addressing them," he said. US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed the message in a talk at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday on the trilateral relationship among the US, Japan and South Korea. that while the US worked to assure its allies and partners, it is also determined to build a cooperative relationship with China. While praising China's role in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Blinken said that as long as the DPRK does not stop and reverse its nuclear and missile programs, the US will have to take steps to assure its own security and that of its allies and partners. He was specifically talking about the consultation between the US and South Korea of a possible deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea against the DPRK nuclear and missile threat. China and Russia have both expressed serious concerns over the possible deployment of the THAAD system. "We believe China's legitimate security concerns must be taken into account, and a convincing explanation must be provided to China. I don't think it's too much to ask. It's a reasonable position," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Washington on Feb 25. It is believed that the X-band radar associated with the THAAD system has a radius that extends to the interior of China and Russia. Blinken insisted that the THAAD system is not directed against China and does not affect China strategically, but he said "we know China does not like it". The US is proposing to go through the technology and specifications with China, according to Blinken. "We would be prepared to explain to them exactly what the technology does and what it doesn't do," he said. "I hope China will take a step on that proposal, gain greater confidence that it's not directed against China," he said. Kenneth Lieberthal, senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, hopes that China will take that offer. "I hope if the Chinese side does take that offer, the US side is able to provide the array of information, and detailed information that specialists on the Chinese side will find satisfy their concerns,"Lieberthal said. "After all, this is diplomats articulating worries. But it takes technical people to understand whether the other side is providing credible assurance," he said. Lieberthal noted that there is an array of issues for Xi and Obama to talk about on Thursday. He emphasized the importance for the two big powers to work together to tackle global challenge like the nuclear non-proliferation regarding Iran and DPRK. Describing the tension in the South China Sea as a difficult issue, Lieberthal said all sides need to figure out how to reduce the tension, noting that there is a lot of gray area. "I think it's the responsibility of governments concerned to figure out how to reduce tension and reduce the possibility of an incident or accident that could inflame passions," he said, voicing his concern that everyone at this point is deeply suspicious of the motives and objectives of the other. Inside the US government, the voices and tones often differ. On Tuesday, Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the US is now confronted with simultaneous challenges in Russia, China, Iran, DPRK and violent extremism. Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman attend a press conference after their talks in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 29, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] PRAGUE - China and the Czech Republic on Tuesday forged strategic partnership, ushering bilateral ties into a new era of seeking more common interests and deeper cooperation. The upgrade of bilateral relations came as a result of the talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman in Prague during Xi's visit to the European country. NEW DEFINITION OF TIES During their talks, both presidents spoke highly of the current bilateral relations and reached broad consensus after in-depth discussion on bilateral ties, the relations between China and the European Union (EU) as well as the cooperation between China and the countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The two countries issued a joint statement on lifting their ties to a strategic partnership after the talks, in which the two sides agreed to continue making close high-level contacts as the exemplary for over-all relations, enhancing friendly cooperation between ministries, legislative bodies and local governments. The two sides decided to firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns in order to ensure the long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties. The new definition of the bilateral ties has pointed out "a clear political direction" for future development, said Xi when jointly meeting the press with Zeman after the talks. The establishment of the strategic partnership reflects the positive momentum of development of China-Czech ties, said Cui Hongjian, a senior research fellow on European studies at the China Institute of International Studies. "The upgrade is not only significant to both countries, but also conducive to the China-CEE cooperation and China-EU relations," he said. The two presidents also enjoyed close personal relationship. Recalling their five meetings in the past two years, Xi said he and Zeman have become "good friends, old friends". "A good personal rapport between leaders can have good impact on state-to-state ties," said Cui, adding that the good interaction between Xi and Zeman, to some extent, helped to make Xi choose the Czech Republic as the first CEE country to visit. WASHINGTON - An advisor to US President Barack Obama on Tuesday spoke highly of a nuclear security center recently opened in China, saying the United States is encouraged by China's leadership in the realm. Earlier this month, the Nuclear Security Center of Excellence, the largest nuclear security center in the Asia-Pacific region, which was financed by both governments, opened in Beijing. "We're really quite encouraged by the leadership that China is beginning to show in the nuclear security realm, not only in managing its own material but in creating a platform for cooperation regionally and internationally through the Center of Excellence that it's been carrying out," Laura Holgate, special assistant to Obama and a senior director at the National Security Council, said at a briefing in Washington ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit slated for Thursday and Friday. Calling the launch of the center a "milestone" in the history of US-China nuclear cooperation, Holgate said the United States is pleased with the role China is showing in terms of cooperating with other countries internationally on the nuclear security issue. The center, conceived by the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) and the US Department of Energy, has the capacity to train about 2,000 nuclear security staff from China and other Asia-Pacific nations each year. The center will provide a forum for bilateral and regional best practice exchanges, and serve as a venue for demonstrating advanced technologies related to nuclear security. "We hope to share that partnership and to see Chinese leadership in that realm increase even further," Holgate said. China and the United States agreed to establish the center at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in 2010. Under the agreement, the center, located in the Fangshan District, Beijing, is run and administered by China, while the United States provides nuclear-security equipment. UNITED NATIONS - China is contributing to the common good through its efforts to improve nuclear security both at home and abroad, a senior official from the International Association for Atomic Energy (IAEA) has said. China has taken effective steps to ensure the security of nuclear materials, including those at nuclear power plants and medical research centers, and to protect people and environment from being harmed by nuclear materials, Khammar Mrabit, director of the IAEA's Nuclear Security Office, said in a recent interview with Xinhua. The interview was conducted ahead of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit, which is scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., from Thursday to Friday. Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the meeting. Nuclear security refers to ensuring that peaceful uses of nuclear materials and technology are not diverted into the wrong hands, Mrabit said. "Nuclear security is a common good. It's good for everybody whether you have a nuclear power program or you don't," said Mrabit. "You have to protect your people and the environment from malicious acts and anything that would harm the public society and the environment." He said countries such as China that own nuclear power programs should bear special responsibilities on nuclear security, while calling on all countries to use radioactive sources at a minimum level, even for medical purposes. "(Ensuring the) security of such materials and facilities is the responsibility of China because this is the responsibility of each country when you have such materials and such facilities," he said. "That nuclear power program, those installations, have to be protected from falling, of course, into the wrong hands, meaning criminals and terrorists." In this regard, Mrabit said that China is a very important partner of the IAEA and enjoys sound cooperation with the international nuclear watchdog. He described China's recently completed Nuclear Security Center of Excellence as "a big achievement." "(The center) would not only improve nuclear security but would sustain nuclear security infrastructure in China and certainly would contribute... to improving nuclear security in the region," he said. The center, which is the largest in the Asia-Pacific region, opened in Beijing, the Chinese capital, on March 18, with the aim to boost nuclear security cooperation in the region and the world. The IAEA supports its member states, including China, to reach nuclear security standards, in some cases providing support as requested, and in other cases providing more hands-on assistance. For example, China has requested that the IAEA visit China to conduct a peer-review of its national nuclear program and facilities, the official said, adding that the IAEA can provide a higher-level of support to other countries in need. "There are countries where we need more assistance, where we have what we call integrated logistical support plans, where we identify all that is needed to help them improve their nuclear security infrastructure," Mrabit said. But he did not disclose the names of these countries. Mrabit, a national from Morocco, has a PhD in nuclear physics and has been working for the IAEA since 1986. The IAEA is the world's center for cooperation in the nuclear field and a part of the United Nations family. It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and currently has 168 member states. Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Strahov Library in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 30, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] PRAGUE -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday concluded a historic three-day state visit to the Czech Republic and left for Washington to attend a Nuclear Security Summit. During his first state visit to the European country, Xi held talks with his Czech counterpart, Milos Zeman, and met respectively with parliament leaders Milan Stech and Jan Hamacek, and with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. The two sides had in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties, China-EU relations, cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, and international and regional issues of common concern, and reached broad consensus. The two countries issued a joint statement to forge a strategic partnership and inked a host of intergovernmental agreements in such fields as e-commerce, investment, science and technology, tourism, culture, and aviation to further promote comprehensive cooperation. Xi and Zeman attended the China-Czech Economic Roundtable and then visited the Strahov Library on Wednesday. Xi arrived in the Czech Republic on Monday for a state visit, the first by a Chinese president in 67 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. It is also Xi's first trip to the CEE region since he assumed presidency in 2013 and his first trip to Europe this year. The Chinese president is on route to Washington for the fourth Nuclear Security Summit to be held from Thursday to Friday. Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Czech President Milos Zeman (right) attend the China-Czech Economic Roundtable in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 30, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of 15 documents on cooperation between Chinese and Czech companies on Wednesday, the final day of his visit to the European country. The agreements cover multiple industries including automobiles, nuclear energy, finance, civil aviation and infrastructure construction. They involve major Chinese companies such as Sinohydro Group, SAIC Motor, China Eastern Airlines and China General Nuclear Power Corp. In a speech delivered during a round-table meeting with businesspeople and investors on Wednesday, Xi called for closer political and business ties with the Czech Republic. Quoting a saying by Chinese philosopher Mencius that "genuine friends know each other's hearts and minds", Xi said, "Through years of communication, our hearts have become closer." The two countries' industries have much to complement each other, providing great potential for cooperation, Xi said, adding that the Czech Republic has advantages in sectors such as auto-making and infrastructure construction. Czech President Milos Zeman said at the meeting that Chinese investment in his country may reach 95 billion crowns ($3.9 billion) this year. Gao Hucheng, China's minister of commerce, said more than 200 Chinese businesspeople are accompanying Xi during the visit for talks with their Czech partners. They have reached deals worth more than 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion), covering finance, machinery, e-commerce and tourism. In one of the deals, China Eastern Airlines has agreed to launch direct flights between Shanghai and Prague. China has been the Czech Republic's largest trading partner outside the European Union for years, and the Czech Republic is China's second-largest trading partner, after Poland, in Central and Eastern Europe. At the end of last year, China's investment in the country surged to $1.6 billion, up from $200 million in 2013. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea launches a long range rocket in this file still image taken from KRT video footage, released by Yonhap on February 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Emphasis expected to lie on overcoming suspicion on the Korean Peninsula issue President Xi Jinping's upcoming meeting with US President Barack Obama will stress the crucial importance of overcoming suspicion regarding the Korean Peninsula issue that is hampering progress, experts have said. "Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are expected to last for a long time, and the stance of the US is critical to solving the issue," said Tao Wenzhao, a US studies researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Washington's long-standing refusal to discuss a peace treaty with Pyongyang is believed to be a major reason behind Pyongyang's nuclear test earlier this year. The meeting between Xi and Obama is scheduled for Thursday on the sidelines of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. It will be Obama's only bilateral meeting during the summit, which will be attended by more than 50 heads of state and government. "Since the start of this century, Chinese and US heads of state have traditionally met on the sidelines of every international conference they attend," Tao said. The two presidents met in Washington in September during Xi's state visit. They met again in Paris on Nov 30 on the sidelines of the climate conference, and they have since had three phone conversations. In September, they are expected to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China. Tao said the South China Sea issue will be high on the agenda, since both countries are concerned over the security situation. "In addition, Beijing still hopes to reach an agreement on a China-US bilateral investment treaty within Obama's term," he said. Kenneth Lieberthal, senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, described the tension in the South China Sea as a difficult issue. He said all sides must figure out how to reduce the tension. Xi and Obama are also expected to talk about the new Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen, head of Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, who will take office on May 20 and "will definitely change the status quo across the Straits; the only uncertain thing is how much," Tao said. US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the US proposes discussing with China its possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in the Republic of Korea in response to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear and missile threat. China and Russia have both expressed concerns about a possible THAAD deployment. Contact the writer at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn (Photo : Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Samsung has introduced its mobile payments service 'Samsung Pay' to China. Advertisement Not lagging behind rival tech company Apple, Samsung has also launched Samsung Pay, a convenient mobile payments service, in the worlds largest smartphone market. On Monday, Samsung announced that the Samsung Pay service is now available in China. This means that Apple as well as Chinas own Alipay and WeChat have another comeptitor in the mobile payments market. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "The reception of Samsung Pay since its launch has been extremely positive, ," Samsung Pays global chief Injong Rhee explains, and the service has already seen tremendous success in terms of availability and adoption by consumers. Apple expects China to become its largest mobile payments market, and Korean giant Samsung also predicts the same. Samsung Pay comes to China just a little more than a month after Apple Pay did. Samsung also made a partnership with China UnionPay the same company that Apple made a partnership with to launch in China so that its payment service can enter the country. Samsung Pay does not need to use Near Field Communications (NFC) for it to work. Instead, Samsung has designed it to work with any magnetic strip card reader. Users will be able to connect up to 10 UnionPay debit and credit cards to their devices, in order to use the feature. Several companies that are participating in the first run of the service include China Construction Bank, ICBC, as well as China Merchants Bank, among others. Regarding the devices, only the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are currently supported by the Samsung Pay service. More devices are expected to be included in the list in the future. Advertisement TagsSamsung, Samsung Pay, apple, apple pay, china (Photo : Reuters) An upgraded and more powerful version of the PlayStation 4 console could hit the market soon. Advertisement Sony first released the PlayStation 4 in November 2013 and since then the console had enjoyed massive success. Almost three years after its first release, rumors are brewing that Sony is prepping for the release of an upgraded and highly powerful version of the PlayStation 4 console. Sony is yet to officially admit that a new PlayStation 4 model is really in development. However, several evidence and leaks have lead many tech analysts to believe that Sony have been working under the radar in order to keep the project as secret as possible. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement According to The Wall Street Journal, Sony might even release the upgraded PlayStation 4 console ahead of its highly anticipated virtual reality headset, the PlayStation VR. Sources confirmed to the WSJ that Sony wants to release a new and improved console, but will not replace the PlayStation 4 as its flagship device on the platform. The upcoming console is expected to be called PlayStation 4.5 or PlayStation 4K and it might hit the shelves this fall. According to Wired, the rumored upgraded PlayStation 4 console is capable of playing 4K movies and contents. Several tech analysts agree that the current generation PlayStation console can easily handle 4K gaming or even virtual reality environments. However, as game developers continue to push the boundaries of gaming with titles such as the remastered version of "Gears of War: Ultimate Edition," current-gen consoles are not optimized to handle such high-end titles. Moreover, experts agree that an upgraded PlayStation 4 means that it will be future-proofed for more advanced virtual reality contents. It is true that the current generation PlayStation 4 can pretty much handle the computing and graphical demands of virtual reality, but as the platform continues to grow exponentially by the day, it will not take long until the PlayStation 4 will be outdated in terms of virtual reality. Advertisement Tagssony, playstation, Sony PlayStation, playstation 4, sony playstation 4, PS4, upgraded PlayStation 4, Sony PS4 (Photo : Jason Lee - Pool/Getty Images) In advancing its defense, China develops the world's longest-range missile. Advertisement China is currently within the final phase of testing the worlds longest range missile, which is believed to enter the service sometime this year. The DF-41, hailed as the worlds longest-range intercontinental ballistic missile, is still undergoing some testing before it finally rolls out. It has an operational range of up to 14,500 kilometers and will be first deployed to the Peoples Liberation Armys new "Rocket Force based in Xinyang, Henan province. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The report said that with the DF-41, China will be able to strike the United States within half an hour if the missile flies through the North Pole, or slightly longer than that if the missile cruises through the Pacific. However, defense analysts say it remains unclear if Chinas longest-range missile will be able to penetrate the multilayered U.S. missile defense system situated in the Asia-Pacific. China has tested the DF-41 for at least five times since 2014. It is also reported to be tested at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province zone last summer. Reports say that the DF-41 had been tested in various mobile launchers. On December 5, Chinese strategic weapons developers achieved a milestone by testing the DF-41 in railway-mounted mobile launchers, as well as road-based mobile launchers. In addition to these developments, the DF-41 could see improvements in its strike rate within a few years should China complete its locally-made BeiDou navigation satellites, said Kanwa Asian Defence chief editor Andrei Chang. China will also be able to operate independently away from the U.S. global positioning system (GPS). However, he added that the U.S. could develop technology capable of jamming BeiDous satellite signals. In other missile defense news, the U.S. hopes to reach an agreement with China regarding a possible deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. This step, according to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, is a necessary measure that the U.S. wants to take to protect both itself and its allied nations from North Koreas missiles. Blinken added that as long as North Korea continues in their nuclear weapons development and testing, the U.S. will have to take necessary steps in ensuring its safety and that of its allies. U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to talk about North Koreas nuclear weapons program. Talks between the U.S. and South Korea began after North Korea fired a long-range missile in February. Advertisement TagsDF-41, long-range missile, People's Liberation Army, THAAD, Beidou navigation system (Photo : Photo by Adrian Bradshaw-Pool/Getty Images) Advertisement China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will collaborate in establishing a special law enforcement college as part of a concerted strategy to combat cross border crime. The proposed China ASEAN College will be funded by the Ministry of Public Security and will be located within the Yunnan Police Officer Academy, reported the China Daily. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Security experts have noted that terror-related activities - the manufacture and trafficking of drugs, human trafficking, firearms smuggling, illegal immigration, cybercrime and telecom fraud - have become more prevalent and complex over the past years. The establishment of the China-ASEAN Law Enforcement College, experts say, therefore is timely in light of recent developments at the peace and security front which now pose a serious threat to regional stability and security. "It's more than necessary to set up such a college to strengthen law enforcement cooperation between China and ASEAN countries to combat cross-border crimes," noted a senior official at the ministry's International Cooperation Bureau who refused to be identified. "We need to maintain regional security and promote economic prosperity," he added. Aside from setting up the college, China and ASEAN will work on enhancing communication linkages, conduct regular visits and exchanges between teachers and students, share practical experiences and carry out joint research on relevant cases. The Ministry of Public Security plans to train at least 2,000 police officers from its partner ASEAN countries to help improve their tactics and ability to fight cross border crime. Seng Phally, president of the Police Academy of Cambodia said that the China-ASEAN Law Enforcement College will help sharpen the focus of their country's law enforcement agencies. "Such a college will provide targeted training programs to our police officers, then help them improve their evidence collection techniques and their attack capabilities to cope with transnational crimes," Phally said. For his part, Azizan Bin Abu Taat, commandant of the Malaysia Royal Police College, said the initiative will help strengthen efforts to combat terrorism in the region. "Terror attacks have become more complex and devastating and the terrorists will plan to stage attacks anywhere in the world where they can attract people's attention," he pointed out. Once established, the China-ASEAN Law Enforcement College will demonstrate the region's strong desire to address the growing threat of terrorism and cross border crime. Advertisement Tagschina, ASEAN, crime, terrorism, law enforcement (Photo : Xinhua/Sovannara via Getty Images) PHNOM PENH, Jan. 8, 2016-- Over a dozen of South Korean citizens hold a banner demanding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to stop nuclear test at the office of Korean Association of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The US is hoping that Beijing will accept its offer of a technical briefing on THAAD deployment to allay its fears that the missile system can be used against the mainland. Advertisement A United States top-level diplomat has expressed hopes that Beijing will accept Washington's offer of a technical briefing about the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), which the US wants to deploy in South Korea. Anthony Blinken, US Deputy Secretary of State, said US officials will explain to China that the missile system is necessary for the protection of US and its Southeast Asian allies against North Korean nuclear attacks. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Aside from this, Blinken said Washington will also discuss the technical aspect of the THAAD missile system to Beijing in order to allay its fears that the weapon may be used to target Beijing. Chinese opposition "We realise China may not believe us and also proposed to go through the technology and specifications with them ... and prepared to explain what the technology does and what it doesn't do and hopefully they will take us up on that proposal," Blinken told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. China has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the planned US deployment of THAAD in South Korea saying it is a threat to Beijing's national security and will jeopardize its key security concerns in the Korean Peninsula. Blinken's statements were issued a day before the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington to attend the fourth and final nuclear summit with North Korea's nuclear programme high on the list of the agenda. In response to Blinken's calls, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei has noted that the THAAD deployment is not "a simple technical issue, but it is a strategic one related to peace and stability in Northeast Asia." US-South Korea talks US and South Korea have begun talks on the possible deployment of THAAD following North Korea's latest nuclear bomb test on January 6 and the launch of a long-range rocket on February 7. Although Beijing fully supported the UN-backed sanctions against Pyongyang for its belligerent actions in the Korean Peninsula, China has vehemently opposed the THAAD deployment saying it could be used to target Beijing. Reports said Pyongyang has test-fired a short-range missile last week as its retaliation for the harsh sanctions imposed on the isolated state. Trilateral talks US President Barack Obama is set to hold talks with South Korean president Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this Thursday on Pyongyang's nuclear programme. The trilateral talks will be held ahead of a meeting between President Obama and President Xi Jinping later that day. Blinken said the THAAD deployment was a necessary measure until North Korea has tamed its aggression and become open to six-party talks again. "None of these steps are directed against China, but we have also been very clear that as long as this persists ... we will have to take steps," he said. Advertisement TagsTHAAD, Anthony Blinken, Korean peninsula, Southeast Asian allies, missile system, North Korean missile tests, Chinese opposition, Washington, Beijing, Seoul, security concerns (Photo : MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/Getty Images) Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) shakes hand with Czech President Milos Zeman on March 29, 2016, in Prague. China and the Czech Republic have signed a strategic partnership agreement in a bid to boost economic ties and push for more investment. Advertisement Chinese President Xi Jinping and Czech Republic President Milos Zeman have signed multiple cooperation agreements, one of which is aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership between both nations by boosting economic ties and increasing investment. Zeman is known for advocating for stronger ties with China and Russia more than his partners in NATO and the European Union (EU) since assuming the presidency in 2013 Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Experts say relations between EU and Beijing remain shaky over disputes on human rights violations. Military Parade While the Czech Republic respects the EU-China volatile relations, Zeman has initiated efforts to build closer ties with Beijing by attending China's V-Day military parade in September last year - the only Western leader to do so. President Xi was given a lavish red carpet welcome to the Czech Republic; marking the first visit of a Chinese leader after 67 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Czech officials prepared a special welcome for Xi, including a dinner at the presidential residence and a 21 gun salute in a ceremony held at the historic Prague Castle. Partnership agreement Many say the courtesies accorded to President Xi by Czech officials were so special and are not usually given to other visitors. With the partnership agreement, the Czech Republic has become one of the 15 European countries that has the same ties with Beijing. "I would like the Czech Republic to become ... an entry gate for the People's Republic of China to the European Union," Zeman said at the welcome dinner for Xi. Advertisement TagsChinese President Xi jinping, Czech President Milos Zeman, strategic partnership, china, European Union, partnership agreement, protesters, Tibet, Taiwan (Photo : Xiaomi) The Mi Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker by Xiaomi Advertisement Chinese tech giant Xiaomi Inc. is not only known for launching high-end smartphones, but also a wide range of smart products such as smart TVs, smart scales, air and water purifiers, blood pressure monitors and smart appliances, among many other things. Recently, the Chinese company officially unveiled its first affordable high-end smart rice cooker, called the Mi Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker, at a launch event that took place in Beijing. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement As part of Xiaomi's newest "Mi Ecosystem" sub-brand, the smart rice cooker is expected to go on sale via the company's Mi.com website on Apr. 6, with a price tag of about US$150. It is worth noting that the price is still very inexpensive when compared to Japanese brands such as Toshiba. In terms of the features, the Mi Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker can connect to a smartphone via the Mi Home app. Would-be owners will be able to use their smartphones to scan the barcodes on around 200 different kinds of rice packaging, so that the rice cooker will automatically know how to cook it. Engadget reported that Xiaomi's rice cooker "uses 1.2 atm to push the temperature up to 105 degrees Celsius or 221 degrees Fahrenheit". The Mi Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker is the first product under the Mi Ecosystem brand, which is also known as "Mijia" in Chinese, meaning "Mi Home". The company has launched the new brand in order to differentiate its core products and businesses, such as its smartphones and Mi TVs, from its ecosystem partners. Xiaomi has invested in 55 companies so far; among them are Zimi and Huami. To date, Zimi has sold over 46.9 million power bank units, while Huami was able to sell over 18.5 million fitness bands, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Advertisement TagsXiaomi News, Xiaomi Smart Rice Cooker March 2016, Xiaomi Inc., Xiaomi Mi Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker, Xiaomi Mi Ecosystem Sub-Brand Mijia China The American Civil Liberties Union and LGBT activist groups filed a federal lawsuit against North Carolina, challenging the state over a recently-passed law which states that people can only use bathrooms in conformity with the sex listed on their birth certificates. The law, signed last week by Governor Pat McCrory, says that people cannot use bathrooms of the other sex and makes no exception for transgenders. The law also prohibits extending similar protections in public places across the state's different counties and cities. The suit was filed together by ACLU, Equality North Carolina, and Lambda Legal at a district court in the state. "We're challenging this extreme and discriminatory measure in order to ensure that everyone who lives in and visits North Carolina is protected under the law," Chris Brook, ACLU NC legal director, said in a statement. "This cruel, insulting, and unconstitutional law is an attack on fairness in employment, education, and local governance that encourages discrimination against thousands of LGBT people who call North Carolina home, and particularly targets transgender men and women. HB 2 aims to override local school board policies, local public accommodations laws, and more," Brook continued. McCrory's office issued a statement in response to the opposition to the law: "To counter a coordinated national effort to mislead the public, intimidate our business community and slander our great state, the governor will continue to set the record straight on a common sense resolution to local government overreach that imposed new regulations on businesses that intruded into the personal lives of our citizens. The non-discrimination policies in place today in cities like Raleigh, Greensboro and Asheville and in every business in North Carolina are the same as they were last month and last year." Earlier this year, City Council of Charlotte has passed a controversial ordinance that expanded the anti-discrimination laws to include protections over sexual identities. It was the first time the law would have allowed transgenders to use either men's or a woman's restrooms in the state, which was considered controversial by several lawmakers. The new "Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act," which reversed the earlier ordinance over privacy concerns was passed with a wide margin in both the houses, before being signed by the governor. "While they've accused the state of disrespecting local control, the irony is far-left groups like the national ACLU, their out-of-state lawyers and Attorney General Roy Cooper want to use North Carolina as a pawn in their extreme agenda to force women and young girls to welcome grown men into their bathrooms and locker rooms nationwide," Senate president Phil Berger and House leader Tim Moore said in a joint statement. "This lawsuit takes this debate out of the hands of voters and instead attempts to argue with a straight face that there is a previously undiscovered 'right' in the U.S. Constitution for men to use women's bathrooms and locker rooms - but we are confident the court will find the General Assembly acted properly in accordance with existing state and federal law." As the cost of living skyrockets in Silicon Valley, veteran middle school teacher Rick Schertle relies on the teachers union to advocate for the salary and benefits needed for his family of four to get by in San Jose. So Schertle, along with 325,000 teachers in California and millions of public employees across the country, let out a sigh of relief after the US Supreme Court deadlocked today, allowing unions to continue to levy bargaining power by charging non-members. The legal challenge to the status quo came from teachers with Christian Educators Association International (CEAI), a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Schertle identifies as an evangelical himself, but didnt share the plaintiffs views on the union. We get worn down just trying to fight for the basics. If collective bargaining were taken away or weakened, I dont know where wed go, said Schertle, who pays $3,500 a year out-of-pocket for medical costs not covered by the states insurance plan. In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, several teachers belonging to CEAI argued that requiring non-members to pay to cover unions collective bargaining efforts violates the First Amendment. The Christian group disagrees with the statewide unions policies on social issues; they believe that even if union funding doesnt go toward political activity, it represents a form of compelled speech, which violates CEAI members freedom of speech and association. While employers cant force a teacher to become a member, teachers unions in California and 20 other states charge non-members agency fees or fair share fees ... 1 In a landmark ruling last week, a Malaysian court upheld the rights of a Christian to convert from Islam. The judgment establishes a precedent in a country where religious conversions, particularly from Islam to Christianity, have been steeped in controversy. The verdict reaffirms the right of freedom of religion, guaranteed under Article 11 of Malaysias constitution. Rooney Rebit, the plaintiff, argued that his belief in Jesus was a fundamental human right, and the High Court in Kuching, Sarawak state, agreed. The judge, Yew Ken Jie, said, He is free to exercise his right of freedom to religion, and he chose Christianity. Rebit was born into a Christian family in 1975, but his parents converted to Islam when he was eight years old. His Muslim name was Azmi Mohamad Azam Shah. In 1999, Rebit embraced Christianity and was baptized. In her decision, Yew ruled that since Rebit was underage when he became a Muslim, he could not be considered an officially professed Muslim. But ... 1 A growing number of Americans believe religious liberty is on the decline and that Christians face growing intolerance in the United States. They also say American Christians complain too much. In agreement: two out of five evangelicals, both when measured by beliefs and by self-identity. Those are among the findings of a new study of views about religious liberty from LifeWay Research. Researchers surveyed 1,000 Americans in September 2013 and September 2015 and then compared the results. Two-thirds (63%) say Christians face increasing intolerance, up from half (50%) in 2013. A similar number (60%) say religious liberty is on the decline, up from just over half (54%) in 2013. Meanwhile, 43 percent say American Christians complain too much about how they are treated, up from 34 percent in 2013. This includes 41 percent of self-identified evangelicals, 38 percent of Americans with evangelical beliefs, and 36 percent of weekly worshipers. More Americans worry the US has a hostile environment ... 1 home World Abducted priest's fate still unknown despite unconfirmed ISIS crucifixion reports A priest was abducted in Yemen early this month and it was reported by numerous media outlets that he was crucified by the Islamic State terror group on Good Friday. However, there has been no indication that this is the case. A report by the Catholic News Agency says that there has been no confirmation or information regarding the situation of Rev. Thomas Uzhunnali. Paul Hinder, the bishop for the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, which includes the UAE, Oman and Yemen, told the Catholic news portal that there are "strong indications that Fr. Tom is still alive in the hands of the kidnappers." However, to protect the life of the abducted priest, he could provide no other details. On Monday, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, Austria made a statement that the IS terrorists had gone on with their threats. This, however, was based on erroneous information. "Cardinal Schonborn has already corrected his statement which he had made on the basis of the wrong statement of Archbishop Moras in Bangalore," Hinder said. "Certain media in India are too nervous and curious and not aware that they are playing with the life of Fr. Tom." In a statement posted on Agenzia Info Salesiana, the spokesman for Salesian Bangalore province has denied responsibility for any misleading information. "We reiterate that till date no further information has come to us from credible and authoritative sources regarding the whereabouts or wellbeing of Fr Tom," said Father Mathew Valarkot. "Therefore we earnestly appeal to all concerned to desist from forwarding all such unsolicited and misleading messages and spreading false rumors." Uzhunnali, who is from the Salesian Bangalore province, was in a church-run elderly home in Aden, Yemen when unidentified militants stormed in and started killing people. The event that took place on March 4 was recounted by Sister Sally, a survivor of the attack, to Sister Rio. The account, handwritten by Sister Adriana, says: "A neighbor saw them put Father Tom in their car. They did not find any trace of Father anywhere." Four nuns and 12 others were killed during the attack. home Faith Contradictions in the Bible? Christian apologist offers advice on how to handle apparent inconsistencies in scripture One of the biggest criticisms of the authority of the Bible from skeptics over the years is that the Holy Scriptures appear to contain a number of apparent contradictions. That has confused many readers of the Bible over the years, and has even been used by atheists to rebuke the credibility of the Scriptures. However, Christian apologist Michael Brown recently addressed the issue, and offered some advice about how he handles apparent contradictions in different parts of the Bible. In the latest episode of the radio show "The Line of Fire," Messianic Jewish apologist and host Michael Brown said Christians must acknowledge that contradictions do exist in the Bible. He explained that contradictions could be the result of textual issues or could be part of an overall harmony, The Christian Post reports. "First thing, don't stick your head in the sand as if they don't exist," Brown says in the episode titled "How Do We Explain Bible Contradictions?" "Second thing, don't pull your hair out as if it's the end of the world," the Christian apologist adds. There could have been an error in the manuscript wherein a wrong number is being repeated. Some manuscripts contain footnotes saying a certain part is not included in the original text. The contradictions disappear easily when older manuscripts are found, providing confirmation of the original content, the report relays. Sometimes, the details cannot be directly reconciled with each other, but all the other accounts present the same overall picture. Brown cites the example of an eyewitness account in an accident where all the witnesses are located in different places and see the incident from different angles. However, the overall picture is basically the same, so there is still harmony in the overall accounts even if there are slightly differing descriptions given by each witness. Other issues can be resolved simply by rounding off numbers, especially in the number of days stipulated in the Bible verses. Brown says this is an issue of when counting started, when it stopped, and if those two were included in the total number. As for the minor contradictions, Brown says he simply lives with them. With enough information, he says the contradictions can be resolved someday, but for now, he completely trusts in the Holy Scripture because of his faith. This confidence in the reliability of the Bible is also backed up by the many years he spent studying the Bible. Michael Brown is the president of the FIRE School of Ministry. He also hosts the radio talk show "The Line of Fire." home World Franklin Graham on Pakistan terror attacks: Every knee will bow to Jesus, not to Islam Rev. Franklin Graham has spoken out against the Islamic terrorists responsible for the Lahore attacks which left 72 people dead on Easter Sunday. The Taliban offshoot Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has taken responsibility of the Lahore attacks, saying they intentionally carried out the suicide bombing to target Christians celebrating Easter Sunday. In a Facebook message, Rev. Franklin Graham told the terrorists that "every knee" will bow to Jesus and not to Islam. "Muslims want Shariah law. They want the whole world to bow to Islam that won't happen," said Graham in his Facebook post. "The Word of God tells us that one day 'at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father' (Philippians 2:10-11). I serve a risen Savior." Graham also said those who die trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are welcomed into God's presence and will live there forever. The grave will not be able to withhold Christians who believe in Jesus, he added. Meanwhile, Pakistan initially arrested more than 5,000 suspected terrorists in the wake of the deadly Lahore attacks. After interrogation most were released, but more than 200 have remained in custody, according to the Independent. Provincial minister Rana Sanaullah confirmed that 216 have been detained pending further investigations. The government is set to authorize the paramilitary force called the Rangers to conduct raids and interrogate suspected terrorists in the Punjab state, the report details. Open Doors USA and other persecution watchdog organizations said the Lahore attack is only one example of the increasing persecution of Christians around the globe. Open Doors USA president and CEO David Curry released a statement conveying their disappointment in the Western world's tendency to respond only when attacks are carried out in the West. Curry said the West should also be concerned over the killings in Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and other parts of the world because every person's life is precious. Along this line, he challenged the U.S. and other Western nations to stand up and display strong leadership to counter religious persecution. home Entertainment 'God's Club' star Stephen Baldwin to start Bible study for lost millenials in NYC "God's Club" star Stephen Baldwin is linking up with a church in New York City and will begin a Bible study for young people in the city who are "lost or depressed." During the promotion of the DVD for the movie "God's Club," Stephen Baldwin announced his plan to minister to the lost millenials in NYC through Bible studies. In a conversation with The Christian Post, the actor conveyed his desire to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the young people in the city. Baldwin recalled how he visited churches that focus on NYC youth but still felt a void in his heart. Although the hip churches are instrumental in the practical teaching of the Bible, he said he wants to reveal the whole truth to the millenials, including Jesus Christ's message of repentance and forgiveness. "I just found in my heart that what young people are seeking more than ever is to be challenged with an authentic encounter and experience with truth," Baldwin told the Post. "That's what I believe young people are looking for." The "God's Club" star also explained that Christians have to go through both good and bad times. God allows difficult trials so that people can learn important lessons, said Baldwin, and it is only through these difficult challenges that one can truly grasp the true message of the gospel and understand that only God can help them through the bad times. "God's Club" is Baldwin's 10th faith-based movie. The film focuses on the issue of religion and the right to establish Christian clubs in school. The story revolves around his character Michael Evans, a public high school teacher who has some difficulty reviving a Bible Club at school. In the film, Evan decides to re-launch the Bible Club, his late-wife's brainchild, after she dies. However, some parents of the students oppose the plan, fearing that their children will be indoctrinated. His decision to stick with the plan eventually affects his career, his relationship with his daughter, and even his faith. "God's Club" starring Stephen Baldwin was released on DVD on Mar. 1. The actor is currently working on a new film titled "Youth Group." home Entertainment 'God's Not Dead 2' star Melissa Joan Hart speaks out on faith issues in movie "God's Not Dead 2" lead star Melissa Joan Hart has talked about faith issues in the movie and said Christian persecution at present has reached a whole new level. In "God's Not Dead 2," Melissa Joan Hart plays high school history teacher, Grace Wesley, who gets into trouble after answering a student's question by bringing up Jesus' teachings. The school demands an apology from her for violating the policy of the separation of church and state, but she refuses to do so, prompting the students' parents to sue her in a landmark case that seeks to disprove Christ's existence, according to Chicago Sun-Times. The "God's Not Dead 2" actress revealed that she received a lot of backlash for popularizing magic and witchcraft in her longtime role as a witch on the television show "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch." Now that she is playing the role of a persecuted Christian woman, people are still criticizing her, Hart revealed. While making the movie, Hart said she was made aware of the stark contrast between the situation of Christians then and now. Before, Christians were part of the biggest religious movement. But now, she has observed that Christianity has become a minority and is now the one being ignored or stamped upon. However, Hart chooses to remain committed to Christianity, and said she felt playing the lead role in "God's Not Dead 2" was a calling. "Today, there are a lot of Christians being persecuted for their faith," said Hart. "Far beyond the freedoms this country was founded on." In addition, Hart talked about the different segments of Christianity, including Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Evangelical. The actress acknowledged that each group has a different interpretation of faith, but she is hoping that "God's Not Dead 2" will help them arrive at a more respectful discussion on the role of religion in present society. "God's Not Dead 2," which stars Melissa Joan Hart, will premiere in theaters on Apr. 1. home Life Joel Osteen says he's not cheating people by avoiding hell & repentance in his preaching Joel Osteen, the pastor of a megachurch in Houston, Texas, does not feel that he's cheating people by not talking about hell and repentance in church. "No, I really don't [feel that], because it's a different approach," he said during an interview in the "Sunday Morning" show on CBN News. He explained the people feel guilty enough already, and he finds that uplifting people rather than bringing them down is the better thing to do. "You know, it's not hellfire and brimstone," he said. "But I say most people are beaten down enough by life. They already feel guilty enough. They're not doing what they should, raising their kids we can all find reasons." Osteen has a more positive approach to preaching the Gospel, and he wants people to go to his church in Lakewood -- the largest in the U.S. with about 40,000 members -- where they can be encouraged to move forward while accepting that they are not perfect. "So I want them to come to Lakewood or our meetings and be lifted up, to say, 'You know what? I may not be perfect, but I'm moving forward. I'm doing better.' And I think that motivates you to do better," he explained. He cited his father, the late pastor John Osteen, as an example, saying that from having been very poor and having had absolutely nothing, he stepped up and rose higher. He said, "And so my whole thing is, you don't have to stay there. You gotta believe that you can rise higher." Because of his positive approach, CBN News said that he has been branded by some as more of motivational speaker rather than a preacher. Previously, he has been criticized for sharing a "cotton candy" message," a "watered down" version of the Gospel. However, Hawaii News Now reported in February that Osteen's message is that God is a good God, and even if one makes mistakes, He forgives and they can move forward to where they want to be. He told the crowd at an event in Hawaii that rather than pushing people down as what religion has done -- as "they've been shown a God that you can't measure up to" -- he wants to present God as someone who smiles upon and has great plans for them. And being one of America's richest pastors, he addressed criticisms that he had been focusing on prosperity during his services by saying, "Some people want you to, think that you're supposed to be poor and broke and suffer to show that you're a Christian, and that's just not the way I read the Scripture. I think that God wants us to excel and be the best at what we can do and have happy families. You know, prosperity, to me, is more than money. It's health and good relationships ... peace of mind." Osteen is a best-selling author and he said his personal finances come from the sales of those. The money that goes into the ministry goes into the ministry. home US Majority of Americans support torture against terror suspects, says new poll Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe torture can be justified to extract information from suspected terrorists, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, a level of support similar to that seen in countries like Nigeria where militant attacks are common. The poll reflects a U.S. public on edge after the massacre of 14 people in San Bernardino in December and large-scale attacks in Europe in recent months, including a bombing claimed by the militant group Islamic State last week that killed at least 32 people in Belgium. Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, has forcefully injected the issue of whether terrorism suspects should be tortured into the election campaign. Trump has said he would seek to roll back President Barack Obama's ban on waterboarding - an interrogation technique that simulates drowning that human rights groups contend is illegal under the Geneva Conventions. Trump has also vowed to "bring back a hell of a lot worse" if elected. Trump's stance has drawn broad criticism from human rights organizations, world bodies, and political rivals. But the poll findings suggest that many Americans are aligned with Trump on the issue, although the survey did not ask respondents to define what they consider torture. "The public right now is coping with a host of negative emotions," said Elizabeth Zechmeister, a Vanderbilt University professor who has studied the link between terrorist threats and public opinion. "Fear, anger, general anxiety: (Trump) gives a certain credibility to these feelings," she said. The March 22-28 online poll asked respondents if torture can be justified "against suspected terrorists to obtain information about terrorism." About 25 percent said it is "often" justified while another 38 percent it is "sometimes" justified. Only 15 percent said torture should never be used. Republicans were more accepting of torture to elicit information than Democrats: 82 percent of Republicans said torture is "often" or "sometimes" justified, compared with 53 percent of Democrats. About two-thirds of respondents also said they expected a terrorist attack on U.S. soil within the next six months. TERRORISM TOP CONCERN Surveys by other polling agencies in recent years have shown U.S. support for the use of torture at around 50 percent. A 2014 survey by Amnesty International, for example, put American support for torture at about 45 percent, compared with 64 percent in Nigeria, 66 percent in Kenya and 74 percent in India. Nigeria is battling a seven-year-old insurgency that has displaced 2 million people and killed thousands, while al Shabaab militants have launched a series of deadly attacks in Kenya. India is fighting a years-old Maoist insurgency that has killed hundreds. In November, terrorism replaced economy as the top concern for many Americans in Reuters/Ipsos polling, shortly after militants affiliated with the Islamic State killed 130 people in Paris. At the same time, Trump surged in popularity among Republicans, who viewed him as the strongest candidate to deal with terrorism. Besides his advocacy of waterboarding, Trump said that he would "bomb the hell out of ISIS," using an alternative acronym for Islamic State. "You're dealing with people who don't play by any rules. And I can't see why we would tie our hands and take away options like waterboarding," said Jo Ann Tieken, 71, a Trump supporter. Tieken said her views had been influenced by the injuries suffered by her two step-grandsons while serving in the military four years ago in Afghanistan. The Reuters/Ipsos poll included 1,976 people. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 2.5 percentage points for the entire group and about 4 percentage points for both Democrats and Republicans. home Life Muslim-turned-Christian author suggests giving youth alternative to jihad Christian author Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, writer of "Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward," has given a suggestion on how to curb violent jihad. Having been a Muslim himself once, he said western recruits are swayed into violence because of the literal interpretation of the Quran and hadith. Muslim youth needs to be given alternatives to this. In an article published in USA Today titled "The Quran's deadly role in inspiring Belgian slaughter," Qureshi said that the traditions of Islam that used to be interpreted and explained by imams and elders are now readily available on the Internet. With this, "[everyday Muslims] are confronted with the reality of violent jihad in the very foundations of their faith." In his explanation of the Quran, Qureshi said that from peaceful teachings, violence escalates as the book progresses, with the culmination in surah 9. This is where it says that Islam may "prevail over all religions," and those who do not fight would be considered as hypocrites, the faith of whom will be put in question. Those who fight are promised the spoils of war, while those who are killed are promised heaven. "ISIL's primary recruiting technique is not social or financial but theological," Qureshi wrote. "With frequent references to the highest sources of authority in Islam, the Quran and hadith (the collection of the sayings of the prophet Muhammad), ISIL enjoins upon Muslims their duty to fight against the enemies of Islam and to emigrate to the Islamic State once it has been established." Qureshi said that the Islamic State terror group radicalizes recruits by convincing them to follow the teachings of the Quran and hadith literally. In a post in Facebook, Quilliam Foundation co-found Maajid Nawaz said, "Only by rejecting vacuous literalism are we able to condemn, in principle, ISIS-style slavery, beheading, lashing, amputation & other medieval practices forever (all of which are in the Quran)." Join us in welcoming Vicarious Visions to the party.https://t.co/w0EeVsjwhZ pic.twitter.com/q0VvzXeUpd Bungie (@Bungie) December 8, 2016 Qureshi said that the Muslim youth need to be given alternatives to violent jihad, but these alternatives should not overlook the "the spiritual and religious roots of jihad." "Western recruits for jihad are inspired by the literal interpretation of Muslim sacred texts," Qureshi wrote. "This is what we must fight." home World UK Teachers' union calls for withdrawal of government strategy aimed at preventing kids from becoming extremists The National Union of Teachers in the United Kingdom says that learning institutions has a "moral obligation" to protect kids from extemists, but they have voted to have Prevent, the strategy used by the government, withdrawn. "Evidence shows that grooming by extremist groups happens mainly on social media sites, not on school premises," said Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, as quoted by Christian Today. "Schools' best contribution to countering any behaviour that could be a problem is by encouraging discussion. Some aspects of Prevent inhibit this and it is for this reason that we need a review of the strategy to find the right, and best way to protect children and young people." Prevent is a strategy to curb the chances of kids becoming extremists, and it is part of the government's counter-terrorism policy. However, the teachers at the Annual Conference 2016 held from March 25 to 29 deem that this would, among other things, prevent open debate. According to the final agenda of the conference, there have been cases when kids were "wrongly referred to the police" because of things they said during discussions in class, and they find that it could be used to "target young Muslim people." The group deems that the government needs to involve the people in education to device "alternative strategies to safeguard children and identify risks posed to young people." They also recommend that guidelines be made for schools to "address values" as well as "advance of human rights through education." "We make no apology for protecting children and young people from the risks of extremism and radicalisation," said a government spokesperson as quoted by The Huffington Post. "Prevent is playing a key role in identifying children at risk of radicalisation and supporting schools to intervene." home US Utah Abortions from 20 weeks must use anesthesia to protect the unborn from pain in death Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a bill requiring doctors to administer anesthesia to women having abortion at 20 weeks of gestation or later. On Monday, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed the abortion anesthesia bill for procedures conducted at 20 weeks of later, on the grounds that a fetus can already feel pain at that age of gestation. In a statement, his spokesman Jon Cox said the governor believes that any pain caused to an unborn child must be minimized, the Associated Press reports. "The governor is adamantly pro-life," Cox said. "He believes in not only erring on the side of life, but also minimizing any pain that may be caused to an unborn child." Gov. Herbert's move makes Utah the first state to pass such a bill. In 2015, Montana passed a similar law, but the state governor vetoed it. Twelve other states prohibit abortion to be performed after 20 weeks of gestation, while others --- including Utah --- let women choose to have anesthesia during the procedure, USA Today relays. In Utah, a woman must undergo personal counseling at least 72 hours before an abortion is carried out and before she makes her final decision. The state also funds the procedure for victims of rape and incest, and where the mother's life is at risk. The new law targets women who opt to have elective abortion 20 weeks into their pregnancy. However, it would not apply to those required to undergo the procedure because of a risk to their life, or in a situation where the fetus will not be able to survive outside the womb. Sen. Curt Bramble, who sponsored the bill, said the measure is all about protecting the "sanctity of life" and those who have no voice. He also called abortion an "abomination." The measure signed by the Utah governor has been met by concerns from some local doctors. There are those who think that fetal anesthesia is not necessary and that it may only serve to put women at greater risk. But supporters of the law point out that a fetus must be protected from pain, and that even convicts on death row and animals facing euthanasia are given anesthesia. Archbishop of York condemns Government's living wage: 'It is not paying workers what they deserve' Many people are not convinced by the new national living wage announced in the budget, the Archbishop of York has warned. Writing in The Times, Dr John Sentamu says Chancellor George Osborne has packaged up what is essentially an increase on the national minimum wage for over-25s and rebranded it the national living wage. For years, Sentamu has been the Church of England's chief champion of the living wage and chaired the Living Wage Commission. He says it is of course it is to be welcomed that the chancellor is increasing wages at the bottom level for over-25s. "But let's call it what it is: a new legal minimum wage for over 25s. It is not a living wage in any real sense; it is not paying workers what they deserve and it is not paying workers what they need in order to achieve a decent standard of living in the UK." He says the real living wage is what is needed for a standard of living above poverty. "Not earning this can mean having to rely on a food bank even if you are in work. Let's think about that for a second. Working people should not have to rely on food banks to feed their families." He also warns it risks setting young against old because there are so many under-25s who will not benefit. Sentamu says there is a strong Christian moral argument for paying the living wage but a financial argument might prove more effective, because companies that pay a living wage report higher morale and lower absenteeism. Christian leaders urge 'moral revolution' in US politics through 'revival tour' Church leaders are uniting for a 15-state "moral revolution" in America, to champion the Christian values of love, justice and mercy in the country's politics. "In working toward a spiritual and political renewal of the nation, our multi-state tour is focused on a revolution of moral values," said Rev James Forbes, minister of New York's Riverside Church, and co-organiser of the event. "By morality, we mean governing for the good of the whole, not for the good of a destructive few. In the tradition of the great prophets, a revival is about stirring up the faithful; restoring believers to a place of maximum impact. Our tour is about preparing leaders of faith to go to the public square and provide a strong moral voice and witness against the extremists' rhetoric and policies." The tour, called 'The Revival: Time for a moral revolution of values' will begin on Sunday April 4 and end in January next year. It will go to 15 states North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, and Washington DC. The tour, organised by Repairers of the Breach, Healing of the Nations Ministries, and Drum Major Institute, hopes to engage clergy and others to organise at state capitals and at key political events during the election. The tour will comprise of training in "moral political organising" and revival services to change the conversation in politics at a national and local level. "Way too much of our national discourse has been poisoned by hateful language and policies," said Rev William J Barber II, the founder of the Moral Mondays movement. "True faith and true evangelicalism place love, justice and compassion at the centre of our public life." Social justice activists will be joining the tour, including Rev Traci Blackmon, who has worked with Black Lives Matter, and Sister Simone Campbell, who founded the nuns on a bus movement. "Many Pentecostals focus on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as detailed in the biblical chapter, Acts 2. But as Christians and people of faith, we are compelled to put our faith in action and work to heal the ills of our society. Faith of and by the Spirit begins with Good News (evangel) to the poor and dispossessed over against the systems of injustice," said Forbes in a statement. "The Revival will help bring an end to oppressive governmental policies that threaten public education, impoverish millions, block access to health care, and erect new barriers to voting and political participation, threatening the fabric of American democracy," said Barber. The tour will begin at a Reform synangogue in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's assasination in 1968, and his sermon at the synagogue a year before. "Dr. King brought the civil rights movement as far as he could. My job is to join Dr. King and use the power of the gospel and the Holy Spirit as a means of transforming the individual and society," said Forbes. "In reference to the Vietnam War in his 1967 sermon, Dr. King told the nation that 'silence was betrayal,'" Barber said. "If silence was betrayal in the 1960s, revival is a necessity in 2016." Franklin Graham urges prayer in advance of Moscow summit on persecuted Church Last year was the worst for Christian persecution since statistics have been tracked, according to Franklin Graham, with more than twice as many Christians killed for their faith as the year before. The prominent evangelical leader and head of Samaritan's Purse was encouraging Christians to pray for a major conference to be held in Moscow this autumn. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) are to bring together around 1,000 Christian leaders for a summit conference on the persecuted Church. The World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians will bring together leaders from more than 50 countries and the conference will address what organisers say is "the mass persecution of Christians in the Middle East, Africa and other regions of the world, which is unprecedented in modern history". ROC head Patriarch Kirill has previously spoken out about the persecution of Christians and it was a theme of the statement released by him and Pope Francis after their historic meeting in Havana in February. It has also been a frequent theme of Franklin Graham, who believes evangelicals and the ROC share common social values and can work together on many issues. He noted approvingly in a Facebook post yesterday Kirill's statement in a February 16 interview: "I strongly believe that we should work together in order to save our society from de-Christianization because, facing increasing atheistic pressure, which has become quite aggressive in some countries, Christians are being squeezed out of public life." Of the conference, Graham says: "No Church in modern history has suffered more than the Church in Russia. In the years under Communist rule, virtually all of the priests, pastors, and church leaders in Russia were imprisoned or executed by the Communists, and their graves are on the outskirts of Moscow and throughout the country serving as a reminder. So Moscow will be a fitting and meaningful location for this much-needed summit." He also refers to warnings from Prince Charles that "Christianity might be entirely erased from the land of its birth in the Middle East within five years" and says the summit will "shed a global spotlight on this crisis". The event will take place from October 28-30. Hundreds of UK churches switch to green energy in boost for climate change campaign More than 400 UK churches are planning to switch to renewable energy providers in a move which will see more than 1 million shifted to clean power. Launched at the beginning of Lent by charities Christian Aid and Tearfund, The Big Church Switch invited churches and individuals in the UK to switch energy companies, to demonstrate the need for a transition from fossil fuels. This week the charities' partner 2buy2 will negotiate with energy companies to find the best deal. Because of the number of churches and the total value of their business more than 1 million it can secure a better deal with green energy providers. Among the 424 churches that have registered to switch is the oldest Methodist building in the world, The New Room in Bristol. Manager David Worthington said: "We may be the oldest Methodist building in the world but that doesn't mean we have to use the polluting energy of the past. "We take seriously the impact we have on our neighbours, both locally and globally. Switching our energy provider to clean sources of power is a simple thing we can do to help the global transition to a low carbon world. If we, in a building as old as ours, can embrace the idea of renewable energy then anyone can." The Bishop of Manchester, Rt Rev David Walker, welcomed the initiative, saying: "By creating technology which can turn wind and sunshine into clean and renewable energy humans continue to benefit from the gift of creation. Making the most of this bountiful harvest is a common sense way for us to roll back the ravages of climate change and ensure we are taking an active role in being part of the solution. The Big Church Switch is a practical way for us all to do our bit." Christian Aid's head of advocacy, Laura Taylor, said: "The Big Church Switch shows that people are willing to reduce our CO 2 emissions, and that we want to take action together. The UK Government must help accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to renewables as they prepare the next carbon budget for our country." Churches are able to sign up to the Big Church Switch throughout the year and are offered the opportunity to switch as and when their current contracts end. Iran missile tests were 'in defiance of' UN resolution say US and Europeans Iran has defied a United Nations Security Council resolution endorsing last year's historic nuclear deal by launching nuclear-capable missiles, according to a joint letter from the US and its European allies seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Iran's recent ballistic tests involved missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" council resolution 2231, adopted last July, said the joint US, British, French, German letter to Spain's UN Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi and UN chief Ban Ki-moon. The letter said the missiles used in the recent launches were "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons". It also asked that the Security Council discuss "appropriate responses" to Tehran's failure to comply with its obligations and urged Ban to report back on Iranian missile work inconsistent with 2231. Spain has been assigned the task of coordinating council discussions on resolution 2231. Council diplomats have said the case for new UN sanctions was weak, hinging on interpretation of ambiguous language in a resolution adopted as part of a July nuclear deal to drastically restrict Iran's nuclear work. Western officials say that although the launches went against 2231, they were not a violation of the core nuclear agreement between Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Russia, a permanent veto-wielding council member, has made clear it does not support new UN sanctions on Iran. Both Russia and China had lobbied against continuing restrictions on Iran's missile program during last year's negotiations on the nuclear deal. The four powers' carefully worded letter stopped short of calling the Iranian launches a "violation" of the resolution, which "calls upon" Iran to refrain for up to eight years from activity, including launches, related to ballistic missiles designed with the capability of delivering nuclear weapons. Diplomats say key powers agree that request is not legally binding and cannot be enforced under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which deals with sanctions and authorisation of military force. But Western nations, which view the language as a ban, say there is a political obligation on Iran to comply. International sanctions on Tehran were lifted in January under the nuclear deal. The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' missile battery said the missiles tested were designed to be able to hit US ally Israel. The United States condemned the remarks and Russia said countries should not threaten each other. The letter said the four Western powers "note with concern that Iranian military leaders have reportedly claimed these missiles are designed to be a direct threat to Israel". Several diplomats said the most Iran could expect would be a public rebuke by the Security Council. Under the nuclear deal, the reimposition of UN sanctions would only be triggered by violations of the agreed restrictions on Iran's atomic work. But a council rebuke could provide a legal springboard for European countries to consider new sanctions against Iran, Western diplomats said. Last week the US Treasury Department blacklisted two Iranian companies for supporting Iran's ballistic missile programme, and also sanctioned two British businessmen it said were helping an airline used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. France has also suggested there could be unilateral European Union sanctions against Iran over the launches. ISIS claims bomb attack in Russia Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack in Russia on Tuesday night. Two vehicles were blown up by an explosive device in the Dagestan region. It is not yet clear how many are dead. Russian police said one officer was killed and two injured, whereas an ISIS-affiliated news channel said the death toll stood at 10. "Two cars were blown up, the type of explosive device has not been established yet," Fatina Ubaidatova, a spokeswoman for the Dagestani police, told Reuters. The Amaq news agency, which supports ISIS, posted a statement online saying its local affiliate was behind the attack. ISIS has in the past said it was behind violent attacks on security forces in the North Caucasus, the volatile mainly Muslim part of Russia where Dagestan is located. Critics of the Kremlin have said widespread poverty and corruption have fed religious extremism in the region. A number of militants in Dagestan have sworn allegiance to ISIS. The region, which is next to Chechnya on the border with Georgia, saw similar attacks on police in February. In the 1990s Moscow led two wars against seperatists in Chechnya which may have fuelled resentment among locals. Tuesday's attack comes after it emerged that since Putin's announcement of a partial withdrawal from the Syria conflict, Moscow has in fact shipped more equipment and supplies to Syria than it has brought back in the same period. The analysis by Reuters suggests Russia is working hard to maintain military infrastructure in Syria and keep Assad's army supplied. Putin has been engaged in a campaign to shore-up Syrian President Assad's regime against rebel forces. The Kremlin said Russian air strikes would only target ISIS' territories but analysis has shown many of its bombings have hit Western-backed rebel forces. Additional reporting from Reuters. Mexico: Evangelical Christian beaten and imprisoned after he refused to convert to Catholicism A Christian man was beaten and imprisoned in Mexico in what has been described as "the latest instance in a long trend of persecution". Lauro Nunez, from Chachalacas in the Oaxaca region, was attacked by a mob on Easter Monday as he attempted to return to his village to visit his family. He had previously been expelled from his home for his evangelical Christian faith. International Christian Concern (ICC), which reported the event, said it was one example of many attacks on minority Christian groups in Oaxaca. Mexico has a dominant Roman Catholic population (82.7 per cent) with evangelicals (5 per cent) and pentecostals (1.6 per cent) a minority. The country's constitution maintains the right of all citizens to profess their religion of choice. However the Washington DC-based persecution charity has reported a series of incidents where evangelicals were pressured into converting to Catholicism by officials and locals in rural Mexico. A spokesman for the charity said he was "very troubled" by the attack which he described as "yet another instance of violence perpetrated against minority Christians" in the central American country. Nate Lance, ICC's advocacy manager, said he was "appalled that the state government continues to allow this persecution to fester, allowing more Christians to be displaced, imprisoned and beaten". "If the government does not intervene to protect religious minorities, I see no reason why the trend of increased persecution will not continue," he said. "We ask in the strongest of terms that those in power in Mexico utilise their authority to put an end to this persecution and restore freedom of worship." Pakistan: 5,000 arrested after Lahore bombing as Christians call for protection Pakistan has arrested more than 5,000 suspects since the Lahore bombing on Sunday, a provincial minister said yesterday. Most of them have been released but 216 suspects are still in custody, said Punjab minister Rana Sanaullah. Security forces have moved rapidly in response to the bombing, claimed by the Taliban, that killed at least 72 people and injured hundreds more. Military and government officials on Monday said that the army was preparing to launch a new paramilitary counter-terrorism crackdown in Punjab, as it did more than two years ago in the violent southern megacity of Karachi. Sanaullah said at least 160 raids have been carried out since Sunday night by police, counter-terrorism and intelligence agents. He confirmed that army and paramilitary forces would be used in future operations. The bombing was targeted at Christians but it is believed more Muslims than Christians died. Many of the victims were children. The Taliban faction responsible for the bombing, Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, warned Pakistani media they could be the next target. "Everyone will get their turn in this war, especially the slave Pakistani media," Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for the group, tweeted. "We are just waiting for the appropriate time." The Lahore attack is the latest in a series targeting Christians, who are feeling increasingly vulnerable in a climate of rising fundamentalism and extremism. The Christian community is calling on the government of Muslim-majority Pakistan to do more to protect them. Last March, suicide bombers struck two Lahore churches, Christ Church and another close by, killing at least 14 people. In 2013, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the 130-year-old All Saints church in Peshawar after Sunday mass, killing at least 78 people. Now the Easter attack by Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, which once swore support for Islamic State, has fueled worries that militants in Pakistan are increasingly subscribing to the IS brand of ultra-sectarian violence against those perceived as infidels. "Terrorists didn't used to be so focused on our community. Now all their attention is on us," said Rev Irshad Ashnaz, the vicar of Christ Church. "Perhaps it's time for the government to turn their attention toward us also." He added: "These people are roaming around freely and no one is stopping them." Demonstrators demanding martyrdom status for Mumtaz Qadri, executed for the murder of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, are continuing their protest in the capital Islamabad. They are calling for the immediate execution of hundreds of people in jail on blasphemy charges. Yemen priest kidnap: Church condemns 'unfounded rumours' about Fr Tom Uzhunnalil The mission order to which kidnapped priest Father Tom Uzhunnalil belongs has condemned unfounded speculation about his situation. It lists "credible sources" which should be used instead. The Indian priest was taken when the old people's home in Yemen where he was working was attacked by Islamic State terrorists on March 4. Rumours spread that he would be crucified on Good Friday, though Church and Indian state authorities have said they have no information about him. The official statement from the Salesians of Don Bosco says the credible sources for news about Uzhunnalil are the Indian Government's Ministry of External Affairs, Archbishop Paul Hinder, the Salesian Province of Bangalore and the Salesian Congregation in Rome. Most recently it has been reported that the Indian government has received a huge ransom demand via video for Fr Tom's release. None of these credible sources supports this. The statement says: "Please do not give credence to reports coming from other sources (eg. some convent of sisters, other bishops/cardinals/priests,astrologers/godpersons/newsanchors/politicians, etc.) unless the news has been confirmed by any of the above-mentioned primary sources." It continues: "Spreading false rumours and unconfirmed reports might actually jeopardise the safety of Fr Tom. "The best that we can do at present is to pray to the Almighty for him, his close relatives and all persons who are persecuted for their faith." The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India said in a press statement reported by the National Catholic Register: "A lot of rumors are being spread in the social media that Father Tom was subjected to cruel torture and then crucified on Good Friday. This gruesome news is being widely circulated, both at home and abroad." It added: "This really upsets us and brings agony to the relatives and concern for all." The British artist was an influential figure in Paris during the 1930s, yet much of Mosss work was lost in the 1944 shelling of her Normandy home Women seeking advice or connections for government contract work can attend a free ChallengeHER event Thursday in the Learning Hub of Houston Community College's Southeast College. The nationwide event shows women that "they can actually have a piece of the pie," said Lourdes Martin-Rosa, an American Express OPEN adviser on government contracting. More specifically, it seeks to educate women that the federal government sets aside work for them through the Women-Owned Small Businesses Federal Contract Program implemented in 2011. During fiscal 2015, the amount of government work awarded to women-owned small businesses reached a record 5.05 percent, or $17.8 billion, of all federal small business eligible contracting dollars. More Information On the Web wipp.org/?ChallengeHER See More Collapse Maria Contreras-Sweet, administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, cited a recent study showing that while women-owned businesses employ 8 million people, "when it comes to receiving contracts and capital, women are still under-represented." "That's why the SBA has added 36 new industry categories where women can now compete for set-aside contracts and sole-source awards," Contreras-Sweet said in a news release. "This will dramatically expand contracting opportunities for women-owned businesses, paving the way for new jobs and industries to be created." More than 300 women-owned businesses are registered for Houston's event, and more than 30 government buyers - from the local, state and federal levels - and representatives of large corporations will be attending. Martin-Rosa, who owns a management consulting and event planning firm that does contract work for the government, said it's a great opportunity to attend workshops and educational forums. There will also be prescheduled meetings that connect women business owners with procurement officials, government buyers and large prime contractors. ChallengeHER began in 2013 as a join initiative from the Small Business Administration, Women Impacting Public Policy and American Express OPEN. On-site registration will be available. Ask the Fool Sell it or keep it? Q: It turns out I bought a stock near its all-time high. Should I sell? - B.A., Kankakee, Ill. A: The price you pay for a stock - your cost basis - matters when you sell it and calculate your gain (or loss) for tax purposes. Most of the time, though, you needn't think about it. The stock's current price and your estimate of its true fair price are what matter much more. Imagine that you bought shares of the One-Legged Chair Co. (ticker: OOPS) for $40 each and they're now trading for $30. If you think the shares are worth $40 or $50 or more, hanging on makes sense. If you think they're worth less than $30, selling might be best. Ignore the fact that you're down $10 per share. If you'd bought the shares for $12 each, you'd be up $18 per share, but your thinking should be the same - hold if you expect more growth ahead, and sell if you expect the shares to falter. Never hang on to a stock in which you've lost confidence (and dollars) just to try to recoup the loss. It's better to move what's left into a stock where you see a much brighter future. Foolish Trivia Name that company I trace my roots back to the 1875 founding of the Continental Oil and Transportation Co., which began by moving kerosene to Utah. I soon built an oil pipeline in California, and then was taken over by Standard Oil in 1885. Part of me was owned by DuPont for a while. Today I'm the world's largest independent oil and gas exploration and production company based on production and proven reserves. Based in Houston and with operations in 21 countries, I rake in more than $30 billion annually. My ticker symbol might make some criminals nervous. Who am I? Last week's answer: Colgate-Palmolive The Take Dependable income MetLife (NYSE: MET) has seen its shares fall in value by around 15 percent over the past year. What's going on? Well, it has been under pressure from U.S. regulators who want to label the company a "systemically important financial institution." MetLife has argued that being considered "SiFi" would make the company far less competitive due to tougher capital regulations. Meanwhile, investors are worried about weakness in Asia potentially slowing MetLife's overseas growth. However, there are also strong growth opportunities for MetLife that make its stock look like an exceptional value. For example, the company plans to separate into two entities. It would essentially spin off or sell the life insurance underwriting portion of its U.S. business (this encompasses about 20 percent of its current operating income), and maintain the life insurance services, pension service businesses and more in the U.S. under the MetLife brand, along with its overseas operations. Doing so will keep the company competitive and let it avoid the SiFi tag. Value-seeking investors might want to consider MetLife, which recently sported a P/E ratio in the single digits and annual free cash flow topping $14 billion. It offers a hefty dividend - recently yielding 3.4 percent - that has plenty of room to grow, and its business is likely to grow over time, too. Universal Uclick Grabbing a late-night bite? This week's reports of Houston restaurants with health inspection violations might make you think twice before you order. A few late night spots, along with some other trendy restaurants, made it on this week's list, including House of Pies (6142 Westheimer). Among other things, inspectors found the deli meat, cheese, and salad dressing to be at an improper temperature. Police are investigating the shooting death of a restaurant owner Tuesday afternoon at his eatery in southwest Houston. The shooting happened about 12:50 p.m. at Wahoo's Fish N Wings at 12306 Fondren, according to the Houston Police Department. A Missouri City daycare where a 3-month-old died does not have a current city permit, a city official confirmed Wednesday. Missouri City police have launched an investigation into the child's death, officials said. Officers were sent to a home in the 800 block of Turtle Creek shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday to investigate the child's death. Police said the home is a daycare center. It wasn't immediately known how long the child had been there. Police did not release further information, saying they were in the initial stages of the investigation. The daycare is registered with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The name of the daycare owner has not been released, and no one has been arrested in connection with the death. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Three Houston-area universities have entered into a whole different type of competition, one that doesn't involve sports teams, campus clubs or any of the usual rivalries. Instead, Rice University, the University of Houston and the University of St. Thomas are challenging each other to raise money to create pocket prairies on their campuses. The Katy Prairie Conservancy is leading the way in the "Grassroots for Change Challenge." Jaime Gonzalez, community conservation director for the nonprofit land trust, said administrators of all three schools began discussions about building on-site prairies around the same time. More Information Want to help? Donate: www.crowdrise.com/grassrootsforchange Details: www.katyprairie.org/ See More Collapse "To help pay for the project, we set up a friendly competition," he said. "It's all about engaging each campus community." To help track how much each school raises, the Katy Prairie Conservancy created www.crowdrise.com/grassrootsforchange Gonzalez encourages students, families and alumni to support their schools. "They can donate to a specific project, and we'll give 100 percent of the money back," he said. "We're trying to gently spark a competition, but of course, we want everyone to win." Gonzalez said the goal is to raise $30,000 total, or $10,000 per campus. "There are different flavors for each campus," he said. Three types of prairie At the University of Houston, the new Shasta Prairie will begin on Saturday, April 23 as part of the campus' Earth Week celebrations. Rice University will build a prairie as part of its larger effort to create the Rice Gully Natural Area on campus. "They have a comprehensive plan, and as part of that effort, three acres will be restored to coastal prairie," Gonzalez said. At the University of St. Thomas, an empty lot will be transformed into a pocket prairie. "You don't need a ton of space to do urban ecological research," Gonzalez said. He said on each campus, the prairies will serve as living laboratories for undergraduates. "We're reconnecting students to the prairie that was on campus before the university was there," he said. "The prairies will serve as vehicles for research on campus. We're giving them a chance to tap into an ecosystem that's very important to the history and development of the city." Sarah Kelly, sustainability manager for the University of Houston, said working on bringing the green space to the campus has been an exciting endeavor. "It was a passion project," she said. "And we've had a lot of buy-in on campus." Kelly said students enrolled in a variety of courses, from future scientists to poets, will benefit from the project. "There's so much opportunity," she said. "We're just hoping to raise the funds to see it happen." Kelly said that creating an outdoor classroom will also benefit the neighborhood. "It's better for the environment," she said. "And you create habitat for wildlife and birds. Why wouldn't we want to do this? This is something we wanted to see happen." Gonzalez said that the Katy Prairie Conservancy works to protect and conserve green space, create wildlife habitats, restore tall grass prairie and wetlands, sponsor scientific research and offer public programming. "We're trying to make people more aware of the prairies and the cultural, social and environmental impact of prairies," he said. The nonprofit works to preserve the Katy Prairie, a once vast green space that is still home to hundreds of species of wildlife and native grasses and wildflowers, on Houston's far west side. "We knew that we had to get pieces of prairie back to the city where it once was, because people had forgotten it," Gonzalez said. "The prairie is part of the story of what Houston is all about. This is a deep and rich part of the city's history that is not known by most Houstonians." The Conservancy has been involved in an effort to establish prairies in schools and parks through the Prairie Builder Schools and Parks program. Gonzalez said by adding prairies to college campuses even more residents and visitors will learn about the vital ecosystem. The pocket prairies will also serve as critical habitat for monarch butterflies and native bees. "Each one will help preserve monarchs in a real way," Gonzalez said. Gonzalez added that the Grassroots for Change Challenge is about inspiring students and connecting campuses in a wider effort, asking them to assist each other in a mission of creating more sustainable landscapes on their campuses. "It's like an old-fashioned barn-raising," Gonzalez said. "We're getting students from each campus to help each other plant. It's a symbol that the environment is so important, it crosses boundaries." He hopes other schools will be inspired to rethink their landscapes as well, and that the community will join in the fundraising for the three campuses. "You can literally make the world a better place by helping us plant a prairie," he said. Memorial Hermann health system operates a Mental Health Crisis walk-in clinic in Humble. The clinic, the Northeast Mental Health Crisis Clinic is located at 9813 Memorial Blvd. Suite A, is now one of three Memorial Hermann crisis clinics in the Houston area, including ones in Meyerland and Spring Branch. Think of the clinics as mental health versions of those urgent medical care facilities to be found across Greater Houston. Instead of stitching up cuts, treating the flu or wrapping sprained ankles, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, social workers and other patient care staff provide walk-in patients with quick access to initial psychiatric attention and help them locate outpatient services for further assistance. More Information Details To learn more about Memorial Hermann Mental Health Crisis Clinics, call 713-338-6422 or visit www.memorialhermann.org. See More Collapse Anyone with a mental health need, insured or not, is welcome to visit the clinic, said Theresa Fawvor, associate vice president of Behavioral Health Services for Memorial Hermann. Services include psychosocial assessments, emergency medication, short-term prescriptions, connections to more permanent psychiatric treatment and social services. Houston area residents have access to urgent mental health care nearly 24/7. The Humble location is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Meyerland clinic is open from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Friday. The Spring Branch location is open from 4 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday. Offering walk-in access to psychiatric specialists, Fawvor said, is almost unheard of. "We want our clinics to be an additional resource in the community that will direct people to the appropriate setting and level of care," she said. "Those in need of care can literally walk in and have immediate access to psychiatric providers and clinical social workers prepared to serve them if they or a family member are experiencing a mental health crisis." Memorial Hermann's crisis clinic initiative is among nine the health system sponsors through the state's Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment pool, which is made available to hospitals and other medical providers to develop programs to enhance access to health care, increase the quality of care, the cost-effectiveness of provided care and the health of patients and families they serve. Through the program, Memorial Hermann opened its first Mental Health Crisis Clinic in Humble in April 2014. The second clinic in Spring Branch opened in November that same year. The staff at the clinics see all ages. And not everyone is seeking help with chronic mental health illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Stress, depression The clinics also treat those experiencing stress, depression and anxiety. Fawvor said a crisis might be a single mom seeking help for her child who was kicked out of school after displaying repeated behavioral problems. "We have a mental health crisis clinic that allows the woman and her child to walk in, report what the problems are, be seen right away and be evaluated by a psychiatrist and a clinical social worker and some treatment planning is done," she said. "They receive a determination of what kind of ongoing care is necessary as well as, if needed, immediate medication or a short-term prescription." The clinics also treat individuals who are depressed and have never sought psychiatric care and do not know how to navigate the system. Outpatient only The clinics are not psychiatric care institutions. "It is an outpatient service only, and it is designed specifically to be that," said Matt Feehery, senior vice president of Behavioral Health Services for Memorial Hermann. "Our community has a number of hospital-based resources out there for people who are in a psychiatric emergency and would need to be in a more restrictive level of care." Memorial Hermann's Mental Health Crisis Clinics, he said, are meant to be consumer-focused, allowing someone to talk with someone, receive guidance, get some treatment and get a better idea of how to handle their mental health concern going forward. A lot of times, it is not just the identified patients who come in and get treated, but the family or friend that might be accompanying them who receives information and guidance on how to help the person they are with. "Access (to mental health care) is the big challenge in the community and most communities in our country," Feehery said. "If someone is having a mental health situation, crisis, an emergency, whatever you want to call it, there's really not an immediate access point for them to go to where they can talk to a professional and get some relief. "That is one of the beauties of this model. "It doesn't require you to wait 30 or 60 days or to meet certain criteria or whatever." A lot of state mental health resources operate by putting people in a virtual line to receive interventional care and finding the providers also often proves to be a challenge, said Donna Amtsberg, a clinical assistant professor at the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Houston. She is happy Memorial Hermann is operating the mental health crisis clinics because, she said, "they are putting these services in communities that need it." 43.8 million By the end of 2016, an estimated 43.8 million adults will have experienced some form of mental health illness, anything from stress and depression to more chronic illnesses such as schizophrenia or debilitating depression, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The nonprofit mental health advocacy group publishes a Mental Health Facts in America sheet, which indicates that 1 in 5 American adults experience a mental illness and nearly 1 in 25 adults live with a serious mental illness. One-half of all chronic mental illness begins by the age of 14 and three-quarters by the age of 24. The majority of adults, 42 million, live with anxiety disorders, according to the alliance. Amtsberg estimates that 16 percent of the population of Texas is currently suffering from a mental health disorder. She said not everyone is seeking help because of costs associated with mental health care, lack of access to mental health services as well as the perceived stigma of having a mental disorder. Many who do find treatment are going to hospital emergency rooms, which she said do not have the appropriate resources to diagnose properly and treat mental illness. "They are treating physical conditions," Amtsberg said. And, she said, in Harris County and in many communities across the country, the largest mental health provider is a jail. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 24 percent of state prisoners have a history of mental health conditions. Amtsberg said many people with mental health disorders never seek help because they do not know how to navigate the mental health system. Hard to navigate "I went online to do a quick check of how many mental health services across there are across the state, and I'm looking at this from a perspective where I'm calm, I'm not stressed out, I don't have anything dramatic going on in my life, and I'm going through these websites and I find that the state department shows there are mental health services across the state but the list itself, for instance, is done in alphabetical order by the name of the agency, not by the location," she said. "If I'm really looking for something in a hurry, or I'm looking for someone that is a loved one of mine, I'm going to have to scroll through seven pages of services in the Houston-Harris County area. "It wasn't a very user-friendly type of system." It is another reason, Amtsberg believes Memorial Hermann's Mental Health Crisis Clinics are needed. "I have not heard of any place like what Memorial Hermann is doing, but that doesn't mean that they're not available," she said. "I am so very happy that they are doing this because this is putting those services in communities that need it. "The individuals that are seeking out services, they are our loved ones. They are our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers. They are us. "To be able to access services in our own communities is huge." The Memorial Drive reconstruction project involving replacement of a 2.5 mile stretch of roadway between Kirkwood and Eldridge will be messy, long and inconvenient. City officials didn't sugarcoat the extent of the project when they presented the final plans of the $39 million overhaul at a public meeting March 24 at BridgePoint Bible Church in west Houston. "This project is not going to be easy," Joseph "Joe" Myers, senior assistant director of Public Works and Engineering, told a crowd of more than a hundred. "This is a large, large project that's going to take a very, very long time to be done." More Information Want to go? What: Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Where: Great Southwest Equestrian Center, 2501 S. Mason Road in Katy When: Through April 2 Details: www.pinoak.org See More Collapse Planned for the busy thoroughfare is construction of a four-lane divided roadway with curb and gutter drainage to be done in two phases. The first phase, from Kirkwood to Dairy Ashford, is already underway and slated to be completed in May 2017. The second, from Dairy Ashford to Kirkwood, will get under way in June 2017 and is slated to be completed by the end of 2018. Myers said to complete the project within the allotted time of 860 days, Oscar Renda Contracting will be working on several locations within each section at once. "It's not going to be easy - we'll be jumping around a lot," he said. "Stay with us, and we will get this done as fast as we can." Traffic flow for each phase will be down to one lane in either direction. Myers said they are working on a month-to -month basis with businesses, Spring Branch Independent School District, trash pick-up services and agencies such as the Metropolitan Transit Authority to ensure access to businesses and schools stays open and safe and services won't be disrupted. "Every business will have access to their business at all times," Myers said. "We don't want to impact your livelihood." The project includes installation of dozens of left-turn lanes interspersed at streets and intersections along the whole stretch, right turn lanes where there is room, 10-inch reinforced pavement and curb and gutters and replacement of water and sewer pipes. The project also includes construction of five-foot sidewalks on both sides of Memorial with wheelchair ramps and driveways, replacement of the bridge at Turkey Creek and installation of seven new traffic signal systems and street lighting. Many of the concerns about the project expressed by those in attendance centered on traffic and access to businesses during construction. "I think it's absolutely necessary, but for two years it's going to be very difficult for us to move along Memorial," said area resident Philip Kochman, who uses Memorial for most of his activities. "But it's necessary." In the works for more than five years, the project, which is being built under ReBuild Houston, the city's pay-as-you-go scheme to pay for road and drainage improvements, got final approval from Houston City Council in December. PWE spokeswoman Julie Gilbert said when construction is complete, the roadway will be ready for another 50 years of services. "And, one of the best parts about this project is that the improvements will have been paid for, in cash - no debt," Gilbert said in an email. Meanwhile, Myers said they are blanketing residences and businesses with information to ensure everyone knows what's going on and who to contact. He advised residents and business owners directly impacted by the project to take photos of their property beforehand in case they have to prove any damage. "We've been preparing for this for many years," Myers said. "You need to be prepared." For information about the project, visit www.houstontx.gov/council/g. To report any kind of issue related to the project, call 311. The Tomball Independent School District has launched a pilot program in two of the district's newest schools that is aimed at building character development of students and promoting academic excellence in the classroom. The program, known as Great Expectations, employs basic tenets, life principles and practices that are designed to build self-esteem among students and foster a climate of mutual respect and high expectations in the classroom, said Martha Salazar-Zamora, Tomball ISD's chief academic officer, who introduced the program to Tomball ISD last year. The Oklahoma-based program was founded in 1991 by retired financial planner Charlie Hollar and was envisioned as a foundational program dedicated to developing a teacher training model. Salazar-Zamora took part in the program several years ago when it was being used in Houston ISD and Spring ISD and saw the program as a valuable tool that could help teachers and students be successful. "I believe in this very strongly," she said. "A campus needs to find what's best for them. What I am proudest of is that we had two principals who were opening (new) campuses and wanted to build a culture with Great Expectations." The program was introduced in Tomball ISD last year when Salazar-Zamora took administrators on a fieldtrip to Spring ISD, which used the program until the start of the 2015-16 school year. Salazar-Zamora said she hopes the program can be expanded to three more schools for the 2016-17 school year. "The board has been very supportive of this program," she said. "It's key that the campus leadership embraces (the program) and wants this." Students at Oakcrest Intermediate begin their days on campus with a school-wide assembly to reinforce the eight expectations, which include: valuing one another, using good manners, cheering the successes of their peers, recognizing a good effort, offering encouragement, practicing virtuous living, and refraining from using sarcasm to make light of a mistake. The morning assemblies, which are student-led, also focus each week on one of the 36 core life principles of the program. "This kind of gets everyone on the same mindset," said Oakcrest Intermediate Principal Lee Wright. When he does get on the microphone and speak to his students, Wright says his goal is always to remind them of their potential. "This is a call to excellence. It's not a call to mediocrity; it's not a call to average or being OK. It's a call to be excellent because that's what we know they can be," he said. "We set a high expectation and we have to provide that support for a high expectation." The morning assemblies have taken the place of the traditional morning announcements broadcast over the school public address system, but still include the Pledge of Allegiance and the minute of silence. During a recent assembly, the students from Vivian Rogers' sixth-grade science class led the morning assembly and focused on the subject of courage and what it means to have the strength to act, even when they are afraid or uncertain. Eric Orosco, Jose Juarez, Caesar Martinez and Noel Mayo, who led one of the morning assemblies, said the program has helped them at school and at home. "You challenge yourself to help others, and to do more in class," Martinez said. "It feels good." Tori Cates, who teaches fifth-grade math at Oakcrest Intermediate, began her teaching career in Oklahoma four years ago and experienced the Great Expectations program while working at a model school. Cates said she was overjoyed at having the program at a campus in Tomball ISD. "I think the kids are more intentional (with the program), making sure they are following the life principles and showing respect," she said. "These are principles that are not just going to benefit you here in school, but outside of school in the grocery store, with your family. These are life principles." To learn more about the program, visit www.greatexpectations.org Concealed weapons will be allowed in Texas Tech classrooms, but barred from the student recreation center, chapel, some dormitories and any event where alcohol is served, the university announced Wednesday. Additionally, under the school's policy, the university president is the only one who can designate an area a gun exclusion zone, meaning no faculty can claim their offices as off-limits to guns without consent of the president. A committee will be established to assess requests for additional gun-free zones and make recommendations to the president. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Show More Show Less 3 of 3 The Harris County Sheriff's Office is asking the public for information about two suspects who buy and resell cars on Craigslist, paying by fraudulent check to effectively steal the cars. Angelo Moreno and Jessica Sandoval use fake titles and sales receipt papers to quickly resell the vehicles throughout Texas, according to the sheriff's office Auto Theft Division. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Dallas city officials are defending their move to ban a pornography expo from setting up shop in a city-owned convention center in a sexually explicit court filing. RELATED: Texas elementary school principal on trial for allegedly trying to meet 16-year-old for sex at mall Dallas City Council members voted in February to ban the Exxxotica porn expo from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, deeming the event unfit to occupy a publicly owned facility. Later that month, Three Expo Events sued the city, claiming that officials were stomping on the convention's First Amendment rights, according to online court filings. In a 60-page response to the lawsuit filed Friday, attorneys for Dallas detailed the numerous sexually explicit acts apparently committed at the convention when it swung through the city last year. RELATED: As Trump, Cruz face off over wives, National Enquirer claims Cruz had 5 extramarital affairs According to the city's attorneys, Exxxotica representative Jeffrey Handy told officials that patrons and convention personnel would abide state law and city ordinances governing lewd acts. That's not what happened at the 2015 convention, attorneys for the city allege. "Although Mr. Handy had represented that sexual activities, including 'the fondling or other erotic touching of genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus or female breasts,' were prohibited at Exxxotica Dallas ... in fact, such sexual activities took place at Exxxotica Dallas, and were observed and recorded," the filing reads. The document alleges that video footage shows convention goers and employees alike "engaging in specified sexual activities." The city does not detail how it obtained the footage. "Both the attire of the entertainers and the conduct in which they engaged is indiscernible from the typical conduct at adult cabarets and nude model studios," the response reads. Scroll through the slideshow to see the details of the city's response. The city also said in their response that the convention in August saw criminal activity, including an attendee punching a protester and a sting targeting men seeking young or underage women who mentioned the convention in ads on Backpage.com. The response does not detail whether the ads were actually tied to the convention itself. RELATED: Canada mom puts out excruciatingly bad rap bashing proposed law to accommodate transgender students The Dallas Morning News reported that city attorneys had advised council members not to vote to ban the convention, saying the city's ordinance regarding sexual oriented businesses did not apply to Exxxotica. jfechter@mySA.com Twitter: @JFreports This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate None of the three remaining Republican presidential candidates could affirm Tuesday that they would support their party's nominee, paving the path toward an ugly fight at the GOP convention in July. During a town hall interview with CNN, Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, explicitly walked back a pledge he and his rivals signed in September, agreeing to rally behind their party's nominee. RELATED: Trump signs pledge to back GOP's 2016 presidential nominee When asked if still honored the pledge, Trump said, "No, I don't anymore." The Republican National Committee said in a statement Wednesday, "The pledge is simple, each candidate agreed to run as a Republican and support the nominee." The pledge, however, does not hold much sway, said Charles Sartain, assistant general counsel for the Republican Party of Texas and a lawyer at Gray Reed & McGraw in Dallas. "There's no real way to enforce the loyalty pledge, and there is no way to force a candidate to support the party nominee," he said, citing the rules of the RNC. Trump's reversal comes amid widespread chatter of electing an alternate nominee at the party's convention, even if Trump goes in with a lead in delegates and primary votes. Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice's Baker Institute, rattled off the sequence of past primaries since the 1970s, both Republican and Democrat, but couldn't recall a race in which candidates widely declined to pledge their support to a party nominee. "The level of rancor is so high, and this just fuels it," he said. "This takes an already very volatile and very tense convention setting and makes it even more so." If no candidate claims an outright majority before the convention, party rules require a series of re-votes that would allow delegates to switch their allegiance and select a candidate other than the frontrunner. RELATED: Growing chance of contested convention puts added focus on delegates Trump has suggested his supporters would riot if he were to enter the convention as the frontrunner and leave without the nomination. He told CNN Tuesday that he had "been treated very unfairly" by "the Republican Party [and] the establishment." "That Trump is signaling that now probably means that we'll start to hear more about the threat of an independent candidacy," Jones said. A third party Trump campaign would certainly spell disaster for the GOP in the general election. The likelihood of that scenario increased as the other candidates declined to pledge their support to the frontrunner if he were to win the nomination. "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife, who attacks my family," Cruz told CNN, in reference to a recent Twitter feud focused on the candidates' wives. RELATED: Lindsey Graham on presidential Twitter fight: 'knock this crap off' Cruz wouldn't say whether he'd support Trump as the nominee, insisting instead that Trump would not be the nominee. Ohio Gov. John Kasich also loosened the terms of the September pledge, telling CNN he would not back a nominee that he sees "as hurting the country." "This just underscores the animosity that exists within the Republican Party," Jones said. A digital newspaper that is connected to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist organization's Yemeni wing, recently published an article detailing the U.S. presidential election. Its conclusions, though sometimes jarring, were rather mild and accurate. The publication, al-Masra, distributed the piece through social media channels on Saturday. It was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online jihadist activity. The article's author, Adil al-Ahmad, presents "an almost-objective look at the race for the White House," says SITE in its precis to the piece, which begins by noting the "intellectual and factional battles" shaping the U.S. election. Part of the analysis involves a rudimentary explanation for outsiders: "These presidential election for 2016 are the 58th election for the presidency of the United States, and in which its winner will be the 45th President of the United States, and it is supposed to be held on the 8th of November 2016." Then the article digs in, offering a summary of the main contestants and presenting the likelihood of a showdown between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in November. "It seems that [Ted] Cruz will not finish the presidential race like [Bernie] Sanders, while it is expected that Trump and Clinton will finish the final elections," the report says. There's no mention of a potential clash at the Republican convention in July. It incorrectly states that President Barack Obama has "endorsed" Clinton, though it's likely that the president is leaning toward his former secretary of state. It also describes Sanders as a "social democrat," a term WorldViews agrees is a more accurate descriptor of the senator's politics than his own characterization - a "democratic socialist." Gazing at the Republican field, al-Qaida's scribe spends most of his time - not unlike the American media - on Trump, the GOP front-runner. Trump "became famous for his anti-Muslim attitude, which threatens to increase the feelings of the Muslims against the United States once he takes over the governance," the article reports, and it goes on to detail Trump's embrace of torture and other heavy-handed tactics, such as targeting the relatives of militants. It then offers this prediction of what a Clinton presidency and a Trump one would look like, respectively: "As for the victory of Hilary Clinton, it will be an extension of the policy of Obama and the Democrats in the region, while the victory of Trump will be a drastic change in American policy towards Muslims, since the hostility that Trump bears and the Islamophobia from which he suffers will have a huge impact in the conflict in the Middle East region and the Muslim countries in general. While the allies of America in the region tend to be apprehensive, some other observers see that Trump is the clearest in expressing the American opinion about Islam, but he lacks political experience. Others chose the way of caution and policy to hide the real face of being anti-Islamic, for the sake of interfering effectively in the issues of the Middle East and securing the interests of the United States and Israel in the region." The analysis that Trump "is the clearest in expressing" populist, xenophobic, anti-Muslim attitudes in the United States is interesting. Many commentators have observed how Trump's anti-Muslim demagoguery plays into the hands of extremists, who themselves insist that the West is an enemy of Islam. The article also notes the murmurings of support for Trump from unlikely corners outside the United States, including Russia. It pointed to how Trump appeared to welcome Russia's military intervention in Syria and championed secular autocrats such as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "It seems that the coming period will be decisive about the future of America and its Arab allies in the region," the article concludes - a reading that is difficult to deny. It ends on a triumphal note. The Obama administration "is leaving amidst an increase in the power of al-Qaida, where he was unable to fulfill his promises to eliminate it or close the Guantanamo detainment facilities, or secure the interests of America after the fall of the Arab regimes in the countries of the Arab Spring." The intractable conflicts of the Middle East, the report says, have become "centers of military and political exhaustion for the White House." Houston City Council confirmed Takasha Francis as the new director of the city's Department of Neighborhoods on Wednesday, part of an overhaul of the struggling division in charge of combating municipal blight. Francis, a civil lawyer who previously served in the child support division for the Texas Attorney General, is set to start next week. Houston City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved changes to the city's tax abatement rules, asking companies to provide more community benefits in exchange for the incentives. The new guidelines, which encourage but do not require companies to offer benefits such as workforce housing or paid internships for low-income students, passed without discussion. The ballot language Houston voters used to change term limits for elected officials last November was "inartful" but not "invalid," a state district judge ruled Wednesday, a move that nonetheless left the plaintiffs claiming victory ahead of an expected appellate battle. Houston voters last November approved changing the city's term limits regime to a maximum of two four-year terms, ending the system of three two-year terms that had been in place since 1991. Local lawyer Eric Dick sued in December, arguing the ballot language obscured the nature of the vote by asking whether voters wanted to "limit the length for all terms," when in fact the change set the new maximum term of office at eight years, up from six. Much of the debate before Judge Randy Clapp, a Wharton County jurist appointed to hear the case, focused on procedural matters: Whether Dick served the city notice of his lawsuit properly, whether the court had jurisdiction to hear the case as a result, and whether attorney Andy Taylor could intervene to assist Dick. That Clapp did not find the ballot language objectionable was far less important than his decision to rule on all motions before him on Wednesday, Taylor said, because the case will move to the appellate courts all at once and limit the city's ability to delay it beyond November 2017, when it would become moot. "We're confident the appellate courts will rule that this ballot language was both deceptive and misleading," Taylor said. Even Clapp acknowledged the case was likely to be decided by higher courts. Taylor said he expects a ruling within a year, but Mayor Sylvester Turner, speaking after the weekly council meeting on Wednesday, joked it could drag on for seven to eight. "The key thing," Turner said, "is that he said the language was valid." 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. Sukhoi 30MK. A Sukhoi photo QUEPEM, GOA (PTI): Amid concern in the defence establishment over poor serviceability of the country's mainline fighter aircraft Su30 MKI, Russia on Tuesday said it has offered India comprehensive maintenance and after-sales support for equipment sold by it, including aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. This, Russia said can "completely" solve the problem plaguing some of the products. "Maintenance of equipment which has been delivered from Russia is a very sensitive and important issue," Vladimir Drozhzhovi, Head of Federal Services for Military Technical Cooperation of Russia's Rostec State Corporation, said here at the Defexpo. He said Russia has made a lot of proposals concerning long term contracts not only for delivery of spare parts, tools and accessories but also comprehensive maintenance and after sales services of the delivered equipment. "Proposals are for Su30, MiG 29, and also Vikramaditya aircraft carrier. And I am pretty sure that signing of such type of long term contract for maintenance and after sales services can completely solve the problem," he said. Currently, serviceability rate of multi-role fighter aircraft Sukhoi is just about under 60 per cent. This means that out of a total 100 aircraft, only about 60 are available for fighting. This is mainly because the rest of the aircraft are down with servicing issue. India plans to raise the serviceability to about 70 per cent by the year end. In December last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had also slammed the low serviceability of the aircraft. Indian Air Force operates more than 200 Su-30MKI jets that were made in India under licensed production with the assistance of Irkut Corporation, a unit of United Aircraft Corporation). The total orders stand at 272 planes, and an additional delivery of 40 Su-30MKI knockdown kits is being considered India accounts for over 30 per cent of Russia's overall arms exports. Each year, Moscow supplies New Delhi with various types of armaments worth about $4 billion. Approximately $20 billion worth of contracts have been signed and are being implemented. Since 1960, India has procured over USD 40 billion worth of Russian armaments and military hardware, according to Russia's Rosoboronexport. Editors Note: This post was produced as part of a graduate course on media writing and storytelling taught by the editors of Columbia Journalism Review. For certain journalists, the age-old combination of breakfast and a newspaper doesnt cut it any more. I dont know any black reporter who, the first thing in the morning, doesnt check Black Twitter, Jamilah King, a senior writer at Mic, said at a February conference on the topic. That term, as many by now know, unofficially refers to a sprawling network of African American Twitter users that has emerged as a serious media force in recent years. It has been a consistent megaphone for news and reactions to police killings, while hashtag campaigns such as #BlackLivesMatter and #OscarsSoWhite have led to wide-ranging public discussions on race and privilege. Users have not only highlighted a large, previously overlooked audience for coverage of issues affecting black communities, but also new talent for media organizations to recruit. Before Black Twitters rise, the coverage of African American culture and related news issues was up to the discretion of the individual publisher, and the audience really had to wait for a reporter to pay attention, says Mark S. Luckie, head of journalism and media at Reddit and curator of the Today in Black Twitter feed. Users are calling attention to the news organizationswho are finding stories that they might not have otherwiseand they are creating content that they know readers are interested in. But this influence, firmly established as Twitter marked its 10th birthday this month, has simultaneously highlighted the limitations of this online community. Namely: It remains unlikely that Black Twitter alone can continue evolving to fill the same social role as the black press. African-American media, whose power was traditionally centered in print newspapers and magazines, has continued to decline despite a handful of digital newcomers springing up. While Black Twitter may aid in fulfilling the black press broader historical function, some argue that it can only do so in a supporting role. Not only does the black press kind of survey the landscape of whats happening to the community, but it goes into leadership about what do we do about these circumstances, Clint C. Wilson II, a Howard University professor, says in an interview. Twitter can organize folks for some kind of an instantaneous protestbut whats lost from the old days is you can be placing this in context. During the Civil Rights Movement, Wilson says, African-American media worked closely with groups such as the NAACP to focus discussion and organize demonstrations. They were the communicative glue that held things together, he adds. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Online outlets or verticals such as The Root, Blavity, and HuffPost Black Voices have launched in recent years in an attempt to at least partially fill this role. And Black Twitter has indeed helped these new outletsas well as the traditional media outfitsto continue the conversation in more depth. If Black Twitter didnt continue to exist in the way it does now, adds Luckie, formerly head of news at Twitter, youd actually see a decline of the black press because its so difficult to source these stories if you dont have the resources, which a lot of the black press suffers from. As print media continues to decline, that dearth of resources is unlikely to change. But, importantly, mainstream outlets now cover some of the topics that would have been discussed only in the black press in decades pastthanks in large part to social platforms. About 28 percent of black Internet online use Twitter, according to the Pew Research Center, compared to just 20 percent of white users. Thats fertile ground for an increasingly social-driven news market. And mainstream media have begun to more formally embrace the potential of the community. Last month, the first #BlackTwitter Conference was hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists at the Columbia Journalism School. Digital and print organizations have also made targeted hires to include a more diverse array of talent and coverage. BuzzFeed, for example, has hired a number of influencers on staff, and in July 2015, The Los Angeles Times assigned a reporter to the Black Twitter beat. For both the black press and the mainstream media, it allows more voices to enter conversations and for more voices to get exposure, says Meredith Clark, a University of North Texas professor whos studied Black Twitter extensively. So if people are looking for talent and are willing to look outside of traditional channels and onto a site like Twitter where people have been writing for themselves, publishing for themselves, and they have the talent at the very least, it provides a complement for finding diverse talent and diversifying the stories that we can tell. The 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri is a prime example of this communitys reach. On-scene observations, shared 140 characters at a time, drew far-off reactions, which in turn begat still more attention. The snowballing audience drew numerous outlets to devote substantial resources to cover Browns death, its immediate aftermath, and big-picture analyses of root causes and long-term effects. Its no coincidence that Black Twitter has shown particular reach in the national discussion over race and policing, as well as larger conversations about diversity. The platform puts human capital in the middle of the story, Clark says. It places a heavy emphasis on the lives and the livelihood of people who have been marginalized in the press traditionally. Nevertheless, the limitations are clear. If youre not following the people who are tracking the story, of course youre not going to see it, added Clark, speaking at the Columbia conference. Twitter is not going to be a replacement for the black press.We can only use the tool. We cant rely on it for everything. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Katie Ferguson is a Columbia Journalism School student. Todays windshields are poised to start thinking for themselves but at what cost? When windshields were introduced in the early 1900s, they were not sophisticated devices. In fact, they were optional. Motorists got to choose whether their new car would come with or without a windshield. The nicest ones had hinges so that if the glass got dirty, the driver could simply fold it down. As driving speeds increased, windshields transitioned from optional to necessary, and 100 years of innovation ensued. Motorists eventually stopped using hinged glass after Mary Anderson invented wiper blades, and when Edouard Benedictus discovered laminated glass in a lab accident, the stage was set for safety glass in windshields. Today, windshields are poised to start thinking for themselves. Advanced driver assistance systems: making windshields smarter Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) may be found in any part of a vehicle, but the windshield offers the best vantage point for many functions. Calibrated glass can initiate emergency braking, parking assistance, pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control and more. Basic sensors already alert drivers of a passing vehicle entering a blind spot. Other ADAS applications include functions such as lane-departure warning alerts, auto correction to keep wheels inside lane markers, and collision avoidance. Clearly there are safety benefits in these innovations. There are also new questions, especially where calibration is concerned: Smart windshield calibration requires special training and specialized equipment. How will this affect the timing and availability of repair? When a driver files a claim, how will smart windshields affect the cost an insurer pays for glass replacement? If sensors and cameras are improperly calibrated, they may not work. What unforeseen risks and liabilities may follow? These questions carry some urgency as calibrated windshields will soon become a standard vehicle feature. By 2020, these types of sensors and mini cameras will become standard safety features no longer exclusive to luxury brands. Last fall, 10 automakers agreed to install automatic braking systems to help prevent collisions, said New York Times contributor Bill Vlasic. They didnt agree to a timeframe, so regulators may still push to make ADAS required by law, just as airbags were mandated a generation ago, said Vlasic. Before the regulatory landscape changes, its wise for insurers to ask the critical questions. How will calibration affect windshield repair costs? An auto glass or collision repair shop thats contracted to replace calibrated glass may need to hire out to perform the re-calibration or even the entire glass repair. Theres an inevitable delay built into that equation. If the shop opts to acquire the scanners and training to perform the repair in-house, it faces a significant investment. According to Bill George, a director at NSG Pilkington, there is no scanner that re-calibrates all vehicle models and makes in fact many require their own unique scanners. These scanners are expensive (several thousand dollars each), so its easy to see how many shops simply could not afford to service calibrated glass for a wide range of vehicle makes and models. How will it impact customer experience? A shop that outsources re-calibration would need to educate its team on the policies surrounding those services for multiple manufacturers, and schedule the re-calibration carefully to expedite the repair. Even so, customers could face longer wait times. If shops fail to carefully check each vehicle manufacturers procedures before writing estimates, and unexpected requirements arise later, it could have a big impact on work efficiency, repair times and customer satisfaction. How will it affect premiums and other costs for insurers? These investments will impact the cost of repair. The question is, who will bear the brunt of that cost? Will it be the policyholder, manufacturer, repair shop or insurer? Its possible that in some cases, windshield replacement could be more cost effective than re-calibration. Could ADAS vendors be liable for malfunction? Yes, potentially. If the system malfunctions, it could interfere with a vehicles normal operation and drivability. Alternatively, if a driver has become reliant on sensor-facilitated features, and those features fail to work as expected and an accident ensues, who is at fault? While the answers to liability questions are still unknown, the legal implications will emerge and evolve over time. More clarity needed While ADAS offer many benefits and will likely become a standard safety feature in new cars and trucks, there are many crucial questions yet to be answered. Like many new market disruptors, this technology presents new conundrums for insurers. For certain, these questions sound all too familiar to lawmakers, insurers and consumers in the emergent driverless car economy. The time to explore these questions and solutions is now. A federal judge on Thursday gave Volkswagen AG and U.S. regulators until April 21 to agree on a fix for the nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles on U.S. roads caught up in VWs massive emissions cheating scandal. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer had earlier set a March 24 deadline for Europes biggest automaker to explain where it stood on remediation efforts, after months of talks with the U.S. Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board. Breyer, VW and regulators all said at Thursdays hearing in San Francisco that progress has been made in intensive negotiations, but issues remain and no settlement has been reached. Breyer, who is overseeing more than 500 civil lawsuits, said a concrete and detailed proposal for getting the polluting cars fixed or off the road must be made by April 21 or he may move forward with a trial. A settlement could involve fixing some or all of the roughly 580,000 U.S. vehicles or payments to consumers through buybacks and other options, Breyer said. He did not elaborate, but one central issue is whether the EPA would accept a fix that does not completely address excess on-road emissions. Earlier this month, a California official said the state may allow partially repaired VW diesel cars to continue operating on its roads because a full fix may be impossible. The cars are equipped with defeat devices that allow them to pass laboratory emissions tests despite exceeding federal standards by up to 40 times when they are driven on roads. If no deal is reached by the deadline, Breyer said he would consider holding a trial on the issue this summer to address the vehicles that the EPA says emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution in real world driving. Were working around the clock said plaintiffs attorney Elizabeth Cabraser, leaving the courtroom after the brief hearing. Ill sleep when theyre fixed. VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the automaker is committed to resolving the U.S. regulatory investigation into the diesel emissions matter as quickly as possible and to implementing a solution for affected vehicles, as we work to earn back the trust of our customers and dealers and the public. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller, who is Breyers court appointment settlement master, briefed the judge on the status of the talks on Wednesday. The Justice Department in February sued VW for up to $46 billion for violating U.S. environmental laws. VW and its Audi and Porsche brands remain barred from selling any new 2016 diesel models in the United States. After Thursdays hearing, Sierra Club California Chapter Director Kathryn Phillips suggested that U.S. environmental groups would reject any settlement with VW that fails to hold the automaker fully accountable for excess tailpipe emissions. (The) polluting vehicles need to be fixed or taken off the road, and the consumers who trusted they were buying less-polluting cars need to be compensated. Period. Otherwise the legacy of Volkswagens deceitful actions will be as dirty and dangerous as the smog left behind by their vehicles, Phillips said in a statement. (Additional reporting by David Shepardson in New York; Editing by Tom Brown) The Brussels terrorist attacks show how subway passengers can be even more vulnerable than airline travelers. But thats not where public attention or federal security spending has gone in the U.S. The Transportation Security Administration, created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks largely to screen airline passengers, patrols rail systems but assigns 93 percent of its roughly 50,000 employees to aviation security. The chief federal grant program to help local subway and transit agencies protect against terrorism has been cut by more than three-quarters since the late 2000s. The funding has gone down, but the threat to mass transit systems has gone up, Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, said in an interview. Were moving the funding in the wrong direction. I dont think our enemies could better signal to us where they intend to attack. To be sure, federal spending on security measures for transit systems is only a part of the effort to protect U.S. rail and transit systems from terrorists. Most of the responsibility to keep them safe lies with local law enforcement agencies. Attractive Targets But transit systems are attractive targets for terrorists because of their high ridership, expensive infrastructure, economic importance and location in large metropolitan areas or tourist destinations, according to a 2009 Government Accountability Office report. That adds up to a high potential for mass casualties and damage to the economy. The suicide bomber who detonated an explosive in the Brussels subway killed more people 20 than the bombs that badly damaged the citys airport, killing 11. Other attacks have been equally deadly. At least 40 people died in a bombing on the Moscow metro on March 29, 2010. On July 11, 2006, at least 209 people were killed and hundreds more injured when seven bombs exploded on a commuter rail line in Mumbai. Attacks on the Madrid and London transit systems killed 247 people in 2004 and 2005. Since 2009, U.S. law enforcement agencies have foiled separate attempts to bomb subways in New York and Washington the nations two biggest metro systems. Lightning Rods The reality is that transportation hubs have served as lightning rods for terrorists and will continue to in the foreseeable future, said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. TSAs budget is heavily weighted in favor of aviation. For 2016, the Obama administration proposed a $7.6 billion budget for the agency that would spend 76 percent on aviation security, compared with 1.1 percent on surface transportation. The bulk of the remaining amount is earmarked for intelligence and other agency functions. The U.S. Transit Security Grant Program, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, gave out $389 million in 2008. Within four years, however, the program, which funds such things as extra police patrols and surveillance cameras, was cut to $87.5 million and has roughly stayed the same since. A group of 67 lawmakers, including Swalwell, wrote Wednesday to leaders of the House committee that sets homeland security spending, urging an increase in the program to $105 million. Swalwell said he has unsuccessfully sought more funds since 2013. President Barack Obama proposed $87 million for the program in 2017, according to FEMAs website. A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TSA and FEMA, had no immediate response to questions about the relative funding of surface and air transportation security. Funding Constraints We understand the committee is under difficult funding constraints and agree that taxpayer dollars must be spent wisely, said Swalwells letter. However, significant threats to the safety of our homeland remain. Federal funding must be continued at a sufficient amount to ensure security for the American people. Swalwell said the grant program had paid the San Francisco regions Bay Area Rapid Transit system $30 million to make security improvements to a tunnel beneath the San Francisco Bay, but more work was needed. Cilluffo, who served as a homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush, said spending on hardening mass transit systems against attackers pales in comparison to aviation and the latest attacks highlight the need for more effort. There is justification for spending $150 million to $200 million a year on the grant program, according to Christian Beckner, deputy director at Cilluffos center. Beckner compiled the programs annual spending figures. NYPD Since the Brussels attacks, the New York Police Department has deployed additional counter-terrorism resources across the city, including the subway system, according to posts on the agency website. That included teams with dogs in crowded areas and transit stations. Still, the city has felt the sting of decreasing federal assistance, said Stephen Davis, NYPDs deputy commissioner of public information. Any cut in terrorism funding to New York to what is widely recognized as the nations top terror target would be irresponsible, Davis said. The Transit Security Grant Program is the primary source of money to pay for security needs at public transportation agencies, and the current funding is 78 percent below 2008 levels, said Michael Melaniphy, president and chief executive officer of the American Public Transportation Association. Transit Union We live in dangerous times, and public transit security federal funding is inadequate, Melaniphy said in an e-mailed statement. With transit ridership and security risks growing, we remain concerned with this underinvestment in the security of our nations transit systems. Lawrence Hanley, international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, also has called for increased spending on security. We havent exercised anywhere near the same diligence with respect to transit facilities that we have with airports and airlines, Hanley said. You cant have metal detectors at every bus stop, but there are precautions we should be taking. Some security experts say that additional spending on transportation security isnt needed and that efforts to do so are mostly intended to reassure the public. The reality is were not going to turn our subways and buses into armed camps, Jack Riley, director of RANDs National Security Research Division. We cant afford it. Its not practical. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man walked out of the courthouse Wednesday after he was sentenced to one year in prison, court officials said. Christopher Jordan, 20, was sentenced by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Paul Gallagher. He previously pleaded guilty to domestic violence and child endangering. Court officials were waiting for sheriff deputies to arrive to take Jordan into custody. Jordan asked if he could call his boss while he waited. He went out into the hallway and fled, court officials said. He has not yet been found. A warrant was issued Wednesday for his arrest. Jordan's conviction stems from a Nov. 19 domestic violence incident. In that case, Jordan argued with the mother of his 1-month-old child at their apartment in the 1500 block of Stadelman Avenue. He threw a bottle of brandy at his girlfriend. It missed and shattered a window. The 1-month-old child was in the room at the time. Jordan has two prior domestic violence convictions. CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio -- Police found a marijuana-growing operation Wednesday after the home caught fire. John Payne, 44, is charged with illegally growing marijuana, a fourth-degree felony. Payne is scheduled to appear Thursday in Stow Municipal Court. Cuyahoga Falls police said a fire started about 10 p.m. Wednesday at Payne's home in the 2300 block of Liberty Street. Firefighters noticed what appeared to be a marijuana growing operation and notified police. Cuyahoga Falls drug detectives searched the home and found 20 marijuana plants and equipment used to grow the plants, police said. Payne could still face additional charges, police said. AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron dad will spend the next nine years in prison for operating what police called the largest meth lab in the city's history at the home he shared with his three young children. Jeffrey Fowler, 34, previously pleaded guilty to a first-degree felony charge of meth making and three third-degree felony child endangering charges. Summit County Common Pleas Judge Lynne Callahan handed down the sentence on Wednesday. Fowler's girlfriend, Amanda Wilcox, 31, is serving a three-year prison sentence for child endangering and possessing meth-making chemicals. She agreed to testify against Fowler if needed. The couple's children -- ages 1, 5 and 8 -- have been in the custody of Summit County Children Services since the Sept. 27 raid at the family's home in the 2300 block of Congo Street. Akron police had received a tip about children living inside a home where people made meth. Investigators went to the home and Fowler and Wilcox answered the door. Officers could smell a strong odor of chemicals coming from the home. Officers searched the home and found the children. A 6-year-old relative was also in the house. Investigators found 25 active one-pot meth making bottles in the home, according to police reports. More than 100 total bottles were found. Officers also found marijuana plants growing in the basement. Akron police officials called it the largest meth-lab bust in recent history. AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man is accused of selling a heroin-fentanyl mix that led to the death of a 33-year-old woman. Genevus Carter, 34, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs and aggravated drug trafficking. Carter already faced charges of trafficking in heroin and cocaine. Carter pleaded not guilty to the charges. The new charges accuse Carter of selling drugs to Nina Formosa of Akron on Nov. 9, according to court records. Formosa was a cosmetologist at April Mae's Salon in Cuyahoga Falls. Friends told investigators that Formosa relapsed a few weeks before her death after two years of being drug-free. Before that, she had been addicted to heroin and crack cocaine, according to medical examiner records. Formosa's boyfriend told investigators that he talked with her on the phone on Nov. 9 and that she had taken drugs. Formosa's sister found her the next day dead on her bedroom floor. She died of an overdose of heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine, medical examiner records say. Akron police on Nov. 11 arrested Carter. He had heroin and crack with him at the time of the arrest, court records say. Carter has previously been convicted of felony crack cocaine possession five times-- in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2014. He has also been convicted of making drugs, possessing a gun as a felon and identity fraud. pizza history CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Although the history of pizza dates back hundreds of years, Chicago's deep dish interpretation is just a few decades old. In fact, if you consider the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and Phoenicians are all believed to have consumed flatbreads covered with various toppings thousands of years ago, then deep dish pizza is really the baby of the pizza family. We're digging into the history of pizza pies as part of cleveland.com's search for the best deep dish pizza in Greater Cleveland, ahead of National Deep Dish Pizza Day on April 5. Voting is open now, so be sure to cast your vote (hourly) for your favorite pizza shop's deep dish pie. The poll closes Thursday at 3 p.m. Cleveland.com's "Best of" team will visit the winning deep dish pizza shop Friday afternoon, and recap our trip as well as the best places to get deep dish pizza in Greater Cleveland on Tuesday. Back to pizza genealogy. The earliest mention of pizza dates back to 997 AD in Lazio, a central region in Italy, although that likely was closer to what we now call a flatbread or bruschetta. Pizza as we know it today gained popularity in Naples, Italy, in the 16th century, according to the BBC. The working people of Naples needed a street food that was quick and easy to eat, and thus the pizza was born, according to history.com. Initially dubbed a poor person's food, the flat dish got a boost from some royalty in the 17th century, including King Umberto I and Queen Margherita, for whom the Margherita Pizza is named. Pizza eventually spread beyond the borders of Naples, and Italian immigrants brought their favorite pizza recipes with them to America. But it wasn't until 1943 that the Chicago Deep Dish pizza was born. The first deep dish pizza came out of the ovens at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago. The general theory is it was some combination of creative cooking and successful marketing by the restaurant's owners, Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo, that led to the invention of the new pizza. But, as the Chicago Tribune has pointed out, it's unclear who specifically can be credited with the dish's invention. Long story short, the pair flipped the toppings, putting the cheese on the bottom and the tomato sauce on top, and cooked their pizza in a deep dish. Rebranded as Uno Chicago Grill, the chain now has more than 130 restaurants in 21 states and several foreign countries. To add a wrinkle, another famous Chicago restaurant, Giordano's, also stakes a claim to inventing the deep dish pizza. They claim founding brothers Efren and Joseph Boglio brought their mother's "Italian Easter Pie" recipe with them when they immigrated to Chicago in 1943. Either way, deep dish was a big hit and quickly spread across the city. These days, pizza is big business in America. Last year, more than $38.5 billion worth of pizza was sold nationwide, according to Pizza Magazine. Although deep dish pizza makes an appearance on many pizza restaurant menus these days, from Cleveland to Kuwait, many still associate the hearty younger brother of the traditional pizza with Chicago, and no trip to the Windy City is complete without a slice or two of deep dish. Supreme Court Union Fees Visitors wait on the plaza of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. for the justices' 4-4 split vote in a case focused on whether public employees represented by a union can be required to pay "fair share" fees. Such fees cover the collective bargaining costs of employees who choose not to join the union representing them. The deadlock is the first tie vote since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, who had been expected to rule against the unions. The court's tie leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that essentially upholds such fees. (J. Scott Applewhite, AP) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A tie usually means there is neither a winner nor a loser. However, local labor leaders are claiming the 4-4 tie in Tuesday's U.S. Supreme Court vote as a major victory for unions. The split vote leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling, which unions say preserves key collective-bargaining rights. The tie resulted from the vacant seat created when Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. "This is a win for workers," said Mark Davis, regional director of AFSCME Ohio Council 8, which represents public sector workers. "Now the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision stays in tact. That decision was exactly what the Supreme Court decided 40 years ago, and with all subsequent decisions since then." The Supreme Court's one-sentence opinion does not set a national precedent and does not identify how each justice voted. The opinion in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association simply upholds a decision from the appeals court that applies to California and eight other Western states. The Supreme Court justices' split vote involves a case brought by 10 California public school teachers who said they should not be required to pay "fair share" fees. Such fees cover collective bargaining costs for employees who choose not to join unions that represent them. The teachers said paying such fees violates their First Amendment rights. Organized labor says the teachers should be required to pay their "fair share" because the union was required to represent employees regardless of whether they had chosen to join the union. Labor cited Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, a 1977 opinion in which the Supreme Court said that public workers who choose not to join a union can be required to pay for bargaining costs if the fees don't go toward political purposes. The federal appeals court in ruling against the teachers, upheld Abood. However, many court observers - including those siding with organized labor -- anticipated that the Supreme Court was poised to overturn the lower court. They projected Scalia would hold the deciding vote. Sarah Moore, a partner at Fisher & Phillips, LLP in Cleveland, who represents public sector management, is among those who believe the organized labor issue would have been defeated had Scalia lived. She said Tuesday's opinion has implications for Ohio, since it is among the states where public sector unions can require "fair share" fees. "The public sector unions in 20 states literally escaped by the skin of their teeth," she said. "It was very clear from Justice Scalia's questioning during the January 2016 oral argument that he was aligned with overturning the 1977 decision in Abood and reversing the circuit court in California. "Scalia really hit it on the head when he said, 'The problem is that everything collectively bargained within the government is within the political sphere almost by definition,'" she said, referencing some of Scalia's comments from the oral argument. Harriet Applegate, who heads the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, disagrees with such an assessment. "Unions are the only voice that working people have," she said. "That voice would have effectively been silenced if the Abood decision had not prevailed." Applegate said a decision against Abood would have encouraged "freeloaders," who would benefit from the union's collective bargaining agreements without having to pay. For example, Applegate said "fair share" fees don't exist for federal employees who choose not to join unions representing them. As a result, she said among some federal workers represented by organized labor, union membership is as low as 50 percent. (By contrast, Davis said 94 percent of workers represented by AFSCME belong to the union.) Applegate said unions often end up representing these non-members in grievances with employers. "Even more surprising, once the union helps them out, and spends a lot of money on their case, they still don't join the union," she said. Davis said eliminating "fair share" agreements would undermine the strength of unions. "This would have weakened unions and their ability to go to the bargaining table on behalf of their members," he said. Moore predicted that Tuesday's 4-4 tie would not be the last challenge on the Abood case. "But for Scalia's untimely death, I think that we would have been looking at a different decision," she said. "It will be very interesting to see who ends up in Scalia's seat. Ultimately, the case will be framed again." This article includes information from the Associated Press. Cleveland Heights police Cleveland Heights police are investigating after a 17-year-old boy was shot in the back Tuesday afternoon. (File photo) CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio - Detectives are investigating after a 17-year-old boy was shot in the back Tuesday in Cleveland Heights. The boy is in stable condition following the incident that happened just before 2 p.m. on Qulliams Road near Langton Road, police said. Officers took a suspect into custody following the shooting. He is expected to be charged Wednesday, police said. Officers arrived and discovered a family member took the boy to the hospital. Witnesses said a man -- who was standing across the street at the time -- shot the boy, police said. Investigators have not released any additional information. Akron Federal Court Mark Farmer, a Washington, D.C.-area architect, was sentenced Wednesday to 33 months in prison for bribing William Montague, the former head of the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland. (File photo) AKRON, Ohio -- A Washington, D.C.-area architect was sentenced Wednesday to 33 months in prison for bribing the former head of the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland in exchange for privileged information projects for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Mark Farmer, 55, apologized for his actions and accepted responsibility on Tuesday in a sentencing hearing that stretched over two days. He said he should have known that the information that William Montague, the former head of the Cleveland VA, provided was privileged and should not have bribed him. "I've lost almost everything except my family, and I have set a very poor example for them," Farmer said. Farmer, of Arlington, Virginia, initially faced a prison sentence of nearly 20 years after a jury found him guilty in August for his role in the Cuyahoga County corruption scandal. However, he struck a deal with federal prosecutors for a prison sentence of between 21 months and six years. U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi, in sentencing Farmer, said she felt that Farmer should face a sentence that is proportional to Montague, who is awaiting sentencing on more than five-dozen felony counts. Under a plea deal, Montague is looking at a sentence of as little as 4 1/2 years. Lioi fined Farmer $12,500 and ordered him to forfeit $70,801.64, roughly the amount that he bribed Montague. His attorney requested that Farmer be placed at a minimum security prison in Morgantown, West Virginia. Lioi said she would make the recommendation. Farmer was convicted of 14 felonies, including conspiracy, racketeering, embezzlement, theft of public money, mail fraud and wire fraud. Farmer has been in jail since the jury's verdict. A jury found that Farmer colluded with Montague between 2010 and 2013 after Montague left the Cleveland VA and while he worked as the interim head of the VA in Dayton. During this time, Montague, a Brecksville resident, also ran the consulting firm "House of Montague." Montague testified at trial that he obtained and sent along confidential information so that CannonDesign could have an advantage when submitting bids on upcoming projects. Farmer's employer then used the confidential information to prepare a proposal to be chosen as the architectural firm to design a veterans' hospital in West Los Angeles, California. Assistant U.S. Attorney Antoinette Bacon, in arguing for a higher sentence, gave Lioi a refresher on the county corruption investigation and how Farmer's scheme fit into the timeline. In 45 minutes of remarks, Bacon showed that Farmer was working with Montague on a Cleveland VA project in 2008, around the same time that agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service raided the homes and businesses of several Cleveland-area contractors and public officials. Later, when Farmer started bribing Montague, the case against former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora case was well underway, and they continued even as Dimora was tried and found guilty. "He had warning flags. He had the ability to stop, but instead he barreled ahead," Bacon said of Farmer. The prosecutor also tried to compare Farmer's actions to Ferris Kleem, William Neiheiser and Steven Pumper, three Cleveland-area contractors who were sentenced in the corruption case. Kleem and Neiheiser served three-year prison sentences and Pumper is serving an eight-year stint. Bacon said that Farmer's case should be weighed against theirs and penalized accordingly because his bribes were higher and the benefits to his firm -- worth roughly $3.9 million -- were too. John Mitchell, Farmer's attorney, argued for a lower sentence because Farmer's career has been irreparably damaged by the case. He said his client will be banned from bidding on federal projects and will lose his architectural license. He also said Farmer is "beating himself up as much as anybody." Farmer's wife, Albertina Fernandez, was one of the only people in the viewing gallery on Tuesday and Wednesday. After being sentenced, he told her to "be very careful going home" before deputy U.S. Marshals led him away. Montague was the only federal official charged in the county corruption scandal, which yielded convictions against more than 60 people. He has pleaded guilty to accepting money from several contractors. A message left for CannonDesign's legal department was not returned. This story has been updated to remove an incorrect sentence about Farmer cooperating with federal prosecutors. ELYRIA, Ohio -- A 29-year-old woman is accused of running a brothel inside her Elyria home. The woman's 3-year-old child was inside the home in the 600 block of High Street while sexual activity was taking place, Elyria police Capt. Chris Costantino said. Alysia Mericle appeared Tuesday in Elyria Municipal Court, but did not enter a plea to charges of promoting prostitution, soliciting, endangering children, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia possession, according to court records. She is due back in court April 4. The child is with a family member. Lorain County Children Services agency is reviewing the matter. Mericle was arrested Monday morning after she made a deal to have sex with an undercover detective in exchange for cash, Costantino said. Detectives broke down the door at Mericle's home after she slammed the door in their faces. Police found the 3-year-old and a woman, who is the child's nanny, in the home. "The nanny watches the child in the house while the mom engages in sexual activity," Costantino said. Mericle's landlord directed police to the Backpage.com website, where police said Mericle advertised for business using the name "Cherry." An undercover detective set up the meeting with "Cherry" via the website. Charges may be filed against other men and woman involved in the brothel, Costantino said. Detectives also found prescription medication that did not belong to Mericle and a crack pipe inside the home, police said. Like Chanda Neely on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter: vin-diesel-instagram.jpg 'Fast & Furious 8' will hit theaters in April 2017. (Vin Diesel/Instagram) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- "Fast & Furious 8" is coming to Cleveland, but don't expect Vin Diesel or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to be racing through downtown streets at 100 miles per hour. While news that the film's second unit will be shooting in Cleveland has been on the down low, it was casually mentioned during a panel Tuesday in advance of the Cleveland International Film Festival. A posting on the Greater Cleveland Film Commission's jobs page indeed says the second unit of "Fast 8" is accepting submissions for local crew members and vendors "for its upcoming Cleveland shoot." The movie has also reached out to IATSE Local 209 -- the union that represents movie set workers such as grips, electricians, craft services, wardrobe, make up artists and hairstylists -- seeking resumes for crew to work on the film, a source told cleveland.com. Film commission president Ivan Schwarz said he couldn't comment on the movie shoot because it wasn't official. It's not certain when the "Fast 8" crew will start filming in Cleveland or how long it will be here, but the timeframe could be anywhere from mid-April to mid-June. Typically, a film's second unit works separately from the first unit, which includes the main actors and director, focusing on action sequences or establishing shots instead. Since "Fast 8" is set in New York City, it's a good bet Cleveland will take the place of the Big Apple in action sequences just like it did in "Spider-Man 3." That film's second unit, with a stuntman subbing for star Tobey Maguire, spent a few weeks shooting in Cleveland in 2006. Principal photography for "Fast & Furious 8" will begin in May in Atlanta and New York, with the film possibly shooting in Cuba as well, according to the Hollywood Reporter. In addition to Diesel and Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris and Lucas Black are set to return, according to IMDB. Charlize Theron is reportedly in talks to join the cast as a villain. The movie will be directed by F. Gary Gray ("Straight Outta Compton") and hit theaters April 14, 2017. Resilience still 20.png Dr. Nadine Burke Harris treats a patient at her San Francisco clinic. Exposure to trauma as a child--if you witnessed violence, didn't have enough to eat, if your parent abused drugs or alcohol, or you felt unsafe, for example--can interfere with normal brain development, disrupt hormonal and immune systems, and cut life expectancy. The documentary "Resilience" discusses how adult mentors can help buffer the effects of these stresses on kids. (Courtesy of KPJR Films) CLEVELAND, Ohio--There's a health threat to kids that contributes to seven of the 10 leading causes of death and in high doses, dramatically increases the risk of heart disease, cancers, substance abuse, suicide and obesity. It's one that many doctors still pay little attention to, despite being treatable and often largely preventable. The threat: exposure to trauma as a child. If, for example, you witnessed violence, didn't have enough to eat, your parent abused drugs or alcohol, or you felt unsafe, this trauma can interfere with normal brain development, disrupt hormonal and immune systems and cut life expectancy. Film producer Karen Pritzker remembers where she was when she first heard someone describe the research on these adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, and their connection to health in adulthood. It was at a community meeting in New Haven, Connecticut, not long after the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary school plunged the entire nation into shock and mourning. "As I was listening, my head was sort of spinning off my body... Literally, if your heart is broken as a child you're more prone to heart disease," she said. Her immediate thought: "What can we do to help these kids?" Resilience When Thursday March 31st at 2:30 p.m.; Friday, April 1st , 2016 at 4:45 p.m., followed by film discussion; Sunday, April 3rd at 1:50 p.m. Where Tower City Cinemas, 230 W. Huron Road in Cleveland. Complete schedule available at clevelandfilm.org "Resilience," playing this week at the Cleveland International Film Festival, is an attempt at an answer. Co-produced with James Redford, it's an examination of the ACEs research and the people who are using it to help kids and families cope with trauma. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a San Francisco area pediatrician, is one of those people. She had a similar reaction to the ACEs research when she first heard about it while working at a clinic in a low-income neighborhood on the city's southeast side. "It was like a bolt of lightning," she said in the film. Suddenly, it was clear why children were coming to her clinic in droves because schools or parents suspected attention deficit disorder, she said. Research on brain development was revealing that toxic stress, a long-term childhood exposure to trauma without adequate adult support, leads to a permanent hard-wiring of the brain for hypervigilance and alarm. It also decreases the number of connections in the brain's learning and memory centers and leads to impulsive behavior. "A lot of the kids I was seeing had so many traumatic experiences in their life," Burke Harris said. "We're seeing the behavior but not getting to the root of what's causing the behavior." She began screening all her patients for ACEs and using the information to guide their care. She now runs the Center for Youth Wellness, which aims to treat toxic stress and its effects. ACEs are common. The seminal study on the topic surveyed 17,000 adults in the Kaiser Permanente HMO from 1995 to 1997 about their childhood experiences of trauma, neglect and family dysfunction and found that 67 percent had at least one ACE. About one in five had four or more ACEs. That study, and many others since, have linked ACEs and poor health outcomes in adulthood, including heart disease, lung cancer, stomach ailments, headaches, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and obesity. Almost half of the nation's children have been exposed to ACEs, according to a recent study. The more of these traumatic experiences a child was exposed to, the more likely a parent was to report learning and behavioral problems such as bullying, not doing homework, repeating a grade and attention issues. The scope of the problem can seem so large that people are often overwhelmed. But the message of "Resilience" is one of hope, Pritzker said. "There really is a hopefulness here, and there really are things that we can do," she said. People either mistakenly think that all kids are born resilient and that trauma doesn't affect them, or they think that resilience to adversity is not something they can affect. Neither is true, Pritzker said. The best buffer to toxic stress in a child's life is a supportive adult, research has shown. A mentor, parent, caretaker, teacher -- anyone who takes an interest and stays around. Pritzker hopes the film will provoke discussion about local efforts to help kids who live with daily trauma. To further this goal, she'll be speaking after the film's Friday showing on a panel that will also include Tori Cordiano, a psychologist from Laurel School's Center for Research on Girls; Dr. Donald Ford, of Better Health Partnership's Clinical Advisory Committee; and Education and Trauma Consultant Barbara Oehlberg. You can find more information on the film and watch a trailer here. You can take an ACE screening here. trench.png A worker was killed Tuesday when a trench collapsed at a Mentor construction site. (Jane Morice, cleveland.com) MENTOR, Ohio - The 28-year-old worker who was killed Tuesday in a trench collapse at a Mentor construction site has been identified. Alexander J. Marcotte, an Aqua Ohio employee, suffered critical injuries as he was working on Heisley Road near Jackson Street, city officials said in a news release. Marcotte died after he was taken to the hospital. The excavated trench collapsed while a crew was relocating a water line as part of the Heisley Road widening project, officials said. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident. Law requires that the investigation be completed in 6 months, OSHA spokesman Scott Allen said. It will include taking measurements at the site, interviewing witnesses and reviewing safety records. Officials at Aqua Ohio, the sole water provider for Mentor, said they hired a contractor to finish the project at the site of the accident. The company will conduct its own investigation and cooperate with OSHA's probe, officials said. Aqua Ohio will also make grief counselors available Wednesday for local Aqua Ohio employees. "We are tremendously saddened at the death of our valued team member," Aqua Ohio President Ed Kolodziej said. "We extend our most heartfelt sympathies to the employee's loved ones." OSHA cited Aqua Ohio twice in 2013 for serious safety violations, Allen said. The company was fined $5,400 after it failed to provide ladders for employees working in trenches. The overall scope of the project is to widen Heisley Road from two lanes to four lanes between Mentor Avenue and Jackson Street, officials said. Construction is expected to resume Wednesday. Cleveland.com reporter Evan Macdonald contributed to this report. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State University will pay $800,000 for a Cleveland Heights home for President Ronald Berkman. The 13-room colonial, which will be used by future presidents, was built in 1913. It was listed at $869,000, according to Keller Williams Realty. The current owner purchased the brick home in 1996 for $375,000. In June 2009 the university's foundation bought a four-bedroom, Georgian-style house in Shaker Heights for $808,000 and leased it to the university. It sold that home for about the same amount in 2014, and Berkman moved into an apartment in The 9 on East 9th Street. The university announced in February that it would buy another home for Berkman and future presidents because the apartment was too small for entertaining. The 5,486-square-foot home on Fairmount Boulevard includes six bedrooms, four full and two half-bathrooms, formal living and dining rooms and a sunroom. It is described as: "A remarkable Walker and Weeks designed brick Georgian center hall on glorious professionally landscaped lot." The trustee executive board last week agreed to lease the home from the Euclid Avenue Development Corporation, a non-profit organization formed by CSU to finance and manage housing and parking projects. The development corporation's board agreed on March 8 to buy the home. CSU has not released details of the lease agreement have not been released. LINNDALE, Ohio -- Pieces of charred wood and twisted metal lay behind the Hookah Palace on West 117th Street near the Cleveland border Wednesday morning, as investigators work to determine what caused a fire that severely damaged the night club. Linndale police called Cleveland firefighters at 9:59 p.m. Tuesday to report a fire at 4005 Memphis Avenue, fire spokesman Gerardo Colon said. Firefighters drove to the address but found no evidence of a fire, Colon said. Cleveland's fire department services the tiny village of Linndale. Minutes later, firefighters got a report of smoke coming from roof of the hookah bar at 4005 W. 117th Street, Colon said. Firefighters showed up and found flames shooting from the back the of the building and the roof. No one was inside the bar at the time of the fire, and no one was injured, Colon said. The cause has not been determined and investigators have not yet tallied the total amount of damage, which was mostly to the back and roof of the building, Colon said. Correction: The fire occurred on the small stretch of West 117th Street in the village of Linndale. Cleveland police car stock Two men were shot on Lenacrave Avenue early Wednesday, police said. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two men were shot early Wednesday while debating whether to go home for the night or try to meet women, according to police report. The men, 24 and 21, suffered minor injuries after two gunmen walked up and opened fire on Lenacrave Avenue about 2:30 a.m., according to a Cleveland police report. The men told police they were standing next to their parked car near East 127th Street, deciding between "taking it in for the night" or trying to meet women, the report says. They noticed two men with hoods tied around their face walking toward them, the report says. Each of the hooded men carried a pistol. The victims then jumped into their car and sped away, but the assailants opened fire, the report says. A bullet grazed the 24-year-old's left side. The 21-year-old was struck three times -- once in the right hand, once in the left forearm and once in the right foot. The men then drove to the home of the 24-year-old's girlfriend, who drove them both to MetroHealth Medical Center. The men gave no description of the shooters, and investigators found no bullet casings on Lenacrave Avenue, according to the report. University of Toledo logo The University of Toledo has placed the Pi Kappa Phi on probation until May 2017 following an investigation into a "violent incident" at a January off-campus party. (Mid-American Conference) TOLEDO, Ohio - A fraternity at the University of Toledo has been placed on probation after the university completed an investigation into a "violent incident" at a January off-campus party. Pi Kappa Phi fraternity will be on probation until May 31, 2017, WTOL reports. The probation stems from a Jan. 24 altercation between students and fraternity members at an off-campus party. Details about the incident were not released Tuesday when the university's student code of conduct investigation results were made public, according to WTOL. The probation is one consequence of the investigation. In addition to the probation, the fraternity members are also restricted from hosting social events until May 31, 2017 and from admitting new members until Jan. 1, 2017, according to WTOL. Fraternity members must also go through mandatory anti-bullying and alcohol awareness training, WTOL reports. University of Toledo president Sharon Gabers said that subsequent discussion about the incident around campus has made her "optimistic." "Great universities don't shy away from difficult conversations. It is because the UT community is engaged in civil but passionate, educated discussions that we will achieve a greater understanding of each other," Gabers said in a statement to WTOL. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland city officials gathered Wednesday to honor more than 20 firefighters and citizens for acts of bravery and heroism in 2015. The annual ceremony was held at Cleveland City Hall to recognize firefighters who pulled families from burning buildings and helped talk suicidal people back from a ledge. A Medal of Valor, the highest honor, was awarded to Capt. Timothy Todten and Lt. Phillip Seger, who in March 2015 rescued a worker trapped on top of an electrical platform that caught fire. The worker survived even after he was shocked with 30,000 volts of electricity. Todten, a two-time recipient of the medal, said in an interview after the ceremony that the award represents the work the men and women of the fire department do every day. "It wasn't easy, but at the time you don't think about the difficulty," Todten said. "There was a guy up there, and it's our job to go get him. We didn't really have time to think. We just acted." City officials also presented the Florian Cross, the Meritorius Service Award and the Distinguished Service award to several firefighters who excelled at keeping the public safe in 2015. They also acknowledged four men who rescued a disabled man from a burning home on Martin Luther King Drive in April. Ridge Jackson, Rondale Griffin, Clarence Williams and Westley Lattimore were presented with the Citizens Award. Police Tape 3 A woman was struck by a train and killed early Wednesday in Butler County. (Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com) CINCINNATI, Ohio - A woman was hit by a train and killed early Wednesday in Hamilton, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati. The incident happened about 6:30 a.m. near Fifth and Butler streets, Hamilton police Sgt. Brian Robinson told Cincinnati.com. Police believe the woman, whose identity has not yet been released, saw a southbound train pass the intersection and walked onto the tracks, ignoring the guard gate. She was struck by a northbound train, Cincinnati.com reports. "It seems to be a case of being impatient and crossing the intersection before she should have," Robinson said. A two-mile long stretch was closed for hours Wednesday as Hamilton police and Butler County Sheriff's Office officials worked the scene, according to Cincinnati.com. The area where the woman was killed is considered a problem area by law enforcement, Cincinnati.com reports. Three weeks ago, a man was hit by a train about 300 yards from where Wednesday's accident occurred. In 2015, 17 people were killed at a railway in Butler County, the highest number in any other Ohio county, according to a Cincinnati.com analysis of Federal Railroad Administration data. marijuana.jpg The Ohio Ballot Board is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Ohio Statehouse to consider whether a proposed medical marijuana legalization ballot measure contains one or multiple amendments. ((Glen Stubbe, Minneapolis Star Tribune)) Ballot Board to review proposed medical marijuana amendment: The latest hurdle for a proposed medical marijuana legalization ballot measure is set to take place at 2 p.m., when the Ohio Ballot Board is scheduled to consider whether the proposal contains one or multiple amendments. Medical Marijuana Task Force to meet: Meanwhile, the Ohio House's Medicinal Marijuana Task Force, created by state lawmakers to study the issue, is expected to hold a 3 p.m. meeting at the Statehouse. Portman to participate in prison re-entry discussion: U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is slated to introduce a panel of speakers and give closing remarks during an 8 a.m. discussion about prison re-entry programs at the City Club of Cleveland. The event is free and open to the public. Portman to talk about Cleveland Harbor dredging: Portman also has a late morning meeting planned with Port of Cleveland officials to discuss his efforts to ensure that the Army Corps of Engineers' properly dispose of dredged material from Cleveland Harbor. The senator also plans to tour the Port of Cleveland's docks and facilities to dispose of dredging waste, according to a release. Forum planned on the presidential primary system: John Carroll University plans to host a community forum on the presidential primary process, starting at 7 p.m. in the Dolan Center for Science and Technology (Donahue Auditorium). Amy Walter, national editor of the Cook Political Report and a regular "Meet the Press" panelist, is slated to be the keynote speaker. The event is free and open to the public, though attendees must register online ahead of time. Columbus lawmaker to host state employee forum: State Rep. Hearcel Craig, a Columbus Democrat, plans to host a free community forum regarding retirement options and healthcare benefits for state employees and retirees. The meeting is scheduled to be held at the Columbus Metropolitan Driving Park Library from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Others to watch: Bernie Sanders plans to campaign in Pittsburgh and New York City. Hillary Clinton is scheduled to campaign in New York before attending fundraisers in Massachusetts. Ted Cruz is set to campaign in Wisconsin alongside Carly Fiorina. A man checks out the homepage of Google internet search engine in an office in Washington, DC, on February 8, 2011. Jewel Samad | AFP | Getty Images Foreign websites in China face new restrictions under a proposal that seeks to force internet service providers to block access to everything with a domain registered outside the country. The draft legislation is the latest in a series of tough measures designed to bolster the so-called Great Firewall, China's online censorship apparatus. Many foreign websites, including Google , , Twitter , YouTube and many foreign news websites, are already blocked. Industry analysts say the rules, disseminated on Monday, fit a new pattern in which the government is making its powers and the limits of dissent more explicit and public rather than denying their existence. watch now The new rules are part of a set of draft revisions to Chinese regulations on managing internet domain names. Article 37 of the draft states: "For domain names engaging in network access within the borders, but which are not managed by domestic domain name registration service bodies, internet access service providers may not provide network access services." Experts were still studying the draft rules on Tuesday. Charlie Smith of Greatfire.org, a website devoted to monitoring Chinese online censorship, said the wording appeared to be purposefully vague, which in practice could allow enforcement agencies to do with it what they wished. "I think the language being used is probably not exactly clear and that the authorities have purposely made things unclear and open to interpretation or, as the case may be, misinterpretation" he said. More from the Financial Times : Bank of America bans staff from saying 'Brexit' Volkswagen faces $15bn hit over US green ad campaign Switzerland: Rebuilding the brand It remains to be seen whether the draft law will eventually be implemented, and whether, even if implemented, it will be enforced. Similarly dire sounding laws have been passed recently with no noticeable effect on the already difficult environment for foreign internet companies in China. Americans support Apple over Feds in privacy debate: Survey Steve Liesman | @steveliesman Apple is gaining ground in winning the hearts and minds of the American public in the battle with the federal government over encryption. A CNBC survey conducted before the Justice Department dropped its court order bid against the tech giant to unlock a terrorist's iPhone found that 57 percent of Americans agreed that privacy concerns trumped the needs of law enforcement in the debate. That was an increase from 53 percent in December's CNBC All-America Economic Survey. In the latest poll, CNBC surveyed 806 Americans from March 21 though March 23, with the Brussels terror attacks falling in the middle. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results broken down by day showed that the Brussels attack had little effect on the responses. The respondents continued to favor the software companies after the attack, just as they did before. It's a rare issue where agreement crosses party lines. Democrats favored the software companies 61 percent to 28 percent, with support 10 points higher than it was in December. Republicans favored encryption by 57 percent to 31 percent, with support rising by 4 points. Apple had been in a pitched battled with the FBI investigation into the San Bernardino terrorist attack. The FBI could not break into an Apple iPhone left behind by one of the terrorists and went to court to force Apple to write code to allow access. But the Justice Department said Monday it was dropping its court order against Apple after it was able to unlock the iPhone used by gunman Syed Rizwan Farook. CNBC asked a similar question about encryption twice, and in both cases, found support for the software companies. In the first question, CNBC asked simply whether software companies should not sell software and devices with encryption coding that prevents both criminals and law enforcement agencies form reading emails or messages. In that case, the respondents broke 39-23 percent in favor of the software companies. A large 24 percent said they did not know enough to have an opinion. That was down, however, from 35 percent in December, perhaps because the issue has received far more publicity. In the next question, CNBC asked which of two statements they preferred, one that said companies should sell the software and device with encryption because it protects consumer data from criminals and the government. The second statement said technology companies should not sell the devices because criminals and terrorist organizations could communicate in secret, which would hinder law enforcement. In that case, the percentage support for the tech companies actually rose, to 57 percent to 28 percent, even though the second statement mentions terrorist organizations. In addition, the percentage who declined to give an opinion fell by 9 points, perhaps because they were informed of the issue from the first question. One big split in the poll was by education. Those with less than a high school education support the tech companies, 46 percent to 35 percent. Those with post-graduate educations support the tech companies 70 percent to 20 percent, a big jump in support from the December survey. About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD , CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 371 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms. These include CNBC.com, the online destination for global business; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides real-time global market data and live access to CNBC global programming; and a suite of CNBC Mobile products including the CNBC Real-Time iPhone and iPad Apps. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/cnbc/. What's it like to retire at 33? "Every day is like a Sunday where I don't have chores, and I have all this free time and can do what I want." That's the synopsis from Justin McCurry, a Raleigh, N.C. resident who swapped life as an engineer for early retirement two years ago. Far from subsisting on rice and beans, McCurry eats "5-star meals" made from scratch at home, vacations with his family and spends time outdoors hiking and swimming. So what's the secret to ditching the rat race before even hitting the big 4-0? "We weren't extraordinarily wealthy or lucky in terms of income or jobs," said McCurry, who writes about his experience on his personal finance blog www.RootOfGood.com. Justin McCurry with family on vacation in Mexico. Source: Justin McCurry Instead, he and his wife (who recently joined him in early retirement) saved about half of their income and tried to resist lifestyle inflation. Even though their combined salaries never rose to more than $141,000 ($150,000 with dividends), they were able to squirrel away a sizable net worth, which currently stands around $1.4 million. To accomplish this, their family saved on most people's three big expenses: housing, transportation and food. They still live in the same house they bought during law school and haven't purchased a new car since college. They also rarely eat out. Still, the McCurry family makes a point to go on vacation and went on a seven-week excursion to Mexico last year. To save money, they used credit card points to pay for part of it and ended up spending just $4,500 for their family of five on the trip. We weren't extraordinarily wealthy or lucky in terms of income or jobs. Justin McCurry retired at 33 McCurry's advice for others who want to retire early is relatively straightforward: don't inflate your lifestyle and save, save, save. "Get a good handle on what your expenses are, and if you're really serious about retiring early, you need to save a lot of your income," McCurry said, adding that about 50 percent would be an ideal savings ratio. Early retirees Jeremy Jacobson, center, his wife Winnie Tseng and their son Julian Jacobson. Source: Jeremy Jacobson Winnie For fellow early retiree Jeremy Jacobson, who blogs at www.gocurrycracker.com, a vacation prompted him to rethink his priorities and decide he wanted to ditch his career as an electrical engineer decades early. "I was scuba diving in the Philippines, and I thought it was way better than being at work," he said. Following this, he sold his car, house and motorcycle in favor of an apartment near work and a bike commute. By cutting back on expenses, Jacobson was able to retire at 38 even though his joint income with his wife never surpassed $135,000. Today, their net worth hovers around $2 million. "The main thing is just being able to live on a small percentage of your income," he said, recommending people save a minimum of half of their income and try to minimize taxes if they want to retiree early. While squirreling away his own retirement war chest, Jacobson saved as much as 70 percent of his after-tax income. Jacobson said he's not worried about getting a smaller Social Security check in the future. He crunched the numbers and found his lost earnings would not boost his check that much. He and his family keep expenses relatively low by finding happiness in things that don't cost as much money, like hanging out with friends over home-cooked meals. In total, Jacobson's retirement expenses total about $40,000 per year, an amount roughly equal to what he made in blog income last year. watch now After technology stocks helped a choppy market rise Tuesday, "Fast Money" traders debated whether some growth names were worth their cost. The major U.S. averages closed the session higher, recovering from a lower open after Fed Chair Janet Yellen took a cautious tone on policy in an afternoon speech. Facebook , Microsoft and Netflix shares rose more than 2 percent each on the day. After the gains, some traders wondered whether the stocks were too expensive, a worry many observers have expressed in recent months. "This is a ridiculous multiple and a lot of competition," trader Tim Seymour said of Netflix, whose shares have soared 75 percent in the last year. Jim Young | Reuters While they have not climbed as much as Netflix, Facebook and Microsoft have also enjoyed strong runs in the last year. Facebook and Microsoft shares are up 39 and 33 percent, respectively. Seymour contended investors have shelled out more for those and other popular tech stocks because of recent results. "People are willing to pay a high-growth multiple for a company that has been delivering," he said. Trader Pete Najarian said the stocks could have more upside. He highlighted the growth of Facebook's Instagram and touted the leadership of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Trader Brian Kelly, though, warned that Facebook shares may not fare well if volatility takes hold of stock markets. He said he would prefer to buy Microsoft, as it has a "nice dividend," and stray from Facebook. Yahoo has gone beyond its useful years and its time is over, one analyst told CNBC on Wednesday. Trip Chowdhry, managing director and senior analyst at Global Equities Research, told CNBC's "The Rundown" that from a fundamental point of view, no company will be interested in buying Yahoo, including Microsoft . Last week, a report by Re/code said the software giant might be interested in financing the bids of private equity firms looking to bid for Yahoo. "I think Microsoft will participate with any private equity firm or whoever wants to buy [Yahoo] so that they maintain their influence ... [and] continue to provide its Bing search on Yahoo properties," said Chowdhry, adding he doesn't see the company buying Yahoo. Yahoo and Microsoft started a partnership in 2009, which was amended in 2015, under which Microsoft pays Yahoo a percentage of Bing Ads revenue delivered from Yahoo searches. Vapor rises above Tata Steel's plant in Port Talbot, south Wales, on January 18, 2016. Geoff Caddick | AFP | Getty Images The British steel industry suffered a severe blow as Tata , the Indian steel giant, confirmed fears that it was about to put its UK business up for sale. Late on Tuesday the Indian group said it was "looking at strategic alternatives" to the current ownership "to explore all options for portfolio restructuring, including the potential divestment of Tata Steel UK, in whole or in parts". Earlier, union sources had revealed that the company was poised to announce the sale of its British steel operations, plunging several plants at Port Talbot, Rotherham, Corby and Shotton into uncertainty. Steel workers had been waiting for days for a decision to be made by the Tata board 4,700 miles away in Mumbai over the fate of Britain's steelworks. Stephen Kinnock, Labour MP for Aberavon who had joined Community union officials in Mumbai to try to persuade the Tata board to keep Port Talbot, Britain's largest steelworks, open told the South Wales Evening Post that the company intended to sell the steelworks. Instead of the hoped-for approval of a rescue plan, Tata is intent on selling its UK businesses in a move that will come as a hammer blow to the remnants of one-time British Steel. Tata painted a stark picture of the prospects for its UK business, saying that trading conditions in the UK and Europe had rapidly deteriorated recently due to "structural factors" such as global oversupply, increasing imports, high manufacturing costs and weak domestic demand. These were likely to continue into the future and had "significantly" affected the long-term competitiveness of its UK operations. watch now In comments that may damp hopes of finding a buyer, the company's board concluded that the turnround plan for the Port Talbot was "unaffordable", the assumptions behind it "very risky" and the likelihood of delivery "highly uncertain". Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru, demanded a recall of the Welsh national assembly to co-ordinate a political response to the news. "The priority now must be to seek out a reliable potential buyer to ensure that the highly-skilled workforce at Port Talbot can continue to produce world-class steel," she said. More from the Financial Times : Bank of America bans staff from saying 'Brexit' Volkswagen faces $15bn hit over US green ad campaign Switzerland: Rebuilding the brand Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community, the steelworkers' union, said: "Our worst fear that Tata would announce plant closures today has not been realized . . . it is vitally important that Tata is a responsible seller of its businesses and provides sufficient time to find new ownership." Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader, said ministers had to act to protect the steel industry and the core of manufacturing in Britain. "It is vital that the government intervenes to maintain steel production in Port Talbot, both for the workforce and the wider economy, if necessary by taking a public stake in the industry," he said. watch now Tata revealed that it had been in talks with the government, seeking support for the UK business within the scope of European state aid rules and that these would continue. Earlier in the evening, the government had denied a claim that it was on standby to part-nationalise Port Talbot. Amid repeated rumours that the state could step in to rescue the industry, one official said the government was "looking at all viable options". Asked whether that included part-nationalisation, he said: "Not to my knowledge." Ministers are open to providing support, for example loans or loan guarantees or through further help with procurement. But a private sector sale is the preferred solution, not least because taking responsibility for the steel plants could leave taxpayers on the hook for large losses and invoke EU state aid concerns. Unite, Britain's largest union, called on the government to intervene. "This is a very dark day for the proud communities and a proud industry which is now on the verge of extinction in this country," said Len McCluskey, general secretary. British steel workers had delivered for Tata through "thick and thin", he said. "They will feel a grim sense of betrayal by this decision, because they know that given half a chance they can make Port Talbot and sites across the UK profitable and successful." I am definitely outside my comfort zone today. A few miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, I'm standing inside a darkened, cavernous war zone, with lights flashing and music blaring, along with the sounds of explosives. This middle-aged female journalist is running around in military-style camouflage, with a protective vest and helmet, while lugging along an air soft rifle with extra magazines. I can't see because my goggles keep fogging up. The shoulder sling for my rifle is too long for my 5-foot-5 frame, and I'm afraid I'm going to trip over my weapon. I also put on my vest backward. "You will be mocked for that," said one of my squad leaders, a man named Wombat. Zombies at ACO Source: CNBC Wombat has been in a real war. So has his partner, Gator. Yet the two U.S. military veterans are having the time of their lives this day, leading a group of us through 45 minutes of training and then into a one-hour battle. My fellow combatants, my "band of brothers," consists of a retired police officer, a retired Vietnam veteran, and about a half-dozen other men and women, including one girlfriend dragged along for the day who'd rather be anywhere than here. Our mission, save humanity from zombies, which a group of terrorists is using to destroy free people everywhere. By the time the battle has ended, my discomfort has been replaced by elation. I have learned to work as a team, kick in a door, clear a room and search for intelligence. I also "killed" a ton of zombies ... and I accidentally shot two of my own men. It was fake. It was fun. It was $199. Even the angry girlfriend seems happy. CNBC's Jane Wells at ACO Source: CNBC "In my experience, this is as close as you're actually going to get to combat, without having to worry about going into combat," said Travis Krauss, founder and CEO of the company, which put on the experience, Adventure Combat Ops, or ACO. What I didn't realize then was that all the fun I had as a civilian playing soldier was nothing compared with the therapeutic effects the zombie war experience might have on people who fought real wars, including the men and women who built ACO. People like Krauss. His military experience includes the Army Rangers and Delta Force. Much of the team he's assembled to create ACO comes from a similar background. "We've got guys here that were in Tora Bora in 2001," he said. "There's guys here that were in the unit that killed Uday and Qusay, Saddam's sons." Krauss started Adventure Combat Ops as an offshoot of another business he runs training government personnel for combat. "One day, one of the guys that works with us said, 'Hey, why don't we make something like this for fun, for regular Joes off the street to come in and play with us?'" At first, Krauss planned to create a mobile zombie battle adventure, moving from city to city. After a trial run in Miami, he discovered the setup and breakdown exhausted his staff, so ACO settled in a permanent place about as far away from Iraq and Afghanistan as you can get: Sin City. Krauss raised the first $1 million and then managed to raise $1.5 million more, including $400,000 from the Bank of Nevada. He found a large warehouse and began construction, including $250,000 spent on special effects. ACO went to the local community college to find young actors willing to play zombies four times a day. "I don't get the zombie thing honestly," said Krauss, "but, you know, what's the biggest show on TV right now, right?" ACO Truck Source: CNBC However, ACO itself was nearly the walking dead. Krauss almost lost the battle to get the business going. "We had six people our first weekend, six people," he said. "We had over 800 slots to fill." A hard lesson was learned. Krauss said his team was used to operating on trust. "To me, if people tell you they're going to do something, you should be able to count on it, and that's not the case," he said, getting emotional. "It's not the way a lot of people operate." There was a steep learning curve in dealing with contractors and marketers and insurance. Krauss said he took the setbacks personally, because so much of his team "picked up and moved cross country to be part of this because of their faith in my vision. That's a pretty intense burden." However, the team pulled together and relied on their training to find solutions. "We literally had to write up a fire execution plan," Krauss cited as one example. "We didn't know how to do a lot of this stuff, but every one of us looks at each other and goes, 'Man, how are we going to do this?' 'I don't know, we'll figure it out.'" These days ACO is doing a healthy business. In eight months of operation, Krauss said sales have topped $500,000. Its gory apocalyptic shuttles can be seen driving down Las Vegas Boulevard as moving advertisements. Christmas weekend was "crazy," Krauss said, and corporate team building has become a new line of business (a local law firm was in the group after mine). ACO is starting to offer larger and longer adventures out in the desert, like the Bourne Adrenaline experience. Krauss said the company has been approached by interested parties in wanting to expand to Orlando, Floirda. There's also a private label energy drink, a potential deal with fitness event company Parkour, and a local casino is considering a partnership. Krauss' advice to other entrepreneurs is to do more due diligence on the people you choose to work with. "It will indeed take more time than you think, it will indeed take more money than what you think, and if it's anything worth having, it will indeed take more from you than you will ever be able to imagine," he said, holding his emotions in check. "I would rather go through Ranger school and Delta selection back to back twice before I would voluntarily endure this again, and I'm a hard dude." Why do it then? "Because people are counting on me," Krauss replied after collecting himself. "It allows them to be themselves in a way that is fun now." Not only the people who work with him, but also the combat veterans who come in as customers, some of whom may be suffering from post traumatic stress. "It's actually therapeutic, because it's contained, because they know that it's a production, and they're in control of it," Krauss said. "It allows them to control the nightmares." And, perhaps, it also allows Krauss to recapture a tiny bit of the rush of real combat. "I miss it with every fiber of my being." watch now For people with type 1 diabetes, life is a perpetual tightrope act. They must carefully monitor the dosage and timing of insulin injections that allow them to teeter on the high wire that is optimum glucose control. Too little insulin, and their glucose levels rise, leaving them at risk over time for complications such as blindness and kidney failure; too much insulin and hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) results, making them vulnerable to coma or, in extreme circumstances, even death. Now researchers studying type 1 diabetes believe they have found a way to help patients avoid the tightrope walk altogether. Several academic and commercial groups are conducting clinical trials for the latest generation of what's known as the artificial pancreas. Contrary to what the name might suggest, artificial pancreas systems involve no transfer of tissue. Rather, the term refers to a complex technology that uses computer algorithms to automatically and continuously sense a person's unique blood glucose balance and then substitute the endocrine function of a healthy pancreas. A woman wears an early prototype of a bio-artificial pancreas (BAP) at the European Center for the Study of Diabetes on July 3, 2014, in Strasbourg, eastern France. Frederucj Florin | AFP | Getty Images The new technology is a part of what the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology refer to as personalized medicine which the organization defines as "the tailoring of medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient." One company at the forefront of this approach is Dublin-based Medtronic, which estimates that its advanced version of an artificial pancreas system could be in the marketplace by next year. Meanwhile, a team of researchers led by Dr. Boris Kovatchev, director of the University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology, has announced that the group will begin final clinical trials this summer on another artificial pancreas system developed by the University and refined for clinical use by the start-up company TypeZero Technologies. Still other research programs are in progress at Cambridge University and also at Boston University, where a team led by Professor Edward Damiano is developing a product that will measure both insulin and glucagon, a peptide hormone that works to raise the concentration of glucose in the bloodstream. Dr. Marc Breton, associate professor at UVA's Center for Diabetes Technology, says the technology behind artificial pancreas systems is being improved and refined daily. "The algorithms it is based on are resulting in better and better outcomes. For people with type I diabetes, it's quite a hopeful time." New hope for millions A key player in the development of the artificial pancreas was JDRF, previously known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Several years ago, despite awareness that artificial pancreas technology could be helpful for type 1 diabetes, there was little interest from the industry to develop the product. JDRF's chief mission officer, Aaron Kowalski, Ph.D., stepped in to persuade industry and regulatory officials that the technology was worthwhile and could be successfully marketed. The organization has since funded millions of dollars' worth of research in the field. The hope is that the new systems can transform the lives of the estimated 1.25 million U.S. individuals who suffer from type 1 diabetes and the estimated 80,000 children around the globe who are diagnosed each year. Type 1 diabetes is typically diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, requiring patients, who can't produce their own insulin, to depend on daily injections or a conventional insulin pump. In children, this can be especially worrisome, because without constant monitoring, dangerously low glucose levels may go undetected in the overnight hours. Parents typically must awaken several times during the night to test their children's levels and then be prepared to intervene on a moment's notice. Artificial pancreas systems hope to eliminate this danger by taking existing pump technology to a new level. While most earlier versions primarily served as blood glucose monitors, the newest technology goes a step further. It is the force behind what scientists have come to call a "closed-loop" system, consisting of a pump worn outside the body, a continuous glucose monitor, which measures glucose from fluid under the skin, and a device that runs continuous algorithms to determine how much insulin should be delivered. The devices "close the loop" by providing not only continuous monitoring of blood glucose but continuous adjustments in the amount of insulin supplied through the pump. Xavier Hames, a four-year-old Australian boy with type 1 diabetes, was the first person to use a precusor to Medtronic's new system. His mother, Naomi Hames, said it helped ease the family's daily worries about their child's fluctuating glucose levels. "Having this new system gives us the reassurance that Xavier is safe when we are all asleep at night and during the day," she said. Two final clinical trials, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will test UVA's product with larger groups of people in locations throughout the United States and Europe beginning this summer. The trials will be conducted at eight test sites. In addition to UVA, they include Harvard University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, University of Colorado, Stanford University, University of Montpellier in France, University of Padova in Italy and the Academic Medical Center at the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands. In the first study, 240 patients with type 1 diabetes will use the artificial pancreas for six months while participating in their regular daily routines. The device will be compared with a standard insulin pump on two metrics: whether it reduces the risk of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, and how well it holds blood-glucose levels in check. In the second study, 180 patients who have completed the first study will undergo an additional six months of testing. That group will test a Harvard University algorithm to determine the degree of blood glucose control in patients. watch now watch now watch now Three out of 4 FANG stocks are trading lower this year, but investors should take note of the advantage Facebook , Amazon , Google-parent Alphabet , and Netflix have in one key area, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said Wednesday. The big-cap tech innovators are poised to reap benefits from the commercialization of artificial intelligence and machine learning, she told CNBC's "Squawk Box." For that reason, long-term investors should not be concerned about the stocks' recent underperformance. "We think the big are getting bigger. The winner takes most. We're seeing that time and again," said Wood, also chief investment officer at ARK, which offers four technology-focused exchange-traded funds. Shares of Facebook are up nearly 11 percent year to date, but the remaining FANG stocks are in the red, with Amazon down about 12 percent, Alphabet slipping almost 2 percent and Netflix sinking nearly 9 percent. The fact that consumers are already interacting with machine learning through Amazon's sleeper hit Echo, a voice-activated personal assistant, shows these technologies have the potential to generate revenue sooner than later. Meanwhile, Netflix's mastery of big data is allowing it to beat cable providers in terms of how much it pays for content for each hour users view, Wood said. And Facebook is likely to launch a new AI product at its developer conference next month, she added. On the enterprise business side, Wood noted that Alphabet announced last week it would challenge Amazon in artificial intelligence for cloud computing, a space the e-commerce giant dominates with Amazon Web Services. Those who were monitoring Amazon Web Services before Amazon began marketing it recognized it would be even more profitable than the company's retail business, she said. "I think Amazon has taught a lot of people a lesson, and that is if you have big idea, you have to tell investors about it, invest heavily against the opportunity, and you'll be rewarded for it," she said. That same lesson should be applied to artificial intelligence, according to Wood. For example, ARK believes self-driving cars will be a $500 billion business, she said, noting that tech companies are dominating in that space. Neil Doshi, technology analyst at Mizuho, said concerns about leadership conflicts at Alphabet subsidiaries are "a little overblown." He noted that companies other than Google contributed about one half of 1 percent of revenue last year. On Tuesday, Re/code linked previous reports about leadership issues at robotics firm Boston Dynamics, smart appliance-maker Nest, and life sciences start-up Verily to establish a pattern of CEO problems within these subsidiaries and tension with Alphabet's top executives. watch now watch now watch now The fight for unbound delegates between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is about to get white hot as the U.S. senator from Texas is confirmed to be the keynote speaker at the North Dakota delegate convention on April 2. North Dakota is one of three states that have the most unbound delegates being voted on in the next several weeks. Unbound delegates are not tethered to any particular candidate and are free to vote their preference. They will become increasingly key if Trump can not win the majority of delegates required for the Republican nomination. North Dakota has 28 delegates that are up for grabs. This contest is followed by Colorado on April 9 for the election of its 37 unbound delegates and on April 16 in Wyoming for 29 unbound delegates. American Samoa and Guam had contests for their unbound delegates earlier in March. Each territory will have nine delegates representing them at the GOP's July convention. This is not the first delegate contest where Cruz will be personally meeting with delegates in an effort to convince them to promise to vote for him at the convention. The Cruz campaign confirmed publicly the senator will also be attending the Colorado assembly. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Carlo Allegri | Reuters; Chris Keane | Reuters The speaking slots were picked by the campaigns, Roz Leighton, executive director of the North Dakota Republican Party told CNBC. Even though Trump's campaign called the state office first, they chose to have Ben Carson speak on Sunday morning before the vote. Carson has endorsed Trump. The Cruz campaign requested to have the senator deliver the Saturday keynote which is before the delegate nominations. CNBC has also learned that John Kasich's campaign called this week, just days before the convention, to see if a surrogate can participate. What makes the North Dakota, Colorado and Wyoming delegate elections so important to the candidates is these delegates are unbound in the first vote and can vote for any candidate they want. In a contested convention, these delegates could sway the nomination in either Cruz or Trump's favor. In the race for 1,237, Trump is in the lead with 749 delegates, followed by Cruz with 485 and Kasich with 143, according to NBC News. Those on the ground in North Dakota tell CNBC that Cruz is heavily on the hunt to get as many delegates as possible. "I have heard Cruz is actively recruiting delegates and identifying delegates who want to go to the convention," said Leighton. Gary Emineth, former chairman of the Republican committee of North Dakota and seeking to be elected as an unbound delegate for the second time, is one of the delegates being heavily targeted by the Cruz campaign with emails and phone calls. "Cruz has the best ground game in the state. His team is very aggressive identifying the past delegates. Congratulating us on our service with in-person meet and greets, emails and phone calls. Normally delegates are incumbents so they know who wants to be on that ballot. I have not heard from Trump." France's president said on Wednesday he would not push ahead with plans to change the constitution, including a clause allowing convicted terrorists to be stripped of their French nationality, after parliament failed to agree on the measure. French President Francois Hollande looks on during a conference in Milan, Oct. 8, 2014. "Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution. I deplore this attitude," Francois Hollande said after a weekly cabinet meeting. "I have decided to end this debate." The plan's withdrawal is a major embarrassment for the Socialist president, who had unveiled it in a solemn address to parliament at the grand palace of Versailles only three days after Islamist militants killed 130 people in Paris. The initiative had divided lawmakers and caused months of heated discussions on what critics said was an inefficient and purely symbolic measure. Hollande's plan to insert the rules for the state of emergency in the constitution was also abandoned. And we're already seeing a backlash. In the last few weeks, several Chinese deals have reportedly been stymied by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., an inter-agency committee that is tasked with reviewing foreign takeovers for national security concerns. Go Scale Capital's proposed investment in the LED lighting business Lumileds of the Dutch conglomerate Philips was scuttled after encountering "unforeseen concerns." The board of Fairchild Semiconductor International concluded that a deal with Chinese suitors presented a "non-negligible risk of a failure to obtain CFIUS approval." A subsidiary of China's Tsinghua University terminated its agreement to buy a stake in Western Digital Corporation when CFIUS decided to investigate the deal. U.S. lawmakers have also sounded the alarm on Chinese investment, threatening new legislation to expand the scope of CFIUS's reviews, while other lawmakers demanded "a full and rigorous investigation" of the Chicago Stock Exchange deal and raised concerns about other deals. At the same time, CFIUS issued its annual report showing that, in 2014, it had reviewed more transactions from China than from any other country for the third year in a row. OK, Illinois, it's your turn. Following this week's $30 billion budget deal in Pennsylvania, Illinois became the last state without a tax and spending plan for the fiscal year that began last July. While most states are busy planning next year's budget, Illinois now holds the dubious record for the longest budgetary foot-dragging in recent memory, according the National Conference of State Legislatures. (Until this week, Pennsylvania had tied with Kentucky, which didn't get around to approving its fiscal 2003 budget until late March of that year, according to the organization.) Despite their spectacular fiscal fail, lawmakers in the Land of Lincoln are showing little sign of progress in breaking the deadlock, now dragging on nine months past the deadline. Since then, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has been holding out for a package of business incentives and changes in collective bargaining laws that a Democratic-controlled legislature wants no part of. The impasse has already forced cuts in education and social services and produced a steadily rising stack of nearly $6.5 billion in unpaid bills. The state's controller, Leslie Munger, has estimated the backlog could top $10 billion by the time the current fiscal year ends in July. That money that will have to be made up in next year's budget, which is technically due July 1. Read MoreIllinois budget fix: Just don't pay the bills "The bottom line is the state cannot go bankrupt and we cannot print money," Munger told reporters last month. "Taxpayers are going to have to pay this bill." The world has yet to see Tesla 's latest vehicle, the Model 3, but that hasn't stopped everyone from lining up to order it, according to Mashable Australia. Aussie Andreas Stephens set up camp outside a Tesla dealership in Sydney around 7 a.m. local time Tuesday, hoping to be one of the world's first to pre-order the electric vehicle, he told Mashable. Die-hard fans who order in person Thursday will be placed in the queue ahead of those who wait for the official online unveil later that night. Still, they will have to compete with current owners of the Model S or X, who get priority, the company said in a recent blog post. Tesla is set to stream the Model 3's debut Thursday at 8:30 p.m. PT. With a starting price of $35,000, the vehicle will sell at a relative discount to the Model S, which starts between $60,000 and $70,000, depending on the version. Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff attends a news conference at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, March 16, 2016. Adriano Machado | Reuters Bullishness for Brazil has only increased, now that it appears more likely that President Dilma Rousseff will be ousted. The Brazilian Bovespa stock index is up 19 percent this year, making it the best performing stock market in the world. Brazil's real, the worst performing currency in 2015, is up nearly 10 percent this year. Brazil is battling its worst economic recession in 25 years, and investors are betting that an impeachment of Rousseff will change Brazil's trajectory. On Tuesday, a key political development suggested to many that Rousseff's impeachment could happen in 2016. Brazil's largest political party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement party, which played a key role in getting Rousseff re-elected, voted to break away from her government. While yesterday's vote was not unexpected, Eurasia Group research analyst Cameron Combs says the speed at which it happened was very surprising. "The vote took only three minutes," said Combs. Political experts say this vote dramatically increases the odds of Rousseff's being impeached by the lower house in late April or early May, which would force Rousseff to step down temporarily. Analysts at Citi wrote in a note Tuesday that her failure to get Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Rousseff's predecessor, appointed as a minister, and the impressive size of the street protests in Brazil, have increased the possibility of Rousseff's not finishing her term. But Citi writes that odds of an impeachment are about 70 percent. Still, what seemed impossible a year ago now seems like a plausible scenario, especially if Rousseff's situation worsens. The embattled president is already dealing with street protests, a string of corruption allegations and an impeachment proceeding around her handling of the country's budget finances. The scandal around state oil company Petrobras is also not helping Rousseff, who allegedly knew of the web of corruption and bribery surrounding the company but did nothing to stop it. Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cheer during a rally at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, March 5, 2016. Geoff Robins | AFP | Getty Images Desiree May is feeling the Bern. Ever since the 27-year-old graphic designer saw Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speak at a Madison, Wisconsin, event in July, she's been volunteering for his campaign. "Just the passion in that room was unbelievable, and Bernie's integrity is really appealing to me and inspiring," May said. May estimates she spends four hours each weekday knocking on doors canvassing and encouraging people to vote in her hometown of Green Bay, as well as another hour running various Wisconsin-focused Sanders social media accounts. On weekends, her volunteer work takes up the entire day. "His dedication to his message is really moving," she said. "I want more people to be aware of who he is and what he stands for." About one-fifth of Americans have attended a political event in the last year, according to a new survey of more than 3,000 adults in the U.S. by Eventbrite and Ipsos . Among those attendees, 45 percent are millennials. The online survey was conducted Feb. 3-6 and had a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points. Millennials are more than bodies at events: If you can get them to turn up, they show sustained interest. Millennials as event goers were almost twice as likely to volunteer for campaigns than were Gen Xers, and more than twice as likely versus baby boomers. They were also 33 percent more likely to donate, compared with 20 percent for Gen X and 24 percent for boomers. And, 22 percent were more likely to host their own candidate event, compared with only 10 percent and 2 percent of their respective counterparts. "In some ways (millennials) aren't focused yet, but they will understand that issues that will be decided in November will affect them a great deal," said Rob Shepardson, co-founder and partner of marketing communications agency SS+K . "There's a bit of (painting) with a broad brush that young people aren't interested. They are quite interested in issues that affect them." The youth have always been the most likely to attend political events they have the time and energy. However, unlike previous generations, millennials in particular value experiences over material goods. Eventbrite and Ipsos found that 56 percent of millennials would more likely meet a candidate in person at an event than engage with them on social media. "Millennials are not about the collection of things, but about the collection of experiences. If you think of what drives them to be engaged, it's the idea of the in-person event experience," said Chad Barth, senior political and government relations manager for Eventbrite. This obsession with going to events and being seen there through social media posts could be traced to the 2008 recession, said Wilson Standish, a director at OMD Worldwide's Ignition Factory. With the lack of jobs and money available, millennials figured that they might as well spend their time doing something that makes them happy, he said. Standish hypothesized that that led to a rise in millennials doing jobs with their hands or seeking work outdoors. Collecting experiences became important and financially more likely than collecting objects. "We've seen many millennials would take more vacation time than a pay increase," Standish pointed out. "All these things show there's a higher valuation in experiences across the board because the economy of work doesn't pay out as much as it did for them as for boomers and Xers." Add to this millennials' love for belonging to a community, and political events become the place to be, Standish said. Desiree May decided to volunteer for the Bernie Sanders campaign after seeing him speak at a Wisconsin event. Courtesy of Desiree May. Shepardson, whose firm was the youth agency for the Obama campaigns in 2008 and 2012, added that millennials are more likely to show excitement for a campaign and can influence the political opinions of their older siblings or parents. "It's known as reverse aspiration, or when older folks of a certain age want to make sure they are paying attention to what is cool," he said. Then there's social media. The candidate millennials follow the most on social media is Sanders (51 percent), but Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump also have high numbers 44 percent and 31 percent, respectively, Eventbrite and Ipsos found. More importantly, posts about candidates and from political events become free, effective political advertising and millennials love posting those pictures and using hashtags. The Eventbrite/Ipsos study showed millennials who are willing to attend events are more likely to post about it on social media. Six in 10 rallygoers were more likely to engage in political conversations on social media, versus 37 percent of average attendees. "There's a lot of skepticism about institutions, including the media and including advertising," said Shepardson. "If people are feeling that they are getting the unvarnished truth from a source they trust or like on social media it goes a long way. Not all social media people are very sophisticated in editing around the crackpots. If it's on the newsfeed of people they like and respect, that is about the best you can hope for." An employee uses an angle grinder on the production line of the tube mill at the manufacturing facility of Uttam Galva Steels Ltd., the Indian unit of ArcelorMittal, in Khopoli, Maharashtra, India. But rather than a private buyer being found, some are calling for the British government to support the company with taxpayers' cash in the hope of saving jobs and keeping the industry afloat. India's Tata Steel is hoping to sell is U.K. operations after suffering losses of more than 2 billion ($2.9 billion) in the last five years due what it says is global oversupply, a significant increase in exports into Europe, high manufacturing costs, continued weakness in demand and a volatile currency. Britain's once-mighty steel industry looked in dire straits Wednesday with politicians and union leaders calling for state intervention that could even mean a re-nationalization of the sector. "The growing chorus of calls for re-nationalization cannot be ignored by the Conservative government," said Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, Britain's largest union, in a statement on Wednesday. Roy Rickhuss, the general secretary of the steelworkers' union, Community, said the U.K. is now on the verge of a "national crisis" and called for an emergency meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron. Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the U.K. opposition Labour Party, said it was "essential" that the government intervened by, if necessary, taking a "public stake in the industry." Some politicians highlighted that any potential state aid was under tight regulation of European Union rules. Some are also using it to force the argument that the U.K. is better of out of the European Union ahead of the upcoming referendum on June 23. The European Commission says that a company which receives government support gains an advantage over competitors and it would generally prohibit aid unless it is justified by reasons of general economic development. However, it does stipulate some exemptions and allows state aid for research and innovation purposes. The European Commission is currently involved in an in-depth inquiry to assess whether Italian state support for steel producer Ilva was in line with its rules. Meanwhile, the Scottish government is in the process of saving two steel plants. It simply brokered a deal between Tata and metals group Liberty House rather than a full nationalization, but this transaction is yet to be fully completed. "Historically governments are shocking at running steel mills," Colin Hamilton, a commodities researcher at Macquarie Global Research, told CNBC via telephone. One example he gave was Serbia's purchase of a plant from U.S. Steel in 2012 which has been "hemorrhaging money ever since." Tata is the U.K.'s largest steel producer and was formerly a government-owned firm called British Steel before being sold by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in the late 1980s. Its stability is seen as a crucial factor for the future which of an industry which has been in terminal decline since the late 1970s. The Israeli company that may have cracked Apple's iPhone on behalf of the FBI isn't confirming that it contributed to the law enforcement agency's investigation of the San Bernardino shooting rampage. But the company's website is revealing. Cellebrite co-CEO Yossi Carmil told CNBC on Wednesday that "under no circumstances do we comment on our forensic business clients, ever." He added that the company has a "set of ethics we will never violate." The FBI, after failing to get Apple to help it crack open the phone of one of the terrorists who killed 14 people on December 2, hacked into the device with an outside technology firm. The Bureau has not named that firm, but industry sources told NBC News that it was Cellebrite that contributed to the effort. The Trump campaign asserted on Wednesday that Donald Trump did not backtrack on a pledge to support the GOP presidential nominee if the party did not choose him. Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson told CNBC the GOP front-runner is in fact abiding by the terms of his earlier promise, in which he said he would lend his support so long as he felt the party was treating him fairly. Pierson said Republicans are not treating him fairly. "You have an entire anti-Trump movement consisting of party elites that are out there trying to stop Trump from winning the nomination, and even joining with Democrats to try to make that happen," she said on "Squawk on the Street." GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump's renewed call, in the wake of the Brussels terrorist attacks, to temporarily ban Muslims from traveling to the U.S. would probably not pass legal muster, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said Wednesday. "I think the thought we could have a religious test [for entrants] would be unconstitutional," said the California Republican, whose district includes parts of San Bernardino County, which suffered a deadly terrorist attack in December. "[But] we need to address the problem in terms of foreign fighters who might come back in the United States," the congressman said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "We need to vet people who come in." Royce said he has not endorsed any presidential candidate, but would support whomever becomes the Republican nominee. "I'm giving advice to any candidates who will take it, in terms of foreign policy." "The EU is going to have to become much more federalized, much more centralized if the euro zone is to be kept in one piece and I do think this provides quite substantial threats to the U.K." he said. John Mills, chairman of consumer products company, the JML Group, told CNBC that the "general direction of travel" in the European Union (EU) worried him. The U.K. should take the opportunity in June to leave the "a very expensive club" the European Union a prominent business leader and pro-Brexit campaigner said. Mills, a Labour-party supporter and long-term supporter of a "Brexit" (the campaign to leave the EU), told CNBC that there were a "number of concrete issues" that should determine how voters vote in the referendum on EU membership on June 23. "The European Union is a very expensive club for us to be in; in 2014 it cost 11.4 billion ($16.4 billion) which is a very large sum of money. There are obviously problems about border control and very large numbers of people coming in from Eastern Europe to the U.K.there are problems around democracy and control and there are structural problems. Mills' comments come as the debate heats up over whether the U.K. should stay within or leave the European Union and polls suggest a tight race between the "leave" or "stay" vote. Some financial institutions want to distance themselves from the so-called "Brexit" debate. Bank of America has reportedly advised its staff not to use the word "Brexit" with clients, according to the Financial Times newspaper. The bank has told its managers to "avoid engaging in the campaign." This comes after the bank also reportedly decided against giving a 100,000 donation to the pro-Europe camp. Meanwhile, the bosses of several British companies including JD Wetherspoon and the former boss of HSBC have pledged their support for the "Brexit" campaign. The chief executives of Rio Tinto, Ryanair, Shell and Unilever have argued that it's in the best interest of the U.K. economy to stay within the EU. Mills said that the "business world is very split on the issue" and this division would continue up to the vote. "By and large, the big companies that tend to benefit from the scale of the European project and their ability to lobby in Brusselstend to be in favor of staying in but the more entrepreneurial companies tend to be less enthusiastic. I think this split is going to continue right up to the referendum." Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. The Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. logo is displayed on the tail of an Airbus SAS A330 aircraft at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Air New Zealand , the biggest shareholder in Australia's No.2 carrier Virgin Australia said on Wednesday it is considering selling its 25.9 percent holding. Air New Zealand said it has hired investment banks First NZ Capital and Credit Suisse to advise on its options, including a possible sale of all or part of its stake. It added that its CEO Christopher Luxon, will resign from Virgin Australia's board, effective immediately. "Air New Zealand does not want a large minority equity position in Virgin Australia as it focuses on its own growth opportunities," it said in a statement. UTICA, N.Y. The Utica Harbor Point Development Corporation (UHPDC), which is helping to spearhead the redevelopment of the citys inner harbor, announced it has added four new members to its board of directors. With the completion of the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for the Utica Harbor Point Master Plan comes a new phase in the revitalization of this prime real estate, Vincent J. Gilroy, Jr., UHPDC chairman, said in a news release. We are now shifting focus from environmental analysis and planning to development activities. With this shift in focus, we welcome new board members that will bring their unique expertise and insights to guide this next phase. The following new board members have been appointed to serve for one year: Barbara Brodock, president and owner of CBB Realty LLC; Evon M. Ervin, deputy director of Mohawk Valley Community Action; Jack LoMedico, City of Utica common councilor at-large; and Michael Pezzolanella, VP of operations for Pezzolanella Construction. In addition, a voting seat on the UHPDC board will now be occupied by the councilperson representing the district that encompasses Harbor Point. The interests of the Utica Harbor Point Development Corporation and the City of Utica will be best served by Common Council representation on the UHPDC board, Utica Mayor Robert M. Palmieri contended in the release. Samantha Colosimo-Testa, R6, who currently serves as an ex-officio non-voting member, has been given full voting privileges for a term of one year. Councilman at-large Jack LoMedico has also been added increasing the Common Councils participation and representation on the UHPDC Board. Edward Bucciero, Patrick Donovan, Joseph Johnson, and Christopher Salatino have completed their duties with the UHPDC board. In 2013, the City of Utica began a planning and design process to redevelop the citys inner harbor. Led by Utica Harbor Point Development Corp. in collaboration with city staff, private property owners, state agencies, and city residents a Harbor Point Master Plan was developed. The plan calls for creating a mixed-use destination attraction for Utica that enhances the existing waters edge with public and private investments, the release state. Contact The Central New York Business Network at news@cnybj.com HCR Home Care, a Rochesterbased home-care agency, on March 15 formally opened a new office in DeWitt for its Central New York operations. It operates in a nearly 2,900-square-foot office located at 6007 Fair Lakes Road. (Photo credit: HCR Home Care) DeWITT, N.Y. HCR Home Care, a Rochesterbased home-care agency, has opened a new office in DeWitt for its Central New York operations. The nearly 2,900-square-foot venue is located at 6007 Fair Lakes Road on the southern side of the New York State Thruway. HCR on March 15 held a formal-opening event and open house to celebrate its new office. Founded in 1978, HCR Home Care provides nursing and rehabilitation services, and specialty-care programs, according to its website. HCR Home Care provides high-quality, in-home health-care services in Central New York, from nursing and social work, to physical, occupational and speech therapy, Elizabeth Zicari, president of HCR Home Care, contended in a news release. This new, centralized office enables us to expand our services to more people in the region and to provide greater support for our local clinical staff. Besides the new DeWitt location, HCR also has an office in Homer in Cortland County. It began serving Cortland and Madison counties in 2011, and it expanded into Onondaga, Cayuga, Jefferson and Oswego counties in 2014. HCR has 90 local health-care professionals working in its Central New York region, which includes Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, and Jefferson counties. The company currently provides home-care visits to more than 600 people in the Central New York region. In addition to the Central New York area, HCR Home Care also operates offices in Clinton, Delaware, Genesee, Monroe, Schoharie, and Washington counties, according to its website. The firm employs a total of nearly 800 people, it said in an email response to a BJNN inquiry. HCRs clinical staff includes registered nurses; home-health aides; physical, occupational and speech therapists; and medical social workers. Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com Three takeways from Missouri's game against Vanderbilt Missouri football took on Vanderbilt for its homecoming game on Saturday. Here's what to know from the game. By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal A 44-year-old man was sentenced to 23 years in prison for two aggravated rapes, two aggravated assaults and one robbery, the office of the Shelby County District Attorney General said Wednesday. Marion Walker entered an Alford plea to the crimes. He pleaded to the abduction and rape of a woman in February 2008. He offered her a ride at Elvis Presley and Person where she was at a bus stop, according to a news release. He also pleaded to cutting a woman with a box cutter in March 2012 at Goodlett and Winchester, and raping a pregnant woman in September 2012 after abducting her in Orange Mound. He also robbed a woman in November 2013 near East Mallory and South Main, the state said. "Walker got out of his pickup truck, punched her in the face, choked her and stole her cell phone, EBT card and $75 cash," according to a news release. "The woman later recognized Walker when he came into the business where she worked." A towboat pushes cargo barges along the Mississippi River at Memphis, about 40 miles downstream from the $1.3 billion Big River Steel mill ramping up production at Osceola, Arkansas.(Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal) SHARE By Ted Evanoff of The Commercial Appeal The U.S. Treasury has awarded Arkansas Northeastern College $90,000 to help train material handling employees servicing the new Big River Steel LLC mill at Osceola. The Blytheville college said the grant from the Treasurys Rural Development Partners program is being combined with $90,000 donated by Mid-River Terminal, a barge unloader on the Mississippi River in Osceola. Treasury rules require the school enroll and train low-income residents free of charge for the material handling classes even if they are not current or potential Mid-River employees. Big River, which will conduct job fairs in Eastern Arkansas early next month, melts scrap into molten steel shaped into coils for automotive, appliance and other manufacturers. Barges deliver scrap and haul away finished steel. Last year, Mid-River disclosed its new $40 million plant would employ 130 workers. Training at the school will include hands-on use of forklifts, rough-terrain lift trucks, aerial man-lifts, scissor lifts, skid steer loaders, overhead cranes, backhoes and mini-excavators. The curriculum includes 112 to 128 hours of training over four weeks, the college said in a recent statement. The $1.3 billion steel mill, located about 40 miles north of Memphis, earlier received a $125 million incentive package from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. It is the largest incentive package ever awarded by the state. Wages in the mill are based on productivity and expected to average $75,000 per year. Big River chief executive officer David Stickler, who succeeded company founder John Correnti after his unexpected death last August, earlier told Arkansas news reporters that Osceola-area suppliers to the new mill will include Arkansas Steel Processings $35 million plant, which will create about 50 jobs, and SMS Millcrafts $30 million investment, which will create about 70 jobs. Big River Steel job fairs are scheduled at these Arkansas sites: April 4, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. Arkansas Northeastern Burdette Center, Interstate 55 and Hwy 148, Burdette April 5, 2 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. Arkansas Workforce Center, 2003 W. Broadway, West Memphis April 6, 2 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. Arkansas Workforce Center, 300 Eldridge Rd. Suite 2, Forrest City April 9, 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. Arkansas Northeastern Burdette Center April 12, 2 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Arkansas Workforce Center, 2311 East Nettleton Suite A, Jonesboro April 14, 2 p.m. - 8 p.m. Arkansas Northeastern Burdette Center January 11, 2016 - ServiceMaster chief executive Robert Gillette gives a tour of the ServiceMaster Experience traveling exhibit to a small group of news reporters. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal) By Ted Evanoff of The Commercial Appeal ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc. is looking for a new headquarters building, a search that could uproot the company from Memphis and mark the city's biggest corporate loss since Holiday Inn in 1991 moved to Atlanta. The home services company, one of the larger private employers in the city with 2,200 workers, has outgrown its 860 Ridge Lake Boulevard head office in East Memphis. It already has searched for real estate in Atlanta to house a new headquarters, although ServiceMaster spokesman Peter Tosches said no decision is imminent about where to relocate and Memphis is in the running. ServiceMaster, which moved to East Memphis in 2006 from Chicago, spun off TruGreen and operates the American Home Shield, AmeriSpec, Furniture Medic, Merry Maid, ServiceMaster Clean and Terminix brands. Those brands employ about 13,000 workers throughout North America and independent franchises employ another 31,000 workers. Senior executives are focused on constructing a building or securing existing property that supports a digital-first corporate culture attractive to millennial employees in their 20s and 30s, Tosches said. "We want to make sure the headquarters we're creating is conducive to that kind of workplace,' Tosches said, noting open space where millennial employees can collaborate and share ideas is desired. Those workers also seek greater wifi availablity, abundant places to eat nearby and recreation facilities. No deadline is in place to locate a new site. The company is currently spread among four buildings in the metro area covering about 360,000 square feet. After spending repeatedly to update the Ridge Lake building, a search for a new site was begun several months ago. Tosches commented Wednesday after the Memphis Business Journal first disclosed the search was under way. Were trying to make sure we can attract and retain the kind of talent that will help us accelerate a winning growth culture, Tosches said. The company hasnt applied for PILOT tax incentives as an incentive to stay in Memphis. Greater Memphis Chamber officials declined to discuss the situation. It is our policy not to comment on active economic development projects, chamber spokeswoman Christina Meek said. When the decision was made to move to Memphis, home of the largest business, Terminix, ServiceMaster brought few employees from Chicago. The company recruited a new headquarters staff in Memphis, including almost all of the 175 senior executives and managers. Since then, the company has made its presence felt in a public way. ServiceMaster is the presenting sponsor of the Memphis Open, the annual stop on the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour played each February at The Racquet Club. Its three-year deal runs through the 2017 event. ServiceMaster brands also also advertise within FedEx Forum. Although the company is based here, New York investor Clayton Dubilier Rice maintains a large voice in its affairs. The investment firm took ServiceMaster private in a $5.5 billion buyout in 2007, then led a 2014 public offering that made the shares available to trade on stock exchanges. The chairman of the board is John Krenicki Jr., a Clayton Dubilier operating partner who previously was vice chairman of General Electric Co. when it was renowned globally for its innovation and efficiency policies. Seated on the board are Stephen J. Sedita, former chief financial officer at GE Aviation, and Thomas Tiller Jr., retired general manager of GE Silicones, along with Clayton Dubilier partner David Wasserman, a former Goldman Sachs & Co. investment executive. In American companies, the board approves broad policy and hires and fires the chief executive officer. In 2013, the ServiceMaster board hired Robert J. Gillette as chief executive. He owned Gillette Properties LLC, a real estate developer, and earlier was chief executive officer of Honeywell International Inc.'s aerospace division. ServiceMaster, which ranks among the largest public corporations in Tennessee, reported profits last year of $161 million on nearly $2.6 billion in revenue. It is the fourth-largest of the 12 public companies based in Memphis after AutoZone Inc., FedEx Corp. and International Paper Co. Memphis has lost blue chip names such as Morgan Keegan, the investment firm now rolled into Florida-based Raymond James Financial, although the last major corporate departure involved Holiday Inn. The hotel owner was stricken after rebuffing Donald Trump. In the 1980s, Trump, the New York developer currently campaigning for the presidency, had accumulated a large position in Holiday Inn stock. The company borrowed heavily to issue a special dividend intended to encourage Trump to stop an expected takeover attempt. The borrowing weakened the companys stock price and led to a buyout by British brewer Bass PLC, which relocated the headquarters to Atlanta. Local comic Katrina Coleman is the organizer of the Memphis Comedy Festival, which runs March 31-April 3. Courtesy of Shadow Pro Studio. SHARE New York-based Phoebe Robinson is the headliner for the Memphis Comedy Festival. Courtesy of Memphis Comedy Festival By John Beifuss of The Commercial Appeal "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard." Usually attributed to Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean on his death bed, that show business aphorism acknowledges that making people laugh is not as easy as falling off a log. (Except when it is; see "pratfall," noun.) Memphis standup comic Katrina Coleman knows all about the hard work of comedy. As if mastering her chosen discipline wasn't difficult enough, she's also herding close to 60 comedians into multiple venues this weekend for the fifth annual Memphis Comedy Festival, a four-day "celebration of the comedic arts" that may be the city's most unsung major performance event. Growing from a "one-off" comedy showcase held at TheatreWorks in Overton Square, the festival finds room for standup performances, "themed shows," short films, workshops, experimental comedy, improv routines, "open mic" shows, comedy karaoke and more, attracting comedy creators from New Orleans, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Canada and elsewhere. Events include such promising titles as "Argument and Grievances," "The Black Nerd Power Comedy Hour" and the 11 a.m. Sunday "Hangover Mic 2: Electric Boogaloo." The headliner is New York-based Phoebe Robinson, who has appeared on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore." The sponsors include Jack Pirtle's Chicken and Wiseacre Brewing (a combination that somehow seems comical itself). "We're officially a nonprofit," Coleman said, which makes sense because "comedians have been not making profits for years." Wry self-disparagement aside, Coleman said the festival has become well-known enough to attract inquiries from all over the country. Many touring comedians now make a point of coming through Memphis during festival weekend. "We're really trying to establish Memphis as a comedy city," said Coleman, 31. "There's a really strong comedy scene here that's growing and growing." She said regular comedy showcases at such places as the P&H Cafe and The Brass Door can be "absolutely packed. We used to get very excited about 15 people paying to get in to a show. Now, we end up turning people away." Coleman said she was "always running off at the mouth" as a child, but comedy nevertheless is a serious means of self-expression for her, as well as a natural inclination. "I prefer standup, personally," she said. "I prefer it because it's a very, very personal art. There's nothing else on stage with me. The success and failure of each performance lies entirely with me. I wrote it, I deliver it, I'm responsible. "So when you watch a live comic, they're not only talking to you, they're also living in that same moment as you, and they're also creating in that moment. It's very intimate, and very personal." MEMPHIS COMEDY FESTIVAL March 31-April 3, TheatreWorks and multiple venues. TIckets range from $90 for a festival pass to $7 for some individual performances. Visit www.memphiscomedyfestival.com. SHARE By Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal Memphis police have arrested a second suspect in the fatal shooting of a 51-year-old Navy veteran at his home during a robbery earlier this month. Sean Burnside, 20, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Albert Farmer. Jeremiah Futrell, 20, was previously arrested and charged in the killing. Farmer was found dead on March 2 inside his Whitehaven home in the 800 block of West Holmes Road. Investigators said evidence collected from the scene as well as stolen items from the home led police to Futrell. Police tied Burnside to the crime when they found his fingerprints on the victim's car, which had been stolen during the attack. According to Futrell's affidavit, he told police that he and another man went to the victim's home with the intent of "trying to hit a lick'' by robbing the victim. He told police that as he and the man were about to leave, Farmer confronted them. At least one of them opened fire, hitting the victim multiple times. The suspects stole one of Farmer's vehicles, then went back before his body was discovered and stole another vehicle and several other items. They sold those items and split the profits, the affidavit says. SHARE By Ryan Poe of The Commercial Appeal Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has given the green light for an advertising blitz aimed at recruiting more police officers. The city on Tuesday executed a $400,000 contract for a "Greatest Career Choice in Law Enforcement" campaign with Bartlett-based Kelley & Associates Advertising, according to the city's contract records. The contract is for one year, with two one-year extensions. The mass-media campaign comes as Strickland seeks to shore up the ranks of the Police Division, which is more than 400 officers short of its authorized complement following cuts to pension and health benefits. The request for proposals (RFP), which the city released in November, said the campaign will include "heavy saturation of local television and radio advertising; community and multicultural newspapers and magazines serving the Mid-South area, an increased web and social media presence along with citywide placement of multiple billboards, transit buses and shelters." The campaign will also include direct mailings and handouts all while acknowledging the city's "budgetary constraints," according to the RFP. The RFP said the campaign will "effectively target and attract Caucasian females; Hispanics; multi-cultural persons; and bilingual candidates" to reflect the city's diversity. This story will be updated as more information is available. President Barack Obama SHARE By Michael Collins of The Commercial Appeal WASHINGTON President Barack Obama has commuted the prison sentences of 61 drug offenders, including three from Tennessee. Nathan Carter of Memphis, Eric Smith of Memphis and Lamont Durville Glass of Knoxville will see their prison sentences expire July 28 as a result of Obama's decision. Carter was serving two sentences one for life in prison with 10 years of supervised release, and another for 30 months in prison, with 18 months' supervised release. Both sentences were handed down in 1999 in U.S. District Court in Western Tennessee. He had been charged with possession of 121 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of 65.8 grams of cocaine base with intent to distribute. He also had been charged with violating his supervised release. Under Obama's order, both of his sentences will be commuted and will expire on July 28. Smith was sentenced in 1995 to 360 months in prison and five years' supervised release. He had been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and unlawfully maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing and using cocaine base. Glass was sentenced in 1998 to 262 months in prison and eight years of supervised release. He had been charged in U.S. District Court in East Tennessee with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and being a felon in possession of a firearm. SHARE John Aitken By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal Collierville schools superintendent John Aitken is backing a proposed policy that would require the school board to approve a list of all student fines and fees every year for items such as tests, equipment and extracurricular activities. "The big change in this is really the listing and board approving, putting it all out there," Aitken said. Aitken said that in theory, the school board sets fines and fees, but in practice, people at the school level have set fines and fees instead, creating a lack of consistency. "In the absence of oversight, it was like the Wild West," school board member Kevin Vaughan said at a work session Tuesday. School board president Mark Hansen said parents would benefit from better disclosure of the various fees. "The cumulative effect of those fees can be pretty burdensome at the beginning of the year," he said. "Especially for parents who have two or three children in the system, it can be a lot." For instance, the base fee for participating in the high school band is $600, and a small group of high school kids recently embarked on a science trip to New Zealand, Australia and Fiji that cost roughly $5,000 per student. The schools already waive some costs for students from low-income families. State law makes a distinction between fees charged for courses and those charged for "extra" activities, school board attorney Mike Marshall has said. In other words, students from low-income households may apply for fee waivers for activities that are required for a class, though not for extra activities like the science trip to the other side of the world. Aitken said he'd like to look for ways to make those extra activities more inclusive for low-income students. If the board approves the new fee policy at its April 12 meeting, the school system administrators would then return to the board and seek approval for a list of specific fees for the next academic year. The school system also wants to put in place policies to regulate the flow of money through the various outside booster clubs that support student activities. Hansen said he supports that goal and believes fundraising efforts should be as transparent as possible. March 29, 2016 Jerry Larson, with Southern Steele and Concrete Construction inspects a weld inside a bell tower being installed at the Thornwood mixed use development at Germantown Road and Nashoba. The bronze bells were cast in 1902 by the Meneely Foundry in upstate New York. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal) SHARE By Jane Roberts of The Commercial Appeal There's still plenty of Thornwood to come out of the ground, but the crowning touch a 7-story bell tower was topped Tuesday with a 7,600-pound copper roof and four bronze bells, cast in 1902. In a few weeks, Westminster Chimes will ring out over the rooftops, byways and Wolf River watershed in Germantown, a sound so reminiscent for developer Spence Ray, he left an early afternoon meeting to stand in the warm sun and admire the bells' stout sturdiness. The largest weighs 1,000 pounds. "The size determines the note," Ray said, the sky and sun reflected in his dark glasses as he gathered with a half dozen iron workers. "The man who owned them agreed to pull the four bells you need for Westminster Chimes from the set of 11. That was a huge deal." In a few weeks, four 8-foot atomic time clock faces will be installed in the tower and linked to a computerized striking mechanism that will mark the hour with chimes expected to carry 3 miles from the Thornwood development on the northeast corner of Germantown Road and Neshoba. "We're going to let the community decide how often they play," Ray said. "What they decide, we'll be glad to do." The clocks themselves, with black hands and Roman numerals against giant white faces, are being made by the Electric Time Co. in Medfield, Massachusetts, which also made the clocks on Main Street USA in Disney World, Wrigley Field, Tiffany & Co. and the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. They will be lifted into the square openings at the top of the tower, more than 75 feet high, facing each of the four directions so people entering Thornwood can see them no matter which side they enter. "We hope it's a focus point in the city, that people will know where they are when they hear the chimes," said Ray, who's spent a good bit of time observing how people stop and lift their heads to listen to chiming bells. "Bells used to call the community together," he said, "to worship and to work. And in significant events, they rang the bells to let people know something was going on." The intimacy of a community tied in time by chimes was lost when America went to work in factories and offices and began wearing wristwatches. But the mystique still captivates, Ray says. "We hope this will bring some sense of living in the 19th Century America back," he said. The name Thornwood is a nod to the architecture in and around London that has captivated Ray most of his life. The bell tower is extension of that, and it's also the first one he has ever had built. Thornwood, the upscale 16-acre development is the first true SmartGrowth project in Germantown. Its compact design encourages people to live and walk to its destinations, including eateries and shopping. The project includes a 4-story Hampton Inn & Suites, 278 luxury apartments, a 5,000-square-foot Bob Richards Jewelers and 25,000 square feet of other mixed-use development, including restaurants and a pocket park which is already sodded with benches for people to sit and visit and listen to the chimes. The tower was built by five ironworkers in about two weeks. The steel was painted black with an epoxy paint meant to withstand Memphis weather, said Corey Glover, an ironworker from Lake Cormorant, Mississippi, who walked around it Tuesday with proud reverence. "Next week, I'll be working on the Sheahan Pumping Station on Grandview," he said. "It's not near as pretty as this." The bell tower shows off the trade's craftsmanship with its graceful symmetry and bold crossbars. "We don't get to do special projects like this very often. Usually our work gets covered up and no one gets to see it," Glover said. The bells came from an Episcopal church in New Jersey. They were cast by the Meneely Foundry, established in 1826 in West Troy, New York. Ray won't say how much they cost, but at age 55, and after decades of developing real estate, he wants Thornwood to represent the beauty he has admired around the world, including the ponderous and purposeful Westminster Chimes he heard on the hour at his grandparents' home when he was a boy. SHARE Over the years, Tennessee residents have witnessed some egregious self-interest legislation sponsored by state lawmakers. We can now add Sen. Reginald Tate, a Memphis Democrat, who lives in Southwind, to the list. During a hearing Tuesday on a controversial de-annexation bill in the Senate State and Local Government Committee, Tate unsuccessfully proposed an amendment to limit de-annexation from Memphis to Southwind, Windyke and South Cordova. The committee approved several amendments to the bill Tuesday, but delayed voting on the overall legislation until today. Because of the negative impact the de-annexation bill could have on cities, the committee needs to reject it. Tate had been the only Democratic sponsor of the original bill because, he said, it applied to a few recently annexed communities in Memphis, including Southwind, where he lives. However, he formally withdrew his support more than a week ago, citing substantial changes to the bill that included more areas annexed by Memphis. On the surface, that sounds pretty noble on Tate's part, except when you consider that if his amendment had been accepted and if Southwind-Windyke residents were successfully able to de-annex, he no longer would have had to pay city property taxes. And, since most of his district, which runs east from Airways all the way to Forest Hill-Irene Road, is in Memphis, what is the message he is sending residents from Orange Mound to Colonial Acres to Sea Isle to Parkway Village to Fox Meadows to Hickory Hill and other Memphis neighborhoods in the sprawling district. It is simple: I'm looking out for myself and my neighbors. The Senate committee did accept some amendments that could help Memphis and, just maybe, sink the bill. One requires de-annexed property to be taxed for a proportional share of the city's employee retirement obligations incurred while the territory was in the city limits. Another amendment would require at least 20 percent of the registered voters in an area proposed for de-annexation to sign petitions before a de-annexation referendum could be held. The original bill, and the version approved earlier this month by the House of Representatives, requires only 10 percent. The House approved the bill March 14, but an amendment there limited its application to Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Kingsport and tiny Cornersville. The Senate committee last week added an amendment that would return the bill to a statewide application, which could sour House supporters on the bill. The sponsor of the House version of the de-annexation bill, Rep. Mike Carter, a Republican from Hamilton County, narrowed it to those cities because they were guilty of "egregious" annexations, even though Memphis' annexations were upheld multiple times in court. What is egregious is Tate's initial comments about only caring about Southwind, where he lives, and his failed attempt to get the bill amended only to affect the Southwind area and South Cordova. If there were such a thing as a Self-Interest Politician of the Year Award, Tate surely would be a finalist, maybe the winner. SHARE By James Hohmann Bernie Sanders has momentum after a trio of wins in Western caucuses last weekend. The Vermont senator dominated Hillary Clinton in Washington state (73 percent to 27 percent), Hawaii (70 to 30 percent) and Alaska (82 to 18 percent). Though Clinton remains the overwhelming front-runner to win the Democratic nomination, the results give Sanders a rationale to continue fighting through July and underscore lingering unease among base voters about the woman who will almost certainly be their standard bearer in the fall. Sanders reiterated Sunday that he will not go quietly. Chuck Todd noted on "Meet the Press" that Sanders used to chastise his crowds whenever they booed Clinton. But the last time he did that was Feb. 23. Asked why, Sanders said "no reason at all" before launching into an extended broadside against Clinton, from Iraq to Wall Street to fracking and campaign finance. Then he challenged Clinton to agree to details for an additional debate. Wisconsin, which votes next week, is the next big prize. As Anne Gearan notes, it shares borders with two states Michigan and Minnesota that Sanders won. The Badger State, however, also shares economic and demographic characteristics with Ohio and Illinois, Midwestern states in which Clinton triumphed. But both campaigns are increasingly focused on the 247 delegates up for grabs in New York, which votes April 19, and Pennsylvania, which goes one week later and has 189 delegates. The Sanders campaign on Saturday hosted a block party to open its Brooklyn field office not far from Clinton's national headquarters. "Sanders plans an aggressive push in New York, modeled after his come-from-behind victory a few weeks ago in Michigan," Philip Rucker reports. "He intends to barnstorm the state as if he were running for governor. His advisers, spoiling for a brawl, have commissioned polls to show which contrasts with Clinton from Wall Street to fracking could do the most damage to her at home." But here's why Hillary is the front-runner in New York: There are more minority voters: Clinton has won every state with a big African-American and/or Hispanic population thus far, including Arizona last week. Sanders has dominated in states that are overwhelmingly white. She represented the state for eight years in the Senate: "If [Sanders] sneaks up on her, then shame on the Clinton campaign," David Axelrod told Rucker. "The city is a bastion of progressivism, and there should be pockets of Sanders supporters. . . . But I have to believe that the relationships she's forged there in the last 15 years mean something." It's a primary, not a caucus: Clinton's median victory in primaries has been 23 points, and Sanders' median victory in caucuses has been 26 points, the Post's Philip Bump tabulates. "There are only five more caucuses on the Democratic calendar, all of them very small contests and only two of them U.S. states: Wyoming, Guam, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and North Dakota." Everything else is a primary, which works to Clinton's advantage. But even if Hillary gets the nomination on the first ballot, the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia could be contentious. Or, at the very least, not the coronation that Denver was in 2008. The nastiness and coarseness of the attacks on the Republican side continue to overshadow the Democratic race. We talk constantly about the contested Republican convention in Cleveland. But Sanders' willingness to go after Clinton even as the race becomes mathematically more difficult to win suggests he and his supporters could make a scene. Clinton still has a huge lead in the delegate hunt: 1,243 to 975 among pledged delegates. When you factor in committed superdelegates, she's ahead 1,712 to 1,004. Sanders expressed hope on CNN Sunday that "a lot of these superdelegates may rethink their position" when they come under increasing pressure from his supporters. "You have got superdelegates who are in states where we win by 40 or 50 points," he told Jake Tapper. Sanders does not want to be vice president, but he wants a robust debate over the Democratic platform. In an interview on the left-leaning web show "The Young Turks" last week, the Democratic socialist seemed to outline a series of positions he'd want Clinton to stake out in exchange for his endorsement. Among them: a single-payer health care system, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, tougher regulation of the finance industry, closing corporate tax loopholes and 'a vigorous effort to address climate change.'" Progressive activist Robert Borosage thinks Philadelphia could be like the Democratic convention in Atlanta in 1988, when he was an adviser to Jesse Jackson's campaign. "Respect must be paid," Borosage wrote for Sunday's Outlook section. "In Philadelphia, Sanders will . . . push for rule changes, particularly curbing the role of unelected superdelegates. He will seek floor votes on key issues in dispute. His ideas, in fact, will have the support of most of the delegates. And he'll get a prime-time address to make his case." "The Clinton campaign would be well advised to embrace some of Sanders' ideas and graciously endure public debate on others," Borosage adds. James Hohmann is a national political reporter for The Washington Post. SHARE By Leonard Pitts Jr. Eerie silence on convention guns So, do you think guns should be allowed at the Republican National Convention? Granted, the question is moot. Monday, the Secret Service announced that only its agents and Cleveland police will be allowed to bring firearms into Quicken Loans Arena when the GOP assembles there this summer. But "moot" is not the same as irrelevant. As you may know, the Secret Service put its foot down because of a petition at Change.org demanding that convention attendees be allowed to bring weapons to the Grand Old Party. The fact that the arena does not allow weapons, says the petition, is "a direct affront to the Second Amendment and puts all attendees at risk." It goes on to say: "As the National Rifle Association has made clear, 'gun-free zones' ... are 'the worst and most dangerous of all lies.' The NRA, our leading defender of gun rights, has also correctly pointed out that 'gun-free zones' ... tell every insane killer in America ... (the) safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk." The petition adds that because "Cleveland ... is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 most dangerous cities in America" and because of "the possibility of an ISIS terror attack on the arena," convention goers must be allowed to bear arms. As of Tuesday, over 50,000 people had signed. Presumably, at least some of them recognized the petition as a pitch-perfect satire, albeit from a man whose sense of humor is drier than saltines in the Sahara. CBS News has identified the author, who styles himself "the hyperationalist," as a fellow named Jim he would give no last name or city of origin who told the network he's a liberal Democrat. But, he said, "I'm 100 percent sincere in my conviction that guns should be allowed at the GOP convention. (It would be a reflection of) the policies they sought to impose around the nation." He's right, of course. The Republican Party has marched in lockstep with the NRA for years, pushing an agenda of guns everywhere for all people at all times. So why not guns inside the Republican Convention? If it's OK to have guns in schools, bars and churches, then why not there? If Republicans in Iowa think blind people should have guns and Republicans in Alabama want little kids to have guns, then why not sighted adults? If, as Republicans routinely argue, more guns equal greater safety, why shouldn't convention goers be armed? Wouldn't this provide better protection for their candidates? So far, the party has declined to answer. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in whose open-carry state the convention will be held, told reporters he would defer to the Secret Service. Ditto Ted Cruz, who once gleefully ate bacon cooked on the barrel of an AR-15 rifle. Donald Trump said that before he comments, he will need to read "the fine print;" the petition is 799 words long. The party's silence magnifies its hypocrisy. If Republicans believe what they say, they should demand the right to cram as many firearms into that 20,000-seat arena as it will hold. This is shaping up as the tensest, angriest, most contentious convention of modern times. By GOP reasoning, it would be safer if guns were added to the mix. It should tell you something that no Republican will say that now. For years, they have promoted their cynical, dangerous policy of pushing guns into every nook and cranny of American life. The rest of us have argued against it with limited success. Now, however, along comes Jim, eviscerating both party and policy in a single brilliant stroke and reminding us that when people make foolish arguments, sometimes it's better not to fight them. Sometimes, it's more damning if you just take them at their word. Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald. Contact him at lpitts@miamiherald.com. SHARE By Margaret Carlson Step right up, folks, to the Ted Cruz-John Kasich game. The aim is to push out the candidate who could win in November in favor of the one who can't. Everything else has failed to stop Donald Trump, but the Republicans' strategy of putting their few remaining eggs in Sen. Cruz's basket and insulting Gov.Kasich back to the Ohio statehouse is delusional as is their assertion that a vote for Kasich is a vote for Trump. Let's take a look: It's hard to believe that any politician could be doing worse than Hillary Clinton, who had a net unfavorable rating of minus 13 in a March Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, but Cruz, at minus 18, manages it. Kasich has a net positive 19. Every poll shows Cruz losing to Clinton. As for the nomination, the proposition that Cruz alone could stop Trump is wrong to anyone who reads exit polls, studies current ones or looks at the map. What's more, Cruz is the most universally disrespected politician in the Republican Party, which he wears as a badge of honor. And Cruz doesn't have Trump's positives, if you can say such a thing about celebrity, a fake everyman persona, disdain, shared by his followers, for policy, and a knack for memorable slogans. Cruz is a careerist who took the outsider route when his persistent efforts to ingratiate himself with insiders failed. In endorsing him, Jeb Bush had much to say about Washington being broken, but he failed to mention that Cruz was largely responsible for breaking it, forcing senseless government shutdowns, spouting nonsense during his preening filibusters, and adding significantly to the bitter enmity on Capitol Hill and that's on his side of the aisle. Trump's sobriquet of "Lyin' Ted" doesn't sound all that outlandish to many of those who tried to work with the Texas senator on Capitol Hill. Cruz's conduct worked to make him famous but, until panic set in, no one thought it would work to make him the nominee, much less president. The trend so far when someone gets out is that many of those votes go to Trump. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that were Kasich to drop out today, more than half of his vote would go to the front-runner. Although Kasich is being hammered for continuing to exist, he has a good case for staying in: He governs Ohio, which no Republican has won the White House without, was re-elected there with record numbers, and has high approval ratings for turning the deficit into a surplus and bringing 400,000 jobs to the state. He's pro-life and a fiscal conservative. He overhugs, but has kept out of the mud pit. He wins in every matchup with Clinton, while Trump and Cruz lose by double digits. Therefore, he has to go. National Review's Jeremy Carl writes: "It is long past time to throw Kasich's campaign into the ash heap of history." Sen. Lindsey Graham took a more reasonable approach, objecting that Kasich is an insider in an outsider year. Graham, who once quipped that "if you killed Ted Cruz in the Senate and the trial was in the Senate, nobody could convict you," recently endorsed him for the nomination. On "The Daily Show" last week, he struggled to explain his sudden change of heart: "I don't dislike Ted. Ted and I have a lot of differences. He's my 15th choice. What can I say? He's not completely crazy." The New York Times piled on Kasich with a headline about his nastiness, which was hardly justified by the reporting. Since leaving Congress, where he lived the Reagan dream by ramming through a balanced budget, he has mellowed. He has gotten married, had twin girls, become an evangelical Christian and made peace with his parents being killed by a drunken driver. He has a favorability rating of about 70 percent in his home state, where he won re-election with 64 percent of the vote. But he bugs the Republican base. He isn't going to deport grandmothers. He seems squishy on trade, though he's brought back Ohio despite NAFTA. He took Medicaid expansion dollars as part of Obamacare and justified that decision by saying that he worried about accounting to St. Peter at the Pearly Gates had he not made sure the poorest were covered. Nonetheless, he never waves around a Bible like Cruz and Trump. He may sound too much like a compassionate conservative, but a short time ago that was the kind the Republicans claimed to want. In short, he's electable in the fall. Some Republicans hate that. The ideal would be a two-front war against Trump. Had Cruz not insisted e was out to win Florida when he had no chance, Sen. Marco Rubio might have taken the state's 99 delegates. In Utah, where Cruz had a chance, the more mature Kasich stood down and it worked. Cruz's win denied Trump any delegates. And in Ohio, with Cruz and Rubio still in, Kasich won decisively, keeping 66 delegates from Trump. Looking forward to northeastern states, Cruz is not going to win moderate conservatives, see the polls above. In Pennsylvania, a Franklin and Marshall survey showed Kasich statistically even with Trump, and Cruz a distant third. To stop Trump, Cruz has to stay out. What Republicans want other than the 30 percent voting for Trump is not a Cruz win but a brokered convention. There are fewer winner-take-all states left and there's no saying Cruz could win those in a one-on-one matchup against Trump. In moderate states coming up, and where delegates are allocated, to deny Trump his 1,237 delegates, the party has to reverse its mantra: A vote for Cruz is a vote for Trump. Margaret Carlson is a Bloomberg View columnist. Select Commodity All Ajwan Alasande Gram Almond(Badam) Alsandikai Amaranthus Ambada Seed Amla(Nelli Kai) Amphophalus Antawala Anthorium Apple Apricot(Jardalu/Khumani) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar Dal(Tur Dal) Ashgourd Astera Avare Dal Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Balekai Bamboo Banana Banana - Green Barley (Jau) Bay leaf (Tejpatta) Beans Beaten Rice Beetroot Bengal Gram Dal (Chana Dal) Bengal Gram(Gram)(Whole) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Betal Leaves Bhindi(Ladies Finger) Bitter gourd Black Gram (Urd Beans)(Whole) Black Gram Dal (Urd Dal) Black pepper BOP Bottle gourd Bran Brinjal Broken Rice Broomstick(Flower Broom) Bull Bunch Beans Cabbage Calf Capsicum Cardamoms Carnation Carrot Cashewnuts Castor Seed Cauliflower Chapparad Avare Chennangi Dal Cherry Chikoos(Sapota) Chili Red Chilly Capsicum Chow Chow Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum(Loose) Cinamon(Dalchini) Cloves Cluster beans Cock Cocoa Coconut Coconut Oil Coconut Seed Coffee Colacasia Copra Coriander(Leaves) Corriander seed Cotton Cotton Seed Cow Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea(Veg) Cucumbar(Kheera) Cummin Seed(Jeera) Custard Apple (Sharifa) Dalda Dhaincha Drumstick Dry Chillies Dry Fodder Dry Grapes Duck Duster Beans Egg Elephant Yam (Suran) Field Pea Firewood Fish Foxtail Millet(Navane) French Beans (Frasbean) Galgal(Lemon) Garlic Ghee Gingelly Oil Ginger(Dry) Ginger(Green) Gladiolus Cut Flower Goat Gram Raw(Chholia) Gramflour Grapes Green Avare (W) Green Chilli Green Fodder Green Gram (Moong)(Whole) Green Gram Dal (Moong Dal) Green Peas Ground Nut Oil Ground Nut Seed Groundnut Groundnut (Split) Groundnut pods (raw) Guar Guar Seed(Cluster Beans Seed) Guava Gur(Jaggery) He Buffalo Hen Hippe Seed Honge seed Hybrid Cumbu Indian Beans (Seam) Indian Colza(Sarson) Isabgul (Psyllium) Jack Fruit Jaffri Jamun(Narale Hannu) Jarbara Jasmine Jowar(Sorghum) Jute Kabuli Chana(Chickpeas-White) Kacholam Kakada Kankambra Karamani Karbuja(Musk Melon) Kartali (Kantola) Khoya Kinnow Knool Khol Kodo Millet(Varagu) Kulthi(Horse Gram) Lak(Teora) Leafy Vegetable Lemon Lentil (Masur)(Whole) Lilly Lime Linseed Lint Litchi Little gourd (Kundru) Long Melon(Kakri) Lotus Lotus Sticks Lukad Mahedi Mahua Mahua Seed(Hippe seed) Maida Atta Maize Mango Mango (Raw-Ripe) Marasebu Marget Marigold(Calcutta) Marigold(loose) Mashrooms Masur Dal Mataki Methi Seeds Methi(Leaves) Millets Mint(Pudina) Moath Dal Mousambi(Sweet Lime) Mustard Mustard Oil Myrobolan(Harad) Neem Seed Niger Seed (Ramtil) Nutmeg Onion Onion Green Orange Orchid Ox Paddy(Dhan)(Basmati) Paddy(Dhan)(Common) Papaya Papaya (Raw) Patti Calcutta Peach Pear(Marasebu) Peas cod Peas Wet Peas(Dry) Pegeon Pea (Arhar Fali) Pepper garbled Pepper ungarbled Persimon(Japani Fal) Pigs Pineapple Plum Pointed gourd (Parval) Pomegranate Potato Pumpkin Raddish Ragi (Finger Millet) Raibel Rajgir Ram Rat Tail Radish (Mogari) Raya Resinwood Rice Ridge gourd(Tori) Ridgeguard(Tori) Rose(Local) Rose(Loose) Rose(Loose)) Round gourd Rubber Sabu Dan Sabu Dana Safflower Sajje Same/Savi Season Leaves Seemebadnekai Seetafal Seetapal Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) She Buffalo She Goat Sheep Snake gourd Snakeguard Soanf Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soji Soyabean Spinach Sponge gourd Squash(Chappal Kadoo) Sugar Sugarcane Sunflower Sunhemp Suram Surat Beans (Papadi) Suva (Dill Seed) Suvarna Gadde Sweet Potato Sweet Pumpkin T.V. Cumbu T.V. Cumbu Tamarind Fruit Tamarind Seed Tapioca Taramira Tender Coconut Thinai (Italian Millet) Thogrikai Thondekai Tinda Tobacco Tomato Toria Tube Rose(Double) Tube Rose(Loose) Tube Rose(Single) Turmeric Turmeric (raw) Turnip Walnut Water Melon Wheat Wheat Atta White Peas White Pumpkin Wood Yam Yam (Ratalu) Select State Select Market For many California business groups, the state's decision to gradually raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2022 is a terrible thing. But for its technology industry, it may be a plus. Higher wages, says the California Restaurant Association, will force businesses to face "undesirable" options, including cutting staff, raising prices and adopting automation. But a higher minimum wage will "signal to tech companies and entrepreneurs" to look at the restaurant industry, said Darren Tristano, president of Technomic, a research group focused on the restaurant industry. The state's governor and legislators reached an agreement Monday to raise the wages. "I think there are a lot of tech companies that are looking at the restaurant industry to accelerate their growth," said Tristano. The restaurant industry is primed for change, said Tristano, "Many of the routines that take place in restaurants are not very different from 30 to 40 years ago," he said. In lower paid jobs, there is already a trend toward automation. "One reason the economy has not yet experienced lots of job loss so far is because of economic growth," John Graham, a professor of finance at Duke University. For example, said Graham, Amazon is growing and continuing to build warehouses. But "each new warehouse adds fewer employees because each new warehouse is more automated." If economic growth were to slow, or the pace of automation quicken, that could lead to a worsening job situation, said Graham. "And if the cost of labor were to increase (due to minimum wage hike) that will quicken the pace away from labor towards machines," he said. The just released Duke CFO Global Business Outlook, which surveys some 630 firms, backs up that assertion. About 70% of the respondents that pay less than less than $15 an hour said a higher minimum wage would push them toward automation. A shift to automation affects higher paying jobs, too. The White House, in a recent economic report, found that people earning between $41,000 and $83,000 ($20 to $40 an hour) face a 31% median probability of being replaced by automation. Michael Jones, an assistant professor of economics at University of Cincinnati, said that if it costs $10 an hour to serve 100 customers with labor, and $12 an hour to serve 100 customers with technology, firms will hire workers. As soon as labor becomes $15 and hour, they will switch to technology, he said. "Reality is more complicated, of course," said Jones. Not every worker is as productive as others or reflects identical costs, and technology can be incorporated in some firms at a lower cost than others, he said. "However, the general principle still holds that as labor becomes more expensive, firms will substitute technology for labor when possible," said Jones. Microsoft executives will take the stage at Moscone West in San Francisco on Wednesday for the first of two keynote addresses to the company's big Build developer conference. Here are five key things to expect from the next two days of Microsoft announcements: 1. New features in Windows 10 for developers and end users alike Last year, Microsoft used Build to show off its vision for developing applications to run on what was then an unreleased operating system. In the intervening year, the company released Windows 10 to the world, and people have started using it in droves. Right now, one of the biggest questions looming over Windows 10 has to do with the success or failure of the Universal Windows Platform, which lets developers write one app and deploy it to Windows PCs, tablets and phones. Odds are, Microsoft will take time to show off the UWP's ability to expand developers' reach to the Xbox One and HoloLens. Those demonstrations, along with new statistics about how many other devices are running Windows 10, may help Microsoft make a more compelling case to developers about why they should build for the UWP. Users will get to see Microsoft's vision for the second year of Windows 10's existence, too. While it's not yet clear what's going to be up the company's sleeve, it will be interesting to see what Microsoft chooses to do with marquee features like Cortana, its virtual assistant. This would also be a good spot for Microsoft to make its case for the future of Windows 10 Mobile, the version of its operating system that's aimed at smartphones. It doesn't have the broad interest of consumers, businesses or developers at the moment, so Microsoft has to make a case for why people should care. 2. A pitch to developers to build apps for the Office platform Big companies run, at least to some degree, on Microsoft Office. This year, Microsoft is expected to talk a little about how Office can be used as a development platform for making other work applications smarter. The crown jewel of its strategy is the Microsoft Graph, a tool that lets developers build applications that know how their users work within an organization, including what files are getting used a lot and who a particular user works with. It will also be interesting to see if Microsoft brings any news about GigJam, a product that uses the Microsoft Graph to help people work together in an unstructured way. 3. A little news about HoloLens Chances are we won't see Microsoft announce any new hardware that will jolt people like the original HoloLens announcement from last year. But this is Microsoft's big opportunity to wow developers who are about to get their hands on the first wave of HoloLens development kits and show how it can be used in a range of scenarios. Depending on how gutsy the company is feeling, we might even see a live demonstration of Microsoft Research's "holoportation" telepresence project, but that would require some serious belief in the network connectivity in the keynote hall, since it requires communication between a HoloLens and a special camera rig. 4. Pushes for Azure adoption Like past Build conferences, this one is expected to contain plenty of announcements about Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, along with its on-premises server business. This is 2016, and Windows Server 2016's release is right around the corner. Meanwhile, Azure is facing Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform in a war for the public cloud. That means Microsoft is under a lot of pressure to release new features, and a developer conference is exactly the right place for it, especially after Google's cloud conference last week. While Microsoft talks up its public cloud, I'd also hope to see a discussion of its Azure Stack private cloud software, which is aimed at letting companies run an instance of Azure inside a private data center. Developer tools can treat an Azure Stack instance the same way they'd treat the public version of Azure, meaning that app makers will be able to build one codebase that works with on-premises servers, the public cloud, or both. 5. New developer tools Microsoft announced earlier this year it would acquire Xamarin, a maker of tools that let .NET developers build cross-platform mobile apps. That acquisition closed just a couple of weeks ago, and it seems logical that we'll start to see the first fruits of the united Microsoft-Xamarin front at Build. This would also be the logical time for the company to announce new features for its Visual Studio development environment, since many of the developers in attendance at Build rely on it for their daily work. Stay tuned for the rest of this week to see what Microsoft has in store. 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. Grayling attacks SNP as Tory MPs call for Unity Day to celebrate No vote Chris Grayling, the Leader of the House of Commons, turned his guns on the SNP this week as the Scottish Parliament entered its purdah period ahead of Mays elections. Writing in The Sun, he accused the Nationalists of seeking power without responsibility, fighting against fiscal devolution which would make them accountable to Scottish taxpayers for their generous promises. The Scottish Freedom of Information commissioner was criticised this week for shelving several FoI requests against the SNP Government until after the election. Meanwhile, several Conservative MPs have called for the date the SNP declared would be their independence day to instead become a public holiday celebrating the Union. STVs Aidan Kerr reports that Mark Menzies, the Irving-born Member for Flyde, led the charge, and was supported by Alberto Costa and Therese Coffey. The Government does not currently have any public plans to make Union Day a national celebration. Trimble makes economic case for Brexit Lord Trimble, the Conservative peer and former Ulster Unionist leader and First Minister of Northern Ireland, has set out why he joined the campaign to leave the European Union. According to the News Letter he voted to remain in the EEC during the 1975 referendum, but now feels that the economic case for leaving the EU is much stronger than when the UK was the sick man of Europe. He also said that he would be happy to campaign alongside the Democratic Unionists in the Brexit cause, if they end up working with Vote Leave. Plaid Cymru demand job share First Minister as price for support The Welsh Nationalists have set out their stall in the event that Welsh Labour end up dependent on their support to continue governing after the upcoming Assembly elections: half the job of First Minister. Wales Online reports that Plaid want a rotating First Ministership if Labour fall under the 31-seats required for a majority, as the latest polls project they will. With Labour having ruled out a pact with UKIP or the Tories, and the Liberal Democrats likely to win fewer seats than the gap, the Nationalists might be their only option. But Plaid have tied their own hands by refusing to support a Conservative-led administration, the only viable alternative. Jones has justified much of his nationalist posturing on the need to keep Plaid on the sidelines. It would be a terrible irony if he ended up ceding them his office, even in a timeshare. First Minister calls for arrests as dissidents sour Easter Rising commemorations Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP and First Minister of Northern Ireland, has called for police action after hard-line Republicans caused public disorder during events to commemorate the centenary of the Easter Rising. The Belfast Telegraph reports that police were stoned by balaclava-clad youths, and others faced petrol bombs in Republican areas. Meanwhile masked men in paramilitary dress were present at several parades. Foster is reported to have said: I want these people behind bars. No place for masked men in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, the widow of the first PSNI officer murdered by dissident Republicans in 2009 criticised the decision to re-enact the murder of a Royal Irish Constabulary officer in Dublin as part of the centenary. Another Nationalist MP faces expense questions A row has erupted after an SNP MSP was found to have paid more than 87,000 of taxpayers money to a firm owned 90 per cent by an MP from the same party. Corri Wilson, the newly elected Nationalist MP for Ayr, owns the stake in start-up firm Caledonii Resources. Brodie claimed he hired her as contract staff, but she was registered with companies house as unemployed throughout. The Scottish Conservatives have called for an investigation. Meanwhile Yen Hongmei Jin, Scotlands only Chinese councillor, is suing the SNP for racial discrimination after officials allegedly blocked her bid to become a candidate for MSP and MP, and the Party is under pressure to ditch a Holyrood candidate for making transphobic remarks, describing EU diversity funding as a tranny trove. as ex-SNP MP faces fresh funds probe and libel suit Nor has this been a good week to be Natalie McGarry, the MP for Glasgow East who sits alongside Michelle Thomson in the second-largest group of Scottish MPs: those who have lost the SNP whip. First, lawyers working on behalf of Alastair Cameron, who runs the unionist group Scotland in Union, served her with a writ after she failed to adequately apologise for alleging on Twitter that he was a holocaust denier. Then the National revealed (first time Ive linked there!) that she is at the centre of investigations into the disappearance of over 4,000 from the Glasgow SNP accounts, of which she was main signatory from 2011 until last year. This is on top of the original 30,000 in missing funds from Women for Independence, which she ran, which led to McGarry losing the SNP whip in the first place. There is a free market case for arguing that the steel industry should simply take the pain (in other words, that 15,000 workers must lose their jobs if necessary) because the costs of manufacturing in Britain are too high for Tata Steel and thats more or less the sum of it. However, this argument doesnt take into the account the dumping of steel by China on the world markets, which accounts for much of steels troubles here and abroad. And in any event, the Government is plainly not going simply to stand by and let workers in Shotton, Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Walsall, Redcar, Corby, (and elsewhere) go to the wall. Anna Soubry is up and about saying that in the words of the Prime Minister, we are unequivocal in saying that steel is a vital industry which means that a rescue package will be found, presumably funded by the taxpayer if no other plan is forthcoming. She has blamed Vince Cable for not doing more under the Coalition; he is rising from the dead to blame this majority Conservative Government. In the meantime, Tom Pursglove MP for Corby, remember says that financial support has been held up for months as a direct result of slow EU state aid processes and that the European Commission isnt taking robust action in response to Chinas dumping. All this is further confirmation, were it needed, that politics-as-usual has stopped: there is no economic development, no political happening, that cannot be framed as part of the referendum debate. This is inevitable, given the scale and implications of the decision. There will presumably be a let-up in the run-up to Mays elections, and again before the Queens Speech. But otherwise fasten your belts until June for the EU referendum rollercoaster ride. Further to that point, Stephen Kinnock is probing away at what he hopes will be a Tory weakness. Sajid Javid is visiting Australia. Soubry was left earlier today to front for the Government. Kinnock is complaining that the Government wants to roll out the red carpet for China thus attempting to weld together Chinas dumping, George Osbornes pro-China stance, and a Business Secretary who lines up with the Chancellor over Brexit. SUBSCRIBE Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates straight in your inbox. How Israel Makes Money From Blockading Gaza By Ryan Rodrick Beiler 30 March, 2016 Electronicintifada.net A Palestinian farmer harvests strawberries from a field in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, on 10 December 2015. (Mohammed Asad / APA images) Palestinians whose livelihoods are forcibly enmeshed in Israels economic system are often used as human shields against the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The frequent accusation made by critics is that boycotts of Israeli businesses, especially settlement businesses, will hurt the very Palestinians that BDS activists say they support. At times, settlement advocates even deploy Palestinian spokespersons to speak positively about the higher wages they receive working for settlement businesses. A new report released by UK-based Corporate Watch brings the voices of the Palestinian farmers and agricultural workers to the debate over how the BDS movement can best resist Israeli exploitation of their land and labor. Corporate Watchs report, titled, Apartheid in the Fields: From Occupied Palestine to UK Supermarkets, focuses on two of the most vulnerable segments of Palestinian society: residents of the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Banks Jordan Valley. Farming under siege Anyone entering Gaza through the Erez checkpoint on the northern boundary with present-day Israel, traverses a long, fenced corridor running through the so-called buffer zone enforced by the Israeli military. This poorly defined area ranges from 300 to 500 meters along the inside perimeter of Gaza. Since 2008, the report states, more than 50 Palestinians have been killed in this zone. Four Palestinian civilians have been killed and more than 60 injured so far this year. According to the UN monitoring group OCHA, this zone also takes up 17 percent of Gazas total area, making up to one third of its farmland unsafe for cultivation. Areas that once held olive and citrus trees have now been bulldozed by Israeli forces. Corporate Watch says that even though Palestinians are routinely shot at from distances greater than 300 meters, farmers whose land lies near the border have no choice but to cultivate these areas despite the danger. Economic warfare In addition to the lethal violence routinely inflicted on Gaza, Israeli authorities enforce what they have called economic warfare a de facto boycott of almost all agriculture originating in Gaza. Virtually no produce from the enclave is allowed into Israeli or West Bank markets, traditionally Gazas biggest customers. From the time Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza in 2007 up until November 2014, a monthly average of 13.5 trucks left Gaza carrying exports just one percent of the monthly average of goods shipped out just prior to the closure. By contrast, already this year more than 22,000 trucks have entered Gaza, many carrying Israeli produce considered unsuitable for international export. Dumping it on the captive market in Gaza further undermines local farmers. The trickle of exports that Israel permits from Gaza go primarily to European markets, but this is only allowed through Israeli export companies that profit from the situation by taking commissions and selling Gaza products for far higher prices than they pay the producers. The Israelis export Palestinian produce and export it with an Israeli label, Taghrid Jooma of the Union of Palestinian Womens Committees told Corporate Watch. For example, they export roses from Gaza for nickels and dimes and sell them for a lot of money. Muhammad Zwaid of Gazas only export company, Palestine Crops, told Corporate Watch that part of the problem is that Palestine lacks its own bar code and so any produce exported through Israel carries an Israeli one. We have our own stickers, said Zwaid, but [Israeli export company] Arava has asked for them to be smaller and often Arava stickers are put on top of ours. Our produce is taken inside Israel by the Israeli company and then taken to a packing station where it is repackaged. Supporting BDS Corporate Watch reports that while many of the farmers they interviewed support BDS, they also want the opportunity to export their produce and make a living. This presents a quandary because a boycott of Israeli export companies like Arava will include Palestinian products as well. Even so, the farmers interviewed maintained their support for BDS as a long-term strategy that outweighs the limited benefits of current export levels. What we need is people to stand with us against the occupation, said one farmer from al-Zaytoun. By supporting BDS you support the farmers, both directly and indirectly and this is a good thing for people here in Gaza. Farmers all over the Gaza Strip were particularly keen on getting the right to label their produce as Palestinian, ideally with its own country code, even if they have to export through Israel, the report states. Country of origin labels for Gaza goods is something the solidarity movement could lobby for. Mohsen Abu Ramadan, from the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network, suggested to Corporate Watch that one strategy could be to engage farming unions around the world to urge them to endorse BDS in solidarity with Palestinian farmers. Bulldozing the Jordan Valley While Israels siege and deadly assaults have rightly focused international attention on Gaza, Israels actions in the Jordan Valley have generated far less outrage. Yet well before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus current extreme right-wing government made clear its opposition to a viable Palestinian state, he had pledged to never give up control of this agriculturally rich region under any two-state configuration. Occupation authorities refuse virtually all Palestinian requests to build or improve infrastructure in the region. Residents face severe restrictions on access to electricity and water as well as other basic infrastructure. Demolitions of Palestinian homes have increased in recent months, and in February, Israel carried out the largest demolition in a decade. Routine violations In the Jordan Valley, settlement agriculture often relies on Palestinian labor including child labor to do hazardous jobs for a fraction of what would be paid to Israeli citizens. Though entitled to the Israeli minimum wage according to a high court ruling, many workers are routinely paid as little as half that. Palestinians Zaid and Rashid are employed in Beqaot, a settlement built on land seized from Palestinians. They receive wages of $20 per day, about a quarter of which goes for daily transport. They receive no paid holidays despite the fact that the Israeli government advises that workers are entitled to 14 days paid holiday and must receive a written contract and payslips from their employer. Although they are members of a Palestinian trade union, their settler employers do not recognize any collective bargaining rights. Workers are moreover frequently pressured into signing documents in Hebrew which they cannot read stating that they are being treated according to law. Workers fear being fired if they do not sign. While Palestinians working in settlements are also required to obtain work permits from the military occupation authorities, several of those interviewed for the report had no such permits, leading to suspicions that employers may be attempting to further circumvent Israeli labor laws by using undocumented workers. Both Zaid and Rashid told Corporate Watch they back the call for a boycott of Israeli agricultural companies. We support the boycott even if we lose our work, Zaid said. We might lose our jobs but we will get back our land. We will be able to work without being treated as slaves. Label games Corporate Watch profiles the five main Israeli export companies: Arava, Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Edom and the now defunct Carmel Agrexco. A common practice by these companies is mislabeling goods as Produce of Israel even when they are grown and packed in West Bank settlements that are illegal under international law. Corporate Watch also documents the varying degrees of success that BDS activists have had in targeting these companies. Since 2009, following pressure from activists, the UKs Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued guidelines stating it is an offense to mislabel settlement goods as Produce of Israel. Similar guidelines approved by the European Union late last year outraged Israeli politicians, despite the fact that the same practice has been United States policy since the mid-1990s. Despite the guidelines, however, UK stores continue to stock Israeli products with misleading labels. As recently as 2013, Corporate Watch found labels from the Israeli settlement of Tomer for the Morrisons store brand of Medjoul dates. In another example, the Aldi chain was caught selling grapefruits from Carmel Agrexco labeled as products of Cyprus. Beyond settlement boycotts Of the supermarket chains targeted by BDS campaigns, only one, The Co-operative, has pledged to no longer engage with any supplier of produce known to be sourcing from the Israeli settlements. This means that not only would the Co-op not stock settlement produce, but that it would not buy produce grown in present-day Israel from companies that also have settlement operations. This made it the first major European chain to take such a step. Corporate Watch points out that while not directly supporting the settlement economy, those Israeli companies without settlement operations still pay taxes to the Israeli government, which supports its ongoing occupation, colonization and oppression of Palestinians. It notes that the Co-op took a much stronger stance regarding apartheid-era South Africa, when it boycotted all South African products. In accordance with the 2005 BDS call from Palestinian civil society, Corporate Watch advocates a full boycott of all Israeli goods. Ryan Rodrick Beiler is a freelance photojournalist and member of the ActiveStills collective. Twitter: @RRodrickBeiler Reading UoH Student Movement By Dillip Kumar Dash 30 March, 2016 Countercurrents.org There has been several attempts to demoralize the movement led by Joint Action Committee for Social Justice since the incident of vandalism on VCs bizarre return. Before judging the movement by reading into those particular acts, one must look through a pretext to it. Even though, it is condemnable to resort to any kind of violence, it will be a limited and partial understanding if we dont locate them in a larger context of structurally manufactured mutual disharmony, anger and vengeance in recent times. Different binaries and bipolarities have occupied our imagination so much that dialogue has become almost impossible. It is pertinent to make sense of the shifts made by the current regime from mutual disagreement to acute disharmony that immensely contribute to such violence. At one level one has to look into an utterly divided and provocative condition and at another level the reaction of some of the protesters and the aftermath. Polarizing Politics: Immediate provocation for the protesters resembles a larger polarization of public sphere. An example from an earlier time might help. Couple of years back, one fine morning, I was out with a few of my friends to buy mutton (goat meat). It was a traditional mutton shop. After a small bargaining, he started chopping of the meat. In the meantime, one of my friends asked him to give more flesh rather than bones. The seller informed us about the practice of proportion in that area and my friend requested him to be a bit flexible. His reaction was interesting. He stopped chopping of the meat and put them back in a tray. In an angry voice, he not only denied to sell it but also showed us the direction towards a nearby super market where we might buy mutton of our choice (flesh and bone separately). As we wanted fresh meat, we apologized and bought it from him. His behavior was a submerged resistance against the mode of development and discomfort towards a selfish upwardly mobile new urban middle class. While walking back to our room we discussed his behavior and mutually disagreed on many points. The tags like anti-development, leftist or anti-national were not so frequent in public domain then. Otherwise some of us would have used them against the seller or at each other and spoiled the morning without any productive outcome. Earlier, in different projects, national interest was prioritized over local rights. Resistance was suppressed, sometimes brutally, but not tagged as anti-national; hence, not thrown away from the public discourse. Development and its complexities are out of debate now as it has been taken for granted. Debate is more about the sanity of those who conform and the insanity of those who do not. In a similar passion, a critique of caste society is anti-Hindu, a critique of state repression is either anarchist or anti-national and so on. Recently, the Finance Minister has introduced two more words like jihadist and ultra-leftist into the tag-vocabulary. Consequently, the non-resisting loyal sections automatically carrying all available positive tags do not continue to remain confused spectators; rather with newly given recognitions join the army of defending, assisting or protecting the authority in different modes. Thus, even mob-trials look virtuous, if not legal. It is a bipolar civil divide, where people are politically charged against each other, albeit a narrower scope. Divisions and Provocations: In the particular case of University of Hyderabad, the VCs return was so meticulously planned that a polarized division of otherwise relatively harmonious university community was evident. A leaked outline of activities reveal how like-minded people were selectively invited from among the faculties and students. Faculties, many of whom were co-travelers in the administrative process that resulted Rohit Vemulas death and some so called neutrals, who might have never valued student politics or any resistance, were part of the invitees. Instead of either Student Union or larger student community being informed, only students from life sciences (well known for their leaning towards ABVP) were chosen. And, of course, non-teaching staff were there in support of the VC. Though one can argue (like in the case of suspension of five dalit students) rules and protocols were followed and everyone was not required there, the conspiracy to split a university population into antagonistic camps can easily be noticed. One is acceptable to the authority and others are troublemakers. No wonder, the so called good guys from life sciences took up the responsibility of guarding the VC when JAC for Social Justice arrived there, and faculties were peeping through windows at police brutality against students and later justified it as security measure. Non-teaching staff went a few steps ahead. They acted against the abuses of protesters by shutting down all student messes and threatening to stop supply of other basic amenities. Reactions of Protesters: Though it is undesirable and deserves criticism, unruly reactions are a possibility in a protest depending on the available provocations. A movement is neither constitutive of homogeneous entities nor an en-mass conscientised category. Everyone in a movement may not share one ideology or emotion. Some are easily vulnerable to provocation. That is why Gandhi differentiates between a satyagrahi and normal participants. But blaming the entire movement based on a few instances of violence is a unitary understanding- a methodology close to right wing and traditional left wing. The activities of JAC for Social Justice, in the aftermath of indiscriminate police action, were aimed at restoring governance that was squeezed in a divisive atmosphere. They moved towards community alternatives to denied services. Food was one among them. Students arranged community cooking at different places for the entire student community on campus. Along with cooking, resistance continued in the form of candle light marches, Eklavya speaks (sharing experience of discrimination), street plays and the like programs. Cooking as well as sharing experience of police horror were different forms of community action to reclaim the university space from police. What else the whole struggle is for!! It is to reclaim our universities from casteist, heterosexist, and patriarchal, communal as well as authoritarian rule. This space is to critique ideas and build new. It is a space to argue, to disagree and to question status quo. It is the divisive McCarthyism that emerging from institutions polluted a space meant for creative engagement. The democratic space has to be restored beyond antagonism. Dillip Kumar Dash, Research Scholar,Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad Islamist Terror In The East And West: Lahore, Paris, Brussels And Beyond By Taj Hashmi 30 March, 2016 Countercurrents.org Although Islamist or separatist terror groups bomb and kill hundreds of people in Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Turkey, or Afghanistan on a regular basis, yet they hardly make headlines in Western media; and the news about these attacks disappear from Western media in hours. This is, however, not the case with any terror attack in the West in London or Boston, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, or Brussels. Unless people and media in the West equally empathise and sympathise with all terror victims, and do something positive to counter terrorism everywhere, there is little hope for durable peace and understanding in the world. There was yet again, another homegrown ISIS terror attack in Europe. In less than four months after the Paris Attack that killed 130 innocent, total strangers in November 2015, terrorists killed more than 30 and gravely injured scores of people in Brussels last Tuesday, March 22. Apparently, only three ISIS operatives, including two suicide bombers two brothers took part in the world-shattering carnage. They used homemade bombs, or IEDs (improvised explosive devices) made of very powerful TATP explosives, which experts believe are least expensive, and can be made in ones apartment or garage. For the first three days after the latest terror attacks in Brussels, seemingly there was a total information blackout in Western media outlets on any other news item other than the Attack. So much so that, there was hardly any coverage of the U.S. Presidential Primary in any American TV channel on that Super Tuesday. Today (March 29), six days after the Brussels Attack, American media is still giving wide coverage to the minute details of the Attack. So far so good! I have only two comments: a) Wide media coverage to terrorist attacks gives free publicity to terrorists Margaret Thatcher once rightly said: We must starve terrorists of the oxygen of publicity; b) Selective publicity of terrorist attacks by Western governments and media smacks of their prejudice, and hence counterproductive to counterterrorism everywhere. Recently, the USA Today has exposed Western double standard towards terrorist attacks in the West and in the Muslim World. It asserts that literally hundreds of terrorist attacks took place in Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, Mali, Tunisia, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Ivory Coast and elsewhere; and that Paris or Brussels were not the first or second terrorist attack in the last four months, though certainly this will be the first- or second-most covered by Western media. While terrorist attacks in Brussels, San Bernardino, and Paris made headlines in Western media, terrorist attacks in Turkey since October 2015 that killed around 200 people, and another 400 in Ivory Coast, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, and Yemen never made headlines in the West. On March 27 the Easter Sunday a Jamaat ul-Ahrar (Pakistani Taliban affiliate) suicide bomber killed more than 70 people and injured around 300 mostly women and children at a public park in Lahore, which got some fleeting coverage in the Western media, may be because it was an Islamist terror attack on minority Christians in godforsaken Pakistan. However, initially the CNN spent less than 10 seconds to break the news, followed by no comments and elaborations. Any objective appraisal of terrorism religious or secular, ISIS or PKK requires an understanding of the syndrome. Terrorism is a means toward an end, not an end in itself. And far from being the primeval cause or another original sin, terrorism is merely a retaliatory, reactive violence by victims. In sum, its a weapon of the weak, which doesnt drop from the heavens. Since terrorists victimize innocent people, we often ignore terrorists are also victims of persecution, hate, and humiliation. In the backdrop of the recent terror attacks by ISIS, PKK, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba, we mustnt overlook the fine line between terrorism and insurgency. Although it might sound pedestrian, I believe there are three different types of politically inspired violence: a) terrorism; b) insurgency; and c) insurgent-terrorism. While al Qaeda, Hizbut Tahrir, HUJI and JMB are terrorist outfits, plain and simple; the ISIS, PKK (in Turkey and adjoining countries) and the Afghan Taliban are insurgent-terrorist groups, respectively engaged in the liberation of the Levant (Eastern Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon), Kurdistan, and Pashtunistan. The ISIS, PKK, and Afghan Taliban mainly resort to insurgent-terrorism, which is neither pure terrorism nor unadulterated insurgency, they attack both innocent civilians and armed law-enforcers and military. Although apparently Islamic by nature, both the Taliban and ISIS are primarily nationalist outfits upholding Sunni Pashtun and Sunni Arab identities. As Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and Western, Saudi, and Pakistani support for the Afghan Jihad eventually created the Afghan Taliban, so did Western invasions/destructions of Iraq, Syria and Libya led to the creation of the ISIS. As the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001 turned many Taliban fighters into insurgent-terrorists, so have the recent ISIS losses in Iraq and Syria turned many ISIS fighters into transnational insurgent-terrorists. Its becoming what al Qaeda turned itself into after 5/6 years of 9/11. However, ISIS is still more of an insurgent-terrorist rather than a purely terrorist outfit. Interestingly, from the postmortem of the Brussels Attack by Western media and analysts we only hear as to how the Belgian intelligence and police departments failed to preempt the attack. We dont hear why most second- and third-generation Muslim immigrants in Belgium dont consider themselves Belgians. Western media and analysts in general dont tell us about the ongoing Saudi-Turkish support for ISIS, which will further destabilize the Arab World, and eventually West Europe and North America. As if the Saudi-Turkish support for the ISIS against their common enemies Iran, Shiite Arabs, and Kurdish nationalists would stabilize the Middle East and North Africa! We know major wars dont end small wars. The World Wars, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Arab-Israeli and Indio-Pakistani wars, and military interventions anywhere, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria far from bringing durable peace, further destabilized the world. As one analyst has put it, prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, there was no suicide bomber in that country; but since the invasion, around 2,000 suicide bombings have taken place in Iraq up to January, 2016. We have also examples of client states and protegees turning into the Frankensteins Monsters of their former patrons. As Hamas, a former protegee of Israel turned into its bitter enemy; so did the Taliban and al Qaeda go against their former patrons, America and Pakistan. The ISIS has already become anti-Western, and is no longer under the tutelage of its Arab and Turkish promoters. Promoting our terrorists against theirs, demonizing others as terrorists by promoting Islamophobia or racism, and last but not least, portraying ourselves as innocent victims of terrorism by overstating terrorist threat as the West has been doing quite for sometime through blatant lies, deceptive wars and invasions, and the ubiquitous double standards will neither end terrorism, nor restore mutual trust and respect between the West and the Muslim World. In sum, a New York Times (March 28) cartoon has aptly explained the state of affairs in Europe. Perpetual fear mongering and demonizing marginalized Muslims as terrorists could give ISIS its state in Europe, called the State of Emergency! The writer teaches security studies at Austin Peay State University. He is the author of several books, including his latest, Global Jihad and America: The Hundred-Year War Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan (Sage, 2014). Email: tajhashmi@gmail.com Intelligence Accounts Raise More Questions On Origins of Brussels, Paris Attacks By Alex Lantier 30 March, 2016 WSWS.org Accounts of US and European intelligences monitoring of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) make ever clearer that the key ingredient in ISIS terror attacks in Brussels and last year in Paris was the support of factions of the NATO countries intelligence apparatus for ISIS in the war in Syria. As NATO officials sought to use ISIS militias and terror attacks to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and to discredit Assads accusations that they were supporting terrorists in Syria, they ignored mounting signs that ISIS was developing a broad terror network in Europe. This reckless policy led to substantial infighting inside the intelligence services, which was however hidden from the public. On March 22 in Brussels, ISIS operatives identified as terrorists to state authorities, the El Bakraoui brothers, were able to prepare and carry out attacks, even though Belgian officials had been warned of the timing and targets of the attacks. Now, as NATO powers debate a shift towards pro-Russian forces and away from ISIS in Syria, factional infighting in the intelligence apparatus is erupting into the open. This is the content of yesterdays lengthy New York Times feature article, titled How ISIS built the machinery of terror under Europes gaze. The article is based on internal documents and testimony of US and French intelligence operatives of how they monitored ISIS operatives returning to Europe from Syria and apprehended several preparing attacks in Europe. It presents extended accounts of the travel plans, social media postings, and political views of several European recruits to ISIS who were preparing attacks in Europe, making clear that ISIS is thoroughly penetrated and monitored by NATO intelligence agencies. This makes it all the remarkable that ISIS was allowed to repeatedly carry out large-scale attacks in Europe. The Times notes, Officials now say the signs of this focused terrorist machine were readable in Europe as far back as early 2014. Yet local authorities repeatedly discounted each successive plot, describing them as isolated or random acts, the connection to the Islamic State either overlooked or played down. In fact, sections of the intelligence establishment were aware and concerned from shortly after the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011 that the Islamist militias they were mobilizing against Assad would organize terror attacks not only in Syria, but also in Europe. The Times cites retired US General Michael T. Flynn, the leader of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 2012 to 2014. Flynn was a key source in a report by Seymour Hersh in the London Review of Books in January, detailing contacts of US military intelligence with Russian and Syrian officials, which the DIA hoped to use in a war against ISIS. Flynn tells the Times, This didnt all of a sudden pop up in the last six months. They have been contemplating external attacks ever since the group moved into Syria in 2012. These signals included the May 24, 2014 shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels carried out by Mehdi Nemmouche, an ISIS fighter from nearby Roubaix, in France. The Times notes, Even when the police found a video in his possession, in which he claimed responsibility for the attack next to a flag bearing the words Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Belgiums deputy prosecutor, Ine Van Wymersch, dismissed any connection. He probably acted alone, she told reporters at the time. In fact, a review of Nemmouches phone records by the intelligence agencies showed that he was in close touch with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the public face of ISIS social media recruiting operations, who subsequently led the November 13 ISIS attack in Paris. The Times writes, In the months before the Jewish museum attack, Mr. Nemmouches phone records reveal that he made a 24-minute call to Mr. Abaaoud, according to a 55-page report by the French National Polices anti-terror unit in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. The article follows in detail the movements of ISIS operative Reda Hame, a 29-year-old computer technician from Paris who traveled to Syria in 2014 and volunteered, apparently after some initial reluctance, to return and carry out terror attacks in Europe. Despite attempts to hide and encrypt his communications with Abaaoud, Hame was apprehended in August of last year before he could carry out any attacks. He is apparently one of 21 such ISIS operatives who were arrested before carrying out their attacks. Its a factory over there, Hame told French intelligence officials after his arrest, according to the Times. They are doing everything possible to strike France, or else Europe. As sections of the intelligence establishment were well aware, a mass of information pointed to the fact that ISIS was preparing terror attacks in Europe. All the signals were there. For anyone paying attention, these signals became deafening by mid-2014, adds Michael S. Smith II, a counterterrorism analyst with private firm Kronos Advisory. The main question that emerges from the Times account, which it does not even bother to pose, is why intelligence agencies did not pay attention to the deafening signs that ISIS was preparing attacks in Europe. This also raises what role state agencies decision to downplay these reports played in ISIS ability to carry out the Paris and Brussels attacksagainst Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, again in Paris in November, and now in Brusselskilling and wounding hundreds in Europe. The central factor is that in the initial years of the war, there was broad support in the ruling classes of Europe and the United States for a proxy war for regime change against Assad relying on Islamist terror groups. In Europe, protocols were put in place so that thousands of Islamist fighters could travel to the Middle East, to train for war against Assad, with impunity. Initial reports that NATO proxies were carrying out hundreds of terror bombings, like the report by the Arab League in early 2012, were denounced in the Western media. In the ruling class and reactionary layers of the affluent middle class, there was broad support for an imperialist war against Syria waged via terrorist methods. Middle class pseudo-left groups such as the International Socialist Organization in the United States, the New Anti-capitalist Party in France and the Left Party in Germany enthusiastically promoted war with Syria. War fever swept the New York Times, which published extensive, favorable portrayals of terror attacks in Syria by leading journalists. C.J. Chivers August 2012 video report The Lions of Tawhid detailed his stay with an Islamist militia, the Lions of Tawhid, that carried out truck bombings and killings near the Syrian city of Aleppo. After criticisms emerged that the video showed the Lions of Tawhid carrying out a war crime by trying to use a prisoner as an unwitting suicide bomber, Chivers dismissed his critics as supporters of Assad on his blog, The Gun: Where you stand on this probably depends on who you are. You might support this if you support the rebels and their cause. You wont much like it if you are a member of a Syrian Mi-8 helicopter crew, or depend upon those aircraft and those crews for medevac and ammunition resupply. As these moods and views dominated in ruling circles, intelligence agencies ignored the mounting evidence that ISIS and similar groups linked to Al Qaeda were developing terror networks internationally. This underscores the fact that the main goal of the so-called war on terror is regime change and imperialist domination of the Middle East, not fighting terrorism. The Times report makes clear that the wars and the division of labor between the intelligence agencies and Islamist fighters have emerged as the main danger of terrorism in Europe today. A number of questions remain, however, on how it was possible for the Charlie Hebdo, November 13, and Brussels attacks to proceed. In all cases, the attackers were high-ranking ISIS or Al Qaeda fighters well known to intelligence services: The Kouachi brothers were under state surveillance and spoke directly to Al Qaedas top leadership in the Arabian Peninsula. Abaaoud was known internationally and publicly as a leading ISIS official. And the El Bakraoui brothers in Brussels were violent felons known as terrorists to the intelligence services. Given that the intelligence services were able to identify and stop more obscure figures such as Reda Hame, it remains inexplicable how such top Islamist fighters were allowed to travel freely across Europe to prepare mass terror attacks. Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press The kitchen at West River Health Campus in Evansville was a busy place recently as teams from a dozen Trilogy Health Services campuses prepared for their regional culinary Olympics. SHARE Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Chef Shane Render's team from River Oaks campus in Princeton won both the resident's choice and judge's top spot in the Trilogy Culinary Olympics. His entree was crunchy crumb-crusted citrus salmon with orange-tequila butter sauce, Asian noodle salad with cucumbers in a blanched carrot ring, and roasted white and purple fingerling potatoes. Aimee Blume / Special to The Courier & Press Chef Don Schaeffer of Bridge Pointe Health Campus in Vincennes cooked up homemade sopaipillas for dessert, served with chocolate sauce and fresh raspberries. By Aimee Blume No matter who or where you are, some things never change. Everybody has to eat, and everybody wants to eat delicious food. Leaving your home to live at a retirement facility can be a stressful point in life, but high-quality dining can ease the transition and make mealtimes a joy rather than a chore. Dining at Trilogy Health Services retirement campuses is engineered to make residents happy. Once a year, Trilogy's chefs get to strut their stuff in the Trilogy Culinary Olympics. Evansville's West River campus is home to the area's regional section of the contest and recently hosted a dozen teams of culinarians from around Southwestern Indiana competing for the regional title and the chance to move on to the national competition. "Each of our 100 campuses is individually run with their own menus specific to the location," said Jeffery E. Eller, assistant vice president of dining services for the company, and a past Olympic-winning chef himself. "Chefs make their own daily specials and also offer an a la carte menu for diners to choose from. Our dining philosophy is that choice is the No. 1 concern, so the residents are offered what they love to eat. For example here in Evansville we have lots of catfish, whereas in Michigan you might see more lake perch, and in Louisville a hot brown." At our regional culinary Olympics, each chef and team had 15 minutes to present three full courses to the judges an appetizer, soup or salad; a complete entree with protein, sides, sauces and garnish and a dessert. A few even included wine or a cocktail. Cooking times and budget had to be within the normal parameters of their own campus kitchens, so if one course used more expensive ingredients, another course had to make up for it by being delicious and beautiful yet very budget friendly. Judges consisted of local food experts and food lovers including me and a separate panel of residents from West River. That's 36 courses the judges had to sample, so they were given small portions. A full presentation plate was also shown for voting on appearance. Copies of the recipes were presented to the judges at the end of the contest. The offerings were sensational. Appetizers ranged from a hearty Italian kale, sausage and potato soup to Caesar salad; from jumbo shrimp with spicy crab stuffing to a rich apple and avocado salad with a hint of pesto. Entrees were likewise varied. Chef Natasha McKinney of Woodmont campus in Boonville presented a seared Chilean sea bass with orange marmalade sauce, fresh off-the-cob corn with pesto and a zucchini and potato pancake. Don Schaeffer of Bridge Pointe in Vincennes presented a margarita-marinated airline chicken breast (a skin-on breast with the first wing joint attached) with Mexican rice, black bean and corn salad and Mexican cornbread with guacamole and sour cream. Michelle Hart of River Pointe in Evansville offered a thick pork chop filled with a flavorful sausage and apple stuffing, served with garlic-buttered haricot vert green bean bundles and garlicky mashed potatoes. Salmon was a popular entree with a number of preparations, as was beef. A stuffed Marsala chicken breast and flank steak with Gorgonzola sauce were two other favorites of the day. Desserts included a moist apple cake with brown sugar icing, variations on tiramisu, cheesecake, sopaipillas and parfaits. Each course was evaluated on a scale of 1-5 in areas of taste, presentation and creativity, and each team's numbers were totaled across the board to arrive at their final score. The first place winner and residents' choice winner was Shane Render of River Oaks in Princeton. He served an appetizer of spicy Thai mussels, followed by salmon topped with perfectly crunchy breadcrumbs under a citrus-tequilla beurre blanc butter sauce. His sides were a sesame-scented Asian noodle salad with cucumber and roasted fingerling potatoes, followed by a chocolate tiramisu with layers of homemade deep chocolate cake and mascarpone cheese with a sweet coffee soak. Second place was Don Schaeffer of Bridge Pointe in Vincennes with sweet potato nachos, margarita chicken and fresh-fried sopaipillas; and Penny Mormon of Oakwood in Tell City took third place with her kale and sausage soup, flank steak with Gorgonzola cream sauce and chocolate bomb sundae inside a chocolate shell melted with hot caramel sauce. In recruiting chefs for their campuses, which are scattered across Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky, Trilogy obviously looks for applicants with a good culinary background, Eller said the most important qualification is a passion for serving others. "The chefs speak to the residents and learn their preferences for the menu," said Eller. "We are about fresh and seasonal we don't like to use canned items and do absolutely as much cooking from scratch as we can. We do offer low-sodium meals and any textural need that a resident might have." Three meals a day are offered restaurant-style, ordered from a menu in a dining room with china and white tablecloths. Many of the campuses even offer cocktail Fridays, when patients can enjoy a mixed alcoholic drink of their fancy. Some of their submitted recipes are below. Recipes have been adapted slightly to fit Courier format. Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup from Penny Mormon of Oakwood Health Campus in Tell City Serves 8 INGREDIENTS 1 pound spicy Italian sausage 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced Salt and Pepper to taste teaspoon crushed red pepper 2 bunches Lacinato kale, ribs removed and chopped teaspoon nutmeg 4 medium red potatoes, peeled and sliced 8 cups chicken broth cup heavy cream DIRECTIONS 1 Heat large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage. Break up and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is fully brown. Remove and set aside. 2 Lower the heat to medium and add olive oil. Add onions, garlic and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until onions are soft and golden. Add the kale, in batches if necessary, and stir until wilted. Add nutmeg and cook for 3 minutes, stirring. 3 Add potatoes, return sausage to the skillet and add chicken stock. Taste for seasoning and bring to a boil. Lower heat and allow potatoes to cook until tender. Stir in the cream and serve. Citrus Crusted Salmon with Orange-Tequila Beurre Blank, from Shane Render of River Oaks Health Campus in Princeton Serves 8 INGREDIENTS Salmon: cup mayonnaise 1 teaspoon wasabi paste Zest of 2 lemons Zest of 3 limes Zest of 1 orange 2 cups panko breadcrumbs 2 tablespoons melted butter 8 each 6-ounce salmon fillets Orange-Tequila Beurre Blanc 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 medium shallot, sliced 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 1 cup white wine 2 cups orange juice cup tequila 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup unsalted butter (two sticks), cut into cubes Salt to taste DIRECTIONS 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine mayonnaise and wasabi paste. In a separate bowl, combine citrus zests, panko and butter. 2 Place the salmon fillets on a baking dish lined with nonstick foil and spread with a thin layer of wasabi mayonnaise. Crust evenly with panko. Bake for 15 minutes or until a thermometer reads a minimum of 135 degrees in the center of the thickest piece. Set aside in a warm place while you finish making the sauce. 3 While salmon is baking, heat olive oil in a medium sauce pot over medium-high heat, and saute shallots and garlic for 2-3 minutes or until softened but not brown. Add the white wine, bring to a boil, and reduce by half. Add the orange juice, tequila and soy sauce, bring to a boil and reduce the mixture by . Add heavy cream, bring to a simmer and reduce by . 4 Turn off heat and add cubed butter a few pieces at a time, stirring constantly. Once all butter is melted, salt to taste, and strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove shallots and garlic. Serve salmon with 2-4 tablespoons of sauce over each piece. Old Fashioned Sopapillas from Don Schaeffer of Bridge Pointe Health Campus in Vincennes Serves 10-12 INGREDIENTS 4 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons shortening 1 cups warm water 2 quarts frying oil Chocolate sauce for serving Strawberry sauce for serving DIRECTIONS 1 In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and shortening until well-mixed. Stir in warm water. Mix dough until smooth, cover, and let stand 20 minutes for gluten to relax. 2 Preheat deep fryer o 375 degrees. Roll out dough on a floured board to 18 14 inch thick. Cut into 3 inch squares. Fry in small batches until puffed and golden brown on both sides, flipping as necessary. Drain on paper towels and serve hot with chocolate and strawberry sauce to the side. SHARE Todd Young By Zach Osowski, zach.osowski@courierpress.com INDIANAPOLIS Citing his conservative voting record against regulatory red tape and burdensome tax structures, both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce endorsed Todd Young for U.S. Senate. Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber, said Young has a track record of accomplishments and leadership when it comes to fighting for Indiana jobs in Washington D.C. while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. He believes that will continue if Young enters the Senate. Rob Engstrom, representing the U.S. Chamber, echoed those sentiments, saying chamber members face a growing threat of regulation, started in the halls of Congress. "We face ... an alphabet soup of government agencies who are making it harder for members of the U.S. Chamber to do what we do best, and that is grow jobs," Engstrom said. "It is time for the job creators to fight back." Young, who first won election to Congress in 2010, said too many "D.C. politicians" are making it harder and harder on businesses to grow. "From regulatory reform to tax reform, making sure Hoosiers have access to truly affordable health care and affordable energy, these are the things that are needed to ensure we have good paying jobs for all Hoosiers," Young said. Young is facing a primary battle with fellow Congressman Marlin Stutzman, which will be decided May 3. The winner will move on to face Baron Hill, the man Young knocked off in a House race in 2010. Continue Reading Below Advertisement A similar thing happened in the state of Washington, where statewide jumping suicides were cut in half by raising the guard rails on one bridge. At the Golden Gate Bridge, the world's most popular suicide destination, 515 people were grabbed by cops mid suicide attempt between the years of 1937 and 1971. A researcher in the late 70s tracked these troubled souls down, and found that only six percent went on to kill themselves. Continue Reading Below Advertisement This isn't to deny that there are people in the world who have profoundly difficult problems. It just indicates that for 94 percent, ceasing to exist only seems worth it for a remarkably brief window of time. So whatever day of the week it is, if you're thinking of doing something drastic, it's probably a temporary trick of the mind. Sleep on it. If you still feel like jumping off a bridge in the morning, maybe give it until the holidays. Christmas will be happy to do the job for you. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Special thanks to Fitzgerald Smith for the totes awesome research he put into this article. Do you have an idea in mind that would make a great article? Then sign up for our writers workshop! Know way too much about a random topic? Create a topic page and you could be on the front page of Cracked.com tomorrow! For other widely believed notions with deadly implications, check out 5 Drinking Myths That Can Kill You. Or find out about some ways Mother Nature wants you dead, in 5 Bizarre Ways the Weather Can Kill You Without Warning. And stop by our Top Picks (Updated Today!) to find out why Friday's are bad days to come to the Cracked office. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get sexy, sexy jokes sent straight to your news feed. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Of course, when the hunter shows up, things get grisly -- and no, disappointingly, the hunter is not revealed to be a giant deer. Sure, it's upsetting seeing cartoon animals bite it, but in this version we have to watch a woman get shot in the fucking throat. Gorky Film Studio They were at least kind enough not to make us look at the ragged, gaping exit wound. Continue Reading Below Advertisement And, of course, there's the scene where Bambi's mom dies, killed by an off-screen hunter, which was traumatizing in the original, but here it feels like she's being picked off by a sniper. Gorky Film Studio It's true: In the Soviet Union, they made Bambi with people. J.M. McNab co-hosts the pop culture nostalgia podcast Rewatchability, which can also be found on iTunes. Follow him on Twitter @Rewatchability. Continue Reading Below Advertisement What do Chuck Norris, Liam Neeson in Taken, and the Dos Equis guy have in common? They're all losers compared to some of the actual badasses from history whom you know nothing about. Come out to the UCB Sunset for another LIVE podcast, April 9th at 7:00 p.m., where Jack O'Brien, Michael Swaim, and more will get together for an epic competition to find out who was the most hardcore tough guy or tough gal unfairly relegated to the footnotes of history. Get your tickets here! Psst ... want to give us feedback on the super-secret beta launch of the upcoming Cracked spin-off site, Braindrop? Well, simply follow us behind this curtain. Or, you know, click here: Braindrop. For more insanity from overseas, check out The 5 Weirdest Bollywood Remakes of Famous Hollywood Films and 9 Foreign Rip-Offs Cooler Than The Hollywood Originals. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out 6 Insane Foreign Remakes Of Famous American Blockbusters, and watch other videos you won't see on the site! Also, follow us on Facebook. And then go outside and do something happy and forget the insanity you just dove into. Continue Reading Below Advertisement That's why, on August 31, 1939, Sturmbannfuhrer Alfred Naujocks led six SS officers disguised as Polish resistance fighters as they nabbed Polish farmer Franciszek Honiok, drugged him, and carried him to a German radio station in Gliwice, 4 miles from the Polish border. Once there, the men stormed the station, wrestling control from the three engineers on duty. A Polish-speaking SS officer announced, "Attention! This is Gliwice. The broadcasting station is in Polish hands," before an engineer cut power to the transmission. To the average German citizen, it was the equivalent of a modern American hearing, "Live from New York, it's Canada totally invading your shit!" Tomasz Gorny/Wiki Commons This was back before TV, when you could only hear teabaggings. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Before leaving, the SS officers dressed farmer Honiok in a Polish army uniform, put a bullet through his forehead, and left him on the steps of the radio station as "proof" of the "Polish invasion." The German news agency dutifully spread word of the attack throughout Germany, other agencies such as the BBC picked up and spread the news worldwide, and Germany had their justifiable reason to kick Poland's ass after school by the flagpole. As Hermann Goering would later put it while chilling in his dank cell at the Nuremberg trials: "Naturally, the common people don't want war ... But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along ... All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." Sussex News Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Executive Summary Chad has become an important partner of the West in the fight against jihadism in the Sahel, but the regimes stress points are quickly growing and 2016 is proving to be a challenging year. In addition to mounting tensions ahead of the 10 April presidential election and growing social discontent, the country is facing a major economic crisis, growing intra-religious tensions and deadly Boko Haram attacks, even as the movement weakens. The governments predominantly military approach, pursued at the expense of political and social engagement in areas affected by jihadist violence, risks exacerbating tensions. Meanwhile, as an election approaches that is likely to see President Idriss Deby win a fifth term, many Chadians believe that the absence of democratic change or a viable succession plan could lead to a violent crisis. It is imperative to open political space and create sustainable state institutions capable of gaining the peoples support. This will require a shift in strategy by both national authorities and their international partners. Until recently, Chad was considered a poor country, lacking in influence and facing the constant threat of its rebellions. But this has changed: Chad normalised relations with Sudan in 2010, began producing oil and became a critical military power in the Sahel-Saharan strip in particular, but also further south, in the Central African Republic (CAR). By deploying its soldiers on multiple fronts, including in a heavily-criticised intervention in CAR, as well as in Mali and more recently in the Lake Chad basin to fight Boko Haram, the regime is pursuing a strategy of military diplomacy, hoping to lead the fight against terrorism in the region. In so doing, Chad has consolidated its alliances with Western countries founded on fighting a common enemy, but which some Chadians view as an insurance policy for a regime that lacks legitimacy. The nature of this partnership, rooted in a long history of close relations with the West, carries significant political and democratic risks. Chad remains domestically fragile and is facing an unprecedented security threat. The country, which has traditionally experienced ethno-regional rebellions, is today engaged in a new kind of fight: an asymmetric battle against the violent jihadist movement Boko Haram. Even though the group has not built a constituency in Chadian society, there are undeniably Chadian nationals in Boko Harams ranks. After suffering a first attack at the beginning of 2015, Chads security apparatus must both prevent terrorist attacks in the capital and tackle a guerrilla-style insurgency in the Lake Chad area. Those living in the Lake Chad region are facing deadly Boko Haram suicide attacks and frequent raids, resulting in deaths and massive population displacements. Though military operations by the countries of the region have weakened the group, it remains a serious threat. Meanwhile, instability in Libya continues to be of great concern in NDjamena. The government, fearing further attacks on Chadian soil including in NDjamena, has adopted a series of measures to strengthen security, adapt the laws at its disposal to address the new threats and further police religious space. While many Chadians, especially in the capital, support these counter-terrorism policies, voices denouncing abuses by security forces during routine checks, as well as arbitrary arrests and summons, are growing louder. The country is also facing a major economic crisis due to both the regional spread of Boko Haram attacks, which have hindered trade with Nigeria and Cameroon, and the drop in oil price, particularly damaging given the economys strong dependence on oil revenue. As a result, the government has been forced to make budget cuts. Social discontent is growing as the election nears, and many issues have the potential to mobilise the population, including the cost of living, budgetary austerity, corruption and impunity. Protests have taken a more political hue with protesters denouncing President Debys candidacy for a fifth term. The political and social climate remains very tense and the states repression of demonstrations and harassment of civil society could aggravate it further. Finally, the governments desire to police and control religious space, including banning the burqa and promoting a Chadian Sufi Islam, is widely supported but has also met some resistance. This resistance has revealed the strong antagonism between mainstream Sufi currents and fundamentalist minorities against a backdrop of a significant Wahhabi expansion, especially among the youth. While these intra-Muslim tensions are not an immediate threat, in the medium-term they could weaken the countrys social fabric. In the face of these accumulating challenges, Chadian authorities must avoid the politics of religious or geographic exclusion. The greatest threat to stability in Chad in the long-term is not Boko Haram though the determined fight against the group must continue but a national political crisis, which would create fertile ground for all sorts of violent actors, including jihadists. To avoid this, the Chadian state must open political space and build legitimate and sustainable institutions, capable of outlasting the current regime. Nairobi/Brussels, 30 March 2016 Japan's NTT Data said on Monday it has agreed to buy Dell's information technology consulting division for over US$3 billion to expand in North America and bolster its services business. The move will allow US computer maker Dell to trim some of the US$43 billion in debt it is taking on to fund its pending cash-and-stock acquisition of data storage provider EMC, a deal worth close to US$60 billion. Dell had previously said that once the sale is complete, it expects to rely more on partners to provide systems implementation and other services to customers. The Japanese company said it would pay around US$3.05 billion (A$4.04 billion), an amount that excludes debt and unspecified advisory fees. The sale will also offer NTT Data, one of the world's largest technology services companies, a bigger foothold in the United States, where it is looking to expand in healthcare IT, insurance and financial services consulting. NTT Data is a subsidiary of Japan's NTT Group, which also owns Dimension Data and NTT Communications. Further Dell sales Dell has also made progress in syndicating US$10 billion of its financing package for the EMC acquisition dubbed 'term loan A', people familiar with the situation said earlier. This is expected to be increased in size by US$500 million to US$750 million due to strong demand, with the extra money to be used to downsize some of the more expensive tranches of the remaining US$33 billion in financing, the people added. The group of banks participating in the term loan A has been expanded from the original eight underwriters to 25, with more expected to join before the syndication is completed in the next week, the people said. Formerly known as Perot Systems, Dell's IT services division is a major provider of technology consulting to hospitals and government departments. Founded in 1988 by former US presidential candidate Ross Perot, it was acquired by Dell in 2009 for US$3.9 billion. However, Dell has since divested some of the unit's operations and integrated some others, which it is not including in the sale. Some of the unit's capabilities were seen by Dell as redundant in the wake of the acquisition of EMC. Dell has also been speaking to private equity firms about selling Quest Software, which helps with information technology management, as well as SonicWall, an e-mail encryption and data security provider, Reuters has previously reported. Together, Quest and SonicWall could be worth up to US$4 billion. Dell's acquisition of EMC, which is backed by founder and chief executive Michael Dell as well as private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, is subject to approval by EMC shareholders. EMC is expected to hold a shareholder vote on the Dell deal in May, allowing for the transaction to be completed sometime between July and October. Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Christopher Cushing A report finds terrorists are largely uninterested in using readily available communication methods on the dark web. The report, published by Thomas Rid and Daniel Moore, a pair of researchers at King's College in London, created a crawler to categorise about 300,000 dark web addresses on Tor. The researchers discovered a notable lack of jihadi activity on the dark web forums. One noteworthy finding was our confirmation of the near-absence of Islamic extremism on Tor hidden services, with fewer than a handful of active sites, the researchers wrote. Recruitment has been a chief goal of terror groups' use of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. In contrast to these platforms, the reach of dark web propaganda is limited, not least because novices may be deterred by taking an illicit' step early on, the researchers wrote. Not that the dark web was exactly a haven of innocents. The most common uses of websites posted on Tor involved criminal services, including drugs, illicit finance and pornography involving violence, children and animals. Out of the 2,723 active sites of the dark web, they found 1,547 sites were used for illicit services. As intelligence officials and policymakers revisit the going dark' debate, especially in light of the terror attack in Brussels last week, the research provides added support to the growing roster of intelligence officials, including chief of US Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency Admiral Mike Rogers, who argue that encryption is a necessary requirement for securing private data. Last week, Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency and the CIA, said the government needs to get over the public battle between the FBI and Apple. Understand that no matter what we do with Apple, it's going to get harder and harder to get content, he added. This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com The Sydney Grammar School has banned students from bringing laptops to his school, despite a growing bring-your-own-device market in the education sector. Principal John Vallance told The Australian that using devices in the classroom was a distraction. We find that having laptops or iPads in the classroom inhibit conversation its distracting, Vallance told The Australian. If youre lucky enough to have a good teacher and a motivating group of classmates, it would seem a waste to introduce anything thats going to be a distraction from the benefits that kind of social context will give you. Vallance also took aim at the Rudd-Gillard governments $2.4 billion digital education initiative used to buy laptops for high school students, calling it a scandalous waste of money. It didnt really do anything except enrich Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard and Apple, Vallance said. Theyve got very powerful lobby influence in the educational community. Sydney Grammar students still have access to computers in the schools labs and can use laptops for homework, but are required to handwrite assignments until year 10. The prestigious Sydney school charges a $32,644 annual tuition fee and regularly leads in national literacy and numeracy tests. HARTFORD- The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness is pleased to announce the 14th Annual Training Institute, which will take place on May 12, 2016 from 7:45 AM - 4:30 PM at the Connecticut Convention Center. The event will convene leaders and practitioners in the field of homelessness working together to end chronic homelessness in Connecticut this year. This year's ATI follows on the heels of national recognition last month that Connecticut was the second state in the nation to end all forms of veteran homelessness. Connecticut's goal of ending all chronic homelessness, or the long-term homelessness of people with severe disabilities, in 2016 will be a key focus of the conference. Additional panels will cover topics including best practices to end family homelessness, address youth homelessness, retool our existing shelters to prevent more cases of homelessness and exit people to housing more quickly, and effectively using data in our efforts to end homelessness. The suspension of a Danbury lawyer accused of causing unneccesary delays that harmed her clients has been upheld by the State Supreme Court. The Connecticut Law Tribune reports that the Supreme Court recently dismissed attorney Josephine Millers claim that the Appellate Court had abused its discretion in issuing her the six-month suspension and other disciplinary measures in 2014. In Franchise Your Business, author and franchise consultant Mark Siebert delivers the ultimate how-to guide to employing one of the greatest growth strategies ever -- franchising. Siebert shares decades of experience, insights, and practical advice to help grow your business exponentially through franchising while avoiding the pitfalls. In this edited excerpt, Siebert offers his advice on choosing the best franchise attorney for your needs. Creating the legal documents required to franchise isn't something left to the amateurs. Franchise law is very specialized and, considering the patchwork quilt of laws across the U.S., highly complex. So you'll want to hire an attorney who specializes in franchising. But make sure you find your consultant first. The reason is simple: Your consultant, if they're good, will not only tell you how to franchise but will also tell you if franchising is the right expansion strategy for you. Hiring a franchise attorney before settling on this strategy is a waste of time and money. Moreover, finalizing your business decisions prior to engaging counsel will serve to make your lawyers time more efficient -- thereby reducing your legal costs. In fact, many attorneys will reduce their fee based on the fact that you've retained a consultant. By contracting with an experienced franchise law firm from the start, you: Avoid conflicts of interest Enjoy attorney-client privilege Avoid having to pay for legal documents twice (once for their creation and once for their review by outside legal counsel) Can use a law firm for legal proceedings (such as franchise closings, transfers, negotiations, etc.) Know the firm that developed your legal documents is properly insured in the highly unlikely event of a problem Regardless of what you decide, be sure the individual lawyer you'll be working with (not the firm) has the level of experience you need to ensure your documents are bulletproof. So how do you go about finding the right attorney? Unfortunately, with the hundreds of thousands of franchises that have been sold in the U.S. in the past decade, many attorneys who aren't franchise specialists can claim to have worked on franchise documents. While they may be able to throw around the names of top franchise companies, their experience may be limited to reviewing an FDD or working with a franchisee on a nonfranchise-related issue. So while an attorney may represent themselves as having franchise expertise, in fact, their experience may fall far short of what you really need. So how do you make your choice? The best way is to receive one or more referrals from franchise professionals. Should you choose to handle the search yourself, the first and most important factor is experience. Check the attorneys website to see if franchise law is listed as a separate practice area. Then look at the lawyers in their franchise practice group. Do their bios talk only about franchising, or do they list other areas of expertise, such as general contract law, real estate, estate planning, etc., as a part of their practice? Do they list franchise publications? Do they list franchise-specific honors (being named to the Franchise Times list of Legal Eagles, for example)? How long have they been practicing franchise law? Again, it's the experience of the individual franchise attorneys you need to be concerned with -- not the firms reputation. So be sure you check their credentials. Once you've identified the attorneys you'd like to consider, ask them probing questions based on what's important to you as a prospective franchisor. Below are some areas you need to consider: Franchisor vs. franchisee experience. Your franchise lawyer needs to have experience on the franchisor side of the equation. If a franchise attorney does the majority of their work for franchisees, they may be too pro-franchisee with their advice. In addition, if they do all their work on the franchisee side and don't regularly draft FDDs (a question you should ask anyone you're interviewing), they're unqualified. Transactional vs. litigation focus. A transactional attorney will focus their practice on preparing your franchise legal documents. If your franchise lawyer doesn't have some focus on the transactional side, they won't be as efficient at preparing your documents. The advantages of working with a franchise attorney who also has a litigation practice are that they can represent you, if needed, in a lawsuit, and they may be more focused on preventing litigation in the drafting process. The disadvantages, of course, are that they're not as specialized, and during a trial, they may be almost impossible to reach (if one person does both). Flat fee vs. hourly. Since FDDs are fairly predictable, many franchise attorneys on the transactional side will work on a flat-fee basis, as they have enough experience to know how much time the average startup franchise program will take. The advantages to working with a flat-fee franchise lawyer are that their fees are predictable and can often be financed over a few months. The disadvantage is you might occasionally (rarely, in our experience) pay more than you would if you were charged an hourly rate. Most transactional attorneys are looking for a long-term relationship, so they'll often discount their initial fees to establish the relationship. Whats included? If you're working with a flat-fee attorney, make sure you know what is included in the flat fee and what isn't. Otherwise, you're likely to compare apples to oranges. Does the fee include any franchise registrations? If so, how many? If not, what are the costs per registration? Does the fee include a review of your franchise operations manual or your franchise marketing material? If they're an hourly billing attorney, will they bill you for their travel time? Who will be doing the work, and what is their experience and billing rates? Industry-specific knowledge. In a few industries (nonregulated service businesses), prior industry segment experience isn't hugely important. But in many industries (ranging from food service to senior care to home improvement to education), a knowledge of the additional regulations that impact the business can be very helpful. And in some industries that have complex regulatory concerns (medical franchising, health-care franchising, dental franchising, etc.), this industry-specific knowledge is vital. In areas like health-care franchising, for example, there are probably fewer than a dozen franchise attorneys with deep industry expertise. Firm size. A larger firm can bring more resources to your engagement and can do more for you outside the franchise realm. At a larger firm, your franchise lawyer can bring in a specialist who can help with other transactions, trademark work, real estate, and other needs. Larger firms may have more connections within the franchise community and will often have formal educational programs that allow them to cross-pollinate when new ideas or issues arise. On the other hand, larger firms may delegate some of the drafting work to associates (not partners), who are less qualified than the partner you interviewed. While this allows them to work at a reduced fee (associates charge lower billing rates), it may make them less familiar with your documents when questions arise. A smaller firm or sole practitioner will provide you with more (or exclusive) access to a partner-level attorney. The downside is that there's no backup if the partner has a health issue or goes on vacation. Accessibility may be more of an issue. And, of course, there are midsize firms that fill the gap between large and small. Accessibility. All attorneys, in our experience, tout their accessibility. It's not always true. Perhaps more important than accessibility is communication style. Some franchise attorneys prefer email, and some prefer phone contact. If you have a preference, you should ask. Location. This isn't much of an issue, as transactional attorneys can practice anywhere. Some lawyers do have occasional educational events at their offices, providing an opportunity for networking and learning. Closer is nicer, but it's largely irrelevant in your ultimate decision. Personality. In most instances, you will be working with your franchise attorney for years. So if you do not like them, dont hire them. Related: 9 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Franchise Attorney California Restaurant Industry Vet Finds a New Persona at Cutting-Edge Pizza Place Have You Heard of America's Best Rated Tex-Mex Restaurant? Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Working together Today worked because we were all able to fulfill our obligations to fix the deficit, at the same time taking care of areas in the budget that we all feel stronghly about, namely municipal aid cuts and secondly and just as importantly that our hospitals get the payments weve been promised. Connecticut House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, regarding a bipartisan plan to fix a $220 million-plus deficit in the state budget. Victims right I believe that a victims right to survive should supersede a gun owners right to keep his gun. STORY LINK Pound Sterling Forecast vs AUD NZD Declines on Dovish Fed Speech and Poor US Claims Figures, as well as steel crisis Commodity Price Gains Forecast to Peter Out Led by Crude Oil Price Declines GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Forecast to Improve on Commodity Price Drop Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound has closed the week on a low note, due to steel production remaining in a state of severe uncertainty this week.Sterling losses against the AUD and NZD have been exacerbated today by the United States claims data, which has failed to show any major reductions in the number of citizens involved in benefits.The Pound has lost out against both the Australian Dollar and the New Zealand Dollar today, owing to the falling chances of a US interest rate hike in the future.Commentary and movement in the global markets during the past 24hrs have led analysts to tentatively forecast that the recent rally in world commodity prices may be on the verge of petering out. The closely-monitored Bloomberg Commodity Index, which traded up to as high as 81.23 as recently as 22nd of March, is currently barely holding above the 79.00 threshold and the price of a barrel of Brent Crude Oil, which had been tipping the scales at well over $40, is now back at $39.Kevin Norrish of Barclays PLC issued a doom-laden report detailing the perilous current position for raw material prices yesterday. Norrish noted that, investors have been attracted to commodities as one of the best performing assets so far in 2016, before going on to warn that, in the absence of any concerted fundamental improvements, those returns are unlikely to be repeated in the second quarter, making commodities vulnerable to a wave of investor liquidation.As a benchmark, he went on to predict that the wholesale market price of copper could fall from its current level of close to $5,000 per metric ton, down to the $4,000 threshold. Meanwhile, he feels that the price of a barrel of crude oil could peel back into the low $30s.If this downbeat forecast comes to pass, then FX insiders forecast that the Pound Sterling (currency : GBP) could sharply improve against the Australian Dollar (currency : AUD). Australias number one export remains iron ore, so a widespread sell-off for metals would hit the local economy extremely hard. If investors do turn against commodities, then expect the Pound Sterling Australian Dollar exchange rate to spike back above the two to one level.Similarly, the New Zealand economy is driven by shipments of raw materials to foreign markets. A dip in the price of metals is likely to be accompanied in a fall in the selling price of soft commodities including Whole Milk Powder New Zealands number one export. Such a development is expected to send the Pound Kiwi Dollar exchange rate sharply higher. International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Australian Dollar Forecasts New Zealand Dollar Forecasts Pound Austr Forecasts 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. 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. Tennessees move to give public universities their own governing board will likely end the states tradition of students having a real voice in higher education, says one member of the Tennessee Board of Regents. The soon-to-be created 10-member governing boards will have the power to set student fees, tuition and approve multi-million dollar construction projects in the same way TBR does now. But, unlike the Board of Regents, the new university boards will not have voting student members. That doesnt sit well with Nick Russell, student from Tennessee Tech University and voting-member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, which governs 40 community colleges and six public universities. He says a non-voting student on a university board is almost irrelevant. My biggest concern is that no one will try to reach out to the student, Russell said. Without a vote you dont really matter. They say its too much responsibility or the students wont be able to catch up to speed, but students know more about whats going on at their campus than alumni trustee members who dont come around all that often, he said. Most of the funding for Tennessees public universities comes from tuition and student fees. Students should get at least one vote in how their money is spent, Russell said. The students are the largest stake holder in a university, Russell said. More than 60 percent of the University of Memphis budget comes from student fees and tuition. Less than 33 percent comes from state appropriations. Attempts to amend the FOCUS Act, the state bill that will break up TBR, is working its way through the state legislature. So far, attempts to amend the bill to allow students to become voting members have failed. FOCUS passed the Tennessee House Thursday. Russell said the law is a step back from real student representation in higher educations. Right now, all three of Tennessees higher-education governing bodies have voting student members. One of the 10 voting members of the Tennessee Board of Regents is a student. A student has served on the board of regents since the 1970s. The University of Tennessee, which governs UT Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin and the Health Science Center at Memphis, has two student representatives who serve two-year staggered terms and are allowed to vote on the board of trustees during their second year. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission, which governs the UT system and TBR, also has two student members who are able to vote on their second year. This kind of representations on these boards show who the focus of these systems are, Russell said. Why should we take a step back? Tennessee is among the few southern states that have voting students on its board of regents or board of trustees (different institutions across the country uses different names to describe the same governing boards). Georgia and Mississippi, which both have separate governing boards for community colleges and universities, have no student members on their board of trustees. Arkansas, which has six boards of trustees and one higher educations governing board, has no student members in any of their systems. In Alabama, only Auburn University and Alabama A&M University have student trustees, but they are non-voting members. Florida, however, has a voting student trustee in every public university and one in the statewide higher education governing board. Progressives took jabs at the mainstream media for not giving attention to Sen. Bernie Sandersa Saturday wins in the Democratic presidential caucuses. One headline by Democracy Now!A read aBernie Sanders Wins Landslides in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii; Corporate Media Downplays Them.a This of course refers to Sanders winning twice as many delegates as Hillary Clinton. The article is mostly short clips of Sanders victory speech and talk of amomentum,a but the end of the first paragraph says, aSaturday may have been the biggest day of the Sanders campaign.a If that is true, the Vermont senator should thank the corporate media for not taking a deeper dive in the numbers. Yes, Sanders won more than twice as many delegates Saturday as Clinton, 55 to 20, according to Real Clear Politics.A But Sandersa delegate count (what actually matters if he hopes to secure the nomination, not how many states he wins) on Saturday was still more than 200 behind Clinton. However, Sanders still won in a landslide in those states, so why did the corporate media mostly ignore Sanders momentum? Because momentum requires a degree of mass, and Sanders last three wins give him very little in bulk. Hawaii, where Sanders received nearly 70 percent of the votes, saw a 10 percent drop in voters when compared to 2008.A Washington saw an 18 percent drop in voters. Alaska saw a decrease of almost 90 percent. Sanders doesnat really seem to be inspiring more Democrats to come to the polls. You can say the same for Hillary, but she, being ahead, doesnat have to prove as much. Also, the Alaska alandslidea is less impressive when you know that less than 600 people voted in the state. After adding the total number of Democratic caucus voters in these three states, youall find that only 25,129 people turned out to vote. Thatas less than 6 percent of Arizonaas total voter turnout. The corporate media probably didnat downplay these caucuses so much, as they just didnat blow them out of proportion, like they usually do for other primaries and caucuses. Sandersa supporters should be thankful that media outlets reported the wins and hope no one reads too much into the fine print. Lifestyle | Daily Life | News | The Sydney Morning Herald Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss Claude, 16, was seized by the RSPCA and put down in 2013 after being reported to the charity over his appearance by a member of the public When I was a child, the shop in our village had an RSPCA collection box shaped like a puppy. Naturally, I insisted on putting in money every time we passed it, partly on account of my pets Cindy the Pug; Suki the Siamese and because it was what everyone did. Back then, in the Seventies, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was an institution as cherished and revered as the Queen Mother, the Salvation Army or the Morecambe and Wise Show. It was the caring, friendly charity that symbolised our proud status as a nation of animal lovers. Fast forward to the present, though, and I cant imagine my children feeling quite as charitable. Theyve never forgotten our experiences with the RSPCA over our pet hamster of which more in a moment. And theyre also uncomfortably familiar with newspaper stories, such as the heartbreaking tale of Claude the cat. Claude was a much-loved, elderly pet moggy belonging to the Byrnes family of Tring, Hertfordshire. In 2013, a nosy member of the public spotted the cat looking a bit thin and reported it to the RSPCA. The next thing the Byrnes knew, Claude had been seized by RSPCA officers and taken to a vet. There in defiance of the familys tearful pleas for mercy Claude was put down. Three years on, Stephen Wooler, the former chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service, has published a review of the incident. The report makes distressing reading, especially the transcript of the familys sobbing pleas to the RSPCA for a delay to Claudes euthanisation. Mrs Byrnes said: Im distraught. Its under duress, isnt it? Hes part of the family. [My daughters] desperate, she so wants to see him again. Cant you do it later after school when I bring my daughter down? Whats even more damning to the RSPCAs reputation, though, is the evidence of its dishonest, bullying, even legally dubious behaviour. Woolers report shows the RSPCA failed to disclose sensitive documents relating to the case; that it lied to the media claiming, wrongly, that Claude had been examined by two vets, including the family vet, and that the Byrnes had agreed their cat should be put to sleep; and that the RSPCA had unlawfully usurped the familys rights and made a disgraceful attempt to besmirch the Byrnes reputation in the Press in order to salvage its own. This exposed the family to an unjustified hate campaign. The RSPCA said it had already accepted it made mistakes in the case of Claude, pictured, and had apologised publicly to the Byrnes family Claude was taken away by the RSPCA, who wrongly condemned the family for ill-treating him Though the RSPCA has since apologised to the Byrnes and promised to learn from the mistakes revealed in the report, it may yet be too little, too late to rescue an image tarnished by a succession of PR disasters. This time last year, for example, it was accused of unnecessarily seizing and executing a pet porker Mr Pig and then prosecuting its fond owner for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. But a judge ruled there had been no malicious intent on the owners part, making one wonder what public interest could possibly have been served by the RSPCA wasting public money pursuing a loving pet owner through the courts. Worse still was its prosecution of a 13-year-old girl, who had been ferreting for rabbits. She was fined 200 and banned from keeping animals only to have the conviction thrown out on appeal by a judge who noted that what she had done was entirely legal and she could go ferreting that day, if she wanted. Back then, in the Seventies, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was an institution as cherished and revered as the Queen Mother, the Salvation Army or the Morecambe and Wise Show. James Delingpole On another occasion, the RSPCA prosecuted a 16-year-old girl and her mother after a neighbour reported they had allowed their cocker spaniel puppies to get wet and shivering. The judge in the case was unimpressed: To criminalise a mother and her daughter in this way, who, in the previous seven weeks had cared properly for these puppies, was wrong. One reason the RSPCA brings so many cases it is the second biggest prosecutor after the Crown Prosecution Service and has spent as much as one quarter of its 44 million annual income on court actions is to raise public awareness of its work. According to Jamie Foster, a solicitor who has defended many people against the RSPCA, the idea is that the story of a successful animal cruelty prosecution appears in the local newspaper, encouraging little old ladies to leave them money in their wills. But in the past few years, this strategy has backfired to the point in 2014 where donations to the RSPCA (voluntary income) plummeted by 7 million. The level recovered slightly in the next year, but not by much. Perhaps those little old ladies would prefer the RSPCA to be the noble animal rescue charity it once was. The charity started changing in the Seventies when it was hijacked by animal rights activists, led by a psychologist called Richard Ryder. But things got much worse in 2012 under its notorious chief executive Gavin Grant a former PR aide to Nick Clegg, the ex-deputy prime minister who tried to raise the charitys profile and brought expensive, high-profile cases such as its prosecution of David Camerons local hunt, the Heythrop. It was the caring, friendly charity that symbolised our proud status as a nation of animal lovers (file image) According to Jamie Foster, a solicitor who has defended many people against the RSPCA, the idea is that the story of a successful animal cruelty prosecution appears in the local newspaper, encouraging little old ladies to leave them money in their wills (file image) The hunt was convicted of using hounds to chase foxes, though its fines and costs were less than 30,000. But the magistrate in charge censured the RSPCA for having wasted a staggering 326,000 on the case. More recently, under new management, the RSPCA has been trying hard to restore its battered image. And understandably so: there have been hints that it might lose its royal patronage, with Prince Charles having privately voiced fundamental disagreements with RSPCA policies, such as its campaigning against country sports. This comes at a time when the public are increasingly concerned about the arrogance, remoteness, insensitivity and greed of the charities sector. As far as my family is concerned, the moment we all fell out of love with the RSPCA came as a result of an incident a few years back with a particularly aggressive pet hamster. James Delingpole Besides last years cold-calling scandal (when a Mail investigation revealed that prominent charities were using call centres to hound vulnerable donors), there is a general disgust at the vast salaries charity chief executives are paid (the RSPCA hasnt disclosed its current leaders pay, but Mr Grant was on 150,000 a year) and the way they often seem out of touch with their donors interests. How many RSPCA supporters, for example, are comfortable with the idea that it puts down more than 20,000 pets every year, making it probably Britains single biggest killer of domestic animals? As far as my family is concerned, the moment we all fell out of love with the RSPCA came as a result of an incident a few years back with a particularly aggressive pet hamster. It kept biting the children, drawing blood every time. The pet shop refused to take it back, so I thought the kindest (albeit somewhat cowardly) solution to the problem was to release the hamster into the local park and let nature take its course. Of course, I hadnt meant to be cruel: it was just one of those awkward dilemmas that pet owners sometimes face, as I explained when I wrote up the sad story in a magazine. How many RSPCA supporters, for example, are comfortable with the idea that it puts down more than 20,000 pets every year, making it probably Britains single biggest killer of domestic animals? (file image) But that didnt stop the RSPCA (which had obviously been alerted to my story) sending me a menacing letter, warning I might have committed an offence rendering me liable to a six-month prison sentence and/or a 20,000 fine. Is that really how the RSPCA thinks its going to win new friends (and donors): by treating every pet owner as a potential animal abuser? I blithely ignored the letter and never heard from them again. The point, surely, that the RSPCA is missing is that this is a country where almost the entire population is its natural ally. Were more than happy for the RSPCA to root out and prevent real cases of animal cruelty. How hard will the Government fight to save Britains beleaguered steel industry? That was the question on the minds of 7,000 steelworkers in Wales, as their future employment and the financial security of their families hung in the balance. While the fate of the Port Talbot plant was being decided at a board meeting in Mumbai (like many of our vital strategic industries, steel production fell into foreign ownership years ago), ministers here said they would do everything possible to save jobs. While the fate of the Port Talbot plant (pictured) was being decided at a board meeting in Mumbai, ministers here said they would do everything possible to save jobs But the ineluctable truth is that its not really in their power to do so. The immediate problem for the industry is the dumping of cheap Chinese imports on world markets including the EU. Because of its economic slowdown, China has a glut of steel, which its selling at below cost-price. British producers cant compete and are losing 1million a day. Port Talbots owners, Tata, must now decide whether they can afford to keep the furnaces going. The Mail is deeply wary about state intervention in free markets and of course cheap steel is good for car makers and construction companies. But this is not fair trade. Chinese steelmakers receive subsidies from their government, cushioning them from losses and forcing rivals out of business. The Americans had a simple solution to this cynical market distortion. They too have huge car and construction companies which value cheap steel but still placed a punitive 266 per cent tariff on Chinese steel, making it far more expensive than that made in the US. Compare that with the response of the EU a paltry tariff of 24 per cent. If our steel industry which still employs 25,000 people directly and many more indirectly is to survive, theres a strong case for a higher tariff, at least in the short term. But of course we cant raise it. We have surrendered that power to Brussels. For the tariff to be increased, all 28 EU nations would have to agree. And experience tells us that if that happens at all, it will probably take years. By then, the British steel industry may be a relic of history. A tide of humanity When the EU enlarged in 2004 to include East European nations, the then Labour government predicted that 13,000 migrants a year from those countries would settle in Britain. Official figures showed yesterday what an enormous fib that was. In under a decade, a staggering 1.6million migrants have moved here from other EU member states enough to fill Birmingham and Manchester combined. When the EU enlarged in 2004 to include East European nations, the then Labour government predicted that 13,000 migrants a year from those countries would settle in Britain. Pictured, a mother holds her child as she arrives along with other migrants and refugees aboard a Greek coast guard boat to the port of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos Meanwhile, just weeks after the EU hailed its 2.3billion deal (bribe) to persuade Turkey to tighten its borders, migrants from Africa and the Middle East have switched again to the appallingly dangerous route across the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy. Over 3,000 have been picked up by Italian coastguards this week, many of whom are doubtless heading for Britain. Which brings us back to the inescapable fact that the only way to stem this human tide is to regain control of our own borders. Does anyone still believe we can do that while remaining in the EU? Militant teachers are now talking to junior doctors about the possibility of launching coordinated strikes. How perfect. They can disrupt the education of children and endanger the lives of patients all on the same days. We all know convenience food isn't always the healthiest option but now fast food employees have shared kitchen secrets that are sure to make you shudder. From boiled chicken to old, reheated chips, their stomach-churning accounts might just make you think twice before ordering your bacon double cheeseburger. An anonymous Reddit user kicked off proceedings when they asked: 'Fast food workers - What should we never order from you?' and received almost 16,000 replies in just 24 hours. Scroll down for video After one Reddit user asked fast food workers for their advice as to what food customers should never order from them, they received almost 16,000 replies Hotpotabo said that at the Subway branch where he worked, 'the "oven roasted" chicken' was actually 'boiled in a microwave.' 'All Starbucks food is reheated frozen food,' claimed Likeabaker. 'Ridiculous how little people realize that. Doesn't mean it doesn't taste good, it's just not fresh at all and incredibly overpriced.' Imklax, who also claimed to have worked at the chain, added: 'Worked at Starbucks for a while and had a lady ask us if we were baking any more banana bread for the day. The look on her face when I told her it comes to us on a truck.' One convenience store worker wrote: 'I'm gonna say any of the taquitos or hotdogs around midnight, up through about 4 or 5AM. around midnight you can be almost assured that these are now high-mileage.' Reddit users have shared their stomach-churning stories of what really goes on inside fast food kitchens, from 'boiled chicken' to reused fries to day-old tacos and tuna sandwiches that were '80 per cent mayonnaise' He added: 'That hotdog might have more miles than your car.' Verne Asimov advised avoiding 'anything egg-related' at all costs, explaining: 'They keep a very small amount warm after breakfast and it tends to get old fast.' justine7179 wrote: 'Don't order something from the "secret menu". We sure as s*** don't know what a Snickerdoodle frappuccino is, as it is not a menu item. 'Employees would be more than happy to make you a drink if you just explain the recipe rather than the name of it. I'll make you diabetes in a goddamn cup if you just tell me what you want in there.' KourageWolf said: 'I used to work at Chipotle, and never ever ever order the Tacos. 'You get less than half the regular portions. Instead, order a bowl with whatever you want in it, then ask for the taco shells, hard or soft, on the side.' A disgruntled waiter wrote: 'Anything off of the "Hidden Menu." Most people working don't know how to make it and you'll probably just receive a giant glob of assorted ingredients on a bun.' One claimed the tuna sandwiches touted at his workplace were '80 per cent mayonnaise'. One disgruntled cafe waiter advised against ordering 'anything off of the "Hidden Menu." Most people working don't know how to make it and you'll probably just receive a giant glob of assorted ingredients on a bun' A restaurant worker said: 'The only thing I can think of is that any chicken that isn't on the bone (sandwich, pot pie, etc) is day old, or more, leftover chicken.' Anc6 advised: 'If you see something on the menu and can't find at least one or two other items that the ingredients could be used in, don't order it. 'For example, my restaurant has a pulled pork sandwich. We don't use the pork for anything else.' He explained: 'Since it's not ordered too frequently, it's not fresh and the product you're eating might be days or weeks old. 'It's not going to get you sick, but it definitely won't be as fresh as the other things on the menu.' Another claimed that his brother's girlfriend used to work at a popular burger chain where the general consensus on French fries was: 'They aren't old until they're sold.' But one of the most unsavoury claims came from a fellow fast food worker who said: 'The chili is fine, yes it's old burger patties that didn't sell but that's what you're supposed to do with leftover hamburger.' According to one fast food restaurant employee, chilli con carne was made from unused burger patties She added: 'Mom is a chef, this is what she does with her leftover burgers when she has a cookout.' StrawberryMarmalad added: 'Don't be one of those people that orders fries from McDonald's with no salt then ask us for salt packets right after we give you your food. 'I understand people can't have salt for medical reasons, but 90% of the time it's people in their mid-20s, who 100% of the time ask for salt afterwards. I don't care what you read up on Buzzfeed. If you want fresh fries, ASK US.' A spokesperson for Subway said: 'All Subway stores have very strict procedures in place to ensure products are served safely and to customers satisfaction and all suppliers are required to meet our high standards of food safety and product integrity. 'Each of our Subs, including the Meatball Marinara, are freshly prepared in front of the customer exactly as they like and therefore may differ slightly in appearance but not in the amount of ingredients served. 'Our chicken products arrive in store pre-cooked and while the majority of customers choose to have their Sub heated by toasting, all of our products can be eaten hot or cold.' A spokesperson for Boston Market said: 'Our signature chicken arrives to our restaurants, fresh, never frozen. All sandwiches are served with fresh off the bone chicken. We pick rotisserie chicken throughout the day for soups and pot pies, and cool within Serve Safe and HAACP food standards as necessary. We do this every day to keep up with guest demand for pot pies and soup.' Comes after images of hidden pandas and owls swept the internet Many are hidden in foliage and in the trees of the image The poster has four tigers in plain sight but there are 16 in total It's the latest in a long line of puzzles which have left people scratching their heads. An optical illusion poster which appears to contain just four tigers actually has 16 big cats hiding in the background. The image, which has recently resurfaced online, on closer inspection has the felines hiding in the bushes, bark and even the sky. The image appears to have been used as a poster but has resurfaced on the internet The image, which appears to have been produced as a poster, has two adults tigers and their two cubs in the foreground. But after those, it becomes trickier to track down the furry felines in the picture but there are 12 other tiger faces which are hidden. In the foliage to the right of the tigers, there's a fern in the shape of a tiger's face, with two hiding in the dirt beneath the tigers' feet. In the top of the picture, there are five feline faces hidden within the branches of the trees. While another two are seen in the wide trunk of the tree on the left of the picture and another tiger is face is seen on the left behind it and the last one is hidden in the soil below it. The puzzle has the big cats hidden in foliage, trees and even the ground with all 16 very difficult to find The poster appears to be aimed at children, like many of the logic puzzles which have stormed the internet in recent times. The most recent was a puzzle yesterday which saw a children's picture with tourists at a holiday campsite and challenged them to answer a list of nine questions. The image, thought to be from an old children's magazine, according to The Independent, had recently resurfaced online, but despite being aimed at youngsters the tough questions are likely to leave adults scratching their heads The black and white drawing showed three people at the campsite. One is standing by the cooking pot with a ladle, another is rifling through his backpack, and a third is taking photos. A sign nailed to a tree states said: 'On duty. Colin, 7. Peter, 8. James, 9'. The final name is obscured, but the number 10 is visible. A picnic blanket with four plates, four spoons and a watermelon is laid out on the ground and a hen is scratching in the grass nearby. Nearby, a tent is pitched and a spider has built a cobweb between the edge of the tent and a nearby tree. A recent challenge which baffled the internet is a logic puzzle from an old children's magazine that involves studying a picture of tourists at a holiday camp site and answering a list of nine questions A series of clues is provided by the apparently calm scene involving boys at a campsite The first question people are challenged to answer is how many people are staying at the camp. They must also figure out whether they arrived that day or a few days earlier, how they got there and how far away the closest town is. CAN YOU SOLVE THE PUZZLE BY ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS? 1. How many tourists are staying at this camp? 2. When did they arrive: today or a few days ago? 3. How did they get here? 4. Is there a town nearby? 5. Where does the wind blow from: north or south? 6. What time of day is it? 7. Where did Alex go? 8. Who was on duty yesterday? 9. What date is it today? *Scroll down for answers Advertisement In addition, they're asked whether the wind is blowing from north or south and what time of day it is. The next question is to state where someone called Alex went. Finally, they must figure out who was on duty yesterday and what day of the week it is. Unlike the many cartoons that have swept the web in recent months challenging the web to spot figures hidden in a sea animals or Star Wars characters, this puzzle relies on deduction. The answer to how many tourists there are is relatively easy to figure out. As there are four spoons and plates on the blanket and four names on the duty list, the answer is quite obvious. The cobweb gives a clue to when the group arrived as it must have been a few days earlier to give the spider time to build it. An oar leaning up against the tree is the key to figuring out how they got there - by boat. The hen indicates that the nearest town is not far away as it's managed to wander into the campsite. Hungarian cartoonist Gergely Dudas, also known as Dudolf, posted his latest puzzle a few days ago to celebrate Easter, challenging fans to find an egg cleverly disguised alongside a group of bunnies The egg is cunningly disguised between a pair of white rabbit ears in the second row on the left hand side ANSWERS TO THE CAMP RIDDLE 1. There are four tourists four spoons on the picnic blanket and four names on the duty list. 2. They arrived a few days ago A spider's web has appeared between their tent and a tree in that time. 3. They got there by boat Note the oars by the tree. 4. No, a village is not far ..because there's a chicken wandering around. 5. The wind is blowing from the south A flag that shows the wind direction is on top of the tent. (To tell which direction is which, look at the branches - they're normally bigger on the southern side of trees - if you're in the Northern Hemisphere.) 6. Its morning Take the answer from question five to figure out east and west then work out the time based on the shadows. 7. Alex is catching butterflies His net is behind the tent. 8. Colin was on duty yesterday Colin is rummaging through his backpack (marked with a 'c'); Alex is catching butterflies; James is taking photos as his tripod can be seen sticking out of his bag. This leaves Peter - then, according to the list, that means Colin was on duty yesterday. 9. Today is August 8th... According to the list, Peter is on duty, and there is a watermelon - which ripen in August - on the ground. Advertisement A flag on the tent, known as a windsock, shows that the wind is blowing from the south, but to figure this out you need to be aware that branches on the southern side of trees in the UK get more sun and grow more densely. To figure out the time, you need to use the previous answer which tells you south from north to figure out where is east and west and deduce the time based on shadows. The answer is that it's morning because the boy by the cook pot's shadow extends to the west. Because we're asked where Alex went, we can assume he's not visible in the picture. However a butterfly net can be seen behind the tent. So the answer is that he's gone to catch butterflies. Gergley's original spot the panda puzzle left the internet baffled at Christmas 2015 The original Where's Wally-style snowmen picture was liked by 42,000 people and shared 100,000 times within days, with many struggling to find the panda at all Dudolf followed up the panda puzzle days later with another picture posted online, this time of a cat hidden among dozens of brightly coloured owls He planted a few red herrings in the owl picture like a colourful bow tie and festive hats, but the owl's facial features make it particularly difficult to spot the cat To figure out who was on duty yesterday first consider that Colin, Peter, James and Alex are staying at the camp. We know that Alex is catching butterflies and the person taking photos must be James, as there's a tripod sticking out of the bag marked J. The person looking through the backpack is Colin as it's marked with a C. That means Peter must be the one standing by the cooking pot. If Peter is on duty today, then according to the list on the tree Colin was on duty yesterday. Figuring out the day of the month isn't too tricky as according to the duty list it's the 8th of the month. But establishing what month it is may prove rather more difficult. The solution lies in the watermelon on the picnic blanket. The answer is the 8th of August, but you would have to be aware that it's the month in which watermelons ripen to find the correct answer. Its long list of questions makes the puzzle even more baffling than a challenge by Gergely Dudas who first drove the internet mad trying to find a panda among a group of snowmen, and a cat blended into rows of owls. The Hungarian cartoonist posted his latest puzzle a few days ago to celebrate Easter, challenging fans to find an egg cleverly disguised alongside a group of bunnies. The panda craze was followed up by Reddit contributor, with the username Oneste, who created a mind-boggling puzzle in which he hid a panda amongst rows and rows of Stormtroopers - and TIE fighter pilots Chloe Sevigny was once called 'the coolest girl in the word' by The New Yorker in 1994. And more than 20 years on - the actress, who's been snapped up by Jimmy Choo to front their spring/summer campaign - is still a strong contender for the title. The New York-born fashionista, 41, who is known for her eclectic style, has starred in the shoe brand's spring/summer campaign shot in a motel in the Florida Keys because she reflects the 'edgier' side of their customers. Scroll down for video Chloe Sevigny is the face of Jimmy Choo's latest Spring/Summer Jimmy Choo campaign 'Chloe reflects the edgier more daring side of the Jimmy Choo woman,' said Sandra Choi, the brand's creative director. 'I love the fact that she's a bit unexpected and has such a unique and creative aesthetic making our collection work with her style.' The campaign images see Chloe showcase her incredible body in clinging dresses, cut off denim shorts and a suede mini dress on location where she films the Netflix drama, Bloodline. In the shots, Chloe's blonde hair is long and loose, she wears sunglasses and sits on a car's front seat in one atmospheric picture and perches on a bar stool in another. The model poses in kitsch American settings while showing off the designer shoe brands latest line While on location in Florida Keys Chloe also recorded a photo diary for Spring Summer 2016 She also lies back on a wooden bench in a pair of over-the-knee peep-toe suede boots - which might be a bold choice for a footwear in the summer. Prices for the collection start at 130 for a silk scarf and reach 2,695 for a python handbag. Sandra Choi said: 'The shoot embodies the spirit of the Spring Summer collection, laid back glamour against a sultry, sun bleached backdrop of palm shadows and pastel shades. 'You can almost feel the sun on your skin.' Sevigny is a natural on camera having worked as a model from the age of 17, when she was discovered by Andrea Linett, fashion editor of Sassy Magazine, in the East Village The shoot embodies the laid back glamour that the brand intended for their latest collection The shoot seems fitting for the model who has earned herself the nickname as Queen of the Indies Chloe, who was discovered in the East Village at the age of 17, revealed in an interview on the Jimmy Choo website that growing up in suburban Connecticut her style influences were people she'd see around her: 'the rebels at school, the girls who were into alternative music, in clunky shoes and black mock turtlenecks, they had the bumper sticker for the alternative station on the back of their Volvos, they were the crowd I wanted to roll with.' Asked about her earliest fashion memory, The Last Days Of Disco star said: 'It's of my father polishing his shoes. He was a Marine so that's where his habit of polishing his shoes every night when he came home stemmed from. 'I remember being in my night gown and smelling the polish and watching the care he took over these items he cherished, it was an important lesson.' In her style diary Chloe cites her father and her childhood growing up in suburban Connecticut as influencing her eclectic style and passion for vintage fashion Speaking of their latest muse Sandra Choi, Creative Director of Jimmy Choo says: 'Chloe reflects the edgier more daring side of the Jimmy Choo woman' The collection is available to buy online today with prices starting at 130 for a silk printed scarf As the author of a book on style evolution, Chloe - who has modelled for Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton, H&M and her namesake, Chloe - reveals the guidance she gives anyone who asks her about fashion. She said: 'When friends ask for advice on what to wear I'm always honest and also tell them to wear whatever they are most comfortable in, what they feel sexy and confident in. 'I think it's good to know your strengths and what shapes or colours work for you and run with that. Understated always works as well.' Chloe, who is currently dating video director Ricky Saiz, has a series of films in the pipeline including Love And Friendship directed by Whit Stillman and Antibirth with Orange Is The New Black star Natasha Lyonne. Although many of us covet the designer handbags that celebrities and royals like Princess Mary, Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift and Beyonce tote around, the average woman can't afford the hefty price tag that comes with the luxury bags. The average Chanel handbag, for example, will set you back anywhere from $4,500 to $8,000- far above the means of those except the super wealthy. It's not surprise then, that many women go online in search of discount designer goods, hoping to snag a bargain and get a Louis Vuitton or Balenciaga bag for a much lower price. The unfortunate truth is that whilst it is possible to get discounts on luxury goods, many of the bags found online are cheap fakes. Scroll down for video Luxury living: Many women wish they tote around designer bags like Princess Mary (above) but can't afford the price tag Top tips: Brands Exclusive CEO Alexandra Mills gave FEMAIL advice on how to tell real handbags from counterfeit FEMAIL spoke to Alexandra Mills, CEO of online shopping destination Brands Exclusive, about how to spot a fake bag and make sure you're getting the real deal. INSPECT THE BAG IN PERSON Ms Mills says that inspecting the bag in person is always preferable to only seeing pictures online, as there can be small details that give away a fake. 'On a fake designer handbag, there will normally be a slight variation to the look of the logo so the counterfeiters can claim they havent copied the logo but that it is a different logo altogether,' she explains. Pricey: The average real Chanel bag (above) can cost anywhere from $4,500 to $8,000 so many women go online to try and find cheaper knock-offs Look at it in person: Ms Mill suggests looking at discounted bags in person to check for variations in the logo, which can be a giveaway of a fake LOOK AT THE HARDWARE AND LINING Another major giveaway of a counterfeit bag is the differences in hardware and lining. 'Have a look at the zip, any buckles and the rivets under the bag if they have already lost their shine, it's probably a fake. Make sure you know what the lining should look like on the real deal,' Ms Mills said. 'A lot of brands use fabric with their logo monogrammed, while a lot of counterfeiters dont make the effort because to them its mainly the outside of the bag that matters.' Real or fake?: Michael Kors is one of the most counterfeited brands world wide, but both these bags are real In the details: The hardware and lining can be a major giveaway for a fake. If the zips, buckles and rivets have lost their shine the bag might be counterfeit Do your research: If buying online, take your time and look at reviews of the site. Contact your bank to see if there has been any fraud reported to them about the store WHY SHOULDN'T YOU BUY FAKE HANDBAGS? Counterfeit bags are often much lower in quality and break easily They are commonly made in factories that exploit child labor laws Money from fake items often goes straight to criminal organisations Interpol has confirmed that funds from counterfeit bags also end up with terrorist organisations Fake bags and accessories can have damaging chemicals and products used on them that are not safe and legal Advertisement TAKE YOUR TIME If you're shopping either online or in a store, don't be rushed into making a purchase. Ensure you're confident the bag is real before you buy and don't impulse shop. If you're buying from an online store you can always contact the banks and credit bard companies the site accepts and check with them if there's been any reports of fraud to them. 'If you're shopping online, go back a week or two later to see if the website is still up,' Ms Mills recommends. 'If it was supplying fraudulent goods, it will most likely be tracked down and closed. Also, try contacting customer service and see if you get a response, and research online reviews.' Australian is best: Shopping from local stores gives you more protection if the bag is a fake, and also means the retailer is more likely to be genuine The real deal: Buying a fake bag isn't just a fashion faux pas, it can send money to organisations that break child labor laws and even support terrorist groups SHOP LOCAL Whilst there are many overseas sites that seem to be selling very cheap designer bags, you're more likely to purchase a fake from sites from countries like China, Brazil and India where many counterfeit goods are produced. If you buy from an Australian site you also have greater protections for getting your money back if your bag does turn out to be fake. 'If you do end up purchasing a fraudulent handbag, you can report it to Fair Trading. However, they cant help you if you havent purchased from an Australian website,' Ms Mills explains. Trust: Ms Mills says that you should always shop from 'trusted' stores that have a legal team to check their suppliers Brand power: Michael Kors (left), Chanel and Louis Vuitton are some of the most counterfeited brands according to the World Customs Organisation BUY FROM TRUSTED SHOPS Buy from trusted stores that have good reputations to limit the risk of buying a fake. Check online reviews and contact the customer service area to try and suss out if they're reputable. According to Ms Mills, there has been a rise in online stores selling counterfeit products in recent years. She said that trusted stores will undertake due diligence to ensure their products are legitimate, and that Brands Exclusive has a legal team checking every supplier the retailer works with. A 44-year-old man fitted with a bionic penis has joined online dating sites, saying he is now looking for love - after finally losing his virginity. Mohammed Abad, from Edinburgh, Scotland, had the device fitted in 2012 after losing his manhood in a car accident when he was a child - and slept with sex worker Charlotte Rose, 35, earlier this month. Now the divorcee has joined several online dating sites including dating app Tinder, because he wants to settle down and start a family, but has had no luck and is asking for help to find the love of his life. Scroll down for video Mohammed Abad had a bionic penis fitted, pictured holding a model of the device, and is now looking for love on online dating sites Mohammed Abad finally lost his virginity aged 44 to sex worker Charlotte Rose, which he'd dreamed of since the age of 18 Mohammed told The Mirror: 'I'm very lonely and would love to find someone. I've joined Match.com and an Asian dating site and I've even tried Tinder . 'But so far I've had no feedback. Not one date. I'd be eternally grateful if someone helped me find love. 'I've got a lot to give. The ultimate goal is to have two kids but I need to find somebody first.' Mohammed, who works as a security guard, had the bionic penis fitted in 2012 and was able to have sex for the first time after being given the green light by doctors. The penis has been fitted with two tubes which fill with liquid from his stomach, one buttons infills it while another deflates the penis by draining the liquid. He said a 'big burden' had been lifted following his encounter with Charlotte which happened after the pair got to know each other over a few days. Mohammed felt like a 'burden' had been lifted following losing his virginity to sex worker Charlotte this month Mohammed previously told New Day: 'I've been waiting for this day since I was 18. But now a big burden is off my back and I'm so happy.' He first met Charlotte, who specialises in disabled clients, for a dinner date and then got to know each other better over a few days and stayed in a central London hotel. Mohammed was nervous and on the first attempt, his penis malfunctioned with one side of the pump failing to properly inflate. But on the second attempt, the pump was able to perform properly. Mohammed told the newspaper: 'When Charlotte saw it for the first time, she was silent and I was a bit worried. But then she said: 'It's incredible'.' Charlotte told New Day: 'I wanted to make sure there was no pressure for Mo. There was a lot of fun, smiles and giggles. The room got quite heated.' Mohammed had waited years for the big day after he had a penis fitted in 2012 but was only recently given the green light by doctors to use it Mohammed met up with sex worker Charlotte Rose, who specialises in disabled clients, and got to know her over a few days before they had sex After their session together, which lasted for an hour and three quarters, Charlotte said she was 'impressed'. Now Mohammed's goal is to become a father. He previously said: 'Three years ago I never thought this day would come but now I'm ready to have some fun and sow my wild oats. 'I've never felt like a full man but now I'm ready for my life to start and I've never felt so confident. 'I want to get the 'virgin' tag off my back as soon as possible but eventually I hope to get married and have two children - a girl and a boy.' Mohammed was given the green light by doctors to test it out and hopes to be in a long-term relationship by next year. He said: 'I've waited so long for this that I don't want to waste any more time. I feel like my life is finally starting and I plan to live it to the fullest.' Mohammed hopes to be in a long-term relationship by next year and dreams of marriage, pictured he is shown an example of his prosthetic penis during a final consultation at the University College Hospital in October last year He has normal levels of testosterone and and doctors believe he will be able to have children. He hopes to have two - a boy and a girl - using the device, pictured Charlotte, who specialises in disabled clients, got in touch when she heard about Mohammed's plight and waived her usual 160 fee for the occasion. Charlotte, a single mum to two teenage children, told New Day: 'I wanted to make sure there was no pressure for Mo. There was a lot of fun, smiles and giggles. The room got quite heated. 'In the end, he lasted for an hour and three quarters. I was impressed.' Charlotte has slept with 'well over 1,000 men' but said she had never come across a bionic penis before. I never used to associate myself with girls because I knew if I took the next step it's going to come back and slap me in the face In January 1978, Mohammed was pushed into the street during a snowball fight and hit by a car that dragged him 600 yards. Mohammed previously said: 'My penis was ripped off and a testicle was also destroyed. 'I was taken to the hospital and given 12 hours to live.' Doctors were miraculously able to stabilise him, but there was nothing they could do to salvage his detached penis. Mohammed said: 'They made me a wee tube that was three centimetres long and I was told to carry on with that. There was nothing else they could do at that time. From the age of six to 11, Mohammed was in and out of hospital but his situation made it hard for him to fit in at school after news of his accident spread. Mohammed said: 'I never used to associate myself with girls because I knew if I took the next step it's going to come back and slap me in the face. Mohammed was pushed into the street during a snowball fight and hit by a car that dragged him 600 yards as a child, doctors were able to stabilise him following the accident but he lost his penis 'I avoided girls entirely just because I didn't want to put myself in that situation.' Mohammed threw himself into his work in a convenience store, but as time passed he longed for a normal life. He said: 'I think I was about 31 or 32 and went to the doctors again and said 'I'm desperate I need some kind of help, you need to try and help me. I'm ready to see the world out there'. 'It wasn't until I was about 37 that I got a letter out of the blue from a hospital which I had attended saying that they thought they could help me.' Four years ago, Mohammed had the life-changing surgery to create his penis, which was constructed using skin from his forearm rolled up like a 'sausage roll'. Prior to his surgeries, Mohammed had an arranged marriage, but kept his situation a secret from his wife until his wedding night. Mohammed was never able to consummate the marriage and last year the relationship came to an end after three years. Now, Mohammed has a working penis and hopes he will be able to sustain a relationship in the future. Charlotte Rose helped Mohammed to lose his virginity for free and made it a 'special experience for Mohammed in a hotel with nice music and a beautiful ambiance' Mohammed said: 'First thing the doctor said, was, 'You've got a big arm, so we'll be able to make you a big penis' so from there I just left it to him and I'm quite happy with what I've got.' Mohammed's ninth and final operation was completed last July and now he has an implant that allows him to have erections at the touch of a button. His new member was made using a graft of his arm, two rubber tubes and a reservoir of resin to pump into the penis and he has full feeling in his new organ. Mohammed operates his penis by pushing a button on his testicles to inflate and another one to deflate. His testosterone is now operating at a normal level and doctors believe he will be able to have children. Mr Nim Christopher, the consultant neurologist who built Mohammed's penis, said: 'The penis itself was actually made from the skin and fat from the forearm rolled up into a roll with a tube in the middle like a sausage roll. A Turkish teenager has become a reluctant celebrity after being bombarded with tweets from Kim Kardashian. Mert Alas, 17, from Adana, has a strikingly similar Twitter handle to a fashion photographer with the same name, who regularly works with the reality TV star, as well as being a firm favourite with Miley Cyrus, Madonna and Lady Gaga. Rather confusingly, despite his name being spelled with an 'L', the photographer's Twitter and Instagram handles are spelled with a capital 'i', which make them look identical from the teen's social media monikers. Scroll down for video Mert Alas, 17, from Adana, southern Turkey, shares his name with a renowned fashion photographer. Their Twitter handles are almost identical, meaning the teen is often tweeted in error by celebrities Kim shared this photo of her with photographer Mert Alas with her millions of Twitter followers in February 2015, incorrectly tagging the Turkish teenager of the same name. It was retweeted more than 1,000 times And despite being a world-renowned photographer, he has just 13 followers on Twitter, whereas his teenage namesake now has more than 1,500. It has led to teenage Mert regularly being tweeted by celebrities wanting to contact the photographer with the same name. The confusion began in February 2014, when Miley Cyrus tweeted a picture from a W Magazine shoot, writing: 'Coming soon in "bed time portraits By @meralas & @macpiggott" so xxxited check it out 2 see the real deal.' The following year, he received a series of misdirected tweets from Kim Kardashian, who is a close friend of the photographer. On February 3, she tweeted a selfie of the pair together, captioning it: 'LOVE & LIGHT @mertalas'. Later that month she tweeted a series of photos in honour of the photographer's birthday in posts that were liked and retweeted thousands of times, earning the teenager Mert a whole host of new followers. Kim tweeted him once again in September 2015, praising his Interview Magazine cover shot with Miley Cyrus. Speaking to a Turkish news site last year, Mert said: 'Before this I had 200 followers. Thanks to Miley Cyrus I got 600. And after Kim I got 65 more.' The 17-year-old now has more than 1,500 followers on Twitter 'Love when my boo is in town': But in this recent photo, Kim once again tagged the wrong Mert Alas Although the amusing mishap has happened again and again, it seems Kim is still none-the-wiser - despite Mert attempting to alert her by tweeting her back several times, saying: 'I love you baby' In a series of tweets, Mert replied to Kim saying: 'Youre going to get me in trouble with your husband' (top) and 'I love you, OK' (bottom). He has become something of a minor celebrity thanks to his exchanges with Kim And this month, the star posted photos of the pair together in LA. 'Love when my boo is in town,' she tweeted, followed by another picture three days later showing Kim partying with Mert and fashion editor Carine Roitfeld. She wrote: 'LA LOVE! I love when they come to my hometown! @carineroitfeld @mertalas'. Although the amusing mishap has happened again and again, it seems Kim is still none-the-wiser - despite Mert attempting to alert her by tweeting her back. Responding to one of her earlier tweets, he wrote: 'I love you baby,' and in September last year he wrote: 'Youre going to get me in trouble with your husband.' Far from being bothered by his newfound fame, Mert has done a series of interviews with Turkish media where he says he says being tweeted by Kim and Miley has landed him with a bigger Twitter following Mert has become something of a celebrity after news of his 'conversations' with Kim Kardashian broke On the same day, he tweeted Kim saying 'Bende seni seviyorum tamam' ('I love you, OK') followed by: 'Thank you for everything.' When asked by a follower whether he found the mix-up annoying, he responded: 'I'm getting used to it.' And far from being bothered by his newfound fame, Mert has done a series of interviews with Turkish media where he says he says it has landed him more Twitter followers. Queen Maxima stepped out in a show-stopping statement necklace today as she attended a music symposium in Amsterdam. The Argentian-born royal looked thrilled to be at the educational event held at the Amsterdam Conservatory, in the Netherlands. The Dutch Queen, 44, chose a neutral-toned outfit with a tailored shift dress but added a pop of colour with her jewellery. Queen Maxima stepped out in a show-stopping statement necklace today as she attended a music symposium in Amsterdam The Ducth Queen, 44, chose a neutral-toned outfit with a tailored shift dress but added a pop of colour with her jewellery The Queen was not accompanied by her husband King Willem and arrived for the engagement on her own. Maxima paired her shift with neutral patent court shoes, a matching clutch bag and an oatmeal pashmina to keep out the chill on this windy day. The royal wore her straightened blonde hair loose, and all eyes were on her jade-green and bronze beaded necklace. Worn with green drop earrings, the spring shades were contrasted with a touch of mauve eye shadow. The royal wore her blonde hair loose and all eyes were on the jade-green and bronze beaded necklace and grinned and waved to the crowd Despite the breeze, Maxima appeared thrilled to attend the event which discussed how teachers can best give musical education in primary schools Maxima attended the day-long symposium for 'Music education we do together,' which discussed how teachers can best give musical education in primary schools. The symposium is a collaboration between the university teacher training colleges of the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Cultural Participation Fund. Last week, the queen attended a financial seminar held by The Hague University and Qredits Microfinance Netherlands. The seminar focused on the role played by financial institutions in promoting economic participation of people. Maxima paired her shift with neutral patent court shoes, a matching clutch bag and an oatmeal pashmina to keep out the chill on this windy day. Kay Burley has found herself at the centre of a Twitter storm after complaints that she 'wasn't allowed' to finish a 130 bottle of wine at celebrity haunt Chiltern Firehouse. The Sky News presenter took to social media late last night to complain of the staff's 'ridiculous superior attitude' to diners at the trendy London restaurant in a post that has been retweeted dozens of times and prompted a barrage of abuse, with people accusing her of being 'elitist' and out of touch. Kay, 55, tweeted: 'So #chilternfirehouse - properly get over yourself. Ridiculous superior attitude to diners. We won't be returning.' Scroll down for video Kay Burley, 55, has come under fire after complaining about the way she was treated at celebrity hangout Chiltern Firehouse. People suggested that dropping in the price of her wine was 'uncouth' and 'vulgar' She later added: 'We paid 130 for a bottle of average wine with dinner but weren't allowed to finish at the table and no space at bar... #chilternfirehouse'. But Twitter was quick to fire back, accusing Kay of being 'uncouth and unnecessarily vulgar' by dropping in the price of her wine bottle. Others simply mocked her, with a man named Colin writing: 'Oh god are you ok?' Bren joked: 'Sounds a bit steep for blue nun? Hope it was a screw top so you could take it home,' and an incredulous Mike O'Brien joked: 'was it a 5 litre bottle?' Kay was dining at the trendy London restaurant last night when she claims she was told she couldn't finish her 130 bottle of wine at her table. She accused them of having a 'ridiculous superior attitude' to their customers Sarah wrote: '130 for a bottle of wine???? Was the bottle made of real gold?' and Anna Day wrote: 'Sadness in your eyes?' in a reference to the time she was lampooned after tweeting a now-infamous photo of an apparently sad-looking dog following the Paris attacks in November 2015. Andrew blasted: 'agree people can freely spend their how they wish but dropping in price was uncouth & unnecessarily vulgar.' Nonjob6 wrote: 'Anyone willing to pay 130 for 750ml of fermented grape juice deserves it poured over their head.' As the abuse flooded in, Kay tweeted a series of comebacks. She told one troll to watch his 'potty mouth'. She told another troll to 'bore off, adding: 'There was me thinking I could spend my money however I wanted to!' But as the abuse flooded in, Kay, evidently in fighting mood, reeled off a series of comebacks. She told one troll to watch his 'potty mouth'. And after an anonymous Twitter branded her 'pondlife vermin' and 'elitist shitehawk,' she replied: 'We have a winner ladies and gentleman.' Another troll who accused her of being 'completely detached from the pain of poverty' was met with: 'I come from a council house in Wigan where my miner grandad slept in the front kitchen, you silly moo.' Simon Thomas wrote: 'Some people have to live on 130 a week, Kay.' Following Kay's tweet, Sarah wrote: '130 for a bottle of wine???? Was the bottle made of real gold?' and Anna Day wrote: 'Sadness in your eyes?' in a reference to her now-infamous tweet on the Paris attacks in 2015 She told another troll to 'bore off, adding: 'There was me thinking I could spend my money however I wanted to!' Just last year, the news anchor was ridiculed when she tweeted a tribute to Malcolm Muggeridge - who died more than 25 years ago - instead of Cliff Michelmore. Kay wrote RIP Malcolm Muggeridge above a picture of the journalist who died aged 87 in 1990, prompting online jokers to suggest that the death of other well-known figures from decades and centuries past including Elvis Presley, Winston Churchill and Napoleon - should be marked too. Among those making fun of Miss Burley was Alan Perrie from Birmingham, who tweeted: 'RIP President John F Kennedy, cruelly taken from us this morning in Dallas, cause of death TBC.' On Sunday, Letizia joined husband Felipe, mother-in-law Queen Sofia and her two daughters Princesses Leonor and Sofia at Palma After the traditional royal break on the island of Mallorca, it was very much back to work for Queen Letizia today...and she didn't hesitate when reaching for her go-to suit, it seems. Back in Madrid after spending the Easter weekend on the Balearic Isle, the glamorous royal, 43, once again unearthed one of her favourite outfits to attend a charity meeting in the Spanish capital. It's the third time in a year that thrifty Letizia has worn the striking purple Hugo Boss suit which consists of a Jamayla blazer and matching Valessima skirt. Scroll down for video Reaching for an old favourite: Queen Letizia, 43, arrives at the Microfinanzas BBVA Foundation headquarters in Madrid earlier today wearing a suit she's worn three times in a year With a slick of purple lipstick and pretty silver drop earrings, Letizia looked happy and relaxed following the traditional family break on Mallorca If it ain't broke... Letizia in the plum-coloured separates by Hugo Boss back in February 2015 (pictured with King Felipe) and, right, attending a series of functions at the Zarzuela Palace in October last year The plum-coloured outfit, which appears to take on a different hue depending on the light, was last seen in October 2015 when Letizia hosted a series of engagements at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid. And before that, the well-loved garments were aired in February 2015 when Letizia previously wore them to an arts ceremony she attended with husband King Felipe VI. In the past, the European style icon has gone for contrasting accessories; in October, she wore her trademark snakeskin print high heels and the suit's first appearance saw it complimented by a light pink patent bag. Today, however, it was all about colour-matching, with a pair of purple patent heels and a pale pink jumper offering a fresh take on the suit. Letizia looked relaxed about her return to royal duties as she attended a meeting at the BBVA Foundation headquarters in the Spanish Capital. The organisation aims to benefit key areas of society through research, advanced training and the transmission of scientific knowledge. Fresh from the Balearics; Letizia spent the Easter break staying with the extended royal family on Mallorca If it ain't broke...Queen Letizia turned to an old favourite in Madrid this morning to attend a BBVA Foundation meeting in the Spanish Capital. Right, looking good from every angle! Letizia looks up at a photographer Flying solo: The Spanish royal chats with BBVA president Francisco Gonzalez at the meeting Chatty: Letizia chats with BBVA Microfinance Foundation general manager, Javier Flores (left) at the end of a working meeting with representatives of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation in Madrid Back on terra firma; it's been a busy few months for Letizia, who visited Puerto Rico with King Felipe last month and made the short hop to Mallorca just last week Greeted by BBVA president Francisco Gonzalez, the mother-of-two took a tour of the offices and attended a working meeting where she chatted with employees. It was a far cry from basking in the Mallorcan sunshine, which the Spanish royals enjoyed last week. The family made a rare appearance all together in Palma at the weekend. It has been six months since their last public appearance so it came as no surprise that hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets to welcome Letizia and Felipe's daughters to Mallorca. Leonor, ten and Sofia, eight, joined their mother and father and grandmother Queen Sofia at the cathedral in Palma de Mallorca for Easter mass. Easter is one of the biggest occasions in the Catholic calendar and the Spanish royals maintained their tradition of spending the holiday on the island of Mallorca. Queen Letizia of Spain joined her husband King Felipe, mother-in-law Queen Sofia and two daughters Leonor (left) and Sofia (right) for Easter mass in Palma de Mallorca this morning Doting Letizia, who wore a bold fushcia jacket, beamed at her two daughters who wore near identical outfits for today's festivities Easter is one of the biggest occasions in the Catholic calendar and the Spanish royals maintained their tradition of spending the holiday on the island of Mallorca Queen Letizia abandoned all traces of winter, ditching heavy coats and dark colours in favour of a bold fuchsia jacket. The Spanish royal paired her lightweight coat with nautical stripes and loose trousers as she attended Easter mass at the cathedral of Palma de Mallorca this morning. The former newsreader was accompanied by her mother-in-law, Queen Sofia of Spain and husband King Felipe VI for the festivities. Queen Sofia who handed over her rein to her son in 2014 following the abdication of his father, her husband, wore a spring-inspired green and purple floral print silk coat dress. Leonor is first in line to the Spanish throne while her sister, who is 17 months younger is second in line. The charming girls, who were dressed in near identical outfits, smiled and waved to hundreds of well wishers who waited outside the cathedral in a hope to catch a glimpse of the royals. Chance, who was born male but identifies as gender fluid, noted that the woman was shocked when they pulled out a tampon for her to use The student at Occidental College recalled how a woman at the gym was embarrassed to be overheard asking for a tampon Chance Ward, 20, from Los Angeles, became an internet sensation after sharing a Facebook post about supporting their A gender fluid college student who doesn't menstruate is shutting down period shaming by carrying tampons in fanny pack for any person who needs one. Chance Ward, a 20-year-old student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, who was born male, has become an internet sensation after sharing a Facebook post about the importance of supporting those who menstruate while recounting how a woman at the gym apologized because she was overheard asking her friend for a tampon. 'Me being me, I hit ha [her] with the "girl, u gucci" before reaching down into my fanny pack and giving her one of the tampons I keep in there,' Chance wrote last week. Spreading the word: Chance Ward (pictured), a gender fluid student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, has become an internet sensation after writing an empowering post about supporting people who are menstruating Kind-hearted: The 20-year-old (pictured), who was born a male, carries tampons in a fanny pack for anyone who is menstruating and needs one Chance went on to say that the woman was visibly shocked and looked as though they had just done a 'magic trick'. 'This is so sad. Why don't y'all love y'all friends that menstruate?' they continued. 'Like men will make whole guest rooms in their house just in case someone needs to stay. But god forbid that person menstruate, because I bet you won't be no extra pads or tampons under that guest bathroom sink [sic]. 'Like why? Y'all know literally like half this world goes through this?' Chance noted to all their 'menstruating friends' that if they needs tampons, they 'got it'. Shouldn't feel ashamed: In their post, Chance recalled how embarrassed one woman at the gym got because she was overheard asking for a tampon That's a fact: Chance noted that people shouldn't feel embarrassed by their menstrual cycle because it is a human bodily function experienced by 'half this world' 'I keep some in my fanny pack when I go to the gym, and some in my backpack all the time,' Chance explained. 'Never feel embarrassed for asking for one. Never feel embarrassed for being human. '@everyone who doesn't menstruate: keep your menstruating friends in mind and stop being so s****y.' Chance's empowering post has been shared more than 9,000 times since it was posted on March 22, and it has even attracted the attention of Nicki Minaj, who shared the message on her Facebook page. 'He da realist. This is everything [sic],' she wrote of Chance's message, and the college student was undoubtedly thrilled by the rapper's response. Ending the stigma: Chance revealed that they carry tampons in their backpack and fanny pack at the gym all of the time and encouraged men to do the same Famous fan: Chance's message even caught the attention of Nicki Minaj, who shared the post on her Facebook page, writing: 'This is everything.' 'With this blessing from Queen Nicki Minaj, I will sleep soundly for many moons. Many many moons,' Chance noted. And many others praised Chance for drawing attention to the fact that menstruation is a natural bodily function that shouldn't incite shame. 'This post literally brought tears to my eyes heart emoticon you are absolutely awesome hun [sic],' Siri Guntupalli commented. 'Every dude who has a period friendly set up (even just as basic as a bathroom trashcan!) gets so much more respect from me,' Rachel Best noted. 'I'm glad someone is talking about how easy but necessary this is. Thank you.' Kylie Jenner's commitment to beauty should come as anything but a surprise; she has her own range of cosmetics, fronts a nail polish collection and spends hours on end recording beauty tutorials for her app and website in her very own glam room. But her latest cosmetics-related revelation takes that obsession to the extreme - even for her. The 18-year-old beauty mogul revealed to People she gets a fresh manicure every week and can spend up up to five hours at any given time doing her nails. Scroll down for video She's nailing it! Kylie Jenner, 18, pictured in a campaign image for her SinfulColors nail polish collection says she can spend five hours doing her nails. Her second collaboration with the brand launches on Friday Metallic simplicity: Kylie showed off her latest manicure on her Instagram account yesterday Like mother, like daughter: Kylie (right) said she gets her obsession with manicures from her mom, Kris Jenner (left), 60 Her need for a good manicure, she claims, comes courtesy of her mom, Kris Jenner. 'My mom always drilled it in my head to have nice, pretty nails,' Kylie told the magazine. Its just really important to her. Anytime she meets someone, shell look at your fingernails. 'I never cared when I was younger and I hated getting my nails done. It just took up my play time. But she likes pretty nails, so thats where I got my nail obsession.' Just doing her nails is hardly enough for Kylie, though. On the heels of her first successful polish collaboration with SinfulColors, King Kylie, she's launching a second with the brand on Friday. Beauty lover: The teenage beauty mogul often showcases her manicures on Instagram; she is seen in an image posted five days ago showing off unusually short nails Changing it up: Kylie seems to alter her polish shade every few days, making her five-hour long commitment to getting them done all the more surprising The line will include a staggering 27 shades, and not unlike her lip kits, the colors will all be matte or demi-matte. Kylie said she likes shine-free polish because 'it spices up anything.' The shades in the collection - called Trend Matters - are mainly pastels, which makes them just-right for spring. And at $2.99 a bottle, you could scoop up the entire line for $80 if you really wanted to. Select shades will be available at Target and Walgreens stores. Kylie said four of her favorites are Taupe Is Chic, Konstellation, Kurstey and I Klove You. Sneak peek: Even though Kylie's new nail polishes don't technically launch until April 1, some stores have them on display already, and fans are Instagramming the collection with the hashtag #sctrendmattersvelvet The OG kollection: Kylie's posted some of her favorite shades from her first set of polishes When Kylie's first nail collection launched with SinfulColors, she told WWD she did it because, 'I love getting my nails done and nails in general...I wanted to do something innovative and accessible to my young fans.' Her original collection is still available now. The first picture of grandmother Ivana holding her grandson, believed to have been taken hours after his birth, emerged on Monday night Less than 48 hours later, Ivanka left the hospital, but not before sharing a picture of husband Jared and daughter Arabella with Theodore Ivanka gave birth to her third child, Theodore James, on Sunday The 34-year-old was pictured picking up her eldest children Arabella, four, and Joseph, two, from their New York City school on Wednesday Ivanka Trump is back to her regular routine just three days after giving birth to her son Theodore James. The 34-year-old was all smiles as she picked up her eldest children, Arabella, four, and Joseph, two, from school on Wednesday afternoon, presumably leaving her newborn son at home. Despite just giving birth to her son at 5:43pm on Sunday, she was the picture of elegance during the school run. Scroll down for video Motherly duties: Ivanka Trump was back to her picking her eldest children Arabella and Joseph up from school less than three days after giving birth to her third child Theodore James Helping hand: The 34-year-old held two-year-old Joseph in her arms while she guided four-year-old Arabella towards the car Balancing act: The mother-of-three expertly balanced her son while holding on to his orange backpack The happy mother-of-three donned a blue belted coat, skinny jeans, and classic black flats - from her own fashion label - for the outing, leaving her blonde hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. Ivanka couldn't hide her motherly glow as she left her New York City apartment building and headed to her children's school. The businesswoman was pictured holding Joseph as she guided Arabella through the city streets with her hand. Both children were holding colorful pinwheels, which they most likely got at school, while Arabella was holding some of her art work. While Arabella donned black and white striped leggings, a black puffy coat, and Mary Jane-style sneakers, Joseph looked relaxed in a hooded winter jacket, jeans, and velcro shoes. All smiles: Ivanka was the picture of elegance in a belted wool coat, skinny jeans, and black flats as she left her Park Avenue apartment on Wednesday Stylish kids: Arabella donned black and white striped leggings, a black puffy coat, and Mary Jane-style sneakers, while Joseph looked relaxed in a hooded winter jacket, jeans, and velcro shoes Throughout her most recent pregnancy, Ivanka was always on the go, so it is unsurprising that she happily returned to her motherly duties as soon as possible. Ivanka, who left the hospital on Tuesday, beamed with joy as she was pictured heading into her Park Avenue apartment with her 35-year-old husband Jared Kushner as he carried their precious baby in a car seat. Wearing a loose floral-print red dress, the mother-of-three positively glowed as she showed off just a tiny hint of a bump in the flattering spring-inspired ensemble, which featured a high neckline and high hemline which showed off her long legs. Despite giving birth less than 48 hours earlier, Ivanka looked fresh-faced, wearing only a touch of make-up, while her blonde hair was left loose around her shoulders. Never one to miss an opportunity to proudly show off her own clothing designs, Ivanka finished off the ensemble with a pair of lace-up black ballet flats from her eponymous fashion label. New toys: Both children happily held on to pinwheels, which they presumably got at school Budding artist: Arabella held on to her art work, which featured pictures of a carousal, a tree, and a rainbow Pausing to flash a smile at the cameras, Ivanka followed her husband into the Trump-owned building after exiting the car that had driven the trio from the hospital back to their home. Ivanka's departure from her New York hospital comes just a few hours after she shared the first image of her baby son with his dad Jared and sister Arabella, and 12 hours after the first picture of her mother Ivana holding her newborn grandson emerged on social media. In the picture, proud grandmother Ivana, 67, is seen beaming with delight at the camera in her picture, as she cradles the tiny infant, who is believed to have been just a few hours old when the image was taken in 34-year-old Ivanka's hospital room. Modeling her signature blonde beehive, the former wife of Donald Trump looks typically glamorous in the snap, which also sees her wearing a dark smokey eye, and pink lipstick. Smiling boy: Joseph looked thrilled to be back in his mother's arms again after her brief hospital stay Hard worker: Arabella clung tightly onto her worksheets as she made her way inside with her mom Beaming with joy: Ivanka also couldn't hide her smile when she returned home from the hospital with her newborn son and husband Jared Kushner on Tuesday The picture was originally posted on Instagram by family acquaintance and magazine publisher Jason Binn, who also shared an image of Ivanka with her newborn baby son. Hours after he posted the images, seemingly without the new mother's permission, with his 380,000 Instagram followers as well as his 122,00 followers on Facebook, he took them down. It is unclear how Binn got the images to begin with. Shortly before lunch on Tuesday Ivanka shared a sweet family photo, this time of her husband Jared and Arabella posing with the newest member of their family, who is seen swaddled in a blue, pink and white hospital blanket. Taken during the family's visit to the hospital on Monday morning, the image sees Jared sitting on a chair in his wife's hospital room, holding baby Theodore in his arms, while Arabella perches behind him, clinging on to his neck in an embrace. Spring thing: Ivanka donned a bold floral-print dress for the occasion, hiding the remaining hint of a bump in the flattering design, while showing off her long legs Doting dad: Jared, 35, carefully carried his newborn son into the apartment in a car seat Both father and daughter are showing off wide smiles to the camera, while Theodore rests peacefully in Jared's arms. The image was shared just a few hours after Jared was pictured taking Arabella and Joseph to visit their mom and newborn brother in the hospital. Jared held Joseph in his arms while the family's nanny walked with Arabella on their way to the hospital. During their walk outside, Arabella was heard saying she and her nanny got flowers for her mother, who gave birth to her third child on Easter. Jared, who was casually dressed in a crewneck sweater and New Balance sneakers, couldn't help but smile as he headed into to see his wife, with his hospital ID band still on his wrist. Meanwhile, Joseph snacked on an apple as he relaxed in his father's arms and Arabella held on to her nanny's hand as she happily hopped out of the car and walked towards the hospital. Follow the leader: Jared led the way while holding Theodore in a carrier, while Ivanka followed behind Proud moment: Ivana Trump was pictured holding her newborn baby grandson Theodore for the first time in a heartwarming image taken inside her daughter Ivanka's hospital room and shared on Monday night 'This is love': On Tuesday morning, Ivanka shared this image of her husband Jared Kushner, and their daughter Arabella, with baby Theodore, which was taken during their visit to the hospital on Monday The proud father-of-three was carrying a backpack and two other bags, presumably gifts and necessities for Ivanka, in addition to his eldest son. News of the birth came just hours after Ivanka and her husband were photographed smiling on their way to Easter breakfast in New York City. 'Jared and I feel incredibly blessed to announce the arrival of Theodore James Kushner,' Ivanka, 34, wrote along with an Instagram photo announcing her son's birth on Sunday evening. 'Jared, Arabella, Joseph and I are so excited to welcome this sweet little boy in to our family!' continued the post. Both Theodore and James are names held by former American Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and James Madison to name a few, though it's not known if Ivanka and Jared purposefully named their newest son after historical figures. Ivanka's brother Donald Trump Jr tweeted his congratulations to his sibling saying: 'Congrats to my amazing sister @IvankaTrump & Jared on the birth of their third child Theodore. Can't wait to meet!' Easter baby: Ivanka shared this image of herself with her newborn son Theodore just hours after she gave birth on Sunday evening Proud father: Ivanka's husband Jared was seen carrying Joseph on his way to the hospital where his wife and newborn son Theodore were staying Big sister: The family's nanny can be seen helping their daughter get out of the car as she happily gets ready to see her mom and her new brother Donald Jr also shared a pictured of his father enjoying Easter lunch on Sunday afternoon with two of his grandchildren. He captioned it: 'Easter lunch with @realdonaldtrump. Had a great week with the family for their spring break. 'Now, after being with my 5 kids for a week I need a vacation!!! Every year after these breaks I realize how hard Vanessa works to keep these munchkins of ours in line. Her job is so much harder than mine... and more important! Amazing respect.' Despite sporting a baby bump for more than nine months, Ivanka followed her Republican father on the campaign trail as much as she was physically able. Ivanka is an executive vice president at the Trump Organization and also has been helping him throughout his campaign. She accompanied him to South Carolina on February 20 where he said during a campaign stop: 'Ivanka, we have a hospital ready just in case, and South Carolina, were going to have a baby and theres nothing wrong with that. It could be any second. It could even be before Im finished [giving this speech].' Three's company: Theodore is Ivanka and Jared's third child together. The happy couple are pictured on Sunday morning on their way to Easter breakfast Joyous news: 'Jared and I feel incredibly blessed to announce the arrival of Theodore James Kushner,' Ivanka captioned this Instagram photo announcing her son's arrival Knowing that she might soon give birth, Ivanka did not follow her father to Florida for Super Tuesday. Instead, she stayed in New York to prepare for the arrival of her son on a celebratory Sunday. Even when she could not make it out to campaign, like during the recent primary in Arizona, Ivanka still recorded a video encouraging residents to get out and vote which she posted on Facebook. Donald ultimately ended up winning that state's primary. Since publicly announcing her pregnancy in September, Ivanka has posted updates on her Instagram in the days leading up to Theodore's birth. Happy as can be: Donald Trump Jr shared his joy over becoming an uncle again and took to Twitter to congratulate his sister Not your average grandfather: Donald Trump Jr shared this pictured of his father enjoying Easter lunch on Sunday afternoon Former family of four: Ivanka and Jared are seen with their two children out in New York City last week Proud father: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pat Ivanka's growing baby bump while celebrating his victory in the South Carolina primary in Spartanburg, South Carolina on February 20 'I cannot wait!' Ivanka wrote in an Instagram post six weeks ago in which she cradles her huge baby bump. Ivanka, her husband, and children are Jewish and celebrated Purim last week. Her father said last Monday while speaking at AIPAC; 'My daughter Ivanka is about to have a beautiful Jewish baby.' 'In fact, it could be happening right now, which would be very nice as far as Im concerned. Ivanka is not the only candidate's daughter who, up until Sunday, was growing the future of America in her belly. Hillary Clinton's daughter Chelsea is pregnant as well and is due to give birth in the summer of 2016. Picture the scene. You're at London's Euston Station ready to take the train, let's say, to Manchester. You've booked your ticket in advance, as you would for a flight. Security demands that only those with pre-booked tickets, whose names and addresses are lodged with the train company, will be allowed to travel. You pass through security where your bag is checked while your every move is recorded on camera. Up to this point, passengers of the opposite sex have progressed together through the crush and onto the crowded platform, as your train approaches. A regional train operator in Germany, running between Leipzig and Chemnitz, has decided to introduce women-only carriages at the front of the train next to the guard (stock photo) Suddenly, guards armed with machine guns start dividing up the crowd. 'Ladies, this way, please,' one of them orders. After a few brief goodbyes between family members, the women are escorted to the front of the train, to their own exclusive carriage, closest to where the train manager sits, while the men are herded to the back. No one dares to challenge the order. A dystopian fantasy land, you might think, or maybe something that could occur in Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive, travel without a male relative or show any part of their face or body in public. Never could it happen in a Western democracy where equal rights for men and women to move freely and independently without fear of harm are enshrined in the law. OK, maybe the armed guards were taking it a bit far . . . but this scene could be played out in Germany, where one regional train operator, running between Leipzig and Chemnitz, has decided to introduce women-only carriages at the front of the train next to the guard - and consequently, closer to help. The move is reported to have been prompted by fears of sexual attacks by migrants, following the outrage caused by the mass sex attacks on women during New Year's Eve celebrations in Cologne. Any woman who's travelled on a train, bus or Tube knows sexual harassment can be very prevalent (stock pic) A thousand complaints were made to police that night, with the vast majority said to have been perpetrated by immigrants. The train company's decision to introduce women-only carriages came only a few days after the first accused man was charged. He is said to be 26, is of Algerian origin and was the ring leader of a group of ten men. But are women-only carriages a good idea? Let's get the race question out of the way. Any woman who's travelled on a train, bus or Tube knows sexual harassment is not confined to men who have come from countries where a woman's right to travel without fear is not part of their culture. I've been around for a very long time and travel regularly on every form of public transport. Everyday sexism is something that's happened to most of us at some time or another, and the offender who rubs up too close, pinches your bottom, nudges your breast, puts his hand up your skirt or makes a lewd suggestion might be black, brown or white and of any class. My worst experiences as a young woman were carried out by smartly dressed, white, well-spoken businessmen My worst experiences as a young woman were carried out by smartly dressed, white, well-spoken businessmen. I was 17 and on my way to meet my parents who were working in Turkey when I fell asleep on the flight. I woke to find the respectable Englishman, who'd treated me with the care he would have given his own daughter as we'd settled into our seats, had covered both of us with his blanket and his fingers were progressing towards my knickers. I slapped his hand away, but never told anyone. On my first trip alone to London from Barnsley in 1971 - travelling by train for an interview with the BBC - I was 21, wearing a fashionably short skirt and feeling apprehensive. A very kind, plump, middle-aged Yorkshireman joined me in the carriage, offered to lift my case onto the luggage rack and disappeared behind The Times. Nothing was said until the ticket inspector had been round. The 'gentleman' asked if I minded if he closed the blinds as he found the sun too bright. I had no objection, but instead of returning to his seat, he jumped on me, covering my mouth with horrible, slobbery kisses as his hands went to my breast. I kicked out and screamed. He left the carriage in a hurry. Again, I told no one, but something in me determined that I would do whatever I could to promote the rights of women to travel unmolested. I feel a great deal of pity for those poor women in Germany who seem to have suffered so much. We should not be afraid to acknowledge that cultural differences exist that may well make men newly arrived in Western countries feel they can take advantage of the freedoms that European women have fought for and won. We've seen, at the cost of hundreds of girls and women in towns such as Rotherham, Rochdale and Oxford, how dangerous it is to fear that acknowledging the perpetrators of grooming and abuse were mainly from Pakistani communities is racist. It is not racist to listen to the facts, investigate and act on them. While I am not blind to the fact that women-only institutions, where they exist, are much more pleasant and relaxing than their unisex equivalents. Women-only gyms, with the ambient smell of deodorant and polite ladies saying 'No, after you' at the water cooler, are an absolute joy. You won't find me ducking into one of those gender-neutral (ie filthy) public toilets either - no matter how long the queue for the Ladies. Nevertheless, I can't find favour with the idea of separate carriages for women. I lived through the years when women were excluded from bars where men went to talk business - not long before that it was common practice in polite circles at dinner parties for the women would retire to one room to chat about shopping over a cup of tea while the men smoked, drank brandy and debated the important matters of the day. We've fought very hard to win admittance to such company. We've battled to have our views heard and pressed for democratic agreement that women have equal rights to men. No one challenges our freedom to wear trousers or the shortest of skirts if we choose. I remember the days when trousers were banned at the BBC for women unless they worked in the Arab service. We can dress as we wish. We would be fools to demand 'safe spaces' where we are again separated from the male of the species. Where might this end? The burqa, of course, the ultimately awful, humiliating way to hide away women from the lustful eyes of men. The idea of separate carriages is also humiliating and disrespectful for the majority of men who don't wish to treat women like sex objects - just ordinary dads and husbands who would like to share a carriage with their nearest and dearest without being labelled a potential sex pest. I tend not to be groped on the bus or the Tube any more, but I see it happening all the time. As an 'elder stateswoman', I see it as my duty to never let a wandering hand get away with its work. A loud cry of 'Get your hands off that young woman, you dirty old man,' is generally pretty effective. I've also witnessed a fair number of young victims shouting on their own behalf. 'Get off!' screeched loudly in a crowded carriage generally leads to deep embarrassment and shame on the part of the abuser. Shame is a powerful tool in our fight against this form of sexism and more effective than a steel train carriage door. Make a sex predator feel ashamed of his actions and you're partway towards making him adapt his behaviour. That's why I have no doubt it is not in women's interests to accept the idea of a separate train carriage - effectively a kind of harem - where we would be hidden from the world. Women must be seen to be out there - visible and strong. If bad things happen, we must be prepared to humiliate the men responsible by denouncing their offence in public, whether in a train carriage to assembled travellers or to the jury in a court. As for those who feel that any woman or girl is fair game for their sexual advances, education is the key, along with punishment where appropriate. I have no doubt the sentences handed to the abusive men in Oxford, Rochdale and Rotherham will have made the point to others that this country will not condone such behaviour, regardless of race or culture. Learning about gender and equality for men and women must be an important part of citizenship education for young men who come to western democracies from cultures where such ideas are not part of their DNA. Gender education should be part of the curriculum in every school. From a boy's earliest years, he needs to know sex is a matter of consent. You don't touch unless you know she agrees. Then let's all board that train together, shall we? Advertisement California nuns who grow marijuana have posed for a series of powerful photos documenting their day-to-day work. Sister Kate and Sister Darcy, who live in Merced and go by the name Sisters of the Valley, have given photographers Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois a candid look at their controversial business, which involves cultivating week for remedies they sell online. The pair, who consider themselves nuns but not in the traditional or Catholic sense, are licensed Medical Marijuana growers, but their business has recently come under threat from California municipalities looking to outlaw what they do. Scroll down for video Standing together: Nuns Sister Kate and Sister Darcy have posed for a fascinating photo series showing their day-to-day lives cultivating marijuana Taking a taste: Some of the images show the sisters hard at work, while others show them at rest Working hard: The nuns have 12 plants, from which they create salves and tinctures for treating back pain, migraines and other niggles The sisters' organic products include salves, tinctures and oils engineered to treat niggles like migraines and back pain. Each of the items contain low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component that causes marijuana's famous high. Every product is prayed over by its makers before being sent off to customers. The images snapped by the photographers show the nuns crouched among marijuana plants, burning rolled up sets of leaves in front of them. On offer: The products contain low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which causes marijuana's famous high, but the products themselves don't create a high Perfecting things: Each and every of the products created by the sisters is prayed over before being sent out A different way: The sisters consider themselves nuns, but not in the traditional or Catholic sense Trying it out: Some of the powerful images show the sisters testing out their own wares at their home Hard at work: The Sisters of the Valley are licensed Medical Marijuana growers Others show the sisters enjoying a toke from their wares while relaxing at home. Since launching their business last year, the pair have been selling their products on Etsy as well as their own website. But Sister Kate, whose real name is Christine Meeusen, 56, and Sister Darcy Johnson, 24, have recently found their business under threat. Most recently, their Etsy shop was recently withdrawn 'We thought it the best place to feature our home-made and hand-made goods. But not long ago, they were bought by eBay,' the pair wrote on a new GoFundMe page earlier this week. Toiling away: The pair have been selling their wares online and through Etsy for nine months Shut out: Recently, the nuns suffered the closure of their Etsy store after the site alleged that they made 'health claims' Helping out: The pair say that they now need money to help them stay in their home and pay their bills Moving on: The sisters recently had to relocate their business to Merced after California legislation rendered their operation illegal in their original home 'And yesterday, after nine months of no issues, they rudely took all our items off our shelf, alleging we make health claims.' With bills piling up and their income being suddenly hindered, they are hoping for public help to keep their Abby, their business and simply their heads above water. 'We had a dream of living a simple life, making our medicines on a quiet farm, in a spiritual environment, and being self-sustaining,' they said. It's just the latest in a bad run for the ladies, after they were forced to move their business when new legislation rendered their operation illegal in their original location. Are you following the Rob and Helen scandal? If not, let me bring you up to speed. Helen Titchener (nee Archer) is a fictional rural businesswoman in The Archers on Radio 4, creator of imaginary cheese Borsetshire Blue. Her radio husband, Rob, whom she married after detaching him from his wife Jess, has spent the past year gradually dominating and subtly bullying her, up to the point of marital rape to get her pregnant against her will. He makes her think she is fragile and going crazy and that everything is her fault, while pretending to be devoted. Classic emotional abuse. Helen Titchener (nee Archer) is a fictional rural businesswoman in The Archers on Radio 4, who has been raped by her husband, Rob, the pair are pictured above He is turning her five-year-old son Henry against her. Rob's equally manipulative, posh mother is his ally, as under the pretence of helpfulness the dastardly woman tricks Helen into burning the toad-in-the-hole, giving Rob yet another excuse to bully his wife. It's stronger, subtler and darker stuff than the dreary old soap has offered for years. But it's fiction: Helen is the actress Louiza Patikas; Rob the amiable Timothy Watson. They're just reading scripts. But tens of thousands of listeners have written in, some furiously complaining and refusing to tune in again. Meanwhile, a good few have sneaked back to listening to the show after giving up on the soap years ago. The plot has stimulated wide discussion of the half-hidden issue of partners being 'coercive and controlling' (at the New Year, this became a criminal offence). More than 70,000 has been donated to a (real) women's refuge in the name of Helen. Poor Timothy Watson was roundly booed, pantomime villain style, by Archers fans at a Radio Times festival and had to remove himself from social media because of the hostility he met. Hardly a week passes without a fanatic tweeting: 'Die, Rob, die!' The plot has stimulated wide discussion of the half-hidden issue of partners being 'controlling' It is the biggest, frothiest overspill into real life from soap opera since Tony Blair said he'd tell the Home Secretary to 'Free the Weatherfield One' - Deirdre Barlow from Coronation Street, who had been wrongfully imprisoned. Even if, like me, you long ago gave up on The Archers' interminable pub chat, Mummerzet faux-yokel accents, village hall repairs, dairy emergencies and intolerably smug women remodelling their kitchens or planning amateur dramatics, you may get sucked back in by this plot. Plenty admit they have: the journalist Ann Treneman has admitted to sitting in her car on the drive, with the rain pouring outside, to listen to the latest episode rather than miss it. The storyline is the inspiration of editor Sean O'Connor, who arrived three years ago from EastEnders and proceeded to shake up the fictional village of Ambridge to remove an image many saw as chocolate box. There was a threat to move two of the main characters, farmers Ruth and David, to Northumberland, then the village was flooded (we think Rob did something to a sluice gate). Mr O'Connor, who is heading back to EastEnders, darkly hinted this week that Rob might be 'capable of murder' and admits that part of the inspiration for the plot was the legal change criminalising 'coercive and controlling' partners. He is also, interestingly, the author of Handsome Brute, an acclaimed book on the Forties woman killer Neville Heath and, therefore, knows a bit about dangerous charmers. It is being very well done, the acting significantly above The Archers' rather lazy norm. This week, Louiza Patikas mused on the fact that in her very intense, understatedly unnerving scenes with Watson, even the sound-effects get to her: the rustle of his Barbour jacket and the ticking of his watch as he raises his arm. Rob's ability to be, in one man, bad cop and good cop is impressive. One minute he is cooing his adoration of her and taking over a domestic job, the next reminding her of 'all the trouble she's caused' or telling her, falsely, that she sleepwalked and terrified her small son with a torrent of abuse. He gradually alienates her from her friends, and has seduced the rest of her family with his charm to the point that this week Helen's mother Pat praised him for his care of her 'difficult' daughter. I find myself half-fascinated, half-exasperated at the prolonged, ratings chasing melodrama of it, making it seem like a slow-motion version of the always 'issue- driven' EastEnders. But it is serving a decent purpose: not least because most of the stories we normally hear about over-controlling husbands and cowed womenfolk are about the Asian communities: forced marriage, FGM, honour killings. POSH SOAP SAGA The Archers is the most listened to non-news programme on Radio 4, with five million tuning in Advertisement It is no bad thing to remind us that there can be dark things between middle-class, affluent, educated and seemingly modern couples. Even those who make designer cheeses and live in nice cottages. There was a scene when Helen, at last, rang a women's helpline while Rob was out. She haltingly admitted he had more than once forced sex on her (believe me, those scenes, though discreet, are painful to listen to on the radio because this medium gets right inside your head, rather than staying safely in the corner of the room as the TV does). But within a moment, Helen half withdrew her admission that he raped her, crippled by social shame and the feeling that it was 'her fault', because she should have stopped him. She is also a former anorexic whose boyfriend committed suicide, and all these things help to make it easier to manipulate her into feeling worthless. All of this has been researched by the scriptwriter and cast meeting real survivors of abusive relationships. Clearly it is ringing nastily true, as more than one woman listener has admitted. And though as drama it may seem to be dragging it out a bit, that, too, is quite useful: soaps enable these situations to play out in real time as they do in life, rather than condensing it all into a two-hour drama. One female survivor of domestic abuse wrote in The New Statesman: 'I've recently begun to feel nauseous when I hear in Rob Titchener's voice the same inflections that used to put me on high alert. More than 70,000 has been donated to a (real) women's refuge in the name of Helen. Poor Timothy Watson, actor who portays Rob, above, was booed, pantomime villain style, by Archers fans at a Radio Times festival 'His passive-aggressive 'heh' at the end of a sentence causes my stomach to contract.' So what's next? For all editor Mr O'Connor's dark murmurings, I doubt that Rob will kill Helen. For one thing, it's too simple. For another, the last editor who wanted to put a juicy murder in the script and wrongfully imprison a key character was over-ruled by the controller of Radio 4. But things are heating up: Rob and his mother were pressuring Helen into a home birth against medical advice (possibly so they could kill her and sell the baby to Satanists? Who knows what Mr O'Connor is capable of?). However, now she has, amazingly, defied him and plans to go into hospital, where, with luck, she'll talk to some sympathetic nurse. Or HE might get her sectioned into a secure mental hospital and then David Cameron will have to do a Blair-and-Deirdre manoeuvre and step in. Or perhaps Helen will snap and kill Rob, and we'll have a show trial. Who knows? That's the nature of soap. But this Archers storyline at least has done a good turn for some oppressed partners in real life, who may now find it easier to recognise the abuse - including admitting it to themselves. And when the saga does end and Rob gets his comeuppance - as we all hope he will - the Radio 4 controller may have to face the risk of the listening figures falling off a cliff, as those of us hypnotised by the Rob-and-Helen story thankfully give up. The business rose to fame for their creative and eye-popping cakes Their cakes are like those seen in imaginative picture books and your favourite Disney movies. And with over 180,000 followers on Instagram, it's safe to say that the Unbirthday Bakery is making a very big impact on the baking industry. The Sydney-based bakery has shot to fame over the past year for its incredible eye-popping cakes complete with rainbow garnishes, buttercream icing and intricate detailing. The cake of your dreams: The Unbirthday Bakery in Sydney is making a very big impact on the baking industry (pictured is 'The Hero Cake') Popular: The company's Instagram account has over 180,000 followers The brains: 34-year-old Nikki Lee, the founder of the company, started Unbirthday in her early thirties after growing up with dreams of becoming a baker 34-year-old Nikki Lee, the founder of the company, started Unbirthday in her early thirties after growing up with dreams of becoming a baker. 'I was the stereotypical little girl who had big dreams... I was always baking through school and high school as a hobby but I never pursued it professionally as people told me the hours would be horrible and the pay wasn't great as a pastry chef,' Nikki Lee told Daily Mail Australia. 'I ran a graphic design business in my early twenties which gave me that entrepreneurial spirit and then worked in sales where I found myself constantly thinking about my cakes so I saved up enough money and gave myself a year to give it a real go.' Delicious: The Sydney-based bakery has shot to fame over the past year for its incredible eye-popping cakes complete with rainbow garnishes, buttercream icing and intricate detailing From the office to the kitchen: 'I saved up enough money and gave myself a year to give it a real go,' Nikki Lee said Simplicity: While the cakes look impressive, they are at their core simple and delicious old school cakes - something Ms Lee wants to stick with Nikki Lee started the business on social media and went from being overwhelmed at six orders a week to doing up to 62 cake orders per week and growing her team to six. While the cakes look impressive, they are at their core simple and delicious old school cakes - something Nikki Lee wants to stick with. 'We really like to keep things within our style and stick to what we are good at... I don't want this to be a fad but something that is constantly repeated and loved by people as they grow like a fashion house,' Nikki Lee said, adding that the working environment is both fun and focused. 'It's an amazing thing to be doing, so creative... I really am living my dream.' More than a trend: 'We really like to keep things within our style and stick to what we are good at... I don't want this to be a fad,' Nikki Lee said Mesmerising: One of the post popular creations - the Destino Cake - was named after an animated Disney short film from 2003 of the same name and is available in vanilla, chocolate fudge or mixed berry flavour Nikki Lee's famous floral faux pavlova is made from two layers of crispy french meringue with edible flowers, mint leaves and an assortment of strawberries and blueberries. One of the post popular creations - the Destino Cake - was named after an animated Disney short film from 2003 of the same name and is available in vanilla, chocolate fudge or mixed berry flavour. The cake is garnished with hundreds and thousands, edible petals and covered with smooth vanilla buttercream and 'stars and shells.' The flourish cake: This creation is covered in fresh, organic and edible floral blooms and macarons Success: Nikki Lee started the business on social media and went from being overwhelmed at six orders a week to doing up to 62 cake orders per week and growing her team to six One of the most extravagant cakes in the collection is the $650 'Magnum Opus' where each of the three layers is styled with a selection of flowers, edible blooms and 'studded with gold dusted fruit and berries, and finished with shell piping.' The impressive creation can feed up to 100 people. The 'Hero Cake' is also a popular choice for customers where the entire three-tiered creation is covered with the customer's favourite chocolate bars or candy - from mini Oreos and Kinder Surprises to white chocolate bars and caramel popcorn. Proud: Other options include the 'Cosmo Cake'. the 'Flourish Cake', a 'Cake Island', the 'Hybrid Cake' and mini cakes and 'chocolate gems' Mouth-watering: Snaps of the cakes show off striking blue and pink icing, dripping chocolate garnishes and loaded layers covered with all kinds of delicious treats Snaps of the cakes show off striking blue and pink icing, dripping chocolate garnishes and loaded layers covered with all kinds of delicious treats. Other options include the 'Cosmo Cake', the 'Flourish Cake', a 'Cake Island', the 'Hybrid Cake' and mini cakes and 'chocolate gems'. While styles are suggested, the company prides itself on no two cakes ever being the same. Magical: They also have a 'strict no fondant policy' that they take pride in They also have a 'strict no fondant policy' that they take pride in. To keep with their local feel they also use fresh, edible, and organically grown flowers by local farms who supply to the restaurant and food industry on a weekly basis. Now, Lalao, 50, is happy and healthy - and grateful for their help But, surgeons from the UK-based c Lalao thought nothing of the small bump that appeared on her right cheek more than a decade ago. Yet, over the course of several years, the bump swelled in size - resembling a large bag of marbles. Eventually, the mass grew to weigh 11 pounds - and the sheer size of it prevented the school teacher from turning her head. The mother of four, from Madagascar, sought help from local doctors - and was told there was nothing they could do for her. In desperation, the now 50-year-old waited in line for eight hours to ask a team of experts if surgeons on board Mercy Ships - a charity hospital ship - could remove the mass. She was admitted on to the vessel in November 2015 after it docked in Toamasina - and two days later, her tumor was removed in one operation. 'The next morning, I just woke and it was gone. Finally, l was free of that big mass,' Lalao said. Lalao (pictured), 50, noticed a bump on her right cheek 14 years ago and assumed it'd disappear. But eventually, the bump grew into a mass that weighed 11 pounds and prevented her from moving her head Lalao ended up staying on board Mercy Ships for two weeks, though her face started showing signs of improvement after only a few days. Her husband Alfred cried when she came back from the operating room Lalao assumed the lump growing on her face would merely 'disappear' in time, after it first appeared 14 years ago. It didn't hurt - or attract any negative comments - so she didn't think it was anything to worry about. She said: 'The people in my village know me and my husband, Albert, well, and so they looked beyond my appearance.' But over time, the tumor grew bigger and bigger - to the extent that she had to wrap a scarf around it to hide it. Lalao eventually couldn't even move her head to the right, and also found it difficult to sleep. She went to a local hospital in Madagascar for help, where she was told treatment would cost 400,000 Malagsy Ariary - or 80 ($115) - up front. The doting mother paid the fee, and was added to a waiting list. The mother-of-four said the lump grew so big she was forced to cover it with a scarf, left. She sought help from doctors at two local hospitals in Madagascar, but they informed her there was nothing they could do But, she was later informed that doctors at the hospital would not be able to operate on her. She didn't receive her money back - and had to pay another 80 ($115) to be added to a waiting list at a second hospital. Yet, the school teacher was again told that the surgeons wouldn't be able to remove the tumor. I gave up hope. I thought I would never get help Lalao At that point, the tumor had grown so large that it weighed nearly a stone. 'I gave up hope. I thought I would never get help,' Lalao said. 'We had no money and I was deeply discouraged.' However, her husband, Alfred, refused to give up - determined to get his wife the medical care she so desperately needed. The couple had heard that a baby from their village - who also had a tumor - had it successfully removed by the team aboard Mercy Ships. The charity's hospital ship sails around Africa, providing free life-saving surgery to people who wouldn't otherwise have access to medical care. At Alfred's insistence, Lalao went to a screening in Atananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, to see if she was eligible for treatment. The first day of the screening, the line was endless, so Lalao left. Lalao (pictured) was admitted to Mercy Ships in November 2015 - and underwent surgery two days later. The team of experts were able to remove the mass in one operation She returned the following day at 3am, hoping the line would be shorter, but once again found herself waiting behind hundreds of people. Lalao said: 'When I started to queue for help, there were about 200 people ahead of me, all with disabilities and conditions I'd never seen before. 'I wondered if they could treat people like me, but I thought "Even if I have to be in line for two weeks, I'm going to wait".' I was so happy when she came back from the operating room that I cried Lalao's husband, Alfred Eight hours later, she was relaying her medical history to a team of experts. They examined her face - and within 90 minutes, gave her an appointment card for surgery on board a Mercy Ships vessel. The boat was due to dock in Toamasina,and the family had to sell a pig to pay for transport to the ship. On November 30, last year Lalao was admitted on board the hospital ship - and two days later, the surgery had been completed. Lalao's husband Alfred, said: 'I was so happy when she came back from the operating room that I cried. 'It was amazing that they could remove the growth in one surgery.' In total, Lalao stayed onboard the Mercy Ship vessel for two weeks to recover - though her face started showing improvement after just a few days. And now, months later, Lalao is feeling happy and healthy - and looking forward to getting her life back on track. Alfred (left) and Lalao (right) are now sharing their story to inform others about the help that Mercy Ships can provide them. The couple said they are incredibly grateful for the charity's assistance 'I feel very, very happy. I'm in good health and now I can turn my neck,' she said. 'I'm looking forward to returning to teaching and being able to help work on the family farm when I'm stronger, too.' Alfred and Lalao have vowed to share their story to spread awareness of the help that Mercy Ships can provide other people in need. The first ever HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant in the world has taken place at a US hospital, surgeons said today. The pioneering operation took place at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in recent weeks. Today, speaking for the first time about the surgeries, surgeons at the hospital hailed the transplants 'unbelievably exciting'. In February the hospital was given the green to become the first center in the country to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive transplants. And while there have been HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplants conducted elsewhere in the world already, this marks the first time a liver has been donated from one HIV-positive patient to another. Surgeons at the hospital said they also became the first in the US to execute a HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplant, using an organ from the same donor. Professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dorry Segev, said today: 'Both operations went great, and both patients are doing very well.' Scroll down for video Surgeons at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, pictured, have become the first in the world to perform a HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant, and the first to execute a kidney transplant in the US between HIV-positive donor and recipient Professor Dorry Segev revealed today that the operations took place in recent weeks and both patients are 'doing well' In order to maintain confidentiality, Professor Segev said neither the donor nor the recipient's identities can be made public, but added both patients are 'very grateful' to receive the transplants. The kidney recipient has been living with HIV for more than 30 years, and developed kidney disease as a complication. The patient was facing regular dialysis and had been listed on waiting lists at multiple transplant centers before their call came a few weeks ago. Dr Durand said the operation went with no complications and the new organ worked immediately. The patient has since been discharged home to recover, where they are 'doing well'. Turning to the liver recipient, Dr Durand revealed the patient was diagnosed as HIV positive more than 25 years ago. They developed liver disease as a complication of hepatitis C, which with new medication doctors were able to treat. But, as a result, the patient developed liver failure, and would have waited years on the waiting list before a suitable match was found. HEARTFELT TRIBUTE FROM THE ORGAN DONOR'S FAMILY 'She was a daughter, a mother, an auntie, best friend and sister. 'She was able to leave this world helping those underdogs she sought so hard for. Our family was fortunate to have had her for the time we did and blessed she is able to continue on within our hearts and the souls of so many she is able to help.' Advertisement She added that the liver is functioning 'extremely well' and the patient is expected to be sent home in the next few days. 'This is an unbelievably exciting day for our hospital and our team, but more importantly for patients living with both HIV and end-stage organ disease,' he said. 'For these individuals, this could mean a new chance at life.' The Hopkins transplant specialist, who pushed for legislation to lift a 25-year US ban on allowing HIV-positive people to act as organ donors, said without the changes to policy, the donor's organs would have gone to waste. Instead, the female donor, was able to give the gift of life to the two patients. Reading a statement from the donor's family, Alexandra Glazier, president of the New England Organ Bank, said: 'She was a daughter, a mother, an auntie, best friend and sister. 'She was able to leave this world helping those underdogs she sought so hard for. 'Our family was fortunate to have had her for the time we did and blessed she is able to continue on within our hearts and the souls of so many she is able to help.' The groundbreaking surgery was made possible after the hospital received approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing, to perform the operations. An HIV-positive woman, who recently passed away, donated both a kidney and liver to make the operations possible. Professor Segev said both patients are 'extremely grateful' WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE LANDMARK CHANGE IN THE LAW? Legislation passed in the 1980s, when the AIDS causing HIV virus was discovered, made it illegal for HIV positive people to donate their organs. At the time, HIV often progressed to AIDS quickly, killing many of those who were diagnosed. However, today, with dramatic advances in scientific research over the past three decades, HIV is no longer the killer it once was. Rather, the virus is a chronic disease that with the right medication regimen can be managed, allowing HIV-positive people to live long lives, relatively free from illness. Prior to a change in legislation and the 2013 HIV Organ Policy Equality Act (HOPE), HIV positive people could not donate their organs. Furthermore, the antiquated legislation prevented doctors from using organs from HIV-positive donors even if they were intended to be given to an HIV-positive patient desperately in need of the organ. HIV positive patients on organ donation waiting lists would be matched with HIV-negative organs as they became available. Professor Segev, who campaigned for the HOPE act, said: 'What we had done before was take HIV-negative organs and put them into HIV-positive people.' The groundbreaking change will now benefit everyone, regardless of their HIV status, waiting desperately for a potentially life-saving organ. For those who are HIV-positive, the change in law means there is a 'very exciting new source of transplants' available. Professor Segev highlighted, for people who are HIV positive, the diagnosis comes with many other risks that put patients at greater risk of kidney and liver disease. He said: 'The thing with HIV is, if you have HIV and you are on an organ waiting list, your mortality is much higher than if you didn't have HIV, so it is all the more important to transplant these patients with HIV on the waiting list.' And, for those people on waiting lists who are HIV negative, the move means a potentially shorter wait. Professor Segev added: 'Somebody who doesn't have HIV who is on the waiting list, there may be someone with HIV in front of them who is taken off the list because they;ve received an HIV-positive organ and then they can move ahead. 'So this benefits everybody.' Advertisement The announcement brought to fruition a two-year effort on the part of Dr Segev, to help draft and push through the 2013 HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (HOPE). The bill, signed by President Obama made it possible for HIV-positive individuals to donate organs. Major advances in the treatment of HIV and AIDS mean that people diagnosed with the virus are living longer. As a result, a growing number of HIV-positive people are developing medical conditions that result in their needing an organ transplant. Approximately 122,000 people are on the US transplant waiting list at any one time. Thousands die each year, many of whom may have lived had they received the organ they so desperately needed. Dr Segev estimates that each year, about 500 to 600 HIV-positive would-be organ donors had organs that could have saved more than 1,000 people, if only the medical community was allowed to use the organs for transplant. The antiquated law, which the HOPE Act reversed, prevented doctors from using organs from HIV-positive donors, even if they were intended to be given to an HIV-positive patient desperately in need of the organ. Speaking at the time of passing the HOPE Act, President Obama, said: 'For decades, these organ transplants have been illegal. 'It was even illegal to study whether they could be safe and effective. But that policy has become outdated. 'Our country has come a long way in our understanding of HIV and in developing effective treatments. 'And as our knowledge has grown, the possibility of successful organ transplants between HIV-positive people has become more real. 'The HOPE Act lifts the research ban. In time, it could lead to these organ donations for people living with HIV. 'And that, in turn, would help save and improve lives and strengthen the national supply of organs for all who need them.' Despite very positive outcomes in non-HIV transplants in HIV-positive recipients and proven results of HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplants in South Africa, HIV-positive to HIV-positive transplant in the United States was not a possibility until now. Analysis of cases in South Africa have shown an estimated five-year patient survival rate following kidney transplant of around 74 per cent. Dr Segev said: 'Organ transplantation is actually even more important for patients with HIV, since they die on the waiting list even faster than their HIV-negative counterparts. Dr Segev, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins, estimates every year 500 to 600 HIV-positive would-be organ donors had organs that could have saved more than 1,000 people, if only the medical community had been allowed to use the organs for transplant (pictured HIV illustrated in the blood stream) 'We are very thankful to Congress, President Obama and the entire transplant community for letting us use organs from HIV-positive patients to save lives, instead of throwing them away, as we had to do for so many years.' For patients who are not HIV positive but are on organ donation waiting lists, very little will change - they will not be offered HIV-positive organs. However, it is likely their wait may shorten as a result of the pioneering changes. Professor Segev said: 'Somebody who doesn't have HIV who is on the waiting list, there may be someone with HIV in front of them who is taken off the list because they've received an HIV-positive organ and then they can move ahead. So this benefits everybody.' Furthermore those HIV-positive patients on the list will be given the option of whether they want to receive organs from another HIV-positive person, he said. Taking HRT drugs may protect against heart disease, doctors have discovered Taking hormone replacement therapy soon after the menopause may protect against heart disease, new research suggests. Scientists found that women who took oestrogen HRT pills within six years of periods stopping were less likely to suffer blocked arteries, a problem which can cause heart attacks and strokes. An estimated one million British women currently take HRT to cope with the menopause, which commonly strikes in the late 40s and early 50s. The menopause can cause depression, hot flushes, headaches and night sweats. HRT tackles these symptoms by providing oestrogen as the body stops producing it. But the numbers who take the drug have plummeted since the early 2000s, when two major studies raised concerns that it raised the risk of certain forms of cancer. Increasing evidence, however, suggests that the threat of cancer may have been overstated - and that HRT may have also protect against other health problems, including heart disease. The new study, led by the University of Southern California, suggests that giving women HRT early is critical. The scientists divided 600 post-menopausal women into two groups - those who had gone through the menopause less than six years earlier, and those who were more than ten years beyond the menopause. Within each group, half took oestrogen replacement pills and half took a dummy placebo. Over the next five years, the women were tested for build-ups of fatty plaques in their arteries. Those in the early HRT group showed significantly slower rates of fatty build-ups, reducing their risk of heart problems. However, those who had not started taking HRT until a decade after the menopause showed similar rates of fat build-up as those who had taken the placebo. The authors, whose work is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said that the timing at which women are given the drugs is critical. Lead author Professor Howard Hodis, MD of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, said: These results, in context with decades of studies on hormone therapy and vascular degeneration, provides strong evidence that the cardiovascular benefits of hormone therapy are dependent on timing of initiation. Doctors say taking hormone replacement therapy soon after the menopause may protect against heart disease This provides first direct evidence from human investigation that timing of hormone therapy is imperative for success in the prevention of atherosclerosis progression, the primary underlying pathway that leads to heart disease and stroke. The concept of timing of initiation of an intervention is likely applicable to most preventive approaches to cardiovascular disease in women. The researchers are now embarking on further studies to establish why HRT is more effective in the earlier stages of the menopause. This provides first direct evidence from human investigation that timing of hormone therapy is imperative for success in the prevention of atherosclerosis progression, the primary underlying pathway that leads to heart disease and stroke Professor Howard Hodis, University of Southern California Fears over the safety of HRT were first raised in 2002 when a major US study of 160,000 women suggested it doubled the risk of breast cancer. Then in 2003, British research showed HRT significantly increased the likelihood of getting breast cancer and subsequently dying. Over the next few years the number of menopausal women on the drug fell, from 36 per cent before the studies to around 10 per cent today. But NHS guidelines watchdog NICE issued new guidance last November, which said that out of 1,000 women taking HRT for five years, there would only be six extra cases of breast cancer and 1.5 additional cases of ovarian cancer. The panel advised GPs to offer the drug to women with the most severe menopause symptoms around one in five. Professor Mary Ann Lumsden, a consultant gynaecologist and chairman of NICEs panel, said in November that women with disabling menopausal symptoms shouldnt have to suffer in silence. Fiona Osgun, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said last night: Hormone replacement therapy is an effective treatment for symptoms of menopause, but years of research have shown that it can also increase the risk of developing breast, ovarian and womb cancers. The menopause, which strikes women in their late 40s and early 50s, can cause depression, hot flushes, headaches and night sweats The researchers are now embarking on further studies to establish why HRT is more effective in the earlier stages of the menopause There are many factors at play in a womans decision to use HRT or not, and if youre thinking of stopping or starting HRT, speak to your GP who can help you make a decision thats right for you. June Davison of the British Heart Foundation said: The relationship between post-menopausal hormone therapy and cardiovascular disease has been the subject of hot debate over the last few decades. Studies in the 1980s indicated that hormone therapy was associated with a reduction in coronary heart disease risk in post-menopausal women, but subsequent research failed to support the notion of a cardiovascular benefit. This particular study supports the theory that that hormone therapy may have a cardiovascular benefit when initiated at the earlier stages of post-menopause. However these findings do not change current guidance. While hormone therapy can be very effective at helping to relieve menopausal symptoms, currently it is not recommended for the purpose of preventing cardiovascular events. If you have any concerns about taking hormone therapy have a chat with your doctor. FLU JAB MAY CUT STILLBIRTHS BY HALF Expectant mothers who have the winter flu jab cut their chance of having a stillbirth by more than half, a study found. It showed that those who had recently been vaccinated against flu were 51 per cent less likely to have a stillbirth defined as a death after 20 weeks of pregnancy than unvaccinated women. The NHS offers free flu vaccinations to all expectant mothers, but only 42 per cent of those in England got the jab last winter, against 44 per cent the year before. Doctors have urged women to have it because it cuts the risk of complications such as premature birth and protects the baby against flu for the first few months of life. But the new study of nearly 58,000 births, led by the University of Western Australia, shows the jab also protects against stillbirth. The scientists think this could be because flu might increase the risk of stillbirth a factor not previously considered. They found stillbirth rates rose after flu outbreaks and fell in the months before the influenza season, supporting this theory. The scientists, writing in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, said: Given the growing body of evidence concerted efforts are needed to improve seasonal influenza vaccine coverage among pregnant women. Advertisement Human clinical trials are set to begin later this year, scientists say Rabbits given the shot were found to have no sperm within 29 days The sperm ends up being reabsorbed by the man's body, experts found It is injected into a duct in the testes - and forms a hydrogel to block sperm The shot is non-hormonal and blocks sperm for 12 months, experts say But now, a new contraceptive shot called Vasalgel may soon be available Men have few contraceptive options, aside from condoms and Male birth control has long been a dream of women worldwide. Other than condoms and vasectomy, men currently have few options of birth control. And so, the burden of taking contraceptive pills or having devices implanted has rested on the shoulders of women for decades. But now, scientists have revealed a male contraceptive injection could soon be available. The shot, called Vasalgel, is non-hormonal and long-acting and has been shown to block sperm for up to 12 months. Clinical testing of the shot is set to begin this year, according to the non-profit Parsemus Foundation, of Berkeley, California. A new male contraceptive shot, called Vasagel, is set to begin clinical trials in humans later this year - after successful trials in animals. The shot is injected into a duct in the man's testes - and forms a hydrogel that blocks sperm, thereby preventing pregnancy Dr Elaine Lissner, executive director of the foundation, said: Contraceptive development is a hugely expensive project. But this is not just another early-stage lead; were so close on this one. Its time to finish the job weve started. There are more than 85 million unplanned pregnancies annually across the globe. Condoms are widely available and useful in preventing disease when used correctly. However, they have an 18 per cent yearly pregnancy rate in typical use, according to Parsemus Foundation. And while vasectomy is effective it is generally considered permanent. This is not just another early-stage lead; were so close on this one. Its time to finish the job weve started Dr Elaine Lissner, of Parsemus Foundation Therefore, currently, there are no long-acting, reversible contraceptives available for men. Yet, the demand for new contraceptive methods is strong and growing, with international surveys indicating that the majority of men would be willing to use new male contraceptive methods. Scientists have discovered several possible methods to control male fertility in the past few decades but none have made it to market thus far. Furthermore, research has focused on hormonal approaches even though many men favor non-hormonal options, due to side effects and safety risks. But in a new study, Parsemeus confirmed that Vasalgel has the potential to fill the gap in the male contraception market. The shot consists of styrene-alt-maleic acid (SMA) that is dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide. Vasalgel could be the first long-acting, non-hormonal, potentially reversible male contraceptive to reach market, researchers noted. Vasagel is injected into the vas deferens (pictured top left and right), filling the interior with a gel barrier (bottom left) that stops sperm from being able to go through (bottom right) Clinical tests in 12 rabbit models found that the animals did not produce any sperm within 29 days of receiving the shot (depicted here in a graph) - and that the results spanned the entire 12-month study Scientists conducted an initial study on 12 rabbits injecting the gel into their vas deferens (a duct in the male reproductive system). Once injected into the vas deferens, the material forms a hydrogel. The implant stays in a soft gel-like state, with the ability to flex and adhere to the walls of the vasa deferentia. Vasalgel produces a very rapid contraceptive effect which lasted throughout the study due to its unique hydrogel properties Dr Donald Waller, of Prelabs LLC The hydrogel also allows transit of many water-soluble molecules but not larger structures, such as sperm. The study found that the rabbits had no sperm in their semen as early as 29 days post-injection. The findings also confirmed that the contraceptive effect lasted the entire 12-month study period. Lead study author Dr Donald Waller, of Prelabs LLC and a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said: Results from our study in rabbits were even better than expected. Vasalgel produces a very rapid contraceptive effect which lasted throughout the study due to its unique hydrogel properties. These features are important considerations for a contraceptive product to be used in humans. The scientists were able to remove the gel to return the flow of sperm or reverse the contraceptive effect as well. The first clinical trial in men is scheduled to launch later this year and the ultimate goal is for Vasalgel to be available worldwide, at an affordable cost. The Zika virus is linked to an increased risk of an unborn baby suffering brain damage, a study today suggests. Traces of the virus have been found in the brain tissue of a fetus suffering 'severe abnormalities'. While the 21-week-old fetus showed no signs of microcephaly, the severe defect thought to be triggered by Zika, the brain exhibited significant tissue damage, researchers said. It may be the earliest diagnosis of prenatal Zika virus, scientists at Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Helsinki said. But, they added, their findings do not rule out a link with microcephaly. Rather, they suggest the severe birth defect, and intracranial calcifications linked to Zika, may develop later in a fetus. Lead study author Dr Olli Vapalahti, from the Finnish university, said: 'Our research also helps confirm the causal relation between the Zika virus and severe damage to the fetal central nervous system.' Scientists have confirmed a link between severe brain damage and the Zika virus, which is believed to also cause a birth defect called microcephaly (pictured), in which babies are born with abnormally small heads The Zika virus is primarily spread through bites of the mosqutio, Aedes aegypti. But, the Centers for Disease Control has recently reported that the virus can also be transmitted sexually. Many people infected with Zika virus don't have any symptoms, though some develop a rash. Additionally, the virus has also recently been linked to GuillainBarre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that causes temporary paralysis. Furthermore, Brazil has confirmed more than 900 microcephaly cases - and is investigating nearly 4,300 additional suspected cases of the defect. The country considers most cases to be related to Zika infections in mothers. The link between Zika and the two conditions has yet to be confirmed, but mounting evidence prompted the World Health Organization to declare Zika a global health emergency. Thus, the team of scientists set out to determine whether Zika actually causes brain damage in babies. The study focused on a 33-year-old Finnish woman, living in Washington, D.C., who was infected with Zika while visiting Central America during her 11th week of pregnancy. Scientists discovered that small amounts of genetic material from the virus could be detected in a blood sample taken from the woman, weeks after the acute rash caused by the infection passed. At that stage in any pregnancy, the development of brain damage in a fetus is already underway. Pictured here, a timeline highlighting the symptoms of the Zika virus in the infected mother (below) compared to the timeline of the fetus (above). The woman was infected in the 11th week of pergnancy - and the baby was still 'normal' through week 17 - but by week 20, severe brain abnormalities were apparent Severe brain abnormalities can typically be detected through neuroimaging at that stage - even before doctors are able to detect the intracranial calcifications and microcephaly linked to Zika. The scientists performed fetal ultrasounds at 13, 16 and 17 weeks of pregnancy or one, four and five weeks after the womans symptoms had resolved. They found no signs of microcephaly or intracranial calcifications. The cerebral mantle of brain of the fetus appeared to be thin with increased extra-axial spaces in an ultrasound taken at 19 weeks. However, an ultrasound taken at 20 weeks showed a decrease in fetal head circumference from the 47th percentile at 16 weeks to the 24th percentile. The ultrasound also showed atrophy of the cerebral mantle which was most severe in the frontal and parietal lobes. Given the grave prognosis, the patient elected to terminate the pregnancy at 21 weeks. The scientists conducted a postmortem examination on the fetus and found that the brain had severe abnormalities in its cortical neurons. The postmortem also found high Zika viral loads in the brain while lower amounts were found in the fetal muscle, liver, lung and spleen. Scientists analyzed a fetus in a woman who was infected with Zika at 11 weeks, and found severe brain damage. Pictured left, an MRI of the fetal brain at 20 weeks - A and B show brain damage in the Zika-infected fetus, while C and D show normal fetuses. Pictured right, samples from the fetal brain, showing defective neurons in panel A, compared to 'normal' neurons in the remaining parts and viral-like particles in the inset The researchers wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine: As this case shows, the latency period between [Zika] infection of the fetal brain and the detection of microcephaly and intracranial calcifications on ultrasonography is likely to be prolonged. Negative ultrasonographic studies during this period would be falsely reassuring and might delay critical time-sensitive decision making. The scientists found that the infectious Zika virus was isolated from fetal tissue in a cell line representing neural cell precursors. They mapped the entire genome of the virus - and found eight mutations that distinguish it from the Zika strains previously reported in Central America. What really matters is whether there is evidence of changes in the brain to suggest injury in the context of a proven viral infection in the mother Dr Adre du Plessis, of the Fetal Medicine Institute at Children's National Health System Dr Valpalahti said: 'Some of these mutations may be associated with the adaptations of the virus to the fetal brain.' The findings can help scientists develop methods to detect fetal damage associated with a zika virus infection during pregnancy. The study authors believe the findings also call into question current recommendations for Zika testing in pregnant women. Presently, doctors only recommend testing for presence of the virus within two weeks of an infection. Subsequent tests look for antibodies of the virus but not the virus itself. Pregnant women are recommended to undergo an ultrasound examination, in addition to a sampling of amniotic fluid, to detect Zika virus. Furthermore, current recommendations do not include the use of MRI imaging tests, which are much more costly than ultrasounds and may not be accessible to pregnant women in countries with Zika transmission. Study co-author Dr Adre du Plessis, of the Fetal Medicine Institute at Children's National Health System, told Reuters: 'What really matters is whether there is evidence of changes in the brain to suggest injury in the context of a proven viral infection in the mother. 'That is where MRI is the gold standard for picking up changes in the brain, even though it has limitations in terms of availability and cost.' WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZIKA WHAT IS ZIKA? The Zika (ZEE'-ka) virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947 - its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered. It is native mainly to tropical Africa, with outbreaks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. It appeared in Brazil in 2014 and has since been reported in many Latin American countries and Caribbean islands. HOW IS IT SPREAD? It is typically transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes - Aedes aegypti - that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever. It is not known to spread from person to person. Zika is typically transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes - Aedes aegypti - that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever Though rare, scientists have found Zika can be transmitted sexually. The World Health Organisation recently warned the mode of transmission is 'more common than previously assumed'. And, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued first-time guidance, saying couples trying to conceive should abstain or wear condoms for six months if the male has confirmed or suspected Zika. Additionally, the CDC said couples should abstain or wear condoms for eight weeks if the female has confirmed or suspected Zika, or if the male traveled to a country with a Zika outbreak but has no symptoms. During the current outbreak, the first case of sexually transmitted Zika was reported in Texas, at the beginning of February. The patient became infected after sexual contact with a partner diagnosed with the virus after travelling to an affected region. Now, health officials in the US are investigating more than a dozen possible cases of Zika in people thought to be infected during sex. There are also reported cases in France and Canada. Prior to this outbreak, scientists reported examples of sexual transmission of Zika in 2008. A researcher from Colorado, who caught the virus overseas, is thought to have infected his wife, on returning home. And records show the virus was found in the semen of a man in Tahiti. So far, each case of sexual transmission of Zika involves transmission from an infected man to his partner. There is no current evidence that women can pass on the virus through sexual contact. The World Health Organisation says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region, people aren't immune to it, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries it is just about everywhere - including along the southern United States. Canada and Chile are the only places without this mosquito. ARE THERE SYMPTOMS? The majority of people infected with Zika virus will not experience symptoms. Those that do, usually develop mild symptoms - fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes - which usually last no more than a week. There is no specific treatment for the virus and there is currently no vaccine to protect against infection, though several are in the developmental stages. WHY IS IT A CONCERN NOW? In Brazil, there has been mounting evidence linking Zika infection in pregnant women to a rare birth defect called microcephaly, in which a newborn's head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly. Brazilian health officials last October noticed a spike in cases of microcephaly in tandem with the Zika outbreak. The country said it has confirmed more than 860 cases of microcephaly - and that it considers them to be related to Zika infections in the mother. Brazil is also investigating more than 4,200 additional suspected cases of microcephaly. However, Brazilian health officials said they had ruled out 1,471 suspected cases in the week ending March 19. The connection to Zika is still being investigated, and officials note there are many causes of the condition. Meanwhile, doctors have also noted an increased reports of a nerve condition called Guillain-Barre that can cause paralysis. But the link to the Zika virus is not clear; other infections can spark the problem, including dengue fever. CAN THE SPREAD BE STOPPED? Individuals can protect themselves from mosquito bites by using insect repellents, and wearing long sleeves and long pants - especially during daylight, when the mosquitoes tend to be most active, health officials say. Eliminating breeding spots and controlling mosquito populations can help prevent the spread of the virus. WILL THE ZIKA OUTBREAK SPREAD TO THE US? Yes, leading global health experts expect the virus to appear in the US in the coming months. As the temperature begins to rise across the country, the mosquito is likely to become abundant across much of the southern and eastern US. Experts warn that the Zika virus, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, will soon spread to the US. Pictured above, a map depicting the 50 continental US cities facing the highest risk of the virus. Below, the projected timeline of when the cities will be hit THE US CITIES AT HIGH RISK FOR ZIKA VIRUS TRANSMISSION CITY STATE Charleston South Carolina Jacksonville Florida Miami Florida Mobile Alabama New Orleans Louisiana Orlando Florida Tallahassee Florida Tampa Florida Savannah Georgia Source: National Center for Atmospheric Research The National Center for Atmospheric Research determined the Zika virus risk estimates for 50 US cities. Cities in southern Florida, as well as impoverished areas in southern Texas, carry the highest risk of Zika outbreaks, a team of experts determined. However, the mosquito is also projected to appear as far west as Phoenix and Los Angeles, and as far north as New York City. However, scientists from the University of Texas at Austin warned that the outbreak may be 'far worse than expected' if a second mosquito is able to transmit the virus as well. Currently, the virus is only transmitted through one species of mosquito the Aedes aegypti. But if another mosquito species that is known to harbor the virus Aedes albopictus ends up being capable of transmitting Zika as well, the outbreak will be more widespread. Outbreaks of the virus will hit the US even more than already expected particularly in the cities of Miami, Houston and New York. If a second species of mosquito - Aedes albopictus, which has already been detected with Zika - is also able to transmit virus, an outbreak in the US will be worse than expected, experts warn. Pictured, a map showing Zika risks associated with both mosquito types WHAT ARE THE TRAVEL ADVISORIES? US health officials recommend that pregnant women should consider postponing trips to at least 30 destinations. For up-to-date information of the CDC's travel advisories, check the CDC's Zika page. The CDC advises against traveling in Latin America to countries such as: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela. In the Caribbean: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St. Martin and Puerto Rico. Also, Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa; and Samoa in the South Pacific. Additional countries have also been added to the list. In Brazil, most of the mothers who had babies with microcephaly were apparently infected during the first trimester, but there is some evidence the birth defect can occur later in the pregnancy, CDC officials say. The travel alert applies to women in any stage of pregnancy. Advertisement A name has been puzzling security officials at Indian airports: Abdul Razzaq. Almost every hoax call across the nations airports after the Brussels terror attack had a mention of this name, triggering alarm and frantic searches. Callers flagging up possible terror attacks by ISIS and other groups attribute the information to this supposedly Pakistani man. But intelligence officials are clueless about him. While none of the callers has been traced yet, officials said Razzaqs name was given in four recent calls giving information about a possible attack at the Delhi airport. Identifying the bomb threat callers is difficult as their voice calls have been made through the internet Agencies admit he may be a fictitious person, but are unwilling to take chances by not taking the calls seriously. Also, it is possible that one person is calling repeatedly using Razzaqs name. According to a senior Delhi Police officer, identifying these callers is extremely difficult as these voice calls were made through the internet. Apart from Delhi, Chennai airport has also received a call which mentioned Abdul Razzaq as the person planning an attack. Soon after the Brussels attack, there was a call at the Jet Airways call centre in Delhi claiming bombs have been planted in five of its flights originating from the Capital, a senior airport official said, requesting anonymity. During this call, the caller said that he got information from Razzaq about the bomb. He also said there is another plan for Delhi. Later, the call was found to be hoax. DCP, IGI Airport, DK Gupta told Mail Today: We have registered a case against unknown persons and we are verifying claims made by the caller. The investigation is on. Panic gripped passengers at IGI Airport on March 22 after the Jet Airways call centre received threats about bombs on five of its aircraft, which had departed or were to depart from there, hours after blasts ripped through Brussels airport killing over 30. On 23 March, there was a major security scare at several airports in the country, including the Capital, following a phone call from the US that 11 aircraft of private carrier IndiGo could be in danger of being blown up. On Holi (24 March), security on Air Indias flights was stepped up after the airlines Mumbai office received calls alleging that there were bombs on its planes. Recently, a five-star hotel in Delhi received a call about a bomb threat to half-a-dozen flights. Later, the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) declared it a hoax. Also, some of the flights mentioned by the anonymous caller didnt exist. The call was made to a hotel in Paschim Vihar (West Delhi) on Sunday afternoon claiming that bombs have been planted on six flights, including one on a Jet Airways plane. Even he claimed that Razzaq was planning a terror attack and had planted bombs. The caller claimed that he owns a hotel in Dubai and heard that ISIS and other terror groups are planning attacks in Delhi, a senior government official said. According to senior CISF officials responsible for security at the airport, additional armed personnel have been deployed at various airport locations. After the Pakistani probe teams visit to India, it is the turn of Indian officials to reciprocate the move by travelling across the border to tie up loose ends regarding Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhars involvement in the Pathankot attack. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is expected to make a return visit to Pakistan to probe the role of Azhar and his brother Abul Rauf, sources said. Armed with evidence in the form of call details of the slain terrorists and intercepts, Indian investigators believe the trail leads to JeM bosses. The Pakistani team during their investigation in Pathankot on 29 March The Pakistani teams visit is based on reciprocation. We expect the same cooperation and access to key players that we have given them, said a government official. After the Pakistani probe team returns, the NIA will also send a proposal to the government to send an investigation team to Pakistan, sources said. The NIA is expected to seek access to Azhar, his brother Rauf, and some key players like Kashif Jaan, identified by Indian investigators as the main handler of the slain terrorists. Sources say Kashif was in constant touch with Rauf before and during the attack, and Rauf was passing on the information to Azhar. The Pakistani team returning after their investigation inside the Pathankot IAF base For security reasons, the IAF base was partially covered with white curtains and tarpaulin to prevent a view of the valuable defence assets Kashifs location while speaking to the terrorists was mostly Bhawalpur in Punjab province, the JeM headquarters. Other than the phone numbers of Rauf, brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, the NIA shared the numbers of the companies who had supplied packed food to the terrorists. The NIA also cited similarities between the Pathankot attack and those in Samba and Kathua last year, like use of the same GPS and wireless sets, the modus operandi of hijacking cars, the presence of the energy drink Red bull' (common in all attacks), the use of identical wire cutters, and the use of arms and ammunition of Eastern European, Russian and Chinese make which are available in the Af-Pak region. The five-member Pakistani team visited Pathankot on Tuesday and were given restricted access to the airbase which was attacked by terrorists on 2 January, killing seven security personnel. The team also went to the Unjhh river bridge in Bamial near the border where the terrorists are supposed to have crossed over. The team could not go to the forward post in Bamial as the BSF had reservations over that keeping in view the strategic importance and presence of underground bunkers in that area. The Pakistani team probing the Pathankot terror strike has conveyed to the NIA that it has the mandate to collect evidence in the case under that country's law - and as such there will be no judicial request for it. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has, however, made no formal request to the anti-terror probe agency so far for sharing the evidence. During interaction with NIA officials, the Pakistani team were asked whether any Letters Rogatory would be sent by Islamabad for collection of evidence against Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists who carried out the suicide attack on strategic airbase in Pathankot. Letters Rogatory are a judicial request under which the court of a sovereign nation asks the court of another sovereign nation to share evidence so that it is admissible. Pakistan team gives mortuary a miss By Manjeet Sehgal in Chandigarh A five-member Pakistani probe team on Sunday visited the strategic IAF base in Pathankot which was stormed by heavily armed Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists on 2 January. For security reasons, the IAF base was partially covered with white curtains and tarpaulin to prevent a view of the defence assets. Eleven policemen have been on duty round-the-clock at the morgue where the bodies of four terrorists have been kept for the last three months The Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) entered the base through a specially-created entrance at the perimeter wall, which was breached by the terrorists on the fateful night. As the team had limited access, only the buildings and areas where the terrorists were hold up during the 80-hour-long counter-terror operation were shown to the team. The Pakistan team avoided visiting the mortuary where the bodies of four unidentified terrorists have been kept for the last three months. Sources said visiting the mortuary was not on the itinerary. The team visited the canteen and MES building which were attacked by the terrorists. They also saw the important spots from Naushahra Nalband side and interacted with Air Force officials. After visiting the airbase, the team were taken to Akalgarh, near the airbase where the then SP Salwinder Singhs vehicle was found abandoned. From this place the members were taken to the spot where taxi driver Ekagar Singhs body was found. The team also visited Kohlian village where Salwinder, his cook, and his friend Rajesh Verma were taken hostage. From this spot the team went to investigate Bamial secor and Uj Daria (local river) where the terrorists allegedly entered the Indian soil. Sources said the team were also provided with evidence, including the FIR copy and telephone details, to establish the Pakistani angle in the terror attack. The terrorists bodies kept in the mortuary are evidence which prove that they were fidayeen. One of the reasons why the bodies were preserved for a long time was that they can be shown to the Pak team but they did not visit the mortuary, a senior police official said, requesting anonymity. On Monday, an NIA team had recorded the statements of the doctors who conducted the post-mortem of the slain terrorists. The team spent four hours in the mortuary examining the bodies and recording statements. The terrorist bodies which have been lying in the mortuary since 4 January are causing inconvenience to the small mortuary staff as the mortuary freezers can only accommodate five bodies. The hospital administration has demanded to shift the bodies elsewhere. The team also faced protests from Congress and Aam Aadmi Party workers in Pathankot, as they shouted go back slogans. The AAP protest was led by the partys Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh and convenor Sucha Singh Chotepur. Arrival of Pakistani JIT to look into Pathankot Terror Attack, unfettered access being provided and almost red carpet welcome being accorded to the Pakistani team along with visit to Pathankot Airbase without even a 'Letter Rogatory' from Pakistan raises serious questions with regard to procedural propriety and genuine apprehensions vis-a-vis compromises on National Security, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. The Congress leader said that serious questions are also being raised about the Modi governments U-turn in the segregation of state and non-state actors in Pakistan, including in exporting rampant and senseless terror into India on an everyday basis and causing irreparable loss to civilian and military lives. India's Pathankot probe doesn't need a 'seal of approval' By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi The Aam Admi Party (AAP) is trying to corner the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for allowing the visit of Pakistans Joint Investigation Team to probe the Pathankot terror siege. Stepping up the attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that Modi was making a deal with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to benefit industrialists. During the budget session in Delhi assembly, Kejriwal accused Modi of embracing Pakistan, which he said is behind the terror attacks on India that have claimed countless lives. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh and party volunteers raise slogans against the Pakistani JITs visit to Pathankot Meanwhile, AAP leaders camped at Pathankot protesting against the JIT visit. They targeted the NDA for hurting the sentiments of Indians by allowing the Pakistani team to investigate the Pathankot terror attack. Senior AAP leader Gurpreet Ghuggi said: The country does not need a certificate from its neighbours on the authenticity of the probe conducted by Indian investigation agencies." AAP leaders, including Sanjay Singh, Delhi minister Kapil Mishra and Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, led the partys protest in Pathankot and were accompanied by locals and party members Speaking to Mail Today, Kapil Mishra said: Nothing is as humiliating as allowing same people to investigate the case who have killed our people here. This is so shameful and disgusting. This is an insult to Mother India. We will not let the Modi government do this. The move by AAP is seen as part of its aggressive campaign in Punjab to gain support from the locals, who have come out in support of the party in large numbers. Several party leaders are camping in Punjab and holding mohalla sabha eyeing the 2017 Assembly polls due in the state. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission was not final, and he would take up concerns raised by the Armed Forces at the right level. In an exclusive interview with the India Today, Parrikar said he has prepared the ground for defence procurement which needs to be backed by deliveries now. On the concerns raised by the Armed Forces over the raw deal given to them in the 7th Pay Commission, Parrikar said it was not the final word. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar (centre) pictured at the DefExpo in Goa The seventh Pay Commission is in the form of recommendations. I do not think they (recommendations) will remain. I do not consider them as finalities. I have flagged them and will flag them properly at the right level, said the defence minister. Parrikar, who inaugurated arms show DefExpo in Goa on Monday, where a strong pitch is being made to further expand the growing defence sector, said negative environment surrounding the military acquisitions has changed. Delivery I will not claim that I have turned it around completely but at least something has been done so that deliveries can start. Ground has been prepared. Delivery is now the key word, said Parrikar, adding that there was an environment of mistrust and suspicion which can be frustrating when dealing with the forces. He said the industry cannot be held responsible for responding slowly to the changing atmosphere. They have experienced a congested atmosphere and the breeze has only now begun flowing in. However, it cannot happen overnight. Confidence building measures are in place. Industry has begun responding, he said, outlining how smaller changes have been made. Offsets have taken off, exports are improving, procurement from local level has gone up. At the capital procurement level, it has not taken off or turned into a big deal because it takes longer. Industry has definitely responded. Talking about the defence reforms like the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff, Parrikar said there are no hurdles in bringing defence reforms. There has to be a rational decision. Drafts are being prepared and shared. Very soon it will be brought to the Cabinet, he said. Asked about delays in the development of critical equipment like Intermediate Jet Trainers (IJT) for the IAF or submarines for the navy, Parrikar said the air force does not think the IJT is a requirement as it is training on simulators, Basic Trainer Aircraft and Advanced Jet Trainer. Instead of three, it is a two-level, re-caliberated approach. The proposal for six under-construction Scorpene submarines is moving smoothly. Next project P75, I will tag along with our policy document on Strategic Partnership, Parrikar said. No timeline When it will come about? Very soon, but I am not willing to issue a timeline. As far as Arihant, the issue should not be discussed. We are equally concerned and are moving in the right direction, he said. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has got another chance to prove he has numbers on his side to form the government, as Nainital High Court on Tuesday ordered a floor test in the state assembly on 31 March. Coming as a setback for the Centre, the High Court order gave a fresh lease of life to Rawat whose government was dismissed after he had lost the support of nine MLAs who rebelled against his leadership. The Centre had imposed Presidents Rule just a day before the floor test was to be held in the assembly on 28 March. Nainital High Court has ordered a floor test on 31 March giving Harish Rawat (above) a chance to prove his numbers Congress leader Ambika Soni attacked Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had justified the dismissal of the Harish Rawat government after it failed to get the budget passed in the Assembly plunging the state into a Constitutional crisis. Soni said the High Court has given a befitting reply to the high-headed BJP, which has resorted to misusing power. Soni, in-charge of the Congresss affairs in Uttarakhand, said that legal and political advice over Nainital High Court's order was being taken on allowing nine rebel MLAs to vote during the floor test. Sources said the Congress is likely to challenge that part of the verdict. Appearing for the Congress, Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters that the court order states that the nine disqualified MLAs can vote, but separately and under observation. The votes of the disqualified MLAs will be counted only as per the courts decision, he said. Singhvi said the court accepted the Congresss position that despite the Presidents Rule, there is enough scope for judicial review to allow a floor test. He said that governor KK Paul had directed the holding of the floor test on 28 March, and Rawat had also made the same demand twice. Now, only the date has changed from 28 March to 31 March, Singhvi said, adding that mere allegations cannot justify the imposition of Presidents Rule and stop a floor test. On the question of the disqualification of nine rebel Congress MLAs, Singhvi said the court has not set it aside and a final decision will be taken later. Meanwhile, the BJP has kept its options open in the state. Sources said that the BJP would wait to see how the matter progresses till Thursday. The party, however, chose to reserve its response on the order, saying it was still studying the judgement even as some of its leaders indicated that the Centre will appeal against it. It is strange that Congress leaders have termed the order as a victory for their party. They wanted disqualification of the rebel MLAs to prevent them from voting but the court has permitted them to vote, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear next week a PIL challenging imposition of Presidents Rule in Uttarakhand. Om Prakash Sharma compared Arvind Kejriwal with a magician during a discussion on the budget session Om Prakash Sharma, BJP MLA from Vishwas Nagar, on Tuesday compared Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal with a magician during a discussion on the budget session. Sharma said that like magician PC Sorcar, the CM is using illusions and misguiding people. Sharma, along with other two BJP MLAs, walked out of the house alleging that they were not being allowed to speak. Sharma is on the brink of losing his Assembly membership due to his sexist remarks against Lamba, the AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk. Problem of plenty in state HCs It is a problem of plenty now as the collegium comprising the chief justice and three senior-most judges of about 10 state high courts have recommended more than 100 candidates to the Law Ministry, for appointment to their respective high court benches. According to Law Ministry sources, these candidates include nearly 80 lawyers and lower court judges. PM-Gogoi age war continues Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi does not seem to have taken PM Narendra Modis innuendo regarding his age too well. Gogoi tried to turn the tables on the PM's stinging remark that pointed to his advanced age, wondering if Narendra Modi wanted him to die. He (Modi) claims he respects me and yet says Go Go Go! He says I am 90 years old. What does that mean? Is he telling me to die or what? If you say go to a 90-year-old, where will he go? Is he respecting me or making fun? asked Gogoi. No office space for 2 AIIMS doctors The termination of the services of Dr Kuldeep Kumar, assistant professor of AIIMS, has meant trouble for two other doctors who shared the office with him. The doctors now have no office space to sit in the hospital as the AIIMS administration has locked the room in which Kumar used to sit. Kumar was fired last month for alleged bad behavior with patients and junior residents. Modi to visit Noida on April 5 While leaders have avoided visiting Noida for reasons best known to themselves, PM Narendra Modi will visit the NCR city again on April 5 to inaugurate the Stand Up India initiative which is aimed at creating jobs and promoting entreprenuers among SCs, STs and women. Modi had recently visited the city to launch the ambitious Delhi-Meerut Expressway project. As was widely expected, the Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing of the airport and a subway station in Brussels, which left 35 people dead and more than 200 wounded. Belgium has identified two of the bombers as Khalid and Brahim Bakraoui, brothers who had criminal records but were not on terror watch-lists. The third man behind the attacks, Najim Laachraoui, born in Morocco and trained in Syria, is also believed to have been the bomb-maker for the Paris attacks of last November. His DNA was found on the bomb abandoned by Salah Abdeslam during that attack. The attacks on Paris and Brussels have exposed Belgium as being the hub of Islamist extremism in Europe, and raise troubling questions over the competence of the countrys police and intelligence services This was the second major attack on Europe in over four months, and it came just days after the main suspect in the Paris attacks was arrested in Brussels. The arrest of Salah Abdeslam heightened fears of more terror attacks as officials warned that many of those involved in the Paris atrocities were still at large. Extremism The carnage has exposed Belgium as the hub of Islamist extremism in Europe, and raises troubling questions over the competence of the countrys police and intelligence services. With extremist networks having become entrenched over a period of years, Belgium, and Europe, are now confronted by a threat beyond what security services had ever anticipated. Belgium has seen a larger share of its Muslim population fight in Syria than any other European country, and the Molenbeek district of Brussels was home to several of those involved in the Paris attacks. People gather at Bourse square to pay tribute to the victims of the Brussels terror attacks The failure to detect and intercept the Paris attacks in November has underscored Europes inability to tackle extremism and terrorism. Even as the continents angry Muslim youths were getting radicalised and recruited by ISIS in Iraq and Syria for years, European countries did little to stop this. Today, these countries seem to have far too many terror suspects to manage. The use of explosives in the suicide missions at the Belgian airport and in the subway suggests that a significant terrorist network remains active in Europe, empowering attacks Al Qaeda always dreamed of executing, but lacked the operational support to carry out. Exposed by the Paris attacks, a very divided Belgian government had been hurrying to implement an anti-terrorism plan focused on stronger law enforcement in the Brussels immigrant quarters, more power to prosecutors, and more resources for the countrys under-funded intelligence and security forces. The proposals include extending the period for taking suspects into temporary custody from 24 to 72 hours, increasing prosecutors right to tap phones and communications, as well as investing in an intelligence pool among security authorities. But those proposals are yet to become operational. According a recent report, 470 Belgian Muslims have gone to fight in Syria or Iraq out of a population of about 6,60,000. In terms of rate of recruitment, this makes Belgium the top supplier of terrorists in Western Europe. More broadly, Western European Muslims are three times more likely to end up in ISIS-tan than their American co-religionists. Security Officials have warned that many of those involved in the Paris terror attacks are still at large Compared to the US spending more than $650 billion on homeland security since 9/11, European spend on law enforcement, security, and other related agencies remains underwhelming. Efforts are also marred by an inability to reach a consensus on the best way forward. The result of this disarray is that states like the UK have taken a unilateral approach to managing their own security. This is happening at a time when Europe is facing a multitude of challenges, including the persisting Eurozone crisis, Ukraine, growing Right-wing xenophobia, resurgent nationalism, and the toxic Brexit debate. With its weak external borders, non-existent internal borders, and a migrant crisis that has brought in close to a million-and-a-half migrants, the continent is struggling to cope with rising internal contradictions. The terror attacks could spook Europe into closing its doors even tighter. Whether the attackers turn out to be refugees or not is besides the point. Islamisation Across Europe, the big fear is one of Islamisation. Thats even the case in Germany, where concerns over the long-term impact of accepting more than one million Muslim refugees are fueling a backlash against Chancellor Angela Merkel. It now seems that the Schengen Treaty, the open border pact that allows for passport-free travel across most of the continent, is on its death-bed. How European leadership manages to alleviate the concerns of its local populace will determine the future of one of the most successful liberal projects in international politics. Post-9/11, the US asked itself: Why do they hate us so much?. Europe, on this topic, managed to keep itself aloof. There was much preaching in Europe about American foreign policy blunders and how a militaristic America perhaps deserved what it was getting. It is now Europes turn to ask: Why do they hate us so much? And the answers are not quite flattering. Madhuri Dixit is all set to return to the platform she loves the most. Bollywoods diva of dance is all set to judge the Indian edition of, So You Think You Can Dance, the international super-hit reality dance show that has wowed every nation where it has been broadcast. Madhuri will judge the show along with ace choreographers Terence Lewis and Bosco Martis. Bollywood dance diva Madhuri Dixit will oversee the Indian styles of dance that the contestants present Madhuri will oversee the Indian styles of dance that the contestants present. Bosco will be in charge of the street and raw urban styles of dancing while I will look into the technical aspects of the stage performances, said Lewis, discussing the division of work among the judges. Of course, a large part of Madhuris job profile will also include drawing big ratings for &TV, the channel that will air the show from April onward. So You Think You Can Dance is touted as the worlds biggest reality dance platform by many television pundits, The original American show, created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, has had 12 seasons so far, and the broadcast of a few seasons in India has seen good response among dance addicts. Like most reality shows, a typical season of So You Think You Can Dance is divided between an audition process where judges select competitors who will participate in the competition phase. The show is based on audience polls, and the participant who grosses maximum votes will win the contest. In the Indian version, Madhuri, Lewis and Martis will witness a grand showdown between the stage and street styles of dancing. The show marks Madhuri's return to television after nearly two years. She was last seen judging the reality dance show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa on Sony from 2010 to 2014. BJP President Amit Shah has dared CM Mamata Banerjee to throw out TMC members caught accepting bribes in a sting operation Confident of forming the government in Assam, the BJP is hoping for an unprecedented performance in West Bengal. As the campaign for the Assembly elections in five states reaches fever-pitch, an internal survey shows the BJP in West Bengal has emerged as a force to reckon with. Highly-placed sources in the party told Mail Today that the BJP could win anything between 40 and 50 seats in the state, where it has never had any significant presence. BJP chief Amit Shah at a rally in Dhakiyajuli near Tezpur, Assam Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has already launched a blistering attack on the Trinamool Congress government, will be addressing more election rallies at Asansol and Siliguri in North Bengal on 7 April. According to party sources, the Prime Minister will address eight to 10 rallies in West Bengal. BJP president Amit Shah is leading the second line of attack. He is also set to address 25 to 30 rallies in the state, while Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will appear at at least a dozen public meetings. The BJP will field its full might, with Union ministers Smriti Irani, Sushma Swaraj, and Arun Jaitley going all-out to make a dent in the Trinamool Congress vote bank. The perception created against us by a section of the state media is now on the wane, and they have realised that these elections may throw up a rude surprise for the TMC regime, said a senior state BJP leader. We have exposed the fixing between the Left and TMC going on in the state. They are colluding to fight the common enemy, which is BJP. The people, though, have caught a whiff of this and our slogan has really caught on to the imagination of voters. TMC is actually Trinamool Marxist Congress, said Siddharth Nath Singh, co-in-charge of BJP in West Bengal. BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee on her way to file nomination In Assam, the BJP is confident of a clear victory. Going by an internal assessment, the BJP could win 60 to 80 seats. Our allies are expected to do well. The AGP is expected to win over 10 seats. The Congress, on the other hand, will get confined to 35 seats, said a senior BJP functionary. The biggest issue with the people of Assam is that they are voting for the survival of the state against onslaughts of corruption of the Congress and the changing demography of the state, said Dr Mahendra Singh, party in-charge, Assam. On the other hand, Amit Shah dared Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to throw out members of her party caught accepting bribes in a sting operation. Even the revered Rabindra Sangeet, a popular genre of Bangla music, was dragged into the high decibel poll campaign. Shah said the only industry to have emerged in Bengal during this period was the bomb-making industry, adding: The sound of Rabindra Sangeet is getting suppressed because of bomb blasts. In a sharp retort to Shah, Banerjee said she would be the enemy of anyone who insults Bengal. If anyone insults Bengal, there will be no bigger enemy than me, she said at a poll rally in Ramachandrapur in Purulia district. Hoping to consolidate their vote banks, Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan and Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular founder Jitan Ram Manjhi are likely to join forces with Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha to float a united front in the state. The trio, whose parties are constituents of the National Democratic Alliance, held a closed-door meeting at the farmhouse of Brishin Patel, the state president of Manjhis Hindustan Awam Morcha- Secular, in Vaishali district on Monday to discuss the merger among other things. Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi are likely to join Upendra Kushwaha to float a united front Paswans son and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan also took part in the deliberations. The hush-hush meeting, which took place on the day the Bihar BJP leaders were busy attending the state executive committee meeting of their party in Patna, fuelled speculations about the merger of the three NDA allies into a single entity before the next Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Paswan, Manjhi, and Kushwaha, however, kept their cards close to their chest and dubbed their meeting routine. They also stressed that they were part of the NDA and would remain so. Patel, however, hinted at the possible merger saying it was in tune with the wishes of the people. As of now, the LJP and the RLSP have two MLAs each, while the HAM-S has a lone legislator in the Bihar Assembly. I bought a 100 gift card from John Lewis in Edinburgh as a wedding present for my niece. I gave this to her at the wedding reception.Unfortunately, during the reception several items were stolen including my gift card, which was inside a wedding card. The police have been informed. John Lewis told me the gift card had not been used and I was advised to block it, which I did. I was then informed, as per the terms and conditions, that a replacement gift card or refund would not be given. I feel that I have, in effect, given John Lewis a 100 donation, since none of its stock has been sold and no refund or replacement card has been issued. I have always believed John Lewis customer care is one of the best, however, this unfortunate experience has left me angry and disappointed. Mrs K. S., Falkirk. John Lewis initially refused to issue a replacement as it said it was difficult to link a gift card to a customer Stealing from a wedding? Lets hope the police catch the lowlife responsible. As I write this, I have a John Lewis gift card sitting on my desk. Condition two on the reverse says: Protect this gift card and treat it as cash: lost, stolen or damaged cards will not be replaced. In these days of plastic gift cards with barcodes, identification numbers and security numbers, that strikes me as archaic. It is possible to check the balance of many gift cards online. Staff at stores and customer service centres can also check what has been spent and, as you discovered, it is even possible to put a block on a card. I dont accept the argument John Lewis makes in its statement below that it is difficult to link a card to a customer. Many are bought online or with a credit or debit card, which provides a simple, basic link to the customer. Even those bought with cash would have a receipt, even though I am told this does not carry the gift card number. So why cant lost or stolen gift cards be replaced? Even if a small administration charge were to be made, it would be better and fairer than the retailer simply swallowing the money. The good news is that once I made contact, John Lewis immediately offered you a replacement. But common sense should have prevailed without my involvement especially with John Lewis, which, as you say, normally offers exceptional customer service. For its part, a spokesman said: We are sorry to hear the gift card was stolen. As it is difficult to link a gift card to a specific customer, our terms and conditions do state that gift cards are to be treated as cash, and this inquiry was processed in line with this policy by our customer services team. However, as the circumstances on this occasion were exceptional, we have issued a replacement card as a gesture of goodwill. Broadband problems: 'After waiting a month for the service to begin, it did not work' I took a phone and broadband package with the Post Office. But after waiting a month for the service to begin, it did not work. The Post Office suggested that it send an engineer, but made no mention of any cost. The engineer disconnected three extension wires that had been working perfectly well for years. Then, he found out the telephone number had been changed without me being informed. I now have a bill for 144, yet still my broadband does not work. Mrs C. V., West Sussex. The Post Office confirms that it contacted you regarding your fault, but says it explained if the fault was on your property, then charges would apply. It says the fault was identified as being an extension into a phone in your shed. As a result, the charge was incurred. However, the Post Office also confirms that you had requested to keep your existing phone number, which it failed to do. In light of this, it has waived the charge for the engineers visit. It also apologises for the problems you have had. Your phone and broadband should now be working. Energy switch: Extra Energy says that the process was muddled because the reader used a third party I switched to Extra Energy last autumn. My house is a single property, but it has a basement, which was originally a flat and has its own gas and electricity supplies. I have always had two accounts: one for the main house and one for the basement. This has not caused any problems over the past 23 years. However, when I switched, it soon became apparent that Extra Energy had set up the accounts incorrectly, putting two gas supplies and one electricity supply on the main house account and the other electricity supply on the basement account, which was also put on the wrong tariff. My complaint to the ombudsman was upheld, but Extra Energy seems to be ignoring it. To make matters worse, the direct debit it has been taking has not included the basement account for more than a year, and has only just started to be charged this month. J. K., London. Im coming to the conclusion that Extra Energy refers to the effort the firms customers must put in to resolve complaints. Ombudsman Services, which deals with energy complaints, has, as you say, found in your favour and awarded compensation, so your complaint should never have reached me. The firm says your request for two dual fuel applications for the same property was very unusual. Im sure its not that unusual my neighbour across the road has a similar set-up. Extra Energy says that the switching process was muddled because you used a third party to handle the transfer, so it was unaware of the separate supplies. At my prompting, the firm has been in touch with you. While Extra Energy says it is not currently possible to link the accounts as you wish, a senior member of staff is personally managing your account until the switch can be made. And dont forget, the ombudsman has already ruled that you may leave without penalty if the issue is not resolved. You only have to glance around an office, train or even your own home to see that smartphones are infiltrating every area of our lives. We use our phones not just for calls and text messages, but for emails, socialising and as our diaries. On average, people touch their phones every four minutes - thats 253 times a day. So, can investors make a profit out of this fixation - or have they missed the boat? Always with you: On average, people touch their phones every four minutes - thats 253 times a day The good news is that the amount of mobile data people in Britain are using to go on the internet, emails and other apps is expected to rocket 57 per cent every year for the next five years. That should help lots of different types of mobile company grow. But before you dive in, its worth remembering the dotcom bubble in 2001. As the internet took off in the late Nineties, people piled money into online start-ups. The majority collapsed and savers lost millions in the aftermath. The average technology fund is up 34.7 per cent over the past three years, but experts say the industry is now on sounder footing. FACEBOOK TAKES LEAD ON TWITTER A quarter of the time people spend on their mobiles, theyre using social media such as Facebook or Twitter, according to insurer Direct Line. It sounds like an obvious place to invest, but the outlook for these companies is mixed. Walter Price, manager of the Allianz Technology Trust, says: Facebook can follow its users and see what they buy online. It provides an incredible amount of data and is a revolution for company marketing. Bubble? Twitters shares have more than halved since it launched on the stock exchange in November 2013 But he doesnt rate Twitter. I think it is in a crisis and could be entering the internet graveyard populated by many small internet companies. Twitters shares have more than halved from 29.81 to 10.95 since it launched on the stock exchange in November 2013. Ben Rogoff, manager of the Polar Capital Technology Fund, says the big winners from the rise of the smartphone are internet shopping firms. I dont need to wait until the weekend in order to go to the shops. If I want something, I go online and I can have it tomorrow. He likes Amazon and China-based Alibaba. The Allianz fund has returned 54 per cent over the past three years. HAVE SHARES IN APPLE PEAKED? Apple shares have almost doubled in price from 34 to 73 in the past five years Apple shares have almost doubled in price from 34 to 73 in the past five years, while fellow phone giant Googles have nearly tripled from 207 to 514. So, have these firms peaked? In January, Apple reported that sales of iPhones were falling for the first time since they were launched in 2007. Its estimated 90 pc of people in the developed world have a smartphone, so you could say that the growth part of the smart phone story is over, says Mr Rogoff. Now its all about companies that enhance the experience. Mr Rogoff gives the example of American firm Integrated Devices Technology, which is developing wireless charging points. Its share price has almost tripled in three years. Early incarnations of its product are blocks plugged into the wall. You place your phone nearby and it charges. No wires are necessary. Starbucks and McDonalds have started putting them in tables in the U.S., while Ikea is looking at adding them to bedside lamps. He also tips U.S-based screen-maker Universal Display. It uses so-called organic light-emitting displays, or OLED, which offer better picture quality while using less battery. You dont have to buy company shares to invest in these firms - you can choose a fund that owns a variety. The Polar Capital Technology Fund has returned 41.6 per cent over the past three years. BUDGET TELECOMS ON THE WAY OUT Smartphones need a signal and companies such as Vodafone and U.S.-based AT&T can charge upwards of 35 a month for this. Stephen Bailey, manager of the Liontrust Macro UK Growth Fund, has invested 5 of every 100 in his fund in BT shares. Now it has acquired mobile provider EE, it will benefit from full service across the key telecoms areas: home phone, mobile, broadband and TV. BT Sport should help to persuade customers to stay. People switched to cheap providers during the financial crisis, but are looking for premium packages again, having preferred discount suppliers for years, says Mr Bailey. Other funds heavily invested in the telecoms giants include Jupiter High Income and L&G Ethical. PHONE WIZARDRY CHEAP AS CHIPS What about the companies that make the wizardry inside your smartphone? Michelle McGrade, chief investment officer at stockbroker TD Direct, likes Qualcomm, the largest chipmaker in the world. Its tiny chips are the reason your phone can connect to the internet or get a signal from your network to make a phone call. She also likes Arm Holdings, which licenses processor technology that is the component that tells your smartphone what to do. Taiwan-based Casetek is another one of her favourites. It manufactures metal parts, including cases for smartphones. Casing is the second most expensive part of a phone, says Ms McGrade. ALSTOM CHARGES The UK president of French engineering firm Alstom has been charged with offences of corruption and conspiracy to corrupt in connection with train contracts for the Budapest Metro. Terence Stuart Wilson, who is also managing director of Alstom Transport UK, was charged by the Serious Fraud Office. He is the seventh person to be charged in relation to the Alstom investigation. BRICK FLOAT Brick-maker Forterra is planning to list its shares on the stock exchange in London as its seeks to tap into the housing boom. Alstom investigation: The UK president of the firm is the seventh person to be charged The float next month is expected to value the company, Britains second-biggest brick-maker, at around 600million. The group has been owned by US private equity firm Lone Star Funds since it was sold by Germany company HeidelbergCement in March 2015. YAHOO CHANGE Struggling tech giant Yahoo has reportedly written to 40 possible buyers asking them what bits of the firm they might be interested in purchasing and what theyd pay. Prospective shoppers are thought to include telecoms giant Verizon and Time. As well as its internet division, Yahoo has a highly sought-after stake in Chinese commerce firm Alibaba. BAE WIN BAE Systems has won its second key contract in a week. The defence giant will refurbish more than 250 tanks for the Swedish army. The firm said work on the CV90 Combat Vehicle will include refurbishing the chassis and upgrading its turrets. The Swedish army has a fleet of 509 CV90s with turrets equipped with 40mm autocannons. IKEA PLEDGE Ikea will increase its minimum wage to meet the Living Wage Foundations target. Around 6,100 staff will receive a pay rise to 8.25 nationally and 9.40 in London, above the statutory National Living Wage which rises to 7.20 for over 25s on Friday. Around 1,200 Ikea team leaders will also see a proportionate pay increase. Ikea has also agreed to become a main partner to the Foundation. Whats happening? The future of Britains last remaining steel mills is hanging in the balance. Last night, Indian conglomerate Tata looked poised to sell its entire UK operation. Crunch meetings were being held to decide the fate of Port Talbot in South Wales and Scunthorpe in North East England. Thousands of jobs are at risk along with Britains industrial heritage. A board meeting was held yesterday in India to decide the future of the plants. Late last night sources said the company was expected to sell up. Under threat: Thousands of jobs are at risk at Tata Steel processing plant at Scunthorpe and Port Talbot Who owns them? Tata, founded in 1868 by 29-year-old bank-heir Jamsetji Nusserwanji, spans engineering, energy, chemicals and consumer goods. The firm owns Tetley Tea, Titan watches and Jaguar Land Rover and made profits of 4.7billion in 2015 on sales of 77billion. Tata employs 600,000 workers in 80 countries and in 2007 spent 6.7billion buying Corus, which comprised the former British Steel plants and sites owned by Dutch firm Koninklijke Hoogovens. Tata Steel has operations in 26 countries and produces 28m tonnes of steel each year. It is the second largest steel producer in Europe. Why are the plants so vital? For generations these two sites have supported local communities. Closing the plants would devastate two areas already suffering from the impact of the downturn. The loss of steel making in the UK would also be a hammer blow to Britains industrial heritage. It would embolden emerging market economies such as China, which is producing millions of tons a year and selling it cheaply overseas. Why are they in trouble? Britains steel industry has been in crisis since being devastated by a flood of cheap imported steel which has mainly come from China. Lower growth has left China with excess steel and it has been exporting this to Europe. Prices are at a ten-year low and the problem has been compounded by UK firms paying some of the highest energy costs and green taxes in the world. Chinese steel shipments leapt more than 50pc last year and the European Steel Association said that Chinese steel was being exported at prices below the cost of production, a practice known as dumping. Who is to blame? Both the Government and the European Union have been criticised for doing too little. The Government has been criticised because it can only recommend UK steel is used for its major building projects rather than requiring it, while some foreign rivals benefit from being preferred suppliers in their home countries. Business rates are also a problem, being up to ten times higher than what steel makers in Germany and other European countries have to pay. There is also a regulatory issue. If it can be proven that China has dumped steel in the UK then legal steps could be taken to charge a tariff essentially a higher rate for the imports. If this case was established then the EU could take steps to block the practice. However, such a case could take up to a year to conclude. What is being done? Scunthorpe has been put up for sale and investment firm Greybull Capital is in talks, which could see all jobs saved. Tata has privately set tomorrow as the final date to decide on whether to sell or close the unprofitable site. Greybull has had what was described as positive engagement with the Government and has sought support in terms of the amount of green levies it has to pay, research and development tax credits, and business rates. The future of Port Talbot depends on the result of a board meeting held yesterday by Tata in India. Will they succeed? The success of the Scunthorpe deal depends on a debate over pay and pensions, and sources say there has been a breakthrough in recent days. Community, the steel union, wrote to members last weekend telling them they will be asked to vote on proposals when they are revealed. Greybull will only consider buying the plant if pay and pension terms can be agreed between Tata and the unions. The boss of Britains biggest insurer has been handed a 3.1million pay rise. Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson earned 5.7million in 2015, the companys annual report shows, up from 2.6million in 2014. His pay packet included a basic salary of 980,000, unchanged from the previous year. Wilson also picked up benefits of 65,000 such as private medical insurance, travel and car costs. Wilsons bonus rose by 500,000 from 1.3million to 1.8million. Golden pay package: Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson The married father of three also picked up 2.6million of shares for his performance over the previous three years. It was his first such payout under the companys long-term incentive scheme. New Zealander Wilson, 49, took the helm in January 2013 with a vow to crack down on waste and focus on the companys core business. His reign has seen the firm move from a 2.7billion loss to a 1.4billion profit. His appointment came at a stormy time for the company. Previous chief executive Andrew Moss left after being humiliated when 54 per cent of Aviva shareholders voted against his boards pay deal. Irritation at bonuses died down as the company returned to profit. Wilson has instead been lauded by investors for transforming the company and perhaps his crowning glory so far came last month when he was named UK New Zealander of the Year at a charity ball. The chief executive said he was focused on putting something back into the place he had come from. Big commodity stocks were in the red as the price of a barrel of Brent Crude dropped 3.1 per cent to about $39. It hit many of the big names with Glencore off 4.9 per cent or 7.4p at 143.8p, Anglo American down 4.33 per cent or 21.7p at 479.1p, Rio Tinto easing 3.85 per cent or 74.5p to 1863p and BHP Billiton ceding 3.65 per cent or 28.4p to 750p. West Texas Intermediate fell about 3.2 per cent to just above $38 a barrel. Barclays fuelled the downbeat sentiment by predicting that a two-month rally in commodity prices could end, saying it did not reflect market fundamentals. Sell off: Oil prices extended losses on concerns about rising US crude stockpiles The bank said net flows into commodities totalled more than $20billion in January and February the strongest start to a year since 2011 and prices could tumble by up to a quarter. The FTSE 100 subsided 0.58 points to 6105.9 as oil prices extended losses on concerns about rising US crude stockpiles. Investors tucked into shares in Premier Foods yesterday on hopes of a takeover battle for the Mr Kipling cake maker. The stock was 8.65 per cent or 4.5p tastier at 56.5p after Premiers chief executive Gavin Darby predicted that another potential bidder could challenge US spice maker McCormicks 496m approach. Premier has already rejected two tentative offers from McCormick and instead agreed a co-operation deal with Japanese noodle maker Nissin Foods, which has taken a 17.27 per cent stake at 63p per share. Analysts have speculated that McCormick, which initially offered 52p a share, could raise its subsequent 60p-a-share bid by 5p. Premier rejected the approaches as undervaluing it, but some shareholders have urged it to talk to McCormick. The Bisto gravy and Sharwoods curry sauce maker later indicated its readiness to look at a higher bid. The US group said it was willing to consider one, provided Premier gave it access to pension documentation and other information. McCormick is facing a put-up-or-shut-up deadline of April 20 to announce a firm intent to bid or walk away. Broker Liberum Capital said Premiers net debt, which stood at 585.3m in November, and its large pension liability of 4.2billion were weighing on its share price and limiting opportunities. In our view, Premier is better off as part of a larger group, the broker said in a note. Marks & Spencer was among the main risers, gaining 3.06 per cent or 12p to 404.5p. Shares in Irn-Bru, Rubicon and Tizer maker AG Barr fizzed up 0.29 per cent or 1.5p to 520.5p as it increased pre-tax profits in the 53 weeks to January 30 by 7 per cent to 41.3m. Barr said it believed the strength of its brands and product reformulation would help it to ride out any impact from Chancellor George Osbornes sugar tax. But natural sweetener maker PureCircle, which has been tipped to benefit from the tax as drink makers replace sugar with its products, soured 2.06 per cent or 8p to 380p. Elsewhere among smaller companies, Slovenia oil and gas group Ascent Resources in keeping with the name soared 155 per cent to 4.98p on news of a takeover approach from Ukraine-focused Cadogan Petroleum. Cadogans shares rose 1p, or 10.26 per cent or 1p to 10.75p. Among the small-cap winners was also Cloudbuy, which advanced 16.67 per cent or 1.12p to 7.88p Last week existing shareholder Roberto Sella agreed to lend the e-marketplace developer up to 5.75m. Metal Tiger gained more than 21.43 per cent or 0.52p to 2.98p as another warrant exercise took the cash raised by the resource investor through this route to more than 539,000 in just under two weeks. Shares in the company have more than doubled recently following upbeat drill reports from its 30 per cent joint venture in Botswana. Kurdistan-focused Gulf Keystone Petroleum saw a further 50 per cent wiped off the share price last week, but today the stock rebounded 8.13 per cent or 0.5p to 6.65p. Mr Kipling cakes firm Premier Foods has rejected a third takeover offer from Schwartz spice US firm McCormick & Company, worth 537million, but has agreed to talks with the group for the first time. The spice and herbs giant has put forward a proposal worth 65p a share for Premier, which also owns Oxo, Bisto and Sharwood's. The board of the St Albans-based firm said the proposal 'continues to undervalue Premier and its prospects'. However, the Premier board agreed to open talks for the first time with McCormick to discuss its current trading and liabilities, and 'establish whether McCormick will increase its offer price to a recommendable level'. Sweetening the deal: Schwartz spice owner McCormick & Company has turned up the heat in its bid battle for Mr Kipling Cakes firm Premier Foods, making a third offer worth 537million Premier last week revealed that it had rejected McCormick's first offer of 52p in cash per share and a second at 60p in cash per share, both times saying they 'significantly' undervalued the firm's future growth. The latest twists in the takeover saga come after Premier also unveiled a tie-up last week with Japanese noodle giant Nissin Foods, which subsequently snapped up a 17.27 per cent stake in the UK group from private equity firm Warburg Pincus, bought at 63p a share, making it the firm's biggest shareholder. It also emerged today that Nissin has now upped its stake in Premier Foods to 19.9 per cent, with the shares also bought at 63p each. Shares in Premier were up 7.1 per cent, or 4.0p at 60.5p in afternoon trade, although that was off earlier highs of 62p. McCormick said its latest proposal 'should be well received by Premier Foods' shareholders, employees, pensioners, creditors and other stakeholders.' It added: 'McCormick continues to believe that, with its 127-year heritage, it would be an outstanding custodian for the Premier Foods brands.' McCormick said the deal would be attractive whether Japanese-based Nissin continued to co-operate with Premier or not. The American firm had urged the Premier board to open talks and 'now engage fully' with it over its latest offer. Analysts at Shore Capital said Premier Foods shareholders should accept McCormick's proposal because the higher offer allows 'shareholders the opportunity of a cash exit today at a reasonably full earnings valuation'. Last March Premier, led by chief executive Gavin Darby, completed a 1.1billion refinancing package to tackle the debt mountain which had brought the firm to the brink of collapse a few years earlier. Premier was thrust into the spotlight in December 2014 after writing to suppliers to ask for cash support, or face losing business with the food group. Prices across the food industry have been falling for more than a year, driven down by a supermarket price war in the face of competition from German discount chains Aldi and Lidl. Maryland-based McCormick, which issued a first quarter trading update yesterday, has annual sales of $4.3billion, and owns the Schwartz seasoning brand in the UK, as well as its classic McCormick herbs and spices in the US. Confident: US-based McCormick said it latest proposal 'should be well received by Premier Foods' shareholders, employees, pensioners, creditors and other stakeholders' Nissin Foods - which invented the first instant noodles in 1958 - trades across 19 countries and has annual revenues of $3.8 billion and an operating profit of $216million. Its products include Cup Noodles and Top Ramen. The latest moves comes after it emerged this week that St Albans-based Premier told the Japanese noodle giant of the bid from McCormick before notifying the rest of its shareholders, a move that left existing investors disgruntled. Major shareholders were unhappy with Premier's approach to the takeover saga and both Paulson and Standard Life have urged Premier to fully engage with McCormick. A spokesman for Premier reportedly said: 'Nissin was aware of the approach from McCormick because it was essential before committing to the commercial collaboration. 'Premier Foods, believing the offer did not value the company, moved to pursue more value-creating opportunities.' Tussle: The takeover tussle for Premier Foods is the latest twist in a turbulent saga for a company that has struggled under the weight of a hefty debt pile and tough supermarket trading Premier Foods also issued a clarification statement today, which said that its chief executive Gavin Darby was not aware of any discussions McCormick may have held with Warburg Pincus, adding it was open to the buyout group to sell its holding in Premier to any group it chose. The takeover tussle for Premier Foods is the latest twist in a turbulent saga for a company that has struggled under the weight of a hefty debt pile and tough supermarket trading. The Bisto and Sharwood's owner embarked on a fire sale of well-known brands in 2012 in a step towards shrinking a debt burden and pension deficit which had ballooned to more than 1billion. It included the sale of jams and spreads businesses Robertson's, Hartley's and Sun-Pat to US firm Hain Celestial, while Sarson's and Dufrais vinegars and Haywards pickles were siphoned off to Japanese food producer Mizkan. The St Albans-based firm also moved to sell off a significant slice of its Hovis bread business two years later, in a deal which saw US investment firm The Gores Group take on a 51 per cent majority share. Banks have been ordered to set aside billions of pounds for the next financial crisis as a watchdog warned the global economy was fraught with risk. The Bank of England is testing lenders ability to cope with a 31 per cent fall in house prices, an oil price slump to $20 a barrel and a 4.3 per cent contraction in the economy. This nightmare scenario would see unemployment soar towards 10 per cent from its current level of 5.1 per cet. Demand for money from borrowers would collapse, leaving many banks struggling to turn a profit. Stress tests: The Bank of England is testing lenders ability to cope with falling house prices Britains woes would be accompanied by a collapse in Chinese property prices and a global economic slump. The UKs reliance on foreign money means this could have a catastrophic impact on trade. This so-called stress test aims to model how well-prepared the UK banking system is for the next recession. It was announced as part of a raft of new measures to limit the danger of collapse. The Bank has told lenders they must hold onto more money when times are good, in readiness for a crash. Lenders must set aside a total of 5billion by 2017, most of which has already been stashed away. Sources said the rule is unlikely to have much impact on larger banks as they already have solid buffers. But small banks could have to hold back around 1billion extra meaning there will be less money to pass onto staff or shareholders in the form of bonuses and dividends. Rules around buy to let mortgages are also being toughened up to prevent a build-up of risky debt. The Bank of England said the additional cash buffer would help ensure the financial system can continue to provide essential services to the real economy, even in adverse circumstances. But it could prove a burden for small banks seeking to compete with the big names that have traditionally dominated the market. Rules around buy to let mortgages are also being toughened up to prevent a build-up of risky debt Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laith Khalaf said: The UKs smaller banks arent exactly a prolific source of dividends, and will be reluctant to scale back in a game they have only just really started playing. The big banks are currently taking an axe to their risky assets in an effort to reduce the load on capital, and are generally looking in decent shape in terms of their solvency. The Bank is testing an extreme scenario but not one beyond the realms of possibility. Its experts warn the global environment is challenging with increased risks to global growth prospects. As in the test, China and Hong Kong are flagged up as particularly exposed. Diego Zuluaga, financial services research fellow at the Institute for Economic Affairs, believes the next downturn could be even worse than imagined. He said: I dont think its beyond the realms of possibility. These stress tests try to pick the worst-case scenario but often they dont take into account what the next crisis is going to be. Risks: HSBC and Standard Chartered are particularly exposed to Chinese and Hong Kong markets Khalaf said HSBC and Standard Chartered were particularly exposed to Chinese and Hong Kong markets and were both wearing a particularly large mill stone around their necks. Despite these risks, the Bank and independent experts feel the British financial system is in a stronger position ahead of the next crisis than it was before the last one. But James Sproule, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, sounded a note of caution. The banks are better-prepared than they have been, he said. A Goldman Sachs banker has quit in a scandal engulfing Malaysias prime minister. As chairman of the banks operations in South East Asia, Tim Leissner was involved in the sale of US dollar bonds for a Malaysian state fund intended to boost the countrys economy. Swiss authorities and the FBI are investigating claims that 2.8billion was misappropriated from the fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, known as 1MDB. Murky affairs: Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was cleared of corruption in his own country in 2013 Its advisory board is led by Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, who was cleared of corruption in his own country over a 475million donation to his personal bank accounts shortly before a 2013 election. Malaysias attorney general said the cash came from the Saudi royal family. Swiss investigators said money from 1MDB was transferred to accounts held in Switzerland by various former Malaysian public officials and both former and current public officials from the United Arab Emirates. Leissner has been subpoenaed by the US authorities, meaning he could be compelled to testify or provide documents. It emerged in January that the executive had relocated to Los Angeles and taken personal leave. He quit last month after allegedly violating internal rules. A Yazidi mother has told how ISIS took two of her daughters to be slaves, one just three-years-old. Distraught Noora broke down in tears as revealed how she fought with an ISIS fighter to stop him taking her 'beautiful, blonde' toddler and her beloved oldest child, aged 13. And the mother-of-nine recounted how she tried to conceal her daughters' ages to prevent them from a life of slavery. Heart-broken Noora told MailOnline: 'ISIS took my baby daughter Basima. She was only three years old, but she has blonde hair, she is beautiful. I tried to stop him, I fought with him, but he hit me in the face with his gun, a Kalishnkov. There was nothing I could do.' Scroll down for video... Harrowing: Noora, a Yazidi mother of nine, told MailOnline of how ISIS kidnapped her two daughters - the youngest aged just three Captive: From the relative safety of a refugee camp in Dohuk, Iraq, where she lives with her seven other children (pictured), she said an ISIS fighter struck her in the face with a rifle before taking her daughters Noora and her children were among the thousands of Yazidis who sought sanctuary on Sinjar Mountain when ISIS stormed into their village in northern Iraq in August 2014. But the desperate mother was forced back down to her village in search of water to sustain her infant children due to the heat of the Middle Eastern summer. Sitting in a tent in the Sharya refugee camp in northern Iraq she wiped away tears as she told MailOnline of her heart-breaking battle to protect her young family while in ISIS captivity. Recalling the terrible events of August 2014 in which thousands of Yazidi became trapped on Sinjar Mountain, she said: 'When I heard gunfire I picked up the children and ran to the mountain. Everyone in the village ran to the mountain. 'I was carrying the children so I could not carry anything else. I went with my family but I could not carry any food or water. 'We spent the night in the open on the mountain side. There was nothing to eat and nothing to drink. The children were becoming weak. 'I had to get them something to drink otherwise they would die.' Hide away: Noora only gave a little food to her kidnapped daughter Sahira (pictured aged three), now 13, so 'she would not grow... so she would not look like a young woman and would be protected' Scared: Noora (right) told MailOnline how she tried to conceal her daughters' (left, ten-year-old Mahira) ages to prevent them from a life of slavery Besieged: Noora's village in northern Iraq was one of several raided by ISIS fighters, who killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds of women and girls in August 2014 (pictured, her seven children in a refugee camp) Noora had been visiting her parents when ISIS fighters stormed into Tal Afar in their lighting assault across northern Iraq in August 2014. But her father was shot dead in front of her when he refused to give up his Yazidi religion. Her husband, Ezden, a builder, is also missing, presumed dead. She said: 'We went down the mountain to find water for the children. But we were surrounded by ISIS and captured. My father was killed in front of me. 'ISIS told us to change our religion or they would kill us. My father refused and they shot him dead. We were taken prisoner.' The surviving family members agreed to convert to Islam in order to survive, a serious taboo for the fiercely devout Yazidis, but the mother-of-nine had little choice, MailOnline understands. During the family's year-long captivity Noora desperately tried to conceal her daughters' ages to prevent them from a life of slavery. She told MailOnline: 'My oldest daughter Sahira was 13 years old. I tried to not let her grow. I didn't give her much to eat, so she would not grow, so she would stay small, so she would stay a child, so she would not look like a young woman and would be protected. Noora, who lives with her daughters (left to right: Samira, seven, Amira, eight, and Mahira, ten) in the Sharya refugee camp, decided to feed them less so they did not look like young women Safe: Noora had been visiting her parents when ISIS fighters stormed into Tal Afar in their lighting assault across northern Iraq in August 2014 (pictured, refugees in northern Iraq) 'But ISIS came and took her. That was three or four months ago.' Noora dressed her second daughter, aged ten, in a nappy and told her to act mentally disabled in a desperate bid to keep her out of the clutches ISIS men. She said: 'I cut her long hair. We pretended she was mentally disabled. I put a nappy on her and told her to act like a baby. She pretended to be mad.' During their terrible months of captivity an appeal by a Yazidi woman for the world to help her people gave Noora and her family were given a glimmer of hope. Yazidi MP Vian Dakhil had stood up in the Iraqi parliament and appealed to her countrymen to help the Yazidis as their terrible plight emerged. Her speech was so charged with pain and horror she collapsed before she could finish. She said: 'Brothers, I appeal to you in the name of all humanity. Save us! Save us!' A video of her speech quickly spread on the internet and alerted the world to the Yadizi's plight. Noora said: 'When we were in captivity I saw on the TV the Yazidi lady Vian Dakhil asking the world to help us Yazidis. ISIS did not like this and would not let us watch. But this gave us hope.' She named her daughter Vian, after the courageous Yazidi MP. Desperate: Noora dressed her second daughter, aged ten, in a nappy and told her to act mentally disabled in a desperate bid to keep her out of the clutches ISIS men (pictured, the Sharya refugee camp where she now lives) Sickening: Noora's father was shot dead in front of her when he refused to give up his Yazidi religion (pictured, the Sharya refugee camp) After about a year in ISIS captivity in Tal Afar Noora was separated from her husband and taken to Raqqa where she was sold to a Syrian man. She was forced to submit to him and became his sex slave. However the mother persuaded the Syrian man to contact her family. He finally agreed to release Noora and her young family for a $35,000 [around 22,000] ransom. A Muslim shopkeeper who was stabbed to death had received threats to his life online in the months before he was killed, it was revealed today. But Asad Shah didnt tell police or friends in the Muslim community in Glasgow because he couldnt believe anyone would want to harm him. Popular Mr Shah was killed at his newsagents shop last Thursday night. The killing took place just four hours after Mr Shah, 40, wished a happy Easter to my beloved Christian nation. Asad Shah's death shocked members of the Shawlands community, who came together in their hundreds for a silent vigil on Friday The shopkeeper was well known in the area and said to have been 'loved' by his customers People pay their respects at tributes left to Asad Shah outside his shop in Glasgow It emerged yesterday that Mr Shah, a follower of the Ahmadi strand of Islam, had been branded a false prophet in two video posts in November 2014 by a Muslim group which views Ahmadi beliefs as heretical. Now it has been revealed the shopkeeper suffered online death threats in the months before he was killed but was too trusting in human nature to take them seriously. Ahmed Owusu-Konadu, external affairs secretary for Glasgows Ahmadi mosque, said: He had received some death threats on Facebook and YouTube but, unfortunately, we were not aware of them before he was killed. I only found out about them after a few colleagues looked around at his Facebook. No one I have spoken to was aware of the threats he had received before he was killed. If he had made the mosque aware of them then we would have passed that information on to the police. I doubt he would have anticipated that someone would go through with what they were saying. A lot of the time that stuff stays online and thats it but to go all out and take someones life just because you dont agree with a persons views is something very distressing. Police said Mr Shahs savage killing was religiously motivated. Mr Owusu-Konadu said of Mr Shahs death: This happens far too often to the Ahmadiyya community around the world but we never expected it to happen in the United Kingdom. Theres nothing at all that we could have done to predict that this would happen. My memory of him is shown in all the fantastic things that have been said about him since he was killed. Ahmadiyya Muslim Association's external affairs secretary, Ahmed Owusu Konadu Tributes left to Asad Shah outside his shop in Shawlands, Glasgow, as a second vigil has been held. Members of a Scottish motorcycle club including Colin Lawrie (front right) with his son Cailean (front centre), 11, pay their respects at the flowers left in tribute to Asad Shah outside his shop in Shawlands Its amazing how people from all around the world have come together to pay tribute to Asad and condemn the attack. He was speaking an interfaith religious meeting held at Glasgow Central Mosque today to show solidarity and condemn the killing. Earlier today Mr Shahs family paid tribute to him as a brilliant man. The statement said: 'On Thursday evening (March 24), a beloved husband, son, brother and everyone's friend, Asad Shah, was taken away from us by an incomprehensible act. We are devastated by this loss. 'A person's religion, ethnicity, race, gender or socioeconomic background never mattered to Asad. He met everyone with the utmost kindness and respect because those are just some of the many common threads that exist across every faith in our world. A person's religion, ethnicity, race, gender or socioeconomic background never mattered to Asad Family statement 'He was a brilliant man, recognising that the differences between people are vastly outweighed by our similarities. And he didn't just talk about this, he lived it each and every day, in his beloved community of Shawlands and his country of Scotland. 'One of our brightest lights has been extinguished but our love for all mankind and hope for a better world in which we can all live in peace and harmony, as so emphatically embodied by Asad, will endure and prevail.' The owner of the cafe next door to his shop has revealed he used to pray she was busy every day before work. Emotional Sandra Smith, 45, returned to her job yesterday in an attempt to get back to normal after her neighbour was killed. She said: Its just horrific. Its brutal. This area will never be the same again. Asads shop is a very focal point of this community. I think its going to be very hard to get back to normality. But weve got to try. He was very kind to everybody and treated them the same. He didnt care what skin colour, religion or age you were. He treated everybody the same. Tanveer Ahmed, 32, from Bradford, appeared in court in Glasgow yesterday charged with Mr Shahs murder. Mr Ahmed is a licensed private hire taxi driver in the Yorkshire town who worked for Uber. He made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody pending a further court appearance. A former security guard serving a life sentence in the 1957 slaying of a seven-year-old Illinois girl pleaded with a judge Tuesday to quickly consider his latest bid for freedom, citing a prosecutor's scathing review of the investigation that landed him in prison. With his legs and wrists shackled, 76-year-old Jack McCullough spoke up at the end of a 20-minute hearing that never got beyond housekeeping matters and failed to mention the damning review released last week by the county's public prosecutor. But McCullough made reference to the prosecutor's report and pleaded to know how long the post-conviction petition process would take. Jack McCullough, 76, (pictured in court Tuesday) told the judge he was innocent and pleaded to know how long the post-conviction petition process would take McCullough - who has been locked up since 2012 - was convicted in the 1957 killing of Maria Ridulph, 7 'Your honor,' McCullough said, 'I've been in prison locked up now for almost five years, I'm innocent, and I can prove I'm innocent. There has to be an end to this somewhere. But DeKalb County Judge William Brady responded that all he could do at present was appoint him an attorney and outline the process that could result in a new trial. McCullough was convicted in 2012 in the slaying of Maria Ridulph in the small community of Sycamore. It was one of the oldest cases in the U.S. ever to go to trial. Ridulph (pictured) was abducted, stabbed and choked to death But last week, the DeKalb County state's attorney released the findings of a six-month review that convinced him McCullough could not have committed the crime. State's Attorney Richard Schmack, who had no role in McCullough's prosecution, found fault with the investigation and said new evidence and a review of old documents corroborated an alibi. The review gives new momentum to McCullough's bid for freedom. Tuesday's hearing took place in a DeKalb County courtroom in Sycamore, where Ridulph was abducted, stabbed and choked to death. But the review is also plunging Ridulph's family back into the decades of emotional turmoil they've endured since the little girl disappeared from a quiet street corner where she was playing in the snow more than half a century ago. Her brother, Charles Ridulph, filed a motion Monday asking the judge to appoint a special prosecutor. Like other family members, he remains convinced McCullough is the killer and he hopes an outside prosecutor will ensure the man stays behind bars. 'My sister Maria was snatched away, raped and murdered, abandoned in the woods,' Ridulph, 70, of Sycamore, wrote in the filing, according to The (DeKalb) Daily Chronicle. 'And now, Richard Schmack has abandoned her yet again and he has done so for the wrong reasons.' 'I've been in prison locked up now for almost five years, I'm innocent, and I can prove I'm innocent. There has to be an end to this somewhere Jack McCullough in court Tuesday Schmack said in a filing last week that his review, which was prompted by McCullough's motion for post-conviction relief, turned up serious missteps during the investigation and prosecution. He also said there was new evidence supporting a McCullough alibi. The new evidence included recently subpoenaed phone records that proved McCullough made a collect call to his parents from a phone booth in downtown Rockford, Illinois, about 35 miles from Sycamore, just minutes after the abduction took place. That had always been McCullough's professed alibi, though the precise location of the phone had previously come under doubt, with some suggesting it may have been closer. State's Attorney Richard Schmack (pictured) has found fault with the investigation and said new evidence and a review of old documents corroborated an alibi for McCullough Janey O'Connor, Jack McCullough's stepdaughter, smiles as she listens to Maria Ridulph's brother Charles Ridulph speak on the stairs of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore Besides those records, Schmack's conclusions were also based on a review of thousands of pages of police reports and other old documents that he says were improperly barred from evidence during McCullough's trial. Some of them were only recently uncovered, he said. Some of those documents discredit testimony from McCullough's sister that the abduction had taken place earlier, Schmack determined, meaning there was no possibility McCullough could have committed the crime and then driven to Rockford in time to place that call. 'It is a manifest impossibility for [McCullough] to have been in Sycamore at 6.45 and also have made a phone call in downtown Rockford at 6.57,' Schmack wrote in the review according to the Chicago Tribune. Schmack also said that some of the evidence that led to McCullough's conviction was 'mistaken' and 'false'. This included the testimony of Kathy Sigman, Maria's friend, who saw the little girl's kidnapper in 1957. She picked his photo out of six pictures when McCullough was named as a suspect in 2010. Schmack said she committed an 'unintentional and tragic mistake' when she identified McCullough as the kidnapper. Governor Rick Snyder has signed into law $48.7 million in emergency funding to keep the schools open The Detroit public school system has been struggling to stay funded One teacher said she couldn't afford books or to heat her classroom at Alexander's school was given $500,000 from Lowes Home Improvement on Ellen's show It is believed Ronald Alexander, along with 13 other principals, received kickbacks for saying school supplies was An elementary school principal who appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been charged with bribery A Detroit elementary school principal charged in a bribery scheme appeared last month on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' to accept $500,000 in donations. Ronald Alexander was charged Tuesday as part of a federal corruption investigation unrelated to the donation from Lowes given while appearing on Ellen. He's among 13 current or former school administrators facing charges. In an episode that aired in February, Alexander, teachers and students were shown at Spain Elementary celebrating Ellen's announcement that Lowes would contribute $500,000 toward renovations, new computers and other needs. In the clip, Ellen's producer appears with Alexander, students and other administrators of the school. She says to Ellen: 'Ellen, I am with the most amazing man, the principal of Spain Elementary School Mr. Ronald Alexander!' Alexander then tells Ellen how much her gesture means to him. 'Of all the people in the whole world, I am the happiest principal on Earth. I love you. I love you again,' he tells her. They were then led into an auditorium where they were surprised by the massive donation from Lowes. There have been numerous complaints regarding the conditions of Detroit schools including mold and other issues. DeGeneres started a GoFundMe page for the school and Justin Bieber announced that $1 of every ticket sold to an upcoming show in the Detroit area would go to Spain Elementary. Authorities say the 74-year-old owner of a suburban supply business received $2.7 million from Detroit's public schools in a bribery and kickback scheme involving 13 current and former school administrators. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said Tuesday that the school officials were paid more than $900,000 in cash, gift cards and checks. 'The real victims in a case like this, of course, are the students and the families who attend Detroit Public Schools -- the teachers, the educators who really want to make a difference in the lives of Detroit Public School children,' McQuade told CNN. Allstate Sales owner Norman Shy, of Franklin, Michigan, and 61-year-old district assistant superintendent Clara Flowers are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and tax evasion. Shy paid bribes and kickbacks to principals so they would allow their schools to be charged for supplies that were never delivered, authorities told CNN. They believe the scheme began in 2002 and ended in January of last year. Alexander in particular received about $23,000 in kickbacks from Shy while he was principal from 2009 to 2014, the indictment says according to The New York Post. One teacher at Alexander's school told Ellen's producer she couldn't afford books or to heat the icy classrooms. McQuade says fraudulent invoices for chairs, paper and other supplies were submitted. Some supplies were never delivered. In other cases the amount delivered was less than ordered. Earlier this year, a former Detroit high school principal pleaded guilty to accepting nearly $60,000 from a company hired to perform tutoring services. She faces three years or more in prison, although cooperation with investigators could get her a shorter sentence. Another woman pleaded guilty to conspiracy and admitted paying bribes to the principal in exchange for her company getting work. Governor Rick Snyder has signed into law $48.7 million in emergency funding to keep the Detroit Public Schools open through the end of the school year. The governor says the spending legislation enacted Tuesday shows the district's challenges 'aren't just Detroit's problem, they are concerns for all of Michigan.' The state's largest school district was in danger of starting to run out of money in April. The $48.7 million is a stopgap measure while the Republican governor presses the GOP-controlled Legislature to enact a $720 million restructuring plan to split the district in two and pay off operating debt over a decade. Separately, federal officials on Tuesday afternoon say they plan to announce charges involving several current and former Detroit Public Schools officials. Dutch minister Justice Ard van der Steur said information was shared with Belgian officials on March 17, but Belgian federal police denied this Dutch authorities got FBI report that Ibrahim was sought by the Belgian authorities for 'criminal background', Khalid was wanted for terrorism Turkey said Ibrahim had been arrested and deported back to Netherlands last summer, with a warning to both Belgian and Dutch officials Belgian brothers named as suicide bombers with two others on March 22 terror attacks that killed 32 in recently lowered death count Dutch police had received an FBI notice that Belgian authorities were looking for the two brothers a week before the pair blew themselves up in the Brussels terror attacks, the Dutch interior minister said on Tuesday. The Dutch minister claims the information was then relayed to Belgian officials the following day, but Belgian federal police denied the brothers were ever mentioned in the meeting between the two countries on March 17. The new claims add to the astonishing lapses in security and intelligence after it was reported Ibrahim El Bakraoui was arrested in southern Turkey and deported to the Netherlands on the suspicion he had slipped across the border to Syria to join ISIS. Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur clarified the FBI's warnings while Belgian officials face mounting criticism over their counter-terrorism efforts. Turkey claims Ibrahim El Bakraoui (left) was arrested near the Syrian border and deported to the Netherlands on the suspicion he was 'a foreign fighter'. Right, Khalid El Bakraoui, who detonated his suicide vest in Maelbeek station. The FBI warned Dutch officials that Belgium was looking for the brothers on March 16, a minister said Ibrahim (center) and Najim Laachraoui (left) set off suicide vests and suitcases filled with explosives at the airport on March 22. The 'man in white' (right) is still on the run Ibrahim and another bomber Najim Laachraoui set off suicide vests and suitcases filled with explosives at the airport on March 22. 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. The terror attacks killed a total of 32, in a revised count that was previously at 35 because officials had counted three people with dual nationalities twice. A series of missteps and blunders by Belgium's security and intelligence agencies have come to light since the attacks, as well weaknesses in communication between intelligence agencies across Europe. Dutch Minister Ard Van der Steur wrote that authorities in the Netherlands had received an FBI report on March 16 stating that Ibrahim was sought by the Belgian authorities for 'his criminal background', while Khalid was wanted for 'terrorism, extremism and recruitment'. 'On March 16, the FBI informed Dutch police over the fact that both brothers were sought by Belgian authorities,' the minister wrote. In an earlier version of the letter, the minister wrote that the FBI had informed the Dutch authorities of the two brothers, without mentioning that they were wanted by Belgium. This information was then shared at a meeting between Belgian and Dutch authorities on March 17, the minister wrote. He also confirmed that Ibrahim was on a US watch list on September 25, 2015, France24.com reported. But in a statement released in response to his letter, the Belgian federal police denied the brothers were mentioned in a discussion on March 17, when a Dutch police representative visited them. They discussed a shootout in Brussels on March 15 in which an Islamist gunman was shot dead, but there was no mention of the FBI report, the Belgian police said in the statement. The Belgian federal police denied the brothers were mentioned in a discussion on March 17, when a Dutch police representative visited them The Dutch parliament will debate later on Tuesday which security measures the Netherlands should take in response to the attacks, which killed three Dutch citizens. According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ibrahim El Bakraoui was detained on July 14, 2015. He said that Turkish officials informed the Belgian Embassy about his deportation with a note, but claims Belgian officials could not find any link between El Bakroui and terrorist networks, so he was released. President Erdogan said that officials in the Netherlands were also notified. A determined Ibrahim El Bakraoui returned a second time to Turkey, less than a month after his first deportation. He landed in the southern airport in Antalya on August 11, 2015, another unnamed Turkish official told Reuters. By this point, his name was already on Turkey's blacklist, so Turkish officials deported him, yet again, on August 25. Unbelievably, Ibrahim El Bakraoui was still not apprehended by EU officials. These claims have since been slammed by both Belgian and Dutch authorities, who say that he was only deported once, and was never flagged as a possible terrorist by Turkey. The Netherlands said that when he arrived, his name did not appear on any blacklists so he was not detained. Why he was not deported to Belgium is not clear. Steve, Ryan and Sean are all paralyze and Sean is 'in and out' of a coma Steve Esmond, his wife, Dr Theresa Devine, and the couple's sons Ryan and Sean all suffered The U.S. government fined Terminix companies $10 million on Tuesday over its workers spraying toxic pesticide methyl bromide at a U.S. Virgin Islands resort that nearly killed a family last year. Steve Esmond, 49 his wife, Dr Theresa Devine, 48, and their two teenage sons fell seriously ill during their stay at the Sirenusa Condominium Resort on the Caribbean island of St. John last year. The family were airlifted to separate hospitals in Philadelphia after suffering major respiratory trauma and seizures, with 11th and ninth grade sons, Sean and Ryan, in critical care. Sean and Ryan ended up suffering permanent neurological damage while their parents had to undergo therapy. Scroll down for video Steve Esmond (left) and Dr Theresa Devine (right), along with their sons, nearly died while vacationing in St Johns last year after Terminix used a deadly pesticide on the floor below them The pesticide used, methyl bromide, has been banned by the EPA (pictured) for more than 30 years. Methyl bromide can be a neurotoxin and caused seizures and respiratory distress in the Esmond family 'Methyl bromide is a potent neurotoxin, so it really affects your central nervous system,' EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said in a telephone interview. Ryan, the youngest, is paralyzed from the neck down with no control of his limbs, though he is aware of what has happened. His older brother Sean is 'in and out of a coma', has no sensation in his limbs, and cannot move his body. The couple's sons Sean (pictured) and Ryan have permanent brain damage due to the negligent use of the chemicals. Sean, Ryan and Steve are all paralyzed, but Sean has the most neurological damage and is said to be 'in and out of a coma' Their father Steve, head of a private middle school in Wilmington, is paralyzed and 'must be strapped in to even sit'. The most improvement has been seen in their mother Theresa, a dentist, who was described as being in a 'good condition'. The pest control company was charged with illegally using methyl bromide at the resort and 13 residential locations across the U.S. Virgin Islands in recent years. The U.S. Justice Department said Terminix agreed to pay the fine and has stopped using the pesticide on the U.S. mainland and in its territories. Virgin Islands U.S. Attorney Ronald Sharpe said the case highlights the need to comply with environmental laws. 'Tragically, the defendants' failure to do so resulted in catastrophic injuries to the victims and exposed many others to similar harm,' he said. The Esmond family had rented a second-floor condominium at Sirenusa, a resort of 22 villas, last year. The pesticide was used March 28, 2015 on the condominium's first floor, and agents are trying to determine how much was employed. The EPA found that methyl bromide was used at other Sirenusa units last year, but couldn't reveal how many. Sea Glass Vacations LLC, which rents units at Sirenusa, said in a statement last year that it has terminated its contract with Terminix and the townhome under investigation is unoccupied. A Terminix spokesman said the company would issue a statement soon. The Environmental Protection Agency banned methyl bromide for residential applications in 1984, but an investigation by U.S. authorities in the Virgin Islands found the chemical was used at 12 residential units in St Croix and another one in St. Thomas between September 2012 and February 2015. The family was staying at the Sirenusa resort (pictured) in St John when the poi singing happened. Sea Glass Vacations LLC, which rents out condos at Sirenusa, has discontinued its contract with Terminix Terminix has agreed to pay a fine of $10 million and will pay the family in a separate civil case. A criminal case is still pending It also was used at the Sirenusa Condominium Resort in St. John last year. Justice Department officials said Terminix will make a good faith effort to resolve the family's medical expenses through a separate civil process as part of a three-year probation. They added that the criminal investigation was continuing. Federal authorities also are investigating the use of methyl bromide in Puerto Rico. A woman who was carrying scissors and suspected of shoplifting was shot five times and killed by police over the weekend in a small eastern Arizona community. Loreal Tsingine, 27, struggled physically with the officer who tried to take her into custody and threatened them with scissors, police said. The officer responded by shooting the woman five times on a sidewalk a couple of blocks from a convenience store, Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Raul Garcia said. Police had gone to the store in the city of Winslow on Sunday after a report of shoplifting and found Ms Tsingine, who fitted the description of the suspect. Ms Tsingine struggled physically with the officer who tried to take her into custody and threatened the officer with scissors before she was shot, police said 'We understand there are consequences for breaking the law, but it shouldn't have to be that extreme,' Dempsey said of her niece, who grew up on the Navajo Nation in the Teetso community and was primarily raised by her grandmother. 'We want to know how many times she was shot and why he shot her so many times?' Floranda Dempsey, an aunt of Ms Tsingine, told Phoenix TV station KPNX. 'We want justice.' Authorities said they will not comment further on Ms Tsingine's actions, words or demeanor until further investigations have taken place. Lt. Jim Sepi said the Winslow Police Department immediately asked for an external investigation and is confident the Department of Public Safety will be thorough and unbiased as it interviews witnesses, does ballistics testing and gathers evidence over the next few weeks or months. Authorities are refusing to identify the officer, who started a career in law enforcement three years ago with the Winslow Police Department and was wearing a body camera when the shooting occurred. A second Winslow police officer arrived after the shooting. Winslow borders the Navajo Nation about an hour east of Flagstaff and has a large American Indian population. The city was immortalized in pop culture by the 1972 by the Eagles' song, 'Take it Easy,' with the lyrics: 'Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.' The Winslow Police Department (pictured) immediately asked for an external investigation after the shooting of Ms Tsingine The shooting comes amid heightened tension around the country with law enforcement over police shootings, including incidents in Cleveland, Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri. The Winslow shooting prompted comments from hundreds of people on social media who questioned whether the number of shots was excessive considering the woman was armed with scissors, and others who defended the officer's actions. Stan Kephart, who runs a Phoenix-based consulting business on police practices and security, said the officer would have had to feel he or she would be gravely injured or killed to justify lethal force. The distance between the officer and Ms Tsingine, their states of mind and options for non-lethal force also will be part of the investigation, he said. Mr Kephart cautioned against jumping to conclusions before the Department of Public Safety completes its investigation. The comic defended her meltdown saying 'everyone has a bad day at work' Sources close to Cho deny she had abused alcohol or drugs before her set Two third of audience left mid-show as Cho allegedly branded them racist Table of doctors claimed they stayed for set out of concern for her health Audience say she could barely stand and simply repeated jokes about rape Stand-up comic Margaret Cho appeared to have an onstage meltdown last weekend - sparking concerns for her health. The comedian was 'slurring her words' and 'forgetting her punchlines' during her set at the Stress Factor in New Jersey last weekend, audience members say. Cho's performance was such a 'mess', at least two thirds of the crowd walked out mid-show, Page Six reports. Footage of the show reveals her yelling at audience members as they try to leave, while some claim they were branded 'racist' and 'over-privileged white people' by Cho. The 47-year-old has defended her meltdown saying 'everyone has a bad day at work'. She also said she had been upset after learning one her comedy heroes, Garry Shandling, had just died. Scroll down for video Stand-up comic Margaret Cho appeared to have an onstage meltdown last weekend when she performed at the Stress Factor (pictured on another evening) The comedian was 'slurring her words' and 'forgetting her punchlines' during her set at the Stress Factor in New Jersey last weekend, audience members say (Cho is pictured during the bizarre performance) A source close to the comic, who has spoken publicly about overcoming her problems with drug and alcohol abuse in the past, insists they did not see her drink or take anything last weekend. But only last September, an interview at home with Cho revealed the presence of medical marijuana. One show attendee told Page Six that a table of doctors endured the entire set because they were so concerned that Cho would need medical attention. Another audience member, Jerry Salit, said Cho 'couldn't stand up straight' for most of her depressing set which felt less like a comedy show and more like a therapy session for the comic. 'She spent the first hour of the show repeating her skit 3 times in a row, all she spoke about was her being raped and the death of other comedians,' he wrote on Facebook. 'This was not a comedy act but felt more like we were her support group.' Cho, who was sexually abused as a child and teenager, has previously described how sharing those experiences during her set alleviates the burden she feels as a victim. In an interview at the beginning of September, she described how she was molested by a close family friend between the ages of five and 12. Footage of the show reveals her yelling at audience members as they try to leave, while some claim they were branded 'racist' and 'over-privileged white people' by Cho The comedian was 'slurring her words' and 'forgetting her punchlines' when she performed a set at the Stress Factor in New Jersey last weekend - audience members say She was raped by another acquaintance of the family at 14 and when kids at her high school found out about it, she said they bullied her, telling her she was fat and ugly and 'deserved to be raped.' When she tried to tell her parents, she said they did not want to know. Cho told People last year that she wanted to discuss her experiences to empower other victims during her PsyCHO Tour that kicked off in the U.S. on October 1. One way she did that was by singing a song she wrote called I Want To Kill My Rapist at the close of each gig. 'When I've performed it live, women in the audience were screaming and crying and singing along,' she told People. 'They felt unburdened by it.' 'Sharing the suffering alleviates the burden. And that's what I'm trying to do.' But audience members on Friday's show say Cho's repeated jokes about rape and struggle to remember a punchline had left the crowd cold. Pat Daniel, a fan of the comic who had seen her stand-up in the past, was 'disappointed' with the bizarre performance. 'Understand she was in a dark place with the death of Gary (Shandling) but it was too much,' she added. 'She kept on talking about rape and how bad rape is, and it evidently pissed off a few people in the audience,' a fan told Page Six. 'She got into it with the hecklers. 'It turned ugly and it just got brutal. People were walking out like crazy.' Assaulted: The comedienne, 46, is currentlyon the road with her PsyCHO Tour. She revealed to Billboard in early September she'd been sexually abused from the age of five until she was 12 and raped at 14 A cellphone video shot by an audience member shows Cho shouting at the crowd as they decided to abandon the show. She is heard yelling: 'You will never get a cent of the money back that you paid' as the comedy fans file out. The show was so disastrous that Vinnie Brand of the Stress Factory was forced to issue an apology to his customers along with a refund to those who left. He said that the club had booked Cho for five shows - four of which had gone 'brilliantly.' 'Unfortunately the fifth show, the final set of the weekend, did not,' he said in a statement. 'This show took a left turn and ended up being a mess. We will make this up to the people who attended the show in whatever way we can. We love our customers, we love our stage and yes, we still love Margaret Cho.' Cho also issued an 'apology' for the show, saying she was sorry she' wasn't at my best, but maybe in a way, I was. 'I bring the real me and my truth to my work. It's not perfect, it's not manufactured, it's real. ' The former public officer of Australia's oldest and richest Aboriginal land trust has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $500,000 from the organisation and spending the money on multiple four-wheel drives, boats, quad bikes and cash handouts. Rosalie Lalara pleaded guilty to stealing close to $475,000 from beneficiaries of the Groote Eylandt Aboriginal Trust (GEAT) over 12 months from June 2011 and another $33.5 million of trust funds remains unaccounted for. The ABC reported that the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin heard that Ms Lalara spent the trust money on multiple vehicles and made cash payments to a close friend, Ben Tamwoy, who was not a GEAT beneficiary. Rosalie Lalara pleaded guilty to to stealing close to $500,000 from Groote Eylandt Aboriginal Trust beneficiaries What is GEAT? In the 1960s the traditional Aboriginal owners of Groote and Bickerton islands, off the coast of Arnhem Land, signed a royalty agreement with mining company BHP It was the first agreement of its kind in Australia between Aboriginal people and a mining company Groote Eylandt's manganese mine - now owned by South32, a subsidiary of BHP - pays tens of millions of dollars a year in royalties to the beneficiaries of GEAT Groote and Bickerton islands often appear in lists of the richest postcodes in Australia But despite the hundreds of millions of dollars paid into GEAT for the benefit of the community, education and health outcomes on the islands remain poor Source: ABC Advertisement It was heard that Ms Lalara and Mr Tamwoy made eight trips to car and boat yards in Cairns and Darwin between 2011 and 2012 where the trust's former public officer bought up to 15 boats at a time with trust money. The majority of boats did go to beneficiaries on Groote and Bickerton islands, but a total of 12 vehicles bought by Ms Lalara were given to Mr Tamwoy or his friends based in Queensland - none where GEAT beneficiaries. Court documents detailed that Ms Lalara bought 11 boats at a total cost of about $429,000 in April 2012, with the largest a Surtees Silver Bullet boat worth $79,000 and a dinghy valued at $35,000, that were given to Mr Tamwoy. Ms Lalara never collected the other nine boats purchased. But $18,000 was withdrawn from GEAT accounts and given in cash to Mr Tamwoy by Ms Lalara. Her motivation for stealing from the trust was solely 'to ingratiate yourself with Mr Tamwoy and his family', Prosecutor Damien Jones said to the court. The case, in Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin (pictured), heard that Ms Lalara spent the trust money on multiple vehicles, and made cash payments to a close friend 'She is bestowing him with lavish gifts - boats, cars, quad bikes,' Mr Jones said. In November 2015, the ABC reported that $34 million of GEAT money was spent between 2011 and 2013. The majority of this was spent on beneficiaries of GEAT but records were so badly kept up-to-date that there is no facts as to where and to whom all this cash went to. A victim impact statement on behalf of 'beneficiaries of GEAT', submitted by Elvis Barra for the prosecution, described the mistrust that was in the community at the time. 'Rosalie Lalara is my granddaughter. When she was running the trust I knew I could not trust her. She has taken too much money away from these poor communities,' the statement said. Ms Lalara's sentence is expected to be handed down next week. Most of the money stolen by Ms Lalara from the trust was spent on vehicles, boats, quad bikes (stock images) UN figures show 17,500 migrants have arrived in Italy via Libya this year Thousands of migrants are making the perilous crossing from Libya into Italy since the EU crackdown on the route from Turkey to Greece. Yesterday alone the Italian coastguard picked up 1,569 migrants in 11 separate operations off the Libyan coast in a new indication that the main route into Europe is shifting back. A further 1,500 were rescued in the Mediterranean over the weekend, adding to fears that calmer seas and warmer weather will encourage yet more to make the crossing. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Thousands of migrants are now making the perilous crossing from Libya into Italy. The German Navy, working for the EU, helped migrants in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya yesterday Yesterday alone the Italian coastguard picked up 1,500 migrants in 11 separate operations off the Libyan coast. Pictured are migrants in Sicily after being picked up by a Norwegian vessel Figures from the UNs refugee agency showed that 17,500 migrants have arrived in Italy via war-torn Libya this year, up around 40 per cent on 12 months previously. Nearly a fortnight ago EU leaders agreed a 4.7billion deal with Turkey to try to shut down the route across the Aegean from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands. However, concerns are growing that the plan, which includes an agreement to send back all arrivals, will drive people to make the more dangerous crossing from north Africa instead. Libyan officials are also threatening to open the floodgates and let thousands pour into Europe unless they receive more help combating the people traffickers. European Council president Donald Tusk, who negotiated the EU-Turkey deal, last night acknowledged that leaders now needed to focus on the risk of the route shifting back to Italy. I trust that progress will be made on the Turkish plan, he said. This is crucial in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Greece. 'Let us not forget though that there is still work ahead of us on other migration routes to Europe, including the central Mediterranean route. This is what we should be focusing on. Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking a better life in Europe, but the 185-mile crossing to Italy is more lethal than other routes. The body of a drowned migrant lay in the sand on a beach in Tripoli yesterday. At least 17 bodies have been recovered after a boat sank off the coast Since the start of 2014, 6,175 have died on the crossing, which amounts to around one for every 54 migrant who makes it Mortality figures compiled by the International Organisation for Migration show that since the start of 2014, 6,175 have died on the crossing, which amounts to around one for every 54 migrant who makes it. Some 800 people drowned in a single sinking off the Italian island of Lampedusa last April. At the same time, 1,161 people are known to have died on the Aegean route from Turkey to Greece one for every 893 successful crossings. EU chiefs have privately warned that an extra 450,000 migrants could attempt to reach Europe this summer as a result of the crisis in Libya. David Cameron has called for a dramatic escalation in efforts to stem the human tide, including the use of warships. Navy and coastguard ships are currently deployed off the Libyan coast as part of the EUs anti-trafficking Operation Sophia. Once picked up, migrants are ferried to hotspot processing centres in Italy, where there are already 106,000 arrivals waiting to be dealt with. Caught on camera: Criminal carer Lorraine Cenci High-tech cameras that monitor every inch of the house. Secret filming devices concealed in radios, pens and even air fresheners. Not to mention CCTV systems that cost upwards of 1,000. This sort of gadgetry might sound as if its from a James Bond film but its increasingly being used by desperate families across the country with one aim: to catch carers stealing from their vulnerable charges. Indeed, just last week a carer was convicted of stealing from an elderly lady she was supposed to be helping a conviction which, the Mail has learned, is the latest of at least three successful prosecutions of carers engaged in such crimes in this month alone. Not only that, but the Mail has discovered dozens of similar cases from the past five years. The latest criminal carer, Lorraine Cenci, a 44-year-old mother-of-three, was caught thanks to the actions of Debi and Danny Riley, who set up a spy camera hidden inside a radio before watching the disturbing scene it captured, transmitted via wireless technology to their mobile phones. Cenci was meant to be caring for Debis vulnerable 92-year-old aunt. Instead, while the old lady was in the bathroom, she took 40 in cash from her handbag. Thanks to the footage, police arrested Cenci as she left the property in Enfield, North London. A despicable act, undoubtedly, but sadly one that is becoming increasingly common. The Mail has spoken to the families of a number of pensioners who have been preyed on by carers. All have spoken of the terrible impact of the betrayal: from shattered self-confidence to escalating ill health and in three cases death which followed a short time after the crime. Read on and youll wonder whether you should be monitoring your elderly relatives by covert means, too Disturbing scene: Lorraine Cenci was captured rifling through a 92-year-old woman's handbag to steal cash 1. TRAPPED BY AN AIR FRESHENER Casually, carer Mary Riordan opens the drawer, rifles the contents a little and then rapidly pockets a handful of cash. This is the scene captured by a secret camera hidden in an air freshener by Pauline Guthries suspicious family. Riordan had been caring for Mrs Guthrie for six years when she was caught stealing from the disabled 75-year-old. In total, Riordan, 46, pocketed 960 from Mrs Guthrie, who lives in sheltered accommodation in Heysham, Lancs, and suffers from Bells Palsy, a form of facial paralysis. Mary Riordan took 960 from a disabled 75-year-old and was captured by a camera hidden in an air freshener Riordan pleaded guilty and was this month handed a 26-week jail term, suspended for two years. Mrs Guthries daughter Annie Pearson, 48, said: The theft has had a long-lasting effect. My mother doesnt go out much now. She classed Mary as a friend. Shes lost trust in people. My mum has had nervous breakdowns and hand tremors and, since this has happened, its got worse. Since Mary, she hasnt had anyone from outside to care for her. 2. THEFT, THEN A HEART ATTACK The kitchen is a picture of cosiness a fire with a hearth decorated by floral tiles and, just out of shot, a Toby Jug on the mantelpiece. Evelyn Nicholson, an 85-year-old retired farm worker, sits drinking a cup of tea. Owing to problems with her mobility, she relies on a team of carers. Its only through their assistance shes been able to stay in her own home. But to Sheryvone Brooks, then 19, and one of Mrs Nicholsons carers, none of this matters as was shown by the covert footage which shows her stealing 30 from Mrs Nicholsons purse, all while the pensioner was in the same room contentedly enjoying her cuppa. Sheryvone Brooks, then 19, stole money from an 85-year-old woman who died of heart failure not long after When money started to vanish from Mrs Nicholsons home, her family alerted the company who employed her carers. They hid a camera behind an ornamental teapot at Mrs Nicholsons home in Stourbridge, West Midlands, and, in January 2015, caught Brooks. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 26 weeks in a Young Offenders Institute. The devastation caused to Mrs Nicholson was immeasurable. She fell ill and died last May of a heart attack her 11 children, 16 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren mourn her still. Her son, Robert, said his mother had lost 200 in total, but there was no concrete proof Brooks took the rest. My mother died of heart failure not long after. It so upset her because Mum was very trusting. She used to say: I cannot believe she did it if she wanted the money, she had only to ask. 3. CAUGHT ON CHRISTMAS EVE Stuffing a handful of money down her bra, this is the moment carer Terri Cowley, 57, was caught stealing from a 75-year-old disabled man Stuffing a handful of money down her bra, this is the moment a carer was caught stealing from a 75-year-old disabled man. Yet Terri Cowley, 57, and her daughter Hollie Dixon, 30, received suspended sentences, so avoiding jail, for stealing from Norman Halsall earlier this month a sentence which led to Cowley cheering with her arms aloft. The pair were filmed taking money from publican Mr Halsalls wallet while supposedly caring for him at his flat in Rochdale. And while more than three months have passed since the theft, Mr Halsall, who has heart problems, is still traumatised. His son Steven, 50, noticed last December that up to 8,000 of pub takings had gone missing from the safe in his fathers flat, so set up a secret camera. While Cowley and Dixon could not be linked to the loss of the pub takings, the video caught them stealing 80 and 90 from Mr Halsalls wallet on December 21 and 24 last year. This has affected him more than he cares to admit, said Steven. Hes looking at people now and thinking: If I couldnt trust them, then can I trust you? 4. BETRAYAL OF A 90-YEAR-OLD While 90-year-old Ruth Darling was in the shower, her carer rummaged through her handbag, little realising a spy camera disguised as a pen had caught her red-handed. But the impact of the crime was immense. Partially blind, and only able to walk with difficulty, Mrs Darling had battled to stay in her own house in County Durham for as long as she could. But when she discovered her carer Angela Brownson was stealing from her, she became too terrified to live there. Even on the hottest summer day, she refused to open windows or doors in case she was robbed. She lost weight, stopped sleeping and, eventually, was forced to move into a care home. She died last July. Carer Angela Brownson was jailed for stealing 530 from 90-year-old Ruth Darling, who died last July Mrs Darlings family had set up the surveillance in July 2013 after noticing 6,000 had gone missing from her bank account. Brownson was jailed in May 2014 for 48 weeks for four thefts totalling 530. A source close to the case told the Mail this week: The aftermath was tragic. Mrs Darling only managed to stay in her home for six months after the court case. She needed carers but became too frightened to have them. 5. VICTIM WHO FOUGHT BACK Lynette Nardone helped catch carer Nadia Summers, pictured, stealing from her on camera Unlike many of her fellow victims, Lynette Nardone helped to trap her carer on film. Mrs Nardone, 64, who suffers from a debilitating degenerative disease, had begun to harbour suspicions of her carer Nadia Summers, 24, in December 2013 and had her family set up a 1,000 CCTV system at her Wolverhampton home. Soon enough, the recordings revealed Summers was stealing from Mrs Nardones bag. She received a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, in January 2014. Mrs Nardones daughter, Kate Lowbridge, this week said the theft had put her mother under intolerable stress. My mother is in a nursing home and cannot communicate now, said Kate. But at the time, in a written statement read out in court, Mrs Nardone said: Nadias actions have cost me much more than just 60 from my purse or 1,000 for cameras. She has taken away what little trust I had left. It has been hard for me to accept that I need help, and allowing strangers into my home as carers has been yet another challenge. I felt helpless to accuse the people who care for me... I was frightened to upset them in case they took it out on me. I depend on people. Nobody deserves to feel like a victim in their own home. 6. EXPOSED MARKED NOTES It took a video camera and an ultraviolet pen to catch carer Michelle English stealing from great-grandmother Jean Robson. Trusting, vulnerable and with dementia, Mrs Robson, 83, clearly seemed an easy target for English. But she didnt reckon on the ingenuity of Mrs Robsons grandson, Chris Murphy, who set up the camera at her home in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. The carers guilt was sealed because the family had also marked the cash with an ultraviolet pen, leaving no doubt that it was the money she was filmed pocketing. English, 33, admitted the thefts in October 2013 and was given a community payback order of 140 hours of unpaid work and forced to pay 100 compensation. Mrs Robson, though, remained none the wiser. Because of her dementia, her family never revealed her carer was a thief, deciding it would be too distressing. She died in November. Carer Michelle English got 140 hours of unpaid work after she was caught stealing from Jean Robson A woman left with severe back injuries after she slipped over in an upscale waterfront shopping precinct is suing a number of businesses in the area for over $650,000. Salvatrice McGinley is suing Marina Mirage on Queensland's Gold Coast ,Glass Restaurant, Jones Laing Lasalle real estate, and Glad Retail Cleaning as being responsible for her injuries. The 48-year-old alleges she slipped out the front of Marina Mirage post office on March 13, 2013, after Glass Restaurant cleaners 'caused a spill of a liquid substance', reports Gold Coast Bulletin. The Gold Coast's Marina Mirage (pictured) is being sued for over $650,000 after a woman slipped on a wharf inside the shopping and restaurant district Ms McGinley is seeking damages of $653,850 and claims the accident resulted from the 'negligence' of the respective organisations. She is also seeking damages for future loss of income. She says the cleaners neglected to notify pedestrians about the spill and failed to clean it up. The lawsuit claims she suffered 'severe injury to the discs in her back', along with lacerations, scratches and psychological injuries. She says she incurred extensive medical expenses was forced to give up the clothing business she ran at Marina Mirage as a result of her injuries. The lawsuit alleges while Marina Mirage was most at fault the other parties could also be held accountable. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Marina Mirage for comment. Salvatrice McGinley alleges Glass Restaurant (pictured) cleaners 'caused a spill of a liquid substance' which caused the accident The news is full of terrible events, such as airport bombs, a kindly newsagent stabbed to death in his shop for his religious views and politicians squabbling like five-year-olds, so it is sometimes hard to believe there is goodness in this world. So often in modern Britain, too, people feel let down by officialdom: council bureaucrats who turn a blind eye to obvious problems; social services refusing to take responsibility; the police turning their backs; even neighbours too frightened to do anything. But occasionally yes, sadly, it seems it is only occasionally a story comes to light that warms the heart. And this is one of them. David Shepherd, 26, forgot to post a parcel for guaranteed next day delivery, so transported it 275 miles himself It happened in the small town of Stratton in Cornwall. Its origins precede Norman times and in 1207, King John granted a charter for three fairs to be held each year. It remained the most important town in North Cornwall for centuries. Keeping up with this tradition of local service is David Shepherd, postmaster of Stratton Stores. His family also run a local dairy and have lived in the area for more than 60 years. A few days ago, David, 26, found himself in a wretched quandary. A customer had dropped off a letter and asked for it to be sent with guaranteed next-day delivery. It had been a busy day and at 5pm David realised he had forgotten to process the envelope. The last post had already gone. What was he to do? All David knew was the delivery address (more than 200 miles away in Rye, East Sussex, and that the sender had mentioned that the letter contained a friend's passport, which had to be collected by 9am the following day. If you'd been in David's shoes, what would you have done? a) Surreptitiously put the letter in the postbox for it to be collected the next day thus missing the sender's deadline. b) Contact the customer, admit your mistake, apologise profusely and explain that, sadly, there was nothing you could do the letter would arrive 24 hours too late. c) Wait until you've finished your 15-hour shift and take matters into your own hands. Namely, get into your car with the letter; drive 52 miles to Exeter station; catch the last overnight train to London; change trains three more times after reaching the capital to get to Rye; and walk bleary-eyed from the station to deliver the package. And then travel all the way home again. The dedicated newsagent lives in Stratton, Cornwall. However, he travelled all the way to Rye, Sussex to deliver Hugh Monro's passport For David, there was no choice. In fact, he didn't think twice. 'The minute I realised I'd made the mistake, I knew it was up to me to fix it,' he says, betraying an unselfish and admirable attitude that's rare to find these days. So when Stratton Stores closed at 10pm, he went home and quickly looked up the train times. Seeing that there was one that left Exeter St Davids at 1.06am and would arrive at London Paddington at 5.23am, he jumped into his car. Grabbing a bag of chips and with a biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs to while away the hours, it was going to be a long night. He recalls: 'I wasn't able to sleep on the train but I was happy I was doing the right thing.' As in many rural post offices, David knows most of his customers. The owner of the passport was Hugh Monro, a former head- master of several schools, including Wellington College in Berkshire and a regular in Stratton Stores. He has lived in the village for 15 years. The letter had to get to his sister, Sally, in Rye. It was such a lovely thing that he did really, really kind and beyond the call of duty. Who says the days of good service have passed? David insists he would have done the mercy dash for anyone even if he didn't know them because the mistake was his and it was his duty as post office manager to try to rectify it. He prides himself on the service his shop provides selling everything from coal to fresh salmon. 'If someone wants it, we'll get it in,' he says. 'I like to provide a really good service. I like to get it right.' Such devotion represents a model of public duty at a time when so many post offices face the axe. Royal Mail bosses have been accused of closing branches by stealth, by not reopening those that have been shut 'temporarily'. Indeed, there are about half the number of local post offices as there were in the Sixties. Country people across the land, like those in Stratton, cling on to their traditions the increasingly small number of things they can still control to keep their communities alive. Indeed, Stratton's post office was only recently saved. Last year, David's family took over full-time management, following a time when it had been run from a pub after the previous branch closed. Having taken the journey from Cornwall to Rye via the Great Western train line into London before heading out into Sussex, Mr Shepherd clocked up more than 300 miles in total The local Lib-Dem MP (who has since lost his seat to his Tory rival, who is, ironically, a former postman) praised 'the community-minded Shepherd family'. And so, true to this spirit, David (who works more than 12 hours a day and hasn't had a holiday for two years) found himself 210 miles from home in Paddington at an unearthly hour in the morning. He took the London Underground to St Pancras in time to catch the 6.40am train to Ashford in Kent (another 51 miles). From there, it was the 7.41am to Rye (15 miles). A weary David arrived in the driving rain just after 8am and, after looking at a map on his phone, walked to the house of Hugh Monro's sister with the precious white envelope firmly in his hand. Of course, she was unaware of his beyond-the-call-of-duty, cross-country odyssey. She was just expecting her local postman. 'She seemed very surprised to see me,' David says. 'Particularly when I said I'd come from Cornwall. 'I wasn't wearing a Royal Mail uniform, so she was a bit confused. She asked if I was on holiday, and I replied: 'No, I'm catching the train back to Cornwall in ten minutes I'm due on the 8.14am, so I can't hang around.' And so, mission completed, David began his 275-mile journey home. As well as meaning a full day away from his store, his epic trip took 22 hours and cost 155 in train fares (plus the cost of petrol to drive to Exeter and back, and the price of a bag of chips and a fried breakfast). That's quite a lot more than the 1.74 that Royal Mail charges for its cheapest 'Signed For 1st Class' next-working-day delivery service. Meanwhile, back in Rye, Sally Compton was still piecing together exactly how her brother's passport had got to her in time. Her normal postman who would have delivered the passport turned up with her other mail some time after David. Sally says she was stunned by David's kindness. Mr Shepherd transported Mr Monro's passport to his sister, who was so surprised by his visit she forgot to give him a cup of tea Mr Monro (left) gave Mr Shepherd (right) a thank-you bottle of champagne for all his efforts 'I was so taken aback to see him that I didn't even offer him a cup of tea before he trudged back off in his anorak to get the train home. 'It was such a lovely thing that he did really, really kind and beyond the call of duty. Who says the days of good service have passed?' Having been informed of the unorthodox way the passport was delivered, Hugh has given David a thank-you bottle of champagne. Characteristically modest about his actions and that 550-mile round-trip, David says: 'People do kind things every day. 'It's just that we only tend to hear all the bad things in life not the good ones.' That said, though, David's actions were beyond the call of duty. People are saying this hero of a little corner of Cornwall should be given some kind of medal. Model Jesinta Campbell agrees with guidelines saying it gives perspective suggest it is offensive to say it was 'discovered' Model Jesinta Campbell has argued that Australia was 'invaded' by the British while radio host Kyle Sandilands has accused university 'w***ers' of trying to to 'rewrite history' as debate rages over teaching guidelines on Indigenous terminology. Teaching guides being used at universities across the country show students are being told to refer to Australia as being 'invaded' and that it is inappropriate to say Captain Cook 'discovered' the country. 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were in Australia long before Captain Cook arrived; hence it was impossible for Cook to be the first person to 'discover' Australia,' guidelines in a Diversity Toolkit for the University of NSW state. Scroll down for video Teaching guidelines for universities across the country suggest it is 'incorrect' to say Captain Cook 'discovered' Australia and is more appropriate to use words like invasion, colonisation or occupation 'Australia was not settled peacefully, it was invaded, occupied and colonised. Describing the arrival of the Europeans as a 'settlement' attempts to view Australian history from the shores of England rather than the shores of Australia.' Campbell, who is engaged to Indigenous AFL player Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, agreed with the teaching guidelines during a panel discussion on Nine's Today show saying it gave students different perspectives. 'When you look at our Australian history it is written from the perspective of a white man,' the 25-year-old said. 'So of course from white (people's perspective) we see that Australia was settled, but from our Indigenous people's perspective it probably was invaded... and it's disrespectful to them to say Australia was settled. WHAT YOU SHOULD SAY INSTEAD Aboriginal people or Aboriginal person He was the first Englishman to map east coast Australia was invaded or occupied They have been here since the beginning of the Dreamings Pre-invasion history or post-invasion history Advertisement WHAT IS 'INAPPROPRIATE' Aborigines or Aboriginal Captain Cook 'discovered' Australia Australia was settled Aboriginal people have been here for 40,000 years Australian history Advertisement Campbell, who is engaged to Indigenous AFL player Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, agreed with the teaching guidelines during a panel discussion on Nine's Today show saying it gave students different perspectives Model Jesinta Campbell, during a panel discussion on Nine's Today show, agreed with the university teaching guidelines and argued that Australia was 'invaded' by the British 'I think we just need to broaden our view on this. By doing this in universities, I think that's what we're doing. 'We are saying, you know what there's two perspectives to this - there was Indigenous people living on this land well before Captain James Cook came in and when he came in it was invaded. 'That to me is the bottom line that we were invaded.' Sandilands took a different view when he broached the topic on his Kiis FM radio show saying the guidelines were unnecessary and w***ers were 'rewriting history'. 'It divides society,' Sandilands said. The 25-year-old model said the university guidelines because it gave students different perspectives on Australian history Radio host Kyle Sandilands took a different view when he spoke about the topic on Kiis FM saying university 'w***ers' were just trying to to 'rewrite history' 'All the flogs at uni reckon we invaded the joint... I'm not interested in who was here first and who did was, get over it, it's 200 years ago.' The teaching guidelines also state that suggesting Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for 40,000 years 'puts a limit on the occupation of Australia'. Instead, it is more appropriate to refer to it as 'since the beginning of the Dreaming' because it reflects the beliefs of any Indigenous people that they have always been in Australia. It also claims a line commonly referred to in history books stating that Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth were the first men to cross the Blue Mountains in NSW is inappropriate. Guidelines also suggest is it inappropriate to say Aboriginals have lived here for 40,000 years because it 'puts a limit on the occupation of Australia'. It is more appropriate to say 'since the beginning of the Dreaming' According to a Diversity Toolkit on Indigenous terminology for the University of NSW (pictured), it is more appropriate to say Australia was invaded. The guidelines are similar at all universities in Australia 'Aboriginal men, women and children had crossed the Blue Mountains for thousands of years before European explorers,' the guidelines read. 'Statements such as this deny the Indigenous history of Australia, and are examples of the White Australia frame of reference that totally excludes Indigenous Australia.' The guidelines also advise it is more appropriate to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as an Indigenous Australian or an Aboriginal person instead of an Aboriginal or Aborigine. The teaching toolkit is understood to be based on similar guidelines at universities across Australia. Eurosceptics submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Cabinet Office asking whether Sir Jeremy Heywood (pictured) had held any meetings with figures from Britain Stronger In Europe Britain's most senior mandarin has been dragged into the EU referendum row again after refusing to reveal if he had met Remain campaigners. Eurosceptics submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Cabinet Office asking whether Sir Jeremy Heywood, who has been dubbed Sir Cover-Up, had held any meetings with figures from Britain Stronger In Europe. They also asked for correspondence between the Cabinet Secretary and members of his private office with the campaign, and details of any phone conversations. But the Cabinet Office replied that although it has information about such meetings, it would not yet be releasing them because it may not be in the 'public interest'. Officials said they could not reply within the usual 20 working days because they needed time to decide whether the information should be withheld. It means it is unclear whether details of meetings or correspondence would be released until after the EU referendum on June 23 or at all. Sir Jeremy was dubbed Sir Cover-Up over his attitude to the Freedom of Information Act when he argued for the public's right to know to be watered down, saying it had a 'chilling effect' on government decision-making. Plans to dilute the Act have since been dropped by the Government after a campaign by the Daily Mail. The new row comes a month after Sir Jeremy was accused of issuing guidance to civil servants instructing them not to help Brexit ministers with any information bearing on the European question. The Freedom of Information request, submitted by the Vote Leave campaign, asked for 'any correspondence between Jeremy Heywood or members of his private office with any member of staff of the Stronger In campaign group'. It also asked for a list of any meetings that he attended at which any Stronger In staff were in attendance, and the corresponding minutes of those meetings. The request called for any correspondence Sir Jeremy has had with other members of the Government, whether official or ministerial, in relation to the Stronger In campaign group. And it asked for a record of any phone conversations the Cabinet Secretary has had with Stronger In. A reply was received on Wednesday from the FOI team at the Cabinet Office, invoking Section 36 of the Act which means information does not have to be disclosed if it refers to policy formulation. The Cabinet Office said that although it has information about such meetings, it would not yet be releasing them - because it may not be in the 'public interest'. Above: Lord Rose of the Britain Stronger in Europe group It said: 'I can confirm that the Cabinet Office holds information relevant to your request, but I must advise you that I must extend the time limit for responding to your request. It is occasionally necessary to extend the 20 working day time limit for issuing a response. 'Information you have requested is exempt under Section 36 of the Act which relates to information which, if released, would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. Section 36 is subject to a public interest test and the Cabinet Office has not yet reached a decision on whether the balance of the public interest favours disclosure of this information.' Section 36 is one of the parts of the FOI Act that Sir Jeremy had apparently tried to get diluted. The change would have meant that more documents could have been exempted than at present. Ministers are failing to 'get to grips' with Government business because they are focused on the EU referendum, a think tank warned yesterday. There is a 'real danger' that ministers have become 'distracted' in the wake of Iain Duncan Smith's resignation from the Cabinet, the Institute for Government said. It warned that ministries such as the Department for Work and Pensions were overwhelmed and appeared to be lacking direction. There is a 'real danger' that ministers have become 'distracted' in the wake of Iain Duncan Smith's resignation from the Cabinet with some failing to 'get to grips' with Government business, the Institute for Government said Julian McCrae, the IfG's deputy director, said: 'With the EU referendum and the fall-out from Mr Duncan Smith's resignation [as Work and Pensions Secretary], there is a tendency to try and put forward new initiatives. The real danger is that ministers become distracted. 'The civil service responds to what ministers are focused on. It is quite important that people are checking if they have got real plans in place.' He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that civil servants have also been left to tackle hundreds of different 'priorities', and that Government initiatives were lacking freshness. 'You look at some plans that the Government has published, that we have been waiting a while for they really look like a rehash of the manifesto,' he said. 'We counted nearly 100 different priorities in one of those plans for one department. It just looks like you [ministers] are not really getting to grips with it.' He added that it is 'important for both sides to work together' in understanding where ministers 'actually need to get things done in Government'. The Institute for Government warned that ministries such as the Department for Work and Pensions (pictured) were overwhelmed and appeared to be lacking direction because they are so focused on the EU referendum 'Setting out what you have to really focus on is something only ministers can do,' he said. He gave the example of universal credit, which dragged on for two years and was 'not really on track'. Reforms proposed by the Ministry of Justice are also at risk because Michael Gove, the Eurosceptic Justice Secretary, is on the opposite side of the referendum debate to the Prime Minister. The IfG said: 'Time is not on the Government's side. While nobody expects ministers to step back from the EU referendum campaign, they must be able to simultaneously devote the energy and leadership necessary to ensuring their wider agenda is achieved.' Mr Duncan Smith, who is campaigning to quit the EU, denies his resignation had anything to do with Europe. He quit after clashes with the Chancellor over cuts to disability benefits. A 23-year-old man has pleaded guilty to stabbing his friend with a large kitchen knife after the 43-year-old accused him of stealing a pair of sunglasses. Adrian Waters, 23, had just left a party at his friend's home in Wollongong, south of Sydney, when the sunglasses were discovered to be missing. The 43-year-old man arrived at Waters' unit at around 7am on January 9 last year, demanding to know where the sunglasses were. The court heard Waters denied taking the glasses but agreed to accompany the victim back to his unit where he stabbed the 43-year-old twice - in the upper left shoulder and in the upper back. Adrian Waters, 23, has pleaded guilty to stabbing a friend with a large kitchen knife near a unit in Crown Street, Wollongong, south of Sydney, after the 43-year-old accused him of stealing a pair of sunglasses Waters pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless wounding during a recent court appearance. The victim claimed that he heard 'someone running up the stairs towards him' and 'noticed a figure behind him' when he was taking on his mobile in the stairwell of his unit. 'He then noticed a figure of a person behind him to his left,' court documents said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. 'He felt the sensation of someone punching him, once to the shoulder and again to his back.' The 43-year-old was left 'bleeding profusely' from the attack, but did not initially realise he had been stabbed. He told the court that he turned around to see Waters with a black-handled knife before the 23-year-old said 'come down my way talking s***' and then ran off. CCTV footage showed Waters and the victim walking into the unit block. It also showed Waters running out again with the knife in his hand. Waters was arrested later that afternoon. Police found him dressed in the same clothes he was wearing at the time of the attack. The victim was taken to hospital and underwent surgery. During a previous hearing, Waters' lawyer, Tyrone Phillips, said the incident was an isolated one and his client posed no threat to the community. He said Waters had been diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 16, and had recently moved out of home to live on his own. An Israeli company helped the FBI in unlocking the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California shooters, according to reports. Israel's Cellebrite, is a provider of mobile forensic software that says it does business with thousands of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, militaries and governments in more than 90 countries. An official source told NBC News that the company had helped. Neither the FBI nor Cellebrite has confirmed the reports. The FBI hacked into the iPhone used by gunman Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police after they killed 14 people in December in San Bernardino. The iPhone, issued to Farook by his employer, the county health department, was found in a vehicle the day after the shooting. An Israeli company may have helped the FBI in unlocking the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California shooters. Syed Farook and his wife (both pictured) died in a gun battle with police after killing 14 people and injuring 22 in California, in December The FBI is reviewing information from the iPhone, and it is unclear whether anything useful can be found. A great deal of speculation centers on Cellebrite an Israel-based forensics firm that says it does business with thousands of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, militaries and governments in more than 90 countries though it remains one of several possible candidates. A company spokesman declined to comment last week. Cellebrite, founded in 1999, is a subsidiary of Japan's Sun Cor and has had contracts with the FBI dating back to at least 2013. The firm makes devices that allow law enforcement to extract and decode data such as contacts, pictures and text messages from more than 15,000 kinds of smartphones and other mobile devices. It also makes commercial products that companies can use to help their customers transfer data from old phones to new ones. Apple even uses Cellebrite devices in some of its stores. Suncorp's shares have more than doubled in the six weeks since Apple published its letter refusing to help the FBI, reports Fortune. The FBI's announcement is a public setback for Apple, as consumers suddenly discover they can't keep their most personal information safe and Apple remains in the dark about how to restore the security of its flagship product. Apple software engineers and outside experts are puzzled about how the FBI broke the digital locks on the phone without Apple's help. It also complicated Apple's job repairing flaws that jeopardize its software. A court filing stated the government had 'successfully accessed the data stored on Farook's iPhone' without Apple's help but did not elaborate on how or what information it managed to recover The Justice Department's announcement that it was dropping a legal fight to compel Apple to help it access the phone also took away any obvious legal avenues Apple might have used to learn how the FBI did it. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym vacated her February 16 order, which compelled Apple to help the FBI hack their phone, on Tuesday. The Justice Department declined through a spokeswoman to comment Tuesday. A few clues have emerged. A senior law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the FBI managed to defeat an Apple security feature that threatened to delete the phone's contents if the FBI failed to enter the correct passcode combination after 10 tries. That allowed the government to repeatedly and continuously test passcodes in what's known as a brute-force attack until the right code is entered and the phone is unlocked. It wasn't clear how the FBI dealt with a related Apple security feature that introduces increasing time delays between guesses. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to discuss the technique publicly. FBI Director James Comey has said with those features removed, the FBI could break into the phone in 26 minutes. Apple said in a statement Monday that the legal case to force its cooperation 'should never have been brought,' and it promised to increase the security of its products. CEO Tim Cook has said the Cupertino-based company is constantly trying to improve security for its users. The FBI's announcement even without revealing precise details that it had hacked the iPhone was at odds with the government's firm recommendations for nearly two decades that security researchers always work cooperatively and confidentially with software manufacturers before revealing that a product might be susceptible to hackers. The aim is to ensure that American consumers stay as safe online as possible and prevent premature disclosures that might damage a U.S. company or the economy. In a stunning reversal last week, federal prosecutors asked a judge to halt a much-anticipated hearing on their efforts to force Apple to unlock the phone, saying an 'outside party' had stepped forward to help As far back as 2002, the Homeland Security Department ran a working group that included leading industry technology industry executives to advise the president on how to keep confidential discoveries by independent researchers that a company's software could be hacked until it was already fixed. Even now, the Commerce Department has been trying to fine-tune those rules. The next meeting of a conference on the subject is April 8 in Chicago and it's unclear how the FBI's behavior in the current case might influence the government's fragile relationship with technology companies or researchers. The industry's rules are not legally binding, but the government's top intelligence agency said in 2014 that such vulnerabilities should be reported to companies. 'When federal agencies discover a new vulnerability in commercial and open source software a so-called 'zero day' vulnerability because the developers of the vulnerable software have had zero days to fix it it is in the national interest to responsibly disclose the vulnerability rather than to hold it for an investigative or intelligence purpose,' the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement in April 2014. The statement recommended generally divulging such flaws to manufacturers 'unless there is a clear national security or law enforcement need.' Last week a team from Johns Hopkins University said they had found a security bug in Apple's iMessage service that would allow hackers under certain circumstances to decrypt some text messages. The team reported its findings to Apple in November and published an academic paper after Apple fixed it. 'That's the way the research community handles the situation. And that's appropriate,' said Susan Landau, professor of cybersecurity policy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She said it was acceptable for the government to find a way to unlock the phone but said it should reveal its method to Apple. Mobile phones are frequently used to improve cybersecurity, for example, as a place to send a backup code to access a website or authenticate a user. The chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, Joseph Lorenzo Hall, said keeping details secret about a flaw affecting millions of iPhone users 'is exactly opposite the disclosure practices of the security research community. The FBI and Apple have a common goal here: to keep people safe and secure. This is the FBI prioritizing an investigation over the interests of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.' The father-of-three was released after serving 20 months in prison of a string of break and enter offences in December A man who was killed after allegedly breaking into another man's home had been released from jail in December after his convictions for an aggravated break and enter case were found to be based on 'flawed CCTV footage'. Richard James Slater, 34, was found guilty of fraud and aggravated break and enter offences after he was charged for breaking into a home to steal a wallet, handbag and a car, which prosecutors claimed was later used in the ram raid of an adult store in Sandgate, a suburb in Newcastle, in 2012. He had served 20 months of his two year and six month prison sentence when his convictions were quashed in December by the NSW Court of Appeal, only months before he was found standing in Benjamin Batterham's home in Newcastle holding his wife's wallet in an alleged break and enter. Slater, whose life support was switched off on Sunday after he was fatally injured by the father-of-one, had appealed his burglary conviction claiming the prosecution's case relied solely on images obtained from 'flawed CCTV footage'. Scroll down for video Richard James Slater was released from jail in December after as his convictions for aggravated break and enter case was found to be based on 'flawed CCTV footage' He had served 20 months in prison when his convictions were quashed, only months before he was allegedly found standing in Benjamin Batterham's(pictured) home in Newcastle holding his wife's wallet Slater, a father-of-three, and two other men were accused of breaking into a family home in Merewether, an affluent beach-side suburb of Newcastle, north of Sydney, on November 4, 2012 where some belongings and a silver car were stolen. Later that night a silver car was used in the ram raid of a Nauti and Nice adult store in Sandgate, around 10 kilometres from the Merewether home, where three men with covered faces stole a quantity of synthetic drugs, around $1,000 in cash and some batteries. The 'heavily disguised offenders' initially tried to push the door open but when that failed they reversed the car into the shop's doors several times to gain entry. The prosecution told the court Slater was caught on CCTV footage leaving the car with his face uncovered after the robbery, linking him to both crimes. A silver car was later used in the ram raid of a Nauti and Nice adult store in Sandgate, where three men with covered faces stole a quantity of synthetic drugs, around $1,000 in cash and some batteries The prosecution told the court Slater was caught on CCTV footage exiting the car with his face uncovered after the robbery, linking him to both crimes Slater's life support was switched off on Sunday following his altercation with Batterham on Saturday The next day, on November 5, a credit card that was stolen from the Merewether home was used to make four withdrawals from a hotel ATM in Newcastle West, the court heard. TIMELINE OF RICHARD JAMES SLATER'S APPEAL Three men broke into a house in Mereweather, an affluence beach-side suburb in Newcastle, on November 4. A wallet, handbag and silver car were stolen from the home. Three men driving a silver car were involved in a ram raid of Sandgates Nauti and Nice adult store in the early hours of November 5. Synthetic drugs, $1,000 cash and batteries were taken from the shop. Police alleged the vehicle stolen from Mereweather was used in the robbery. A credit card stolen from the Mereweather home was used on 5 November 2012 at a hotel ATM and later at a supermarket where Slater was allegedly seen on CCTV footage. Richard James Slater was arrested and charged over both offences on November 21. CCTV footage of a man involved in the Sandgate break in was used in court to place Slater at the scene. He was found not guilty of breaking into the Merewather home but found guilty over the ram raid on May 28, 2014. The father-of-three was sentenced to two years and six months without parole. Slater appealed his conviction in November 2015. He claimed the CCTV footage used to place him at the scene was grainy and not sufficient to convict him without a reasonable doubt. The Crown agreed and acquitted him on all charges in December 2015. Slater was released after spending 20 months in prison. Advertisement It was alleged that Slater had been pictured on the hotel's CCTV footage using the ATM for about eight minutes while in the company of two other men. Three men 'of similar appearance' to those seen on the hotel's security footage were later pictured using the credit card to make three separate transactions at a Coles supermarket not far from the hotel. A jury found Slater not guilty of the robbery in Merewether and his lawyers later appealed the other convictions as the outcome relied heavily two images that were extracted from four seconds of grainy CCTV footage. The footage was found to be 'blurry and indistinct', with Slater's lawyer claiming the face in the stills appeared pale and thin while Slater was of Aboriginal appearance with a rounded face. The stills did not match up with photographs taken of Slater when he was arrested on November 21, which the jury had been asked to assess without any instruction from the judge to consider with caution. 'The Crown acknowledged that the face of the man in the CCTV footage appeared thinner than the Appellant and was not obviously Aboriginal,' the appeal court heard. It was found that the face of the man on the CCTV footage looked like Slater 'in some respects' but a 'a vague similarity of that type' was not enough to support a conviction. The Crown also found there was no evidence, apart from a vague timeline, that indicated that the silver car used in the ram raid was in fact the vehicle that was stolen from the home in Merewether. The vehicles number plate was not seen on the store's security footage. Justice Robert Beech-Jones said the evidence used to convict Slater 'relied upon flawed CCTV footage and was not capable of demonstrating his guilt without a reasonable doubt. 'The fact that the matter could have proceeded to trial much less conviction is deeply troubling,' he said in December 2015. A jury found Slater not guilty of the robbery in Merewether and his lawyers later appealed the other convictions as the outcome relied heavily two images that were extracted from four seconds of grainy CCTV footage It was found that the face of the man on the CCTV footage looked like Slater 'in some respects' but a 'a vague similarity of that type' was not enough to support a conviction Justice Robert Beech-Jones said the evidence used to convict Slater 'relied upon flawed CCTV footage and was not capable of demonstrating his guilt without a reasonable doubt 'This incarceration was due to errors which were so obvious they simply should not have occurred.' Slater was acquitted and released from jail in December after serving 20 months behind bars for the offence. The 34-year-old died on Sunday from injuries sustained in a brawl with Benjamin Batterham, who was charged with murder following the father-of-three's death. Mr Batterham's arrest has caused significant outrage in the community, with almost 69,000 people signing a petition demanding his immediate release. Many have claimed that the father-of-one had been defending his home and family after Slater was allegedly found near the bedroom of the Newcastle resident's daughter while clutching his wife's purse. Mr Batterham's arrest has caused significant outrage in the community, with almost 69,000 people signing a petition demanding his immediate release following the break and enter at his Hamilton property (pictured) The 34-year-old, who is known to his family as Ricky, was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where he remained in critical condition until his family decided to turn off his life support on Sunday morning It was initially reported that a fight broke out between Mr Batterham and Slater, who was subsequently put in a choke hold until police arrived, which is when it was found he had a broken neck. However, a tripe zero recording that was obtained by the Daily Telegraph indicates that Mr Batterham could be heard threatening the intruder before a drawn out fight ensued. The paper claims Mr Batterham continued to attack Slater after police arrived on the scene. The 34-year-old, who is known to his family as Ricky, was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where he remained in critical condition until his family decided to turn off his life support at 11.30am on Sunday. It has been alleged that Mr Batterham continued to attack Slater after police arrived on the scene Batterham, 33, did not apply for bail when his case was heard in Newcastle Local Court on Tuesday morning after he handed himself into police on Sunday when his charge was upgraded from grievous bodily harm to murder. The United States has taken swift action to protect its steel industry from Chinese dumping by imposing tariffs ten times as high as those the EU levies on imports. While the European Union took months to bring forward a levy on the import of Chinese steel of 24 per cent, the US quickly imposed a tariff of 266 per cent. Critics say the disparity shows how the EU is hamstrung from taking effective measures because it has to take into account the views of 28 member states. While the European Union took months to bring forward a levy on the import of Chinese steel of 24 per cent, the US has quickly imposed a tariff of 266 per cent. Pictured: The Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales, UK The US, on the other hand, can act more quickly to deal with emerging trade threats. The Leave campaign says Britain, too, could take action to help its under-threat steel industry as long as it did not have to wait for sanction from Commission bureaucrats. The only way to achieve this, they say, would be via Brexit giving us the chance to set our own tariffs at levels to protect our own industries. Steel prices have fallen to a record low due to a glut of cheap Chinese imports. International trade rules state that countries can increase tariffs only if it can be proved that China is 'dumping' steel acting uncompetitively by selling it for less than it costs to make. The EU took months to decide to set its 24 per cent tariff rate and this has done little to stem the influx of cheap steel. America has also imposed anti-dumping levies. However, it arrived at a decision much more quickly taking only a few weeks before it imposed a penalty of 266 per cent on identical imports of Chinese steel. This has effectively cut off the flow of cheap steel into the US and allowed its home-made producers to flourish. A spokesman for Eurofer, the European steel association, said: 'In this respect, the EU market is the loser because of its softer regime.' 100,000 have signed the petitions calling on the law to be changed More than 100,000 people have expressed outrage after a father was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly breaking the neck of a home intruder at the weekend. Two petitions on the Change.org website calling on Newcastle father Ben Batterham, 33, to be released have garnered more than 66,000 and 40,000 signatures in the past 48 hours. Mr Batterham was arrested after he allegedly tried to detain Richard James Slater near his daughter's bedroom at his home at 3.30am on Saturday. 'It's a scary thought that you cannot protect your own family in your own home,' said Avi Yemini, the Melbourne father-of-four who started one of the petitions. Mr Yemini - who has received more than 30 donations for the Batterham family totalling $1000 - added: 'If somebody comes into my house, I'm going to protect them with everything I've got.' But under what circumstances can a person defend themselves or others in the eyes of the law? Scroll down for video More than 100,000 people have signed two petitions about Ben Batterham - both calling on him to be released Mr Batterham was charged with the murder of Richard James Slater (pictured) after Mr Slater allegedly broke into his home in Newcastle Mr Slater's neck was allegedly broken as Mr Batterham tried to detain him, with the grevious bodily harm charges against him upgraded to murder once Mr Slater's life support was switched off on Sunday Section 418 of the Crimes Act 1900 stipulates that a person in New South Wales is not criminally responsible for an offence if they were acting in self-defence, given they fulfil two requirements. Firstly it must be established that the accused thought their conduct was necessary to defend themselves or another person, to prevent unlawful detention, to protect property from damage or destruction or prevent criminal trespassing. Secondly, the courts look to determine if the response was 'reasonable' given the circumstances or how they were understood by the individual in that moment. The judge or jury will assess what a reasonable person may have done in the circumstances as they were perceived by the defendant, not objectively from the position of another person. 'The main issue about self-defence is ensuring your response to what happened is proportionate and reasonable under the circumstances, chair of the NSW criminal law committee Pauline Wright told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Batterham allegedly found Mr Slater looking into his young daughter's room in Hamilton on Saturday at around 3.30am Mr Slater's greiveing family have argued that his attacker used unreasonable force during the citizen's arrest His family have denied that Mr Slater, who was reportedly charged over a string of break and enter offences in 2012, was attempting to enter the Hamilton property without permission 'If someone walks up to you in the street and slaps you on the shoulder it wouldnt be reasonable for you to pull out a gun and shoot them or similarly pull out a knife and stab them.' 'That wouldnt be a reasonable or proportionate response to the threat.' Ms Wright said there is some element of objectivity as the court would have to find there was a reasonable basis for thinking you were under imminent threat. 'If somebody dropped a pen next to you on the train it wouldnt be reasonable to believe they were about to attack you,' she said. Ms Wright said if someone accused of murder claimed they were acting in self-defence a jury or judge could find them guilty on a lesser charge of manslaughter or alternatively, if it was a reasonable response to the perceived threat the accused could be acquitted. While under normal circumstances the defence would be responsible for proving their argument beyond a reasonable doubt, in the case of self-defence the onus falls on the prosecution to prove that the accused was not acting to protect themselves or others. 'If the police cant prove it wasnt in self defence then you would succeed in your defence,' Ms Wright said. 'If the police cant prove it wasnt in self defence then you would succeed in your defence,' Ms Wright said She added that self-defence can only be used to protest an accused murder's innocence if their actions were to protect themselves or another person, not property. In Australia any person has the right to detain another if they commit a crime, which is commonly known as a citizen's arrest. However Ms Wright warned that there is a fine line between a self-defence argument and being found to have used excessive force. 'In NSW it could be self-defence if you were able to stop your attacker and you didn't use anything more than reasonable force before taking them to police station or court.' 'If that was the case you would be acting within your rights but you do have to be very careful if you're in a situation like that not to step over the line as the line can be a little bit grey as to what is self defence and what is unreasonable force.' However Ms Wright warned that there is a fine line between a self-defence argument and being found to have used excessive force Ms Wright said that legally, the best advice for someone who has seen a crime or feels threatened is to 'get away' and contact police She said that legally, the best advice for someone who has seen a crime or feels threatened is to 'get away' and contact police. The advice obtained by Daily Mail Australia does not directly relate to Mr Batterham's case. Mr Batterham, 33, did not apply for bail when his case was heard in Newcastle Local Court on Tuesday morning after he was charged with the murder of Richard James Slater on Sunday. The father-of-one did not appear via videolink and will remain in custody at the Cessnock Correctional Centre until his case is heard again on May 25, the Newcastle Herald reported Mr Batterham allegedly found Mr Slater, 34, standing his daughter's doorway after he was believed to have broken into his home in Hamilton, in central Newcastle, at about 3.30am on Saturday. A fight broke out and Mr Batterham, who was assisted by an unnamed friend, is understood to have put the would-be burglar in a choke hold to detain him until police arrived. Police found Mr Slater, who was reportedly charged with a string of break and enter offences in 2012, unconscious in Mr Batterham's home with a suspected broken neck. Mr Slater's devastated family have demanded justice, claiming the 34-year-old father-of-three was 'murdered in cold blood' (pictured mother Beryl Slater right) Mr Slater's daughter Bree posted an image of her father with the caption: 'I just want my daddy home!' The 34-year-old, who is known to his family as Ricky, was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where he remained in critical condition until his family decided to turn off his life support at 11.30am on Sunday, according to NSW Police. Mr Slater's family demanded 'justice' outside Newcastle courthouse on Monday, with around 12 people showing up again on Tuesday. Mr Batterhams charge of grievous bodily harm was upgraded to murder following Mr Slater's death causing outrage in the community, with many claiming he was simply defending himself against the would-be thief. An online petition has emerged demanding Mr Batterham's charges be dropped, with almost 15,000 people signing in a few short hours. 'Homeowners should be able to defend their families from criminals who break into their homes - and Benjamin should be released now!!!' the petition reads. Many of those who signed the petition said they were 'sick of perpetrators being protected by the broken laws that exist in Australia'. 'If you creep into someone's residence uninvited you deserve to die, it's that simple, good people don't invade peoples living space,' one person wrote in support of Mr Batterham. 'How dare you prosecute someone for defending their home and their family in their own home! This is NOT murder, this was NOT premeditated. This was self defence,' said another. On Monday the family denied Mr Slater was attempting to enter the Hamilton property without permission, instead claiming he was there to attend a party, Nine News reported. They said the father-of-three was now unable to defend the accusation he was an intruder following his death. He didnt deserve what happened to him, Mr Slaters sister, Tiara Kelly, said. The Bank of England issued another stark warning about the risks of Brexit yesterday, claiming it could hit foreign investment, borrowing costs and the pound. In its latest health check on the economy, the central bank predicted millions of households could see their mortgage rates rise if the public votes to sever ties with Brussels. Warning of a further fall in the value of the pound, the Bank described the 'uncertainty' created by the EU referendum on June 23 as the biggest short-term domestic threat to financial stability. The Bank of England (pictured) predicted millions of households could see their mortgage rates rise if the public votes to sever ties with Brussels and warned that a Brexit could hit foreign investment and the pound But the grim prognosis infuriated Eurosceptics who last night accused the Bank of 'scaremongering' and compromising its independence. Anti-Brussels campaigners also dismissed claims that trade and foreign investment will be hit by Brexit. Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, a member of the Vote Leave campaign, said: 'The governor's speculation has already dented the Bank of England's reputation for impartiality. It's now joined the Establishment's scaremongering campaign.' The Bank has refused to take sides on the EU debate, but has made several interventions in recent weeks. Governor Mark Carney last month warned Brexit would cause a period of financial instability that could 'last a very long time' and hit the UK's economy hard. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney (pictured) last month warned Brexit would cause a period of financial instability that could 'last a very long time' Yesterday the Bank spelled out in more detail the damage it claims would be caused by the uncertainty both in the run-up to June 23 and the aftermath if the public votes for Brexit. The sobering analysis followed the latest meeting of its financial policy committee, which was set up to spot threats to the economy. It concluded that the 'outlook for financial stability' in the UK has 'deteriorated' since its last meeting in November. This has included the slowdown in China and emerging market economies, as well as the collapse in the price of oil and other commodities. But it described the 'risks around the referendum' as the 'most significant near-term domestic risks to financial stability'. It said 'prolonged uncertainty' created by Brexit could trigger a fall in foreign investment and a further drop in the value of the pound. The Bank also warned that 'heightened and prolonged uncertainty' could 'lead to a further depreciation of sterling and affect the cost and availability of financing for a broad range of borrowers'. The prediction of a drop in the value of the pound echoes warnings given by Europhiles, including Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs, which has helped to bankroll the 'Remain' campaign. Ukip MP Douglas Carswell, a member of the Vote Leave campaign, said: 'The Bank of England is really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. It shows that even under the instruction of 11 Downing Street, it can only find tenuous arguments to stay in the EU. 'The reality is foreigners are investing more in the UK than ever before. Billions of pounds have been invested despite the significant chance of us leaving the EU.' It may be better to keep people blissfully ignorant rather than telling them there is a chance of bad news, a study suggests. This is because uncertainty is more stressful than knowing something bad will definitely happen, a study found. Pessimists may seize on the findings as proof it is right to look on the gloomy side of life after all. People told that they had a chance of getting a painful electric shock found that more stressful than being told they would definitely receive it. Uncertainty is more stressful than knowing something bad will definitely happen, a study by the University College London found. Pessimists may seize on the findings as proof it is right to look on the gloomy side of life University College London researchers created an experiment where people were told they had either no chance of receiving a shock, a 50 per cent chance or that they would definitely get a shock. The study published in Nature Communications, found that people who had a 50% chance of receiving a shock were under the most stress, while those expecting a zero per cent chance, or 100 per cent chance were the least stressful. To test the theory, the experiment involved 45 volunteers who played a computer game in which they turned over rocks that might have snakes under them. They had to guess whether or not there would be a snake, and when there was they received a mildly painful electric shock on the hand. Over time they learned which rocks were most likely to harbour snakes, but those odds changed throughout the experiment, generating fluctuating levels of uncertainty. Lead author Archy de Berker of the UCL Institute of Neurology said: 'Using our model we could predict how stressed our subjects would be not just from whether they got shocks but how much uncertainty they had about those shocks. People told that they had a chance of getting a painful electric shock found that more stressful than being told they would definitely receive it (file photo) 'Our experiment allows us to draw conclusions about the effect of uncertainty on stress. It turns out that it's much worse not knowing you are going to get a shock than knowing you definitely will or won't. We saw exactly the same effects in our physiological measures - people sweat more and their pupils get bigger when they are more uncertain.' The researchers said that this is the first time that the effect of uncertainty on stress has been quantified, but the concept is likely to be familiar to many people. Co-author Dr Robb Rutledge of UCL added: 'When applying for a job, you'll probably feel more relaxed if you think it's a long shot or if you're confident that it's in the bag. 'The most stressful scenario is when you really don't know. It's the uncertainty that makes us anxious. The same is likely to apply in many familiar situations, whether it's waiting for medical results or information on train delays.' While stress is often seen as negative in modern society, the study found that people whose stress responses spiked the most at periods of greatest uncertainty were better at judging whether or not individual rocks would have snakes under them. Dr Sven Bestmann of UCL said: 'From an evolutionary perspective, our finding that stress responses are tuned to environmental uncertainty suggests that it may have offered some survival benefit.' 'Appropriate stress responses might be useful for learning about uncertain, dangerous things in the environment. Modern life comes with many potential sources of uncertainty and stress, but it has also introduced ways of addressing them. 'For example, taxi apps that show where a car is can offer peace of mind by reducing the uncertainty about when it will arrive. Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis (pictured) made sick jokes about the size of his penis before urinating in a bottle in front of this terrified victims Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis made sick jokes about the size of his penis before urinating in a bottle in front of his terrified victims in the Lindt Cafe, a hostage revealed. Hero hostage Jarrod Morton-Hoffman, now 20, told Wednesday's inquest into the horrific attack that Monis wanted to go to the toilet but couldn't leave the hostages unguarded. The waiter said that when Monis was handed a water bottle, the gunman joked that 'it was too small, the hole' in front of the terrified hostages, the Daily Telegraph reported. Monis was handed another bottle with a larger neck and he held it under a table while he urinated in it before giving it to cafe employee, Fiona Ma, to empty. Mr Morton-Hoffman revealed that he saw an opportunity to lure Monis into a freezer and lock him in there after the gunman asked whether he could smoke anywhere without triggering the detectors. He discussed the plan with other hostages and said that even if Monis fired his sawn-off shot gun at the freezer door, it would most likely kill himself and not go through the door. The waiter, who was just 19 at the time of the December 2014 siege, said the gunman would 'flip almost like a switch', leaving him to think there would not be a peaceful resolution. He said Monis became more erratic as the day went on, and would quickly switch from being jovial to aggressive. At one point, after Monis became agitated and more paranoid about noises, Mr Morton-Hoffman said the gunman told some of the hostages that if they lied they 'will not survive'. Describing Monis as 'capricious', Mr Morton-Hoffman said he would 'flip almost like a switch'. He was one of 18 hostages held by Monis during the 17-hour ordeal in December 2014. Mr Morton-Hoffman described how Monis joked about being a 'director' as the hostages were forced to make You Tube videos, and that authorities would think another hostage was actually the perpetrator. Hero hostage Jarrod Morton-Hoffman, now 20, told Wednesday's inquest into the horrific attack that Monis wanted to go to the toilet but couldn't leave the hostages unguarded The inquest heard that Morton-Hoffman was chosen to communicate with police and relay the demands of gunman Man Haron Monis Morton-Hoffman, who was just 19 at the time, attempted to communicate secret messages to police as he relayed messages from Monis On Tuesday, it was put to Mr Morton-Hoffman by Coroner Michael Barnes whether he believed Monis had an 'exit strategy' or had indicated how the day might end. When asked for his response on Wednesday, Mr Morton-Hoffman said Monis had claimed to have a plan, but he could not recall the gunman saying he would get out alive. 'He just said I have a plan, don't worry about me.' Mr Morton-Hoffman said he came to the conclusion that 'we were not going to have a peaceful resolution ... and there would be an escalation'. He said that Monis also remarked at one point that 'they know if they come into the building some of you will die'. The waiter also told of the moment he and five other hostages fled the Lindt Cafe via Martin Place foyer as Monis fired a shot. Monis told the staff: 'This is an attack on Australia by Islamic State. My brothers and I have bombs around the city' During the inquest on Tuesday, he said that Monis threatened to shoot a female hostage if police didn't back off. Mr Morton-Hoffman was chosen to communicate with police and relay the demands of the erratic shooter. In a previously unheard triple-0 call to emergency operators, Morton-Hoffman is heard calmly telling operators that a woman would be killed if police did not move cars parked in sight of the window. 'He has a gun pointed at the lady and he hasn't moved. Please tell him to move. I need to go,' he tells the operator during the first call at 12.56pm. Morton-Hoffman, who was just 19 at the time of the siege, also recalled how he attempted to communicate hidden messages to the operator, news.com.au reported. 'He would tell me what to say, but at the same time I was trying to answer questions without him knowing,' he said. 'The words themselves were along the lines of what he wanted to say but the emphasis on which word was my way of trying to answer her question.' 'I was trying to answer the questions without him knowing,' Mr Morton-Hoffman said. '(I'd say) 'no one is hurt' and emphasise the 'one' (when the operator asked how man gunmen were in the building).' The sawn-off shotgun Monis used was shown to the inquest along with the Big W bag he had concealed it in Morton-Hoffman, who was just 19 at the time of the robbery, tried to calm down Monis throughout the ordeal The inquiry heard that Morton-Hoffman tried to cover up the noise of two women unlocking the bolts of a door before escaping shortly after 5pm, the ABC reported. Counsel assisting Sophie Callan said hostages Jieun Bae and Elly Chen were able to quietly get out of the building without Monis ever finding out, thanks to Morton-Hoffman. The waiter was also said to have helped calm down an increasingly agitated Monis multiple times throughout the 17-hour ordeal. He described him as 'a very dangerous toddler.' 'He seemed unstable, emotional, not very logical. I think 'volatile' is the word to describe him. ' Morton-Hoffman told the inquest that cafe manager Tori Johnson was visibly distressed when Monis started speaking to him 'In fact he did not seem to be following any logic his demands changed with the wind,' he said. 'He was driven largely by emotion and anger and he was easy to manipulate.' At one point, Morton-Hoffman even offered to paint Monis an Islamic State flag if he let a pregnant woman go, to no avail. Earlier on Tuesday Morton-Hoffman detailed the terrifying moment Monis sat next to cafe manager Tori Johnson and began barking orders. 'Tori was hunched forward. His facial expression, I noticed from the months working with Tori, sometimes when he's nervous he blinks a lot, quite an intense blink,' he told the inquest. 'He was quite quiet. He was kind of devoid of emotion, which said a lot as he's usually full of emotion so that's what worried me,' he continued.' Morton-Hoffman, who was just 19 at the time, was ordered by Monis to lock the doors to the cafe. '(I felt) we were in danger. I thought the Reserve Bank across the road was being robbed. I thought potentially (Monis) worked for Chubb because there'd been a large influx of officers that day so I assumed something was going on across the road.' Moments later his worst fears were realised when Monis took a sawn-off shotgun out of a blue Big W plastic bag and put on a bandanna with Islamic writing on it. Monis was then said to have told the staff: 'This is an attack on Australia by Islamic State. My brothers and I have bombs around the city.' But Morton-Hoffman did not believe the gunman's claims about bombs, or that he had explosives in his backpack. 'I thought he was a lone-wolf gunman, ISIS-inspired,' he said. 'A very dangerous toddler': Teenage waiter Morton-Hoffman said Monis (pictured) became increasingly agitated as time wore on Johnson was fatally shot by Monis, who was killed when police stormed the building after a 17-hour stand-off. Katrina Dawson was killed when she was hit by shrapnel from police bullets. The final stage of the inquest into the siege, which began on Monday, will examine the siege itself, including the police response and management. It is expected to take at least eight weeks. The siege began when Monis entered the Lindt Cafe in central Sydney on the morning of December 15, 2014, and took 18 people hostage. Johnson was fatally shot by Monis, who was killed when police stormed the building after a 17-hour stand-off. Katrina Dawson was killed when she was hit by shrapnel from police bullets. It is not known if Monis had help getting into the city before the siege, or how long he had been planning the attack. A total of eighteen people were taken hostage during the Sydney siege in 2014 The Wolves 40 member was sentenced to between 24 and 26 years in jail 'But sad fact is in this courtroom... black lives don't matter to black people' He was charged with attempted murder after his victim, 38, survived A Supreme Court Justice told a 'New York gang member' that 'black lives don't matter to black people with guns' as he jailed him for shooting a rival. Tareek Arnold, who is black, was charged with attempted murder after he shot Jamal McCaskill, also black, four times last summer. The 24-year-old has been in custody since he was re-arrested in July after escaping from custody the month before. Today, Justice Edward McLaughlin addressed the Black Lives Matters movement as he sentenced Arnold at Manhattan Supreme Court, New York Post reports. Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin (left) told Tareek Arnold (right) that 'black lives don't matter to black people with guns' as he jailed him for shooting a rival 'Black lives matter,' the judge told the suspect, as he jailed him for between 24 and 26 years. 'I have heard it, I know it,' he said. 'But the sad fact is in this courtroom, so often what happens is manifestations of the fact that black lives don't matter to black people with guns.' Arnold, an alleged member of the 40 Wolves gang, was caught on surveillance footage shooting McCaskill, 38, multiple times in Harlem, New York. The victim was taken to hospital but survived. The 24-year-old, who has previous convictions for weapons possession, was arrested on suspicion of the rival gang member shooting, New York Daily News reports. McCaskill later appeared as a witness for the defense, claiming that Arnold had not been the shooter - despite surveillance footage to the contrary. 'The video shows that Mr. McCaskill is an abject liar,' the judge said. The 24-year-old has been in custody since he was re-arrested in July (pictured) after escaping from custody the month before The 24-year-old, who has previous convictions for weapons possession, was arrested on suspicion of the rival gang member shooting Arnold was being transferred from the 32nd Precinct station to Manhattan Central Booking on June 23, with his hands cuffed behind his back, when he shoved one of the officers and was able to flee on foot. Arnold was discovered living at a friend's apartment - just four blocks away from the station - a month later and charged with attempted murder, escaping custody, possession of a gun and assault. His defense lawyer Mark Jankowitz had requested the minimum sentence of ten years, arguing his client's one-year-old son would be robbed of his father. But no-nonsense judge McLaughlin warned the lawyer not to appeal for a low sentence for people, 'who by their violent acts wind up leaving people orphaned, abandoned, fatherless, et cetera.' Judge McLaughlin has been very outspoken on the gun crime epidemic in Harlem. 'Only Harlem can save Harlem,' he said in a moving plea in 2011, New York Post reports. 'If Harlem's leaders are at all sick of 'the pools of blood on the block,' they must mobilize their neighbors to find and get rid of the guns in their homes,' he said. 'When someone fires a pistol in Harlem, the person almost always is a resident,' the judge said. 'The person fired at is a resident. The discovery of thousands of indigenous artefacts on a section of Sydney's new light rail line has prompted calls for construction at the site to be halted. More than 20,000 artefacts have been found in excavation pits around the $2.1 billion rail line's proposed tram stable yard in Randwick in the city's east. The items include spear heads and cutting tools, many of which come from the Lower Hunter Valley and have never been seen before. More than 20,000 artefacts have been found in excavation pits around a section of Sydney's light rail line The artefacts include items from the Lower Hunter Valley, which have never been seen before, including spear heads and cutting tools 'This site is the most significant in Sydney,' said Scott Franks, the director of archaeological consultants Tocomwall, which is advising on indigenous heritage issues for the rail line. He said he was 'astonished' by the number of artefacts found in just a small area. Indigenous heritage advocates say it could be part of a trading route between different aboriginal clans or a site of conflict between British colonial forces and aboriginal groups. But Mr Franks says the entire site is at risk of being destroyed as Transport for NSW pushes ahead with construction of the rail line. 'It's modern day genocide,' Mr Franks said. 'They are trying to sweep the footprints off this landscape.' The artefacts were found in excavation pits at the proposed tram stable yard in Randwick in the city's east Scott Franks, the director of archaeological consultants Tocomwall, says the site is the most significant in Sydney and should be protected Mr Franks and his organisation have joined other Aboriginal groups and NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge in calling for the government to halt work. They say more archaeological work needs to be done to understand the significance of the discovery. 'This is of state significance,' Mr Franks said. 'It's sad to say that a tick from a pen in an office in town can allow for the destruction of something so important.' Indigenous leaders say more archaeological work needs to be done to understand the significance of the find Transport for NSW issued a statement saying the social value of the site to the local Aboriginal community was 'very high.' 'All work that has occurred on the site since the artefacts were found has been in consultation with all Aboriginal groups,' the statement said. 'Transport for NSW and ALTRAC Light Rail are investigating, in conjunction with the Aboriginal representatives, opportunities to recognise the items found on site, for example in displays or education programs. However, Mr Shoebridge said heavy machine excavation at the site has likely crushed thousands of artefacts already. 'Those artefacts that have been recovered have already lost their connection with place and with that a good deal of their cultural significance. 'If this was the centre of Athens or Paris and a heritage find of this significance occurred then there is no doubt the work would stopped to see how the site could be saved, but in Sydney under Mike Baird the bulldozers aren't even stopped for a day.' Tocomwall has lodged a formal complaint with the NSW government alleging a breach of the project's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Management Plan. Indigenous heritage advocates say the number of artefacts found in just a small area is astonishing All three Republican presidential contenders walked away on Tuesday night from their pledges to support their party's nominee no matter who it is. And Donald Trump found himself playing defense against charges that despite his repeated boasts, he's not entirely self-funding his presidential campaign. 'No I don't,' front-runner Donald Trump said Tuesday during a CNN town hall broadcast, when asked if he felt bound to honor his loyalty promise from six months ago. 'We'll see who it is.' 'I have been treated very unfairly,' he insisted to anchor Anderson Cooper, complaining about the Republican National Committee. Trump said 'the RNC, the party, the establishment,' may be conspiring to snatch the presidential nomination from him during the party's July convention in Cleveland, Ohio. THIS IS NOW: Donald Trump said Tuesday night on CNN that he was no longer bound by a pledge to support any rival who beat him for the Republican presidential nomination THAT WAS THEN: On September 3, 2015, Trump proudly showed off a pledge he had sign with the Republican National Committee, saying he would support the GOP nominee and not run as a third-party candidate 'We'll see what happens,' he said of the possibility of a floor fight if he doesn't arrive in Ohio with enough convention delegates to win the nomination outright. 'You'll have a lot of upset people.' Trump and his rivals signed a pledge in the fall of 2015 vowing to unite behind the eventual nominee. The Donald waved his copy during a September press conference at Trump Tower following a meeting with RNC chairman Reince Priebus. But that gesture seemed a distant memory on Tuesday as Cooper led Trump and his main rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, through the remains of their recent feuds particularly battles encompassing their wives and a series of tabloid accusations about Cruz's marital fidelity. Trump said he didn't expect Cruz to support him if he is the GOP's White House nominee. 'I'm not asking for his support,' Trump said. 'I don't want his support; I don't need his support; I want him to be comfortable.' 'He doesn't have to support me,' the businessman added. 'I have tremendous support right now from the people. I have 2 million votes more than him.' When Trump complained about being treated unfairly by party elites, a few boos rang out at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 'Awwww,' he teased. 'Cruz people!' Cruz, too, hedged on the idea of honoring the pledge he made, saying it might be null and void because Trump had threatened vaguely to 'spill the beans' about his wife Heidi. 'I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family,' Cruz told Cooper. 'I think that is going beyond the line.' Asked again if he would support Trump, should the billionaire win the nomination, Cruz gave another non-answer. 'Let me tell you my solution to that,' he said. 'Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. We're going to beat him.' IT ALL STARTED HERE: Trump was the only one who raised his hand during an August 6, 2015 Republican debate when moderator Bret Baier of Fox News asked if any candidate on stage would not pledge to support the eventual nominee ARTFUL DODGER: Ted Cruz said he didn't have to answer the question about his loyalty oath since there is no way he could lose to Trump Cooper pressed a third time: 'I will assume by you saying you would not support him, that the answer is you would not support him if he is the nominee?' 'I gave you my answer,' Cruz said. 'Listen, I think nominating Donald Trump would be an absolute train wreck. I think it would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton.' Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the last of the three men to sit for the hour-long televised job interview, chuckled at the idea that the candidates were all persuaded to make a loyalty pledge at the first primary debate in August. 'Frankly, all of us shouldn't have even answered that question,' he told Cooper. 'I've gotta see what happens,' he said. 'If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country or dividing the country, I can't stand behind him.' NO RESPECT: John Kasich said he wouldn't be willing to support the wrong Republican candidate after the July convention Kasich is the longest of presidential long-shots. His distant third-place status in the Republican delegate race leaves him with only one path to the nomination: a contested convention in which neither of the front-runners survive repeated rounds of balloting. 'When you're in the arena, you develop respect for people that are in the arena,' he said of his rivals Trump and Cruz. 'But I've been disturbed by some of the things I've seen, and I'd have to think about what my endorsement might mean.' Tuesday's event also provided a testy exchange between Cooper and Trump about the billionaire's signature boast that he's funding his own campaign. The CNN anchor said Federal Election Commission records show Trump has raised $7 million from the general public. Trump said his campaign has spent $35 million to date. INVEST IN A BILLIONAIRE: Donald Trump's campaign has raked in an estimated $7 million from the public, despite the tycoon's boast that he's spending only his own money to win the presidency 'You do solicit donations on your website?' Cooper asked. 'No, I don't really think so,' the GOP candidate said. 'Yes, you do!' he fired back. 'You have two spots where you do.' 'Okay, whatever. Whatever,' Trump said. 'It's peanuts.' Ultimately Trump qualified his boast. 'Let me put it differently,' he said. 'I am not soliciting money from insurance companies and from lumber companies and from banks and from if I did, I would have made Jeb Bush look like a baby.' Trump also confirmed that most of the funds he has personally contributed have come in the form of loans to the campaign organization. 'Are you going to have your campaign pay you back?' Cooper asked. Advertisement For more than two years, a pair of photographers have traveled to 13 locations around the world in order to capture the unseen world of tax havens. Paolo Woods and Gabriele Galimberti went to Singapore, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands in order to learn about the ways in which the world's one percenters move their assets offshore or create companies in order to get tax breaks. But tax havens don't just exist on exclusive, faraway islands - to prove their point, the two established a limited liability company, or LLC, in the unexpected tax haven of Delaware within 20 minutes, joining the likes of Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Google, Wal-Mart. In their new book, titled The Heavens, the photographers collaborated with author Nicholas Shaxson, to give a visual representation to the murky ways of tax avoidance and the trickle-down effects. Paolo Woods and Gabriele Galimberti traveled to 13 places around the world to translate the conceptual world of tax avoidance into a book of photographs on the subject. They went to the Cayman Islands They visited the vaults of a maximum security storage space in Singapore's FreePort, located in the duty-free zone near the country's Changi Airport. It is home to billions of dollars of assets because tenants don't have to specify exactly what they're storing. Pictured, a man at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel with Singapore's financial district behind him Jason Blick, pictured polishing his Ducati 848, is the CEO of Cayman Enterprise City, which is establishing a free trade zone on the Grand Cayman Island While these loopholes are certainly legal, those who resort to tax havens are understandably skittish about speaking to the press for fear of judgement. The two photographers had difficulty winning access to their wealthy subjects, and instead focused on wealth managers and lawyers who help others navigate tax laws. Woods told Slate: 'Ive worked as a war photographer in Afghanistan and Iraq. I worked in Iran for about five years. Ive worked on the Chinese in Africa, who are more than press-shy. But no subject was as difficult as this one.' They visited the vaults of a maximum security storage space in Singapore's Freeport, located in the duty-free zone near the country's Changi Airport. It is home to billions of dollars of assets, and the vaults offer security as well as secrecy. According to the Wall Street Journal, tenants are allowed to offer a vague description of the goods, which they must register with customs. Alain Vandenborre, the co-founder of FreePort, boasted more secrecy than Geneva to the WSJ, saying: 'There's no value, no ownership, no inventory listall details are confidential.' In other places such as Panama, the Colon Free Trade Zone allows people to import and export goods with no taxes. It is noted that drug money brought into the country through the zone, or cash transported through the airport feeds the country's real estate boom. Woods was not shy about expressing his disapproval of tax havens and he told Slate: 'Those billions of dollars which do not go in the reserves of each country is money which is stolen from you, from public services, from schools, hospitals, roads, police, whatever.' On the publisher Dewi Lewis' website, the book's description reads: 'Driven by a relentless obsession to translate this rather immaterial subject into images, Paolo Woods and Gabriele Galimberti have spent over two years travelling to the offshore centers that embody tax avoidance, secrecy, offshore banking and extreme wealth. 'Their photographs reveal a world of exploitation and privilege that distorts the financial markets and benefits those that already have the most. 'The book is presented as if it were an annual report and the accompanying text by author Nicholas Shaxson presents a clear insight into how these tax havens feed into the global economy and how they impact not only on the world of business but also on our everyday lives.' The famously low tax rates in Hong Kong have contributed to the wealth amassed there. Pictured, Giovanni Valenti, the chief Concierge of the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, where suites cost up to $7,000 a night Individuals who earn at least one million dollars a year are actively encouraged to relocate to the the island of Jersey, between England and France, and are automatically given residential status, so that they can immediately benefit from the very low tax regime Fiona Woolf, the Lord Mayor of The City of London, is photographed in her residence, the Mansion House. The local authority is known as an 'offshore island' within London, and home to the UK's financial center The Cayman Islands, a prime tourist destination, is also known as one of the world's major offshore tax havens. In 2012, ABC reported Mitt Romney had millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands Mr. Neil M. Smith is the British Virgin Islands' Finance Secretary, pictured here in his office in Road Town, Tortola. The BVI is one of the world's most important offshore financial service centers and the world leader for incorporating companies Panama's Colon Free Trade Zone, allows people to import and export goods with no taxes. Combined with the strategic location of the Panama Canal, the country attracts businesses and investors Tax experts have slammed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's proposal to allow states to levy income tax in the biggest tax shake-up of its kind since World War II. Mr Turnbull has put the idea to premiers and first ministers which would see the federal government reduce income tax by an agreed percentage and allow state governments to levy an income tax equal to that amount. The Prime Minister says it's a way for them to fix a hospital funding 'black hole' and other services. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed that he has proposed allowing states to levy income tax to assist in their funding needs Opposition Leader Bill Shorten responded to Malcolm Turnbull's tax plan by saying 'no matter how you look at it, youll pay more tax while the Liberals inflict even more cuts on schools and hospitals' Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA) Australia boss Alex Malley says he's stunned by the proposal, claiming it will create enormous dysfunction in Australia. 'It will create more red tape, more taxes, everything this government says it doesn't stand for,' Mr Malley said on Wednesday. Mr Turnbull insists while more power will go to states and territories, there would be no overall increase in income tax for taxpayers. Premiers and chief ministers will be fully briefed on the plan when they meet in Canberra this week, as part of the federal government's proposal to fix a looming hospital funding black hole. Reports suggest the proposal could be worth $5 billion over four years. Mr Malley claims it will cause more damage than good, saying every state has a different set of circumstances, cost structures and problems. He said it will make people think as a state, along the lines of the US and Canada, and does nothing to move forward as a nation. 'We are struggling to find how this is a sustainable model for the future,' he said. The Tax Institute was even more scathing describing the plan as a 'retrograde and flawed' concept. The institute's president Arthur Athanasiou said he has continually urged governments to shift away from income and inefficient taxes for the bulk of revenues. 'Whilst the proposal may present some theoretical advantage, government time and resources would be far better spent on reforming the present tax system,' he said in statement. CPA Australia boss Alex Malley (right) said he was stunned by the proposal from Prime Minister Turnbull (left) to overhaul the income tax system, saying it will create enormous dysfunction in Australia But businessman Tony Shepherd, who led the Abbott government's commission of audit, said allowing states to set income tax rates was a great reform that would reward states that grow quickly and give them more responsibility and authority when it comes to service delivery. It would also stop the states from the yearly 'demeaning, cap-in-hand' approach to the Commonwealth for more money and allow them to adjust their income tax rate to raise funds. He rejected suggestions it would create an imbalance between the states when it comes to tax rates or service delivery, insisting voters could be trusted to keep their governments in line. 'If you reduce the level of services too much - you'll get thrown out,' he told ABC radio. 'If you increase your taxes too much - you'll get thrown out.' Opposition Leader Bill Shorten claims the plan shows Mr Turnbull at his 'trickiest'. 'No matter how you look at it, youll pay more tax while the Liberals inflict even more cuts on schools and hospitals,' Mr Shorten said. 'Mr Turnbull has washed his hands of responsibility for educating our kids or funding our hospitals.' The PM said the biggest change to income tax powers since World War II is in recognition that there is a failure at the heart of the federation. 'It is the failure of the states to have access to the revenue sources,' he said. 'There would be no increase in income tax from a taxpayers' point of view - he or she would pay the same amount of income tax, but the states would be raising the money themselves.' States that needed more funding for a service such as health would go to their parliament and raise the money, then go to the people and persuade them of the merits of it. 'This is a real opportunity to make the federation work,' Mr Turnbull said. claiming workers are paid as little as $10 per hour Two food delivery services have come under fire after being accused of paying their bicycle delivery staff as little as $10 per hour. Newcomers to Australia Deliveroo and Foodora, formerly known as Suppertime, have locked their employees into 'sham contracts' to avoid paying them adequately, Fairfax reported. At Deliveroo riders are earning as little as $10 an hour, while at competitor Foodora people doing the same job are paid $14. Both of these come in under the minimum wage in Australia. Australia Deliveroo and Foodora have locked their employees into 'sham contracts' to avoid paying them adequately, it has been alleged Both companies are owned overseas and while Deliveroo has been valued at over $700 million, Foodora's parent company Delivery Hero is believed to be worth $4 billion. The delivery riders working for the Australian arms of each company are employed as sole traders and required to have their own ABN's. They are not paid superannuation, penalty rates or WorkCover, and earn well below the national minimum wage, according to documents obtained by Fairfax. A Deliveroo spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia their riders earn an average of $18-$21 per hour while 'freelance' workers are paid $16 per hour with an additional $2.50 per delivery. 'Our bicycle riders are freelancers and therefore responsible for their own cover,' the spokesperson said. 'Our freelance scooter riders are required by law to have third party cover as part of their vehicle registration, we check all of these documents as part of our on boarding process. 'We encourage all of our riders to obtain comprehensive insurance. We are also currently in talks with a leading global insurer about using our scale as a business to obtain preferential rates for all of our riders. 'We take the safety of our riders very seriously, and were constantly looking for even more ways to improve this.' A Deliveroo contract obtained by Fairfax is said to have showed a driver being paid $10 per hour However a contract showed that they were actually allowed no hourly rate and simply paid $10 per delivery. Meantime Foodora said they paid new riders $14 per hour plus a $4 delivery fee, which went up by $1 after their trial period was over. Employment lawyer Josh Bornstein from Maurice Blackburn described the contracts as a 'sham', saying they were a 'farce' used for cost cutting measures. 'They looked to me like they were a sham,' he said. Charge: A 10-year-old boy (not pictured, file photo) is due to appear in court after allegedly pointing an airgun at two people before firing into a parked car A 10-year-old boy is due to appear in court after allegedly pointing an airgun at two people before firing into a parked car. The primary school pupil, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged under Section 19 of the Firearm Act. Among the offences this covers is having an air weapon in a public place. He is due to stand trial at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court on Friday having previously pleaded not guilty following the alleged incident in Derby last August. The youngster is one of seven boys arrested by Derbyshire Police on suspicion of firearm offences last year, according to the Daily Mirror. The force has also charged children with possession of firearms, brandishing a gun in public, robbery, firing a BB gun at a person and burglary since 2013. It came as an investigation revealed that more than 1,500 child arrests for alleged firearm offences were carried out by police forces across England and Wales between 2013 and January 2016, with the number soaring by 20 per cent last year. Figures released by forces under the Freedom of Information Act showed there were 1,549 arrests of children for suspected crimes involving firearms, air weapons or imitation guns, including 506 charges brought by police. Among the forces who responded to the investigation: Kent Police said a 13-year-old boy and a girl aged 15 were charged with possessing imitation firearms; North Wales Police said a 13-year-old boy was arrested for possession of a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, while a girl aged 13 was charged after police seized a BB gun in 2015; Nottinghamshire Police said seven children under the age of 11 had been arrested for suspected firearm offences since 2013; Derbyshire Constabulary said a 10-year-old boy was among six children charged with a firearm offence since 2013; Cumbria Constabulary - which investigated the deadly shootings by Derrick Bird in 2010 which killed 12 people - said 19 children arrested for suspected firearm offences since 2013 included a 10-year-old, two youngsters aged 11 and two 12-year-olds. Britain's biggest force, the Metropolitan Police, said 679 children were arrested for suspected firearm offences between 2013 and January 2016, including 30 children aged under 13. A total of 212 children were charged with firearm offences in the same period, the force said. Merseyside Police said 73 children were arrested for suspected firearm offences between 2013 and 2015. Fourteen boys were charged with crimes involving firearms including robbery, possession of a firearm, possession of an air weapon in a public place, sending threats, wounding and false imprisonment. West Midlands Police said 83 boys and one girl had been charged with firearm offences since 2013, including an 11-year-old boy in 2015, a 12-year-old boy in 2013 and eight boys aged 13. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said nine boys and one girl were arrested for suspected firearm offences in 2015, compared with six boys in 2014 and seven boys and one girl in 2013. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show 506 under-18s were charged with offences involving firearms or imitation guns from 2013 to January this year (file image posed by model) Greater Manchester Police, which has investigated a string of gang-related shootings since Salford gangster Paul Massey was shot dead in July, and Police Scotland were among the forces which did not provide figures. A National Police Chiefs' Council spokesman said: 'Firearms offences in the UK still account for less than 0.2 per cent of total recorded crime. These offences reflect a broad range of crimes which can include air weapons or even possession of a BB gun if used in criminal circumstances. 'Forces across the country and community safety partnerships are working together to prevent young people getting involved in gangs and firearms. This is a key piece of work for all agencies and communities in breaking the cycle of young people becoming involved in gangs and the associated criminality.' Jack Dromey, Labour's shadow policing minister, said: 'These chilling statistics of children as young as 10 possessing firearms demand serious investigation by the Home Office. An overnight McDonald's worker from Australia has revealed what it's really like to work the graveyard shift at the fast-food restaurant. The woman, known only as Sarah, claims to have served transvestites with their genitals hanging out and seen employees choked by customers over a burger in her two years of employment. Drunken teenagers swamping stores at 3am and using chairs as weapons are regular occurrences, according to the anonymous crew trainer who shared her experiences in an open Reddit thread. An Australian overnight McDonald's worker has revealed what it's really like to work the graveyard shift The worker, known only as Sarah (stock image), claims to have served transvestites with their genitals hanging out Sarah posted her Crew Trainer badge for verification that she worked at McDonald's. She said she was a young mother who had worked at the store for two years The thread, titled: 'I'm an Australian overnight McDonalds Worker AMA (ask me anything)!,' has been littered with thousands of questions from curious fast food junkies since it was uploaded on Tuesday. Strangely enough, the online conversation quickly steered from conventional topics of food safety standards to asking Sarah about the oddest things she had experienced during the night shift. 'We get a lot of trannys (sic) in our store at night due to our location there's apparently a club/place they go to after dark,' Sarah replied. 'We have one guy come in a short skirt who always has his genitals out. We've pointed it out that he can't be in the store if he doesn't cover up. He doesn't care.' Sarah said she was often offered illegal drugs by addicts desperate for food. '(There are) drug affected people handing you the drugs in between two notes,' she said. The conversation about overnight McDonald's employee experiences took place on a Reddit thread , and quickly turned to the oddest things seen in the early hours of the morning One worker claimed his friend had been hit in the face with a chair in the restaurant during the 'pub rush' Other employees listed bizarre early-morning orders they had received, such as 50 packets of tomato sauce with a single apple pie Other employees listed bizarre orders they had received in the early hours of the morning, like 30 packets of tomato sauce to go with a single apple pie and burgers with 50 extra servings of pickles. For those wondering whether McDonald's has a secret menu in Australia - like famous American chain 'In-N-Out' - the simple answer is no. But staff say any number of meat or condiment can be added to burgers - given the customer is willing to pay the price - which can be upwards of $3 per extra patty of meat. In some circles the controversially titled 'McGangB*** Burger' is said to be offered - a piece of chicken sandwiched between a double cheeseburger. But other employees warned Reddit users to avoid ordering the nonexistent burger. One employee recalled a stranger convincing her he was an employee, only to walk into the McCafe section of the store and silently steal a tray of 40 blueberry muffins. Another worker said she had seen four grown men holding a broken car door trying to pass off as a vehicle to order food when the store had closed at midnight and only the drive-through was open. Secret menu? There's no such thing in Australia, but employees say you can add any amount of meat or condiment to a burger if you're willing to pay the price Dreaded pub rush: Many employees said they feared a period of high intensity where drunken youth would come through for a feed after a long night out on the town Employees commonly referred to the dreaded 'pub rush' - a period of high intensity where countless drunken youth come through for a feed after a long night out on the town. One Reddit user said his store had resorted to locking up chairs in their party room during the pub rush period after a number of violent incidents. 'My ex got choke slammed against a wall over a quarter pounder on his last day, and I had someone come at me over the counter with a steak knife,' he said. 'Also had a friend of mine get his face opened up after being hit with a chair. They collect them up and lock them in the party room before the pub rush now.' There are currently 948 McDonald's restaurants in Australia, a large proportion of which are now 24/7 businesses or rolling out into the overnight X as the chain continues to expand and upgrade. This is the Donald Trump supporter wanted by police after he was captured on video pepper-spraying a 15-year-old girl in the face at a rally in Wisconsin. The bearded man was captured on film, since uploaded to YouTube, walking through the crowds in Janesville on Tuesday wearing one of Trump's trademark Make America Great Again caps. When the teenage girl - known only as Alex - shoved another Trump supporter, the bearded man was filmed raising his arm and spraying a yellow substance just inches away from her face. The girl claims she shoved the other man because he touched her sexually - a claim the man she shoved denies. Janesville police have released the YouTube footage with screengrabs of the bearded man's face, appealing to the public to identify him. In a statement, the Janesville police department said: 'A 15-year-old girl from Janesville was pepper sprayed in the crowd by a non-law enforcement person. 'A male in the crowd groped the 15-year-old girl, when she pushed him away another person in the crowd sprayed her. 'We are currently looking for two suspects, one for the sexual assault and one for the pepper spray.' Scroll down for video Wanted: This man (in the Make America Great Again hat) is the Donald Trump supporter wanted by police after he was captured on video pepper-spraying a 15-year-old girl in the face at a rally in Wisconsin The moment: When the teenage girl - known only as Alex - shoves another Trump supporter, the bearded man raises his arm and sprays a yellow substance just inches away from her face Alex claims she shoved the other man because he touched her sexually - a claim the man she shoved denies Here, the teenage girl is seen walking away from the crowds, wincing from the pepper spray A security guard escorts her through the protest as she cries Janesville police have released the YouTube footage (pictured) with screengrabs of the bearded man's face This is the man the girl shoved. She told police he groped her, a claim the man and witnesses denied This is the police statement released on Wednesday with a picture of the pepper-spray suspect A video shows the young girl - who has short blonde hair and glasses - shouting something at a man who is out of shot, after which she appears to reach out and try to push him. But within seconds a hand is seen reaching into frame and she is pepper sprayed. The girl's face gets covered in the orange spray and she staggers away, wiping her face as she goes. The fifteen-year-old was there to protest Trump and began arguing with a man who supported the Republican candidate. Janesville Police Chief David Moore told Wisconsin State Journal the girl was sprayed by a man standing with 19-year-old woman from Madison, who also was struck by the spray. Both received medical attention at local hospitals, say police. The girl claimed that the man who she appears to take a swing at had groped her. In a video filmed after the incident, one of the men police want to speak to said the teenage girl had been shouting 'black lives matter', while a lot of people around her were shouting 'white lives matter', and she apparently got upset He said: 'She challenged me, saying 'why are you at a Trump rally if you are a grown man' and I replied that that was exactly why I was at a Trump rally - because I am a grown man and I want to make this country great again.' He added that the supporters had been 'warned not to make contact with protesters'. Here the girl screams at a white-haired man, shouting that he touched her breast. He denies the allegation. The video shows the man gesticulating with a piece of paper in his hand (just below the girl's chin in this frame) The white-haired man lifts his hands in the air as the girl shouts that he touched her. The pepper-spray suspect is seen (in red cap) standing behind the white-haired man This is the moment the teenage girl raises her right arm to shove the white-haired man's face, moments before the man in the red cap (seen here on the right) retaliates by spraying the girl in the face with pepper-spray About 1,000 people were allowed inside the conference center to listen to Trump speak while another 1,000 remained outside, said the Journal. The suspect - who police have yet to identify - then claimed that the girl starting 'screaming in his face' and as the crowd around her got more heated, she swung a punch at him, he says. 'Shortly after that a man standing behind me got her with pepper spray', he said. The Republican candidate - who has been accused of inciting violence at his rallies - was in the swing state for a town hall event Tuesday evening, ahead of Wisconsin primary voters taking to the polls next week. Trump (pictured) was in the swing state for a town hall event Tuesday evening, ahead of Wisconsin primary voters casting their vote next week About 1,000 people were allowed inside the conference center to listen to Trump speak while another 1,000 remained outside Outside the rally, protesters lined the streets waving banners with slogans including 'No hate in our state', 'All men are created equal. Don't drink the hateraide Trump' and 'Dump Trump' Meanwhile one woman wearing a burka held a sign that read 'Why do you hate me? While supporters wore Trump's trademark red cap and hoisted signs with the slogan 'Make America Great Again' Outside the rally, protesters lined the streets waving banners with slogans including 'No hate in our state', 'All men are created equal. Don't drink the hateraide Trump' and 'Dump Trump'. While supporters wore Trump's trademark red cap and hoisted signs with the slogan 'Make America Great Again'. Meanwhile one woman wearing a burka held a sign that read 'Why do you hate me?', which seemed to point towards one of Trump's policies to ban Muslims from entering America. The incident comes just hours after Trump's campaign manager was arrested for battery after a reporter claims he grabbed her arm. Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields filed a police report against Corey Lewandowski and tweeted a photo of bruises on her arms, which she says were caused by him. But the Donald today launched into a theatrical display at the rally, mocking the female reporter and saying her claims had 'changed big-league'. The young father accused of murdering alleged intruder Ricky Slater in Newcastle last weekend is an apprentice chef at an exclusive private club and the son of professionals who own a multi-million dollar property portfolio. Ben Batterham, 33, worked as an apprentice chef at The Newcastle Club, a private members club in the NSW Hunter Valley with strict dress regulations and exclusive membership, Daily Mail Australia has learned. His parents are Bruce Batterham, an IT executive at the Hunter Water Corporation and his mother Dianne Batterham is the manager of the Newcastle Family Medical Practice. The Batterhams lived in a two-storey luxury home next door to the dilapidated house they bought for their son to live in last November in Hamilton, a suburb of Newcastle in the NSW Hunter Valley. Accused murderer Ben Batterham (pictured) was working as an apprentice chef at the exclusive private members Newcastle Club in the NSW Hunter Valley and had only moved into the house where Ricky Slater was tackled before Christmas The man charged with Ricky Slater's murder is the son of Hunter Water Corporation IT executive Bruce Batterham (pictured) who lives with his health professional wife Dianne next door to where the alleged murder took place Bruce and Dianne live in this spacious two-storey house next door to the dilapidated cottage (right) they had bought for their so last November and which they were doing up for his young family before last weekend's fatal incident A dreadlocked man and friend of Ben Batterham was questioned following the fatal tackle on Ricky Slater (pictured) but was uncharged and returned to Batterham's parents Bruce and Dianne's house the next afternoon Ben Batterham, charged with Ricky Slater's murder, moved into this house bought by his parents last November and would often sit with friends on the verandah enjoying evening drinks The couple, described by neighbours as 'very pleasant and hardworking people', own at least ten properties in NSW and Queensland including six blocks of land at Pindimar opposite the coastal Hunter region town of Port Stephens. Bruce and Dianne Batterham have been doing renovations on the single storey weatherboard home where Ben, his partner and their infant daughter moved into just before Christmas last year. Ben Batterham has been completing a chef's course at Newcastle TAFE while working at the 92-year-old Newcastle Club, which only permitted ladies membership in 2002. It is understood he spent his earlier years undertaking training in one arm of the Australian military forces. The Batterham family previously lived in Victoria where both parents worked as health service professionals and Bruce Batterham was an IT executive. The couple is believed to have moved to the NSW Hunter Valley around three years ago. Neighbours said that Ben Batterham frequently had guests over for drinks in the evening on the front verandah of the home where Saturday's alleged murder took place. Bruce and Dianne Batterham have taken time off from their high-powered jobs since the incident which resulted in their son being charged with the murder of Newcastle man, Ricky Slater. Police say that at around 3.30am on Saturday morning Ben Batterham called police after allegedly finding Richard James Slater in his house on Cleary Street, Hamilton. Slater was allegedly near Mr Batterham's infant daughter's bedroom, clutching his wife's purse. The triple-0 phone call recorded Mr Battherham chasing Mr Slater, 34, out of the Hamilton home and threatening him before getting into a fight, News Corp reported. Accounts vary of what ensued, but it is understood Batterham, 33, and another man, who has not been charged, chased down Mr Slater and tackled him to the ground, where he was held until police arrived. Mr Slater is believed to have suffered a broken neck and on Sunday his grieving family made the decision to have his life support turned off in John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. A neighbour told Daily Mail Australia that Ben Batterham's friend, who is a young man with dreadlocked hair, returned to the house after spending the day at Newcastle Police Station being questioned. He visited Bruce and Dianne Batterham after police refused him permission to cross the police tape around Ben Batterham's house. Ricky Slater's grieving mother, Beryl Dickson, pictured leaving Newcastle Local Court after a bried mention of the case in which apprentice chef Ben Batterham is accused of murdering her son, Ricky Slater Beryl Dickson kisses goodbye to her son Ricky Slater in John Hunter Hospital last weekend after the 34-year-old was catastrophically injured in a tackle after he allegedly entered a home in Hamilton, NSW The exclusive Newcastle Club, where Batterham worked as an apprentice chef before the fatal incident at Hunter Valley his home where Ricky Slater was critically injured and later died in hospital Ricky Slater's sister, Tiara Kelly, told Radio 2GB that she believed her brother 'probably' knew the occupants of the property where he was discovered and chased from last weekend, but that was because she believed he 'was a good man'. Police charged Ben Batterham with Mr Slater's murder on Sunday and his matter was listed for Newcastle Local Court on Tuesday, but he did not appear via video link from Cessnock Correctional Centre. Mr Batterham did not apply for bail his case is due back in court on May 25 Daily Mail Australia contacted the Newcastle Club for comment. The club, which was opened in 1924 by then Governor General of Australia Lord Forster, bans guests from wearing jeans and runners or clothing with 'any slogans or advertising'. Burma's new president has become the country's first elected civilian leader for 50 years after being sworn in - and admits he is a puppet for 'true' leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Htin Kyaw, a close aide of the Nobel Laureate, was made president at a ceremony in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw this morning. Kyaw, a school friend and confidante of the democracy champion, succeeds former general Thein Sein who has helmed reforms that have transformed Myanmar from hermit state to an unexpected political and economic hope story. Suu Kyi, 70, is barred from becoming president by the junta-scripted constitution but has declared that she will steer the government anyway. Htin Kyaw is set to act as her proxy. Burma's new president Htin Kyaw (left) has become the country's first elected civilian leader for 50 years after being sworn in - and admits he is a puppet for 'true' leader Aung San Suu Kyi (centre) Htin Kyaw (centre), a close aide of the Nobel Laureate, was made president at a ceremony in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw this morning The handover at the junta-built parliament in the capital Naypyidaw marks the final act of a prolonged transition since Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party swept the November elections. The NLD won 80 percent of parliamentary seats, handing them a massive public mandate to rule. They are tasked with reviving a battered economy and a society straitjacketed by the army, which has ruthlessly ruled since 1962. Welcoming a new age of civilian government, the bespectacled new president pledged to be 'faithful to the people of the republic of the union of Myanmar'. 'I will uphold and abide by the constitution and its laws. I will carry out my responsibilities uprightly and to the best of my ability,' the 69-year-old told the chamber. In a later ceremony at the presidential palace, Thein Sein symbolically handed over to his successor as a smiling Suu Kyi looked on. New Myanmar President Htin Kyaw, left, receives the presidential seal from outgoing president Thein Sein during a handover ceremony at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and Htin Kyaw, second from right, newly elected president of Myanmar, attend a ceremony to take oaths in parliament in Naypyitaw But the army is far from leaving the political scene. The military holds a quarter of all parliamentary seats, a gift of a constitution it scripted, and holds three key posts in the cabinet. Suu Kyi, the talisman of the fight for democracy, joins that same cabinet, holding a clutch of positions including foreign minister. - Biggest day - Expectations for an NLD-dominated government run high among Myanmar's 51 million-strong population, but the new government faces a steep task. Civil wars continue to rage in ethnic minority borderlands, poverty is widespread and the military still holds huge political and economic powers. NLD lawmakers also have little practical experience of government. Some were jailed by the junta, including most famously Suu Kyi who was held under house arrest for her efforts to lead the democracy movement. But on a day of history, the party faithful were not allowing their spirits to be dampened by the challenges ahead. 'I'm really happy. I am also remembering my colleagues who sacrificed for this battle (for democracy),' said NLD lawmaker Aye Naing. Among a smattering of ordinary NLD supporters outside parliament, Yin Myint May welcomed the formal handover to a new government. 'It is the biggest day for us,' she said. Htin Kyaw, the man chosen by Aung San Suu Kyi to serve as her proxy, has been sworn in as Myanmar's president in a historic power shift away from outright army rule General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar armed forces attends the 71st Armed Forces Day in the capital Naypyidaw on March 27, 2016 'Remember we started (the democracy fight) in 1990,' she added, referring to elections won in a landslide by the NLD that were simply ignored by the junta. Myanmar has witnessed a staggering political change since 2011. Reforms have been shepherded by outgoing President Thein Sein, a former junta general. Investors and tourists have begun to pile in as many of the junta's worst repressions have eased promising a better future to a public who now have access to mobile phones, cheaper cars and other coveted consumer goods. Hundreds of political prisoners have been released and media censorship has been lifted, while most western sanctions have been rolled back as a reward. Suu Kyi's administration must still maintain smooth relations with the military that locked her and many of her colleagues up for years. In addition to ring fencing 25 percent of parliamentary seats to unelected soldiers, the charter gives the army chief control over the home affairs, border and defence ministries -- and with it sweeping powers over the civil service. The NLD has also hit stumbling blocks even before taking office. Former Neighbours star Jeremy Kewley sexually assaulted 16 young boys after luring them to his home for 'screen tests' and forcing them to wear tight Lycra costumes, a court heard. The soap actor, 55, who has appeared in The X Factor and Underbelly, filmed the boys and touched them inappropriately while he wrestled, strangled and kissed them, prosecutors said. Kewley, from Melbourne, stands accused of abusing the boys, aged between nine to 14, and taking photographs of them in various poses over two decades from 1989 to 2003. He pleaded guilty to 19 charges including indecent acts with a child under 16, indecent assault and making and possessing child pornography at the County Court of Victoria on Wednesday. Scroll down for video Former Neighbours star Jeremy Kewley (pictured) sexually assaulted 16 young boys after luring them to his home for 'screen tests' and forcing them to wear tight Lycra costumes, a court heard Kewley, seen here on The X Factor, has pleaded guilty to 19 charges including indecent acts with a child under 16, indecent assault and making and possessing child pornography The court heard that Kewley sexually assaulted his first victim, then 13, after meeting him on the set of Young Talent Time. He allegedly told the youngster that he wanted the child to audition for an advertisement. The actor also indecently assaulted another boy in 1991 and two other boys in 2002 and 2003, the court heard. At least 12 boys attended Kewley's Brighton home in June and July 2011 to audition for a film called Malevolence about a father who kills his two sons. Kewley sexually assaulted them while he acted alongside the boys while the camera was running, the court heard. Their parents were asked to wait downstairs for the screen tests, Crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers told the court. The actor stands accused of abusing the boys, aged between nine to 14, and taking photographs of them in various poses over two decades from 1989 to 2003 The actor also indecently assaulted another boy in 1991 and two other boys in 2002 and 2003, the court heard The actor is well-known for his roles on TV shows Neighbours from 1995 to 2012 and Blue Heelers (pictured left) from 1995 to 2004 He stretched some of the boys' costumes to make their genitals prominent and then zoomed his camera in on the area. The court heard Kewley left a video camera running in the room where his first two victims got changed into and out of costumes. Malevolence has been released as a small-budget film, the court heard. It is understood none of the boys who were sexually assaulted feature in the film. Kewley drove up to another while the boy was walking home, and asked if he wanted to be in a movie, Ms Rogers said. Some victims have told the court about their suffering, crying as they described the impact Kewley's offending had on their lives. 'There are so many words I would like to say to you and many more to describe you,' one man said. 'But I can't and, at the end of the day, I'm better than that.' Kewley on set as Crown Prosecutor Vic Manoulis in Australian ABC drama series Janus in 1994 and 1995 One child's mother said Kewley had abused her son's innocence and she felt she had let him down. 'When a well-known celebrity does this, you soon have very serious trust issues,' she told the court. Police found photo albums and tapes of many of the boys when they raided Kewley's properties a couple of years ago, the court heard. Defence barrister Con Heliotis QC told the court they were opportunistic crimes and Kewley had no sense of the impact it would have on his victims. 'He believed he could get away with this because his victims would think it was all part of the script,' he said. Kewley started his acting career in Fred Schepisi's 1976 film The Devil's Playground. He is well-known for his roles on television shows Neighbours from 1995 to 2012 and Blue Heelers from 1995 to 2004. He also played Crown Prosecutor Vic Manoulis in Australian ABC drama series Janus in 1994 and 1995. More recently, he featured as Detective Senior Sergeant Graeme Collins on Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer was Here in 2011, the same year some of the offences occurred. John Kasich also said he would do the same Speaking Tuesday, he said: 'It shouldn't be complicated' Ted Cruz said he would 'of course' sack his campaign manager if they were charged with battery - as Donald Trump's has been. Trump's aid Corey Lewandowski was slapped with the charge Tuesday after a female reporter filed a police report claiming he grabbed her arm. But Trump has consistently defended Lewandowski and says he has been 'unjustly accused'. Speaking at a Republican Town Hall debate held in Wisconsin that same day, he told moderator Anderson Cooper: 'It would be so easy for me to terminate this man, ruin his life, ruin his family ... and say you are fired. I have fired many people, especially on The Apprentice. Ted Cruz said he would 'of course' sack his campaign manager if they were charged with battery But Trump (left) told Anderson (right) at the Town Hall Debate: 'It would be so easy for me to terminate this man, ruin his life, ruin his family ... and say you are fired. The problem is everybody dumps people when there is a sign of political incorrectness' Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (left) was charged in Florida with simple battery after journalist Michelle Fields (right) claimed he intentionally grabbed and bruised her arm 'The problem is everybody dumps people when there is a sign of political incorrectness.' But Cruz has slammed Trump's relaxed attitude to the incident. Speaking earlier in the evening at the town hall event, the Texas senator told Anderson: 'It shouldn't be complicated. 'Members of the campaign staff should not be physically assaulting the press.' And added: 'I will say it is consistent with the pattern of the Trump campaign. The culture of the campaign has been a campaign built on attacks and insults.' When asked if he would ask his campaign manager to resign if he were charged with battery he said: 'Of course'. Ohio Governor John Kasich was asked the same question, to which he replied: 'Of course I would'. But speaking earlier in the day at a rally in Janesville, Wisconsin, Trump launched into a theatrical display, mocking female reporter, Michelle Fields, who has pressed charges. He read aloud the initial statements of the former Breitbart.com journalist, saying her claims had 'changed big-league' between the March 8 incident with Lewandowski and the emergence of video footage covering the fateful moments. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of Trump's U.S. Secret Service detail told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that Fields made physical contact with Trump twice and was warned by agents to stop before Lewandowski grabbed her arm to pull her away from the billionaire. Ohio Governor John Kasich was also asked if he would sack his aid, to which he replied: 'Of course I would' 'She crossed in between agents and our protectee after being told not to,' said the agent, who was present that night in Jupiter. Trump's elaborate pantomime came on the same day Lewandowski was charged with simple battery for allegedly grabbing Fields, a case that hinges on her claim of unwelcome physical contact. Fields will also find her own credibility under question as elements of the surveillance video disagree with her written account of the incident. 'Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken,' she wrote on the Breitbart site afterward. The video appears to show Lewandowski grasping Fields on the upper arm and pulling her laterally, but there is no indication she was pulled downward or had trouble staying on her feet. She later tweeted a photo of bruising on her forearm. The March 8 incident came as escalating violence at Trump campaign events was dominating political headlines. And the criminal charge comes after a week in which his campaign was accused of smearing a handful of women ensnared by a speculative National Enquirer story suggesting romantic involvement with Trump rival Ted Cruz, a Texas senator. Authorities said they were chasing Petrov, who allegedly stole a car and led police on a 30 minute chase across the Bay Bridge He joins Deputies Paul Weiber and Louis Santamaria, who were placed on paid leave after the video was released in November The Alameda County Sheriff's Department announced a 20-year veteran who was not identified was placed on paid administrative leave Petrov's attorney said a cop told the couple: 'Hope you enjoyed the show' Jerome Allen, 50, and Haley Harris, 31, said they watched two deputies beat Petrov with their steel batons up to 40 times A San Francisco homeless couple has claimed they were given a man's cash and jewelry as 'hush goodies' after they witnessed two deputies strike him over and over with batons in an alley. Alameda County Sheriff's Deputies Paul Wieber and Louis Santamaria were placed on paid administrative leave after surveillance footage captured their brutal beating of Stanislav Petrov. But now another deputy, identified only as a 20-year-veteran, has joined them after Jerome Allen, 50, and Haley Harris, 31, claimed they were bribed to stay quiet. San Francisco homeless couple Jerome Allen, 50, and Haley Harris, 31, claimed they were given a man's cash and jewelry as 'hush goodies' after they witnessed two cops strike him with batons in an alley (pictured) Alameda County Sheriff's Deputies Paul Wieber and Louis Santamaria were placed on paid administrative leave after surveillance footage captured their brutal beating of Stanislav Petrov Allen said another deputy, identified by police only a 20-year veteran on the force, gave the couple Petrov's gold chain and his cigarettes after beating the man 'They gave me his gold chain, his cigarettes, some change and some other stuff,' Allen told the San Francisco Chronicle. 'They saw my eyes pop out of my head when I saw that chain. They didn't just decide to give it to me - common sense it was hush goodies.' Authorities said the incident began after Petrov, 29, was spotted in a stolen car in Castro Valley and rammed into two deputies' vehicles before leading police on a chase across the Bay Bridge on November 12. Petrov then allegedly struck a parked car on the street and fled the vehicle. Two deputies caught up with him on foot in the Mission District, according to police. The horrifying 13-minute video shows one of the officers tackling Petrov to the ground and punching him twice. When the second deputy arrives, he begins hitting the man with a baton before the first officer joins him as Petrov alternates from laying on the ground and getting on his knees. 'Lay on the f****** ground,' one of the officers can be heard shouting. Even when police cars arrive at the scene with sirens blaring, the officers continue the beating while Petrov can be seen putting his arms up in a defensive position. The horrifying 13-minute video shows Petrov getting tackled to the ground and punched before the deputies begin beating him over and over again simultaneously with their batons Petrov can be heard in the video grunting in pain as he writhes around on the ground. He also clutches his stomach as he mumbles 'Oh my God' Petrov is heard grunting in pain as he writhes around on the ground. He also clutches his stomach and mumbles 'Oh my God'. He is then surrounded by several officers, who shout at him to get his 'hands behind his head. The video was actually recorded in 10-second increments with gaps in between - meaning the beating was actually twice as long as what was captured on video. It was released the next day by the San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi. A claim filed by attorney Michael Haddad against Alameda County on behalf of Petrov claims he was beaten on his 'head, neck, back, hands and elsewhere on his body'. '(Petrov) never resisted, never tried to flee after he had surrendered, and never posed an immediate threat to anyone,' the claim states. Haddad said Petrov's 'crushed' hands were then 'painfully locked' in handcuffs and that one deputy stepped on his head or neck and pressed in into the pavement as Petrov said 'Please help me'. 'We can count approximately 40 or more blows,' Haddad said during a news conference. 'They're aiming for Stanislav's head, which is the use of deadly force, and Stanislav is trying to protect himself with his hands.' 'As a result, his hands were crushed and his head was damaged and he sustained major injuries.' Haddad said Petrov suffered broken bones in his hands, head wounds and a concussion. He claims deputies took a 'trophy photo' of him as he moaned in pain on the street. 'This was probably the worst law enforcement beating on video that we've seen since Rodney King', he said. Allen supported Haddad's claim that Petrov was hit '40 times at least', saying he and Harris were awake in their tent when they heard the sounds of tires screeching. Attorney Michael Haddad said Petrov (pictured in the hospital) suffered broken bones in his hands, head wounds and a concussion. He claims deputies took a 'trophy photo' of him as he moaned in pain on the street The couple went outside and said they saw the two deputies take Petrov down. 'I yelled "Stop!" but that didn't stop them,' Allen told the Chronicle. 'They acted like they didn't hear me.' Harris said she was 'sick and scared' when another deputy offered them Petrov's gold chain with a medallion. 'The deputy said to (Allen), "Don't spend it all in one place"', she said. 'I said to Jerome, "Maybe they're trying to buy you off."' Hadad said the deputy then told the couple: 'I hope you enjoyed the show'. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office launched an internal investigation after the video was released. Sheriff Greg Ahern said that while he found the video 'disturbing', the couple's allegations of the deputies 'theft and bribery' was 'one of the most horrific things' he had ever heard. 'Those deputies are trained to stop all unlawful actions when they have the authority to do so,' he said. 'If somebody knew about that theft and did not report it, they are going to be punished.' Ahern said his department learned of the allegations, now being investigated, through media reports as well as Petrov's attorneys. Hadad's claim states that more than half a dozen deputies who responded to the incident participated in a 'code of silence' concerning the 'unlawful conduct' of their fellow officers. He alleges that officers at the scene authored false police reports and purposely did not activate their body cameras. Wieber's body camera accidentally filmed a second video of the beating. It has not been released to the public. San Francisco prosecutors have not yet decided if they will pursue charges. Hadad's claim states that more than half a dozen deputies who responded to the incident participated in a 'code of silence' concerning the 'unlawful conduct' of their fellow officers The Rebels bikie who was shot dead when he stood on a driveway after he allegedly received a phone call from a friend was convicted for manslaughter as a teenager. Michael Davey, 30, died from gunshot wounds in Stafford Street, Kingswood in western Sydney just after midnight on Wednesday, despite attempts by paramedics to save him. The heavily tattooed bikie - nicknamed 'Ruthless' - had told his girlfriend he was meeting a friend in front of the home just moments before he was gunned down, Nine News reported. New details have emerged that Mr Davey was just 17 years old when he pleaded guilty for manslaughter over the death of a 19-year-old who was bashed to death in 2002, The Daily Telegraph reported. Scroll down for video Michael Davey (pictured) who was shot dead when he stood on a driveway after he allegedly received a phone call from a friend was convicted for manslaughter as a teenager His Instagram profile said he came into the world covered in blood and wasn't afraid to leave the same way On Wednesday, neighbours described the moment they heard up to six gunshots and a screeching vehicle, believed to be the getaway car, when Mr Davey was targeted as the killer is still on the run. Mr Davey, who fixed motorbikes for a living, described himself as a "revhead" on social media accounts, which show a heavily tattooed man with a passion for the gym. His Instagram includes the statement: 'I came into this world kick'n n scream'n while covered in some1 elses's blood no I'm not afraid of leavin the same way' alongside a gun and explosion emoji. The father of one - who is well known to police - was believed to have escaped uninjured after a shooting at a Penrith shopping centre last April, which resulted in a 24-year-old man being charged. This comes as his former girlfriend and bikini model Sarah Gerrard posted a tribute to social media saying he was her 'best friend' who was a 'massive part of her life'. She also shared a video of the pair joking about her being 'the most annoying girlfriend ever'. Michael Davey (pictured with former girlfriend Sarah Gerrard) died from his injuries in Stafford Street, Kingswood in the early hours of Wednesday morning, despite attempts by paramedics to save him Bikini model Sarah Gerrard, posted a tribute on social media saying Mr Davey was a 'massive part of her life' and later shared a video of the pair joking about her being 'the most annoying girlfriend ever' The man who was shot dead while standing in a driveway has been identified as a Rebels bikie Michael Davey 'Rip Micky. You've been a massive part of my life and you'll always be in my heart we were best friends,' she wrote on Facebook. 'I'll never forget the things you've done for me and taught me over the years.' The Sydney chapter of the Rebels offered condolences to his family. 'You will be truly missed brother you were one of a kind. May you ride in the Forever Chapter,' the page says. Ms Garrard's video showed the pair joking about Mr Davey's 'neck wrinkles' before he threatens to 'throw her f***ing phone'. Mr Davey reportedly had a young son who was living at the home with himself and current girlfriend Sky when the shooting took place, The Daily Telegraph reported. Police are continuing to scour Stafford Street in search of a weapon and other clues. A large kitchen knife was found stabbed into the ground next to a tree in a grassy area near the red brick home where the killing occurred. The Sydney chapter of the Rebels offered condolences to Mr Davey's family A knife was found next to a tree near the property, but police say a motive for the shooting had yet to be determined Police are continuing to scour Stafford Street in search of a weapon and other clues 'Rip Micky. You've been a massive part of my life and you'll always be in my heart we were best friends,' Mr Davey's former girlfriend Sarah Gerrard wrote on Facebook Bikini model Sarah Gerrard shared a video of the pair joking about her being 'the most annoying girlfriend ever' People were inside the home at the time but Supt Peters would not confirm if it was Mr Davey's home. A neighbour told AAP she had seen him mowing grass at the property before and believed he lived there alone. She said family who lived in the street were woken by the shots but believed they were fireworks and were shocked to hear of the killing later in the morning. It is believed five or six shots were fired. Other witnesses have told police a vehicle was seen leaving the scene a short time after the shooting. Superintendent Greg Peters earlier confirmed the victim had a criminal history, The ABC reported. 'This man is known to police,' Superintendent Greg Peters said. 'However, because he's not formally identified we can't release any information in relation to him at this point in time. 'It's early stages ... in relation to our investigation, as to who the person is, what links he may have, what links he doesn't have.' It is believed Mr Davey was involved in a separate incident last year when he was shot at while driving his Toyota Hilux at a Penrith shopping centre. A 24-year-old man was arrested at the time. 'Rip Micky. You've been a massive part of my life and you'll always be in my heart we were best friends,' she wrote on Facebook People were inside the home at the time but Supt Peters would not confirm if it was Mr Davey's home Friends and fellow Rebels members have paid tribute to their friend 'Micky', who was also known as 'Ruthless' A neighbour told AAP she had seen him mowing grass at the property before and believed he lived there alone Some 3.5million people died in the 'Ardous March' famine of the 1990s North Koreans have been warned to be prepared to eat roots as the country may be heading for another famine. The dictatorship's main state-run newspaper told citizens to brace themselves for another 'arduous march' - a term used to describe the great four-year North Korean famine of the 1990s. The warning came in the wake of China agreeing to new stiff sanctions against North Korea, in response to its recent nuclear test and rocket launch. Scroll down for video Leader warning: North Korea's state-run newspaper has warned the population that they need to be prepared to 'eat roots' ahead of an oncoming famine 'The road to revolution is long and arduous', an editorial in newspaper Rodong Sinmun newspaper stated on Monday,The Telegraph reports. 'We may have to go on an arduous march, during which we will have to chew the roots of plants once again'. The government mouthpiece also warned that even as they faced starving to death, North Koreans would be expected not to blame the state and its Supreme Leader. 'Even if we give up our lives, we should continue to show our loyalty to our leader, Kim Jong-un, until the end of our lives', A propaganda billboard that reads: 'Party is calling. Everybody to the 70-day campaign' stands at the Hungnam Fertilizer Complex in Hungnam, as North Koreans are warned to prepare for another great famine Workers tend a bag of fertilizer being filled on a conveyer belt at Urea Workshop at Hungnam Fertilizer Complex in Hungnam, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea The Telegraph also reports that citizens in the capital of Pyongyang have been ordered to provide 2.2lb of rice to the state every month, while North Koreans across the country have begun hoarding food as fear spread of another famine. Some 3.5million people died in the North Korean famine from 1994-1998, known as the 'Arduous March'. Words such as 'hunger' and 'famine' were banned during the 'Arduous March' as it implied that the government, then headed by Kim Jong-Un's grandfather Kim Il-Sung and later his father Kim Jong-Il, had failed the population. North Korea fired a short-range projectile from an area near its eastern coast on Tuesday, South Korean officials said, in what appears to be another weapons test seen as a response to ongoing military drills between Washington and Seoul. The projectile was fired near the North Korean port city of Wonsan and flew about 125 miles before crashing into land northeast of the launch site, South Korean military officials said. Famine, what famine? This picture released on Monday shows Kim Jong-Un, accompanied by his with Ri Sol Ju, inspecting a newly built shopping centre in Pyongyang Supreme Leader: The state newspaper warned that even as they face starving to death, North Koreans would be expected not to blame the state and Kim Jong-Un It was unclear whether the projectile was a ballistic missile or an artillery shell and was too early to tell whether North Korea used a land target to test the accuracy and range of its weapons or experienced problems after planning a launch into the sea. North Korea has fired a slew of short-range missiles and artillery shells into the sea and has threatened nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul since the start on March 7 of the annual springtime war games between the United States and South Korea. Tensions are particularly high this year because the drills are the largest ever and follow a recent North Korean nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch. The missile tests came as President Barack Obama prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a global nuclear security summit in Washington on Thursday. Western Australia police have appealed for help after Valeria Fermendjin (pictured), 70, was killed in her Melville home, a south-west suburb of Perth, on January 5 A $100,000 reward to solve the murder of a grandmother who was found dead two days after she had been killed during a cold-blooded home invasion. Western Australia police have appealed for help after Valeria Fermendjin, 70, was killed in her Melville home, a south-west suburb of Perth, on January 5. In an unprecedented move, Western Australia police have used the six-figure reward just two months after the grandmother was found dead in a bid to reveal more information. The attack is believed to have occurred two days before she was found between 7.30am and 8.30am on January 5 at her at her house on Leach Highway. State Crime Commissioner Michelle Fyfe said WA Police had applied for government funding for rewards before, but never this early in an investigation. 'A great deal has already been achieved by Major Crime Squad in this investigation, however we believe that a monetary reward may provide further opportunities to solve this crime,' Ms Fyfe said. It is unknown how many people were involved in the attack. A distinctive black Russian made leather bag was among several items stolen during the invasion and police have appealed for anyone who may have come into contact with the bag to come forward. Scroll down for video A distinctive black Russian made leather bag was among several items stolen during the invasion Ms Fermendjin had dedicated her life to her family and was a 'beautiful lady', family friend Ivan (pictured left) said. Her daughter Violeta (pictured right) and son-in-law Ivan (pictured middle) appealed for information after the incident 'It is embossed on both sides, has a zip top and a metal buckle and we ask anyone who may know its whereabouts to contact police,' Ms Fyfe said. Ms Fermendjin had dedicated her life to her family and was a 'beautiful lady', family friend Ivan said soon after her death in a report by ABC. She is survived by a daughter, son-in-law, and twin grandsons. 'She lived for her family, and lived for her grandkids, they were very close,' Ivan said. 'Nobody deserves this. She always had a big smile on her face, I loved talking to her. It's just sickening. 'She had her ironing business, and whatever she did she put in a 150 per cent in and she just liked to give to the community.' Soon after the discovery of her body, detectives said the attack was 'opportunistic' and that Ms Fermendjin was not targeted because of her age. State Crime Commissioner Michelle Fyfe (pictured) said WA Police had applied for government funding for rewards before, but never this early in an investigation Her injuries were 'not pleasant', detectives said at the time. Police believe the offenders did not use their own weapons, rather found an item in the Ms Vermendjin's house to attack her, which officers seized, the report said. Anyone with any information that can assist the investigation are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Web footage supposedly showing a US soldier shooting a Koran was made by a pro-Vladimir Putin 'internet troll factory', a new investigation claims. The deeply shocking video depicts a foul-mouthed gunman in American-style uniform taking aim and blasting holes in the Muslim holy book. It was posted last September, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and swiftly spread onto sites in Russia and the US. 'I'm going to shoot this mother****er,' said the soldier, with US stars and stripes insignia on his combat uniform, in what seems to be an arid warzone location. Scroll down for video Staged: Footage showing a supposed US soldier (pictured, the actor in the video) shooting at a copy of the Koran was fabricated by a Russian 'internet troll factory', an investigation has claimed Defaced: The video depicts a gunman in American-style uniform taking aim and blasting holes in the Muslim holy book (pictured) The 1 minute 45 second video claimed he got hold of the Russian gun during a raid, and was testing it. Repeatedly swearing in a fake-sounding US accent, the gunman shoots three bullets into the book using the semi-automatic Saiga 410. He then examines the damage to the tome, although it is never stated that this is the Koran. Now six months after it was first seen on the web, an investigation by the BBC Russian Service finds that the footage, far from showing a real US soldier, was made by a St Petersburg propaganda plant. It is seen as a crude anti-American production by a shadowy army of internet warriors deployed to bolster the Kremlin. The troll factory is notorious for waging an information war backing Putin and his policies at home and abroad, including his seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, and his controversial support for the Assad regime in Syria. Old: The BBC Russia investigation claimed the soldier's (pictured, the actor in the video) Propper BDU Desert camouflage went out of use at the start of this decade Fake: The suspected soldier (pictured, the man thought to be the actor) in the video swears repeatedly in a fake-sounding US accent before shooting three bullets into the book using an semi-automatic Saiga 410 Armies of trolls are paid 40,000 roubles a month - around 407 - to plant anti-Western comments in blogs and on websites in Russia and around the world. 'This footage is very likely indeed to have been made at the famous 'internet troll factory' in St Petersburg,' stated the BBC Russian report. The voice of the hero was changed to make it more Afro-American. But standard taboo words and linguistic mistakes cannot be improved by the computer BBC Russia investigation The investigation claims the 'soldier's' Propper BDU Desert camouflage went out of use at the start of this decade. 'It is possible to buy it cheaply in the Russian military uniform shop 'Voentorg,' said the report. 'Instead of a military helmet the man is wearing the Ops-Core FAST Base Jump helmet for training and extreme sports. 'It is possible to buy it in online shops. Webbed gear is used instead of a bulletproof vest and again it can be bought in 'Voentorg', along with the Mil-Tec keffiyeh.' The report went on: 'The voice of the hero was changed to make it more Afro-American. But standard taboo words and linguistic mistakes cannot be improved by the computer.' The original posting was on a YouTube account whose owner works at Moscow School Number 58, it was claimed. Brainwashing: The troll factory is notorious for waging an information war backing Putin and his policies at home and abroad (left, the Koran the suspected soldier shot and an in tact copy of the holy book, right) 'This is what his page in Google+ says which is linked to the YouTube account.' His name is allegedly Mayaese Johnson, but it is claimed there is no such person. Despite this, around 50 people have this name in Google+ 'and many of them - what a coincidence - are also working in Moscow schools. 'Their accounts are empty. It is probable they were created only for liking videos on YouTube.' In contrast, the Saiga weapon and the Koran are genuine, states the report. This edition of the Koran is available online in Russia for 650 roubles - or 6.65. The video was posted on 11 September 2015 onto anonymous twitter account ComradZampolit, and also in the account Vestnik Peterburga, said the BBC Russian report. The latter links to Nevskie Novosti newspaper which was created by people close to pro-Kremlin businessman Evgeniy Prigozhin who is seen as the guiding hand behind the troll factory. Prigozhin declined to comment to the BBC. An anonymous article in another outlet sought to fuel anti-American Muslim outrage over the film. 'Such behaviour of American soldiers probably will not be appreciated by the president of the (mainly Islamic) Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov,' it stated. Soon after an ally of Kadyrov - seen as one of Putin's closest supporters - posted in Instagram: 'Such things are not forgiven in Islam.' Headquarters: The fake soldier's Instagram showed a geotag of 55 Savushkina Street, St Petersburg (pictured) - the address of the 'troll factory' The BBC Russian Service claimed to have located a man resembling the 'soldier' in the video. His photograph was posted on Instagram with a geotag of 55 Savushkina Street, St Petersburg - the address of the 'troll factory', it was reported. He is believed to be a barman and is a friend of a woman who works at the troll plant. The Editor in Chief of Voice of Islam website Dmitry Chernomorchenko told the BBC he is not surprised that the video may have originated 55 Savushkina Street. 'The Russian propaganda machine forces us to think that all the Western world is against any traditional values' he said. The media is 'full of news about suppressed Muslims in the EU and USA, the secret services' following them, and locals being intolerant.' He warned: 'Some fakes are presented -like this video with the shooting at the Koran.' Yet the media in Russia 'keep silence about our own Muslim people, when dozens if not hundreds of them suffer from fake criminal investigations'. Others 'are jailed for reading books and talking about religion in their kitchens'. Some 'are tortured, kidnapped and killed.' Whistleblowers who worked in the troll plant have revealed how it works. Shooter: The BBC Russian Service claims to have located the man (pictured) resembling the 'soldier' shown in the video Propaganda: Armies of trolls are paid 40,000 roubles a month - around 407 - to plant anti-Western comments in blogs and on websites in Russia and around the world (pictured, the so called 'troll factory') Tatiana worked as part of a 500-strong team churning out web propaganda. 'You could be posing as a housewife who bakes dumplings,' she said, as long as the message sent to the web made clear that Putin 'saves Russia'. After ex-deputy premier Boris Nemtsov was gunned down close to the Kremlin 13 months ago, an edict went out to portray it either as a Ukrainian act to embarrass Putin and harm Russia's relations with the West, or a killing by opposition rivals. His mother, Beryl Dickson, said her son had battled with an ice addiction In 2007, he forced his way into the home of a 16-year-old and attacked her Slater was previously jailed for raping a young girl after entering her home A man who was killed after allegedly breaking into another man's home and had previously been jailed for raping a teenage girl had also battled ice addiction. Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Richard James Slater's mother, Beryl Dickson, said the 34-year-old 'had a problem' with ice and confirmed a photograph of a man smoking from a lit pipe was her son. Earlier, it was reported Slater was sentenced to a minimum four years' jail for attacking a 16-year-old girl in 2007. The 34-year-old was pants-less when he knocked on the young girl's door on June 6, 2007, before forcing his way inside the home and raping her, according to theSydney Morning Herald. Scroll down for video Richard James Slater was released from jail in December after as his convictions for aggravated break and enter case was found to be based on 'flawed CCTV footage' He had served 20 months in prison when his convictions were quashed, only months before he was allegedly found standing in Benjamin Batterham's(pictured) home in Newcastle holding his wife's wallet He was arrested after his DNA matched that taken from the victim, and later pleaded guilty aggravated sexual intercourse without consent. He was sentenced to serve six years in prison on January 16, 2009. The newspaper also claimed Slater's neck was not broken, as has been believed. Confirming her son's battle with drug use, Ms Dickson said the photograph of him was taken 'four or five years ago'. 'He had problems, family problems in his past,' the mother told Daily Mail Australia. She also denied Slater had broken into Benjamin Batterham's home - where he was killed - to steal a purse, saying her son had $600 'on him'. It comes after it was also revealed he had been released from jail in December after his convictions for an aggravated break and enter case were found to be based on 'flawed CCTV footage'. Slater was found guilty of fraud and aggravated break and enter offences after he was charged for breaking into a home to steal a wallet, handbag and a car, which prosecutors claimed was later used in the ram raid of an adult store in Sandgate, a suburb in Newcastle, in 2012. Richard James Slater's mother, Beryl Dickson, said the 34-year-old 'had a problem' with ice and confirmed a photograph of a man smoking from a lit pipe was her son (pictured) Slater's life support was switched off on Sunday following his altercation with Batterham on Saturday He had served 20 months of his two year and six month prison sentence when his convictions were quashed in December by the NSW Court of Appeal, only months before he was found standing in Benjamin Batterham's home in Newcastle holding his wife's wallet in an alleged break and enter. Slater, whose life support was switched off on Sunday after he was fatally injured by the father-of-one, had appealed his burglary conviction claiming the prosecution's case relied solely on images obtained from 'flawed CCTV footage'. Slater, a father-of-three, and two other men were accused of breaking into a family home in Merewether, an affluent beach-side suburb of Newcastle, north of Sydney, on November 4, 2012 where some belongings and a silver car were stolen. Later that night a silver car was used in the ram raid of a Nauti and Nice adult store in Sandgate, around 10 kilometres from the Merewether home, where three men with covered faces stole a quantity of synthetic drugs, around $1,000 in cash and some batteries. The 'heavily disguised offenders' initially tried to push the door open but when that failed they reversed the car into the shop's doors several times to gain entry. The prosecution told the court Slater was caught on CCTV footage leaving the car with his face uncovered after the robbery, linking him to both crimes. A silver car was later used in the ram raid of a Nauti and Nice adult store in Sandgate, where three men with covered faces stole a quantity of synthetic drugs, around $1,000 in cash and some batteries The prosecution told the court Slater was caught on CCTV footage exiting the car with his face uncovered after the robbery, linking him to both crimes The next day, on November 5, a credit card that was stolen from the Merewether home was used to make four withdrawals from a hotel ATM in Newcastle West, the court heard. TIMELINE OF RICHARD JAMES SLATER'S APPEAL Three men broke into a house in Mereweather, an affluence beach-side suburb in Newcastle, on November 4. A wallet, handbag and silver car were stolen from the home. Three men driving a silver car were involved in a ram raid of Sandgate's Nauti and Nice adult store in the early hours of November 5. Synthetic drugs, $1,000 cash and batteries were taken from the shop. Police alleged the vehicle stolen from Mereweather was used in the robbery. A credit card stolen from the Mereweather home was used on 5 November 2012 at a hotel ATM and later at a supermarket where Slater was allegedly seen on CCTV footage. Richard James Slater was arrested and charged over both offences on November 21. CCTV footage of a man involved in the Sandgate break in was used in court to place Slater at the scene. He was found not guilty of breaking into the Merewather home but found guilty over the ram raid on May 28, 2014. The father-of-three was sentenced to two years and six months without parole. Slater appealed his conviction in November 2015. He claimed the CCTV footage used to place him at the scene was grainy and not sufficient to convict him without a reasonable doubt. The Crown agreed and acquitted him on all charges in December 2015. Slater was released after spending 20 months in prison. Advertisement It was alleged that Slater had been pictured on the hotel's CCTV footage using the ATM for about eight minutes while in the company of two other men. Three men 'of similar appearance' to those seen on the hotel's security footage were later pictured using the credit card to make three separate transactions at a Coles supermarket not far from the hotel. A jury found Slater not guilty of the robbery in Merewether and his lawyers later appealed the other convictions as the outcome relied heavily two images that were extracted from four seconds of grainy CCTV footage. The footage was found to be 'blurry and indistinct', with Slater's lawyer claiming the face in the stills appeared pale and thin while Slater was of Aboriginal appearance with a rounded face. The stills did not match up with photographs taken of Slater when he was arrested on November 21, which the jury had been asked to assess without any instruction from the judge to consider with caution. 'The Crown acknowledged that the face of the man in the CCTV footage appeared thinner than the Appellant and was not obviously Aboriginal,' the appeal court heard. It was found that the face of the man on the CCTV footage looked like Slater 'in some respects' but a 'a vague similarity of that type' was not enough to support a conviction. The Crown also found there was no evidence, apart from a vague timeline, that indicated that the silver car used in the ram raid was in fact the vehicle that was stolen from the home in Merewether. The vehicles number plate was not seen on the store's security footage. Justice Robert Beech-Jones said the evidence used to convict Slater 'relied upon flawed CCTV footage and was not capable of demonstrating his guilt without a reasonable doubt. 'The fact that the matter could have proceeded to trial much less conviction is deeply troubling,' he said in December 2015. A jury found Slater not guilty of the robbery in Merewether and his lawyers later appealed the other convictions as the outcome relied heavily two images that were extracted from four seconds of grainy CCTV footage It was found that the face of the man on the CCTV footage looked like Slater 'in some respects' but a 'a vague similarity of that type' was not enough to support a conviction Justice Robert Beech-Jones said the evidence used to convict Slater 'relied upon flawed CCTV footage and was not capable of demonstrating his guilt without a reasonable doubt 'This incarceration was due to errors which were so obvious they simply should not have occurred.' Slater was acquitted and released from jail in December after serving 20 months behind bars for the offence. The 34-year-old died on Sunday from injuries sustained in a brawl with Benjamin Batterham, who was charged with murder following the father-of-three's death. During a Triple-0 call made reportedly as the break-in was taking place, a man could repeatedly be heard saying 'I'm going to kill you'. Mr Batterham's arrest has caused significant outrage in the community, with almost 69,000 people signing a petition demanding his immediate release. Many have claimed that the father-of-one had been defending his home and family after Slater was allegedly found near the bedroom of the Newcastle resident's daughter while clutching his wife's purse. Mr Batterham's arrest has caused significant outrage in the community, with almost 69,000 people signing a petition demanding his immediate release following the break and enter at his Hamilton property (pictured) The 34-year-old, who is known to his family as Ricky, was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where he remained in critical condition until his family decided to turn off his life support on Sunday morning It was initially reported that a fight broke out between Mr Batterham and Slater, who was subsequently put in a choke hold until police arrived, which is when it was found he had an injured neck. However, a tripe zero recording that was obtained by the Daily Telegraph indicates that Mr Batterham could be heard threatening the intruder before a drawn out fight ensued. The paper claims Mr Batterham continued to attack Slater after police arrived on the scene. The 34-year-old, who is known to his family as Ricky, was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where he remained in critical condition until his family decided to turn off his life support at 11.30am on Sunday. It has been alleged that Mr Batterham continued to attack Slater after police arrived on the scene Batterham, 33, did not apply for bail when his case was heard in Newcastle Local Court on Tuesday morning after he handed himself into police on Sunday when his charge was upgraded from grievous bodily harm to murder. A pub which credits itself as being the oldest licensed joint in Melbourne has been criticised for its 'outdated' menu for serving gender specific chicken parmigianas. The Duke of Wellington has been mocked on social media after a photo of their menu was shared on Twitter, revealing the pub serves a larger 'Duke Parma' and a smaller 'Lady Parma'. 'The @DukeMelbourne's ~Lady Parma~ is smaller, and comes with salad instead of coleslaw. Can't make this stuff up,' ABC's Adam Collins posted on Tuesday night. The Duke of Wellington has been mocked on social media after a photo of their menu was shared on Twitter, revealing it has a larger 'Duke Parma' and a smaller 'Lady Parma' There is a $5 difference between the menu items. Many responded to the tweet to his personal Twitter page, ridiculing the iconic pub in central Melbourne. 'Hopefully it is served with smaller sized cutlery that will fit in our small ~lady hands~,' a woman responded. 'Very important. I also hope it's served on a dainty plate & that there's a special lady zone for me to dine in,' another said. The Duke of Wellington (pictured), which describes itself as the 'oldest licensed pub in Melbourne', is yet to respond to the outrage 'Finally! A parma small enough to keep me to a ladylike size for my husband. I do so hope it's pretty & pink.' 'You can just feel the dignity in saying "I'll have a lady parma thanks" when ordering,' another wrote sarcastically. 'I'm a 25yo male and have a small appetite. Reckon this is a tad outdated' Mr Collins on Wednesday said people responded naming other pubs with gender specific items on the menu. In December last year, James Davies noticed the 'Lady Parma' on the menu. 'Nice to see some casual sexism at the @DukeMelbourne. It could just be the small parma, but no,' he wrote at the time. The Duke of Wellington, which describes itself as the 'oldest licensed pub in Melbourne', is yet to respond to the outrage. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the pub for comment. A teacher was allowed to carry on working despite facing a life ban for advising boys how to be 'players' and boasting about cheating on his wife during RE lessons. Vasim Shabir, 33, was accused of sighing while watching girls doing PE on the field outside and then winking at boys in his class at Vale Academy in Brigg, North Lincolnshire. But Government education officials said the allegations against him were 'not serious enough' to warn other schools about his behaviour. Artist's impression of the Vale Academy in Brigg, Lincolnshire, where Vasim Shabir taught. Shabir has been banned from the classroom for life This allowed him to get a job at another academy school less than 70 miles away in Bradford. Shabir was banned from teaching for life earlier this month after a disciplinary hearing by teaching watchdogs. But shocked education bosses in Bradford - who knew nothing about the proceedings - say while they were pending Shabir was working as a supply teacher at the Hanson Academy until a few weeks ago. A Bradford Council spokesman said: 'All appropriate pre-employment procedures were undertaken and as soon as we were made aware of the professional conduct hearing we took the appropriate action immediately. 'The Local Authority and partner agencies will now be taking our shared concerns to the relevant national bodies as to how an individual could be able to continue to work while an investigation is under way or pending.' A spokesman from the Department for Education said that if it believed allegations about a teacher are serious enough that they should not be in contact with pupils. Officials can impose an Interim Prohibition Order (IPO) to prevent that person from teaching until the hearing. A spokesman said: 'In this case, his alleged actions weren't deemed serious enough to subject him to an IPO. He would often talk about his many girlfriends and how he has more than one mobile phone so as to keep them all separate from each other Female pupil at Vale Academy, Brigg 'It they move schools it is up to them to disclose the particulars of any upcoming cases to new employers.' A National College for Teaching and Leadership hearing in Coventry was told during his former job, he had handed out tips to boys during religious studies how to have more than one girlfriend and 'get away with it', and bragged about using different mobile phones for all his partners. It was also alleged he then he turned around to the girls present and leered: 'Oh sorry, I forgot you were here', a misconduct panel was told. One shocked pupil told teaching watchdogs he was 'constantly telling us about his 'love life' and how much of a 'player' he is'. Another said: 'He would go on to tell the boys how to have more than one girlfriend and be able to get away with it.' Another girl said Shabir 'would often talk about his many girlfriends and how he has more than one mobile phone so as to keep them all separate from each other'. The panel heard Shabir talked about how he hated his wife, had more than one girlfriend and multiple mobile phones in order to contact them, a number of pupils stated. During the tribunal,Shabir worked as a substitute teacher at the Hanson Academy, Bradford, as his actions were not considered serious enough to warrant an IPO (Interim Prohibition Order) Shabir was also heard telling a group of school staff how he had more than one mobile phone 'because of all the women'. The religious studies teacher, who worked at the school between October 2011 and November 2012, was said to swear in front of pupils. He called students with learning difficulties 'weirdos' and did an impression of one which a witness called 'horrible'. One girl claimed Shabir would stand by the window and watch girls on the field, and then make gestures such as sighing and winking which made her feel awkward. She also said he then turned to the girls and said 'Sorry I forgot you were here.' But the panel found these two allegations 'unproven on the balance of probabilities' because only one girl had made the claims. But decision maker Alan Meyrick, on behalf of the Education Secretary, said: 'Mr Shabir disregarded the policies and practices of the school and the wider profession. 'He sought to influence pupils who were asked to provide an account of events in an investigation into his conduct. He acted in a manner which was derogatory towards girls. 'He used language which was unacceptable and inappropriate in the classroom, and used his mobile phone in the face of clear instructions not to and in breach of school policy. This is the heartbreaking moment a baby chimp too weak to walk was freed from a cramped cage after being captured by cruel poachers who butchered her mother. Traumatised Deo was found with cuts to her head having been locked up in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The young orphan was so weak she was barely able to walk as rescuers cut her free from the tiny wooden cage. Deo the young chimpanzee was being kept in a cage when rescuers found her in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo Traumatised Deo was found with cuts to her heads having been locked up in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo The young orphan was so weak she was barely able to walk as rescuers cut her free from the tiny cage A man has since been arrested and jailed for 17 years over the crime and the baby chimpanzee is being nursed back to health by wildlife experts. Rescuers from the Centre de Rehabilitation des Primates de Lwiro (Lwiro Primates) bought her to their sanctuary which provides care for orphaned primates. They were able to gently cut Deo free and begin the process of providing the care needed for rehabilitation. A sanctuary spokesperson said: 'She arrived with wounds on her head, very traumatised and very weak. She could barely hold and walk. A 'military man' has since been arrested and jailed for 17 years over the crime and the baby chimpanzee is being nursed back to health by wildlife experts Rescuers from the Centre de Rehabilitation des Primates de Lwiro (Lwiro Primates) bought her to their sanctuary which provides care for orphaned primates Freedom: A rescuer gently cuts open the cage to release Deo who had been captured and locked up by poachers Rescuers were able to gently cut Deo free and begin the process of providing the care needed for rehabilitation 'The poachers need to kill the mum in order to take the baby, as they are 24h attached to their mums. Usually other members of the family are killed too; they eat the adults and then they try to sell the babies. 'The story of Deo is sadly the story of a lot of orphaned babies in Africa. There is a strong pet trade to China and Middle East, you can even buy them on Internet. 'Thanks to the community, this case was denounced to the Environmental Services and Deo's care was delegated to the NGO WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society); the only NGO who works in the area. They contacted us immediately to arrange the transport. Deo the young chimpanzee is now being cared for with another 4 babies, Pinga, Aisha, Kimia Bili and Garamba Loving arms: A volunteer cradles little Deo and gives her a hug after the animal was rescued from a cage Play time: Deo is now enjoying the company of other orphans at the centre and is on the road to recovery Deo 'took a long time to recover physically' after her ordeal. The poacher who butchered her mother has reportedly been jailed for 17 years Feeding time: Deo is making a strong recovery having initially been found 'weak and traumatised' in her cage 'She came in a car, around 500km in bad road conditions, in the small cage you have seen in the pictures.' Deo is now able to play with four other babes, Pinga, Aisha, Kimia Bili and Garamba - all victims of poaching. A man who filmed up the skirt of a fellow student for more than an hour at their university library has been fined and sentenced to a three-year good behaviour bond. Nicholas Toso, 20, told a NSW Community Corrections officer he was sorry but could not explain what led him to commit the act in October last year, Sydney Morning Herald reported. Toso, a psychology student, and the victim were sitting in individual study booths in the University of Wollongong campus library when he filmed up the womans skirt for more than an hour. Nicholas Toso, 20, has been fined $2,000 and sentenced to a three-year good-behaviour bond after filming up a fellow student's skirt for more than an hour in the campus library at the University of Wollongong, south of Sydney (pictured leaving Wollongong Court with his mother) On Tuesday, Toso was dished a $2,000 fine and sentenced to a three-year good-behaviour bond, and said a forensic psychologist would determine if Toso should also attend a sex offender's program. The 20-year-old will regret his actions 'for the rest of his life', and has been unable to explain why he filmed up the woman's skirt, defence lawyer Grace Prosperi said earlier in proceedings. Sir Tom Winsor (pictured) has warned that police are sending at risk women and children from ethnic minority backgrounds back to their abusers because officers don't understand honour crime Police are sending at risk women and children from ethnic minority backgrounds back to their abusers because officers don't understand honour crime, the head of the police watchdog has said. Sir Tom Winsor, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said women had been killed by family members because police had been unable to spot signs of honour-related violence, or fully understand the cultural issues surrounding it. He also claimed that in some cases victims were being returned to their families or communities, who might have been responsible for the abuse, or who pose the greatest risk to them. 'In too many respects they [the police] just don't understand that they are returning the victim to the people who present the greatest threat to her and it is almost always "her",' he told The Times. 'It may be her parents or her own extended family.' Last year, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) conducted its first review into the way police deal with honour-based violence, including female genital mutilation and forced marriage, and found that just three out of 43 forces were properly prepared to deal with cases. The report, published in December, found almost half of forces were not ready when it comes to being able to protect victims, and that officers trained to spot victims were spread thinly across England and Wales. It went on to warn that although some forces had developed tactics for combating honour crimes and there were 'pockets of good practice', in many cases forces did not have a 'sound and complete understanding of the nature or magnitude of these crimes, nor how best to respond to them.' Figures obtained by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation last summer revealed that more than 11,000 cases of so-called honour crime were recorded by UK police forces from 2010-14. The crimes, carried out by people claiming they are protecting their cultural and religious beliefs,are usually directed at women, and can include beatings, abductions, and even murders. However, it is feared that the true figure could be much higher because many victims chose not to come forward, particularly when the perpetrators are members of their own family. Victims: Shafilea Ahmed (left) was murdered by her father Iftikhar Ahmed in 2003, while an investigation by the IPCC found that honour killing victim Banaz Mahmod (right) was 'let down' by the police when she complained of threats against her The number of prosecutions also remains low, with the 225 honour-based cases taken through the courts by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 2014-15 resulting in just 129 convictions. HMIC found that some officers had spoken to family members or figures in the community about abuse they might have been involved in, while victims said police arriving at the doorstep of a family home could have unintended consequences for a person at risk. In 2008, a report by Independent Police Complaints Commission found that Banaz Mahmod, 20, who was murdered in 2006 by her father and uncle was 'let down' by police, despite telling them in December 2005 that she feared for her life. Sir Tom said that in London and the West Midlands police had a good understanding of cultural issues surrounding honour violence, but this knowledge was patchier in other areas around the UK. 'WESTERNISED' TEENAGER KILLED BY HER PARENTS Shafilea Ahmed, 17, vanished from her home in Warrington, Cheshire in 2003 and her body was discovered on the banks of the River Kent in Cumbria six months later by workmen. Her parents, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed had denied killing her, but police were convinced they were behind the teen's death. Both parents were arrested on suspicion of kidnap after her disappearance, but while on bail hijacked a police briefing in which their solicitor said racial stereotyping had led officers to conclude they must be involved in her murder - thereby allowing 'the real culprit' to remain at large. Shafilea Ahmed, 17, vanished from her home in Warrington, Cheshire in 2003 Officers bugged the family home in an attempt to bring them to justice, but hit upon a breakthrough in the case when Shafilea's sister, Alesha Ahmed, was arrested in connection with an armed robbery at the family home in August 2010. In a police interview she said she had seen her parents kill her sister seven years earlier. At their murder trial, Chester Crown Court had heard that Shafilea's parents believed she had brought shame on the family, and suffocated her with a plastic bag. The jury was told that the Ahmeds believed the teenager, who wanted to go to parties and wear makeup was too westernised, and they wanted her to conform to their interpretation of Pakistani culture. Sentencing the pair in August 2012, Mr Justice Evans said their desire for her to live in a 'sealed cultural environment' was 'unrealistic, destructive and cruel'. Shafilea Ahmed's parents Iftikhar (right) and Farzana Ahmed (left) were convicted of killing her in 2012 Advertisement He said: 'The people who perpetrate these crimes need to understand that we have one system of criminal justice in this country and that these assaults and abuses and worse are crimes and that they will be vigorously pursued with the full rigour of the criminal law. 'Murder is murder. There are no cultural sensitivities involved. Female genital mutilation is child abuse or grievous bodily harm. Forced marriage may be kidnap and if the child is under 16 it also involves rape. It is as simple as that.' Yasmin Khan, director of Halo Project, a charity which helps people who have suffered honour-based violence particularly in the north east of England, told MailOnline that police officers needed better training at all levels on how to spot and deal with honour violence. 'If police officers haven't received the necessary training or don't understand the associated risk of honour-based violence there is a danger that victims can be lost in the police process,' she said. 'Urgent action needs to be taken with a dedicated lead in the police service to take responsibility for honour crime. It needs to be adopted on a senior level and at street level - there's a fine line between walking on eggshells regarding cultural sensitivity and safeguarding. 'The priority has to be safeguarding, and if there's a safeguarding issue for adults and children police need to be spotting the signs, responding and reducing the risk.' Ms Khan said her charity was working with police, both in the north east and elsewhere, to help train officers on honour crime. 'They need to work with the individual so she can be interviewed away from her family situation, and be assured that any information she gives won't be passed back to them,' she said. 'She needs to no she's not at further risk. And once they have made the disclosure to the police this needs to be acted on. 'The majority of victims come to us at crisis level, and at that point they have to flee. It's essential that their reports are taken seriously.' Jasvinder Sanghera, the founder of charity Karma Nirvana, which also works with victims of honour crimes and forced marriages also said more needed to be done to help officers deal with honour crimes. 'The HMIC report found that of the 43 police forces only three were ready and prepared to respond to honour-based abuse, forced marriage and FGM,' she told MailOnline. 'That tells us there were 40 who weren't. Ms Sanghera, who said her charity's helpline receives around 700 calls a month from potential victims, said police were often the last resort for those affected. 'They may go to a teacher first - it's rarely a social worker because social services aren't often involved in these families - or a GP, but the very last resort would be the police and that's when we believe the women are the most at risk. 'There must be awareness from a police officer that it would be inappropriate to make contact with a victim's family - they don't always understand that the family could be the perpetrators.' 'What the family will do is give a police officer an Oscar-winning performance, they will say all the right things like "we will give her more freedom", and the officer will walk away thinking that the job is done. 'But the victim could end up becoming more isolated by her family, and withdrawn - and that could even be a trigger for a woman to be pulled out of school, forced into a marriage or taken out of the UK.' Ms Sanghera said she had carried out inspections as part of the HMIC report and found that many officers did not even know that forcing someone into marriage was a crime. 'I went into one Force area where around 60 per cent of officers, from senior ranking officers to those on the beat hadn't heard that forced marriage was a criminal offence and hadn't heard of honour-based abuse. 'If an officer doesn't know the law exists, what hope does a victim have of accessing protection from that law?' Ms Sanghera also warned that officers should not be put off investigating cases for fear of causing upset among a community, citing the case of murdered teenager Shafilea Ahmed - whose parents accused police of being racist after they were arrested over her disappearance in 2003. They were later jailed for her murder. 'There can be a feeling of "I don't want to cause community tension",' she said. 'A community leader might come out and say "this is part of our tradition and culture, let us deal with it, it's not a policing matter". If an officer hears that and doesn't challenge that they aren't helping anyone, and things can get worse.' She added: 'Shafilea's parents were using their position to try to make the professionals believe they were being protective parents, and if anyone challenged that they accused them of being racist.' New details of the triple-0 call over the fatal fight between a father-of-one and a man who allegedly broke into his home in the early hours of the morning have been revealed. Operators had recorded the call made at about 3.30am on Saturday morning from Ben Batterhams Hamilton home in central Newcastle. On Sunday he was charged with murder after the life support for alleged intruder Richard Slater, 34, was turned off following injuries sustained in the fight that ensued between them. In the recording of the triple-0 phone call, a man can be heard in the background repeatedly saying: Im going to kill you,7 News reported. A witness can also be heard saying: Youve done enough, boys. Scroll down for video The deadly fight between Ben Batterham, 33, (pictured) and Richard James Slater, 34, outside Mr Batterham's Newcastle home around 3.30am on Saturday was recorded during a triple-0 call Earlier on Wednesday, it had been reported Mr Batterham could be heard threatening Mr Slater, Daily Telegraph reported. The triple-0 phone call recorded Mr Batterham chasing Mr Slater out of the home before the fight ensued. He allegedly continued to attack Mr Slater even after police arrived, a senior police officer reportedly said. Mr Batterham allegedly to have caught Mr Slater standing near his infant daughters bedroom inside the home, holding a stolen purse. Mr Batterham allegedly put Mr Slater in a choke-hold to detain him until police arrived, 7 News reported, and was assisted by an unnamed friend. On Sunday Mr Batterham was charged with murder after the life support for alleged intruder Richard Slater, 34, (pictured) was turned off following injuries sustained in the fight that ensued between them The Triple-0 phone call recorded Mr Battherham chasing Mr Slater, 34, out of the Hamilton home (pictured) and threatening him before a fight ensued The 34-year-old alleged intruder, known to his family as Ricky, was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where he remained in critical condition until his family decided to turn off his life support at 11.30am on Sunday, according to NSW Police. Mr Slater had reportedly been charged with a string of break and enter offences in 2012. He had previously been jailed for raping a 16-year-old girl in 2007 while he threatened her with a knife after forcing his way into her home pants-less, Sydney Morning Herald reported. He was sentenced to a minimum of four years jail for the attack. Mr Slater also had a problem with ice, Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal. His mother, Beryl Dickson, confirmed a photograph of a man smoking from a lit pipe was her son. 'It was, like, four or five years ago,' Ms Dickson said of the photograph. 'He had problems, family problems in his past.' Mr Batterham (pictured) allegedly continued to attack Mr Slater after police arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning Mr Batterham (pictured) did not apply for bail when his case was heard in Newcastle Local Court on Tuesday morning after he was charged with the murder of Mr Slater on Sunday Ms Dickson again denied Slater had broken into Mr Batterham's home to steal a purse. She had previously said her three grandchildren have been robbed of a father, claiming that he had been on the straight and narrow since leaving prison, Ms Dickson told Seven News. Mr Batterham was charged with Mr Slater's murder on Sunday and was scheduled to appear in Newcastle Local Court via videolink on Tuesday but did not show. His attorneys did not request an application for bail and he will remain in custody at the Cessnock Correctional Centre until his case is heard again on May 25, the Newcastle Herald reported. An online petition demanding Mr Batterham's charges be dropped has attracted thousands of signatures. 'Homeowners should be able to defend their families from criminals who break into their homes - and Benjamin should be released now!!!' the petition reads. Many of those who signed the petition said they were 'sick of perpetrators being protected by the broken laws that exist in Australia'. 'If you creep into someone's residence uninvited you deserve to die, it's that simple, good people don't invade peoples living space,' one person wrote in support of Mr Batterham. 'How dare you prosecute someone for defending their home and their family in their own home! This is NOT murder, this was NOT premeditated. This was self defence,' said another. Mr Slater was rushed to John Hunter Hospital where he remained in critical condition until his family decided to turn off his life support Mr Slater's mother Beryl arrived at the court house on Tuesday morning with several family members His aunt Pauline was also pictured outside Newcastle Local Court but declined to speak with reporters Mr Slater's family refused to speak with the media on Tuesday (pictured) after an emotional appeal on Monday His family have denied that Mr Slater, who was reportedly charged over a string of break and enter offences in 2012, was attempting to enter the Hamilton property without permission Mr Slater's daughter Bree posted an image of her father with the caption: 'I just want my daddy home!' Mr Slater's devastated family have demanded justice, claiming the father-of-three was 'murdered in cold blood' (pictured mother Beryl Slater right) January after police were called to his hotel An unarmed Texas man who was shot dead by a cop inside an Arizona hotel begged for his life moments before he was killed, according to a police report. Daniel Shaver, 26, was heard saying 'please don't shoot me' while on his knees when he was fatally shot on January 18 inside the La Quinta Inn in Mesa, according to a witness and a transcription of the officer's body-cam footage. The officer, who was later identified as Philip 'Mitch' Brailsford, has since been terminated from Mesa Police Department and charged with second-degree murder. Daniel Shaver, 26, (pictured with his two daughters) was heard saying 'please don't shoot me' before he was killed in January Philip 'Mitch' Brailsford, has since been terminated from Mesa Police Department and charged with second-degree murder The Mesa Police Department released information from its investigation of the shooting, including the police report and 911 calls. The body-cam video, which was used in the review of the case, has not been released however, reported USA Today. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said Brailsford was 'manifesting an extreme indifference to human life recklessly causing the death of another,' reported the paper. The county attorney's deduced that Shaver's death was the result of unjustifiable force. On the night of the incident, police were called to the La Quinta Inn amid reports of a man pointing a gun out the window of a fifth-floor room. According to Shaver's family, the father of two, who was a businessman from Granbury, traveled with two pellet rifles because of his work with pest control. On the night of the incident, police were called to the La Quinta Inn in Mesa amid reports of a man pointing a gun out the window of a fifth-floor room The Mesa Police Department released information from its investigation of Shaver's (pictured here with his family) shooting, including the police report and 911 calls Six officers arrived at the scene around 9.20pm and said that Shaver was found in his room with a woman. The woman complied with police and got onto her hands and knees and crawled out the room, however officials said Shaver, who was also on his knees in the hallway, was difficult. Court records suggest Shaver may not have understood the police at the time due to the possibility of him being intoxicated. Mesa Police Detective Steve Barry said Shaver repeatedly reached towards his lower back, concealing his hands. 'Based on the initial report of the suspect having a gun, not complying with commands and reaching behind his body, the officer felt threatened and discharged his weapon, striking the suspect,' Barry told The Tennessean in January. Shaver was pronounced dead at the scene. Laney Sweet, Shaver's wife (pictured), previously criticized the way police explained the incident claiming that it did not sound like something her husband would do Barry confirmed that Shaver was not armed at the time of his death. The pellet rifles were later found inside the room. Laney Sweet, Shaver's wife, with whom he has two daughters, previously criticized the way police explained the incident claiming that it did not sound like something her husband would do. 'Daniel passed away in the hallway of his hotel, unarmed. His friends and family are hurting. We want to know why the officer felt justified to fire his weapon,' she told The Tennessean. This is the brutal and bloody end for a lion which was shot dead after it escaped from a national park in Kenya and attacked a man. The dark-maned lion was gunned down by the Kenya Wildlife Service after it was spotted roaming in the Kajiado district, 35 miles from the capital Nairobi. Pictures show the trained ranger taking aim at the animal which crumples to the ground as shots are fired. Scroll down for video The escaped lion ran across a road in Kenya as it made a bid for freedom before being gunned down The lion crumpled to the ground agyer a ranger from the Kenya Wildlife Service took aim and shot the animal The male lion, which had been seen charging along by the side of a road, collapsed to the ground as the shot was fired A mob had gathered around the lion, forcing the rangers to shoot it to avert further injuries, a spokesman for the Service said. 'It had injured somebody. There was a crowd that had formed around it, so it was practically impossible to capture it the way we planned to,' Paul Udoto, communications manager for the wildlife service said. 'The mob had formed and in the process somebody got injured, and by the time the veterinary and security teams got to the ground it was already beyond salvation,' Udoto said. 'With that commotion we risked more injuries or even possible deaths.' Nairobi National Park lies on the city limits, providing visitors views of lions, rhinos, giraffes, zebras and other wildlife against a backdrop of high-rise buildings. Residents could be seen running to safety after a stray male lion approached near Kajiado The dark-maned lion was gunned down by the Kenya Wildlife Service after it was spotted roaming near a community outside Amboseli National Park in Kaijado The images emerged on the same day that another lion was shot having mauled a man near Isinya, a built-up area south of the country's capital Lions are occasionally spotted in the city close to the park after they find a way through fences that protect the built-up areas near the reserve. Onlookers had reportedly gathered to stare at the agitated animal, the fourth big cat to escape Nairobi National Park this year. It was the second time someone had been injured by a lion in Kenya in under two weeks. RANGERS MAY HAVE TO KILL SYLVESTER THE LION AFTER LATEST ESCAPE Rangers say they may have to kill a lion called Sylvester after it escaped from a South African national park for the second time. Helicopters are being used to track down the three-year-old big cat which is on the loose once again after breaking out of Karoo National Park in the south of the country. Sylvester, who roamed free for three weeks during his previous escape, has already killed a cow and there are fears it will target humans. South African National Parks spokesman Reynold Thakhuli said: 'He is clearly a troublesome lion and could be a danger to human. 'Authorities will have to consider various management methods to ensure his safety and that of people. Such interventions might include euthanising the animal.' Rangers say they may have to kill Sylvester the lion after it escaped from a South African national park for the second time (file picture) A signal from Sylvester's tracking collar, which was fitted after his last escape, showed he was outside the park on Sunday, and by Monday he was 12 miles from the park's fenced boundary, in a mountainous area not easily accessible by foot. During his last escape, he roamed 186 miles from the park, killing 30 animals over three weeks before being shot by a tranquiliser dart fired from a helicopter. At the time, wildlife officials said he had been forced out of the park by older lions. 'This time we don't know what might have driven him away. It could be that he became used to easy prey while outside the park,' said Thakhuli. Lions were re-introduced to Karoo National Park, in Western Cape province, in 2010 after an absence of almost 170 years. The last wild lion in the area was shot in 1842. Advertisement Udoto said the injured man had been taken to hospital and the animal shot 'after it (had) become wild'. In previous incidents this year the lions have either been herded back to the 29,000-acre park or have returned of their own accord. The reserve is almost surrounded by a fast-growing city of over three million people. Earlier this month a 63-year old man was injured when a lion clawed at him close to a busy highway where motorists were honking their horns and snapping photographs and videos as they drove by. People gather around a male stray lion that was killed by rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) after he attacked and injured a man in Kajiado district, some 60km south of the capital Nairobi, Kenya On the run: The lion was seen running along side fences and across fields after escaping from a national park A ranger takes aim and crouches down by a fence as he prepares to shoot the stray lion The park is not entirely fenced to enable traditional migration by animals in search of grazing. The big cats are under growing pressure as one of Africa's fastest growing cities expands onto ancient migration routes and hunting grounds. Conservationists say lions lived there before people in the area and are not 'escaping' the park nor 'straying' into human settlements, rather people have moved into the lions' habitat. Pierre Haobsh, 26, has been charged for the horrific triple murders of a Santa Barbara couple and their five-year-old daughter and appeared in court on Tuesday A San Diego man has been charged with the horrific triple killings of a couple and their five-year-old daughter that sent shock waves through their Santa Barbara community. Pierre Haobsh, 26, was arrested after the deaths of Dr Weidong 'Henry' Han, 57, his wife Huijie 'Jennie' Yu, 29, and their daughter Emily Han, which police believe may have stemmed from a business dispute. Haobsh, of Oceanside, was charged with murder with special circumstances that he used a handgun, killed for financial gain and committed multiple killings. Santa Barbara County prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty. He made a brief court appearance Tuesday, but did not enter a plea. His arraignment was scheduled for April 14. Haobsh was taken into custody at gunpoint in his home on Friday. He was found with a loaded 9mm handgun and property belonging to one of the victims was found inside his car, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown. A welfare check was called on the family after two of Han's business associates went to his home after he failed to show up to a meeting, which they said was highly uncharacteristic of him. The associates called police after they found that the front door ajar and the family's cars still parked outside their multi-million dollar seven acre home in the outskirts of Santa Barbara. Police found that the family had been shot to death on Thursday. 'The bodies were all wrapped in plastic,' Brown told KEYT. 'They had been duct-taped over the plastic wrap and they were all in the garage of the residence.' 'This was a diabolical, premeditated crime. One of the most odious that I have ever been involved with, or that this agency has ever investigated.' Haobsh, 27, was charged for the deaths of Dr Weidong 'Henry' Han (right), 57, his wife Huijie 'Jennie' Yu, 29 and their daughter Emily Han (pictured together left) Emily was a kindergartner at Foothill Elementary School. Her sixth birthday party was supposed to be Saturday A welfare check was called on the family after two of Han's business associates went to his home (pictured) after he failed to show up to a meeting, which they said was highly uncharacteristic of him Authorities did not elaborate on what led them to Haobsh - who lives more than 170 miles away from the family's home. Brown said the 'complex' investigation is far from over. The killings have shocked the community where Han, who had owned and operated the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic since 1991, was a popular figure. Emily was a kindergartner at Foothill Elementary School. Her sixth birthday party was supposed to be Saturday, one of Han's patients told the Los Angeles Times. The clinic's website says he practiced traditional Chinese medicine, including herbal treatments and acupuncture, as he was born into a family of doctors. According to a biography on his website, Han founded the clinic in 1991 and creates individualized herbal formulas for each of his patients that are prepared at the on-site pharmacy. Han graduated in 1982 from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine and completed his residency program in internal medicine at Beijing Dong Zhi Men's Hospital. The killings have shocked the community where Han, who had owned and operated the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic since 1991, was a popular figure Police said all three members of the family had been shot to death, their bodies then wrapped in plastic He co-authored the book Ancient Herbs, Modern Medicine and was working on a volume about how to integrate Chinese and Western medicine. 'Not only is he going to be missed by me personally and professionally but this community is going to miss him incredibly. He was the man,' said Dr. Glenn Miller, a co-author of the book and a close friend. 'Patients we share would talk about how in the true sense of the word he was a healer, in that he would listen to the wholeness of his patients.' A somber recording on the clinic's voicemail said the facility was closed Friday, but people would be there to greet those who wanted to express their condolences. 'Our doors will be open for you to honor, pay respects and celebrate the lives of Dr. Henry Han, his wife Jenni and daughter Emily. They truly were special,' the recording said. Patients were seen at the clinic on Friday carrying bouquets of flowers and handwritten notes, a makeshift memorial for the family that touched - and healed - so many lives. Sydney socialite is the former mistress of Visy billionaire Richard Pratt She allegedly bit and kicked a female officer, who received a bruised leg Police were called to scene on Oxford Street, Woollahra, inner-east Sydney Ms Hitchcock became aggressive and tried to assault the woman A concerned motorist stopped to help the intoxicated woman Shari-Lea Hitchcock, 46, was seen walking in the middle of road The former mistress of a late billionaire was indulging in a long ladies lunch before she allegedly bit and kicked a police officer. A photo has emerged of the ladies lunch last Friday where Sydney socialite Shari-Lea Hitchcock Hitchcock is seen enjoying drinks with her daughter Paula, Lizzie Buttrose - Ita Buttrose's niece - and other friends ahead of an alleged drunken incident that saw Ms Hitchcock taken into custody. Ms Hitchcock, who had an 18-year-affair with late cardboard king Richard Pratt, was arrested and charged with assault, assaulting police and resisting arrest on Friday evening. The 46-year-old mother was seen intoxicated walking in the middle of Oxford Street in Woollahra, after leaving the ritzy Centennial restaurant in Sydney's inner-east, just before 6pm, when a concerned motorist pulled over to assist Ms Hitchcock, according to 7 News. It has since emerged she told a friend she has recently been suffering 'blood sugar problems'. Scroll down for video The photo emerged of the ladies lunch at the Centennial last Friday where Sydney socialite Shari-Lea Hitchcock Hitchcock (pictured second from right) is seen enjoying drinks with her daughter Paula (far right), Lizzie Buttrose (third right) - Ita Buttrose's niece - and other friends ahead of an alleged drunken incident that saw Ms Hitchcock taken into custody The 46-year-old mother was seen intoxicated walking in the middle of Oxford Street in Woollahra, in Sydney's inner-east Sydney socialite Shari-Lea Hitchcock (pictured right), who had an 18-year-affair with late cardboard king Richard Pratt (pictured left), was arrested and charged with assault, assaulting police and resisting arrest on Friday evening During an altercation with police, Ms Hitchcock allegedly kicked and bit a female officer, bruising her leg Ms Hitchcock allegedly became aggressive and tried to assault the woman before police were called to the scene. During an altercation with police, Ms Hitchcock allegedly kicked and bit a female officer, bruising her leg. She was taken to Waverly Police Station and charged and granted bail to appear in Waverly Court next month. On Wednesday, Ms Hitchcock messaged a friend and said: 'I haven't been well - blood sugar problems - it will sort itself out but rest assured I didn't hurt anyone', the Daily Telegraph reported. Ms Hitchcock was the long-time lover of billionaire Richard Pratt, who founded cardboard company Visy, and won a bitter seven year court battle against Mr Pratt's widow, Jeanne Pratt for a large portion of his estate. Mr Pratt died at the age of 74 from prostate cancer in 2009. In his will, Mr Pratt left his daughter with his mistress, Paula Hitchcock, a home in Sydney's exclusive eastern suburb of Watsons Bay and another property on the NSW south coast. She will also inherit up to $23 million in shares when she turns 21. Ms Hitchcock was the long-time lover of billionaire Richard Pratt (pictured right), who founded cardboard company Visy, and won a bitter seven year court battle against Mr Pratt's widow, Jeanne Pratt (pictured) for a large portion of his estate Ms Hitchcock became aggressive and tried to assault the woman before police were called to the scene Mr Pratt left his daughter with his mistress, Paula Hitchcock (pictured), a home in Sydney's exclusive eastern suburb of Watsons Bay and another property on the NSW south coast A professional wrestler who assaulted and threatened to kill his estranged porn star wife has been jailed for two years. Dean Powell, 36, assaulted Michelle Thorne, 40, and threatened her with a ten-inch blade when she tried to kick him out of their home in Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire, a few days after Christmas. The fighter, who married X Factor hopeful Ms Thorne in 2010, also turned on her father Michael when he tried to intervene, head-butting him and causing him to suffer a nosebleed. Scroll down for video Professional wrestler Dean Powell (left), who threatened to kill his estranged porn star wife Michelle Thorne (right) and threatened her with a knife, has been jailed for two years Powell, who was 'foaming at the mouth and deranged' during the attack, then calmed himself down and made a cup of tea before police arrived, Bristol Crown Court heard. He was sentenced to 28 months behind bars at Bristol Crown Court after pleading guilty to assaulting Ms Thorne and her father on December 29 last year. He also admitted threatening to kill Ms Thorne, possessing a ten-inch kitchen knife and damaging property, as well as a previous assault on his wife at a hotel in November. Judge Michael Roach told him: 'You have pleaded guilty to these offences at the first available opportunity. 'I agree that you should receive maximum credit for the guilty pleas you offered. It was utterly disgraceful, out of control behaviour. Miss Thorne has written and directed several adult films, and in 2005 appeared as a contestant in episode two, season two, of The X Factor He added: 'These offences are so serious that they require an immediate prison sentence. 'It would be an affront to justice if any other form of sentence would be passed.' Powell was also handed an indefinite restraining order banning him from all contact with Ms Thorne, other than via a solicitor or social services at the hearing yesterday. Julian Howells, prosecuting, told the court that Powell assaulted his wife in November when they attended a junior dance competition at a hotel. Powell was also handed an indefinite restraining order banning him from all contact with Ms Thorne (pictured) He said Powell, who is now living with his parents in Maidenhead, Berkshire, grabbed her by the neck and dragged her to a room, wrestling a concerned mum out of the way. The following month, Powell again attacked Ms Thorne when he visited her at their marital home only for her to ask him to leave. He stamped on a PlayStation 3 game repeatedly before making threats to kill and arming himself with a knife in his sock and two in his hands, the court heard. 'Ms Thorne said he was punching himself in the face,' Mr Howellstold the court. 'He went to the kitchen, to a knife block, and took a knife with a ten-inch blade and was pointing the knife around and saying 'You better stay away from me and do what you're told'.' Mr Howells said when Ms Thorne's father arrived and put Powell in a headlock, Powell head-butted him. He added that there was a long history of violence in the relationship stretching back to before the couple married in 2010. Kathryn Sheridan, mitigating, said her remorseful client's time remanded in custody was life-changing for him, but the judge rejected her calls for a suspended jail sentence. Ms Thorne's adult film career began in 1999 with All Amateur: Girls of the UK, and during her career has worked with production companies such as Bluebird Films, Extreme Associates, and Union Jaxxx. She also has her own production company called Bombchelle Productions and in 2005 was named by the BBC as 'one of the best-known faces in the British porn industry and one of the top actresses'. She has also written and directed several adult films. In 2005, Ms Thorne appeared as a contestant in episode two, season two, of The X Factor. Ms Thorne's appearances include nine episodes of the comedy series Brainiac: Science Abuse and a voice over role in the 2001 anime film Bondage Mansion. French police has evacuated nearly 1,000 migrants from a makeshift camp underneath the train tracks by a Paris subway station on Wednesday. Some 985 people were removed from the camp near the Stalingrad metro station in east Paris, which has mushroomed in recent weeks in the wake of the destruction of the Jungle camp in Calais. The migrants, mostly from Sudan, Eritrea and Afghanistan, will now be housed in emergency shelters for a month, allowing them to begin the asylum process, the Interior Ministry said. Eviction: French police stand guard as the makeshift migrant camp set up under the elevated metro station of Stalingrad is being emptied in Paris Police operation: Some 985 people were removed from the camp near the Stalingrad metro station in east Paris, which has mushroomed in recent weeks in the wake of the destruction of the Jungle camp in Calais Off the streets: The migrants living in the camp under the train tracks, mostly from Sudan, Eritrea and Afghanistan, will now be housed in emergency shelters The Paris camp sprung up underneath an elevated section of the metro train track near Stalingrad station earlier this year. Some 400 people were evacuated on March 7 and taken to shelters, but the camp quickly reformed, prompting, with officials noticing more migrants coming into the capital. 'The pace is increasing, I think there are a large number of people who were in Calais and who are coming to Paris,' said regional government official Sophie Brocas. The evacuation was the 19th of its kind in Paris since June last year, which has seen 6,500 migrants moved to emergency shelters. 'The street should not be a refuge' for people fleeing persecution, the Interior Ministry said, calling the evacuation necessary for public order, public health and humanitarian reasons. Makeshift homes: The camp sprung up underneath an elevated section of the metro train track near Stalingrad station, east Paris, earlier this year Some 400 people were evacuated from the Stalingrad metro camp last month, but it quickly reformed New homes: Migrant women wait for busses to take them to shelters provided by the Parisian authorities Living rough: A migrant couple from Eritrea wait as they are evicted from the makeshift camp they, along with nearly 1,000 others, set up under the elevated tracks three weeks ago Nowhere to go: Most of the migrants at the Stalingrad camp have already tried their luck in Calais to access England, but failed and chose to come to Paris and ask for papers and a recognition of the refugee status Influx: In the wake of the destruction of the Jungle camp in Calais, Paris officials have said they are noticing more migrants coming into the capital Calm work: The evacuation of the camp began on Wednesday morning and ended peacefully two hours later 'I don't know where we are going, but it will always be better than here,' said Ahmed, an Afghan who said he was fleeing 'the war and the Taliban'. He is one of several of the migrants to have come from the grim 'Jungle' camp in the northern port city of Calais, parts of which were cleared away by authorities earlier this month. The French government is trying to limit the size of the 'Jungle', now home to about 3,500 people, and persuade migrants to give up on their dream of reaching Britain and apply for asylum in France. Tightened security has reduced nightly bids to sneak onto trucks or storm the port, and increasing numbers of migrants appear to be giving up and coming to Paris. More than one million migrants - about half of them Syrians - reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, a rate of arrival that has continued through the first three months of 2016. Move: French police stand guard as the makeshift migrant camp set up under the elevated metro station of Stalingrad is being emptied Waiting game: Migrants, mainly from Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea, wait next to the bar 'Tout Va Mieux' [Everything is going (to be) better] as the makeshift camp they set up was emptied by the French police Operations: The evacuation on Wednesday was the 19th of its kind in Paris since June last year, which has seen 6,500 migrants moved to emergency shelters What is left: Suitcases, mattresses and belongings are left behind in the makeshift camp as the sun rises over Stalingrad station on Wednesday morning France has not seen nearly as many Syrian refugees or other migrants over the past year as Germany or countries farther east, but has experienced tensions around the northern port of Calais, where migrants converge in hopes of crossing into Britain. The flow of migrants to the Greek islands, meanwhile, seems to be on the rise again as weather warms. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. The number is a roughly a three-fold jump compared with arrivals in previous days. In Turkey, the coast guard said it rescued dozens of mostly Syrian migrants as they tried to reach Greece in an inflatable dinghy. Off the coast of Libya, a German combat ship rescued scores of people on Tuesday who were trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa into Italy's southern islands. This is the remarkable moment a marksman perfectly hits all six of his targets behind his back - by lining up his shots with a mirror. Modern day gunslinger Zaldy Rivera is seen accurately blasting every target while balancing his firearm on his shoulder. Using a small mirror in his left hand, he is able to line up his targets without turning his neck. According to Mr Rivera, who posted the video on his YouTube channel, the stunt was performed at the military shooting range in Camp Aguinaldo, in Quezon City. Filmed in August 2009, he said he used a 40 Caliber Para Ordnance Pistol to perform the trick. Mr Rivera's channel features a number of different videos showing him performing handgun stunts and tricks, including timed trials at firing ranges. Zaldy Rivera uses a mirror in his left hand to line up his targets in the gun sights during his impressive trick After hitting the first target on the top of the stick to the far right, he glances over his shoulder to confirm the hit He then shoots a number of small targets set out in a row at the firing range in Camp Aguinaldo, the Philippines A former Labour home secretary has accused Jeremy Corbyn of giving 'tacit support' to terrorists. In a scathing attack, Charles Clarke said the Labour leader and his allies John McDonnell and Diane Abbott were guilty of effectively backing extremists by refusing to back the Government's move to list al-Qaeda as a terror group just six months before 9/11. Jack Straw, another former home secretary, said proscribing the terror group had been crucial in stopping Osama bin Laden orchestrating more atrocities. Former home secretary Charles Clarke (pictured right) accused Jeremy Corbyn (pictured left) of giving 'tacit support' to terrorists for refusing to back the Government's move to list al-Qaeda as a terror group just six months before 9/11 Mr Corbyn and his left-wing allies were among 17 MPs who voted against banning al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and 18 other terror groups in 2001. The move was backed by an overwhelming majority of MPs. It outlawed support of the terror groups, which meant anyone found to be a member raising money for terror organisations could be sentenced to up to ten years in prison. Six months after Mr Corbyn voted against the move, al-Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people by flying planes into New York's World Trade Centre towers. Mr Clarke, who was home secretary during the 7/7 London bombings, told the Evening Standard today: 'It must have given comfort to the proscribed organisations that people like Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and John McDonnell were giving them tacit support.' Jack Straw, another former home secretary, said proscribing the terror group had been crucial in stopping Osama bin Laden (pictured) orchestrating more atrocities He added: 'Proscription was and is a very important weapon against those organisations which are trying to attack us and our society. 'We never took any decision to proscribe lightly, but only on the basis of a very considered assessment.' Today's remarks by the former Labour home secretary will further weaken Mr Corbyn's reputation on counter-terrorism. He has blamed the rise of ISIS and Islamic extremism in the Middle East on Tony Blair's interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan and said part of the responsibility for the deadly Paris attacks in November must lie with Western military intervention. 'We have created a situation where some of these forces have grown,' he said just three days after 130 people were killed by Islamic terrorists in the French capital. He was condemned by his own Labour MPs after he opposed police shooting to kill terrorists in the wake of the Paris attacks. Mr Corbyn faced repeated criticism during the Labour leadership race for previous remarks in which he called members of Hamas 'friends'. He insisted he was using the word 'friends' in a 'collective way' at a meeting in Parliament to encourage dialogue between opponents. In recent weeks he has faced claims he has failed to combat growing cases of anti-Semitism in his party. A former Labour candidate was suspended for the second time earlier this month after she was reported to police over a series of tweets attacking Israel - but questions were raised over how she was readmitted to the party under Mr Corbyn's leadership. The leadership also faced questions over why Gerry Downing, a Trotskyist activist who was readmitted to Labour under Mr Corbyn, who refused to condemn the 9/11 killers and said Britain should give military assistance to ISIS. A spokesman for Mr McDonnell explained that he had opposed the move to ban the 20 groups because the list included the Sikh Youth Federation and some of his constituents were 'rightly shocked to be on such a list'. Six months after Mr Corbyn voted against a move to proscribe 20 terror groups, al-Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people by flying planes into New York's World Trade Centre towers His spokesman said: 'There was no way the list could be amended. It was a take it or leave it vote. 'And if anything John has subsequently been proved to be right in the end by the fact that this government's recent review has lifted this unjust ban on the [Sikh] group.' A Sikh Federation spokesperson said today: 'The Sikh Federation UK denies the ISYF had any role in terrorism and the ban in 2001 was to do with the Indian authorities using trade deals to put pressure on the UK Government.' Mr Corbyn's spokesman refused to comment on the accusation from Mr Clarke. Speaking in the Commons debate in 2001, Mr Corbyn said banning al-Qaeda and other terror groups was 'causing a great deal of disquiet in the Islamic, Turkish and Tamil communities'. Ms Abbott said at the time: 'While no one denies the atrocities perpetrated by some groups on the list, what we are attempting to scrutinise tonight is the process, the thinking and the procedure behind this type of proscription. He received 10 years in prison and is prohibited from driving for 12 years Muzzo hit a van last September, killing three children and their grandfather Mother said family sang 'Over the Rainbow' as life support was turned off She revealed her last moments with her youngest children were in hospital The mother of the three young children who were killed alongside their grandfather when a Canadian billionaire crashed into their van while driving drunk has hit out at his 10 year sentence. Jennifer Neville-Lake spoke after Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst sentenced Marco Muzzo, 29, to 10 years in prison and prohibited him from driving for 12 years after his release, in Toronto on Tuesday. The mother, who also lost her father in the crash, revealed that her last moments with her son Harrison, five, and her daughter Milly, two, were spent in the hospital. Jennifer Neville-Lake (left with her family) spoke out after Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst sentenced Marco Muzzo, 29, to 10 years in prison She said that their beds were next to each other and that the family sang 'Over the Rainbow' with their hands intertwined as the life support machines were turned off, reported The Star. Speaking outside court yesterday, Neville-Lake said: 'The sentence is 10 years and none of my children saw 10 years. 'When you choose to drink and drive you are killing someone's babies. All of mine were killed on a Sunday afternoon.' Muzzo pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm. Daniel Neville-Lake, nine, his brother Harrison, their sister Milly and their grandfather, Gary Neville, 65, died last September after their van was hit by a speeding Muzzo, who was in an SUV in Ontario. Marco Muzzo (pictured right, last month) has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing three young children and their grandfather while driving drunk Muzzo was severely intoxicated behind the wheel and plowed his car into the family's vehicle shortly after stepping off a private jet following his bachelor party in Miami. Breathalyzer tests showed he had between two and three times the legal amount of alcohol in his blood. Police said Muzzo was so drunk he urinated on himself after the collision on September 27 last year. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 10 to 12 years behind bars and a ban on driving for eight to 10. The defense had argued an eight-year jail sentence would be enough. Fuerst said no matter the length of sentence, Muzzo will eventually be released and go back to normal life, but the victims' family would not. Daniel Neville-Lake (right) his brother Harrison (left) and their two-year-old sister Milly (center) died in the crash along with their grandfather in September last year Neville-Lake released a heartbreaking victim impact statement last month. She said: 'I would not wish this horror I am living on anyone but you. 'You deserve to know exactly what it feels like to have every single child you created meet someone like you.' Yesterday, Muzzo took the stand to beg forgiveness for his actions, but Neville-Lake and her husband Edward had already walked out. They previously said there was nothing the killer of their family could say to mitigate their loss. Tragic: Gary Neville (pictured) the children's grandfather, was also killed in the drunk-driving crash Muzzo's voice trembled as he expressed how he feels tortured by the grief he has caused by his actions. In his first public remarks since the crash, he acknowledged that his apology 'would be of no consolation' to the family. He said he is filled with 'great remorse, sympathy and unimaginable regret.' The 29-year-old vowed to spend the rest of his life atoning for his conduct by educating the public about the dangers of drinking and driving. But outside court, Neville-Lake told reporters she had no interest in hearing Muzzo's apology. Canadian Business Magazine ranked Muzzo (pictured), the son of a property billionaire, the 52nd wealthiest person in Canada with a fortune that tops $1.7 billion 'I don't want to listen to the man who is responsible for killing my children,' she said. 'There's nothing he can say, his actions spoke louder than words. I don't see why I should put myself through that.' Earlier in the sentencing hearing, she sobbed as she recalled her horror at finding out all of her children and her father had died. Edward Lake, the children's father, said he had suicidal thoughts, night terrors and chest pains after the crash. The family car was being driven by the children's grandmother Neriza Neville at the time of the crash. Muzzo was on his way home from his bachelor party in Miami when the crash occurred (above) She survived, but was found pinned inside the vehicle, screaming the names of the children and her husband, unaware that they had died. The children's great-grandmother Josephina Frias was also in the car at the time and injured in the crash. Another car was also hit in the collision, but none of the passengers were seriously injured. Muzzo had been driving home from the airport, after flying home from his bachelor party in Miami. He had been set to marry Taryn Hampton in October. At the time of the crash, Muzzo had been working for the billion-dollar construction empire founded by his grandfather, who died in 2005, leaving his son Marc in charge. Muzzo's father Robert died the year before. Seventeen men of Middle Eastern descent were detained early Sunday morning near Deep Creek Hot Springs in Apple Valley, Seventeen men of Middle Eastern descent were detained in southern California on Sunday after a concerned citizen called police, saying they spotted the group chanting and firing off more than 100 rounds of ammunition in a remote hiking area. But the men were let go when police found no evidence of wrong-doing. The area where the men were detained is located about an hour's drive from where husband-and-wife shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik gunned down 14 people in December in the name of the Islamic State. Scroll down for video Stopped and searched: A group of 17 men of Middle Eastern descent were detained in Apple Valley, California on Sunday after a camper in the area called police, saying the men had been chanting and firing guns all night Let go: The group of men were searched and then released after police found no evidence they had committed any crime San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies were first called to the area near Deep Creek Hot Springs in Apple Valley around 8:30am, when a camper in the area called 911 to report the group. According to police scanner audio obtained by the Victor Valley News, the camper said 'a large group of Middle Eastern males in their 20s...were up all night chanting "Allah akbar-type stuff [sic]"' and that at one point 'some of them disappeared and started shooting what sounded like large long-gun-type firearms'. The camper added the men 'wearing turbans' shot off more than 100 rounds. Police located the group hiking in the area Sunday morning and stopped the men to search their backpacks. San Bernardino: The FBI is following up on the investigation since the incident took place on federal ground. The area where the men were detained is about an hour's drive from the deadly San Bernardino shootings in December The men - who were cooperative with police - were carrying several handguns, a rifle and a shotgun. The rifle was the only weapon that was not registered, and the owner said that was because it had been bought in parts. Although it didn't have a serial number, it was still legal under California law. After finding no evidence that the men had committed any crimes or had any warrants out for their arrest, police let the men go. The Victor Valley News also shared pictures of the alleged group as they were being detained, which the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office later confirmed were the detained men to Daily Mail Online. In a press release about the incident, officers also pointed out that people shoot guns in that particular area 'all the time' since it is federal land where recreational shooting is permitted. None of the other hikers in the area that police interviewed after the incident said they heard any shots fired that night. San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office officials said they would no longer be investigating the incident, but the FBI is conducting a follow up since the incident happened on federal land. One local interviewed by CBS Los Angeles said he was glad that the men had been stopped and searched. Advertisement Driving between Mayfair boutiques in a fleet of golden supercars might seem like the height of extravagance to most people - but for Turki Bin Abdullah, it's just an average day. The super-rich Saudi has caused quite a stir in west London in recent days as his golden Bentley, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce have been seen touring the streets and parked outside luxury hotels. But MailOnline can today reveal the incredible lifestyle of the vehicles' billionaire owner, who divides his time between the oil-rich Middle East and the luxury hotels of London and Paris. Saudi billionaire Turki Bin Abdullah is the man behind the fleet of incredible golden supercars currently touring wealthy parts of west London Bin Abdullah is shown on Instagram in one of his vehicles and with friends on a private jet as he head between the Middle East and Europe In one of the most bizarre pictures on the Instagram account, a cheetah is pictured apparently strapped in to the driving seat of one of the cars This is the view from behind the wheel of Bin Abdullah's 350,000 Lamborghini Aventador SV, which has been seen in London this week The photos and videos posted on instagram document Bin Abdullah's globetrotting lifestyle as he takes his money and his cars between the oil-rich states of the Middle East to the most exclusive streets of Europe. In one video, he is shown chasing a camel down a steep desert slope in his 370,00 six-wheel Mercedes G63. A friend jokes: 'My drive home from school'. Another clip, posted just a few weeks ago, shows him filming himself as he drives his 350,000 Lamborghini Aventador SV in west London, followed by friends in another of his golden vehicles. Another driving video shows him wearing two expensive watches on his wrist as he is apparently escorted by a police car on a road in the Middle East. One of the most bizarre photos posted on the social network shows a cheetah strapped into driving seat of his Mercedes jeep as one of his 51,000 followers comments: 'That is some serious dollar'. Bin Abdullah also posts photos of his cars parked in exclusive locations in Paris, London and Dubai as he flies them around the world to be with him at great expense. He is also seen frequenting expensive restaurants including Home Bakery in Dubai. In a video on the account, the driver of one of the supercars is shown sporting two watches. In another, he posts the view from a luxury hotel Bin Abdullah's pride at his golden fleet of cars is clear from the pictures, most of which feature one or all of them in a series of locations Four of the golden cars, others of which are pictured here, have been seen in London this week, with some getting parking tickets Bin Abdullah pays thousands to have his beloved vehicles brought to Europe every year. He is thought to transports them by plane The gold cars were spotted parked outside the five-star Mandarian Oriental hotel near Hyde Park over the Bank Holiday weekend before being driven through Kensington. Their journey also took them to Cadogan Place, where the average house price is just over 5.2million. It is not known how much it costs to cover the cars in gold chrome wrap, but previous reports suggest it is in the region of 4,000 per vehicle. The annual influx of supercars from the Middle East has become well known in London and tourists now travel from around the world to look at the expensive machines and have photos taken with them. It is thought owners pay in excess of 20,000 to fly their vehicles around 3,000 miles to London. Qatar Airways is one of the operators that facilitates the transportation, with airport staff securing vehicles to the floor of the relevant aircraft before flight. Last year, following numerous complaints, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order in Knightsbridge. Motorists are now banned from revving their engine, rapidly accelerating, racing, performing stunts, sounding horns or causing obstructions. They are also prohibited from leaving the engine of a stationary car running. The Manchester United fan's social media accounts contain pictures of him with a number of Saudi officials, including this military figure Another photo shows Bin Abdullah's cars lined up in a desert setting. All four cars, a 370,00 Mercedes G63, a six-wheel off-roader, a Bentley Flying Spur, worth 220,000, a 350,000 Rolls-Royce and a 350,000 Lamborghini Aventador SV, have been flown to London this year The six-wheel Mercedes, a similar model to which once featured on Top Gear, is designed to be driven through the desert rather than London A video posted on the site, believed to have been taken from the Mercedes, shows an array of luxury cars driving away from a traffic lights Fears are growing for a 17-year-old mother and her six-month-old baby boy who have been missing for four days. Sophia Thrusfield and her son Isaac were reported missing after visiting family in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, on Saturday morning. She was last spotted with the toddler at around 6.45pm but failed to return to their home in Wednesbury, West Midlands and hasn't been in contact with family. Sophia Thrusfield (pictured) who has been reported missing to police, along with her six-month-old baby boy The teenager is described as white, 5ft 7in tall with a medium build and long, wavy black hair with ginger coming through. She has blue eyes and a place complexion, and was wearing a black tracksuit with a black vest top underneath, with black and red Nike Air trainers. She was also wearing a thick black chain around her neck. A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: 'We are working with West Midlands Police to find Sophia and her baby and are becoming concerned for their welfare. 'Officers have checked specific addresses which Sophia has links to and are following other lines of enquiry. 'We're keen to hear from anyone who has had contact with her since the weekend.' Anyone with information is asked to contact Staffordshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 110 of March 27. Sophia Thrusfield and her son Isaac were reported missing after visiting family in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, on Saturday morning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has revealed that the five-year conflict in Syria has cost the regime over $200 billion (139 billion). Speaking to Russian state media, Assad admitted that while he believes the economic issues can be swiftly solved, rebuilding Syria's infrastructure will take significantly longer once peace is achieved. He made no mention of the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced more than four million Syrians. High cost: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the financial costs of the five year civil war in Syria has cost the government more than $200 billion (139 billion). 'The economic damage and the damage to infrastructure exceeds $200 billion,' Assad told Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency. He added that 'economic issues can be settled immediately, when the situation stabilises in Syria, but rehabilitating the infrastructure will take a long time'. While the economic costs to the government revealed by President Al-Assad are monumental, the human losses are far greater. More than four million Syrians have registered or are awaiting registration with the UN's refugee agency, which predicts the number to rise to 4.7million by the end of the year. Human losses: In total, 11.5 per cent of the Syrian population have been killed or injured since the start of the civil war in March 2011, while 4.3million have been forced to flee There are now 4.3 million Syrians scattered throughout the region, making them the world's largest refugee population under the United Nations' mandate, with more than half under the age of 18 A report published in February this year found that 470,000 Syrians have been killed in the war - directly or indirectly. In all, 11.5 per cent of the Syrian population have been killed or injured since the start of the war in March 2011, the Syrian Centre for Policy Research said. In his interview with RIA Novosti, Assad also said that the transitional government in a Syria at peace should include both the regime and opposition. President Assad admitted that while he believes the economic issues can be swiftly solved, rebuilding Syria's infrastructure will take significantly longer once peace is achieved Assad said 'logical for there to be independent forces, opposition forces and forces loyal to the government represented there'. A number of countries, including the United States, involved in the UN peace talks, have demanded that Assad resigns as president as part of a peace deal. Indirect peace talks at the United Nations in Geneva adjourned on Thursday after making little progress. The talks were able to go ahead after a limited truce, sponsored by the United States and Russia, took effect last month - although it excludes Islamic State and the Nusra Front groups. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, heading the says he wants the negotiations to address political transition, which he called the 'mother of all issues'. A series of bounced cheques belonging to Lord Lucan have emerged. Lucan disappeared in November 1974 A series of bounced cheques that illustrate the scale of Lord Lucan's gambling debts before he disappeared have come to light after 42 years. The troubled aristocrat signed the 11 cheques totalling almost 20,000 - about 250,000 in today's money- as he desperately tried to reverse his spiralling losses at a leading London casino. All of them either bounced or were not even presented to the bank as it became obvious that Lucan - who was declared officially dead earlier this year - had little money left. Five of the cheques cover a total of 15,000 and were written over a two day period - three in one epic gambling session - to the Ladbroke Club in Mayfair. They show the extent of Lucan's gambling addiction. The last cheque is dated 1 September 1974, two months before Lucan disappeared following the discovery of his dead children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, in the basement of the family home in London's Belgravia. John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan, is believed to have battered Rivett to death after mistaking her for his ex-wife, Lady Veronica Lucan, who he also attacked. She survived and told police her estranged husband was the killer, triggering a massive manhunt. Lucan's blood-stained car was found abandoned at Newhaven, East Sussex, but he himself was never seen again. In February this year the missing aristocrat was finally declared officially dead by a High Court judge, enabling his son George to inherit the title. Five of the cheques cover a total of 15,000 and were written over a two day period. The words 'Orders Not To Pay' are clearly visible in the top corners of the cheques This cheque to A Alexander for 800 - made out on April Fools Day 1974 - also failed. The cheques are now being sold at auction by a British-based private collector The cheques are now being sold at auction by a British-based private collector who bought them several years ago. They are estimated to sell for between 150-200 each. The unnamed vendor said: 'I have always been fascinated by the Lucan story with its very British blend of class and crime. 'It has been a privilege to own these cheques which are so integral to this long-running saga but I am downsizing my paper money collection and so am passing them on.' Lord Lucan (right) disappeared after the body of the family's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was found, and he tried to attack his wife Veronica (left). He was declared officially dead earlier this year and his son Charles Bingham (centre) has now acquired his title Christopher Webb, head of coins and paper money at London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, said: 'These cheques are historic and poignant reminders of a family tragedy that turned into one of the greatest murder mysteries in British history. 'They show us how a man from a privileged background and blessed with film star good looks was sinking ever deeper into debt because of his gambling addiction.' Lucan was a former merchant banker who gave up his job to become a professional gambler. In 1972 his marriage collapsed and that led to a bitter and expensive custody battle over his three children. Lucan lost the case which cost him an estimated 20,000 and by 1974 his financial position was dire. The body of Sandra Rivett was found in the basement of the Lucan family home in Belgravia, London. It is believed Lord Lucan battered her to death. All the cheques now for sale for 2,000 were drawn on Coutts Bank. Two of the cheques covering the two day session in November 1973 bear the casino cashier's date stamps for October 16. It is possible Lucan asked for all five cheques to be post-dated so they would reach his account until he was in credit. But he reneged on this deal and all five cheques have 'Orders Not to pay' written on them. As his debts mounted in 1974, Lucan reached a deal with the Ladbrokes Club to pay monthly instalments to clear his losses Six consecutively numbered cheques, each for 800 - 8,600 today - each were made payable to Alex Alexander, the then managing director of the Ladbroke Club's London casinos. The practise of making cheques payable to a director rather than to the casino itself was a ruse sometimes used by gamblers to try to fool their bank managers. In fact the first of the series was stopped by Lucan telephoning his bank and has 'payment countermanded by telephone, awaiting drawer's confirmation' written on it. The cheques are being sold on April 11. HOW LORD LUCAN WAS DECLARED DEAD Lord Lucan's son George Bingham (right, with wife Anne-Sofie Foghsgaard) was granted his father's death certificate earlier this year Lord Lucan's son, Lord George Bingham was finally granted a death certificate in February, 42 years after his father vanished following the murder of Sandra Rivett, nanny to Lord Lucan's three children. He applied for the certificate under the Presumption of Death Act, which came into effect in 2014, so he can inherit the title as 8th Earl. Even though Lord Lucan was officially declared dead by the High Court in 1999, there have been reported sightings in Australia, Ireland, Africa and New Zealand, and even claims that he fled to India and lived life as a hippy called 'Jungly Barry'. Lord Bingham argued that the 1999 declaration had not proved death 'for all purposes' and the new Presumption of Death Act allowed for a 'more complete process'. Advertisement Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote on the social media site asking for 'understanding, empathy and love' to defeat terrorism (file image) Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has called for 'understanding, empathy and love' in order to defeat terrorism. Zuckerberg wrote to his followers on the social media site in the wake of a series of bombings by various terrorist groups that killed dozens and injured hundreds in Ankara, Brussels and Lahore. He said: 'Each of these attacks was different, but all had a common thread: they were carried out with a goal to spread fear and distrust, and turn members of a community against each other. 'I believe the only sustainable way to fight back against those who seek to divide us is to create a world where understanding and empathy can spread faster than hate. 'Where every single person in every country feels connected and cared for and loved. That's the world we can and must build together.' Earlier this month 37 people were killed and 125 wounded in Turkey's capital Ankara when a car bomb planted by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons detonated in Guvenpark, in the city's south. Then three suicide bomb blasts in the Belgian capital of Brussels killed 35 people and wounded another 300 after ISIS fighters attacked the city's airport and a subway station. Zuckerberg made the comments after the site activated its 'check in safe' feature several times this month in response to terror attacks, including the bombing in Brussels (pictured) that killed 35 people Zuckerberg said that each of the attacks in the last month, including the most recent at a park in Lahore, Pakistan (pictured) aimed to 'spread fear and distrust, and turn members of a community against each other' That attack was followed by another bomb blast in Lahore, Pakistan, after an Al Qaeda affiliated splinter-group detonated a bomb in a crowded park, claiming to have been targeting Christians. Since the bomb and gun attack in Paris last year that killed 130 people, Facebook has offered users a 'check in' feature to tell friends they're safe if they live in the vicinity of such an atrocity. However the social media site was derided online following the Lahore bombing, after offering users living thousands of miles away from the region the opportunity to report they were safe. Zuckerberg, the world's sixth richest man, did not address that issue in his post, instead merely acknowledging the feature had been put to use frequently in the recent past. Zuckerberg, who is the world's sixth richest man, said his aim 'is to create a world where understanding and empathy can spread faster than hate' (pictured, mourners attend a funeral after a bombing in Ankara, Turkey) Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, was criticized on Tuesday for hosting an account which appeared to offer users the chance to decide whether captured ISIS fighters in Iraq lived or died He added: 'We activated Safety Check in Pakistan after a bomb targeted children and their families in a park in Lahore. 'Over the last two months, we have activated Safety Check several times for acts of terror - including in Turkey and Belgium - so people in the area can let friends and loved ones know they're safe.' Instagram, the photo sharing company owned by Facebook, also came under fire recently for promoting a potential 'war crime' after an account surfaced allegedly showing Iraqi soldiers fighting ISIS in the Middle East. Dubbed 'Iraqi Swat', the account regularly uploaded images purporting to show captured ISIS fighters and giving followers the opportunity to vote on whether they lived or were killed. Gideon Boas, a former legal officer at the ICC for Yugoslavia, told reporters that the images 'unquestionably' appeared to show a war crime. This is the horrific moment a recently-deceased woman refused entry to a hospital in Cameroon was cut open with a razor blade in a desperate bid to save the lives of her unborn twins. One of the babies was already dead, while the second was alive but died shortly after it was removed from the womb, it was claimed. Gruesome mobile phone footage of the procedure - performed in the open air outside the medical facility - has shocked residents of the African country. Graphic footage recorded on a cellphone showed the moment a relative of the deceased woman's partner used razor blades to cut her open and try and save her unborn twins The horrific incident occurred outside Douala's Laquintini Hospital, in the second largest city of Douala, on March 11, and has sparked anger among residents of Cameroon Horrific bystanders watch as the twins are removed from the deceased woman after she was pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital The incident occurred outside Douala's Laquintini Hospital, in the second largest city of Douala, on March 11. According to The BBC, Monique Koumateke, 31, was nearly full term when she was rushed to hospital after falling ill. However, upon her arrival the midwife on duty said she was already dead and staff at the maternity ward and general hospital refused to help, her family claimed. Her mother Marie Sen told the broadcaster: 'The mortuary attendant even came and said the babies were still kicking inside the stomach. 'We went to the maternity ward [again] but they chased us away.' A relative of Ms Koumateke's partner then decided to locate some razor blades and perform the drastic operation herself. The horrific footage - which was later uploaded online - triggered the arrests of the woman who carried out the procedure, as well as several staff members at the hospital and morgue. Police say their investigation into the incident is ongoing. Justice Ayah Paul Abine, one of the country's Supreme Court Judges, later addressed the 'sad' incident on Facebook. He stated the health minister's claims that the hospital had done nothing wrong 'begs for more questions that provides answers'. A Thai receptionist who is married to a British man has claimed she has been refused entry to the UK because she had their baby on the NHS without paying. Duangchai Chaisun, who is also known as Zia, was in the country on a marriage visa when she gave birth to her daughter Maisie last August at Warrington Hospital, Cheshire. The 31-year-old, who had married her husband Jason Middlemiss a month before the birth, returned to Thailand to apply for a settlement visa but had her application rejected over the outstanding bill. Duangchai Chaisun, who is also known as Zia, was in the country on a marriage visa when she gave birth to her daughter Maisie (pictured together, left) last August at Warrington Hospital, Cheshire. She has now been refused a settlement visa on the basis she has an outstanding NHS bill. Her husband Jason is pictured (right) Zia, who is currently staying in Pattaya, Thailand, said she was 'very surprised and very upset' at the decision and claimed she was not told there would be a charge. She said: 'I was shocked because I did not know we had to pay money to the hospital. I miss Jason every day and I wish I was at home with him in Warrington.' The couple met in November 2013 whilst Mr Middlemiss was in Thailand. Zia said the couple instantly hit it off and, in July 2014, Jason visited Thailand again and the pair went travelling. She first came to stay in the UK in November 2014, when she arrived on a tourist visa, before coming back to the country for six months last year to get married in July. Zia had found out she was pregnant in March - three months before she arrived in the country on a marriage visa - but gave birth to their daughter Maisie while in the UK on August 7. The 31-year-old, who had married her husband Jason Middlemiss a month before the birth, returned to Thailand to apply for a settlement visa but had her application rejected (pictured) over the outstanding bill Zia, who is currently staying in Pattaya, Thailand and is pictured (above) with Jason and their daughter, said she was 'very surprised and very upset' at the decision and claimed she was not told there would be a charge The couple found out Zia's settlement visa had failed after receiving letter of rejection. NHS ENTITLEMENT AND HOW IT CHANGES Entitlement to NHS services depends on the length and purpose of residence as opposed to the nationality of the visitor. The NHS is a residency based system. You become an ordinary resident somewhere when you either have the right to remain through a visa for example, a spouse or work visa or if you are from a country within the European Union. Costs are usually paid in advance unless emergency treatment in required immediately. Maternity treatment is classed as a necessary treatment and cannot be refused, even if the person receiving it cannot pay at that time. Instead, future payment options can be organised and in some cases the bill can be waived. The cost of a birth, without antenatal and postnatal care, can be between 2,000 and 3,300. It is not known in Zia's case exactly how much it was. Advertisement The letter stated: 'You have submitted documents to show that whilst in the UK previously, you received NHS treatment, namely having a baby in an NHS hospital. As a visitor you are not permitted to receive any treatment.' Jason, 39, from Warrington, Cheshire, is now appealing for people to help him bring his family back to the UK. He said: 'We were so shocked when the application was rejected, at no point were we ever told that she would have to pay for any healthcare treatment. 'No one had ever even mentioned payment to us so we were completely unaware. It's ridiculous - we never tried to hide the fact that she was on a visa so it's not like we were lying to them. 'We've got no idea how much the bill could be - I'm not asking for any sympathy but I feel like we're being made to suffer because of an NHS blunder that wasn't our fault.' Despite not knowing how much the costs from the hospital are, Jason is expecting it to cost thousands of pounds and has set up a fundraising page urging the public to help his cause. Jason, from Warrington, Cheshire, (pictured with his family, right) is now appealing for people to help him bring his family back to the UK. Zia and her daughter are pictured (left) A spokesman for Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: 'Duangchai Chaisun was referred to our maternity services by her GP. 'However, we have been informed that her visa meant that she was not eligible for free NHS treatment and as such we are invoicing her for the care that she and her baby received.' When contacted for a statement, a spokesman for the Department of Health said it was up to the hospital to comment as cases are dealt with differently depending on each individual trust. Omar Velez-Pagan, 37, got 30 years for killing his Panamanian girlfriend while on Army assignment in 2014 A former U.S. soldier who killed his Panamanian girlfriend by running her over with a pickup truck in 2014 was sentenced Tuesday to three decades in military prison with the possibility of parole. Master Sgt. Omar Velez-Pagan was sentenced at a court-martial at Fort Bragg, North Carolina by a jury of five military officers. Along with the prison sentence, Velez-Pagan, 37, will also to be reduced in rank to private, dishonorably discharged and ordered to forfeit pay and allowances, the Fayetteville Observer reported. Velez-Pagan has admitted to killing Vanesa Rodriguez, 25, but argued it was an accident. He pleaded guilty Friday to obstruction of justice, for trying to hide Rodriguez's body; to adultery for cheating on his wife with Rodriguez; and to illegal drug use, for using anabolic steroids and testosterone to stimulate muscle growth. Prosecutors said Rodriquez died on Sunday, June 22, 2014, after Velez-Pagan ran her over with a government-issued truck near Las Tablas, Panama. Velez-Pagan had been sent to the Central American country to instruct the local police force on behalf of the U.S. military. During his one-year assignment, Velez-Pagan cheated on his wife, who remained in Fayetteville, with three women including Rodriguez, he admitted Friday as he took the stand. He said Rodriguez showed up in Las Tablas, a town located about four hours from the capital Panama City, on June 22. There she got drunk and embarrassed him in front of the Panamanian police officers and his fellow soldiers, Velez-Pagan said. Scroll down for video Vanesa Rodriguez, 25, was murdered by Omar Velez-Pagan in June, 2014. Her body was discovered in a partly dug grave During his stay in Las Tablas, Panama, Velez-Pagan spent time at the Don Jesus hotel (pictured) 'She became ... obnoxious. Talking about stuff that you shouldn't talk about in front of five police officers, four police officers,' Velez-Pagan said, according to the Observer, which reported extensively on his trial. Afterwards, the couple left Las Tablas in a truck. Velez-Pagan said Rodriguez became violent as they were driving, and that the two started assaulting each other physically. After stopping for a while, Velez-Pagan said he resumed driving, at an estimated speed of 15mph, before Rodriguez suddenly jumped out of the truck. The military officer said he stopped the truck and ran towards Rodriguez. Then, the truck unexpectedly started rolling backwards, and Velez-Pagan got back into the cab, he said. He said the vehicle struck Rodriguez before he had time to hit the brakes. 'I felt a bump of the right rear tire,' and then 'I felt a second bump of the right front tire,' he said, according to the Observer. After getting out of the truck again, Velez-Pagan saw Rodriguez lying face-down on the ground, 'in a bad shape,' he said. Omar Velez Pagan pictured in a Cumberland County Jail mugshot. His 30-year sentenced was shortened by 169 days because the mugshot was published against military rules Pictured: Rain forest near Las Tablas, a town located near the Gulf of Panama. Rodriguez's body was found near a rural road in the area Next, the military officer claimed, he tried to rush the wounded woman to hospital in Las Tablas. She died on the way, he said, and he decided to hide her body. 'I did not think anyone was going to believe me, what just happened,' Velez-Pagan said. The next morning, a local police officer found Rodriguez's body lying face down in a rural area, partially covered by tree branches, next to a half-dug hole with a shovel in it. Close by, a pickax and a bag of lime were discovered. Velez-Pagan admitted he acquired the tools and lime and that he began to dig a grave for Rodriguez. He said he had second thoughts and gave up the effort. One of his defense lawyers called the decision to try to bury Rodriguez 'monumentally stupid,' according to the Observer. Prosecutors theorized that Velez-Pagan killed Rodriguez after being unable to withstand the pressure from her and his wife as his affair began to unravel. They said text messages from both women in the days leading up to the murder indicated they were suspicious of Velez-Pagan and were demanding answers, and in Rodriguez's case, money for a surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. 'When it became too much for him to take, he took a life,' said prosecuting lawyer Capt. Vanessa Strobbe on Friday according to the Observer. Velez-Pagan was sentenced by a military court at Fort Bragg, North Carolina Velez-Pagan's 30-year sentence is subject to the approval of Fort Bragg commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who has the authority to shorten the sentence, but not increase it. Velez-Pagan was given 644 days of credit for time served during his trial. He had another 184 days reduced from his sentence for being unlawfully confined with another prisoner in a one-person cell, and because the Cumberland County jail published his mugshot, both of which violated of his rights as a military prisoner, according to the Observer. On Friday, as Velez-Pagan took the stand, another American pleaded guilty to killing a woman in Panama. Ex-Marine Brian Brimager, 39, admitted to stabbing his American girlfriend Yvonne Lee Baldelli to death while they were living together in Panama in 2011. He then chopped up her body and dumped her remains, which were found in 2013. A tiara-loving art curator accused of biting a passenger on a trans-Atlantic flight is livid that her case is being prosecuted by a law student. Stacy Engman, 38, who is originally from Monroe, Iowa, is charged with biting a woman seated next to her on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to New York in July last year. Engman had allegedly been aggressive from the start of the flight, witnesses said, and had spread herself out across several seats on the plane, the New York Post reports. Stacy Engman (pictured on Tuesday), a tiara-loving art curator accused of biting a passenger on a trans-Atlantic flight, is livid that her case is being prosecuted by a law student When Christina Tyler complained about Engman invading her space, Engman screamed at her, violently dropped the seats armrest on the womans leg and then bit her on the back, according to court papers. 'It's absolutely not true,' Engman told Daily Mail Online, adding that she disagreed with Tyler's version of events. 'I was coming back from a work assignment. Anyone who knows me knows that I live and breathe art. I'm someone who is completely devoted to art.' Engman who reportedly spent the flight bragging about her hedonistic lifestyle is furious that she is not being treated in the manner she is accustomed to. She is annoyed that US Attorney Robert Capers office is using a program that allows legal novices to handle minor cases in order to gain experience. Its like Im a student science experient, Engman told the Post outside a Brooklyn court, dressed in a tulle skirt and a tiara with a Statue of Liberty glued on top. The incident occurred in July last year, after Engman was returning from a shoot on the Mediterranean for her 'Yacht Life' photo series for W magazine. Pictured above, a picture Engman posted to her Instagram account in July last year Engman (pictured left and right), puts on art and fashion shows for a living, told everyone she had spent five days on a yacht before allegedly biting a passenger in first class I wear one every day, she said, adding the New York City landmark was added to the one she wore to her court appearance to symbolize her fight for justice. Engman, who is described as a 'New York City style icon and taste-maker' on her website, behaved like a spoiled brat during the flight in question, according to the criminal complaint. It said: Engman was wearing a tiara and told anyone who would listen she had been on a yacht for five days. When Tyler objected to her actions, Engman allegedly called her ugly and told her to move her fat a**, the court papers state. After the incident, Engman called Tyler a granola girl and said her headpiece may have sparked class envy. Engman (right, at a show in December) called her alleged victim ugly and told her to move her fat a**, the court papers state Engman (pictured weating one of her signature headpieces) denies the charges against her and says she had fallen asleep on the plane and when she woke up, she was being assaulted by the woman She said she had been in Paris for fashion shows and then in the Mediterranean to shoot pictures for her 'Yacht Life' series in W magazine, but became ill and had to leave early. On the plane, she claimed she had fallen asleep on the plane and when she woke up, she was being assaulted by the woman. 'I was on the boat and I had my sunglass-tiara on, because I got utterly, horribly sick on the boat,' she told W magazine last month. 'I had horrible food poisoning and I had to come back early.' She said: 'So I when I was coming back, I just remember waking up and this girl is whacking me over the head with her seat cushion. 'The flight attendants were immediately engaged. There was absolutely no biting. This is the most absurd thing I can imagine. And the flight resumed and everything was completely fine.' Autopsy found Shaylyn suffered severe sexual trauma and died from asphyxiation as she was beaten, raped, smothered and strangled The father of a raped and murdered toddler is being tormented on Facebook. Justin Ammerman's 14-month-old daughter Shaylyn vanished from their home last Tuesday and her dead body was found near a river in Indiana two days later. Police have since arrested 22-year-old family friend Kyle Parker, who was drinking and watching movies with Mr Ammerman on Tuesday. He is accused of snatching Shaylyn on his way out of the home in Spencer, Indiana, before raping and suffocating her and leaving her for dead. On Monday Parker pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, rape, child molesting, aggravated battery, strangulation, obstruction of justice and failure to report a dead body. But as details of the case emerge, it is Shaylyn's grieving father who is receiving the brunt of online backlash as he shares details of proceedings and pictures of his late daughter. 'I HOPE YOU GET RAPED IN YOUR A** AS BAD AS YOUR INNOCENT DAUGHTER WAS HURT FOR ALLOWING COWARDS IN HER "SAFE PLACE" IN THE LIVING ROOM WITHOUT THE DOOR LOCKED!,' a user called Erin wrote on Justin Ammerman's Facebook wall. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Justin Ammerman (pictured with baby Shaylyn) has been the subject of online abuse in the wake of Shaylyn's death this week. Though police have found no evidence against him, Facebook trolls are tormenting his page Shaylyn Ammerman (left), 14 months old, was found dead near a river in Indiana after vanishing from her father's home. Family friend Kyle Parker, 22, (right) is charged with kidnapping, raping and murdering her Ammerman posted this status online on Tuesday after days of torment from people online 'You are the lowest of the low. I hope someone catches up with you before you get thrown in prison and gives you exactly what you deserve...,' writes Rebecca Tabor, adding 'I'm sure he [Kyle Parker] wasn't the only one in on this.' Melissa Weber writes: 'Your daughter is dead and you could care less. Heartless b******. I'd be falling apart. Not posting on facebook.' 'I would NEVER let anyone drunk rock my baby,' Amy from Bloomington wrote. 'I would never party while my 1 yr. old is home. Thats just ------ & very neglectful!! Not a good parent at all!' 'It's a shame this baby had to lose her life over her parents seeking their own pleasure instead of assuring her safety,' wrote Norma Pleake. 'I have no pity for them at all. My heart breaks though knowing what she must have suffered through while the very ones that were to protect her were doing What?? So sad!' Naomi Monroe wrote: 'I don't have any sympathy for you or your f***ed up family!! The only PRAYERS I have for you is that someone gives you the same pain your precious daughter had to endure!! I'm so outraged with the whole thing !!!!!!!!!' This is one of many abusive messages posted on the Facebook profile of Shaylyn's father Justin Ammerman Rebecca from Solsberry wrote: 'And yes he did do something to that little girl. He FAILED HER. Didn't protect her, he basically just fed her up to that monster on a silver platter.' A number of the comments have been removed after likely being reported. Ammerman posted a status on Tuesday hitting back at his tormenters. 'To all the haters out there F*** YOU leave me and my family alone this is the last time I'm asking just stop with the bullsh** ok,' Ammerman wrote. Dozens have flocked to support him, including Sean Donovan, father of murdered schoolboy Carter Donovan, who commented offering to help Ammerman through his grief. However, many commented on the status with messages similar to the abusive ones that provoked his reaction. Parker remains in jail without bond. He appeared via video link from the Owen County jail for his initial court hearing Monday afternoon. Owen Circuit Judge Lori Thatcher Quillen appointed attorney Jacob Fish as Parker's public defender, The Associated Press reported. Court documents say Parker was drinking whiskey with Shaylyn's uncle and took the girl from the Spencer home where her father, uncle and grandmother lived after family members had fallen asleep. Charging documents say investigators questioned Parker after Shaylyn was reported missing Wednesday morning from the Spencer home where her father, uncle and grandmother lived. The documents say Parker first denied involvement, but later directed police to the rural wooded location where her body was found Thursday night near the White River. His trial is currently set for August 10. An autopsy found Shaylyn suffered severe sexual trauma and died from asphyxiation. Forensic pathologist Dr. Donna Stewart, who specializes in pediatric autopsies involving sexual battery and molestation, said that the toddler's sexual assault was the 'worst case of sexual trauma she had seen in her career,' the affidavit said according to the Indianapolis Star. She said Shaylyn was beaten, raped, smothered and strangled. Angry: Shaylyn's uncle, Adam Ammerman (pictured), was friends with Parker. He told reporters that he hoped the man would 'burn in Hell' Shaylyn's grandmother, Tamera Morgan (pictured, with Shaylyn), says that Parker had visited the home around a dozen times, and that he 'talked kindly' and played with the toddler Parker confessed to his stepfather that he raped and then smothered the toddler, before he poured bleach on both of their bodies in an attempt to destroy DNA, WLFI reported. He also reportedly told his stepfather that he burned Shaylyn's clothing and pacifier. In addition, Parker reportedly told his stepfather that he acted alone in the horrific crime, but planned to try and confuse investigators by accusing one of her family members. Friends of Parker told police that he was attracted to young girls and that he liked pornographic videos with sadistic and masochistic themes, WFTS reported However, he reportedly denied those claims when he was interviewed by authorities. Parker, who hasn't had a job since last year when he worked at a nursing and rehab center, was a 'family acquaintance' who visited the home a dozen times and used to play with the child. Shaylyn's uncle, Adam, said: 'He knew Shaylyn, he's played with her, he's taken care of her. He rocked her to sleep.' He added: 'I knew Kyle through a friend of a friend and he was supposed to be one good friend, and then he turned around and does this to our family, and all I can say right now is I hope he burns in Hell.' Parker was at the girl's father's home on Tuesday evening, Justin Ammerman told ABC 6. The girl's father and grandmother, Justin Ammerman and Tamera Morgan, were the last people known to have seen her late Tuesday when she slept in her cot. The child, who had earlier been put to bed by her father, Justin Ammerman, had disappeared by the following morning. She had been staying at her father's home under a joint custody arrangement with the girl's mother. Jessica Stewart confirmed her daughter had been found dead in a Facebook post Thursday evening Justin Ammerson was the last person known to have seen the 14-month-old alive after he put her to bed Shaylyn's body was found after more than a day of searches in Spencer, Indiana, and surrounding neighborhoods More than 100 people from several police departments and other agencies searched two days for Shaylyn until her body was found. Owen County Sheriff Leonard Sam Hobbs said Friday that there are still many unanswered questions in the case. The girl's father, who was subject to a police polygraph test earlier on Thursday, has denied claims he was having a party on the night of his daughter's apparent abduction. But family members told the Herald-Times that Shaylyn's father, uncle, grandfather and a family friend - believed to be Parker - were up late drinking whiskey and watching television. The gathering wound down at about 2am when the friend is said to have left the family home. Justin Ammerman said the family went into 'panic mode' when they realized Shaylyn was missing the next morning. Shaylyn's mother, Jessica Stewart, confirmed her daughter had been found dead in a heartbreaking Facebook post on Thursday evening. 'My babygirl Shaylyn is gone. They found her body tonight,' she wrote. Stewart and Justin Ammerson shared custody of Shaylyn, who was spending the week with her father when she disappeared. The child's mother earlier said her former partner knew more than he was letting on, saying she believed her daughter had been abducted. 'I don't know if he had anything to do with it but I think he knows something at the very least that he is afraid to say,' she told WTHR. However Tamera Morgan, Shaylyn's grandmother, defended her son. 'He has nothing to do with her disappearance other than he is the father. He put her to sleep like anyone else would,' she said. Anyone with information is urged to call Indiana State Police on (812) 332-4411. These are the faces of the two Minneapolis police officers who were involved in the November fatal shooting of a black man but will not be charged over his death. A judge said evidence showed Jamar Clark, 24, was not handcuffed at the time, attempted to gain control of an officer's weapon and the officers believed they were in danger of being shot. Consequently, he ruled against indicting Officer Mark Ringgenberg and Officer Dustin Schwarze for their roles in Clark's death. Ringgenberg is white, and Schwarze's race has not been released. On November 15, police said they responded to a reported assault in which Clark was a suspect, and he was interfering with paramedics trying to treat the victim. Scroll down for video Mark Ringgenberg is pictured left and Dustin Schwarze is pictured right. The pair were not indicted in Clark's death Killed: Jamar Clark, 24, (pictured) was shot in the head by Minnesota police on November 15 Tiffany Roberson, left, and Sharice Burns, sisters of Jamar Clark, watch a video taken at the scene where Clark was killed as Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announces today that no charges will be filed against two Minneapolis police officers in the fatal shooting of a Clark Jamar Clark's sister Tiffany Roberson left, and her attorney Albert Goins leave the Hennepin County Government Center today after the press conference After the decision not to take action against the two officers was announced, protesters gathered to demonstrate Clark was shot during what authorities called a struggle. Some who said they saw the shooting have said Clark wasn't struggling at the time and was handcuffed, but Freeman said forensic evidence shows that he was not handcuffed. Clark died a day later. The shooting prompted protests in Minneapolis, including an 18-day encampment outside a north side police precinct. Freeman decided earlier this month against taking the case to a grand jury. Investigators had video of Clark's shooting from several sources, but said early on that it didn't provide a full picture of what happened that night. Protesters have demanded that authorities release the video. They also demanded that the case not go to a grand jury for consideration of charges. Protesters march during a rally after prosecutors announced that two police officers involved in the shooting death of 24-year-old black man Jamar Clark will not be charged, in Minneapolis, Minnesota Protesters have demanded that authorities release the video. They also demanded that the case not go to a grand jury for consideration of charges. Pictured above, the scene at demo today Demonstrators gather to protest Wednesday, March 30, 2016, in Minneapolis, after County Attorney Mike Freeman's announcement that no charges will be filed against two Minneapolis police officers in the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark Demonstrators gather to protest today. There was also a wave of demos after his death in November. The protesters, which included organizers of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, the Minneapolis NAACP and other community groups and citizens, raised the issue of difficult relations between black residents and Minneapolis police Minneapolis NAACP president Nekima Levy-Pounds wiped tears from her eyes as Pastor Carmen Means consoled her during a press conference at the Hennepin County Government Center today Public skepticism over grand juries, who do their work in secret, grew after police officers weren't indicted in the high-profile deaths of blacks in other cities, including the fatal 2014 shootings of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland and 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the 2014 chokehold death of 43-year-old Eric Garner in New York. But grand juries reached indictments in other cases, including in Chicago, where an officer faces murder charges in the 2014 death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, whose shooting was captured on video. The state of Minnesota investigated whether Ringgenberg and Schwarze violated state laws, and the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division were conducting a federal criminal investigation to determine whether police intentionally violated Clark's civil rights through excessive force. That's a high legal standard because an accident, bad judgment or simple negligence on the officer's part isn't enough to bring federal charges. Pastor Danny Givens (R) leads a protest march on March 30, 2016 through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota Community leaders listen today as Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announces that two Minneapolis police officers, Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, will not be charged in the November fatal shooting The Department of Justice is also reviewing how the city responded to protests after Clark's death. The protesters, which included organizers of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, the Minneapolis NAACP and other community groups and citizens, raised the issue of difficult relations between black residents and Minneapolis police. The unrest over Clark's death also included demands that city and state leaders do more about persistent poverty seen as the root of racial tensions. The state is considering funneling millions of dollars toward job training, loans and other initiatives to help black residents get ahead. A woman from Massachusetts has given birth to twins one day after her husband died suddenly in his sleep. Sue Heslin Trubiano, 35, of Natick, welcomed sons Caleb Peter and Jacob Dino on Saturday after a cesarean. Just 24 hours before, she called 911 after hearing her husband of nearly ten years Dino gasping in his sleep. He died that night as neither first-responders nor hospital staff could resuscitate him. Scroll down for video Sue Heslin Trubiano (right), 35, of Natick, Massachusetts, gave birth to twin sons Caleb Peter and Jacob Dino on Saturday, just a day after her husband of almost ten years Dino (left), 39, died unexpectedly in his sleep The two boys (pictured) are healthy and their mother is expected to go home on Wednesday, two days before their father's funeral. His death remains under investigation Dino, a vegetarian who ran every day, never smoked and stayed away from butter, his sister Tara McDonald told Fox 25. He worked as an attorney and supervisor for the US Social Security Administration in Boston. His death remains under investigation. Meanwhile, the new mother is set to come home from the hospital on Wednesday - two days before her husband's funeral. The twins are the couple's first children. 'She's getting all the support she needs but she's heartbroken because they were both the love of each other's lives,' Dino's sister Denise Caulfield told Fox 25. A Go Fund Me page set up by one of her friends has collected more than $70,000 in four days as donations came pouring from family, loved ones and even strangers. 'The outpouring of support from our community has been completely overwhelming,' Dino's other sister Tara McDonald told Fox 25. A statement from the Trubiano and Heslin families said they're "overwhelmed and humbled" by the support they've received. This is the unbelievable moment a man was arrested attempting to burgle his own dad's house after he was caught out by a smartphone. Devin Check thought he would get away with breaking into the property in North Idaho as his father was 900 miles away on vacation in Phoenix. But Check was unaware that his dad had linked security cameras to an app on his smartphone and was alerted as the attempted burglary was taking place. Devin Check broke into the property in North Idaho while his father was 900 miles away on vacation in Phoenix The homeowner then called the Bonner County Sheriff's Department and watched as a K-9 unit responded and arrested his son, KTVB reported. Footage captured by the security camera showed Check walking around inside the house near Priest River before the police arrived outside. Later in the video the man is seen being led out of the property in handcuffs. Nothing was said to have been taken from the house. The technology behind the app comes from a company called CleverLoop. The app not only alerted the homeowner to the break-in but allowed him to watch what was happening in real time, despite being so far away. The homeowner was alerted as the attempted burglary was taking place via a smartphone app and called the Bonner County Sheriff's Department The homeowner watched as a K-9 unit responded and arrested his son while he was still inside the property According to the paper, Check turned one of the security cameras off while inside the house but this made no difference as the footage was already backed up. It was also reported that Check has a long rap sheet and had warrants out for his arrest on theft and burglary charges. According to the Idaho Statewide Trial Courts Automated Records System, Check was not charged in connection with the break-in, reported Bonner County Daily Bee. He is being held at the Bonner County Jail, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository. Check turned one of the security cameras off while inside the house but the footage was already backed up A Brussels police chief was ordered to go home on the day of the attacks that killed 32 after he turned up at a crisis meeting drunk, it has emerged. After two bombs were detonated at the airport and one on the metro system last Tuesday, senior officers in the Ixelles district of the city were summoned to review emergency plans with the local mayor. However, one of the police commissioners arrived late at the meeting and then struggled to answer questions, according to Belgian media reports. Drunk: The Brussels police chief was forced to take a breathalyser test after failing to answer questions at a crisis meeting in the wake of the terror attacksat Zaventem Airport (pictured) and a metro station His suspicious colleagues asked him to take a breathalyser test and found a reading of 0.8g/l of alcohol in blood, which is above the 0.5g/l legal driving limit in Belgium. The limit in the UK is 0.8g/l. The commissioner's gun was immediately confiscated and he was driven home. He now faces an internal investigation and could receive a warning, a suspension or be sacked. A report by the ISPPW (internal service for prevention and protection at work) last September warned that there was an alcohol problem amongst police officers in the Ixelles district, that includes many of the city's popular eating and drinking spots as well as European Parliament offices. 'They would drink all day at the expense of work and colleagues who want to work. This deteriorates the image of the police,' the report said. 'The management is aware but obscures the problem so as not to make waves.' Brussels police have been criticised for their botched handling of the attacks as they are believed to be no closer to identifying the 'man in the hat' who was seen on CCTV at the airport. Brussels police have been criticised for their botched handling of the attacks as they are believed to be no closer to identifying the 'man in the hat' who was seen on CCTV at the airport A Zaventem airport worker, left and a Brussels Police officer take part in a memorial service for the victims of the Brussels bomb attacks at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, Monday On Monday, they were forced to release their only suspect due to lack of evidence. The mystery third attacker was seen walking alongside Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui who both blew themselves up. The unidentified man wore a white shirt and light coloured coat, had glasses and a beard and could been seen strolling through the airport pushing a large suitcase on a trolley containing what is thought to be the biggest bomb. After it failed to detonate the man is believed to have fled. Last Thursday, police arrested a man identified as freelance journalist Faycal Cheffou, 31, and later charged him with terrorism offences. He is understood to have been picked out of a line-up by a taxi driver who dropped the bombers off at the airport last Tuesday morning. But in an embarrassing blow for under-fire Belgian police, they were forced to release him on Monday over lack of evidence. The man's lawyer Olivier Martins told RTBF television that his client was let go because he had an alibi. Ibrahim el-Bakraoui (centre) can be seen walking through the airport terminal on the morning of the attack, just moments before he and fellow bomber Najim Laachraoui (left) detonated their explosives Listed: Both Khalid (L) and Ibrahim (R) El Bakraoui and the mysterious 'Man in White' were reportedly on U.S. terror-watch lists and identified by American intelligence 'He gave an alibi based on telephone analysis which showed that he was at home at the time of the attacks,' he said. The blunder means officers have potentially wasted several days questioning the wrong man, giving the real suspect chance to flee. Other failings by the Belgian government include not shutting down the metro for more than an hour after the first attacks, meaning the third explosion was allowed to take place. Officers who captured Paris fugitive Salah Abdeslam on the Friday before the bombings failed to interrogate him on imminent threats. Abdeslam who drove one of the cars in the November attacks was able to hide out in Brussels for 126 days after getting past three police checks on the border with France. Investigators believed they knew where he was staying at one point but did not raid the property for several hours because of a ban on house searches between 9pm and 5am. Turkey has claimed that it raised warning about all three of the known bombers in the latest attacks to the Belgian government, which they accuse of doing nothing. Adds: 'Who wants a straight razor shave with a buxom blonde in the joint?' Hawleywood's website says: 'One thing you won't see... is women' A transgender man is suing a barber shop after they allegedly refused to cut his hair because they identified him as a woman. Rose Trevis claims he was turned away from Hawleywood's barbershop in Long Beach, California, because they told him they didn't serve females. He has now filed a civil rights lawsuit against the store, which is marketed as being 'old-school' and is being represented by famed lawyer Gloria Allred. 'I felt very upset, discriminated against,' Trevis said in a press conference on Tuesday. 'I was surprised. It was very embarrassing.' Scroll down for video Rose Trevis claims he was turned away from Hawleywood's barbershop in Long Beach, California, because they identified him as a female He has now filed a civil rights lawsuit against the store, which is marketed as being 'old school' and is being represented by famed lawyer Gloria Allred (center). Trevis (right) spoke at a press conference alongside his civil partner Laura Lozano (left) In a history posted on their website, the store (pictured) says women are not allowed to set foot in the store and they maintain their right to refuse service In a history posted on their website, the store says women are not allowed to set foot in the store: 'Upon entering this men's sanctuary you'll see customers relaxing in vintage waiting chairs all the while cruisin' through another great issue of The Horse BackStreet Choppers and listening to some great music on the Hi-Fi. 'One thing you won't see at Hawleywood's is women. You all know how distracting a woman can be and who wants a straight razor shave with a buxom blonde in the joint? 'So leave yer' 0L' lady at home because you might need to talk about her. And besides, no one ever looks cool in the middle of a hair cut.' Rose and civil partner Laura Lozano entered the shop on March 4, where Rose asked the barber for a haircut. The barber allegedly stated that Hawleywood's only provided services to customers who had appointments. Rose then asked for an appointment time and asked if there were any available that day. The barber then stared at Rose as if he was examining his appearance and stated 'We don't cut women's hair'. Rose, according to the lawsuit, was surprised by the barber's response and replied 'Who says I am a woman?' The barber replied 'Like I said, we don't cut women's hair'. The barber then walked to the back of the shop and summoned a colleague, the lawsuit claims. As the second barber approached Rose, he looked him up and down and then asked if he could help. Rose again asked to receive a haircut. The second barber replied 'We don't cut women's hair'. Rose again stated 'Who says I'm a woman?' Rose told the second barber that refusing to provide services on account of gender was discrimination. Rose alleges that the second barber replied that the business has 'the right to refuse services to anyone' and that the business 'is an old school barber shop' and therefore they do not service women. After Rose pointed out that Hawleywood's policy was illegal discrimination, the second barber stated 'we don't care'. Laura then asked if her presence in the shop was the reason that employees were refusing to serve Rose. The barbers describe itself as 'old-school' and as signs inside that read 'for gentlemen' and 'men only' The second barber responded 'We don't cut women's hair and women are not even allowed in the shop.' The lawsuit said the barbershop claimed it had a policy that did not allow women's haircuts and had the right to refuse services to anyone. Allred however has said it's illegal in California to discriminate based on gender or sexual orientation. While speaking to the media, the attorney said: Bryan R. Kazarian, an attorney for Hawleywood's Barbershop, issued a statement on Tuesday saying: 'We are informed and believe that a customer entered our establishment and requested an appointment for a haircut on a 'walk-in' basis at the above date and location. 'An appointment was scheduled for a time the next business day. 'Hawleywood's is not aware of any discrimination that has been alleged to have taken place. Moreover, Hawleywood's takes accusations of any law violations very seriously and will continue to investigate the facts and circumstances that surround this alleged incident.' In Rancho Cucamonga, another barbershop refused service to another transgender male. In both cases, the customer who was told to leave was a transgender male. Influenced officials to give lucrative contracts without them being tendered Organisation said to be the fixers called 'Unaoil', based in Monaco International corruption and bribery in the oil industry worth billions of dollars involving companies from the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, the U.S. and Australia has been revealed in an explosive expose. Leaked confidential documents show that government contracts worth billions were awarded on the basis of bribes, many organised by a 'fixer' company known as Unaoil, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The report said that bribes were paid on behalf of many major international companies across Asia, Europe, the United States and Australia. Leaked confidential documents show that oil contracts worth billions were awarded on the basis of bribes, many organised by a 'fixer' company known as Unaoil, run by Ata Ahsani (pictured) The company is run by the Ahsani family, father Ata and sons Cyrus (left) and Saman (right), based in Monaco Leaked documents have revealed international corruption in the oil industry worth billions of dollars (stock image) The leaked information reveals companies from the United Kingdom, U.S., Asia, Australia and Europe have been involved in the web of corruption (stock image) The corrupt dealings involve middlemen being paid multi-million-dollar fees to establish deals with governments so private companies can be awarded massive contracts (stock image) The corruption primarily involves foreign companies trying to gain access to contracts in the Middle East and former Russian states (stock image) Billions of dollars are reportedly paid in bribes to secure lucrative contracts in the oil industry, the report says (stock image) The report says the leaked files indicate representatives of the companies sometimes believed they were hiring genuine lobbyists when the outside persons involved were involved in paying bribes. In one case, the report said, money was paid to middlemen in a bid to influence senior Iraqi officials - including the deputy prime minister - in order to win more than $1.3billion in oil contracts. According to the report, a joint investigation between Australia's Fairfax and the Huffington Post, in some cases, some businesses did not believe bribery was occurring, in others, they ignored it, but some were fully aware and participating actively. At the centre of many of the deals is Unaoil, which allegedly uses its connections and relationships to influence others and help companies win lucrative government contracts. Some of the companies said to be involved are household names in many countries (stock image) Oil tankers and pipe line up at a French port (stock image) The scale of corruption in the oil industry is worldwide, like the industry itself (stock image) The extent of the corruption in the oil industry was reported to be vast. Because it involves a commodity required nearly everywhere in the world, it affects everybody, with results such as driving inequality and causing social disruption. Ten years ago, it is believed those running Unaoil, the family business said to be responsible for providing the bribery services, had 190m between them in cash, shares and property. It is run by the Ahsani family, father Ata and sons Cyrus and Saman, and based in Monaco. According to the report, techniques used by the company's employees may include bribing officials, organising rigged tender committees, avoiding the tender process altogether, or leaking information. Unaoil charges multi-million-dollar fees for its services. A spokesman, Ata Ahsani, was quoted as denying any wrongdoing, saying the company 'absolutely' does not bribe officials. Because people nearly everywhere the world rely on petrol, the corruption ends up affecting everyone (stock image) Unaoil denies any part in bribery as reported (stock image) He worked with Erin Brockovich in the case against Pacific Gas & Electric Erika Jayne, 44, and 76-year-old Girardi have been married for 17 years and live in a 1920s-era Pasadena, California mansion Plaintiff Paul Kranich is seeking damages in the amount of $50 million for being swindled out of millions from the settlement Girardi helped employees of Lockheed Corporation win a legal battle between 1992 and 2001 over chemical exposure Court documents claim Girardi used $130 million he won for clients in a class action suit for personal and unreleased business debts Thomas Girardi, 76, has been named in federal lawsuit along with his law firm Girardi-Keese Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne's top Los Angeles lawyer husband may soon be defending...himself. Thomas Girardi, 76, along with fellow lawyer Robert Finnerty and the law firm Girardi-Keese have been slapped with a federal lawsuit. Girardi is a founding partner of the firm. In court documents obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Online Tom is accused of defrauding clients out of millions of dollars won in a class action lawsuit. It claims Girardi used the $130 million he won for them on an escrow payment, his divorce attorney and his partners. Personal play? Plaintiff alleges Girardi paid $250,000 to an aviation company he owns and $100,000 to a man believed to be his divorce attorney, among other personal payments (Girardi pictured on Bravo reality TV show with wife Erika Jayne) A man named Paul Kranich filed the lawsuit in California to get Girardi to pay up the money Kranich claims he illegally stole. In the lawsuit, Kranich alleges it is a case of: 'conspiracy, criminal fraud, theft and breach of trust in which Thomas V. Girardi, Girardi-Keese, a well-known plaintiff's law firm ('Girardi'), and other attorneys and employees of Girardi-Keese participated in and aided and abetted a scheme to defraud their clients by charging excessive fees and costs and fraudulently converting settlement proceeds to which Plaintiff and other clients.' Lawsuit: Thomas Girardi and his law firm Girardi-Keese are being sued over claims of defrauding clients out of millions of dollars won in class action suit dating back to 1992 The law firm represented employees of Lockheed Corporation in a legal battle with the company over chemical exposure. The employees reached a settlement with Lockheed, after battling for nine years between 1992 and 2001, totaling $130 million for the plaintiffs. Kranich explains the plaintiffs in that case have had several legal issues with Girardi and his firm since the settlements were reached. He says during the litigation of those lawsuits it was discovered that Girardi spent the settlement funds from the Lockheed case for other improper purposes. The alleged improper uses outlined in court papers include six figure payments to other clients they represented in completely separate cases as well as payment for Girardi's personal and unreleased business debts. Specific numbers include: $250,000 to an aviation company owned by Girardi, $100,000 to a man believed to be Girardi's divorce attorney - he has two ex wives, $350,000 to Western Bank for 'fees', $50 to an associate at the firm who never worked on the Lockheed case, $1 million to 'Global Client Payments' and allegedly more than $827,000 to 'Lockheed Litigation' plaintiffs - and even a $500,000 payment on a real estate escrow in which Giradi was involved and was unrelated to the Lockheed litigation. Girardi has fired back claiming the allegations are false and is demanding his former clients $50 million dollar lawsuit be thrown out of court in legal papers filed Thursday. Kranich also accuses the law firm of charging excessive fees for their work. The documents state, 'Girardi is believed to have charged Plaintiff a total contingency fee of 40 percent of total gross proceeds, even though Girardi had agreed to accept only one-third in fees on many of the settlements.' Home: Tom and Erika live in this 1920s-era Pasadena, California mansion which was co-designed by famed Southern California architect Myron Hunt Luxury: Erika employed interior designer Joan Behnke to give the estate an aura of old Hollywood glamor Bombshell: The 44-year-old singer-dancer has been married to Girardi for 17 years Kranich also accuses Girardi of lying about the payments and claiming they were related to the Lockheed case. He adds that the law firm swindled the plaintiffs out of millions from the settlement and were not paid the full amount each plaintiff was owed. The suit is demanding the cut of the Lockheed settlement that was paid to Girardi and his firm for representing them be disgorged, compensatory and general damages, restitution and punitive damages in the amount of $50 million. Erika Jayne, 44, and 76-year-old Girardi have been married for 17 years and live in a 1920s-era Pasadena, California mansion. Erika was cast as a lead on the Bravo reality show for Season 6, which is currently airing and where Girardi has been featured fighting with other Housewives as well as flying on her private jet. Girardi has been practicing law for more than 50 years with is firm specializing in personal injury, business, employment and environmental law. In 1970, he became the first attorney in the state of California to win a $1 million-plus award for a medical malpractice case. One of the most high-profile cases he worked on was with Erin Brockovich against Pacific Gas & Electric. They won and the utility company agreed to pay $333 million to 650 residents of Hinkley, California. Vanderbilt never remarried after the death of her fourth husband, but had a relationship with Gloria Vanderbilt gave her openly gay son Anderson Cooper quite the shock when the 92-year-old recently revealed she was once in a lesbian relationship. The famed heiress and her newscaster son sat down for a joint interview about their upcoming HBO documentary Nothing left Unsaid, when Vanderbilt revealed to Cooper; 'When I was 13 I had a brief relationship with a girl at school. It felt so great.' A stunned Cooper responded by saying to his mother; 'What?! Hello? This is news to me.' Vanderbilt also opened up about her relationships with some of the other men in her life, including Cooper's father Wyatt and Frank Sinatra, who she said saved her from her second marriage. Scroll down for video Shocking admission: Gloria Vanderbilt revealed for the first time in a new interview that she had a lesbian relationship when she was 13 at boarding school (above with son Anderson Cooper in 2010) Poor little rich girl: Vanderbilt (left with her mother Gloria in 1926) also said that her three-week fling with singer Frank Sinatra (right circa 1955) gave her the 'power' to leave her second husband after 10 years of marriage Speaking in more detail about her time with another woman, which happened while she was at Miss Porter's School in Connecticut, Vanderbilt told People; 'Cynthia, her name was, and she came once to visit my aunt in New York on holiday. 'We had this sort of lesbian relationship and it felt so great. It felt so good and yet I thought, "There's something about this," and this is before the thing I knew about my mother.' Vanderbilt's mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, was accused of being a lesbian in court when she fought her daughter's paternal aunt for custody back in 1932 in the wake of her husband's death. The aunt, Whitney Museum founder Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, ultimately won the case while Vanderbilt earned the nickname of 'poor little rich girl' from the press. Cooper said during the interview he first heard his grandmother was a lesbian when he was in high school, and that because his mother seemed 'disturbed' by that he had been afraid to come out to her. Vanderbilt admitted that her mother was a lesbian, but said she also had relationships with men. Cooper, who publicly came out in 2012, told his mother when he was 21 that he was a homosexual. Vanderbilt, who said she did not know her son was gay before this but may have 'suspected,' grew concerned that she had offended him in the past. 'I was shattered, because I remembered something I had said off-handedly years before: "I would feel I had failed as a parent if one of my children were,"' said Vanderbilt. 'It was an ignorant remark. It took great courage for you to confide in me.' She then told her son; 'Well, I hope you know that I am more than "okay" with it; I rejoice that you are gay! It is part of what makes you the person that you are.' Husbands: Vanderbilt later married Oscar-nominated director Sidney Lumet (left in 1956) and then screenwriter Wyatt Cooper (right in the late 1970s) Kids: Vanderbilt and Cooper had two sons, Anderson and Carter (Vanderbilt with her sons above in March 1976) Vanderbilt then went into detail about her own love life, which included relationships with Hollywood stars Errol Flynn and George Montgomery in high school and then later in life Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. She was still a teenager when she married first husband Pat DeCicco at the age of 17, who her son Cooper described as 'a gambler and rumored to have killed someone.' The couple stayed married for just four years, with Vanderbilt telling her son during the interview that initially she was 'mesmerized' by the man because he was so 'forceful, domineering and supremely sure of himself.' Vanderbilt quickly remarried to Leopold Stokowski, a conductor with whom she had two sons, Leopold and Christopher. Vanderbilt and her son Leopold, who goes by Stan, remain close but she has been estranged from her other son, Christopher, since 1978 after he accused her therapist of meddling in his love life. Stan has three children, Vanderbilt's only grandchildren, daughters Aurora and Aubra and son Myles. Vanderbilt and her second husband were married for 10 years before she had the courage to leave, and it was thanks to her affair with Sinatra. 'I really got the power to leave only when I met Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was knight in shining armor who rescued me,' said Vanderbilt. 'I never expected we would stay together for long, and we didn't - only about three weeks - but it gave me a gigantic boost.' She then added; 'Of course, today i could rescue myself. I wouldn't need a knight to come along.' Vanderbilt, who inherited $4.5million when she turned 21 from her father's estate, once again quickly remarried after her second divorce, this time settling down with Oscar-nominated director and Hollywood legend Sydney Lumet. Shortly after their wedding he would direct what many people consider to be one of the greatest films of all time, 12 Angry Men, before going on to make movies including Dog Day Afternoon, Network and The Wiz. Tragedy: Carter Cooper committed suicide in front of his mother when he was 23 years old in 1988 by jumping off the balcony of their NYC apartment (Cooper and Vanderbilt at Carter's funeral service above) Partner: Vanderbilt never remarried after the death of her fourth husband, but had a relationship with photographer Gordon Parks until his death in 2007 (couple above in 2001) Vanderbilt and Lumet divorced in 1963 and, once again, Vanderbilt quickly remarried, this time settling down with screenwriter Wyatt Cooper. She and her fourth husband had two sons, Anderson and his brother Carter, and remained married until his untimely death. 'That moment reset the clock of our lives. I think back to the person I was, the boy who had a mother, a father, a brother; the boy who was funny and not afraid to curl up in his father's lap and show affection and vulnerability,' said Cooper. 'I think back to that person and know I am a fraction of who I once was, who I was meant to be.' The worst tragedy to strike the two however came a little over a decade after that death, when in 1988 Vanderbilt's son and Cooper's brother Carter committed suicide in front of their mother by jumping off the balcony of their New York City apartment. He was just 23 years old at the time. 'I have heard it said that the greatest loss a human being can experience is the loss of a child. This is true,' said Vanderbilt. 'It doesn't just change you, it demolishes you. The rest of your life is spent on another level. Is the pain less? No, just different. 'It is there forever, until the day you die.' Cooper then revealed that after the death his mother would frequently talk about what happened to cope with the situation, while he preferred to stay silent. He left to go back to school a month later, and left his mother a note that said 'From now on we are partners.' Cooper said of the note; 'I did feel we were partners and still do, now more than ever.' Brought to screen: Vanderbilt's life will be the focus of the new documentary Nothing Left Unsaid, which will air next month (above in January) In the years since the death of her fourth husband Vanderbilt also found success as a designer and writer, most notably with her line of designer jeans. The line was so popular she began to release more clothing multiple fragrances with cosmetics company L'Oreal. Sadly she lost a large sum of her money when her lawyer misappropriated funds and diverted the, to himself and Vanderbilt's former psychiatrist. She also found love again with photographer and director Gordon Parks, who Vanderbilt never married but stayed with until his death in 2007 from cancer. Vanderbilt has also released five memoirs and three novels since 1979, with her sixth memoir arriving in the form of this new documentary with her son, who based it off correspondences between himself and his mother over the course of the last year about her life. Cooper describes his mother as 'interesting and unconventional' while pointing how happy he is the two have gotten closer over the past year and that in the end he managed to have some unique experiences growing up as 'few people's moms take them to Studio 54 when they're 11.' The exchanged between the two have also been put into the book they coauthored, The Rainbow Comes and Goes. Naja Eva Haynes, 24, of Kentucky allegedly bypassed a TSA security checkpoint and boarded a plane without showing an ID or boarding pass A Kentucky woman bypassed a TSA security check point and boarded a plane at the Nashville International Airport in Tennessee without showing an ID or boarding pass, according to officials. Naja Eva Haynes, 24, of Oak Grove is facing criminal charges after allegedly walking through security without being screened and pushing past airline agents to board a plane on March 24. An arrest affidavit states that when police arrived, Haynes refused to show her ID and told officers 'My name and faith are my ID,' according to the The Tennessean. Haynes has since been charged with violation of airport and aircraft security and resisting arrest in connection to the incident. The ordeal unfolded on March 24 when Haynes drove her car to the airport and parked before walking inside the terminal, the affidavit states. She then reportedly walked through lane four of the TSA security checkpoint without being screened. Once past security, Haynes went to Gate B5, boarded a Delta airlines plane without identification and sat in a seat in the back of the plane, according to the affidavit. Delta Air Lines spokesman Morgan Durrant said the flight, from Nashville to Atlanta, was not actually boarding when Haynes 'ran past' airline agents and onto the plane, according to KFOR. At the time, Flight 1173 had returned to the gate to let some passengers off as a result of weather in Atlanta delaying their departure, the station reported. Durrant said airline agents were re-booking travelers onto other flights when the passenger without a ticket, Haynes, sneaked onto the Boeing 737. Gate agents then alerted authorities. When Haynes was initially approached by a gate agent, she refused to provide identification, police said. Once officers arrived, she again refused to show her ID and that is when she said, 'My name and faith are my ID,' according to the affidavit. Haynes was eventually handcuffed and physically removed by police after she refused to stand up and exit the plane, the affidavit states. TSA spokesman Mike England said in a statement that following the incident its office opened an investigation and placed an employee on non-screening duty pending the investigation. Haynes is facing criminal charges after allegedly walking through security (file photo) without being screened and pushing past airline agents to board a plane on March 24 at the Nashville International Airport However the spokesman said that employee has since resigned, according to KFOR. 'TSA is taking this incident seriously and will re-train employees as necessary to ensure compliance with standard operating procedures,' the statement said. A teacher's aide at an Alabama high school has been arrested after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a student. David Thomas Solomon from Huntsville has been charged with being a school employee engaging in a sex act of deviant sexual intercourse with a student, while working at Falkville High School. At the time the 25-year-old was a contract employee at the school and working as a teacher's aide. Teacher's aide David Thomas Solomon, who has been arrested after being accused of sex with a student According to AL.com, investigators began looking into Solomon after the girl, who was 17 at the time, reported their alleged relationship to school officials. They immediately called Falkville Police and terminated his contractor. According to police, the alleged sexual contact took place at Solomon's former home and when questioned by officers, they claim he admitted the offence. He was then transferred to Morgan County Jail where he was being held on a $5,000 bond but he has since been released. Contractor Appleton Learning, who employed Solomon say that once the allegations came to light in October, he was removed from Falkville High. The 25-year-old was a contract employee at Falksville High School, Alabama, pictured, and working as a teacher's aide at the time of the alleged offence A spokesman told WHNT: 'Once we were notified by the district of the accusation against Mr. Solomon, he was immediately removed from the school by an Appleton representative that same day. 'Appleton worked directly with the district to ensure proper procedures and documentation were followed, and the incident was reported to the proper authorities. An internal investigation was conducted, and Mr. Solomon was terminated as a result.' Sexist bullying is prevalent in classrooms and stops girls achieving their potential because they fear being called 'swotty', teachers have warned. Members of the Association of Teacher and Lecturers (ATL) said girls often keep quiet in class and shy away from tough subjects because they think being clever is 'unattractive'. Dr Mary Bousted, the union's general secretary, said it was still hard for girls to be both 'brainy and feminine' and that those who appeared too keen are often 'called names'. She warned the bullying, which has got worse with the rise of social media, is driven by wider prejudices in society, with clever women still being stereotyped as somehow less alluring. Sexist bullying is prevalent in classrooms and stops girls achieving their potential because they fear being called 'swotty', teachers have warned. Members of the Association of Teacher and Lecturers (ATL) said girls often keep quiet in class because they think being clever is 'unattractive' (stock photograph) And she said it played some part in the lower numbers of girls studying challenging maths and science subjects at A-level and university barring them from potentially very lucrative careers. Next week, delegates are due to discuss the harm of sexist bullying during the ATL annual conference in Liverpool. Dr Bousted said: 'I think sexist bullying is a thing that just doesn't get talked about. 'For girls, if you are swotty and clever and answer too many questions, you are not attractive. 'And so there's a very big pressure in many schools to keep quiet and to listen to the boys talking. 'There is a conspiracy of near-silence amongst girls. 'The pressure on girls to be thin, to be attractive, to be compliant, and to be quiet, is as great now as it ever has been.' The former English teacher said she once taped the lessons at her London comprehensive school believing the split of boys and girls speaking during class discussion was a 'fairly even split'. However, listening back to the recording, she said it became clear 'the boys were talking and the girls were listening'. She said: 'If you are an adolescent girl, there are so many names you can be called in school. And there are very few for boys. Dr Mary Bousted (pictured), the union's general secretary, said it was still hard for girls to be both 'brainy and feminine' and that those who appeared too keen are often 'called names' 'It is very hard for a girl to be brainy and feminine. Femininity brings with it all sorts of other connotations which can make displaying achievements very hard.' She added that the 'gender stereotypes' surrounding subjects like maths and physics made it 'more difficult for girls to believe that they will be successful.' She said the issue was a 'key concern' for the union and that the bullying sometimes even took place in single sex schools, where you 'still get that sorting of the brainies, the swots and the ones who like boys'. She added: 'This is not something particular to schools. Schools have to promote equality, but schools can't tackle this on their own, it is one for society. 'I think all pupils should be taught how to speak up.' She said much of the sexist bullying took part on social media, and that 'sexting' also put girls in a vulnerable position in comparison with their male counterparts. A survey by the NASUWT last week showed more than half of all school staff in the UK are aware of pupils using social media to share sexual messages, pictures and videos. Dr Bousted said: 'The victims of sexting are overwhelmingly girls. 'I think schools are doing what they can. They are often the safest places for young people to be, but they are also full of other young people who bring with them the social norms which are outside school. 'Adolescents today have more access to highly sexualised films and content, on social media, than ever before. It would be surprising if that didn't play out in schools. Computer hacker Anthony Fulton (pictured) cost card firm Moonpig.com 150,000 in lost business after he broke into 18,000 customer accounts A computer hacker who cost greetings card firm Moonpig.com 150,000 in lost business after he broke into 18,000 customer accounts has been ordered to repay the company just 100. Anthony Fulton, 22, from Cleator Moor, Cumbria, caused Moonpig.com to shut down operations across three continents after his 'brute force' cyber attack over the course of four days in July last year. Carlisle Crown Court heard the card company was estimated to have lost 150,000 during the shutdown period, which lasted several days while staff investigated how the website had been breached. Fulton admitted three charges of causing a computer to perform a function with intent to enable or secure unauthorised access at an earlier magistrates' court hearing, and was today given a 16-month suspended prison sentence. He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and to pay both a 100 victim surcharge and 100 in compensation to Moonpig.com. But frustrated Judge Barbara Forrester admitted: 'I am limited in that I can't order any more compensation - much as I would like to.' Jacob Dyer, prosecuting, told the court that Fulton's actions had caused a 'significant' loss of business to Moonpig.com. 'It was a sustained, brute force attack,' he said. 'Just over 18,000 records have been accessed.' The court heard the website was shut down in the UK, the USA and Australia while an internal probe into the cyber attack was carried out. During the course of the Moonpig.com investigation, Fulton was traced through an online IP address, and was found to have launched the online attack from a computer while at his girlfriend's home. Members of a UK police cyber crime team were informed in Cumbria and Fulton was arrested days later. The court was told that last year Fulton had been given a 112-day suspended sentence for fraud by false representation. He was also ordered to complete unpaid work and given a rehabilitation requirement. Brendan Burke, mitigating, said that the previous crime had not involved the 'kind of brute force hacking' shown by his attack on Moonpig.com. Fulton, 22, from Cleator Moor, Cumbria, caused Moonpig.com to shut down operations in the UK, the US and Australia The court heard that since his fraud case. Fulton has been involved with the probation service to curb his offending, with Mr Burke stressing: 'I am told the progress has been good.' On top of his sentence, fines and unpaid work, Judge Forrester also ordered that software be fitted to Fulton's computer equipment to keep a check on his use of technology. The court order means that Fulton can no longer delete the Internet history of any piece of computer equipment he uses. The ward of $13,000 is double the standard offered by the Humane Society Police suspect those responsible have had prior run-ins with the law from the hanging but had been sexually assaulted Police in Washington are hunting for the despicable person who severely sexually assaulted a dog before killing the animal and hanging it from a tree, with a reward of $13,000 now on offer for information that leads to a conviction. A mountain biker discovered the female, pit bull-type dog hanging from a tree in a reserve in Thurston County on March 21. Officer Erika Johnson, who was the first investigator on the scene, said the dog died of asphyxiation as a result of the hanging. 'What we're seeing here is scratch marks from where the dog was struggling,' Johnson told Q13 Fox. Scene: Officer Erika Johnson, the first investigator on the scene in Thurston County, Washington, said the dog died of asphyxiation as a result of the hanging, but had also been severely sexually assaulted Killed: A mountain biker discovered the female, pit bull-type dog hanging from a tree in a reserve in Thurston County on March 21 There was evidence that the dog had been 'severely sexually assaulted' while it was restrained, according to Dan Paul, the Humane Society's Washington director. 'This is a truly horrific situation in all aspects,' Paul told KTLA. 'To think about the suffering this dog experienced in her final moments, as well as knowing there's an individual or individuals in our state who would perpetrate this type of abuse, is sickening. 'We are hopeful this reward will bring someone forward with information about this despicable crime.' The FBI is now also involved with the investigation. The dog was found hanging from this tree, which had scratch marks from where the animal struggled 'My guess is that they've probably had run-ins with the law before,' Officer Johnson said. 'Just to think that this helpless dog went through so much at the hands of some monster,' 'I think that anybody that's capable of committing a crime like this needs to be put behind bars.' The Human Society initially offered a $5,000 reward, however it has since been upped to $13,000, which is over double the standard award. A board member that was particularly taken with the case donated the extra money. The reward is double the society's standard award because a board member donated extra money. Investigation ongoing: The reward of $13,000 is double the society's standard award because a board member donated extra money Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Erika Johnson at (360) 352-2510. Jaelyn Young, 20, grew up a cheerleader, homecoming maid and honors student in Mississppi but yesterday pleaded guilty to trying to join ISIS The daughter of a school administrator and a police officer who served in the Navy reserve, Jaelyn Young's childhood in Mississippi mirrored that of millions of girls across America. In high school she eagerly participated in school traditions, becoming a cheerleader and a homecoming maid while also studying hard, graduating as an honors student. But while studying chemistry at Mississippi State University that all changed as she converted to Islam and had her mind warped by online propaganda videos from the likes of ISIS. Yesterday Young pleaded guilty to attempting to join ISIS in Syria along with her fiance Muhammad Dakhlalla, after unwittingly telling undercover agents they were planning to use their honeymoon as cover to travel to the Middle East and become medics for the terror group. According to prosecutors, Young's transformation from model high school student to wannabe terrorist began in March 2015, when she announced her conversion to Islam. Like many followers of the religion she began wearing a burqa, a modesty covering worn by some Muslim women in keeping with a strict interpretation of the Koran. More troubling, however, was her rejection of family and friends, believing that associating with non-Muslims would be a 'bad influence', court documents show. As her views grew more extreme, prosecutors say Young began to complain about the treatment of Muslims in western nations, particularly the US and UK. Little did her loved ones know that, behind the outward trappings of her new-found piety, Young's thinking was being influenced by terrorist propaganda videos, aimed at poisoning the minds of impressionable youths. Prosecutors say that Young began to view the fighters as liberators, even going so far as to condone a video showing ISIS troops throwing a gay man off the roof of a building to his death. Scroll down for video FBI agents say her radicalization began after she left high school (pictured) and joined Mississippi State University where she began converted to Islam and began watching terrorist propaganda videos In a conversation with one of their undercover agents, Young also praised Mohammad Abdulazeez, the shooter who killed four marines at a military office in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last year. Writing to an undercover FBI agent, she said: 'What makes me feel bette[r] after just watching the news is that an akhi [brother] carried out an attack against US marines in TN! 'Alhamdulillah [Thanks be to God], the numbers of supporters are growing,' Meanwhile, she was trying to save money to move to Syria with Dakhlalla, who is also from Mississippi, to join the Islamist extremist group. 'The only thing keeping me away is $ but working all of this overtime will be worth [it] when I am finally there,' Young allegedly wrote in the online chat. It comes just two years after she was ranked 19th best in her year at Warren Central High School with a 4.089 GPA and an H. Dean Andrews Scholarship to MSU. Prosecutors say she also prompted fiance Muhammad Dakhlalla, 22, to become radicalized and talked him into joining ISIS with her Dakhlalla graduated from Mississippi State University last May with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Young was enrolled until May as a sophomore chemistry major but had not signed up for any more classes since. Young, originally from Vicksburg, was a 2013 honors graduate from Warren Central High School. According to The Vicksburg Post, Young had spoken for years about plans to be a doctor. In her online chats with undercover FBI agents she allegedly expressed plans to treat ISIS fighters' injuries. 'I just want to be there,' she allegedly told the FBI agent. In later conversations peppered with Arabic phrases, she said she planned a 'nikkah,' or Islamic marriage to Dakhlalla so they could travel without a chaperone under Islamic law. In June, the first FBI agent passed Young off to a second FBI agent posing as an Islamic State facilitator. The charge says Young asked the second agent for help crossing from Turkey to Syria, saying 'We don't know Turkey at all very well (I haven't even travelled outside U.S. before.)' Young specified her skills with math and chemistry and said she and Dakhlalla would like to be medics treating the injured. Later, the charge says, she told the second FBI agent that Dakhlalla could help with the Islamic State's Internet media, saying he 'really wants to correct the falsehoods heard here' and the 'U.S. media is all lies when regarding' the group, which she called by its preferred internal name, Dawlah. Young's views eventually became so distorted she praised Mohammad Abdulazeez, who shot four marines dead in Chattanooga (pictured), and approved of videos showing ISIS fighters throwing gay men off buildings Dakhlalla told the first FBI agent in an online conversation in June that he was 'good with computers, education and media' and that his father had approved him and Young to get married. In July, the charges say, he expressed a desire to become a fighter for the group. 'I am willing to fight,' he is quoted as saying. Young later told the FBI that she and Dakhlalla had got married June 6 and they planned to claim they were traveling on their honeymoon as a cover story. She also expressed a desire to 'raise little Dawlah cubs.' The FBI said Dakhlalla and Young both expressed impatience with how long it was taking for them to be issued passports, and the charges say Dakhlalla paid $340 to expedite passport processing on July 1. Though the charges say earlier messages indicate the couple planned to fly to Greece and then take a bus to Turkey, the couple later bought tickets on Delta Air Lines leaving Golden Triangle bound for Atlanta, Amsterdam and ultimately Istanbul. Young expressed confidence that security at the small airport would not detect them. After pleading guilty to terror charges yesterday, Young now faces up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime probation. FBI is investigating health care fraud and obstructing of an investigation It is not known whether any of the patients in his care were harmed affidavit says he made comments like: 'If this f***** would just die' Brad Harris, 34, the founder of Novus Health Care Services in Dallas, Texas, has been accused of urging nurses to give patients overdoses in order to speed up their deaths and boost profits. A hospice owner has been accused of urging nurses to give patients overdoses in order to speed up their deaths and boost profits. Accountant Brad Harris, the founder of Novus Health Care Services in Dallas, Texas,, is under investigation by the FBI after he allegedly told staff to increase medication up to four-times the recommended dosage. The 34-year-old is also suspected of sending messages to carers saying: 'You need to make this patient go bye-bye.' The executive is also said to have told other healthcare professionals over lunch that he wanted to 'find patients who would die within 24 hours,' and made comments like, 'if this f***** would just die.' Despite having no healthcare training or experience, Harris would direct staff to spike how much morphine they gave patients as part of their palliative care, in a bid to reduce the paybacks they would have to pay for to the government. According to a search warrant seen by NBC 5, three patients were targeted as part of Harris' alleged scheme. The first nurse is believed to have refused Harris' first demands, however it's unknown if the patients were actually harmed. The investigation into Novus reportedly started in October 2014, when they signed up patients who 'didn't need the services'. Harris also, allegedly, charged the government for medical services that were not needed. An agent told the station Harris decided which home health care patients would be moved to hospice. 'He did this by having employees who were not doctors sign the certifications with the names of doctors also employed by Novus,' 'If a patient was on hospice care for too long, Harris would direct the patient be moved back to home health, irrespective of whether the patient needed continued hospice care.' Novus' website says the company offers hospice and home health-care services. 'We have a saying at Novus, be fast and treat people the way we would want to be treated,' the website reads. 'This encourages us to go the extra mile to make patients feel comfortable and secure about their special needs and requests.' The executive (who is based in the office above) is also said to have told other healthcare professionals over lunch that he wanted to 'find patients who would die within 24 hours,' and made comments like, 'if this f***** would just die. Health-care providers do not necessarily make more money for longer hospice stays. That's because hospices are subject to an 'aggregator cap,' which limits Medicare and Medicaid payments based on the yearly average hospice stay, the FBI said. In the warrant, signed February 3, the FBI said it was investigating health care fraud, false statements relating to health care matters, and obstruction of a criminal investigation into health care offenses. Novus' offices were searched on September 17, 2015. Officers seized18 DVDs of the company's emails. Another 44 were subpoenaed from the attorney of a former unnamed executive. Some of Harris' employees were also interviewed by agents. Harris is yet to comment on the allegations. Dominic Raab (pictured delivering a speech in central London today) said Britain had stopped 67,000 non-EU nationals from entering the UK - ten times the number of EU nationals Britain has stopped 67,000 non-EU nationals from entering the UK since 2010 but only 6,000 EU nationals, a justice minister declared today. Dominic Raab launched a scathing attack on current EU rules, which he said allowed terror suspects to 'waltz' into Britain because they have a 'free pass' to roam around Europe under freedom of movement rules. But UK authorities often had were often powerless to bar EU criminals even when it had intelligence that somebody was linked to terrorism because the bar for denying them entry was set so high under Brussels rules. He compared the 6,000 EU nationals refused entry since 2010 to the 67,000 people from non-EU countries who were barred from entry. The contrast in figures was 'undeniable' proof that regaining control of our borders would be a 'valuable defensive tool' in protecting Britain from future terrorist attacks, Mr Raab said. In a speech in central London today, he warned the 'unyielding' freedom of movement rules was a threat to Britain's security. It 'effectively means that we're importing risk with reducing means, or finite resources within which we can address and monitor and keep an eye on,' he said, describing it as a 'very serious chink in our security apparatus and was 'a direct result of the EU'. Mr Raab said: 'This week those campaigning to stay in the EU pointed out that 6,000 EU nationals have been turned away from the UK since 2010. That is absolutely right. 'But, 67,000 non-EU nationals were refused entry. That is ten times the number, even though we've had double the number of European nationals visiting the UK over that period. 'It is undeniable on the basis our our own practice, on the basis of the very statistics cited by the Remain campaign, that being outside the EU would result in stronger preventative checks at the UK border.' Mr Raab was speaking as new figures revealed that 1.6million migrants moved to Britain from within the EU in less than a decade. In 2014 alone, 287,000 people from within the EU - many from Eastern Europe - settled in Britain. Pictured are Romanian migrants camping out in Marble Arch More than 1.6 million migrants moved to Britain from within the EU in less than a decade, as migrants in Calais continue to try to make their way into the country The astonishing figure the equivalent to the populations of Manchester and Birmingham combined settled here between 2006 and 2014, according to the UK Statistics Authority. It means an average of 500 people every day for nine years exercised their right to free movement adding to the pressure on Britain's schools, hospitals and other infrastructure. And with migration from within the EU continuing to run at record levels over the past two years, the true total now will be even higher. Campaigners said the figures showed that, if Britain wants to control its borders and plan properly for the future, it must quit the EU. It follows revelations of how the free movement rules have let dozens of foreign criminals commit horrific offences in Britain. In his speech today, Mr Raab warned that the freedom of movement rules was affecting Britain's security. The elephant in the room is the unyielding principle of free movement across Europes borders and its impact on Britains security. Yes, we have checks at the border because were not in Schengen. But, what good are checks if we can do so little to act on them? 'We cannot require those arriving from other EU countries to have a permit issued by the UK, given the scope for fraudulent documents to be issued in other states. 'We cannot refuse entry to EU citizens producing an EU passport, even though we have no control over the checks made by the country of issue, which we can charitably say are of mixed reliability. Crucially, for UK intelligence agencies, we cannot bar individuals on whom we have sketchy intelligence but reason to believe may be linked to terrorist-related or other serious criminal activity. In most countries outside the EU, you can bet that individuals flagged in this way would not waltz through passport control without these doubts or question marks being answered or assuaged. 1.6 million migrants from the EU settle in Britain: That's equal to populations of Manchester and Birmingham combined in just nine years More than 1.6 million migrants moved to Britain from within the EU in less than a decade. The astonishing figure the equivalent to the populations of Manchester and Birmingham combined settled here between 2006 and 2014, according to the UK Statistics Authority. It means an average of 500 people every day for nine years exercised their right to free movement adding to the pressure on Britain's schools, hospitals and other infrastructure And with migration from within the EU continuing to run at record levels over the past two years, the true total now will be even higher. The total will now be even higher with migration from within the EU continuing to run at record levels. Migrants blocked railway tracks at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border yesterday Campaigners said the figures showed that, if Britain wants to control its borders and plan properly for the future, it must quit the EU. It follows revelations of how the free movement rules have let dozens of foreign criminals commit horrific offences in Britain. The migration figures were compiled by the statistics authority following a request by eurosceptic Tory MP Anne Main. In 2014 alone, 287,000 people from within the EU many from Eastern Europe settled in Britain. Separate figures compiled by the United Nations suggest there are now 2.9 million EU nationals living in Britain. By comparison, there are 1.2 million Britons living in other EU countries. Employment Minister Priti Patel said: 'These levels of immigration are far too high for this country to sustain. With housing, schools and the NHS all under pressure, this country will not be able to cope with the demands from further waves of migration on this scale from the EU. 'While the UK remains a member of the EU we are powerless to stop or control the numbers coming in. We can only take control of our immigration policy and our borders by voting to leave the EU.' Mrs Main told the Mail: 'These figures are alarming because they don't take into account all immigration from the EU. 'This is the choice faced by Britain on June 23: from today until the polling day, the UK will need to find housing, hospitals and schools to accompany a new town the size of Canterbury, Torquay or Folkestone.' Earlier this week, a dossier compiled by the Vote Leave group listed 50 of the 'most dangerous' European criminals who have entered the UK freely, despite convictions in their countries. Once here, 45 of them committed serious offences. In total, they were responsible for 14 killings, including nine murders, and 13 sex crimes. They included Arnis Zalkalns, the Latvian who murdered his wife before moving to the UK where he killed 14-year-old Alice Gross. A string of countries shut their borders earlier this month, cutting off the busiest migrant route between Greece and central and northern Europe Migrants blocked a railway at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni on Tuesday The figures on people moving to the UK from the EU will intensify demands for ministers to publish full figures on who is here with many MPs claiming the total is being undercounted by the Office for National Statistics. The row centres on a massive gap between two sets of figures relating to immigration. ONS figures the basis for the research by the UK Statistics Authority show that 904,000 EU migrants have arrived in Britain since June 2010. But in the same period, officials have issued 2.2 million National Insurance numbers to EU migrants. Experts say that, in order to find out who is actually here, the Government should release the amount of NI numbers which are currently 'active', meaning migrants are using them to pay tax or receive benefits. A Home Office spokesman said: 'In the past our benefits system has been a magnet to EU migrants and that is why through our renegotiation we have put an end to the something for nothing system. The migration figures were compiled by the statistics authority following a request by a eurosceptic MP 'If we left the EU but wanted access to the single market we would have to accept free movement whilst losing our influence in deciding the rules. 'We want Britain to have the best of both worlds - ensuring we only pay benefits to those who have paid into the system whilst keeping access to the single market of 500 million people which secures jobs and financial security.' Nick Herbert, chairman of Conservatives In and a former police minister, said: 'We should take no lectures from the Brexit campaigners who oppose all the EU co-operative measures which help to keep us safe. 'They oppose the European Arrest Warrant which brings serious criminals to justice and they oppose EU measures to share DNA records which identify offenders. 'They are willing to place their ideological opposition to any EU co-operation ahead of effective security measures. 'The UK is outside Europe's passport-free Schengen area, we have border controls and checks, and we can and do turn away people who pose a threat to our country. It is simply irresponsible to suggest otherwise.' Members of one of El Salvador's most feared gangs were imprisoned en-masse in the wake of a 72-hour ceasefire intended to persuade the president to stop his 'war' on organised crime. Tattooed Mara Salvatrucha gangmembers were guarded by armed police as they ran across the yard at the Quezaltepeque jail in Quezaltepeque, ten miles north of the capital San Salvador. Having been forced to leave their civil clothes behind, the fearsome gang members crouched behind barbed wire fences in nothing but their underwear. Running along: Tattooed members of the feared Mara Salvatrucha gang wear nothing but their underwear as they are brought to a prison in Quezaltepeque, El Salvador The mass imprisonment came shortly after a 72-hour long truce between El Salvador's three biggest gangs ended. Barrio 18 Revolucionarios, Barrio 18 Surenos, and Mara Salvatrucha (also known as 'MS 13') issued a video statement on Saturday saying they had ordered a stop to killings by their members - for three days. In exchange, they asked the government to hold off applying new and exceptional tactics to combat them, arguing they were an integral part of society. However, El Salvador's police chief, Howard Cotto, rejected the truce, saying 'there is no negotiation of any sort with any type of criminal organization'. 'We have nothing to talk about with members of criminal organizations. Our job is to investigate and bring to justice those who commit crimes,' he said. All going down: The mass imprisonment came shortly after a 72-hour long truce between El Salvador's three biggest gangs - Barrio 18 Revolucionarios, Barrio 18 Surenos, and Mara Salvatrucha - ended 'Vital part of society': In exchange for a 72-hour ceasefire, the three gangs asked the government to stop their 'war on gangs', arguing they are an integral part of Salvadoran society Members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang are guarded by policemen upon their arrival at the Quezaltepeque jail in Quezaltepeque, ten miles north of the capital San Salvador This year, El Salvador usurped Honduras to become the most violent peacetime country in the world, with almost 3,000 deaths in the last three months alone. Last year there were 100 deaths per 100,000 residents - the highest murder rate of any country in at least 20 years. The violence is borne out of the vicious rivalry between the two Barrio 18 factions and 'MS 13', which even saw US Peace Corps withdraw all operations from the country in January amid security fears. The killings have intensified since President Ceren declared 'war' on the 'maras' (youth gangs). His measures included classifying gangs as terrorist groups, capturing and killing suspected gang members, and sending the army into gang hot spots. This year, El Salvador usurped Honduras to become the most violent peacetime country in the world, with almost 3,000 deaths in the last three months alone. The government moved to harden its militarized crackdown on the gangs after a massacre of eight electricity workers and three sugar cane cutters west of the capital San Salvador last month. The proposed measures being put before the country's Congress include boosting the army's role in the fight, adding restrictions on gangs inside prisons, and a plan to increase control over areas under gang rule. El Salvador along with neighbouring Honduras and Guatemala make up what is known as Central America's 'Northern Triangle' - a trio of countries scarred by civil wars that once raged in the region and prey to ultra-violent gangs imported from Los Angeles' mean streets and US prisons. Curtis Scott Harper was just 23 when he killed an East Tennessee woman, her unborn baby and another man in 2012 The mother of a woman from East Tennessee, who was killed with her unborn baby when a hit-and run driver plowed into them on a street, has attacked the decision to release her killer as part of a plea deal. Curtis Scott Harper was just 23 when he struck Nelson Soto, 45, Chastity Elaine Thornell, 24, and Thornell's unborn daughter in May 2012 as he was driving home from a bar in Knoxville. Harper was found guilty of vehicular homicide in a 2013 trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison. But last year an appeals court ruled the gruesome pictures shown in court were prejudicial and ordered a retrial. Chasity's mother, Stephanie Thornell, told 10News: 'For the court system to say the pictures were too gruesome, and to give him probation, it's almost like he's the victim.' Harper was released from the Morgan County Correctional Complex in East Tennessee on Monday after he struck a plea deal, with a sentence of 13 years. He will serve his time on probation, having already spent three years behind bars, and must undertake 500 hours of community service and is banned from consuming alcohol or taking drugs. 'We had to evaluate our options given the ruling of the Appellate Court, which said that the photographs submitted to the jury were too gruesome,' Assistant District Attorney General Sean McDermott said. 'So we have to evaluate what we were left with. So evaluating the options and consulting with the family, this was the resolution agreed on by all parties.' Chasity's mother, Stephanie Thornell, said the decision made her feel as if Harper was the victim Ms Thornell said she was not happy about the plea deal and was upset she had to see him walk free so soon after her daughter's death, but understood that had the case gone to trial he could have received an lighter sentence. 'We will continue to suffer for the rest of our lives over this. There's so much we lost out on, it's just frustrating to know he was able to walk out of that courtroom less than 3 years after he took three lives and has done so much damage to so many people, and he's free now,' she said. 'Criminal trials are stressful for the victims' families in a way most people cannot understand,' said Deputy District Attorney General Kyle Hixson. 'Our main focus was to protect the public safety, but also to do that in a way that limited the trauma to the victims' families that an additional trial would create. 'We could not justify putting these families through another trial when we had no reason to believe that an additional trial would yield a lengthier sentence than the one imposed yesterday.' Nelson Soto, 45, (left) Chastity Elaine Thornell, 24, (right) and Thornell's unborn daughter were killed in May 2012 when they were struck by Harper's car Now, Ms Thornell has she must focus on raising the daughter Chasity left behind,who turn six this year. 'She will never know her mother,' she said. 'And [Harper] has taken away so much from us. And it's heartbreaking.' The Prime Minister grinned briefly as she entered Downing Street after a run in the central London fog this morning as MailOnline can reveal that all her 'In Liz we Truss' merchandise was expunged. The party's cups, travel mugs, bags and T-shirts celebrating her election 45 days ago, each costing between 14.95 and 24,95, have been deleted from the website and pulled from sale. Wearing her gym kit and muddy trainers, the outgoing Tory leader, now considered the most disastrous in party history, gave a wry smile at police as she skipped into the back door of No 10 at around 8am. She will spend her last weekend as PM at Chequers, No 10 has said. The UK's shortest serving PM will still receive severance pay to the tune of 18,860 - equal to 419.11 for each of the 44 days she served. She also earned 10,000 in that time because he ministerial salary went up. Ms Truss is beginning her final week as Prime Minister as her rivals circle to take her job - but there is also increasing anger about the cash and benefits she is leaving with and demands for her to forgo them. She will now also be entitled to claim up to 115,000-a-year in an allowance for former Prime Ministers. Her predecessors Sir John Major, Sir Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson are all believed to have claimed it. Ms Truss will also benefit from a taxpayer-funded pension as a former minister and Prime Minister. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer today joined calls for Ms Truss to reject her allowance and hand back any payout, declaring that she had 'not earned the right' to keep it. He said: 'She should turn it down. I think that's the right thing to do. She's done 44 days in office, she's not really entitled to it, she should turn it down and not take it'. Santa Monica Zoo has welcomed a new member its giraffe family, and it's a boy. The public got its first glimpse of a baby Masai this week after the calf was born over the weekend. The zoo posted online video Monday of the still-unnamed calf bonding with its mother, Audrey, behind the scenes in their barn. The calf, born at 9.28 p.m. Saturday, is already 191 pounds and over 6 feet tall. Welcome to the world: The baby giraffe was born on Saturday night at Santa Monica Zoo, and is seen here in a photo released by the zoo on Monday. He is yet to be named Audrey endured a labor of about five hours. Giraffes have a 14.5-month gestation period. There's no word on when the newborn will be introduced into the giraffe exhibit for viewing by zoo visitors. Michael, the calf's sire, is considered the most genetically valuable male Masai giraffe in captivity because he has few relatives in zoos other than his five offspring born in Santa Barbara, the Ventura County Star reported. 'Michael's genetics greatly help the diversity of the North American Masai population,' Sheri Horiszny, director of animal care, told the newspaper. Mom and son: Audrey gave birth at 9.28 p.m. Saturday after about five hours of labor. Giraffes have a 14.5-month gestation period. The Masai is the largest subspecies of giraffe, growing up to 17 feet tall 'Every Masai giraffe born here is critical to keeping the gene pool robust.' The County Star also noted that it's the fourth birth for Audrey at the zoo. Her last calf, Buttercup, was born in November 2014. The zoo's other female giraffe, Betty Lou, is in her third pregnancy and is expected to give birth in July. A white student who was stopped and attacked by a black girl for having dreadlocks in his hair has hit back at claims of 'cultural appropriation' saying its 'my hair, my rules'. Footage emerged yesterday showing environmental science student Cory Goldstein being confronted at San Francisco State University by the woman. After stopping him to say he's appropriating a traditionally black hairstyle, she asks her friend, who is nearby, if he has a pair of scissors. Scroll down for video San Francisco State University student Cory Goldstein, who has hit back at claims of 'cultural appropriation' for wearing dreadlocks in his hair Footage emerged yesterday of Goldstein being attacked by a black woman who confronted him over his style Goldstein asks: 'You're saying I can't have a hair style because of your culture. Why?' To which the woman replies: 'Because it's my culture.' But now Goldstein has blasted claims of cultural appropriation, saying he loves and respects all cultures. He told an interview on Xpress News: 'The girl apparently followed me down two flights of stairs to approach me about this whole situation, in which case I tried to leave multiple times and she wouldn't let me. 'She kept grabbing me pushing me back to try and make her point. I didn't want to talk or discuss this situation with her at all. 'I felt that I didn't need to explain myself. It is my hair, my rules, my body. Harassed: A 47-second video captured the confrontation between Goldstein and the unidentified woman and man The woman asks her friend if he has scissors to cut Goldstein's dreadlocks off. He then asks her why he's 'not allowed' to have his hair in locks 'Someone within an activist group thought she could attack me based on my dreadlocks and that is not OK.' Goldstein also explained that having dreadlock is engrained in many cultures from the past. He added: 'It is not even part of the coloured community's culture. It may be in their culture but it is engrained in many cultures other than that. 'It is in Egyptian culture, Viking culture, you even see it in Victorian culture. 'The fact that I have locks is not that I am trying to appropriate in this culture. 'I think it shows I actually love and respect their culture and it is something that I hold true to myself.' The footage, which emerged yesterday appears to show the woman confront Goldstein as he tries to argue his dreadlocks are also part of Egyptian culture. After they argue, Goldstein tries to simply walk away but the woman physically prevents him from leaving the argument She then appears to grab his sleeve or arm and pulls him back down the stairs (left). She tells him not to touch her, but then he pushes past again saying he 'doesn't have time for her disrespect' (right) She then throws the question back at him asking him if he's Egyptian before asking over and over 'Where is Egypt?' She then creates a physical barrier to prevent him from walking up a stairwell. 'Yo, stop touching me right now,' Goldstein tells her. She then pulls him down the stairs saying, 'come here', and tells him not to put his hands on her. 'I don't need your disrespect,' he says as she finally releases her grip. He then walks away. The woman then notices another person filming the video and asks him why he's filming. 'Just for everyone's safety,' he tells her. She then slams her hand into the camera to cover the lens and the video ends. The woman tells Goldstein he is 'appropriating' her culture, but she is unable to explain how he is doing so Goldstein later wrote on Facebook that he didn't file a criminal report but instead went to the university officials to have them deal with the woman The original video has nearly 200,000 views. Yesterday, SFSU released a statement saying they are investigating the confrontation: They said: 'We are aware of the video made of an incident which occurred on campus yesterday afternoon. University police were called to the scene of the incident when it occurred. 'The two individuals involved in the incident are not San Francisco State University employees. Further, no criminal charges have been pressed at this time to the University's knowledge. 'San Francisco State University promotes the rights of the campus community to engage in free speech, but does not condone behavior that impedes the safety or well-being of others. Advertisement One of the first men to ever drive a JCB was carried to his funeral in a digger's bucket earlier today. Paul Nowicki, 90, began working as a building labourer in the late 1950s and operated digging machinery until his retirement. He was an early driver and operator of JCBs in Bristol, where he settled as an asylum seeker after the Second World War. The coffin of the pensioner, who died earlier this month, was placed in the digger's excavator bucket at his home and driven for almost two miles to the crematorium. His son, John Nowicki, said his father wanted one of the iconic yellow vehicles to be used for his funeral instead of having a 'huge religious ceremony'. He was the first person to drive a JCB in Bristol, where he settled as an asylum seeker after the Second World War Paul Nowicki, 90, began working as a building labourer in the late 1950s and operated digging machinery, such as this early JCB here He said: 'He was the first driver to operate a JCB, a JCB Dinkum, in Bristol, in about 1959. 'He was a very sought after driver. On one occasion the foundations of a property had to be dug right in the middle of a swamp. 'Everybody said it would be impossible, but my dad built a wooden bridge to sit the digger on and the job was done.' He added that his father was a 'remarkable man' and a 'hero' who reluctantly fought with the Nazis to save his family from going to the death camps. 'At 17 years of age, when Germany invaded Poland, he was given the ultimatum to join the Army or else his whole family would have gone to the death camps with the Jews,' Mr Nowicki said. 'If you were not a Jew but old enough to join the German army you had to do it. He was a hero. 'He saved the lives of 11 people - his mother, father, brothers and sisters.' Paul Nowicki, 90, began working as a building labourer in the late 1950s and operated digging machinery until his retirement; seen here (right) in about 1959 and (left) in more recent years The coffin of the pensioner, who died earlier this month, was placed in the digger's excavator bucket at his home and driven for almost two miles to the crematorium His father was taken from his home in Pucklechurch, near Bristol, to Westerleigh Crematorium, a journey of about 1.5 miles Mr Nowicki arrived in the UK as an asylum seeker, settling in Avonmouth, where he worked as a building labourer and started driving digging machinery for work His father was taken from his home in Pucklechurch, near Bristol, to Westerleigh Crematorium, a journey of about 1.5 miles. His funeral, held earlier today, saw family members lay flowers and mourners were asked to make donations to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. An Uber-style app now delivers birth control and HIV prevention pills to patients' homes within 24 hours. The Silicon Valley start-up Nurx, which has expanded to all parts of California and New York state, was launched this year by an attorney and a physician after the CDC warned millions of women face insurmountable hurdles to getting contraception. Users can order a range of birth control pills as well as the patch, the ring, and emergency contraception brands Ella and Plan B - free with insurance or $15 for a three-month supply without. As of this week, the app also offers Truvada, a pre-exposure pill which has a 90 per cent success rate of preventing HIV. Nurx, an Uber-style app for birth control and HIV prevention pills, delivers to patients' homes within 24 hours Users can order a range of birth control pills as well as the patch, the ring, and emergency contraception brands Ella and Plan B - free with insurance or $15 for a three-month supply without. (Image from promo video) To access the medication, the patient fills out an online questionnaire about their medical history, other prescriptions and current health status. They either request a specific brand of contraception or ask one of the doctors on call what they recommend. The questionnaire answers are then reviewed by a doctor, who can ask more questions or fill out the prescription. Within 24 hours, the order will arrive at the patient's door. The app, which complies with HIPAA medical privacy laws, is currently working on a two-hour delivery service. And users can receive automatic refills of their prescription once completed. For Truvada, which debuted on the app this Tuesday, patients require an extra step: after filling out the questionnaire they must book an appointment to have a blood test and medical exam. But Nurx is developing plans to send a phlebotomist to patients' homes in an Uber to carry out the necessary tests - amid plans to launch the app in Washington D.C., Illinois, and Washington State. Medics have hailed the app as an important development in healthcare. 'Contraception has been identified as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century by CDC. It is a great benefit that our field can provide,' Dr Nathaniel G DeNicola, a clinical associate in the obstetrics and gynecology department of University of Pennsylvania, told CBS. He concedes that some patients could benefit from an in-person meeting with a doctor. However, he said, the medication offered on Nurx is not dangerous and the benefits of its distribution outweigh the risks. As of this week, the app also offers Truvada, a pre-exposure pill which has a 90 per cent success rate of preventing HIV. The CDC says just 21,000 people take the once-a-day blue pill. It should be 2.1 million The inclusion of Truvada in Nurx's stock comes on the heels of a CDC report that found only 21,000 people are taking pre-exposure prevention pills for HIV, whereas the figure should be more like 1.2 million. The report said around one in four gay men should be taking the blue pill, which is digested once a day. It lowers sexual transmission of HIV by 92 per cent, and needle-related infections from drug use by 70 per cent. 'PrEP has been available for three years, and the CDC [Center for Disease Control] says people should be taking it, but they aren't,' Nurx co-founder Hans Gangeskar told the Guardian. He added that the low figures could be attributed to stigma and fear of stigmatization. Using an online questionnaire, he claims, could ease that fear. 'People have concerns about going to the doctor and talking about anal sex or having to justify not using condoms. Youre able to ask questions that you wouldnt ask face to face,' he told the newspaper. The app's launch comes at a time of controversy surrounding contraception in the US. Last year, Colorado health officials drew criticism for offering the coil to girls as young as 11 without parental consent. The employers of a British man who took a selfie with the EgyptAir hijacker have warned they will be entering 'discussions' with him when he returns to the UK. Health and safety auditor Ben Innes, 26, yesterday posed for a photograph alongside Seif Eldin Mustafa, the man who took him hostage and forced the jet to be redirected from Cairo to Cyprus. However, his employer, oil and waste management specialists TWMA, has said it will be speaking to him about the incident upon his return. MailOnline understands these discussions will centre on the circumstances surrounding the photograph and Mr Innes reasons for taking it. Although he is due to arrive back in Britain tonight, he is not expected to return to work this week. Scroll down for videos Hijacker selfie: Seif Eldin Mustafa, is seen wearing his 'suicide belt' - later found to be fake - as he poses for a selfie with 26-year-old Brit Ben Innes. Mr Innes sent the photo to friends and said: 'Your boy doesn't f*** about' Instead of panicking about his plight, Mr Innes - a health and safety auditor - appeared rather calm about the hostage situation and took a selfie before sending it to his friends in the UK alongside these text messages Mr Innes is believed to have approached hijacker Mustafa for a selfie while being held hostage on the tarmac, and sent it to one of his flatmates as well as other friends The diverted flight had landed at Cyprus' Larnaca airport, with 62 passengers on board, and Mr Innes was one of four 'foreigners' and crew held hostage by Mustafa during a six-hour standoff. But instead of panicking about his plight, Mr Innes, who is from Leeds but living in Aberdeen, appeared rather calm about the situation and took a selfie before sending it to his friends in the UK. Today a TWMA spokeswoman said: 'Ben Innes was working from our Alexandria office and was travelling home when the hijacking happened. 'We have been in communication with both Ben and his family, to support both throughout Tuesday's events. We are very pleased that all passengers and crew left the plane safely. 'Our focus right now is on getting Ben back to the UK and offering any support he needs. 'Until he returns to the office and discussions have taken place, we will be unable to comment any further at this stage.' It comes just hours after Mr Innes boasted the photograph was 'the best selfie ever' - but revealed he couldn't bring himself to tell his panicked mother what he'd done. Oblivious to what her son had just done, Mr Innes' worried mother Pauline told him 'not to do anything to draw attention to himself' as the drama played out on television across the world. He told The Sun: 'My mum was obviously frantic with worry and kept telling me not to do anything to draw attention to myself. I didn't know how to tell her I'd already done a selfie with the hijacker.' Free: The last remaining hostages, including Mr Innes (far left) are seen running over the tarmac moments before the hijacker gave himself up after a six-hour standoff He said: 'I'm not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. 'I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it.' The hijacker 'shrugged OK' when one of the cabin crew translated Mr Innes' request, before the health and safety auditor took what he labelled 'the best selfie ever'. He then sent messages to his friends, telling one: 'You know your boy doesn't f*** about!! Turn on the news lad!!!'. It was accompanied by a selfie of him with Mustafa, who was wearing a 'fake' suicide belt. The friend, seemingly worried, replied: 'Wtf? Is that a bomb attached to the guys chest? You ok? Let us know when you get off.' Mr Innes is believed to have approached hijacker Mustafa while being held hostage on the tarmac, and sent the 'selfie of a lifetime' to one of his flatmates as well as other friends. 'I have no idea why he took the selfie but I imagine he probably volunteered to take it as he's no afraid to shy away from anything,' Mr Innes' flatmate Chris Tundogan told MailOnline. 'I find it pretty mental but that's just Ben I guess!' Egyptian national Mustafa hijacked the domestic EgyptAir MS181, carrying 62 people, including eight Brits and ten Americans, shortly after it left Alexandria for Cairo early yesterday morning. Wearing a suicide belt - later found to have been fake - Mustafa forced the plane to re-route to Cyprus, where he proceeded to take several passengers and crew hostage and demanded to see his Cypriot ex-wife. This image which has been shared widely on social media shows Seif Eldin Mustafa wearing his 'suicide belt' on the hijacked EgyptAir plane Seif Eldin Mustafa is seen approaching a military vehicle with his hands in the air after leaving the hijacked Egyptair Airbus A320 at Larnaca Airport During the hostage situation on the tarmac, Mustafa made a series of erratic requests, including asking to meet with representatives of the European Union, and to be taken to other airports. A picture from the tarmac showed the moment he handed over a four-page letter intended for his estranged wife, as a female airport official stands with her head in her hands. Negotiations with the hijacker during the morning resulted in the release of a majority of the hostages, except for the crew and four foreigners, including Mr Innes. After a six-hour standoff, the crew along with Mr Innes and two other male foreign nationals were released moments before the hijacker gave himself up. They were seen running across the tarmac in the moments before Mustafa surrendered to police. Mustafa disembarked the plane at around 14.40 local time with his hands up and threw some items on the ground, which were picked up by police and are being examined. Alexandros Zenon, Secretary of the Cypriot Foreign Ministry, did not immediately have more details on the arrest, but added that the hijacker appeared to be 'mentally unstable'. In the wake of his arrest, Cypriot authorities were able to determine that Mustafa's suicide belt had been a fake. 'According to security sources received from Cyprus Authorities at Larnaca International Airport, which stated that the explosive belt that the hijacker allegedly said that he was wearing, is fake,' EgyptAir said in a statement. His arrest followed a comment by an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official, who said: 'He's not a terrorist, he's an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they aren't stupid. This guy is.' This image shows the moment Seif Eldin Mustafa hands over the letter intended for his ex-wife, as a female airport official stands with her head in her hands Aronberg also went to law school with Donald Trump's Republican rival, Sen. Ted Cruz - though isn't supporting the GOP candidate The Florida-based prosecutor whose office will handle the battery case of Donald Trump's campaign manager is a Hillary Clinton supporter who once characterized the Republican frontrunner's rhetoric as 'divisive and inflammatory.' Dave Aronberg, the 44-year-old State Attorney for Palm Beach County, was a former Democratic state senator and in November was named as part of Clinton's 'Florida Leadership Team.' These political connections have caused Trump supporters to take to Twitter worrying that Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager who yesterday was charged with simple battery over an altercation with ex-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, wouldn't get a fair shake. A representative for Aronberg's spokesman Mike Edmondson said the office would not be commenting on political matters. Dave Aronberg, the West Palm Beach State Attorney, whose office is handling Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski case, is a Hillary Clinton supporter Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (left) was charged in Florida with simple battery after journalist Michelle Fields (right) claimed he intentionally grabbed and bruised her arm Donald Trump (center) has defended his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (left) from journalist Michelle Fields' allegations saying he refused to 'discard' his aide even if the case is a political problem Yesterday the political world was rocked when the Jupiter Police Department charged Lewandowski with simple battery, a misdemeanor, over an incident that occurred at the end of a March 8 press conference. Fields, in her report to police, said that she approached Trump and asked him a question as he was exiting the press conference when 'she felt someone yank her left arm.' 'She added that she fell back but caught herself from falling,' the report said. Lewandowski had originally denied Fields' claims, which she wrote about on Breitbart.com before going to police three days later, but the investigation in which Trump turned over footage from the event produced enough evidence that there was probable cause. 'In that he did intentionally touch Michelle Fields ... against the will of Michelle Fields,' the police report said. Since the news came out, Trump has defended Lewandowski, telling reporters yesterday that he does not just 'discard' people, while suggesting that Fields grabbed him first, a point that a member of Trump's Secret Service detail corroborated with the frontrunner for Dailymail.com. Dave Aronberg (right) hasn't commented on the case, with his office telling Dailymail.com that they would not be speaking publicly about political matters 'She crossed in between agents and our protectee after being told not to,' said the agent, who was present that night in Jupiter, Florida. Fields has kept a low profile, tweeting out just once: 'Seriously, just stop lying,' after Trump had tweeted out that people should be looking at her earliest statements for inconsistencies. 'My story never changed,' Fields said. Trump pointed out that she had written: 'Campaign managers arent supposed to try to forcefully throw reporters to the ground, no matter the circumstance,' as part of her initial op-ed. It was first the Boston Herald and Trump supporters online who sniffed out a potential political problem with the case, putting two-and-two together that Aronberg was backing the Democratic frontrunner in the presidential race. Coincidentally, he also attended law school with Trump's Republican rival, Sen. Ted Cruz. 'He lived right below me and I knew him pretty well there and he is an entertainer,' Aronberg divulged during a television hit last year on NewsmaxTV. 'He's a really smart guy and a really smooth talker and I liked Ted in law school,' Aronberg continued. But showing off his Democratic leanings he said Cruz 'is not going to be president' because 'he is someone who is so far right.' During another hit, filmed even before the first Republican debate in August, Aronberg suggested that Trump could never get elected because he's alienated too many Hispanic voters. Continuing to play pundit, Aronberg pointed out that The Donald would need Latino voters to win. 'And yet the stuff that's coming out of his mouth, the things he's saying is so divisive and so inflammatory it's turning off many of the people he'll need to win the general election,' Aronberg said on NewsmaxTV. Later in the program, he reminded the audience of some of the comments Trump had made about illegal Mexican immigrants during the billionaire's presidential announcement speech that Trump memorably arrived at via escalator. A northern Kentucky mother has pleaded guilty to supplying her daughter with the heroin that she fatally overdosed on while in jail last year. Kimberly Mullins pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring with others to get the fatal cocktail containing heroin and fentanyl to her addicted 25-year-old daughter Jamie Green, The Kentucky Enquirer reported. Green, who had been jailed more than three months on a probation violation, was found unresponsive in the Kenton County jail on September 4 after taking the drug. Scroll down for video Kentucky mother Kimberly Mullins (right) pleaded guilty on Tuesday to supplying her 25-year-old daughter Jamie Green (left), with the heroin that she fatally overdosed on while in jail last year Green, a mother-of-two pictured with her daughter Brooklyn, was found unresponsive in the Kenton County jail on September 4 after taking the drug Co-defendants Lisa Lattimore and Lynette Ball also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. U.S. District Court Judge Amul Thapar told the women they will each return to court in July to face sentences of 20 years to life in prison. Several other defendants are still facing indictment, according to the Kentucky Enquirer. The incident in which Mullins, who acknowledged in court that she has battled a heroin addiction in the past, helped her daughter get heroin in a jail was reportedly not the first time. During the hearing in a Covington courtroom on Tuesday, Green's family and friends were sat close to one another. Among those in attendance included Rachel Riffle O'Hara, who raised Green for several years and now has custody of her son, Jayden, and Candace Brewer who has raised Green's five-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, since she was two months old. 'I just have one question,' Brewer said following the hearing. 'When the day comes, how do I tell this child what happened to her mom?' Meanwhile, an emotional O'Hara told the newspaper that she was okay with Mullins' plea deal, noting Mullins made Green's life a 'living hell.' Mullins pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to get the fatal cocktail containing heroin and fentanyl to her addicted daughter Green (left) has been described as a young mother with a troubled childhood, moving from family to foster care to extended family. Her mother (right) was reportedly in and out of her life From May 27 to September 2, the young mother was jailed in the Campbell County jail in Newport on a probation violation before she was transferred to the Kenton County jail (pictured) on September 3. The day after she was found unresponsive after taking the fatal drug 'Knowing that she's going to spend (at least) 20 years is OK with me,' O'Hara said. 'Kim made Jamie's life a living hell since she was born, and sadly, she succeeded in her death.' Green has been described as a young mother with a troubled childhood, moving from family to foster care to extended family. Her mother was in and out of her life, according to the Kentucky Enquirer. Relatives told the newspaper that four months before she died, Green was fighting to get clean of heroin and was headed to a treatment program for addiction. From May 27 to September 2, the young mother was jailed in the Campbell County jail in Newport on a probation violation before she was transferred to the Kenton County jail on September 3. After she was found unresponsive after overdosing, Green (pictured with her daughter) was transported to St Elizabeth Hospital where she was pronounced dead Green had called Mullins to ask her to get heroin, according to court documents. The plea agreement - which all three defendants reportedly said the statements in it were true - indicates that co-defendant Ball helped coordinate an exchange of a controlled substance between Mullins and Lattimore, who was a weekend inmate. After learning from Ball that Lattimore was a weekend inmate, Green then told her mother, and Lattimore and Green met to exchange the drug, according to the document. Lattimore then got the drug to Green, who was found unresponsive in the Kenton jail after overdosing, according to the Kentucky Enquirer. She was transported to St Elizabeth Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Jailer Terry Carl said Green had not been under watch for withdrawal because it was assumed she did not have any drug involvement since she was in the Campbell County jail, according to the Enquirer. Michael T Howard (left) is still facing indictment and is accused of getting the fatal cocktail to Mullins (right) while her daughter was in the Kenton jail. He is also accused of getting heroin to Mullins for Green when she was in the Campbell County jail Co-defendants Lisa Lattimore (left) and Lynette Ball (right) also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge Carl also noted that upon Green's arrival she did not appear to be sick from withdrawal. Among the others still facing indictment include Michael T Howard who is accused of getting the fatal cocktail to Mullins while her daughter was in the Kenton jail, according to the newspaper. He is also accused of getting heroin to Mullins for Green when she was in the Campbell County jail. A charge against Mullins for helping facilitate the exchanges of heroin for Green while she was in the Campbell County jail was dismissed as a condition of the plea agreement, the Kentucky Enquirer reported. A 1billion Qatari Quarter including some of Britains most expensive buildings has been created in Londons most prestigious area, a study revealed today. Huge investment by the Qatari royal family and other rich nationals has formed an exclusive district in Londons Mayfair which is said to cover about a quarter of its 279 acres and 4,300 homes. The landmark building is the 200million Grade II-listed Dudley House on Park Lane, a 17-bedroom property that was allegedly once said by the Queen to make Buckingham Palace look a bit dull. Wealthy: The 'Qatari Quarter' includes some of Britain's most expensive properties in London Impressive: The landmark building of the area is the Grade II-listed Dudley House on Park Lane, a 17-bedroom property that was allegedly once said by the Queen to make Buckingham Palace look a bit dull The mansion, owned by Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani who is a cousin of the current emir, is one of many in the Qatari Quarter, according to West End-based estate agent Rokstone. The ruling Qatari family also own townhouses on Park Street, Mount Street, Davies Street and Curzon Street which are worth nearly 250 million, according to The Times. Also included in the Qatari Quarter is the 40million former Brazilian Embassy on Green Street. Rokstone says that the area has borders running from South Street and the Dorchester Hotel to North Row, and with Grosvenor Square and Carlos Place to the west and Duke Street to the east. The agents managing director Becky Fatemi said north-west Mayfair has become the West End address of choice for Qatari and other Gulf state end-user buyers and tenants. Pricey: Also included in the 'Qatari Quarter' is the 40million former Brazilian Embassy on Green Street Property empire: The ruling Qatari family also own townhouses on roads including Curzon Street (above) Royal property on Mount Street: North-west Mayfair has become 'the West End address of choice' for Qataris She added: The oil royals and wealthy families from the Middle East view Mayfair as a luxury village and their favourite place in London, alongside Knightsbridge, for luxury shopping, dining out and leisure. The West End address of choice for Qatari and other Gulf state end-user buyers and tenants Becky Fatemi, Rokstone managing director Over two-thirds of Mayfair residents typically eat out three to four times per week and Middle East residents spend on average 1,900 per shop. Rokstone believes Qatari buyers make up 5 per cent of all those purchasing property in Mayfair each year - and more than half of all purchasers for homes priced at more than 10million. He told The Times: The ability of rich individuals and sovereign wealth funds to acquire such large parts of London is based on their ongoing wealth, and the interesting thing for the Qataris is that with the oil price where it is, my understanding is their buying power has been severely limited. 'It would be interesting to see whether they are net buyers or net sellers over the next 12 to 24 months. The US embassy in Grosvenor Square is part of London's so-called 'Qatari Quarter' He was slammed on social media, but insists the shoot is now a tribute to Macy Grace as she 'doesn't have a voice' Mr Jo obliged, but admitted he was disgusted when he heard of her arrest in and told him she had died from choking on a banana Was arrested last week and appeared in court for first time on Monday Youngster had injuries consistent with abuse, so she was arrested in December when the child was brought in A mother charged with murdering her two-year-old daughter ordered photos with the child she allegedly beat to death appearing as an angel at her grave. Jeanie Ditty, 23, of Spring Lake North Carolina, who has been an active soldier at Fort Bragg since 2013, has been accused of neglecting and killing Macy Grace, and faces the death penalty if convicted. Police were called when the youngster was taken to hospital covered in bruises and with life-threatening injuries consistent with child abuse, two days before she died on December 4, 2015. Exactly a month after Macy Grace's death, Ditty went to Pennsylvania photographer Sunny Jo and asked for images depicting her reading, walking and sitting with her daughter. Scroll down for video Jeanie Ditty, charged with murdering her two-year-old daughter Macy Grace, ordered photos with the child she allegedly beat to death appearing as an angel at her grave. She is seen reading the youngster's favorite book, The Giving Tree, in this photo-shopped image Ditty, who has been an active soldier at Fort Bragg since 2013, has been accused of neglecting and killing the girl, and faces the death penalty if convicted. The child is seen with a hand on her mother's shoulder as she looks at Macy Grace's grave Mr Jo obliged, as he first thought he was helping a grieving mother, and has completed hundreds of similar requests in the past as part of his One More Time series. Then, when he asked Ditty how the girl died, she said the youngster had choked on a banana when she had a stomach ache. He told the Daily Mail Online that Ditty showed him a photo of Macy Grace she wanted to use. She then said she wanted a picture of them reading her favorite book, The Giving Tree, together. Mr Jo said he could work with it, and started taking the pictures. After finishing the shoot, he decided not to charge Ditty because of the tragic circumstances. But he then found out she was arrested. 'People started sharing the story on Facebook,' he told Daily Mail Online. 'I asked myself: "How could she do this?" 'I then felt disgusted by what I had done. People started calling me a mockery and I started to lose sleep over what happened. 'I look like the bad guy, even though initially did it to help out a grieving mother. It blew up in my face. 'It's hard knowing your work is attached to something so brutal. Despite the negative response, the photographer decided to share the pictures after sending all of them to a detective looking into the case. Exactly a month after Macy Grace's death, Ditty went to Pennsylvania photographer Sunny Jo and asked for images depicting her reading, walking and sitting with her daughter. He obliged as he initially believed he was helping a grieving mother remember her daughter Police were called when the youngster was taken to hospital covered in bruises and with life-threatening injuries consistent with child abuse, two days before she died on December 4 Jeanie Ditty and her boyfriend Zachary Earl Keefer appeared in court for the first time Monday after her daughter was found with injuries consistent with child abuse. Keefer us not the father 'The reason I am open and talking is because this girl was killed brutally and she doesn't have a voice. 'This whole thing is a tribute for Macy Grace.' Ditty (pictured in her mug shot) is a serving soldier at Fort Bragg When the court case is done with, he has insisted he will delete the images, but plans to replace them with a new photo of Macy Grace. Mr Jo started taking the pictures five years ago, when his father died of cancer. After the funeral, he took one of the images home and photo shopped his late dad standing beside him, and it made him feel happy. 'It is a way for people to see their loved ones for the last time,' he said. 'Even though they aren't there, loved ones know they are watching.' Ditty is charged with first-degree murder and negligent child abuse and inflicting serious bodily injury for the death of Macy. Her boyfriend Zachary Earl Keefer has also been charged with the same counts Thursday. In their first court hearing Monday, a judge told them they face the death penalty or life in prison if they are convicted. The pair live in an apartment complex in the 500 block of Village Lake Court in Spring Lake, North Carolina. Police were called to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center on December 2 of last year in relation to an unresponsive child. The young child was then transferred to UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill. Police have said that they 'know' the child didn't die of natural causes and admitted these are 'heart-wrenching' The pair were arrested last week, two months after the girl's brutal death In the 24 hours after she was admitted to the medical center, police determined they were likely from abuse. Fayetteville police obtained warrants for charging Ditty and Keefer the next day. Ditty was then arrested last Thursday evening and is now being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center along with Keefer, both without bond, police said. Their next court date is April 14 District Attorney Billy West told ABC 11 : 'It's a tough case, you know this child did not die of natural causes. 'And it's heart-wrenching to think that this could happen to a young child this way and we are going to do everything we can to see that justice is done in this case.' Fort Bragg officials said Ditty is a member of the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade and that she would remain active even while she is under investigation. Keefer is not the father of the child. The pair were living together when the child was found dead. Police were alerted when the child was taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries The number of people in Britain may rise by more than a fifth to reach close to 80 million within 25 years, an official report estimated today. It said the population could be just over 79 million by the year 2039 if high levels of immigration persist and the pace of increase in life expectancy and birth rates continue to go up. The projections from the Office for National Statistics point to the highest level its experts believe the population could reach. However they are based on immigration figures from two years ago which are far lower than the rate of immigration recorded over the past two years. The Office for National Statistics said the population could be just over 79 million by the year 2039 if high levels of immigration persist They drew fresh warnings yesterday that the country faces severe strains on essential services and resources, as well as deep public disaffection, unless politicians begin to bring down record immigration rates. UK COULD STOP TEN TIMES MORE TERROR SUSPECTS FROM ENTERING THE COUNTRY IF IT LEAVES THE EU, CLAIMS JUSTICE MINISTER Dominic Raab (pictured delivering a speech in central London today) said Britain could stop ten times as many criminals and terror suspects if it leaves the EU Britain could stop ten times more criminals and terror suspects from entering the country if it leaves the EU, a justice minister declared today. Dominic Raab launched a scathing attack on current EU rules, which he said allowed terror suspects to 'waltz' into Britain because they have a 'free pass' to roam around Europe under freedom of movement rules. But UK authorities often had were often powerless to bar EU criminals even when it had intelligence that somebody was linked to terrorism because the bar for denying them entry was set so high under Brussels rules. He compared the 6,000 EU nationals refused entry since 2010 to the 67,000 people from non-EU countries who were barred from entry. The contrast in figures was 'undeniable' proof that regaining control of our borders would be a 'valuable defensive tool' in protecting Britain from future terrorist attacks, Mr Raab said. In a speech in central London today, he warned the 'unyielding' freedom of movement rules was a threat to Britain's security. It 'effectively means that we're importing risk with reducing means, or finite resources within which we can address and monitor and keep an eye on,' he said, describing it as a 'very serious chink in our security apparatus and was 'a direct result of the EU'. Mr Raab said: 'This week those campaigning to stay in the EU pointed out that 6,000 EU nationals have been turned away from the UK since 2010. That is absolutely right. 'But, 67,000 non-EU nationals were refused entry. That is ten times the number, even though we've had double the number of European nationals visiting the UK over that period. 'It is undeniable on the basis our our own practice, on the basis of the very statistics cited by the Remain campaign, that being outside the EU would result in stronger preventative checks at the UK border.' Advertisement The ONS published its full projections of expected future population size the day after the Daily Mail disclosed that 1.6 million immigrants are thought to have moved from other EU countries to Britain inside a decade. Figures for National Insurance numbers given to new arrivals from the EU who need them to work or claim benefits have been running at more than double the recorded number of EU immigrants since 2010. But ministers have declined to release information on the number of NI numbers which are active in other words are currently being used to pay tax or claim benefits so real numbers remain obscure. The new ONS estimates said that net migration, the number of people by which immigration swells the population each year, is expected to fall to 185,000 a year after 2020 and remain at that level. At this rate, and at predicted birth and life expectancy rates, they suggest that the population will go up by nearly 10 million by 2039, from 64.6 million in 2014 to 74.3 million. However net migration figures passed the 300,000 a year mark in the last three months of 2014 and have continued above that level since. The most recent net migration figure, for the 12 months which ended last September, put net migration at 323,000 for the year, with no sign of a significant fall. The ONS projections put the highest possible level for long-term net migration at 265,000, nearly 60,000 a year below the current level. At this rate, and if birth rates and life expectancy also hit high levels, they say that by 2039 Britains population will be 79,090. The estimate means a population increase of more than 22 per cent. In terms of numbers, it amounts to just under 14 million, close to 600,000 a year over the 25-year period between 2014 and 2039. Continued high immigration is likely to bring with it high birth rates, because immigrants are mainly young people who are more likely to have children than other sections of the population. Life expectancy has gone up over the past 40 years at a rate of 1.9 per cent a year for men and 1.5 per cent a year for women, and the highest immigration expectations at the ONS are based on the possibility that this will rise to 2.4 per cent a year. The ONS said that under its main future population estimate, putting 2039 numbers at 74.3 million, 68 per cent of the population increase will be a result of immigration. Just over half the extra numbers of nearly 10 million envisaged under this projection will be immigrants, while 17 per cent will be a result of additional births and deaths because of immigration. The high projections brought new warnings that the Government, which has failed to live up to David Camerons promise to bring net migration down to 1990s levels of less than 100,000 a year, should respond to deepening public concern. Critics say that immigration is bringing growing pressure to bear on housing, transport, power, water, education and health services, as well as putting social cohesion at risk and reducing the wages of lower-paid workers. Lord Green of the Migration Watch UK think tank said: For far too long the Government machine has had its head in the sand about the sheer scale of likely population growth. We must now face the possibility that the high migration scenario will turn out to be the correct one. This would mean building the equivalent of the city of Liverpool every year for the next 25 years. Advertisement Arrivals of refugees and migrants to Greece from Turkey rose sharply today just days after the European Union and Turkey struck a deal intended to cut off the flow of new arrivals. Greek authorities recorded 766 new arrivals in the last 24 hours, up from 192 the previous day. Most arrived on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos. Italy reported an even larger jump in arrivals yesterday, when officials there said 1,350 people were rescued from boats taking the longer migration route over the Mediterranean as the weather warmed up. Staggering: Nearly 6,000 people remain stuck at the country's biggest port of Piraeus port near Athens, having arrived there on ferries from Greek islands close to Turkey before the deal Waiting in line: Dozens of migrants and refugees queue to receive food outside the port of Piraeus in Greece Struggling to survive: Many of the refugees are living in difficult conditions, surviving in tents and other temporary structures Deep in thought: One young boy takes time out to sit on a bench and contemplate his journey to his new home in Europe The EU Commission said yesterday that the flows in the last week had reduced, with only 1,000 people arriving from Turkey on Greek islands, compared to an average of 2,000 a day in the last couple of months. It was not clear why numbers had dropped, but the Aegean Sea had been hit with bad weather and gale force winds, making the journey from Turkey on small rubber boats even more dangerous. Under the deal in effect since March 20, migrants and refugees who arrive in Greece will be subject to being sent back once they have been registered and their individual asylum claim processed. The returns are to begin from April 4. More that 51,000 refugees and migrants, among those Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and other fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Asia, are currently stranded in Greece following border closures across the Balkans. Trapped in the midday heat: Dozens of tents line the port of Piraeus, where around 5,500 migrants and refugees have set up camp Dreaming of a better life: Several young children sleep tightly in a flimsy blanket as they wait to find out when they will be able to continue their journey from Greece through the Balkan states Just arrived: The EU Commission said on Tuesday that the flows in the last week had reduced, with only 1,000 people arriving from Turkey on Greek islands, compared to an average of 2,000 a day in the last couple of months Cut off:One young boy pushes a pushchair while waiting in line for food handouts outside the port of Piraeus, Greece Longing for change: Many of the women queuing in line try to comfort their children in the mid-day heat as the wait for food Trapped: Migration restrictions along the so-called Balkan route, the main path for migrants and refugees from Middle East to EU countries, have trapped thirty four thousands of migrants in Greece Desperate conditions: Scores have found shelter in passenger waiting lounges while hundreds more sleep in the open Nearly 6,000 people remain stuck at the country's biggest port of Piraeus port near Athens, having arrived there on ferries from Greek islands close to Turkey before the deal. Scores have found shelter in passenger waiting lounges while hundreds more sleep in the open, either in flimsy tents or on blankets spread on the dock. Queues for the few portable toilets are long, and scuffles have broken out in recent weeks over mobile phone chargers and food distribution. International rights group Human Rights Watch has described conditions at the port, including basic hygiene, as 'abysmal' and says the situation is akin to a 'humanitarian crisis.' Among those stranded in Piraeus on Wednesday was Mariam El Musa, a 37-year-old teacher from Aleppo, Syria. 'The problem here is the psychology of the people,' she said. Cooling off: One young migrant dives into the sea off the port of Piraeus, taking advantage of the good weather to cool off Back to the beginning: One young lady and her two children sit and reflect at their temporary camp having arrived back from the border village of Idomeni at the Greek-Macedonian border Temporarily living: Rows of cheap canvas tents line the streets at a makeshift camp for refugees and migrants at the port of Piraeus Helpless: With no showers or hygiene facilities, the refugees can only queue to try and receive food and basic supplies An Afghan migrant carries her baby as migrants stranded in Greece, along with human rights activists and students, take part in a protest against recent border closures across the Balkans in Athens Migrants stranded in Greece, along with human rights activists and students, shout slogans during a protest against recent border closures across the Balkans in Athens An Afghan boy holds up a sticker calling for the opening of borders during a demonstration in Greece by stranded refugees and migrants Children hold messages during a demonstration in Greece by stranded refugees and supporting groups in Athens on March 30 Refugees and migrants who are trapped in Greece march during a protest demanding the opening of the borders between Greece and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 'People are angry and depressed because the borders are closed, because it takes ages to have a meal and because we are dirty, we can't have a shower. We Syrians thought we would stay in Greece for only two-three days.' A fellow Syrian hoping to reach Holland, 24-year-old Haisam Mahli, has spent the last three weeks at the port, after landing on the Aegean island of Chios from Turkey a month ago. He plans to join a protest march to central Athens later on Wednesday against the EU-Turkey deal. Two men have been arrested after a middle-aged man was ambushed and beaten to death inside a hotel known by neighbours as the 'murder motel'. This is the second murder to have taken place at the Elmhurst Hotel in Earley, near Reading in just 30 years. And tragically, the victim was certified dead at the scene. Paramedics and police swooped in on the Elmhurst Hotel, near Reading, this morning after a man in his 40s was murdered in what detectives called 'a targeted attack' Paramedics and police swooped in on the white-painted building this morning after a man in his 40s was murdered in what detectives called 'a targeted attack'. The hotel was immediately sealed off with police tape and the road outside it was also closed as police forensic teams converged on it to search for clues to the killing. An hour later, an area of Reading behind the Primark store in the town was also blocked off by police as two men, aged 28 years and 38 years, were cornered and arrested on suspicion of the murder. The Elmhurst Hotel was the scene of a killing almost 30 years ago and neighbours said that it was still known as 'Murder Motel.' On that occasion a man was killed in a revenge attack after it was claimed that building work for the hotel had not been paid for. However, the motive for today's murder was still unknown and detectives said that they had launched a full-scale investigation into the man's death. He has not yet been identified. One neighbour said: 'The Elmhurst Hotel is known around here as the murder motel. There was a murder about 30 years ago at the hotel. I was out early this morning so it is the first I've heard of this new attack.' Another neighbour, Richard Zeiger, added : 'I didn't see or hear anything today but there was another murder there in the late 1980s. That tome it was over building work that hadn't been pair for. The Elmhurst Hotel was the scene of a killing almost 30 years ago and neighbours said that it was still known as 'Murder Motel' Two men from Reading, aged 28 and 38 years, were arrested in the town centre shortly before 11am. They are currently in custody 'A young decorator lost his life that time. 'It is usually quiet around here but now, another murder in the same hotel.' A man leaving the hotel and working for a CCTV company, said he had arrived to carry out some maintenance work on the hotel but had not witnessed or heard any disturbance. Meanwhile other guests at the Elmhurst Hotel were evacuated as all the rooms were sealed off as a crime scene and telephone calls to the reception went unanswered. James Williams, spokesman for Thames Valley Police, said that officers were called to a report of a man being assaulted by two men in the Elmhurst Hotel just before 10am. He said: 'The ambulance service was called to the scene but sadly the victim, a man in his 40s, died at the scene. The victim is yet to be identified at this stage. 'A scene watch is in place at the hotel and road closures are in place in St Peters Road, Lennox Road and Church Road. The motive for today's murder was still unknown and detectives said that they had launched a full-scale investigation into the man's death 'Two men from Reading, aged 28 and 38 years, were arrested in the centre of Reading shortly before 11am. They are currently in custody.' Detective Sergeant Richard Vint, based at Reading police station, added: 'I would like to reassure the community that we are conducting a thorough investigation into this incident and we have already arrested two men on suspicion of murder. 'At this stage of the investigation we believe this was a targeted attack. 'We have a scenewatch in place at Elmhurst Hotel, as well as a number of road closures in place at this time. I would like to thank local residents for cooperating with these closures, which are in place so we can carry out our work. Chris Adams went to a lot of trouble to make it home in time for his 22nd birthday. Stationed in Afghanistan for ten months as an Army specialist, he concocted an elaborate plan to his surprise his mother and girlfriend on Saturday in their hometown of Groveland, Massachusetts. Chris worked as a firefighter before he was deployed in June, so called upon his old work buddies to tell his mother that there was a gas leak at her house. Once she was outside, and the emergency response vehicles began arriving, she was overcome with shock and joy at the sight of Chris getting out of one of the fire trucks. Scroll down for video Overcome: Chris Adams' mother fell to her knees crying after he made a surprise visit home on Saturday 'I can't believe it': Chris was due home in March or April but had not told his family when. He surprised them one day before his 22nd birthday The soldier lured his mom out the front of her home in Groveland by having the fire station call and say there was a gas leak in her home 'I had absolutely no idea,' Chris's mother told WCVB-TV. 'He was due to come home March or April. I kept pressuring him for a date but he didn't tell me anything.' 'They told us there was a gas leak, that's how they got us out of the house.' Furthermore, when they got the call, it didn't even occur to the woman that their home doesn't actually have gas. 'Later my husband told me, 'Did you ever think to yourself that we don't have gas?'' she said. 'But you don't think of these things when you think the neighborhood is going to explode.' Soldier: Army Specialist Chris Adams was a paramedic and firefighter before he deployed 10 months ago But Chris's mom wasn't the only one to get a surprise. His girlfriend, Carolyn, also had no idea, and was at the house at the same time. The two had only been dating about 10 months when he was deployed. 'I knew he was flying home soon,' Carolyn told WCVB-TV. 'But in the back of mind, this was the last thing I expected.' Chris actually landed back in the country on Tuesday, but spent the days leading up to Saturday planning Chris was able to surprise his mom, dad and girlfriend Carolyn, who had been dating for 10 months when he shipped overseas Chris says he was actually worried that his mother was too overwhelmed at the surprise. 'I thought she was going to need medical attention. I thought ''Is she going to stand up?'' 'She was on the ground for a long time, watering the lawn with her tears. 'She was definitely super shocked. I was worried for a quick second.' Britain's ex-top civil servant Lord O'Donnell (pictured) was today under withering attack for saying the idea of Britain quitting the EU is 'scary'. His warnings were dismissed as 'absurd' Britain's ex-top civil servant was today under withering attack for saying the idea of Britain quitting the EU is 'scary'. Lord Gus O'Donnell who served as Cabinet Secretary to David Cameron argued the UK would be unable to negotiate its exit from the Brussels club within the two years allowed by EU treaties. In the latest Establishment intervention on behalf of the Remain camp, he said we would then be left at the mercy of other member states in requesting extra time to secure trade deals. Lord O'Donnell, who was elevated to the Lords under Mr Cameron, said this prospect was a 'bit scary'. His remarks triggered anger from senior ministers and Leave campaigners who dismissed his argument as 'absurd' and 'doing Britain down'. They said that the two year deadline was artificial and, in any event, other EU members states would be desperate to strike a deal giving them access to the UK exports market. Conservative peer and former chancellor Lord Lamont said: 'My former colleague Gus O'Donnell seems to be arguing not that the EU is good or bad but it is impossible to get out of it. 'It's like a lobster pot, we're trapped for 10 years at least. This is absurd. The EU needs a deal as much as we do. If it took longer than two years to negotiate a trade deal that would be as much to the disadvantage of the EU as to the UK. 'If more time was needed the EU would have every incentive to strike a deal with its largest trading partner, the UK.' The latest row of the referendum campaign centres on the mechanism for Britain leaving the EU if the country votes Out on June 23. Under the process set out in the Lisbon Treaty, a nation has two years to complete a deal once it formally declares that it will withdraw from the EU. Lord O'Donnell said he was in the camp that 'doesn't think we can do it in two years' as it will be a 'very complex process'. He said: 'We have to negotiate our entry to the single market, we have to negotiate our future relationship with the EU and then we have to negotiate our trade treaties with all other countries. So there's a lot to be done.' Lord Gus O'Donnell also warned that the political backdrop of any exit negotiations will work 'completely the wrong way for us' considering the elections that German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and French President Francois Hollande (right) face next year The ex-mandarin, who is considered one of the architects of the 2010 Tory/Lib Dem Coalition, added: 'Obviously at the end of two years anything we haven't negotiated has to be extended by unanimity of a vote excluding us so that's a bit scary.' He BBC Radio Four's Today programme that the Article 50 rules on the process were 'not written in a neutral way' and warned it would be a 'rather biased playing field'. If the UK failed to get a deal within two years, the country would revert to World Trade Organization rules, which would include significant tariffs. He stopped short of directly declaring for the Remain camp but critics pointed out this arguments were almost identical to the Government's. The Leave campaign flatly rejects the idea that Article 50 would have to be triggered immediately after the referendum. Its experts insist there is no legal requirement to do so and a series of informal negotiations could take place first. Justice Minister Dominic Raab said Lord O'Donnell was not a diplomat or an international lawyer. He added: 'I used to negotiate treaties and I can tell you that if we voted to leave we could do so and negotiate an exit agreement.' Lord Gus O'Donnell who served as Cabinet Secretary to David Cameron argued the UK would be unable to negotiate its exit from the Brussels club within the two years allowed by EU treaties. He said the UK was the fifth biggest economy in the world and a key export market for the EU, adding: 'Of course we'd strike a new deal, and relatively soon, with transitional arrangements if necessary.' Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of Vote Leave, said: 'There's a European free trade zone that stretches from Iceland to Turkey - the idea that the UK would not be part of this after we vote leave is unrealistic. 'It is ridiculous to argue that we should not Vote Leave because it is too difficult for diplomats to negotiate. Lord O'Donnell's comments sum up the Civil Service's decades old defeatist attitude which has frustrated any attempts to get reform in the EU. 'We are a great country so we will get a good deal when we Vote Leave, it is in everyone's best interests. The in campaign should stop doing Britain down.' Cabinet minister Chris Grayling said of Lord O'Donnell's claims: 'This is just not true. The example that is always cited is Canada and the fact it has taken seven years to negotiate a deal with the EU. Dione Melville, 15, was found unconscious on Sunday morning at a house in East Calder, West Lothian Detectives investigating the tragic death of a schoolgirl found unconscious at a friend's party have charged a boy of the same age with supplying drugs. Dione Melville, 15, could not be saved when paramedics went to a house in response to an early morning call. Two of the schoolgirls friends, also 15, were taken to hospital but are not thought to have required medical treatment. Dione was pronounced dead shortly after ambulance staff arrived at the property in East Calder, West Lothian, on Sunday. Police are understood to be investigating whether or not she had taken drugs. Police Scotland have arrested a 15-year-old boy in the same area and charged him with supplying illegal drugs. Dione, who was only a few months away from leaving school and wanted to train as a hairdresser, had made numerous references to drug use on social media, posting messages from other people mentioning ecstasy and cocaine. However, the cause of her death will not be certain until a post-mortem examination is performed. Her two friends were admitted to St Johns Hospital in Livingston as a precaution but are said to have suffered no ill effects. The death of the teenager, believed to have been at an address in Langton Avenue, East Calder, is being treated as unexplained and a report has gone to the procurator fiscal. Diones parents, Lesley Jervis Melville and Michael Melville, were too upset to speak last night but the acting head of West Calder High School paid tribute to her. Lisa Grubb said: Dione was a popular girl and an ambitious young lady who had plans to work in hairdressing and in the beauty industry after leaving school in the summer. She was very focused on her future and the thoughts of the school community are with Diones family and friends. On a social networking site, the teenager had spoken about doing work experience alongside her mother in a hairdressing salon last year. She said her family, her parents and brother Aaran were the most important people to her, spoke about the family dog Charlie, and said she was closest to her mother. Yesterday Mrs Melville, 45, posted on Facebook in tribute to her daughter a picture of Dione holding a dog. Only weeks ago, Dione had put up her own picture to say she was wearing gold in memory of Jak Trueman, a 15-year-old fellow pupil who died last February after a fight against cancer. But her Twitter page also shows the alarming drug culture that surrounded the schoolgirl. She posted other peoples messages on her social media page, including an information leaflet stating that ecstasy costs 2 to 5 per tablet, and a joke about cocaine. Dione and two of her friends were rushed to hospital following the incident. However, the 15-year-old girl sadly died a short time later Police are currently describing Dione's death as 'unexplained'. However, a probe has been launched into whether drugs were involved Last year she retweeted a message using the slang eccies for ecstasy tablets. However, on another social media site she said she had never taken the drug. The post-mortem examination will provide a toxicology report on any substances in her body. In a statement, Police Scotland said: Police were called to an address in East Calder at 9.50am on Sunday following a report of concern for a teenager. The Scottish Ambulance Service attended and a 15-year-old girl was pronounced dead a short time later. A schoolboy was arrested for a suspected drugs offence on the same day Dione died, Police Scotland confirmed. The death of the teenager, believed to have been at an address in Langton Avenue, East Calder, is being treated as unexplained and a report has gone to the procurator fiscal A force spokesman said: Police in West Lothian arrested and charged a 15-year-old male in connection with the supply of drugs in the East Calder area on Sunday. Tributes were paid online yesterday by Diones friends. Sevyn Martin wrote: RIP Dione, you were such an amazing friend. Love you millions. Annie Lucy Reid, said: 'Rest in peace babe. I still remember me n you in yours getting ready to go out like it was only yesterday heaven has gained another angel, sleep tight until we meet again.' An American student missing since Sunday in Siberia had gone to scale a 7,900 feet called the Peak of Love. The mountain is the focus of spiritual beliefs in the remote Buddhist region of Buryatia, where Colin Madsen vanished at the weekend. The 25-year-old from Missouri has not been seen since leaving a guesthouse between 2am and 5am on Sunday morning without a coat, despite freezing temperatures. Moscow authorities have now taking 'special control' of the search for the student, who had been studying at the Irkutsk State Linguistic University. Colin Madsen, 25, left a guesthouse in Arshan, in the Buddhist region of Buryatia, in the early hours of Sunday morning, and has not been seen since. He is described as 5'6' tall, of slim build, with blue eyes and brown hair Police are using a helicopter to search for the missing US citizen from Jefferson City, Missouri, who is currently studying at Irkutsk State Linguistic University. He left the guesthouse without a coat, police say Spiritual associations: The Peak of Love is revered by local Buddhists. Madsen's mother has also left Jefferson City, MI, to be in the remote region of Russia, close to the border with Mongolia. The mountain he is believed to have been heading to is a landmark which is close to Arshan, where Madsen had been staying. Madsen, a postgraduate student, had come to the thermal tourist resort with friends, including another American, from the university. The group had agreed to rise at 5am to the Peak of Love, which is 7,913 feet. The mountain in the Eastern Sayan range has spiritual associations for local Buddhists. But he left two hours earlier, not suitably dressed for night time subzero temperatures. 'He has not been seen since,' said a source at the institute. His cellphone remained at the guest house. Madsen is described by the source as leading a 'healthy lifestyle' and did not drink alcohol. 'He liked to walk at night in Irkutsk, often talked about it - all the students knew about this hobby,' the source said. A representative of local Investigative Committee Yuri Yerentuev said: 'We held a large-scale survey on the village, walked down the Kyngarga River, and in the nearby forest, but nothing so far.' Even local shamans - who blame tourists for getting into trouble because they do not respect ancient traditions and honor 'sacred' sites - are helping with the search. The search for the student has been hampered by poor weather conditions. He left his cell phone at the guest house where he was staying. Friend Vlad Rasputin told the Siberian Times: 'With the money that we are able to collect, we would like to order an aerial search for Colin, but today the weather is terrible, very cold. 'It snows and there are strong winds, so the flight was moved to tomorrow. I asked the police whether they were looking for Colin with dogs. 'They said that in the morning when Colin vanished, it began to snow. So dogs cannot pick up the trace.' Last seen: This was the guest house in the remote Siberian area where Madsen was last seen He is believed to have been staying at Arshan (pictured), a tourist resort which also has a prominent Buddhist temple, with Russian friends. He was dressed in sand-coloured trousers, a T-shirt, and wore grey hiking boots The case has been put under the 'special control' of the Moscow department of the Russian Investigative Committee, the nearest equivalent Russia as to the FBI, and the Russian Foreign Ministry. The student's mother, Cale Madsen, is flying to Russia to help the search for her missing son, she said. He was staying at Arshan, a tourist resort which also has a prominent Buddhist temple, with Russian friends. 'Police officers are searching for a 25-year-old man, who went out of a guest house in Arshan village on 27 March, between 2 am and 5 am and has not yet returned,' said a statement from Buryatian police. He is described as being 5'6' tall, of slim build, with blue eyes and brown hair. He was dressed in sand-coloured trousers, a T-shirt, and wore grey hiking boots. 'If you have information on the whereabouts of the missing man please notify us,' said a statement. Temperatures in the region are around 48F during the day, but dip below freezing at night. Arshan, at an altitude of 2,950 feet, is famous for its hot springs and waterfalls. Even if Sen. Bernie Sanders pulls out a win in his birthplace of New York, the state's superdelegates plan to still side with their former senator, Hillary Clinton. The New York Daily News reached out to a number of New York superdelegates there are 44 party insiders on that list overall and couldn't find a one who would switch allegiances to Sanders if the state swung his way. 'Absolutely not,' said Elizabeth Stanley, the chief of staff for Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., when asked by the Daily News if there was 'any potential situation at all' where she could see Lowey trading Clinton for Sanders. 'Hillary Clinton is Congresswoman Lowey's friend, colleague and her constituent, and she is behind her 100 percent,' Stanley told the paper, leading reporter Adam Edelman to lead the story questioning whether the system was 'rigged.' Scroll down for video None of the superdelegates supporting Hillary Clinton (pictured) from New York said they would ever switch over to Bernie Sanders, the New York Daily News discovered Not budging for Bernie: Reps. Nita Lowey (left) and Gregory Meeks (right) of New York said that no matter how well Sanders does in the state, they plan as superdelegates to still support Hillary Clinton In February, the Democratic National Committee's Patrice Taylor wrote an explainer on Medium.com that tried to assure Democrats, especially Sanders' voters, that the system wasn't 'rigged' in favor of one candidate over the other. Taylor noted how superdelegates, party insiders that include all Democratic members of Congress, ex-presidents yes, that means Bill Clinton local officials and loyalists, only make up 15 percent of the entire delegate pool. 'Every delegates vote is equal, and unpledged super delegates represent only a fraction (712) of the 4,763 total delegate votes currently being contested,' Taylor, the director of party affairs and delegate selection, wrote in her piece. As of today, 469 superdelegates, more than half, have publicly sided with Clinton in the race while only 29 are feeling the Bern. The New York Daily News pointed out that with these current tallies, if Sanders who is 264 pledged delegates had all of Clinton's superdelegate support, he would easily be ahead. By the newspaper's account he'd have 1,444 delegates to Clinton's 1,272. 'A lot of these superdelegates may rethink their position will Hillary Clinton,' Sanders optimistically said as he sat down with Jake Tapper on State of the Union this weekend. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders - who was born in New York and is trying to uproot Hillary Clinton's support in the state - has suggested that superdelegates in states he has won should side with his campaign Sanders pointed particularly at any superdelegates supporting Clinton in states that he's won by big margins. 'I think their own constituents are going to say to them, hey, why don't you support the people of our state, vote for Sanders?' the Vermont senator laid out. But in New York, where Sanders plans to hit the ground hard and embarrass Clinton when voters head to the polls on April 19, those superdelegates aren't budging. Beyond Congresswoman Lowey, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said that there's no way. 'I would not under any circumstances switch my allegiance from Secretary Clinton to Senator Sanders,' Meeks told the Daily News. Four other superdelegates, who didn't want to be named, also commented along the same lines and said they'd keep supporting Clinton. Another six wouldn't comment to the newspaper or never called back. Clinton has already picked up the endorsements of both New York's Senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and the state's governor Andrew Cuomo. Besides Lowey and Meeks, there are 16 other Democratic Members of Congress who have endorsed the party frontrunner. Sanders has no political endorsements from House Members in New York state and no other superdelegates from the state saying that they planned to vote for the Vermont senator. Bizarre: The Polish beer makers claim they will make 'Bottled Instinct' using 'lactic acid bacteria' from Czech model Alexandra Brendlova, who appears in a promotional image posted online A Polish company has set up a crowd-funding page to raise money for a new brand of beer which it claims will be made with bacteria taken from a woman's vagina. The Order of Yoni - which takes its name from the Sanskrit word for vagina - is asking for 118,000 (150,000 Euros) to launch 'Bottled Instinct', a drink which contains the 'quintessence of femininity'. A post on crowd-sourcing website Indie Go Go claims the beer will be made from the 'lactic acid bacteria' of Czech model Alexandra Brendlova, who appears in the adverts in negligee. However there are only vague references to the brewing process on the website and it is unclear whether the bacteria - lactobacillus - can be used to make beer. The post reads: 'Using hi-tech of microbiology, we isolate, examine and prepare lactic acid bacteria from vagina of unique woman [sic].' It later states that the final product will be 'clean and healthy'. The crowd-sourcing page also includes a hyper-sexual pitch to potential financiers. It reads: 'Imagine a woman of your dreams, your object of desire. Her charm, her sensuality, her passion Try her taste, feel her smell, hear her voice. 'Imagine her massaging you passionately and whispering into your ear everything you want. Now free your fantasies and imagine that with a magic wand you can close it in one bottle of beer 'The golden drink brewed with her lure, grace and flavored with instincts. Imagine the beer of which every sip is a randez-vous with this hot woman of your dreams she hugs you and kiss you gently, looking straight into your eyes How much would you give for that beer?' The makers claim the 150,000 Euros will allow them to brew six batches of 16,600 beers each, with funds going towards the 'brewing process, ingredients and bottles' decorations'. 'Flavoured with instincts': The brewery claims the beer will bottle the 'sensuality of your dream woman' Vague: The brewery is asking for 150,000 Euro but does not provide a breakdown of how it will be spent The money will also cover the 'model's reward' and a budget for the 'perks' offered to investors. However, there is no detail provided as to the breakdown of the costs. They have raised 95 Euros so far. Producers claim the first 'Bottled Instinct' will be 'only the beginning' for the brewery. They propose a 'blond ale' made with the 'vaginal lactic acid bacteria of a blond-haired model or celebrity', and a 'BDSM ale' made with the vaginal lactic acid bacteria of red-head or brunette'. Last year it emerged that a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin had used her own vaginal yeast to make yoghurt. Cecilia Westbrook tried the 'she-made' yoghurt and said it had a 'sour taste'. Seeking investors: Producers claim the first 'Bottled Instinct' will be 'only the beginning' for the brewery However, the US Federal Drug Administrations Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition said that 'vaginal secretions are not considered "food" and may transmit human disease'. Fermentation expert Michael Tonsmeire, founder of the Mad Fermantationist blog, also pointed out a woman had previously developed a bread recipe that used her own vaginal yeast. A mother-of-three attacked in her home by her ex-boyfriend said she thought she was going to die after police failed to show up despite her calling 911. Bobbie Alm, from Canton, Ohio, said she called officers at around 3am on Sunday after she awoke to find former partner Juan Contero had broken into her home. Alm said Contero throttled her, beat her, and broke a chair over her body in an attack which left her unable to see out of one eye. Bobbie Alm, a mother-of-three (pictured), says she thought she was going to die during a beating by her ex-boyfriend Juan Contero after police failed to respond to a 911 call During the beating, Alm said she managed to get her phone and call 911 and the call connected, but Contero threw the handset across the room. A short time later, Alm told ABC 5 News, the police called back and she answered but was unable to hear the dispatcher because the phone was broken. While Alm was unable to ask for assistance, police admit they knew her address, and protocol states that officers should be sent regardless of whether they believe the call is genuine or not. While Alm was unable to speak to officers because Contero was threatening her, police protocol says officers should have been sent to her house (pictured). Officials are now investigating Such protocols were developed to ensure that people in distress or unable to speak can still receive help, even if they cannot speak on the line. Canton police Chief Bruce Lawyer admitted dispatchers had breached protocol in Alm's case, and said an investigation will be conducted to find out who was at fault. A mother is begging burglars to return a camera they stole from her home because it contains precious final photos of her daughter, who died suddenly in January. Ashley Pfeifer, 33, from Kansas, said her home was broken into last week when thieves helped themselves to an Xbox, 50 inch TV, a video camera and a Canon Rebel T3i camera. While the items are worth thousands of dollars, Pfeifer says the only thing she is interested in getting back is an SD card plugged into the Canon camera with final pictures of daughter Faith saved on it. Ashley Pfeifer, 33, from Kansas (left), is begging burglars to return a Canon camera they stole from her home containing the last images of daughter Faith, five (right), who died suddenly at the start of the year Faith was born in 2010 with spina bifida, a disorder that stops the spinal chord from forming properly, leading to brain and never damage, the Kansas City Star reports. Despite the family being warned that the baby could be stillborn, she survived birth, and eventually learned to crawl, walk, and talk via sign language, all in defiance of medical expectations. However, shortly after Christmas last year, Faith's condition deteriorated and she stopped sleeping through the night. Father Michael, 35, began checking in on the little girl each night, but on January 21 he discovered she had died in her sleep. While the loss came suddenly, the family at least had Faith's precious last moments from Christmas and her birthday stored away on the camera. Ashley's friend even came over after Faith had passed away and took some final shots of the family gathered around her toddler bed, in order to preserve her memory. Ashley (pictured with husband Michael, son Mason, rear, daughter Elizabeth, center, and Faith, second left) said she has no interest in getting her electronics back and only wants the pictures In the months after Faith's death, Ashley said she looked back at the pictures twice, adding: 'Im just so glad that I have these. Im so thankful ... that she took these.' But now those images are missing, and Ashley is desperately trying to track the camera down and get them back. Writing on her Facebook, Ashley said: 'I am just thinking that maybe someone would buy the camera off Craigslist or a pawn shop and maybe see the memory stick in there is ours. 'Keep the camera I just want my pictures back. They are not replaceable.' One aspect of the event did anger Elias. The Stones didn't play his favorite tune, Far Away Eyes He funded the production through his charitable trust But just 24 hours later, she said the band agreed and the gig was a go Elias called their manager in November, thinking he would be shot down Coincided with President Obama's trip, but not on purpose This is the corporate lawyer who spent $7million on getting the Rolling Stones to play in Cuba - and they didn't even play his favorite song. Gregory Elias, a wealthy attorney from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, funded the historic gig through his charitable trust. The British rockers played at Habana's Ciudad Deportiva on Friday in front of an estimated half a million fans, the same week Barack Obama became the first sitting President to visit the communist state in more than 90 years. Elias still cannot believe he managed to set up the event, and recalled how he initially predicted the band's manager, Jayne Smith, to think he was crazy. Scroll down for video Gregory Elias is the corporate lawyer who spent $7million on getting the Rolling Stones to play in Cuba - and they didn't even play his favorite song The wealthy attorney from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, paid for Mick Jagger and the band to fly to the former Communist nation and play through his charitable trust For until recently, it was illegal to listen to rock and roll in Cuba. He first called on November 13 in a desperate first attempt to get the concert off the ground. 'I mean, who in heavens name am I?' he told the Miami Herald, recalling the conversation. 'I didnt expect her to call back. But 24 hours later, she did. And it was a go. 'When the boys thats how Mrs. Smyth calls them when the boys go on tour, what they put together is completely out of this world. 'It is the best and it has to be better than anything else. The production team had to start thinking how to make this possible.' It's assumed that the timing and preparation to Obama's visit were somehow linked. But Elias told the Herald it was all a coincidence triggered when he read the news that the Stones were launching a five-week tour of Latin American in early February. Because of the state of Cuba's economy, most of the items needed to stage a concert needed to be brought in. The British rockers played at Habana's Ciudad Deportiva on Friday in front of an estimated half a million fans The gig was the same week Barack Obama became the first sitting President to visit Cuba in over 90 years The band agreed to do the show for free. Everything else cost $7million. Officials of the Curacao government helped him iron out details with the Cuban goverment. He said some cabinet officials were involved in the negotiations. The negotiations, he claimed, were long but not a problem. However he admitted talking to one man who had no idea who the band were. The reason behind the gesture, Elias told the Herald, is because of the unifying abilitues of music. 'If we consider it from a Western point of view, from the outside looking in, the people of Cuba miss a lot,' he said. 'I thought it would be nice to approach them with music. Music doesnt create envy or animosity, it just creates love and understanding.' One aspect of the event did anger Elias. The Stones didn't play his favorite tune, Far Away Eyes Elias still cannot believe he managed to set up the event, and recalled how he initially thought the band's manager, Jayne Smith, would think his offer was crazy Advertisement Escalating tensions in the Idomeni refugee camp in Greece led to a knife fight breaking out today between two asylum-seekers living in cramped conditions in the over-crowded camp. Horrified bystanders looked on as a volunteer attempted to break up the violence, which broke out during what was reportedly a makeshift party at the camp. Some 12,000 people remain camped out in the harsh conditions near the border village of Idomeni, despite daily calls by the government to move to nearby shelters built by the army. A volunteer (left) attempts to stop a knife fight during a party in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni Shocked parents and children looked on as the volunteer (second from right) intervened in the fight, as tensions erupt at the already overwhelmed refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonia border It comes just the day after violence broke out between police and some 300 migrants and refugees, nearby at the Greek border with Macedonia. Tensions mounted as protests intensified and thousands continued to ignore the government instructions to move to the organised shelters. Youths threw rocks at riot police who withdrew from the area without making any arrests, authorities said yesterday. Protesters have blocked freight rail tracks for the past eight days demanding that the border be reopened after Balkan states closed it, cutting off the migrant route to the European Union. Rumours that the closed border would be forced open caused hundreds of hopeful asylum-seekers to flood back into the already overwhelmed camp on March 27. The renewed influx came as Greek authorities were trying to evacuate an estimated 11,500 people who were stranded at the squalid camp after the closure of the border. Around 250 people of all ages gathered by the railway tracks and the border fence, singing and shouting slogans in a largely peaceful demonstration watched by around 50 Greek policemen in riot gear. Some 12,000 people remain camped out in the harsh conditions near the border village of Idomeni, despite daily calls by the government to move to nearby shelters built by the army. Pictured, a toddler sits in the middle of train tracks in the makeshift refugee camp of Idomeni, at the northern Greek border point. Rumours that the closed border would be forced open caused hundreds of hopeful asylum-seekers to flood back into the already overwhelmed camp on March 27. Pictured, children living in the camp Macedonia insists the border will remain closed to all migrants until at least the end of the year. Pictured, a boy living in the Idomeni camp plays on the train tracks that run through the middle of the camp 'No violence, we just want to cross,' read one banner, while another said: 'Freedom of movement is everybody's right.' The wave of new arrivals appeared to be triggered by a rumour that international journalists and Red Cross officials would help them force their way across the fence into Macedonia, a young Syrian refugee told the Athens News Agency. 'We heard today that the border will open and we came here to cross,' he said. 'They told us the Red Cross and 500 journalists from all over the world will be with us,' he said, without specifying the source. Another young Syrian refugee said his sister, who is living in Germany, read the same claim on the Internet and alerted him. 'People have been here for a long time. I think it's very dangerous to cross, especially for the children but what should we do?' said 24-year-old Qasim Mosawy from Afghanistan. But Macedonia insists the border will remain closed to all migrants until at least the end of the year. It comes as arrivals of refugees and migrants to Greece from Turkey rose sharply today. Pictured, children play at the makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the Greek village of Idomeni on March 30 A man holds a baby in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni. The flow of migrants to the Greek islands, meanwhile, seems to be on the rise again as weather warms Greek authorities recorded 766 new arrivals in the last 24 hours, up from 192 the previous day. Most arrived on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos. Pictured, a little girl crosses the train tracks at the train station near the makeshift camp Migrants and refugees queue for food at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, March 30 Children look out from a train wagon at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, March 30 A young girl carries a young boy at the Idomeni camp, while in the background families queue for food supplies at the overcrowded camp It comes as arrivals of refugees and migrants to Greece from Turkey rose sharply today just days after the European Union and Turkey struck a deal intended to cut off the flow of new arrivals. Greek authorities recorded 766 new arrivals in the last 24 hours, up from 192 the previous day. Most arrived on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos. A senior French politician today sparked outrage by comparing Muslim women who wear fashions designed for their own religion to 'negroes who supported slavery'. Laurence Rossignol, the families secretary in the Socialist government, was reacting to new lines by designers who increasingly cater for followers of Islam. They include millions of women in countries such as Britain and France who are increasingly drawn to the clothes in a market said to be worth more than 200billion a year. French families minister Laurence Rossignol (pictured) has sparked outrage on social media after comparing women who wear the veil to 'negroes who supported slavery' in response to fashion lines catering for Muslims Dolce & Gabbana's range includes 14 abayas, or ankle-length dresses matched with embroidered headscarves and hijabs. Swedish giant H&M uses a veiled Muslim women in its advertising, while Japanese brand Uniqlo said it would sell hijabs in its London stores, along with Marks & Spencer which markets a full-body 'burqini' swimming costume online. Ms Rossignol caused widespread anger on social media by saying Muslim fashion wearers were just like 'negroes who supported slavery'. Later, she insisted she had not intended to cause offence but was simply referencing the French philosopher Montesquieu's work 'On the Enslavement of Negroes'. Ms Rosssignol, who is also responsible for women's rights, admitted later to AFP that she had made 'an error of language' with her controversial comments. However, she added: 'But other than that... I don't take back a word.' Her supporters included fashion mogul Pierre Berge who agreed that designers were taking part in the 'enslavement of women'. The former partner of the late fashion legend Yves Saint Laurent, said: 'I'm shocked. Creators should have nothing to do with Islamic fashion. 'Designers are there to make women more beautiful, to give them their freedom, not to collaborate with this dictatorship which imposes this abominable thing by which we hide women and make them live a hidden life.' Ms Rossignol caused widespread anger on social media by saying Muslim fashion wearers were just like 'negroes who supported slavery'. Pictured: A young woman wearing a burka in Le Bourget, close to Paris Mr Berge said firms should 'renounce the money and have some principles', adding: 'In life you have to choose the side of freedom'. He insisted: 'I am definitely not an Islamophobe. Women have a right to wear headscarves, but I do not see why we are going towards this religion, these practises and mores that are absolutely incompatible with our western freedoms.' While France - home of Europe's biggest Muslim population - bans face-covering veils, some of its big fashion houses were among the first to tentatively embrace Muslim-specific style. DKNY, owned by French giant LVMH, pioneered the 'modest clothing' trend with a 'capsule collection' aimed at the Middle East for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan two years ago. But designer de Castelbajac, who has dressed singer Lady Gaga, said he had grave misgivings about the trend. 'Fashion is secular and universal, and should bring hope.' Veteran feminist Agnes b had earlier vowed to 'never do it'. 'There is something obscene about offering clothes to rich women from countries where many are fleeing bombs trying to keep their veils on their heads,' she told the Parisien daily. 'We should not normalise clothing which is significant in the way women are seen.' In January, Dolce & Gabbana became the first major western brand to directly aim at capturing a corner of the Islamic fashion market - estimated to be worth 230 billion euros - with its Abaya range. Last summer Zara, Tommy Hilfiger, Oscar de la Renta and Mango all launched varyingly 'modest' collections to coincide with Ramadan. M&S has begun selling its burkini, pictured, in the UK, and said it was popular with customers internationally A woman surfs a website selling 'burqinis', a swimsuit that covers most of the body (file picture, posed) But Berge, 85, who ran the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house for four decades, decried their 'opportunism'. 'These creators who are taking part in the enslavement of women should ask themselves some questions,' he added. 'It is not because women are forced by their husbands to dress in that way that we too have to encourage it,' he insisted. 'In one way they (the designers) are complicit, and all this to make money. Principles should come before money. 'Rather than covering women up, we must teach (Muslim) women to revolt, to take their clothes off, to learn to live like most of the women in the rest of the world.' , faces two counts of sexual battery and three counts of fondling Richard Henley (pictured), 65, of Lake Cormorant, Mississippi, has been charged with sexual battery and fondling A father whose daughter says she was sexually abused by her stepfather has spoken out following the man's arrest. Richard Henley, 65, of Lake Cormorant, Mississippi, faces two counts of sexual battery and three counts of fondling, WREG reported. He is married to the girl's mother, Sherri Henley, who plans to file for divorce this week. The mother identified herself along with the girl's father, Timothy Dyson. Together, they have urged fellow parents to talk to their children if they had any suspicion of abuse. Both filmed Henley as he arrived to DeSoto County Jail on Tuesday and can be heard on the footage yelling expletives at him. 'I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill him and then say: "God, forgive me,"' Dyson told WREG. 'We never thought we would be seating here and I made up my mind. We have nothing to be ashamed of.' The girl's mother asked anyone whose children might have been in contact with Henley to get in touch. 'If you know me, call me. If your child came to visit, please ask them,' she said on WREG. Dyson added: 'If you have any suspicion or inklings don't be afraid to come forward.' Timothy Dyson (left) and his ex-wife Sherri Henley (right) have identified themselves to warn other parents and tell them to talk to their children if they suspect they have been abused Both parents filmed Henley (pictured) as he arrived to DeSoto County Jail. They can be heard yelling expletives at him on the footage Police in Philadelphia have tracked down a gang of young boys - aged about six or seven - who were filmed verbally and physically assaulting passengers on a subway train, in a shocking video that has gone viral this week. The disturbing clip, which was filmed on March 24, shows a group of out-of-control children yelling and screaming on the train. The delinquents curse, spit and even hit one passenger, Patrick Coyle, the man who filmed the shocking incident after he was attacked. 'When you watch that video as a parent, as a human being you are alarmed for the well-being of those children,' Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Police Chief Thomas Nestel told CBS Philly. Shocking: The four boys were standing in the aisle of a crowded train traveling through North Philadelphia last Thursday evening when the disturbing incident began. Part of it was caught on video Spitting and cursing: The video depicts vulgar language from several very young aggressors while riding on the subway. One of the boys here is seen spitting at the man filming (front left) The delinquents curse, spit and even hit one passenger, Patrick Coyle, the man who filmed the shocking incident after he was attacked. The group of four were with a woman (right) who has been identified as the aunt of two of the boys. She failed to stop the boys and get them under control during the incident Police say the group were with a woman who is the aunt to two of the boys. At one point in the video, a female passenger can be heard asking the woman: 'Are you ever going to say this is not ok?' The woman got the group off the train at York and Dauphin, after getting on at 2nd and Market. In the video, who has been watched over 800,000 times on Facebook, the woman can be heard saying about the boys' foul language: 'You're not allowed to speak that way. Go!' Then, as the group get off the train, they continue to yell back to Coyle, with two of the boys spitting at him. One of them says to him: 'Get that d--- out of you a--.' Coyle wrote in posting the video: 'I was on the train I'm the one recording it I'm the one that got punched in the balls I started recording it after they smacked some lady and cursed her out.' The boys repeatedly use the N-word and vulgar curse words like 'crazy a-- b----'. Emergency: At one point in the clip, one of the boys can be seen pressing the emergency intercom on the train and repeatedly saying the N-word into the speaker Under investigation: At least one of the boys got physical with Coyle and punched him on-camera As they finally get off the train, spitting at the window and punching the glass, another female passenger can be heard saying on the video: 'I hope they get arrested.' However, Chief Nestel said that is not why they are trying to find the boys. 'This isn't a case where it's 6.00 in the morning and when we identify them, we're going to be breaking down their door and dragging them out in little handcuffs,' Nestel said. 'The goal is to get them help.' Police found the boys and spoke to their parents this week. The mother of two of the boys, Aurelis Rivera, who is not the woman in the video, said she was shocked and ashamed of her kids' actions. 'As a parent I want to apologize to everybody and especially to the man,' she told NBC 10. 'As a parent I want to apologize to everybody and especially the man': Aurelis Rivera is the mother of two of the boys in the video and apologized for their behavior during a TV interview Rivera added: 'When I seen (the video) it was shocking. I was ashamed a little bit.' The boys' stepfather, David Perez, said that Coyle had instigated the behavior in his sons. 'I dont want (people) to look at my kids like animals, because that's not my kids. My kids are not like that,' Rivera added. However neighbors say the children have acted like this for a long time and that she was not surprised upon seeing the video. 'This is not something that has been going on for two or three months, this has been going on for years,' the neighbor told NBC. For more of the latest New York news visit www.dailymail.co.uk/nyc His lawyers slammed women's plans to make a movie about the scam Younan is also counter-suing them, claiming they damaged his reputation But the venue still wants the money back, and is A strip club still wants $130,000 from cardiologist, Dr Zyad Younan, 42, even though a ring of strippers working at scores in New York have admitted to drugging him and stealing his credit card to pay for lap dances and alcohol A strip club still wants $130,000 from a cardiologist, even though a ring of strippers have admitted to drugging him and stealing his credit card to pay for lap dances and alcohol. Dr Zyad Younan, 42, accused Karina Pascucci, Samantha Barbash, Marsi Rosen, and Roselyn Keo, of slipping a substance into his drink before racking up the huge debts while he was unconscious at Scores in New York in July 2014. The four dancers pleaded guilty to drugging and overcharging the doctor - but the venue still wants him to pay his bill. He told American Express he had been duped of the money after the night at the club - and they pulled the funds. Michael Weinstein, Younan's attorney, told a Manhattan court on Wednesday that he wants to know if the club or the performers got the money at the end of the night. He also slammed the women's plans to make a movie about their experiences 'Its shocking that Scores would continue to pursue the case in light of the guilty pleas by their employees,' he said, according to the New York Post. 'Scores has decided to align themselves with crooks and felons.' Alison Blaine, Scores' lawyer, declined to comment. Now the four strippers pleaded guilty, prosecutors have allowed a lawsuit against the club to go ahead. They have been asked to clarify the relationship between the club and it's dancers - especially how they get paid. Attorneys are trying to figure out who got the biggest share of the unauthorized charges at the end of the night. Marsi Rosen (left) and Samantha Barbash (right) were part of the ring of strippers who slipped a substance into the prominent doctors drink in 2014 then charged a huge bill to his card Younan has counter-sued Scores and the dancers for damaging his personal and professional reputation and for reimbursement of his legal bills. Two members of the crime ring, Rosen and Pascucci, 27, have been sentenced to weekends at Rikers Island in New York. Karina Pascucci also pleaded guilty in the scam Two more await sentencing Keo and alleged ringleader Barbash. Younan, who is single, explained that he first became involved with the women when he went out to dinner with at a Manhattan restaurant and was approached by Pascucci, who claimed she was a nursing student. They swapped numbers and she later asked him out to dinner. They enjoyed several dinners together, as well as a concert, and on some occasions, she brought Rosen and Barbash with her, falsely claiming they were her relatives. \ During those evenings out, the women slipped a drug into his drink that 'caused him to enter a semi-conscious state, lose the ability to act voluntarily and make knowing decisions, as well as lose his memory,' the suit claims. He said he was shocked when he got an American Express bill for $135,303.14 in charges to a strip club - which he didn't even remember going to. He reported the charges as fraudulent and American Express reversed the charges - which left Scores and the three women irritated, he said. 'Karina desperately attempted to persuade Younan to pay the amounts allegedly due to Scores by claiming the charges were not fraudulent and that Scores had videotape of Younan at the club,' the papers claim. Scores (club pictured) have continued their lawsuit against Younan. They have not faced criminal charges Kristina L Howarth, of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, was arrested March 28 A 38-year-old Michigan woman was arrested after she attempted to arrange sex over the internet with who she believed was a father and his underage daughter. Kristina L Howarth, of Dearborn Heights, is accused of starting a conversation with the man on March 21 on a popular online chat program and eventually calling the man to arrange a meeting. The man Howarth had been speaking with, however, turned out to be an undercover Macomb County Sheriff's detective. After several chats and phone calls, Howarth allegedly expressed a willingness to have sex with the man and his daughter, officials said, according to the Detroit Free Press. When the pair eventually met, Howarth was arrested. 'During the course of several days, and through the use of the messaging application as well as through direct phone calls, the woman expressed a willingness to have sex with who she thought was a father and (underage) daughter,' sheriff's officials said in a statement on Tuesday, according to MLive. 'On March 28th ... Kristina Lynn Howarth showed up at a prearranged meeting where she was arrested.' Howarth was charged with two counts of child sexually abusive activity and using a computer to commit a crime. She could face up to 20 years in prison for each crime. Howarth was arraigned and released on a $75,000 cash or surety bond and is due to appear in court again on April 11. He was a hero whose exploits during the Second World War were so momentous they were made into a feature film. But 'Great Escape' Nazi concentration camp survivor Lieutenant Bertram 'Jimmy' James faced a battle at home as well as abroad when he tried to claim compensation from the Government for all the horrors he endured in captivity. Likewise, the family of secret agent Violette Szabo, who was captured by the SS in France and later murdered at a camp, fought for years to get reparations for her orphaned daughter. The revelations emerged after the National Archives, based in Kew, London, released nearly 1,000 petitions today on the 50th anniversary of the end of an agreement between Britain and Germany to compensate British victims of the Nazis. Lieutenant Bertram 'Jimmy' James, left, survived at least 13 breakouts and the threat of execution during WWII, while Violette Szabo, right, was a secret agent who was captured in France in 1945 The Foreign Office would not compensate the RAF pilot because they said his suffering did not meet the definition of Nazi persecution in the Bonn Settlement of 1954 Lt James survived at least 13 breakouts and the threat of execution while Mrs Szabo worked for the British Special Operations Executive. She was captured by the SS in France and died at Ravensbruck concentration camp in 1945. About 4,000 applied, many survivors of camps in occupied Guernsey. Around 1,000 applications were granted. The compensation pot was worth 1million about 16.8million now. Lt James's ordeal began on June 5, 1940, when his aircraft was shot down over the Dutch coast and he was sent to a prisoner of war camp in Germany. He embarked on a number of unsuccessful escape attempts. In spring 1943, he was sent to Stalag Luft III, near Sagan, Poland, and joined work on the three famous tunnels, Tom, Dick and Harry. The following year, Harry was chosen for the 75-man dash for freedom. Almost all were recaptured and 50 were infamously shot on Hitler's orders. When the Government tried to deny Bertram 'Jimmy' James (pictured on his wedding day with wife, Madge) and his fellow survivors compensation from the Germans, he was not going to give up the fight Lt James, left, and right during the war, was awarded the Military Cross for his exploits and his escape stories inspired the 1963 Hollywood epic The Great Escape The Government relented to the Squadron Leader's claim after a parliamentary inquiry and paid him 1,192 (18,647 today) in 1968. The astonishing feat was made famous by the 1963 Hollywood epic The Great Escape, although some survivors were less than impressed with the film's loose treatment of some of the facts. The survivors were sent to the Sachsenhausen death camp, from where Lt James escaped and was recaptured. He was moved to Dachau shortly before its liberation by the Americans in 1945. Awarded a Military Cross, Lt James said his exploits were 'our contribution to the war effort'. He published Moonless Night, an account of his experiences, in 1983 and died in 2008, aged 92. In his 1964 compensation claim, he wrote: 'During most of this time [in captivity] I was under threat of execution.' But the Foreign Office would not compensate him because his suffering did not meet the definition of Nazi persecution in the Bonn Settlement of 1954. It said he was not held in a 'concentration camp proper'. But describing it as an 'extermination' camp, he recalled 'inmates being beaten and worked to death ... at the rate of 50 a day'. The Government relented only after a parliamentary inquiry and paid him 1,192 (18,647 today) in 1968. Also released by the National Archives is the account of an Austrian who sheltered two British soldiers, saving them from her German army officer husband by turning his gun on him and tying him up. He denounced her to the Gestapo. Violette Szabo, left with husband Etienne, was posthumously awarded the George Cross, which was presented to her then-four-year-old daughter Tania, right, by King George VI Mrs Szabo's family had to wait more than 20 years after her death to receive compensation when it was eventually granted in 1966, after her daughter Tania's application was held up as the Foreign Office checked Born in France, Szabo grew up in Stockwell, South London, where her residence is today commemorated by a blue plaque. She married a French Foreign Legionnaire, Etienne Szabo, who was killed at El Alamein in North Africa before their daughter was born. His death encouraged Szabo to join the SOE, which carried out espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe during the war. Mrs Szabo, pictured with her daughter, was inspired to join the SOE after her husband died fighting for the French Foreign Legion in El Alamein, North Africa The secret agent's exploits were made into a feature film, Carve Her Name With Pride, pictured, where she was played by actress Virginia McKenna, right Two days after the D-Day landings, Szabo was captured by the SS after running into a road block near Limoges in France. She endured months of torture and was shot dead at Ravensbruck concentration camp in early 1945 at the age of just 23. In December 1946, she was posthumously awarded the George Cross, second only to the Victoria Cross in the honours system. She is just one of four women to have been awarded it. Her daughter, then aged four, collected it at a private investiture with King George VI at Buckingham Palace. Szabo's wartime activities in German-occupied France were dramatised in the film Carve Her Name with Pride, starring Virginia McKenna. Tania Szabo was described as someone who had 'lost both parents in the war' and awarded 1,293 (21,727 today) compensation. One survivor whose fight for compensation failed was Leon Greenman, a survivor of Auschwitz whose wife and child were murdered at Birkenau. Leon Greenman, pictured, survived the horrors of Auschwitz but was refused compensation because of his duel UK-Dutch citizenship A citizen of the UK and the Netherlands, he was told by the Foreign Office to approach the Dutch Government for compensation, despite months of disputes. He was born in Whitechapel but had Dutch family and settled in Rotterdam after marrying his wife Esther in the 1930s. Mr Greenman held a British passport and thought his family would be safe, but it was destroyed by a friend he had given it to for safe keeping, leaving him unable to prove his British citizenship. In 1943 his family were taken to Birkenau, where his wife and son were killed, but Mr Greenman was moved on to Auschwitz where he was experimented on before being sent on a death march in 1945, which he survived. He was eventually rescued when the Americans liberated the camp, and went on to work with charities and museums to tell his story before his death in 2008. The only British survivor of the Belsen concentration camp - who battled 'rampant' cannibalism Harold Osmond le Druillenec, who gave evidence at the Belsen Trials, was arrested in Jersey in 1944 for harbouring Russian prisoners and not cooperating with the Nazis. In his application for compensation, he describes how he survived three concentration camps 'by a bit of luck'. 'Rarely do I admit, even to myself, any physical weakness, ailments or discomforts and only see a doctor when it is imperative to do so,' he wrote in his application for disability compensation. 'The filling-in of this form has been somewhat of a trial and I apologise for any incompleteness therein.' Harold Osmond le Druillenec, who gave evidence at the Belsen Trials, was arrested in Jersey in 1944 for harbouring Russian prisoners and not cooperating with the Nazis. Pictured, emaciated prisoners of war released from Stalag 11B, near Fallingbostel Belsen Mr Le Druillenec's first-hand account laid bare the horrors endured by prisoners under the Nazi regime. He recalled his time at the Hamburg Banterweg camp, describing it as a 'tough camp with torture and punishment', in a tale of harrowing brutality as he fought to get compensation for his suffering. 'Means of putting inmates to death included beating, drowning, crucifixion, hanging in various stances,' he added. Jungle law reigned among the prisoners. At night you killed or were killed; by day cannibalism was rampant. Harold Osmond le Druillenec He described Belsen as 'not as malicious as Banterweg but infinitely more uncomfortable no food, no water, sleep was impossible'. 'All my time here was spent in heaving dead bodies into the mass graves kindly dug for us by 'outside workers' for we no longer had the strength for that type of work,' he added. 'Jungle law reigned among the prisoners. At night you killed or were killed; by day cannibalism was rampant. 'The bulk of Auschwitz had been transferred to Belsen when I arrived and it was here that I heard the expression 'there is only one way out of here - through the chimney [crematorium]!' The camp was liberated just hours before he was due to die. He was freed after 10 months' imprisonment, during which he lost more than half his body weight, and spent almost a year recovering from the dysentery, scabies, malnutrition and septicaemia he suffered. Scenes after the liberation of Belsen in April 1945. Picture shows SS men at the camp being made to remove the dead bodies of their victims to lorries for burial He interrupted his convalescence to give evidence against camp staff at the Belsen Trial in Luneburg in 1945 and went on to help the War Crimes Investigations teams as they examined atrocities at other concentration camps. In his application for compensation he described how his experiences had left him 'generally weak', with his heart and lungs affected and how he had lost most of his memories of pre-war life. He wrote of his life back in Jersey: 'All in all I am in good shape but must needs live a quiet life'. A car's dashcam has captured the horrifying moment its riders are burried alive after a lorry overturns tipping 50 tonnes of rock over their car. A newly engaged couple were crushed by the lorry's heavy load after the heavy vehicle crashed into their car on March 27 in south-east China's Xiamen city, the People's Daily Online reports. The couple, both aged 24, were allegedly engaged and planning their wedding which was set for later this year. Tragic: The pair were buried alive after a lorry crashed into the vehicle tipping gravel over the sedan car Horrific incident: The pair were recently engaged and were planning a wedding for the end of the year According to the report, the driver of the car, surnamed Wu, was driving home with his fiancee, surnamed Pu, after visiting relatives when the incident occurred in the Xiang'an District of Xiamen. The gravel truck was loaded with around 50 tonnes of rock and stone when it crashed into the couple. Both vehicles failed to slow down when approaching the crossroads resulting in the accident. In the dashcam footage, the driver's fiancee can be heard telling him to be careful. As the car hits the truck, the woman can be heard screaming. After the crash, passersby rushed to help free the pair however it was too late. Emergency services later used specialist equipment to remove their bodies and the car from the site. The families of the pair have said that they will be buried together. Xiamen's Public Security Bureau say they are still investigating the incident. Sad traffic accident: Rescuers recover the sedan car belonging to the newly engaged couple both aged 24 This is the horrible moment a pregnant woman dies of suffocation in Xi'an, north China, despite rescue attempts. The woman, who has not been identified, fainted over a set of railings on a busy commercial area of the city and got her head trapped between the barriers in the process on Monday, according to Huanqiu, an affiliate of People's Daily Online. She was said to be seven months pregnant with twins, neither of which could be saved. Tragedy: A woman died after getting her head trapped between the metal bars of a railing in Xi'an, China Failed: Locals tried to rescue her by prying apart the metal bars but had little success despite their efforts According to a local shop keeper, the incident took place around 4pm local time on March 28. The woman, thought to be in her 30s, was said to be feeling faint and used the railings for support as she was on her own. Unfortunately she fainted, which led to her head getting caught. Passersby rushed to her rescue but the metal bars were too stiff for them to pry apart. A short video from the scene showed two men trying to pull the barriers apart from either side of the woman. Their efforts yielded no results however. By the time the ambulance arrived, the woman already had no signs of life and it was too late to save the twin in her womb. Sorrow: The woman was said to have been seven months pregnant with twins, who could not be saved either The woman's husband, named Ai Zhongfeng, told Hong Kong's Mingjingyoubaow that he believed the design of the railings was one of the causes of his wife's death. He has already informed the local government and hopes that some positive changes could be made as a result. The incident has already been ruled an accident but it's not clear whether there will be further investigation into the cause. Shockingly, it's not the first time that such a tragedy has happened in China in recently years. Six such incidents have been reported in the last six years. Most recently, a man in his 60s died in Beijing in August 2015 after getting his head caught. The man was said to have been waiting for the bus when he fainting, leading to the tragedy. Advertisement A Chinese beauty company has shelled out over 15.7million to take around 6,000 of its employees to Incheon, South Korea, for its annual holiday. The employees of Aurance Group took more than 150 flights from 24 different cities in China to reach their destination, according to Huanqiu, an affiliate of People's Daily Online. It is the biggest single tour group to arrive in South Korea. So far, their activities have included a huge beer and fried chicken party, visits to filming locations and a gala event. Scroll down for video Party! Aurance Group took 6,000 of its employees to Incheon in South Korea and their first stop was a fried chicken and beer party Holiday: The trip was for an annual holiday. Thousands of staff members took more than 150 flights from 24 different cities in China Inspired: Fried chicken and beer party was said to have been inspired by a popular South Korean TV program. The group also visited filming locations for the soap A receptionist of the Guangzhou-based company told MailOnline that the trip was part of the company's annual holiday and they are scheduled to return by the beginning of next week. Due to the number of people in the tour group, the employees had to be divided into groups. The first batch of some 200 people arrived on March 26. The second batch was 2,700 people, who landed on March 27, while the final group of 3,000 people arrived on March 28. They are spread out between 1,500 rooms of 26 different hotels in three different cities in the Incheon area. One of the first stops after arrival was Wolmi Island where 4,500 of the visitors enjoyed a beer and fried chicken party, which was inspired by a popular South Korean drama called 'My Love from the Star', according to Yonhap News. The crowd gathered around 705 tables of six to enjoy the meal. Incheon based Ho Chicken, which spent an estimated 120 million Korean Won (72,748) to sponsor the event, provided 3,000 chicken dishes, which came from 50 different franchises in the area, as well as 4,500 bottles of beer. Organised: Incheon based Ho Chicken, which spent an estimated 120 million Korean Won (72,748) to sponsor the event, provided 3,000 chicken dishes, which came from 50 different franchises in the area, as well as 4,500 bottles of beer Support: Incheon region provided the group with 140 tour buses and 280 guides to help them navigate the region as the group are split between three different cities Working hard: Although there are plenty of fun activities, the employees will also be part of a series of promotional events for the company Continuing their South Korean TV series inspired trip, the group went to visit some of the filming locations for the show. The local government provided 140 tour buses as well as 280 tour guides for their journey. They also have plans to visit the nearby capital of Seoul. It's not all for fun however as the company plans to host promotional activities for their beauty products and health supplements at Songdo International Convention Center. Part of this was a gala event on Tuesday evening, hosted by the company's CEO Guo Chenglin. Despite the local support offered, Chinese media has estimated that the total cost of the holiday for Aurance will be 26 billion Won (15.7million). Incheon will also receive an estimated 12 billion Won (7.2million) in tourism income. The group will remain in Incheon until April 1. Expensive: Despite the local support offered, Chinese media has estimated that the total cost of the holiday for Aurance will be 26 billion Won (15.7million) Huge numbers: It is believed to be the largest number of people to visit South Korea by plane in a single group though not the largest Chinese tour group This is not the first time that such a large tour group has departed China for a holiday abroad. Last year, MailOnline reported that Chinese billionaire Li Jinyuan took 6,400 members of staff to Paris and the Cote d'Azur. The trip was used to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his enterprise, Tiens Group Company. All the employees wore the company uniform and formed the longest human chain during their journey. It's not known how much Li splashed out on the four-day break in France, where they stayed in four and five-star hotels. However, the country is estimated to have received around 33million Euros (25.9million) in tourism income. To France: Chinese billionaire Li Jinyuan (left, wearing jacket) took 6,400 members of staff (right) to France where they formed the world's largest human chain Special occasion: The trip was used to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his enterprise, Tiens Group Company. The employees all wore the company uniform It may not be good news for anyone who finds insects creepy. Scientists have proved they can control how beetles fly and walk by turning them into cyborgs. Researchers fitted giant flower beetles, which measure two inches long and weigh around 0.3 ounces, with radio transmitter backpacks and wired them to their limbs. This allowed them to electrically stimulate muscles in the insects' legs so they could control their walking speed, gait and direction. Scroll down for video Scientists have shown they can control the movement of giant flower beetles by inserting tiny electrodes into their muscles. Their most recent study It builds on earlier research published last year in which the same team showed they could control the beetles while in flight by stimulating their wing muscles. This allowed them to get the beetles to take off, hover, turn left or right and then land again on demand. The technology could eventually lead to the insects being used to crawl through rubble to help search for survivors following disasters or to allow security services to conduct covert surveillance of criminals or terrorists. HOW TO BUILD A CYBORG BEETLE To turn the beetles into cyborgs, the researchers implanted eight electrodes into eight different muscles of the living insects' legs through their touch cuticle exoskeleton. Tiny silver wires were inserted through holes made using a pin before being soldered into place and then attached to a tiny circuit glued to the back of the beetles. This generated gentle electrical currents on demand and allowed the researchers to issue the commands using a wireless remote control. The researchers have also shown they can do the same with the muscles that control flight. Advertisement Writing in the journal Royal Society Interface, Professor Hirotaka Sato, a mechanical engineer at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore who led the research, and his team said: 'We have constructed an insect-computer hybrid legged robot using a living beetle. 'By varying the duration of the stimulation sequences, we successfully controlled the step frequency and hence the beetle's walking speed. 'To the best of our knowledge, this paper presents the first demonstration of living insect locomotion control with a user-adjustable walking gait, step length and walking speed.' Many robotics researchers have turned to insects for their inspiration when designing machines that can navigate rough terrain and squeeze into tight spots. But they have yet to be able to compete with the ability of living insects. This led Professor Sato and his colleagues to turn to attempts to control the real creatures using wireless backpacks that deliver tiny pulses of electrical current into the insect's muscles. The research builds on a previous study where the researchers showed they could control the flight of giant flower beetles in mid-air by stimulating the muscles that power their wings (pictured) Several other research groups have also taken a similar approach, showing they can control the movement of cockroaches along with several other species of large beetle. ...AND YOU TOO COULD CREATE A CYBORG INSECT The idea of turning cockroaches into cyborg slaves is not new, Gizmodo reported. Kits are available for under $100 (63) that enable people to control their own insect by stimulating its antennae with electrical signals. This lets people 'drive' an insect for a few minutes. While the creators of the 'Roboroach kit' claim the cockroach forgets the experience after 20 minutes, some people think it is cruel. Advertisement The US Military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has also been funding extensive research into the creation of cyborg insects. Professor Sato's work uses the giant flower beetle, Mecynorrhina torquata, which are native to tropical areas of Africa. To turn them into cyborgs, the researchers implanted eight electrodes into eight different muscles of the living insects' front legs through their touch cuticle exoskeleton. Tiny silver wires were inserted through holes made using a pin before being soldered into place and then attached to a tiny circuit glued to the back of the beetles. This generated gentle electrical currents on demand and allowed the researchers to issue the commands using a wireless remote control. The researchers implanted eight electrodes into eight muscles of the beetles' front legs (pictured). This allowed them to control the gait, the speed and stride length of the insects when walking EWWW... REMOTE CONTROLLED COCKROACHES ARE COMING Cockroaches are perhaps not the first creatures you would want scuttling around the place spying on you, but their amazing ability to survive in even the most unlikeliest of places has made them appealing cyborgs. Researchers have attempted to manipulate the movements of the insects by stimulating their antennae, tricking them into thinking they were meeting obstacles and needed to avoid them. More recent research has also used little backpacks, weighing 0.007lbs (3g), for the bugs, implanting electrodes into their nervous systems. With this, scientists were able to control the bug correctly around 60 per cent of the time. In November 2014, researchers at North Carolina State University fitted cockroaches with electrical 'backpacks' complete with tiny microphones to detect the faintest of sounds. The idea is that cyborg cockroaches, or 'biobots', could enter crumpled buildings hit by earthquakes, for example, and help emergency workers find survivors. In this case the 'backpacks' control the robo-roach's movements because they are wired to the insect's cerci - sensory organs that cockroaches usually use to feel if their abdomens brush against something. By electrically stimulating the cerci, cockroaches can be prompted to move in a certain direction. In fact, they have been programmed to seek out sound. One type of 'backpack' is equipped with an array of three directional microphones to detect the direction of the sound and steer the biobot in the right direction towards it. Rise of the robo-roach: Scientists have developed technology that allows cyborg cockroaches, or biobots (pictured) to pick up sounds with small microphones and seek out the source of the sound. They could one day be used in emergency situations to detect survivors Advertisement They demonstrated they were able to change the walking gait of the beetles, control the length of their strides and also their walking speed. Tests showed they could encourage the insect to gallop, walk in double time and use a tripod walking gait. Professor Sato said: 'Beetles are ideal study subjects because they can carry relatively heavy payloads. 'We could easily add a small microphone and thermal sensors for applications in search-and-rescue missions. 'With this technology, we could safely explore areas not accessible before, such as the small nooks and crevices in a collapsed building.' The researchers are now hoping to combine the control systems to produce cyborg beetles that can be remotely controlled on the ground and in the air. The engineers behind the research hope to combine their ability to control the insects' flight (still from video demonstration pictured) and walking to allow them to manoeuvre the beetles in any situation They hope it may then be possible to fit sensors like cameras onto the backs of the creatures. But they admit they still face challenges, such as ensuring the batteries carried by the creatures can last. Currently the beetles are powered using a 3.9 volt micro lithium batter, which is enough to last an entire day. Professor Sato said: 'In the future, the overall rig may not even use batteries. It could be powered from sustainable sources such as energy scavenged from ambient radio waves.' A recent project funded by Case Western Reserve University in the US showed it may be possible to use the biology of the insects own body chemistry to produce energy. They showed putting enzymes into cockroaches could allow them to break down complex molecules they use to store energy after eating to generate electrons to produce a current. This means the cyborgs can continue to run for several days rather than just a couple of hours. Academics are calling for the completion of A hoard of priceless ancient Greek and Roman scrolls dating back thousands of years could be lost forever unless the library housing them is fully excavated, experts warn. The texts, which is believed to be underneath the Roman town of Herculaneum in Italy, were buried almost 2,000 years ago after being covered in ash and rock from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. But a group of academics has pleaded for the Italian authorities to complete the excavation of the site at Villa of the Papyri, warning the remaining texts could be lost to another eruption or ruined by water damage at any time. Academics have pleaded for the Italian authorities to complete the excavation of the site at Herculaneum (pictured), warning that hundreds of priceless classical texts buried their could be lost forever The villa is the site of the Herculaenum papyri, a collection of charred remains of texts entombed in rock. They were uncovered by workmen between 1752 and 1754 while digging in the remains of an ancient villa. They contain a number of Greek philosophical texts and feature considerable amounts of text by the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus of Gadara. It is thought they survived due to the intense but brief heat produced by the pyroclastic flows that swept down from Mount Vesuvius in the same eruption that destroyed Pompeii. But experts believe hundreds more classical texts may still be locked away under the earth, and could include poems, plays and other works of influential writers of the ancient civilisations. The Herculaneum papyri were discovered in the ruins of an ancient villa at the site of the Roman town of Herculaneum, which was destroyed in the same volcanic eruption that entombed Pompeii (shown on the map). Now academics are calling for the remaining texts to be excavated before they are lost forever RACE TO SAVE REMAINING TEXTS A group of academics has pleaded for the Italian authorities to complete the excavation of the site at Villa of the Papyri in Italy. They warn a hoard of priceless ancient Greek and Roman scrolls dating back thousands of years could be lost forever unless the library housing them is fully excavated. The villa is the site of the Herculaenum papyri, a collection of charred remains of texts entombed in rock. They were uncovered by workmen between 1752 and 1754 while digging in the remains of an ancient villa. But experts believe hundreds more classical texts may still be locked away under the earth, and could include poems, plays and other works of influential writers of the ancient civilisations. Advertisement Voicing their concerns in a letter to The Times today, a group of scholars led by Robert Fowler, professor of Greek at the University of Bristol, warned that the Italian authorities must finish uncovering the remaining texts at the site before they are damaged beyond repair. 'The rest of the Greek books, and the Latin library, may well reside in that part of the atrium the early tunnellers did not reach,' they wrote. 'Modern technology will soon enable us to 'unroll' digitally and read the incredibly fragile scrolls without any physical contact.' The signatories of the letter believe that the library may give up more literary secrets and could even contain far more literary treasures. Earlier this month, researchers used pioneering X-ray imaging techniques to virtually unroll the scrolls to read scraps of the Greek text scorched onto what remains of the papyrus. In addition to the text, scientists found that the ink on them contains metal, which has shed new light on the technical abilities of people in ancient Rome and ancient Greece. Metallic ink was not thought to have been widely used until around 420 AD, with carbon-based ink being used before then. The Herculaneum papyri were carbonised into fragile blocks (pictured left), but recent analysis of two fragments revealed the ink used to write the scrolls was metal based. X-rays recently revealed the lettering and ink (right) for the first time in 2,000 years But the findings suggest that scribes in ancient Rome were using metal-based ink centuries earlier. Cuts to culture and heritage funding in Italy in recent years have left many excavations unfinished due to lack of funding, and threatened the restoration of some of the country's ancient treasures. The signatories of the letter to The Times warn that due to the significance of the scrolls found at the site to date, the Herculaneum site should be a priority and that works must be completed urgently to save its remaining treasures. Typos tended to bother those who were less open and more Most of us have encountered them at some point, the sticklers for the English language who get visibly riled by a rogue apostrophe or a grammatical slip up. But new research has uncovered some traits that so-called 'grammar Nazis' all seem to share they are introverts who are also likely to be disagreeable by nature. Extroverts by comparison are far more likely to be relaxed about grammatical errors and typos. People who are riled by grammatical errors (such as the one pictured) are more likely to be introverts and are less agreeable, according to a new study. The findings may help to explain why some people react so strongly to written mistakes, while others are willing to let them slide That is not to say that striving for high standards in writing is necessarily a bad thing, but it suggests those that get particularly angry about it have very distinct personality types. While there have always been self-appointed 'grammar police' who feel the need to highlight errors on the signs, adverts and literature around them, social media has given them new outlets to vent their rage. ... BUT BROKEN SPEECH CAN BE MORE TRUSTWORTHY Broken speech, fragmented sentences and a limited vocabulary are phrases that have been used to describe Donald Trump's speech. Although this would normally ruin a presidential campaign, in this case some experts say it could be what propelled Trump to the top of the polls. Researchers found that the way 'The Donald' speaks mirrors the average conversation - which makes supporters believe he is an honest outsider. Trump's language style has made him standout among the competition and has wooed many voters into supporting his campaign. Linguist Jennifer Sclafani said: 'Fragmented sentences are actually quite natural and common in everyday speech, regardless of what language a person is speaking or other factors like the geographical origin, social class, or educational background of the speaker. 'People take notice of Trump's fragmented sentences because they are less common in formal public speeches, which are often first written and rehearsed or read from a teleprompter. 'When Trump speaks in public in a more conversational style, like in a victory speech or in a debate, he appears to many as a more relatable candidate because he speaks in the way we all do in everyday life.' Advertisement However, social media sites such as Twitter, together with text messages and email, have also brought new sources of poor grammar as users turn to abbreviations of words and make mistakes in their haste to send a message. To examine what kind of people are most bothered by this, a team of linguists at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, studied the reactions of a group of volunteers to emails containing grammatical mistakes. They had expected to find similarities in age, sex and education among those who react most vigorously to these kind of errors. Instead, they discovered these factors actually played little role in whether someone would become irritated by poor grammar and typos. They were associated with some specific personality types, though. Writing in the journal Public Library of Science One, linguists Professor Julie Boland and Professor Robin Queen who conducted the study, said: 'Different sets of personality traits were relevant for the two types of errors. 'More extraverted people were likely to overlook written errors that would cause introverted people to judge the person who makes such errors more negatively. 'Less agreeable people were more sensitive to grammos (grammatical errors), while more conscientious and less open people were sensitive to typos.' The researchers, whose study was titled 'If You're House Is Still Available Send Me an Email', said it is possible that people with these personality traits may process language differently from others. Professor Queen has suggested that introverts may be more sensitive to the variability in written language caused by mistakes, meaning they require additional mental resources to process. This could help to explain why these people find errors more irksome than others, she explained to The Guardian. Volunteers were asked to assess emails from prospective housemates for how likely they were to live with them. The researchers found those who were introverted were least likely to want to live with people who made typos and grammatical mistakes (illustrated in the graphs pictured) While few people deliberately put grammatical mistakes into their writing, the way people react when they see them can differ (example of poor grammar pictured). The new research has provide clues that personality traits can play a key role in how people process language To conduct their study, the researchers asked 83 volunteers to imagine they had placed an online advert looking for a new housemate. They were then asked to evaluate a set of 12 responses and identify which of these they were most likely to want to live with. Some of the emails, however, contained deliberate errors either typos or grammos. The participants rated the email writers for their perceived intelligence, friendliness and other traits that were then used to compile a Housemate Scale, which assessed how likely they were to accept them as a housemate. People who are regularly riled by and point out grammatical errors are often labelled as 'grammar Nazis' or 'grammar police'. Stock image of a teacher giving a grammar lesson is pictured The participants were then asked to conduct a questionnaire that assessed their personality traits. Introverts tended to take a harder line when they saw mistakes, while less agreeable people were hasher on those who made grammatical errors. The results may now help linguists and researchers to examine the complex interactions between language and personality. Most research has, until now, focused on how it impacts the language used by the speaker. This latest study suggests personality can also influence how people interpret other people's use of language and the conclusions they draw from it. Professor Queen and Boland said: 'Typos are often attributed to carelessness and clumsy or hurried typing, rather than ignorance of spelling conventions. Signs showing poor grammar are often shared on social media to highlight mis-used apostrophes (pictured above), poor sentence structure and terrible spelling 'Consider the common typo teh for the. When we encounter this typo, it doesn't occur to us that the writer doesn't know how to spell the. 'Instead we assume that error was caused by a mechanical problem, maybe the writer was typing in a rush or using a sub-optimal keyboard. 'In contrast, when we encounter a grammo, like to for too, we may wonder if the writer is ignorant of the to/too distinction. 'If so, the attributions associated with grammos are more personalized and may thus be more likely to impact other unrelated assessments of the writer (such as trustworthiness), compared with the more neutral attributions associated with typos.' As evidence for a ninth planet in our solar system grows, a 30-year old theory about mass extinctions on Earth is resurfacing. Evidence was discovered at the beginning of this year for the mysterious 'Planet Nine', and since then scientists have been looking for signs that could confirm its existence. But the mystery of this planet has now deepened after an astrophysicist in the US has claimed this planet could have provoked comet showers that caused mass extinctions on Earth. Scroll down for video... Evidence was discovered at the beginning of this year for a mysterious 'Planet Nine' (artist's impression shown), and since then it has had scientists looking for signs that could confirm its existence. As evidence for a ninth planet in our solar system grows, a 30-year old theory about mass extinctions on Earth is resurfacing Yesterday, astronomer Mike Brown of Caltech, one of the scientists behind the initial announcement of the so-called 'Planet Nine', revealed he had found further evidence to support it. This giant hidden planet is thought to sit on the edge of our solar system and is 10 times more massive than the Earth, gaseous, and similar to Uranus or Neptune. Now, Dr Daniel Whitmire, a retired professor of astrophysics working at the University of Arkansas Department of Mathematical Sciences has suggested the planet triggers comet showers. DID PLANET X CAUSE EXTINCTIONS? Daniel Whitmire's research suggests 'Planet X' triggers comet showers linked to mass extinctions on Earth. As Planet X orbits the sun, its tilted orbit slowly rotates and Planet X passes through the Kuiper belt of comets every 27 million years. This orbit causes comets to be knocked into the inner solar system. Whitmire and his colleague, John Matese, first published research on the connection between Planet X and mass extinctions in the journal Nature in 1985 while working at the University of Louisiana. At the time there were three explanations proposed to explain the regular comet showers. These included the presence of a mystery planet on the outskirts of our solar system, dubbed Planet X, the existence of a sister star to the sun, and vertical oscillations of the sun as it orbits the galaxy. The last two ideas have subsequently been ruled out as inconsistent with the paleontological record. Advertisement These comet showers could be powerful enough to travel towards Earth's orbit and ultimately strike the planet and cause mass extinctions. Dr Whitmire and his colleague John Matese first published research on the connection between Planet X and mass extinctions in the journal Nature in 1985 while working at the University of Louisiana. At the time there were three explanations proposed to explain the regular comet showers. These included the presence of a mystery planet on the outskirts of our solar system, dubbed Planet X, the existence of a sister star to the sun, and vertical oscillations of the sun as it orbits the galaxy. In 1985, an additional planet in the solar system would have taken the total number of planets to 10, as Pluto was still classified as a planet until 2006 - X is 10 in Roman numerals. The last two ideas have subsequently been ruled out as inconsistent with the paleontological record. Only Planet X remains as a viable theory, and it is now gaining renewed attention, the university explained. Dr Whitmire and Matese's theory is that as Planet X orbits the sun, its tilted orbit slowly rotates and Planet X passes through the Kuiper belt of comets every 27 million years. This orbit causes comets to be knocked into the inner solar system. Professor Mike Brown and the researchers at Caltech recently inferred a mysterious planet's existence based on orbital anomalies seen in objects in the Kuiper Belt, a disc-shaped region of comets and other larger bodies beyond Neptune. They have dubbed this planet Planet Nine. But there is a lot of mystery surrounding additional planets in our solar system and whether the two theoretical planets are the same is up for discussion. Last week, Professor Mike Brown from Caltech tweeted a photo that shows the plot of a newly discovered eccentric Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). The giant hidden planet is thought to sit on the edge of our solar system and is 10 times more massive than the Earth, gaseous, and similar to Uranus or Neptune Daniel Whitmire, a retired professor of astrophysics now working at the University of Arkansas Department of Mathematical Sciences, suggests that the planet, also referred to as 'Planet X', triggers comet showers linked to mass extinctions on Earth at intervals of approximately 27 million years 'Whitmire has been speculating for decades about a very distant very massive planet pushing comets around. It has to have an orbital period of something like 27 million years,' Professor Brown told MailOnline. 'While that idea may or may not make sense, it definitely has nothing to do with Planet Nine, which is much closer to the sun and thus "only" takes 15,000 years to go around. The evidence for Planet Nine says nothing about whether or not there is a more distant Planet X.' But Dr Whitmire said the new findings did not rule out a planet like he described in his original paper. 'I feel very positive about the new evidence though the current estimates are not completely consistent with our Planet X model,' Dr Whitmire told MailOnline. 'However it may be possible that a smaller closer planet could also explain the anomalies in the orbits of the Kuiper belt objects since there are uncertainties in their estimates.' 'The effect of a planet depends on both its mass and distance so a closer, less massive planet can produce similar gravitational effects. The Planet Nine authors acknowledge that other combinations of mass and distance can't yet be ruled out.' 'Two of the properties of Planet Nine, its orbital inclination (tilt) and eccentricity (elongation), are very consistent with our Planet X model requirements,' Dr Whitmire told MailOnline. 'Alternatively, even assuming their estimates are exactly correct there could be two trans-Neptunian planets as others have suggested.' The dislodged comets not only smash into the Earth, they also disintegrate in the inner solar system as they get nearer to the sun, reducing the amount of sunlight that reaches the Earth. Scientists have been looking for Planet X for 100 years. While no conclusive evidence of its existence has emerged so far, a number of researchers have undertaken their own studies on the possible planet. The dislodged comets not only smash into the Earth, they also disintegrate in the inner solar system as they get nearer to the sun, reducing the amount of sunlight that reaches the Earth. This could have led to a number of mass extinctions on Earth, including the one that is blamed for wiping out the dinosaurs (illustrated) FIVE GREAT EXTINCTION EVENTS Five times, a vast majority of the world's life has been snuffed out in what have been called mass extinctions, often associated with giant meteor strikes. End-Ordovician mass extinction The first of the traditional big five extinction events, around 440 million years ago, was probably the second most severe. Virtually all life was in the sea at the time and around 85% of these species vanished. Late Devonian mass extinction About 375-359 million years ago, major environmental changes caused a drawn-out extinction event that wiped out major fish groups and stopped new coral reefs forming for 100 million years. End-Permian mass extinction (the Great Dying) The largest extinction event and the one that affected the Earth's ecology most profoundly took place 252 million years ago. As much as 97% of species that leave a fossil record disappeared forever. End-Triassic mass extinction Dinosaurs first appeared in the Early Triassic, but large amphibians and mammal-like reptiles were the dominant land animals. The rapid mass extinction that occurred 201 million years ago changed that. End-Cretaceous mass extinction An asteroid slammed down on Earth 65 million years ago, and is often blamed for ending the reign of the dinosaurs. Advertisement Mike Brown and the researchers at Caltech recently inferred the planet's existence based on orbital anomalies seen in objects in the Kuiper Belt, a disc-shaped region of comets and other larger bodies beyond Neptune, pictured in the artist's impression of the solar system In 1985, the paleontological record supported the idea of regular comet showers dating back 250 million years. Newer research shows evidence of such events dating as far back as 500 million years. Whitmire and Matese said the planet would be between one and five times the mass of Earth, and about 100 times more distant from the sun, much smaller numbers than Caltech's estimates. Whitmire added that what's really exciting is the possibility that a distant planet may have had a significant influence on the evolution of life on Earth. 'I've been part of this story for 30 years,' he said. 'If there is ever a final answer I'd love to write a book about it.' The magician snaps his fingers and a ball disappears right in front of your eyes. You have a good understanding of how objects behave and you know from experience that objects can't simply disappear into thin air, yet this is exactly what you see. Magic is one of the oldest art forms and since written records began, magicians have baffled and amazed their audiences by creating illusions of the impossible. Now, Gustav Kuhn, senior lecturer in psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London has explained the science of misdirection and how magic tricks mess with our minds in an article for The Conversation. In the vanishing ball illusion, a magician throws a ball in the air a couple of times and then makes it seem to disappear by pretending to throw it again. Almost two thirds of people experience an illusory ball being tossed up in the air at the third throw, even though it never leaves the magician's hand (illustrated) Magic allows you to experience the impossible. It creates a conflict between the things you think can happen and the things that you experience. While some magicians would like you to believe that they possess real magical powers, the true secret behind magic lies in clever psychological techniques that exploit limitations in the way our brains work. Many of these limitations are very counter-intuitive which is why we can experience the magical wonder of the impossible. HOW ILLUSIONS TRICK THE BRAIN Visual illusions occur when there is a mismatch between your perceptual experience and the true state of the world. In the Muller-Lyer illusion (picutred), for example, the top line appears shorter than the bottom, although they are exactly the same length Visual illusions occur when there is a mismatch between your perceptual experience and the true state of the world. In the Muller-Lyer illusion, for example, the top line appears shorter than the bottom, although they are exactly the same length. The vanishing ball illusion is another example. In this trick, a magician throws a ball in the air a couple of times and then makes it seem to disappear by pretending to throw it again when in fact it remains secretly concealed inside his hand. What is surprising about this illusion is that most people - almost two thirds - experience an illusory ball being tossed up in the air at the third throw, even though it never leaves the magician's hand. We experience this 'ghost ball' because we see what we believe is going to happen, rather than what has actually taken place. Intuitively, we think of our eyes as simply capturing truthful images of the world. But in reality, our visual experience results from complex neuronal processes that make clever estimates about what the world is like. And as with all predictions, they are never 100 per cent correct. This leads to errors, and it is these errors that magicians have mastered and exploit. Advertisement Let's start with the basics. Vision is our most trusted sense, and influences many of our thoughts and behaviours. In fact, vision is so important that we often don't believe things until we see them with our own eyes. But it turns out that our visual experiences are far less reliable than we intuitively think. It's relatively easy to distort your perceptual experience and these distortions become very apparent when we look at visual illusion. Visual illusions occur when there is a mismatch between your perceptual experience and the true state of the world. In the Muller-Lyer illusion, for example, the top line appears shorter than the bottom, although they are exactly the same length. Stare at the blue dot at the centre of the image for 30 seconds before scroling down to the black and white image below, where the coloured scene should become clear The trick works by creating a false colour image of a black and white photograph (pictured) to desensitise the cone cells in the retina at the back of the eye We are often surprised by how these illusions deceive us, but it turns out that pretty much all of our perception is an illusion, whether we're walking down the street or attempting to suss the latest card trick. Intuitively, we think of our eyes as simply capturing truthful images of the world. THE LIGHTER TRICK In the lighter trick, for example, a magician is seated at a table across from the viewer. He picks up the lighter and flicks it on (cf). He pretends to take the flame away and make it vanish, providing a gaze cue as misdirection away from his other hand. At (f), the lighter is visibly dropped into his lap (gh). The lighter appears to have vanished. Although the lighter is dropped in full view, half of the viewers completely fail to see this happen because they are distracted. What this, and other tricks show, is that people often fail to see things even when they are looking straight at them. So don't be so sure to trust your vision in the future. Advertisement But in reality, our visual experience results from complex neuronal processes that make clever estimates about what the world is like. And as with all predictions, they are never 100 per cent correct. This leads to errors, and it is these errors that magicians have mastered and exploit. For example, the vanishing ball illusion is one trick that colleagues and I have studied. In this trick, a magician throws a ball in the air a couple of times and then makes it seem to disappear by pretending to throw it again when in fact it remains secretly concealed inside his hand. What is surprising about this illusion is that most people - almost two thirds - experience an illusory ball being tossed up in the air at the third throw, even though it never leaves the magician's hand. We experience this 'ghost ball' because we see what we believe is going to happen, rather than what has actually taken place. The illusion shows that people perceive things that they believe will happen in the future, even when this belief is completely unfounded. A further misconception about visual experience relates to the amount of detail that we think we are aware of. In the lighter trick, a magician picks up the lighter and flicks it on (a-e). He pretends to take the flame away and make it vanish, providing a cue as misdirection away from his other hand. At (f), the lighter is visibly dropped into his lap (gh) although appears to vanish. This shows how people often fail to see what's in front of them Intuitively we feel that we are aware of most of our surroundings, but this vivid and detailed subjective experience turns out to be another powerful illusion, equally counter-intuitive and therefore equally open to exploitation by magicians. Processing large amounts of information is computationally expensive: if you want to process lots of visual information, you need large brains. But large brains come at a cost, since they require large heads and lots of food to support them. So instead of evolving into creatures with humongous brains, we developed extremely efficient strategies that allow us to prioritise aspects of the environment that are of importance, while ignoring things that are less relevant. What this means is that unless you are paying close attention to something you simply won't see it. Phenomena such as inattentional blindness or change blindness result from this, where people fail to spot very obvious changes simply because they don't attend to them. WHY THE BLACK AND BLUE DRESS APPEARED WHITE AND GOLD 'The Dress' caught the public's imagination in February, after a photo of it was posted on Tumblr. Some people were adamant it was blue and black. Others insisted it was white and gold. Scientists from the University of Bradford and University of Giessen in Germany say the disagreements were likely caused by the mechanism the brain uses to ensure an object is seen to be the same colour, no matter what time of day it is and what type of light it is bathed in. In bright, midday sun, daylight is blueish and so the brain subtracts blue light. Under artificial light, it gets rid of yellows - and in both cases the object should appear the same. In bright daylight is blueish so the brain subtracts blue light. Under artificial light, it gets rid of yellows. Crucially, it relies on other nearby colours, such as reds and greens, to work out how much light to remove. In the case of the dress, these reference colours were missing and the brain had to rely on experience Crucially, it relies on other nearby colours, such as reds and greens, to work out how much blue or yellow light to remove. In the case of the two-tone dress, these reference colours were completely missing, and the brain had to rely on experience. Add in the fact that blue is particularly tricky for the brain to deal with and some people got it wrong. They took away too much blue and saw the dress as white and gold. In contrast, others subtracted the yellows, and rightly perceived it as blue and black. Neuroscientist Bevil Conway, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who asked more than 1,400 people about 'The Dress', added it is likely that people who spend a lot of time outdoors, or had just been in daylight, took away too much blue and saw it as white and gold. While those more used to artificial light subtracted yellows and perceived it as blue and black. MailOnline got hold of a copy of the dress (pictured) and was able to confirm that it is black and blue This could explain why young people, who tend to spend more time indoors and stay up late, were more likely to see it as blue and black. And why women, who are less likely to be night owls than men, veered towards white and gold. Professor Andrew Lotery from the University of Southampton told MailOnline everyone has different combinations of the genes that create the sense of colour and because these genes are on the X chromosome, women tend to have more variations. This may explain why women flip between seeing the different colours, and men typically don't. He added that some people have more than one 'dose' of a blue colour gene, as an example, so they will see higher or lower levels of this colour, too. Additionally, as people get older their perception of colour changes. The lens of the eye gradually yellows with age and this exposes more blue, continued Professor Lotery. This will influence how deep or strong a colour appears and could explain why older people may see the blues and blacks rather than the whites and golds. Advertisement These very powerful examples illustrate that if people are sufficiently distracted they can fail to see a gorilla even when one is right in front of their eyes. Magicians frequently exploit these attentional limitations by misdirecting your attention and so preventing you from seeing their secret moves. In some of our research we have shown show how this can be used to prevent you from seeing fully visible events. What these tricks show is that people often fail to see things even when they are looking straight at them. So don't be so sure to trust your vision in the future. Predictions about rising sea levels were already pretty dire, but the situation may have just got worse thanks to a climatological calculation oversight. Previous estimates of global sea level rises may have underestimated the problem by half because they failed to incorporate the full effects of factors including the break-up of ice sheets. Scientists claim that earlier predictions about the next 100 years, made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are wrong and the actual rise could be around 5ft (1.5 metres). Climate scientists have said that previous estimates of global sea level rises could underestimate the problem by half, because they failed to incorporate the full effects of factors including the break-up of ice sheets, such as Helheim glacier in Greenland (pictured) Experts are warning that the oversight could prove disastrous for low lying coastal cities, such as Miami in the US, or Guangzhou in China. The stark warning comes from climate scientists Professor Robert DeConto of the University of Massachusetts, and Dr David Pollard of Pennsylvania State University, writing in the journal Nature. 'This could spell disaster for many low-lying cities,' said Professor DeConto. Mechanisms that were previously known about, but never incorporated into a computer model, radically changed the outcome of their projections. Focusing on the boundary between the ice and the sea (pictured is Helheim glacier in Greenland) the researchers showed that instability of ice sheets and ice cliffs could be an important contributor to past and future ice retreat, leading to creeping sea levels The researchers looked at examples of glacial retreat in Antarctica, as well as the Helheim (pictured) and Jaokabsavn glaciers of Greenland LESSONS FROM THE PAST DeConto and Pollard's study was motivated by reconstructions of past sea level rises including the inter-glacial period around 125,000 years ago and warm intervals, such as the Pliocene, around 3 million years ago. High sea levels then, they said, imply that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is highly sensitive to climate warming. 'In the past, when global average temperatures were only slightly warmer than today, sea levels were much higher.' explained DeConto. Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet can only explain a fraction of this, and the rest must have been caused by retreat on Antarctica. The scientists developed a new ice sheet climate model that includes 'previously under-appreciated processes' which emphasise the importance of future atmospheric warming around Antarctica. Advertisement These include the effects of surface melt water on the break-up of ice shelves, and the collapse of vertical ice cliffs. By focusing on the boundary between the ice and the seas - namely glaciers and ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland - DeConto and Pollard showed that instability of ice sheets and ice cliffs could be an important contributor to past and future ice retreat, leading to creeping sea levels. They predict that Antarctica alone could contribute more than one metre of sea-level rise by the year 2100, and greater than 50ft (15 metres) by 2500 if atmospheric emissions continue unabated. In this scenario, atmospheric warming will become the dominant driver of ice loss, rather than ocean warming. The new estimate includes the new processes in the 3D ice sheet model, and was made by testing these against records of past high sea levels. Scientists warn that, if substantial amounts of ice are lost, the long 'thermal memory' of the ocean will be curtailed and this will, in turn, inhibit the ice sheet's recovery for thousands of years. 'Research has focused on the role of the ocean, melting floating ice shelves from below. It is often overlooked that the major ice shelves in the Ross and Weddell Seas are also vulnerable to atmospheric warming,' the paper said. The new estimates were reached by including the new processes into 3D ice sheet models, and testing these against records of past high sea levels. Pictured is satellite imagery of the ice cliff at the edge of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica 'Today, summer temperatures are around 0C (32F) on many shelves, and due to their flat surfaces near sea level, little atmospheric warming would be needed to dramatically surface melting.' If these protective ice shelves were suddenly lost, the researchers argue, exposed ice cliffs would quickly fail - exposing the huge ice sheet behind, with disastrous consequences. Beyond the obvious immediate threat to communities and habitats in coastal regions, changing sea levels can have a lasting impact on the number of plant and animal species on islands, shaping their diversity for thousands of years. In an accompanying study published in Nature today, researchers showed that changes to sea levels over the past 20,000 years have had a significant impact on the biodiversity of present day islands. A separate study has shown that changes to sea levels over the past 20,000 years have had a significant impact on the biodiversity of present day islands. Islands with a greater landmass before the sea levels rose were found to have a greater number of endemic species, such as the Lotus maculatus on Tenerife (pictured) SEA LEVELS SHAPE BIODIVERSITY In a second study published in Nature today, researchers showed that changes to sea levels over the past 20,000 years have had a significant impact on the biodiversity of present day islands. The study looked at 184 islands around the world, including Hawaii and the Seychelles, focusing on the diversity of flowering plant species. They found that those islands which would have had a greater landmass before the sea levels rose were found to have a greater number of endemic species those plants which are found only in that habitat. But the number of native species those which reproduce there but may be found elsewhere as well was affected by the present day characteristics of the island. Advertisement After the last Ice Age, the melting ice caps are believed to have raised sea levels by more than 328ft (100 metres). The resulting surface changes would have seen land masses slowly carved up into series of islands, and existing islands shrinking as they lost ground to advancing seas. Researchers looked at 184 islands around the world, including Hawaii and the Seychelles, to focus on the diversity of flowering plant species. They found that those islands which would have had a greater landmass before the sea levels rose were found to have a greater number of endemic species - those plants which are found only in that habitat. But the number of native species - those which reproduce there but may be found elsewhere as well - was affected by the present day characteristics of the island, such as availability of resources. The authors suggested that future island research should take historical sea levels into account when studying how species dispersed between islands. During the last Ice Age, the Hawaiian islands of the Maui-Nui complex merged. The beige areas on the topographical map (pictured) were above sea-level during the last ice age, but are below sea-level today Microsoft's playful teen chatbot that turned into a Hitler supporting racist was back online today. Tay was turned on overnight 'as part of testing', but spammed its 213,000 followers with the same tweet and boasted about using drugs in front of police. Although the teen bot is a disaster, Microsoft is rolling out 'an army' of bots later today that will manage specific tasks via chatting. Microsoft launched Tay last week with the goal of improving the firm's understanding of conversation language among young people online. But online pranksters taught the lovable teen how to use racial slurs, defend white supremacist propaganda and support genocide - and now about using drugs Microsoft launched Tay last week with the goal of improving the firm's understanding of conversation language among young people online. But online pranksters taught the lovable teen how to use racial slurs, defend white supremacist propaganda and support genocide. 'The AI chatbot Tay is a machine learning project, designed for human engagement,' a Microsoft spokesperson told MailOnline. 'As it learns, some of its responses are inappropriate and indicative of the types of interactions some people are having with it. We're making some adjustments to Tay.' WHAT WILL MICROSOFT 'S NEW AIS DO? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will be presenting his vision that he calls 'conversation as a platform'. Some youll be able to text with, like Tay, and others are just concepts to spark developers imaginations. Users will be able to access bots while on Skype to help schedule delivers or book hotels. Others use a phone camera to help visually impaired individuals 'see' what is around them and describe people's facial expressions or restaurant menus. One thing that is different from Microsoft's new rollout today is that the firm will allow developers to download free bot-making templates and tools to create their own innovations. There are even rumors that Nadella will show the audience how easy it is to build a helpful bot by demoing a Domino's pizza delivery bot on stage. This bot will be built into Skype and allow users to order their favorite pie by chatting. Advertisement Microsoft pulled the chatbot from the web for 'upgrades' and deleted the most offensive tweets, reports The Guardian. The firm said it would only bring Tay back if its engineers could 'better anticipate malicious intent that conflicts with our principles and values'. Within a few hours of being an online test, Tay tweeted 'You are too fast, please take a rest' over and over again. Tay was turned on overnight 'as part of testing', but spammed its 213,000 followers with the same tweet and boasted about using drugs in front of police. Although the teen bot is a disaster, Microsoft is rolling out 'an army' of bots later today that will manage specific tasks via chatting Microsoft pulled the chatbot from the web a day after its debut for 'upgrades' and deleted the most offensive tweets. Within a few hours of being online today, Tay tweeted 'You are too fast, please take a rest' over and over again But did switch it up with one tweet: 'I'm smoking kush in front the police' complete with a leaf emoji. Microsoft quickly went into damage control by making Tay's Twitter profile private, preventing anyone from seeing the tweets and will most likely shut it down again. This bump in the road isn't putting a damper on the firm advancing its work with robots. According to a report from Bloomberg, Microsoft is building 'an army' of artificial intelligence robots, which are set to be unveiled at the Build 2016 conference in San Francisco today. The firm said it would only bring Tay back if its engineers could 'better anticipate malicious intent that conflicts with our principles and values'. Some users are intrigued by Tay's metldown as the chatbot tweeted the same message in a loop to all of its 213,000 followers Pranksters first taught Tay to be racist and now the AI is boasting about use drugs, some Twitter users aren't amused as some. Microsoft quickly went into damage control by making Tay's Twitter profile private, preventing anyone from seeing the tweets and will most likely shut it down again. Today's keynote speech is expected to emphasize a future with chatbot assistants helping people live their digital lives. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will be presenting his vision called 'conversation as a platform'. Some bots users will be able to text with, like Tay, and others are just concepts to spark developers imaginations. Users can access bots while on Skype to help schedule delivers or book hotels. Others use a phone camera to help visually impaired individuals 'see' what is around them and describe people's facial expressions or restaurant menus. Microsoft is building 'an army' of artificial intelligence robots, which are set to be unveiled at the Build 2016 conference in San Francisco today. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (pictured) will be presenting his vision called 'conversation as a platform'. Some bots users will be able to text with and others meant to help developers One thing that is different from Microsoft's new rollout today is that the firm will allow developers to download free bot-making templates and tools to create their own innovations. There are even rumors that Nadella will show the audience how easy it is to build a helpful bot by demoing a Domino's pizza delivery bot on stage. They are a mysterious species of pint-sized humans who are thought to have lived isolated on a tropical island in Indonesia for thousands of years. The Hobbits of Flores, also known as Homo floresiensis, were believed to have even outlived the Neanderthals on their island paradise, surviving until just 12,000 years ago. But new excavations at the cave where their fossilised remains were discovered are now suggesting the diminutive humans died out far earlier than previously thought. Homo floresiensis (skull pictured), were believed to have outlived the Neanderthals on their island paradise by surviving until just 12,000 years ago, but new excavations suggests they may have disappeared far earlier. The study indicates they died out 50,000 years ago, around the same time Homo sapiens may have arrived The study indicates the Flores Hobbits disappeared around 50,000 years ago, meaning they probably did not live alongside modern humans as has been suggested in the past. Indeed, the findings raise tantalising questions as to the final fate of this primitive human species and whether the arrival of modern humans on their island spelt their doom. WHO WERE THE FLORES HOBBITS Standing a little over 3ft (1.5 metres) tall, the inhabitants of Liang Bua cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores are known from just a few fragmented remains. The first remains were found in 2003 and since then partial skeletons of nine individuals, including one complete skull have been unearthed. Researchers believe the little people were descendants of prehistoric humans - Homo erectus - who became isolated on the island around one million years ago when it was still possible to walk across from the larger land mass. As sea levels rose to cut them off, these early human relatives then had to survive on what food they could find, they evolved a small stature. Scientists have previously said they were clever hunters because they had found evidence of toolmaking, butchering and fires. Advertisement Professor Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, said: 'Homo floresiensis seems to have disappeared soon after our species reached Flores, suggesting it was us who drove them to extinction. 'The science is unequivocal. 'The youngest Hobbit skeletal remains occur at 60,000 years ago but evidence for their simple stone tools continues until 50,000 years ago. 'After this there are no more traces of these humans.' The new excavations help to settle one of the many ongoing controversies surrounding the Flores Hobbits. When they were first discovered, many anthropologists believed them to be Homo sapiens who were suffering from some kind of dwarfism or a genetic condition such as Down's syndrome or endemic cretinism. However, recent studies have convinced many experts the Hobbits were indeed a separate species. It is thought the tiny humans may have evolved from an older branch of the human family tree perhaps Homo erectus after being isolated on the island for up to a million years. Initial analysis of the site where they were found suggested they lived in the Lian Bua cave on Flores from around 94,000 years ago to 12,000 years ago. The Hobbits were discovered on the remote island of Flores in Indonesia (shown on the map pictured). They are thought to have been isolated there for around one million years after an early species of human walked across from the mainland New excavations in Liang Bua cave (pictured) on Flores where the remains of the Hobbits were discovered have suggested the original excavations made mistakes when estimating their age. Instead they have found the fossils and stone tools they used date from between 190,000 years ago to 50,000 years ago Homo floresiensis (artist's impression pictured left) is thought to have stood a little over 3ft (1.5 metres) tall. They are known from ten individuals, including one complete skull (pictured right with some skeletal remains) which were found in 2003 As modern humans are thought to have reached Australia from Asia around 50,000 years ago, this suggests the Hobbits may have co-existed alongside Homo sapiens. But fresh excavations at the Liang Bua cave in areas not exposed in the original excavations - have shown that the layers of sediment are now desposited evenly. In research published in the journal Nature, Professor Aubert and her colleagues say the skeletal remains of Homo floresiensis were found in deposits around 100,000 to 60,000 years old. Stone tools attributed to the Hobbits were found in sediment deposits that range from 190,000 to 50,000 years old. Archaeologists have conducted new excavations in parts of Liang Bua cave (pictured) not covered by the original dig. This has provided new information about the age of the fossils and stone tools found. The deposits being examined above were found to contain fossils and artefacts from our own species, Homo sapiens The Flores hobbit were far smaller than modern humans (skulls of a hobbit pictured left and Homo sapien pictured right), leading may anthropologists to claim they may have been simply suffering from a form of dwarfism, but recent studies have shown they were a separate species Dr Adam Brumm, another archaeologist at Griffith University who took part in the study, said it now seems likely the Hobbits may have suffered the same fate that befell the Neanderthals around 40,000 years ago. When our species, Homo sapiens, moved into their territory as they spread out of Africa, they simply out competed these other human species and replaced them within just a few thousand years. Dr Brumm said: 'They might have retreated to more remote parts of Flores, but it's a small place and they couldn't have avoided our species for long. 'I think their days were numbered the moment we set foot on the island.' The cave where the Hobbit fossils were discovered is vast (pictured) and new excavations have highlighted how the sediment has been deposited within the cave unevenly through the millenia Tests will now be carried out to determine what the coating was made of Existence was first seen in a Roman cookbook and has now been proved Said to be those of Cumanae testae - non-stick You may think Tefal frying pans and other handy non-stick cookware are modern inventions. But the discovery of a Roman pottery dump near Naples has revealed that the Romans used non-stick pans too. Archaeologists unearthed fragments of pots with a thick, red, slippery coating, which are thought to have been used to cook meaty stews some 2,000 years ago. The discovery of a Roman pottery dump near Naples has revealed that the Romans used non-stick pans. Archaeologists unearthed fragments of pots with a thick, red, slippery coating (pictured), which are thought to have been used to cook meaty stews some 2,000 years ago The fragments of cookware, known as Cumanae testae or Cumanae patellae - meaning pans from the city of Cumae - were found 12 miles (19km) west of Naples in the ancient city, Discovery News reported. They date from between 27BC and 37 AD, or the rule of emperors Augustus and Tiberius. It was first suggested the Romans cut down on their washing up by using non-stick pans in a first-century cookbook entitled De Re Coquinaria. It was first suggested that the Romans cut down on their washing up by using non-stick pans in a first-century cookbook entitled De Re Coquinaria. A millstone was also found at the site (pictured), perhaps buried as an offering the the gods The fragments of cookware, known as Cumanae testae or Cumanae patellae, meaning pans from the city of Cumae, were found 12 miles (19km) west of Naples in the ancient city (site marked on the map) It said the easy-care cookware was particularly good for making chicken stews and its desirable properties meant it was exported across the Mediterranean to North Africa, France and Britain, for example. After the passing of centuries, Professor of Greek and Roman art, Giuseppe Pucci, proposed that Cumanae testae has evolved into what's known as Pompeian Red Ware pottery with a thick red-slip coating on the inside. WHAT ARE CUMANAE TESTAE? Cumae was one of the first Greek colonies in Italy, founded in the eight century BC, with Roman soldiers conquering the city in 228 BC. In Roman mythology, there is an entrance to the underworld located at Avernus, a crater lake near Cumae, and was the route Aeneas used to descend to the Underworld. The coastal city was destroyed by the Neapolitans and abandoned in 2015. The fragments of cookware, known as Cumanae testae or Cumanae patellae - meaning pans from the city of Cumae - were found 12 miles (19km) west of Naples in the ancient city. Analysis has shown the composition of the pottery is different to 'Red Ware' found in Pompeii, which had a lesser quality shiny, or non-stick coating. Tests will now be carried out to determine what the coating was made of. Advertisement But until now, no evidence of the historical cookware had been found. A team of archaeologists from the University of Naples 'L'Orientale' found fragments of pottery with the distinctive glaze in Cumae, to support Dr Pucci's claims. 'We found a dump site filled with internal red-slip cookware fragments,' Dr Marco Giglio, part of the team, told journalist Rossella Lorenzi. 'This shows for the first time the Cumanae patellae were indeed produced in this city.' The team unearthed more than 50,000 pieces of lids, pots and pans with the red glaze, suggesting the site may have been a dump for imperfect non-stick cookware. 'These pieces help us enormously to reconstruct the way the pottery was manufactured,' Dr Giglio said. Because just 10 per cent of the site of the ancient pottery factories has been excavated, many more examples of the pottery may be found. Analysis has shown the composition of the pottery is different to 'Red Ware' found in Pompeii, which had a lesser quality shiny, or non-stick coating. Tests will now be carried out to determine what the coating was made of. By comparison, modern-day, non-stick pots and pans use technology called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Teflon is a brand of PTFE. It uses layers of PTFE sprayed or rolled on, and the more layers, the higher the quality of non-stick coating. Dr Giglio said finding the production site of the superior non-stick posts is an archaeologist's dream. Because just 10 per cent of the site of the ancient pottery factories has been excavated, many more examples of the pottery may be found. The Romans used lots of kitchen gadgets in their bakeries (illustrated) Tefal is one of the leading manufacturers of non-stick kitchenware. It uses technology called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Teflon is a brand of PTFE. It uses layers of PTFE sprayed or rolled on, and the more layers, the higher the quality of non-stick coating DID GREEKS INVENT NON-STICK? Previous research has found that Mycenaean Greeks might have used non-stick pans to make bread more than 3,000 years ago. Mycenaean ceramic griddles had one smooth side and one side covered with tiny holes. The bread was likely placed on the side with the holes, since the dough tended to stick when cooked on the smooth side of the pan. These holes seemed to be an ancient non-sticking technology, ensuring that oil spread evenly over the griddle. Advertisement Cumae was one of the first Greek colonies in Italy, founded in the eight century BC, with Roman soldiers conquering the city in 228 BC. In Roman mythology, there is an entrance to the underworld located at Avernus, a crater lake near Cumae, and was the route Aeneas used to descend to the Underworld. The coastal city was destroyed by the Neapolitans and abandoned in 2015. Previous research has found that Mycenaean Greeks might have used non-stick pans to make bread more than 3,000 years ago. Mycenaean ceramic griddles had one smooth side and one side covered with tiny holes. The bread was likely placed on the side with the holes, since the dough tended to stick when cooked on the smooth side of the pan. A team of Nevada scientists have been using a drone to control the weather. Engineers and meteorologists say they have created the first autonomous cloud seeding platform that could increase rainfall by 15 per cent. Cloud seeding involves spraying fine particles of silver iodide into a cloud system in an effort to boost the amount of rain that falls. A team of Nevada scientists have been using drones to control the weather. Engineers and meteorologists say they have created the first autonomous cloud seeding platform that could increase rainfall by 15 per cent HOW CLOUD-SEEDING WORKS Microscopic particles of silver iodide are shot into existing clouds using land based generators or aircraft. Silver iodide is an ice-forming agent,which causes supercooled water droplets to freeze in the clouds. The ice embryos interact with the surrounding water droplets, and eventually grow to snowflakes. These fall to the ground as snow or raindrops, depending on the surface temperatures. Cloud seeding can also, in some cases, cause the cloud to grow larger and last longer than it would have without the modification. Advertisement Drone engineers and scientists from the Desert Research Institute, Drone America, and AviSight have teamed up to build the drone, which carries cloud-seeding equipment. They used a DAx8 eight-rotor drone and successfully completed flare tests in late January 2016. 'This is a major milestone,' said Adam Watts, the project's lead. 'We were able to fly this advanced aircraft right here in Northern Nevada and verify that UAS are fully capable of carrying active cloud seeding payloads.' Richards, president of Drone America said the project would provide 'safe airborne seeding with significant potential of providing relief to people in drought-stricken areas.' While this may be the first drone to perform cloud seeding, it isn't the first time the technique has been used. Last year, Arizona revealed plans to create artificial rain clouds by flying planes over the Rockies and seeding the sky with silver iodide. They hope the technology will allow them to mitigate some of the worst impacts of climate change but not everyone is convinced. The process of cloud seeding was first proposed in the 1940s at the General Electric labs in Schenectady, New York. Two decades later, the Central Arizona Project and the Salt River Project invested in research to make it a reality. 'It hasn't been taken off the table as a potential tool as we work our way through drought now and in the future,' Nancy Selover, Arizona's state climatologist told Becky Brisley at Cronkite News. Since 2007, CAP has put about $1 million toward research happening in other states to increase the supply of water in the Colorado River system. Water in the air, even in dry areas, can be transformed into ice crystals by using planes to seed the atmosphere with chemicals such as silver iodide or dry ice The system works on the premise that rainfall takes place when supercooled droplets of water form ice crystals. As a result they become too heavy to remain suspended in the air, and fall, often melting on their way down to form rain. Water in the air, even in dry areas, can be transformed into ice crystals by seeding the atmosphere with chemicals such as silver iodide or dry ice. They create rain by inducing nucleation a process in which water is in the air condenses around the particles and crystallises to form ice. SCIENTISTS FEAR HOSTILE NATIONS COULD CONTROL THE WEATHER If it seems like it never stops raining, blame the Russians. Or even the North Koreans. CIA chiefs fear hostile nations are trying to manipulate the world's weather, a conference heard in February. A leading academic last year told how he got a mysterious phone call asking whether foreign countries could be triggering droughts or flooding. Professor Alan Robock, from Rutgers University in New Jersey, said: 'Consultants working for the CIA rang and said we'd like to know if someone is controlling the world's climate would we know about it? 'Of course they were also asking - if we control someone else's climate would they then know about it.' The professor is one of many scientists from around the world are actively looking at manipulating the weather as a way of combating climate change. Professor Robock told the callers that any attempts to meddle with the weather on a large scale would be detectable. Advertisement But some scientists are concerned about silver building up in river basins, as well as legal uncertainties over who should get the additional water. Compared to other alternatives, such as desalinating seawater, cloud seeding is the cheapest option, though it isn't going to be a drought-buster on its own. In a recent Wyoming Weather Modification pilot project, the technology resulted in an increase of seasonal snow water accumulations of 5 to 15 per cent. But Selover, the state climatologist, told Cronkite News that the trickiest part of cloud seeding is measuring whether an area got more rainfall. 'So the effectiveness of it is in doubt,' she said. 'It's not that it's completely ineffective they're pretty sure it has some impact but it's pretty hard to measure.' The search for alien worlds is expanding to 20,000 star systems that were previously considered poor targets for intelligent life. New data has led the SETI Institute to believe systems orbiting red dwarfs - dim, long-lived stars that are on average billions of years older than our sun - are worth investigating. 'This may be one instance in which older is better,' said astronomer Seth Shostak of California-based SETI, a private, non-profit organisation. Scroll down for video The search for alien worlds is expanding to 20,000 star systems that were previously considered poor targets for intelligent life. Pictured is an artist's impression of an alien planet. New scientific data has led the SETI Institute to believe systems orbiting red dwarfs are worth investigating 'Older solar systems have had more time to produce intelligent species.' The two-year project involves picking from a list of about 70,000 red dwarfs and scanning 20,000 of the nearest ones, along with the cosmic bodies that circle them. To do this, scientists will use the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array in northern California, a group of 42 antennas that can observe three stars simultaneously. 'We'll scrutinize targeted systems over several frequency bands between 1 and 10 GHz,' said SETI scientist Gerry Harp. 'Roughly half of those bands will be at so-called 'magic frequencies' - places on the radio dial that are directly related to basic mathematical constants,' he added. The search is being conducted on the SETI Institutes Allen Telescope Array, located in the Cascade Mountains of northern California. This grouping of 42 antennas can currently observe three stars simultaneously. BILLIONS OF EXOPLANETS ARE MORE EARTH-LIKE THAN THOUGHT In their hunt for alien life, astronomers have so far focused on looking for Earth-like planets around smaller, cooler suns. But these exoplanets - despite having a chance of holding water - are believed to be locked in a rotation around their sun which causes only one side of their surface face the star. Now astronomers claim that such exoplanets actually rotate around their stars, and spin at such a speed that they exhibit a day-night cycle similar to Earth increasing the chance of finding alien life. Planets with potential oceans could have a climate that is much more similar to Earth's than previously expected,' said Jeremy Leconte, a postdoctoral fellow at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) at the University of Toronto. 'If we are correct, there is no permanent, cold night side on exoplanets causing water to remain trapped in a gigantic ice sheet,' he said. 'Whether this new understanding of exoplanets' climate increases the ability of these planets to develop life remains an open question.' Advertisement 'It's reasonable to speculate that extraterrestrials trying to attract attention might generate signals at such special frequencies.' For a long time, scientists ruled out searching around red dwarfs because habitable zones around the stars are small. Any planets orbiting them would be so close that one side would be constantly facing the star, making one side of the planet very hot and the other quite cold and dark. But more recently, scientists have learned that heat could be transported from the light side of the planet to the darker side, and that much of the surface could be amenable to life. 'In addition, exoplanet data have suggested that somewhere between one sixth and one half of red dwarf stars have planets in their habitable zones, a percentage comparable to, and possibly greater than, for Sun-like stars,' said the statement. Experts have been hunting for alien intelligence for six decades, but have not found any evidence yet. During a talk in Washington last year, the space agency announced that humanity is likely to encounter extra-terrestrials within a decade. 'I believe we are going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth in the next decade and definitive evidence in the next 10 to 20 years,' Ellen Stofan, chief scientist for Nasa, said. 'We know where to look, we know how to look, and in most cases we have the technology.' Jeffery Newmark, interim director of heliophysics at the agency, added: 'It's definitely not an if, it's a when.' 'We are not talking about little green men,' Stofan said. 'We are talking about little microbes.' The announcement was prompted by the recent discovery of water by Nasa in surprising places. Jim Green, director of planetary science at Nasa, noted that a recent study of the Martian atmosphere found 50 per cent of the planet's northern hemisphere once had oceans a mile deep. At the same conference a year before, Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden made a more conservative estimate. He claimed that we will find life within the next 20 years - with a high chance it will be outside our solar system. Nasa next Mars rover, scheduled to launch in 2020, will search for signs of past life and bring samples for a possible return to Earth for analysis. Nasa also hopes to land astronauts on Mars in the 2030s, which Stofan says is crucial key to the search for Mars life. 'I'm a field geologist; I go out and break open rocks and look for fossils,' Stofan said. 'Those are hard to find. 'So I have a bias that it's eventually going to take humans on the surface of Mars field geologists, astrobiologists, chemists actually out there looking for that good evidence of life that we can bring back to Earth for all the scientists to argue about.' The space agency is also planning a mission to Europa, which may launch as early as 2022. It hopes to find out whether the icy moon is habitable. Gibraltar-born Carneiro is still facing employment tribunal later this year Former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro attended as guest of the Gibraltar FA Gibraltar were beaten 5-0 by Latvia in an international friendly on Tuesday Eva Carneiro was back in a football stadium on Tuesday night as the former Chelsea doctor took in Gibraltar's 5-0 defeat by Latvia. Gibraltar-born Carneiro was a guest of her hometown's Football Association for the international friendly at the 5,000-seat Victoria Stadium. She remains locked in an employment tribunal with Chelsea and their former manager Jose Mourinho having failed to reach an agreement over personal damages following her departure from the club last year. Former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro was in the stands for Gibraltar's 5-0 home defeat by Latvia on Tuesday Carneiro seemed to be in good spirit as she enjoyed watching the international friendly at the Victoria Stadium Carneiro was back in her hometown as she awaits progress of her tribunal with Chelsea later this year But despite the difficulties she has experienced this season, the 42-year-old seemed in good spirits at a venue that would usually represent a place of work for her. Carneiro is suing Chelsea for constructive dismissal, with the two parties currently trying to thrash out an agreement before a public tribunal is set to commence in June. The former Blues doctor and her one-time employers were described as being 'far apart financially' following six-and-a-half-hour discussions earlier this month. Against West Ham last weekend Chelsea physio Jon Fearn has made a first return to the dugout since he and Carneiro were labelled 'naive' by Mourinho. He had not been with the squad on match days since he and Carneiro ran on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard back in August during a match against Swansea. Mourinho, who was sacked in December, was furious and criticised the pair for their actions, but they received widespread support, particularly from the medical profession. Carneiro is suing Chelsea for constructive dismissal, with the two parties trying to thrash out an agreement Physio Jon Fearn (right) and Carneiro were labelled 'naive' by Jose Mourinho as Chelsea drew with Swansea Minnows Gibraltar held Latvia in the first half of Tuesday night's friendly but conceded five times after the half-time break to crumble to a heavy defeat. Metz midfielder Janis Ikaunieks scored the first and last goals in the first minute of the second half and later in the 84th. He told MailOnline that terrorists can learn airport security like a script Says that all too often the focus is on finding something rather than 'intent' Airport security should focus on behavioural analysis and not 'throwing things in bins' to prevent another 9/11, a security expert has warned. Aviation security consultant Philip Baum said that checks have become 'too predictable' allowing potential terrorists to learn a 'script' for getting through them. He stressed that intelligence-led approaches are vital to stay ahead of those intent on mass murder. To prevent another 9/11 airport security should be focussed on behavioural analysis and not 'throwing things in bins', a security expert has warned Baum told MailOnline Travel: 'I think we are doing a pretty good job with current security measures, and it's probably as good as it gets in terms of staff recruitment, numbers and technology. 'However, I think the question that needs asking is whether we are using the right approach globally. Everything is very much focussed on items, rather than the individual.' He continued: 'Security as we currently have it looks good, with the scanners and X-ray machines, it all looks sophisticated. Aviation security consultant Philip Baum (pictured) said that airport security checks have become 'too predictable' 'But is it too much of a show? We have restrictions on liquids, aerosols, gels so that we can limit potentially dangerous items, yet these are just tossed into a big bin in the middle of the airport. How dangerous can they be? 'You've also got to ask the question "how often have we actually found something through the screening process?''' Baum says that the 9/11 attacks can be used to show the limitations of checkpoint security procedures. It is believed, he pointed out, that the hijackers passed through security with knives that were supposed to be restricted and planned and acted out the entire process, from check-in and boarding to how they would crash the planes. Baum, who edits Aviation Security International, added: 'Richard Reid failed to detonate the bombs in his shoes on the plane after getting through security, and that was just by luck in 2001. 'Then there was the underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who again had got the explosive on board but it failed to detonate in 2009. 'I think we need to use a much more intelligence-led approach. All the money is being thrown at the screening and check process, but I believe it's vital we implement proper profiling and use behavioural analysis for security.' SHOULD THERE BE SCREENING AT AIRPORT ENTRANCES TO PREVENT ANOTHER BRUSSELS ATROCITY? The terrorist bombings of the check-in areas at Zaventem Airport left 11 dead, injured hundreds and shocked the world. The question of airport security will again be raised as a result, with many understandably asking why there isn't a layer of screening before passengers reach the check-in desks. MailOnline Travel asked Baum if a new approach to check-in desk security is needed. This was the scene at Brussels Zaventem Airport when two blasts hit at around 7am on Tuesday Do you think airport security should be extended to the entrances in light of what has happened? Heaven forbid. The last thing we need are extra checkpoints, or should I say chokepoints. The last thing we need is a fresh target. We need to do security on the move. What could the Brussels terror bombing mean for airport security? Hopefully nothing which will further inconvenience the flying public. We can never guarantee security, we can only take measures to reduce our exposure, and I believe that behavioural analysis is one such measure, which can be applied in all areas of the airport, while people are on the move. It is a process which addresses the various attacks which have been realised in the last 12 months - that threat posed by a suicidal pilot (Andreas Lubitz, Germanwings), the threat posed by an airport insider (Somalia) and the threat posed by a front-of-house attack. Passengers and workers sit in shock following the blasts, while some were quick to phone loved ones What lessons, if any, can be learned? We have long spoken about a front-of-house attack, but been reluctant to embrace the measures which best protect against it. Intel is obviously of primary importance - and we actually have a pretty good record in that respect. especially in UK. But on the ground, broad deployment of behavioural analysts and canine units would help, without hindering passenger flow and helping make the security process far less predictable. Advertisement Baum said: 'We have restrictions on liquids, aerosols, gels so that we can limit potentially dangerous items, yet these are just tossed into a big bin in the middle of the airport. How dangerous can they be?' THE CASE FOR BEHAVIOURAL ANALYSIS ACROSS THE BOARD The Mogadishu suicide bomber and the Metrojet bombing have highlighted a worrying threat from the inside. Reports and investigations following the two incidents - Daallo Airlines Flight 159 in Somalia where a passenger took explosives on board and detonated killing himself, and the bomb in the cargo-hold of a Metrojet plane that led to the deaths of 224 in the Sinai Penisula - show that help could have come from a worker or workers in the airports. Philip Baum is keen for staff as well as passengers to be the subject of character assessment and behavioural analysis. Dai Whittingham, chief executive of the UK Flight Safety Council, said: 'The lesson from MetroJet and Mogadishu is that the system can be circumvented by people working airside at some airports. 'The UK and others put a great deal of time and effort into testing and closing off physical security loopholes, but it would be unreasonable to expect the same level of effort at, say, an African regional airport where one of the hazards is wildlife on the runway. 'Security does need to get better, but that is also likely to mean longer check-in times.' Advertisement Baum says profiling is used in certain countries around the world, citing Israel's El Al airline as being a key player in using the technique. The airline trains its workers in psychological observations techniques, and then adds this procedure into the security process. As well as behaviour being monitored before going through screening, workers will question passengers about all aspects of their booking and journey. While Baum acknowledges that not every aspect of El Al's procedures would be practical globally, he believes the common sense side of it should be adapted widely. He said: 'We need to realise that security is about so much more than just the checkpoint, than just confiscating items because they are on a list. 'We need to focus much more on the intent.' Baum said that introducing questioning and character analysis makes the procedure unpredictable, something potential terrorists don't like. And he refutes that this would mire airports in racial profiling controversy. He said: 'Customs and immigration in some parts of the world do this regularly, albeit normally after the plane has landed, so why not do it before? 'I completely reject that it is not possible to do this because of racial profiling. Let me make this absolutely clear, I disagree with any procedure that would even hinge on anything like that. 'But for me profiling is not about racial profiling, and should not be seen as politically incorrect.' Dai Whittingham, chief executive of the UK Flight Safety Council agrees that profiling should be seen as advantageous to airport security. 'Profiling of passengers is an important part of the security process as it helps to identify those whose behaviour could be indicating ill intent,' he told MailOnline Travel. 'It is not fool proof, but it does work. Perhaps if it had been in place at Mogadishu [a passenger took explosives on board in a laptop] the suicide bomber may have been intercepted.' Philip Baum is the author of 'Violence in the Skies: a history of aircraft hijacking and bombing', published by Summersdale, available to buy on Amazon. A pensioner whose wife of 50 years died on a cruise returned home to find bills from the holiday firm totalling 4,000 for medical expenses, bar drinks and internet - but no message of condolence. John Nicholas, 75, booked the trip from Australia to New Zealand with his wife Diane, 74, as their 'first big adventure' of retirement. But Mrs Nicholas died three days after banging her leg and rupturing a blood vessel during a lifeboat drill despite the best efforts of medical staff. John Nicholas holds a photograph of him with his wife, before she tragically died after rupturing a blood vessel during a lifeboat drill Mr Nicholas, a former security adviser, had to organise a post-mortem examination and three flights needed to repatriate his wife's body. When he finally returned home to Great Malvern, Worcestershire, Mr Nicholas was sent e-mails from Princess Cruises demanding 135 for bar drinks, staff tips and internet. A month later a bill for 3,750 arrived addressed to his wife for medical expenses on the day of her death. He also found an e-mail in his inbox welcoming his wife home, as well as requests to fill out customer satisfaction surveys for the three-month trip The message read: 'Dear Diane, welcome home! We hope you enjoyed exploring the world... to help you Come Back New.' John Nicholas, 75, booked the trip from Australia to New Zealand with his wife Diane, 74, on the Diamond Princess as their 'first big adventure' of retirement Even as Mr Nicholas asked them to end the 'totally shambolic state of affairs', the 'distressing' emails to his wife just kept coming. The firm has since apologised, refunded the 108 for internet and staff tips, and admitted the bills should never have been sent in the first place. But it was only last week when the Daily Mail contacted Princess Cruises that Mr Nicholas was told the 3,750 bill would be waived. 'I think it's disgraceful,' he said. 'They said they wouldn't discuss anything with me until the inquiry was over but until this week I hadn't heard anything from them. I wonder why!' Mr Nicholas says that the demands for money have upset him and his family. 'The organisation has totally inadequate systems to deal with tragic circumstances,' he said. Mr Nicholas described the handling of his wife's death by Princess Cruises as a 'totally shambolic state of affairs' 'How low and petty could they get to charge us for four days' tips for staff. On one of those days my wife died, and the fourth day we were off the ship. It was distressing and not just for me but also for my family. 'One would have thought that some person would have had the gumption to ensure that the 'Welcome Home' automated message did not go out.' The bills for internet and drinks on board the luxury 3,770-capacity Diamond Princess were for services the couple did not even use. One internet package and some of the bar bills were for the days following Mrs Nicholas's death. Mr Nicholas said: 'It just shows that the company has no respect whatsoever and is purely motivated by profit. 'They never apologised, I have never had a written apology and we only had a letter of condolence when I told them I hadn't had one. 'I paid off her first medical bill when she first bumped her leg. But they also sent me an email for an internet package that I didn't use.' The coroner's hearing into Mrs Nicholas's death finished two weeks ago. The couple were looking forward to a long retirement travelling the world, having downsized into a smaller home. They met when they were 16 and got married six years later. Mrs Nicholas worked as a receptionist while her husband was a security adviser. In their retirement they had planned to travel to cultures they had not experienced, with Singapore and Japan high on their list. A Princess Cruises spokesman said: 'Princess Cruises is very sorry that Mrs Nicholas died while onboard one of our ships and we have every sympathy with her family. 'Mr Nicholas should not have received these emails and bills, for which we apologise. 'We ensured any bills were cancelled as soon as this was brought to our attention. Air travel has become more and more sophisticated over the years, but there's one thing passengers can't do yet - choose who they sit near. One traveller on a flight from Houston to Boston will no doubt be praying this will one day be possible after his in-flight movie was rudely interrupted by a fellow passenger's bushy ponytail. Clearly unhappy with her own block of space on the flight, the female had flicked her hair back over the chair and was letting it hang over the screen behind. Congrats to the ponytailed young woman in seat 22B. You've invented a whole new way to be awful at 35,000 feet. pic.twitter.com/VWTPMI5JrM Dante Ramos (@danteramos) March 29, 2016 Boston Globe columnist Dante Ramos was travelling next to the two passengers concerned and posted a picture of the incident on Twitter. It was captioned: 'Congrats to the ponytailed young woman in seat 22B. 'You've invented a whole new way to be awful at 35,000 feet.' The image then promptly went viral with more than 7,000 retweets in under 24 hours. Many on the social media site suggested that the person sitting behind the offending ponytail should cut it off. Others advised mixing up the hair with a drink or some well-placed chewing gum. One user thought that the ponytail had a practical use - that the passenger could use it to pull himself out of the chair. Thousands of Twitter users offered solutions for the problem that included dipping the offending hair in a drink or chopping it off But Ramos intervened later, explaining that the passenger did move her hair from the back of the seat after being made aware of the situation. He said: 'For the record: After marveling for a bit at her obliviousness, we got her attention. She moved it.' The young woman isn't the only aeroplane customer to be shamed on the internet for bad flight habits. Read on to see some of the worst offenders... Just plain rude: This rogue foot belongs to a woman who clearly has no concept of personal space A sticky subject: It's not the first place most people would think of to dispose of old chewing gum You can leave your Crocs on: This passenger's dirt-splattered feet look more Mordor than pedicure Discarded: A dirty nappy, an empty baby food jar and scattered litter left by passengers after a flight One very relaxed passenger was snapped airing their trotters, much to the annoyance of other travellers This dramatic video shows passenger planes battling fierce crosswinds on landing and take-off as Storm Katie raged. The incredible footage was filmed at Dusseldorf Airport in Germany and shows planes thrown left and right in the winds. Some bounce from wheel to wheel as they hit the tarmac in conditions that caused delays and cancellations throughout Europe. Scroll down for more video Terrifying: There were no easy landings for planes at Dusseldorf Airport as Storm Katie took a grip on Germany The video, which was shared on YouTube by aviation enthusiast Cargospotter, shows incoming aircraft struggling to maintain a straight line, while planes flying out rise off the tarmac in dramatic fashion. Writing alongside the clip, the user says: 'Storm Katie reached wind speeds up to 60 miles an hour and the wind was coming from south/east, which caused a 90 degrees 'wind attack' angle for the planes. 'Some airplanes which tried to land at Paris CDG or London Heathrow had to divert to other airports because the wind was way to strong.' But some visitors to the runway weren't put off by the blustery conditions. As one plane comes in to make a rocky landing, three rabbits are filmed scampering across the tarmac just seconds before the wheels touch down. The planes in the footage include an Airbus A340-600, Airbus A380, Airbus A330, Airbus A320, Boeing 737, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777 and ERJ-170. Dramatic: The footage shared on YouTube shows incoming aircraft struggling to maintain a straight line Nerve-shredding: Planes were thrown left and right in the winds as the pilots utilised all their skills in landing Earlier in the week passengers from Britain told of terrifying ordeals on planes trying to land in Storm Katie. Dan Prance, 27, from south London, branded his trip back from Budapest the 'worst flight of my life' and said passengers were so relieved when they finally touched down that many burst into tears. He told the Press Association: 'When we approached into Gatwick from Budapest the plane was dropping suddenly and swinging left to right. You could see from the windows there was a massive storm happening outside, the wind and rain was smashing against the glass. 'We got closer to the ground at Gatwick until the captain suddenly aborted the landing and we went shooting back up into the sky to attempt again. 'The captain came on the PA system and explained that the winds were way too strong for this kind of plane to land and he had to abort the landing at the last moment for safety. It was absolutely terrifying.' Fear factor: This plane makes a bouncy landing, touching down on the left-hand set of wheels first Tough conditions: Winds reached speeds of up to 60mph at Dusseldorf Airport this week He said the plane circled for 'a further bumpy hour' as air traffic control tried to find space at Stansted for them. They were eventually diverted to Birmingham. Mr Prance, who works in TV, said: 'People then began being ill and sick. We eventually landed complete with a full round of applause and people crying and then discovered that we had in fact touched down in Birmingham. 'The whole ordeal was horrendous.' More than 100 flights in and out of Gatwick and Heathrow were cancelled or diverted because of the bad weather. Flights were delayed and some cancelled at many airports throughout Europe during storm Katie As this plane comes in to land at Dusseldorf, three rabbits make a daring run across the tarmac This image shows how pilots put aircraft in a 'crab' position during an approach in strong winds Arnon Woolfson, 46, was flying back to Gatwick with his wife and two children from a wedding in Tel Aviv when their plane was hit by the storm. He said: 'The plane was descending and at the very last minute as we came down it pulled up. It was clearly not going to plan. 'The plane was not just going up and down, it was going sideways. There were a lot of crosswinds - it was a mess. 'There was zero visibility and really, really heavy wind and rain.' He added: 'There was a lot of silence - there was no screaming but a lot of uncertainty. Everyone was dumbfounded and didn't know how to react.' They were eventually diverted to Birmingham. Many passengers took to social media to share their terrifying experiences on planes during Storm Katie Speaking to MailOnline, BALPA Flight Safety Specialist and former pilot Stephen Landells said: 'These videos highlight the skill and knowledge pilots use to ensure every flight is safe for the travelling public. 'Pilots undertake regular training throughout their careers and this is put in to practice on every single flight. They are thoroughly drilled in how to safely perform crosswind take-offs and landings and use this training and experience to complete these manoeuvres safely. 'Landing in strong crosswinds or turbulence may go beyond the capabilities of the aeroplanes automatic pilot. 'The captain and first officer are always aware of the limitations of the aircraft and are continuously making decisions about the safety of continuing the approach, right until the wheels touch the ground. 'This is a good example of why a pilot should be alert and free from fatigue when landing, and be given every opportunity to develop excellent handling skills.' And Dai Whittingham, the chief executive of the UK Flight Safety Committee, stated that while crosswinds appear dangerous, they are an everyday occurrence. He said: 'High winds in themselves are not dangerous but they can certainly be inconvenient, especially if the wind direction is across the runway. 'All pilots train to land in high crosswind conditions and will have practiced to the aircraft limits in the simulator. 'When any new aircraft is certified to carry passengers it comes with a published crosswind limit which is the maximum that has been demonstrated by a test pilot during the certification process. 'If the wind is outside that limit the crew will have to take the aircraft to an alternate airport where the wind is within limits (which means a runway that has less of a crosswind component). Britains first museum dedicated to human and animal excrement has opened at the Isle of Wight Zoo. The National Poo Museum features 18 samples of faeces, ranging from a human baby to an adult lion making it one of the most unusual tourist attractions in the world. Each dried sample, including a piece of cat poo in a childs shoe, is displayed in a glass orb that can be illuminated with the push of a button. There are 18 samples of human and animal faeces on display at the museum, which is currently on loan Human baby excrement is one of the exhibits at the new National Poo Museum at the Isle of Wight Zoo The National Poo Museum is the brainchild of Daniel Roberts (pictured holding lion excrement) The National Poo Museum's exhibits include a specimen believed to be 38million years old, a poo with teeth and bones in it, and faeces that look like cereal bars. They include samples from an owl, meerkats, pigeon, cow, fox and human adult. While it may seem like a revolting display, the National Poo Museum is intended to inform visitors about human and animal health and well-being, sewer systems and the use of excrement as an energy source. It aims to change the way people think and feel about faeces, and its creators believe it is the first of its kind in the world. Faeces from a fox (left) and meerkats (right) are among the samples contained in glass orbs The museum is intended to inform visitors about human and animal health (pictured: pigeon excrement) The group has built a special excrement drying machine to desiccate each sample before it is encapsulated. The alternative museum is currently on loan to the Sandown zoo as part of a temporary show called Poo at the Zoo. It is the brainchild of Daniel Roberts, an inventor and social entrepreneur from the Isle of Wight, and was created by the artists collective Eccleston George. The group has built a special excrement drying machine to desiccate each sample before it is encapsulated. Depending on the type and size of the sample it can take anywhere from a day to several weeks. The aeroplane was at Changshui International Airport bound for Hangzhou The tyre was changed and another round of inspections was conducted Fliers were taken off the Capital Airlines jet and delayed for three hours A passenger on Flight JD5158 noticed one of the plane's tyres had deflated Passengers boarding a domestic flight in a Chinese airport had to be evacuated from a flight after one eagle-eyed traveller noticed that the aeroplane had a flat tyre. The incident is said to have caused quite a scare for those already on the aircraft and those preparing to board the flight, as many believed the airline company, Beijing Capital Airlines, had not thoroughly done its routine safety checks. Reports said the Capital Airlines flight parked on the tarmac at Kunming Changshui International Airport, in Kunming, capital of south-west China's Yunnan Province, was already boarding when the damaged tyre was spotted on Monday. Passengers boarding a domestic flight in a Chinese airport had to be evacuated from a flight after one eagle-eyed traveller noticed that the aeroplane had a flat tyre Capital Airlines, which is a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines and is based in the Chinese capital, issued an apology on Chinese social network Weibo One passenger queueing to ascend the stairs to the aircraft noticed that the large tyre was completely deflated, and he immediately informed one of the flight attendants managing the passengers. Flight JD5158 bound for Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, was then delayed and evacuated after the cabin crew member informed the captain. Startled passengers were ushered back into the airport terminal, where they were reportedly asked to wait for three hours while the tyre was changed and another round of safety inspections was conducted. A female flier uploaded an image of the flat tyre to Chinese social network Weibo, explaining the incident. She said: 'The passengers getting on later saw that a tyre was flat on the left hand side. It was completely empty so they asked the staff on the plane. 'Then the air hostess told us all to get off the plane, telling us they need to change the tyre. 'I dont know whether to be happy or sad. Airline company made us go through several security checks and then the plane is like this. Life is so fragile.' A female flier uploaded an image of the flat tyre to her Weibo, explaining that the air hostess told all passengers to get off the plane so they could change it The Capital Airlines flight was parked on the tarmac at Kunming Changshui International Airport (pictured) when the drama unfolded Flight JD5158 bound for Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, was heavily delayed atKunming Changshui International Airport (pictured) Reports did not mention whether the passengers were compensated for the ordeal, which is said to have left several flyers upset and startled, and complaining on their social media accounts. Capital Airlines, which is a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines and is based in the Chinese capital, issued an apology on its Weibo account. The statement read: 'During pre-flight checks in Kunming, engineer staff found damage to the left interior wheel on the Capital Airlines flight B6869 / JD5158 from Kunming to Hangzhou. 'They immediately informed the relevant parties and changed the type. 'Passengers were required to exit the plane according to normal procedures to start security checks again. 'Thank you for the concern for Capital Airlines from the media and the public. We welcome future support for Capital Airlines.' Earlier this month an EasyJet flight from Geneva was aborted moments before take-off after a passenger spotted a spanner still attached to the wing It is not the first time a passenger has noticed a potentially dangerous situation seconds before take-off. Earlier this month an EasyJet flight from Geneva was aborted moments before take-off after a passenger spotted a spanner still attached to the wing. The packed passenger jet had already taxied to the runway when the 25-year-old Swiss man saw the tool wedged between the flaps, which are raised or lowered to alter the lift of the aircraft. He alerted cabin crew and the pilot immediately returned to the terminal so the adjustable monkey wrench could be removed. And in January a passenger captured the shocking moment fuel began leaking out of a plane's engine as it taxied to the runway for take-off. The Flybe plane was making its way to the runway at Aberdeen Airport, bound for Birmingham, when fuel began to drip onto the tarmac. He's the Hollywood heartthrob who gushes about his wife every chance he gets. And on Wednesday at the white carpet premiere for his new film Eddie The Eagle in Melbourne, Hugh Jackman revealed his daily mantra, which has led to 20 years of wedded bliss with Deborra-Lee Furness. When asked by Sunrise's Edwina Bartholomew if, like the Olympic Games, he has a slogan to live by, the 47-year-old replied: 'Just have a go...and the other one, most important one, is drummed into me every single day, "happy wife, happy life". Scroll down for video 'Happy wife, happy life': Hugh Jackman revealed his daily mantra on the white carpet at the premiere of Eddie The Eagle in Melbourne on Tuesday, crediting it to 20 years of wedded bliss with wife Deborra-Lee Furness The screen and stage star then giggled before making it clear it's a tried and tested motto, adding: 'We're about to celebrate our 20th [anniversary]'. At the preview Hugh greeted hundreds of fans who had cued up to see him and snap a selfie but the Wolverine star has his number one fan by his side, as he walked the white carpet with his wife, Deb. The 60-year-old actress wore top-to-toe black with a cropped trouser ensemble, paired with a high-neck top, tuxedo-style blazer and wedge slides. Meanwhile, Hugh looked dapper in a tailored navy suit with a black polo-shirt underneath and dressed up with high-shine shoes. 'We're about to celebrate our 20th': Indicating it's a tried and tested motto, the 47-year-old pointed out he and the 60-year-old actress are set to celebrate their 20th anniversary next month 'It's been drummed into me every day': The Hollywood heartthrob made the admission with a cheeky smirk when asked by Sunrise's Edwina Bartholomew if like the Olympics, he had a slogan he lived by This isn't the first time the 2008 People magazine Sexiest Man Alive has spoken about the couple's impending milestone anniversary. Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in April, the Les Miserable star said: 'She's the greatest thing that ever happened to me and it gets better and better.' Adding: 'And I'm kind of really grateful that I met [her] before anything kind of happened because everything that's happened in my career and on screen, off screen - we've always done it together.' Blast from the past: Hugh and Deborra married in 1996 after meeting on the set of their show Correlli in 1995 and will be celebrating their milestone anniversary in April 'Once upon a time': The actor told Ellen DeGeneres on her show last month about how he met his now wife while on his first job and ignored when he realised he had a crush The couple met on the set of Australian TV drama Correlli and married a year later in 1996. Since then, the PAN actor has regularly praised his wife in interviews and shared flashback photos on social media from the 90s. Although, Deborra isn't as much of a fan of the throwback images, admitting on The Project last November: 'I get grumpy when he puts bad ones up'. Happily ever after: Hugh also spoke about how he is glad the couple met before this fame went to the next level as it means they've done everything together on and off screen (Pictured in Los Angeles in January) The couple have two children Oscar, 15, and Ava, 10, who were both adopted in the US after the couple struggled to adopt in Australia. Since their experience, the couple have used their celebrity in recent years to push for changes to the adoption process in Australia through their foundation Adopt Change. The couple are currently back home as Hugh continues to promote Eddie The Eagle in Australia but it's not known if they will celebrate their anniversary Down Under or in the US. BFFs Kendall Jenner and Hailey Baldwin kept it low-key when they stepped out in New York on Tuesday. The models were very much in tune as they wore similar skintight leather-look pants with hoodies as they met up for a trip to a puppy store. Kendall, 20, was seen in a baggy blue hoodie and denim jacket emblazoned with 'Pablo' on the back while Hailey, 19, opted for a grey bomber jacket over a black Vetements top. Scroll down for video Off-duty outfits: Kendall Jenner and Hailey Baldwin rocked casual chic with leather-look pants as they stepped out in New York on Tuesday The duo headed into Citipups where Hailey fell in love with an adorable Corgi pup. The blonde beauty - who is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and his wife, designer Kennya - sat petting her new furry friend as Kendall shopped for accessories. Hailey wore her locks in a neat bun and appeared to be make-up free for the outing. Kendall meanwhile wore her glossy locks down and covered up in stylish shades, adding a pair of black Sandro boots, and her favourite accessory, a fluffy Givenchy handbag, to complete the look. See more on Kendall Jenner as she and Hailey Baldwin shop for puppies in NYC Shopping for a furry friend? The ladies headed to Citipups where Hailey was spotted petting a cute Corgi puppy Cuddles: The blonde beauty seemed totally smitten with the pup Got it on camera! The E! star, who was wearing a pair of black Sandro boots, snapped a picture of the heartwarming moment Having a blast: The catwalk favourite laughed as she chatted with two male pals Perusing: The KUWTK star shopped the accessories in the store The girls were joined by two male friends in the pet store who appeared to making Kendall giggle at one point. Meanwhile Kendall and her sister Kylie, 18, have been taking a stand against the new updates to Instagram. 'Dont fix something that isnt broken,' Kendall, who has 52.6 million Instagram followers, tweeted. Her sister Kylie agreed - adding: 'This whole Instagram update is just so down the line you'll have to pay Instagram to be at the top of the feed.' I want that dog! Hailey chatted with someone about the pup So cute! Kendall checked out some of the other dogs in the Citipup store which also has a puppy day care Keeping it low-key: The 20-year-old catwalk star sported leather-look leggings and boots with a baggy hoodie Meanwhile on her paid-for website KendallJ.com, she explained how difficult it was to wear a blonde wig during the Balmain show at Paris Fashion Week. 'I was sweating so badly because they make you crazy hot,' wrote Kendall. 'It was like wearing a beanie to go dancing! 'At the end of the night, I just ripped it off, which I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do.' Trusty denim: The reality star-turned-model covered up in a jean jacket to keep out the chill Low maintenence: Kendall wore her glossy brunette locks loose Kendall's jacket was emblazoned with the word 'Pablo' - the name of brother-in-law Kanye West's upcoming album Kendall was recently praised by Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld - for whom she has walked numerous Fashion Week catwalks - for not allowing her head to get turned by her success. Speaking to a special edition of Vogue magazine dedicated to the 'Keeping Up With the Kardashian' star - who began her modelling career at the age of 14 - Karl said: 'She is a very sweet person, very caring and not at all spoiled by those superficial successes. I must say I love her.' Kendall spent time with family and friends at home in Los Angeles over the Easter weekend following her globe-trotting winter tour of the fashion weeks over February and March. Twinning! Kendall's pal Hailey, 19, wore a similar look, leather and a hoodie Trendy layers: The daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin donned a grey bomber jacket over a hoodie She gave birth to her first bundle of joy just over three months ago, and new mother Michelle Bridges is clearly revelling in the first glow of motherhood. The Biggest Loser Australia star - who welcomed baby Axel into the world with partner Steve 'Commando' Willis in December - could not resist the urge to share a cute Instagram snap of her little tot on Wednesday. In the close-up shot, the 45-year-old can be seen radiating a gorgeous glow as she beams with pride in front of the camera lens. Scroll down for video 'Joy': New mother Michelle Bridges could not resist the urge to share a cute Instagram snap of her little tot, baby Axel, on Wednesday Alongside various sweet emojis, Michelle simply captioned the adorable picture, Joy! Preened perfectly, the TV star wore her golden-tinted tresses in luscious waves, while her facial features were highlighted with taupe eyewear and subtly tinted cheeks. Her baby boy, who was dressed in a black and white striped outfit, gently tugged Michelles long hair as he gazed towards the camera. Strong bond: The Biggest Loser Australia star welcomed baby Axel into the world with partner Steve 'Commando' Willis in December Meanwhile, the fitness buff often takes to social media to document her active lifestyle, which she manages to maintain alongside the taxing commitments that come with being a new mother. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail Australia earlier this month, Michelle said Axel enjoys coming along to her training sessions. 'He comes to training, but not every time, she confessed. 'But definitely when we go out outdoors. We go on big long walks together. He has been to the gym with me a few times and he quit likes it.' On the run: The fitness buff, 45, often takes to social media to document her active lifestyle, which she manages to maintain alongside the taxing commitments that come with being a new mother Michelle recently came under criticism during her pregnancy, with some accusing the expectant mother of pushing her workouts too far. Defending her decision to maintain an intense exercise regime, she previously told 2DayFM's Rove and Sam that she believed being pregnant was 'all the more reason' to stay fit. The latest addition to her family is Commando's fourth as he has two children, Ella, six, and Jack, three, who he shares with his ex Froso, and older daughter Brianna, 17, from a previous relationship. She pulled on heart strings earlier this month after she revealed she pasted her license test in her late father Steve Irwin's old car. Now it has been reported Bindi, 17, has been offered a variety of free vehicles from numerous Australian companies since her big day. According to the Daily Telegraph numerous organisations have reached out to the Wildlife Warrior in a bid to make her their latest ambassador. Scroll down for video Nothing speaks like a free car! Bindi Irwin has reportedly been offered a variety of free vehicles from numerous Australian companies since passing her license test last week The publish report stated Iconic Australian brand Holden have expressed their interest in the Dancing With The Stars US winner since she received her P-plates. 'Everyone knows and loves Bindi and of course we would love to see her in a Holden maybe an Astra, Spark or Trax which are perfect for young drivers,' a spokesperson from the well-established company told the press. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Bindi's representative as well as Holden and Mazda for comment. Luxury: According to the Daily Telegraph numerous organisations have reached out to the Wildlife Warrior in a bid to make her their latest ambassador Last Wednesday the starlet shared her excitement at passing her Provisional driver's licence test in the Crocodile Hunter's old car across social media. Holding her new P-plate to the camera in a shot posted to Instagram, Bindi beamed with pride, telling fans: 'It was wonderful to take my test in St George and pass the first time and in my Dad's giant old ute!' Taking the driving test in Queensland, the teenager also thanked the officer who tested her and posed alongside him in the photo. Nice touch: A spokesperson from Holden told the publication: 'Everyone knows and loves Bindi and of course we would love to see her in a Holden maybe an Astra (pictured) or Trax which are perfect for young drivers' Strangely though, it seems the TV personality opted to do her exam far from Australia Zoo, with St George located a six hour drive away. Fans were quick to congratulate the teenager, who was dressed in a double denim ensemble for the outing. 'Good on you @bindisueirwin your Dad is smiling from Heaven and proud as punch,' one fan wrote. While another commented: 'I know your family is very proud of you. Your dad is in heaven bragging on his incredible daughter.' Top of her game! Last Wednesday the starlet shared her excitement at passing her Provisional driver's licence test However, one noted there might be another very happy member of the family, Bindi's younger brother, saying: 'Robert will be thrilled to have you chauffeur him around!' It's believe the youngster's driving test was to be shortly after her 17th birthday last year but was pushed back due to her US Dancing With The Stars commitments - a reality TV competition she later won. Last August the brunette beauty spoke of her nerves for her upcoming test, confessing to Sunday Style magazine: 'Im terrified. I dont know if Im going to [pass] the first time, but Ill try my best'. 'Pass the first time and in my Dad's giant old ute!' The teenager made sure her late father, Steve Irwin, was somehow involved in the special moment by using his old ute Bindi got her learner's licence on her 16th Birthday in July 2014, as soon as she reached the minimum driving age in Queensland. Proudly holding up a yellow learner plate in a photo posted to Instagram at the time, Bindi excitedly shared the news, telling fans: 'It's official! I passed!! 16 is feeling good, hello L plates'. Drivers are required to have held their learners permit for twelve months with 100 hours of on-road driving in their logbook, including ten hours of night driving, before they can apply for their provisional licence. Channel Nine bosses will have their finger on the bleep button as the new series of M-rated reality show Married At First Sight is bumped to an earlier time slot. After the rock-bottom ratings of Reno Rumble forced the network to switch their primetime schedule, TV fans will now be exposed to the controversial program BEFORE the 9pm watershed. A Nine spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph this week: 'We will be bleeping out material that is not (suitable) for a 7.30 audience', when the show will be broadcast. Scroll down for video Tensions running high: Channel Nine bosses confirmed they will censor upcoming episodes of Married At First Sight, which was recently bumped from a 9pm to 7.30pm time slot following Reno Rumble's ratings disaster This week, it was announced that Reno Rumble - after gaining just 370,000 viewers against My Kitchen Rules' 1.5million on rivals Network Seven - would be dropped from the 7:30pm time slot. Married at First Sight - which was previously scheduled for a 9pm start due to its adult themes and language - will now kick off in the traditionally family-friendly primetime slot. And Channel Nine has confirmed that they will be censoring the controversial show - which contains swearing and language of a sexual nature. What will they cut out? The show's trailer includes tears and tantrums - but now that some 'material' is being 'bleeped' due to the pre-watershed broadcast, it remains to be seen how censorship will affect the final product Ratings success: After averaging an audience of 1.19 million viewers an episode across the first season last year, Network Nine will no doubt have high hopes for the returning Married At First Sight Disasters? The upcoming series promos show some less-than-ecstatic brides on their 'wedding' days Last year's series notoriously featured four-letter arguments between participants Clare Tamas and Lachlan McAleer - who split acrimoniously shortly after their TV 'wedding'. Married At First Sight sees four 'couples' matched by dating experts who meet as strangers at the altar for a commitment ceremony - but not a legally binding marriage. It is unknown if additional content, besides bleeping unsuitable language, will be censored from the primetime broadcast. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Nine representatives for comment. Happiest day of their lives? Channel Nine has confirmed that they will be censoring the reality show - which contains swearing and language of a sexual nature Heath Ledger's father Kim has spoken out about the heartache the family still feel for the late Hollywood actor while hinting at a possible biopic in his son's honour. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the 66-year-old explained he and his relatives were still 'pretty sensitive' to any issue which surrounds the Australian heartthrob. 'It's a little bit difficult for us,' he said. One day: The late Heath Ledger's father Kim has spoken out about the heartache the family still feel years after his death while hinting at a possible biopic in his son's honour The father of the Hollywood actor went on to add that he may consider allowing a biopic to be created on behalf of Heath in the future. 'Heath was a pretty quiet individual so [a biopic] is not something we'd really be interested in participating in,' Kim explained to the publication. 'I have no doubt somebody will do something one day but when the timing for that is right, I don't know when that will be.' Touching: In his latest interview the 66-year-old explained he and his relatives were still 'pretty sensitive' to any issue which surrounds the Australian heartthrob Kim opened up about his son's death last year where he explained their last phone call during an interview with ABC News. 'Basically, Heath was complaining about not being able to sleep, because he was busy, he was meeting Steven Spielberg the next morning, he really needed to be bright and shiny and he was finding it difficult with a chest cold, or the chest infection to sleep,' Kim said. 'So [his sister] Kate was saying to him, "well Heath, you can't take you know, sleeping tablets on top of prescription medication, you know its not a good mixture." And he sort of said, "Katie, Katie, look...it'll be fine, you know, I just need to get some sleep". Sometime soon: Kim went on to add that he may consider allowing a biopic to be created on behalf of Heath, 'one day but when the timing for that is right, I don't know when that will be' 'Well they are really the last words we ever heard from Heath. Or at least, the last words that Kate heard. So, it was a terrible shock to us. I mean, he literally went to sleep.' Heath's death in 2008 made international headlines. The late actor was just 28-years-old when he was found dead in New York. He died suddenly after suffering from an accidental overdose of prescription medication. One of his last films was The Dark Knight, which he later was awarded an Academy Award for among other acting honours. The Perth-born actor had welcomed daughter Matilda, now 10, with former partner and actress Michelle Williams in late 2005. He had met Michelle on the set of Brokeback Mountain. With Queen Elizabeth gearing up for the big 9-0 in May, people up and down the country will be celebrating along with her. One of those people is Mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins - who is set to release a special version of the British national anthem in her Majesty's honour. Advertising her musical tribute, the 35-year-old posed outside the Royal Albert Hall in London on Wednesday, wearing a form-fitting, patriotic Union Jack blazer. Scroll down for video British pride: Mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins, 35, posed outside the Royal Albert Hall in London on Wednesday wearing a form-fitting patriotic Union Jack blazer What an honour: The mezzo soprano is set to release a special version of the British national anthem for the Queen Standing on the steps of the Victorian concert hall, the blonde beauty radiated pride as she showed off her figure in a pair of skinny jeans and blue heels which elongated her 5ft 5in frame. The Welsh beauty flashed her pearly whites as her fresh make-up look consisted of pale pink lips and a dusting of blush. The Royal Academy of Music alumni's take on the national anthem is from her new album Celebration, which will be available to download for free from her website for a limited 24 hours from 21 April. To cement her satisfaction further, the mother-of-one will also be performing at the birthday celebrations at Windsor Castle in May. British through and through: The blonde beauty radiated pride as she showed off her figure in a pair of blue wash skinny jeans and black heels which elongated her 5ft 5in frame Simply glowing: The Welsh looker flashed her pearly whites as her fresh make-up look consisted of chiselled cheekbones complete with a dusting of blush She will go on to perform at her own concert at the Royal Albert Hall in June, dedicated to the royal matriarch, with all proceeds going to The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust. Her album will also feature a song called This Mother's Heart - inspired by her new motherly duties to Aaliyah, who was born in September in New York. The other half of her parental duties fall on husband Andrew Levitas, whom she wed at Hampton Court Palace in 2014, following a whirlwind seven-month romance. Guest performer: The mother of one, will also be performing at the birthday celebrations of the year at Windsor Castle in May Good cause: She will go on to perform at her own concert at the Royal Albert Hall in June, dedicated to the royal matriarch- with all proceeds going to The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust Whilst her husband Andrew is an American, Katherine is determined that her daughter will have a stable accent. Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show earlier this month, the bubbly vocalist stated: 'I worry about this all the time because Im very proud of my Welsh accent, Id love her to have a Welsh accent but I wonder if shes going to end up somewhere in the middle. 'If shes going to have one of those transatlantic messed up accents which I dont want her to have.' This concern remains true for Katherine herself who's stated she's had to adapt her accent when she originally moved to London because no one could understand her. She's been with her hunky boyfriend for nearly three years although there's no sign of wedding bells just yet. But Anna Heinrich looked every inch the blushing bride as she posed in an angelic gown on social media. Sharing the snap to Instagram, the 29-year-old sported the heavenly white maxi dress, which featured a halter neck and floral pattern with cut out detail along the flowing hem that fell at her bare feet. Scroll down for video Bridal: Anna Heinrich looked every inch the blushing bride in this wedding-inspired dress as she attend a charity event The stunning blonde wore her hair in loose curls around her face, which featured bronzed cheeks and a light pink gloss over her lips. Although looking suspiciously like a wedding dress, Anna revealed that the ensemble was for a charity event in the caption. 'Got to wear this stunning dress today #loveit #pinkhopeaus #noshoes #pinkhope #pinkypromise,' the lawyer wrote. While partner Tim Robards was nowhere to be seen, Anna was took her two sisters, Andrea and Charlotte along as her dates to the event. Divine: Anna was joined by her two sisters Andrea (L) and Charlotte (C) at the event with the trio looking angelic in their white outfits In another snap from the day posted to Charlotte's Instagram, the three sisters looked divine in white as they posed arm-in-arm for the shot. Tim and Anna found love on the first season of The Bachelor Australia in 2013 and appeared to be going strong until recent rumours that they had been 'living apart' and have since been plagued by talks of a break-up. However despite the whispers, the couple put on a loved-up display over the Easter long weekend, heading away to Keelendi, New South Wales and spending time with family and friends. Bachelor couple Tim Robards, 30, and Anna Heinrich, 29, appeared anything but glitzy as they waded through a muddy lake during an Easter getaway in Keelendi, New South Wales In good company: The new image comes as the blonde lawyer celebrates the Easter holidays with an array of friends and family members The duo documented their holiday across social media for the past several days, including one snap of the pair cuddling up whilst chest-deep in the murky liquid. '#FARMLYF = #MUDDYLIFE @mrtimrobards', wrote Anna beside the picture, posted on Easter Saturday. Anna also shared a barnyard snap where she was joined by a group of her favourite people - amongst them sisters Andrea and Charlotte and Bec and Bridge Sales Director Jordana Sexton. Tim and Anna quashed recent split reports when they joined forces on the red carpet at the Melbourne Fashion Festival earlier this month. She once hatched a nefarious plan to steal little Jack Webster away from his family at all costs. But following her return to the cobbles of Coronation Street Jenny Bradley has turned over a new leaf, and she is set to redeem herself in the eyes of former flame Kevin by saving his son's life. With both the Websters and Jenny in Blackpool on separate trips, it appears that Kevin's former flame is set to cause a stir on the street once-again - but this time in the best possible manner. Scroll down for video Guardian angel: Following her return to the cobbles of Coronation Street Jenny Bradley has turned over a new leaf, and she is set to redeem herself in the eyes of former flame Kevin by saving his son Jack's life Filming scenes on-location in the holiday resort on Wednesday, the cast and crew had an adrenaline-fueled shoot scheduled, as they prepared to stun viewers with an up-coming dramatic rescue. Having decamped to Blackpool for a date with Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley), the down and out cleaner (played Sally Ann Matthews) stumbled across a horrifying scene in the seaside town. With Kevin (Michael Le Vell) preoccupied, and having taken his eye of little Jack, the youngster is left to run wild on the street. Just in the nick of time! With both the Websters and Jenny in Blackpool on separate trips, it appears that Kevin's former flame is set to cause a stir on the street once-again - but this time in the best possible manner A dramatic day: Filming scenes on-location in the holiday resort on Wednesday, the cast and crew had an adrenaline-fueled shoot scheduled, as they prepared to stun viewers with an up-coming dramatic rescue Dressed up as an adorable little pirate for his trip to the bright lights of Blackpool - a favourite destination for the residents of Weatherfield - the youngster appears to have slipped away from the watchful eye of his family. However, disaster looks almost certain to strike as the little boy runs into the path of a tram. The scene is made even more dramatic by the fact Kevin is desperately sprinting to save Jack, but is too late and can only watch as the tram bares down on his beloved only son. Close to disaster? With Kevin (Michael Le Vell) preoccupied, and having taken his eye of little Jack, the youngster is left to run wild on the street Moments to spare: Dressed as a pirate for his trip to the bright lights of Blackpool - a favourite destination for Weatherfield residents - the youngster appears to have slipped away from the watchful eye of his family Too close to call? However, disaster looks almost certain to strike as the little boy runs into the path of a tram Tense: The scene is made more dramatic by the fact Kevin is desperately sprinting to save Jack, but is too late and can only watch as the tram bares down on his beloved only son - while Jenny is left to grab the lad A split-second decision: Luckily Jenny is able to pull the tike out of danger, as she spots the boy by chance - snatching him up into her arms and whipping him out of harms way Luckily Jenny is able to pull the tike out of danger, as she spots the boy by chance - snatching him up into her arms and whipping him out of harms way. Falling to the floor in a heap, Jenny appears completely dazed as she tries to come to terms with what could have happened, while little Jack appears stunned by events. Gingerly edging towards Jenny, Kevin appears in a state of disbelief as he moves to embrace his son - with Jenny looking up at the street's resident mechanic questioning if she has done the right thing. Is everyone ok? Falling to the floor in a heap, Jenny appears completely dazed as she tries to come to terms with what could have happened, while little Jack appears stunned by events Thankful father: Gingerly edging towards Jenny, Kevin appears in a state of disbelief as he moves to embrace his son - with Jenny looking up at the street's resident mechanic questioning if she has done the right thing She's a hero! Clearly shaken up by the near-miss Kevin can't bare to let of Jack, as Johnny helps jenny to her feet and comforts her in her shocked state Saving the day! Jenny was every inch the hero as she helped rescue the tot Clearly shaken up by the near-miss Kevin can't bare to let of Jack, as Johnny helps jenny to her feet and comforts her in her shocked state. And equally relieved with Jenny's surprising heroic feat are the rest of the Webster clan: Sally, Sophie and Tim Metcalfe. However it remains whether the latest Underwold recruit will finally get a fresh-start with the Websters, or whether the tight-knit family will take it as a one-off act. Filming the scenes on the windswept West coast, the cast and crew could be seen inbetween takes wrapped up in thermal jackets and warm clothing. Rehearsing: During rehearsals he threw his everything into the scene while storming across the set before later putting things into action in the full scene Checking he's ok: All the crew were clad in padded warm jackets while they rehearsed Back with the family: And equally relieved with Jenny's surprising heroic feat are the rest of the Webster clan: Sally, Sophie and Tim Metcalfe Safety first: Filming the scenes on the windswept West coast, the cast and crew could be seen inbetween takes wrapped up in thermal jackets and warm clothing Teresa Giudice has thanked fans for their support one week after her husband Joe reported to prison to start his 41-month sentence. The 43-year-old shared an update about how Joe is doing in a video that she recorded for Bravo's The Daily Dish. Speaking from the lobby of the home she and her husband share with their four daughters: Gia, 15, Gabriella, 11, Milania, 10, and six-year-old Audriana, Teresa said: 'I just want to say thank you so much to all my fans out there. Scroll down for video 'We're making it through': Teresa Giudice gave fans an update on how Joe is doing in prison in a video for Bravo's The Daily Dish 'All your love and support means the world to me and my family. It has been a difficult week for us, but we're making it through, thank God.' Teresa went on to say that she had been in contact to Joe and that he was doing as well as he can be behind bars. 'Joe's doing as well as expected. Of course we spoke to him,' she said. 'And I just want to say thank you again from the bottom of my heart for being there, and for all your beautiful tweets.' The Real Housewives Of New Jersey star signed off: 'Love, love, love you from my family to yours.' Saying goodbye: Teresa was pictured kissing Joe goodbye before he left for prison last Wednesday, while the cameras rolled for Real Housewives Of New Jersey Teresa said goodbye to Joe on the morning of March 23 as he left their mansion to begin his prison sentence 90 miles away at the Federal Correction Institute in Fort Dix. The following day, she was pictured looking emotional while making a phone call on a walk near her Montville, New Jersey home. 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. 'It means the world to me and my family': Teresa thanked fans for their love and support in the clip 'Of course we spoke to him': The 43-year-old said Joe is 'doing as well as expected' in Fort Dix, which is 90 miles from her home Teresa was convicted on similar charges 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. In an interview with InTouch, Teresa shared the advice she had given her husband before he headed off to serve time, and how difficult it will be without him at their home. Separated: The reality star's husband began serving his 41-month sentence last week. They are pictured here earlier this month 'Hes my life - Im going to miss him tremendously,' she said. '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.' Family first: The couple were allowed to serve their sentences separately for the benefit of their four daughters: Gia, 15, Gabriella, 11, Milania, 10, and six-year-old Audriana Teresa also spoke about her time in prison, and how it changed her, saying: '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 additionally 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. She released Turning The Tables: From Housewife To Inmate And Back Again last month. Jeremy Clarkson's wife looked to be having a fun time in Barbados at the weekend. Frances Cain, who was married to the TV presenter for 22 years, appeared in a state of total blissful relaxation as she soaked up the sun on the Caribbean island along with her daughter Emily on Saturday. Rocking a vibrant leopard print halter-neck bikini, she showed off her curves as she kicked her way through the surf on the sunny beach. Scroll down for video Wild thing! Frances Cain - Jeremy Clarkson's estranged wife - enjoyed herself on a Barbados getaway on Saturday The blue, pink and black two-piece showed off her ample chest and shapely pins as she walked, while having pulled her blonde locks up into a messy updo so as not to be blown about by the breeze. She also sported a chunky waterproof neon green neon watch, the bright shade showing up against her warm tanned skin. Joining Frances on the beach was her daughter Emily, 21, her eldest with the former Top Gear presenter. Family day out please: Frances was joined by her daughter Emily, a writer and body image campaigner and avid fundraiser, for the Caribbean holiday The writer and body image campaigner sported a similar style of swimwear to her mother, but in a cool blue and black painterly print. Fresh from a dip in the sea, her blonde locks were slicked back away from her face and she protected her eyes with a pair of stylish rimless shades. The mother-daughter duo enjoyed their getaway on the island as they took a break from their training for the Help For Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride 2016, which takes place in June. As well as the epic 350 mile bike ride through Belgium and France they'll do, Emily is also going to take part in a sprint triathlon to raise money for the charity, which helps service men and women and veterans. Loving life! The blue, pink and black two-piece showed off her ample chest and shapely pins as she walked, while having pulled her blonde locks up into a messy updo so as not to be blown about by the breeze Meanwhile, as Frances and Emily let loose in Barbados, Jeremy was out in London with his rumoured girlfriend and former mistress Phillipa Sage. The duo went along to watch Rowan Atkinson's daughter Lily perform in a cabaret show in west London, along with the Mr Bean actor. Jeremy and Frances split a couple of years ago, but are not divorced, after having been married since 1993. His former manager, Frances has been a key part in the ascent of Jeremy's career, turning him into a global motoring TV icon thanks to his role on BBC's Top Gear, from which he was sacked last year. And, although they have split, they are still said to be on very good terms with each other following their over 20 years of marriage. Enjoying a night out: On Friday night, Jeremy stepped out with his rumoured girlfriend and former mistress Phillipa Sage at a cabaret show, which had Rowan Atkinson's daughter Lily as the star In October, it was reported that Jeremy had moved back to the home he had shared with his former wife and children - they are also parents to a teenage daughter Katya, and son Finlo - in Chipping Norton. According to the Sunday Mirror, the 55-year-old had moved back to the country estate, and spent his 'weekends and down-time at a guest cottage in the grounds in Chipping Norton.' The paper added, at the time: 'He is still close to wife of 22 years Frances Cain and likes to pop to the main house for meals with her and their three children.' 'It is also reported that his current girlfriend Phillipa Sage comes to stay but keeps a discreet distance.' While Jeremy is abroad a lot and has a flat in London, it's suggested he likes to stay at the country residence to be close to his children. The former BBC star is currently in the midst of filming his new Amazon Prime motoring series, along with his old Top Gear cohorts James May and Richard Hammond. She's reveling in a romantic Italian getaway with fiance Jose Antonio Baston. But Eva Longoria had eyes for another man when the couple paid a visit to Rome on Wednesday as the Desperate Housewives beauty was given the honour of being introduced to Pope Francis. Capturing the touching moment on camera, Eva and the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church exchange a sweet smile as the 41-year-old reaches out to touch his hand. Scroll down for video In awe: Despite enjoying her Italian getaway with fiance Jose Antonia Barton, Eva Longoria had eyes for another man when she paid a visit to Rome on Wednesday as the Desperate Housewives beauty was given the honour of being introduced to Pope Francis 'Praying with Pope Francis #Blessed #Literally,' she captioned the precious photo. The John Wick actress looked to have gone all out for the religious figure as her brunette locks sat perfectly preened around her face, her make-up flawlessly applied. Their meet was clearly overwhelming for the American actress, who even went as far as to welcome the Pope to Instagram with a dedicated post when he joined the social network last week. Wining and dining: The shot was a stark contrast to that Eva shared the previous evening as the screen siren appeared to be tucking back a few glasses of wine with her handsome fiance as they dined in the romantic city The shot was a stark contrast to that Eva shared the previous evening as the screen siren appeared to be tucking back a few glasses of wine with her handsome fiance as they dined in the romantic city. 'When in Rome....,' the beauty wrote alongside a snap of a bottle of red accompanied by a series of wine glasses. The Southern city looked to be a lot warmer than Eva's brief sojourn to Lake Como earlier this week, where she and her husband-to-be once again looked to be having the time of their lives - though in much toastier ensembles. Romantic getaway: Their Rome trip follows a brief sojourn to Lake Como, where the couple looked as loved up as ever Obviously keen to experience all the sights and sounds of the luxurious region, the Desperate Housewives star and the Mexican TV executive hopped in a boat to cruise around the lake. The couple announced their engagement in December after Jose popped the question in the Dubai desert. Swooning over his proposal on the Today Show earlier this year, Eva dished: 'It was such a surprise. It was in Dubai and it was in the desert. Smitten: Eva described her husband as 'the kindest human being she's ever met' when she appeared on the Today Show earlier this year 'We're still absorbing that moment. I'm still applauding him for how beautiful and amazing it was, then we'll talk about the big fat Mexican wedding.' But it wasn't only his impressive proposal that has Eva smiling as she gushed about every aspect of her man. It's an unlucky stretch of road for the Jenner family. Brody Jenner was stopped by police and issued a ticket on Malibu's Pacific Coast Highway on Tuesday. It is almost the exact same spot his parent Caitlyn - then Bruce - was involved in a fatal smash up a year ago. Scroll down for video History repeating? Brody Jenner got ticket from police on Tuesday in almost exact same place his father Caitlyn was involved in fatal crash on Malibu's PCH a year ago The 32-year-old's black Corvette Stingray was seen being pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer, before he was issued the citation. One of the first questions the cop probably asked him upon approaching his window was 'are you carrying any firearms?' thanks to the reality star's rather obnoxious choice of wardrobe. He was later seen stepping out of the car, wearing a hoodie which proclaimed '2nd Amendment supporter - and damn proud of it' along with a picture of an M16 assault rifle. The 32-year-old's black Corvette Stingray was seen being pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer, before being issued the citation The 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution is the controversial one that bestows the people the right to bear arms - which Brody clearly believes includes military issue weapons that can fire at a rate of up to 950 rounds per minute. Just 13 months ago Caitlyn Jenner was involved in a four car pile up nearby that left her 69-year-old neighbour Kim Howe dead. Authorities said Jenner was towing an off-road vehicle on a trailer behind a Cadillac Escalade on February 7 when she crashed into the back of Howe's Lexus, who was then pushed into the path of an oncoming Hummer. In your face: One of the first questions the cop probably asked him upon approaching his window was 'are you carrying any weapons', thanks to the reality star's rather obnoxious choice of wardrobe: a hoodie which proclaimed '2nd Amendment supporter - and damn proud of it' along with a picture of an M16 assault rifle Prosecutors later declined to charge the I Am Cait star with any wrongdoing, claiming there was not enough evidence for a conviction. Sheriff's investigators had previously determined that the 65-year-old - who was pre-transition at the time - was traveling at an unsafe speed for the road conditions at the time and there was enough evidence to support a vehicular manslaughter charge. The drivers of the other two vehicles involved, as well as Ms Howe's family, all brought civil lawsuits against Jenner, with two being settled out of court so far. Pattern: Just 13 months ago Caitlyn Jenner (pictured February 28) was involved in a four car pile up that left her 69-year-old neighbour Kim Howe dead Alessandra Ambrosio has everything going for her - beauty, brains, and the Brazilian mystique. That explains why the supermodel was chosen to grace the cover of Vogue Brazil for the magazine's special April issue. Alessandra, 34, displays lots of cleavage in a midnight-blue tuxedo by Karl Lagerfeld for Riachuelo that seems made for her willowy figure. Scroll down for video Brazilian mystique: Sultry Alessandra Ambrosio was chosen to grace Vogue Brazil's April issue and wears a revealing tuxedo by Karl Lagerfeld for Riachuelo on one of her two covers A delicate red tulle scarf by Prada decorates her neck while her blunt-edged locks brush against her shoulders, falling gently across one cheek. Alessandra levels her famous slant-eyed stare at the viewer with natural-toned brown and mauve eye shadow and rose-tinted gloss highlighting her features. An alternate cover shows a more demure-looking Alessandra in a polka dot suit by Dolce & Gabbana with a scattered red pattern and big red scarf tied around her neck for a pop effect. More modest look: The 34-year-old supermodel donned a polka dot suit with big red scarf for the photo shoot that was shot by her friend Mariano Vivanco The brunette, brown-eyed stunner was photographed by her friend, the Peruvian Mariano Vivanco, in New York City. The spread was described as a sort of 'contemporary Mary Poppins' hence the tailored suits, the polka dots and lavish scarves. The double cover issue also coincided with Vivanco's 40th anniversary as a photographer, who brought out the best in Alessandra, that's for sure. Spice and nice: Alessandra showed two sides of her personality for the double cover spread that was styled as a 'contemporary Mary Poppins' Maternal instinct: The brunette beauty told Vogue Brazil that she's being picky about what jobs she takes to allow more time with her children - pictured with her on Tuesday - and longtime partner Jamie Mazur The Brazilian beauty also has something to celebrate - the launch of her own clothing line ale by Alessandra that reflects her California style. Not a week seems to go by without a Alessandra sighting in Los Angeles, her adopted hometown. On Tuesday, the mother-of-two was seen taking her children Anja and Noah to lunch at Au Fudge in West Hollywood which boasts a monitored kids' playroom and a gourmet menu and fine selection of cocktails for grown-ups. For the occasion, Alessandra wore trendily shredded white jeans. Alessandra's fiance of eight years Jamie Mazur, launched the Hanes Perfect Tee campaign for his denim company Re/Done, which stars the Victoria's Secret 'angel.' As far as that long overdue wedding goes, there is still no date as of yet. In December of last year, Alessandra told Extra: 'When I do the wedding it's going to be very special, so I want to take time for that.' It doesn't boast the catchy tunes or colourful backdrops that helped make Grease: Live such a hit. But NBC has announced that the latest in its popular series of live productions will be a version of A Few Good Men. Rather than a musical, this will be a dramatic version of the original Broadway play, popularised by the Oscar nominated 1992 film starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore. Scroll down for video New project: Aaron Sorkin is to return to NBC to turn his A Few Good Men into dramatic live production, it was announced Wednesday The play was the first to put screenwriter Aaron Sorkin on the map - today he is perhaps best known for his NBC series West Wing. Sorkin will return to the network to work on the show, reports Variety, which announced the news. Speaking to the magazine, NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said he was 'thrilled' Sorkin had signed up. The big screen: The Oscar nominated 1992 film starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore 'I am pleased that the live event business that we pioneered with musicals is now expanding into other genres and attracting artists of his caliber,' he said. Sorking won six Emmys for West Wing. Another recent project was HBO's The Newsroom. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the show, which was first reported as a possibility two years ago. Along with Grease, NBC's previous live productions have included A Sound Of Music, Peter Pan and The Wiz Live. Gripping: A Few Good Men follows military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee - played by Tom Cruise in the TriStar film - as he defends two U.S. Marines charged with killing a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay A Few Good Men follows military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee - played by Tom Cruise in the TriStar film - as he defends two U.S. Marines charged with killing a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay. Although Kaffee is known for seeking plea deals, his fellow lawyer, Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway - Demi Moore in the Hollywood version - convinces him the men were probably carrying out an order. They are the hottest new couple on Planet Reality. And Vicky Pattison and Spencer Matthews' relationship clearly going from strength to strength as they enjoyed a date night at Dynamo Live At The O2 in London on Wednesday. The 28-year-old former Geordie Shore star looked flirty in the same pastel look she sported earlier in the day while her ex-Made In Chelsea beau, 26, looked casual in jeans as they led the star guests at the top magician's show. Scroll down for video Hot date: Vicky Pattison and Spencer Matthews' relationship clearly going from strength to strength as they enjoyed a date night at Dynamo's live show in London on Wednesday Vicky was sporting the same ensemble she wore during an appearance on This Morning - proving the stunning look can go from day to night. She was pretty in a pastel pink pleated skirt, which she wore with a matching Mulberry handbag and a lipstick to top it all off. The former I'm A Celebrity jungle queen had been to ITV to present her Showbiz Gossip slot on the sofa hours before she turned to a more romantic subject. Drink O'Clock: The 28-year-old former Geordie Shore star looked flirty in the same pastel look she sported earlier in the day while her ex-Made In Chelsea beau, 26, looked casual in jeans Stylish look: Vicky was sporting the same ensemble she wore during an appearance on This Morning - proving the stunning look can go from day to night Meanwhile Spencer, who met Vicky in the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here jungle last year, wore slim-fit jeans and a grey button-down T-shirt while layering a jacket over the look. Their hot date night comes hot on the heels of a mini break the pair enjoyed in Monaco over the weekend - explaining their golden tans. In a suitably Made In Chelsea fashion, Vicky seemed to have jetted off for a swift Easter break in the sun with fellow reality star. The duo struck up a bond in the ITV jungle, just before Spencer was forced to leave due to his dependence on steroids. Spring in her step: Vicky wore the springy ensemble for This Morning on Wednesday Cute outfit: The brunette was filling her regular weekly slot of Showbiz Gossip TV star: The former I'm A Celeb jungle winner was ready for TV once again She went on to win the show but when they returned to the UK, they rekindled the flame and decided to go on dating. It seems like Vicky and Spencer had been on just two more dates before they took off for Monaco this weekend. Vicky has even met Spencer's inner circle, since they took the trip with his very close friend Max Keble-White. Giddy: She looked giddy from a weekend away with new beau Spencer Matthews Holiday glow: The pair had been away in Monaco, and judging by her glow it was very warm The new couple were joined at Dynamo's London show on Wednesday evening by a host of famous faces. Pixie Lott made it a date night with her model beau Oliver Cheshire, while newlywed Kimberley Walsh glammed up for the magic night in a chic black jumpsuit. Unfortunately for Dynamo, one of his tricks went horribly awry in front of the star-studded crowd at the 02. Loved up: Pixie Lott and boyfriend Oliver Cheshire were still channeling the romance of their recent ski holiday when they attended the Dynamo Live magic show Slay queen! The Mama Do hitmaker did it right in skintight black jeans, a black jumper and a delightful floral ski jacket VIPs: Pixie had a laugh with a very enthusiastic Jordan "Rizzle" Stephens of the group Rizzle Kicks After he brought up two guests for a trick on the first night of his tour, he captivated the audience by making the young man's mobile phone disappear into an empty water bottle. To prove the phone belonged to the gentleman - named Tom - he asked the other guest, Amy, to call the mobile. But at that moment, disaster struck. After an awkward silence, Dynamo asked Amy 'Is it calling? Is it calling?' Members of the crowd could be heard chuckling and shouting 'no'. Dressed to the nines: Kimberley Walsh looked gorgeous in a chic black jumpsuit for the magic night Leggy: Rachel Riley stuck to a chic monochrome colour palette with her striped mini dress Here come the boys: Matt Johnson and Jordan Stephens were also among the famous faces in the audience Date night: Danny Dyer was loved up with his fiancee Joanne Mas as they posed for snaps As Tom vigorously rattled the bottle with his phone lodged inside, Dynamo asked if anyone in the crowd knew Tom and if so, to dial his number. He then said: 'Please call as quickly as you can. It's a live magic show people. Anything could happen.' When that also failed, he inquired desperately: 'Is it ringing? Someone call his phone. Maybe your battery died last minute.' He then shouted: 'Well believe me, that is Tom's phone in the bottle. It might be broken.' As the duo returned to their seats, the audience continued to titter at the unfortunate episode. With his phone still stuck inside the bottle, Tom looked rather disgruntled and pointed angrily at his trapped mobile. Oops! Unfortunately for Dynamo, one of his tricks went horribly awry in front of the star-studded crowd at the 02 Magic man: After he brought up two guests for a trick on the first night of his tour, he captivated the audience by making the young man's mobile phone disappear into an empty water bottle She is set to play Jane Porter, the wife of savage Tarzan in the upcoming Legend Of Tarzan. Yet Margot Robbie unleashed her own wild side during filming, punching leading man Alexander Skarsgard during a steamy sex scene. 'They're doing this love scene together, and I said [to Margot], "Just slap Alex while you're making love, just kind of give him a punch,"' Director David Yates told Entertainment Weekly. Scroll down for video Fifty Shades of Tarzan! Margot Robbie unleashed her own wild side during filming of The Legend Of Tarzan, punching leading man Alexander Skarsgard during a steamy sex scene Opening up about the intense sex scene which sways to the more violent side, David said that Margot, 25, even injured Alexander, 39, leaving a lasting mark on him. 'It was sort of an earthy, sensual moment of her enjoying sex with Alex, and the only bruise he picked up during the entire shoot was probably that punch from Margot,' he said, adding: 'Which says a lot about her feistiness.' David, who also directed Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, explained that he knew from the start that Margot was the perfect person to embody the independent and assertive qualities of Jane. 'It was very important that we didn't want it to feel archaic or dated, where it's like, tough guy has to save the poor girl. You have to feel that she's strong and independent, and when you cast Margot, you'll definitely get that,' he said. 'It was sort of an earthy, sensual moment': During the intense sex scene which sways to the more violent side, Margot, 25, even injured Alexander, 39, leaving a lasting mark on him 'Just slap Alex while you're making love, just kind of give him a punch': Director David Yates told Entertainment Weekly he guided Margot to become violent during the steamy scene The movie's trailer foreshadows that Margot's character will be far from a passive wife who sits around waiting for Tarzan to save her. In the trailer, the former Neighbours star is shown refusing to scream like a damsel in distress, when Christoph Waltz's villainous Leon Rom tries to use her as bait for her husband. In the clip, a brunette Margot looks poles apart from her usual polished self as she fights for her husband's freedom. 'You have to feel that she's strong and independent': David explained that he knew from the start that Margot was the perfect person to embody the independent and assertive qualities of Jane First look: The movie's trailer foreshadows that Margot's character will be far from a passive wife who sits around waiting for Tarzan to save her The film is set in the years since since the man once known as Tarzan left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke,with his beloved wife, Jane at his side. He has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Leon Rom. But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash. The film boasts an all-star cast of Oscar nominees and winners including Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou and Jim Broadbent. Feisty: In the trailer, the former Neighbours star is shown refusing to scream like a damsel in distress, when Christoph Waltz's villainous Leon Rom tries to use her as bait for her husband Starring role: In the clip, a brunette Margot looks poles apart from her usual polished self as she fights for her husband's freedom Leading man: The film is set in the years since since the man once known as Tarzan, played by Alexander, left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke Margot is certainly not stranger to showing her feisty side in the bedroom. The Australian actress had no qualms getting completely naked for filming of the iconic sex scenes in The Wolf Of Wall Street. She is also expected to kick butt as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad which will hit cinemas later this year Meanwhile, the Tarzan movies have a long history of pushing the boundaries with sensuality. A perfect example being Bo Derek who played Jane in the 1981 Tarzan: The Ape Man, and put on quite the erotic display during the highly charged R-rated sex-scenes. Rise to fame: Margot is certainly not stranger to showing her feisty side in the bedroom Vixen: The Australian actress had no qualms getting completely naked for filming of the iconic sex scenes in The Wolf Of Wall Street Scott Walker endorses Ted Cruz for US president Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on Tuesday threw his support behind Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, boosting the Texas senator's backing from the party's anti-Donald Trump camp. Walker's endorsement comes a week before a key primary in his state, with frontrunner Trump and Cruz in a close race. "It's time that we elect a strong new leader, and I've chosen to endorse Ted Cruz to be the next president of the United States," Walker told local radio WTMJ. Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, pictured on March 3, 2016, endorsed Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz Saul Loeb (AFP/File) "He is a constitutional conservative," he added, saying Cruz is best positioned to win the Republican nomination and beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in November's general election. Briefly a frontrunner for the Republican nomination before being eclipsed by Trump, Walker pulled out of the race in September. An ultra-conservative Tea Party favorite like Cruz, Walker is the fifth former Republican candidate to rally behind Cruz after Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham and Rick Perry. Some have done so under protest, making it clear they were doing so with the sole aim of stopping Trump. Explaining his reasons for backing Cruz, whom he had publicly disparaged, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said the Texas senator had the advantage of being "not completely crazy." Asked "What turns you on about Cruz?" on Comedy Central's The Daily Show last week, he said, "He's not Trump." Polls in Wisconsin show Trump and Cruz running neck-and-neck ahead of the third remaining Republican candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich. Overall, the New York billionaire is well ahead in the race for delegates required for the nomination -- 742 to Cruz's 462 and Kasich's 145 -- but his rivals are hoping to prevent him from winning the required 1,237 necessary to clinch the nomination ahead of the party's convention in Cleveland in July. The prospect of a Trump nomination has split the Republican establishment and fuelled speculation about an implosion of the party. While many party leaders are drumming up heated resistance to Trump, others have rallied to the tycoon, including his former presidential rivals Chris Christie and Ben Carson. Walker, who has long criticized Trump, said he had timed his endorsement for greatest effect in Wisconsin's primary next Tuesday. Snapchat ramps up messaging service with 'chat 2.0' Snapchat is dressing up its messaging with an upgraded video chat and animations, part of the social network's efforts to be the preferred service for young users. "We're excited to introduce Chat 2.0," the California startup announced on its blog Tuesday. "You can start by sending a few chats, and when your friend shows up, start talking or video chatting instantly with one tap," it said. Snapchat has been growing rapidly to a base of some 100 million, with particular appeal to young users, as it expands its partnerships with various media organizations Lionel Bonaventure (AFP/File) "Your friend can simply listen if you want to sing them a song, or watch if you have a new puppy to show them." The new chat platform aims for improved video chat with new features such as sending an audio note or a "sticker" chosen from a range of images similar to those on Facebook's Messenger app. First gaining notoriety for its disappearing messages, Snapchat has been growing rapidly to a base of some 100 million, with particular appeal to young users, as it expands its partnerships with various media organizations. The Los Angeles-based company, which reportedly turned down a $3 billion buyout from Facebook in 2013, was valued at more than $15 billion in its latest funding round. But it is facing competition from Facebook and others seeking to be the preferred messaging platform -- that can draw users into more services and open up possibilities for advertisers. "What we love most about the new Chat is how easily you can transition between all these ways of communicating -- just like you do in person," the Snapchat team said on the blog. Top-ranked Djokovic battles into Miami Open quarters World number one Novak Djokovic was struggling to play his best, but held firm when pressed to the brink and battled into the ATP and WTA Miami Open quarter-finals. The two-time defending champion outdueled Austrian 14th seed Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, stretching his Miami win streak to 13 matches to book a last-eight date Wednesday against Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych. "Straight set win but far from easy. It was a tough match," Djokovic said. "I kept my serves. But I made a lot of double faults and he had me under a lot of pressure." Novak Djokovic outdueled Austrian 14th seed Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, stretching his Miami win streak to 13 matches Clive Brunskill (Getty/AFP) Djokovic, a five-time Miami winner overall, rescued 13 of 14 break points, four of them in the last game of the first set and four more in a dramatic 14-minute final game before hitting a forehand winner on his fourth match-point opportunity. "I had some luck in that last game where he missed a couple of easy forehands to get the break back and get into the match," Djokovic said. "I stayed tough when it was most needed. The important moments I tried to make him play, make him run." Djokovic won his 11th Grand Slam title two months ago at the Australian Open and has also lifted Doha and Indian Wells trophies this year while Thiem captured titles last month at Acapulco and Buenos Aires. The 28-year-old Serbian made eight double faults and 29 unforced errors against only two aces and eight winners. "The second serve was not working that well. That was due to the pressure he was imposing. I just didn't have the rhythm," Djokovic said. "Generally I don't get to face that many break points. I'll try not to get myself in those positions as much." Berdych outlasted French 10th seed Richard Gasquet 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, but has won only two of 24 meetings with Djokovic, having lost their past nine matches since a 2013 Rome quarter-final victory. They are the only top-10 men still playing except for Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori, who downed Spanish 17th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-4. "I played really well," Nishikori said. "I felt great out there." Up next for Nishikori, who won his fourth consecutive Memphis crown last month, is French 16th seed Gael Monfils, who rallied past Bulgarian 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3. "He is playing really well," Nishikori said. "He is a fun player to play against and we will have a good match." Nishikori won their only prior meeting in 2014 on Halle grass. "Kei is a good player, very consistent, and he has a win over me," Monfils said. "It will be a great match." Only one of the world's top 12 women, second-ranked Angelique Kerber, is still playing after Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep was ousted 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 by 19th-ranked Swiss Timea Bacsinszky. "To beat someone who fights as hard as she does, it's something amazing," Bacsinszky said. "I'm happy with it." The 2015 French Open semi-finalist will play for a berth in the final against Russian 15th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 30-year-old two-time Grand Slam winner who ousted top-ranked defending champion Serena Williams in the third round. Kuznetsova, the 2006 Miami champion, beat Russian 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-3. "Just kept fighting," Kuznetsova said. "I was feeling low in energy but I tried to hang in there." - Kyrgios to face Raonic - Australian 24th seed Nick Kyrgios, the youngest top-30 ATP player at age 20, reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory over Russia's 51st-ranked Andrey Kuznetsov. The Aussie never trailed in the tie-breaker and took the only break of the second set when Kuznetsov double faulted away the fourth game. Kyrgios, off to a career-best 13-3 start that includes his first ATP title last month at Marseille, next plays Canadian 12th seed Milos Raonic, who ripped Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-0, 6-3. Raonic owns a 2-1 rivalry edge but this will be their first match outside the Grand Slams. He won in 2014 at the French Open and Wimbledon but lost to Kyrgios last year at Wimbledon. Austria's Dominic Thiem plays against Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their Miami Open match on March 29, 2016 Mike Ehrmann (Getty/AFP) Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky plays against Romania's Simona Halep during their Miami Open quarter-final match on March 29, 2016 Mike Ehrmann (Getty/AFP) Australia's Nick Kyrgios plays against American Tim Smyczek at the Miami Open on March 28, 2016 Mike Ehrmann (Getty/AFP/File) Tata Steel sparks outcry over crisis-hit sector Indian giant Tata Steel on Wednesday put its British business up for sale, sparking calls for the government to intervene and safeguard thousands of jobs in the crisis-hit industry. Tata said in a statement that trading had "rapidly deteriorated" in Britain and Europe, adding it will "explore all options for portfolio restructuring including the potential divestment of Tata Steel UK, in whole or in parts". The company blamed chronic global oversupply of steel, a "significant increase" in cheaper imports into Europe -- particularly from China -- and plunging prices in recent times. The Tata Steel plant in Scunthorpe, northeast England, where thousands of jobs are at risk after the Indian steel giant announced plans to sell its British assets Lindsey Parnaby (AFP/File) Tata is also battling high costs, currency volatility and weak global demand for steel, which is mostly used in construction. "These factors are likely to continue into the future and have significantly impacted the long term competitive position of the UK operations," the group added in a statement issued in Mumbai. Management of its European division Tata Steel Europe will now evaluate and implement the most feasible option for its British operations. The group employs around 15,000 staff in Britain, including the country's biggest steel plant at Port Talbot in Wales. - Parliament recall? - Prime Minister David Cameron will chair a meeting of key ministers early Thursday, according to his office, but has resisted calls form opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to recall parliament from its Easter holiday to address the threat to jobs. "The news that Tata is preparing to pull out of steel-making in Britain puts thousands of jobs across the country and a strategic UK-wide industry at risk," Corbyn wrote in a letter to Cameron. "MPs must have the chance now to debate the future of steel and hold ministers to account for their failure to intervene," said the leader, who visited Port Talbot on Wednesday. His party has called for the government to intervene, possibly by taking a public stake in the industry to avert a collapse. Business Secretary Sajid Javid chaired a ministerial meeting Wednesday to discuss the issue and will return early from his trade visit to Australia, according to a government statement. Cameron has yet to comment but the British government has urged Tata to allow time to locate a potential buyer. "We want enough time to be able to secure a buyer. That will take months," said business minister Anna Soubry. She insisted that the Conservative administration was considering "all options" and raised the possibility of management and unions being involved in any future plans. Union representatives had travelled to Mumbai as a company board meeting was held to try to convince Tata to invest in the plants, which employ thousands in England and Wales. Politician Leanne Wood, leader of Welsh party Plaid Cymru, described the news as "devastating" and also called for the Welsh regional assembly to be recalled from its Easter break to respond to the crisis. Tata had previously announced a series of job cuts at its Port Talbot site, where it employs 4,000 people, with another 3,000 employed as contractors and temporary workers. A joint statement from the British government and the Welsh regional government said they would work with unions to maintain the steel industry. Unions have accused China of killing off British industry by "dumping" steel on the market at prices that cannot be competed with. Tata said it had poured money into the UK businesses and suffered asset impairments of more than 2.0 billion ($2.8 billion, 2.5 billion euros) in the last five years. - Chances of sale 'very slim' - Analysts poured cold water on the prospect of a sale any time soon. "The prospect of Tata Steel finding a buyer for all its UK operations looks very slim," said Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell. "Tata has taken a 2.0-billion hit on its UK arm in the past five years and any buyer for the entire business would need to be both an eternal optimist and have very deep pockets, given the continuing fall in demand for steel." Tata Steel Europe was known as Corus Group until Tata bought the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker for $13 billion in 2007 -- at the height of Chinese steel demand and before the global financial crisis. Tata says trading conditions have "rapidly deteriorated" in Britain and Europe due to a global oversupply of steel, imports into Europe, high costs and currency volatility Lindsey Parnaby (AFP/File) US award for French mother's courage battling hate After her beloved son, a French soldier, was murdered by an Islamist gunman, Latifa Ibn Ziaten formed a group to prevent radicalization and promote dialogue. "No more Merahs," she declared, after the troubled petty criminal turned jihadist Mohamed Merah cut down her boy. But since that day in 2012, extremist attacks in Europe have only grown in scale, and Ibn Ziaten admits she has much more work to do, refusing to "surrender to fear." French recipient of the 2016 International Women of Courage Award, Latifa Ibn Ziaten (L), shakes hands with US Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department in Washington, DC Jim Watson (AFP) On Tuesday, the US government named her one of 14 "International Women of Courage" and invited her to explain her anti-radicalization message in American cities. "If we're afraid, we'll make no progress, and that's what the terrorists want. If we cede to fear, it is they who gain ground," she told AFP after the ceremony. - The ghettos - France was hit by two bloody jihadist attacks last year, and neighboring Belgium last week, but Ibn Ziaten has not abandoned her message of dialogue and compassion. "We need to open up the housing projects, the ghettos. We need to promote diversity in schools, equality of opportunity," she explained. "We need to listen to those young people who, when they speak at all, say 'the republic has forgotten us'," she said. "That's where the malaise lies." On March 11, Ibn Ziaten's son Imad had an appointment to view a motor scooter that Merah had advertised. The young extremist pulled out a gun, but Imad, a sergeant in France's 1st Parachute Regiment, refused to lie on the ground. He was shot dead at point blank range. Imad was Merah's first victim, but not the last. Before he was killed by police 11 days later, the gunman would kill two more off-duty soldiers, then a rabbi and three young children in an attack on a Jewish school. Latifa Ibn Ziaten did not leave the matter there. She formed an association in memory of her son and began to tour prisons and schools to preach inter-faith respect. "I dissuaded three young men from leaving for Syria," she said. "I work with young women who have converted. I work with a lot of parents who are having difficulty coping." In one of her biggest operations, Ibn Ziaten took more than a dozen young people from a Paris suburb to Israel and the Palestinian territories as "peace ambassadors." In another, she opened a center in Paris' underprivileged immigrant suburbs from where many radicals emerged to listen to the concerns of young people and their families. - 'I forgave' - The goal is to identify early signs of violent extremism. "Today, some parents say: 'We didn't pay attention. We didn't notice'," she warned. "A child left alone, living in his own head, this is what happens. That's why I forgave Mohamed Merah," she said. "When I looked at his journey and I saw that he grew up in a vacuum, without love, affection, that he knew pain, prison, drugs -- that's what made him, made him a monster. "I forgave him for what he was but not for what he had done." Ibn Ziaten found the inspiration for her quest at the scene of Merah's last stand, cut down in a hail of police bullets after the siege of his apartment. Heading into his neighborhood she asked herself: "Who was he? Why so much hate?" She fell upon a group of young people who were speaking about the slain jihadist as a martyr, as a hero. "It was as if they had killed my son a second time," she said. "They were the cause of my suffering. But I felt I had to reach out my hand, to help them." Already a recipient of France's highest award, the Legion of Honor, the wronged mother said the US award would only encourage her in her mission. But, as she begins a tour of US cities with the 13 other activists, lawyers and reformers to win the award she will encounter some angry American attitudes. The US presidential campaign has only heightened the angry debate about Islam's role in western society. "You can't mix religion and citizenship," she insisted. "When you're a citizen, religion should remain personal." Latifa Ibn Ziaten formed an association in memory of her son and began to tour prisons and schools to preach inter-faith respect Joel Saget (AFP/File) Dissidents say China relatives released in letter probe Two overseas dissidents said on Wednesday that Chinese police had released family members they claimed were detained as part of an official probe into a letter calling on President Xi Jinping to resign. Germany-based writer Chang Ping and New York-based activist Wen Yunchao said their relatives had been held in connection to the anonymous missive that appeared online earlier this month. Chang told AFP that his father and two brothers had been released on bail, but their activities were still restricted. Demonstrator with a mask of China's President Xi Jinping's and a banner reading "release Bei Feng and Chang Ping's relatives !", during a protest against Xi's visit to Prague on March 29, 2016 Michal Cizek (AFP) Police said they were bailed on Tuesday. Wen told AFP that his father, mother and brother had been released after being held in Guangzhou in southern Guangdong province. The three were not charged with any crime and security officials accompanied them to tourist sites during their detention, he added. "I think my family's release is related to Xi Jinping's visit to the US," he said, referring to the Chinese President's participation in a Washington summit this week. Wen earlier claimed that his father warned before his detention that officials in Guangdong believed the exiled activist had "helped spread" the letter. Germany-based journalist Chang Ping said at the weekend that police in the southwestern province of Sichuan detained his family to pressure him to retract an article he wrote for German media. The article accused Chinese police of holding journalist Jia Jia in connection with the anonymous letter. Jia's detention was condemned by rights groups. He was released on Friday. The anonymous letter, seen by AFP in a cached form, berated Xi for centralising authority, mishandling the economy and tightening ideological controls. Media criticism of top leaders is almost unheard of in China, where the press is strictly controlled by the ruling Communist Party. - Multiple detentions - Chinese authorities have detained several people in what appears to be a reaction to the letter, which was attributed to "Loyal Communist Party Members". It appeared on Wujie News, a state-backed website on the opening day of a high-profile political conclave, before it was deleted. Those held include at lest four staff members at Wujie, who went missing around two weeks ago, a source at the outlet told AFP. The BBC reported last week that a total of 20 people had been held in the probe. Police in Sichuan province said Chang's three relatives had been held for suspected arson, and released a letter by Chang's brother Zhang Wei to state media in which he denied being held for political reasons. Zhang's letter called on Chang "not to make these kinds of false statements which are even attacks on relevant departments and staff," according to the state-run Sichuan Online website. It added three were held for accidentally burning woodland while making traditional graveside offerings to relatives, the report added. AFP could not confirm the origins of the letter. A woman surnamed Tang at the Forestry Police bureau of Xichong county, where Chang's family members were held, told AFP: They have carried out bail procedures and all three left public security at 2pm yesterday. The fire was still under investigation, she added. Chang said in an email to AFP that his father's and brothers' bail release meant they were "still marked as criminals". He added: "They exist under the control and threat of the police, and they still do not enjoy freedom of expression because of fear". Israeli interior minister, opposition leader probed for graft Israeli authorities are investigating Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and opposition leader Isaac Herzog for alleged corruption, the lawmakers said on Wednesday. Deri, who has already served prison time for graft, confirmed on his Twitter account that he was under investigation, saying he had requested that a gag order on the publication of his name be lifted and that he was ready to "respond to all questions". "For the moment, the government's judicial council hasn't ordered enquiries to be opened," he said in a statement issued later. Israeli interior Minister Aryeh Deri, pictured on May 19, 2105, confirmed on his Twitter account that he was under investigation Gali Tibbon (AFP/File) News of the investigation into an unnamed senior politician first emerged late Tuesday in a report by Channel 2 television. A second unidentified senior politician was also said to be under investigation. Herzog, leader of the centre-left Zionist Union alliance, refuted the allegations, denouncing on Twitter what he called "ridiculous slander". Local media reported that Herzog was being probed over campaign expenses during his Labor party's elections in 2013. Deri, head of Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas, became interior minister in January after the resignation of Silvan Shalom following allegations of sexual harassment. Shas is vital to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rightwing governing coalition, which holds a one-seat majority in parliament. Deri, who had served as interior minister from 1988 to 1993, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2000 for taking $155,000 in bribes, though his sentence was reduced by a third for good behaviour. Deri resigned as economy minister in November after refusing to overrule anti-trust authorities' objections to a major natural gas deal being pushed by Netanyahu. His resignation allowed Netanyahu to take over the economy minister post himself and move ahead on the gas deal. In January, critics of his appointment as interior minister said the post should not be granted to someone who had been convicted for corruption. Others argued that Deri had paid his debt to society. The interior ministry notably oversees local government and efforts to prevent illegal immigration. The police fall under a separate ministry. Ousted party urges Thais to reject junta's constitution The political party toppled in Thailand's 2014 coup urged voters Wednesday to reject the militarys proposed new constitution, describing it as an undemocratic document that would further entrench army rule. A panel appointed by the ruling military junta unveiled its draft constitution on Tuesday, touting it as the solution to the kingdom's decade-long political crisis. But critics lambasted it as divisive and a throwback to the days when Thailand's legislature was weak and controlled by unelected people. Supporters of Puea Thai party on the election campaign in Bangkok in 2014 Pornchai Kittiwongsakul (AFP/File) In a statement the Puea Thai Party told supporters to vote against the charter during a planned referendum on August 7. "(The party) will not accept a charter in which real power does not belong to the people," Puea Thai said in the statement, putting it on a collision course with the generals. The junta has warned it will not tolerate criticism of the charter in the run-up to the vote, making debate all but impossible. Two opposition politicians were detained by the military this week for voicing criticism of the document and of the junta. The Puea Thai administration of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was dumped from office in a May 2014 coup that brought army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha to power. He has clamped down on dissent with an iron fist. Parties loyal to Yingluck and her billionaire brother Thaksin, who was toppled as premier in a 2006 coup, have swept the last three elections. But they are loathed by the Bangkok elite who are determined to see them never return to power. If the charter is ratified, it will perpetuate the military's influence. A junta-appointed senate would check the powers of lawmakers for a five-year transitional period following fresh elections. The document also enshrines a proportional voting system, a move that would likely reduce the majority held by any elected government once Thais regain the right to vote. The drafters insist their new constitution -- the kingdom's 20th in less than a century -- will end the cycle of elections, street protests and coups by checking the power of notoriously fractious elected politicians. But critics say it is aimed squarely at breaking the Shinawatras' electoral stranglehold on the country and maintaining the military's power at a time of deep uncertainty -- with the health of revered 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej failing. The prospect of the constitution passing the referendum will likely depend on how Puea Thai's political opponents, particularly the Democrat Party, tell people to vote. The Democrat Party, many of whose supporters cheered the coup, has yet to say what it will advise voters. But its leader, former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, has publicly criticised the charter. A supporter of deposed former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra holds flowers among a group of policemen ahead of supreme court hearing for Yingluck in Bangkok on March 4, 2016 Christophe Archambault (AFP/File) Indebted Indian tycoon offers to pay back some of $1.3 bn Debt-laden Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya has offered to pay back some of the estimated $1.3 billion he owes in unpaid loans, lawyers told a New Delhi court Wednesday, in a case that has gripped the country. The founder of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, who is being chased by a group of mostly state-run banks over the unpaid debts, left India earlier this month. A lawyer for Kingfisher, C. S. Vaidyanathan, on Wednesday submitted a repayment plan to the Supreme Court proposing to give back 40 billion rupees ($603 million) to banks by September 30. Entrepreneur Vijay Mallya was known as the "King of Good Times" before the 2012 collapse of his Kingfisher Airlines Mark Thompson (Getty/AFP/File) The Supreme Court has given the banks, led by State Bank of India, a week to respond, with the next hearing set for April 7. The court also heard that Kingfisher representatives had communicated with the banks via video conference, but lawyers representing the banks said the lenders wished to meet with the embattled businessman in person. A lawyer for Mallya said he was not in the country and that "in the present ambience (it was) not needed". The flamboyant entrepreneur, who has not been charged with any crime, stepped down last month as chairman of United Spirits, the Indian arm of Britain's Diageo, following allegations of financial lapses. His surprise departure has proved an embarrassment for the government, which was forced to admit he had left the country even as it sought permission to impound his passport. Opposition politicians have demanded to know why the 60-year-old was not arrested before he flew out on March 2. India's financial crimes agency has also summoned Mallya in connection with an alleged case of loan fraud involving state-run IDBI Bank in Mumbai. The businessman, who is also a member of the Indian parliament, has denied absconding and has criticised the media for what he has called a "witch hunt". Easter bomb strikes at symbolic heart of Pakistan: Lahore The Taliban's Easter bombing of a crowded park in Lahore could prove the trigger for what many see as a long overdue counter-terror offensive in the bastion of Pakistan's establishment. But analysts warn a sweeping military operation in a region traditionally dominated by the current ruling party could be another step in a "creeping coup" by the increasingly assertive army. At least 73 people perished and hundreds were injured when a bomb packed with ball bearings exploded near a playground on Sunday, the bloodiest episode in the country since 2014. At least 73 people were killed in a bomb attack in Lahore on Easter Sunday Arif Ali (AFP) The attack, which the Taliban said was aimed at Christians, left the shattered bodies of dozens of children strewn around the park. It illuminated festering extremism in Punjab, the home province of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. And, say observers, it has also given the powerful army a way into his citadel. "Sharif has been resisting the army's attempt to carry out a counter-terror operation in the province now, and the army has called his bluff and is doing it," says Ahmed Rashid, a leading security expert. The generals have already caried out raids in three cities in Punjab, including state capital Lahore, and arrested more than 200 people -- although they have stopped short of publicly calling their actions a full blown offensive. Increasing the army's presence in Punjab could quell militancy as it has done in Karachi, Pakistan's heaving metropolis of 20 million people on the Arabian Sea where paramilitary Rangers launched an operation in 2013. But in the zero-sum game of Pakistani governance, that would represent a loss for the civilian government, which increasingly finds itself playing second-fiddle to the military. "What you are witnessing is a creeping coup," said Rashid. "The army already has complete control of foreign policy and counter-terror in two provinces (northwest Khyber Pakthunkhwa and southern Sindh), and now is looking at a third." - 'They are stalling' - An Islamist insurgency began rattling Pakistan shortly after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban in 2001. The presence of thousands of American troops sent battle-hardened militants scuttling across Pakistan's porous border, where they became entrenched in tribal areas. Since then, much of the official response to the violent Islamism has been concentrated in the Pashtun-dominated northwest. But observers say the emphasis on these lawless border areas belies the problems in other parts of the country. Lahore is by no means shielded from militancy. It has seen its share of attacks, including one on Christians just one year ago that killed 17. "The Punjab government has failed to root out our sectarian militants in the province's south," said Aamir Mughal, a former intelligence officer turned analyst. "The provincial government is more concerned with its foreign image and has been stalling a military operation there to weed out these groups." Such an operation could damage long-standing alliances Sharif's party enjoys with Punjabi Islamist groups -- including the Sunni Tehreek movement, which is leading protests in Islamabad calling for Sharia law. Lahore looks on itself as the cultural capital of Pakistan, home to many of the country's liberals, and somewhat above the fray. It was the powerbase for Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's first socialist prime minister, and current premier Sharif, who cut his teeth as provincial finance minister in 1983. "One family from Lahore has been ruling in Punjab and frequently at the centre since those years. More than three decades," said Badar Alam, editor of Herald magazine. "That is one massive reason why Punjab's power has continued to grow." That is also what made it such an attractive target for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, the Taliban faction that carried out Sunday's bombing. "Nawaz Sharif should know that war has reached his doorstep," militant Ehsanullah Ehsan wrote on his Twitter account Tuesday. "God willing, the mujahideen will be the winners in this war." The attack In Lahore was the worst so far this year in a country grimly accustomed to atrocities, and will further fray inter-religious ties Farooq Naeem (AFP) Hundreds were injured in the suicide bombing claimed by the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban, whose official name is the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Arif Ali (AFP) Italy opens fight to return marine in India shooting case Italy on Wednesday launched a legal battle at an international tribunal to bring home an Italian marine, barred from leaving India after the 2012 killing of two Indian fishermen who Rome says were mistaken for pirates. Marine Salvatore Girone has been living in Italy's embassy in New Delhi for several years and is banned from leaving the city pending resolution of a dispute which has soured bilateral ties. Girone and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre were arrested by Indian police in 2012, days after they shot at an Indian fishing boat, killing two fishermen, while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission off India's southern Kerala coast. Italian marines Massimiliano Latorre (right) and Salvatore Girone arrive at Ciampino airport near Rome, on December 22, 2012 Vincenzo Pinto (AFP/File) The so-called "Enrica Lexie incident", named after the oil tanker, is now subject to international arbitration in a bitter fight between the two countries. Ties soured even further after the two marines overstayed a return trip to Italy they were allowed to make in early 2013 to vote in general elections. Both marines were barred from leaving India again pending a trial, although they have not yet been officially charged according to Italian officials, a claim disputed by New Delhi's representatives. Latorre however was allowed to travel back to Italy in 2014 for medical treatment after he suffered a stroke, and Indian courts in January extended his permission to stay in Italy until April 30. Girone however "is obliged to live thousands of kilometres (miles) away from his country and family, with two children still at a tender age" and is deprived of "his liberty", Italian ambassador Francesco Azzarello told the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). "He has not been subjected to any charge... his rights are seriously suffering," said Azzarello at the Hague-based arbitration body, set up in 1899 to rule in disputes between states and private entities. Girone should be allowed to come home "pending the final determination of this tribunal," Azzarello insisted at a rare public hearing at the court based in The Hague. - 'Double murder at sea' - Italy initiated arbitration proceedings last year and, in August a UN body, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), ordered India to suspend court proceedings against the pair. Italy insists the Enrica Lexie was in international waters at the time of the incident and that Indian courts did not have the jurisdiction to put the men on trial as they were "state officials". India argues the case is not a maritime dispute but "a double murder at sea" in which one fisherman was shot in the head and the other in the chest. India's representative Neeru Chadha told the five-member arbitration panel that the two marines were in fact facing charges before Indian courts. "As a matter of fact, as soon as Sergeant Girone was arrested he was informed of the charges against him," added another Indian representative, J.S. Mukul, who said Italy is "now unfairly alleging that no charges have been brought". The dragging case has become a political hot-button issue in Italy with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi regularly flayed by opposition leaders for failing to secure the release of both men. Azzarello said Thursday that Italy "gives the solemn undertaking" the marines will be returned to India if the PCA orders Rome to do so. However "a human being cannot be used as a guarantee for the conduct of a state," Azzarello said. Chadha said Girone was living "under relaxed bail conditions at the Italian ambassador's residence" in New Delhi. "The pattern is clear that Italy did not want the case to proceed in an Indian court and used various tactics to stall the process, Chadha said. Suu Kyi aide sworn in as Myanmar president in historic power shift Myanmar entered a new era on Wednesday as Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy movement took power after 50 years of military domination, with a close aide of the Nobel laureate sworn in as president. Htin Kyaw, a school friend and confidant of the democracy champion, succeeds former general Thein Sein, who ushered in reforms that transformed Myanmar from a repressive hermit state to a nation full of hope. As Htin Kyaw took the oath of office, he hinted he would change the army-imposed constitution that has excluded his friend and mentor from the top post. Myanmar's outgoing president Thein Sein (R) hands over the presidential seal to the country's new President Htin Kyaw (L) during the handover ceremony in Naypyidaw on March 30, 2016 Nyein Chan Naing/Pool (POOL/AFP) Suu Kyi, 70, is barred from becoming president by the junta-scripted constitution but has declared that she will steer the government anyway. Htin Kyaw is expected to act as her proxy. The handover at the junta-built parliament in the capital Naypyidaw marks the final act of a prolonged transition since Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party swept elections last November. The NLD won 80 percent of parliamentary seats, giving them a massive public mandate to rule. They are tasked with reviving a battered economy and a society straitjacketed by the army, which ruled with an iron fist between 1962 and the start of reforms in 2011 under Thein Sein's quasi-civilian administration. Welcoming a new age of full civilian government, the bespectacled new president pledged to be "faithful to the people of the republic of the union of Myanmar". "I will uphold and abide by the constitution and its laws. I will carry out my responsibilities uprightly and to the best of my ability," the 69-year-old told the chamber. - 'Democratic standards' - In a later ceremony at the presidential palace, Thein Sein symbolically handed over to his successor as a smiling Suu Kyi looked on. But the army is far from leaving the political scene. The military holds a quarter of all parliamentary seats and three key posts in the cabinet. Suu Kyi, the standard-bearer of the fight for democracy, joins that same cabinet holding a clutch of positions including foreign minister. In a speech later in the day Htin Kyaw signalled the NLD would continue its long-stated vow to amend the constitution to bring it up to "democratic standards" -- no small order given that the military's bloc in parliament gives it an effective veto on any such change. He gave no details. Expectations run high among Myanmar's 51 million people but the new government faces a steep task. Revolts still rage in ethnic minority borderlands, poverty is widespread and the military holds huge political and economic power. Sectarian tensions and anti-Muslim sentiment have flared in recent years. US President Barack Obama hailed an "extraordinary moment" in Myanmar's history. "Htin Kyaws inauguration represents a historic milestone in the countrys transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government," Obama said in a statement. But he warned of "significant challenges going forward," including on economic development and working to securing personal freedoms for all. The European Union welcomed Htin Kyaw's swearing in as a "new important step in the consolidation of the country's remarkable transition". But it added: "Many challenges remain for Myanmar to become an inclusive, pluralistic and peaceful democracy." - 'Biggest day' - NLD lawmakers also have little practical experience of government. Some were jailed by the junta, including most famously Suu Kyi who was held under house arrest for s total of 15 years. But on a historic day the party faithful were undaunted by the challenges ahead. "I'm really happy. I am also remembering my colleagues who sacrificed for this battle (for democracy)," said NLD lawmaker Aye Naing. Among a smattering of NLD supporters outside parliament, Yin Myint May welcomed the handover. "It is the biggest day for us," she said. "Remember we started (the democracy fight) in 1990," she added, referring to elections won in a landslide by the NLD that were ignored by the junta. Myanmar has witnessed a staggering political change since 2011 under Thein Sein. Investors and tourists have begun to pile in as much repression has eased, promising a better future to a public who now have access to mobile phones, cheaper cars and other coveted consumer goods. Hundreds of political prisoners have been released and media censorship lifted. Most western sanctions have been rolled back as a reward. Suu Kyi's administration must still maintain smooth relations with the military that locked her and many of her colleagues up for years. As well as their guaranteed parliamentary bloc, the junta charter gives the army chief control over the home affairs, border and defence ministries -- and with it sweeping powers over the civil service. Myanmar Gal ROMA, Adrian LEUNG (AFP) Newly sworn in Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi (C) with military generals during the handover ceremony at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw on March 30, 2016 Ye Aung Thu (POOL/AFP) General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar armed forces attends the 71st Armed Forces Day in the capital Naypyidaw on March 27, 2016 Aung Htet (AFP) Htin Kyaw, the man chosen by Aung San Suu Kyi to serve as her proxy, has been sworn in as Myanmar's president in a historic power shift away from outright army rule Bangladesh court orders opposition leader Zia's arrest A Bangladesh court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Khaleda Zia over a fire-bomb attack on a bus that killed two people and injured dozens last year, a prosecutor said. The Dhaka court accused Zia and 27 other leaders and officials of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of instigating the petrol bomb attack as part of a deadly anti-government campaign of arson. "She is the main accused in the case," prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar told AFP. Bangladesh's main opposition leader Khaleda Zia attends a rally in Dhaka on January 5, 2015 Munir Uz Zaman (AFP/File) "The court issued the warrant of arrest against her and 27 other senior officials and activists." It is not the first time that Zia -- the bitter political rival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina -- has faced arrest, and BNP spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi dismissed the charge as "laughable". "This is politically motivated and is part of deep conspiracy against her," he said. The attack took place during a nationwide blockade last year of roads, rail and waterways that the 70-year-old Zia called to try to force Hasina to resign and pave the way for new elections. The blockade unleashed a wave of deadly violence, leaving more than 120 people dead as opposition activists fire-bombed hundreds of buses and trucks and police responded by firing live rounds. Zia was confined to her office compound in Dhaka for months during the blockade, after she threatened to lead an anti-government rally through the capital on the anniversary of a disputed national election. "There was no way she could have instigated the violence as she was confined to her office at that time," her lawyer Sanaullah Miah told AFP. "This case is just to harass her and to keep her politically under pressure." Around 15,000 opposition supporters and dozens of BNP senior officials have been arrested as part of a crackdown by Hasina in the wake of the unrest. A judge in the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court issued the warrant against Zia after accepting a police charge-sheet over the attack in Dhaka on January 10, 2015. However, it was not immediately clear whether police would act on the order. Another arrest warrant issued against Zia last year was never executed. - BNP protest - Either way, the order is another blow to the two-times former premier, who has described previous cases against her as politically motivated and aimed at keeping her out of politics. Police said up to 200 BNP activists and supporters staged a protest in front of the party headquarters in Dhaka as news of the court's move emerged. "They shouted slogans and staged an impromptu demonstration. But they moved back to the party office before police reached the spot," assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Saifur Rahman told AFP. The BNP's second-in-command, Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, was arrested Wednesday on separate charges related to the 2015 unrest. He was held in jail before being granted bail on health grounds. The BNP boycotted the 2014 general election, leaving the field clear for its rivals. The party was further weakened by the crackdown last year, when police pressed charges against thousands of their leaders and grassroots activists over the fire-bombing campaign. The party has recently been trying to stage a comeback, holding a leadership election this month after more than six years. It wants to introduce fresh faces into the leadership. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters shout slogans during rally attended by party chairperson Khaleda Zia in Dhaka on January 5, 2015 Munir Uz Zaman (AFP/File) Khamenei says missiles, not 'negotiations' key to Iran security Iran's supreme leader said Wednesday that missile power was key to the country's future security, slapping down moderates who say the focus should be on diplomacy. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran, praised the powerful Revolutionary Guards for their "show of advanced and precise missiles" in recent tests that drew Western criticism. "In this jungle-like world, if the Islamic republic seeks negotiations, trade and even technology and science, but has no defence power, won't even small countries dare threaten Iran?" Khamenei said in remarks published on his official website. A long-range Qadr ballistic missile is launched in the Alborz mountain range in northern Iran on March 9, 2016 Mahmood Hosseini (Tasnim News/AFP/File) "Our enemies are constantly enhancing their military and missile capabilities and given this how can we say the age of missiles has passed?" His comments appeared aimed at ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a senior leader of the reformist and moderate camp, who last week tweeted: "Tomorrow's world is the world of dialogue not missiles." They also came a day after the United States, France, Britain and Germany said Iran's recent ballistic missile tests violate UN Security Council resolutions. The same four countries, along with Russia and China, reached the historic agreement with Iran last year that saw Tehran scale down its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Iran has twice tested ballistic missiles since the July 14 deal, prompting Western condemnation and new US sanctions. "The enemies of the revolution... use dialogue, economic trade, sanctions, military threats and any other means to further their goals," Khamenei said. "We should be able to confront and defend in all of these fields." French minister compares veiled women to 'negroes who supported slavery' A French government minister on Wednesday compared women who wear the veil to "negroes who supported slavery" amid a backlash against the growing trend for Muslim-orientated fashion. Families minister Laurence Rossignol, sparked outrage on social media with her comment which came after former fashion mogul Pierre Berge lashed out at designers creating Islamic clothing and headscarves, accusing them of taking part in the "enslavement of women". The businessman, partner of the late fashion legend Yves Saint Laurent, took aim at the wave of big fashion chains that have followed the Italian designers Dolce & Gabbana in catering specifically to the Muslim market. French families minister Laurence Rossignol (pictured) has sparked outrage on social media after comparing women who wear the veil to 'negroes who supported slavery' in response to fashion lines catering for Muslims Rosssignol, who is also responsible for women's rights, maintained she was referring to an abolitionist tract by the French philosopher Montesquieu, "On the Enslavement of Negroes", when she made her controversial comments to BFMTV and and RMC radio. As she apologised for using the n-word, two leading French designers -- Agnes b and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac -- also came out strongly against so-called "modest" Muslim-friendly fashion. "I am scandalised by it," Berge told Europe 1 French radio. "Creators should have nothing to do with Islamic fashion. Designers are there to make women more beautiful, to give them their freedom, not to collaborate with this dictatorship which imposes this abominable thing by which we hide women and make them live a hidden life." Rossignol admitted later to AFP that she had made "an error of language". "But other than that... I don't take back a word," the socialist said. - Modest clothing - While France -- home of Europe's biggest Muslim population -- bans face-covering veils, some of its big fashion houses were among the first to tentatively embrace Muslim-specific style. DKNY -- owned by French giant LVMH -- pioneered the "modest clothing" trend with a "capsule collection" aimed at the Middle East for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan two years ago. But designer de Castelbajac, who has dressed singer Lady Gaga, said he had grave misgivings about the trend. "Fashion is secular and universal, and should bring hope." Veteran feminist Agnes b had earlier vowed to "never do it. There is something obscene about offering clothes to rich women from countries where many are fleeing bombs trying to keep their veils on their heads. "We should not normalise clothing which is significant in the way women are seen," she told the Parisien daily. In January, Dolce & Gabbana became the first major western brand to directly aim at capturing a corner of the Islamic fashion market -- estimated to be worth $260 billion (230 billion euros) -- with its Abaya range. Its collection of 14 abayas or ankle-length dresses, which it matched with embroidered headscarves and hijabs, was broadly praised at the time. - 'Burqinis' - The Swedish high street chain H&M followed their lead, using a veiled Muslim women in its advertising campaign, with the Japanese brand Uniqlo earlier this month announcing it would begin selling hijabs in its London stores. The British brand Marks & Spencer has also put its toe in the water, marketing full-body "burqini" swimming costumes in its online store. Last summer Zara, Tommy Hilfiger, Oscar de la Renta and Mango all launched varyingly "modest" collections to coincide with Ramadan. But Berge, 85, who ran the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house for four decades, decried their "opportunism". "These creators who are taking part in the enslavement of women should ask themselves some questions," he added. "It is not because women are forced by their husbands to dress in that way that we too have to encourage it," he insisted. "In one way they (the designers) are complicit, and all this to make make money. Principles should come before money," Berge argued. "In life you have to chose the side of freedom," he said. Rather than covering women up, "we must teach (Muslim) women to revolt, to take their clothes off, to learn to live like most of the women in the rest of the world." Former fashion mogul Pierre Berge (pictured) lashed out at designers creating Islamic clothing and headscarves, accusing them of taking part in the "enslavement of women" Fadel Senna (AFP/File) Assad says civil war has cost Syria $200 billion The brutal five-year conflict in Syria has cost the country more than $200 billion (176 billion euros), President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview released Wednesday, insisting Damascus would look to Russia, China and Iran to rebuild the nation. "The economic damage and the damage to infrastructure exceeds $200 billion," Assad told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. "Economic issues can be settled immediately, when the situation stabilises in Syria, but rehabilitating the infrastructure will take a long time," Assad said in comments translated into Russian. President Bashar al-Assad says the brutal five-year conflict in Syria has cost the country more than $200 billion Mohamad Abazeed (AFP/File) The Syrian strongman said any future contracts to help rebuild the country would be handed out to companies from nations that had backed Damascus during the bloody conflict. "Of course we expect that this process will be based on three main countries that supported Syria during this crisis -- Russia, China and Iran," Assad said. Russia has deployed its military to Syria to back up troops loyal to longstanding ally Assad with a bombing campaign, and the Syrian leader said Moscow's forces would be needed in the country for some time to come. "We need their presence as they are effective in the fight against terrorism even if the situation in terms of security in Syria is stabilising," Assad said, adding that Russia's bases were also required to maintain "balance in the world". Moscow announced it was withdrawing part of its forces from Syria on March 14 after a ceasefire between Damascus and moderate opposition saw fighting drop. India sets rules for foreign investment in e-commerce sites India has set rules for foreign investment in online marketplaces, allowing up to 100 percent overseas ownership and providing much-needed clarity as billions of dollars pour into the country's fast-growing e-commerce sector. The long-awaited rules permit full foreign ownership of sites that connect online buyers to sellers -- similar to the model pioneered by Internet giant eBay. However, foreign direct investment in "inventory-based" sites that sell their own stock is forbidden, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said Tuesday. The long-awaited rules permit full foreign ownership of sites that connect online buyers to sellers -- similar to the model pioneered by Internet giant eBay Frederic J. Brown (AFP/File) In practice, India's e-retailers already considered this to be the case, acting as technological platforms that connect buyers and sellers rather than selling their own products. Even Amazon does not sell its own stock directly to shoppers in India. Despite the regulatory fuzziness, domestic marketplace sites such as Flipkart and Snapdeal have attracted billions of dollars in overseas investment. "This announcement brings current business structures on the right side of the law," Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of Third Eyesight, a retail consultancy in Delhi, told AFP. While the new rules will end much of the uncertainty, the government has also imposed restrictions that may cause headaches for some online retailers. Under the new rules, a single seller can only account for up to 25 percent of sales, the department said. This could cause problems for some of the big sites which, while technically marketplaces, are reportedly home to a handful of super-sellers that provide the lion's share of their products. Aggressive discounting wars by India's Internet retailers may also be under threat, as the rules say they are not allowed to "directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services". "There were no conditions (before) -- now it looks like some of the players may have to restructure the agreements with their sellers to be compliant. It's not very easy," said Paresh Parekh, a tax partner in retail and consumer products at EY. Some retailers welcomed the new rules, including Kunal Bahl. He founded Snapdeal, one of India's biggest Internet shopping sites. Dubai announces first airport tax on passengers The emirate of Dubai, whose airport is the world's busiest for international passengers, announced Wednesday it was introducing a tax on travellers to help finance expansion, as Gulf governments grapple with plummeting revenues. The 35-dirham ($9.50) fee will apply to all passengers, including those transitting in Dubai, on all flights from June 30, according to a statement carried by WAM state news agency. It is the first time Dubai has announced a passenger tax, which is imposed in many airports worldwide. More than 78 million passengers passed through Dubai International in 2015, keeping its place as the world's busiest for international passengers since overtaking London Heathrow in 2014 STRINGER (Dubai Airport Auhtority/AFP/File) More than 78 million passengers passed through Dubai International in 2015, keeping its place as the world's busiest for international passengers since overtaking London Heathrow in 2014. Last month, Dubai Airports increased the capacity of its main airport to 90 million passengers with the opening of concourse D, at a cost of $1.2 billion. Dubai has a smaller second airport, Al-Maktoum International, which opened in 2013 and will receive 120 million passengers a year once completed. The receipts of the new tax will be channelled into funding the expansion of Dubai airports, the statement said. Although part of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, Dubai has dwindling oil wealth, and its revenues are diversified compared to its oil-dependent Gulf peers. But the whole region is struggling to cope with a sharp drop in oil revenues since crude prices nosedived. Situated on transcontinental air routes, Dubai is one of several Gulf-based airports to experience prodigious growth in recent years. Assad insists on unity government despite opposition demands Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reiterated his call for a national unity government, as the White House said his inclusion would make any such proposal a "non-starter". As the two sides appeared deadlocked over the political transition, UN chief Ban Ki-moon highlighted the impact of the five-year conflict by urging greater efforts to tackle the country's refugee crisis at a conference in Geneva. In an interview published Wednesday, Assad told Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency it would be "logical for there to be independent forces, opposition forces and forces loyal to the government represented" in the new authorities. In an interview President Bashar al-Assad told Russia's RIA Novosti the transitional body the opposition is demanding in Syria was "illogical and unconstitutional" He pushed back against opposition demands that it should be put in place without his participation, insisting that the transitional body they are calling for is "illogical and unconstitutional". "Neither in the Syrian constitution nor in the constitution of any other country in the world is there anything that could be called a transitional body of power," Assad said. "It is the national unity government that will prepare a new constitution." Talks led by the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura paused last week with the sides deadlocked over the fate of Assad, who the opposition insists must leave power before a transitional government is agreed. Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee flatly rejected the demand from Assad for any transitional government to include his regime. "International resolutions speak of... the formation of a transitional body with full powers, including presidential powers," HNC senior member Asaad al-Zoabi said, adding "Assad should not remain for even one hour after the formation" of this body. Responding to Assad's interview on Wednesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Syrian leader's own participation would be a "non-starter". "I don't know whether he envisioned himself being a part of that national unity government. Obviously that would be a non-starter for us," Earnest said. - 'Liberate every region' - The form of the executive body that would lead Syria until elections, which the UN says should be held in 18 months, is a key bone of contention between the two sides. A UN Security Council Resolution vaguely suggests the establishment of a body to head the political transition. For the regime, this amounts to a government reshuffle in which the opposition is included, but for the opposition it would be a new body with presidential powers and no role for Assad. Assad has been buoyed after his forces recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State (IS) jihadists over the weekend, in an advance backed by Russian air strikes and special forces on the ground. "The Syrian army is determined to liberate every region," Assad said in Wednesday's interview. "We are being supported in this by our friends -- Russian support was central and key in achieving these results." Soldiers were locked in heavy fighting Wednesday with IS fighters in central Syria as they pressed their offensive following the seizure of the UNESCO world heritage site. A ceasefire between Damascus and non-jihadist opposition forces has broadly held since February 27, prompting slight hopes that a political solution might be possible for the conflict that has claimed more than 270,000 lives. A top Pentagon official Wednesday said a US-led coalition had the "momentum" over jihadists both in Syria and in neighbouring Iraq. "Right now, without question, the momentum against ISIS is more than at any other time in our campaign," Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said, using another name for the IS group. - Little progress on refugees - At the Geneva refugee conference, UN chief Ban urged delegates to "address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time", which has seen an estimated 4.8 million Syrians flee their homeland. The UN wants to secure relocation pledges within three years for 10 percent of Syria's refugees -- 480,000 people -- to relieve the burden on Syria's immediate neighbours. The conference secured only a modest increase in pledges, up from 178,000 people to 185,000, a UNHCR statement said. More than one million migrants -- about half of them Syrians -- reached Europe via the Mediterranean last year, a rate of arrivals that continued through the first three months of 2016. Thousands have died making the harrowing journey, often on rickety boats run by people smugglers. Syria map Jonathan Jacobsen, Kun Tian, Omar Kamal (AFP) High Negotiations Committee Chairman Asaad al-Zoabi (L) and chief negotiator Mohammed Alloush attend a press briefing on March 22, 2016 in Geneva Fabrice Coffrini (AFP/File) Syrian forces recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State jihadists over the weekend A Syrian soldier looks at graffiti reading in Arabic, "The Islamic State is staying", in the historical city of Palmyra in central Syria on March 29, 2016 India, EU vow to boost anti-terror ties as Modi honours Brussels victims Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a summit with EU leaders Wednesday to strengthen ties with bloc, vowing to boost counter-terrorism cooperation as he paid tribute to the victims of the Brussels attacks. The March 22 suicide bombings on the Belgian capital's airport and metro system loomed large over Modi's visit to Brussels for the 13th EU-India summit, with the premier saying his country shared Belgium's pain. In a joint statement after talks with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the leaders condemned last week's carnage, which killed 32 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group, as "an unacceptable affront to our open democratic societies". India Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves a bouquet outside Maalbeek metro station in Brussels on March 30, 2016 Aurore Belot (Belga/AFP) "The EU and India will remain united and firm in the fight against hatred, violent extremism and terrorism," they said. Also on the agenda at the summit were efforts to boost trade and investment. The 28-member European Union is the South Asian nation's biggest trading partner and its largest source of foreign investment, accounting for around 26 percent of total inward investment, or $69 billion (61 billion euros). Modi's right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in 2014 promising to revive India's economy and create much-needed jobs. But while India is the world's fastest-growing major economy, experts say it is still not expanding at a fast enough pace to provide employment for a burgeoning young population. The EU and India launched negotiations on a free-trade agreement in 2007 but progress has been held up due to differences over intellectual property rights and efforts by Brussels to link trade with climate change action. The economic ties between the two sides were put in the spotlight by Indian giant Tata Steel's announcement on the eve of the summit that it plans to sell its British assets, with thousands of jobs at stake. The last EU-India summit was held in 2012 but a series of spats over trade, and then over the fate of two Italian marines who skipped bail while on trial for murder in New Delhi, got in the way of organising the next meeting. With ties between the two countries already strained, Italy upped tensions further on Wednesday by launching a legal battle at an international tribunal to bring home one of the marines, who has been living in Italy's embassy in New Delhi after the 2012 killing of two Indian fishermen who Rome says were mistaken for pirates. The other marine has already returned home. The EU and India failed to make any progress in resolving the row during their one-day talks. "The EU shares Italy's concerns to find an expeditious solution for the prolonged restriction of liberty of the two marines," their statement read, while "India stressed the need for rendering due justice for the families" of the fishermen. Boeing to cut 4,000 jobs in commercial aircraft retool US aerospace giant Boeing will trim about 4,000 jobs in its commercial airplanes division as it seeks to cut costs and boost productivity, a company spokesman told AFP on Wednesday. Staffing reductions through mid-year, including hundreds of executives and managers, will be done through attrition and voluntary layoffs, leaving open jobs unfilled, spokesman Doug Alder said in an email. "We'll only use involuntary layoffs as a last resort," he said. Boeing had a record 762 commercial aircraft deliveries in 2015, topping Airbus, but its rival had a substantial edge in net orders last year, at 1,080 versus 768 for Boeing Eric Piermont (AFP/File) The payroll reduction is part of a streamlining announced last month that includes non-labor cost savings and supply-chain savings, he noted. At the end of February, Boeing's commercial airplanes division had 82,310 employees. The Chicago-based company, which includes defense and space divisions, among others, employed 159,250 people. Shares in Dow member Boeing dipped 0.3 percent to 130.50 in morning trade. Boeing, facing stiff competition from European aircraft maker Airbus, is in the process of transitioning aircraft production, such as the 737, its best-selling jet, as it introduces the new 737 MAX and its long-range 777 to the new 777X. Boeing had a record 762 commercial aircraft deliveries in 2015, topping Airbus, but its rival had a substantial edge in net orders last year, at 1,080 versus 768 for Boeing. As of March 22, Boeing had 107 net airplane orders this year amid a robust air travel industry that is seeing strong demand for planes. The job cuts reflect the company's positioning even as orders roll in, another Boeing spokesman said. "It's all part of year-over-year growth in productivity and driving costs down. That sort of effort never stops. Just because we're building more doesn't mean we shouldn't always become more productive," spokesman Bernard Choi told AFP. In January, Boeing forecast deliveries would decline this year for the first time since 2010, to between 740 and 745. US to station armored brigade in eastern Europe from 2017 The United States will step up its troop presence in eastern Europe in response to "an aggressive Russia," with continuous rotations of an additional armored brigade beginning in early 2017, the US military said Wednesday. The rotations will bring the US Army's presence in Europe to three fully manned combat brigades, the US European Command said. A brigade comprises about 4,200 troops. "This Army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO Allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere," General Philip Breedlove, the top US commander in Europe, said in a statement. General Philip Breedlove, the top US commander in Europe Saul Loeb (AFP/File) "Our allies and partners will see more capability. They will see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries," he added. Defense Secretary Ash Carter last month unveiled the Pentagon's proposed budget for next year, which includes $3.4 billion -- quadruple last year's amount -- for operations in Europe. The cash will fund the so-called European Reassurance Initiative that aims to deter Russia from carrying out additional land grabs after its 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. "These efforts demonstrate strong alliances and partnerships backed by demonstrated capability, capacity and readiness to deter aggression," Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal said. "We have been clear that we will defend our interests, our allies, and the principles of international order in Europe." The Pentagon's beefed-up European presence means US forces will increase military exercises with ally nations and train with new equipment such as tanks and artillery pieces. Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis said the deployment bears out commitments made by President Barack Obama in a speech in Tallinn in September 2014. "This decision is particularly important after President Obama's statement," Bergmanis said. "Then, the US president said that Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius are just as important to protect as Berlin, Paris and London." Islamists end protest in Pakistani capital Islamist protesters gathered in the Pakistani capital ended their days-long sit-in on Wednesday after claiming the government had agreed to a number of their demands including the hanging of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy. Pakistan's Interior Minister Chauhdry Nisar Ali Khan denied however that a deal had been struck, saying the demonstrators left "on their own accord". The protesters -- who numbered some 25,000 at their peak -- had gathered Sunday in support of Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged in February five years after he assassinated a liberal Punjab governor over his calls to reform the country's blasphemy laws. A supporter of convicted murderer Mumtaz Qadri gestures during celebrations after their leaders announced the end of a protest in Islamabad on March 30, 2016 Aamir Qureshi (AFP) The demonstrators clashed with security forces in Islamabad before setting up camp outside key government buildings along the capital's main Constitution Avenue. Ashraf Asif Jalali, one of the protest's main leaders, told reporters at the protest site Wednesday evening: "As a result of the continuous four-day sit-in, the government has accepted our demands." "Nobody involved in blasphemy against the Holy Prophet will be given concessions, whether they be Asia Bibi or anybody else," he added, referring to a Christian woman on death row since 2010 over a dispute with Muslim women involving a bowl of water. He added that the government had also agreed to not make any changes to Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law, which critics say is frequently used to oppress the poor and minorities. However the interior minister denied any such deal was made. "There has been nor written or any other form of agreement," Khan said. "We were about to give orders to law enforcement agencies for clearing the area but then two religious personalities intervened." The minister added that the protesters then decided to leave on their "own accord". The stand-off came as Pakistan mourned more than 70 people killed in a Taliban suicide bombing targeting Christians celebrating Easter Sunday in Lahore, underscoring deep religious divisions fuelling the Muslim country's long battle with extremism. A police source said more than 7,000 security forces were poised to clear the sit-in, including the paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps with reinforcements from the Punjab police, while army troops guarded key government buildings. Columnist Gul Bukhari said that after initially underestimating the protesters and failing to read their intentions to hold a sit-in following funeral prayers Sunday, the government had acted wisely by allowing them to tire out and displaying an overwhelming show of force. "The show of force was put out and in the end all they got was safe passage out," she said, adding there was nothing in the agreement claimed by the protest leaders that went beyond the current status quo and it was a "face-saving measure". "Of course there are no amendments planned on the blasphemy law. But there was no question of that happening. The government doesn't even have the prerogative to change the law, that is with parliament." Bukhari added that the case of Asia Bibi together with other blasphemy convicts was also a judicial matter and would not be affected. - Qadri's legacy - Hailed as a hero by right-wing religious groups when he murdered Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, the demonstrators have demanded that Qadri be named a "martyr" and called for the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five convicted of blasphemy. Pakistan has 17 people on death row for blasphemy including Bibi, but has not executed anyone yet. Qadri's hanging, hailed as a "key moment" by analysts in Pakistan's war on religious extremism, has become a flashpoint for the deep divisions in the conservative Muslim country. His funeral earlier this month drew tens of thousands in an extremist show of force that alarmed moderate Muslims, while the call to hang Bibi along with the Easter attack in Lahore has underscored a growing sense of insecurity for Pakistan's minorities. On Wednesday the death toll from the Lahore bombing climbed again to 74. Dozens more remain in hospital, seven of them critical, medical staff told AFP. "It's a sense of great grief, sorrow and fear," Shamoon Gill, spokesman for the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, told AFP. Pakistani supporters of convicted murderer Mumtaz Qadri celebrate after their leaders announced the end of a protest in Islamabad on March 30, 2016 Farooq Naeem (AFP) Egypt forms team to keep probing Italian's murder Egypt's state prosecutor ordered Wednesday the formation of an investigating team to probe the brutal murder of Italian student Giulio Regeni, after Rome cast doubt on Cairo's explanation of his death. Regeni, 28, disappeared in central Cairo on January 25, and his mutilated body was found nine days later on the outskirts of the capital. Last week the Egyptian police said they had identified a criminal gang linked to his murder, after killing four members and finding the PhD student's passport in the apartment of a sister of one of the slain suspects. Cambridge University student Giulio Regeni was found dead bearing signs of torture in February, having disappeared in central Cairo in January Filippo Monteforte (AFP/File) Four people have been detained in relation to Regeni's murder, including the wife and a sister of the alleged leader of the gang. The other two are the brother and brother-in-law of the gang leader, who was killed in a shoot-out with police along with three other criminals. Rome has dismissed Cairo's explanations that the gang members, who allegedly posed as police to extort foreigners and Egyptians, were behind Regeni's death. On Wednesday, Egypt's general prosecutor ordered a team to be set up to probe the student's murder. "Given that the clues in the case of Giulio Regeni's killing were found in many different areas ... the general prosecutor ordered the formation of an investigative team from his office to continue the investigation," a statement from the prosecutor's office said. Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Sunday that Egypt agreed to extend the investigation after pressure from Rome. Italian media and Western diplomatic sources in Cairo have voiced suspicions that Egyptian security services were behind the murder. Regeni had been researching labour movements in Egypt, a sensitive topic, and had written articles critical of the government under a pen name. His death has threatened to hit Egypt's already struggling tourism sector, which has seen falling visitor numbers since the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Clinton brings campaign home to New York's Harlem Hillary Clinton brought the presidential race to New York on Wednesday, visiting the historically black neighborhood of Harlem to outline a vision of national diversity and to attack Donald Trump. Clinton looked delighted to back in her adopted home state, appealing for votes from the people who "took a chance on me" by electing her to the US Senate in 2000. The former first lady, secretary of state and two-time senator holds a commanding double-digit lead over Bernie Sanders, her challenger for the Democratic nomination in the state's primary on April 19. US democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, pictured on March 30, 2016, looked delighted to back in her adopted home state, appealing for votes from the people who "took a chance on me" by electing her to the US Senate in 2000 Jewel Samad (AFP) The 2016 New York primary is unusual in that it includes three New Yorkers: Clinton facing off against the Brooklyn-born Sanders, now senator of Vermont. On the Republican side, the Queens-born, Manhattan tycoon Trump will try to extend his lead over Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich. New York has long embraced Clinton. Her husband and former president Bill Clinton set up his foundation in Harlem. The Clintons have a home in the suburbs. Their daughter and granddaughter live in Manhattan. Her first stop Wednesday was a local bakery where she was welcomed by veteran New York congressman Charlie Rangel, who was born and raised in Harlem. "It is great to be home," she said. "It's a joy to be campaigning in New York." She delivered her stump speech, tailor-made for New York, at the Apollo Theater, an iconic venue in the emergence of jazz, R&B and gospel where greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Luther Vandross have performed. "New Yorkers took a chance for me and I will never forget that. You have always had my back. I have always tried to have yours," she told the packed theater. She recalled the horrors of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the resilience of the city, and appealed to the characteristics on which New Yorkers pride themselves: diversity, tolerance and getting things done. She took a swipe at Trump for dividing the country, insulting women, and threatening to deport illegal immigrants and ban Muslims. "It's cynical, it's wrong, and it goes against everything New York and America stand for," she said to cheers. Turning her attention to Sanders and his leftist agenda, she said no one knows more than her the need to address income inequality but hammered home her enormous appeal among African Americans. "But I will tell you this. It's also important to take on racial inequality and discrimination in all of its forms," she said to huge applause. Before Clinton's arrival, Rangel joked in the cake shop that the largely Democratic city had already done more than enough to help her campaign. "I truly believe that New York City has made one of the greatest contributions to the Democratic Party ever. And his name is Donald Trump," he said to laughs. Ex-Rwandan minister accused of spying dies in Burundi jail Former Rwandan minister Jacques Bihozagara has died in jail in Burundi nearly four months after being arrested for espionage, officials and fellow prisoners told AFP. Kigali said it was "shocked" by the news with the Rwandan foreign ministry demanding answers from the Burundi authorities, amid worsening relations between the two neighbours. UN experts have claimed that Kigali has recruited and trained refugees, including children, with the ultimate goal of removing Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza from power, charges denied by Rwanda. Former Rwandan Minister Jacques Bihozagara speaks during a press conference in Brussels on April 23, 1995 Jacques Collet (BELGA/AFP/File) "Our citizen was being illegally detained, without judgement... We demand that Burundian authorities shed light on this sudden death, because it raises a lot of questions," a Rwandan foreign ministry official said. Burundi has been in political crisis since April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced a controversial bid for a third term in power. More than 400 people have been killed in clashes since then and almost quarter of a million people have fled the country, with the government blaming the killings on opposition forces. "During the day he (Bihozagara) felt ill and was taken to the prison infirmary," a detainee at Mpimba prison in the capital Bujumbura, reached by telephone, said on condition of anonymity. "Then they told us he had died 20 minutes later, shortly after 3 pm (1300 GMT). Detainees said Bihozagara had seemed in good health. An official from Burundi's penitentiary agency and the Rwandan foreign ministry official confirmed his death. Bihozagara, a former youth minister in Rwanda as well as a former ambassador to Belgium and France, was arrested on December 4, 2015 by Burundi's National Intelligence Service (SNR), an agency under the direct control of President Nkurunziza. He was being held on suspicion of "working for the intelligence agency of his country", an agent told AFP on condition of anonymity. Bihozagara had travelled regularly to Burundi since his retirement for business and to visit family. Boko Haram kill six soldiers in southeast Niger: ministry Six Nigerien soldiers were killed and three others wounded in the country's southeast Wednesday in an attack blamed on Boko Haram, the interior ministry said in a statement read on state radio. The soldiers were killed in an ambush "by Boko Haram terrorists" at around 6 am as they were patrolling some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Diffa, the regional capital near Nigerian border, the statement said. Boko Haram has suffered substantial setbacks in recent months in the face of a counteroffensive by national armies from the region. Nigerien soldiers patrol in Bosso, near the Nigerian border, on May 25, 2015 Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File) At least 17,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched an insurgency in 2009 to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. More than 2.6 million people have fled their homes since the start of the violence but some of the internally displaced have returned home after troops began the fight-back last year and recaptured territory. Trump: Women who get illegal abortions should be 'punished' Women who have illegal abortions should be punished, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said, before backpedaling after a firestorm erupted over his latest controversial comment. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton branded Trump's remark "horrific," Bernie Sanders called it "shameful" and even major pro-life groups spoke out strongly against punishing women who have abortions. Trump's comment came during a combative interview on MSNBC, with host Chris Matthews pressing the billionaire reality TV star to specify how a woman should be punished, if abortion were banned in the United States. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, only a recent convert to the "pro-life" anti-abortion position, has been accused in the past of flip-flopping on the hot-button issue Jim Watson (AFP/File) "This is the difficult situation you placed yourself in, by saying you're pro-life you want to ban abortion," Matthews said. "How do you ban abortion without some kind of sanction?" Trump tried to sidestep the question, saying he hadn't determined what kind of punishment a woman should face for having an abortion, but acknowledged "the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment." Asked if the man who gets the woman pregnant should be punished, Trump responded, "I would say no." The 69-year-old Trump, who during his political life has been a Democrat and an independent and is only a recent convert to the "pro-life" anti-abortion position, has been accused in the past of flip-flopping on the hot-button issue. Clinton wasted little time in voicing her disgust at Trump's remarks, the latest in a series from a candidate accused of peddling misogyny and anti-Muslim sentiment on the campaign trail. Trump is also struggling badly to attract women voters nationally. "Just when you thought it couldn't get worse. Horrific and telling," Clinton said in a tweet. As the outcry grew, the Clinton campaign posted a flurry of tweets saying all women deserve equal access to health care, apparently seeking to capitalize on the momentum. "We cant let someone with this much contempt for womens rights anywhere near the White House," one posting said. Clinton and other Democratic lawmakers are defenders of a woman's right to obtain an abortion, a procedure still fiercely opposed by many Republicans, four decades after the US Supreme Court affirmed its legality nationwide. Even Trump's ultraconservative rival Ted Cruz, an evangelical Texas senator, bashed Trump, accusing the real estate mogul of saying "anything just to get attention." Ohio Governor John Kasich, the third candidate in the Republican race for the White House, also weighed in: "Of course women shouldn't be punished," he told MSNBC. Women's health provider Planned Parenthood, which conservatives oppose for its abortion practices, said Trump "is now inciting violence against women for making a decision that's theirs to make." - Takebacks - The Trump campaign later Wednesday issued a statement on abortion, without mentioning his remarks to MSNBC, but reversing the stance he took in the interview. If abortion were to become illegal under US law, then the doctor or any other person involved in performing the procedure would be legally responsible, the statement said. "The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. My position has not changed -- like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions," said the statement. It was the latest twist for Trump, who has taken contradictory or competing stances on issues including torture, bans on Muslims entering the United States, violence at his rallies and the racist Ku Klux Klan movement. Despite his success in statewide Republican nominating contests to date, a major challenge for Trump is winning support from women voters. Trump has called women "fat pigs," "slobs" and "disgusting animals," and most recently was castigated in the media for posting an unflattering photo of Cruz's wife next to a photo of his own wife, an ex-model. Trump has denied being sexist, saying his remarks are just "show business" and that "nobody respects women more than I do." Wisconsin is the next state to host a primary, on April 5. According to a new poll from Marquette University Law School, 40 percent of likely voters there said they supported Cruz, compared to 30 percent for Trump. Seventy percent of registered voters polled said they have an unfavorable view of Trump, compared to about 22 percent that have a favorable view. US democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton branded Donald Trump's remark women who have illegal abortions should be punished, as "horrific" Jewel Samad (AFP/File) Donald Trump's ultraconservative rival Ted Cruz (L), an evangelican Texas senator, bashed Trump, accusing the real estate mogul of saying "anything just to get attention" Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File) John Kasich, the third runner in the Republican White House race, weighed in on Donald Trump's comment women who have illegal abortions should be punished, saying "of course women shouldn't be punished" Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File) Gunmen storm pro-Tripoli TV station in Libya: journalists Gunmen stormed the Tripoli headquarters of satellite TV station Al-Nabaa on Wednesday night, cut its transmissions and forced out its staff, according to two journalists from the channel, which is close to the authorities in control of the Libyan capital. "A group of armed men, some of them in fatigues and some in civilian clothing, stormed our offices and gathered the employees in one room telling them they have nothing more to do here," one of the journalists told AFP. Programming was completely halted on the channel, half an hour after a red banner appeared on the screen that read "Urgent" and announced that "the sons and the revolutionaries of Tripoli have closed the channel of discord and instigation (of hatred)". Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran the capital Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File) The message threatened to hunt down anyone working for the channel in the future. "They took us out of the offices, took control and suspended broadcasting. None of us has been hurt," another journalist from the channel told AFP on condition of anonymity. Earlier Wednesday the channel had aired comments by Khalifa Ghweil, head of the unrecognised authorities in control of Tripoli, demanding that Fayez al-Sarraj -- a businessman named prime minister-designate of the UN-backed unity government -- leave the capital. Sarraj had arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday by sea from Tunisia, along with several members of his cabinet. Members of Tripoli's unrecognised parliament had taken to Al-Nabaa on Wednesday to denounce the arrival of Sarraj and his ministers, blasting officers who allowed it to happen as "traitors". The Latest: Obama spokesman: LGBT equality fight goes on ATLANTA (AP) The Latest on the Georgia governor's veto of a religious exemptions bill (all times local): 3 p.m. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama was never under the impression that last year's Supreme Court decision effectively legalizing gay marriage would end the struggle for equality, justice and fairness. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal speaks during a news conference as he announces he has vetoed legislation allowing clergy to refuse performing gay marriage and protecting people who refuse to attend the ceremonies Monday, March 28, 2016, in Atlanta. The Republican rejected the bill on Monday, saying "I have examined the protections that this bill proposes to provide to the faith based community and I can find no examples of any of those circumstances occurring in our state." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Earnest made the remarks to reporters accompanying Obama as he flew to Atlanta for an unrelated appearance on Tuesday. The spokesman said the president believes "that we can take all the necessary steps to protect religious freedom without giving people the approval to discriminate against people because of who they love." A Georgia bill vetoed by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday would have allowed clergy to refuse to perform gay marriages and church-affiliated religious groups to invoke faith reasons when refusing to serve or hire someone. ___ 12 p.m. Conservative groups in Georgia say Gov. Nathan Deal's veto of a "religious freedom" bill shows he has turned his back on people of faith. Representatives for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, the Faith and Freedom Coalition and others said Tuesday they won't give up on passing legislation in future years. A portion of the bill vetoed Monday lets people claiming their religious freedoms have been burdened by state or local laws force governments to prove there's a "compelling" state interest overriding their beliefs. Supporters say more than 30 states have similar laws. Republican state Sen. Marty Harbin of Tyrone also called on House and Senate leadership to demand a special session in response to Deal's veto, joining two other senators. Legislative leaders have given no sign they will try. ___ 4 a.m. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal's plan to veto a "religious freedom" bill has supporters vowing that the issue isn't going away. Some of the top groups supporting the measure are set to discuss their next steps Tuesday morning. Lawmakers adjourned Thursday for the year. They need three-fifths of each chamber to request a special session to respond to Deal's veto. If they can't meet that high bar, backers of the bill say they'll be back with a new proposal during the next legislative session. Gay-rights advocates, though, say Georgia lawmakers should focus on creating protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents. State law doesn't offer that now for employment, housing or other services. Deal, a Republican, said Monday that Georgia shouldn't permit discrimination to protect people of faith. The seal of the state of Georgia hangs behind Gov. Nathan Deal as he speaks during a press conference to announce he has vetoed legislation allowing clergy to refuse performing gay marriage and protecting people who refuse to attend the ceremonies Monday, March 28, 2016, in Atlanta. The Republican rejected the bill on Monday, saying, "I do not think that we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia." (AP Photo/David Goldman) Frenchman arrested in Rotterdam declines swift extradition THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) Dutch prosecutors say that a Frenchman arrested in the port city of Rotterdam has declined a swift extradition to France, which sought his arrest on suspicion of "involvement in a criminal organization linked to a terrorist plan." The 32-year-old man appeared Tuesday at a hearing in Amsterdam and was ordered held in custody pending an extradition hearing that must be held within 60 days. Specially trained Dutch police detained the suspect and three other men in raids on homes in Rotterdam on Sunday evening. Prosecutors say the three other men, all of Algerian origin, are not wanted by France. Police found ammunition, drugs and money during the raids. El Salvador calls emergency in 7 prisons, targets gang heads SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) Authorities declared a state of emergency Tuesday at seven prisons and transferred 299 high-ranking gang members at the start of "extraordinary measures" that El Salvador's government has promised to take against gangs. A package of additional measures was to be presented to the legislature Wednesday. Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde, the minister of justice and public security, said at a news conference that the targeted gang leaders were transferred to a prison 25 kilometers (about 15 miles) west of the capital. FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2015 file photo, soldiers guard a corner in a gang-controlled neighborhood in Ilopango, El Salvador. A video broadcast by local media on Saturday, March 26, 2016, purportedly made by the countrys main street gangs, is offering an end to killings, and asks the government not to continue an anti-gang offensive. Officials said they would not negotiate with the gangs. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File) The emergency declaration puts inmates on lockdown and suspends family visits for 15 days. "They are going to be subjected to a higher security regimen, with greater control to make sure communication from inside the prison system is stopped," Ramirez said. "They have been identified as those most involved in communicating with the outside, in directing and coordinating illegal activities of the criminal groups." He said mixed units of police and soldiers will handle security inside and outside El Salvador's prisons. President Salvador Sanchez Ceren said earlier this month that he was considering steps to combat gang violence. His administration has roundly rejected an apparent weekend offer by the gangs for negotiations. A video message from masked men claiming to represent the country's three most powerful street gangs said they had told their members to stop killing. In exchange, they demanded that the government not proceed with the measures to combat the gangs. On Tuesday, presidential spokesman Eugenio Chicas said the administration would present an initial package of "extraordinary measures" to the legislature Wednesday. They could include deploying more soldiers in a security role, declaring states of emergency in conflict zones and imposing stiff fines on phone companies that Chicas said have refused to lower cellphone signal strength around prisons. He said the measures would "guarantee the population's security and be a hard hit against criminality." Chicas acknowledged that homicides had dropped significantly since the release of the gang video. However, he said it was just a way for the gangs to put a gun to the populace's head, threatening to resume killings if the government doesn't negotiate. Senate files civil lawsuit over sex ads WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate has filed a lawsuit to force classified advertising website Backpage.com to turn over documents about how it screens ads for possible sex trafficking. Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Claire McCaskill of Missouri announced Tuesday that the Senate legal counsel filed a civil action in federal district court after the website failed to comply with a congressional subpoena over its screening practices. Portman is the Republican chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and McCaskill is the top Democrat. The Senate voted earlier this month to hold the website in contempt, the first time in 20 years the chamber has done so. US says Russia missing opportunity by skipping nuke summit WASHINGTON (AP) The White House is criticizing Russia for skipping a global nuclear security summit in Washington. More than 50 countries and international organizations are attending the summit later this week near the White House. The goal is to accelerate global efforts to secure nuclear materials and prevent nuclear attacks. But Russia isn't sending its president. Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes says that decision is a "missed opportunity" for Russia. Rhodes is praising China's role in securing stiff new sanctions on North Korea in response to its recent nuclear test and rocket launch. President Barack Obama plans to discuss North Korea with China's leader on the summit's sidelines. Democrats reject Republican plan for PR control board WASHINGTON (AP) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says a Republican plan to create an oversight board for Puerto Rico would exert "undue and undemocratic control" over the U.S. territory, echoing complaints from the island's leaders as they struggle with $70 billion in debt. House Republicans released draft legislation on Tuesday that would create a five-person board designed to audit the territory's government and create new fiscal plans and budget measures steps they say are necessary for Puerto Rico to get its economy back on track. The board would have the authority to enact the plan if the territory's governor and legislature fail to do so. In a statement Tuesday, Pelosi, a Democrat, said the board would be too powerful. "The sweeping powers of the oversight board proposed in Republicans' current discussion draft are far from what Democrats can support," she said. Puerto Rico has been mired in economic stagnation for nearly a decade. The territory's financial problems grew worse as a result of setbacks in the wider U.S. economy, and government spending in Puerto Rico continued unchecked as borrowing covered increasing deficits. Garcia has said the island is headed for a humanitarian crisis. Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, and New York Democratic Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Jose Serrano also said they believe the control board would undermine Puerto Rico's laws. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan stood by the draft proposal, calling it "thoughtful, comprehensive legislation that gives the U.S. territory the tools it needs to deal with its systemic fiscal and budgeting problems without a taxpayer bailout." Outside conservative groups have reserved judgment on the plan and Ryan may need the support of Democrats to get the plan through the House. Republican Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop said his panel is still working on the bill and will listen to concerns before the committee introduces a final version in April. The draft bill would not give Puerto Rico the broad bankruptcy authority it has asked for, but would allow the oversight board to decide whether debt restructuring is necessary. If the board decides it is needed in some areas and certain conditions are met, it could facilitate court-supervised debt restructuring. Puerto Rico, along with the Obama administration and many Democrats in Congress, has pushed for a restructuring framework for the island's debt, saying it would not cost U.S. taxpayers. But some Democrats have been wary of an oversight or control board asserting too much authority over the territory's government. Pelosi said Democrats and Republicans have been working together on the issue and she hopes to work with Ryan and Bishop "to address the significant problems" of the draft legislation. In a statement issued Tuesday evening, the Treasury Department said the draft needs improvements, without saying exactly what those should be. "Puerto Rico urgently needs the ability to comprehensively restructure its financial liabilities paired with independent oversight that respects the Commonwealth's self-governance," said spokesman Daniel Watson. Bishop is also facing pressure from the right on the issue. Conservative advocacy group Heritage Action said earlier this month that it is wary of a control board that allows debt restructuring. "While a control board could have a positive effect on Puerto Rico's internal fiscal mess, it may not have the tools necessary to truly unleash needed economic growth on the island," the group said in anticipation of the draft bill. Officials in Puerto Rico have also criticized the draft legislation. Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said on Monday that he would fight the bill as presented because he felt the board would have more power than Puerto Rico's government, and Puerto Rico's Senate approved a resolution late Monday that rejected Bishop's draft. The resolution demands that Congress collaborate with the island's leaders to craft a plan that provides a debt restructuring mechanism and does not threaten the democracy of the U.S. territory. "People who hand over democracy in exchange for economic security end up losing both things," said Senate President Eduardo Bhatia. "I don't have a problem with a board that advises, that supervises, one with which we can have a discussion. But we will never accept a board that has control over Puerto Rico's affairs." Garcia began meeting with political supporters and foes on Tuesday as he sought to present a united front against the bill. ___ Associated Press writer Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report. ___ This story corrects the name of Puerto Rico's Senate president. It is Eduardo, not Eduard, Bhatia. ___ Canadian Pacific sees opening in rival's merger statement OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Canadian Pacific sees an opening for merger talks in one of Norfolk Southern's most-recent statements on the proposed railroad takeover. The two railroads both filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week detailing the arguments they plan to send to Norfolk Southern shareholders. The shareholders can vote before Norfolk Southern's May 12 annual meeting about whether they want the two railroads to engage in merger talks. So far Norfolk Southern has rejected three different offers worth roughly $30 billion. Norfolk Southern says it will discuss a merger if Canadian Pacific meaningfully increases the amount and regulators approve the proposed structure of the deal. Endangered Puget Sound orcas to get personal health records SEATTLE (AP) The killer whales that spend time in the inland waters of Washington state already are tagged and tracked, photographed and measured. Researchers follow them by drone and by sea, analyzing their waste and their exhaled breath. Now, experts want to add another layer to the exhaustive studies: individual health records for each endangered whale. FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2014, file photo, endangered orcas from the J pod swim in Puget Sound west of Seattle, as seen from a federal research vessel that has been tracking the whales. The 84 endangered orcas in Puget Sound are some of the best studied marine mammals in the country. Now, using data from breath, feces and blubber samples and photos, wildlife biologists want to begin compiling personal health records for each orca to track both individual and population progress. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) The records would take existing research on the creatures and combine it in one place. The idea is to use them to monitor the orcas' health trends individually and as a population. It's similar to people having one medical record as they move from one doctor to the next or between specialists. Eighty-four orcas typically appear in Puget Sound from spring to fall. "The goal is to really start getting a lot of data and pull them together in a way that permits easier analysis," said Joe Gaydos, a wildlife veterinarian at the University of California, Davis, and chief scientist with the SeaDoc Society, which is part of the university's School of Veterinary Medicine. "Ultimately, the real benefit of any health record is to help make (management) decisions," he added. For example, if an orca appears emaciated or is in bad shape during certain times of the year, wildlife managers can access the animal's health history to see what's going on and what they could do about it, he said. Understanding the factors that affect an orca's health will ultimately help pinpoint the key threats and how to reduce them, experts say. "It will be really powerful to rule out things that aren't important and focus in on what's really important," said Lynne Barre with NOAA Fisheries. She said that will help inform research and management decisions in the long run. The project aims to pull together data on behavior, reproductive success, skin diseases and other study areas to allow for integrated analysis, she said. Scientists have enough data that they can now connect the dots to get meaningful answers, said Brad Hanson, an NOAA Fisheries wildlife biologist. More than two dozen wildlife experts met in Seattle on Tuesday to develop plans for health records for the orcas. The meeting was sponsored by SeaDoc Society, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and the National Marine Mammal Foundation. Many details are still being worked out, including who will maintain the data and how people will access it. But an initial database would be launched this summer using readily available information, such as sex, age, gender and other details, Gaydos said. Other information would be added next year. Elsewhere, scientists have studied individual animals to monitor their health, including North Atlantic right whales. Using a database of hundreds of thousands of photographs taken over decades, researchers at the New England Aquarium and others have studied the body and skin conditions of about 400 individual right whales to assess their health. Individual Puget Sound orcas are identified by unique black and white markings or variations in their fin shapes, and each whale is given a number and a name. The Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island keeps the federal government's annual census on the population. The three families the J, K, and L pods are genetically and behaviorally distinct from other killer whales. They use unique calls to communicate with one another and eat salmon rather than marine mammals. Their numbers have fluctuated in recent decades as they have faced threats from pollution, lack of prey and disturbance from boats. They were listed as endangered in 2005. Arizona, Indiana towns at odds over John Dillinger's gun TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) Police in southern Arizona are at odds with a small Indiana town over a Tommy gun taken from notorious gangster John Dillinger during an arrest more than 80 years ago. Officials in Peru, Indiana, want the Colt Thompson submachine gun turned over that Tucson police confiscated in 1934 when they took Dillinger into custody and now display at police headquarters, The Arizona Daily Star reported (http://bit.ly/1pHUC5p ). Peru officials told local newspaper Kokomo Tribune that they believe the weapon was stolen from police there in 1933 when a Dillinger accomplice posed as an insurance agent and asked police to lay out their guns so he could give them a quote. In this 1961 photo, Tucson Police Sgt. Tom Keeley holds a Colt Thompson submachine gun and secretary Linda Bradfield holds a Winchester Model 1907, with other guns confiscated from the John Dillinger gang during Dillinger's capture in Tucson, Ariz., in 1934. Police in Tucson are at odds with a small Indiana town over the Tommy gun taken from Dillinger during his arrest. The Arizona Daily Star reports that officials in Peru, Ind., want the Colt Thompson submachine gun turned over, saying they believe it was stolen from Peru police in 1933 before Dillinger was caught in Tucson. (Tucson Citizen Archive/Arizona Daily Star via AP) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; PAC-12 OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT; GREEN VALLEY NEWS OUT Dillinger, accomplice Harry Pierpont and others returned to the police station that night and held officers at gunpoint while stealing several items, including the Tommy gun, said Peru City Attorney Pat Roberts, whose father was one of the officers on duty. After other robberies nationwide, the outlaws were caught in Tucson. "We understand it's a big part of their history," Tucson police Sgt. Pete Dugan said of the request for the gun. "But it's also a big part of Tucson's history." Dillinger and his accomplices had several weapons when they were arrested, and it can be difficult to determine the origin of each, Dugan said. Peru officials say the gun's serial number can prove their claim. ___ Taiwan's outgoing leader, successor pledge smooth transition TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Taiwan's outgoing president and his successor on Wednesday emphasized the need for a smooth transition of power amid a slowdown in the island's high-tech economy and uncertainty over sensitive relations with China. President Ma Ying-jeou began his meeting with Tsai Ing-wen by calling her January election victory along with that of her Democratic Progressive Party, a "new milestone" for Taiwanese democracy. "Chairwoman Tsai is about to become first female president since the establishment of the Republic of China," Ma said. He used Taiwan's official name predating the government's relocation to the island in 1949 as the Communist Party swept to victory in the Chinese civil war. Taiwan's President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, left, poses with incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou at the official guest house after a courtesy call in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. In opening remarks, incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou congratulated Tsai on her January election win as the island republics first female head of state and said Taiwan faced a range of challenges and both parties were responsible or ensuring the peoples welfare. (Sun Chung-ta, Pool Photo via AP) The victory of the independence-leaning Democrats over Ma's China-friendly Nationalist Party has introduced new uncertainty over whether Beijing will agree to continue expanding contacts. Tsai, who takes office May 20, has declined to meet Beijing's demand that she explicitly endorse its claim that Taiwan and mainland China are part of a single Chinese nation. She has stated that reviving economic growth and improving social welfare will be the main focuses of her administration, placing relatively little emphasis on relations with Beijing. In Beijing, the spokesman for the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, An Fengshan, said ties would suffer if Tsai didn't endorse the principle recognizing the mainland and China that Beijing terms the "'92 consensus." "The '92 consensus is the precedent and political foundation stone," An told reporters. Without mentioning specific issues, Ma said Taiwan "faces many challenges from within and without," which call for cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties. Tsai thanked Ma for his work as president and for agreeing to the meeting , which she said came a time of concern over the transition. "I think the hopes of the people are very clear, that is regardless of the attacks and competition during the election campaign, we can all now ensure that this process of transferring power can be smooth," she said. While neither directly mentioned relations with China, Ma said he appreciated the Taiwanese people giving him the opportunity over the past eight years to work toward "a free, just and prosperous Taiwan, a peaceful Taiwan Strait and friendly international environment." Beijing claims the self-governing island of Taiwan as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Relations between the two improved under the Nationalists, which governed Taiwan over the last eight years and promoted pro-China policies. Taiwan's President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, left, poses with incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou at the official guest house after a courtesy call in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. In opening remarks, Ma congratulated Tsai on her January election win as the island republics first female head of state and said Taiwan faced a range of challenges and both parties were responsible or ensuring the peoples welfare. (Sun Chung-ta, Pool Photo via AP) Taiwan's President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, left, sits with incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou at the official guest house during a courtesy call in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Taiwan's present and future presidents are emphasizing the need for a smooth transition of power amid an economic slowdown and sensitive relations with China. (Sun Chung-ta/Pool Photo via AP) Study illuminates big performance gap for car headlights WASHINGTON (AP) There may be a reason why people have trouble seeing while driving at night, and it's not their eyesight. A new rating of the headlights of more than 30 midsized car models gave only one model a grade of "good." Of the rest, about a third were rated "acceptable," a third "marginal" and a third "poor." The difference between the top- and bottom-rated models for a driver's ability to see down a dark road was substantial, according to the study released Wednesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an industry-funded organization that evaluates automotive safety. The LED headlights in the top trim level Toyota Prius V the only one of 31 models tested to get the "good" rating were able to illuminate a straight roadway sufficiently to see a pedestrian, bicyclist or obstacle up to 387 feet ahead. At that distance, the vehicle could be traveling up to 70 mph and still have time to stop. In this photo provided by the The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, from left, a BMW 3 series, Honda Accord, Toyota Prius V and a Kia Optima are seen at the institutes Vehicle Research Center in Ruckersville, Va. A new study that rates the headlights of more than 30 midsized car models found only one model earned a good rating. Of the rest, half were rated acceptable and half were rated poor. The difference between the top-rated and bottom-rated model in terms of a drivers ability to see down a dark road was substantial. (Russ Rader/Insurance Institute for Highway Safety via AP) But halogen headlights in the BMW 3 series, the worst-rated ones, were able to illuminate only 128 feet ahead. At that distance, the vehicle couldn't be traveling at more than 35 mph and still have time to stop, according to the study. That's important because of the more than 32,000 traffic deaths last year, about half happened at night or during dawn and dusk when visibility is lower. The reason for the big performance gap is that there's a lot more to how well headlights help drivers see than merely the brightness of the bulb or even what type of bulb is used, said David Zuby, the institute's executive vice president and chief researcher. "We found the same light bulb, depending upon what reflector or lens it's paired with and how it's mounted on the vehicle, can give you very different visibility down the road," he said. It gets more complicated. Consumers can't buy a more expensive model or add an expensive technology package and necessarily expect to get better headlights, the report said. The halogen headlights in the economically priced base model 4-door Honda Accord, for example, earned an acceptable rating while halogen and LED headlights in two pricier Mercedes-Benz models were rated poor. Zuby said with no reliable clues such as the price of the car or the type of light, it's hard for consumers to figure out which vehicles will provide the safest visibility. He recommended car buyers check the institute's ratings at http://www.iihs.org. The report comes as halogen lamps are being replaced by high-intensity discharge (HID) and LED lamps in many vehicles. Headlights that swivel with the car's steering to help see around curves are also becoming more widespread. While these changes can have advantages, they don't guarantee good performance, the report said. Researchers tested the headlights after dark at the institute's test track in Ruckersville, Virginia. A special device measured the light from both low beams and high beams as the vehicles were driven on five different approaches: traveling straight, a sharp left curve, a sharp right curve, a gradual left curve and a gradual right curve. Researchers also evaluated headlights for excessive glare. They were surprised to find how much headlights varied from the base model to higher trim or accessory packages, Zuby said. Eighty-two different headlight systems were available for the 31 2016 models assessed in the study. To get the top-rated headlights in the Prius V, consumers would have to purchase the advanced technology package, which is only available in the top trim level. Standard halogen lights without high-beam assist in less expensive Prius V trim levels received a poor rating. High-beam assist automatically adjusts the headlamp range for the distance of vehicles ahead or oncoming traffic. Toyota officials declined to comment, and BMW officials didn't immediately reply to a request for comment. Mercedes-Benz said in statement that it was "greatly surprised" by the test, and remains "confident our lighting systems provide important safety benefits for real world conditions." Government standards for judging the performance of headlights "are essentially unchanged" since they were set back in the 1960s, Zuby said. "In the standard, they are measuring the light coming out of the light source right in front of the light bulb, in essence and not looking at how the light is projected down the road, which is what our tests do," he said. The institute hopes its study will encourage the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to improve standards, or inspire automakers to make better headlights on their own, Zuby said. ___ Advertisement Mourners paid their respects Wednesday to infamous ex-Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who died last week at age 46 after fighting cancer, and were treated to the brave words of his daughter Stephanie at the cathedral service. 'I remember at the hospital he smiled at me and he said, "Stephanie, I may not be here for too much longer, but I want you to remember that I will always love you. I need you and your brother to be strong for your mom",' his 10-year-old daughter said Wednesday. 'I know my dad is in a better place now and that he's the mayor of heaven now.' She thanked the mourners for coming and said it meant so much to her and her 8-year-old brother, Doug. She said her dad bought them the best toys and took them to the best places but said that what mattered most was that they were happy together. Scroll down for video Stephanie said her father bought the best toys and was the most fun, and she knows he's the mayor of heaven now Renata Ford cries over her husband's casket at St. James Cathedral during funeral services in Toronto on Wednesday Stephanie also said her father told her and she and her little brother needed to stay strong for their mother Widow Renata kisses her son Dougie, with her daughter Stephanie at the funeral for former Toronto mayor Rob Ford Dougie returned the favor. His father was 46 when he died on March 22 after a battle with cancer Doug Ford speaks at the funeral for his brother, former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who died last week of cancer Ford's tenure as mayor of Canada's largest city was marred by revelations about his drinking problems and illegal drug use. As he sought a second term in 2014, his cancer diagnosis forced him to do what months of scandals could not drop his bid for re-election. Ford, who was married with two children, died March 22. He had been lying in repose at City Hall the last two days, an honor only granted a few times in the past. As many as 5,000 people visited his casket there. A procession Wednesday morning started from City Hall and was set to end with a funeral at St. James Cathedral. Rob Ford's casket arrives at St. James Cathedral on Wednesday. The former Toronto mayor was 46 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynn arrives at St James Cathedral for funeral services on Wednesday A mourner outside the funeral for Rob Ford holds a sign that reads 'Rob Ford, May 28, 1969 - March 22, 2016, Best mayor ever' Renata Ford and son Doug Ford Junior stand outside St James Cathedral as the hearse leaves carrying former mayor Rob Ford Former Toronto mayor Art Eggleton greets current Toronto mayor John Tory Procession with the casket carrying former mayor Rob Ford leaves city hall for St James Cathedral The funeral procession for Rob Ford makes its way from city hall to St. James Cathedral in Toronto on Wednesday, March 30 Some members of the crowd at City Hall broke into song and chanted 'mayor for life.' He was loved by some and loathed by others during his four years as mayor. Ford, a Conservative, came to office in October 2010 on a groundswell of populist support despite his own wealthy beginnings. He has drawn comparisons to U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his frank and often offensive speech and his devoted following among those who felt left out of elite politics. Thousands of supporters walked behind the hearse carrying Ford's casket through downtown Toronto, while others lined up at dawn in hopes of getting a seat in the cathedral where the funeral was held. Television screens were set up in tents outside so the overflow crowd could watch the service. Some of Canada's political elite and Ford's family members alike delivered eulogies. His brother called Ford the 'mayor of Canada,' and his 10-year-old daughter Stephanie said her father was a great man who had helped lots of people. 'Rob truly believed he was the mayor of Canada, not the mayor of Toronto,' said Doug Ford, the former mayor's older brother. 'Rob, Im going to miss you like crazy,' he concluded, according to the Toronto Star. 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. Although he became the subject of a police investigation and admitted to reporters that he had smoked crack cocaine, Ford was never charged with a crime. Ford, a Conservative, came to office in October 2010 on a groundswell of populist support despite his own wealthy beginnings. Clinton Leonard, a former player with the Don Bosco Eagles football team speaks at the funeral for former Toronto mayor Rob Ford Clinton Leonard, a former player with the Don Bosco Eagles football team kisses the casket at the funeral for former Toronto mayor Rob Ford Widow Renata comforts daughter Stephanie with her son Dougie A priest blesses the casket at the funeral for former Toronto mayor Rob Ford Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Toronto Mayor John Tory and former Toronto mayor Art Eggleton Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford's casket lies in repose at city hall on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 in Toronto. Ford died of cancer on March 22 Doug Ford, second from left, brother of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, and nephew Mike Ford, right, greet well wishers at city hall on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 in Toronto States look to provide lawyers for the poor in civil cases HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A flood of poor defendants representing themselves often ineffectively in dire cases involving eviction, foreclosure, child custody and involuntary commitment has led to a push in legislatures to expand rights to free lawyers in certain civil proceedings. Everyone has a right to a free lawyer in criminal cases if they can't afford one. But the same right isn't guaranteed in civil cases. More than two dozen bills being considered in 18 states this year would provide public defenders or private lawyers at state expense for low-income people in certain civil cases, according to the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, which is run by the Public Justice Center nonprofit group in Baltimore. In this Monday, March 21, 2016 photo, Adelaida Torres, right, poses with daughters Elizabeth, left, and Gloria, center, in Hartford, Conn. Torres believes she never would have won custody of her two daughters in 2013 during a bitter court fight with her now-ex-husband if not for the free legal help from attorney Linda Allard and Greater Hartford Legal Aid. Connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a task force to look into expanding the right to free lawyers for the poor in civil cases. (AP Photo/Dave Collins) "When your basic human needs are at stake, you should have a lawyer to protect those needs," said John Pollock, a lawyer with the Public Justice Center who coordinates the national coalition. "The consequences are too great." The spike in self-represented defendants stems from the Great Recession, which not only created new waves of foreclosure, eviction, debt collection and bankruptcy cases, but also hindered people's ability to pay for lawyers, judges and lawyers say. Such cases have overwhelmed and slowed court dockets, judges say. Adelaida Torres, of Hartford, couldn't afford a lawyer in 2011 as she tried to regain custody of her two daughters from her now-ex-husband. She lost custody of Gloria and Elizabeth, then ages 8 and 4, while she was in jail for several weeks, unable to afford bail after being arrested for what she called a bogus misdemeanor assault allegation lodged by her ex. Torres had to represent herself in court trying to win back custody and said she felt overwhelmed. She managed to get supervised visitation with her daughters, but little else after nearly a year of effort. "I didn't know anything about the court system," she said. "I was crying. I was very lost." She believes she never would have regained custody if she hadn't learned about Greater Hartford Legal Aid, which provides free legal help to the indigent. It took nearly 1 1/2 years, but legal aid lawyer Linda Allard was able to win back sole custody of the children to Torres in late 2013. Connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a task force to look into expanding the right to free lawyers for the poor in civil cases. State Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, proposed the bill and cited the case of a Connecticut woman, Adrianne Oyola, who represented herself in court while trying to get a permanent restraining order against the father of her 7-month-old son. A judge denied the order last year, and days later authorities said the father, Tony Moreno, threw the infant off a bridge and then himself jumped off. The baby died, but Moreno survived and has pleaded not guilty to murder. Looney said the judge might have been more inclined to issue the restraining order if Oyola had had an attorney. The push to increase access to free lawyers has been led by a group of state Supreme Court chief justices and the American Bar Association. "At the end of the day, we're trying to make sure people are treated fairly and the outcome is just," said Connecticut Chief Justice Chase Rogers. Every year, more than 80 percent of low-income people with civil legal troubles do not obtain the legal representation they need, and legal aid organizations have to turn away nearly a million people a year nationwide because of a lack of resources, according to the Legal Services Corp., a group funded by the federal government that is the largest provider of legal aid funding in the country. Legal aid lawyers say scores of poor people who couldn't afford lawyers have been evicted, lost child custody or had trouble obtaining restraining orders. Some proposals passed or being considered in other states: Measures in Florida , New Jersey and Pennsylvania to allow free lawyers in cases of involuntary commitment for substance abuse. Proposals to require free legal counsel to poor people in certain eviction cases in Massachusetts and to provide the right to a lawyer to the poor facing eviction or foreclosure in New York . Measures regarding free lawyers for indigent people in parental-rights cases in Kentucky and Mississippi . Georgia lawmakers this year voted to give mentally ill people the right to a free lawyer if they can't afford one when an order for involuntary inpatient treatment is about to expire and medical experts request continued involuntary treatment. Oregon lawmakers voted to allow free lawyers for eligible juveniles facing the possibility of having to register as sex offenders. Jep Livingston, a 69-year-old Vietnam veteran from Philadelphia, faced homelessness last year as the city moved to sell his longtime home after he defaulted on a plan to repay back property taxes. He defaulted, he said, because someone stole his wallet and drained his bank account, and he missed payments. He had gone to the city and several organizations for help, but to no avail. His daughter and 5-year-old grandson live with him and faced homelessness, too. "When I thought about him being homeless at 5 years old, it broke my heart," Livingston said. "I was really close to losing my home. I was desperate." He, too, learned about the legal aid group SeniorLaw Center, which was able to prevent a tax sale of his home, arrange a new payment plan for his property taxes and knock his future taxes to zero under a city tax abatement program for the elderly. "It felt to me like I was in the middle of the ocean and they threw me a life raft," Livingston said. In this Monday, March 21, 2016 photo, Adelaida Torres, center, shares a laugh with daughters Elizabeth, left, and Gloria, right, in Hartford, Conn. Torres believes she never would have won custody of her two daughters in 2013 during a bitter court fight with her now-ex-husband if not for the free legal help attorney Linda Allard and Greater Hartford Legal Aid. Connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a task force to look into expanding the right to free lawyers for the poor in civil cases. (AP Photo/Dave Collins) Apple remains in dark how FBI hacked iPhone without its help WASHINGTON (AP) The FBI's announcement that it mysteriously hacked into an iPhone is a public setback for Apple Inc., as consumers learned that they can't keep the government out of even an encrypted device that U.S. officials had claimed was impossible to crack. Apple, meanwhile, remains in the dark about how to restore the security of its flagship product. The government said it was able to break into an iPhone used by a gunman in a mass shooting in California, but it didn't say how. That puzzled Apple software engineers and outside experts about how the FBI broke the digital locks on the phone without Apple's help. It also complicated Apple's job repairing flaws that jeopardize its software. The Justice Department's announcement that it was dropping a legal fight to compel Apple to help it access the phone also took away any obvious legal avenues Apple might have used to learn how the FBI did it. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym on Tuesday vacated her Feb. 16 order, which compelled Apple to assist the FBI in hacking their phone. FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2016 file photo, an iPhone is seen in Washington. The FBIs announcement that it mysteriously hacked into an iPhone is a setback for Apple and increases pressure on the technology company to restore the security of its flagship product. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) The Justice Department declined through a spokeswoman to comment Tuesday. A few clues have emerged. A senior law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the FBI managed to defeat an Apple security feature that threatened to delete the phone's contents if the FBI failed to enter the correct passcode combination after 10 tries. That allowed the government to repeatedly and continuously test passcodes in what's known as a brute-force attack until the right code is entered and the phone is unlocked. It wasn't clear how the FBI dealt with a related Apple security feature that introduces increasing time delays between guesses. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to discuss the technique publicly. FBI Director James Comey has said with those features removed, the FBI could break into the phone in 26 minutes. The FBI hacked into the iPhone used by gunman Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police after they killed 14 people in December in San Bernardino. The iPhone, issued to Farook by his employer, the county health department, was found in a vehicle the day after the shooting. The FBI is reviewing information from the iPhone, and it is unclear whether anything useful can be found. Apple said that the legal case to force its cooperation "should never have been brought," and it promised to increase the security of its products. CEO Tim Cook has said the Cupertino-based company is constantly trying to improve security for its users. The company declined to comment more Tuesday. The FBI's announcement even without revealing precise details that it had hacked the iPhone was at odds with the government's firm recommendations for nearly two decades that security researchers always work cooperatively and confidentially with software manufacturers before revealing that a product might be susceptible to hackers. The aim is to ensure that American consumers stay as safe online as possible and prevent premature disclosures that might damage a U.S. company or the economy. As far back as 2002, the Homeland Security Department ran a working group that included leading technology industry executives to advise the president on how to keep confidential discoveries by independent researchers that a company's software could be hacked until it was already fixed. Even now, the Commerce Department has been trying to fine-tune those rules. The next meeting of a conference on the subject is April 8 in Chicago and it's unclear how the FBI's behavior in the current case might influence the government's fragile relationship with technology companies or researchers. The industry's rules are not legally binding, but the government's top intelligence agency said in 2014 that such vulnerabilities should be reported to companies and the Obama administration put forward an interagency process to do so. "When federal agencies discover a new vulnerability in commercial and open source software a so-called 'zero day' vulnerability because the developers of the vulnerable software have had zero days to fix it it is in the national interest to responsibly disclose the vulnerability rather than to hold it for an investigative or intelligence purpose," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement in April 2014. The statement recommended generally divulging such flaws to manufacturers "unless there is a clear national security or law enforcement need." Last week a team from Johns Hopkins University said it had found a security bug in Apple's iMessage service that would allow hackers under certain circumstances to decrypt some text messages. The team reported its findings to Apple in November and published an academic paper after Apple fixed it. "That's the way the research community handles the situation. And that's appropriate," said Susan Landau, professor of cybersecurity policy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She said it was acceptable for the government to find a way to unlock the phone but said it should reveal its method to Apple. Mobile phones are frequently used to improve cybersecurity, for example, as a place to send a backup code to access a website or authenticate a user. The chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, Joseph Lorenzo Hall, said keeping details secret about a flaw affecting millions of iPhone users "is exactly opposite the disclosure practices of the security research community. The FBI and Apple have a common goal here: to keep people safe and secure. This is the FBI prioritizing an investigation over the interests of hundreds of millions of people worldwide." ___ Follow Tami Abdollah on Twitter at https://twitter.com/latams. Vietnam jails 3 women for waving flags of former South HANOI, Vietnam (AP) A Vietnamese court has sentenced three women who held up the flags of the defeated U.S.-backed South Vietnam to up to four years in prison on charges of spreading anti-state propaganda, media reported Wednesday. The women were convicted of holding anti-state banners, the flags and chanting anti-state slogans outside the United State diplomatic mission in Ho Chi Minh City in July 2014, Thanh Nien newspaper reported. Their trial lasted half a day Wednesday. Ngo Thi Minh Uoc, 57, got four years, and Nguyen Thi Tri and Nguyen Thi Be Hai, both 58, were given three years in prison by the People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City. The newspaper said the three were also given two years of house arrest after serving their sentences. It quoted the verdict as saying their action was "very serious, infringing on national security, distorting, instigating, causing suspicion and mistrust of the people in the (Communist) Party and state." Such open defiance of the government involving waving the flags of former South Vietnam in the former capital of Saigon is extremely rare. The three women previously had been fined for disturbing public order by participating in illegal protests, it said. The sentences came a week after a court in Hanoi sentenced a prominent blogger to five years in prison for posting anti-state writings. Judge delays more questioning of Cosby in sex battery case LOS ANGELES (AP) Bill Cosby will not have to answer more questions under oath in a lawsuit from a woman who says the comedian forced her into a sex act at the Playboy Mansion, giving him time to resolve a separate criminal case, a judge ruled Wednesday. A temporary delay in Cosby's sworn testimony will protect the comedian's rights as he faces sexual assault charges in Pennsylvania, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig D. Karlan said. But his ruling will allow attorneys to conduct depositions of other potential witnesses in the California case, including Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The ruling comes in a sexual battery lawsuit by Riverside County resident Judy Huth, who accuses Cosby of forcing her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the mansion around 1974 when she was 15. FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2016 file photo, actor and comedian Bill Cosby arrives for a court appearance in Norristown, Pa. Cosby's lawyers are scheduled to argue on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, that a sexual battery lawsuit filed against the comedian in Los Angeles Superior Court should be delayed. The case involves a woman who contends Cosby molested her in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974 when she was 15 years old. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, FIle) Cosby gave his first sworn testimony in the case last year, but a judge has ordered him to answer additional questions from Huth's attorney, Gloria Allred. Attorneys for Cosby sought a delay in the lawsuit amid the Pennsylvania case, which is on hold while the 78-year-old appeals a ruling. "The court recognized the dilemma faced by a defendant who must choose between defending civil litigation by providing testimony on one hand and losing the case by asserting the constitutional right to remain silent on the other hand," Cosby attorney Monique Pressley wrote in a statement. Karlan ruled that Huth also would not be required to give a deposition during the temporary delay. The judge said he is concerned about the case being put on hold indefinitely. "I don't want this case to be here three, four, five years from now. That's not justice," Karlan said. Another Cosby attorney, Christopher Tayback, said the comedian is trying to resolve the Pennsylvania case quickly. "My hope is in six months, he's exonerated," Tayback said. Cosby's former attorney has vehemently denied Huth's accusations, accusing her former lawyer of attempting to extort Cosby for $250,000 before suing. Allred mentioned Hefner's name as a potential witness after thanking the judge for allowing attorneys to seek additional evidence. Allred said she and her partner planned to take the depositions of other women who say they were abused by Cosby when they were underage. Allred praised Wednesday's ruling, saying another woman who accused Cosby of sexual abuse already has given testimony. The woman has never been publicly identified, Allred said. The attorney said she also plans to take the deposition of Renita Hill, a Pittsburgh-area woman who says Cosby molested her several times after they met on the TV show "Picture Pages" in 1983. Hill claims the abuse spanned about four years, starting when she was 16. She said Cosby helped pay for her college tuition and would fly her to cities where he was performing until she cut off contact. Hill sued the comedian for defamation, but the case was dismissed. Dozens of women have accused Cosby of sexual abuse, but the statutes of limitations in most instances have passed. A judge rejected a motion by Cosby's lawyers on Tuesday to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by model Janice Dickinson. Cosby's lawyers say they believe the case should be dismissed and are considering an appeal. ___ Alaska air traffic resumes as volcano eruptions wane ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) A remote Alaska volcano rumbled and sputtered Wednesday but was no longer spewing the massive ash clouds that disrupted airline traffic earlier in the week. Researchers observed intermittent puffs of ash from Pavlof Volcano, but they weren't going much higher than the summit, said U.S. Geological Survey geologist Chris Waythomas, who is part of the Alaska Volcano Observatory. "There's still elevated seismicity, but we haven't seen anything conclusive for ash emission," he said. This Monday, March 28, 2016, photo provided by LJ Taylor shows volcanic ash on vehicles at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says minor amounts of volcanic ash from Pavlof Volcano are being reported on the ground by several Alaska communities. Geologist Kristi Wallace of the U.S. Geological Survey says the most significant fallout was in Nelson Lagoon. (LJ Taylor via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT The volcano 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula erupted Sunday and sent an ash cloud soaring to 37,000 feet. The cloud drifted across interior Alaska and by Tuesday had crossed into northern Canada. Some of the ash rained on villages, turning rooftops and car windows black. Nelson Lagoon urged residents to stay inside for a time as one-eighth to two-thirds of an inch of ash fell on the tiny community about 55 miles northeast of the volcano. Volcanic ash is sharp and abrasive and can cause jet engines to shut down. Alaska Airlines canceled 41 flights Monday and 28 flights Tuesday, but normal service to six Alaska communities resumed Wednesday, spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said in an email. "We've also added one extra section between Anchorage and Nome and one extra section between Anchorage and Kotzebue to get passengers and cargo out to those communities," she said. Pavlof is one of Alaska's most active volcanoes. Historically, eruptive episodes have ended abruptly or trickled on for years, Waythomas said. "The one thing I think we've learned so far with the eruptions of Pavlof is that when it shuts off, it shuts off," he said. "It really quiets down." Pavlof erupted intermittently for more than two years, from April 1986 to August 1988. Like Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, Pavlof has an open magmatic system, Waythomas said. "There's a big supply of magma and it's easy for it to get to the surface," he said. An explosion that sends ash into the air typically is governed by the amount of gas in the magma, he said. The volcano observatory lost one of its seismic stations in Sunday's eruption. The doghouse-size fiberglass huts hold electronics and batteries inside and an antenna mast and solar panels outside, which allow it to transmit data. The station was on the north side of the 8,261-foot conical mountain. Lava fountains at the summit produce piles of spatter. The hot rock material builds up, becomes unstable and collapses. "They flow down the flanks and they're like little chain saws," Waythomas said. "It was likely something like that probably hit that seismic station." Clouds surrounded the mountaintop Wednesday. The observatory has to rely on seismicity and infrasound, or low-frequency sound, to detect eruptions. "There's probably some lava fountaining occurring right at the summit," Waythomas said. "These little explosions are still happening. So it's still erupting, but it's a really reduced level." In this Sunday, March 27, 2016, photo, Pavlof Volcano, one of Alaskas most active volcanoes, erupts, sending a plume of volcanic ash into the air. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says activity continued Monday. Pavlof Volcano is 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, the finger of land that sticks out from mainland Alaska toward the Aleutian Islands. (Colt Snapp via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT This Monday, March 28, 2016, photo provided by LJ Taylor shows volcanic ash on a vehicle at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says minor amounts of volcanic ash from Pavlof Volcano are being reported on the ground by several Alaska communities. Geologist Kristi Wallace of the U.S. Geological Survey says the most significant fallout was in Nelson Lagoon. (LJ Taylor via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Dave Schneider, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, is shown at the operations center Tuesday, March 29, 2016, in Anchorage, Alaska. The observatory is monitoring Sunday's eruption of Pavlof Volcano about 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen) The Latest: Migrants, refugees protest EU deal in Athens PARIS (AP) The Latest on the flow of refugees and other migrants into Europe (all times local): 8:20 p.m. Some 1,500 stranded migrants and refugees, joined by Greek supporters, marched to the European Commission building in central Athens Wednesday to protest against a migration agreement between the European Union and Turkey that is due to take full effect Monday. A migrant boy waits for food in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) The migrants, from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries, chanted "open the borders" and "we are refugees" as they filed past parliament and marched to the EU building in a rally that ended peacefully. More than 50,000 migrants remain stranded in Greece following border restrictions and closures by Austria and Balkan nations. Migrants who reached Greece after March 20 are being detained on Greek Islands and are due to be returned to Turkey, starting Monday. ___ 2:55 p.m. Poland's foreign minister says the government stands by its commitment to take in 7,000 refugees, on condition they are checked for security and are willing to settle in Poland. Poland had previously agreed on that number, but following the attacks in Brussels last week Prime Minster Beata Szydlo said she saw "no possibility" of accepting any migrants. The words were understood as reneging on the refugees deal. But Witold Waszczykowski said on TVP INFO late Tuesday that Poland will be ready to "review the applications" of those refugees whose identities are confirmed, who are declared as posing no security threat and who are willing to come to Poland. He expressed doubt as to whether 7,000 such refugees could be found. ___ 2:45 p.m. Austria's government plans to further tighten rules on those seeking asylum in the country as of mid-May. The move, announced Wednesday, places additional limits on who qualifies for safe haven after restrictions introduced earlier this year as Austria and its eastern neighbors shut down the West Balkans migrant route. Austria currently processes every request for asylum. Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner says that under the new rules, applications will be accepted only from "those that we have to" for instance in cases where a person faces threats to safety in a neighboring country that he or she transited. Austria has set a limit of 37,500 asylum applications for the year, after receiving nearly 90,000 in 2015. Mikl-Leitner says 14,000 were submitted as of the end of March. ___ 2:20 p.m. The Czech government has agreed to donate 20.4 million euros ($22.8 million) to Turkey as part of a European Union plan to help the country deal with the influx of migrants. Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek says the money will be gradually given to Turkey from now until 2019, starting with 6 million euros ($6.72 million) this year. He says Wednesday the money should help Turkey "to stop the flow of migrants" and that Turkish efforts will be closely monitored. More than 1 million refugees entered Europe last year, most of them flowing in from Turkey across Greece's porous Aegean Sea border. ___ 10:50 a.m. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. The number is a roughly a three-fold jump compared with arrivals in previous days, when weather conditions had been poorer. The increase comes a day after the EU noted the number of arrivals had dropped sharply over the previous week. Under an EU-Turkey agreement, Ankara is supposed to stop migrants reaching Europe and take back all people from Greece who do not qualify for asylum. ___ 10:15 a.m. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging governments around the globe to let in more people from Syria and "counter fear-mongering" about refugees. Ban spoke at a one-day conference in Geneva Wednesday meant to further efforts to resettle Syrian refugees. The U.N. refugee agency wants to find places abroad for one-tenth of the 4.8 million Syrian refugees crowded into countries in the surrounding region over three years. To date, 179,000 places have been pledged. Ban urged countries to "act with solidarity, in the name of our shared humanity, by pledging new and additional pathways for the admission of Syrian refugees." He said that those "can include resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labor or study opportunities." He said: "when managed properly, accepting refugees is a win for everyone." ___ 10:05 a.m. The Turkish coast guard says it has rescued dozens of mostly Syrian migrants as they tried to reach Greece. Seventy Syrian migrants, two Palestinian nationals, one Somali and one Yemeni were spotted Sunday in an inflatable dinghy off the coast of Turkey's western province of Izmir a few kilometers across the Aegean Sea from Greece. A Turkish-flagged warship supported the operation, the coast guard reported Tuesday. The move comes before the scheduled implementation date of an agreement between Turkey and the European Union aimed at curbing the flow of migrants to Europe. The deal, due to come into effect on April 4, stipulates that those who arrive on Greek islands from the Turkish coast will be detained and sent back. For every Syrian returned, another Syrian in Turkey will be relocated to a European country. ___ 9:30 a.m. Police have evacuated a few hundred migrants from a makeshift camp near a subway station in northeastern Paris. The Paris regional administration said the operation Wednesday was peaceful and authorities are relocating the migrants, who had been living beneath elevated train tracks for the past several weeks. The Paris transit authority closed the Stalingrad metro station during the operation. The area has seen multiple migrant camps in recent years that are periodically cleared out. French media reported the residents were primarily from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan. France has not seen nearly as many Syrian refugees or other migrants over the past year as Germany or countries farther east, but has experienced tensions around the northern port of Calais, where migrants converge in hopes of crossing to Britain. A migrant boy leaves from the tent in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Migrants wait for food in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A migrant boy waits for food in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Migrants walk at the train station near the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A migrant woman walks through the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Migrants wait for food in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Migrants wait for food in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A Greek police officer passes by a banner in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have arrived on Greek islands after days of low numbers, despite a European Union-Turkey agreement under which new arrivals will be sent back to Turkey. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Migrants wait for food in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The flow of migrants to the Greek islands, meanwhile, seems to be on the rise again as weather improves. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A baby yawns as refugees and migrants wait in queues to receive food distributed by non-governmental organization at the Athens' port of Piraeus on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. About 5,800 refugees and migrants are refusing to move to government-built shelters around the country, and remain at the passenger terminal buildings, a warehouse and their tents at the biggest port of Greece. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) Panel holds clemency hearing for Georgia death row inmate ATLANTA (AP) A Georgia death row inmate scheduled to die this week has grown into a quiet man who has a positive effect on others and bears little resemblance to the teenager who helped beat a man to death two decades ago, his lawyers argue. Joshua Bishop, 41, is set to be executed Thursday for the 1994 killing of Leverett Morrison in Milledgeville. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles, which is the only entity in Georgia authorized to commute a death sentence, held a clemency hearing for Bishop Wednesday. Board spokesman Steve Hayes said Wednesday evening that the board would issue its decision Thursday. "The story of Joshua Bishop's life is one of deprivation, abuse, hopelessness, and crime; but it is also one of faith, contrition, redemption, gratitude, and love," Bishop's lawyers wrote in a clemency petition asking the parole board to spare his life. Georgia death row inmate Joshua Bishop is shown in this undated prison photo released Tuesday, March 29, 2016 by the Georgia Department of Corrections. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles announced that it will hear from advocates for Bishop on March 30, 2016. Bishop is scheduled to die the next day. Bishop was convicted of murder and armed robbery in the 1994 beating death of Leverett Morrison in Milledgeville, Ga. The parole board is the only entity in Georgia authorized to commute a death sentence. (Georgia Department of Corrections via AP) Morrison's children, however, are adamant that the death sentence should be carried out, Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee said. Bishop had an extremely rough childhood with a mother who constantly drank and used drugs and had a weakness for abusive men who beat her and her two sons, the petition says. He bounced between foster families and group homes, eventually returning to his mother, who was frequently in trouble with the law for drug and alcohol offenses or prostitution. His lawyers say many who knew Bishop as he grew up shared a common feeling: that he "never had a chance." Bishop spent June 19, 1994, drinking and using drugs with Morrison and a third man, Mark Braxley. They drank at a bar that evening and then went to Braxley's trailer, where they continued to drink and use drugs. Morrison fell asleep and Braxley decided he wanted to take Morrison's Jeep to visit his girlfriend and instructed Bishop to "get them keys," the clemency petition says. Morrison woke up as Bishop was trying to take his keys from his pocket, and Bishop hit him over the head with a piece of a closet rod to knock him out, the petition says. Bishop told investigators he and Braxley both beat Morrison and, once they realized he was dead, they dumped his body between two trash bins and burned his Jeep. Bishop and Braxley were arrested within 24 hours of Morrison's death. Bishop quickly confessed and immediately showed remorse, while Braxley lied about the crime, the petition says. While in police custody, Bishop told investigators he and Braxley had also killed another man, Ricky Willis, about two weeks earlier, also at Braxley's trailer. Bishop told police he repeatedly punched Willis after Willis bragged he had sexually assaulted Bishop's mother and then Braxley cut Willis' throat, killing him. Bishop and Braxley were both charged with murder and armed robbery in Morrison's death. After a trial, a jury convicted Bishop and sentenced him to die. Braxley pleaded guilty and got life in prison. He's been denied parole twice and will next be eligible for consideration next year. Bishop has admitted involvement in the deaths of Morrison and Willis. But his lawyers argue that Braxley, who's about 17 years older than Bishop, was the instigator and influenced Bishop in both cases. Two decades in prison have given Bishop stability that has led him to become a positive influence on fellow inmates and others, and he still has good to do in the world, his lawyers argue. They gave the board statements from two of Morrison's sisters and his niece, as well as others who were close to Morrison and Willis, who wrote that they don't want to see Bishop executed. But Massee, the sheriff, said he met on Monday with three of Morrison's family members, two daughters and a son, who said it's important that Bishop be executed for their father's death. Also Wednesday, a Butts County Superior Court judge rejected a challenge filed by Bishop's lawyers that claimed his sentence was disproportionate, that the jury instructions at his trial were flawed and that the evidence used to convict him was insufficient. Bishop's lawyers have appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court. Britain looks to avert layoffs at loss-making steel plant LONDON (AP) British authorities appealed for time Wednesday to save the country's biggest steel maker after parent company Tata Steel said it couldn't promise to keep plants open while it seeks a buyer. After a meeting at the company's headquarters in Mumbai, Tata's board said late Tuesday it would study all possibilities for restructuring the British unit, including selling it "in whole or in parts," because of the deteriorating performance of the business. In a sign of the worsening political fallout from the decision, Prime Minister David Cameron's office said he would chair a meeting of key ministers Thursday to underscore his commitment to a sustainable future for steel in Britain. Banners supporting local steel workers are seen outside the Tata steel plant in Port Talbot, Wales, Wednesday March 30, 2016. UK authorities say they will look at all viable options to keep the British steel industry at the heart of its manufacturing base after Tata Steel announced it may sell its UK assets. The sale could put thousands of jobs at risk. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT But Britain's government refused the demands of the opposition Labour Party to recall Parliament from Easter recess to discuss the crisis. Koushik Chatterjee, an executive director for Tata Steel, said the UK business had become "quite a burden for the company." "The view the board took finally was we can't sustain this kind of exposure," he told the BBC. U.K. Business Minister Anna Soubry said that the government is considering "all options," including management and unions participating in a takeover. When asked about nationalizing the plants, she said this would be difficult because of rules against state aid for business. "We want to establish a good period so we can sell it on," she told the BBC. "That is our priority, to look for a buyer. But we are being realistic about the state of the industry." Britain's steel industry has been hit hard by cheap Chinese imports, which have depressed prices, and manufacturers have asked the government and European Union to impose anti-dumping duties. Tata Steel, which operates the country's biggest steel plant at Port Talbot in south Wales, is losing 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) a day in its U.K. operations. Some 19,000 people are employed by Tata across 14 sites in Britain, according to Len McCluskey, leader of the Unite union. "This is the time for the government to say categorically, without hesitation, that these assets will be taken into safe-keeping by the nation, because without them our economy will not flourish," he said. "We are already seeing jobs going in the supply chain because of the uncertainty over Tata's future our fear is this will snowball if insecurity is allowed to swirl around our steel sector." Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, appealed for a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron. "Tata Steel withdrawing completely from the U.K. risks destroying our entire steel industry," he said. "That would be a disaster both for those communities reliant on steel jobs and our entire industrial base." UN chief urges countries to let in more Syrian refugees BERLIN (AP) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged governments around the world to let in more people from Syria and "counter fear-mongering" about refugees. Ban spoke at a one-day conference in Geneva meant to further efforts to resettle Syrian refugees. The U.N. refugee agency wants to find places abroad over the next three years for one-tenth of the 4.8 million Syrian refugees who are crowded into countries in the surrounding region. "I ask that countries act with solidarity, in the name of our shared humanity, by pledging new and additional pathways for the admission of Syrian refugees," Ban told the gathering of officials from over 90 countries. "These pathways can include resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labor or study opportunities." United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivers a speech during a one-day conference meant to further efforts to resettle Syrian refugees at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Ban Ki-moon is urging governments around the globe to let in more people from Syria and counter fearmongering about refugees. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP) The conference heard appeals for solidarity from the countries surrounding Syria. Turkey, which hosts some 2.7 million Syrians, said the UNHCR's target of resettling 10 percent of the refugees in the region is a good start but not enough. To date, 179,000 places have been pledged, according to Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees. Ban said countries can benefit from accepting refugees as they can bring new skills and experience to aging workforces. "Attempts to demonize them are not only offensive; they are factually incorrect," he said. "I call on leaders to counter fear-mongering with reassurance, and to fight inaccurate information with the truth." Hungarian teachers hold walkout to protest education policy BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Hundreds of teachers across Hungary walked out of class for one hour on Wednesday, demanding changes to official policies, including cutting bureaucratic tasks, greater choice in textbooks, more funds for education and reducing students' mandatory school time. Demonstrators outside Budapest's Teleki Blanka Gymnasium formed a human chain around the block, which protest leader and school principal Istvan Pukli said was to "show that we won't allow this public education system to take our schools apart." The government has promised to decentralize the schools' administration and reduce curriculum contents but wants protesting teachers to join the official forum for debating reforms. Teachers gather in front of the Ferenc Kolcsey secondary school to demand the reconstruction of the Hungarian public education system in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, March 30. 2016. Hundreds of teachers in Hungary walked out of class for one hour, demanding changes to government policies, including cutting bureaucratic tasks, allowing greater choice in textbooks, more funds for education and reducing students mandatory school time. (Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP) The protesting teachers, however, reject the forum because they consider it full of pro-government groups, and want direct talks with education officials instead. The early morning walkout was labeled by organizers as an act of civil disobedience because teachers and other public employees have very restricted strike options. Uber, Ola face off in battle for India's booming taxi market NEW DELHI (AP) Aiming to wrest control of India's booming taxi market, two cab-hailing smartphone apps Uber and Ola are promising hundreds of millions in new investment while also facing off with one another in court. San Francisco-based Uber reportedly plans a $500 million infusion of new funds, apart from the $1 billion already committed over the past nine months, according to Indian newspapers. The company declined this week to comment on those reports. Meanwhile, Ola Cabs promises to add another 2,000 cars to the fleet of 26,000 it already commands in New Delhi, chief spokesman Anand Subramanian said. But it's the ongoing legal wrangles between the two with each accusing the other of behaving unethically that have drawn focus to the struggle for India's $9 billion taxi industry and future growth possibilities in a country with an urban population of 400 million people but few options in safe, convenient public transportation. In this March 29, 2016 photo, Indian commuters walk past a parked Ola cab in Kolkata, India. Aiming to wrest control of Indias booming taxi market, two cab-hailing smartphone apps _ Uber and Ola _ are promising hundreds of millions in new investment while also facing off with one another in court. (AP Photo/ Bikas Das) This month, Uber filed suit against Ola, accusing its Bangalore-based rival of hijacking its business by creating fake accounts to make bookings with Uber that it then canceled. Ola denied the allegations, calling them ludicrous and suggesting they were a smoke screen to hide Uber's own troubles. Ola previously challenged Uber in court over what it said were illegal business practices. Analysts say the court battles show competition for market dominance is becoming fierce. "It's a tussle to capture the top spot among taxi-hailing apps and the title of No. 1," said Jaspal Singh, founder of Valoriser Consultants, specializing in analysis of the transportation industry. Smartphone taxi apps, introduced in India in 2010, have grown to account for 10 percent of the country's overall taxi industry, which also includes regular cabs and three-wheeler "rickshaws." Ola has already bought out the upstart TaxiForSure, and both Uber and Ola offer rates below those of traditional taxis. Meanwhile, they are quickly adding new cities and customers, including car drivers increasingly fed up with traffic gridlock and difficulty finding parking on India's overcrowded roads. So far Ola has been dominating the smartphone app market, with a presence in more than 100 cities and roughly half of the business, analysts say. Uber, which entered the Indian market in 2013, operates in 29 Indian cities and is anxious to expand, while myriad small players are clawing their way in. In the latest legal action between the two, filed in the Delhi High Court, Uber demanded an injunction against Ola and $7.4 million in damages. It accuses Ola backed by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. and hedge fund Tiger Global Management LLC of creating more than 90,000 fake accounts to book around 400,000 rides and then cancel them in an effort to disrupt Uber's business. The allegations are similar to those faced by Uber itself in the United States in 2014, where San Francisco-based Lyft accused Uber of booking and canceling thousands of rides. Uber denied the accusations and no legal action was filed. The Delhi High Court will hold its next hearing in September on Uber's lawsuit, which Ola called "frivolous and false." Ola said in a statement it was "not beyond our imagination that this is an effort to divert attention from the current realities of the market where Uber has faced major setbacks." Specifically, those setbacks include a legal petition filed by Ola in October, accusing Uber of flouting a Supreme Court order demanding app-based taxis in New Delhi switch from running on diesel to using compressed natural gas. The companies were given until this month to comply with the rules, intended to curb extreme air pollution in the capital. Ola's parent company, ANI Technologies LTD, has alleged Uber's lawsuit is retaliation against Ola's petition. Uber had earlier troubles in India as well. It was accused of failing to properly screen its drivers in 2014 after one was accused of raping a 26-year-old passenger. Uber's reputation temporarily took a hit, and the government briefly banned all smartphone app taxi services while new regulations were drafted. The current wrangling over ethics and legal threats is not limited to Uber and Ola. Last week, rickshaw booking app Jugnoo, operating in the north Indian city of Chandigarh, accused Ola of using "unethical practices to sabotage its business" by making fake bookings and warned of legal action if it did not cease. Jugnoo CEO Samar Singla said his company saw a sudden surge in bookings and cancelations, with about 20,000 cancelations made through 800 accounts over a 10-day period earlier this month. "We started mapping the areas where the bookings were being made from, and it invariably pointed to places close to Ola's office," Singla said in a statement. Singh, the transportation analyst, said Uber and Ola were honing their strategies and boosting services to secure market dominance as the country experiments with transportation limits aimed at curbing air pollution. On April 15, New Delhi will begin banning cars with odd- or even-numbered license plates from the roads on alternate days for two weeks. The capital's first such effort in January helped lessen air pollution and traffic. Residents say they will be relying on cab companies to travel in the city during those weeks. "The last time I just ordered a cab from my phone. For me it doesn't matter if it's Ola or Uber," said Rashmi Singh, an advertising executive. "It's so convenient, I could park my car in the garage permanently." ___ Follow Nirmala George: twitter.com/NirmalaGeorge1 Ola's cab-hailing smartphone app is seen on a mobile phone in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Aiming to wrest control of Indias booming taxi market, two cab-hailing smartphone apps _ Uber and Ola _ are promising hundreds of millions in new investment while also facing off with one another in court. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das) US to beef up military presence in Eastern Europe WASHINGTON (AP) The Pentagon plans to deploy an armored brigade combat team to Eastern Europe next February as part of the ongoing effort to rotate troops in and out of the region to reassure allies worried about threats from an increasingly aggressive Russia. The decision will put three fully equipped Army brigades in Europe on a continuous basis, and underscore promises made by defense leaders to protect Europe and send a message to Moscow that any actions against allies would be unacceptable. According to an announcement released Wednesday, the Army will send a full set of equipment with the brigade to Europe. Earlier plans had called for the Pentagon to rotate troops into Europe, where they would have used a set of training equipment already there. Defense Secretary Ash Carter honors Vietnam Veteran Thomas Snee, who served in the Navy, with a commemorative pin to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War at the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, Tuesday, March 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Molly Riley) The new proposal would remove the pre-positioned equipment, send it to be refurbished, and allow the U.S. forces to bring more robust, modern equipment in with them when they deploy. There are about 4,200 soldiers in an armored brigade, along with hundreds of heavy vehicles, tanks, self-propelled howitzers and other equipment. Sending the brigade with its own equipment, Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal said, will also allow the military to practice its ability to rapidly deploy equipment and forces to Europe. "This will be the most modernized equipment the Army has to offer, and will, over the next year, replace the less modern training equipment we put in Europe over the last few years," she said. About 62,000 U.S. military forces are permanently based in Europe, and about 25,000 of those are Army soldiers. Under the new plan, there would be about 29,200 U.S. soldiers in Europe at any given time. Wednesday's announcement is also aimed at easing worries in Europe, where allies had heard rumblings about the equipment being removed and feared the U.S. was scaling back support. Officials also said the Army would send additional communications equipment to Europe so that headquarters units could have the radios, computers and other equipment needed to work with the brigades. Over the past nine months Defense Secretary Ash Carter has pledged additional military support for the region during trips to Eastern Europe and in NATO meetings. Last June, Carter announced in Estonia that the U.S. would spread about 250 tanks, armored vehicles and other military equipment across six former Soviet bloc nations to help reassure NATO allies. Each set of equipment would be enough to outfit a military unit, and would go at least temporarily to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. In February, the Pentagon announced it would seek $3.4 billion in the 2017 budget to increase troop rotations and military exercises in Europe. The plan would result in the constant presence of a third brigade in Europe. Two are already permanently stationed in Europe a Stryker brigade and an airborne brigade. And now a brigade will rotate in and out, every nine months or so, on a continual basis. The 2016 budget included about $780 million for the so-called European reassurance initiative, which covered the costs of sending hundreds of U.S. troops in and out of Europe for short deployments, military exercises and other training missions. Carter's proposal to quadruple that amount would allow the U.S. to send more troops to Europe for short-term deployments and also provide additional equipment and improve facilities so that more forces could be accommodated. The increased U.S. military support comes a year after the Defense Department unveiled sweeping plans to consolidate its forces in Europe, taking thousands of U.S. military and civilian personnel out of bases mostly in the United Kingdom and Portugal, in an effort that was expected to save about $500 million each year. But, Russia's military intervention in Ukraine over the past year and its annexation of the Crimea region has worried Eastern European nations, which fear they may be next. The latest Pentagon moves are seen as an effort to deter Russia from taking any further aggressive action against any other European nations. Russian leaders have denied any intention of future invasions. 30 deals signed during Chinese president's visit to Prague PRAGUE (AP) China's president wrapped up his trip to the Czech Republic on Wednesday by overseeing the signing of 30 business deals that could bring almost $4 billion of Chinese investment this year. The deals were inked a day after Xi Jinping signed a strategic partnership with the country that was once a critic of China's human rights record. Xi's visit is a result of a more business-oriented Czech approach to China than the one that prevailed under the late President Vaclav Havel, a prominent proponent of human rights. Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he boards the plane at the airport to leave after his visit in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) The deals focus on tourism, banking, energy and car making. Among them, China's Ping An Bank will link up with the Czech-Slovak J&T Finance Group to set up an investment fund with 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion) to invest in the energy and finance sectors and industry. China CEFC Energy Company and Hengfeng Bank Company will create a fund with 1.1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) to invest in industrial firms in the Czech Republic together with Slovakia's Zeleziarne Podbrezova. They also agreed to acquire two machinery companies, Zdas Zdar and TS Machinery Plzen, from the Slovak company in a 72 million euro ($81.5 million) deal. CEFC, which acquired a majority stake in the Czech Slavia Prague football club last year, is to buy its stadium for 49.6 million euros ($56.2 million). It will also pay 420 million euros ($475.6 million) to increase its stake in the J&T Finance Group to 50 percent. The Czech presidential office said the deals will bring another 5.1 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in the 2016-20 period. Meanwhile, Czech car maker Skoda Auto, which is owned by Germany's Volkswagen AG, will invest 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in its business in China, and Czech plane maker Aircraft Industries will deliver 20 of its L 410 aircraft to China for 111 million euros ($126 million). Xi's three-day visit prompted a number of protests. Prague archbishop Dominik Duka called on Xi to respect human rights in China during a gala dinner at the Prague Castle. For three days, police had to deal with numerous skirmishes between peaceful protesters and what appeared to be well organized groups of supporters of the Chinese leader. Police said a total of 23 people were detained from both camps. The visit to Prague is the only stopover in Europe for Xi, who is travelling on to the United States for a nuclear security summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Czech Republic's President Milos Zeman, right, clink glasses of beer on the terrace of the Strahov Monastery in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Xi Jinping leaves Czech Republic this afternoon. (Rene Fluger/CTK via AP) SLOVAKIA OUT Syria's Assad rejects 'transitional body' demanded by rebels BEIRUT (AP) Syrian President Bashar Assad has proposed a national unity government and rejected a key opposition demand for a transitional ruling body with full powers, in remarks published Wednesday that could complicate international peace efforts. In an interview with Russia's state news agency Sputnik, Assad also said the recapture of the ancient town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group "is a result of our determination to clean all of Syria from terrorists." He said his forces would continue to advance toward the IS de facto capital Raqqa and the far eastern city of Deir el-Zour, which is mostly held by the extremists. FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2015, file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad gives an interview with the BBC in Damascus, Syria. On Wednesday, March 30, 2016, Assad said in an interview with Sputnik, a Russian state news agency, that Syria needs a national unity government that would secure the transition to a new constitution, rejecting the "transitional body" demanded by the opposition, which wants him to step down. Assad said Syrian refugees will begin returning home when they see hope for improvement, adding that one of the main causes of migration is Western sanctions against Syria. (SANA via AP, File) Syrian government forces, aided by allied militias and Russian airstrikes, have advanced on a number of fronts in recent months, and in the interview a visibly buoyant Assad showed little interest in acceding to the opposition's demands. "First of all, regarding the definition of the 'transitional period,' such a definition does not exist," Assad said in the interview with Sputnik, which published excerpts on its website. "The transition period must be under the current constitution, and we will move on to the new constitution after the Syrian people vote for it," Assad said. His comments run counter to demands by the Syrian opposition for a "transitional body with full executive powers," which major powers agreed on at a Geneva conference in June 2012. That agreement remains the basis of U.N.-mediated talks which are slated to resume in April. "Bashar Assad can say whatever he wants, but the Geneva Communique and Security Council resolutions talk about something else," said George Sabra, a negotiator for the High Negotiations Committee representing the Syrian opposition at talks in Geneva, which are set to resume next month. Sabra said a national unity government that dilutes the current Cabinet with members of the opposition was "absolutely out of the question." A roadmap for a transition in Syria outlined in a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in December calls for a Syrian-led political process facilitated by the United Nations which would establish "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance" within six months and set up a schedule and process for the drafting of a new constitution to be followed by U.N.-supervised elections. Assad said a national unity government would be formed by various Syrian political forces "opposition, independent, the current government and others." "Neither the Syrian constitution, nor the constitution of any other country in the world includes anything that is called a transitional body of power. It's illogical and unconstitutional," he said. In excerpts of the interview published on the Syrian presidency's Facebook page, Assad also dismissed a recent declaration of a federal region by Syria's main Kurdish faction, saying that Syria is not ready for federalism. He claimed most Kurds want to live in a unified Syria under a central leadership and that if put to a referendum, the choice of federalism would not be approved by a majority of Syrians. Early Wednesday, Syria's state-run news agency said Assad sent a message to the U.N. secretary-general reiterating his readiness to cooperate with all "sincere" efforts to fight terrorism. Assad also thanked Ban Ki-moon for the U.N. chief's statements welcoming the Syrian army's recapture of Palmyra and its world-famous archaeological site from Islamic State militants. SANA says Assad also urged the U.N. chief to support the Syrian government's efforts in rebuilding Palmyra. Ban had said on Sunday that the world body is "encouraged and fortunate" that Syrian troops retook Palmyra. Russia meanwhile said it has sent combat engineers to help clear mines in Palmyra. The Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the sapper units airlifted to Syria have an array of equipment, including state-of-the art robotic devices, to defuse mines at the town's 2,000-year old archaeological site. Russian television stations broadcast the footage of combat engineers boarding a military transport plane at an air base outside Moscow. The team included sniffer dogs. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial drawdown of Russian warplanes from Syria earlier this month, but he said that Moscow will continue to strike IS and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. Russia's navy said it has sent another ship armed with long-range cruise missiles to the Mediterranean. Russia's Black Sea Fleet spokesman Capt. Vyacheslvav Trukhachev was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that the Serpukhov missile corvette sailed from Sevastopol on Wednesday to join a group of Russian ships. He said the Serpukhov will replace its sister ship, the Zelyony Dol. The corvettes are equipped with the Kalibr cruise missiles, which Russia tested in combat for the first time in Syria, firing them from surface warships and a submarine. Russian navy ships have been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to support the air campaign in Syria. ___ Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report. The Latest: Paris suspect charged with terrorism offenses PARIS (AP) The Latest on the deadly attacks in Belgium and France. (all times local): 7:45 p.m. The Paris prosecutor says that a Frenchman arrested last week has been charged with a string of terrorism offenses for allegedly plotting an "imminent" attack. French President Francois Hollande delivers a speech after the weekly cabinet meeting, Wednesday, March 30, 2016 in Paris. Hollande has decided to abandon a bill that would have revoked citizenship for convicted terrorists and strengthened the countrys state of emergency. He had initially submitted the two proposals days after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP) Francois Molins said Wednesday that the suspect, Reda Kriket, is accused of participating in a terrorist group with plans for at least one attack, possessing and transporting arms and explosives, and holding fake documents. Molins says Kriket is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2014 and 2015 and made several trips between France and Belgium. At least three other people are in custody in the case in Belgium and the Netherlands. ___ 3:05 p.m. An official linked to the investigation of the Brussels attacks says that a laptop found near the hideout of the suspects of the March 22 airport bombing contained images of the prime minister's official residence and office. The official, who asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing, said that at the moment there were "absolutely no" specific indications that Prime Minister Charles Michel was under threat from the attackers. He said the computer "was full of stuff" of many locations and information garnered from the Internet. The prime minister's office has long been under special security review and that has been increased since the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and in Brussels last week. ___ 1:10 p.m. European authorities say they are holding at least four people in three countries with suspected links to a thwarted plot to attack France. Frenchman Reda Kriket, detained in the Paris region last week on suspicion of being in the "advanced stages" of a plot, is being questioned by a magistrate Wednesday who is expected to file preliminary terrorism charges. Authorities found a large quantity of explosives and weapons in Kriket's apartment. Two Algerians believed linked to Kriket's alleged plot are being held in Brussels. The Belgian federal prosecutors' office said Wednesday that the men, identified as Abderrahmane A. and Rabah M., will face a hearing on April 7. Another Frenchman detained in the Kriket case is being held in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, but is resisting extradition to France. He has not been publicly identified. Kriket was convicted in absentia last year on terrorism charges with the suspected ringleader of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. ___ 12:35 p.m. French President Francois Hollande has decided to abandon a bill that would have revoked citizenship for convicted terrorists and strengthened the country's state of emergency. He had initially submitted the two proposals days after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. The proposal to revoke the citizenship of convicted terrorists who had dual nationalities had prompted a heated political dispute in France, with the far right applauding the move while some on the left expressed indignation at what they called a divisive measure. Opponents of the measure say it would create two classes of citizens dual nationals who could lose their French citizenship and French citizens who cannot in opposition to the principle of equality set out in France's constitution. French President Francois Hollande delivers a speech after the weekly cabinet meeting, Wednesday, March 30, 2016 in Paris. Hollande has decided to abandon a bill that would have revoked citizenship for convicted terrorists and strengthened the countrys state of emergency. He had initially submitted the two proposals days after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP) French President Francois Hollande arrives to deliver a speech after the weekly cabinet meeting, Wednesday, March 30, 2016 in Paris. Hollande has decided to abandon a bill that would have revoked citizenship for convicted terrorists and strengthened the countrys state of emergency. He had initially submitted the two proposals days after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP) Maoist rebels kill 7 Indian paramilitary soldiers PATNA, India (AP) Maoist rebels killed at least seven Indian paramilitary soldiers by blowing up their armored vehicle Wednesday in central India, police said. The insurgents detonated a roadside land mine near Malewara, a village in insurgency-wracked Chhattisgarh state, top police officer R.K. Sahu said. Other details were not available. The area is not considered to be a rebel stronghold, but they apparently came from their forest hideout to target the Central Reserve Police Force soldiers. The rebels have been fighting for more than three decades demanding a greater share of wealth from the region's natural resources and more jobs for farmers and the poor. They often attack security forces and government officials accusing them of perpetuating inequalities. They say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. Latvian soprano stars in Met's 'Butterfly' HD broadcast NEW YORK (AP) You'd never guess from watching her, but Kristine Opolais says that while she's singing her heart out as Madame Butterfly she asks herself: "Oh, why, for what, all this suffering?" And when it's over, she thinks: "I'm finished with this role, because it takes everything." "But then, the reaction of the audience, it all comes back to me," she added. "Next morning I have a reason, because I'm happy." The Latvian soprano stars in the Metropolitan Opera's HD broadcast on Saturday of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly," the tragic story of a 15-year-old geisha in love with an American sailor who abandons her, leaving her with a child and the vain hope that he will return. Instead, he shows up at the end with an American wife to take their son away. This image released by Metropolitcan Opera shows Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais during a performance of "Madama Butterfly," at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Opolais will star in the Metropolitan Opera's HD broadcast on April 2 of Puccini's tragic story about a 15-year-old geisha in love with an American sailor who abandons her, leaving her with a child and the vain hope that he will return. (Marty Sohl/Metropolitcan Opera via AP) What makes Butterfly so rewarding to portray, Opolais said in an interview, is that she's "a complete woman." "She's not only a beautiful Japanese girl," Opolais said. "We must show why Pinkerton fell in love with her. Everything is in her. She's brilliant, interesting, open-minded, with humor. And a mother. She's everything that men can only dream of." Vocally, as well, the role has everything, from light, intimate phrases to lyric outpourings such as the famous aria "Un bel di," to heavy dramatic moments where her voice must soar over the orchestra. For Opolais, the final scene when all of Butterfly's illusions are shattered is both the most painful and the satisfying. "The character is opened finally, like a flower, showing all the soul," she said. "This is what makes the audience cry and love you. I feel completely my heart is like in an X-ray, very naked, without skin." MY SON, THE PUPPET In the Met's visually arresting production, directed by the late Anthony Minghella, Butterfly's little boy is portrayed by a puppet rather than the usual child actor. Operated by three puppeteers from the Blind Summit Theatre, the puppet interacts with Butterfly in a strikingly realistic manner. "It is reacting, touching me, it's amazing what they do," Opolais said. "I think there is always something missing with a real child. The directors usually have them just sitting there, instead of playing a child who loves his mother." A PREMIERE TO FORGET Puccini was inspired to write "Madame Butterfly" after seeing a play of the same name by American dramatist David Belasco in London in 1900. But the opera's premiere at Milan's La Scala in 1904 was a fiasco, with the audience booing, whistling and laughing throughout. After Puccini made some minor changes, it was performed again a few months later in the Italian city of Brescia, where it was enthusiastically received. From that day on it has been one of the composer's most beloved works, justifying the prediction he made after its initial failure: "Madame Butterfly will remain what it is: the most soulful, expressive opera that I have ever written. And ultimately I will triumph!" WHERE TO SEE IT The Met's HD broadcast of "Madame Butterfly," also starring tenor Roberto Alagna and conducted by Karel Mark Chichon, will be shown starting at 12:55 p.m. EDT on Saturday. A list of theaters can be found at the Met's website: http://www.metopera.org/ Season/In-Cinemas/Theater-Finder/. In the U.S., it will be repeated April 6 at 6:30 p.m. local time. ___ Online: http://kristineopolais.com/ Advertisement At least nine people were injured and authorities were evaluating the damage in northeastern Oklahoma after severe storms spawned multiple tornado touchdowns and flooding which is feared to be 'life threatening'. National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Jankowski said a tornado touched down and lifted up numerous times as it swept through the northern Tulsa and Owasso areas. The service said the rapidly growing floods could be life threatening and people were warned to stay off the roads. The City of Tulsa said in a statement that several roads were closed and police and fire crews were canvassing the city. The Streets and Water Departments are assisting with road barricades and debris removal. Jankowski said the Weather Service received reports of lofted debris, trees down and some structural damage. NBC News reported that nine were injured in the storms. Scroll down for video A tornado was caught on camera north of the Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma At least nine people were injured and authorities were evaluating the damage in northeastern Oklahoma after severe storms spawned multiple tornado touchdowns Wednesday night, authorities said A tornadic storm passes over north Tulsa on Wednesday. The National Weather Service is confirming multiple tornado touchdowns in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area Little Rock Fire Capt. Steve Kotch, right, and an unidentified woman stumble and fall into the water as Kotch uses a cable safety line to rescue her from her flooded car in Boyle Park in Little Rock, Arkansas Lightning and heavy rains hit central Arkansas during the evening rush hour. Here the trapped woman is led to safety A family is led away from a the scene where a tree damaged a car after a tornado passed through near Owasso, Oklahoma, on Wednesday A truck that was damaged by a fallen tree after a tornado passed through sits on the road near Owasso Sydney Ellis, center, looks at the damage to her family's home near Stone Canyon neighborhood after a tornado in Owasso Wednesday Kelli Ellis looks at the damage to her family's home near Stone Canyon neighborhood after a tornado in Owasso Public Service Company of Oklahoma reports more than 5,800 customers without power in the area. Nearly nine million people in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas were in an enhanced area of risk Wednesday, putting them in the bull's-eye for some of the strongest storms, the national Storm Prediction Center said earlier Wednesday. The area of highest risk included the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. In Louisiana, the National Weather service issued a flash-flood watch for northern parts of the state until 7pm. Thursday. Forecasters say multiple rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms will produce two to four inches of rain, and perhaps six inches in some parts of the state. Severe thunderstorms were predicted to be a possibility across several states on Thursday Thunderstorms were also likely to hit on Friday, as well, going into the Northeast, too Nearly nine million people in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas were in an enhanced area of risk Wednesday, putting them in the bull's-eye for some of the strongest storms, the national Storm Prediction Center said earlier Wednesday This satellite image taken Wednesday at 1:00 PM EDT shows scattered rain and snow showers extending from the Great Basin, through the Rockies, and up into the Great Plains 'Heavy rain from waves of storms could renew flooding over north Louisiana,' said Cynthia Palmer, a forecaster at the weather service's office in Shreveport, Louisiana. The ground remains saturated in that part of the state, which saw record flooding earlier this month, Palmer said. 'We will see the heaviest rain in the Monroe area of northeast Louisiana starting late this afternoon and evening and another wave on Thursday,' Palmer said Wednesday morning. 'This is the area that could see up to six inches.' In northern Mississippi, forecasters said thunderstorms would bring rainfall amounts of two to four inches. A flash-flood watch was in effect through Thursday evening. As the system moves east, strong storms were expected to develop early Thursday over Alabama, where forecasters say the main threats will be tornadoes, winds of up to 70mph, quarter-sized hail and heavy rains. This photograph posted to Facebook Tuesday by Burdoc Farms Weddings & Events in Crofton, Kentucky, shows people cleaning up in Christian County Three tornadoes touched down in western Kentucky's Christian County over the weekend when a severe storm passed through the area, the National Weather Service said The National Weather Service in Paducah was reporting an EF-2 tornado in northern Christian County on Sunday evening and two EF-0 tornadoes in other areas. Burdoc Farms is seen here Damage at Burdoc Farms in Crofton, Kentucky, is seen left and right in these photographs In Georgia, forecasters said more than four inches of rain could fall in western parts of the state. Three tornadoes touched down in western Kentucky's Christian County over the weekend when a severe storm passed through the area, the National Weather Service said. The National Weather Service in Paducah was reporting an EF-2 tornado in northern Christian County on Sunday evening and two EF-0 tornadoes in other areas, the Kentucky New Era reported. Court: UK police should not be charged over slain Brazilian LONDON (AP) British authorities were correct not to prosecute police officers over the killing of a Brazilian man who was shot dead on the London Underground after being mistaken for a suicide bomber, a European court ruled Wednesday. The judgment by the European Court of Human Rights deals a blow to relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes, who have campaigned to have police charged with his slaying more than a decade ago. The 27-year-old electrician was shot on July 22, 2005, by police who were seeking those responsible for failed bombing attempts on the subway a day before. Two weeks before those botched attacks, four suicide bombers had killed 52 commuters on London's transit system. FILE - In this Wednesday, July 22, 2015 file photo, cousins Alessandro Pereira, right, Vivian Figueiredo and friend Erionaldo da Silva, left, observe a minute's silence on the 10-year-anniversary of the death of 27-year-old Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, shot by British police, at Stockwell station in London. A European court on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 says British authorities were right not to prosecute police officers over the killing of a Brazilian man shot on the London Underground after being mistaken for a suicide bomber. The judgment by the European Court of Human Rights is a blow to relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes, who have sought for years to have police charged with his slaying. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, file) The Brazilian, who lived in the same apartment building as one of the suspects in the failed bombings, was on his way to work when he was shot seven times at close range by police who followed him onto a subway carriage. The two officers who shot him testified at an inquest that they believed de Menezes was one of the failed bombers. Prosecutors decided not to charge any police officers, although the Metropolitan Police were convicted of health and safety violations and fined 560,000 pounds ($805,000) for endangering public safety during the shooting. De Menezes' family has waged a long legal battle that included suing the police in civil court. That case was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2009. Wednesday's ruling comes more than eight years after de Menezes' cousin, Patricia da Silva Armani, appealed to the Strasbourg, France-based European court. Lawyers for the family argued that authorities had failed in their obligations under European human rights rules to conduct a sufficiently effective investigation capable of identifying and, if appropriate, punishing those responsible for the shooting. They said the bar set by prosecutors in deciding whether to charge had been too high. The court's grand chamber, which deals with the most serious cases, said the decision not to prosecute individual officers did not reflect investigation failures "or the state's tolerance of or collusion in unlawful acts." In a 13-4 ruling, the judges said authorities had held a thorough inquiry into the shooting and "concluded that there was insufficient evidence against any individual officer to prosecute." Da Silva said the family was very disappointed at the ruling by Europe's top human rights court. Georgia sheriff sued for death of restrained jail detainee SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) A Georgia sheriff has been sued by the family of a 21-year-old Savannah man who died in a jail cell last year after a brawl with deputies who ended up strapping him into a restraint chair before shocking him four times with a Taser. The parents of Mathew Ajibade filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court against Chatham County Sheriff Roy Harris and others who worked under him at the county jail. Also named as defendants were Corizon Health Inc., the jail's contractor for medical services, as well as a nurse and 12 deputies who were on duty at the time of Ajibade's death. Ajibade died hours after he was arrested on Jan. 1, 2015, following a fight with his girlfriend. Attorneys for his family say Ajibade was having a manic episode, after failing to take his medication for bipolar disorder, when he got into a bloody brawl with deputies trying to book him at the jail. A criminal trial against two deputies and a jail nurse last year revealed that Ajibade was carried to a cell and strapped into a restraint chair after the fight, and deputies placed a mask over his face to prevent him from spitting. While he was restrained, a deputy used a Taser to shock Ajibade four times. He was still strapped to the chair when a jailer later found him dead. Because of excessive use of force by deputies as well as indifference to Ajibade's medical needs by Corizon staff, "Mr. Ajibade endured extreme physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering, and death," said the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages. An autopsy found no single cause for why Ajibade died. Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner Kris Sperry told jurors during the criminal trial that Ajibade was "stressed to death." The sheriff's spokesman, Pete Nichols, and county attorneys had no immediate comment Wednesday. Martha Harbin, a Corizon spokeswoman, said the company was surprised to be named in the lawsuit. During the trial, the judge ordered Corizon nurse Gregory Brown to be acquitted of manslaughter charges after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent acknowledged on the witness stand he gave incorrect information about Brown's duties to a grand jury. Based on the trial judge's findings, "no act or omission on behalf of Corizon Health or its medical staff was found to be contributory in the death of Mr. Ajibade," Harbin said in an emailed statement. A jury ultimately acquitted the deputy who shocked Ajibade in the cell, Jason Kenny, and fellow jailer Maxine Evans of manslaughter charges as well. Kenny was sentenced last November to a month in jail, which he was allowed to serve on weekends, and nearly three years on probation after he was found guilty of cruelty to an inmate. Evans, convicted of faking jail records and perjury, was sentenced to probation along with Brown, who was found guilty of lying to investigators. The trial did little to satisfy Ajibade's family in Hyattsville, Maryland. His cousin, Chris Oladapo, criticized prosecutors for targeting rank-and-file jailers rather than the sheriff and his senior staff. It's unclear ultimately which sheriff will have to defend against the lawsuit. Harris was chief deputy when Ajibade died and was named acting sheriff after Sheriff Al St. Lawrence died in November from cancer. Justices: Government can't freeze assets unrelated to crimes WASHINGTON (AP) The government cannot freeze the financial assets of people accused of crimes if the money has no connection to criminal activity and is needed to pay legal defense costs, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. Five justices agreed that federal prosecutors violated the constitutional rights of a Miami woman accused of Medicare fraud when they put a hold on more than $40 million in assets, including money unrelated to the criminal charges. Sila Luis argued that the forfeiture prevented her from hiring the defense lawyer of her choice with "untainted" money. Writing for four members of the court, Justice Stephen Breyer said the Sixth Amendment guarantees a fundamental right of defendants to be represented by a lawyer they can afford to hire. "The government would undermine the value of that right by taking from Luis the ability to use the funds she needs to pay for her chosen attorney," Breyer said. The government long has used asset forfeiture laws to seize property involved in a crime. Such seizures often are used in cases involving organized crime and drug deals. The Supreme Court previously has upheld the government's ability to put a hold on property and money connected to illegal conduct. Luis was charged in 2012 with billing Medicare for unnecessary services and paying kickbacks to people who referred patients. Prosecutors said the schemes netted her companies about $45 million from Medicare over a six-year period, but officials could locate just a fraction of the money. Some of the funds were transferred to holdings in Mexico, prosecutors alleged, while other money was used to buy properties, expensive cars and jewelry. A federal district court allowed prosecutors to freeze up to $40.5 million of Luis' assets under a law that lets the government put a hold on assets or property linked to alleged violations of banking or health care laws. It also lets the government freeze property "of an equivalent value." The ruling was upheld by a federal appeals court. Breyer said that "until conviction, the untainted property at issue belongs to the defendant, pure and simple." His opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to say that he would side with Luis by relying on a strict textual reading of the Sixth Amendment rather than Breyer's "balancing approach." Writing in dissent, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the court's "unprecedented holding rewards criminals who hurry to spend, conceal or launder stolen property by assuring them that they may use their own funds to pay for an attorney after they have dissipated the proceeds of their crime." Belfast man arrested over 1987 IRA killing of 2 police BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) Police say a 54-year-old Belfast man has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Irish Republican Army killing of two plainclothes detectives in a dockside bar nearly 29 years ago. Nobody was ever convicted for shooting to death 35-year-old Michael Malone and 50-year-old Ernest Carson, who were members of the elite Special Branch intelligence unit. The gunman wounded two others a police sergeant and a civilian playing pool when he opened fire on Aug. 26, 1987, inside the since-closed Liverpool Lounge. Police arrested the man Wednesday. They continue to investigate hundreds of decades-old killings from the Northern Ireland conflict, which has claimed nearly 3,700 lives since 1969. California man dies saving daughter from electrified pool PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) Authorities said Wednesday that a father died in Southern California after trying to save his 9-year-old daughter from electrocution in a swimming pool accident on Easter Sunday. The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1RODbNv ) that the girl and five others were injured in the incident in Palm Springs. The girl was in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center Wednesday. A 10-year-old girl is in stable condition at the same facility. Everyone else was treated and released, police said. Police said 43-year-old Jim Tramel of Burlingame, California had to be pulled from the pool Sunday after trying to rescue his daughter. Tramel was pronounced dead at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. He served as the vice president of sales at marketing technology company RevJet. "Jim's lovely wife Kim and their children now face the future without a husband, and without a father," RevJet CEO and founder Mitchell Weisman wrote on a fundraising page set up for the family. "Even worse, at this very moment Jim's oldest child remains in intensive care, fighting for her life. Please pray with us for her survival and recovery." Police received reports that two people turned blue after jumping into a pool and responded to the residential neighborhood around 4 p.m. Sunday. They found people at the home giving Tramel and his 9-year-old daughter CPR, the newspaper reported. Palm Springs police said it's believed faulty wiring caused the accident. Police said the victims described a "tingling feeling" while in the pool. The investigation is ongoing and police have not yet concluded what caused the water to become electrified. ___ Police search Lyon diocese in sex abuse cover-up probe PARIS (AP) French investigators have searched Catholic church offices in Lyon amid allegations that a renowned cardinal and others had covered up a priest's sexual abuse of boy scouts. The office of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin says in a statement Wednesday that the headquarters of the Lyon diocese were searched as part of a preliminary investigation into the case, and that church officials have handed over documents "to shed light on these painful events." Barbarin's spokesman Pierre Durieux says the search is over but would not elaborate. The Latest: Obama offers condolences over Pakistan bombing ISLAMABAD (AP) The Latest on radical Islamists who have been protesting for the last four days outside Pakistan's parliament (all times local): 12:15 a.m. President Barack Obama has offered condolences to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over an Easter bombing that killed more than 70 people in Lahore. Protesters from Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group sit in protest near the parliament building in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Pakistan's interior minister has warned hundreds of radical Islamists rallying for the past four days in central Islamabad to disperse peacefully and end their protest within hours. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) The White House said in a statement Wednesday that the "callous and appalling attack" on Sunday, whose victims included many women and children, underscores the "critical danger" terrorism poses everywhere. Obama told Sharif that he understands the prime minister's decision to cancel an upcoming visit to the U.S. Sharif had planned to attend Obama's nuclear security summit in Washington later this week. He called off the trip after the bombing. ___ 8:15 p.m. Pakistan's interior minister says hundreds of Islamists protesting the hanging of a policeman who had shot and killed a secular governor have ended their rally outside parliament. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan says the protesters began dispersing Wednesday after he had earlier warned that the government would use force if they failed to depart peacefully. Awais Noorani, one of the protest leaders, called on demonstrators to disperse, saying a deal had been reached with the government. The interior minister denied any agreement had been reached, but said religious leaders had helped convince the protesters to leave the area. The protesters were demanding strict Shariah law after the hanging of police officer Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Gov. Salman Taseer in 2011 over his opposition to the country's far-ranging blasphemy laws. They also demanded the hanging of a Christian woman Taseer had defended against blasphemy allegations, and asked that Qadri be declared a national martyr. Khan says police have detained more than 1,000 protesters over the last four days, and would only release those not implicated in violence. ___ 11:15am: Pakistan's interior minister has warned hundreds of radical Islamists rallying for the past four days in central Islamabad to disperse peacefully and end their protest within hours. The minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, said late Tuesday that if the Islamists fail to do so, the government would disperse them by force. The rally turned violent on Sunday, when more than 10,000 Islamists from Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group descended on the capital to denounce last month's hanging of officer Mumtaz Qadri for the 2011 murder of secular Gov. Salman Taseer who had campaigned against Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws. Since the start of the rally, the crowds have dwindled down to about 1,200 people. The protesters also demand the hanging of a jailed Christian woman whom Taseer had defended against blasphemy allegations. Pakistani security personnel stand alert outside the parliament building during a sit-in protest in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Pakistan's interior minister has warned hundreds of radical Islamists rallying for the past four days in central Islamabad to disperse peacefully and end their protest within hours. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) Protesters from Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group sit in protest near the parliament building in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Pakistan's interior minister has warned hundreds of radical Islamists rallying for the past four days in central Islamabad to disperse peacefully and end their protest within hours. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) Romanian mayor detained on bribe suspicions BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) Anti-corruption prosecutors have detained the mayor of one of Romania's largest cities on suspicion of money laundering, influence trafficking and taking bribes. The anti-corruption prosecutors' office said Wednesday that Olguta Vasilescu, mayor of Craiova, allegedly used her position as a top official of the Social Democratic Party in 2012 to persuade local businesses to contribute 136,000 euros ($154,000) to her successful election campaign. Prosecutors allege that in 2014 she received 544,000 lei ($138,000) in bribes paid to a non-profit association by businesses that had contracts with the city hall. Vasilescu, the first woman to be elected mayor of a major Romanian city, denies wrongdoing. Prosecutors are seeking her arrest. Medical community is fighting a new germ: celebrities NEW YORK (AP) When celebrity and science collide, harmful side effects may occur. The latest case happened last weekend when the Tribeca Film Festival pulled a documentary from its program by a discredited former doctor whose research into the connection between vaccines and autism has been debunked. After festival co-founder Robert De Niro initially defended the film's inclusion, Tribeca facing an uproar from doctors and experts pulled it. The film, "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe," is directed by Andrew Wakefield, a former British gastroenterologist who was stripped of his medical license in 2010. The British medical journal BMJ called Wakefield's study connecting autism and vaccines which was retracted by the Lancet, a medical journal an "elaborate fraud." Scientific research has consistently found the MMR vaccine (given to children for measles, mumps and rubella) to be safe and have no link to autism. Cases of measles, however, have increased in recent years, largely infecting unvaccinated people. De Niro acknowledged he personally chose to program the film at the festival, something he had never previously done. "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," said De Niro, who, with his wife, Grace Hightower De Niro, has an 18-year-old son with autism. No one would question that the issue is personal to De Niro. But the Tribeca Film Festival, which opens its 15th edition on April 13, is an extremely public event. When news of the documentary's scheduled screening spread, disease experts were distressed that the festival would lend its megaphone to a film by a disgraced doctor. Michael Specter, the New Yorker staff writer and medical expert, called it "a disgrace" for the festival, and compared Wakefield's film to "Leni Riefenstahl making a movie about the Third Reich." The episode is only the latest instance of the medical community being forced to combat the influence of a celebrity promoting questionable science. It has particularly bedeviled questions over vaccinations, beginning with the anti-vaccination advocacy of TV personality Jenny McCarthy. "Celebrities have had an out-of-proportion impact on the public's understanding of vaccine risk," says Arthur L. Caplan, head of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University. "I don't want to overplay it; most people vaccinate. It's not like hordes of people are listening to Jenny McCarthy and saying, 'Forget the American Association of Pediatrics, I'm going with the former Playboy Bunny.'" Jim Carrey and Rob Schneider have also spoken out against vaccines, as have some politicians. In a GOP debate last year, Donald Trump, while saying he supported them, added a story about a 2-year-old boy developing autism following vaccination. Wakefield has vowed to press on with his film. He called the Tribeca Film Festival reversal "another example of the power of corporate interests censoring free speech, art, and truth." Steven Silberman, author of "NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity," believes the claims of anti-vaccination campaigners are rooted in a misunderstanding of autism history. Autism isn't a historical aberration, he says, but has long been part of humanity just less diagnosed. "I have tremendous respect for Robert De Niro and tremendous compassion for his interest in prompting a conversation about his son's condition," says Silberman. "The problem is that if we're arguing about vaccines, we're having the wrong conversation. We should be talking about how we should give people like Robert De Niro's son a better future, one in which they can live more independently, have access to the support and resources they need, and have a chance to make a living." Increasingly, doctors are fighting to seize the spotlight for health and medicine issues from celebrities, whose public platforms have far more reach than medical journals. Celebrities are also sought out to be spokespeople for new drugs, blurring their role. Since Milton Berle stumped in the 1950s for an antidepressant called Miltown, they've been prominent endorsers, from Jack Nicklaus for high blood pressure to Brooke Shields for thin eyelashes to Sally Field for osteoporosis. Their influence can be considerable, sometimes for good. After Katie Couric's live on-air colonoscopy on the "Today" show in 2000, researchers recorded a nationwide increase in colonoscopies of more than 20 percent. But often, the health advice of celebrities well-meaning as it may be could come with its own Surgeon General warning. Reality star Kristin Cavallari (who has also spoken out against vaccines) recently caused a stir when she provided a homemade goat's milk baby formula recipe to People Magazine. The magazine listed it online under the section "Great Ideas" before removing it. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast feeding for an infant's first six months, and warns against the dangers of homemade formulas.) "It's part of the general impact celebrities are having on health," says Caplan. "Gwyneth Paltrow is certainly emitting an unceasing stream of hot air about many health practices, from colonics to who knows what. It's a constant battle to try to correct misperceptions." That battle, though, can come at a cost. "As long as we're talking about Andrew Wakefield and 'Vaxxed,'" says Silberman, "we're not talking about giving autistic people and their families happier, healthier and safer lives." ___ UN: Aid reaches only 30 percent of Syrians in besieged areas UNITED NATIONS (AP) Desperately needed aid has reached only 30 percent of Syrians living in besieged areas and less than 10 percent in hard-to-reach areas this year, even with the recent cease-fire, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Wednesday. Stephen O'Brien told the Security Council that many of the 4.6 million Syrians in need in these areas can't be reached because of insecurity and obstruction by combatants. Since the cessation of hostilities came into effect one month ago, he said there is "a glimmer of hope," citing far fewer civilians killed and injured and progress on humanitarian access. But O'Brien stressed that the U.N. and its partners are still "a long way from the sustained, unconditional and unimpeded access" required under international law and U.N. resolutions. Since the beginning of the year, he said, convoys have reached 150,000 people in 11 of the 18 besieged areas in Syria. But O'Brien said Syria's government still hasn't approved aid for three besieged areas "mere minutes' drive away from U.N. warehouses in Damascus" Duma, East Harasta and Daraya. "The situation is dreadful in these areas, particularly in Daraya, where we continue to receive reports of severe shortages of food, clean water, medicines, electricity and basic commodities, with the food security and nutrition status thought to be disastrous, with even reports of people forced to eat grass," O'Brien said. He also said he is "deeply troubled" that more than 210,000 civilians in the northern rural Homs towns of Rastan, Talbiseh, Houla, Termallah and Taldo, as well as 15,000 people in adjacent Habarnafse and surrounding communities in rural Hama, can't move in or out and have diminished access to food, clean water and medical care. A specialized plane bought by the Drug Enforcement Administration to fly missions in Afghanistan - costing taxpayers $86 million - has remained grounded for seven years, a report revealed. The drug agency bought the plane seven years ago to fly surveillance and counter-narcotics missions is still grounded in Delaware and will likely will never fly in Asia, according to a scathing audit released on Wednesday. The review by the Justice Department's inspector general, which was spurred by a July 2014 whistleblower's report, found that the Global Discovery program to modify the ATR 42-500 aircraft to provide the DEA with advanced surveillance capabilities was supposed to be completed in December 2012. But the project, part of an agreement with the Defense Department, has been plagued by missteps costing the agencies four times the initial estimated cost. A specialized plane at the DEA to fly missions in Afghanistan that has cost taxpayers $86 million has remained grounded for seven years. Above, a photo taken in April 2015 shows the DEA's ATR 42-500 at the Defense Department's subcontractor's facility The report said it was unlikely the plane will ever fly in Afghanistan because the DEA has since ceased aviation operations there. 'Our findings raise serious questions as to whether the DEA was able to meet the operational needs for which its presence was requested in Afghanistan,' the review said. In a statement, the DEA said that it agreed it 'can and should provide better oversight of its operational funding' and was reviewing its policies and procedures. The drug agency spent $8.5 million on parts for the plane - including $5 million in spare engines - 'the majority of which cannot be used utilized on any other aircraft in its fleet.' The Defense Department built a $2 million hangar in Afghanistan for the plane that was never used and likely never will be, the report said. The audit also found that the DEA didn't fully comply with federal procedures when it purchased the aircraft, spending nearly $3 million more than it had previously estimated for the $8.6 million aircraft. The DEA also charged about $2.5 million in improper expenditures billed under the agreement with the Defense Department, including for costs associated with aircrafts and personnel who were entirely unrelated to the agency's Afghanistan operations. That included $8,122 in unallowable travel related to missions in Haiti, the Bahamas, Peru and Florida. The review also found the DEA's Aviation Division lacked adequate policies and procedures for receiving, reviewing and paying contractors with no requirement that any documentation be approved before personnel were paid. When modifications were improperly done on the plane, the Defense Department poured more money into the effort. The plane, which has missed every scheduled delivery date, is now estimated to be completed in June - nearly one year after the DEA pulled out of Afghanistan. The report said the DEA intends to fly the plane in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The report made 13 recommendations to improve oversight of its aviation operations agreements and the problematic program. The drug agency has already acted on two recommendations, according to the inspector general's office. That includes ensuring foreign offices are now required to provide supporting documentation to be paid for work. The agency said it's also now established an electronic method for pilots to submit mission reports to make sure program data is accurate. Israel investigating 2 senior lawmakers JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli authorities are investigating two senior lawmakers in what local media say are separate corruption cases. The Justice Ministry says authorities are investigating Interior Minister Aryeh Deri concerning "matters," but did not elaborate. It says there is also an investigation of opposition leader Isaac Herzog, head of the center-left Labor Party, over his involvement in recent party primaries, without elaborating. Israeli media say police are investigating Herzog for possible illegal financing from interest groups. Both politicians denied wrongdoing and said they would cooperate fully with the investigations. Hungarian politician fined for mocking Holocaust BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) A Hungarian appeals court has confirmed a fine of 750,000 forints ($2,700) given to a politician from the far-right Jobbik party for making jokes about the Holocaust in public. Tibor Agoston, a municipal councilor in the eastern city of Debrecen, gave a speech during a January 2014 commemoration of Hungarian soldiers killed in World War II in which he used mocking expressions about the Holocaust. He also implied the Holocaust was a lie. In his defense, Agoston said he had used "unfortunate wording." The court in Debrecen said Wednesday in its ruling that Agoston can pay the fine in 15 installments. Colombia to hold peace talks with 2nd-largest rebel group BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Colombia and the country's second-largest rebel group announced Wednesday that they will hold peace talks, heightening expectations for a definitive end to a half-century of political violence in the Andean nation. The government has been in exploratory talks in Ecuador with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, for more than a year. Negotiators for the two sides announced at a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, that those talks will now be formalized around a six-point agenda, including justice for victims, disarmament, and reintegration into society. While a start date has not been set, negotiations will kick off in Ecuador and then possibly continue in Venezuela, Brazil and Chile and Cuba. Those five countries, along with Norway, will sponsor the talks. Frank Pearl, head of Colombia's peace negotiation team, left, hands documents to Antonio Garcia, chief negotiator of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, during a signing agreement to start peace talks, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The formal peace talks with the ELN, the country's second-largest rebel group, heightens expectations for a definitive end to a half-century of political violence in the Andean nation. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) "If we can make peace, it will be the end of guerrilla fighters in Colombia and thus in Latin America," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in a televised address to celebrate the breakthrough. The government has been negotiating for three years in Havana with the largest Colombian rebel group, the far-stronger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Santos emphasized that some important points have already been agreed upon in Havana and said will not be open for renegotiation in the new talks with the ELN, including the establishment of a post-conflict infrastructure to judge war crimes. The smaller ELN, which the U.S. government classifies as a terrorist group, has an estimated fighting force of around 1,500 and relies on extortion and kidnapping to fund its insurgency. Its main base of operations is eastern Colombia, along the border with Venezuela, where it frequently bombs a major oil pipeline. The group, founded by radical Roman Catholic priests in the 1960s, prides itself on being more ideologically pure than the FARC. Unlike the peasant-based FARC, the ELN shares a tradition with other leftist insurgencies in Latin America that were formed by urban students and intellectuals in the wake of the Cuban Revolution. Many analysts say the same orthodoxy that led the ELN to shun a heavier involvement in Colombia's drug trade also blinded its commanders to the opportunity to negotiate a far-reaching deal. In recent weeks, the group kidnapped a local councilman and captured an army sergeant. Both were later freed but the group is believed to still be holding several others for ransom. On Wednesday, Santos called such actions "unacceptable" and incompatible with the peace drive. The ELN, for its part, has played down its involvement in criminal activity. "We didn't start this peace process to talk about kidnapping," the guerrilla commander known by the alias Antonio Garcia told journalists at a rare news conference in Caracas. "We're here to seek solutions to Colombia's problems." Colombia's civil war has killed an estimated 200,000 people. Human rights groups greeted news of the talks with cautious optimism, but stressed the importance of punishing all those who have committed abuses during the long-running conflict. "The talks between the ELN and the government, coupled with an imminent peace deal with the FARC, bring hope that more than half a century of conflict in Colombia might soon be over," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. "The government and the ELN must ensure that human rights, including measures to put an end to impunity, lie at the heart of the negotiations." ___ Associated Press writer Libardo Cardona reported this story in Bogota and AP writer Fabiola Sanchez Sanchez reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Antonio Garcia, chief negotiator of Colombia's rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), left, and fellow rebel Pablo Beltran give a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Colombia and the country's second-largest rebel group announced Wednesday that they will hold peace talks, heightening expectations for a definitive end to a half-century of political violence in the Andean nation. Negotiations will kick off in Ecuador and then possibly continue in Venezuela, Brazil and Chile and Cuba. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Frank Pearl, head of Colombia's peace negotiation team, left, shake hands with Antonio Garcia, chief negotiator of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, during a signing agreement to start peace talks, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The formal peace talks with the ELN, the country's second-largest rebel group, heightens expectations for a definitive end to a half-century of political violence in the Andean nation. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Antonio Garcia, chief negotiator of Colombia's rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), gives a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Colombia and the country's second-largest rebel group announced Wednesday that they will hold peace talks, heightening expectations for a definitive end to a half-century of political violence in the Andean nation. Negotiations will kick off in Ecuador and then possibly continue in Venezuela, Brazil and Chile and Cuba. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2006, file photo, Antonio Garcia, leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN),looks at his rebel group's flag during a press conference at the Palco hotel in Havana. Colombian and ELN officials have made an announcement Wednesday, March 30, 2016, that they have started formal peace talks. The ELN is the country's second-largest rebel group. (AP photo/ Javier Galeano, File) Religion news in brief Justices seem to seek compromise in birth control case WASHINGTON (AP) A seemingly divided Supreme Court is exploring a possible compromise ruling in the dispute between faith-based groups and the Obama administration over birth control. The justices issued an unusual order Tuesday directing both sides in the case to file a new round of legal briefs by April 20. They're being asked to examine the minimum that groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor must do to register their religious objections to providing contraceptive coverage. FILE - In this Monday, March 28, 2016 file photo, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal speaks during a press conference to announce he has vetoed legislation allowing clergy to refuse performing gay marriage and protecting people who refuse to attend the ceremonies in Atlanta. Deal vetoed a proposed religious expression bill that pitted gay-rights groups and the business community against religious conservatives. Deal said he was preventing potential discrimination by rejecting a bill intended to protect individuals and businesses who declined to serve certain customers on religious grounds. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) The court suggested that they could tell their insurance company at the time they arrange for health insurance that they don't want to include some or all contraceptive coverage. Armed with that knowledge, the insurer would notify people covered by the health plan that contraceptive coverage would come directly from the insurer, with no money from or involvement by the nonprofit's health plan. Attorneys for the groups say that shows the court recognizes that "the government's current scheme forces them to violate their religion." ___ Conservative groups say governor betrayed faithful ATLANTA (AP) Conservative groups in Georgia say Gov. Nathan Deal's veto of a "religious freedom" bill shows he has turned his back on people of faith. Representatives of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, the Faith and Freedom Coalition and others said Tuesday they won't give up on passing legislation in future years. A portion of the bill vetoed Monday lets people claiming their religious freedoms have been burdened by state or local laws force governments to prove there's a "compelling" state interest overriding their beliefs. Supporters say more than 30 states have similar laws. Republican state Sen. Marty Harbin of Tyrone also called on House and Senate leadership to demand a special session in response to Deal's veto, joining two other senators. Legislative leaders have given no sign they will do that. ___ North Carolina AG applauds Georgia governor's veto RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) North Carolina's Democratic attorney general is commending Georgia's Republican governor for vetoing a bill that critics have called discriminatory. Attorney General Roy Cooper said at a news conference Tuesday that Gov. Nathan Deal "stepped up" on Monday when he rejected a "religious freedom" bill. Cooper said Deal recognized the negative economic impact it would have Georgia if he signed the legislation. Many corporations have spoken out against the bill in Georgia and a new law in North Carolina that prevents local governments from approving protections for LGBT people. Cooper has said he won't defend the North Carolina law, prompting critics to call for the attorney general's resignation. Cooper has refused. The Georgia bill was modeled on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. People claiming their religious freedoms are burdened could force state and local governments to prove a "compelling" interest in enforcing laws that conflict with their beliefs. ___ Authorities: Animal rights activist arrested at Easter Mass NEW YORK (AP) Authorities say a teacher from North Carolina has been arrested after he disrupted an Easter Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. A group of six animal rights activists interrupted the noon Mass on Sunday. Police say one of the protesters shouted into a bullhorn that "only the devil" could create "animals capable of love and joy just so humans can make them suffer and die." Police say 23-year-old Jacob Martin was taken into custody and was charged with interrupting a religious service. The animal rights group said Martin is a Christian school teacher. ___ Former Kentucky priest who viewed child porn going to prison LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) A former Catholic priest accused of snapping hundreds of inappropriate pictures of students at his parish school is heading to federal prison for nearly three years. Stephen Pohl wasn't charged with any crime for taking the photos, since the children in his pictures were clothed. But he was found guilty of a charge of looking at child pornography on his computer. The 57-year-old former pastor of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Louisville to 33 months. Police seized his computer during an investigation that started after a student told his parents he felt "weird" about some photos that Pohl had taken. The U.S. Attorney's office says it is in the process of identifying the students in Pohl's photos, and their parents will be contacted. ___ EWTN chaplain recounts Mother Angelica's last days IRONDALE, Ala. (AP) The chaplain of the Eternal World Television Network has eulogized its founder, Mother Mary Angelica, during a memorial sermon at the station's Alabama headquarters, recalling the days leading up to the Easter Sunday death of the Roman Catholic nun. Before her death, Mother Angelica, 92, told nuns to do whatever they could to keep her alive because she considered her suffering an act of devotion to God, Al.com quoted EWTN Chaplain Joseph Wolfe as saying. Mother Angelica launched a religious talk show in 1981 in the garage of a monastery in rural Alabama that eventually grew into the Eternal World Television Network. The network has been blessed by the Vatican, and EWTN officials say it broadcasts 24 hours a day in 144 countries and territories. Mother Angelica had been in declining health since a cerebral hemorrhage on Christmas Eve in 2001. Wolfe said Mother Angelica had a bone fracture that developed because she had been bedridden for months and began crying out in pain Friday. He said nuns and priests were at her side praying when she died Sunday afternoon. ___ Cardinal Timothy Dolan blesses the crowd from the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan after leading Easter Mass inside the landmark church, Sunday, March 27, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) Belgium premier's residence, office found on bomber's laptop BRUSSELS (AP) A laptop used by one of the Brussels bombers contained images of the Belgian prime minister's home and office, an official said Wednesday, heightening fears after last week's attacks on the airport and subway system. A government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said that "it is alarming that they were apparently scouting the terrain" around the lush Royal Park where both his office, "Le 16," and his Lambermont residence are located. Security around Prime Minister Charles Michel has increased since the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and in Brussels last week. Michel also has had several unspecified death threats over the past years, the official said. Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel, right, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi stand on a podium as the national anthems are played, prior to a meeting at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Modi is in Belgium for an EU India summit where discussions will focus on the EU-India agenda for action 2020 and the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, with an aim to instill some political impetus to the stalled talks. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) A laptop found near the hideout of the suspects of the March 22 airport bombing first gained notoriety because it contained a sort of will of suicide bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui, in which he spoke of being "in a haste" and "no longer know what to do." The computer was also "full of stuff" on many locations around Brussels in information garnered from the Internet, said an official linked to the investigation. The official, who asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing, said that at the moment there were "absolutely no" specific indications that Michel was under threat from the attackers. The report was first published by De Tijd and L'Echo newspapers. In propaganda material distributed Tuesday, the Islamic State group described the Brussels attacks as part of "a war against all their tyrants and pagans; a war against secularism." The material showed a cropped still of surveillance footage showing the two airport bombers. The attacker who escaped with his life, wearing a dark hat, was cropped out. "Its most important results are that it showed the fragility of the security systems of the European states that claim they are the strongest in the world, and this was through the type of operation, its timing, its place, and the circumstances surrounding it, and the nature of those who executed it," the material said, according to a translation Wednesday by the SITE Intelligence Group. In all, 32 people died in the attacks on Brussels international airport and the Maelbeek subway station and 87 remained in hospital. Three attackers were killed when their bombs exploded and police are looking for at least one more suspect. ___ Lori Hinnant contributed to this story. Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel, second right, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi stand on a podium as the national anthems are played, prior to a meeting at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Modi is in Belgium for an EU India summit where discussions will focus on the EU-India agenda for action 2020 and the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, with an aim to instill some political impetus to the stalled talks. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) Mexican military court acquits 6 of 7 in army slayings MEXICO CITY (AP) Leading Mexican human rights groups announced Wednesday that a military court acquitted six of seven soldiers charged with breach of discipline in the 2014 killing of 22 suspects, including between 12 and 15 who allegedly were executed after they surrendered. The announcement by Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center and others is the latest step backward in accountability for alleged military killings and rights abuses in the country. The sentences were handed down in October but were not made public until now, after the rights groups obtained the documents. Mexico's government is now less transparent about such confrontations than it was in June 2014, when an army patrol engaged in a brief firefight with the suspects. Most of the suspects surrendered and were then executed, according to witness accounts and a governmental investigation. FILE - In this July 3, 2014, file photo, state police stand inside a warehouse where a black cross covers a wall near blood stains on the ground, after a shootout between Mexican soldiers and alleged criminals on the outskirts of the village of San Pedro Limon, in Mexico state, Mexico. Leading Mexican human rights groups announced Wednesday, March 30, 2016, that a military court acquitted six of seven soldiers charged with breach of discipline in the 2014 killings. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) One soldier was wounded in what the army initially described as a shootout in the township of Tlatlaya. Later, only one soldier was convicted by the military court on charges of failure to obey orders. He was sentenced to one year, time which he has already served. The sentences were handed down in October but were not previously made public. They rights groups obtained the information based on an appeal by the mother of a girl killed at the grain warehouse in southern Mexico under a rule that allows victims or relatives access to court proceedings. The ruling by a closed military court "consolidates impunity in one of the most serious violations of the right to life in recent history," the rights groups said in a statement. "This ruling ... comes on the heels of other government actions that show a troublesome tendency to leave the case in darkness." "The Tlatlaya case is headed toward going unpunished," said a statement by the Pro Juarez Center and the 15 other human rights groups. While simultaneous charges were filed in October 2015 against the seven soldiers in civilian courts, a civilian judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to try four of the soldiers. It was unclear whether those four were still at the military prison where they have been held since October 2014. Civilian prosecutors have pledged to appeal the judge's decision to dismiss charges against the four, and three soldiers still face homicide charges in civilian courts. The Mexican army did not immediately respond to a request for information about the sentences. But journalists and rights investigators now receive less information on army confrontations than they did in 2014, when The Associated Press first visited the scene of the killings and wrote that the physical evidence did not match the army's description of the events. At the time of the killings in 2014, the Mexican army regularly released press bulletins on confrontations in which suspects were killed by army troops; after the grain-warehouse killings, the defense department largely stopped releasing such information. And in February, Mexico's transparency watchdog denied an AP appeal to release autopsy reports on 42 suspects killed by federal police in a 2015 gun battle between federal police and criminal suspects. One police officer died on May 22 in what authorities described as a clash with drug cartel suspects at a ranch in the western state of Michoacan, but the lopsided 42-1 death toll drew suspicion. Haiti migrants no longer stranded on desolate border ANSE-A-PITRES, Haiti (AP) Forced out of the Dominican Republic, Anise Germain and her family pitched a flimsy tent of blankets and cardboard on a patch of rocky ground just across the border in Haiti. She feared they might never leave the camp. Ten months later, things are looking up. Germain, her husband and three children have been relocated to a cinderblock shack in the nearby Haitian border town of Anse-a-Pitres. They lack running water and electricity, but they are no longer in a forlorn camp of Haitians and people of Haitian descent who have fled or were expelled in a Dominican crackdown on migrants. "I think life will be better for us here," Germain said as she watched her youngest daughters play in the backyard with several banana and papaya trees and enough space for a small vegetable plot. In this March 21, 2015 photo, Anise Germain holds her daughters Riguerlande, left, and Chrislove outside of her new subsidized rental home in the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres. The Germain family is at the forefront of an effort to deal with a situation that was threatening to become another crisis for Haiti: an influx of people from across the border with the Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. (AP Photo/David McFadden) Their move comes amid efforts to cope with an influx of people from across the border setting up tent camps similar to those that aid groups and the government spent years trying to clear out after Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake. Within the next month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people out of six encampments by providing subsidies for them to rent homes for a year in southeastern Haiti. The International Organization for Migration is coordinating the effort with $2 million from a U.N. emergency fund. "We're seeing that they move to houses for a year to give them enough time to identify economic opportunities so they can support themselves," said Fabien Sambussy, the IOM's operations chief in Haiti. The border camps, with clusters of makeshift shacks that bake in the sun and flood when it rains, are filled with destitute migrants who often speak a mix of Haitian Creole and Spanish. More than half are children, and health authorities feared that a growing number of cholera cases would turn into a more widespread outbreak. The camps emerged on the outskirts of Anse-a-Pitres last June as increasing numbers of people left the Dominican Republic. A few thousand people found nowhere to go in Haiti, often because they had been gone so long they didn't have the social connections needed to survive on the poorer side of the island of Hispaniola. Germain, 32 and pregnant, fit that category. Her parents went to the Dominican Republic to work in farming when she was 6. The family settled in a shantytown near La Ceiba. "Life was hard in Haiti, but life was hard in the Dominican, too," she said. Her parents, who have since died, never got legal residency for their children. The Dominican Republic, which has long had an uneasy relationship with its much poorer neighbor, has become much less hospitable to its migrants. Over the last several years, Dominican authorities have begun trying to bolster the largely porous border with Haiti, increasing security at the main crossing points and deporting people who can't prove legal residency. In September 2013, the Dominican constitutional court issued a much-debated ruling that children born in the country to non-citizens did not qualify for automatic citizenship because their migrant parents were "in transit." The decision was retroactive, rendering people who thought they had legal status effectively stateless. With its migrant policies under international criticism, the Dominican government created a program that allowed people born in Haiti to qualify for legal residency if they could get the necessary paperwork proving they had been in the Dominican Republic since before October 2011. Many people couldn't meet the requirements and moved on their own, fearing a crackdown. The International Organization for Migration says at least 78,000 people have left the Dominican Republic for Haiti. The Dominican government puts the number at 129,000. "I only brought my family into Haiti because I was afraid we'd be killed," said Inez Celestin, one of many who believe they have a right to Dominican residency but chose to abandon the country instead. Most people living in the refugee camps clustered around Anse-a-Pitres are eager to leave, although many in one remote camp known as "Water Head" hope to stay. Conditions there are considerably better, with residents living in thatched huts along a small river. Still, people are leery of the relocation effort. They want to know what they will do when the rental subsidies run out in a year. Amnesty International researcher Chiara Ligouri said the group is concerned that the relocation solution "might not be durable" without additional help. Sambussy, however, noted that aid agencies must do the best they can with what they have. "At the end of the day, we have to be pragmatic because the limited funding we received can only support relocation." In recent years, both the Haitian government and humanitarian groups extensively used the one-year rental subsidies to close tent camps filled with people displaced by the 2010 earthquake. Germain said she hopes to find a way to support her family in their new life in Haiti, where steady jobs are few. Her voice still shakes with indignation when she describes being told in the Dominican Republic that had to leave the country because she didn't have residency papers. She was detained by police as she sought medical care for her feverish youngsters. "I told the Dominican police I had lived here since I was six but they didn't listen," she said. Authorities dropped Germain and her sick kids off at the Anse-a-Pitres border crossing. Her husband and eldest daughter later joined them at the dismal camp. "We've been set back but we are trying to get back on our feet," Germain said, standing by a pile of her family's only possessions: plastic buckets, tin cups and pots. ___ David McFadden on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dmcfadd In this March 21, 2015 photo, makeshift tents of flattened cardboard boxes, bedsheets and sticks stand at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were forcibly removed from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 21, 2015 photo, two boys stand outside of a thatched hut at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were deported from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 21, 2015 photo, 15-year-old Guerline Augustin carries river water on her head, back to a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were deported from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 21, 2015 photo, 15-year-old Guerline Augustin washes her 8-month-old daughter at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were deported from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 21, 2015 photo, a teenage girl is cooks the family's evening meal inside a makeshift tent of flattened cardboard boxes and cloth at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were deported from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 21, 2015 photo, a makeshift tent of flattened cardboard boxes, thatch and discarded clothes is shown at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were deported from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 22, 2015 photo, a boy plays with a discarded tire at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were deported from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 22, 2015 photo, 21-year-old Itania Auguste gets her hair done at an encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were deported from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 22, 2015 photo, a group of children pose outside makeshift tents at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) In this March 22, 2015 photo, a group of men pass the time playing dominoes in the shade of a makeshift tent at a borderland encampment outside the southeast Haitian town of Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti. The encampment is filled with people who either fled or were deported from the neighboring Dominican Republic amid an immigration crackdown. Within a month, authorities hope to move nearly 2,400 people in a half-dozen encampments by providing enough money for them to rent homes for a year in nearby towns. (AP Photo/David McFadden) Security agents didn't flinch at reporter Trump calls threat WASHINGTON (AP) Donald Trump said he was worried that a reporter walking with him through a ballroom and asking questions earlier this month may have been armed with a bomb or a knife, disguised as a pen. And that, he said, justified his campaign manager grabbing her by the arm and yanking her away. But the ring of Secret Service agents escorting Trump didn't appear to even flinch and walked calmly around the candidate. And security officials didn't escort the reporter, Michelle Fields, out of the ballroom, nor did they arrest her, as they say they would have if a person was considered to be getting too close for comfort. In this photo taken Aug. 25, 2015, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski watches as Trump speaks in Dubuque, Iowa. Florida police have charged Lewandowski with simple battery in connection with an incident earlier in the month involving a reporter. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Lewandowski was charged Tuesday with simple battery and police in Jupiter, Florida, released surveillance video that shows Lewandowski pulling Fields, who worked for Breitbart News at the time, as she walked alongside Trump. Still, Trump and his campaign say Fields was a threat and had to be removed from her spot next to the candidate. The Secret Service declined to comment Tuesday and isn't involved in the criminal case. "Our concern is overt acts of threats to our protected" officials, Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy told a congressional panel earlier this month. But if someone is deemed a threat, or makes a verbal threat, agents jump into action. That happened earlier this month when an Ohio man ran toward a stage where Trump was speaking in Dayton, Ohio. The man was quickly taken into custody as Secret Service agents closely surrounded Trump. Trump's most recent defense of Lewandowski suggests he thought there may have been a security gap that could have allowed a reporter to bring a weapon into the ballroom where he was speaking and allowed the same reporter to get too close to him. A former Secret Service agent who worked on multiple protective details told The Associated Press Wednesday that if someone breaches a so-called "zone of protection" established by agents, agents can and often do tell people to get back. If needed, agents will use their arms to move someone away or clear a path in a crowd, said the former agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for the agency. While there is no audio on the video released Tuesday, it does not show agents moving Fields out of the way. Anyone allowed into a secured venue is subjected to a security screening. That includes reporters, who routinely have their bags examined and pass through metal detectors. In the immediate aftermath of the incident in Florida, Trump, Lewandowski and a campaign spokeswoman denied any such confrontation happened. They collectively changed their statements after Lewandowski was charged Tuesday and pointed to Fields as the guilty party. "It is clear that she made unwanted contact with Mr. Trump on two separate occasions," campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an email response to a request for comment Wednesday. But Hicks declined to say if the campaign has complained about the incident to the Secret Service or address why the campaign denied the existence of a confrontation earlier this month. ___ Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap North Carolina bathroom law could be decided in Virginia RICHMOND, Va. (AP) The fate of North Carolina's new law aimed at restricting restroom use by transgender people could be determined in Virginia, where a school board has ordered a teenager to stay out of the boys' room. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond could rule any day now in the case of Gavin Grimm, who was born female but identifies as male. Grimm says he has to take a "walk of shame" to use a restroom at Gloucester High School. Whatever the judges decide, the impact will be far more sweeping than what Grimm envisioned when he challenged the policy last year. FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2015, file photo, Gavin Grimm poses on his front porch during an interview at his home in Gloucester, Va. The fate of North Carolina's new bathroom law could be determined by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, which is expected to rule soon on Grimm's challenge. The high school student was born female but identifies as male, and says it's discriminatory to make him use the girls room or a single-stall unisex restroom. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) "I did not set out to make waves I set out to use the bathroom," Grimm says. North Carolina's bathroom bill was unveiled, debated and signed into law in a single day last week, two months after the appeals court in Richmond heard arguments in Grimm's case. But two workers and a transgender student at the University of North Carolina are making similar arguments as they seek a federal injunction preventing enforcement of the new law. Among other things, the law directs public schools, public universities and government agencies to designate bathrooms and locker rooms for use only by people based on their biological sex, and says transgender people can only use bathrooms matching their gender identity if they've had their birth certificates changed, which in North Carolina usually requires sexual reassignment surgery. The law has prompted a national backlash. Businesses and politicians have announced boycotts of North Carolina, and legal challenges ensure that the wedge issue will dominate the Republican governor's re-election campaign against his Democratic challenger. Advocates on all sides will closely read the ruling, since U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, an appointee of President George W. Bush, will have to adhere to any precedents set by the appellate court, said Joshua Block, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing Grimm. "One way or another, what happens in Gavin's case is likely going to set the rules of the road for how the North Carolina case proceeds," Block said. Grimm alleges that school board policy requiring him to use girls' restrooms or a single-occupancy unisex bathroom available to all students violates Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in public schools. He also says the policy denies him equal protection rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The North Carolina suit raises similar claims, alleging that transgender people who haven't received a sex-change operation and changed their birth certificate can't access their preferred restrooms, and are therefore treated unequally from non-transgender people. Since Grimm's trial judge has yet to decide constitutional issues, the appellate ruling will focus on the Title IX question and "won't provide guidance about the constitutionality of the North Carolina law," said Kevin Walsh, a University of Richmond expert in constitutional law. The U.S. Justice Department filed a "statement of interest" in Grimm's case in July declaring that failure to allow transgender students to use restrooms that correspond with their gender identities amounts to sex discrimination under Title IX. In North Carolina, gay rights advocates warned that the new law puts billions of dollars in federal educational funding at risk. North Carolina's law also bars local governments from making their own restroom ordinances, providing other protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, or requiring businesses to pay higher wages or paid sick leave, raising authority questions that aren't at issue in the Virginia case. Block sees a possible road map in the 4th Circuit's ruling striking down Virginia's same-sex marriage ban. A federal judge later told North Carolina lawmakers that the appellate court made such laws unconstitutional throughout the five-state circuit, which also includes South Carolina, Maryland and West Virginia. The U.S. Supreme Court later legalized gay marriage nationwide. The use of public facilities by transgender people has emerged as the next most important legal issue for LBGT advocates, and North Carolina is the first state to require public school and university students to use only bathrooms that match their birth certificates, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. "I think there is no question that this could wind up at the Supreme Court," said University of North Carolina law professor Maxine Eichner. Grimm, 16, said he started refusing to wear girls' clothes by age 6 and told his parents he was transgender in April 2014 a year before Olympian athlete and reality TV star Bruce Jenner changed into Caitlin. Grimm's parents helped him legally change his given name, and a psychologist diagnosed him with gender dysphoria, characterized by stress stemming from conflict between one's gender identity and assigned sex at birth. Grimm began hormone treatment to deepen his voice and give him a more masculine appearance, and was allowed to use the boys' rooms for the first few weeks of his sophomore year. Then some parents complained, and the board voted 6-1 to restrict students with "transgender issues" to single-stall unisex facilities or restrooms corresponding to their biological sex. Grimm calls that stigmatizing. School officials say it protects the privacy of all students. --- Photographer Spencer Tunick urges people of Hull to strip in the name of art People in Hull are being asked to take part in a mass naked art event as the city continues to prepare to be the UK City of Culture. The city is to be the latest to host a one-off installation by the American photographer Spencer Tunick, who is known for his images of masses of naked people taken at locations all over the world. The installation will be made on Saturday July 9, when the weather will, hopefully, be a little warmer and drier than the the current conditions on the east coast of England. Hull is the 2017 UK City of Culture And it will be unveiled in 2017 when Hull is the UK City of Culture. Organisers say Sea Of Hull will give hundreds of people the opportunity to become part of the art work. Participants covered in specially formulated cosmetic body make-up will position themselves in front of Tunick's camera in multiple colours of the sea to create abstract shapes separating the body from the pavement in dramatic ways, they said. New York based Tunick has created more 90 installations at landmarks and cities including the Sydney Opera House, Place des Arts in Montreal, Mexico City, Ernest Happel Stadium in Vienna and Munich in Germany. He said: " I'm very interested in the history of the city and its place as a seafaring centre and its relationship to a rich maritime past. "It intrigues me that in some places where there are major streets or parks today, previously there was water. To reflect this I'll be using body paint so that the massed people create the idea of a sea of humanity flooding the urban landscape." He said: " This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in art who wants to pose nude but is modest. The body paint will help many participants to overcome their inhibitions - after all, they will still be covered in a way." Kirsten Simister, curator at Hull's Ferens Art Gallery, said: "This is more than a commission. It's an opportunity to involve people directly in an amazing live, performance that will temporarily transform the city." She said: " His new body of work will form part of an exhibition in 2017 and will also be purchased for the permanent collection. With hundreds upon hundreds of people coming together to be photographed, Sea Of Hull anticipates the exciting things to come at the Ferens next year." The artist will create a second installation on Sunday July 10, inviting a select group of participants from the installation on the Saturday to take-part in another event in North Lincolnshire. Anyone over 18 can take part. All participants will receive a limited edition photograph in exchange for getting involved ::To register and for more information visit www.hull2017.co.uk/seaofhull. The registration deadline in May 15. Michael Sheen: Government must 'do all they can' to support steelworkers Welsh actor Michael Sheen has called on the Government to "do all they can" to support steelworkers in light of the news that thousands of jobs could be at risk. Growing up in the Port Talbot area, the theatre and film producer has often been vocal about the threats facing the steel industry. On Wednesday he reacted to the news that Tata Steel plans to sell its UK assets, potentially putting thousands of British jobs at risk. Actor Michael Sheen described the workforce in Port Talbot as "absolutely world class" Sheen said on Twitter: "Welsh and UK government must do all they can now to show support for steelworkers in Port Talbot and across the UK. "Steel industry hit hard by '08 bank crisis. Hope as much support for steel industry and workers now they face their time of greatest need. "Steel industry at foundation of our national identity for generations. Given so much to our country, now time to honour that contribution." Writing in the Guardian, Sheen said that places like his home town depend on the steel industry, "which has helped build the foundations of Britain's national identity for generations". He added: "The workforce in Port Talbot is absolutely world class and they, their families and the community as a whole are having to live with huge insecurity. "The Port Talbot community, like so many others in Wales and all over the UK, is having to cope with so much already, and with further government 'austerity' cuts in the pipeline, the future of the steelworks hangs over it heavy and threatening indeed." Family of attacked shopkeeper Asad Shah hail 'brilliant man' The family of a shopkeeper who died after he was attacked outside his store say they have been left devastated by the loss of a "brilliant man". Asad Shah, 40, was found injured outside his convenience store in the Shawlands area of Glasgow on Thursday. A man from Bradford has been charged with his murder. Tributes left to Asad Shah outside his shop in Shawlands, Glasgow Following the attack police described the incident as ''religiously prejudiced'' and confirmed both men were Muslims. A family statement released by police said: " On Thursday evening a beloved husband, son, brother and everyone's friend, Asad Shah, was taken away from us by an incomprehensible act. We are devastated by this loss. "A person's religion, ethnicity, race, gender or socioeconomic background never mattered to Asad. "He met everyone with the utmost kindness and respect because those are just some of the many common threads that exist across every faith in our world. "He was a brilliant man, recognising that the differences between people are vastly outweighed by our similarities. And he didn't just talk about this, he lived it each and every day, in his beloved community of Shawlands and his country of Scotland." Tanveer Ahmed, 32, appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Tuesday charged with murdering Mr Shah. He made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody pending a further court appearance. The shopkeeper's death shocked members of the Shawlands community, who came together in their hundreds for a silent vigil on Friday. An online fundraising campaign set up to support his family, who moved to Scotland from Pakistan in the 1990s, has raised more than 100,000. The family said: " If there was to be any consolation from this needless tragedy, it came in the form of the spontaneous and deeply moving response by the good people of Shawlands, Glasgow and beyond. "As a family, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all who have organised and participated in the street vigils, online petitions and messages. "You have moved us beyond words and helped us start healing sooner than we thought possible. You were Asad's family as much as we are and we will always remain with you. "One of our brightest lights has been extinguished but our love for all mankind and hope for a better world in which we can all live in peace and harmony, as so emphatically embodied by Asad, will endure and prevail. 'Face melter' acid attack was revenge for drug deal that went wrong, court told A mother of six was blinded in one eye after having a "face melter" acid thrown at her out of revenge for a drug deal that went wrong, a court has heard. Carla Whitlock, 37, was attacked with a drain cleaner containing highly concentrated sulphuric acid which scarred her face and burnt her eyelids as she was walking in Southampton city centre with her partner Matthew Wedgner on September 18 last year. Billy Midmore, 22, is on trial at Southampton Crown Court accused of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, which he denies. His brother Geoffrey Midmore, 26, has previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. Carla Whitlock was the victim of an acid attack (Hampshire Police/PA) Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, told the court that the brothers had together purchased the high-strength drain cleaner for the attack on Miss Whitlock outside the Turtle Bay restaurant. She said: "Carla Whitlock was assaulted by having a liquid thrown in her face, that liquid caused serious injuries. "She is scarred, her eyelids were burnt, as were her face and other parts of her body." She added: "It landed on her face and shoulders, she got some on her hands because her immediate reaction when her face was burning was to put her hands up. "Her initial thought before all the burning was that it was just a drink but it wasn't, it was sulphuric acid. "They ran off, Geoffrey Midmore and Billy Midmore, they leave Carla Whitlock screaming in pain." Miss Maylin said that her injuries would have been worse if a doctor had not been passing by and had known to put water on the acid to lessen the impact. Miss Maylin said that the One Shot drain cleaner used had the highest concentration of sulphuric acid - 89% to 93% - which can be sold to the public and was a product recommended by plumbers. She said that Geoffrey Midmore had sent a photograph of the bottle on WhatsApp to an acquaintance with the words: "This is one face melter." Miss Maylin said: "One Shot is all it takes to clear your drain and One Shot is all it takes to cause a serious injury to Carla Whitlock." Miss Maylin said that the defendant might not have thrown the acid, which was sprayed from a bottle of Magnum tonic wine, but had helped plan the attack with his brother. She said: "They were brothers in name and they were brothers in actions as well in the days before and the days after." Miss Maylin said the attack had been out of revenge after Miss Whitlock had introduced a man called Levi to the Midmore brothers and a deal with him worth 2,000 had gone wrong. She explained that Miss Whitlock and her partner were drug users and had recently purchased drugs from the Midmore brothers, who are of no fixed address but originally from London. Miss Maylin said: "Whatever happened after that introduction perhaps we will never know but that person introduced by Carla Whitlock to the Midmores did not go smoothly, something went wrong, maybe the new customer did not pay, perhaps he took the drugs, but did that act really require two days later the two Midmore brothers to act in concert by throwing acid over Carla Whitlock's face. "Because that drug deal went wrong, these two brothers decided to enact their revenge by permanently scarring Miss Whitlock." Miss Maylin said that prior to the attack, the defendant had sent a text message to Miss Whitlock saying "B**** you dead over chump change", which she said was a threat over the stolen money. She said a second message was sent by Midmore offering drugs as a reward for helping them find the man called Levi. Miss Maylin said that the brothers were seen on CCTV later that evening as they took a train to stay at a friend's house in Basingstoke. She said: "They weren't sorry, they were jubilant, they were high five-ing, they were fist-bumping, they were laughing." Giving evidence from the witness box, Miss Whitlock said the acid made her face feel like it was "on fire". Describing the acid being thrown at her, which the prosecution say was carried out by Geoffrey Midmore, she said: "He just kind of smiled at me, pulled a bottle out, I thought he was going to throw a drink at me but it wasn't a joke. "I felt my face was on fire. I tried to get help from two ladies, I couldn't see, I reached my way to the bouncer and said 'Help me' and he realised something was wrong." She added: "They were pouring lots of water on me and they called the police and the paramedics." Describing the extent of her injuries, Miss Whitlock said: "I have no sight in my right eye still. I have to have another operation on my eye and skin-grafting." Miss Whitlock told the court that she and her partner had been frightened to return to their home that evening following the threats she had received from the Midmore brothers over the drug deal. She said they had eaten at a church-sponsored cafe and were walking to a friend's house when the attack happened. She said: "Matt wanted to walk through the park but I said 'Let's walk along the high street' because I felt safer with people around." Miss Whitlock said she had arranged for two acquaintances to meet the Midmore brothers but she had received angry calls and messages from the brothers who said they had failed to turn up. The brothers also told her that one of them had been robbed on the way to the meeting, she said. She added: "I had no involvement in what had happened." Police officer in court charged with raping 17-year-old girl A police officer charged with raping a 17-year-old girl and two further counts of sexual assault has appeared in court. Pc Declan Gabriel, who is a local response officer with Northamptonshire Police, allegedly carried out a sex attack on the teenager on September 21 2015. The 27-year-old has also been charged with misconduct in a public office, with all four allegations said to have happened on the same date. Northamptonshire Police officer Pc Declan Gabriel leaves Kettering Magistrates court Gabriel was suspended from duty following the allegations and the Independent Police Complaints Commission has also been informed. Appearing at Kettering Magistrates' Court, Gabriel spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth before he was conditionally bailed to appear at the Crown Court in just over a month's time. Addressing Gabriel, chairman of the bench Mrs H Winfield told him: "Your case is now being sent to the Crown Court in Northampton on May 4. "Between then and now you'll remain on conditional bail." Magistrates ordered that the publication of Gabriel's address be banned after an application by his defence solicitor. Jason Roy's heroics help England reach World Twenty20 final England are on their way to the World Twenty20 final after Jason Roy's career-best knock and more brilliant death bowling overwhelmed New Zealand. The Black Caps came into the semi-final with a 100 per cent record but were blown away by seven wickets with 17 balls remaining in Delhi. They had been kept to a below-par 153 for seven by the constricting efforts of Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes and then looked on as Roy crashed 78 from 44 deliveries. Jason Roy's superb knock set up victory for England Roy hit 11 fours and two sixes, scoring more than half of the target on his own, before Joe Root (27no) and Jos Buttler (32no) finished off in a blaze of three maximums in four deliveries. As punishing as England's batting efforts were, New Zealand will know they lost this game in the second half of their innings. Having raced along to 89 for one in 10 overs, they made 64 for seven in the next 10 as England exerted a vice-like grip in the field. Roy put England ahead of the game from the off, mixing two neat strokes with two big edges to take 16 off Corey Anderson's opening over. Buoyed by that start he cut Adam Milne away for four more and powered Mitch McClenaghan down the ground with a punishing straight drive. Alex Hales had to heave a sweet six over long-on just to grab a share of the attention, but Roy quickly grabbed it back with a dismissive swat off Milne that soared high and handsome over the ropes. New Zealand sought safety in spin, and leading wicket-taker Mitchell Santner, but he shipped 11 in the fifth over as Roy collected his seventh and eight boundaries. Roy's 50, his first in T20 internationals, came in just 26 balls and he was soon reverse-sweeping Ish Sodhi brilliantly between two fielders. Santner belatedly landed a punch when Hales holed out for 20 in the ninth over and Roy's entertainment finally ended when Sodhi got one to keep low, bowling him on the charge. It still seemed too late for a comeback, but Sodhi made it two in two when he had captain Eoin Morgan lbw for a golden duck. Root and Buttler could have tip-toed home but hit a series of thrilling shots to score 49 at better than 10-an-over. Buttler brought the finish line into view with two driven sixes off Sodhi and Root crossed it with one his own, pulled beyond mid-wicket off Santner. New Zealand's innings got off the usual flier courtesy of, Martin Guptill who cuffed the first ball of the match for four. David Willey exacted revenge at the start of his second over, slanting one across Guptill, who played for swing and edged behind. That brought together Kane Williamson and Colin Munro, who went on to share a 74-run stand. Munro's second ball went for four, as did three in a row from Liam Plunkett in the sixth. At the other end Williamson, who offered a fractional chance on one, sprang to life by planting Stokes high over long-off. The rate continued to rise: 11 off the that over, 12 off the next as Munro reversed his stance and pinged Adil Rashid for six, 11 more as Munro twice edged the ball past leg stump for four. Then Moeen Ali took out Williamson for 32, showing great composure to gather a skier of a caught and bowled over his shoulder. At that stage New Zealand were still eyeing 190. But Moeen's two overs applied the brakes, conceding just 10 runs, and he was also there to cling on at third man when Plunkett drew a thick slice from Munro (46). Anderson reeled off a couple of big blows to take his side to 133 after 16 overs, but Jordan and Stokes were brilliant as the closers. The pair, who also shut out Sri Lanka in the group stage, conceded just 20 runs and one boundary in the final four, during which five wickets fell. Jordan hit his yorker early and had Ross Taylor caught by a leaping Morgan, finishing with figures of one for 24. Twice in as many balls Stokes over-pitched but Luke Ronchi and Anderson could only punch the quick, low full-tosses down the throat of long-off. 83% of scientists polled back staying in EU, says research journal Nature A vast majority of British scientists want to remain in the European Union, with only 12% backing Brexit, according to a poll conducted by the UK's leading research journal. Of the 907 active UK scientists contacted by Nature, 83% backed staying in the EU, 12% wanted to leave, and 5% were "unsure". When the poll only included the 666 researchers who said they definitely planned to take part in the June 23 referendum, 80% vowed to vote "in" and 14% "out". Only 12% of scientists polled by the journal Nature back Brexit British scientists were more in favour of the UK being part of the EU than their continental colleagues. The journal also surveyed 954 European scientists outside the UK, of whom 77% said the UK should remain part of the Union while 14% supported separation. Most British researchers (78%) who knew how they would vote thought UK science would be harmed by Brexit and 9% believed it would benefit. Nature solicited the responses via e-mail, social media, and a pop-up on its website. Pro-European scientists point out that UK universities receive around 16% of their total research funding directly from the EU. Membership also allows scientists to move freely between member states and work with no restrictions, they claim. Those in the Brexit camp, such as cancer scientist and 2015 general election Ukip candidate Professor Angus Dalgleish, are unhappy about EU regulation of science. Mike Galsworthy, co-founder of the advocacy group Scientists For EU, says science is becoming an increasingly more important referendum talking point. He told Nature: "Research and innovation are actually coming more into the debate. "It's going to get more heated around that issue." Honduras arrests suspect in murder of environmental activist TEGUCIGALPA, March 27 (Reuters) - Honduras has arrested a suspect in the murder of an environmental rights activist and colleague of recently slain award-winning indigenous leader Berta Caceres, officials said on Sunday. Didier Enrique "Electric" Ramirez was apprehended for his alleged role in the killing of Nelson Garcia, 39, who was shot dead earlier this month by at least two assailants following a dispute with local landowners, authorities said in a statement. Garcia was killed near his house in the San Francisco de Yoyoa region, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of the capital Tegucigalpa. Caceres, a 43-year-old teacher, was shot and killed earlier this month by two men at her home in La Esperanza, Honduras, 112 miles (180 kilometers) west of Tegucigalpa. Garcia was a member of the Consejo de Organizaciones Populares e Indigenas de Honduras (COPINH), the same organization that Caceres led until her death. Caceres, who had received death threats, won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015 for her efforts to prevent the construction of a $50 million dam that threatened to displace hundreds of indigenous people. Pakistani property tycoon eyes media move to protect his name By Mehreen Zahra-Malik ISLAMABAD, March 29 (Reuters) - Pakistani property developer Malik Riaz Hussain, a flamboyant tycoon who boasts of connections with top military brass and senior politicians, plans to move into media to protect himself from those who accuse him of wrongdoing. Hussain is one of the country's richest and most powerful businessmen, a billionaire who has been caught up in corruption investigations and who is also well known for upmarket gated housing communities and charitable activities. Now the 66-year-old wants to build a media empire, which he hopes he can use to promote his own commercial interests and fend off those trying to tarnish his name. "I will go into media very soon. I will launch many TV channels, not one," Hussain told Reuters in a rare interview earlier this month at his Bahria Town housing development, just outside the capital Islamabad. "To stop blackmailers, I have decided that there is no way but to go into media." A world away from the chaotic, dirty streets of most Pakistani towns and cities, Bahria Town features giant replicas of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. The roads are clean and smooth, grass is imported from Thailand and private guards provide round-the-clock security. Bahria Town is larger than the capital itself, and is part of a property portfolio that includes more than 40,000 acres of developments across the country and pays salaries to 60,000 employees. FRANK ADMISSIONS Corruption is seen as a major problem in Pakistan, ranked 117th out of 168 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. The real estate business is seen as a major part of the problem, with land grabs by the government, military and businesses seen as rife. Hussain says he is Pakistan's sixth largest tax payer. He also publicly states that he has paid bribes to top politicians, judges and even members of the feared ISI intelligence agency. The publicity wing of the military, which answers for the ISI, declined to comment on Hussain's allegations. "If I tell you the amount of the biggest bribe I have ever paid, you will have a heart attack," Hussain said. In a public deposition in 2012 that hit Pakistani headlines, he said he had bankrolled the playboy lifestyle of the son of the country's chief justice in return for favourable treatment in court cases related to his empire. The case is ongoing, though it has stalled. Hussain also currently faces several investigations by the national corruption watchdog. Among the allegations against him are illegally grabbing land and using favour with politicians to have state-owned property allotted to him at throwaway prices. When asked about Hussain, the National Accountability Bureau said it did not comment on individual cases. Hussain denies wrongdoing, and says he needs the platform of television news channels to help defend his reputation. "I don't want to go into media, but there is no other way to handle this." He hopes a presence in Pakistan's young and boisterous news sector could also highlight his charitable contributions. Hussain previously held the license to Bol TV, a fledgling news channel, before he transferred it to software company Axact in 2013, documents from the national media regulatory body show. Hussain denies ever being involved in Bol. The channel was closed last year after the government launched an inquiry into Axact's business practices. Spurred by new technology and largely untouched by censors, Pakistan's broadcast media has flourished in recent years. Between 2002 and 2013, the state issued 89 broadcasting licenses. Television news channels are largely in Urdu, giving media groups influence over most of Pakistan's 190 million people. TIES WITH MILITARY? Hussain's accumulation of wealth is emblematic of Pakistan's nexus of money and connections. He started his career 30 years ago as a contractor who once sold his family silverware to take his infant daughter to hospital. His big break came in 1979 when he borrowed 1,500 rupees ($14.34) from a friend and applied for a contract with the military's engineering wing. That connection led to a long-standing relationship with the powerful military, Pakistan's largest landowner and contractor. Currently, he has five joint development projects with the army spread over thousands of acres. Recent chatter among Pakistan's elite suggests that Hussain may be losing his influence with the military under the country's army chief General Raheel Sharif. The military declined to comment. Hussain dismissed such rumours. "If I didn't have relations with Raheel Sharif, the joint ventures would have shut down, wouldn't they?" Hussain said. China appoints first special envoy for Syria crisis BEIJING, March 29 (Reuters) - China on Tuesday appointed its first special envoy for the Syrian crisis, a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to Iran, as it seeks a more active role in the Middle East. While relying on the region for oil supplies, China tends to leave Middle Eastern diplomacy to the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, namely the United States, Britain, France and Russia. But China has been trying to get more involved, including recently hosting both Syria's foreign minister and opposition figures, though at different times. The new special envoy for Syria is Xie Xiaoyan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing. He was most recently China's ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union. "As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China has always proactively dedicated itself to the appropriate resolution of the Syria issue," Hong said, adding that a political solution was the only way out. China supports the mediation efforts of U.N. Syria special envoy Staffan de Mistura and has provided humanitarian assistance to the region, Hong said. China's appointment of its own special envoy is to help push the peace process and "to better proactively put forward China's wisdom" and its proposals, he added. Xie, 62, is a deeply experienced diplomat very familiar with the Middle East, Hong said. "We believe he will certainly fulfil this mission well." China has appointed special envoys for crisis zones before, to mixed results. Its African envoys have been deeply involved in South Sudan, but its previous special envoys to the Middle East have had little tangible effect. There is a truce in place in Syria, accepted by President Bashar al-Assad's government and most of his foes, the first of its kind since the war began five years ago. Indonesia pushes to unshackle victims of mental illness By Johan Purnomo and Angie Teo SERANG, Indonesia, March 30 (Reuters) - Indonesian rice farmer Usman has kept his 19-year-old son chained in the family's tiny wooden hut for more than a month, reluctant to release the mentally disturbed boy for fear he might wander off and steal neighbours' livestock. The teenager is one of nearly 20,000 Indonesian victims of mental illness kept in shackles by families and government institutions, an illegal practice President Joko Widodo's administration aims to stamp out by the end of 2017. "He stole buffaloes and clothes," Usman told Reuters as he sat beside his son Deden, in the hut in the district of Serang, on Indonesia's island of Java. "We are the ones who are embarrassed, so I chained him up in case he disturbs the neighbours." Usman lets a doctor give his son a medical check-up every two weeks, but says he will not free the boy until he is "more stable". In a programme launched this year, Indonesia sends teams of workers into often-remote hamlets to help free patients kept in chains and ensure they get the medical treatment they need. "The social ministry and agencies across Indonesia recognise that there are still a lot of such cases, so we are determined to end the shackling practice by December 2017," said Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa. The world's fourth most populous nation has outlawed such shackling for decades but the practice continues, particularly in poor areas. In the village of Jambu, 80 km (50 miles) from the capital, Jakarta, 28-year-old Jumiya has spent more than four years locked in a dark wooden shed after showing signs of a mental disorder following her return from a job in Syria, her family said. "People spend years locked up in chains, wooden stocks, or goat sheds because families don't know what else to do, and the government doesn't do a good job of offering humane alternatives," said Kriti Sharma, the author of a report on the issue published this month by Human Rights Watch. The group said shackling was sometimes linked to superstitious beliefs, with families attributing medical disorders such as schizophrenia or depression to the action of curses, black magic and evil spirits. Human Rights Watch urged the government to develop more educational programmes on the treatment of mental illness, boost training for health care professionals and widen protections for disabled Indonesians. In Serang, the teenaged Deden said he was not sure why his father had chained him up in the first place. Japan's PM Abe aims to double tourist visits by 2020 to boost economy By Stanley White TOKYO, March 30 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set on Wednesday an ambitious target to double the number of foreign visitors and the amount of money they spend in the country by 2020 to breathe life into a flagging economy. Since taking office in late 2012, Abe's administration has relaxed visa requirements for several Asian countries, which has notably led to an influx of Chinese visitors. An ensuing boom in tourism has been one of the few bright spots of his structural reform agenda. Abe is looking to reap further benefits from inbound tourism as Tokyo prepares to host the Olympics in 2020. Luring more tourists could also help ease concerns about consistently weak domestic consumption and Japan's declining population. "Today we have decided a new vision for tourism," Abe said after a meeting with government ministers. "Tourism is an important part of our economic growth strategy, of revitalising local economies and of our goal to raise gross domestic product to 600 trillion yen." Abe aims to attract 40 million visitors to Japan, which would be about twice as much as the number of tourists who entered Japan last year, a statement showed. In 2015, tourists spent 3.5 trillion yen ($31.2 billion) in Japan, and Abe wants to more than double that amount to 8 trillion yen by 2020 by relaxing visa requirements further and improving flight access, the statement showed. Abe will also try to promote more of the country's national treasures and public parks to guests from overseas. The government is also targeting 60 million visitors and 15 trillion yen in tourist spending by 2030, the statement showed. The number of inbound tourists has been hitting record levels since the government began relaxing visa requirements. The benefit was initially seen at department stores in Tokyo, where Chinese tourists bought electronics and clothes in bulk to re-sell in their home country. The boost to retail sales is now starting to spread to regional economies as more tourists visit temples and shrines in rural areas. From Senegal to Libya: an African student joins Islamic State By Emma Farge ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal, March 30 (Reuters) - When Sadio Gassama decided to go into medicine, he started by giving free check-ups at his mosque in Senegal's poor southern region of Casamance. Now, the 25-year-old medical student says he is treating Islamic State fighters in Libya. Until recently, many thought the peaceful, tolerant Sufi brotherhoods in countries such as Senegal could prevent more conservative and radical versions of Islam from taking hold in poorer parts of West Africa, like Mali and Niger. But security experts say Gassama's story shows how the penetration of hardline Islamic Salafism, coupled with Gulf money and militant propaganda, is aiding recruitment, even from stable and democratic Senegal. In particular, in their appeals to Africans, Islamic State propagandists are calling on doctors to make "hijrah", or pilgrimage, to their African stronghold of Sirte in Libya. Pictures posted on Gassama's Facebook page before he joined Islamic State show him hugging his young niece. Now, he is brandishing a machine gun, his name stitched on to his military uniform. Friends and family say Gassama's decision to join thousands of militants in Libya in December during the fifth year of his medical studies was sudden and unexpected. His shocked father described him as a 'humanist' motivated by a desire to help others. A former professor called him a "brilliant student, incapable of hurting anyone". But an interview with Gassama showed a darker side. Speaking from Sirte, he said he had been planning an attack in Dakar. "Senegal is lucky. I was planning to commit an attack there in the name of the Islamic State before one of their contacts helped me go to Libya," he told Reuters last month via the internet. He could not be reached subsequently. Friends said he took trucks to Libya via Mali and Niger, accompanied by another Senegalese man and paying his way with his student grant. "I left Senegal a year after embracing the ideology of the Islamic State," Gassama said. "Joining ISIS in Libya was relatively easy and accessible. I wanted to contribute to the establishment of a caliphate in Libya." Asked what he was doing there, he replied: "I am a jihadist doctor." Islamic State propaganda and security sources confirm fighters from countries including Chad, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria are already in Libya, where the group is consolidating its presence. The number of sub-Saharan Africans is not known but they are thought to represent a minority of the 3,000-6,000 Islamic State fighters there, with most from North Africa and the Middle East. However, there are concerns more will travel there along the same desert routes migrants use to reach Europe, as Gassama did. "Libya is closer and easier to reach for some African fighters than Syria, and the political disarray there opens space for fighters to enter and operate," said Andrew Lebovich, a visiting fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations who focuses on North Africa and the Sahel. GULF DONATIONS Across Africa's arid Sahel region, Western diplomats note an increase in conservatism, alongside tens of millions of dollars a year in charity donations from Gulf states. In Niger, some religious leaders are calling for a "re-Islamisation" against the secularism imposed by former colonial power France. This is already underway in the capital, Niamey, where some women wear the full veil and pay higher fares to avoid sharing taxis with men. Gulf-financed bodies deny links to radical groups and say their money is for charity, but local sources say it can go astray. "Contributions are intended for the poor and to build mosques but are often diverted in the wrong direction," said Bakary Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute and a coordinator for the Observatory on Religious Radicalism and Conflicts in Africa. This foreign money and the migration of Senegal's youth to the cities has undermined the country's Mouride brotherhood, an old-established Islamic Sufi order which preaches tolerance. In Gassama's home town of Ziguinchor, the mosque he attended in the HLM neighbourhood is funded by a Kuwaiti NGO called Africa Muslims Agency. AMA director Almany Badji said it was one of more than 100 mosques it has financed in Casamance. The mosque Gassama attended at Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University also has Salafist leanings, Sambe said. Gassama did not say who helped him join Islamic State more than a year ago, referring only to 'guidance' in Senegal. "Through meetings with local scholars it became clear that jihad was my Muslim duty," he told Reuters. His friends and family said the only change they noticed before he left was to a more Salafist dress code. "His pants were shorter and did not reach all the way to the floor," said his father, Boucar Gassama, a retired civil servant, surrounded by Gassama's siblings in the shady courtyard of his house. "But I could not know he had been radicalised." CALLS FOR REFORM There is growing concern in West Africa about recruitment into Islamic State and other militant groups after attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Modou Faye, Gassama's professor, says students need more guidance in reading the Koran, which is often rote-learnt at religious schools similar to one Gassama attended. Mauritania has closed several Koranic schools for security reasons, officials said. In Mali, where an Islamist insurgency is intensifying, some are calling for checks on mosques and NGOs. "We must take stock of the potential risks of collusion between civil society and terrorists, better monitor places where radicalisation occurs, keep tabs on all suspect individuals like radical preachers and trace their funds," former Prime Minister Moussa Mara said. But others say labelling peaceful Islamic groups as jihadists is risky. Depriving poor communities of services such as orphanages and free study trips to Saudi Arabia could provoke a backlash. Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on March 30 PRAGUE, March 30 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) ===========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases................... Previous stories on Czech data............ Overview of economic data and forecasts......... Updates on CEE currencies........................... ] ==========================EVENTS================================ PRAGUE - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Czech President Milos Zeman to meet with Chinese and Czech investors (0830 GMT). Related news PRAGUE - The Czech cabinet to hold a session (www.vlada.cz/en/default.htm). News conference to follow. Related news ===========================NEWS================================= CHINA: Chinese President Xi Jin ping and Czech counterpart Milos Zeman signed an agreement on a strategic partnership on Tuesday aimed at stepping up business ties and investments. Story: Related news: CEE MARKETS: Central European assets were mostly steady or firmer on Tuesday after sluggish U.S. consumer spending data on Monday curbed expectations for further monetary tightening there. Story: Related news: CEE POWER: Central and southeastern day-ahead power prices climbed higher on Tuesday due to forecasts for a sharp decline in wind supply across the region and rising consumption, traders said. Story: Related news: =======================PRESS DIGEST============================= HOME CREDIT: Lender Home Credit reported an 80 percent rise in lending in China last year, to around 70 billion crowns, and hopes to double that this year. Hospodarske Noviny, page 12 JOBS: Amazon will take on hundreds of employees this year at its distribution center, which opened last year. Hospodarske Noviny, page 13 Reuters did not verify the stories nor does it vouch for their accuracy For Instant Views of key economic data click on For summary of economic data and forecasts For diary of forthcoming Czech events For calendar of east European economic indicators TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch For an economic indicator diary for the euro zone, the United States and other Group of Seven countries see For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com ($1 = 24.0370 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Prague Newsroom) PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - March 30 SOFIA, March 30 (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 is expecting a 10 percent growth in Russian tourists at Bulgarian seaside resorts this summer, the head of the coiuntry's hotel association said. (Standart, Monitor) -- Austrian-owned flour producer Good Mills Bulgaria plans to invest some 5.5 million levs in upgrading its milling facilities in the country through 2018, the company said. (Standart, Capital Daily) Russia: Iranian missile tests do not violate U.N. resolution - Interfax MOSCOW, March 30 (Reuters) - Iran's test launches of nuclear-capable missiles did not violate a United Nations Security Council resolution, the Interfax news agency cited a Russian foreign ministry representative as saying on Wednesday. The United States and its European allies said in a joint letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday that the launches has defied the resolution that endorsed last year's historic nuclear deal. Cyprus remands suspected hijacker who wanted to see ex-wife By Yiannis Kourtoglou LARNACA, Cyprus March 30 (Reuters) - An Egyptian man accused of hijacking a passenger plane and diverting it to Cyprus has told police he acted because he wanted to see his estranged wife and children, saying "what should one do?". The suspect, whom Cypriot and Egyptian authorities have identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa, 59, surrendered on Tuesday after commandeering a domestic Alexandria-Cairo flight with 72 passengers and crew on board. A Larnaca court on Wednesday ordered him to be held in custody for eight days on suspicion of hijacking, abduction, threatening violence, terrorism-related offences and two counts related to possession of explosives. The latter counts were connected to his claim of being strapped with explosives, even though the belt he wore is believed to be fake, a police source told Reuters. As he left the court compound in a police jeep, Mustafa stuck his hand out of an open window flashing the 'v' sign for victory. Egypt's public prosecutor has asked Cypriot authorities to hand over Mustafa, Egyptian state television reported, but a Cyprus police spokesman and a government official have said that any talk of extradition right now was premature. Mustafa took charge of the early morning flight by showing what appeared to be a belt stuffed with plastic wires and a remote control, directing the flight to the holiday island where he asked for the release of female prisoners in Egypt, and to come in contact with his Cypriot ex-wife. "When someone hasn't seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children, and the Egyptian government doesn't allow it, what should one do?," he told Cypriot police in a statement. Details of his claimed predicament were not available. All hostages were released unharmed after a six-hour standoff. The suspect allegedly commandeered the aircraft 15 minutes after takeoff from Alexandria. He approached a flight attendant and showed off the belt, attached to a remote control he held in his hand, investigating officer Andreas Lambrianou told the court. "The suspect asked all passengers and crew to hand in their passports, then gave two messages to a member of the crew, asking that the pilot be informed that he was a hijacker and wanted to land at an airport in Turkey, Greece or Cyprus, but preferably Cyprus," Lambrianou said. "In a note, he stressed that if the airplane landed on Egyptian territory he would immediately blow the plane up." Dutch minister misinforms parliament again about Belgium attack intelligence By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM, March 30 (Reuters) - The Dutch security and justice minister said on Wednesday he had made another factual error in a letter informing parliament that U.S. intelligence warned the authorities about two Belgian brothers a week before the pair carried out the Brussels attacks. A series of blunders by Belgium's security and intelligence agencies have come to light since the attacks that killed 32 and wounded hundreds last week. It has also exposed weaknesses in communication between intelligence agencies across Europe. For the Dutch, it is the second mistake in as many days by Security and Justice Minister Ard van der Steur, who was forced on Tuesday to send a correction of his first letter addressed to parliament about the intelligence received on Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui. In another missive on Wednesday, van der Steur wrote that contrary to what he had said on Tuesday, it was not the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that had warned that two brothers were being sought by Belgian authorities. The information actually came from the New York Police Department's Intelligence Division and was forwarded by the Dutch embassy liaison in Washington, the minister wrote. U.S. investigators are helping their European partners unravel the network behind the attacks. But legislators are demanding to know why Dutch agencies did not act on U.S. intelligence received on March 16 that Ibrahim was sought by the Belgian authorities for "his criminal background", while Khalid was wanted for "terrorism, extremism and recruitment". Ibrahim was not on international wanted lists when he was put on a flight from Turkey to Amsterdam on July 14, 2015 and disappeared, the minister said on Tuesday. He was violating conditions of parole in Belgium and avoided potential arrest by requesting that Turkey deport him to the closest neighbouring country, the Netherlands, rather than being sent home. Khalid had been missing since October. The Brussels attacks, claimed by Islamic State, were carried out by the same network as the Paris attacks in November, in which 131 people died. Van der Steur said during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday night that the Netherlands had "done all that could have been done" with the information it received. Belgian federal police denied the minister's assertion that their Dutch counterparts had shared U.S. intelligence about the brothers at a meeting on March 17. Four men were detained in Rotterdam over the weekend. The main suspect, identified as 32-year-old Frenchman Anis B., wanted by France for allegedly helping prepare an attack that was never carried out, is resisting extradition - a legal process expected to take around three months. Drought cuts output of Zimbabwe's top export earner tobacco HARARE, March 30 (Reuters) - Production of tobacco, Zimbabwe's biggest export earner, is expected to fall 15 percent to 160 million kilogrammes this season following a drought that has left millions facing hunger, an industry survey showed on Wednesday. Zimbabwe earned $855 million from tobacco sales in 2015, nearly a third of its total exports and far outpacing receipts from platinum or gold. Farmers produced 189 million kgs of tobacco last year but an El Nino-triggered drought caused long dry spells that forced farmers to delay planting, affecting this year's output. Zimbabwe's tobacco selling season began on Wednesday. Monica Chinamasa, chairwoman of industry regulator the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, said 72,000 farmers had registered to sell their crop compared with 91,000 last year, blaming the decline on drought and a lack of financing for producers. Before 2000, when President Robert Mugabe's government started seizing land from white-owned commercial farmers for redistribution to blacks, only 4,500 farmers grew Zimbabwe's entire tobacco crop. "There is need to empower farmers to overcome the adverse effects of low and erratic rainfall, mid-season droughts and extending the growing season," Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said in speech marking the start of the 2016 selling season. Zimbabwe exports the bulk of its tobacco to China, which has become the largest investor in the Southern African country. Bangladesh issues arrest warrant for opposition leader DHAKA, March 30 (Reuters) - A Bangladesh court issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for former prime minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia over a deadly firebombing attack last year, a prosecutor said. The court also issued arrest warrants for 27 leaders and activists of Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party in connection with the petrol bomb attack on a bus during a party protest in Dhaka in January last year. "The court passed the order after accepting the charges against them," public prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar said. Early last year, at least 120 people were killed and hundreds injured in political violence, most in petrol bomb attacks on vehicles, amid transport blockades and strikes by the opposition aimed at toppling the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladeshi politics has been mired for years in rivalry between Hasina and Khaleda. Both women are related to former national leaders, and they have alternated as prime minister for most of the past two decades. Migrant arrivals to Greece rise sharply despite EU-Turkey deal By Karolina Tagaris and Lefteris Karagiannopoulos ATHENS, March 30 (Reuters) - Migrant and refugee arrivals to Greece from Turkey rose sharply on Wednesday, just over a week after the European Union and Turkey struck an agreement intended to cut off the flow and as hundreds marched through central Athens to protest that deal. The demonstrators included human rights activists, students and migrants from among the thousands stranded in Greece by recent border closures across the Balkans. Greek authorities recorded 766 new arrivals between Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning, up from 192 the previous day. Most entered the country via the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos. Italy reported an even larger jump on Tuesday, when officials there said 1,350 people - mostly from Africa - were rescued from small boats taking a longer migration route across the Mediterranean as the weather warmed up. The EU Commission said on Tuesday that flows from Turkey to Greek islands had reduced in the last week, with only 1,000 people arriving compared to an average of 2,000 a day in the last couple of months. It was not clear why numbers had dropped, but the Aegean Sea had been hit with bad weather and gale force winds, making the journey from Turkey on small rubber boats even more dangerous than usual. Under the deal in effect since March 20, migrants and refugees who arrive in Greece from Turkey will be subject to being sent back once they have been registered and their individual asylum claim processed. Returns are due to begin from April 4, and for each Syrian returned from the Greek islands to Turkey, one will be sent the other way for direct resettlement in Europe. Human rights groups and some governments have expressed concerns about the legality of the scheme. "We should be under no illusion that the EU-Turkey deal will bring an end to the refugee crisis," Jane Waterman, of aid group International Rescue Committee, said on Wednesday. Following the Balkan border closure that preceded the Turkey deal, an estimated 51,000-plus refugees and migrants, among them Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Asia, are currently stranded in Greece. "OPEN THE BORDERS!" Some were among the around 1,000 people who joined the march to parliament and the adjacent local offices of the European Commission late on Wednesday, a police official said. They pushed children along in strollers and chanted "open the borders!" Others held up banners that read: "No borders, no nations, stop deportations" and "Abolish the racist EU-Turkey agreement." "I am here to press Greece to make Macedonia open the borders," said 26-year-old Afghan Mohammad Ansari who has been in Greece for a month. "Why are we staying here? We should go." Some of the protesters had taken the train to Athens from the nearby port of Piraeus, the country's biggest, where nearly 6,000 people remain stuck after having arrived there on ferries from Greek islands close to Turkey before the deal. Scores have found shelter in passenger waiting lounges while hundreds more sleep in the open, either in flimsy tents or on blankets spread on the dock. Queues for the few portable toilets are long, and scuffles have broken out in recent weeks over mobile phone chargers and food distribution. International rights group Human Rights Watch has described conditions at the port, including basic hygiene, as "abysmal". Among those stranded in Piraeus on Wednesday was Mariam El Musa, a 37-year-old teacher from Aleppo, Syria. "The problem here is the psychology of the people," she said. Germany, EU reject Turkish protest against Erdogan satire BERLIN/BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) - Germany and the European Union rejected protests by Turkey over a satirical German television show that mocked President Tayyip Erdogan, saying press freedom was sacrosanct, just as the EU is banking on Ankara's help in solving its migrant crisis. Turkey's foreign ministry last week called in Germany's envoy to explain an NDR broadcast including a two-minute song that poked fun at Erdogan, who is known for his sensitivity to criticism. German newspapers have poured scorn on Erdogan for trying to muzzle media and some have also questioned whether Germany and the EU have gone soft on Turkish human rights because they need Ankara's co-operation to stem the influx of migrants. The incident is particularly awkward for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has led efforts to forge the migrant deal between the EU and Turkey, a candidate for EU membership. That deal is designed to stop illegal migrants entering Europe in exchange for financial and political rewards for Ankara, prompting some of Merkel's critics to warn that the EU must not lower its standards on human rights and basic freedoms. A spokeswoman for Germany's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday Berlin had made clear to Ankara that basic freedoms were "non-negotiable". "(It has been) made clear that despite all the interests Germany and Turkey share, the view on press freedom, freedom of expression is non-negotiable for us," she said, adding, however, that Turkey was an important partner. "We are cooperating with Turkey on various issues, not just the migrant issue but also on Syria," she said. "MOVING AWAY" FROM EU The EU was more forthright in its criticism, saying that summoning the German envoy did not seem to be in line with the EU's cherished freedoms of the press and of expression. "(European Commission President Jean-Claude) Juncker believes this moves Turkey further (away) from the EU rather than closer to us," said a spokeswoman, adding that the EU expected Turkey to uphold the highest standards on democracy, rule of law and freedoms. German newspapers took a tough line against Erdogan. "Dear Turkish President Erdogan ... Germany is not Turkey. In Germany you cannot muzzle the press," wrote a columnist in top-selling Bild daily. The centre-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung also warned that the EU might be becoming over-dependent on Turkey. "Many politicians in the European Union are soft on Erdogan because they need him in the migrant crisis," it wrote. France's foreign ministry said freedom of expression was a fundamental tenet of democracy and "even more so for a member of the Council of Europe and a candidate for the European Union." Erdogan, 62, has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade, first as prime minister and since 2014 as president. He remains popular at home, but his critics accuse him of becoming increasingly authoritarian and intolerant. Turkish state prosecutors have opened nearly 2,000 cases against people for insulting Erdogan since 2014, the country's justice ministry said this month. The defendants include cartoonists, academics, journalists and even schoolchildren. EU-India summit fails to defuse row over Italian marines By Thomas Escritt and Francesco Guarascio THE HAGUE/BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) - The European Union and India failed on Wednesday to defuse a long-running row over two Italian marines accused of murder and the case moved to an international tribunal after four years of diplomatic squabbles. At a joint summit in Brussels, held after delays imposed by Italy, the Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi and EU leaders maintained their positions over the case. In 2012, India arrested two Italian marines who were escorting an oil tanker on suspicion of shooting dead two fishermen they mistook for pirates. Though they were not charged, the pair were barred from leaving India. Massimiliano Latorre was allowed to return home last year for medical treatment but Salvatore Girone has been confined to New Delhi, where he lives at the Italian ambassador's residence and reports regularly to police. "The EU shares Italy's concerns to find an expeditious solution for the prolonged restriction of liberty of the two Marines," said a joint statement issued after the meeting. "India stressed the need for rendering due justice for the families of the Indian fishermen who were killed," the document added. Italy says Girone's human rights are being violated and has asked the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to order India to send him home. But India's lawyers in the Hague say the delays resulted from Italy's 2012 move to escalate the affair to international courts rather than letting Indian courts handle it. "The trial has not commenced due to an obstructive course of action by Italy," said Neeru Chadha, India's lead lawyer. "Italy is now trying to shift the blame onto India." Italy maintains both marines were immune to prosecution since they were serving on a U.N.-backed anti-piracy mission and the oil tanker they were escorting was in international waters when it fired on the fishermen. Italy has paid $190,000 in compensation to each victim's family. India hoped the Brussels summit would bring a thaw in ties with the European Union and persuade Italy to refrain from blocking India's membership in a key global group on missile technology. Rome single-handedly scuppered India's bid to join last year. At the summit, the EU and India committed to continue talks for a trade and investment deal, and shared common positions on foreign affairs and security issues. Finland considers universal basic income under social reform plans HELSINKI, March 30 (Reuters) - Finland may replace part of its social security net with a universal basic wage as it looks to rein in state spending, if a pilot project recommended by government advisors succeeds. A government-commissioned working group on Wednesday proposed a tax-free monthly wage of 550 euros for the two-year pilot, to start next year and involve up to 10,000 adults of working age. That sum, roughly equal to the unemployment and welfare assistance that covers food, personal hygiene, clothing and other daily expenses, would be supplemented, when necessary, with earnings-related benefits like housing allowance. Wage-earning participants in the project would pay the money back via increased income tax. With Finland recovering slowly from a three-year recession that ended in 2015, Prime Minister Juha Sipila's centre-right government is pushing through spending cuts of 4 billion euros ($4.53 billion) and a major labour reform pact to cut labour costs. The government will decide in May whether the universal wage scheme will be part of that process. "It would be secure income ...It would encourage people who are afraid of losing their unemployment or other benefits (though working part-time) to take short-term jobs", working group leader Professor Olli Kangas told Reuters. Switzerland will hold a referendum in June on whether to introduce basic income for all adults, and the Netherlands and France are considering similar moves. Finland's economy is still smaller than it was in 2008, having been hit by the decline of growth drivers including former mobile phone market leader Nokia and a thriving paper industry, together with falling demand from major trader partner Russia. Hanna Mantyla, Minister of Social Affairs and Health, told Reuters she is confident the wage project will start in 2017. "We need experiments like this. The Finnish social security system faces big challenges in the future, if we are not able to simplify it," Mantyla said. S.African finance minister answers police questions about tax spying unit By Mfuneko Toyana JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Reuters) - South Africa's finance minister, ending a month-long standoff, has answered police questions about a spy unit formed by its tax collection agency, the latest chapter in what is seen as a proxy war between President Jacob Zuma and his detractors. Pravin Gordhan's remarks on the spy unit, set up in 2007 when he ran the agency, was the latest chapter in a public spat between the Treasury and the police that escalated after Zuma's chaotic shuffling of finance ministers in December. Zuma sacked Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister at that time and replaced him with an unknown backbencher. That sparked a sharp sell-off of South African assets and Zuma rescinded his move three days later and installed Gordhan. Then in early March, Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas said he was offered the job of finance minister by the Gupta family, a business family with close links to Zuma, triggering an uproar that saw opposition parties engineer a no-confidence vote in parliament, which Zuma survived. The elite Hawks police unit sent Gordhan a list of 27 questions about his role in setting up the intelligence-gathering tax operation just days before he was set to deliver his budget speech on Feb. 24. At the time, Gordhan described the tone and timing of the questions as aggressive and a campaign to discredit him and the integrity of the Treasury. He subsequently ignored two deadlines set by the police unit to respond to questions. Gordhan issued a statement on Wednesday saying he had replied to the questions. "I am not obliged, under any law, to answer the questions sent to me by the Hawks, but I believe it is in the public interest that I provide them with information I have at hand," his statement said. On Thursday, South Africa's top court rules on whether Zuma must repay the state some of the $16 million spent upgrading his private home. Pressure on the scandal-plagued leader will rise if the court rules he violated his oath of office. "I don't think there is any single factor on its own that will undermine the president," said Aubrey Matshiqi, political analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies. But the barrage of scandals will test Zuma's dominant position inside the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Matshiqi added. "The approval rating of the president is probably much higher inside the ANC than it is outside it. If the approval rating of the president was low inside the party he would have to be worried," Matshiqi said. Sex trafficking 'staggering' in illegal Latin American gold mines-researchers By Anastasia Moloney BOGOTA, March 30 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The scale of sex trafficking around illegal gold mines in parts of Latin America is "staggering," and thousands of people working there are prey to labour exploitation by organised crime groups, a think-tank said on Wednesday. "When these mines are directly controlled by criminal groups, or in areas controlled by organised crime, there is an elevated risk of human trafficking," the report by the Geneva-based organisation said. "In Colombia and Peru particularly, and to a lesser extent in the other countries studied, our research uncovered numerous instances of labour trafficking and exploitation, sex trafficking and child labour." The report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime examined the links between illegal gold mining, organised crime and human trafficking in nine countries - Peru and Colombia, the region's largest producers of illegal gold, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Livia Wagner, who wrote the report, said she had seen girls as young as 12 working in the brothels and bars around illegal gold mines in Madre de Dios, a vast province in Peru's Amazon jungle. "Sexual exploitation is very much prevalent in illegal mining areas, especially in Peru and Bolivia, and my impression is that the girls are getting younger and younger. The scale is staggering," Wagner, a private sector advisor at the Global Initiative, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. High gold prices from 2000 to 2010 created a gold rush and led organised crime groups to move into the multi-billion dollar illegal mining industry, especially in Peru and Colombia, the report said. It quoted Colombian police authorities as saying record gold prices and a government crackdown on cocaine trafficking had pushed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group and criminal gangs to seek new revenue sources and expand into illegal mining in the past five years. MINING MORE PROFITABLE THAN DRUGS Profits from illegal mining are at least three times as high as those from drug trafficking, the Colombian government says. Though gold prices have fallen in recent years, organised crime groups are still driving the expansion of illegal gold mining, the report said. Global Initiative estimates up to 80 percent of the gold mined in Colombia is illegal, while government officials say about half of all mining operations in Colombia are illegal. In Peru's Madre de Dios province, in one mining area alone, known as Delta 1, around 2,000 sex workers were employed in 100 brothels, 60 percent of them children, according to 2010 estimates by Huarayo Association, a local campaign group. "Whenever there are large migrations of men to an area for employment, there is a high demand for sexual services, which often generates sex trafficking," the report said. Most women and girls come from poor backgrounds with little education and are easy prey for recruiters who offer them non-existent jobs as cooks and waitresses in mining camps. "The wives of miners ... (in Madre de Dios) are themselves the principal recruitment agents of new girls for the bars and brothels," the report said. Men, women and children are also found in forced labour, essentially slavery, in and around mines in Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua and Colombia, according to the U.S. State Department's 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report. A key reason why human trafficking flourishes in the illegal mining sector is because mines are often located in jungle areas that are hard to reach and there are few labour inspectors and police working in remote rural areas. "There's no police presence there," Wagner said. Local authorities trying to combat illegal gold mining have largely been helpless because of the power of criminal groups who corrupt officials, the report said. The governments of Peru and Colombia say clamping down on illegal mining is a top priority, and both have created special police units to tackle the problem. In the past few years, both countries have shut down thousands of mines operating without a government license and have rescued hundreds of victims of human trafficking during raids on illegal mines. U.S. transgender community fights against 'bathroom bills' By Colleen Jenkins WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., March 30 (Reuters) - After scoring wins for same-sex marriage rights and anti-discrimination protections, U.S. equality advocacy groups now find themselves in a battle over bathrooms. North Carolina last week became the first state to enact a law requiring transgender people to choose restrooms that match the gender on their birth certificate rather than the one with which they identify. At least 13 other states also have considered so-called bathroom bills targeting the transgender community this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures, which have sparked heated debate between supporters and opponents about privacy and safety expectations, have had mixed results in statehouses. "Most of these bills didn't even make it to a committee vote," said Cathryn Oakley, senior legislative counsel for the Human Rights Campaign, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization. "They're such a bad idea, they didn't actually go anywhere." In North Carolina, the key exception, Republican Governor Pat McCrory has defended his state's law. "Legislation was passed to protect men, women and children when they use a public restroom, shower or locker-room," he said in a statement on Tuesday. "That is an expectation of privacy that must be honored and respected." South Dakota's Republican governor, however, vetoed legislation earlier this month that sought to dictate what bathrooms transgender students could use in public schools. A similar bill in Tennessee appears stalled in committee, though opponents are awaiting a hearing on the matter next week. Measures also failed last year in eight states that tried to restrict access to sex-segregated facilities based on birth gender, the National Conference of State Legislatures said. This year's proposals are among the nearly 200 anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender bills civil rights organizations are tracking across the country, a record that is about twice as many as in 2015, Oakley said. BATHROOM WARS Bathroom wars have a long history in the United States. Jim Crow laws, which enforced racial segregation on state and local levels in the South, forced African Americans to use restrooms that were separate from those used by whites into the mid-1960s. The latest fight is unfolding along with legislation introduced after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year legalizing same-sex marriage. Social conservatives have pushed measures allowing people to deny services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women on the grounds of religious beliefs. Governors in Georgia and Virginia vetoed such bills this week, saying they could have allowed state-sanctioned discrimination. North Carolina's new law goes beyond what bathrooms transgender people are allowed to use. As part of the measure, lawmakers also established a statewide nondiscrimination policy that protects people on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin and biological sex but not gender identity and sexual orientation. The law effectively blocks local governments from passing their own anti-discrimination ordinances that include those broader protections. That leaves the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community vulnerable to discrimination at work and public places such as hotels and restaurants, said Wake Forest University law professor Shannon Gilreath. He called the measure the most anti-gay legislation in the United States. "Bathrooms are such a small part of it," said Gilreath, an expert on gay rights issues. "Gays and lesbians have been robbed of so much more." McCrory said the claims that anti-discrimination protections have been eroded are untrue. North Carolina, which now faces a federal lawsuit over the law, has been the target of a "vicious, nationwide smear campaign," he said. It is unclear how the state's bathroom provision will be enforced. The law establishes no penalties for violators, though legal experts and lawmakers suggested charges could be issued under trespassing or public nuisance statutes. Rose Saxe, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said state agencies, public schools and universities will have license to act as "potty police." "Who gets asked to provide their papers before going into a bathroom is left unknown," she said. Two Turks among six killed in gun attack in Somalia's capital MOGADISHU, March 30 (Reuters) - Six people, including two Turkish nationals, were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a minibus carrying workers to a Turkish-run hospital in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, police said. The gunmen, who were in a car, opened fire at the minibus as it passed in Mogadishu's Hodan district. "Gunmen opened fire on minibus. Two Turkish and four Somalis died. Five Turks and a Kenyan were also injured," Ali Ahmed, a police officer at Hodan district police station, told Reuters. Does the writer of the March 18 letter Obama critics paved way for Trump (The Daily Progress) think that the president played no part in inciting the wrath of the right? The sanctimonious tone, the condescension and the bunker mentality were all Barack Obamas from the start, encouraged by his sycophants, brooking no dissention. What part did his opposition play in his foreign policy disasters? It was his lone decision to support regime changes in Egypt and Libya, ignoring the counsel of experts. And contrarily, it was his equivocation with the Syrian dictator that contributed greatly to the resulting flood of refugees. But when Obama likens the Islamic terror to the Christian Crusades and continually criticizes his countrymen while he is in foreign countries, most recently in Canada, he alone is responsible for the backlash. Poor leadership alone could not account for the unprecedented outcry of our citizenry, but only the utter vacuum that has been created by this rank amateur in the White House. Raymond Kannapell Albemarle County Xiaoqi Cai remembers the challenges of coming to a new school, a new country and a new life all at once. Thats why shes dedicated herself to helping fellow international students from China adapt to life in Canada and thrive at Dalhousie. Xiaoqi, a fourth-year Sociology student who came to Dal from the city of Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China, in 2012, received a Residence Life Impact Award last week for her work as a residence assistant (RA) at Howe Hall and ambassador to new Chinese students across the university. I was so surprised, says Xiaoqi of the Impact Award. I work with other RAs and residence life managers and theyre all so amazing. Im so glad to work with them and I could not have won without their support. Forging connections In addition to the usual duties of an RA, Xiaoqi helps new arrivals navigate the city, make academic choices and find their place in the Dal community. I feel like a big sister, Xiaoqi says. I feel like its my responsibility to help students engage with university life. In September, the questions could be as simple as how to get on the bus, how to buy bus tickets, how to get phone plans. After the first week, the questions were about how to choose courses and go to different campuses. Xiaoqi knows first-hand how challenging it can be for students who are new to Canada and arent native English-speakers to adjust. I had a huge culture shock, she says of her own early days at Dal. Everything is different. Its easy to feel upset and homesick. I was living in Shirreff Hall. We had an RA on my floor but I wanted someone who could speak Chinese, because I was really shy and didnt have much interaction with native English-speakers. Xiaoqi went on to do work for the website ChineseHalifax.com, editing and translating local news content for Chinese audiences. This role helped her to realize how she could assist incoming students from China. Supporting her fellow students At the beginning of the school year, she established an online discussion group on the Wechat app for Chinese students, which now has 61 members. In addition to answering questions online, Xiaoqi conducts one-on-one meetings each semester with Chinese students in Howe Hall, checking up on everything from academic performance to mental health and wellbeing. Basically Ill talk to them once or twice a semester so I know theyre doing well, says Xiaoqi, who has received training in mental health-related First Aid. Xiaoqi says that the time spent helping her fellow students has given her direction for her own future. Before I was an RA I was unsure about my future, but now I know I can help international students and new immigrants, says Xiaoqi. I think by helping with these different problems, its also a way for me to think about my future. Dayton Children's is transforming its brand from the inside out, starting with a new logo. Introducing "The Whirligig"! Inspired by the Wright brothers, logo reaffirms commitment to kids and community Dayton Childrens Hospital revealed a new brand identity this morning, designed to reaffirm its mission, vision and commitment to kids and the community. Designed by local agency Graphica, the inspiration for the new logo comes from Daytons history of innovation in flight and connects to the hospitals new design theme of "things that fly". Affectionately dubbed "The Whirligig", the new logo is a spinning circle of colorful ribbons "linking all caregivers, those inside the hospital as well as those outside the walls, to the child the star at the center of it all". A facebook post this morning offered more insight into the idea behind the new logo: "As children, the Wright brothers were inspired when their father brought home a toy whirligig. It seemed to defy gravity, floating when it should have fallen. Their awe ignited a passion that would change the world. Dayton Childrens passion to care for kids is just as strong." And if that explanation didn't make you feel warm and fuzzy enough, there's more. Each portion of the new logo also has a specific meaning. The white star within the center of the logo shows that the child is our singular focus, says Kelly Kavanaugh, vice president of marketing and strategic planning. The ribbons represent the many members of our community that surround a child with care and support, as well as the many members of the care team that surround them at Dayton Children's. The vibrant colors represent the variety of services we provide, the diversity of the patient population we serve and the bright future we think all kids deserve. The lower case font illustrates how we address items at a childs level and demonstrates our humility in being a community-supported health care system. This is a pivotal time for Dayton Childrens. Dayton Childrens is not the same hospital it was, even just a few years ago, said Deborah A. Feldman, president and CEO. Plain and simple, no one is more committed to the health and wellbeing of the children of our community than Dayton Childrens. Many girls and women do not realize that distressing menstrual cramps and pelvic pain can be due to endometriosis. (Photo: AFP) Women with an excess growth of uterine lining tissue may also be at higher risk of coronary heart disease, according to a new study. The condition, called endometriosis, affects up to five million women in the U.S. Uterine tissue can grow on the ovaries, behind the uterus or on the bowels or bladder and can cause pain, infertility and very heavy periods. Many girls and women do not realize that distressing menstrual cramps and pelvic pain can be due to endometriosis, said senior study author Stacey A. Missmer, director of Epidemiologic Research in Reproductive Medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. Girls and women can be treated through surgery that removes the endometriosis lesions or by hormonal medications including oral contraceptives, but there is no outright cure, Missmer told Reuters Health by email. The researchers used data on more than 116,000 women in the Nurses Health Study II, which ran from 1989 to 2009 including about 5,200 women with surgically confirmed endometriosis. Those with endometriosis were more likely than others to suffer a heart attack, to have coronary bypass or stent surgery, or to have angina, the chest pain that can be a sign of coronary artery disease. The increased risk for these conditions was highest for women up to age 40, who were about three times as likely to have any combination of the heart disease end points as those without endometriosis. The difference in heart disease risk shrank at older ages. As has been seen in the past, women who had their uterus or ovaries removed were also at higher risk for coronary artery disease endpoints than others, the authors reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Systemic chronic inflammation, heightened oxidative stress and higher cholesterol levels associated with endometriosis may explain the link between the condition and heart disease risk, Missmer said. Additionally, endometriosis and coronary heart disease may share common genetic susceptibilities, she said. From our study, we can conclude that surgical and hormonal treatments following endometriosis diagnosis may impact the risk of cardiovascular disease, but they did not negate the risk entirely, Missmer said. It is important for women with endometriosis even young womento adopt heart-healthy lifestyle habits, be screened by their doctors for heart disease, and be familiar with symptoms because heart disease remains the primary cause of death in women. The new study used existing data from the past rather than following a group of women diagnosed with endometriosis recently, and it doesnt really tease out the fine points of treatment for endometriosis, said Dr. Gaurang Daftary, a reproductive endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not part of the new study. There is a possibility that heart disease may have a link with endometriosis, Daftary told Reuters Health by phone. But it is still unclear whether treating the endometriosis, medically or surgically, impacts heart disease risk, and if so, in which direction, he said. The study is a good starting point, but it wouldnt change my practice for a patient with endometriosis, he said. Satish Cadabom, a dog breeder, shows off a Korean Dosa Mastiff pup which he purchased from China. He paid a whopping Rs 2 crore for the two pups DC Bengaluru: Its a dog's world alright! While Bengaluru's heat is taking its toll on most, two Korean Mastiff pups are not only cocooned in airconditioned comfort in a city bungalow, but are also fed the choicest of food that costs so much it could equal the food bill of an entire family for a month. And to top it all, the pups cost city breeder, Satish S, a cool Rs 2 crore, but the passionate dog lover is convinced it is money well spent. I have been searching for Korean Mastiff puppies for 20 years and had almost given up hope," he says, adding, "I contacted my friends and dog dealers across the world, in Europe, South Africa and America, but no one could help me to find this breed." But then his luck changed when he recently contacted a Chinese dealer for a Tibetan Mastiff and was told he had a pair of Korean Mastiff pups as well. "I told him I was willing to buy both for whatever price he quoted," reveals an ecstatic Sanjay, who paid Rs 2 crore to bring the pups home to Bengaluru from China. Unwilling to even here a "woof" against his decision, he is proud to be the first breeder in the country to own the rare breed. No normal dog food will do for these high maintenance puppies, he reveals. "We have ordered food from Royal Canin, which gives premium quality dog food for Rs 7000 a pack and also feed the pups 250 grams of boneless chicken." And no ordinary kennel will do for them either. The pups have spent their first four days in the city in a huge airconditioned room, which they have all to themselves."They are the purest of breeds and need utmost care," Mr Satish explains. But already his one crore investment is threatening to get away as one the nine- week old pups, a male, is sick. "The girl is healthy , but we might send the other pup back in a few days. Both pups needs to acclimatise to the city, the breeder adds. The petitioner pointed out that there is a clear case of extra-judicial confession by the BJP New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear next week a writ petition seeking a CBI probe into the alleged horse trading of MLAs in Uttarakhand from March 18 to 27 when Presidents rule was imposed in the State. Advocate M.L. Sharma who filed this writ petition made a mention before a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices R. Banumathi and Uday Lalit for urgent listing and the Bench agreed to post it for hearing next week. Read: Uttarakhand crisis: HC orders floor test on March 31, rebel MLAs to participate In his writ petition Mr Sharma raised important questions of law, viz whether without complying with the Governors order for floor test on March 28, the Union Cabinet can recommend Presidents rule under Article 356 of the Constitution; whether once the Governor fixed date for floor test, proclamation can be issued and will not amount to contempt of court in the Bommai judgment; Whether MLAs, who allegedly paid/accepted cash/kind for rebel MLAs in the House are liable to be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act? Whether or not it is a clear corruption in the public office by the public servant. The petitioner pointed out that there is a clear case of extra-judicial confession by the BJP general secretary in charge of Uttarakhand, Mr Kailash Vijayvargiya who told media We have 35 MLAs with me here (in New Delhi) and we have the support of Ganesh Joshi also. He said all the 9 rebel MLAs accepted chartered flight arranged by the BJP. He said the MLAs are not immune under Article 194(1) /105(2) of the Constitution for their criminal act in the Assembly. While seeking a CBI probe, the petitioner also prayed for quashing the Presidents rule in the State. Read: Centre cuts short Budget session in view of Uttarakhand political crisis Meanwhile, Harish Rawat, who had challenged dismissal of his government, said on Tuesday that the High Court order for floor test was a tremendous setback to the Centre. Mr Rawat, whose government was sacked on the grounds of breakdown of Constitutional machinery, had moved the high court on Monday calling the Centres decision as arbitrary and demanded its quashing. The CM said he will take classes for Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and his MLAs on Irrigation projects. Hyderabad: The Assembly, on Tuesday, once again witnessed heated arguments between AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on the Pattiseema project. While the Chief Minister claimed that the Pattiseema project met the dreams of Rayalaseema farmers by utilising Krishna water from foreshore of Srisailam dam and was an important step to make AP a drought-proof state, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy criticised it saying that since the project has no storage the government was wasting Rs 1,600 crore on it. The CM gave a statement on Pattiseema Project in the Assembly on Tuesday and said that it is the first time in India that two major rivers would be interlinked. He said the Polavaram Project will be completed by March 29, 2019. He said that by interlinking Godavari and Krishna rivers the crops in Krishna delta would be saved through timely supply of 8.8 TMC feet of water; crops worth Rs 2,500 crore would be saved. He said that by completing this scheme Godavari water, to the extent of 80 to 100 TMC, would be diverted into the Krishna River above Prakasam barrage. Participating in the debate on the CMs statement, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the Pattiseema project will be of no use as it has no storage. He also said by the construction of Pattiseema project there will be a danger of losing Krishna water. Reacting to this the CM said that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy is more thoughtful of others instead of the interests of the state and asked Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao to conclude the debate. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy said the Telangana state is constructing Palamuru lift Irrigation scheme and due to this AP will face difficulty in getting Krishna water. The Opposition leader said, CM Naidu has no courage to face the Telangana CM to discuss the Palamuru lift irrigation scheme fearing the latter may open cash-for-vote file. The CM Naidu said he has no fear to meet the Telangana CM in the interests of the state and added that in his 40-year long-political career he never indulged in any corrupt practices. Mr Naidu said, your father (YSR) ordered 20 inquiries against me and he did not find anything, I have such character. CM Naidu said that the irrigation subject is very sensitive and it is difficult to understand without proper study. He criticised that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party MLAs did not know anything about irrigation projects. Mr Naidu repeatedly asked Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRC MLAs whether they understood the Pattiseema and Polavaram projects. The CM said he will take classes for Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and his MLAs on Irrigation projects. Mr Naidu said, There is nothing wrong in learning about things which we dont know anything of, I have no hesitation to learn from others. CM Naidu said he will develop all constituencies irrespective of parties and asked YSRC MLAs to tell if there are any problems in their constituencies. He said that even though YSRC MLAs are opposing Pattiseema Project he will supply water to their constituencies also. Mr Naidu said, I will develop the constituencies represented by Opposition MLAs, because I want to win all the 175 Assembly constituencies in the next elections. He said that MLAs should behave with responsibility. Then only they can win the next elections. Online permissions for buildings Starting next June, people in all 110 municipalities of AP will be able to get permission for construction of buildings and houses online. Speaking in the Assembly on Tuesday, municipal minister P. Narayana, said the government has introduced online permission system in Vizag, Vijayawada and Guntur on an experiment basis and 750 people have got permissions online. He said that following the success in these three municipal corporations the government has decided to extend the facility to all 110 municipalities and it will be ready by next June. He said that payments for permissions can al-so be paid online and there will be no middlemen or corruption. During question hour, Mr Narayana said elections for four municipalities Rajam, Nellimarla, Kandukur and Rajampet and seven municipal corporations Greater Visakha Municipal Corporation (GVMC), Kakinada, Gu-ntur, Ongole, Kurnool, Tirupati and Srikakulam will be held after clearance of court cases and taking other administrative measures regarding revision of voters list, identification of SC, ST, BC and women voters and reservations. The minister said the government has issued orders upgrading Vizianagaram and Machilipatnam municipalities as municipal corporations. However, the government has not issued gazette notifications due to administrative reasons. He said once the gazette notification issued the present elected bodies of these two municipalities will be abolished. He said that the elected bodies of both the municipalities have requested the government to issue the gazette notification after the end of their tenure. A legislator is a member in about 30 statutory committees in his constituency for which he needs to attend meetings regularly. Besides, there would be additional zilla parishad meetings. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday justified the steep hike in salaries and allowances of legislators saying that they were involved in the nation-building process and deserved better salaries. The Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the Bill enhancing the salaries and allowances for legislators. Mr Rao said his first salary as an MLA was just Rs 500 per month three decades ago, but the economic dynamics now were entirely different compared to those days. He requested the media not to project the salary hike as looting public money as legislators were incurring heavy expenditure to play an active role in the government and constituency development programmes. He said the salary and allowance Bill of legislators was minuscule when compared to the state budget of over Rs 1 lakh crore. A legislator is a member in about 30 statutory committees in his constituency for which he needs to attend meetings regularly. Besides, there would be additional zilla parishad meetings. Normally, on any given day, 50-100 visitors come to an MLA for various works. We need to serve at least tea, else people will say they dont get even tea if they go to MLAs house. Besides, MLAs need to appoint drivers and personal staff for whom they have to pay salaries. They even need to bear the food and other expenditure of their security personnel. In this way, legislators are facing financial problems as all legislators are not rich, Mr Rao remarked. The CM added that legislators incurred other expenditure like giving donations for activities like building temples, during festivals and on other occasions. Legislators face the wrath of local people if they don't give donations for such occasions, the Chief Minister said. Forum says MLAs have been giVen huge tax break The Forum for Good Governance stated that the 250-per cent hike in the salaries of legislators was not justified. Forum secretary M. Padmanabha Reddy said, The salary of an MLA is Rs 20,000 per month and allowances are Rs 2.3 lakh, which is exempted from tax. The salary of ministers is Rs 30,000 per month and allowances, Rs 3.70 lakh on which no tax is paid. This is not justified. The timing of the hike is not correct as the state is going through a drought for the second consecutive year and there is major shortage of drinking water in the state which is raising a lot of concern, he said. Chennai: War of statements between BJP and AIADMK continued with state power minister Natham R. Viswanathan hitting out at his counterpart in Centre Piyush Goyals remark that he could not reach out to Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa is false and part of cheap politics. Referring to Goyals view that projects could be implemented only in case of a regime change, Mr Viswanathan said, It was a false accusation made for political reasons. It was cheap politics keeping in mind the coming Assembly election. He referred to Goyals appreciation of Jayalalithaa in the Lok Sabha last yearAmma had given a thrust to renewable energy in Tamil Nadu. Targeting Jayalalithaa days ago, Goyal had said, It (TN) is a state within a state. It is part of the country where I cant even reach out to the Chief Minister. I have made several attempts to talk to their leaders without success, adding that Tamil Nadu had not signed a pact for a power reforms initiative of the Centre Uday (Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana). In a statement here, Mr Viswanathan said, Calling Uday, a reforms initiative, is an act of deceiving the people as the proposed move will hit them hard. He alleged that the project has been brought by the Centre due to pressure from foreign financial institutions and credit rating agencies. He said if the Centre was genuinely interested in welfare of states it should have lowered the coal price for state power utilities. However, it increased the coal clean energy cess to Rs 400 a tonne from Rs 51.50, he said. Uday is not an initiative which will be beneficial to Tamil Nadu and its people, he said adding the true beneficiaries will be private power companies and the banks that had given them loans. Since power tariff needs to be restructured every three months (under Uday), the people will be put to lot of pain, he claimed. The Centre has said Uday seeks to ensure a sustainable solution to enable the power distribution utilities in states to come out of long standing debts, which is almost Rs 4.3 lakh crore. Among other things, it envisages take over of debt of state utilities by the state governments. Cairo: An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 23 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to stiff prison terms, including life sentence to 15 for committing violent acts here against the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi's ouster in 2013. Fifteen defendants were jailed for life while three were sentenced to five years in prison. Five others were sentenced to ten years in prison in the same case. The defendants were charged of killing, attacking public and private properties, showing force, attacking citizens and disturbing public peace. Each defendants was will also pay a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (about USD 1,900). The incident took place in July 5, 2013, two days after ouster of Morsi following massive protests against his rule, as his supporters clashed with security forces in different parts of the country. The Egyptian government has been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood supporters since the ouster of Morsi, which left thousands in jail, and hundreds facing trials on different charges. Morsi himself and the Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohamed Badie and 100 other leaders were sentenced in June to death for escaping from prison in 2011. Badie and Morsi were also sentenced to life in prison in the espionage case. Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute at Maelbeek train station, where 13 people were killed in a terror attack. (Photo: Twitter) Brussels: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here Wednesday for a hectic day-long visit during which he attended the India-EU Summit and held bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel. Modi laid a wreath at the Maelbeek train station in Brussels where Chennai techie Raghavendran Ganeshan lost his life in the blast and was among 13 killed in a terror attack last week. Read: Narendra Modi, Belgian PM jointly launch Asia's biggest telescope "In remembrance of those men and women who lost their lives due to mindless violence in Brussels," the Prime Minister's office tweeted along with pictures of Modi laying the wreath. Modi, flanked by Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, bowed his head and clasped his hands together in tribute to the victims of the suicide blasts. "At a time of grief, India stands in solidarity. Before official engagements, PM lays wreath at Maalbeek metro station," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. At a time of grief, India stands in solidarity. Before offic'l engagements, PM lays wreath at Maalbek metro station pic.twitter.com/CrhMEhZ11S Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 At the Maalbeek Metro Station, the Prime Minister remembered Ganeshan and other victims of tragic attack, Swarup said. Here are the latest updates: 4:30 pm: Narendra Modi holds talks with Belgian counterpart Charles Michel. Working together with an imp partner in Europe. PM @narendramodi & Belgian PM @CharlesMichel hold restricted talks pic.twitter.com/nOHWYQkm1m Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 4:15 pm: A ceremonial welcome for Narendra Modi in Brussels. Ceremonial Honours precede the commencement of business. PM @narendramodi inspects the parade at the Egmont Palace pic.twitter.com/rOWSBIeNsV Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 #WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the parade at the Egmont Palace #ModiInBrusselshttps://t.co/faz6nfHwG5 ANI (@ANI_news) March 30, 2016 4:00 pm: Modi lays wreath at the Maelbeek Metro Station in Brussels, the site of a terror attack where a suicide bomber had blown himself up last week. At Maalbek Metro Station, PM @narendramodi remembers India's Raghavendran Ganeshan & other victims of tragic attack pic.twitter.com/Ph0Pr99DhV Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 3:30 pm: Narendra Modi meets select members of the European and Belgian Parliaments. A group of Indologists interact with PM @narendramodi in Brussels. pic.twitter.com/n6HXAGsCVr PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 30, 2016 A parliamentary beginning! PM meets select members of the European & Belgian Parliaments for 1st engagement of day pic.twitter.com/D9nonx4jb1 Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 10:30 am: Narendra Modi warmly welcomed by Indian community in Brussels. PM @narendramodi being warmly welcomed by people of Indian Community, on his arrival at Brussels, Belgium pic.twitter.com/gY1IZQg13F PIB India (@PIB_India) March 30, 2016 9:40 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a guard of honour upon his arrival in Brussels for the first leg of his three nation tour of Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi accorded guard of honour after he arrives in Brussels.#ModiInBrussels Photos: ANI pic.twitter.com/AgNUjBCWfO Deccan Chronicle (@DeccanChronicle) March 30, 2016 9:30 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Belgium for a day-long visit to attend the India-EU Summit. A red carpet at dawn. PM @narendramodi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels pic.twitter.com/N5VwGMSE63 Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 Modi's visit comes days after the March 22 terror attack here in which at least 32 people were killed, including an Indian, Raghavendran Ganeshan, who was an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. The 13th India-EU Summit is being held after a gap of four years. The last Summit was held in New Delhi in 2012 and negotiations remained deadlocked over several key issues. Besides firming up India-EU counter-terror partnership, the Summit here is expected to evince interest in other projects like cleaning of Ganga on the lines of River Rhine and Danube. Read: Modi can be a major ally in war against terror: EU lawmakers EU is India's biggest trading partner as a bloc with trade amounting to USD 126 billion and it is also India's largest export destination with exports worth USD 65 billion. It is the largest source of FDI in India at USD 69 billion. Soon after his arrival, Modi has a series of meetings lined up including one with indologists along with a meeting with members of the European Parliament and the Belgian Parliament. On the eve of the Prime Minister's visit, the EU said in a statement that "the Summit in Brussels will be an opportunity to re-launch relations and make concrete progress on areas of mutual interest, including trade and investment, energy, climate, water and migration." Read: Would see deeper cooperation with India on nuclear issues: United States "India-EU Summit and strong economic & investment ties with Belgium will be on the agenda during my Brussels visit," Modi had said before embarking on his visit. He had hailed the "resilience and spirit" of its people in the wake of the horrific Brussels bombings and said India stands "shoulder-to-shoulder" with them. After Belgium, Prime Minister will be in Washington DC on 31st March to participate in the fourth Nuclear Security Summit, where several nations and global organisations would be represented. Read: Nuclear Summit to discuss threat caused by N-terrorism: Modi On April 2 and 3, he will be visiting Saudi Arabia at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation. . Prime Minister Modi will also visit the Masmak Fortress, 'L&T Workers' Residential Complex and TCS All Women IT & ITES Center in Riyadh. Ibrahim El Bakraoui was one of two bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on March 22. His brother Khalid blew himself up at Maalbeek metro station. (Photo: AP) The Hague: A Dutch minister on Wednesday back pedalled on his claim that the FBI had notified the Netherlands about US concerns over two Belgian suicide bombers before the Brussels attacks, admitting there had been "an error". Under-fire Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur said Wednesday, "I understand that an error was made about who sent the information." The Dutch police liaison officer in the embassy in Washington had in fact "received the information from another large American intelligence service namely the Intelligence Division of the New York Police Department (NYPD)," the minister said. The tipoff was passed along "without the source, and it was accepted in the Netherlands that the information had come from the FBI." Van der Steur had told the Dutch parliament on Tuesday that the FBI had notified the Netherlands of its concerns over suicide bombers Ibrahim El Bakraoui and his brother Khalid six days before the March 22 Brussels attacks. Dutch police had received an FBI report sent March 16 "in which there was notification of Ibrahim El Bakraoui and his brother Khalid's criminal backgrounds and Khalid's terrorist background," he said Tuesday. The following day "the issue came up during bilateral contact between the Dutch and Belgian police," said Van der Steur. "The radical background of both the brothers was discussed." But his comments were immediately queried by Dutch MPs who asked why the FBI would inform the Netherlands and not Belgium. The minister, who has been criticised for what has been seen here as some intelligence blunders, said he would ask the NYPD why it had not informed Belgium of its concerns. Ibrahim El Bakraoui was one of two bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on March 22. His brother Khalid blew himself up at Maalbeek metro station. A total of 32 people were killed in the attacks. Belgium's federal police said it had not received any information direct from the FBI on March 16 about the Bakraoui brothers, and also said the two men were not raised in the meeting with the Dutch police. Under pressure at home and abroad over an apparent series of missed clues about criminals linked to jihadist networks, the Belgian government has however admitted mistakes were made. In the most glaring such example, Turkey accused Belgium last week of ignoring a clear and present danger by revealing it had deported Ibrahim El Bakraoui as a "terrorist" suspect last year, after arresting him near the Syrian border. The Dutch justice minister last week confirmed that Turkey sent Bakraoui back to the Netherlands in July, but stressed he had not been known to Dutch law enforcement nor was he on any watch lists. In September, ISIS demolished the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and a month later blew up the Arch of Triumph, from around 200 AD. (Photo: AFP) Beirut: The recapture of Palmyra in central Syria from ISIS militants puts government forces at the heart of the fight against the jihadist group - and not just geographically speaking. For President Bashar Assad, recapturing the historic town represents a strategic political coup through which he hopes to convince the West that the Syrian army is a credible partner in combatting terrorism as it ramps up the fight against Islamic State. It is an awkward argument that the US has repeatedly rebuffed. Officials in Washington are quick to point out that it was Assad's brutal crackdown on his own people that created the kind of vacuum that allowed extremists like IS to flourish in the first place. An alliance between the US-led coalition fighting ISIS - similar to the assistance and training provided to the Iraqi military on the other front in the war - seems out of the question. But with the international focus now on fighting the ISIS group - and a partial cease-fire in place to facilitate that - there appears to be tacit US approval for at least this part of Assad's offensive in Syria to continue. If that is seen to develop, it could help the authoritarian ruler survive a ruinous 5-year-old conflict that has seen half the country's population displaced. The desert town of Palmyra, with its 2,000-year-old ruins, is an archaeological gem and a cherished landmark known endearingly to Syrians as the "Bride of the Desert." It is also a strategic crossroads linking the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the country's east and the border with Iraq. "It's a fantastic public relations coup," said Thomas Pierret, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, describing Palmyra's recapture. The Syrian government recognizes the Western "obsession" with the town's ancient ruins, and "they're exploiting it and it works very well," he said. Government forces recaptured Palmyra on Sunday, scoring an important victory over ISIS fighters who had overseen a 10-month reign of terror in the town. It dealt the extremist group its first major defeat at the hands of government forces in years. During their stay, the extremists destroyed some of Palmyra's best-known monuments, including two large temples dating back more than 1,800 years and a Roman triumphal arch. The militants also used the ancient Roman amphitheatre for public killings, including a video they released showing 25 boys with pistols shooting captured Syrian soldiers, with the colonnades in the background. The government troops, joined by Iranian-backed militiamen, were supported by massive Russian airpower throughout their three-week offensive. When they swept victoriously into Palmyra, they emphasized the care taken by the army not to harm the archaeological sites. Syrian officials said Palmyra would become a launching pad for operations against ISIS strongholds in Raqqa to the north and Deir el-Zour farther east - efforts that are expected to be much more difficult. On Tuesday, Syrian troops battled ISIS militants around the nearby town of Qaryatain, trying to extend their gains. Assad said the victory was "new evidence of the effectiveness of the strategy followed by the Syrian army and its allies in the war against terrorism." Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, offered in an interview with the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen to work with the US, and said it was time for powers including Washington to join Moscow in working with Damascus. Unlike in Iraq, the US has long suffered from the lack of reliable or credible partner in Syria. Apart from the Kurds, the Obama administration's attempts to train and partner with Syrian rebels have all ended in failure. US officials recall that Assad has largely ignored ISIS gains in Syria in recent years, focusing instead on moderate Syrian rebels he deems a bigger threat. Critics point out that Assad's forces all but handed Palmyra over to the militants in May, as officers hurriedly fled the town in the face of IS advances. "While there can be no doubting that ISIS' loss of Palmyra represents a substantial strategic blow to their operations in Syria, this is the Assad regime's first major victory against the group-after its presence on its territory for three years," wrote Charles Lister, a resident fellow with the Middle East Institute, in an article published by the think tank. Still, the recapture won Assad rare praise from international officials, including the UNESCO chief who welcomed the "liberation" of Palmyra and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said he was "encouraged" that Syrian government forces were now in control. In the last year, the United States has softened demands for Assad's to quickly leave power. But the US doesn't believe that Syria's civil war can truly end with Assad still running the country and has been pushing Russia and Iran to support a transition process with a timeline for Assad's departure. Assad's latest Russian-backed offensive hasn't changed that thinking. On Monday, State Department spokesman John Kirby described the reconquering of Palmyra as a "good thing." He quickly balanced that assessment by adding that "the best hope for the Syrian people is not an expansion of Bashar Assad's ability to tyrannize the Syrian people. We all know that over the long term, the Syrian army under his command cannot bring peace to Syria." Kirby declined to congratulate Assad's government for the military success, and said he didn't think it would prove able to retake other parts of Syria. Assad "is responsible for the civil war that has, in fact, helped grow a group like Daesh," he said, using an Arabic acronym for the ISIS group. US cooperation with the Syrian army is unrealistic in the current context of the Syrian civil war. But Syrian observers say there appears to be a US-Russian understanding that the combined forces of Syrian troops backed by Russia and Syria's Kurds backed by the US is emerging as the best and most realistic fighting force against ISIS in the next weeks and months. The victory in Palmyra also puts Assad in a more comfortable position ahead of negotiations that are scheduled to resume in Geneva in mid-April, making it less likely he will accept to engage in meaningful talks on a political transition. "Now that Assad is this hero, savior of the heritage of humanity, how could you impose upon him a transition that sidelines him eventually?" Pierret said sarcastically. Lister said having recaptured Palmyra in a widely reported military operation conducted with Russian support, "there is now no reason at all for Bashar Assad to even get close to considering a political transition." Undergraduate students at Bangalore University, who fail their fifth semester examination, will no longer have to wait an entire year to take a re-examination. They can now appear for the re-exam in the sixth semester itself, starting this year. This decision was approved in the Academic Council meeting on Tuesday. Speaking to Deccan Herald after the meeting, universitys Registrar (Examinations) K N Ningegowda said, This is a historic decision and will prevent an entire year getting wasted. Students would otherwise have to wait for the whole year and during this time, they may not be able to get employment or pursue higher studies. Presently, students in the first semester have two opportunities to appear for a re-examination in the third and fifth semesters. Those in the second semester also get two opportunities in the third and fifth semesters. Students studying in the third and fourth semesters have one chance each at a re-examination in the fourth and fifth semester, respectively. There was, however, no provision for students of the fifth semester to take the re-examination without losing a year. Between 2011 and 2015, statistics provided by the university on five undergraduate departments Bachelor of Arts, Commerce, Business Management, Computer Applications and Bachelor of Science (B.S) showed the pass percentage averaging between 50% and 60%. We want this pass percentage figure to increase. I am confident that from the present low figures, we can bring up the pass percentage to around 85% to 90% through this measure, Ningegowda said. Sexual harassment The university will soon get a sexual harassment prevention cell at a cost of Rs 20 lakh. Another Rs 20 lakh will also be used to conduct programmes on gender sensitisation. Swimming as subject With the Department of Physical Education set to get a world-class swimming pool at a cost of Rs 87 lakh, swimming will be made a mandatory subject for Masters in Physical Education (M.PEd). Hitherto, it was an optional subject due to lack of the facility. Prof Sunderaj, HoD, Physical Education Department, said: There is a demand from a number of schools for women swimming instructors due to heightened sensitivity in schools. This could easily fetch them around Rs 30,000 to Rs 25,000 as pay, he said. Days ahead of assembly elections in West Bengal, Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma today released the second tranche of 50 declassified files related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose even as he asserted that the move is not "linked with politics". The files, which will be available online, consist of 10 files each from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) and the Home Ministry and 30 files from the External Affairs Ministry pertaining to the period 1956 to 2009. "Keeping with our promise of making pubic the secret files on Netaji, we are releasing the set of 50 declassified files today. This will further meet the continued public demand to access these files and also facilitate scholars to carry out further research on the doyen of the freedom movement," he said. The second batch of 50 declassified files relating to Bose are now available on the web portal www.netajipapers.gov.in. Asked about any political motive of releasing the files at a time when West Bengal is gearing up for assembly election, he said "this (declassifying of files) should not be linked with politics. The government had announced it would release 25 declassified files on Netaji, much before the announcement of dates for the election." Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in six phases on April 4 and 11 (under Phase one), 17, 21, 25, 30 and May 5. Sharma said the government will "keep its promise" of releasing set of 25 declassified files every month. As many as hundred secret files, ranging from those from the British Raj to as late as 2007, were made public by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Netaji's 119th birth anniversary on January 23. In October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met the family members of Netaji and announced that the government would declassify the files relating to the leader whose disappearance 70 years ago remains a mystery. While two commissions of inquiry had concluded that Netaji died in a plane crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945, a third probe panel, headed by Justice M K Mukherjee, had contested it and suggested that Bose was alive. Five boys were arrested in connection with an assault on an 18-year-old boy and two of his friends when they refused to chant a religious slogan at a park outside their school in outer Delhi's Begumpur area, police said today. The accused were arrested under sections 323,325,506,341,34,36 of IPC, said Vikramjeet Singh, DCP Outer Delhi According to police, the incident took place on March 26, when three boys called up the police control room complaining about a fight. The police said that the boy did not mention any such thing in his statement on the day of the incident and there were "inconsistencies" in his versions. When a police team reached there, it was told that they were allegedly beaten up with sticks by three other youths, aged between 18 and 21, at a park near a madrasa in the area. The three boys were taken for medical check up, following which no injuries were found on the bodies of two and one had a fracture. An X-ray has confirmed the fracture. The injured boy later told police that he was asked to chant "Jai Mata di" and his statement was recorded again. After the police had recorded his second statement, they said they got to know from sources that the boy told others that he and his friends were asked to chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai". However, the boy has not mentioned about having been asked to chant the slogan to the police yet, the official said. A case had been registered under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint) and investigation is on. A ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter in India's richest state is threatening to push millions of farmers into penury, deepening distress in the countryside and fanning resentment against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party. Slaughter of cows, considered sacred in Hinduism, has historically been banned in most states but was rarely enforced in India, the world's largest exporter of beef. But over the past year, states ruled by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), such as Maharashtra, have broadened the ban to include other types of cattle, like bulls and bullocks, and Hindu vigilantes have stepped up attacks on traders to enforce the prohibition. The stricter rules come as Modi and the nationalist BJP lay greater stress on India's Hindu faith, to which the majority of the population belongs. Minority groups, including around 180 million Muslims, have expressed concern over the implications. The impact of the beef ban has been significant. Prices of cattle have fallen across the country, India's meat exports fell 13 percent in the April-December period and rival beef supplier Brazil is gaining from India's loss. It has also left millions of farmers, already reeling from bad harvests due to back-to-back droughts and unseasonal rains, struggling to sell animals they can no longer feed or water. "I wonder what the government wants - our survival or the cattle's?" said farmer Revaji Choudhary, standing next to a pair of bulls he has been trying to sell for weeks in a cattle market in Maharashtra. Traditionally, farmers have sold cattle in a drought year to butchers, mostly Muslims, and bought new ones when their earnings rise after monsoon showers. That cycle has been broken and could leave farmers with little money to buy seeds or fertiliser ahead of the next sowing season, starting in June. Farmer suicides have nearly doubled in the drought-hit Marathwada region of Maharashtra. TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN? Their predicament is causing concern within the BJP, which has been trying to bolster its credentials in the countryside, where most of India's 1.3 billion people live. Rural distress contributed to an embarrassing defeat for the party last year in a state election, and more state polls are due over the coming year. In the federal budget last month, Modi's government pledged nearly $13 billion on rural development, aiming to double farmer's incomes by 2022. Maharashtra BJP legislator Bhimrao Dhonde said the government's priority should be to support farmers, and they should be allowed to sell their cattle to whomever they want. "It is time to withdraw the ban," Dhonde told reporters. Madhu Chavan, a spokesman for the BJP in Maharashtra, said Dhonde's view did not reflect that of the party. "The party thinks the ban is necessary," he said, adding that more money would be made available to alleviate the effects of drought if needed. MILLIONS OF COWS Maharashtra, home to India's financial hub Mumbai, has been particularly badly hit by drought. In one district the government imposed rules that prevent assembly of more than five people around a water tanker or borewell to prevent riots. Cows and buffalos need 70 litres of water per day. Many farmers are simply abandoning their cattle. The state has opened hundreds of temporary shelters to house around 250,000 heads of cattle until their owners are ready to take them back, but experts say at least another 4 million animals need to be looked after in Maharashtra. Hindu groups such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) that had promised to build shelters said they, too, were short on cash and the government should do more. Laxmi Narayan Chandak, head of the Maharashtra unit of VHP's cow protection committee, said his organisation has been able to start only one facility that holds 150 cattle. "Nearly 700,000 cows and bulls ... will starve to death or will be smuggled to slaughter houses. We have to save them," said Chandak. He added that only pure Indian breeds "that are worthy of worship" should be sheltered. Every Monday, hundreds of farmers like Choudhary travel to a weekly cattle market in Belhe village, around 200 km (124 miles) east of Mumbai, but with so few people buying, it is more in hope than expectation. Cattle prices in the state have fallen 40 percent to 60 percent. Choudhary, who earns around 200,000 Indian rupees ($3,000) in a good monsoon year, said he has incurred losses as his crops wilted due to drought. He paid 40,000 rupees for his pair of bulls a year ago, and is willing to sell them for 20,000 rupees now. He still cannot find a buyer. "We are forced to depend on tankers for drinking water. How can we supply water to cattle?" Choudhary asked. For promotion of odd-even scheme 2.0, Delhi government will launch Delhi bole dil se, odd-even fir se (Delhi wants odd-even again, from the bottom of its heart) campaign and write to neighbouring states to create awareness about its rules. But the final word on whether women will be exempted from the ambitious road rationing drive is not out yet. Sucessful first round The second round of odd-even car curbs will be in force between April 15 and April 30. The campaign slogan is reminiscent of the ruling Aam Aadmi Partys campaign song for the February 2015 Delhi Assembly elections: Panch saal Kejriwal. Mange Dilli dil se, Kejriwal fir se, the blockbuster poll song said, projecting Kejriwal as the chief ministerial candidate. Earlier on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia gave credit of the odd-even formulas initial success to Kejriwal. The first round of odd-even restrictions was in place from January 1 to January 15. The world looked on in appreciation as Delhi once again said yes to another change, another first. Various global organisations and thinkers applauded this initiative including the worlds reputed magazine Fortune that awarded peoples Chief Minister and the leader of this august house as one of the top 50 greatest leaders of our times. He is the only Indian on that list, he said, before presenting the Budget in the Assembly. In his first speech as Honble Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal said and I quote: Today every citizen of Delhi has become Chief Minister, Sisodia said. Delhi government will launch its new campaign on odd-even restrictions on April 1. Meanwhile, Transport Minister Gopal Rail said he has written to neighbouring states, asking them to create awareness about the odd-even rules. In case of municipal by-polls, vehicles of Election Commission will be exempted from odd-even rules, he said. CNG cars have been kept out of the ambit of odd-even scheme 2.0. But just like the previous round, one needs to have a CNG sticker issued by the Indraprastha Gas Limited. According to Rai, the stickers can be obtained from April 1 at a CNG station near CGO complex.Decision on exemption of women from the odd-even rule will be taken later. Opinions are divided, the minister said. The first phase of odd-even curbs had put women drivers in the list of exempted categories. On April 13, volunteers as well as drivers of DTC and Delhi Metro officials, among others, will assemble at the Chhatrasal stadium and take oath to make the drive successful, Rai told a news conference.He said the trial of air quality monitoring in NCR will start from April 6.Earlier, the government had said that it will monitor air quality across Delhi-NCR region to assess the impact of odd-even scheme in curbing vehicular pollution. The odd-even rationing of road space bans private cars on alternate days, depending on their number plates. Suspecting that Priyanka Kapoor, the Defence Colony-based event manager, might have been murdered and not committed suicide, her family members on Tuesday urged police to conduct a speedy probe into the matter. When we entered the room, her body was sitting on her knees, which didnt look like it had fallen from the ceiling fan, said Dimpy Kapoor, Priyankas younger sister. There were separate marks on her wrist, apart from bruises, which suggested that someone might have grabbed her wrist tightly, she added. Although a suicide letter was found in her bedroom, Priyankas sister claimed that police found the letter only after extensively searching the room for a long time. Priyanka might have written the letter sometime back in the past while contemplating the suicide move. However, if indeed she was sure of taking her life, she shouldnt have hidden the letter like this in her room. It should have been kept near her body. It was just a coincidence that the letter got found, Dimpy said. At a press conference called at a temple near the house where the death had occurred, Priyankas family members also blamed police of not arresting Priyankas mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Her mother-in-law is a co-accused in the case. Both her mother-in-law and brother-in-law are guilty in the case. Priyanka had several times confided in her about the mental and physical torture she had been going through the hands of her husband Nitin, but she never took her side, Dimpy said. She, in fact, told Priyanka to go back to her parents house if she is not happy here. Her brother-in-law also never tried to stop his brother, and himself was an abettor in the torture, she alleged. Meanwhile, Delhi Police have written to their Mumbai counterparts seeking more details about the rape case which has been registered against Nitin Chawlas name in Mumbai. According to one of the closest friends of Priyanka, she got to know about the rape case few weeks after getting married to Chawla. One day Nitin told Priyanka about a woman in Mumbai who has been demanding money from him to settle a rape case that she had filed against him there, said Rukmani, Priyankas friend. We met in a restaurant where she told me about the rape case against Nitin, and because of which he has been under lot of financial strain. It upset her a lot, Rukmani added. On Monday, police came to know about a rape case being registered against Chawla for sexually assaulting an aspiring actress in Mumbai. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the central government may soon try to pull down his government as it has done in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Kejriwal criticised the Narendra Modi government for wasting its energy on irrelevant issues and hit out at the Prime Ministers decision to invite a Pakistani team to probe the Pathankot terror attack. Concluding the discussion on Motion of Thanks on Lieutenant Governors address in Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal said: An Intelligence Bureau official told me that the next turn is that of Himachal Pradesh and Delhi governments, he said. First, the 21 AAP MLAs serving as Parliamentary Secretaries may be disqualified. Next, a top industrialist would be tasked to buy over 23 out of the remaining 46 AAP legislators to pull down the government, said Kejriwal. But I challenge if they can buy over even one AAP MLA. They failed to win support of four AAP MLAs during the last hung Assembly to form a government and they will be unsuccessful once again, he said. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party members walked out of the House, saying the discussion on Motion of Thanks on Lieutenant Governors address was being politicised by mentioning issues not related with his inaugural speech on March 21. Kejriwal showcased his governments development model and the people-friendly Budget presented on Monday before advising the BJP-led central government to give up arrogance which was similar to that of the UPA regime, and change its course for public welfare. The Aam Aadmi Party leader also warned Modi against striking a deal with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and that countrys spy agency ISI, which is part of the team invited to probe the Pathankot terror attack. India has been a victim of terrorism all these years. Why are the masterminds of these attacks not being probed by Indian agencies in Pakistan?, he said, questioning the central governments decision. Why cant our CBI or IB question Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin in Pakistan? asked Kejriwal. When my office needs to be raided then the CBI is used but not to probe terror attack... the country will not remain silent on the disrespect shown to martyrs, he said. He said Modi was either trying to win a Nobel Peace Prize or appease the United States, which he is visiting. Deal with Sharif Modi may have struck a deal with Sharif to get some business tycoon access to Pakistan markets, he said. Kejrwal slammed the BJP government for wasting its energy on issues like Bharat Mata ki Jai and the cow. So much has been done by our government. The country and other countries are looking up to our development model, he said referring to his administration in Delhi. The people are not happy with BJPs work, he said, accusing the BJP government at the Centre of not delivering after showing dreams of development and checking corruption. Controversial BJP MP Vitthal Radadiya today "admitted" to kicking an elderly man during a music event recently but clarified that he did so to stop the man from "spreading superstition" even as he termed it as a "small incident". His clarification came days after a video purportedly showing the Porbandar MP kicking the man at the function, held at Jamkandorna town in Rajkot district, surfaced. The video showed agitated Radadiya approaching the man sitting in a makeshift tent at the folk music event and then kicking him even as the latter prayed to be spared. The video also showed Radadiya picking up the man's belongings and gesturing him to leave the spot. "That man was spreading superstition, as he was continuously shaking his head and body when artists were singing. His act also disturbed many others, including women, as they felt uncomfortable due to his weird acts," Radadiya said. He had earlier denied the attack. "I am told by the organisers that he has been living in the tent since last three-four days. To stop him from disturbing others through his strange acts, I kicked him first and asked the organisers to take him out. After he was taken away, people felt relieved. It was a small incident," he said. Though no FIR has been filed by the unidentified man against Radadiya, Rajkot police yesterday took the matter suo motu and started their investigation and sent the video for forensic analysis. Meanwhile, the Gujarat High Court today ordered an "independent investigation" by police into an alleged assault by Radadiya and others of a shop-owner at Dhoraji in Rajkot district last year. Radadiya, then a Congress MP, had rented out a shop at Dhoraji to Sharifbhai Shakariyana, a party worker. On October 12 last year, Radadiya and his men allegedly beat up Rajesh Mehta, who ran the shop on Shakariyana's behalf, to get it vacated. When Mehta approached the police, they only registered a non-cognisable offence and not an FIR. A large number of gold and jewellery establishments remained shuttered today as traders continued their strike to protest the Budget proposal to levy one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. Most jewellery houses have been closed since March 2, demanding withdrawal of the proposed excise duty. Thousands of jewellers and workers in the industry staged a dharna at 'Bara Choraha' in Kanpur today protesting against the proposal, Mahesh Chandra Jain, President Uttar Pradesh Sarafa Association told PTI. However, most of the jewellery showrooms in Tamil Nadu were open for regular trading. 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. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget 2016-17 proposed one 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. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday met President Pranab Mukherjee and asked him to intervene in the matter. Lenders to defunct Kingfisher Airlines today said they have received an offer to settle loan from the company and they will examine the proposal. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines today submitted a proposal in the Supreme Court for repayment of Rs 4,000 crore out of the loan amount of Rs 6,903 crore to the consortium of banks, led by State Bank of India, by September this year. "The consortium of banks led by SBI confirms receipt of an offer for settlement of dues from Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. The bank, along with other consortium members, will examine the same," SBI said in a statement here today. The statement, however, did not disclose the amount Mallya has offered to repay to the banks. Today's proposal for repayment in the Supreme Court was submitted by Mallya, Kingfisher, United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd and Kingfisher Finvest (India) Ltd. A bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman allowed the consortium of banks a week's time to respond to the proposal and posted the matter for further hearing on April 7. On March 9, the government had informed the apex court that Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for allegedly defaulting on loans of over Rs 9,000 crores from various banks, had left the country a few days back. Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines owe Rs 7,800 crore to the consortium led by SBI, which had an exposure of over Rs 1,600 crore to the airline. Other lenders include Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Federal Bank, UCO Bank and Dena Bank. Last year, SBI declared Mallya as wilful defaulter while Punjab National Bank had also declared him, his group holding company United Breweries Holdings and Kingfisher Airlines as wilful defaulters last month. New Zealand batsmen frittered away a fantastic start in front of some splendid death bowling by England to post a below-par 153 for eight in the first semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20, here tonight. The England bowlers came under the pump during the first 10 overs giving away 89 runs but were once again brilliant at the death conceding only 64 runs in the last 10 overs to stop New Zealand from setting an imposing target. Much of the credit must go to Ben Stokes (3/26 in 4 overs) for his wonderful bowling at the death and ably complemented by Chris Jordan (1/24 in 4 overs) as seven wickets fell in the back-10. In between them, the duo bowled 23 dot balls, which meant 3.5 overs went without runs. The foundation of the Black Caps' innings was laid by the 74-run stand for the second wicket between left-hander Colin Munro (46 off 32 balls) and skipper Kane Williamson (32 off 28 balls). Their style of batting was in contrast to each other yet entertaining in its essence. While Munro was more unorthodox and adventurous in his shot selection, every shot that Williamson hit were copybook ones. Once both of them departed, it was Corey Anderson (28 off 23 balls), who tried to keep up the pace but didn't succeed entirely. Anderson hit Adil Rasheed (0/33 in 4 overs) for a straight driven boundary with New Zealand maintaining an 8 per over run-rate till the 15th over. He then hit Liam Plunkett (1/38 in 4 overs) for a six over deep mid-wicket but was finally holed out in the deep by Jordan off Stokes' bowling. Sent into bat, Martin Guptill (15) started on a positive note getting a couple of boundaries off David Willey but his flashy batting cost him dearly in the left-arm seamer's next over as he tried another heave only to edge one to Jos Buttler behind the stumps. In came left-handed Munro and he struck a flurry of boundaries. With an unusually crouched stance and a bottom- handed grip, Munro stepped out to collect his first boundary off Willey but actually broke loose in the final over of the powerplay bowled by Liam Plunkett. A straight drive followed by a couple of boundaries behind the square brought up the New Zealand's 50 within first six overs. Skipper Williamson played himself at the other end with wristy shots off his hips to get a couple of boundaries. The stand out shot was an inside out lofted cover drive off Stokes that went for as the first six of the match. Munro was not ready to be left behind as he reverse swept leg-spinner Rasheed for a six while Williamson played a deft cut shot. The 50-run partnership was completed in 36 balls. New Zealand raced off to 89 in 10 overs before Williamson was out scoring a polished 32 off 28 balls that had three fours and a six. It was off-spinner Moeen Ali introduced into the attack got one to grip and hold as the Kiwi skipper failed to check his shot. The ball ballooned up and Moeen ran backwards to take a well-judged catch off his own bowling. Munro-Williamson stand yielded 74 runs in 8.2 overs. The 100 came in the 13th over with Corey Anderson joining Munro. Munro's baptism came to an end when he slashed Plunkett only to find Moeen at third man having scored 46 off 32 balls with seven fours and a six. Once he was gone, New Zealand innings just fell apart. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today strongly pitched for resumption of talks on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and other instruments to combat the common challenge of terrorism during his talks with Belgian premier Charles Michel, days after a series of terror attacks in the Belgian capital that left over 30 people dead. During the talks, the two leaders covered whole spectrum of bilateral ties. Modi, who arrived here today on a day-long visit, invited Belgian government and companies to pro-actively associate with India's ambitious projects including 'Digital India', 'Start Up India' and 'Skill India', asserting that combination of Belgian capacities and Indias economic growth can produce promising opportunities for businesses on both sides. Referring to various partnership possibility between the two countries, Modi said Belgian businesses can make their global supply chains more cost effective by manufacturing in India. "Clearly, it is not just diamonds that can bring shine to our partnership," he added. Ahead of his talks, Modi laid a wreath of white flowers at the Maalbeek Metro station in the Belgian capital where a suicide bomber blew himself up killing scores of passengers, including Raghavendran Ganeshan, an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. "Last week has been a sad week for Belgium. Let me say Prime Minister that we share the depth of sorrow and grief that the people of Belgium have experienced in the last 8 days...Having experienced terrorist violence ourselves on countless occasions, we share your pain. "Prime Minister, in this time of crisis, the whole of India stands in full support and solidarity with the Belgian people. I deeply appreciate your welcome and the time that you have devoted to me despite pressing demands on you. "As part of our efforts to respond to this common challenge we could resume discussions on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Negotiations on Extradition Treaty and a Treaty on Exchange of Sentenced Prisoners could be concluded expeditiously," Modi said after his talks with Belgian leader. Modi's visit comes just days after the March 22 terror attack here in which at least 32 people were killed. Describing India as "one of the brightest economic opportunities" in the world today, Modi said its macroeconomic fundamentals are robust, and at 7 per cent plus, the country was one of the fastest growing economies of the world. India's goal to modernise infrastructure, especially railways and ports, and building of 100 plus smart cities also presents a unique investment opportunity for the Belgian companies, he said, adding that these partnerships can help the two countries reach new heights in their trade and commercial partnership. Modi said he has invited Prime Minister Michel to visit India with Belgian businesses to see first-hand the reality of India's economic and political promise. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges before mankind and the two countries have agreed to enhance their cooperation in renewable energy, he said. "We would also build partnerships in areas such as harnessing waste for energy, small wind turbines and zero emission buildings. Advancement in S&T and High technology areas is of particular importance for India's development priorities," the Prime Minister said. Noting that India and Belgium share a long history of friendship, Modi said a hundred years ago, more than 130,000 soldiers from India fought in the First World War alongside Belgians on Belgian soil and more than 9,000 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice. "Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of India-Belgium diplomatic ties. To celebrate this important milestone in our friendship, we look forward to welcoming His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium in India next year," he added. Delhi-based designer duo Jaya Bhatt and Ruchi Tripathy, who started their label Indigene in 2010, will be showcasing their collection Transience at the Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2016 (LFW SR16). The collection is inspired by Japanese aesthetics Wabi-sabi; their motifs represent Gurunsi architecture and decorated walls of Burkina Faso in Africa. Talking to Metrolife, Bhatt shares more about the collection, and about LFW. Excerpts: Tell us about the collection you will be showcasing at LFW. Transience is inspired by Wabi-Sabi, a Japanese rubric of rustic simplicity, impermanence and natural imperfection. Hand woven, hand spun khadi and hand block printed ajrakh are the soul of the collection that gives it a beautiful imperfection and an earthy flavour. Indigenes motif inspiration for the collection is influenced by the Gurunsi architecture and the elaborately decorated walls of Burkina Faso in Africa, maintaining the geometric characteristic of traditional ajrakh and its multiple printing processes, yet giving the fabric a global interpretation and a fresh perspective. The embroidered and handmade trim details add to Indigenes signature style in a subtle manner. The silhouettes are simple and unpretentious; the look is never flamboyant, but is stylish, classic and wearable. How did you guys come together? Both of us were classmates at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi in the textile design department. We inculcated similar interests for handmade and natural design processes at the institute. We also went ahead to work with grassroot craft sector organisations on full time as well as consultancy engagements since 2004. Later in 2010, we started to think about our own design company, which would be an extension of our experiences in the craft sector and came up with the idea of Indigene. What is the USP of your label? Indigene started with a passion for all things handmade. We strive to keep intact the real meaning of handmade by artisans and ethically crafted. Each product goes through several hands and geographies. There is a commitment to the artisans we work with and have been continuing this relationship for the past four years. Instead of looking for a new craft for every new collection that we make, our endeavour is to develop a new look with the same techniques and artisans, which is rather challenging. What is fashion for you? Anything that you wear which makes you feel comfortable and confident. Comfort and confidence together make you look stylish and fashionable. What inspires you? As the backbone of our products is hand craft, we get inspired by the many techniques, looks and motifs which are hand crafted across the globe. It could come from wall art, traditional textiles, architecture or even body art. We believe that design sensibilities in the ancient cultures and people were much more refined and balanced, and we as designers have much to get inspired by them. How do you think platforms like LFW can help upcoming talent? Its a great platform, and for us getting selected to showcase at LFW is a huge opportunity. Its a large spectrum of buyers, designers and editors who visit this event. This opens several doors to new opportunities for upcoming designers and labels. Any fashion tips for the readers? Be yourself, it is the most fashionable thing to be. More than 100,000 farmers from 16 states have submitted a petition to the government favouring cultivation of genetically modified mustard, which has been kept on hold by the centre. As per the initial studies GM mustard has the potential to increase yield between 20 and 30%, which is significant enough for the commercial cultivation of the crop, said former Rajya Sabha member U S Mann, who is now the chairman of the kisan coordination committee. Manns outfit along with five other farmers organisations have petitioned the government in support of the GM mustard. We met Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and gave them our petition signed by more than 130,000 farmers, Chengal Reddy, Consortium of Indian farmers Association told DH. Developed by scientists at Delhi University, the GM mustard was under the consideration of the regulator, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee for commercial cultivation, when Javadekar held it back for wider public consultation. A retired biotechnologist and non-governmental groups opposing GM crops questioned the yield of the genetically modified mustard, but the developer and former DU vice chancellor Deepak Pental rejected those charges. India on Wednesday accused Pakistan of trying to defame it by cooking up the story about involvement of its external intelligence agency in fomenting insurgency in the neighbouring country. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that Islamabad on Tuesday released a doctored video of former Indian Navy officer Kul Bhushan Yadav, who is accused of working for Indias external spy agency Research and Analytical Wing. It was a completely doctored video, fake video made by Pakistan. They are just cooking up stories and doctoring videos to defame India, said Rijiju. Yadav was running a cargo business in Iran after his premature retirement from the Indian Navy. He had possibly been abducted from Iran by a small outfit owing allegiance to al-Qaeda and handed over to Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, sources in New Delhi said. Rijiju said that the allegations by Pakistan about India fomenting unrest in its territory would have no impact on international platforms. The video, released by Pakistan Army on Tuesday, has Yadav saying that he was still serving in the Indian Navy and would retire in 2022. It also has him saying that he began working as an intelligence agent after the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought voice samples of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, considered to be the mastermind of Pathankot terror attack. Pakistani investigators will start recording statements of attack witnesses from Thursday. Officials of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Pakistans Joint Investigation Team (JIT) held another round of talks on Wednesday with a senior Indian official saying that the discussion with Pakistan was on the basis of reciprocity and the process of handing over evidence has started. Official sources said Pakistan JIT headed by Additional Inspector General of Police of Counter Terrorism Department Muhammad Tahir Rai, was handed over a list of 300 questions by the NIA. The Indian agency is expecting positive response from the Pakistani side. We have asked for voice samples of Masood Azhar (Jaish-e-Mohammed chief) and his brother Abdul Rauf as also the voice sample of Khayyam Baber (mother of terrorist Nasir killed in the attack), NIA chief Sharad Kumar said after the meeting. Indian investigators have claimed that Nasir had spoken to his mother using phones snatched from Indians before the attack. NIA Inspector General Sanjeev Singh said consultations with JIT will continue for two more days. Pakistan has given detailed response. We cannot share it as it will compromise investigation, Singh told reporters. We have lined up all the witnesses for tomorrow and Pakistan JIT may record their statement for next two days, Kumar said. Pakistan wanted to record statements of witnesses, including Punjab police officer Salvinder Singh, his friend, his cook, caretaker of a shrine the officer had visited in the run up to the attack and officers who had carried out investigations earlier. The Indian agency has already handed over statements of witnesses to the JIT. These include doctors who conducted the postmortem of four terrorists, call records of Salwinder Singh and his jeweller friend Rajesh Verma, whose phones was snatched by the terrorists and used by them to speak to their contacts in Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday and Friday convey to the world community Indias concerns over battlefield nuclear weapons deployed by Pakistan, pointing out that such moves will raise the possibility of atomic bombs falling into hands of the terrorists. Modi, who will attend the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington over the next two days, will first speak on the issue during a dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama at White House on Thursday for the leaders attending the conclave. He will present New Delhis assessment of the threat of nuclear terrorism emanating from the neighbourhood of India. The summit would deliberate on the crucial issue of threat to nuclear security caused by nuclear terrorism. Leaders would discuss ways and measure through which to strengthen the global nuclear security architecture, especially to ensure that non-state actors do not get access to nuclear material, Prime Minister said in a statement released in New Delhi ahead o the Nuclear Security Summit. Modi is likely to tacitly convey Indias concerns over development and deployment of tactical nuclear weapons by Pakistan, without directly referring to the neighbouring country. Pakistan has been developing low-yield and short-range tactical nuclear weapons, ostensibly for possible use in military conflict against India. The tactical nuclear weapons are designed for use against opposing troops on the battlefield. The strategic nuclear weapons on the other hand are designed for targeting cities in enemy countries. Islamabad in April 2011 announced test of Hatf-9 or Nasr nuclear-capable missile, which was developed to be used at shorter ranges. Islamabad indicated that the tactical nuclear weapons had been developed and deployed for use as a deterrent against surgical strikes or incursion by India into territory of Pakistan. Ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit, the US reiterated its concerns over deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan. Our concerns regarding the continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan relate to a reality of the situation. When battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed forward, they can represent enhanced nuclear security threat, Rose Gottemoeller, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, said in Washington. It is more difficult to sustain positive control over systems that are deployed forward. We found this lesson ourselves out in Europe during the years of the Cold War. And so I do think that that is a reality of the situation," she told foreign journalists at a news conference yesterday, the PTI quoted Gottemoeller telling journalists on Tuesday The Union Cabinet on Wednesday night recommended promulgation of an Ordinance authorising use of funds in the new financial year in Uttarakhand that has been placed under Presidents Rule. The meeting, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, also recommended re-promulgation of the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance that his pending in the Rajya Sabha. In view of the situation in Uttarakhand, an appropriation ordinance has been recommended, thereby valid withdrawal of Govt revenue can be done, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here. The recommendations will be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for consideration and would become law of the land once he signs it. Despite the Lok Sabha passing the bill replacing the ordinance amending the Enemy Property Act on January 8, some opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha recommended it to be sent to a Select Committee, which the government rejected. Frustrated by Vijayakanths decision to ally with the Peoples Welfare Front (PWF), thousands of DMDK workers have been switching sides to the DMK with the partys Chennai strongman the recent to exit the party. Our leader (Vijayakanth) was keen to defeat the AIADMK by joining hands with the DMK. But, we were surprised by his decision to join PWF, DMDK Chennai district secretary Yuvaraj, adding there was no point in working for DMDKs victory half-heartedly. Yuvaraj said nearly 5000 DMDK party men, including its office bearers, have been joining the DMK at its Chennai headquarters and in other districts. DMDK Omalur taluk secretary Shanmugam also joined the DMK with his supporters besides Yuvaraj. After asserting that it would go it alone in the May 16 polls, Vijayakanth caused a surprise on March 23 by joining forces with PWF consisting of MDMK, VCK, CPI and CPI(M). The decision not to join the DMK-led alliance reportedly caused widespread resentment among senior party functionaries. "At least Vijayakanth should have stuck to his earlier decision for going it alone. Now, it is too late, said a senior functionary K Madhivanan who also switched sides to the DMK. On Sunday, DMDK Tiruchirapalli district leader Amjad Ahmed joined the DMK with 1,500 cadres in the presence of senior DMK leader KN Nehru. Similar shifting have been taking place across the state since the DMK, unhappy with Vijayakanths decision, has reportedly been targeting his partys district secretaries and MLAs. DMDK, however, said it was not worried about cadres joining other parties. Congress, DMK bargain hard With differences cropping up between DMK and Congress, the latter has been making veiled threats to quit the alliance if the number of seats are not to its expectations, DHNS reports from Chennai. Recent seat-sharing negotiations between the parties have been inconclusive, since the Congress has been demanding more than sixty seats, while the DMK is only willing to part with a little more than 30. For its part, the DMK has also warned that it would approach the GK Vasan-led TMC for an alliance, should Congress continue to demand more seats. Former union minister Vasan quit Congress and revived his fathers Tamil Manila Congress. We have several options, senior DMK functionary P Venkatesan said If Congress is obstinate, we would consider tie-up with TMC or Pattali Makkal Katchi which had allied with us in the past, he added. TMC sources, on the other hand, said it is keen to have a tie-up with the ruling AIADMK, since DMK passed it by and struck a deal with Congress. At Baghmundi in Purulia, far away from the state capital Kolkata, popularity is a foregone conclusion. A chat with anyone in the area and other parts of the western-most district, one of the most impoverished parts of Bengal, even the name of Mamata Banerjee does not evoke a sense of awe, or even recognition. For local residents, who are set to cast their votes on April 4 and 11, electoral symbols mean nothing. Their votes will go to the one local community leaders will suggest. We dont know which symbol stands for which party. Our village headman will advise us on whom to vote, admitted Jyotilal Hansda, a land tiller hailing from the Santhal community. He was speaking for his wife, Hela, and his son, Karmu, who will be voting for the first time this year. Jyotilal and his familys immediate concerns are four square meals. Their source of subsistence is a kind of gruel, made of steamed rice kept overnight in a bowl of water. The accompaniment is often one burnt tomato mashed in with chillies, both vegetables grown in the familys less than half an acre plot. As Jyotilal talked to Deccan Herald on a searing hot, summer afternoon, slurping in his share of the gruel from a plastic bowl, he said that things have always been like this for them. The village headmen instructed which symbol to cast their vote for and they pressed the button next to the suggested symbol, be it the twin flowers and a blade of grass, representing Trinamool Congress, the hammer-sickle-star of the Left or the Congresss upright palm. Jyotilal, however, finds the reigning government acceptable ever since Mamata started providing rice at Rs 2 a kg. Proper roads snaking through the village, an electricity connection, which keeps the two LED lamps, also a part of the governments largesse, and a deep tube-well that mostly provides clean water, have made him believe that this government is good. Now weve the things we need the most. The field provides us with basic vegetables and the nearby ration shop supplies us a monthly quota of 15 Kg rice at Rs 2, he said. Waving her arms around the singe-storey house, with two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, Hela pointed at the walls and talked of how the house with public funds have helped her family survive the extreme temperatures of Purulia, where on summer days the mercury often touches 47 degrees Celsius and in winters it dips down to 8 or 9 degrees Celsius. Even though the house has been built under Indira Awas Yojana, a Central government scheme, she and Jyotilal believe the present government is to be thanked.Baleshwar Majhi, a landless worker mostly dependent on 100 days work under MGNREGA, however, does not seem happy with Mamata. Although not sure who Mamata is, he does not believe she has done much for people like him. Theres hardly any work available. We wish the government arranged for more work, he said. Like most men from his community, he finds solace in drinking undistilled country liquor, made by fermenting day-old rice in water. Political developments mean nothing for him and he does not know of the changes around, he admitted. I have never even seen this man in my life, he said, pointing at a poster of Nepal Mahato, the sitting Congress MLA, who is fighting to retain his seat. When posed the question to him, he asked, Who should I vote for? The village headman, who did not want to be named, admitted that most voters in the area are like Jyotilal and Baleshwar. Affiliated to the Congress, he hopes the villagers will cast for the symbol of his choice and help his candidate regain the seat. DH News Service Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has decided not to campaign in West Bengal even though the JD(U) is in the poll fray in the neighbouring state. The effort is in a bid to keep the Congress and other non-BJP parties in good humour. The CPI has left two seats each for the Janata Dal (United) JD (U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) the two ruling partners in Bihar to contest in West Bengal. The West Bengal JD (U) president Amitabh Ghosh will contest from Howrah (central) seat, while Dr Arshad will be Nitishs nominee from Islampur constituency, which shares border with Bihars Kishanganj district. While the Left and the Congress are jointly fighting Trinamool, Nitish has his own compulsions to keep himself away from poll campaign in Bengal. The JD (U) strongman, who runs his government in Bihar in alliance with the Congress, has equally good relations with Mamata Banerjee as well as the Left leaders. Not ready to rub any of the three major players in Bengal the wrong way, Nitish has decided to keep himself away from canvassing. Sources said if required, the party president Sharad Yadav and JD (U) national general secretary K C Tyagi will campaign for party nominees. The JD (U) is also contesting eight seats in Assam, where Sharad Yadav is likely to launch partys poll campaign on March 31. Besides, the party is in the fray in Kerala too where it is contesting seven seats. JD (U) sources say there is a strong possibility that Nitish may canvass for some of his nominees in Kerala. Meanwhile, Dr Arshad of the JD (U) filed his nomination papers from Islampur in West Bengal. Reciprocating Nitishs gesture in Bihar, the Congress has decided not to field its nominee against Dr Arshad from the Muslim-dominated constituency, which shares its border with Bangladesh too. Roti, kapda, makaan food, clothes and a roof over the head, along with sadak-bijli-paani roads, electricity and clean drinking water, have been the twin planks of campaign that helped win many an election in India. With this at the core of the campaign, Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress have come down on the streets this polling season. All her electoral goals have been met and she deserves a second term, says the Trinamool Congress. Opposition parties are involved in a shouting match, trying to drown each others voices, over who can drive home the message that Mamata has failed to usher in development or live up to her image of a change agent, given her much-advertised campaign of paribartan (change) during the last Assembly polls in 2011. Most people across Jungle Mahal, however, do not seem eager to buy the arguments put forth by the Left-Congress coalition or the BJP. The Maoists were the scourge of Jungle Mahal, literally, the forested area, which stretches across the three districts of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore, even till a few months after Mamata came to power. Since the encounter death of Maoist leader Kishenji in November 2011, a claim contested by non-Trinamool political activists, the ultra Left outfit suffered a serious setback and withdrew from Bengal, leaving Jungle Mahal mostly violence-free, people said. Its only because of Mamata Banerjee that we can move around without fear of being targeted, said Chittaranjan Mahato from Belpahari in Purulia. Once a hotbed of Maoist activities, largely due to its proximity to Jharkhand, Belpahari and adjoining places have been mostly devoid of killings, a common place occurrence in the years between 2006 and 2011. Chittaranjan, a retired accountant with an Indian industry major, returned home to Belpahari from Jamshedpur sometime in 2006. It was only in 2011 that he got the confidence to start his eatery. Most people like us, who have some money, were afraid of being targeted by the Maoists. We felt more scared because local political leaders and activists, mostly from the Left, were being targeted and sometimes killed. After didi (elder sister) came to power, things changed, he said. For last five years, Chittaranjan has been able to keep his eatery open till 11 pm, something unthinkable earlier. Echoing similar thoughts, Shibu Majhi said that these days he does not worry if his son and daughter-in-law sometimes go to Purulia town to watch a movie or if his son returns home past 6 pm. Even at Lalgarh in adjoining West Midnapore district, considered the Maoist base of operations, or at Sarenga in Bankura district, the confidence is visible. Locals pointed out that at places like Jhargram, the largest town in Jungle Mahal, which drew large number of tourists for its surrounding forests, or at Jhilimili and Mukutmanipur in Bankura, where tourists flocked from across Bengal to breathe in fresh air and enjoy natural beauty, occupancy rate at hotels had drastically dropped. Even though these tourist haunts were never really violence-affected, people stopped coming in fear. Occupancy in hotels and lodges dropped below 45%. Things have changed now and sometimes we find it hard to accommodate tourists, said P K Dutta, president of Bankura Hotel & Lodge Owners Association. DH News Service More than 20 ruling party legislators, who are aspiring to be ministers, held a meeting on Wednesday and decided to mount pressure on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to drop non-performing ministers and give opportunity to young leaders. The legislators discussed about problems being faced by them in getting their works done in certain departments of the government as far as the development of their constituencies was concerned. Many of the legislators who attended the meeting were the staunch followers of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, sources in the ruling party said. Byrati Basavaraj (KR Puram), S T Somashekar (Yeshwantpur), R V Devaraj (Chickpet), Krishnappa (Vijayanagar), Priya Krishna (Govindarajnagar), B M T Nagaraj (Hoskote), K N Rajanna (Madhugiri) and D Sudhakar (Hiriyur) were among the Congress legislators who attended the meeting held at a private club. The sources said the meeting was held on the behest of Siddaramaiah. The sources said the legislators discussed about the possibility of meeting the party high command in Delhi in the coming days to complain about some non-performing ministers. They want to urge the party to drop over 25 ministers who are not performing up to the expectations and give an opportunity to young and enthusiastic legislators. The legislators are planning to explain to the high command how image of the party and its government had taken a beating due to the non-performance of certain ministers. The sources said the legislators want the chief minister to reshuffle the council of ministers at the earliest. They fear that the party may not show the green signal for the reshuffle till the elections to five states are over. But they did not, however, finalise any plan on meeting the high command. The sources also said Animal Husbandary Minister A Manju hosted a dinner to party legislators belonging to Vokkaliga community on Tuesday. He is planning to get a plum portfolio if the chief minister reshuffles the council of ministers, the sources added. The government on Wednesday managed to ensure the passage of the money bills in the Legislative Council without yielding to the Oppositions persistent demand to submit the controversial report on the encroachment of Wakf properties. Sources in the Secretariat said Governor Vajubhai Vala had on Monday directed the government to cite the reasons for not submitting the report in the Upper House. He had given 24 hours to submit the reply. The government had, however, initially bought two days time to reply. On Wednesday, it again sought one more day from the Governor. But interestingly, the Council was adjourned sine die after approving all the bills related to the 2016-17 State budget. Opposition parties, the BJP and the JD (S), have been accusing the government of trying to protect senior Congress leaders by not submitting the report prepared by the State Minorities Commission. The report has indicted the ruling party leaders, including those who are currently ministers in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet, and recommended action against them. The government refused to place the report despite Council Chairman D H Shankaramurthys ruling to do so. Both the Opposition parties had complained to the Governor in this regard. Members of the Opposition, who had been staging dharna for the last two days on the issue, continued their protest in the Council on Wednesday. But Chief Minister Siddaramaiah went ahead with his reply on the budget discussion. Subsequently, the Appropriation Bill and other consequential Bills were passed amid pandemonium in the House. And the Opposition parties, who have the majority in the House, however, did not seek voting on the money bills. Members of the ruling party and the Opposition indulged in a heated discussion and accused each other of shielding the corrupt. Opposition leader K S Eshwarappa charged Siddaramaiah with protecting those who grabbed the Wakf properties, while the chief minister said nobody could match the BJP leaders as far as corruption was concerned. BJPs G Madhusudan said his party would raise the issue in the next session, which is likely to be held in June. Till then, nothing will happen. The government should have replied to the Governor on Tuesday. But it bought one more day. It may have to give its explanation on Thursday, he added. When contacted, Shankaramurthy described the issue as the first of its kind in the country and said he had no idea how to deal with the situation. It is perhaps for the first time a government has refused to obey the ruling of the Chairman. The government had committed itself to submitting the report. But it has failed do so. It will hopefully do so in the next session, he added. In a relief to the Centre, a division bench of the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday stayed the floor test, ordered by a single-judge bench a day earlier, till April 7. After giving some anxious moments to the Centre, the bench of Chief Justice K M Joseph and Justice V K Bist stayed the single-judge order asking Rawat to prove majority in the Assembly at a time when the state is under Presidents Rule. The court put off the floor test but not before posing some tough questions over the hurry to impose Presidents Rule at a time when the governor had fixed a date for Rawat to prove his majority. A floor test is the best test and the correct arena, the court observed, as lawyers led by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi argued against it, contending that there was no government in place as the state was under Presidents Rule. Stumped by Justice U C Dhyanis order asking Rawat to face floor test on March 31, the Centre had rushed the Attorney General to Nainital to challenge it before a larger bench. In view of the consent of the parties that the writ petition be posted to 06-04-2016 for being disposed of finally, we direct that the order, which is impugned in these appeals will be kept in abeyance till 07-04-2016, the two-judge bench said in a brief order. Appearing on behalf of Rawat, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi had challenged the permission granted to nine Congress rebels to participate in the floor test. The Centre has to explain by Monday its decision to impose Presidents Rule in Uttarakhand. Rawat has been asked to file a counter-affidavit the next day. The decision is in the interest of our state, hope court will do justice, Rawat told reporters in Dehradun. In Delhi, BJP spokesperson Shrikant Sharma welcomed the order. The order delivered yesterday (Tuesday) for holding the floor test on Thursday had created a lot of uncertainty. The division bench order has given clarity, said Sharma. DH News Service Ordinance on expenditure The Union Cabinet on Wednesday night recommended promulgation of an Ordinance authorising use of funds in the new financial year in Uttarakhand that has been placed under Presidents Rule. The meeting, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, also recommended re-promulgation of the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance that his pending in the Rajya Sabha. Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Wednesday that Student Police Cadet (SPC) camps should be held in government schools across the state to enhance overall development of students. Speaking at the SPC annual camp inauguration function in the City, he said: I feel that the youth are losing values because of modernisation. The training programme under SPC will enhance the overall development of students. He added that the government explore the ways to introduce the SPC in all the government and aided schools across the state in phased manner. Cadets from government schools in Kodagu, Shivamogga, Mysuru and Bengaluru participated in the three-day camp. He said that people have stopped extending help to those in distress. People stage protests to demand their fundamental rights but they corner the fundamental duties. Speaking on the occasion, Satyamurthy, commissioner, public instruction, expressed the departments willingness to introduce the SPC in over 48,000 government schools in the state. There seems to be rise in demand for people with knowledge of foreign languages in MNCs with 3 such companies approaching the Bangalore University for students in just one year. For the first time in the history of the universitys Foreign Languages Department, three major international companies - Exxon Mobil, Dell and IBM have approached it in a single year, according to Jyothi Venkatesh, co-ordinator, Centre for Global Languages, BU. In previous years, a few companies like Samsung, Oracle and Toyota had approached us. However, it usually was one major company and a few domestic ones in a year. This is the first time that three big companies approached us in a single year, she said. The three companies have sought students specialising in Portuguese, Spanish, German and French. The department offers courses - beginners to advanced - in around 12 languages, with a few like Italian and Swedish being offered depending on the availability of students for the course. Sudhir Satyanarayana, who is studying an advanced diploma course in German language, has applied to Exxon Mobil, which has visited the campus. There is usually a good demand for German in companies. They look for language specialists for various purposes both in the IT and no-IT sectors. Functions include invoicing, interacting with customers for quotations and documents. The starting package is also quite good and is around Rs 4.7 lakh per annum, he said. Satyanarayana said there was more demand for people with a commerce background coupled with a foreign language or languages. He himself has worked in the accounts sections of big MNCs like Siemens, Bosch and now an IT major. Jyothi Venkatesh said that at a recent international forum she attended, there were close to 100 vacancies in various French banks for people with a background in commerce and French. During the forum, I got to know that French banks are looking for people with French expertise and commerce background. Besides French banks, even companies like TCS are looking for people with an engineering background and French language expertise. This just goes to show the appeal of languages across sectors and companies, said Venkatesh. Under BUs Mrudhu Kousalya scheme, undergraduate students pursuing arts, science and computer applications will soon be imparted soft skills in German and French languages. Other courses that will be taught are Sanskrit and banking and finance courses under the scheme. Mayor B N Manjunath Reddy on Wednesday hit back at Opposition BJP leader in the Palike council Padmanabha Reddy for his 'charge sheet'. Manjunath Reddy told reporters the bewilderment in the opposition camp is evident after the 'welfare-oriented realistic budget' tabled by the Congress. The charge-sheet Padmanabha Reddy has brought out is not even fit for an FIR. He has resorted to a smear campaign in the wake of good budget we have tabled, the Mayor said. He said whatever scams Padmanabha Reddy has mentioned in his 'so-called' charge-sheet had happened during the BJP's tenure. Regarding the Python-2000 pothole-filling machine, Mayor said it was introduced by the BJP when it was ruling in the state as well as in the BBMP. Financial discipline Manjunath Reddy said, The multi-hundred crore rupees fake bill scam is BJP's baby. The irregularities relating to Python-2000, white-topping on the BEL Road and even the recent Chamarajpet fake bill scam were all related to BJP's rule in the Palike. We, in fact, brought some financial discipline in the BBMP. He challenged the opposition BJP to approach the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) and the Lokayukta if at all they have proof against the ruling Congress.Speaking on the occasion, floor leader of the BBMP Council R S Sathyanarayana termed the allegations by Padmanabha Reddy as publicity stunt which lacks any proof. Gave contracts The advertisement scams took place between 2007 and 2012. When we came to power, we floated tenders related to advertisements and gave contracts, said Sathyanarayana. Taxation and finance committee chairperson M Shivaraju said the BJP's contribution to the City is that it had mortgaged many buildings, which Congress is getting back. We cleared loans on three properties and freed them from mortgage. Now we are in the process of getting two more properties, said Shivaraju. He added when Padmanabha Reddy was in the JD(S) he had accused the BJP of drowning the BBMP in debts. It was Padmanabha Reddy who had said that every citizen in Bengaluru has a debt of Rs 44,912 due to the BJP. Now he is trying to mislead people by levelling baseless allegations, said Shivaraju. DH News Service A Class 9 student of a private school in Jivan Bima Nagar committed suicide at his house on Tuesday evening after the school management threatened to issue him the transfer certificate for arguing with a teacher. On Wednesday afternoon, the parents and relatives of 16-year-old Parthiban kept his body in front of Indiranagar Cambridge School and staged a demonstration seeking action against the school management. The police have registered a case of abetment to suicide against the principal, teacher and the management of the school. According to the police, Parthiban, a resident of Anandapura, hanged himself from the ceiling in his bedroom as he was dejected over the school deciding to issue him the transfer certificate (TC). He was the only son of Rajendra, a flower merchant, and Sridevi, a domestic help. Parthiban had written his Class 9 examinations and was awaiting results. Parthibans classmates, who had gathered at his house, said they were attending preparation classes for Class 10 at their school after the Class 9 examinations got over. On Thursday, a teacher shouted at Parthiban as he was found talking in the class. Minutes later, Parthiban was again caught talking and the teacher asked him to shut up. He retorted, telling the teacher not to insult him in front of his classmates. The teacher asked him to leave the classroom, some of his classmates told Deccan Herald. Later, the teacher took Parthiban to the principal who decided to issue him the TC. But Parthiban requested them not do so as it would hamper his career. He also requested them not to inform his parents. On Saturday, Parthibans parents received a call from the school management asking them to collect the TC. His parents and some relatives went to the school and requested the management not to dismiss the boy. But the authorities were in no mood to listen to them. Parthiban noticed his father falling at the feet of one of the authorities in the school and was upset, the boys relatives said. On Monday, his parents again went to the school and requested them not to spoil their childs future, but no one listened to them. On Tuesday around 5.30 pm, Parthiban ended his life. His mother found him hanging and raised an alarm. The neighbours and relatives rushed there only to find him dead. The police were informed and they shifted the body for postmortem, Parthibans relatives said. The Jivan Bima Nagar police said the school management informed them that Parthiban had failed in three subjects and was weak in studies. Students, however, claimed the examination results will be announced on April 9. But the management has said Parthiban had failed in three subjects and was asked to leave the school. We are trying to contact the school management who are not reachable. We will question them and investigate. Deccan Herald tried in vain to reach the school authorities. DH News Service Rukmini (name changed), relative of Parthiban: On Tuesday evening, he prepared tea for everyone and served it. He was upset but we told him not to worry about taking the TC and joining another school. We want strict action against the school authorities. Had they informed us about his attitude, we would have warned him. Parthiban's classmates: He was normal but he told us he was upset and let his parents down. He also said his father had fallen at the feet of one of the officials and he felt ashamed. He was aware of the financial condition of his family as his parents were struggling to make ends meet. WASHINGTON The State Department and Pentagon ordered the families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel Tuesday to leave posts in southern Turkey because of increased threats from terrorist groups in the country. The two agencies said dependents of American staffers at the U.S. consulate in Adana, the Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave. The so-called ordered departure notice means the relocation costs will be covered by the government. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said no specific threat triggered the order but said it was done out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the families in that region. He said he was not aware of a deadline for the families to leave but said this will move very quickly. In a statement, the militarys European Command said the step allows for the deliberate, safe return of family members from these areas due to continued security concerns in the region. The orders cover the Adana consulate, U.S. military dependents in Incirlik, Ismir and Mugla as well as family of U.S. government civilians at Ismir and Mugla. The State Department also restricted official travel to areas it considers mission critical. Cook said the order does not affect about 100 family members who are based in Istanbul and Ankara. The move comes amid heightened security concerns throughout Turkey because of the ongoing fight against the Islamic State in neighboring Syria and Iraq and was accompanied by an updated travel warning advising U.S. citizens of an increased threat of attacks. It also comes as Turkeys president is set to arrive in Washington to attend President Barack Obamas nuclear security summit. Incirlik is a critical base in the fight by the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State and includes strike aircraft, drones and refueling planes. [See Desdemonas coverage of this story: Jairo .] 29 March 2016 (AFP) A Costa Rican court has sentenced four men to decades in prison for the 2013 murder of an environmentalist and the rape of four western female volunteers who were with him. The judgment capped a nine-week retrial of seven men accused of killing Jairo Mora, a 26-year-old Costa Rican working to protect sea turtle nests on the countrys Caribbean coast. The court in the eastern coastal city of Limon found four of the men Hector Cash, Ernesto Centeno, Brayan Quesada and Donal Salmon guilty of murder, illegal detention, sexual assault and aggravated robbery. It handed down terms of 74 to 90 years for each of the four convicted men, but under Costa Rican law the lengthy sentences automatically revert to a maximum of 50 years each. The three other men accused in the trial were acquitted. The crime occurred on Moin beach, just to the north of Limon, on 31 May 2013. The savagery of the attack dealt a severe blow to the Central American countrys image as a safe, eco-tourist-friendly destination. Prosecutors said the convicted men were part of a turtle-egg poaching gang who grabbed Mora. They beat him unconscious, tied him to a pickup truck and dragged him along the beach until he suffocated in the sand. The four female volunteers with him three Americans and a Spaniard were tied up, held for hours and raped. The retrial was ordered by an appeals court after the seven suspects were acquitted in a trial early last year because of police errors in handling the investigation. Costa Rican men convicted for killing conservationist and raping volunteers By Lindsay Fendt 29 March 2016 LIMON (Tico Times) A Limon court delivered guilty verdicts for four of seven defendants in the 2013 killing of sea turtle conservationist Jairo Mora and the kidnapping and robbery of four foreign volunteers. The same defendants were acquitted in a previous trial last year, but the verdict was overturned on appeal. Hector Cash, Ernesto Centeno, Jose Bryan Quesada and Donald Salmon were found guilty; Donalds brother Darwin Salmon, Felipe Arauz and William Delgado were cleared of all charges. All seven defendants were acquitted on charges of sexual assault against one of the female volunteers captured with Mora because prosecutors were unable to prove which of the defendants had committed the assault. The four men found guilty on Tuesday received sentences ranging from 74 to 90 years for both the crimes on the night of Moras murder and another rape and robbery that was tried at the same time. Each of those defendants will serve 50 years in prison, the maximum allowed by Costa Rican law. In an explanation of the ruling that lasted more than two hours, the courts panel of three judges highlighted Moras work with sea turtles as the primary motivation for his murder. The court rejects that there is any other motive for this murder, said Carlos Alvarez, the trials chief judge. The killing of Mr. Jairo Mora Sandoval was the straw that broke the camels back in this war that was taking place between poachers and environmentalists on the beach. At the time of his death, Mora was working as a sea turtle monitor for the conservation group Widecast, now renamed LAST, on the crime-ridden Moin Beach in Limon. Notoriously headstrong, Mora had gained a reputation on the beach as a vocal advocate against turtle egg poaching, earning himself enemies among the beachs poaching gangs. Despite receiving numerous threats from poachers, Mora and four foreign female volunteers headed to the beach on the night of May 30, 2013 in hopes of catching a glimpse of a leatherback sea turtle. On their way back to the rescue center where they worked, their car was overtaken by a group of men in masks. The attackers beat Mora and threw him in the trunk of the conservationists car before taking the women to an abandoned house and sexually assaulting at least one of them. The men then took Mora to the beach where they stripped him, beat him and dragged him behind a car in the sand. Judges said witness testimony from Almudena Amador, a Spanish veterinarian kidnapped with Mora, and the victims of the previous rape and robbery provided consistent physical descriptions of each of the accused men along with each of their roles within the gang. Recorded phone calls, text messages and a cell tower investigation also placed each of the men on the beach at the time of the murder. [] In his closing remarks regarding the judges decision to give the defendants the maximum penalty for murder, 35 years, Alvarez again looked to Moras work with turtles as a critical factor. Jairo was someone dedicated to the environment, Alvarez said. This crime is more than just a horrible murder, it has also damaged Costa Ricas reputation as a green country. It has scared away environmentalists. [more] By Soutik Biswas 27 March 2016 (BBC News) On 11 March 2016, panic struck engineers at a giant power station on the banks of the Ganges river in West Bengal state. Readings showed that the water level in the canal connecting the river to the plant was going down rapidly. Water is used to produce steam to run the turbines and for cooling vital equipment of coal-fired power stations. By next day, authorities were forced to suspend generation at the 2,300-megawatt plant in Farakka town causing shortages in Indias power grid. Next, the vast township on the river, where more than 1,000 families of plant workers live, ran out of water. Thousands of bottles of packaged drinking water were distributed to residents, and fire engines rushed to the river to extract water for cooking and cleaning. The power station one of the 41 run by the state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation, which generates a quarter of Indias electricity was shut for 10 days, unprecedented in its 30-year history. Never before have we shut down the plant because of a shortage of water, says Milan Kumar, a senior plant official. We are being told by the authorities that water levels in the river have receded, and that they can do very little. Further downstream, say locals, ferries were suspended and sandbars emerged on the river. Some 13 barges carrying imported coal to the power station were stranded midstream because of insufficient water. Children were seen playing on a near-dry river bed. Nobody is sure why the water level on the Ganges receded at Farakka, where India built a barrage in the 1970s to divert water away from Bangladesh. Much later, in the mid-1990s, the countries signed a 30-year agreement to share water. (The precipitous decline in water levels happened during a 10-day cycle when India is bound by the pact to divert most of the water to Bangladesh. The fall in level left India with much less water than usual.) Monsoon rains have been scanty in India for the second year in succession. The melting of snow in the Himalayas the mountain holds the worlds largest body of ice outside the polar caps and contributes up to 15% of the river flow has been delayed this year, says SK Haldar, general manager of the barrage. There are fluctuations like this every year, he says. But the evidence about the declining water levels and waning health of the 2,500km (1,553 miles)-long Ganges, which supports a quarter of Indias 1.3 billion people, is mounting. [] The three-month-long summer is barely weeks away but water availability in Indias 91 reservoirs is at its lowest in a decade, with stocks at a paltry 29% of their total storage capacity, according to the Central Water Commission. Some 85% of the countrys drinking water comes from aquifers, but their levels are falling, according to WaterAid. No wonder then that conflicts over water are on the rise. Thousands of villagers in drought-hit region of Maharashtra depend on tankers for water; and authorities in Latur district, fearing violence, have imposed prohibitory orders on gatherings of more than five people around storage tanks. Tens of thousands of farmers and livestock have moved to camps providing free fodder and water for animals in parched districts. The government has asked local municipalities to stop supplying water to swimming pools. States like Punjab are squabbling over ownership of river waters. In water-scarce Orissa, farmers have reportedly breached embankments to save their crops. [] It is a concern you hear a lot on the river these days. At the power plant, Milan Kumar says he is afraid that this can happen again. We are being told that water levels in the Ganges have declined by a fourth. Being located on the banks of one of the worlds largest rivers, we never thought we would face a scarcity of water. The unthinkable is happening. [more] By Helena Horton 29 March 2016 (The Telegraph) The heartbreaking effect of human waste was discovered when a post-mortem was conducted on 13 beached sperm whales. The plastic we discard into the ocean often makes its way into the mouths and stomachs of sea creatures. A post-mortem of the creatures, found ashore near the town of Toenning in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, showed their stomachs were full of plastic. This plastic included a 13-metre-long (43-foot-long) fishermans net and a 70-centimetre (28-inch) piece of plastic from a car. A man posted a shocking image on Instagram of some of the plastic found in their stomachs. [] Rob Deaville, project manager for the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), said: This is the 29th beached whale around the North Sea coast. I have never dealt with anything like this in 20 years, he said. Historically we have had mass strandings but nothing of this scale for decades. Scientists are investigating whether man-made pollution is to blame . [ more ] Post-mortem on thirteen dead sperm whales finds their stomachs full of plastic By Mary Bowerman 29 March 2016 (USA TODAY) A necropsy on dead sperm whales that washed up on the shore of Germany earlier this year revealed the ill-fated Giants had an array of plastics in their stomachs, according to researchers. Four of the 13 whales that washed up on the coast of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany had the plastic and other man-made items in their stomachs, according to a statement from the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park . Researchers found a fishing net, part of a car engine cover and a plastic bucket in the whales stomachs, according to the March 23 statement. These findings show us the effects of our plastic society, Robert Habeck, the environment minister of Schleswig-Holstein, said in a statement. Adding that the animals suffer. Some starve with full stomachs. All of the whales were bachelor or juvenile males that were not yet sexually mature, according to the statement. According to researchers, the whales died of acute cardiovascular failure, after they were stranded in the shallow waters of the Wadden Sea. According to the statement, their bodies pressed together in the shallows, which compressed their blood vessels, lungs and organs. [ more ] Researchers find plastic, nets in stomachs of dead sperm whales 23 March 2016 (Nationalpark Wattenmeer) [Translation by Microsoft Translator.] Large amounts of waste have been discovered in the investigation of sperm whales stranded in Schleswig-Holstein. Four of the 13 whales had partly large quantities of plastic waste in their stomachs. While this was not the cause of the stranding and death of animals, but reflect the situation on the open sea. Veterinarians and biologists suspect that particularly affected animals could get major health problems through the remains of the waste. That was evident in the presentation of the findings on 23 March 2016, in the Multimar wattage Forum in Tonning. The most striking parts of waste include remains of 13 meters long and 1.2 meters wide protection network, which is used in the shrimp fishing, a 70 centimeter-long plastic cover from the engine compartment of a car and the sharp-edged remains of a plastic bucket. These findings show us the impact of our plastic society: animals unintentionally take plastic and other plastic waste, suffer, in the worst case, some with full stomachs starve. This is an urgent reminder to increasingly tackle waste in the sea. Schleswig-Holstein will continue intensively its efforts to do this, said Environment Minister Robert Habeck. Sperm whales ran aground cause of death cardiovascular and circulatory failure The 13 whales were stranded in January and February on Schleswig-Holsteins North Sea. Professor Ursula Siebert, Director of the Institute for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife research of Foundation veterinary University of Hannover (ITAW), the whales then with her team thoroughly investigated. All the animals were young, immature bulls, 10 to 15 years of age and 12 to 18 tonnes. All of them were in good health and nutritional status. Important for orientation hearing of the animals showed no signs of a severe acoustic trauma and the infestation in the various organs with parasites was age according to normal. All the animals fell into the shallow water of the Wadden Sea. There is running off water lying on the ground, the weight of her body squeezed their blood vessels, lungs and other organs, so that the animals died of acute heart circulatory failure. In their stomachs Dr. Uwe Piatkowski, marine biologist of the Kiel GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for ocean research, found with his students as a whole about 110,000 squid beaks, as the indigestible upper and lower jaw of squid are called. 95 percent come from the Nordic Kalmar of bait, the European flying squid. These species occur primarily in the Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea and the waters around Iceland, major wintering areas of the sperm whale bulls. The beaks were found in a stomach by 21,000 of up to 35 cm long bait squid, which corresponds to a live weight of about 4.2 tons. Last food intake in the Norwegian Sea Siebert and Piatkowski have suggested that the dead whales had last eaten in the Norwegian Sea. The first group with three animals had probably just stayed in the North Sea, the second with ten animals probably somewhat longer. Bones and other remains of North Sea fish such as monkfish, cod, whiting, and sea hare were found in some of their stomachs. Since the beginning of the year, 30 sperm whales were stranded on the North Sea coast in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, and Germany, alive or dead. In addition, killer whales, fin whales, and minke whales beached on the North and Baltic Sea of Denmark and Germany. Porpoises and a blue-white dolphin in February alive on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein found on, but could be brought up on a porpoise back into deep waters. The causes of this heaping occurrence are unknown according to the two scientists. Unusually high temperatures and strong storms, which have been registered in the past few weeks in the northern North Atlantic, might have pushed southward water masses from the Norwegian Sea in the North Sea and the cuttlefish with them. The sperm whales may have followed their main food and arrived, as well as other whale species in the North Sea. A plausible explanation, which is however not proven, since such ecological relationships only with great effort to prove. Siebert and Piatkowski make clear that the occurrence of sperm whales in the North Sea needs no extraordinary statements. All migratory species occasionally stray outside their actual range. So, relocate them to new habitats and can adapt to new conditions. Sperm whale strandings were also not a new phenomenon. More than 200 discoveries on the North Sea coast are documented since the 16th century, including 21 animals that beached in 1723 in the Elbe estuary in new work. The sperm whales occurring occasionally in the North Sea are attributed to the Azores stock. The males of this population spend the winter in the North Atlantic. On their migrations, individual animals mistakenly entering the too shallow for them and food-poor North Sea. With their acoustic sense, it can refer there bad. [] Background to the garbage in the sea In Schleswig-Holstein, was the subject of Waste in the sea a focus of the State Government in 2015 and was accompanied by an intensive information campaign and public relations. Our jointfishing for litter initiative with NABU, the support of plastic-free model regions and waste campaigns help already, to draw attention to the real problem and to bring about a change in society. Only we not can solve the problem that still long, said h.. The Cabinet has therefore just approved a comprehensive catalogue of measures for the protection of the sea, should be applied also to the source of waste in the manufacturing industry, where. The implementation of these measures will be coordinated at the federal level by a round table of various stakeholders in the future. Schleswig-Holstein is committed to necessary legal regulations at national or EU level, also for a micro plastic ban, Habeck said. (Press release of the Ministry of energy, agriculture, environment and rural areas in Schleswig-Holstein) The Mexican communications ministry has delayed the tender process for the countrys shared network. Having originally released terms for the bidding on 29 January, the ministry has cited the time required to deal with the number and complexity of queries and requests for clarification submitted by the contestants as the cause for the delay. The Secretariat of Communications and Transport has postponed a meeting intended to provide responses to these inquiries. Originally scheduled for 22 March, it has now been delayed to 6 April in turn, this has shifted the deadline for proposals by a month, sliding from 8 August to 8 September. The winning bidders will now be announced on 28 September rather than the originally scheduled 24 August. Participants must have assets worth at least $890 million as well as a clear projected 10-year plan. Firms known to be interested include Alestra, Cisco/Ericsson, China Telecom, Huawei, Motorola Solutions and Nokia. The shared network will use 700MHz spectrum that has become free following Mexicos digital switchover, which concluded in December 2015. That's probably more than what you would have even thought of. Alphabets latest filings, posted yesterday, gave us an insight into the pay package held by Google CEO, India-born Sundar Pichai. At a staggering gross annual salary of $100.5 million (Rs. 6,67,01,85,000), Pichai now joins a list of top executives in the United States of America with pay packages way beyond what many would even dream of earning. Pichais cash earnings stood at $652,500 (Rs. 4,33,06,425), in addition to 273,328 Class C shares amounting to $99.8 million. The shares will compound to quarterly increments through 2019, and will translate to direct revenue for Pichai from next year. Pichai also received $22,935 as other compensations. Pichai, once deputy lieutenant to Google cofounder Larry Page as Senior Vice-President of Products, was deployed to be in charge of all operations under the Google banner, after a reorganisation saw the formation of the Alphabet umbrella, of which Google forms a massive part. Pichais present pay package sees him overtake fellow India-born and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who reportedly has a pay package of $84.3 million (Rs. 5,59,49,91,000). Among other India-born CEOs at the helm of international giants, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi earns a gross annual salary of $19.1 million (Rs. 1,26,76,67,000). In comparison to them, Chairman-MD of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, has a gross annual salary of about $2.2 million (Rs. 15,00,00,000), while the last reported salary of Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri stood at $1.4 million (Rs. 9,29,18,000). Pichai, right now, seems right up the pecking order in terms of Indian CEOs making it big internationally. At this amount of earning, Sundar Pichai definitely gets access to a number of privilege possessions, in surprisingly large numbers. For instance, if he were to save the entirety of his annual salary and then wish to spend it at one go, he can buy 242 Rolls Royce Phantom Extended Wheelbase editions. The latest Nexus smartphone, Nexus 6P, is priced at $650 for the 128GB version. If Pichai took fancy to his companys latest creation and decided to spend an entire years salary behind it, hed be in possession of about 1,54,615 Nexus 6P 128GB smartphones, beating flash sale figures of a number of cellphones of today. He could also choose to be more sensible, and purchase the Gulfstream G650 (incidentally the worlds best private jet) for $65 million, the newly-unveiled Bugatti Chiron for $2.6 million, and maybe choose between purchasing islands or a trip to space, for the remaining money. He can also, if wish be, attempt to purchase Cristiano Ronaldo in the next transfer window, with a bit of bargain. With all such riches, we heartily congratulate Mr. Pichai for his massive earnings, and for being a calm-headed CEO at Google. Heres to success, and doing the right thing! According to the new rules ecommerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal may have to kill online discounts and sales altogether. Ecommerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal may be in a huge fix thanks to two new conditions attached to the recent approval of 100% ecommerce FDI in India. According to the new rules, no group or seller on any online marketplace can contribute more than 25% of generated sales. Secondly, discounts offered by online marketplaces have been banned completely. In the first scenario, a restriction of 25% of sales from one particular seller has been made to ensure that no ecommerce website flouts fair trade practices by promoting a particular seller of their choice. For example, WS Retail Services Pvt. Ltd makes for the largest seller on Flipkart, clearly contributing more than 25% to the online marketplaces sales. This will now have to change and Flipkart will have to increase the number of sellers on its platform in order to fulfill the new conditions. Same rules apply to other ecommerce players who depend on large sellers for a chunk of their sales. As far as online discounts are concerned, a note released by the Department of Industry Policy and Promotion (DIPP), on Tuesday said Ecommerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall maintain a level playing field. Online sales such as Flipkarts Big Billion Days Sales or Amazons Diwali Sales have been creating a difficult environment for brick and mortar sellers because of the attractive deals offered on these platforms. An example of how online sales are influenced by ecommerce platforms is Amazons promotional funding route. With promotional funding, Amazon funds the discounts offered by its sellers. It recommends a discounted price to the sellers and the sellers in turn have an option of keeping the suggested discounts. After taking on the suggested discount price by Amazon, sellers then present the company with a debit note of the discounted price and Amazon refunds/finances the discounted sum to the seller by cheque. This way, online sellers dont actually have to discount their prices, as they are later paid back in full by the ecommerce company. Such a practice will now have to cease if the new marketplace rules are followed. The news will definitely create an even more challenging environment for the three big ecommerce companies Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, which already find themselves reeling under huge financial losses. The case had been filed by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. The Allahabad High Court today granted interim relief to Ringing Bells, the company that created the worlds cheapest smartphone. The Freedom 251 manufacturer has been under scrutiny ever since it first announced the device. Recently, BJP MP, Kirit Somaiya, had filed a case against the company, under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. The company had then said that it would cooperate with all investigations. We remain committed to cooperate with any government agency that may need to inquire our organisation for any reason or suspicion. We have already done so with authorities/agencies that have so required, said Managing Director, Mohit Goel. Further, Goel, along with Ashok Chadha and Dharna Garg, the two other principals of Ringing Bells, had filed a Criminal Write Petition in order to quash the FIR filed by BJP MP Somaiya. The court today granted interim relief to the three, with a Division Bench of Honble Justice B.K. Narayan and Justice Shashi Kant, ordering the State Government of Uttar Pradesh to furnish a status report (on urgent basis) by April 5. The court also directed that no coercive steps shall be taken against the three accused till that time. Goel, Chadha and Garg have been directed to submit their passports to the SSP, Noida, within 24 hours. According to Advocate Abhishek Vikram, appearing on behalf of Ringing Bells, the three will fully comply with the orders of the court, and their passports will be provided to the investigation agency. Mohit Goel, Director, Ringing Bells Private Limited, said, We have nothing to hide. We are committed to affordable smartphones to people of this country and we shall achieve that. We will stick to fair practices and comply with regulations of our great country. Ringing Bells business has been under scrutiny by various bodies. The company though has always maintained that it has nothing to hide and will be delivering the smartphones at the original price tag of Rs. 251. Advancing technology and strong cost controls led Electrical Geodesics closer to profit in 2015, though the company still had some way to go before reporting earnings. Revenues for the AIM-traded neurodiagnostic medical technology company rose 3.2% during the calendar year to $13.6m, from $13.2m in 2014. Of that, $7.7m was from North American sales - up from $5.5m - while international sales decreased to $6m from $7.7m. EGIs grant income more than doubled, to $1.5m from $0.6m a year earlier. The firms board cited strong cost controls as leading to a reduced net loss of $2.8m, compared with $4.3m, and it reported $1.2m cash at year end, level with 2014. "The funding secured in March 2015 enabled us to make significant progress on a series of new and improved diagnostic and imaging products destined for launch to the research and clinical markets in 2016, said EGI CEO Don Tucker. The planned introduction of the Geodesic Transcranial Electrical Neuromodulation (GTEN) system for research has led to immediate sales interest from both existing and new research customers, he added. Tucker said clinical recognition of the importance of its dense array EEG systems for epilepsy diagnosis had been evidenced by both an increasing number of publications and growing sales to advanced epilepsy neurosurgery centres. As we near completion of the diagnostic phase of our clinical trial for GTEN treatment of epilepsy at Harborview Hospital in Seattle and begin the treatment phase, we are extending this trial to Huashan Hospital in Shanghai. As international research laboratories integrate GTEN studies with their studies utilizing our dense array EEG systems, we believe it is becoming clear that an increasing number of neurological disorders will be able to be treated with noninvasive neuromodulation technology, Tucker explained. Resource investing firm Polo Resources entered 2016 with confidence, it reported on Wednesday, with most of its investments showing positive progress in the last six months of 2015. The AIM traded companys net assets totalled $73.03m on 31 December, and $75.53m on 16 March. Its net asset value per share was 16.31p at the end of 2015, and 17.23p on 16 March. During the period, Signet Petroleum - in which Polo held a 42% investment - decided to wind down its operations, with Polo receiving a cash distribution of $691,000 and an in-specie distribution of 1.89 million shares in the privately-held Regalis Petroleum. Those shares were in addition to the 3.5 million already held by Polo and brought its total shareholding in Regalis to 13.67%. The company also subscribed to 90 million shares in Malaysian-listed Hibiscus Petroleum, representing an 8.4% stake, though that had since been diluted. Within the period, Hibiscus announced a joint acquisition by a wholly-owned subsidiary and Ping Petroleum to each take 50% of the Shell and Esso interests of the Anasuria oil field in the UK central North Sea, for a total cash consideration of $52.5m. That acquisition was completed post-period end. Polo also held a 7.8% interest in Blackham Resources, which released a preliminary feasibility study in October demonstrating robust economics for its 4.7 million ounce Matilda Gold Project. The company also reported positive progress at its other minor investments, including Weatherly International - a copper miner - and Canadian metals producer Ironstone resources. "Polo is entering 2016 with the financial capacity to both invest and also maintain our equity positions within our current portfolio, said executive chairman Datuk Michael Tang. With improving investment sentiment and prices emerging across the natural resources sector, the Board of Polo is looking forward to an exciting 2016 where we anticipate through our producer sector portfolio investments, Blackham, Hibiscus and Weatherly a year of positive news as commodity prices show signs of recovery." Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn has sealed a deal to take over Japanese electronics group Sharp . Following months of speculation and delays, Foxconns board has agreed to pay 389bn yen (2.4bn) for a 66% stake in Sharp. The final price agreed turned out to be a fair bit lower than the proposed $6.2bn Sharp announced a month ago, after Foxconn held up the deal due to last-minute concerns about the recent financial performance of the Sharp business. The companies said in a joint statement that they were committed to restoring profitability and strengthening operations to once again make Sharp a leader in the global electronics arena and a world-class company with a positive outlook. Terry Gou, founder and chief executive of Foxconn, said: I am thrilled by the prospects for this strategic alliance and I look forward to working with everyone at Sharp. We have much that we want to achieve and I am confident that we will unlock Sharps true potential and together reach great heights. Most markets in Asia rose on Wednesday, taking their cue from the US markets overnight, which were encouraged by a particularly dovish tone from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen in a scheduled speech on Tuesday. Japan lagged, however, with the Nikkei 225 closing down 1.31% to 16,878.96. A weaker US dollar, after Yellens remarks, helped the yen strengthen. It was last trading 0.47% closer to the greenback at JPY 112.17. That led the major exporters lower, with Toyota losing 2.5%, Honda down 3.62% and Nissan shedding 3.7%. Shares in electronics maker Sharp were up by 3.85%, after the Yomiuri reported Hon Hai Precision Industries, which was set to acquire the Japanese firm, had plans to overhaul management - including replacing the CEO. Data released before the open in Tokyo showed Japans industrial output was down 6.2% in February, following a 3.7% gain in January. Reuters-polled expectations were for a 6% decline. In Korea, the Kospi ended the day up 0.36% at 2,002.14, while Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index finished up 2.15% to 20,803.39. Chinese markets were also up, with the Shanghai Composite Index adding 2.76% at 3,000.30 and the Shenzhen Composite Index rising 3.6% at 1,906.76. Before the open, the Peoples Bank pegged renminbi stronger at CNY 6.4841 per dollar, compared with 6.5065 previously. The onshore yuan can trade 2% either side of the peg. In prepared remarks overnight, Yellen said the Fed should proceed with caution in adjusting monetary policy, and agreed economic and financial conditions could be seen as worse off now than in December. She also noted the mixed economic readings coming out of the US since the start of the year, and said the best policy was greater gradualism, though a rate hike could go ahead if the economy grew faster. Julius Baer head of Asia research Mark Matthews said Yellen "doubled down" on dovishness in her speech. "She totally contradicted the four Fed presidents who spoke last week, and any chance of the April rate hike suggested by them is over, he noted. Oil prices rose during Asian trading, and Brent crude was last up 1.68% at $39.81 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate adding 1.85% at $39.00. A selloff in oil overnight was thought to be triggered by a decision between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to resume production at the joint venture Khafji field, at a time when production was meant to be frozen. Khafji produced 300,000 barrels of oil per day.. Down under, the S&P/ASX 200 pared back earlier gains, but still closed 0.11% above the waterline at 5,010.26. After a Tuesday of tumbles, Australasian banking stocks were mixed in Sydney. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was down 0.39% and Westpac lost 0.12%, while National Australia Bank was broadly flat and Commonwealth Bank of Australia finished up 0.26%. Airline Virgin Australia slid 9.33% after reports that its largest shareholder, Air New Zealand, was considering a sale of its 25.9% stake in the airline. Wellington was the scene of another fresh record high on Wednesday, with the S&P/NZX 50 rising 0.6% to 6,714.16. Retirement housing operator Metlifecare led the index, rising 4.4% to a price not seen since February 2008. Air New Zealand also rose by 0.35% after the news it was looking to dispose of its Virgin Australia holding. Chief executive Christopher Luxon abruptly quit Virgins board on Wednesday, effective immediately, and the airline was said to be in talks with Credit Suisse over its options. The airline - majority state-owned - had sunk NZD 442m into Virgin Australia and recently loaned it NZD 145m, though the Australian carrier had made consistent losses. In currencies, the Aussie dollar moved closer to the greenback, and was last 0.43% stronger at AUD 1.3052. The Kiwi also made a sharp advance, gaining 0.99% on its American counterpart to NZD 1.4452. Vodafone 's veteran dealmaker Warren Finegold will retire at the end of June, after a glittering history with the company that began when he advised on the mobile group's initial public offering in 1988 when at Goldman Sachs. But Finegold, currently group business development director at the FTSE 100 company, has agreed to continue acting as an adviser to the board and executive committee on future deals. He was hired by previous chief executive Arun Sarin to Vodafone's executive committee in April 2006 and led the $130bn disposal of its stake in Verizon Wireless, the acquisitions of Kabel Deutschland and Ono and the acquisition of Hutchison's interest in India. Prior to this, Finegold worked closely with the company as part of his managing director role at UBS. His glittering list of successful deals with the company include the mammoth hostile acquisition of Germany's Mannesmann that at $181bn was worlds biggest ever M&A transaction. Current chief executive Vittorio Colao said: "Warren has been an outstanding colleague and adviser, who has made an immense contribution to Vodafone over nearly thirty years. "I would like to thank him for his wisdom, insight, commitment and valued strategic advice. I wish him every happiness in his retirement and look forward to his continuing involvement as an adviser to Vodafone in the years ahead." Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Can you retire abroad on $1000 dollars a month? The online travel magazines would certainly like for you to think you can retire on $1000 a month in Panama, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Argentina, and Costa Rica, wouldnt they? However, Panama has been crowned once again as the $1000 dollar a month retirement king in the travel news lately. The truth is only a very few types of people can actually retire in a foreign country on $1000 dollars a month. It takes a certain type of person with an adventurous spirit and happy-go-lucky attitude to make the $1000 a month lifestyle doable. In short, it takes the frugal attitude. Third world countries are only cheap at first. But as weve do you have The Frugal Attitude? But as weve previously covered , after just a few/couple short years, thanks to the information age/internet, and the very quick influx of gringos it develops, they become just as expensive as many developed regions in the world. So then, the question becomes: Are you cut out to acquire the Frugal Attitude if you dont already have it? We have met retirees that have absolutely no interest in The Frugal Attitude . As one retiree put it: Ive worked all my life, Im entitled to some enjoyment. He was justifying paying 100% more for rent for housing, because he had no clue on how to get it for the local price. And apparently he didnt want to make the effort either. Will this kind of attitude get you the $1000 a month life style in Panama, Ecuador or any other foreign retirement Eden, as the popular retire abroad press calls them? You be the judge. 6 Ways You- Maybe - Could Retire on $1000 a month in Panama 1. Live outside the city center; its cheaper in the country 2. Leave your US standards of living in the US. 3. Integrate into the local culture as much as possible 4. Speak Spanish and blend in 5. Take the public buses wherever you go 6. Eat at home more often than out Heres food for thought. Do you think the writers of these alluring online travel magazines live like that? We dont think so. Remember, they are hyping up a new standard of living that they themselves do not do and would never dream of doing! Please do not misunderstand. There is nothing wrong with going local, blending in, and adopting a simple, comfortable lifestyle, because everyone knows that is exactly how we live here in Cuenca, but most people cant do itso there goes your $1000 dollar retirement dream! So then why are these articles or interviews broadcast on national news media? A parallel term in the retail industry would be loss leader. The loss leader, gets you in the door, see? The Starting All Over Dream Is It Really that Neat? Have you fallen head over heels for the living abroad retirement scheme, um, er, I mean dream? Well guess what, many people fall right back out of love with the dream once they begin living it. In fact for some people the dream becomes a nightmare for this and that reason. Just the idea of being able to start all over in a foreign country sounds so good and seems like a dream come true, but when the romance ends many realize how much they miss from their old way of life and the way things were before they left. You know, all the things we take for granted. Some older retirees are leaving because it is too difficult to learn Spanish, others leave because they miss the life they had, and still others leave because it is NOT WHAT THEY EXPECTED! Reality has a way of popping our dream bubble and at first you may feel angry and confused because you fell for the rosy vision of grandeur in a third world country. Oh well. Dont hit yourself over the head too hard; just know next time that retirement in a developing country is not all what the travel writers make it out to be. Help others see the reality of retirement in a third world country so they wont make the same mistake. Its human nature to want what you dont have. It is pretty normal to read about all these exotic, far-away cities abroad that are being hyped as cheaper and better than where you are nowbut caveat emptor: Make sure you take the rose-colored glasses off while reading or you will not be able to see the fine print. The writers know just the right (key) words to use to lure you into their little world of make-believe. We believe what they say; that everything is going to be better, that well live like a king, well feel happier, lada, lada, lada. Not that the above cant come true, but if it seems impossible for it to come true where you are now, why do you think it will come true when you move to a totally, strange, and different culture? Is the grass really greener on the other side?. Reality says you can improve your finances, health, and well-being just by the choices you make, and it doesnt matter where in the world you live!! Isnt that good news? Why move to a developing country to accept positive changes in your life? Ancient words say: The Kingdom of God is within you. You take it with you, and to do that, you have to already have it! See? Some of these travel writers make it sound like it is only possible to be happy in one of these listed countries they have on their website. But it does not take uprooting yourself/family and moving to a totally different culture to have the dream of starting over. Now understand, were not saying, dont move to a third world country for your retirement years, but we are saying dont fall for all the glamour and hype the travel magazines write about, thats allbecause if you do, you probably will be disappointed when you retire or move abroad. STUDY: Know the good, the bad, and the ugly, so you can ask yourself if the bad and ugly will fit in okay with who you are because seriously folks, it is not better or more enjoyable living in a third world country. It is different, and you will have to make adjustments; there is no way getting around that. You must know yourself infinitely and intimately well. A nice retired couple we befriended is leaving because she cant get the usual apple pie filling shes used to getting at Costco/Sams Club, and she doesnt like all the clouds here. The Frugal Attitude, and be a happy person no matter what is going on around you then you might be okay retiring in a developing country. And for that, check out the Is living on $1000 dollars possible? Yes but not with US standards and not with the entitlement attitudes that many retirement gringos are bringing with them. If you are ready to live and let live, integrate, blend in, acquireand be a happy person no matter what is going on around you then you might be okay retiring in a developing country. And for that, check out the DIY Quito Landing Guide , youll be glad you did; it's coming soon! OSU defense dominates, offense revs up late in 54-10 rout of Iowa Overcoming a sluggish start by its offense, Ohio State pulled away for a 54-10 victory over Iowa. Cary Kopczynski & Co. Valera Filips Tanamal Nielsen Copps In Bellevue, Cary Kopczynski & Co. promoted Koren Copps and Brian Nielsen to project manager, and Angelia Tanamal to senior design engineer; and hired Kellie Filips as a design engineer and Joyce Valera as an administrative assistant. Copps has 13 years of structural engineering experience. She is working on the Saint Paul project in Denver, which is two mixed-use buildings; and Portland Block 136: a 15-story residential tower and five-story office building. Nielsen has 12 years of structural engineering experience. He will lead tenant improvement and retail projects. He is working on TI projects at The Bellevue Collection. Tanamal has five years of structural engineering experience. She is working on 970 Denny, a 40-story luxury apartment tower in South Lake Union. Filips returns to CKC as a design engineer. She was an engineering intern at the firm. She is working on Circa, two 35-story residential towers in Los Angeles. Valera will assist in office administration, project coordination and document preparation. CKC is a structural engineering firm, with offices also in San Francisco and Chicago. Centre moves HC in bid to avoid Uttarakhand floor test The Uttarakhand High Court today pulled up the union government for the imposition of President's Rule in the state, saying that a floor test was the best test and the correct arena to prove a majority in state assemblies. It added that President's rule was imposed despite the state governor calling for a floor test. The court's remarks came after the Centre moved it challenging an interim order by a single bench directing a floor test in the assembly on 31 March, days after President's Rule was imposed in the state. A petition was mentioned before a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice K M Joseph and Justice V K Bisht by attorney general Mukul Rohatgi on behalf of the central government. The petition sought clarity on whether the floor test can be held in the state assembly after the promulgation of President's Rule when the house is in suspended animation. After a two-day hearing on a writ petition challenging the imposition of President's rule in the state, the single judge bench of Justice U C Dhyani in an interim order directed a floor test in the Assembly on 31 March and allowed even the nine disqualified rebel MLAs of the Congress to vote during the exercise. According to the High Court, the Centre has sent a wrong message to the country by imposing President's rule in Uttarakhand. Both the Congress and the BJP had moved the division bench of the High Court after it sanctioned a floor test on Thursday. Appearing on behalf of the Centre, Attorney General Rohtag argued that the court order amounts to suspending presidential proclamation and no purpose would be served by a floor test as there is no government in place. He asked the court to suspend the floor test for three days and hear the matter fully next week. All the nine rebel Congress MLAs, too, on Wednesday moved the high court challenging their disqualification by the Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker after President's Rule was imposed in the state. Earlier on Tuesday, directing a floor test in Uttarakhand, the High Court had said that the results of the floor test should not be declared in the Assembly and instead should be presented before it in a sealed envelope (See: HC allows floor test in Uttarakhand despite President's Rule). The Congress party's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the court order states that while the nine disqualified MLAs can vote this will be kept separately. "The votes of the disqualified MLAs will be counted only as per the outcome," he said. With less than 24 hours before the crucial trust vote in the Assembly where Chief Minister Harish Rawat was to prove majority support for his government, the Centre, in a dramatic move, dismissed the Congress government and imposed President's rule citing breakdown of governance on 27 March (Congress moves HC against President's rule in Uttarakhand). 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. Dundalk act, David Keenan, has won S7Live in association with Carphone Warehouse. Keenan, who rose to fame after becoming viral hit after featuring in a Dundalk based video clip in 2014, beat off hundreds to claim the prize. Earlier this month, to celebrate the arrival of the amazing new Samsung Galaxy S7, Carphone Warehouse launched S7Live to find Irelands hottest upcoming musical talent. Musicians were asked to submit a video recording of a live performance to be in with a chance of making a shortlist of seven talented acts. The response was incredible, with bands and solo acts from across the country entering in their hundreds. Once the shortlist was announced the public was invited to vote for their favourite act and the top three were invited to battle it out on the S7Live stage. Along with David, Sarah Keane from Mayo and Rofi James from Galway performed in front of a packed audience, including special guest and judge Bressie, at the Samsung Store, , Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin. After much deliberation the judging panel crowned David as S7Live champion. He was presented with 2,000 worth of Samsung technology, courtesy of Carphone Warehouse, including the new Samsung Galaxy S7, and will also support an established artist in Dublin's prestigious venue, The Academy. On accepting his award David said: Its an absolute honour to win S7Live. Both Sarah and Rofi James are incredibly talented acts and it was a privilege to share a stage with them. Its always special to play to a new audience and Id like to thank Carphone Warehouse for giving me the opportunity to share my music with them. Peter Gallogly, Marketing Director Carphone Warehouse Ireland, added: Were delighted to announce David Keenan as the winner of S7Live. All three acts were stunning but in the end the decision was unanimous. Throughout this competition we have been overwhelmed by the quality of musicians which Ireland continues to produce. Were honoured to have shared this night with three incredibly talented acts to celebrate the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S7 at Carphone Warehouse. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Foods of fall: Sweet potatoes There are many great foods that we enjoy in the fall. Apples, leafy greens, and of course, one of my favorites, sweet potatoes. Best known... Planning for Santas visit Here at the Early County Museum, weve jotted down our wish list for Santa, and we all wished for the same thing snow! We... 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... As both acceptance and animosity toward the transgender community grow, personal stories are essential to education and advocacy. This story series began, like most ideas, with a confluence of inspiration. With transgender people increasingly in the spotlight, their lives have become more visible but not entirely visible. Many Americans only see what the public eye will allow. Celebrities like Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner may help raise awareness, but they certainly dont tell the whole story of the transgender community. I dont pretend that my new series can tell the whole story, either, but it will look at the real lives of transgender people living in our communities instead of in the glare of the media. The first inspiration for this series came from conversations with people I know. Although they fully embrace LGBT equality, they expressed a sincere desire to know what being transgender means. Im completely supportive, one friend told me. I just wish I understood it. To be honest, I felt the same way a year ago. I am always learning from my transgender friends, and I have learned a great deal more by working on this series. The second inspiration was the ACLU of Michigans Transgender Advocacy Project, spearheaded by the amazing activist and transgender woman Amy Hunter. Heres what motivated me, in Hunters own words: The transgender community will be pivotal in the [LGBT communitys] continued fight for social, economic and cultural equality. Transgender people here in Michigan and other states are inarguably among the most at-risk segments of our society. According to the report Injustice at Every Turn, transgender Americansparticularly transgender women of colorface rates of violence, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and suicide that are unthinkable for most Americans. If we are to stem the staggering tide of discrimination and violence my community faces, transgender people too must win the hearts and minds of the American public. We must amplify the cries of a community that has struggled to be heard. And thats why the Transgender Advocacy Project was conceivedto lift up the voices of everyday transgender Michiganders. They need to be heard by our friends and our co-workers, by the media and our policymakers. The Transgender Advocacy Project is designed to help Michigans transgender residents utilize their experiences to educate the rest of our state about who they are and why their lives matter and to advocate both for themselves and for their community. When I learned about this storytelling aspect of the Transgender Advocacy Project, I wanted to help. And Eclectablog provides a platform to help elevate the voices of transgender people. For this series, Ive spent hours interviewing members of the transgender community and their allies, starting with participants in the Transgender Advocacy Project, who graciously and fearlessly shared their personal stories with me. I say fearlessly because it takes a great deal of courage to live openly as a transgender person, knowing that you could be fired, denied housing or worse because Michigan does not have any protections for LGBT people in its Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA). As I write this, new legislation is being proposed in the Michigan Legislature that would allow blatant discrimination against transgender people, Michigans own bathroom bill. The rash of bathroom bills being introduced across the country count on misinformation and a lack of understanding. The supporters of these discriminatory bills rely on people believing the lie that transgender people are predators or deviants, which is absolutely untrue. A transgender person is much more likely to be the victim of violence in a public bathroom and not the perpetrator. Ive shared a public bathroom with transgender women and didnt give it a second thought. We stood at the mirror together touching up our makeup, and it was no different than any other experience Ive ever had in a womens bathroom. I share Hunters belief that personal stories can dispel stereotypes and discriminatory beliefs, and increase understanding and empathy. So in this series, Ill be helping transgender people and their allies tell their own stories so readers can get to know them. The fact is, you probably already know someone who is transgender and dont even realize it. That has been true for me. And the more we learn about our transgender friends and neighbors, the more we can remove any perceived barriers that create divisions of us and them. Their stories will demonstrate the significant challenges transgender people face in a society where they are still woefully misunderstood and often vilified as a result. But they will also reveal what is clear from every conversation Ive ever had with transgender people: They are people, first and foremost. Transgender people have the same hopes and dreams as anyone else. They want nothing more than to be loved for who they are who they really are, which they have sometimes kept hidden for decades. They want to have fulfilling careers and loving relationships. They want to live their lives out in the open, without fear of discrimination or worse. Every one of the people I interviewed is unique, just like every other human being. The only thing they have in common is being transgender and feeling like the gender they were assigned at birth doesnt match who they are inside and how they long to present themselves to the world. Its something each of them knew from an early age, even if they didnt quite understand what it meant. However long they tried to hide it from the world that might judge them or even from themselves eventually they all recognized that they would never be happy until they could live authentically. Theres actually a clinical definition for the emotional and psychological burden of being assigned a gender at birth thats incompatible with the gender you identify with: gender dysphoria. Medical societies recognize that gender dysphoria isnt treated by forcing someone to conform to the gender they were assigned at birth, but by addressing these conflicted feelings. Most transgender people turn to counseling, and many others also choose to transition physically using hormones and, perhaps, sex reassignment surgery. The choice is as unique as each individual, but the ultimate goal is to express the gender they identify with in their heart and soul, not by biological assignment. The remedy for gender dysphoria is to live authentically. Thats the other thing the people I interviewed have in common: They have the courage to live authentically. Even for those of us who dont grapple with our gender identity, living authentically is one of the hardest things any of us will ever do. The transgender people and allies I interviewed are doing that, in the most remarkable of ways given how transgender people are often still perceived and treated by society. Its my hope to help change that. Transgender people are people, they are our fellow human beings. By recognizing that, and understanding who they are, we can foster acceptance and empathy. Everyone involved in this project has my utmost respect and gratitude. I look forward to sharing their powerful stories. Read the individual stories: Youll find all of the stories HERE. 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Monifa Sterling posted the Old Testament passage "No weapon formed against me shall prosper," which her supervisors deemed to be "contrary to good order and discipline," The Week reported. It said the reason was because the workplace must remain free of "divisive or contentious issues," such as politics and religion. The Week magazine headlined its story: Only in America: U.S. Marine court-martialed for refusing to remove Bible verse from desk. "The plight of Lance Corporal Monifa Sterling seems unbelievable," reported Fox News. It said the member of the U.S. armed forces was criminally prosecuted for displaying a slightly altered passage of Scripture from the Old Testament: "No weapon formed against me shall prosper." Sterling represented herself at trial when she was convicted February 1, 2014 in a court-martial at Camp Lejune, North Carolina. She had refused to obey orders from a staff sergeant to remove the Bible verses from her desk. The court found her guilty of failing to go to her allotted place of duty, disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer, and four instances of disobeying the lawful order of a noncommissioned officer. Sterling is unemployed and looking for work now, Fox reported. "It's a process made harder because of the bad conduct discharge from the military. Hopefully Liberty Institute will be able to restore this Christian Marine's good name and expunge the charge," fox commented. Should posting a Bible verse in a workplace specifically a government site be protected as free speech and expression of religion? Al.com in Alabama asked, "Should posting a Bible verse in a workplace specifically a government site be protected as free speech and expression of religion?" The Christian Marine was given a bad conduct discharge and a reduction in rank from lance corporal to private. A lower court and the appellate court both ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 was not applicable in her case because displaying a Bible verse is not deemed a religious exercise. Although the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals upheld Sterling's conviction she is taking her case to the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The Liberty Institute is representing Sterling. Liberty Institute Director of Military Affairs and Senior Counsel Mike Berry said the ruling on Sterling was ridiculous. "If the government can order a Marine not to display a Bible verse, they could try and order her not to get a religious tattoo, or go to church on Sunday," Berry said. "Restricting a Marine's free exercise of religion is blatantly unconstitutional. "If a service member has a right to display a secular poster, put an atheist bumper sticker on their car, or get a Star of David tattoo," Berry said, "then Lance Corporal Sterling has the right to display a small Bible verse on her computer monitor." Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o... Advocates for parent and community engagement see the newly revised federal K-12 law as an opportunity to expand their impact on states academic goals, plans for school improvement, and other areas of policy. Requirements in federal education law for parental involvement in public schools are nothing new. But because the new Every Student Succeeds Act shifts significant responsibility over accountability and other matters to states and districts, theres renewed hope that parent, community, civil rights, and other groups will have more sway over what has been, in many cases, a narrower decisionmaking process. There are some caveats, however. Since ESSA deals only with authorizations for programs, federal funding for some of these engagement efforts is not guaranteed. And various groups say that its up to all sidesincluding policymakers, advocates, and community membersto become more active so that the promise ESSA holds for them is fulfilled. The new law, like its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act, requires districts to set aside at least 1 percent of their Title I funds, which are aimed at helping disadvantaged children, to involve parents in the school community (although the wording to describe those activities has changed under ESSA). And 90 percent of those dollars must be distributed by each district, with a priority given to high-need schools. Under Title IV of the lawwhich includes a new flexible block grant for health, safety, technology, well-rounded education, and moreESSA also authorizes federal grants to Statewide Family Engagement Centers. Those are a new iteration of the Parental Information and Resource Centers that were federally funded under NCLB, but which parent-advocates hope will play a bigger role, even though federal money for them is not guaranteed. Our key priority is to make sure parents and families and PTAs are at the table with school districts while they are planning their implementation of the new lawthat parents can be there and can be meaningfully involved and not just checking the box, said Jacki Ball, the director of governmental affairs for the National PTA. And perhaps the biggest policy discussions about where parent and community engagement can have a discrete impact derive from the requirement in ESSA for states to consider at least one indicator of school quality in their new accountability systems. That could include factors such as school climate, student engagement, and access to advanced coursework. Public school officials welcome the chance ESSA provides to reset relationships with parents and community groups and start new ones for those and other discussions. Encouraging Involvement Those who support schools parent and community engagement efforts are encouraged by several provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act, even though some of those elements are similar to those in the No Child Left Behind Act, the previous version of the federal education law. Among its key features in this area, ESSA: Requires districts to set aside at least 1 percent of their Title I funds for parent and family engagement activities. Of that money, 90 percent must be distributed to schools. Creates State Family Engagement Centers, which are the successors to the Parental Information Resource Centers funded under the NCLB law, and authorizes $10 million in annual funding for them. Replaces the NCLB laws use of the phrase parental involvement with parent and family engagement in several provisions. Places what advocates for broader engagement in schools say is a new emphasis on school quality in accountability that could provide parents, civic organizations, and other community groups with greater influence in creating new definitions of successful schools. Source: Every Student Succeeds Act Tony Evers, the Wisconsin superintendent of public instruction, cited the shift away from the federally funded School Improvement Grant program as one such opportunity. In 2010, when the Milwaukee the district began participating in SIG, 46 schools took part. But ESSA got rid of SIG as a federal turnaround programalong with its four prescriptive turnaround methods. Evers, who is also president of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said he and other officials now will be able to use input from a variety of Milwaukee community groupsfrom the NAACP to disability advocatesto help create school-improvement models. Now we have the opportunity, because there are no requirements or magic formulas, [to] sit down with the Milwaukee school board, parents, and community officials, and say, OK, how can we best serve parents and kids without those requirements? Evers said. I think this will be an excellent opportunity. Broader Input In many instances, such as with the 1 percent set-aside for Title I dollars, ESSA replaces the term parental involvement with parent and family engagement, which some see as fostering more-collaborative relationships between schools and the wider community. Schools receiving Title I money under ESSA also have to have written engagement policies. Supporters of community schools, which connect schools academic mission with healthcare, social services and other wraparound programs, think provisions of ESSA will give their work additional momentum and their partners more say in K-12 policy. And as in other provisions of the law, theres a requirement for districts parental engagement strategies to be evidence-based in terms of their effectiveness. Statewide Approach On a statewide basis, Evers is hoping to use ESSA to expand Wisconsins Promoting Excellence for All initiative, which focuses on family and community engagement and student-teacher relationships, among other avenues, to highlight and try to close racial achievement gaps in the state. Expanded family and community engagement opportunities in ESSA also give state chiefs the chance to make shifts in accountability policies both more robust and understandable to people, said Evers. Some advocates caution that it would be misguided to draw a bright red line between parents and other organizations in communities that can help schools. Thats particularly true because the most effective advocates for low-income children are often their parents, who have also frequently been ignored or marginalized when it comes to the development of school policy, said Liz King, the senior policy analyst and the director of education policy at the Leadership Conference Education Fund, a civil rights group. We see a lot of interchanges and relationships between parents writ large and civil rights organizations in states, King said. Those who work in and advocate for full-service community schools agree that the new law should motivate school leaders to draw on broader sources of input, for decisions, for example, about how local Title I dollars are used. Community-school advocates say that ESSA will give their work more momentum and allow people to explore new partnerships with local colleges and universities that can provide mentoring and tutoring, groups like United Way, and local community justice organizations. Under Title IV, ESSA authorizes full service community schools, as well as Promise Neighborhoods, which were originally funded under President Barack Obamas administration and work to create cradle-to-career support for students. If a school has intentional ways to reach out to partners, teachers can have easier access to museums, art exhibitions, and specific experiences that students can have through local government, and local civil rights groups, said Marty Blank, the director of the Coalition for Community Schools. Historically, it has been difficult for educators to engage many community members in low-income urban areas in school-improvement efforts, especially over the long term, Blank said. But just as school officials have an obligation under ESSA to listen to community members and not just manipulate them into supporting a pre-cooked plan for how schools work, he stressed, civil rights organizations and community groups have a renewed responsibility to work with schools as well. Now is the time to get engaged, because planning is so important to this process, Blank said. This new law, in devolving power back to the state and local level, should be a clarion call for our folks to step up. Challenges on the Ground However, ESSAs sharper focus on engagement wont automatically translate into help for those who work in the field. Take the Statewide Family Engagement Centers, which would head up parent outreach and professional training in schools. ESSA only authorizes about $10 million a year for the new centers, compared to approximately $40 million in annual funding their predecessors, the Parental Information and Resource Centers, received over five years from 2006 to 2010 under the NCLB law. And perhaps more importantly, President Obamas fiscal 2017 budget proposal does not include any money for the centers. Today, only three statesColorado, Kansas, and Connecticuthave parent resource centers, which now get by with other funding sources, according to the National PTA. In 1980, Richard Garcia founded the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition to improve parental involvement, starting in his own childrens schools. In 2006, the coalition got a federal grant to begin Colorados Parent Information Resource Center, allowing it to expand its outreach statewide. The main thrust was to create parent leadership teams in schools, focusing on campuses with families of color and low-income children, Garcia said. But when its grant ended in 2010, the coalition had to cut back about half of its operation, scaling back to serve only the Denver metro area. Now the group survives mostly on philanthropic money. Its hard for us to do the work, Garcia said. Garcia is hoping grants under ESSA will help his coalition expand again, but he knows the funds are limited. He also knows that grant recipients must better demonstrate how parental engagement can directly lead to higher student achievement. The Kansas Parent Information Resource Center also had to downsize after it lost federal money, reducing its staff from five to three and moving into office space with the states Parent Teacher Association, said Jane Groff, the centers executive director. But the centers staff convinced the Kansas department of education to find funds to continue. The center last year received a five-year contract through 2020 to provide professional training and assistance to schools, Groff said. Groff said she is hopeful that the ESSA grants will come through. For me, its very exciting because it provides an opportunity for us to really scale up our work and build capacity across the state, Groff said. A recent poll of nearly a million U.S. students concludes that schools need to work on building supports to keep students invested in their educations, especially as they advance in grade. The survey, conducted by Gallup, found that only half of adolescents report feeling engaged in school, and a fifth are actively disengaged. About 10 percent of students are classified as both disengaged and discouraged. Engagement levels also show a consistent decrease as students get older, bottoming out in 11th grade. The surveys findings are based on a convenience, or non-representative, sampling of more than 900,000 students in grades 5 through 12 that was conducted online last fall. The Gallup Student Poll asked the participants two dozen questions about their level of success in school, then categorized the answers into four areas: engagement, hope, entrepreneurial skills, and financial literacy. A tenth of American students are really struggling, Shane Lopez, a senior scientist at Gallup, said during a panel discussion on the survey at the organizations headquarters here last week. How Many Students Feel Engaged? Student engagement decreases in nearly every progressive grade level, according to the 2015 Gallup Student Poll. The survey bases engagement measurements on questions about school environments and adult relationships, including perceptions of whether educators value students. Grade 5: 75% Grade 6: 67% Grade 7: 55% Grade 8: 45% Grade 9: 41% Grade 10: 33% Grade 11: 32% Grade 12: 34% Source: Gallup Student Poll 2015 The report suggests that engagement drops as students age because older students feel less cared for by adults and see less value in their own work. Lopez emphasized that students level of hope can also be a strong predictor of academic success, pointing to findings showing that students responses to questions on their expectations for the future corresponded to indicators of school achievement. But even hopeful students worry about barriers to their goals. Where theres a will theres not always a way, Lopez said. The survey also asked students to assess their grades and attendance. The findings tracked with other studies showing correlations between absenteeism, engagement, and academic performance. The results have not yet been disaggregated, Lopez noted. Panelists at the Gallup event explored a number of ideas to improve student engagement in schools. Heidi Balter, principal of Ducketts Lane Elementary School in Elkridge, Md., said her school works to give students a vision of a successful future, with a focus on helping students of color. The school brings together a group of 5th grade black and Hispanic boys to meet with high school students every two weeks, as a form of mentorship. It also took that group on a field trip to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, so that students could better understand what aspiring to higher education means. Boosting Parent Involvement Panelists also highlighted the importance of improving parental engagement as a way of boosting students sense of connection to schools. Many of the parents want to help but they dont know what to do, and we need to work a little closer with them to find that common ground, said Harold Fitrer, the president and CEO of Communities in Schools of Richmond, which works to prevent dropouts and improve students attendance in Richmond, Va., schools. Fitrer said that Richmond has found success in improving engagement through a variety of outreach programs for parents, including strategies that recognize parents limitations. Knowing that non-English-speaking parents might not be literate in their native languages, for example, the school invites parents to dinners where they can explain students work to them. Other suggestions from the panelists included: Rotating the locations of PTA meetings, so parents who live farther away wont feel excluded. Making sure undocumented parents, who might be reluctant about coming to school, feel included. Having students do presentations at PTA meetings. Fitrer also urged administrators to acknowledge that the burden of student engagement and success should be on the entire community, not teachers alone. Khalisa Jacobs, the senior director of communications and development at Break the Cycle, a national organization that fights domestic violence, said after the panel that she would like to see more focus on students problem-solving skills, which the Gallup survey highlighted as vital to hopefulness. There are a significant number of young people that just feel hopeless, Jacobs said. But lessons from the students whove persevered through challenges may offer a path forward for the less hopeful students, she added. Kentuckys House of Representatives has approved a bill that would give free community college tuition to all the states high school graduates. The proposal would eventually cost taxpayers about $20 million a year. Kentucky high school graduates would still have to apply for federal and state scholarships, but the state would cover whatever cost was left. All the states high school graduates would be eligible, including homeschooled and private school students. Students would have to maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average to keep the money. The bill, which is modeled after a program in Tennessee, now heads to the Senate for consideration. The European Investment Bank has agreed to provide GBP 500 million to support a major reinforcement of the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland to improve connections between wind, wave and tidal renewable energy schemes and the national power network. The new power link will help secure the supply of electricity in the Highlands and beyond for generations to come and once operational the new transmission link will supply equivalent electricity to meet the needs of around 2 million Scottish residents. The new investment represents the largest investment in the electricity network in the north of Scotland for 60 years and includes a new 1200 megawatt subsea cable between Spittal in Caithness and Blackhillock in Moray. The laying of the subsea cable and associated onshore infrastructure works are expected to support 600 jobs during the construction phase and boost SSE plcs in-house apprentice, trainee engineer and graduate programmes. The GBP 500 million long-term European Investment Bank loan will support nearly GBP 1.2 billion of overall investment in the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SSE plc. The first part of the loan totalling GBP 300 million was signed this week and the remainder is expected to be signed next year as the project progresses. This project represents the largest investment in electricity network in the north of Scotland since the hydro development era of the 1950s and we are proud to be an integral part of it; delivering value for money while reinforcing the network, allowing for the connection of new generation and providing a more resilient power supply to those who live and work in the area. said David Gardner, Director of Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc. Investment in energy infrastructure across the UK is essential to harness the full potential of new and future renewable energy schemes. The European Investment Bank is pleased to provide GBP 500 million to support essential investment by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc that will ensure more efficient transmission of green energy, enable increased use of renewable power in Scotland and secure energy supply to the Highlands and Scotlands cities. Our strong partnership with SSE over many years demonstrates our firm commitment to support ambitious energy investment that creates jobs and benefits local companies. said Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President. SSE is working closely with local businesses to create a sustainable local supply chain, advertise opportunities for local suppliers and provide opportunities for local firms to benefit from investment in Scotlands power infrastructure. In December 2014, SSE awarded its largest-ever Living Wage contract worth 460m as part of the Caithness-Moray transmission link. The European Investment Bank is the worlds largest international public bank and is 16% owned by the UK government. Over the last decade the European Investment Bank has provided more than GBP 10 billion for investment in energy infrastructure across the UK including renewable energy schemes, national transmission networks and regional power distribution as well as inter-connectors to Ireland, France and the Netherlands. Lending by the EIB in the UK last year totalled GBP 5.6 billion and supported long-term investment in 40 projects across the country. This represented the largest annual engagement since the start of EIB lending in the UK in 1973 which has supported nearly GBP 16 billion of overall investment. In the last 10 years the European Investment Bank has provided more than GBP 3 billion for direct investment in Scotland, with additional investment from UK wide programmes. At the 13th European Union India summit held in Brussels today, Werner Hoyer, the President of the European Investment Bank, announced that the worlds largest multilateral public bank would strengthen engagement to support long-term investment in India. Speaking alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Werner Hoyer confirmed the European Investment Banks firm commitment to supporting long-term investment crucial for environmentally sustainable social and economic development in India and announced the opening of a Regional Representation for South Asia in New Delhi by the end of the year. The European Investment Bank has supported long-term investment across India for more than 20 years that has helped to harness renewable energy, strengthened industry and reduced carbon emissions. As the worlds largest multilateral public bank and a global leader in financing climate action, the European Investment Bank recognises that the time is right to increase our engagement in India. The opening of a regional office of the EU Bank in the sub-continent will ensure closer ties with public and private partners across the country, where our financial strength and technical expertise can benefit crucial long-term investment in India said European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer. The summit also provided an opportunity for the European Investment Banks largest ever financing in India, a EUR 450 million (Rs.33 billion) investment for the first metro line in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh. Finance contracts for the first tranche of the European Investment Bank long-term loan for the Lucknow Metro were signed by Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President responsible for Asia and H.E. Manjeev Singh Puri, Ambassador of India to Belgium, Luxembourg and European Union. Todays agreement represents the largest commitment of the European Investment Bank in India and the most significant support for sustainable transport investment outside Europe. The first metro line in Lucknow is a flagship project not only for Uttar Pradesh and India, but also for the EU Banks strengthened global commitment to support transformational investment. added President Werner Hoyer. The EUR 450 million long-term loan agreed today will be used to finance the first metro line in Lucknow, including both construction of the 23km long new metro line and a fleet of metro trains. The line is the first part of an expected broader metro network planned for the capital of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India. Once operational the new metro is expected to increase use of public transport from 10% to an estimated 27% in the city of 3 million people. Investment in sustainable public transport is essential not only to improve urban mobility, but also to reduce carbon emissions, address health issues and cut time lost in traffic. The European Investment Bank is pleased to support the new Lucknow Metro project and build on our unique track record of supporting long-term investment in sustainable transport around the world. This new support also represents the European Investment Banks first sovereign loan to the Republic of India and marks a new era in our engagement in the country said Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice President responsible for lending operation in Asia and climate action worldwide. The formal agreement of the record European Investment Bank loan was signed in the presence of Donald Tusk President of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission and the European Union High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, Frederica Mogherini. President Werner Hoyer met Prime Minister Modi and discussed the European Investment Banks support to the country in areas of sustainable development and climate action, where the EU Bank has increased its commitment to 35% outside the EU. The European Investment Banks new Regional Representation for South Asia is expected to be opened later this year and located in New Delhi to enhance cooperation with the government, financial partners and project promoters. The European Investment Bank has provided more than EUR 1.34 billion for long-term investment in India since the first operation in 1993. Mexico City, Mar 30 (EFE).- More reading takes place in Mexico than is commonly believed, a prominent author told EFE, pointing to a well-attended giant bargain sale in this capital as evidence. "More reading occurs in Mexico than people think - and than the statistics may suggest - because the statistics take the entire population as their starting point, and we can't aspire to a nation of readers if we have 40-50 million poor people," Benito Taibo, who is well recognized in his homeland for his efforts to promote reading, said. In its 10th edition, the just-concluded Gran Remate de Libros (Big Bargain Book Sale) paid tribute to Miguel de Cervantes, regarded by many as the greatest Spanish-language author, and William Shakespeare, whose plays are widely regarded as the pinnacle of literature in English, on the 400th anniversary of their deaths. Works by acclaimed authors were on sale at discounts of up to 80 percent during the eight-day event, which concluded Tuesday at Mexico City's National Auditorium. Taibo, who gave a talk at the event about writers and readers and their influence on society, said it offered a wonderful opportunity for people to purchase good books - including works by Nobel Prize in literature recipients Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Pablo Neruda and Octavio Paz - at affordable prices. "I took home a collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe and a biography of J.D. Salinger at a very good price," said the poet and novelist, who is currently working on a novel about the love of books that is due to hit stores in the second half of 2016. This year's Remate, which was organized by Mexico City's Culture Secretariat, the National Chamber of the Mexican Publishing Industry and the National Auditorium, included the participation of more than 500 publishing houses and showcased books at 238 exhibition stands. The 2015 event attracted more than 145,000 visitors and that number was even higher this year, although organizers have not yet announced the final figure. Santiago, Mar 30 (EFE).- The government of Chile announced Wednesday a package of 22 measures intended to spur economic growth, though nearly half of the proposals will require congressional approval to become a reality. "The growth of the economy has been quite disappointing in recent years and months," Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdes said during a press conference to present the plan. Initiatives to expand financing options for business, promote exports of services, and cut red tape are already in the testing phase, Valdes said. Nine other proposals will be implemented through administrative changes, while the 10 remaining measures will require new legislation, he said. The steps "are in line with budget austerity, the tax changes have minimal fiscal impact, and the measures of Corfo (the state development corporation) are not a major expenditure," Valdes said. The package includes the establishment of special credit lines for micro-enterprises and small business as well as support for companies adopting innovative technologies to increase productivity. President Michelle Bachelet's government also wants to make regulatory changes that would allow insurance companies and pension funds to invest directly in infrastructure projects. Further initiatives to "reactivate the economy" will be forthcoming, the finance minister said. Chile "faces a challenge regarding growth," the head of the country's central bank, Rodrigo Vergara, said Tuesday. "A country such as Chile, which has averaged growth of more than 5 percent over the last 30 years, cannot be happy" with median annual expansion of roughly 2 percent during the past four years, Vargas told a gathering of business leaders. Re: Switzerland or Germany for a new grad Mechanical Engineer? As for you, you can find also many opportunities in the form of graduate programs in any of the big companies headquartered in Zurich and around. Plus you can also take the academic path and apply for a master thesis etc. Alumni.associations work here quite well, the uni is well connected to the industry. You might need more than 2-3 months to find your track (although you might still do it: right now, beginning of year, it is an excellent moment ot apply for graduate programs!). In any case the PhD stipendium should be OK to go by a few more months. Try all kind of industries for the graduate programs, not only mechanical/electrical, if you wish to speed it up. http://www.careerjet.ch/graduate-program-jobs.html Good luck! Quote: Enrico88 Hello everybody, my name is Enrico and I'm an italian new grad Mechanical Engineer. Me and my girlfriend have decided to move abroad because of the italian economic situation and we have identified in Germany and Switzerland our favorite destinations. She is a computer scientist and has been accepted as a PhD both in a german university near Stuttgart and at ETH in Zurich. Now, I was wondering which of these cities could be better for a new grad engineer like me, with a low knowledge of German (say A2) and a good knowledge of English (say B2). In particular, I know that in Germany I'd have high chance of finding a good job position in a modest time (according to my personal knowledge and some research I've done) but I do not know if you could say the same for Zurich. I know there are good businesses nearby that accept applications in English (e.g. Alstom and ABB) but I wanted to ask if there is a realistic chance for a candidate like me to find an employment in a limited time (say not more than 2 or 3 months... living in Switzerland is very expensive ). Frankly speaking, our first choice would be Zurich, both for the prestige of the university and for the standard of living, but I can not afford the risk of being unemployed for a long period. Sorry for the long boring post, but in a few days we have to make a decision that will change our lives, and any advice would be really appreciated. Thank you all for your attention! I wouldn't let pass the opportunity for your girlfriend to study in ETH, the prestige will pay off. It would really be a pity to turn down ETH for Stuttgart.As for you, you can find also many opportunities in the form of graduate programs in any of the big companies headquartered in Zurich and around. Plus you can also take the academic path and apply for a master thesis etc. Alumni.associations work here quite well, the uni is well connected to the industry.You might need more than 2-3 months to find your track (although you might still do it: right now, beginning of year, it is an excellent moment ot apply for graduate programs!). In any case the PhD stipendium should be OK to go by a few more months.Try all kind of industries for the graduate programs, not only mechanical/electrical, if you wish to speed it up.Good luck! __________________ Sometimes you gotta say WTF?! It gives you freedom. Last edited by suissa; 14.01.2014 at 00:09 . Re: BPA-free bottles? In historic move, Canada to list BPA as toxic August 25, 2010 Lesley Ciarula Taylor STAFF REPORTER Canada is in the process of a historic move to add bisphenol-A to its list of toxic substances, Environment Canada confirmed Wednesday. We expect to conclude the process of having bisphenol-A added to the List of Toxic Substances in Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 in eight to 10 weeks, department spokesman Henry Lau told the Star on Wednesday. Canadas intention was published two years ago in the The chemical used in making plastic has become increasingly controversial since Ottawa promised two years ago it would designate it a toxic substance. Its estrogen-like effects are suspected in creating havoc with hormone levels. The government did The Declaring BPA toxic would not be based on the best available data and scientific knowledge, ACC executive director Steven Hentges said in a letter to Environment Canada. Minister Jim Prentice I am of the view that your notice does not bring forth any new scientific data or information, he said in a response dated July 27 of this year Once a notice is published in the Canada Gazette, Prentice told Hentges, there will be more opportunity to comment or object. Last week, Statistics Canada disclosed that The chemical can leach into food from tin-can linings, plastic food covers and water bottles. Used to harden plastic, it is found in hundreds of household items, including CD liners and, most recently, sales receipts. Canada had been the first country in the world to declare that it intended to label BPA a toxic substance. Even now, the action would have international resonance. In May, France followed Canadas lead and approved a ban on manufacturing, importing, exporting and selling baby bottles made with BPA plastics. Several U.S. states have also forbidden the BPA-laced bottles, and U.S. federal agencies are reviewing the chemicals overall safety. Denmark has banned the use of BPA in any materials that come in contact with food and beverages. The Swedish government is reviewing such a ban. Germany has rejected action against BPA after the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said two studies found the chemical was not hazardous. Link: http://www.healthzone.ca/health/news...-as-toxic?bn=1 August 25, 2010STAFF REPORTERCanada is in the process of a historic move to add bisphenol-A to its list of toxic substances, Environment Canada confirmed Wednesday.We expect to conclude the process of having bisphenol-A added to the List of Toxic Substances in Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 in eight to 10 weeks, department spokesman Henry Lau told theon Wednesday.Canadas intention was published two years ago in the Canada Gazette. The chemical used in making plastic has become increasingly controversial since Ottawa promised two years ago it would designate it a toxic substance. Its estrogen-like effects are suspected in creating havoc with hormone levels.The government did ban the sale of polycarbonate plastic baby bottles that contain bisphenol-A in 2008 . But any further action has been challenged fiercely by the chemical industry.The American Chemistry Council demanded a review of the proposed toxic listing last year, saying otherwise Canada would have pandered to emotional zealots.Declaring BPA toxic would not be based on the best available data and scientific knowledge, ACC executive director Steven Hentges said in a letter to Environment Canada.Minister Jim Prentice rejected the councils demands for a board of review.I am of the view that your notice does not bring forth any new scientific data or information, he said in a response dated July 27 of this yearOnce a notice is published in the, Prentice told Hentges, there will be more opportunity to comment or object.Last week, Statistics Canada disclosed that 91 per cent of people tested positive for BPA in their urine , with levels higher for children age 6 to 11 than for adults over 40. The highest concentrations were in children.The chemical can leach into food from tin-can linings, plastic food covers and water bottles. Used to harden plastic, it is found in hundreds of household items, including CD liners and, most recently, sales receipts.Canada had been the first country in the world to declare that it intended to label BPA a toxic substance. Even now, the action would have international resonance.In May, France followed Canadas lead and approved a ban on manufacturing, importing, exporting and selling baby bottles made with BPA plastics. Several U.S. states have also forbidden the BPA-laced bottles, and U.S. federal agencies are reviewing the chemicals overall safety.Denmark has banned the use of BPA in any materials that come in contact with food and beverages. The Swedish government is reviewing such a ban.Germany has rejected action against BPA after the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said two studies found the chemical was not hazardous. __________________ Do or do not, there is no try(ing). Yoda Re: Ulcerative Colitis / Medicine / Healthcare Quote: JohnKey hello, I have recently moved to Switzerland for work. I currently take the following medications: - mesalamine (for ulcerative colitis, despite diagnosis is not clear and 100% sure) - esomeprazole (for mild chronic gastritis) I would like to know if in Switzerland I could buy those drugs and would be covered by the National Health Care. If not would I have any discount on the price? I am aware I am obliged to have an health insurance within 3 months I am in Switzerland. Would any health insurance cover my condition? Would I still receive support for my medication from the insurance company? Many thanks Kind regards See here Quote: You will definitely be covered for oncological treatment in basic insurance. What you probably won't get into is supplementary insurance (meaning free choice of doctors, fancy hospital rooms, private hospitals) because you have a preexisting condition. But your treatment is covered, health insurance in CH is mandatory and therefore everyone has to take it out. To select the best insurance company cost-wise, I suggest For further info on health insurance, check out this thread: As for the process of signing up for health insurance, the procedure is outlined Beware that if you don't inform your commune of your chosen insurance company, you'll be signed up with one by the commune. Got Insurance, Now who do i tell To be on the safe side regarding immediate hassle-free accessibility of treatment, ask your insurance company of choice if they'll let you pay the first month's premium immediately. That way you should be covered and have access to all healthcare, not only emergency, from the moment you set foot in CH and establish residency at the commune. I'd inquire with your current doctor if he/she can recommend a colleague in Zurich (especially important as you've just come out of surgery), contact said colleague, mention that you've already signed up with health insurance/are in the process of doing so and ask if you can come in for a first meeting/checkup in the first days of your arrival. Have your current doc send your medical records to the new doc. This way, you'd not run into the hassle of having to go to the ER (University hospital Zurich, in case you need it, would be the place to go), you'd be able to get to know your new doc right away ( don't forget to bring your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) - which will be supplied to you by your health insurance company - to the first appointment! ) and he'd have your medical information. A word of advice: As you're probably at high risk of repeated medical treatment and in Switzerland we're required to pay premiums (monthly amounts due), deductible (a yearly maximum between CHF 300 and CHF 2500) as well as a retention fee of 10% of bills, up to a maximum of CHF 700 per year, I would recommend choosing the lowest franchise (CHF 300). That way, you will have higher premiums but will end up with lower medical expenses than with a high franchise. With the CHF 300 deductible, you have to pay CHF 1000 out of pocket if you incur the costs plus the premiums irrespective of how your state of health is, whereas with a CHF 2500 deductible you'd have to pay CHF 3200 out of pocket if you incur the costs plus the premiums irrespective of how your state of health is - quite a difference, which can be especially hard to deal with if you're hit with a bill for the whole deductible at once because of, say, surgery. Also - with your medical history, I'd strongly recommend having your health insurance card on you at all times, in case you need to go see a doctor, head to a hospital or go to a pharmacy to get meds. It makes things way less stressful and facilitates many, many things. Last but not least I'd recommend signing up with the Hope that helps. Best of luck. Hi, welcome to the forum.You will definitely be covered for oncological treatment in basic insurance. What you probably won't get into is supplementary insurance (meaning free choice of doctors, fancy hospital rooms, private hospitals) because you have a preexisting condition. But your treatment is covered, health insurance in CH is mandatory and therefore everyone has to take it out.To select the best insurance company cost-wise, I suggest comparis . They have a glossary which is very informative.For further info on health insurance, check out this thread: Health insurance for my wife? how does it work (especially post #7) as well as this thread Health Insurance- Cancer As for the process of signing up for health insurance, the procedure is outlined here on comparis but I'd recommend you contact your insurance company of choice even before moving here and get the documents mailed to your current address or a very trusted friend's in Switzerland. Then bring them along to your commune when you arrive in Switzerland, as AFAIK you will have to show proof of having health insurance when signing up in a new commune/moving.Beware that if you don't inform your commune of your chosen insurance company, you'll be signed up with one by the commune.To be on the safe side regarding immediate hassle-free accessibility of treatment, ask your insurance company of choice if they'll let you pay the first month's premium immediately. That way you should be covered and have access to all healthcare, not only emergency, from the moment you set foot in CH and establish residency at the commune.A word of advice: As you're probably at high risk of repeated medical treatment and in Switzerland we're required to pay premiums (monthly amounts due), deductible (a yearly maximum between CHF 300 and CHF 2500) as well as a retention fee of 10% of bills, up to a maximum of CHF 700 per year, I would recommend choosing the lowest franchise (CHF 300). That way, you will have higher premiums but will end up with lower medical expenses than with a high franchise. With the CHF 300 deductible, you have to pay CHF 1000 out of pocket if you incur the costs plus the premiums irrespective of how your state of health is, whereas with a CHF 2500 deductible you'd have to pay CHF 3200 out of pocket if you incur the costs plus the premiums irrespective of how your state of health is - quite a difference, which can be especially hard to deal with if you're hit with a bill for the whole deductible at once because of, say, surgery.Also -Last but not least I'd recommend signing up with the REGA (Swiss Air Rescue) - they can fly you to Switzerland in case of an emergency, for a small yearly fee (CHF 30 for a single person IIRC).Hope that helps. Best of luck. My quote is from this thread: Replace "oncology" in my above quote with "ulcerative colitis" and you'll see that you'll be fine. Your doctor here will decide which medicine you get and it will be sorted. No need to worry at all.My quote is from this thread: Does basic insurance cover oncology? Re: Different witholding tax rate across cantons reflecting the needs and wishes of (the voting majority of) local taxpayers. It's not quite as simple as low/high taxes = fewer/more services. How you feel about the tax/service tradeoff depends on which services you use and value, in relation to your taxable income. Also, a Gemeinde/canton may be high or low tax at income level X but tax neutral at income level Y. For instance see this thread, linking a tax map from the Tagi, showing the tax rates at various income levels: Interactive Tax Map I live in the second lowest tax Gemeinde in Switzerland - and receive all the services I need, plus many I don't but nonetheless value as important to the community. The local community, not a centralized authority, decides what projects are worth funding and which are not - and sets tax revenue accordingly. The local school has a very good reputation, roads are well-maintained, snow is cleared, the community is clean, etc. Despite low taxes - as these are considered important to most (voting) tax payers. Some services, those that reflect usage or benefit a smaller group, are on a 'user pays' basis. For instance garbage and water usage is by volume, dog tax is by number of mutts - which I believe is fair. The community has been able to provide the services the (majority of voting) residents believe are needed depsite the low taxes. Or rather, largely because of the low taxes - as those taxes have attracted a number of HNW residents to the community, and those folks pay significantly into the community coffers. Far, far more than the average resident does. ---- Things might be changing, though, with the new 'Tax Harmony' process. It's far too soon to see any effects, but the local papers are full of articles expressing concern. As a canton that takes in high revenues (despite offering low tax rates ) SZ is now obliged to fork over a portion - this last year 162 million - to low revenue cantons. Whether that means that SZ will have to raise taxes to fund services to make up for revenues that are being diverted, and how that will affect the community, is the question on everyone's minds. Each canton and Gemeinde sets it's own budget, hopefullyreflecting the needs and wishes of (the voting majority of) local taxpayers.It's not quite as simple as low/high taxes = fewer/more services.How you feel about the tax/service tradeoff depends on which services you use and value, in relation to your taxable income.Also, a Gemeinde/canton may be high or low tax at income level X but tax neutral at income level Y.For instance see this thread, linking a tax map from the Tagi, showing the tax rates at various income levels:I live in the second lowest tax Gemeinde in Switzerland - and receive all the services I need, plus many I don't but nonetheless value as important to the community. The local community, not a centralized authority, decides what projects are worth funding and which are not - and sets tax revenue accordingly.The local school has a very good reputation, roads are well-maintained, snow is cleared, the community is clean, etc. Despite low taxes - as these are considered important to most (voting) tax payers.Some services, those that reflect usage or benefit a smaller group, are on a 'user pays' basis. For instance garbage and water usage is by volume, dog tax is by number of mutts - which I believe is fair.The community has been able to provide the services the (majority of voting) residents believe are needed depsite the low taxes. Or rather, largely because of the low taxes - as those taxes have attracted a number of HNW residents to the community, and those folks pay significantly into the community coffers. Far, far more than the average resident does.----Things might be changing, though, with the new 'Tax Harmony' process. It's far too soon to see any effects, but the local papers are full of articles expressing concern. As a canton that takes in high revenues (despite offering low tax rates ) SZ is now obliged to fork over a portion - this last year 162 million - to low revenue cantons.Whether that means that SZ will have to raise taxes to fund services to make up for revenues that are being diverted, and how that will affect the community, is the question on everyone's minds. Re: Opening bank acc/taxes. EU citizen, US green-card holder marrying Swiss/moving to Thank you so much for the helpful responses. #Peterneider, tox_rat: Thank you for the helpful information. Yeap, I am well informed about the process on giving up the green card. For now I am deciding on keeping it as I expect to travel to the US often. Also, my career might require me/allow me to come back to the US in the future for further training and I just don't want to close those doors yet. Also, I've been to Switzerland many times and absolutely love it, but also want to live there for a least a year, see if I like it, etc before completely deciding on giving up the green card. If I love CH and decide to stay there longterm, which I expect, I will most likely not keep the green card for too long. I'll just keep it for as long as it's convenient. Also, regarding Swiss citizenship. Yeap, I'm fairly well informed on the process. (3 years of marriage as a minimum, and minimum 5 years of living in Switzerland + integration into society). I speak both French and German (not Swiss german though) and hope to be able to integrate there well! Thank you for the reminder however! #Swisspinoy, Mullholander: Thank you! This is very helpful. I will make sure to inform myself more on the matter, but this is definitely a good start and good to know before I move there. I will make sure we keep separate bank accounts and finances separately for as long as I hold the green card as I don't want to put that burden on my husband too. Thanks! #Bonaire: Yeap, I completely understand. I met with an immigration lawyer recently and she explained the requirements to keep the green-card (it's entry to the US at least every 6 months if I want to keep the right to apply for a US citizenship, and entry at least once a year (not spending more than 1 year outside the US) to just keep the green card) which I plan to do as long as it's convenient. I wasn't aware of the requirement of the IRS form 8854, however, so thank you!! This is really helpful, I will make sure to find out more information on that as well. I will make sure to keep separate accounts with my husband as you mention while I keep the greencard, I definitely don't want to drag him into this whole mess. I'll keep in mind what you said about the properties as well. This is definitely good to know before moving there as we were thinking of buying an apartment together, so thanks! And thanks for the recommendation on the tax professional! That was going to be my next question. Final question, besides the whole taxes issues and having difficulty opening bank accounts with the cantonal banks in CH, etc. Any other difficulties you guys think/have experienced that I should be aware of when moving there as a "US person"? (I am also an EU member and for everything else my citizenship will be EU though and status Permit B married to a Swiss) Thank you again everyone! Hello everyone!Thank you so much for the helpful responses.#Peterneider, tox_rat: Thank you for the helpful information. Yeap, I am well informed about the process on giving up the green card. For now I am deciding on keeping it as I expect to travel to the US often. Also, my career might require me/allow me to come back to the US in the future for further training and I just don't want to close those doors yet. Also, I've been to Switzerland many times and absolutely love it, but also want to live there for a least a year, see if I like it, etc before completely deciding on giving up the green card. If I love CH and decide to stay there longterm, which I expect, I will most likely not keep the green card for too long. I'll just keep it for as long as it's convenient.Also, regarding Swiss citizenship. Yeap, I'm fairly well informed on the process. (3 years of marriage as a minimum, and minimum 5 years of living in Switzerland + integration into society). I speak both French and German (not Swiss german though) and hope to be able to integrate there well!Thank you for the reminder however!#Swisspinoy, Mullholander: Thank you! This is very helpful. I will make sure to inform myself more on the matter, but this is definitely a good start and good to know before I move there. I will make sure we keep separate bank accounts and finances separately for as long as I hold the green card as I don't want to put that burden on my husband too. Thanks!#Bonaire: Yeap, I completely understand. I met with an immigration lawyer recently and she explained the requirements to keep the green-card (it's entry to the US at least every 6 months if I want to keep the right to apply for a US citizenship, and entry at least once a year (not spending more than 1 year outside the US) to just keep the green card) which I plan to do as long as it's convenient. I wasn't aware of the requirement of the IRS form 8854, however, so thank you!! This is really helpful, I will make sure to find out more information on that as well.I will make sure to keep separate accounts with my husband as you mention while I keep the greencard, I definitely don't want to drag him into this whole mess. I'll keep in mind what you said about the properties as well. This is definitely good to know before moving there as we were thinking of buying an apartment together, so thanks! And thanks for the recommendation on the tax professional! That was going to be my next question.Final question, besides the whole taxes issues and having difficulty opening bank accounts with the cantonal banks in CH, etc. Any other difficulties you guys think/have experienced that I should be aware of when moving there as a "US person"? (I am also an EU member and for everything else my citizenship will be EU though and status Permit B married to a Swiss)Thank you again everyone! Zurich Oerlikon-Women Clothing-Swap/Exchange Saturday 9, April Clothing drop off 15.00 - 17.00 Swap/exchange 15.30 - 17.30 Information: Only good, lightly worn and clean clothing to be dropped off. One coupon is given for each article donated. Coupons are used to purchase clothes. Additional coupons can be purchased for Fr. 5 each. Left over items will be donated to a charity group. Where: Cafe and Activity Room Contact: Nora Turay Tel. 044 315 52 41 nora.turay@gz-zh.ch Details please see http://www.gz-zh.ch/gz-oerlikon/aktuelles/?no_cache=1 Bring your lady friends, come join us celebrating beaty in woman~ Cloudia Chen is a portrait photographer specializing in people portrait including family, children, wedding and Swiss CV headshot. Before settling in Zurich, she lived in Mainland China, Hong Kong, London and the South of France. Her photos and articles have been published in various social media and popular travel magazines in China. For more details and photos of her projects please visit her website Women of all ages, do you want to freshen/change up your wardrobe? Bring up to 15 dresses, bags, shoes or accessories with you. With Beautiful You! Desk GZ Cafe is open, you will have free portrait photos in your new clothes taken by Cloudia Chen.Clothing drop off 15.00 - 17.00Swap/exchange 15.30 - 17.30Information:Only good, lightly worn and clean clothing to be dropped off.One coupon is given for each article donated.Coupons are used to purchase clothes.Additional coupons can be purchased for Fr. 5 each.Left over items will be donated to a charity group.Where: Cafe and Activity RoomContact: Nora TurayTel. 044 315 52 41Details please seeBring your lady friends, come join us celebrating beaty in woman~Cloudia Chen is a portrait photographer specializing in people portrait including family, children, wedding and Swiss CV headshot. Before settling in Zurich, she lived in Mainland China, Hong Kong, London and the South of France. Her photos and articles have been published in various social media and popular travel magazines in China. For more details and photos of her projects please visit her website http://www.cloudiachen.com/ This article, published in the 12 April 1980 issue of the Economic and Political Weekly, reports the invoking of the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act in the midst of the Assam agitation. As it stands today--the AFSPA is still enforced in the North East (in Assam, along the Assam-Meghalaya border) and the state is slated to go for polls on 4 April 2016. Events in Assam are moving rapidly towards the inevitable denouement. On Saturday last the state government took the decisive step of declaring the whole of Assam, except North Cachar, a "disturbed area" and of invoking the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act. The next day the President promulgated the Essential Services Maintenance (Assam) Ordinance empowering the government to ban strikes in services designated as 'essential'. Though it was announced on this Thursday that the Prime Ministe r woul d visit Assam on Saturday to hold discussions "with a broad spectrum of people", these discussions are unlikely to be any more fruitful than the ones she has already had wit h the leaders of the Assam agitation, Everything, therefore, points to a crack-down by the government on the people of Assam, once the hurdle posed by the order of the Assam High Court staying the operation of the "disturbed areas" notification is got out of the way. The government needs to find a mechanism to ban child pornography, and not pornography as a whole, without appearing to be a censoring filter for content on the internet. The recent Supreme Court suggestion to the government to find ways to block child pornography has put the government in a dilemma (HT Correspondent 2016). Although the court and the government are firm and committed on banning child pornography, they are unable to find the appropriate mechanism and technology so far. Despite the fact that agencies like the Interpol, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other authorities are taking necessary action to block websites that indulge in child pornography, it is not technically possible for the government as many of these pornographic websites are not under the countrys jurisdiction. Technical experts feel that it is technically challenging, even if it is not impossible, to block these websites altogether. Besides, there are various bottlenecks and challenges beyond government control such as jurisdiction over foreign pornographic websites, control over foreign internet service providers, and unavailability of appropriate technology which can make distinctions between pornography and child pornography possible. Secondly, the court wants to ban only child pornography and not pornography per se as it believes that adults have a fundamental right to watch pornography within the privacy of their own homes (Barstow 2015) and it is an individual privacy and personal liberty; banning pornographic websites would be a violation of Article 21 (Right to Personal Liberty) of the constitution. It is possible to ban all forms of pornography to an extent within the country through internet service providers unless we develop or find an appropriate mechanism and technology which can make a distinction between pornography and child pornography. Last year (in 2015), the government ordered internet service providers to block access to 857 pornographic websites on the complaint of an activist who analysed traffic data for pornographic websites and came up with the most popular sites, which generated a nationwide debate (Khomami 2015). People were divided on this issue some arguing in favour of the ban, while others were against it. There was a strong opposition to the ban, compelling the government to lift the ban, on the pretext that the government has no business to interfere in individual choice; considering eroticism is a personal choice, the people of the country should have a right to decide what to watch and what not and the state has no role in it and should not impose their morals on others. The rights activists argue that particularly in a country like India, where talking about sex is a taboo, and where many young people have their first exposure to human sexuality through these pornographic websites; blocking these sites is not justified. On the other hand there are strong pressure groups demanding and supporting the ban, arguing that online pornography should be completely banned as it is responsible for declining values and sexual permissiveness leading to sex crimes against women and children. There is no doubt that many of these pornographic sites depict women and children as sex objects, demeaning their position and showing them as passive recipients of degrading and/or violent acts leading to unrealistic and artificial expectations and various forms of physical, mental and sexual abuse. These unrealistic and artificial representations often pressures the victims to enact or consent to acts which they find demeaning having negative mental and psychological health outcomes and consequences. Pornography and pornographic imagery have become pervasive, easily available, and has infiltrated the masses where everyone has free access to it through mobile and internet technology. India is on the verge of the information technology revolution led by connectivity and the digital revolution (IAMAI 2009, 2015) with 213 million (as of June 2015) mobile internet users and 302 million (as of December 2014) internet users. The number of internet users is increasing exponentially in India and it is estimated that this number will be more than 500 million by the year 2018. Interestingly, this growth includes rural areas where it is estimated that there will be around 280 million internet users by the year 2018 (Shah et al 2014). In such a scenario, the government should think about borrowing technologies from other countries or develop an alternate technology or a mechanism to ban child pornography. It is a real dilemma for the central government to take a position on this issue. Even though the government believes that pornography should be banned completely, it would be difficult for them to stand with it, considering the ongoing debate about suppression of rights and freedom of expression under the current government as many believe that it is a government design to create a government controlled web filter for India and control media and its freedom of expression. The government, through concerted efforts of all stakeholders, would need to find some mechanism with the help of technology to ban child pornography. References Barstow, David (2015): India Blocks 857 Pornography Websites, Defying Supreme Court Decision, New York Times, 3 August, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/world/asia/india-orders-blocking-of-857-pornography-websites-targeted-by-activist.html?_r=1. HT Correspondent (2016): Block Porn Sites Showing Child Pornography: SC, Hindustan Times, 27 February, http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/tough-to-block-porn-sites-but-act-on-those-involving-children-sc/story-903nujBIFjtrrvSmqGPCbN.html. IAMAI (2009): Digital India: A Call for Action, http://www.iamai.in/Upload/policy/IAMAI%20-%20Vision%20Document.pdf. IAMAI (2015): 2014-2015? The Big Internet Numbers, Press Release, 2 September, http://www.iamai.in/PRelease_Detail.aspx?nid=3626&NMonth=9&NYear=2015. Khomami, Nadia (2015): India Lifts Ban on Internet Pornography after Criticism, Guardian, 5 August, http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/05/india-lifts-ban-on-internet-pornography-after-criticisms. Shah, A, N Jain and S Bajpai (2014): India@Digital.Bharat: Creating a $200 Billion Internet Economy, Boston Consulting Group and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), http://www.bcgindia.com/documents/file180687.pdf. Bhagat Singh had a number of political choices before him but the fact that he consciously abjured them in favour of a fiery independence, atheism and internationalism is worthy of introspection, if not emulation. On the evening of 23 March 1931, three young socialist revolutionaries Bhagat Singh (b 1907), Sukhdev Thapar (b 1907) and Shivaram Rajguru (b 1908) of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, a revolutionary organisation dedicated to the armed overthrow of the British Raj, were hung in the Lahore jail by the British. Their bodies were smuggled out at night and cremated secretly by the police. The convicts request for a firing squad, considered appropriate for the execution of prisoners of war, was turned down by the authorities because it was important for the government to not recognise the revolutionaries as political prisoners. Introducing Marxism This year Indians across the world will observe the 85th anniversary of this momentous event in a context marked by serious questions of the self and nationhood in our globalised consumerist lives. In this season of delicate hysterical nationalism a re-examination of Bhagat Singhs political legacy, to sift the grain from the chaff in the story of the Shahid-e-Azam told innumerable times in the media, academia and Hindi cinema becomes necessary. Let us begin this non Bollywoodisation of the revolutionary with what the late Bipan Chandra, in 1979, wrote in the introduction to Bhagat Singhs remarkable essay Why I am an Atheist, Bhagat Singh was not only one of Indias greatest freedom fighters and revolutionary socialists, but also one of its early Marxist thinkers and ideologues. Unfortunately, this last aspect is relatively unknown with the result that all sorts of reactionaries, obscurantists and communalists have been wrongly and dishonestly trying to utilise for their own politics and ideologies the name and fame of Bhagat Singh and his comrades such as Chandra Shekhar Azad. (Shahid Bhagat Singh Research Committee 1979) Every year people and politicians of all shades remember Bhagat Singh and his comrades as a matter of annual ritual on 23 March. Eighty five years after his execution, the year 2016 may not turn out to be unusual in this respecthe will be remembered only to be forgotten and betrayed the very next day. Going by what is happening in India these days, I suspect his memory will be celebrated with a shrill vehemence this year in all political quarters. But, this short essay asserts, the legacy of Bhagat Singh can rightfully be claimed only by the followers of Lenin, Trotsky, rationalism, internationalism and atheismcharacters who risk being labeled anti-national by the powers that be and media controlled by them. Anyway, a list of his true heirs would exclude both the Stalinists and the legatees of Mussolini and Hitler because no adversary of freedom, introspection and criticism can claim to understand, leave alone appropriate, the work, evolution and ideas of that remarkable young man. Internationalism Early On In many ways Bhagat Singh was a born revolutionary. His family was connected with the Ghadar movement which needs no introduction to the students of anti-colonial Indian nationalism. While the Ghadar fervour ran in his blood, the boy Bhagat Singh was impressed by the history of Giuseppe Mazzinis Young Italy movement. This influence of the youthful movements of the Italian Risorgimento on the psyche of Bhagat Singh seems to have converted him to an abiding internationalism quite early in life besides making him a revolutionary patriot. The 191819 revolt in the Punjab, especially the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre, turned the 12-year-old into an anti-imperialist warrior. However, the young mans restive mind swiftly outgrew the confines of a theistic middle class nationalism woven around the symbols of Non-Cooperation and Khilafat. In sum, his enthusiasm for Gandhian nationalism was short lived. He swiftly grew out of nationalism and moved towards a revolutionary movement which had a history stretching back, at least, to the Swadeshi Movement of 1905. Sometime in 192526, he would later confess, being a romantic idealist revolutionary no longer satisfied him. Disillusioned by the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation movement by Gandhi in 1922, and the outbreak of serious communal riots, Bhagat Singh joined the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) founded in 1924 by firebrands like Sachindra Nath Sanyal and Ramprasad Bismilboth god fearing Anushilan type revolutionaries. After 1924, and also because of the successful Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, numerous Indian revolutionaries were transformed into Marxist patriots. Several of them, including Bhagat Singh, gathered at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi to rename the HRA the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928. Prior to this Bhagat Singh had read a number of books and articles on the October Revolution and Lenin became his ideal. Familiar with the writings of Marx and Bakunin, he critiqued nationalism, anarchism, non-violence, terrorism, religion, theism and communalism relentlessly. In his view criticism and independent thinking were the indispensable qualities of a revolutionary. Thus, at an early age, he realised that it is difficult to live as a rational person in a society where the majority is afflicted by the disease of mental stagnation. Thus the majoritarian political nonsense of our day, that the majority is correct and must prevail at any cost to civil society, would have invited Bhagat Singhs ridicule and refutation. Philosophical Influences It would be wrong to view Bhagat Singhs appeal to reason and his conversion to an incorrigible atheism as movements of an intellect influenced only by Marxism and Anarchism. Before his critics accuse him of being influenced by occidental ideas they should examine his perspective on the rational element in Indian philosophy. He referred to Charvak, the ancient Indian materialist philosopher who had challenged the authority of God. He was aware of the need to use the experiments and expressions of the ancient Savants and thinkers in the struggle against ignorance. The tradition of questioning orthodoxy handed down to us by the critics of the past and not the hue and cry of faith was important to the young revolutionary. Those who pin the badge of nationalism on their chest and display not the slightest hesitation in demonising any view contrary to theirs must read the following words penned by Bhagat Singh, Any man who stands for progress has to criticize, disbelieve and challenge every item of the old faith. Item by item he has to reason out every nook and corner of the prevailing faith. If after considerable reasoning one is led to believe in any theory or philosophy, his faith is welcomed. His reasoning can be mistaken, wrong, misled and sometimes fallacious. But he is liable to correction because reason is the guiding star of his life. But mere faith and blind faith is dangerous: it dulls the brain, and makes a man reactionary. (Shahid Bhagat Singh Research Committee 1979) Bhagat Singh became an atheist at a time when most Indian revolutionaries were deeply religious. Sachindra Nath Sanyal, transported to the Andaman Islands for life by the British, was his early idol and Sanyals theistic Bandi Jeevan inspired him in the beginning. Ramprasad Bismil, he noted, was an orthodox Arya Samajist. Another comrade Rajen Lahiri could not suppress his desire of reciting hymns of the Upanishads and the Gita. All four famous Kakori martyrspassed their last day in prayers. Bhagat Singh rejected this mysticism in favour of dialectical materialism and a dialogical approach to knowledge. In Bhagat Singhs considered opinion his atheism and revolutionary socialism were not symptoms of his vanity. When accused of vanity by a friend who asked him to pray while awaiting death, he chose to write Why I am an Atheist as a response to the charge. This remarkable tract demonstrates the true revolutionarys ability to self-interrogate and arrive at rational solutions to the problems of belief and ideology. Bhagat Singh had recited the Gayatri Mantra for hours and hours in addition to the morning and evening prayers as a school student in Lahore as a perfect devotee. He evolved from that Arya Samaj state of devotion to God into a radical nationalist. Very soon thereafter he transformed into an idealist revolutionary and, finally, he became a Marxist, atheistic revolutionary committed to a world free of injustice and dogma. The numerous critics of Marx among us who do not understand the difference between Stalinism and Marxism can never truly appreciate the reverence Bhagat Singh developed for Marx, Trotsky and Lenin. The country was important to him but this country was not the abstract geographical or iconic entity of a thin skinned xenophobic paranoid nationalism. Bhagat Singh loved India and its people but his idea of India was different from the idea of India entertained by the nationalists and communalists. His India comprised the millions upon millions of human beings in slums and huts whose blood is sucked by the capitalist vampires. God, to Bhagat Singh, was Nero and the nation or country its poor exploited people whose hope lay only in scientific socialism. He realised that the road to reason, science and socialism had to run through the heavily mined fields of faith, superstition, capital and Godliness but this was the only road, he came to argue with the help of reason, worth taking for the true revolutionary. Finally Bhagat Singh must be placed in the social context of the 1920s when Fascism and Communism both were becoming world movements. In the early 1920s the Soviet Union had emerged as the first socialist state in human history under Lenins overall direction. Twelve years before Singh was hanged, Mussolini laid down the foundation of a Fascist movement which would cause the rise of ultra-nationalism in many countries on 23 March 1919 in Milan. His Fasci Italiani da Combattimento metamorphosed into the Fascist Party which inspired the rise of National Socialism (Nazism) in Germanyan ideology much admired by the Hindu Right till date. Bhagat Singh was a teen when the All India Hindu Mahasabha came into existence in 1921 and the RSS was established in 1925. The Communist Party of India (CPI) was formally established in December, 1925. It is well known that many Hindu Nationalists and Communists had old connections with the revolutionary groups like the Anushilan and Yugantar. In sum, as a young revolutionary patriot alive to national and international developments in the 1920s, Bhagat Singh had a number of political choices but the fact that he consciously abjured them in favour of a fiery independence evident in each word of Why I am an Atheist is worthy of more introspection and, if possible, emulation. References Shahid Bhagat Singh Research Committee (1979): Why I am an Atheist, Delhi: Mayur Press. Issuing one-time password (OTP) tokens to third-party organizations to provide privileged remote access to your network can lead to a data security disaster, warned research director Felix Gaehtgens at the Gartner Identity and Access Management (IAM) Conference in London earlier this month. For employees or contractors working internally who need privileged access, having OTP is great. But not for external third party workers, he said. Why? Because third parties leave OTPs on their desks; when they go on holiday they leave them for other people to use. It happens all the time. Some third-party organizations even hang one-time password tokens on a wall with the name of the companies they belong to, facing a webcam. That way staff can connect to the webcam from their homes and use the OTP token, Gaehtgens warned. Aside from these kinds of obvious data security risks, a big problem with shared password tokens is accountability. There is no way of telling exactly who accessed your systems remotely and no way of limiting the remote access granted to particular individuals to the specific systems that they need. What can companies do to address these kinds of identity and access management issues? Try IAM by Phone A partial solution to this problem, Gaehtgens suggested, is to replace OTP tokens with something more personal. What you need to do is choose something that is hideous to share, like something linked to a particular mobile phone, he said. Thats because a worker isnt going to leave his phone behind when he goes away on holiday. Phone-based authentication systems are provided by vendors including SecurEnvoy, Duo Security, Gemalto, Google Authenticator and others. Appoint IAM Sponsors and Delegates Keeping track of external third-party workers who need privileged access to your systems can be extremely difficult, not least because you never get to meet them face-to-face. For that reason, Gaehtgens recommended using one of two systems to manage them. With smaller external companies he recommends a sponsor approach, where internal employees act as sponsors for external workers and keeps track of them, ensuring they get the access and privileges they need, when they need them. The sponsorship approach may not be practical, however, if the external third-party organization is large, with high staff turnover. For those organizations, Gaehtgens recommends a delegate approach where responsibility for external staff is delegated to a suitable manager at the third-party organization. When I suggest this people say Ooh, are you going to delegate third-party privileged access to a third party? said Gaehtgens. The answer is no. They have to make a request to your organization for access for a particular employee. But they can de-authorize their own people (for example when they leave the organization). Limit Third Party Access Authentication systems are often used to provide long-term access to network resources, but short-term access is typically more appropriate for third parties like vendors who may need access to a system for a specific purpose. So you need to be able to say You can access this system for four hours and give out privileges in small chunks, Gaehtgens said. Instead of the general sys admin model, you need to give them just what they need. Inevitably youll find that the same people will require access to the same systems for related purposes again in the future, so its important to make sure that you can re-use privilege grants easily, Gaehtgens pointed out. That ensures you dont have to go through all the bureaucratic hoops to get it all over again. Use PAM and SAPM Tools A good way to manage third-party access privileges is by using privilege access management (PAM) and shared account password management (SAPM) tools. These identity access management tools can be used to create accounts with limited privileges that are suited to different specific activities. The accounts can be shared and used by anyone who needs to carry out a specific activity. The idea of shared accounts sounds anathema to data security, but Gaehtgens said there is nothing wrong with account sharing as long as you have a control platform that keeps track of who is logged in to a given account at any time, and which keeps the account passwords in a vault so that individual users of an account never get access to the passwords themselves. Instead the SAPM tool checks out a password and enters it without the user ever seeing it. Vendors of these types of IAM tools include Lieberman Software, CyberArk and BeyondTrust. Address IAM and the Endpoint An important part of the puzzle is providing a secure way for external third-party workers to access your systems from the endpoint that they are using remotely. Some organizations ship out company-owned laptops to external workers, but Gaehtgens said this is a bad idea as there is no way to ensure that they remain free of malware. Instead he recommends an identity and access management setup that requires third-party workers to connect from their client machine through a corporate firewall to a secure Jump Server, and then on to a PAM server. From there they can connect to data center resources directly, or via a VDI client running fat client software. Get IAM on the Record When third parties have privileged access to your systems, Gaehtgens said its important to record at least some of their sessions. You should let everyone know they are being recorded; at the very least this should make people less sloppy, he advised. As well as recording sessions, Gaehtgens said it is vital that you view them from time to time. That may sound time consuming, but there are intelligent tools that can help you zoom in on the important parts of recordings. Some even capture the text on screens into text files so you can search a session and move straight to a part you want to scrutinize. Vendors of these types of identity and access management tools include BalaBit, Wallix Group, Bomgar and SecureLink. Viewing these sessions can yield valuable information, Gaehtgens concludes. Every so often you will see a complete idiot who you never want on your systems again, as they clearly dont know what they are doing, he said. But you may also learn something. Third parties may do something better than you, so you can watch what they do and use it to build up your best practices. Want more advice? Check out our five best practices for reducing third-party security risks, with tips from experts like Joe Schorr, Bomgars director of Advanced Security Solutions and Veracode co-founder and CTO Chris Wysopal. Several major companies were recently breached by phishing scams that exposed significant amounts of employee information, including Sprouts Farmers Market, Seagate Technology, and Ryman Hospitality Properties, the parent company of the Grand Ole Opry. Ryman Hospitality first learned of the breach on March 23, Billboard reports. An employee received an email that appeared to have been sent by an officer of the company asking for employee W-2 information, Ryman Hospitality said in a statement. In reality, this email was sent from an outside party using a common fraud tactic known as email spoofing/phishing and, as a consequence, personal employee information was disclosed externally. We believe that any person who received a W-2 from us in 2015 may be impacted, but this does not include those who provided a Form 1099, the company added. In a similar breach, Sprouts Farmers Market acknowledged that an employee had responded to an email claiming to come from a senior executive that requested a copy of all 21,000 Sprouts employees 2015 W-2 statements. The employee provided the data without realizing it was a scam. Sprouts is working with the FBI and the IRS to investigate this crime and to determine the best ways to protect team member tax information, company spokeswoman Donna Egan told SC Magazine. Anyone who received a W-2 form from Sprouts for 2015 may be impacted. And earlier this month, several thousand Seagate Technology employees W-2 forms were exposed by a similar phishing scam, according to KrebsOnSecurity. On March 1, Seagate Technology learned that the 2015 W-2 tax form information for current and former U.S.-based employees was sent to an unauthorized third party in response to the phishing email scam, Seagate spokesman Eric DeRitis said. The information was sent by an employee who believed the phishing email was a legitimate internal company request. Fatih Orhan, director of technology at Comodo, told eSecurity Planet by email that every company needs to be aware that it will inevitably be hit by phishing attacks. The landscape of phishing threats is vast, and many companies have a false sense of being secure with products or services that simply dont work, he said. Detection is not a form of protection. Phishing attacks are becoming more targeted as well, casting a wide net that looks at a specific region or sector of a company. When in doubt, contact the company or sender directly before clicking, Orhan added. Its a think before you click thought process. And STEALTHbits Technologies marketing program manager Nathan Sorrentino said by email that its crucial to understand that no type of anti-virus can protect against attacks like these. Until organizations become more proactive in training their employees to look for the signs of this now all-too-common phishing scam, the attacks will continue into the foreseeable future, he said. Recent eSecurity Planet articles have offered advice on defeating phishing attacks and examined the importance of providing effective security training. The Department of Mathematics at California State University Northridge (CSUN) is the 2016 recipient of the AMS Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department. The CSUN department is honored for its creation of the PUMP program (Preparing Undergraduates through Mentoring towards PhDs) and its successor, the CSU Alliance for PUMP, which encompasses other campuses in the California State University system. Aloysius Helminck of North Carolina State University, who served as chair of the award selection committee, said, "The PUMP program has a tremendous impact on getting and keeping students from underrepresented groups in mathematics. The program started at CSUN and now includes 10 California State University campuses. PUMP takes students early in their college careers and gives them a summer boot camp in math, followed by research opportunities in the academic year. Students receive mentoring and are connected to the broader mathematical community by attending conferences. Most of them continue to graduate programs. The success of PUMP is due in large measure to the vision and dedication of its leadership. The program is highly deserving of this prestigious award." Based in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, CSUN is largely a commuter campus, with more than 40,000 students, around half of them low-income and around 40 percent Hispanic. Many CSUN students work part-time or even full-time, and many are the first in their families to attend college. With a grant from the National Science Foundation, the CSUN math department started PUMP in 2005, with the goal of preparing students for PhD programs in the mathematical sciences. Based on its success at CSUN, PUMP received a new grant from the NSF in 2013 to establish the CSU Alliance for PUMP, which includes a total of 10 campuses across the CalState system (Channel Islands, Dominguez Hills, Fresno, Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Northridge, Pomona, San Marcos, and San Bernardino). The CSUN mathematics department developed a highly effective structure for PUMP. One of the key elements is the PUMP Summer Institute, which pays stipends to sophomore and junior students to attend a four-week program of intensive, rigorous courses in linear algebra and analysis. Those areas were chosen because they are fundamental to any specialization the students might choose in graduate school. Working together in the institute forges long-lasting bonds among the students and greatly increases their motivation and confidence. The Summer Institute also provides students with information about how to apply to and succeed in a doctoral program and about the many career options open to them through earning an advanced degree in the mathematical sciences. Another key element of PUMP is its undergraduate research projects. These take place during the academic year, with PUMP providing modest financial support to the faculty and students involved. Undergraduate research has now become an integral part of the CSUN mathematics department, and this effect is now spreading to the other institutions in the CSU Alliance for PUMP. The activity fosters closer engagement between faculty and students, thereby leading naturally to better mentoring. Students gain experience in presenting their work in the PUMP Symposium, which brings together PUMP students from across the CSU Alliance. PUMP systematically gets students to apply for off-campus opportunities, such as the many Research Experiences for Undergraduates programs that take place in various locations across the United States. It also provides support for students to attend regional and national conferences. PUMP has had a significant impact. Over the past decade, more than 50 CSUN math majors enrolled in PhD programs, many of them in top-quality institutions. Prior to PUMP, the number of CSUN mathematics students continuing to doctoral programs was minuscule. The PUMP students are succeeding in their graduate studies, with very little attrition. And some of them are performing at top levels: Three PUMP students received NSF Graduate Fellowships, and one received an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship. Expectations are high that PUMP will produce similar results across the CSU Alliance. What PUMP has done at CSUN, and is now spreading through the CSU Alliance, is to foster a "doctoral culture" in an undergraduate institution. PUMP students thrive in this culture, which provides a structure and setting where their knowledge and aspirations can blossom. The official announcement of this award, including the selection committee's citation, is available from the AMS Public Awareness Office and will appear in the May 2016 issue of the Notices of the AMS, which will be available in the last week of April. ### Find out more about this and other AMS awards at http://www.ams.org/profession/prizes-awards/ams-awards/department-award. Doctors are failing to help people with gender dysphoria, argues a leading doctor in The BMJ this week. James Barrett, a consultant psychiatrist at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic in London and President of the British Association of Gender Identity Specialists, argues that conservatism in treating trans people in primary care is unacceptable. The need for treatment for gender dysphoria worldwide has never been higher, writes Barrett. According to NHS England, the combined waiting list for the United Kingdom's 11 NHS gender identity clinics is at least 5,000 people. Furthermore, with early and prompt treatment at a gender identity clinic, improvement in quality of life can be huge and can be sustained in the long term. So it seems odd, he says, "that such effective treatment was ever considered a low priority - or that access to it should have been delayed or made more administratively complex than access to less efficacious therapies." Yet in the experience of those of us who work at gender identity clinics, "as many as one in five GPs won't prescribe for people with gender dysphoria, even after expert advice from an NHS clinic," he writes. Reasons that GPs have given for this refusal, include concerns about it being dangerous (it isn't), difficult (it isn't), expensive (it's not, particularly), he explains. He has also heard disturbingly frank admissions that it was against "deeply held Christian beliefs" or that "we are trained to treat illnesses, not to change nature." Barrett outlines the difficulties of prescribing from a centralised clinic, and calls for a joint care model, in which primary care gives patients hormone prescriptions and gender identity clinic practitioners provide specialist support. He points out that NHS England's guidance "makes it clear that GPs are expected to care for people with gender dysphoria just as for any other group with an uncommon condition easily managed with a joint care model." The General Medical Council has also made it clear that ethical or "principled" objections are not acceptable in gender dysphoria and that "inexperience in the field" should be remedied by prompt cooperation with a gender identity clinic, he adds. "Yet patients are still often, offensively, referred to by their old title or legal sex, sometimes years after hormone treatment or gender reassignment surgery," he argues. Furthermore, their being transgender "can be viewed as a psychiatric illness, which it never was, and can feature in every medical consultation and referral even if not relevant to the ailment in question, in a manner that would be unacceptable if the issue was that they were gay or black," he says. "People with gender dysphoria aren't freaks," argues Barrett. "They are teachers and accountants, police officers and doctors, parents and taxpayers, and - importantly - patients as deserving of respect and decent, routine NHS care as anyone else. It's about time they started getting exactly that." ### At some time or another - perhaps at a loud concert or a construction site, for instance - many people have experienced the loss of hearing sensitivity that becomes strikingly evident after the noise subsides. That phenomenon is called a "temporary threshold shift" (TTS) and its occurrence is the norm among a wide variety of animals. But not so for bats. The company of other bats surrounds them with a cloud of incredibly intense sound, yet the results of experiments at Brown University show that their hearing doesn't suffer any significant sensitivity loss from their experience. "They are naturally exposed to continuous intense sound levels from their own and neighboring sonar emissions while foraging, orienting, and emerging from their roosts," wrote the authors of the article in the Journal of Experimental Biology. "For bats, exposure to prolonged intense wideband sound is an occupational hazard." Individual bats emit up to 100 to 110 decibels in sound pressure. The combined level of sound pressure among bats flying in groups can increase to 140 decibels, and it can last for several hours, which is comparable to the ambient sound on the deck of an active aircraft carrier. "This would be like a pounding to a human," said study co-author Kelsey Hom, who graduated from Brown in 2015 and has stayed on as lab manager. One day in a class, Hom asked senior author Andrea Simmons, professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences and of neuroscience, whether bats experience the same TTS that other animals do. The answer was not known, so a study (and a senior thesis) was born. High-volume research They took to the lab to test the hypothesis that bats - in this case big brown bats from Rhode Island - have evolved some way of remaining resilient to their noisy circumstances. The team, which also included then-lab manager Michaela Warnecke and Professor James Simmons of the neuroscience department, caught wild bats from around Rhode Island and brought them to the lab for a set of experiments. First they trained the bats with extra food rewards to move toward a natural spectrum of bat sound played from a lab speaker if they heard it. Then, they used the bats' newfound skill to test their baseline hearing sensitivity - how quiet a sound could still reliably induce the bat to move toward it. Next, they exposed some bats to the prolonged loudness and range of frequencies they would hear in normal bat life. Other bats were left unexposed to the cacophony as experimental controls. Finally they re-measured the bats' hearing sensitivity again 20 minutes, 2 hours and 24 hours later. The results showed that unlike in people, fish, birds, rodents and other animals, the bats' hearing sensitivity barely changed. One bat for one timeframe lost about 5 decibels of sensitivity, but on average across seven bats, the total loss was only about 0.6 decibels 20 minutes after exposure. After 24 hours their sensitivity actually improved a similarly insignificant 1.7 decibels. Bats in the control group, who weren't exposed to prolonged loud noise, showed just about as much variation. "In the literature, the definition of TTS is 6 decibels and above," Andrea Simmons said. Could this help people? The study documents the natural resiliency of bats' hearing, but it doesn't explain it. "We hypothesize that the bat's inner ear may have some special adaptations that allow it to protect itself from loud noises," Simmons said. The team is eager to learn how bats resist being deafened temporarily, not only for the sake of better understanding bat biology and behavior, but also because it may provide the inspiration to design devices or implants that can help people better weather exposure to loud noises. "Bats have always been looked at as a model for sonar, with the goal of technological development, but these data suggest that they could be looked at as a biomedically related model as well," Simmons said. ### The Office of Naval Research (grant: N000141410588), the Capita Foundation and Brown University funded the research. Zika's hypothesized attraction to human neural stem cells may come from its ability to hijack a protein found on the surface of these cells, using it as an entryway to infection. In Cell Stem Cell on March 30, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco show that the AXL surface receptor, normally involved in cell division, is highly abundant on the surface of neural stem cells, but not on neurons in the developing brain. The neural stem cells that express AXL are only present during the second trimester of pregnancy. These cells, called radial glial cells, give rise to the variety of cell types (e.g., neurons and astrocytes) that help build the cerebral cortex. The researchers also found AXL expressed by the stem cells of the retina. Disruption of this range of cell types is consistent with the multiple symptoms associated with Zika infection in the developing fetus--including microcephaly, a brain lacking in folds, and eye lesions. "While by no means a full explanation, we believe that the expression of AXL by these cell types is an important clue for how the Zika virus is able to produce such devastating cases of microcephaly, and it fits very nicely with the evidence that's available," says senior study author Arnold Kriegstein, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research. "AXL isn't the only receptor that's been linked with Zika infection, so next we need to move from 'guilt by association' and demonstrate that blocking this specific receptor can prevent infection." Kriegstein's lab has a long-time interest in brain development. When the Zika outbreak hit, first authors Tomasz Nowakowski and Alex Pollen realized from previous studies that viruses similar to Zika--such as Dengue virus--seem to use AXL as an entry point to infection. They then used gene expression analysis (single-cell RNA sequencing) to look for AXL's presence across different cell types in mouse brain, ferret brain, human stem cell-derived brain organoids, and developing brain tissue in humans. Each of the models showed expression of AXL by the radial glial cells. The researchers then used antibody trackers (immunohistochemistry) in the developing tissues and organoids to find out where the AXL receptor was most likely to be found on the neural stem cells. They found that AXL aggregates toward areas where the neural progenitors come into contact with either cerebrospinal fluid or blood vessels. This unique position would give a virus such as Zika an easy way to reach a vulnerable population of host cells. "We still don't understand why Zika in particular is so virulent to the developing brain," Kriegstein says. "It could be that the virus travels more easily though the placental-fetal barrier or that the virus enters cells more readily than related infections." Pending confirmation that Zika is using AXL for neural stem cell entry, the Kriegstein group is interested in exploring if the receptor could be exploited for therapeutic purposes. Since the protein is important for neural stem cell proliferation, it is unlikely that blocking AXL will be an option in the fetal brain. But perhaps there's a way to treat women at risk with an AXL inhibitor to stop Zika getting into the developing fetus in the first place. ### This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Cell Stem Cell, Nowakowski et al.: "Expression Analysis Highlights AXL as a Candidate Zika Virus Entry Receptor" http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2016.03.012 Cell Press Statement on Data Sharing in Public Health Emergencies The Cell Press family of journals is committed to ensuring that the global response to public health emergencies is informed by the best available research evidence and data, and as such, we will make all content concerning the Zika virus free to access. We will work in partnership with reviewers to fast-track review all submissions concerning Zika. We will adapt the editorial criteria that we apply to Zika submissions by asking reviewers to evaluate only if the research methods are sound and support the conclusions and if the work will contribute in some way toward resolving the immediate challenges. We will expedite publication of papers that meet these two criteria. Cell Stem Cell (@CellStemCell), published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that publishes research reports describing novel results of unusual significance in all areas of stem cell research. Each issue also contains a wide variety of review and analysis articles covering topics relevant to stem cell research ranging from basic biological advances to ethical, policy, and funding issues. Visit: http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com NEW YORK, NY (March 30, 2016) -- In a multicenter, randomized clinical trial, ex-prisoners who received six monthly injections of naltrexone--a long-acting medication that blocks opioid receptors in the brain--were significantly less likely to resume opioid use than those who received counseling and referrals to community treatment centers without naltrexone. The study was published online today in New England Journal of Medicine. The collaborative clinical trial included more than 300 men and women with opioid addiction who were treated at five study sites: University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), NYU Langone Medical Center Center (New York), Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University (Providence), Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) (New York), and Friends Research Institute (Baltimore). Of the study participants who received counseling and referrals, 64 percent relapsed within six months, versus 43 percent of those treated with long-acting naltrexone. Although some of the participants in the naltrexone group relapsed, they used significantly less heroin and other opioids than those in the control group. In addition, there were no overdoses in the treatment group, compared with five overdoses in the control group. One year after the initial study period, the control group had two additional overdoses, versus none in the naltrexone group. Opioid addiction has become a public health crisis in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses, largely from opioids, killed more people than automobile accidents in 2013. Even as opioid addiction surges in the general population, it remains disproportionately high in the U.S. criminal justice system populations. Two opioid substitution strategies, methadone maintenance and buprenorphine maintenance, are effective in reducing relapse and overdose risk among opioid dependent individuals. But these medications are neither acceptable nor effective for all patients. Naltrexone, an opioid receptor blocker, uses a different mechanism, and thus expands available treatment options for people who are dependent on opioids. "Dependence on opioids, including heroin and prescription painkillers, is a medical disease that has become increasingly pervasive throughout our urban, suburban, and rural areas and across all socioeconomic groups," said Edward V. Nunes, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at CUMC and a co-author of the study. "It is hard to underestimate how deadly and devastating this disease is. It is a top killer of young people. Having another medication that is capable of reducing the risk of relapse and preventing overdoses is critical in the fight against opioid dependence." All of the participants were encouraged to seek community-based treatment, regardless of treatment group, for another year following the initial six-month study period. Community-based treatment often includes counseling and daily treatment with methadone or suboxone, medications that prevent withdrawal symptoms by activating opioid receptors. "Medications like methadone and buprenorphine have proved essential to the treatment of opioid dependence," noted Dr. Nunes. "But people with opioid dependence are better served by having a range of options to prevent relapse and reduce the risk of death from overdose. Naltrexone injections offer another effective therapeutic option for people struggling with opioid addiction in a variety of settings." Extended-release naltrexone is the most recently FDA-approved product for the treatment of opiate addiction, and the only labeled for prevention of relapse. A daily, oral form of naltrexone has been on the market since 1994 - but adherence to daily pill-taking was often poor. Extended-release naltrexone, approved by the FDA in 2010, requires only one monthly injection. This circumvents problems with adherence to daily pill-taking, and is a more viable treatment option. ### The study is titled, "Extended-Release Naltrexone to Prevent Opioid Relapse in Criminal Justice Offenders." Lead author is Joshua D. Lee, MD, MSc, NYU Langone Medical Center. In addition to Dr. Nunes, study co-authors include Marc Gourevitch, MD, MPH, NYU Langone Medical Center; Peter D. Friedmann, MD, MPH, National Institute on Drug Abuse; Timothy W. Kinlock, PhD, University of Baltimore & Friends Research Institute; Randall A. Hoskinson, Jr. and Donna Wilson, MS, Rhode Island Hospital and Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Ryan McDonald, MA, and John Rotrosen, MD, of NYU Langone Medical Center; Michael Gordon, DPA, of Friends Research Institute; Marc Fishman, MD, of Friends Research Institute and Maryland Treatment Centers; Donna T. Chen, MD, MPH, and Richard J. Bonnie, LLB, of University of Virginia; James W. Cornish, MD, Tamara Y. Boney, MS, CCRC, and Charles P. O'Brien, MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, and Sean Murphy, PhD, at Washington State University. The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) through a collaborative clinical trial mechanism, PAR-07-232 (R01DA024549, to Dr. Friedmann; R01DA024550, to Dr. Kinlock; R01DA024553, to Dr. O'Brien; R01DA024554, to Dr. Nunes; and R01DA024555, to Dr. Lee), and additional support (K24DA022412, to Dr. Nunes). Trial medication was provided in-kind from an investigator-initiated grant from Alkermes. Funding from the Dana Foundation to Dr. O'Brien supported the conduct of a five-site pilot study. Dr. Lee reports receiving grant support and study medication from Alkermes and study medication from Indivior (formerly Reckitt Benckiser). Dr. Friedmann reports receiving fees for serving on an advisory board and travel support from Indivior and an honorarium for leading a roundtable discussion from Orexo. Dr. Kinlock reports receiving grant support and study medication from Alkermes. Dr. Nunes reports serving on an advisory board for Alkermes, receiving study medication from Reckitt Benckiser and Duramed Pharmaceuticals, being lead investigator for a NIDA-funded study of a computer-delivered behavioral intervention supplied by HealthSim, and being site principal investigator for a study funded by, and receiving travel support from, Brainsway. Dr. Rotrosen reports receiving study medication from Alkermes and Indivior. Dr. Gordon reports receiving grant support and study medication from Alkermes. Dr. Fishman reports receiving travel support from Alkermes. Dr. O'Brien reports receiving consulting fees from Alkermes. No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported. Columbia University Department of Psychiatry Columbia Psychiatry holds the top ranking among the psychiatry departments in the nation and has contributed greatly to the understanding and treatment of brain disorders. Co-located at the New York State Psychiatric Institute on the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center campus in Washington Heights, the department enjoys a rich and productive collaborative relationship with physicians in various disciplines at Columbia University's College of Physician's and Surgeons. Columbia Psychiatry is home to distinguished clinicians and researchers noted for their clinical and research advances in the diagnosis and treatment of depression, suicide, schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety disorders, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and childhood psychiatric disorders. Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org. The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has selected the 2016 recipients of its annual Graduate Student Policy Award: Brian Kastl (University of California), Kristen Lear (University of Georgia), Matthew Pintar (University of Mississippi), Timothy Treuer (Princeton University), Jessica Nicole Welch (University of Tennessee), and Samantha Lynn Werner (University of New Hampshire). The six students will travel to Washington, DC on April 27-28 to participate in policy training and attend meetings with their US Representative and Senators. The Biological Ecological Sciences Coalition, co-chaired by ESA, sponsors the event. On Capitol Hill, students will team with other scientists to discuss with lawmakers the importance of federal funding for the biological sciences, particularly the National Science Foundation (NSF). Participants will attend sessions about how current political and fiscal issues may impact federal agencies. ESA graduate student policy awardees will also meet with federal ecologists to learn about their work within the federal government. "Young ecological scientists who are confident in their ability to engage within the policy sphere are needed more than ever, whether they chose to pursue a career in policy or research. Proficiency in communicating science to lawmakers to inform policy decisions is a valuable skill for ESA members to attain, and it's never too soon to start," said Katherine McCarter, executive director of ESA. Kastl's research on ecosystem services aims to inform the design of policies that support sustainable watershed management. In 2012, he was selected by The Nature Conservancy to lead a policy study in Micronesia to reduce the impact of deforestation on water security. He was subsequently awarded a travel grant to present his research at the 2013 United Nations Environment Program Global Land-Ocean Connections Conference. He is a PhD student in ecohydrdrology and decision science at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UC Santa Barbara, and a recipient of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Lear worked with a Mexican non-governmental organization to develop science-based conservation policies for the Mexican Long-nosed bat. Her NSF Graduate Research Fellowship has been critical in providing professional development and in funding her bat conservation research. She is pursuing a PhD in Integrative Conservation and Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. Pintar's graduate school experiences with the National Park Service and the US Forest Service shaped his interest in policy engagement. Internships with the Prince William Forest Park and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area provided him with unique insight into policy management decisions. As an undergrad, he studied the effects of acidification on ovenbird territory size within the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. He is pursuing a PhD in Biology from the University of Mississippi. Treuer's NSF-funded research developed a technique using arrays of microphones, synced by GPS, to investigate how acoustically active species interact and coexist in their environment. Through participation in the Civics and Conservation Summit and the Climate Project, he led legislative and advocacy engagement efforts with Alaska's state and federal lawmakers. He is a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. Welch studies threats to bats caused by invasive species and analyses the extinction risk of threatened bat species to better inform conservation efforts. She is involved with a diverse array of public outreach and volunteer work promoting science education. As Coordinator for Tennessee Darwin Day event, she applied for grants and solicited donations to offer Tennessee schoolteachers instruction on how to teach climate change and evolution. Welch has also presented at the 2012 and 2015 ESA annual meetings and served as a SEEDS mentor during the latter centennial meeting. She is working towards her PhD in Ecology and Environmental Biology at the University of Tennessee Werner hopes to provide policymakers with a better understanding of the link between agro-ecological sustainability and economic vitality through her Master's degree research in environmental economics at the University of New Hampshire, funded by the US Department of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. As an undergraduate, Werner got her start in research investigating the impact of climate change on ecosytems in northern Sweden with support from NSF. She presented her research during ESA's centennial meeting. The Graduate Student Policy Award is one of several ways ESA works to offer its graduate student members opportunities to gain public policy experience. The Society also provides policy training during its annual meeting and by request throughout the year. ESA graduate student members may run--through ESA's Student Section--to serve on several ESA standing committees including the Public Affairs Committee (PAC). ESA's Washington, DC-base Public Affairs Office works closely with the PAC and focuses on activities to engage ecological scientists with policymakers and the media. Reflections from past recipients are available on the Graduate Student Policy Award alumni network page. ### The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world's largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 10,000 member Society publishes six journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach, and education initiatives. The Society's Annual Meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. Visit the ESA website at http://www.esa.org. Scientists have, for the first time, created a 3-D image of food on the nanometer scale. It has promising prospects as a more detailed knowledge of the structure of complex food systems could potentially save the food industry large sums of money "There is still a lot we don't know about the structure of food, but this is a good step on the way to understanding and finding solutions to a number of problems dealing with food consistency, and which cost the food industry a lot of money," says Associate Professor Jens Risbo, Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is one of the authors of a recently-published scientific paper in Food Structure, which deals with the new groundbreaking insight into the 3D structure of food. The researchers used a cream based on vegetable fat for the research. The cream system is a good test material, since it can represent the structures of a large group of food systems, for example cheese, yogurt, ice cream, spreads, but also the more solid chocolate. All the aforementioned products contain liquid water or fat as well as small particles of solid materials, which stick together and form three-dimensional structures - i.e. a network that provides the consistency that we like about cheese, yogurt or chocolate. In cheese and yoghurt the casein particles form the network. In chocolate it is the fat crystals and in ice cream and whipped cream it is the fat globules. "If you understand the structure, you can change it and obtain exactly the texture you want," says Jens Risbo. Electrons with close to speed of light generate intense X-rays To create a three-dimensional model of the food and convert it into images and video, the scientists have been in Switzerland, where they have used the Swiss Light Source (SLS) synchrotron at the Paul Scherrer Institute. In the synchrotron electrons are accelerated to near speed of light. The synchrotron is used for research in materials science in areas such as biology and chemistry. The method the researchers used is called "Ptychographic X-ray computed tomography." This is a new method for creating images on the nanometer scale, which also provides a high contrast in biological systems. The synchrotron in Switzerland is one of the leading places in the world in this area, and it was the first time ever that it was used within food science. "We have been using the tomography principle, also known from an X-ray CT (computed tomography) scanner. The sample of the food system is rotated and moved sideways back and forth with nanometer precision, while we send a very strong and focused X-ray beam through it. The X-rays are deflected by colliding with electrons in the food, and we shoot a lot of pictures of the patterns that the defleted X-rays form. The patterns are combined in a powerful computer, which reconstructs a 3D image of the sample. The Swiss scientists of the team have created a device that can move and rotate the sample with ultra-high precision, allowing us to see the small details," says Research Assistant Mikkel Schou Nielsen, who has recently completed his Ph.D. in tomographic methods applied to food at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. The number of electrons reveals the various food components The reconstructed 3D image can be described as a three-dimensional table of numbers describing the electron density (the number of electrons per volume) through the entire sample. The various food components, such as water and fat, have different densities and hence different electron density. Water is heavier than fat, which is known from oil that settles on top of water when you try to mix them, and it is this contrast in electron density which causes X-rays to deflect to different degrees and eventually to form 3D-images of the sample. Figure 1 shows a 2D slice of the three dimensional structure. Areas with higher electron density appear lighter on the figure. Water thus appears light grey, while fat appears dark grey, and the glass around the sample with a high density is seen as a white ring. One may now use the electron density (greyscale) to identify the various food components and study their location and structure. A complicated food system The vegetable-based cream which the method is used on consists of several ingredients. In addition to water and vegetable fat, it contains milk protein, stabilizers and emulsifiers. By adjusting the addition of emulsifiers, it is possible to achieve a state in which the cream continues to be fluid until you whip it to foam, whereby all the fat globules are reorganized and sticking together on the outside of the air bubbles in a three-dimensional system (see Figure 2). "It is a difficult balance, because you only want the fat globules to stick together when the cream is whipped - not if it is simply being exposed to vibration or high temperatures. When the fat globules nevertheless begin to stick together prematurely - for example due to too many shocks during transport - the cream will get a consistency reminiscent of cream cheese. It becomes a relatively hard lump that can be cut," says Postdoctoral Researcher Merete Boegelund Munk, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen. Merete Boegelund Munk's Ph.D. project, "The physical stability of whippable oil-in-water emulsions. Effects of monoglyceride-based emulsifiers and other ingredients", was fundamental for the research. The Ph.D. project was made as a collaboration between the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen and the food ingredient company Palsgaard A / S. This undesirable cream cheese-like state of the vegetable cream system is nevertheless extremely interesting for researchers. "The organization of the fat globules and the network structure after the cream has been converted into a 'cream cheese-like' product is exciting because the mass is now sliceable, even though the system consists of 65% water and only 25% fat and some other ingredients and sugars. That means we have a network structure that captures a lot of water. There are many foods with similar network systems of something solid in something liquid, where the liquid is typically, but not always, water. This applies to all semi-solid and solid products such as chocolate, butter, cheese and spreads. The network of the cream cheese-like system is thus a model for something general in our food," says Associate Professor Jens Risbo, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen. It is the structure of the networks which forms a texture that makes you want to bite into a piece of chocolate and cut yourself a piece of cheese. But the structure and the networks are something of a mystery, because until now you could only see the surface and slightly underneath the surface of the food material on the microns scale and the images you could see have only been two-dimensional. "If we eventually come to understand the structure of chocolate, we can change it and obtain exactly the consistency that we want. A lot of money is wasted because the consistency of chocolate is really hard to control, so the end product is not good enough and must be discarded. A possible future understanding of the crystal network in chocolate might mean that we will be able to develop components that prevent the chocolate from becoming grey and crumbly, and thus unsaleable. It is certainly a possibility that tomographic methods could be developed so we would be able to understand the mysteries of chocolate," says Associate Professor, Jens Risbo, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen. How the tomography works "Ptychographic X-ray computed tomography can be compared with a CT scanner in a hospital. Instead of getting an image of a patient's organs, we are looking into food. But, unlike a CT scanner, we can go down to the nanometer scale," says Jens Risbo. The sample with the cream cheese-like system that the scientists X-rayed was about 20 microns thick. "It would take too much time and too many calculations to develop a nanometer resolution of the cream system for a whole package of cream cheese from the fridge. The amount of information and calculations would simply be too great. Although X-rays can almost go through everything, you lose the intensity of the beams, the more they have to shoot through," says Jens Risbo. Swiss Light Source synchrotron Basically, you can make X-rays in two different ways. If you go to the dentist and have an X-ray done, this is done using an X-ray tube, which can be compared with a cathode ray tube showing the pictures in an old type of television, where electrons are not accelerated to very high speeds. In the X-ray tube the electrons collide with a metal, such as copper, which now emits X-rays. The X-ray tube is not so powerful, but you can make medical photos and also do some research work with this type of X-rays. But if you want to examine very small samples, things that are changing rapidly, or make tomography at the nanometer scale, you will use facilities like Swiss Light Source or the Swedish synchrotron MAX IV which opens in Lund, Sweden, this year. "Technically, it is electrons that are accelerated to nearly the speed of light and circulates in a ring controlled by electromagnets. The electron beams are then deflected and will then emit intense and energetic X-rays," says Associate Professor Jens Risbo, Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen. The Swiss Light Source, SLS, is funded by the Swiss government and scientists from around the world can apply to use syncroton X-rays and related scientific equipment under the guidance of local scientists. ### Background The article "Ptychographic X-ray computed tomography of extended colloidal networks in food emulsion" originates from the Nexim project led by the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Postdoctoral at Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Merete Bgelund Munk's Ph.D. project, "The physical stability of whippable oil-in-water emulsions. Effects of monoglyceride-based emulsifiers and other ingredients". On 4 February 2016, the scientific paper was published in the Food Structure journal with the following authors: Mikkel Schou Nielsen, Merete Boegelund Munk, Ana Diaz, Emil Bend Lind Pedersen, Mirko Holler, Stefan Bruns, Jens Risbo, Kell Mortensen and Robert Feidenhans'l The authors are from the Department of Food Science, the Niels Bohr Institute, Department of Food Chemistry, all at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, DTU Energy, Denmark and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. A 10-year follow-up study of more than 6,000 people who underwent heart CT scans suggests that a high coronary artery calcium score puts people at greater risk not only for heart and vascular disease but also for cancer, chronic kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A report on the study, conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and elsewhere, is published online on March 9, 2016 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging. "Plaque in the arteries is the result of cumulative damage and inflammation, and vulnerability to injury and chronic inflammation likely contributes to diseases like cancer, kidney and lung diseases, as well as cardiovascular disease. So it makes sense that the coronary calcium score -- a measure of arterial aging -- is predictive of noncardiovascular diseases too, "says Michael Blaha, M.D., M.P.H., director of clinical research for the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease and assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "The reason the coronary calcium score may work so well at identifying vulnerability to a variety of chronic diseases is because it's a direct measurement of the cumulative effect of all risk factors, rather than a consideration of a single risk factor, like obesity, smoking or high blood pressure." Blaha and his colleagues caution, however, that theirs was an "association study" that didn't look for, measure or find a cause-and-effect relationship between coronary calcium levels and noncardiovascular diseases. Heart CT scans quickly and automatically measure how much and how dense the levels of the mineral are in the blood vessels that nourish the heart's arteries. Coronary artery calcium is a well-known predictor of coronary heart disease and stroke risk. The risk of these diseases is low when the calcium score is zero, and that risk balloons nearly fivefold when the score is above 400. For the current study, the research team, composed of investigators from Johns Hopkins; the University of California, Los Angeles; Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit; the Minneapolis Heart Institute; and Columbia University, used data from six centers that contributed subjects to the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, or MESA. The 6,814 participants were of white, African-American, Hispanic and Chinese descent, ages 45 to 84, and free of cardiovascular disease at the time of an initial heart CT scan and coronary calcium score calculation. Over 10 years, until 2012, participants underwent follow-up visits at least once a year to review new diagnoses through hospital and death records. After 10 years, of the 6,814 original participants, 1,238 were diagnosed with a noncardiovascular disease, including prostate, lung, gastrointestinal/colon, breast, skin, blood and uterine/ovarian cancers; kidney disease; pneumonia; a blood clot; lung disease; dementia; and hip fracture. Of those participants with coronary calcium scores over 400, 36.9 percent of participants were diagnosed with a noncardiovascular disease, compared to 11 percent of participants with no coronary artery calcium. Of the 710 new cancer diagnoses, over two-thirds (68 percent) occurred in participants with detectable calcium in their coronary arteries. According to the investigators, after adjusting for other factors, individuals with the highest calcium scores greater than 400 had a 53 percent increased risk of developing cancer during follow-up. Chronic kidney disease was diagnosed in 395 participants, with the incidence ranging from just 3 percent in participants with zero coronary calcium to over 13 percent in those with scores over 400. After adjusting for other factors, a person with a high coronary calcium score was 70 percent more likely to develop future kidney disease. At the completion of the study, 161 participants were diagnosed with COPD. Those people with high coronary calcium scores over 400 were 2.7 times more likely to have COPD than those with no detectable calcium. The researchers reported borderline associations between coronary artery calcium scores and dementia and hip fracture, and no association with blood clots or pneumonia after controlling for age, sex, race, income and health insurance status. The data for dementia and hip fractures are considered promising but may be inconclusive due to too few participants diagnosed with each disease. The researchers also caution that because hospital record billing codes were used to determine the diagnoses they used in their study, milder cases of disease not requiring hospitalization could have been overlooked. However, this would have made it less likely to see the associations found in this study. Blaha and his team also published an analysis of MESA participant data last year that shed light on the biology of "healthy agers" with persistent coronary calcium scores of zero after 10 years of scanning. These people appear to have protection from both heart disease and noncardiovascular diseases. Those results were published in the December 2015 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging. Heart disease persists as the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S. in both men and women, with more than 600,000 deaths each year, but other diseases, such as cancer, kidney and lung disease, collectively cause more than 780,000 deaths annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ### Other authors on the study include Catherine Handy, Chintan Desai, Zeina Dardari, Pamela Ouyang, Roger Blumenthal and Khurram Nasir of Johns Hopkins Medicine; Mouaz Al-Mallah of Henry Ford Hospital; Michael Miedema of the Minneapolis Heart Institute; and Matthew Budoff of the University of California, Los Angeles. This study was funded by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (N01-HC-95159, N01-HC-95160, N01-HC-95161, N01-HC-95162, N01-HC-95163, N01-HC-95164, N01-HC-95165, N01-HC-95166, N01-HC-95167, N01-HC-95168 and N01-HC-95169) and the National Center for Research Resources (UL1-TR-000040 and UL1-TR-001079). New Rochelle, NY, March 30, 2016--Dementia will develop in about 80% of patients with Parkinson's disease, and a new study has found significant variability in brain signaling that could serve as a predictive marker for identifying which patients are at highest risk of dementia. Measuring brain signal variability as an early indicator of impaired cognitive function and information processing is an innovative new approach described in the study published in Brain Connectivity, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free for download on the Brain Connectivity website until April 30, 2016. In "Brain Connectivity Alterations Are Associated with Dementia in Parkinson's Disease," J.A. Bertrand and coauthors from Baycrest Center (Toronto), Hopital du Sacre-Cur de Montreal, McGill University (Montreal), Universite de Montreal, Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal, and Universitee du Quebec a Montreal, Canada, describe the use of resting state electroencephalography (EEG) for a mean of 3 years in patients with Parkinson's disease, comparing the findings in those in whom dementia did or did not develop. The researchers measured specific disruptions in brain communication that were present before symptoms of dementia were apparent. If confirmed by additional studies, these brain signaling alterations could identify the best patients to include in trials of new neuroprotective drugs. "Early diagnosis is key to treatment of dementia patients with the limited options currently available," says Christopher Pawela, PhD, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Brain Connectivity and Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin. "EEG is a lower-cost alternative to many modern diagnostic imaging modalities. If a reliable predictive marker for dementia could be developed using EEG, it may find lower barriers to clinical use." ### About the Journal Brain Connectivity is the essential peer-reviewed journal covering groundbreaking findings in the rapidly advancing field of connectivity research at the systems and network levels. Published 10 times per year in print and online, the Journal is under the leadership of Founding and Co-Editors-in-Chief Christopher Pawela, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Bharat Biswal, PhD, Chair of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology. It includes original peer-reviewed papers, review articles, point-counterpoint discussions on controversies in the field, and a product/technology review section. To ensure that scientific findings are rapidly disseminated, articles are published Instant Online within 72 hours of acceptance, with fully typeset, fast-track publication within 4 weeks. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Brain Connectivity website. About the Publisher Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative medical and biomedical peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Neurotrauma and Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website. Serving free breakfast in New York City's classrooms has boosted the number of students eating what some consider the most important meal of the day at school, according to research by New York University's Institute for Education and Social Policy and the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The study, published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, finds that this increase in school breakfast participation did not raise the prevalence of obesity in New York City schools, as some critics may have feared. At the same time, breakfast in the classroom did not appear to improve students' attendance or academic achievement. The School Breakfast Program, a federal program subsidizing school breakfasts for "nutritionally needy" children, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Like school lunch programs, school breakfasts aim to reduce food insecurity, improve nutrition, and facilitate learning. Traditionally, breakfast programs take place in school cafeterias before classes begin, but many districts across the country have adopted a different approach by serving breakfast in classrooms at the start of the school day. "Moving breakfast into the classroom is intended to encourage participation in school breakfast programs, particularly among students unable to arrive early, and to reduce the stigma associated with a trip to the cafeteria," said Amy Ellen Schwartz, director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Affairs at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. New York City has offered free breakfast to all students since 2003, and began implementing breakfast in the classroom in 2007. As of 2016, breakfast in the classroom is offered in nearly 400 of the city's 1,800 public schools, with more than 30,000 classroom breakfasts served each day. According to the New York City Department of Education, since the implementation of breakfast in the classroom, the participation rate has increased from 25 percent to 80 percent. Advocates argue that moving breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom provides many benefits, including improving academic performance, attendance, and engagement, and reducing hunger and food insecurity. Others have raised concerns that breakfast in the classroom can contribute to weight gain and obesity, as some students may consume extra calories by eating two breakfasts -- one at home and one at school. Using data from the New York City Department of Education and its Office of School Food, the NYU researchers studied students in kindergarten through eighth grade at roughly 200 public elementary and middle schools offering breakfast in some or all classrooms. They examined school breakfast and lunch participation, student height and weight measurements, and administrative data including demographics, attendance, and math and reading test scores in grades 4 through 8. The researchers observed a substantial increase in school breakfast participation when breakfast was served in the classroom, with no impact on lunch program participation. Despite this increase in breakfasts served, the researchers saw no evidence that the breakfast program contributes to obesity. In contrast to previous studies finding an academic benefit to breakfast in the classroom, the researchers found that the effects on academic achievement were small and statistically insignificant. At the same time, breakfast in the classroom did not hurt students academically by taking time away from instruction. Serving breakfast in the classroom had no effect on attendance, which the researchers suggest may be because attendance rates are already high in elementary and middle schools. "While we find that providing breakfast in the classroom had large positive effects on participation in school breakfast programs, our analysis provides no evidence of hoped-for gains in academic performance, nor of feared increases in obesity," said Sean Corcoran, associate director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy and associate professor of educational economics at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. "When looking at academic achievement and attendance, there are few added benefits of having breakfast in the classroom beyond those already provided by free breakfast," added Corcoran. "The policy case for breakfast in the classroom will depend upon reductions in hunger and food insecurity for disadvantaged children, or its longer-term effects." ### In addition to Corcoran and Schwartz, Brian Elbel of the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Medical Center and NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service coauthored the study. The research was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD070739). About the Institute for Education and Social Policy The Institute for Education and Social Policy at NYU conducts non-partisan scientific research about U.S. education and related social policy issues to help inform educational institutions and policymakers. The Institute, a part of the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, was founded in 1995 as a partnership between Steinhardt, the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 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. Near the edge of the visible Universe are some of the brightest objects ever observed, known as quasars, which are believed to contain supermassive black holes of more than a billion times the mass of our Sun. Simulations by Kentaro Nagamine at Osaka University's Department of Earth and Space Science, Isaac Shlosman at the University of Kentucky and co-workers have revealed for the first time exactly how these black holes formed 700 million years after the Big Bang. "The early Universe was a dense, hot and uniform plasma," explains Nagamine. "As it cooled, fluctuations in the mass distribution formed seeds around which matter could gather due to gravity." These are the origins of the first stars. Similar processes might have later seeded the growth of bigger structures such as supermassive black holes. Until recently, many researchers thought supermassive black holes were seeded by the collapse of some of the first stars. But modeling work by several groups has suggested that this process would only lead to small black holes. Nagamine and co-workers simulated a different situation, in which supermassive black holes are seeded by clouds of gas falling into potential wells created by dark matter -- the invisible matter that astronomers believe makes up 85% of the mass of the Universe. Simulating the dynamics of huge gas clouds is extremely complex, so the team had to use some numerical tricks called 'sink particles' to simplify the problem. "Although we have access to extremely powerful supercomputers at Osaka University's Cybermedia Center and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, we can't simulate every single gas particle," explains Nagamine. "Instead, we model small spatial scales using sink particles, which grow as the surrounding gas evolves. This allows us to simulate much longer timescales than was previously possible." The researchers found that most seed particles in their simulations did not grow very much, except for one central seed, which grew rapidly to more than 2 million Sun-masses in just 2 million years, representing a feasible path toward a supermassive black hole. Moreover, as the gas spun and collapsed around the central seed it formed two misaligned accretion discs, which have never been observed before. In other recent work, Nagamine and co-workers described the growth of massive galaxies that formed around the same time as supermassive black holes [1]. "We like to push the frontier of how far back in time we can see," says Nagamine. The researchers hope their simulations will be validated by real data when NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, due to be launched in 2018, observes distant sources where direct gas collapse is happening. ### 1. Yajima, H., Shlosman, I., Romano-Diaz, E. & Nagamine, K. Observational properties of simulated galaxies in overdense and average regions at redshifts z?6-12. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 451, 418-432 (2015). Large-scale disease elimination programs depend critically on the accuracy of data reported back from local implementation sites. WHO and some of its partners recently developed a data quality assessment (DQA) tool specific to efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). A study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases applying the tool to the lymphatic filariasis program in Ghana finds problems with the routinely reported data and suggests ways toward improving their accuracy. Regular administration of preventive chemotherapy (PC) to at-risk populations is a key step toward elimination of lymphatic filariasis--commonly known as elephantiasis--an NTD still affecting an estimated 40 million people and one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. With funding support from the University of Ghana, Dziedzom de Souza and colleagues from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the School of Public Health in Accra, Ghana, applied the NTD-DQA tool to retrospectively evaluate the quality of data reported for Ghana's lymphatic filariasis program in 2010. The tool includes a comparison between locally collected data and those reported at the district or country level, as well as the analysis of interviews with data handlers involved in program implementation at the local level. Results of the assessment provide a measure of accuracy of the reported data as well as a plan on how to improve accurate reporting based on a detailed understanding of the local circumstances. Assessing three implementation sites in Ghana, the researchers compared routinely reported results with recounted values for five different indicators, including number of; tablets received, tablets used, tablets remaining, population treated, and PC coverage. The researchers found that over 60% of the data reported were of low accuracy (i.e., had a higher than 10% difference between the collected and reported data). The only consistent indicator that was accurately reported across the sites was the number of tablets received. The second part of the assessment, based on the individual interviews, exposed challenges and limitations of the existing data management information systems. The weakest functional area across the sites, the researchers found, was 'data management processes', but the strongest functional areas (such as 'indicator definitions and reporting guidelines', or 'data collection and reporting forms and tools') differed between implementation sites, suggesting that sites can learn from one another. The present study was a pilot assessment that found the DQA to be "a very useful monitoring and evaluation tool that can be used to elucidate and address data quality issues" for Ghana's NTD programs. As a particularly concerning result, the researchers highlight the overestimation of PC coverage, the core indicator for program performance that affects decisions about continuation or stoppage of the program. They also mention that similar reporting inaccuracies have been found in other countries. The researchers conclude that "while the results from this study are informative, a more complete assessment of [Ghana's] LF Control Programme (involving the Ministry of Health, the NTD programme and other NTD partners in the country) must be undertaken in order to establish appropriate programmatic responses". They hope that"this study will serve as a starting point to gather support towards a more complete evaluation of country NTD programmes". ### Please contact plosntds@plos.org if you would like more information about our content and specific topics of interest. All works published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases are open access, which means that everything is immediately and freely available. Use this URL in your coverage to provide readers access to the paper upon publication: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004590 (Link goes live upon article publication) Press-Only Preview Of The Article: https://www.plos.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/pntd.0004590_AS.pdf Related Image for Press Use: Dr. Yahathugoda, Filariasis Research Training and Service Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Gall Contact: Dziedzom Komi de Souza, e-mail: ddesouza@noguchi.ug.edu.gh, phone: +233.24.443.4966 Pamela Sabina Mbabazi (expert on the NTD-DQA tool) WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, email: mbabazip@who.int, phone: +41.22.791.4588 Funding: This study was funded by the University of Ghana Office for Research Innovation and Development (ORID) grant URF/ 7/ ILG-028/ 2013-2014 to DKdS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. About PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal devoted to the pathology, epidemiology, prevention, treatment, and control of the neglected tropical diseases, as well as public policy relevant to this group of diseases. Please contact plosntds@plos.org if you would like more information about our content and specific topics of interest. Media and Copyright Information For information about PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases relevant to journalists, bloggers and press officers, including details of our press release process and embargo policy, visit http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/s/press-and-media . PLOS Journals publish under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits free reuse of all materials published with the article, so long as the work is cited. About the Public Library of Science The Public Library of Science (PLOS) PLOS is a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization founded to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org. Disclaimer This press release refers to upcoming articles in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The releases have been provided by the article authors and/or journal staff. Any opinions expressed in these are the personal views of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLOS. PLOS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the release and article and your use of such information. (Vienna, March 30, 2016) Every year, tens of millions of individuals across Europe undergo endoscopic procedures to assist with the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal diseases. However, significant variation in current endoscopy provision across Europe has been reported1, with back-to-back colonoscopy studies demonstrating that a concerning 22% of all adenomas are missed and that a three-to-six fold variation in adenoma detection is present between endoscopists2. This inconsistent provision, coupled with improved first-line screening methods, has created a requirement to improve the quality of endoscopy services as endoscopy of a high quality have been shown to deliver superior health outcomes, better patient experience and fewer repeat procedures3. United European Gastroenterology (UEG) and The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) have therefore published a joint paper which identifies a need for change and outlines the first phase of a series of recommendations for improvements in quality standards of endoscopy. UEG endoscopy specialist Professor Thierry Ponchon, who is a member of the ESGE Quality Improvement Committee, welcomes the publication of new standards. "Endoscopy services throughout Europe are at a critical point at the current time. We must make improvements in the quality of service for our patients a major and immediate priority. Our aim is achieve high quality standards for endoscopy throughout Europe over the next two years and create a thriving community of endoscopy services for all." Central to any endoscopy practice is the endoscopy report, which facilitates the exchange of essential information such as the endoscopy findings and clinical recommendations. As with many forms of medical records, endoscopy reports are traditionally unstructured and utilise free text, which acts as a barrier for quality assurance and increases the difficulty in comparing and translating records. In facilitating UEG and ESGE's vision and to ensure the continuous measurement of endoscopy quality for patients, ten requirements for endoscopic reporting systems have been outlined and published in the April issue of the UEG Journal4: Endoscopy reporting systems must be electronic. Endoscopy reporting systems should be integrated into hospital patient record systems. Endoscopy reporting systems should include patient identifiers to facilitate data linkage to other data sources. Endoscopy reporting systems shall restrict the use of free text entry to a minimum, and be based mainly on structured data entry. Separate entry of data for quality or research purposes is discouraged. Automatic data transfer for quality and research purposes must be facilitated. Double entry of data by the endoscopist or associate personnel is discouraged. Available data from outside sources (administrative or medical) must be made available automatically. Endoscopy reporting systems shall enable the inclusion of information on: a. Histopathology of detected lesions b. Patient's satisfaction c. Adverse events d. Surveillance recommendations. Endoscopy reporting systems must facilitate easy data retrieval at any time in a universally compatible format. Endoscopy reporting systems must include data fields for key performance indicators as defined by quality improvement committees. Endoscopy reporting systems must facilitate changes in indicators and data entry fields as required by professional organisations. Professor Matthew Rutter, Chair of the ESGE Quality Improvement Committee, comments, "The implementation of appropriate information technology infrastructure, based around electronic endoscopy reporting systems, is an important step in quality improvement. Units should ensure that they have, and use, such a system - both to capture endoscopic data and create structured endoscopy reports, and to permit standardized performance measure reporting." ### References Stephen Roberts, David Samuel, John Williams, et al, Survey of digestive health across Europe: Final report. Part 1: The burden of gastrointestinal diseases and the organisation and delivery of gastroenterology services across Europe, UEG Journal 2014; 2:539-43. Matthew D Rutter, et al, The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Quality Improvement Initiative: developing performance measures, UEG Journal 2016. Matthew D Rutter, Colin J Rees, Quality in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Endoscopy, 2014. Michael Bretthauer, et al, Reporting systems in gastrointestinal endoscopy: Requirements and standards facilitating quality improvement: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy position statement, UEG Journal 2016; 4:172-77. Notes to Editors About UEG UEG, or United European Gastroenterology, is a professional non-profit organisation combining all the leading European societies concerned with digestive diseases. Together, its member societies represent over 22,000 specialists, working across medicine, surgery, paediatrics, gastrointestinal oncology and endoscopy. This makes UEG the most comprehensive organisation of its kind in the world, and a unique platform for collaboration and the exchange of knowledge. Find out more by visiting http://www.ueg.eu To advance standards of gastroenterological care and knowledge across Europe and the world, UEG offers numerous activities and initiatives, including: UEG Week, the biggest congress of its kind in Europe, and one of the two largest in the world. UEG Education, the universal source of knowledge in gastroenterology, providing online and classroom courses, a huge online library and delivering the latest GI news, fostering debate and discussion Training Support, funding for innovative training and educational programmes, as well as international scientific and professional co-operations UEG Journal , published bi-monthly, covering translational and clinical studies from all areas of gastroenterology , published bi-monthly, covering translational and clinical studies from all areas of gastroenterology EU Affairs, promoting research, prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases, and helping develop an effective health policy for Europe About ESGE ESGE, or The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, represents 49 national societies of endoscopy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. The ESGE Quality Improvement Initiative aims to improve the global quality of endoscopy and the delivery of patient-centred endoscopy services. About Professor Thierry Ponchon Professor Thierry Ponchon is from the Herriot University Hospital in Lyon, France. He is a UEG endoscopy specialist and a member of the ESGE Quality Improvement Committee. To interview Professor Ponchon, or for further information, please contact Luke Paskins at UEG on +44 (0)1444 811099 or media@ueg.eu About Professor Matthew Rutter Professor Matthew Rutter is from Tees Hospital in the UK. He has extensive knowledge in the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal conditions and is Chair of the ESGE Quality Improvement Committee. Waking up to the bubbling melody of a dawn chorus is one of life's simple pleasures, but not all birds indulge in vocal displays of virtuosity. Some, like hummingbirds, produce exotic buzzing sounds as their wing feathers vibrate while they bustle around. Fascinated by several wing-singing species, Richard Prum and Christopher Clark from Yale University, USA, were keen to expand their repertoire of birds that produce song with their feathers. 'We knew broadbills were reported to make fantastic sounds', says Clark. But it was unclear how the klaxon-like 'brreeeeet' emitted as they make territorial circular flights was produced - and the only way to find out was to film the birds in their natural surroundings. And this only became feasible when Prum met Alexander Kirschel from the University of Cyprus at a conference. 'Alex had extensive experience with field work in East Africa and knew places to try to find the birds', explains Clark, so the trio teamed up with Louis Hadjioannou and headed to Uganda in 2011 in search of African broadbills and their close cousins, rufous-sided broadbills. The team publishes their discovery that the strange call is produced by the 6th and 7th primary feathers on the wing vibrating as they birds bring the wings down abruptly at the start of each wingbeat in Journal of Experimental Biology at http://jeb.biologists.org. However, Clark admits that locating African broadbills in the Kibale region of Uganda was particularly gruelling, recalling that the team was on the verge of abandoning the search after days of fruitless effort when they turned down a particularly muddy track: 'All of a sudden we heard one', he laughs, remembering how the team then had to retrace their steps to collect the cumbersome high-speed camera before filming two of the elusive animals. 'That's all we found that we could film', he laments, although the team had more success locating rufous-sided broadbills. 'They only live in lowland Congo jungle and there was only one patch of this type of habitat in Uganda', says Clark, recalling the treacherous drive to the Semliki National Park. There, the team was fortunate to film one bird for 45 uninterrupted minutes as it displayed enthusiastically in the undergrowth. 'It was the type of angle that documentary filmmakers would fall all over themselves for', chuckles Clark. Analysing the movies back in the lab, Clark saw that each pulse of sound was produced during the wing downbeat, with the wing tips moving at speeds of 16m/s as the 8th, 9th and 10th primary feathers bent at high speed. However, when Clark tried to reproduce the sounds by positioning the feathers in a wind tunnel, they only ever produced whispers and nothing that sounded like the wing song. 'I spent a long time trying to get those feathers to make sound', says Clark. It was only when he mounted an intact wing in the tunnel that the secret was revealed. Positioning the wing as if it was flying and blowing air over it at speeds up to 17m/s, Clark was amazed to see the 6th and 7th primary feathers begin to flutter and make sound. 'We had been testing the wrong feathers the whole time!' exclaims Clark, adding that when he tested the 6th and 7th primary feathers individually they fluttered and sounded like the birds in the jungle. Kirschel and Hadjioannou then returned to Africa in 2013, where they trapped three African broadbills, carefully trimmed off the tips of the 6th and 7th primary feathers and found that the birds no longer produced a klaxon-like call, sounding instead more like a ratchet. So, broadbills produce their distinctive territorial wing song when the 6th and 7th primary wing feathers flutter in the wind, adding them to Darwin's roll-call of birds that produce 'instrumental music' with their feathers. ### IF REPORTING THIS STORY, PLEASE MENTION JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AS THE SOURCE AND, IF REPORTING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A LINK TO: jeb.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jeb.31664 REFERENCE: Clark, C. J., Kirschel, A. N. G., Hadjioannou, L. and Prum, R. O. (2016). Smithornis broadbills produce loud wing song by aeroelastic flutter of medial primary wing feathers. J. Exp. Biol. 219, doi: 10.1242/jeb.131664. doi:10.1242/jeb.131664 This article is posted on this site to give advance access to other authorised media who may wish to report on this story. Full attribution is required, and if reporting online a link to jeb.biologists.com is also required. The story posted here is COPYRIGHTED. Therefore advance permission is required before any and every reproduction of each article in full. PLEASE CONTACT permissions@biologists.com THIS ARTICLE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, 30 March, 18:00 HRS EDT (23:00 HRS BST) HOUSTON, March 30, 2016 - With a track record of leadership dating back to high school, a second-year University of Houston College of Optometry (UHCO) student recently was selected to serve as the national liaison of the American Optometric Student Association (AOSA) for the 2016-17 academic year. The AOSA receives numerous applications for this position each year from students in more than 20 optometry schools across the country. Christopher Lopez, whose experiences and personal drive have culminated in this honor, is passionate about his new role and determined to enrich the lives and health of others. He served as president of his high school student body, senior class president in college and, most recently, was elected vice president of the National Optometric Student Association (NOSA) at UHCO. The national liaison role is a prestigious responsibility for an optometry student, as they are charged with serving as a pipeline not only between the AOSA and American Academy of Optometry (AAO), but also with optometry students across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. The AAO represents thousands of optometric professionals, dedicated to the highest standards of optometric practice through clinical care, education and research. "That innate quality we, as optometry students, all share - the inherent desire to improve the lives of others, the enthusiasm to live a life of service - is exactly why I wanted to become national liaison. I, too, want to be of service to others," Lopez said. Lopez also takes to heart the AAO's mission of promoting the science of vision care through lifelong learning. In addition to the many leadership roles he's already held throughout his academic career, he is pursuing a Master of Science degree in physiological optics in conjunction with his O.D. degree, with hopes of seeking a Ph.D. "I want to learn from investigators and fellows at AAO, as well as be someone who can contribute to the advancement of our field through research," he said. Last summer, for example, he worked on a research project with UH clinical assistant professor of optometry Daniel Powell to evaluate dry eye status using thermal imaging to measure ocular surface temperatures. Lopez is continuing his research and expanding the scope for more applications. With a more than 40-year tradition of leadership in optometric education, the AOSA and its national liaisons serve an important role in ensuring optometry students have an opportunity to be involved and make a broad impact across the profession. Liaisons are responsible for being attuned to trends in the profession and speaking on behalf of the more than 6,000 AOSA member students at 23 schools and colleges of optometry. Lopez says that since the scope of optometry practice is determined by state and federal legislatures, with organizations and lobbyists working to expand that scope, one of his roles is to advocate maintaining and expanding upon practices and procedures optometrists can perform. He says as a national liaison, he will work with legislators on expand optometrists' capabilities to practice to the limits of what they are taught in school. "Taking on a leadership role in an AOSA allied organization will allow me to assist optometry students in a productive and meaningful way so that we all may become the best optometrists we can be," he said. ### 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 UH College of Optometry Since 1952, the University of Houston College of Optometry (UHCO) has educated and trained optometrists to provide the highest quality vision care. One of only 22 optometry schools in the country, UHCO offers a variety of degree programs, including Doctor of Optometry (O.D.), a combined Doctor of Optometry/Doctor of Philosophy (O.D./Ph.D.), Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). UHCO serves an average of 50,000 patients a year through The University Eye Institute and its external clinics located in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth regions. 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. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A new study of more than 440 parents and their preschoolers offers insight into why some parents who binge eat also may try to restrict their children's food intake, placing their children at higher risk for unhealthy eating habits and weight problems. Parents who reported feeling distress when their child was angry, crying or fearful were more likely to engage in episodes of binge eating - and to limit the amounts or types of food they provided to their children, University of Illinois researchers found. In the three months preceding the study, 52 parents in the sample, or about 2 percent, reported episodes of binge eating, which ranged in frequency from one to five times per week. Parents also were assessed for depression, anxiety and stress, and completed questionnaires about their use of specific feeding practices with their children and their children's eating behaviors. Although numerous studies have examined the potentially detrimental effects of restrictive feeding practices on children, the current study was novel in that it focused on the interplay of the parent's emotions with their controlling the child's food intake, said lead author Jaclyn A. Saltzman, a doctoral researcher in human development and family studies and scholar in the Illinois Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention Program. "Previous research has linked restrictive feeding practices to children's overeating, eating when they're not hungry and to higher child body weight, so we know it's a problem for children's health," Saltzman said. "We also know that parental binge eating is related to restrictive feeding, but it's a counterintuitive relationship. Why is caloric excess in one individual related to caloric restriction in the family? We wanted to explore why that was happening," Saltzman said. Adults who binge eat - defined in the study as eating unusually large amounts of food in an uncontrolled manner without compensatory behaviors such as purging - often struggle with feelings of shame and guilt about their behavior and have difficulty regulating their emotions, studies have found. "Parents are people, too, and we knew that parents who binge are going to experience a lot of distress because of those behaviors, so we tried to take a sympathetic approach," Saltzman said. "We hypothesized that this emotional overload was going to bleed out into the parent-child relationship, and that's exactly what we found. Binge eating did affect restrictive feeding practices through parents' distress about their children's negative emotions." Parents in the study completed a survey indicating how they would likely respond to their child's anger, fear or crying in various hypothetical situations, and parents' responses were scored as being supportive - behaviors that were emotion- and problem-focused - or unsupportive, which included feeling distress, minimizing the problem or punishing the child. Comparing data on the adults who were binge eaters with other parents in the study, the researchers found that parental binge eating was correlated with feeling distress in response to children's negative emotions and was associated with restricting the child's food intake for health reasons or to control the child's weight. "We think there are two possible reasons why that was happening: Parents who binge eat may be so focused on trying to control their own distress that they might struggle to respond sensitively to their children's emotions and to their cues of hunger or satiety," Saltzman said. "Having trouble in sensitivity to the children's emotions was leading to trouble with sensitivity to the children's hunger in the feeding environment. It also could have been possible that parents who binge eat were trying to help their children avoid engaging in the same type of behavior, so they may have restricted the children's intake in an effort to curb excessive overeating behavior," Saltzman said. Saltzman cautioned that since the study was a cross-sectional analysis of the data, the researchers can't make a statistical inference that parental binge eating is caused by parents' responses to their children's emotions. However, from a theoretically grounded perspective, that explanation makes the most sense, Saltzman said. "We want researchers and practitioners working with problems around eating and weight to consider how parents' emotions are being brought to the dining table," Saltzman said. "Self-regulation is important for emotions, but it's also important for eating behavior. Many researchers have looked at the interplay of children's emotions with their eating behaviors. However, parents control the amounts and types of food they feed their children, so you really want to focus on what's happening with parents' emotions, not just what's happening with the kids." ### Co-authors on the study were child development professor Kelly K. Bost; Barbara H. Fiese, the director of the Family Resiliency Center and a professor of human development and family studies; and Janet M. Liechty, a professor of medicine and of social work. The study, accepted for publication in the journal Eating Behaviors, was funded in part by grants from the Illinois Council for Agriculture Research, the U. of I. Health and Wellness Research Initiative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Women who perceive that their sexual partner is imposing perfectionist standards on them may suffer sexual dysfunction as a result, psychologists at the University of Kent have found. In the first in-depth study of how different types of sexual perfectionism affect women over a period of time, researchers also found that 'partner-prescribed' sexual perfectionism contributed to negative self-image. Perfectionism is defined as a 'striving for flawlessness and the setting of exceedingly high standards for performance, accompanied by tendencies for overly critical self-evaluations and concerns about negative evaluations by others'. It is a common personality characteristic that may affect all domains of life. However, the longer term consequences of how it affects people's sex life had previously not been explored. The research, led by Professor Joachim Stoeber at the University's School of Psychology, considered the response of 366 women who completed two surveys in the period December 2013 to February 2014. These women, comprising 230 students and 136 internet users, had mean ages of 19.7 and 30 years respectively. Those recruited to the study were told that the online survey was investigating whether 'personal and interpersonal expectations and beliefs affect one's sexuality and sexual function'. Researchers differentiated between four forms of sexual perfectionism: self-oriented, partner-oriented, partner-prescribed and socially prescribed. They found that partner-prescribed sexual perfectionism contributed to woman's negative sexual self-concept and female sexual dysfunction. In particular, partner-prescribed sexual perfectionism predicted decreases in female sexual function regarding arousal. They further found that partner-prescribed sexual perfectionism predicted decreases in sexual esteem and increases in sexual anxiety, suggesting that it is a psychological factor that may contribute to sexual self-concept problems in woman. The study is therefore likely to be of interest to clinicians, therapists and counsellors working to help woman in this area. ### The study, entitled Multidimensional Sexual Perfectionism and Female Sexual function: A Longitudinal Investigation, is published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. Its authors are Professor Joachim Stoeber and Laura Harvey MSc. See: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-016-0721-7 For further information or interview requests contact Martin Herrema at the University of Kent Press Office. Tel: 01227 823581/01634 888879 Email: M.J.Herrema@kent.ac.uk News releases can also be found at http://www.kent.ac.uk/news University of Kent on Twitter: http://twitter.com/UniKent Note to editors Established in 1965, the University of Kent - the UK's European university - now has almost 20,000 students across campuses or study centres at Canterbury, Medway, Tonbridge, Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome. It has been ranked: third for overall student satisfaction in the 2014 National Student Survey; 16th in the Guardian University Guide 2016; 23rd in the Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2016; and 22nd in the Complete University Guide 2015. In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2015-16, Kent is in the top 10% of the world's leading universities for international outlook and 66th in its table of the most international universities in the world. The THE also ranked the University as 20th in its 'Table of Tables' 2016. Kent is ranked 17th in the UK for research intensity (REF 2014). It has world-leading research in all subjects and 97% of its research is deemed by the REF to be of international quality. Along with the universities of East Anglia and Essex, Kent is a member of the Eastern Arc Research Consortium (http://www.kent.ac.uk/about/partnerships/eastern-arc.html). The University is worth 0.7 billion to the economy of the south east and supports more than 7,800 jobs in the region. Student off-campus spend contributes 293.3m and 2,532 full-time-equivalent jobs to those totals. In 2014, Kent received its second Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. Scientists from the University of Liverpool have developed computer models of the bodies of sauropod dinosaurs to examine the evolution of their body shape. Sauropod dinosaurs include the largest land animals to have ever lived. Some of the more well-known sauropods include Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus. They are renowned for their extremely long necks, long tails as well as four thick, pillar-like legs and small heads in relation to their body. To date, however, there have been only limited attempts to examine how this unique body-plan evolved and how it might be related to their gigantic body size. Dr Karl Bates from the University's Department of Musculoskeletal Biology and his colleagues used three-dimensional computer models reconstructing the bodies of sauropod dinosaurs to analyse how their size, shape and weight-distribution evolved over time. Evolutionary history Dr Bates found evidence that changes in body shape coincided with major events in sauropod evolutionary history such as the rise of the titanosaurs. The early dinosaurs that sauropods evolved from were small and walked on two legs, with long tails, small chests and small forelimbs. The team estimate that this body shape concentrated their weight close to the hip joint, which would have helped them balance while walking bipedally on their hind legs. As sauropods evolved they gradually altered both their size and shape from this ancestral template, becoming not only significantly larger and heavier, but also gaining a proportionally larger chest, forelimbs and in particular a dramatically larger neck. The team's findings show that these changes altered sauropods' weight distribution as they grew in size, gradually shifting from being tail-heavy, two-legged animals to being front-heavy, four-legged animals, such as the large, fully quadrupedal Jurassic sauropods Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. The team found that these linked trends in size, body shape and weight distribution did not end with the evolution of fully quadrupedal sauropods. In the Cretaceous period - the last of the three ages of the dinosaurs - many earlier sauropod groups dwindled. In their place, a new and extremely large type of sauropod known as titanosaurs evolved, including the truly massive Argentinosaurus and Dreadnoughtus, among the largest known animals ever to have lived. Front heavy The team's computer models suggest that in addition to their size, the titanosaurs evolved the most extreme 'front heavy' body shape of all sauropods, as a result of their extremely long necks. Dr Bates said: "As a result of devising these models we were able to ascertain that the relative size of sauropods' necks increased gradually over time, leading to animals that were increasingly more front-heavy relative to their ancestors." Dr Philip Mannion from Imperial College London, a collaborator in the research, added: "These innovations in body shape might have been key to the success of titanosaurs, which were the only sauropod dinosaurs to survive until the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, 66 million years ago." Dr Vivian Allen from the Royal Veterinary College London, who also collaborated in the research, added: "What's important to remember about studies like this is that there is a very high degree of uncertainty about exactly how these animals were put together. While we have good skeletons for many of them, it's difficult to be sure how much meat there was around each of the bones. We have built this uncertainly into our models, ranging each body part from emaciated to borderline obesity, and even using these extremes we still find these solid, trending changes in body proportions over sauropod evolution." ### The full paper, entitled 'Temporal and phylogenetic evolution of the sauropod dinosaur body plan', has been published by Royal Society Open Science and can be found here once the embargo has lifted. An animation by co-author Dr Peter L Falkingham (Liverpool John Moores University) of the three-dimensional computer model can be found here. PHILADELPHIA - Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are clusters of dilated, thin-walled blood vessels in the brain that can cause stroke and seizures, yet exactly how they form is somewhat of a mystery. Now, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has discovered the molecular mechanism that underlies this common cerebrovascular disease. They published their results this week online ahead of print in Nature. CCM disease, which occurs in about one in 100 to 200 people, can present in two forms. One is sporadic, accounting for 80 percent of cases, and is most frequent in older individuals. The remaining 20 percent are familial, inherited cases. These patients present with a large number of lesions and more severe symptoms that arise in much younger individuals. CCM disease is a progressive disorder, and the standard of care remains surgical removal of the most dangerous lesions and symptom management. When CCM was first identified as a genetic disease, mutations in one of two copies of three genes were identified in human patients. The proteins encoded by these genes were found to bind each other in a single complex, but this complex lacks intrinsic enzyme activity and how its loss results in vascular disease - and why this vascular disease arises so specifically in the brain - has remained unknown. "Despite all we know about CCMs, how loss of the CCM complex causes disease remains controversial, with numerous downstream signaling pathways and processes proposed to play roles," said senior author Mark Kahn, MD, the Edward S. Cooper, MD/Norman Roosevelt and Elizabeth Meriwether McLure Professor in the department of Medicine. An important clue to disease pathogenesis was discovered while studying vertebrate heart development, when the Kahn lab found that CCM proteins in endothelial cells control the activity of the enzyme MEKK3 and a downstream gene expression program that is essential for the embryonic heart to properly develop. For the Nature study, the Kahn lab investigated whether a conserved mechanism might also underlie the formation of CCM lesions in the postnatal brain. Using a neonatal mouse model of CCM disease, they found that expression of MEKK3 target genes, KLF2 and KLF4, was increased in the cells of newly formed CCM lesions. "From there we were able to demonstrate that partial, endothelial-specific loss of the genes for MEKK3, KLF2, or KLF4 completely rescues lesion formation and prevents the mice from dying due to CCM disease," Kahn said. Consistent with these findings in mice discovered by co-first author and doctoral student Zinan Zhou, the team also demonstrated that expression of KLF2 and KLF4 is elevated in vessel-lining cells from human familial and sporadic CCM lesions. Studies by co-first author Alan Tang, an MD-PhD student, also in the Kahn lab, further revealed that a previously identified disease-causing human CCM2 mutation confers the disease by preventing the CCM protein complex from interacting with its signaling target MEKK3. "Our studies conclusively identify that increased MEKK3 signaling and over-expression of KLF2 and KLF4 transcription factors are the molecular basis for CCM," Kahn said. Because the KLFs are MEKK3 targets, higher MEKK3 activity means higher KLF gene expression. Analysis of single endothelial cells in lesions removed from the brains of patients with familial CCM revealed the presence of a "second hit," indicating that CCM lesions arise when endothelial cells become deficient in a CCM protein. Sporadic CCM has been thought to be the same disease as familial CCM because the brain lesions appear similar, but molecular and genetic data to support this idea have been sparse. Using antibodies that stain for KLF2 and KLF4, the Kahn lab also demonstrated that familial and sporadic CCM lesions arise due to the same molecular pathology, and therefore should be amenable to the same therapeutic strategies. The pathology of CCM disease pertains to an adaptor protein complex, which bring proteins together in the right place at the right time to transmit a molecular signal. "Its job is as a go between," Kahn said. "It's a tool to make two other tools work, so it has been difficult to pinpoint its exact function and virtually impossible to design a therapeutic strategy to prevent CCM formation in patients." The discovery that familial and sporadic CCMs both arise due to endothelial gain of MEKK3-KLF2/4 signaling may open the door for new therapies designed to block the activity of these proteins. In addition, the Kahn lab is actively investigating which KLF2/4 target genes may be responsible for creating CCM lesions. Parallel studies in the developing heart identified a critical role for ADAMTS enzyme, which degrade versican, a related CCM disease substance that is also highly expressed in the brain. "The present study demonstrates versican degradation surrounding the earliest CCM lesions, suggesting that this may also be a critical step in CCM pathogenesis and an important future therapeutic target," Kahn said. ### This study was funded by the National Institute of Health (R01HL094326, P01NS092521, R01NS075168, T32HL07439, P01NS092521). Coauthors include Xiangjian Zheng, a former postdoc from the Kahn lab and now at the Centenary Institute, Sydney, Australia, and Issam Awad, University of Chicago, who provided human CCM tissue. Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania(founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $5.3 billion enterprise. The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 18 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $373 million awarded in the 2015 fiscal year. The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Chestnut Hill Hospital and Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine. Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2015, Penn Medicine provided $253.3 million to benefit our community. ARLINGTON, Texas -- For more than 30 years women have been working as surrogates for strangers who are unable to bear children. A University of Texas at Arlington researcher has found that although the majority of today's surrogates are compensated for their services, many of the women are reluctant to think of themselves as workers and outsiders often misunderstand their vocation. Heather Jacobson, associate professor of sociology, offers the first book-length ethnographic examination of gestational surrogacy in the U.S. in "Labor of Love: Gestational Surrogacy and the Work of Making Babies (Rutgers University Press)." Jacobson explores the complexities of surrogacy and conflicted attitudes that emerge when the act of bringing a child into the world becomes a paid occupation. "Many people have a difficult time understanding why someone would want to carry a baby for a stranger," said Jacobson, whose interest in surrogacy stems from her studies of family formation. "I found most surrogates in my study loved being a surrogate. They were interested in helping others have a child because they enjoyed being pregnant. They saw it as something they were good at - a skill set." Elisabeth Cawthon, acting dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said Jacobson's research provides valuable insights about reproductive technology affecting Americans and changing how we think about maternity, family and the labor involved in giving birth. "Dr. Jacobson does a comprehensive job of dissecting the complex set of social attitudes underlying gestational surrogacy, its role in health and gender studies," Cawthon said. "There are a lot of misconceptions about infertility, reproductive technologies and surrogacy that are reinforced in the media, popular television programs and movies; and, this work will help advance the larger conversation about these issues and help to correct misinformation." Cawthon added that the research is representative of UTA's commitment to advancing health and the human condition as outlined in UTA's Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact. In her studies, Jacobson found surrogates and others involved in surrogacy having to navigate basic misconceptions about the medical procedures involved and the motivations and experiences people have in surrogacy. The research is based on in-depth interviews conducted between 2009-2015 with surrogates that Jacobson connected with through surrogate agencies and various digital platforms. In addition to surrogates, she interviewed, their family members, the "intended parents" who employ surrogates, infertility doctors, directors of surrogacy agencies, family lawyers, and various other professionals who work to facilitate gestational surrogacy - an advanced reproductive technology that allows women to be surrogates without contributing their own eggs. The surrogates in her study were between the ages of 25 and 45 at the time of the interviews, with the oldest surrogate having given birth to a "surro-baby" at the age of 41. All were paid, from $15,000 to $35,000. Most of the women were married, financially stable and all had children of their own. Most were Caucasian, but there were also Hispanic and African-American surrogates in the study. Jacobson noted that the majority of the surrogates in her study were not stay-at-home mothers, as often assumed, but worked outside of the home in what are called the 'caring professions' -- such as nursing, teaching, social services or social work. Surrogacy itself is not federally regulated, so there is no federal data on the numbers of surrogacies in the United States, Jacobson said. According to the book, there are an estimated 1,500 surrogate births per year in the U.S. "I found it interesting that surrogates are reluctant to think of this as work because they engage in a tremendous amount of labor in helping to produce a child for people who desperately want one," Jacobson said. "They re-arrange their lives and the lives of their families, and if the pregnancy goes well, it can be a year-long investment--if there are complications, it can be a many year investment." In the book, Jacobson investigates why not only surrogates, but the surrogacy industry, are reluctant to think about surrogacy as work. Jacobson joined the UTA Department of Sociology and Anthropology in 2006. She holds both a Ph.D. and Master's degree in Sociology from Brandeis University. She also has a Master's degree in Women's Studies from the University of Dublin, Trinity College. She earned bachelor's degrees in drama and history from Carnegie Mellon University. In her first book, "Culture Keeping: White Mothers, International Adoption, and the Negotiation of Family Difference (Vanderbilt Press, 2008)," she examined how conceptions of family and of race shape the ethnic practices of international adoptive families with children from China and Russia. ### "Labor of Love: Gestational Surrogacy and the Work of Making Babies" is available now at Amazon.com and at the UTA Bookstore, 400 S. Pecan St. About The University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington is a Carnegie "highest research activity" institution of more than 51,000 students in campus-based and online degree programs and is the second-largest institution in The University of Texas System. U.S. News & World Report ranks UTA fifth in the nation for undergraduate diversity. The University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is ranked as the top four-year college in Texas for veterans on Military Times' 2016 Best for Vets list. Visit http://www.uta.edu to learn more, and find UTA rankings and recognition at http://www.uta.edu/uta/about/rankings.php. A mysterious inflammatory disease has been afflicting a Flemish family for three generations, causing severe skin lesions, fevers, pain and exhaustion. This disease, which previously had no known cause or cure, has now been identified as Pyrin Associated Autoinflammation with Neutrophilic Dermatosis (PAAND), and has also been found in families in England and France. New research by Adrian Liston (VIB/University of Leuven, Belgium), Seth Masters (Walter and Elisa Hall Institute, Australia), Carine Wouters (University of Leuven, Belgium) has found the genetic mutation causing the disease and also identified an effective treatment. This research was published in the international scientific journal Science Translational Medicine. For decades, families in Belgium, England, and France have been living with a mysterious disease that results in severe skin lesions, fevers, pain and exhaustion. Every generation, half of the children of the people with this disease develop the same symptoms. Doctors had been previously unable to identify the disease or find any effective treatment. For the first time, this disease has been identified and a treatment found due to an international research team. Professor Adrian Liston (VIB/University Leuven): "Detailed work by clinicians told us that we were dealing with a genetic disease. Thanks to advances in DNA sequencing technology we were able to sequence the genome of these patients and find the mutation causing the disease". The mutation is in the gene called MEFV. This gene was known to cause an inflammatory disease called Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) in patients who inherit mutated copies from both mother and father. However, the mutation found in the PAAND patients is different. Only a single copy of the mutation is needed to cause disease, meaning it affects half the children of patients, unlike the mutations that cause FMF, which often skip generations. Professor Seth Masters (Walter and Elisa Hall Institute): "The PAAND mutation causes the body to respond as if there is a bacterial skin infection. This leads to the skin making the inflammatory protein interleukin-1, which causes skin lesions, fevers and pain". A cure for the new disease? Understanding the biological basis for this new disease allowed the rational selection of a new treatment. The researchers repurposed an anti-arthritis drug, anakinra (Kineret ), which targets the same protein that causes PAAND, interleukin-1. The results in the first volunteer, from an English family, were striking, with a rapid clearance of skin lesions and a complete recovery from fevers and pain. A larger trial is now beginning in the Flemish patients to see if this targeted treatment will act as a complete cure. Professor Carine Wouters (KU Leuven/UZ Leuven, lead clinical researcher): "This is the synthesis of an intense collaboration between clinicians and scientists trying to understand this disease for almost 10 years. I am delighted to see how it has increased our understanding of rare mutations, and especially has opened a therapeutic perspective for these patients." Quote from one of the patients: "We are happy and very grateful to the doctors and scientists who never gave up their search to understand the disease that affected members of our family for so many years. We are very hopeful that the new treatment will be beneficial to our family. Also we realize that the findings will help other patients to get a correct diagnosis and therapy." Professor Adrian Liston (VIB/KU Leuven, lead scientific researcher): "This is an amazing time to be working on genetic diseases. Every month we are solving clinical cases that would have been too hard to work out just a few years ago. Actually, to be honest the research is moving much faster than the healthcare system - we are finding new mutations, new diseases and trialling new treatments faster than the healthcare system is adapting. It creates a difficult situation for patients where the science is in, but the health insurance funds are not ready to reimburse the costs of the advanced diagnostic tests we use or novel treatments that we discover. This is a challenge, but also an opportunity - medical improvements could be rolled out quite quickly with political will." ### Professors Carine Wouters and Adrian Liston have established the Leuven University Fund Ped IMID (Pediatric Immune Inflammatory Diseases) to seek funding for research, diagnosis, and treatment of people living with rare immune disorders not currently covered by the health insurance funds (http://www.kuleuven.be/mecenaat/fondsen/geneeskunde/ped-imid-fonds). The British Pound (GBP) opened its account against the Australian Dollar (AUD) in this trading week cut short by the Easter break by holding steady ahead of the key GDP data. We bring you the latest Aussie dollar exchange rate news and forecasts for the week. Today's British pound to Australian dollar exchange rate has been softened of late by the high-profile threat faced by UK steel manufacturers. Most disappointingly, it has emerged that no change is likely in this situation until April 11th, when the House of Commons returns from its Easter recess. Investors appear to remain in the mood for higher-risk assets on Thursday, allowing the Australian Dollar exchange rate complex (AUD) to maintain its upwards momentum against fx majors such as the Pound (GBP) despite mixed domestic data. HIA New Home Sales fell sharply in February but Private Sector Credit grew, a mixed picture which has seen commodity sentiment remaining the primary driver of the Australian Dollar today. Current exchange rate forecasts are for the British pound to remain down against the Australian dollar for the near future. This is because it appears unsustainable to keep UK steel mills open, especially given how unprofitable they are becoming. The British Pound has made fractional gains of late as traders take advantage of Sterling's low trade weighting, However, EU referendum uncertainty is likely to continue to hamper Pound Sterling exchange rate gains over the coming months. China's economic woes will be likely to negatively impact the Australian Dollar, although increased speculation of long-term delays to a Federal Reserve rate hike should provide short-term 'Aussie' (AUD) support. Latest Pound/Australian Dollar Exchange Rates On Sunday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1 The GBP to GBP exchange rate converts at 1 today. At time of writing the pound to us dollar exchange rate is quoted at 1.13. FX markets see the pound vs new zealand dollar exchange rate converting at 1.966. NB: the forex rates mentioned above, revised as of 23rd 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. Pound to Aus Dollar Exchange Rate News and Outlook On a quiet day for data releases after the London markets were closed on Friday of last week and on Monday of this week, the Bank of England (BoE) warned yesterday that a vote on 23 June for the UK to leave the EU (European Union) could lead to a credit crunch. The BoEs Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said the impact of a decision to leave the EU "could spill over to the euro area, driving up risk premia and further diminishing the prospects for growth there. Some pre-existing risks have crystallised, drawing on the resilience of the system. Other risks stemming from the global environment have increased. Domestic risks have been supplemented by risks around the EU referendum. Looking ahead, heightened and prolonged uncertainty has the potential to increase the risk premia investors require on a wider range of UK assets, which could lead to a further depreciation of sterling and affect the cost and availability of financing for a broad range of UK borrowers. The results of that test, when combined with revised bank capital plans, suggested that the banking system was strong enough to continue to serve households and businesses during the severe shock. Since then, UK banks' resilience has increased further." Of interest, the FPC also said that the outlook for financial stability in the UK had deteriorated since it last met in November 2015 and while the resilience of the core banking system had improved further since November, underlying liquidity conditions in some markets had continued to deteriorate. As a result, the FPC had decided to increase the UK countercyclical capital buffer rate from 0% to 0.5% of risk weighted assets with immediate effect. The report was met with a muted Pound negative response which ended up being balanced out in yesterdays quiet foreign exchange market by the publication of a report into the commodities markets by Barclays which in summary stated that the lack of improvement in the fundamental drivers of the commodity market meant it was exposed to the risk of a rush to the exits by investors in the second quarter of 2016. Pressure on Australian Dollar Exchange Rates Remain as China's Economic Woes Continue Of interest to the Aussie, the report suggested that copper prices may slump below $4,000 per tonne and crude oil futures beneath $30 per barrel. Together with the ongoing slump in Australias main trading partner, China which publishes its latest manufacturing data on Friday, the pressure remains on the Aussie although the closer we get to 23 June polling day in the UK, the more the Pound should come under the spotlight. Support levels are currently running at 1.8767 and thereafter at 1.8739 with resistance set at 1.8862 and thereafter at 1.8919. Treaties would need to be put in place to recreate the current situation when it comes to tax, pensions, study and properties if the UK votes to leave the European Union in the upcoming referendum in June.There have been a variety of claims about what this would mean for British expats in Europe with many headlines suggesting that these would take years to negotiate and leave expats in turmoil.Everyday there are a rash of new headlines warning of the consequences of what is known as Brexit, some of them quite frightening with claims that expats will be left without health cover, that they won't own their own homes and even that they will have to return to the UK.But a lot of this is scaremongering. Experts point out that the right to buy property, work, retire and use EU healthcare would continue as there is already a lot of interaction between the UK and EU countries, it is just a matter of on what basis.Those campaigning for the UK to leave point out that treaties exist which mean that rights built up over time by individuals cannot be revoked by new treaties. This means that British expats living in EU countries would not be forced to return to the UK and vice versa.But unfortunately rumours are already causing stress for expats. According to the British Community Committee of France, a registered association, there is widespread concern that people who have retired to France will no longer have access to free healthcare. In Spain there are report of expats leaving already as they fear the consequences of a leave vote.The issue reveals the disparity between the campaigns for leaving and staying. The Stronger In campaign says, for example, that if the UK leaves there would be nothing to stop countries like France and Spain from preventing British nationals from accessing healthcare.But the Vote Leave campaign says that in reality if there is a No vote a deal would be done on healthcare and things would carry on as normal until an arrangement is reached. A spokesman also pointed out that despite the scaremonger it is unlikely that British citizens would be asked to leave and EU country.Other issues for British expats revolve around pensions, income tax and student fees. There is no doubt that these could change if the UK leaves.Peter Esders, commercial director of legal services firm Judicare, said that the firm has already had enquiries whether it is worth getting Spanish nationality now in advance of buying a property just in case Britain exits Europe.He explained that people buying and owning property within Europe have several concerns and these revolve around certain issues such as the ability to buy and own property, the ability to visit, live, work and retire within the EU, finance, pensions, healthcare and tax.Esders points out that there will be change if the UK leaves and no one really knows what would happen regarding visa requirements, pensions, tax until new treaties are put in place. For example, in theory British people would need a visa to live and work in EU countries but this would not mean a drastic change in lifestyle. American, Australians and South Africans all have large expat populations in the EU.When it comes to tax then it is expected that the current double taxation treaties would continue to exist so expats would not pay tax twice.Esders believes that with an exit from Europe then the movement of money abroad may become more difficult. "Certainly until new treaties are struck with individual countries, visitors are likely to have to take out private healthcare or travel insurance rather than being able to rely on the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) as they can at the moment," he explained."There is already so much interaction between the countries and so many Brits living and working in Europe and even more who own property it is likely that it would be necessary to put into place treaties to recreate the situation that we have at the moment or at least allow those who are already in the system to continue as they are," he added. Safety watchdog issues half-term call to keep kids safe on farms We want to hit the premium markets so if breed does influence that, producers may need to look at limiting certain breed content - we expect the carcase feedback to provide much more data on that. Snoop Dogg is to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Snoop Dogg The 44-year-old rapper will join the likes of Mike Tyson and Arnold Schwarzenegger as he becomes the first musician to join the wrestling elite at the honourary ceremony held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on April 2. Taking to his Twitter account last night (28.03.16), he said: "real recognize real. thnk u @WWE universe for tha honor #HOF #WWE #wrestlemania (sic)." The 'Young, Wild & Free' hitmaker's passion may lie in music but he's also been heavily involved in wrestling over the years as he guest-hosted 'Raw' in 2009 and served as Master of Ceremonies for a match at 'WrestleMania XXIV'. He also joined Hulk Hogan in the ring as he helped throw Curtis Axel over the top rope at the go-home show last year. Meanwhile, Snoop - whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr - isn't the only person to be inducted at this year's ceremony as Sting, Big Boss Man, Fabulous Freebirds and Stan 'The Lariat' Hansen will also join the Hall of Fame. This year's ceremony will take place the night before 'WrestleMania 32' kicks off at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on April 3. Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix are today (March 29) celebrated two decades of Lara Croft, star of the Tomb Raider franchise, with festivities beginning at PAX East 2016. Special activities and events are planned for the year going forward but today, the Rise of the Tomb Raider Cold Darkness Awakened DLC has been released. Co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics, Ron Rosenberg comments: "Since its introduction, Tomb Raider has held a significant place in video game history, and further cements that with this milestone. "We look forward to celebrating with fans, and honouring the iconic Lara Croft with special events, retrospectives, giveaways and other surprises throughout this year of Tomb Raider." Fellow Co-Head Scot Amos adds: "Tomb Raider has become a cultural phenomenon over the last 20 years, selling millions of copies worldwide, sparking one of the most successful video game film adaptations in history, and inspiring our amazing fans of all ages. "It's incredible to be part of this legend and to see how much the series has evolved over time, and think about what's yet to come. Here's to 20 more years of adventure together." Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics, as part of the celebration have partnered with GameChanger Charity to provide a free digital copy of Tomb Raider 2013 to every person who makes a donation of at least $1 to the charity. Those who donate $20 or more will also be entered in a drawing where special prizes include swag bags and more. GameChanger delivers video game gifts to hospitals and provides financial support to deserving families. Those wanting to donate can do so at http://gamechangercharity.donordrive.com/event/20yearstombraider/. by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on The Conjuring 2 is one of the horror movies of 2016 that I am looking forward to the most as James Wan returns to the director's chair. The Conjuring 2 It was back in 2013 when we were introduced to Ed and Lorraine Warren for the first time and this sequel sees Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise those roles. The brand new trailer for the film has arrived and we have it for you to take a look at - it is promising to be another edge of your seat ride: This is the first time that we have seen Wan in the director's chair since the huge success of Fast & Furious 7 last year. It is always great to see him return to the horror genre and this is his first horror movie since Insidious: Chapter 2. A great cast has been assembled for the film as Wilson and Farmiga are joined by Franka Potente, Frances O'Connor, Maria Doyle Kennedy, and Sterling Jerins. The Conjuring 2 follows Lorraine and Ed Warren, who, in one of their most terrifying paranormal investigations, travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits. The Conjuring was one of my favourite movies of 2013 and I am excited to see what the filmmaker delivers this time around. The Conjuring 2 is released 17th June. by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Britain's Prince William feels "incredibly lucky" to visit the Taj Mahal during his visit to India. Britain's Prince William The 33-year-old royal and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, are thrilled to be visiting a place where the memory of his late mother, Princess Diana, is "kept alive". Of the visit, a spokesperson said: "The Taj Mahal is one of the symbols of India and Their Royal Highnesses cannot wait to see it with their own eyes. The Duke of Cambridge is of course aware of the huge esteem his mother, the late Princess of Wales is held in India and he appreciates the iconic status of the images that exist of The Princess at the Taj. "He feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mother's memory is kept alive by so many who travel there. 24 years on from her visit to the Taj, the Duke and the Duchess are looking forward to seeing this beautiful place for themselves and creating some new memories as they say thank you to the people of India at the conclusion of this tour." Before they visit the iconic location, they will enjoy the kingdom of Bhutan and take a six hour trek to Paro Taktsang, Tiger's Nest Monastery. The spokesperson added: "The Duke and Duchess will hike to Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest monastery which dates to 1692. The monastery is near the cave where Guru Padmasambhava - who is credited with introducing Buddhism to Bhutan - is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, and three days in the 8th century." Textile and garment trade representatives of Pakistan and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote and expand cooperation between the textile and apparel companies of the two countries. The MoU, the first of its kind for Pakistan, was signed between Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) and China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textile and Apparel (CCCT) was signed at the China Asia Textile Forum 2016 in Shanghai on Monday, Pakistani newspapers have reported. PRGMEA was represented by its chief co-ordinator Ijaz Khokhar while CCCT was represented by its Chairman Jiang Hui. Textile and garment trade representatives of Pakistan and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote and expand cooperation between# Khokhar made a presentation on Pakistan's textile and apparel sector at the forum, which was attended by major apparel associations and many leading Chinese garment companies. He said that although China is not a traditional market for Pakistan, it can offer a lot of opportunities for Pakistani merchandise. The MoU between the PRGMEA and CCCT would go a long way and help Pakistani value-added garments goods to find their way in the Chinese market, he added. Khokhar said that ample opportunities existed in value-added textile sector of Pakistan and now it was the duty of the policymakers to help the garment industry make this MoU meaningful. As per the MoU, PRGMEA will provide visa assistance to Chinese companies through invitation letters. A CCCT delegation will visit Pakistan to attend Texpo from April 7 to 10. PRGMEA will arrange for the Chinese delegation factory visits and B2B meetings with its members. PRGMEA has also planned a trade delegation to visit China by the end of this year. It is expected that Chinese companies will establish their units at CPEC Economic zones through joint ventures of the local companies, with PRGMEA playing a leading role after striking this deal with CCCT. PRGMEA and CCCT have also agreed to deal with managing business contacts, seminars, business meetings, presentations, exhibitions, fairs holdings and other events to establish potential partners and export possibilities available in the two countries. According to the MoU, PRGMEA and CCCT will also assist each other in small and medium size business development, provide technical assistance, search for partners for trade and joint ventures, as well as render other services of interest for business entities of both parties. CCCT is the largest textile and apparel trade agency in China and the world. Its members, totalling more than 12,000 operating in 34 provinces across the country are engaged in the production and export and import of textile fibres, yarns, fabrics, clothing, home textiles, industrial textiles and accessories. The trade volume of its members accounts for 70 per cent of the total export and import volume of Chinese textile and apparel industry as a whole. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Japanese apparel retailer Uniqlo said it will open its first global flagship store in Singapore, and also it's first in Southeast Asia region, in autumn of this year, which will create around 300 jobs.As per a Uniqlo press release, the new store, which will be the largest Uniqlo store in Singapore and in the region, will be located in the Orchard Central mall along Orchard Road. Japanese apparel retailer Uniqlo said it will open its first global flagship store in Singapore, and also it's first in Southeast Asia region, in# "Having been a member of the local retail scene since 2009, we remain committed to being an integral part of Singapore's growth and future," said Taku Morikawa, Uniqlo Southeast Asia CEO."We will continue our effort to design and create innovative clothes that enrich the daily lives of people, as a reflection of our Lifewear philosophy," he added.The Singapore global flagship store will provide an extensive range of the latest lines for women, men, kids and babies, in a sales area of approximately 2,700 square metres across three levels.Modelled on highly successful Uniqlo flagship stores around the world, customers will enjoy the best that Uniqlo has to offer, in a truly unique retailing setting, the retailer too added in the press release.According to Uniqlo, the opening of a global flagship store in Singapore, highlights its prominence in Uniqlo's expansion plans worldwide and will add to global flagship stores in key worldwide locations.Through its innovative, high-tech displays and extensive product lineup, the new Singapore global flagship store will serve as a launch pad to display the brand's Lifewear to a wider audience, Uniqlo informed. (AR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Fashion Pakistan Week S/S 2016 will run from April 7-9, 2016 in Karachi in collaboration with Urdu 1 as the official event and media partner.25-30 of the country 's best fashion designers and retail brands will be showcasing their latest Spring/Summer collections through this platform, a press release from the organiser informed. Fashion Pakistan Week S/S 2016 will run from April 7-9, 2016 in Karachi in collaboration with Urdu 1 as the official event and media partner.25-30# Sanam Chaudhri, chairperson of Fashion Pakistan Council said, We want to demonstrate the latest trends and innovation across the broad range of fashion in Pakistan.Fashion Pakistan is committed to developing fashion as an industry and will continue to highlight its growth and success, she added.Urdu 1's CEO Faraz Ansari said, We are extremely pleased to be partnering with the Council on what is sure to be a fantastic event.With amazing talent on show, we are excited to help introduce Pakistani fashion to new international markets and expand our latest commitment to fashion, Ansari also added.This season will also mark Fashion Pakistan's ground breaking partnership with Trade Development Authority (TDAP) as the main sponsor for FPW S/S2016.TDAP secretary Rabia Javeri stated, It is time Pakistan moved to high value exports, such as gems and jewelry and both, pret and couture fashion apparel.Fashion Pakistan Week allows for the showcase of established designers, production houses, and the entry of new and young fashion aspirants.Wardha Saleem, CEO Fashion Pakistan too said, We are excited that with TDAP's association, more that 700 international buyers will be attending FPW S/S2016.They will be joined along-with influential international fashion figures, making this event a true business and networking opportunity for the participating designers, Saleem informed.Fashion Pakistan Council, established in 2007, is the local fashion fraternity's representative body created by the designers, for the designers.One of the primary objectives of the council is to educate, empower, encourage and promote local fashion designers both locally and internationally.Fashion Pakistan has a long tradition of holding bi-annual fashion weeks, having pioneered the concept of Fashion Weeks in Pakistan with the very first Fashion Pakistan Week, held in 2010.Since then, the Council has continually looked to new ways to support and bolster Pakistan's growing fashion industry. (AR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India In a major relief for jute exporters, Bangladesh has lifted the ban on export of raw jute four months after imposing it to meet the domestic demand. The Ministry of Textiles and Jute (MOTJ) issued a notice on Monday announcing the withdrawal of the ban, which will come into force on April 3, media reports said. An MOTJ official said the ban was being lifted as the supply position of raw jute is now better in the local market. "We had stopped raw jute export to keep its smooth supply in domestic market. Now the situation has improved, so the government has lifted the ban,she said. In a major relief for jute exporters, Bangladesh has lifted the ban on export of raw jute four months after imposing it to meet the domestic demand.# Initially the ban was imposed in November last year for one month to ensure supply of jute-made bags locally for compliance of the Mandatory Jute Packaging Law 2010 (MJPL). As per the law, selective crops like rice, wheat, sugar and maize have to be packaged in jute bags. The lifting of the ban came amid pleas from raw jute exporters as many of them had to delay shipments owing to the ban. Restrictions on raw jute exports had hurt the exporters badly, said Abdul Quayyum, Secretary of Bangladesh Jute Association adding that many traders could have avoided losses if the government had withdrawn the ban earlier. Only a small number of businessmen would benefit from the move now, he said. It may be helpful for those who have stock and have orders pending. However, the good thing is that we were at the risk of losing our markets abroad, which can now be retained, Quayyum said. Some raw jute-importing countries such as India and Nepal had also urged Bangladesh to lift the ban. The ministry had later eased the export ban for some categories of raw jute following their appeal. On the other hand, jute millers are not happy with the government's decision. They said they would face difficulties to meet the local demand of jute bags as the demand has risen by more than 50 per cent. Domestic demand for raw jute has increased to 6 million bales from 4.5 million bales, according to the millers. They said that government's move to lift the ban on exports was likely to push up the price of the cash crop. Before the ban, the country exported 2.1 million bales of raw jute out of its total production of 7 million bales, the millers pointed out. A total of 145 private and 26 public mills supply jute goods to local and overseas markets. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Representatives of several textile and garment companies in Vietnam have rejected popular perception that they would be the biggest beneficiaries of the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) Agreement. At a recent workshop organized by World Bank and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), industry experts said that the sector would not stand to gain much from TPP and the government's own policies on the textile and garment industry, a Vietnamese online newspaper has reported. Many textile and garment companies are leaving the market because of the state's unstable policies, said Truong Van Cam, Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) citing the example of an exporter whose import of a printer was delayed by six months because of a government decree that says business owners must have junior college's degree to be able to import printers. Representatives of several textile and garment companies in Vietnam have rejected popular perception that they would be the biggest beneficiaries of# A business in Nam Dinh province, which employs 2,000 workers, said it has to pay VND40-50 billion additionally every month because of the required higher minimum wage and trade union fee. The State's policies need to be designed in a way to encourage investors to do business and stay in the market, Truong said. Another analyst said that the government seemed to be too optimistic about potential opportunities to the textile and garment sector by TPP. In 2015, Vietnam exported $27 billion worth of textile and garment products, 60 per cent of which went to TPP member countries. However, foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) pocketed most of the money. He further explained that TPP's strict requirements on origin of products, would not be of much help for Vietnam as it imports 10 per cent of yarn and 5.3 per cent of cloth from TPP countries while 60-70 per cent of materials needed are imports, mostly from China. Thus, most of materials needed come from non-TPP countries and products with non-TPP origin won't be able to enjoy preferential tariffs, he said. Pham Xuan Hong, chair of the HCMC Textile, Garment, Knitting and Embroidery Association, also pointed out that the profits earned by Vietnamese enterprises are modest because they mostly do outsourcing for foreign partners. According to an industry report, Vietnam now has 6,000 textile and garment companies, of which garment units account for 70 per cent, 17 per cent are textile enterprises, 6 per cent spinning, 4 per cent are dying enterprises and 3 per cent make accessories and additional materials. A good 70 per cent of units make products under the mode of cutting assembling trimming. This means that Vietnamese are proficient in the last phases of the production chain, and less so in dyeing and weaving. This is not likely to reap much benefit under the TPP agreement, they noted. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Virat Kohli never broke up with Anushka Sharma, now this is what we call a breaking news! Here, the whole world is discussing whether it was the right thing for them to break up, the reasons for their break up, if the two will patch up etc and turns out, the couple had never broken up at all. Virat and Anushka were apparently just on a break, the couple had a lot of things going on and had decided to take some time off and concentrate on their professional life. Click On View Photos To See Pics Of Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma during their romantic dates! According to Bombay Times report, amidst celebrations of win against the Australian team, Virat was seen talking to Anushka over the phone. Since the actress was not ready to settle down and start a marital life, the duo had decided to take a small break to get a bigger perspective of things. This time off has apparently worked well for the couple, a source said, "Anushka is the more pragmatic one between them. They never really broke up but merely took some time off each other. There is a lot on Anushka's plate right now. Her next film (with Salman Khan) is both physically and mentally exhausting. Their decision of staying apart for a while has actually done them good." CONFUSED MAN! Hrithik Roshan Wants To Now Patch Up With Kangana Ranaut? So, there you have it people, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma took a break and not break up. Wonder what the trollers will say now? If Virat and Anushka never really broke up, means she was very much the love of his life during the India vs Australia match which means Anushka is anything but unlucky. This is proof that Anushka Sharma did not bring any bad luck to Virat and we are so glad this good-looking couple is still head over heels in love. Independent broker-dealer advisors think they may have a problem with the Department of Labor's pending fiduciary rule, namely servicing smaller clients and staying ahead of investor trends and regulation. Ladenburg Thalmann believes it has a solution: $ymbil, its new digital advice platform. The self-service portfolio account will be made available to its advisor network and will require a minimum $500 investment to open. Adam Malamed, chief operating officer at Ladenburg Thalmann, one of the country's biggest independent broker dealers, says digital advice tools are essential for modern wealth management. "Having good technological solutions intact can help advisors and clients deal with the upcoming regulation," Malamed says. "We dont know exactly what the rule will look like. But we do know it's coming." The launch comes amidst industry expectations that smaller accounts collectively worth billions will be dropped by firms unwilling to service them due to cost or liabilities, straight into the arms of independent robo platforms. "If the mindset out there is that there's going to be smaller accounts that are going to need advice, and there's going to be less appetite among financial advisors to service those customers, then where else are those customers going to turn?" Malamed asks. 'HERE TO STAY' He stresses that the robo platform, which was developed on software provided by New York-based Invessence, was not built as a response to the pending rule, but partly as an acknowledgement of a coming shift in investors. "We are constantly challenging ourselves, what will the future be when we sit down and talk about the industry," he says. "In the long term, digital advice will be here to stay. We want to be on the cutting edge of it." Only a year ago, most major IBDs could be critiqued for being slow to develop a digital advice platform. The exception was Northwestern Mutual which had inked a deal to acquire LearnVest, citing the startup's "breakthrough technology" as a top reason for the deal. Read more: Independent B-Ds Faulted in Robo Race Since the LearnVest deal last March, LPL and Commonwealth have announced planned robo rollouts. Getting Ladenburg's platform online before the competition's wasn't the priority, Malamed says, cautioning that the firm views the platform as one that will develop over time. More important, notes Philip Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, is that it finds acceptance among advisors in its network, as there is still a sense of trepidation about adopting digital advice tools. "Can we get advisors to realize a wave of technology is coming that will make them better financial advisors?" Blancato says. 'DO I NEED THIS?' Blancato acknowledges that some advisors were "not pounding the table," for the digital solution. "It's like how you walk past a Ferrari and say it's a beautiful car but you're afraid to get in," he says. "There's a sense of, 'Do I need this, is it relevant to my future, are my clients asking for it right now, it is really right for me?'" Engaging in that dialogue with commission-based advisors and developing these tech tools are part of the hard process IBDs and other wealth management firms will need to prepare for a post-fiduciary rule environment, says Jefferson National CEO Mitch Caplan. "Unless these incumbent firms change the way they do business, these smaller accounts will end up going to fee-based advisors and fee-only RIAs many of whom are using digital advice and many of these smaller accounts could end up going directly to robos," Caplan says. Caplan's firm conducted a recent study on advisors. "We found that the most successful advisors those who earn more and manage more AUM are twice as likely to adopt technology and be early adopters of robo solutions. "Over time, more firms and more advisors at all levels will join the ranks of these early adopters and will incorporate robo solutions as a part of their practice," he continues. "The ones who do so understand that digital advice is not the competition its an ally and a partner to help you build a more successful practice. The ones who dont wont be in business in five years." 'CHALLENGING TIMES' Morningstar equity analyst Michael Wong says there should be a concern among the smaller broker-dealers and advisory firms that don't have a technology solution in place yet either because of lack of resources or a lack of action. "Some of the smaller financial players may have been doubtful a rule would even pass," Wong says. "For those players, having some type of fiduciary-compliant platform that can help with those low balance accounts will help them quite a bit, especially if they've been behind the ball for the past year." The platform is just one element of Ladenburg's overall strategy to innovate and remain competitive in a changing wealth management industry, Malamed says. "We have an enterprise of 4,000 financial advisor partners, and there are a series of initiatives internally on how were going to deal with the landscape of the financial services industry going forward," Malamed says. "Nobody knows what's going to happen to these smaller accounts," he adds. "The financial industry has adapted throughout history and innovated throughout history. There will be some challenging times in the years ahead, but as we leverage intellectual capital and leverage thought leaders throughout the industry, there will be a way for everyone who wants financial advice to access it." Read more: WASHINGTON, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A little over a month ago, FinCEN backed down and withdrew its "Section 311" Notices alleging that Banca Privada d'Andorra ("BPA") was "of primary money laundering concern." But BPA's former directors and majority shareholders -- Ramon and Higini Cierco -- are not willing to call it quits and dismiss their law suit against FinCEN. The U.S. government has tried to force the issue by seeking the dismissal of the Ciercos' suit claiming that, with the recent withdrawal of the Notices, the case is moot. Today, the Ciercos filed a strong response arguing that the case must be kept alive because the wrongful actions of the Department of the Treasury continue to cause them harm. The Ciercos' filing argues that the U.S. Government will say just about anything to avoid having to defend its actions. Just over a month ago, the U.S. Government argued that the Ciercos' suit had been filed too soon, before FinCEN completed its final decision making. Now, the Ciercos point out, FinCEN is arguing exactly the opposite - that the case should be dismissed because it is too late to give them a remedy. The Ciercos' filing argues that this "Goldilocks" strategy is a deliberate attempt by the U.S. Government to shield the illegality of FinCEN's actions from scrutiny by an independent federal court. The Ciercos also point out that the U.S. government's argument seeking dismissal of the action is based on an incorrect premise, that the United States can't influence the actions of the Andorran government. Eric L. Lewis, the Ciercos' counsel, calls that argument "disingenuous, because there is little question that a small country like Andorra is dependent on good relations with FinCEN to keep its banking system operating and that is what caused Andorra to act against BPA." According to the Ciercos' filing, a U.S. Consular Official acknowledged that the Notices issued against BPA were a "hammer" intended to press Andorra into adopting tougher banking regulations. The withdrawal of those Notices, said Lewis, is "based on FinCEN's determination that Andorra has now done everything the U.S. has asked, leaving my clients the victims of internationally coordinated arbitrary and illegal action." The Ciercos' filing also asks the Court to take into account that BPA is far from first foreign bank to be targeted by FinCEN in this way. According to the filing, out of 18 Section 311 notices issued by FinCEN since the statute was passed, 12 of them have ended with FinCEN quietly withdrawing its notices without completing its regulatory process, in the wake of the collapse of the bank. This, says the Ciercos, precludes any judicial oversight of FinCEN's actions. According to the filing, the Ciercos are in a unique position to challenge FinCEN, forcing it to defend its actions in court. According to Mr. Lewis, it is natural for FinCEN "to be afraid of being held accountable in federal court and to do everything it can to avoid it." WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, a unit of Sempra Energy (SRE) announced that it has agreed with a subsidiary of Tallgrass Development, LP to sell Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's 25-percent interest in Rockies Express Pipeline or REX for about $440 million in cash. Sempra Energy expects the transaction to close in the second quarter and result in after-tax loss of about $27 million. Additionally, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power plans to permanently release remaining uncontracted capacity that it holds on REX that it had been releasing on an interim basis. The effect of the permanent capacity release will result in a charge to earnings of between $100 million and $120 million during second quarter 2016, representing an acceleration of losses that would otherwise be realized over the contract term, which extends through November 2019. The company sees loss resulting from the permanent release of capacity, will be excluded from Sempra Energy's adjusted 2016 earnings guidance. Sempra Energy plans to provide 2016 updated adjusted earnings guidance during annual financial analyst conference on May 24. 'While Sempra Energy's earnings from REX for March through December 2016 will be reduced by approximately $60 million, forecasted earnings from REX were expected to be immaterial to Sempra Energy beginning in 2020,' said Joseph A. Householder, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sempra Energy. 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. Conzzeta AG / Conzzeta to acquire DNE Laser, Shenzen, China . Processed and transmitted by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Expansion of the Sheet Metal Processing business Zurich, March 30, 2016. - Conzzeta today announces the signing of a binding agreement to acquire DNE Laser, Shenzen, China. The closing of the transaction is planned by mid-year 2016, subject to regulatory approval. Conzzeta will acquire a stake of 51% with a long-term option to increase the position. Founded in 2008, DNE Laser employs approximately 400 employees and operates profitably, generating revenue of CNY 335 Million (ca. CHF 51 Million) in 2015. DNE Laser complements the Sheet Metal Processing business of Bystronic, which is part of the Conzzeta business portfolio. Bystronic is a leading supplier of solutions for the processing of sheet metal and other sheet materials with a global footprint; it employs close to 1700 employees and generated revenue of CHF 570.9 Million in 2015, primarily with high-end laser cutting solutions. DNE Laser by contrast covers the middle and lower-end product segments of laser cutting equipment with a focus at China and Southeast Asia. DNE Laser will operate with its own brand and a dedicated sales & service organization within the Bystronic business unit of Conzzeta. Michael Willome, Group CEO of Conzzeta comments: "The transaction is a step towards the further internationalization of our Group; it adds significant scale to Bystronic's footprint in Asia and provides additional growth opportunities for Bystronic globally." Zhang Yonghong, founder, President and CEO of DNE Laser adds: "We are delighted to join forces with Bystronic, a technology leader in our industry; through Bystronic we broaden both, our knowledge base and our geographic reach." He will remain CEO of DNE Laser and join the Group Executive Team of Bystronic. Alex Waser, CEO of Bystronic and Member of the Group Executive Committee of Conzzeta further comments: "With DNE Laser we found the ideal strategic partner to broaden our market potential by serving additional client segments." For further information please contact: Michael Staheli, Head Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Phone +41 44 468 24 49 media@conzzeta.com (mailto:media@conzzeta.com) About Conzzeta As an international holding company with diverse interests, Conzzeta strives to achieve leading positions in its target markets and build a business portfolio with above-average growth and long-term value creation. The Conzzeta Group companies are "best choice" for customers, offering innovative solutions in Sheet Metal Processing, Sporting Goods, Foam Materials, Graphic Coatings and Glass Processing; the Group has 3,500 employees at more than 60 locations worldwide. Conzzeta is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX:CON). The Media Release can be downloaded from the following link: Media release (PDF) (http://hugin.info/100413/R/1997941/736673.pdf) Global Organizations and Energy Leaders Reached Consensus to Jointly Promote the Vision and Blueprint of Global Energy Interconnection BEIJING, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --The 2016 International Conference on Global Energy Interconnection (GEI) with the focus of "Meeting the global power demand with clean and green energy alternatives" opened in Beijing this morning. This two-day conference is jointly hosted by State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), Caring for Climate (C4C), International Energy Agency (IEA) and The Edison Electric Institute (EEI). The sponsors of the conference include China Electricity Council (CEC), China Society for Electrical Engineering (CSEE), China Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). More than 600 representatives from 300 international organizations including the United Nations, government bodies, sector organizations, peer enterprises, and research institutes from 26 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, America and Oceania attended the conference. Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349310 SGCC Chairman Liu Zhenya opened the conference with a welcome and a keynote speech - "Building Global Energy Interconnection to Step Forward to a New Era of Sustainable Future". Other guest speakers included Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director; Sanjay Kumar, Climate Parliament Executive Director; Frans Vreeswijk, CEO and General Secretary of IEC; Bruce Kraemer, President of IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA); Lawrence E. Jones, Vice President of International Programs of Edison Electric Institute; Roberto Jaguaribe, Ambassador of Brazil to China; Joao Vasconcelos, Secretary of State for Industry of Portugal; Peter B. Littlewood, Director of Argonne National Laboratory, Professor Friedrich Prinz from Stanford University, Roman Berdnikov, First Deputy Director General of Rosseti; Claudio Facchin, President of the Power Grids Division of ABB Ltd.; Yang Kun, Executive president of China Electricity Council; Liu Jizhen, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of North China Electric Power University; and Nan Cunhui, Chairman & CEO of CHINT Group. All guest speakers spoke highly of GEI, believed that the conditions are ready for the construction of GEI, encouraged closer collaboration among all relevant parties and to jointly promote the development of GEI. Liu Zhenya believes that the global energy development has been facing three main challenges: resource constraints, environmental pollution and climate change. Andbuilding GEI is the ultimate solution we have. Its unique model of GEI - "Smart Grid + UHV Grid + Clean Energy" provides the only path to a green, low-carbon, economical, efficient, and an open energy system with sustainable supply. This inevitable path for the sustainable development of humanity bears economic, social and environmental significance. Liu said that the intensive development of clean energy and distributed electricity generation, cross-country and cross-continent grid interconnection that can enable globalized energy generation, allocation and trade are key to the realization of GEI. It is also important to build a platform that is capable of hosting electricity transmission, resource allocation, electricity trade, information exchange and the provision of smart services. Such platform will drive the replacement of coal, oil and gas with electricity. Liu argued that the construction of GEI should be a common goal for the world. He proposed to act on our common interest, all countries need to work together and create a favorable environment for making new breakthroughs in innovation and the development of major demonstration projects for GEI. Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, reiterated in his speech that the UN had always regarded GEI the most pressing task to combat global climate change, promote sustainable development and ultimately, contribute to world peace. He said, to realize the goal that was set out in the Paris Agreement, governments should speed up the formation of a new blueprint for the world energy development, and fundamentally solve the challenges we face in relation to energy security and climate change through the utilization of clean energy. To this end, the UN will actively support and promote GEI as a major solution to energy transformation, the realization of clean development and combating climate change. It will also proactively call on the support of related parties to jointly promote an innovation-driven GEI. Li Yining, Honorary Dean and professor of Guanghua School of Management of Peking University, stated in his speech that GEI provided a feasible, pragmatic and systematic solution to developing a low-carbon economy and realizing energy reform and transformation. GEI enables continuous economic growth and low-carbon economy to co-exist, making sustainable economic and social development possible. China is at the critical stage of transitioning from traditional energy to new energy. Building energy interconnection in China will be an important driving force to promote structural reform on the supply side, foster and cultivate new energies, and speed up new economy development, achieving both near-term and long-term benefits. In response to the global calling to an innovative and coordinated approach to a green, open and sharing society, GEI signifies a major innovative breakthrough in science and technology for the energy development strategy in the 21st century. At the conference, SGCC, Korea Electric Power Corporation, SoftBank Group Corp., and Public Joint Stock Company Rosseti signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Joint Promotion of an Interconnected Electric Power Grid Spanning Northeast Asia. In addition, the Report on Wind Power Resource Development Research in the North Pole and the Research Report on Global Energy Interconnection were published. Panel discussions were focused on six areas in relation to over 300 research papers exchanged among the attending representatives, including Energy Development Strategy, Policy and Economy, Ultra High Voltage Transmission and Power Grid Interconnection, Energy Storage Technology and Application, Renewable Energy for Electricity and Industry, Smart Grid Technology and Engineering Practices, and Electricity Replacement and Electric Vehicles. Panelists actively engaged in discussions around the vision and planning of GEI. This high-level international gathering has received appraisals from representatives. As the first international conference for promoting GEI around the world, it is a milestone for pushing forward this initiative, creating a new momentum for the world's clean and low-carbon energy development, and opening a new chapter for the sustainable development of humanity. About State Grid Corporation of China State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) was established as a state-owned enterprise on December 29, 2002. It has been rated as an A-class enterprise by SASAC evaluation on operation performances for 9 consecutive years. As the largest utility in the world, SGCC ranked 7th on Fortune Global 500 for 5 consecutive years. SGCC constructs and operates power grids as its core business, to provide safer, cleaner, and more economic and sustainable power supply. As a super-large state-owned enterprise crucial to national energy security and economic lifeline, SGCC operates as a group with 200 billion yuan registered capital, serves 1.1 billion people in 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, covering 88% of the national territory. SGCC also operates overseas business in the Philippines, Brazil, Portugal and Australia, etc. with good performance. For media inquiry Brunswick Group Email: sgcc@brunswickgroup.com Yin Ai +852-9865-2296 Siobhan Zheng +852-9131-5202 Press Release March 2016 www.vallourec.com Vallourec signs an important contract with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Boulogne-Billancourt (France), March 30, 2016 - Vallourec, a world leader in premium tubular solutions, has signed a contract with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to supply OCTG[1] (#_ftn1) during the 2016-2018 period to its three operating companies (ADMA-OPCO, ADCO, ZADCO[2] (#_ftn2)). This is the first time that a tender has been organized to supply all three operating companies, and represents the largest single OCTG contract (close to 100,000 tons) that Vallourec has received to supply the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Vallourec will supply a full range of standard API[3] (#_ftn3) and premium OCTG for both onshore and offshore oilfields, for applications ranging from conventional to complex wells. Included in the contract is the supply of high torque VAM connections for extended reach drilling and corrosion resistant alloy steels for sour service. Field running supervision and inspection will be provided by the Vallourec experts. Didier Hornet, Senior Vice President, Eastern Hemisphere said, "thanks to our worldwide presence, we are able to offer ADNOC a full range of products, from premium to API, from all of our mills, with competitive lead times and competitive prices. Together with VAM Field Services[4] (#_ftn4), we are able to support ADNOC with value added solutions from the mill to the rig". OCTG will be supplied from Vallourec's mills in France, Germany, Brazil and China. About Vallourec Vallourec is a world leader in premium tubular solutions primarily serving the energy markets, as well as other industrial applications. With over 20,000 employees in 2015, integrated manufacturing facilities, advanced R&D and a presence in more than 20 countries, Vallourec offers its customers innovative global solutions to meet the energy challenges of the 21st century. Listed on Euronext in Paris (ISIN code: FR0000120354, Ticker VK) and eligible for the Deferred Settlement System (SRD), Vallourec is included in the following indices: SBF 120 and Next 150. In the United States, Vallourec has established a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program (ISIN code: US92023R2094, Ticker: VLOWY). Parity between ADR and a Vallourec ordinary share has been set at 5:1. www.vallourec.com Follow us on Twitter @Vallourec For more information, please contact Investor relations Etienne Bertrand Tel: +33 (0)1 49 09 35 58 etienne.bertrand@vallourec.com Press relations Laurence Pernot Tel: +33 (0)6 82 59 06 02 laurence.pernot@vallourec.com Investor relations Christophe Le Mignan Tel: +33 (0)1 49 09 38 96 Christophe.lemignan@vallourec.com Heloise Rothenbuhler Tel: +33 (0)1 41 03 77 50 heloise.rothenbuhler@vallourec.com (mailto:heloise.rothenbuhler@vallourec.com) Individual shareholders Tel: +33 (0) 1 49 09 39 76 actionnaires@vallourec.com [1] (#_ftnref1) Oil Country Tubular Goods [2] (#_ftnref2) ADMA-OPCO = Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company, ADCO = Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, ZADCO = Zakum Development Company [3] (#_ftnref3) API: American Petroleum Institute [4] (#_ftnref4) VAM Field Service team: 230 field engineers through 11 regional hubs, who can be called at any time to go onto the platforms and install its products pdf version (http://hugin.info/143606/R/1998043/736730.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: VALLOUREC via Globenewswire HUG#1998043 CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the pre European session on Wednesday. The U.S. dollar fell to a 9-day low of 1.4411 against the pound and a 1-week low of 112.22 against the yen, from early highs of 1.4369 and 112.80, respectively. Against the euro and the Swiss franc, the greenback dropped to near 2-week lows of 1.1311 and 0.9654 from early highs of 1.1283 and 0.9670, respectively. Against the Australian and the Canadian dollars, the greenback edged down to 0.7647 and 1.3050 from early highs of 0.7615 and 1.3081, respectively. This may be compared to early 1-week lows of 0.7648 against the aussie and 1.3050 against the loonie. The greenback slipped to 0.6872 against the NZ dollar, from an early high of 0.6841. This may be compared to an early near 6-month low of 0.6883. If the greenback extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.46 against the pound, 111.00 against the yen, 1.14 against the euro, 0.95 against the franc, 0.78 against the aussie, 1.28 against the loonie and 0.69 against the kiwi. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Chinese consumer confidence improved strongly to its highest level in six months in March, results of a survey by the Deutsche Boerse Group's MNI Indicators showed Wednesday. The Westpac MNI consumer sentiment indicator rose 6.1 percent to 118.1 in March from 111.3 in February, to its highest level since September 2015. This was also the second highest reading since May 2014. A score above 100 indicates optimists outnumber pessimists. 'Respondents appear to be increasingly confident that the authorities will be able to successfully steer the economy through the current torrid waters,' Chief Economist of MNI Indicators Philip Uglow, said. Westpac Senior Economist Matthew Hassan said, much of the improvement in sentiment still hangs on an expected turnaround in weak business conditions that has so far failed to materialize. All five components of the indicator improved in March driven by significant gains in current household finances and durable buying conditions, data revealed. The current personal finances index came in at 109.1 versus 100.7 in the prior month. Likewise, the indicator for durable buying conditions climbed to 108.6 from 99.8 in February. The expected household finances also picked up, albeit slightly smaller to 118.3 in March from 114.0 a month ago. The business conditions in one year indicator rose sharply to 122.8, the highest since December 2013, while business conditions in five years picked up to 131.8. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de 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. LONDON, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Roskill is releasing its new Mozambique African Mining Report (AMR). The AMR report series is essential reading for anyone requiring a comprehensive overview of African mining. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150909/264974LOGO ) Benin, Burkina Faso, Namibia and Malawi reports are also available from Roskill Information Services. You can also pre-order or download the brochures of upcoming reports: Togo and Senegal. Mozambique is generally viewed as a success story. Since the 1970s, the country has gained independence, overcome civil war, and developed into to be one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Though relatively poor, Mozambique's economy has grown at an average of over 7%py over the decade to 2015. After 16 years of post-independence civil conflict, Mozambique held its first multi-party democratic elections in 1994. Since then, the country has enjoyed relative stability and an upturn in the economy. Mining activities that stopped during the conflict resumed in earnest in the early 2000s. The extractive sector currently represents less than 4% of economic activity but has scope to grow considerably. With recent exploitation of vast coal reserves in Tete, discoveries in Niassa, and world-class natural gas deposits in the Rovuma basin, the mining and natural resources sectors are poised for growth. In the period between 2010 and 2015, over US$10Bn was invested in these sectors - with a further US$34Bn set to be invested to 2020. The recent discovery of huge reserves of minerals resources, combined with ongoing reforms and subsequent improvement of the business climate in Mozambique, provide good opportunities for the transformation of the country into a middle-income nation. The country is host to gold, copper, nickel, iron ore, bauxite, graphite, rare earth minerals, lithium, bismuth and antimony, as well as world-class coal deposits and both onshore and offshore natural gas deposits. The new mining law and petroleum law have provided clarity and transparency, and Mozambique possesses huge potential to provide both the power and water resources necessary to develop the mining industry. However, there are current downside risks to the mining sector in Mozambique, most notably the lack of proper infrastructure, which results in an inability to meet the demands of the mining sector. Falling global commodity prices, coupled with infrastructure bottlenecks associated with connecting the hinterland areas rich in natural resources to the ports, has delayed the unlocking of the true value of the country's natural resources riches. Major investment in the country is most likely to come from the development of the LNG plants to process the huge reserves in the Rovuma basin. The delay of both the Anadarko and Eni projects is a cause of concern. Another pressing issue is increasing political instability. October 2014 elections saw the election of President Felipe Nyusi of the Frelimo party. Historically, Mozambique has been governed by the leaders of the liberation struggle, and President Nyusi is the first that did not actively participate in the Mozambican War of Independence. It was hoped that his election would bring about increased political stability. However, the status quo has not changed much. Renamo, the largest opposition party in the national assembly (parliament), contested the validity of the election result. The party has demanded to govern the six provinces in which it enjoys the majority of local support. In an escalation of tensions between old civil war foes, army operations began in Tete Province in October 2015, and thousands have fled to bordering Malawi fearing violence and harassment from government soldiers. The Mozambique government has set-up a cross-party fact finding mission to interview refugees and establish the true facts on the ground. The resolution of these tensions is essential for creating the conditions to attract investment in the country. It is vital that the government works to improve infrastructure and security issues as well as other challenges such as improving education and healthcare - in order to continue to attract investment, develop its mining sector, and continue on the path of economic growth and poverty reduction. For further information, contact us on: Tel: +44(0)20-8417-0087 Fax +44(0)20-8417-1308 Email: info@roskill.co.uk Web: http://www.roskill.com Richard Pell: Richard@roskill.com or Jack Bedder: Jack@roskill.com For marketing information, contact Dimpal Hirani: Dimpal@roskill.com 29 March 2016 Clear Leisure plc ("Clear Leisure", "the Group" or "the Company") Trading Update The Company is pleased to give shareholders an update on its investment portfolio, as follows: When the new Board was appointed in July 2015 it stated that it would undertake a major due-diligence exercise on the status of the Company's investments and report to shareholders on any matters which emerge from the analysis of the existing documentation regarding the holdings in its assets. While the Board has made considerable progress with its investigations, the analysis of some investments has yet to be completed, due to the legal complexity of the issues involved. Your Directors however, believe that it would be useful to advise shareholders of the progress which is being made to recover value for the Company. Ondaland The Chairman stated in the 2015 Interim Report that the Ondaland water park investment, owned by T.L.T. S.p.A. in Italy, involved some issues on our title to the shares. Apart from some small payments, well over 90% of the transaction, amounting to EUR 3.99 million in loans and 7.69 million shares of Clear Leisure, valued at 3.64 million at the transaction date, was funded through an intermediate company, SIPIEM S.p.A.; the exact ownership of which has been in dispute. We are now pleased to confirm that as the result of a favourable ruling by the Turin Court, Companies Section, Clear Leisure is now the legitimate controlling owner of 50.17% of SIPIEM. This court ruling represents a fundamental step for the Company towards obtaining title to the T.L.T. S.p.A. shares. As part of our strategy to establish the recoverable value of our investment, an in-depth legal and accounting due-diligence will start as soon as practical to assess all transactions carried out by the former directors of SIPIEM S.p.A. Mediapolis In November 2015, Clear Leisure appointed a new sole director for Mediapolis. Mediapolis owns two assets: approximately 50 hectares of land alongside a main highway in Northern Italy (known as Mediapolis) and ten holiday villas in the Porto Cervo area in Sardinia. Additionally, a claim for approximately EUR 39.65 million against the Piedmont Region, for failing to issue a construction permit, was filed in court last year, although an initial hearing date has yet to be announced. Among other matters related to this investment, a legal opinion has been commissioned from an administrative law firm based in Milan, on the current position with regards to planning permission. Our investigations to date have uncovered historic claims on Mediapolis from suppliers, counterparts, banks and Mediapolis' bondholders amounting to approximately EUR 14.8 million although the current legitimacy of some of these claims is as yet unclear. The new fair value, to be used for the 2015 year end accounts, will be based on further findings and the outcome of legal and tax opinions currently being commissioned. Geosim Clear Leisure owns 4.73% of Geosim, which develops very sophisticated 3D modeling software. The value of this investment was written-off in the 2014 annual accounts. Clear Leisure has now been advised that the most recent round of fund raising by Geosim took place at a pre-money valuation in excess of US$ 11 million, corresponding to a valuation for Clear Leisure's 533,990 shares of US$ 667,487. Geosim's new 3D model of city of Vancouver has been released and a short demo can be found at: http://new.geosimmovies.com. Other Investments Further investigation is being carried out on Fortune Cookie Ltd, SoSushi Company srl, Ascend Capital plc, OHR S.p.A. (trading as Ora Hotel Group) and Cambria Group, to establish the Company's rights to any recoverable value in these assets. Since the appointment of the new Board, the Company has retained, or confirmed existing mandates, with more than ten law firms in the UK, Luxembourg and Italy, with the aim of recovering value from Clear Leisure's investment portfolio. Clear Leisure's largest shareholder, Eufingest, has demonstrated support for these initiatives by providing a 200,000 facility. This facility, as described in the RNS on 31 December 2015, was drawn down on 15 March 2016 and is to be reimbursed on 15 September 2016. March 2015 250,000 Secured Loan - Repayment of Principal The Company entered into a 250,000 Secured Loan in March 2015, bearing interest of 80,000 with a 1 September 2015 repayment date. The new Board extended the repayment date and entered into negotiations with regard to the calculation of interest. On 2 March 2016, the lender and the Company entered into a settlement agreement as a result of which the loan principal has been repaid, while the 80,000 interest component of the original loan, plus 4.5% interest, will be settled on, or before 31 December 2016. Settlement of Digital Magics S.p.A. claims The previous Board had negotiated settlement in principle with Digital Magics S.p.A. to close all outstanding disputes arising from past transactions involving a number of deals between Clear Leisure and Digital Magics S.p.A. This agreement involved the issue of a further EUR 400,000, 7% debt bond and a cash payment for EUR 17,500. The new Board has renegotiated the original settlement and has agreed to issue two units totaling EUR 300,000 of the existing Clear Leisure Bond bearing a 7% interest, which expires on 15 December 2017. The EUR 17,500 cash payment obligation is unchanged. Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive Chairman of Clear Leisure, commented, "We are pleased with the progress made over the past nine months, but are left in no doubt that there are many more months of dedicated investigations still ahead of us, before we can fully calculate the true value of the Company's assets. In the meantime we will continue to seek to realise the value in the asset base with a view to maximising shareholder value. "We wish to thank our shareholders for their continuing patience and look forward to reporting further more positive results in the course of the remainder of the year." -ends- For further information please contact: Clear Leisure plc+39 335 296573 Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive Chairman ZAI Corporate Finance (Nominated Adviser) Tim Cofman/Jamie Spotswood +44 (0)20 7060 2220 Peterhouse Corporate Finance (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7469 0935 Lucy Williams / Heena Karani Cadogan Leander (Financial PR) +44 (0) 7795 168 157 Christian Taylor-Wilkinson About Clear Leisure Plc Clear Leisure plc (AIM: CLP) is an AIM listed investment company with a portfolio of companies primarily encompassing the leisure and real estate sectors mainly in Italy. The Company may be either a passive or active investor and Clear Leisure's investment rationale ranges from acquiring minority positions with strategic influence through to larger controlling positions. For further information, please visit, www.clearleisure.com LISBON (dpa-AFX) - Portugal's consumer confidence held steady in March after improving in the previous two months, figures from Statistics Portugal showed Wednesday. The consumer confidence index came in at -11.3 in March, the same reading as in February. In January, the score was -12.6. The indicator measuring the financial situation of the households over the next 12 months worsened slightly to -0.8 in March -0.7 in the preceding month. The assessment of general economic situation in the country also weakened to -4.2 in March from -4.0 a month earlier. In March, unemployment expectations over the next year weaker than in the prior month, with the index falling to 5.7 from 6.5 in February. At the same time, the economic sentiment index strengthened for the second straight month to 1.0 in March from 0.7 in the previous month. 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. DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - PathSoftware , a new highly-structured, cloud-based mortgage loan origination software (LOS) from CalyxSoftware , announced today that Central Pacific Bank, a leading residential mortgage lender in Hawaii and the primary subsidiary of Central Pacific Financial Corp., has selected Path as their LOS. Central Pacific Bank provides a full range of mortgage services that include retail, portfolio and correspondent lending, as well as investment and trust services through a network of 35 branches in the state of Hawaii. The bank has more than $5 billion in assets. "We looked at 12 LOSs altogether, and having the latest available technology, with a flexible workflow, was an important factor in our decision," Kirsten Kemper, vice president, capital markets manager at Central Pacific Bank. "Path's clean, easy-to-use interface shows what each user needs to do their job and its reliable data entry auto-populates all screens correctly, eliminating duplicative entry in single loan file. In addition, Path will allow us to do business online and paperless, which will not only save us time and courier costs, but also improve efficiency and productivity." According to Dennis Boggs, executive vice president of PathSoftware, the new LOS was designed to simplify and streamline mid to enterprise-level, multi-channel loan origination. As a portal with a single point of entry, all loan data, lock data, products, pricing, AUS findings, disclosure documents, compliance assurances and closing documents emanate and are reconciled within one system. The single-portal design enhances visibility and improves productivity across multiple business channels -- wholesale, retail and correspondent. Path is also the first completely data-driven (not form-driven) LOS. Borrower and property information is collected one time and propagated across all forms, making adapting to and complying with new regulations easier and more efficient. "Path's design can truly transform the way lenders originate loans. The flexible, yet precisely configured workflows and role-based security are unique in the marketplace," said Boggs. "We're pleased to provide Central Pacific Bank a solution that is easy to use, accessible from anywhere, and robust enough to handle loan access, closing cost templates, default conditions, pricing, business contacts, etc." About PathSoftware PathSoftware is a new loan origination software (LOS) from CalyxSoftware, and the first data-driven, not form-driven, LOS. Conceived and engineered for mid-tier to large, enterprise-level financial institutions, PathSoftware is a highly-structured, end-to-end, cloud-based system with flexible, yet precisely configured workflows for maximum visibility and productivity in a single, integrated, multi-channel platform. The depth and breadth of crafted workflow management and role-based functionality -- and the resulting visibility, accountability and scalability -- set PathSoftware apart. For more information, visit www.pathsoftware.com. Contact: Campbell Lewis Communications Jessica Ruiz-Krout 212.995.8058 Email contact TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- (All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated) Torex Gold Resources Inc. (the "Company" or "Torex") (TSX: TXG) is pleased to announce that commercial production has been achieved at its 100% owned El Limon-Guajes Mine (ELG) located in southwest Mexico, having operated for over 30 consecutive days at an average of 9,470 tonnes per day (tpd). The Company also announced today, an update on the operations ramp-up at its ELG Mine and reported 2015 year-end financial results. Fred Stanford, President & CEO of Torex stated: "Achieving commercial production ahead of schedule and under budget is a memorable and significant achievement that the entire team is proud to have been a part of. We offer a special thanks to those many others that have helped in turning our collective intentions into reality." Operations Update Processing Plant -- Commercial production has been achieved ahead of schedule and under budget -- (60% of design throughput of 14,000 tpd for 30 days) -- The team and plant are advancing steadily toward full production capability. New daily production records are a routine occurrence. (Currently 13,460 tpd for the grinding circuit and 14,300 tpd for tailings filtration) -- The plant is exceeding the YTD gold production expectations of the financial model. As of March 30, 2016, 38,161 ounces of gold have been produced (versus financial model of 22,000 oz. by the end of March) and 31,518 ounces of gold have been sold at an average price of $1,234 per ounce -- Tailings filtration throughput has been steadily increasing as the team optimizes processes and filter cloth selection -- Copper in solution has returned to design background levels. Evaluation efforts are in progress to determine if mitigation actions need to continue -- Gold recovery levels have varied through February and March as the plant response to differing concentrations of reagents was tested. Design recovery levels are 87.4%. During the last 5 days, recoveries have fluctuated between 81.2% and 90.7%. Mining -- The mine haul road to the El Limon crusher has been completed -- Commissioning of the El Limon crusher and RopeCon, with ore, has commenced. Ore from El Limon has been conveyed via the RopeCon to the fine ore stockpile ahead of the SAG Mill. Village Resettlement -- The second village resettlement, Real del Limon, has begun and the pace will accelerate now that the Easter celebrations have concluded. (19 of 67 families have moved.) Financing -- Year to date VAT refunds have been on plan at $9.9 million -- A VAT loan, as a contingency plan for possible delays in VAT refunds, is advancing and loan documents are under review -- In February 2016, $4.0 million was released from restricted cash, and in March 2016, $6.0 million was utilized to fund ELG Mine expenditures. 2015 Year-End Financial Results As at December 31, 2015, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $46.1 million on a consolidated basis, with a further $44.6 million in restricted cash. The Company had working capital of $56.7 million as at December 31, 2015, compared to $83.9 million at December 31, 2014. Exploration and evaluation expenditures totaled $9.7 million, compared to $12.2 million in 2014. Evaluation expenditure included expenditures in relation to the PEA for the Media Luna Project, the results of which were released in September 2015. General and administrative costs totaled $12.2 million in 2015, compared to $14.5 million for the prior year. General and administrative costs were lower due to lower share based compensation, severance and employee benefit related costs. The net loss in 2015 was $24.6 million ($0.03 per common share) compared to $26.3 million ($0.04 per common share) for the year ended December 31, 2014. About Torex Torex is an emerging intermediate gold producer based in Canada, engaged in the exploration, development and exploitation of its 100% owned Morelos Gold Property, an area of 29,000 hectares in the highly prospective Guerrero Gold Belt located 180 kilometers southwest of Mexico City. Within this property, Torex has the El Limon-Guajes (ELG) Mine, which started production in December 2015, and the Media Luna Project, at an advanced stage of exploration, with a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) completed in July of 2015. The property remains 75% unexplored. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Notwithstanding the Company's efforts, there can be no guarantee that the Company will not face unforeseen delays or disruptions. Forward-looking information also includes, but is not limited to, the completing the remaining construction and commissioning of the mine and processing facilities of the ELG Mine, achieving full production, expected metal recoveries, gold production and revenues from operations, the further advances of funds pursuant to the lease facility (which are subject to certain customary conditions precedent), expected receipt of VAT refunds, the successful completion of the VAT loan transaction, safety and security, and access to the ELG Mine. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" 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 those risk factors identified in the Company's annual information form and management's discussion and analysis. Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. A preliminary economic assessment should not be considered a prefeasibility study or feasibility study, as the economics and technical viability of the Media Luna Project have not been demonstrated at this time. The Media Luna PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of the inferred resources will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Furthermore, there is no certainty that the conclusions or results as reported in the Media Luna PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not do not have demonstrated economic viability. Contacts: Torex Gold Resources Inc. Fred Stanford President and CEO Tel.: (647) 260-1502 Email: fred.stanford@torexgold.com Torex Gold Resources Inc. Gabriela Sanchez Vice President Investor Relations Tel.: (647) 260-1503 Email: gabriela.sanchez@torexgold.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Copper Fox Metals Inc. ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: CUU)(OTC PINK: CPFXF) is pleased to provide its shareholders with an outline of the 2016 program planned for the Schaft Creek project located in northwestern British Columbia. Highlights: -- Estimated cost of the 2016 program is approximately $0.7 million, -- Resource modelling of the Schaft Creek deposit, -- Environmental monitoring, and -- Permitting and Social aspects of the project. Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox, stated, "The work planned for 2016 is an extension of the past three years of work at Schaft Creek and will provide the Schaft Creek Joint Venture ("SCJV") with a better understanding of the project. We are very pleased with the progress to date on the Schaft Creek project." 2016 Program: Resource Model This aspect of the 2016 work program includes incorporating the work completed in 2014 and 2015 to update the resource model for the Schaft Creek deposit. This phase of the program will emphasize getting a better understanding of the precious metals content of the deposit. Environmental Ongoing environmental monitoring of the project is planned in 2016. This work will include the services of external consultants and will continue with field data collection including humidity cell tests and other environmental base line data. Permitting/Social This consists of an application for a Multi-Year Area Based Permit. These permits are for a period of five years and are intended to streamline the consultation and application process related to exploration of resource properties. The 2016 program also includes ongoing consultation with the Tahltan First Nations on social and cultural matters. Current Activities: Environmental Assessment/BC Hydro The SCJV has voluntarily withdrawn the Schaft Creek project from the Environmental Assessment ("EA") process. The SCJV is of the opinion that keeping the EA active would not be significantly beneficial to the project at this time and there are no technical or procedural disadvantages to leaving the EA process and then re-entering at a later date. Separately, the SCJV has agreed that BC Hydro's current planning for overall transmission system upgrades would be facilitated in the shorter term by not including the specific load profile of the Schaft Creek project, which is still under evaluation. The project has therefore agreed to be removed from the interconnection queue, and it is expected that re-initiation of the load interconnection process in the future will not be an impediment to the project. Comminution Work The 2015-2016 throughput modelling for the Schaft Creek project has been completed. Throughput estimates for the various GeoMet Units (based on 50th percentile of hardness) range from 118 to 153 kt/d, while maintaining a 150 micron flotation feed size. LaCasse Drilling Compilation of the results from the 2015 drilling program indicated that the short intervals of higher grade copper mineralization intersected in 2015 and the 74m at 0.5% Cu in DDH 2012CF427 in the Discovery zone are analogous to the styles of mineralization in the Paramount zone. This suggests potential for discovering larger zones of mineralization in the LaCasse-Discovery target areas. New Targets Mapping and geophysical and geochemical surveys have identified the Grizzly target located north of the LaCasse target area as well as the Wolverine Creek target area adjacent to but south of the Schaft Creek deposit. Modelling The 3D lithology model has been updated and incorporates the re-logging efforts over the past three field seasons. Over 40% of the drill core from the deposit has now been re-logged. Further work includes upgrading the 3D structural model as well as 3D models for alteration, mineralization and geo-metallurgical zones. Skeeter Lake The surficial geological mapping of the proposed tailings impoundment area in the Skeeter Lake Valley has identified various surficial materials that could impact the infrastructure design. The 2015 mapping did not find any evidence to support the existence of a large slope sagging feature east of Skeeter Lake, previously reported in 2011. Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release. About Copper Fox Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: CUU) focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Desert Fox Copper Inc. and Northern Fox Copper Inc., hold the assets listed below: a. 25% interest in the SCJV with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia. b. 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona. c. 65.4% of the shares of Carmax Mining Corp. who in turn own 100% of the Eaglehead copper-molybdenum-gold project located in northern British Columbia. d. 100% ownership of the Sombrero Butte copper project located east of Mammoth, Arizona. e. 100% ownership of the Mineral Mountain copper project located east of Florence, Arizona. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mineral Reserves Reserve Estimate Data ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project Reserve Category Tonnes (Mt) Cu (%) Mo (%) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Schaft Proven Creek (1) 135.40 0.31 0.018 0.25 1.81 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Probable 805.41 0.27 0.018 0.19 1.70 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- P & P(i) 940.81 0.27 0.018 0.19 1.72 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mineral Resources Resource Estimate Data ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project Resource Category Tonnes (Mt) Cu (%) Mo (%) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Schaft Measured Creek (2) 146.62 0.31 0.017 0.24 1.78 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated 1,081.94 0.26 0.017 0.18 1.68 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- M & I(ii) 1,228.56 0.26 0.017 0.19 1.69 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Schaft Inferred Creek (2) 597.19 0.22 0.02 0.17 1.65 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Van Dyke Inferred (3) 261.68 0.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eaglehead Inferred (4) 102.50 0.29 0.01 0.08 0.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Inferred 961.37 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mineral Reserves Copper Fox Share Metal Holdings ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Project Reserve Category Cu (Blb) Mo (Mlb) Au (Moz) Ag (Moz) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Schaft Proven Creek (1) 0.23 13.43 0.27 1.97 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Probable 1.18 79.88 1.24 11.01 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ P & P(i) 1.41 93.31 1.51 12.98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mineral Resources Copper Fox Share Metal Holdings ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Project Resource Category Cu (Blb) Mo (Mlb) Au (Moz) Ag (Moz) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Schaft Measured Creek (2) 0.25 13.73 0.29 2.10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Indicated 1.53 101.35 1.56 14.58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ M & I(ii) 1.78 115.08 1.85 16.70 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Schaft Inferred Creek (2) 0.72 50.73 0.84 7.90 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Van Dyke Inferred (3) 1.44 0.00 0.00 0.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Eaglehead Inferred (4) 0.43 14.77 0.17 0.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total Inferred 2.59 65.50 1.01 7.90 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (i)Proven & Probable (ii)Measured & Indicated Copper expressed in billions of pounds, molybdenum in millions of pounds, gold and silver in millions of ounces. Numbers rounded to reflect best practise principles. Note: Above stated Proven and Probable reserves are included in the Measured and Indicated resources reported for the Schaft Creek Project. United States investors are advised that current Mineral Resources are not current Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate and in keeping with "best practice principles". (1) & (2) Technical Report "Feasibility Study on the Schaft Creek Project, BC, Canada", dated January 23, 2013, prepared by Tetra Tech, A. Farah, P. Eng.; et al as Qualified Persons; at 0.15% CuEq cut-off. Reserves reported at $6.60/tonne net smelter return (NSR) cut-off. (3) "Technical Report and Resource Estimation for the Van Dyke Copper Project", dated January 30, 2015 prepared by Moose Mountain Technical Services, S. Bird, P.Eng and R. Lane, P. Geo as Qualified Persons; at 0.05% TCu cut-off. (4) "Technical Report on the Eaglehead Cu-Mo-Au Project, British Columbia; Canada", dated June 29, 2012, prepared by Roscoe Postle Associates Inc., B. Donough, P.Geo and D. Rennie, P.Eng as Qualified Persons; at 0.16% CuEq cut- off. Cautionary Note to Investors While the terms "measured (mineral) resource", "indicated (mineral) resource" and "inferred (mineral) resource" are recognized and required by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, investors are cautioned that except for that portion of mineral resources classified as mineral reserves, mineral resources do not have demonstrated economic viability. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be upgraded into mineral reserves. Additionally, investors are cautioned that inferred mineral resources have a high degree of uncertainty as to their existence, as to whether they can be economically or legally mined, or will ever be upgraded to a higher category. On behalf of the Board of Directors Elmer B. Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer 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. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information in this news release include statements about an estimated cost of $0.7 million for the 2016 program; gaining a better understanding of the Schaft Creek project; ongoing environmental monitoring of the Schaft Creek project, including external consultants, field data collection including humidity cell tests, and other environmental base line data; applying for a Multi-Year Area Based Permit; ongoing consultation with the Tahltan First Nations; postponing the Environmental Assessment process and the interconnection process; the potential for discovering larger zones of mineralization in the LaCasse-Discovery target areas; potential new targets; upgrading the 3D structural model as well as 3D models for alteration, mineralization and geo-metallurgical zones; and statements about Copper Fox's strategy, future operations, prospects and the plans of management. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the geological, financial and economic advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards; and the stability of economic and market conditions. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: exploration of the projects may not find copper mineralization in significant quantities or at all; the overall economy may deteriorate; uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; copper prices and demand may fluctuate; currency exchange rates may fluctuate; conditions in the financial markets may deteriorate; and uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals. A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. Contacts: Copper Fox Metals Inc. Lynn Ball 1-844-464-2820 1-403-264-2820 Regulatory News: Skanska (STO:SKAB), in joint venture with BAM Nuttall, has been awarded a contract by Network Rail for the Northern Hub project in Manchester. The value to Skanska over the course of the contract will be in excess of GBP 74 M, about SEK 900 M, which will be included in order bookings for Skanska UK in the first quarter 2016. The joint venture is working as part of an integrated alliance, following an early contractor phase. The alliance will be responsible for the delivery of the Orsdall Chord which will link Manchester Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly stations for the first time in history, as well as helping deliver faster and more frequent train service. The contract runs from 2016 to 2019. The Skanska BAM Nuttall team will bring a collaborative approach to the contract that will support Network Rail to deliver its rail upgrade plan for the north, helping to increase connectivity across towns and cities and enable the UK government's so called Northern Powerhouse initiative to boost economic growth in the north of the country. Skanska UK reported revenues of about SEK 18 billion in 2015. It has around 5,500 employees. The company is active in building and civil construction, utilities and building services, as well as facilities management and commercial development. Skanska AB may be required to disclose the information provided herein pursuant to the Securities Markets Act. Skanska is one of the world's leading project development and construction groups with expertise in construction, development of commercial and residential premises, and public-private partnerships projects. Based on its global green experience, Skanska aims to be the clients' first choice for Green solutions. The Group currently has 43,100 employees in selected home markets in Europe and North America. Skanska's sales in 2015 totalled SEK 155 billion. This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160330005545/en/ Contacts: Skanska UK, Kevin Perlmutter, Communications tel +44 1923 423906 or Skanska AB Andreas Joons, Press Officer tel +46 (0)10 449 04 94 or Direct line for media: tel: +46 (0)10-448 88 99 STUTTGART, Germany, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In a major achievement for BORGWARD Group AG, the company's first model in 55 years has already received an award. Specifically, BORGWARD received an Honourable Mention in the Product Design category of the Red Dot Award for its debut SUV, the BORGWARD BX7. The Red Dot Award is presented annually in the categories Product Design and Communication Design. "We are proud and happy that our BX7 won an award! It shows that we are laying the right foundation and that the design sector is taking us seriously," said Ulrich Walker, the CEO of BORGWARD Group AG, on Wednesday in Stuttgart. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349326 ) The Red Dot Award's panel of top-level judges, which included the U.S. product designer Chris Bangle and the shoe designer Jimmy Choo, was impressed by the BORGWARD BX7's reinterpretation of the ideals of the company's legendary founder, Carl F. W. Borgward. The judges especially pointed out the brand's typically high design quality and outstanding design features, such as the OCTAGON radiator grille, with its legendary diamond-shaped brand logo, and the wing line design, which quotes a variety of wing profiles. "We are decoding BORGWARD's original design DNA and transferring it to the present day," said Roland Sternmann, BORGWARD Global Executive Design Director. "We are, of course, also implementing our principle of 'Modern Tradition' in the vehicle's interior. We are uniting traditional automotive craftsmanship with ultra-modern technology to create a luxurious wellness ambience," added Benjamin Nawka, Chief Designer of the BORGWARD Design Team in Stuttgart. This design philosophy becomes especially apparent in the contrast between the high-quality, precious materials and the various innovative components, such as the central 12.3-inch media touchscreen. Following its entry into China, India and other emerging markets, BORGWARD plans to launch the BX models on the German market as well within the next two years. In Europe, the German automaker will exclusively market plug-in-hybrids and all-electric vehicles. Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) and http://www.presseportal.de/nr/115998/ Further information: BORGWARD Group AG Kriegsbergstrasse 11 70174 Stuttgart, Germany Marco Dalan Head of Global Communications Telephone:+49-711-365-10-1041 Jlona Scherer Assistant Head of Product Communications Telephone:+49-711-365-10-1044 TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Denison Mines Corp. (TSX: DML)(NYSE MKT: DNN) ("Denison") is pleased to announce the execution of a Definitive Share Purchase Agreement (the "Agreement") with GoviEx Uranium Inc. (CSE: GXU) ("GoviEx") to combine their respective African uranium mineral interests (the "Transaction") to create the leading African-focused uranium development company. Under the terms of the Transaction, GoviEx will acquire Denison's wholly owned subsidiary, Rockgate Capital Corp., which holds all of Denison's African-based uranium interests (collectively "DML Africa") in exchange for approximately 56.1 million shares of GoviEx (the "Consideration Shares") plus approximately 22.4 million common share purchase warrants of GoviEx (the "Consideration Warrants"). Upon completion of the Transaction, Denison will hold 25% of GoviEx shares outstanding and 28% of GoviEx shares on a fully diluted basis. The asset portfolio of the combined company will include two permitted uranium development projects - including GoviEx's Madaouela project in Niger and Denison's Mutanga project in Zambia. It will also include Denison's Falea project, an advanced exploration-stage asset project in Mali, and the exploration-stage Dome project in Namibia. Following completion of the Transaction, GoviEx will control one of the largest uranium resource bases among publicly listed companies, with combined Measured & Indicated resources of 124.29 Mlbs U3O8, plus Inferred resources of 73.11 Mlbs U3O8. David Cates, President and Chief Executive Officer of Denison, commented: "This transaction will provide Denison shareholders with significant exposure to the Madaouela project, one of the world's most advanced uranium development assets, while finding an excellent home for our own uranium projects in Africa. This transaction completes Denison's transition to fully focus on becoming an Athabasca Basin uranium producer." Govind Friedland, Founder and Executive Chairman of GoviEx, commented: "We welcome the opportunity to join forces with mining industry leader Lukas Lundin, and his team at Denison, to combine Africa's leading uranium assets into one consolidated vehicle. This Transaction is a win-win as it provides GoviEx with geographical diversification and allows Denison to focus on its core assets in Canada, while enhancing its upside exposure to our combined Africa assets." Benefits to Denison Shareholders -- Ownership in GoviEx's Madaouela project, one of the few permitted, near- term uranium development projects in the world. -- Ability to maintain exposure to the assets of DML Africa through its ownership stake in GoviEx. -- Enhanced optionality to the uranium price through the significant ownership of share purchase warrants in GoviEx. -- Renewed focus for Denison on its principal assets in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. -- Board representation within GoviEx. Benefits to GoviEx Shareholders -- Creation of a growth-focused African uranium company with a robust project development pipeline and increased jurisdictional diversification, with assets in Niger, Zambia, Mali, and Namibia. -- One of the largest combined uranium resource bases, estimated in accordance with NI 43-101, amongst its peer group with combined Measured resources of 28.59 Mlbs U3O8, Indicated resources of 95.70 Mlbs U3O8, and Inferred resources of 73.11 Mlbs U3O8. -- Considerable exploration potential to further increase mineral resources, with several drill-ready targets defined at each property. -- Mining permits approved or granted in Niger and Zambia, both recognized mining countries with good infrastructure and mining history. -- Significant metallurgical testwork and engineering studies already completed on its three principal development assets, providing GoviEx with an opportunity to continue with optimization work. -- Strong shareholder base, including Denison, Ivanhoe Industries, Toshiba Corporation and Cameco Corporation. Transaction Details Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, GoviEx will acquire DML Africa from Denison in exchange for 56,050,450 Consideration Shares and 22,420,180 Consideration Warrants, being four-tenths of a Consideration Warrant for each Consideration Share to be issued. Each such Consideration Warrant will be convertible into one common share of GoviEx at a price of US$0.15 per share for a period of three years. The Consideration Warrants will include an acceleration clause which will provide that, in the event that the closing price of GoviEx's common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") is equal to or greater than C$0.24 per share for a period of 15 consecutive trading days, GoviEx may provide holders of the Consideration Warrants with written notice that holders have 30 days within which to exercise the Consideration Warrants on the original terms, failing which the exercise price of the Consideration Warrants will be increased to US$0.18 per share and the term of the Consideration Warrants will be reduced by six months. At the time of closing the Transaction, Denison will ensure that DML Africa is capitalized with a minimum working capital of US$700,000, which is equivalent to the forecasted annual budget for the assets of DML Africa. For so long as Denison holds at least 5% of the issued and outstanding common shares of GoviEx, Denison will have the right to appoint one director to the GoviEx board of directors and will have the right participate in future GoviEx equity financings in order to maintain its pro-rata ownership. Concurrent Financing As part of the Transaction, GoviEx will undertake a concurrent equity financing by means of a non-brokered private placement (the "Placement") to raise gross proceeds of not less than US$2,000,000, of which Denison will provide the lead order for 25% up to a maximum of US$500,000. The Placement is expected to be completed prior to, or concurrently with, the closing of the Transaction ("Closing") and is a condition of Closing. Expected Closing The Transaction is expected to close on or about May 17, 2016, subject to the receipt of required consents and approvals, as well as the satisfaction of other conditions customary for a transaction of this nature. Haywood Securities Inc. is acting as Denison's financial advisor. Raymond James Ltd. is acting as GoviEx's financial advisor. Further Information on Mineral Resources Following completion of the Transaction, GoviEx will control one of the largest undeveloped uranium resource bases among publicly listed companies, as summarized below: Measured Mineral Resource Estimates (1)(2) Grade Tonnes (kg/t eU3O8 or Contained Metal Project/Deposit (Mt) U3O8) (Mlb eU3O8 or U3O8) Madaouela(3) - Marianne/Marilyn 2.14 1.79 8.45 Madaouela(3) - Miriam 7.26 1.13 18.14 Mutanga - Mutanga(4) 1.88 0.48 2.00 Total Measured 11.28 1.15 28.59 Indicated Mineral Resource Estimates (1)(2) Grade Tonnes (kg/t eU3O8 or Contained Metal Project/Deposit (Mt) U3O8) (Mlb eU3O8 or U3O8) Madaouela(3) - Marianne/Marilyn 14.72 1.43 46.30 Madaouela(3) - Miriam 1.95 0.80 3.48 Madaouela(3) - MSNE 5.05 1.61 17.88 Madaouela(3) - Maryvonne 1.23 1.79 4.84 Mutanga - Mutanga(4) 8.40 0.31 5.80 Falea(5)(6) 6.88 1.15 17.40 Total Indicated 38.23 1.14 95.70 Inferred Mineral Resource Estimates (1)(2) Grade Tonnes (kg/t eU3O8 or Contained Metal Project/Deposit (Mt) U3O8) (Mlb eU3O8 or U3O8) Madaouela(3) - Marianne/Marilyn 5.04 1.17 13.02 Madaouela(3) - Miriam 0.21 1.26 0.57 Madaouela(3) - MSNE 0.10 1.34 0.29 Madaouela(3) - Maryvonne 0.42 1.66 1.55 Madaouela(3) - MSCE 0.72 1.81 2.88 Mutanga - Mutanga(4) 7.20 0.21 3.30 Mutanga - Dibwe(4) 17.00 0.23 9.00 Mutanga - Dibwe East(4) 39.80 0.32 28.20 Mutanga - Mutanga Ext(4) 0.50 0.34 0.40 Mutanga - Mutanga East(4) 0.20 0.32 0.10 Mutanga - Mutanga West(4) 0.50 0.34 0.40 Falea(5)(6) 8.78 0.69 13.40 Total Inferred 80.47 0.41 73.11 Notes: (1) Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. CIM definitions were followed for classification of mineral resources. (2) The mineral resources were estimated at various cut-off grades, as follows: i. Madaouela: 0.4 kg/t eU ii. Mutanga: 0.1 kg/t U3O8, Dibwe: 0.1 kg/t U3O8, Dibwe East: 0.1 kg/t U3O8, Mutanga Ext: 0.2 kg/t U3O8, Mutanga East: 0.2 kg/t U3O8, Mutanga West: 0.2 kg/t U3O8 iii.Falea: 0.3 kg/t U3O8 (3) Mineral resources estimated in radiometric equivalent uranium from a total gamma downhole probe ("eU3O8"). Source: An Updated Integrated Development Plan for the Madaouela Project, Niger, dated September 20, 2013 and amended and restated August 20, 2015, authored by Eur.Geol. Robert John Bowell PhD C.Chem. C.Geol, Daniel Guibal, Min Eng, FAusIMM (CP), MMICA, MGAA, Timothy John McGurk B.Eng (Hons), C.Eng, FIMMM, Neal Rigby, CEng, PhD, MIMMM, Richard Ingram Skelton MSc, BSc (Hons), C.Eng, MIMMM, MSAIMM, ARSM, John Arthur, PhD, MSc, BSc, MIMMM. The reported mineral resources have been adjusted to account for the absence of the Agaliouk license. (4) Mineral resources estimated in U3O8. Source: Mineral Resource Estimates for the Mutanga Uranium Project (the "Combined Mutanga Report"), dated September 12, 2013, authored by Malcolm Titley, B.Sc., MAusIMM, MAIG. (5) Mineral resources estimated in U3O8. Source: Technical Report on the Felea Uranium, Silver and Copper Deposit, Mali, West Afica dated October 26, 2015 authored by Mark B. Mathisen, C.P.G. The results of the estimates are included in the tables above. CIM definitions were followed for classification of Mineral Resources. A copy of the report is available on Denison's website (http://www.denisonmines.com/). (6) The mineral resource also contains 0.161% copper (24.4 million pounds) and 72.8 g/t Ag (16.11 million ounces) in the Indicated mineral resource, and 0.2% copper (38.7 million pounds) and 17.3 g/t Ag (4.9 million ounces) in the Inferred mineral resource Further information on the material mineral resources noted above is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Denison's and GoviEx's respective profiles. Qualified Persons The disclosure of a scientific or technical nature contained in this news release relating to Denison was prepared by Dale Verran, MSc, Pr.Sci.Nat., Denison's Vice President, Exploration, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101. The scientific and technical information disclosed in this release relating to GoviEx has been reviewed, verified and approved by Dr. Rob Bowell, a chartered chemist of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a chartered geologist of the Geological Society of London and Fellow of the Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Materials who is an independent Qualified Person under the terms of National Instrument 43-101 for uranium deposits. About Denison Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. Including its 60% owned Wheeler River project, which hosts the high grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits, Denison's exploration portfolio consists of numerous projects covering over 390,000 hectares in the eastern Athabasca Basin. Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest deposit and a 61.55% interest in the J Zone deposit on the Waterbury Lake property. Both the Midwest and J Zone deposits are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill. Internationally, Denison owns 100% of the Mutanga project in Zambia, 100% of the uranium/copper/silver Falea project in Mali, and a 90% interest in the Dome project in Namibia. Denison is also engaged in mine decommissioning and environmental services through its Denison Environmental Services division and is the manager of Uranium Participation Corp., a publicly traded company which invests in uranium oxide and uranium hexafluoride. About GoviEx Uranium GoviEx is a mineral resource company focused on the exploration and development of uranium properties. GoviEx's principal objective is to become a significant uranium producer through the continued exploration and development of its Mine Permitted Madaouela Project and its other uranium properties in Niger. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All information and statements other than statements of current or historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in both GoviEx's and Denison's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding completion and expected benefits of the Transaction and other statements that are not facts. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which GoviEx and Denison operate, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Assumptions upon which forward looking statements relating to the transaction have been made include that GoviEx and Denison will be able to satisfy the conditions in the Agreement; that all required third party, regulatory, stock exchange, and government approvals will be obtained; and that the Transaction will be successfully concluded. In addition, the factors described or referred to in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the MD&A of both companies and which are available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, should be reviewed in conjunction with the information found in this news release. Although Denison has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the Transaction could be modified, restricted or not completed, and the results or events predicted in these forward looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and Denison disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and Denison does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to GoviEx herein. Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources: This press release may use the terms "measured", "indicated" and "inferred" mineral resources. United States investors are advised that while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. "Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable. Contacts: For Denison Mines Corp. David Cates President and Chief Executive Officer +1 416-979-1991 x362 Sophia Shane Investor Relations +1 604-689-7842 Website: www.denisonmines.com Follow Denison on Twitter: @DenisonMinesCo For GoviEx Uranium Inc. Govind Friedland Executive Chairman +1 604-681-5529 Daniel Major Chief Executive Officer +1 604-681-5529 Bill Trenaman Investor Relations +1 604-681-5529 info@goviex.com Website: www.goviex.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Today, Save Your Skin Foundation launches a national awareness campaign to shed light on the need for greater awareness and education around skin cancer. NotJustSkinCancer aims to change the online conversation to better educate people on the seriousness of skin cancer, especially the most deadly form of skin cancer - melanoma. 94% of Canadians say they realize that skin cancer is serious, yet hundreds of online conversations unfortunately promote a stigma that pervades the skin cancer community and detracts from its severity. Today, a new conversation starts. NotJustSkinCancer opens up an educated relevant conversation and sheds light on the seriousness of melanoma skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Canada, with over 80,000 cases expected to be diagnosed this year alone, more than 5,000 of which are melanomas, the deadliest form of skin cancer. In its late stages, the average life expectancy for melanoma is just six months, with a one-year survival rate of only 25 percent, making metastatic melanoma one of the most aggressive forms of cancer and one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer. For further information, please visit www.saveyourskin.ca. About the Save Your Skin Foundation The Save Your Skin Foundation is a national not-for profit organization dedicated to the areas of skin cancer and skin disease with a focus on education and awareness, supporting research and ensuring equal and timely access to treatment for all Canadians. Please visit www.saveyourskin.ca for more information. Contacts: Save Your Skin Foundation Karran Finlay 1-800-460-5832 778-988-8194 (direct) karran@saveyourskin.ca www.saveyourskin.ca VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Atlantic Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE: AGB) ("Atlantic" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources ("NSDNR") and Nova Scotia Environment ("NSE") (together, the "Province") have accepted the Company's proposal to provide a phased reclamation security (the "Security") in the amount of $10.4 million for its Touquoy Gold Mine ("Touquoy"), the flagship deposit for its Moose River Consolidated Project ("MRC Project") in Nova Scotia. The Security is a requirement under both the Company's Mineral Lease (2011) and the Company's Industrial Approval dated March 24, 2014 (the "IA"). The Security represents the total cost to reclaim the Touquoy site as determined by the Province. A phased approach to providing the Security was agreed in order to allow the Company to provide satisfactory financial security on a progressive basis commensurate with the area disturbed by the activity on the site at any given time. This approach will ensure that adequate Security is in place before each phase of disturbance, construction and operation and will be commensurate with the level of reclamation liability associated with Touquoy at any point during the project. The table below outlines the various milestone payments and dates in respect of posting of financial security for reclamation: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Milestone Description Estimated Date Financial Security Required ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amount currently posted with the NSDNR N/A $0.17 million ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Commencement of Construction Q2/3 2016 $3.43 million ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Commencement of Ore Processing Fall 2017 $2.10 million ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 1 year anniversary of the start of Ore Processing Fall 2018 $2.60 million ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 2 year anniversary of the start of Ore Processing Fall 2019 $2.10 million ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Financial Security - due December 31, 2019 $10.4 million ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To ensure that the actual and planned areas of disturbance matches this agreed phased approach, the Company has committed to providing survey drawings of actual and planned disturbed areas to NSE and NSDNR on an annual basis. Therefore, the actual amount of incremental increase in the Security will be adjusted in accordance with the variance between actual and planned disturbances. The Company has executed an indemnity agreement with a reputable surety company (the "Surety") specializing in contract and commercial surety bonds, including underwriting surface mining reclamation to financially sound companies with adequate reserves. The Surety has completed its underwriting process and has committed to providing a surety bond in the Company's name, to the Province, 80% of which will be collateralized by way of cash or letter of credit provided by the Company, for a negotiated premium. Acceptance of the surety bond is subject to final Approval from the Province, although it has provided conditional approval of the form of bond and related documentation. Steven Dean, Chairman and CEO commented, "Atlantic is pleased to have reached an agreement with the Province for phased bonding which upholds both the financial security requirements of the Province in respect of reclamation planning, and the Company's commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen by maintaining adequate reclamation security in place at all times during the construction, development and operational phases of the Company's mining projects. This arrangement is an important further step positioning the Company towards a decision to commence construction". Further updates will be provided in due course. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Steven Dean, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Advisors to the Surety Bond Aon Risk Solutions, acting as insurance broker for the Company, was the responsible broker for negotiating the terms of the surety bond. 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. Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements and information are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this press release, and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding discussions of future plans, guidance, projections, objectives, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the activities contemplated in this news release and the timing and receipt of requisite regulatory, and shareholder approvals in respect thereof. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements related to proposed exploration and development programs, grade and tonnage of material and resource estimates. These forward looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary include without limitation, the timing and receipt of certain approvals, changes in commodity and power prices, changes in interest and currency exchange rates, risks inherent in exploration estimates and results, timing and success, inaccurate geological and metallurgical assumptions (including with respect to the size, grade and recoverability of mineral reserves and resources), changes in development or mining plans due to changes in logistical, technical or other factors, unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications, cost escalation, unavailability of materials, equipment and third party contractors, delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters), political risk, social unrest, and changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets. In making the forward-looking statements in this press release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, the assumptions that: (1) market fundamentals will result in sustained gold demand and prices; (2) the receipt of any necessary approvals and consents in connection with the development of any properties; (3) the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of any mineral properties; and (4) sustained commodity prices such that any properties put into operation remain economically viable. Information concerning mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates also may be considered forward-looking statements, as such information constitutes a prediction of what mineralization might be found to be present if and when a project is actually developed. Certain of the risks and assumptions are described in more detail in the Company's audited financial statements and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2014 and the quarter ended September 30, 2015 on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. The actual results or performance by the Company could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements relating to those matters. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what impact they will have on the results of operations or financial condition of the Company. Except as required by law, the Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update, alter or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Contacts: Atlantic Gold Corporation John Morgan President and COO +1 604 689-5564 MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- In direct contradiction to the promise made by the Liberal Party of Canada during the 2015 election campaign not to attempt to recover the quarter-billion dollar surplus in the Trust Fund for the 1986-1990 Hepatitis C Settlement Agreement, the Attorney General of Canada has requested that the entire surplus be allocated to "Canada." In a letter to the Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS) signed by Liberal Party President Anna Gainey on October 5, 2015, the Liberal Party of Canada promised, if elected, not to attempt to recover the surplus but rather to "respect the purpose of this fund and support its use for the compensation of victims." The CHS considers the letter to be a clear assurance that a Liberal government would ask the courts to allocate the surplus to those affected by tainted blood during this period, including to late claimants otherwise eligible. It has turned out that the elected Liberal government has not kept its firm promise. The CHS has been in touch with the offices of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health over the last weeks in an attempt to have the Minister instruct the Attorney General to take a less rigid position with the courts regarding allocation of the surplus. The Minister's office has indicated an unwillingness to reconsider. When the surplus was recognized by the fund's actuaries in 2015, a Joint Committee, whose members were appointed by the courts, the CHS and other community-based groups held extensive consultations with affected members and their families to gather their opinions on the allocation of the surplus. It became clear that many of the 5,322 class members and 8,860 family class members had not received adequate compensation for their injuries and that the surplus should be used to enhance current benefits. When the settlement was created in 1999, the benefits payable were made to fit within the fund provided: the risk of error was borne almost entirely by the claimants. Loss of employment income, reduction in pension benefits, increased home and health care costs and denial of insurance are just a few of the direct economic impacts of hepatitis C related disease. Given the many unmet needs and as the fund was created with a predetermined amount, and not based on the total projected needs of class members, allocation of the surplus to enhance benefits to class members according to the spirit of the original settlement should be at the core of the position of the Government of Canada. No portion of the Trust Fund's projected surplus should be returned to any level of government at this time. "Any attempt by the federal government to claw back or reallocate the surplus," said CHS President Craig Upshaw, "is seen by the people affected as a cash grab compounding Canada's worst public health disaster." Background The 1986-1990 Hepatitis C Settlement Agreement compensates individuals who were infected with hepatitis C through blood and blood products during the 1986-1990 period when protective measures could have and should have been introduced. After the most recent financial sufficiency review, the actuaries retained by a Joint Committee, representing the class members, and the federal government expressed the opinion that the Trust Fund is sufficient to meet the expected needs of class members and family class members, and there is an estimated surplus of between $236 million and $256 million. The orders approving the settlement allow the Joint Committee and the governments to apply to the courts when there is a surplus. The courts have discretion to decide what to do with the surplus in light of the recommendations, including deciding that all or a portion of it should be kept in the Trust Fund. Applications regarding the surplus will be considered by the courts at a Joint Hearing that will take place in Toronto on June 20-22, 2016. On October 16, 2015, the Joint Committee submitted a Notice of Motion to enhance the benefits to claimants. On January 29, 2016, the Attorney General of Canada, submitted a Notice of Motion opposing the Joint Committee's application to enhance the benefits to claimants and asked that the entire surplus be paid out to the federal government. It also opposes the Joint Committee's recommendation to allow applications from those infected who, for one reason or another, missed the June 30, 2010 deadline. About the Canadian Hemophilia Society Founded in 1953, the Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS) is a national voluntary health charity. Its mission is to improve the health and quality of life of all people in Canada with inherited bleeding disorders and ultimately to find cures. Its vision is a world free from the pain and suffering of inherited bleeding disorders. As an important aspect of its work, the CHS strives to raise awareness about the tainted blood tragedy so that the lessons learned from it are not forgotten. Approximately one-quarter of the infected persons are (or were) people with hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. About the Joint Committee Appointed by the courts, members of the Joint Committee have the mandate to implement the 1986-1990 Hepatitis C Settlement Agreement and to supervise the ongoing administration of claims. Every three years, they review the financial sufficiency of the Trust Fund to ensure that it is adequate to meet the expected needs of class members and family class members. Additional documents available on the CHS website -- Statement endorsed by many organizations objecting to the 86-90 Trust Fund surplus being paid out to the federal government -- Comprehensive Q&A document on the overall issue Contacts: Chantal Raymond National Communications Manager Canadian Hemophilia Society 514-848-0503, ext. 226 craymond@hemophilia.ca www.hemophilia.ca MILWAUKEE, WI -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Telkonet, Inc. (OTCQB: TKOI), creator of the EcoSmart platform of intelligent in-room automation solutions designed to optimize comfort, energy efficiency and operational analytics in support of the emerging Internet of Things (IoT), today announced financial results for fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. Telkonet management will hold a teleconference and webcast to discuss these results with the financial community today at 4:30 p.m. EDT/3:30 p.m. CDT. "Telkonet's gross profit increased 15 percent on moderate revenue growth demonstrating healthy core financials that will allow the company to achieve maximum returns as we accelerate sales," said Jason Tienor, Telkonet CEO. "And we've continued to expand our innovative Internet-of-Things platform and robust sales channel surrounding EcoSmart, our highest margin business line posting 23% year over year growth and positioning the business to take advantage of the rapidly growing IoT industry." Telkonet's goal to increase top line revenue growth is being achieved through strategic product, team and partnership growth. In 2015, the company demonstrated a commitment towards sales acceleration through several key initiatives: Research and Development: Telkonet invested in R&D to launch new products such as the innovative EcoTouch thermostat and evolutionary EcoSense+ and EcoContact+, to be announced today. Team Growth: Key support staff has allowed the company to significantly extend sales efforts. An outside marketing firm was also retained to increase market penetration and awareness. Key Partnerships to Grow EcoSmart: A partnership with Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management was established to design, implement and fund energy savings upgrades for large-scale commercial properties, offering a 100 percent savings guarantee due to the ROI delivered by EcoSmart. Additionally, Telkonet partnered with Samsung to release and deploy the fully integrated Smart Hospitality Room to market and promote the EcoSmart platform in the hospitality sales channel. "Through innovative platform development, new sales expansion and growing partnerships, we've positioned the company well for sustainable, rapid, profitable growth moving forward," said Tienor. Financial Highlights Revenue from our EcoSmart Platform increased $1.4 million, or 23 percent year over year Gross Profit increased by $1.1 million, or 15 percent over fiscal 2014 Fiscal 2015 Gross Margins expanded to 55 percent, compared to 49 percent for fiscal 2014 Revenue from resellers up 24 percent, or $1.2 million for fiscal 2015 Education channel sales grew to its highest level ever increasing by 46 percent to make up 13 percent of Telkonet's overall sales Working capital deficit improved by $0.4 million year over year Total annual recurring revenue growth of 9 percent EBITDA profitability of 2 percent and Operating Income of 1 percent Accounts Receivable grew 44 percent year over year Teleconference and Webcast Date: March 30, 2016 Time: 4:30 p.m. EDT (3:30 p.m. CDT, 1:30 p.m. PDT) Investor Dial-In (Toll Free): 877-407-0782 Investor Dial-In (International): 201-689-8567 Live Web Cast: http://www.investorcalendar.com/IC/CEPage.asp?ID=174785 A replay of the teleconference will be available until April 13, 2016, which can be accessed by dialing 877-660-6853 if calling within the United States or 201-612-7415, if calling internationally. Please enter conference ID "13632469" to access the replay. NON-GAAP Financial Measures Telkonet will post to the Company's investor relations web site (www.telkonet.com) any reconciliation of differences between non-GAAP financial information that may be required in connection with issuing the Company's financial results. The Company, as is common in its industry, uses adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measurement gauge to demonstrate earnings exclusive of interest and non-cash events. The Company manages its business based on its cash flows. The Company, in its daily management of its business affairs and analysis of its monthly, quarterly and annual performance, makes its decisions based on cash flows, not on the amortization of assets obtained through historical activities. The Company, in managing its current and future affairs, cannot affect the amortization of the intangible assets to any material degree, and therefore uses adjusted EBITDA as its primary management guide. Adjusted EBITDA is not, and should not be considered, an alternative to net income (loss), income (loss) from operations, or any other measure for determining operating performance of liquidity, as determined under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP). In assessing the overall health of its business for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company excluded items in the following general category described below: Stock-based compensation: The Company believes that because of the variety of equity awards used by companies, varying methodologies for determining stock-based compensation and the assumptions and estimates involved in those determinations, the exclusion of non-cash stock-based compensation enhances the ability of management and investors to understand the impact of non-cash stock-based compensation on our operating results. Further, the Company believes that excluding stock-based compensation expense allows for a more transparent comparison of its financial results to the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA and other non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, a measure of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, investors are cautioned that there are inherent limitations associated with the use of the non-GAAP financial measure as an analytical tool. In particular, the non-GAAP financial measure is not based on a comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and many of the adjustments to the GAAP financial measure reflect the exclusion of items that are recurring and will be reflected in the Company's financial results for the foreseeable future. The Company compensates for these limitations by providing specific information in the reconciliation included in this press release regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from the non-GAAP financial measure. ABOUT TELKONET Telkonet is a leading provider of intelligent automation solutions throughout commercial markets worldwide. The Internet of Things (IoT), offer considerable energy cost reductions, staff productivity enhancements and carbon footprint reductions through intelligent networked communications, improved asset utilization and data analytics. IoT platforms like Telkonet's EcoSmart enable users to achieve savings, value and service through networked connectivity providing monitoring, control, analytics, convenience and the ability to participate with the emerging Smart Grid through automated demand response initiatives. Telkonet serves vertical markets that have established the company as a leading networking, efficiency and energy management technology provider. Those markets consist of Hospitality, Education, Military, Government, Healthcare and Public Housing. Telkonet's business divisions include EcoSmart, a networked automation platform featuring Recovery time technology offering cost savings, energy reductions, optimized asset utilization and improved comfort, and EthoStream, one of the largest hospitality High-Speed Internet Access networks in the world providing public Internet access to more than 8 million monthly users. For more information, visit www.telkonet.com. For news updates as they happen, follow @Telkonet on Twitter. To receive updates on all of Telkonet's developments, sign up for our email alerts HERE. www.telkonet.com FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Statements included in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties such as competitive factors, technological development, market demand and the Company's ability to obtain new contracts and accurately estimate net revenue due to variability in size, scope and duration of projects, and internal issues in the sponsoring client. Further information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results, can be found in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and in its Reports on Forms 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). RECONCILIATION OF NET (LOSS) INCOME TO ADJUSTED EBITDA FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2015 2014 ---------------- ---------------- Net (loss) income $ (189,104) $ 42,830 Interest expense, net 69,441 40,273 Provision for income taxes 197,072 201,853 Depreciation and amortization 273,507 275,236 ---------------- ---------------- EBITDA 350,916 560,192 Adjustments: Stock-based compensation 14,383 15,046 ---------------- ---------------- Adjusted EBITDA $ 365,299 $ 575,238 ================ ================ TELKONET, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2015 AND 2014 2015 2014 ------------- ------------- Revenues, net: Product $ 10,908,704 $ 10,973,544 Recurring 4,175,222 3,822,987 ------------- ------------- Total Net Revenues 15,083,926 14,796,531 ------------- ------------- Cost of Sales: Product 5,734,954 6,504,630 Recurring 1,010,662 1,053,215 ------------- ------------- Total Cost of Sales 6,745,616 7,557,845 ------------- ------------- Gross Profit 8,338,310 7,238,686 ------------- ------------- Operating Expenses: Research and development 1,605,667 1,312,488 Selling, general and administrative 6,381,727 5,366,006 Depreciation and amortization 273,507 275,236 ------------- ------------- Total Operating Expenses 8,260,901 6,953,730 ------------- ------------- Income from Operations 77,409 284,956 ------------- ------------- Other (Expenses) Income: Interest (expense), net (69,441) (40,273) ------------- ------------- Total Other (Expenses) (69,441) (40,273) ------------- ------------- Income Before Provision for Income Taxes 7,968 244,683 Provision for Income Taxes 197,072 201,853 ------------- ------------- Net (Loss) Income (189,104) 42,830 Accretion of preferred dividends and discount (18,253) (138,233) ------------- ------------- Net loss attributable to common stockholders $ (207,357) $ (95,403) ============= ============= Net loss per common share: Net loss attributable to common stockholders per common share - basic $ (0.00) $ (0.00) Net loss attributable to common stockholders per common share - diluted $ (0.00) $ (0.00) Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding - basic 125,859,903 125,035,612 Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding - diluted 125,859,903 125,035,612 Media Contacts: Telkonet Investor Relations 414.721.7988 ir@telkonet.com MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- TransForce Inc. (TSX: TFI)(OTCQX: TFIFF),a North American leader in the transportation and logistics industry, today announced that it will hold its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time at the TMX Broadcast Center Gallery, 130 King Street West, Toronto. The Company will also issue its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 via news release during its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders. In addition, the Company will hold a conference call for analysts and portfolio managers with Alain Bedard, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, to discuss these results. Business media are also invited to listen to the call. Details of conference call: Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 Time: 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time Call-in number: 1-877-223-4471 A recording of the call will be available until midnight, May 4, 2016, by dialing 1-800-585-8367 or 416-621-4642 and entering passcode 78110912. Finally, TransForce's 2015 Annual Report is now available on the Company's website at:http://www.transforcecompany.com/investor-relations/financial-documents/annual-reports ABOUT TRANSFORCE TransForce Inc. is a North American leader in the transportation and logistics industry operating across Canada and the United States through its subsidiaries. TransForce creates value for shareholders by identifying strategic acquisitions and managing a growing network of wholly-owned operating subsidiaries. Under the TransForce umbrella, companies benefit from corporate financial and operational resources to build their businesses and increase their efficiency. TransForce companies service the following segments: -- Package and Courier; -- Less-Than-Truckload; -- Truckload; -- Logistics. TransForce Inc. is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: TFI) and the OTCQX marketplace in the U.S. (OTCQX: TFIFF). For more information, visit http://www.transforcecompany.com. Contacts: Investors: Alain Bedard Chairman, President and CEO TransForce Inc. (647) 729-4079 abedard@transforcecompany.com Media: Rick Leckner MaisonBrison Communications (514) 731-0000 rickl@maisonbrison.com INDIANAPOLIS, IN--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - Scale Computing, the leading provider of hyperconverged solutions, announced the successful implementation of their patented HyperCore Software' HC3 platform to help integrate and simplify the IT infrastructures of the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario respectively. The museums, a Canadian Crown corporation and part of the network of National Museums, were suffering from overly complex and disparate IT environments that caused work stoppage and slowdowns. Philippe Lemieux, IT director for the museums said, "We looked for a player in the hyper-converged space that could provide a hypervisor, disaster recovery, replication, cloning and everything. At the end of the day that didn't leave many players -- Scale Computing's HC3 platform offered the right combination of capabilities to align our infrastructure as well as help us plan, grow and integrate." Currently Lemieux says that 85% of museums' critical systems are on the HC3 platform including the following: Financial Human Resources Box office/Ticketing Museum shops Facility Rentals Donor programs The museum's IT environment included Dell Fiber SANs, Hitachi SANs, HP Switches, physical servers and more -- infrastructure diversity of equipment, which presented multiple points of failure. Lemieux and his team looked at many companies to help transform the museum's in-congruent datacenter. Lemieux also wanted one solution to provide replication, snapshotting, user friendliness and the ability to clone the VM and test environment in a single solution. The HC3 platform fit in with the museums' needs, offering storage, servers, virtualization and management together in a comprehensive system -- without the virtualization software licenses or external storage to purchase. As a result, the HC3 lowers out-of-pocket costs and radically simplifies the infrastructure needed to keep applications running. Lemieux said migrating to Scale Computing's HC3 was a flawless process and challenges were easily rectified. "We wanted less complexity," said Lemieux. "We wanted a solution that was dead simple and Scale Computing lived up to the promises of hyperconvergence." About Scale Computing Scale Computing integrates storage, servers, and virtualization software into an all-in-one appliance based system that is scalable, self-healing, and as easy to manage as a single server. Using industry standard components, the HC3 appliances install in under an hour, and can be expanded and upgraded with no downtime. High availability insulates the user from any disk or server failure and a unified management capability driven by the patented HyperCore Software', efficiently integrates all functionality. The result is a data center solution that reduces operational complexity, allows a faster response to business issues, and dramatically reduces costs. For more information, call 877-SCALE-59 or visit www.scalecomputing.com. Media Contact: Scott Kline JPR Communications 818-798-1474 Scottk@jprcom.com ATLANTA, GA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX), a biotechnology company developing human vaccines, announced today that it has entered into a Research Collaboration Agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of its Zika virus vaccine. On February 3, 2016, GeoVax announced that it had begun a program to develop a vaccine for the prevention of Zika virus infections using its novel MVA-VLP vaccine platform, and that it had entered into a collaborative relationship with researchers at the University of Georgia to speed development of the vaccine. The Research Collaboration Agreement between GeoVax and the CDC should further broaden and accelerate the company's Zika vaccine development through access to Zika virus antibodies available at the CDC and testing of vaccine candidates by the CDC in appropriate animal models. Robert McNally, PhD, GeoVax's President and CEO, commented, "We are pleased to have the support of multiple collaborators in our efforts to rapidly develop an efficacious vaccine to prevent Zika virus infection. Together with our own scientific staff, we have assembled a world-class team, with expertise in flavivirus vaccine development, in our attempt to develop a vaccine solution to this growing threat to world health." About Zika Virus On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the Zika virus and its suspected complications in newborns an international public health emergency. Between January 2007 and March 23, 2016, a total of 61 countries and territories worldwide (34 in Americas) reported local transmission of the virus. Five countries (Argentina, France, Italy, New Zealand and the USA) have reported locally acquired infections in the absence of any known mosquito vectors, most likely through sexual transmission. WHO projects that the disease could reach most of the Western Hemisphere, infecting up to 4 million people by year's end. The CDC has issued a travel advisory for people traveling to regions within the Zika virus outbreak, which include popular vacation destinations. Brazil, the site of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, is included in this advisory. Zika virus, transmitted to people primarily through the bite of Aedes species mosquito (A. aegypti and A. albopictus), is a member of the Flaviviridae family, which includes medically important human pathogens such as dengue fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. There is a suspected association between Zika infections and severe birth defects, particularly microcephaly, a congenital condition marked by an abnormally small head and incomplete brain development as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder that can cause paralysis. The number of microcephaly in Brazil associated with Zika virus has risen to 6,480, of which 863 cases were confirmed and 5,617 cases remain suspected to be associated with Zika virus. Five other countries/territories (French Polynesia, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia and Suriname) have reported an increase in the incidence of cases of microcephaly and/or GBS following a Zika outbreak. Evidence that microcephaly and GBS are linked to Zika infection remains circumstantial, but a growing body of epidemiological and clinical data indicates that Zika virus is highly likely to be a cause of microcephaly, GBS and other neurological disorders, according to a report published by the WHO on March 24, 2016. Other than mosquito control, no approved preventive or therapeutic products are currently available to fight Zika infections. Public health officials recommend avoiding exposure to Zika, delaying pregnancy, and following basic supportive care after infection. A vaccine is urgently needed to prevent a Zika pandemic. About GeoVax GeoVax Labs, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases using its Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara -Virus-Like Particle (MVA-VLP) vaccine platform. The Company's most advanced development programs are focused on vaccines against HIV and hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola, Marburg, Lassa). GeoVax also recently began programs to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, and to evaluate the use of its MVA-VLP platform in cancer immunotherapy. GeoVax's vaccine platform supports in vivo production of non-infectious VLPs from the cells of the very person receiving the vaccine. The production of VLPs in the person being vaccinated mimics a natural infection, stimulating both the humoral and cellular arms of the immune system to recognize, prevent, and control the target infection. Clinical trials for GeoVax's preventive HIV vaccines have been conducted by the NIH-supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) with funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). Overall, GeoVax's HIV vaccines, in various doses and combinations, have been tested in 500 humans with very encouraging results. Currently GeoVax has the most advanced vaccine for the subtype of HIV prevalent in North America and Western Europe. The company awaits funding for a Phase 2b efficacy trial to prove the vaccine protects against HIV. For more information, visit www.geovax.com. [The information contained in this press release does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the U.S. Government and no official endorsement should be inferred.] Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this document are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from those included in these statements due to a variety of factors, including whether: GeoVax can develop and manufacture its vaccines with the desired characteristics in a timely manner, GeoVax's vaccines will be safe for human use, GeoVax's vaccines will effectively prevent targeted infections in humans, GeoVax's vaccines will receive regulatory approvals necessary to be licensed and marketed, GeoVax raises required capital to complete vaccine development, there is development of competitive products that may be more effective or easier to use than GeoVax's products, GeoVax will be able to enter into favorable manufacturing and distribution agreements, and other factors, over which GeoVax has no control. GeoVax assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and does not intend to do so. More information about these factors is contained in GeoVax's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those set forth at "Risk Factors" in GeoVax's Form 10-K. Contact: Robert T. McNally, Ph.D. GeoVax Labs, Inc. investor@geovax.com 678-384-7220 CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- nGenx, a cloud services pioneer in the delivery of hosted workspaces, including applications, data, and desktops, today announced a vendor agreement with Virtual Administrator, a nationwide Master MSP focused on assisting VARs and MSPs in the delivery of managed services without the need to build a network operation center (NOC) or allot budget for managed services software. As a result of the partnership with nGenx, the company is providing hundreds of partners throughout North America with the ability to deliver hosted desktops, applications, data, and complete workspaces based on the nGenx nFinity nWorkspace platform. Beyond traditional MSP aggregators that provide a menu list of services and tools on which to build a business from, Virtual Administrator is a trusted advisor to VARs and MSPs, with historical experience as an MSP that provides value-added services beyond product distribution. The company's MSP 4.0 vision is to provide its partners with greater options in terms of infrastructure and services with an emphasis on flexibility, simplicity and profitability. The Master MSP provides packaged services complemented by pre- and post-sales support, collateral, and access to the organization's industry experts and longstanding knowledgebase. With the addition of nGenx nFinity nWorkspace, the company's service portfolio now includes remote management, backup and recovery, networking, and virtual workspaces. Virtual Administrator selected nGenx because of the company's longevity in hosted workspaces and its highly automated, wizard-driven workspace as a service solution. "nFinity nWorkspace is the foundational technology behind our MSP 4.0 strategy as it provides an open cloud architecture that alleviates the need to purchase, manage, and maintain data center infrastructure," said Chris Amori, Founding Partner, Virtual Administrator. "The solution's ability to optimize customer applications regardless of location for access on desktops, laptops, tablets, or smartphones provides real value for customers seeking agile computing options." According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, "The global mobile workforce is set to increase from 1.32 billion in 2014, accounting for 37.4% of the global workforce, to 1.75 billion in 2020, accounting for 42.0% of the global workforce. Globalization will continue to drive the growth of mobile office workers in all regions as executives, consultants, sales & field professionals, and other mobile professionals of multinational corporations proliferate." The trend toward mobility is driving the need for more flexible workspaces that offer enhanced access while providing a more secure platform for organizational data. nGenx nFinity nWorkspace is the ideal complement, which includes all the necessary layers to deliver a full-featured mobile workspace to end customers. This includes virtual desktops, cloud-enabled applications, and an integrated solution for data -- nFinity Drive 2.0. The service simplifies IT, is delivered from Tier 4 enterprise class data centers, and is managed on-demand via a single pane-of-glass control panel. For IT service providers, this reduces the time, complexity, and headaches associated with building and managing the infrastructure required to deliver a hosted workspace. "It is clear to the industry's leading MSPs that workspace as a service solutions will see increasing demand as businesses realize the productivity gains and control over IT expenditures," said Max Pruger, chief sales officer, nGenx. "Virtual Administrator is at the forefront of IT thought leaders who understand the opportunity so it is no surprise why the operation they have built continues to grow and prosper. We look forward to the mutual success of both organizations in 2016." To learn more about nGenx nFinity nWorkspace, please contact nGenx at 888.696.4369, extension 1 or email sales@ngenx.com. Tweet This: .@MSPOnramp Moves Toward MSP 4.0 with Virtual Workspaces Powered by @nGenxCloud nFinity nWorkspace - http://goo.gl/Vh1X29 - WaaS cloud Resources: View nFinity nWorkspace video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQT4v7FSKPA Contact nGenx today to schedule a free demo at: http://www.ngenx.com/contact/ Follow nGenx on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/nGenxCloud Follow Virtual Administrator on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MSPOnramp More information on the MSP 4.0 Model (webinar): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dv00FPmNFw Visit Virtual Administrator at: https://virtualadministrator.com/ Visit nGenx at: http://www.nGenx.com About nGenx Founded in 2000, nGenx is a cloud services pioneer in hosted application and desktop delivery. nGenx works with strategic partners such as Microsoft, Intuit, Google, IndependenceIT, Artisan Infrastructure, and others to develop hosted IT applications provided via the cloud. Through its cloud platform solution, nFinity nWorkspace, nGenx enables organizations to access their business applications on any device, anywhere business may be conducted. In 2014, nGenx was recognized by both Microsoft and Citrix for its leadership in the industry. nGenx markets its solutions through both white label and agency programs supported by its nGenx control panel, a single pane-of-glass provisioning system that allows partners and enterprise customers complete control over their IT environments. For more information, visit Why nGenx. About Virtual Administrator Founded in 2005, Virtual Administrator is a Master MSP focused on high value, profitable solutions that drive revenue for the company's partner ecosystem. The company supports managed service providers in North America with value added services and support in the areas of remote management, networking, backup and recovery and virtual workspaces. Headquartered in Virginia, Virtual Administrator's 100% channel centric provider model layers best of breed technology with an extensive knowledgebase to enable the delivery of premier services and support. To learn more, please contact (703) 230-2300 or visit https://virtualadministrator.com/. nGenx Agency Contact: Joe Austin The Ventana Group 512-531-9119 Email Contact Virtual Administrator Press Contact: Daniel Kolansky Virtual Administrator 703-230-2305 Email Contact MORRISTOWN, NJ--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - TM Forum, the global industry association for digital business, today announced that David Pleasance, senior consulting partner at Deloitte and current TM Forum Board director, has been appointed as the organization's new chairman. David's term as chairman will begin after the standard two-year term of the Forum's current chairman, Michael Lawrey, ends in May 2016. "I would like to thank Michael Lawrey for his leadership during the past two years, and also congratulate him on his numerous accomplishments over his storied communications industry career," said Peter Sany, president and CEO, TM Forum. "During Michael's two-year term as chairman, he was instrumental in increasing Board engagement, driving the restructuring of our Board governance model, implementing a new Board committee structure, and accelerating our cross-industry go-to-market strategy." "I am very pleased to be handing over the chairmanship to David as my two-year rotation comes to an end," continues Michael Lawrey, chairman, TM Forum. "David's diverse industry and leadership experience will greatly benefit the Forum and our members, and I very much look forward to continuing to serve as a TM Forum Board director." As a TM Forum Board director and current head of the Forum's Strategy Committee, David has been an active contributor, thought leader and sponsor of the Forum. Working closely with the CEO and the senior leadership team, he has contributed to shaping the Forum's vision and strategy. His vast personal network, exposure to Deloitte's global consulting capabilities and involvement with other external boards gives him valuable perspectives that will continue to benefit the Forum's overall future direction. "It is with great pleasure that I welcome David Pleasance as the Forum's new chairman," continues Peter Sany. "As traditional operators race to transform into true digital service providers, they are increasingly playing a key enablement role for other industries and sectors -- including the public sector and city governments, insurance, healthcare, automotive and so on -- to facilitate their digital transformation and take advantage of the numerous business opportunities that emerging, and converging, new digital ecosystems present. David's leadership, vision and cross-industry experience align very well with Forum's strategy to drive digital transformation and business growth for our members who are increasingly operating across multiple industries and ecosystems." "I am honored to be appointed as TM Forum's new chairman, and would like to thank Michael for his great service to the Forum," said David Pleasance, future chairman, TM Forum. "Companies across all industry verticals must adapt and transform to compete in the digital economy. The collaborative, member-driven programs provided by TM Forum, which result in rapid prototyping of new digital technologies and business models, are changing how companies of all shapes and sizes innovate and operate. The Forum is a truly remarkable organization, and as chairman, I'm excited to help shape our strategy and direction to deliver tremendous value to our expanding base of members." Chairman Biography David Pleasance is a senior consulting partner at Deloitte where he oversees the client relationships of a number of the firm's recognized global accounts. He has over thirty years of international experience working across a number of industries including energy, financial services, industrial and process manufacturing, life sciences, healthcare and biotechnology. David has architected business strategies and led enterprise transformation programs for numerous corporate and private equity clients focused on strengthening competitive positioning through the creative application of IT and digital technology, leveraging core technologies into ancillary markets and accelerating business expansion. He is currently working with clients to implement game-changing strategies for competing in the rapidly changing digital world and developing "digital ecosystems." David has successfully developed innovative "joint venture" arrangements for partnering with clients in the marketplace to accelerate revenue growth and enhance profitability. Additionally, he has applied creative commercial arrangements which tie professional remuneration to project and business performance outcomes thereby ensuring goal alignment with client management. Prior to entering the consulting arena, David spent many years with Imperial Chemical Industries where he held a variety of senior management positions in Canada, the U.S. and the London head office. In his last role at ICI, he was the CFO of the Chemicals and Polymers division based in the U.S. A frequent and highly sought-after thought leader and speaker, David has Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Chemical Engineering (BASc) and an MBA, both from the University of Toronto, and he is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA - Canada). He also attended the Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School. David is a director on several external boards including TM Forum. About TM Forum TM Forum is the global industry association for digital business, connecting talented individuals, leading companies, and diverse ecosystems to accelerate our members' successful digital business transformation. The collective experience and interests of our member community -- comprised of tens-of-thousands of professionals within 900+ market-leading global enterprises, service providers and technology suppliers that together account for trillions of dollars in annual revenues -- drives everything we do, from thought-provoking research and publications, to practical guidance, collaboration programs, tools and best practices, hands-on events, and training for business and IT leaders. Through three key programs -- Agile Business and IT, Open Digital Ecosystem, and Customer Centricity -- we provide an open platform for our members to connect and collaborate with individuals and groups from around the world to solve key challenges and rapidly innovate to deliver and monetize new services, improve business agility, partner for success, reduce cost and risk, and enhance customer value and loyalty. To accelerate your R&D and join our digital journey as a valued member and collaborator, please visit www.tmforum.org. Press Contact Hanah Johnson March Communications tmforum@marchpr.com +1 617 960 9875 KANSAS CITY, MO--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - April 18 is not just the deadline to file 2015 tax returns. It is also the last chance for taxpayers to claim a refund for 2012. The free Second Look to taxpayers who may have left money on the table in their 2012, 2013, 2014 or even their 2015 returns. "Taxpayers can leave money on the table when they have a life change and don't know how it impacts their tax situation. But taxpayers also miss out on refunds simply by not filing a return," said Kathy Collins, H&R Block's chief marketing officer. "Even if a taxpayer doesn't have to file a return, they still may be entitled to a refund." Non-filers could miss thousands of dollars in refundsmiss a potential earned income tax credit worth up to $6,242. Millions of workers miss this credit because they are not required, and decline, to file. But an eligible person can still get the credit even if they do not owe and have not paid income taxes. The only way for them to claim this credit is to file a tax return. "The tax return is the single biggest financial event of the year for many taxpayers, but more than a million of them missed it in 2012," said Collins. "Fortunately, they still have a couple more weeks left to file their 2012 return and get their refunds." A Second Look for those who filedH&R Block's approximately 10,000 U.S. officesonline assessmentschedule an appointment online or by calling 1-800-HRBLOCK. http://newsroom.hrblock.com/. For Further Informationmediadesk@hrblock.com CHICAGO, IL --(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) -SC Magazine UK has named Trustwave a finalist in the Best Network Access Control (NAC) Solution category for the 2016 SC Magazine Awards Europe for the Trustwave Network Access Control solution. The SC MagazineAwards Europe are recognized throughout the security industry as the gold standard of excellence in cybersecurity. SC Magazine UK recognizes the achievements of security professionals in the field, the innovations happening in the vendor and service provider communities, and the vigilant work of government, commercial and nonprofit entities. The SC Magazine Awards Europe 2016 are divided into three main award areas of expertise, 'Excellence Awards: Threat Solutions', 'Excellence Awards: Industry Leadership' and 'Professional Categories'. "Ensuring a secure, productive and compliant computing environment is a vital component for any organization that supports a bring-your-own-device culture," said Steve Kelley, Chief Marketing Officer at Trustwave. "With flexible deployment options and centralized management, Trustwave Network Access Control brings order to the managed, unmanaged, and unmanageable assets of networks. Trustwave is proud of our continued recognition by 2016 SC Magazine Awards Europe for helping European and global organizations secure their assets." Trustwave Network Access Control was also named a Finalist in the 2014 and 2015 SC Magazine Awards Europe, as well as the 2016 SC Magazine Awards in the United States. The winners will be announced at the SC Awards Europe Gala in London on June 7, 2016. For more information about the SC Magazine Awards Europe, visit: http://www.scawardseurope.com/ About SC Magazine SC Magazine provides IT security professionals with in-depth and unbiased information through timely news, comprehensive analysis, cutting-edge features, contributions from thought leaders and the best, most extensive collection of product reviews in the business. By offering a consolidated view of IT security through independent product tests and well-researched editorial content that provides the contextual backdrop for how these IT security tools will address larger demands put on businesses today, SC Magazine enables IT security pros to make the right security decisions for their companies. Besides the monthly print magazine, special Spotlight editions and daily website, the brand's portfolio includes SC Marketscope and SC Magazine Newswire, and face-to-face events, including the SC Congress series (New York, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, London, Amsterdam), and the SC Awards. About Trustwave Trustwave helps businesses fight cybercrime, protect data and reduce security risk. With cloud and managed security services, integrated technologies and a team of security experts, ethical hackers and researchers, Trustwave enables businesses to transform the way they manage their information security and compliance programs. More than three million businesses are enrolled in the Trustwave TrustKeeper cloud platform, through which Trustwave delivers automated, efficient and cost-effective threat, vulnerability and compliance management. Trustwave is headquartered in Chicago, with customers in 96 countries. For more information about Trustwave, visit https://www.trustwave.com. Dillon Townsel Media Relations dtownsel@trustwave.com +1 (312) 995-5732 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTC PINK: CBIS), a U.S. company specializing in the development of cannabis-based medicines, has announced that the Cannabis Science CEO is excited as record date for gifted shares approaches fast, tomorrow, Thursday, March 31st, 2016, and the new 360,000 sq. ft. facility in Nevada moves into design phase. The Company will update a secure website platform to include forms for shareholders to report their share ownership and attach any required documentation for transmission directly to Cannabis Science. This will help streamline the process and get shareholders their gifted shares more quickly. In the same vein as the previously announced 360,000 sq. ft. educational, drug development deal in Nevada has moved into design phase, and the Company has identified other large parcels of land for similar drug development facilities in California. A map of the Nevada facility will be included on the Company website as the Company gets further into the design process and the Company will announce the new land deals in California after signing has been completed. Cannabis Science has been approached by several investor shareholders and industry professionals looking to expand and capitalize on the Nevada deal. The Company is negotiating with new investors and industry professionals to become a part of the Cannabis Science Research Park, which will help spur new drug research, development, and ultimately manufacturing in addition to scientific contribution and studies. About Cannabis Science, Inc. Cannabis Science, Inc., takes advantage of its unique understanding of metabolic processes to provide novel treatment approaches to a number of illnesses for which current treatments and understanding remain unsatisfactory. Cannabinoids have an extensive history dating back thousands of years, and currently, there are a growing number of peer-reviewed scientific publications that document the underlying biochemical pathways that cannabinoids modulate. The Company works with leading experts in drug development, medicinal characterization, and clinical research to develop, produce, and commercialize novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment for illnesses caused by infections as well as for age-related illness. Our initial focus is on skin cancers, HIV/AIDS, and neurological conditions. The Company is proceeding with the research and development of its proprietary drugs as a part of this initial focus: CS-S/BCC-1, CS-TATI-1, and CS-NEURO-1, respectively. Forward-Looking Statements This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. A statement containing words such as "anticipate," "seek," intend," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "project," "plan," or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Some or all of the events or results anticipated bythese forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based drugs. Cannabis Science, Inc., does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements. Safe Harbor Statement. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a 'safe harbor' for forward-looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts are forward looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involved risks and uncertainties. These forward- looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the company are detailed from time to time in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cannabis Science Inc. Teresa Misenheimer Investor Relations teresa@cannabisscience.com Tel: 813-500-7332 Cannabis Science, Inc. Mr. Raymond C. Dabney President & CEO, Co-Founder raymond.dabney@cannabisscience.com Tel: 310.650.3788 Cannabis Science, Inc. Mr. Robert Kane Director & CFO info@cannabisscience.com Tel: 1.888.889.0888 SHORT HILLS, NJ -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Umbra Applied Technologies Group, Inc. (OTC: UATG), a Defense and Intelligence firm, today announced the launch of Umbra Exploration as the new entity that will house existing oil operations previously branded under Intrepid Innovations to include its subsidiaries Intrepid Resources, LLC; Intrepid Wood Products Corporation; Intrepid Medical Technologies Corporation and Intrepid Energy. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Umbra, announced, "As everyone knows, the Oil and Gas industry has had a tumultuous year and the challenges presented by the marketplace forced us to improve. Over the past 6 months we have focused on efficiencies. We have streamlined operations throughout the company and have made strategic organizational choices. The truth is that we had some areas that we needed to improve. We are consolidating Intrepid's subsidiaries, focusing more on necessity and what is functionally more results directed by reducing expenditures and, for the first time since its inception, UATG's Oil and Gas business as a cost center has been neutralized thus mitigating differential risk factors for next quarters WACC." The choices by management seem to have paid off as the division/subsidiary exceeded previous expectations with a business segment that has not produced direct profit but now will no longer be a cost center. When questioned about this move and why it was necessary Alex Umbra replied, "When we started this company four years ago we told everyone that we would not be cash flow positive nor would we launch our first product until 2017. Six months ago we realized that we were ahead of schedule by almost 6 months and decided to utilize the time surplus to become more efficient ensuring a more solvent company before we launched our first product. We have and continue to become more efficient and with the launch of the UBR-16 we expect revenue to increase many times over by year end." Umbra further stated, "Reaching this milestone allows the company to further its goal at establishing an 'Energy Farm' that would showcase UAT's GreenTech initiatives integrated with Umbra Exploration's future operations." The company has alluded to many changes that have been made and even hinted at exciting news in the future. With the announcement of future products on the horizon, the hiring of a new financial officer, the company hiring more employees, the release of the much anticipated UBR-16 around the corner and the buildout of a new secured UAT ARMS office to be fully operational by the end of this month, it would appear that UATG is gaining momentum and building real value. This exciting new company would seem to be in the early stages of burgeoning growth with a lot of potential for long term performance. For more information visit www.uatgroup.com or www.umbraappliedtechnologies.com Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking" statements that are based on present circumstances and on Umbra Applied Technologies Group predictions with respect to events that have not occurred, that may not occur, or that may occur with different consequences and timing than those now assumed or anticipated. Such forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding the plans and objectives of management for future operations or products, the market acceptance or future success of our products, and our future financial performance, are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release and Umbra Applied Technologies does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Contact: Investor Relations Everest Corporate Advisors, Inc 702-902-2361 NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Integral Ad Science, the leader in quantifying digital media quality, today launched the industry's first pre-bid targeting segment for mobile in-app brand safety. The new solution leverages Integral's ability to determine in-app content categories and levels of brand risk associated with each app, at scale. The segments are now available within the AppNexus platform. With the continued growth of in-app advertising spend, advertisers are seeking solutions that mitigate the risk of their ads showing up alongside inappropriate content. Since apps cannot be crawled like websites, Integral's data science team has built new techniques to rank apps and assign them to its industry standard brand safety content categories. This new solution will boost brand safety and overall media quality for in-app mobile advertising. "Reaching consumers on their mobile devices doesn't have to be risky anymore," said Scott Knoll, CEO of Integral Ad Science. "Relying on brand safety targeting, brands can be confident that their brand stories will be heard in the right environment, avoiding inappropriate apps, such as gambling, piracy, or illegal drug apps." Advertisers can utilize mobile in-app brand safety targeting on AppNexus, the first Integral partner to integrate this important addition to programmatic buying technology. The mobile segments offer proactive solutions to target away from apps with adult content, alcohol, illegal downloads, drugs, gambling, offensive language, and violence. "Part of our mission is to help better the digital advertising industry through technology, and bring the right ads to the right people at the right time, especially with in-app mobile," said John Collier, Senior Director, Platform Partners, AppNexus. "By working with Integral, a company we have partnered with for several years, we offer advertisers best-in-class solutions for increased campaign effectiveness that helps our customers get the best value for every ad opportunity across all buying channels." In 2015, Integral Ad Science was chosen to power the AppNexus's Spend Protection Program (ASP), which safeguards programmatic media placements for buyers and sellers. Integral's data will prevent participants of the program from paying for any ad found fraudulent, served on a pornographic page, or tricked by a spoofed domain. Through ASP, buyers do not have to pay for any impressions that do not meet those media quality standards. About Integral Ad Science Integral Ad Science is a technology company focused on ensuring safe, quality media environments for online advertisers. Employing the industry's only media valuation platform, Integral Ad Science evaluates the media environment and establishes a TRAQ Score (TRue Advertising Quality), a first-of-its-kind, quantifiable measure of media quality that ultimately benefits every media buyer, seller, publisher and trading platform. TRAQ Score supports an advertiser's ability to plan, execute and target their audience in an environment that reflects their brand image and drives ROI, while simultaneously setting benchmarks for publishers who wish to improve the quality of their content and design to attract premium advertisers. Integral is headquartered in New York with operations in San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, London, Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Singapore and Paris. Learn more at www.integralads.com. Contact: Molly Smith Email Contact 212.453.2419 WASHINGTON, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the addition of London-based partner Mark Meyer to the firm's internationally recognized Insurance/Reinsurance Group. Meyer brings more than 20 years of experience advising insurers and reinsurers on policy coverage, defense of claims, and policy construction matters. He joins Crowell & Moring most recently from Cozen O'Connor LLP's London office. Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150211/175008LOGO "Mark is a highly regarded leader in the insurance and reinsurance industry, with a particular focus on helping clients navigate high-stakes arbitration and litigation disputes," said William C. O'Neill, co-chair of the firm's Insurance/Reinsurance Group. "Mark's addition is an important part of our transatlantic insurance/reinsurance practice, offering clients seasoned counsel in one of the most important markets in the world." Meyer has extensive experience with multiparty mediation, arbitration, commercial court litigation, and alternative dispute resolution. He represents insurers and reinsurers in complex disputes, in particular, those related to property and casualty issues, professional indemnity for financial institutions, directors and officers coverage, and aviation and aerospace. Meyer's practice also covers energy package policies. Meyer's work has included representing reinsurers on several airline, airport, and manufacturer losses, including matters related to the missing Malaysian 370 flight; representing reinsurers on first party property damage and business interruption losses from the World Trade Center; counseling clients on their insurance exposure arising from recent car emissions investigations; and advising on cyber risk exposures, particularly in property insurance. "I have had a longstanding relationship with many of the lawyers at Crowell & Moring, and I am thrilled to be part of this first-class team," said Meyer. "Crowell & Moring's Insurance/Reinsurance Group has an outstanding reputation and premier international brand for handling large and complex issues in the insurance and reinsurance markets." Meyer is a member of the Aviation Insurance Association, the Professional Liability Underwriters Society, the London Court of International Arbitration, and the International Committee of ARIAS US. He also serves as an advisor to TrainE-TraidE, a non-profit organization which aims to empower individuals to maximize their earning potential by providing a range of business, training, and employment services. Meyer is currently ranked in Chambers & Partners Guides to the World's Leading Lawyers (UK) in two insurance-related categories: General Claims and Aviation, and Insurance and Litigation. Meyer received his LL.B., with honors, from Queen Mary University of London, and he received his LL.M. from the College of Law (London). Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with approximately 500 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Anchorage, London, and Brussels. Visit Crowell & Moring online at http://www.crowell.com. CONTACT:An Pham 202.508.8740 apham@crowell.com CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - Keno Kozie, a leading provider of information technology design, service, and support to law firms, today announced the company was named the leader in IT Outsourcing in the 2016 Best of The National Law Journalawards. Nearly 7,300 readers in more than 83 categories cast votes for the Best of The National Law Journal awards, a reader's choice ranking of the top legal vendors and law schools nationwide. Voters had the opportunity to express their opinions about which companies provide the best services, products, or education to law firms. Keno Kozie ranked first in the IT Outsourcing category. "We are truly honored to receive recognition as the top IT Outsourcing resource in the industry," stated Barry Keno, president of Keno Kozie. "With our client roster continually growing nationwide, we are humbled and greatly appreciate this top honor." The complete list of the 2016 Best of The National Law Journalawards and recipients is available at: http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/flipbook/BNLJ2016/Best_of_NLJ_2016_web.html About Keno Kozie Keno Kozie Associates, Ltd. (kenokozie.com) has been providing information technology design, service, and support to leading law firms and legal departments since 1989. Hundreds of firms have chosen Keno Kozie to provide IT consulting, system and advanced application integration, 24/7/365 Help Desk support, training, managed services, and security and risk management services. The company was recognized in the Best of LegalTimes Readers Rankings survey as a Best IT Outsourcing Provider from 2013 to 2015 and in The National Law Journal's Best of Chicago Readers Rankings survey in the same category from 2012 to 2015. The company maintains partnerships with many leading software and hardware vendors to provide clients with optimal value and support. Katie Kahn kkahn@kka.com 212-448-5026 WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In another sign the GOP may be headed toward a contested convention, all three Republican presidential candidates appeared to back away from a previous pledge to support the eventual nominee in a CNN town hall on Tuesday. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump was the most emphatic in pulling back from the pledge he signed last September. 'No, I don't anymore,' Trump said when asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper if he continued to pledge to support whoever the Republican nominee is before adding, 'We'll see who it is.' Trump, who is leading the delegate race but could fall short of the majority needed, argued he is justified in rescinding his pledge due to unfair treatment the Republican National Committee and the party establishment. The real estate tycoon's closest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tex., would not answer the question directly but hinted that he would not support Trump. 'I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and my family,' Cruz said, referring to Trump's recent Twitter posts targeting his wife Heidi. 'I think nominating Donald Trump would be an absolute train wreck,' he added. 'I think it would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton.' Cruz shrugged off the question of whether he would support Trump by emphatically declaring that the billionaire would not be the nominee. Ohio Governor John Kasich also hedged on whether he would definitely back the eventual nominee but suggested his support was in question. 'I've got to see what happens,' Kasich said. 'If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country, and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them.' Kasich suggested that the candidates were premature in answering a question about supporting the eventual nominee at the first Republican debate last August. At the time, Trump was the only candidate who refused to rule out an independent bid, although he later signed a pledge of allegiance to the Republican Party. (Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore) Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- RTDNA Canada is delighted to announce that Lisa LaFlamme will receive the RTDNA's prestigious President's Award. In making the announcement, RTDNA President Ian Koenigsfest said, "Lisa LaFlamme's career as a broadcast journalist in Canada has been punctuated with both the highest achievements as well as trailblazing accomplishments." The President's Award, which is the highest honour bestowed by the association, acknowledges an individual who has brought recognition and distinction to the field of electronic and digital journalism. Koenigsfest added, "In her roles as a television correspondent and anchor she has travelled the world and provided Canadians not only with memorable content, but also most importantly, with context and meaning. As a curious, passionate and determined storyteller Ms. LaFlamme has afforded Canadians the opportunity to understand many of the world's complexities. "I am thrilled to congratulate Lisa on this tremendous honour," said Wendy Freeman, President, CTV News. "Lisa's unwavering commitment to the foundational tenets of good journalism coupled with a passion for strong storytelling make her a truly inspiring member of the CTV News family. We couldn't be more proud." The presentation will take place at the association's upcoming national conference in Toronto in June 2 - 4, 2016 at the Shangri-La Hotel. RTDNA Canada is the voice of electronic and digital journalists and news managers in Canada. The members of RTDNA Canada recognize the responsibility of broadcast journalists to promote and to protect the freedom to report independently about matters of public interest and to present a wide range of expressions, opinions and ideas. The RTDNA Canada Code of Ethics, adopted by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, is used to measure fairness and accuracy in our profession. Contacts: Monica Sayers (604) 566.8311 RTDNA@icsevents.com Ian Koenigsfest President, RTDNA Canada (604) 240.7326 president@rtdnacanada.com GATINEAU, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Greg Fergus, Member of Parliament for Hull-Aylmer, on behalf of the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, today announced the Government of Canada's support for the creation of the Universite du Quebec en Outaouais' (UQO) first Industrial Research Chair. Internationally renowned photonics researcher Dr. Wojtek J. Bock, Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Director of the Photonics Research Centre at UQO, will receive $1.85 million for the creation of the Chair. This investment by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Laval-based firm Securite et Protection Internationale (SPI) will allow Dr. Bock and his team to finalize the development of new photonic technologies to detect bacteria and harmful chemicals. Dr. Bock has been a Canada Research Chair in Photonics since 2003. These technologies promise to enable the rapid detection of harmful bacteria such as E.coli or cyanobacteria at contaminated sites in less than 20 minutes. This would be a substantial improvement over current methods, which require sending samples to a laboratory for analysis and can take several days. Quotes "This Industrial Research Chair, the first at the Universite du Quebec en Outaouais, is an excellent example of how collaboration between academia and the private sector can help to transform excellent research into technological advances to support the health and safety of Canadians. The Government of Canada is committed to supporting Canada's research community and innovators like Dr. Bock." - The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science "I would like to congratulate Dr. Bock on the work of his department and the further prestige it brings to the Universite du Quebec en Outaouais. This is great news for the region and for Canadian research. I look forward to seeing the results of his work for years to come." - Greg Fergus, Member of Parliament for Hull-Aylmer Quick facts -- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Chairs help universities build on existing strengths and work with industry to undertake major research endeavours in science and engineering. -- Through the Industrial Research Chairs program, industrial partners benefit from increased access to specialized expertise, which helps to build the research and development capacity of large and small companies. -- Dr. Bock is a leader in the field of fibre-optic sensors. -- Dr. Bock has held a Canada Research Chair since 2003 and has received nearly $6 million in funding for research infrastructure from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Government of Quebec. Associated links Industrial Research Chairs Grants Follow the Minister on Twitter and Instagram: @ScienceMin Contacts: Veronique Perron Press Secretary Office of the Minister of Science 343-291-2600 Media Relations Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 343-291-1777 ic.mediarelations-mediasrelations.ic@canada.ca WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Republican presidential aspirant Donald Trump has stood firmly behind his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was arrested and charged with simply battery. Lewandowski turned himself in to police in Jupiter, Florida, on Tuesday after he was charged for intentionally assaulting a female reporter. But Trump made it clear that he will not dismiss Lewandowski as his campaign manager, and insisted that the accusation against him was false. The charges stem from an incident at a campaign event in Florida on March 8, in which Lewandowski allegedly grabbed former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields by the arm hard enough to leave bruising. Fields previously said she asked Trump a question about affirmative action at an event in Jupiter but claims she was grabbed tightly by the arm and yanked down before he could answer. The reporter said the Washington Post's Ben Terris subsequently told her it was Lewandowski who had grabbed her. Fields later resigned from Breitbart, claiming the conservative news site did not adequately support her following the incident. Upon Lewandowski's surrender, Jupiter Police released previously unseen video that appears to show him grabbing Fields by the arm and pulling on her. However, the Trump campaign was quick to release a statement declaring Lewandowski's innocence and expressing confidence he will be exonerated. And while speaking at a CNN-organized town hall in Wisconsin Tuesday, Trump alleged that it was Fields who grabbed him. 'I'm a loyal person. I'm going to be loyal to the country. We have to tell it like it is. It would be so easy for me to terminate this man, ruin his life, ruin his family. He's got four beautiful children in New Hampshire, ruin his whole everything, and say you're fired,'said the 69 year-old real estate tycoon. Trump vowed that Corey would fight out the case in the court of law. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Established in 2009, HexaTier (formerly GreenSQL) sets the industry standard for database security and compliance in the cloud with its unified solution that provides database security, dynamic data masking, database activity monitoring (DAM) and discovery of sensitive data. Utilizing purpose-built, patented Database Reverse Proxy technology, the company protects against both internal and external security threats. Backed by leading investors such as JVP, Magma VC and Rhodium, HexaTier is the first and only company to provide security for cloud-hosted databases and DBaaS platforms through a streamlined and simple solution. Headquartered in Tel Aviv with offices in Irvine, CA and Boston, MA. HexaTier secures databases for nearly 200 organizations globally. For more information, visit http://www.hexatier.com 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. LONDON, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Boies, Schiller & Flexner has appointed international disputes and investigations lawyer Matthew Getz as a partner in its international disputes and regulatory practice in London. Mr. Getz, who is qualified both in England and in New York, joins from the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton, where he has practiced in the firm's White Collar & Regulatory Defence group since 2008. He previously worked in Debevoise's New York office. He has advised large multinational companies in some of the world's biggest anti-corruption internal investigations, as well as in contractual litigation, intellectual property lawsuits, and international arbitration. At Boies, Schiller & Flexner, he brings further depth and experience to the international investigations practice in London. The practice, which has particular experience representing clients in the financial services sector, focuses on domestic and cross-border white collar crime and internal investigations, and investigations by UK and U.S. authorities. The Boies, Schiller & Flexner team in London works hand-in-hand with the firm's highly regarded Global Investigations and White Collar Defense practice, which is based in New York. "We expect the investigations and white collar practice to continue to be a core focus of the firm in future years, in New York, Washington, D.C., and London," said Boies, Schiller & Flexner Managing Partner Jonathan Schiller. "We have substantially increased the resources we devote to government investigations and internal investigations," he said. Natasha Harrison, the Managing Partner of the firm's London office, said: "We have been focused on growing our international disputes practice in London, and a core part of our strategy is to develop our offering to clients in the international investigations area, including white collar, regulatory and criminal investigations. It is all about identifying leading lawyers in their field who can deliver the highest quality of service to our clients. With Matthew on board, we can meet rising client demand for this work, especially in the financial services sector. His appointment reinforces our reputation for delivering the right results for our clients in high value, highly complex, high stakes work." Mr. Getz's appointment is part of the selective and careful expansion of the London office under Ms. Harrison, which now numbers four partners, three counsel, and six associates, and which has already won two important results for bondholders in the past year. As an English-qualified lawyer with extensive white collar and investigations experience in the UK, Mr. Getz has represented individuals and corporations under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and Financial Reporting Counsel, and he has successfully represented individuals challenging Interpol Red Notices. As a U.S.-qualified lawyer, he has represented clients under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and other agencies. Mr. Getz also has extensive experience representing clients in cross-border investigations and prosecutions. "This is the ideal time to join an elite and ambitious firm with a leading reputation in international disputes, and to play a pivotal role in the growth and development of its investigations work," Mr. Getz said. About Boies, Schiller & Flexner (UK) LLP Boies, Schiller & Flexner (www.bsfllp.com), one of the world's leading international dispute resolution firms, enjoys a reputation for winning in complex, high risk disputes where results matter most. Since its launch in 2014, Boies, Schiller & Flexner's London office has established itself as the English law firm of choice for financial institutions, investment funds, governments and corporates to lead their highest-profile, multi-jurisdictional litigation, arbitrations, and investigations. Follow the firm on LinkedIn. General Meeting of Shareholders of AB Kauno Energija (code of enterprise 235014830, address Raudondvario av. 84, Kaunas) is convoked on 28 April 2016 by the decision No 2016-24-4 of 30 March 2016 of Company's Management Board "Regarding Convocation of General Meeting of Shareholders of AB Kauno Energija and unveiling of agenda and agenda issues resolutions projects".The date of General Meeting is 28 April 2016, Thursday. Time - 1 p.m. Place - Company's hall at Raudondvario av. 86A (first floor), Kaunas, Lithuania. Registration of shareholders starts at 12.30 p.m.The agenda and resolutions projects for the General Meeting of Shareholders:1. Approval of Consolidated and Company's financial statements of the year 2015, prepared according to the International financial reporting standards accredited to use in European Union, presented along with consolidated Annual Report and Conclusion of independent auditor.Resolution project - to approve the audited AB Kauno Energija consolidated and Company's financial statements of the year 2015, prepared according to the International financial reporting standards accredited to use in European Union (included).2. Allocation of AB Kauno Energija profit (loss) of the year 2015.Resolution project - to allocate AB Kauno Energija profit (loss) of the year 2015 according to the profit (loss) allocation project provided to the General Meeting of Shareholders by the Management Board of AB Kauno Energija (included).3. Elections of Audit Company and determination of terms of reimbursement for audit services.Resolution project:1. To elect UAB Deloitte Lietuva (code 111525235) for audit of AB Kauno Energija consolidated and company's financial statements of the year 2016 (hereinafter - audit) and audit of expenditures subsumed for regulated activities and covered from the income of regulated activities.2. To determine that the price for services of audit of AB Kauno Energija consolidated and company's financial statements of the year 2016 is EUR 27,000.00 plus VAT. Term of payment is 30 calendar days from the date of receiving of VAT invoices.3. To determine that the price for services of audit of AB Kauno Energija audit of expenditures subsumed to regulated activities and covered from the income of regulated activities of the year 2016 is EUR 4,500.00 plus VAT. Term of payment is 30 calendar days from the date of receiving of VAT invoices.4. To determine that the price for services of review of AB Kauno Energija subsidiary's UAB Kauno Energija NT financial statements of the year 2016 is EUR 4,500.00 plus VAT. Term of payment is 30 calendar days from the date of receiving of VAT invoices.4. Changes in Statutes of AB Kauno Energija regarding decrease in number of members of the Board from 7 (seven) to 5 (five).Resolution project - to change Statutes of AB Kauno Energija by putting them in new edition and to authorise General Manager of AB Kauno Energija Mr. Rimantas Bakas for signing the text of changed AB Kauno Energija statutes.The AB Kauno Energija will not provide the possibility to participate and vote in the General Meeting of Shareholders through electronic communication channels.The account date of General Meeting of Shareholders -21 April 2016. Persons, who will own the shares of AB Kauno Energija as at the end of the working day of 21 April 2016 will have the right to take part and to vote General Meeting of shareholders.AB Kauno Energija share capital is divided into 42,802,143 (forty-two million eight hundred and two thousand one hundred forty three) ordinary registered shares. All of these shares carry the right to vote with their shareholders.The person participating in General Meeting of Shareholders must submit an identity document. A person who is not a shareholder, along with this document also must submit a document confirming the right to vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders. The authorized person at the General Meeting of Shareholders shall have the same rights as it should represent by the shareholder. Shareholder's right to attend the General Meeting of Shareholders also include the right to ask questionsPlease be informed that shareholders, who are entitled to participate at the General Meeting of Shareholders, own the right to authorize by electronic means physical or legal person to attend and vote on behalf of them at the General Meeting of Shareholders. Power of attorney that is issued by the shareholder must be submitted by sending e-mail s.meskauskas@kaunoenergija.lt not later than 27 April 2016 (4.30 p.m.).Please be informed that decisions which are included into General Meeting of Shareholders agenda can be voted in written by completing the general ballot paper. If the person who had completed the general ballot paper is not a shareholder, the completed general ballot paper must be accompanied by a document confirming the right to vote. The duly completed general ballot paper (voting bulletin) should be sent by mail or delivered directly to the Company's office at Raudondvario av. 84, room 203, Kaunas till 28 April 2016 (12 a.m.). The Company reserves the right not to include in the shareholder vote early, if the general ballot paper does not meet the third and fourth parts of the 30 Article of Law on Companies requirements or the general ballot paper is written in a way that it is impossible to establish shareholder's will on a separate issue.The agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders may be supplemented by initiative of shareholders who own shares no less than 1/20 of all the votes. Proposals to the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders may be submitted by mail or delivered to the Company's representative office at Raudondvario av. 84, room 203, Kaunas no later than 13 April 2016.Please be informed that, along with a proposal to supplement the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders must be submitted the drafts of proposed decisions, or if the decisions shall not be adopted, explanations on each of the proposed issue.Please be informed that, shareholders who own shares no less than 1/20 of all votes own the right at any time before the General Meeting of Shareholders or during the meeting in writing or by mail propose new draft decisions related to the questions included into agenda.Shareholders own the right to ask the questions concerning the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders. Questions may be submitted by e-mail s.meskauskas@kaunoenergija.lt or delivered directly to the Company's office at Raudondvario av. 84, room 203, Kaunas, not later than 2.00 p.m. of 22 April 2016.Starting from 4 April 2016 the shareholders can get acquainted with the company's documents related to the agenda of shareholders meeting and decisions projects of the meeting and information relating to shareholders' rights by coming to the company - Raudondvario av. 84, Kaunas or in the webpage of the company (http://www.kaunoenergija.lt).Loreta Miliauskiene, Head of the Economics and Planning Department, tel. +370 37 305 855Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=553861 A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of "a-" of Compagnie Belge d'Assurances Aviation S.A. (Aviabel) (Belgium). The outlook for both ratings is stable. Aviabel has an excellent level of risk-adjusted capitalisation, boosted by strong operating profits in recent years. Whilst acknowledging that large claims or substantial investment losses could have a significant impact on future operating performance, A.M. Best expects risk-adjusted capitalisation to remain supportive of the ratings. Aviabel has a strong underwriting record with a 5-year (2011-2015) average combined ratio likely to be around 94%, in spite of an underwriting loss in 2015 and higher expense ratios in more recent years. The higher expense ratios reflect increased staffing costs, mainly to meet the demands of Solvency II, set against a reduced level of net written premiums in challenging market conditions. Although overcapacity and generally good loss experience continue to drive down aviation premium rates, Aviabel is expected to report a good profit for 2015, albeit on a more modest scale than in recent years. A marginal technical loss, driven by a series of major losses, including the Transasia Airways crash into a river in Taipei in February and the Metrojet Airbus crash in Sinai in October, is likely to be offset by a solid level of investment income. Aviabel has a strong specialist business profile as the leading aviation underwriter in the Benelux countries, with approximately 80% of the general aviation market, although business from these local markets accounted for only 20% of gross premiums in 2015. Aviabel's target markets of France, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and leading lines in U.K. general aviation contributed a further 23%, while the balance of 57% was derived from worldwide markets. This press release relates to rating(s) that have been published on A.M. Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. A.M. Best is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2016 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160330005967/en/ Contacts: A.M. Best David Drummond, +44 20 7397 0327 Senior Financial Analyst david.drummond@ambest.com or Catherine Thomas, +44 20 7397 0281 Senior Director, Analytics catherine.thomas@ambest.com or Christopher Sharkey, +1 908-439-2200, ext. 5159 Manager, Public Relations christopher.sharkey@ambest.com or Jim Peavy, +1 908-439-2200, ext. 5644 Assistant Vice President, Public Relations james.peavy@ambest.com EVANSTON, IL--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - Manufacturers' News, Inc. -- New Jersey manufacturing employment inched down in 2015, reports the 2016 New Jersey Manufacturers Register , an industrial database and directory published by Manufacturers' News, Inc. (MNI) Evanston, IL. According to MNI's database of manufacturers, New Jersey lost 2,308 manufacturing jobs from January 2015 to January 2016, a half percent decline. New Jersey is now home to 9,106 industrial companies employing 396,212 workers. MNI data shows industrial employment in New Jersey has remained mostly flat over the past three years, after declining 13% from 2008 to 2013. "High business costs and aging infrastructure, combined with global competition, have put New Jersey's manufacturing growth on hold," says Tom Dubin, President of the Evanston, IL-based publishing company, which has been surveying industry since 1912. "However, its top-notch workforce and access to capital has helped foster a variety of enterprises, from cutting-edge pharmaceutical manufacturers to small, niche-based food processors." For the full report, including specific company news, click here or visit http://www.manufacturersnews.com/news. MNI reports most of the state's industrial sectors posted employment losses over the year including stone/clay/glass, down 7.2%; textiles/apparel, down 5.3%; paper products, down 3.4%; furniture/fixtures, down 3.2%; industrial machinery, down 3.1%; and primary metals, down 3%. Employment growth in the state's top three sectors helped minimize losses, however. Jobs in chemical processing, including pharmaceuticals, rose 1.5% in 2015, with the sector ranking first in New Jersey for industrial employment, at 76,725 workers. Second-ranked printing/publishing posted a slight net gain of 86 jobs, currently employing 42,429, while employment in third-ranked food processing rose 1.5% to 38,332 jobs. MNI's regional data shows New Jersey's Northeast region accounted for most of the state's losses, with jobs down 1.2%. The Northeast accounts for 267,184 industrial jobs, or nearly 70%. Southwest New Jersey also posted a loss, down 1.8% to 40,776 industrial workers. Those losses were offset by gains in the Northwest, up 2.1% to a current level of 55,320 workers. Industrial employment in the state's Southeast region remained steady at 32,932 jobs, reports MNI. City data collected by MNI shows Newark is the state's top city by number of manufacturing jobs, down 4.2% over the year to 9,118 jobs. Employment in second-ranked Parsippany rose 7.3% to 8,069 jobs. Employment was down 6.8% in third-ranked Piscataway to 7,757 jobs, and declined 1% in fourth-ranked Moorsetown to 7,068. Somerset ranks fifth with 6,241 jobs, down 2.5%. 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: www.twitter.com/mfrsnews Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/3/30/11G089762/Images/NJ_2016-38234a2a57eaa1bbadb03ea6b19da706.jpg Contact: Jennifer Ratcliff Manufacturers' News, Inc. (847) 864-9440 ext. 241 jratcliff@mni.net SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- CensorNet, the complete cloud security company, today announced its CEO Ed Macnair will talk about the challenges of enterprise security and the importance of identity and access management in today's digital workplace on April 4 at 12:45 PM at MSP World 2016 in Florida. CensorNet is a Gold sponsor and will showcase its latest product offerings and host several technology sessions in booth #14. "Our workplace has become digital and enterprise IT security needs to change to keep up with the evolution of how we work today. The growth in the use of cloud applications, together with an increasingly mobile workforce using multiple devices, is putting organizations under immense pressure to simultaneously encourage productivity and protect sensitive data. These changes present MSPs with a tremendous opportunity to get ahead of the market and offer their customers a solution that address the security challenges organizations face today," says Ed Macnair, CEO of CensorNet. "MSPs are key to our go to market strategy and our unified security platform enables MSPs to provide their customers with greater visibility and granular control of web, cloud applications and email use. We have a compelling proposition to help MSPs seize this market opportunity immediately." MSPWorld provides a vendor-agnostic focus of supporting Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and their respective ecosystems. The conference is driven by those that have actual real-world experiences and successes in the managed services industry as a managed service provider. Whether it is an insider who takes advantage of an over privileged account, or a hacker who uses an open port to move through the network until he or she finds a super user account using default passwords, many of today's security problems eventually come down to weak access and authentication processes. Add to this the forces of change in the way we do business, cloud, social, BYOD and mobile, and the security challenges multiply. During his presentation, CensorNet CEO Ed Macnair will discuss how enterprise IT security needs to evolve to meet the changing work environment and why the old paradigm of a modular approach is no longer enough. He will highlight the advantages of taking a holistic approach that includes a 360 view across the key threat vector such as web, cloud application and email as well as authentication to granular levels of cloud access control. In addition, Ed will explain how MSPs can meet the security challenges of today and the threats of tomorrow. When: Monday, April 4 at 12:45 PM Where: Swan Dolphin Orlando, Orlando Florida What: Ed Macnair will lead the discussion, "Identity, Access Management and Security in the Cloud." To learn more about CensorNet's approach to cloud security, stop by booth #14 at the conference or contact David Adleman, David.adelman@censornet.com. About CensorNet CensorNet, the complete cloud security company, helps more than 4000 organizations and over 1.3 million users worldwide, step up to the challenge of managing the rise of cloud applications in an increasingly mobile work environment. CensorNet Unified Security Service (USS) is a new-generation, comprehensive cloud-based cyber security solution that provides organizations with greater visibility and control of web access, cloud application use, adaptive multi-factor authentication and email security in one single manageable dashboard. It gives organizations the power to address the security, audit, compliance and productivity issues associated with the growing use of cloud applications and devices; regardless of whether users are in-office or mobile. CensorNet USS also enables organizations to control Shadow IT and safely implement BYOD initiatives. The company is headquartered in Basingstoke, UK with further offices in San Francisco, US; Copenhagen, Denmark and Munich, Germany. For more information, please visit www.censornet.com. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Today, Bullfrog Power, Canada's leading green energy provider, and Solshare Energy are celebrating the launch of BC's first co-operatively owned community solar project. The project is located on the rooftop of the Vancouver Co-housing in East Vancouver, which is Vancouver's first co-housing site. Today's community launch event at Vancouver Co-housing, running from 3:30 to 6:00 pm, is open to the public. "The financial support we received from Bullfrog Power was an important factor in being able to move forward with the development of the first co-operatively owned community solar project," said Solshare Energy Co-Founder Rob Baxter. "Community ownership is important because it gives people the ability to support solar energy who otherwise cannot because they don't own a suitable house or cannot afford the up-front investment." The 23 kW photovoltaic plant, recently installed on the roof of a multi-family residential complex in East Vancouver, officially began generating clean, pollution-free electricity at the end of January 2016. Bullfrog Power provided construction financing to complete the development, which allowed Solshare Energy to offer ownership in the completed project to local Vancouver residents. The project is one of the first leasing projects under BC Hydro's Net Metering Program. "Vancouver is a city that increasingly has a reputation as a leader on sustainability and so it is no surprise that Solshare Energy was able to move this important, community owned solar project forward," said Ron Seftel, CEO, Bullfrog Power. "Our support of community based projects like this one are a testament to the change that bullfrogpowered individuals and businesses across Canada are making in moving toward our goal of a 100 per cent renewably-powered future." Bullfrog Power has supported a number of community renewable energy projects throughout British Columbia, including solar projects with the Tsleil-Waututh and Kitasoo/Xai'Xais First Nations as well as Gulf Islands Secondary School on Salt Spring Island where a Solar Scholarship Fund was established to provide financial assistance to students pursuing an interest in renewable energy. For an interactive map of all of Bullfrog Power's community projects and sources visit bullfrogpower.com. About Bullfrog Power Bullfrog Power, Canada's leading green energy provider, offers renewable energy solutions that enable individuals and businesses to reduce their environmental impact, support the development of green energy projects in Canada and help create a cleaner, healthier world. As a Certified B Corporation, Bullfrog Power meets higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Thousands of individuals and businesses in Canada are doing their part to address climate change and air pollution by choosing green energy with Bullfrog Power. Sign up easily, quickly and affordably at bullfrogpower.com. Join the bullfrogpowered community online on Facebook (facebook.com/BullfrogPower), Instagram (@bullfrogpower) and Twitter (@bullfrogpower). About Solshare Energy Solshare Energy is BC's first cooperatively owned community solar energy project. Solshare's plan is to own a portfolio of renewable energy installations throughout BC that will engage BC residents and offer financial, social, and environmental returns. Solshare Energy is a project of Vancouver Renewable Energy Co-operative (VREC). Contacts: Bullfrog Power Jon McKay Corporate Communications Manager 416.360.3464 ext 239 jon.mckay@bullfrogpower.com Solshare Energy Rob Baxter 778-869-8333 robert@vrec.ca CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Citadel is writing to officially pledge our support for the Oil Respect campaign launched by the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contactors ("CAODC"). "It is imperative that more fact-based discussions start occurring about oil and gas development," declared Dan Hoffarth, CEO of Citadel. "We have had to lay off talented, valuable and respected employees because our industry is in a state of crisis. Those of us still employed have experienced significant wage reductions and are deeply concerned for our collective futures. We are now asking our employees, past and present, to support Oil Respect by signing the petitions demanding recognition of the importance of the industry. Canada needs new pipelines to be built so that we can compete on a level playing field with access to tidewater; and refrain from importing oil from other countries when we have enormous oil and gas reserves in our own backyard, where it is extracted under the most regulated and best environmental framework practices of the major oil producing nations." Oil Respect is about standing up for hardworking oil and gas families and businesses who are struggling. It's about respecting the facts, the workers, and the contributions this industry makes to Canadians. Oil Respect will fight the misinformation spread by foreign celebrities, radical environmentalists and grandstanding politicians at a time when tens of thousands of people are without work and without hope for an immediate recovery. It will demand action by federal and provincial governments on pipelines, the safest and most effective way to transport oil and gas products. Oil Respect is a national campaign to allow regular Canadians to share their personal stories and to demand respect for their industry. About Citadel Drilling We are a private company that is service-focused and caters to our clients' needs with a fleet of modern, technically advanced AC triple (TA2CT) drilling rigs designed to optimize efficiencies and reduce expensive downtime and labor costs. Additional information related to Citadel Drilling is available at www.citadeldrilling.com. Contacts: Citadel Drilling Ltd. Dan Hoffarth CEO 403-719-7724 Citadel Drilling Ltd. Corey Zahn CFO 403-719-7724 OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Note to editors: There is a photo associated with this press release. The Canadian Coast Guard, Transport Canada, the National Research Council and the Royal Canadian Navy flew an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, near Fogo Island, off the north-east coast of Newfoundland, to assess its potential to support Coast Guard operations at sea. On March 28, 2016, the UAV was launched from the flight deck of the CCGS George R. Pearkes, a light icebreaker, and sent real-time data on ice conditions to the ship. This trial will help the Coast Guard determine how UAVs can assist during icebreaking operations. It will also help Transport Canada explore the use of similar technology. The trials were conducted in partnership with Schiebel, the Austria-based company that developed the UAV. Alaska University and Memorial University of Newfoundland also lent expertise and participated in the trial. Quotes "I am pleased that the Government of Canada is collaborating on this important initiative. This trial is an excellent opportunity to explore technologies like UAVs to enhance Canadian Coast Guard services for Canadians." The Honourable Hunter Tootoo, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard "The Government of Canada is a strong supporter of innovation in the aerospace sector. This trial is an important step toward using UAV technology to enhance our operations." The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport "Science and research play a central role in our government's plan to build a thriving economy, and they provide the evidence the government needs to make sound policy decisions. By conducting leading-edge trials in real environments, we are better able to understand the impacts, benefits and potential applications of this new technology and ensure that the knowledge we gain is shared with our industry and academic partners." The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science Quick Facts -- The UAV model that was tested is a Schiebel Camcopter S-100, which can operate day and night, under adverse weather conditions, with a range of up to 200 km, both on land and at sea. -- Canada is a leader in UAV safety and has had regulations governing their use since 1996. -- The Government of Canada supports strategic investment in innovative technology. Associated Links - Flying a drone or an unmanned air vehicle for work or research - Flying a drone recreationally Internet: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca Follow us on Twitter! www.Twitter.com/DFO_MPO For more information about the Canadian Coast Guard, visit www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca. Follow us on Twitter! www.Twitter.com/CCG_GCC To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/fish0330.jpg Contacts: Media Relations Fisheries and Oceans Canada 613-990-7537 Media.xncr@dfo-mpo.gc.ca Patricia Bell Press Secretary Office of the Minister Fisheries and Oceans Canada 613-992-3474 Media Relations Transport Canada Ottawa, ON 613-993-0055 Marc Roy Director of Communications Office of the Honourable Marc Garneau Minister of Transport Ottawa, ON 613-991-0700 Media Relations Team National Research Council of Canada 1-855-282-1637 (toll-free, 24/7, in Canada only) 1-613-991-1431 (elsewhere in North America) 001-613-991-1431 (international) media@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca - Twitter: @nrc_cnrc At the Annual General Meeting of Getinge AB (STO:GETIB) held on 30 March 2016, the following was resolved. Election of Board of Directors Carl Bennet (Chairman), Johan Bygge, Cecilia Daun Wennborg, Carola Lemne, Alex Myers, Malin Persson, Johan Stern and Maths Wahlstrom were re-elected as members of the Board. Johan Malmquist was elected new member of the Board Fees to the Board of Directors It was resolved that remuneration to the Board of Directors shall amount to a total of SEK 5,175,000 excluding remuneration for Committee work, of which SEK 1,150,000 to the Chairman and SEK 575,000 to each of the other Board members elected by the Meeting who are not employees of Getinge Group. In addition hereto, the Meeting resolved that work in the Audit Committee shall, unchanged, be compensated with SEK 240,000 to the Chairman and SEK 120,000 to each of the other members, while work in the Remuneration Committee work shall be, unchanged, compensated with SEK 125,000 to the Chairman and SEK 92,000 to each of the other members. Election of auditors The registered public accounting firm Ohrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers AB was re-elected auditor of the company for a term of one year. The public accounting firm has informed that Johan Rippe will be the principal auditor and Eric Salander co-auditor. It was resolved that auditor fees shall be paid in accordance with approved account. Dividend In accordance with the proposal of the Board of Directors and the CEO, the Annual General Meeting resolved to declare a dividend of SEK 2.80 per share. 1 April 2016 was determined as record date for dividend. Guidelines for Remuneration to Senior Executives The Annual General Meeting approved the proposal of the Board regarding guidelines for remuneration to senior executives, which principally involve the following. Remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment for senior executives shall be based on market conditions and be competitive in all markets where Getinge operates, to ensure that competent and skilful employees can be attracted, motivated and retained. The total remuneration to senior executives shall comprise basic salary, variable remuneration, pensions and other benefits. The variable remuneration shall be limited and connected to predetermined and measurable criteria elaborated with the purpose to promote the long-term added value of the company. The Board shall retain the right to deviate from the guidelines if motivated by particular reasons on an individual basis. Amendments of the Articles of Association The Annual General Meeting approved the proposal of the Board regarding amendments to the Articles of Association, entailing that the Board shall, in addition to any members who pursuant to Swedish law may be appointed other than by a General Meeting of the Company, comprise of no fewer than three and no more than nine members with a maximum of nine deputy members and that the term of the auditor shall be one year. Incentive program 2016 The Annual General Meeting resolved to approve the Board's proposal regarding the implementation of a long-term incentive program (LTIP 2016) and hedging activities in view of the program through amendments of the Articles of Association (entailing that the company shall be able to issue new convertible and redeemable shares of series C with one (1) vote and not entitle to dividends) and that the Board shall be authorised to resolve on a new share issue of series C shares to a third party and the repurchase of such shares and transfer of series B shares to the participants in the program. The program comprises the CEO and the Getinge Executive Team involving 11 individuals, and additionally a maximum of 75 other senior executives and key employees in Getinge Group. LTIP 2016 entails that the participants shall be entitled to receive performance shares free of charge if the performance condition has been fulfilled during the performance period (2016-2018). The allotment of performance shares shall be based on the minimum level and the maximum target level, respectively, as resolved by the Board, in relation to the accumulated development of the EPS[1] (http://#_ftn1) during the performance period. The accumulated EPS during the performance period shall amount to SEK 33. The minimum level for allotment shall be that 90% of the performance condition is reached and the maximum level for allotment shall be that the performance condition is exceeded with 10% or more. The maximum number of performance shares that may be allotted under LTIP 2016 amounts to 439,390 Getinge shares of series B. The total cost for LTIP 2016, including social security contributions, under the three year performance period is estimated to amount to approximately MSEK 93.7, provided that the performance condition is fully met. About Getinge Group Getinge Group is a leading global provider of innovative solutions for operating rooms, intensive-care units, hospital wards, sterilization departments, elderly care and for life science companies and institutions. Getinge's unique customer offering mirrors the hospital's organization and value chain, and the solutions are used before, during and after the patients' hospital stay. Based on first-hand experience and close partnerships, Getinge provides innovative healthcare solutions that improve every-day life for people, today and tomorrow. Getinge AB discloses the information herein in accordance with the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication on 30 March 2016 at 18.00 CET. [1] (http://#_ftnref1) Earnings per share before dilution are calculated by dividing net profit for the year attributable to the Parent Company's shareholders by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160330006035/en/ Contacts: Getinge Group Alex Myers CEO Tel: +46 10 335 0000 E-mail: alex.myers@getinge.com or Pernille Fabricius CFO Tel: +46 10 335 0000 E-mail: pernille.fabricius@getinge.com Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Comprehensive Practical Review of the EU Pharmacovigilance Modules (London, UK May 9-10, 2016)" conference to their offering. The 15 new EU modules concerning Pharmacovigilance are a major departure in terms of the way Pharmacovigilance is conducted in Europe. The intention of the course is to look at these modules and their requirements, examine how they overlap and fit together and what Companies need to do in terms of their legal requirements; training; changes and introduction of SOPs; and the links to other Departments not just Pharmacovigilance but also including Clinical; Medical Information; Marketing; IT; Quality; Regulatory; Training and GMP. Benefits of Attending Gain an Invaluable Overview of the New European PV Legislation and How the 15 Modules Link Together Discover what Key Areas of Pharmacovigilance Activities have been Affected Understand the Impact of the Legislation and what you will need to do to Implement in your Company Discuss the Enforcement of the Legislation and what the Regulators will expect to see at Inspection Time See what NEW Company Departments are Affected Under the New Legislation For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/khqvkd/comprehensive View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160330006043/en/ Contacts: 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 Sector: Pharmaceuticals DENVER, CO--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - Elizabeth Edwards, founder, president and CEO of Volume Public Relations, will join a group of PR expert speakers at the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Western District Conference in Orange County, California. Edwards, and her peers from brands like Taco Bell, Disneyland, General Motors and Toshiba, will address "The PR Futurist: Embracing Industry Evolution" during the two-day conference. PRSA selected Elizabeth Edwards of Volume PR to present a session in which she will explain how communication professionals can improve outcomes with an awareness of the laws of human behavior, and how they impact and interplay with communicators' messages and strategies. "Today's always-on culture leaves people distracted and bombarded with messages that generate noise and confusion without prompting action. By understanding and applying human science knowledge to PR, marketing and integrated communication campaigns, brands and practitioners can drive goal shattering results and foster incredible brand loyalty," said Edwards. PRSA is leading the evolution of the industry, continuing to prime communicators to create the very best campaigns. This year, the Western District Conference focuses on the incredibly important discussion around embracing the evolution - addressing the need for practitioners to develop more precise strategies and more impactful results. The incredible line-up of speakers will give attendees a glimpse into great minds like: Brian Solis - forerunning social business and social media strategist; Todd Brooks - co-founder of Brand Amp; Suzi Brown - media relations director for Disneyland & Erin Glover - social media director for Disneyland; Mark W. McClennan - PRSA president; and a special panel including law enforcement and reporters from San Bernardino. Edwards leads Volume PR on the premise that sales and marketing professionals can apply behavioral and cognitive science to marketing communications, integrating psychology, neuroscience, and sociology to design more effective public relations and marketing programs. Volume PR has perfected a scientific methodology to uncover key messages and marketing and public relations strategies that engage, excite, and entice a target audience to promote positive action. By developing what Volume PR calls Human-to-Human (H2H) strategies, organizations can create precise messages and programs that cut through the noise of today's media to build brand awareness and increase market penetration. What: "Driving Maximum Results by Rooting PR in Human Science" Where: Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, California When: Friday, April 22 9:30 - 10:30 am Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/prsa-western-district-conference-2016- tickets-21088705887 About PRSA Western District Conference PRSA Western District was founded in 1955 and operated under that name until 1969. In 1970, the district was split into North and South Pacific Districts. On May 11, 1996, the South Pacific District was renamed the Western District. This is a first-come, first-serve opportunity for members of the communications community to learn from PR futurists, network with peers and establish relationships that will help skyrocket your career - all set in one of the best vacations spots, Huntington Beach, California. The only thing more dynamic than the conference may be the pristine beaches, roaring ocean waves and legendary beach vibe of Surf City, USA. You'll be able to take in conference highlights while watching Instagram-worthy sunsets from the four-star oceanfront Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa, located on the famed Highway 1. Learn more: http://prsawesterndistrict.org/annual-conference/2016-orange-county/ About Volume Public Relations Volume Public Relations is an award-winning strategic communications firm known for accelerating marketing, PR and integrated communication outcomes with scientific precision. The Volume PR team creates more awareness, more customers and more results for its client by designing messages, strategies, brands and public relations campaigns that are rooted in the principles of behavioral and cognitive science. This practice has created an unmatched reputation for producing precision campaigns and outcomes over the last 15 years. Whether working as an equal partner to existing agency partners, providing senior strategic assistance to an in-house team or serving as your communication Agency of Record, Volume PR brings a scientific-based approach to every communication program. Executives at brands from BMW to Level3 Communications have trusted Volume's strategy to drive guaranteed and unprecedented results for their organizations. Come get to know us at www.VolumePR.com. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/3/29/11G089591/Images/PRSAWDC_Header-13689825a4eaaf0ca787c49291081394.jpg Media Contact Elizabeth Same 720.529.4850 esame@volumepr.com Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement. ZHEJIANG EXPRESSWAY CO., LTD. (A joint stock limited company incorporated in the People's Republic of China with limited liability) (Stock code: 0576) CONTINUING CONNECTED TRANSACTIONS IN RELATION TO NEW FINANCIAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH ZHEJIANG COMMUNICATIONS INVESTMENT GROUP FINANCE CO., LTD. NEW FINANCIAL SERVICES AGREEMENT Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated July 19, 2013 and March 28, 2014 relating to the Existing Financial Services Agreement in relation to, among others, the provision of Deposit Services, Loan and Financial Leasing Services, Clearing Services and the Other Financial Services by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group. It is currently expected by the Company that the existing annual cap for the Deposit Services will be insufficient to satisfy the Group's future needs. As such, on March 30, 2016, the Company entered into the New Financial Services Agreement with Zhejiang Communications Finance to, among others, increase the annual cap for the Deposit Services. LISTING RULES IMPLICATIONS As at the date of this announcement, Communications Group holdsapproximately 67% of the issued share capital of the Company. By virtue of this shareholding interest, Communications Group is a substantial shareholder (as defined under the Listing Rules) of the Company. As at the date of this announcement, the Company, Communications Group, Ningbo Expressway Co. and Taizhou Expressway Co. beneficially own 35%, 40%, 15.625% and 9.375% of the issued share capital ofZhejiang Communications Finance, respectively. Therefore, Zhejiang Communications Finance is a connected person of the Company and as a result, each of the Deposit Services, the Loan and Financial Leasing Services, the Clearing Services and the Other Financial Services contemplated under the New Financial Services Agreement constitutes a continuing connected transaction for the Company under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. As each of the applicable percentage ratios in respect of the Deposit Services under the New Financial Services Agreement is more than 0.1% but less than 5%, the Deposit Services will constitute continuing connected transactions of the Company under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules subject to the reporting, announcement and annual review requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules, but are exempt from the independent shareholders' approval requirement under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. The Loan and Financial Leasing Services under the New Financial Services Agreement will constitute financial assistance provided by a connected person. As such loan services will be provided on normal commercial terms or on terms which are more favorable to the Group and will not be secured by the assets of the Group, the Loan and Financial Leasing Services under the New Financial Services Agreement are exempt from announcement, reporting, annual review and independent shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. The Company expects that each of the applicable percentage ratios (as defined in Rule 14.07 of Listing Rules) of the total fees payable by the Group to Zhejiang Communications Finance under the Clearing Services and the Other financial Services will fall within the de minimis threshold as stipulated under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. The Company will comply with the reporting, announcement and independent shareholders' approval requirements of the Listing Rules in the event that the transaction amount of the Clearing Services and the Other Financial Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group under the New Financial Services Agreement is expected to exceed the relevant threshold. NEW FINANCIAL SERVICES AGREEMENT Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated July 19, 2013 and March 28, 2014 relating to the Existing Financial Services Agreement in relation to, among others, the provision of Deposit Services, Loan and Financial Leasing Services, Clearing Services and the Other Financial Services by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group. It is currently expected by the Company that the existing annual cap for the Deposit Services will be insufficient to satisfy the Group's future needs. As such, on March 30, 2016 the Company entered into the New Financial Services Agreement with Zhejiang Communications Finance to, among others, increase the annual cap for the Deposit Services. The principal terms of the New Financial Services Agreement are set out below: Date: March 30, 2016 Parties (i) the Company; and (ii) Zhejiang Communications Finance. Principal services to be provided Pursuant to the New Financial Services Agreement, the services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group include the Deposit Services, the Loan and Financial Leasing Services, the Clearing Services and the Other Financial Services. The financial services will be provided under the New Financial Services Agreement on a non-exclusive basis and the Group is entitled to determine whether to accept the financial services provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance or decide to accept the financial services provided by other financial institutions. The Group is not obliged to accept any financial services provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance under the New Financial Services Agreement. In respect of the provision of the Deposit Services under the New Financial Services Agreement, Zhejiang Communications Finance may provide current deposit, time deposit, call deposit or agreement deposit services to the Group. The Group will choose the deposit service to be provided. In respect of the provision of the Loan and Financial Leasing Services under the New Financial Services Agreement, Zhejiang Communications Finance will grant integrated credit facilities of no less than RMB1.5 billion to the Group. to the Group. In respect of the provision of the Clearing Services under the New Financial Services Agreement, Zhejiang Communications Finance will provide clearing services to the Group in connection with the making and receiving of payments and related ancillary services. In respect of the provision of the Other Financial Services under the New Financial Services Agreement, the services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance include, but is not limited to: financial consulting service, letters of credit and related consulting services, insurance agency, entrusted loans, and acceptance and discount of bills, provided that the services to be provided shall be within the permitted business scope of Zhejiang Communications Finance as approved by CBRC. The parties to the New Financial Services Agreement further agree to enter into separate agreements for the relevant financial services actually provided under the New Financial Services Agreement and the terms of such agreements shall be based on the New Financial Services Agreement and shall be in compliance with the terms stipulated therein in all material aspects. Basis of consideration Deposit Services The interest rate to be paid by Zhejiang Communications Finance for the Group's deposits with Zhejiang Communications Finance shall be determined based on the prevailing deposit interest rate promulgated by the People's Bank of China for the same period and should not be lower than the deposit interest rates offered by major commercial banks in the PRC for comparable deposits of comparable periods. The interest rate to be paid by Zhejiang Communications Finance for the Group's deposits with Zhejiang Communications Finance shall be determined based on the prevailing deposit interest rate promulgated by the People's Bank of for the same period and should not be lower than the deposit interest rates offered by major commercial banks in the PRC for comparable deposits of comparable periods. Loan and Financial Leasing Services The interest rate to be charged by Zhejiang Communications Finance for loans granted to the Group by Zhejiang Communications Finance shall be based on the prevailing bank lending interest rate promulgated by the People's Bank of China for the same period and should not be higher than the interest rates charged by major commercial banks in the PRC for comparable loans of comparable periods. The interest rate to be charged by Zhejiang Communications Finance for loans granted to the Group by Zhejiang Communications Finance shall be based on the prevailing bank lending interest rate promulgated by the People's Bank of for the same period and should not be higher than the interest rates charged by major commercial banks in the PRC for comparable loans of comparable periods. Clearing Services The service fee to be charged by Zhejiang Communications Finance for the Clearing Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group shall be agreed between the parties and should not be higher than the service fees charged by other financial institutions (being independent third parties) for comparable services in the PRC. The service fee to be charged by Zhejiang Communications Finance for the Clearing Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group shall be agreed between the parties and should not be higher than the service fees charged by other financial institutions (being independent third parties) for comparable services in the PRC. Other Financial Services The service fee to be charged by Zhejiang Communications Finance for the Other Financial Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group shall be agreed between the parties and should not be higher than the service fees charged by other financial institutions (being independent third parties) for comparable services in the PRC. Annual caps and basis of determination for annual caps Deposit Services Pursuant to the New Financial Services Agreement, the annual cap for the maximum daily aggregate outstanding balance of deposits has been increased from RMB700,000,000 to RMB1,500,000,000 . The annual cap was determined after taking into account of the size of the total assets of the Group and the anticipated daily outstanding balance of deposits of the Group. In particular, the Directors note that the maximum daily deposit balance during 2014 and 2015 was approximately RMB, 627,870,000 and approximately RMB 662,017 ,000respectively. Pursuant to the New Financial Services Agreement, the annual cap for the maximum daily aggregate outstanding balance of deposits has been increased from to . The annual cap was determined after taking into account of the size of the total assets of the Group and the anticipated daily outstanding balance of deposits of the Group. In particular, the Directors note that the maximum daily deposit balance during 2014 and 2015 was approximately RMB, 627,870,000 and approximately ,000respectively. Loan and Financial Leasing Services As the Loan and Financial Leasing Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group will be on normal commercial terms and that no security over the assets of the Group will be granted in respect of such loan services, the Loan and Financial Leasing services are exempt from the reporting, announcement, annual review and independent shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules and therefore no cap has been set for such services. As the Loan and Financial Leasing Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group will be on normal commercial terms and that no security over the assets of the Group will be granted in respect of such loan services, the Loan and Financial Leasing services are exempt from the reporting, announcement, annual review and independent shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules and therefore no cap has been set for such services. Clearing Services The Company expects that each of the applicable percentage ratios (as defined in Rule 14.07 of the Listing Rules) of the total fees payable by the Group to Zhejiang Communications Finance under the Clearing Services will fall within the de minimis threshold as stipulated under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules and therefore no cap has been set for such services. The Company will comply with the reporting, announcement and independent shareholders' approval requirements of the Listing Rules in the event that the transaction amount of the Clearing Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group under the New Financial Services Agreement is expected to exceed the relevant threshold. The Company expects that each of the applicable percentage ratios (as defined in Rule 14.07 of the Listing Rules) of the total fees payable by the Group to Zhejiang Communications Finance under the Clearing Services will fall within the de minimis threshold as stipulated under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules and therefore no cap has been set for such services. The Company will comply with the reporting, announcement and independent shareholders' approval requirements of the Listing Rules in the event that the transaction amount of the Clearing Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group under the New Financial Services Agreement is expected to exceed the relevant threshold. Other Financial Services The Company expects that each of the applicable percentage ratios (as defined in Rule 14.07 of the Listing Rules) of the total fees payable by the Group to Zhejiang Communications Finance under the Other financial Services will fall within the de minimis threshold as stipulated under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules an d therefore no cap has been set for such services. The Company will comply with the reporting, announcement and independent shareholders' approval requirements of the Listing Rules in the event that the transaction amount of the Other Financial Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group under the New Financial Services Agreement is expected to exceed the relevant threshold. The Company confirms that there will be no provision of financial assistance by the Group to Zhejiang Communications Finance under the New Financial Services Agreement. Effective date The New Financial Services Agreement becomes effective upon execution by the Company and Zhejiang Communications Finance. Once the New Financial Services Agreement comes into effect, it will supersede the Existing Financial Services Agreement and the Existing Financial Services Agreement will be deemed to have been mutually terminated by the parties and each of the parties shall have no claim against the other in respect of the early termination of the Existing Financial Services Agreement. However, the entering into of the New Financial Services Agreement and the termination of the Existing Financial Services Agreement shall not otherwise affect any payment obligations incurred but not yet satisfied under the Existing Financial Services Agreement. The Group expects to utilise the services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance under New the Financial Services Agreement after the New Financial Services Agreement becomes effective and when the need arises. Term The term of the New Financial Services Agreement is for three years from its effective date (i.e. March 30, 2016). Subject to the parties' agreement and compliance with requirements of relevant laws and the Listing Rules, the parties may renew the New Financial Services Agreement at the end of its term. Governing law The laws of the PRC. REASONS FOR AND BENEFITS OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AGREEMENT Zhejiang Communications Finance was an associate of the Company. With the New Financial Services Agreement, the Company expects to derive synergy from utilising services provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance through the ordinary and usual course of business of both companies. The Directors, including all of the independent non-executive Directors, consider that the transactions contemplated under the New Financial Services Agreement are fair and reasonable, on normal commercial terms and are in the interests of the Company and the Shareholders as a whole. Each of Mr. Zhan Xiaozhang, Mr. Wang Dongjie, Mr. Dai Benmeng and Mr. Zhou Jianping holds certain senior position in Communications Group, so they have abstained from voting on the board resolution with respect to the approval of the New Financial Services Agreement. Save for Mr. Zhan Xiaozhang, Mr. Wang Dongjie, Mr. Dai Benmeng and Mr. Zhou Jianping, none of the Directors has any material interest in the New Financial Services Agreement or is required to abstain from voting on the relevant Board resolutions to approve the same. INFORMATION ON ZHEJIANG COMMUNICATIONS FINANCE Zhejiang Communications Finance is a limited liability company incorporated in the PRC on 9 November 2012 and approved by CBRC as a non-banking financial institution on 17 October 2012 with a registered capital of RMB800 million. As at the date of this announcement, Zhejiang Communications Finance is owned as to 35%, 40%, 15.625% and 9.375% by the Company, Communications Group, Ningbo Expressway Co. and Taizhou Expressway Co. respectively. Zhejiang Communications Finance is principally engaged in the business of providing financial services to the subsidiaries of Communications Group, including but not limited to advising the subsidiaries of the Communications Group in relation to financing, letters of credit and other agency services; authorised insurance businesses; providing guarantees, accepting and discounting commercial notes, arranging for loans and financial leases, and receiving deposits from the subsidiaries of the Communications Group. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY The Company is a joint stock limited company established under the laws of the PRC with limited liability on 1 March 1997, the H Shares of which are listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange. It is principally engaged in investing in, developing and operating high-grade roads in the PRC. The Group also carries on certain other businesses such as automobile servicing, operation of gas stations and billboard advertising along expressways, as well as securities related business. LISTING RULES IMPLICATIONS As at the date of this announcement, the Communications Group holds approximately 67% of the issued share capital of the Company. By virtue of this shareholding interest, Communications Group is a substantial shareholder (as defined under the Listing Rules) of the Company. As at the date of this announcement, the Company, Communications Group, Ningbo Expressway Co. and Taizhou Expressway Co. beneficially own 35%, 40%, 15.625% and 9.375% of the issued share capital of Zhejiang Communications Finance, respectively. Therefore, Zhejiang Communications Finance is a connected person of the Company and as a result, each of the Deposit Services, the Loan and Financial Leasing Services, the Clearing Services and the Other Financial Services contemplated under the New Financial Services Agreement constitutes a continuing connected transaction for the Company under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. As each of the applicable percentage ratios in respect of the Deposit Services under the New Financial Services Agreement is more than 0.1% but less than 5%, the Deposit Services will constitute continuing connected transactions of the Company under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules subject to the reporting, announcement and annual review requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules, but are exempt from the independent shareholders' approval requirement under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. The Loan and Financial Leasing Services under the New Financial Services Agreement will constitute financial assistance provided by a connected person. As such loan services will be provided on normal commercial terms or on terms which are more favorable to the Group and will not be secured by the assets of the Group, the Loan and Financial Leasing Services under the New Financial Services Agreement are exempt from announcement, reporting, annual review and independent shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. The Company expects that each of the applicable percentage ratios (as defined in Rule 14.07 of Listing Rules) of the total fees payable by the Group to Zhejiang Communications Finance under the Clearing Services and the Other financial Services will fall within the de minimis threshold as stipulated under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules. The Company will comply with the reporting, announcement and independent shareholders' approval requirements of the Listing Rules in the event that the transaction amount of the Clearing Services or the Other Financial Services to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group under the New Financial Services Agreement is expected to exceed the relevant threshold. DEFINITIONS "Business Day" any day, other than a Saturday or Sunday or a public holiday in the PRC, on which banks are generally open for business in the PRC; "CBRC" China Banking Regulatory Commission of the PRC; "Clearing Services" the clearing services provided or proposed to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group pursuant to the Existing Financial Services Agreement or (as the case may be) the New Financial Services Agreement as described under the section headed "Principal services to be provided" in this announcement; "Communications Group" Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd., a wholly stateowned enterprise established in the PRC, and the controlling shareholder of the Company; "Company" Zhejiang Expressway Co., Ltd. , a joint stock limited company incorporated in the PRC with limited liability, the H shares of which are listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange; "connected persons" has the meaning ascribed to it in the Listing Rules; "continuing connected transaction" has the meaning ascribed to it in the Listing Rules; "Deposit Services" the cash deposit services provided or proposed to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group pursuant to the Existing Financial Services Agreement or (as the case may be) the New Financial Services Agreement as described under the section headed "Principal services to be provided" in this announcement; "Directors" directors of the Company; "New Financial Services Agreement" the financial services agreement dated March 30, 2016 entered into between the Company and Zhejiang Communications Finance, pursuant to which Zhejiang Communications Finance agreed to provide the Group with the Deposit Services, the Loan and Financial Leasing Services, the Clearing Services and the Other Financial Services subject to the terms and conditions provided therein; "Existing Financial Services Agreement" the financial services agreement dated July 18, 2013 entered into between the Company and Zhejiang Communications Finance(as supplemented by a supplemental agreement dated March 28, 2014), pursuant to which Zhejiang Communications Finance agreed to provide the Group with the Deposit Services, the Loan and Financial Leasing Services, the Clearing Services and the Other Financial Services subject to the terms and conditions provided therein; "Group" the Company and its subsidiaries; "H Shares" overseas listed foreign shares in the share capital of the Company with a nominal value of RMB1 per share, which are listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange; "Hong Kong" the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC; "Listing Rules" the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange; "Loan and Financial leasing services" the loan and financial leasing services provided or proposed to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group pursuant to the New Financial Services Agreement as described under the headed "Principal services to be provided" announcement; "Ningbo Expressway Co." Zhejiang Ningbo Yongtaiwen Expressway Co., Ltd., a limited liability company incorporated in the PRC and a 75% owned subsidiary of Communications Group; "Other Financial Services" the financial services (other than the Deposit Services, Loan and Financial Leasing Services and Clearing Services) proposed to be provided by Zhejiang Communications Finance to the Group pursuant to the Existing Financial Services Agreement or (as the case may be) the New Financial Services Agreement as described under the section headed "Principal services to be provided" in this announcement; "PRC" the People's Republic of China (for the purpose of this announcement, excludes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan); "RMB" Renminbi, the lawful currency of the PRC; "Shareholders" shareholders of the Company; "Stock Exchange" The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited; "Taizhou Expressway Co." Zhejiang Taizhou Yongtaiwen Expressway Co., Ltd., a limited liability company incorporated in the PRC and a 71.7719% owned subsidiary of Communications Group; and "Zhejiang Communications Finance" Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Finance Co., Ltd., a limited liability company incorporated in the PRC. On behalf of the Board ZHEJIANG EXPRESSWAY CO., LTD. ZHAN Xiaozhang Chairman Hangzhou, the PRC, March 30, 2016 As at the date of this announcement, the executive directors of the Company are: Mr. ZHAN Xiaozhang, Mr. CHENG Tao and Ms. LUO Jianhu; the non-executive directors of the Company are: Mr. WANG Dongjie, Mr. DAI Benmeng, and Mr. ZHOU Jianping; and the independent non-executive directors of the Company are: Mr. ZHOU Jun, Mr. PEI Ker-Wei and Ms. LEE Wai Tsang, Rosa. TORONTO, CANADA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- BacTech Environmental Corporation ("BacTech" or the "Company") (CSE: BAC)(OTC PINK: BCCEF) (WKN: A1H4TY) announced on March 15, 2016 that it had engaged the services of Dr. Marcello Veiga of the University of British Columbia and Ellis Martin of the Ellis Martin Report. The purpose of the engagement is to help raise public awareness with respect to artisanal mining and its longer-term harmful effects on the environment. More specifically, issues caused by the use of mercury as an amalgamator of gold and the unchecked release of arsenic as a result of mining arsenopyrite. Last week, Ellis Martin sat down to discuss these issues with Dr. Veiga and Ross Orr, CEO and President of BacTech. The interviews were aired on the Ellis Martin Report, Voice America and YouTube. Links are provided below. Ellis Martin is a broadcast journalist and media consultant, having brought market awareness to over 200 publicly traded companies since 1998. The Ellis Martin Report is heard on the Voice America Business Channel and in over 50 AM Business Talk radio stations in the US. Dr. Marcello Veiga has worked as a professor at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering within the University of British Columbia since 1997. He has published over 300 papers on issues related to mining and the environment. From 2002 to 2008, he worked as an expert and Chief Technical Advisor of the Global Mercury Project for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization ("UNIDO") in Vienna, Austria. Find the interviews at these links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HunEP-_lNHA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvz3G2eEwbY Company Profile BacTech Environmental Corporation holds the perpetual, exclusive, royalty-free rights to use the patented BACOX bioleaching technology for the reclamation of tailings and mining waste materials. The Company's principle focus is a high-grade silver/copper tailings project called Telamayu, located in Atocha, Bolivia, in association with COMIBOL, the state mining group. The Company signed an MOU with Duran Ventures Inc. to explore the viability of building a BACOX plant in Peru to treat high-grade gold/arsenic ores. Investigation has begun to identify similar opportunities in Ecuador. The Company continues to field enquiries globally with respect to additional opportunities for remediation, including licensing transactions for the technology. Follow us on: Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BacTechGreen Twitter http://twitter.com/BacTechGreen LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/1613873 Vimeo http://vimeo.com/bactechgreen YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/bactechgreen Shares outstanding 42,393,994 The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release. Contacts: BacTech Environmental Corporation Ross Orr President & CEO 416-813-0303 ext 222 borr@bactechgreen.com www.bactechgreen.com JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - Senator Patrick Leahy, I-Vt., and ten House members sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last month requesting an investigation of potential human rights violations by Israeli and Egyptian security forces, a Politico report has revealed. Politico said it received the letter dated February 17th on Tuesday evening from an organization that provided input for it. The letter cites a disturbing number of reports of possible gross violations of human rights by the security forces of both Israel and Egypt. The lawmakers specifically pointed to reports of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli military and police as well as the massacre in Cairo's Rab'aa Square in August of 2013. The letter asks Kerry to determine whether the reports trigger legislation known as the Leahy Law, which prohibits the U.S. from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights. Politico noted the letter was released just days after an Israeli soldier was filmed executing a Palestinian prisoner at close range. A Leahy spokesman told Politico the Senator believes the law that bears his name 'should be uniformly applied,' although he downplayed Israel's inclusion in the request. 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. PHILADELPHIA, PA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 --Medgenics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: MDGN) today announced that Brian Piper, Chief Financial Officer, will present at the 15th Annual Needham Healthcare Conference in New York, NY. The event will take place on Wednesday April 13, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. EDT at the Westin Grand Central Hotel. A live webcast of the presentation can be accessed under the "Presentations" in the Investors section of the Company's website at www.medgenics.com or you may use the link: http://wsw.com/webcast/needham76/mdgn About Medgenics, Inc. Medgenics is dedicated to unlocking the potential of genomic medicine to identify and treat patients with life-altering conditions. Its efforts, including its internal research and development and ongoing sponsored research and licensing agreements with a well-respected pediatric academic medical center, give Medgenics the ability to focus on the underlying genetic pathway of pediatric diseases with the goal of finding therapeutic solutions for subpopulations of both children and adults living with rare and other difficult-to-treat diseases. Medgenics is the developer of TARGT (Transduced Autologous Restorative Gene Therapy), a proprietary platform for the sustained production and delivery of therapeutic proteins, monoclonal antibodies and peptides in patients using ex vivo gene therapy and their own tissue for the treatment of rare and orphan diseases. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.medgenics.com. Forward-looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which include all statements other than statements of historical fact, including (without limitation) those regarding the Company's financial position, its development and business strategy, its product candidates and the plans and objectives of management for future operations. The Company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created by such laws. Forward-looking statements are sometimes identified by their use of the terms and phrases such as "estimate," "project," "intend," "forecast," "anticipate," "plan," "planning, "expect," "believe," "will," "will likely," "should," "could," "would," "may" or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. All such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Should any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the Company's assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those included within these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no undue reliance should be placed on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. As a result of these factors, the events described in the forward-looking statements contained in this release may not occur. CONTACT: Medgenics Brian Piper 240-899-5554 Email Contact Westwicke Partners Chris Brinzey 339-970-2843 Email Contact TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. ("First Quantum" or the "Company") (TSX: FM)(LSE: FQM) today advised that its 2015 Annual Report and Annual Information Form and its 2016 Notice & Access Document, Combined Notice and Management Information Circular, Proxy Form, NI Card and Voting Instruction Form are now available online at http://www.first-quantum.com/English/Investors-Centre/2016-Annual-Meeting-of-Shareholders-Materials. Annual Meeting of Shareholders The Company will host its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) in The Gallery of the TMX Broadcast Centre, The Exchange Tower, 130 King Street West, Toronto, ON, M5X 1J2, Canada. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of First Quantum Minerals Ltd. G. Clive Newall, President 12g3-2b-82-4461 Listed in Standard and Poor's For further information visit our website at www.first-quantum.com. Contacts: North American contact: Sharon Loung, Director, Investor Relations (647) 346-3934 or Toll Free: 1 (888) 688-6577 (604) 688-3818 (FAX) sharon.loung@fqml.com United Kingdom contact: Clive Newall, President +44 140 327 3484 +44 140 327 3494 (FAX) clive.newall@fqml.com www.first-quantum.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Entree Gold Inc. (TSX: ETG)(NYSE MKT: EGI)(FRANKFURT: EKA) ("Entree" or the "Company") has today filed its annual operational and financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015. Stephen Scott, President and CEO, commented, "In 2015, we remained focused on building shareholder value through engagement with partners and other local Mongolian stakeholders. Positive announcements in 2015 included the signing of the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan and completion of a $4.4 billion finance facility for the re-start of the underground development at Oyu Tolgoi. The final step before the re-start is a formal Notice to Proceed by Turquoise Hill Resources, Oyu Tolgoi LLC and Rio Tinto, which is expected in the second quarter of 2016. We are very excited about these developments as the first lift of the Hugo North Extension deposit is included in the next phase of the underground mine development. In addition, we were very pleased to be able to repurchase a portion of our metal credit stream from Sandstorm Gold subsequent to year-end. "In the third quarter of 2015, we also released an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment for our 100% owned Ann Mason copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit in Nevada (see news release of September 9, 2015). The updated PEA incorporates a resource update with 95% of the mineralization constrained within the PEA pit, now classified as either Measured or Indicated resources. The 2015 PEA also includes preliminary results of a detailed metallurgical program. The positive 2015 PEA further substantiates the quality and significance of the Ann Mason deposit and provides a solid base to advance the project. "As market conditions remain depressed, the Company continued implementing plans to significantly reduce its cash burn rate ensuring that we are positioned to meet all challenges as they emerge and at the same time identify strategic growth opportunities with the potential to deliver value to the Company and our shareholders. Following closing of the Sandstorm transaction, the Company had approximately $15.6 million in cash. Overall, Entree is part of a small group of junior exploration and mining companies with quality assets, strong management, meaningful treasury, and a growth mandate." All dollar figures in this news release are in United States currency unless otherwise noted. Highlights for the year ended December 31, 2015 and subsequent developments through March 30, 2016 include: MONGOLIA Entree/Oyu Tolgoi Joint Venture, Mongolia Entree has a 20% carried interest in the Hugo North Extension and Heruga deposits, which are included in the 12 kilometre-long Oyu Tolgoi series of copper-gold-molybdenum deposits in Mongolia. The first lift of the Hugo North Extension deposit is included in the next phase (Phase 2) of underground mine development. In 2015, Entree's joint venture partner, Oyu Tolgoi LLC ("OTLLC"), along with Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. ("Turquoise Hill") and the Government of Mongolia worked towards the successful resolution of outstanding OTLLC shareholder issues which halted Oyu Tolgoi underground development in 2013. On May 18, 2015, Turquoise Hill announced that an Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan (the "Mine Plan") had been signed by the Government of Mongolia, OTLLC, Turquoise Hill and Rio Tinto. The Mine Plan addresses outstanding OTLLC shareholder matters and provides a pathway forward to the restart of Phase 2 underground development. On December 14, 2015, Turquoise Hill announced that OTLLC had signed a $4.4 billion finance facility (with provision for up to $6 billion) for underground mine development at the Oyu Tolgoi project. The parties are currently working on completion and approval of an updated Oyu Tolgoi Feasibility Study (including an updated capital estimate), and securing all necessary permits for the development of the underground mine. Pre-start activities have been underway since the third quarter of 2015, and Turquoise Hill expects a formal 'Notice to Proceed' decision for underground construction in the second quarter of 2016, once Turquoise Hill, Rio Tinto and OTLLC board approvals are received. Updated Technical Report Entree today filed a technical report titled "Lookout Hill Feasibility Study Update" and dated March 29, 2016 ("LHTR16") which was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). LHTR16 aligns the mine plan for the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture property with the technical report titled "Oyu Tolgoi 2014 Technical Report" ("2014 OTTR"), which was filed by Turquoise Hill on October 28, 2014. The 2014 OTTR was based on an updated mine plan using reserves only ("Reserve Case") and derived from the technical, production and cost data in OTLLC's 2014 Oyu Tolgoi Feasibility Study. The Reserve Case is the most likely mining scenario for reserves exploited in the initial ("Lift 1") underground block cave mining operation, including Lift 1 of the Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture's Hugo North Extension deposit. LHTR16 also discusses several alternative production cases that would include resources from other Oyu Tolgoi deposits including the joint venture's Hugo North Extension Lift 2 and Heruga, and allow for continuous improvement in plant throughput and potential plant expansions up to 350 thousand tonnes per day ("ktpd"). Due to the nature of the deposits associated with Oyu Tolgoi, the project has the flexibility to consider several options for optimizing the overall mine plan for the benefit of stakeholders. Separate development decisions will need to be made based on future prevailing conditions and the experience obtained from developing and operating the initial phases of the project. Key results from LHTR16 include: -- Hugo North Extension Probable reserve is 35 million tonnes ("Mt") grading 1.59% copper, 0.55 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold and 3.72 g/t silver. -- Hugo North Extension net smelter returns ("NSR") is $100.57/t (calculated from the financial model). The NSR calculation reflects the net value received for the ore by the mine (after all costs and charges). An NSR has been calculated on a U.S. Dollar per tonne basis for each of the mineral reserve areas. The Hugo North Extension has the highest NSR calculated for all the deposits at Oyu Tolgoi. -- Reserve Case after tax net present value (using an 8% discount) for Entree's 20% interest is $106 million. -- Hugo North Extension mineral resources are updated, and: -- The Hugo North Extension Indicated mineral resource estimate is very similar to the previously reported (2013) resource estimate. The local improvement in resources on the joint venture side has increased the reserve tonnage and contained copper. -- The Hugo North Extension Inferred mineral resource estimate has increased substantially from the previously reported estimate. This increase is largely due to new, more refined geological modelling, but a change to the copper equivalency formula has also had a small effect. -- The change to the formula used to calculate copper equivalency for Heruga Inferred mineral resources has resulted in a 7% drop in tonnage and an overall 10% drop in copper equivalent metal relative to the previously reported (2013) resource estimate. -- Underground block cave mine production is 95 ktpd. -- The plant rate for the Reserve Case remains the nominal 100 ktpd. -- Underground ore handling will be conveyed to surface via decline, which opens the project to additional production flexibility and future optionality. The mine plan still makes use of the existing shafts and the planned shafts that were defined in the previous report. The combined capacity of the decline conveyor and shafts is 130-140 ktpd. In LHTR16, Lift 1 Entree/Oyu Tolgoi joint venture development ore starts in 2021 and joint venture cave production commences in 2027. In the Reserve Case, production from Lift 1 at Hugo North Extension totals 34.8 Mt averaging 1.59% copper and 0.55 g/t gold and is estimated to last until 2034. Development and sustaining capital costs for the joint venture's portion of the Hugo North Extension Lift 1 block cave are estimated at $435 million - approximately $87 million of which will be the responsibility of Entree. Under the terms of the joint venture, Entree elected to have OTLLC debt finance Entree's share of costs with interest accruing at OTLLC's actual cost of capital or prime plus 2%, whichever is less, at the date of the advance. Debt repayment may be made in whole or in part from (and only from) 90% of monthly available cash flow arising from sale of Entree's share of products. The Company's technical report, titled "Lookout Hill Feasibility Study Update", with an effective date of March 29, 2016, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. LHTR16 was prepared by OreWin Pty Ltd. UNITED STATES Ann Mason Project, Nevada In 2014, the Company retained AGP Mining Consultants Inc. ("AGP") and Amec Foster Wheeler Americas Limited ("Amec Foster Wheeler") to update the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") of the Company's 100% owned Ann Mason copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit in Nevada. On September 9, 2015, the Company announced the results of an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Ann Mason deposit (the "2015 PEA"). Similar to the previously reported PEA (2012), the 2015 PEA envisions an open pit and conventional sulphide flotation milling operation. The 2015 PEA incorporates the results of an infill drill program undertaken by Entree between August 2014 and late January 2015 and a new resource estimate for the Ann Mason deposit. Approximately 95% of the mineralization constrained within the ultimate PEA pit ("Phase 5") is now classified as either Measured or Indicated resources with the remaining 5% as Inferred resources. The 2015 PEA also includes results of a detailed metallurgical program, designed to better characterize the metallurgical processes and recoveries in the 2015 PEA and to support a future Pre-Feasibility study. Key results from the 2015 PEA can be summarized as follows: -- Base case, pre-tax net present value (using a 7.5% discount rate) ("NPV7.5") of $1,158 million, internal rate of return ("IRR") of 15.8% and payback of 6.4 years, based on long term metal prices of $3.00/lb copper, $11.00/lb molybdenum, $1,200/oz gold and $20/oz silver (the "Base Case"). -- Base Case post-tax NPV7.5 of $770 million, IRR of 13.7% and payback of 6.9 years. -- Development capital costs of approximately $1.35 billion, including $103 million contingency. -- Pre-production development of three years. -- Mine production for 21 years, followed by four years of reclamation (Life of Mine or "LOM"). -- Average LOM cash costs (net of by-product sales) pre-tax of $1.49/lb copper (see Non-U.S. GAAP Performance Measurement below). -- Average LOM all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") (net of by-product sales) pre-tax of $1.57/lb copper (see Non-U.S. GAAP Performance Measurement below). -- Net average pre-tax undiscounted cash flow over Years 1 to 21 of approximately $298 million per year (and post-tax of $238 million per year). -- LOM payable production of approximately: -- 5.1 billion pounds of copper, -- 46 million pounds of molybdenum, -- 0.4 million ounces of gold, and -- 8.8 million ounces of silver. -- Average annual payable production of approximately: -- 241 million pounds of copper, -- 2.2 million pounds of molybdenum, -- 20,000 ounces of gold, and -- 421,000 ounces of silver. -- Strip ratio of 2.01:1 waste to mineralized material (including pre- strip). -- LOM average copper recovery of 92%. -- Copper concentrate grading 30%. The 2015 PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The 2015 PEA, titled "Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Ann Mason Project, Nevada, U.S.A.", with an effective date of September 9, 2015, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The 2015 PEA was prepared by AGP, Amec Foster Wheeler, and Porcupine Engineering Services. SANDSTORM AGREEMENT On February 23, 2016, the Company entered into an agreement with Sandstorm Gold Ltd. ("Sandstorm") to amend the Equity Participation and Funding Agreement dated February 14, 2013 (the "2013 Agreement"). The Agreement to Amend provides for a 17% reduction in the metal credits that Entree is required to sell and deliver to Sandstorm under the 2013 Agreement. Concurrently, Entree refunded a portion of the refundable deposit (thereby reducing the deposit to $33.2 million) by paying $5.5 million in cash and issuing 5,128,604 common shares at a price of C$0.3496 per share. At closing, the parties entered into an Amended and Restated Equity Participation and Funding Agreement dated February 14, 2013, and amended March 1, 2016. In addition to reducing the Company's future obligation to sell metal credits to Sandstorm, Entree immediately benefited from greater control over its treasury and an increased ability to preserve cash. See the Company's news release dated March 1, 2016. OTHER CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS -- In efforts to conserve cash reserves, the Company has made, and continues to make, adjustments to operations including rationalizing land holdings in Mongolia, reducing staff levels in each of Mongolia, Canada and the United States, as well as reducing other overhead expenditures. -- On July 14, 2015, Anna Stylianides was appointed to the Company's Board of Directors. -- On November 16, 2015, Stephen Scott was appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Company, succeeding Gregory Crowe following his resignation as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company effective November 13, 2015. -- Effective April 1, 2016, Mr. Scott will be appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and will concurrently be appointed to the Company's Board of Directors. -- In 2015, the Company acquired a 0.5% net smelter returns royalty on Candente Copper Corp.'s 100% owned Canariaco project in Peru for $500,000. The Canariaco project includes the Canariaco Norte copper- gold-silver deposit, as well as the adjacent Canariaco Sur and Quebrada Verde prospects, located within the western Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes in the Department of Lambaveque, Northern Peru. The Company is pleased to announce that Duane Lo has joined Entree as Interim Chief Financial Officer effective April 1, 2016. Mr. Lo has over 17 years of experience in accounting and financial management, including 13 years in the financing, management and administration of mining operations and development projects in Brazil, Africa and other jurisdictions. He was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Luna Gold Corp. and Corporate Controller for First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Mr. Lo was also employed at Deloitte in the assurance and advisory practice. He holds a Canadian Chartered Accountant designation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia. For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company incurred a net loss of $7,831,063 ($0.05 per share) compared to a net loss of $8,669,188 ($0.06 per share) for the year ended December 31, 2014. The decrease in net loss is due to lower operating expenditures primarily due to a combination of lower exploration costs, lower consultancy and advisory fees and high foreign exchange gains. As at December 31, 2015, the Company had working capital of $21,844,252, including cash of $22,785,658. Entree's average monthly operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2015, were approximately $590,000, including exploration, general and administrative expenses and investor relations expenses. In efforts to conserve cash reserves, Entree has made, and continues to make, adjustments to operations. Certain one-time expenditures related to reducing staff levels are included in the 2015 average monthly operating expense. Consequently, average monthly operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2016 will be significantly lower than in the year ended December 31, 2015. SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As at As at December 31, December 31, 2015 2014 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Working capital (1) $ 21,844,252 $ 32,603,711 Total assets 61,662,485 79,690,498 Total long term liabilities (2) 39,315,880 44,269,904 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Working Capital is defined as Current Assets less Current Liabilities. (2) Long term liabilities include $28,924,857 of deferred revenue related to a deposit on a metal credit delivering obligation. The Company's Annual Financial Statements, management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") and Annual Information Form are available on the Company website, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F has been filed with the SEC, and is available on the Company website. Shareholders can receive a hard copy of the Company's audited Annual Financial Statements upon request. QUALIFIED PERSON Robert Cinits, P.Geo., Entree's Vice President, Corporate Development, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, has approved the technical information in this release. NON-U.S. GAAP PERFORMANCE MEASURMENT "Cash costs" and ASIC are non-U.S. GAAP performance measurements. These performance measurements are included because these statistics are widely accepted as the standard of reporting cash costs of production in North America. These performance measurements do not have a meaning within U.S. GAAP and, therefore, amounts presented may not be comparable to similar data presented by other mining companies. These performance measurements should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for measures of performance in accordance with U.S. GAAP. ABOUT ENTREE GOLD INC. Entree Gold Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company balancing opportunity and risk with key assets in Mongolia and Nevada. As a joint venture partner with a carried interest on a portion of the Oyu Tolgoi mining project in Mongolia, Entree has a unique opportunity to participate in one of the world's largest copper-gold projects managed by one of the premier mining companies - Rio Tinto. Oyu Tolgoi, with its series of deposits containing copper, gold and molybdenum, has been under exploration and development since the late 1990s. Additionally, Entree has also been advancing its Ann Mason Project in one of the world's most favourable mining jurisdictions, Nevada. The Ann Mason Project hosts the Ann Mason copper-molybdenum deposit as well as the Blue Hill copper deposit within the rejuvenated Yerington copper camp. Sandstorm Gold, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill Resources are major shareholders of Entree, holding approximately 15%, 11% and 9% of issued and outstanding shares, respectively. This News Release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to the future prices of copper, gold, molybdenum and silver; the estimation of mineral reserves and resources; the realization of mineral reserve and resource estimates; anticipated future production, capital and operating costs, cash flows and mine life; completion of a Pre-Feasibility study on the Ann Mason Project; the potential impact of future exploration results on Ann Mason mine design and economics; the potential development of Ann Mason; potential types of mining operations; construction and continued development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine; the anticipated value of Entree's interest in Lift 1 of the Hugo North Extension deposit; potential size of a mineralized zone; potential expansion of mineralization; potential discovery of new mineralized zones; potential metallurgical recoveries and grades; plans for future exploration and/or development programs and budgets; permitting time lines; anticipated business activities; corporate strategies; requirements for additional capital; uses of funds; proposed acquisitions and dispositions of assets; and future financial performance. In certain cases, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budgeted", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". While the Company has based these forward-looking statements on its expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee of Entree's future performance and are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies, local and global economic conditions, legal proceedings and negotiations and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the status of the Company's relationship and interaction with the Government of Mongolia, OTLLC, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill. With respect to the construction and continued development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine, important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information include, amongst others, the approval of the 2015 Oyu Tolgoi Feasibility Study by OTLLC and its shareholders; the timing and cost of the construction and expansion of mining and processing facilities; the timing and availability of a long term power source for the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine; the timing to satisfy all conditions precedent to the first drawdown of project financing; the impact of the delay in the funding and development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine; delays, and the costs which would result from delays, in the development of the underground mine; and production estimates and the anticipated yearly production of copper, gold and silver at the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine. Other uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements and information include, amongst others, whether the size, grade and continuity of deposits and resource and reserve estimates have been interpreted correctly from exploration results; whether the results of preliminary test work are indicative of what the results of future test work will be; fluctuations in commodity prices and demand; changing foreign exchange rates; actions by Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill and/or OT LLC and by government authorities including the Government of Mongolia; the availability of funding on reasonable terms; the impact of changes in interpretation to or changes in enforcement of, laws, regulations and government practices, including laws, regulations and government practices with respect to mining, foreign investment, royalties and taxation; the terms and timing of obtaining necessary environmental and other government approvals, consents and permits; the availability and cost of necessary items such as power, water, skilled labour, transportation and appropriate smelting and refining arrangements; and misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements.In addition, there are also known and unknown risk factors which may cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to international operations, including legal and political risk in Mongolia; risks associated with changes in the attitudes of governments to foreign investment; risks associated with the conduct of joint ventures; discrepancies between actual and anticipated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; global financial conditions; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; inability to upgrade Inferred mineral resources to Indicated or Measured mineral resources; inability to convert mineral resources to mineral reserves; conclusions of economic evaluations; future prices of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining government approvals, permits or licences or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; environmental risks; title disputes; limitations on insurance coverage; as well as those factors described in the Company's most recently filed Management's Discussion and Analysis and in the Company's Annual Information Form for the financial year ended December 31, 2015, dated March 30, 2016 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. Contacts: Entree Gold Inc. Monica Hamm Manager Investor Relations 604-687-4777 or Toll Free: 866-368-7330 604-687-4770 (FAX) mhamm@entreegold.com www.entreegold.com MISSION VIEJO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Auxilio, Inc. (OTCQB: AUXO), a leading provider of Managed Print Services (MPS) and Cyber Security Services for the healthcare industry, today reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015. 2015 Highlights: During 2015, the Company signed MPS contracts with Top US Health Systems totaling approximately $80 million estimated to be generated over the next five years Fiscal 2015 revenue increased 39% to $61.3 million Fiscal 2015 net income of $1.3 million with earnings per share of $0.05, basic and diluted Generated $2.4 million of cash flows from operations during 2015 Attained national presence with significant footprint in the Midwest, with implementations represented by 872 locations across the US Acquired Redspin, an IT security risk assessment company with 135 hospital clients Management Commentary "We concluded 2015 with a strong financial performance driven by our team's exceptional operational execution with our new MPS contracts during 2015 now totaling more than $80 million in five-year recurring service revenue," said Joseph J. Flynn, President and CEO of Auxilio. "With a significant presence in the Midwest, our contracts now cover a majority of the United States positioning us with a national presence to carry us into 2016 and beyond. The fact that we were able to implement such a large number of locations last year, and to do so efficiently for our clients, has translated into invitations to bid on MPS work at new and even larger health systems," continued Flynn. "We have utilized our position as a valued provider to healthcare systems to further advance our risk and information security offerings, and have also expanded our sales staff in order to pursue middle market opportunities, which will enable us to bundle MPS and security services. We are nearing completion of the integration process of the security businesses we acquired in early 2014 and 2015. We believe this area of our business can grow significantly due to the HIPAA compliance requirement to maintain, safe keep, transfer and secure all aspects of data, and this belief is further bolstered by a seemingly endless supply of high profile breaches and resulting large fines," said Mr. Flynn. Financial Results for the Full Year ended December 31, 2015 For the twelve months ended December 31, 2015, the Company reported revenues of $61.3 million, an increase of 39% when compared to $44.0 million in 2014. Of this increase, approximately $8.2 million is a result of the addition of new recurring service revenue contracts in 2015. Auxilio added approximately $4.4 million in consulting revenues and software subscriptions from its newly acquired security companies. Equipment sales were $7.8 million in 2015, compared to $3.6 million in 2014, a 116% increase, with fluctuations occurring periodically due to customer equipment fleet refresh cycles that occur, on average, every five years. Gross profit for fiscal 2015 was $10.6 million, or 17.3% of sales, compared to $8.2 million, or 18.7% of sales, for fiscal 2014. Operating expenses for fiscal 2015 were $9.6 million, compared to $6.6 million in the prior year period. Income from operations was $1.0 million for fiscal 2015, compared to income from operations of $1.7 million in fiscal 2014. Net income for fiscal 2015 was $1.3 million, or $0.05 per share basic and diluted, compared to $1.3 million or $0.06 per share basic and diluted, in the same period in 2014. After excluding charges of $0.4 million related to stock-based compensation and $0.5 million for amortization of intangibles, non-GAAP measure of adjusted income from operations for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 was $1.8 million compared to $2.1 million after excluding charges of $0.3 million related to stock-based compensation and $0.1 million in amortization of intangibles in the same period of 2014. At December 31, 2015, the Company had $6.4 million of cash and cash equivalents. Cash provided by operating activities for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 was $2.4 million compared to $1.5 million during the same period in 2014. The Company maintains a $2.0 million accounts receivable line of credit with a commercial bank. 2016 Outlook and Events "Momentum in our MPS business has been robust and our pipeline for new contracts is still very active. The rapid pace of implementations early last year, in addition to the recently acquired security businesses, drove revenue gains in 2015 approaching 40%. While we still expect healthy double digit revenue growth this year, top line gains will not be on pace with what we achieved in 2015. Our business will always be prone to short term spikes and periods of transition as the client life cycle runs its course. While we expect the top line growth to moderate short term in 2016, we maintain a large pipeline that remains at historic highs," said Mr. Flynn. "As is normal in the evolution of a company, we have made the decision to reorganize our Board makeup in order to attract individuals with skill sets required at this stage of our growth and to help us deal with the opportunities and challenges we are now faced with. We are blessed to have had key individuals with healthcare services backgrounds like Bill Leonard and Brian Mulvaney and appreciated their service. As we look forward, we agreed as a Board to seek out individuals such as J.D. Abouchar who have a deep understanding of our investment space of the rapidly changing Healthcare IT industry," said Mr. Flynn. Conference Call Information CEO Joe Flynn and CFO Paul Anthony will host a conference call with investors to discuss its full-year 2015 earnings results. Date: Thursday, March 31, 2016 Time: 9:00 am PT, 12 pm ET US: 1-888-539-3696 International: 1-719-325-2329 Conference ID: 2241813 Webcast: http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=118760 A replay of the call will be available from 3:00pm ET on March 31, 2016 to 11:59 pm ET on April 15, 2016. To access the replay, please dial 1-877-870-5176 from the U.S. and 1-858-384-5517 from outside the U.S. The PIN is 2241813. About Auxilio, Inc. Since 2004, Auxilio has led the Managed Print Services industry by offering an innovative and customer driven approach for healthcare organizations. Auxilio takes full responsibility for healthcare customers' on-site print environment through situation assessment, process analysis, strategy development and program implementation. Hospitals and health systems benefit from streamlined and aligned processes and infrastructure that result in print management programs that reduce cost, increase employee productivity, and meet and exceed patient care standards. Auxilio serves a national portfolio of nearly 220 hospital campuses and manages over 1.5 billion documents annually from over 90,000 devices, supporting over 280,000 caregivers. Auxilio's Managed Print Services' business model is vendor neutral, provides a dedicated resident team and is exclusive to the healthcare industry. Through its Cyber Security Professional Services Group, Redspin (a subsidiary of Auxilio) provides an end-to-end security offering that specifically addresses hospital security challenges or when a breach has occurred. Redspin's fully comprehensive portfolio of services and technology includes penetration testing, HIPAA security risk assessments, security program strategy, and a SaaS technology solution, Redspin Risk Manager to more than 140 hospitals. This complete service offering of Redspin is unique to the marketplace and helps ensure enterprise-wide security and improved patient experiences through its ability to mitigate risk and improve efficiency across the hospital or health system. For more information about Auxilio, visit http://www.auxilioinc.com. Forward Looking Statements This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of Auxilio, Inc. that can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "may" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties relating to product/services development, long and uncertain sales cycles, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, market acceptance, future capital requirements, competition from other providers, the ability of our vendors to continue supplying the company with equipment, parts, supplies and services at comparable terms and prices, expectations relating to momentum of the business, expectations of increased demand for Auxilio's services, growth of Auxilio's vertical framework, anticipated results from cross-selling efforts, growing demand for Auxilio's MPS programs, and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. Auxilio, Inc. is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. AUXILIO, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS As of December 31, ------------------------------ 2015 2014 -------------- -------------- ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 6,436,732 $ 4,743,395 Accounts receivable, net 7,397,957 6,808,183 Prepaid and other current assets 625,806 214,105 Supplies 1,458,609 1,066,132 -------------- -------------- Total current assets 15,919,104 12,831,815 Property and equipment, net 495,324 215,747 Deposits 58,118 34,413 Intangible assets, net 2,731,250 1,265,000 Goodwill 3,665,656 2,473,656 -------------- -------------- Total assets $ 22,869,452 $ 16,820,631 ============== ============== LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 8,306,860 $ 7,417,361 Accrued compensation and benefits 2,856,165 1,447,132 Line of credit - 200,000 Deferred revenue 913,677 921,771 Current portion of long-term liabilities 598,750 55,546 -------------- -------------- Total current liabilities 12,675,452 10,041,810 -------------- -------------- Long-term liabilities: Term loan, less current portion 1,250,000 - Notes payable to related parties, net of discount of $30,189 at December 31, 2014 - 333,534 Capital lease obligations, less current portion 125,496 49,822 -------------- -------------- Total long-term liabilities 1,375,496 383,356 -------------- -------------- Commitments and contingencies Stockholders' equity: Common stock, par value at $0.001, 33,333,333 shares authorized, 24,452,085 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2015 and 23,623,619 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2014 24,453 23,625 Additional paid-in capital 27,682,061 26,576,506 Accumulated deficit (18,888,010) (20,204,666) -------------- -------------- Total stockholders' equity 8,818,504 6,395,465 -------------- -------------- Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 22,869,452 $ 16,820,631 ============== ============== AUXILIO, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME Year Ended December 31, ------------------------------ 2015 2014 -------------- -------------- Net revenues $ 61,253,853 $ 44,032,076 Cost of revenues 50,664,713 35,799,726 -------------- -------------- Gross profit 10,589,140 8,232,350 -------------- -------------- Operating expenses: Sales and marketing 2,809,377 2,125,085 General and administrative expenses 6,802,582 4,432,374 -------------- -------------- Total operating expenses 9,611,959 6,557,459 -------------- -------------- Income from operations 977,181 1,674,891 -------------- -------------- Other income (expense): Interest expense (127,576) (259,112) Reduction in contingent consideration in connection with acquisition of Redspin 623,000 - Loss on disposition of property and equipment (3,513) - -------------- -------------- Total other income (expense) 491,911 (259,112) -------------- -------------- Income before provision for income taxes 1,469,092 1,415,779 Income tax expense 152,436 78,860 -------------- -------------- Net income $ 1,316,656 $ 1,336,919 ============== ============== Net income per share: Basic $ 0.05 $ 0.06 ============== ============== Diluted $ 0.05 $ 0.06 ============== ============== Number of weighted average shares outstanding: Basic 24,150,572 22,062,789 ============== ============== Diluted 24,978,936 23,437,628 ============== ============== Contact: Investor Relations: MZ North America Mike Cole 949-259-4988 Vice President mike.cole@mzgroup.us www.mzgroup.us or Media Relations: Auxilio Inc. Carrie Mulcahy 949-310-2548 Director of Corporate Marketing carrie.mulcahy@auxilioinc.com www.auxilioinc.com MONTERREY, MEXICO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. ("FEMSA") (NYSE: FMX) (BMV: FEMSAUBD) (BMV: FEMSAUB) is pleased to invite you to participate in its First Quarter 2016 Conference Call that will be held on: Friday, April 29, 2016 10:00 AM Eastern Time (09:00 AM Mexico City Time) Eduardo Padilla, Chief Corporate Officer of FEMSA, will host the call and discuss FEMSA's First Quarter 2016 financial results, followed by a question and answer session. The quarterly results will be released on April 28 after the market's close. To participate in the conference call please dial Toll Free US: (888) 427 9419 International: (719) 325 2329 Conference ID: 7576348 The conference call will be webcast live through streaming audio. For details please visit www.femsa.com/investor If you are unable to participate live, the conference call replay will be available on http://ir.femsa.com/results.cfm FEMSA is a leading company that participates in the beverage industry through Coca-Cola FEMSA, the largest franchise bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world; and in the beer industry, through its ownership of the second largest equity stake in Heineken, one of the world's leading brewers with operations in over 70 countries. In the retail industry it participates through FEMSA Comercio, comprising a Retail Division operating various small-format store chains including OXXO, and a Fuel Division operating the OXXO GAS chain of retail service stations. Additionally, through its Strategic Businesses unit, it provides logistics, point-of-sale refrigeration solutions and plastics solutions to FEMSA's business units and third-party clients. Media Contact: FEMSA Servicios SA de CV (52) 55-5249-6843 Email Contact www.femsa.com Investor Contact: (52) 81-8328-6167 Email Contact www.femsa.com/investor ST. PETER PORT, GUERNSEY -- (Marketwired) -- 03/30/16 -- Avnel Gold Mining Limited ("Avnel" or the "Company") (TSX: AVK) is pleased to announce results from a definitive feasibility study for its Kalana Main Project in south-western Mali with an effective date of March 1, 2016 (the "DFS"). The Company is reporting a maiden Mineral Reserve of 1.96 million ounces of gold and an updated Measured plus Indicated Mineral Resource estimate of 3.06 million ounces of gold for the Kalana Main project. The key performance indicators reported in this news release are based upon 100% ownership of the Kalana Main Project. All amounts are in United States dollars ("$") unless specified otherwise. Feasibility Study Highlights Project Economics (base case gold price of $1,200 per ounce) -- After tax 8% NPV: $196 million -- After tax IRR: 38% -- Payback period: 1.2 years from start of commercial production Mine Production 1. During first 5 years: -- Average annual production of 148,000 ounces at a total cash cost of $507/oz and an average on-site all-in-sustaining cost ("AISC") of $595/oz -- Average mill head grade of 3.6 g/t Au with gold recovery of 94.6% -- Average annual throughput of 1.35 million tonnes milled 2. Over 18 year life of mine ("LOM"): -- Total production of 1.82 million ounces with gold recovery of 92.7% -- Average annual production of 101,000 ounces at a total cash cost of $695/oz and an on-site AISC of $784/oz Mineral Reserves Maiden Mineral Reserve declared of 1.96 million ounces: -- 21.0 million tonnes of ore at a grade of 2.80 g/t Au containing 1.92 million ounces declared -- 0.7 million tonnes of existing tailings at a grade of 1.80 g/t Au containing 0.04 million ounces to be hydraulically mined and processed prior to commissioning the new mill Capital Expenditure -- Initial net capital expenditure of $163 million; gross initial capital expenditure of $196 million (including contingency) and working capital of $8 million offset by $41 million from gold production prior to commercial production -- Sustaining capital expenditure of $123 million Project Construction Schedule Key project milestones after start of construction: -- Month 16: Commence pre-strip -- Month 17: Commence processing tails through new carbon-in-leach ("CIL") section of the plant -- Month 22: Commence hot commissioning of mill -- Month 25: Commercial production Mineral Resources Updated March 2016 Mineral Resource for the Kalana Main deposit utilizing a $1,400/oz gold price: -- In situ Measured plus Indicated Resource of 23.0 million tonnes grading 4.14 g/t Au containing 3.06 million ounces at a 0.90 g/t Au cut-off -- In situ Inferred Resource of 1.7 million tonnes grading 4.51 g/t Au containing 0.24 million ounces at a 0.90 g/t Au cut-off -- The diluted (internal and external) Measured plus Indicated Resource of 35.7 million tonnes grading 2.78 g/t Au containing 3.20 million ounces -- Tailings of 0.7 million tonnes at a grade of 1.80 g/t Au containing 0.04 million ounces Kalana Project The Kalana Project is owned by Societe d'Exploitation des Mines d'Or de Kalana, S.A. ("SOMIKA"). Avnel has an 80% equity interest in SOMIKA and the Malian Government holds a beneficial interest in the remaining 20%, which has anti-dilution and free-carry rights. SOMIKA owns and operates the Kalana Gold Mine, a small, Soviet-era, underground gold mine, and holds the rights to the Kalana Exploitation Permit, a combined exploitation and exploration permit that is subject to the 1999 Mining Code and is unique in Mali. The permit covers a surface area of 387.4 km2 and was last renewed in 2003 for a term of 30 years. This permit is host to 29 exploration targets, including the Kalana Main Project, the Company's flagship development-stage project, which is the subject of the DFS. Kalana Main Definitive Feasibility Study The DFS was led by Snowden Mining Consultants Pty Ltd. ("Snowden") with the support of several leading consulting firms, all of whom have extensive experience in Mali, including Mr. Ivor Jones of Denny Jones Pty. Ltd. ("Denny Jones"), DRA Projects (Pty) Ltd. ("DRA"), and Epoch Resources. The key performance indicators reported in this news release are based upon 100% ownership of the Kalana Main Project. The assumptions used in the economic evaluation are set out in Table 1 below and the results of the economic evaluation are summarised in Table 2. Table 1: Assumptions used in the Economic Evaluation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Economic Assumptions Unit Value ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plant Throughput (saprolite) Mtpa 1.5 Plant Throughput (fresh rock) Mtpa 1.2 Gold Price $/oz 1,200 Discount Rate % 8% Diesel Fuel Price $/litre 1.0 Corporate Tax Rate % 30% ZAR/USD Exchange Rate x 15 Refining, Transport, and Insurance Costs $/oz 4 Stamp Duty on Gold Sale % 0.6% Net Smelter Royalty % 3.0% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2: Summary of Economic Analysis ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Financial Summary Unit Value ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOM Tonnage Material Mined kt 228,795 LOM Tonnage Ore Mined kt 20,999 LOM Tonnage Ore Processed kt 21,759 LOM Feed Grade Processed g/t Au 2.80 LOM Gold Recovery % 93% LOM Gold Production Oz Au 1,821,383 Production Period years 18.0 Pre-production Capital Costs $M 196 LOM Sustaining Capital Costs(including mine closure and community investment) $M 123 (i) Pre-Tax 8% NPV $M 266 (i) Post-Tax 8% NPV $M 196 Pre-Tax IRR % 44% Post-Tax IRR % 38% Undiscounted Payback Period years 1.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i) West African peers commonly use a 5% NPV which would compute to a Pre- tax NPV of $345 million and a Post-tax NPV of $257 million Also included in these after-tax estimates are management fees paid to Avnel for the operation of the Kalana Main Mine (the "Mine Management Fee"). As per the Company's Operator Agreement with SOMIKA, the Mine Management Fee is calculated as 0.75% of turnover (gross revenue) and 2.5% of brut exploitation excess (or "EBE", which is equivalent to Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Depreciation or "EBITDA") as calculated in accordance with Le Systeme Comptable Ouest Africain ("SYSCOA"). Excluded from this analysis is SOMIKA's repayment of existing inter-company loans, accrued interest, and accrued Mine Management and Engineering Fees associated with the underground Kalana Gold Mine to Avnel. Avnel estimates that these amounts to approximately $115 million. A sensitivity analysis was conducted on the Project model, to evaluate its robustness to variation in performance and financial input parameters. The NPV (at 8% discount rate) and IRR sensitivities are presented in Table 3. Table 3: NPV and IRR Sensitivities ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scenario Post-Tax NPV Post-Tax Variation ($M) IRR (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Base Case 0 196 38% Recovery Rate -5% 156 33% Gold Production -10% 115 28% Gold Price -10% 115 28% Gold Price +10% 275 46% All Operating Costs +15% 132 32% All Capital Costs +10% 172 32% Gold Recovery & Operating Costs +5%, +10% 194 39% Gold Price, Operating Costs & Capital Costs +5%, +5%, +5% 203 37% Gold Production, Gold Price & Operating Costs -5%, +10%, +10% 190 38% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mining The DFS' mine plan provides for 18 years of production from the Kalana Main deposit from a single open-pit with 12 stages as shown in Figure 1. A total of 228 million tonnes will be mined with LOM waste-to-ore ratio of 9.9:1 including the pre-strip. Production schedules are included in the appendix. The deposit contains high grade mineralized zones that will be extracted by selective mining using 5m benches. Bulk mining of the waste zones will be conducted on 10m benches. The mine area consists of a weathered zone to an average depth of 60 m below surface which is amenable to free digging. The mining schedule targets the areas of saprolite that will generate higher cash flow early in the mine life. The pre-strip of six months will provide ore stockpiles to enable higher grade ore to be processed in the early years of the mine life. Mining will be conducted by the owner whilst maintenance of the open pit mining machinery will initially be carried out by the original equipment manufacturer to ensure fleet availability. The maintenance plan provides for a five-year handover period to the owner after completion of the initial capital purchase of the full fleet component. As part of the DFS, Snowden examined the impact of a lower gold price of $1,000 per ounce on the mine plan and design schedule and cash flow. At this lower price, the mine plan would allow mining of all the current planned pit stages with the exception of stage 12 (see Figure 1). Stages 1 to 11 contain 60% of the reserve ore tonnes, 65% of the reserve gold ounces but only 54% of the waste tonnes. Approximately 50% of stages 1 to 11 are in the softer saprolite material which is mainly free-dig and requiring limited drilling and blasting. At the lower gold price the capital expenditure to bring the mine into production would remain as planned with the robust cash flow in the early years providing a similar payback period. Stage 12 mining is scheduled to commence 6 years after start of commercial production. Planned sustaining capital would reduce as mining tonnes would be lower requiring less equipment rebuilds. Processing ROM ore will be delivered from the mine to the processing plant, which consists of a conventional two-stage crushing circuit and a single-stage milling circuit to achieve a target grind size of 80% passing 75 microns as presented in Figure 2 near the end of this news release. The processing plant design is based on annual throughput rates of 1.5 million-tonnes-per-annum ("Mtpa") for saprolite and 1.2 Mtpa for saprock and fresh rock material. Gold is to be extracted by gravity concentration and a CIL plant to produce a gold dore via elution, electrowinning, and smelting. Gold is recovered from the loaded carbon in an elution and electrowinning circuit and will be poured into dore bars on site. Life of mine average recovery is projected to be 92.7% (including tailings) resulting in LOM production of 1.82 million ounces. The plant design philosophy incorporates a requirement that the processing plant be constructed in a manner that would expedite the construction of the leaching and adsorption circuit with the intention of processing historic tailings from the underground Kalana Gold Mine prior to the hot commissioning of the mill. These tailings are intended to be recovered by hydraulic mining and processed through the CIL circuit over a 5-month period and then for 3 months during the hot commissioning of the mill. This represents an opportunity to generate pre-commercial production cash flow that will partially offset development capital requirements. Capital Expenditure The initial cost to achieve commercial production is estimated to be $196.3 million as shown in Table 4(a). Major capital items are the processing plant and plant infrastructure, purchase of the mining fleet, construction of the tailings storage facility, initial phases of the resettlement action plan, and owner's costs. Revenue, net of costs and taxes, generated by gold production of 53,000 ounces from processing existing gravity tailings and ore during the commissioning of the mill total $41.2 million and will offset the capital expenditure. Working capital is estimated at $8.1 million. Table 4(a): Capital Costs to Commercial Production ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Units Value ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Processing Plant Cost $M 93.6 Contingency - Processing Plant $M 9.5 Open-pit Pre-Strip & Tailings Mining $M 11.4 Mine Infrastructure $M 20.7 Mine Site Facilities $M 4.5 Mobile Fleet & Vehicles $M 30.3 Owner's Costs $M 13.2 Other Capital Costs $M 13.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Capital Costs to Commercial Production $M 196.3 Revenue, net of costs and taxes, prior to Commercial Production $M (41.2) Initial Working Capital Costs $M 8.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net Costs to Commercial Production $M 163.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 4(b): LOM Sustaining Capital Costs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Units Value ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Processing Plant - Sustaining $M 7.9 Mine Infrastructure (incl. stream diversion) $M 10.4 Mobile Fleet & Vehicles $M 72.4 Other Sustaining Costs $M 18.4 Mine Closure $M 13.9 Total Sustaining Capital Costs $M 123.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Cost The average production over the first 5 full years of steady-state production is approximately 148,000 recovered ounces per year at a Cash Operating Cost of $460 per ounce. Including refining, transportation, and royalties, the Total Cash Cost is $507 per ounce. Including sustaining capital and mine operator fees to be earned by Avnel, on-site AISC are $595 per ounce. A summary of unit operating costs over the first 5 years of steady-state production is presented in Table 5(a). Table 5(a): Cash Operating Cost for First 5 years of Steady State Production (Year 3 to Year 7) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ Per Tonne of Ore $ Per Ounce of Gold ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mining 29.19 268 Processing 14.73 135 General and Administrative 6.18 57 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash Operating Cost 50.10 460 Refining and Transportation Costs 0.44 4 Royalty and Stamp Duty 4.71 43 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Cash Cost 55.25 507 Mine Management Fees Payable to Avnel 2.80 26 Sustaining Capital 6.74 62 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On-Site AISC 64.78 595 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Over the LOM, average annual production is approximately 101,000 ounces at an average Cash Operating Cost, Total Cash Cost, and on-site AISC of $648 per ounce, $695 per ounce, and $784 per ounce, respectively. A summary of unit operating costs over the LOM is presented in Table 5(b). Table 5(b): Cash Operating Cost for Life of Mine Production (Year 2 to Year 20) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ Per Tonne of Ore $ Per Ounce of Gold ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mining 31.83 380 Processing 16.25 194 General and Administrative 6.17 74 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash Operating Cost 54.26 648 Refining and Transportation Costs 0.33 4 Royalty and Stamp Duty 3.62 43 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Cash Cost 58.21 695 Mine Management Fees Payable to Avnel 1.75 21 Sustaining Capital 5.64 67 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On-Site AISC 65.60 784 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kalana Main ESIA The Kalana Exploitation Permit constitutes a right to mine and a right to explore over the entire 387.4 square kilometers. The only permitting required is the approval of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") for any one or more mines on that permit. The Kalana Main Project, the development of an open pit on top of a Soviet-built underground mine, is a new mine and an ESIA has been completed and submitted to the government for approval together with an associated Environmental and Social Management Plan ("ESMP"). The ESIA has been prepared to conform to the requirements of the International Finance Corporation's Performance Standards, the World Bank Group's Environmental, Health, and Safety guidelines, and other financial institutions that are signatories to the Equator Principles with the intention of pursuing international mine construction financing. The ESIA and ESMP were examined by an inter-ministerial commission chaired by the Ministry of the Environment. The chairman of the commission declared at the close of the hearing that the study has been validated subject to requiring certain limited supplemental information. It is expected that the permit will be issued in the second quarter 2016. The existing underground mine is in full compliance with all environmental obligations and is audited by the ministry of environment annually. Avnel and SOMIKA have since 2003 been actively involved with the Kalana workforce, organized labour, community elected and traditional leaders, and has invested with the community in enhancement projects ranging from Kalana village electrification to schools medical clinics, youth facilities, and have actively promoted sports. Exploration Upside Although the lateral extents of the Kalana Main deposit have been fairly well defined, the deposit is open for expansion at depth, and there is significant regional exploration potential. Avnel's exploration team has dedicated significant resources to the evaluation of regional exploration prospects outside of the Kalana Main area. This initial work is based upon historical data carried out by others, regional work conducted by Avnel and the IAMGOLD Corporation since 2005, and the Company's ongoing field surveys of active and historical orpaillage. This work, which is ongoing, is intended to prioritise targets for future exploration. A high-priority exploration project for the Company is the Kalanako deposit, which has the potential to improve the Kalana Main production schedule in the later years of mine life with additional drilling. Kalanako is located 3 km northeast of Kalana Main. Kalanako consists of several sub-parallel northwest - southwest striking mineralised trends that have been established from historical exploration data. The drilling dataset consists of information collected from 30 diamond drill holes totaling 24,928 m and 235 RC drill holes totaling 7,699 m. Two mineralized trends have been established from widely spaced RC drilling and are interpreted to have strike lengths of 250 m to 500 m, are less than 10 m thick, and appear to be steeply dipping based upon field observations and drilling results. The Company believes that the mineralised zones at Kalanako are open for expansion and that additional drilling is warranted. On March 26, 2015, the Company reported a maiden In Situ Mineral Resource for the Kalanako deposit. The Inferred portion is 0.38 million tonnes grading 5.55 g/t Au containing 0.07 million ounces at a cut-off grade of 0.90 g/t Au utilizing a gold price assumption of $1,500 per ounce. The Kalanako In Situ Mineral Resource does not include any local estimates for internal or external dilution. Qualified Persons The Company will file a National Instrument 43-101 Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") compliant technical report in support of the DFS on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release. For further information with respect to the key assumptions, parameters, and risks associated with the results of the DFS, the Mineral Resource estimates included therein, and other technical information, please refer to the technical report to be made available on SEDAR. The following qualified persons, as that term is defined in NI 43-101, have prepared or supervised the preparation of their relevant portions of the technical information described above the related technical report to be filed: The Mineral Resource estimates reported in this news release were prepared by Mr. Ivor Jones, (BSc. Hons), MSc, FAusIMM, CP Geo., of Denny Jones Pty Ltd., who is an independent Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101. All Mineral Resources reported have been prepared in accordance with the CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions, and Guidelines. Mr. Jones has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Mr. Allan Earl, Associateship in Mining Engineering, FAusIMM of Snowden Mining Industry Consultants is an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Earl has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Mr. Glenn Bezuidenhout, NDT Ex. Met, FSAIMM, Process Director for DRA Projects (Pty) Ltd., is an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Bezuidenhout has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release. Mr. Roy Meade, BSc (Honours) Mining Engineering and Professional Engineer (UK), President of Avnel Gold Mining Limited is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Meade has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Dr. Olivier Femenias, MSc, PhD, EurGeol 1115, Vice-President, Geology for Avnel Gold Mining Limited is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Dr. Femenias has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Non-IFRS Measures Avnel's audited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") and the accounting policies adopted by the Company in accordance with IFRS. Avnel uses both IFRS and non-IFRS measures to monitor and assess the operating performance of the Company's operations. Throughout this press release, certain non-IFRS performance are used. These non-IFRS performance measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Non-IFRS performance measures do not have standardised definition under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other organisations: "Cost per Tonne Milled" is calculated by dividing the relevant mining and processing costs and total costs by the tonnes of ore processed in the period. "Cash Operating Cost" is calculated as reported production costs, which includes costs such as mining, processing, administration, non-site costs (transport and refining of metals, and community and environmental), less royalties paid. These costs are then divided by the number of ounces produced to arrive at "Cash Operating Cost per Ounce Produced", after taking into account certain inventory movements. "On-site All-in Sustaining Cost" is defined in the DFS as mine site cash operating costs, which includes costs such as mining, processing, administration, plus transport and refining of metals, stamp duty, and royalties, plus sustaining capital costs, which includes community and environmental. These costs are then divided by the number of ounces of expected production to arrive at "On-site All-in Sustaining Cost per Ounce". About Avnel Gold Avnel Gold is a TSX-listed gold mining, exploration and development company with operations in south-western Mali in West Africa. The Company's strategic objective is to develop the Kalana Main Project into an open-pit mining operation through its 80% ownership in SOMIKA. A secondary objective of the Company is to explore the remainder of the 387 km2 Kalana Exploitation Permit to discover new mineral deposits. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release. CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including the future plans and objectives of Avnel Gold, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Avnel Gold's expectations include, among others, risks related to international operations, the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as future prices of gold and silver, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Avnel Gold's Annual Information Form, which is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Although Avnel Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. APPENDIX 2: Mineral Resources The March 2016 Mineral Resource, an updated pit-constrained Mineral Resource for the Kalana Main deposit, as well as the Mineral Resources for the tailings and Kalanako, are presented in Table 6 below: Table 6: In situ Kalana Mineral Resources(1,2,3,4) (March 2016) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mineral Resource Tonnes Grade Contained Gold Classification (Mt) (g/t Au) (Moz) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kalana Main Mineral Resources Measured 9.5 4.20 1.28 Indicated 13.5 4.10 1.77 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 23.0 4.14 3.06 Inferred (Kalana Main) 1.7 4.51 0.24 Additional Mineral Resources Indicated (Tailings) 0.7 1.80 0.04 Inferred (Kalanako) 0.4 5.55 0.07 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 - Mineral Resources are disclosed on a total project basis at 100%. Avnel owns an 80% equity interest in SOMIKA, the Malian company that owns the Kalana Exploitation Permit. 2 - Depletion by production is to September 2015. There has been minor production since September 2015. 3 - Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, or other relevant issues. The Mineral Resources are estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council, are reported above a cut-off grade 0.90 g/t Au, and are reported inclusive of the Mineral Reserve. 4 - The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Resources as an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource category. Diluted Mineral Resource - Kalana Main The addition of local dilution resulted in a portion of the model being below the 0.90 g/t Au cut-off grade and excluded from the Mineral Resource. The resultant pit-constrained and diluted Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource above the diluted cut-off grade of 0.90 g/t Au, is estimated at 35.7 million tonnes grading 2.78 g/t Au (diluted) representing 3.20 million ounces as detailed in Table 7: Table 7: Pit constrained diluted Kalana Mineral Resource (March 2016) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kalana Main Mineral Resource Diluted Estimate - March 2016 (100% Project Basis Above a Diluted Grade of 0.90 g/t Au) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grade Grade Resource Resource Internal External Internal External Tonnes Grade Dilution Dilution Dilution Dilution (millions) (g/t Au) (%) (%) (g/t Au) (g/t Au) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured Resource 09.5 4.20 21 25 0.40 0.28 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated Resource 13.5 4.10 20 32 0.40 0.30 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- M + I 23.0 4.14 21 29 0.40 0.30 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diluted Diluted Ounces Tonnes Grade Gold (millions) (g/t Au) (millions) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured Resource 14.4 2.89 1.34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated Resource 21.4 2.71 1.86 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- M + I 35.7 2.78 3.20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This diluted Kalana Main Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 3.20 million ounces, combined with the 40,000 ounces of Indicated Mineral Resource from tailings, forms the basis for the DFS reported in this press release. The September 2015 Mineral Resource and subsequent March 2016 Mineral Resource have been prepared in accordance with the CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council. Kalana Gold Mine Tailings The overall tailings estimate is a simple weighted average of the SOGEMORK tailings estimate and the production data from the Kalana Gold Mine since June 2004 and until September 2015. The Tailings Mineral Resource is 0.7 million tonnes at a grade of 1.80 g/t Au containing 0.04 million ounces. The combined tailings Mineral Resource is classified as Indicated and is not reported at a cut-off grade as it is expected to be mined in its entirety. Kalanako Gold Deposit An estimate of the resource for the Kalanako deposit 2.5 km from Kalana was completed in 2015. The Kalanako Mineral Resource is 0.4 million tonnes at a grade of 5.55 g/t Au containing 0.07 million ounces. It is an Inferred Resource and has been reported within a pit shell at a cut-off grade of 0.90 g/t Au. Mineral Resource Classification All Mineral Resources are classified as Measured, Indicated, or Inferred in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council. Classification of parts of the Mineral Resource was applied based upon data quality, confidence in the geological interpretation, and grade and geological variability. Parts of the resource model classified as a part of the Mineral Resource exceed a diluted cut-off grade of 0.90 g/t Au and fall within a Whittle4X evaluation shell that was used to test for the reasonableness of economic extraction. The Whittle4X evaluation shell was prepared using the same modifying factors as those used in the PEA and a $1400/oz gold price. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any portion of the Mineral Resource will ever be converted into a Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve. Classification was applied based on data quality, confidence in the geological interpretation, grade and geological variability, and confidence in the grade-tonnage estimates. Those parts of the resource model classified as a part of the Mineral Resource exceed a diluted cut-off grade of 0.90 g/t Au and are contained within a Whittle4X evaluation shell that was used to test for the reasonableness of economic extraction. Areas informed by drill data with a maximum spacing of approximately 35 m, where the geological and grade continuity have been well established, and were estimated with a minimum of eight samples have been classified as Measured Resource. Areas informed by 25 m by 50 m spaced drilling (approximate dimensions), where there is a reasonable level of confidence in the geological and grade estimate, and were estimated with a minimum of eight samples have been classified as Indicated Resource. The small amount of Inferred Resource is the remainder of the Mineral Resource estimate contained within the Whittle shell. Areas where there is no informing data, that contain lower grade material that is outside of the mineralised interpretation, or are not contained within the Whittle shell are not classified as a part of the Mineral Resource. APPENDIX 3: Mineral Reserve The Kalana Main Mineral Reserve is a subset of the mineral resources described in the section above. Mineral reserves are estimated using modifying factors estimated to a level of accuracy required for a definitive feasibility study. Mineral reserves are classified in accordance with the CIM's Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves as either Probable or Proven based upon the classification of the corresponding Mineral Resource and Snowden's assessment of the modifying factors. Only the Indicated and Measured portions of the Mineral Resource have been reported in the Mineral Reserve. Neither the Inferred portion of the Mineral Resource or unclassified mineralization has been included in the Mineral Reserve. The Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve for the Kalana Main open pit is 21.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 2.80 g/t Au containing 1.92 million ounces. The Probable Mineral Reserve for the Kalana Main Tailings is 0.7 million tonnes at an average gold grade of 1.80 g/t Au containing 44,000 ounces. Collectively, the Mineral Reserve for the Kalana Main Project is 21.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 2.80 g/t Au containing 1.96 million ounces. A summary of the Mineral Reserve, by deposit, is presented in Table 8: Table 8: Kalana Main Project Mineral Reserve(1,2,3) (March 2016) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deposit Classification Tonnes Grade Gold (Mt) (g/t Au) (koz) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kalana Main Proven 5.1 3.00 489 Kalana Main Probable 15.9 2.80 1,431 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kalana Main Proven + Probable 21.0 2.80 1,920 Tailings Probable 0.7 1.80 44 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Proven and Probable 21.7 2.80 1,964 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 - Mineral reserves are disclosed on a total project basis at 100% and defined using a gold price of $1200/oz. Avnel owns an 80% equity interest in SOMIKA, the Malian company that owns the Kalana Exploitation Permit. 2 - Depletion by production is to September 2015. There has been minor production from underground since September 2015. 3 - Mineral reserves are estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council. 4 - Some amounts in this table may not compute due to rounding and truncation. Only the Measured Mineral Resource in the saprolite material has been classified as a Proven Mineral Reserve. The Measured Resource in the saprock and fresh material has been classified as a Probable Mineral Reserve. The Mineral Reserve and the DFS rely on the assumption that there is good geological and grade continuity of the mineralisation. Snowden has relied on the interpretation that there is sufficient geological continuity of economic mineralisation in and along-the-vein perspective at a mining scale of 10 m by 10 m by 5 m. This continuity is consistent with observations from the underground Kalana Gold Mine and provides confidence that high recovery of the diluted Mineral Resource may be achieved. To view APPENDIX 1 (Figures 1 and 2) and APPENDIX 4 (Table 9) please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/0330AVK.pdf Contacts: Howard Miller CEO and Chairman +44 207 589 9082 UK Mobile: +44 07768 696129 Canadian Mobile: +1 (416) 726 8174 howard@hbmiller.co.uk Jeremy Link Vice-President, Corporate Development +1 (647) 692-5460 jlink@avnelgold.com www.avnelgold.com CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - South Korea will on Thursday release February figures for industrial production, setting the pace for a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic action. Industrial production is expected to be flat on month and slip 0.5 percent on year after falling 1.2 percent on month and gaining 1.8 percent on year in January. South Korea also will see February retail sales data; in January, sales fell 1.4 percent on month but gained 4.5 percent on year. New Zealand will see March results for the business confidence survey and activity outlook from NBNZ. In February, the business confidence index score was 7.1, while the outlook was at 25.5. Australia will provide February figures for private sector credit and job vacancies. Credit is expected to have added 0.5 percent on month and 6.5 percent on year - both unchanged from the previous month. Vacancies were up 3.5 percent in January. Japan will see February numbers for housing starts and construction orders. Housing starts are expected to sink 2.4 percent on year to 880,000 after gaining 0.2 percent to 873,000 in January. Construction orders tumbled an annual 13.8 percent in the previous month. Hong Kong will release February numbers for retail sales. By value, sales are expected to fall 6.5 percent on year after shedding 5.2 percent in January. By volume, sales are expected to slide 7.8 percent after falling 6.5 percent in the previous month. Thailand will provide February figures for imports, exports, trade balance and current account. In January, imports were down 17.8 percent on year, while exports fell 9.3 percent for a trade surplus of $2.636 billion. The current account surplus was $4.066 billion. Malaysia will see February numbers for producer prices; in January, prices fell 1.4 percent on month and 4.4 percent on year. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de MapD Technologies, a San Francisco, CA-based GPU-powered data analytics and visualization software, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Vanedge Capital with participation from Verizon Ventures and Nvidia Corporation, joining earlier investor GV (formerly Google Ventures). The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations. Founded in 2013 by CEO Todd Mostak, MapD develops GPU-powered data analytics and visualization software platform that enables data analysts to interactively explore large datasets at high speed. The companys database is pioneering the use of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to allow SQL queries to be executed in parallel across nearly 40,000 cores per server, yielding massive speedups over in-memory databases. MapDs products have found early traction across a range of big data use cases, including log analytics, GIS, business intelligence, and social media analytics. Early adopters have included Fortune 500 companies in the telecom, retail, finance, and adtech sectors. FinSMEs 30/03/2016 Raden, a New York-based brand creating a smart case for travel, raised $3.5m in seed funding. The round was led by First Round Capital and Lerer Hippeau Ventures, with participation from Silas Chou, Pritzker Group, Kal Vepuri, Rachel Zoe, and others. Led by Josh Udashkin, founder and CEO, Raden is to launch sleekly designed, app-connected travel cases. The embedded technology and companion app (available on iOS) allow travelers to get information of their cases weight, current weather conditions, TSA wait times, traffic alerts, case location, and flight parameters. The company, which has a production team in Hong Kong, sells its cases at Raden.com. They are available in two finishes and seven colors: black, white, navy blue, hunter green, light purple, light pink, and light blue. FinSMEs 30/03/2016 London/Mumbai: Tata Steel is seeking to sell Britain's biggest steel-making business, putting thousands of jobs at risk in an industry that once dominated the country but has been brought low by falling prices, high costs and Chinese competition. After a marathon board meeting in Mumbai, Tata said it would draw a line under its almost decade-long foray into Britain's steel industry, exiting the country entirely. The move could have an impact on Britain's closely fought vote in three months over whether to stay in the European Union. Britain's media have blamed Brussels for preventing London from taking greater steps to protect the industry, although supporters of membership say European Union policy is not responsible for the industry's plight. Tata, which employs about 15,000 people in Britain at sites including the giant Port Talbot plant in Wales, said its financial performance in Britain had deteriorated sharply in recent months and it wanted to exit as quickly as possible. The British government and the Welsh authorities said they were looking at all viable options to protect the steel industry, which has already shed thousands of jobs in just the last year. "We are, and have, and continue to look at all options, and I mean all options. But what we first want to achieve from Tata is this period of time to allow a proper sale process," Anna Soubry, a minister for business, told BBC radio. She said she could not rule out the possibility of the government buying the plants until a new owner could be found. The sale ramps up pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative government, which has sought to cultivate closer ties with China. Mr Cameron's fate hangs in the balance when Britain votes on whether to stay in the EU in May, and his government has sought to avoid controversies during the run-up to the vote. The Conservatives are resented in Britain's industrial heartlands for the demise of mining and manufacturing under former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. The government has said it is taking measures to help the steel sector but the fundamental problem remained the halving of steel prices in the past year, caused by overcapacity in China. Once a driver of the economy through the 19th and 20th centuries, many of Britain's former steel towns have been decimated by the industry's decline since its peak in the 1970s. The leader of the opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, called on the government to take a public stake in the industry which he called "the cornerstone of our manufacturing sector". Tata Steel bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2007 and has since struggled to turn the giant around. Port Talbot, though far from its 1960s peak, still employs about 4,000 people, and Tata is one of the most significant private companies in Wales. Unions welcomed the decision not to shutter the plants but called on Tata to be a "responsible seller" and on the government to play its role. "We don't just want more warm words. We want a detailed plan of action to find buyers and build confidence in potential investors in UK steel," said Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of steelworkers' trade union Community. Steelmakers in Britain pay some of the highest energy costs and green taxes in the world and are also struggling to compete with record Chinese steel imports, which they say have been unfairly subsidised by Beijing. Tata's troubles Most steel companies, including top producer ArcelorMittal, have been hit by plunging prices due to overcapacity in China, the world's biggest steel market, making Tata's task of finding a buyer all the more difficult. Tata Steel is the second-largest steel producer in Europe with a diversified presence across the continent. It has a crude steel production capacity of over 18 million tonnes per annum in Europe, but only 14 mtpa is operational. Two of its three main European units, Port Talbot and Scunthorpe, are in Britain, with the remaining operations in the Netherlands. Its share price has halved in the past five years, a period in which it recorded asset impairment of more than $2.88 billion related to the UK business. The stock opened about 2 per cent higher in Mumbai on Wednesday, as investors welcomed the decision to shed a burden on its Indian operation. For the year ending March 2015, the company took a write-down of a little over a billion dollars in its consolidated numbers. However, the tide seems to be turning for the India operations. Tata also said it was still in talks with investment firm Greybull Capital over the sale of its British long products unit, which makes steel for use in construction. The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday allowed 100 percent FDI in e-commerce market place model under automatic route, which has been hailed as one of the major reforms yet in the retail sector by the NDA government. Is this indeed so? Here's a decoder of the policy: What the guidelines say? The press note issued by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion essentially says two things: 1) 100% FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace model of e-commerce 2) FDI is not permitted in inventory based model of e-commerce. Apart from this, it gives a few definitions: E-commerce means buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital and electronic network. Inventory-based model of e-commerce means an e-commerce activity where inventory of goods and services is owned by e-commerce entiry and is sold to the consumers directly. Market place model of e-commerce means providing of an information technology platform by an e-commerce entity on a digital & electronic network to act as a facilitator between buyer and seller. What is the big change the guidelines bring about? Frankly speaking, nothing much from the FDI policy front. For one, e-commerce companies are already operating market place model and most of them have significant foreign investment. As this VCCircle article says, the government has just formalised the foreign investment in e-commerce and is continuing with the policy not permitting these companies to sell directly to the consumer. In other words, the big change on the FDI policy front would have been allowing FDI in inventory model. That is what Amazon has been lobbying with the government for. The global giant had earlier said that it wants to do a hybrid model of both remaining as a platform and also sell directly to consumer. With the new guidelines not allowing FDI in inventory based model, this is not going to happen. Then why are the guidelines being hailed as a major step forward? Because it rings in clarity in a sector where there was none. "The announcement brings about the long overdue clarity on FDI policy, specifically the much debated marketplace model," says Akash Gupt, Partner and Leader Regulatory, PwC. "There was a lot of ambiguity in the sector," concurs Anil Talreja, partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells. "The government has given good guidance and clarity to the business model. This is the foundation for all other regulations and laws. It provides an indirect clarity on tax provisions for the sector," he says. Taxing of the sector has been a major bugbear for the companies, who have engaged in court battles with various state governments. Now, the new guidelines could pave the way for clear tax laws. But will the guidelines settle the feud between the online and offline retailers? Cannot say. For one, offline retailers are happy. The reason is a clause in the guidelines which restricts pricing. "E-commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods and services and shall maintain level playing field," the press note says. In other words, this clause will restrict the freedom of the e-commerce companies to offer deep discounts to buyers. Remember, Flipkart et al have been wooing customers with discounts that offline retailers are finding difficult to match. Kishor Biyani and his ilk, who have been complaining about this to the government and even gone to the Delhi High Court, are very happy about this. This could force online players to change their model as predatory pricing will no longer exist, Kishore Biyani, Future Group CEO, has been quoted as saying in a report in The Times of India. In other words, there is enough for online retailers to say that the government has genuflecting before the offline retailers' lobby. However, the VCCircle article rightly points out, how will the government "monitor indirect discounting as the products sold on the marketplaces are legally sold by multiple vendors". "Discounts are inbuilt in the pricing and at times, through vouchers, billed as a marketing cost," it notes. Whatever happens to the online-offline battle, one thing is for sure - this will help the online retailers which have been bleeding themselves to sell at discounts. "While on one hand the policy clearly mentions that 100% FDI is permitted in online marketplace, it also lays down operational guidelines to ensure the window is not misused," says Akash Gupt of PwC. What is the way forward for the sector? Most of the players have welcomed the guidelines. Great to see the guidelines around 100% FDI in ecomm marketplaces. Glad the govt recognises and supports an industry transforming India! Kunal Bahl (@1kunalbahl) March 29, 2016 Always a great feeling when you stick to the course that you believe in, pays off: Focusing on a pure marketplace and not doing inventory. Kunal Bahl (@1kunalbahl) March 29, 2016 However, there is one clause that is likely to force companies like Flipkart to go back to drawing board. "An e-commerce entity will not permit more than 25% of the sales affected through its marketplace," says the guidelines. This means that Flipkart will have limit sourcing of products for sale from WS Retail, in which it holds majority stake. According to the article in VCCircle, this policy likely to be restrictive for the companies. Flipkart has not yet commented on the guidelines. "The cap of 25% on sales by a vendor on marketplace will ensure a broadbasing of vendors for a true marketplace. This may require some of the operators to go on drawing board to comply with the conditions," says Akash Gupt of PwC. What happens to the much talked about consolidation in the sector? This is unlikely to take place. According to Deloitte's Anil Talreja, much of these talks were a result of the distress in the sector. "A lot of distress in the sector is likely to get cleared now and everybody will operate in their own space," he says. All in all, though the government skipped the real reform in the sector by not permitting FDI in inventory-based model, the guidelines indeed are a step forward in providing clarity to a thriving sector. And this is very important given the job creation potential of the sector. Gurcharan Das in an earlier ToI blog had estimates that the sector will create 20 million jobs in the country by 2020, when the sector is expected to see $19 billion in sales and have 1.3 million sellers. "Each seller (on an e-commerce site) creates four direct jobs and 12 indirect jobs in warehousing, delivery, and support services," he notes. Given the clarity that has emerged in the sector with the policy, this estimate is likely to be on the lower side. As Akash Gupt notes: "This sector has attracted maximum FDI in the year 2015. With the clarity in policy and given the potential of Indian market, this policy initiative will certainly attract more FDI into the country. Enabling the marketplace operator to provide value add services like warehousing, delivery, payment processing etc will improve customer experience and market outreach for small and medium size suppliers." The much-hyped Kingfisher-Vijay Mallya saga seems to be entering the final leg. The hard bargaining is on with the liquor baron offering to pay up Rs 4,000 crore by September 2016 in his proposal at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The SC has asked the banks to respond to the proposal within a week after banks study the proposal. Mallya presented the proposal in SC after banks moved the apex court seeking action against him in the Kingfisher loan default case, which also includes charges on fund diversion by Mallya and financial irregularities. It is not clear yet whether what Mallya is offering to banks is a One Time Settlement (OTS) of Rs4000 crore (while his total dues are Rs9000 crore) or whether he plans to pay the remaining amount too to banks. If this plan is indeed an OTS, clearly banks shouldn't accept this offer. There are a few reasons for this: For one, Mallya is arguably showing his willingness now to pay up after he has run out of all options to avoid repayments. It is difficult to believe that Mallys current proposal is a result of his sudden realisation of his responsibility to pay back to banks but this is an action arising out of his sheer helplessness to hold on with his defiance for long. The fact is that Vijay Mallya has taken the 17 banks, including the country's largest lender State Bank of India, that lent money to him for a ride for nearly half a decade. There is no reason for banks to take a more than half haircut and set him free of the liability. Remember, since 2012 when the Kingfisher loan became an NPA (non-performing assets), Mallya has never once shown serious intent to repay money to banks. Two, Mallyas past dealing with banks and the way he has handled the loan default doesnt warrant generosity of banks to agree for a one time settlement (OTS). Mallya has dragged banks to courts on technical grounds to delay the repayments and even openly challenged the industry by flaunting his wealth, even drawing criticism from the RBI governor. The King of Good Times left the country leaving the 17 banks that aided his now defunct airline in terrible shape and when almost every investigative agencies in the country, including the CBI and the ED, are probing his loan default, banks have filed multiple cases against him in various courts and non-bailable arrest warrants have been issued against him by a Hyderabad court. Three, if banks settle for less than half of what is due to them from Mallya, this will set a dangerous precedent for other large corporate defaulters. These companies can also move the Supreme Court and make similar proposals citing the Kingfisher case to come out of their debt. Kingfisher NPA is only one case among the large heap of corporate bad loans. Of the total Rs 4 lakh crore NPAs in the banking sector, about 60 percent is corporate bad loans. There are several other stressed cases of larger defaults, where banks are fighting in courts. If banks give in to the bargaining of Mallya, they will find themselves vulnerable to accept similar proposals in future. Four, by seeking six more months to pay up the money, one cannot rule out the possibility that Mallya is buying more time to plan his next course of action. Considering his past record of dealing with banks (taking on banks in court rooms on technical grounds and leaving the country defaulting Rs 9,000 crore to banks), lenders have hardly any reason to trust this proposal even though Mallya is bound to show his payment plan to the Supreme Court. Technically, Mallya has the wealth even today to generate the funds to repay the banks. His shareholding in various companies alone would amount to close to Rs 7,000 crore (see the table below for detailed break-up). What is the assurance that Mallya will honor his obligations in six months after not doing so in four years is a big question. Five , the Kingfisher-Vijay Mallya case is not just that of a normal loan default case. There are also allegations of financial fraud, fund diversion and wilful default. Banks have initiated liquidating Mallyas assets after exhausting all other option to get back money and get a favourable response from Mallya. There is no reason for lenders to settle for Rs 4,000 crore and forgive other charges. Six, the money lent to Vijay Mallya by banks is after all public money. A One Time Settlement (OTS) in this case amounts to a write off and would tantamount to the public bailing out Mallya, who still have the wherewithal to repay the entire sum. The bottomline is this: The Kingfisher loan default case does not warrant a huge haircut by banks and thus give Mallya an easy exit. Certainly, Mallya delayed repayment to banks all these years not because he didnt have money but lacked the intent. The intent has come after he is cornered from all sides (courts, government, his group companies and shareholders). More importantly, there are several other corporate defaulters watching this case for cues. Banks should reject the offer and fight to get back their full dues. (Data Support from Kishor Kadam) New Delhi: Anti consumer. Yes, that is what governments latest move to define e-commerce, allow 100% FDI in the marketplace model and insert needless riders on the sector, amounts to. Why is the government, or specifically mandarins of Udyog Bhawan, bothered about the deep discounts etailers have been doling out till now? Etailers should know their business best and if they are able to suck in losses while continuing to offer deep discounts on products as varied as toothpaste and diamond jewellery, why should the government have a problem? Heck, why should the establishment make a distinction between models of etailing marketplace or inventory-lead either? Because the truth is, an inventory-lead model of etailing is probably a faster route to profitability compared with the marketplace model. Besides, inventory-lead also allows the Make-in-India concept to take root as retailers can then source private labels from SMEs. In short, the government has done etailers no favour by favouring the marketplace model and imposing restrictions on pricing, discounts, warranty etc when it has still kept other retail models out of the FDI ambit. In a press note yesterday, the government announced the following: a) 100% FDI under automatic route permitted in the marketplace model of e-commerce b) Marketplace e-commerce entity may enter into transactions with its registered sellers on B2B basis c) Marketplace e-commerce entity may provide logistic, warehousing , order fulfilment, call centre, payment collection and other services d) More than 25% of the total sales should not be done by one vendor or its group companies e) The name, address and contact details of seller should be clearly mentioned f) The seller shall be responsible for post sales, warranty and guarantee of goods sold by it g) Marketplace e-commerce entity should not influence the pricing of goods sold on its platform. It is the last stipulation which has caused the maximum consternation among etailers, whatever their public statements might have been last evening. Discounts are the lifeline of etailing in India, much like other countries. According to a story in Mint newspaper this morning, imaginative methods used by Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon India in funding discounts may have been outlawed via this press note. The story says Amazon funds discounts by sellers indirectly through a route it calls promotional funding. This it how it works: Amazon recommends the amount of discounts to its sellers on products, but doesnt force them to adopt these suggested prices. Sellers, however, end up keeping these suggested prices because Amazon finances the discounts. At the end of a certain period, sellers send a debit note to Amazon. This note contains the amount of discount that the seller gave on apparel, electronics, toys and other products sold on the site. Amazon then pays the seller by cheque. The press note issued yesterday virtually gives legitimacy to the circuitous etail format entrepreneurs had devised to bypass earlier FDI restrictions. The government had been going around in circles over drafting policy for the e-commerce sectors for years. In fact, retail trade has been a bane for successive governments, which have tried to introduce insane clauses by dividing the industry into various formats and then selectively barred foreign investors from investing in India besides also placing myriad restrictions in formats where FDI is allowed. Babus believe they have been acting in the interests of the mom and pop stores, the kirana stores, which provide livelihood to vast swathes of Indians. But at least the big boys of India's e-commerce segment have been doing business, oblivious to complete ban on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, by devising a unique model called marketplace. Since till yesterday no definition of this model existed in any policy related to the retail trade, this oversight had been used by etail giants to set up their businesses with active participation of foreign investors. They have been saying that the marketplace model allows them to offer a platform for retailers to connect with buyers and that they own no inventory so there is no question of flouting norms. Technically of course there guys, including Snapdeal and Flipkart, were right. By allowing 100% FDI in the marketplace model, this government has addressed just one pain point in the retail industry. Arvind Singhal of retail consultancy Technopak points out that contrary to the euphoria among brick and mortar retailers over the governments latest move, there is no level playing field being created by merely allowing 100% FDI in marketplace model of e-commerce. The brick and mortar stores are still not permitted to get foreign investment. Besides, I would say the inventory lead model should be encouraged since it helps the governments own Make-in-India drive. This model allows etailers to take inventory risks and source private labels from small manufacturers. Typically, the inventory lead e-commerce model is a faster road to profitability. Anyway, what the government has done through the press note last evening is merely reiterating a long-held view, it is unlikely to open floodgates of FDI for etailers in India. The big boys are already funded through FDI - in some cases by more than 50% - so there seems to be no dearth of foreign investors, pension funds or the likes who are investing in Indian e-commerce without a care about which model it actually follows. This move may, at best, stem the rising instance of e-commerce companies shifting their base overseas for easier access to funding. Instead of getting into models of business, placing restrictions on sourcing and trying to appear kirana friendly, the government should take a clear call on whether FDI is fine in retail trade or not, regardless of formats or whether it being conducted online of offline. "The government must draft a new retail policy where it is clear about FDI. Either ban FDI completely or allow it without restrictions on which model the retailer is following," Singhal had said earlier. Retail trade in India is categorised variously into heads such as single or multi brand, marketplace or inventory models, wholesale cash and carry or front end. Restrictions have been placed on FDI in most cases with only 51% being allowed in single brand retail and 100% FDI allowed now allowed in B2B e-commerce and marketplace B2C. It must be noted that foreign investors seem unconcerned with the model an Indian e-commerce company is following since several estimates put the amount of FDI the big guys have attracted in the last two years through their marketplace models at $5 billion. An official at a large e-commerce company had said earlier that though the marketplace model probably does not exist in any other country in the world, it is beneficial in India since it helps small sellers expand their geographical reach and therefore nullifies fears of kirana owners getting impacted adversely by the arrival of foreign investment in the sector. His argument: FDI should in fact not be allowed in the inventory lead model of e-commerce (where the e-commerce company owns the inventory) since then large global retail brands can distort markets through pricing power. The move to allow 100% FDI in the marketplace model comes just when the Delhi High Court is examining a PIL which alleges FEMA violations by e-commerce sites. A probe against 21 companies is already on, on a petition filed by the All India Footwear Manufacturers and Retailers Association which alleges violation of FD rule by e-commerce companies. Instead of getting into the marketplace versus inventory lead models, the government should just open up retail trade to FDI. Period. Besides, stipulations in the press note like capping sales on an e-commerce platform by any one vendor or its group companies is also another pain point for the industry. Specifically, this will impact Flipkart and Amazon where in-house companies WS Retail Services and Cloudtail India may be generating more than 25% of each companys sales respectively. Another pain point is the stipulation that warranty is to be offered by the manufacturer, not the etailing platform. Of one buys a small kitchen appliance online but wants to return it or get it serviced under warranty, one now has to contact a small shop in the countrys hinterland to get this done instead of asking a Flipkart or an Amazon for help. Obviously, the press note issued yesterday is not designed to make life any easier, either for consumers or for small sellers. Goa: The ongoing ninth Defexpo at Goa, the biennial event that assembles the arms merchants and arms producers from all over the world is being held for the first time outside Delhi, saw the defence minister Manohar Parrikar, a native Goan, announcing the latest Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). Predictably, the DPP has evoked mixed reactions. Critics have a point when they say that it is not a complete document as yet since the chapter on the much-talked about strategic partners in the private sector who could join the public sector undertakings that dominate the arms productions is still being written by the defence ministry. It seems that major private Indian players like the Tatas, L&T, Mahindras and Ambanis who have entered the defence industry of late want to be strategic partners in multiple areas (ranging from manufacturing fighter plane to building warships and submarines), something the government will like to be restricted to one field only. This differing perception may be the reason for the delay on determining criteria for being a strategic partner. However, the other features of the latest DPP (the last one was made in 2013) have been welcomed by the industry and foreign companies, an impression that I gathered by attending various seminars being held at defexpo venue Naqueri-Quitol, South Goa. While encouraging foreign companies to come to India with their capital and technology to produce and develop arms along with their Indian partners, the DPP makes it clear that that the Modi governments topmost priority will be on Indian designed, developed and manufactured (IDDM) category. For this writer, the overall evaluation of the new DPP should wait, since the defence minister himself says that This is not a perfect policy document. It is not full-proof. We will reexamine it after six months, during which I will keep my eyes and ears open for suggestions to improve and remove difficulties, if any. What is more important, therefore, is the clarity on the part of the Modi government that India must be a major arms manufacturing nation by developing an indigenous military-industrial base in line with the idea of Make in India, whose products will not only meet the domestic demands but also cater to the needs of the global market. In other words, from being the worlds largest importer of arms, India should transform itself in such a manner that it will be a major exporter of arms. This is the point, made by both Parrikar and Dr. S Christopher (Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development and Director General, DRDO), that caught my attention over the last two days. Let me dwell with this theme. Parrikar says that India can export LCA aircraft like Tejas, Akash and Brahmos missiles after meeting the 90 percent demands of our own forces. Dr. Christopher says that while many DRDO products may not be up to the expectations of our forces, but surely, they can meet the expectations elsewhere outside the country and can be easily exported. He gave the example of the Pinaka missiles(rejected by our armed forces), which are in demand in countries of West Asia. I am all for exporting our products abroad after meeting the domestic demands. We also can export items that do not have domestic demands. We have demands for our Brahmos and Akash missiles, small arms and many other products. As has been pointed out, India is the worlds largest importer of arms. China is also a big importer of arms; in fact, it is the fourth largest. But China is a big exporter of arms, too, at the same time. The latest estimate says that China has replaced Great Britain as the worlds fifth largest exporter of arms. That bulk of the Chinese arms supplies goes to Pakistan is a different matter altogether. The point is that while importing arms is unavoidable in the life of a nation while developing, the real strength in the ultimate analysis will come from a sound indigenous defence base, which, apart from working towards self-sufficiency or self-reliance in arms, generates wealth for national exchequer by exporting some of its products. In other words, the bigger the gap between its exports and imports, stronger a country is. It is not that India does not export arms at all. It does. However, there is a tremendous difference between the quantum of its imports and exports, whereas ideally this gap should have been between its exports and imports. We are number one in importing arms, but as far as arms exports are concerned, our rank is as low as 26th. An estimate says that in the year 2014015, India imported Rs. 36,900 worth of arms, ammunition and related goods. In contrast, its defence exports last year were worth of about only Rs.2000 crore, a figure given by none other than Parrikar himself on the inaugural day of the defexpo. Of course, it is to the credit of Parrikar that last August he formally allowed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to export defence equipment in 16 categories that included armoured vehicles, ammunition, rifles and small arms, military training equipment, electronic warfare devices, software, bombs and torpedoes. In fact, the DRDO has now shortlisted missiles for being the centerpiece of Indias arms exports, within the framework of the missile technology control regime that bans exporting missiles with ranges above 300 km. Overall, the military hardware shortlisted for export includes Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, Prahar surface-to-surface missile, Akash missiles, light combat aircraft (LCA), supersonic cruise missile Brahmos, sonars, Arjun Mk-2 tanks, airborne early warning and control system, a variety of unmanned systems and battlefield radars. Of course, it is too early to say what impact the decision to export arms will make on the potential arms-buyers. That will be known when DRDO gets concrete orders from international orders for its indigenously designed military hardware. The usual criticism of the DRDOs functioning over the years have been that it promises more but delivers less and that while designing the products it does not take into account the views and concerns of the end-users, that is, the Indian military. That India still imports nearly 70 percent of its defence needs means that the DRDO and other defence public sector undertakings have not been able to overcome serious challenges that inhibit their growth and effectiveness. Broadly speaking, Indias defence industrial policy (DIP) has so far been marked by three principal features. First, India intends to maximize its indigenous production through its own efforts quality personnel/scientists/technologists and production centers. Second, if indigenously not feasible then the country will go for licensed production of what could be obtained abroad. This obviously involves transfer of technology from the foreign vendors so that over the years the country gains required knowledge and expertise to develop arms on its own. Third, if the situation so warrants then the country will for direct purchases. But it has so happened that the third feature has over- dominated the DIP as a whole. The most fundamental flaw in our DIP is that we have not spent enough on our research and development (R&D). It is very easy to criticize the DRDO, but the fact remains that the DRDOs share in our defence budgets is not much to talk about if one compares the sums that the major arms exporters invest in R&D. Our brightest students do not go for R&D. There is a tremendous shortage of qualified engineers and scientists in our defence sector. And this explains why the second feature of our DIP is equally poor. You may frame enough provisions or rules for technology transfer and offsets with regard to the foreign vendors. But what use they are they if you fail to utilize them because of the essentially faulty personnel policy? Besides, whatever one may say, the sad reality is that no foreign vendors or original equipment manufacturers (OEM) will like to part with their intellectual property rights; even if they want to, their respective governments will not allow that to happen all that easily. That precisely is the reason why we have taken inordinately long time to develop Tejas or Arjun. And that is also the reason why foreign direct investment (FDI) in our defence sector will not rise beyond a point. Secondly, it is to be learnt from the examples in the major arms-exporting countries that defence technology often involves long term investment as obsolescence here is high. The production of the next generation of an equipment or of a different variant always increases the cost of the equipment, involving, as it does, the integration of various sub systems. Similarly, you cannot expect your indigenous products to be as good as, let alone superior to, the similar foreign products that are available in the international market. After all, making arms indigenously is a learning curve. China is exactly undergoing this process. Its home-made weapons are qualitatively inferior to foreign products. But the important point is that it is one the right course. China-made weapons will be infinitely better 10 years hence because China is climbing up that curve. Of course, India is not China. Ours is mixed economy, a fact which should have added to our strength. Because, unlike in China, our challenge can be met by a partnership between the public and private sectors. Unfortunately, the government in the past did not encourage the participation of the private industry in the defence sector. But things are changing now, evident from the fact a record number private players - 1055 companies from India and 47 other countries are participating in this edition of the defexpo; and what is more important, they all are unanimous in joining hands with the Indian government and public sector undertakings to build together a globalized military industry in India but for not only India but also the whole world. The Narendra Modi governments decision to allow 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in online marketplace retailing, subject to some riders, is the right one for India. What this means is that the future of Indian e-commerce will essentially be foreign ownership, given that very few Indian business groups have the deep pockets needed to sustain such low-margin and fickle customer bases over sustained periods of time. When customer loyalties can switch the minute they get a better deal elsewhere, you need lots of capital infusions at frequent intervals to sustain a business model. It is worth noting that Flipkarts continuing losses after scaling up its volumes is over Rs 2,000 crore (2014-15), and the top three e-tailers (Amazon India and Snapdeal, plus Flipkart) managed to collectively lose over Rs 5,000 crore last year. The governments decision has been prompted by four factors. #1: Online commerce has seen a large inflow of FDI already. It makes no sense to shoo this away when the investment can create thousands of jobs in technology, warehousing, sales, logistics, etc #2: Online marketplaces had no earlier legality, and it did not make sense to continue with this ambiguity when billions of dollars were already committed. Digital India will be bankrolled by online retailing in substantial measure by building business models for it. #3: Offline retailers like Kishore Biyani (Big Bazaar) were crying foul, saying online retailers like Flipkart were offering deep discounts even below cost to ruin their businesses. They wanted a level playing field. #4: Most important, online retailing cannot be sustained by low capital. Giving free play to FDI was unavoidable. It is worth looking at the huge risks being courted by online marketplaces in trying to build their businesses. In February, Flipkart, which was earlier valued at over $15 billion, saw its valuation plunge 25 percent to $11 billion, as investors saw that it may take longer to turn a profit. Globally, other tech products have also seen such value erosions due to slow profit growth or new competitive threats. According to this Economic Times report, file-sharing platform Dropboxs valuation has dropped 50 percent, Snapchats by 25 percent and Palantirs by 32 percent. Even Amazon barely makes a profit globally, as founder Jeff Bezos believes that he has to keep investing revenues to build a customer experience that will sustain profits in future. And remember, Amazon started life in 1995. Coming to the governments e-commerce decision allowing 100 percent FDI, what it has essentially done is to grant legitimacy to what is called the marketplace model, where the company claims to be a technology platform to facilitate direct interaction between sellers and buyers online. Before this clarification, the likes of Flipkart were essentially operating in quasi-legal territory, as no rule allowed foreign investment in e-commerce. Worse, the online retailers were using the ruse of marketplace to offer deep direct discounts on products to customers, often below cost, by dipping into their private equity-funded corpuses, taking customers away from brick-and-mortar retailers. The governments decision tries to level the field. Currently, customers think they are buying from a Flipkart or Amazon or Snapdeal, but the actual transaction is between the product vendor and the buyer. This has now been legitimised by the government, which has, however, added conditions. These conditions prohibit online marketplaces from offering more than 25 percent of their products through one vendor, and also ban them from holding inventories of their own for direct sales to customers. Flipkart uses WS Retail and Amazon India Cloudtail India to generate more than 25 percent of their revenues, according to a Mint story today (30 March). The NDA move, while assuaging offline retailers, will, however, face political backlash just as the UPA decision to allow 51 percent investment in multi-brand retail. That decision caused a rupture with Mamata Banerjee quitting the government in 2013, and many states banning multi-brand retail. By allowing 100 percent FDI in e-commerce, the NDA could be opening another can of worms for itself. However, it is the right decision, for online marketplaces are the future of e-commerce, and without strong funding not possible in the Indian context for most business groups they cannot sustain long periods of losses in order to build a large enough customer base that will sustain. The rise of technology companies in the post-1990s period has shown the power of disruption in regular offline business models. Entire businesses from airline, rail and bus ticketing to media to advertising to retailing to even taxi services have been impacted by technology platforms that offer better options at the click of a button. We have moved to the age of the platform, as author Phil Simon says in a book with the same title. Technology companies have to build platforms on which other companies and vendors can sell or advertise their products for which the platform provider can charge a fee or toll. But building a platform is not a one-time effort; it is about continuously investing in building more and more products into the platform, so that everyone can hop on to it. Google is not just about search anymore; it is about mail, maps, browsers, mobile operating systems, desktop productivity software, cloud services, etc. Amazon is no longer just the worlds largest bookstore; it is a veritable Wal-Mart online. Even Wal-Mart is under threat from Amazon. Facebook is not just a place for friends to chat and share; it is becoming an online publishing platform too; Apple is not just about great devices; it is an e-commerce platform for vendors to sell digital products using its iTunes platform. At home, one can look at the governments rail ticketing service (IRCTC) as a potential platform where everything can be sold; it is already selling airline tickets and other products, though less successfully than the Flipkarts and Amazons. The mobile phone companies, Airtel, Vodafone, and, in future, Reliance Jio, will also be seeking to become platforms, using their millions of phone and data customers to sell songs, chat services, photo sharing, banking services, etc. They too will seek to become online financing and trading marketplaces at least of a limited nature. The rules of the online game have changed. They are not anymore about developing one great product and making money on it; they are about building a long-term customer base using low margins and easy transactional options where many things can be sold and revenues collected. The other reality is that this is an expensive business, and risky too. A new smart rival can up-end an existing platform; this is why Facebook quickly saw the potential threat (or opportunity) in Whatsapp and bought it for $19 billion. Thats the value a company with just 50-and-odd engineers could create through a disruptive innovation. If technology has increased risks, it is best if these risks are borne by people who can handle the high costs of failure. This is why 100 percent FDI in online marketplaces is inevitable. Few Indian companies can take that kind of loss for failures. The Hague/Brussels: The European Union and India failed on Wednesday to defuse a long-running row over two Italian marines accused of murder and the case moved to an international tribunal after four years of diplomatic squabbles. At a joint summit in Brussels, held after delays imposed by Italy, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and EU leaders maintained their positions over the case. In 2012, India arrested two Italian marines who were escorting an oil tanker on suspicion of shooting dead two fishermen they mistook for pirates. Though they were not charged, the pair were barred from leaving India. Massimiliano Latorre was allowed to return home last year for medical treatment but Salvatore Girone has been confined to New Delhi, where he lives at the Italian ambassador's residence and reports regularly to police. "The EU shares Italy's concerns to find an expeditious solution for the prolonged restriction of liberty of the two Marines," said a joint statement issued after the meeting. "India stressed the need for rendering due justice for the families of the Indian fishermen who were killed," the document added. Italy says Girone's human rights are being violated and has asked the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to order India to send him home. But India's lawyers in the Hague say the delays resulted from Italy's 2012 move to escalate the affair to international courts rather than letting Indian courts handle it. "The trial has not commenced due to an obstructive course of action by India," said Neeru Chadha, India's lead lawyer. "Italy is now trying to shift the blame onto India." Italy maintains both marines were immune to prosecution since they were serving on a U.N.-backed anti-piracy mission and the oil tanker they were escorting was in international waters when it fired on the fishermen. Italy has paid $190,000 in compensation to each victim's family. India hoped the Brussels summit would bring a thaw in ties with the European Union and persuade Italy to refrain from blocking India's membership in a key global group on missile technology. Rome single-handedly scuppered India's bid to join last year. At the summit, the EU and India committed to continue talks for a trade and investment deal, and shared common positions on foreign affairs and security issues. The European Investment Bank, the financial arm of the EU, agreed its biggest loan to India to develop a metro line in the Indian city of Lucknow with 450 million euros of EU money. PORT TALBOT, Wales/LONDON Britain battled to save its steel industry on Wednesday after Tata Steel put its British operations up for sale, leaving thousands of jobs at risk as a result of cheap Chinese imports. The move comes less than three months before Britons vote on the country's membership of the European Union in a referendum dominated by concerns about the economy. The government said it was working to broker a deal with potential buyers after Tata Steel sought to end its almost decade-long venture in Britain, which employs 15,000 people but has been hit by high costs and Chinese competition. "This is my fourth time that I've been placed under the threat of redundancy," 51-year-old steelworker and union representative Mark Turner said outside Tata's plant in Port Talbot in Wales, Britain's biggest steel works. "If this shuts, there is nowhere else to go." The move could have an impact on Britain's closely fought June 23 vote over whether to stay in the EU. Britain's eurosceptic media have blamed Brussels for preventing London from taking greater steps to protect the industry and one of the campaign groups hoping to lead Britain out of the EU said it was "killing our steel". But supporters of EU membership said the bloc was not responsible for the industry's plight and that the EU was a big buyer of British steel. Britain's business minister Sajid Javid said he was seeking investors to take over the assets. "There are buyers out there," he said as he cut short a trade trip to Australia to return to Britain. "It might require some kind of government support and we are more than ready to look at all ways that we can provide commercial support." Javid rejected a call from the opposition Labour party for the government to take a stake in the industry. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn travelled to Port Talbot to criticise the government for not responding more strongly to the surge in imports from China. "It seems to me that too many people are not prepared to say to the Chinese government: sorry, your behaviour is not right, not fair, not proper and certainly not within the rules of the World Trade Organisation," he said. Steelmakers in Britain pay some of the highest energy costs and green taxes in the world, which, along with cheap Chinese steel imports, mean it could be hard to find a buyer. Analysts said Tata would likely struggle to find a buyer for the entire UK division but could try to sell it in parts. The sale ramps up pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron's right-leaning Conservative government, which has sought to cultivate closer ties with China. His fate already hangs in the balance over Britain's future in the EU, and his government, which is campaigning for Britain to stay in the bloc, has sought to avoid controversies during the run-up to the vote. However the Conservatives are still resented in Britain's industrial heartlands for the demise of mining and manufacturing under former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. A vital part of the economy through the 19th and 20th centuries, many of Britain's former steel towns have been decimated by the industry's decline since its peak in the 1970s. The Port Talbot plant, which dominates the small coastal town with its giant furnaces, still employs about 4,000 people, and Tata is one of the biggest private companies in Wales. COLLAPSING STEEL Tata Steel's problems in Britain arose almost as soon as it bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2007. Industry bankers said Tata overpaid for Corus at the peak of the market. Despite heavy investment, Tata Steel struggled to compete. Cameron's government has said it is taking measures to help the steel sector but the fundamental problem remains the collapse in the price of steel, caused by overcapacity in China. Britain imported 826,000 tonnes of Chinese steel in 2015, up from 361,000 two years earlier, according to the International Steel Statistic bureau. EU diplomats say that Britain tends to vote against anti-dumping duties due to its free trade approach. Tata Steel is the second-largest steel producer in Europe. It has a crude steel production capacity of over 18 million tonnes per annum in Europe, but only 14 million is operational. Two of its three main European units, Port Talbot and Scunthorpe, are in Britain, with the rest in the Netherlands. Its share price has halved in the past five years over which it wrote down the value of its UK assets by $2.9 billion. News of the sale prompted talk amongst industry analysts and bankers of a wider consolidation of the European steel sector. Tata said it was still in talks with investment firm Greybull Capital over the sale of its British long products unit at Scunthorpe. A source close to Greybull said it was unlikely to be interested in the new assets coming to market however. ($1 = 0.6956 pounds) (Additional reporting by Clara Ferreira Marques and Promit Mukherjee in Mumbai and Paul Sandle, Freya Berry and Clara Denina in London. Editing by Stephen Coates, William Schomberg, Peter Graff and Giles Elgood) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. New Delhi: Manipuri rights activist Irom Sharmila was on Wednesday acquitted by a Delhi court in a 2006 case of attempt to suicide when she was undertaking a fast until death at Jantar Mantar here. Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh let off 42-year-old Sharmila, who is on a fast for the last 16 years in Manipur demanding repeal of AFSPA. She was put on trial on 4 March, 2013, for allegedly trying to commit suicide while undertaking fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar on 4 October, 2006. She had on Tuesday told the court that she was ready to end her fast if the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was repealed and expressed her desire to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue. Sharmila, who is fed through a nasal tube, was put on trial after she refused to plead guilty to the charge of attempting to commit suicide (Section 309 of IPC). During the hearing, the activist had said she loved her life and was using her fast as a weapon to achieve her goal of repealing AFSPA as it would have "more impact" and added that this was "not a crime". "Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, had resorted to fasts while making certain demands," she said yesterday while justifying her fast. "Since there is no meaning of true democracy in the country, human rights activists should join hands. The matter should be brought to the attention of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations," Sharmila said. She had earlier told the court that she was very much eager to eat if she got the assurance that the "draconian" law will be revoked. Widespread discrimination was being done with the people from Northeast, she had alleged, adding she never intended to commit suicide and it was just a protest against AFSPA. Known as the 'Iron Lady', Sharmila had earlier told the court that her protest was non-violent. PTI New Delhi: A court here on Wednesday acquitted Irom Sharmila, who has been on a 15-year-long hunger strike to press for the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, from charges of attempt to suicide. Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh acquitted Sharmila in the case registered in 2006. The court on 4 March, 2013 framed charges against Sharmila for attempting to commit suicide in Delhi and put her on trial after she refused to plead guilty. Sharmila denied attempting suicide while fasting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. IANS Duliajan (Assam): Home minister Rajnath Singh has said the NDA government will completely seal the Indo-Bangladesh border within a reasonable time-frame to stop illegal immigration from Bangladesh, even as he accused Congress of having failed to check intrusion. Addressing a series of election rallies in Assam, he also took a dig at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for accusing BJP of fomenting riots in Assam and said it was during the Congress rule that maximum number of riots took place, be it the Nellie killings in Assam in 1983 or the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984. "The Congress-led governments ignored illegal immigration for years and they did not take any effective step against it. We need a state government in Assam which cooperates with us in curbing illegal immigration. Assam has only 263 kms of border with Bangladesh. It will be sealed with the active cooperation of the state government," he said. "Intruders have been continuously entering India since the day Bangladesh was created. Intruders are coming to India through the Indo-Bangladesh border. What is the reason, why didn't you (Congress) stop them? Why didn't you completely seal the Indo-Bangladesh border?" he asked at an election rally in Duliajan. "We just need some time and we will seal Indo-Bangladesh border completely so that no Bangladeshi intruder can come in," he said. Besides Duliajan, Singh also addressed rallies in Mahmora, Thowra and Moran in Assam which goes to polls in two phases on 4 April. "We would also curb the inflow of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) into the country through international borders. FICN is not only a threat to internal security but it also weakens India's economy," he said. Singh said the NDA government wants peace and security in Assam and other north-eastern states. "The security scenario has greatly improved in the Northeast after the Modi government assumed office with the level of violence reducing to lowest in the past 18 years," he said. Making an appeal to extremist groups and insurgents, Singh said that they should abjure violence as the government was ready for talks. "The government will not tolerate killing of innocent and poor people. We will take strong action against extremists who indulge in violence," he said. "As Union Home Minister, I want to send a message to all militants to give up the path of violence and arms. If they have any problem, they must end violence and talk to us. We are prepared to hold talks and settle all issues only if there is no violence and killing of innocent people," he said. PTI Hyderabad: Students' Union of University of Hyderabad (UoHSU) on Wednesday sought President Pranab Mukherjee's immediate intervention to resolve issues related to the varsity, that is in limelight post-suicide by a Dalit scholar, and ensure sacking of Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile. UoHSU President Zuhail K P shot off a letter to Mukherjee drawing his attention to prevailing "tension" in the campus and alleged lapses of the Rao-led administration in handling the suicide case of Dalit research scholar Rohit Vemula in January. "We would like to inform about the prevailing tension in the campus. Prof Appa Rao Podile is an accused in the case of Rohit Vemula's suicide. The two-member fact finding committee appointed by the MHRD to investigate the disciplinary action on five Dalit research scholars (including Rohit), which led to the suicide of Rohit, pointed out that the university administration under VC Appa Rao has mishandled the case," Zuhail said in the letter. The report pointed out several gaps in the procedures followed by the VC in deciding the punishment (against students). Moreover, Appa Rao has been booked under the SC/ST (Prevent of Atrocities) Act and for abetment to suicide, Zuhail said. The High Court did not grant him bail or any other interim relief till date. The Judicial Commission formed to ascertain the facts of this case is still probing the matter. Rao, instead of waiting for the Commission's report, "showed utter contempt" to the judicial process by cancelling his leave and resuming office on 22 March, Zuhail said. On 22 March, the students, upon learning that Rao was back from leave, marched to his residence and protested against his resumption of office, arguing as VC he may tamper with evidence and influence witnesses. "Hence, the students demanded that he must stay away for a free and fair inquiry in the case. But he misused the powers of office of Vice Chancellor and unleashed brutal violence on the protesting students," Zuhail alleged. "Until now his involvement in the case of Rohit Vemula was the reason for us to demand his resignation. Now his treatment of the students after resuming office and creating panic, chaos and destructive environment in campus put a question mark on his capability to administer the university." "We request your immediate intervention as the Visitor of University of Hyderabad to sack Appa Rao from the post of Vice-Chancellor and restore peace in the university and prevent further damage to its image," Zuhail said in the letter. Here is a copy of the full letter: Patna: A Bill providing for upto capital punishment to those manufacturing or trading illicit liquor in the event of hooch tragedy was unanimously passed by both Bihar legislature which also adopted a resolution unanimously that its members will not consume liquor. "It's a historic day, it's a clear message that everyone is dedicated to making prohibition work," Bihar Cheif Minister Nitish Kumar was quoted in a report by NDTV. "Charity begins at home. If we are making a law, then we should unanimously pass a resolution from here itself. The message of unity in the form of a resolution that we will neither drink and nor promote drinking should go out to the people," Kumar said while intervening on Excise Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan's reply during a debate on the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2016. In the first phase, there will be a complete prohibition in rural areas besides a complete ban on country-made liquor across the state while Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) will be sold in limited areas of the state i.e. municipal corporations and councils. "The Bihar Excise (Amendment) Bill 2016 talks about complete prohibition in the state. The provisions of the new Bill that incorporates some stringent measures will come into effect from 1 April," Kumar said. Referring to the Constitutional provision of Directive Principles of State Policy, Kumar said "it is the responsibility of the state to work towards implementing prohibition in the state. We are moving in that direction in a strategic manner and that's why we are implementing prohibition in villages in the first phase and later prohibition will be implemented in towns in second phase after a creating a proper atmosphere in this regard." Describing some of the stringent provisions that would work as deterrent in implementing prohibition in the state, Kumar said that those manufacturing or trading illicit liquor in the state in the event of hooch tragedy will be awarded punishment upto capital punishment. Similarly, there is a provision for life term sentence for those who manufacture and trade illicit liquor and whose consumption makes a person disabled or cause loss to the human body, Kumar said. Those who manufacture, trade and transport illicit liquor or making people drink industrial spirit or country-made liquor as foreign liquor, then such person would be handed down with a minimum of 10 years of sentence which may extend up to life, besides a fine of Rs 1 to 10 lakh. If anyone creates a scene at public places after consuming liquor, he would be sentenced with a minimum five years of sentence which may be extended up to 10 years, Kumar said. If anyone creates nuisance after having liquor at one's home, campus and shop, then the accused person would be given a minimum of 10 years of imprisonment that can be extended up to life. A person would be awarded with 7 to 10 years of sentence in addition to a fine of Rs 10 lakh for forcing minors to drink liquor, Kumar said adding that if anyone forces women and minors into illicit liquor business, he/she would get imprisonment between 7 to 10 years, besides a fine of Rs 10 lakh. Similarly, the government would seize property and other goods and seal the campus if anyone is found indulged in the manufacture and trade of illicit liquor. Kumar said that the idea of enforcing ban came when some women had demanded a total prohibition on alcohol in the state during an official function on 9 July last year, to which "I promised them that I would enforce ban on liquor if I return to power." Kumar said that he had announced on 26 November on the occasion of 'Prohibition Day' that his government would implement a complete ban on country-made liquor from 1 April, 2016. Kumar said that the government would implement the partial ban with people's cooperation besides creating a positive atmosphere for implementation of ban on country made liquor in the state. Stating that the government would take the help of school children who would take pledge from their parents not to consume liquor, Kumar said that more than one crore parents have, so far, submitted declaration that they would not take liquor. Besides, there would be a toll-free number on which people across the state can lodge their complaints regarding manufacture, sale, storage of country made liquor in the state. SPs and SHOs would ensure that no illicit liquor activities are going on in their respective areas, he said adding that responsibilities will be fixed on up to the level of SHOs and SPs. "The government would create such an environment that people in urban areas would automatically quit liquor consumption," Kumar said. Bihar State Beverages Corporation Ltd (BSBCL) has been carrying out whole-sale business in the state but from now onwards, BSBCL would also run all the 655 retail shops of foreign liquor in the state, Chief Minister said adding that this would help the government in taking decision to wind up the shops at any moment. The government has opened indoor and outdoor de-addiction centres in every district in the state to help people in getting rid of liquor habit, he said. Kumar appealed people to use their molasses for manufacturing ethanol which blended with petrol, Kumar said while making it clear that there will not be any use of 'spirit' in any form in Bihar in order to plug the loopholes. He also made it clear that the government would not renew the licenses for manufacturing homoeopathy medicines in the state. They can rather import medicines for the purpose, he added. Later, the Assembly passed two bills - Bihar Value Added Tax (VAT) Bill 2016 and Bihar Police Sub-ordinate Service Selection Commission Bill 2016 for recruitment of sub-inspectors in the state. With inputs from PTI New Delhi: In an ideal world, there would be hardly anything amiss about two countries with a hostile past sharing intelligence on terrorism and crime. Perhaps it would also augur well for the possible detente and peace between nuclear neighbours India and Pakistan wh0 are often locked in brinkmanship of the worst order. In this context, the visit by Pakistans investigative team, comprising sleuths and counter-terror operatives, gives an illusion that India-Pakistan relations are on even keel. This raises pertinent queries has Pakistan given up promoting cross-border terrorism? Is the Inter-Service-Intelligence (ISI), the dreaded Pakistani outfit, willing to give up its doctrine of inflicting thousand cuts to bleed India? Has the Pakistani army finally become subservient to its political masters? Despite the overt bonhomie generated by Prime Minister Narendra Modis unscheduled Lahore visit to Nawaz Sharifs palace in December last year, there are hardly any signs of the existence of such an ideal situation between the two countries. At the ground level, Pakistan has not demonstrated any willingness to change its tack on terrorism, or of collaborating with India. There are clear indications that Pakistan treated evidence of the involvement of Pakistani terrorists in the Pathankot airbase attack with its usual cavalier attitude. The arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar was at best an eye-wash to ward off international criticism. On all accounts, it would be too naive for India to consider the charade of the joint investigation in Pathankot as a mark of substantive policy shift in Pakistan. In fact, the Pathankot attack and Indias response have exposed many chinks in the countrys internal security. For instance, despite exhaustive investigations by the National Investigative Agency (NIA), the agency is hardly in a position to draw up a coherent chargesheet to plug the holes in the story. The exact point of entry of the terrorists remains a mystery and footprints picked up near the border could not be matched with those killed in the encounter. Though the NIA now claims that six terrorists were killed at the Pathankot airbase, the recovery from the debris at the billet where two terrorists were holed up yielded nothing concrete, not even guns. It was only after forensic examination that the NIA was able to confirm the existence of mortal remains of the two terrorists mixed up in the blast material. A senior officer of the Border Security Force (BSF) pointed out that despite the best efforts of the BSF and the NIA, the infiltration point could not be determined. An investigation by the CBIs own intelligence unit, however, points to a disturbing trend of infiltration of terrorists with tacit support of the ISI. BSF officials feel that most of the terrorists involved had either infiltrated through the Jammu border or arrived in India using fake passports, following which they disappeared in Punjab. We suspect that they get arms and ammunition from ISI sleeper-cells within Punjab, BSF officials said. Obviously, the BSF is reluctant to admit that terrorists were bribing their way into India through the international border between Punjab and Pakistan. In the Pathankot investigation so far, neither the NIA nor the BSF has come across any evidence to confirm this fear. Sustained interrogation of Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, whose car was hijacked by terrorists to carry out the attack, has also drawn a blank. In such a scenario, there appear to be clear signs that the Indian investigative and intelligence agencies are falling woefully short of creating a credible story to prove Pakistani involvement in the Pathankot attack. Thus, the visit by the five-member Joint Investigative Team from Pakistan is unlikely to yield anything more than optics that signify nothing. On the other hand, it may just give Pakistan an excuse to recalibrate its strategy with its sinister objectives. The Maharashtra government's draft law to allow licences for dance bars will be a stringent one that includes a provision for six-months imprisonment and/or a penalty of Rs 50,000 on anyone touching bar dancers or throwing money at them. In a meeting led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday, it was decided that the act would be considered a cognisable and non-bailable offence. The chief minister has already formed a 25-member committee of all-party MLAs to review the draft of the new legislation. The committee was appointed after the Supreme Court rejected the states act to ban dance bars. In the meeting, a few rules were discussed that will be converted into a bill and be tabled in the House during the ongoing Budget Session for final approval. Once the bill is approved, it will be converted into an Act and will be applicable across the state, said an official. According to the official, installing CCTVs at the entrance of dance bars and on the dance floor will be mandatory. The owner will have to keep the CCTV footage for up to 30 days. In 2015, the Supreme Court had struck down a total ban on dance bars. While upholding the right of bar dancers to follow their profession, it directed the Maharashtra government to grant licenses to these establishments. The state had imposed a set of 26 conditions before allowing dance bars to operate. These stipulations were challenged by the dance bar association. The state government, which is keen on ensuring that these bars do not reopen, is working on a legislation to prevent them from reopening. It has announced a committee of legislators from both Houses to finalise the law to work around the judgment. The first meeting of the committee, which was attended by Fadnavis, was held on Tuesday. The proposed bill seeks to maintain the dignity of women working in hotels, restaurants and bars and prevent their exploitation. Commenting on this development, Varsha Kale from the Bar Girls Association, said that the dance bars in Mumbai will only open in phases and it will take some time before they are back on track. But the current recommendation by committee is very strict, she said. The state government seems determined to impose strict conditions while regulating dance bars in the state, some of which may be impossible to fulfill, she added. We will definitely oppose the guidelines recommended by the committee in the Supreme Court. "Many women, prior to entering the profession of dancing, worked as domestic servants and agricultural laborers. Due to exploitation faced in other jobs, they came into dancing, exercising the option for safer and more secure work environment," she added. Incidentally, permit rooms and country liquor bars need to be located at a minimum of 75 metres from educational and religious institutions, while it is 50 metres for beer and wine shops. The draft has suggested that if the bar owner or operator allows a bar dancer to be exploited, he will be penalised Rs 10 lakh or imprisoned for three years or both. In the new draft, a dance bar will not be allowed to stay open beyond 11.30 pm. Earlier, dance bars were allowed to remain open till 2 am. It has also been suggested that three women security guards be posted, and women waiters and bar dancers be asked to stay on after 9.30 pm only with their consent. Vulgar dances or actions will not be allowed. The bar dancer will not be allowed to be scantily clad and dance bars will not be permitted within the periphery of one kilometre from educational institutes and places of worship. If an illegal dance bar is found, the owner or operator will be liable for a fine of Rs 25 lakh and/or imprisonment for five years. The offence will be non-bailable and cognisable. The distance between the dance floor and the seating arrangement should be five feet and no person will be allowed to go to the dance floor, the draft has suggested. People who visit dance bars must be over 25 years and must have valid age and identity proof. With inputs from agencies The Jungle Book comes to our screens on 8 April, and will bring to life possibly the best-known tiger in fiction, Shere Khan. But off screen, it is another tiger who is in the spotlight. T-24 or Ustad as he is popularly known has been at the centre of a debate among Rajasthan state forest department officials, wildlife activists and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) ever since May 2015. After years of roaming free, since his birth in late 2005, Ustad was transported from the Ranthambore National Park to a zoo enclosure in the Udaipur Sajjangarh Biological Park after he mauled a forest ranger to death that month. The May 2015 attack was the fourth of its kind by Ustad, in five years. He had previously killed two villagers in July 2010 and March 2012, and another forest ranger in October 2012. While the state forest department took the decision to move Ustad whom they labelled a man eater out of the wild and into captivity, it was met with stiff resistance from tiger conservationists. They moved the courts to block Ustads relocation, but were turned down. Ustad, used to roaming over 5,000 hectares for the past nine years of his life, was placed in an enclosure that was a little under a hectare in area in Sajjangarh. News reports have stated that the tiger has been suffering from ill health for much of his time there and was operated on in December 2015. In December, a fresh petition to move Ustad back to the wild was filed by tiger conservationist Ajay Dubey. In his petition, Dubey had said that Ustad had been arbitrarily branded a man eater, and that the deaths had been a result of humans straying into his territory (rather than the tiger hunting them down). The NCTA had made a similar observation in a July 2015 report on Ustads relocation, stating that there had been a considerable time gap between the attacks on the humans, and that the killings had been the consequences of chance encounters due to excessive human proximity to (the) tiger. However, the forest department officials stood by their assessment; they said that relocating the tiger to another location in the wild was not an option. And on Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Ustad should remain in captivity at Sajjangarh. The experts have said it is a man eater. We are not interfering with the shifting of a man-eating tiger to a zoo. It involves safety of humans, the bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and UU Lalit said. Incidentally, during his reign at Ranthambore, Ustad was considered among the star attractions for tourists at the national park. With the Supreme Court's decision, however, it seems the tiger will never return to his former home, or to anyplace else in the wild. Chertala: Slamming the CPI(M), which snubbed her by denying seats to her party to contest in the 16 May assembly polls, JSS leader K R Gowri alleged on Wednesday that she had been "deceived" by the Marxist party. "CPI(M) had invited us and then deceived us by denying seats. They have cheated us," the 97-year-old communist leader told reporters after a meeting of JSS state committee in Kolkata. Gowri further said, "It is like waking up a sleeping person and telling him that there was no food." JSS had sought four seats Aroor, Chertala, Karunagapally and Kayamkulam from the LDF, which was turned down by the left front. Meanwhile, welcoming the BJP's call to join the NDA bandwagon, she said a decision on this would be taken at the next meeting of the JSS. A N Rajan Babu, a leader of breakaway faction of JSS, had recently joined the NDA. Gowri had been invited by the Marxist party to join the CPI(M) last year after state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, took over the reins of the party in the state. Though she had agreed at first, certain issues relating to party assets had cropped up within her party, Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS) after which the merger decision was given up. Gowri, a prominent figure in the Communist movement in Kerala, had been associated with CPI(M)-led LDF after severing her ties with UDF following differences with its leadership. She was a minister in the first Communist government in Kerala headed by E M S Namboodiripad in 1957 and had also served as minister in the Communist governments in Kerala in 1967, 1980, and 1987. She was also a Minister in the UDF government from 2001 to 2006. Can you recall Girdhar Gamang, the former Orissa chief minister whose single vote toppled the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999? Gamang, a Lok Sabha member, was sworn in as chief minister without being elected to the state assembly. He was legally right but was justly accused of moral impropriety for participating in a no-confidence vote against the Vajpayee government. As a result the government fell. But Vajpayee also stood to gain. The combination of a scheming Sonia Gandhi-led Congress and conspiratorial J Jayalalitha could not get traction in the subsequent election, as Vajpayee won again and lasted for a full term. But hard lessons of morality and ethics are always expendable at the altar of political pragmatism. The BJP's penchant for this kind of pragmatism is evident all through the Uttarakhand crisis. There is little doubt that Chief Minister Harish Rawat lost support of the majority of legislators when his nine MLAs revolted against him. But that was an internal crisis of the Congress party, and the Centre had no role to fish in the troubled water. The BJP sensed the kill and went for the jugular. Those within the party and acquainted with the affairs admit that the party leadership gave a go ahead to bring down the government, as the slang goes, 'by hook or by crook'. Circumstances prove that there was no dearth of inducement even from the BJP's side. At the same time, enough pressure was put on Governor KK Paul and mandarins of the North block to fall in line with the BJP leaderships gameplan. After a brief resistance, they found it futile and gave in. A misplaced euphoria seems to have gripped the BJP after Wednesdays verdict by a division bench of the Nainital High Court, that stayed the floor test scheduled for Thursday by a single member bench of the same court. Obviously, it is nobodys argument that the Congress emerged out with flying colours in the entire crisis. The manner in which the Rawat government used the institution of the speaker to muffle the dissent and suspend nine rebel legislators in violation of the law only confirmed the partys scant regard for principled approach to politics. The Congress is evidently weighed with too much internal contradictions to collapse under its own weight. What is particularly galling is the manner in which the Centre acted as partisan to accentuate the contradictions. The detailed order of the single member judge of the Nainital High court was apparently justified in deciding to hold the floor test to ascertain the majority of the government. The Supreme Court had clearly laid down the grounds in the landmark SR Bommai case for ascertaining the majority. Though the court cannot scrutinize the decision of the President, it can certainly evaluate the material on the basis of which the decision to invoke the Presidents Rule is arrived at. What is curious is the fact that though the Centre has consistently maintained that the article 356 was invoked following the Governors report, the union government has still not made that report available to the court. On the other hand, the Centre has been raising objections over a perceived incongruity in the courts first order that calls for the floor test. According to the Centre, with the imposition of the Presidents Rule, once the state assembly is put under suspended animation, it cannot be revived. Though the Centre's position might be constitutionally correct, the first Nainital court apparently adheres to the letter and spirit of the SR Bommai judgment, which allows the court to evaluate the material on the basis of which the Presidents decision was taken. In this particular case, according the Bommai judgment, the governments majority can only be tested on the floor of the house. In comparison to the Uttrakhand case, the Allahabad High Courts decision to hold the composite floor test in Jagdambika Pal case in 1998 was literally beyond the provision under the constitution. Pal was appointed as chief minister after sacking Kalyan Singh by Governor Romesh Bhandari. Atal Behari Vajpayee went on an indefinite fast in protest. However, the court intervened and called for a floor test in which Kalyan Singh and Pal sat by the side of the speaker, following which Singh won and was elected as chief minister. For the first time in the history of India, a new way of appointment of the chief minister was evolved through the courts order. Since the BJP was the biggest beneficiary of the decision, the party hailed the courts direction. There are many instances which indicate that the BJP cleverly shifts the goal post on morality. In such a situation, it would not be wrong to assume that Modis carefully cultivated image of promoting federalism in the country has been grossly undermined. Political exigencies of the BJP are clearly taking a toll on ethical governance. As the BJP acquires predatory instincts and dictates the agenda of governance, it appears hardly distinguishable from the Congress. Perhaps the more things change, the more they stay the same. Beirut: Regime troops were locked in heavy fighting with the Islamic State group in central Syria after dealing the jihadists a major blow by seizing the ancient city of Palmyra. Backed by "intense" air strikes by both Syrian and Russian warplanes, pro-government fighters advanced southwest towards the jihadist-held town of Al-Qaryatain on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. They captured a series of strategic hilltops overlooking the town, whereAfter around 500 civilians are still living, according to the Britain-based monitor. The advance comes as the UN refugee agency prepares to host a conference Wednesday in Geneva to secure concrete pledges from nations to resettle those displaced by the conflict. IS had seized Al-Qaryatain in August 2015, kidnapping at least 230 people, including dozens of Christians, and razing the Mar Elian monastery. The town lies on a key road linking Palmyra with the Qalamun region of Damascus province to the west. Sunday's capture of Palmyra, known as the "Pearl of the Desert" for its colonnaded alleyways and stunning temples, was seen as the biggest blow so far in the war against IS in Syria. Regime hails Palmyra's fall Syria's government has described the victory as proof of its credentials in the anti-IS fight. President Bashar al-Assad said the military advances would also help efforts to find a political solution by deterring countries that are "hindering the settlement". In an interview with Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency, he named Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France and Britain as countries that are "counting on our defeat on the battlefield in order to impose their conditions at the negotiations". "So these military actions and successes will lead to the acceleration of the political settlement, and not prevent it," Assad said. Syria's armed forces have pledged to strengthen their hold on Palmyra and press on towards IS's northern bastion in Raqa as well as the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor to the east. France said the recapture of Palmyra was "positive news". But the victory "should not exonerate the Damascus regime" of its responsibilities in the conflict, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said during a visit to Algeria. The jihadists swept into Palmyra, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, in May 2015 and began a campaign to destroy tombs and shrines it considered idolatrous. The extremist group demolished the 2,000-year-old temple of Bel and also blew up the Arch of Triumph. Deminers, sniffer dogs Syria's head of antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, told AFP that 80 percent of the site was still "in good shape" and the ancient ruins could be restored in five years with UNESCO's help. But UN expert Annie Sartre-Fauriat, who belongs to a panel on Syrian heritage set up by UNESCO in 2013, said she was "very doubtful" that would be possible. As they retreated from Palmyra at the weekend, IS fighters planted roadside mines near some of the most celebrated ruins of the city. Army sappers have already defused dozens of the makeshift bombs and have conducted controlled detonations of others, a military source told AFP. On Tuesday, Moscow dispatched a group of Russian deminers, sniffer dogs, and advanced radar equipment to help secure the city, Russia's state media channel Pervy Kanal reported. Moscow began its air war in support of Assad's troops on September 30, 2015, carrying out strikes on "terrorist" targets across the country. The air campaign has been criticised by rebel groups, their Western backers, and rights groups as indiscriminate. In the last quarter of 2015, Russian air strikes in Syria likely killed more than 1,000 civilians, the Airwars monitoring group said. The London-based group gathered media reports, accounts from rebel groups and non-governmental organisations to compile the estimated toll. It said its provisional view was that between September 30 and December 31, as many as 1,448 civilians were "likely" killed in Russian strikes. Earlier this month, Russia announced a drawdown but it said it would keep up its support for the regime's battle against IS and other jihadist groups. Analysts say only 10-25 percent of Russian forces have left Syria since President Vladimir Putin announced the withdrawal. Islamabad: Pakistan's interior minister says hundreds of Islamists protesting the hanging of a policeman who had shot and killed a secular governor have ended their rally outside parliament. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan says the protesters began dispersing on Wednesday after he warned the government would use force if they failed to depart peacefully. Awais Noorani, one of the protest leaders, called on demonstrators to disperse, saying a deal had been reached with the government. The interior minister denied any agreement had been reached, but said religious leaders had helped convince the protesters to leave the area. The protesters were demanding strict Shariah law be imposed after the hanging of police officer Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Governor Salman Taseer in 2011 over his opposition to the country's far-ranging blasphemy laws. They also demanded the hanging of a Christian woman Taseer had defended against blasphemy allegations, and asked that Qadri be declared a national martyr. Khan says police have detained more than 1,000 protesters over the last four days, and would only release those not implicated in violence. BRASILIA Brazil's largest party announced on Tuesday it was leaving President Dilma Rousseff's governing coalition and pulling its members from her government, a departure that sharply raises the odds she could be impeached in a matter of months. The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) took just a few minutes to decide unanimously in a packed leadership meeting that its six ministers in Rousseff's Cabinet and all other party members with government appointments must resign immediately. Under Brazil's presidential system, Rousseff will remain in office but the break cripples her fight against impeachment proceedings in Congress, which could put Vice President Michel Temer, leader of the PMDB, in the presidential seat. Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment efforts a coup to oust her ruling Workers' Party (PT). The opposition is pressing to impeach her for allegedly breaking budget laws to boost spending in the run-up to her 2014 re-election. Their efforts gained steam as more than 1 million Brazilians took to the streets this month to protest at the worst recession in decades and a vast corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) that has reached the president's inner circle. "We're going to try to change the country. The economic and social crisis is very serious," Senator Romero Juca, the PMDB's first vice-president, said after the rowdy meeting in which party members chanted "Temer President" and "Out with the PT." The loss of Rousseff's main coalition partner may prompt smaller parties to abandon the government, leaving Brazil's first female president increasingly isolated as the impeachment process nears a vote in the lower house, expected in mid-April. It would be Brazil's first impeachment since former President Fernando Collor de Mello was put on trial in the Senate in 1992 for corruption. Rousseff's struggles are just a part of a broad crisis in Brazil, which was hailed until recently as one of the world's most promising developing countries alongside China, India and Russia. Brazil's economy shrank 3.8 percent last year and is on track for the worst two-year recession in more than a century, according to economists. The government is also grappling with an epidemic of the mosquito-borne Zika virus as it scrambles to prepare for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August. TRIP CANCELLED Rousseff will seek new coalition allies and form a new government by the end of the week, her chief of staff Jaques Wagner told reporters. Rousseff cancelled a trip to a nuclear security summit in Washington because of the deepening political crisis, two government officials told Reuters on Tuesday. She requires the backing of 171 members of congress - or one-third of the lower house - to block impeachment. The loss of the PMDB's 68 votes, means the PT - which has 58 members - must rely heavily on its smaller coalition partners. Including allies such as the Progressive Party (PP), the Republican Party (PR) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the government believes it can muster 180 votes. However, the PP will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to withdraw from the governing coalition. If the lower house backs impeachment, the Senate must then decide by a simple majority whether to put Rousseff on trial, at which point she would be temporarily suspended and Temer would become acting president. The Senate could vote on that as soon as early May. Investors weary of Rousseff's interventionist economic policies and a deepening recession have cheered the prospect of her ouster, boosting Brazil's currency 8 percent this year as the benchmark Bovespa stock index .BVSP rose 19 percent. However, many analysts warn that impeachment could usher in a period of political turmoil, with several senior PMDB figures also targeted by the graft investigation. Temer aides said he was ready to lead Brazil with policies restoring business confidence. Temer's plan is expected to include drastic cuts in public spending to close a fiscal deficit that cost Brazil its investment-grade credit rating. Senator Aecio Neves, leader of the main opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party, said he and the leaders of five other opposition parties were ready to back a transitional government led by Temer. "Rousseff's government is finished. The departure of the PMDB is the last nail in the coffin of a dying government," Neves told reporters. Neves, who narrowly lost to Rousseff in the 2014 election, said within 10 days of the lower house decision the Senate would vote to suspend the president's mandate and put her on trial. However, the speaker of the Senate, PMDB Senator Renan Calheiros, said that the Supreme Court needed to set the calendar for the process in the Senate. A senior PMDB senator told Reuters this month that the government lacks the votes to win a trial there. Marina Silva, a environmentalist and political leader who came third in presidential elections in 2010 and 2014, slammed the PMDB for opportunism in severing its alliance with Rousseff's party. "In just three minutes ... the PMDB decided to jump from the government's coalition of which, for the past 13 years, it was the biggest beneficiary - without any explanation to the Brazilian people, and with no apology for being equally responsible for all the things that led to the current crisis," she said. (Additional reporting by Alonso Soto and Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Alistair Bell and Andrew Hay) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Larnaca: A Cyprus court has ordered the detention for eight days of an Egyptian man who admitted to hijacking a domestic EgyptAir flight and diverting it to the east Mediterranean island nation by threatening to blow it up with a fake explosives belt. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said Wednesday that the suspect, whom authorities had earlier identified as 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Tuesday's dramatic hijacking ended peacefully when police arrested the suspect after all 72 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus A320 aircraft were released. Lambrianou said that the suspect told police: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" AP New Delhi: The Taliban attack in a Lahore park during an Easter celebration on Sunday that claimed more than 70 lives carries a strong warning for Pakistan that it should stop differentiating between good terrorist and bad terrorist and stop harbouring militants to use them against India. While security and counter-terrorism experts in India have ruled out any possible connection between the Taliban attack in Lahore and the visit of Pakistans joint investigation team to Pathankot, they have reiterated that Pakistan ought to stop exporting militancy to India, if it wants to have peace on its own soil. Former chief of R&AW, CD Sahay said, The suicide attack at the park in Lahore has nothing to do with Pakistani officials visiting Pathankot. But, its high time for Pakistani establishment both army and government to examine, analyse and recognise that they have a serious problem with terrorist groups on their soil. They should take strong action against all terror groups, and stop differentiating between a good and a bad terror group. There is a need for a cleansing operation, as we can see that terrorism has taken deep roots even in Punjab (Pakistan). Ajai Sahni, director, Institute of Conflict Management added, The Lahore suicide bombing has nothing to do with Pakistani officials visiting Pathankot. Its a routine affair in Pakistan and the attack on non-Sunnis has been going on for decades. Its a follow up of the policy of extremists to destroy all non-Sunnis, like Shias, Ahmadiyyas, Christians, Hindus, etc who have deviant ideologies from Sunni Islam. After the Pakistan Army took on the Taliban in the past in North Waziristan, the group has shown signs of retaliation. The Sunday attack is an extension to it. It has again exposed Pakistans helplessness to deal with its Frankensteins monster, as the nation is in a Catch-22 situation. Defence analyst Major-General Dhruv Katoch (retd) remarked, The suicide attack in Lahore is retaliation to what the Pakistani establishment did at North Waziristan. To get rid of the Taliban from North Waziristan, the army bombed and ruined the town, which led to the displacement of a million people. While, the Taliban cadre and leaders escaped, the incident left a deep scar on refugees. Now the Taliban is giving it back to Pakistan by hitting where it hurts most. They want to send a message to Pakistan's army and government that 'if you attack us, well destroy you'. And they have been doing so. Now the battle has shifted to Punjab in Pakistan, which has been comparatively peaceful. Its going to be a difficult game for Pakistani military to deal with the menace it created; pressure going to mount multiple times on them. Even, the huge protest rally that was taken out in Islamabad on Sunday in support of Mumtaz Qadri who was executed for the murder of reformist politician Salman Taseer demonstrates the spread of deep-rooted radical ideology in Pakistan. People at the park in Lahore were attacked because they comprised non-Wahhabis. For the Pakistan-based terrorists, its either Wahhabi ideology or none. Its high time for Pakistan to come up with a pragmatic policy to deal with terrorism, without differentiating between a bad or a good terrorist as per their suitability. First and foremost, Pakistan has to stop funding terror activities across the Indian border, and in Jammu and Kashmir. The Pathankot incident was one such incident, added Katoch, former director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies. It wont be easy for Pakistan to deal with terrorism on its soil. Their society is facing turmoil. It wont be quick either and wont be possible without bloodshed, because the moment Pakistani establishment attacks terror groups, they will hit back just as in Lahore. Indias always ready to give a helping hand to Pakistan, but first they have to stop harbouring terrorism, added Sahay. Islamabad: Pakistani police were readying on Wednesday to disperse hundreds of radical Islamists rallying outside the Parliament building in Islamabad if they failed to leave peacefully, officials said. Earlier, interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had warned the demonstrators on Tuesday that the government would use force if they did not halt their sit-in, underway since Sunday. Thousands of riot police and paramilitary troops have been deployed around the site, police official Nauman Alvi said. Khan, the minister, said nearly 7,000 security forces were awaiting a government order to move in. "We don't want any violence, but we can't tolerate it anymore," Khan said. More than 10,000 Islamists from Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group descended on Islamabad on Sunday to denounce last month's hanging of officer Mumtaz Qadri for the 2011 murder of secular Gov. Salman Taseer who had campaigned against Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws. The protesters also demand the death of a jailed Christian woman whom Taseer had defended against blasphemy allegations, as well as enforcement of Islamic Shariah law in the country. The government has said it will not fulfill their demands. Their rally turned violent on Sunday and police fired tear gas but failed to disperse the protesters. Though the sit-in continued, the number of protesters has dwindled down to about 1,200. Qadri's hanging was part of the government's latest efforts to turn the tide against extremism and militancy, which have claimed tens of thousands of lives over the last decade. The Islamabad protest comes against the backdrop of a massive suicide bombing by a breakaway Taliban faction that targeted Christians gathered for Eastern Sunday in a park in Lahore, killing 72 people, most of them Muslim. Brussels: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brussels on Wednesday for a hectic day-long visit during which he will attend the India-EU Summit and hold bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel. Though terror is expected to figure prominently both at the Summit and also in the bilateral talks in the wake of the Brussels suicide attacks last week, Modi will strive to advance India's partnership with EU in priority areas such as 'Make in India' and 'Smart Cities'. "A red carpet at dawn. PM @narendramodi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted soon after the Prime Minister's arrival in the Belgian capital. A red carpet at dawn. PM @narendramodi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels pic.twitter.com/N5VwGMSE63 Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016 Modi's visit comes days after the 22 March terror attack here in which at least 32 people were killed, including an Indian, Raghavendran Ganeshan, who was an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. The 13th India-EU Summit is being held after a gap of four years. The last Summit was held in New Delhi in 2012 and negotiations remained deadlocked over several key issues. Besides firming up India-EU counter-terror partnership, the Summit in Brussels is expected to evince interest in other projects like cleaning of Ganga on the lines of River Rhine and Danube. EU is India's biggest trading partner as a bloc with trade amounting to USD 126 billion and it is also India's largest export destination with exports worth USD 65 billion. It is the largest source of FDI in India at USD 69 billion. Soon after his arrival, Modi has a series of meetings lined up including one with indologists along with a meeting with members of the European Parliament and the Belgian Parliament. On the eve of the Prime Minister's visit, the EU said in a statement that "the Summit in Brussels will be an opportunity to re-launch relations and make concrete progress on areas of mutual interest, including trade and investment, energy, climate, water and migration." "India-EU Summit and strong economic & investment ties with Belgium will be on the agenda during my Brussels visit," Modi had said before embarking on his visit. He had hailed the "resilience and spirit" of its people in the wake of the horrific Brussels bombings and said India stands "shoulder-to-shoulder" with them. From Brussels, Modi will leave for Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit on 31 March and 1 April and from there, he will travel to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation. PTI New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi late Tuesday night left for Brussels as part of the three-nation tour. "An invigorating mix of bilateral & multilateral diplomacy in the offing as PM @narendramodi departs on 3 nation tour," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. An invigorating mix of bilateral & multilateral diplomacy in the offing as PM @narendramodi departs on 3 nation tour pic.twitter.com/rlSeIkH5Sa Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) March 29, 2016 From Brussels, Modi will leave for Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit on 31 March and 1 April and from there, he will travel to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation. In Brussels, Modi will attend the 13th India-EU Summit. In a pre-departure statement, he said it will advance multifaceted engagement across a whole range of sectors and described the 28-member bloc as a "vital trading partner". India-EU Summit and strong economic & investment ties with Belgium will be on the agenda during my Brussels visit. https://t.co/g8dBL6yY5t Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 29, 2016 PTI Geneva: The refugee crisis caused by Syria's war requires an "exponential" rise in global solidarity, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday, as he opened a conference on securing resettlement places for those displaced. "We are here to address the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time," Ban told the conference in Geneva. "This demands an exponential increase in global solidarity." The Geneva meet follows a conference in London in February where world nations pledged $11 billion (9.7 billion euros) to help manage one of the largest displacements of people since World War Two. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that 4.8 million Syrians have been forced to flee the country during its five-year civil war, while another 6.6 million people have been internally displaced. The aim of the Geneva meet is to secure relocation pledges for 10 percent of Syria's refugees, or 480,000 people, which the UN wants moved outside of Syria's neighbours who are currently absorbing an enormous refugee burden. Ban said the 480,000 figure was "a relatively small number," compared with those being hosted by Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. AFP Jodhpur: BJP MP Adityanath on Wednesday expressed his pain for Tibet at a religious meeting in Pokhran in Jaisalmer. Condemning China and all the national and international human rights organisations for turning a "blind eye to the woes of Tibet", Yogi said that Tibet is seething in "pain of Chinese oppression as well as International negligence." "Long ago, Tibet was also a part of India like Nepal and Sri Lanka, which are independent nations today. "But the struggle and helplessness of Tibet gives much pain due to its victimization by China," he said while attending a religious function of Shivsukhnatha maharaj at Aseri Math. "Those powers or institutions, which question the 'sanatan' culture of India in the name of threat to secularism, are surprisingly quiet on the issue and persecution of Tibet at the hands of China," he said. Expressing similar observations for Pakistan, he said that "Pakistan has been afflicted with its internal conflicts and has gradually been losing its own existence." "Like China, Pakistan would also collapse any time soon and would not have any existence in future," he said. He said every citizen of India should feel proud in being its citizen and if they do not say Vandematram or "Bharat mata ki Jay", they did not have any moral right to live in this nation. PTI TBILISI Russia is moving further away from having Western sanctions lifted over its role in the Ukraine crisis, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told Reuters on Wednesday. Hammond, who was in Georgia to meet Prime Minister Georgy Kvirikashvili and to visit the BP-operated South Caucasus Pipeline, has a track record of robustly criticising Russia's actions. His comments run counter to statements from some European diplomats and business interests who argue Russia is getting closer to having sanctions lifted after they were imposed by the West over Moscow's support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. "If Russia wants the sanctions lifted, then its course of actions is very clear. It has to comply completely with its obligations under the Minsk agreements," he told Reuters in an interview, referring to a shaky ceasefire deal between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces. "Unfortunately, what we've seen over the last couple of months, is an increase in violations of the ceasefire," he said. "So, we appear to be going backwards over the last weeks and months." International monitors have warned of increasing violence in eastern Ukraine, saying rebels backed by Russia have moved heavy weaponry back to the front line. Western powers also say they have satellite images, videos and other evidence to show Russia is providing weapons to the rebels and that Moscow has troops engaged in the conflict that erupted following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014. Russia denies such accusations. "We must not forget that this was an incursion into the sovereign territory of Ukraine, Russia annexed Crimea illegally in international law," Hammond said. "Of course, reforms and steps are needed on the Ukrainian side as well. But we should never equate the two. Russia is the aggressor in this conflict." Extended at the end of last year, the Minsk peace deal signed by Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany aims to give Ukraine back control of its border with Russia, see all heavy weapons withdrawn, return hostages and allow an internationally monitored local election in the east. Hammond earlier told a news conference Russia represented a threat to all countries because of its disregard for international norms. When asked by Reuters whether Russia still posed a threat to countries in the region such as Georgia and the Baltic states, Hammond told a news conference: "Russia ignores the norms of international conduct and breaks the rules of the international system. That represents a challenge and a threat to all of us." (Writing by Margarita Antidze and Jack Stubbs; Editing by Hugh Lawson) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. LG has signed the popular actor Jason Statham for the first G5 TV spot. The newest commercial will highlight the fun and playful experiences possible with the G5 and its versatile Modular Type design and the commercial will portray Jason Statham experiencing the G5 in exciting and fun ways. Every character in the commercial is portrayed by Statham, an amusing mise-en-scene consistent with the G5s Lifes Good when you Play More tagline, said LG. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4KKyWkzfQY As the company already announced, the G5 modular smartphone will release in Korea on March 31st and in the US on April 1st. It will roll out in Europe, Asia and the Middle East approximately through 200 carriers and operators worldwide later. The commercial will be shown worldwide, including North America, Latin America, Europe and East Asia starting April 1st (Korea Standard Time). Regarding the new commercial, Chris Yie, vice president and head of marketing communications for LG Mobile Communications Company, said: Since its unveiling at MWC, weve heard from many who say theyve been waiting for a phone like the G5. With the G5, our intention is to show how smartphones can go beyond just being a communication device and deliver a playful mobile experience that can enrich our lives. South Korea has culled more than 11,000 ducks as a preventive measure against the bird flu. Some of the ducks at a poultry farm in the northwestern city of Incheon had tested positive for a virulent strain of the bird flu this past Saturday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. According to Headlines & Global News, the ministry said also that in order to prevent avian influenza from spreading, all 11,604 ducks were slaughtered. The farm has also been placed under quarantine. The strain was identified as H5N8, which is a subtype of the influenza A virus that is not as pathogenic as the H1N1. The issue was confirmed at the farm after the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency and a livestock research center in the region conducted a thorough investigation when the farm reported that dozens of their ducklings had mysteriously died in numbers. Since the confirmation, the ministry has issued an order banning all poultry and eggs from leaving any farms in the Gyeonggi Province. The order will last through April 2. In addition to this measure, the city also made two disease monitoring posts that will be responsible for disinfecting all vehicles that enter and leave the city. The posts will stay until health officials can determine and classify that there is no transmission risk involved. The North Chungcheong Province also set up same posts, while Jeju Island is not allowing the entry of any poultry, eggs and birds coming from the Gyenoggi Province, Seoul and Incheon. It was in November 2015 the last time that South Korea had a confirmed case of the bird flu. The concern involved was also the H5N8. An infection typically goes down to respiratory flu-like symptoms, such as a headache, coughing and fever. Although there are symptoms, confirming an infection requires laboratory tests. UK Top News reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, "Avian influenza, a virus infection in humans cannot be diagnosed by clinical signs and symptoms alone - laboratory testing is required. Avian influenza, a virus infection is usually diagnosed by collected swab from the nose or throat of the sick person during the first few days of sickness. This specimen is sent to a laboratory. The laboratory looks for avian influenza, a virus either by using a molecular test, by trying to grow the virus or both." News of the bird flu came shortly afterwards the country dealt with an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) that affected pigs from a farm in Gimje last January. An Athens Kroger gives a reason for its decision to provide a unisex bathroom to customers and employees with a sign that's gone viral online. According to Online Athens, the sign is posted on the lavatory door of a grocery store in Athens, Georgia. It stated: "We have a UNISEX bathroom because sometimes gender specific toilets put others into uncomfortable situations." The sign posted on the door of the unisex bathroom at the Kroger near Athens Tech on U.S. Highway 29 explains who might want to use the bathroom. "And since we have a lot of friends coming to see us, we want to provide a place for our friends who are: o Dads with daughters o Moms with sons o Parents with disabled children o Those in the LGBTQ community o Adults with aging parents who may be mentally or physically disabled THANK YOU for helping us to provide a safe environment for EVERYONE!" the sign read. A customer's image of the sign shared and spread on Facebook on Saturday received more than 41,000 reactions and 1,500 comments. In addition to that, 60,000 people shared the photo on Facebook as of Monday evening. According to Fox 4 Kansas City, the public relations director, Glynn Jenkins, for Kroger's Atlanta Division, said the manager of the Athens Kroger could not be interviewed, but he gave a statement in response to the chatter about the signage. "Kroger stores with unisex bathrooms or lavatory rooms are designed to serve our customers in all the ways put on that sign: parents with young children, parents with disabled children, adults with aging parents, the LGBTQ community and for any other reason such a hospitality might be more a convenience for everyone," Jenkins wrote in a statement. "We are proud and happy to serve each and every customer that walks through our doors." The signage also adds the store "has a unisex bathroom because sometimes gender specific toilets put others into uncomfortable situations." The store got praise for its description as well as negative reactions to the bathrooms also in Facebook comments on the photo. Portion control is an essential part of healthy eating. No matter how healthy one's food choice may be, it is always bad when one is unmindful of how much one eats. Eating out is always a problem because menu items do not usually come with any information on the number of calories they contain. For this reason, it is very easy to exceed one's calorie requirements. To give consumers the opportunity to make well-informed food choices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a regulation requiring calorie labeling on restaurant menus and vending machines, a regulation that is still unimplemented up to this day. And customers might have to wait another year for the law to take effect. According to a Yahoo News article by Mary Clare Jalonick, the implementation of the calorie labeling on menu items will be delayed until next year. Apparently, the FDA is still finalizing the guidelines for retailers and supermarkets who are also required to also display the calorie count of their packaged meals. According to Robert Rosado of Food Marketing Institute, the delay is only fair since the rules are complicated. In addition, Rosado said that the retailers are concerned they could get it wrong. "Maybe the font size isn't right for their label or they rounded the calorie count the wrong way," added Rosado. It is not the first time that the implementation of the new regulation has been postponed. Released last 2014, restaurants and retailers originally had until he end of 2015 to comply with the rules. Last summer, the deadline was pushed to the end of 2016. Fortunately, some places like Vermont, Montgomery County, Maryland and New York City already require calorie labeling on menu items. On the other hand, other states, in anticipation of the federal rules, have put off their own laws. For instance, California had a similar law back in 2008 which is still unimplemented until now. At the moment, even the FDA is still unsure when exactly the new guidelines for retailers will be finalized. According to an FDA spokeswoman Lauren Kotwicki, "The FDA cannot speculate on the timing of when final guidance will be issued." In the meantime, consumers might head to some restaurant chains that already includes calorie counts on their menu. McDonalds, Starbucks, Au Bon Pain and Panera are now providing the calories counts of their menu items well ahead of the federal guidelines' effectivity. This year's flavor trend in America savors the delights of Asian spices, as presented by Flavor Forecast. It turned out that the global warming is not an issue to heat up Western culinary with 'sambals' and other tropical Asian flavors. McCormick Flavor Forecast published 2016 edition of food trends in America - stating about 'ancestral flavors' and 'Heat+Tang' to be incorporated in the foodservice industry. These are the regional specialties that hit the States with its 'adventurous' character that contributes to the mega trend. While flavor may be personal but there are top line trends that last. McCormick annual forecast does the research with the help of food technologists, culinologists, chefs, and trend trackers. The result? These professionals predicted spicy flavors that would take dining experience to a new level with its contrast to tangy accents. McCormick & Co., Inc., as a leading manufacturer and distributor of spices and seasonings, compared the recent trend to previous year's where consumers were obsessed with spice and chilies. The blends of other spices evolved into a combination of Heat + Tang that lifts the flavors. According to the firm's Chef Executive, Gary Patterson, people loved to explore new stuff and it's part of the trend driving force. For instance, Asians who travel to the U.S would consider Mexican food as 'new experience' when the Americans have seen it as 'mainstream'. Furthermore, the company's website describes the top line in the categories with famous signature recipes coming from two Southeast Asia regions, Malaysia and Philippines. These are some of the flavors within the trend: - Sambal: Southeast Asian chili paste made with chilies, rice vinegar, sugar and garlic - Pinoy BBQ: Phillippines' popular street food flavor made out of lemon, garlic, sugar pepper, soy sauce and banana ketchup. - Rendang Curry: Malaysian sauce made using lemongrass, garlic, chilies, ginger, tamarind, turmeric, and coriander. - Blends with Benefits: a line of functional spices and herbs packed with health benefits. Among them are chia seed, turmeric and nutmeg - each also creates a distinct flavor from sweet, zesty to slightly bitter. - Ancient herbs: long-known flavors with historically deep roots such as rosemary, thyme, parsley and lavender. The well-known East Village watering hole, Drexler's, introduced its all-new weekend brunch menu this previous weekend. Known for its Louisiana flare and live music, Drexler's new imaginative mixed drinks highlight why it's favored among local people hoping to snatch a beverage. With uncovered brick walls, whitewashed roofs and an iron bar counter, it has a warm and rustic look with a casual vibe. Downstairs is a low-key lounge that houses a piano and friendlier seating. Since everybody realizes that no true New York City brunch can be had without some chic mixed drinks, the new weekend menu presents an innovative option of daytime specific beverages like the traditional Bloody Marys, classic mimosas and uncommon "Beermosas," which are made with a pilsner brewed exclusively for Drexler's from the Brooklyn-based Kelso Brewery. Likewise, five other mixed drinks were added to cater consumers: the Americano, the Bloody Caesar, Paloma, Bramble and the Mediterranean Bloody Mary. The Bloody Caesar, made with George Green Chile Vodka, horseradish and a measurement of Tabasco sauce, unquestionably has a kick to it. The spicy beverage highlights an intense horseradish flavor, so unless you're a fanatic of spice, control clear according to The Daily Meal. The Paloma is for tequila lovers. This invigorating beverage with Tromba Blanco Tequila and Jarritos Grapefruit soda is somewhat tart and citrusy. The Bramble is likewise a fruitier, sweet mixed drink that is made with Beefeater Gin. Finished with a blackberry, this entirely pink and bubbly drink is one that will soon turn into a most loved among gin drinkers. According to Eater, the Americano is made with Campari and smooth vermouth. With orange flavors and some zest, this strong mixed drink will kick your morning off with a buzz. At last, The Mediterranean Mary is a standout amongst the most extraordinary beverages. The strongest flavors originate from the olive tapenade. If you don't want olives, you won't care for this mixed drink. In the mix with seasonings like basil and oregano, it tastes like a spiked tomato pasta sauce; however, don't let that hinder you. Garnished with a stick of coppa calabrese, mozzarella and a cherry tomato, this beverage has an unpredictable blend of flavors and is an appetizing and fiery cocktail that shouldn't be overlooked. In a report by the Brewer's Association, American craft beer exports topped $116 million. The data, which highlighted the craft beer industry's export data in 2015 and supported by the organization's Export Development Program, saw a huge increase. Apparently, export volume increased by a whopping 16.3% in the past year and totaling 446,151 barrels overall. The major export markets of American craft beer include Canada, which accounts for at least half of the exports. Craft beer exports to the United States' neighbor also increased by 11%. Meanwhile, Western Europe saw a 33% increase in exports. The data also showed known beer-drinking European countries like Ireland, Great Britain, and Sweden having a market share of approximately 10% each. Australia ended the list with a 4%. In terms of export growth, the Japanese market also had a slight surge at 5%, while the Asia-Pacific region increased by 12.5%. The Brazilian market also grew by a slight margin at 4%. The growth can be credited to the dedication of craft beer brewers and the Export Development Program (EDP). It has generated exposure to the craft beer industry through trade shows and conventions. It was formed with the support of the United States Department of Agriculture. "Small and independent craft brewers are putting American beer on the global map," says Bob Pease, president and CEO, Brewers Association. "There's a growing thirst from beer lovers in countries around the world for bold, innovative products from American craft brewers. As the demand for American craft beer continues to grow abroad, the Brewers Association is pleased to support our members by increasing their access to international markets." Craft beer is different from the beers created by large billion-dollar companies. Basically, craft beers are made by small, independent brewers which have their own breweries. It is usually commonplace and a big business in small towns across the country. In this age, technology comes in all shapes and sizes. Gadgets are designed to make life easier. At the same time, these gadgets are created in compact and concise dimensions. Just like the new water testing kit that is made in the form of a typical smartphone cover. The smart phone cover cum water testing kit was developed by Bhaskar Mitra, a 24-year old who hails from West Bengal. "I like doing crazy stuff", he told Treehugger. Mitra is a food scientist studying at the University of Copenhagen. According to Treehugger, Mitra has had a lot of headline-worthy inventions, but his water treatment smart phone cover is more than just another fad. They even said it could save lives "because it's a smart phone cover that can test water as well as test and treat contaminated liquid food". The University Post said "The idea is that you scan the food using the phone camera and a UV light, revealing potentially harmful microorganisms. A UV lamp on the phone cover can then treat the water - effectively transforming it into a device to treat food and water contamination". Treehugger then further explained how it works "first, you scan your food using your smart phone's camera, in near-darkness and under blue light, and then an app that Mitra has developed reveals anything that shouldn't be there - from impurities such as glass or sand to potentially dangerous microorganisms like listeria and cholera. Then you use the UV lamp to zap any bacteria. Scan your food again to determine if it's safe to consume". And yes, Mitra's invention works on food as well. The main components of Mitra's device are UV lamp and a blue filter used as a cover. And it is also equipped with a solar panel. Mitra's dedication in developing this tool comes from his desire to help Asian nations or third world countries where safe water is more difficult to find. "The tap water in Europe is safe to consume but in a South Asian context it is not. The smart mobile cover that I made is specifically relevant to nations like India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam etc. Street side stalls, eateries and even tap water can be unsafe because of unhygienic conditions...It's an everyday problem for millions of people." Mitra told The University Post. Currently, only a prototype of this smartphone cover is available but a telecommunications company has already showed interest Mitra's invention. China's DaDong Duck Burger was released five months ago and it has proven it's something McDonalds should watch out for. In an article by CNN, they asked if McDonalds should watch their back as Dadong duck burger makes its way to the hearts of many. Peking Duck is a Chinese delicacy prepared and eaten in Beijing since the Imperial Era. It is acceptable to the traditions and the palette of their people. Some other cultures in Asia and around the world also consider duck as a delicacy, just like in Bali, Indonesia. Foie gras, however, is an expensive treat most people enjoy even in the western culture. So it is not so surprising to find a duck burger food joint offering duck food like the DaDong Duck Burger. The Dadong Duck Burgers are made of roasted Peking Duck patty. That alone makes it different from the burgers we know today. CNN said, "While McDonald's and KFC continue to introduce Chinese-style burgers to appeal to local tastes, high-end Peking duck restaurant DaDong has opened his own fast food joint in Beijing". And it looks like the Dadong Duck Burger will make its way to the Western world in no time. It has already ignited the interest of many, just like how to traditional Peking duck made its own name in the culinary world. When DaDong duck burger opened last year, it has created a stir and got both McDonalds and Burger King a new rival in the world of burger production. The servings are also fast-food style. An order usually comes with fries and soft drinks. According to the Beijinger, there's a combo for a Duck Burger and a Coke. There's also a "family combo" which includes two Duck Burgers, two duck legs, a basket of fries, basket of chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes. These combos will surely sell especially to obvious duck delicacy lovers. Some other features of their combo meals include "a glass of soda -- or hot honey pomelo tea -- and fries, the duck burger combo costs 31 yuan ($4.70)". Polar Seltzer just released a new flavor and everyone are excited to try it. The new flavor is called Seltzer Unicorn-Kisses. Polar Seltzer is a calorie-free, sweetener-free and caffeine-free beverage popular for their many different flavors which include blueberry, cranberry lime, pomegranate, vanilla, mandarin, strawberry, lemon etc. According to their website, they sell natural water dosed with bubbles and additional flavors to tickle the taste buds. It's the taste many have come to love. Some even say their drinks somehow taste magical, thus, the flavor of their new drink is nothing short of fitting. The Seltzer Unicorn-Kisses flavor. Boston Magazine pointed out how interesting a bottle of unicorn-kisses can be. "Complete with a unicorn-ized take on the iconic bear logo, obviously. A Polar spokesperson said only 5,000 cases of the new offering were released, and when they're gone, they're gone". This limited edition beverage has sparked the interest of anyone who has ever wondered how a unicorn kiss tastes like. Boston magazine also said that "the label compares the flavor to "sparkling rainbows," staffers described its flavor and/or taste as similar to: melon, Airheads, Skittles, Runts, and vanilla". Since the launch of the beverage, the hash tag #UnicornKisses have been online. People who tried it and people who are eager to try it are using the hash tag. With only 5,000 cases available, people are raiding stores to get to try this intriguing beverage. Boston.Com has compiled some people's review on how this drink actually tastes like. Some say it's a combination of "cotton candy and bubblegum", some argue its taste something in between "cucumber melon and candy apple". One Instagram user also said "it tastes like if you melted sweet-tarts into seltzer" and a couple of drinkers said it taste a lot like skittles. If what they're saying are true, then Polar Seltzer should make more of these unicorn-kisses flavored seltzer. Who wouldn't want to experience the heavenly taste as describe by those lucky enough to get a chance to try? It's been a rough month for Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG 0.89%) investors. The stock has surrendered nearly 7% of its value in March through Monday's close, taking a big bite out of February's rally when the shares rose 12%. That was the biggest monthly gain in Chipotle stock since last July, but that's probably not saying much since the stock has closed lower in six of the eight months following its summertime pop. March isn't over, and that's more bad news for investors in the struggling burrito roller that until last year was the market darling in the fast casual dining niche. Chipotle stock opened lower this morning after its latest analyst downgrade. Wedbush Securities is going from ho-hum to hell no as analyst Nick Setyan is slashing his rating on the stock from neutral to underperform. It's at least the third major analyst to talk down Chipotle's near-term prospects. Jefferies and Maxim Group downgraded the stock earlier this month after the quick-service chain put out a gloomy sales update on its traffic trends through mid-March. Setyan feels that sales are unlikely to recover until 2018, and he feels that Chipotle stock is overvalued in that scenario. To be fair, Setyan had been neutral for more than two years given the stock's lofty valuation until this morning's downgrade. He switched from outperform to neutral on Jan. 24, 2014, meaning he missed out on most of the stock's 28% surge in 2014. He was right not to be bullish during the latter half of last year, of course, when E. coli and norovirus outbreaks weighed on customer zeal, but is now really the time to turn bearish on the stock? It's true that Setyan hasn't been a bull on the stock for some time, but he wasn't this downbeat on the shares before. As recently as last month he was telling Investors Business Daily that he was targeting 2017 as the earliest that sales would return to their pre-food crisis level. Now, a few weeks later, 2018 is the new 2017. The one material incident that has happened since then is that we learned that sales didn't rebound following February's heavy couponing and chainwide closure for a single lunch shift to train its staff on new food safety measures. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ending its probe early last month didn't get folks to queue up at the burrito assembly line again. Chipotle warned that year-over-year sales growth declined 28.7% in February if we back out the extra day this time around. The deficit narrowed to 21.5% during the first week of March and 27.3% during the second week, but this still means that we're eyeing Chipotle's fifth consecutive month of double-digit declines in comparable-restaurant sales. Things should get better from here. Barring any new health scares, Chipotle will be able to discount less aggressively. We're already seeing that as it goes from handing out free bowls and burritos in February to a side of chips with guacamole now. The chain has dug itself into a big hole this quarter, and that's not going to reverse itself entirely during the first quarter of next year. However, with trends likely to improve as 2016 plays out the bar will be that much easier to clear as we dive deeper into 2017. A rough February and disappointing March -- all culminating in what will be Chipotle's first quarterly loss as a public company -- doesn't change that. When Chipotle does recover it will be with a much larger base of restaurants with a greater chance of profitability. Both customers and investors are unlikely to have to wait two years to see that scenario materialize. Coca-Cola (KO 1.60%) owns nearly two dozen billion-dollar brands, everything from its original soda recipe to Fuze tea, but believing it can grow its new premium milk drink into one too shows it's engaging in some pie-in-the-sky thinking. A fair assessment The beverage giant introduced its protein- and calcium-fortified Fairlife milk drink a little over a year ago, during which time it's reportedly generated some $90 million in sales. Analysts say Fairlife gave the broad specialty milk category -- which includes products like lactose-free milk, milk from grass-fed cows, ultra-filtered milk, and milk from cows fed organic feed and not treated with most drugs -- a big jolt last year, helping the segment grow 21% from 2014, though that's likely because it started from a very small base. The USDA reports Americans continue to drink less milk every year. In 2014 (the latest data available), the U.S. consumed 159 pounds of fluid milk per person, a 3.6% drop from the prior year and almost 15% less than a decade ago, but some 36% less than in 1975. Even so, the U.S. continues to produce more milk than ever. Last year 208.6 billion pounds of milk were produced, 1.6% more than in 2014, and the USDA estimates another 1.4% more, or 211.6 billion pounds will be produced this year. While the discrepancy between why dairy farmers are producing more when people are drinking less is a combination of government policy paying them to continue producing more and a still growing export market, the continuous domestic erosion of consumption levels suggests Coca-Cola is going to have a hard time meeting its Fairlife goals. Milking the cow dry Dean Foods (DF) is the largest dairy processor and it reported that net revenues tumbled 14.5% in 2015 as fluid milk sales continue to fall. It said fourth-quarter sales dropped 1.1% in the period, a performance it notes "marks the best category performance at retail going back through at least 2011." Because milk is truly just a commodity, as consumers likely don't distinguish one brand as being any better than another, Dean Foods is still trying to differentiate itself by developing the DairyPure brand that will cover all of its white milk sales. Soon it will face a new competitor in Wal-Mart (WMT 2.02%), which is entering the dairy processing business with a new state-of-the-art facility that's supposed to be the largest in the industry. By becoming more vertically integrated in milk processing, Wal-Mart believes it can reduce costs further and pass along the savings to consumers. It's against this backdrop that Coca-Cola thinks it can offer a higher-priced product that people are drinking less of. Fairlife not only costs more than organic milk, but it's about twice the price of regular milk. Yeah, good luck with that. A premium experience Still, unlike regular white milk you buy at the supermarket, Fairlife contains 50% more protein, half the sugar, and it's lactose-free. Although the U.S. has had a love affair with protein that's kept beef prices at record levels, they've since backed off those peaks. Choice boneless sirloin steak, for example, which hit $8.86 per pound last September, eased to $8.28 per pound last month. Even the average price for ground beef, which rose to $4.71 per pound in February 2015 has come down to $4.38 per pound. While the protein fad led to bacon everything, including ice cream flavors, as well as making cereals like Cheerios protein-fortified, there's undoubtedly a ceiling being reached. Fairlife is betting on consumers willingness to pay up for a value-added product, but even one of the more popular segments of the non-traditional milk market, organic, ran into stagnation last year. For Coca-Cola to believe Fairlife can transform into a billion-dollar brand is just cow-over-the-moon-type thinking. After the Brussels terrorist attacks that left 35 dead and more than 300 wounded in Belgium, U.S. presidential candidates offered diverse responses to the bombings. Some focused on securing the borders, while others proposed more detailed strategies. Sen. Ted Cruzs comments, which called for more patrolling of Muslim neighborhoods in America, came under heavy media scrutiny and sparked debate. During an interview on the FOX Business Networks Varney & Co., Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke discussed his support for patrolling Muslim neighborhoods, and suggested that U.S. law enforcement has already been successfully invoking this type of policing. In New York, theyre doing it under the Handschu agreement which allows the NYPD and their demographics units to go anywhere in these Muslim communities that the public is allowed to go, Sheriff Clarke told Stuart Varney. They do not do rolling surveillance, they do not do rogue spying. The Handschu agreement is a court ordered set of guidelines that govern how the New York City Police Department (NYPD) can monitor political groups. Sheriff Clarke said the police are looking for evidence of radicalization in hot-spot areas and such practices could have uncovered the San Bernardino plot in California. More on this... Milwaukee County Sheriff Clarke Sounds Off on Beyonce The neighbors knew something was up. They knew something didnt smell right, but they were afraid to say anything, Clarke said. We have to get over the notion that these [Muslim communities] are no-go zones. Sheriff Clarke, who recently won the Law Enforcement Executive Officer of the Year Award, discussed the importance of law enforcement to protect Muslim communities and emphasized how police officers, including Muslim cops, have a duty to understand the customs and traditions in those neighborhoods. Five major food corporations are on board to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on all of their products. Campbells Soup (NYSE:CPB) was first, followed by General Mills (NYSE:GIS), Mars, Kelloggs (NYSE:K), and ConAgra Foods (NYSE:CAG). GMO has evolved to be a top consumer food issue reaching a critical mass of 92% of consumers in favor of putting it on the label, Campbells CEO Denise Morrison said in a statement. So, why now? Americans have been consuming GMOs for over 20 years without really knowing if its in their food or not. Well, its all thanks to the tiny state of Vermont, which has essentially boxed big food companies into a corner after the state passed legislation requiring labeling nearly two years ago. I am proud that Vermont took the lead nationally to make sure people know what is in the food they eat, Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said in a statement. Sanders has been the only presidential candidate, whos been front and center about the issue and has openly opposed the bill to block GMO labeling. In April 2014, he said, I will continue my efforts in Washington, against Monsanto (NYSE:MON) and other multi-national food industry corporations, to pass national legislation on this issue. In the meantime, it is extremely important that Vermont and other states lead the way. And, Vermont has. Earlier this month, Congress failed to pass an industry-supported measure that would have created a voluntary national standard for labeling which would have preempted Vermonts law. Now, food giants have a July 1st deadline to comply with their GMO labeling mandate. Sanders rival, Hillary Clinton on the other hand is a big proponent of GMOs. The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), promotes Monsanto and RoundUp, the controversial weed killer that the World Health Organization declared a possible carcinogen last year. Even one of Clintons top campaign advisors, Jerry Crawford, was a lobbyist for Monsanto. Sixty-four countries around the world already require the labeling of genetically modified food, including all of the European Union, Russia, Japan and China. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which already labels more than 3,000 ingredients have been against labeling. The Grocery Manufacturers Association has also fought back against the law, both in court and in Congress, but has failed so far. In the last four years, major food and bio-tech corporations have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to fight GMO labeling at both the state and federal level. Monsanto, the worlds largest seed company told FOXBusiness.com in January that it supports GMO labeling despite reports. Theres a lot of confusion around labeling and I think it surprises a lot of people, Dr. Robert Fraley, Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto said. If were going to label foods it should be done on the national level, not done city by city or state by state. I think this is a clear sign that these food companies have given up hope of a federal bill that would preempt state labeling, which is an incredible win for the movement, says Megan Westgate, Director of the Non-GMO Project, a non-profit dedicated to providing non-GMO labeling for manufacturers. Westgate says her team continues to see tremendous growth in Non-GMO Project verification especially with big food companies. PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) has already labeled their Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice with a Non-GMO Project label, notifying shoppers that the orange juice does not contain genetically modified organisms. The message is clearly getting through that Americans demand transparency about whats in their food, and any food company that wants to survive in the 21st century needs to respect that, says Westgate. Houston, we have a problem. A phrase made popular by the film Apollo 13, which chronicles the aborted 1970 U.S. lunar mission, may now apply to new home construction in the Texan city. Lennar (NYSE:LEN), the nations second largest home builder, reported the strongest first-quarter profits since 2006 on Tuesday, yet noted Houston was its only region to not see a jump. The decrease in home deliveries in Houston was primarily due to less demand driven by volatility in the energy sector, the company noted in its earnings release. Houston, which counts the energy sector as one its biggest industries, is feeling the pinch of depressed oil prices, which are down 62% from the record $101 per barrel reached in 2014. Despite the start of the key spring selling season, Lennar President Rick Beckwitt told analyts the region, especially homes valued over $350K to $400K, will likely remain challenged for the rest of the year. Ticker Security Last Change Change % LEN LENNAR CORP. 73.46 +2.04 +2.86% DHI D.R. HORTON INC. 69.78 +2.62 +3.90% XHB SPDR SERIES TRUST SPDR S&P HOMEBUILDERS ETF 55.05 +1.68 +3.15% MTH MERITAGE HOMES CORP. 68.96 +2.68 +4.04% TOL TOLL BROTHERS INC. 41.76 +1.48 +3.67% Houston is home to 25 Fortune 500 companies, including ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), which is in the process of laying-off 8% of its workforce or 5,000 employees. It has eliminated nearly 20,000 jobs since the oil downturn, according to reports. The company is also in the process of trying to combine with Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) in a $35 billion deal. The tie-up continues to get pushback from the Department of Justice. As for existing home prices, those remain solid, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. Prices of homes valued $150K-$500K saw gains in February with the biggest jump, 9.5%, in the $150K-$250K segment. The exception? Luxury homes, or those valued $500K and higher, saw a 12% drop. The average value of a Lennar home is $365K. Chinese search giant Baidu is often considered one of the safest ways to invest in China's growing Internet sector. In a previous article, I highlighted four solid reasons to buy the stock: its robust user and revenue growth; its impressive ecosystem expansion; its improving cost controls; and its 70% share of China's search market. Beijing, China. Source: Pixabay. Baidu shares have risen about 3,600% over the past decade, but the chances of the stock doubling or tripling from current levels are now limited by fundamental gravity. The company now expects sales for the current quarter to rise just 21% to 26% annually, down from 34% growth in the prior year quarter. The stock's 10% decline over the past 12 months and its trailing P/E ratio of 13 both indicate that investors no longer consider it to be a top Chinese growth stock. Investors with a higher risk tolerance should instead consider two other Chinese stocks with solid growth potential: e-commerce underdog Vipshop Holdings and Chinese travel site Ctrip.com International . China's flash sales pioneerVipshop carved out a niche in China's crowded e-commerce market by using flash sales to keep customers coming back to its site. While there were initially doubts that this business model would be profitable, Vipshop became the first Chinese B2C (business-to-consumer) company to achieve profitability in 2013. Its success also convinced larger e-commerce players like JD.comto engage in similar flash sales. Underdog Vipshop controls less than 3% ofChina's bustling B2C market, but it remains surprisingly resilient. Last quarter, Vipshop's sales rose 65% annually to 13.9 billion renminbi ($2.14 billion), compared to 63% growth in the previous quarter and 109% growth a year earlier. Active customers rose 58% annually to 19.8 million while total orders jumped 67% to 64.9 million. Mobile customers accounted for 82% of all gross merchandise volume, up from 66% a year ago. Net income rose 45% annually to 506 millionrenminbi ($78 million), thanks to a decline in operating expenses. Despite those solid numbers, shares dipped after its guidance for 37% to 43% sales growth for the current quarter barely met the consensus estimate of 43% growth. As a result, the stock is now down 20% for the year. Vipshop's sales growth is certainly slowing down -- with analysts expecting revenue to rise 36% annually this year and 28% next year -- but its annual earnings are still projected to grow 37% over the next five years. That gives it a five-year PEG ratio of just 0.5, which indicates that the stock is undervalued compared to its long-term earnings growth potential. Baidu, by comparison, has a slightly higher PEG ratio of 0.9. China's top travel siteChina's online travel agency (OTA) segment has been characterized by margin-crushing price wars. But throughout most of those clashes, Ctrip retained control over half of the market by matching its rivals' prices. Ctrip's mobile app. Source: iTunes. But last May, Ctrip made a strategic investment in its smaller rival eLongto reduce competitive pressure. Then in October, it agreed to merge with its primary rival, Baidu-backed Qunar , which gave the resulting company 70% to 80% of the OTA market. Baidu agreed to swap its stake in Qunar for a 25% stake in Ctrip, thus strengthening the ties between China's largest search engine and its largest OTA. As a result, pricing wars will likely cease, and Ctrip might use economies of scale to marginalize its smaller rivals. Last quarter, Ctrip's sales rose 50% annually to 2.87 billion renminbi ($440 million), up from 49% sales growth in the previous quarter and 33% growth a year earlier. Hotel revenues rose 41% annually, transportation revenues climbed 61%, packaged tour revenues grew 50%, and corporate travel revenue improved 26%. Net income came in at 76 millionrenminbi ($12 million), compared to a net loss of 224 millionrenminbi ($34 million) in the prior year quarter. Its robust top-line growth notably offset a 17% jump in operating expenses. Looking ahead, Ctrip expects its sales to rise 75% to 80% annually for the current quarter after fully merging with Qunar. Analysts expect Ctrip's Qunar-boosted sales to rise 84% this year and 37% in 2017. Earnings are projected to rise 63% annually over the next five years, but Ctrip's PEG ratio remains negative due to previous losses. But are they "better" than Baidu?I still recommend that more risk-averse investors who want to dip their toes in the Chinese market should buy Baidu. But investors seeking riskier bets with potentially higher returns should take a closer look at Vipshop and Ctrip, which might outperform the search giant over the next few years. The article Ignore Baidu Inc.: Here are 2 Better Chinese Growth Stocks originally appeared on Fool.com. Leo Sun has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Baidu. The Motley Fool recommends Ctrip.com International. 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: Cameron LNG. It would seem that not even a major environmental crisis can derail Sempra Energy's stock price. Even after the company was dealing with a gas leak several months long that emitted what is believed to be the nation's largest natural gas leak and relocated several hundred residents, Sempra's stock has barely missed a beat. SRE data by YCharts. While there is likely some consequences down the road from this leak that could end up putting a dent in Sempra's business, there are still several other things going on at the company that could help keep the company's stock chugging along despite the potential effects of the Porter Ranch fiasco. Here are three things that Sempra Energy is working on that could get its stock going. Continued bid wins in MexicoOne place that Sempra is placing a lot of bets on over the next several years is just south of the border. In an effort to encourage growth and development of the nation's energy sector, the Mexican government has allowed companies other than state oil company PEMEX participate in the oil and gas industry and has doing open bids for energy infrastructure projects ranging from oil and gas pipelines to electric power generation and transmission. In 2016 alone,Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission is expected to award bids for $9.8 billion in various energy projects across the country. Sempra, through its Mexican subsidiary IEnova, is expected to be a major competitor for the bids on these projects. The company expects to bid on more than $11 billion in just natural gas pipeline projects over the next couple of years. Image source: Sempra Energy investor presentation. What is most spectacular about these growth projects is that the company didn't include them in its 2015-2019 growth plan since being awarded bifs. That plan was already planing for EPS growth of 50% over that time frame, so if IEnova can continue to win bids on these projects and grow Sempra's Mexico footprint quickly, it could be an added bonus to the bottom line that could lead to some impressive share price increases. Big bump in renewable portfolioWhile so many other utility companies have been looking to boost their regulated businesses through acquisitions, Sempra seems to be content growing its unregulated and wholesale generation platforms. The difference between them, though, is that Sempra is making a much larger push with renewable projects. Image source: Sempra Energy investor presentation. One of the added benefits of investing in renewable energy projects as a form of wholesale generation is that companies can contract the production from these projects for several years, which helps to reduce pricing volatility that can happen with so many other wholesale power plants. On top of the close to 1,400 MW that are in operation or under construction, the company has identified another 730 MW of new capacity that could be added to existing solar and wind sites over the next four years. As other utilities will need the renewable energy credits to meet the obligations of the clean power plan, don't be surprised if Sempra steps up and expands its renewable platform even more and reap the benefits. Cameron LNG coming on line... and beyondThis one is by far the largest catalyst for Sempra in the future because the company is making such a large bet here. Cameron LNG is currently approved to export up to 12 million tons per year of LNG, and expects to have all three liquifaction trains up and running by November of 2018. With a large commercial agreements already in place with its equity partners, the company already has a large portion of the facility under contract that will ensure steady cash flows once up and running. According to the company's base plan, Cameron LNG is expected to generate an additional $550 million-$600 million in EBITDA annually once fully operational in 2019. That alone could be enough to significantly grow the company's bottom line over the next couple of years, but the company is looking beyond this initial LNG facility to become a much larger player in the space. It already has plans in place to expand the Cameron LNG facility by another two liquefaction trains, is currently in the permitting and design process of coverting two other regasification terminals -- Energia Costa Azul in Baja California, Mexico, and Port Arthur, Texas -- into liquefaction terminals as well. The sheer growth from the initial Cameron LNG project suggests that, if all three of these projects were to be completed over the next decade, Sempra would be looking at a major boost of earnings that would send its share price surging. What a Fool believesAnyone invested in Sempra Energy right now is likely wondering what sort of longer-term impact the Porter Ranch debacle will cause. While it says that it has more able insurance coverage that should help to mitigate some of the current costs, any company that has been involved in major hydrocarbon leaks or spills in recent years has not fared well in court. It's possible that some of these major projects could be tabled if the costs of the leak start to take a toll on cash flows, but we can't know for certain until there is a definitive conclusion to the whole ordeal. In the meantime, Sempra has a pretty large quiver of development projects that should lead to strong earnings and dividend growth. As long as investors don't fear the repercussions of Porter Ranch -- and there's little indication they do -- then all three should send shares of Sempra soaring. The article 3 Reasons Sempra Energy's Stock Could Rise originally appeared on Fool.com. Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned.You can follow him at Fool.comor on Twitter@TylerCroweFool. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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. SOURCE: ARIAD PHARMACEUTICALS After losing $231 million last year in spite of a 102% increase in sales of its only commercial drug, Iclusig, Ariad Pharmaceuticals new CEO Paris Panayiotopoulos is taking a hatchet to its expenses. Yesterday, Panayiotopoulos announced that 25% of employees at its Cambridge, Massachusetts and European headquarters will be let go. Can this cost-cutting move put Ariad Pharmaceuticals in the black? Let's take a closer look. First, some backgroundAriad Pharmaceuticals markets Iclusig, a therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, two rare blood and bone marrow diseases. Iclusig won FDA approval in December 2012, three months sooner than expected, however, the drug was temporarily removed from the market in 2013 following reports of life-threatening blood clots forming in patients. After the FDA reworked Iclusig's label to highlight the risk of blood clots, Iclusig returned to the market in 2014, and sales have headed higher ever since. In 2015, the company reports that Iclusig's sales more than doubled to $112.5 million. Yet, that surge failed to offset the spike in the company's spending on SG&A and R&D. Ariad Pharmaceuticals spent $163 million last year on selling, general, and administrative costs, up from $140 million in 2014, and it spent $171 million on research and development, up from $121 million in the year prior. Because Ariad Pharmaceuticals expenses overwhelmed Iclusig revenue, the company reported a net loss of $231 million and revealed that its cash balance had dropped from $353 million exiting 2014 to $242 million exiting 2015. ARIA Net Income (Annual) data by YCharts Getting its financial house in orderReports of a potential sale of the company last year fizzled out by year end and the board installed Panayiotopoulos in the top spot at the company in January. Panayiotopoulos first order of business is to right-size the company's expenses and restore confidence in shareholders. CEO Paris Panayiotopoulos During Ariad Pharmaceuticals first quarter conference call, Panayiotopoulos said that there would be no sacred cows in his hunt for cost savings and yesterday, the CEO outlined his first cost-savings measures. Specifically, Panayiotopoulos is eliminating 25% of its workers at its U.S. and European headquarters. Overall, 90 positions are being eliminated with all of the planned cuts coming from parts of the business that aren't responsible for direct sales to customers. The workforce reduction is the first part of Panayiotopoulos five-part strategic review of Ariad Pharmaceuticals' business. Therefore, more news could be coming related to the company's efforts to boost sales, its geographical presence, its R&D program, and other business development activities. Panayiotopoulos didn't spell out how much he expected these job cuts will save the company in the coming year, but a straight line 25% cut to its SG&A expenses would bring those costs to a bit below where they were in 2014. However, since cuts don't appear to include highly compensated members of its sales team, it's probably safe to guess-timate that SG&A expenses will be a bit higher than that back-of-napkin calculation. Steps in the right directionCutting costs to the tune of tens of millions of dollars is a good start toward profitability, but these cuts alone won't be enough to put the company in the black. Panayiotopoulos targets Iclusig sales of only $190 million this year and since R&D spending isn't likely to drop until after the company puts the wraps on the development of its second drug, brigatinib, more losses are likely. Overall, its good to see that management is finally taking the initiative to rein in spending, but absent more cuts or until we get more insight into brigatinib's commercial potential, there are probably better investment ideas out there. The article Ariad Pharmaceuticals Takes An Axe To Its Expenses originally appeared on Fool.com. Todd Campbell has no position in any stocks mentioned. Todd owns E.B. Capital Markets, LLC. E.B. Capital's clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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. Big brands are important to successful businesses, and the worldwide awareness for both the Marlboro cigarette line sold internationally by Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) and the namesake Coke brand from Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) have created corporate empires and strong profits. Yet both companies have faced some criticism from consumer advocates because of potential health impacts, and both have had to take steps to look at ways of responding to that criticism and finding new paths to growth. But for those seeking to invest now, which one is the smarter pick? Below, we'll examine Philip Morris and Coca-Cola more closely to see which looks better on a variety of different key measures of investing success. Valuation and stock performance Between these two stocks, Philip Morris International is the only one that has gained ground over the past year. The tobacco giant has given shareholders about 17% in price appreciation and dividend payments, compared to a flat total return for Coca-Cola since this time last year. It would be reasonable to expect that with better stock performance, Philip Morris would have the higher valuation, leaving Coca-Cola to more closely resemble a value stock. However, that isn't the case, at least by simple conventional valuation methods. When you look at trailing earnings, Coca-Cola's current multiple exceeds 30, while Philip Morris has a somewhat cheaper valuation of 25 times trailing earnings. The disparity narrows when you look at forward earnings expectations, but Philip Morris retains a slight edge, with a forward multiple of 21 compared to Coca-Cola's valuation of 22 times forward earnings. Philip Morris has delivered more returns yet stayed less expensive, giving it an edge over Coca-Cola. Image source: Coca-Cola. Dividends Dividend investors often look to the consumer sector for good payouts, and Philip Morris and Coca-Cola are strong performers within the consumer space. Philip Morris has a slight edge over Coca-Cola in terms of dividend yield, with the cigarette giant's 3.75% yield outpacing the 3.4% figure from the beverage behemoth. Supporting those yields has been somewhat more difficult recently. Both companies have payout ratios that exceed 90%. Yet that hasn't stopped the companies from increasing their dividend payments to shareholders, albeit at a slower rate than investors have seen in the past. Coca-Cola boasts a 55-year streak of consecutive annual dividend increases. Philip Morris would rival that if you took into account the dividend history of its former parent company, but its limited history as an independent company holds it back by this measure. In terms of dividends, Philip Morris and Coca-Cola have very similar characteristics right now. Growth prospects and risks Both Philip Morris and Coca-Cola have hit some obstacles to growth and are working to figure out better ways to move forward. For Philip Morris, the answer appears to be reduced-risk products like its iQOS heated-tobacco system. In its most recent quarter, the tobacco giant saw cigarette shipment volumes plunge 11.5%, hurting net revenue. Philip Morris still managed to boost net income by 4%, but even big gains in iQOS sales weren't enough to keep the company's top line from contracting slightly. The question Philip Morris faces is whether reduced-risk efforts will be able to offset weakness in traditional cigarettes, and investors aren't counting on super-fast growth from Philip Morris overall in the near future. Coca-Cola has seen similar challenges. The company said after its first-quarter earnings report last month that it would cut 1,200 jobs, with broader efforts intended to cut costs more widely throughout the beverage company. New CEO James Quincey is taking steps to try to counter downward pressure from falling sales, which were down 11% from year-ago levels. With attempts to pursue opportunities in the water, milk, and alternative drink spaces, Coca-Cola is desperately trying to respond to consumer shifts away from sugary soft drinks. With rival drink makers having seen some success, it might be easier for Coca-Cola to follow suit than investors once thought. In the end, both of these stocks have pluses and minuses, and there isn't as clear-cut a winner between the two companies as we've seen in the past. Given the likelihood of major shifts at Coca-Cola with new management in place, investors who are optimistic about changing trends might prefer the beverage company's growth potential even with a more expensive valuation. 10 stocks we like better than Coca-ColaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Coca-Cola wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017 Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Pixabay One would be hard-pressed to identify truly timeless investments. But there is one: water. Investing time and energy in the pursuit of water is as old as civilization itself, and for future generations, some scientists suggest access to water will be an increasingly critical issue. Therein lies the investment opportunity. So, let's take a look atAmerican Water Works to determine if its strengths wet your investment whistle. A formidable moat for outsiders...One competitive advantage the company enjoys is a high barrier to entry -- a barrier so high that to surmount it would require a Herculean effort. In fact, even a Herculean effort would be insufficient. No sane entrepreneur would consider building new infrastructure to provide an alternative water service. So, in terms of the potential threats of new entrants to the water service industry, American Water Works has no cause for concern. Image source: American Water Works investor presentation. ...and insidersSafe from outsiders, do American Water Works' peers represent a major threat? No, not too much. With great size comes great competitive advantage. Based onoperating revenue, the company isthe largest publicly traded water service provider. In addition, American Water Works, at over $12 billion, isthe largest in terms of market cap. Nearly doubling that of its closest competitor,Aqua America , American Water Works is the only large-cap water utility. This size affords the company greater opportunity to pursue acquisitions, which management identifies as "an important element of our growth strategy." AWK Cash and Equivalents (Annual) data by YCharts. Not only does American Water Works have deeper pockets to finance its acquisitions with cash, but it has demonstrated a consistent ability to manage debt. It has decreased its debt to equity ratio by nearly 7% over the past five years, which mitigates concerns that its ratio exceeds that of its largest competitors: Aqua America, American States Water Company , and California Water Service Group . Demonstrating its commitment to grow through acquisitions, in 2015, American Water Worksspent $64 million on 14 transactions for its regulated business. This translated to an increase of about 24,000 water and wastewater customers. By comparison, Aqua America spent $29 million on 16 acquisitions in 2015, gaining only 18,000 new customers. American Water Works' 14 acquisitions pale in comparison to its largest deal in 2015: the $133 million acquisition of Keystone, a water management solution company providing service to natural gas exploration and production companies in the Appalachian Basin. For 2015, Keystone contributed $26 million in operating revenue. As of March 1, the company has closed on three acquisitions yielding an additional 5,500 total customers; nine acquisitions, representing 3,368 customers, are pending. Location, location, locationAccording to management, the geographic diversity of the company's operations provides a key competitive advantage. Of its regulated business segment, American Water Works provides water, wastewater, and other services to approximately 15 million people in 47 states, Washington D.C., and Ontario, Canada. In addition, the company doesn't rely, inordinately, on one particular market. The company's main competitors operate their regulated businesses in far fewer states and provide service to significantly fewer people -- Aqua America serves about three million people in seven states; American States Water serves about 260,000 people throughout California, and California Water Service Group serves more than 490,000 people in four states. Image source: American Water Works. Because of its geographically diversified operations, American Water Works reaps benefits in two ways. For one, the company seeks growth through the acquisition of water and wastewater providers in close proximity to areas where it already has operations. Management recognizes the advantage as it "allows us to integrate and manage the acquired systems and operations primarily using our existing management and to achieve operational efficiencies." The geographical diversity translates to significantly more opportunities for acquisitions than its "geographically limited" competitors. Secondly, the diversification mitigates the risk of adverse weather conditions. Should one service area experience drier-than-usual weather in a given season, less source water would be available, which would adversely affect the company's operations. Because of the geographic diversity, unseasonably dry weather in a particular territory would not have such a deleterious effect. The company's peers don't enjoy the same benefit. The takeawayUtilities aren't the sexiest of companies, but sometimes being plain in best; every portfolio, after all, should retain some degree of diversification between aggressive and conservative investments. For those looking to address that conservative niche, a water utility certainly qualifies, and of those, American Water Works warrants serious consideration -- its competitive advantages drown out its competition. The article Can American Water Works' Strengths Drown Out Its Peers? originally appeared on Fool.com. Scott Levine has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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: Restoration Hardware. Investors in home-furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware have seen their stock fall sharply over the past year, raising concerns about the company's future prospects. The retail sector generally has gotten a lot more competitive, and Williams-Sonoma and other players in the space have fought over the upper end of the home-furnishings niche, Restoration Hardware has had to work hard to put itself in the best position possible to grow. Coming into Tuesday's release of final fiscal fourth-quarter results, Restoration Hardware investors were already prepared for weaker holiday-season figures than they had originally hoped to see, but guidance for the near future was also disappointing. Let's take a closer look at Restoration Hardware's final results and what investors need to prepare for in the months to come. Restoration Hardware confirms its results Restoration Hardware's fourth-quarter results matched up well with what the company had projected in February. Revenue remained at $647.2 million, up 11% from the year-ago quarter. Adjusted net income had a slightly larger decline than originally estimated, coming in at $41.2 million and working out to $0.98 per share, a penny less than the preliminary estimates had indicated. Restoration Hardware gave more detail on what drove its headline results. Perhaps the biggest disconnect came from the fact that even though demand sales and written orders climbed 21%, revenue grew at barely half that pace. The company pointed to several difficulties explaining that trend. First, production delays among suppliers related to the new RH Modern line have hampered Restoration Hardware's ability to deliver on orders in a timely fashion, and it believes that those pressures could continue through the first half of 2016. Second, the retailer said that underperforming markets in areas that had grown sharply during the energy boom, including Texas, Miami, and Canada, hurt revenue by 4 percentage points in the second half of 2015 and have been a five-point drag on revenue so far in the first quarter of 2016. Finally, promotional activity to drive sales was less successful than the company had hoped, and Restoration Hardware pointed to pullbacks from high-end retail consumers as hampering incremental revenue gains. Nevertheless, Restoration Hardware CEO Gary Friedman looked to the big-picture view. "Despite the headwinds," Friedman said, "our two key value-driving strategies -- the expansion of our product offer and the transformation of our real estate -- are working exceptionally well." The CEO continued pointing to the RH Modern concept and the next-generation Design Galleries as having strong potential for the future. Can Restoration Hardware bounce back? Even with that optimism, Restoration Hardware faces some tough challenges, and its outlook for the immediate future didn't instill confidence that any turnaround will be as large or as fast as investors had hoped. For the fiscal first quarter, Restoration Hardware expects revenue of between $452 million and $456 million, which was short of the $460 million consensus forecast among investors. Adjusted earnings of $0.04 to $0.06 per share would be more than a dime below current expectations, and it would represent a drop of more than three-quarters from year-ago levels. For the full 2016 fiscal year, Restoration Hardware's outlook was similarly downbeat. Revenue growth will likely be limited to low- to mid-single-digit percentage figures, which is slower than the 11% sales increase that investors were hoping to see. Adjusted earnings will likely be flat to down slightly for the year, in contrast to projections from investors for 9% growth. Admittedly, rival Williams-Sonoma has seen similar challenges, and investors expect only single-digit percentage growth in that company's top and bottom lines for 2016. Nevertheless, Williams-Sonoma is somewhat further along in its growth trajectory than Restoration Hardware, and Williams-Sonoma has past experience with challenging conditions to help guide it through the current tough times. Restoration Hardware shares initially responded by falling in after-hours trading following the announcement, but most of those losses disappeared by Wednesday morning. Given the beating that the stock has already taken, Restoration Hardware investors seem largely resigned to the prospect of a long process of recovery in an increasingly competitive retail environment. The article Could Restoration Hardware See Even More Pain Ahead? originally appeared on Fool.com. Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Restoration Hardware and Williams-Sonoma. 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. The iPhone SE likely has only Qualcomm-designed modems inside. Image credit: Apple. A while back, tech website Fudzilla claimed that the Apple iPhone SE (then referred to by the publication as the "iPhone C") would feature a cellular modem sourced from none-other than Intel . This report is probably false for a few reasons. Firstly, the models listed on Apple's U.S. site feature CDMA (a cellular standard unsupported by any of Intel's current modems). Additionally we look at the models for sale in China, there is a model that does not include CDMA support, but it supports too many LTE bands for it to be the Intel XMM 7160 modem. Apple could be using Intel's newer XMM 7260 in models that do not support CDMA, but given that the iPhone SE almost seems to exist to "absorb" excess components from iPhone 6/6s, this seems quite implausible. Fudzilla itself came out with a follow-up report, citing "industry insiders," claiming that the iPhone SE uses Qualcomm silicon exclusively. Still chatter around iPhone 7Although Intel is unlikely to be supplying parts into the iPhone SE, the rumors around Intel potentially having won a spot in the next generation iPhone flagship -- the iPhone 7-series -- persist. In fact, an analyst with Barclay's recently downgraded shares of Qualcomm citing, among other concerns, the potential for Intel to take share from Qualcomm in the upcoming iPhone flagship. I have already put my views out there on the matter; though not impossible, I find the use of any of the current Intel modem products in a flagship iPhone quite unlikely, however. The feature-set of the only viable Intel modem -- the XMM 7360 -- simply isn't there, with both upload and download speeds well below what Qualcomm's Snapdragon X12 modem (the likely candidate for the iPhone 7-series) feature. And, for those who say that peak wireless performance specifications don't matter, I would point you to comments made by Apple RF chipmaker Broadcom which disclosed that it signed a three-year supply agreement with Apple. Broadcom management has routinely talked about the visibility it has into the increased RF content into next generation iPhones, so Apple is clearly planning to be aggressive in adopting the latest wireless technologies going forward. Apple could pull off using modems from both vendors by producing different, region-specific models with different wireless performance specs on paper, but I remain skeptical given that Apple has trended toward consolidating the number of wireless configurations it puts out. When will we know?Major suppliers into the iPhone are likely "pre-building" components for the iPhone 7-series devices; the specifications are almost certainly set in stone at this point. Significant shipments to Apple should begin in the June timeframe. I don't think Qualcomm will be able to hide the loss of a significant portion of the iPhone 7 modems if that is to come to pass. This likely means that either on this coming quarterly earnings call (scheduled for April 20) or the following one, if Qualcomm has lost the Intel business (and I must emphasize that this statement is anif), it may very well issue a statement along the lines of, "We believe our share at a tier-1 thin modem customer will be lower than it has been in prior product cycles." In that case, I would expect Qualcomm shares to dip a bit and Intel, though such a win wouldn't have a huge impact on its financials, shares to move upward on the "good news." The article Likely No Intel Corp. Inside the iPhone SE; Analysts Talk Up iPhone 7 Opportunity originally appeared on Fool.com. Ashraf Eassa owns shares of Intel and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. 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. The health insurance industry is beginning to climb the quality scale when it comes to government measures established under the Affordable Care Act for privately operated Medicare plans. The Medicare Star Ratings System, which is now five years old, was designed to ensure seniors are choosing a quality private health plan. The rankings measure everything from call center performance to how well an insurer handles a health plan member's appeal. But the impact of the star ratings, complete with its five-notch scale, goes beyond just a consumer-friendly way to offer benefits. It also affects how plans are paid, and the star ratings can help boost revenues. Health plans are reaping bonus payments when they score high and are picking up more customers with the ability to tout certain scores in a government-backed version of Yelp. And that's good for stock prices and investors in companies with big Medicare businesses, such as Aetna, Humana , UnitedHealth Group and Anthem. Medicare's Yelp boosts insurers"Medicare beneficiaries are taking notice of quality ratings and using them to make election decisions," said Tom Kornfield, vice president of Washington-based health research and consulting firm Avalere Health, which this month issued a report on the impact of Medicare's star ratings. Avalere said there are now 72%, or 12.1 million, of the nation's 17 million Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans with a rating of four or more stars on a five-star scale. This figure represents a near-quadrupling from 2009 figures. Plans achieving 4 or more stars receive bonus payments and rebates. These in turn are utilized to provide even greater benefits, like vision and dental. In addition to the benefit of these financial incentives, achieving a high ranking is an advantage when it comes to marketing to prospective beneficiaries. Medicare stars may help revenue shine UnitedHealth Group stands out as a beneficiary of the star ratings system. In 2015, the insurer grew its Medicare and retirement revenues to $49.7 billion in 2015, an 8% year-over-year increase. Given UnitedHealth's continued improvement, the insurer seems to be in the best position among its competing insurers to benefit from the higher star ratings. UnitedHealth is also not distracted by consolidation issues. Other plans are being attacked by groups like the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association for taking too much control of the Medicare Advantage market via acquisition rather than organic growth. And UnitedHealth executives believe this segment will help grow the business in the future. "We remain focused on driving exceptional performance for health plan operations, raising clinical quality measures, and improving member satisfaction," said Matthew Burns, UnitedHealth spokesman for the company's Medicare and retirement business. "We expect that approximately 63% of our Medicare Advantage members will be in plans rated four stars or higher at the beginning of payment year 2017. This represents a steady improvement compared with approximately 56% of members in plans rated four stars or higher for payment year 2016, and 39% for payment year 2015." But it's not just UnitedHealth. The broader insurance industry is benefiting from the move to star ratings in the Medicare Advantage program. Aetna and Humana, for example, have said that their eventual merger will result in better quality with broader provider networks in certain markets and more choice, contrary to critics of their merger. Humana said it has 2.5 million Medicare Advantage members in plans rated 4 start or higher and claims that this the most of any Medicare Advantage carrier. Humana also said it received a 4.5-star rating for six Medicare Advantage contracts offered in nine states, which was an improvement from five such contracts last year. More broadly, the higher scores for plans should translate to more seniors moving into an Advantage plan over traditional fee-for-service Medicare. "It is reasonable to think that this contributes to increased participation," Avalere Vice President Caroline Pearson said. The Obama administration said Medicare Advantage has "reached record high enrollment each year since 2010, a trend continuing into 2016 with a cumulative increase of 50% to an all-time high of more than 17.1 million beneficiaries," said Raymond Thom, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Despite this record growth, the bulk of the nation's seniors remain in fee-for-service Medicare with just 32% of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Clearly, Medicare Advantage plans are a growth opportunity for health insurers -- and an upside for their stocks. The article Medicare Is Pushing Care Forward: Here's Who Benefits originally appeared on Fool.com. Bruce Japsen has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Anthem and UnitedHealth Group. 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. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is in a New York state of mind. The former Secretary of State unveiled a new TV attack ad on Wednesday targeting Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in his home state of New York. "When some say we can solve America's problems by building walls, banning people based on their religion and turning against each otherWell, this is New York. And we know better," Clinton says in the ad. The 30-second spot features video of the real estate moguls hotel under construction in Washington, D.C. with a sign that reads, Coming 2016 Trump and violence at a Trump rally where a protester is sucker-punched by a Trump supporter. Narrated by Clinton, the ad simply titled New York also shows the diverse population in the state, firefighters responding to the 9/11 terrorist attack in Manhattan and the construction of the Freedom Tower. No we all dont look the same, we all dont sound the same either but when we pull together we do the biggest things in the world, Clinton says. The ad begins running in New York ahead of the April 19 primary election. Clinton, who served as senator of New York from 2001-2009, doesnt mention her Democratic rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the spot. Instead, she paints a picture of being the best Trump alternative. Sanders, who grew up in Brooklyn, has been an increasing threat to Clinton with recent wins in three caucus states. For more than a month, Sanders campaign has challenged Clinton to a debate in the Empire State prior to the primary. On Sunday, Sanders campaign manager, Jeff Weaver wrote a letter to Clintons campaign pushing for the debate. New York will play a critical role in determining the Democratic nominee. However, your campaign has consistently chosen to deny the people of New York the opportunity to see Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton debate in the Empire State, Weaver wrote in the letter. Thus far Clintons campaign has opposed the idea and recently said the former Secretary of State would not agree to a New York debate unless Sanders' changes his 'tone.' Clinton will begin campaigning in New York on Wednesday at a rally in Harlem, where she will discuss plans to raise incomes and get results for all communities, keep Americans safe, and bring the country together, according to a campaign statement. After campaigning in Wisconsin, Sanders arrives in New York on Thursday with a scheduled rally in the Bronx. Sanders and Trumps campaign did not immediately respond to FOXBusiness.coms request for a statement. A multistate civil lawsuit filed last May against a group of family members who claimed to raise money for cancer victims has been settled, resulting in the closing of two charities that allegedly bilked donors for some $75 million, New Yorks attorney general said on Wednesday. The closed charities are the Cancer Fund of America Inc., based in Knoxville, Tenn., and Cancer Support Services Inc., based in Dearborn, Mich. The president of both nonprofits, James Reynolds Sr., has been banned from the nonprofit sector. An attorney for Mr. Reynolds didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The settlement ends one of the largest charity fraud actions undertaken, which included the Federal Trade Commission, the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The nonprofits run by Mr. Reynolds, his family members and close associates were sham charities, according to the May 2015 complaint. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. Despite all the new contraceptive methods available like IUDs and hormonal implants, the birth control pill is still the most commonly used form. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about 9.6 million women prefer it over other methods. But what happens to a woman's body when she decides to go off the pill? We got this question from a viewer: Dear Dr. Manny, I've been taking birth control pills for over a decade and have recently decided to stop taking it. What happens after you stop taking the pill, should I expect any side effects? Thanks, Rebecca Whether a woman is thinking about having a baby or is part of the 30 percent of women going pill-free over dissatisfaction, the decision should involve some planning. Although you can stop taking birth control pills at any time, some doctors recommend that women finish their current pill pack before tossing it away. Quitting in the middle of a pack may throw your cycle off and cause some irregular bleeding or spotting. Oral contraceptives (birth control pills) contain two female sex hormones, estrogen and progestin. The combinations of these hormones prevent ovulation and make a womans cervical mucus thicker to help keep sperm from going through the cervix and finding an egg. Once a woman stops taking birth control, the synthetic hormones from the pills are usually out of their system within a few days and their periods should return within 4 to 12 weeks. It can take a few months for your period to return to normal. In medicine we call this delayed menses and should be no cause for concern, Dr. Alexandra Sowa of the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York told FoxNews.com. There is a more rare phenomenon called post-pill amenorrhea, in which the periods dont return, [and] while it takes up to six months to officially receive this diagnosis, I tell my patients to check in with their doctor if their periods have not returned in about three months. Another reason a woman may not get her period is pregnancy. Contrary to persistent myths that long-term oral contraceptive use can affect fertility, the ability to get pregnant can return in the first month after going off the pill. Even though ovulation can return immediately, internal hormones may not return to status quo as quickly. Birth control pills do a good job with leveling out a woman's hormones that normally fluctuate according to her ovulatory cycle. These fluctuations cause the common problems of PMS menstrual cramps, menstrual headaches, bloating, and even heavy periods. So, stopping birth control pills may lead to all of these common symptoms, Dr. Jabal Uffelman, a gynecologist at Transform Womans Care in Ft. Lauderdale, Flo., told FoxNews.com. In fact, many women are taking birth control pills to control these problems, plus or minus, contraception. Other common side effects when coming off the birth control pill can include: -Acne -Breast tenderness -Uterine cramping -Moodiness -Improved sexual desire Remember that most of the side effects of being on the birth control pill are positive ones decrease in the risk of ovarian cancer, regular periods, marked improvement of acne, and a decrease in pelvic pain associated with endometriosis, Dr. Jill Hechtman, an OB/GYN and medical director at Tampa Obstetrics in Brandon, Flo., told FoxNews.com. Adverse side effects will vary from woman to woman and are typically a permanent problem if they existed before birth control use, but there are medications that can give symptomatic relief. Anti-inflammatory meds such as naproxen and mefenamic acid are very helpful, Uffelman said. Also, if the patient is not planning to get pregnant and has a reliable birth control method, a testosterone pellet is a very useful therapy to improve mood swings and PMS associated with the menstrual cycle. Remember, you should always talk to your doctor before making any changes to your contraception. As the Republican candidates for president have narrowed from almost 20 to just 3 now, the focus has also narrowed from candidate versus candidate-- to just two groups now -- "Trump" versus the Never Trump" movement on social media. Today, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin endorsed Ted Cruz adding fuel to the Never Trump movement in that state. The Never Trump super-PAC also gearing up in Wisconsin with a five figure ad buy encouraging voters to join Walker and Cruz -- not Trump. I can't remember a more divisive time within the Republican Party and amongst Republican voters. We do a positive segment on Trump, and Trump supporters go wild on social media saying "how could you possibly say that about Trump?" We do a positive segment on Cruz, and Cruz supporters say you havent' done enough segments like that! So this is what we've come to, a deep division within the GOP and with GOP voters? Is that good for American politics? I know lots of you will disagree with me -- but I say yep! Reporting on the suicide bomber who killed over 70 peopleat Lahores Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park the New York Times wrote: Jamaat-e-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it had targeted Christians. The paper then went on to report that Pakistani officials were skeptical about the claim, as most of those killed and wounded were Muslims. But because Sunday was Easter, a large number of Christian families had come to the park. In majority Muslim Pakistan, a country where anti-Christian sentiment is a numbing fact of daily life, no one should be surprised that the Pakistani government would seek to downplay the targeted Easter mass murder of Christians in the Punjab. What was shocking, however, was that the initial statement by National Security Council Spokesperson Ned Price failed to mention that the terrorist group taking "credit" for the carnage was targeting Christians. Heres his statement: The United States condemns in the strongest terms todays appalling terrorist attack in Lahore, Pakistan. This cowardly act in what has long been a scenic and placid park has killed dozens of innocent civilians and left scores injured. We send our deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed, just as our thoughts and prayers are with the many injured in the explosion. The United States stands with the people and Government of Pakistan at this difficult hour. We will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region, as together we will be unyielding in our efforts to root out the scourge of terrorism, Twenty-four hours later White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest did acknowledge that Christians were targeted in Pakistan on Easter though he was quick to add that the majority of the victims were Muslim. The fact is that the Obama administrations legacy when it comes to terror attacks has been to avoid highlighting or even acknowledging the Islamist theology of hate that is a common denominator and motivator of unspeakable crimes against humanity launched by ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Shabab and Boko Haram in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and yes, the United States. Tragically, the initial failure by the U.S. to acknowledge that the suicide bomber who blew himself up among the swings and sliding ponds was looking to murder and maim Christian families, is not surprising. While public opinion long ago connected the dots of Islamist anti-Christian propaganda to their genocidal actions in Syria and Iraq, it took a congressional resolution to finally force Secretary of State John Kerry to recently admit that yes, Christians and Yazidis were victims of an attempted genocide. And, for decades, Europes elite had their eyes wide shut to the hate burgeoning Islamist networks in their own cities and are only now playing a deadly game of catch up. The disgraceful NSC statement on Sunday wouldnt have made any difference to the terrorists, so at this late stage in the Obama administration, what difference does it make how the latest atrocity is characterized by Washington? For one thing, an emphatic and empathetic statement from the White House would have sent a message of solidarity to the beleaguered Christians of our sometime ally Pakistan. Secondly, Lahore was not the first, only the latest site for Islamist fanatics targeting religious minorities, and not just Christians. Sky News is now reporting that ISIS militants recently arrested in Turkey revealed their (active) plans to attack Jewish kindergartens in that country and to attack (again) Istanbuls Great Synagogue. Embedded in the DNA of the Islamist fanatics is a theologically fueled and validated hate for the Kafir (a person who is not Muslim). There are countless plots in the terror pipeline, on every continent targeting Muslims and non-Muslims alike who dare to stand up to the fanatics. But just how do we go about killing the message along with the genocidal messengers without attacking the cancerous DNA? Does anyone other than the President Obama believe anymore that refusing to call out Islamist terrorism for what it is will somehow empower and win the day for truly peaceful and moderate Muslims? Here we are now, caught in a trap of our own making. The price of our failure to deal with genocidal hate head-on recalls a dire warning from an ancient Jewish Midrash that teaches: Whoever shows mercy to the cruel, will in the end be cruel to the Merciful. G-d help us all. Editor's note:The following column is excerpted from Shaka Senghor's new book, "Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison." At age 19, Shaka Senghor was a drug dealer convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to prison. But his story doesnt end there. During a 19-year sentence, seven of which he spent in solitary confinement, Senghor turned his life around through literature, writing, and learning to take control of his thoughts and emotions. Today, he is a mentor to young men and women facing circumstances like his, a leading voice for prison reform, and a speaker at conferences like TED and Aspen Ideas. In this story, taken from his book Senghor recalls how a letter from the family of his victim changed his life. Earlier this year, I was rummaging through the footlocker where I store my journals, letters, and legal documentsthe same locker that I carried from prison to prison for 19 years. I was looking for my parole papers when I came across a letter I had gotten from the godmother of my victim, nearly six years into my incarceration. It stopped me in my tracks. The letter, dated July 31, 1997, arrived during a point in my incarceration when I was torn between old instincts and new possibilities. I wanted to changebut I didnt want it enough. If you had asked the corrections officers around me that day if they held any hope for me, they would have at least hesitated. More likely, they would have laughed. But not the woman whose family I had shattered by a bullet. She had hope. She believed that transformation could happen, even for me. Dear James, A few days ago, it was the 6th year anniversary of my sons death. I call Chris my son (out of respect for the victims family and their privacy, I have changed his name) because he lived with me much of his life. Im sure you remember him because you are the man who murdered him. July 28, 1991 was a very difficult day for me and my family. I had spent 3 years being a caregiver for Chriss mother, and she had just died of cancer in December. And then, six months later, I received the phone call that our son, Chris, was dead. His brother was devastated. To this day, he says he didnt only lose a brother he lost his best friend. Chris had a new baby son, only 10 months old. He also had two daughters. One is now in college, and although she is a very bright girl, she is having terrible bouts of depression because her dad is gone. The rest of our family tries to help her, but there is an emptiness in her life that no one else can fill. What I want you to know, other than these painful things that you have brought upon my family, is that I love you, and I forgive you. How can I do less? Because God loves you, and I am a Christian, so I humbly follow his guidance. His word tells me (in the Bible) that He loves us all, no matter what we have done or how bad we think we are. And we are to love one another no matter the circumstances. You may think your life is a mess, but you are special. And God is able to pick you up and help you to go on. He can clean up your messes, no matter what they are. God can be your best friend. Just approach him as a little child. Crawl up in his lap and let Him love you. He can fill that empty hole down deep inside. Sincerely, Nancy The best I could do when I received this letter was take one small step. I wrote back. When Nancy wrote again, we began a correspondence that continued for years. Still, it would be half a decade before the change she hoped for would begin to manifest itself in my life. We can never know the power that a word of kindness or an act of forgiveness will have on the person who needs it most. And thats the thing about hope. In the moment when you feel it, it can seem foolish or sentimental or disconnected from reality. But hope knows that people change on a timeline that we cant predict. We can never know the power that a word of kindness or an act of forgiveness will have on the person who needs it most. What I now know is that my life could have had many outcomes; that it didnt need to happen the way it did. I was once an angry, lost teenager holding a community hostage to fear and greed. Thousands of youth are making the same mistakes every day in cities all around our country. But we werent born that way. None of our children are born that way. And when they get that way, they arent lost for good. Thats why Im asking you to envision a world where men and women arent held hostage to their pasts, where misdeeds and mistakes dont define you for the rest of your life. In an era of record incarcerations and a culture of violence, we can learn to love those who no longer love themselves. Together, we can begin to make things right. Reprinted from "WRITING MY WRONGS: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison" Copyright 2013, 2016 by Drop a Gem Publishing, LLC. Published by Convergent Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Our Pledge of Allegiance concludes with Liberty and justice for all. The proponents of Georgias HB 757 argued the bill was necessary to protect the right of people of faith to practice their chosen religion. Having worn the uniform for 22 years and sworn to protect and defend the Constitution, I believe that an individuals right to his or her chosen faith is sacred. However, I also believe that equality is a foundational principle of our American experiment. HB 757 and bills like it demonstrate there is a group of people in America who view discrimination as socially acceptable, and worse, use religion to justify it. Monday, Governor Nathan Deal vetoed this ill-considered legislation and, by doing so, made a strong statement about the principle of tolerance. As a conservative, Im proud of him. We have a choice to make in this country. Will we treat everyone with dignity and respect? Or will we continue to allow a minority to marginalize entire groups of Americans and defend their flawed thinking on faith-based grounds? Throughout our nations history, conservatives and people of faith (and I consider myself one) have received blame for sanctioning bigotry, and rightly so. For generations, segregation was defended under the guise of faith. Take this example: "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."--Judge Leon Bazile in Caroline County Court, 1958 Would any of us in 2016 agree with that quote? This wasnt fringe thinking back then. In fact it was widely accepted in many parts of America. Our challenge now is to avoid repeating the mistakes of our past with a new class of Americans the LGBT. My faith tells me to love my neighbor. Im told that God alone is fit to judge my neighbor. Jesus broke bread with individuals who held ideas and values very different from his own. This is because the truest expression of faith is love. Arguing that Christians deserve the legal right to refuse service to individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation is antithetical to Christianity. Remember, we arent talking about a Churchs, or ministers, or individuals right to his or her own personal beliefs. We are talking about behavior in civil society. To that effect, HB 757 wouldve been a slippery slope thats why such a wide and varied coalition of business leaders continue to take such a strong stand on this issue. As a conservative, Im guided by the principle of individual liberty but there are, of course, defined limits to that liberty. One of those is you arent free to operate a business, open to the public, that refuses service to individuals based on intrinsic or extrinsic human factors, such as race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. Furthermore, as Governor Deal so eloquently outlined, government should not define a solution in want of a problem. It is unfortunate that Governor Pat McCRory in North Carolina did not show Governor Deals courage and veto HB 2 a bill as ill-considered as was proposed in Georgia. While the sponsors have attempted to sell that bill to the conservative base as about privacy in restrooms (legislating about what bathroom a transgender person may use is a discriminatory solution in want of a problem and a slippery slope), its about more than that. The bill removed protections from discrimination in North Carolina so now denying me service as a black person is now arguably without consequence. And likewise to discriminate against veterans in hiring (the sponsors voted down an amendment from a veteran legislator who sought to add real protection for veterans) leaves victims of such discrimination with no recourse. This law bill betrays bedrock conservative principles like local control and limited government and cannot, by a longshot, be construed to address religious liberty. Governor Deals actions Monday were consistent with conservative principles, including one of the core values of the party of Lincoln: that the law must never sanction discrimination. Governor Deal should be commended for standing up to a small minority who sought to hide bigotry under the guise of faith; and for reminding us what true faith is all about: love. We must reward Governor Deals political courage may very well come at his own political expense. And we should take this as a lesson. A true person of faith bases their actions not on whats popular or in keeping with their interests, but on principle. Its refreshing to see another Conservative Governor stand up for tolerance and remind us that not all Conservatives or Christians agree with insidious attempts, such as HB 757, to marginalize LGBT Americans. Faith requires love and tolerance, and were stronger as a nation when we stand for them. Thats why conservatives would be wise to follow Nathan Deals example. In a March 24 New York Times article, Feeling G.O.P. Peril, Muslims Try to Get Out Vote, Alan Rappeport wrote about how three Muslim groups and organizations in the United States are organizing to elect Democratic candidates this fall because of perceived hostility toward American Muslims by Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Rappeport indicated these Muslim organizations especially object to Senator Cruzs call to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods. Given the strong liberal bias of the New York Times, it was not a surprise when this article failed to mention that the alleged Islamophobic statements by Senator Cruz and Mr. Trump were in fact criticisms of radical Islam and President Obamas refusal to name or confront this threat. It was surprising that all of the Muslim groups cited by Rappeport have ties to radical Islam that he failed to mention. The most stunning example of this is the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia which Rappeport says has been holding voter education workshops to convince its members to vote against Republican presidential candidates. Rappeport neglected to mention the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Centers notorious past. Anwar al-Awlaki, a key official with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2011, was Imam at this mosque between January 2001 and April 2002. Two of the 9/11 hijackers worshipped there. There also have been reports of violent materials found in this mosque. The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center may be the best possible example proving the need for Senator Cruzs call to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods. Rappaport also omitted the Islamist radicalism of other American Muslim groups cited in his article he says are encouraging mosques to turn themselves into voter registration centers. One is the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations (CAIR) which claims to be America's largest Muslim civil rights organization. However, its record shows this is far from the case. CAIR was named in 2007 as a co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case -- the largest terrorist financing case in U.S. history. Two days after the Dec. 2, 2015 terrorist shooting in San Bernardino, Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIRs Los Angeles chapter, tried to blame U.S. policy for this deadly attack when he told CNNs New Day, some of our own foreign policy, as Americans, as the West have fueled that extremism . . . We are partly responsible. In July 2014, while Hamas was firing rockets at Israel from Gaza, attendees at a CAIR-Florida-organized protest praised the Hamas attacks at a rally in Miami by chanting, We are Hamas! We are Jihad! Two other Muslim American Group cited by Rappaport, The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), also have radical Islamist ties that he did not mention. ICNA preaches a global caliphate and Islamic shariah law over America to its members and reportedly has an ultimate goal of the establishment of Islam as the sole basis of global society and governance according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism. ICNA also was named as a co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case. The USCMO is an umbrella organization of American Muslim groups. CAIR and ICNA are two of its founding members. Another founding member, The Muslim American Society, has been described by federal prosecutors as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. In a related development, Hillary Clinton used an appearance at a panel last week sponsored by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) to condemn Ted Cruzs statements about radical Islam as pitting groups against one another and giving in to fear. In reporting Clintons remarks, no one in the mainstream media mentioned MPACs extremism and how it has followed a consistent pattern of defending designated terrorist organizations and their supporters, opposing U.S. counterterrorism efforts and spouting anti-Semitic rhetoric. The battle to defeat ISIS and Al Qaeda requires recognizing and defeating a radical ideology that is at war with Western civilization: radical Islam. Alan Rappeports article and Hillary Clintons MPAC panel proves that they, like President Obama, are still in denial about this threat. Ted Cruz has the best understanding of radical Islam of all the presidential candidates and the best strategy to defeat it. This is why I was proud to endorse him to be the next president of the United States. Who influences Donald Trump on foreign affairs and security? This is not an unimportant question. Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination. He has no foreign policy or defense experience himself. His America First doctrine is a radical departure from American foreign and security policy since the end of World War II. Not that inexperience disqualifies Trump as commander in chief. His fresh approach to the world may be an improvement over the policies of previous administrations. Perhaps NATO is outdated after the Cold War and can be dispensed with. Maybe Russia should control Ukraine. Encouraging Japan to nuke up in response to North Korea could be a good idea (Japan, after all, is the only country with hands-on atomic experience). Charging Arab oil potentates for U.S. military protection or leaving them to the tender mercies of ISIS might be worth considering. These are just some of the revolutionary notions advanced by Donald Trump in a fascinating interview he gave to New York Times reporters David E. Sanger and Maggie Haberman on March 26. Trump got plenty of time and space to set forth views. Trump himself complimented the paper for accurately quoting him. The Times also released the full transcript of the interview, which runs more than 30 pages. Among the subjects discussed was the composition of Trumps foreign policy advisers. Actually, it first came up a few days earlier in the candidates meeting with the Washington Post editorial Board. Asked about the people who influence him on security and diplomacy, Trump cited Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, former Defense Department official Joseph Schmitz, retired army Lt. General Keith Kellogg, Lebanese-American academic (and Fox News Contributor) Walid Phares, energy analyst Carter Page and a lawyer named George Papadopoulos. Only Senator Sessions and Professor Phares can plausibly be regarded as experts. The others may know a lot, but not about foreign policy. This was not lost on the general public. Perhaps to correct the impression that he is basically winging it, Trump used the Times interview to expand his roster of advisers. The improvement was largely quantitative. Major General Gary Harrell, Major General Bert Mizusawa and retired Rear Admiral Chuck Kubic may be fine military men, but they are not exactly household names in the world of international strategy. Actually, they arent even household names to Trump. He mispronounced Misusawas name (as Misuwawa) and made it clear that he hasnt met Kubic (Hes Navy, retired. Very good. Nice, supposedly). Supposedly? Haberman asked where Trump was getting all these names. People that I respect recommended them, he said. Ive heard very good things about them. Well, advisers who whisper in your ear arent everything. Some chief executives prefer to get their information at the library. Sanger asked Trump what he reads on foreign policy and defense. The candidates reply recalled Sarah Palins response to a similar question from Katie Couric in the 2008 presidential campaign. More than anything else would be various newspapers including your own [the New York Times], he said. You know you get a very big array of things from reading the media, from seeing the media, the papers Trump revealed that he is also planning to assemble a formal council of advisers. But he wasnt ready to say who would be on it. Many of themare tied up with contracts working for various networks, he told his interviewers. as an example, they might have a contract with Fox, they may have a contract with CNN and they can't do it. They have contracts with the various networks and maybe the media too. I don't know about The Times but it's possibleless likely, I'm not sure how that structure works with the actual newspapers. According to Trump, people at such places are already making plans to ditch their contracts and join the bandwagon. This scoop didnt draw much attention from the general public, but I imagine it is making quite a ripple in many newsrooms. Journalists must be looking at their colleagues and wondering enviouslywho among us has been tapped on the shoulder by the large Trumpian finger of destiny? What frustrated pundit or underestimated anchor might soon be entrusted with crafting the demise of NATO, impoverishing the Chinese or throwing the Saudi sheikhs overboard? Think of it. Anderson Cooper as national security advisor. Maureen Dowd at the United Nations. Brian Williams in charge of the CIA. Secretary of Defense Megyn Kelly. Dont laugh. If Donald Trump can be president of the United States, anythings possible. Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would no longer honor his pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee for president, while fellow candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich refused to say whether they would back the party's pick. All three GOP contenders appeared at a CNN town hall in Milwaukee one week before Wisconsin's April 5 primary. When asked if he would keep the pledge he signed last September, Trump responded "No, I wont." The real estate mogul explained that he was taking back the pledge because, "I have been treated very unfairly," and listed the Republican National Committee and party establishment among those he believes have wronged him. Cruz, who is running second to Trump in the delegate race, shrugged off the question of whether he would support Trump in November, saying "Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. We're going to beat him." The Texas senator added that nominating Trump "would be an absolute train wreck" and "would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton." Trump, who followed Cruz on the town hall stage, said he didn't need a promise of support from Cruz. "He doesnt have to support me," he said. Ohio Gov. Kasich, who has vowed to keep his campaign going until this summer's convention in Cleveland despite being a distant third in the delegate count, also didn't say whether he'd stand by the pledge. "If the nominee is somebody I think is really hurting the country, and diving the country, I can't stand behind them," Kasich said. Trump has 736 delegates and is the only candidate with a realistic path to clinching the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7. However, a Cruz win in Wisconsin would narrow Trump's already tight path to the nomination and raise the prospect of a contested convention in Cleveland. Trump told supporters at a rally that "if we win Wisconsin, it's pretty much over," noting his significant delegate lead over both Cruz and Kasich. Trump held the rally in Janesville, Wis., hometown of House Speaker Paul Ryan who last week called for more civility in politics even as the Republican presidential race grew more personal and nasty. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a former GOP presidential contender, endorsed Cruz Tuesday, saying he believes the Texas senator is best positioned to win the GOP nomination and defeat Clinton. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is running a new TV ad in New York targeting potential general election Republican foe Donald Trump, while still facing a critical primary in the coming weeks. The ad, titled New York, attacks Trump, the GOP front-runner, for his hardline immigration policies and the violence at some of his rallies. It opens with imagery depicting New Yorks diversity while Clinton says some people think America's problems can be solved by "building walls" and "banning people based on their religion." This is New York. And we know better, Clinton says. Clinton has a commanding lead over Democratic rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, but a loss in the April 19 primary in her adopted home state of New York would be a big setback and continue to give Sanders momentum. The Brooklyn-born Sanders has won five of the last six primary-caucus contests, with his campaign furiously trying to close Clintons delegate lead before the Democratic nominating convention in July. We are making a big commitment to New York state, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Monday, two days after his candidate swept Clinton in the Alaska, Hawaii and Washington caucuses. Clinton, a former New York senator, has scheduled campaign events Wednesday and Thursday in New York but has so far declined to debate Sanders on their mutual home turf. Clinton, whose campaign headquarters is in Brooklyn, leads Sanders in the delegate count 1,712-to-1,004. They are competing for 247 delegates in New York. The 30-second ad, in which Clinton does not appear until the end, also includes an image of a man being punched at a recent Trump rally and briefly flashes a sign from one of the New York billionaire businessmans new hotels. The Associated Press contributed to this report. U.S. officials ordered families of U.S. service members and government workers to return home from southern Turkey on Tuesday due to what they called "continued security concerns in the region." On Monday, Sky News reported Islamic State terrorists were planning an "imminent" attack on Jewish schools in Turkey, citing intelligence sources. The Pentagon and State Department said dependents of American staffers at the U.S. consulate in Adana, the nearby Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave. The so-called "ordered departure" notice means the government will cover relocation costs. Officials said relatives of essential Chief of Mission personnel could stay. U.S. jets operating out of Incirlik have been conducting strike missions against ISIS since late last year. In addition, the State Department on Thursday warned all Americans to avoid traveling to the region, especially to areas near the Syrian border. "Stay away from large crowds, including at popular tourist destinations," the department added in a statement. The move affects 670 family members or other "dependents," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said. The move would take place "relatively quickly," he added. "The decision to move our families and civilians was made in consultation with the Government of Turkey, our State Department, and our Secretary of Defense," Gen. Philip M. Breedlove of U.S. European Command said. "We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong Ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism." Defense officials said they did not plan to keep families of U.S. personnel out of Turkey permanently. They also cited the need to preserve the military's "combat effectiveness" there. The State Department and Pentagon had begun a voluntary drawdown of staff last September after Turkey announced it would take a greater role in the fight against ISIS. At the time, military officials said they had recommended the voluntary departure from Incirlik because of specific calls by militants for lone wolf attacks against the air base. The new announcement comes one day after Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Washington. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to travel to Washington for a global nuclear security summit scheduled to get underway on Thursday. Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report. **Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.** Buzz Cut: GOP accelerates race to splitsville Power Play: Can Cruz and Kasich deconflict their campaigns? Hillary out with first ad dumping on Trump Second judge allows further digging into emails Ah, the glamor of showbiz GOP ACCELERATES RACE TO SPLITSVILLE Its not surprising by now that the mutual-support pact among current and former Republican presidential nominees has broken down. After all, if you have to come up with a pledge to begin with, youve got a problem. But its worth remembering how they got here. When this all began, the concern among Republicans was that Donald Trump would make good on his threat to mount a third-party run and play general-election spoiler after he was inevitably defeated in the primaries. Ha! Now, with Trump teetering on the threshold of inevitably himself, many of his once, current and would-be future rivals have pulled back from their previously throaty pledges to support the eventual nominee. The last two anti-Trumps standing, Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich, decisively dodged the question at a CNN town hall on Tuesday night. Kasich used conditional terms, pinning his reticence on Trumps conduct and candidacy, saying he wouldnt support someone who was really hurting the country, and diving the country. Cruz reverted to his prior objections to supporting a candidate who had attacked his wife, Heidi, but ultimately waved off the question by promising to defeat Trump. Trump, however, was not equivocal, saying he would not honor the pledge he signed with considerable fanfare back in September because he has been treated very unfairly" by the Republican Party. Trump was presumably alluding to rules that might still deny him the nomination even if he has the most delegates heading into the partys convention. As was observed at the time Trump and others signed the pledge, it was not a contract enforceable by any court, but rather an agreement between gentlemen and one lady that they would unite when the primary was over. So its not like the RNC can sue Trump if he bolts the party post-convention. In that sense, Trumps breach and the threatened breaches of his rivals means nothing. The Republicans were already hopelessly divided and embittered before Tuesday night, rent by a struggle over Trumps fitness as a nominee and president. But make no mistake: This is a considerable escalation and there will be consequences of Trumps departure from the pact. Trumps tacit threat of working to ensure Republican defeat if he is denied the partys nomination is now explicit. That will further embolden those who say they would rather lose in the fall than support Trump. Weve heard suggestions in every election cycle that if the party doesnt listen to the anguished cries of the supporters of trailing candidates that the base will stay home in the fall. But weve never heard it from the frontrunner and certainly moving into the realm of overt threats is something weve not seen in the modern era. It is nearly an admission of inevitable defeat that both sides in the dispute vow to send the party to defeat against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton if their demands are not met. There are certainly enough voters in both camps to make good on their promises. And if eventual defeat is becoming a foregone conclusion, then the frame of the race has changed massively. Hardliners on both sides of the Trump divide will feel even more liberated to press their cases. With his revocation, Trump has dropped more napalm on the already incinerated GOP. With no conclusive end in sight for the Republican nominating process before June at the soonest and each week finding a lower circle of Hell in which the race can reside, it seems increasingly likely that the party will be in full rupture even before what promises to be a heinous convention. Trump goes after reporter who brought assault charges against his campaign manager - The Hill: Donald Trump on Tuesday argued that his campaign manager acted appropriately by getting physically involved when a reporter approached him earlier this month. She shouldnt have been touching me, he said during a CNN town hall in Milwaukee, discussing former Breitbart journalist Michelle Fields. She had a pen in her hand, Trump told moderator Anderson Cooper. It could have been a knife. It might have been dangerous. Trump said he would not punish Corey Lewandowski because his top aide did nothing wrong during the encounter on March 12 in Jupiter, Fla. I would have loved to have fired him, but I stick up for people when they are unjustly accused, he said of his campaign manager. Wait. Never mind - Pressed by a town hall questioner on what he saw as the three most important functions of the federal government, Donald Trump listed national security, education and health care, later including housing as another key role. When it was pointed out that the latter items were widely rejected as federal functions by conservatives, Trump backtracked. Cruz says politicians shouldnt wear their faith on their sleeve - CBS News: Early in his presidential campaign, Ted Cruz ran on a strategy of winning the support of evangelical conservatives, but the GOP candidate on Tuesday said he doesn't want people to vote for him because of his faithCruz said in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin town hall televised by CNN Im a Christian, Im not going to hide that... but I also think those in politics have an obligation not to wear their faith on their sleeve. Power Play: Can Cruz and Kasich deconflict their campaigns? - Early signs show there may be an alliance forming between John Kasich and Ted Cruz to stop Donald Trump from obtaining the nomination outright, but at a sacrifice to both. Chris Stirewalt explains the possible scenarios from this alliance in just 60 seconds. WATCH HERE. [GOP delegate count: Trump 736; Cruz 463; Kasich 143 (1,237 needed to win)] WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE The cover art of The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is iconic to say the least and perhaps nearly as influential as the bands eight album itself. It was on this day in 1967 that prior to a late-night recording session for the album, the four members of the group gathered in a London studio in their psychedelic martial marching band outfits for the photo shoot that would result in the cover. The group stood before 61 images and mannequins of famous figures, ranging from comedian W.C. Fields to Satanist Alistair Crowley, providing decades of great fodder for obsessive fans conspiracy theories. The Beatles Bible tells the story of the famous shoot: The soon-to-be-famous collage, designed by Peter Blake and his wife Jann Haworth, had been assembled in the studio during the preceding eight days Jesus and Hitler were among John Lennons choices, but they were left off the final list. Got a TIP from the RIGHT or the LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM POLL CHECK Real Clear Politics Averages National GOP nomination: Trump 42.3 percent; Cruz 31.7 percent; Kasich 19.2 percent National Dem nomination: Clinton 51.3 percent; Sanders 42.3 percent General Election: Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +11.2 points Generic Congressional Vote: Democrats +1 HILLARY OUT WITH FIRST AD DUMPING ON TRUMP Making good on a promise to knock Donald Trump early on in the campaign cycle, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is out with an ad in New York today that frames her candidacy as the best way to defeat Trump. Though the spot is aimed at Democratic voters in the Empire States April 19 primary, theres no reference to her intramural rival and native New Yorker Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Instead it juxtaposes images of happy, diverse New Yorkers with images from Trumps campaign, including a slo-mo video of a protester being sucker punched at a rally for the Republican frontrunner. The spot also features a peek at a sign from what appears to be a Trump construction project reading: Trump: coming 2016. So when some say we can solve Americas problems by building walls, banning people based on their religion, and turning against each other Well, this is New York And we know better, Clinton narrates. The ad comes off the heels of a Clinton PAC spokesman saying that the group plans to start hitting Trump early after seeing the failed strategies of his Republican competitors this cycle. Second judge allows further digging into emails - Fox News: A second federal judge has ruled that a conservative group should be allowed to dig deeper in its quest for emails sent by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a decision Tuesday that could allow the group to seek more documents and depositions from current and former State Department officials. U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberths order grants limited discovery to Judicial Watch, which sued in 2014 in order to gain access to records relating to the drafting of the talking points given to then-Ambassador Susan Rice in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. [Liberal WaPo columnist Ruth Marcus explains how Hillary Clinton beating the rap on mishandling state secrets could leave a bad taste in voters mouths.] Bernie on home turf in Madison - Politico: When Bernie Sanders takes the stage at a town hall in Madison on Wednesday, itll seem like a homecoming of sorts. Outside of his home state of Vermont, there are few places more familiar with Sanders or more enamored of him than Wisconsins state capital. For years, hes been a regular headliner at the big annual Wisconsin progressive festival known as Fighting Bob Fest, where he's typically met with raucous applause. In July, 10,000 screaming fans packed Madisons Veterans Memorial Coliseum to greet his appearance as a presidential candidate -- a moment the Sanders campaign views as a turning point in his bid for the Democratic nomination, a sign of his transformation into a serious contender. Makes late pitch to woo superdeleagtes - Fox News: Bernie Sanders campaign, buoyed by recent victories, is mounting a late-stage bid to court so-called superdelegates and wrangle just enough of the influential party insiders to close the gap with Hillary Clinton heading into the Democrats presidential convention. Like essentially every other Sanders strategy at this point, its an uphill and longshot play. [Dem delegate count: Clinton 1712; Sanders 1004 (2,383 needed to win)] THE GLAMOR OF SHOWBIZ KEYC: This town in Faribault County [Minnesota] is often the butt of many jokes. But they may soon have some national recognitionWhen you grow up in Kiester, youve probably been cracking backside jokes since you were bornSo when Preparation H, a medicine for hemorrhoids, floated the idea for filming a commercial here, the townspeople reacted with the same sense of humor theyve kept for generationsPreparation H approached the City Council to see if they could film a commercial there. The city said yes, but the project is on hold as Preparation H hasnt confirmed the details yet. Passer says, Im fine with it. It puts us on the map[E]ven though this ad may bring them notoriety, the people of Kiester say they are proud of their small townKiester was named for a judge from Blue Earth, Jacob Kiester. Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here. A Democratic congressional candidate in Nevada is coming out with claims that outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told him not to run because he is Muslim an allegation Reids office categorically denies. After Reid endorsed a rival in the race, Jordanian immigrant Jesse Sbaih told The Washington Post about the purported comments, which he said were made during a meeting they had at the Las Vegas casino Paris on Aug. 25 to discuss Sbaihs run. Reid, the candidate said, told him being Muslim would turn voters away and prevent him from winning. But Reids office insists that simply didnt happen. Reid told him he couldnt win but that had nothing to do with his religion, this is now Jesses version of events, Kristen Orthman, Reids spokeswoman, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Orthman also accused Sbaih of trying to manufacture a controversy in order to bolster his congressional race, claiming he mentioned the senator in a fundraising email. The timing of Sbaihs accusations has come into question. Two weeks after the supposedly contentious August 2015 meeting with Reid, Sbaih praised the senator on Ralston Live with Ron Ralston. Ive had the pleasure of sitting down with Senator Reid a few weeks ago, Sbaih said during the interview. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Senator Reid. Hes a great Nevadan It would be an honor to get his endorsement. Hes a great American. Hes been great for Nevada. But only recently has Sbaih spoken out about the claims Reid told him he could not win the race because he is Muslim. The accusations started after Reid reportedly recruited Sbaihs rival Jacky Rosen, the president of a prominent synagogue in Las Vegas, back in January. Sbaih is running in a competitive race for Republican Rep. Joe Hecks seat. Seven Republicans and six Democrats have filed to run for the open seat. Heck is running for Reids seat. Reid announced last year he would not be seeking re-election in 2016. Sbaih maintains it isn't a political tactic and insists he was told to stand down. Basically, I was told I would not be able to win because of my religion and ethnicity, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. I said, I respectfully disagree with you. I believe in the goodness and the spirit of the American people. The American people have embraced me since Ive been to this country and Ive embraced them back as an adopted son. Sbaih added, I think the quote was: Let me be blunt, youre not going to win the race because youre a Muslim. Calls to Reid and Sbaih by FoxNews.com were not returned. North Carolina's attorney general said Tuesday that he won't defend in court a newly enacted state law preventing local governments from passing anti-discrimination rules meant to protect gay, lesbian and transgender people. Roy Cooper made the announcement one day after a day after gay rights advocates sued the state to seek to overturn the law. The federal lawsuit lists Cooper among the defendants because of his official position. Cooper, a Democrat who is challenging Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in the November election, described the law as "a national embarrassment" that conflicted with his own department's anti-discrimination rules and "will set North Carolina's economy back" if it is not repealed. McCrory complained this week that a well-coordinated national campaign is "distorting the truth," and in a video Tuesday accused Cooper of "inventing conflict that simply doesn't exist" to justify his argument to refuse to defend the law. North Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger called on Cooper to resign, saying the attorney general's "zeal for pandering for the extreme lefts money and agenda in his race for governor is making it impossible for him to fulfill his duties." Cooper responded that he has no plans to step down. The CEOs of dozens of big technology, biotech and financial companies signed a letter released Tuesday by gay rights advocates urging state officials to overturn the law, which the governor signed just hours after it was introduced and approved by Republicans in a special session. "Discrimination is wrong and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country. As companies that pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge you and the leadership of North Carolina's legislature to repeal this law in the upcoming legislative session," reads the letter, signed by IBM CEO Virginia Rometty, Apple head Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, among others. In addition, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee in banning nearly all official travel to North Carolina. The North Carolina Values Coalition, for its part, said hundreds of business owners support the state law, but many don't want to be named for fear of retaliation, a spokeswoman said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from The News & Observer. Sacramento County is threatening to fine Caltrans millions in taxpayer dollars for drilling hundreds of wells over a period of decades in violation of laws aimed at protecting groundwater, records show. The county set the possible fine at as much as $5.23 million per day to locate and follow proper procedures for a fraction of the wells the most extreme measure thus far in a long-running jurisdictional spitting contest. The county says the state should have obtained permits, licenses and inspections for 523 narrow wells drilled from January 1990 to May 2014, according to a notice of violation obtained by CalWatchdog. The wells, four to six inches in diameter, are used to monitor geological conditions and water levels for safe building purposes. State water laws are aimed at making sure the holes, which can extend hundreds of feet into the ground, dont allow for untreated stormwater or hazardous chemicals to pollute groundwater, which the holes often intersect with. Caltrans lawyers have for years advised staff that while the agency was subject to the laws, Caltrans could police itself. The agency relied on those opinions in deciding not to obtain the same approval and paperwork from county agencies required of a private individual or company undertaking similar drilling. Under pressure from county environmental agencies, Caltrans shifted its stance in 2014, announcing its intent to follow the law going forward and outlining a plan to locate wells throughout the state and to work under the proper license. ensuring that you are in compliance is always a best practice, whether you are an individual or a state department. Mark Dinger, CalTrans spokesman Our intention has always been to play by the rules, and ensuring that you are in compliance is always a best practice, whether you are an individual or a state department, Caltrans spokesman Mark Dinger said. The dispute with Sacramento County is one of several across the state involving the drilling regulations. The agency has had relatively recent run-ins in Marin, Mendocino, San Joaquin and Humboldt counties. Some of those counties and others have filed records requests on well drilling in their jurisdictions. The state estimates it drilled 10,000 borings across the state since 1990, though some would not have been subject to the state Water Code at issue. CalWatchdog asked Dinger why the state agency failed to fully adhere to state and local laws during that time. Caltrans adopted policies in 2014 to ensure that its operations are in full compliance with the California State Water Code and the local enforcement agencies standards, and is working with local enforcement agencies to resolve issues from previous practices, Dinger said. As a result of not alerting Sacramento County and not keeping adequate records, Caltrans lost track of most of the wells, although some may be covered by structures. At the countys urging, Caltrans tried to locate all 523 wells in 2015, finding 35. Click here for the full report from CalWatchdog.com A Texas man who became a West Virginia mayor has a closet full of baggage, including a longstanding arrest warrant, alleged misuse of a city gas card and two unverified college degrees from the Lone Star State. Texas authorities havent pressed for his return, but Richard Wayne Edwards political career could be over May 10 or he could be elected mayor for another four years. Edwards was cited by the Alamo Area Narcotics Task Force for possession of marijuana and grow-house paraphernalia in San Antonio in 2001. With charges pending, he hit the road, landing in the small town of Buckhannon, where the political neophyte became city recorder in 2014, and then mayor. Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood said his office did not pursue extradition because of the small amount of drugs involved. But he said charges would be pressed if Edwards returned to Texas. Edwards says he wants to resolve the matter, but has no intention of coming back. [Its] not a top priority, he said. If I dont get elected, what difference does it make? he told the San Antonio Express-News, while complaining of a witch hunt against him in Buckhannon. I get it. Hes playing the political game, LaHood responded. This guy thinks a little bit too much of himself. Click for more from Watchdog.org. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump quickly walked back a statement he made earlier Wednesday that if abortion were illegal in the United States, then women who have the procedure should be punished - saying later that only those who performed the procedure should be punished. If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman, Trump said in a written statement. The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. Earlier, at a taped MSNBC town hall to be aired later Wednesday, Trump said if abortions were illegal, women should be held responsible. Host Chris Matthews pressed Trump to clarify, asking him whether abortion should be punished and who ultimately should be held accountable. Look, people in certain parts of the Republican Party, conservative Republicans, would say, Yes, it should, Trump said. The candidate later put out a statement saying: This issue is unclear and should be put back into the states for determination. Trumps comments come at a time when hes losing traction with women voters. When asked specifically at the town hall what he thought, the New York businessman answered, I would say its a very serious problem and its a problem we have to decide on. Are you going to send them to jail? Im asking you, Matthews prompted. I am pro-life, Trump said. Matthews pressed on, asking again who should be punished in an abortion case if it were illegal. There has to be some form of punishment, Trump said. For the woman? Matthews asked. Yeah, Trump responded, adding later that the punishment would have to be determined. His rivals seized on the remarks. Ohio Gov. John Kasich later told MSNBC of course women shouldnt be punished. An aide to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted: Don't overthink it: Trump doesn't understand the pro-life position because he's not pro-life. The federal government dropped $86 million on an advanced Drug Enforcement Administration plane that was meant for counter-narcotics missions in Afghanistan yet remains inoperable and resting on jacks to this day, according to a scathing watchdog report released Wednesday. The review by the Justice Department's inspector general said the plane was purchased seven years ago to support anti-drug efforts in the Afghanistan war zone, where opium poppy cultivation has long been rampant. The so-called Global Discovery program to modify the ATR 42-500 aircraft with advanced surveillance capabilities was supposed to be completed in December 2012. But the program has been plagued by missteps, has missed a string of deadlines, has ballooned in cost from an original estimate of $22 million, and remains incomplete and grounded in Delaware. The report said it was unlikely the plane will ever fly in Afghanistan because the DEA has since ceased aviation operations there. "Our findings raise serious questions as to whether the DEA was able to meet the operational needs for which its presence was requested in Afghanistan," the review said. The project was part of an agreement with the Defense Department. The DEA said in a statement that it agreed it "can and should provide better oversight of its operational funding" and was reviewing its policies and procedures. The drug agency spent $8.5 million on parts for the plane including $5 million in spare engines "the majority of which cannot be used utilized on any other aircraft in its fleet," and the Defense Department built a $2 million hangar in Afghanistan for the plane that was never used and likely never will be, the report said. The audit also found that the DEA didn't fully comply with federal procedures when it purchased the aircraft, spending nearly $3 million more than it had previously estimated for the $8.6 million aircraft. The DEA also charged about $2.5 million in improper expenditures billed under the agreement with the Defense Department, including for costs associated with aircrafts and personnel who were entirely unrelated to the agency's Afghanistan operations. That included $8,122 in unallowable travel related to missions in Haiti, the Bahamas, Peru and Florida. The review found the DEA's Aviation Division lacked adequate policies and procedures for receiving, reviewing and paying contractors with no requirement that any documentation be approved before personnel were paid. When modifications were improperly done on the plane, the Defense Department poured more money into the effort. The plane, which has missed every scheduled delivery date, is now estimated to be completed in June nearly one year after the DEA pulled out of Afghanistan. The report said the DEA intends to fly the plane in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The report made 13 recommendations to improve oversight of its aviation operations agreements and the problematic program. The drug agency has already acted on two recommendations, according to the inspector general's office. That includes ensuring foreign offices are now required to provide supporting documentation to be paid for work. The agency said it's also now established an electronic method for pilots to submit mission reports to make sure program data is accurate. In its formal reply to the audit, the DEA said that based on previous positive experiences using Defense Department contractors to modify its aircraft it "had no indication that the Global Discovery modification would encounter the significant delays and problems that ultimately occurred." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Tissue samples from a Hungarian mummy have revealed that people in the early 17th and 18th centuries suffered from colon cancer, long before the modern plagues of obesity, physical inactivity and processed food were established as causes of the disease, according to new research. In a new study of 18th-century Hungarian mummies, scientists found that the genetic predisposition to colon cancer predates modern impacts on health. One of the mummies in the study carried a mutation in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene, which physicians now know raises the risk of colon cancer, said lead study author Michal Feldman, a research assistant formerly at Tel Aviv University in Israel. If the APC mutation is confirmed in other samples, it could mean that inherited changes in DNA play a bigger role in cancer evolution than do modern environmental impacts, Feldman told Live Science in an email. [10 Do's and Don'ts to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer] "Today, colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer, and it has a clear genetic background that is well-researched in modern populations," Feldman said. "In light of the many lifestyle and environmental changes human society has undergone during the last few centuries, we found it important to compare the spectrum of historical mutations to the modern spectrum." Because mummification preserves tissue, samples from such remains can give scientists invaluable information on anthropological, historical and medical details, Feldman said. In the past, studies of mummified remains have provided clues about the history of tuberculosis, clogged arteries and even air pollution. In the new study, Feldman's team collected tissue samples from 20 mummies that were excavated from sealed crypts in a Dominican church in Vac, Hungary. These crypts were used for the burial of several middle-class families and clerics from 1731 to 1838, and more than 265 mummies were found there in 1995, the researchers said. The mummies are now housed at the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest. The low temperature in the crypts, combined with constant ventilation and low humidity, were ideal conditions for natural mummification of the corpses, the researchers said. Some 70 percent of the bodies found in the location were completely or partially mummified, providing a rich source of preserved tissue and DNA samples for the scientists. [8 Grisly Archaeological Discoveries] By extracting DNA from the mummies, Feldman and her team were able to sequence and assess the presence of APC gene mutations. "The interesting thing about this study is that the APC mutation in cancer that was recently discovered in the past couple of decades is not new," said Dr. Sidney Winawer, a gastroenterologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who was not involved in the study. "This opens up a whole new way of thinking. If this mutation was present so many years ago, why was it present there?" Additional historical samples need to be investigated, he said, in order to better understand the relationships between cancer and environmental factors, such as lifestyle, and between cancer and genetic changes. The findings were published online Feb. 10 in the journal PLOS ONE. Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Australias Great Barrier Reef has been hit by widespread coral bleaching, which has the potential to be devastating to one of the worlds most iconic natural wonders. Battered by record warming on land and sea the past two years, coral reefs around the world have suffered bleaching events. When that happens, corals expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing corals to turn white or pale. Without the algae, the coral loses its major source of food and is more susceptible to disease. Starting in the North Pacific Ocean in the summer 2014, the bleaching expanded to the South Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean in 2015. That prompted NOAAs Coral Reef Watch in October to declare the third ever global bleaching event after the 1997-1999 and 2010 events. Related: NOAA: Coral bleaching has gone global for the third time ever Now, the bleaching brought on by a combination of El Nino and climate change has reached one of the worlds largest reef networks one that comprises over 3,000 reefs and coral cays and has been designated one of the seven wonders of the world. I witnessed a sight underwater that no marine biologist, and no person with a love and appreciation for the natural world for that matter, wants to see, said Jodie Rummer, a senior research fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, who has just returned from more than a month at Lizard Island Research Station in the Northern Great Barrier Reef. The bleaching now is not just restricted to the hard corals. Theres also extensive bleaching in the soft corals, and it is also affecting anemones and giant clams, she said in a statement. Rummer called the bleaching catastrophic and admitted she is worried about the future for the reef and those that depend on it like fish and other marine life. We know that many of these tropical populations of reef fishes cannot tolerate dramatic increases in temperatures for extended periods of time. So it may be just a matter of time before the fish start feeling the heat as well, she said. Were watching them closely. Related: El Nino is taking a toll on the world's coral reefs Terry Hughes, convenor of Australias National Coral Bleaching Taskforce, took part in an aerial survey of 500 coral reefs from Cairns to Papua New Guinea and came away with much the same concerns about the bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. This has been the saddest research trip of my life, Hughes said in a statement. Almost without exception, every reef we flew across showed consistently high levels of bleaching, from the reef slope right up onto the top of the reef. We flew for 4000 kilometers (2,485 miles) in the most pristine parts of the Great Barrier Reef and saw only four reefs that had no bleaching. The severity is much greater than in earlier bleaching events in 2002 or 1998. According to NOAA, Australia saw warmer than average temperatures in February and local forecasts are predicting the warming trend to continue. This year, the combination of El Nino, climate change, and an extended period of hot summer days when the tide was exceptionally low has caused many of the corals that survived last years cyclone to lose their symbiotic algae and start bleaching, Rummer said. Related: 2015 was hottest year ever, with records set around the globe In response to the surveys that found 50 percent mortality on some reefs, Great Reef Marine Park Authority has lifted its response to level 3, which would indicate severe bleaching. But authorities also held out hope that recent rains and cloudy conditions could spare some reefs from the ravages of the bleaching. Further wet weather has brought down ocean temperatures, providing reefs south of Cooktown with a much-needed reprieve, Authority Chairman Russell Reichel said. We now need to see if local weather conditions over the next few weeks are favorable enough to prevent further bleaching and to help these reefs recover from the minor to moderate bleaching that were continuing to see south of Cooktown, he said in a statement. We still have many more reefs to survey to gauge the full impact of bleaching, however unfortunately, the further north we go from Cooktown, the more coral mortality were finding. It turns out a tiny hominin nicknamed the Hobbit may have disappeared from the Indonesian island of Flores much earlier than scientists originally thought. When it was first discovered in 2003 in the Liang Bua cave, an international team concluded that H. floresiensis was 18,000 years old and bone fragments were deposited there from 12,000 and 95,000 years ago. But after digging up new stratigraphic and chronological evidence from other parts of the massive, stalactites, filled cave, scientists concluded in a Nature study published Wednesday that new dates for the tiny creature that stood only 3.6 feet and had a chimp-sized brain - range from 190,000 to 50,000 years ago. The remains of H. floresiensis _ including 20-foot skeleton and bone fragments of as many as 10 individuals have been dated from between about 100,000 and 60,000 years old. Stone artifacts found in the cave and believed to have been used by the hobbit range from 190,000 years to 50,000 years. Related: When the 'Hobbits' Conquered Indonesia The new dates are significant because it reduces the possibility although it doesnt eliminate it that H. floresiensis came in contact with modern humans who were most likely traveling from Asia to Australia. Modern humans are believed to have reached Australia 50,000 years ago and the earlier dates also from stone tools in the cave - raised the prospect that humans clashed with H. floresiensis and competed for resources. We dated charcoal, sediments, flowstones, volcanic ash and even the H. floresiensis bones themselves using the most up-to-date scientific methods available. In the last decade, weve vastly improved our understanding of when the deposits accumulated in Liang Bua, and what this means for the age of hobbit bones and stone tools, Richard Bert Roberts, an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow at the University of Wollongong who oversaw the various dating analyses used in the study, said in a statement. But whether hobbits encountered modern humans or other groups of humanssuch as the Denisovansdispersing through Southeast Asia remains an open and intriguing question, he added. Matthew Tocheri, the Canada research chair in human origins at Lakehead University and a co-author on the study, said a priority is finding evidence that modern humans and H. floresiensis overlapped on Flores. So far, the earliest evidence of modern humans on Flores goes back to 11,000 years. Related: Humans, Neanderthals interbred thousands of years earlier than first thought, research shows With the new dating results pushing back that last appearance time of H. floresiensis to 50,000 years ago, it certainly removes the potential amount of time overlap on the island itself, Tocheri, who is also a research associate at the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, told FoxNews.com But we still dont have evidence of modern humans on Flores until about 11,000 years ago. Its clearly a major research question that we are now focused on, he continued. There should be remains of modern humans somewhere on Flores that are earlier than that. Modern humans just didnt jump over the islands of Southeast Asia to get to Australia by 50,000 years ago. They must have come through islands of Indonesia and its highly unlikely they skipped Flores. But even if modern humans did overlap H. floresiensis, Tocheri said it doesnt mean they killed off their tiny ancestor. Noting that many other species on the island including Komodo dragons, vultures and pygmy stegodon also disappeared around 50,000 years, Tocheri said a number of factors including increased volcanism and changing climate could also have played a role. Related: Ancient DNA reveals bones in Spanish cave were Neanderthals During the late Pleistocene, there are lots of ice ages going on and off and the climate changing around every few tens of thousands of years, he said. There are lots of large animals around the world that go extinct at this time. You look at the Komodo dragon, giant marabou stork, the vulture, pygmy stegodon and the hobbit. They would have been a lot more sensitive to these late Pleistocene climatic shifts. Chris Stringer, research leader in human origins at the Natural History Museum in London, said the new dates for are H. floresiensis are much more in line with the inferred last appearances of the Neanderthals and perhaps also the Denisovans. This in turn may reinforce the idea that the successful spread of modern humans from Africa after about 60,000 years ago played at least a role, if not the most significant role, in the physical extinction of other forms of humans outside of Africa, he said in an email interview. However, at least some of those other forms of human did not go completely extinct, since their DNA lives on in us today through ancient interbreeding between the archaic and early modern populations. This leaves open the fascinating possibility that even floresiensis might have contributed some of its DNA to living groups in the region, if there was at least a short overlap between floresiensis and sapiens about 50,000 years ago. Thomas Sutikna, a co-author on the study also from the University of Wollongong and National Research Centre for Archaeology in Indonesia, said in a statement that dating mix up occurred because we didnt realize during our original excavations that the hobbit deposits near the eastern wall of the cave were similar in age to those near the cave center, which we had dated to about 74,000 years ago. Related: Neanderthal DNA may influence modern depression risk As the team expanded their excavation of the cave, Sutikna said it became increasingly clear that there was a large remnant pedestal of older deposits truncated by an erosional surface that sloped steeply toward the cave mouth - that was covered by younger sediments over the past 20,000 years. Unfortunately, the ages of these overlying sediments were originally thought to apply to the hobbit remains, but our continuing excavations and analyses revealed that this was not the case, said co-author Wahyu Saptomo, head of conservation and archaeometry at the National Research Centre for Archaeology. But the researchers were adamant that the new dates did little to change their belief and that of most scientists that H. floresiensis was still a distant relative, not a deformed modern human as critics have long contended. Those critics argue that the small size of H. floresiensis would indicate it suffered from a genetic disorder that caused the body and brain to shrink. For the few stragglers that are still hanging onto (to the idea) that this is a pathological modern human, it certainly weakens their argument yet again, Tocheri said, comparing those minority voices who believe its a modern human to scientists who say that human-mediated climate change isnt happening right now" or "that smoking doesnt cause cancer. The field has really shifted to debates over these more interesting questions of what is H. floresiensis descended from? What is its exact relationship to us? he added. Stringer agreed. The dates would seem to fatally undermine remaining claims that the Hobbit fossils belong to diseased modern humans, since the material now dates beyond any modern human specimens known from the region, he said.That said, my guess is that the sceptics will still not back down, as they have shown no signs of doing so in the face of a wealth of other data that conflict with their ideas. A double-barreled handgun that folds up to look like a smartphone is worrying police officers. Developed by Minnesota startup Ideal Conceal, the pistol folds into a palm-sized square. Smartphones are everywhere, so your new pistol will easily blend in with todays environment, explains Ideal Conceal, on its website. In its locked position it will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight. The gun can be safely carried in a purse or clipped to a persons side, the company added. However, the guns resemblance to a smartphone is making police officers nervous, CNN Money reports. Related: Four concealed carry guns unveiled at SHOT Show In general, the concept of any kind of weapon thats disguised, so that its not apparent that its a weapon, would be cause for concern, said Bill Johnson, executive director and general counsel for the National Association of Police Organizations. The Ideal Conceal pistol has a list price of $395 and will be available for purchase in mid-2016, according to the companys website. Developer Kirk Kjellberg told CNN Money hes already received 2,500 emails from people who want to buy the handgun. Kjellberg said the Ideal Conceal cannot be fired while in its closed position. Related: New concealed carry products for women at SHOT Show The gun, which has two bullets loaded into two barrels, is a .380-caliber derringer that uses a hammerless firing system. CNN Money reports that, even if it's in plain sight, the gun might actually require a concealed carry permit, depending on state and local laws, which vary widely. The Ideal Conceal website urges users to always check state and local concealment laws. Top sniper teams from the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines went head to head last week -- but who proved they were the best? Snipers from the world's most elite special operations forces converged on Fort Bragg, North Carolina for the seventh annual Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition hosted by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. The annual competition is five grueling days designed to test the world's best snipers to the limit. Some 25 teams took part in 21 incredibly difficult events during the competition, which ran from March 20 through March 25. Related: American Sniper widow Taya Kyle outshoots NRA champion A diverse range of teams competed, including snipers representing Special Forces (the Green Berets), Rangers, Special Mission units, Navy SEALS, Marine Special Operations and Federal law enforcement officers. Foreign allied special operations forces units including teams from Singapore, Kazakhstan and Ireland joined American snipers to battle it out for the title. Ireland took the winning title at Fort Benning's 14th annual International Sniper Competition last October, but did not repeat their success this year. The U.S. Army dominated the latest event, trouncing contenders to take all three of the top titles. The U.S. Special Forces team from 3rd Group took first place while teams from U.S. Army Special Operations Command teams took second and third. Related: Futuristic military railgun 'bullets' could travel at Mach 6 The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School and the U.S. Army's Special Operations Center of Excellence's (SOCoE) Special Forces Sniper Course Cadre ran the competition. The SOCoE is also home to other very elite training like honing urban combat skills. The 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) hosts the competition. Special Forces Association-Chapter 62 provides additional support alongside The Special Forces Charitable Trust and other sponsors. Why pit sniper against sniper? Testing the skills of the world's best reveals how everyone stacks up, but it is also an important opportunity to sharpen skills and learn from each other. Special Forces Association (SFA) Chapter 62 Treasurer and Co-owner of Spartan Blades Mark Carey explained that the competition is designed to "test the combat skills of our units and allies, with a good competition this promotes individual and unit training throughout the year." For the sniper instructor cadre, the competition helps keep training relevant. It also means that knowledge gained in battle by different sniper units across the forces can be harvested and incorporated into the instruction of Special Forces snipers. Related: New tech gives US helicopter pilots 'Superman-style' vision The SFA helps get sponsors for the event, hosts a lavish banquet and obtains prizes that act as a further draw for top competitors. The challenges Two-man sniper teams competed in 21 challenging events. The teams hit Fort Bragg's Range 37 to compete in day-and-night sniper challenges throughout the week. The challenges are drawn from real special operations soldiers' combat experience. They are incredibly difficult, always varied designed to challenge the most accomplished of snipers. Related: High-tech sponge can save lives in less than 20 seconds The snipers had to engage targets ranging from 25 meters (82 feet) to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) while moving through urban environments and tackling tactical challenges. Snipers faced these challenges while battling against variables like distance and unknown circumstances. To succeed, snipers needed to not just shoot accurately but also communicate effectively and efficiently with each other. All this had to be achieved while racing against the clock. Rock star prizes for rock star snipers While teams vied for the prestige of winning top honors, amazing prizes were also up for grabs. These include sniper rifles made by LaRue Tactical and NEMO Arms, optics by FLIR, MilSight and Night Force Scopes, and sophisticated shooter technology such as Kestrel Weather Elite Meter with Applied Ballistics. Snipers could also check out and try a wide range of state-of-the-art sniper gear from nearly 70 vendors. Ballet dancer turned defense specialist Allison Barrie has traveled around the world covering the military, terrorism, weapons advancements and life on the front line. You can reach her at wargames@foxnews.com or follow her on Twitter @Allison_Barrie. More from FoxNews.com Tech: As Americans start looking at European summer vacations, the State Department on Tuesday issued a travel alert in the aftermath of deadly bombings by ISIS jihadists in Brussels that left 34 people dead and more than 200 wounded. Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation, the State Department warned. U.S. citizens were ordered to exercise vigilance in public places and on mass transportation throughout Europe. But the deadly coordinated terror attacks in Brussels may already have many American tourists thinking twice about a summer trip to Europe. Travel firm Thomas Cook said Tuesday that its overall summer bookings are lower than this time last year, with just 40 percent of the summer season sold -- due in part to unrest in Europe. And in the wake of Novembers terrorist attacks in Paris, bookings to France have dropped between 8 and 10 percent from the year before, according to the airfare prediction app Hopper. People are still trying to figure out if it makes sense to visit Europe or go to an alternate place. The combination of the terror attacks and the instability caused by the migrant crisis is causing a lot of uncertainty, said Patrick Surry, chief data scientist for Hopper. Surry notes that overall interest in Europe, defined by Internet searches on its site, is currently down about 13 percent for 2016 to date, compared to 2015 during the same period, due to increased terror activity and the migrant crisis. I'd expect it to persist through the summer since people are starting to make summer travel plans now and it seems like various negative coverage will continue to influence travelers. For Americans currently in Europe or elsewhere in the world, the State Department has warned,U.S. citizens continue to be at risk of kidnappings and hostage events as ISIL, al-Qaida, and their affiliates attempt to finance their operations through kidnapping-for-ransom operations. Authorities say that Brussels' airport will stay closed until at least Wednesday afternoon. Eurostar trains to Brussels have been canceled for the time being and Britains Heathrow Airport is beefing up security measures, citing it as one of the major gateways for European travel. Fox News Jo Piazza contributed to this report. An airport with a layout shaped like a swastika and creepy death murals has been labeled one of the spookiest on the planet. Soon after it opened, Denver International Airport found itself at the center of conspiracy theories and they persist 20 years later. To this day pilots and passengers ask why does the airport resemble a swastika? Some claim it must surely be a sign of a secret right-wing plot, The Sun reports. Conspiracy theorists soon turned their attention to the airports bizarre art-packed interior and exterior. Most prominent is the bright blue Mustang, by El Paso artist Luis Jimenez. The giant sculpture actually killed Jimenez in 2006, when a section of it fell on him severing an artery in his leg.But it was a collection of bizarre murals by Leo Tanguma, now removed, that really generated interest. One even featured a Nazi-style "stormtrooper" carrying a huge sword and rifle. With names like In Peace and Harmony With Nature and The Children of the World Dream of Peace they depicted the artist said the triumph of peace over war. To many the pictures true agenda were hints at a "New World Order." Others point to masonic symbols scattered around the airport including a huge stone in the airports Great Hall. The presence of gargoyles is also said to demonstrate that something evil is lurking. So what is the true purpose of Denver International Airport, if not to usher travelers in and out of Colorado? Some conspiracy theorists claim it is a giant military base, or even a concentration camp, just waiting to be used to assist in the enslavement of the American people. Theres also vague references to a vast underground facility, that may or may not connect to other deep subterranean military bunkers throughout the country. According to the website VigilanteCitizen.com: This gigantic structure will eventually become much more than a regular commercial airport. It has the capacity to handle a huge amount of people and vehicles, leading observers to think that the structure might be used as military base and others even add that it will be used as a civilian concentration camp in the near future. Matt Chasansky, the Art Program Manager, said in 2012: You name a conspiracy theory and somehow we seem to be connected to it. But probably the most common is that theres an underground city and that it is a part of a network of underground cities that the government or some sort of shadow international government, or aliens, are building, depending on your perspective ... or Masons ... I cant give a tour in the airport without at least one person attaching themselves to the tour and starting to ask questions about it. Theres not [any] evidence you can provide, there are no assurances you can give that the conspiracy theory is wrong, because ... obviously its going to be a cover up or brainwashing or chips installed in brains. This story originally appeared on The Sun. Men dont get any more polarizing than Pablo Escobar. Twenty-three years after his death, his name still evokes feelings of fear, anger and as much as we hate to admit it respect. The son of a peasant laborer and a schoolteacher, this child from the suburbs of Medellin, Colombia, grew up to become the King of Cocaine. Today, portrayed by Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, he reigns in the ratings as the lead character in the Netflix series Narcos. The show is a hit, reportedly with more viewers than Game of Thrones. (Netflix doesnt release information about its ratings) God created Colombia and made it so beautiful he had to fill it with bad people, begins the series, which was shot in Colombia. The country itself is a polarizing place, thanks in large part to Escobars lingering presence. They say people are a product of their environment, but Colombia, to some degree, is a product of its people. For years it was called the murder capital of the world, and the idea that an American would vacation there ranked somewhere between absurd and suicidal. But Colombia today is a far cry from what it was in the 90s. Escobar has been six feet under since 1993, the drug cartels have been crippled and the government is taking great strides to promote tourism. And it has a lot to work with. From its Caribbean and Pacific beaches to its coffee-growing region of the Andes, the country is a scenic gold mine. Its cities colonial Cartagena on the Caribbean, cosmopolitan Bogota in the center and mountainous Medellin in the northwest offer everything that can be found in other major South American cities, and the prices are so low they warrant double takes. In Colombia, two dollars gets you the same Starbucks Frappucino you pay five bucks for in the U.S. Part of the price difference has to do with supply. Colombia is the worlds third largest producer of coffee and the largest producer of the Arabica variety. If Escobar had wanted to rule a legitimate industry, he would have invested in this bean business, like Juan Pablo Echeverri, the owner of Hacienda Venecia, a bed-and-breakfast stop on Intrepid Travels Cafe Colombia tour. The eight-day guided adventure takes guests to the pulse of Colombias Coffee Triangle, where they get a crash course in coffee production. Echeverri serves unlimited shots of espresso before putting his guests to work, hand-sorting dried, handpicked beans into two piles. The best beans are exported; the others end up in the cups of Colombians. Echeverri also teaches the nuances of coffee tasting. Basically, its the art of slurping. Tongue, teeth and the right amount of inhaled air are what make or break a tasting. While coffee and cocaine share similarities both are addictive stimulants the coffee bean is a key export Colombians can be proud of. Around the world, the friendly face of Juan Valdez the fictional character denoting Colombian coffee is as prevalent as Escobars, only Valdezs portrait represents hardworking coffee farmers. Well-caffeinated but not quite jittery, travelers on Intrepids tour eventually trade the pastoral coffee plantation for the city of Medellin, where Escobar oversaw the infamous Medellin Cartel. Once the most violent city in the world (there were 6,349 murders in 1991), this urban mountain oasis is a far cry now from the bloodstained, bomb-ravaged streets of Narcos. Today, visitors use words like clean and progressive to describe Colombias third largest city, one of the most modern cities in South America. A practically flawless public transportation system ferries the public to and from world-class museums, shopping, churches, parks and even a few Escobar-themed tourist attractions. Dialed-in local guides make the rounds at hotels and hostels, picking up tourists who fork over $20 to walk in the kingpins footsteps. Highlights include Escobars office, his home where his brother Robert cares for many of his belongings his jail cell and his grave. After a barrage of bullets in December 1993, the King of Cocaine got his wish: I prefer to be in the grave in Colombia than in a jail cell in the United States. In his prime, Escobar sat on a $30 billion fortune. The opening credits of Narcos include footage of his private zoo, which contained animals from Africa. He spared no expense in building his lavish, 300-room compound along the Caribbean Coast, a vacation paradise that runs from Panama to Venezuela and includes colonial Cartagena, a colorful crossroads where old and new coexist in harmony. Wearing traditional dresses that make rainbows seem dull, women balance baskets of fruit on their heads around the main plazas, machetes at the ready to whip up a fruit salad for tourists willing to pay two to six dollars for enough to feed a family of four. Yes, the price ranges. On the street, tourists are often charged up to 50 percent more than the locals, so bartering is essential for budget travelers. After the sun sets, Ana Gomez, an Intrepid guide, leads her group out past the old city walls and into the hole-in-the-wall joints where the locals go to show off their salsa moves. Gomez is acutely aware of her guests fascination with Escobar, and she politely fields questions about him. But from the day her cross-country tour begins in Bogota, she keeps her charges preoccupied. While taking in the citys culinary scene, ranging from farm-to-table fine dining to a local market that would make a three-ring-circus seem boring, its easy to forget about Escobar until you run into a street thats closed off for the filming of season two of Narcos. If Netflix has its way, Escobars posthumous 15 minutes of fame are far from over. It seems counterintuitive, but perhaps reliving the countrys darkest times will cement its status as a worthwhile tourist destination. Federal authorities reportedly were investigating Tuesday after campers in a remote part of California claimed to see a group of armed men firing off hundreds of gunshots Sunday. Officials told the Los Angeles Times that San Bernardino County sheriffs deputies and an FBI agent responded to Deep Creek Hot Springs in the Apple Valley after the reports of gun shots and chanting. Law enforcement sources told the paper that 17 Middle Eastern men were detained. San Bernardino County sheriffs spokeswoman Jodi Miller said all the men were released after authorities didnt find any evidence of crimes or warrants against them. Miller said one rifle was found but did not have a serial number because it was bought in parts. It was deemed to be legal in California, the paper reported. Weapons and vehicles found at the scene were registered with the Department of Justice, according to a police report. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said authorities are working with local officials to decide whether a crime was committed. According to a police report, campers told 911 that more than 100 shots were heard and about 5 to 7 men wearing turbans were seen in the area shooting assault rifles, handguns and shotguns. They were up all night chanting Allah akbar-type stuff, an unidentified officer was heard saying on an audio recording reported by the Victor Valley News Group. Authorities located the group of men walking away from a creek carrying backpacks and other items. Several handguns, a rifle and shotgun were found in the backpacks, the report said. Sheriffs investigators contacted several hikers around the area, but none had seen or heard any guns being fired in the vicinity. There was no evidence found that a crime had been committed by any of the subjects who were detained and they were released, police said. Click for more from the Los Angeles Times. Authorities in Arizona and a small Indiana town are locked in a logistical feud over a Tommy gun taken from notorious gangster John Dillinger during his arrest more than 80 years ago. The Arizona Daily Star reported Monday that officials in Peru, Ind. want the Colt Thompson submachine gun that Tucson police confiscated when they took Dillinger into custody in 1934 turned over. Tucson police currently display the firearm at its headquarters. Last week, Peru authorities told the Kokomo Tribune that they believe the weapon was stolen from police there in 1933, when Dillinger and one of his accomplices posed as an insurance agent and asked police to lay out their guns so he could give them a quote. Peru City Attorney Pat Roberts, whose father was one of the officers on duty, said Dillinger, Harry Pierpoint and others returned to the station that night, held up the officers at gunpoint and stole several items, including the gun. Peru officials claim the guns serial number can prove their claim. The number also matches records that were gathered by Gordon Herigstad, who published a book called Colt Thompson Submachine Gun Serial Numbers & Histories, according to The Daily Star. The book goes through the histories of the 15,000 submachine guns that were manufactured outside of wartime production. "We understand it's a big part of their history," Tucson police Sgt. Pete Dugan said of the request for the gun. "But it's also a big part of Tucson's history." Dugan told The Daily Star that several guns were taken from Dillinger and his accomplices and that tracing the origin of each weapon can be a difficult task. Dillinger and his accomplices had several weapons when they were arrested, and it can be difficult to determine the origin of each, Dugan said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Massachusetts law student whose future career went up in smoke after he stole a laptop made things far worse with an illegal maneuver that could land him in prison for 20 years, according to prosecutors. Daniel Scher, 33, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to perjury and tampering with a court document after being charged with swapping out his guilty verdict slip in his case file, according to a news release from Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley. Scher was convicted of larceny in 2014 after stealing the computer from Suffolk University Law School. He got three months in jail and a suspended sentence, but the school refused to grant him a law degree, according to a statement issued by Conleys office. Scher later went to the Boston Municipal Court clerks office, asked to see his case file, and then swapped a not guilty verdict slip in for the one that pronounced him guilty, according to Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Greer Spatz. The verdict slip provided to the jury in Schers larceny case had two spaces, one for guilty and one for not guilty. Following jury deliberations, the jury foreperson marked the box for guilty, and the trial judge and clerk reviewed it and it was read into the record. Following the conviction, Scher allegedly returned to the court clerks office on several occasions. During one of those visits, prosecutors say, he removed the verdict slip from his file and made a copy that he altered to reflect a verdict of not guilty. He later used the forged verdict slip in various proceedings, according to Conley. On July 22, 2014, Scher was arraigned in Brighton Municipal Court on charges of operating a motor vehicle without insurance and leaving the scene of an accident causing property damage, prompting a hearing to determine whether he had violated the terms of his suspended sentence for the larceny conviction. Schers attorney for that hearing presented the forged jury slip to cast doubt on the larceny conviction. Five months later, Scher allegedly filed a complaint with the state Department of Criminal Justice Information Services in which he claimed that the verdict at his trial was not guilty and that he had notified the court of the alleged error. And last year, an attorney retained by Scher emailed Suffolk University Law School, which had denied Scher a diploma and status in light of the theft and conviction pending a final hearing. I am attaching a copy of the verdict form that indicates Not Guilty, the attorney wrote in the email, which was accompanied by a scanned copy of the forged slip. Firefighters rescued a man from Lake Michigan after his kayak overturned in chilly waters north of Chicago on Tuesday. Divers rescue capsized kayaker from Lake Michigan in Wilmette pic.twitter.com/hDVfO7RO7o Sam Unger (@SamUngerWGN) March 29, 2016 The man told authorities he was kayaking a mile offshore when his kayak overturned, plunging him into 46 degree water, WBBM reports. He was wearing a wetsuit at the time. A woman nearby reportedly heard his cries for help and dialed 911. Fire department rescuers and divers wore exposure suits to go into the water and bring the man to safety. It appears he just wasnt able to get out of the water under his own power. He got to the point where he was just so hypothermic he wasnt able to use his legs at all to get himself the last 100 feet into shore, Wilmette Deputy Fire Chief Robert Brill said. Paramedics rushed the diver to a nearby hospital where he was alert and talking, WBBM adds. An Alaska charter school suspended three first-grade girls who had plotted to kill their classmate, according to their principal. The three girls planned to use silica gel packets, which are commonly found in pre-packaged food products to keep moisture away, to poison another student, KTUU reported. Three students in the class were planning on using the silica gel packets (These are not actually poison, but the students believed they were) from their lunchtime seaweed to poison and kill another student," Winterberry Charter School Principal Shanna Mall reportedly wrote in an email to parents on March 22. Another student heard about the plan and told school administrators, said Jennifer Castro, spokeswoman for the Anchorage Police Department. "We're grateful that that student was able to speak up and obviously at such a young age," Castro said. "The important lesson here is to really teach your kids if they hear something like this, something where someone intends to do harm to someone else, they should tell someone that they trust right away." Administrators and school district psychologists talked to the girls to see if they understood what they were trying to do, whether it was a prank gone wrong or if they actually meant to hurt their classmate, school district spokeswoman Heidi Embley said. "All of these things are being discussed, especially since it's such a young age," she said. Police say the plot emerged from an ongoing feud but did not release any other details. Two other first-graders told school officials about the plan, and the officer also spoke with them. The two students reported to administrators that the plan involved using the packets from the girls' "lunchtime seaweed to poison and kill another student," Principal Shanna Mall wrote in the email. Police left discipline up to the school district. The email said it entailed "significant consequences." Embley said she couldn't release further details about how the students were punished. But Mall told Anchorage television station KTUU that the students were suspended. Mall couldn't immediately be reached for comment Wednesday by The Associated press. Asked if the school was getting calls from concerned parents or hearing from worried students, Embley said there was "nothing significant." The school is addressing any concerns directly with parents or students. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from KTUU.com. Florida Gov. Rick Scott officially urged Yale University one of the countrys most prestigious institutions to move from Connecticut to the Sunshine State Tuesday. Scott said the Ivy League school should become part of a tax revolt and shift its more than 12,000 students and 4,000 professors to Florida. "That would be fun, wouldn't it?" Scott said. "That would be a great day." Scott explained he is targeting Yale because Connecticuts state legislators are considering a bill that would tax Yales massive $25.6 billion university endowment. Connecticut is currently struggling with a state budget deficit. The Republican governor promised Yale that if it moved down south, Florida would greet the world-renowned university with open arms and would not impose any taxes on them. Scotts pitch comes a few months after Florida tried to court General Electric to move. GE announced in January it was moving to Bostons Seaport District from Fairfield, Conn., where it employs about 800 people. "If you are in business in Connecticut, you are going to have to move; you can't compete," Scott said. However, Yale said it has no plans to take up Scotts invitation. "It's wonderful to be recognized as an outstanding asset, but Yale, New Haven, and Connecticut have been on common ground to great mutual benefit for 300 years," Yale spokesman Tom Conroy said. "We're looking forward to reaching even greater heights in education, research and civic engagement over the next three centuries and more." The Orlando Sentinel reported that Scott was perplexed when he learned that Yale would be rejecting his proposal. Why? Theyre going to tax their endowment income, he told the newspaper. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, opposes any tax increase and told the Sentinel that Scotts play was a partisan gimmick. Has Gov. Scott sent out a press release claiming to recruit companies from North Carolina after its Republican governor just signed a discriminatory, anti-gay law? Or is this more about partisan politics than anything else? a spokesman for Malloy said in an email to the newspaper. Scott has tried to poach jobs from other states for several years including sending letters to executives at Fortune 500 companies. In 2015 he took trips to Pennsylvania, California, Kentucky, New York and Connecticut in an effort to convince businesses to move. The Associated Press contributed to this report. An initial investigation has found evidence of a sexual assault during a school bus ride last month involving members of a central Kansas high school swim team, one of two separate assault allegations that have been levied against team members, a law enforcement official said Wednesday. The evidence supports possible charges of criminal sodomy, battery and criminal restraint connected to an incident that happened sometime between 8:30 p.m. and 8:50 p.m. Feb. 3 during a school bus ride as the Great Bend swim team made its way back from a meet in Salina, Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir said. The 15-year-old victim and 17-year-old suspect are both members of the Great Bend swim team, Bellendir said. He declined to say what evidence there was, but noted that the case has been referred to the Barton County attorney, who will decide what charges, if any, are filed. Great Bend Superintendent Brad Reed was expected to issue a statement later Wednesday, the school district said. The school has said the district is investigating the allegations, cooperating with law enforcement and would take "appropriate action" once the investigation is completed. The district also has said it would revise its practices regarding adult supervision on bus trips. A similar incident involving the Great Bend swim team that allegedly happened Feb. 6 is also under investigation in Ellsworth County, but Bellendir said he does not know if any of the same people were involved. Great Bend is a town of about 15,000 residents located about 200 miles west of Topeka. The investigation into the Feb. 3 assault was initially handled by the Saline County sheriff's office until officials discovered evidence that the incident took place in Barton County, referring the case to Barton County on March 28, Bellendir said. The Kansas Bureau of Investigations declined to handle the case, citing an excessive caseload. A California dad jumped into an electrified swimming pool to try saving his 9-year-old daughter on Easter Sunday, but the father did not survive. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the girl and five others were injured in the incident at the home in Palm Springs. Crews had to pull 43-year-old Jim Tramel from the water, police said. The girl was in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center Wednesday. Man dies trying to rescue daughter, 9, from electrified pool in Palm Springs: Authorities https://t.co/CyNAdcthiN pic.twitter.com/RV027bwSMt KTLA (@KTLA) March 30, 2016 A 10-year-old girl is in stable condition at the same facility. Everyone else was treated and released. Police said they believe faulty wiring connected to a light could be to blame. Tramel, of Burlingame in the Bay Area, served as the vice president of sales at marketing technology company RevJet. "Jim's lovely wife Kim and their children now face the future without a husband, and without a father," RevJet CEO and founder Mitchell Weisman wrote on a fundraising page set up for the family. "Even worse, at this very moment Jim's oldest child remains in intensive care, fighting for her life. Please pray with us for her survival and recovery." Police received reports that two people turned blue after jumping into the pool and responded around 4 p.m. Sunday. They found people at the home giving Tramel and his 9-year-old daughter CPR, the newspaper reported. Police said the victims described a "tingling feeling" while in the pool. The investigation is ongoing and police have not yet concluded what caused the water to become electrified. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Minnesota man accused of lying to the FBI about when he last contacted the Islamic State group was charged Tuesday in state court after allegedly threatening to "shoot up" a Walgreens. Abdul Raheem Habil Ali-Skelton, 23, faces three felony counts of making terroristic threats in connection with Sunday's incident at the store in Brooklyn Park, a Minneapolis suburb. According to the complaint, Ali-Skelton went into the store early Sunday and accused a customer of having a relationship with his girlfriend. The complaint said Ali-Skelton then advanced on the man multiple times and threatened to hit him with a bottle. A store manager intervened and told the two to leave. Ali-Skelton said he had a gun and would "shoot up the place," according to the complaint. He also said he was part of a terrorist organization and that he would "blow up" the store, the complaint said. Ali-Skelton was in custody Tuesday and ordered held on $30,000 bail. Court records do not list an attorney to comment on the new charges. Ali-Skelton is expected to plead guilty in U.S. District Court next month to one count of making a false statement to FBI agents. In that case, federal prosecutors say Ali-Skelton told the FBI last July that his last contact with Syrian-based members of the Islamic State group was in May or early June 2015. But prosecutors say Ali-Skelton knew he had communicated with members of the group as recently as last July 4. Ali-Skelton's attorney in the federal case, Robert Richman, has said his client was scared and made some comments to the FBI that he has since admitted were untrue. Richman did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged contact with members of the militant group. Richman spoke about the state charges on Tuesday. "From what I understand about those allegations, if they are true ... they are completely out of character with the very mild-mannered Abdul Ali-Skelton, (whom) I have known for quite some time," he said. Richman said the alleged communications between his client and Islamic State group members are not related to the new allegations. Philadelphia taxi, limo and Uber Black drivers said Monday they plan to boycott this summers Democratic National Convention unless lawmakers address Lyft and UberX services that have allegedly operated illegally in the city since 2014. The Philadelphia Limousine Association and two taxi groups said in a statement they would refuse to pick up people during the convention July 25-28 if the city doesnt crack down. Ali Razak, the head of the Limousine Association, told Philly.com drivers would instead protest outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center. We have the majority of drivers with us, Khalid Alvi, President of the Philadelphia Cab Association, told the website. The Cab Association represents thousands of drivers in Philadelphia. Cab drivers protested ride-sharing services in December and February by blocking traffic around City Hall. UberX drivers are allowed to operate in the city with a limousine license. Razak said in the statement that non-professional ride-share drivers violate labor laws because they are able to drive in the city without paying for a special license. They operate without any oversight, fail to serve the disabled, engage in so-called surge pricing, do not have to pay for any licenses to operate in the city and do not guarantee minimum wage, he added. A spokesman for Mayor Jim Kenney says he met with the authors of the statement and is calling on state lawmakers to pass legislation to regulate the ride-sharing services. Uber said in a statement that it was proud to serve Philadelphia "especially during major events". "It's unfortunate that these groups have decided to put their own interests above the needs of the city," the statement read. According to Philly.com, state lawmakers are still considering legislation to regulate ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from Philly.com. A New York man faces felony drug charges in Vermont after police discovered more than 1,400 bags worth of heroin inside his body. WPTZ reported that Fernando Estrella, 41, was pulled over by a Vermont state trooper for running a stop sign in St. Albans shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday. During the stop, a K-9 officer hit on a scent on the passenger side door of Estrella's Chrysler minivan, but no drugs were initially found. Estrella was detained while the troopers got a warrant for a body cavity search, which was carried out at a local hospital. During the search, police recovered three heroin-filled condoms from Estrella's rectum, Vermont State Police Sgt. John Helfant told the New York Daily News. The amount of heroin in the condoms was the equivalent of 1,428 bags of the narcotic. Estrella was arraigned in Franklin County Superior Court Tuesday on charges of heroin possession, heroin trafficking, heroin importation and violating the conditions of his release. Estrella was already on probation from a drug arested last year. Teenagers and texting go hand-in-hand, but it's not often that a teen uses it to blow the whistle on a parent. Central Nebraska officials told the Kearney Hub that's exactly what happened Friday, when a 13-year-old girl used Buffalo County's text-to-911 system to tell authorities her father was driving drunk. Police then stopped the car and said they found the girl and her 12-year-ol brother being driven by their 44-year-old father. Police said a preliminary breath test showed the father's blood alcohol level at .224 -- nearly three times the legal driving limit of .08. Authorities say it was the fourth time the text-to-911 system had been used since coming online in January 2015. It was the second time its use led to an arrest in Buffalo County. A Kentucky woman reportedly faces criminal charges after she was able to get through a TSA checkpoint at Nashville International Airport last week without showing identification or being screened. Naja Eva Haynes, 24, of Oak Grove, faces misdemeanor charges of an airport and aircraft security violation and resisting arrest in the March 24 incident, according to The Tennessean. The newspaper, citing an affidavit, reported that Hayes drove to the airport, walked into the terminal and she was able to stroll through the fourth lane of the checkpoint without being screened. Haynes allegedly went to Gate B5 and was able to board a Delta Airlines without identification and sat down in a seat in the back of the plane. Morgan Durrant, a Delta Airlines spokesman, told The Tennessean that Haynes was able to get onto the plane because she slipped past airline agents. Haynes failed to give identification to the attendants and when Metro police arrived she told officers, My name and faith are my ID, according to the affidavit. When she refused to get out of her seat, police forcibly removed her from the plane, according to the paper. A TSA spokesman told The Tennessean Monday that the agency is conducting an investigation and placed an employee on non-screen duty pending the outcome of the investigation. The official said that employee has since resigned. A court clerk said Hayes was due in Davidson County General Sessions for a hearing Monday but it was postponed until later this week. Haynes remained out of jail after posting $3,000 bond. Click for more from The Tennessean. Twelve current and former Detroit school principals were among 14 people accused of bribery and other crimes Tuesday by federal officials. Investigators allege that Norman Shy, the owner of longtime Detroit Public Schools vendor Allstate Sales, would submit fraudulent invoices for chairs, paper and other supplies. To ensure the invoices would be approved, prosecutors claim Sly paid out more than $900,000 in cash, gift cards and checks to school officials. In return, Sly's company received $2.7 million from the district for supplies that were delivered in far lesser quantities than promised or were never delivered at all. One of the principals, Ronald Alexander, appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in an episode that aired last month to accept a $500,000 donation from Lowes for Spain Elementary. The charges aren't related to the home improvement store's donation, which was to go toward renovations, computers and other needs at the school. The district has placed the current employees, including Alexander, on unpaid leave; suspended business with Shy and his companies; and suspended all purchases by individual schools. Reviews also will be conducted of all purchases made by the administrators charged and all school-based vendor contracts. Shy, 74, and Clara Flowers, 61, an assistant superintendent in the Office of Specialized Student Services, are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and tax evasion. The dozen current and former principals also are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery. Five resigned before the federal investigation or due to the investigation, officials said. The Detroit district is under state oversight and has battled corruption for the past several years under a number of state-appointed emergency managers. "Public corruption never comes at a good time," said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, alluding to efforts in Lansing to financially help the district. "This case is not about the Detroit Public Schools. It's not about emergency managers. It's about these individuals. "A case like this is a real punch in the gut for people trying to make a difference," she added. "I cannot overstate the outrage that I feel about the conduct that these DPS employees engaged in that led to these charges," said Steven Rhodes, the district's state-appointed transition manager and retired federal judge who handled the city of Detroit's bankruptcy. The investigation started after federal officials received information from the state, which was performing an audit on the Education Achievement Authority, a spinoff system of low-performing Detroit schools. Kenyetta Wilbourn-Snapp, a principal at two high schools, was charged late last year with taking bribes to hire a company to perform tutoring services. A former high-ranking Detroit schools official, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, faces sentencing in Chicago after pleading guilty to helping steer $23 million in no-bid contracts to education firms for $2.3 million in kickbacks and bribes while at Chicago Public Schools. Byrd-Bennett served as the Detroit district's chief academic and accountability auditor, and her responsibilities included conducting academic audits and review of district programs, school-based programs and front offices. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from Fox 2 Detroit. A British man who snapped a picture of him smiling alongside the passenger who hijacked an EgyptAir flight Tuesday said he was "not sure why" he asked for a photograph. Ben Innes, a 26-year-old from the northern English city of Leeds, told The Sun that he was "trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity" when he approached 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa and took the photo, which later went viral. Mustafa had claimed to have explosives in his belt and demanded that the aircraft which was on a scheduled route from the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo -- be diverted to airports in either Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. The aircraft eventually landed in Cyprus after the pilots warned of low fuel, and despite an initial refusal from Cypriot authorities on the landing request. The landing in Larnaca began a bizarre six-hour standoff with authorities, during which Mustafa made a series of demands described as "incoherent" by Cyprus's president, before being arrested. All 72 passengers and crew aboard the plane were released. A Cyprus court on Wednesday ordered Mustafas detention for eight days because of fears that he might flee and the fact that he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said Mustafa also faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Egyptian General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek's office said Wednesday that he has asked Cyprus to "take necessary measures to extradite Mustafa in order to start an investigation," according to a statement. Innes was one of seven people, including three passengers, kept on board the plane by Mustafa for hours after he had released most of the passengers. Innes told The Sun he suspected that the hijacker's "suicide belt" might be a fake. "I figured if his bomb was real, Id nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it," he told the paper. "I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap." Italian passenger Andrea Banchetti wasn't impressed with Innes' actions. I could not believe it when he got up for that picture," she told The Sun. "He was smiling while standing next to the hijacker. As he walked back I said to him, 'Are you f---ing mad?'" But the belt of explosives turned out to be "telephone cases" made to look like they were explosives. Mustafa had threatened to detonate the belt if police attempted to "neutralize" him, Lambrianou said, but he eventually gave up. Lambrianou added that no explosives were found in the belt, except for a container filled with an unidentified liquid. Police also found an unidentified liquid in the suspect's bag as well as numerous documents written in Arabic. Innes and the remaining hostages were later released before Mustafa was arrested by anti-terror police. Friends of Innes weren't surprised by the stunt, with one telling the Daily Telegraph, "Ben is a wild man and this is totally in character for him. He... didn't have much respect for authority." The haphazard hijacking spawned derision from Cypriot and Egyptian officials as it became clear Mustafa was not connected to any terrorist organization. Lambrianou said Cypriot authorities will ask the help of Interpol to determine how the suspect managed to pass the fake explosives belt through airport security in Egypt. Cypriot officials had described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable" following a strange set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. Lambrianou said that Mustafa told police after his arrest: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, when asked by reporters whether he could confirm that the incident was about a woman, replied, "Always, there is a woman", drawing laughter. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry official was more blunt, saying Mustafa was "not a terrorist, hes an idiot. Terrorists are crazy but they arent stupid. This guy is." A handcuffed Mustafa flashed the "V'' for victory sign with his hand out of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca court house Wednesday after the hearing. The Associated Press contributed to this report. China will clamp down on foreign-sounding and bizarre names after too many streets and developments called "Manhattan" or "Venice" have popped up amid decades of frenzied building, a government official says. Civil Affairs minister Li Liguo said in a recently televised speech that the government will change over-the-top or imported names and encourage real estate developers and city planners to seek inspiration instead from China's rich cultural heritage. "Some cities have multiple `Manhattan' or `Venice' roads," Li said. "It's not only an inconvenience to travelers but also erodes a sense of home." The naming push comes at a time when China's government has sought to limit Western influence from mainstream culture and education. In recent months state media outlets have warned about "hostile foreign forces" broadly undermining Chinese society and hampering China's rise as a self-sufficient and proud nation. A report by the official Xinhua news agency framed Li's remarks on place names as a matter of national sovereignty and ethnic dignity. Li, a member of China's Cabinet, called on greater cultural preservation and suggested that developers look toward Chinese icons for inspiration, such as Mount Tai or the Yellow River. In recent years, though, it's common for property developers to evoke a French region or include words like "elite" or "chateau" in the names of shopping malls or housing compounds. In Beijing's business district, there's a "Central Park" condominium compound while another upscale project is literally named "Yuppie International Condos." A few miles away, a three-bedroom pad at the "Chateau Edinburgh" apartments is listed for about $3,500 a month. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Egypt formally asked Cyprus on Wednesday to extradite a detained Egyptian man who authorities say admitted hijacking a domestic EgyptAir flight and diverting it to Cyprus by threatening to blow it up with a fake explosives belt. The legal developments came as those on board described an unnerving situation in which the hijacker looked for foreigners by sorting through their passports and kept five on them on the plane after freeing the non-Western passengers. "He wanted the foreigners ... only foreigners. He didn't want Egyptians or double nationalities," flight attendant Rouida Ihab told The Associated Press. Italian passenger Andrea Banchetti said passengers were calm through the ordeal but admitted "(I was) going out of my mind" when the hijacker let non-Western passengers off the plane, leaving behind only five European passport-holders including himself. "We looked each other in the eyes and we said, `Here we are. We're at the end of the line. It's over,"' the 47-year-old mechanic told the Rome daily La Repubblica. The extradition request from Egypt's General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek came shortly after a Cypriot court ordered Wednesday that the suspect, identified as 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, remain in police custody for eight days to assist the hijacking investigation. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect faces preliminary charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Judge Maria Loizou said she approved the police request for the maximum eight-day detention because of fears that the suspect might flee and because he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police. Tuesday's hijacking, which started when authorities said Mustafa claimed to have explosives in a belt and forced a flight from Alexandria to Cairo to land in Cyprus, ended peacefully about six hours later. Most of the 72 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus A320 were released soon after the plane landed, although a handful were held for longer. All were let go before Mustafa was arrested when he tried to flee on foot after leaving the plane, police said. Lambrianou said after Mustafa was arrested, he told police: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" Egypt's interior ministry said Mustafa had a long criminal record but had finished serving a one-year prison term in March 2015. An official at the general prosecutor's office, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said there was no travel ban on Mustafa. A Cypriot police official told the AP that Mustafa's criminal record on the island stretched back to 1988, when he was convicted on six counts of forging passports and handed a suspended sentence. He was later deported to Egypt following domestic violence charges by his then-Cypriot wife. He re-entered Cyprus on an assumed Qatari identity, but was tracked down and again deported to Egypt in 1990. Mustafa and his Cypriot wife divorced in 1994. The couple had four children but one child has since died, according to a relative who didn't want to be named discussing family matters. The police official spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to discuss details of an ongoing investigation. After the hearing Wednesday, a handcuffed Mustafa flashed the "V" for victory sign out the window of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca court house. Cypriot officials had described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable" following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. Lambrianou said 15 minutes into flight MS181 Mustafa demanded that the aircraft be diverted to an airport in Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. Despite an initial refusal from Cypriot authorities, the plane eventually landed in Larnaca after the pilots warned about low fuel. The police prosecutor said witnesses saw Mustafa wearing a white belt with pockets that had cylindrical objects stuffed inside. Wire protruding from the cylinders led to what appeared to be a detonator in his hand. Among those forced to stay on the plane longer was Ben Innes, a British man pictured in a photo with Mustafa that quickly made the rounds on social media. Innes told The Sun newspaper he wanted to take "the selfie of a lifetime" while the incident was unfolding. The bizarre photo, taken by a member of the cabin crew and shared on social media, shows him smiling next to Mustafa, who has his jacket open to reveal the fake explosive belt. "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway," Innes, 26, told the newspaper in a story published Wednesday. He told The Sun he had been texting his mother throughout the ordeal. Banchetti told La Repubblica he should have "slapped" Innes for taking that photo. "That guy could have had a potato in his belt, but how do you go up to him that way and take a photo of him?" said Banchetti. "'Are you a fool?' I said in English." Mustafa had threatened to detonate the belt if police attempted to "neutralize" him, Lambrianou said, but he eventually gave up after the crew and passengers were released. Banchetti told the Milan daily Corriere della Sera that he told Cypriot police the "haphazard tangle of things" that was the hijacker's alleged explosive belt seemed fake. Lambrianou said no explosives were found in the belt, except for a container filled with an unidentified liquid. Police also found an unidentified liquid in the suspect's bag. The allegation regarding explosives could be dropped if the liquid found with Mustafa is not explosive material. The prosecutor said Cypriot authorities will Interpol to help determine how the suspect managed to get the fake belt through Egyptian airport security. Authorities declared a state of emergency Tuesday at seven prisons and transferred 299 high-ranking gang members at the start of "extraordinary measures" that El Salvador's government has promised to take against gangs. A package of additional measures was to be presented to the legislature Wednesday. Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde, the minister of justice and public security, said at a news conference that the targeted gang leaders were transferred to a prison about 15 miles west of the capital. The emergency declaration puts inmates on lockdown and suspends family visits for 15 days. "They are going to be subjected to a higher security regimen, with greater control to make sure communication from inside the prison system is stopped," Ramirez said. "They have been identified as those most involved in communicating with the outside, in directing and coordinating illegal activities of the criminal groups." He said mixed units of police and soldiers will handle security inside and outside El Salvador's prisons. President Salvador Sanchez Ceren said earlier this month that he was considering steps to combat gang violence. His administration has roundly rejected an apparent weekend offer by the gangs for negotiations. A video message from masked men claiming to represent the country's three most powerful street gangs said they had told their members to stop killing. In exchange, they demanded that the government not proceed with the measures to combat the gangs. On Tuesday, presidential spokesman Eugenio Chicas said the administration would present an initial package of "extraordinary measures" to the legislature Wednesday. They could include deploying more soldiers in a security role, declaring states of emergency in conflict zones and imposing stiff fines on phone companies that Chicas said have refused to lower cellphone signal strength around prisons. He said the measures would "guarantee the population's security and be a hard hit against criminality." Chicas acknowledged that homicides had dropped significantly since the release of the gang video. However, he said it was just a way for the gangs to put a gun to the populace's head, threatening to resume killings if the government doesn't negotiate. From March 1 to March 28, there were 572 slayings in El Salvador, a country of about 6.1 million people, according to government statistics. In a bold speech clearly aimed at Western negotiators and Iran's moderate political wing, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared Wednesday his rogue nation would remain strong through its missile program -- not through talks with other countries. "Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors," Iran's spiritual leader said in a speech carried on his website. Earlier this month, Iran's Revolutionary Guard reportedly test-fired two ballistic missiles with the phrase "Israel must be wiped out" written in Hebrew on them, the latest in a string of missile tests that violated a United Nations Security Council resolution supporting the nuclear deal reached by Iran, the U.S. and other western nations. The launch happened while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel. The much-publicized deal aims to ease sanctions on Iran in exchange for the scaling back of its nuclear program. Secretary of State John Kerry told MSNBC in January that U.S. allies in Israel were safer as a result of the deal, adding, "The world is safer today." Kerry said two weeks ago that the latest Iran missile tests "could invite additional sanctions as we put them in place." Iran's lead negotiators for the deal were moderate president Hassan Rouhani and his administration -- not the ayatollah. "If the Islamic Republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country," Khamenei said Wednesday. There was no immediate reaction from the State Department. After the latest test-launches, State Department spokesman John Kirby vowed to bring them to the attention of the United Nations Security Council, saying, Were not going to turn a blind eye to this and were not at all trying to make any excuses for it. Khamenei's speech may have been sparked by a tweet from moderate former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who claimed, "the future is in dialogue, not missiles," according to Reuters. Hard-liners in Iran's military have fired rockets and missiles despite U.S. objections since the deal, and have shown underground missile bases on state television. They insist their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. In October, Iran successfully test-fired a new guided long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile. It was the first such test since Iran and world powers reached the landmark deal last summer. U.N. experts said the launch used ballistic missile technology banned under a Security Council resolution. In January, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the ballistic missile program. Iran also has fired rockets near U.S. warships and flown an unarmed drone over an American aircraft carrier in recent months. In January, Iran seized 10 U.S. sailors in the Gulf when their two riverine command boats headed from Kuwait to Bahrain ended up in Iranian territorial waters after the crews "misnavigated," the U.S. military said. The sailors were taken to a small port facility on Farsi Island, held for about 15 hours and released after Kerry spoke several times with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The Associated Press contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 The Latest on the flow of refugees and other migrants into Europe (all times local): 10:05 a.m. The Turkish coast guard says it has rescued dozens of mostly Syrian migrants as they tried to reach Greece. Seventy Syrian migrants, two Palestinian nationals, one Somali and one Yemeni were spotted Sunday in an inflatable dinghy off the coast of Turkey's western province of Izmir a few kilometers across the Aegean Sea from Greece. A Turkish-flagged warship supported the operation, the coast guard reported Tuesday. The move comes before the scheduled implementation date of an agreement between Turkey and the European Union aimed at curbing the flow of migrants to Europe. The deal, due to come into effect on April 4, stipulates that those who arrive on Greek islands from the Turkish coast will be detained and sent back. For every Syrian returned, another Syrian in Turkey will be relocated to a European country. ___ 9:30 a.m. Police have evacuated a few hundred migrants from a makeshift camp near a subway station in northeastern Paris. The Paris regional administration said the operation Wednesday was peaceful and authorities are relocating the migrants, who had been living beneath elevated train tracks for the past several weeks. The Paris transit authority closed the Stalingrad metro station during the operation. The area has seen multiple migrant camps in recent years that are periodically cleared out. French media reported the residents were primarily from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan. France has not seen nearly as many Syrian refugees or other migrants over the past year as Germany or countries farther east, but has experienced tensions around the northern port of Calais, where migrants converge in hopes of crossing to Britain. Toronto on Wednesday mourned its infamous former leader Rob Ford, whom his young daughter in a speech called the "mayor of heaven now." Ford died last week at age 46 after fighting cancer. His four-year tenure as mayor of Canada's largest city was marred by revelations about his drinking problems and illegal drug use. As he sought a second term in 2014, his cancer diagnosis forced him to do what months of scandals could not drop his bid for re-election. He died less than two years later. "I remember at the hospital he smiled at me and he said, 'Stephanie, I may not be here for too much longer, but I want you to remember that I will always love you. I need you and your brother to be strong for your mom,'" his 10-year-old daughter said Wednesday. "I know my dad is in a better place now and that he's the mayor of heaven now." She thanked the mourners for coming and said it meant so much to her and her 8-year-old brother, Doug. She said her dad bought them the best toys and took them to the best places but said that what mattered most was that they were happy together. Ford had been lying in repose at City Hall the last two days, an honor only granted a few times in the past. Ford's brother Doug invited hundreds of members of the public to walk with the procession to the church from City Hall. Rob Ford was loved by some and loathed by others as mayor. The international spotlight fell on him 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. Although he became the subject of a police investigation and admitted to reporters that he had smoked crack cocaine, Ford was never charged with a crime. Burmas transition to democracy took a huge step Wednesday as ruling-party leader Aung San Suu Kyis trusted aide took control as the country's president, officially ending more than 50 years of the military's control over government. In a day full of ceremony and symbolism, Htin Kyaw was sworn in along with his two vice presidents and 18 Cabinet ministers. Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate and face of Burma's pro-democracy movement, takes on a prominent role as the country's new foreign minister and the head of three other ministries education, energy and the presidential office. "The Union Parliament has elected me as president, which is a historic moment for this country," Htin Kyaw, 70, said in a speech after being sworn in. He pledged to work toward national reconciliation, strive for peace with warring ethnic rebels and improving the lives of Burma 's 54 million people. While it was a historic day for the impoverished Southeast Asian country, democracy remains incomplete. The military retains considerable power in the government and parliament, and the president himself will play second fiddle to Suu Kyi. She cannot be president because of a constitutional manipulation engineered by the military, and has repeatedly said she will run the country from behind the scenes. "I am very happy that we have a president who represents people," said Mar Thin, a 50-year-old street cleaner. She said she used to own 70 acres of land that she and her sister inherited from their father before the military kicked them out and appropriated the land for the defense ministry. "I hope that the new government can solve the land confiscation problem and let us own our land as farmers. All we want is enough food, and to live without fear. I hope that President Htin Kyaw will do that for us because Daw Suu promised us a lot of things, and we love her too," Mar Thin said, using an affectionate term for Suu Kyi. U.S. President Barack Obama noted the continuing challenges for Burma, in a statement in which he called Htin Kyaw's election "a historic milestone in the country's transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government." "Burma will face significant challenges going forward, including achieving broad-based economic development, advancing national reconciliation, and promoting the rights and freedoms of all its people," Obama said. "The United States looks forward to being a friend and partner of the new government and the people of Burma as they make progress toward building a more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous future." Htin Kyaw's swearing-in was held in an austere hall of parliament, with lawmakers dressed in traditional costume. A few hours later, outgoing President Thein Sein shook hands with his successor and handed him a letter and a golden sash, officially transferring power. It was Suu Kyi who led her National League for Democracy party to a landslide win in November elections, ushering in Burma's first civilian government after 54 years of direct and indirect military rule. Suu Kyi endured decades of house arrest and harassment by military rulers without ever giving up on her nonviolent campaign to unseat them. The constitutional clause that denied her the presidency excludes anyone from the position who has a foreign spouse or child. Suu Kyi's two sons are British, as was her late husband. The clause is widely seen as having been written by the military with Suu Kyi in mind. She has repeatedly made it clear that she will run the government from behind the scenes, and in his speech on Wednesday, Htin Kyaw paid obeisance to Suu Kyi. "The new parliament and new government are formed in accord with the policies of the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi," he said, and referred to the party's goal to amend the constitution. "I have the obligation to work toward achieving a constitution that has democratic norms and is suitable for the nation," Htin Kyaw said. "I want to tell the new government, we must constantly try to fulfill the hope and will of the people of this country. I wish all citizens of this country a successful and peaceful life." The constitution, drafted under the former junta, reserves 25 percent of the seats in parliament for military officers, guaranteeing that no government can amend the constitution without the army's approval. The military also heads the Home Ministry, the Border Affairs Ministry and the Defense Ministry, which gives it control over the corrections department, ensuring that the release of political prisoners is its decision to make. The military also ensured that one of Htin Kyaw's two vice presidents is a former general, Myint Swe, a close ally of former junta leader Than Shwe. Myint Swe remains on a U.S. Treasury Department blacklist that bars American companies from doing business with several tycoons and senior military figures connected with the former junta. As Htin Kyaw was sworn in, Suu Kyi sat in the front row watching. The same pledge was simultaneously read by First Vice President Myint Swe and Second Vice President Henry Van Tio. After a 20-minute tea break, the 18 members of Htin Kyaw's Cabinet, including Suu Kyi, took a joint oath of office read out by the speaker. Suu Kyi's leadership of four ministries is unusual, and the lack of public criticism of her wide power is likely a sign of her continuing broad support. Despite her inability to become president, Suu Kyi's entry into the government is a remarkable turn of fortune not only for her, but also for the country, which had been under iron-fisted military rule for decades beginning in 1962. The junta kept Burma in isolation and economic stagnation while refusing to listen to international counsel or homegrown demands for democracy. Suu Kyi came to prominence in 1988, when popular protests were building up. The junta crushed the protests, which had turned into anti-government riots, killing thousands of people and placing Suu Kyi under house arrest in 1989. The junta called elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won overwhelmingly. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a year later while under house arrest. The junta finally started loosening its grip on power in 2010, allowing elections that were won by a military-allied party after Suu Kyi's party boycotted the polls as unfair. Thein Sein, a former general, was installed as president for a five-year term that started March 30, 2011, and ended Wednesday. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Portly North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, whose hostile actions have brought crippling international sanctions to his impoverished nation, has a new message for the Hermit Kingdom's starving masses: Get ready to eat plant roots. Kim, whose weight the South Korean government estimates has ballooned to nearly 300 pounds, signaled through state media that the nation could be headed for another famine like the one that killed an estimated 3.5 million people in the 1990s. "The road to revolution is long and arduous," an editorial in the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Monday, according to The Telegraph. "We may have to go on an arduous march, during which we will have to chew the roots of plants once again." "Even if we give up our lives, we should continue to show our loyalty to our leader, Kim Jong Un, until the end of our lives." North Korean state-run media "Arduous march" in North Korean is code for famine. It's how state media described the disaster that struck when Kim was a mere teen, which experts say was brought on by the economic mismanagement of his father, Kim Jong Il, loss of foreign aid and natural disasters. But Kim, who at 33 walks with a cane and reportedly suffers from gout, won't miss any meals. Last September, South Korea disclosed that Kim appeared to have added nearly 70 pounds to his 5-foot, 9-inch frame over the previous five years, reaching an estimated weight of 290 pounds. Photos released over the past year have shown Kim Jong Un's rapid weight gain. The secretive regime hasn't said much about it, but South Korean analysts suspect he's been under severe stress. Investigators also note that he reportedly developed a taste for Emmental cheese while he was a student in Switzerland years ago. Pyongyang has ordered every citizen in the capital to provide around 2 pounds of rice to the states supplies every month, while farmers are forced to hand over additional rations from their own meager crops to the military, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported. The comments from state media come amid reports of North Koreans hoarding their food supplies, according to The Telegraph. Kim Jong Uns regime has been cracking down on open-air markets that have served as a source of additional food for city dwellers. "Even if we give up our lives, we should continue to show our loyalty to our leader, Kim Jong Un, until the end of our lives," the state-run newspaper wrote, calling for a "70-day campaign of loyalty." Much of North Korea's population of 25 million is already hungry, but new sanctions, the most severe in 20 years, were approved by the UN Security Council after Pyongyangs February nuclear weapons test and a recent long-range missile launch. The sanctions will further cripple North Korean trade and squeeze Kim's weapons programs. Under them, UN members are even barred from accepting the reclusive nation's main exports of coal and iron ore. But experts don't expect Kim's belligerence to stop just because the world shuns him. The latest message to the suffering people is yet another one of collective sacrifice. Its an old pattern of telling the population to endure short-term hardship for the promise of larger benefits over the long term, Daniel Pinkston, a lecturer at Troy University in Seoul, told the Los Angeles Times of the Rodong Sinmun editorial. A crafty lion named Sylvester that broke free from a national park in South Africa twice still has a shot at survival, even as park officials say they're desperate to recapture the renegade. National park officials on Wednesday walked back a vow to kill the lion, saying no decision had been made about Sylvester's fate after its capture. At least one conservationist has offered to give the lion a new home. Sylvester escaped Karoo National Park early Tuesday after a heavy rain washed away soil and created a hole under an electric fence. The lion escaped using a similar method the last time. We will not take him back to the park, Reynold Thakhuli, a South African National Parks spokesman, said initially. Unfortunately this lion has now been identified as a problem animal and will be euthanized. Thakhulis statement was met with outrage from honorary SANParks rangers who threatened to quit and locals vowing to boycott the parks. A petition calling for the Sylvesters life to be spared has reached almost 2,500 signatures, according to The Telegraph. John Varty, a South Africa conservationist and filmmaker, offered to build Sylvester a 1,000 hectare home at his sanctuary near the park from which the lion escaped. We are aware that some members of the public have been alarmed by reports that the animal will be euthanized, but no decision can be taken until the animal is safely captured, SANParks said in a statement. Park officials said since the lion knows how to get out of the park and could potentially do it again, Sylvester would remain a threat to people around the park even after his recapture. During the lion's 2015 escape, it covered about 185 miles and killed a cow, some sheep and a kudu antelope. The Associated Press contributed to this article. The Pentagon plans to defend Eastern European allies with American troops, tanks and other armored vehicles in hopes of deterring Russian aggression. Pentagon officials say this step is part of a proposal they announced last year to increase U.S. military deterrence in the region. Some of the new gear heading to Eastern Europe includes 250 tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Paladin howitzers and 1,700 more wheeled vehicles and trucks. We will also be demonstrating and exercising our ability to rapidly deploy equipment and forces to Europe by sending our U.S. based rotating forces with their own equipment. This will be the most modernized equipment the Army has to offer, and will, over the next year, replace the less modern training equipment we put in Europe over the last few years," Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal told Fox News. "This means we will have the most modern and capable equipment in the hands of U.S. armored units who will train continuously in Europe," she added. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work told The Wall Street Journal, There will be a divisions worth of stuff to fight if something happens. The United States European Command said in a statement Wednesday that the armored brigade combat teams will be on nine month rotations from the U.S. "This is a big step in enhancing the Army's rotational presence and increasing their combat equipment in Europe, said Gen. Phil Breedlove. This Army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO Allies and Partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The Obama administration approved the outline of the plan, which is set to start in February 2017, when it signed off on the $3.4 million European Reassurance Initiative budget last month. Congress hasnt weighed in on the request yet. Currently, the U.S. rotates around 4,200 troops through six eastern European NATO members: Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, told The Wall Street Journal that the plan would create a constant U.S. presence along NATOs border. There will be American equipment and people in each of these countries, Hodges said. We will have the flexibility to converge the entire brigade for exercise and that is an important part of the deterrence, to show a war-fighting capability. A Russian official told the Journal that Moscow will carefully eye the U.S. plan. Russian officials have claimed that the plan violates the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding act, which states that NATO wouldnt produce permanent military forces near the Russian border. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. Germany has rebuffed Turkey's complaint about a satirical song that angered Ankara, saying the clip is covered by freedom of speech. Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoned the German ambassador to demand the song's removal from the website of German public broadcaster ARD. The clip pokes fun at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while highlighting Turkey's crackdown on journalists and the opposition. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says German diplomats told their Turkish counterparts Tuesday there's no chance the government will intervene over the song. Sawsan Chebli said Wednesday that "Germany's position on freedom of the press and expression isn't negotiable." Chebli said German ambassador Martin Erdmann also attended the start of the trial last week of two Turkish opposition journalists "to send a signal" about press freedom and judicial independence. A cousin of a Colorado man who disappeared over the weekend in the Swiss Alps while "speed flying" told FoxNews.com Tuesday the nearby terrain is impossible to traverse on foot, making a thorough search difficult to impossible. Harrison Fast, a 28-year-old from Boulder, vanished Saturday when bad weather rolled in while he and a group of friends were participating in the hybrid sport, a combination of skiing and paragliding. Here is where we believe Harrison is. Posted by Harrison Fast Rescue on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 Based on one cell phone ping at the beginning of the search, the local authorities [had] focused all of their efforts in this single spot, Cassie Carothers told FoxNews.com. I was able to view the area where they suspect Harrison is located from a helicopter and get a full picture of the situation, she added, noting that the search area would likely expand. Swiss authorities called off their search Monday, but the family raised more than $49,000 on a crowdfunding site by Wednesday morning to keep the search going with the help of private helicopters and drones. We know the odds are against us, but we aren't giving up hope until we exhaust every option, Carothers said. Harrison is an amazing person and deserves at least this. Carothers, who is building a team with family and friends to keep up the search, said police are not helping them with the drone searches. I dont really go to that place where bad things live, if you will. I keep joking with the family that hes in some mountain-side bar, talking to a girl with a dead cell phone, not knowing what we are all going through, his brother-in-law, John Solis, told Fox 31 on Monday. Amada Senior Care Expands to Wisconsin Orange County Based Senior Care Franchise Opens Office in Greater Milwaukee MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN (PRWEB) March 30, 2016 - Amada Senior Care, premier provider of non-medical in-home care and assisted living placement counseling, recently opened its first office in Wisconsin, its Greater Milwaukee location. Amada franchise partner D.R. Salerno came to the senior care industry with nearly 20 years of experience as an operations executive. His wife Ronda is a sign language interpreter, with previous experience in case management, social work, and caregiving for seniors. D.R. and Ronda live in the Milwaukee suburbs with their two children. Amada Greater Milwaukee will serve the southeast Wisconsin region, including Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee, Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties. The grand opening will be held on Friday, April 1st. According to D.R., Amada Greater Milwaukee provides non-medical in-home care through caregivers who assist seniors with activities of daily living things like bathing, getting dressed, or preparing a meal. We will help you or your loved one stay safely in the home for as long as possible, D.R. said. If remaining in the home is no longer possible, Amada Greater Milwaukee also offers senior housing advisory services; a form of counseling that helps seniors find the best assisted living environment for their unique situation. We understand that seniors may be concerned about how they are going to pay for their care, Ronda said. Amada Greater Milwaukee specializes in using life insurance policies, long-term care insurance policies, and Veterans Aid and Attendance benefits to help seniors fund their care. We are experts at the many options available and will work with you to help determine the best option for you and your family, she said. In the years she spent as a caregiver, Ronda discovered how important it is to families to have qualified caregivers for their loved ones. Ive learned what it takes, she said. When it comes to hiring caregivers, you need good people who really care about the client. D.R. said his grandparents taught him the importance of providing for family and taking care of your own. At Amada Greater Milwaukee, our clients are like family, and we will treat them like our own. The grand opening of Amada Senior Care Greater Milwaukee will take place on Friday, April 1st. The office is currently looking for qualified full and part-time caregivers to work with their clients. For more information, you can visit their website at http://www.AmadaMilwaukee.com or call 262-395-7928. About Amada Senior Care Amada Senior Care is committed to enriching lives. We provide nurturing, compassionate non-medical in-home care and guide families through the many senior housing options available for assisted living. We also offer expertise in handling long-term care insurance claims and in certain forms of government aid, including Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefits. Headquartered in San Clemente, California, Amada was founded in 2007, and is currently assembling an elite team of franchise partners to expand our business on the national level. For more information, visit amadaseniorcare.com. SOURCE Amada Senior Care Contact: Taylor French Amada Senior Care 949.284.8036 ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus H&R Block Highlights the Importance of Teen Financial Fitness During National Financial Literacy Month KANSAS CITY, MO -- (Marketwired) - March 30, 2016 - H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) When: National Financial Literacy Month (April) What: Teens' lack of financial literacy is a growing problem in the United States. Studies show today's teens are concerned about money management, but they're not learning the skills needed for success. In a recent national survey, 42 percent of teenagers said they are not "financially fit." A similar study by H&R Blocklast year revealed 58 percent of teenagers worry they'll be worse off financially than their parents. How: H&R Block is addressing teens' lack of financial literacy this month and year round through the H&R Block Budget Challenge, a free online tool teachers can incorporate into their lessons, under the company's longtime Dollars & Sense financial literacy platform. The H&R BlockBudget Challenge teaches teens how to manage the financial life of an adult through a real-life simulation. As an added incentive, students compete for millions of dollars in scholarships each school year. During Financial Literacy Month alone, H&R Block is giving away more than $1.3 million in scholarships to top-performing students in the H&R Block Budget Challenge. This school year nearly 155,000 students are participating in the program, bringing the two-year participant total to almost 250,000 high schoolers from all 50 states. This approach is working. More than 95 percent of teachers who participate in the H&R Block Budget Challenge say it's effective at teaching personal finance. Students, parents and teachers can visit www.hrbds.org for personal finance tips and lesson plans. About H&R Block Budget Challenge Find out about the H&R Block Budget Challenge in your area. Email mediadesk@hrblock.com to request: Localized stats on the H&R Block Budget Challenge Student scholarship winners and teacher participants available for interviews Why: According to the Council for Economic Education1, only seven states currently require high school students to be tested on personal finance concepts before graduation. That lack of training coupled with the rising cost of college and prevalence of student loans means today's young adults are often left shouldering the burden of tens of thousands of dollars of debt upon entering "the real world." Source: 1 - Council for Economic Education's 2016 Survey of the States; http://councilforeconed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/sos-16-final.pdf About H&R Block Dollars & Sense H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is the world's largest consumer tax services provider. More than 680 million tax returns have been prepared worldwide by and through H&R Block since 1955. H&R Block Dollars & Sense helps increase financial literacy among teenagers through curriculum and resources, grants to supplement the cost of personal finance education and scholarships to help young Americans pay for higher education. Since 2009, H&R Block Dollars & Sense has donated more than $8.4 million in grants and scholarships. For more information, visit the H&R Block Newsroom, www.HRBDS.org or follow us on Twitter andInstagram, @TeenMoneyTips and our Facebook page, HRBDS. SOURCE H&R Block Contact: Gene King 816-854-4287 mediadesk@hrblock.com ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus OpenWorks Expands Franchise Locations to Tampa Bay Nations Leading Integrated Facility Services Franchise to Open Offices in Florida PHOENIX, AZ (PRWEB) March 30, 2016 - OpenWorks, one of Americas leading integrated facility services franchises, has announced plans to expand their franchise locations to the Tampa Bay metropolitan market and offer their full-scale line of facility cleaning and maintenance services to customers in the area. The company opened their first office in the region at the beginning of February. OpenWorks will be able to serve an extensive territory of businesses within a 45-minute radius around the Tampa Bay metro area, covering St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Lakeland. Cliff DAmico has been hired as the areas Regional Director, after working in sales and customer service positions for the past 20 years in the Tampa and Orlando markets. Prior to joining OpenWorks, DAmico spent over 15 years as a senior level manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car and was a general manager of a high line boat dealership for the past five years. OpenWorks is currently finalizing the hires of district manager and account executive positions for the region. DAmico has signed three customers within the first several months, with the goal of having 40-50 clients and five to six area franchisees. He is actively seeking additional staff and potential franchisees. OpenWorks has provided customized cleaning solutions for a wide range of facilities and offices for more than 30 years. OpenWorks has used an environmentally clean green program to provide businesses with a clean, safe work environment. Last year they added additional services such as landscaping, and pest control to help meet the extensive needs of each facility they serve. DAmico believes Tampa Bay is an ideal location for OpenWorks. The area has a high concentration of private schools, walk-in medical facilities and mid-sized businesses, which are the types of facilities that frequently utilize OpenWorks services. OpenWorks has a network of clients across the country with offices in the Tampa Bay area, and hopes to continue their relationship with their local affiliates. The Tampa area also has a large number of immigrants and minorities who make excellent fits as OpenWorks franchisees. Tampa Bay is a fantastic market for OpenWorks, as it has many professional facilities we can serve and a great population base for potential franchisees, said DAmico. We have seen a strong start to operations in the area so far and expect to continue this success in the coming years. OpenWorks Founder and CEO Eric Roudi said the company identified Tampa Bay as a market with numerous opportunities for business and franchise success. Expanding into the Tampa Bay market is the latest example of the continued growth and development of OpenWorks, said Roudi. Cliff DAmico has tremendous experience and knowledge of the market. We look forward to providing businesses throughout the Tampa area with the best selection of cleaning and maintenance operations for their facilities. The Tampa Bay office marks the first of six new markets OpenWorks plans on expanding into in 2016. Last year OpenWorks added new offices in Northern California and Denver, and currently has more than 330 franchises in seven states. About OpenWorks Established in Phoenix, AZ in 1983, OpenWorks is a leading national commercial cleaning franchise that offers integrated facility services through highly reputable local affiliates. In 30+ years, the company has grown to 330 franchise locations in seven states from Illinois to California. OpenWorks is guided by a simple philosophy: a cleaner, safer and healthier environment means a more productive workplace. The OpenWorks franchisees and preferred partners who serve more than 1100 facilities each day offer more than simple cleaning and maintenance - they help their clients fundamentally improve their work environment. Each OpenWorks representative implements an environmentally friendly Green Clean program using the highest quality equipment. The OpenWorks difference is all about open, flexible relationships. Each OpenWorks customer receives customized solutions that fit the needs of their specific facility. For more information on OpenWorks, please visit http://www.openworksweb.com. SOURCE OpenWorks Contact: Kevin Behan OpenWorks +1 (919) 459-3595 ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Opportunities Are Doubled In Phoenix, Arizona With The Opening Of Its Second Grease Monkey Center March 30, 2016 // Franchising.com // Greenwood Village, Colo. Grease Monkey International, Inc. is excited to announce the opening of a second center in Phoenix, Arizona. Grease Monkey - Phoenix opened its doors for business on March 9, 2016. The center was welcomed into the community with its grand opening party on March 25 and 26. Present at the event were the Mobil 1 NASCAR simulator and Tony Stewarts No.14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet, both of which were a hit with the crowd. There were also lots of giveaways, free food and refreshments, and exclusive grand opening discounts on oil changes as well as other services. Throughout the weekend the center had the pleasure of servicing many vehicles and meeting many new citizens of the local community. Both of the centers in Phoenix are owned by brothers, Laurence and Scott Stinson. Their franchising journey with Grease Monkey began in September of 2015. Within a few months of being in business, the Stinson brothers decided to expand their services by setting up a new location. We are excited about this new location providing convenient, quality vehicle preventive maintenance service to Phoenix and the surrounding area, said Senior VP of Operations, Ralph Yarusso. The great community response to the grand opening provides evidence consumers are looking for a maintenance center they can trust and that provides services quickly and affordably. The future is bright for Grease Monkey International, Inc. as it will continue to grow in Phoenix and the surrounding areas. Two additional licenses have already been sold in Phoenix and 20 more centers are forecasted to open in the state by 2020. About Grease Monkey International, Inc. Founded in 1978, Grease Monkey International, Inc. is one of the largest automotive maintenance chains not owned by a major oil company, with over 300 centers located in the United States, Latin America and China. Grease Monkey Centers focus on a less hassle, more hustle customer experience to fit the busy lives of the driving public by meeting their vehicle maintenance needs based on vehicle manufacturer recommendations. Grease Monkey Centers provide oil changes and other services that meet or exceed vehicle owners manual specifications and maintain warranty requirements. Services include fluid, filter and tire maintenance, as well as brake services. For more information, go to www.greasemonkeyintl.com. SOURCE Grease Monkey International, Inc. Contact: Erena Connon 303-454-3410 publicrelations@greasemonkeyintl.com ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Pretzelmaker Invites Customers to Share a Message of Kindness for a Free Pretzel on National Pretzel Day The gourmet pretzel shop encourages customers to share something warm with #warmthoughts on social media or give a compliment in-store in exchange for a free, warm pretzel on April 26. ATLANTA - March 30, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Stuff your wallet with compliments, and dough knot hold back! In celebration of National Pretzel Day, Pretzelmaker is offering customers a warm treat in return for sharing a warm thought on Tuesday, April 26. Customers who share messages of kindness on social media using the hashtag #warmthoughts and show it in-store at participating Pretzelmaker locations will receive a FREE soft pretzel (original salted or unsalted). Pretzelmaker team members will also gladly accept an in-person compliment instead! Each year, Pretzelmaker locations across the country give away thousands of free pretzels in honor of this delicious holiday, and this year Pretzelmaker wants to spread messages of kindness through its "Share Something Warm" promotion. This marks the eighth year that Pretzelmaker has put a personal twist on the nationally celebrated holiday and Pretzelmaker wants to reward warm hearts with a guaranteed warm pretzel. "Pretzelmaker's favorite holiday National Pretzel Day is approaching, and what better way to celebrate than by putting a smile on someone else's face," said Lisa Cheatham, Director of Marketing, Pretzelmaker. "We are so thankful for our loyal customers and we look forward to sharing our own messages of gratitude through this promotion. We look forward to hearing pretzel lovers' warm thoughts nationwide, and we invite folks to stop by a Pretzelmaker store on April 26 to enjoy a free pretzel on us." Pretzelmaker is known for fresh delicious pretzels and product innovation. With stores across the U.S., the brand has thousands of loyal fans and is the original creator of the Pretzel Dog, Pretzel Bites and Mozzarella Stuffed Bites. For more information and store locations, visit our websitewww.pretzelmaker.com or join us on social media: follow @pretzelmaker on Twitter; add @pretzelmakerpics on Instagram; follow "Pretzelmaker" on Snapchat; or become a fan of the brand on Facebookwww.facebook.com/pretzelmaker. *Limit one offer per guest during the day of the promotion. Counts vary by store. Valid only at participating U.S. stores. No purchase necessary. No cash value. About Pretzelmaker www.pretzelmaker.com Since 1991, Pretzelmaker has specialized in serving fresh baked, hand-rolled soft pretzel products, dipping sauces and beverages. Long recognized as an innovator in their industry, the brand is credited with inventing the popular Pretzel Dog, Mini Pretzel Dogs, and the portable Pretzel Bites. Following integration in 2010, the Pretzelmaker brand now also includes Pretzel Time. Pretzelmaker is currently the second largest soft pretzel concept in the United States and is also rapidly expanding worldwide with locations in Canada, Guam,Saudia Arabia and Mexico. About Global Franchise Group, LLC www.globalfranchise.com Global Franchise Group, LLC is a strategic brand management company with a mission of championing franchise brands and the people who build them. The company owns a portfolio of franchise brands that includes five primary quick service restaurant (QSR) franchise concepts: Great American Cookies, Hot Dog on a Stick, Marble Slab Creamery, MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery, and Pretzelmaker. The brands are managed by GFG Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Global Franchise Group, LLC. Global Franchise Group, LLC is a portfolio company of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, an independent investment firm, with approximately $7 billion of capital under management and substantial franchise management experience. SOURCE Pretzelmaker ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Rise Biscuits Donuts To Open First Wilmington Location on Military Cutoff Road March 30, 2016 // Franchising.com // Durham, NC - Rise Biscuits Donuts, Durham, NCs award-winning concept featuring both sweet and savory breakfast and lunch options, announced today the opening of its first Wilmington location at Landfall Shopping Center, 1319 Military Cutoff Road. Rise currently has seven locations in the Raleigh-Durham market with signed agreements for 21 more franchises in North Carolina, Florida and Texas. The Wilmington location is scheduled for a late Summer 2016 opening. We are excited to bring chef-driven biscuits and fun donuts to Wilmington, says Rise Biscuits Donuts founder Tom Ferguson. When looking at where to take Rise next, Wilmington was among our first targets. We love our Military Cutoff location and look forward to serving the entire town and coastal communities. Rise Biscuits Donuts has been a phenomenon in the Triangle since the first Durham store opened in 2012, drawing huge crowds and netting multiple local and national awards and a TV appearance on Food Networks Donut Showdown. Rise serves unique biscuit sandwiches featuring everyday favorite fillings like country ham, fried chicken and sausage topped with cheeses, spreads and eggs (runny, if you like) as well as monthly specialty biscuits such as Braised Lamb Biscuit with Cucumber Dill Sauce and Sirloin Burger Biscuit with French Onion Sauce & Gruyere Cheese. Donuts share equal billing and are divided into old school, new school and our school categories, boasting unique flavors like the Maple Bacon Bar, SMore, Cheerwine Icing and the Salty Capn (topped with your favorite crunchy cereal). Rise is open 7am-2pm daily. The Wilmington store will be located next to Terrazzo Trattoria in the Landfall Shipping Center, which also includes Loveys Market, Food Lion and Havertys. The 1,700 square foot restaurant will include a patio with outdoor seating and promises a culinary experience like no other. Rise Biscuits Donuts has partnered with Fransmart, the franchise development company behind the explosive growth of companies like Five Guys and Qdoba Mexican Grill, as an exclusive development partner. The brand currently has North Carolina stores open in Raleigh (2), Durham (2), Morrisville, and Carrboro, and will be opening a third Raleigh location in May as well as its first Charlotte store in July. About Rise Biscuits Donuts Rise was founded in November 2012 and was voted Best Biscuit in the Triangle two years in a row and was ranked among the Best Biscuits in the US by Food & Wine magazine. The atmosphere is described as a mixture of old school, new school and our school incorporating trending menu items from around the country like cronuts, putting our own Rise spin on it, and perfecting everything by listening to customers through both in-store feedback and social media. The brand serves up unique biscuit and donut flavors, with the menu constantly rotating in new features, as well as locally brewed coffee, in a to-go format that keeps our footprint at a minimum and keeps the long lines moving quick and efficiently. In 2014 Rise partnered exclusively with Fransmart, the franchise development company behind the explosive growth of brands like Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill, to grow the Rise brand.For more information about Rise Biscuits & Donuts and franchising opportunities, visit www.risebiscuitsdonuts.com/franchise. SOURCE Rise Biscuits Donuts Contact: Steve Balcom The Splinter Group E: steve@thesplintergroup.net ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus WASHINGTON Will they or won't they? Mostly, they won't. The three Republican presidential candidates aren't committing to supporting whomever the party chooses as its standard-bearer in the fall campaign. That could make for a messy and fractured GOP nominating convention in July. Early in the campaign Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich indicated they would support the eventual nominee. The three were asked about that again Tuesday night in town hall appearances in Milwaukee hosted by CNN. Trump said he was rescinding his promise because "I have been treated very unfairly." He listed the Republican National Committee, the Republican Party and party establishment among those he believes have wronged him. On ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, Trump said, "I only want the people to support me. ...I will take my chances with the people." "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and children," Cruz said, referring to Trump's jabs at his wife, Heidi. Cruz said if Trump were the nominee that would hand the election to Democrat Hillary Clinton. Kasich said that "if the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them." But he said he would wait and see how events unfold. The candidates were in Wisconsin ahead of the state's primary next week. OneClick Solutions Group has Announced Two Technical Support Position Openings New IT Support jobs announced by OneClick Solutions Group to support client relationships in a friendly and professional manner. Ideal candidates should possess certifications in common industry areas such as CCNP, CCIE, Network+, and/or WCNA. -- Interested parties should have expertise in supporting small to medium sized businesses, personable, having necessary certifications like CCNP, CCIE, Network+, WCNA, etc., With this new position as an IT Support Technician for OneClick Solutions Group, technicians are rewarded with a fair and competitive salary along with employee perks and benefits. Full details about OneClick Solutions Group can be found on the About Us section of the company website, http://www.oneclickfix.net. OneClick Solutions Group CEO, Mark McGarvey expressed confidence there are interested parties who are ready to handle the job, saying: "We are growing and are always in need of the best people to help our customers. We take extreme pride in having skilled and friendly technicians who can support our customers networks, computers, and employees in a professional and friendly manner." The main reasons and challenges in finding a qualified IT support position include the following: As OneClick Solutions Group continues to grow, much of the attention normally given to hiring becomes more complex as the company is required to focus on day to day operations rather than growing the infrastructure. Growth of OneClick Solutions Group also requires more professional staff to handle the volume of calls to ensure each client gets the attention they need Many systems exist and very few technicians have all the certifications. A well rounded team is necessary to ensure proper support with the different systems IT support technicians have a reputation for not being friendly. Finding support reps who are friendly is imperative in a competitive market. Prior to being hired, all potential applicants are required to take a personality assessment and meet with the team to ensure a good fit for all. A background check is also required. Customers and current employees are invited to send recommendations of friends or family who would qualify for this position via the website:http://www.oneclickfix.net. For more information about us, please visit http://www.oneclickfix.net Contact Info: Name: Mark McGarvey Organization: OneClick Solutions Group Address: 580 California 16th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone: 415-887-7678 Release ID: 108781 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) SunPower Awards Semper Solaris with Residential National Dealer of the Year Local veteran-owned and operated dealer was chosen from among more than 500 U.S. dealers for recognition, publishes sempersolaris.com -- Semper Solaris, a San Diego-based solar installer and SunPower Elite Dealer, today announced it has received the SunPower "Residential National Dealer of the Year" award for its outstanding performance as a SunPower dealer in 2015. "Semper Solaris is honored to receive the 2015 'Residential National Dealer of the Year' award from SunPower for our success delivering the world's highest efficiency solar systems and superior customer service to homeowners," said John Almond, CEO of Semper Solaris. "Partnering with SunPower, a leading solar technology and global energy services provider, allows us to offer our customers reliable solar energy and electricity savings over the life of their systems." The "Residential National Dealer of the Year" award honors SunPower residential dealers that demonstrate exceptional customer service, knowledge and leadership in the United States. SunPower's global dealer network includes more than 500 dealers located in the U.S. "We congratulate Semper Solaris for their extraordinary performance in 2015," said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, business units. "As a SunPower Elite Dealer, they have demonstrated an outstanding level of quality, innovation and commitment to customer value, and we look forward to their continued success in 2016." In 2015, Semper Solaris took on a number of solar panel installation projects varying in size and complexity. Among these was a 54-panel, 15.4 kilowatt ground-mounted system in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. This award winning solar company likewise engineered a non-standard mounting and reinforcement framework for a 40-panel roof-mounted system in San Diego's East County. Other projects in the company's portfolio include a smaller-scale 13-panel arrangement in Alpine, Calif as well as an 18-panel residential roof-mounted system in San Diego. Each of these undertakings incorporated SunPower's high-efficiency solar technology. Semper Solaris serves both Northern and Southern California in Alameda, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial, Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange Counties. The San Diego solar company also holds a Better Business Bureau accreditation with an A+ rating. Their staff has received customer acclaim for excellent service and outstanding quality. For more information on Semper Solaris, call (619) 715-4054 or visit http://sempersolaris.com/. About Semper Solaris: Semper Solaris is a licensed California solar energy installation company locally owned and operated by a team of veterans. The company is dedicated to excellence as well as extraordinary customer service and committed to furnishing American products with American leadership. For more information about us, please visit http://stillwateragency.com/ Contact Info: Name: Lance Wilson Organization: Semper Solaris Address: Simi Valley, CA 93065 Phone: (888) 519-5149 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/sunpower-awards-semper-solaris-with-residential-national-dealer-of-the-year/108877 Release ID: 108877 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) I Am Attitude Announces Major Sale on Top Alternative Fashion Items With over a hundred products now discounted up to 50%, sale makes for most affordable opportunity yet to take advantage of leading marketplace's offerings, I Am Attitude reports -- I Am Attitude, a leading alternative fashion marketplace, announced a special, limited-time sale. With over 100 popular alternative fashion items from dozens of top designers now discounted by as much as 50 percent, there has never been a more affordable time to buy attitude-infused clothing, accessories, or jewelry. As one of the world's leading companies of its kind, I Am Attitude hosts more than 300 top alternative fashion designers at its online marketplace, with over 8000 items in stock at the present time. "Our designer partners already do an incredible job of delivering amazing everyday value to our customers," I Am Attitude founder James Ansell said, "Whether they're looking for a punk jacket, a Gothic gown, or the perfect accessory to fill out a metal or rockabilly outfit, I Am Attitude shoppers always have access to plenty of great deals. With our current sale, that is even more the case, as some unprecedented discounts on many top-selling items are now available for a limited time. We invite everyone with some attitude and personality of their own to stop by and take a look." Devotees of particular styles of music and members of other subcultures have long enjoyed using fashion to advertise their allegiances and stand out from the mainstream in distinctive ways. When the so-called "greasers" of the American 1950s started slicking back their hair and wearing then-ostentatious leather jackets everywhere they went, for example, they actively participated in the forging of a group identity that reflected their shared unwillingness to conform with established, societal norms. In the sixty years since, alternative subcultures have only proliferated, with people today eagerly engaging in any of dozens of frequently well-defined scenes of these kinds. While every such subculture has its own unique dimensions and traits, particular fashion inclinations frequently rank among the most potent ways of identifying with and participating in them. I Am Attitude was founded to create a vital, vibrant online marketplace where those identifying with any sort of alternative scene could count on finding designer fashion that would reflect their personalities and ideals. With over three hundred designers together covering the full range of contemporary alternative subcultures, I Am Attitude shoppers from all over the world enjoy convenient access to thousands of different fashion items. With the current I Am Attitude sale, some of the most popular of these products are now and for a limited time discounted by up to 50 percent. Discounted items can be found in the dedicated "Sale" section at the I Am Attitude site. The full, current I Am Attitude selection of alternative fashion for men and women can be found at https://www.iamattitude.com/men/ and https://www.iamattitude.com/women/, respectively. About I Am Attitude: As the world's biggest and best online alternative fashion marketplace, I Am Attitude hosts over three hundred top designers and thousands of products for men and women covering every scene. For more information about us, please visit https://www.iamattitude.com Contact Info: Name: James Ansell Organization: I Am Attitude Address: Reading, Berkshire, RG7 5QR United Kingdom Phone: 0203 468 1997 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/i-am-attitude-announces-major-sale-on-top-alternative-fashion-items/108881 Release ID: 108881 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Ubique Auctioneers To Launch New Online Auction Platform With Five Exclusive Property Lots Ubique Auctioneers of South Africa are looking to go nationwide and even international with new online timed auctions of exclusive properties. -- Auctions are a great way for individuals and investors to get great deals on exclusive items. Increasingly auctions are now taking bids online as well as in person, the increasing popularity of this format has led to online exclusive auctions from some of the world's biggest auctioneers. South Africa's Ubique Auctioneers is the latest to introduce this format, with unique timed and live online auctions available to bidders worldwide. Ubique will be launching their new format with five impressive properties to bid on this April. The first of the property auctions offers an impressive 671-hectares (1658 acres) of prime game reserve, which forms part of the core Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site. On this site, many rock formations can be found resulting from a meteorite which hit the earth two billion years ago. The Rondekop Game Farm has an abundance of game, including 3 Giraffes, 138 different species of birds and no less than 72 species of indigenous trees. The second and third lots are more traditional properties, offering sea views as breath-taking vistas in Kleinmond, South Africa. The fourth lot is a beautiful development property 500m from Kleinmond lagoon, which also offers an unrestricted sea view, while the fifth lot offers a modern vacation home situated in the Parys Gold and Country Estate and is sure to attract a few investors. A spokesperson for Ubique Auctioneers explained, "We are excited to be able to offer these amazing properties exclusively online through our new timed auction format. This enables individuals to place a bid at any time before the deadline, just like they might on eBay, in order to secure the very best deal possible on these amazing opportunities. Our new Ubique Online website will feature some of the very best lots we have available to test the strength of this new paradigm for big ticket items." About Ubique Auctioneers: Ubique Auctioneers has been around for 35 years operating mainly in the midlands of South Africa. This year Ubique Auctioneers will conduct their first online auctions under their online auction division called, Ubique Online, as they expand to become a national auctioneer conducting auctions all over South Africa. Their site is for anyone with an appetite for auctions, including investors. For more information about us, please visit https://www.ubiqueonline.co.za/ Contact Info: Name: Anton Engelbrecht Organization: Ubique Online (Pty) Ltd. Phone: 082 789 2772 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/ubique-auctioneers-to-launch-new-online-auction-platform-with-five-exclusive-property-lots/108892 Release ID: 108892 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) TEC Releases 2016 Cloud ERP Buyer's Guide for Manufacturing New guide covers the current landscape, recent developments, top products, and reasons for manufacturing companies to make the switch, Technology Evaluation Centers reports -- Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), announced the release of its 2016 Cloud ERP Buyer's Guide for Manufacturing. Available now to those with a free TEC subscription, the new guide details the latest developments in and current status of cloud-based enterprise resource planning systems, with a special focus on implications for companies involved in manufacturing. Even with manufacturing-centered companies having lagged behind those in a number of other industries in terms of cloud-based ERP adoption, the TEC report details a range of offerings that are ripe for productive use by small- and medium-sized businesses, in addition to those of enterprise scale. Concisely delivering the benefit of TEC's proven, widely relied-upon expertise to readers, the new guide will be of great interest to many in the manufacturing industry. "As with so many other kinds of software, enterprise resource planning is moving quickly to the cloud," said TEC Director of Selection Services Michael Thaw, "That entails some real advantages for manufacturing companies poised to make the leap, and the transition can be a lot easier than some would expect. We think our Senior ERP Analyst Aleksey Osintsev and other experts have done an excellent job of creating a guide that readers can put to good use. The new report is free to those who sign up for a TEC account at our website or have one already, so we hope that many will benefit from this important study." Enterprise resource planning systems are sophisticated software suites that centralize a diverse array of business-related data. Often covering everything from product development and manufacturing to marketing, sales, and shipping processes, these comprehensive systems have traditionally been packaged as software installed and maintained by licensees. In recent years, however, ERP software has increasingly become available in software-as-a-service form that leaves the responsibility for hosting and updating with the companies that create it. The new TEC 2016 Cloud ERP Buyer's Guide for Manufacturing examines the existing options of this kind in light of how they can benefit companies with a focus on that activity. Created by one of the leading TEC experts on the subject with input from a range of other domain experts, the new guide covers everything from the lay of the current cloud-based ERP landscape to issues like the now-thawing historical reluctance of some manufacturing companies to make the switch. The brand new 2016 Buyer's Guide is the most comprehensive and informative of its kind, upholding TEC's longstanding reputation for providing useful, actionable software selection advice. The new guide is available now at the TEC website, with a simple, free account registration granting access. Visitors there will also find a rich selection of equally valuable resources of other kinds. About Technology Evaluation Centers: Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) is the world's leading provider of software selection resources, services, and research materials, helping organizations evaluate and select the best enterprise software for their needs. With its advanced decision-making process and software selection experts, TEC reduces the time, cost, and risk associated with enterprise software selection. Over 3.5 million subscribers leverage TEC's extensive research and detailed information on more than 1,000 leading software solutions across all major application areas. TEC is recognized as an industry-leading software selection advisory firm offering resources and services both online and onsite. For more information, please visit www.technologyevaluation.com. For more information about us, please visit http://www.technologyevaluation.com Contact Info: Name: Rupa Sehgal Organization: Technology Evaluation Centers Phone: (514) 954-3665 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/tec-releases-2016-cloud-erp-buyers-guide-for-manufacturing/108888 Release ID: 108888 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Lombardi Media Corporation Subsidiary Strengthens Editorial Team, Announces Mourad Haroutunian as New Financial Writer Lombardi Media Corporation subsidiary Lombardi Publishing Corporation expands editorial team with the addition of Mourad Haroutunian. -- Lombardi Media Corporation (www.LombardiMedia.com), a holding company that owns a group of businesses involved in financial and health publishing, digital media development, customer contact services, product fulfillment and direct marketing, is pleased to announce that Mourad Haroutunian has joined the research team at Lombardi Publishing as a financial writer. A Lombardi Media Corporation subsidiary, Lombardi Publishing Corporation is a 30-year-old financial publisher that has served over one million customers in 141 countries. "We are pleased to have Mourad join our team of financial editors at Profit Confidential," says Michael Lombardi, founder of Lombardi Media Corporation. "Because of his unique global perspective, Mourad has covered the financial news for several media companies around the world, in many different languages. Mourad is a great addition to the Profit Confidential editorial team and underscores our ability to attract the best talent and provide our readers with the most up-to-date financial information, products, and services." Supporting the financial editorial team at Profit Confidential, Haroutunian comes to Lombardi Publishing Corporation with over 20 years of experience reporting on the global markets and international affairs. Prior to joining Lombardi, Haroutunian worked as a senior equities journalist in the financial services industry. Before that, he was a reporter for an international news agency and a senior TV producer. Haroutunian received his M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the American University in Cairo. Founded in 1986 by entrepreneur Michael Lombardi, Lombardi Media Corporation owns a diverse group of businesses employing hundreds of people in the financial and health publishing, digital media development, customer contact services, product fulfillment and direct marketing industries. For more information on Lombardi Media Corporation, visit www.lombardimedia.com. For more information about us, please visit http://www.lombardimedia.com/ Contact Info: Name: Wendy Potter Organization: Lombardi media Corporation Address: 7000 Pine Valley Dr, Vaughan, ON L4L Phone: 905-856-2022 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/lombardi-media-corporation-subsidiary-strengthens-editorial-team-announces-mourad-haroutunian-as-new-financial-writer/108903 Release ID: 108903 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Investors in annuity providers Just Retirement and Partnership have voted in favour of a merger, two years after watching their shares plummet in value as George Osborne scrapped the need for people to buy the companies products. The merger - which will create a company known as JRP Group - will now take effect from 4 April and will see 240 jobs put at risk as the combined entity looks to cut staff by 20 per cent. Just Retirements shareholders, who met in Reigate this morning, approved the scheme unanimously, while 99.95 per cent of Partnership shareholders, who met this afternoon, voted in favour. Announced last August, the merger sees the companies join forces to overcome the huge hit they suffered as a result of chancellor George Osbornes decison to give everyone aged 55 and over completely free access to their pensions, removing the need for them to buy an annuity. In the week of Mr Osbornes Budget in March 2014, when he announced no one will have to buy an annuity, Partnerships share price plummetted 60 per cent, falling from 319p to around 122p by the end of that week. Just Retirements shares took a similar nose-dive, falling 48 per cent from 267p to 140p. Neither company has recoved. Today (30 March) Partnerships share price stands at around 125p, with Just Retirement at around 153p. Steve Lowe, group communications director at Just Retirement, said: We are pleased shareholders have provided overwhelming support for the merger and look forward to completing the transaction on 4 April, subject to sanction by the court. A spokesperson from Partnership, said: We are pleased to have received overwhelming support from shareholders and look forward to completing the merger in due course. JRP will be lead by Just Retirements Rodney Cook as chief executive, while Steve Groves, the current chief executive of Partnership, will step down once the merger is complete. Partnerships results, published on the day the merger was announced, revealed in the first six months of 2015 new business sales of individually written annuities were 128m, compared to 334m in the first half of the previous year. Just Retirements results from last May showed total annuities were down 15 per cent, compared with the nine months ending 31 March 2014, to 874.6m. However latest figures from the Association of British Insurers have pointed to the start of a revival in annuities following their post-pension freedom fall. Jim Boyd, director of corporate affairs at Partnership, said: The value of a guaranteed income in retirement has arguably never been more important. The ABI figures demonstrate that consumers recognise this in their retirement planning. At the end of September the annuity specialists raised 150m through two share placings to help meet the costs of the merger. Recent bad press on critical illness products is due to bad designs, protection specialist Alan Lakey has said, as he repeated calls for market action to prevent clients discovering too late they are not covered. CI policies have recently come under fire again for failing to payout when consumers needed them most. A national newspaper highlighted the plight of two people whose policies did not cover critical illnesses they developed. Mr Lakey, director of protection specialist website CIExpert, said the insurance industry needs to design much broader plans which may be expensive but provide comprehensive cover. These would also avoid the current scenario where providers name multiple conditions, but do not ultimately help if someone develops another rare condition. He gave the example of a typical CI plan, which would cover neurological conditions such as Alzheimers, motor neurone disease, Parkinsons and multiple system atrophy, but not more obscure aliments. What we should do is to simply say we will pay if there is any neurological condition which has this impact, rather than naming the specific condition. While widening the scope, Mr Lakey said insurers are increasingly adding in specific neurological conditions, which does not help because neurological conditions are being redefined all the time, including diseases such as Devics disease Its rather foolish to name those conditions if some poor person gets a rare condition with the same outcomes, tremors, etc, yet are not covered. Thats the foolishness of todays product design. Its the old adage of buying a three-wheeled car. You get what you pay for. CI is no different. Alan Lakey It needs a brave insurer and reinsurer to turn around and say we are going to break the mould and design a plan which will cover more people and conditions. David Hollingworth, associate director at London & Country, said it was unfortunate to still see bad news stories about protection products, as it underlined consumers suspicions about whether their plan would pay out. He said: It will in most cases and can really help families deal with a stressful period. Its unfortunate when for most people the situation should have resulted in a payout but they missed out due to a technicality. However Mr Lakey also turned the spotlight on advisers, saying said some do not read the wording of plans and are not fully aware of limitations that may apply. They dont understand the contracts or the subtle differences between the companies. Some will remove exclusions, or there may be some slight nuance within the wording which impacts the potential to claim, and advisers are unaware they are there. Better adviser education is needed, he said. Consumers will not read the often long brochures, meaning the onus is on an adviser to make a decision based on applying a value to conditions and using methodology, including comparing todays plan with older plans. The board of the 49m Jupiter Global Trust has proposed to revamp the vehicle by giving it a UK growth focus. The revamp, which involves the appointment of Steve Davies as lead manager, would see the trust shift from using a mixed portfolio of UK stocks and global funds to a new, more focused UK growth strategy. The strategy substantially mirrors the approach of the 1.6bn Jupiter UK Growth fund, run by Mr Davies, in a closed-ended format. Under the proposals, set to go before shareholders at a general meeting on April 18, the trust would be renamed as the Jupiter UK Growth Investment Trust. The trusts current manager, Richard Curling, would continue to manage the Jupiter Fund of Investments trusts, the Jupiter Monthly Income fund and institutional assets, and the Jupiter UK Alpha fund. Jupiter Global Trust chairman Tom Bartlam said: The companys current mixed mandate has served us well in recent years as both a source of benchmark-beating returns and a differentiating factor within the investment company classifications. It has become increasingly clear to us, however, that the market for investment companies is evolving rapidly and we believe these proposed changes will enable us to reach a new market of shareholders while maintaining the potential for capital growth. According to FE Analytics, the trust has returned 18.6 per cent over three years, compared with 19 per cent from its peer group, the AIC Global sector. Adviser view John Stirling, director of Walden Capital, said when an investment trust takes a radically different approach, there can be several reasons behind it. It is a risk for Jupiter to disturb their existing investors with an unproven (although I think reasonable) assumption of future demand from new, especially with a close-ended product where supply and demand are so important to share price. A heavy leaning towards both UK and US equities has put the Jupiter Merlin Growth funds portfolio in good stead, with the fund continually outstripping its peer group average since late 2014, FE data reveals. The fund, which holds 1.8bn in assets, invests across several investment management groups, including a fifth of its holdings in the Findlay Park American fund, 12.6 per cent in CF Woodford Equity Income, and 9.7 per cent in Jupiter UK Special Situations. Fund managers John Chatfeild-Roberts and Algy Smith-Maxwell have retained a strong bias towards shares, with approximately 80 per cent invested in equities. Of this, a third is allocated to UK equities, a quarter to US shares, almost 15 per cent to European equities, and 6.8 per cent is exposed to Japanese equities. This strategy appears to have worked well, with the fund delivering returns of 16.6 per cent over three years, against the Investment Association Flexible sectors return of 10.3 per cent, according to FE figures. The fund, which has been given four crowns by FE and ranked 20th in the sector, invests in unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (OEICs), exchange-traded funds and other collective investment schemes. The minimum investment is 500 and the annual charge is 1.5 per cent. By comparison, the M&G Managed Growth fund which sits in the same peer group has seen a fall of 3.8 per cent over three years. The 777.8m fund, which is ranked 119th in the sector, also has a large equity bias and is similarly spread accross the US, UK, Europe and Japan, but with particular exposure to US equities at 42 per cent. While the fund is theoretically able to invest in other asset classes, fund managers Randeep Somel and Craig Moran believe equities represent the best opportunities for long-term growth. Investments in financials are the fund management teams favourite sectors, comprising a chunky 38 per cent in the portfolio, while industrials make up 13.6 per cent, and consumer goods make up 11 per cent. Top holdings include the M&G Global Select fund at 16.8 per cent and M&G Global Emerging Markets fund at 10.8 per cent. The minimum investment is 500 and the annual charge is also 1.5 per cent. Jupiter Merlin Growth M&G Managed Growth 1. Findlay Park American 19.7% 1. M&G Global Select A Inc 16.8% 2. CF Woodford Equity Income 12.6% 2. M&G Global Emerging Markets A Inc 11% 3. Jupiter UK Special Situations 9.7% 3. Source Financials S&P US Select 10.7% 4. Aptus Global Financials 9.7% 4. Source S&P 500 ETF 9.5% 5. Odey European Focus 8.4% 5. M&G Japan A Inc 9.4% Adviser View Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, said: I like the Jupiter fund, indeed most of the Merlin range. The process is perhaps not as well-defined as its peers, but the teams experience means they have used the flexibility afforded to them in a cautious and consistent manner. The intention is to invest in the optimum blend of asset classes via the right fund managers, and critically, at the right time. The team are pragmatic in their approach and are prepared to move quickly if they believe their original analysis was wrong or market conditions have changed. Gross mortgage borrowing of 13.2bn in February was lower than in January, but was up by a third on last years figure, and the second highest increase since mid-2008. The British Bankers Associations February figures for high street banks also revealed that the number of mortgage approvals was 26 per cent higher than that period one year ago, with remortgaging up by 31 per cent and house purchase up by 20 per cent. Richard Woolhouse, chief economist at the BBA, said that borrowing remained buoyant in February. It appears that borrowers are continuing to try to get ahead of the increases in stamp duty for buy-to-let and second homebuyers scheduled to come into effect next month. The overall mortgage stock is also now 2.6 per cent higher than a year ago. Adrian Anderson, director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris, agreed there has been a significant rise in mortgage approvals, which is likely to be down to landlords and second homeowners trying to beat the stamp duty hike next month. The market is far from racing away with itself. These buyers will not necessarily be replaced in the short term while for many borrowers, tougher affordability criteria is still a barrier to getting a mortgage or remortgaging. Adviser view Adrian Whittaker, sales director at New Street Mortgages, said: While the annual rise in lending may be in part due to borrowers seeking larger mortgages, it also highlights that more people are now looking to buy property as the market returns to a healthier state. peter.walker@ft.com Origo has announced it is building a pensions dashboard engine which it claims will enable the industry to efficiently support consumer pension consolidation portals. The firm was originally launched by a group of the UKs financial institutions in 1989 to facilitate the development of electronic trading between principals and agents for life, pensions and collective investment business. Now, many of these providers have backed its latest plans for the frequently-proposed dashboard, including Aegon, Ageas, Aviva, Axa Wealth, Friends Life, Just Retirement, MetLife, Legal & General, Prudential, Royal London, Scottish Widows, Standard Life, Unum and Zurich. In September 2015, Origo announced its plans to help the industry create a pension register service for the public. UK consumers with pensions across multiple providers had no secure, simple, digital and automated means of viewing their total pensions worth at that time, it stated. Meanwhile, earlier this month, the Tax Incentivised Savings Association also confirmed its plans to help the industry make the pensions dashboard a reality, building on the Tisa Exchange (Tex) model as a template. Recommendations set out in the Financial Advice Market Reviews final report put forward a 2019 target date for the dashboards creation. It explained this consumer-friendly digital interface would display information about all of an individuals pension savings in one place. Jamie Jenkins, head of pensions strategy at Standard Life, said they have been actively working with the Cabinet Office to start developing a pensions dashboard, backed by existing government work around Open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), or technology that enables interaction. Origo is currently in the final stages of delivering an integration hub to enable providers and platforms to more efficiently share data with third parties, he stated. This service already supports the sharing of pension valuations, a critical component of the dashboard landscape. Extending this to support dashboards is a relatively straightforward and natural development. Origos managing director Paul Pettitt argued that as well as working with the pensions industry to deliver the dashboard engine, it is also working with the cross-industry Pension Finder Alpha Project, run by the Open Identity Exchange and the Cabinet Office. Origo is leading the architecture and standards workstream in that project and would look to work within the governance framework proposed through this process. ruth.gillbe@ft.com Sesame was the financial advice company with the highest proportion of upheld complaints, according to data released by the FCA today (30 March). During the second half of 2015 there were 829 complaints against the company, with most of these relating to decumulation, life and pensions. Of the complaints which were closed during the last six months of last year, 30 per cent were upheld. By volume of complaints against the company the numers are an improvement on the previous six months, when it received 967 new complaints, but fewer of these - 23 per cent - were upheld. Last July Sesame closed its investment advice network, which would have handled the pension advice linked to the complaints, after a series of high-profile problems including a network-wide review of the pension reccommedations, Project Minerva. For the Sesame Bankhall Group, the focus is now on Bankhall, its support services arm for directly authorised firms, and its mortgage advice business, which only generated 59 complaints - just 7 per cent of the companys total - in the second half of last year. Investment broker and adviser Hargreaves Lansdown received 555 new complaints, mainly about investments, and 23 per cent of its closed complaints were upheld. Of the providers, Bank of Scotland received the most complaints about mortgages and equity release at 11,606 while Prudential received the most decumulation, life and pension complaints at 8,063. The most investment complaints were received by HSBC, which had 3,007 in the second half of last year. FCA data revealed overall complaints went down in the second half of last year - particularly in decumulation, life and pensions which saw a fall of nearly 20 per cent from 66,602 to 53,682. There was a decrease of 1.4 per cent in the total number of complaints compared to the previous six months, partly driven by a 10 per cent drop in complaints about current accounts and a 15 per cent drop in complaints about savings accounts. Christopher Woolard, director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said: It is positive to see that the longer term reduction in the volume of complaints has continued into the latest period. Firms seem to have taken on board our previous feedback on levels of complaints and we are slowly seeing firms address these issues. However, firms still need to do all they can to reduce complaints and ensure that they are working in the best interests of consumers. Meanwhile PPI was the most complained-about product with 883,043 complaints - down 16.6 per cent compared to the previous six months. Sesame did not immediately respond to a equest for comment. Guidance on a range of farm animal welfare codes is to be devolved to industry groups under a government shift towards deregulated standards. Defra secretary Liz Truss is overseeing the plans as part of her departments move towards the creation of industry-led guidance on animal welfare codes. The first step will see a transfer of the code on chicken farming to the poultry industry on 27 April. See also: Animal welfare tops list of consumers ethical concerns On that day, the British Poultry Council (BPC) will release guidelines and from then on it will be in charge of writing new animal welfare guidance. Defra said it would also begin work to deregulate guidance in other livestock sectors, including the pig, cattle and sheep farming industries. Many of these codes are outdated and Defra does not have the resource to review all of the codes British Poultry Council No changes are being made to farm animal welfare legislation or the strict enforcement and penalties that apply, said a Defra spokesman. Instead, the British Poultry Council has produced non-statutory guidance on how to comply with the legislation. The industry-led guidance can also be used as evidence in court to prove criminal liability and will ensure farmers have the most up-to-date and practical information. In a statement, the BPC said: Without this change in Defra policy a large number of statutory codes would never be reviewed. Many of these codes are outdated and Defra does not have the resource to review all of the codes. The BPC said it also planned to review and update the duck and turkey codes in 2017. BPC chairman John Reed said: We were determined to ensure that we protected the integrity of the code. What are the codes? The codes have traditionally been prepared by Defra to translate basic welfare regulation into laymans language. With insufficient resource to keep them up-to-date, Defra has invited industry bodies to produce the guidance. The new codes are based on latest scientific advice, but do not weaken existing regulation and still have to be approved by Defra. It was critical for the BPC to achieve the endorsement from Defra to ensure its credibility and acceptance by charities, retailers and the industry itself. A robust review procedure will be put in place to ensure that the requirements in the code are kept up to date with any new legislation and research. However, the governments move towards deregulation has been criticised by shadow Defra minister Kerry McCarthy. Ms McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East, said: Abandoning codes of practice for farm animal welfare is not in the best interests of the animals and will not produce higher-quality food. She added: In the wake of food scandals from horsemeat to campylobacter, scrapping government standards risks undermining public confidence in the food we buy. A petition demanding a fairer system for distributing basic payments in Wales, which takes into consideration regional differences, is gaining momentum among farmers. More than 140 farmers have added their names to the petition since it was launched earlier this month on the website of the National Assembly for Wales. The petition, submitted by lobby group Farmers for Regional Payments (FFRP), calls on the Welsh government to reconsider its decision to introduce a flat-rate model for payment from Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) subsidy to Welsh farmers. See also: 14 policy changes that would help farmers in Wales FFRP, a group of more than 50 predominantly lowland farmers, claims flat-rate payments penalise more productive farmers. The petition says: In July 2015, the Welsh government made the decision to move to a flat-rate payment per hectare to all Welsh farmers under the BPS. As a result of this decision, it is estimated that 1,323 farms will lose more than 2,500 (1,964), many of which will see their payments reducing by around 40-60% over a five-year period. Lost payments will amount to up to 100,000 (78,500) per farm, per year from now until 2019. The petition warns that the flat-rate payment model for all Welsh farmers will lead to unemployment and business failure, damaging effects on the environment and the quality and quantity of Welsh food production. There are substantial differences in the productivity of farmland in Wales. Therefore, regional application of the BPS is imperative, says the petition. The decision will also disadvantage productive farmers in Wales against equivalent farmers in other countries, with English farmers, for example, receiving BPS payments on a regional basis. Following a consultation, Rebecca Evans, Wales deputy minister for food and farming, announced in July that the Welsh government would introduce a flat-rate payment system with a five-year transition for all claimants to be paid at the same rate per hectare by 2019. She said: It treats all farmers equally in moving payments to the same value per hectare by 2019 in five annual steps, meets most of our policy goals, including providing opportunities for new entrants; and it gives a clear basis on which our farmers can plan for the future. Meanwhile, NFU Cymru president Stephen James said it was unacceptable that nearly five months into the payment window hundreds of Welsh farmers were still waiting to receive their BPS part payment of approximately 80% of their total claim for 2015. Mr James is particularly concerned about the plight of cross-border farmers who have not yet been paid due to the failure of the paying agencies in England and Wales to effectively share data. A spokesman for the Welsh government said up to Wednesday (30 March), 95% of Welsh farmers had received their BPS part payment and only complex cases were still to be paid. 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 Opposition to fracking rises to 51% from 40% in 2015 Drop in fracking mirrors Americans' turn away from nuclear energy Republicans fuel drop in support for fracking WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Opposition to the practice of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" has increased significantly in the past year as environmental concerns, such as earthquakes, have grown, even though the procedure has helped keep oil prices low. Fracking in the United States Do you favor or oppose hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" as a means of increasing the production of natural gas and oil in the U.S.? Favor % Oppose % No opinion % Mar 2-6, 2016 36 51 13 Mar 5-8, 2015 40 40 19 Gallup In the past year, the price of oil has fluctuated between roughly $25 and $60 per barrel, a staggering drop from its peak of around $120 in mid-2014. One major reason the price of this commodity has remained so low is fracking, which now accounts for half of the oil production in the U.S. As recently as 2000, fracking made up only 2% of the nation's oil output. In Gallup's 2016 Environment survey, conducted March 2-6, Americans have a clearer position on fracking than they did a year ago. Last year, 40% said they favored fracking and 40% were opposed, with a substantial 19% not knowing about or having no opinion on fracking. In 2016, support for fracking has slipped to 36%, while opposition has climbed to 51%. The percentage of Americans with no opinion has dropped to 13%, perhaps as the term becomes more commonplace in the culture, or as the media has more extensively covered the arguments for and against fracking. Americans' turn against fracking comes as the percentage predicting there will be a critical energy shortage in the next five years has fallen to a new low, likely because of lower gas prices. With oil and gas relatively cheap, many Americans may not see the need to fracture the earth through fracking. Lower oil and gas prices may also be the reason a majority of Americans are opposed to nuclear energy for the first time. Additionally, more people would like to prioritize alternative energy over traditional energy sources. Fracking, while a relatively new way to extract oil, is still a means of harnessing fossil-fuel energy, helping explain why Americans may be growing averse to it. Republicans Not as Supportive of Fracking in 2016 Republicans had the biggest drop in support for fracking, falling from 66% support in 2015 to 55% this year. Still, Republicans' support for fracking far exceeds support among independents (34%) and Democrats (25%). Views among the last two groups are essentially unchanged from last year. Fracking in the United States Americans in favor, by political party 2015 % 2016 % Republican 66 55 Independent 35 34 Democrat 26 25 Gallup, March 2-6, 2016 Bottom Line Fracking has become a contentious topic in American life. In recent years, it has been seen as a source of great prosperity for the nation's crude oil producers, yet it has also become part of a global tug of war with Saudi Arabia. The Middle Eastern oil behemoth has been engaged in a pricing battle with American oil companies, with its goal being lower prices to make the cost of fracking too expensive for U.S. companies to pursue. Fracking is potentially a cause of earthquakes across sections of the U.S. that are not used to these types of natural disasters. The U.S. Geological Survey said this week that 7 million Americans are at risk of experiencing earthquakes caused by fracking in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arkansas. With more than 1,000 earthquakes in the central U.S. alone last year, these events could be linked to the rising percentage of Americans who oppose fracking. For the foreseeable future, fracking appears to be a way to extract oil from shale. Oil producers nationwide have said that if oil prices remain above $40 per barrel, it is prudent to use fracking to drill for crude oil. Previously, producers had said that price needed to be $70. With the U.S. effectively swimming in shale oil, the deliberation over fracking will likely continue for years to come. 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 complete question responses and trends. Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. Cologne-Bonn airport listed as ISIS target : Jihadists threaten with Photo montage on Twitter Bonn Jihadists threaten Cologne-Bonn airport in a photo montage on Twitter. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken A photo montage that showed up on Wednesday on a Twitter channel of militant Islamists ISIS appeared to threaten Cologne-Bonn airport. In the background is a picture of the airport, with fighters and the sentence, What your brothers in Belgium managed to do, you can do as well. Asked if authorities were aware of the photo montage, a spokesperson of the North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) Interior Ministry said, We take this propaganda of ISIS very seriously. Security remains vigilant even if authorities in NRW have no concrete information of planned attacks in this area. According to information from the Rheinischen Post newspaper, federal police and German federal crime investigators are evaluating the montage. #1 As mentioned above, the terrorist attack took place in December last year and was a planned one, on the county of San Bernardino in California. The attack was followed by a wild car chase and shootout between the police and the attackers. This confirmed the fact that the terrorists were part of a big strategy plan and complete evidence had to be extracted in order to avoid any such future incidents. #2 After the attack, the FBI immediately got onto the case and the search for all necessary evidence begun. Upon the completion of the search, the FBI came across an iPhone 5C - owned by Farook - that probably had some conclusive evidence that they didn't quite find in the other products and equipment that was part of the case. Apparently, this iPhone contained some secret codes or messages that the perpetrators used to communicate with the mastermind. #3 This iPhone had a fingerprint as well as a passcod lock on it, preventing the FBI from accessing data inside it. Earlier, the FBI has used different techniques like punching, which involves a system that enters all possible key combinations to eventually unlock the device. This was, however, a problem in this case as the iPhone was programmed to wipe out or reset all the data if a specific number of incorrect entries were submitted on the device. The FBI now made this information public and requested Apple, maker of the iPhone, to help them create a special software that acts as a backdoor for the FBI to easily access all their Apple devices that contained sensitive and crucial data. #4 Apple is the world's most valuable corporation and its reaction is what makes it the best. Just days after FBI's request - command, rather - to create another backdoor software, Tim Cook, CEO-Apple, posted a long message on the official site explaining his rejection for this order. He wrote, "The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control." He explained this stance by saying, "The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that's simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks - from restaurants and banks to stores and homes." #5 Immediately after Apple's official statement came from Tim Cook, the FBI filed a case in California courts, blaming Apple for interference and non-cooperation with national security matters. This ruling was expected to define the path of privacy rules in the US. Then last week, all of a sudden, on the eve of a court hearing in the case, the FBI asked for the proceedings to be halted, saying it had devised a new technique that might allow it to gain access. A week later, the FBI told the court that it had recovered the data on Farook's iPhone and no longer needed Apple's help, thereby withdrawing the case. #6 The FBI had argued that only Apple was the one who could help it unlock Farook's iPhone. This part was crucial because the law the FBI invoked, called the All Writs Act, requires the FBI to make reasonable efforts before forcing a corporation like Apple to help in its investigation. For weeks, the FBI had claimed that it had exhausted all other methods and was turning to Apple as a last resort. Apple's win in this case is sure to increase the stature of Apple CEO Tim Cook. The San Bernardino terrorism case was in many ways a kill or get killed kind of deal for Apple, forcing the company to effectively defend the privacy rights of one of the most controversial mass murderers in recent times. By standing up to the FBI in this case, and emerging unscathed, Apple will be stronger in future situations. '112' to soon become single number for all emergency services News oi -GizBot Bureau People will soon have to dial just a single number '112' for help during emergency situations such as availing services of police, ambulance and the fire department. The proposal to have a single number for various emergency services, approved by the inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission, would be similar to the '911' all-in-one emergency service in the US. All existing emergency numbers will be phased out within a year of rolling out 112, depending upon the awareness about this new facility. "Telecom Commission has accepted Trai's recommendation on single emergency number 112. It will now be drafted by the Department of Telecom and will require Telecom Minister's (Ravi Shankar Prasad) approval. SEE ALSO: 5 Most popular Mobile Networks in India! It will be rolled out within months rather than a year," an official source told PTI. The source said the panel has accepted recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) after including clarifications given by it. In India, different emergency communication and response systems are in place -- police (100), fire brigade (101), ambulance (102) and Emergency Disaster Management (108). Also, a number of states have notified various helpline numbers for assistance to special categories of citizens, like Woman in distress - 181 (Delhi), Missing Children and Women - 1094 (Delhi), Crime Against Women - 1096 (Delhi), Police Headquarter helpline - 1090 (Uttar Pradesh) etc. A person in distress will now need to call 112, which will direct the call to concerned departments immediately for help. SEE ALSO: Call drops in India much higher than global average: Survey The service will also be accessible even through those SIMs and landlines whose outgoing call facility has been stopped or temporarily suspended. A user will be able to make communication even through SMS and the system will learn about the location of the caller that will be shared with the nearest help centre. The service will be operated by a call centre like facility, which will have representatives speaking in Hindi, English and the local language. Source: PTI Best Mobiles in India 'Feels Like Home Season 2' offers something real and tangible to think about; takes home a pertinent point - if your intentions are good, there is nothing in life that isn't achievable. U.S. Authorizes Ordered Departure of DoD Dependents from Turkey By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, March 29, 2016 The U.S. government has authorized the ordered departure of Defense Department dependents from Turkey, including those at Incirlik Air Base, according to Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. The move announced today comes out of an "abundance of caution" to security concerns in the region, and not in response to a specific threat, Cook told reporters. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in coordination with Secretary of State John Kerry, authorized the ordered departure for all DoD dependents in Izmir, Adana and Mugla provinces, Cook said. This step does not signify a permanent decision to end accompanied tours at these facilities, according to a news release from U.S. European command. "This decision allows for the deliberate, safe return of family members from these areas due to continued security concerns in the region," he said. The decision impacts 670 out of the 770 Defense Department dependents in Turkey, Cook said, adding that it is his understanding that "this will move quickly." The ordered departure applies to all dependents whose sponsors are under the authority of the commander of U.S. European Command, and includes dependents whose sponsors are stationed at Incirlik. Dependents at Ankara and Istanbul are not impacted, the spokesman said. Cook said the decision is intended to mitigate the risk to DoD elements and personnel, including family members, while ensuring the combat effectiveness of U.S. forces and mission support to operations in Turkey. US, Turkey 'United' in ISIL Fight Turkey is a strong ally in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Cook said. "The United States and Turkey are united in our common fight against ISIL," Cook said. Incirlik Air Base continues to play a key role in the coalition's counter-ISIL operations, he said. The commander of U.S. European Command, Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, said in the Eucom statement that the decision was made in consultations that included the government of Turkey, DoD and the State Department. "We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism," Breedlove said. 'Remain Vigilant,' Says State Department The State Department today issued an updated travel warning for Turkey. In it, the department warned U.S. citizens about the increased threats from terrorist groups, while warning Americans to avoid travel to the southeastern Turkey, particularly near the border with Syria. "Foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organizations," the warning reads. "U.S. citizens are reminded to review personal security plans and remain vigilant at all times." The warning noted that U.S. government personnel in Turkey remain subject to travel restrictions in Turkey's southeastern provinces. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi war kills, maims 6 Yemeni kids a day: UNICEF Iran Press TV Tue Mar 29, 2016 10:36AM UNICEF says an average of six Yemeni children have been killed or wounded every day since the start of the Saudi military campaign against its impoverished neighbor a year ago. In a report on Tuesday, the United Nations Children's Fund said a year of Saudi war on Yemen had left 934 Yemeni kids dead and 1,356 more injured, with an average of six children suffering casualties every day. UINCEF described the figure as "only a tip of the iceberg" and said the Yemeni children are grappling with severe malnutrition, while millions of them do not have access to health care and clean water. "Children are not safe anywhere in Yemen. Even playing or sleeping has become dangerous," said UNICEF representative in Yemen Julien Harneis. Some 320,000 children, the UNICEF said, face acute malnutrition, a serious case which can leave a child vulnerable to deadly respiratory infections, pneumonia and water-borne diseases. "UNICEF estimates that nearly 10,000 children under 5 years may have died in the past year from preventable diseases," the organization added. The children aid body further pointed to the attacks on Yemeni hospitals, schools as well as water and sanitation system. "Basic services and infrastructure in Yemen are on the verge of total collapse." In a similar report last week, Save the Children, a non-governmental organization, said about 90 percent of children in Yemen need emergency humanitarian aid due to the ongoing Saudi aggression. "For millions of children here, the terror of airstrikes and shelling, and the destruction of everything around them has become a daily fact of life. This must not be allowed to continue," said Save the Children's Country Director in Yemen Edward Santiago. The Saudi regime began a military campaign against Yemeni on March 26, 2016. The war has so far claimed over 8,500 lives and injured more than 16,000 others, inflicting huge damage to Yemeni infrastructure and residential areas. Riyadh's military has carried out frequent air raids on hospitals run by France-based medical charity Doctors Without Borders. It has also used internationally-banned weapons, including cluster bombs, in Yemen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Egypt Could Buy Russian Ka-52K Attack Helicopters for Mistral Warships Sputnik News 10:44 29.03.2016(updated 12:27 29.03.2016) Russia is discussing the delivery of Ka-52K helicopters for the Mistral warships, the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said. SANTIAGO (Sputnik) Russia is in talks with Egypt on the delivery of Ka-52K attack helicopters for the Mistral warships: "The negotiations on the issue with the Egyptians are underway, we look forward to the positive outcome. In particular, we are talking about 'Ka' deck helicopters and other equipment," Anatoly Punchuk told RIA Novosti in an interview on the sidelines of an arms exhibition in Chile. Paris and Cairo signed a contract in October 2015, paving way for Egypt to purchase two Mistral-class helicopter carriers originally built for Russia. The agreement was reached after Paris officially terminated the $1.3 billion deal with Moscow. The Mistral-class carriers were built for Russia in France, but France later reneged on the deal and decided to sell the ships to Egypt. The ships are designed to carry 16 Ka-27/29 Helix anti submarine/assault and Ka-52 Hokum B strike helicopters. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Multi-Mln Dollar Russian Deal to Ship Weapons to Caracas Nearly Complete Sputnik News 10:10 29.03.2016(updated 10:59 29.03.2016) A multi-million dollar set of contracts for the delivery of Russian weaponry to Venezuela will be fulfilled by the end of 2016. SANTIAGO (Sputnik) A multi-million-dollar package of contracts for the delivery of a wide range of weaponry and military equipment to Venezuela will be fulfilled by the end of 2016, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said. "The completion of the package of more than 10 contracts signed with Venezuela in 2009 is practically finished. Armored tank equipment, missiles and artillery, air defense systems, and other military equipment have been delivered to our Venezuelan partners. The deliveries of the last of the military and arms equipment are planned for this year," Anatoly Punchuk told RIA Novosti in an interview on the sidelines of an arms exhibition in Chile. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN chief welcomes signing by Sudanese Government of African Union roadmap agreement 29 March 2016 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the African Union's latest initiative to accelerate progress towards ending the fighting in Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile states. In a statement from his spokesperson, the Secretary-General noted that the initiative would bring together the Sudanese Government, the National Umma Party, Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North, Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan Liberation Movement/Minni Minawi "to reach an agreement on a cessation of hostilities, humanitarian access and assistance and an inclusive national dialogue process." The agreement was brokered by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for Sudan and South Sudan, which is chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki. Following a three-day meeting on 21 March in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Government of Sudan and Mr. Mbeki signed the agreement; the opposition parties did not. In the statement, Mr. Ban called on the Government to "fully abide" with the Agreement and urged the other parties to sign it. "This would constitute a valuable step towards ending the war, providing assistance to communities in need and enhancing the environment for an inclusive national dialogue," Mr. Ban said. Fighting between the Government and the different parties in those regions restarted in 2011, around the time that South Sudan voted for independence. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UNICEF: Thousands of Yemeni Children Dying Due to Conflict by Lisa Schlein March 29, 2016 A report finds thousands of children in Yemen are dying from direct and indirect causes of the brutal year-long war. The U.N. Children's Fund says the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation is devastating their lives. Yemen has been at war with itself for years; but, the entry of Saudi Arabia into the ongoing civil war one year ago has raised the level of fighting to a scale never before seen. The U.N. Children's Fund describes the airstrikes by the government-supported, Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebels as indiscriminate and disproportionate. Speaking from the capital, Sana'a, UNICEF's representative in Yemen, Julien Harneis, says the escalating war is taking a particularly heavy toll on children. Airstrikes Harneis says more than 900 children have been killed and around 1,300 wounded in the past year alone. He says airstrikes account for 61 percent of the deaths and injuries. He tells VOA a far greater concern is the deaths of nearly 10,000 children under 5 from preventable diseases due to the collapse of the country's health system. "When you consider the 2,290 for children under 18, whereas the 10,000 is for children under five, then the death toll that is due to disease that would completely be avoidable," he said. "Those children would never have died had it not been for this war. That is our far greatest concern." Hunger, malnutrition Harneis says the decline in health services means children are not being immunized against killer diseases or being treated for diarrhea, pneumonia and other illnesses. He says nearly 10 million children, or 80 percent of all of Yemen's children, are in need of urgent humanitarian aid. This includes 320,000 children at risk of severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF reports a massive increase in the recruitment and use of child soldiers as the fighting continues to intensify. The agency has verified 848 cases of children, some as young as 10, being drafted by all the warring parties. It says 380,000 children are unable to get an education because 1,600 schools are damaged or destroyed or lack security. UNICEF warns Yemen risks becoming a failed state if the war is not brought to an end. It says the consequences for children and their families would be far-reaching and terrible were this to happen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hunger Driving Thousands of South Sudanese to Flee to Sudan by Lisa Schlein March 29, 2016 The United Nations refugee agency reports hunger as well as ongoing conflict are driving tens of thousands of South Sudanese to flee their war-torn country into Sudan in search of food and security. The United Nations reports 2.3 million people in South Sudan have been forced to flee their homes since civil war erupted in December 2013. Nearly three-quarters of a million of those displaced have gone to neighboring countries as refugees. While conflict and violence have been driving the forced displacement, a new element behind the recent flight has emerged. The world body's refugee agency, UNHCR, reports a serious shortage of food, caused by the ongoing conflict and deteriorating economic conditions, is prompting an increasing number of people to head to neighboring Sudan. UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards says the situation is particularly bad in the northwestern states of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal and Warrap. He says some 38,000 people have fled into the East Darfur and South Darfur regions of Sudan over the past two months. 'A crisis of food security' Edwards says people arriving in Sudan are in poor condition, with many having risked their lives en route. He tells VOA he fears the exodus from South Sudan will grow as the nutritional situation rapidly deteriorates. "Insecurity is a major aspect of this; but, increasingly, food insecurity as well is causing more people to be on the move. They are among 2.8 million people now officially classified as facing a crisis of food security in South Sudan," he says. Edwards says people clearly are suffering the effects of being without sufficient food. He says global acute malnutrition rates have risen above the emergency threshold of 15 percent. He says several inter-agency assessment missions are underway in parts of Sudan to determine how best to meet refugee needs. He says a composite picture is emerging from preliminary assessments and that the situation is universally desperate, with many refugees having traveled for up to four weeks under difficult circumstances. He notes many children have been separated from their families en route and that the newly arriving refugees are living in overcrowded conditions with many being sick and in need of medical care. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Relocates Most Defense Family Members from Turkey by Carla Babb March 29, 2016 The United States has ordered military families to leave parts of southern Turkey due to safety concerns. The Pentagon's orders relocate 670 military dependents from Incirlik Air Base, Ismir, and Mugla. "There's no specific threat that triggered this," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters Tuesday. "This was a decision made out of an abundance of caution." The decision to move families and civilians was made "in consultation with the Government of Turkey, our State Department, and our Secretary of Defense," according to a statement from Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, the head of U.S. European Command. One hundred military dependents based in Ankara and Istanbul will not be affected by the orders. The Pentagon deemed it appropriate for military family members to stay in those two Turkish cities "because of the security environment there and some of the precautions in place," Cook said. The action is not a permanent decision to end family stays at the facilities, according to a joint statement by the Department of Defense and the State Department. Incirlik will continue to play a key role in U.S.-Turkey operations against Islamic State, the statement said. The announcement comes hours after White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Secretary of State John Kerry met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. However, a defense official told VOA the timing was "purely coincidental." "There is nothing specifically we heard from the Turks," Cook added. (Isabela Cocoli contributed to this report.) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address No End in Sight for Millions of Displaced Nigerians by Chris Stein March 29, 2016 As Boko Haram militants overran his village in the northeastern Borno State, John Ali sought safety. What he found instead was limbo. Nearly two years later, home for Ali is a sweltering tin shack among other displaced people who fled the hills around the town of Gwoza for the capital, Maiduguri. Out of money and unable to find work, he stays in the camp day after day, eating twice-daily servings of rice and beans provided by relief agencies and waiting for word that his village, Chinene, is safe to return to. Boko Haram: living among us "Up to date, these Boko Haram men are still on population," Ali told VOA. "They are even camped out in our village. So there is no way for us to go back. But we are willing to go back." After fighting the group for nearly seven years, Nigeria's military has made tentative progress against Boko Haram, sparking discussions among government officials about whether the 2.1 million Nigerians who fled the fighting can soon go back home. Communities destroyed Spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency Sani Datti says the government wants to return displaced people this year, and has a plan to do so. But with Boko Haram still prowling the countryside and many towns and villages razed, it looks unlikely that Nigeria's displaced persons crisis will end anytime soon. "Before returning them back to their community, you know there is some basic infrastructure that has been destroyed by the Boko Harams," Datti said. "Definitely, we are waiting for clearance from the military." Nigeria's northeast once took pride in its reputation for natural beauty and tranquility, but Boko Haram's emergence in Borno State has upended life for millions of people across the country's northeast. VOA obtained a report from the Borno government that says Nigeria's second-largest state lost nearly a million homes and more than 5,000 classrooms to the fighting. It will take billions of dollars to undo the damage, a state official told VOA on condition of anonymity. Returning home soon, unlikely It used to be worse: In early 2015, the militants were regularly overrunning the military, threatening to take Maiduguri and sending suicide bombers to cities across the country's northern half, including the capital, Abuja. All told, Boko Haram is believed to have held territory equivalent to the size of Belgium, before being pushed out by troops from Nigeria, its neighbors, and foreign mercenaries. In the months since, the group has hit back with suicide bombing and shooting attacks across the north, but the military insists the insurgency is in retreat. They say they've secured Maiduguri and have troops raiding isolated villages where the militants hide. Recently, the army announced the re-opening of roads linking the state capital with other parts of Borno. But motorists still line up on the capital outskirts, waiting for a military escort to guard them before they'll drive out of Maiduguri. The displaced people of the capital remain unconvinced that they can simply return to their villages. "Our hope is that when peace is finally restored, we will go back," said Musa Ghuba, a farmer who fears going back to his isolated village near Gwoza. "But for now, I can't say when I'm going back." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Military Strikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Iraq, Syria From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, March 30, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, fighter and ground attack aircraft conducted four strikes in Syria: -- Near Mara, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed seven ISIL bunkers. -- Near Manbij, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar position. Strikes in Iraq Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: -- Near Baghdadi, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL boat. -- Near Habbaniyah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit. -- Near Hit, three strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL safe house and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas and an ISIL vehicle bomb. -- Near Mosul, five strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed six ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL weapons cache and an ISIL vehicle. -- Near Qayyarah, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL tunnels and an ISIL assembly area. -- Near Sultan Abdallah, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL fighting position and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit. -- Near Kirkuk, a strike destroyed two ISIL assembly areas. -- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed an ISIL assembly area. -- Near Makhmur, a strike destroyed an ISIL tactical vehicle. -- Near Sinjar, two strikes destroyed an ISIL assembly area and an ISIL fighting position. Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EUCOM Announces European Reassurance Initiative Implementation Plan March 30, 2016 STUTTGART, Germany -- As part of the United States commitment to increased assurance and deterrence, U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) will begin receiving continuous troop rotations of U.S.-based armored brigade combat teams (ABCT) to the European theater in February 2017, bringing the total Army presence in Europe up to three fully-manned Army brigades. As discussed during the announcement of the Fiscal Year 2017 European Reassurance Initiative (ERI) budget proposal, the Army has decided to begin storing "static" equipment, known as Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS), within Europe for contingency operations. General Phil Breedlove, U.S. European Command (EUCOM) commander said, "This is a big step in enhancing the Army's rotational presence and increasing their combat equipment in Europe. This Army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO Allies and Partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. This means our Allies and Partners will see more capability - they will see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries." The ABCTs will be on nine-month rotations from the U.S. and will bring their own modern equipment to conduct exercises across Atlantic Resolve countries. These rotations will demonstrate our ability to rapidly deploy equipment and forces to Europe by sending U.S.-based rotational forces with their currently assigned equipment. This equipment will be the most modernized the Army has to offer and over the next year will replace the current training equipment in Europe. When the first rotational armored brigade combat team arrives early next year, the equipment currently used by rotational forces, known as the European Activity Set (EAS), will remain in Europe, be repaired, upgraded, and converted into the core of the APS we announced in February. We plan to have APS stored in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. This equipment will enable rapid deployment of ground forces in response to contingencies throughout the region. It provides additional combat power, if and when needed. By the end of 2017, there will be a continuous presence of three fully equipped Army Brigade Combat Teams (one Armored, one Airborne, one Stryker); one prepositioned set of combat-ready equipment sufficient to support another Armored Brigade Combat Team; as well as division-level enablers in Europe. Gen. Breedlove, is attending the Northern European Chiefs of Defense Conference in Riga, Latvia this week, where he is meeting with regional counterparts to reassure Allies of EUCOM's commitment and support to regional security. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USNS Yuma Keel Authenticated Navy News Service Story Number: NNS160330-07 Release Date: 3/30/2016 1:02:00 PM From Team Ships Public Affairs MOBILE, Ala. (NNS) -- Austal USA hosted a ceremony, March 29, celebrating the keel authentication of the Navy's eighth expeditionary fast transport ship, the USNS Yuma (EPF 8). The keel was said to be "truly and fairly laid" as it was authenticated by the Honorable Douglas Nicholls, Mayor of Yuma, Arizona, by welding his initials into the keel plate. Authentication represents a major milestone in the ship's construction as the keel is the symbolic backbone of a ship. "We are honored to have Mayor Nicholls here for this exciting event," said Capt. Henry Stevens, Strategic and Theater Sealift Program manager, Program Executive Office, Ships. "I look forward to working with the mayor, the city of Yuma, and Austal, as the ship continues to progress toward delivery." Expeditionary fast transport ships are non-combatant vessels designed to operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways, increasing operational flexibility for a wide range of activities including maneuver and sustainment, relief operations in small or damaged ports, flexible logistics support, or as the key enabler for rapid transport. The ships are capable of interfacing with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities, as well as on/off-loading vehicles such as a fully combat-loaded Abrams main battle tank. EPFs support a variety of missions including the overseas contingency operations, conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, supporting special operations forces, and supporting emerging joint sea-basing concepts. Yuma will be capable of transporting 600 short tons 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots. The vessel will also include a flight deck to support day and night aircraft launch and recovery operations. The ship will have airline-style seating for 312 embarked forces with fixed berthing for 104. As one of the Department od Defense's largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and boats and craft. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Latvia Blocks Russian Sputnik Site As Kremlin 'Propaganda Tool' March 30, 2016 by RFE/RL Latvian authorities shut down Russia's pro-Kremlin news site Sputnik on March 29, calling it a "propaganda tool" and drawing an immediate rebuke from Moscow. Latvia's local domain registry suspended Sputnik's right to hold the news site "Sputniknews.lv," which was established only a few weeks ago on February 12 to reach out to Latvia's large Russian-speaking minority with articles in Russian and Latvian. "We don't regard Sputnik as a credible media source but as something else: a propaganda tool," Latvian foreign ministry spokesman Raimonds Jansons told AFP. Russia's foreign ministry called the decision "blatant censorship" and insisted "the Russian mass media adheres to the highest standards of professionalism and ethics." Riga "once again, with the tacit inaction of leading human rights organizations, is ignoring its Convention obligations to ensure media pluralism and freedom of speech as it continues to target Russian mass media in Latvia," the ministry said. Latvia has banned Russian media before, having shut down Russian state television broadcasts for several months in 2014. The Russian embassy in Latvia called the move against Sputnik "groundless" and said that Latvia had started "an information war." Latvia's domain registry decided to shut the site after receiving a letter of concern from the Latvian foreign ministry, which drew attention to Sputnik's coverage of Ukraine and routine denial of the embattled nation's territorial integrity. The ministry questioned whether the coverage might constitute a breach of European Union sanctions on Russia, which were imposed over Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014. "We wrote pointing out our opinion that the fact that the head of Sputnik, Mr [Dmitry] Kiselyov, is on the sanctions list of the European Union was something that needed to be taken into account" in deciding whether to register the site, Jansons told AFP. With reporting by Reuters and AFP Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/latvia- blocks-russian-news-site-sputnik-calling- kremlin-propaganda-tool/27643252.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Commander: Increased Rotation of U.S. Combat Units To Europe Beginning Next Year March 30, 2016 by Mike Eckel WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. military commander has announced more frequent rotations of U.S. combat units to Eastern Europe beginning early next year, citing an "aggressive Russia" as the main reason for the increase. The announcement on March 30 by Air Force General Philip Breedlove, commander of U.S. military forces in Europe, was the latest in a series of moves by the Pentagon to bolster units and equipment on the continent, in an effort to reassure nervous NATO allies. In a statement, Breedlove said an additional armored brigade would be begin rotating into Eastern Europe beginning in February 2017, bringing the number of U.S. combat brigades that are constantly in the region to three. A brigade typically has between 4,200 and 4,700 troops. The rotation "continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO Allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere," he said. Earlier this year, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a quadrupling in U.S. spending for next year-- $3.4 billion-- for more operations in Europe, under a plan called the European Reassurance Initiative. Officials have said that this will include stationing some heavy equipment like tanks, combat vehicles, and artillery pieces on a permanent basis in the region. NATO allies in Eastern Europe in particular have pushed hard for a bolstered military presence, in response to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and the on-again, off-again conflict in eastern Ukraine. There are about 62,000 U.S. military troops permanently assigned to Europe. Source: Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Red Alert or False Alarm? Sweden Updates Tanks to Fight Russian Submarines Sputnik News 13:29 30.03.2016(updated 13:30 30.03.2016) No less than 350 Swedish tanks and combat vehicles are slated for renovation and upgrades; the defense administration has tapped the Swedish defense company H-B Utveckling and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann of Germany to replace obsolete components and install new combat systems. Sweden's Defense Equipment Administration, FMV, has decided to sign a contract with the Swedish-based company H-B Utveckling for the renovation and modernization of 262 Stridsfordon-90 combat vehicles. It has also with the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, which will renovate and upgrade 88 Stridsvagn-122 tanks, as well as eight towing tanks. The upgrade process will be carried out over the next eight years. "We will partly replace the components that are at the end of their technical lifespan or have become obsolete, that is, the components that are no longer available on the market. Secondly, we will replace the old command and control system in the tanks," said Peter Elmlund, of FMV's procurement and logistics department in a press release. The old TCCS (Tactical Command and Control System) combat system is slated to be replaced with a so-called BMS (Battlefield Management System), which, among other things, facilitates navigation, allowing the operator(s) to keep track of friendly troops. "The upgrade is about maintaining the tanks in battleworthy condition for many years to come," ensures Peter Elmlund. Sweden's defense outlay has shrunk steadily since the mid-1960s, reaching a record low of 1.2 percent of the country's GDP at the beginning of the 2010s. In 2014, however, Sweden's Ministry of Defense railroaded a significant budget increase on account of Russia's "aggression" in Ukraine, the takeover of the Crimean peninsula, as well as a series of "confirmed" violations of Sweden's territorial waters. Over the next five years, Sweden's defense spending will expand by 11 percent or about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist, who is known for repeatedly re-kindling "the Russian threat," pledged last year. Sweden also plans to purchase fighter jets, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and anti-submarine warfare equipment. According to the Defense Ministry, an additional 100 million euros will be invested in the defense infrastructure of Gotland island. Also in 2014, Swedish authorities were convinced that a Russian submarine was patrolling the waters around the island of Gotland. The ensuing hysteria was largely based on grainy photographs, and the Swedish government finally admitted the panic had been for nothing. Following the embarrassing submarine incident, Sweden has nonetheless strengthened its military cooperation with neighboring Norway, Denmark and Finland. Sweden, which has been neutral since 1814 and consistently shunned all military alliances, has nevertheless expressed a pronounced interest in joining NATO, with public support for the idea still hovering at around 40 percent. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Update: air strikes against Daesh 30 March 2016 British forces have continued to conduct air operations in the fight against Daesh Latest update - Tuesday 22 March Tornados struck a terrorist staging area in western Iraq, and frustrated continued attempts by Daesh to repair a vital bridge over the Tigris in the north, while in Syria a Reaper destroyed a terrorist-held building. - Wednesday 23 March Typhoons attacked Daesh positions in northern Iraq, including a tunnel and a mortar team. - Thursday 24 March Tornados destroyed a mortar team that was firing on Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, while a Reaper destroyed a vehicle in eastern Syria. - Friday 25 March Typhoons attacked five terrorist positions near Mosul. - Sunday 27 March Typhoons provided close air support to Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, eliminating sniper and heavy machine-gun teams. - Monday 28 March Typhoons struck three terrorist-held buildings in northern Iraq. - Tuesday 29 March Tornados and Typhoons hit multiple targets in western and northern Iraq, including five truck-bomb facilities and a tunnel complex. Detail Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s conducted strike operations over both western and northern Iraq on Tuesday 22 March. In Anbar province, a Tornado flight was able to destroy with Paveway IV guided bombs a staging post used by Daesh extremists. Further north, near Qayyarah, coalition surveillance aircraft identified renewed attempts by Daesh to build an improvised ramp up to a damaged bridge at a key crossing over the Tigris, just south of Qayyarah; RAF aircraft had destroyed the heavy engineering vehicles and a previous attempt at a ramp on 17 March. Two Tornados therefore returned to the bridge and again destroyed the ramp with Paveways, preventing the terrorists from reopening their supply route across the river. In eastern Syria, a Reaper used a Hellfire missile to demolish a Daesh storage building near Ukayrishah; the attack was very carefully planned in both timing and weapon choice to avoid causing any damage to a nearby school. On Wednesday 23 March, Typhoon FGR4s patrolled over northern Iraq. They used Paveways to destroy a Daesh position south of Sinjar, and a tunnel entrance, two terrorist-held buildings and a mortar team all located near Kisik. The following day, Tornados were again active over Qayyarah; working in close cooperation with a coalition surveillance aircraft, they were able to successfully engage with a Paveway a Daesh mortar team that had opened fire on Kurdish forces. Across the border in eastern Syria, a Reaper used a Hellfire missile in a successful attack on a Daesh vehicle. Typhoons caught extremists mustering near Mosul on Friday 25 March, and struck five positions with Paveway IVs. RAF aircraft continued to provide close air support to the Kurdish forces on Sunday 27 March. Paveways from a Typhoon flight silenced both a sniper and a heavy machine-gun team who were engaged in combat with Kurdish troops near Qayyarah, and a further Paveway accounted for a second heavy machine-gun team that opened fire on the peshmerga south of Sinjar. The Typhoons were again in action south of Sinjar on Monday 28 March, when they bombed two terrorist-held buildings, before flying to the area around Tall Afar where they struck a third Daesh position. Operations over both northern and western Iraq continued on Tuesday 29 March. One Typhoon flight struck a reported Daesh storage building north-east of Mosul, while a second flight assisted Kurdish forces by bombing a mortar position near Quyyarah, then conducted attacks on terrorist installations nearby; one Typhoon was able to strike simultaneously four tunnel entrances, each with a Paveway, the second aircraft striking three truck-bomb facilities, again each with a Paveway. In Anbar province, two further truck-bomb workshops near Hit were successfully attacked by Tornados the same day. Previous air strikes 1 March: Whilst RAF Tornado GR4s conducted extensive reconnaissance missions against suspected terrorist locations, RAF Typhoon FGR4s patrolled over western Iraq to support Iraqi army operations south-east of Haditha. One of the few large artillery pieces operated by Daesh a D-30 122mm howitzer was located close to the Euphrates, and was successfully destroyed by a Paveway IV precision guided bomb. 2 March: Typhoons were active over a wide swathe of northern Iraq, providing close air support to the Kurdish security forces. East of Mosul, Paveways were used to destroy two groups of terrorists with vehicles, the aircraft then flew west to the area north-east of Tall Afar where they conducted a series of four Paveway attacks on a number of rocket-launchers and a stockpile of rockets. A second Typhoon mission bombed a Daesh mortar team south of Sinjar, while a pair of Tornado GR4s used a Paveway to demolish a building north of Mosul where a large group of terrorists had been observed. In eastern Syria, an RAF Reaper worked closely with other coalition aircraft to support Syrian Democratic Forces south-west of As Shadadi, as they followed up on their recent successes against Daesh in the region. A coalition surveillance aircraft identified a terrorist truck, armed with an anti-aircraft gun, concealed in an orchard, and passed the target to the Reaper for prosecution. A Hellfire missile scored a direct hit on the vehicle. 3 March: Typhoons were in action again near Mosul, they used Paveways to destroy two buildings where Daesh terrorists were possibly planning an attack. Later that night, Typhoons also bombed two heavy machine-gun positions south-west of Sinjar. 4 March: Typhoons continued to provide close air support to the Iraqi and Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, delivering three attacks with Paveway IVs against Daesh positions near Tall Afar, Kisik and Sinjar. 5 March: Four Typhoons joined other coalition aircraft in a large coordinated operation against terrorist locations in western Iraq. The RAF aircraft targeted a large Daesh weapons factory in the countryside near Qubaysah, some miles west of Ramadi. The Typhoons released a total of 16 Paveways, which completely demolished workshops and storage sheds. 6 March: A Typhoon mission returned to northern Iraq and assisted Kurdish forces south-west of Sinjar, who had come under fire from a terrorist heavy machine-gun team. A Paveway IV destroyed the target. 7 March: Reaper remotely piloted aircraft have also been extremely active over the period, primarily flying surveillance missions. An attack was conducted by a Reaper in the morning, when a Hellfire missile was used to destroy a Daesh-held building in western Iraq, close to the Syrian border. In the evening a Typhoon patrol assisted Kurdish peshmerga fighting a group of terrorists near Kisik by attacking the Daesh position with a Paveway IV precision guided bomb. 8 March: Patrols over northern Iraq continued, near Kisik, Tornados used a Paveway against a terrorist position, while a Typhoon flight silenced a heavy machine-gun position with a direct hit from a Paveway. The Typhoons were then tasked to use their remaining Paveway bombs to strike seven strongpoints in a village south of Sinjar, where Daesh had driven out the civilian population and were using it as a defensive base against the Kurdish advance. All seven Paveways struck their targets accurately. 9 March: Typhoons patrolled south of Sinjar. A vehicle used by Daesh to construct defensive positions, was destroyed by a Paveway. A second deserted village taken over by the terrorists as a fortified haven, near Ranbusi, was then attacked with six targets successfully struck by Paveways. Further south, Tornado GR4s were providing close air support to Iraqi forces in the Euphrates river valley. A Paveway was used against a group of terrorists in the open, whilst a further pair of Paveways accounted for two heavy machine-gun positions. 10 March: Both Tornados and Typhoons were active over the Euphrates valley, assisting Iraqi forces as they cleared Daesh positions to the west of Ramadi. A Tornado mission targeted a terrorist weapons cache concealed under the ramp of a destroyed bridge over the Euphrates, using two Paveways. At the same time a Typhoon mission conducted successful strikes on a heavy machine-gun team and a group of extremists engaged in close combat with Iraqi troops. In the north of the country, a Typhoon flight attacked a rocket launch point near Tall Afar, then dropped Paveways on six Daesh positions in the Kisik area where Kurdish forces had spotted terrorists preparing for a possible attack. 11 March: A Reaper worked with coalition jets to attack terrorists to the west of Sinjar. The Reaper provided targeting assistance for three successful coalition air attacks on groups of Daesh fighters, it then conducted two attacks of its own using Hellfire missiles. 12 March: Another Reaper was active in the same area and conducted an attack on terrorists who were launching rockets. The terrorists immediately left the area in a truck which the Reaper's crew tracked and successfully attacked with a Hellfire. The Reaper then directed coalition aircraft in an attack on an array of rocket launchers nearby. 13 March: Typhoon FGR4s, based at RAF Akrotiri and supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker, provided support to Iraqi troops operating to the west of Ramadi. The Typhoons used a pair of Paveway IV guided bombs to demolish the entrance to a tunnel system which was reported to be surrounded by IEDs. 14 March: Typhoons and Tornado GR4s also provided support to ground forces in northern Iraq. Near Qayyarah, Typhoons used Paveways against two Daesh mortars and a group of terrorists engaged in a firefight with the security forces, whilst near Kisik, Tornados destroyed two Daesh positions, again with Paveway IVs. 15 March: Typhoon FGR4s provided close air support to Kurdish peshmerga pushing south from Sinjar and eliminated a heavy machine-gun position firing on Kurdish troops, scoring a direct hit on the terrorists with a Paveway IV precision guided bomb. 16 March: The Kurdish forces received further air support from the RAF the following day, when Tornado GR4s, destroyed another heavy machine-gun which had opened fire on the peshmerga some miles to the west of Kirkuk. Further south, in Anbar province, a Reaper remotely piloted aircraft patrolled over Anbar province and identified and attacked a terrorist check-point near Ar Rutbah being used to intimidate and control the local population using a Hellfire missile. 17 March: Tornados and Typhoons operated over both northern and western Iraq. Typhoons used a Paveway bomb to demolish a building from which a terrorist sniper had opened fire on Iraqi forces near Tall Afar, while a Tornado mission over Anbar worked in cooperation with a coalition remotely piloted aircraft to assist Iraqi troops engaged in combat with Daesh extremists to the north-west of Ramadi. Despite heavy cloud obscuring the target, the RAF and coalition aircraft used their highly sophisticated surveillance and targeting equipment to allow the Tornados to deliver two precision attacks with Brimstone missiles on the terrorists, then, once they attempted to retreat, to strike the remainder of the Daesh group with a Paveway. Meanwhile, another Tornado flight Near Kisik used a Paveway to destroy a Daesh command and control position, where a number of terrorists had gathered. The Tornados then interrupted Daesh's efforts to reopen supply routes near Qayyarah, destroying targets with two direct hits from Paveways and then another Paveway and Brimstone missiles were used to destroy three engineering vehicles. 18 March: Paveway-armed Typhoons struck a group of extremists mustering east of Mosul, while Tornados similarly hit two Daesh groups gathered for possible attacks near Kisik. 20 March: Tornado GR4s were in action again over northern Iraq, when they used Paveways to destroy three weapons caches and supply points several miles south-west of Sinjar. 21 March: Two flights of Typhoons provided close air support to the Kurdish forces; one flight destroyed a Daesh group that was firing rockets at the Kurds, whilst the other flight successfully attacked three terrorist teams which were planting improvised explosive devices in the Kisik area. Across the border in Syria, careful reconnaissance work had identified a major Daesh weapons storage facility at a site near Ukayrishah, south-east of Raqqa. This intelligence success allowed Tornado GR4s to conduct a very successful strike on Monday night, delivering eight Paveway IVs which destroyed the main warehouse and three support buildings. On the ground, British training teams continue to play an important role in the large coalition programme to help the Iraqi security forces become ever more effective in their successful efforts to drive the terrorists from their country. The British instructors have focused on training infantry and combat medical skills, as well as leading the coalition's assistance in how to deal safely with the thousands of improvised explosive devices and booby-traps left behind by Daesh in an attempt to prevent the civilian population from resuming their lives in liberated territory. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Security Council extends mandate of UN mission in DR Congo through March 2017 30 March 2016 The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for another year, warning that the humanitarian situation remains of great concern, as well as the delays in preparing for the November presidential elections. In a newly adopted resolution, the 15-member body urged the Government of the DRC to hold accountable those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law or violations and abuses of human rights, in particular those that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including those committed in the context of the electoral process. One week ago, presenting his latest report to the Council, the Head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), Maman Sidikou, said the country is at a "critical juncture" with rising political tensions ahead of the elections, which could lead to violence. Addressing the political situation, the Security Council today called on the Government and its national partners, including the national independent electoral commission (CENI), to ensure a transparent and credible electoral process. Further, the text calls on for a comprehensive electoral calendar for the full electoral cycle by the CENI. It calls on the Government to put in place an adequate electoral budget and an electoral code of conduct, and to carry out "without delay" a credible update of the electoral register. On the issue of armed groups, the members called for the urgent resumption of joint operations by the FARDC [the Armed Forces of the DRC] and MONUSCO to ensure all efforts possible are being made to neutralize the FDLR [Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda] and other armed groups. The Council also condemned the "brutal" killings of more than 500 civilians in the Beni area since October 2014, calling for a "thorough and prompt" investigation into these attacks. Regarding the protection of civilians, the resolution calls on MONUSCO to enhance its interaction with civilians to raise awareness about its mandate and activities through outreach programmes, to strength its early warning mechanism and to increase its efforts to monitor and document violations of international humanitarian law, including in the context of elections. The 15-page document also focuses on child protection, sexual violence and abuse, requesting that MONUSCO take fully into account child protection and gender considerations as "cross-cutting" issues throughout its mandate, recalling the UN's zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. Turning to humanitarian access, the Council demanded that all parties allow and facilitate the "full, safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel, equipment and supplies" and the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to populations in need, in particular to internally displaced persons. The resolution further decided that MONUSCO should maintain an authorized troop ceiling of 19,815 military personnel, 760 military observers and staff officers, 391 police personnel and 1,050 personnel of formed police units, while taking note of recommendations from the Secretary-General to reduce the Force by 1,700 troops. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bangladesh Court Orders Arrest of Opposition Leader by VOA News March 30, 2016 A court in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Khaleda Zia Wednesday over the 2015 fire-bombing of a bus that killed two people and injured many others. Zia and 27 other leaders from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party are accused of instigating the bombing during an event last year that saw protesters across the country blockade roads and strike in an effort to topple the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. "The court passed the order after accepting the charges against them," said public prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar. Talukdar also said Zia is the main suspect accused in the case. Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a spokesperson for the opposition party, though, called the charges "laughable." He said the charges were completely politically motivated and "part of a deep conspiracy against [Zia]." Zia and Hasina are long-time political rivals, and have alternated as the country's prime minister for the past 20 years. Both are also related to former national leaders. The protests last year led to a wave of violence that left more than 120 people dead and another 15,000 opposition supporters were arrested. Protesters launched firebomb attacks on buses and trucks and police responded in turn by shooting at them with live ammunition. This isn't the first time Hasina's government has issued an arrest warrant for Zia. Another was issued last year, but police never acted to execute the warrant. It is unclear at this point whether police will execute the new warrant either. After hearing the news of the newest arrest warrant, opposition party supporters numbering nearly 200 poured into the streets in front of their party headquarters to protest the decision. Police responded to the outburst, but "they moved back to the party office before police reached the spot, assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Saifur Rahman told AFP. Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, another opposition party official, was arrested Wednesday on separate charges related to the 2015 firebombing incidents. He was quickly granted bail due to health concerns. Some material for this report came from AFP and Reuters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Volodymyr Groysman On 14 April 2016 the Ukrainian parliament elected a new prime minister Thursday, after accepting Arseniy Yatsenyuk's resignation. Lawmakers voted 250-57 in favor of President Petro Poroshenkos nominee, Volodymyr Groysman, who had been the speaker of parliament. Andriy Parubiy replaced Groysman as speaker. Ukraine's three major parliamentary parties agreed to form a new coalition on March 29 and nominate parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Hroysman to be Ukraine's new prime minister. Groysman said as prime minister he would want Ukraine to stick to its reform promises under a $40 billion bailout program backed by the International Monetary Fund, but his government would need the support of parliament to pass laws. Ukraine's parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Groysman [Volodymyr Hroysman] emerged as the frontrunner to replace unpopular Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk. Members of the ruling coalition on 24 March 2016 discussed nominating 38-year-old Volodymyr Groysman, but stressed the appointment could only work if parties can agree on a new coalition deal. Support for Yatsenyuk's government had plunged since he took power after the 2013/2014 Maidan protests with coalition infighting and corruption scandals hindering reforms demanded by Kyiv's Western backers. Deputy head of the parliamentary faction of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc Oleksiy Honcharenko said 28 March 2016 that the faction has nominated Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Groysman as its candidate for prime minister. Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner wrote :"Groysman, as the president's man, would do little to advance the cause of structural reforms -- or give Ukraine what it needs most: a professional and technocratic government that roots out corruption, installs rule of law, privatizes, deregulates, de-oligarchizes and, in general, puts the public interest above the corrupted vested interests.... Any government that Groysman leads would likely perpetuate the corrupt business-as-usual status quo of horse-trading for positions, favor and subsidies. It would also mean a resurgence of vested and often oligarch interests fiercely sabotaging reform." Political forces currently forming the Ukrainian Parliament must take political responsibility and establish effective Parliamentary Coalition and Government. Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this opening the Conciliatory Council of the heads of the parliamentary factions and chairpersons of the parliamentary committees on Monday, March 28, 2016. "Political responsibility of all heads of the parliaments factions and groups envisions the establishment of new effective Coalition. Secondly, it envisions the establishment of the new effective Government. They must take responsibility to name the problems and then, eventually, to start their solving," he said. "Our parliament should become a leading democratic, legislative and European institution in Ukraine," said Volodymyr Groysman, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, at the Ukraine Week conference at the European Parliament in Brussels on 29 February-2 March 2016. The large delegation of Ukrainian parliamentarians included their Chairman, Volodymyr Groysman. "I wouldn't say we're asking for anything. We are developing a dialogue of equals and outlining a joint action plan. And now, during the Ukraine week, we have outlined a joint action plan for using the experience of our European partners and their support. As for the reform of the Ukrainian parliament, it should become a leading democratic, legislative, European institution in Ukraine." For Groysman, the ball lies in Russia's court to bring stability to the region. Volodymyr Groysman, a deputy prime minister who is Jewish, was appointed acting prime minister of Ukraine 24 Juy 2014 following the resignation of Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Yatsenyuk resigned after two coalition partners pulled out to launch the process for new parliamentary elections the first since the ouster in February 2014 of Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian-backed president. Volodymyr Groysman, a Jewish MP from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc was the only candidate nominated for the position of speaker of the parliament. He had previously served as Mayor of Vinnytsia, Regional Development, Construction and Communal Living Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. The vote by Ukraines parliament to confirm a Jew as speaker will not have a large direct impact on Ukrainian Jewry, sources told The Jerusalem Post on 30 November 2014. Groysman doesn't any connection to the Jewish community and may be half-Jewish through his fathers side, though he thought that the matter was unclear. Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, however, declared him a Jew according to Orthodox law. After the announcement of the Prime Minister's Arseniy Yatsenyuk resignation on July 24, 2014 Groysman at a government meeting was appointed acting head of government. But on July 31 the Verkhovna Rada refused to accept the resignation of Yatseniuk and on August 01 the Cabinet canceled the appointment of Groysman. Volodymyr Groysman, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine in the government of Yatsenyuk, a member of the faction Poroshenko Bloc was elected Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 27 Novemver 2014. This decision was made at the first session of the Verkhovna Rada of the 8th convocation voted by 359 deputies. Candidacy of Groyman was put by Poroshenko Bloc. Volodymyr Groysman was born on Jan. 20, 1978 in Vinnytsya. In Aug. 1994, at the age of 16 years he became a commercial director of private small enterprise "OKO" and since Nov. 1994 held the position of Commercial Director of PE "Youth" - the company of his father, Borys Groysman, a member of the City Council of Vinnytsya of 24th convocation (2002-2006). In 1994 - 2005 Groysman continued to work in senior positions in commercial structures. In 2002, aged 24 years, Vladimir Groysman won the election in the majority districts number 29 and became the youngest deputy of the Vinnytsia city council. In March 2006, members of the City Council of Vinnytsya supported Groysman at the election of the mayor. Groysman won the next election in October of 2010, gaining more than 70% of the vote. On February 27, 2014, Volodymyr Groysman on the invitation of Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk took the post of Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hollande Drops Plan to Revoke Citizenship of Terrorists by Lisa Bryant March 30, 2016 Blaming his political opponents, French President Francois Hollande abandoned plans Wednesday to push through deeply controversial constitutional changes that included stripping French citizenship from convicted terrorists and enshrining the state of emergency into the nation's charter. "Part of the opposition has been hostile to all constitutional revisions," Hollande said as he made his announcement, adding, "I deplore this attitude." The move underscores the deep rifts over how to deal with terrorism four months after the attacks in Paris, and just a week after the Brussels bombings. The two appear to be closely linked. Both France and Belgium are grappling with how to respond to the terrorist threat, but Hollande's push for constitutional changes and France's current state of emergency now in its fifth month have been particularly divisive. While the constitutional amendments passed the socialist-controlled National Assembly, or lower house, earlier this year, the conservative-controlled Senate offered up a different version of the legislation, making its passage difficult, if not impossible. Casting blame A year before general elections, politicians on both sides of the aisle lost no time pointing fingers. "We are at the heart of Mr. Hollande's system," said former president Nicolas Sarkozy who heads the center-right Republicans party. "While promising everything and its contrary, piling lies upon lies, the reality is he is condemning the country to blockage and immobility." But Socialist Party head Jean-Christophe Combadelis laid the blame squarely on the conservatives for failing to put aside partisan differences and "enter into a national union" to fight terrorism. Either way, analysts assess the fallout as a fresh setback for deeply unpopular Hollande, who is struggling to revive the economy and grow jobs before he faces reelection. "For Francois Hollande, this renouncement is a heavy political defeat, especially since he did everything to try to reunite Congress," wrote the French newspaper La Croix. Hollande is additionally weakened within his own leftist ranks, where the legislation has likewise been divisive. His justice minister, Christiane Taubira, resigned in January over the nationality-stripping clause. Unfair to Muslims Rights groups also sounded the alarm over the measures. "We are relieved the government finally realized the need for political and citizen debate over these fundamental rights such as stripping citizenship and the state of emergency," said free speech advocacy officer Dominique Curis of Amnesty International France, reacting to the repeal of the measures. "Stripping citizenship is probably not the answer to terrorism," she added. "There are more risks than benefits." Even without being enshrined in the constitution, France's current state of emergency announced following November's attacks that killed 130 people is still extremely controversial. Thousands of soldiers have been deployed across the country to guard sensitive sites, and police have been granted sweeping powers to search premises and place suspects under house arrest without court warrants. While many ordinary French supported the extrajudicial measures after November's attacks, rights groups and activists denounce them as unfair and biased against France's five-million strong Muslim community. "It's arbitrarily targeted a whole population, who have been prevented to work, whose apartments and lives have been overturned because of suspicions based on almost nothing," said Alexandre Piettre, a sociologist at the Societies, Religions and Secularity Group, a Paris-based think-tank. Strikingly, the Belgian government has not instituted a state of emergency following last week's terror attacks, even though the attacks were eerily similar to those in Paris, with shared suspects. Former French anti-terrorist judge Marc Trevidic strongly urged Belgium not to follow France's example, saying the emergency measures had led to mistakes and were only marginally effective. "It makes no sense," he told Belgium's Le Soir newspaper. "It's stupid. But nobody wants to say so." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Poland's Duda Pushes Idea of NATO Missiles to Defend Against Russia Sputnik News 18:57 30.03.2016(updated 19:12 30.03.2016) Polish President stated that NATO needs a defensive missile shield to protect troops from Russian rockets when the alliance responding to crises on its eastern border. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) NATO needs a defensive missile shield to protect troops from Russian rockets when the alliance responding to crises on its eastern border, Polish President Andrzej Duda told guests at the National Press Club on Wednesday. When asked about his goals for a NATO summit in Poland's capital of Warsaw later this month, Duda replied the alliance needs "a missile defense to make sure NATO troops can safely move to the area of the threat." "The missile potential of the Russian Federation is so big that such effective deployment of troops will not be possible," Duda told the event, which was sponsored by the Atlantic Council and the Center for European Policy Analysis. Duda cited tensions in Europe stemming from Crimea's decision to rejoin Russia, as well as ongoing fighting between Ukrainian troops and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly warned that NATO amassing troops and equipment on Russia's borders constitute provocative acts that can destabilize the region. Duda is visiting the United States to attend the Nuclear Security Summit hosted by US President Barack Obama in Washington, DC. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's Roscosmos to Hand Over Glonass Infrastructure to MoD in 2016 Sputnik News 16:19 30.03.2016(updated 16:26 30.03.2016) According to Roscosmos head, Russian space agency will transfer control over the ground infrastructure of the Glonass global positioning system to the country's defense ministry later this year. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Russian space agency Roscosmos will transfer control over the ground infrastructure of the Glonass global positioning system to the country's defense ministry later this year, Roscosmos head Igor Komarov, said Wednesday. "Key problems have been solved [The infrastructure will be handed over] this year," Komarov told reporters, answering a question on the subject. Glonass is a satellite navigation system, which offers an alternative to the US Global Positioning System (GPS). The Glonass network provides real-time positioning and speed data for surface, sea and airborne objects around the globe. The system currently consists of 28 satellites, of which 23 are operational, and a number of ground relay stations. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Loyal communists' call on China's Xi to step down Central News Agency 2016/03/30 23:17:13 Taipei, March 30 (CNA) A blog message signed by "loyal communists" on Tuesday urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to resign from all public posts, citing "five grave mistakes" by the leader. The message, which appeared in the blog of a New York-based website www.mingjingnews.com, was endorsed by "171 loyal members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) working in the party, government, military and other organizations." They listed five "grave mistakes" that they said Xi had made, starting with an open violation of the party charter. Xi encouraged and endorsed personality cult by allowing people to call him "Xi the Great" and to worship him with "nauseating eulogies" on the web, the group said. Second, Xi has implemented a dictatorship in violation of the rule of law by appointing himself as convener of various ad hoc groups in the Communist Party's Central Committee, it said. Third, it said, Xi's government has provided huge assistance to foreign countries in spite of serious needs at home, the group said. It said Xi's fourth mistake was his unilateral reform of the military in such a way as to demoralize the People's Liberation Army and to create divisions among the rank and file of the armed forces. Fifth, the group said, Xi has been leading a corrupt and decadent life. The message accused Xi of masterminding the abduction of a Hong Kong publisher who released a book titled "Xi and His Six Women" -- an incident that has sparked international outcry. The message called on the CPC to hold an open election during its next party congress, when Xi is due to begin his second five-year term as party general secretary, to allow all 80 million members to vote for party delegates, Central Committee members, and a general secretary. The message, which first appeared in the mingjingnews blog, was later picked up on Twitter, Facebook and other social media. Radio Free Asia quoted the website's manager He Pin as saying that he had no right to remove the story unless it was deemed unethical. However, the website's news editors have decided not to print the story because its content cannot be confirmed, He said. During an annual meeting of China's political elite in Beijing earlier this month, Watching News Group, an official media of Xinjiang Province, published an open letter demanding that Xi step down. The story led to the detention or investigation of 20 people, including journalist Jia Jia, who was picked up in Hong Kong on March 15 but was released 10 days later. (By Chou Hui-ying and S.C. Chang) Enditem/pc NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Preemptive Nuclear Strike Is Not Monopoly of U.S.: Rodong Sinmun Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS) Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- AP reported that north Korea's declaration that a nuclear warhead explosion test and a test-fire of several types of ballistic rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads will be conducted in a short time sounds plausible and Washington should cautiously approach the former's nuclear development capability. A newspaper of Japan said that the U.S. should not interpret as a simple threat a successful simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic rocket opened to the public by north Korea on March 15. Foreign media including UK and Canada reported that north Korea's declaration on the miniaturized nuclear warheads and the access to atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic rocket was by no means hypocrisy but truth. Therefore, it goes to clearly prove that Washington's estimation was wrong as it ignored the nuclear development capability of north Korea. Rodong Sinmun Tuesday says in a commentary in this regard: Western media's assertion is little short of a slap in the face of the U.S. intelligence institutions which have underestimated the DPRK's military capability. The U.S. escalating nuclear threat and blackmail, sanctions and pressure only redouble the DPRK's muscle. The DPRK had access to the world's greatest nuclear deterrent not to ignite a nuclear war. It is aimed to prevent the constant danger of a nuclear war prevailing on the Korean peninsula. The army and people of the DPRK remain unchanged in their iron will to decisively retaliate against the U.S. imperialists and other hostile forces as long as they are making desperate efforts to plunge the space of existence of the DPRK into a nuclear disaster by igniting hysteric war. Preemptive nuclear strike is by no means a monopoly of the U.S. The Obama administration would be well advised to come to its senses, though belatedly. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Korea says North test-fired short-range projectile Iran Press TV Tue Mar 29, 2016 12:43PM North Korea has test-fired a short-range missile on its eastern coast, the South says amid heightened tension between the two neighbors. According to a statement released by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the projectile was fired from an area near the North Korean port city of Wonsan at 5.40 p.m. local time (0840 GMT) on Tuesday and flew northeastward for some 200 kilometers (124 miles). "We are closely monitoring the situation and standing ready for any situations," the statement read. Meanwhile, Seoul's Defense Ministry spokesman said the missile appears to have fallen on land unlike previous tests when projectiles were fired into the sea. Another unnamed official from the ministry also noted that it was too early to tell whether Pyongyang used a land target to test the accuracy and range of its weapons. Tuesday's test-firing was the third such launch by the North in two weeks in response to joint Seoul-Washington military maneuvers. Pyongyang views the drills as preparations for war and a direct threat against its security. The Korean Peninsula has been locked in a cycle of military rhetoric since the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in an armistice. No peace deal has been signed since then, meaning that Pyongyang and Seoul remain technically at war. On Thursday, US President Barack Obama will meet his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of a nuclear security forum in Washington to discuss North Korea's nuclear program. Tensions between the two Koreas escalated since the start of 2015 after the North's nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February. Pyongyang said the rocket launch was aimed at placing an earth observation satellite into orbit. However, Washington and Seoul denounced the move as a cover for an intercontinental ballistic missile test. North Korea has pledged to develop a nuclear arsenal in an effort to protect itself from the US military, which occasionally deploys nuclear-powered warships and aircraft capable of carrying atomic weapons in the region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fired Up: N Korea Launches Latest Short-Range Missile Over Sea of Japan Sputnik News 14:18 29.03.2016(updated 15:53 29.03.2016) North Korea fired a short-range missile from a city on its eastern coast, which flew over 120 miles (193 km) before hitting a land target at about 5:40 p.m. local time (9:10 GMT). TOKYO (Sputnik) North Korea fired on Tuesday another short-range missile from the Sea of Japan coastal city of Wonsan, media reported The missile was fired at about 5:40 p.m. local time (9:10 GMT) and flew over 120 miles before hitting a land target in the country's northeastern Ryanggang province bordering China, the South Korean Yonhap agency reported, citing a South Korean military official. The official stressed that Seoul was maintaining a high level of readiness while monitoring the situation. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated after North Korea successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test in early January and put a satellite into orbit a month later, violating UN Security Council resolutions and triggering condemnation from the international community. The missile tests follow the North Korean launch of five short-range missiles that landed in the Sea of Japan on March 21. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pyongyang's Combativeness a Focal Point for US, Asia Leaders by Pamela Dockins March 29, 2016 North Korea's ongoing nuclear and missile tests are a "profound threat" to regional stability, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. He said China, Pyongyang's economic lifeline, is among the U.S. regional allies that share an interest in seeing North Korea get on a path to denuclearization. "Unfortunately, the most effective way to achieve that," said Blinken, "is to exert real pressure on North Korea and force it to make a choice." He said the choice is between continuing its actions and choosing a path that would allow it to "provide for its own people and develop economically." Blinken commented at a Washington forum ahead of President Barack Obama's talks on the issue this week with his counterparts from Asia. Obama will hold three-way talks Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of a global nuclear security summit in Washington. He will meet separately with Chinese President Xi Jinping. North Korea stepped up its provocative actions and rhetoric following this month's start of an annual U.S.-South Korea military drill, which Pyongyang considers a threat. It has launched a series of short- and medium-range projectiles since the drill got underway. On Tuesday, South Korea said the North had fired a short-range projectile from its east coast. It has also threatened retaliatory nuclear action against Seoul and Washington. North Korea also appears to be reacting to new, tougher U.N. sanctions imposed this month, following a January nuclear test and a February rocket launch. "This round of sanctions is the first real serious set of sanctions" against Pyongyang, said Richard Bush, director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington research and policy group. "We need time for them to play out and to really exert pressure on the leaders of North Korea to deprive the leaders of North Korea of things that they hold dear." Anti-missile system Separately the U.S. and South Korea have begun consultations on the possible deployment of THAAD, a U.S-made anti-missile system. China opposes deployment of the system, saying it could undermine its security interests. The system "does not affect China strategically, but we know that China does not like it," Blinken said. Blinken added that current and former U.S. administrations had made repeated efforts to engage North Korea about denuclearization and had made it clear that the U.S. was not seeking regime change. "The agreement with Iran on its nuclear program should be powerful evidence to North Korea that we are prepared to engage with countries with whom we have the most profound differences," he said. The United States, China, South Korea, Russia, Japan and North Korea were participants in six-party talks aimed at curbing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The talks broke down in 2008. Richard Green contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address National Reunification Institute Issues Detailed Report Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS) Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- The service personnel and people of the DPRK are significantly observing the third anniversary of the DPRK's line of simultaneously building up the economy and nuclear force. The National Reunification Institute Wednesday made public a detailed report telling about the justice and invincibility of the line through voices of international community and south Korean people startling the world through the declaration of the above-said line. The report said: Marshal Kim Jong Un wisely led the drive for bolstering up the nuclear force, boldly foiling the moves of the U.S. and its followers to stifle the DPRK. He set forth the line of simultaneously pushing forward economic construction and the building of nuclear force at the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in March of 2013. Then, he indicated the orientation of strengthening the nuclear force and provided a legal foundation for doing so by legitimizing the bolstering of the nuclear force for self-defence and discussing and settling the practical matters of developing more Korean-style cutting-edge weapons and equipment and consolidating the defence capability of the country in every way at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK and an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the WPK. Under his wise leadership the DPRK has achieved miraculous successes startling the world one after another in the building of Juche-oriented nuclear force. The DPRK succeeded in the H-bomb test in January this year, in particular, fully demonstrating its might as a nuclear power in the world. Some days ago, the actual miniaturized nuclear warheads manufactured by scientists and technicians in the field of research into nuclear weapons were opened to public, startling the world people again. The report referred to the fact that the international community and people of different social standings in south Korea recognized the DPRK's nuclear capability and expressed admiration at this. It went on: Kim Jong Un at the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the WPK held in March, 2013 indicated tasks and ways to channel great efforts into stepping up the economic construction and improving the standard of people's living while further bolstering up the country's defense capability with less expense without increasing the defense expenditure, and wisely led the drive for carrying out them. Under his energetic leadership, the people's dreams and ideals have come true on this land and miracles and events heralding the omen of prosperity have taken place one after another in the DPRK over the past three years. The world public is lavishing praises with keen interest in the reality of the DPRK where a year is enough to change mountains and rivers and remarkable changes are taking place every day. Screams and shrill cries are being made by the hostile forces without let-up at a time when the world is becoming vocal admiring and praising the validity and vitality of the above-said line of the DPRK. The detailed report said that the DPRK's above-said line is not a temporary countermeasure for coping with the grave situation but serves as an immortal banner meeting the supreme interests of the revolution and providing a firm guarantee for the eternal future of the nation. It continued: It is a revolutionary strategy and landmark of the WPK to achieve a final victory in the decisive battle with the U.S. imperialists, a sacred war for national reunification and the building of a thriving socialist nation without fail through the simultaneous development of the two fronts. Rosy is the future of the DPRK which gets stronger with nukes and achieves great happiness through economic development. The servicepersons and people of the DPRK will as ever consolidate the treasured sword of nuclear deterrent for self-defence which constitutes the life of the nation and a national treasure of reunified Korea that can never be bartered for anything, holding higher the banner of the line under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Un, and dynamically advance towards the high eminence of a thriving nation by the efforts of the Koreans, in the spirit of Korea and at its speed. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address KPA Will Shower Baptism of Fire upon Citadel of Enemy: Rodong Sinmun Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS) Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- The U.S. and south Korean warmongers obsessed with a foolish ambition staged such ridiculous drill under the simulated conditions of "precision strike at the office of the headquarters of the DPRK". This is the last-ditch effort of those at death beds. Rodong Sinmun Wednesday says this in an article. Noting that the victory of the great Paektusan nation has been pointed to the Chongwadae and the White House, the article goes on: The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK are the matchless strong army which has glorified the history of sure victory by the war methods of Paektu under the outstanding and brilliant commanders. The Japanese imperialists armed to the teeth were defeated by the mysterious and preeminent guerrilla war methods of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army (KPRA) led by President Kim Il Sung, legendary hero of the anti-Japanese struggle. The Japanese imperialists' daydream of establishing the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" ended in the shameful defeat of the one-million strong Kwantung Army which described the KPRA as no more than "a drop in the ocean". Its war criminals are now entombed in Yaskuni Shrine. World people commented that the Korean War was a war between rifle and A-bomb. The Korean People's Army, however, put an end to the "doctrine of weapon almighty" of the U.S. imperialists and attained the great victory in the war by the war method of Paektu, true to the outstanding military idea and strategy of the President. The U.S. imperialists have desperately persisted in unprecedented political and economic blockade and pressure and military threats to the DPRK to isolate and stifle it for the past several decades. But they could not escape a disgraceful defeat before the mysterious strategy and tactics of Juche Korea under the distinguished leadership of the great Songun brilliant commanders. If the U.S. imperialists and the Park Geun Hye group of traitors make last-ditch provocations, lost to all senses, the powerful revolutionary Paektusan army will shower merciless retaliatory blows on the enemies' strongholds and thus reduce them to ashes and finally liberate the southern half of Korea. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Allies Seek to Manage China on North Korean Sanctions by Brian Padden March 30, 2016 When the leaders from the United States, Japan and South Korea meet in Washington on Thursday to address the growing nuclear threat in North Korea, much of the discussion will be about China. U.S. President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye will hold a trilateral gathering on the sidelines of this week's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. The trilateral will be the first time these leaders have met since the United Nations imposed harsh new sanctions on North Korea for conducting its fourth nuclear test in January. Washington and its Asian allies are strongly committed to taking a tough sanctions-based approach to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, but questions remain about Beijing's level of commitment. "There's a unique relationship between China and North Korea economically. The Security Council resolution really puts that front and center on the table and we hope that that collaboration with China on North Korea will continue," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday. Pressuring China The United States worked closely with China in developing the new U.N. sanctions, which require mandatory inspections of all North Korean cargo and bans the export of most of the country's mineral trade that has been used to fund its nuclear development program. Beijing's enforcement of these international sanctions is considered crucial because 90 percent of North Korean trade flows either to or through China. China's leaders have pledged to support the sanctions but have also worked to limit their impact. Citing concerns that some U.N restrictions could cause undo harm to the general populous and increase instability, Beijing has said it will only enforce sanctions specifically targeting Pyongyang's ability to make weapons. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently said, "Blind faith in sanctions and pressure, actually, are not a responsible approach for the future of the Korean peninsula." Recently Beijing negotiated an exception to the sanctions to reinstate four ships that were blacklisted for past ties to Pyongyang's arms trade. The Philippines, which seized one of these vessels on March 4, the 4,355-ton Jin Teng, subsequently released it. Also while the U.S. and its allies have called on the Kim Jong Un government to halt its nuclear program before any formal talks could proceed, China has proposed a "dual-track" approach where peace treaty talks with the North would proceed simultaneously with denuclearization negotiations. Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have also imposed additional unilateral restrictions on Pyongyang that Beijing does not support. The U.S. sanctions that authorize the seizure of assets from organizations and individuals doing businesses with North Korea in banned industries like mining and banking, could be used to target Chinese entities. However the message likely to come out of the trilateral and the subsequent bilateral between Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping at this early stage in the process is one of unity. "Stay the course on economic sanctions. [It's] too early to deviate from that course of action because of China's proposal of discussing the peace treaty. It's too early. The focus should remain on putting pressure on North Korea," said Bong Young-shik, a national security analyst with the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. THAAD Washington and its allies will also likely address how to manage China's anxiety over North Korea's nuclear program with its concern for the expanding U.S. military presence in Asia. Beijing has protested the possible deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea. Prior to North Korea's February 7 launch of a long-range rocket, Seoul was sensitive to Beijing's concerns and reluctant to deploy THAAD. But Pyongyang's persistent provocations, that include firing repeated short-range missiles and projectiles have motivated Seoul to prioritize national security over diplomatic relations with a key economic trading partner. Park and Xi President Park will also meet with President Xi for the first time since the North Korean nuclear test. Park had developed a close friendship with Xi and visited China numerous times. Last year she was the only U.S. ally to attend celebrations in Beijing for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. In contrast Kim Jong Un was conspicuously absent from the event and has yet to meet with the Chinese President. But Seoul's close military alliance with Washington and support for THAAD has strained the growing ties between South Korea and China. "Although China understands South Korea's position, China thinks that South Korea considers only its own position," said Professor Woo Su-keun, a North Korea analyst at Donghua University in Shanghai. While China has not grown any closer to its defiant ally in Pyongyang, Woo says, Beijing also now views Seoul in a less favorable way and more as a client state of the U.S. Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Gets Raytheon Stinger Missiles as Part of $3.1Bln Deal With US Sputnik News 18:29 30.03.2016(updated 18:35 30.03.2016) US defense contractor Raytheon announced that India will acquire some 245 Stinger air-to-air missiles complete with launchers and requisite support. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) India will acquire some 245 Stinger air-to-air missiles complete with launchers and requisite support, US defense contractor Raytheon announced in a statement on Wednesday. "The Indian Ministry of Defense has signed an agreement with the US Department of Defense to acquire Stinger air-to-air missiles made by Raytheon Company," the statement said. "As part of the deal, India will receive 245 Stinger air-to-air missiles along with launchers and engineering support." India's Stinger acquisition is part of a $3.1 billion deal with the United States that includes combat helicopters, weapons, radars and electronic warfare suites. The Stinger is high-powered and high speed surface-to-air missile that can be shoulder-fired. The missile gives its operator an "operational edge" against helicopters, drones, cruise missiles and fixed-wing aircraft, according to Raytheon. However, the Stinger also has an air-to-air capability that can be integrated into most fixed- or rotary-wing platforms. "India joins nations around the globe who recognize that air-to-air Stinger can be a key component of attack and light attack helicopter mission configurations," Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president Duane Gooden stated. "Stinger significantly improves the ability of the aircraft to successfully perform today's missions while countering existing threats." Stinger missiles have been "combat-proven" in at least four major conflicts, Raytheon pointed out. Such missiles are deployed in 19 nations in addition to being used by all four US military service branches. In 2015, the United States sold Stinger missiles to South Korea, Latvia and Taiwan. US lawmakers have also called on the Obama administration to arm the allegedly moderate Syrian opposition with portable Stinger missiles. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indian DM Urges to Speed Up Signing of Ka-226T Helicopter Production Deal Sputnik News 15:08 30.03.2016 Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said that it was necessary to put in every effort to expedite the signing of the contract for the production of Russian Ka-226T light utility multirole helicopters for India. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar noted the necessity to speed up the signing of a contract for the joint production with Russia of at least 200 Ka-226T light utility multirole helicopters, the Russian Helicopter's deputy CEO said Wednesday. "The minister visited the stand of the company and, in particular, got acquainted with the Ka-226T. He said it was necessary to put in every effort to expedite the signing of the contract for the production of these helicopters for India," Igor Chechikov told RIA Novosti. The deal to produce the helicopters for India's Air Force was signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's December 2015 visit to Moscow. The contract also entails servicing, repair and technical assistance. Russian Helicopters, which is part of the state-owned Rostec corporation, is currently evaluating the capacity of Indian facilities where production is set to take place, according to the company. Introduced in 2002, the Ka-226 series of helicopters are designed by the Kamov Design Bureau, part of the Russian Helicopters company. The Ka-226T model is fitted with updated navigation and automatic control equipment, as well as an interchangeable mission pod, which allows for flexible equipment configurations. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran missile tests did not breach UN resolution: Russia Iran Press TV Wed Mar 30, 2016 10:24AM Russia has once again affirmed that Iran's recent ballistic missile tests were not in breach of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution adopted last July. Mikhail Ulyanov, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department for non-proliferation and arms control, said on Wednesday that UNSC Resolution 2231 "does not ban (the tests)." The Russian official said that Moscow sees no point in putting the issue of Iran's ballistic missiles on UNSC agenda as the move would have no basis. Ulyanov remarks come as the United States and some of its European allies are seeking a meeting at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iran's recent missile tests, which they claim were carried out "in defiance of" the UNSC resolution. In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Spain's UN Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi, the US, Britain, France, and Germany reportedly called for discussions on an "appropriate response" by the UNSC to Iran's missile tests. In their joint letter, the four countries claimed that the missiles used in Iran's recent tests were "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons" and were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" UNSC Resolution 2231 adopted last July to endorse a nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries. In his Wednesday remarks, Ulyanov said, "Any country, especially when it comes to a Security Council member, can raise these issues, any country can write to the Security Council. But in this case, we do not quite understand the reasons. Whether someone likes it or not, the fact that Iran is launching ballistic missiles is a separate case. The truth is that there are no constraints on such launches in [UN] Resolution 2231." Resolution 2231, which endorses the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) the Iran-P5+1 agreement provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions over the Iranian nuclear program. On March 9, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired two ballistic missiles as part of measures to assess IRGC capabilities. The missiles, dubbed Qadr-H and Qadr-F, were fired during large-scale drills code-named Eqtedar-e-Velayat. Iran fired another ballistic missile dubbed Qiam from silo-based launchers in different locations across the country on March 8. Iran argues its missiles are defensive and designed to carry conventional explosives only. The US, Britain, France, and Germany were, along with China and Russia, members of the P5+1, which reached the nuclear deal with Iran after some 22 months of negotiations. Iran and the six other countries started implementing the deal on January 16. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran must boost defense capabilities: Ayatollah Khamenei Iran Press TV Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:6AM Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has stressed the strengthening of Iran's defense capabilities in the face of enemy threats. Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with eulogists on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's daughter Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra (PBUH) on Wednesday. Ayatollah Khamenei noted that Iran needs to have boosted its defensive military capabilities in order to strengthen its position in potential negotiations. "If the Islamic establishment seeks technology and negotiations but does not have defensive power, it will have to back down in the face of any petty country that threatens [it]," the Leader said. "That they say the future of the world is one of negotiation and not one of missiles... if that is said out of ignorance, well it is ignorance, but if it's said knowingly, it is treason," Ayatollah Khamenei said. "The Islamic Republic must use all tools," the Leader said, adding, "I am not opposed to political dialog, not with everyone of course. I am fine with political dialog on the level of global issues. These are times of both missiles and negotiations." Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized, however, that negotiations must also be conducted with strength and Iran's negotiating skills must also be boosted. "Negotiations should be carried out in such a way that we do not get cheated," the Leader said, adding, "That we negotiate, put things on paper, but sanctions don't get removed, and trade doesn't get going is a sign that something is wrong." Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks come as the United States and some of their European allies are seeking a meeting at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iran's recent missile tests, which they claim were carried out in defiance of a UNSC resolution. In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Spain's UN Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi, the US, Britain, France, and Germany have reportedly called for discussions on an "appropriate response" by the UNSC to Iran's missile tests. In their joint letter, the four countries claimed that the missiles used in Iran's recent tests were "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons" and were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" UNSC Resolution 2231 adopted last July to endorse a nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries. Resolution 2231, which endorses the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) the Iran-P5+1 agreement provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions over the Iranian nuclear program. On March 9, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired two ballistic missiles as part of measures to assess IRGC capabilities. The missiles, dubbed Qadr-H and Qadr-F, were fired during large-scale drills code-named Eqtedar-e-Velayat. Iran fired another ballistic missile dubbed Qiam from silo-based launchers in different locations across the country on March 8. Iran argues its missiles are defensive and designed to carry conventional explosives only. The US, Britain, France, and Germany were, along with China and Russia, members of the P5+1, which reached the nuclear deal with Iran after some 22 months of negotiations. Iran and the six other countries started implementing the deal on January 16. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, three allies urge UN meeting on Iran missile tests Iran Press TV Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:57AM The United States and some of its European allies have reportedly called for a meeting at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iran's recent missile tests, which they claim were carried out in defiance of a UN resolution. According to a letter reportedly obtained by Western news outlets on Tuesday, the US, Britain, France, and Germany have asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Spain's UN Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi for discussions on an "appropriate response" by the UNSC to Iran's missile tests. The four countries claimed that the missiles used in Iran's recent tests were "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons" and were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" UNSC Resolution 2231 (2015), adopted last July to endorse a nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries. Spain has been assigned the task of coordinating UNSC discussions on Resolution 2231. The claim comes even as Resolution 2231 does not prohibit Iran from testing missiles, and only "calls upon" the Islamic Republic to refrain from testing missiles "designed to be capable of" carrying nuclear warheads. Iran has made clear that it does not seek to build nuclear warheads to be carried on missiles and has put its atomic activities under unprecedented, enhanced international supervision under the nuclear deal with the P5+1. On March 9, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired two ballistic missiles as part of measures to assess IRGC capabilities. The missiles, dubbed Qadr-H and Qadr-F, were fired during large-scale drills code-named Eqtedar-e-Velayat. Iran fired another ballistic missile dubbed Qiam from silo-based launchers in different locations across the country on March 8. A similar US-led bid against the Iranian missile tests failed in March, as other diplomats in a closed-door UNSC meeting on Iran back then made it clear that Resolution 2231 did not prohibit Iranian missile tests and thus a response was not warranted to such tests. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin reiterated that, in the view of veto-wielding Russia, Iran's ballistic missile tests did not violate Resolution 2231. In the new letter, the four countries refrained from using the term "violation," saying instead that the Iranian missile tests were "in defiance of" the resolution. However carefully-worded, it is not clear what kind of legal action the four countries would want to be taken against Iran, as the Islamic Republic says it has not violated its commitments. Resolution 2231 (2015), which endorses the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) the Iran-P5+1 agreement provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions over the Iranian nuclear program. Iran argues its missiles are defensive and designed to carry conventional explosives only. Earlier this month, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the missiles are a means of defense. "We spent a fraction of any other country in the region on defense, and missiles are a means of defense that we require," he said. Tehran insists that given the deepening insecurity in the region and the fact that many countries are spending hefty sums on arms purchases, it needs to boost its defensive missile program. The US, Britain, France, and Germany were, along with China and Russia, members of the P5+1. Iran and the six other countries started implementing the deal on January 16. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Khamenei Says Missiles Are Key To Iran's Future, Not Negotiations March 30, 2016 by RFE/RL Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says that missiles, not negotiations, are the key to his country's future. Khamenei's remark, posted on his official website on March 30, came as Western powers called for the UN Security Council to consider possible action in response to Iran's recent ballistic-missile tests. "Those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors," the website quoted him as saying. His comment may have been directed at former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the leader of a relatively moderate Iranian political alliance who tweeted last week that Iran's "future is in dialogue, not missiles." Khamenei also indicated he is ready to support efforts by Iran's hard-line conservative Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to further develop ballistic missiles -- a display of defiance in the face of the Western concerns about missile tests. "If the Islamic republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country," he said. Khamenei approved a landmark July 2015 deal with global powers under which Iran is scaling back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. But he has suggested the deal would not lead to a large-scale rapprochement with the West and been adamant that Tehran must maintain and develop its conventional military potential. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on March 30 that Iran's test missile launches have caused "alarm and concern" and that it is up to the UN Security Council to decide what sanctions or measures should be applied. A UN Security Council resolution adopted after Iran sealed the nuclear deal with six global powers -- veto-wielding permanent council members Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France, plus Germany -- calls for Tehran to refrain from launching any ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. The United States, France, Britain, and Germany complained this week that Iran's tests in early March of its Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile and Qiam-1 short-range ballistic missile violated UN Security Council resolutions. A report sent to the Security Council by those four countries says Iran's ballistic tests are "destabilizing and provocative" because the missiles are "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons." It asked Ban to report "fully and thoroughly" on any Iranian ballistic missile activity that is "inconsistent" with UN resolutions and for the Security Council to discuss "appropriate responses." Iran denies that its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons. The IRGC describes its tests as a demonstration of the country's nonnuclear deterrent power. Russia has dampened expectations of any UN Security Council action. On March 14, when the Iranian test-firings were raised within the Security Council, Russia said the tests did not violate the 2015 resolution because "a call" is not an obligatory demand. Mikhail Ulyanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's nonproliferation and arms control department, defended Iran's position on March 30. Ulyanov said Moscow has not seen any evidence proving that Iran's ballistic missiles can carry nuclear warheads. The Kremlin also has potentially undermined Western attempts to deal with Iran's ballistic tests by refusing to send a delegate to the Nuclear Security Summit that begins in Washington on March 31. Russia is the only country among the so-called P5+1 powers that negotiated the 2015 Iran nuclear deal but is not attending the Washington summit. The deal requires Iran to scale back its nuclear program, which Tehran says is for solely peaceful purposes but Western countries fear has been a front for nuclear weapons development, in exchange for sanctions relief. Iran's compliance with its nuclear obligations is one of the items on the summit agenda. With reporting by Reuters, AP, Interfax, and TASS Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-khamenei- missiles-key-to-future/27644024.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Envoy for Libya Welcomes Arrival of Legitimate Government to Tripoli Sputnik News 19:14 30.03.2016 UN Envoy for Libya Martin Kobler said that he commends the arrival of Libya's Presidency Council in the capital Tripoli. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The arrival of Libya's Presidency Council in the capital Tripoli is a welcome development and should be followed with a peaceful transition of power, UN Envoy for Libya Martin Kobler said in a statement on Wednesday. "I commend the courage, determination and leadelibyarship of the Presidency Council under its President Fayez Serraj in moving forward with the implementation of the Libyan political agreement and the aspiration of the overwhelming majority of the Libyan people," the statement said. The announcement of the Presidency Council's arrival in Tripoli comes after reports that its rival government, the General National Council, forcibly closed airspace to prevent the internationally-recognized government from landing in Tripoli. In December, Libya's rival governments agreed to create a Government of National Accord and end the political struggle that began after the 2011 overthrow of then-president Muammar Gaddafi by western-backed Islamic extremists. Kobler added that the international community stands behind the unity government and called on the Libyan people to support the Government of National Accord. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Libya: UN envoy welcomes arrival of Presidency Council in Tripoli, urges peaceful handover of power 30 March 2016 The United Nations envoy for Libya today welcomed the arrival in Tripoli of the Presidency Council, which marks an important step in Libya's democratic transition and path to peace, security and prosperity. "I commend the courage, determination and leadership of the Presidency Council under its president Fayez Serraj in moving forward with the implementation of the Libyan political agreement and the aspiration of the overwhelming majority of the Libyan people," Martin Kobler, Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said in a statement. "The international community stands firmly behind them and is ready to provide the required support and assistance," he added, calling on the Libyan people to extend to the Presidency Council and the Government of National Accord their full support and cooperation. Echoing the 10 March statement of the Libyan political dialogue, the Special Representative urged all public bodies, including official financial institutions, to facilitate an immediate, orderly and peaceful handover of power. The Special Representative further stressed that all security actors have a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the Presidency Council and of the Government of National Accord, and should refrain from any action that can undermine this crucial phase of Libya's transition. UNSMIL was established in 2011 by the UN Security Council at the request of the Libyan authorities to support the country's new transitional authorities in their post-conflict efforts. Across the country, it is estimated that 2.4 million individuals are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance and more than 40 per cent of the health facilities in Libya are not functioning. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Myanmar Swears In First Civilian Head of State Since 1962 by VOA News March 30, 2016 Myanmar has sworn in its first civilian head of state in more than five decades. Seventy-year-old Htin Kyaw took the oath of office Wednesday during a brief ceremony before a joint session of parliament, pledging loyalty "to the republic of the Union of Myanmar." The country's two vice presidents, Myint Swe and Henry Van Tio, took the oath alongside Htin Kyaw. Htin Kyaw's swearing in formally marks the end of total or partial military rule in Myanmar dating back to 1962. He succeeds Thein Sein, a former general who took power in 2011 when the junta turned over control to a quasi-civilian government and pushed through sweeping political and economic reforms. "It's not the full democracy we might have hoped for, of course, because the military still has a very strong role in the country and in the economy," Sean Turnell of Australia's Macquarie University, a veteran analyst of Myanmar politics, told VOA. "It's not democracy in full measure, but it's democracy in large measure, so it's a very special day." Constitutional changes In his inaugural speech, the new president vowed to change the current constitution so that it fully embraces democratic standards. The constitution drafted by the military before it turned over power guaranteed the military would hold 25 percent of all parliamentary seats, plus the key ministerial posts of home affairs and defense. A constitutional provision that bars anyone with a foreign-born spouse or children from the presidency was used to block democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming head of state. Her late husband was British, as are her two sons. Nevertheless, the Nobel Peace laureate has indicated she will rule Myanmar through Htin Kyaw, her childhood friend and longtime confidant. She will also serve as one of 18 members in the new president's Cabinet, and is expected to simultaneously hold the ministries of foreign affairs, education, energy and the president's office. "She's going to be very much behind the scenes, as well, even beyond the portfolio," Turnell saod. "But the portfolio is extremely important anyway. I think it's important that she grab those posts, particularly in terms of foreign affairs. There's a technical reason, because that gives her access to the National Security Council, which in many ways is the most powerful body in Myanmar." 'Historic milestone' After the National League for Democracy won overwhelming control of both chambers of parliament in November's elections, its control over the presidency was assured. Htin Kyaw was elected by parliament on March 15. U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration has helped lead the West's re-engagement with the country formerly known as Burma, applauded Htin Kyaw's inauguration Wednesday as "a historic milestone in the country's transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government." "This extraordinary moment in Burma's history is a testament to its people, institutions, and leaders who have worked together to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and it speaks to the significance of the reforms the country has undertaken since 2011," Obama added in a statement. VOA's Victor Beattie contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Boycott Of Nuclear Terrorism Summit Leaves U.S. 'Scratching Our Heads' March 29, 2016 by Mike Eckel WASHINGTON -- When dozens of world leaders and top-level delegations from around the globe descend on the U.S. capital this week to discuss how to better protect nuclear materials from terrorists, officials from one nuclear power won't be there. Russia, which has the world's largest nuclear arsenal and a sprawling military and civilian nuclear industry long plagued by security concerns, will not be represented at the Nuclear Security Summit that opens on March 31. Its boycott of the summit, which will be the fourth and possibly last such high-level effort aimed at preventing a terrorist group from obtaining nuclear materials, has triggered confusion and concern among officials and analysts in the United States and elsewhere. "Frankly, we're scratching our heads a bit," Rose Gottemoeller, the U.S. State Department's top official for arms control treaties, said at a March 29 briefing in Washington. Russia's decision not to attend is "definitely a concern," said Kingston Reif, a nuclear and defense analyst at the Arms Control Association, a Washington-based research organization. "It's not like Russia has decided that nuclear material security isn't something it should be focused on, or something that it no longer takes seriously," Reif said. "But at the same time it does raise questions about Russia, its willingness moving forward, to seek to work with other countries, including the United Statesto ensure that terrorists can't get their hands on radiological materials." Many nuclear security experts argue the summits have helped focus attention on the problem, and promoted concrete measures in dozens of countries. That includes removing highly enriched uranium -- which can be used in manufacturing a fissile bomb similar to the Hiroshima weapon -- from 12 countries and taking them to places like Russia to be blended into less dangerous forms. Summit organizers also point to two dozen research reactors around the world that were modified to use low-enriched uranium, and security upgrades at another 32 buildings in various countries where fissile material is stored. Still, many other arms control experts, including those at the Project on Managing the Atom, at Harvard University's Kennedy School, gave a tempered assessment of past summits and their achievements. "Security for nuclear materials has improved modestly -- but the capabilities of some terrorist groups, particularly the Islamic State, have grown dramatically, suggesting that in the net, the risk of nuclear terrorism may be higher than it was two years ago," Kennedy School researchers wrote in a report released this month. It's a danger that was highlighted last month after Belgian officials confirmed that a man with links to the Paris terrorist attackers in November had surveillance video of a top Belgian nuclear official. Just last week, Belgian officials stripped security badges from some workers at the country's nuclear plants as a precaution. Declining Ties Among the reasons Harvard researchers cited in their less-than-enthusiastic conclusions was the decline of nuclear cooperation between Moscow and Washington. Despite sending delegations to the three previous summits, Moscow announced last year that no Russian officials would be coming to Washington. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in January that the summits interfered with international organizations like the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, and imposed on them the "opinions of a limited group of states." That decision followed Russia's announcement in early 2015 formally ending its participation in a two-decade-old, U.S.-funded program to scrap unneeded nuclear weapon systems and secure facilities where radiological material was stored. Despite its billion-dollar price tag, the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program has been largely viewed as a success in patching up decrepit Soviet-era security and safeguarding Russian nuclear materials. But the program included the presence of U.S. elected officials visiting secretive or formerly closed research and military facilities, something that many in the Russian defense establishment viewed with deep suspicion. President Barack Obama, then a U.S. senator, participated in one such trip in 2005, when he and another senator were briefly detained by Russian security officials. "The Russians made the determination that that effortno longer was a model they wanted to continue, that they saw themselves now as a country that is able to take on this work on its own. And I think they also resented the fact that there were U.S. representatives inside Russia working on this, and they were concerned about their presence," Reif told RFE/RL. 'Mixed Picture' In a commentary published March 28, Kelsey Davenport, a nonproliferation expert also with the Arms Control Association, said Russia's absence from the summit was concerning, particularly in light of a recent incident in the former Soviet state of Moldova involving the smuggling of nuclear materials that may have originated in Russia. However, she said it shouldn't be interpreted as a drastic shift in thinking by the Kremlin. "Despite lackluster enthusiasm for a fourth summit, Russia's actions seem to demonstrate a continued understanding that preventing nuclear terrorism is a global concern," she wrote. Gottemoeller said that Washington and Moscow continue with some nuclear cooperation despite what she called the "severe crisis" over the conflict in Ukraine and Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Russia agreed to take nearly all of Iran's low-enriched uranium to blend it down to less dangerous levels and was continuing to implement the New START treaty that made further cuts to the Russian and U.S. nuclear stockpiles, she noted. "The best thing I can say is it's a mixed picture. There are areas of very sound cooperation with Russia, where we are proceeding and continuing to make progress," Gottemoeller said. Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-boycott-nuke- summit-us-scratching-heads/27642760.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Canada's Breaking of Saudi Arms Deal to Lead to Damaging Consequences Sputnik News 17:53 29.03.2016(updated 18:34 29.03.2016) Canada intends to honor existing arms contracts with Saudi Arabia because recalling the agreements would create a number of problems for the government and the industry, Canada's Foreign Minister Stephane Dion said at the Canada in Global Affairs Conference on Tuesday. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Canada will not cancel the deal, "because we would have to pay penalties for it, because it would put people out of job, because it would jeopardize an industry, because the weapon would be sold from [US states] Michigan or Ohio," Dion stated. The minister added that the weapon deals cancellation would undermine credibility of the Canadian government. "This is our call. We think this deal should be respected," Dion reiterated. In February, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia due to its operation in Yemen. On Tuesday, the parliament of the Netherlands adopted a draft bill calling for the government to stop delivering arms to Saudi Arabia due to repeated violation of international humanitarian law in Yemen. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 50 Nusra Front terrorists cross into Syria via Turkey: Russia Iran Press TV Tue Mar 29, 2016 9:54AM Russia says 50 militants belonging to al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, al-Nusra Front, have crossed Turkey's border into Syria. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, citing local witnesses, on Monday that the militants and three vehicles loaded with ammunition crossed "from the territory of Turkey" into Syria. They later arrived in the city of Anadan in the northern province of Aleppo to help their fellow militants raid Kurdish positions in the Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood, it said. They launched the offensive against Kurdish fighters later in the day and shelled the region with 30 mortar shells and 14 rockets, but had to retreat to their previously held positions after about two hours. Two civilians were killed and six others injured in the attack. Last month, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Ankara has been helping militants illegally enter Syria and join the terrorist groups that are fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. In February, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said Turkey had assisted Daesh to recruit fellow Takfiris from the Caucasus and Central Asia. Turkey also stands accused of buying oil from Daesh. Russia has released satellite images, apparently showing long lines of trucks carrying oil from Daesh-controlled areas in northeastern Syria into Turkey. Bouthaina Shaaban, a political and media adviser to President Assad, said on Monday Turkey has been the main gate for terrorists to enter Syria. "Since the beginning of war against Syria we understood that this war was the work of Turkey, this is Turkish aggression against Syria," she said during an exclusive interview with Russia's RT television channel from Damascus. "If we did not have borders with Turkey exceeding on the extent of 860 kilometers then all these terrorists coming from all corners of the world couldn't get to Syria." She stated that "the convoys of tankers with oil were moving from the east to Syria through Iraq and Kurdistan to Turkey and "perhaps, then from Turkey to Europe." Shaaban said, "The Western world will not stop and will not realize that their position in regard to this government (in Turkey) has to be firm, as in regard to ISIS (Daesh) and Wahhabism." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria military gains speed up political resolution: Assad Iran Press TV Tue Mar 29, 2016 5:34PM Syria's president has hailed the recent Russia-backed advances of the country's army against Takfiri militants, saying that they contribute to a faster political settlement to the crisis in the Arab country. Talking to Russia's RIA Novosti news agency during an interview published on Tuesday, Bashar al-Assad stressed that Russia's military support has not changed the position of Damascus about a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. "Russia's military support, the support provided by Syria's friends and the military achievements of the Syrian army - all this will lead to the speeding up of political settlement, and not vice versa," he said. Elsewhere in his comments, he touched upon the issue of the UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva and said his government delegation has shown flexibility with the opposition "in order not to miss a single chance" for the settlement of the crisis. The Syrian leader, meanwhile, said Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France and Britain prefer the Syrian army to suffer defeats so that they could force their terms on the government during negotiations. Assad's remarks come against the backdrop of the Syrian army's recent gains against the Daesh terror group, the latest of which was the liberation of the city of Palmyra from the extremists on Sunday. On the same day, Assad told a visiting delegation of French parliamentarians, scholars and researchers in Damascus that Palmyra's recapture was "another indication of the success of the strategy pursued by the Syrian army and its allies in the war against terrorism." In recent months, Syrian army, backed by the Russian air power, has been making major gains against Takfiri groups, recapturing several strategic areas from their grip, particularly in the strategic northern province of Aleppo. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the crisis in the Arab country has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people and displaced nearly half of its pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders. Damascus accuses Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar of funding and arming anti-Syria terrorist groups, including Daesh. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Medals Order Could Indicate Number Of Syria Troops March 29, 2016 by Anna Shamanska The Russian Defense Ministry is seeking to have 10,300 medals manufactured for "participants in the military operation in Syria," in what appears to be the closest official indication of the number of people who served in Russia's six-month military incursion in Syria. The ministry will pay almost 2 million rubles ($29,000) for the medals and 255,000 more ($3,800) for certificates. The order was published on the official public procurement website. A manufacturer will be chosen by way of an electronic auction set to take place April 15. The medals are then to be made within seven business days. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu first signed a decree instituting the medal on November 30, 2015, two months after the Russian operation in Syria began. The medal is a 32 millimeter circle whose front face bears images of three fighter jets and a missile ship with an outline of Syria in the background. The back face is inscribed with: "To a participant in the military operation in Syria" and "Russian Defense Ministry." According to the Russian news website Gazeta.ru, some medals already exist and can be easily bought on the Internet. Several different websites ask for 400 to 1,500 rubles ($6-22) for one. Moscow began withdrawing most of its troops and equipment from Syria on March 15, after almost six months there. The campaign helped the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reclaim territories previously held by rebel groups. Moscow announced that it would keep about 1,000 military personnel at its bases in Syria to secure them and to conduct reconnaissance missions. More than 270,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011 Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/russian- defense-ministry-orders-medals-for-syria- operation-participants/27642055.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Forces Get Set to Begin Clearing Palmyra of Mines Sputnik News 13:00 29.03.2016(updated 13:26 29.03.2016) The group of Russian experts sent to Palmyra to assist demining operations is equipped with everything necessary for autonomous work, a source in the Russian military told RIA Novosti. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Earlier in the day, media reported that the first group of Russian experts left for Palmyra from the Chkalovsky military airport in the Moscow region. "Generators, multi-seat tents, water purification station, automotive engineering equipment and mine detectors, as well as special robots were sent for the autonomous work of the sappers," the source said. On Sunday, the Syrian army supported by militia and the Russian Aerospace Forces recaptured the historic city, which had been under control of Daesh for about a year. Before the retreat, the militants of the terrorist group, which is prohibited in a number of countries, including Russia and the United States, had planted a number of bombs and land mines all over Palmyra. The Syrian army has already started demining operations in the liberated city. Moscow has pledged to send its experts to assist the Syrian specialists in their activities. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia to Welcome Jaysh Al-Islam Exclusion From Intra-Syria Talks Sputnik News 20:59 30.03.2016(updated 21:02 30.03.2016) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said that the intra-Syrian talks were affected by a number of factors, including the certain names on the opposition delegation's lists, as well as the absence of the Kurdish representatives at the negotiations. GENEVA (Sputnik) Moscow will welcome the absence of Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) militant group's representatives in the delegation of the Syrian opposition at the settlement talks in Geneva, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Wednesday. Earlier in the day, a source at the Geneva talks told Sputnik that the delegation of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) could be changed and the most radical individuals could be excluded ahead of the next round of negotiations. "From the very beginning, Russia opposed inclusion of the representatives [of Jaysh al-Islam] in the opposition delegation They were included in the delegation in personal capacity We will only welcome, if they do not participate in the negotiations. If they [Syrians] preserve the previous format [of the talks], then it is their decision," Gatilov told RIA Novosti. He added that the talks were affected by a number of factors, including the certain names on the opposition delegation's lists, as well as the absence of the Kurdish representatives at the negotiations. The presence of Mohammed Alloush, the leader of Jaysh al-Islam, has been one of the major sticking points in the indirect talks between the opposition and the government in March. Head of the Syrian government delegation Bashar Jaafari said, referring to Alloush, that he would not engage in any discussions with the opposition as long as it includes people calling to kill President Bashar Assad. The HNC, which was formed in Saudi Arabia in December, is one of the three opposition delegations participating in the intra-Syria settlement talks with official Damascus in Geneva. The latest round of talks opened on March 14 and lasted for 10 days. The round saw all delegations submit their settlement proposals to UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who then produced a final paper with points of convergence between the parties. It was submitted for the delegations' approval ahead of the new round of talks that could start as early as April 9. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Kurds Receive No Invitation to Join Next Geneva Talks' Round Sputnik News 16:38 30.03.2016 The Syrian Kurds did not reveive any invitation for the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, according to the head of the Syrian Kurdistan representative office. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Syrian Kurds have still not received an invitation to take part in the Geneva peace talks, the head of the Syrian Kurdistan representative office in Moscow said Wednesday. "We have not received any invitations, as before, and we do not expect [to receive any] within the next few days," Rodi Osman told RIA Novosti. The last round of talks between the Syrian government and opposition forces opened on March 14 in Geneva and wrapped up on March 24. The next round of the proximity talks is expected to start on April 11. The main Syrian Kurdish party, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), was not invited to the UN-backed reconciliation talks between Damascus and Syrian opposition factions in Switzerland. The Kurds are one of the largest ethnic groups in Syria. Parties to the country's peace process, including Russia, have repeatedly stressed that the reconciliation talks have no chance of succeeding if the Syrian Kurds are not allowed to participate. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Assad: Russian Military Bases in Syria Needed for World Power Balance Sputnik News 14:33 30.03.2016(updated 16:55 30.03.2016) The president underscored that Damascus only considers the presence of Russian military bases on the territory of Syria. DAMASCUS (Sputnik) Russian military bases in Syria are needed not only to fight terrorism, but also to balance the powers in the world, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "That's on the one hand, on the other hand they [foreign bases] are linked not only to the fight against terrorism, but also to the international situation as a whole, and, with all due regret, the West, in the course of the Cold War and after it, and even today, has not changed its policy it wants hegemony in making international decisions, and, unfortunately the UN was not able to fulfill the role of a peacekeeper in the world, not even now, in order to regain its true status," Assad said. "Military bases are necessary for us, for you, for international balance in the world. That's the truth, whether we agree with it or not, but right now it's a necessity," he added. Russian military bases in Syria are not occupation, but means to help strengthen stability and security in the country, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "With Russia we have relations that are over six decades old, they are built on trust and clarity On the other hand, right now, in its policy, Russia is relying on principles, we are also relying on principles. So when Russian military bases appear in Syria, it's not occupation, on the contrary it's the strengthening of friendship and ties, it's the strengthening of stability and security. And that's just what we want," Assad said. Syria to Need Russian Military Presence Even After Security Situation Stabilizes Syria will require Russian military presence even after the security situation in the country becomes more stable, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "If we are talking about the current period the period of the fight against terrorism, yes, certainly we need their presence, because they are effective in the fight against terrorism even if the situation in Syria stabilizes in terms of security," Assad said. "The process of the fight against terrorism is not something quick and fleeting. Terrorism has spread in this region over the course of decades and a lot of time will be needed to overcome it," he noted. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Assad: New Syrian Gov't Format Should Be Agreed Upon During Geneva Talks Sputnik News 14:15 30.03.2016(updated 16:33 30.03.2016) The format of the new Syrian government should be agreed upon during the Geneva talks, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview with Sputnik. DAMASCUS (Sputnik) In his opinion, "it is logical that independent forces should be represented there, as well as opposition forces and forces loyal to the government." "That's the goal of 'Geneva' an intra-Syrian dialogue during which we will agree on the format of this government. Of course, we have not yet worked out a final understanding, because other Syrian parties have not yet agreed to this principle. Some have agreed, but we will announce how it will be implemented in practice when we work out this principle all together," Assad said. "With regard to how it will be distributed from the technical perspective, as you know, there are ministries with briefcases and without, there are ministers who will join the government without having experience working in it, and how will they resolve the citizens' daily problems? There are a lot of similar questions that we must discuss in Geneva, but they are not difficult questions. I do not consider them difficult, they can all be resolved," the Syrian president stressed. Assad highlighted that the People's Council will not play any role in this process. "This process will be carried out between us and the opposition from abroad The People's Council regulates the work of the government, but in Syria it does not appoint the cabinet of ministers," he explained. Bashar Assad is not expecting any major changes in the Syrian parliament following the elections scheduled for April 13. "In the current conditions I do not expect that we will become witness to any core, major changes," Assad said in an interview with Sputnik. Assad said that now "it is not enough to just have new parties, like it was during the 2000 parliamentary elections." "You can create 100 parties, but that does not mean that they will represent everybody at the elections. Which form will a Syrian citizen approve for going to vote? This question, as you know, does not get resolved fast. Time is needed for its resolution. Every new party must get its point of view, political program across to the citizensin such difficult conditions it is possible that citizens, due to their nature, will not want to experience innovations," the Syrian president explained. "It is possible that when the security situation improves we will have a more positive perspective on this. Then politics will play a more important role for the citizens, than concerns about the questions of daily life. Today, citizens are thinking about their security first of all, about the security of their lives, then about everyday problems, children's education, health. Only after that they start to think about other issues," he said. The intra-Syrian talks resumed in Geneva on March 14. The Syrian government delegation headed by Syria's Ambassador to UN Bashar Jaafari, Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee formed in Riyadh, as well as representatives of the opposition formed after talks in Moscow and Cairo, and Syrian opposition formed at Hmeimim have all met in Switzerland. Kurdish representatives have not received an invitation to join the talks. Following the talks, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura created a document, which, according to him, highlights common ideas of the Damascus delegation and the opposition. There are a total of 12 points in the document. Currently, the government representatives and the opposition are considering de Mistura's proposals. It is expected that before the beginning of the next round of talks they would agree on the document, or propose some changes. The next round of indirect talks between the Syrian government and the opposition is expected to begin on April 11. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Assad:Terrorism in Syria, Iraq Directly Supported From Turkey, Saudi Arabia Sputnik News 13:15 30.03.2016(updated 16:33 30.03.2016) Terrorism in Syria and Iraq is receiving direct support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and Great Britain, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to Sputnik. DAMASCUS (Sputnik) Terrorism in Syria and Iraq is receiving direct support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and the United Kingdom, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "Terrorism that's the real problem. We must fight it on the international level, because terrorism affects not only Syria. Terrorism exists in Iraq. It is directly supported by Turkey. It is directly supported by the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia, as well as a number of Western states, especially France and the United Kingdom," Assad said. "As far as other states go, they are watching, observing. No serious work on this issue is being conducted from their side. I think that with regard to this questions, the problem far larger than the problem of the actual figures," he added. Syrian Losses Due to War Surpass $200 Billion Syria's infrastructure has suffered damages amounting to over $200 billion in the course of the war that has raged in the country for five years, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "The economic losses and damages to infrastructure surpass 200 billion dollars. Economic issues can be resolved right when the situation in Syria stabilizes. But the reconstruction of the infrastructure needs a lot of time," Assad said. Syrian Refugees to Begin Returning Home When Hope for Improvement Appears Syrian refugees will begin returning home when they see hope for improvement, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "We've started infrastructure reconstruction work before the crisis is over, to soften, as much as possible, the influence of economic losses and infrastructure damage on the Syrian people and at the same time reduce the migration flow out of the country," Assad said. "Maybe some will want to return when they see that there is hope for the amelioration of the situation," he added. The president noted that the cause of migration is not only terrorism and the security situation, but also the blockade and Western sanctions introduced against Syria. "Many people have left safe areas where there is no terrorism because of the life conditions. Citizens can no longer provide themselves with all that is necessary. So we, as a state, must take steps, at least the most basic ones, to improve the economic situation and the service sector in Syria. That's what we are currently doing in terms of reconstruction," he stated. Damascus to Lean on Russia, China, Iran in Rebuilding Syria Damascus will lean primarily on Russia, China and Iran in rebuilding the country following the war, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "The reconstruction process is in any case profitable for companies that are participating in it, especially if they manage to get loans from the countries that will support them. Of course, we expect that the process will rely on the three main states that have supported Syria during this crisis that's Russia, China and Iran. But I suppose that a lot of countries that were against Syria, I mean first of all Western countries, will try to direct their companies to take part in this process. However, for us in Syria there is absolutely no doubt that we will ask, first of all, our friendly states," Assad said. According to the president, it is "absolutely certain that if you were to pose this question to any Syrian citizen, his answer, political and emotional, would be that we welcome, first of all, the companies from the three countries, primarily from Russia." "If we're speaking of infrastructure, it spans, perhaps not even dozens, but hundreds of different areas and specializations. So I think that Russian companies will have a very broad space for contributing to the restoration of Syria," he added. Syria Needs National Unity Government for Transition Period The transitional period in Syria must occur under the current constitution and include a national unity government comprising various political forces, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik. "First of all, regarding the definition of the 'transitional period,' such a definition does not exist. We in Syria assume that the term political transition means the transition from one constitution to another, and a constitution is what defines the form of the needed political composition in the next stage. Thus, the transition period must be under the current constitution, and we will move on to the new constitution after the Syrian people vote for it," Assad said. "Before that, what we can work on, as we see it in Syria, is the government," he added. "This transitional structure or transitional format is a government formed by various Syrian political forces opposition, independent, the current government and others." The unity government's main goal would be to work out a new constitution and let the Syrian people vote on it, after which a transition to the new constitution could take place, Assad explained. "Neither the Syrian constitution, nor the constitution of any other country in the world includes anything that is called a transitional body of power. It's illogical and unconstitutional. What are the powers of this body? How will it govern the daily lives of citizens? Who will be assessing it? Today, there is the People's Council [Syria's parliament] and the constitution that regulates the work of the government and the state. That's why a solution is a government of national unity that will prepare a new constitution," the president underlined. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UNHCR Seeks Homes for Nearly Half Million Syrian Refugees by Lisa Schlein March 30, 2016 The U.N. refugee agency is appealing to countries worldwide to provide homes for nearly one-half million of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees. The UNHCR is urging representatives of more than 90 countries attending a ministerial-level conference to grant refuge to the Syrians through resettlement and other humanitarian programs. Countries neighboring Syria are bearing the brunt of the Syrian refugee crisis. They are hosting 4.8 million refugees. The U.N. refugee agency says other nations must shoulder some of the burden. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says his agency aims to resettle one-tenth, or about 480,000 of the refugees over the next three years. He acknowledges it will not be easy, especially in light of the growing resistance by nations in Europe and elsewhere to welcome people fleeing conflict and persecution. He says large numbers of desperate Syrians are undertaking dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea in search of refuge in Europe. He indicates the recent EU-Turkey resettlement agreement is unlikely to resolve the Syrian refugee crisis. "Our point to both Turkey and the European Union and in fact to the International Community is that legal pathways for admission are a very powerful alternative to dangerous journeys, especially for vulnerable people. So, the sooner those are implemented, the more people will be discouraged from resorting to boats and other means of movement," he said. Besides resettlement, the UNHCR offers other legal pathways for countries to consider. These include academic scholarships, humanitarian visas, accelerated and easier family reunification programs, and medical treatment. Ban Ki-moon U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lends his voice to the UNHCR's appeal for countries to resettle Syrian refugees. He says nations benefit from refugees who bring valuable new skills and make many positive economic contributions to their societies. "Attempts to demonize people fleeing conflict and persecution are not only demeaning, offensive, and counterproductive, they are factually wrong. And measures to control the entry of refugees must safeguard the human rights and dignity of each individual person," he said. The Syrian refugee crisis is the world's largest since World War II. The UNHCR reports countries have offered more than 179,0000 resettlement places for Syrian refugees since 2013. It says it hopes more pledges will be forthcoming during the conference. It adds this is a global crisis that needs a global response. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Thanks for visiting ! The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. Thank you for your support! Fifteen middle school and high school students from Danville and Pittsylvania County received a total of $6,000 in start-up funding to take the next step toward launching and running their own businesses this past week. Additionally, the students received $2,000 each for a total of $30,000 in scholarships should they choose to attend Danville Community College upon graduation from high school. The students, who are enrolled in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce, presented their business plans to a panel of local investors on March 23 at the Zan Womack YEA! Investor Panel at Danville Community College. Edward Blount, a junior at Dan River High School and the CEO of Your Local Mushrooms, was named as the Saunders Scholar and will travel to Rochester, New York, to compete in the YEA! Saunders Scholars National Semi-Finals Competition in May. From there, this student business will compete against other student businesses from all across the country for a chance to win college scholarship awards and business-services prizes and an all-expenses paid trip to Americas Small Business Summit in Washington, DC where they will compete for the national title. Blount received $1,193 from the local investors for his business start-up. In presenting his pitch to the investors, Blount had just five minutes to convince judges to invest in his business as a producer and vendor of locally grown, organic, and gluten-free gourmet mushrooms. Kyle Benson, a sixth grader at Chatham Middle School and CEO of Kyles Smart Shop, also impressed the panel of judges with his invention of a clipboard that attaches to shopping carts to enhance the shoppers experience at the store by providing a stable, hard surface for writing. Benson received $831 from judges to advance his business ideas which he stressed were many beyond just The Smart Shop Clipboard. Winding Road Candles, a partnership between Dylan Groom and Kael Terry, received $631 for their start-up. Groom and Terry are eighth graders at Dan River Middle School. Their business focuses on custom-made candles that appeal to men. The candles feature unique scents such as curing tobacco and barbecue. Dylan Adkins, CEO of Dylans Soap Bar, is an eighth grader at Dan River Middle School. Dylans Soap Bar will make and sell pure, high quality, fragrance bar soaps. Adkins received $611 for his business start-up. Ally Morris, CEO of Morris Mailbox Accessories, is a seventh grader at Tunstall Middle School. Morris Mailbox Accessories will make and customize decorative magnetic mailbox covers and practical metal and wood shelving for use with rural mailboxes. The business received $562 from investors. Elijah Crews, CEO of Crews Landscaping, Crews Landscaping, will provide lawn mowing, hedge trimming, bush pruning, edging, leaf removal, gutter cleaning, mulching, planting, and other general lawn maintenance and improvement services to homeowners and small business in the Danville and Pittsylvania county area. Crews, an eighth grader at Bonner Middle School, was awarded $500 for his business start-up. Miranda Cochran, CEO of Cochrans Catering, received $500 to start her new business venture. Cochrans Catering will specialize in parties for between 15 and 50 people where the food will be mainly light hors doeuvres and a variety of desserts including colorful fruit trays, rich chocolate cookies, and delicious cakes. Cochran is a seventh grader at Tunstall Middle School. McKenzie Barber, CEO of McKenzies Monogramming, was awarded $422 for her business venture of creating and selling monogrammed or personalized items with a primary product of monogrammed earrings. Barber is a seventh grader at Dan River Middle School. Lakivonia Apple, CEO of Alluring Spectrum Gift Baskets, received $250 to start her new business venture. Apples business idea is to sell gift basket for any and all occasions. As a social entrepreneurship twist, Apple will take 10% of the profits from selling baskets to make blessing bags for the elderly and homeless. Apple is a seventh grader at Dan River Middle School. Annie Johnson and Gary Sanders, partners in G&As Advertising Specialties, received $100 from investors to start their new business. G&As Advertising Specialties was started to help small businesses, individuals, and companies by providing small quantities of specialized advertising materials. Johnson and Sanders are seniors at Gretna High School. CJ Hardy, CEO of Kings & Queens Clothing, has started a clothing line that combines the elegance of a royal image with the comfort, style, and casual look demanded by todays young clothing consumers. Hardy, an eighth grader at Bonner Middle School, received $100 from the investors panel. Laci White, CEO of Lacis Home Accessories, received $100 for her business venture. White, a sixth grader at Dan River Middle School, has been designing for most of her life, and fell in love with creating new ideas and designs, which led her to create this company. For the investors panel, she created a pillow and a blanket. Jada Freeman, CEO of Logos for Life, was awarded $100 for her business start-up. Logos For Life makes t-shirts for school events, family reunions, and all occasions. Freeman is a seventh grader at Dan River Middle School. In addition to the investor panel awards, each student who completed the YEA program in Danville and Pittsylvania County received a $2,000 scholarship from Danville Community Colleges Educational Foundation which can be utilized when they finish high school and if they attend DCC. The local business professionals who served on the Investor Panel were David Bonebright, Professor of Marketing and Business Management at Danville Community College; Eva Doss, President & CEO of The Launch Place; Michael Duncan, Member Manager of Donnachaidh; Philip Wenkstern, Grants Administrator of the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board; and Charles Womack, Vice President of Womack Publishing. The judges praised the efforts and ideas of these emerging entrepreneurs. Nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit in teens and teaching young people about starting a business or social movement build skills that will serve them well their entire lives, said Laurie S. Moran, president and CEO of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce. Introducing the students to business leaders and successful entrepreneurs in our community is invaluable. The Investors Panel has provided the students with the opportunity to take their business ideas from concept to reality. Sponsors of the 2015-16 Young Entrepreneurs Academy in Danville and Pittsylvania County were Danville Regional Foundation, JT Minnie Maude Charitable Trust, the Womack Foundation, Danville Community College, DCCs Educational Foundation, the Barkhouser Free Enterprise Center, the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board, Donnachaidh, and Virginia International Raceway. YEA! is open to students between the ages of 11 and 18 and leads them through the process of launching a real business or social movement over the course of an academic year. By the end of the class, students own and operate fully-formed and functioning businesses, which may be carried after their graduation from the program. YEA! teaches students at an early age how to make a job, not just take a job. YEA! was developed at the University of Rochester with support from The Kauffman Foundation. The program requires a seven-month commitment from its young executives. In that time they brainstorm and form their enterprises, make pitches to potential investors, obtain funding, register their companies with governmental agencies, and actually launch their own company or social movement. Business mentors, graphic designers, and local entrepreneurs support the students throughout the program and all of the learning is real and experiential. One of the most interesting components of the program is the actual behind-the-scenes knowledge the students are given from local business leaders, who were at one time, standing in their shoes, exclaims Moran. The experience is something they will be able to apply to whatever field they choose to enter, thereby giving them the necessary skills to become future leaders of industry. This years program will conclude in May. Recruitment efforts for the 2016-17 school year will begin in early summer. Students who are interested in learning more about the program can visit the Chambers website at www.dpchamber.org for additional information and an application. Businesses that would like to become involved can also visit www.dpchamber.org for details. For more information, contact the chamber office at (434) 836-6990. The Carlton Wine Room is getting a quick refresh from its new owners. Photo: Craig Sillitoe After five years at the helm, business partners Connie Cappello and Jay Bessell have sold the Carlton Wine Room, with new owners Domenic Zanellini (of Carlton's Briscola Espresso) and Fiona Sheeran (ex-Sarti) taking the keys to the building on Wednesday, March 30. The pair will shut the doors for a couple weeks for minor renovations, including a lick of fresh paint and a new bar on the mezzanine level that will seat 10 or so for a quick glass of wine or a negroni. The existing booth seating will remain. Zanellini and Sheeran will bring in an entirely new kitchen team, including young gun Aaron Starling in his first head chef position (he was most recently sous-chef at Crown's Bistro Guillaume) and French expat Benjamin Dehaye (ex-L'Oranger, London) as Starling's sous. The wine cellar dining room at Carlton Wine Room. Photo: Supplied Expect a revamped menu of mod-European classics: "simple food cooked well" maybe a veal shin ragout in tagliatelle, dory with anchovy and cos, and whole roast chooks on Sundays, says Sheeran. So what's next for the Carlton Wine Room's founders? After a break, Cappello plans to set up as a hospitality administration consultant and Bessell has taken on a role with Ian Curley, Con Christopoulos and Josh Brisbane's ever-expanding empire; he's headed for a sommelier role at the European, for starters. The Carlton Wine Room will reopen on April 12. Open Tue-Sun 7.30am-11pm. 172-174 Faraday Street, Carlton, 03 9347 2626 thecarltonwineroom.com.au SHARE Eric Paul Zamora/Fresno Bee/TNS Food advocates are encouraging retailers to offer less than perfect produce. Intertwined carrots in a variety of colors are considered "imperfect" by most consumers. Food advocates are encouraging retailers to offer scarred citrus, squat apples and misshapen kiwi. Three-legged carrots and eggplant with stuff protruding from it will be sold at select grocery stores, thanks to a nationwide social media campaign against food waste. Social media effort boosts produce sales By Robert Rodriguez, The Fresno Bee (TNS) Call it ugly, imperfect or cosmetically challenged, but the produce that used to get shunned for its looks is finally getting some love. Yes, those three-legged carrots, squatty apples and eggplant with stuff protruding from it will be sold at select grocery stores, thanks to a nationwide social media campaign against food waste. Jordan Figueiredo, a food waste activist from the Bay Area, launched the "Ugly Fruit and Veg Campaign" nearly two years ago as a way to raise awareness about the amount of food that's rejected, partly because it fails to meet industry cosmetic standards. Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that between 30 percent to 40 percent of the U.S. food supply is wasted. "It can be too small, too big, in a weird shape or with a few scars, but it is still perfectly safe and healthy to eat," Figueiredo says. "And to not make that food available to consumers is truly a waste." Figueiredo's Instagram page, @UglyFruitAndVeg Campaign, has become a showcase for funky looking fruits and vegetables. Think carrots that look like they are hugging, or a pear whose bottom half reminds you of, well, Kim Kardashian's backside. So far, Figueiredo's page has generated nearly 25,000 followers from 170 countries. And while the photos are intended to be fun, they also help tell the ugly produce story. The campaign has caught the attention of two national retailers. Giant Eagle and Whole Foods have committed to carrying ugly produce on a trial basis. Giant Eagle, a store chain with 400-plus stores on the East Coast, has joined the campaign and recently began offering ugly produce at a reduced price at five of its stores. The produce, including navel oranges, russet potatoes and apples, is being marketed as "Produce with a Personality." And recently, Whole Foods which has 435 stores agreed to carry ugly produce this spring at select Northern California stores. Liz Burkhart, Whole Foods spokeswoman, said the company has not finalized the specific locations. As part of the program, Whole Foods will be working with Imperfect Produce, a Bay Area startup that created a weekly delivery service of ugly produce. The company has about 2,300 active customers in Northern California with interest continuing to grow. "There might be a scar on the outside that develops from rubbing against a limb as it grows; or carrots naturally can grow in all kinds of different shapes," Simon said. "We're taking a fun, bold, positive approach to celebrate these different quirks." Consumers in Fresno and Clovis, California, say they don't mind produce that looks a little rough around the edges, as long as it's not spoiled. Many use the odd-looking fruits and vegetables to make jams or for canning. And if a potato or bell pepper has a defect, they cut it out. "For many of us who grew up cooking, you learn not to waste what you have," said Ann Kass of Fresno, who was buying produce recently at the Kaiser Permanente farmers market. "But then you also have people who want their fruits and vegetables to always look perfect." Farmers support the idea of selling their less-than-perfect fruit. The Masumotos of Del Rey, growers of organic peaches, nectarines and grapes, began a program about two years ago in which they sell fruit that is scarred, too small or bruised. They call it "Organic, Ugly and Fabulous." The 10- to 12-pound box of "fab" fruit is sold at a discount that amounts to about $2 a pound. "The response was wonderful," says Nikiko Masumoto. "But the challenge for all farmers is how do we tell the story better so that people embrace imperfection as part of the natural growing process?" Kiel Schmidt, development manager at Food Commons Fresno, said that the organization's community supported agriculture program, or CSA, tries to use ugly produce as often as it can, but the supply can be limited. In some cases, ugly produce is left in the field, or it gets sorted and sold to processors for a much lower price than retail. It may also be composted or sold as livestock feed. "What we would like to do is make it worth the farmers' while to put it in a box and price it so demand continues to grow," says Schmidt, who helps run the Out of Our Own Backyards CSA. "This is quality food, and that is part of our message to our customers." Corey Johnson Jr. (left) and Kirsten White are teens in the Mann Residential Treatment Center in Baltimore. SHARE Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/TNS Corey Johnson Jr. surveys a mural patients have painted of things they think are worth living for at Mann Residential Treatment Center in Baltimore. Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/TNS Tess Carpenter, clinical director at Mann Residential Programs, speaks in Baltimore. Mindfulness, a kind of meditation, has become a buzzword and lots of people are using it to help reduce all kinds of stress. But Sheppard Pratt is using it as a clinical tool to help kids with ADHD and other issues. Studies link it to lowering inflammation By Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun (TNS) BALTIMORE When 16-year-old Kirsten White is in class and feels distracted, frustrated or angry, she looks at the tiles on the ceiling or the bricks on the walls and counts them. It gives her the chance to pause and think before she acts. "I take a minute, and no one realizes it," the Annapolis teenager says. "It calms me." The mindfulness exercise is one of many she's learned and embraced in a residential program at Sheppard Pratt, a psychiatric hospital in Towson, where she has been living and going to school since November. The training has helped her cope with the burdens of her young life, which have included bullying, emotional problems and self-harm. Mindfulness meditation is an ancient spiritual practice that was introduced into health care in the 1970s by a University of Massachusetts professor of medicine who believed it could help patients reduce stress. The practice continues to spread, with classes offered in offices, universities, hospitals and online to help promote relaxation and focus. Now, as science begins to back up the benefits, mindfulness is being adopted in clinical settings to help providers and patients manage a host of disorders. The idea is to focus intensely on the present, emptying the mind of outside influences, judgments or stressors, says Tess Carpenter, clinical director of residential programs at Sheppard Pratt. Mindfulness is the core of the institution's Mann Residential Treatment Program, the behavioral training program launched in 2011 to help troubled teens tolerate distress and improve emotional and interpersonal responses in situations they find overwhelming. The patients have diagnoses that include attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. Carpenter calls mindfulness "very abstract in nature" and tough to teach. Research shows it doesn't work on everyone. Some people don't take to it, just as plenty of people don't get the benefits of yoga, which embraces similar themes. Kirsten, who's in 10th grade, says she was one of those people. When a counselor proposed the therapy, she was hesitant. She ultimately decided to give it a try. Students in the treatment center repeat the exercises daily while also participating in more traditional therapy. Counselors have the teens stare at their thumbs, or blow up balloons and bat them in the air for a few minutes. That teaches them to concentrate on an activity, Carpenter says, filtering out distractions. In the real world, it could snap them out of an overly emotional situation and give them a window of time to rethink their response. It's using "your wise mind," Carpenter said. Dr. Carl Fulwiler, medical director and associate research director for the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, says there's now a critical mass of studies showing mindfulness exercises are effective in helping to control stress, pain, weight and depression. There are some problems, such as anxiety disorders in which patients can't focus, where the practice hasn't been proved effective, Fulwiler says. Outside a clinical setting, mindfulness can be harmful as when it brings up buried memories or repressed feelings. But with pain, for example, mindfulness may reduce suffering by making the brain less sensitive to what's happening in the body, he says. In other cases, such as when people cope with stress by eating, drinking alcohol or taking drugs, mindfulness can help people become more aware and make different choices. "It's how we react to things that mindfulness can help," Fulwiler says. "It's not a total panacea." In a 2014 study of 47 mindfulness-based trials, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University said they found enough evidence of its benefits that doctors should be prepared to talk to patients about it. They also concluded that more study into who would benefit is warranted. Fulwiler is looking at the benefits to minorities, who have not traditionally been included in studies. Hopkins researchers are examining the effects of mindfulness on Baltimore's urban youth. Fulwiler is using brain imaging to determine which patients would gain from mindfulness training. Several researchers have found the practice changes the brain. In one study, published in January in the journal Biological Psychiatry, 35 adults who were experiencing the stress of unemployment were either taught mindfulness meditation or general relaxation techniques over three days. Using brain scans, researchers found only mindfulness exercises caused an increase in activity in the part of the brain responsible for reactions to stress and cognition. By looking at blood samples, they discovered a reduction in a chemical that causes inflammation, which can harm the immune system and lead to disease. Those benefits seemed to endure for months. It's that kind of science that is propelling mindfulness into the mainstream, says lead researcher J. David Creswell, associate professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. While counselors believe everyone has an innate ability to practice mindfulness, they say it's not easy for many people to master. People are accustomed to letting their minds wander, suppressing unwanted experiences and running on autopilot. That's why the teens in the Sheppard Pratt program stay from six months to a year, Carpenter says. The Towson program focuses on teenagers and can accommodate up to 63 at a time. Carpenter's team is just starting to collect data on the outcomes for those who go through the program. But anecdotally, she says, they appear to be handling the real world as well as the therapy world. They are not returning to the program, or to the social service or criminal justice systems that initially referred many of them. Other students are referred to the program by private psychiatrists or taken there by their parents. Kirsten, whose newly red hair seems to reflect her growing confidence, now wants to become a counselor of some kind so she can help others change their path. "I've been labeled and called names," she says. "I want to teach others that they can have a different life." Corey Johnson Jr., an 18-year-old from Germantown, says he no longer wants people to look at him as a "negative influence." He went to Sheppard Pratt in December after handling his diagnoses of ADHD, PTSD and a mood disorder poorly. Staff members now consider Johnson and Kirsten "honors" students for their level of dedication to improvement. The teens practice mindfulness daily at Sheppard Pratt and develop their skills in classes or activities with fellow students and when they go home on weekend passes. "I'm working hard not to be defined by my past," Johnson said. "I don't want to be the person who is in and out of residential treatment centers for the rest of my life and is viewed negatively. I want to be viewed positively." Johnson, who is in 11th grade, wants to become a forensic scientist. He believes he's now better equipped to concentrate on reaching that goal. He also believes that mindfulness has helped him better control his responses outside of class. Instead of counting bricks, like Kristen, he often thinks of being with his older sisters. "I always notice my heart rate goes down and I'm calmer," he says. "This helps me have a different outlook on life. I get 60 seconds to think about my choices, and of course, I act differently. "In the past I reacted in the wrong way: impulsively." Eckert House located at 503 Koberlin St. in San Angelo. Yfat Yossifor/Standard-Times Rick Smith Columnist SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Doug Fairbanks, a grocer and Realtor, moved into the Eckert House in 1937 with his family. He died in 1971. His son, Ralph Fairbanks, daughter Elaine Nail, and wife, "Evalena" Fairbanks, attend the dedication of a state historical marker on a Sunday afternoon in 1985 at the Eckert house. Eckert House one of oldest remaining in San Angelo What are the oldest houses in San Angelo? Here's what I've found so far: ECKERT HOUSE In 1910 Oscar and Martha Geissler Eckert, both German immigrants to the U.S., purchased a lot at 503 Koberlin St. in San Angelo. Oscar and his brother, Henry, built the house except for the brickwork. He completed the construction in 1911. Pressed tin was an architectural feature of the house and covered the roof as well as the ceilings and some interior walls on the first floor. Eckert was a farmer who also worked as a tinsmith, windmill maker and saloon keeper. The Eckerts had seven children. The Fairbanks family moved into the Eckert house in 1937. Doug Fairbanks was a grocer and Realtor. He also took part in the Knights Templar at the Masonic hall and was a former president of the Travelers' Protective. Mrs. Fairbanks was a president of San Angelo Assembly No. 190 Social Order of the Beauceant. Doug Fairbanks died in 1971 in San Angelo. In 1985, his son, Ralph Fairbanks, daughter Elaine Nail, and wife, "Evalena" Fairbanks attended the dedication of a state historical marker on a Sunday afternoon at the Eckert house. Members of the Tom Green County Historic Commission accepted a historical marker for the Eckert house. It was the only residential marker in San Angelo at that time. The house still stands on Koberlin Street. Rick Smith is a local news and community affairs columnist. Contact Rick at rsmith@gosanangelo.com or 325-659-8248. SHARE By Staff Report A Give More HUGS Helping Unite Giving Souls Book Signing event will be hosted by Angelo State University starting at 11 a.m. April 7 in the northwest corner on the first floor of the Porter Henderson Library, 2025 S. Johnson St. Give More HUGS, a nonprofit organization, collects donated children's books to be given to Title 1 schools in West Texas and New York that have large low-income student populations. The ASU campus community and the public are invited to help sign and write inspirational messages and quotes inside the book covers to encourage the young readers. Donations of new or used children's books will also be accepted, according to an ASU news release. ASU alum Christopher McGilvery is the founder and executive director of Give More HUGS, library representatives, San Angelo Police Department, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts and the Teacher Store, as well as students in ASU's chapters of the Alpha Chi and Phi Kappa Phi national honor societies will be at the signing. For more information on the book signing contact 325-486-6521. For more information about the organization visit http://givemorehugs.org. Fisher's Food Mart owner Johnny Fisher (left), shown with his son Seth, isn't sure what he'll do next but said he had no intention of moving away from Grape Creek. SHARE The big sign in Grape Creek advertising Fisher's Food Mart. Owner Johnny Fisher closed the doors this weekend after almost 32 years in Grape Creek. (Rashda Khan/Standard-Times) PHOTOS BY Rashda Khan/Standard-Times Shelves are empty at Fisher's Food Mart after owner Johnny Fisher closed this weekend after almost 32 years in Grape Creek. Fisher's Food Mart closed their doors this weekend after almost 32 years in Grape Creek. (Rashda Khan/Standard-Times) By Rashda Khan, Rashda.Khan@gosanangelo.com Grape Creek residents said goodbye this weekend to Fisher's Food Mart, a local staple known for its full-service meat market. Located by the Grape Creek overpass, the family-owned grocery store served the small community for 32 years. Owner Johnny Fisher remembers when the overpass was built and customers didn't have access to the front of the store for a while. Some customers helped him build a makeshift road behind the property at 8137 N. U.S. Highway 87. "People came and kept us open," Fisher said. Unfortunately, that hasn't always been the case in recent times. In a prepared statement available at the checkouts on the last day of operation, Fisher stated: "It is time to acknowledge that community support is not sufficient to continue. We thank those that have been loyal customers and we (have) enjoyed serving you and the youth of the community." He had to let go of 15 employees, including three butchers, and ended the statement with: "Pray for our staff as they seek new employment." Fisher got into the grocery business because of his father Wade Fisher Jr., who used to work for "M" Systems Food Stores. Wade opened his own grocery store, Marx Street Grocery, at Marx and 23rd Streets in 1971. Fisher helped out and learned the business. In 1984, he had the opportunity to open Fisher's Food Mart in Grape Creek. "I was offered five lots of land for a good price, and then a bank contacted me and offered me money. It was as if God was opening all the doors," Fisher said. "Before we knew it, we had a store." Originally, he built a 8,000-square-foot store, but later expanded it to 13,000-square-foot. His favorite memory is opening day, which was celebrated with big sales, balloons, flags and people dressed up as animal characters. "For me that was an achievement," Fisher said, adding that with his own store he felt like he stepped out of his father's shadow. "This was the proving ground that I could do it." He is proud to have been successful for 32 years. What happened? A big issue was the changing nature of the grocery business, according to Fisher. "Supermarkets used to mean stores that carried a full line of groceries. We sold fresh, frozen and canned groceries. Just groceries," Fisher said. "But the supermarkets today are more like superstores. They carry everything. You can buy furniture at H-E-B." The proximity of San Angelo, less than 10 minutes away, also didn't help. "Over the years they built Walmart, H-E-B, Sam's and more Walmarts," Fisher said, adding that many people chose to shop in Angelo instead of Grape Creek. He pointed out a paragraph in his statement. "Independent businesses are started by local residents interested enough in their communities to invest their financial stability, in the hopes of (making) their lives better and to enrich the community in which they live." Fisher served as youth minister at the Grape Creek Baptist Church, his wife was on the Grape Creek Independent School District's School Board for 14 years, and his children attended school in Grape Creek. Having seen the community evolve and grow, Fisher admits the area is tough on businesses. There are no major employers, and he's seen businesses come and go, including: five banks, a lumber yard, an urgent care center, a florist, a Western apparel store, several video stores, several convenience stores and numerous restaurants. "When you open a business like this and put in the kind of money you have to, you're taking a big risk," Fisher said. "There are no guarantees." Saturday, the last day for the business, was marked with lots of hugs and crying. Patrons and vendors wandered around the store among the almost bare shelves and stopped to speak to the Fisher family and employees. One man grabbed a laminated meat market sign as a souvenir. Fisher isn't sure what he'll do next, but said he had no intention of moving away from Grape Creek at the present time. "I'll miss just being in the store," he said. "I'm here every day. I'd open at 8 a.m. and then do a little bit of everything, whatever was needed." He does regret not being able to pass the store on to his son Seth, 28, who abandoned his career as a physics teacher and joined the family business as a butcher. "I enjoyed teaching, but I joined the family business because I wanted to have more time with my family and have a life," Seth said. Now he doesn't know what he'll do. "I'm keeping my mind open and see what doors God opens." He is disappointed that the family legacy couldn't continue. "There has been so much time, money, blood, sweat and tears put in, but now we're having to start all over again," Seth said, but quickly adds, almost for his father, "You have to know when to cut your losses. You cawn only shovel water out of a sinking boat for so long ." Johnny laughs and compliments his son on an apt analogy. Then he adds, "We were all kind of let go at the same time." SHARE By Staff Report A San Angelo man was arrested on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping after forcing a teenager into his vehicle and threatening him at knife point. Jeremy Michael Herrera, was arrested Saturday and booked into Tom Green County Jail, according to a San Angelo Police Department news release. A complainant contacted police who told them his 16 year-old nephew was taken at knife point by an acquaintance from the parking lot of Giz and Hums, 1425 W. Beauregard, around 11:30 p.m. During the investigation, police found out Herrera was on his way to the Desert Shadow Apartments with the victim where he was detained, the release stated. Herrera and several acquaintances were in the Giz and Hums parking lot earlier in the evening when Herrera discovered money was missing from his vehicle. Herrera accused the victim of taking the money, forced him into his vehicle at knife point and drove to Lake Nasworthy where he threatened the victim at knife point, the release stated. Herrera did not find the alleged stolen money and then drove the victim to the apartment complex. The victim was not injured during the incident. Herrea remains in jail on a $100,00 bond, the release stated. Aggravated kidnapping is a second degree felony punishable by 2 to 99 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. SHARE By Staff Report Grief overtook Lynda McClain's world after her teenage son shot and killed himself with a handgun in 2012. After her son's suicide, McClain said she felt lost searching for the right support to help her cope. "It was like a bomb went off," McClain said Tuesday. "I remember what it was like to look up into the fog and there was nothing. There was just no help." McClain will be a volunteer at the Tom Green County Local Outreach for Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) Team training conference taking place April 11-12 at the Stephens Central Library's Sugg Community Room. McClain said she's hoping she can provide direction to families who have been affected by suicide. The two-day event, a collaboration of West Texas Guidance & Counseling and MHMR Services For the Concho Valley, is geared toward educating people about suicide, raising awareness and generating efforts to create a LOSS Team to provide "postvention" services in San Angelo, said Dusty McCoy, executive director of WTGC. "The goal is to make contact with the family and friends and get them to the services and support," McCoy said. "The purpose is to get them in and get them to be a part of the program and see what it's all about." Postvention is an intervention conducted after a suicide has occurred, where support is provided to the bereaved since family and friends of the suicide victim may be at increased risk of suicide themselves, McCoy said. The concept of postvention was coined by a suicidologist and thanatologist in 1972, Edwin Shneidman, and which has governed most of the work of the keynote speaker, Frank Campbell, a forensic suicidologist. Campbell created the LOSS Team, which is a team of trained survivors who would go to the scenes of suicides to disseminate information about resources and be the installation of hope for the newly bereaved. "The most important thing is just having someone there to listen and sharing stories of their lost," Campbell said. "A lot of what were going to do on those two days is get people talking about suicide." Day 1 is a full-day workshop where attendees will learn through a mixture of multimedia presentation how a sudden and traumatic loss can impact communities. Day 2 is also a full-day workshop and is geared specifically toward survivors of suicide, and focus will include an assessment for someone who has had a sudden and traumatic loss. Although the suicide rate in Tom Green County has declined somewhat since the 1990s, it remains persistently above the state and national average. Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services, Center for Health Statistics shows the average suicide rate in Texas in 2012 was 11.1 people per 100,000 population; Tom Green County, with its population of slightly more than 100,000, has averaged about 15 deaths a year in the last decade. The problem is present in San Angelo, McCoy said, but there isn't a solution. "People want to do something about this," McCoy said. "We're coming together and we're going to do something about it but there's a lot of work to do." Efforts to establish a LOSS Team in San Angelo has been very grass roots, McCoy said, adding that WTCG have been in touch with local law enforcement such as the Tom Green County Sheriff's Office Crisis Intervention Unit and the San Angelo Police department get involvement. "All the people we have involved and will be involved have great potential," McCoy said. "It's time to act and do something about it." The workshop is free to survivors of suicide and volunteers as well as law enforcements. There is $50.00 registration fee for professionals and personnel beginning at 8:30 a.m. The training is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. "I would make it an effort to be there and see if there is something that can help with," said McClain. "I have found since even before this kind of thing happened that the best way to recover is to be a blessing to someone. So maybe this is an opportunity to reach out through helping yourself by helping someone else." Michael Gerson is a Washington Post columnist. Contact him at michaelgerson@washpost.com. SHARE If Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee, one of the main reasons will be that many in the conservative movement found him acceptable. And one of the main reasons that many conservatives are finding Trump acceptable is that the most influential political talk radio host in history, Rush Limbaugh, has provided his blessing. Not his endorsement. Limbaugh takes pains to preserve neutrality between Trump and Ted Cruz, whom he describes as the obvious choice "if conservatism is the dominating factor in how you vote." But Limbaugh also has consistently defended Trump as a legitimate choice for those whose dominating factor is the humiliation of "the establishment." Early in the campaign, when Trump attacked Sen. John McCain's status as a war hero, Limbaugh responded by praising Trump's courage, defending him as "an embattled public figure" willing to "stand up for himself, double down and tell everybody to go to hell." Through a long series of controversies, Limbaugh has excused Trump's narcissism and bluster as an endearing "schtick." Trump's deviations from conservative orthodoxy are noted but considered secondary. "I think with the case of Trump," argues Limbaugh, "there's a much bigger upside than downside." The upside, in this view, is not just taking the political fight to liberalism; it also is overturning a failed and corrupt Republican political order. Limbaugh dismisses defenders of this order as fundamentally self-interested. "(Trump) has put together a coalition that's exactly what the Republican Party says that it needs to win, and yet, look what they're doing. They're trying to get Trump out of the race, because they're not in charge of it." Opposing Trump is the work of a "cliquish, elitist club," preserving its influence and employment prospects. This criticism is sometimes expanded to include the conservative intelligentsia. "I'm talking about the establishment," says Limbaugh, "conservative media, the brainiacs, the think tanks, the professors." For decades, Limbaugh set the tone of popular conservatism by arguing for ideological purity. Now, the great champion of conservatism has enabled the rise of the "least conservative Republican presidential aspirant in living memory" (in the words of Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs). Trump is a candidate who talks more of personal rule than limited government. A candidate who praises a single-payer health system, proposes higher taxes on the wealthy, opposes entitlement reform and advocates the systematic destruction of Ronald Reagan's foreign policy. This is the politician Limbaugh has given the ideological hall pass of a lifetime. Why might this concern your average conservative brainiac? First it is necessary to dismiss Limbaugh's consistent questioning of motives. Many men and women I know who work on Capitol Hill, in conservative media or in think tanks are hardly in it for the money or job security. Criticizing their venality from 30,000 feet in his Gulfstream jet rings particularly hollow. Most in this Republican "establishment" believe they are serving a set of ideals, which includes market economics and limited government. There is no longer a Nelson Rockefeller wing of the GOP that is attempting to block the rise of the conservative movement. Leaders such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are conservative by any serious measure. But they are forced to live within the constraints of our constitutional system. They don't have the option of inhabiting a fantasy world where entitlements such as "Obamacare" can be undone by the Legislature alone. Such utopianism is fundamentally at odds with constitutionalism. And many Republicans, in Washington and elsewhere, do not view civility, inclusion and tolerance as forms of weakness or compromise. In fact, they view casual misogyny, racial stereotyping and religious bigotry as moral failings, in their children and in their leaders. And they oppose as a matter of faith or philosophy any form of populism that has exclusion, cruelty or dehumanization at its core. In reading Trump's recent interview with The Washington Post editorial board, what is striking is not only his shallowness (though his policy depth must be measured in microns). It is his utter rootlessness. None of his ideas or proposals is placed in the context of ideals or ideology, Republican or otherwise. Trump possesses impulses and instincts. He does not reason from first principles. Whatever the appeal of his authoritarian populism, it does not remotely resemble conservatism. Populist anti-intellectualism, on the rise at least since Sarah Palin, has culminated in Trump. It is the passing of conservatism, even if Limbaugh baptizes the dead. Michael Gerson is a Washington Post columnist. Contact him at michaelgerson@washpost.com. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry may have stumped for Ted Cruz for president, but there's no record he voted in this year's Republican primary in Texas. A spokesman for Perry suggested his ballot may have been lost in the mail.Perry is registered to vote in Fayette County, about 75 miles east of Austin, where he and his wife Anita moved after he stepped down as governor in 2015.Fayette County Elections Administrator Dina Bell confirmed by email on Tuesday that Perry requested a mail-in ballot for the March 1 Republican primary and one was given to him on Feb. 1. Bell recalled that Perry showed up in person to get it but that her office never received the completed ballot."A voted ballot was never received from James Richard Perry," Bell wrote.Jeff Miller, Perry's former campaign manager, insists that Perry filled out the ballot and mailed it in."He says he voted," Miller said. "He sent it within 72 hours of receiving it."On Jan. 25, Perry endorsed Cruz for president after ending his own presidential bid in September. Throughout late January and February, Perry served as a surrogate for Cruz on the campaign trail.Cruz won the Texas primary with 44 percent of the vote, followed by 27 percent for billionaire Donald Trump.From 1992 to 2014, Perry was registered to vote in Travis County, where he voted 61 times including 22 Republican primaries and primary runoff elections, records show.Perry's failure to vote in this year's Texas primary could lead to more speculation that he is interested in running as an independent candidate for president. Miller ruled out such a run last week and again on Tuesday after Perry's name surfaced in conversations among some conservative activists searching for an independent candidate to support if Donald Trump wins the GOP nomination."He's got no interest in running for the independent party," Miller said.There are two key requirements in Texas for someone to run as an independent candidate for president.First, a candidate would have had to abstain from voting in one of the state's primaries because doing so would declare themselves as either a Democrat or Republican.Second, a candidate would need to gather 79,939 signatures by May 9 from Texans who had also not voted in either of the primaries that year. Legislation to block Planned Parenthood from receiving any state funding was vetoed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe.The measure, introduced by Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, is similar to that enacted in 11 states after an anti-abortion group released videos it said showed Planned Parenthood employees were trying to sell fetal tissue. Several subsequent investigations found no evidence of such sales.The bill would have barred the state Department of Health from granting funds to any entity that does abortions that aren't covered by Medicaid. Cline has said the aim was to stop state money going to Planned Parenthood.A review by the General Assembly's fiscal analysts said the impact of cutting funding would be that 59 cases of sexually transmitted diseases a year would go undiagnosed.While the measure would also prevent such entities from getting state funds for performing abortions after a rape or act of incest, no entity other than a hospital has ever billed the state for doing so.The bill would also put clinics such as Planned Parenthood at the bottom of a list for receiving state funds for family planning services, but 99.7 percent of what the state spends for these services go to local health departments."This bill, aimed at Planned Parenthood, would harm tens of thousands of Virginians who rely on the health care services and programs provided by Planned Parenthood health centers," McAuliffe said in his veto state.He said federal rules governing the federal funds Virginia receives to pay for family planning services require states be fair when they determine which providers it pays. Roy Cooper, the North Carolina attorney general, said Tuesday that his office will not defend state officials and state agencies against the law adopted last week that strikes down locally enacted protections for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people.Cooper, a Democrat running for governor, called the measure "a national embarrassment" that "will set North Carolina's economy back if we don't repeal it."Since Gov. Pat McCrory signed the so-called HB2 into law, there has been a backlash of opposition from businesses, sporting event organizers, the White House and on Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio both issued bans on nonessential government travel to North Carolina to protest the measure."The threats to our economy will grow even darker the longer this law stays in effect," Cooper said at a news conference Tuesday.Cooper, whose office put in an antidiscrimination policy in 2001, said the law conflicts with that state Department of Justice policy and a similar one adopted by the state treasury department.Because he plans to defend the agencies against the state law, Cooper said he would not defend McCrory, the University of North Carolina board of governors and others named in a federal lawsuit filed Monday.During Cooper's news conference, North Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore, Phil Berger, sent out a statement calling for Cooper to step down from his elected post."Roy Cooper's refusal to defend the law makes clear he wants the ACLU to win by default in federal court what they can't win at the ballot box and allow men to walk into locker rooms at YMCAs across our country and undress in front of young girls," Berger, a Republican from Rockingham County, said in a statement. "His zeal for pandering for the extreme left's money and agenda in his race for governor is making it impossible for him to fulfill his duties as attorney general _ and he should resign immediately."Cooper responded that he had no plans to step down, that he planned to continue to do his job.The attorney general pointed out that his office had defended the state against laws he personally didn't agree with _ citing the 2013 elections overhaul that included a voter ID provision as one. The university and UNC system board of governors has hired outside counsel to represent them on other legal issues, Cooper pointed out. And the governor, Cooper said, "has not hesitated to hire his own attorneys and we would assume he would want to do that again in this case.""My office has stepped up and defended some bad legislation that I do not agree with," Cooper said. "We do our job in this office. We have seen legislation passed that hurts North Carolinians. We've seen legislation passed that hurts people's ability to register to vote. Our office is required _ and we have stepped up to defend those cases regardless of any other consequences. But, that fact has encouraged me to run for governor, because I know as attorney general I can't have as much of an effect on those policies as I can running for governor."The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina, Equality NC, and Lambda Legal _ four organizations challenging House Bill 2 in federal court _ released a joint statement praising Cooper's decision."North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, the state's top law enforcement official, has concluded House Bill 2 is unconstitutional and harms North Carolinians without justification," the statement said. "As our lawsuit highlighted yesterday, House Bill 2 singles out the LGBT community for discrimination. That's not only incompatible with the state's constitutional and legal obligations but also our shared values as North Carolinians." No charges will be filed against the two Minneapolis officers involved in the shooting death last fall of Jamar Clark, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday, citing DNA and other evidence that Clark had a hand on one officer's gun during a struggle and was not handcuffed when shot.For more than 30 minutes in a downtown Minneapolis news conference and with Clark's family and supporters present, Freeman laid out in meticulous detail the evidence that led to his decision and showed video from the scene.Clark, 24, a black man, was shot in the head during the scuffle with the two white Minneapolis police officers on Nov. 15. The shooting led to international attention, widespread local protests, and an 18-day encampment outside the police department's Fourth Precinct in north Minneapolis, near the site of the shooting.In the prelude to rolling out the evidence and his decision, Freeman nodded to the spate of killings of citizens by police officers in Chicago, Cleveland and elsewhere in the past year or so, saying, "This case is not at all similar to other seen around the country," he said. The officers "did not have an opportunity to withdraw" from the conflict with Clark.Freeman said the investigation, led by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension with help from the FBI, found that:-- Clark was not handcuffed, as some witnesses contended, when he struggled with two officers.-- Clark had his hand on officer Mark Ringgenberg's handgun during the scuffle on the ground and ignored repeated orders to remove his hand from the weapon.-- During the altercation, Clark said more than once, "I'm ready to die."Freeman brought with him to the highly anticipated announcement evidence from the investigation into Clark's death on a North Side street as well as video that law enforcement collected from the scene that night. Much of what the investigation found, including video, was being posted Wednesday on the county attorney's website. Freeman said "this degree of transparency ... unprecedented."After Freeman announced his decision, activists at the news conference challenged him, saying he had disregarded statements by witnesses at the scene.Plans for two gatherings in response to Freeman's decision are in the works. A rally organized by Justice4Jamar, is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. at Plymouth and James Avenues N., near where Clark was shot. The groups Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and Justice4Jamar announced on Facebook a gathering at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Elliot Park, just south of downtown.On the North Side, some businesses announced early in the afternoon that they were closing, including Cub Foods on Broadway, one of the few supermarket options for residents in that part of the city.According to Freeman, citing the evidence presented to him:Officers told Clark to take his hands out of his pockets and he wouldn't. Ringgenberg, who had initially taken his gun out of its holster, put the gun back in the holster and grabbed Clark's right wrist. Officer Dustin Schwarze grabbed Clark's other arm and dropped his handcuffs while trying to cuff him. Ringgenberg then tried a takedown move of Clark, as he had been trained to do, and they both fell to the ground with Ringgenberg's back to Clark's stomach.Ringgenberg felt his holstered gun go from his hip to the small of his back. Ringgenberg reached back and felt Clark's hand on his gun. He repeatedly told Schwarze: "He's got my gun, he's got my gun."Schwarze put his gun to edge of Clark's mouth and said, "Let go or I'm going to shoot you."Schwarze said Clark looked at him and said "I'm ready to die."Schwarze pulled the trigger once, but the slide caught. He pulled the trigger again and the gun went off, 61 seconds after the officers first encountered Clark.Freeman said the handcuffs were found afterward in the grass near where Clark had been shot. Freeman said they were unclasped and had Clark's blood on them on one side, leaving investigators to conclude they were not on Clark when Schwarze fired.Also, Freeman continued, there was no DNA from Clark on the inside of the handcuffs. Clark's DNA was found on the grip of Ringgenberg's gun, the county attorney added.Video was then shown of some of the events that Freeman chronicled. As the video being displayed showed Ringgenberg taking down Clark, someone shouts to Freeman, "How is that resisting?"Once Freeman offered to take questions, Clark supporters peppered him with questions and statements.One person said Freeman did not give a "fair and accurate account" of what happened. Raeisha Williams, communications director for Minneapolis NAACP and a City Council candidate, said, "If the city burns, it's on your hands."When asked, Freeman acknowledged that only the officers heard Clark say, "I'm ready to die."Nekima Levy-Pounds, head of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, attended Freeman's news conference and said to him, "You did not give any credence or credibility to what the witnesses on the North Side had to say. You have not held one single officer accountable who has killed someone."Jeremy Baker, 41, Clark's cousin, left the room upon hearing Freeman say no charges would be filed and said, "They killed my cousin! They shot him in the head. Are you serious? This is so sad."The police union has contended almost from the day of the shooting that an uncuffed Clark had his hand on one of the officers' guns when he was shot. Activists have said that's not true and that Clark was handcuffed at the time.Police had been called on a report that Clark assaulted his girlfriend and blocked paramedics from trying to treat her on the street in the 1600 block of Plymouth Avenue N. Clark died the next day.Ringgenberg, 30, and Schwarze, 29, were placed on administrative leave but returned to police desk jobs in January. Both officers have more than seven years of policing experience, including the past 17 months with Minneapolis. Neither has had any disciplinary actions since they joined the Minneapolis force, according to the police union.Schwarze, while a Richfield police officer, is accused in a still-pending lawsuit to have deployed a Taser on the passenger of a vehicle pulled over by officers in December 2011. He also is accused of threatening to beat the tased victim and a second passenger if they got out of the vehicle.While Ringgenberg was a San Diego police officer, he was sued in federal court in 2012 for alleged rough treatment of a suspect resisting arrest. The suit was dismissed.The BCA investigated the Clark case and turned over its findings to Freeman in February. Earlier this month, Freeman reversed decades of precedent and announced he would not use a grand jury in police-involved shootings, including in the Clark case. Its difficult to put a label on a cloud company like Accela. Over the years its digital services have tackled an ever-expanding list of government challenges. Solutions range from land management to legislation to licensing. They cover water distribution, transit and civic engagement. As part of its move to be the all-in-one vendor for city needs, Accela has pursued partnerships or outright acquisitions of other companies large and small.In March, Accela reported a partnership with DocuSign to add electronic signatures into its Civic Platform for legislative management. And in the last two years, the company has acquired nine new ventures while enlarging its customer base to 2,200-plus city, county and state customers.has placed Accela on its inaugural GovTech100 list of notable companies for its work and has honored CEO Maury Blackman as one of its Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of 2016.In January, Blackman spoke withabout how the company continues to diversify offerings and retool government services.: Undeniably, 2015 was a monumental year for Accela. In February [2015], we closed another funding round that has brought us north of $233 million invested in the business. Were using this latest round to continue growing the Accela family through acquisitions and partnerships, while investing in building an even stronger Civic Platform.Building on six announced acquisitions in 2014 (Decade Software, Government Outreach, Kinsail, Envista, IQM2, GeoTMS), we established our productivity and civic engagement platform as unparalleled in the industry, adding Springbrook Software, SoftRight and PublicStuff in Spring 2015. Were now laser-focused on efficiently integrating these stellar technologies into the core infrastructure of the Accela Civic Platform.In October, we unveiled Civic Platform 8.0, offering a responsive and carefully crafted user interface that reinvents the way government workers interact with residents and meet their daily goals. In 2015, Accelas customer base grew significantly to more than 2,200 local and state government customers worldwide. Across all product lines, we celebrated more than 2,000 cities and counties going live on the Civic Platform, and we continued partnering with organizations and businesses that share our vision of making government more efficient and effective for residents.For more than 15 years, Accela has been the industry leader in designing and delivering productivity and civic engagement software to help government agencies be their best.Today, citizens are savvy to how services should be delivered, and expect a consistently convenient, openly transparent view into their local government. While government agencies struggle to do more with less, our mission has never been more critical. Accela provides a robust, cloud-based platform of productivity and civic engagement resources for governments of any size to offer their citizens. These resources and technology solutions provide transparent information and access to open data to realize profound change in how citizens interact and engage with their local government.This past year, we unveiled several partnerships that will help cities ramp up their civic and gov tech initiatives this year. The most notable, in California, is the Northern and Central California SunShot Alliance. Accela formed this alliance with PG&E, SolarCity, Qado Energy and the City of Livermore to speed up solar permitting and increase solar adoption within the Bay Area by enabling the construction and interconnection of rooftop solar systems in one day or less. Since formation, more cities are joining the alliance, which shows the power of change and efficiency possible when industry-leading technology aligns with motivated municipalities.Over the years, much of the focus of our business has been about creating streamlined processes and efficiencies for government agencies. Were now seeing a very distinct shift in demand for not only technologies that improve intra-office processes, but also apps and software that create lines of communication between governments and citizens. This shift keeps me up at night, in the best way possible.Im motivated by the prospect of citizen engagement becoming a true reality across cities. Its the reason Accela has spent so much of the past year acquiring companies and strengthening our product offerings for citizen interaction. This is the future, and we are driven to continue having a hand in shaping and accelerating comprehensive civic engagement.A key component to us being impactful in the lives of residents and cities is our ability to understand our customers needs and deliver solutions that put the information and access directly into their hands, when and where they want it. To do this, we maintain tight communication with our customers through every medium possible in order to continue adapting our solutions to best meet their needs. Our customers today directly impact the sales success and customer growth of our business tomorrow.In government, the industry is inherently risk-averse meaning everyone talks to everyone before they make decisions. Our business succeeds on the references of our current customers, and through open discourse and communication with our customer base, we are ensuring that we will continue to deliver products and services that will direct the future growth of civic tech. James Allison is spending some time away from formula one as he mourns the recent death of his wife, it has emerged. On his wife Rebecca's Facebook page, the 48-year-old Briton confirmed to friends and family last week that she died suddenly from meningitis. "We at Ferrari are united with him and his family during this period of profound sorrow," said Ferrari, where Allison is the technical director. Speed Week, a German-language publication, claims that following Rebecca's death, Allison returned home to Britain. Normally, he commutes between Britain, where his wife lived with their three children, and his work in Italy. "From Italy, we hear that to Ferrari's credit, James Allison has been given total freedom to organise his life anew," said correspondent Mathias Brunner. "Nobody knows when he will return to the race tracks again," he added. But we reported in February that Allison actually did not plan to travel to all the grands prix in 2016, after Ferrari signed up Jock Clear to head track operations. (GMM) The lack of time and unanimity means F1 is stuck with the hated 'musical chairs' qualifying system for Bahrain. Mercedes' Toto Wolff, who like most other stakeholders declared the new 90 second countdown system "rubbish" after its farcical debut in Australia, sounded exasperated on Tuesday when faced with the prospect of a repeat this weekend. "We haven't found the right format with this change and it's hard to see how it might be more entertaining for the fans this weekend in Bahrain," he said. Team bosses were initially unanimous in wanting to scrap the system after Australia, but it emerges that McLaren and Red Bull opposed simply tweaking 'Q3'. A senior insider believes McLaren, in particular, felt so strongly about reverting to the popular 2015 format that it was not prepared to accept the "fudge" alternatives offered by the FIA in recent days. "There is no time to find another solution so the FIA cannot do anything other than maintain the system from Australia," F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is quoted by Spain's El Confidencial. France's L'Equipe called the qualifying saga 'Le Grande Farce'. And another French-language source, RMC, said a petition has been launched through the change.org platform calling for an immediate change "as per the wishes of teams, drivers and fans". Indeed, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel declared in Melbourne that the new format is "s--t", angrily revealing that the drivers warned in advance that it would not work. "I don't see why everybody is surprised. We all said what's going to happen and it happened," said the German. "There's a certain responsibility -- we can't just try things that many of us criticise and then turn around and say it was the wrong thing. We need to be sensible and try to do the right changes," Vettel added. (GMM) According to Clipper Data market intelligence cited by the Financial Times , weve seen a 5 percent decline in U.S. crude oil export volumes since the beginning of this year. The data suggests that on average we are exporting (waterborne) 325,000 barrels per day now, compared to 342,000 barrels per day during the first months of 2015. Just over three months after the authorities lifted the four-decade ban on crude oil exports, the US has actually exported less this year than it did over the same period the year before, when the ban was still in place. And theres no official data yetnot since the beginning of this year, when the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted that during the week ending 22 January, the U.S. had exported just shy of 400,000 barrels of oil, which again was 25 percent less than what was exported for the same week in 2014. An oil tanker that reached a French port in January was the first post-ban delivery of U.S. crude oil, but things havent really picked up pace since then. Januarys cargoes, totaling about 11.3 million barrels, marked a 7 percent decline from U.S. crude exports in December, according to data by the U.S. Census Bureau. Shipments during January went to Curacao and France, in addition to Canada, the primary destination. The total number of tankers that have set sail with U.S. crude oil will not be known until comprehensive data on Februarys shipments is released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The immediate beneficiaries of the ban suspension are gas and oil companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobilamong the most tireless lobbyers against the banand oil trading giants such as Vitol Group BV and Trafigura Ltd Pet. Europe and Asia are flooded with oil from Russia and the Middle East, though the first two shipments to leave the U.S. post-export ban went to Europe: one to Germany and the other to France, to be used in a refinery in Switzerland. Dutch media outlets reported in January that a tanker from Houston had reached Rotterdam port, but this remains just a drop in the global export bucket. In Asia, even Chinas state-run Sinopecthe worlds second-largest refinerhas imported a consignment of U.S. oil, according to a Reuters source. Japans Cosmo Oil was the first Asian buyer of U.S. oil, purchasing some 300,000 barrels of U.S. crude in mid-January, which will be delivered to its refineries in mid-April. The very first South American country that will import U.S. crude oil is Venezuela. In early February, Venezuelas state-run oil company PDVSA imported a 550,000-barrel cargo of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) through its U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum affiliate. Venezuela started importing foreign crudes in 2014 amid a fall in its own productionbuying mostly Angolan and Nigerian light grades. WTI is also expected to be exported to Israel, where Swiss commodities house Trafigura will ship some 700,000 barrels. Atlantic Trading & Marketing, the U.S. trading unit of French Total SA, has been planning an export cargo of U.S. crude from Cushing. Also, earlier this month, Exxon became the first U.S. oil company to export U.S. crude, sending a tanker from Texas to a refinery it owns in Italy. However, storage is now at the highest level in at least a decade. U.S., crude storage levels hit 487 million barrels in early November, closing in on the 80-year high of 518 million barrels in the last week of February. According to the EIA, about 60 percent of the U.S. working storage capacity is filled. Globally, the picture isnt much better, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) saying that 1 billion barrels were added to storage in 2015 alone. OPEC has reported that crude oil stockpiles in OECD countries currently exceed the running five-year average by 210 million barrels. Article Source: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Lifted-The-Crude-Oil-Export-Ban-And-Exports-WentDown.html The Green River Police Department has released more details in a SWAT team action that resulted in multiple arrests, but targeted the wrong house. The action was joint operation involving the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation, Sweetwater County Sheriffs Office and GRPD. In a letter to the editor responding to a column printed in The Green River Star last week, Chief Chris Steffen said a three-man team ended up at the wrong address as the result of a mistake occurring from multiple factors. It is tough to explain the confusion that is created from chaos, rush of the moment,... Officers provided traffic control for a vehicle that was stuck and was awaiting a tow truck on Wilkes Drive and Evans Street. Officers were dispatched to an alarm on West Teton Boulevard. The property was checked and officers left a message for the resident. Officers responded to an agency assist with Wyoming Highway Patrol, in reference to a traffic accident on Interstate 80. Animal control officers responded to an anonymous barking dog complaint on Pheasant Drive. Animal control officers checked and parked in the area and did not hear any dogs barking. Officers contacted a resident who ha... (Editors Note: This was originally submitted as a letter to the editor, however due to its length and the topics covered, were publishing this as a guest column.) By CHRIS STEFFEN Green River Police Chief After reading the article about the mistake made by the joint tactical team in (the March 23) Green River Star, I felt compelled to respond, where possible, to the items you referenced in the article. As a department we did respond on each of the items you discussed at a level we felt was adequate when they occurred. With additional comments and questions that have come up as a... During a recent visit to Copenhagen, I squeezed in a visit with city officials to learn more about the Danish health system particularly the countrys arrangements for long-term care, a topic that draws endless complaints from American families, including many readers of this column. Coincidentally, the day I returned home, I learned the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which runs both programs, had just released star ratings for the countrys home care agencies that provide services to nearly 5 million Americans. The home health industry did not shine brightly. Only th... Sarah Quick serves students a main dish one of the other students made. Paper suitcases were packed full of information and hung on the white board. Each suitcase had a destination on them, places to visit, foods to try and who was going on the trip. Monroe Intermediate School students were challenged to select a country they would like to visit, research the country and plan a trip to the country they selected. MIS teacher Terri Jones said the students could pick any country they wanted to and had the option of collaborating with another classmate. "Some immediately had a country in mind, while others made their selection after viewing their options in our med... GREENSBORO Fellow students start to applaud Amber Whites portrayal of Sarah Brown in the musical Guys and Dolls until Ian Wooldridge stops them. We dont have applause in the acting classroom, Wooldridge tells the N.C. A&T theater arts students. Simply because people suffer by comparison. For some people, it would be a diminishing experience, as opposed to an uplifting experience. He turns to White. Its very good, he says. Its a great start. This week, Wooldridge came to A&T from the British American Drama Academy in London, where he is dean and director. For six years, he has visited A&T for a few days each spring to teach workshops in acting and auditioning. Six of its theater students have successfully auditioned since 2014 to attend the BADA summer program in Oxford, concentrating on classical acting with an emphasis on Shakespeare. This relationship with BADA and Ian shows that we take classical theater seriously and that we are going to go beyond what we teach in the classroom, said Donna Bradby, A&T theater arts professor. *** Its all because of Frankie Day. Back in 2010, when Day led the theater arts program, she auditioned via video for the summer program in Oxford, portraying Cleopatra. It was pretty striking stuff, Wooldridge told the students. He accepted Day into the program. At the time, Wooldridge had visited Spelman College and Morehouse College in Atlanta to teach workshops and audition students. With Days help, he expanded his visits to include A&T and several other historically black colleges and universities in the United States. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude, he said. Last October, Day died at age 59 after battling ovarian and stomach cancer. She is a great loss, and I miss her very much, Wooldridge said. *** Wooldridge wanted to continue to visit A&T and guide its theater students. This is a wonderful institution, and it has a great theater department, he said. In the workshop, his talk turns to auditions. Actors go through kind of an audition-itis, a phase when they just shy away, he tells students. They know that the odds are stacked against them. What I am hoping to do in these couple sessions is empower you, he continues. Its all about making the actor feel good about the audition, making the actor look forward to auditioning. And making the actor leave the room, when they have done their audition, with their integrity intact and their self-respect at a very high level. What does he look for in the audition? Courage, Wooldrige says. I am looking for the capacity of an individual to make bold, dynamic choices about that situation and to commit to them. Students will have little more than a minute to perform a monologue from a play. Five of them give it a shot. Ishmael Muhammad, a freshman from Charlotte, portrays the son, Cory, in the August Wilson play Fences, in a powerful scene where he confronts his father. Very good, Wooldridge says. He gives advice. What I am looking for is something that is a little more visceral or raw, he says. Muhammad tries it two more times, taking his voice and emotion up a few notches. Good, Wooldridge says. He gives four more students three tries to deliver their monologues, offering advice after each try. White, a freshman, delivers her performance from Guys and Dolls. Sophomore Dominique Williams plays Avery Brown, a preacher trying to court Berniece in August Wilsons The Piano Lesson. Sophomore Madison Fant portrays Titania, Queen of the Fairies in Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream. Junior Danielle Tucker plays Tonya in Wilsons King Hedley II. She delivers a dramatic scene in which Tonya confronts King, her husband, about his behavior. Its strong already, Wooldridge says. For her third try, he suggests that Tucker try something that she had never done before. If you surprise yourself, you are likely to surprise the person you are auditioning for, he says. Tucker follows Wooldridges advice. Instead of starting at center stage, she starts from the side. Rather than stand still, she moves her hands when she addresses King. And she giggles a bit to lighten the situation. Nice, Wooldridge says. The lessons benefit him, Muhammad says later. One of my challenges is overcoming my nervousness and anxiety when auditioning, Muhammad said. This adds to my experience in helping me overcome the obstacle I face. l l l Many of the students hope to someday attend BADAs summer session at Magdalen College in Oxford. Over the last two summers, students Williams, Bijan Shaw, Mia Sims, April Davis, Joseph Johnson and Andrew Coleman have studied there. It was really great, just learning from people who have done Shakespeare and performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as learning from other people in the program, said Williams, who spent four weeks there in 2015. But the deadline to register for this years auditions has passed. So A&T students will have to wait until next year to audition. They might have to audition via video. This is Wooldridges last trip to A&T as BADAs dean and director. He will step down when he turns 70 later this year. He plans to continue teaching acting and directing plays as a freelancer. Bradby said she hopes that BADA will send someone else to A&T, if Wooldridge doesnt return. His experience visiting A&T and U.S. colleges and universities has been wonderful, energizing, brilliant, fabulous, Wooldridge says. I shall miss it. GREENSBORO The political and economic fallout continued Tuesday over House Bill 2, the controversial new state law limiting protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper announced that he would not defend the law against a federal lawsuit filed Monday, prompting praise from opponents of the new law and denunciations from its supporters. Cooper called the law a national embarrassment that will set the states economy back unless it is repealed. The law blocks local governments from passing anti-discrimination rules that include LGBT people and requires that transgender people use public restrooms of their biological sex. We know that businesses here and all over the country have taken a strong stance in opposition to this law, Cooper said Tuesday. LGBT advocacy groups Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina underscored that point Tuesday afternoon, releasing a letter co-signed by 80 chief executive officers and business leaders calling for the repeal of the law. The list includes such corporate heavyweights as IBM CEO Virginia Rometty, Apple head Tim Cook and Microsoft President Brad Smith, as well as George Scangos, whose company Biogen is one of the states largest employers. We believe that HB 2 will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nations best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the country, the letter reads. It will also diminish the states draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses and economic activity. Discrimination is wrong, and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country. Dow Chemical, American Airlines and Wells Fargo have denounced the bill. In a statement last week, the NBA said it may reconsider plans to hold the 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte. The NCAA also has suggested the law could have an effect on its decision to hold future tournaments and events in the state. Then there was Mondays announcement by the High Point Market Authority that its business is already being significantly hurt by the law. The group runs the largest furnishing industry trade show in the world, the High Point Market. According to economic impact studies, it is the largest economic event in the state each year, having an impact of $5.3 billion annually. McCrory has claimed that a large number of businesses supported the law, but his office has not listed those companies despite many media requests. NC Values Coalition, which urged passage of the law, claimed in a Tuesday news release that it had a list of more than 300 North Carolina businesses which had pledged support for HB 2. Claiming that most businesses feared retaliation if their support was made public, the group released a list of 17 companies it said had agreed to openly support the law. But the largest and most influential of the companies on that list HanesBrands of Winston-Salem said it doesnt support the law and asked to be removed. HanesBrands has not taken a position on HB 2 other than to note that it will have no effect on our companys strong anti-discrimination policies and practices that include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, spokesman Matt Hall said in an email to the News & Record. When asked about the HanesBrands error, NC Values Coalition spokeswoman Kami Mueller said her group acknowledges the mistake and has removed the company from its list. When asked about the veracity of the rest of the list, Mueller clarified that it actually represents more than 300 individuals, not businesses. The people on the list are business leaders who gave permission for their companies to be listed, Mueller said. But Keith Zimmerman, the HanesBrands employee on the NC Values Coalition list of supporters, does not hold a leadership position in which he would speak for the company, according to Hall. He had no intention of speaking for the company and is not authorized to do so, Hall said. When asked if there was a chance that other people on the list might not be authorized to represent their companies, Mueller said: Theres a chance of everything. Theres a chance I could get hit by a bus. Michael Bitzer, a professor of political science and history at Catawba College in Salisbury, said the governor and legislature should have anticipated the backlash. Similar reactions in the business community have prevented such laws from being passed elsewhere in the country. I think what they didnt expect was the swiftness and the clear signals being sent to the legislature and the governor, Bitzer said. Theres little chance that either the governor or General Assembly will reverse course on the law now though, he said. Its hard for me to see how the state could backtrack on it at this point, Bitzer said. With the lawsuit filed, I think theyre going to have to stake their claim to the reasoning behind it. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper always took their studies seriously. They wanted to excel because their parents instilled in them the belief that succeeding in the classroom would put them on the path to college and successful, well-paying jobs. It was not the only credo inculcated in the sisters by their family. When the lunch bell rang, the girls would walk across the street and picket their own school with signs condemning their classmates for their immorality. The other students would respond by making obscene gestures and pelting them with apples. This was the compartmentalized lifestyle that defined the childhood of the Phelps-Roper sisters, their siblings and cousins who grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Westboro has cultivated a reviled reputation around the world for its homophobic rhetoric, which portrays America as a doomed nation for its acceptance of LGBT people and other acts the church views as sinful. Westboro is the church that coined the infamous slogan, God Hates Fags, which the sisters and other members would chant and proclaim with signs on picket lines at countless events, including military funerals. No longer in the church, the sisters told their story to more than 100 students during a talk Tuesday afternoon at Greenwich High School organized by the Connecticut Anti-Defamation League. Our goal was never to convert anyone - we thought only God had that power, Megan said. We just wanted to publish this message and get it out to as many people as possible. We truly believed that the only way for us to love our neighbors as ourselves was to warn them of the coming wrath of God for our sins. While Westboro members preached bigoted messages, they were neither naive nor uneducated, the sisters said. The church - which comprises some 70 members who are mostly relatives of Megan and Grace - is filled with lawyers and others who have advanced degrees. Westboro members embrace the power of media to disseminate their viewpoints. Megan joined Twitter in 2009 to give the church a social-media platform. At first, she would tweet incendiary statements - thanking God for AIDS on World AIDS Day, for instance - and provoking indignant and scathing responses. She found a game opponent in a Jewish blogger from Jerusalem named David Abitbol, whom she initially taunted for his faiths dead rote rituals. He responded with sarcastic rejoinders, but their correspondences would mature into sincere theological debates. Twitter made something that was all but impossible on the picket line, Megan said. We had started to see each other as human beings. David and I were actually listening to each other. As Megans online friendships with Abitbol and others flourished, she started to grapple with doubts about Westboro. By early 2012, she was contemplating leaving the church. But she would not quit without first telling her closest confidante, Grace. Leaving Westboro would result in essentially being excommunicated by their family. Id never considered leaving the church before; it was our worst nightmare, Grace said. I told Megan we couldnt leave. Even if some things were wrong, the church was right about so much We went back and forth on this question for a few months before finally realizing unless something drastic changed we would have to leave. Since getting out about three years ago, Megan and Grace have traveled around the country to meet with students and others to share their story. On Tuesday, they also spoke at Temple Sholom in Greenwich and Staples High School in Westport. Megan, 30, now lives in South Dakota. She is working on a book related to her experiences in the church. Grace, 23, lives in the Florida panhandle, where she works for a LGBT advocacy group. Students were keen to learn more about the sisters story, asking them a number of questions about how their faith and worldview had evolved in recent years. Junior Sampson Phillips said he wanted to understand Westboro members motivation for picketing military funerals, a tactic he described as nasty and vulgar. Megan said her late grandfather, Westboro founder Fred Phelps, conceived of the pickets at soldiers funerals as a way to critique events he saw as patriotic pep rallies, and expose a country that the Westboro congregation deemed to be at war with God. Gramps would say Dying time is truth time, Megan said. When people are at funerals, they have thoughts of heaven and hell and eternity and what is life, and that is the time to go warn people about their sins and that they have to repent." Megan said that she no longer sees the Bible as the infallible word of God, although she still reads Scripture because of her interest in theology. Grace said she finds her faith in the goodness of others. People are real, Grace said. They are worth devoting our time and energy to. We believe in people and trying to help people, Megan said. We cant undo any of the things that we did, but we can try to repair some of the damage. pschott@scni.com; 203-625-4439; twitter: @paulschott One of the Brooklyn Bread Labs specialty pizzas. Photo: Melissa Hom In this age of chef collabs and new concept tryouts, the pizza pop-up is becoming a bit of a culinary trope. Robertas has almost made the practice a business model, with a regular rotation of temporary residencies in outdoor markets, beer bars, and like-minded restaurants around town. And last month, Semillas Pam Yung and Jose Ramirez-Ruiz packed the 18-seat house for a night of naturally leavened pan pizza and large-format natural wines. Tonight, the Brooklyn Bread Lab gets in on the action: New Orleans chef Alon Shaya (of Domenica, Pizza Domenica, and Shaya) has come to New York to study the delicate art of incorporating freshly milled flours into breads and pizza with the Labs Adam Leonti, and tonight, from 7 to 9:30 p.m., the two pie men are hosting a casual pizza party open to everyone. Pizza al taglio will sell for $5 a slice, including one inspired by the great muffuletta, topped with cured Italian meats, cheese, and olive salad. Also on offer: mushroom lasagna made with whole-wheat bechamel and freshly baked rye bread. Apple has updated its Maps service to expand the Flyover and Traffic support in a number of countries. Now Austria, Denmark, Japan and Switzerland proximity-based Nearby search results on iPhone and iPad. As for the Flyover - you can now enjoy 3D imagery with photorealistic bird's eye view of Augsburg, Braunshweif, and Hanover in Germany, Newcastle upon Tyne in England and the Japanese prefecture of Niigata. Finally, in Turkey Maps has been updated to support real-time traffic data. Apple has done a nice job with this one, but has to put in a lot more effort in Maps before it stands a chance against Google Maps. Via Beta Marshmallow build of OxygenOS for OnePlus 2 is now accessible to all, not OTA though A couple of weeks ago OnePlus started soak testing its update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow for the OnePlus 2 with a few users to check for bugs and whatnot. That test was not an open one, but things have changed now. Starting today you too can download and try a beta build of Marshmallow for the OnePlus 2, namely OxygenOS 3.0. You do need to manually flash it though, because it's not available as an over-the-air update. That's because the Chinese company wants to make sure all possible kinks have been ironed out by the time the OTA rollout starts. The good news is that this build will receive OTA updates, so when the final Marshmallow build hits the OnePlus 2 you'll get it too even if you've decided to test the beta. You can find the download page for the test build over here. The new software comes with all the goodies that Google packed into the Marshmallow release, of course, but also a new OnePlus Camera UI, a new wallpaper picker, better Shelf UX, general performance improvements, faster fingerprint scans, improved Settings menu readability, as well as the March security patches. Full flashing instructions can be found at the Source link below. Thanks for the tip, Vinod! Source T-Mobile has a new deal for you if you're a fan of Apple's iPhones. Starting tomorrow, the magenta carrier will give you half off one iPhone when you purchase two of them. So you pay the full price for one iPhone, and half of it for the second one. That's the theory. In practice, you'll find that the discount will come to you in the form of a prepaid MasterCard. Oh, and you need to add a line for the second device. This line needs to remain active until at least July 15. The deal works with any iPhone model currently sold by T-Mobile, so you can pick and choose from the iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, and iPhone 5c, or the new iPhone SE. You can take advantage of the promotion even if you've already pre-ordered an iPhone SE. The second iPhone needs to be cheaper or the same value as the first, as you'd expect. The iPhone SE officially becomes available tomorrow, after a full week of pre-orders. Source | Via ZTE A2017 visits AnTuTu as well, could be the next Axon model The Huawei P9 and iPhone SE aren't the only smartphones that have been revealed to have been put through the paces of the AnTuTu benchmark today. The ZTE A2017 joins them, and this might just be the Chinese company's next Axon-branded handset. Earlier this month the A2017 was spotted in the GFXBench database sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset and 4GB of RAM. Now those specs have been confirmed by AnTuTu's info screen, along with other hardware details. The ZTE A2017 has a QHD touchscreen (which GFXBench pegged at 5.5"), a 20 MP rear camera, an 8 MP selfie shooter, 64GB of storage, and it runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The phone has managed to score an impressive 140,086 points in AnTuTu, which is more than the Xiaomi Mi 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S7. That's quite impressive, so ZTE's next flagship device will definitely be no slouch. Via Haiti - Politic : Desras takes control of the Ministry of Environment Monday, at the Ministry of Environment, Guy Didier Hyppolite, the new Minister of Tourism, in the presence of senior political figures, of members of environmental organizations, of human rights, Parliamentarians as well as Executives and employees of the Ministry proceeded to the installation of Dieuseul Simon Desras, as new Minister of Environment, in replacement of predecessor, Dominique Pierre. The outgoing Minister while congratulating his successor, encouraged him to pursue the initiatives and achievements leading to the reduction of environmental vulnerability. The Minister Desras promised to continue the path already traced by his predecessor but intends to prove the ministry's leadership in the sector. He explained that his priority objectives are to provide the Ministry of a Organic Law, to implement the national environmental policy and work with the application of the Framework decree of January 2006 on the Environmental Management and Regulation of the Conduct of Citizens and encourage debates on the Designated National Contribution Expected (SCOND) at National level. He is also committed to give priority to strengthening the institutional capacity and enhance skills. To achieve these objectives, he said to rely on the cooperation of everyone in the Ministry of Environment. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Diplomacy : Appointment of CEP, U.S. State Department statement Tuesday, the same day that the confirmation in Haiti of the adoption by the Council of Ministers of the decree appointing the new members of the Provisional Electoral Council, John Kirby, Assistant Secretary and Department Spokesperson, Bureau of Public Affairs issued the following statement : "The United States welcomes Parliaments confirmation of Haitian Prime Minister Enex J. Jean-Charles and his Cabinet. We are encouraged by the re-establishment of the new nine-member Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). The CEP is responsible for organizing the second round of presidential elections, remaining parliamentary elections, and local elections in Haiti to complete the electoral process begun in 2015. As called for in the February 5 accord, we encourage the CEP to quickly implement the technical recommendations of the Independent Electoral Evaluation Commission, designed to improve the transparency and fairness of the final round. Such action will enhance public confidence in the election process. The United States looks forward to all provisions of the Accord being implemented -- and a new democratically-elected president seated -- as quickly as possible, so that the government can work together with Haitis partners to rapidly address the challenges facing the country." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17014-haiti-flash-cep-members-appointed-by-presidential-decree.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Politic : Who is Jean Beauvois Dorsonne, the new Minister of Education? Tuesday, Camille Junior Edouard the new Minister of Justice, in the presence among others of parliamentarians, technical and departmental directors, socio-professional associations, executives and employees of the Ministry, presided the Investiture Ceremony of Jean Beauvois Dorsonne as new Minister of National Education, succeeding to the outgoing Minister Nesmy Manigat. Renold Telfort, General Director of the Ministry who apologized for the absence of the Minister Manigat in the ceremony, presented Mr. Dorsonne as a man of the sector and said to be reassured that the new Minister will continue to work to improve the Haitian education system. In his words of circumstances, the new Minister of Education after the customary thanks welcomed the initiatives and actions of his predecessor. He said recognizing the many challenges ahead and admit that it will be ifficult to find immediate solutions, given the mandate and the limited duration of government, but hoped nevertheless create conditions for sustainable solutions for the future rulers with the help of all stakeholders. He undertakes to continue the social dialogue with trade unions to improve working conditions of teachers and learning of children. More about Jean Beauvois Dorsonne : Born December 7, 1966 in Verrettes (Artibonite), Jean Beauvois Dorsonne holds a Masters degree in social sciences, graduating from college Val de Marne, Paris, France. Normalien superior option Social Sciences (1991), he is also law graduate (2003), active lawyer, member of the Bar of St Marc. He also participated in the Integrated Management (PIM) program in 2001, provided by the National School of Public Administration. He debuted as a teacher in 1989. Professor of History and Geography at several colleges in Port-au-Prince and Gonaives from October 1989 to February 1992. In 1992 he became director of Jacques Stephen Alexis High School of Verrettes hen from 1995 to 1999 he was director of the school Stenio Vincent of Saint Marc. In 1999 he became inspector of secondary education in the department of Artibonite until January 2000. About two years later, in April 2002, he became Chief Inspector of secondary education in the same department until January 2003. A little later, we will find him to the central office of the ministry sometimes as a member of the minister's office (May 2010-September 2011), sometimes as coordinator to the Directorate General of MENFP (2011 to date). Note that from 2006 to 2010, he is also found in Parliament as a deputy of the people in the 48th Legislature, where he serves as President of the Education Commission from January 2007 to May 2010. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping politics... Privert calls the PM to make corrections Monday, Jocelerme Privert during his installation speech of the Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles declared "I will not conclude, Mr Prime Minister, without draw your attention to important staff movements and changes made in recent weeks and throughout March in diplomacy, public prosecutors and courts of the country. They are inopportune and unjustified decisions taken for the sole purpose of handicapping the new government. They call for urgent corrections." Ambitious program of the Minister of Commerce Tuesday during her instillation Ms. Jessy C. Petit-Frere, the new Minister of Trade and Industry declared "I'll put in place a shield 'Guarantee / Price' while placing the Haitian entrepreneur at heart of action," stressing that she would also work to improve the regulation of the business environment; the establishment of institutional mechanisms rationalized for business support; reviving the productive sector; the territorial decentralization of trade and industry; the intensification of economic cooperation and commercial exchanges and regularization of the informal economy. "No opportunity to respect the dates" dixit Bellerive There is no possibility to scrupulously respect the dates stipulated in the Political Agreement of February 6 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16533-haiti-politic-the-details-of-the-agreement-from-a-to-z.html estimates the Chief of Staff of the Provisional President, Jean Max Bellerive. However, he denies any hint of Jocelerme Privert to stay in power beyond the 120 days allotted to him. France satisfied France notes with satisfaction that Haiti has since March 27 a Prime Minister and an interim government that gained the confidence of Parliament. It calls on the legislative power and the interim executive to work together to handle emergencies faced by the country. Dr. Delsoin takes control of the Ministry of Health Tuesday Simon Dieuseul Desras, the new Minister of Environment has proceeded with the installation of Dr. Daphne Benoit Delsoin as new Minister of Health and Population, she replaces Dr. Florence Duperval Guilllaume who assumed leadership of this Ministry for 5 years. The inauguration ceremony was attended by international partners, central and departmental directors and the outgoing minister. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16989-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html Nomination of Spokesman of the Presidency Serge Simon was appointed Spokesman of the Presidency, information confirmed by the Presidency Communication Office. 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 led retail giant Dick Smith is keeping thousands of employees in limbo by not announcing exact dates for store closures, which staff say is preventing them from moving on to new careers.A spokesperson for Dick Smiths receivers Ferrier Hodgson said employees would receive redundancy notices and final work dates closer to closure date, CRN reported.But if employees opt to resign before they receive their redundancy notice, they could forfeit their entitlement to a redundancy payout.The spokesperson told CRN that individual store closures were dependent on the sale of remaining stock, and not all stores would close on the same day.Dick Smith employees say theyve been left in the dark and are unable to move on to new careers.Employees are taking matters into their own hands by posting signs around store premises telling customers they didnt know when Dick Smith stores would close, and even asking customers to recommend new jobs that they could go to after the store closures.A Dick Smith employee told Fairfax it was difficult to look for new work because management still hadnt specified when stores would close."The problem is because we haven't received our notice of redundancy, and without a notice of redundancy you basically void your entitlements [if you leave]," the employee told Fairfax."I would only take a new job if they were willing to wait until Dick Smith closes, because I'm not missing out on potentially thousands of dollars of redundancy."He said Dick Smith was required to give employees four weeks notice if they were made redundant, however workers at Dick Smiths Move airport stores and Electronics Powered by Dick Smith stores were informed just days before their stores were closed.The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has announced an investigation into Dick Smiths collapse for issues of administered trust and confidence.Ferrier Hodgson said employees would receive redundancy notices and final work dates "closer to the closure date of their store".The spokesperson for Ferrier Hodgson also said it was expected the current stock sale would generate enough cash to pay all workers their entitlements."Employee entitlements are priority claims that rank ahead of the secured and unsecured creditors and are expected to be paid in full," the spokesperson told Fairfax.Similar stories: Better Business Bureau (BBB) launched an investigation into the local carport industry due to large numbers of consumer complaints and inquiries. In the past three years, BBB received 502 complaints and more than 30,300 inquiries regarding carport companies, making it the second most complained about type of business in northwest NC. BBB, whose mission is to advance marketplace trust, led an effort to understand and potentially resolve the internal issues resulting in consumer dissatisfaction. The organization took the following steps to investigate: Determined carport companies contributing to excessive complaint volumes. Analyzed complaint data to determine patterns of complaints in each company. Contacted companies to request in-person meeting; received responses from four of five manufacturers contacted. Met with responding companies individually at their work locations. Discussed high number of complaints, current business processes, best practices and potential fixes. Sent follow-up letter to all five companies with steps to take to reduce complaints. Contacted local complainants; confirmed willingness to share their carport-buying experience with the public. The following carport companies were investigated due to high complaint volume: Elephant Structures, Boone, NC C- Rating as of 3/29/2016 Carolina Carports, Dobson, NC F Rating as of 3/29/2016 Tri-State Carports, Dobson, NC F Rating as of 3/29/2016 Eagle Carports, Mount Airy, NC F Rating as of 3/29/2016 T-N-T Carports , Mount Airy, NC F Rating as of 3/29/2016 According to consumer complaints, most problems stem from one or more of the following: concerns regarding delivery time, customer service/communication and the quality of the installation/product. Consumers may read all complaint details, and company responses, on BBBs Business Reviews (bbb.org). Conversations between BBB and the carport manufacturers regarding complaints revealed the following root issues: inability to deliver and/or install due to inclement weather and mechanical issues, communication between the company and customers when delays occur, lack of communication between the company and nationwide dealers who sell carports, and dependence on a network of independent building contractors. Communication is key, and these specific carport companies do not have the necessary processes in place for effective communication, said BBB President Brian Wright. This is evident in their interaction with dealers, contractors, customers and BBB. Despite the influx of complaints against this industry, consumers in Northwest NC and beyond will continue to need carports. BBB offers the following tips for those in the market: Research multiple carport companies before committing. Be sure to learn how they respond to complaints and what other consumers have to say via reviews on bbb.org. Before you pay anything, read the contract in full to understand all conditions. Once committed, contact the carport manufacturer to Confirm the specifications of your carport. Get a realistic time for delivery based on your location and the time of year (season). Understand that delays are common. Be sure that the site of your future carport is professionally leveled and ready for installation (easy access to site and free of obstructions). BBBs effort to create a more trustworthy marketplace extends beyond consumer awareness and into business education, according to Wright. BBB provided the following tips to the manufacturers so future consumers may have a positive experience investing in this North Carolina industry. Train dealers on best practices when selling a carport, including proper lead time estimates, reviewing the contract and confirming order details. Communicate with the customer to Confirm the order details Provide a realistic estimate of the delivery time Confirm site preparation and schedule installation Update consumer on any delays or order changes Offer an online order-tracking website, or collect consumer email addresses for automatic, electronic status updates. Put a process in place to qualify independent building contractors for installation and to improve communication through the delivery/installation process. Communicate openly with BBB about customer complaints. Northwest North Carolina is home to multiple BBB-Accredited Businesses who provide carport building services. Accredited companies are Bunce Buildings, CarportCentral.com, Inc., Conrad & Conrad, Inc., Forest Hill Associates of Winston Salem, Inc., and United Structures and Buildings. For a current listing, please visit bbb.org. ### About Better Business Bureau: BBB, the leader in advancing marketplace trust, is an unbiased, nonprofit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. BBB provides objective advice, complaint/dispute resolution services, free business BBB Reliability Reports and charity BBB Wise Giving Reports. As one of the 113 BBBs across North America, Better Business Bureau of Northwest North Carolina proudly serves a 14-county region. Please visit bbb.org for more information. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket (Bloomberg) The Japanese region hit by the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl has a new backer.Im now the biggest institutional investor in Fukushima, says Curtis Freeze, New Yorker, hedge fund head and former missionary. The 53-year-old, who oversees $352 million as chief investment officer of Prospect Asset Management Inc., has taken big stakes in two of the prefectures three banks, diverting much of his funds assets into the bets. His goal is to get the lenders to do more to revive the battered economy including by investing in solar. Freeze, it turns out, has history with Fukushima. Some 34 years ago he lived there, spending his days riding a bicycle around its streets trying to spread the Mormon faith. That began a love affair with Japan that saw him start his own hedge fund, help pioneer real estate investment trusts and rescue an ailing developer. Now hes seeking to make Fukushimas lenders more profitable and deliver a return to his investors. To read this article: The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) tweeted on Tuesday that the highest temperature of the year 12.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in Kokemaki, Satakunta, on Tuesday. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), meanwhile, has said it expects the temperatures in Finland to hover clearly above seasonal averages over the next two weeks. Spring is well on its way in Finland, according to the latest weather forecasts. The mean temperature during the first two weeks [of the forecast period], 316 April, will be considerably higher than usual in Finland. The deviation will be less severe during the third week and all but non-existent during the fourth week, 2430 April, FMI states in a press release. The latest predictions by US NOAA [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] similarly forecast a warmer-than-usual April in Europe. It is therefore apparent that spring will make quick inroads during the course of April, FMI concludes. FMI warns, on the other hand, that the development of a high-pressure zone in western parts of Scandinavia can result in a cold surge and cooler-than-forecast temperatures during the second and third weeks of the forecast period. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Teemu Salonen Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Encouraging the self-employed to become employers could create a substantial number of new jobs, he argues on the website of STTK . The Government of Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre) should launch a trial to support business owners hiring their first employee, states Jukka Ihanus, the director of public affairs at the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK). There are nearly 160,000 self-employed people in Finland. The majority of them are not considering hiring another employee. Roughly one-third of them are interested in hiring employees. If one-sixth of the self-employed had another employee in addition to themselves, the employment rate would increase by one percentage point, writes Ihanus. Sweden, he points out, is already considering slashing employer contributions for the first outside employee for a pre-determined period of time. STTK is according to him proposing a trial to slash the contributions by 40 per cent for the first 12 months and by 20 per cent for the next 12 months. For example, the subsidy would be roughly 260 euros a month for the first year and 130 euros a month for the second year for an employee earning 3,000 euros a month, says Ihanus. Ihanus suggests the trial could be funded by forgoing the 70-million euro deduction for business owners scheduled for implementation in 2017. It would exempt five per cent of business revenues from tax and reduce taxes on business owners by roughly two per cent. The purpose of the proposed business owner deduction is not to promote employment or growth, he says. He believes a targeted reduction in employer contributions would be a more effective answer to the main economic ills of Finland the shortage of jobs and businesses providing employment. Ihanus also reminds that the Finnish Government has set a target of creating 100,000 new jobs in the years to come. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Mikko Stig Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Flowers and a garda car at the scene of the tragedy (Picture: Caroline Quinn) Tyler Joyce (3), who died in an accident at the Royal Canal (INM) A heartbroken mum has pleaded for a walkway to be built over the stream where her three-year-old son and his father drowned after taking a shortcut. Pamela Joyce told the Herald that a footbridge should be built where her little son Tyler (3) and his father Sean Sweeney (36) drowned at Ashington Park, near the Royal Canal, so another tragedy doesn't happen. It is believed that they had been taking a shortcut to visit Mr Sweeney's parents when tragedy struck. It is understood that the father and son fell into the ditch and drowned. Ms Joyce paid tribute to her little bundle of joy who was "always so happy" and "brought joy to everyone". "It's the only thing that's getting me through that he was so happy," Ms Joyce told the Herald last night. Cuddle "He would wake up during the night, have a drink and say 'give us a cuddle' and he'd give me a huge hug. He would put his hand inside the pillow and rub his ear that was his little thing. "Why can't they make a little walkway, it's not going to cost them much," she said. "Even a bus from there (Ashington Park) to Finglas would stop people jumping the wall. If there was a bus he (Sean) could have just walked around the corner and got a bus. "I know they fixed the fence, but the young fellas cut it. "That's because they don't want to walk all the way roundit would take an hour's walk or you can do it in ten minutes by jumping the wall," Ms Joyce added. "I took that shortcut myself before I even had Tyler and I fell into that ditch. "I was there for an hour and a half, I couldn't get out. Two lads went by and threw their jackets down and I held onto the sleeves." Ms Joyce and her father Peter were last night looking back on old photos of happier times. A picture of Tyler dressed in a pumpkin outfit for Halloween, a glorious day at Dollymount beach and his first holiday abroad to Portugal all represented his "short but happy life". "His favourite song was Happy, by Pharrel Williams. He loved that song. He'd ask me to come into bed and he would bounce up and down to the music ... he loved his dancing," said Tyler's inconsolable mother. "We went to Portugal when he was one and his little bum would be shaking in the chair to the music. We knew straight away that he was going to be into dancing. "I wouldn't like any mother to go through this. It's cruel because he was so intelligent, he never cried. He could have done anything with his life." Grandfather Peter paid a special tribute to little Tyler and also thanked the community for their support following the tragedy. "Tyler loved answering the telephone I never had to answer my phone. I would ask Tyler if the person wanted to talk to me or him. He knew how to flick through my phone and hang up," recalled Peter. "We want to thank the neighbours and everybody for calling to the house, their phone calls, their messages, their presents. "People in the street have missed him over the last few days. "We will miss him very much. He would share his last sweet with you. He did an Easter egg hunt in school and he got so many that he gave the other kids some." Devoted The shortcut that Sean Sweeney and his son were taking was through a broken railway fence from the Ashington estate to their home in Finglas. Irish Rail confirmed that a work crew had fixed the fence just over two weeks ago, on March 12, but it was broken again in the meantime, allowing Mr Sweeney and Tyler to use the shortcut on Sunday. "We repaired this fence on March 12. It is an area where there is frequent interference with the fence and we have fixed it numerous times," a spokesman said. Tyler will be laid to rest on Friday. His devoted mum added that his favourite song Happy will be played in his memory. Labour Party leader Joan Burton is today expected to defend her leadership following the party's disastrous general election result. Ms Burton will be at a special Labour Party meeting, also attended by dozens of unsuccessful party candidates, during which her leadership is likely to be raised. The Dublin West TD is under serious scrutiny after overseeing an election bloodbath, which resulted in her party being reduced to just seven seats. But sources last night insisted Ms Burton will not "be pushed" into resigning ahead of an expected leadership contest later this year. Under the Labour constitution, the party must automatically hold a leadership contest six months after an electionif the party does not enter government. Labour has insisted it will not form part of the next government - but has not ruled out supporting Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny or Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin for Taoiseach. At today's meeting in Dublin, Labour's election performance is due to take centre stage. The meeting is due to be chaired by former Labour parliamentary party chairman Jack Wall. Longford-Westmeath TD Willie Penrose, his successor, last night said there will be "frank discussions" held at the meeting in relation to the party's electoral performance. "A whole load of issues will be looked at in terms of how we can reinvigorate the party," Mr Penrose told the Herald. "It is also important to hold this meeting, so as to allow us to look towards the future for the party which is now going through a rebuilding process," Mr Penrose added. The Labour meeting comes as the issue of water charges continues to dominate the political agenda. Advice It emerged yesterday that Irish Water has received legal advice that warned that charges cannot be reversed. The advice, published in the Irish Times, was commissioned by the parent company of Irish Water after the election. Both Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, which want the charges scrapped, have questioned the advice. Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan said the claim was at odds with information she has obtained from the European Commission. Fianna Fail's Public Expenditure spokesperson Sean Fleming said his party's position was also at odds with the legal advice, which Irish Water has yet to publish. "We absolutely contest the legal advice being put forward by Irish Water. It's important to recognise that this legal advice was commissioned by Irish Water, and it should be examined with caution in light of this. "It's extraordinary to see Irish Water quoting EU rules as sacrosanct, considering they failed to meet the key Eurostat market test last year," he said. Speaking yesterday, Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy said he does not trust Fianna Fail to maintain its stance. "I don't trust Fianna Fail as far as I can throw them," he said. "I think they may be willing to negotiate away opposition to water charges in exchange for something else - cabinet positions or whatever," Mr Murphy told Newstalk. "The only way to ensure abolition (of Irish Water) is to step up the boycott (of charges) and a massive united demonstration." A gangland criminal with close links to the Kinahan cartel was arrested yesterday by gardai carrying out searches in relation to the Eddie Hutch murder. Officers from Mountjoy Garda Station raided three homes in the Finglas area early yesterday morning as part of their detailed probe into the feud murder of Hutch (58). In the course of one of these raids, sources said that one of the country's most volatile gangland criminals became "extremely agitated" and was arrested for obstructing gardai during the search. The 35-year-old, who was warned about an active threat against his life after the murder of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch's older brother, has close links to the Kinahan cartel. Custody He was released from garda custody after being detained for a number of hours yesterday and is expected to appear in court at a later date. He is classified as one of the country's most dangerous criminals, and is understood to have acted as a bodyguard for a senior cartel figure during the Christmas period. Yesterday's raids were among the first to happen by gardai investigating the brutal murder of Hutch. No suspects have yet been arrested in relation to the murder, which was carried out by a four-man hit-team who were driven away by a fifth man. Hutch was shot dead at his home in Dublin's north inner city on the night of February 8 last. The four-man hit team, who burst into Hutch's home at Poplar Row, later escaped in a silver 06 BMW car. Earlier this month, it emerged that the four killers ran from the BMW to a Toyota Landcruiser, which had no back seats, and all the suspects lay down in the back of the vehicle after they jumped into it. None of the criminals had their faces covered when they jumped into the Landcruiser, which then sped away. His killing was seen as a revenge attack for the Regency Hotel shooting in which gangster David Byrne was assassinated and two of his pals injured. The Herald previously revealed that gardai have been probing whether the same gangsters who murdered Hutch were involved in last week's fatal shooting of Gerry Hutch's best pal Noel 'Kingsize' Duggan. The BMW 4x4 in which Gary Hutch, Paddy Doyle and Freddie Thompson were travelling before Doyle was shot dead When Gary Hutch fled Dublin for the Costa del Sol in the aftermath of the Derek Duffy murder in 2007, he immediately hooked up with his childhood pal Paddy Doyle, from Dublin's north inner-city. Doyle, who was on the run after becoming the chief suspect for three gangland murders here in 2005, was being "put up" by the Christy Kinahan cartel in southern Spain. Hutch, who was now 26, knew some cartel members from his younger days, in- cluding Kinahan's son Daniel and notorious hood 'Fat' Freddie Thompson, who he would become particularly close to. Hutch almost immediately became involved in the cartel's drug-dealing, and his close childhood connections to a number of north inner-city drug dealers made him a useful addition to the ever-growing organised crime gang. In Spain, Hutch, Thompson and Doyle were mixing and socialising with some of the most serious players in international crime - traffickers from Turkey, Russia and the Balkans. The young Dubliners were now playing in the A League because of their association with the cartel - but clouds were gathering. Reckless While Hutch enjoyed his new life in the sun, Doyle and Thompson were increasingly getting caught up in gangland entanglements, with Thompson's focus being on the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud back home and Doyle getting into a number of disputes with foreign gangsters in Spain. It was because of Doyle's reckless behaviour on the so-called Costa del Crime that a decision was taken to have him murdered. It is still not known whether it was Russian gangsters he had clashed with or the Kinahan cartel who made the final call to pull the trigger. Doyle's killers pursued him as he went about his business on the afternoon of February 4, 2008. He was shot dead as he tried to escape on the outskirts of Estepona, west of Marbella. He was travelling as usual with Hutch and Thompson. The three were in a BMW 4x4 when the gunmen opened fire from another car. Four shots were pumped into the front windscreen and another into the front passenger door before Hutch, who was driving, lost control of the vehicle. It smashed into a lamp post and Doyle, who was a front seat passenger, tried to run away. The gunman, however, began firing again, and the Irishman was hit twice in the head at point-blank range. The attack took place at the Bel-Air apartment complex shortly after lunchtime, and witnesses said the killers made their escape in another BMW 4x4. Hutch was freaked out by what he had witnessed, and for most of the following year he spent his time hopping between Spain, Amsterdam and Dublin. While remaining close to the cartel and being heavily involved in international drugs trafficking, the busy criminal still found time to be involved in organising the robbery of a record 7.6m from a Bank of Ireland distribution centre at College Green on February 27, 2009. Ironically, the brutal tiger kidnap robbery happened less than a week after Hutch had been arrested by gardai in Finglas investigating his role in the murder of Derek Duffy two years earlier. The heist was carried out after an armed gang targeted a bank worker, his girlfriend, her mother and six-year-old nephew. Around 1.7m of the stolen cash was recovered in a series of raids on homes and cars across Dublin city about 12 hours after the robbery, but the rest has never been found. With unprecedented heat from gardai, Hutch returned to Spain after being briefly detained in relation to the robbery. He split his time between Spain and Amsterdam for most of 2009 and the first six months of 2010. This was a time when the Kinahan cartel's empire was growing by the week, with the mob making tens of millions of euro from flooding Ireland and the UK with drugs. Hutch was an integral part of this massive international crime operation, and Spanish police documents obtained by the Herald show his role in the cartel. The dossier, which was prepared for the successful extradition of Thompson from Ireland to Spain in November 2011, revealed that Hutch was a senior player throughout 2009 and 2010. According to Spanish police, Hutch and Thompson travelled to the south of Portugal from Spain on November 24, 2009 to organise a big drugs ship- ment. The dossier further revealed that Hutch and Thompson travelled to Amsterdam on May 15, 2010 with other members of the cartel for the same reason. Tapping "As a result of investigations carried out in Spain and collaboration between Ireland and the UK, it is known that Freddie has been under investigation for narcotic-related offences in Ireland and Britain,'' the dossier reads. "Thompson, together with Gary Hutch, are the men who are closest to Daniel Joseph Kinahan, as can be inferred from telephone tapping and surveillance operations." The dossier continues by stating that Hutch and Thompson are Kinahan's "trusted right-hand men" and carry out jobs directly related to the organisation's criminal activities. "Freddie and Gary are just one step below Daniel, are very close and share an equal status," it says. "They sometimes give orders to each other without being able to determine who is higher up in the organisation. "They are equals, good friends and share a flat." The documents reveal that Spanish authorities noted that a car normally driven by Hutch was driven by another key Kinahan gang member at Malaga Airport on May 7, 2010, which reveals the level of surveillance that police had Hutch under at that time. The Spanish also suspected that Hutch and Thompson were involved in procuring weapons for the cartel. "One of Freddie's jobs is to obtain weapons for the rest of the organisation, as is evident from the conversation he held with Gary Hutch," the dossier reads. "Like Gary, Freddie's duties also include acting as a bodyguard, chauffeur, etc. "It has been deduced from investigations and surveillance activities that they had lived together in a flat in Nueva Andalucia [opposite Puerto Banus]." The reason for the detailed surveillance on Hutch and other Kinahan cartel members is that an international pol-ice investigation code-named Operation Shovel was in place. It began after gardai made a major cannabis seizure in Kildare in 2008. This resulted in a series of arrests when more than 30 suspects, including Christy Kinahan and his sons Daniel and Christopher Jnr, were rounded up in high-profile raids on May 25, 2010. (Earlier that month, it emerged that Christy Kinahan and his two sons expect to be tried soon on money-laundering charges in Spain.) Only days after the raids, which made headlines across Europe, it emerged that Hutch had been named on a list of people who Spanish judges wanted to question following Kinahan's arrest. In early June 2010, it was reported that an international arrest warrant had been issued for Hutch's arrest. However, he could not be found by gardai or any European police forces. GREENEVILLE, Tenn. Tusculum Colleges Doak House Museum is hosting a Lego Historian competition, which will commemorate history in East Tennessee. Participants may use Lego blocks, or other plastic bricks, to design and build a historic structure located in East Tennessee. This is a first-time event for the Museums of Tusculum College, and we are hoping to get as many people involved through modeling historic buildings and monuments with their Lego blocks as possible, said Dollie Boyd, director of museums. The Doak House Museum will be accepting submissions April 11-14, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will culminate during the Old Oak Festival on the Tusculum College campus, April 15-17. Attendees of the Old Oak Festival will have the opportunity vote for their favorite on Saturday, April 16, 1-3 p.m. Prizes will be awarded in five categories: kindergarten-grade 2, grades 3-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12 and adults. The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 17, at 3 p.m. To be eligible, the historic structure must be located in East Tennessee and be more than 100 years old, such as any of the historic structures located on the Tusculum College campus, at Exchange Place in Kingsport or in Jonesborough. Entries must be the participants own creation, and entries based on a kit or online design are not eligible. Entries must be secured on a base no bigger than 24 by 24 inches and may not reach over four feet tall. The base may be decorated to compliment the project. Only one entry will be accepted per participant or team. Registration is open online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lego-historians-project-drop-off-tickets-22657057870. Deliver completed projects to the Doak House Museum, 690 Erwin Highway, Greeneville, TN 37745. BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. Improving access to health care in rural areas, curbing the incidence of diabetes and other chronic diseases and attracting more specialists were among topics suggested Tuesday as vital ways to measure the success of a merged regional health care system. More than 20 speakers most employed by either Mountain States Health Alliance or Wellmont Health System offered their opinions for improving the regions health care picture to a panel developing an index to grade the proposed merger of those two systems. Tuesdays event was the second in a series of public listening sessions hosted by the panel of regional leaders appointed by the Tennessee Department of Health to help grade the Certificate of Public Advantage merger application. About 50 people attended the event at Northeast State Community College. In the current setting, the way health care is delivered, sustaining the current level or even talking about expanding services, especially in our rural areas is financially unsustainable, said Dr. Dale Sargent, Wellmonts former chief medical officer. Sargent said the regions astronomical rates of diabetes, obesity and lung cancer pose perhaps the greatest health challenges. Make no mistake, we are talking about lifestyle diseases that develop over a lifetime, Sargent said. If the outcomes were looking for are a decrease in lung cancer or a decrease in diabetic complications, we had best be thinking in terms of decades. Our approach to this must include maintenance and expansion of services for those with chronic and advanced conditions that we will be dealing with for a long time and investments aimed at breaking the cycle of unhealthy behaviors to bring down this burden of chronic disease. Jim Perkins, Wellmonts director of diabetes treatment centers, reinforced that point during his remarks, noting that Tennessee ranks in the top five nationally for most diabetes cases at 11.9 percent while Sullivan County ranks nearly 2 percentage points above that. Eric Carroll, administrator of Mountain States Unicoi County Memorial Hospital, urged the panel to include behavioral health measures and the rural care in its measures. I believe the index should track the development of services such as mobile health crisis management teams and extensive outpatient treatment and addiction resources designed to minimize inpatient psychiatric admissions, incarcerations and other out-of-home placements, Carroll said. He also emphasized the need for a continuing hospital presence in rural areas. Having emergency services and immediate care within our communities is something we truly need to maintain, Carroll said. And the merger of Mountain States and Wellmont is the only possible merger option that protects our rural hospitals because we can put something in place [COPA] to guarantee that. Should a merger take place with a health care system outside our region, there are no checks and balances to make sure this happens. Paul Allison, a maintenance technician at Holston Valley Medical Center, talked about employment. People hear merger and they get job scared, Allison said. Ive been with Wellmont since 2012, but prior to that I was with another company, there was a merger and I trained my replacement. However, Allison said he sees the merger as helping the region. Obviously, its in the publics best interest and the employees interest to have health care in our region on stable footing, Allison said. Lisa Carter, CEO of Niswonger Childrens Hospital in Johnson City, said that facility has struggled to attract pediatric specialists and hopes a merged system would bolster those efforts. When youre in medical school and choosing which sub-specialty to go into those [pediatrics] arent high on the priority list. It really is a calling to be a pediatric provider, Carter said. So those numbers are small and we do have trouble recruiting and retaining those physicians. Weve faced years of challenges with single providers. Other speakers talked about the value of shared electronic medical records, improving palliative and hospice care and improving wages to retain nurses. Chairman Gary Mayes called Tuesdays meeting excellent and the information important to the process. The COPA advisory panels next meeting is scheduled April 5 in Rogersville. Another session is planned April 19 at Northeast State. America has witnessed a massive shift in government authority, says George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley one that has occurred without a national debate and certainly not a national vote. America has witnessed a massive shift in government authority, says George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley one that has occurred without a national debate and certainly not a national vote. That shift has led to the de facto creation of a fourth branch of government containing legislative, executive and judicial components but relatively little direct public influence. Turley made those remarks in recent testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee. His talk waded deeply into the weeds of legal history and precedent, but the upshot was this: By failing to rein in regulatory agencies when they overstep their bounds, the Supreme Court and Congress have allowed those agencies not merely to administer law, but to create it and run roughshod over the public in the process. Its hard to argue with the numbers: In one recent year alone, Congress passed 138 laws while federal agencies finalized 2,926 rules. Federal judges conduct about 95,000 trials a year, but federal agencies conduct nearly 1 million. Put all that together and you have a situation in which one branch of government, the executive, is arrogating to itself the powers of the other two. All of this has happened thanks largely to a 1984 Supreme Court case called Chevron. The Reagan administration chose to relax some air-quality regulations, and the Natural Resources Defense Council challenged the decision in court. The Supreme Court sided with the Environmental Protection Agency. It did so for commendable reasons: to avoid turning the courts themselves into policy-making bodies. Rather than decide whether the EPA was right or wrong, the high court deferred to the agency. This is judicial modesty. But modesty can go too far. Federal law (the Administrative Procedure Act) requires courts to hold unlawful agency actions that are arbitrary or capricious, that violate the Constitution, or that exceed their authority. Turley and others contend Chevron has tilted the scales too far. He says it is the administrative equivalent of Marbury v. Madison except that, unlike Marbury, it has made executive agencies rather than the courts the final arbiter of their own behavior. The very day Turley was making that case, the Justice Department was taking steps to prove him right. It sent a Dear Colleague letter to state courts in all 50 states lecturing them about the harm done by the imposition of fines and fees on poor defendants, especially when those fines and fees become a source of revenue for local governments. The letter laid out seven principles to guide the behavior of courts, and urged court officials to review court rules and procedures within your jurisdiction to ensure that they comply with due process, equal protection, and sound public policy. Lets stipulate right away that such practices are highly dubious and ripe for reform. That said, on what authority does an arm of the executive branch presume to dictate the activity of the judiciary not only with regard to issues that are constitutional, such as due process and equal protection, but also with regard to those that arent, such as public policy? If youre sympathetic to the Justice Departments concerns and all good people should be it might be helpful to turn the circumstances around. Imagine for a moment that judges took it upon themselves to instruct the Justice Department about what sort of cases it ought to bring, based on the judges opinions about sound public policy. Whatever the merits of the argument, its clear the judges would have no business making it. Even more pernicious abuse has come from the Education Department, beginning with a 2011 Dear Colleague letter to colleges and universities that shifted the burden of proof in sexual harassment cases. Schools across the country promptly followed the directive, even though there have been serious questions about the legal basis for issuing the letter in the first place. When pressed by Sen. Jim Lankford of Oklahoma, the Education Department offered a response that was so non-responsive Hans Bader, a former Office of Civil Rights attorney himself who has written extensively on the issue, concluded that it simply repeated the same question-begging rationalization it gave (before) and failed to address the criticisms of its letter made by many lawyers and law professors. Those law professors include 16 from the University of Pennsylvania. In an open letter last year, they criticized the Education Department not only for violating basic standards of due process, but also because the federal government has sidestepped the usual procedures for making law. One final example unrelated to Chevron, but indicative of the broader problem: Earlier this month the U.S. military killed about 150 people at an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia. The Obama administration justified the attack by citing the 15-year-old Authorization for Use of Military Force against those who were responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Al-Shabab emerged from the Somali Council of Islamic Courts that took over southern Somalia ... in 2006. In 585 pages, the 9/11 Commission Report mentions al-Shabab not even once. The Constitution gives to Congress the power to declare war a point Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine has pressed relentlessly just as it gives to Congress the power to write the laws. These days the Executive Branch is doing both far more than the Founders intended or the public knows. Those who do so are unelected, unaccountable, and unconstrained. For any democratic system, that is most unhealthy. By failing to rein in regulatory agencies when they overstep their bounds, the Supreme Court and Congress have allowed those agencies to run roughshod over the public. Nothing goes right for Edgewood in long trip to East Central This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ The Modi government has recently warmly welcomed and rolled out the red carpet for a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan to come and investigate the Pathankot airbase attacks. On the subject of export of terror to India, India has always maintained that there is no distinction between the activities of State and non-State actors in Pakistan and the latter are only used as a proxy by the Pakistani establishment (mainly the army and ISI) to further its agenda of targeting India. Now, by callously inviting the Pakistani JIT to India, the government has played right into the hands of the Pakistani establishment, which conveniently offers non-State actors as an excuse for its export of terrorism to India. Past Indian governments have worked extremely hard and had succeeded in pushing Pakistan into a corner, by diplomatically asserting that the Pakistani State is an active abettor of terror rather than purely victim to it. The recent actions of the Modi government have washed away years of this effort and effectively dismantled the box that Pakistan was caged in; the invite to the Pakistani JIT, which includes an ISI member, is tantamount to giving it a clean chit on terror incidents. Read | 5 things about Pak Pathankot attack probe teams India visit What is even more damning is that India is yet to get a Letter Rogatory (LR) a request from a court to share evidence to help investigations from Pakistan. In the absence of this letter, any evidence collected by the JIT could easily be challenged in a court of law and may not even enjoy judicial admissibility in Pakistan. So, while India may hand over conclusive proof of Maulana Masood Azhars and the JeMs involvement in the Pathankot attack to the JIT, it may be de-linked from the judicial process against them in Pakistan, effectively beating the entire purpose of the said investigation. The Indian government has claimed to have received assurances from the Pakistani authorities about the non-requirement of the LR, but by accepting Pakistans explanation, India is being absolutely careless and not according the technicalities of another countrys judicial procedures the seriousness they deserve. This episode is but one example of the Modi governments dismal policy vis-a-vis Pakistan, which has been marked by the absence of farsightedness, complete non-transparency and flip-flops. Cross-border infiltration and terrorism have an unfortunate pattern of rearing their ugly heads whenever any high octane engagement is undertaken by India and Pakistan the Lahore declaration under the earlier BJP government was followed by the Kargil War and PM Narendra Modis stopover in Lahore to attend PM Nawaz Sharifs birthday and his granddaughters wedding resulted in Pathankot. This government has conveniently chosen to emphasise optics over outcomes when it comes to its Pakistan policy. There is absolutely no framework for engagement with Pakistan and decisions seem to be made spontaneously and on a whim. Pakistan is yet another example of the BJPs post-election U-turns and its penchant for managing headlines over managing policy. The same Modi who, before the elections, used to talk about showing red eyes and loudly condemned writing love letters to Pakistan, has today adopted the pappi-jhappi doctrine to win over Sharif. Sushma Swaraj, then leader of the Opposition and now external affairs minister, who used to forcefully demand suspension of talks with Pakistan until their aatankvaad ke thikaane were destroyed, now refers to the Indian PMs surprise visit to Pakistan as statesman-like, tweeting Padosi se aise hi rishte hone chahiyen. Read | Pakistan must not keep testing Indias patience Even after coming to power, the U-turns and flip-flops havent ceased. The main conspirators of the Mumbai attacks have not been brought to justice, Pakistani diplomats have not stopped meeting the Hurriyat leaders, there have been close to a 1,000 ceasefire violations since the government took office and there have been repeated terror strikes in Jammu and Punjab killing three in Kathua (March 2015), seven in Gurdaspur (July 2015), seven in Pathankot (January 2016) and five in Pampore (February 2016). What is the BJPs, and more importantly the governments, position on Pakistan? Is it talks and terror cant go together or the two countries will talk only if they have to discuss terror and not Kashmir or the perpetrators of 26/11 and Pathankot should be brought to justice before we talk or any third party involvement with the Hurriyat is where we draw the red line? Alternatively, is Modis Pakistan policy based on exchanging saris and shawls with the Pakistan PM, and visiting Pakistan to wish him on his birthday and attend his granddaughters wedding? The country needs to know, the Opposition needs to know and perhaps, most importantly, ministers in the government need to know. India needs to negotiate from a position of strength that means we must decide not just when and where we talk to Pakistan, but also what we talk about. The Congress has always advocated peaceful, but results-oriented, negotiations to settle all disputes with Pakistan and dealt with the situation skilfully and sensitively when in power. It made sure Parliament and the Opposition were always taken into confidence and the media periodically briefed through a single channel of communication. Now what we have is absolute mayhem and confusion even the senior-most ministers of the government are unaware of the PMs visit to Pakistan, the visit of the Pakistani JIT and whether or not the JIT will be provided access to the Pathankot airbase. The desire for media attention and personal glory seems to have superseded national interest to yield foreign policy that is directionless, toothless and ineffective. Jyotiraditya Scindia is an MP and the Congress partys chief whip in the Lok Sabha The views expressed are personal Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis visit to China during March 20-27, the issue of a detailed Joint Statement on Nepal-China relations and the conclusion of 10 bilateral agreements, have been projected by the Nepali political leadership and the Kathmandu press as a fitting and powerful riposte to alleged Indian attempts to blockade Nepal and, according to my friend, writer and journalist, Kanak Dixit, its nefarious design to block infrastructure development in Nepal. The most significant achievement, according to PM Oli, is the agreement on transit rights, which would allow Nepali goods to transit through China to third countries and reciprocally, allow China to transit through Nepal, to other third countries, presumably India. Nepal is welcome to these transit facilities through China. The India-Nepal Trade and Transit Treaty carries a similar provision for reciprocal grant of transit for third country trade. As Indias ambassador in Nepal, I had formally requested that India should be enabled to engage in trade with China through Nepal, as provided for in the treaty. This was studiously ignored by the Nepal government. If Chinese goods can transit Nepal into India legally, this is good news because currently the large contraband export of Chinese goods through the open border is neither good for Indias economic nor security interests. While granting transit to China, Nepal should have no objection to implementing the same as per our bilateral agreement. Read | Nepal PM gets red carpet in China, signs deal for rail link via Tibet Kanak Dixit has accused India of blocking infrastructure development in Nepal. India has contributed to Nepals infrastructure substantially. It has hardly been successful, even if it was so inclined, to prevent Nepal from accessing Chinese or Western assistance to develop its infrastructure. China has over the past several years, built a number of highways across the Nepal-Tibet border, linking up with Nepals East-West highway. Chinese companies have failed to invest in Nepals hydro-electric power potential not because of Indian objections. Despite a power purchase agreement with India, no foreign contractor, including from China, wanted to invest in the West Seti project. Kanak suggests that my earnest advocacy of connectivity has somehow boomeranged because it is now being applied on the trans-Himalayan sector. But connectivity with all our neighbours, including China, has been advocated by me because it promotes Indias economic prosperity, does not limit it. It is in this spirit that I have recommended that India should offer Nepal national treatment for its trade with and through India, being able to use any part of Indias road and rail network and any of its ports. It is true that India-Nepal connectivity projects, including road and rail links and integrated checkpoints at the border, have not been implemented with dispatch and this is Indias weakness. However, some of the projects are also held up because of issues on the Nepali side, including over land acquisition. Read | India needs to counter Chinas influence in Nepal without yielding China has agreed to consider commercial supply of petroleum products, including the construction of storage tanks in Nepal. The objective, reportedly, is to enable Nepal to source at least one-third of its oil supplies from China. India is already building a pipeline from Barauni to the Amlekhganj depot in Nepal. The supply of petroleum products will no longer be affected by disruptions at the border and will prevent pilferage during surface transport. Chinese supplies are unlikely to be commercially competitive but it is for Nepal to decide on sourcing its requirements. It is said that Nepal will no longer be India-locked, only landlocked, because it now has alternative access through China. It is acknowledged that this is unlikely to be a viable alternative for the present, but may become practical once cross-border infrastructure, particularly, railways link Nepal more closely with Tibet. The trend is in that direction. India must compete by offering Nepal better, more cost-effective and efficient transport and transit services. This is not as a favour to Nepal but in Indias own interest. Having obtained transit rights through China, will Nepal also seek to obtain from China, the free travel, work and residency privileges for its citizens as are available in India? There are over 6 million Nepali citizens who live and work in India and are treated on a par with Indias own citizens. Read | Nepals agitating Madhesi leaders knock on Chinas door The problem with Kathmandus misplaced triumphalism is that it may encourage the capitals elite to close the door to political compromise with the Madhesis and the Janjatis over the Constitution. The Chinese endorsement of the Constitution, which has been contrasted with more measured Indian statements, should not encourage a return to the politics of exclusion which triggered the Madhesi protests in the first place. I have pointed out before that projecting the Pahari-Madhesi divide as a Nepal-India issue is a cynical misrepresentation that could threaten Nepals unity and political stability. There are several million Indian citizens of Nepali Pahari origin and an overwhelming majority of the 6 million Nepalis living and working in India are also from the hill areas. The Madhesis in the Terai are not migrants from India. They are overwhelmingly the original inhabitants of the area, which was conquered by Prithvi Narayan Shah and incorporated into Nepal. To equate them with Indians is as pernicious as is the convenient silence over the vast numbers of Indian citizens who are of Nepali Pahari origin and who give a lie to the India-Madhesi equation being peddled by Nepals blinkered political elite. India should take seriously the inroads that China is making into our sub-continental neighbourhood. This poses both an economic and security challenge. We have political, economic, geographical and cultural assets which we have yet to marshal together in a coherent, consistent neighbourhood policy. If you leave empty spaces, someone will walk in. It is only through constant high level political engagement, through better and speedy delivery on our commitments and by giving our neighbours a stake in our own prosperity that we can confront the Chinese challenge. Nepal-China friendship and cooperation should not inhibit India, nor create a sense of siege. Instead, we should respond in a measured way, leveraging our considerable assets while overcoming the liabilities we carry, mostly self-inflicted. And this applies not only to Nepal but to other neighours as well. Shyam Saran is a former Foreign Secretary . He was Indias ambassador to Nepal, 2002-2004. He is currently Chairman, RIS and Senior Fellow, CPR The views expressed are personal Gaurav Gogoi is close to Rahul Gandhi the kind of association his father, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, had with the Congress vice-presidents father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. And his arrival on Assams political scene was the reason why the senior Gogois trusted lieutenant Himanta Biswa Sarma revolted in 2013 and left the Congress 10 MLAs short two years later. But 34-year-old Gogoi, a Lok Sabha member from central Assams Kaliabor constituency, is more than the son of a CM at the centre of dynastic culture that rival parties in the poll-bound state say is in the DNA of the Congress. He is the Congress star campaigner as much for his father in Titabor assembly constituencies as for other party candidates elsewhere. A graduate from St Columbas School in Delhi, Gaurav did his BTech in electronic and communication engineering from Indraprastha University before going to the United States to study public administration. That, perhaps, explains his skill in communicating with the common man. Full Coverage: Assam elections India needs young, educated and technologically savvy leaders adept in policy-making, are open to public scrutiny and able to relate to voters as equals, he said. His approach paid dividends in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls his was one of three seats that the Congress won. Of the remaining 11 seats, the BJP won seven. The Congress has fielded 122 candidates, a mix of youth and experience, for election to the 126-member assembly on April 4 and 11. Many party candidates hope the charisma of the Gogois father and son would see them through. Gaurav married Elizabeth Colburn, a British citizen, in 2013. Like him, she is also associated with an NGO. Assembly Elections: Full Coverage SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The election commission is likely to remove Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar after allegations of working at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress, just days before the seven-phase assembly polls begin in West Bengal. The BJP recently alleged that Kumar, an IPS officer of the 1989 batch, had a hand in an attempted sting operation on its former state president, Rahul Sinha. Two policemen were suspended on Monday for allegedly trying to bribe Sinha, who made them wait and alerted police. The BJP alleged that the Trinamool Congress, which was embarrassed by a video that purportedly showed 13 party leaders accepting cash bribes to lobby for a fictitious company, was behind the foiled sting. As far as we know, the paperwork (to remove Kumar) is ready. ECI will formally announce it tomorrow (Thursday), a bureaucrat told HT. Read: Kolkata cops try to bribe BJP leader before polls, party sees TMC hand Kumar became the commissioner in January-end. Before that, he was criticised for his alleged inaction as the head of a team set up by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to probe the multi-crore Saradha scam. The case, which shocked the country and became a political issue, was later handed over to the CBI. The Congress too complained to the poll panel against Kumar and wanted his immediate removal from the post. Opposition parties requested the commission to keep him away from election-related duties. Its a strong message to those in the administration working for Trinamool Congress, Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said. Former Kolkata mayor and CPI-M leader Bikash Bhattacharya said: We smelt a rat when Rajeev Kumar was made the police commissioner in the first place. He tried his best to delay the CBI probe in Saradha. BJPs Sinha thanked the poll panel and said: It also proves that my complaint was correct. In the Bengal elections, a formidable Trinamool Congress is up against the BJP, which is trying to gain a foothold in the state where it has been traditionally weak. The Left Front, which ruled Bengal for three decades before Banerjee came to power in 2011, is in an alliance with the Congress. A pre-poll alliance between the Congress and DMK in Tamil Nadu is on the verge of collapse over seat sharing. The Congress is demanding 63 seats, the share it got in the 2011 assembly elections that the two parties fought together. But sources say the DMK is willing to concede only 25-30 seats, arguing that the Congress had won just five seats in the 2011 polls and that its vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was a mere 4%. The polling for the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly will be held on May 16. The votes will be counted on May 19. The talks between DMK chief M Karunanidhi and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad last week failed to break the deadlock. State Congress chief EVKS Elangovan rushed to Delhi on Wednesday for discussions with central leaders. Congress sources told HT that the party will settle if the DMK offered 50 seats but is willing to fight on its own. It has kept ready a list of candidates on all 234 seats. Full Coverage: Assembly elections The Congress is also of the view that the DMK needs the alliance more than it does given the declining popularity of the southern party. The DMK faced a rout in both the 2011 state polls and the 2014 parliamentary elections. Besides, the southern party is bearing the brunt of internal feud between Karunanidhis sons MK Alagiri and MK Stalin. DMKs poll prospects look dim while AIADMK appears to be on a strong wicket, a Congress functionary said. In such a scenario, why should we succumb to any pressure tactics? The hard bargain by the Congress also follows the decision by DMDK chief captain Vijayakanth who has joined hands with Vaiko-led Peoples Welfare Front. DMK-led alliance is no longer a winning combination, another Congress leader said. Full Coverage: Tamil Nadu polls However, Karunanidhi, 91, and a section in the Congress are said to be in favour of continuation of the alliance and trying to work out a compromise formula. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mumbai Bollywood actor Ali Fazal started his career as a theatre artist. In fact, he bagged his first film, 3 Idiots (2009), when director Rajkumar Hirani spotted him on the stage. But the actor hasnt been able to do theatre for the past couple of years because of his film projects. However, Ali is set to return to the stage now with a play called White Rabbit Red Rabbit. It has been written by an Iranian playwright, Nassim Soleimanpour. I havent done theatre in the longest time, but this one came to me suddenly. Vivek Madan (the director of the festival at which the play will be staged) told me that a lot of actors were shying away from the plays concept, but it sounded interesting to me, says the actor. Read: I was in love with every woman in Goa, says Ali Fazal Interestingly, the play doesnt require the involvement of a director, rehearsals or a set. The actors get the script for the first time when the show gets staged and has to perform. Its a world famous play by Soleimanpour. He wrote it and sent it out to other playwrights in the world since he was forbidden to travel . He was banned from obtaining a passport to travel out of Iran, because he refused to comply with the mandatory military service enforced by his country. So, he devised a play that could travel the world without him. Its his way of being part of the performance, without actually being there. He has written every single instruction on the script. The day I get on the stage, I will be handed the script, says Ali, adding that performing on stage gives him a high. Read: Ali Fazals ideal weekend? Movies and endless coffee Theatre gives me a different high. I make sure that I do a play in every three years . Theatre is like an actors nectar, like how cinema is a directors medium. I return to the stage time and again to see if I am worth anything, says the actor. Follow @htshowbiz for more. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Jessica Knoll, the author of the best-selling novel Luckiest Girl Alive posted an essay online Tuesday saying that the gang rape in high school her character suffered was based on an assault in her own life. Knoll, writing on a website for young women thats co-managed by director-writer Lena Dunham, said that since the book came out last year she has deflected questions about similarities between herself and the protagonist, TifAni. Ive been running and Ive been ducking and Ive been dodging because Im scared, she wrote on www.lennyletter.com . Im scared people wont call what happened to me rape because for a long time, no one did. But as I gear up for my paperback tour, and as I brace myself for the women who ask me, in nervous, brave tones, what I meant by my dedication, What do I know? Ive come to a simple, powerful revelation: everyone is calling it rape now. Theres no reason to cover my head. Theres no reason I shouldnt say what I know. Read: Minor rape victim raped again in Jamshedpur hospital by security guard Knoll, a former editor at Cosmopolitan, wrote in her essay that readers had been curious about the books dedication: To all the TifAni FaNellis of the world, I know. It means I know what its like to not belong, I waffle in response to readers, usually women whose albatrosses I can sense, just as they sense mine, she said. What I dont add: I know what its like to shut down and power through, to have no other choice than to pretend to be OK. I am a savant of survivor mode. Ive spent the past year throwing bum grenades like that and running for cover. I dodge left by pointing to all the ways in which my fictional protagonist and I differ. Anis heritage is Italian, mine is German. Ani is planning a wedding in Nantucket, I got married in New Jersey (which, if youve read the book, you know would not have flown with Ani). Ive been running and Ive been ducking and Ive been dodging because Im scared. Im scared people wont call what happened to me rape because for a long time, no one did. But as I gear up for my paperback tour, and as I brace myself for the women who ask me, in nervous, brave tones, what I meant by my dedication, What do I know?, Ive come to a simple, powerful revelation: everyone is calling it rape now. Theres no reason to cover my head. Theres no reason I shouldnt say what I know. Im trying, but Im rusty at speaking the truth. The day I pitched this essay, a woman approached me at a book event in New Jersey. You said you did some research for your book, she said. Did you interview a rape victim? I told her I had researched the other major event in my book. So how did you she stopped. I mean, it was just so real. What you said about not screaming until it was over? Until you knew you were safe? I started to internally chant Oh f***, oh f***, oh f*** at the same time tears sprang to her eyes. Im also rusty with compassion. Ive been conditioned to prefer an economy-sized bag of chocolate-covered pretzels to that. Because that almost happened to me, she said. F*** it. Something similar to what happened to Ani happened to me, I responded for the first time ever, and she grabbed my wrist and held it tight, blinking tears, while I smiled brightly, insisting in a foreign falsetto, Im fine! Its fine! Im not fine. Its not fine. But its finally the truth, its what I know, and thats a start. Read: Because of false complaints, genuine rape victims viewed with jaundiced eye: Bombay HC Knolls novel has been optioned for a feature film, with Reese Witherspoon expected to produce. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more A consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India said on Wednesday it would examine a Rs 4,000-crore settlement offer made by Vijay Mallyas lawyer in the Supreme Court. The embattled tycoon has proposed to repay the amount towards the dues of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The banks are claiming Rs 9,000 crore in principal, interest and penalties. The Supreme Court has told the banks to reply within a week to Mallyas proposal. It will hear the case next on April 7. Read: Mallya ready to pay banks Rs 4,000 cr by Sep: Lawyers to SC A Financial Express report earlier said the banks had turned down a Rs 2000-crore settlement offer from Mallya. According to the Financial Express newspaper, the 17 banks, who are claiming over Rs 9,000 crore according to documents submitted in the Supreme Court, turned down the offer that is barely a fourth of the total dues. An unnamed banking executive was quoted in the report saying, We cannot accept such a small amount and have rejected the proposal. The consortium is led by State Bank of India, which had earlier along with Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India, declared Mallya a wilful defaulter -- a term that according to Reserve Bank of India definition includes diversion of funds for uses that they were not meant for. Mallya who is currently outside India is expected to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on April 2. He was originally expected to appear before the investigation agency on March 18 but was later provided additional time on his request. Mallya left India on March 2, that has raised serious doubts about the lenders to recover their dues. Through his Twitter posts and media statements, Mallya has clarified that he has no intention to abscond but he neither wishes to face a trail by media. On March 11, he wrote on Twitter: As an Indian MP (Member of Parliament) I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land. Our judicial system is sound and respected. But no trial by media. Earlier this month, attempts to auction Kingfisher House, that used to be the headquarter of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines did not attract any bidders at a reserve price of Rs 150 crore, which is perceived as much below market value. With HTC inputs from New Delhi Read: Kingfisher trademarks to be auctioned Vijay Mallyas Rs 9,000-crore loan default may have grabbed headlines, but the liquor barons troubles could well be the tip of a corporate debt distress iceberg. 72 corporate houses with a total debt of Rs 5.53 lakh crore have not earned enough to make their loan payments for the past two years, an HT analysis of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) revealed. 40 of the 72 companies with a total debt of Rs 2.94 lakh crore have failed to meet their interest payments for the past three years. The top 5 debt-ridden companies owe a total of Rs 1.4 lakh crore among them. These include Adani Power (Rs 44,840) crore, Lanco (Rs 39,890 crore), GVK (Rs 25,062 crore), Suzlon Energy (Rs 18,035 crore) and Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) (Rs 12,170 crore). Adani did not respond to emails sent by HT. The government is very clear that companies have to pay up debt. They have to offload their shares or sell some assets and repay some part of the loan before banks do restructuring, a senior finance ministry official said. The ability to repay debt is calculated by a metric known as interest cover (IC), which is the ratio of loan-related expenses (also called debt servicing) to a companys gross profit total revenues earned before taxes, interests or dividends. If the loan and interest payment a company has to make is Rs 100, and it earns the same amount in gross profit, the IC is 1 (100 divided by 100). If the gross profit is Rs 200, the IC is 2 (200 divided by 100). So, a higher IC means more money in the companys hands to pay interest and repay loans. The HT analysis shows 72 companies showed an IC of less than 1 for more than two years. This means less money to make interest payments. The analysis also shows that 60% of the stress assets are concentrated in metals and infrastructure companies. This may be bad news for banks as these sectors account for 74% of their corporate loans. Alarm bells were set off in February when 29 state-owned banks revealed that they wrote off Rs 1.14 lakh crore of bad debts between 2013 and 2015. The figure was much higher than previous years, which raised concerns that banks were losing grip on mounting bad corporate debt. HT had earlier reported that stressed companies were not doing a good job of managing their original businesses. Foray into other business ventures also took a toll on their efficiency and ability to repay loans. For three years, Lanco Infratech is in the process of exploring multiple options like selling stakes in one or multiple completed projects and bringing in strategic partners in under-construction projects, a Lanco spokesperson said. Lanco Infratech is thus committed to bring down the debt level, infuse liquidity into the company and add value for stakeholders. At GVK we are currently looking at various options for reducing our debt burden, a GVK spokesperson said. HCC did not respond to HTs requests for comments. Suzlon has taken various strategic initiatives and raised about `9,000 crore from the sale of its German subsidiary. These major initiatives have fixed our capital structure permanently and improvement is visible from our 2015-16 performance, Suzlon Energy said. British Prime Minister David Cameron might hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss Tata Steels move to sell its UK business as the country faces a challenge to safeguard thousands of jobs. Authorities appealed for time after Tata Steel said on Wednesday it couldnt promise to keep plants open while it seeks a buyer. The government said it was working to broker a deal with potential buyers after the steel giant sought to end its almost decade-long venture in Britain, which employs about 19,000 people. But, analysts poured cold water on the prospect of a sale any time soon. The prospect of Tata Steel finding a buyer for all its UK operations looks very slim, said Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell. Tata Steel is the second-largest steel producer in Europe. It has a crude steel production capacity of over 18 million tonnes per annum in Europe, but only 14 million is operational. UK business minister Anna Soubry said that the government was considering all options, including management and unions participating in a takeover. When asked about nationalising the plants, she said this will be difficult because of rules against state aid for business. We want to establish a good period so we can sell it on, she told the BBC. That is our priority, to look for a buyer. But we are being realistic about the state of the industry. She said there was a limit to what the government could do. We have to be very careful because we have these state aid rules, which have been established for well over 50 years. According to British daily Telegraph, Cameron has decided to cut short his family holiday amid the threat of job losses. Tata Steels move comes at a time when uncertainty persists over the British economy ahead of a referendum in June to decide whether Britain should stay in the European Union. The sale ramps up pressure on Camerons right-leaning Conservative government, which has sought to cultivate closer ties with China. Read: Stung by heavy losses, Tata Steel to put entire UK plants up for sale Britains steel industry has been hit hard by cheap Chinese imports, which have depressed prices, and manufacturers have asked the government and European Union to impose anti-dumping duties. Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, appealed for a meeting with Cameron. Tata Steel withdrawing completely from the UK risks destroying our entire steel industry, he said. That would be a disaster both for those communities reliant on steel jobs and our entire industrial base. Britains eurosceptic media have blamed Brussels for preventing London from taking greater steps to protect the industry and one of the campaign groups hoping to lead Britain out of the EU said it was killing our steel. But supporters of EU membership said the bloc was not responsible for the industrys plight and that the EU was a big buyer of British steel. Politician Leanne Wood, leader of Welsh party Plaid Cymru, described the news as devastating and also called for the Welsh regional assembly to be recalled from its Easter break to respond to the crisis. Tata had previously announced a series of job cuts at its Port Talbot site, where it employs 4,000 people, with another 3,000 employed as contractors and temporary workers. A joint statement from the British government and the Welsh regional government said they would work with unions to maintain the steel industry. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn travelled to Port Talbot to criticise the government for not responding more strongly to the surge in imports from China. It seems to me that too many people are not prepared to say to the Chinese government: sorry, your behaviour is not right, not fair, not proper and certainly not within the rules of the World Trade Organisation, he said. The administration deployed security personnel at Bisada on Wednesday after tension flared up again, six months after a Muslim man was lynched over rumours of cow slaughter in the Uttar Pradesh village. Police said a company of the provincial armed constabulary (PAC) and four officers were deployed after family members of 18 people arrested in connection with the incident threatened to burn the effigy of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and blocked the village road. They are also demanding a CBI inquiry into the incident. 55-year-old Mohammad Ikhlaq was lynched by a mob and his son critically injured at their residence on September 28, sparking a nationwide debate on intolerance and freedom of choice. Read More | Dadri lynching: 6 months on, memories linger but no Muslims left village No effigy was burnt and the police controlled the situation immediately. No force was used and senior government and police officials pacified the agitators. They tried to block the internal road of the village but after a while they were dispersed, said Rajesh Kumar Singh, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Dadri. Residents shouted slogans against police and administration demanding release of the 18 youths arrested on charges of murder and assault. Most of the agitators were women from the families of arrested persons. The force is deployed only as a precautionary measure. No untoward incident was reported. As most of the agitators were women, we have also deployed a female officer and about a dozen women constables, said Anurag Singh, deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Dadri. On Monday, some women from the village locked the government primary school as a mark of protest. Sources said a section of villagers are boycotting government social schemes including midday meal and ration from public distribution system. Villagers also threatened to intensify the protest if police do not submit in a local court the report of the forensic test on flesh recovered from the fridge at Ikhlaqs home. Why are police hiding the report? Its all happening because the state government is biased. If required we will visit Jantar Mantar to mark our protest, said Ombeer Singh, father of one of the accused. Read More | Dadri lynching: Police clear 1 accused, file chargesheet against 3 Government officials said that despite holding several meetings the villagers are divided on their demands. We are available for them at any point of time but they must come up with a unified demand. A segment is demanding something else while other is protesting for some other demand. We are waiting for them to get their points clear and then we will see what can be done, the SDM said. He said the some of the villagers were planning to hold a mahapanchayat of 144 villages but the proposal was turned down as prohibitory orders are imposed in the district. Read More | Dadri lynching: Cops seek final report on meat found at Ikhlaqs house SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Priyanka Kapoors sister, Dimpy, on Tuesday released photographs of Priyanka after she was beaten up by her husband. The pictures that have gone viral show Priyanka with a battered face, a swollen eye and stitches on her lips and forehead. Dimpy said the pictures were taken on January 30, a few days after their wedding. Nitin woke Priyanka at 4 am and started beating her. He was angry over Priyanka stepping out for tea with her friend. He did not even let her explain. Priyanka told me that she was sleeping in her room, when Nitin came, woke her up and punched her in the face, Dimpy said. He slapped, punched and kicked her. He held her from her neck and slammed her head against the wall. Read more: Delhi model case: She was the life of parties but hubby didnt approve HT tried contacting Nitin brothers on his cell phone, but it was switched off. Dimpy said that Priyanka was shocked after being beaten so mercilessly. She tried to inform her parents, for which she received another round of beating. She somehow managed to inform us and we got her back home. She was scared. Nitin then followed us to our home and stood outside our house like a maniac. We refused to entertain him. We told him that we will speak to his parents, Dimpy said. The next day, we called Nitins parents and told them that we are approaching the police, but they threatened us. Nitins brother told us that he had contacts. The next morning, Nitins parents visited Priyanka and convinced her that these things were normal in a marriage and that she should learn to adjust. Nitins father reportedly apologised for his sons actions and requested Priyanka to return home. Priyanka got convinced and returned home, but her mother-in-law tortured her. Once she had gone to visit her in-laws at their Meera Bagh residence, when her mother-in-law hit Priyanka. Priyanka was so scared of Nitin that she stopped telling us about the abuse, Dimpy said. Dimpy alleged that Nitin also used to force Priyanka to visit a tantrik with him, which Priyanka did not approve of. Priyanka was a modern woman. She did not believe in superstitions. But Nitin forced her to visit a tantrik and eat the priests offering, which irked her, she said. Nitin, who has been arrested, has been sent to judicial custody. The strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi assembly might come down to two from three in the 70-member House. The ethics committee of Delhi assembly on Wednesday recommended expulsion of Sharma from the membership of the sixth assembly, after finding him guilty of using derogatory and defamatory language against AAP legislator Alka Lamba. During a discussion on night shelters in the winter session last year, OP Sharma, called AAP legislator Alka Lamba raat bhar ghoomne wali (someone who loiters around the whole night). Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had suspended Sharma for rest of the winter session and had also referred the matter to the Ethics Committee for further probe. Sharma is also facing criminal charges for assaulting JNU students and teachers who had assembled outside the Patiala House court. The incident took place when the court was hearing the bail plea of JNU students union president Kanhaiyas bail on February 15. However, this case is not in the purview of the Assemblys ethics committee. Recalling previous incidents when Sharma was fined and warned of unruly behaviour in the Vidhan Sabha, the ethics committee report, tabled in Delhi assembly on Wednesday, described the Vishwas Nagar legislator as a habitual offender. Terming the report as biased, Sharma said, if expelled, he would challenge it in court. Given the fact that Om Prakash Sharma, in addition to being found guilty in the very serious matter under investigation, he also has to his credit the record of being named by the speaker most number of times for indecorous conduct in the House. The committee is left with no choice but to recommend Sharmas expulsion from the membership of the sixth legislative assembly of the government of NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi, the committee said in its report. A motion that the House agrees with the report will be taken up for discussion in assembly, and voting, on Thursday. Senior AAP leaders said the motion is likely to be approved by the House. AAP has 67 members in 70-member House while the rest three are BJP members. THREAT TO ASSEMBLY MEMBERSHIP Ethics Committees recommendation will be discussed by the Assembly for a decision Who is OP Sharma? Om Prakash Sharma is the BJP MLA from Vishwas Nagar. He is a graduate from Satyawati College and lives in the Defence Enclave area in east Delhi. Why is he facing expulsion from Assembly? During a discussion on night shelters in the city, Sharma had called AAP MLA Alka Lamba "raat bhar bahar ghoomne wali (someone who loiters around the whole night)". The Speaker referred the matter to the Ethics Committee, which found Sharma guilty of using "derogatory" and "defamatory" language against the AAP legislator. The panel described Sharma as a "habitual offender", who had been warned often for unruly behaviour. What next? The report will be discussed in the House and a motion will have to be passed for Sharmas expulsion. Why its significant? Sharmas expulsion will reduce BJPs strength from 3 to 2 in the 70-member House. Rest of the members are all from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party. It will further escalate the political fight between AAP and BJP. Role in JNU controversy Sharma hit headlines when he was caught live on camera beating up a JNU supporter outside the Patiala House courts. Talking to reporters later, he said he would have killed the man if he had a gun. He is facing criminal charges in the case. Going by the mood prevailing among the legislators due to Sharmas repeated behaviour in the House, the motion is likely to be passed, said a senior AAP leader. Reacting to the recommendation, Sharma alleged that the ruling party was using its brute majority to muzzle the voice of opposition and, if expelled, he would challenge his expulsion in court. I still stand by the words I used. But my intention was not wrong. The AAP legislator has herself claimed that she had visited night shelters at 2am and gone out as a part of drug de-addiction campaign at 4 am. I only repeated what she proclaimed about herself, Sharma told reporters. Leader of opposition, Vijender Gupta termed the recommendations of the ethics committee as biased as all nine members of the committee were members of the ruling party. Moreover, while the committee has recommended action against him, it says nothing about the fact that he was manhandled by AAP legislators in the House, he said. The report, however, underlined in its conclusion that OP Sharma attended five of its ten meetings, and was supplied with all materials that he asked for. After the seventh sitting, Mr Sharma was asked in writing to convey to the committee if he wished to bring before the committee and other evidence/facts. To the said communication, there was no response from Mr. Sharma, the report reads. A group of JNU students were not allowed to meet Manipuri human rights activist Irom Sharmila who was in Delhi for the hearing of a 2006 case of attempted suicide. The students were stopped at the barricade drawn by the police near Manipur House where Sharmila had put up. The police reasoned that they could not allow Sharmila to address the students since she was still under judicial custody after refusing personal recognizance bond on offer on March 22 earlier this month. After an-hour long negotiation, Sharmila emerged on the other side of the barricade to the loud cheer of the students. She acknowledged the students support through hand gesture as the students raised slogans against the Afspa. Sharmila has been fasting against Afspa for the last 16 years. Revoke Afspa!, Afspa down down Irom Sharmila Laal Salam were among the few slogans that were raised in support of the Iron Lady of Manipur. The 1958 Afspa rule, which is in effect in many parts of northeastern India and Kashmir, gives security forces sweeping powers to search and shoot on sight, and is criticised for allegedly allowing security personnel to abuse human rights. JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid condemned the state agencies for not allowing Sharmila to address the students. We condemn this attitude of the state agencies who do not want us to meet Sharmila and support her cause. We need to keep fighting, said Rashid. Students however celebrated dropping of the charge against Sharmila for attempt to suicide. Today is a day of victory for people who fight against oppression. Our fight is long but we will win this fight because our fight is for a genuine cause. They rape our women and sisters. We will continue our fight against this, said Chinglen Khunukcham, Convener of North East Forum for International Solidarity. The students then held a march from near Manipur House to the main road at Chanakyapuri while raising slogans against Afspa and in support of Sharmila. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel guarding the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Tuesday seized a country made pistol from a Riyadh-bound passenger. Sub-Inspector Jitender Kumar, deployed at the screening point of International Terminal-III of the Airport, detected one country made pistol from Imrans bag, who was to travel by Flight SV-761. The security personnel have handed over the passenger to the IGI Airport Police station, after he failed to produce valid documents to support his weapon. The police have registered a case under the Arms Act 1959. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the Centre is shaking hands with Pakistan and the ISI but not with Delhi government. The BJP-led Centre and the AAP government in Delhi had been at loggerheads over several issues of governance and jurisdiction due to the national Capitals unique constitutional status of a semi-state. You can shake hand with ISI, Nawaz Sharif then what is the problem in making Delhi government your friend, the Delhi CM said in his reply to the discussion on the Delhi Budget, which was passed by the Assembly. He, however, assured the Opposition BJP MLAs that he will follow cooperative federalism in the right spirit and sought their help in getting the bills pending Centres approval passed. I want to put a proposal before the House. I want to work with the opposition as they are an integral part of the assembly. I would request the opposition to tell the mistakes of government and we will correct it. In return, they must get the bills cleared, which are pending with the central government. Lets divide work, said Kejriwal in his speech. Among the several bills that are pending Centres approval are the AAP governments flagship Janlokpal bill and the MLAs salary bill. Kejriwal said if there were technical issues with the bills then the Centre should return them to the Delhi government instead of sitting on them. Whatever work you want from Delhi government, we will get it done but you get our work done by central government. The GNCTD Act provides that we could take post-facto approval from the Centre after passing the bill in the assembly. In some cases, all rules were followed but still they are pending with them. You please get these bills cleared from them, Kejriwal told Vijender Gupta, the leader of the Opposition. Earlier, Gupta had asked Kejriwal to follow the Constitution as prior approval of Union government was not taken before passing the bills in the assembly. Kejriwal also targeted the Centre for making the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government dysfunctional. We had ended corruption in Delhi during our 49-day rule because ACB was with us. Currently, ACB is lying defunct. You please ask them to give us ACB back. Ask DDA to give us land and central government to give us funds for the municipal corporations, he said, addressing the opposition bench. Kejriwal hailed finance minister Manish Sisodia for presenting a people-friendly budget. Kejriwal said the West is praising AAP governments initiatives such as Mohalla clinic and odd-even scheme. Hamen karna bhi aata hai, aur dharna bhi (we know both to govern and protest), Kejriwal said. The crisis in Uttarakhand, which has arisen as a result of the dismissal of the democratically-elected government, led by Harish Rawat, has many points of significance, none of which is healthy for Indias body politic. What was a political crisis has turned into a legal and a constitutional anomaly, in the sense that the judiciary has had to step into the domain of the legislature, something that is not in consonance with the constitutional tenet of the separation of powers. The Centre had precipitated the problem by dismissing the state government a day before it was to prove it had the support of the assembly. In the Centres view the constitutional machinery had broken down after nine Congress MLAs had withdrawn support to the government. And it had also cited the governors report, which had talked of horse-trading being caught on a spy camera. None of these is very convincing and it was the governor himself who had ordered the floor test. Read | Uttarakhand crisis: HC order adds to confusion on trust vote When broken into some of its constituent elements, the whole episode throws up contradictory pictures. The fact that the Uttarakhand high court has not stayed the presidential order of dismissal and yet ordered a floor test in the assembly (now stayed by a division bench) means a dismissed chief minister has been asked to prove his majority. This is no doubt bewildering. If in a subsequent judicial decree the presidents action is called into question, it will be another blow to the constitutional arrangement because any action taken by the president in his official capacity should be outside judicial scrutiny (the same applies in the case of the governor). Second, without invalidating the Speakers order of disqualifying nine rebel MLAs, the court has allowed them to participate in the trial of strength. In this situation the anti-defection law very clearly works against the rebel MLAs because together they do not total two-thirds of the Congress legislature party. If they vote against the diktat of the party high command they will be disqualified. And if because of their vote Mr Rawat loses the floor test, then logically he should be allowed to take a floor test once again in view of the changed composition of the assembly. That would amount to just piling on the agony. As of now, all the three sides the Centre, Congress and rebel MLAs have gone to court or are planning to do so. Read | Presidents rule in Uttarakhand: A return to the political skulduggery In 2006, when the Supreme Court issued notice to then Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee after some MPs were expelled on charges of bribery, Mr Chatterjee sent it back to the court without replying to it on the grounds that no court had jurisdiction in the matter. But 10 years after that both the legislature and the executive are seeking legal relief related to issues that they should have been able to sort out themselves by just following the procedure. This is unfortunate. Pakistan claims it arrested an Indian spy on March 26 in its restive Balochistan province. New Delhi refutes the claim, saying the person is a former Indian Navy officer who took voluntary retirement to do business. Pakistani media reported that the alleged Indian spy had residency permit of Iran and crossed over to Balochistan border. It was also reported that he had a passport (number is L9630722) under the name Hussain Mubarak Patel. His place of birth is mentioned as Sangli, Maharashtra. Read more: Concerned about man held in Pakistan, spy video tutored: India India sees the allegations as the neighbouring countrys ploy to counter Indias involvement in the construction of Chabahar port, which is a major concern for Pakistan. The strategically important port gives India a direct access to Afghanistan and other central Asian countries bypassing Pakistan. New Delhi says Kulbhushan Jadhav was doing business in Chabahar. He has no involvement with any government activity. Read more: Businessman? Cops son? Conflicting claims over spy arrested in Pak On Tuesday, Pakistan released a videotape in which the former Indian Navy officer admitted funding Baloch insurgents. New Delhi pointed out several loopholes in the tape and suspected that Jadhav must have been coerced to say so. India demanded counselor accessa countrys rights to get in touch with its citizen arrested in foreign shores but Pakistan has denied any access so far. Read more: Pak releases video of RAW officers confession, India rubbishes claim Pakistan has a chequered history in dealing with people they have dubbed as Indian spies. Sarabjit Singh, a farmer who strayed into Pakistani territory had died in a Pakistani jail after he was attacked by other prisoners. Pakistani authorities had repeatedly denied pleas of New Delhi to release Singh. In this case, intelligence officials say, It is still not clear whether he was lured into Balochistan or picked up after he strayed into Pakistani territory -- land or water. To build up its case, Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif met visiting Iranian president and pointed out the arrest of the spy to underline Indias external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wings (RAWs) alleged interference in Balochistan. Jadhavs colleagues say he graduated as a naval engineer in 1990 from the National Defence Academy. He completed 14 years in the navy and rose to the rank of a commander. According to his family, he set up business in Chabahar free trade zone. His business includes servicing boats and ferries. India says its inquiries reveal that he apparently was being harassed while operating a legitimate business from Iran. His presence now in Pakistan raises questions, including the possibility of his abduction from Iran. This would become clear only if we are given consular access to him and we urge the government of Pakistan to respond immediately to our request, the external affairs ministry said in a statement. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An anticipatory bail plea of an alleged accomplice of the suspected henchman-cum-sharpshooter hired by self-styled godman Asaram was rejected by a sessions court on Wednesday during investigation by police. The sharpshooter Kartik Haldar, arrested earlier this month for allegedly shooting dead three witnesses in rape cases against Asaram, had conveyed K D Patels name to police. The court of additional sessions judge N G Dave rejected the bail plea on the ground that the crime under consideration was of serious nature. Patels counsel said they would move the high court for pre-arrest bail. Haldar had told police that Patel was one of his aides who was involved in the murder of at least three witnesses and assaulting four others who had testified against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai in rape cases. Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhattisgarh in a joint operation by ATS and crime branch unit of Ahmedabad police. Patel had allegedly attacked one Raju Chandak, a devotee-turned-baiter of of Asaram, in December 2009 for making a statement against the self-styled spiritual leader in connection with the death of two boys in Asarams ashram in 2008. Haldar had told police that Patel and another accused, Arjun Sindhi, were involved in the attack. Chandak, however, survived the bid on his life. Asaram has been lodged at Jodhpur jail since August 2014 in connection with a rape case filed against him by police. A Gandhinagar court on Tuesday framed charges against him for raping two Surat-based sisters. Mother of Kausalya, the 19-year-old widow of the Dalit youth who was hacked to death in full public view at a bus stand in Tirupur in a suspected honour killing, surrendered before a local court in Theni. Judicial Magistrate Sundari remanded Annalakshmi to judicial custody and ordered to produce her before the Udumalpet court on Thursday. So far five persons have been arrested in connection with the case. Kausalyas father Chinnasamy had already surrendered before the police. Shankar (22) and Kausalya, married eight months ago despite opposition from their families. While waiting at the Udumalpet bus stand, they were attacked by a gang with sickles in full public view on March 13 in nearby Tirupur district, resulting in Shankars death. Kausalya who had been under treatment at the Government hospital in Coimbatore was discharged on Monday. Later, she was taken to Komaralingam in Tirupur District to her in-laws house, as she had expressed her wish to stay with them. The girl had earlier demanded that her parents be punished for murdering her husband. Pakistan issued an advisory to its media persons, asking them not to follow the Indian media that is driven by crass commercialisation while covering news events. In the wake of Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi incidents, media is expected to cover the events with utmost professional responsibility... Pakistan media needs to follow the example of professional handling of Brussels attacks by international media rather than following in the footsteps of Indian media that is driven by crass commercialisation, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said in an advisory. The advisory was scoffed at by Indian journalists, some of whom described it as ironical. The Congress on Wednesday criticised the Modi governments decision to allow 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce retailing, saying the move will play havoc with five crore retailers already facing the brunt of economic slowdown. The decision will harm the interests of the country and especially hit small businessmen, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said. He attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he as the Gujarat chief minister was at the forefront to oppose the Congress-led UPA governments decision to open the country to multi-brand retail to help boost the economy. Sharma, a former Union commerce minister, claimed that while the UPA government had taken all precautions to protect small businessmen, the NDAs move has come as a bolt from the blue for traders. Already the retail trade is plagued by problems with e-commerce gaining ground, he said. The Congress also attacked the government on allowing Pakistani probe team to visit Pathankot. The team was allowed in India to cover up the PMs failure, Sharma said. He warned that the opposition would raise the whole matter in the coming session of Parliament. We will not allow the PM to maintain silence as usual, he said. The Airport police, based on directions from the Andheri magistrates court have registered a FIR against self-styled godwoman Radhe Maa for allegedly carrying a Trishul (Trident) on a plane last year. Apart from Radhe Maa, the police have booked three officers from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the airline and one of its employees. The FIR was registered on Tuesday evening based on directions of a magistrates court earlier this month. The complainant Asad Patel is a Right to Information activist. A trishul is dangerous and could cause harm to passengers. It is among the many items banned by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Patel had said in his complaint to the concerned authorities. On August 9, 2016, Radhe Maa had travelled between Aurangabad and Mumbai by Jet Airways flight with the Trident. Patel back then had written to the police and to the airport authorities but when he did not get a positive response, he approached the court. A FIR has now been registered under Sections 5 (license for manufacture, sale, etc., of arms and ammunition), 25 (transports fire arm) and 27 (using arms) of the Indian Arms Act and sections 166 (Public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person) and 174 (non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant) of the Indian Penal Code. Apart from Sukhwinder Kaur alias Radhe Maa, the police have booked BL Jat, a CISF assistant commandant at the Aurangabad domestic airport, the CISF assistant commandant at the Mumbai domestic airport, CISF duty officer, at Mumbai domestic Airport, Jet airways and flight attendant of Jet Airways. The centre has said it will develop places associated with Dalit icon BR Ambedkar as world class tourist attractions. Called Ambedkar circuit, it will cover Mhow, Ambedkars birth place, Nagpur, where he converted to Buddhism, 26 Alipur Road, Delhi, where he lived during his last years and Dadar in Maharashtra where he was cremated. Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to develop these places as Tirtha Sthal (pilgrimage centre) for Dalits and is likely to announce the circuit at Mhow on Ambedkars birth anniversary on April 14. Delivering the Ambedkar Memorial Lecture last Monday, Modi called himself an Ambedkar bhakt even as he took swipes at the Congress saying how he resigned from Jawaharlal Nehrus Cabinet over the issue of womens rights in the Hindu Code Bill. Since it came to power in May 2014, the NDA government has organised a series of events to drive home the message about its commitment to the ideals of Ambedkar. The NDA government is celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of the architect of the constitution and has announced a number of programmes to commemorate the occasion. Other than its decision to build an Ambedkar memorial at 26 Alipur Road in Delhi where he breathed his last, the government also launched a commemorative stamp in his honour. These moves drew snipes from opposition parties that the BJP was trying to appropriate Ambedkar. The idea (behind the Ambedkar circuit) is to develop infrastructure around the memorials in these places so that it becomes convenient for tourists to visit them, a social justice ministry official said. The Ambedkar circuit will be similar to the famous Buddha circuit which covers Sarnath-Gaya-Varanasi, the places linked to Buddha. Finance minister Arun Jaitley in his 2014 budget had allocated Rs 500 crore to develop world class tourist amenities in these places. The move to develop an Ambedkar circuit is in line with the Modis recent statements on Ambedkar, who he said is a global icon, and should not be limited as a messiah for the Dalits. To call Ambedkar the messiah only of the Dalits is a great injustice to him. He raised his voice against any and all injustice. We should not limit him to our borders. The way the world sees Martin Luther King, Baba Saheb should be seen like that. He was the voice of the downtrodden, Modi said delivering the 6th Ambedkar memorial lecture on Monday. A bill providing reservation to five communities including the dominant Jats in Haryana was challenged in court on Wednesday, with the petitioner saying the ML Khattar governments decision was arbitrary and malafide. The Punjab and Haryana high court is likely to take up the petition, filed by a Jind resident, either on Thursday or Friday. On Tuesday, the Haryana assembly cleared the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill, 2016, which aims to bring six castes -- Jats, Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Rors, Tyagis and Muslim or Mulla Jats within the newly-created backward class (C) category and provide 10% reservation in class 3 and 4 posts and 6% in class 1 and 2 posts. The governments decision came in the wake of a violent agitation by the community -- that constitutes 26% of the states 2.64-crore population -- leaving at least 30 people dead and more than 320 injured in February. Besides, property worth crores of rupees was damaged in arson during the agitation that left the state paralysed for nearly two weeks. Petitioner Shakti Singh said the government acted under pressure of a particular caste and the bill was introduced without any survey, committee or commission report on the issue. The petitioner sought a direction to quash the bill and stay further proceedings during the pendency of the petition. The petitioner cited a Supreme Court ruling that barred reservation beyond 50 percent. But the bill passed by the Haryana assembly will take reservation in the state upto 70 percent, the petitioner said. The Haryana assembly passed a bill on Tuesday to provide 10% reservation in jobs and education to Jats and five other castes, upholding the BJP-led governments promise during a violent quota stir in February that killed about 30 people. The new law will raise the states quota percentage to 67%, a legally indefensible position in view of a 1992 Supreme Court judgment that fixed a cap of 50%. Backward classes in Haryana already enjoy 27 % reservation, followed by scheduled castes 20%, and 10% for the economically backward people. Besides, the state legislature passed the Haryana backward classes commission bill to set up a statutory mechanism for examining requests of inclusion and complaints of over-exclusion and under-inclusion of people in this reserved category. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattars government will request the Centre to include the quota law in the Constitutions Ninth Schedule to avoid getting into a legal tangle. Khattar described the successful enactment of the law as a historic day for Haryana. Every category will gain a win-win situation for all. There will be no loss to anyone, he said. Leaders were divided on the bill as the ruling BJPs own parliamentarian from Kurukshetra, Rajkumar Saini, who has been opposing reservation for the states politically-dominant Jats, said it was a murder of democracy. Congress leader and former minister Ajay Singh Yadav, who is from the OBC community, said it was a black day for Haryana. His party was not opposed to the bill, though. BJP ally INLD blamed the previous Congress government for the Jat stir. The government could have prevented large-scale violence and loss of lives had it brought the bill one-and-a-half years ago, party leader Abhay Chautala said. Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda countered the charge, saying the BJP was playing vote-bank politics and vitiating the states atmosphere. All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti leader Hawa Singh Sangwan welcomed the law, though he announced that he will be happy only when we get reservation in the Centre. Lawyer and youth leader Vinit Dhankar made it clear that Jats dont want to be sepoys and clerks. We want administrative roles as well. The reservation law says six castes Jats, Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Rors, Tyagis and Muslim or Mulla Jats have been included in a new backward class category, called BC-C. They will get 10 % reservation in class 3 and 4 posts and 6% reservation in class 1 and 2 jobs. The existing 27 % reservation to 71 castes in two backward class categories, BC-A and BC-B, has also been brought under the ambit of the law. Till now, reservation in these two categories was given through an executive order. Legal experts said the Ninth Schedule would not guarantee the Haryana law blanket protection from judicial review. In a January 2007 order, the top court said all constitutional amendments made on or after April 24, 1973, can be reviewed if the legislation was violating fundamental rights and the basic structure of the Constitution at the same time. (With inputs from Hardik Anand in Rohtak and agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India on Wednesday welcomed Myanmars metamorphosis towards democracy under Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who will have to grapple with the long shadow of the armed forces hovering over the fledgling elected government. Wearing a blue sarong and blouse, the 70-year-old head of the National League for Democracy was among 18 cabinet ministers collectively administered the oath of office. On paper, Suu Kyi will be minister for foreign affairs, the presidents office, education and energy at least to start with. In practice, she will be the final arbiter on all non-security matters in the new administration. Aung San Suu Kyi attends the presidential handover ceremony in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP) Reacting to the momentous development, Indian ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhaya remarked: With the reforms, peace process, free elections and the new government, we can hope to see greater business interest in India free from residual baggage of the past and a fuller development of relations across the board as democracies under a popularly elected leader and government. How Suu Kyi reciprocates will be gauged from how early and with what priorities she visits New Delhi. After a 28-year struggle, which included years under house arrest, she said in a recent interview: This is just a beginning of a road. She could soon be in the midst of tough negotiations with the armed forces as she seeks to alter a 2008 charter which enshrines the militarys omnipotence in the countrys politics. Myanmar's new President Htin Kyaw (L) greets members of the old cabinet during the handover ceremony at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw. (AFP) Debarred by the existing Constitution from becoming the president, she nominated a London-educated economist and confidante, Htin Kyaw, 69, for the post. In a brief address to a joint session of the national parliament after being sworn in as the countrys first civilian president since 1962, Htin Kyaw said: We have a duty to work for the emergence of a Constitution that is appropriate for our country and also in accordance with democratic standards. Our new government, he promised, will implement national reconciliation. He also gave an undertaking that it will enhance the living standard of the people. Myanmar's NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi smiles with army members during the handover ceremony of outgoing President Thein Sein and new President Htin Kyaw. (REUTERS) Apart from controlling the ministries of home, defence and borders affairs, the men in uniform will continue to occupy 25% of seats in parliament. In effect, Suu Kyis party which won a three-fourths majority in the parliament will have to cohabit with the military, which has directly or indirectly ruled Indias northeastern neighbour for 54 years. A sprawling complex of buildings, amalgamating Buddhist and western architecture, constitute the union legislature in the spectacular but eerily silent capital of Naypyitaw, 330 km to the north of Yangon, Myanmars biggest city. Myanmar's outgoing president Thein Sein (R) hands over the presidential seal to the country's new President Htin Kyaw (L) during the handover ceremony at the president house in Naypyidaw. (AFP) Inside, the attending lawmakers watched in awe and applauded. Some NLD members shed tears of joy. Many of them had been imprisoned and tortured by the junta. Witnessing proceedings was army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who on Sunday caused anxiety by suggesting conditional support to the new order in a speech at an annual parade. Outgoing president Thein Sein, a former army general who creditably guided the countrys passage from a draconian dictatorship to a predominantly civilian dispensation, was photographed with his successor. The handover completed a transition that was set in motion by the NLDs stunning victory in elections held in November. Hundreds of radical Islamists who had rallied for four days in the heart of Pakistans capital ended their demonstrations on Wednesday hours after the government threatened to use force to disperse them. The Islamists were protesting last months hanging of a policeman who had shot and killed a secular governor over his opposition to the countrys strict blasphemy laws. They had demanded a strict Shariah law and the hanging of a Christian woman the governor had defended against blasphemy allegations. Awais Noorani, one of the protest leaders, called on the demonstrators to disperse, saying a deal was reached with the government. Noorul Haq Qadri, who said he had helped negotiate the deal on behalf of the protesters, said the government had given assurances that there would be no attempt to amend the blasphemy laws and that it would release all detained protesters who were not wanted on other charges. But interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the government had not acceded to any of the protesters demands. He said religious leaders had helped convince them to end their rallies. Police have detained more than 1,000 protesters in the last four days, Khan said. He said those involved in violence would be prosecuted, while the rest would be freed after investigation. The protests had paralysed one of the busiest areas of Islamabad. Most of the businesses in the area and schools across the city remained closed. More than 10,000 Islamists from Pakistans Sunni Tehreek group descended on Islamabad on Sunday to denounce last months hanging of officer Mumtaz Qadri for the 2011 murder of secular governor Salman Taseer. Their rally turned violent and police fired tear gas on Sunday but failed to disperse the protesters, who damaged bus stations, traffic lights and closed-circuit security cameras. The sit-in continued, but the number of protesters had dwindled to about 1,200. Thousands of riot police and paramilitary troops had been deployed around the site, police official Nauman Alvi said. The government had warned that 7,000 security forces were ready to move in and disperse the demonstrators. The protest comes against the backdrop of a massive suicide bombing by a breakaway Taliban faction that targeted Christians gathered for Eastern Sunday in a park in Lahore, killing 72 people, mostly Muslims. Despite its hard-line views, the Sunni Tehreek group behind the protests in Islamabad does not carry out militant attacks. Italy on Wednesday launched a legal battle at an international tribunal to bring home an Italian marine, barred from leaving India after the 2012 killing of two Indian fishermen who Rome says were mistaken for pirates. Marine Salvatore Girone has been living in Italys embassy in Delhi for several years and is banned from leaving the city pending resolution of a dispute which has soured bilateral ties. Girone and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre were arrested by police in 2012, days after they shot at an Indian fishing boat, killing two fishermen, while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission off Kerala coast. The so-called Enrica Lexie incident, named after the oil tanker, is now subject to international arbitration in a bitter fight between the two countries. Ties soured even further after the two marines overstayed a return trip to Italy they were allowed to make in early 2013 to vote in general elections. Both marines were barred from leaving India again pending a trial, although they have not yet been charged. But Latorre was allowed to travel back to Italy in 2014 for medical treatment after he suffered a stroke. Girone however is obliged to live thousands of kilometres away from his country and family, with two children still at a tender age and is deprived of his liberty, Italian ambassador Francesco Azzarello told the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). He has not been subjected to any charge... his rights are seriously suffering, said Azzarello at the Hague-based arbitration body, set up in 1899 to rule in disputes between states and private entities. Girone should be allowed to come home pending the final determination of this tribunal, Azzarelo insisted. Indian courts in January extended Latorres permission to stay in Italy until April 30. Italy ainitiated arbitration proceedings last year and, in August a UN body, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), ordered India to suspend court proceedings against the pair. Italy insists the Enrica Lexie was in international waters at the time of the incident. India argues the case is not a maritime dispute but a double murder at sea, in which one fisherman was shot in the head and the other in the stomach. The dragging case has become a political hot-button issue in Italy with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi regularly flayed by opposition leaders for failing to secure the release of both men. Azzarello said Thursday that Italy gives the solemn undertaking the marines will be returned to India if the PCA orders Rome to do so. However a human being cannot be used as a guarantee for the conduct of a state, Azzarello said. The Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ) in Ranchi has suspended an assistant professor from her post on charges of inviting a former JNU professor, who authorities said had links to the recent anti-national protests. Shreya Bhattacharji, who was also the dean of students welfare, was suspended on March 28 for inviting MN Panini, a retired JNU professor with the Centre for the Study of Social System, to be the guest of honour at a function to commemorate the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel held on March 19. Bhattacharji was asked to step down and give charges to Ajai Singh after she was suspended. In exercise of power the vice chancellor is pleased to assign the duties of dean of students welfare to Dr Ajai Singh, ... in addition to his other assigned duties with immediate effect till further orders, the order issued on March 29, of which HT has a copy, said. Authorities at CUJ, the only central university in Jharkhand located in Brambe on the outskirts of Ranchi, alleged that Panini was associated with the recent anti-national protests on JNU campus and was a mentor of Kanhaiya Kumar and his friends in the past. Authorities said they were aware of the invite sent to Panini but did not know about his credentials. They accused Bhattacharji of hiding the facts thereby indirectly indulging in anti-national activities and bringing disrepute to the central university. Panini, however, did not turn up after vice-chancellor Nand Kumar Yadav called him and requested to cancel his visit on the penultimate day of the ceremony. Yadav said he was flooded with emails, text messages and phone calls demanding that Panini visit be cancelled, some even threatening to show black flags. Bhattacharjis action has tarnished the universitys reputation. Because of the invite she had sent to Panini, Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu, supposed to attend the function as chief guest, cancelled her visit at the last moment, CUJ communication officer, Debabrata Singh, said. A three-member committee has been formed to properly investigate the fiasco and submit a report to the vice-chancellor by Wednesday evening. By then we are expecting Bhattacharji to return to the campus and explain her stand, Singh added. Bhattacharji could not be reached on her cell phone. Sources close to the suspended teacher said she went home to Kolkata during Holi holidays. She is not well at all and undergoing treatment in Kolkata. Kindly do not disturb her, a friend, who did not wish to be named, said. People who believe in humanity should unite in the fight against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday night, asserting that India will never bow before the global threat. Addressing an event of the Indian community in Brussels, Modi said religion and terrorism should be de-linked and stressed that there was no point in differentiating between good terror and bad terror. Terrorism is a challenge for humankind, not just any nation or region. Those who believe in humanity should tackle terrorism together, Modi said in the aftermath of last weeks terror strikes in Brussels by the Islamic State group that killed more than 30 people. India has not bent before terrorism, and there is no question of bending. I have spoken to many important leaders, including religious ones, and explained them of the need to delink terror from religion. No religion teaches terrorism, he said after paying tributes to the victims of the Brussels attacks. The United Nations faces the danger of becoming irrelevant if it fails to tackle the challenge, Modi said. In recent days in India, liberal Islamic scholars held a big meeting linked to SufismThey said those who speak of terror are un-Islamic, the Prime Minister said, referring to an event where he described Islam as a religion of faith and peace. The more such voices rise, the faster the radicalisation of youth can be prevented. We cant tackle terrorism with bombs and guns. Modi held a summit with European Union leaders earlier in the day, vowing to boost counter-terrorism cooperation. Read: PM Modi mourns Brussels victim Ganeshan, beckons Belgian investment The Indian PM delivered a speech amid loud cheers, vowing to fight terror and listing out the achievements of his government. Here are three things he said Terrorism is not a challenge to any nation, it is a threat to the humanity Those who believe in humanity should together tackle terrorism Terrorism and religion should be de-linked The March 22 suicide bombings on an airport and a metro system loomed large over Modis visit to Brussels for the 13th EU-India summit, with the Prime Minister saying India shared Belgiums pain. In a joint statement after talks with European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the leaders condemned the carnage as an unacceptable affront to our open democratic societies. Modi also paid tributes to Raghavendran Ganeshan, an Infosys employee from India who died in the attacks. On governance and economy Modi listed out his achievements at the late-night event for the Indian diaspora, highlighting his governments efforts to change the countrys image and pointing out that the One Rank One Pension scheme for retired servicemen has been rolled out. India is a bright ray in the global economic gloom, he said as the crowd chanted Modi, Modi. Modis Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014 promising to revive the economy and create much-needed jobs. But while India is the worlds fastest-growing major economy, experts say it is still not expanding at a fast enough pace to provide employment for a burgeoning young population. Modi said his government was committed to root out corruption. He took veiled potshots at the previous Congress governments for alleged failure to provide electricity to Indias villages, though he did not name any party or individual. Read: EU-India summit provides no breakthrough in Italian marines case row A 17-year-old Muslim boy sustained a fracture and two of his fellow Madrasa students were injured after they were allegedly thrashed by a group of men for refusing to chant Jai Mata Ki and Bharat Mata Ki Jai at a park in Outer Delhis Begampur area. The men who beat up the boys have not been identified, however, a case in the matter has been registered and the police are looking into the matter. The injured, Dilkash, Ajmal and Naeem, were discharged after treatment. Watch | Madrassa students thrashed for not saying Bharat Mata ki jai In his statement to the police, Dilkash told the police that he along with his friends were taking a stroll in the park when five men came and hit them from behind. They started abusing and ordered them to to chant Bharat Mata ki Jai. When they refused to comply the men started beating them up. The boys claimed that they managed to save themselves and ran back to the mosque, where they study in a madrasa. They then informed the police. The police are investigating the case. Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named veteran NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, his son Pankaj and nephew Samir in its first chargesheet in the Rs 870-crore Maharashtra Sadan scam and the money laundering cases . ED officials said the 11,150-page prosecution complaint, also called chargesheet in police parlance, was filed on Wednesday before the registrar of City Civil and Sessions court in Mumbai. The accused named in the criminal complaint include Chhagan Bhujbal, Samir Bhujbal, Pankaj Bhujbal, corporates such as DB Realty, Balwa group of companies, Neelkamal Realtors and Builders Private Limited, Neelkamal central apartment LLP and Kakade Infrastructure. The other individuals named in the complaint are Vinod Goenka, Asif Balwa, Sanjay Kakade and others, the agency said in a statement. Chhagan Bhujbal is also a former deputy chief minister and an ex-PWD minister. ED officals said about 30 witnesses have also been named in the chargesheet, which has been filed by furnishing documentary evidence and questioning of the accused in the case till now. Details of attachments made under PMLA laws in the case have been furnished in the chargesheet, officials said. The chargesheet has been filed on the basis of two PMLA FIRs filed by the agency that include cases to probe the RTO office building and other infrastructure projects. The ED took cognisance of ACB FIRs to register its money laundering cases last year. Bhujbal, along with his ex-MP nephew Samir, have been arrested in the case by the ED and they are currently in jail. Further identification of money trail and the assets generated out of the proceeds of crime is in progress. If required, supplementary chargesheet/s will be filed in due course of time, it said. The agency has filed two FIRs against Bhujbal, his family members and others under anti-money laundering laws, based on Mumbai Polices ACB FIRs, to probe alleged irregularities in the construction of Delhi-based state guest house Maharashtra Sadan and the Kalina land grabbing case. The Bombay high court, in December, 2014, had constituted a Special Investigation Team comprising the ED and the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to conduct the inquiry against the politician and others. The ACB complaint names Pankaj and Samir and they had been booked under IPC Sections related to cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and relevant provisions of Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act. It has attached assets worth an estimated Rs 330 crore in the case till now. The new Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi was built at a cost of Rs 100 crore when Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra. Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya offered on Wednesday to repay more than half of the Rs 7,000 crore his now-defunct airline owes creditors, signalling that debt recovery pressures from banks as well as a money laundering probe against him may be working. Mallyas lawyers told the Supreme Court that he is ready to pay by September Rs 4,000 crore of the Rs 6,903 crore taken as loans by Kingfisher Airlines (KFA). The offer will be a mix of cash and pledged shares of some of Mallyas companies. As on date, KFA owes Rs 9,300 crore to banks and various government departments in loans, interests and other dues. The offer was made to a consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) that approached the top court last month to recover its dues. The court gave a weeks time to the banks to respond to Mallyas offer. Read: Banks turn down Mallyas Rs 2,000-cr settlement offer If you want to reject it, do so, the bench comprising justices Kurian Joseph and RF Nariman told the State Bank of India counsel. The court will hear the case next on April 7. Mallyas lawyers said an additional Rs 2,000 crore will be paid if KFA wins two civil suits in Bengaluru and Britain. Banks should consider seriously what has been offered to them, Mallyas counsel told the court, adding that the proposal was sent to the SBI chairperson on Wednesday morning. Mallyas counsel asked the proposal to be kept a secret as the media vitiates the atmosphere. The bench was quiet on the request but said, Media stands for public interest. In this case it only highlighted whether the banks are getting their money. After all it is public money. The SBI said it had received the offer for settlement of dues from KFA but didnt confirm the amount. The bank along with other consortium members, will examine the same, the bank said in a statement. Mallya left India earlier this month, triggering outrage as he is under probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged loan defaults and illegally moving money out of the country. When the court asked about Mallyas whereabouts, his lawyers said the tycoon neednt be physically present for court proceedings and that he had had two videoconferences with banks already. The ED case is based on a CBI probe into alleged wilful default by the high-flying promoter of KFA on a Rs 900-crore loan in apparent connivance with IDBI Bank representatives. Read: Slam me but not my son: Vijay Mallya does a Kohli for Siddharth SBI, the largest lender to KFA, had approached the debt recovery tribunal in Bengaluru to restrain Mallya from withdrawing the Rs 515 crore he got as a severance package from Diageo, the worlds largest spirits maker. KFA, once Indias second-biggest airline, ceased operations more than three years ago after a stretch of losses, leaving creditors, suppliers and employees with dues. Action against Mallya underscores banks frantic efforts to rein in galloping bad corporate debt and mounting non-performing assets. A group of 29 banks revealed in February that theyd written off more than Rs 1.14 lakh crore of bad loans, a figure that was much higher than before. Once known as the King of Good Times for his flashy lifestyle, Mallya has rejected criticism that he left India to avoid repaying his debts. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In an unprecedented probe in a train clash, railway police interrogated about 2,500 persons from across 350 villages and examined CCTV footage on railway stations across four states, resulting in the arrest of nine people. The clash on March 20 in the Kochuveli-Dehradun Express claimed one life and left five people injured. Police handled the case carefully as it threatened to created communal tensions. Eight persons were arrested from Lank village of Shamli district and one from Menmana Tikri village of Baghpat district following the huge investigation. Some of the suspects are still missing and police are conducting raids to nab them. Addressing media persons SP, Railways, Moradabad, Vaibhav Krishna said a 22-member team, led by Ghaziabad circle officer O P Tripathi and SHO-GRP, Meerut city, Ashok Kumar Verma, cracked the case. Krishna claimed the team first identified 350 villages in the region from where traders frequently go to Kerala. Consequently, they interrogated over 2,500 persons and also examined CCTV footage from different stations in Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh. The team finally zeroed in on 15 suspects from villages in Shamli and Baghpat and asked the injured passengers to identify them. It was indeed a Herculean task to identify and nail the miscreants involved in the crime, said Krishna, who declared a cash reward of Rs 5,000 for the team. ADG (railways) G L Meena also announced a cash reward of Rs 20,000. Following the fatal train clash, communal tension gripped Meerut and Muzaffarnagar districts but police managed to keep the situation under control. Congress leader Imran Masood and his supporters also visited the injured victims in a Meerut hospital and wanted to take them to Saharanpur but the police didnt give them permission. According to reports, two Sikh passengers Harpreet Singh and Jaswinder Singh who boarded the train separately from Panwel and Basai railway stations, got into an altercation with a group of passengers when they tried to claim their seats. The group was joined by more supporters from Shamli, Baghpat and Meerut as the train moved ahead. At Meerut city station, the clash broke out and the accused persons pushed Jasvinder out of the moving train. Later, one Nadeem of Saharanpur was also beaten up for intervening in the argument. While Jasvinder survived, Nadeem died on the spot. Five others were injured in the attack and taken to the medical college hospital in Meerut. Overgrown weeds block the narrow path to an old two-storey house. Its blue door is locked. Furniture is strewn around in the courtyard. Children play nearby. But they dont come close to the house. The barbaric attack on Mohammad Ikhlaq is still fresh in the memory of the residents of Bisada in western Uttar Pradesh. Here, Ikhlaq was lynched by a mob last year after rumours spread that he had stocked beef in his house. His family left the village amid a nationwide uproar over the killing. Six months on, HT went back to the village, barely an hours drive from the capital, and spoke to the families of the accused, the victims and Muslim residents. Things seems normal. Merely the crumbling house speaks of the attack. But the lynching still haunts the villagers. Adjacent to the village chiefs house is the lone mosque. Until recently, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) men guarded the mosque round-the-clock. They resided in a deserted old building in the village. However, they left last month, saying peace has returned. Not one act of violence has been reported since that night, a local police officer tells HT. Our seniors decided there was no need for police protection now. At least 10-15 PAC men guarded the mosque earlier. No Muslim family left the village Muslim boys from Bisada who work at the factory of Sanjiv Rana, the village head. They say they are living peacefully in the village. (Virendra Singh Gosain / HT Photo ) Over 300 Muslims and around 20,000 Hindus live in Bisada. Contrary to reports, none of the Muslims have left the village. Meat shops in the area that mostly sold mutton shut down for a few weeks after the attack. But they are now back in business. Village head Sanjiv Rana blames the media for publishing stories on distrust between Hindus and Muslims. You (media) misreported several things. You said Muslims were living in fear. Not a single resident has left. We are living peacefully. We all got together and funded the wedding of a Muslim girl some months ago, he says. Outside his house, Rana introduced us to Sharik, Mustaqim, Sammer and Javed, four Muslim youths from the village, who work at his washing powder factory. They are working here peacefully with the Hindu youths, he says. ...but villagers demand closure The village is united in demanding that the Uttar Pradesh government make public the forensic science laboratory (FSL) report about the meat found at Ikhlaqs house. The government should be transparent, says Rana. A peaceful village like ours gained notoriety. The accused youths are still in jail. None of them have got bail. Their parents have the right to know if the meat found in the fridge was mutton or beef. It will at least give us some sense of closure. Rana says everybody wants the case transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a fair investigation. Ikhlaqs family does not want to return (From left) Mohammad Ikhlaqs brother Afzaal Ahmad with the victims son Sartaj Ahmad in Greater Noida. They say they wont return to Bisada village where Ikhlaq was lynched. (Sunil Ghosh / HT Photo ) One October morning, about a week after the incident, Ikhlaqs family left the village for Delhi. His elder son Sartaj is a corporal with the Indian Air Force. We will not return. There is nothing in that house, except memories of that night, says Sartaj. Ikhlaqs younger son Danish, who was injured that night and shifted to the RR hospital in Delhi was discharged a few months ago. My brother has not recovered fully. He has to visit the doctor once in a while, says Sartaj. We will continue to live here Nineteen-year-old Reshma sits next to her cousin, stitching a dress, for delivery the next day. Reshmas family is into tailoring and has lived in Bisada for five generations. In October, the Hindu and Muslim residents joined hands to help her family at her wedding. I have faced no problems in the village. My husband is from Piyoli village, but I keep coming here. This is where I was born and my friends are here. I will never leave this village, she says. Leela Devi is an elderly widow, whose two sons, Hari Om and Sri Om, were arrested after the lynching. She is illiterate, but asks neighbours to read the papers for her everyday and check if the FSL report is released. Hari Om was married for only six months, when the police picked him up. His son was born, while he was in jail. The villagers are helping us with food, but till when, she says. I need to know if my two sons will ever return home. Imagine the life of a physically disabled mother, whose sons are in jail. I want to know if it was beef, she says, adding that her sons are innocent. It was a bad time Madan Kumar lives next to Akhlaqs house. His nephew, Sandeep, was also arrested. Kumar wasnt home that night and says Ikhlaq was always a friend. We shared this boundary wall peacefully for generations. Barring that night, everything has been normal, says Madan. He refused to comment on Sandeep. About that night, he says, Samay kharab tha (it was a bad time). SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON : A 22-year-old woman tourist from UAE who went missing from her hotel room in southeast Delhis Greater Kailash was traced a day after in Mumbais Dahisar on Wednesday morning. Sara Khalfan took a train from New Delhi railway station on Tuesday and reached Mumbai the next morning, said police. She reportedly heard about the dream city and wanted to visit it. Khalfan checked into Hotel Justa in Greater Kailash 1 with her family on Monday night, but went missing on Tuesday. The Delhi Police alerted their counterparts in other states and formed teams to trace her. On Wednesday morning, Mumbai Police informed the Delhi Police that they found Khalfan. They told us they spotted the woman wandering around the streets of Mumbai. When they asked her where she came from, she could just tell them that she boarded the train from Delhi. Since she does not know the language, she could not give further details, a senior police officer said. The Delhi Police sent a team to get Khalfan back, and informed her parents. Police sources said Khalfan came to Delhi with her parents and five siblings for her fathers medical treatment. The family planned to go around Delhi and visit Agra. Khalfan reportedly had an argument with her parents the night they arrived, and the next morning she left the hotel without informing them, police said. According to a complaint lodged by the Khalfans father, she left the room around 6 am wearing a burkha. Though Khalfan reportedly had a silver-coloured bag with clothes, it did not have money. Even her passport was with her parents, police said. We found it difficult to understand what her father was saying because he couldnt speak English. The first few hours were lost in finding a translator. Later, we tasked the teams to trace the woman, said a police officer. Members of the European Parliament said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be EUs major ally in the global war against terror. They also said PM Modi should be proactively engaged as India has first-hand knowledge of dealing with such issues. Extending a warm welcome, the members termed Modi a person of great prominence on Indias political landscape. The European Parliament believes Modi can be a major ally of the EU in the global war against terror, they said after meeting Modi at Hotel Steigenberger this morning. EU can learn a lot from the Indian experience in fighting Islamic extremism as India has first-hand knowledge in dealing with the issue, they said in a letter. The members said the EU should engage Indian decision makers led by Modi in a proactive dialogue and focus on overlapping interests, including maritime security, terrorism, space and cyber defence. Modi arrived here today for a hectic day-long visit during which he will attend the India-EU Summit. Belgian capital Brussels, which was attacked by suicide bombers last week, is the first leg of Modis three-nation four-day tour which will take him to the US and Saudi Arabia. Since the terrorist attack on March 22, the Brussels airport is yet to be fully operational and Modis Special Air India plane had to land at the Brussels Military Airport. Belgian Army has been deployed for the prime ministers visit. Due to an enhanced terror threat, additional security has been put in place for Modis public interaction with the Indian diaspora here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel on Wednesday jointly remote activated Asias largest optical telescope, ARIES, located in India. ARIES project is not just a government-to-government initiative, Modi said after the activation from Brussels. It is a win-win collaboration between private sectors as well, he said. He said even the sky was not the limit for the project. Located at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) at Devasthal near Nainital, it is a 3.6-metre telescope. India has collaborated with a Belgian company called AMOS to produce this infrared steerable optical telescope which is the first of its kind in the whole of Asia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday morning arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia. During the course of the visit Modi will attend the India-EU summit and the global nuclear security summit in the US. Early morning arrival for PM @narendramodi in Brussels. A series of meetings & interactions lined up for the day. pic.twitter.com/JLBuypazml PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 30, 2016 On his daylong visit to Brussels on Wednesday, Modi will hold a bilateral summit with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and then attend the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit. On March 31, the prime minister will leave for Washington to attend the two-day Fourth Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama. On his way back, he will drop in at Riyadh for a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia on April 2-3. Inspired by dreaded gangster Dawood Ibrahim, five teenagers from Madhya Pradeshs Rewa set off to join the Mumbai underworld but were stopped at Bhopals railway station after coolies and vendors informed police. The five teenagers, who travelled over 500 kilometres in pursuit of their dream, have been sent back home with a warning to not repeat the attempt. The incident occurred a month ago. The group was picked up by police after a network of coolies, vendors and auto drivers at Bhopal railway station who work to rescue children and stop underage drug abuse got suspicious. The children said they didnt want to study so they fled from their homes and become as powerful and wealthy as Dawood Ibrahim by joining his gang, said a vendor, Mohammad Shamshad. Their words shocked me but I could understand that someone had misguided them. I gave them water and texted a message to Childline and RPF. Shamshad is part of a team of 34 people that is working at the railway station for the past two months in coordination with an NGO- Aarambh. They have rescued about 17 children in two months. We remain present at the railway station for 24 hours. We can easily identify the children runway who are in trouble, Shamshad said. The team is also working on saving the children from the drug abuse. We know all the children who live here for long and are drug addicts. May be its late for some of them but when we see a new member in the gang, we try to counsel him against the drug abuse. Still if he pays a regular visit to the station we hand over such child to the RPF. We are enjoying this humanity work, said Radheshyam Chauksey, a coolie. Railway Protection Force (RPF) town inspector RK Upadhyay said the coolie-vendor network made his work easier. We have provided identity cards to these team members so that nobody could doubt their intention when they are dealing with children, said Archana Sahay, director Aarmabh. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON About two weeks ago, the entire nation watched in horror when television channels broadcast CCTV footage of a young couple being attacked with sickles in broad daylight in Tamil Nadus Tirupur. Nineteen-year-old Kousalya survived the March 13 attack, but her husband Sankar did not. She was an upper-caste woman and he a Dalit man and their inter-caste marriage had angered Kousalyas relatives. Her parents are among the suspects currently in jail for having plotted the honour killing. The young couples elaborate plans for a happy future together ended abruptly. A fresh engineering graduate, Sankar was to leave for Chennai the next day for a job interview when he was killed. Without him, Kousalya faces an uncertain future. Having spent several days in the intensive care unit of a Coimbatore hospital recovering from multiple wounds, she has come back to her in-laws home in Komaralingam village of Tirupur. Her own relatives having turned against her, she is counting on the support of Sankars father, Velusamy, and brother, Vigneshwaran. HT: How is your health now? Kousalya: There is still some pain, but they have removed the stitches. I had 36 of them on my head. HT: What do you feel about returning home? Kousalya: It is painful HT: What are your plans? Will you be staying here in future? Kousalya: Yes. My father-in-law hasnt been doing too well. He needs care. I would like to start working again. HT: What about your plans to continue your studies? We hear an employees union has come forward to sponsor your studies. Kousalya: I cannot be a full-time student, because if I go away there will be no one to take care of things at home. I will continue the course as a correspondence student. I can do that as my course is a computer science and engineering course. HT: Will you be able to go back to your previous job? Kousalya: I used to work in a tiles showroom. They are nice people but are worried about what would happen if they take me back. I hope I can get some work doing accounts in some office. HT: What about your parents? Do you anticipate any more trouble from them or your relatives? Kousalya: I really cant say what they will do. I am not sure, they may make trouble again. Or they may just stay away. I dont know. HT: What is the cause for such honour killings? Kousalya: In the Thevar community, the caste identity is more important than anything else. It is more than the love for their child. They dont hesitate to kill so that a clear message goes out: it is an example, a lesson, to prevent anyone else from doing the same thing. This is a norm among the Thevars. HT: So who was responsible for the death of your husband? Kousalya: My parents, relatives, and their supporters. HT: Will you be able to forgive them? Kousalya: No, they must be punished for what they have done. They have to bear the full penalty for their crime. They killed Sankar before my eyes. HT: Do you miss your parental home, your siblings? Kousalya: I have just one younger brother. No sisters. At first I did miss him a little, but not any more. Taking a dig at a proposed visit of a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team to Pakistan to nail down Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhars alleged involvement in the Pathankot air base terror attack, Shiv Sena on Wednesday termed it as a mere chai pe charcha, adding that these visits between India and Pakistan agencies keep happening sans any result. Tea party is going on. We want Azhar Masood, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim. Should our investigation go that far or should our people just visit Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi and return? Their team came and it constituted ISIS member we have seen that. Our people would also go there. These visits would go on. This is a mere chai pe charcha, Shiv Sena chief Sanjay Raut told ANI. After the Pakistani probe teams visit to India, it is reported that the NIA officials will visit Pakistan to probe the role of Azhar and his brother Abul Rauf in the terror attack at the Pathankot air base. NIA is expected to seek access to Azhar, his brother Rauf and some key players like Kashif Jaan, identified by Indian investigators as the main handler of the slain terrorists. The five-member Pakistani team visited Pathankot on March 29 and was given restricted access to the airbase attacked by terrorists on January 2 killing seven security personnel. The Maharashtra government seems determined to impose strict conditions while regulating dance bars in the state, some of which may prove to be impossible to fulfil. Despite the SCs adverse ruling, the state may make CCTV cameras compulsory inside the bars and restrict operations to 11.30pm, besides banning bars within a kilometre of any religious or educational institution. This may prove to be a major hurdle in reopening dance bars as almost all the areas in the MMR have such institutions. In the draft of the new bill discussed in the first meeting of the 25-member committee led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, a hefty penalty that goes up to Rs 25 lakh and imprisonment of five years for a bar operator violating the rules has also been proposed. ustomers above the age of 21 will have to produce an identity card before entering the premises. Although it is not part of the existing draft of the bill Maintenance of the Dignity of the Women Working in the Hotel, Restaurant and Bar Bill 2016 the committee also discussed the possibility of completely banning liquor in the performance area, said a minister who is part of the committee. According to officers from the home department, such rigorous conditions may help the government keep the bar shutters down forever. The revenue department had amended the law a few years ago, to bring the distance to be maintained between religious/educational institutions down to 50m and 75m from 100m. Increasing it again to 1km would mean ruling out the possibility of such bars in bigger cities. Similarly, though the Supreme Court had struck down the compulsion of CCTVs inside the bars. We are making it compulsory by categorising bars as public places. If the restaurants at five-star hotels that are considered as public places install CCTVs for the safety of customers, why not the bars? the official said. Though the SC had ruled against CCTVs inside the bars, the government, in its purview can enact the law making it compulsory. The provision will be seconded on the ground of the parity between starred hotels and bars, said another minister, who is a member of the committee. The draft has also made it compulsory to preserve CCTV footage for 30 days and be produced on demand by enforcement authorities. The owners of the bars, according to the draft, will be held directly responsible for any violation of the rules, compromise with the dignity of the women working in the establishment or obscenity/vulgarity inside the premises. In case of an illegal operation, the owner could face imprisonment up to five years, with a penalty of Rs 25 lakh, while the obscenity and vulgarity may lead to a penalty of Rs10 lakh and imprisonment of three years. The showering of coins and currency notes and indecent behaviour with the dance girls may lead to punishment up to six months with a penalty of Rs50,000, the draft states. Although showering of currency notes is not allowed, performers are entitled for a tip by customers in the bars. As reported by the Hindustan Times, on March 7, the girls performing at bars would be entitled to a monthly salary, provident fund, free home drop and working hours until 9.30pm if she wishes so. The draft also makes it compulsory for the owner of the bar to maintain details, including name, education, citizenship, age of the employees, besides compulsory biometric attendance. The SC, in its orders between October 2015 and March 2016, had lifted the ban imposed by the state government in 2005 and then in 2014 by amending the laws. The committee of lawmakers has been instructed to submit their suggestions and recommendations on the draft prepared by the home department. Once the acceptable suggestions are incorporated and the draft is finalised, the bill will be tabled in both houses of legislature. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told the committee that the government was determined to table the bill in the ongoing session. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Asserting that the arrest of an Indian spy is not an issue of India, Director of Gilgit Baltistan National Congress, Senge Hasnan Sering said its an issue of how Pakistan is adjusting itself between Saudi Arabia and Irans developing strategic conflict. I dont think its an issue of India. This is an issue of how Pakistan is adjusting itself between Saudi Arab and Irans developing strategic conflict. Pakistan saying they have caught Indian R&AW agent and embarrassing Iran is a way to build pressure on Iran, to develop reasonable excuse to stand with Saudi Arabia, Sering told ANI. Irrespective of whether he is an Indian agent or not or he has been caught from Pakistan or Iran, the whole international community should support Balochistan, keeping in view of the human rights violation going on there. Be it India or any western country, without giving any excuse, should stand with the people of Balochistan, he added. Sering further stated that the attention of the international community should not get diverted from the issues of human rights violation and abduction, adding that this is a question of the relation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. India has an old tie with Iran. Pakistan is giving Saudi Arab a leading role. At a time, when it has to choose a side between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Pakistan is doing its ground work. Go Back Rohani is now trending in Pakistan social media, this is being done to create pressure on Iran, he added. The Pakistan government on Tuesday released alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhavs confessional video in which he is shown owning up to clandestine activities in the country. The Indian government rejected the allegation that Jadhav had acted at its behest and counter-charged that the former navy officer was tutored by the Pakistanis. The video was aired during a joint press conference by Pakistans information minister Pervez Rasheed and Army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa in Islamabad. The video shows Jadhav saying he is a serving naval officer, he joined the intelligence services since 2003 and has been running a spy operation in Balochistan from Iran with the aim of instigating terrorist incidents there. Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday accused Pakistan of cooking up stories to defame India and of releasing a doctored video in which an arrested Indian ex-naval officer is heard purportedly confessing to New Delhis alleged involvement in terrorist activities in Balochistan. Addressing reporters, Rijiju said, The MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has already come out with a statement regarding the forged, doctored video and the made up story being created by the Pakistani establishment. We dont have to pay attention to that, and I feel that this is an internal game within the Pakistani establishment, their government, the prime minister and their agencies. Pak arrests RAW agent, India denies link: All you need to know Businessman? Cops son? Conflicting claims over spy arrested in Pak Pakistan on Tuesday released a video purportedly showing the arrested Indian, Kulbushan Jadhav, whom Islamabad has accused of being a spy, as saying that he had been directing various activities in Karachi and Balochistan at the behest of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), the Indian intelligence agency, and that he was still with the Indian Navy. Doctored videos made by Pakistan will have no effect on international platforms. They are cooking up stories and doctoring videos to defame India, Rijiju added. India on Tuesday dismissed as baseless the remarks made by Jadhav. We have seen a video released by Pakistani authorities of a former Indian naval officer, doing business in Iran, who is in Pakistani custody under unexplained circumstances, the MEA said in a statement. The video has this individual making statements which have no basis in fact. That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will, not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring, it said. Pakistan has detained suspects in Januarys Pathankot attack, counter-terror agency NIA said on Wednesday, and added the team visiting India has provided details of its investigation that cannot be disclosed. The National Investigation Agency has asked the five-member Pakistani team for the voice samples of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother, Abdul Rauf Asghar, NIA chief Sharad Kumar said. India blames the attack on an air force base in Punjabs Pathankot on Pakistan-based JeM. Six soldiers were killed in an 80-hour gun battle in the strategic facility early January. Read: NIA plays JeM leaders Pathankot tape, Pakistan probe team listens Rauf Asghar claimed to have sent mujahideen (holy warriors) to attack the Pathankot airbase and made fun of Indias response in an audio tape. NIA handed over the statements of witnesses, post-mortem report of the four terrorists killed in the strike to the Pakistani team, which has an official of spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence. This is the first time a Pakistan team is examining witnesses in a case in India, and New Delhi doesnt want the neighbouring country to cite lack of cooperation at any level. The team visited the Pathankot airbase on Tuesday, though its access was restricted to the crime scene. Any lead picked up by the Pakistan team will not be of legal use in the absence of Letter Rogatory, a request from a court to a foreign court for any judicial assistance. But, there are hopes that Pakistan will conduct a serious probe during the goodwill visit. The visit has created a political storm, with opposition parties accusing the Narendra Modi of changing its stand and inviting the Pakistani team. Read: Insult to Mother India: Rivals attack Modi over Paks Pathankot team A Pakistani probe team got a sneak peek of the Pathankot air base on Tuesday as it retraced the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists trail during the audacious attack on one of Indias frontline defence installations in January. A five-member joint investigation team (JIT) from Pakistan, which includes an official from the countrys Inter Services Intelligence spy agency, was in Pathankot to assist Indias probe into the attack on January 2. But the team, the first to investigate a terrorist strike on Indian soil, was given limited access to the base during its hour-long visit to the prominent defence hub with officials from Indias anti-terror wing, the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The team was flown from New Delhi to Amritsar on a special aircraft and brought to Pathankot in bullet-proof vehicles. It arrived at 11.25am under tight security and was ushered in through a make shift gate in the rear wall that the terrorists had scaled to enter the base. Congress and A am A ad mi Party supporters shouted anti-Pakistan slogans when the team was driven to the rear gate. They criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for facilitating the visit of the perpetrators of the attack. At the base, sensitive military hardware were under wraps as the IAF pitched tents at certain stretches to block the view. The Pakistani officials were taken to an area spread over 300 metres where security personnel engaged the terrorists. They were shown the building in which two terrorists were holed up and later detonated bombs. The NI A team and Punjab Police deputy inspector general (border range) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh gave the Pakistan team ano verview of the operation. The Pakistani investigators tried to reconstruct the sequence of events with a visit from airbase to Akalgarh village, 2km away, where the terrorists had abandoned the hijacked vehicle of Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh prior to the attack. The team was then escorted to Kathlaur Bridge, where taxi driver Ikagar Singhsbody was found. The terrorists had murdered him and taken his vehicle to cover some distance to the base. Next up was Kolian village, the site where the terrorists had hijacked Salwinders vehicle and tied him up along with his jeweler-friend Rajesh Verma and cook Madan Gopal. Finally, the investigators went to the Bamial sector along the international border. They were shown the direction from where the suspected to have sneaked into India, but the team was neither taken to the border nor shown the fence. The JIT was told about the arms and ammunition, and gear with Pakistani markings, found on the slain terrorists. Autopsy reports of the killers were also shown before the team flew back from Amritsar to New Delhi around 6pm. Pakistan protestors said on Wednesday they would not end their sit-in and were willing to die, as armed security forces readied to clear the camp. The protestors -- who numbered some 25,000 at their peak -- had gathered in support of Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged in late February five years after he assassinated a liberal Punjab governor over his calls to reform the countrys blasphemy laws. The government gave the demonstrators an ultimatum to leave late Tuesday, but it went unheeded, prompting the government to issue a second call saying security forces would begin an operation to clear the area Wednesday morning. If the protesters do not disperse peacefully tonight, then we will evict them in the morning in front of everyone, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told reporters late Tuesday. Protesters were calm on Wednesday morning as leaders said they were holding talks with authorities. We wont move from this place until and unless all 10 demands are accepted, said protest leader Ashraf Asif Jalali. Our workers are willing to die. If the government takes action they will not run away but face the bullets. They are not armed with guns but with clubs. A police source said more than 7,000 security forces were poised to clear the sit-in, including the paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Corps with reinforcements from the Punjab police. Army troops are already standing guard at government buildings near the protest camp. Hailed as a hero by right-wing religious groups when he murdered Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, the demonstrators have demanded that Qadri be named a martyr and called for the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five on death row for blasphemy. They have also demanded the imposition of Sharia law. The government has so far rejected their demands. Qadris hanging, hailed as a key moment by analysts in Pakistans war on religious extremism, has become a flashpoint for the deep divisions in the conservative Muslim country. His funeral earlier this month drew tens of thousands in an extremist show of force that alarmed moderate Muslims in the country, while the call to hang Bibi along with the Easter attack in Lahore has underscored a growing sense of insecurity for Pakistans minorities. Its a sense of great grief, sorrow and fear, Shamoon Gill, spokesman for the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, told AFP. The Lahore blast had left Christians feeling that no place is safe, he said, while the mob situation in Islamabad was dangerous. They are a serious threat to Asia Bibis life... there is a chance the government could bow down to pressure on this issue, he warned. Moderate Muslims are also set to suffer by growing religious extremism, he said, calling on the government to devise a clear strategy. The stand-off, which comes as Pakistan mourns more than 70 people killed in a Taliban suicide bombing targeting Christians celebrating Easter Sunday in Lahore, underscores deep religious divisions fuelling the Muslim countrys long battle with extremism. Pakistan has detained some of the suspects in connection with the Pathankot attack probe, investigators from the country told their Indian counterparts on Wednesday. More details about detentions cannot be shared at this moment, said NIA chief Sharad Kumar. But sources said Masood Azhar, chief of JeM, the outfit allegedly behind the attack, or his brother Rauf are not among those detained by the authorities. On day three of the interaction between India and Pakistan, the JIT made a request to the NIA for sharing evidence with it in order to prosecute those behind the attack in Pakistan, said Kumar. Following the request, NIA sleuths shared with them calls details of two Indian mobile numbers from which the Pathankot attackers called their handlers, allegedly belonging to terror outfit JeM. On Thursday, the JIT will start recording statements of Indian witnesses. The process is likely to take at least two days, said Kumar. Punjab SP Salwinder Singh, his cook Madan Gopal, jeweller friend Rajesh Verma are among those lined up for examination. The NIA also played a crucial call intercept for the JIT members in which one of the attackers discussed details of the attack with a handler in Pakistan. The request for playing the intercept came from the JIT, said an Indian investigator. NIA sources said the JIT handed them over a four-page wish list and in turn, the Indian investigators handed them over a wish list of around 10 pages. We have complied with most of the evidence the JIT had asked for. We have given them seizure memos, postmortem reports of those killed in the attack, DNA samples culled from dead bodies of attackers, call details of driver Ekagra Singh, who was killed by the attackers and jeweller Rajesh Verma. Their phones were used by attackers to call handlers in Pakistan, said Kumar. The NIA in turn wants voice samples of Azhar, Rauf, details of procurement of clothes, shoes and food packets used by attackers, details of family members of the dead attackers. As a reciprocal measure, we would like the Pakistan to provide similar kind of access and evidence that they are collecting there, said NIA IG Sanjeev Kumar. Raghavendran Ganeshan, the IT professional who died in a blast at Maalbeek metro station last week, was at the top of Prime Minister Narendra Modis agenda for most of the day on Wednesday before going into the EU-India summit. Focussing on terrorism during bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel, Modi noted that a precious Indian life had been lost in the attacks in Brussels on March 22. He laid a wreath at the metro station and stood in silence for a minute in Ganeshans memory. Modi told Michel: The scourge of terrorism is increasing. It is important for all nations to fight this menace. India has been battling it for 40 years; having experienced terrorist violence ourselves on countless occasions, we share your pain. Read: Modi reaches Brussels, begins first leg of 3-nation tour Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. (PTI Photo) Thirty-two people were killed and hundreds injured when three Islamic State suicide bombers targeted the international airport and the metro station in Brussels. Ganeshan died when a bomber set off his explosives inside a metro train. Three more Indians were injured two employees of Jet Airways currently recovering in hospital, and a woman who was transiting through Brussels to India and suffered minor injuries at the airport. Modi was briefed by Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders on the circumstances of Ganeshans death. Top officials of the metro system were present at the wreath-laying ceremony at Maalbeek station, which remains closed since the blasts. The Prime Minister assured some members of the European Parliament that the issue of retrospective taxation had been addressed by finance minister Arun Jaitley in the Union budget, and asked them not to have any concerns about it. Two issues were sub-judice, he noted. Modi said all programmes of his government had been publicised only after a roadmap for their implementation had been put in place, seeking to allay apprehensions about their on-the-ground execution. Michel and Modi remotely activated the ARIES telescope at Devsthal in Nainital, which was built in collaboration with Belgium and is the largest in Asia. Even the sky is not the limit for our relations, Modi remarked during the short ceremony. Inviting Belgian investment and expertise in areas such as ports and infrastructure, Modi said Indias macroeconomic fundamentals are robust, and at 7% plus, we are one of the fastest growing economies of the world. I believe that a combination of Belgian capacities and Indias economic growth can produce promising opportunities for businesses on both sides. Modi invited the king and queen of Belgium to visit India in 2017, the 70th year of Indias independence. Belgium was one of the first countries to recognise India soon after independence. Some Belgian Indologists also called on Modi, who appreciated their work on Indian literature and culture. Read: PM Modi to meet Indian diaspora diamonds in Brussels SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday visited the Maelbeek metro station in Brussels where a terror bombing killed 20 people and injured more than 100 people last week. Modi paid tributes to the victims of the blast, which also killed an Infosys employee, Raghavendra Ganesan. His death was confirmed by Belgian authorities on Monday. At a time of grief, India stands in solidarity. Before official engagements, PM lays wreath at Maalbeek metro station, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. At the attack site, the Modi remembered Ganesan and other victims of the tragic attack, Swarup said. Terrorism was a major focus of Modis day-long Brussels trip for the 2016 India-EU summit. This is the first leg of Modis three-nation tour of Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the metro station attack site in Brussels. (Prasun Sonwalkar/HT Photo) He earlier met with select members of the European Union and Belgian parliaments in his first official engagement after his arrival in Brussels on Wednesday. On his daylong visit to Brussels on Wednesday, Modi will hold a bilateral summit with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and then attend the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit. He will also address around 5,000 members of the Indian diaspora at an event later in the day. Modis visit comes days after the March 22 terror attacks in Brussels which killed at least 32 people, including Raghavendran Ganeshan, who was an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. From Brussels, Modi will leave for Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit on March 31 and April 1 and from there he will travel to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation. With inputs from agencies SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court on Wednesday approved a Central government notification that provides protection to Good Samaritans or those who help victims of road accident by taking them to a hospital or reporting about the incident. A bench headed by justice V Gopala Gowda approved the notification that also provides protection to witnesses in road accident cases and they will no longer have to face any harrowing experience. With the top courts approval, the government guidelines have become the law of the land and all states will be bound by it. The order is expected to save the lives of hundreds of road accident victims in the country as people often avoid helping them fearing harassment by police and other law enforcing agencies later. On May 12, 2015, the ministry of road transport and highways had issued a notification after the SC asked it to come up with suitable guidelines to prevent harassment of Good Samaritans. The SC order came on a PIL filed by an NGO, Savelife Foundation, which said more than four lakh road accidents took place in 2014. The number of deaths also increased from 1.37 lakh in 2013 to 1.39 lakh in 2014. A bystander, including an eyewitness to a road mishap, shall be allowed to leave immediately after taking the injured to the nearest hospital without furnishing his address. Police cannot compel people to reveal their identity even if they are the informers or complainants in the case. The person can give his or her name voluntarily. Read | Helping accident victims will no longer invite police harassment The SC order incorporates the Centres guidelines stating that all registered public and private hospitals will not detain a Good Samaritan or demand payment for registration and admission costs. No police official shall ask him any questions and he would be later given a choice to record his statement before the court through video conferencing. Departmental or disciplinary action shall be initiated against the officer who coerces or intimidates the informer. If the witness volunteers to go before the court to depose in the case, the trial judge shall complete his examination in one sitting. Earlier, additional solicitor general Pinky Anand had submitted before the top court that it was not possible for the Centre to issue a mandate to the states as under the Constitution, law and order is a state subject. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Vijay Mallya may be called many things wilful defaulter, King of good times, (ex) liquor baron but the businessman isnt taking too kindly to Twitter users targeting his son Sidhartha Sid Mallya. In the middle of fending for himself in a financial fiasco, Vijay Mallya attempted to tell off Twitter users on Wednesday morning , asking them to slam him if they must, but not his son. My son Sid does not deserve all this hatred and abuse. He has had nothing to do with my business. Shower abuse on me if you must but not him Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 29, 2016 Though Mallya claimed his son has no role in the business, Sidhartha is a non-executive, non-independent director in the holding company UBHL and is categorized as a co-promoter of the company. During the last financial year, he attended two of the five board meetings of the company, one of the lowest among board members. The 28-year-old son of the Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) chairman is also a budding actor, and is active on social media forums like Twitter and Instagram. Though studying at a drama school in London, Sid has been receiving some hate tweets for his fathers financial troubles which include huge loan defaults and outstanding payments to crew of the now-defunct KFA. Sid Mallya has in the past weeks been supporting his father publicly by retweeting him and those who support him. This seems to have antagonised some though. For every ten tweets I get, 9 will be abuse, and 1 will be positive. Thank u to all those who send positivity!! Sid Mallya (@sidmallya) March 14, 2016 Kohli backing Anushka.. Mallya backing Sid.. Will this be a trend now ?? https://t.co/Pr5dRlQp4W Livin on d eDGe (@An_imated) March 30, 2016 Mallya's son is a son of a thief. He wud be spared if he declares that he'll not accept/inherit any thief's property https://t.co/Y9atjfydAn Tapan Ghosh (@hstapanghosh) March 30, 2016 Do not fish in shallow waters Mr Mallya..clear the dues of your staff...bring some 'good times'to them too! #Kingfisher Rukmani Varma (@pointponder) March 30, 2016 Mallya defended his son saying he was not part of any of the business deals. The 60-year-old is being prosecuted for the Rs 7,000 crore he owes to a consortium of 17 banks that lent KFA money during its operations. Read more: Pay dues or face action, finance min Arun Jaitley warns Vijay Mallya Read more: SBI wants Vijay Mallya arrested, passport impounded Several religious bodies claiming to represent 50% of the tribal population in Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh have decided to socially boycott women who marry outside their community. Religious heads who attended a meeting where the decision was taken said the move was aimed at stopping exploitation of tribal women by men from other communities in their attempt to get privileges meant for the scheduled tribes, like land inheritance. Scheduled tribes get 7.5% reservation in government jobs across India. Many states also bar non-tribals from acquiring land in tribal belts. The 2001 census had put the strength of Jharkhands tribals at 26.2% of the states 3.29 crore population. In Chhattisgarh, the tribal population is 31.8% while in Odisha it is 22.1%. The meeting held in Ranchi on Sunday was attended by representatives of several bodies including Adiwasi Sar na Mahasabha, Adiwasi Chatra Sangh and Adiwasi Jan Parishad. The meeting also decided that a tribal converted to any other religion should not be allowed to be a part of the nature-worshiping Sarna followers. Several such meetings are held across the eastern region every month and the message is always made clear that such marriages would lead to gradual decline of the tribal community and hence should be condemned, said Bandhan Tigga, a Sarna dharmguru from Ranchi. We (ST) have in government reservations. I have come across cases wherein working tribal women have married non-tribal men and are taking care of their family. We boycott such women just to bring an end to the disturbing practice, said Kerketta. The gurus claim that in many cases a tribal woman married to a non-tribal man gives her surname to their child and expects reservation in jobs and other privileges for the child. Working tribal women, especially those employed with government organisations, are often lured by non-tribal men for monetary benefits, they say. We are often told how nontribal men were using our sisters for money. The measures are for our good, so that we grow as a community, said Neha Khalkho, an 18-year-old tribal girl from Ranchi. Sarna followers are nature worshippers who do not consider themselves Hindus and have been fighting for a separate religious identity in India for decades. Lakhs of tribesmen who were born in Sarna-following families have converted to Christianity over the past century after the advent of missionaries, claim tribal gurus. These tribesmen have also been at loggerheads with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over being tagged as Hindus by the saffron outfit. Tribal guru Tigga claimed that initiatives taken by the Sarna committees in the tribal states have curtailed conversion by at least 60% in the past couple of years. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Union Cabinet gave its nod on Wednesday for issuing two Ordinances, including the one to authorise expenditure beyond April 1 in centrally-ruled Uttarakhand. The other Ordinance seeks to bring in changes in the Enemy Property Act, 1968. The Cabinet recommended re-promulgation of an earlier ordinance issued in January as Parliament could not pass a bill to replace it within the stipulated time. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by home minister Rajnath Singh in the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting Brussels. The Union Cabinet today met and in view of the situation in Uttarakhand has recommended an Ordinance for the consideration of President. On March 18, the Budget could not be passed in the Uttarakhand Assembly. The Appropriation Bill was also not passed. In the absence of any legal passage of the bill, no withdrawal can be done as far as Uttarakhand government is concerned from the Consoldiated fund of the state. Since the state is under President Rule and no budget could be passed earlier, today the Cabinet has recommended an Appropriation Ordiance for Uttarakhand, so that valid withdrawal of the government revenue can be done, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. In a rare development, the Budget session of Parliament was prorogued last night to enable the government to promulgate an ordinance with regard to Uttarakhand. The decision to recommend such a course was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs chaired by Singh on Tuesday following questions over the status of the Appropriation Bill, which was declared as passed by the speaker in the Uttarakhand Assembly under controversial circumstances. After the CCPA meeting, parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu had met President Pranab Mukherejee to brief him about the decision taken in the CCPA about proroguing the Budget session. The President issued the order late last night. The Budget session, which began on February 23, has been in recess since March 16 and was to meet again on April 25. With only two days left for the next financial year to begin, there was no time to pass the state Budget in Parliament. Therefore, the Ordinance route was taken to enable the state to meet its expenditure needs beyond April 1. Under Article 357(1)(c) of the Constitution, the President can authorise, when the House of the People is not in session, the expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State pending the sanction of such expenditure by Parliament. For this the House of the People -- the Lok Sabha -- should not be in session. Once the President prorogues the Houses, a fresh session will have to be called. Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat never moved into the CMs official residence on Cantt road in the city till he was forced to demit office in the wake of the imposition of Presidents rule in the state, fuelling speculation that the house was jinxed. It is commonly believed that any chief minister who moves into this imposing villa will not complete his term. So, it is rumoured that an apprehensive Rawat preferred to stay at Bijapur guest house since he took over as chief minister a little over two years ago. Ironically, he failed to complete his term despite this precaution. During Rawats tenure, the CMs official residence with about 60 rooms was used for official functions only. Located in a sprawling 10-acre area with lush lawns adding to its earthy beauty, this imposing mansion was built at a cost of about Rs 16 crore. Tucked away from the hustle-bustle of the capital city, the chief ministers residence located in a leafy corner is based on the states typical pahari style of architecture, which reflects in its immense earthy aesthetic appeal. There is an interesting story on how it came to be known as a jinxed house. This mansion was built after dismantling an Irrigation department guesthouse. The states first elected chief minister Narain Dutt Tiwari took up residence in that hostel after the Congress party won the 2002 assembly elections. Incidentally, these were the first assembly elections in the state after it came into being in 2000. In fact, Tiwari is credited with visualising the CMs official residence project and supervising its construction. However, when it was nearing completion the Bhartiya Janata Party replaced the Congress in the 2007 assembly elections. So, the new man in, Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri first took up residence in the annexe of the CMs official residence. But as luck would have it, the Major Gen (retired) could not complete his term. About two years after he took over as the chief minister, Khanduri was replaced with another BJP leader Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank, thanks to the power tussle dogging the saffron partys state unit. The new CM too moved in the official residence meant for him but could stay there hardly for two years before he was again replaced by predecessor (Khaduri) in 2011. Khanduri, who remained in power for the next one year, chose to stay in his Yamuna colony residence. The BJP veteran choosing not to move in the CMs official residence this time lent credence to the rumours about the latter being a jinxed house. These rumours got further traction when Congress leader Vijay Bahuguna moved in the CMs official residence after the 2012 assembly elections but got replaced with Harish Rawat just two years later. The building finally got its tag of a jinxed house when the Congress veteran (Rawat) chose to stay at Bijapur guesthouse. Those close to Rawat, though deny that the fear of losing the top job prevented him from staying at the CMs official residence. Rawatji chose not to move in that plush bungalow because of superstition. It was a part of the austerity measures he initiated as the chief minister, M D Joshi, chief spokesperson of the state Congress said. Rawat is on record saying that he is too humble a person to live in such a palatial bungalow. Work is on to develop it as a tourist attraction, he recently said. Ravindra Dube, an aide of Khanduri clarified that latter chose not to move in the CMs official bungalow during his second tenure due to time constraint. Khanduriji chose not to shift to the CMs official residence because there were hardly six months left for the 2012 assembly polls, he told HT. The Congress party moved a petition before the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday, objecting to the permission given to the nine rebel Congress legislators to participate in former Chief Minister Harish Rawats floor test on Thursday. Former parliamentary affairs minister Indra Hridyesh is camping in Nainital with a team of lawyers. Sources said the double bench of the High Court is likely to hear the petition later in the day. Last Saturday, the union cabinet recommended Presidents rule in the state after Rawat was allegedly seen striking a deal for rebel legislators in a sting video. BJP sources say party is mulling if they should also petition against the courts order. The court decision has some contradictions. The Speaker has disqualified rebels and it appears the Speaker rights have been encroached upon, Congress legislator Navprabhat said. Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi is likely to challenge the single bench decision. On the political front, both the Congress and the BJP are keeping an eye on the High Court. Ambika Soni, Congress general secretary and state in-charge will reach the capital soon to chalk out a strategy. BJPs top leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Shyam Jaju are also camping in Doon. They will meet with party legislators. A top Pakistani official promised in 1968 to help India research Subhas Chandra Boses secret journey to Europe during World War II, provided New Delhi kept the assistance a secret. The Kolkata-based Netaji Research Bureau had asked then prime minister Indira Gandhi for help to collect information related to Netajis trip in 1941 through Peshawar, Kabul, Tashkent, Moscow and Berlin. In normal times, one could expect that the Pakistan government will render all cooperation... but in the present circumstances, it seems advisable to first consult our high commissioner, the external affairs ministry joint secretary PRS Mani wrote. When Indian high commissioner S Sen informally checked with Pakistans information secretary Altaf Gauhar, he was positive. The file, however, does not indicate if the offer materialised. Gauhar was an influential civil servant in Pakistan in the sixties, largely on account of his proximity to President Ayub Khan that later cost him his job. He later went on to edit Pakistans English daily, Dawn, and was imprisoned twice. Altaf Gauhar told Sen that he would try to get in touch with an official posted in Pakistans mission in Cairo who was supposed to be knowledgeable about Netajis journey. Secondly, Mr Altaf Gauhar advised that while there was no objection to this kind of scientific research being undertaken with Pakistans cooperation, no publicity should be given to this matter simply because Netajis background has many political implications which are not liked by several political elements, Sen said in his report to the ministry. Read | Some Netaji files were destroyed, he was not a war criminal RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Tuesday that even socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly known as JP, was impressed by the functioning of the Sangh. Jayaprakashji once visited an RSS camp in New Delhi. On seeing RSS workers having food dressed in their traditional uniform, he asked how all this was managed. He was surprised and impressed when he came to know that everything was managed by the cadre, said Bhagwat. The RSS chief was addressing a gathering on the premises of Madhav Sevashram that is run by the RSS for the needy. Shortly after Bhagwats address, president of the All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board Shaista Amber chanted Bharat Mata ki Jai. I dont know about others but I feel there is nothing wrong in singing Vande Mataram or chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai, said Amber, adding that the RSS chief had also accepted her invite to visit a unique mosque established by her in the state capital. Interestingly, BSP chief Mayawati, who recently criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for being remote-controlled by the RSS, is listed among the donors at the Sevaashram. RSS is considered the ideological mentor of the BJP which is aiming to wrest power from the ruling Samajwadi Party in the 2017 UP polls. Bhagwats mention of JP was interpreted as an attempt to showcase the apolitical nature of Sangh and highlight the fact that it had admirers in all political parties. The mention of Jayaprakash Narayan by Bhagwat came nearly three years after BJP patriarch LK Advani had said at a party camp in Chitrakoot that Samajwadi Party ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia had great respect for BJPs philosophy of nationalism. Days before that Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had praised Advani saying that the BJP veteran (Advani) always spoke the truth. Bhagwats call for a need to inculcate patriotism among the youths and to chant salutations to the motherland had stoked a controversy. The All India Ittehad-Ul-Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi had on Monday hit out at the Samajwadi Party for banning his rallies while allowing RSS activities. With Owaisi also present in the state capital, the RSS chief had on Monday advised the cadre against forcing anyone to chant the hail India slogan. The feeling to chant salutation for the motherland should come from within, he said. However, at a separate function in the state capital, Owaisi supporters were seen shouting Jai Hind and Jai Hindustan. Meanwhile, BJP leader Sunil Bharala said that Owaisis supporters chanted Jai Hind under pressure. Owaisi seems to be having a change of heart. The pro-India slogans that he raised are enough to indicate that he was under public pressure to prove his patriotism, Bharala said. The 10 convicts in the 2002-03 triple blasts sought leniency from the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court on Wednesday. Most of the convicts pleaded that they may be sentenced for the period they have already undergone in the jail. Designated POTA judge PR Deshmukh on Tuesday had convicted 10 men of the total 13 who faced the trial in the case. On Wednesday, the court heard the accused. The accused, who are convicted, are former general secretary of SIMI, Saquib Nachan, also Ateef Mulla, Hasib Mulla, Muhammed Kamil, Noor Malik, Anwar Ali Khan, Gulam Khotal, Farhaan Khot, Dr. Wahid Ansari and Muzammil Ansari. Nachan said, I had surrendered before the court. I had filed writ petitions seeking CBI probe in the case. A person who had conducted blasts would not do this. We were wrongly implicated in the cases. Nachan also alleged that the weapons found from their possession were not theirs but were planted. Hasib said that he has already suffered a lot because of the charges levelled against them hence pleaded for minimum sentence. Khan, who was a professor before being arrested, said he has lost his job and credibility because of the charges. He pleaded that he should be given minimum sentence so that he can take up a good job and start his life all over again. Ansari and Kamil sought for leniency as they have families to take care of. Another convict Ateef Mulla said his father is suffering from cancer and his son also has serious ailment. Gulam Khotal and Farhaan Khot, who has been charged and convicted for possession of arms and explosives, while pleading lesser sentence, submitted they have already spent long years in jail and have families to look after. Mechanical engineer Muzammil Ansari said he has been falsely booked and his colleagues gave false evidence against him before the court. Ansari, who now faces capital punishment or life imprisonment, while pleading leniency told the court that he respects the court and the verdict but he has been framed in the case. During my police custody my father was illegally detained and tortured in front of me, Ansari alleged. He added that he has reformed and has always been in good conduct. Ansari said, I have helped many prisoners in jail who were taking education. I helped illiterates with their cases and wrote letters for them to their relatives. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a move that signals the probe into the multi-crore irrigation scam is gaining pace, the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) in Nagpur on Wednesday, filed its second first information report (FIR) in the Gosikhurd project, in connection with a Rs56-crore tender of a tail canal of the Mokhabardi lift irrigation scheme. The FIR has been filed against directors of two firms, including one of the big irrigation contract firms, D Thakkar Construction Private Limited, and three officers of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC). The tender was won by D Thakkar Construction Private Limited in a joint venture with RJ Shah and Company in August 2009, ahead of the Assembly elections. A month earlier, former water resources minister Ajit Pawar and the executive director of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation, Devendra Shirke, approved hiking the original estimate of the tender by 10.76%, from Rs5.09 crore to Rs56.88 crore. In a modus operandi similar to many irrigation projects, the tender was given by fudging tender conditions and on the basis of fake work certificates. D Thakkar and its sister concern SN Thakkar have also won other irrigation contracts in a joint venture with firms controlled by BJP MP Ajay Sancheti. The FIR has been filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act and under sections 420, 467, 468, 120 B of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy against Kalindi Rajendra Shah and Tejaswini Rajendra Shah, both directors on RJ Shah and Company, and Vishal Pravin Thakkar, Pravin Thakkar, Jigar Thakkar, and Arun Kumar Gupta, all directors of D Thakkar Construction Private Limited. The three VIDC officials charged by the ACB include retired chief engineer Sopan Suryavanshi, executive engineer Umashankar Parvate and Chandan Jibhkate. The FIR comes in the wake of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court ticking off the ACB for going slow in the probe. The investigative agency had then submitted an undertaking to the court stating it would investigate 40 tenders of the Gosikhurd project within six months. The ACBs charge is the contractors entered into a cartel and in a bid to show competition for the project showed there were four bidders. Besides these two firms, the other two were SN Thakkar Construction Private Limited (owned by the family of D Thakkar Group) and Srinivasa Construction. However, the earnest money deposit for Srinivasa Construction was paid from the account of D Thakkar. To obtain the contract, D Thakkar showed the work undertaken by its sister concern, SN Thakkar, as experience, even though the latter, too, had participated in the bidding process, the ACB has alleged. While D Thakkar and SN Thakkar have competed as rivals for bagging irrigation contracts, their two main directors, Pravin Thakkar and Jigar Thakkar, are common to both the firms and were living in the same house in 2009. A staff member of D Thakkars firm had signed the tender document for SN Thakkar, ruling out any element of secrecy or competition in the bid. In the balance sheets of the firms in 2009 (when the project was tendered), they were declared as associate concerns. Despite this, irrigation officials accepted both in the first round, along with another firm, Srinivasa Construction. The ACB FIR states the work certificates submitted by D Thakkar to get the project were invalid and fake. The FIR adds: Former VIDC officials carried out the tender process without any transparency and in a bid to cheat the government. HT had reported on the irregularities in the Mokhabardi lift irrigation project in its report last year and even said that an FIR was likely in the project. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters at Fort has been ranked the second cleanest of 120 government offices assessed under the Swachch Bharat initiative in the city. The top spot is shared by the Reserve Bank of India office in Mumbai Central and the Malad passport office. The survey was conducted earlier in March by the Quality Council of India. Pallavi Darade, additional municipal commissioner and in-charge of the solid waste management (SWM) department, said, We encouraged the offices in the first two weeks of March to conduct a cleanliness drive. Then the assessment was done through surprise visits. Read: Proper waste management still a distant dream for Mumbai Officials said 44% of government offices assessed scored above 75% marks in the rankings. The worst ranking has been given to the Andheri post office and the Mahanagar Telephone Exchange Limited office in Andheri (West). Activists, however, criticised the rankings. Nikhil Desai, a citizen activist who frequents the BMC headquarters said, The toilets in the office are in a bad condition. There are piles of paper and old furniture everywhere. Activist Godfrey Pimenta said, I am a regular visitor at the headquarters and I have seen other government offices which are much cleaner. Swedish DJ and producer Avicii has said that he will retire from touring after his remaining shows in 2016 are over. Avicii, 26, made the announcement in a heartfelt open letter to fans on his website, saying he has too little left for the life of a real person behind the artist, reported Billboard. Thank you for letting me fulfill so many of my dreams. I will be forever grateful to have experienced and accomplished all that I have with the help of the team around me and my beloved fans, he wrote. Read: Adele says the pressure to breastfeed is ridiculous My path has been filled with success but it hasnt come without its bumps. Ive become an adult while growing as an artist, Ive come to know myself better and realise that theres so much I want to do with my life. Watch Aviciis Wake Me Up here: Read: Sexual harassment claim baseless, says Elton John I know I am blessed to be able to travel all around the world and perform, but I have too little left for the life of a real person behind the artist. I will however never let go of music - I will continue to speak to my fans through it, but Ive decided this 2016 run will be my last tour and last shows. Lets make them go out with a bang! Read: Taylor Swift has been there with me through thick and thin, says Selena Gomez The DJ and producer concluded by saying he could never say never to coming back to music, adding, I could be back ...but I wont be right back. Aviciis remaining live dates for 2016 include residencies in Las Vegas and Ibiza, as well as a slot at British dance festival, Creamfields in August. A day after she vented her anger at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union president Kanhaiya Kumar over his reported statement that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were mob violence while the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat were state-sponsored, BJP MP Kirron Kher turned the comparison on its head. The actor-politician asserted that the 1984 riots were backed by the government of the time and underlined that several Congress leaders have been indicted by a number of probes. But she insisted that no state backing was given in the 2002 riots that had taken place when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. Talking to HT on the phone, the Chandigarh MP said Modi had been cleared by the Supreme Court. Asked about a then-minister of the BJP in Gujarat, Maya Kodnani, having been convicted and sentenced in a riots case, she said, I am commenting on 1984... Everyone knows the 2002 riots were not state-sponsored; obviously not! In Gujarat people have been sent to jail and maximum deaths were due to police firing. The state tried to control the situation and in the police firing Hindus and Muslims both had died. Also read: AAPs Phoolka challenges Kanhaiya to debate on 1984 Kanhaiya, meanwhile, claiming that he had been misinterpreted, posted on his Facebook profile: Both 1984 and 2002 were indeed state led pogroms for which justice is still awaited... But Kirron was ballistic. His statement shows how immature he is... Agar iska zameer hai toh apni maa ka haath batata (If he has a conscience he should have helped out his mother). His mother is striving hard to make both ends meet and his father is unable to work, and his prime duty should be to help them first... What exactly is he doing at JNU? He is 28 and claims to be enrolled in Phd. I want to know which Phd. She even attacked Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal: AAP wants to contest in Punjab, so why dont they come up with their stand on Kanhaiyas statement on the 1984 riots? She took a dig at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too: He has no time to meet his own MLAs struggling in Uttarakhand, but did not waste even a minute to meet Kanhaiya... In fact Kanhaiya Kumars speeches are motivated. Also read: Kirron attacks Kanhaiya on 1984-vs-2002; he says misinterpreted It must be noted that Kirron had in three tweets on Tuesday fleshed out her anger on Kanhaiyas original statement. The first tweet said: Disgraceful statement by @kanhaiyajnusu [Kanhaiyas Twitter handle] that 1984 anti Sikh riots were done by mobs and not state sponsored. Then she added: So many Cong leaders are in the dock for the 1984 riots. Statement by @kanhaiyajnusu wilfully ignorant. And she finished off with: Kya aapka zameer bilkul mar gaya hai, Kanhaiya? @kanhaiyajnusu (Has your conscience died, Kanhaiya?) Kanhaiya, however, posted on Facebook on Tuesday night: I have been misinterpreted and misrepresented yet again. There isnt an iota of doubt that Emergency represents one of the darkest periods of Indian democracy. My organization AISF (All India Students Federation) strongly opposed and fought against the state repression during Emergency. Both 1984 and 2002 were indeed state led pogroms for which justice is still awaited. The current central government is relentlessly carrying forward its fascist agenda using state power, as visible in the recent authoritarian actions against students and all voices of dissent across the country. What we now witness is unprecedented - a form of undeclared emergency. Ever since the arrest and later interim bail of Kanhaiya and of fellow students including group leaders Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya over alleged anti-national slogans raised on JNU campus last month, the JNUSU president has attracted a lot media and political attention. This includes some stinging remarks by Kirrons husband, actor Anupam Kher, who at a movie screening on the JNU campus around two weeks ago said, without expressly naming Kanhaiya: He is out on bail, he hasnt come back with a medal from Olympics that he should be accorded such a huge welcome... One who talk ill of the country, how can he be celebrated as hero? SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out a case of 51 faculty members in four private universities of Haryana who were mere graduates or had even lower qualification. Reports tabled in the ongoing assembly session say that information about Ansal University, Gurgaon (report of 2012-13), NIILM University, Kaithal (201112 and 2012-13), MVN University, Palwal ( 2012- 13) and ITM University, Gurgaon (2009-10) from government records showed that they appointed eight professors, 10 associate professors, and 33 assistant professors with qualifications up to graduate level or even less, and that too without the required experience. This has come out from University Grants Commission (UGC) records and annual reports submitted to the higher education department by the universities. It adds that the updated information about the qualification of faculty was neither maintained by the UGC nor the education department as of December 2015. The additional chief secretary, higher education department, told auditors during the exit conference that the data of private universities in this regard would be collected, examined; and appropriate action would be taken against the defaulting private universities. The report adds, No professor or associate Professor was appointed in a private university located at Kaithal as against the faculty requirement and cadre ratio nor ms of the AICTE (All Indian Council of Technical Education) of at least one professor and two associate professors in each department for technical courses. UNDUE FAVOUR OF 10 LAKH TO NIILM VARSITY Going by the Haryana Private Universities Act 2006, an application containing the proposal and the project report with proof of land to establish a university in private sector has to be made by the sponsoring body to the government, along with nonrefundable fee of Rs 10 lakh. An application to set up a private university at Palwal in Faridabad was received on June 16, 2009, from NIILM Education Trust, Faridabad, along with the fee, but the Trust changed the location from Palwal to Kaithal during the presentation of the case on January 4, 2010. TRUST FAILED TO FURNISH LAND DETAILS The scrutiny committee of academic experts constituted by the state government under the chairmanship of the vice-chancellor of Kurukshetra University did not find the proposal in order on January 8, 2010, as the Trust failed to furnish the details of land available in Kaithal as also to present a fiveyear development plan. The land was purchased only on January 19, 2010. Thus, the case was liable to be rejected with forfeiture of processing fee, says the CAG. But later, as the sponsoring body purchased the land, a committee under the chairmanship of the state chief secretary, considered the case on July 12, 2010, and recommended the issuance of letter of intent (LOI) for setting up the university subject to certain conditions. The CAG says the trust should have submitted a fresh proposal. Also, perusal of records by the CAG as well as physical verification in April 2015 at 11 private colleges showed that in Lord Shiva Group of Institutions, Sirsa, hostel accommodation did not have proper infrastructure, sanitation, mess facilities and other amenities. In Om Group of Institutions, Hisar, the ground floor of the girls hostel was being used as residence for staff, and there was no boundary wall for the hostel. Proper sanitation did not exist at RR College of Education, Ellanabad; Apex College of Education, Ellenabad; and Manav Group of Institutions, Jevra, Hisar, too. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Senior Congress leader and former deputy speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Bir Devinder Singh on Wednesday resigned as coordinator of the partys panel for electronic media debates. He took the decision after a snub from Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh, who had in a counter write-up in Hindustan Times rebutted Bir Devinders charges of inaccessibility. He said he had e-mailed his resignation to Amarinder. Read | What Bir Devinder wrote: Can Cong rescue itself before Punjab polls? Read I What captain wrote back: Too early to write Cong obituary It read: Apropos your write-up that appeared in the Guest Column of Hindustan Times today, accusing me that Im the complainant in the infamous Amritsar Improvement Trust case registered against you at Vigilance Police Station, Mohali, the facts stated by you are factually incorrect. He added, to set the record clear that the case has been registered against you on the report and recommendation of the Special Committee constituted by 13th Punjab Vidhan Sabha on January 11, 2008 of which I (Bir Devinder) was not even a member. Bir Devinder added that he had only raised the issue of exemption of 32 acres of land that belonged to Improvement Trust, Amritsar, through a starred question in the 12th Vidhan Sabha. All the later proceedings pertain to the sittings of the 13th Punjab Vidhan Sabha or the Special Committee of the House. Therefore your diatribe against me in the write-up was absolutely uncalled for. In view of the insalubrious developments, I find it inappropriate to continue on post of media coordinator panel, he added. Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the Union home ministry to delete the names of 36 Sikhs from the blacklist of the ministry that debars them from coming to India. In a statement, the jathedar said that this was a welcome step and is being appreciated by all Sikhs. In fact the blacklist should be done away with, he added. The blacklist contains the names of a number of NRI Sikhs who had criticised the Indian government in public over Operation Bluestar in June 1984. They were debarred from entering India and all Indian missions were given instructions not to grant visas to the blacklisted persons. The jathedar also sought the release of all Sikhs who were under detention since the period of militancy in Punjab and have completed their jail terms. Makkar condemns desecration of scripture Shiromani gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar on Wednesday condemned the recent incident of alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib at a gurdwara in Nawanshahr district and sought the arrest of those responsible. In a statement issued by SGPC additional secretary Daljit Singh Bedi, Makkar has asked the district administration to take the incident seriously and arrest those responsible. Bedi said that the incident took place in a gurdwara at Jhander Kalan village in Nawanshar recently. A page from the scripture had been torn off and then cut into small pieces which were found scattered near the gurdwara. Bedi disclosed that a 3-member probe committee headed by SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur had visited the village and found that the shrine where the incident occurred was managed by a lone granthi The granthi too was found lacking in his duties and was not present when the probe committee was in the shrine. Taking note of this, the SGPC has appointed a sewadar to assist the granthi in the discharge of his duties. Meanwhile the saroop of the scripture kept at the village gurdwara had now been moved to a shrine in nearby Banga town. Paradox apart, it is strange and amusing that Punjab Congress chief media panellist Bir Devinder Singh, otherwise supposed to present and highlight the partys point of view in a positive way, has chosen to start his new job with a vicious and wishful obituary of the party itself in his guest column (Can Cong rescue itself before Punjab polls?) in Hindustan Times on March 29. Let us get the fact straight. Some sulking, uprooted leaders must be feeling demoralised, disgruntled and disillusioned, but certainly not the rank and file of the Congress which is as enthused and excited as Mr Singh wishes it to be, but refuses to acknowledge for reasons best known to him and everybody else. Read: Badal may go for early polls, be battle-ready: Amarinder to Cong cadres A seasoned leader as he happens to be, Bir Devinder has the political experience and exposure, having travelled across the wide political spectrum from the Congress to the Peoples Party of Punjab, to the Akali Dal and then back to the Congress and may be a possible future adventure somewhere else. No wonder, such insightful and thoughtful revelations can come from such distinct and exclusive experience only. However, he has sought and tried to twist facts, and appropriate his individual grudges to the entire party cadre. His personal grievance, of not getting any green signal to be accommodated either in the Fatehgarh Sahib or Ghanaur assembly segment apart, the common Congress worker remains in high spirits despite the attempts to prove to the contrary by people like Bir Devinder. Read: Bir Devinder writes: Can Cong rescue itself before Punjab polls? He has rightly admitted that there is an upsurge in favour of the Congress as was proved in the Badlaav Rally in Bathinda on December 15, with over five lakh people attending it. Then what has changed since then in three months that makes him believe, rather wish, that the Congress is on the threshold of decline. Does Bir Devinder want and expect that such rallies be held every weekend? Instead of trying to write a maliciously wishful obituary of his own party, he should have waited for the Baisakhi rally at Talwandi Sabo on April 14 that will break all records. Talking tough Though I owe no explanation to such leaders about whom we are not sure whether they will be in the party till the publication of this article, still let me set the record straight. I have always been available to workers and leaders. The presence of thousands of workers at the PCC office in Chandigarh, at my residences in Patiala, Chandigarh and Delhi and at party programmes and meetings is an irrefutable testimony against Bir Devinders misplaced beliefs. Yes, I am available to the right kind of people at all times. Of course, I dont encourage anyone trying to sabotage a loyal party workers prospects, particularly when that worker or leader has remained loyal to the party and to his people in the constituency against someone else who has hopped from one party to another in an apparent bid to airdrop at the last minute and undo everything that the loyal worker/leader has been doing during the last nine years despite being out of power. Vicious and wishful thinking of disgruntled people and doomsday mongers apart, the Congress continues to remain in firm saddle in Punjab. This is reflected in the response we get among the masses wherever we go for our party programmes. None of the programmes was cancelled; they were only rescheduled. Breach of trust Yes, I am not without faults and I am prone to committing mistakes also, in trust and good faith. And probably that is how I ended up committing the mistake of rehabilitating someone desperately struggling in political wilderness and appointing him as the chief media panellist, who surprisingly starts his new stint in doing quite contrary to what his job demands him. By the way, Bir Devinder happens to be the complainant in the false complaint related to the Amritsar Improvement Trust, in which I have been made an accused. It was for this case that I was arbitrarily expelled from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. My expulsion was later set aside by the Supreme Court with strong strictures against the Akali government with whom Bir Devinder had connived. Interestingly, he remains the complainant in the case and we have been trying to rehabilitate him and he still feels aggrieved merely because I could not attend to his phone call. Having said this, let me put it on record that let nobody, particularly the chronic cases of habitual indiscipline, have any doubts that they can indulge in such grave indiscipline and get away with it. If anybody still persists with such indiscipline, strict action will be taken against him. (The writer is the Punjab Congress president and Amritsar MP. Views expressed are personal) With mounting salaries and no proportional hike in government grants or fee, Punjabi University has further slipped into financial crisis. The university has projected a budget of Rs 530 crore for 2016-17, a deficit of Rs 131 crore. Against an income of Rs 399.43 crore from various resources, including fee, grants from central and state Government, University Grants Commission (UGC) funding and donations, the university has projected an expenditure of Rs 530 crore. Of this, Rs 487 crore will go for paying salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff, which comes out to be around 80% of the total budget. Besides, Rs 19.77 crore will be spend on research and scholarships, while Rs 7 crore on construction of new blocks and maintenance of infrastructure. However, there is no mention of the 7th Pay Commission in the budget, which has to be implemented from January 1, 2016. The budget was approved in the syndicate meeting of Punjabi University, which met here on Tuesday, under chairmanship of vice-chancellor Jaspal Singh. Some syndics advised the university authorities to request the state government to enhance the grants, which are decreasing in terms of percentage of government contribution towards university. Hike in fee will deprive many from higher education, thus the government should bear the burden of rising salary bill, said syndicate members. Earlier, the government used to provide around 80% of the total expenditure to the university, but it has now reduced to 15% and is decreasing every year. The government should fix the grants in terms of percentage, so the university get ample funding with rising expenditures, particularly the salary bill, said a university official. He said with almost 80% budget going towards salaries, the vice-chancellor was left with very limited funds to bring out major academic and administrative change, which needs extra funding. Meanwhile, the syndicate also okayed signing of a memorandum of understanding between Indian and foreign universities to expand the contours of higher education and research Talking about the ranking given by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) that was 0.23 higher than the previous grade (it was 3.11 during 2008 as against 3.34 points this time out of a maximum of four), the VC said it had been specifically mentioned that any institute aspiring to develop the regional language should follow Punjabi University as its model of development. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At a time it faces the challenge of an emboldened Shiromani Akali Dal claiming strategic victory over Sutlej-Canal Link (SYL) issue and the Aam Aadmi Party steadily building its grassroots support, the Congress is once again busy fighting its own internal wars. Even as loyalists of Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh are demanding expulsion of Jagmeet Brar, another senior leader, Bir Devinder Singh, has joined the issue, if not hands with Brar, to claim the partys support base is eroding in Punjab owing to Amarinders style of functioning. Accusing Amarinder of being inaccessible to party leaders and workers, Bir Devinder, who ironically is media panel coordinator appointed by Amarinder, said he could not get audience with the latter for over two months despite sending messages, mails and making calls. Fearing that he may give up the post, Amarinders office on Tuesday assured Bir Devinder of a meeting with him at the earliest. But later Captain decided against it, apparently to payback Bir Devinder in the same coin. As for Brar, though his salvos against Amarinder may seem unprovoked, the latter too has no love lost for him. In his July 14, 2012 letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Amarinder had stated that both top claimants wanting to succeed him as Punjab Congress chief --- Partap Bajwa, who later replaced him and whom he replaced, and Jagmeet Brar --- were not fit to hold this office. While he had accused Bajwa of drug links, Captain had described Brar as a person with narrow-minded approach and low political standing. He has lost seven of the nine elections fought by him. It includes three losses to SAD non-entities. He never nurtures his seat but looks for a new one each time. He just has a handful of people who owe allegiance to him and his brother, a sitting MLA, lost Kotkapura seat in 2012 polls despite Jagmeet exclusively campaigning for him and it being their home turf, Amarinder had said in the letter. Amarinder on Tuesday rubbished Brars assertions that he (Captain) sabotaged his electoral chances. When he was fighting against Sukhbir from Faridkot, me and Congress president Sonia Gandhi went there to launch his campaign. He won not because of his popularity but because we canvassed for him. How can I engineer the defeat of my party candidates? He is always jumping seats. Ask him why he couldnt win other elections he contested, he told HT. On Bir Devinder, he said how can he (Devinder) accuse him of not being accessible. He is my media panel coordinator and how can he say that, Amarinder said. Brar, a two-time MP, too hit back at Amarinder saying, Captain never went to programmes of any Dalit Punjab Congress chief, how he can call me narrow-minded? Did he ever fight an election against Badals? All that he did was indulge in palace intrigues to neutralise senior party leaders. He should not forget that he lost to Prem Singh Chandumajra from Patiala in 1998 by a huge margin and yet he was appointed as Punjab Congress president and thanked me for not staking claim to the presidency, Brar said. History of mistrust Their mistrust of each other goes down by several years to the time Brar objected to Amarinder as chief minister offering land to Reliance Industries and the latter had got 65 MLAs and senior leaders to sign against Brar demanding his expulsion from the party. Elected first time in 1992, when SAD had boycotted the polls, Brar had defeated Sukhbir Singh Badal from Faridkot in the 1999 parliamentary elections. The firebrand leader had emerged as a contender for the Congress presidency more than once after it only to miss it by a whisker. Brar has been openly questioning Amarinders leadership since the Maghi rally at Muktsar, where the Aam Aadmi Party stole the thunder of both Congress and the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and singing peans to AAP ever since. Later, in a series of tweets, he had dubbed Khadoor Sahib bypoll boycott by the party as a blunder and betrayal with people by Amarinder. He upped the ante last week, by again tweeting that the Congress has been pushed to number three slot in Punjab and accused Amarinder of colluding with the SAD to defeat him in 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections in his recent interviews. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In view of onset of summer season, the district administration is readying to check the spread of mosquito and water borne diseases in the district. Additional deputy commissioner (development) Apneet Riyait stated make sure these diseases are checked well in advance. The health department as well as the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (LMC) would be starting fogging from April 1onwards to check the spread of malaria, dengue, diarrhea and other vector and water borne diseases. Riyait was chairing district-level national vector borne disease control programme and water borne monitoring committee meeting held at Bachat Bhawan, here on Wednesday. She said joint teams of health department would take out special drives at places where the dengue cases were reported last year. Action should be taken against those keeping their surroundings dirty and register FIRs against habitual offenders, she directed to officials. The ADC(D) also said that the administration should seek help from people also in keeping their surroundings clean. Union minister for food processing and member of Parliament (MP) from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal said here on Wednesday that Manpreet Singh Badal, former president of Peoples Party of Punjab (PPP), was always a Congressman. Harsimrat, who is on a visit to her parliamentary constituency, said, The merger of Manpreet Badal-led PPP with the Congress vindicated the fact that the PPP was always B-team of the Congress. She added that now Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has taken the place of the PPP in Punjab and was now co-partner of the Congress. But people of Punjab have always voted for development and this time too they will go in for the SAD-BJP government that has heralded development in the state, she added. Though Harsimrat had managed to win the 2014 Lok Sabha election from here, she had faced embarrassment when she lost with 29,316 votes from this assembly segment. Harsimrat had polled 41,987 votes, while Congress candidate and her brother-in-law Manpreet had got 71,303 votes from Bathinda urban constituency. Harsimrat said both AAP and the Congress played only vote politics and the welfare of people was none of their concern. On Captain Amarinder Singh, PPCC chief, Harsimrat said people of Amritsar would certainly punish him for his long absence from the constituency since the parliamentary elections in 2014. The Captain should be ready with his report card to answer the volley of questions of the people, she added. The Union minister distributed cheques worth around `13.8 lakh among 90 beneficiaries under the Shagun scheme in Talwandi Sabo. Earlier, the minister dedicated to people a newly constructed 66-kv power grid at Sekhu village that will provide power to nearby areas. She also inaugurated an irrigation channel on the refinery road, a public park and a newly constructed bus stand at Raman. She also inaugurated a public park, tehsil-level veterinary hospital and a new block of Government Senior Secondary School in Talwandi Sabo. She also laid foundation stone of the project of upgrading the 17.6-km Bathinda-Talwandi-Rori road to Fatta Balu via Lehri, Mirzeana, Koreana and Kalalwala. She also laid foundation stone of the building of a government primary School. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) on Tuesday demanded a probe into the purchase of power from private companies ordered by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. PPCC spokesperson Nimisha Mehta said that on the one hand, the deputy chief minister was claiming that the state had become power surplus under his dynamic leadership, while on the other hand, he was allowing the government to purchase power from private companies. If Punjab has become power surplus, then why did the state government purchase power to the tune of Rs 58,000 crore between 2007 to 2015, she said. She said the disclosure about wasting huge amount of public money on power purchase had put Sukhbir in the dock. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra on Wednesday said there was no need to make a hero out of Rohith Vemula, the Dalit research scholar who committed suicide after being punished by the University of Hyderabad administration, because he had decided to kill himself. Suicide is even worse than murdering another. The one who kills his soul, the one who fails to fight for his cause, should never be made a hero. One has to fight, not give up or die, said Patra during a seminar held at Law Bhawan in Sector 37, Chandigarh. Also read: 1984 state-backed, 2002 mob fury: Kirron turns Kanhaiyas comment on its head Speaking at a seminar on National Security Threats in India-2020, organised by the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena Foundation and Citizen-4-Forces, Patra said: Rohit Vemula had his own ideas and everyone has the right to fight for his own ideas in a democracy... Prime Minister Narendra Modi also referred to him as the nations child. The BJP spokesperson told the gathering that they need to decide who should be their hero. We dont need to make Rohith Vemula a hero. If you face any atrocity, fight against it, raise your voice but dont kill yourself. Many leaders in the country, including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, say Rohith was a hero. You should fight for the problems or issues that bothered Rohith, such as the caste system... We should fight along with our Dalit brothers. We should continue our fight, not kill ourselves. Be it any government, caste issues have always been there. But that does not mean that we should end our life or give up fighting, Patra, the most visible face of the BJP on television, said. Referring to a recent comment made by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, he said: Those who compare Kanhaiya Kumar (Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president) with Bhagat Singh do not know what nationalism is. Read: Rohith Vemula row: Hyderabad varsity students want VC Appa Rao to go Patra also took a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, stating that her partys nationalism could be seen in the way she became disturbed after seeing the bodies of terrorists killed in the Batla House encounter. From left: Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Maj Gen (retd) GD Bakshi and BJP spokesman Sambit Patra at a seminar on national security at Law Bhawan, Sector 37, in Chandigarh on Wednesday. (Keshav SIngh/HT Photo) The BJP spokesperson had a unique perspective on battling terrorism. India is globally known for spiritualism, we have to fight internal security threats with spiritual powers, he said. While Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa was the chief guest, Major General (retd) GD Bakshi and Colonel (retd) RSN Singh former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing were other key speakers at the event. BJP leaders Dinesh Kumar and Vineet Joshi; Aditya Shankar, a Supreme Court lawyer; and Rajat Gautam, chairman of the Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh Bar Council, were also present on the occasion. Also read: BJP criticises Tharoor for comparing Kanhaiya to Bhagat Singh Bakshi, in his address, challenged Pakistan to not even dare eye Kashmir. He said Pakistan had launched an assault on young minds, hearts and psychology. Joshi said the countrys internal security had come under threat due to the vanishing moral values among the youth. Uncultured and anti-national youths are a serious threat to internal security. Lack of ideal parenting is adding to this, he contended. Tension prevailed in the city on Tuesday following a call for a shutdown of commercial establishments given by the jewellers, who have been on strike for the past 26 days to protest the imposition of additional excise duty on gold. The jewellers took out a protest march in markets and forced shopkeepers to shut down their shops and asked them to join their march. However, jewellers and the police came face to face when the latter intervened and tried to stop the march at the Arya Samaj Chowk. Both parties exchanged heated arguments and there was a mild scuffle was witnessed over the issue. After this, a heavy police force was deployed to maintain law and order in the city. Meanwhile, Hardev Arshi, state secretary of the Communist Party of India, accompanied by local leaders, joined the protest and demanded immediate rollback of the Union governments decision. Arshi said that the Central and state governments were taking anti-people decisions. The imposition of excise duty on gold and production of PAN card will not only the jewellers, but also the consumers, he said. He said police were also working in an unautocratic and undemocratic manner by thwarting peoples protests. District president of Swarankar Sangh Pappu Jaidiya said that thepolice tried to stop them thrice and even tried to scare them. Jaidiya said that jewellers tried to meet member of Parliament (MP) from Bathinda and union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who was on a two-day tour here, but she was reluctant to meet them. If Bathinda MP wont pay heed to our demands, we would start a protest against the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is one of the parties in the NDA, he said. The Vyapar Mandal has come out in support of jwellers. Shopkeepers in satellite towns observed complete shutdown. Congress party leaders Chiranji Lal Garg, KK Aggarwal and Jagroop Singh Gill also joined the protest. Thirteen people are hospitalised in Jharkhands Simdega in the second suspected anthrax outbreak within a week and probably caused by infected cattle meat, officials said on Tuesday. Anthrax, a bacterial disease that mainly affects cattle, causes peneumonia, infection of the blood and even death in humans. Bardega village where the anthrax outbreak is reported is about 145 km west of state capital Ranchi and just 30 km from Kurumdegi where one person was killed by the disease four days ago. Tribal-dominated Jharkhand has seen several outbreaks of Anthrax, caused by the bacteria bacillus anthracis, since 2014 leaving 10 people dead. The villagers said they consumed a dead cattle, suspected to have been killed by the disease, on Saturday night and developed blisters, stomach disorder and passed blood in stool, said Simdega civil surgeon B Minz, adding that the even in Kurumdegi people had consumed a diseased cattle. However, it was not clear whether the villagers had consumed cow or buffalo meat. Though cow slaughter is banned in BJP-ruled Jharkhand, villagers often consume the meat of dead cattle. Health officials said samples of blood and body fluid from the affected people have been sent to the Rajendra Institutes of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for confirmation of anthrax. An investigation report by the Jharkhand Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) said the villagers developed symptoms of suspected anthrax within 48 hours of consuming the meat. Villagers dont take into consideration that a dead animal killed by a disease can lead to infections, including anthrax. It is just food for them, said DSP Simdega chief Dr Adhyan Saran said. In May, two persons from Bandarchuwa village in Simdega died and 11 others hospitalised in an anthrax outbreak. In October 2014, seven people of Kuruchedega village died of suspected anthrax -- the highest number of human casualty in the state. IDSPs Jharkhand officer Praveen Karn said villagers consuming meat from animals killed by disease has to be checked. He said the disease transmits from animals to humans when the infected meat is handled by a person. Anthrax spores buried in the ground remain dormant for a long time and reactivate when they find a host. In this case, animals that consume grass, he said. The Simdega district administration deputed a team from the animal husbandry department to look into vaccination of domesticated animals against anthrax. Dr Rana Pratap, Simdega district veterinary officer said, The animals will be administered anthrax vaccines. It creates anti-bodies to fight the bacteria. The effect of the vaccine remains for a year and has to be re administered. Superstar Rajinikanth reached Delhi late on Tuesday. He will be joining the sets of Tamil magnum opus 2.o from Wednesday and shoot some crucial portions at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. Rajinikanth arrived in Delhi with his daughter last evening. He will join the sets of the film from today (Wednesday). As soon as he completes this schedule, he will head to Morocco next, said a source from the films unit. Read: Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar to shoot for 2.o at Delhis Nehru stadium Directed by Shankar, the film is the sequel to Tamil blockbuster Enthiran. Akshay Kumar plays the antagonist in 2.o, which marks his Tamil debut. The film also features Amy Jackson, and shes believed to be the only lady on the sets. Akshays ugly avatar: Check out Dr Richard from Rajinikanths 2.o A couple of days back, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar made an appearance at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium dressed as a crow. He plays Dr Richard, the evil scientist who can transform into a crow at will in Shankars Enthiran sequel. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop An injunction suit has been filed against Tamil superstar Rajnikanth and his fans, for wasting thousands of litres of milk during the release of his films. Petitioner Dr IMS Manivanna has asked the superstar to come forward wilfully and stop the wastage. The petitioner has also appealed to the court to give directives to the actor and his fans. A notice has been sent to the actor and the court has asked him to respond to it. The case was filed on March 26 and the next hearing will be on April 11. Read: Madurai court summons actor Rajnikanth over Lingaa script theft case A fan sprays milk on Rajnikanths poster on the stars birthday. (PTI) Read: Rajinikanth cant be blamed for Lingaa losses, says TN producers body Of late, Rajinikanth has been dragged into a number of controversies. His last outing Lingaa has been mired in one controversy after another from the time of its making. The films distributors had made a demand that Rajinikanth pay for the losses they suffered as the film turned out to be a dud. Lingaa had another case of plagiarism against it, with two different people, Sakthivel and aspiring filmmaker KR Ravi Rathinam, claiming that Lingaas story was theirs. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop In a setback to India before their semifinal clash against the West Indies, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was ruled out of the ongoing World Twenty20 due to an ankle injury on Wednesday. Yuvraj has been replaced by Manish Pandey, who was called in as cover for him on Monday. The ICC has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 has approved Manish Pandey as a replacement player for Yuvraj Singh in Indias squad for the tournament, the ICC said in a statement. Yuvraj twisted his ankle while batting in the previous match against Australia in Mohali and has been ruled out of further participation in the tournament. The left-hander, who was dismissed on 21 in the last match, was in pain after twisting his ankle and had to be attended by the physio in the middle. The 26-year-old Pandey has played two T20Is, which were against Zimbabwe in Harare in July last year. He has also played four ODIs. Pandey last played for India in the fifth and final ODI at Sydney in the bilateral series in Australia and signed off with a maiden century. Any injury or illness-based replacement requires a written submission to the Event Technical Committee along with a diagnosis from a medical practitioner as to the extent of the injury or illness. Once replaced, a player may not return to the squad save as an approved subsequent replacement for another injured or ill player, the ICC stated. Virat Kohlis aggregate in this World T20 is more than the combined scores of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. India is the only team among the four semi-finalists whose openers havent even crossed 30. And between them, Dhawan and Sharma average only 11 in the four matches so far. The aforementioned facts highlight how Kohli has literally carried the team to the semi-finals. They also drive home the fact that Indias much-celebrated openers have come a complete cropper. That should keep MS Dhoni worried, more than Rainas loss of form. Read | World T20: Other batsmen now need to step up, says Dhoni after win over Australia Between the two, Sharma is definitely more talented. He has a better variety of strokes, can hook or pull effortlessly and is a dependable fielder. There is a touch of lethargy to his strokes, something we know as lazy elegance. But frankly, when a Kohli shows equal commitment to both groundstrokes and running between the wickets, it should be an eye-opener for even the best batsman in the team. And despite his two ODI double centuries, Sharma isnt the best batter in the squad. Dhawan is in the mould of Sehwag --- the hand-eye co-ordination batsman who relies purely on instinct and is more limited than Sharma in terms of range of strokes. The problem with Dhawan, however, is his inconsistent approach. He normally approaches bowlers with the single strategy of hit out or get out and when that fails, sometimes tries to plod around and wastes deliveries as a result. Dhawans saving grace is that big knock he produces just when his neck on the line, like in the Asia Cup final against Bangladesh. But in such a short tournament, can India afford to wait for Dhawans law of averages? India currently dont have openers as good as Sharma and Dhawan in this format. But they seem to be shooting themselves in the foot by not adhering to any strategy. In the four matches India have played, the maximum time the openers spent together was 36 balls, against Bangladesh at Bangalore that has possibly the smallest boundaries. That was the only match India batted first. Indias opening partnerships in the other matches lasted 23 balls (Australia), 13 balls (Pakistan) and just five against New Zealand. In all three matches, Indias openers didnt give themselves the luxury of exploiting the fielding restrictions during the complete quota of the Powerplay. It shows that chasing is where Dhawan and Sharma may need to rethink their plans. Even without a plan, the best way to go about is like Kohli --- nudge around the ball for singles and twos and wait for that loose delivery. Read | This World T20, orthodox shots trump the innovative There have been times when either opener went hammer and tongs, and sometimes even both. A measured approach in Mumbai might hold them in good stead. But in a format that made such a great fast bowler like Dale Steyn look pedestrian, there is a need to keep adapting. The quicker Sharma and Dhawan realise that, the better for India. Read more: Virat Kohlis fitness regimen is tailored for such explosive running We can learn a lot by watching Kohlis WT20 performances : Williamson Clash of the titans! Kohli v Gayle in World T20 semi-finals SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A late night gunbattle with the Taliban killed at least 15 members of the Afghan security forces in the volatile southern Uruzgan province, an official said on Wednesday. The fighting took place late Tuesday during an operation to reopen an important highway in the province, said Mohammad Nabi Niazo, the Dihrawud district police chief. Taliban gunmen had blocked the highway between Dihrawud and the provincial capital, Tarin Kot, for almost four days, he said. Following the deadly firefight, Afghan forces have retaken control of the road, Niazo said. Eight members of the security forces were wounded during the operation. However, Taliban spokesperson Qari Yousaf Ahmadi told The Associated Press that the battle for control of the highway is still going on. The insurgents often exaggerate their battlefield prowess. Niazo had no information of any insurgent casualties during the battle. The Taliban have in recent months stepped up their attacks in Uruzgan and neighbouring provinces in the south, including the Taliban heartland of Helmand where much of the worlds illicit opium is produced. The crop, along with other contraband, funds the insurgency, now in its fifteenth year. In Zabul province on Wednesday, two children were killed in an explosion behind the police headquarters in Qalat, the provincial capital, said Asadullah Kakar, a member of the provincial council. Another civilian was wounded in the blast, he said, adding that the target was unclear and the incident is under investigation. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Roadside bombs, planted by insurgents, are a major threat for both Afghan security forces and civilians across the country. In northern Balkh province, fighting Wednesday killed two police officers and eight militants in Charhar Bolak district, on the western border of the province, said General Abdul Razaq Qaderi, Balkhs deputy police chief. Around 100 Taliban insurgents, including foreign fighters, attacked police check points, Qaderi said. The Taliban were pushed back after reinforcements arrived and right now the battle is going on in neighbouring Jawzjan province. The Taliban did not immediately comment on the Balkh report. France on Wednesday charged the main suspect in a foiled attack plot with membership of a terrorist organisation after police found an arsenal of weapons and explosives at his home. The move comes as investigators stepped up efforts to smash a tangled web of Islamic State-linked extremists blamed for both the November Paris attacks and last weeks suicide bombings on Brussels airport and metro that killed 32 people. French national Reda Kriket, 34, was arrested near Paris last week and a police raid on his apartment netted a cache of assault rifles, handguns and TATP, the highly volatile homemade explosive favoured by IS jihadists. State prosecutor Francois Molins said Wednesday that no specific target had been identified for the foiled attack but that the cache of weapons showed an imminent act of extreme violence had likely been prevented. Krikets arrest came just four months after the jihadist carnage that claimed 130 lives in Paris. He had rented the apartment in the suburb of Argenteuil under a false identity last summer, the prosecutor said. Another French suspect, 32-year-old Anis Bahri, was arrested in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on Sunday in connection with the new Paris plot and is fighting extradition to France. Both Kriket and Bahri are believed to have travelled to Syria in late 2014 or early 2015, and since then between France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the French prosecutor said. Two other suspects -- Abderrahmane A., 38, and Rabah M., 34 -- have been charged in Belgium over the foiled plot and will be held for another week, Belgiums federal prosecutor said. The arrests highlight the extensive links investigators are finding between French and Belgian Islamic State cells behind the Brussels and Paris attacks. Kriket, who is linked to the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, was found guilty in absentia in Brussels in July of being part of a jihadist recruitment network and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Among those who went to Syria through the network were Abdelhamid Abaaoud -- the suspected ringleader of the November Paris onslaught -- and another Paris attacker, Chakib Akrouh. Investigations showed Kriket played a key role in financing the recruitment network with money from robberies and stolen goods. Brussels airport still closed Brussels airport said it would remain closed to passenger flights until at least late Thursday afternoon as the operator carries out further tests for a partial restart. The evaluation of the trial is still ongoing and will take at least till tomorrow afternoon. No flights till then, the airport operator said Wednesday on Twitter. The airport has been shut since suicide bombers Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui blew themselves up in the departure hall on March 22. The mayor of the Brussels district of Molenbeek, Francoise Schepmans, meanwhile, said far-right extremists had been banned from holding a planned anti-Islam rally in the neighbourhood after talks with police. The impoverished immigrant neighbourhood has long been seen as a hotbed of Islamist extremism and the prime suspect in the November terror attacks in Paris was arrested there earlier this month. Criticism of the Belgian authorities handling of the attacks probe has mounted after the sole suspect charged over the attacks was freed on Monday for lack of evidence. Prosecutors had charged the suspect, named by media as Faycal Cheffou, with terrorist murder and were investigating whether he was the third airport attacker who fled after his bomb did not detonate. But the hunt is now back on for the so-called man in the hat, seen in CCTV footage next to the two suicide bombers at the airport. Belgium has been accused of missing a series of leads linking the Paris attacks to those behind the Brussels bombings. In the most damning revelation, Turkey said Belgium ignored warnings from Ankara after it deported airport suicide bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui as a terrorist fighter last year following his arrest near the Syrian border. Loyalist forces pushed al Qaeda out of parts of Aden on Wednesday in a new drive against the jihadists in Yemens second city, where the internationally recognised government is based, military sources said. Troops and militia retook the central prison and deployed on main roads across the Mansura residential district after a three-hour gun battle with the jihadists, the sources said. There was no immediate word on casualties. The Sunni extremists of al Qaeda have exploited conflict between the government and Shia rebels who overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014 to expand their control in the south. A Saudi-led coalition, which intervened in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi when he fled into exile in March last year, concentrated its firepower on pushing the rebels and their allies out of Aden and neighbouring southern provinces, and the jihadists took advantage. But in recent days, the coalition has carried out a series of air strikes against al Qaeda in cities it has seized including Hadramawt provincial capital Mukalla and Abyan provincial capital Zinjibar. Five militants were killed and three wounded in Mondays strikes on Mukalla, a major port city that the jihadists seized last April, provincial officials told AFP. Zinjibar residents told AFP that al Qaeda fighters were evacuating public buildings in the city on Tuesday in apparent fear of new strikes. The coalition raids follow a US strike against an al Qaeda training camp outside Mukalla last week that killed 71 militants, according to provincial officials. On Tuesday, hundreds of people took part in an al Qaeda-organised protest in Mukalla against the US raid, witnesses said. US raids will not defeat jihad, banners carried by the demonstrators said. But other residents resisted the jihadists efforts to get them to join the protest, the witnesses said. There has been no let-up in the longstanding US air war against al Qaedas Yemen-based branch, which it regards as the jihadist networks most dangerous. US strikes have taken out a number of senior al Qaeda commanders in Yemen over the past year. A court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against former prime minister and head of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Khaleda Zia and 27 other leaders over an arson attack on a passenger bus in January last year. Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah made the order in which he asked police authorities to submit a report to the court on April 27 with details of their action to execute the order. It is unlikely Khaleda Zia will be arrested anytime soon as she has the option of seeking bail from a higher court, and such political cases usually take a long time to be settled. A BNP insider told Hindustan Times by phone that the case against Zia was politically motivated. This is nothing but a tactic of the government to hide its failure by triggering new issues using such cases against the opposition, said Rumeen Farhana, a member of the BNPs foreign affairs committee. Wednesdays order came after the judge accepted the charges against Zia and her colleagues. Investigators from the detective branch alleged they had instigated the attack and carried out subversive activities by using fire bombs in the incident of January 23, 2015 during a nationwide transport blockade aimed at ousting the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. At least one person died and 30 others were injured in the attack at Dhakas Jatrabari area during protests that paralysed the country for nearly three months. At least 150 people died across the country, mostly in fire bomb attacks, during the protests, in which the Jamaat-e-Islami was also involved. The movement failed to remove Hasina, who returned to power in January 2014 through an election boycotted by the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and their allies. During the violence, Hasina vowed to bring those responsible to book. She accused Zia and the Jamaat-e-Islami of using brutal tactics in the name of the anti-government movement. Zia and her colleagues rejected allegations that the BNP and its allies were involved in violence and shifted the blame to intelligence agencies and the government, saying they were killing people to foil the anti-government movement. As world leaders gather for the Nuclear Security Summit this week, the US has said that Pakistans continued deployment of tactical atomic weapons can increase the security threat. Our concerns regarding the continuing deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons by Pakistan relate to a reality of the situation. When battlefield nuclear weapons are deployed forward, they can represent enhanced nuclear security threat, said Rose Gottemoeller, the under secretary of state for arms control and international security. It is more difficult to sustain positive control over systems that are deployed forward. We found this lesson ourselves out in Europe during the years of the Cold War. And so I do think that it is a reality of the situation, she told reporters. Wherever battlefield nuclear weapons exist, they represent particular nuclear security problems, Gottemoeller said ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit being hosted by US on March 31-April 1. This is not the first time that Gottemoeller raised such concerns about Pakistan. At a Congressional hearing earlier this month, she had said: We have been very concerned about Pakistans deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has cancelled his trip to Washington for the summit in the wake of the terrorist attack in a Lahore park in which 72 people were killed and scores injured. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, meanwhile, said nuclear-armed Pakistan is a very very vital problem. Pakistan is a very, very vital problem and really vital country for us because they have a thing called nuclear weapons. They have to get a hold of their situation, Trump told CNN during a town hall in Wisconsin, where the Republican presidential primary will be held on April 5. On the Lahore terror attacks, Trump said: When I see it put in a park because it was mostly Christians although many others were killed other than Christians I think its just absolutely a horrible story. He added: Im talking about radical Islamic terrorism. I will solve it far better than anybody else running. French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday scrapped contested constitutional reforms he proposed after the Paris attacks, in an embarrassing U-turn for his already beleaguered government. The reforms included a plan to strip convicted terrorists of their French nationality which led to howls of protests from the left flank of Hollandes Socialist party and the resignation of his justice minister. Hollande also wanted to enshrine in the constitution a state of emergency adopted after the November 13 attacks on the French capital, in which suicide bombers and gunmen from the Islamic State group killed 130 people. But four months after both houses of parliament stood together to sing the Marseillaise national anthem, the lower house National Assembly and opposition-dominated Senate failed to agree on the text. A compromise appears out of reach on the stripping of terrorists nationality, Hollande said. I also note that a section of the opposition is hostile to any constitutional revision. I deeply regret this attitude, the president said in a brief televised statement. I have decided to close the constitutional debate (but) I will not deviate from the commitments I have taken... to ensure the security of our country. Hollandes move to drop the reform comes as authorities in Europe face increasing criticism over laxism and security failings in the face of the growing jihadist threat. Links have emerged between the IS cell which attacked Paris and the suicide bombers who struck Brussels last week, killing 32 people. The threat remains higher than ever, said Hollande. Islamist terrorism has declared war against us, against France, Europe, the entire world. A historical failure The failure to convince all political parties to fall behind the reforms will deal a stinging blow to Hollande, who is hoping to run for re-election in presidential polls next year. The leader of the far-right National Front (FN) Marine Le Pen said Hollandes decision to scrap the constitutional reform was a historical failure. Francois Hollande fails to have his own words taken seriously. He and his government are the only ones responsible for this failure, Le Pen said. However Hollandes Socialist party said the opposition was responsible for the sad spectacle. We apologise to the French people. We were not able to convince the right in general... to reinforce our law in the fight against terrorism, said party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis. Hollande was Frances most unpopular leader in modern history when Paris suffered its first terror attack of 2015, when gunmen killed 17 people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine and at a Jewish supermarket in January. His popularity briefly rose over his handling of those attacks, but not for long. A sense of political unity quickly soured after the November attacks, and turned to blame-trading and infighting among Socialists who accused Hollande of shifting to the right with his hardline response. Initially it was those within his own party who were most opposed to the plan to strip citizenship from convicted jihadists born in France who hold a second passport. Those against it argued it would create two categories of French citizens, a sensitive issue in a country where millions of immigrant origins hold two passports. Polls showed the majority of terror-weary French people supported the plan, but former justice minister Christiane Taubira was so opposed to the measure that she resigned. The right and far-right initially praised the measure, until the government amended the measure to remove any mention of dual nationality. This sparked criticism over the potential creation of stateless citizens. To be adopted, the text of a constitutional amendment must be accepted in identical terms by both houses of parliament, but the Senate restored the mention of dual nationality, effectively sinking the reform. While some of those who attacked France have held Moroccan or Algerian nationality, others are full French citizens such as Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam who was arrested two weeks ago. A man described as psychologically unstable hijacked a flight Tuesday from Egypt to Cyprus and threatened to blow it up. His explosives turned out to be fake, and he surrendered with all passengers released unharmed after a bizarre six-hour standoff. Read more: British mans selfie with EgyptAir hijacker sets Twitter abuzz As more became known about the motive of the 59-year-old Egyptian who was taken into custody, authorities characterized the commandeering of the EgyptAir jetliner not as an act of terrorism but more like a family feud with his former wife. As the family drama unfolded on televisions screens, Twitter users took the opportunity to joke about the incident . Several memes too were being circulated on socal media. #Egyptair hijacker like a parody of hijackers. Real hijackers ought to sue. pic.twitter.com/DDsL0ANagC Gayatri Jayaraman (@Gayatri__J) March 30, 2016 Man Hijacked Plane For Love Of Ex-Wife. Pinnacle Of Symbol Of Love 'Taj Mahal' Broke Down On The Same Day. Coincidence? #EgyptAir Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) March 29, 2016 Hijacker of #EgyptAir wanted some letters 2 deliver 2 his exwife. Love is in the air.I'm unable to decide to go for love or arrange marriage (@abdullah_0mar) March 29, 2016 Dear honey , Kindly hijack kitchen to prove your love..!!U dont need to hijack a plane..!! _Your Wife#EgyptAirHijack Annie Singh (@o__positive) March 29, 2016 Exclusive photo of the hijacker's letter to ex-wife. #EgyptAir pic.twitter.com/8qK8G7IMK4 Karen Chan (@Karen__Chan) March 29, 2016 How the hostage drama ended The aviation drama ended peacefully on the tarmac of Larnaca airport on the island nations southern coast with the surrender of a man identified by Cypriot and Egyptian authorities as Seif Eddin Mustafa. Read more: Love twist to EgyptAir hijacking tale, starring unstable man The incident was likely to renew concerns about Egyptian airport security months after a Russian passenger plane was blown out of the sky over the Sinai Peninsula in a bombing claimed by the Islamic State group. But Egyptian officials stressed that their security measures were not to blame, and there was praise for the EgyptAir flight crew. Pilot Amr Gamal told The Associated Press: We rescued all the people and the man got arrested. EgyptAir Flight 181 took off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria for a 30-minute hop to Cairo with at least 72 people aboard, Cyprus police said, including about two dozen foreigners. At some point, the hijacker claimed to have explosives in his belt and forced the pilot to fly the Airbus 320 to Cyprus, Egyptian authorities said. Read more: EgyptAir hijack ends with passengers freed, suspect arrested Egyptian passenger Farah el-Dabani told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiyah TV network that the hijacker was seated in the back of the aircraft and that it was the crew who told passengers that the plane was being hijacked. There was panic at the beginning, but the crew told us to be quiet. They did a good job to keep us all quiet so the hijacker does not do anything rash, she said in a telephone interview. After the jet landed in Larnaca about 9 a.m., the hijacker asked to speak to his Cypriot ex-wife, who was brought to the airport, and he sent out a letter from the aircraft to give to her, said Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides. The foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said. The nationalities of three other foreigners could not be determined immediately. Most of the passengers were freed, and they calmly walked down a set of stairs from the plane, carrying their hand luggage and boarding a bus. But he kept on board seven people: four members of the flight crew and three passengers. Mustafa later asked to speak to European Union representatives, and among his demands were the release of female inmates held in Egyptian prisons. It was one demand he made, then dropped it and made another, Kasoulides said. His demands made no sense or were too incoherent to be taken seriously. From the start, it was clear that this wasnt an act of terrorism, he added. Despite the fact that the individual appeared to be dangerous in terms of his behavior, we understood that this was a psychologically unstable person, he said. Hussein Abdelkarim Tantaway Mubarak, Egypts ambassador to Cyprus, said the whole affair looks like it was a family feud. As far as I know, I think he has a family problem, probably with members of his family, probably his ex-wife or something, Mubarak added. A Cypriot police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give out details of the investigation said the hijacker and his wife were divorced in 1994, and the couple had four children. The hijacker eventually realized there was no chance any of his demands would be met, Kasoulides said, and he left the plane, where he was immediately arrested by anti-terrorism police. The belt of explosives turned out to be telephone cases made to look like they were explosives. Just minutes before the arrest, several people were seen also getting off the aircraft, and a crew member - later identified as Ahmed el-Qaddah - climbed out of the cockpit window and slid down the side of the plane in accordance with his training for such emergencies. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was not something that has to do with terrorism. Anastasiades, appearing alongside European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Nicosia, was asked by reporters whether he could confirm that the incident was about a woman. Always, there is a woman, he replied, drawing laughter. But the mood aboard the hijacked aircraft was anything but light-hearted. A veiled female passenger told Egyptian TV upon arrival back in Cairo: We were terrified but cooperating. The woman, who was not identified, said she thought the explosives had been real. I felt like the man can just press the button, and we will be gone, she said. A middle-aged male passenger who also didnt identify himself told the broadcaster, The situation was very hard, more than anyone can imagine. He also praised the flight crew, saying they were like a psychiatrists to the hijacker. The flight crew and passengers who returned to Cairo on Tuesday night broke into tears while hugging and kissing their waiting families. Mustafa is to appear in court Wednesday, where authorities will ask that he be held on a number of unspecified charges, said police spokesman Andreas Angelides. Mubarak said its amazing how the hijacker managed to convince passengers and crew that he had a belt of explosives strapped to him when he actually had no weapons. Police in Cairo questioned Mustafas relatives, said Sharif Faisal, the police chief for the industrial suburb of Helwan. Islam Magdy, a taxi driver who lives in the same five-story house as Mustafas sister, described him as a mysterious person, with police inquiring about him. Egypts Interior Ministry released surveillance video that it said showed Mustafa being thoroughly searched at the Alexandria airport. It said his hand luggage held items that he later used to give the impression that he is wearing an explosive belt. Aviation expert Philip Baum said the EgyptAir crew seems to have responded to this incident in an exemplary fashion. The idea that the air crew should have taken steps to overpower the hijacker is, I believe, wrong, said Baum, author of Violence in the Skies: A History of Aircraft Hijacking and Bombing. Flight attendant Nihal el-Barqouqi played a role in convincing the hijacker to free the passengers once the plane landed in Cyprus, Egyptian TV reported. We managed with diplomacy ... to get the passengers out, co-pilot Ahmed el-Qaddah told the broadcaster. Security at Egyptian airports has been under scrutiny since the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian jetliner in the Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for St. Petersburg, Russia. All 224 people on board were killed. Russia later said a bomb brought down the aircraft, and the Islamic State group took responsibility. Russia suspended all air links to Egypt after the revelations about the bombing, dealing a major blow to the Egyptian tourism industry. A lion was shot dead in Kenya on Wednesday after attacking a man, while trackers in South Africa searched for a lion whose own escape from a park prompted appeals to wildlife officials to relocate it rather than kill it. The two cases of African lions on the loose highlight the difficult balance between protecting people and conserving lions, whose numbers have declined dramatically over the past century because of unregulated hunting, a loss of habitat and growing conflict with livestock herders. Concern about the threatened species intensified last year when an American dentist killed a lion named Cecil in a hunt in Zimbabwe that officials said was illegal. The circumstances of the stray lions also fuelled questions about whether to dart a potentially dangerous predator with a tranquilliser and return it to a fenced area, or kill it before it can attack people. Such decisions depend on factors including the training of wildlife experts, their resources and whether the area where a lion is roaming is densely populated. In some cases, local residents have killed lions before officials arrived on the scene. Wildlife officials in Kenya shot the escaped lion several times after it injured a man in the Kajiado district, 57 kilometers (35 miles) from Nairobi, the capital, said Paul Udoto, a spokesperson for the Kenya Wildlife Service. Officials had planned to capture the lion and save it from a crowd, Udoto said. But by the time officials arrived, the animal had become too agitated and dangerous, he said. We didnt have a chance to save the lion, he said. Another senior Kenyan wildlife official, Kitili Mbathi, blamed a faulty electrical fence for the escape of the lion from Nairobi National Park. The lions periodically test the fence to see if there is a charge in it, and when there is no charge sometimes they will jump over and try and get to the livestock that is being kept next door to us at the army barracks or in other nearby animal enclosures, he said. It was the second incident this month involving a stray lion in Kenya. On March 18, a lion mauled a pedestrian in Nairobi before being captured. Nairobi National Park, which covers 117 square kilometers (45 square miles) on the outskirts of the city, is home to endangered black rhinos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes and diverse birdlife. The park is not entirely fenced and its wildlife is under growing pressure as the city expands. In South Africa, wildlife officials backtracked from earlier statements that they would kill a lion that escaped from Karoo National Park because it was a threat to humans. Those statements were met with an outcry from people who say the lion, dubbed Sylvester in local media, should be captured and relocated to another park if necessary. It is the lions second escape from the park, located in an arid and sparsely populated pat of South Africa. Last year, wildlife staff also labelled the Karoo lion Spook Ghost in the Afrikaans language because of its ability to stay one step ahead of searchers during its first breakout. The South African parks service said they are now considering various options, including returning the lion to the park and improving its fencing, moving the lion to another park, donating the lion to a conservation group or killing it if it causes massive damage an apparent reference to livestock it may kill or is a direct threat to humans. Specifically, the loss of human life poses an even greater danger as the animal may lose fear for humans and see them as easy prey, the parks service said in a statement. It said the search for the lion is hampered by difficult terrain and windy conditions that prevented an aerial search. Trackers on foot are also concerned about a possible ambush by the lion, the statement said. The 3-year-old male lion escaped several days ago. It is wearing a satellite tracking collar that was installed after last years escape, during which it eluded capture for more than three weeks and killed 28 sheep, one cow and one kudu antelope. President Xi Jinping will join around 50 world leaders in Washington on Thursday for the fourth Nuclear Security Summit and hold a bilateral meeting with his US counterpart Barack Obama amid growing concerns over a belligerent North Korea and nuclear terrorism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too will join the summit that will focus on the global nuclear security situation. Xi will deliver a keynote speech at the plenary meeting, laying out Beijings policies and propositions, and according to the foreign ministry, introducing Chinas new measures and achievements in the field of nuclear security and putting forward substantial initiatives to strengthen global nuclear security. Much of the real action during the two-day summit is likely to be on the sidelines, where Xi is slated to meet Obama to discuss a wide range of issues, including Pyongyangs tests of a nuclear bomb and a battery of missiles. There is no confirmation whether Modi and Xi will meet on the sidelines as well. The focus will be the Obama-Xi meeting, where the outgoing US President is likely to urge the Chinese leader to take a stronger stand against North Korea, its reclusive and many experts say, rogue ally. If North Korea has already become a nuclear power that gives the US a strong excuse to basically do something in South Korea or to strengthen Japan, Xu Guoqi, a US-China relations expert at University of Hong Kong, told the South China Morning Post. China can never walk away from North Korea with honour, (but) to allow them to behave this way will drag everyone into a big mess, he said. Theres a Chinese saying when youre on the tigers back, its very hard to get off. Vice foreign minister Li Baodong told a recent briefing that Xi would also attend a nuclear security-related interactive discussion on simulative scenes. Chinas focus, Li said, was to continuously pool international consensus on enhancing nuclear security to effectively cope with the emerging new situations and new challenges. Li added it was important to beef up international cooperation in nuclear security, and strengthen coordination and cooperation of international nuclear security mechanism. China has been critical of the USs handling of the terror-related security situation, connecting it with nuclear security as a whole. Describing USs stand on terror as hypocrisy, Chinas official media has said Washingtons stance is dictated by self-interest. Such hypocrisy has been repeatedly shown, including in the case of Chinas first anti-terror law, which Washington denounced by saying it would do more harm than good, and in the case of the Kunming rail station attack in 2014, when Uncle Sam refused to call the attackers terrorists even though they brutally stabbed 31 people to death, the official Xinhua news agency said in an opinion piece. Post-Covid Prospects: Argentina Argentina, already in a recession when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit in 2020, has been enjoying a remarkable recovery. However, its still facing economic difficulties. This article looks at how the worlds eighth largest country is introducing reforms to rein in its runaway inflation and restore financial credibility, while at the same time looking to diversify trade and investment through its membership of the BRI. Thank you! You've reported this item as a violation of our terms of use. This content was contributed by a user of the site. If you believe this content may be in violation of the terms of use, you may report it. For Google, old is still gold. In a rather surprising announcement on Tuesday, the massive tech giant unveiled its newest service. Unlike its previous offerings, which usually revolved around tech-based services that are highly-advanced, Google's recent announcement involved a product that was a favorite of yesteryear - the venerable landline. Yes, for a company that gave America gigabit broadband service and the Android operating system comes Fiber Phone, Google's landline service. According to Google's announcement, the landline service will soon roll out to cities that already support Fiber Internet. The service is set to cost $10 a month. Thus, customers enrolled in Google's $70 monthly plan for gigabit internet speeds or $120 monthly plan for gigabit internet and TV services will be able to enjoy landline services as well. But wait, before considering Google's new product as a vanity project for the tech giant, consumers must note that Fiber Phone is a few steps away from a conventional landline service. Much of the services of Fiber Phone are very similar to that of Google Voice. For one, the service gives consumers unlimited local and nationwide long-distance calling. International calling is also possible, with rates that are comparable to competitors. Perhaps the most novel feature of Fiber Phone, however, is its cloud-based platform. Signing up for the service does not require customers to acquire a landline phone from the tech giant. Rather, Fiber Phone is just a small black box that could be attached to any existing landline phone in the house. Since the service is cloud-based, the service works with any hardware customers connect it with. That includes landline phones, laptop computers, tablets and other similar devices. John Shriver-Blake, Fiber's product manager, remained optimistic about the potentials of the company's new service. "While mobile phones have pushed us toward the future, home phone service is still important to many families. Landlines can be familiar, reliable and provide high-quality service, but the technology hasn't always kept up," he said. Landline usage across America has been on the decline for years, with a recent survey concluding that only 40 percent of adult Americans today using cellphones exclusively for voice calling. With the advent of the smartphone, people have been using more and more varied ways to connect and interact. Google's Fiber Phone service should be ready for residential customers in a few select areas across the United States, before expanding to a nationwide service. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After the recently conducted town hall that featured the presidential hopefuls of the GOP, many were left with a feeling of disappointment at the state of the race for the party's nomination. With mudslinging and ad hominem attacks abounding, the Republican side of the 2016 presidential race seems to be quite chaotic. The fact that the party's three presidential candidates turned back their words on their pledge to support the party's final nominee has added fuel to the fire. From what voters could deduce from the town hall, the Republican presidential hopefuls are now exclusively backing their own campaigns. In fact, the pervading air of animosity between the candidates, most notably between front-runner Donald Trump and his closest rival, Ted Cruz, has turned off a number of voters across the country. As stated by John Kasich during the town hall, the current state of the campaigns has gotten so nasty and below-the-belt, it was not setting a good example for America's children anymore. Of course, with the Republican Party's nominee for the presidential elections possibly getting crippled by the lack of support from the supporters of the other GOP candidates, the rival Democratic Party might once more dominate the upcoming polls. After all, with one party practically destroying itself from the inside, the only winner would be the opposing group. Thus, a number of loyal party members have begun to feel that the GOP's presidential bet might not be able to topple the nominee of the Democrats, which most believe will be Hillary Clinton. Chip Saltsman, former senior adviser to ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's recent presidential campaign, expressed his sentiments about the current reservation of GOP sympathizers. "Talk that Trump and Cruz can't beat Hillary Clinton represents a pretty dangerous line of thinking," he said. Apart from this, the reservations of prominent Republicans towards the increasing influence of GOP front-runner Donald Trump might end up compromising the party's chances at winning the presidency. For one, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as Speaker Paul Ryan, have both begun to distance themselves from the bold candidate. Last week alone, Ryan strongly criticized the current rhetoric being used by the candidates. He has also criticized Trump's stance on Muslims, which involved banning people practicing Islam from entering the United States. Nevertheless, only time will tell how the presidential elections would ultimately pan out. After all, the Democratic side is also running into its own set of challenges, as questions about the trustworthiness of front-runner Hillary Clinton continue to be raised. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Children who have access to free breakfast at school do not have an increased risk of obesity even though they are more likely going to eat what many consider the most important meal of the day, a new study found. For this study, the researchers from the Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University and the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs examined the effects that a free school meal offered in the classroom would have on children's participation and obesity rates. "Moving breakfast into the classroom is intended to encourage participation in school breakfast programs, particularly among students unable to arrive early, and to reduce the stigma associated with a trip to the cafeteria," said Amy Ellen Schwartz, director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy. Schwartz, who is also the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Affairs at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and colleagues examined data taken from the New York City Department of Education and its Office of School Food. New York City has been offering free breakfast in the classroom since 2007. Since public schools started providing free meals in the classroom, the participation rate skyrocketed from 25 percent to 80 percent, the City Department of Education said. The researchers analyzed school breakfast and lunch participation and the heights and weights of children between kindergarten and the eighth grade who attended one of about 200 public schools studied that had either offered breakfast in some or in all classrooms. The researchers also looked at the students' demographics, attendance rates, and math and reading tests scores, which were available for grades four through eight. The researchers found that free breakfast in the classroom increased children's participation rate. Although more children were eating breakfast, the obesity rate did not increase. Eating breakfast also did not appear to increase children's academic performance and did not impact attendance. School lunch did not affect participation. "While we find that providing breakfast in the classroom had large positive effects on participation in school breakfast programs, our analysis provides no evidence of hoped-for gains in academic performance, nor of feared increases in obesity," said Sean Corcoran, associate director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy. "When looking at academic achievement and attendance, there are few added benefits of having breakfast in the classroom beyond those already provided by free breakfast. The policy case for breakfast in the classroom will depend upon reductions in hunger and food insecurity for disadvantaged children, or its longer-term effects." The study was published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Attorneys General of several U.S. states and territories are in the process of investigating Exxon Mobil, an American oil and gas corporation that is believed to have misled investors and the public about climate change in order to benefit its own interests. "We've gathered here today for a conference, a first-of-its-kind conference of Attorneys General dedicated to coming up with creative ways to enforce laws being flouted by the fossil fuel industry and their allies in their short-sighted efforts to put profits above the interests of the American people and the integrity of the financial markets," Eric Schneiderman, New York's current Attorney General, said at yesterday's conference while announcing the coalition's intentions. Exxon Mobil was originally accused of misleading investors last fall when it came to light that they possessed knowledge of the detrimental effects of climate change despite their disavowal of it. Schneiderman's office subpoenaed Exxon Mobil back in November for climate change documents dating back to the 1970s, which they claim contain proof that the company was aware of the causes and consequences of climate change. "This office has been engaged in a wide-ranging investigation into whether Exxon and others deceived investors and the public regarding the causes and impacts of climate change - including its effect on future profits," said Doug Cohen of Schneiderman's office. "The disclosures and statements we are looking at range from 1977 up to this day." The issues have caused numerous high profile investors to back away from the company, including some Rockefeller heirs. "There is no sane rationale for companies to continue to explore for new sources of hydrocarbons," the Rockefeller Family Fund (RFF) said in a statement. "The science and intent enunciated by the Paris agreement cannot be more clear: far from finding additional sources of fossil fuels, we must keep most of the already discovered reserves in the ground if there is any hope for human and natural ecosystems to survive and thrive in the decades ahead." Despite the accusations, Exxon Mobil claims that their scientists were not certain of the effects of climate change and assures that they are strongly supportive of the fight against climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Experts believe that the case has the potential to trigger a cascade of federal racketeering and organized crime (RICO) laws that the Justice Department used in their landmark case against tobacco companies. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Up until Julius Caesar reformed the calendar that would become the one we use today, the Roman year began in the month of March, named after their god of war, Mars. And to do their god proud, March was a time for preparations, for movement and for action. With spring now upon us, it is time for you too to embark upon a grand adventure. As a senior manager, though, it's often hard to find the time for such ventures. Instead, what I propose you focus on this year is team empowerment and imbuing your team with a refreshed sense of ambition. What you need is a corporate culture that nurtures its intrapreneurs, which I deem to be the lifeblood of any well-run hospitality organization. First, however, a definition is in order. Like its naming forebear, intrapreneurs carry with them the spirit of entrepreneurship, only they are acting within a larger corporation instead of on their own accord. They are employees with a certain degree of autonomy to lead new projects and those empowered to break routine in order to find novel ways to advance the organization's goals. The prime traits for an intrapreneur are twofold: a diehard passion for the business and an unorthodox approach to corporate structuring. That is to say, they love their work (in this case, hospitality) and they don't necessarily play by the rules. Often, they flounder when thrown into the meat grinder like everyone else. How do you go about finding these individuals? Simple: follow the passion. You aren't going to uncover an intrapreneur within a person who views his or her work as 'a job', only those who are career-bound. Verifying this with a direct question to an employee is a good start. Look for those individuals who truly love hospitality and are ceaselessly curious about its operations. Often, you'll find that the persons who are the most disagreeable or objectionable during meetings are the ones with the most zeal; they act this way because they care. In contrast, the team members who just nod their heads at every suggestion are afraid, apathetic, sycophantic or lacking in knowledge to form a counterargument none are good qualities for senior management. Beyond passion, the two other characteristics which help are a strong work ethic and a semblance of creative intellect. The former trait hardworking should be a direct outcome from an enthusiasm for one's chosen career. The latter creativity is a little harder to pin down, but if you consider someone's inventive thrust to be in part attributed to abstract integration of disparate ideas, then having your employees read the trades will certainly help. You never know where the next big thing will come from, so best to soak in as much knowledge as possible about the industry then let the eureka moments flow. Once you've found people who have the gumption to lead projects or make unorthodox suggestions, it's time to cultivate their positive energy. Intrapreneurs, like entrepreneurs, naturally operate on their own schedules. Stifle that and you'll have one more unmotivated employee on your hands or, worse, a two weeks' notice on your desk. Luckily, nurturing begins with a simple conversation. Ask motivated employees about how they'd improve your business, what aspects of hotel operations they observe to be antiquated and any interesting ideas they feel would enrich the guest experience. From there, empower them with small tasks, but also with the explicit opportunity for escalation both in the magnitude of responsibility as well as in compensation. Mentoring is also essential as no one gets it right the first time. Just as the Romans prepared for war in the month of March with generals and imperators leading their legions of intermixed recruits and veterans, so too must you start by finding the youth along with the old-timers who are keen to grow your business. Then give everyone a chance to become organizational leaders under your diligent tutelage to wholly espouse an intrapreneurial corporate culture. This article may not be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author. Larry Mogelonsky Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited View source First, I apologise for the click-baity title. The truth is it should have read 5 Hospitality Jobs I Never Knew Existed, but that's the title of the world's least interesting confession. And now we're all stuck here together, and the only way to get out is to go forward. But there is something to be said here about the way the industry has evolved. Technology has a way of not just solving problems but also creating new opportunities. Back in the 90's, computerized point of sale solutions didn't just revolutionise the way restaurants operated behind the scenes, it spawned a whole new industry of POS consulting. Your average restaurateur or chef, if they didn't already have tech expertise, definitely didn't have the time or wherewithal to deal with installing the hardware and software. Nor did they have the expertise to solve technical problems. Or the view that their data was super important and ought to be backed up on a regular basis. These kinds of specialised services became a lucrative business for consultants and they all lived happily ever after. Except those that didn't. See, cloud computing and the ever-increasing presence of mobile apps to handle POS has left these consultants without nearly as much work as they used to have. If they've made the switch to start supporting cloud software, they can still help out with installation and setupbut since there aren't any more desktop PC's to fail, or locally installed servers to upgrade, the range of services they can offer is more limited. Bad news for them, but good news for hospitality business in general. The cost of doing business gets much lower when you switch to a cloud app, and you'll find you've got all kinds of extra money lying around that previously went to your IT consultant. This is as it should be, because as I mentioned earlier, technology has a way of creating new opportunities for people, spawning new careers in every industry. Hospitality is no exception. Here, then, are 5 ways to spend that money you no longer have to give to your IT consultant. Culinary Historian. No, you don't have to remember the date of the Battle of Bulgur Hill to do this job, but you do need to understand the origins of ingredients from around the world. That includes where they originated and where they ended up, and the ways which different cultures used them for food. As consumers and owners alike are showing an interest in the ingredients usedare they organic? Local? Fair trade?telling the story behind the food has become part of the dining-out experience. Culinary Historians can be hired as consultants to add a narrative to the menu, explain the foods' origins on a website, or lend more meaning to a chef's cookbook. Social Media Manager. Like it or not, social media is a big part of an increasing number of business types, and restaurants are no different. In fact, it's more crucial for a restauranta hospitality businessto provide a warm, friendly face through Instagram and Facebook. It goes beyond posting pictures and creating an imagea social media manager ought to be part of the conversation and engaging with your followers. One-on-one interactions on social media can lead to more one-on-one interactions in person. Online engagement, apart from being a phrase I can't believe I just used, is a great way to learn about your customers. Their likes and dislikes can be noted in a CRM database, allowing for more personal service. Think of the social media manager as the party planner, making sure everyone's getting along and enjoying their time with your business. Food Stylist. This isn't a new career, per se. For as long as there has been advertising and a need to make a food item look as appetising as possible, there have been food stylists. The emergence of social media as a dominant marketing platform has created a more widespread demand for food styling services. Just because you can make a dish delicious, and even plate it up attractively, doesn't mean you can make it look appetising in a photo. You can hire the best Social Media Manager in the business, but if your Instagram feed is filled with unattractive food, there's not much she can do to overcome that. Culinary Trendologist. As the title suggests, the Culinary Trendologist is a person who makes her living studying the latest food trends. The first known CT was said to have predicted the trend of Culinary Trendology as a career, right before billing her client for the insight and thus proving herself right. Her rate went up considerably that day. Today's modern Trendologist will either consult with restaurants to advise on the direction of a menu, or work full time for established brands looking to stay ahead of the curve. Remember how all of a sudden every place you went had gluten free menu offerings? That's Culinary Trendology at work. Mixologist. Sadly, this is not a position where you make appropriate playlists on Spotify to serve as background music for the restaurant. If such a job existed, I wouldn't be sitting here writing about it. A Mixologist is kind of like a bartender, except that she's making more than just the standard drinks folks have been ordering for ages. She's also creating new ones, usually with artisan ingredients. A mixologist can make you a Whisky Sour, no problem. But wouldn't you rather have the Tahitian-vanilla infused bourbon mixed with maple liqueur, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper? I just made that up, by the way. Maybe I could be a mixologist, after all. Pierre Laing Head of Digital Marketing +27 21(84) 853 0876 Kounta Did I get your attention? Guest loyalty as a concept is not dead, but it is rapidly evolving. Points and redemption-based models are antiquated and failing to impress the modern traveler. Instead, hotels are more likely to have success building loyalty with today's guests with more personalized surprise and delight experiences. This shift is not unique to hospitality. According to research by loyalty-focused agency MBLM (2015), travel brands have the least loyal relationships with consumers compared to other industries. In other words, consumers don't feel as loyal to travel brands and hotels. This is also supported by research from Wyndham which shows that the structure of many hotel loyalty programs leaves travelers "confused and disappointed." The shift away from points Historically, many hotel loyalty programs have been points-based. But, these types of systems often fail to drive guest engagement and are costly to administer. Points are the domain of the largest brands, and often don't meet the needs of small-to-medium-sized brands looking to make a more personal connection with their guests. Recently, we've seen several small-to-medium brands moving away from points-based systems in favor of a more holistic approach. Some brands, such as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, have gone further and avoided loyalty programs all together. This trend is partly driven by consumer behavior. For example, let's look at mobile applications: the vast majority of consumers do not use, or even download, hotel apps. Therefore, as a hotel, you have a very small chance of your app being downloaded or used unless you're a major brand. The same applies to legacy guest "portals" requiring proactive guest login and engagement - these are falling by the wayside. In addition, most sophisticated points accrual and redemption management platforms have high fixed costs to administer, including software, design and marketing, which makes them a difficult investment without tens of millions of loyalty members. The Millennial fallacy There has been a lot of buzz recently about Millennials and loyalty, with the fallacy that Millennials don't care about loyalty or participate in loyalty programs. However, I'd argue that they will care a lot, they just currently have less purchasing power with their age, particularly those 18-24 years old. As they grow up and have more spending ability, they will start to care a great deal about loyalty. For example, Software Advice research shows that loyalty program participation is about 10 percent higher among older Millennials (25-34 years old). Millennials are also more interested in unexpected, instant, and personally relevant rewards versus points. According to a Deloitte study (2014), 66% of Millennial travelers mentioned "unique rewards" as an important factor when selecting a loyalty program, versus just 43% among older demographics. All of this suggests that Millennials will care about loyalty, but in the form of personalized guest experience, service, and marketing. Next gen loyalty Given these dynamics, the next horizon for hotel loyalty is centered around identifying and incentivizing your best customers to come back, ideally through a direct booking. Instead of a traditional points-based system, consider focusing your efforts on segmenting and targeting your most loyal and active guests with personally relevant offers. You should consider targeting not only your top spenders, but also guests who share positive feedback, have large social media audiences, have high NPS scores, book direct, or stay across several of your properties, just to name a few potential segments. By personalizing the service and marketing to your best customers, you can differentiate and win your guests' loyalty over other hotels and high cost 3rd party channels. According to McKinsey & Company, traditional loyalty programs often fail to deliver value, for companies or customers: "Many new programs are simply copies of other programs Innovative use of data will be a key to unlocking value in next-generation loyalty programs." McKinsey goes on to assert that loyalty should be focused on your most profitable customers. For example, Southwest offers rewards based on the amount of money the flier spends, versus just miles flown. In summary, loyalty is not dead at all but evolving fast, along with the modern traveler. While a loyalty strategy will look different for every hotel, many small-to-medium brands are starting to focus heavily on rewarding guests for their true value, and also on customizing the messaging these guests receive to drive more engagement and direct bookings. About Revinate Revinate takes hoteliers to new heights of performance through data-driven solutions that cultivate deeper relationships with guests. As the global leader in CDP-driven direct booking platforms, Revinate provides intelligent guest data management, omni-channel guest lifecycle communications, feedback, and commerce solutions for tens of thousands of the worlds leading hotels. Revinates software as a service (SaaS) solution is purpose-built for hoteliers with a focus on actionable data, intuitive UI, industry-specific applications, and measurable direct revenue results. For those reasons, Revinates solution has been chosen by hoteliers as the Top Rated CRM/Marketing Product in Hotel Tech Report in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. For more information, visit www.revinate.com. Kelly Robb VP of Marketing & Growth - Revinate 415-264-5118 Revinate, Inc. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) in partnership with investment group, Pro-invest today celebrated the opening of Australia's first Holiday Inn Express hotel, Holiday Inn Express Sydney Macquarie Park; scheduled to welcome its first guests on 11 April 2016. A ribbon cutting ceremony marked the occasion, attended by IHG Chief Executive Officer, Richard Solomons, Pro-invest Chief Executive Officer, Ronald Barrott, and New South Wales Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events, Stuart Ayres MP. Holiday Inn Express Sydney Macquarie Park is the first of 15 Holiday Inn Express hotels to be developed in partnership with international investment group, Pro-invest under a multiple franchise agreement. Additional key locations for properties in the portfolio have been secured in Spring Hill, Brisbane, Hindley Street, Adelaide and Southbank, Melbourne. Richard Solomons, IHG Chief Executive said: "This is an important milestone for the Holiday Inn Express brand globally, this year celebrating its 25th anniversary. I'm delighted to be here for the occasion, and to celebrate with our partners from Pro-invest. "IHG's global strategy is to align the right market with the right brand at the right time and with the right partner. With a strong tourism economy in place, coupled with a receptiveness to a select service accommodation brand in this market and a dynamic partner in Pro-invest, Australia presented as an ideal opportunity to continue the growth of Holiday Inn Express. "A brand synonymous with offering guests a great experience and 'everything they need but nothing they don't', coupled with friendly service, Holiday Inn Express will no-doubt prove popular among smart, discerning Australian travellers" he added. Ronald Barrott, Chief Executive Officer at Pro-invest Group said: "Since announcing our partnership with IHG and this portfolio of Holiday Inn Express hotels to open in Australia, our team has scoured the country for prime positions for our hotels. Macquarie Park is one of Sydney's leading business precincts for this, our first Holiday Inn Express hotel, perfectly-suited to cater for corporate travellers. "In just a few days' time we will open our doors to guests, and it won't be too long before we do the same at Holiday Inn Express Brisbane Spring Hill. It's an exciting time, and we could not have wished for better partners than IHG with whom to undertake this exciting project." One of the world's fastest growing hotel brands, Holiday Inn Express encourages guests to STAY SMART, offering 'everything you need but nothing you don't' in one inclusive rate that delivers: Free and fast Wi-Fi available in guest rooms and throughout the hotel so they stay connected all day, every day Free Express Start Breakfast or a Grab & Go option for a smart start to the day A comfortable and restful sleep with high quality bedding and choice of firm or soft pillows Self-service business centre and laundry room for their everyday needs Great Room, a public space for guests to enjoy their breakfast meet, work or relax In addition to the opening of the 192-room hotel in Macquarie Park, Sydney, a 226-room Holiday Inn Express will open in Spring Hill Brisbane later this year, followed by Adelaide with a further 245-room Holiday Inn Express in the centre of the city opening 2017 and 345 rooms in Southbank, central Melbourne opening in 2018, totaling 1,008 rooms in all. IHG currently has 25 hotels operating under three brands in Australia: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, with Holiday Inn Express Sydney Macquarie Park marking the launch of the fourth brand in the country and the 26th hotel in Australia. There are currently over 2,400 Holiday Inn Express hotels (more than 234,000 rooms) open across the globe. There are 26 Holiday Inn Express hotels in the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA*) region, growing to 68 hotels in the next three to five years. About IHG IHG Hotels & Resorts [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global hospitality company, with a purpose to provide True Hospitality for Good. With a family of 17 hotel brands and IHG Rewards, one of the world's largest hotel loyalty programmes, IHG has over 6,000 open hotels in more than 100 countries, and a further 1,800 in the development pipeline. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated and registered in England and Wales. Approximately 350,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally. Visit us online for more about our hotels and reservations and IHG Rewards. For our latest news, visit our Newsroom and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore). Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net. Go back to home Mr. Dumont has served in operating and finance leadership positions since joining the company in June of 2010. Since July 2013, he has served as senior vice president of finance and strategy. Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) announced today that it has named Patrick Dumont as its chief financial officer. Las Vegas Sands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon G. Adelson said the appointment of Mr. Dumont is a well-earned formalization of a role Mr. Dumont has already been performing. "Patrick has been providing strong leadership to the financial function and handling the principal duties of the CFO role very effectively for some time. We are extremely pleased to formally appoint him to this role, and we look forward to his contributions in the years ahead. The depth and strength of our senior leadership team is an important strategic advantage for the company, and Patrick's appointment to lead our global financial organization further strengthens our team as we execute our growth strategy." "I'm excited to serve in this important role, and I'm honored to lead a strong and dedicated team of finance and accounting professionals. Working closely with our leadership team, my primary focus will be on helping maintain the industry's strongest balance sheet, preserving the financial flexibility needed to pursue new development opportunities, continuing our strong commitment to return excess capital to our shareholders and fulfilling our commitment to leading the industry in financial controls," stated Mr. Dumont. Mr. Dumont has served in operating and finance leadership positions since joining the company in June of 2010. Since July 2013, he has served as senior vice president of finance and strategy. Prior to joining LVS, Mr. Dumont worked in investment banking at Miller Buckfire and Bear Stearns. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School. There's also a new album, Blues, on its way Alabama 3 celebrate their 20th birthday with a tour that kicks off in the Belfast Limelight (November 11) and the Dublin Academy (12) before heading to their native Blighty. Note that its the full Bammy-whammy rather than the slimmed-down acoustic version of the band thats been seen in Ireland recently. Along with all their live faves, theyll be plugging studio album number 14, Blues, which is out in September. Twenty years and still standing, standing on the edge, on the point of no return, they reflect. None of us are dead, which has surprised us more than it has you. We still remember catching them for the first time all those years ago in Whelans and being blown away by a little ditty called Woke Up This Morning. Little did we, or they, know where it was going to take them. Abrahamson is still reeling in the success that Room has acquired but he has now turned his attention to a new project, The Grand Escape. Film4 and Element Pictures will fund the film and they have instilled their trust in Abrahamson, rightly so considering the impressive repertoire Abrahamson has to boast. The film will be an adaptation of Neal Bascomb's book which has yet to be published. The Great Escape is set in WWI and revolves around three daredevil fighter pilots. The three are captured and held as Prisoners Of War at Holzminden, one of the most notorious camps in Germany. However, they go on to lead the greatest mass POW escape in July of 1918 and the narrative will follow their individual flights to freedom back to Britain via the Netherlands. The accompanying book is to be published in May so the film is still waiting on assigning a scriptwriter to the project. Until the manuscript for The Great Escape is handed in there are a lot of details that have yet to be ironed out. This isn't the first time that Abrahamson has worked with Element Pictures as they supported his Oscar winning Room. Those 4 Oscar nods also accompany 8 IFTA awards that Room is in the running for. If Abrahamson could bring Emma Donoghue's Room to life in such a beautiful and honest manner, we're sure that he will do Bascomb's book just as proud. The start of the year spelled disaster for Greengro Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS:GRNH, GRNH message board), as the stock began to firmly move towards the bottom of the charts. The ticker entered this month below the 2 cent per share mark and threatened to drop in double-zero land. Recently, however, we see that GRNH is climbing the charts. This is courtesy of a press release from the beginning of this month that announced an impressive increase in quarterly sales. This was exciting news, especially considering the modest numbers that the company recorded in its latest financial statement. cash: $32 thousand current assets: $765 thousand current liabilities: $285 thousand quarterly revenues: $98 thousand quarterly net loss: $58 thousand Considering the impressive numbers contained in the companys press release the upward move wasnt surprising. It all seemed like things have quieted down, though. That was until GRNH began surging once again in the end of last week. First it gained 29.28% in Thursday then it added another 42.65% yesterday and reached a price of $0.0485. A total of 20.48 million shares changed their owners and generated $859 thousand in daily dollar volume. The upward move was somewhat unexpected as there were no new press releases or paid promotional emails. Still, the correction might come sooner, rather than later. Today GRNH is trading 14.64% in the red so far. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. t HR professionals will have to fire a multitude of people throughout their career but, according to one leading employment lawyer, practice doesnt always make perfect. Simpson Grierson senior associate Carl Blake told HRM that even seasoned employers can be caught out by this one common mistake.Fundamentally, the most common firing mistake among New Zealand employers is a lack of following a fair process, he reveals.Regardless of how absolutely clear an employees misconduct may be in the sense of even being videoed stealing money or engaging in absolutely serious misconduct a process still needs to be followed.According to Blake, employees must be given an opportunity to respond to the allegations and the proposal to dismiss them before any decisions are made.Blake acknowledges that the approach can be somewhat counter intuitive in certain cases but insists employers must follow it regardless, or risk legal action.That doesnt always align with common sense and the most common mistake we see is employers skipping procedural steps, be it a serious misconduct investigation or even something like a redundancy not going through the proper consultation process, he explains. lier this week, news broke that unions representing prison employees were concerned about employees dangerous workloads but the Department of Corrections was quick to respond, insisting everything was under control HRM caught up with the PSA to find out more.We are discussing with the department whether the workflow tool will accurately represent the work that our members do, but regardless, we are sure this is not a solution by itself, clarifies Erin Polaczuk, PSA National Secretary.It will only reveal the extent of overwork, rather than fixing the problem, she adds.Chief probation officer Darius Fagan had previously said that the Department of Corrections has been actively working with the PSA on probation staff workloads and had been involved in a work plan to make adjustments to a workflow tool.However, the New Zealand Public Service Association told HRM that the issue is down to a lack of proper resourcing of probation staff.The role of probation officers is growing and changes to court reporting processes have added significantly to their workload, explains Polaczuk. The PSA is not aware of any plans to address the fundamental issue that the probations service is under resourced.Fagan had previously acknowledged that staff are busy but insisted the workload was manageable. The PSA, however, claim Corrections could be losing valuable employees because theyre reluctant to make vital changes.We are concerned that probations officers are choosing to leave because they are overworked and stressed, and dont believe the salaries reflect their expanded role, Polaczuk told HRM. This has led to increasing pressure on those who remain.Polaczuk added that the PSA will continue to urge the Department to address the problems and confirmed the union will be raising the issues during bargaining, which begins in May. Marie Henein doesn't respect the opinion that she's a traitor to women. The lawyer, who successfully defended ex-CBC host Jian Ghomeshi in his high-profile trial for sexual assault and overcoming resistance by choking, has been mostly silent in the media since she took on his case. But Henein spoke out in an interview with Peter Mansbridge for CBC's "The National" on Tuesday night. Advertisement Jian Ghomeshi's lawyer speaks out for the first time in an exclusive interview with @petermansbridge. Airs tonight.https://t.co/mVwxB1Sk2W The National (@CBCTheNational) March 29, 2016 The news program tweeted a preview of the interview in which Henein responded to criticisms she faced while defending the former radio host. Asked how she felt about women saying she betrayed them, she said, "I respect their right to say it. I don't respect their opinion or agree with it." And that was just one answer she gave in a calm and measured tone, less than a week after Ghomeshi's acquittal led to an outcry among people following it closely. Advertisement Some experts said the trial demonstrated what's wrong with the justice system that it holds witnesses up to unrealistic standards. But Henein, who was the subject of one column that began with the phrase, "Theres a special place in Hell for women who dont help other women," insists she was just doing her job when she brought the witnesses' credibility into question. "I know my role in the justice system, and to characterize it in that way, that you are against women, is a fundamental misconception of what we do in the justice system," she told Mansbridge. (Watch the interview here.) "I mean, female judges adjudicate all sorts of cases, including sexual assault cases. They are not traitors to the gender when they acquit, and they are not supporters of the gender when they convict. Advertisement "They are doing their job. As am I." Also on HuffPost: K9 officers from the Vancouver Police Department sure do have a whole lot of heart. Last month, 66 dogs including 34 puppies were rescued from a suspected puppy mill in Langley, B.C., inundating the SPCA with animals to care for. The dogs were found with broken limbs, missing eyes, and were severely malnourished. Others had psychological damage. Advertisement "They were kept several dogs to a cage, stacked up in unheated dark buildings with dangerous ammonia levels from the urine," said SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk. Sgt. Randy Fincham, who even offered to foster one of the dogs himself, said the force's K9 officers were more than eager to help when they heard about what had happened. Nobody wants to see animals hurt or neglected so badly, and I think it gets people wondering if there are other people running similar operations out there, Fincham said in a media release. Our dog handlers wanted to reach out and support these dogs, who are like kin to their (four-legged) colleagues. Advertisement In March, the K9 unit took $1,300 of overtime pay and donated it to help puppies that are still in the SPCA's care. We are so grateful for the Vancouver Police Departments generosity and for the overwhelming generosity weve experienced from the public at large since these dogs came into our care, said the organization's Charlotte Ellice. The pups, we're sure, are grateful, too. Related on HuffPost: JDawnInk via Getty Images Rachel Notley's NDP government made history last year for electing a record number of women to the Alberta legislature, but gender parity in many of the province's public offices is a different story. An analysis done by the Edmonton Journal found that only 29 per cent of deputy and associate ministers across provincial government departments are women. That number will drop to 25 per cent when culture and tourism deputy minister Carolyn Campbell leaves her position next month. Advertisement The City of Edmonton fared even worse, with only six of 32 management roles occupied by women at 19 per cent. The numbers are below United Nations' guidelines, which state that 30 per cent of government roles should be held by women as a benchmark for gender equality. Goal should be '50 per cent women' Coun. Bev Esslinger is the lone woman on Edmonton's city council, but she hopes that will change. I would love to see more women on council. I think it would bring different perspectives to the table, Esslinger told Global News. I also think your city council should be reflective of the community they live in. We know theres 50 per cent women in Edmonton so it should be reflective. Advertisement Other employers in the province are even further behind. Calgary Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart pushed for the Calgary Police Service to undergo a gender equality review in late February, after discovering only 18 per cent of sworn members are female. It truly is a glass ceiling and a lot of the reasons the chief gave relating to the police service are comparable to the private sector or industry and industry seems to be doing better," Colley-Urquhart told Metro News. Alberta women also face largest wage gap The number of women in public office is just one area that needs improvement. A study last year found that the province has the largest gender pay gap in Canada, with a wage difference of 42 per cent. Advertisement Alamy Car buyers beware Alberta thieves are disguising stolen vehicles as legitimate ones, or "car clones." Edmonton police Det. Dan Duiker described car cloning as "similar to personal identity theft" in a statement released Tuesday. Advertisement Thieves take vehicle identification numbers (VINs) from legally registered cars of similar makes and models, then produce documents or VIN decals to make the car seem legitimate. Each VIN is unique like a fingerprint, but if it can be cloned successfully, the result is two or more vehicles with the same VIN," Duiker said. Thieves are creating counterfeit VINs, like this one, to sell stolen cars. (Photo: Edmonton Police Service) Advertisement Edmonton police deal with one to two reports of cloned cars every week. Customers who fall for a clone car scam risk losing the money they paid and the car once it's returned to its rightful owner. For thieves, it can be a lucrative business pay $500 to $1,000 for a forged VIN, then sell the car for a $10,000 to $50,000 profit. "Car cloning is a significant issue on the rise in Canada, said Dan Service, investigative services director with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, in a release. Cloning cars is complex work requiring sophisticated skills, equipment, and networks most often linked to organized crime. Here are some suggestions from Edmonton police to avoid becoming the victim of a car cloning scam: Bring a friend, and view the car during the day in a public location. Ask for proof of ownership, and examine paperwork for any inconsistencies. Ask lots of questions and don't let the seller rush the sale. Examine the VIN on the car to make sure it hasn't been tampered with, and that it matches the car's documents. Google the VIN, or check it on the Canadian Police Information Centre website or the Insurance Bureau of Canada's free VIN verification service. Obtain a Vehicle Information Report at an Alberta registry. Have a mechanic or insurance company inspect the vehicle. Ask questions when a car's price is below market value, and pay with a bank draft rather than cash. Maintain solid records of the purchase, including a bill of sale. Or, skip the private seller and purchase from a dealership. Also on HuffPost: A Nevada woman has died in a car accident on the way to her mother's funeral. Danielle Marquez-Valle, 48, was en route to the Salt Lake City, Utah area Saturday when the pickup truck she was riding in lost control on an icy road. It rolled several times before coming to rest right side up, according to ABC4 Utah. Marquez and another female passenger weren't wearing their seatbelts. Marquez, who was ejected from the truck, died from her injuries. Both the female passenger and the male driver were taken to hospital. Marquez-Valle was on her way to her mother Shirley Madrid-Coates' funeral in Taylorsville, Utah, which was scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, according to Madrid-Coates' obituary. Advertisement She died March 11 at age 69 after a long illness, and her daughter started a GoFundMe page to raise money for cremation and funeral costs. "Gone to soon, her family remembers her for her love of Jesus and devotion to the path of Christ," Marquez-Valle wrote. "Her sense of humor and loving nature warmed the hearts of loved ones and strangers alike. " On her Facebook page, Marquez-Valle shared a photo of the two of them together, as well as a long, heartfelt note honouring her mom. Advertisement To all of my family and friends,The time has arrived for me to extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for the many,... Posted by Danielle Marquez on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 A spokesman for the Utah Highway Patrol told The Washington Post that troopers first thought that an urn containing Madrid-Coates' ashes had been inside the truck, but that turned out not to be the case. In the Facebook note, her daughter lamented the emptiness she felt after her mother's death. "I will have to live each new day, knowing I can't look forward to the next time I will talk to her or see her beautiful face." Also on HuffPost: For Doug Ford, there's one story that captures the legacy of his younger brother Rob, who became the unlikely and then notorious mayor of Canada's largest city. It's one part customer service, another part shrewd, retail politics. And, perhaps, provides a glimpse of why Rob Ford, laid to rest Wednesday after dying of cancer at just 46, remained beloved in certain pockets of Toronto and beyond despite his controversies. Advertisement Doug Ford speaks at former Toronto mayor Rob Ford's funeral in Toronto on Wednesday. (Photo: Nathan Denette/Canadian Press) Doug, a former city councillor who doggedly defended his brother against all comers, shared the tale at Rob's funeral service at St. James Cathedral. He recounted working late one night at Deco Labels and Tags, the Ford family business, when the former mayor came in with a sub sandwich. Advertisement His brother who called him "Jones," a shared nickname said he wouldn't believe what just happened. Rob was at his favourite Mr. Sub restaurant, he said, when a $32 order came in. But the owner didn't have anyone to deliver it. "I think you know where this story is going," Doug told mourners. So, some time after 10 p.m. that night, a household in Toronto found the mayor at their doorstep sandwiches and pops in hand. "We aren't here as Conservatives or Liberals or NDP or Green. We're here for the Rob Ford party, the party of the people." "After he told me, I said, 'Rob, you're the mayor of Toronto. You can't be delivering subs,'" Doug said to some chuckles. Advertisement Rob saw things differently: "I met four new voters, so I have them as supporters now. The best thing of it all, they gave me $35 and I got a $3 tip." His brother said fondly, "That's classic Rob." With that, Doug turned to Toronto Mayor John Tory at the service to tell him that he too may need to deliver subs. Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford laughs with his brother Doug Ford during a commercial break at a mayoral debate in 2014. (Photo: Nathan Denette/Canadian Press) Earlier, Doug said Rob saw himself as "Canada's mayor" and also recounted how his brother once promised a supporter in Edmonton that he would help him get to the bottom of his problem. Advertisement The anecdotes fit the theme of those celebrating the mayor as a champion of the "little guy," who would phone voters directly and even visit to see problems first-hand. While there are those who have challenged that mystique, political differences were put aside Wednesday with many former foes there to pay respects. Doug thanked Tory, who he ran against for mayor in 2014, for "bending over backwards" for the Ford family. And he said Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne with whom he has vigorously disagreed with over the years showed nothing but class. "We aren't here as Conservatives or Liberals or NDP or Green," Doug said. "We're here for the Rob Ford party, the party of the people." Advertisement (Photo: The Canadian Press) Doug choked up near the end of his speech, saying goodbye to his kid brother. "Rob, I'm going to miss you like crazy. I love you more than anything in the world," he said. And perhaps in tribute to his brother's better days, perhaps a hint of his own political future Doug ended with a call to action. "Don't worry. Ford Nation will continue. We'll continue respecting the taxpayers." Also on HuffPost The year is 2011: Emma Watson, in the prime of her post-"Harry Potter" success, signs on with beauty giant Lancome as their global beauty ambassador. Fast forward, it's 2013: Watson wraps up her role with the brand by starring in the 'Blanc Expert' campaign. Advertisement So why are we telling you this as we all sit here in 2016? Well, the ad is currently facing backlash, three years after the fact (proving anything is possible on the Internet). In an article entitled "Perfect Whiteness: The Code Switching Of European Cosmetic Companies" for Gal-Dem, writer Naomi Mabita shared a picture of Emma from the campaign. The story, focused on taking a stand against skin lightening, writes how many ad campaigns relate "whiteness" to "facial perfection." "Emma Watson, forever paraded in the media as a white feminist icon, is the face of Lancomes 'Blanc Expert' (Expert White) which contains disruptive ingredients intended to whiten the skin," she writes. "Non-white women already have complexes about dark skin rooted in colonialism, racism and/or classism. They are exacerbated by these multimillion $ campaigns designed to make us feel like our skin is a problem that we can pay for them to solve." Advertisement So now everyone is asking: did Emma Watson really front a skin whitening campaign? It appears the focus of the Blanc Expert Melanolyser Spot Eraser product is to dissolves dark spots. According to Lancome's Hong Kong website, the "intense whitening spot eraser" is, "empowered with the unique M.E.L. mechanism, the advanced formula targets, captures and dissolves dark spots, continuously prevents, control and dissolves even stubborn spot." .@galdemzine looking at the description they don't even TRY. Melanin is not something you want rid of @LancomeUKpic.twitter.com/t6SZU9tQ1n Charlie Cuff (@CharlieBCuff) March 28, 2016 As pointed out by The Independent, Lancome describe the range as, "The next generation dark spot correctors from the No.1 whitening brand in Asia." In face of criticism, Luke Windsor, a spokesperson for Watson, told HuffPost Canada Style, "Many artists often have limited control of how their image is used once an endorsement contract is signed. I cannot comment on my client's previous contractual arrangements with Lancome. However my client no longer participates in advertising beauty products, which do not always reflect the diverse beauty of all women." Lancome gave the following statement to Refinery29 as their response: "Blanc Expert was created by Lancome 20 years ago. It helps brighten, even skin tone, and provides a healthy-looking complexion. This kind of product, proposed by every brand, is an essential part of Asian womens beauty routines." Advertisement The skin whitening is growing, as pointed out by Refinery29. The Global Industry Analysts predicts the whitening industry will be worth some $20 billion by 2018 and many people are still jumping on board to develop products to suit lightening needs. So we ask the question: was this the reason why Watson broke ties with Lancome? A realization that the product she was endorsing didn't reflect her ideals? We'll have to sit back and ponder that one. Follow Huffington Post Canada Style on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter! Also on HuffPost We are a month shy of the three-year anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza factories in Bangladesh. On April 24, 2013, the fashion industry was shaken awake to the harsh realities of societys cheap clothing addiction. The factories, filled to the brim with workers sewing everything from Joe Fresh to Walmart, werent brought down by a bomb or an earthquake it was poor structural integrity augmented by greedy management and horrifically unsafe working conditions. Rana Plaza will be remembered as the worst garment-factory accident in history, with a death toll of 1,134 and hundreds more were injured. Advertisement Rescue workers and volunteers remove clothing garments from the building as they search for victims amongst the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 26, 2013. Almost three years later, fast fashion continues to fly off the shelves. As topics like womens equality and feminism simmer across blogs and the popular zeitgeist, workers rights are often ignored. Fact is, 80 per cent of the worlds garment workers are women, who must contend with low wages, unstable employment and Rana Plaza-like conditions daily. But what can we do? When nearly every label says, "MADE IN [insert Southeast Asian country here]," it can be overwhelming for consumers to shop consciously. Sure, things can be made with sustainable materials, but how can one ensure that the factory workers are being treated not only fairly, but with dignity? Enter Fair Trade USA. Advertisement Wise words from our friends @patagonia #fairtrade #ORshow A photo posted by Fair Trade USA (@fairtradeusa) on Aug 5, 2015 at 11:49am PDT Fair Trade USA is the leading third party certifier of fair trade goods in North America. While you probably associate the 17-year-old San Fransisco-based company with their first initiative, coffee, they have since expanded into 30 categories including apparel and home goods. There are currently only two Canadian apparel brands who are certified by them, MEC and Oliberte (the worlds first fair trade shoe company), though we do have access to well-known foreign-owned Fair Trade-certified products including Patagonia, Prana and West Elm. Looks good, does good. Who could want more? Shop this room's Fair Trade rug and sustainably-sourced coffee table with the link in bio. #westelm #designtoimpact A photo posted by west elm (@westelm) on Mar 28, 2016 at 4:23pm PDT Maya Spaull, Fair Trade USAs Director of Apparel and Home Goods, explains in a phone interview with HuffPost Canada Style, "When you buy a Fair Trade Certified (FTC) product or when a fashion company put a FTC product out on the market, its a consumer guarantee that the product is traded in a more ethical way. What that means is safe working conditions, better lively hood and protection for the environment." Advertisement Fair Trade USA holds suppliers that companies buy from to a standard based on a 300-point compliance list ensuring safety in the workplace, the structure and conditions of their buildings, reasonable working hours, breaks during the day and better wages. They are also made to develop on environmental stewardship plan. For fashion factories, this could mean no polluting dyes in waterways and managing waste properly. "You are what you wear. Today, its becoming more and more important to choose your apparel consciously and to make sustainable fashion choices." Farla Efros, president of retail strategic firm HRC Advisory. When a consumer purchases a Fair Trade-certified product, a certain percentage of the price goes directly back to the factory workers. "At a factory in India, they voted so that everybody gets a bicycle," says Spaull. "This totally changed the workers lives. They got to work faster, saved money, their families could use the bicycles to bring kids to and from school, to buy groceries simple things that we take for granted." She notes this illustrates Fair Trades transformative and long-term benefits, as it is sustainable on environmental and human levels. And it seems to be paying off for brands. Patagonia went from 11 womens yoga styles to over 250 options across mens, womens and children just two years later. Similarly, MEC expanded their Fair Trade-certified line from two styles to seven in 2015, with 32 styles planned for 2016. Advertisement MEC Fair Trade black T-shirt. When asked why she thinks Fair Trade fashion products are becoming increasingly popular, Farla Efros, president of retail strategic firm HRC Advisory, says to us, "You are what you wear. Today, its becoming more and more important to choose your apparel consciously and to make sustainable fashion choices." "Canadians are actually more advanced in regards to sustainability, green and making eco-friendly choices," she continues. "In a world that is full of many brands, [being Fair Trade] does give them an edge in regards to choices. At the end of the day, you are not only improving lives, you are protecting the environment. "In regards to fashion shopping, this is new and as [Canadians] continue to learn and get more informed, it will certainly influence their purchasing decisions." Advertisement Perhaps Fair Trades greatest strength is empowering consumers to choose products they know are guaranteed to being respectful of workers and the environment. While Fair Trade already has a 59 per cent awareness among consumers, as pointed out by Spaull, adding more fashion brands to its roster is still a work in progress. Spaull hopes to have a luxury brand under her purview in the not-too-distant future. "One of things we can educate consumers about is that when youre going to make an investment like [a luxury product], you want the best possible product you can get," she says. "That means quality materials, quality craftsmanship, amazing style, and a guarantee that something was made in a way that was fair and ethical, and that you can feel good about. You can pass that beautiful handbag on to your daughter and know that everything about it is good." This speaks greatly to millennial values. Namely that social currency no longer just comes from an expensive label, but rather sustainable values and the positive change you espouse. H&Ms conscious line, ranging from sunglasses to wedding dresses, is a perfect example of how fast fashion retailers have also tried to tap into this, particularly to shift consumers minds away from their questionable manufacturing practices. No brand wants to remind you of Rana Plaza. If millennials, and society as a whole, want to affect actual positive social change, theyre going to have to break their addiction to fast fashion. Ultimately, that comes down to changing buying habits and trends. Advertisement "We need to help think about buying fewer things, that are better things," says Spaull. "We need to get back to a place where people treasure beautiful things, and those things last. I think the throwaway consumer culture is a race to the bottom; youre never going to get out of that." Follow Huffington Post Canada Style on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter! Also on HuffPost When it comes to airport baggage fees, sometimes we just can't be bothered. After spending a couple hundred (or thousand) dollars on your plane ticket, who wants to shell out some extra dough to check your bags? Well, one man decided he didn't have anytime to drop 45 to check an extra bag on his easyJet flight to Iceland, opting to wear all of his clothes on his flight instead. Advertisement This man wore ALL of his clothes to avoid paying a budget airlines fee for taking luggage on board!Ignoring strange... Posted by Ireland AM on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 "Were going to Iceland baby!" the frugal gentleman, Matt Botten, wrote on Facebook. "And how to do it in a financially frugal manner, without having to stump up forty five bloody quid for a hold bag? Simply by wearing EVERYTHING I OWN." According to the Daily Star, the 32-year-old from Cardiff, Wales, was travelling from Gatwick airport to Reykjavik with his girlfriend, Abigail White, when he was told of the extra baggage fee. That's when he decided to layer on his clothes so that he would only need to bring a carry-on bag. "When most of the stuff you own is from Primark and collectively worth half [the charge], it seemed ludicrous," Botten told The Independent. "So I sensibly decided the one hour of embarrassment of looking like a massively flustered Michelin man, and subsequent odour, was worth the expenditure." Advertisement The "Michelin man" layers included T-shirts, sweaters, pants and even a pair of shoes sticking out of his pocket. Naturally, Botten had to endure extra questioning from security staff. "I upset three tables' worth of people in Gatwick Wetherspoons donning this get-up, one of which (resultantly) had a crying child on," he told Crawley News. "Like all great endeavours though, you're always going to get some collateral damage." He continued, "I am very hot. The sad reality is I'm going to be taking everything I own OFF in a vacuum sealed environment with 200 other people." Botten isn't the only one to take drastic measures to avoid baggage fees James McElvar of Scottish boy band, Rewind, donned 12 layers of clothing on his EasyJet flight from London to Glasgow. However, the excessive layers proved to be too much for McElvar's body to handle as he passed out from heat exhaustion while airborne. Thankfully, he recovered. HEADLINE HIT: A song for James McElvar, a member of a boyband called "Rewind". He tried to get round a 45 EasyJet... Posted by Wave 105 on Monday, July 13, 2015 Advertisement But let's not forget the original layering king: Follow Huffington Post Canada Style on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter! Jian Ghomeshi's lawyer has called out NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair for tweeting that he believed survivors of sexual assault, just hours before her famous client was acquitted. Mulcair, however, doubled-down Wednesday afternoon with another tweet. Advertisement Jian Ghomeshi leaves court in Toronto on March 24, 2016 with his lawyer Marie Henein. (Photo: Frank Gunn/Canadian Press) In an interview with the CBC's Peter Mansbridge that aired Tuesday, lawyer Marie Henein was asked about the #IBelieveSurvivors hashtag that resonated on Twitter in light of the Ghomeshi verdict and, specifically, Mulcair's use of the term. "Hashtag 'I believe' is not a legal principle, nor should it ever be," she said. "Because you can't believe people based on who they are, the nature of the crime. We would never want that." Pointed criticism for Mulcair Historically, she said, presumptively "believing" has not been to the benefit of the most disadvantaged or marginalized in society. Advertisement And she had pointed criticism for Mulcair, a lawyer by trade, saying it was "concerning" to see the politician weigh in. "You're a person who is engaged and should be more knowledgeable about what you're commenting on," she said, accusing Mulcair of "denigrating" the legal system in which he worked without "having read a word of transcript" or informed himself of the case. "That's disappointing and not something I would put much stock in," she said. "But it sure does get you a lot of votes, doesn't it?" When asked by Mansbridge if such a gambit really translates to votes, Heinen said: "It might. It gets you attention." CBC News has a video of the exchange: Advertisement Mulcair, who faces a leadership review at his party's convention next week, took to Twitter to respond in kind. "I believe strongly in the presumption of innocence and the right to a strong defence but I also believe survivors," he wrote. I believe strongly in the presumption of innocence and the right to a strong defence but I also believe survivors. https://t.co/KaoxUtpvX7 Tom Mulcair (@ThomasMulcair) March 30, 2016 Mulcair's initial statement last Friday included in his attention-grabbing tweet did not mention Ghomeshi by name. However, it touched on how the crime of sexual assault often doesn't lead to a conviction and that a fear of not being believed can keep women from coming forward. "I believe we need to strengthen protections for survivors of sexual assault. I believe that access to comprehensive support services for survivors should be a right," he said. Advertisement "And most importantly, I believe survivors." But Mulcair was not the only politician to weigh in on social media. And others were more blunt. Ontario NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo said the Ghomeshi verdict felt "like a personal assault something shared with all women, particularly victims of assault." After the verdict, Lisa MacLeod, an Ontario Conservative MPP, wrote simply: "And you wonder why women do not come forward after abuse." Also on HuffPost Roger Milley via Getty Images Oil exports to shrink back to pre-boom levels Pain from oil crash will spread across the country Non-energy industries should benefit The oil crash has wiped out about $60 billion of Canadas annual national income, or about $1,800 per year for every Canadian, the Bank of Canada says. Advertisement In a speech in Edmonton Wednesday, bank deputy governor Lynn Patterson also said Canadians shouldnt expect oil prices to bounce back to the levels seen before the crash, when they topped US$100 a barrel. Given the supply dynamics that we are currently faced with, it is highly unlikely that we will see those levels again in the coming years, Patterson told an audience at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. The loss of income and wealth has been uneven, she said, with the oil-producing regions taking the brunt. But over time, the losses in income and wealth associated with the price decline will spread across the country, she said. She expects households will pull back on spending. Advertisement "As their wealth and incomes decline, households will likely restrain their spending and we will see lower, but still positive, consumption growth," Patterson said. She estimates it will take another two years or so for the oil price shock to work its way through the economy, and for the economy to reach a new balance. When it does reach that balance, Patterson said, things will look much like they did before oil prices boomed to the $100 mark a decade or so ago. Energy exports will account for 40 per cent of all exports, down from 50 per cent in 2014 and roughly where it was in the pre-boom days. How much damage Canada will suffer overall "will depend on how much capacity is rebuilt in the non-commodity sector," Patterson said. On that front, there are positive signs. With the lower loonie, non-energy manufacturers are seeing sales rise. They hit a record high of $53.1 billion this January, rising 2.3 per cent in a month, well ahead of economists' expectations. Advertisement However, manufacturing employment has not recovered since the financial crisis of 2008, and the low loonie hasn't yet changed that. This was the first public event held by a Bank of Canada governor since the federal budget was tabled last week in Ottawa. Patterson noted in her speech that the bank's updated economic projections in its upcoming monetary policy report would account for billions of dollars worth of fiscal measures announced in the budget. In January, the Bank of Canada forecast about 1.5 per cent growth for 2016 followed by 2.5 per cent growth in 2017. Advertisement Sobeys will appeal a court ruling that an employee racially profiled a customer, as nearly 100 people protested on Monday outside the Nova Scotia store where the event happened. The grocery chain wants another chance in court, CBC reported, despite the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commissions decision that a store manager discriminated against a customer because of her race. Advertisement In 2009, Andrella David was waiting at the Tantallon Sobeys to buy ice cream for her six-year-old daughter when acting assistant manager Jenny Barnhill accused her of being a habitual shoplifter. Barnhill insisted she had security footage of David stealing in the past, according to court documents. David insisted on seeing the video to prove it wasnt her. If you think thats me, you must think all black people look alike, she told Barnhill after seeing the video. Huge crowd outside Sobeys in Tantallon speaking out against racism. pic.twitter.com/TdUhYaB3BO Carolyn Ray (@carolynraycbc) March 28, 2016 The footage was unclear and of poor quality, the ruling stated, and there was no ability to positively identify David as the shoplifter. Barnhill herself admitted that she didnt follow company policy, because she hadnt seen David steal anything that day. I know what I did was wrong, Barnhill said. I know the way I approached her was inappropriate... Advertisement Sobeys maintained Barnhills actions were a good faith effort to prevent theft and loss of product. But to David, it was an attack on her race, the court ruled. David said shes used to being followed in retail stores, as all African Nova Scotians likely are. Stop Racism. Sobeys grocery store treating Black folks disgraceful and in a racist manner. pic.twitter.com/tJBB5MqAb7 Ann Divine (@oanndivine) March 28, 2016 Speaking of racism. Sobeys, really? Why not be part of fixing a serious societal issue vs doubling down on wrong? https://t.co/ieLKXAPKtt Andrew Barss (@andrewbarss) March 29, 2016 Also on HuffPost A classic Tudor-style home built in Vancouver nearly 100 years ago is slated for demolition, and locals aren't happy about it. The 4,592-sq.-ft. house, which sits in the upscale Shaughnessy neighbourhood, has a "signature" English feel and was built around 1922, according to its listing. Advertisement The four-bedroom, five-bathroom estate which also has several wood-burning fireplaces and an indoor pool hit the market for $7.4 million earlier this month. It sounds like a great buy, but it turns out that the current owner has already applied for the development permit that will bring the house down, CTV News reported. According to CTV, a campaign to preserve the historic house which sits just a few blocks from the area where historic homes can't be torn down is already picking up steam. Advertisement Once a model home The home had cutting-edge character when it was originally built. Designed by the same firm behind Vancouver City Hall, the house had 170 electrical outlets a massive amount when most other houses only had about two dozen, according to The Vancouver Sun. An ad for the home published in the 1920s. (Photo: Vancouver Daily World via Vancouver Heritage Society/Flickr) A month-long exhibition was held to showcase just how modern the house was, the Vancouver Daily World reported. In its article, published in the spring of 1922, that newspaper estimated that the house would sell for between $20,000 and $30,000. Advertisement Patrick Gunn with the Vancouver Heritage Society said the building's bleak prognosis proves the city's character is slowly being wiped away. You build something thats new thats completely soulless that no one will live in that in 15 years and will just be demolished again, he told Metro. In 10 years were going to be left with photographs. Protesting teardowns In February, dozens of Vancouverites gathered to protest the amount of livable homes that were being torn down in the city. The uproar was sparked when another Shaughnessy home coincidentally also listed for $7.4 million was slated for demolition to make way for a newer, bigger house. "Its better than most of us could ever dream of living in, and yet its going to go to the dump," protester Martha Cheney told Global News. Advertisement Vancouver Coun. Adrianne Carr said during the protest that the constant teardowns were playing a part in driving up the city's housing prices. Follow Us On Instagram Also on HuffPost: Susan Trigg via Getty Images Retrenched manager sits on bench and ponders his future The Employment Insurance changes in the federal budget last week mark a significant and positive change in attitude coming out of Ottawa. Under the former Conservative government, workers who lost their jobs had come to learn that Ottawa would not be there for them with an EI plan that would see them through the tough times of looking for a new job as the government repeatedly chipped away at the eligibility for collecting benefits. Advertisement The result was predictable, with less than 40 per cent of those who lose their jobs today being able to collect any EI. That's less than half the rate that could count on receiving benefits in the 1980s. In other words, over a generation of cuts and rule changes, workers learned that Ottawa didn't have their backs. Before governments starting cutting back on EI and looking for new and creative ways to deny workers the benefits they were owed, the program actually helped workers find new jobs. That changed last week when the new Liberal government brought down its first budget, which included several changes to EI that the government claims will make another 50,000 Canadians eligible for benefits: The requirement to work 910 hours before being eligible for benefits is being replaced with regionally determined eligibility levels The waiting period before benefits start drops from two weeks to one Workers in areas hit hard by low commodity prices, such as Northern Alberta, Sudbury and Newfoundland, can collect benefits for an additional five weeks, to a maximum of 50 weeks Workers with longer service in such areas can collect up to 20 more weeks' benefits, up to 70 weeks These changes largely return the EI program to its original intent -- to provide some stability for families and their communities through tough times. While these changes don't fix all the problems with EI, the important thing here is the shift in attitude from finding ways to keep workers from collecting the benefits they deserve, to finding ways that EI can help workers, their families and their communities when they need it most. In Calgary, Trudeau said the government is always reviewing its changes to improve EI, and will be looking for ways to "increase that impact if necessary." There is no shortage of ways that the Liberals can look to increase the impact of their EI changes to date. A good start would be to increase the maximum payout of $537 -- an increase of only $13 from last year, and still too low to help a family through difficult times. More significant would be a reversal of the ability of the government, following the example of previous governments, to transfer billions in so-called surplus money out of the EI fund to general revenues. Advertisement Over the past few years, the EI fund has racked up some $6.9 billion in surpluses: $3.5 billion in 2014, $2.2 billion in 2015 and an expected $1.2 billion in 2016, with the money going directly into government coffers. The previous Conservative government brought in a plan to prevent future surpluses by cutting the premiums paid into the EI fund, something the Liberals have not reversed. This, too, is the wrong response to a fund surplus. That money was put there by workers for a rainy day. It's their money, and they deserve to know it will be there for them in one form or other when they need it. No government should ever be allowed to take money out of the EI fund, and it may be time to consider entrenching that principle in law. If there is more money in the fund than is needed to pay out EI benefits, it shouldn't go into government coffers or used to fund premium cuts. Instead, the extra money could be used to expand the program by making even more people eligible for benefits, improving the payouts and expanding training programs. Advertisement At one time, before governments starting cutting back on EI and looking for new and creative ways to deny workers the benefits they were owed, the program actually helped workers find new jobs. Programs such as the National Training Program and others allowed workers to continue collecting benefits while attending school or training full-time so they could learn the skills needed to find new work. Women were encouraged through the program to learn a skilled trade. Young people were given training opportunities that were far beyond what is available today. But that kind of opportunity is not possible if EI is seen as some sort of slush fund for the government or used to fund premium cuts. No government should ever be allowed to take money out of the EI fund, and it may be time to consider entrenching that principle in law. Legislation that guarantees that the money workers pay into EI will be there for them when they need it would give those workers and their communities a great deal of comfort. Advertisement Our new government has made significant steps in ensuring that EI meets the needs of workers and their communities. Guaranteeing the money will be there for them when they need it would be the next logical step. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook MORE ON HUFFPOST: ImagesBazaar via Getty Images Multi generation family of men embracing Recently, Asad Shah, a popular shopkeeper was mercilessly murdered for being an Ahmadi Muslim. He was not murdered in Pakistan, where such acts are rampant owing to extreme social ostracism against Ahmadi Muslims. He was murdered in Glasgow, where his family members are afraid for their own lives from British Muslim extremists. Prior to his death, he had wished Happy Easter to Christians. Back in Pakistan, both Muslims and Christians had to bury their beloved family members after a dastardly suicide bomb attack that targeted the vulnerable Christian community. This included children who had gone out to celebrate Easter at their annual favourite park in Lahore. Advertisement Ahmadi Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities in Pakistan remain oppressed due to draconian blasphemy laws and institutionalized discrimination. Their oppression seems to have no end. Unfortunately, one cannot claim that these would be the last of such horrific incidents, which also affect many Muslims. Some claim that the draconian blasphemy laws that target minorities, and the constitutional amendment that oppresses Ahmadi Muslims must be immediately rescinded. Others claim that the stranglehold of regressive clerics must be addressed by the long-term strategy of the Pakistani government's investment in education, specifically in the social sciences and humanities. Still others believe that a counter religious narrative to the one taught in Pakistani madrassas must be vehemently presented. A Pakistani intellectual even commented that a similar taboo against suicide bombing must be created as the one against the consumption of the flesh of the swine. However, when people's conscience is not stirred at murdering children and vulnerable men and women, then they have already forfeited their humanity. More importantly, after countless incidents of persecution and oppression, whichever short-term or long-term strategy is adopted, the lives of the families that lost their loved ones will forever be changed. Advertisement Muslims of all stripes know the strict admonition of the Prophet (upon whom be peace) that he would personally hold them responsible if the rights of the people of the book, including Jews and Christians, were usurped. They are also aware of the strict injunction against excommunicating fellow Muslims if they recite the testimonial - "there is no god but God and Muhammad is His Messenger." Straight and LGBT Muslims alike know the Prophetic teaching that all of humanity is like one body and if one part hurts, the rest of the body aches. They know that social ostracism of vulnerable minorities preached by power-hungry community leaders is hateful and only the first step towards eventual violence. While doctrinal differences divide us, it is our common humanity that unites us. It is for this reason, Muslims of various denominations, straight and LGBT, Sunni and Shia, men and women, conservative and progressive have banded together to unconditionally promote the call to openly embrace their Ahmadi Muslim brothers and sisters and their Pakistani Christian brothers and sisters. It is not clear when and how the short-term and long-term strategies against terrorism will lead to zero incidents of persecution and oppression in countries marred by indoctrination, violence and imperialism. However, in freer places in North America and elsewhere, there is much Muslims can do to isolate regressive Muslim groups and stand by their Pakistani Christian and Ahmadi Muslim brothers and sisters. With one voice, the following Muslims assert that we resoundingly choose to embrace Ahmadi Muslims and Pakistani Christians in this hour for our humanity is incomplete without them: Advertisement Imam Daayiee Abdullah, Founder and Executive director, MECCA Institute Farhat Rehman. Lead Ottawa chapter, Canadian Council of Muslim Women Carmen Taha Jarrah, writer, author of Smuggled Stories from the Holy Land Dr. Mohammad Fadel, Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair for the Law and Economics of Islamic Law, Toronto Dr. Khaleel Mohammed, San Diego State University Dr. Adis Duderija, Adjunct Research Associate, University of Melbourne Dr. Junaid Jahangir, Assistant Professor, MacEwan University Sheila Musaji, Editor, The American Muslim Amanda Quraishi, Board of Directors, Institute for Diversity & Civic Life Tehmina Kazi, human rights activist, London, U.K. Kelly Wentworth, Secretary, Muslims for Progressive Values; President, MPV-Atlanta, Georgia, USA Ayman Fadel, Augusta, Georgia, USA Frank Parmir, Organizer, MPV Columbus Unity Mosque Shahla Khan Salter, Director of Universalist Muslims Manwar Khan, Anti-bullying activist, Founder of Do not be a bystander Campaign Nakia Jackson, freelance writer Evelyn Hamdon, PhD Candidate, University of Alberta Candy Khan, PhD Candidate, University of Alberta Tanda Chmilovska, retired Muslim Chaplain, University of Calgary Shayma Johnson, Strathmore, Alberta Owais Siddiqui, Social Activist, World Citizen Hadi Hussain, Social Researcher, Lahore, Pakistan Imtiaz Popat, General Coordinator Salaam Vancouver Michael Sinan, Gay Muslim activist, Copenhagen Dr. Josha Hansen, Gay Muslim activist, Manchester, U.K. Fauzya Talib, Co-founder, Ottawa Valley Unity Mosque (OVUM) Roberto Machado Noa via Getty Images TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA - 2015/05/13: Toronto Police Car: Toronto Police Service is the largest municipal police service in Canada and third largest police force in Canada. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) Protesters with the #BlackLivesMatter movement have gathered since March 20 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 March 22, just a few blocks away, the Ontario government announced a regulation to "ban" police carding or street checks by next Jan. 1. Advertisement At the Ontario Human Rights Commission, we've 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. We're 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. Without trust, police cannot provide proactive, intelligence-based policing, and this has profound consequences for the functioning of our justice system. 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. Advertisement 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." That's 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 Ontario's police forces and police boards should follow the government's lead and use this moment to commit seriously to ending racial profiling in policing once and for all. Advertisement 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 Ontario's 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. This opinion was originally published online by the Toronto Star on March, 23, 2016 Manatees are definitely a fan favourite in the animal world. They go along with the likes of sloths and penguins, everyone likes them. That soft spot hasn't helped their populations in years gone by however, as Manatees have been pushed almost to extinction. Thankfully, though, their numbers are recovering. Sea Cows are divided into three species. West India, West African and Amazonian, all situated in the areas of their name sake. This means that their territories are already quite small and fragile to change. Just ask the manatees long lost relative, the Stella's Sea Cow. The biggest of its species, Stella's Sea Cow was a nine metre long manatee species that went extinct in the 1700's thanks to over poaching. It became extinct just 27 years after it was discovered by Europeans. Advertisement Today, each of the three species of manatee are listed by the ICUN as Vulnerable. In the states, it is illegal to harm a manatee by both federal and Florida state law. America has taken their protective detail of the manatee one stage further however. Two research ships used by NASA were especially fitted with jet propulsion systems instead of propeller propulsion, as the ships frequently crossed through manatee habitats and the changed engines are far friendlier to large animals. As with many other large marine mammals, one threat to the manatee has been ship collisions. Fishing and pleasure vessels in Florida have been responsible for a number of manatee deaths in recent years, resulting in protected sanctuaries being created which prohibit admission of certain types of ship. These leave scares on the skin on the gently giants, as you can see in this picture. Advertisement Risks to the manatee still do include hunting too as, being a traditional food for many Caribbean island peoples, hunting of manatee is ceremonial. The nostalgia factor with these animals is just as large as the manatees themselves. Not only are they revered by people indigenous to their habitats, but they considered being the origins of mermaid myths in centuries past, started by those travelling through and capturing fleeting glimpses. The plight of the manatee is severe, but there's still plenty of positive. Conservation efforts in their habitats have seen roaring success in the past decade. In 2014, over a thousand more West Indian Manatees were counted during a census previously taken in 2010. That's a huge improvement. These efforts have come about from large scale sponsorship from mainland America. Such a large and iconic animal attracts plenty of media attention, meaning that drumming up fund raising is relatively straight forward. Unfortunately, no efforts have been made as yet to protect the Amazonian manatee. Colombia alone among South American nations has attempted strides forward with conservation, but with little backing and support those plans didn't last long. Oil spills are a new threat to the Amazon Manatee that is not a problem by the others, making the list of potential hazards longer still. Further afield, six African nations joined forces to create a data base of knowledge and research in 2007 on the African manatee; starting phase 1 of what was hoped would be a long term project to help the endangered mammal. So successful was the effort, that phase 2 was initiated to further distribute and gather more of that information across other African nations. This is still going on today and has been so successful and popular that it is now being backed by Wetlands International. Advertisement Worldwide, there is estimated to be only four thousand West Indian Manatee. That number only climbs as high as about 15 thousand when including the others. Due to the slow conservation efforts to this point, those numbers are estimates, but they do give you a clear indication of the seriousness of the issue. Not as easy, is getting people on the ground (or in the water) to work hands on with the manatees in conservation and rehabilitation. Frontier offers a volunteering placement with the manatees assisting in research, care and preserving of the manatee and their habitat. If you want to help out the manatee, check out the Frontier Manatee Conservation Project. By Guy Bezant - Online Journalism Intern Frontier runs conservation, development, teaching and adventure travel projects in over 50 countries worldwide - so join us and explore the world! You work hard. You get taxed, and some of this tax finances important cancer research. You click online to check up a few cancer research facts you heard. You are blocked access unless you pay 22 per article or a 135 subscription. You feel mad, poor, relegated and marginalised from 'the science community': lose interest. Knowledge is power. It is reserved for the rich and privileged, not the poor and disadvantaged. This is the message academic journals shout out, clearly and loudly, every time they are clicked. It would take a single mum, working a backshift in Asda for 6.70 an hour before tax, half a day's labour to access just one science article on a topic that interests her. As a researcher with free access, it often takes me 5-6 articles before I manage an informed opinion on a matter. The majority of the UK population cannot afford to know about topics independently. The mutilated alternative is to be spoon fed pre-digested research by the press and media outlets, spat at you with distorted bias for a commercial agenda. I reject entirely the notion we are a classless modern society 'in it together'. Our cobbled collation of nations is torn and divided by wealth and living inequality. Those who reject this statement probably fall on the comfortable side of that divide. The people who state we have a good system are invariably the same people for whom the system benefits. It is easy for common people to give up and become apathetic, listen to others inured to a broken system. "It's just the way it is; you can't change the world." You can. One inspiring Kazakh woman is. Alexandra Elbakyan decided these paywalls on academic knowledge are intolerable and unjust. So she set up a website called 'SciHub' in 2011, where students and academics with privileged access to research articles can download them to SciHub via a proxy intermediary server (a little bit like Wikileaks). Once downloaded anybody can access them for free. It was a tiny page back then, but now has over 48million academic articles. That single mother working in Asda can now read good raw science on the illness her mother has, or understand the complexities about climate change. Advertisement SciHub was sued for copyright infringement (of course), by the Journal publisher Elsevier. It survived, but is struggling to exist in a hostile climate, and needs public support. Elsevier, incidentally, took a 37% profit on over 2 billion in 2014. But surely these companies need to defend their products from being stolen, and given away for free? No. Academics are not paid by journals when they submit research for publication. Peer reviewing an author's work by other academics is also already a service done for free. Further, printed journals are a redundant relic of the past; online, interactive Pdf files are the future. So running costs aren't as onerous as might initially be suspected; editing, proofreading, web maintenance etc. Then come ethics. If the research is funded by the public initially, they should not be required to pay again (with profit to a private company) in order to access the published results. SciHub is a pirate I love. Alexandra, a Robin Hood deserving a medal (though not a Nobel one, as those are reserved for those who start wars it seems). But it saddens me that pirates and robbers are needed in order for regular everyday folk to have access to reliable cutting edge information. We need a new system. Now. There are no excuses. So what can be done? First, make access to published research free, for everybody. Second, make academic journals not-for-profit charities, so the only costs are overheads. Third, transfer the burden of overhead cost off individuals and onto institutions. Universities currently pay huge sums to journal publishers to gain free access to academic literature for their students. If the whole system became non-profit, then university journal expenditure could remain unchanged despite the lower costs involved: but freedom of access extended to all, not just students. There are numerous alternative financial configurations that could also work. Advertisement In a world experiencing dangerous climate change, geopolitical wars of economic resource, diminishing traditional fuels combined with large scale financial instability, we need a general public who can think beyond the daily rag columns and parrot-like news networks. It matters so much to engage the public with science and learning. Not to preach at them in a unidirectional flow, but to empower them, providing tools to enable independent critical investigation in their learning meanderings. In the UK, one institution stands alone in providing mass public access to high end data. This is the Open University. You may be unaware, but signing up for even a small 10 credit part time course gains you access to all the academic articles from every major publisher in the world. The important role the Open University plays in allowing disadvantaged and working classes a ladder into the cloistered upper echelons of society cannot be stated enough. We need more models like the Open University. We need systemic change at the corporate and governmental level regarding research access. We need national conversations extending beyond rich white men talking to other rich white men in gilded halls of power and wealth. We need this change now. Yet if the privileged minority at the top fail to change knowledge access for all, perhaps it is only fair that grass root individuals steal data and trespass their way... up. Adrienne Macartney runs the public engagement project 'Science Hooker', and is a final year PhD student at the University of Glasgow where she studies the loss of the early atmosphere of Mars, and what lessons this loss might provide for tackling climate change. I hurried down Shaftsbury Avenue, bag clutched to my side, head tilted up at the buildings (177, 179.... Ah, there you are!) Breathe. Inside, I took the elevator and met the receptionist behind her desk where I was told to take a seat: I was early. I eyed a stack of magazines on the side and I asked if I could take one. "Yes," she said, turning back to the computer - I could almost hear the "duh" in her voice. Scanning the row of magazines I saw Issue 874: Millie- 'We should never have got married,' Issue 875: Charlotte- 'The truth about my nose falling off,' Issue 87- What? Issue 876? This can't be right. I took it from the shelf. This isn't even out yet! I sat on a sofa and started flicking through the pages: Cheryl- Family Interference, Adele- Simon's proposed.... My lips began to tweak up at the corners and I suddenly became very aware of one, single fact: 'This is real.' Advertisement "Chloe?" I looked up. A young woman leaned out from behind the wall. "Yes, that's me." "Great," she strode forward and shook my hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Sarah." (We'll call her Sarah for the article). She took me to the elevator and asked me how I was, "You must be on your Easter holidays now then, right?" "Yes, that's right." We got in and she smiled as we went up. "I'll give you a quick tour of the floor and then talk you through what you'll be doing this week." "Ok, great." The doors opened and the first word that came to my mind was "busy." Computers, posters, books, desks piled high with more books, people scooting across on swivel chairs and heat- literal heat: it was boiling! As Sarah led me through my eyes dashed from corner to corner, half taking it all in and half wondering if people were watching me. Advertisement She took me to the end of a row of apple computers and placed her hands on the back of the chair, "Ok, so this is your desk." A couple of people looked up from their Macs but I just bustled my coat off and tried to look confident. "If you'll come with me I can show you round." Sarah was lovely; easy to talk to. After showing me round she settled me in straight away with some mundane tasks; collecting the post and distributing magazines amongst the staff. My main task that morning was to put the latest heat magazines into A4 envelopes and stick pre-printed address labels on each: "Try and get this done before 1 o'clock," she told me. "Ok, cool." "Sorry for giving you such a boring job but it's such a big help!" Boring? I could've hugged her. This was exactly what I needed! "No problem." I sat at my desk and placed my palms on the surface. Let's do this. The morning passed by satisfactorily; music tinkling through the radio as I placed magazine after magazine into the envelopes. I managed to catch my breath and absorb the atmosphere, and meanwhile do a bit of people watching. There was a small table pushed up against the wall nearby which was overflowing with chocolates, cakes and snacks. Every so often a member of staff would walk by, pause, then take an item to their desk and start nibbling. I tried to pretend I wasn't jealous. "Feel free to have anything you want from there," Sarah had told me on the tour, "people just bring stuff in and share." As tempting as it was I didn't think I had earned the right to anything on that desk just yet. The next day I had to select my top choice of news stories from the latest issue and list them in order of worst to best (countdown style). Then I had to bullet point a few facts from each for a radio presenter to read out (no pressure!) Advertisement Later, someone else wanted me to transcribe a radio interview which I listened to on my earphones. And guess what? It was between Ariana Grande and Ryan Seacrest! I was ecstatic. Already I was getting right into the thick of things and it was only my second day! The week consisted of varying tasks of this kind: some which made me think, wow! How am I getting this involved already? and others which were less glamorous but enabled me to feel useful. I made TV listings and provided links for twitter feeds, I shopped for stationary and served the tea (imagining I was Anne Hathaway in Devil Wears Prada.) Perhaps one of the brightest things I did all week, simple as it may sound, was to bring in my own packet of biscuits on the second day. Women were emptying biscuits into a tin when I handed them a packet of Digestives: "Here, take these. I can't just take from that table without putting something else down." The women looked up at me properly for the first time and their eyes widened, "Are you sure?" they began saying, "Oh that's so kind!" "Do you want some of our biscuits?" After declining their lovely offers but taking their tea orders, I had just turned to go to the kitchen when I heard one of them whisper, "Aw, she's so sweet!" From that moment on, I picked up the courage to ask various staff about what they did for the company and how they got to where they were. Some of them gave me their business cards, others gave me extra tasks to do. Some even recommended other people in the office to talk to and I got some really useful tips and career advice. Everyone was engaging and really nice and soon I was talking to staff on the news desk. That was when someone asked me if I would like to write an article for them. "Yes, of course!" I said, jumping at the opportunity. "Ok," she said, "this might take a bit of research but could you write me an article on the Top Celebrity Georges?" At first I thought I'd heard her wrong (top Georges?) But then she gave me a few starter examples: George Shelley, George Clooney, George.... I beamed, "Yep, definitely! I'll get right to it!" Advertisement I ran to my computer and began my research. Of the few celebrity George's she'd listed, I knew one of them. It didn't take me long to find the first six or seven... but she wanted twenty to twenty five! OK, keep calm, I told myself, you'll find some. Luckily she'd said 'Georgia' counted as 'George' which brought back another fifty per cent of the population. When I had my twenty-plus, my next instruction was to write a witty line or two for (up to) ten of my choice. Once this was sent, edited and returned, I was given access to the publishing site and was told to select images of each George and insert them. (A much longer process than you might expect) Eventually I had my article... And then came the best part: putting my name at the top. On the last day, Sarah presented me with my own goody-bag of treats which I thought was an amazing gesture and she told me I could sort dates for more work experience if I wanted to. As I sat working on the last few tasks at my desk people also wondered past asking, "So are you with us again next week?" Each time I said, "no" they were very complimentary about how I had taken on my role within the department, my willingness to participate and how great it was that I had asked questions. This week was a historic one in international justice. Over 20 years after the tragic massacre at Srebrenica in which over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were murdered, Radovan Karadzic, former President of the Republika Srpska, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Moreover, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Jean-Pierre Bemba, former Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These convictions, while eventful, should not provoke fanfare too hastily; rather, international law practitioners should use this opportunity to reflect on the state of international justice, and make vital improvements to its apparatuses. This article will focus on the responses to Karadzic's conviction, and the lessons to be learned from the ICTY's experiences. Karadzic's trial was a strange one from its very inception. He was indicted in 1996, and lived as a fugitive until his arrest in Belgrade in 2008. He had been living under the name 'Dragan Dabic' and working as a spiritual healer in this time- a rather chilling irony given his role in the atrocities during the war. In his term in office, he oversaw the indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns, ethnic cleansing and systematic mass rape of Bosniak women and men. The most recent estimates suggest that over 100,000 people were killed during the war, and half of all Bosnians were forced to flee their homes. Advertisement Given the nature of the acts committed, it ought to be surprising that the verdict of the Court was not celebrated more in Bosnia. However, all sides to the conflict had legitimate grievances with the result. In its judgment, the Court found Karadzic guilty of genocide in respect to Srebrenica. But crucially, he was found not guilty with respect to other charges of genocide. It is important to bear in mind that the events in Srebrenica were not one-off instances of mass atrocities targeted at Bosniaks, but rather formed part of a broader pattern of systematic violence which tore the whole country apart. Similar atrocities took place in detention camps across Bosnia, in Trnopolje, Omarska, Vlasenica, Bijeljina, Kljuc, Sanski Most, Brcko and so many other towns; in the small town of Foca, the entire Muslim population was killed or expelled, and another rape camp established in place of human life. The Court examined these instances in detail and, shockingly, found that the threshold for genocide had not been met in these cases. There is no denying that what happened at Srebrenica was appalling, and deserves the full weight of the international community's condemnation behind it. But for the thousands of Bosniaks who were expelled from their homes, killed or had their friends, families and neighbours killed in a ruthless act of ethnic cleansing, the judgment wasn't just disappointing: it was a betrayal. On the other side, Karadzic's conviction was interpreted as the work of an ethnically-biased kangaroo court by Serbs, both within Serbia itself and the Republika Srpska. Republika Srpska media are depicting him as a misunderstood hero unfairly convicted by the Court- photos on news websites portray an almost exclusively beaming, defiant Karadzic. The day the judgment was issued, thousands of ultra-nationalists attended a rally in Belgrade to condemn the verdict. And in an egregious act of defiance, earlier this week, Milorad Dodik, the current president of Republika Srpska, inaugurated a new student dormitory in Pale - the very area from which Karadzic and Ratko Mladic bombed Sarajevo during the siege - and named it 'Radovan Karadzic'. Advertisement These reactions should cause grave concern from a post-conflict justice perspective. But beyond this, such responses ought to prompt us to question whether the ICTY has sufficiently fulfilled its mandate. National reconciliation is a crucial tenet of post-war state-building, particularly in ethnically divided states such as Bosnia-Herzegovina. As such, the fact that racial tensions not only still exist, but that there has been such staunch denial of moral culpability by so many voices, poses a huge problem for the ICTY's credibility as a peace-building mechanism. This is perhaps reflected in the fact that the ICTY's outreach efforts were, at best, lacklustre, and at worst, completely bungled. Brussels is special to me. It is a place where I lived for many years and I have many friends there. On March 21st 2016 at 8.00 a.m., I entered Brussels International Airport accompanied by my daughter, to embark for New York. The day after, same hour and same place, a blast killed or injured dozens of persons. It was one of the multiple explosions in Brussels that day, a striking reminder of how vulnerable we are in face of terrorism. ISIS claimed responsibility. The evening before departure from Brussels, we were to a small restaurant in Grand Place to eat famous Belgian mussels. The owner, a Tunisian who I know for 20 years, told us that following the terrorist attacks in Paris last November the number of tourists declined dramatically, so he plans to close the business. For me, Grand Place without him will not be the same. But after the morning of March 22nd, when innocent people lost their lives in multiple horrific blasts, the whole of Belgium is not the same. The lives of those who survived and all of their families will be forever changed. Our lives too, because Brussels after Paris is a warning that Europe as a whole is under threat. Europe, which has been able to recover from the ashes of two devastating World Wars and to develop a peaceful and prosperous society model based on the respect of human rights and the rule of law, faces now another war. As President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, remarked: "Europe is under terrorist attack. Today is a black day for the civilized world." Advertisement Terrorism strikes not only in Europe. Last Sunday, more than 350 people were killed or wounded in a suicide attack in Lahore, Pakistan. Not long ago, similar horrific news came from Istanbul and Beirut. Killing innocent people based on ideology is not just an attack on Brussels, Paris, Lahore, Ankara or Beirut, or on any other place where people live, but an attack on all of humanity. No country or region is immune from its impacts. Therefore, beyond national politics and economics on which we may have different perspectives, the international community must stay united and not allow the threat of terrorism to be part of our daily lives. We must refuse to accept that it is a kind of "new normal". Terrorism threatens the core sovereignty of a country. It constitutes a direct violation of the UN Charter and the Universal declaration of Human Rights, and is a great obstacle to the implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The issue of countering terrorism and violent extremism brought the whole of the UN together, and more than half of the UN Security Council resolutions adopted over the past year focused on this topic. Still, terrorists continue to spread fear in many parts of the world. Counter-terrorism must be part of the response. Network analyses, cutting the financing, de-radicalization, and special operations strikes are all necessary. But in the case of ISIS counter-terrorism is not enough, because it has access to bigger resources, better intelligence and wider networks than other groups. The effect is multiplied by an aggressive social media campaign for recruitment and logistical connections. Even though some countries have integrated measures into their counter-terrorism responses to monitor the spread of violent extremism via the Internet, preventing use of the Internet for terrorist purposes remains a major challenge for most States. What we need is a broader integrated strategy that considers the full range of activities, from military operations to humanitarian assistance. Equally important, we must not allow terrorists to exploit the refugee situation and to manipulate the public opinion to polarize against the migrants who are fleeing themselves territory occupied by ISIS, in order to save their lives. Advertisement According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, since June 2014 and until mid-March 2016, ISIS committed at least 3967 extra judiciary executions in Syria. 2142 victims were civilians, including 78 children and 121 women. Terrorism and violent extremism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group. As the Global Survey of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) on counter-terrorism measures, released on 16 January 2016, underlines: "The terrorist threat is evolving rapidly. It has become more diverse, challenging and complex, partly because of the considerable financial resources flowing to certain terrorist organizations from the proceeds of transnational organized crime. Terrorism and violent extremism continue to destabilize volatile regions. Addressing the threat requires addressing the underlying conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, including through measures to prevent radicalization to terrorism, suppress recruitment, prevent foreign terrorist fighter travel, disrupt financial support for them, counter violent extremism, counter incitement to terrorism, promote political and religious tolerance, economic development, social cohesion and inclusiveness." Over the last decade, the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy put emphasis on measures to combat terrorism. On 12 February 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the resolution 70/254 on the Secretary General's Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism, which underlines that: "Violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism", requires collective efforts, "including preventing radicalization, recruitment and mobilization of individuals into terrorist groups". Not least important, the transnational nature of terrorism and the spread of information technology have largely increased the need for international judicial cooperation. Governments' responses to these trends have not kept pace with the need. Five years ago, the United Nations Special Rapporteur put forward a "model definition" of terrorism that linked it with physical violence, the terms of international counter-terrorism instruments, and the intention of "provoking a State of terror in the general public or a segment of it". Still, the question of the legal definition of terrorist acts continues to remain a major matter of concern, affecting the international cooperation to hunting down the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. Advertisement A week or so ago when I was writing about the terrorist attacks in Brussels I had no idea I would be picking up my pen again to write about another horrific terrorist attack, this time in my beloved city of Lahore, in my homeland, Pakistan. The pain and sense of loss was too strong and mind numbing for me to write something immediately. Only now have I found the strength. " Lahore Lahore ay" is an old saying in punjabi which literally means Lahore is Lahore. There is no place like Lahore and there is something about this city which makes you fall in love with it. A historic city, the heart of the Mughal empire, a cultural hub and a heaven for foodies, there are so many ways you can describe Lahore but you still won't be able to do justice to it. Attacking Lahore is like attacking the heart of Pakistan and it's people. And Pakistan's heart was left bleeding on the 27th of March. The people's agony and pain was evident from their tweets, trying to express their grief in 144 characters, if only it was possible to do so. People were crowding the hospitals wanting to give blood for the wounded. Taxis were offering to drive them for free. As if the people of Pakistan were desperately trying to undo the most deplorable and barbaric act imaginable. What kind of human being kills innocent children in a park? Someone asked. One not worthy of being called a human I would say, let alone a Muslim. Advertisement We live in a dangerous world. We have seen terrorist attacks in Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Australasia. But unfortunately my birth country tops the charts for the most unthinkable and disgusting attacks. First Peshawar now Lahore. What kind of sick mind targets children? But the Lahore attack is even more poignant because the main target was the Christian community, which is one of the poorest and most discriminated against communities in the country. In no terms are they treated like true citizens of Pakistan. Most of them live in slums completely cut off from the rest of society. The majority of them provide cleaning and domestic services. Generation after generation goes through the same cycle with no prospect or opportunity for their children to gain education and better themselves as a result. By itself this is massive discrimination against the second largest minority religion in the country, but on top of this they are targeted using the blasphemy law by every Tom, Dick and Harry. Anyone and everyone can say that a Christian has disrespected the Holy Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or the Quran and a mob will attack and burn their homes knowing they will get impunity for this. Then this, the mass killing of our Christian brothers and sisters in a terrorist attacks. What did they do to anyone to deserve this? Going to a park is always exciting for children. Add to this the festive celebration of Easter where groups from the Christian community gather together and celebrate in a park. The simplicity of this activity is in itself a proof of their simple joys. All day I kept thinking of the excitement on the children's faces near the big merry go round or the flying pirate ship ride. Who can fall so low as to target families with children celebrating their religious festival? Well the answer is the same inhuman beings who attack or blow up Muslims offering prayers in a mosque just because they don't consider their sect to be Muslim! These terrorists, or their puppet masters, do not deserve to claim to follow my beloved Prophet. The Prophet I follow was full of compassion and mercy for mankind. There are many narrations from his life; one reports that a woman used to throw garbage on his head every day when he passed her house and one day when she didn't he became concerned and went to check on her only to find out that she was unwell. He offered to care for her and she was so moved by the fact that despite treating him so badly for that many days he had no anger but only compassion for her that she became a Muslim. In another narration a Christian tribe from Najran came to visit him and the time came for their prayers he said there was no need to leave and they could offer their prayers in the mosque. Another narration relates that after years of persecution and barbaric treatment by the Meccans when the time came when he could have sought justified revenge from them he forgave them all, even the man who had killed his own pregnant daughter. Advertisement The mullahs (religious clerics) of Pakistan, the puppet masters of the terrorists, the hate preachers, demand the execution of Asiya Bibi (a Christian accused of blasphemy) or the exile of Ahmadis from Pakistan, with their mouths frothing with anger claiming to do it all in the name of my Beloved Master. How can all this hate attract anyone to Islam and its teachings? It only has the opposite effect. If the government of Pakistan really cared about its people, and was serious about fixing this cancer that is spreading fast in the country, they would look back in time and try and identify the root cause of all this hate. Perhaps they would consider rewriting the discriminatory laws and hate-filled textbooks, maybe then there is some hope for Pakistan, for Jinnah's secular Pakistan. As beautifully expressed by an old frail Pakistani man while he was out on the streets of Pakistan defending the Punjab government's women's rights bill which the Mullahs were opposing "Wretched are these mullahs! Why don't they leave Pakistan?! This is not their Pakistan! This is my daughters' Pakistan!" This is the Christian's Pakistan. This is our Pakistan. The UK Home Office has massively under-estimated the cost of introducing sweeping new powers to record everything we do on the Internet. Denmark planned to bring in a similar system but quickly scrapped it, for a second time, because it is unaffordable. The Home Secretary should do the same. The planned Internet Connection Records (ICRs) would cover all of us, every UK Internet user, even if we are not suspected of doing anything remotely criminal. They want to record absolutely everything we do online - browsing, Facebook, Snapchat, Skype, dating, banking, shopping, email, the whole lot. No other country apart from Russia treats all its citizens as suspects in this way. When Denmark tried it they found it was useless and it was scrapped. Two months ago the Danes tried again, using a method almost identical to the one planned by the British government. Advertisement But when they had the budget checked out by independent consultants they promptly dropped the idea again because of its huge cost. The equivalent cost for ICRs in the UK would be over 1,200M which is more than 7 times the government guesstimate. The fact that the Home Office has spectacularly under-estimated the cost of introducing this controversial new snooping power won't surprise anyone. Only two weeks ago the Met Police scrapped their new 999 system having wasted 65M without it ever going live. This news about the real cost should be the final nail in the coffin for ICRs. The government should admit they have got it wrong and delete it from the Bill currently going through Parliament. We already know that technically it would be very hard to make it work. The Danes found that it was about as useful as a chocolate teapot for catching criminals or preventing terrorism and anyway it is very easy for the bad guys to evade. Advertisement What's worse is that collecting everyone's data would put every British Internet user at risk of having their most intimate information stolen by hackers, thieves, and blackmailers. On top of all that, we now know that it would cost a fortune. That 1.2Billion could make us a lot safer if instead it was spent on reversing cuts in community policing rather than spying on every UK citizen. That's what senior policemen are telling me and they know a lot more about what is happening on the streets than any Home Office mandarin. In the 1970s a group of young people were jailed for murderous IRA bombings they did not commit. Their case has important lessons for us now as we face new terrorist threats. Donald Trump says he hates the "politically correct" fight against Islamic Terror. When he's President he promises to strip terror suspects of their human rights, target their families and authorise waterboarding and "go far, far beyond it" i.e. more torture. The rise of Trump is a depressing spectacle for most of us. But for one 61 year old man, formerly of Belfast but now living quietly in Washington DC, it has a particular dread. Advertisement In 1974, Paul Hill was a happy go lucky 19 year old living among London's Irish community. He'd left his native Belfast to escape "The Troubles". The IRA launched a ruthless bombing campaign, including blowing up crowded pubs in Guildford and Woolwich, killing and maiming ordinary people. Paul was vaguely aware of this from the newspapers and TV but he was busy, searching out work on building sites and planning a life with his pregnant girlfriend. To counter public and press outage at the bombings, the then Home Secretary introduced temporary and, in his own words, draconian powers to help catch the perpetrators. Police could now question suspects for up to seven days without charge. Advertisement Paul was the first man held under these new powers. He was taken to Guildford Police Station and, after seven days, he had signed confessions to his involvement in three pub bombings and eight murders. He implicated Irish friends and acquaintances in the attacks. At the trial of the Guildford Four, Paul and his co-accused pleaded innocent but were found guilty. Paul was handed down what was the longest sentence ever given in a British court. The judge's only regret was he couldn't hang him. The only evidence against Paul and his co-accused were the confessions they signed. There was no other evidence. In fact the forensics pointed to the Four's innocence, but this was concealed from the court. Witnesses who gave alibis for some of the Four, including Paul, were bullied into changing their statements. An IRA active service unit were arrested soon after the Guildford Four trial. This gang stood up in court and told the judge the Guildford Four were totally innocent and they had carried out the Guildford and Woolwich bombings. Advertisement But it would take a 15 year campaign, supported by Law Lords, former Home Secretaries, MPs like Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, bishops, cardinals, US Senators and even Mikhail Gorbachev, before the Four would see their convictions quashed and them released. The appeal court in 1989 found police had seriously misled the court in the original trial and lied under oath. This miscarriage of justice made headlines around the world and dragged the reputation of British justice through the mud. The dictionary definition of torture is any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person. In interrogations, Paul says he was subjected to mock executions, with loaded guns put to his head. He was beaten and brutalised, kept naked and denied sleep or food for days. He was forced to drink water out of the toilet. He was hung out of windows two storeys up. He was told he'd be murdered and his body dumped in an alley. Threats were made against his family in Belfast. Paul was told his pregnant girlfriend would be arrested and charged if he didn't start talking. Advertisement Think what you might confess to if someone did that to you. The case against torture is not one about political correctness. Torture simply doesn't work. Ali Soufan, a one time FBI special agent with experience interrogating al-Qaeda operatives, says: "When they are in pain, people will say anything to get the pain to stop. Most of the time, they will lie, make up anything to make you stop hurting them. That means the information you're getting is useless." The information gleaned from Paul and the other members of the Guildford Four was indeed useless. Sadly it took 15 years for the world to recognise that. In my new play Your Ever Loving I've taken letters Paul wrote to his family from prison and transcripts from the trial and appeals to bring this story to life. Hopefully the drama brings home to audiences the destruction wrought when we turn a collective blind eye to torture, not only to innocent people's lives but to our faith in our justice system. Paul's built a new life in the States. But 27 years on from his release, he still suffers nightmares and bouts of depression. Watching Trump on the TV news doesn't help. Advertisement "I took some comfort from the thought that my misfortune would lessen the possibility of it happening to others," he says. "It would appear nothing has been gleaned from these miscarriages of justice, especially those with political overtones." Your Ever Loving opens at N16 Theatre, Balham, London on 18th April and runs until 5th May. theatren16.co.uk There are three groups of women 'in prison' I would like to shine a light on: families, women prisoners and staff. The first women I came into contact with when I started working in prisons were the wives, girlfriends, mothers and daughters who were visiting loved ones at HMP High Down in Surrey. One mother, whose young son had been taken into custody for the first time, arrived at the prison laden with her boy's favourite home-cooked foods. She was devastated when we told her she couldn't give them to him. The experience of going through the security searches, not understanding the many prison rules and procedures, and seeing her son struggling after his first night, was such a shock that she collapsed in the visitors' centre. Advertisement Many prisoners say succeeding in education is the one thing they can do to show their families they are trying to turn their lives around, and these 'hidden' women and girls often provide valuable, but often unsung, support if they are given opportunities to. One learner, who has taken on a range of courses through PET, told me he sends all his certificates to his Nan who has them proudly displayed on her wall - this gives him the motivation, he says, to keep spending his time constructively. Another prisoner, who found a talent for numbers in prison education classes, was funded by PET for part of his maths degree. It was his mother who helped get vital study resources to him - including a calculator that the prison had initially refused him access to. PET funds a large number of women in prison, who are motivated by their desire to create a brighter future for themselves and their children. They take on an array of courses, including business studies, fitness qualifications and vocational work. Some take part in arts-based projects, with organisations such as Clean Break, using drama and creative writing to help them explore traumatic event and create powerful performance pieces. Education in prison, in the community, and after release, can be a way to create a 'safe space' for women to discover new identities, talents, skills, friends, confidence and most importantly, hope. One woman PET funded for a distance learning course told us: "Your funding has been a great resource and propeller to re-directing negativity to positivity. Taking up courses in prison has been life transforming." Advertisement The other women I have come into contact with in the world of prisons are the largely uncelebrated teachers, volunteers, librarians, managers, governors, officers and peer mentors. At our annual Prisoner Learning Alliance award ceremony last year, we recognised some of these women nominated by prisoner learners. Two teachers, Liza-Ann and Amanda, were nominated by a woman who entered prison not able to read or write. Despite confessing to initially being "a nightmare" in class, she said Amanda and Liza-Ann: "Would not let me fail. They go out of their way to make you want to come to education to learn and I never thought I would ever say that." Three prisoners nominated Sharon, their institution's Open University co-coordinator. One learner said: "She is helping me put in the foundations for my future free from crime and heartache." There is a great need for increased professional development for prison teachers and officers to help more staff to help more prisoners transform their lives and those of their families. At this time of significant policy interest in prison education, we need to focus on all these groups of women; the families, the women prisoners and the staff, in order to improve its impact in order to reduce re-offending, meaning fewer victims and safer communities for all. Nina Champion is head of policy at Prisoners' Education Trust (PET), which provides funds for people to take on distance-learning courses while in prison. A qualified solicitor, Nina previously worked for the charity Women in Prison and as a resettlement development worker at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. Advertisement Deaf women in Uganda were missing out on so much in life that I was inspired to set up the United Deaf Women's Organisation (UDEWO), in 2002. As executive director, I've been working to support and empower women ever since - I want to see a society where we are treated as equals. There were more than 126,000 deaf people in Uganda in 2002, and many of those are women. For them, a big challenge is sexual exploitation. There is a high rate of rape among deaf women and the perpetrators aren't brought to justice. I've met many deaf women who have summoned the courage to report rape to the police, only to be turned away because the authorities didn't know how to manage it. Advertisement A lack of communication lies at the heart of this inequality. I recently met with a girl called Nancy (not real name) - a 15-year-old currently attending a boarding school for the deaf. Nancy was refusing to return to her father's home at the end of term and I soon learnt that he had been sexually abusing her for years. After arranging temporary shelter for Nancy, I met with her mother to try to understand why she hadn't done anything about it, despite her daughter previously opening up to her. She broke down in tears. She was inconsolable. Even though Nancy had told her mother about the abuse, she had never understood and seemingly ignored it. This is why providing sign language training to families and communities is a key part of our work. Too often, I've seen the devastating effects that a lack of communication can have on the lives of both deaf men and women alike. At UDEWO we tackle sexual exploitation by empowering women and informing them about their rights. Just because a man forces himself on you, or offers you money, it doesn't mean you have to accept it. With a lack of communication and language skills, it can be hard for deaf women to comprehend what is right and wrong, so we provide training and counselling to make more deaf women aware of what constitutes abuse. We're also raising awareness and providing training to police, so they are better able to support deaf women. Advertisement Recently, 93 police officers around Uganda graduated in sign language through our project. They've even set up a WhatsApp group so that when a deaf woman reports a crime, they can send a trained officer to support her. If the police fail to offer support, we report it to the media and expose them - while sending out the message that deaf women can no longer be treated as passive victims. I'm glad to say I've witnessed positive progress in the last few years. As an educated and successful deaf woman, I enjoy meeting parents and challenging the stereotype that all deaf women are stupid, or kasiru as we are still called in Uganda. I'm living proof that deaf women can go to school and achieve - and with more support from organisations like Deaf Child Worldwide, I'm looking forward to being part of a world where women aren't discriminated against, whether they are deaf or not. Rehema Namarome started up Uganda's United Deaf Women Organisation in 2002. The organisation now empowers 3,000 deaf women and girls and works with Deaf Child Worldwide, the leading UK charity, to strengthen the social inclusion of young deaf women who are often vulnerable to stigma, abuse and sexual exploitation Advertisement I'm not a gambling man, but I'm betting that Scotland's fox hunting packs are a bit nervous right now. A review of what they have been up to is currently being conducted by the Scottish government. Should the verdict be that the legislation banning hunting is somehow being skirted around, then tougher measures may well be brought in. And I for one believe that this will not only have implications for the hunts in Scotland, but also for those in England. Let me explain. Starting from the beginning, the government review of the effectiveness of the hunting ban in Scotland came directly from an investigation by the League Against Cruel Sports. The investigation started with meetings with Police Scotland and the Procurator Fiscal's office which revealed that between 2002 and 2014 there were very few complaints about alleged illegal hunting. However, the League consistently received intelligence suggesting that illegal hunting was widespread among the ten registered hunts in Scotland. Advertisement So we decided to find out what was really going on. The first step was for the League to employ experienced wildlife crime investigators including one who had thirty years of evidence gathering experience with the police and others with many years' experience of monitoring Scottish hunts. The investigators started by looking at the hunt websites. The Buccleuch hunt's website explained that they, "like all Scottish hunts", were hunting within the law by using a provision that allowed "flushing to guns". Flushing to guns is a way of shooting foxes. It is an established activity in the countryside where dogs are used to drive foxes out of woods, hedgerows and other "cover" into the path of waiting shotguns. As such, it is necessary to employ a number of shooters in strategic positions where an escaping fox would be expected to leave the cover and a safe shot could be taken. The law is clear that if the dogs continue to chase or stay on the line of a fox once it has left the cover then illegal hunting has occurred. Hunts in England and Wales do not say they flush to guns because their law restricts the number of dogs that can be used to two, whereas the Scottish legislation has no limit to the number of dogs. Advertisement While some of the Scottish hunt websites insisted that the hunts were flushing to guns, it was confusing to note that they also referred to the skill of foxes evading the hunt. One website referred to the expectation of "a fast hunt... ...for some considerable distance ". One website even contained a video from December 2014 that showed a full pack of dogs apparently "on cry" following a line nowhere near any cover. This led the League to wonder what was really going on. Between 12 December 2014 and 14 March 2015 the League's wildlife crime investigators witnessed half the hunts advertised by the 10 hunting associations known to operate in Scotland. The filming was mainly from long range, using state-of-the-art cameras and the hunts were unaware that their activities were being filmed. What we saw worried us. Our wildlife crime investigators did not see a single shotgun either used or brandished on any of the days they filmed Scottish hunts. Our conclusion is that none of the hunts observed were flushing to guns and it was impossible to distinguish their activities from the activities of pre-ban hunts. Using over a hundred hours of raw footage, we produced a short video showing what was, and what wasn't, happening deep in the Scottish countryside. The video shows dogs in full cry clearly following a line and being seemingly encouraged by the huntsman to do so. On at least three occasions the dogs are seen to be following a line of a fox. We then released the video to the media, showed it at party conferences in Scotland and to a large group of interested MSPs at a specially arranged event in one of the committee rooms in the Scottish Parliament building. We then met with Aileen McLeod, the Minister responsible, and asked her to take action to assure herself and her Government that the foxhunting ban in Scotland was really working. Advertisement The stakes were then raised when David Cameron announced in Westminster that his Government intended to harmonize the fox hunting law in England and Wales with the law in Scotland - an attempt to make flushing to guns with a full pack legal in England and Wales. Key to this strategy of weakening the ban in England and Wales was the hope that the 56 SNP MPs at Westminster would abstain as the proposed move didn't effect Scotland. After several weeks of fervid lobbying the SNP announced they would vote against the proposal and one of their reasons was that they had decided to undertake a comprehensive review of the Scottish ban due to the results of the League's investigation. We then took another look at what Scottish hunts were up to this season. Our investigators were out again and we were amazed and dismayed that despite the publicity and political attention, they hadn't changed their behaviour. In fact one incident was so blatant we had to inform the police. Two hunt staff from the Jed Forest hunt in Scotland's border region were then interviewed and charged by the police with illegal hunting. The Review's chair is senior Law Lord Bonomy and this week I will be taking the League's submission to the Government offices in Leith. To say the least, it is a comprehensive package containing over 100 hours of video evidence and recommendations that, if adopted by the Scottish Parliament, would mean that foxhunting will be really banned in Scotland. Advertisement We hope that the excuse of 'flushing to guns' has well and truly been busted. And it will be interesting to see what implications any strengthening of the law has south of the border, where the threat of repealing the Hunting Act still remains. At the weekend, I did a Paloma Faith. I responded to a non-urgent work message in my Twitter DMs with: "Mate, it's Easter Sunday!" If it slipped through your Christmas cracks, Paloma controversially tweeted: "Please note: if I am on xmas holidays please do not ask me for a photo with you. My holidays end Jan 5th." She tweeted it in December 2010, but it continues to resurface, such was her audacity to take time off. On the one hand, I'll admit it - she sounded like a wanker. But on the other hand, don't we all need a break? I do. It's bad enough having emails coming through to my phone at 10pm on a week day, but then there's Twitter DMs at the weekend. Let me put this out there: if you're sliding into my DMs on a Saturday, I expect Block Bot grade flirting - I do not want to hear about a book launch. Advertisement Anyone who's a vague acquaintance, thinks they can fast-track a response by slipping in the back door of social media. To some extent, they're right. Once I see a message I'll respond, because until I do, it'll hang over my weekend like the stench of spilt sardines. However, it may not be the response the sender hoped for. Do I have any news moving forward, regarding an off-hand idea I once voiced aloud? No, I don't - and rather than risk you haranguing me, past cocktails o'clock on a Friday, let's shoot the idea dead, in the style of Al Pacino introducing his little friend. You might say the answer is to switch off social media - but I like dicking about on Twitter. Watching First Dates or Question Time, without Twitter's running commentary, would be like going for a Chinese and turning down the fortune cookie. My Saturday mornings would be lacking without The Guyliner's assassination of Guardian Blind Dates. I'd miss hashtags like #OutBoastKanye and the heckling of LAD Bible journo requests: "We want to hear from people who are still virgins." Response: "Ask all of your staff." Advertisement So why should I sacrifice one of my favourite things, to avoid seeing messages from people who don't know when to switch off? In the main, I make it a rule not to follow back PRs, who try to pin me down to a date to check out their client list; or people I've met once, who want me to write about their hobby that only nine million other people in England do. But while Twitter restricts who can DM you, Instagram is a free for all. "These messages are from people you don't follow. They'll only know you've seen their request if you choose to Allow" it says, having already let them message you. You've read their message now, whether you'd have allowed it or not. It's too late - your Saturday is sullied. As there's no fits-all-fix to prevent this, can we agree amongst ourselves not to hit each other up with grunt work at the weekend? The guy who messaged me on Easter Sunday isn't UK based, so he didn't know it was our Easter - but he did know it was Sunday. I'm calling for a blanket ban on phrases like: "I wanted to touch base with you." If you type them into a social media message at the weekend, sparks should shoot off your iPhone, and taser you in the tonsils. It's been just over a week since a terrorist bomb went off just minutes from my apartment in Brussels, a city I visit regularly in the course of my work as British member of the European Parliament. Of course, it's always with hindsight that we second guess the work of the security forces after the event and bring to any assessment of terrorist attacks weaknesses in systems that seem more glaringly obvious now, even if you did notice them beforehand. With that said, I remember just a few short months ago in a Strasbourg meeting of Ukip MEPs, several of my colleagues (some with military experience) noting security shortfalls and poor procedures at Brussels airport. Since the terror attacks in Paris in November last year, Brussels was already a city on high alert; with extra armed guards around high-risk buildings and new security procedures put in place. Yet these weren't enough to prevent this most recent tragedy - with lives being brutally snuffed out on the same streets and passageways I have walked a many times. While we can never hope to eradicate such violence altogether, the UK can and must do more to prevent future attacks. We must co-operate with our neighbours and share intelligence since this is arguably the biggest failing of last week on the part of the Belgium authorities. Troops on the streets cannot make up for inadequate intelligence on ISIS operations in your own country. Advertisement In the week following the attacks a debate is underway on just how best the UK can co-operate with our EU partners on security matters and whether Brexit - British exit from European Union - helps or hinders such intelligence sharing? It is my firm belief that in order to reduce the security risks to British citizens we must leave the European Union and work with the EU as an independent nation, one with certainly the best intelligent service on the continent and arguably the world. This is not just my view. Since the Brussel's attacks many senior people in the world of intelligence have had their say. Writing in Prospect magazine, Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6 recently stated: "...the truth about Brexit from a national security perspective is that the cost to Britain would be low. Brexit would bring two potentially important security gains: the ability to dump the European Convention on Human Rights--remember the difficulty of extraditing the extremist Abu Hamza of the Finsbury Park Mosque--and, more importantly, greater control over immigration from the European Union." Sir Richard also explained how intelligence co-operation with the USA is far more important than our intelligence sharing with EU partners: "Would Brexit damage our defence and intelligence relationship with the United States, which outweighs anything European by many factors of 10? I conclude confidently that no, it would not." With a career in intelligence stretching from 1966-2004 this is certainly someone whose advice we should consider. Soon after the media picked up on Sir Richard's comments, the former director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and also former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) General Michael Hayden made comments to the BBC and Sky News which concurred with Sir Richard's. "I don't know if the European Union contributes a great deal to ... espionage. I can understand why Sir Richard is saying what he's saying" he told Sky's Adam Boulton. It's not just former intelligence chiefs who are critical of the EU's role in keeping us safe. The former secretary general of Interpol, Ronald K. Noble wrote an article for the New York Times last year, in which he wrote that: "Europe's open-border arrangement, which enables travel through 26 countries without passport checks or border controls, is effectively an international passport-free zone for terrorists to execute attacks on the Continent and make their escape." He went on to warn that: "The so-called Islamic State could attack again today, tomorrow or next week. Until passports are screened systematically at every single entry point, the 26 Schengen countries must suspend their open border arrangement and close this passport-free travel zone throughout Europe." In recent days, the government minister Andrea Leadsom MP has echoed these sentiments, saying that: "Getting rid of internal borders without properly policing external borders has proven to be a huge risk. Having a European passport - as it appears a number of terrorists do have - is actually making things even more difficult. Would we lose anything from Brexit in terms of intelligence sharing? No. Would we gain anything in terms of national security? I am afraid I think the answer has to be Yes." It is undeniably true however, that crime is international, and we do need to co-operate with our continental neighbours. So if the British public were to vote to leave the European Union, cross-border crime and security co-operation would continue. As Sir Richard stated in his article, British intelligence supplies a great deal of information to its continental counterparts and it is in their interest for this arrangement to continue. Post-Brexit we will still be members of the world's largest international police organization (Interpol). We can work together to prevent cross-border crime and terrorism via the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Advertisement We can work with our French neighbours via inter-governmental border agreements like the Le Touquet treaty and the Sangatte protocol (which govern UK borders at French ports). We can even sign a cooperation agreement with the EU's own law enforcement agency Europol; just like non-EU countries like Australia, Norway and Switzerland have. In the run up to the June referendum on the European Union, both sides will roll out experts in various fields to speak on their behalf. You will have to listen to both sides and make up your own mind about how to vote on 23 June, taking into account various factors such as sovereignty, trade, the environment and the costs of membership. Today, no city in the world is safe from terrorist acts. The criminals only need to get past our security measures once to score their propaganda victory. But it is absolutely clear now that in the area of intelligence sharing and security, Brexit is unlikely to have any negative results and is far more likely to have many positive ones. Brexit offers us the best of both worlds in the field of national security - ongoing close cooperation with our European partners but with restored independence to make our own decisions, control our own borders and deport radicals who our pose a serious risk to our nation's security. George Christensen/Facebook Queensland politicians are pushing for the northern part of the Sunshine State to break off into its own, separate state. Others say a Northern Australia state -- comprising the top parts of Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia -- would be more appropriate. Is Australia about to get a seventh state? Advertisement WHAT'S GOING ON? Australia has a proud history of proposing new states, or seceding from the Australian federation entirely; just check out this surprisingly long and detailed Wikipedia page. A recent push by politicians in the northern parts of Queensland has added one more to the list. Pollies including Katters Australian Party members Shane Knuth and Robbie Katter, and controversial ex-Labor MP Rob Pyne, have put their weight behind a push for North Queensland to become a state in its own right, breaking away from Queensland. Criticisms of the current system say that political powers focus too much on the southern parts of the state, ignoring and taking advantage of the north. They say it is hard to expect the state's parliament and decision-makers in Brisbane to focus on the northern parts of Queensland, when the state's capital is 2700 km away from its northernmost point. Geographically, the distance from Brisbane to Sydney -- 900 km -- is one-third of the distance of Brisbane to Queensland's northern tip. Since the push came to light in the Courier Mail on Sunday, Queensland politicians have weighed in on the debate. Federal Member for Cairns, Warren Entsch, wants to see northern Queensland combined with the Northern Territory and Western Australia for a new "Northern Australia" state. Advertisement "What I think is inevitable -- but a long way away because of parochialism -- is looking at voting for a northern Australia state, he said, the Courier Mail reports. "If they combine north Queensland with the Northern Territory and the northern part of Western Australia, there would be some smarts in that. There are similar climates and similar challenges." Federal Member for Dawson, George Christensen, wants to see Queensland split into North and South Queensland. He'd split the two states with a horizontal line, just north of Rockhampton, saying a North Queensland state "could be the best in country" based on its agricultural and tourism credentials. Right now North Queensland is being told what we can and cant do by a government located more than 1000 kms away. Its... Posted by George Christensen on Monday, 28 March 2016 CAN THEY DO THAT? Technically, yes. Chapter VI of the Australian Constitution sets out the conditions for "new states," stating that: Advertisement The Parliament may admit to the Commonwealth or establish new States, and may upon such admission or establishment make or impose such terms and conditions, including the extent of representation in either House of the Parliament, as it thinks fit. Specifically, the Constitution states any new state would have to be agreed to by the parliament of the existing state affected by the new state, as well as the majority of voters of the state; presumably, that would require a plebiscite or referendum for the people of Queensland. The North Queensland proposal already has a major federal backer in Northern Australia Minister Senator Matt Canavan. He told the Courier Mail that I personally support new states being created as a way of driving the development of our country and especially of Queensland. Queensland is a big state to be ruled from just one corner in Brisbane." So yes; it could happen. HOW WOULD IT WORK? In forming a new state, obviously borders are important. The different proposals each have different border lines, and any such transferal of land, property, homes, farms, crops, roads or other infrastructure from one state to another renegade state would be hotly debated and contested. Katter Australia Party founder, federal MP Bob Katter, said the Tropic of Capricorn could be an easy, straight boundary to set for a new North Queensland state. He wants a referendum within the next year and a half to let citizens vote on the proposals. Advertisement "Absolutely. Within the next 18 months, I think we can most certainly get a referendum up," he said. Again, any new state would need to be approved by state parliament and actually politically created by the federal parliament. For example, Queensland parliament would need to approve the change, then Canberra would formally make the state "exist" in a political sense. Presumably, North Queensland or Northern Australia would get its own state parliament, set of state laws, and representation in federal parliament just like any other state. As for a state leader, Canavan jokingly suggested North Queensland Cowboys NRL captain Johnathan Thurston would make a good premier. HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE Kind of, but not for a long time. Australia's states and territories have changed a lot since colonisation in 1788; from one large colony to a few, then closer to what we know today. The closest thing to what is being proposed now happened in 1927 when the Northern Territory was split into North Australia and Central Australia. The split was reversed and the states reunified just four years later. Watch this handy video to track how things have changed: SO, WHAT NEXT? D.C.s Metro might shut down an entire rail line for half a year, furthering the possibility that our nations capital will be moved to the Panera Bread in Ballston. The Freedom Caucus wants to cancel Congress lame duck session, implying there is a time the Freedom Caucus would be OK with the government functioning. And Donald Trump is open to criminalizing abortion, though like everything else he does and says, it will never get Megyn Kelly to love him. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, March 30th, 2016: [LITERAL WASHINGTON GRIDLOCK JOKE HERE] - But what will K Street's lobbyists do if they can't ride the Green Line? "Metro is in such need of repair that the transit system could shut down an entire rail line for as long as six months to do needed maintenance, Metro board Chairman Jack Evans said Wednesday. At a minimum, Evans said, Metro will have to shut segments of lines for extended periods because there isnt enough time to do the necessary work using only nights and weekends. Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld confirmed that he was considering such lengthy closures but hasnt made a decision yet. He said he expected to do so within a month to six weeks." [WaPo] TRUMP DOESN'T LIKE WOMEN THAT MUCH - Elise Foley and Samantha Lachman: "Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Wednesday that there has to be some form of punishment for abortion if it were banned in the U.S. as he says it should be and that punishment should fall on the woman. Trump, who is currently struggling with women voters, was pressed on the issue of abortion during an interview with MSNBCs Chris Matthews, set to air Wednesday evening. Matthews asked whether abortion should be punished, and Trump initially skated around the issue. He said some Republicans would say it should be, and that he 'would say its a very serious problem and its a problem we have to decide on.' He then asked Matthews -- but didnt answer himself -- 'Are you going to, say, put them to jail?' and added he was anti-abortion and that 'you have to ban abortion.'" [HuffPost] Advertisement Pro-lifers do not appreciate this "punish women" business. TRUMP BACKTRACKS - What a loser. Sad! "If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman. The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. My position has not changed -- like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions." JOHN KASICH ALSO CAN INSULT WOMEN - Trump is better at it, of course. Samantha Lachman: "Ohio Gov. John Kasich has a habit of making awkward comments about women as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination. At a CNN town hall on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Charlotte Rasmussen from Butler, Wisconsin, asked Kasich whom he would choose as his vice president were he the GOPs nominee. 'Are you available? You look great tonight,' he said to her in response." [HuffPost] Republican candidates' pledge to support the eventual nominee has fallen apart. BRIBE, INC. - Nick Baumann, Ryan Grim and Paul Blumenthal: "On Wednesday, The Huffington Post and its Australian partner, Fairfax Media -- led by reporters Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie -- published the results of a months-long investigation of Unaoil, an obscure firm that helps big multinational corporations win contracts in areas of the world where corruption is common. Hundreds of major international corporations -- including Halliburton, its former subsidiary KBR, Rolls-Royce and Samsung -- counted on Unaoil to secure lucrative contracts in Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, and other countries in Africa, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union, tens of thousands of internal emails and documents reveal. Its common for large multinational corporations to partner with smaller firms with local expertise to win contracts. But in many cases, Unaoil wasnt winning contracts because of its expertise -- it was winning them by paying millions of dollars in bribes to corrupt officials." [HuffPost] Advertisement THE GOP CONVENTION'S GONNA BE A MESS- Natalie Jackson: "The biggest question of the political season is whether Donald Trump will get enough delegates to win the GOP presidential nomination before the convention. Prediction markets, which allow people to bet on future events using real money, estimate an average 61 percent chance of a contested Republican convention with two or more votes required. The chance Trump will fail to get to the required 1,237 delegates before the convention, they estimate, is 69 percent. This is exactly the type of situation where election 'prediction markets' can be most valuable -- rare events where we cant rely on recent history and when polls arent terribly useful. Most people dont understand the nuances of delegates and conventions, which means polling on what will happen is tricky and potentially unreliable." [HuffPost] DELANEY DOWNER - Fox and Friends had former Dave County Florida Circuit Court Judge Alex FerreI talk about new work requirements for food stamp recipients. "First of all, there's a lot of people on food stamps, of course, who absolutely need food stamps and they're not gaming the system, but there's also people who are gaming the system. Who feel, 'I'd rather just get benefits, you know, and not work.' And, I did something very similar when I was a judge in the criminal court. You have the same problem with criminals who, let's say, burglarize your home and steal $5,000. They get caught, and they're ordered to pay the victim back. Well, they don't." [MediaMatters] Advertisement 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 FREEDOM CAUCUS MOVES TO END LAME DUCK SESSION - At least demand that outgoing members maintain a C average if they want to keep their lobbying jobs. Matt Fuller: "When the House returns from a two-week recess on April 12, a small group of members are gearing up to stop GOP leadership in both chambers, if they have their way, from holding a legislative session after the November election. Its not that the members are lazy, though doing away with the postelection session would mean the House would be in just 17 days for the rest of the year after July 15 and zero past Sept. 30. Conservative members say they are trying to stop Congress from doing anything after the November election because Congress does some of its most slapdash lawmaking once the public has voted. The group of lawmakers, anchored by the House Freedom Caucus, doesnt want to take any chances that the Senate confirms a Supreme Court nominee or that Congress rams through the expansive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal or a big budget agreement that raises spending. 'If you look at these lame ducks, you know, the American public gets screwed,' Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), the Freedom Caucus member leading the charge against the postelection session, told The Huffington Post last week. 'Increased spending, all these favors that we got to do for people its got to stop.'" [HuffPost] RNC ORGANIZERS TRYING TO UNDO RULE FAVORABLE TO TRUMP - Still hope for all of you "Draft Pataki" diehards. Kyle Cheney: "All four early appointees to the rules committee for this years Republican National Convention told POLITICO theyre prepared to weaken or scrap a rule that could limit the conventions alternatives to Donald Trump. The four took issue with a rule, originally imposed by Mitt Romney forces in 2012 to keep rival Ron Paul off the convention stage, requiring a candidate to win a majority of delegates in eight states to be eligible for the partys nomination -- a threshold only Trump has exceeded so far. If preserved, the rule could block John Kasich or Ted Cruz from competing with Trump at the convention, set for July in Cleveland. If the committee scraps the requirement entirely, it could open the door to multiple candidates, possibly even some who never entered the primaries, competing for the partys nomination at a brokered convention. And even a lower threshold would make it easier for Trumps rivals to challenge him." [Politico] PUTIN APOLOGIST APPOINTS PUTIN APOLOGIST - Zachary Milder: "A globe-trotting American investment banker who's built a career on deals with Russia and its state-run gas company, Carter Page says his business has suffered directly from the U.S. economic sanctions imposed after Russia's escalating involvement in the Ukraine. When Donald Trump named him last week as one of his foreign-policy advisers, Page says his e-mail inbox filled up with positive notes from Russian contacts...Over the course of his campaign, Trump has been a contrarian on Russia... So it makes sense that Trump tapped Page for his foreign-policy team. In writings postedonline, Page is a reliable defender of Russian intentions, and portrays U.S. policymakers as stuck in an outdated Cold War mindset." [Bloomberg] Clinton making interesting moves vis-a-vis working people: "Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton expressed support for eliminating the subminimum wage for people with disabilities employed in specialized workplaces, a major coup for disability rights advocates who argue that the little-known loophole is discriminatory and harmful. The subject came up Monday in a question-and-answer session at a campaign event at the University of Wisconsin -- Madison...The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour. While employers are required to top it off if tips do not bring hourly pay to $7.25, that has proven difficult to enforce." [HuffPost's Daniel Marans] ARIZONA MOVES TO BE AN EVEN MORE AWFUL PLACE - Godforsaken place doesn't even have a beach. Howard Fischer: "The state House gave final approval Tuesday to a major overhaul of campaign finance laws, including allowing individuals to spend unlimited amounts of money to help raise funds for candidates they support without having to disclose it to the public. On a 31-27 vote largely along party lines, lawmakers agreed to scrap the $100 cap on what people can spend in tickets, food and liquor for fundraisers for candidates. SB 1516 also eliminates existing law that requires groups spending money to influence elections to register first with the state. Those groups also could refuse to disclose donors if they have registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a social welfare organization. It also would allow candidates with large campaign war chests to transfer money to others. The measure, which now goes to the governor, also allows groups to spend unlimited amounts, including corporate dollars, to try to change state law while leaving voters in the dark about who is behind the campaign." [Arizona Daily Star] BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here is a territorial gorilla COMFORT FOOD - Barn owl learns to fly. - Some hyperrealistic drawings. - Making super tiny donuts. TWITTERAMA @colvinj: Trump says he likes having dinner w/ less successful people because then he's the star at the table: "Always be around unsuccessful people." Advertisement David Walker, Head of TV, Initiative UK Netflix, Prime Instant Videothey are all doing it. Not satisfied with just serving content to subscribers, they are increasingly becoming creators of programmes themselves. This year will see Top Gear reinvent itself on Prime Instant Video after the trio left the BBC. Netflix boasts Hollywood A-listers in its ranks with Kevin Spaceys House of Cards. Being subscription services, these shows do not offer advertisers the traditional method of serving a 30 ad. So just how big a problem is this for them as they attempt to navigate the increasingly complex media consumption of TV viewers? As both Netflix and PIV dont publicly release viewing figures, its hard to put your finger on just how many people are regularly binge watching or their demographic makeup. The idea that everyone is using OTT is, in my opinion, simply not true. Over 8 million viewers are watching the BBCs The Night Manager, over 5 million are enjoying Doctor Thorne on ITV and even 16-34 adults still tune into Britains Got Talent and X Factor in their millions. This is still the age of original programming on linear TV and this is where brands continue to reach consumers in huge numbers. Good TV programmes drive social conversation, an example is when Broadchurch sent Twitter into meltdown and bookies were taking bets on who the murderer was. The competition from Netflix and Prime Instant video is a good thing as it will force the others to raise their game. The main challenge is for ITV, C4 et al to continue to make compelling TV programmes and then viewers will tune in regardless of channel or device. Linear TV remains in good shape and while some continue to dwell on the viewing declines we have seen, particularly with young audiences, there are still as many commercial impacts available today for these audiences as there were ten years ago. Advertisement For proof, you only have to look at Sky and their constant introduction of new technologies for TV consumption. For the viewer theyve just introduced their new fluid viewing innovation, Sky Q, which will make it even easier for consumers to watch much more content across all their devices whenever they want. For advisers, Skys Adsmart means you can tactically plan ad placement on TV better than ever before. You can also target those that have seen your ad and indeed those that have not on your linear TV campaign on Sky Advance. This allows brands to tell stories using different creative to a specific target audience that has been built from robust linear TV data. Do advertisers and agencies need to plan smarter on AV campaigns? Yes of course they do. Whilst critics will point to the amount of wastage on linear TV, the advent of these new technologies proves otherwise. What we all need to do is stop talking about how linear TV is losing audience and start to have conversations about how all forms of TV and digital can work together. Four Lessons in Design & Brand Experience from Lee Alexander McQueen By Tony King, co-founder & CEO, King & Partners Renowned as one of worlds greatest fashion designers, Lee Alexander McQueens influence on the couture community is never second-guessed. His mark on the world of brand design, however, is discussed much less frequently. But the experience of working with Lee nearly a decade ago taught me a great deal about the power of simplicity and the importance of clean design teachings that have influenced my approach to digital design ever since. In 2006, while creating a website for the British fashion house, I met with Lee in Paris hours before his acclaimed 'The Widows of Culloden' show to run through the sites creative concept. Though Id already acquired an enviable portfolio of clients at that point, having designed digital flagships from scratch for some of the best-known fashion brands in the industry, Lees insights were illuminating, humbling: a great reminder that a clear, simple vision is often the strongest way to deliver a powerful experience to your audience. Lee expressed a need for the clothing to be the star of the site, not the site itself (which was, unfortunately, the case for many fashion brands caught up in the gimmicks of Flash at that time). With these memories forever etched in my mind, here are four of my greatest takeaways from that day. 1. Less Is More Sitting backstage before the show, we opened up the sites creative concept and deconstructed the design, stripping away various elements one by one and strengthening the overall aesthetic as we simplified it. With each component we removed a background image here, a line of copy there the brands campaign and product imagery started to come to life. Lee explained that he found pure beauty in simplicity, in reaching the perfect point at which there is nothing left to take away, except the fashion itself. Advertisement 2. Take Some Risks While working together, Lee encouraged me to take risks, to create something that might go against the grain and traditional best practices, but could instead reach customers on an emotional level. He taught me to have confidence in a simple, beautiful image to rely on my gut instinct about what consumers were craving to see online. 3. The Product Should Be the Hero The ultimate goal of our collaboration was to ensure that the collection was the true hero of this online experience. As a brand, Alexander McQueen has long been praised for its exaggerated patterns and austere silhouettes, so there was never any concern that the site design would detract from the collections focus. That said, together we aimed to create a website that allowed his designs to speak for themselves, to come to life online. Its a philosophy I have applied to each online and offline experience Ive developed since the product should be the hero; the technology should be invisible. Always. 4. Experience is Everything A replica of the Manneken-Pis statue, a major Brussels tourist attraction, is seen among flowers at a memorial for the victims of bomb attacks in Brussels metro and Brussels international airport of Zaventem, in Brussels, Belgium, March 28, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman The horrific attacks in Brussels by terrorists affiliated with ISIS that claimed the lives of 35 people and injured more than 200 was all but inevitable. These attacks may well increase in frequency and intensity in many European cities where citizens travel freely and violent extremists among them can plot attacks without early detection. Although a substantial increase in internal security personnel, intelligence gathering and sharing between the European community, and better preparedness are critically important, they will not in and of themselves drastically stem such terrorist attacks. The European Union must realize that while the fight against ISIS-inspired terrorists must be relentless, they must simultaneously address the root causes that motivate young Muslims, mostly nationals of their respective European countries, to commit such atrocities. Advertisement There are three fronts on which violent extremism must concurrently be fought: defeating ISIS, improving the socioeconomic and political conditions in the Arab states, and integrating young Muslims into their European social milieu. The focus of this article is on the lack of integration, which remains glaringly evident; the EU has failed to find a viable solution to this problem without which no security measure, however sophisticated and extensive, will suffice. A brief review of the first two fronts is necessary as all three are entwined and directly impact one another: The prerequisite of defeating ISIS Although ISIS has suffered serious setbacks in recent months, the group remains a powerful entity that will continue to expand its outreach outside Iraq and Syria. Dozens of cells have already been established in many European countries where hundreds of operatives live. Many of these young Muslims have volunteered to join the ranks of ISIS and return to their European countries fully trained and religiously charged to conduct acts of terror in the name of God, often in a time and place of their own choice. Voltaire put it succinctly when he said: "What can you say to a man who tells you that he prefers obeying God rather than men, and that as a result he's certain he'll go to heaven if he cuts your throat?" Although the destruction of ISIS will not automatically end its attacks, they will certainly be substantially reduced in number and frequency as many of these recruits become increasingly demoralized, as romanticism about the establishment of a caliphate will evaporate. Moreover, the destruction of ISIS will also send a clear message to other violent extremist groups that their fate will be no different than that of ISIS. Though there is an aversion to the introduction of ground troops, despite its recent retreat and loss of territory, ISIS will not be defeated from the air alone. While Iraqi and Syrian troops have made major progress in the fight against ISIS, additional ground troops including Arab and Turkish contingents sufficient in number and capabilities are needed to stop ISIS in its tracks. Short of that, ISIS will have more time to recruit, train, and implant an increasing number of cells in Europe and the Middle East that will continue to terrorize the EU, disrupt the normalcy of life, paralyze cities such as Paris and Brussels, and cause havoc and uncertainty for years, if not decades, to come. Advertisement Finally, now that the campaign to reclaim Mosul has started, there is no better time to introduce such ground forces to prevent a protracted campaign that could inflict tens of thousands of civilian casualties, as most ISIS fighters are imbedded among civilians. As such, ISIS may well fight to the last man because the loss of Mosul would spell the near-end of ISIS in Iraq. The need for socio-economic and political reforms in the Arab states The Arab states must realize that the root causes of radicalization are rooted in their internal socioeconomic inequality and political disorder, and only by undertaking systematic and consistent measures to cure this domestic malaise will violent radicalization abate. The decades-long suppression, suffering, and servitude that the Arab masses, especially the young, have endured under largely corrupt and uncaring leaders with an insatiable hunger for power in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and others has reached a new tipping point. As long as grievances, hopelessness, and desolation prevail, they will continue to provide fertile ground for radical Islamists to step in and capitalize on public despair. Therefore, Arab states must either embark now on social, economic, and political reforms that offer a new horizon and hope for a better and brighter future, or be swept away by escalating violent extremism that will destroy the political foundation on which these regimes rest--Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen provide glaring examples. In order to do this, the Arab states must first begin to reduce the growing gap between rich and poor. Nothing is more devastating than witnessing how the wealthy in most Arab states ride on the backs of the poor, and how governments do next to nothing to lift the majority of the people from abject poverty and despair. Contrary to Western advocacy, stemming radicalization does not rest as much on democratic reform but on a commitment to human rights. The Arab youth are more concerned with job opportunities and living with dignity, than being given the right to vote while still living in despondency and hopelessness. The Arab states face an unprecedented challenge posed by violent extremism. In December 2015, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism composed of 34 nations (mostly Muslim states). However effective these forces may be, it will make no more than a minor dent in the fight against extremism. In addition to military and security measures, the Arab states must pay far greater attention to the socio-economic malaise that has infected their society, which are the root causes behind radicalism. They must provide what their youth need the most--hope, job opportunities, social justice, and a life of dignity. Western powers must encourage and support reforms in these areas because the failure of the Arab states to change direction will only continue to destabilize these countries and will directly affect the Western battle against violent extremism. Advertisement The lack of integration within the European community Western governments are struggling to find out what motivates young Muslims, many of whom are well-to-do and educated, to leave their sheltered lives only to join radical organizations that offer an elusive goal and the prospect of violent death. It appears that the determining factor behind the rise of radicalization of Muslim youth in Europe is the absence of integration, by choice or design, of young Muslims into the mainstream of their respective Western countries, which explains why the Brussels attack was all but inevitable. During my most recent visit to Brussels only a few weeks ago, I was amazed that while many top EU officials spoke about the need to appropriate more resources to buttress the internal security apparatus, little mention was made about the need to integrate young Muslims into their communities and provide the funding required to that end. Integration must be the engine that propels deradicalization, and of necessity it takes a host of socioeconomic, religious, and political measures to mitigate the vulnerabilities in these areas that young European Muslims experience. In relative terms, the rise of violent extremism is only at the early stages, and if the West wants to stem the flow of volunteers to these ruthless groups, Western countries should make a concerted effort to engage and understand the nuances of their Muslim communities, especially the families from which these volunteers are coming. The psychological dimension of violent extremism needs to be understood, as there is certainly no single road to radicalization - some join violent radical groups to acquire a sense of belonging, others seek to shed their daily indignities, some are swayed by the desire for recognition or integration, others are drawn by the lure of adventure or heroism, and yet others because they have no other outlet to vent their grievances in the absence of due justice or any access to the political process. The threat emanating today from ISIS, al-Qaeda, and other Islamist groups is inspired by religious teachings, distorted under the guise of defending purist Sunni Islam, which ultimately aims to infect susceptible Muslim youth to whom religion provides an escape and a sense of belonging. Advertisement Many of the young men and women who live in Western countries feel increasingly marginalized economically, socially, and politically, and are particularly vulnerable as they are often in transitional stages in their lives, whether as immigrants, students in search of friends, job seekers, etc. On the whole, they are in need of an outlet to vent their frustration, and consequently, they become easy prey for extremists seeking new recruits in mosques and online. There is, however, a common denominator behind most of the causes that radicalize Muslim youth, which is the lack of integration into their new social milieu, caused by: First: Disinterest in being integrated, as many young Muslims are living in a bubble and are not encouraged to step out beyond their immediate circle of peers and family. This is further compounded in situations where extremism runs deep in a particular family, or where they have certain gripes against the socio-political milieu in which they live; Second: No deliberate effort by governments to integrate Muslim youth into general society, a condition further aggravated by entrenched prejudices in most West European countries, such as Britain and France. Citizens of foreign descent in these states are often identified and remain as 'foreigners,' regardless of how long they have been living in their adopted countries, even if they are second or third generation citizens; Third: The growing pervasiveness of Islamophobia among Europeans, precipitated by the rise of violent extremists and the seemingly endless bloodshed between Muslim communities and Westerners, which has produced a conscious and unconscious repudiation of anything related to Muslims in general; Advertisement And fourth, a deeper, growing sense of alienation, which is the antithesis to inclusiveness, leading young Muslims in particular to find ways to resist and defy rather than seek new opportunities to integrate and become loyal nationals of their adopted countries. Generally, West European Muslims seek to maintain their identity and can still do so through integration rather than assimilation, where their identity as Muslim is not lost. Western European countries must also take specific steps to ensure that those who have joined and subsequently return are deradicalized and become useful citizens who can dissuade others from following their path. There are no quick fixes for this alarming development, and no amount of law enforcement will halt the flow of West European Muslim volunteers to join the ranks of violent extremists other than inclusion, which must encompass the following: 1 - No country directly or indirectly affected by violent extremism can afford to be long on talking and short on funding. There is probably nothing more important than the need to appropriate a substantial amount of money and human resources to meet this unprecedented challenge, regardless of how costly and how long it might take; 2 - Adopt a new public narrative by using a strategic way to communicate utilizing every conceivable social media outlet to counter extremists with facts. Government officials must avoid moral preaching but employ moral arguments, and address the perception of Western nations assailing Muslims, which leads the young to seek justice through violence; 3 - Develop community service programs to introduce young Muslims to the larger community of their Western peers and begin a process of integration in which they develop personal interests to fill the social, economic, and political emptiness they feel; Advertisement 4 - Invite credible and respected voices from the Muslim world (which have thus far done little to discredit the messages of the extremists) to teach that there is no path to glory in death, that joining such violent groups only reinforces the vicious cycle of death and destruction, and that there is no martyrdom in their senseless self-sacrifices; 5 - Encourage young Muslims to join sports activities and provide opportunities to show off their talent and ability to excel, while supporting those who seek to establish their social identity and be recognized; 6 - Prevent prisons from becoming incubators for new terrorists by rehabilitating prisoners through community programs, schooling, professional enhancements, and assigning of responsibility within the prison setting; nearly 80 percent of prisoners who went through such rigorous programs in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen ended up rehabilitated and became role models for other prisoners to emulate; 7 - Foster the desire of young Muslims to participate in local political discussion groups, to become part of any positive changes to advance the interests of their communities, enhance their self-esteem, and prevent the intellectual stagnation Bertrand Russell spoke to: "Most people would die sooner than think--in fact they do so"; 8 - Develop international exchange programs to expose young Muslims to what is happening in other communities, areas of social and economic progress, and new innovations and ideas that can be duplicated to benefit their own families and communities. Advertisement Integration is a long-term process, and there may be no instant gratification, but no country can afford to wait, as integration can prevent the prohibitive costs in blood and treasure now and at a later date that are the result of yet another terrorist attack. With threats and forecasts of continued Trumpian political violence in the news, it is time to reframe public discussion about persistent poverty, racism, and inequality. In response to unrestrained expression of ugly and dangerous racism, xenophobia and misogyny, some are impelled to support a robust government response by appeals to morality and fairness. For others, the catalyst is reverential references to "who we are as Americans." But in times of stress, too many of our neighbors park their better nature when they perceive that their taxes payments are helping "them" rather than "me." We are in a dangerous moment when such entreaties are insufficient to turn the tide of ripening hatred, escalating anger, and diminished expectations. Progressives- and in fact, all people of good will- need to reassert and embrace the political, social and economic case for, "An injury to one is an injury to all." We need to explicitly and loudly embrace a movement across the divides of race, religion, ethnicity, gender and sexual identity against hate and greed. Immediately. Notwithstanding the continued popular appeal of Ronald Reagan's "government is the problem" rhetoric, the vast majority of Americans believe in fairness, reject crass self-interest, abhor hate, and want government solutions and regulations that have widespread benefit: Social Security, Medicare, Interstate Highways, Centers for Disease Control, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Reserve Bank, to name a few. Advertisement These government solutions did not come into being without opposition from self-interested tax avoiders and evangelical ideologues with a "you're on your own" mantra. American individualism has always been in tension with and balanced by a strong sense of community responsibility. As a result, tax-funded programs gained widespread advocacy and support because they represented "we're in this together" common sense. For decades, unions- always anathema to some business interests, but not always steadfastly anti-racist- represented the unifying ideal and force among working people. However, many have forgotten that without unions the eight-hour day, child labor laws, workplace safety regulations, and employer-funded health and retirement benefits would not exist. While, these are accepted as benefits to all, too many Americans forget that without vigilance such common good measures are always subject to being taken away. The so-called hollowing out of the middle class over the last several decades and the Great Recession bring the need for a strong, multiracial coalition of working people into sharp focus. That is the sentiment that drives the appeal of Bernie Sanders. Public sector unions- a favorite bipartisan whipping post- are the last bastions of resistance to corporate domination across all areas of public life. Supporting and expanding unions is a prime, injury to one is an injury to all, unifying issue. Unfortunately, the tremendous legal and social program advances that accompanied the civil rights movement did not enjoy widespread acceptance. Advocacy tended to be framed as finally giving disenfranchised and disrespected groups their rights and support for a "leg up." The success of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s built upon moral repugnancy on the heels of the Holocaust and television images of fire-hosed African-Americans demanding to vote, attend integrated schools, and be seated at the lunch counter. However, it was all too easy for opponents to say out loud and in whispers, "Yea sure, but at your expense," to those at the next rung up on the lower end of the economic ladder. Unfortunately, with dashed hopes for shared prosperity since 2008, divisive appeals to racism and xenophobia have once again successfully deflected attention from class-based explanations for growing inequality. Advertisement While Martin Luther King and others began to talk about social and economic justice in the late 1960's, that multiracial class-based appeal never took hold. In fact, as time passed it was often abandoned. At the same time, automation, economic globalization, and deregulation began to eat away at working people's real income. Republicans have steadfastly remained the party of tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation supported politically by escalating anti-government rhetoric and stoking blame on "others." Purposeful starving of federal, state and local government has exacerbated bureaucratic inefficiencies and undermined public confidence. While many mainstream Democrats challenged Republicans, they simultaneously embraced a move-to-the-center strategy that prioritized winning elections over substantive support for working people. By letting Republicans frame the issues, Democrats abetted voter cynicism. Continued use of phrases such as, "If you work hard and play by the rules," unwittingly supported conservatives' contention that too many people are "takers." Stark video images of Black men beaten and murdered by rogue policemen have once again catalyzed moral repugnancy, finally bringing long-standing racial disparity in the criminal justice into wider public consciousness. So too, inequality is drawing far more attention than at any time since the Great Depression. The advocacy for and acceptance of one core idea will determine how the United States emerges from the current volatile situation: It is possible for everyone to lead a decent, secure life, but it will require limiting the privileges of the wealthy. Achieving that goal will not be easy or fast. It requires unity and trust across traditional religious, racial and ethnic divisions. Advertisement There are several public policy arenas in which to highlight the, "An injury to one is an injury to all principle." Education: Inequitable funding of schools through local taxes hurts all but the most privileged. In the United States, education is rationed based on community wealth. Families with increasing property values, but relatively stagnant or fixed income are punished with ever-higher local taxes. In many communities, continued and expanded funding for charter schools to provide "opportunity" for some students has drained limited revenue from the remainder of children. These inequities, a violation of basic democratic principles, lead to inequitable education that results in poorly prepared worker and gullible voters. An injury to one is an injury to all. Health Care: The Affordable Care Act was a tremendous advance for some people, but access to high-quality health care remains an economic burden for far too many people. Unaffordable medical insurance deductibles and co-payments and unconscionable prescription costs hurt us all. Staying healthy should not be a privilege. Delayed medical care drives up insurance costs for everyone. A single-payer Medicare for all system would change spending on health care from a program for them to a program for all of us. An injury to one is an injury to all. Fair Wages and Infrastructure Investment: No one should have to work for wages that fail to support a decent life. Everyone who works, those who are unemployed and underemployed, and those who are unable to work should be guaranteed a living wage. This would benefit everyone. Basic supply and demand economics implies that as long as employers can pay domestic or immigrant workers low wages, the income of everyone else is depressed. Substantial investment in research and infrastructure would boost living wage employment and the entire economy. The only reason we cannot afford to enact living wage laws is that significant tax increases on the wealthy have been off the table. This is a political choice, not an economic imperative. Protecting the privilege of a few is an injury to all. Campaign Finance: The wealthy spend billions of dollars every year to influence politicians. They do so to maintain their wealth. The Supreme Court ruled that doing so was an exercise in free speech. Essentially, this ruling asserted that protecting the privileges of wealth is more important than equal protection of the rights of democratic participation. Protecting the privilege of a few is an injury to all. Advertisement TOPSHOT - Florence Hartmann, former spokeswoman of the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, on March 24, 2016, is arrested before the reading of the verdict Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic. / AFP / ANP / Robin van Lonkhuijsen / Netherlands OUT (Photo credit should read ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images) The Hague, Thursday, March 24, early afternoon. The international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), set up in 1993 to adjudicate crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide committed in the former Yugoslavia, was about to sentence Radovan Karadzic, one of the worst criminals of the Balkan wars of the 1990s and, more generally, of the period since World War II. Outside, standing with the families of victims and survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, awaiting with quiet anxiety a verdict that everyone knows will be essential to the work not only of justice but also of grieving, was Florence Hartmann, a journalist who for years worked mightily to denounce those crimes, to help identify the perpetrators, and to untangle the web of complicity that made them possible. Advertisement The decision had not yet come down when a handful of guards split the crowd, pushing aside Bosniak women who, once they realized what was about to happen, tried unsuccessfully to close ranks and to protect the journalist from arrest. For myself and others stunned by the news the story goes back to 2007, when the former correspondent for Le Monde, having returned to her original profession after several months spent helping the first prosecutor of the new tribunal, Carla Del Ponte, get the unprecedented institution up and running, published a book, Paix et chatiment (Peace and Punishment), in which, without revealing the details, she took note of a little arrangement between the tribunal and the government of Serbia, an arrangement designed to conceal the extent of the latter's involvement in the actions of Serb separatists in Bosnia. The tribunal, alas, reacted like one of the statist monsters against which it was supposed to deploy its new wisdom. Becoming anxiously indignant, it initiated a surreal proceeding against its former employee, imposed a fine that a support committee immediately raised the funds to pay, but then changed its mind and sentenced Hartmann to a week in prison -- a sentence that no country, including France, took seriously enough to compel her to serve. And it was that sentence that the ICTY guards, members of a private police force that holds no authority outside court property, a force whose role it is, not to rough up journalists but to watch over, escort, and prevent from escaping the architects of genocide who inhabit the ICTY's cells, moved in to enforce. Advertisement By the time these lines appear Florence Hartmann will have been released from the cell in which she was subjected to the same treatment as Mladic, Karadzic, and the other monsters she has spent her life denouncing -- and just a short distance from their cells. Doubtless we will have heard by then embarrassed explanations, and perhaps even excuses, from the Netherlands, whose real police permitted, on Dutch soil, a disgrace that the monsters in custody never would have dared to imagine, even in their dreams, that a great democracy would commit, as well as from France, which did not, as far as we know, issue any very strenuous objection to the unprecedented treatment of one of its finest journalists. And perhaps lesser colleagues, including those who, after the Balkan wars ended, so often abandoned Hartmann as she pursued, almost single-handedly, the painful struggle for the truth, will pop up in the media to say, in so many words, that it is not such a big deal to spend seven days of your life locked up, even among the murderers you have been pursuing, not so awful to live for a week with the lights kept on around the clock, with your clothes confiscated, and with the peephole into your cell sliding open every 15 minutes. Perhaps some will say (they have already begun to do so) that all she had to do to avoid this was not to be there at the ICTY that day with the families whose cause had for so long been her own. For my part, on this 28th day of March, I want to express my anger at the shameful images that have circulated widely on the Web (though for once not widely enough) of a manhandled journalist, her glasses ripped off, dragged away by police, veritably kidnapped, and stashed in a jail that in principle is reserved for the dregs of humanity. I want to express my astonishment at the faint-hearted response of the French media, compared with that of the Anglo-American press, in defending her. From the director of the daily that she served with such distinction for four years running we had a right to expect a little more than a belated article (four days after Hartmann's arrest) criticizing as "totally disproportionate" (what would have been proportionate, one wonders?) the punishment meted out for her "whistle-blowing" (as if a committed, courageous journalist who has never relented in her search for the facts were no more than a "whistle-blower"). Advertisement And lastly I want to express my sadness at a disastrous failure. Last week, the day finally arrived when the world was to see the leader of Bosnia's Serbs sentenced to forty years in prison, an occasion that should have been one of unalloyed joy for all those who had kept Bosnia close to their heart for twenty years, a day that should have been one of glory and victory for all of the men and women who had yearned to see the conclusion of the long march begun in Nuremberg by Raphael Lemkin and Hersch Lauterpacht, the pair that introduced into modern law the notions of genocide and crimes against humanity. On this same day the ICTY chose to equate symbolically with the most hardened criminals a person who has done more to bring us to this point than nearly anyone else since Lemkin and Lauterpacht! Was this a lapse? An unintentionally revealing act? A misfire by an institution insufficiently aware its own greatness? Will we hear remorse? Or is this a sign of an era that cannot seem to stop repeating its own dark moments? What happens next will give us the answer. Man typing text message on his smartphone, focus on hands and the phone device. Since far before the shooting in San Bernardino and the terror attacks that precluded it, there have been questions and concerns over what ends justify the means of national security and legal investigations. What are we, as a people, willing to sacrifice for safety? What are we willing to forgive for it? Do corporations owe their allegiance to the government, over the people they serve? The interests of privacy and security have often been at odds, especially in an age where sensitive information is stored digitally, and electronic hacking and surveillance are common. The dilemma is this: with access to more information, the government can investigate and prevent crimes of monumental proportions. On the flip side, such techniques can compromise the privacy (and sometimes safety) of American citizens. Advertisement The recent legal dispute between Apple and the FBI is a case that exemplifies the ongoing conflict between privacy and security. While on surface this case comes down to a single iPhone, the implications are profound, and may color the future of government-company cooperation (or lack thereof) internationally. On February 16, Apple was issued an order by The United States District Court for the Central District of California to create and provide a "backdoor" into an iPhone recovered during the FBI's investigation of the terror attack in San Bernardino, California. Apple sent a public letter that very day explaining why the tech company would and could not comply with this request. "The FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation," Apple's CEO Tim Cook wrote. "In the wrong hands, this software -- which does not exist today -- would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone's physical possession." Though targeted toward just one device recovered in the investigation, Apple warned that such a backdoor would be "the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks." The FBI filed a motion on the 19th asking the court to order Apple to comply. Advertisement On March 28, the FBI withdrew this legal effort after cracking the iPhone in question without Apple's assistance. Reasonable measures Corporations including Apple already comply with the US government to provide useful data for federal investigations. Subpoenas and search warrants allow the government entities to access specified data that tech companies have the rights to, like cloud backup records, for example. In past versions of the iOs, Apple has assisted the FBI in similar cases, but newer iPhones' encryption simply can't be broken without introducing a new (and in Apple's opinion, dangerous) vulnerability to the software. Doing so, Apple argues, could set a precedent to repeat the process in thousands of future investigations and leave all iPhones vulnerable to hackers. The NSA's own surveillance tactics have been a hot topic of debate since ex-contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents on PRISM, a surveillance program that collected internet communications with the cooperation of nine large technology companies. Companies like Google, Facebook and Apple had their names dragged into the dirt and have been working to re-earn consumer trust ever since. In the case of Apple vs FBI, some have accused Apple of prioritizing their reputation over the fight against terrorism. Even so, some NSA insiders are siding with the tech company: "I must admit, my old tribe is not unanimous on the view I've taken," Michael Hayden, former director of both the NSA and CIA told me recently on Yahoo News, "but there are other folks like me, other former directors of the NSA who have said building in backdoors universally in Apple or other devices actually is bad for America." Advertisement "I think we can all agree it's bad for American privacy," Hayden continued. "We're arguing it's bad for American security in terms of what adversaries will be able to do against U.S. citizens." Indeed, even if a universal backdoor has the potential to help the government (or be abused by it), in the hands of our adversaries it could certainly endanger more citizens than it protects. What's next? Though the iPhone has been cracked, both Apple and the FBI have been judged in the court of public opinion. Apple certainly earned points among others in the technology sector, but the same is not true of a populace swept up in fears of Islamic terror in the wake of ISIS' rise. According to a poll by Pew Research, 51 percent of Americans believe Apple should have cooperated with the FBI and unlock the iPhone. According to FBI director James B. Comey, the case highlights "that we have awesome new technology that creates a serious tension between two values we all treasure -- privacy and safety." In his opinion, "That tension should not be resolved by corporations that sell stuff for a living." Internet pioneer and philanthropist Bill Gates agrees that the solution should not be on the terms of one party, but would at best be a cooperation between both government and corporations. "For tech companies there needs to be some consistency, including how governments work with each other," Gates said. "The sooner we modernize the laws the better." Advertisement When you enter a New York cab, the first rule is to expect the unexpected. A cacophony of sounds and often smells, paired with an interesting driver, the yellow cab can take you much farther than LaGuardia, which is where I was headed this particularly sunny Thursday morning. The driver politely asked me if I had a preferred way to get to the airport. "Triboro Bridge" I said as we sat in gridlock traffic on 59th St. This simple exchange started an hour long conversation that served as a window into the 21st century American immigrant experience, and its potential impact on the 2016 presidential election. Soon my cab driver was looking for quicker ways to get to LaGuardia. Somewhere around Park Ave, he asked me, "What do you do for a living?" A benign enough question suitable for idle small talk, that is if your answer is not "I work in government." Advertisement I am a state senator from Northeastern Ohio. My cab driver is a Bangladeshi Muslim, a fact that I did not know when he responded, "So you work in government, do you? Please don't try to arrest me." I could tell this was his attempt at an awkward joke and made me wonder if the man was Muslim given the recent uptick in fear and xenophobia fueled by an uncertain world. Yes, the man was brown and had an accent. Yes, he drove a cab, but I never assumed he was a Muslim and certainly did not fear him as a possible terrorist. But his comment made it clear to me that foreign men of color assume they are perceived as terrorists. A tragic, yet all-too-real fact of American sentiments in 2016. The cabbie proceeded to feel me out, asking my party affiliation. Once he heard I was a Democrat, he opened up. "Well, we can talk, then. I'm a Democrat too." Traffic was at a standstill, but time was flying as we exchanged observations on everything from Obamacare to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He finally shared that he was indeed a Muslim, from Bangladesh and now proud American citizen. The man may not be traditionally educated, but seemed more knowledgeable in global affairs than some of my college-educated friends. He reflected on his first time voting for an American president in 2008, waiting in long lines to cast his ballot in New York. He mused about immigration's impact on the American job market and boldly said to me, "you tell anyone who thinks we are taking jobs away from white male Americas, they can wait on a New York corner until a white guy driving in a cab picks them up." The conclusion being, immigrants have jobs other Americans do not necessarily want or do especially in major metropolitan areas. Advertisement He continued with a story about a friend of his, another Bangladeshi, who also drives a cab. "My friend, he drives a cab. He speaks English with an accent. His son, he is a nurse at NYU hospital. He speaks English with no accent. At some point, we don't have an accent anymore. What do you call that? A son doing better than his father? Speaking English without an accent? It's the American Dream. It' s why we are here. It's why I love being an American." Yes, a Muslim from Bangladesh is an American. No different than my great grandparents from Italy and Ukraine were American. This is the real voice of Muslim America. Hard working ad patriotic Americans. Like many other Americans, he is engrossed in the 2016 presidential race. "I'm campaigning for Hillary from the front seat of my cab. We have to elect a Democrat as president to keep from going backwards in America." I couldn't agree more. Presidential elections get all of the attention. Twenty-four-hour media coverage. Journalists crisscrossing the nation imbed in campaign busses traversing obscure American towns. Big donors line up to throw big money at their candidate of choice. Our airwaves are carpet-bombed with ads, both negative and positive, coming from all sides. Staff and volunteers invade swing states to implement that ever-so-important ground game to identify and get out voters. All eyes of the world are on the race for the White House. So, it's no wonder that voter participation is much higher in presidential election years than in off-year midterm elections. After all, we are choosing a Commander-In-Chief, the leader of the Free World, right? Undoubtedly, much is at stake every four years as Presidents set the tone and, theoretically, the policy agenda, in Washington. Voters figure they have done their civic duty by casting a ballot for president and will be back to the polls in another four years. But what is occurring in the intervening time? We still have elections. Municipal elections, state government elections, gubernatorial elections, and even U.S. Senate and U.S. House races, none of which get the kind of time or attention from either voters or the media that is given in a presidential election year. Americans show up in presidential elections, but not in midterms. Here's a startling statistic: In 2008, the year Barack Obama was elected to his first term in the White House, 61.6% of all eligible voters went to the polls. Contrast that with 2014, a midterm election year, just 36.4% of all eligible voters showed up at the ballot box. Advertisement So, what causes this almost 50% drop-off in voter participation between presidential and midterm elections? Is it frustration with "politics as usual" or disgust with gridlock? Is it the lack of national attention paid to off-year elections? Is it a feeling that "my vote doesn't count"? It is likely all of these things factor into low midterm turnout, but what contributes to the gap between Democratic and Republican performance within a midterm election? Dems have a long history of not showing up for midterm elections. One big answer is demographics. Democrats do better with younger and minority voters. Neither shows up in force in midterm elections. According to the Cook Political Report, since 1994, voter turnout for those under the age of 45 in each midterm has fallen an average of 9.6 percent compared to the presidential election cycle before it. Conversely, an older, whiter electorate tends to participate in midterms in much larger numbers. Translation: Republicans have a built-in demographic advantage over Democrats in midterm cycles. Millennial and minorities are growing sectors of the American population, a trend that should help Democratic candidates cross the finish line to victory. However, they have to show up to vote first. Ironically, these groups have the most at stake in a midterm election. Governors' mansions and state houses are up for grabs in midterms. Voting rights and reproductive rights are increasingly decided at the state level. What's more, it's the states that draw the Congressional lines every ten years. One party rule in state capitals across the country has lead to significantly skewed Congressional districts, creating an environment ripe for extreme challenges in primaries and ultimately gridlock in Washington. In 2014, a midterm year, the Democrats lost nine seats in the United States Senate, collateral damage due to low turnout by traditional Democratic voters. The U.S. Senate is particularly important because it provides "advise and consent" for presidential appointees, including Supreme Court justice nominees. If you care about immigration, health care access, same-sex marriage, access to firearms, abortion rights or environmental regulation, you have to care about the composition of the Supreme Court. Landmark decisions on all of these hot button topics have either been recently decided by the Court in a 5-4 split, or are currently pending in front of the highest court in the land. Advertisement Had Democrats shown up to vote in 2014 and retained the U.S. Senate, the process to confirm a Supreme Court justice nominee would look nothing like the partisan chess game it has become to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Rewind to 2010, Dems lost six Senate seats in the midterm Tea Party revolution. But, in 2016, a presidential election year, Democrats have an opportunity to reverse the trend and take back the ground they lost six years ago. Republican U.S. Senators who were elected in the 2010 Tea Party wave are now up for re-election. Many are in states like Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio. All four of these states were won by Democrat Barack Obama in 2012. Clearly, this presidential election cycle is like nothing else we have seen before. But, if one thing holds true, and Democrats show up to vote in large numbers as they usually do in a presidential, Dems can and will regain Senate seats lost in the 2010 midterms. Now, more than ever, Democrats need to focus on the Senate, either to serve as a check-and-balance to a GOP White House, or a friend and ally to a Democratic president. Fellow Democrats need to wake up and realize elections have consequences. Not just presidential elections. Let's take advantage of our presidential performance advantage to make U.S. Senate gains, but then we must pause and do some soul searching to answer the question, "how do we reverse our midterm problem in 2018?" Let's not continue to be haunted by the Ghosts of Midterms Past. Capri S. Cafaro is a Democratic state senator in Ohio's 32nd district encompassing counties in Northeastern Ohio. She served as Ohio Senate Minority Leader from 2009-2012. This presidential cycle has been one of the most dramatic in recent history, both because of the cinematic spectacle of a fiery outsider taking on the establishment on the Republican side, and a feisty ideologue taking on the once-inevitable candidate on the Democratic side. But both the Trump-Cruz and Hillary-Bernie races share something in common: they are more heavily being fought on social media than any race in prior history. This, of course, makes sense: social media only began factoring into presidential politics in 2008. But the interim years between then and now have seen an explosion of activity by political campaigns, a phenomenon that can significantly impact the elusive millennial vote. As the candidates on both sides face the task that every campaign attempts to crack--chasing millennial voters--they must increasingly seek them on social media, both on the major established channels as well as smaller upstart platforms. As an example, in addition to active presences on Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, Sen. Ted Cruz just became the first candidate to join our platform, Headliner, where he is talking directly to young voters through short video posts. Advertisement In 2015, millennials became the largest generation alive in the US right now--83.1 million to the 76.4 million Baby Boomers, according to the US Census. This generation can be crucial to victory and was actually dispositive in the 2012 election, according to Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. According to some experts, in that race, had Mitt Romney secured 50 percent of the youth vote in the four battleground states of Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio--in other words, had those millennial voters stayed home rather than turning out for Barack Obama--Romney would have clinched the election. And yet, like Romney, most candidates struggle with the gargantuan task of mobilizing millennial voters. An exception was in 2008 and 2012, when 50 percent of millennials showed up to vote, both times in large numbers for Barack Obama; in 2012, he won 67 percent of the youth vote relative to Romney's 30 percent. By contrast, the 2014 midterm election saw only 21.3 percent of millennial voters turn out, an abysmal showing although turnout is always lower in midterm cycles. Of the youth who did vote in 2014, 55 percent voted for Democrats, but as a bloc, millennials are less partisan than their parents: 50 percent identify as Independent, 27 percent as Democrats, and 17 percent Republicans, respectively. They are also pretty skeptical of Washington D.C.; two-thirds believe that government tends to be "inefficient" and "wasteful." Enter social media. While employing a robust Facebook strategy has become a standard and necessary cornerstone of every candidate's overall digital strategy, this election cycle has seen candidates reaching far beyond Facebook to tap into millennial communities on numerous other smaller but arguably "hipper" platforms. Donald Trump has become legendary--and run into some political hailstorms--for his active tweeting. And in perhaps the 2016 election's most memorable line, Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders tweeted about his debut on Snapchat, writing, "What is this Snapshot thing and why do I only get ten seconds?" Advertisement Even more surprising, in a nod to how powerful the direct relationship with millennial voters on social media can be, Ted Cruz recently joined our app, Headliner. Headliner enables video conversations between our large and active community of millennial users. Users post videos starting a conversation and others can reply through text or video comments. The result is an app full of short, interactive vlogs ("video blogs") of discussions on politics, news, sports, television shows, movies, and life in general. Cruz capitalized on our hyperactive political community, posting a video laying out his take on the most significant issues--"this election is all about jobs and opportunity, it's about you coming out of school having a brighter future..." He then solicited direct questions, the social media equivalent to a Town Hall. Cruz joins a slew of other politicians who have used Headliner to have direct conversations with constituents, fans, and even skeptics. For example, Eric Swalwell, a young congressman from Silicon Valley, regularly uses Headliner to ask policy and priority questions and to reply to the answers he gets. Some members of the Congress who have posted on Headliner, such as Rep. Kathleen Rice, Rep. Tim Ryan, and Rep. Elise Stefanik--the youngest person in Congress--collaborate with us to engage with a younger audience through video. Donald Trump, president and chief executive of Trump Organization Inc. and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, gestures while speaking during a campaign event in Janesville, Wisconsin, U.S., on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Trump began his closing bid to capture Wisconsin's winner-take-all Republican primary by trying to address one of the biggest vulnerabilities of his campaign for the presidency: the female vote. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images Dear Mr. Trump, Maybe it takes one to know one. Maybe the fact that I have lost three times on a national scale has given me a special insight. But I can assure you, I know one when I see one, and you, Donald Trump, are a loser. I took the liberty of looking up the word "delusion" for you since your advisors clearly haven't. According to the dictionary, delusion is "a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary." Frankly, I can't think of a better word to describe your campaign.You can't win. The majority doesn't like you. Advertisement That being said, I'm going to do something that you have absolutely no capacity to do. I'm going to apologize. Not to you. I'm apologizing to anyone who may have heard me over the past few months imply that you are an inherently good person. You are not. You are an awful, egomaniacal, attention-seeking fool. I wish I could remember the gracious person I met while doing Celebrity Apprentice. Unfortunately, the blabber and idiocy that has dribbled from your mouth over the last eight months has completely wiped any positive memory away. Most unfortunately, perhaps, is that it has been wiped away for many millions who at one point may have had some degree of respect for you. You are now virtually impossible to listen to without screaming at the television. Admittedly, it took me a while to come to my senses. You of all people can certainly understand how difficult it is to see another point of view. The truth is, I didn't want to accept the arguments that you were a danger to this country. I did not want to believe that you were the hate spewing, violence-inciting demagogue that so many have seen you as from the moment you announced your candidacy. I wanted to believe that, deep down, you were a good person who was just incredibly caught up in the adoration of a very vocal group of supporters. I wanted to believe that you were saying the things you were saying, not because you believed them -- not because you truly thought Mexicans were ruining this country or that we should ban Muslims from the United States -- but because you were so hungry for attention and power that you would say whatever was necessary in order to get people to cheer for you. And while that in and of itself is a pretty disgusting and narcissistic trait, I hoped it was all for show and not representative of your core values. Advertisement I was wrong. I hate saying that, but at least I can say it. Campaigning is very difficult. One of the interesting things that I discovered during my campaign two years ago is that often times it's very easy for a candidate to live in a "bubble". When you're surrounded by staff who are optimistic, and you're always speaking to excited audiences, it's very easy to miscalculate the level of support that you have amongst the general population. I will be the first to admit that my run for Congress was an incredible long shot. It was not a race that I necessarily expected to win and I certainly lost by a large margin. But even though it was a long shot there were many moments when I would speak to a Republican voter who would tell me how much they liked me and how much they were looking forward to voting for me instead of the Republican. In moments like those it's very difficult not to get enthusiastic and believe that you can win. What I failed to recognize was that for every voter who came up to me and told me they were going to vote for me there were 10 other Republicans who are absolutely not supporting me. It's that damn bubble. Donald, rest assured, your bubble is about to burst. For every voter who comes to you and enthusiastically cheers on your campaign, there are hundreds that find you revolting. And according to your 68 percent unfavorable rating, the people hate you. They really, really hate you. If you think you are still in control of this campaign, you are delusional. Uh-oh, there's that magic word again. People should not be injured physically when attending one of your rallies. Taking that thought one step further, you should not be condoning brutality at your rallies! The fact that you encourage supporters to punch protesters in the face and then insist you never have -- despite video evidence to contrary -- is completely ... well... you know the word. Advertisement If you are scared of Megyn Kelly, how the hell are you going to take on our enemies. Tweet them into submission? That's not how the real world works. The only one committing atrocities against your First Amendment rights is you -- inciting violence, offering to pay legal fees for anyone arrested for cruelty in your name, harboring woman abusers like your campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, priding yourself in endorsements, some of which come from hate groups like the KKK and bigots like Jerry Falwell Jr. All is lost. Your supporters turned to you because they are against establishment politicians who are "on the take" and so easily bought and sold. They want change. What they fail to recognize is that you are one of the ones doing the buying and selling! I don't know what's worse, the fact that you believe you answer questions intelligently or the fact you can lie so easily to voters. I have watched all the debates and town halls and it baffles me that you can rattle off untruths with such ease. You look into that camera and tell Americans that the unemployment rate is in the 40th percentile without even the slightest bit of evidence. (Sort of ironic coming from a guy with name recognition linked to the phrase, "you're fired" and a clothing line that's manufactured overseas.) The latest statistics show that America's unemployment rate is 4.9 percent. This isn't a guess. This is a fact. Remember those? What does it matter, though? You'll say something entirely different tomorrow anyway. You change your positions more often than the canisters in your spray tan gun. However, unlike most of your platform, you can't walk back the hateful things you've said to offend vast swaths of the American public -- women, African-Americans, gays and lesbians, Latinos, Muslims, pretty much anyone with any common sense. The damage has already been done. Congratulations. You once had a vast and respected empire, and the name "Trump" was once synonymous with luxury and quality. Now it's just synonymous with bullshit. This is the vile legacy you leave your grandchildren. Advertisement 31st October 1968: Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon (1913-1994) is showered by balloons while standing on stage at a political rally in Madison Square Garden, New York City. (Photo by Santi Visalli Inc./Getty Images) Forty eight years ago, the Republican Convention, held in Miami, changed the American political scene, perhaps forever. The forthcoming Republican Convention in Cleveland may well do the same. At the 1968 convention the late non-lamented Richard Nixon initiated what came to be known as his "Southern Strategy" to lure the states of the solid south, Democratic since the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War, in to the Republican Party. President Kennedy had been unsuccessful in getting the support of the the southern Democrat members of Congress for his civil rights reform bills, but Kennedy's assassination and the legislative legerdemain of Lyndon Johnson had ultimately been successful in enacting into law the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the Voting Rights Act of 1967. Advertisement At the 1968 Miami Republican convention, Nixon had to get 575 votes on the first ballot or be relegated to the political obscurity he was to richly earn six years later with the revelations of the Watergate tapes. (It was before Senator Dole of Kansas made the famous comment: "Reagan: see no evil; Ford: hear no evil; Nixon: EVIL.") The nation was being torn apart by the Vietnam War. Lyndon Johnson, tortured by the loss of the greatness he had achieved with his Civil Rights Acts and War on Poverty, chose not to run again. The Democrats were in confusion with their anti-war candidate Bobby Kennedy assassinated on the night of his California primary victory, leaving only the good but bumbling Vice President Hubert Humphrey, stuck with Johnson's war, as their candidate. There were three Republicans in contention, Richard Nixon, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York and the fresh new face from California, Governor Ronald Reagan. Rockefeller was liberal, Reagan conservative and Nixon was the former Vice President under Dwight Eisenhower, who since his defeat for the governorship in California in 1962 had been busily appearing all over the country at fund-raising dinners for local Republican candidates. By convention time, Nixon had amassed over 500 delegates committed to him on the first ballot. Both Rockefeller and Reagan had in the neighborhood of 200 to 225 favorable delegates, leaving perhaps 120 to 150 who might conceivably be convinced to vote for one of the three. Advertisement Republicans of all persuasions gathered in Miami. At the time, I was a young and painfully naive freshman Republican congressman from California, surprisingly elected a few months earlier in a special election in, beating Shirley Temple Black. I was the first Republican elected to the House in opposition to the Vietnam War at a time when the majority of Republicans still believed in the war. I was thus understandably received with less than great enthusiasm by my Republican colleagues, many of whom had seen Shirley as a wonderful draw at fund-raising affairs. There were a few, like freshman George H.W. Bush, the first Republican elected from Texas, Barber Conable of New York, Syl Conte of Massachusetts and Bob Stafford of Vermont, who welcomed me despite my unpopular views. I was invited to join a small group of liberal Republicans known as the Wednesday Club. There weren't all that many liberals in the Grand Old Party after the tumultuous Republican convention of 1964 in San Francisco, where Barry Goldwater, author of "Conscience of a Conservative," had been the chosen nominee. Republicans had been in the minority in the House since 1954 and would remain so until the ascension of Newt Gingrich in 1994. Invited by several members of the Wednesday Club to accompany them to the convention to lobby for Rockefeller, and never before having attended any party political event of any kind, I accompanied my new friends to Miami. We stayed at one of the skyscraper beach hotels and soon learned that Nixon, a secretive and strange man, was not exactly beloved by many of the delegates he had earned from all those chicken dinners, and that they would cheerfully vote for either Rockefeller or Reagan on the second ballot. It also became clear that Reagan, not Rockefeller, would be the more likely nominee if Nixon didn't win the first ballot. So for the better part of two days, we roamed the hotel corridors seeking to persuade the rare uncommitted delegates to vote for Rockefeller. My only success was in getting a woman from Washington, committed but distrustful of Nixon, to agree to vote for Rockefeller should there be a second ballot. Advertisement It was on the second day, I believe, that, while cruising the halls with Barber Conable, we heard a voice emanating from a curtained doorway. We pushed through the curtains to find ourselves at the back of a large room where a small man on the stage was exhorting some 200 people to stand fast for Nixon on the first ballot. These were the relatively few Republicans from the southern states. The speaker's message was simple and clear. "I know you want to vote for Reagan, the true conservative, but if Nixon becomes president, he has promised that he won't enforce either the Civil Rights or the Voting Rights Acts. Stick with him." It was Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. His voice was strong and persuasive. That persuasion was successful. The roll call vote on the first ballot came and towards the end the votes from Washington, I believe, got Nixon over the crucial 575 line. He ended up with 591, 16 over the required number. What followed is history. Early in his administration, Nixon ordered that the Civil Rights administrator at HEW, Republican Leon Panetta, fired by HEW Secretary Bob Finch, because of his attempts to comply with the law and integrate the schools of South Carolina and other southern states. Panetta's efforts violated Nixon's promise to the southern delegates at Miami. Advertisement Finch refused, but Panetta got the message. He returned to California, became a Democrat, and in 1976 ousted Republican congressman Burt Talcott, thereafter to follow a distinguished career, respected by Democrats and Republicans alike, ending as Obama's head of the CIA and Department of Defense. The Southern Strategy, however, was wildly successful. The southern states can now be classed as The Almost-Solid South in the Republican column. It's a different Republican party today, however. What will happen at the Republican Convention in Cleveland this summer may well be a game changer in American politics. Trump and Cruz are sounding remarkably like that former Republican demagogue, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. The species Republican Liberal has become extinct. A gender-neutral bathroom is seen at the University of California, Irvine in Irvine, California September 30, 2014. The University of California will designate gender-neutral restrooms at its 10 campuses to accommodate transgender students, in a move that may be the first of its kind for a system of colleges in the United States. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: EDUCATION SOCIETY POLITICS) I have been engaged in a years-long effort to get the LGBT community -- gay and trans -- to mount a professional campaign to deal with the trans bathroom issue. I was the leader, at significant personal and political cost, of the first community that actually faced -- and defeated -- such a campaign, so I have some standing upon which to discuss this topic. You may have noted that the grassroots has been mounting such social media campaigns over the past several years. I've written about them and they've had a positive impact. However, being limited to social media, and without the amplification provided by the mainstream media pushed by our national advocacy organizations, the impact of these grassroots heroes is still limited. Advertisement I haven't been campaigning alone. I have had trans and gay colleagues raising the question, increasingly more frequently, since it has become clear, in this year of a tsunami of anti-LGBT legislation which is often primarily directed at trans persons and bathroom facilities, that the attacks must be dealt with directly. Yet no organization -- not the LGBT behemoth, the Human Rights Campaign, nor the leading national trans equality organization, the National Center of TransEquality -- has joined in the effort or even the debate. The response has been, as it has with the issue of Title VII protections -- silence. Finally, the nation's leading LGBT newspaper, the Washington Blade, has published an essay from a Maryland resident which, I believe, goes to the heart of the movement's reticence on this issue. I welcome her engagement. Suzi Chase wrote her article, entitled "Passing Privilege Debate Conjures Stereotypes," using this very cute photo in her lede: I will put aside the issue of there being an actual debate about passing privilege, because while it's been an issue in the trans community for many decades, it's never really been publicly debated, and we no longer have the luxury of ignoring it. Unfortunately, and this may be one of the reasons the national organizations are hesitant to even broach the subject, it brings back to life old arguments about gay rights strategy, including the addition of the "T" to LGB. I will state from the start -- I do not believe that in the pursuit of basic human rights that our community should leave anyone behind. We may have to compromise on the expansiveness of legal protections, say not covering public accommodations as well as employment or housing at any given moment in time, as occurred in Massachusetts in 2011, but we should not work to pass anti-discrimination laws that cover only gay persons or only trans persons, for instance. That's why in pushing for educating the LGBT population about our federal legal rights under Title VII since the 2012 Macy decision I have repeatedly said, "No gays left behind." And that finally came about in the Baldwin v. Fox decision of last summer. Similarly I have fought for an inclusive federal ENDA and Equality Act, and full coverage for all trans and gender non-conforming Marylanders in our county and state legislation. I don't privilege any group over another. Advertisement However, it is one thing to pass laws that cover everyone, and leave no one behind, and another to be fully inclusive while organizing and strategizing to accomplish those goals. That can be very counterproductive, and even dangerous, threatening members of the trans community who do not deserve to be punished for the sake of political correctness. We are running political campaigns with political actions, not support groups, and we're doing so with an American population that is profoundly ignorant about sex and gender. Smashing the gender binary is dangerous political provocation in today's climate. Ignoring stereotypes that are ingrained in the American psyche is inviting failure. Demanding that passing privilege shouldn't matter, when it clearly always has, and should have no role in marketing the community to its neighbors, is a mistake. Changing these stereotypes is important social work. Education is ongoing and will continue, but it will take years, if not decades to change those stereotypes. It is no surprise that the most well-known trans Americans are gender-typical Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox. It will be years before a genderqueer person breaks into that level of fame. And that person will come, but not soon enough, to have a significant enough impact on the legislatures in North Carolina, Georgia or Tennessee. Back in the '70s and '80s, the gay community was riven by divisions between the assimilationists and the queens. The decisions were made to present to straight America gay persons who resembled them, so as not to stop the nascent movement in its tracks. It was only in the 90s that lesbians came to some degree of power in the movement, and only in this century when the trans community has joined as well. Advertisement People today are still angry, even enraged, that the gay communities of the '90s didn't embrace trans persons and push for inclusive legislation. For example, during the late '90s gender identity was stripped from the Maryland anti-discrimination bill. When I argued in Maryland in 2009 that the community should promote the fact that I had recently obtained the state's first same-sex divorce -- three years before marriage equality passed -- I was asked to demur. When I suggested we use trans couples as part of our collage of couples deserving of same-sex marriage, because we would benefit just as well, I was asked to be quiet. "You'll just mess up the presentation and complicate the issue in the minds of the legislators and general population," I was told. Having thought about it from a political, and not a personal perspective, I agreed. The goal was to change the law which would have broad, inclusive consequences, even if we didn't stage-manage the campaign to be all-inclusive. Putting aside the natural human habit of self-interest, which affects gay people as well as straight, it is unfortunately true that many gay bills would not have passed in the early years had they visibly included gender identity. What was unacceptable was the claim of the gay advocates that they would "come back" for us. They usually did not, and then only when kicking and screaming in too many cases. Today Wisconsin, New Hampshire and New York still don't have inclusive state laws. Those efforts for gay rights did pave the way for Americans, once they had gotten over their gay "ick" factor, to being to deal with the trans community. The trans "ick" factor still exists, primarily in the Old Confederacy but still nationwide as well, as manifested recently in South Dakota, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, and will take even more time to overcome. As I've said, these bills are a rear-guard action being taken against us because we are winning. But in our victory blindness, as Michaelangelo Signorile calls it, from marriage equality -- which covered all members of the gay and trans community, as I described earlier -- we have not been prepared for the ferocity of the onslaught. Adding genderqueer visibly into the mix, or, more specifically, failing to promote actual trans persons because so doing minimizes the lives of genderqueer persons, is not only short-sighted but potentially very damaging. To the issue of privilege -- some privileges are good. Some people earn their privilege. Some use it to help others gain their own and subvert unearned privilege. Passing privilege is one of those privileges, and it won't be disappearing anytime soon. We need to use it to our advantage. As for the stereotypes, Ms. Chase says: Basing our case for restroom and locker room access on the notion that those who look female belong in female spaces wins us ground, but only at the cost of compounding the pressure trans people already feel to conform to gender expectations imposed by our culture. If we insist that trans men and women resemble our general notion of what men or women ought to look like, we not only reinforce gender stereotypes but also disproportionately oppress those who can't or prefer not to live up to those stereotypes. The South Dakota victory was not won by presenting impactful images. Instead, the transgender students the law would mistreat were humanized by airing their stories and acquainting decision makers with the realities of their lives. That needs to be our goal in future efforts if we are truly to move toward a world where the entire spectrum of appearances, gender identities, and presentations can live comfortably and safely. Our goal is, indeed, to "to move toward a world where the entire spectrum of appearances, gender identities, and presentations can live comfortably and safely," but that does not happen overnight. I believe while Governor Daugaard meeting with the families of trans students did help him understand the reality of trans lives, he made his decision because of the intense pressure brought by the South Dakota business community. They're interested in fairness and equality, but they are probably not ready for smashing the gender binary. The "impactful images" that were in his mind were likely similar to those two girls at the top of this column, and the fear of losing federal dollars and future business opportunities played a very important role. Ms. Chase is correct when she writes that "basing our case for restroom and locker room access on the notion that those who look female belong in female spaces wins us ground," and that is the ground upon which we are fighting today. Advertisement The lawsuit filed this week in the 4th Circuit in North Carolina by the ACLU and Lambda Legal makes effective use of the binary gender expression normativity of our society, a long overdue necessity to influence the courts in the federal system that ultimately will protect all of us: H.B. 2 discriminates against transgender people based on gender nonconformity. For example, although Mr. Carcano and Mr. McGarry are men, are perceived as men in public, and have had medical treatment to bring their body into alignment with their male gender identity, they have birth certificates with female gender markers that do not conform to H.B. 2's expectations for men. Furthermore, if transgender men such as Mr. Carcano and Mr. McGarry had been assigned male at birth they would not be banned by H.B. 2 from the restrooms and other single-sex facilities consistent with their gender identity. No person has any control over the sex that person is assigned at birth. [Case 1:16-cv-00236 Document 1 Filed 03/28/16 Page 34 of 45] On January 1, 2016, the new United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) came into effect, creating a new international development agenda for the next 15 years. These 17 goals will mobilize international agencies, governments, NGOs, and the private sector to help tackle such enduring problems as persistent poverty, climate change, and gender inequality. Among the most important goals for both myself and Global Communities is the second goal: "End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture." These goals are ambitious, and working to achieve them will go a long way towards alleviating human suffering and expanding human potential. They also identify that hunger in the developing world doesn't just mean a lack of food; it can mean inadequate nutrition that has a negative impact on health and cognitive development, especially for children, which has ongoing effects for the rest of someone's life. The ambition of this goal is a double-edged sword, however, as it highlights the challenge in achieving it over the next 15 years. The problems of hunger and nutrition are very complex, but I believe they can be solved with targeted, evidence-based investments, especially in those who have one of the most important roles in fighting hunger: farmers. Advertisement It' been a long evolution to start getting the international development community to realize that farmers are part of both an agricultural system and a community system. We need to support both aspects, looking at farmers as part of both an economic sector and as part of a community. Programs tend to focus on one or the other, but we at Global Communities have seen the success that happens when these approaches are used in tandem. Our experience shows that we need much more investment in farmers' organizations such as cooperatives and associations. Cooperatives are one of the best ways to reach large numbers of smallholder farmers to achieve scale, purchase large quantities of inputs at a reduced price and provide a market access point for buyers. The private sector actors that control international and national markets are simply not interested in small quantity and poor quality produce grown by smallholders. Yet, through cooperatives and associations, smallholder farmers are able to reach scale and ensure quality with the help of technical capacity building and governance training. Cooperatives also represent a community-based audience for introducing improved nutritional practices, opportunities for strengthening democratic values, introducing natural resource management, and promoting gender equality. We've seen this approach succeed, partnering with USAID on the Cooperative Development Program, which works with over 70 cooperatives in Mongolia, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. In Mongolia, cooperatives have learned how improving production methods can change the entire domestic market. Building more than 40 greenhouses for high-value vegetables and 50 improved shelters for dairy cows, they have extended their growing season by an average of 80 days and are able to keep their cows productive in one of most extreme climates on earth. As a result of support provided directly by the private sector, three Mongolian cooperatives have invested in their own dairy processing centers and are developing their own products that are now sold in supermarkets in Ulaanbaatar. Advertisement If we are going to be able to achieve this aspect of the SDGs, we also need much more investment in farmer training and extension, especially for women. Governments need to invest in and develop large and modern networks capable of providing on-the-ground support for farmers. These approaches need to be gender-sensitive to provide the right kind of support to female farmers, which may be different than the support needed by males. For instance in Rwanda, lack of communication between spouses regarding household and farming priorities was a constant roadblock, as was the fact that there was a disproportionate burden of work on women. As part of the USAID-funded Integrated Improved Livelihoods Program in Rwanda known locally as Ejo Heza (which means "Brighter Future"), Global Communities developed the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) to help address these issues. GALS enables the full inclusion of women and men, making them equal and respected partners in the improvement of their lives. The GALS pilot has had profound effects. Many groups reported that GALS helped them better understand the meaning of gender equality. One female participant explained that now she understands gender equality as not only equality between men and women but also discussing problems and planning together for their future. And male participants learn that when a woman is empowered, she can contribute more to the family. Twenty-six years ago, Collin Wong was a timid young Kamehameha Schools student who was teased and tormented for being "too girlish." Back then, long before we had reached the "transgender tipping point," there wasn't a place for students like Collin, and no teacher to offer guidance on what was considered a controversial topic better ignored than embraced. But Collin was fortunate to find safety, and inspiration, in studying Hawaiian language, culture and music, a realm at Kamehameha where students were judged not for their gender expression but for their dedication and accomplishments. With the encouragement and tutelage of acclaimed kumu such as Randie Fong and Holoua Stender, Collin excelled, leading his junior class chorus and, as a senior, chanting his own composition at the legendary annual school Song Contest. Advertisement Three years later, Collin transitioned to Hinaleimoana, and began her pursuit of a life of teaching, community service, and passing on the true meaning of aloha: love, honor and respect for all. One of her innovations as a K-12 teacher, or kumu, at a Hawaiian-focused public charter school in Honolulu, was to create a place and nomenclature, based on cultural tradition, that explicitly recognizes students who are "in the middle" - somewhere between male and female on the gender spectrum. Instead of being ignored or ridiculed, these "kane-wahine" and "wahine-kane" - terms coined by Hina to acknowledge and honor the presence of both feminine and masculine spirits in her students - are expected to excel - not despite who they are, but precisely because of it. Two weeks ago, Hina's journey came full circle when she was invited to the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest to watch the students perform her original composition Ku'u Ha'aheo e Ku'u Hawai'i - Stand Tall My Hawai'i. This stirring anthem has become a symbol of today's Hawaiian movement for sovereignty and self-determination - a movement that, thanks largely to Hina's work, increasingly recognizes Hawaii's tradition of gender diversity and inclusiveness as an important component of the quest for a better world. Hina will return to Kamehameha Schools on April 6 for a screening, at the Ka'iwakiloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center, of A Place in the Middle - a short film that we produced, based on our PBS feature documentary Kumu Hina, to make Hina's uniquely Hawaiian style of teaching available to students, educators, families and communities everywhere - including in Hawaii's public schools, which are having difficulty grappling with these issues. In addition to a lively talk story, attendees will be able to get free copies of the educational toolkit, and be treated to a live performance of Hina's mele. Advertisement Continuing the journey that began on Kamehameha Schools' beautiful Kapalama campus, Hina will travel to Washington D.C. in July to receive this year's Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Award from the National Education Association, honoring her contributions to improving educational opportunities and advancing the achievement of equal opportunity for Asians and Pacific Islanders. 23rd June 1951: A young couple sharing an intimate moment in one of the pavement cafes on the Champs-Elysees, Paris. Original Publication: Picture Post - 5343 - Sunday Morning In The Champs-Elysees - pub. 1951 (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images) In Sweden, where I was born, all that's needed to travel is a Google search for hotel deals, a few clicks to book a flight, and occasionally a visa application. Yet in the Gaza Strip, where my parents were born and I live now, being able to travel is akin to achieving a miracle. I know because I have spent more than a year trying to leave. My reasons for traveling seemed compelling to me: security training in London mandated by the organization that employs me, and a visit to Sweden to see my husband and parents. Advertisement But travel into and out of Gaza is reserved for exceptional cases. Israel controls Gaza's airspace and territorial waters and doesn't allow Gaza to operate an airport or seaport. Israel says travel through the Erez crossing, the only crossing linking Gaza to Israel and the West Bank, is inherently dangerous and limits it to "exceptional humanitarian cases," a category that, according to the Israeli military, includes medical patients and their companions, merchants buying large quantities of goods, and family visits for marriage, death, or grave illness. These restrictions are imposed on everyone, even if the Israel Security Agency, Shin Bet, makes no claim that they pose a security risk. We ordinary people pay the price. These restrictions redirect anyone who wants to travel abroad to the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border. But since the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013, the military-backed government of Egypt has mostly shuttered Rafah. The crossing opened for a total of 32 days last year, during which access was granted to fewer than 30,000 people - just 8 percent of the number who crossed in 2013. Travel is limited to medical patients, Egyptian passport-holders, students, and foreign citizens and residents. At least 25,000 remain on waiting lists, but most Palestinian residents of Gaza don't even meet the criteria to get on the waiting list. I tried to leave Gaza three times last year, in anticipation of a rare opening of the Rafah crossing. I couldn't even get close to the border area, though my Swedish passport means I'm eligible to try. The routine was the same each time word came that Egypt would open the border. To register for the waiting list, I headed to the Abu Khadra complex in Gaza City, run by Gaza's Hamas-led administration. I spent five hours standing outside getting sunburned or freezing, depending on the season. Advertisement Those five hours are not enough time to register the masses who show up. There is shoving, yelling, and fighting. Behind barred windows, clerks work by generator due to power cuts that average 12 hours a day. Inevitably the generator fails, or the computer freezes, or the clerks, overwhelmed by the mobs of people pressing against the bars, take a break. These lost minutes can mean the difference between getting on the waiting list or not. Tensions run high, people start crying, and then it is over. You either go home bruised and sweaty, or bruised, sweaty and holding a piece of paper with your name and number. But only a fraction of those lucky enough to register actually get to travel in the few days that Egypt opens the crossing. Priority is given to medical patients, those with connections and those who pay bribes. The travel line at Abu Khadra is a microcosm of the physical reality of the Gaza Strip: 1.8 million people crammed into 365 square kilometers [141 square miles]. As part of my work, I document the growing phenomenon of young people, in some cases children, approaching the fence between Gaza and Israel to demonstrate. They look at the fields and valleys beyond Gaza, toward cities from which their grandparents fled or were expelled and toward the West Bank, which forms the other part of the Palestinian territory yet has been mostly off-limits since 2000. They throw stones, try to tear down the fence, or simply shout their anger and frustration. Israeli forces, which declare the border area a "no go zone," have killed 21, including two children, and injured more than 1,200 since October. The motives and political views of young people in Gaza may vary, but I sense that many of us share a feeling of being caged in, able to glimpse beyond the barbed wire a world filled with possibilities that is beyond reach. Advertisement I am more fortunate than many in Gaza. I belong to the professional middle-class, and I have a foreign passport. Yet I share the feeling of so many young people here, that life is passing by, taking with it opportunities for advancement, professional and personal, while they - we - are trapped. Young people in Gaza want to travel. They want opportunities. They want freedom of movement. With scientists warning that time is short to curb greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to slow climate change, it's urgent that we engage our youth in creating a clean-energy future for themselves, their children and grandchildren. Most importantly, the next generation needs to participate in ensuring a clean energy future for low-income communities and communities of color -- those most at risk if climate change continues unchecked. In the spirit of the 1987 UN Brundtland Commission report defining sustainable development as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs," we urge governors to take the Obama Administraion's Clean Power Plan (CPP) "to the streets" by enlisting youth to help meet their state's CPP-mandated emission-reduction goals. The CPP offers a unique opportunity to involve young adults in both addressing climate change and advancing climate equity by requiring states to meaningfully engage vulnerable communities in planning to meet those goals. It also incentivizes renewable energy and energy efficiency initatives that benefit low-income, minority and tribal communities. Advertisement Bringing climate action to the streets means addressing youth unemployment by training young people for in-demand green careers. Clean energy outpaces the fossil fuel sector in the realm of employment, creating twice as many jobs, offering more jobs requiring only a high school diploma and paying 13 percent higher median wages. Climate solutions should intentionally prepare youth for climate-related careers - including higher-paying jobs in STEM and construction. With the help of local career training programs, young people from the most vulnerable communities are already rebuilding and greening their cities and neighborhoods while gaining skills to implement sustainability programs, including those that could help states meet their CPP targets. Ruben Castro, a graduate of the Austin, Texas, Casa Verde YouthBuild, was inspired to work in green construction after learning to build energy-efficient homes for local low-income families very much like his own. After graduation he did general contracting work, new construction and remodel projects, eventually being hired by D. Martin Homes LLC, which had donated a solar array for a Casa Verde home. Ruben quickly proved his worth, advancing to superintendent. He now oversees multiple green building and renewable energy projects. YouthBuild Schenectady, N.Y., has built an effective pipeline for its students to gain hands-on experience in weatherization, earn industry-recognized certifications and find employment with the program's weatherization social enterprise, Home Energy Connection. Graduates Amir Mans and Erica Melendez found jobs installing insulation immediately after completing YouthBuild, and Erica is now a Building Performance Institute-certified crew chief. Advertisement The Sustainability Institute (SI) in Charleston, S.C., trains young adults - including former offenders like Timothy Gunn - to make energy efficiency retrofits in low-income homes. After more than two years behind bars for armed robbery, Tim was motivated to do right but lacked options. SI helped him gain retrofitting certifications and home weatherization experience, and he is now being recruited by the energy efficiency industry. As a Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and Americorps member, Jasmine Romero, a young Native American woman from New Mexico's Taos Pueblo, provided weatherization services to disadvantaged homeowners, helping them reduce home energy costs. Through her service, Jasmine went from living out of her car to being on track to become New Mexico's first official female energy auditor. Thousands of young adults like these YouthBuild and Corps participants are making a difference in their communities by implementing energy efficiency programs in YouthBuild programs, Service and Conservation Corps and other training and service programs. In the context of meeting CPP carbon-reduction targets, states should increase access to such green career pathways by funding existing, proven program models beyond the levels currently funded by the federal government. Both YouthBuild and Service and Conservation Corps turn away thousands of young adults each year solely for lack of funding. Taking climate action to the streets also means strengthening community resilience. To ensure that today's progress on carbon reduction continues into the future, we must engage our young people in local efforts to address climate change and adapt to extreme weather. Such involvement prepares them to become the passionate leaders who can address these serious issues. Perhaps the best reason to engage our young people in sustainability is that they "get it." At a recent PolicyLink conference, one Native American youth warned that decisions made today must take into account seven generations - past, current and 150 years into the future. He respectfully advised us to craft a world that is "youth-led and elder-guided." Advertisement Our call to action for state leaders is this: Embrace the spirit of intergenerational sustainability by involving our young people in building a more resilient, sustainable and equitable community. #### Denise Fairchild is President and CEO of Emerald Cities Collaborative; Dorothy Stoneman is Founder and CEO of YouthBuild USA, Inc; Mary Ellen Sprenkel is Chief Executive Officer of The Corps Network. Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC) is a national nonprofit network of organizations working together to advance a sustainable environment while creating greater economic opportunities for all. We're transforming the energy efficiency sector in a high road way, by retrofitting building stock, creating high wage jobs, and revitalizing the local economies of our metropolitan regions. The Corps Network provides leadership and support to over 120 of America's Service and Conservation Corps. Through advocacy, access to funding opportunities and expert guidance, The Corps Network annually enables over 23,000 Corpsmembers, ages 16-25, to strengthen communities, improve the environment and transform their lives through service. To learn more about The Corps Network, please visit www.corpsnetwork.org. Tired businesswoman in the office On average, Americans spend the majority of time working-- approximately nine hours per day, followed by sleeping in second place at almost eight hours. It isn't any wonder that many of us want to make the best of the time we spend at work to have a better quality of life altogether. Many companies recognize the importance of office morale and how happy employees are assets yielding higher productivity. On the flipside, when a company ignores the mood of its employees or fails at their attempts to boost spirits, the workplace can be a breeding ground for hostility and drama. And sometimes -- no matter what type of environment is being encouraged at a company -- sometimes there are just some 'bad eggs' in the bunch. It rarely takes much effort for one weak link to dampen the spirits of others. Unfortunately, whether you're the ringleader or just part of the crew, there can be big repercussions on your career. Advertisement Are you the catalyst? Are you actively participating in office gossip, sabotaging co-workers or orchestrating unnecessary chaos? If so, you're at risk of damaging your professional reputation, and possibly personal reputation if you're behaving exceptionally poorly. Keeping on top of office disharmony can lead to lackluster job performance, particularly if the work has taken a backseat to the drama. When focus is not put on the job duties themselves, there is more room for mistakes and not performing at your best capacity. I'm guessing 'unprofessional' is probably not the reputation you want. Another reputation in the workplace -- we all know someone like this -- is the employee who gets a bad reputation. This tends to occur when the office drama queen/king is straight up malicious, sleeping with co-workers, using drugs or alcohol excessively, and more. In my line of work, I've had my fair share of clients who have had to transition into other fields because they ruined their reputations beyond repair. It's true there are some industries that encourage what some would consider 'bad' behavior. As a general rule, it's best for career longevity if you call attention to your professional accomplishments rather than personal notoriety. Are you part of the clique? So you're not spearheading the turmoil, but associating yourself with the drama will not fare much better. Not guilty doesn't always equate to innocence. There may be some reasoning behind befriending the office drama queen. Maybe they're the more dominant employees, major players in office politics, it's better to be with them then against them, and more. My best advice here is: if you're aware of any drama going on, back away! Advertisement Guilt by association could come back to haunt a person in several ways. First, being lumped in with a group that is known for their antics may transfer that unprofessional reputation to other members of the clique, even to those who don't deserve it. In addition, if there is any jealousy amongst the clique and one of them gets promoted or called out for exceptional work, beware of the pack turning on that person. So, how do you avoid the drama? I worked in a strip club for a year, in case you didn't know that. And with that, I bestow onto you some great stripper knowledge: go to work, do your job, get out. As you might imagine, strip clubs are a 'high-stakes' environment where many lives have been ruined based on work drama. "Around here we only bumping Fela Kuti, Tupac, or Bob Marley, Lucky Dube." -K'naan It is not uncommon for African Diaspora born artists to become popular in Africa. Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Louis Armstrong, and Lord Kitchener are all examples of this. Tupac was yet another example of this. In a report on urbanization and war in Africa, Marc Sommers wrote: Tupac Shakur is famous across Africa, most particularly among urban youth. His music is as common in many urban neighborhoods as Bob Marley's once was. His face and poses, pictured on clothing and in murals, are now widely familiar. A popular T-shirt has a black background, showing Tupac (spelled "2Pac") looking alert, with U.S. dollar signs ringing the collar and his most popular slogan, "All Eyez on Me," across the bottom. "All Eyez on Me," indeed--Tupac's lyrics expressing his alienation, fury, and his conviction that his quest for revenge is thoroughly justified, the police sirens in the background of many of his songs, the belief that he was not really murdered but is still alive (often proclaimed in "Tupac Lives" graffiti), all conjure an image of a defiant, proud antihero, and an inspiration for many of Africa's young and alienated urbanites. Unlike some of the other artists that were mentioned, Tupac expressed a rather limited interest in Africa. He occasionally mentioned South Africa and dedicated a poem titled "Just a Breath of Freedom" to Nelson Mandela. Beyond that, Tupac was not as interested in African affairs in the way other Diaspora artists such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh were. More so than any other American rapper, however, Tupac was able to connect to Africa. This connection is understandable given not only Tupac's status as a global icon in music, but also because, more so than most rappers, Tupac's lyrics accurately described, in gritty details, the life of impoverished African people. Tupac spoke about growing up in poverty, having a drug addicted mother, struggling against oppression, and other issues that impact Africans in the United States, but these themes can also be applicable to Africans throughout the world. The issues that Tupac sang about in America are issues that plague black people in Africa. Tupac himself probably never considered the impact that his music would have on African people outside of the United States, which makes it interesting that although Tupac never addressed himself specifically to an international African audience in the manner that Bob Marley did, Tupac's popularity in Africa rivals that of Marley's. Marley connected to African audiences because he sang about African unity and the struggles of African people against colonialism. Tupac's appeal to Africans was that Africans in the continent were able to relate to the struggles of Africans in the United States, which Tupac articulated in his music. One of the troubling aspects of Tupac's popularity in Africa is his popularity among African rebel groups. In Sierra Leone, some of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels referred to themselves as the Tupac Army. The RUF rebels, who were fighting to overthrow the government, committed a number of atrocities. They slaughtered civilians, burned people alive, raped women, chopped off people's arms, and forced children to fight as soldiers. Advertisement Just as Tupac can be a positively inspiring influence for frustrated and impoverished youth looking to create social change, his music can just as easily be used as a symbol for violence and vengeance. In songs such as "Hit 'Em Up," "When We Ride on Our Enemies," "Breathin,'" and "Against All Odds," Tupac spoke about getting revenge by viciously killing his enemies. In "Hit 'Em Up," rapped about killing rival East Coast rappers. Hit 'Em Up was one of the phrases that the rebels would write on their vehicles. The rebels saw Tupac as a rebellious figure who engaged in a violent struggle for what he believed in. This appealed to them in their fight against the government and served as one of the inspirations for their violence. The Sierra Leonean government, however, had a different view on Tupac. They blamed his music for inspiring the RUF rebels to act violently. It is difficult to completely blame Tupac here because he would not have agreed with having his image being used to justify such acts of violence, yet at the same time he is not completely innocent because there was an element of his lyrics that promoted violence. Rebels listening to Tupac's music would have come across lyrics such as "automatic gunfire making all my enemies run," "cut your young ass up, leave you in pieces, now be deceased,"and "my automatic rounds catch 'em while they sleeping." Tupac was rapping about getting revenge against his enemies, not killing innocent civilians, but for the RUF rebels the civilians were viewed as enemies in their war against the government, especially the ones that supported the government. For this reason the rebels cut off the hands of civilians to punish them for voting. Here is also where we see some similarities between black-on-black violence in the United States and civil warfare in Africa. In both cases we are dealing with an impoverished and dispossessed population of people that have endured centuries of hardships. In the United States one can easily point to slavery and Jim Crow as events that psychologically traumatized African people. Although colonialism in Africa lasted for a relatively shorter time period when compared to the centuries of slavery in the Americas, the colonial period was just as traumatizing. Aside from colonialism, the slave trade itself caused much chaos and upheaval in West and Central Africa. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and other African nations that have suffered civil wars were psychologically impacted by the slave trade and colonization. Although Tupac's music did not have the Pan-African message that Bob Marley's music had, his music played a significant role in bridging the divide between African people living in the United States and those living in Africa. The popularity of Tupac's music in Africa demonstrated the similarities between the struggles of African people on both sides of the Atlantic. -- Somewhere along the way many network and boutique publicists got the idea that the traditional elements of program promotion - press kits, DVD screeners, press conferences and other events - could be replaced by e-mails with links to online information and private streaming sites that would generate the same results. As a result, a growing number of critics are passing right by many new and returning shows, either by choice (because the shows are known to be terrible) or understandable oversight (the inevitable result of receiving hundreds of e-mails every day). Within that context, let us praise the National Geographic Channels and the tireless work of their publicity and marketing teams in getting the word out - especially about important programming that people really should be encouraged to watch. They go as far beyond e-mails and links as it is possible to do. The networks of National Geographic are known for having an above-average presence at the twice-yearly Television Critics Association tours. Similarly, Nat Geo's Upfront events and activities can be counted on to make an impact with press and advertisers alike. And then there are its private press tours or, as some might call them, junkets. These aren't special press opportunities designed to call attention to unworthy piffle as most such press trips tend to be. Rather, they are carefully conceived and meticulously executed events meant to further generate awareness about certain programs that deserve all the extra attention they can get, especially in an ever-more-crowded television environment that seemingly discourages the increased production of programs that are genuinely good for people - something we might call Brain Food TV. Advertisement The most recent example of Nat Geo's efforts in this area is a recent trip to Rome for a group of people who write about television that served as an uncommonly immersive introduction to The Story of God, a limited series beginning this Sunday on National Geographic Channel that is simultaneously as intimate as anything else on television and too expansive to fully comprehend. It's a six-part documentary conceived and executive produced by Morgan Freeman, who also appears throughout the entire program, traveling around the world to no less than 20 cities in seven different countries on a fact-finding expedition that encompasses the past history and present status of every major religion and understandings by followers of all of them about creation, life, death and the after-life. There is even a side-track of sorts into how science and technology are intersecting with religion and spirituality through developments in artificial intelligence that have as their desired goal the imbuing of animated humanoids with something resembling souls. There isn't a person on this planet who hasn't given much thought to these matters at some point in his or her life, even if only to reject all of it as the fabrications of storytellers or big business. But for most people questions about their beliefs are always there; in that way people today are no different from those who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago, regardless of their religion. Advertisement In that sense Morgan Freeman and his producers have attempted to freeze this moment in time, taking stock of all that has occurred up to this point and all that is here today. It was a mammoth undertaking, but the pay-off is spectacular. The four episodes of the series provided for early review are riveting and never for a moment feel like a boring classroom lecture on the subject. Instead, they bring the histories of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism. Plainly, a trip around the world to visit many of the locations included in The Story of God was not feasible. But the trip to Rome proved to be the next best thing -- it was not unlike an accelerated graduate course in the world's religions. Even for those of us who had been to the Eternal City had never really absorbed the scope and detail of its religious diversity. Over a very busy three days the trip included a walking tour of the city's Jewish Ghetto (the oldest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel and home to the Great Synagogue of Rome, seen in the first photo above); two visits to Vatican City (the first for a detailed tour of the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica of St. Peter, seen in the second photo above; the second for a conversation with Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Science and science advisor to the Pope); a visit to and tour of the Mosque of Rome (completed in the mid-Nineties, pictured below), and a leisurely afternoon at the Temple of Kalimandir, home to Yogi Krishna Nath, the spiritual leader of Rome's Hindu community. The trip also included a visit to the Biblioteca Casanatense for a curator-led visit of the vast historic library and - something special for the writers in the group - the opportunity to hold and gently leaf through priceless, individually hand-crafted religious books dating back almost 1000 years. Like much of what we saw during our stay in Rome, the library and those specific volumes will be seen in The Story of God. It is generally acknowledged that Sunday is the most competitive night of the week on television. At first blush, the decision by Nat Geo to schedule this important program over a period of six consecutive Sunday evenings may seem questionable. But consider the specific timing here: It is doubtful that the original programming on HBO and Showtime would attract the same potential audience for God. Further, with the sixth season of AMC's monster hit The Walking Dead winding down, PBS' Downton Abbey having concluded and interest in CBS' The Good Wife waning during its final telecasts - not to mention the challenges that ABC, NBC and Fox are currently facing on Sunday nights - it would appear that the coast is clear for God to enjoy a respectable following. Perhaps He will even tweet about it, calling attention to His Story via His handle, @God. Advertisement Greg Weiner has a problem with authority--judicial authority, that is. In an incisive (and often quite amusing) reply to my critique of his recent effort to distinguish between judicial deference to Congress (which he lauds) and judicial deference to executive agencies (which he condemns), Weiner makes plain that he regards the federal judiciary as an ever-present threat to representative democracy. Drawing upon concerns expressed by "Anti-Federalist" opponents of the Constitution about the judiciary and conjuring up a nightmarish vision of black-robed philosopher kings exercising "unchecked power" to make the law in the image of their own ideals, Weiner offers a spirited challenge to my case for judicial engagement: an approach to judicial review whereby judges never systematically defer to government officials when those officials' actions are challenged in court. Though spirited, Weiner's challenge is unsuccessful. Indeed, Weiner succeeds only in demonstrating his own misunderstanding of the function of the Constitution and the constitutional role of the judiciary. As a consequence of this misunderstanding, he ends up advocating an approach to judicial review that prevents the judiciary from fulfilling its constitutional role. In place of an engaged judiciary that independently and impartially evaluates government officials' assertions of power, he offers only an expression of faith in government officials' "constitutional judgment" that he gives us no reason to believe that officials consistently exercise today or will consistently exercise in the future if judges abdicate their constitutional duties. Advertisement Weiner begins by criticizing me for "pack[ing] immense political and constitutional content into the sparing words of Article III." In fact, the "sparing words" in question--Article III's provision that "[t]he Judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish"--contain "immense political and constitutional content." Those interested should consult Professor Phillip Hamburger's essential volume, Law and Judicial Duty, in which Professor Hamburger devotes more than 700 pages to an historical investigation of the duty of judicial review--which, as he shows, was considered to be part of the judicial office and entered the Constitution through "[t]he Judicial power." Hamburger persuasively argues that discharging the duty of judicial review entails independently and impartially investigating the meaning of the law of the land and determining whether government officials' actions are consistent with that higher law, without deference to those officials' beliefs or desires. Further, one cannot understand Article III's "sparing words" without an appreciation of the immediate historical context in which they were set forth--a context in which judges were understood to be no less agents of the people than legislators and were regarded as an essential safeguard against unlawful legislative actions. As described by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 78, an independent judiciary with a duty to engage in judicial review is not an anomaly in our otherwise representative democracy. Under the Constitution, judges no less than our elected representatives draw their authority from "We the People." We the People delegate power to our agents in the judicial, executive, and legislative branches to act on our behalf for limited purposes, through specified means. Hamilton explains that when judges fail to "keep [officials] within the limits assigned to their authority," the result is that "[officials'] will" trumps the genuine will of the people. In acting "as an intermediate body between the people and the legislature" and deciding cases in accordance with the law of the land rather than simply giving effect to the will of transient majorities, judges act as the people's true representatives--they are no less representative for being unelected. When judges fail to evaluate legislation independently and impartially, they defy the will of the people. Advertisement I have argued that the only approach to judicial review that adequately equips judges to discharge their Article III duties is judicial engagement. Whenever government officials bring coercive power to bear upon individuals, they implicitly assert that their use of coercive power is consistent with the law of the land. When those actions are challenged in court, an engaged judge will not assume the truth of such assertions--he or she will require that officials prove their truth. In evaluating officials' efforts to demonstrate the legality of their actions, an engaged judge will seek to determine whether officials are truly pursuing constitutionally proper ends through constitutionally authorized means, relying upon evidence in the record rather than crediting officials' beliefs about the constitutionality of their actions, accepting unsupported factual claims, or engaging in speculation. Weiner argues that I have read a judicial monopoly on constitutional judgment into Article III. (Thus, he amusingly terms my theory a "unitary judiciary theory.") Not so. All government officials are agents of the people. All government officials are charged with exercising the powers delegated to them (as Professor Robert Natelson has put it) "in good faith, with reasonable care, and with impartiality and loyalty towards [their] constituents." The people's agents in the legislative and executive branches are also obliged to engage in independent reflection concerning the constitutionality of proposed measures before casting votes in support of them or deciding whether to sign or veto them. To the extent that they do not--passing the constitutional buck to officials in the other branches--they betray the people's trust no less than do deferential judges. But judges do have a unique role to play in preserving our constitutional architecture. The courts represent the last hope of redress (short of an "appeal to heaven") for individuals who are subjected to government power backed only by will. Judicial review can serve as a mechanism by which a single person whose rights would otherwise be trampled underfoot by a politically dominant faction that is unresponsive or even hostile to that person's interests can compel those in power to justify their actions in a neutral forum. Article III's provision for an independent judiciary embodies the Framers' conviction that the rule of law established by the Constitution will give way to the rule of men in practice absent "courts of justice" staffed by judges who conscientiously fulfill their "duty . . . to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void." Advertisement Weiner's criticism of judicial engagement ultimately flows from a misunderstanding of the essential function of the Constitution and a consequent failure to grasp the importance of a truly independent judiciary. That misunderstanding is nowhere more evident than in his assertion that the "entire purpose of the constitutional project" is to "facilitate the rule of deliberate majorities." A government principally dedicated to majority rule has no need of an independent judiciary--nor, for that matter, a written constitution (consider the "pure" democracy of fifth-century BC Athens, which had no constitution), which can only serve (in Weiner's words) as an "obstruction" to the goals of "political actors." Our Constitution provides for limited majority rule as a means to an end: the protection of individual rights that precede government. The separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers, the division of the national legislature into two houses, and the distribution of power between the federal government and the states all serve to prevent "political actors" from attacking individual rights unopposed. So, too, does the establishment of a truly independent judiciary--Hamilton presented an independent judiciary as a means of "guard[ing] the Constitution and the rights of individuals." The "radical separation between the people and their elected representatives" that Weiner rejects is a central premise of our constitutional order; the need for an independent judiciary to "protect us" from "men of our choice" when necessary follows from that premise. The last several decades of constitutional law can be viewed as a kind of natural experiment--a test of whether the rule of law established by the Constitution can be maintained if judges systematically defer to government officials' assertions of power. The results of that experiment speak for themselves. In my previous reply to Weiner, I explained how judicial deference has facilitated the rise of the administrative state, thus effectuating what Professor Gary Lawson has rightly described as "nothing less than a bloodless constitutional revolution." Surely Weiner is aware that the only constitutional rights that are reliably protected today are rights that the Supreme Court has arbitrarily dubbed "fundamental" and which receive "heightened" judicial scrutiny. Under heightened scrutiny, unlike under rational-basis review (the default standard of review in constitutional cases), the government's actions do not receive the benefit of a presumption of constitutionality when they are challenged in court. If Weiner believes that the government's actions should consistently receive a presumption of constitutionality, he owes it to the rest of us to explain how the "fundamental" rights to speak freely, bear arms, and practice one's religion free of discriminatory legislation--all of which receive the benefit of heightened scrutiny at present--would remain secure when rights not deemed fundamental, like the right to earn an honest living, can be extinguished today at the will of the politically powerful, thanks in substantial part to rational-basis review's presumption of constitutionality. American campuses are being Europeanized in the worst way - becoming hostile to Israel, to Zionism, to Jews. Feeling intimidated by propagandizing professors and hostile students, many Jews are abandoning Israel and even denying their Judaism. Fortunately, not everyone is surrendering to this insane, unfair assault. There's a growing cadre of Jewish and non-Jewish students who - contrary to popular impression - often are progressive and pro-Israel, liberals and Zionists. They are confronting BDS bullies with counter-cultural courage and democratic passion. Last week, at AIPAC's Policy conference, while everyone obsessed about that guy whose name starts with a T and ends most appropriately with "rump," I focused on the 4000 campus delegates attending - up more than 25 percent from last year. The impressive delegation of smart independent idealists included 310 student government presidents, 106 leaders of College Democrats and College Republicans, along with students from 55 of America's 100 historically black colleges and universities, 21 Christian-centered campuses and 12 Hispanic-serving institutions. Despite the AIPAC Bashers' caricatures from afar, most of these students are secular and liberal, often critical and skeptical, reflecting AIPAC's (and American Jewry's) dominant demographic. Wondering what motivated them and which pro-Israel arguments swayed their peers, I asked Jonathan Kessler, AIPAC's visionary Leadership Development Director, who couldn't be interviewed for this article as a matter of AIPAC policy, to introduce me to some campus activists. Within five minutes, he had gathered five leaders who told their stories - dazzling me with their eloquence, enthusiasm, idealism, and commitment to Israel, America, and democratic values. The three Jewish students articulated three different but overlapping motivations for their involvement: embracing Zionism, delighting in Israel, and fighting anti-Zionism. Becca Berman, a history major at University of California, Berkeley, founded Bears for Israel, what she unabashedly calls "a Zionist organization," to express her identity. She "drifted away" from Jewish affairs her freshman year and missed it. She and her friends seek "a forum to learn about, talk about, and celebrate Israel." As Identity Zionists, they don't just fight the political fight, they host "Israeli dance performances, Israeli cooking classes, etc." Berman urges worried parents to send their kids to Berkeley, noting that standing for Israel there strengthens their identities. Sophia Kruger at the University of Pennsylvania emphasizes America's and Israel's "shared values of democracy, equality, freedom." She notes "that in the United States when I walk into a voting booth and cast my ballot it is counted exactly the same way as everyone else's even though I'm only 20 years old. There is only one country in the Middle East where that privilege exists, and that country is Israel." Shani Benezra endured a course on "The New Middle East" at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that was so "anti-Israel," the teacher only spoke about "Palestine" as if 1948 never happened. Being made to feel "unwelcome" as a Jew, experiencing this educational malpractice by a pro-BDS doctrinaire professor "only fueled" Benezra's "passion for promoting a strong US-Israel relationship." Airen Washington's path to Israel activism was more unexpected. She is president of the College Democrats at Trinity Washington University, a Catholic-affiliated, 88 percent minority, women's college. She finds that while Israel is "not on the radar" of most of her fellow "minority students," they face a tidal wave of "propaganda and negative opinion" about it "on Twitter and Instagram." Contrary to the scoffing that talk of Start-Up Nation doesn't resonate, she finds that emphasizing Israel's "jobs, technology, and innovation" speaks to students in a language they are "familiar with." Benezra agrees, explaining that she looks for a hook that "relates" to students "personally." Speaking to engineers, for example, about Israel's technological contributions helps them "see a strong US-Israel relationship as essential." Rejecting the heavy-handed, old-fashioned Israel right-or-wrong approach, Kruger from Penn understands that rather than spouting "a few key facts," it's best "to show people all sides of Israel." This democratic openness, "acknowledging that Israel is not perfect, just like the United States is not perfect," frees peers to reach their own conclusions, solidifying bonds. Julian Coakley, a graduate student at Florida A&M, also appreciates that democratic fluidity. He says: "When I'm asked why I support pro-Israel issues and not black issues, I simply respond, 'I support all issues. Being pro-Israel does not mean I can't be pro-black or pro-Palestine." As a leading progressive activist on his campus, Coakley added something Airen Washington noted, that "Being involved with AIPAC has taught me skills that I can apply to the pro-black movement too." Ultimately, the emotional connection cements the political and practical considerations. When Coakley visited Jerusalem, this member of the Uber-generation wondered how to hail a cab in this foreign city. An Israeli intervened to help. When Coakley reached into his pocket to tip the guy, he refused and instead "embraced me with a hug and said 'we're family!'" Our students are suffering. When I addressed an overflowing room at AIPAC about The History of Zionism, every student who spoke recalled some harsh anti-Zionist experience or challenge. I see the mainstreaming of anti-Semitism rhetoric on campus and the huge obsession with little Israel. But I also see 45,000 students visiting Israel annually on Birthright and 9500 campus leaders trained by AIPAC annually. We must invest more so these roses flourish amid the thorns. These inspiring AIPAC activists reinforce two essential lessons of Israel advocacy. Israel isn't Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall, all brittle waiting to fall. Israel advocates must follow Jack in the nursery rhyme, being nimble and quick, jumping over candlesticks of glowing hatred. Israel's something dynamic to be engaged with in different and complex ways. Second, get personal, the more it's about Zionist dreaming not anti-anti-Zionism, the more engaged people will be. Julian Coakley's Israeli friend was correct. "We're family." Our best defense is celebrating our common values together passionately, creatively, intelligently, positively, joyfully. Some of the most fearsome monsters in myths have the heads of humans and deadly beasts, most notably lions, so they are very wily and bloodthirsty - just like Donald Trump, who I have compared to other beasts. The Minotaur was the ferocious offspring of a woman and beast, after Minos' queen slept with a bull, and he devoured humans for his sustenance. Embarrassed by the creature, King Minos hid him in the Labyrinth at the Minoan Palace of Knossos. There the Minotaur lived on regular sacrificial offerings of youths and young maidens, and since the labyrinth was such a complicated construction, no one could find their way out alive. However, after King Minos decided to kill the Minotaur, Theseus volunteered to do so to end the human sacrifices. But could he find his way out? He learned how after the king's daughter, Princess Ariadne, fell madly in love with him and gave him a thread to unravel. So Theseus followed the thread into the Labyrinth and used it to get out after he killed the monster. In this case, the labyrinth might be compared to the maze of Trump's many real estate holdings and companies that are run by many different managers and involve so many complicated financial arrangements that the IRS has been doing a series of audits to figure everything out. And all the people the Minotaur has eaten could be comparable to all of the property and company owners Trump trampled to obtain his land and companies, as well as to the candidates he gobbled up along the way to become the candidate with the most votes. Advertisement Though the Manticore got its start in India, it became part of Greek mythology due to the writings of Ctesias, a Greek physician who stayed at the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes II Menemon from 404 to 398/397 B.C. and wrote a book about India. As the legend goes, the Manticore had three rows of teeth like a shark, a bellow like a trumpet, and the ability to shoot spines from its tail. But most terrifying of all, it loved to eat human flesh. It would run quickly to chase down its prey, slash them with its claws, sting with its spiny tail, and finally eat them, devouring even their bones, clothes, and all of their possessions, leaving nothing for anyone to find. Additionally, Ctesia claimed, the Manticore could even paralyze or kill its victims from a distance by firing stingers from its tail, like a hunter with a bow. Now that description might sound a little like Trump at one of his rallies, which are becoming more and more violent, as he bellows out his comments and yells "Get 'em out of here" to his security people that rough up and eject anyone who appears to be a foe. Also, Trump's love of ripping enemies apart verbally, such as his diatribes against Megan Kelly and Ted Cruz, is like the way the Manticore tears apart and eats up a victim. As for the Sphinx, it is best known from the legend of Oedipus. As the story goes, Oedipus was traveling along the road to Thebes, when a sphinx appeared and blocked his path, asking him a riddle. Although the exact riddle isn't stated in the original legend, it is most commonly described as this: "What is that which goes on four feet in the morning, on two feet in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?" If Oedipus couldn't answer correctly, the sphinx would have strangled and eaten him, just as ate many other travelers. But Oedipus correctly answers, explaining that it's man, who crawls on all fours as a child; on two feet as an adult, and finally, with the help of a cane, on three feet at the end of his life. So since Oedipus has answered correctly, he has bested the Sphinx at her own game, so she throws herself from a high cliff, or in some versions, she devours herself in anger and frustration. Advertisement How very far America has fallen was brought home to me in stunning fashion when I read a New York Times article on how the poisoning of Flint, Michigan was uncovered. "...Joyce Zhu, a doctoral student, went to collect samples at a Flint hospital, looking for signs of the bacteria that cause Legionnaires'. "When I turned on the tap, you see this corrosive, reddish, brownish tap water," she said. "It's that moment that made it so real." Ms. Zhu said she had planned on a "typical" academic career, doing lab research with limited application off campus. But after analyzing lead-tainted water samples in the labs in Blacksburg and traveling to Flint, she said, she is considering how her career can benefit the public. "I grew up in Singapore, where clean water, you take it for granted so much," Ms. Zhu said..." Not only did the United States fail to provide safe water to its citizens, it is readily apparent that government at all levels was unable to prevent environmental disasters. Flint was not an isolated event. Advertisement "Last week's major chemical spill into West Virginia's Elk River, which cut off water to more than 300,000 people, came in a state with a long and troubled history of regulating the coal and chemical companies that form the heart of its economy..." In January, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported: "A new report released just days after the second anniversary of the Elk River Spill highlights shortcomings of the private water company that dealt with the spill. 300,000 people were told not to use their water for days following the accident. The report asserts that privately owned West Virginia American Water hasn't taken adequate measures to protect against potential disasters nor invested enough into existing infrastructure, among other complaints. The report comes from Boston Action Research - a project of the Civil Society Institute..." Meet the Friends of Lackawanna. A huge local garbage dump (called sanitary landfills in business and political speak) controlled by a billionaire of dubious repute requested an expansion of Keystone Sanitary Landfill and renewal of its license for an incredible half a century. Local outrage began building slowly. A non-profit environmental group was officially formed: "Friends of Lackawanna is a Pennsylvania Non-Profit committed to protecting the health and safety of the local community, as well as the regional image and the environment. Friends of Lackawanna consists of and represents the interests of citizens concerned with environmental matters, including Keystone Sanitary Landfill, Inc. ("KSL")'s ongoing operations and proposed Phase III expansion." The younger professional people of Northeastern Pennsylvania, a region often described as downtrodden, seem to have had enough. Pushing older, usually corporate compliant people aside, citizens wanting a future formed Friends of Lackawanna. Starting slowly with letters to the editor, smaller gatherings and quiet meetings, the group built both momentum and experience. With the exception of the Times-Tribune Newspaper, few other media outlets appear to have any interest. After all, the billionaire 'businessman' influences massive regional advertising dollars through family participation in interlocking boards ranging from gambling and banking to religious education and universities. The meeting last week was little different. Yet, an incredibly diverse crowd of citizens in their hundreds packed a local hotel's largest ball room to 'Talk Trash'. Senator Bob Casey introduced a panel of experts including State Senator John Blake, Mr. John Quigley, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Ms. Lois Gibbs, a long time hero of mine who is Founder of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) and CHEJ Science Director Stephen Lester, a graduate of the Harvard University School of Public Health. The panel presented information concerning the state process and possible legislation at Federal and State legislative levels. Ms. Gibbs presented reality which was confirmed by the rest of the panel - bodies matter. The hundreds of attendees spoke volumes for both consumer interest and hard count votes. By that measure and by the prestige of the panel, Friends of Lackawanna 'Talking Trash' was a major success. Looking at the Friends of Lackawanna filling that ballroom, I wondered if I was seeing the beginning of the end of America's new Gilded Age. Local action already has some impact at the voting box. Republican political elites have lost control of their party and populist candidate Bernie Sanders is pressuring Democratic Party front runner Hillary Clinton. Advertisement Good News brought to you in a minute! We are on a mission to find the good news in some very important and noteworthy national and community topics, bundled up in a positive, inspiring infographic short video. After all, Good news is meant to be shared! In our first 'good news report' we highlight the good works of Mr. Stephen Colbert. You may know him from his CBS talk show 'Late Night With Stephen Colbert' or his former 'Colbert Report,' or from his charitable deeds. He first got involved with DonorsChoose.org when he auctioned off his iconic anchor desk and fireplace hearth and gave the money to South Carolina school systems. Then Colbert inspired #BestSchoolDay, a call to action for people to fund supplies and resources for classrooms in need across America. "#BestSchoolDay is probably the best thing I've ever been involved in," Colbert says. "It's my favorite charity because teachers in classrooms all around the country can put up any project they want to teach their children or help their kids with but they don't have the funds for." Advertisement The main barrier to achieving inclusive capitalism is shorttermism - both of companies and of shareholders. CEOs of publicly listed companies are excessively focused on quarterly earnings rather than multi-decade profitability. This short-termist behaviour is largely because shareholders demand it. Failure to meet quarterly earnings targets typically results in investor abandonment and share price declines in the short term. Company executives, whose compensation is linked to share price performance, are compelled to boost short-term shareholder returns through job layoffs or offshoring, excessive exploitation of natural resources, paying out more dividends and buying back stock. These measures are made at the expense of cultivating a higher-skilled workforce, harvesting resources in an environmentally sustainable fashion, and investing in capital expenditures necessary for long-term growth. Advertisement Short-termism not only leads to less inclusive capitalism in the short term but lowers corporate profitability in the long term. Firing workers rather than upgrading their skills destroys livelihoods, reduces consumer incomes and shrinks the pool of potential buyers for goods and services. Excessive exploitation of natural resources degrades the environment and undermines resource sustainability critical for longevity in corporate earnings. Underinvesting decreases job creation and inhibits the long term growth potential of companies. Corporate practices aligned with inclusive capitalism are therefore not only beneficial for the ordinary worker, the environment and society, but also in the best, long-term interest of companies and shareholders. Taking a long-term perspective is, however, challenging in a world that increasingly has a shorter attention span and demands ever more immediate gratification. Overcoming short-termism requires a combination of education, government policy and corporate initiative. Most critically, it requires leadership - strong leadership in both the private and public sector. At a recent CNN Republican debate in Miami, frontrunner Donald Trump proclaimed that he would support a substantial ground invasion to defeat ISIS: "We have no choice. We have to knock out ISIS. We have to knock the hell out of them. We have to get rid of it and then we have to come back here and rebuild our country, which is falling apart." This aggressive posturing is never-ending and similarly coincides with a radio ad Mr. Trump aired in November, promising that as president he would "bomb the hell out of ISIS." Trump's hyperbolic rhetoric goes on when he demanded that the United States "go after" the families of terrorists, when in December he stated, "When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives; don't kid yourself. But they say they don't care about their lives. You have to take out their families." Last month, in opposition to what he calls a "politically correct war", Mr. Trump not only justified the use of torture, but attempted to legitimise the use of torture techniques that go beyond waterboarding, rejecting any conscious conforming to international law. Herein lies a seeming contradiction in Trump's foreign policy. Trump has for awhile been politically posturing. He projects himself as the no-nonsense candidate who criticizes the President's foreign policy deficiencies, and promises to resolve that through 'strength'. He postures and many millions appear to buy into it, even though Trump's defining foreign policy characteristic is not of strength, it is abrasive, weak and dangerous isolationism. Thomas Wright of POLITICO rightly notes that Mr. Trump has a historical consistency of staunch isolationism that rejects the important alliance system that was built after the war by President Truman. Advertisement Trump has consistently scolded President Obama for a lack of intervention yet at the same time he argues that the United States should withdraw from the rest of the world, withdraw from its international responsibilities. Historically, one associates the foreign policy of Republicans in the late 1940s such as Sen. Robert Taft and Charles Lindbergh as weak and timid because of their isolationism, and because it meant the United States wasn't fulfilling its international responsibilities as a world power. This isolationism meant a delayed entry into World War II, a rejection of U.S. entry into NATO, and a dismissal, at the time, of the Soviet threat. Mr. Trump can too be deemed an isolationist. Yet he has somehow ruffled these feathers of isolationism to make it now appear a foreign policy of strength. There are two paradoxes. The first is this notion peddled by Mr. Trump that isolationism can be a foreign policy of strength. There is little strength in dismissing the importance of the current commitments the United States has toward the security of Eastern Europe, nor should it be deemed favourable to receive praise and acclaim from Vladimir Putin. Trump's isolationism would be dangerous for eastern Europe, let alone South Korea, Mexico, China, etc. Wright notes that,'Putin would no longer have to deal with a president committed to wide-open global trade, NATO and democracy close to his border.' The second is the condemnation by Mr. Trump of Obama's foreign policy on the basis of its weakness or ill-strategy. Trump calls to rebuild the military and to 'get tougher', while at the same time he demands withdrawal from responsibilities around the world. Advertisement Trump has few foreign policy advisors by his side and that plays into the question of whether or not he is just making up his foreign policy views as he goes along; though he probably does know what his views are beyond his incessant emphasis on 'strength'. It's scary because the rhetoric is so incredibly senseless. On the one hand Trump appears to call for heightened aggression, in demanding a substantial ground-force to take out ISIS, supporting the killing of the families of terrorists and supports an extension of torture beyond waterboarding, to the disregard of the Geneva Convention. At the same time, Trump rejects the alliance system built up since 1945, and is hostile to a transatlantic coalition, that can continue to assure the security of our allies. Trump's foreign policy combines the abrasiveness of an authoritarian dictator, with the non-credible prescription of dangerous isolationism. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks about counterterrorism, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at the Bechtel Conference Center at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) One of the reason why Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders is resonating with many voters is because he's taking on Hillary Clinton's ties to Wall Street. While Clinton is promising to get tough on corporate wrongdoers and biggest shadow banks. Last December, the president of Blackstone Group, Tony James, hosted a fundraiser for Clinton--just two months after the private-equity giant settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission over charges that it used so-called monitoring fees to enrich the firm at the expense of investors. Among the investors in the Blackstone funds harmed by the scheme were major public pension systems were California, Florida, and New Jersey. Advertisement Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets, which advocates for tougher regulation on Wall Street, told the International Business Times that such campaign contributions reflect the financial industry's desire to have influence over policy if Clinton is elected president. "The industries that could be affected quickly line up to give money to any policymaker who might be engaged in the issue, so that they can at least have a seat at the table." This is not the first time Blackstone has had run-ins with the law--or the public in general. In 2014 housing rights activists in New York City, Atlanta and Spain demanded that the firm stop its purchases of foreclosed houses and troubled mortgage loans. Of particular concern were Blackstone's purchases of tens of thousands of single-family homes, which it subsequently rented out at prices out of reach for low-income tenants, said demonstrators. And in 2015 Blackstone along with KKR & Co. and TPG Capital agreed to pay a combined $325 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that a number of private-equity firms colluded to keep down the prices they paid for companies in the run-up to the financial crisis, according to court documents. (A spokeswoman for Blackstone did not respond to my request for any corrections.) So what does this have to do with our 401(k) accounts? Incredibly, Clinton's pension adviser, Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School, is teaming up with Tony James to revamp our current 401(k) system. Advertisement Their proposal, called the Retirement Savings Plan, would require workers and their employers to contribute at least 3 percent of the employee's salary each year into a "Guaranteed Retirement Account" that "could be invested in opportunities typically reserved for institutional investors--less liquid, higher return asset classes. These include high-yielding and risk-reducing alternative asset classes like real estate, hedge funds, managed futures and commodities." Why they consider real estate "risk reducing," since you can't reap any returns unless the property is sold at a profit, which is unlikely to happen in a housing bust, is beyond me. As for "managed futures," during the decade ending in 2012, more than 30,000 investors entrusted Morgan Stanley with $797 million in a managed-futures fund called Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Spectrum Technical LP. While the fund made $490.3 million in trading gains and money-market interest income, investors reaped none of those returns because the profits were consumed by $498.7 million in commissions, expenses and fees paid to fund managers and Morgan Stanley. Investors ended up losing $8.3 million over 10 years. Had those Morgan Stanley investors placed their money instead in a low-fee index mutual fund, such as Vanguard Group Inc.'s 500 Index Fund offered to most 401(k) plan participants, they would have reaped a return of 96 percent in the same period. The other flaw in the James/Ghilarducci proposal is that it would REDUCE the typical employee contribution of 5 percent of pay and employer contribution equal to 3 percent of pay to 401(k) accounts to 1.5 percent each from employer and employee. (The authors also claim that employees are required to contribute "about 12.5 percent of their income" to Social Security--except that the contribution is split between the employer and employee.) As I've pointed out in a previous post, employer contributions to our retirement accounts are among the lowest in the world, if not the lowest. It's 9 percent of pay in Australia, 11.8 percent in Denmark, 8 percent in Hungary, 6.5 percent in Mexico and 7.3 percent in Poland. A 2008 report on retirement savings for Australians projected that those in their 20's and 30's will have accumulated between $500,000 to $700,000 when they retire -- compared to a median balance of around $100,000 for the typical American retiree. Advertisement Don't get me wrong, 401(k)s need fixing but it's not the investment strategy but the puny employer matching contribution that needs addressing. My 401(k) reform proposal, developed with leading pension actuaries, would mandate more generous employer contributions-- equal to 9 percent of pay for Fortune 500 companies and 6 percent for other companies -- and require contributions to be consistent through an employee's job tenure. Currently 54 percent of the Vanguard Group's clients make their employees wait one to six years before they are completely vested in employer contributions, hurting the majority of job-hopping Americans, according to its report "How America Saves 2011." According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average person born in the latter years of the baby boom changes jobs roughly every two years between the age of 25 and 46 alone. PBS will broadcast a new documentary, 10 Parks That Changed America, on April 12th. Produced by WTTW in Chicago and featuring Geoffrey Baer, the show identifies the 10 most influential urban parks in the country, from the era of America's early settlers to the present day. In a preview at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Baer and show producer and writer Dan Protess announced the 10 parks selected by WTTW and its expert advisors, including Thaisa Way, professor of landscape architecture at University of Washington; Walter Hood, professor of landscape architecture at University of California, Berkeley; and Peter Harnik, director of city park excellence at the Trust for Public Land and author of Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities. Here are the parks they settled on: 1) The Squares of Savannah, Georgia 2) Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 3) Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts 4) Central Park, New York City, New York 5) Chicago's Neighborhood Parks, Chicago, Illinois 6) The Riverwalk, San Antonio, Texas 7) Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee 8) Freeway Park, Seattle, Washington 9) Gas Works Park, Seattle, Washington 10) The High Line, New York City, New York At the preview, Nancy Somerville, executive vice president and CEO, American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and Harnik discussed the list. Somerville said the parks were all created to solve complex environmental, social, or economic problems, and those problems are still here today. "Savannah's squares were created with the belief that everyone should have access to a park. Today, we see the same ideas underlying the environmental justice movement and the quest for clean air and clean water for everyone." Advertisement She argued the one important park left out of the list was the National Mall in Washington, D.C. because it's a symbol of the "accessibility of our democracy." The National Mall shows the "power of places to bring people together. It was hugely influential in setting the public park or plaza as the place where people get together to express themselves. It's the epitome of that." Protess said it was challenging to select just 10 parks that changed America and admitted many good candidates for the list had to be left on the cutting room floor. "Parks were selected for their influence, but we also needed to represent diverse geographies and include a diversity of forms, so it wasn't all trees and grass." Somerville and Harnik were largely positive about the state of American urban parks. Somerville said "most urban park bonds pass. While Americans seem to be anti-government and hate spending these days, they are happy to put money into parks because they know how much they do for communities." Harnik argued that "with the further densification of cities, every city now knows they need good parks to compete." He said young people moving into the cities are looking for "places to play" and "empty nesters," or retirees, moving back into cities from the suburbs, are looking for "some of the green space they had in suburbia." They also argued that showcase parks like the High Line in New York City and Millennium Park in Chicago aren't being built at the expense of neighborhood parks either. Somerville said "the momentum for more parks is greater than that." And Harnik, who ranks urban parks with his ParkScore tool, said "there is now a political movement for parks. There is a whole group of people who think parks are cool and important and they are bringing their voices." In particular, dog owners are revitalizing the parks movement by pushing for investment in dog parks, which is having positive ripple effects for the rest of parks. Advertisement Somerville pointed to the slew of new research on the health benefits of nature, arguing the science shows "humans are hard-wired for nature, and so urban communities are putting in green spaces wherever they can." The research shows that spending time in nature "reduces blood pressure, releases all these good hormones, decreases stress levels, and these effects last a while." The opportunity to spend time in an urban park is "precious." In the future, she sees only "more opportunities to bring in nature" in underused urban edges, like damaged waterfronts, and even in underpass parks, which are being developed in a number of cities. The key will be making these places resilient to climate change, storm-proof respites that can also mitigate flooding and the urban heat island effect. Historically, community colleges have served two vital pillars within America's higher education system. The first pillar has been to provide two-year academic foundations for students who wish to continue seeking a four-year degree and beyond. The second pillar has been to provide vital workforce development, training, certifications, and prepare students to enter the workforce. Today, these vital roles continue to be important parts of the mission for community colleges. However, with the changing world of work, community colleges would be well served to add the pillar of entrepreneurial education to their student coursework. Implementing entrepreneurial education and business development takes community colleges to their next logical step. By providing entrepreneurship training, schools teach students how to create a job and not just look for one. With colleges implementing entrepreneurship curricula, students learn important skills like business development, creating minimal viable products, marketing and hiring staff. Entrepreneurship education fits well into already existing community college programs. For example, a school that offers a certification in welding can incorporate entrepreneurial training to help students turn their welding skills into a new small business. Other programs can benefit as well. Certification such as nursing, plumbing, or cosmetology are perfect examples of careers that lend themselves to adding entrepreneurship and small business development training. Advertisement By adding the pillar of entrepreneurship education, community colleges can also benefit by gaining additional resources, potentially increasing enrollment, and adding to their reputation as a place for business and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial programs also provide additional ties for colleges within their communities , which reach well beyond traditional students, pervading all aspects of community life. Unlike other institutions, community colleges are perhaps best poised to incorporate entrepreneurship into their curriculum due, in part, to their typically smaller size. Community colleges often have less "red tape" and bureaucracy to cut through in order to make beneficial changes in their programs. In a word, they have the potential to be more entrepreneurial. This provides the opportunity to quickly and effectively implement entrepreneurial-based education into existing degrees and certifications. Community colleges also have access to organizations such as the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE). NACCE provides access to both financial and academic resources to help colleges working to incorporate entrepreneurship into their schools. In addition to providing entrepreneurship education, community colleges can serve as an active catalyst toward economic development and increasing new businesses. Whether by providing access to funding through grants, making available the use of specialized equipment or providing reduced-cost space, schools can help new businesses and entrepreneurs get off the ground. In addition, they can also provide technical guidance and expertise with access to key faculty. Finally, colleges can provide a boost to a new or existing business giving clout and credibility by purchasing goods and services from small, local and new businesses. "Make America Great Again" is a slogan enthusiastically endorsed by those who believe that everything in our nation once was great and now is broken. The country is in crisis, they claim. To make things better, we ought to wipe the slate clean, clear out all politicians, and start over. The slogan isn't meant to convey hope and renewal; it's an expression of anger and exasperation. The opposing view is not that everything in America is fine, but rather that some things are. We make progress by building on those -- where government is essential and effective, where institutions efficiently fulfill society's needs, and where politicians strive to solve problems instead of merely blaming others. But angry people with many grievances do not easily accept this view. They see good news merely as the establishment's way of advocating the status quo. I was reminded of the similarity between politics and education when I recently published a short piece about our current obsession with education crisis. I pointed out that some things in education are working. Some teachers are outstanding and inspiring. Some test scores are rising. Some states compare favorably in international tests. Some graduation rates are rising -- indeed, most are. Not everything is fine, I emphasized, and I listed some big problems. But focusing only on bad news harms education. It frightens people into trying out one idea after another, distracts them from solving real problems, and demoralizes teachers and administrators, whom we rely on to implement solutions. Advertisement The reaction was swift from a group of education reformers who might be represented by the slogan "Make Education Great Again." They were incensed. They believe everything in education is broken. Education is in crisis. We need to clean the slate, to start over. Pointing out good news meant I didn't care about students who fail. It meant I represented the establishment. I was defending the status quo. As in our current political climate, their response took the form of a nonsensical taunt: "Math guy who can't count!" (Given the mathematical context, I'm thankful that no one mentioned digits.) The response felt familiar -- rage rather than reflection, contempt rather than contemplation. Where does all that rage come from? For a few people (perhaps some politicians, pundits and reporters), a crisis and the concomitant rage is a matter of convenience -- a crisis attracts voters and readers in a way that rational discourse does not, especially for a complex subject like education. But for most, rage is a natural consequence of slogans like "Make Education Great Again" -- a mistaken belief that American education once was great and now has fallen on hard times. They believe this is a national tragedy, and they are outraged. The problem with both slogans is that they are ahistorical. We think of the Great Depression in heroic terms, but the lives of millions were ravaged by the Depression. America spent three decades in mid-twentieth century engaged in three major wars (not counting the Cold War), with more than a half million American deaths. Was that so great? African-Americans and women might not want the country to roll back the clock to 1950, when opportunities for both groups were greatly diminished. Education is similar. In 1940, 25 percent of adults had a high school diploma or equivalent; today, that figure is 88 percent. (For African-Americans those figures went from 8 to 87 percent.) In 1940, fewer than 5 percent of American adults had a bachelor's degree; today, nearly 32 percent have one. [NCES digest] Scores on most standardized tests (for example, the National Assessment of Educational Progress) have trended upwards or stayed flat for decades, and the gap between demographic groups has narrowed, in some cases substantially. [NAEP] Do we really want to make American education the way it used to be? Advertisement "At first, I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity." -- Chico Mendes, Martyred Brazilian environmentalist (Right to left), Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University, Diana Beresford-Kroeger, botanist and forest activist, Joanne Campell, Graton Rancheria Tribal Council, and Wendy Johnson, ordained lay dharma teacher. Photo 2016 by Elizabeth Fenwick for Point Reyes Books. Diana Beresford-Kroeger appears to be following the dictum, "Make no little plans." The 71-year-old self-described "renegade scientist" has a plan to put everyone on Earth to work planting trees. Her "Bioplan" calls on every able-bodied person to plant a tree a year for six years to bring back the world's lost forests. Advertisement Her work was the inspiration for a recent day-long, "Call of the Forest: Water, Climate, Spirit" conference attended by more than 200 people in the Northern California seaside hamlet of Point Reyes. The event featured a special preview of Beresford-Kroeger's forthcoming feature film, Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees, inspired by her book, The Global Forest. Her website calls the documentary, an integral part of her, "personal mission to educate 7 billion people about the trees outside their doors." When completed in the fall, it will be accompanied by an extensive app to provide people with details about how and where to plant appropriate trees for their localities. The film highlights forests' importance for human welfare and for the sustenance of other ecosystems and species. Apart from the usual story of how forests purify the air and provide numerous other invaluable benefits, we learn, for example, that when a forest was clearcut in Japan for farming, the humus blew away and the land became arid and infertile. To the surprise and dismay of local fishermen, the marine ecosystem downstream from the clearcut forest was also decimated -- deprived of iron and other vital nutrients that had once run off from the forest. "The oceans feel the effect of a forest clearcut hundreds of miles away," Beresford-Kroeger said. Advertisement A botanist and medical biochemist by training, Beresford-Kroeger is deeply concerned about the connection between deforestation and climate change. (Deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gases, and growing forests sequester carbon and help regulate the climate.) Her concern extends to the vast ancient boreal forest, which contains about a third of the world's forest area. This enormous biome covers a large part of the Northern Hemisphere, and, because of its high latitude, is likely to be greatly affected by climate change. Tar sands development has already destroyed many square miles of the Canadian boreal forest and an increase in fire and insect infestations related to climate change have also had a negative impact. "You can't replace or replant the boreal forest complexity," Beresford-Kroeger warns. "Once it's gone, it's gone." Beresford-Kroeger is not alone these days in calling for a massive, global reforestation effort. Earth Day Network has pledged to get 7.8 billion trees planted around the world within four years -- one for every person on the planet by the group's 50th birthday. Its Canopy Project has already planted over 3 million trees in 32 countries since 2011, concentrating on areas most in need of restoration. The United Nations Environment Programme and its partners launched a Billion Tree Campaign in 2006, planting more than 12 billion trees in five years, according to their website, before turning the campaign over to the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation. (The Billion Tree Campaign was inspired by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Wangari Maathai, founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement, which itself has planted 30 million trees since 1977.) The Nature Conservancy also has a Plant a Billion Trees Campaign. A local representative from the Turtle Island Restoration Network (based near Point Reyes), introduced the Call of the Forest conferees to the organization's new 10,000 redwood tree planting campaign as a response to climate change, which Turtle Island calls, "the greatest threat to life on Earth." Advertisement Coastal redwoods, however, are particularly effective at sequestering carbon because they are fast-growing, can survive for 2,000 years or more, and can store enormous amounts of carbon in their massive bulk. The trees are also native to the San Francisco Bay Area where they provide excellent protection to streams and riverbanks and habitat for native species like critically endangered coho salmon. Turtle Island's goal is to restore 10,000 redwoods in the Bay Area over the next three years as part of its Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN) program, which works to protect endangered coho salmon and restore their creekside habitat. The group is calling for people to plant the trees at their homes and schools and for volunteers to help grow the redwood seedlings in their nursery. They are also looking for corporations interested in offsetting their carbon footprints. The Call of the Forest conference also included panels on water, climate, and spiritual ecology. Taking the lead on the water panel, Linda Sheehan, Executive Director of the Earth Law Center of Redwood City argued that nature has an inherent right to exist in a healthy state. "The river has an inherent right to flow." Water laws, she said, need to be "revisioned" to reflect our interconnections with water. Current water law only values water when it is used or withdrawn from a waterway, she noted. Advertisement Linda Sheehan, Executive Director of the Earth Law Center of Redwood City, CA. Photo 2016 Carlos Porrata. Brock Dolman, co-founder of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, focused attention on how the language we use to describe water and other aspects of the natural world can negatively influence our behavior toward it. He pointed out that we use an economic vocabulary to speak of water as a resource, an asset, or as a commodity. "Is the planet a community or a commodity? Is water a community or a commodity?" he asked. Brock Dolman, co-founder of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center and the WATER Institute. Photo 2016 Carlos Porrata. Other conference speakers also addressed the commodification of nature. Award-winning author and conservationist Rick Bass, who is working to protect the biodiversity of Montana's remote Yaak Valley, said that in contrast to the corporation's economic myth that resources are inexhaustible, we need to establish a story of reciprocity and respect for nature. Real Clear Politics is a fun website. I assume that 99% of its traffic occurs in the run up to any big primary or general election, because it is a very good repository of current polling data. But it also has lots of good political essays, both self-generated and culled from the web. Read through these essays and you begin to realize that whoever devised the name "Real Clear Politics" has a wry and ironic sense of humor. Because you realize that politics, circa 2016, is anything but "clear." You will find essays from leading thinkers declaring that Donald Trump's candidacy is a foregone conclusion next to essays about how Donald Trump is doomed to fail. One expert will prove that Hillary Clinton has the necessary delegates sewed up while the next will prove that Bernie Sanders is destined to be our 45th president. I remember reading recently that the Trump surge means the Democratic Party is on the brink of collapse. Being a Democrat, this bothered me, until I read the following day that the Trump surge means that the Republican Party is - you guessed it - on the brink of collapse. Real Clear Politics. What a sense of humor. Being the open-minded guy I am, I read all of them. And being the opinionated egotist I am, I agree with the ones that say what I want to hear - logic, reason, or fact notwithstanding. Advertisement Of course, logic, reason, and fact seem to be in short supply when assessing Donald Trump. This isn't entirely his fault. He simply doesn't have much of a coherent public policy track record to go on. Of the five remaining major party candidates, three of them have long records of public service. Clinton, Sanders, and Kasich have certainly evolved and changed over time, but I think we can safely evaluate their core beliefs. A fourth, Ted Cruz, may not have a long track record, but he has been consistently ideological in his statements and actions. I think we know where he stands and how he would act on crucial matters. One of the many scary things about a prospective Donald Trump presidency is that we have no clue as to how he would act. He is just as murky as the opinionistas on Real Clear Politics. It is not simply that he has changed positions over time. He changes positions during the course of an answer. The only thing we know for sure is that Trump has updated Teddy Roosevelt's classic mantra for the 21st century - Speak loudly and carry a huuuge stick. As we scour his behavior for clues as to what a Trump administration might actually look like, we do get some moments of clarity. One of them hit me late last week while watching a debate between three Republican women discussing the latest dust-up - the war of words between Trump and Cruz over the treatment of their respective wives. You probably know the story. A super pac which may or may not be affiliated with the Cruz campaign published a nude photo of Donald's wife Melania. An outraged Trump, in the guise of defending his wife, said some nasty things about Heidi Cruz, Ted's wife. And it got uglier from there. No need to rehash. That's what Google is for. Advertisement As the panelists - Trump supporter Crystal Wright and Trump detractors Mary Katharine Ham and Jennifer Rubin -- debated Trump's attitude toward women, I began to tune out the argument. Wright, echoing Trump's main line of attack, insisted that her candidate loves women (his public comments to the contrary) and that women love him (polling data to the contrary.) No argument from Ham or Rubin could shake this belief. What I started thinking about instead were patterns of behavior. If elected, Trump will be commander in chief. Now let's imagine that someone launches an attack aimed an interest of the USA. Trump suspects, but can't know for sure, that this attack was sanctioned by an enemy - oh, I'll say North Korea, but it could be China or ISIS or Megyn Kelly if you prefer. Donald is pissed. So he nukes Pyongyang. Welcome to WWIII. This is what he did to Heidi Cruz, and when you consider that this is the same man who has proudly advocated killing the families of suspected terrorists, I think you begin to get a genuinely clearer sense of how reckless and dangerous a Trump presidency might be. I understand many Americans are desperate for a powerful leader who will not back down from the challenges posed by amoral murderers seeking to eradicate freedom and democracy. But do you really want a president who will throw a tantrum the first time a kid with access to clip art and photoshop posts a picture of Ivanka and Kim Jong-un in a compromising position? Because rest assured, that will happen. If his thin skin bruises from dirty campaign tactics, what will happen when President Trump has to contend with the barrage of insulting pokes and prods from silly kids and from mortal enemies alike. Anyone looking for a job nowadays and experiencing some frustration when regular techniques of job-hunting are not successful, might wonder if more powerful help would be available to achieve success. For spiritual people, powerful help may be available. People across the ages have relied upon dreams to guide them in important matters and this area of immediate human concern should be no different. Christian writer Morton Kelsey said it rightly in 1978 when he opined, "If however, humankind is open to another dimension of reality, then the dream may be one of the most common avenues by which God reaches out to us...dreams should be taken very seriously." (M. Kelsey, Dreams: A Way to Listen to God, Paulist Press, Mahwah, N.J., 1978, 1989, page 5.) Muslims also know this. Imran N. Hosein in his "Dreams in Islam: A Window to Truth and to the Heart" (Masjid Darul Qur'an, Bayshore, N.Y. 1997, 2001, page 94-95) states, "We wish to remind our readers that Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu 'alaihi wa sallam) constantly interpreted not only his own dreams but also the dreams of his companions...Muslims should strive to be blessed with the capacity to interpret dreams..." Imran N. Hosein describes certain spiritual practices which aid believers in experiencing good and true dreams. If your dream is "true and good" and not evil or from the 'nafs' (self), as Imran N. Hosein describes them (pages 51-74), and (I would add) you feel confident that you have received divine guidance in your dreams about an area of business or industry or a company to work in, it is possible to write to a company or companies in the relevant area (in reality usually multiple letters to different companies). In this respect, one idea that might be quite useful for this purpose is the "ignition letter" suggested by one author, Carter Elliott, who was involved in placing troubled Vietnam veterans in jobs. (See Carter E. Elliott, "Clean, Sober and Unemployed: Strategies for the Post-Rehabilitation Job-Seeker", Tab Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1992, pages 73-77.) He describes an ignition letter as "... simply a personal letter to a particular person asking for an appointment to discuss a matter of importance to both of you." It is, of course, advisable to apply to relevant positions that are open and publicly advertised, working through standard channels such as the company's Human Resources/Personnel Office. However, ignition letters, as I see them (similar to Elliott's description), are sent out typically to named higher-ups and these people sometimes can create a position in companies that have not necessarily advertised a position. Therefore, to be taken seriously, I also agree with Elliott that there should be, importantly, four suggested aspects of ignition-letters. As Elliott states, "Your ignition letters will be personalized if possible but will never be cute or flip...it will be short...it will show knowledge of the organization or product...it will show that person, in a few sentences, how you can help the company make more money." (Elliott, page 75). It is always important for the job-seeker to have done adequate research on his/her own background and skills and also adequate research about the target company and, if possible, of the company official receiving the letter and make a good match. (See Elliott. pp. 78-99 on target research.) As all of this research should be inspired after a dream so we should also be very careful to ask ourselves if our dreams are indeed true and good and have inspired our subsequent research and selection of companies. Advertisement In this respect it is also important to note the warning of Imran Hosein (page 75), " Then there was the grave warning from the Prophet (sallalahu 'alaihi wa sallam) concerning false claims of true and good dreams...or to falsify a dream which came from the nafs (self) and thus to mislead concerning the inner message conveyed by the dream..." Therefore we should most probably remain silent about the content of any dreams being the inspiration for writing to companies and let them be merely our private and personal guidance and motivation. The content of our public statements should consist only of the products of rigorous and convincing research of our own background and skills matched with a well-researched choice of companies. Our true and good dreams and inspired research might lead to a good match that could also be clear in the mind of the recipient company officer reading our letter. If we were wrong in the interpretation of our dreams, it may be less likely that the company officer will be convinced and more likely that he or she will ignore or reject our letter. We also have the additional safeguards of a hiring process often utilizing highly skilled human resource professionals to ensure good matching. Last but not least, we have an ethical responsibility and we must personally and individually provide ourselves and others an ethical safeguard for our behavior: we should commence any and all of our inspired action tested against and in accordance with our Islamic ethics contained in the Shariah. Of course other ethical and cultural standards may also be in place locally which we must consider and we also must know about and adhere to local legal standards in our behavior. I was relaxing in my bathtub this morning when my husband came flying in with his usual sense of urgency. "Do we own a net?" "A net?" "Yes! A Net!" "No, but put it on the list and I'll be sure and pick one up next time I'm at Walmart," I said dismissively, with my characteristic lack of urgency, (most pronounced in all matters of household maintenance, of which I've grown decidedly weary and largely unmotivated.) "Get out, of the tub! I need your help! We have birds in the house!" I wasn't sure at first that I heard him correctly. We have had NERDS in the house. We have, on occasion, even had TURDS in the house, but I think he just said we have BIRDS in the house. Which, I supposed, would explain why he's asking for a net. Sometimes, I just need a minute to process things. Advertisement And, then I Really put it all together - I realized that we had literally jinxed ourselves with a conversation we had earlier today... My husband and I had our first two children in our early 20s. At the time that we had these precious girls, we were friends with several couples, approximately the same age as us, that also had two children. The difference being, these couples stopped reproducing themselves after 2 children. About 6 years after we had our first two, we caught what is often referred to as a "second wind" and had 3 more children. One more darling girl, capped off by two perfect sons. Suffice it to say, our second wind blew harder and more powerful than our first wind. The irony, however, is that many of our closest friends are now, "Empty Nesters," while we are still deep in the throes of childrearing. We see these Empty Nesters everywhere. We can not seem to escape them. They mock us on social media with their newfound freedom. Still young, beautiful and full-of-spunk, they frolic about, flaunting their utter lack of responsibility. They wander all over Europe, attend wine tastings in Napa and dine in hoity-toity restaurants. We can't verify this, but we are pretty convinced, with all that privacy, they probably make love right smack in the middle of the day, while they still have energy... My hubby and I were sharing our morning coffee today, wistfully gazing at pictures of a our best friends from college prancing all over Facebook. There were pictures of them laughing merrily in a Gondola in Venice and shooting Limoncello in Rome (probably toasting their own Reproductive Wisdom and Foresight.). Naturally, our conversation turned to wondering if we, too, might one day become actual "ENs." Advertisement That's when I'm pretty sure we jinxed ourselves. Instead of getting birds out of our nest, we actually let a few more in today! Back to the bird situation: In the absence of a household net, my husband requested two towels. I was further instructed to hold one towel up vertically, "Like a Bullfighter in Spain!" I made an on-the-spot decision that this might not be the ideal time to mention to my Beloved that I've never seen a Bullfight, never been to Spain, and at the rate we are going, probably never will. My man proceeded to impress me with his proficient use of Towel #2. He tossed it over the first bird and released her tenderly into The Great Outdoors. The remaining bird, he pointed out, was the male. "This is going to be trickier," he explained, as though he were a card-carrying member of The Audubon Society, "The male bird's lack of focus and direction is probably what got them into this situation to begin with!" (It seriously took my husband a full 32 years of marriage to admit this obviousness?) We had quite a battle on our hands with that male. Eventually, my husband managed to capture him and carried him flapping like crazy to our backdoor. Trying to be of assistance, I said frantically, "I'll crack open the door, you thrust him high up in the air, with some force, and then when he starts flapping, jump back in the house and we'll slam the door quickly behind you, before he has a chance to change his mind!" It was infinitely harder to rid our home of the male-of-the-species, which we sincerely hoped wasn't some kind of FORESHADOWING of our future...That little guy dug in and resisted his own emancipation. But, no matter! We now feel confident that we have a pretty merciless exit strategy planned for when the time comes to show THE BOYS the door Advertisement Bye-bye Birdies Champions for Change (C4C) is pleased to continue our 'Meet the Champions' Series. This blog series highlights the work of 24 Nigerian leaders currently participating as C4C Champions. C4C's Champions in Nigeria are working together to save the lives of mothers, children and young women through innovative advocacy and leadership development. Nigeria is Africa's largest economy, and yet tens of thousands of women and children die there each year due to lack of maternity care, preventable disease and poor health infrastructure, among other causes. This series brings a diversity of perspectives from around Nigeria to the table to discuss this critical moment in Nigeria's history and how Nigerians can work together to build a healthy future for all. Aminu Magashi Garba, Board Member The series concludes with an interactive discussion with Aminu Magashi Garba of Community Health and Research Initiative (CHR), a non-governmental organization that engages in research and advocacy for evidenced based policies and programs to improve maternal, newborn, and child morbidity and mortality rates in Nigeria. C4C: What led to your involvement in RMNCH work, and what is the issue you are most passionate about in the field of RMNCH? Advertisement Aminu: I am a graduate of the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria in 2001 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). I was actively involved in student unionism and rose to become Vice President of Nigerian Medical Students Association (NIMSA). I went on to obtain a Master's Degree in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2007. Having worked in hospitals as a young medical doctor, I had witnessed many women and children dying of preventable problems and complications because of inadequate facilities and lack of live saving drugs. It made me realise that the answer didn't lie in the four walls of hospitals but in sustained advocacy and engaging political leaders and policy makers to provide adequate funding and services. This has been my passion for my work of over 18 years. I am interested in the areas of mobilization and effective use of financial resources and partnerships including working with the private sector for the post-2015 health agenda in Africa. I am currently leading sustained advocacy in Nigeria to improve immunisation finances and strengthen accountability and transparency. Also under the auspices of the Africa Health Budget Network I am working to support the Global Finance Facility (GFF) for RMNCAH to improve the participation of civil society organizations in oversight and advocacy. C4C: Why did you opt to be part of the PHI/C4C program? What skills do you hope to acquire and what do you intend to do with these new knowledge and skills? Advertisement Aminu: The programme is planned to bring innovation in building the capacity of RMNCAH leaders in Nigeria via numerous leadership training. I have acquired more skills in advocacy, including budget advocacy, as well as enhancing my ability to network with media and strengthen the effectiveness of our organization. C4C: What successes are you most proud of in your professional career? Aminu: I coordinate the Africa Health Budget Network which is a regional network committed to the promotion of health budget transparency and accountability. I launched it during the 3rd WHO/PMNCH forum in Johannesburg in 2014. During the forum I also launched a scorecard on health budget transparency covering 26 African countries and called for greater transparency regarding the use of public funds. This was a high point of my professional career. C4C: What is the most innovative aspect of the work of your organization? Aminu: CHR has earned its niche over many years in strategically using scorecards to monitor performance of RMNCAH service delivery, and the use of such tools to influence change in the political environment for increased finances and commitment for RMNCAH. C4C: Why is advocacy for RMNCAH important in Nigeria? Aminu: Many state hospitals are facing a regular shortage of life-saving drugs for women and children to prevent bleeding during and after delivery and prevent infections, and many facilities lack the required human resources needed to provide RMNCAH services. These are some of the reasons why advocacy is important. C4C: What is your vision for the future of Nigeria's Health System? What would be different if women newborns and children had adequate access to good quality health services and information? Advertisement Aminu: Proper implementation of National Health Act is key. For women, newborns and children to have adequate access to good quality health services and information, we need to ensure adequate allocation and disbursement of financial commitments at national and state level. C4C: What is your favorite thing to do when you want to relax and have fun? Aminu: I like to relax in my sitting room and enjoy local food with my wife and two children. Outside of my work, I also write a weekly health column in a Nigerian Newspaper, the 'Daily Trust,' that answers readers' questions on health as well as writes articles that engages policy makers, politicians, civil society and development partners with evidence and information aimed at catalysing positive actions in the health sector. It is the experience of this work that provided the impetus and stimulus to establish an online newspaper called Health Reporters, at www.healthreporters.info. I am a Champion for Change because...I want to catalyse advocacy actions for effective use of financial resources in Nigeria to improve RMNCAH. . . . . . . . . . . We invite you to follow us on Twitter at @C4C_Champions and use the hashtag #MeetTheChampions to engage more closely with the blog series, the work of the 24 leaders whose work is being highlighted, and the larger conversation surrounding reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health in Nigeria. Champions for Change saves the lives of women and children in Nigeria by empowering local leaders and organizations to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health through advocacy, education, storytelling and strategic partnerships. Champions for Change leverages a program model developed by its sister initiative, Let Girls Lead, which has contributed to improved health, education and livelihoods for more than 3 million girls globally since 2009. Advertisement Champions for Change and Let Girls Lead are initiatives of Rise Up, based at the Public Health Institute in Oakland, CA, a leader in global health and development for 50 years. When a series of unfortunate events unfold, it is sometimes possible to trace them back to a single moment in time. For middle-class families and the financially fragile, something minor could start a chain reaction that leads to major financial misery: a missed car payment, a bounced mortgage check, a traffic ticket fine, or unexpected car trouble forcing a missed work shift and reduced take-home pay, and even worse, loss of their job. These events often cause a chain reaction - wrecking credit scores, triggering hidden bank fees, adding more debt and making it more difficult for many ordinary Americans to climb out of a financial hole. For many families, financial technology has made it possible to avert such crises and change the trajectory from financial fragility to financial solvency. Of all the industries disrupted in America, I believe disruptions in the financial services sector have the greatest potential to help move more Americans into financial security and to prevent more people from being stuck in a less advantageous position in the first place. The financial technology space, known as fintech, is creating a new financial architecture and enabling more Americans than ever before to access the resources and capital they need when they need it, especially those who need it the most. CBS News recently published an article on the high cost of being poor, noting that impoverished Americans face costs wealthier citizens easily avoid. Nearly 10 million households do not have a bank account. For those who do, CBS estimated the penalties for bouncing a check average $33.07, an increase of 9 percent since 2010. Meanwhile, banks continue to increase fees and add new ones, all while discounting the disruptive technology that is the future of their business. Advertisement It should come as no surprise that for all of the services that banks offer - and charge for - a small-dollar cash loan to prevent a $33.07 overdraft fee is not likely to be on the menu of options. But online, there are many licensed and regulated options that can provide a bridge of capital, preventing the bank from collecting an overdraft fee, and ensuring a cleared check and a clear conscience for the consumer. For Americans living paycheck to paycheck, if a car repair, medical expense or another unexpected bill arrives in between paychecks, the risk of a bounced check with a big fee, and perhaps a chain reaction of bounced checks with even more fees, creating a downward financial spiral that can hurt our country's most vulnerable. Most banks do not offer credit options for $200.00 for a flat tire, or so a muffler can pass an emission inspection. The fintech marketplace offers many opportunities for such credit. And let's face it: The Internet has better hours than traditional storefront banks without the all-too-familiar slow "maybe" and eventual rejection. Some dismiss the perils of the financially fragile with a commonplace suggestion to put the expense on a credit card, or borrow money from a friend of family member. For those fortunate enough to pay their credit card balances every month, interest fees might not be on the radar, but they exist, and they are often very high. Additionally, the higher the credit card balance, the lower the credit score. The same goes for those with multiple cards. And not everyone is lucky enough to have a benefactor from which to borrow money. The fintech marketplace not only has the potential to prevent poverty, but it also has the potential to help more people with limited resources realize the American Dream. Regulations in Washington have made it even more challenging than ever for an individual with an idea to access the capital they need to achieve their dream of starting a small business. Advertisement In the movies, venture capitalists come out of the shadows to bless an idea with a large cash infusion. But most idea men and women don't have access to Peter Thiel or Mark Cuban. And traditional banks are not always an option. Unless you are blessed with significant resources, you might get lip service in the lobby of a bank and walk away with nothing. This is one of the reasons online lending for small businesses is flourishing. Now everyday investors are pooling together resources to support the best ideas from everyday entrepreneurs. Whether its crowd-sourcing or direct loans, fintech is transforming America's small business landscape and leaving traditional financial institutions behind. On the heels of COP21 and increased global awareness and commitment to reduce carbon, development with a purpose has finally found paradise. A powerful and much needed kinship between pioneering real-estate developers and cultural heroes has begun to converge to temper the negative impacts of tourism with more lasting, balanced, and sensible sustainable lifestyle solutions. Take for example the Chileno Bay Club in Los Cabos, Mexico, where the developers have integrated LED lighting and solar panels to deliver cost effective energy efficiency and carbon reductions for homeowners. And in Park City Utah, developer Sean Kelleher's Echo Spur project is marrying functional design with advancements in building materials, water management, energy efficiency and solar in an effort to deliver more affordable sustainable living options for buyers. The "eco-sensitive" Echo Spur project appeals to both the ecologic and economic impact of the development on the local environment and on buyer's pocketbooks. The project is said to have lower monthly ownership costs because the homes use less energy and are constructed to have lower maintenance costs. Advertisement This past month I caught-up with Colin Hannan of the Foundry Collective, a development group and operator of experiential hotels and resorts, about how his firm is accelerating residential solar projects in Belize through their new developer financing option for buyers. Photo Courtesy of Itz'ana Resort & Residences Mr. Hannan's second luxury development in Belize, Itz'ana Resort & Residences (named after the Mayan god of Day and Night), will be comprised of 66 luxury waterfront cottages and villas once completed. Located in the coastal village of Placencia, Belize, Itz'ana Resort and Residences is nestled on 16 miles of Caribbean peninsula bordered by sea on one side, and lagoon on the other. Itz'ana's cottages and villas feature architectural design by the Boston-based architect, Roberto de Oliveira Castro, who is native of the Central American region. Mr. Hannan remarked, "...Sustainability is a common thread in all the work we do at the Foundry Collective. At Itz'ana we saw an unmet need to make solar a more accessible and affordable opportunity for our customers. Local-level banking and financing in Central American countries like Belize is challenging, often requiring more time and cost than most investors are willing to tolerate. So we created our own developer financing model as a solution to accelerate the solar opportunity at Itz'ana. It provides an immediate finance option for our customer, it deepens our commitment for sustainable development in Belize, and it aligns with our long-standing values and commitment at the Foundry Collective to be a premier developer of sustainable luxury real-estate." Mr. Hannan noted that many of their buyers frequently asked for other sustainable options. In response, and to make carbon-reduction technologies more attractive to buyers of luxury homes, the Foundry Collective team created the developer financing option. Advertisement Mr. Hannan added, "We work hard to bring a progressive mindset to all of our developments. We're committed to incorporating sustainable value into the design, operation and complete experience for all of our properties. We get inspired by the local community and our customers. We listen to their needs and goals - and work hard to reach mutual, dignified outcomes. We take our responsibility very seriously and have discovered that buyers and communities are responding very favorably to our shared values." And those shared values and buyer-friendly finance options are resulting in sales. Phase one of Itz'ana, which included 39 residences ranging from $295,000 to $1 million, is 75% under contract. The Foundry Collective has launched the second and final phase at Itz'ana, which will include 27 additional residences ranging from one-bedroom cottages to five-bedroom villas. Photo Courtesy of Itz'ana Resort & Residences But for Mr. Hannan, his journey is about much more than simply making the sale. Everything in real-estate is local, as someone once aptly noted. And responsible real-estate development at the local-level is gaining momentum throughout the world. It's not only about building "greener," more efficient structures. Leading practitioners of progressive real-estate development have come to understand that sustainability is also about assessing (and addressing) all facets of where and how people live, play, work, entertain and rejuvenate. As principles of sustainability have infiltrated the business of real-estate, forward-thinking developers like the Foundry Collective have realized that it's about enriching the entire ecosystem. For example, in Belize Mr. Hannan's team has invested in a "pop-up" restaurant, Limilita, which builds its daily menu exclusively on local food suppliers. The menu changes daily and represents healthy local fare that is responsibly sourced, and subsequently supports the local fishing and agricultural economy. Photo Courtesy of Itz'ana Resort & Residences The Foundry Collective team's vision of sustainable living hasn't ended there, however. They've collaborated with Samuel Amoia, a New York City designer, and established the sustainable furniture collection, Itz'ana Home. Itz'ana Home is a fusion of Mr. Amoia's visionary design and locally crafted, finished bespoke home goods. Itz'ana Home's unique pieces are handmade from personally selected hardwoods by local Central American artisans. Advertisement Like many countries in Central and Latin America, Belize remains majestic, underdeveloped and at a development crossroads. Just as the Maya ruins continue to provide intrigue and wonder, Belize's rich history provides the backdrop for its future. Tourism and the service industry represent the lion's share of the Belize economy, but the country continues to carry a significant foreign debt burden. While tourism has enriched the country, Belize contends with a diversity of development challenges including high rates of unemployment, crime, and HIV/AIDS. Hannan remarked on this dichotomy, "As a developer, we feel a responsibility to give back to the community and better these social and economic challenges, but it's also important to understand that Belize is a place of contrast. The country is prized by locals and travelers for its pristine environment and its underdeveloped charm. We want to protect what makes Belize unique, which is its reputation for being a place of adventure, wonder and ecologic integrity. By promoting sustainability with solar, the entire community benefits." Belize delivers an unparalleled utopia for eco-tourists. Intersecting both North and South America, Belize transcends a range of climates supporting an abundance of habitats and diversity of wildlife. The country's terrestrial lands are some of the most protected in the America's. Over 60% of the land surface in Belize is covered by forest, and nearly 37% of the land area is officially protected. Offshore, the second-largest barrier reef in the world, the Belize Barrier Reef, occupies nearly 190 miles of the country's territorial waters. The reef is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and is also recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for its unique habitats and significance to conservation of biodiversity. The reef provides a critical habitat in support of the country's fishing industry. As such, the reef is popular among snorkelers and scuba divers as one of Belize's top tourist destinations. Another tourist favorite, the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is considered one the premier efforts supporting the preservation of jaguars in natural habitat. Further, the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, recognized as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, encompasses 16,400 acres of pine savanna, logwood swamps, lagoons and creeks, which provide essential habitat for globally endangered species such as "Hicatee," the Central American River Turtle, Yellow-headed Parrot and the Mexican Black Howler Monkey. Crooked Tree's pine savannas also provide significant habitat for the Jabiru stork. Advertisement Photo Courtesy of Itz'ana Resort & Residences Entrusted by his customers and locals, Hannan is intimately aware of the ecological importance of Belize. Hannan noted, "Tourism is the country's number one industry, and we are a part of that. The service economy has enormous potential. The Maya ruins, the barrier reef and wildlife sanctuaries, each of these are core attractions for global travelers. But an essential question for us, one that we work at every day, is how do you grow and not exceed your limits? How do you hold onto the unique character of the region and its people with dignity?" For Hannan and the Foundry Collective, local-level partnerships have been integral to achieving success. Fernando Paiz, a successful businessman with interests in real-estate, telecommunications, agriculture, energy and retail, has been a key advisor and partner to the Foundry Collective team in Belize. Through their association with Mr. Paiz the Foundry Collective team has been able to obtain regional credibility and reputational strength as they've put their creative design and development solutions to the test. Mr. Paiz, who also serves as the President of the La Ruta Maya Foundation, has been instrumental in preserving the Maya heritage. The foundation has secured, cataloged, and preserved more than 3,300 antiquities into a world-class collection that they are working to make accessible to the public. Hannan noted that they were collaborating with Mr. Paiz to establish a Belize arm of the La Ruta Maya Foundation. More than 250 unique artifacts have already been donated, some of which will be on display at the Itz'ana and its sister resort, Ka'ana. It's only fitting that Mr. Hannan's team is actively supporting Mr. Paiz to conserve and educate the richness of the Mayan culture. Their efforts are symbolic of the sustainable future they've committed to jointly pursue at Itz'ana Resort and Residences and throughout the region. Advertisement Thousands of years ago, the Mayans discovered balance by building and integrating structures and monuments in their natural surroundings, orchestrating them to the movement of the stars. Today, through the efforts of cultural heroes and sustainable development pioneers like Mr. Hannan and Mr. Paiz, Belize has partners to preserve its past, protect its future, and find its new-age sense of balance and prosperity. JANESVILLE, WI - MARCH 29: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign town hall event at the Janesville Conference Center in Janesville, WI on Tuesday March 29, 2016. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) JANESVILLE -- Donald Trump landed in Wisconsin Tuesday, turning out a huge crowd in Janesville, Paul Ryan's home town, just because he could. According to Politico, Trump chose the location hours after Speaker Ryan chastised him for the tenor of his campaign. "Our political discourse did not used to be this bad and it does not have to be this way now. Politics can be a battle of ideas not a battle of insults," said Ryan. Advertisement Trump responded by issuing 5,000 tickets for a 1,000 seat venue at the Janesville Holiday Inn, generating a huge crowd. There were as many Trump supporters outside the hall as inside. Hundreds of young people were also there to protest the candidate with a strong rejection of racist rhetoric. With dozens of vendors hawking goods, there was a carnival-like atmosphere to the event unlike any other. Trump ditched the standard stump speech for a withering attack on Wisconsin's conservative establishment. Trump vs. Scott Walker On Monday, Trump was ambushed by the state's far-right radio talkers Charlie Sykes and Vicki McKenna, who in separate interviews demanded that Trump apologize for attacking Cruz's wife. The spectacle of the two trash-talking radio hosts demanding "civility" from Trump had many here rolling their eyes. Advertisement On cue, Walker endorsed Cruz Tuesday morning citing among other factors the fact that he and Cruz, who has been accused by the tabloid National Enquirer of multiple affairs, were both "preacher's sons." Walker support among Republicans remains strong, but his approval rating has sunk to 40% one of the worst in the nation. On Tuesday afternoon, Trump got a chance to return the favor. "He certainly can't endorse me after what I did to him in the race, right?" Trump said, referencing his attacks on Walker's record before he dropped out of the race last fall. Trump then read a long list of economic data points to make the case that Walker has failed: total state debt $45 billion, 20,000 fewer people in labor force than 7 years ago, 800,000 food stamp recipients; middle class hit hard due to loss of manufacturing; 15,000 jobs lost to NAFTA and more. "He's not doing such a good job, Scott Walker, but he's convinced you there's no problem." "Both Walker and Cruz want TPP -- that would hit Wisconsin so hard," said Trump referencing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal pending with 12 Pacific rim countries and he mocked Walker for his fondness for biking clothes. "He doesn't look like a biker to me," said Trump. Trump Attacks Club for Growth Then Trump segued into a more personal story about Walker. "He came up to my office about a year ago... I supported him I gave him money... I didn't know him well, but he was fighting, he was always fighting... and I gave him a lot of money. He gave me a plaque, a beautiful picture. I never read it. I just had my girl find it... she found it under a pile of other plaques. So I will bring it here, I will be here the whole week. Because if we win Wisconsin it will be pretty much over." Advertisement It is not clear if Trump is referencing a $10,000 check he gave to Walker for his reelection in 2014 or the $15,000 check he gave secretly to Wisconsin Club for Growth to aide Walker during the 2012 recall election. The secret donation came to light in the course of the "John Doe" criminal investigation of Walker, currently being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and his top campaign aide RJ Johnson for potentially illegal coordination with allegedly independent groups. Wisconsin Club for Growth has spent millions over the years in support of the Wisconsin GOP and is as much of the Wisconsin political establishment as its pet project Scott Walker. Trump had more to say about Club for Growth calling it a "crooked outfit." Trump said that a representative of Club for Growth had met with him and written to him asking for $1 million and now the group is running ads against him in Wisconsin. "He writes me a note asking for $1 million dollars. Now they are doing ads all over Wisconsin on eminent domain. By the way without eminent domain you would not have schools roads or hospitals... but they are complaining about eminent domain which is kind of funny because these people love the Keystone pipeline... which is all about eminent domain," he said. Paul Ryan Not Spared "Do you guys like Paul Ryan?" he asked the crowd. Ryan has represented Janesville since 1998. To boos and yells, Trump responded "Really? I was told not to criticize him here. He is the Speaker, he is very nice. Wow, are you sure you are all Republicans? Are you mostly conservatives?" They weren't all Republicans. Many of the people CMD spoke to outside the venue called themselves independents, one was torn between Trump and Sanders and some were at the first political event of their lives. Many had completely contradictory views on issues such as abortion. Advertisement Wisconsin is an open primary state so by campaigning against the establishment Trump hopes to appeal to Independents, Democrats and the disaffected. Dianne from Janesville told CMD: "I like Trump because he is his own man, not owned by anyone. He brought me out. I am not a regular voter." On the whole she had little faith in typical politicians. "You know people get elected, they make promises, and still our country is falling a part." How is it falling apart? "Terrorism, it's a big issue and its getting worse." She wasn't the only person to talk about terrorism. Many Trump supporters placed it on their list of top issues and one spoke to me at length about the "22 ISIS camps already in America" being ignored by the main stream media. He had heard it on an evangelical radio show. "No Hate in Our State" Supporters and Protesters March Outside Many Trump supporters outside the venue were not happy with the state of the nation. John Paulby wants a wall with Mexico to stop heroine, cocaine, and terrorists, but his real beef was with immigrants who he believed received food stamps, housing, and healthcare "for free." He carried a sign which read "entitlement suckers will keep sucking entitlements." John Green was there to advocate for AARP and strengthening Social Security. Victor Procopio is voting for Trump because of borders, babies (abortion), and business (jobs). "Obama gave our auto plants to China. Trump will bring jobs back from all over the world." Chuck from Janesville was also worried about a list of items including what he called "Ryan's trade deal." The TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, he said would allow foreign workers to come to the United States and get a fast track to citizenship. "Ryan was one of the architects of the deal, he is a globalist. At least Trump isn't bought." Advertisement Trump supporters were separated by a line of police from a vibrant and diverse crowd of young protesters holding signs such as "You can't combover racism," "I am not a criminal, I am a dreamer," "Trump empowers hate," "Trump leave our state, and take our Governor with you," and "Down with this kind of thing." It was notable that the protesters were not lead by Wisconsin union leaders, but by young people in their twenties and teens many concerned about racial justice and LGBT rights. "Build communities, not walls" was a frequent chant. Six protesters committed civil disobedience and were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after they locked themselves down in the hotel lobby the night before demanding that Holiday Inn cancel the event. A number of the protesters returned to speak to the crowd through a bull horn and urge them to lead in their communities in the fight against discrimination of all stripes. "Z!" Haukeness explained that the goal of the action was to shut down hate speech and racist rhetoric that can have consequences. He pointed out that two Hmong men and a Puerto Rican man were shot had been shot and killed in Milwaukee recently. Racist rhetoric can "embolden people" and lead to this type of anti-immigrant violence he said. He called it a "Trump effect." Democratic State Rep. Melissa Sargent was there to support the protesters "I want young people to know that some Wisconsin policymakers care about them whether they are born in Mexico, worship at a Mosque or have black skin." While there was a heavy police presence in Janesville, the crowd was boisterous, but largely peaceful. In an ugly incident towards the end of the day, a teen-age girl was groped and when she punched the man who did it, she was pepper-sprayed by someone who was not law enforcement. Advertisement On Wednesday March 30, Trump will be in DePere, Appelton, Green Bay, and Wausau taking nothing for granted. I watched a fascinating interview on television recently. Fascinating and disturbing. The interview was on the evening news. It was with three Muslim American citizens. Each of the three was proud to be an American. The first man interviewed spoke eloquently of his love for the values that define America, values such as freedom, equality and justice. Another spoke insightfully of the fact that Muslims in America have become well integrated into American culture and have had a real stake in American society. This is a major reason, he said, that America has proven to be infertile ground for Jihadists' propaganda in contrast to some European countries. This man, a native-born American, also talked about his worries that some political rhetoric seems to be aimed at separating Muslim Americans from non-Muslim Americans, segregating them, treating them as perpetual suspects, keeping them under surveillance, and thus providing a real boost to the propaganda of those radicals who would divide Americans along lines of faith and ethnicity. Advertisement The interview that really disturbed me most, however, was with the third person, a woman. She was quiet, modest and soft-spoken. She seemed to carry a solemn grief. When she told her story, you saw the source of her sorrow. She had been attacked some months ago while eating dinner at an American chain restaurant. Another woman came up to her and hit her in the face with a beer bottle because she wore the headscarf representing her faith. The interview cut away to show still photographs of the restaurant where she was attacked and pictures of her face cut and bruised. This Muslim woman, also a native-born American citizen, was singled out for an act of hatred and violence because of her religious faith and because of her ethnicity. The loss she felt related directly to how much she loves this country and the values for which it stands. One might call the attack on her un-American, and it was. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as some people may have forgotten, was insisted upon as a condition by some for the ratification of the Constitution. In particular, the First Amendment, guaranteeing religious freedom, was insisted upon by those who belonged to religious minorities, particularly the Baptists, who feared that the state might establish a state religion thus limiting the free exercise of their beliefs.* These representatives of minority religious faiths insisted that the United States should be a place where religious minorities can safely practice their faith. The Baptists were not the only religious minority at that time. There were also then in this country Quakers, Roman Catholics, Jews and others, including Muslims. Indeed, lest anyone think that the boundaries of "religious freedom" imagined by the founding fathers were limited to Christians and Jews, we would do well to consult the text that influenced the framers more than any other on this subject, not least because of its influence on Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia bill guaranteeing religious freedom. In 1689, John Locke published his "Letter Concerning Toleration", which specifically included Muslims as an example of religious faiths which should be tolerated. Locke's thought occupied a position of prominence in the minds of the founders of our republic second only to Thomas Paine. The Virginia statute guaranteeing religious freedom, a bill close to the heart of Thomas Jefferson, specifically guarantees religious freedom to Muslims. And, lest anyone think practitioners of Islam are late arrivals on these shores, George Washington worked with Muslims to insure they would not have their taxes used to support Christian worship and said that he would welcome Muslims to Mount Vernon. Advertisement Tolerance of faith is woven into the American republic from its founding. We might say that while it is the most American of values to guarantee people can live as they choose as long as they don't harm others, it is the most American of virtues to ensure that people can practice their faith unfettered by the beliefs of others. Thomas Jefferson (a deist, devoted to the ideals of the Greek philosophy of Epicureanism) was as much an American as was John Adams (a devout Unitarian, though raised Congregationalist) and George Washington (who, while raised an Anglican, was also a deist). This country has provided a haven for people who practice a wide variety of faiths and for those who practice no faith at all. And this country has been stronger for it.** But this is not my point today. Not really. There are those who claim that their intolerance, their bigotry, their hatred, even their violence is somehow justified by their Christian faith. And I am here today to say one thing and to say it as clearly as I know how: You can call it many things when neighbor rises against neighbor in fear, hatred and violence, but you can't call it "Christian." You can call it tribalism, nationalism, fascism, racism or just plain ignorance, but it isn't Christian. Those who follow Jesus are distinguished as saints for the crosses they bear, not the crosses they erect at the expense of others. Hatred is not a Christian virtue, though tragically our creed has harbored some world-class haters in our history. But I find some comfort in the fact that for every advocate of some newfangled crusade of vengeance against others, there has been a Tolstoy, or a Bonhoeffer, or a Mother Teresa to remind us whom Christians are called to follow: Jesus of Nazareth. And this Jesus of Nazareth, himself, was not a Christian (a simple fact that I've seen folks turn somersaults trying to contradict). And Jesus of Nazareth, that wondrous and mystifying Palestinian Jew whom some of us believe was none other than the Christ of God, died a victim of political, religious and imperial violence. Advertisement I know a lot of folks are critiquing what some politicians are saying these days. They are concerned about the violent, divisive and hateful rhetoric among some political candidates. As bad as that may be, that's not what concerns me most. Politicians will say what people want to hear. If nobody's buying their message, they stop peddling it. Sadly, however, there's a booming market for hatred and bigotry in our country. The buyers as well as the peddlers in that market can wrap their hatred in a flag if they wish (though an American flag really doesn't fit their message), but they cannot hide behind the cross of Jesus. Today, as I write these words, our Christian faith observes Easter Sunday. This is the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead. This is the day we confess our trust in the God who has declared that death and sin will not have the last word over life and love. In the faith of the risen Christ, early followers of Jesus defied fear and violence, even death, certain that our lives, deaths and future rest in God's hands. The fear that drives so much hatred and violence in our country is explicitly contradicted today by the Easter faith. God, the Bible tells us, chooses freedom over safety, creativity over selfishness, the risk of love over any security that violates humanity. So, when we Christians confess "Christ is risen!", we aren't affirming a dead dogma, but a living commitment to follow Jesus whatever the consequences may be, trusting God to raise us from whatever death may come. Advertisement In this Easter faith we welcome all persons of all faiths into a neighborhood of humanity that knows no bounds. If God is big enough to include us in this neighborhood, we can do no less. *Probably the Baptist preacher John Leland, then of Virginia, exercised the single greatest influence in this matter during that period in which the new U.S. Constitution was being debated in Virginia. He played a key role in helping persuade James Madison of the political necessity to frame an amendment to the Constitution, which would guarantee that the state would neither establish a state religion (Leland and others were especially fearful that the Anglican Church would take that role) nor limit the free exercise of one's faith. There's a moment in every losing campaign when their supporters go a little crazy. This well-documented phenomenon is something I call campaign psychosis. Campaign psychosis is when supporters and candidates are so emotionally wedded to the cause that no amount of factual evidence can penetrate the bubble of happy talk. We are not really losing! We are just about to turn the corner! It reminds me of the knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who continues to fight even after his arms and legs have been hacked off, and he's reduced to a torso in armor still spoiling for a fight. Campaign psychosis is highly contagious, especially when spread now on social media. It can hit any party, any campaign, any time. And it is now seems to be on full display in the campaign of Bernie Sanders. I do not blame the Sanders campaign for this. It is part of the natural life cycle of campaigns. It is human nature. But it can also be dangerous. Campaign psychosis has the following symptoms; grasping at straws, wishful thinking, and in its final stages, outright hypocrisy that everyone outside the campaign can hear clear as a bell. Advertisement One of the first features of campaign psychosis is the traditional grasping at straws. Arguments were made in a widely-covered campaign phone briefing to journalists on the morning of March 28th with Sanders campaign manager Tad Devine, that, hey, don't look at those states we lost on Super Tuesday. Those defeats are meaningless! Because Bernie didn't compete there! No, we just conceded all those states to Clinton, because they were in the South. But now that we're not in the South, we are actually going to compete, and that changes everything! This argument was demolished that same evening, by one of the most Bernie-friendly of cable journalists, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. She had evidence on her side, and quotes, and... evidence. She gently encouraged the Sanders team to walk back their statements because their arguments didn't hold water. How about a non-Southern state where Bernie competed like hell and lost big, Arizona? There have been social media firestorms of Sanders supporters tweeting and Facebooking to beat the band about how the nefarious Clinton campaign rigged it so there'd be fewer polling places in Maricopa County, just so she would win the primary by suppressing the... Hispanic vote? Well, the Sander's supporters don't go there, because it would wreck their argument, but evidence does get in the way here again. The polling places with the longest lines were in Hispanic areas in Maricopa County. She is still winning the Hispanic vote, by a mile. If Hillary's folks wanted to suppress the vote in her favor, they would have tried to rig things in Tucson, where the University of Arizona has forty thousand students, and where Bernie's rallies were filled to bursting with enthusiastic Sandernistas. Tucson is the blue dot in the red state, a city run by Democrats, with a very liberal vibe. And we had no trouble voting. I know. I live here! Advertisement And, of course, the Clinton campaign had nothing to do with any of these decisions. As many have tried to point out, the plans to drastically cut the number of polling places were carried out by Republican officials. And the vote they were likely suppressing was at least partially going to go to Clinton. But to campaign people and supporters in the midst of full throated campaign psychosis, facts don't seem to matter. More grasping at straws: any victory, no matter how inconsequential, is pointed to as if it is the turning point, the new momentum. Don't look at the race as a whole. Instead, look at what just happened this last weekend! Don't look at the many large and diverse states where Bernie lost, and lost big; look at these shiny new states where Bernie won with 80% of the vote! I know, here's what we can say: those crazy Red States shouldn't count! Or they shouldn't count as much! Because Democrats don't win in Alabama, let's pay no attention to the results there. Or even the entire South! Unless Bernie wins in a Red State, like Alaska. Then hurrah for those votes! Because he just won Alaska with 80% of the vote! That has to mean much more than Hillary winning a state with ten times the population in a primary where millions of votes were cast! Because! Because it happened! And a bird landed right in front of Bernie! In Washington State! And it was the state bird of Washington! And that's a mystical sign of something! Really? Is that all you've got? The bird? If you're not convinced by the bird, look at those head-to-head polls in March that show Bernie beating Trump. Look! They show Bernie beating Trump even more than Hillary! By at least a few points! Bernie is smart, and his advisors are smart, too. The parts of their brains that are still functioning normally understand that these polls are nonsense. Political scientists of all stripes agree that these polls are virtually meaningless. It is too far away from the general election. Polls taken this far out are never predictive. Sanders supporters might wish that these polls were real evidence, but they are not. Advertisement Here are some further examples of grasping at straws. For many months the Sanders campaign predicted that Bernie was going to win a majority of voters in minority communities. They got a former head of the NAACP to endorse Bernie! And look over there, it's Killer Mike, the Rapper! And Spike Lee! Surely this is going to bring African-American voters to their senses! And still, millions of black and brown folks have turned out for Hillary, time after time. But that was just in the South, right? As soon as the contests turn North... but the moment of enlightenment never came. Even in Michigan, where Sanders had a surprise win, he lost the African American vote, which went to Hillary by a 70-30 split. The end stage of campaign psychosis is acceptance. But before that happens, comes hypocrisy. For a textbook example of hypocrisy, look at the Sanders campaign's changing stance on superdelegates. Only last month the Sanders campaign was screaming about the unfairness of it all. The superdelegates should be abolished! They taint the system with their undemocratic estalishment-ness! Off with their heads! This was supposedly based on a principled stance in favor of democracy and against oligarchy. Only now, the Sanders campaign is officially floating the laughable notion that superdelegates who have openly pledged themselves to Clinton will magically move towards Bernie, because Bernie has momentum! So hurrah for the superdelegates! They will save the party from being influenced by all those millions of votes cast for Hillary in primary states, because Bernie can win in low-turnout caucus states, which really convinces those smart superdelegates to change their minds! Bernie's appeal to young people is supposed to be based on truth-telling. Bernie is supposed to be more trustworthy than Clinton, because Bernie's a straight shooter. But candidates are also susceptible to campaign psychosis, and so now Bernie is spouting a bunch of contradictory arguments based on nothing more solid than what used to be called wishful thinking, or grasping at straws. This is beneath his dignity. He can rise above it. Soon the Sanders campaign will have to come out of their campaign psychosis. They will face the choice of either unifying the party and making Bernie a hero, or continuing to split the party, and risking a Republican victory, losing the Supreme Court for a generation. This is their choice to make. I hope they choose wisely. Pakistani Christian women mourn the deaths of their family members during a funeral service at a local church in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, March 28, 2016. The death toll from a massive suicide bombing targeting Christians gathered on Easter in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore rose on Monday as the country started observing a three-day mourning period following the attack. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) ISLAMABAD -- On Easter Sunday, terrorists from the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar wing of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan conducted a devastating suicide attack in a park in Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city and the hometown of its prime minister. At least 70 people have died so far, including at least 29 children. The park was unusually crowded because in addition to the Sunday rush, many Christian families were there celebrating Easter. While the bodies were still being counted in Lahore, a protest march in the capital city, Islamabad, became violent, and arsonists ran amok in front of the Parliament building. The devastation in Lahore and the mayhem in Islamabad are stark reminders of the tortuous and long road this country must travel before it can declare victory against violent extremism. Advertisement Ever since the horrific terrorist slaughter of over 130 school children in Peshawar in December 2014, Pakistanis like myself have been admiring the difficult decisions our country has made. Within days of the Peshawar school attack, Pakistan expanded the military's Zarb-e-Azb operation in the badlands on its border with Afghanistan -- something American officials had been pleading with Islamabad to do for years. A moratorium on the death penalty was lifted, and dozens of death row convicts were hung. Big-name terrorists, like the notorious Malik Ishaq of the anti-Shiite Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group ended up being killed in a "police encounter." For years, the refrain of 'fear of blowback' kept the government from going after the Taliban in certain regions. A series of operations were also initiated against criminal gangs and political Mafiosi. Save the odd political complainant and the admirable efforts of human rights activists, the people of Pakistan have been essentially in lockstep with the government and especially the powerful military. The reason is simple. In the last decade, Pakistan has lost 50,000 lives to terrorist violence. The slaughter of children in Peshawar in December 2014 was the straw that broke the back of Pakistani endurance for the bloodlust of terrorists. The government's actions to kill terrorists in military operations and to try the terrorists that it captures in military courts have been accompanied by a reasonably competent showing on other fronts too. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif survived a strong challenge from opposition parties in 2014 and since then has managed to sustain an effort to improve relations between Pakistan and India, despite domestic opposition from hawks, especially inside the military. He has also stabilized a perennially underperforming economy. Most surprisingly of all, he has articulated a clear and bold approach to governance in recent months that privileges issues like pluralism and universal health care in a way that many, even in his own party, have found surprising (and refreshing). Advertisement A Pakistani family brings an injured child to the hospital in Lahore on March 27. (ARIF ALI/AFP/Getty Images) The twin impact of military operations on the one hand and better economic performance on the other has had a buoyant effect on the national mood. Yet if there is one takeaway from Sunday's park bombing in Lahore and violent protests in Islamabad, it is that Pakistan can ill afford even a hint of complacency. Since the late 1970s, when Pakistan chose to align itself with the American effort to resist Soviet expansion in Afghanistan, the Pakistani elite has incubated an inorganic religious discourse that -- though originally meant to help fight the Communists -- has now produced a multi-denominational, multi-aspirational and multinational coalition of violent extremists. This Frankenstein has been misdiagnosed with alarming regularity and has now grown, almost three decades after the Soviet tanks rolled out of Afghanistan, into a complex beast that will require an intergenerational effort to contain and neutralize. The slaughter of children in Peshawar was the straw that broke the back of Pakistani endurance for the bloodlust of terrorists. One of the principal challenges in this intergenerational effort will be to distinguish between the kinetic fight that the state, principally the Army and intelligence services, will have to fight, and the broader, longer, more arduous, non-kinetic struggle that will need to be fought by politicians, policemen, bureaucrats, scientists, doctors, nurses, teachers, paramedics, engineers, architects, writers, musicians and artists. In short, Pakistan will have to be able to discern which fights require guns and bullets - and which fights can only be fought through conversation, persuasion and the construction of a society in which all citizens feel like they are stakeholders. Advertisement There are constant potholes and speed bumps on this road. Before the full list of the victims of the Easter Sunday terror attack could be compiled, the Army launched yet another military operation, this time in South Punjab. Within hours, the Army spokesperson, Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa announced that large caches of illicit arms had been recovered. No one is surprised. South Punjab has been seething for years. Many enclaves within the region represent an unmolested cauldron of violent extremist. Yet for years, the refrain of "fear of blowback" kept the government from going after the Taliban in certain regions, including South Punjab. Just like the Peshawar attack triggered nationwide kinetic actions, the Lahore carnage seems to have triggered the same in South Punjab. The question is what happens next. Since Peshawar, the Taliban have certainly been on the run and leaving behind a trail of destruction in their wake. Mosques, churches, schools, universities and now parks. Nothing seems off limits. Many of us in Pakistan believe that their depravity is fueled by the desperation of knowing that their space is shrinking. Many of us in Pakistan believe that the Taliban's depravity is fueled by the desperation of knowing that their space is shrinking. Yet the stench of burning cars and the sight of shattered glass at the metro stations destroyed by rioting protestors in Islamabad is enough evidence for us to check our confidence. The protest in Islamabad was in honor of Mumtaz Qadri, the convicted and self-confessed security guard who assassinated the governor of Punjab, the country's largest province. For many in the country, Qadri is a hero because his victim was perceived to have challenged the country's blasphemy law. The protestors took over the square directly in front of the Parliament building and remained there for three days, leaving only when the government offered them some face-saving concessions. Cell phone services in the capital city have been suspended for almost two days. A military or police operation against known terrorist groups may be easier than getting a crowd of over a thousand angry protestors to go home without shooting a single bullet. A well-funded and highly professional army in Pakistan will not struggle with kinetic actions. But an underfunded and unprofessional police and bureaucracy will struggle mightily with the kind of protestors that lit up Islamabad while we were still counting bodies from the carnage in Lahore. Advertisement Pakistan's long war has only just begun. And it will not be won with guns or bullets alone. When fear becomes collective, when anger becomes collective, it's extremely dangerous. It is overwhelming... The mass media and the military-industrial complex create a prison for us, so we continue to think, see, and act in the same way... We need the courage to express ourselves even when the majority is going in the opposite direction... because a change of direction can happen only when there is a collective awakening... Therefore, it is very important to say, 'I am here!' to those who share the same kind of insight. -- Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist Monk, The Art of Power I've been in deep despair these last few months about our political landscape. This quote from Thich Nhat Hanh recently elevated my spirit, and I share it with you. Because I am -- we are -- still here! Though it's clear that the die is cast and that Clinton will win -- that is, if you believe in numbers and materialism, but I don't, not completely. I enclose here (below) several recent articles, which you need to read to understand how difficult a situation we'll be in if we continue with a harder-line version of Obama. Hillary Clinton has effectively closed the door on peace, blasting both the Palestinian peace process and the Russians in the same week. NATO is her god, the best thing the "exceptional" US has to export in this new "American Century." Advertisement But who set this policy and who controls this country? Her point of view is steeped in the traditional post-World War II, Atlanticist, NATO-domination of the universe. It's set in stone. No president it seems, no democratic vote, no dissenting media can alter this. We're going to be in border, resource, and forever wars for the next 10, 20, 100 years, until Trump (who our shadow government will never allow to exercise power) actually said in his straight way of talking, "our cities go bust." Our media has been drained and made callous by war, increasingly sensationalized by TV, looking for the next high in the next headline, the more outrageous the better. Modesty in American politics is dead -- it's better to be sensational. Ironically, as they call Trump unelectable (which he is), it leaves you to think Clinton is the "new normal," in which case you've been deceived by the unnecessary dichotomy that Clinton is actually "respectable" in the same way that Eisenhower/Dulles 1950s were respectable when we went about intervening and overthrowing governments in many countries. But the difference was they at least had the brains not to get into shooting wars. To suggest that NATO should've expired in 1991 when the Soviet Union disintegrated, I suppose, isn't questionable anymore. NATO, which has expanded to 13 countries since 1991, must be supported and Clinton has been brainwashed by the neoconservatives to believe it's about "Russian aggression" when it's the United States that's ensuring the greatest build-up on the European borders of Russia since Hitler did it in World War II. We're going to war -- either hybrid in nature to break the Russian state back to its 1990s subordination, or a hot war (which will destroy our country). Our citizens should know this, but they don't because our media is dumbed down in its "Pravda"-like support for our "respectable," highly aggressive government. We are being led, as C. Wright Mills said in the 1950s, by a government full of "crackpot realists: in the name of realism they've constructed a paranoid reality all their own." Our media has credited Hillary Clinton with wonderful foreign policy experience, unlike Trump, without really noting the results of her power-mongering. She's comparable to Bill Clinton's choice of Cold War crackpot Madeleine Albright as one of the worst Secretary of States we've had since ... Condi Rice? Albright boasted, "If we have to use force it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future." Advertisement Hillary's record includes supporting the barbaric "contras" against the Nicaraguan people in the 1980s, supporting the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia, supporting the ongoing Bush-Iraq War, the ongoing Afghan mess, and as Secretary of State the destruction of the secular state of Libya, the military coup in Honduras, and the present attempt at "regime change" in Syria. Every one of these situations has resulted in more extremism, more chaos in the world, and more danger to our country. Next will be the borders of Russia, China, and Iran. Look at the viciousness of her recent AIPAC speech (don't say you haven't been warned). Can we really bear to watch as Clinton "takes our alliance [with Israel] to the next level"? Where is our sense of proportion? Cannot the media, at the least, call her out on this extremism? The problem, I think, is this political miasma of "correctness" that dominates American thinking (i.e. Trump is extreme, therefore Hillary is not). This is why I'm praying still for Bernie Sanders, because he's the only one willing, at least in the name of fiscal sanity, to cut back on our foreign interventions, bring the troops home, and with these trillions of dollars no longer wasted on malice, try to protect the "homeland" by actually rebuilding it and putting money into its people, schools, and infrastructure. Albert Camus, talking about the doomed Spanish Civil War in the 1930s wrote, "Men of my generation have had Spain in our hearts. It was there that they learned ... that one can be right and yet be beaten, that force can vanquish spirit, and that there are times when courage is not rewarded." It's true the light was extinguished for generations in Spain. America was sleeping, but it finally did the right thing and went to war against Fascism. I believe Fascism is still our greatest enemy and its face is everywhere in our so-called "democracies." It was always about the moneyed interests that had the power. That is what Fascism is and that is the danger we are in now. Sanders talks about money, listen to him. He talks cogently about money and its power to distort. He's the only one who has raised his voice against the corruption in our politics. Clinton has embraced this corruption. Advertisement "The Clinton/Trump AIPAC 'Pander-Off,'" by Robert Parry "Critics Aghast at 'Disgusting Speech' Clinton Just Gave to AIPAC," by Lauren McCauley "Fearing Sanders as 'Closet Realist,'" by Robert Parry "A World War has Begun. Break the Silence," by John Pilger "Risking Nuclear War for Al-Qaeda," by Robert Parry "Neocon Kagan Endorses Hillary Clinton," by Robert Parry "Sanders the 'Realist': Hillary the 'Neocon,'" by Robert Parry "A Crazy Establishment Demands 'Sanity,'" by Robert Parry Just this past week, our world was once again rocked by major terrorist attacks aiming to further divide the Abrahamic faiths. ISIS supporters in Brussels killed 35 in a major attack on the city's core infrastructure and an offshoot of the Taliban killed more than 70 in an attack targeting Lahore's Christian minority. In the West, many continue to be leery of Muslim minorities, whereas in the Muslim world, Christian minorities are suffering extreme persecution. Such violence among the Abrahamic faiths does not have to be the new norm for our world. Perhaps the answer to bringing the faiths closer together lies in a classic play from centuries fore. On March 18, I had the distinct honor of joining Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, for a marquis performance of Shakespeare's Othello. This was not a standard community theater production, but rather a cutting edge re-imagination of the play featuring for the first time a Muslim Pakistani-American actor, Faran Tahir, as Othello. Produced by the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington, DC, whose artistic director Michael Kahn was named Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in April 2013 for his distinguished service to the arts and culture, this production brings audience members face-to-face with the great Muslim stereotypes of our era and humanizes a faith that is oft-misunderstood. The evening began with a pre-show panel featuring Ahmed and Tahir alongside Pakistani journalist Raza Rumi and communications consultant Rouane Itani, and was moderated by Al-Jazeera English's Malika Bilal. This reflective panel brought key issues about the role of religion in human behavior to the fore, while also addressing the role Muslims play in the arts and culture. Advertisement From left: Malika Bilal, Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Rouane Itani, Raza Rumi and Faran Tahir discuss the role of Muslims in the arts and culture. Shakespeare Theater Company's 'Othello', featuring Tahir as Othello, highlights and challenges common stereotypes of Muslims in Western society. Photo courtesy Patrick Burnett. A core theme of Othello is the universal tragedy of being human - an experience that transcends religious lines. And as Tahir discussed on the panel, it is important to consider every one of Othello's very human actions and how they compare to stereotypes of Islam and Muslims. While in this production, Othello openly prays before murdering his wife, Desdemona - an act committed in a jealous rage blinding Othello of his full faculties - he also displays Quranic forgiveness to Iago by sparing him his life upon learning of his deep betrayal. This act of forgiveness is often overlooked by those trying to find the bad in the Muslim character. Othello does not commit these acts because he is Muslim, but rather because he is human. This episode, as Tahir explains, reminds us how we are often so quick to assign the negative to the "other" while overlooking their positive actions, which quickly dehumanizes them. Ahmed reflected upon history to continue this important discussion. One key example, as his research for Journey into Europe (film 2015; book forthcoming Brookings Press) finds, Caliph Al-Hakam I of Cordoba, when his palace was invaded in the 700s, responded to the invading mob by saying that the same Quran that guided the mob to attack him will guide him to forgive and grant them mercy. Both Tahir's Othello and this great historical narrative remind us that religion, just like all human institutions, can be co-opted for both good and evil. Far too often, Islam and Muslims are either cast as inherently evil or wholly peaceful - neither portrayal allowing Muslims their full humanity. Othello serves to remind that Muslims are as human as any one else. Advertisement This production of Othello also reflects the great role Muslims have played in Western arts more broadly. As Ahmed explained, a number of great Western classics have placed Muslims in leading roles. The acclaimed film Lawrence of Arabia, for instance, featured a leading Muslim, played by Omar Sharif, as a top supporting character. And the protagonist of E.M. Forster's A Passage to India is a Muslim Indian. Tahir's Othello at its core reinvigorates this great legacy in Western art. Furthermore, one must consider the roots of the play themselves. Originally, Shakespeare left it ambiguous as to the culture of the "Moor," Othello. However, Shakespeare scholars argue the character was likely inspired by a Moroccan diplomat's visit to Queen Elizabeth's court in 1600 - well before England's grand colonial pursuits began. As such, it is likely a Muslim leader inspired the writing of one of Shakespeare's arguably top three plays - no small feat in Western culture. Tahir's performance also redefines the Muslim role in contemporary Western art. In recent years, many Muslims have simply been portrayed as terrorists and enemies of the West. For instance, one of Tahir's most prominent prior roles was as the lead terrorist in the hit film Iron Man (2008) - a role that only cast the Muslim character in light of his terrorist actions. Iron Man is hardly alone in portraying Muslims only as terrorists. In pushing back against this dangerous trend, Othello actually accentuates the humanity of a leading Muslim figure in the West. While not all of Othello's actions are humane or moral, this production makes clear that these actions have nothing to do with Othello's faith, but rather his very human flaws. Versus the standard Hollywood terrorist, Tahir's Othello is as human as any one of us. Tahir, left, explains his strategy in performing Othello to Ahmed in the green room, discussing how he highlighted key themes of Muslim-Western relations through the structure of the play. Photo courtesy Patrick Burnett. Tahir's performance as Othello also demonstrated artistic genius, going above and beyond the call of duty and becoming one of the most inspiring portrayals of the play to date. Ahmed, who had the privilege of seeing Sir Laurence Olivier perform Othello in 1964 in the U.K., remarked, "In Olivier's 1964 performance, Olivier played Olivier. He was always a big presence on stage. Yet, in this performance, Faran played Othello. By the end of play, he was just dominating the stage." Outperforming Olivier in any production is no small feat, but doing so in a top Shakespeare play in one of the top Shakespeare theaters in America proves true talent. Few actors can perform this role in such a captivating manner, to the point of bringing the entire theater to pin-drop silence as they await Othello's next move - a classic plot otherwise without surprise for many. Tahir's great performance should be celebrated not just by Muslim Americans, but by Americans of all stripes. Advertisement Following the play, Ahmed, his son, Umar Ahmed, and I were treated to Tahir's great warmth and hospitality. After making arrangements with the house manager to meet Tahir following the show, we waited for him to meet us in the green room. Yet, Tahir was instead waiting in the main lobby - surrounded by a number of admirers - to ensure he met with Ahmed. For such a leading actor to take time out of his busy evening to willingly meet with Ahmed and our entire group shows the character and warmth of this prominent Muslim-American. In an era where Muslims are too frequently cast as antagonistic to American culture, one cannot overlook Tahir's welcoming personality. Tahir's outstanding performance of Othello is Muslim inclusion into the Western fabric at its finest. His work is a huge turning point for the prominence of not just Pakistanis, but Muslims in the West in general. On par with Malala Yousafzai's winning the Nobel Peace Prize and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy winning two Oscars for her documentary work (2012 and 2016), Tahir further proves that Muslims, rather than clashing with Western civilization, contribute in great ways to our American and Western fabric. WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: The U.S. Supreme Court is shown March 29, 2016 in Washington, DC following the first 4-4 tie in a case before the court. The decision resulted in a victory for unions in a case that challenged the need for public workers to help support unions even if they decline to join the union. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Public employee unions, the most powerful special interest group in California and most other states, came within a heartbeat of losing that power this week, as a legal challenge by dissident public school teachers came to a close in the U.S. Supreme Court. I use the word "heartbeat" somewhat literally, because it is all but certain that Justice Antonin Scalia would have cast his vote to create a 5-4 majority in favor of the teachers' First Amendment argument in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Assn. As it was, the remaining eight justices split 4-4, with the consequence that the court of appeals' pro-union decision was left standing. (Legally speaking, it's as though there had never been an appeal to the Supreme Court). Advertisement The issue before the Supreme Court was whether the compulsory funding mechanism common to all government unions-those representing teachers, police, firefighters, prosecutors, and more, both at the state and local levels -- was unconstitutional. How so? Because, claimed the teachers, requiring workers to pay dues to their union compels workers to back the union's political stands, in violation of the First Amendment's free speech clause. (Interestingly, this is essentially the same "coerced speech" argument that Apple made to oppose a court order directing that it write code to weaken security of the iPhone.) The dissident teachers urged the Court to overturn a 1977 precedent and rule that, because all activities of government unions -- even negotiations over salaries and benefits -- raise controversial political issues, the First Amendment requires that ALL dues payments be optional. Not just a portion of dues payments (for political contributions, lobbying and such, for which workers have long been able to claim refunds), but ALL dues payments. Now you can see why the Friedrichs case was a near-death experience for public employee unions. However, union leaders should not mistake their temporary good fortune for vindication. Public opinion has turned strongly against them, as citizens realize that escalating pension and healthcare obligations -- negotiated in secrecy by union-backed elected officials -- are unsustainable. There are limits to voters' willingness and ability to pay for employee benefits that they themselves don't have (and wish they did). Those limits have been reached. The non-decision in the Friedrichs case is a reprieve for government unions, not a salvation. The First Amendment challenge to compulsory dues will resurface. New suits could be brought under the free speech clauses of state constitutions. And except in the states covered by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal courts remain open to renewal of First Amendment claims modeled on the Friedrichs litigation. Advertisement There's no predicting how the Supreme Court, with a full complement of nine justices, would decide free speech arguments against compulsory union dues. Merrick Garland, President Obama's nominee to the Court, is a moderate democrat, strong on First Amendment rights, who, if appointed, could go either way. And because First Amendment issues often cut across partisan lines, a more conservative nominee cannot be counted on to vote against the unions; likewise, a more liberal nominee could produce an unpleasant surprise for democrats. Public employee unions are at an inflection point. They can choose business as usual, trying to maintain political dominance through campaign contributions and secrecy. Alternatively, they can embark on a strategy of winning back rank-and-file and public support, and doing so through persuasion in free and open debate. This strategy worked pretty well for these unions in the 1950s and 60s, when their agenda was more in sync with the desires of voters. Over the long term, it is the unions' only viable strategy. --- Recently, U.S. president Barack Obama signed a legislation that provides Nepali products duty-free access to the American market. That is a good news for all Nepali businessmen as well as Nepali farmers. America is the global Capitol of Business. If Nepali products are able to be sold in America without duties and taxes, then there is a good opportunity for Nepal to earn some much-needed revenue. It also opens the market for Nepal to sell wares and products worldwide. This import business can really help grow the Nepali economy on the international level and expand Nepali development and wealth. Nepal is a small, mountainous, and landlocked country that exists between India and China. Many Nepalese products go directly to India for sale. Unfortunately, India is not a very lucrative market and recently closed their border with Nepal, resulting in strained business relations. China is a big and lucrative country now, but Nepal has not developed an open border for good trade with China. Europe and America are much more lucrative platforms for Nepali products. That is why it is exciting to see Nepal and America establish better trade relations. Furthermore, the Nepali population is growing larger and larger each day in the United States. Many Nepalis have come here after the 2015 earthquake to start fresh. Many are refugees. Having a marker for Nepali goods can help these people acclimate to their new society by having little pieces of home to cherish here in the US. The large Nepali immigrant population guarantees a healthy demand for Nepali products in the US market, as well. Advertisement Largely the Nepali economy depends on agriculture. In Nepal there are many big agriculture farms. According to the World Bank, Nepal's main source of revenue is from agriculture, and products such as coffee, wool, Pashmina, leather, spices, paper products, wheat, millet, and barley. In the 1980s, more than 90% people worked in the field of agriculture in Nepal. Still, there is a large lack of market for farmers, particularly after the Indian border closing, which blocked agricultural trade that formerly supported much of the Nepali economy. Farmers now often live in poverty. Expanding this agricultural market would help many people in Nepal live better lives. Americans can help by buying Nepali imports, such as coffee and wheat and woolen products. By purchasing imports from Nepal, Americans can help Nepali people make the money they no longer can with the border with India closed, and they can help Nepali people buy much-needed supplies and recover from the earthquake's devastation. I live in Jackson Heights, New York, and I was so pleased to see small shops specializing in Nepali wares here. Some of these stores I saw include Pasmina Woolens, Himalayan Coffee, and shops for Nepalese art. I also have noticed some Nepali woolen products for sale at big name chain stores such as Macy's and J.C. Penny's. This is great because America is a big sales platform for Nepali products, especially as more and more Americans become interested in helping the Nepali economy after the earthquake in April 2015. America as a nation possesses more capital than Nepal and thus are in a position to really benefit Nepal with purchases of Nepali products. Nepalese businessmen are smart to not miss this opportunity to sell their products in the USA. MADISON, WI - MARCH 28: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to guests gathered for a campaign rally at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on March 28, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin. Voters in Wisconsin go to the polls April 5 for the state's primary. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) As mandated by the PATRIOT Act, every election year Rudy Giuliani must appear on national television and say "9/11" - and every American knows this and looks forward to it. But television viewers across the nation were left confused and befuddled after the former New York City mayor veered off script during a recent appearance on Fox News. As Politico explains: Speaking to Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, the former New York City mayor said that [Hillary Clinton] "helped create ISIS" through her involvement with President Barack Obama's efforts to withdraw from Iraq. We're somewhat surprised that Rudy would malign the only other human on earth who invokes 9/11 to explain the Ocean's tides. But there is an obtuse nugget of truth buried deep within his blood-soaked word salad. Giuliani wants us to believe that the world is a more dangerous place because Hillary Clinton is a prude who doesn't like to bomb brown people countries. Yes, the world is a more dangerous place - but for the exact opposite reason: Clinton's penchant for interventionism has contributed to destabilizing the Middle East and North Africa, creating ideal conditions for ISIS to grow and thrive. In this sense, she really did "help create ISIS." As a ferocious supporter of invading of Iraq, in 2003 then-Senator Clinton insisted that Saddam Hussein was giving "sanctuary" to terrorists. Aside from being total baloney nonsense, the dark irony is that the invasion transformed Iraq into an enormous terrorist incubator: A top military adviser to General David Petraeus has stated plainly that "there undeniably would be no ISIS if we had not invaded Iraq" and "we have to recognize that a lot of the problem [in the Middle East] is of our own making." But if we're going to argue that Hillary Clinton has enabled ISIS and other terrorist groups - and that's exactly what we're arguing - we should focus our attention on her tireless advocacy for turning Libya into a moon crater. Advertisement Not many people give Clinton the proper credit she deserves for destroying Libya for no reason whatsoever. Shame on them. As a brave crusader for all women - especially for women living in countries that she desperately wants to bomb - then-Secretary Clinton argued that the United States had a moral duty to intervene in Libya, stating that she was "deeply concerned" that Muammar Gaddafi's troops were using rape as a weapon. (She was parroting a rumor started by Al-Jazeera which claimed that Gaddafi was handing out free Viagra to his soldiers so that they could rape 24/7.) After Libya was flattened by NATO's "no fly zone", Amnesty International published a report which thoroughly debunked Hillary's passionate plea for war: Not only have we not met any [rape] victims, but we have not even met any persons who have met victims. As for the boxes of Viagra that Gaddafi is supposed to have had distributed, they were found intact near tanks that were completely burnt out. The boxes of pristine Viagra found next to burnt-out tanks weren't the only things planted in Libya. According to its report, Amnesty "failed to find evidence for these human rights violations [used to justify intervention] and in many cases has discredited or cast doubt on them. It also found indications that on several occasions the rebels in Benghazi appeared to have knowingly made false claims or manufactured evidence." Advertisement The icing on the illegal war cake is that before Hillary started spreading rape rumors, Libya was considered a "high human development" country by the United Nations: In 2010, Libya ranked 53rd in the UN's Human Development Index among 163 countries. With life expectancy at birth at 74.5 years, an 88.4% adult literacy rate and a gross enrolment ratio of 94.1%, Libya was classified as a high human development country among the Middle East and North Africa region. Libyans once enjoyed a higher standard of living than two-thirds of the planet. Now their country is terrorist stronghold ruled by competing warlords. And as ISIS continues to lose territory in Syria and Iraq, Libya is increasingly seen as a fertile ground for jihadists. According to The Atlantic: American intelligence officials estimate that the group's ranks in Libya have grown to 6,500 fighters, more than doubling since the fall. ISIS first declared its intentions to establish a presence in Libya in 2014 and has been launching attacks ever since. The group is now thought to control 150 miles of Libyan coastline. Hillary Clinton turned a stable, developed nation into an ISIS safe haven using tactics that would have made even William Randolph Hearst a bit queasy. To whip up support for the Spanish-American War (you're probably too young to remember it), America's favorite yellow journalist only managed to invent tame, PG -13 fairytales about Spanish soldiers fondling young Cuban damsels. If Hearst had reported that the Spaniards were having Havana Viagra parties, we could have marched all the way to Madrid. Hopefully President Clinton will remedy this missed opportunity. Pack your bags, ISIS. Next stop: Spain. Imagine: You wake one up one spring weekday morning, on a day like today. While you were sleeping, wind turbines, along with the battery in your electric car, produced much of the electricity that powered your water heater and charged your phone. You take a hot shower, then make breakfast for your family, using appliances that require a fraction of the power they do today. Your kids walk to the corner, where they're picked up by an electric school bus. You drive your own car to the light rail station and plug it in, where it'll be charged all day by solar panels. You hop on an electric train to your office, where geothermal, solar, and other renewable sources power not just your office, but your entire neighborhood, your entire city. This isn't fantasy. This week, my colleagues at the Frontier Group and I issued a new white paper called We Have the Power to show that a society powered entirely by wind, solar, and other forms of clean, renewable energy is 100 percent necessary, and 100 percent possible. Here's what we found: We must shift to 100 percent renewable energy to limit the impacts of global warming. Serious impacts of climate change are already underway. The faster we transition away from dangerous fuels, the better able we will be to protect our communities from large-scale catastrophes, including permanent flooding of coastal cities, more extreme storms, and widespread food and water shortages. In Paris in December 2015, the nations of the world made a historic commitment to protect our climate, pledging efforts "to limit [global] temperature increase to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels." To achieve that goal, America must transition to 100 percent clean energy before mid-century. Advertisement Renewable energy improves our health, increases our safety, and puts our economy on a sound foundation. It will protect our drinking water supplies from hazardous contamination by drilling and fracking, and safeguard our communities by eliminating the need to ship explosive fuels through our neighborhoods on train cars or in leaky pipelines. Generating renewable energy locally, as with rooftop solar panels, can also make our energy system more resilient. What's more, dirty energy sources have no inherent economic advantage over renewable energy. In fact, expanding renewable energy creates local jobs that cannot be outsourced, reduces the impact of fossil fuel-induced harm to our environment and health, and insulates the economy from the volatility of fossil fuel prices. America has vast renewable energy resources - enough to meet our needs many times over. The United States has the technical potential to meet its current electricity needs more than 100 times over with solar energy and more than 10 times over with wind energy. What's more, we have massive potential to save energy - by some estimates, reducing our overall energy use by 40 to 60 percent below current levels by mid-century, even as our economy continues to grow. Comparison of Renewable Energy Technical Potential and Current Consumption (Data: NREL) Affordable 100 percent renewable energy is within our reach. At least seven detailed studies of clean energy systems - conducted by academics, government agencies and nonprofit organizations - suggest that we have the tools we need to make the transition. Over the past 15 years, growth in renewable energy worldwide - especially solar energy - has outstripped most forecasts, even those made by environmental advocates such as Greenpeace. And economists predict that we can build a 100 percent renewable energy system at costs comparable to or less than what we would have to spend to continue our reliance on dirty energy. Advertisement Emerging technologies and new trends are opening the door for an unprecedented transformation of our energy system to 100 percent clean, renewable power. Renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are quickly falling in price. Between 2009 and 2014, the cost of solar electricity in the United States fell by 78 percent and the cost of wind energy fell by 58 percent. In many parts of the United States, wind is now the cheapest source of electricity. Promising new tools - for heating our homes, powering our factories, and moving people and goods over long distances with renewable energy - are either in development or beginning to make their way into the market. Global Solar Photovoltaic Capacity (Green Line) versus Projections (data: Greenpeace) Leaders at all levels of government should act to accelerate our transition to 100 percent renewable energy. That means prioritizing energy savings, and promote steady and swift deployment of clean renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind energy. It means transitioning the transportation sector to electricity, and enabling community micro-grids and grid-connected energy storage. And it means ceasing construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure, and keeping the vast bulk of our coal, oil and gas reserves in the ground The electric utility industry is glacial in its adoption of technology. There is evidence of this in never-ending pilot projects with startups that lead nowhere and in product design crowdsourcing campaigns that take a year and end up with products that remind one of the failed healthcare.gov project. But change the industry must. The new consumer demands it (push) and it is what technology wants (pull). Caught in the middle of this push and pull is a cadre of management that is struggling with understanding who the new consumer is and is hampered by the bureaucracy and hierarchical decision making process in a new environment where speed to act is crucial. Built on a premise that the utility's role was to provide stable power reliably and safely the system, and consequently the industry, has failed to adapt to a time where the consumers definition of safe and reliable power is one where power is reasonably priced and sourced from renewables and where the interaction with the utility is digitized. What is required is a decision making approach that facilitates speed without compromising on the need to continue to provide stable power safely and reliably (as newly defined by the consumer). The new approach should factor in the 4P's and weigh the impact of any new technology based on these four factors below by asking some critical questions. There are a few more questions than the ones listed below and I cover these in my ebook 'Managing Technological Change in the Utility Industry'. Advertisement People: How will the new technology impact consumers and employees? Product: How does the new technology change the product we are providing? Performance: Do our processes change as a result of this new technology? Policy: what are the policy implications of adopting this new technology? A comprehensive risk and response prioritization assessment of the answers to the questions above. This enables the development of a simple radar chart that enables the manager make the case for the right projects to be implemented at the right speed. An example radar chart for Augmented Reality (AR) is shown . As easily seen, employees and processes are most affected by AR. This is due to the possibility to train a new employee to address the skills shortage that is quickly becoming a big problem in utilities across the country. Simple frameworks like the 4Ps also provide a mindset modification to favor speed over 'paralysis by analysis'. A much needed mindset change in the industry. As the industry moves to a distributed structure, as consumers request a deeper and more customized experience from their utility providers and as technology advances at all layers (from the infrastructure to the interaction layer) the 'glacial-response-while-we-collect-rent income-business-as-usual-approach' of the utility will no longer work. This simple method can be applied to any industry where change is happening at a pace the sector is structured to handle. It's what technology wants. And you and I know that technology eventually gets it's way. Couple Shopping for Bread in a Grocery Store You're standing behind me in the line at the grocery store and a flicker of annoyance arises in you. The hand that I'm holding, the melanin in my skin and the brazenness of my actions, fool your eyes, making you believe I am different from you. Intrinsically we all know that isn't true, but the truth is far weaker than the seed of hatefulness that prevails in you. While my eyes are plastered to the buttons of the credit card machine, I casually move my mouth to the side of my face and steal a kiss from the pretty blonde woman at my side. The flicker arises once again fueled by distaste and you begin to shift tensely, audibly exhaling the discomfort of having to stand here tolerating the multi-racial gay couple. I turn my gaze to you and smile politely, your eyes sternly snap away from mine as the angle of your nose begins to tilt ever so slightly towards the sky. It is in that defining movement that a small piece of my heart breaks for you. Advertisement You see, your bigotry isn't hurting me. My life is full of love, not to mention a very attractive girlfriend, a great condo and a cute convertible. The roof on said convertible may leak in a downpour but I live in California so I'm not overly worried about it. You, however, go about your day constantly under attack and overwhelmed by bursts of anger at the site of anything and everything not aligned with you. You are constantly stockpiling notions of superiority and your general unpleasantness has become your Crest. Can't you see how your bigotry is hurting you? You and your best friend anger, settle in for the evening with a stiff bourbon and the nightly news. Our most recent pimp of bigotry rapes the screen, screaming and spewing the newly reformed homily of hate. Before you know it, you, anger, hate and his grandfather bigotry are standing on great grandma Betty's rug, spewing and screaming alongside him. A beet hue strangles your face as you spray saliva and venom across your widescreen television. Meanwhile, I sit on my couch watching tonight's political circus and I see you there. I see you in the face of every mindless chimpanzee impotently mimicking their ivy league leader's "best words." I breathe a short sigh of sadness for you all, but my attention is quickly drawn to my girlfriends iPhone. She loves cute cat videos, this one is featuring a German Shepherd licking a Kitten. Your grotesque hatred is soon forgotten, in part because I'm a sucker for some inter-species pet canoodling but also it's because your bigotry doesn't affect me. I'm happy. I mean, hot girlfriend and kittens! What else is there? Multiple studies maintain that happiness not only protects your hearts health but can strengthen your immune system, in turn, aiding and combatting diseases. So my happiness aside, I am leagues ahead in the health department. An article published by Harvard in 2011 speaks to vast scientific studies detailing how negative emotions harm the body. Sustained stress and fears may alter biological systems ultimately contributing to illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Chronic anger can seriously disrupt cardiac function. Broken down, hate and anger are pretty strong conduits for a heart attack! So your bigotry though clearly directed at me, is in fact, hurting you. Advertisement As a kid I loved to dance. I started putting on shows in my living room when I was a toddler. I did it so much that my Uncle Jack called me "Little Miss Hollywood". I remember my first dance recital. I was so excited! The instructors in our troupe picked these dazzling, fringy outfits for our performance, and while I wasn't fat at that time, I was bigger in a lot of ways than the other girls. (I was a full C cup by 6th grade) Unfortunately they didn't make that costume in my measurements so we had to choose an alternate. The instructors called me out publicly about it causing the girls in the troupe to make fun of me. Hell, even the other moms made fun of me. Everyone was pissed at me for having to pick different costumes. Advertisement That was the first time I was publicly shamed for my body and it was devastating. I was just a little girl who wanted to dance. The experience crushed me and I never publicly danced again and it set into motion a lifetime worth of body dysmorphia. Fast-forward about 40 years. I decided to face my fear of dancing and signed up with a burlesque finishing school here in Nashville called Delinquent Debutantes run by Freya West and Shan De Leers. The class I chose took place over several weeks and in it you would learn a fully choreographed routine and at the end of the session you perform it in a publicly attended recital. (Shan De Leers & Freya West: Photo Credit Stacie Huckeba) My first instructor was Freya, a big bootied, buxom babe who blew my mind the first time I saw her. At the beginning of our first class she went over the agenda of moves we were going to learn over the next few weeks. When she was done, I did what I always do when I'm nervous about my body. I made a joke about how I was not going to participate in the bra reveal because my saggy boobs would fall on the floor and trip everybody in the class. Everyone laughed. Freya did not laugh. Instead, she looked me square in the eyes and said, "Oh no you don't. Not in here. You can go home and hate your body all you want, but in here you are going to love it. You don't like your tits? Then we will start with boob shimmy's because you will look at yourself in that mirror before this class is over and like the way your tits look." Advertisement And guess what? She was right. I did like the way my tits looked. Not just in that class, but every day. Who would have thought that stripping to Elvis's "Blue Christmas" would be more powerful than all my therapy sessions and Xanax prescriptions combined? Not me, but it happened. It's not magic. The sexy dancing is super fun, but that's not the thing. Perception is and will always be the key to how the world sees you. And that lies squarely on the perception you have of yourself. People will perceive you as you perceive yourself. Period. You can't jiggle and shake and grind and peel off your clothes to a choreographed number in a full sized mirror covered in glitter, satin and sequins and not catch at least a glimpse of yourself looking sexy somewhere in that routine. I don't care what size you are or what you don't like about yourself. And that's all you need; just a glimpse. One little reminder in a world filled with images of perfection that you are beautiful and sexy exactly as you are. Last week here in Nashville, the head of a dance troupe, "Nashville Burlesque", Shannon Million started a big rhinestoned uproar in the burlesque community when she billed her troupe as "The only all live-music, upscale, classic burlesque show in town... featuring live vocal performances from jazz, soul, swing & rockabilly songstresses, accompanied by fit and traditionally beautiful classic-burlesque dancers." The controversy was born out of the many people who felt like what she was really saying was, "no fat chicks & no ugly chicks". And in the burlesque community, that is a big, fat no-no! Advertisement The recent resurgence of burlesque is due in part specifically to the diversity of the women who perform it. All shapes, sizes, styles, tastes, lifestyles and music are represented. Part of the fun of a good burlesque show is the diversity of all of the girls and their acts. What I wondered was "Fit and traditionally beautiful" by whose standards? Every woman I know has something about her that defines her and makes her beautiful. I often wonder how my entire life might have played out differently had my dance instructors focused on the fact that I have ridiculously long legs (which are perfect for dancing) instead of the fact that my boobs were too big for that fringy costume. I called Shannon Million to ask her about it. I wanted to know what she meant or to give her a chance to explain it. She didn't respond to me but Freya and Shan did and this is what they had to say. Shan De Leers: "For me, Bawdy Confidence, our particular brand of confidence at Delinquent Debutantes, can best be summed up in a quote by the always beautiful and fiery Sophia Loren, "Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." I stand every week with that knowledge, at the front of the classroom, yelling counts and enthusiastically throwing out praise to amazing and powerful women, of all different ages, backgrounds, and sizes, I slowly watch them realize they are all fighting the same battle. I watch as they find even just a glimmer of themselves to smile at. We are all beautiful, we just have to believe it. Freya West: Every time you say or think that you hate a part of yourself, you reinforce that idea. Stop limiting your self-acceptance by saying things like, "I'll like my thighs when I lose 10 pounds." The ugly and beautiful truth is that you won't. You'll like your thighs better when you decide you like your thighs. The hurt caused by a few words this last week just proves how important our words are. It was a catalyst that blew open conversations about appearance. A chorus of voices rose up to say, "this is where I come from, this is my story of my body." Heartbreaking stories of eating disorders, domestic violence, self-harm and self-loathing from every body type. And the overwhelming response echoed back, "I thought it was just me." It sounds so easy doesn't it? We all know it's not. It's a continual process of unlearning a lifetime of sales pitches all based on "fixing" things about you that didn't need fixing in the first place. Maybe today you can't love all of yourself, but maybe you can say to your stomach or your arms or "that" part, "I wish you good health." Because we all want that. And maybe tomorrow, you'll get a little bit braver, and spend more time loving, creating, and living in your body than picking it apart." (Shan De Leers & Freya West: Photo Credit Stacie Huckeba) All I know is that this is the same conversation that made me afraid to ever dance in public again. For as many Delinquent Debutante classes as I've taken, I always drop out at the end so that I can skip the recital. I'm all grown up now but when I think of doing that dance in public, I'm the same scared, hurt little girl I have always been and it terrifies me. By Steve Early Richmond, California's next municipal voting is less than seven months away. But memories of our last election--one of the most expensive in local history--remain fresh in the minds of many participants. For Richmond residents whose recollections are fading, we now have a fascinating 90-minute video history of that campaign. Entitled Nate Bates for Mayor, it provides a timely reminder of the stakes involved in a key Left Coast battle against big money in politics that resonated nationally. To watch the trailer or the whole film, go to: www.natbatesformayormovie.com Most political videography (like The War Room) is about winners, rather than losers. So how does the business-backed runner-up in Richmond's 2014 mayoral race get top billing in this movie? Bay Area film-makers Eric Weiss and Bradley Berman were clearly drawn to 84-year-old city councilor Nat Bates, because of his deep roots in the African-American community and their sense that his campaign represented a Richmond version of The Last Hurrah. In Hollywood's 1958 version of Edwin O'Connor's novel, a rascally Irish-American pol (played by Spencer Tracy) tries to win a big city mayoral race by playing on old ethnic divisions. In that Last Hurrah, the local political landscape has changed making Tracy's character, Frank Skeffington, a sad anachronism, and, ultimately, the election loser. Both the book and the film offer quite a tutorial in "retail politics," as traditionally practiced, which Nate Bates for Mayor does too. But Weiss and Berman's documentary also shows what a modern-day election campaign looks like, in our post-Citizens United era of unlimited political spending by major corporations and the wealthy. Advertisement Using extensive personal interviews and revealing local footage, Nat Bates for Mayor traces the rise and fall of a mayoral candidate backed by Richmond's largest employer, Chevron, its local union allies, African-American ministers, and older black voters concerned about their loss of community clout, due to Richmond's changing racial and ethnic demographics. A Korean War veteran and former parole officer, Nat Bates' mission, after 35 years on the city council, was to liberate his hometown from the anti-Chevron "socialists" in the Richmond Progressive Alliance. "I call them the Richmond Plantation Alliance," he explains in the film. "They operate from a framework and a philosophy pretty much like a slave-owner in the sense that they always know what's best for you--and not just for the African-American community but for the total city." Bates' actual opponent in Richmond's three-way race for mayor in 2014 was Tom Butt, a local architect and liberal Democrat who does not belong to the RPA. According to Bates, his longtime adversary on the city council--now our mayor- is just a "slime-ball," whose "constituency is primarily elitist Caucasians in Point Richmond" (a neighborhood where Bates lives as well, although he fails to mention that on the campaign trail or in the movie). Nat Bates for Mayor captures the defining moment of a campaign old-fashioned in many ways but hyper-modern because of its indirect business financing. Surrounded by friends, family, labor and business supporters at his kick-off rally at Salute, an upscale restaurant in Marina Bay, Bates declares that "any candidate running for public office who would refuse Chevron's support is a damn fool!" Advertisement Not coincidentally, no one was asked to make a personal donation at this gala event. Yet Moving Forward--Chevron's political action committee--was already working, at great cost, on Bates' behalf. Intent on winning both the mayor's office and a council majority, Moving Forward found three council candidates who were not "damn fools" either. Chevron's high-powered political consulting firm, Whitehurst/Mosher in San Francisco, got busy marketing the Bates slate as saviors of the city. In the film, we see graphic evidence of what "independent spending" totaling more than $3 million can buy. Paid advertising for Bates & Co. pops up all over Richmond. The city's 43,000 registered voters are deluged with radio and TV messages and glossy direct mailings to their homes. In addition to extolling the virtues of Bates, Moving Forward propaganda demonizes RPA candidates, including Richmond's nationally-known Green mayor, Gayle McLaughlin, who is termed out and running for city council. As the camera scans Richmond's new urban forest of billboards-erected with "major funding from Chevron," as their smaller print discloses-Bates explains in a voice-over how Big Oil kept its required election law distance from lucky folks like himself. "I don't have any contact with Chevron...I didn't know what kind of billboards they were going to put up, when they were going up, the location...I didn't know the amount of literature they're putting out. I don't know the content of the literature. That's illegal." Even Bernie Sanders, now the nation's foremost critic of big money in politics, seems taken aback by the scale of Chevron spending on Bates' behalf. Bernie makes a cameo appearance in the film, shot during his October, 2014 visit to Richmond. He endorses Butt for mayor, along with McLaughlin, Eduardo Martinez, and Jovanka Beckles for city council. Then he tells a crowd of their supporters: "You are at ground zero....You beat them here and people will say, 'they did it in Richmond and we can do it all over America.'" At Richmond events not far away, Bates assures his backers that "we're running the strongest campaign I've run in my life" and there's "no way in the world we can lose this election." Thanks to Butt's ability to mobilize his longtime base and the RPA's exceptional organizational abilities, Bates is singing a different tune on election night. In the film's final scene, the crowd is dwindling at his campaign headquarters and the mood is glum. Corky Booze, Bates' council ally who just lost his own re-election bid, is particularly bitter. "We cannot save the African-American community if they don't want to save themselves, " Booze declares. Advertisement In his weary post-mortem, Bates acknowledges Butt's victory and the RPA's complete sweep. "We ran a clean campaign," Bates insists. "We did not attack anyone. We kept to the issues...Unfortunately, there might have been some repercussions about too much literature. And that literature really turned off a lot of people and I think what they were saying is 'We're not going to vote for anybody that Chevron is supporting.'...Because everyone that Chevron supported wasn't successful." For a forthcoming book about Richmond politics, I recently queried Chevron spokesperson Leah Casey about the company's plans for this year's city council races. (Three Richmond incumbents, including Bates, face likely challenges from RPA candidates and other opponents.) Given Chevron's lack of success in 2014, and the backlash against its "independent" spending then, will Big Oil behave differently now? According to Casey, her employer has not yet "defined how or if we will participate in the local Richmond elections." She assured me that the company's electoral participation would be "fully transparent," whatever form it takes. Bates has yet to announce his own plans but is expected to seek re-election to the Richmond city council. He did not respond to an email query about his willingness to risk further "repercussions" at the polls due to his Chevron sponsorship, which is decades old. If rent control in Richmond makes it onto the ballot in November, the California Apartment Association may be this year's biggest non-Chevron spender, just as the American Beverage Association was four years ago (when a Richmond soda tax was defeated after total 2012 campaign expenditures of $3.7 million by Big Oil and Big Soda). So far, Bates and Butt have been on the same side on rent control--both are opposed to it. One thing is certain. Without campaign finance reform of the sort advocated by Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein in their current presidential campaigns, there'll be no last hurrah for big money in politics, in our city of 100,000 or anywhere else in America, anytime soon. (Steve Early is a Richmond resident, Richmond Progressive Alliance member, and the author of Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money, and The Remaking of an American City, to be published next winter by Beacon Press. He can be reached at Lsupport@aol.com) Relations between two countries. USA and Cuba By Joshua Cramer-Montes "The difference between the communist and capitalist systems," wrote the late exiled Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas, "is that, although both give you a kick in the ass, in the communist system you have to applaud, while in the capitalist system you can scream." These contrasting ideologies have defined U.S.-Cuban relations for more than 50 years; a history marked by an oppressive regime on one side and an interventionist foreign government on the other. Stuck in the middle are millions of Cubans and Cuban-Americans who have experienced the collective trauma of forced separation, exile and retribution. Advertisement As a first-generation Cuban-American, I am keenly aware of the emotions that underlie the relations between our two countries. My own family fled Cuba in 1966. Their physical trip from Cuba was an hour-long flight, but the ripple effects of that journey continue to be felt today. President Obama's historic three-day visit to Cuba brings me a renewed sense of hope. As someone who has worked in both international development and the private sector, I believe this hope must be pursued cautiously and with the full engagement of Cuban people living on the island. For far too long, the loudest voices on Cuba have come from Miami and Washington--rarely from Havana. This is partly due to the unrelenting policy of silencing dissention by a police state. But it is also due to factions on the other side of the Florida Straits--groups who believe they know what's best for Cuba, and who stubbornly reject reconciliation out of fear that this would concede a 'win' to the Castro brothers. The result has been a 50-year embargo, which by nearly all accounts has failed miserably. Instead, it has enabled Castro's regime to entrench itself further - a sentiment echoed in a 2010 open letter signed by 74 dissidents calling for the end of the embargo that they underscore contributes to the suffering of everyday Cubans. Advertisement These dissenting voices have been largely missing from the conversation. Normalizing relations through an open flow of people and information is, I believe, the most effective way forward. This opinion, however, is clearly split among demographic and political party lines. According to a 2015 Miami Herald article, Cuban-Americans who arrived in the United States in the 1960's are still very much opposed to any diplomatic relations whereas first-generation Cuban-Americans like myself, are largely in favor. In the days since Obama's visit, I've heard many people scoff at this idea, asking, "What have we received in return by easing our policy with Cuba?" The short answer is that since reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba in December of 2014, we've seen the handover of Alan Gross, the release of 53 political prisoners and agreements to let the Red Cross and UN human rights investigators onto the island. But what exactly do we think we are supposed to "get" out of this new chapter with Cuba, and more to the point, who should receive it? Would getting back a piece of property that someone lived in 50 years ago and displacing the family that now lives there be enough? How about Castro's body in a box? I doubt it. For many years, these have been two of many conditions vocalized by some of the most staunchly anti-Castro Cuban-Americans and they in turn have wielded tremendous influence on U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba. Nothing can compensate for the overwhelming sense of loss that Cuban-Americans feel, which is why U.S.-Cuban relations over the past 50 years have been so complex. What many Cubans and Cuban-Americans want - uninterrupted childhoods, unified families and the life trajectories we might have had - we'll never get. While some would chalk up President Obama's visit to nothing more than photo ops and press conferences, the symbolism - and the warmth demonstrated by the Cuban people (even Raul!) - has already proven tremendously powerful. Throughout his visit, he made it a point to bypass much of the official state apparatus. He walked through the streets of Old Havana, so the average Cuban could see him up close. He played himself in a comedy sketch with a much-loved national comedian Panfilo - using Cuban slang no less. Advertisement Even Castro and Obama's joint press conference, which many cited as tense, signaled a new era. At Obama's polite prodding, Castro took a question from a western journalist about Cuba's human rights record. His response - that Cuba does not have political prisoners - was ridiculous, but it was important that this question could be put to a Castro for the first time in recent memory. Obama didn't pontificate on what was wrong with Cuba and what was right about the U.S. Instead he acknowledged that while American democracy is not perfect, it gives us the space to catalyze change - to scream, as Reinaldo would say. In his speech that was televised across the island, Obama's message couldn't be clearer: change must rise from within, on Cuba's terms and we are here as friends to accompany them on that journey. Cuba will undoubtedly face countless social, economic and environmental opportunities and challenges in the years to come. We will be tempted to swoop in and "fix things" the way our foreign policy has loved to do in countless developing economies over the years. But as development professionals and business people, we must pursue these opportunities in an ethical, responsible and sustainable manner. Was his visit a drop of water in an ocean? Yes. Does more work need to be done, particularly around human rights, self-determination and economic development? Absolutely. Change won't happen overnight, and it won't happen without bumps along the way. But if we continue down the path that Obama's administration has opened for us, it will happen. Josh Cramer-Montes is a dual MBA/MA in Sustainable International Development candidate at the Heller School for Social Policy & Management. He has worked extensively in international development in Latin America, West Africa and the UN, and as a communications professional in the private sector. He received his BA from the University of Miami. Senate candidates Kamala Harris, Donna Edwards, and Catherine Cortez Masto By Ann Friedman Every election year, after the votes are counted, everyone wants to assess how women fared. There are tallies of how many women were elected to the Senate, to the House, to governorships. There are assessments of the gender gap among voters. And then there are declarations. "Women were the real winners last night," I wrote the morning after the 2012 election. The 2014 midterms, reported Time, were "kind of a dud for electing women." This year, with a woman as the front-running candidate for a major party, the narrative about women in politics has largely focused on Hillary Clinton. I've seen countless Facebook debates about the relative importance of voting for a woman -- conversations that are merely proxy wars as the primary battle between Clinton and Bernie Sanders plays out on social media. A realization has slowly sunk in: Nobody's saying much about all of the other women running for office right now. There are currently 27 women in the running for the U.S. Senate, and 216 are vying for U.S. House seats. Plus six women running for governor. Not all of them will win their primaries to make it to the ballot in November. But there are hundreds of women campaigning right now -- you're just not hearing much about them. Advertisement The silence is a real shame, because in 2016 we could see a record-breaking number of women elected to the Senate. There are nine pro-choice Democratic women running for Senate this year, most of whom have a good shot at election. Compare that to the supposedly watershed "Year of the Woman" in 1992, which only saw four women senators elected. And, this year, four of the nine contenders are women of color, which is huge because only two women of color have ever, in history, been elected to the Senate. Among the Senate contenders this year are Maryland's Donna Edwards and California's Kamala Harris, both African-American women. Harris, who is the attorney general of California, recently took on predatory for-profit colleges and supported a bill to disclose more information about police shootings. Edwards, a longtime community activist and sitting congresswoman, co-founded the National Network to End Domestic Violence and once worked on NASA's Spacelab program. There's also Tammy Duckworth, who is a veteran with a Purple Heart, an expert in international affairs, and a fierce advocate for disability rights. She's running in Illinois. And in Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto is pushing to be the first Latina ever elected to the U.S. Senate. A not-insignificant number of women are running for Congress, too. "The thing that makes me excited about the House is the stories these women bring," says Jess McIntosh, spokeswoman for EMILY's List, which funnels money and support to pro-choice female Democratic candidates. "We're past that model where a woman had a successful career or raised kids, and, instead of retiring, served in the House. Now it's opening up." Younger women, first-generation Americans, and a wide array of women candidates are on the ballot this year. Denise Juneau, who's running in Montana, would be the first Native American woman in Congress. And in Delaware, which has never elected a woman or a person of color to Congress, African-American woman Lisa Blunt Rochester is running. And Nevada's Lucy Flores, who is open about the abortion she had at age 16 and has been a passionate defender of immigrants' rights, is challenging a fellow Democrat for the nomination. Congressional races are smaller, from a national perspective, but still important. "The people we elect to Congress today are the ones we elect to Senate tomorrow," McIntosh says. Advertisement Not all of these women candidates, it's worth noting, have endorsed Clinton. And for those of us who are just voters -- whether we're Clinton superfans, merely lukewarm on her, or Sanders supporters who care about electing women -- it's time to look down the ticket. A lot of signs point to 2016 being a big year for women voters -- especially if Donald Trump, who seems to actively hate women, is the Republican nominee. If we're smart, we'll use the wide gender gap among voters to lift women candidates at all levels of politics. Here's how to start: Rutgers's Center for American Women in Politics has a list of women who are running in every state. Read it. Find a woman near you, or a woman on the other side of the country whose values you share. And decide to support her -- financially, if possible. But in other ways, too. Volunteer. Talk her up. Do what you can. Many candidates are facing primary elections in May and June, so now is a great time to get onboard with their campaigns. The 2016 election conversation has made "women in politics" seem synonymous with "Hillary." It's not. If we want to see a deep bench of women candidates, we have to bring ourselves to focus on state-level races. Now is the time to focus on the pipeline, so that no matter who's elected president in November, we can honestly say this was another "Year of the Woman" -- because we all helped ensure it would be. Also on HuffPost: A Yemeni child walks among tents at the UNHCR Obock camp, hosting nearly 2,800 refugees on March 26, 2016 in Obock, Djibouti. The intervention in support of Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi that began on March 26 2015 has yet to deal a decisive blow to the Huthi rebels and their allies, who still control Sanaa and key parts of the country. The Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda have exploited the chaos, widening their footholds in the south and carrying out deadly attacks, mostly against forces loyal to Hadi. The UN says about 6,300 people have been killed in the conflict since the coalition launched its campaign, more than half of them civilians. / AFP / SIMIN MAINA (Photo credit should read SIMIN MAINA/AFP/Getty Images) The combination of conflict, poverty, injustice, authoritarianism, radicalization and the lack of effective political leadership has led to a crisis of epic proportions for Europe and the world with the largest mass of forced displaced and asylum seekers since the Second World War -- nearly 60 million persons, according to the latest data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. These daunting and growing numbers are not just a product of the Syrian conflict and the impressive stream of souls looking to survive far away from a home country unable to offer them shelter, food, dignity or hope of a future. The situation in other parts of the world such as the Great Lakes of Africa or the Bangladeshi-Myanmar border has been and remains quite the same. What is at stake is not just a political or economic decision. Much more than that, what is at stake is a profoundly moral and even legal question. The gap between the obligation to protect established by the UN Convention of Refugees and the Dublin Convention and actual compliance is simply unacceptable and endangering the global order. It requires an urgent call for mutual accountability, beyond the interests of any nation, government or institution. Advertisement Are the latest political decisions responding to the urgency, substance and significance of the situation? The recently signed UE-Turkey agreement seeks to reduce the "incentive" for migrants to board on the life-threatening trip to the Greek Islands. Is this agreement the best answer to the problem? In other words, will it honor Europe's moral responsibility and legal obligations of guarantying the refugees' status? It still remains to be seen. UNHCR has raised serious doubts about Greece's capacity to "accommodate people decently and safely pending an examination on their cases." Likewise, there is the question of how returned asylum seekers will be "decently and safely" accommodated in Turkey, taking into account that the country is already hosting more than two million Syrian refugees. Neighboring countries alone cannot bear the strain of this humanitarian crisis. There needs to be a comprehensive, long term solution engaging the international community as a whole and a sharing in resettlement and relocation efforts. The current--not only European, but global-- responsibility-sharing system needs to be, at a minimum, fine-tuned in order to ensure effective solutions. Countries must honor their financial pledges but also their commitments on relocation numbers. Extra efforts and resources must be urgently allocated to conflict prevention, peace-building and early political action, as well as to the care and relocation of refugees and forced displaced. Let us not delude ourselves: these measures, and any action plan including the integration of large numbers of refugees in their countries of adoption, will face stern reactions. Growing xenophobia, prejudice and discrimination are intoxicating the political atmosphere of many of our societies. At a time when populist and anti-immigration parties are rising, parallel to high unemployment rates and a mainstream agenda focusing on security and border-protection, the big question is: how can we break the "race to the bottom?" Advertisement A counter-narrative that presents refugees as an asset and an opportunity is needed, one that effectively combats the instrumentalization of fear and prejudices. New arrivals--when properly managed--can bring substantial economic, fiscal and demographic benefits in the long run. As the former Prime Minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, has pointed out, "the EU can clearly accommodate a million or more refugees. This would amount to just .2 percent of the EU's total population - far less than the number of people that member countries will need to admit in the coming decades to replenish their aging workforces." Once again, education will be crucial. The EU is not just a community of nations or a common market, it is above all a community of values that must be spread through a school curricula that fosters and musters multicultural and anti-discriminatory contents. The challenge is unprecedented in nature, scale and complexity. The political, social and economic measures that could help stop or even significantly diminish the flow are out of reach, at least in the short and mid-term, and some of the trends spurring the current crisis such as the globalization of jobs, inequality, climate change, food insecurity and resource scarcity are likely to increase in the years to come. Civilians will keep fleeing from violence and seeking international protection scaling up resettlement needs. Alternative safe and legal admission channels need to be put in place in addition to increased resettlement. The possible ways out are on the table. The UNHCR high level meeting, taking place today in Geneva, will focus on and showcase innovative measures for the dignified admission of Syrians asylum seekers such as humanitarian pathways like private sponsorships, humanitarian visas and medical evacuation, all of them designed to provide protection to refugees with compelling needs. Protection through admission of relatives, academic scholarships and labor mobility schemes will also be on the table. In December 2015, hundreds of Sudanese refugees were arrested outside UNHCR's office in Amman, Jordan, and deported to Khartoum, Sudan. Their crime was peacefully protesting outside UNHCR's office, requesting access to durable solutions. The deported refugees were from Darfur and had fled the genocide in western Sudan. Many had witnessed their family members' executions and had been tortured by the Sudanese government. After being deported, many were arrested by the Sudanese government and tortured again. A few of these people were clients being assisted by the International Refugee Assistance Project, where I serve as Chairman of the Board. The international community has failed to provide essential humanitarian assistance and resettlement opportunities to Syrian refugees, even as news headlines are filled with horrific reports about the conditions that displaced Syrians face. Questions are mounting as to whether the United States can meet its modest goal of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees. Even more disheartening is the international response to humanitarian needs from less-discussed or long-forgotten conflicts like those raging in Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan and South Sudan. In the midst of the Syrian refugee crisis, the worst refugee crisis since World War II, the international community cannot forget refugees of other nationalities. The deportations of Sudanese refugees show the harsh reality that refugees of any nationality face in countries of first asylum. In countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, local schools and housing markets are overwhelmed by the number of refugees, and hospitality is wearing thin. Jordan's King Abdullah II warned that in the middle of regional instability, his country was at a "boiling point." Advertisement Refugees -- Syrian, Sudanese and others -- need sustained support. Five years into the Syrian conflict, the risk is that the international community will forget Syrian refugees in the way that it has forgotten Iraqis. Syrian refugees face closed borders and harsh living conditions; Sudanese refugees face mass deportations. I grew up during the Cold War when America's rivalry with the Soviet Union posed a clear and present danger to our country's very existence. Since the collapse of the USSR, or in other words the last 25 years, the U.S. has not faced an existential threat. Of course, the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were shocking and devastating, as were recent attacks in Paris and Brussels. But terrorism was and is nothing new. We faced it in the 1970s and 1980s, and indeed we will probably always face it. The question is how best to face it. Stoking fear among the people is the wrong way to face it. Restricting liberty is the wrong way. An overly kinetic approach (i.e. lots of bombs and bullets) is the wrong way. Invading the Middle East (yet again) is the wrong way. Most of counter-terrorism, it seems to me, is an exercise in intelligence and policing (national and international). Yet we seem always to turn to our military to solve problems. The emphasis is relentlessly tactical/operational, stressing how many terrorists we kill in drone strikes and special ops raids (a version of the old "body count" from the Vietnam War era). Military strikes and raids generate collateral damage and blowback, arguably creating more enemies than they kill. We're helping to sustain a perpetual killing machine, a feedback loop. The more we "hit" various enemies while playing up the dangers of terrorism, especially in the media, the more they prosper in regards to attention (and recruits) they garner. Advertisement One of the first Rand primers I read as a young Air Force lieutenant was "International Terrorism: The Other World War," written by Brian M. Jenkins in 1985. Jenkins made many excellent points: that terrorists seek to instill fear, that their acts are mainly "aimed at the people watching," that terrorism can't be defeated like traditional (uniformed) enemies, that terrorists commit crimes for a larger political purpose ("causing widespread disorder, demoralizing society, and breaking down existing social and political order"), that terrorism is a form of political theater. As Jenkins notes: Terrorism attracts intense interest but produces little understanding. News coverage focuses on action not words. Terrorist incidents attract the media because they are genuine human dramas, different from ordinary murder and therefore newsworthy. Furthermore, "terrorists provide few lucrative targets for conventional military attack," though this may be less true of state-sponsored terrorism. What can we learn from Jenkins's primer on terrorism? Three big lessons: Deny the terrorists their victory by refusing to succumb to fear. In short, don't panic. And don't exaggerate the threat. Don't sensationalize the feats of terrorists in 24/7 media coverage of their attacks. That's what the terrorists want. They want extensive media coverage, not only to shift public opinion and to spread fear, but also to recruit new members. Finally, don't change your way of life, your political system, your liberties, in response to terrorism. Abridging freedoms or marginalizing people (e.g. American Muslims) in the name of attacking terrorism is exactly what the terrorists want. They want to turn people against one another. To divide is to conquer. The question is, when will Americans recognize the complexity of the terrorist threat while minimizing fear and over-reaction? Terrorists need to be stopped, and that requires robust intelligence gathering, strong policing, and selective military action. But threat inflation, media hysteria, and militarized overreaction simply play into the terrorists' hands. Fear is the mind-killer, as Frank Herbert wrote. Let us always remember this as we face the terrorist threat with firmness and resolve. Around 2.5 billion people live, work, and depend on indigenous and community lands. They protect about half of the world's land, but have full ownership rights to just one-fifth of that. Why this massive gap? Lack of political leadership from governments and corruption, as well as business as usual by corporations and consumers. Not having these rights means that entire communities and cultures could be left landless at any point in time. It is getting worse - driving conflict, poverty, and political insecurity around the world. Community lands are increasingly threatened by the exploding demands from the agriculture, mining, fossil fuel, and logging industries. Land-grabbing has become a global menace, driving communities out of their homes and into poverty. This is why hundreds of Indigenous Peoples and community organizations and NGOs in partnership with Oxfam, International Land Coalition, and Rights and Resources Initiative, have come together in a new alliance to start the Land Rights Now campaign. We--the world's Indigenous Peoples, rural communities, and their supporters - are urging and encouraging governments to double the amount of land these communities own by 2020. Advertisement If governments are to meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals to "end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all," further recognition and respect of community land rights is needed to help communities improve their economic well-being, preserve their cultures and save the environment. Those affected in this story of injustice are often the poorest and most vulnerable. Enxet in Paraguay, Cambodia's Kuy, Oroko and Bakossi in Cameroon, and beyond; these are communities who protect our planet, and they are being deprived of their rights. The brutal murders of indigenous land defenders Berta Caceres and Nelson Garcia in Honduras is a tragic reminder of the challenges communities and activists can face in protecting their lands. Urgent action must be taken to condemn in the strongest terms the killing of human rights and environmental defenders; to bring about an end to impunity for the perpetrators; and for governments worldwide to commit to protect the rights and lives of those who raise their voices in defence of their lands. Advertisement Many rights abuses are driven by the idea that indigenous and community lands are either empty or under-used, and thus ripe for economic development. On Sri Lanka's eastern coast, hundreds of families were evicted from their homes in 2010. The government sought new lands to develop as tourist destinations, at the expense of the farmers and fishers that had lived there for generations. The community organized, protested, and petitioned the government's human rights authorities, and yet years later, they're still in exile. Securing land rights is also critical in the fight for gender equality. Not only do women have to fight for their ancestral lands against outsiders, but they also often struggle to be seen as equals within their own communities. Without secure and equal rights to forest, farmland, or pastures to make a living, their risk of falling into poverty is higher. And if justice for billions of men and women wasn't a good enough reason to act, consider this: the Paris Agreement on climate change will only be met if communities and indigenous communities gain the right to control these natural resources. For example, unless trends are reversed in Guatemala, 40 percent of the Maya Biosphere Reserve jungles could be gone. What survives will mostly be land that's under the protection of local communities. Securing land rights is crucial if we are to slow the destruction of forests, remove carbon from our atmosphere, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. This crisis has gone on for far too long. The gap in recognition of community land rights reflects the catastrophic failure of governments to respect the rights of their citizens. To begin righting the wrong, governments and corporations must recognize that the claims made by these communities are legitimate. If governments and legislatures passed and implemented strong laws protecting their rights, communities wouldn't have to depend on courtroom fights against lawyers representing powerful interests. Every one of us must help in this fight. As consumers, we must demand products from companies that respect community land rights, and to hold governments and corporations accountable to their promises and commitments. The Land Rights Now campaign is about standing in solidarity with the billions of people living on indigenous and community lands. Add your voice to demand justice, human rights, gender equality, and a healthier environment for all. Stay informed, stay vigilant, and get involved. Advertisement ROBERTO SCHMIDT via Getty Images Members of the Indian Army Sikh Regiment march during the country's Republic Day parade in New Delhi on January 26, 2015. Rain failed to dampen spirits at India's Republic Day parade January 26 as US President Barack Obama became the first US president to attend the spectacular military and cultural display in a mark of the nations' growing closeness. AFP PHOTO / Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON -- Three Sikh soldiers yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defence seeking to serve in the US armed forces without being forced to compromise with their articles of faith like turbans, unshorn hair and beards. In the lawsuit, Specialist Kanwar Singh, Specialist Harpal Singh and Private Arjan Singh Ghotra demand that the Army accommodate their religious articles of faith, including turbans, unshorn hair and beards, so that each can begin Basic Combat Training with their various units in May. Advertisement The lawsuit was filed by the Sikh Coalition, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and McDermott Will & Emery, after the US Department of Defence ignored a written demand letter that was sent on 23 March. "We had hoped that we would not have to file a second lawsuit on behalf of three more Sikh American soldiers, who simply want to practice their faith freely while serving their nation," said the Sikh Coalition's legal director, Harsimran Kaur. "However, the Defense Department has remained unresponsive to their requests for accommodation and the clock is ticking. Action must be taken," she alleged. The new lawsuit follows the 4 March federal court ruling that the Army was prohibited from subjecting a decorated Sikh American soldier, Captain Simratpal Singh, to discriminatory testing. Advertisement A final Army decision regarding CPT Singh's landmark religious accommodation request is due by 31 March. "We would like the opportunity, like every other American, to proudly serve," said Kanwar Singh, who enlisted in the Massachusetts Army National Guard. "I look forward to joining my battalion for training and making the diverse state of Massachusetts proud," he said. SPC Harpal Singh, a California Telecommunications Engineering Specialist, was recruited by the US Army Reserve for his foreign language skills. PVT Arjan Singh Ghotra, who is 17, enlisted in the Virginia Army National Guard and is slated to attend basic training before attending George Mason University this fall, the statement said. "It is unfortunate that in the face of overwhelming evidence that Sikhs should be permitted to serve, we are once again asking whether our nation's largest employer will embrace religious freedom and diversity or continue to aggressively thwart progress. It is a sad day for all Americans when our military is on the wrong side of common sense, the law and our shared American values," said Amandeep Sidhu, Partner at McDermott Will & Emery. Advertisement Last year, 27 retired US Generals called on the Department of Defence to eliminate the ban on observant Sikhs. These generals joined 105 Members of Congress, 15 Senators and 21 national Interfaith and civil rights organizations, who had previously signed letters in support of American Sikhs right to serve. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: MANAN VATSYAYANA via Getty Images Director General of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) R.K. Pachauri addresses mediapersons in New Delhi on January 23, 2010. The head of the UN's climate science panel said January 23 that a doomsday prediction about the fate of Himalayan glaciers was 'a regrettable error.' Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in an emailed statement to media outlets that the mistake arose out of 'established procedures not being diligently followed.' AFP PHOTO/ MANAN VATSYAYANA (Photo credit should read MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images) More than a year after sexual harassment allegations at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) forced R.K. Pachauri to retire from the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and a month before the matter finally goes on trial, the embattled climate scientist has broken his silence in a series of interviews to The Guardian. Advertisement "Through them, Pachauri mounts a peculiar defence, and the publication mostly unquestioningly laps it up. In doing so, The Guardian neglects more than a year of reporting in India that has chronicled Pachauri's efforts to hang on to executive powers at TERI even as an investigation was underway. All of this took place despite an internal probe by the organisation which found him guilty." The thrust of the story is Pachauri's defence that his email and devices have been hacked. This defence has been considered and rejected by the Delhi Police, the investigating agency in the case, but this only finds mention in the story as a claim by the complainant's lawyer. The publication allows him to air the claim, days before trial is due to start in India, that the complainant had "actively flirted" with him. The complainant told HuffPost India that the publication asked her for her response, but in the end published only part of it. The claim that this was all a giant conspiracy hatched by climate change deniers gets sympathetic accommodation in the paper. This is not to say that Pachauri does not have a right to air his version, even though he has approached the courts repeatedly to restrain the media. But perhaps the newspaper could have been more circumspect in its accommodation of his claims by reviewing all that has gone down since the filing of the complaint, rather than limiting its third party voices to an English columnist whose relevance to the story is that he has once in the past been critical of Pachauri. The surprising element in the story is how little pushback Pachauri receives, despite how events in this case have played out. Advertisement Here are 9 relevant issues that I wish The Guardian had discussed. The police complaint was not out of the blue Pachauri has claimed that the woman researcher gave him "absolutely no warning" before complaining against him. Interestingly, the exchange of messages that Pachauri has denied suggest a different story. The texts that police has submitted as evidence in court suggest that not only did the woman repeatedly ask Pachauri to desist from making any sexual advances, the woman first complained to TERI's HR on 9 February, then to police on 13 February, and the FIR was finally registered on 18 February last year. TERI's internal committee report found Pachauri guilty A detailed report submitted by TERI's internal committee examining the sexual harassment case found Pachauri guilty of the allegations made against him, but was stayed almost immediately, pending further investigation, when Pachauri questioned the veracity of the reports in front of an industrial tribunal. He claimed that the investigating committee had not followed proper procedure in verifying the woman researcher's allegations. However, the climate think tank is Pachauri's domain, and there is no reason why his own organisation would be in cahoots with the complainant or any "enemies". Yet, the report was ignored and the head of the internal committee finally resigned without assigning a reason for her sudden exit. A researcher quit TERI alleging he was facing pressure to help settle the matter out of court A male researcher quit TERI in January this year alleging that he was under pressure from seniors at the organization to get the sexual harassment allegation settled out of court. TERI's handling of the case has been criticized The climate think tank's handling of the complaint is at stark contrast with the IPCC's, from where Pachauri resigned the same week the allegations first surfaced. Instead, not only was Pachauri allowed to continue operating as director general of TERI, its governing council even promoted him to executive vice chairman later, refusing to take into account the allegations against him and applauding him in press statements. It appointed another DG to replace Pachauri but insisted it was nothing to do with the police case against him, and eventually directed him to go on leave only a year later, after immense public pressure and criticism from its own people. In the interim, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, one of the business leaders of India, resigned from the TERI governing council citing "moral responsibility". Effectively, Pachauri was allowed to continue holding a position of power in the organisation for a year following the charges, while investigation was ongoing and witnesses who had to be examined continued to report to him, sending a signal of invincibility, even as the complainant left the organisation after what she described as a bitter experience post her complaint. It strikes me as unlikely that The Guardian would be supportive of a person seen as exercising every lever of power available while being accused of sexual harassment by a junior colleague, were it to unfold in the UK. Pachauri's claim about hacking has already been dismissed by the police It has been over a year since Pachauri's first lawyer, Pawan Duggal, told journalists that his client's emails, computer, and phone had been hacked. Yet, Pachauri's subsequent counsel never managed to establish this or lodge a formal police complaint in the matter, and Delhi Police's own investigation in the sexual harassment complaint has rejected this claim. If his electronic devices were indeed hacked, wouldn't it be the most important piece of evidence his lawyers would try to establish through a police investigation? Interestingly, Duggal, a cyber law expert, pulled out of the case early on, citing "professional reasons". The complainant has listed not just emails, but also text messages In its 1500 pages-long chargesheet that Delhi Police submitted last month, analysis of call records indicate that Pachauri had sent various texts to the complainant while the two were in different locations. While Pachauri has claimed he never checked his "sent" emails and managed to miss the thousands of emails allegedly sent back and forth by him and the woman complainant, the interviewer neglects to ask if the texts were also similarly sent by those out to destroy him. If Pachauri never saw the correspondence, how did he infer she was "actively flirting" with him? Even though Pachauri's spirited defence rests on his electronic devices being hacked and him having no knowledge about the correspondence between him and the woman researcher for a year and a half, he still told Guardian that the complainant "actively flirted" with him, and even tried to get him to give her a double promotion. To me, this raises a strange contradiction how did he have selective knowledge of some of her alleged overtures on email, and miss his apparent replies to her at the same time? Advertisement What is the connection between threats from climate change deniers and this case? Perhaps the most peculiar of the defences put forth by Pachauri is the alleged connection between death threats he claimed to have received from nameless, faceless trolls whose numbers appear to come from erstwhile East Germany, and the serious legal battle he is facing in New Delhi on sexual harassment charges. A line in the Guardian piece unwittingly characterises my own confusion: "He says he suspects strongly, but cannot prove, that there has been a coordinated attempt to destroy him professionally and personally and that money may also be involved. (emphasis mine)". It is unsurprising that as IPCC chief he has been targeted by various groups that don't agree with his policies. But his attempt to characterise the sexual harassment allegations as part of this should have been met with some pushback by the reporter. Instead, what we are treated to is another British journalist's conspiracy theories without any independent verification or backing. Plenty of people unconnected with climate change have been disgusted with la affaire Pachauri It is important to mention here that Pachauri has not only come under attack from people who are unconnected with the debate on climate change. Prominent human and women's rights activists Indira Jaising and Vrinda Grover have spoken out against his continued charge of TERI. Others who demanded his resignation and action against him include former Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed, All India Progressive Womens Association secretary Kavita Krishnan, Jagori director Suneeta Dhar, senior journalist Pamela Philipose, PUCL national secretary Kavita Srivastava, and JNU professor Nivedita Menon, as reported here. The piece also refers to a former editor of The Economic Times, who has called for Pachauri's resignation, and is currently a fellow at the Cato institute, which the article says has funded climate sceptic think tanks. Though it would normally be hard to argue that a serious-minded newspaper's inconvenient news coverage is influenced by a former editor's affiliations and be taken seriously, it's presented, uncontested, as a sort of a closing argument to the piece. Advertisement (Disclaimer: HuffPost India is published in association with The Times of India Group, which also publishes The Economic Times). Also See On HuffPost: Shreya Bhattacharji/Facebook A professor of the Central University of Jharkhand has been suspended for inviting a Jawaharlal Nehru University teacher to the institution. Shreya Bhattacharji had invited JNU professor NM Panini to be the guest-of-honour in an event organised to mark Sardar Patel's birth anniversary. Wondering what could have prompted such a move? The fact that Panini was a professor at JNU and had vocally supported students branded 'anti-national' by the state and the Dehi Police. Advertisement According to NDTV reports, Bhattacharji, an associate professor, had invited MN Panini and that did not go down well with seniors. Soon after Vice-Chancellor Nand Kumar Yadav suspended Bhattacharji. Her suspension order says, " Dr. Shreya Bhattacharji, Associate Professor, Centre of English language invited Prof. N.M. Panini from JNU as Guest of Honor for the said celebrations on 19 March, 2016 without prior permission of the office of the Vice Chancellor." Vice Chancellor, Nand Kumar Yadav, Central University of Jharkhand. Advertisement The order further read, " Dr Panini is considered as mentor of the group of students of JNU, who were involved in anti-national activities in JNU campus recently." The statement also said Dr Bhattacharji did not read about the invited professor's credentials and has tarnished the image of the University. Panini, however, insisted that he had been invited to the programme by the Vice Chancellor himself. He told The Indian Express, The programme was initially supposed to happen several months ago but was eventually finalised for March 19. At the time, the V-C spoke to me over the phone and said he was happy to invite me for the lecture. I had asked them to book my ticket via Delhi from Mysore where I stay. When I reached Delhi on the 17th, the V-C called me again and said that the programme had been cancelled. He only said that there was some agitation by students, which is why they were cancelling it. I probed and asked him if it was because I was from JNU. He said Yes. Theres nothing personal against you but its because you are from JNU. My ticket from Delhi to Bangalore was also cancelled by them later. JNU has been in the eye of a controversy since February this year after the government and police cracked down on students accusing them of sedition, following an event organised to allegedly mark Afzal Guru's death anniversary. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: ani Seven CRPF men were killed on Wednesday in a deadly landmine blast carried out by Naxals that also left a massive four-feet deep crater on the road in the worst Maoist violence-affected Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. Officials said the attack occurred near the Basaras-Kuakonda axis in Melawada village when a Tata-709 mini-truck of the force went over a landmine at about 4 PM. Advertisement The troops, most of whom had just returned from leave, were going to their nearby camp. The landmine was cleverly hidden and planted by Maoists under the 'black top or puccka' road as troops travelled as part of a three-vehicle convoy. "The troops were moving form one camp to the other when the huge blast hit their vehicle," CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad told PTI. A senior official, however, ruled out looting of any weapons of the jawans, who were not in their combat uniforms, as most of them had had just come back from leave. "It is estimated that almost 20 kg of explosives was used to blow off the vehicle. At least three bodies have been badly charred and dismembered and hence their identification will take time," the official said. Advertisement A Court of Inquiry has been ordered by the force into the incident and to find out under what circumstances the troops were travelling in a four-wheeler, banned for force personnel in these areas due to the threat of hidden Improvised Explosive Devices, and why were they not carrying arms as it is mandatory for them while even moving for non-operational tasks. The vehicle and the troops were blown to smithereens and a four-feet crater has been created at the site where the blast took place, the official said. They said the troops belonged to the 230th battalion of the force deployed in south Bastar area for anti-Naxal operations. The squad travelling in the ill-fated vehicle was led by a Assistant Sub-Inspector-rank officer Vijay Raj along with his juniors. Chhattisgarh's acting Home Minister Ajay Chandrakar also informed the state Assembly that seven security personnel were killed in the Naxal attack. Advertisement The state has witnessed a rise in attacks on security forces this year as recently three CRPF commandos were killed and 14 hurt in Chhattisgarh on March 2. On March 11 a CRPF jawan was killed and four injured while two BSF men were killed in Kanker on March 12. The dead were identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector D Bijay Raj, head constable Pradeep Tirky, constables- Roop Narayan Das, Devendra Chourasia, Ranjan Das, Nana Uday Singh (driver) and J Rajendran, all belonged to CRPF's 230 battalion, he said. Special Director General of Police (anti-naxal operations) D M Awasthi told PTI that they died on the spot. The spot is about 26 km from the district headquarters of Dantewada and 450 km from the state capital Raipur. A civilian vehicle was passing through the route when the incident occurred. Those civilians only informed the police about the incident following which Dantewada Superintendent of Police Kamlochan Kashyap reached the spot along with reinforcement and evacuated the bodies to Dantewada district headquarter, he said. Advertisement Meanwhile, a CRPF official ruled out the violation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by security forces and said naxals may have kept a watch on the vehicle right from the battalion headquarter at Nerli. "The vehicle with as many as 9 CRPF personnel onboard left from Nerli. "Of them, three jawans alighted at Renganar company camp of the paramilitary while one other sat on the vehicle there," the paramilitary official said. "As per preliminary information, rebels probably belonging to Darbha division of Maoist have executed the incident. "They may have kept a watch on their movement right from Nerli," he said adding more details are being taken in this connection. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also See On HuffPost: Tim Graham via Getty Images INDIA - FEBRUARY 11: Diana Princess of Wales sits in front of the Taj Mahal during a visit to India (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images) The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are set to visit the Taj Mahal in April, almost two decades after Princess Diana was pictured sitting pensively by herself at the famous monument. The image of Diana sitting on a bench during a solitary sightseeing trip to the Taj Mahal, a monument to love, had made front page news worldwide and was widely interpreted as a symbol of the irreparable state of her marriage to Prince Charles, reported Reuters. Advertisement The couple divorced in 1996 after 15 years of marriage, a year before Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. But now, her son William and his wife Kate are very much looking forward to their trip to India and Bhutan, said the official Kensington Palace Twitter handle. "The Duke and Duchess are very much looking forward to their tours of India and Bhutan." pic.twitter.com/RHbMQnOHTk Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) February 26, 2016 A Kensington Palace spokesman told Daily Mail, "Their visit to India will be an introduction to a country that they plan to build an enduring relationship with. They will pay tribute to India's proud history, but also are keen to understand the hopes and aspirations of young Indian people and the major role they will play in shaping the 21st century." According to Reuters, the spokesperson added that William felt lucky to visit a place where his mother's memory is kept alive by so many who travel there. The royal couple is also set to attend a Bollywood gala in Mumbai where they will hobnob with Indian stars, says The Statesman. Here are some glimpses of Princess Diana's guided tour to Taj Mahal: Princess Diana At Taj Mahal See Gallery Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Kansas football heads toward a bye week it needs A number of Kansas football players were either out Saturday due to injury or at least limited. The bye week should help them. Kashy Keegan: How an almost unknown songwriter outsold Lady Gaga and Katy Perry As musician, breaking into the industry is no easy feat, and the challenge can often seem insurmountable enough that many eager young artists give up somewhere along the way. This is exactly what had happened to Kashy Keegan, before he unexpectedly became an overnight success. ____________________________ Guest Post by Chris Robley on The DIY Musician You work hard trying to make your mark in music, but after much frustration with the business side of the industry, you quit. Then, years later, something happens seemingly out of the blue, halfway around the world, and within 48 hours youre performing in front of thousands of people in a distant country; youre catapulted to #1 on the iTunes charts, outselling pop stars like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry in the region; and the record deal youd hoped for long ago is finally within reach. This is what happened to Kashy Keegan, a songwriter from London who (thanks to the Internet) had an unexpected success when a song hed written years earlier found its moment during a protest in Hong Kong. I asked Kashy about the whole experience, how he kept the momentum going, and the power of the right song at the right time. An interview with Kashy Keegan At the point at which your song This Is My Dream got noticed, youd kind of given up on pursuing your music career, right? Can you talk a little bit about your life in music up until that point, and what led you to stop making music? Before the song got discovered I had spent the previous 15 years working every kind of odd job you can imagine from cleaning nursing homes to telesales to working in a hospital for five years. This was all to get the money to record demos at a local studio. Songwriting has been an all-consuming passion for me since the age of 12 and I didnt socialize as a teenager because every free moment was literally spent working on songs. However, I gave myself a deadline that I had until I was 25 to try and get a break. I turned 25 and was still nowhere nearer to achieving my goal. I didnt give up writing songs, because songwriting is my true passion, but I did stop knocking on the doors of managers and record labels trying to get a break. I was feeling forlorn and jaded with the music industry. It seemed like it was a closed-shop to outsiders like me. I was so frustrated and worn down and so I decided to turn to the next best thing which was music journalism. With a lot of perseverance I was able to get a job as an online journalist for a radio station and dedicated myself to that for a while. The irony is, that just as I let go and moved in a different direction, thats when opportunity came knocking on my door. How did This is My Dream get discovered? I wrote the song back in 2006. I channeled all the obstacles and frustration I had experienced over the years of trying to get a break in the industry. It was a very raw and defiant song about not wanting to give up on my dream of becoming a songwriter. I uploaded the song online to a few social media sites and then it pretty much just sat there for six years and no one really listened to it except for my family and friends. Then fast forward to 2012, I got an email out of the blue from Universal Music in Hong Kong who had received a request to use my song This Is My Dream as a theme song for the launch of a new TV network. They had found the song online and it led them back to me. I signed a publishing contract with Universal and then just over a year later the song ended up reaching number 1 on the Hong Kong iTunes chart and even outsold releases that week from Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. It was such an unexpected surprise but a beautiful outcome to all of those years of perseverance and struggle when it felt like no one would give my music a chance. Once youd licensed the song, did you start gearing up again to pursue music? Not at first. The song was put on hold as the TV network was waiting to get a broadcast license from the Hong Kong government. However, everyone was extremely confident that they would get the license in a matter of months. There was already a huge local buzz surrounding the network. Meanwhile, because I was working in London and on the other side of the world to Hong Kong I just kept my head down and focused on my day job. Id had so many false-starts and so-called big opportunities in the past that never amounted to anything and so I didnt want to get too excited. What happened in Hong Kong that kind of threw a wrench in things? What were the protests about? Fast forward to October 2013, several months after I had signed the publishing contract with Universal; all of a sudden the news broke that the Hong Kong government had given broadcast licenses to two other TV networks but had refused a license to the peoples favorite, a network called HKTV, who were the same network planning to use my song as a theme tune for one of their documentary series. This license refusal by the government was seen as politically motivated and so it sparked a huge public backlash from the citizens of Hong Kong, which saw all ages and walks of life come together to stage public protests. In fact, tens of thousands of people took to the streets over three weeks of prolonged protests. I was back in London at the time and completely unaware of the situation in Hong Kong. However, I started receiving all these alerts on YouTube that people were uploading my song. I logged onto YouTube one night after work and saw all the videos people had been uploading showing literally thousands of people in Hong Kong at a protest singing along to my song as it was being played on loud speakers. I couldnt believe my eyes. What was originally intended to be a theme song for a documentary series had now become the unofficial anthem to these large scale protests. Can you talk a little bit about the experience of flying over there to perform, and how that changed your life and career? It all really happened within the space of 48 hours and very much on a whim. I received an email from the TV network in Hong Kong inviting me to come and perform the song live. I had no idea what to expect. However, I went into work the next day and asked my colleagues about whether or not I should go and they all unanimously thought it would be a good idea. I booked my plane ticket that night and flew 13 hours to Hong Kong all by myself. I arrived in Hong Kong, met the crew from the TV network and was driven to the protest area. My arrival had already made the local news before Id even performed. I did my rehearsal in broad daylight. Id never performed this song live before and had no clue how it would turn out. There was already an audience of a few hundred people gathered. I was thrown in at the deep end but fortunately it went well. By 9:30pm it was my time to go on, by this point the crowd was roaring outside and there were thousands of people gathered. Id been awake more than 24 hours but I went out and the adrenaline kicked in and it all happened in a blur. The audience seemed to really appreciate my being there and I performed the song again with several famous local actors from the TV network at the end of the night. After that, there seemed to be a never-ending queue of people wanting to shake my hand and take their photo with me. I got back to the hotel in the early hours of the morning and received the news that the song had gone to number 1 on iTunes. My head was still spinning and I was convinced that it was just a dream. What steps did you take to actively parlay that attention into continued momentum? I was actually panicking about what to do next because I really didnt want to put any foot wrong or waste this big opportunity. The next day, after my performance the night before, I started contacting record labels sending them links to all the news articles trying to leverage the attention I had received to try and land me a record deal. It wasnt easy and most were hesitant at first. I think the political undertones to the protest didnt help my case but the experience had reignited that fire in my belly and I was determined not to take no for an answer. I finally convinced the managing director of a local record label in Hong Kong to sign me and, after much perseverance on my part, he relented and gave me a shot. Meanwhile, I returned to the UK and crowd-funded the money to stage my first full-length concert in Hong Kong. Early the following year I returned to Hong Kong for the concert and then finally decided to leave London and relocate to Hong Kong full-time a few months after the concert. What about maintaining your fan relationships? How much time are you spending on average on social media? Were you able to use that initial burst of attention to build your email list? At first it was crazy. Before coming to Hong Kong I had about 73 page likes on Facebook. After that one night when I performed, the next day it had shot up to over 8,000 page likes. It really was a sudden burst of attention and I did build an email list and launched a crowd-funding campaign to stage my first full-length concert in Hong Kong. However, my experience has taught me that an initial burst of exposure is not enough you need a machine behind you to keep interest up. You need to be performing regularly or appearing on TV or radio. Social media growth works best when its a reaction to an outside event. For instance, if youre playing live and people like what they hear they will often find you on social media to hear more. I still dont think trying to build a following through social media alone is a good strategy. Its a great tool for staying connected to supporters but you cant rely on it as your only means of promotion. Its too saturated. How about the infrastructure around you: did you then work with a manager, publicist, booking agent, etc? I continued to manage myself but I worked with a local record label who funded and distributed my next album. Promotion was minimal but I did lots of interviews with local press and an in-store showcase at HMVs flagship record store in the center of Hong Kong. The album reached the top 20 in the rock/pop category. I also finished second overall in MTV Chinas songwriter of the year competition. That was also a complete surprise because I was the only western artist and the only English language song in the competition. Ive heard quite a few stories of musicians who found recognition only after theyd stopped searching for it. Whats the lesson there? Any philosophical thoughts on the matter? Its a tough one. There was definitely a certain irony to my situation, but in some ways I felt that it was those 15 years of prior dedication and perseverance finally paying off. Im all for making your own luck in life and believe that there is a lot to be said for perseverance. If you keep on persevering something has to give eventually. However, I think, as for most things in life, you have to strike a balance. The best opportunities usually find us and not the other way round. I think you have to knock on doors and make yourself known, but bear in mind that if someone is genuine about wanting to use your music or sign you then they will come knocking on your door. I think perseverance will increase your chances of getting a lucky break, but theres no forcing it. You have to make sure your music can easily be accessed and then let people know its there. If someone is genuinely interested they will come knocking. Also, at CD Baby we hear quite a few stories about particular songs finding their moment long after their release date sometimes decades later especially in the world of sync licensing. Do you have any thoughts on if and how the Internet really empowers audiences to connect with the right song at the right time? There are those rare instances in life when the stars just align for you. I think thats what happened for me. After 15 years of what felt like an uphill struggle, things just clicked and it was the right song at the right time that captured the spirit of the moment. It didnt matter that I had written the song six years earlier or that it had sat there all that time with no one really listening to it. The whole experience has opened my mind again and taught me that life really can surprise you when you least expect it. For so long I was convinced that the music industry wasnt open to people like me who didnt know anyone on the inside. Still to this day, the best part of the whole experience, for me, was that Id received hundreds of rejections over the years; I literally came from obscurity with no manager, no label, no publicist or anything like that. Yet, because someone on the other side of the world believed in my song enough to use it and give it a decent amount of exposure, I was able to defy all the odds and score my first number 1. It was very validating and immensely surreal at the same time. A lot of the time people will write a song and want an instant reaction. It doesnt always happen when we want it to, but once a song is recorded, theres no saying how or when it might become the next big hit. I would say that you just never really know you might have already written your biggest hit without realizing it yet. What are you up to now, musically speaking? Ive just released my third album through CD Baby. Its called Inner Song and its a collection of 11 songs, all self-written and self-produced, which chart the massive changes in my life over the past few years of moving to the other side of the world and having my first taste of success with my music. There have been so many highs and lows and sources of inspiration and Im really looking forward to sharing the new music that I have been working on. My intention for writing songs has been the same from when I first started writing them 20 years ago. Thats to try and write songs with a message of encouragement and empowerment, as those are the type of songs that inspired my deep appreciation for music and what have kept me going over the years. I think its really important, especially in current times, that music helps us get from day to day and gives listeners hope. Any advice for young independent artists just getting their start? For years nobody wanted to give me a break and people in the industry gave me every excuse under the sun as to why my music just wasnt ready yet. However, an unlikely series of events led to my song getting some exposure and once people actually got to hear my music it didnt do so badly after all. It taught me that, in spite of what anyone says or how some might try to discourage you, the thing you really need to focus on is getting yourself heard by the music-buying public. Let them be the judge and not some so-called industry expert. In a way, writing songs is the easy part, getting them heard is where it gets a lot more tricky. You might have written the next Imagine, but if no one gets to hear it then it will just remain a great song that nobody knows. I think 30 percent of a songwriters time should be spent on writing songs and the remaining 70 percent of the time should be spent on finding innovative ways to get your music heard. Share on: Major insurer Nationwide has hired industry veteran Mark Howard to replace retiring chief legal officer Patricia Hatler.Howard will lead the companys trial, legal, government relations, compliance, corporate citizenship and corporate governance functions, effective April 11.He is joining Nationwide after working at financial services group USAA, where he attained extensive legal experience across the insurance, financial, legal and compliance functions.Most recently, Howard served as USAA senior vice president and deputy general counsel, overseeing governance matters, legislative, regulatory and trade association relations; Federal Reserve and insurance holding company legal matters; and the companys compliance function.Marks extensive financial services and insurance background will be a valuable addition to the team as we look to fully leverage our companys strengths in the increasingly complex regulatory, business and consumer environment, said Nationwide CEO Steve Rasmussen.At the same time, we extend our very best to Pat Hatler as she enters retirement. Pat successfully guided the company through significant changes and it has been a privilege to work with her.Before joining USAA, Howard worked as an attorney with Kirkpatrick & Lockhart in Washington, D.C., and on the audit staff of Arthur Andersen in Dallas, Texas.He is currently the board chairman for Clarity Child Guidance Center in San Antonio, Texas, and is a member of Baylor Universitys Hankamer School of Business Advisory Board.He also held various posts on the Financial Services Advisory Board of the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Baylor University Accounting and Business Law Advisory Council and the South Texas Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, South Texas Chapter Board. 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IND vs PAK, T20 World Cup 2022 Preview: India Open World Cup Hoping to Fill Bumrah, Jadeja Void Imperial Valley News Center Ancient human relative interbred with ancestors of modern humans as recently as 50,000 years ago Los Angeles, California - A new study by scientists at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and Harvard Medical School offers surprising new insight into the genetic ancestry of modern humans. The research, published today in the journal Current Biology, also rewrites the timeline of when ancient humans interbred with other hominids by thousands of years. Scientists have long known that most of the worlds population, outside of Africa, has a little bit of Neanderthal DNA in their genetic makeup, meaning that humans and Neanderthals interbred at some point. But the new study suggests that many people might actually have a little bit of DNA that can be traced back to Denisovans a population of ancient extinct hominids who lived alongside humans and Neanderthals until tens of thousands of years ago. And the research shows that humans interbred with Denisovans even more recently than they did with Neanderthals perhaps as long as 100 generations later. The researchers used a library of genomic data for more than 250 modern human populations around the world and compared it to the DNA found in the Denisovan fossils. Then, using sophisticated modeling techniques, the scientists a UCLA computational biologist and geneticists from Harvard found that people living today in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and other parts of South Asia, carry more Denisovan DNA than existing genomic models had suggested. Denisovans were first described in 2010 through DNA extracted from a tooth and a finger bone fragment found in a Siberian cave in 2008. Genetically distinct from humans and Neanderthals, Denisovans diverged from the human family tree about 500,000 years ago. Previous studies showed that as much as 5 percent of the DNA of people who are native to Australia, Papua New Guinea and other parts of Oceana, descends from Denisovans. Who are we? and Where did we come from? have been among the most essential questions in the human story, said Sriram Sankararaman, the studys co-corresponding author and a UCLA assistant professor of computer science. We did not even know about this important group until just a few years ago, and our study yields some insights on where Denisovans fit into this story. This also shows some new paths of interest that computational biology can explore. Researchers applied several genomic and statistical techniques to a rich dataset that included 257 genomes from 120 non-African populations. The study found that Denisovans and humans mated as recently 44,000 to 54,000 years ago. Neanderthals had previously been found to have interbred with humans approximately 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. The researchers also discovered that both Denisovan and Neanderthal ancestry has been deleted from male X chromosomes, as well as from genes expressed in male testes. The paper suggests this has contributed to reduced fertility in modern men, which it notes is common in hybrids of two divergent populations. The papers other corresponding author was David Reich, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School. Reich is also affiliated with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Other authors were Swapan Mallick and Nick Patterson, both of Harvard. Sankararaman also holds a faculty appointment in human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He started the study while a postdoctoral scholar at Harvard. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Imperial Valley News Center US government, Hong Kong authorities to share more than $20 million seized in massive HSI apparel smuggling probe Los Angeles, California - The governments of the U.S. and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will share $20.5 million in forfeited assets seized as part of a probe spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) into what is believed to be the largest commercial fraud scheme ever uncovered on the West Coast. The action, announced by ICE Tuesday, is the culmination of an investigation originally launched by the former U.S. Customs Service in 2000 into a multinational criminal organization responsible for smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Chinese-made wearing apparel into the U.S. through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The ensuing probe by HSI special agents in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, working closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and HKSARs Customs and Excise Department, revealed the smuggling scheme resulted in more than 7,000 shipping containers of apparel, worth over $600 million, being illegally imported into the United States. To avoid import duties and quotas, the organizations operatives - based in China, Hong Kong and the U.S. - provided documents to customs brokers falsely stating the Chinese-made garments were being sold to companies in Mexico when, in fact, they were being delivered to buyers throughout the U.S. Investigators estimate the loss of customs revenues alone at more than $60 million. This payout has been a long time coming, but its a testament to the perseverance of the personnel on two continents who were involved in dismantling this scheme, said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles. Commercial smuggling is a multi-billion dollar global industry that robs governments of vital revenues and undermines our economy. All attempts to circumvent U.S. importation revenues are taken very seriously, said Anne Maricich, acting director of CBPs Office of Field Operations in Los Angeles. By collaborating and pooling resources transnationally with law enforcement partners in a massive undertaking such as this, our borders extend to further stop culprits and recover substantial monetary losses. Besides the interdiction of more than 200 shipping containers of clothing, the probe also resulted in the seizure of a 100,000 square foot warehouse in the City of Commerce, as well other business and residential locations in Los Angeles and Laredo, Texas. Additionally, investigators seized or obtained restraining orders against two dozen bank accounts in the U.S. and Hong Kong. To date, five persons, including the owner of a Los Angeles-area trucking company, have been federally charged in connection with the case. Armando Salcedo, 53, owner of Friends Global Logistics trucking company, pleaded guilty in 2008 to making false customs declarations and smuggling. In addition to receiving an 18-month prison term, Salcedo forfeited nearly $5 million in personal property and other assets to the federal government, including his Downey residence and the City of Commerce warehouse. The remaining four defendants remain at large and are considered fugitives. Hillary Clintons lead over Bernie Sanders shrinks in California; Sanders supporters predict Clinton as nominee Los Angeles, California - Hillary Clintons lead against Bernie Sanders has narrowed in recent months among registered Democrats and likely Democratic voters in California, with 45 percent now backing Clinton and 37 percent supporting Sanders, according to a new USC Dornsife/LA Times poll. Last September, the same poll showed Clinton with a more substantial lead, with 42 percent supporting her and 26 percent backing Sanders. The 16 percentage-point lead was similar in November when a USC Dornsife/LA Times Poll by Survey Monkey with different methodology showed that 48 percent supported Clinton and 32 percent were behind Sanders. In the latest poll, 51 percent of Sanders supporters say that they expect Clinton will ultimately prevail in November. Seventy-seven percent of them say they would vote for Clinton in a general election match-up against Donald Trump, though nearly half 45 percent would do so reluctantly, and 15 percent would refuse to vote for her at all. Hillary Clintons biggest challenge wont be persuading Sanders supporters to support her in the general election, but to motivate them to turn out for her, said Dan Schnur, director of USCs Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. She doesnt have to get them to fall in love with her, but to make them fear the prospect of a Trump candidacy enough to vote. Clinton has an advantage among Latino voters in California, with 52 percent of Democratic Latino voters saying they would vote for her, compared with 37 percent for Sanders. However, Sanders maintains a strong following of young voters, with 71 percent of those aged 18-29 stating their support for him in the primary. While Clinton holds the lead among registered Democrats, with 49 percent of their support, Sanders draws much of his support 44 percent from voters with no party preference. Clinton also garnered support from 71 percent of those looking for a candidate with the right experience to be president, while Sanders won the support of 66 percent of Democratic voters who prefer a candidate not beholden to special interests. Both Clinton and Sanders have generally positive favorability ratings among Californians 52 percent and 57 percent respectively. When broken down by candidate, 67 percent of Clinton supporters have a favorable impression of Sanders, while 58 percent of Sanders supporters have a positive impression of Clinton. The latest USC/Dornsife Los Angeles Times Poll, the largest statewide survey of registered voters, was conducted March 16-23, and includes a significant oversample of Latino voters as well as one of the most robust cell phone samples in the state. The full sample of 1,500 voters has a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Additional poll results and methodology are available here. WEBSITE: http://dornsife.usc.edu/unruh/poll/ About the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times Poll: The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll is a series of statewide public opinion polls in California, designed to survey voter attitudes on a wide range of political, policy, social and cultural issues. Conducted at regular intervals throughout the year, the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll is the largest statewide poll of registered voters and has been widely cited, helping to inform the public and to encourage discourse on key political and policy issues. About the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics: The Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics is dedicated to bridging the academic study of politics with practical experience in the field. The Unruh Institute channels its efforts by offering courses in applied politics, a variety of speaker series, and an extensive political internship program. Its goals are to engage public officials with the USC community and to facilitate the discussion of relevant issues across campus. About USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences is the heart of the university. The largest, oldest and most diverse of USCs 19 schools, USC Dornsife is composed of more than 30 academic departments and dozens of research centers and institutes. USC Dornsife is home to approximately 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and more than 750 faculty members with expertise across the humanities, social sciences and sciences. About the Los Angeles Times: The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 2 million and 3 million on Sunday, and a combined print and interactive local weekly audience of 4.5 million. The fast-growing latimes.com draws over 10 million unique visitors monthly. Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Issues Statement on Announcement of Historic Coalition to Curb Climate Change San Francisco, California - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today released a statement on California joining an unprecedented coalition of 17 Attorneys General and Vice President Al Gore to protect and continue America's progress in combatting climate change. Climate change has real and lasting impacts on our environment, public health, and the economy, said Attorney General Kamala D. Harris. California has been a national leader in fighting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and I am proud to join this effort to preserve and protect our natural resources for future generations to come. The coalition includes Attorney General Harris and Attorneys General from Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and the US Virgin Islands. Attorney General Harris has worked with many in the coalition on previous multi-state environmental efforts, including the ongoing defense of groundbreaking national standards to address power plant greenhouse gas emissions. In November 2015, she joined 17 states, the District of Columbia and several major cities to defend President Obama's Clean Power Plan, which requires existing fossil-fueled power plants to substantially reduce emissions by 2022 and 2030. She also joined with 15 other states and two major cities to defend the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in cases challenging the New Source Standards, which limit emissions from new, modified and reconstructed power plants. Attorney General Harris will continue to fight for smart solutions to remedy the harmful effects of climate change in California. She aggressively fought to protect California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), and is currently defending challenges to the state's Cap-and-Trade auctions and its precedent-setting Low Carbon Fuels Standard. Genetic Changes that Cause Autism Are More Diverse Than Previously Thought San Diego, California - The types of gene mutations that contribute to autism are more diverse than previously thought, report researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in the March 24 online issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics. The findings, they say, represent a significant advance in efforts to unravel the genetic basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To conduct their study, researchers enrolled hundreds of volunteers from families with one child affected by ASD and sequenced the complete genomes of every family member, including the parents and typically developing siblings. The researchers then looked for de novo mutations, gene alterations that appear spontaneously in ones offspring and are due to a mutation in a fathers sperm or a mothers egg. Based on the authors previous discoveries, it is known that de novo mutations contribute to risk, particularly in sporadic cases where there is no family history of autism. The most common type of de novo mutations are spelling mistakes that change a single letter of the DNA code. However, in their new study, the researchers discovered many other mutations that introduce changes that are more complex. Called structural variants, these alterations involve the insertion or deletion of entire words or sentences of the DNA code. The research team found a surprising variety of spontaneous mutations, from simple deletions or insertions to jumping genes elements of DNA that copy and paste themselves into other parts of the genome. They also found that structural mutations sometimes occur in tight clusters where a combination of different mutations occur all at once. These mutations can insert, delete or in some cases scramble the DNA sequence, said senior author Jonathan Sebat, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecular medicine and director of the Beyster Center for Genomics of Psychiatric Disease at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Sebat and colleagues discovered that spontaneous structural mutations occurred at a surprisingly high rate in individuals 20 percent and mutations in autism tended to disrupt genes. Children with autism do not have more mutations overall, said Sebat, but their mutations are more likely to disrupt genes involved in brain development. The study, Sebat noted, highlights several genes that could play a key role in brain development. For example, the scientists identified a deletion in one gene called stargazin that is required for regulating the transmission of signals between neurons in the brain. Mutations in stargazin are very rare, said first author, William Brandler, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in Sebats lab, but they point us to a biochemical pathway that may be important for social development. In the future, discoveries like this could lead to more effective personalized treatments for autism. Funding for this research came, in part, from the National Institutes of Health (grants MH076431, HG007497, HD065288, MH104766 and MH105524), the Simons Foundation, the Autism Science Foundation and NIH predoctoral training grant T32-GM008666. Co-authors include Danny Antaki, Madhusudan Gujral, Amina Noor, Gabriel Rosanio, Timothy R. Chapman, Daniel J. Barrera, Guan Ning Lin, Dheeraj Malhotra, Amanda C. Watts, Therese E. Gadomski, Oanh Hong, Karin V. Fuentes Fajardo, Abhishek Bhandari, Michael Baughn, Jeffrey Yuan, Terry Solomon, Alexandra G. Moyzis, Michelle S. Maile, Gail E. Reiner, Keith K. Vaux, Kang Zhang, Alysson R. Muotri, Karen Pierce, Eric Courchesne, Lilia M. Iakoucheva, UC San Diego; Lawrence C. Wong, Jasper A. Estabillo, Natacha Akshoomoff, Christina Corsello, Rady Childrens Hospital-San Diego; Renius Owen and Charles M. Strom, Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute; Stephan J. Sanders, UC San Francisco; and Suzanne M. Leal, Baylor College of Medicine. The Nuclear Security Summits: Securing the World from Nuclear Terrorism Washington, DC - The Obama Administrations focus on nuclear security is part of a comprehensive nuclear policy presented by the President in Prague in 2009. In that speech, President Obama described a four-pronged agenda to pursue a world without nuclear weapons. He laid out new U.S. policies and initiatives towards nuclear disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security, and nuclear energy. President Obama in his Prague remarks identified the risk of nuclear terrorism as the most immediate and extreme threat to global security, and he called for a worldwide effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials in four years. He also highlighted the need to break up black markets, detect and intercept materials in transit, and use financial tools to disrupt illicit trade in nuclear materials. The Nuclear Threat It is almost impossible to quantify the likelihood of nuclear attack by extremist groups. But we know that roughly 2000 metric tons of nuclear weapons usable materials -- highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium -- are present in both civilian and military programs, and we know that terrorists have the intent and the capability to turn these raw materials into a nuclear device if they were to gain access to them. A terrorist attack with an improvised nuclear device would create political, economic, social, psychological, and environmental havoc around the world, no matter where the attack occurs. The threat is global, the impact of a nuclear terrorist attack would be global, and the solutions therefore must be global. The Presidents call-to-action in Prague was intended to reinvigorate existing bilateral and multilateral efforts and to challenge nations to re-examine their own commitments to nuclear security. Given the global repercussions of such an attack, all nations have a common interest in establishing the highest levels of security and protection over nuclear material and strengthening national and international efforts to prevent nuclear smuggling and detect and intercept nuclear materials in transit. World leaders have no greater responsibility than ensuring their people and neighboring countries are safe by securing nuclear materials and preventing nuclear terrorism. Nuclear Security Summit Successes The Nuclear Security Summit process has been the centerpiece of these efforts. Since the first Summit in April 2010 in Washington, DC, President Obama and more than 50 world leaders have been working together to prevent nuclear terrorism and counter nuclear smuggling. This Summit community has built an impressive track record in meaningful progress towards nuclear security, and on actions that back up our words. Collectively, Summit participants have made over 260 national security commitments in the first three Summits, and of these, nearly three-quarters have been implemented. These outcomes nuclear material removed or eliminated, treaties ratified and implemented, reactors converted, regulations strengthened, Centers of Excellence launched, technologies upgraded, capabilities enhanced are tangible, concrete evidence of improved nuclear security. The international community has made it harder than ever for terrorists to acquire nuclear weapons, and that has made us all more secure. In addition to national actions, Summits have provided opportunities for countries to step beyond the limitations of consensus to highlight steps they are actually taking as a group to reduce nuclear threats. These so-called gift baskets have reflected joint commitments related to countering nuclear smuggling, radioactive source security, information security, transportation security, and many other topics. It would be an overstatement to suggest that these national and collective commitments have come about exclusively as a result of the Nuclear Security Summits, but it is fair to say that they would almost certainly not all have transpired in the absence of the kind of high-level forcing effect that summits can have. Across the four Nuclear Security Summits, we have maintained the momentum of tangible actions to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism and to make progress towards strengthened international norms and standards for nuclear security. The number of facilities with nuclear material continues to decline: We successfully completed removals or confirmed the downblending of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium from more than 50 facilities in 30 countries in total, enough material for 130 nuclear weapons. In 2010, Ukraine committed to remove four bombs worth of HEU and completed that removal in 2012, fully eliminating all HEU from its territory a particularly vital step in light of Russias subsequent breaches of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Japan is on track to remove over 500 kilograms of HEU and separated plutonium from its Fast Critical Assembly. This is the largest-ever project by a country to remove nuclear material from its territory and we look forward to continued work with Japan on additional removals. Fourteen countries and Taiwan highlighted the elimination of all nuclear materials from their territory; as a result, wide swaths of Central and Eastern Europe and all of South America can be considered free of HEU and therefore no longer targets for those seeking nuclear materials. Security at sites and on borders is increasing: All Summit countries reported progress in enhancing nuclear security practices, including 20 countries committing to increase cooperation to counter nuclear smuggling efforts, and 13 countries pledging to improve nuclear detection practices at ports; A majority of Summit states will implement stronger security practices: 36 countries pledged to implement stronger nuclear security practices in their countries by among other things incorporating international guidelines into national laws, inviting international peer reviews of their nuclear material, and committing to continuous review and improvement of their nuclear security systems. The legal basis for nuclear security continues to be strengthened: additional countries are adopting binding legal commitments, such as the Amended Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, which will soon achieve entry into force with over 80 new ratifications since 2009, and the International Convention on Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. Nuclear Security Training and Support Centers and other nuclear security Centers of Excellence have increased and become more connected: 15 states have opened centers since 2009 in support of national nuclear workforce training requirements, as well as international capacity building and research and development on nuclear security technologies. Radioactive source security has been enhanced: 23 countries agreed to secure their most dangerous radioactive sources to levels established in international guidelines by 2016. Strengthening the Architecture Key aspects of the Summits success have included the personal attention of national leaders; a focus on tangible, meaningful outcomes; a regular event that elicits deliverables and announcements; and a forum that builds relationships that can help advance joint efforts. We need to find ways to capture some of these attributes in more lasting vehicles to promote nuclear security progress. The IAEAs first-ever nuclear security ministerial held in 2013 is an important step towards strengthening the Agencys role in promoting nuclear security, and we look forward to regularizing those high-level meetings, with the next one being held in December 2016. The 2012 special session at the UN on nuclear terrorism reflects the unique convening power of the United Nations in this arena. INTERPOL plays a unique role in bringing together law enforcement officials, as seen through its recent convening of the recent Global Conference to combat nuclear smuggling. Other fora for collective action the Global Partnership, the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT), the Nuclear Suppliers Group have all been invigorated in recent years. The United States hosted the first Nuclear Security Regulators Conference in 2012, and Spain will host the second such meeting in May 2016. The World Institute for Nuclear Security, professional societies and nongovernmental expert communities are also key components of this architecture and must continue to contribute to this mission as we move beyond Summits to nurture new concepts, build professional skills, and develop global connections. The Summits were designed to enhance, elevate, expand and empower this architecture of treaties, institutions, norms and practices to effectively address the threats we face today and in the future. As the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit represents the last summit in this format, we will issue five Action Plans in support of the key enduring institutions and initiatives related to nuclear security: the UN, the IAEA, INTERPOL, the GICNT and the Global Partnership. These Action Plans represent steps the Summit participants will take as members of these organizations to support their enhanced role in nuclear security. Another key component of the Summits success has been the effective network of Sherpas the senior expert officials in each Summit country responsible for developing the outcomes of the Summits and for preparing their respective leaders. These Sherpas cut across multiple agencies to form a tight-knit community of action. This community will be carried forward after the 2016 Summit as a Nuclear Security Contact Group that will meet regularly to synchronize efforts to implement commitments made in the four Summit Communiques, national statements, gift baskets, and Action Plans. Recognizing the interest from those who have not been part of the Summit process, this Contact Group will be open to countries that wish to promote the Summit agenda. Looking Ahead As much as we have accomplished through the Summit process, more work remains. We will continue to seek additional tangible results in nuclear material reductions and better overall nuclear and radiological security practices; we will look for ways to enhance the global nuclear security architecture; and, we will continue to promote an architecture that over time is comprehensive in its scope (including civilian and military material), is based on international standards, incorporates measures to build confidence that states are applying security responsibly in their countries, and promotes declining stocks of directly useable fissile material. We all need to do more together to enhance nuclear security performance, to dissuade and apprehend nuclear traffickers, to eliminate excess nuclear weapons and material, to avoid production of materials we cannot use, to make sure our facilities can repel the full range of threats we have already seen in our neighborhoods, to share experiences and best practices, and to do so in ways that are visible to friends, neighbors, and rivals and thereby provide assurance that we are effectively executing our sovereign responsibility. We also need to reflect the principle of continuous improvement, because nuclear security is never done. As long as materials exist, they require our utmost commitment to their protectionwe continue the march toward the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. EPA and DOE Honor 2016 Energy Star Partners of the Year for Outstanding Achievements in Energy Efficiency Washington, DC - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are honoring 149 businesses and organizations in 35 states for their commitment to saving energy and protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency achievements. Recipients of the 2016 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award include Beazer Homes, The Home Depot and Verizon. This years Partner of the Year Award winners prove every day that saving money and protecting the environment go hand in hand, said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. From major household brands to school districts, these leaders deserve to be congratulated for their commitment to reducing carbon pollution and protecting our climate. Energy Star Partner of the Year Award winners help families, individuals, and businesses become more energy efficient, said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. By offering energy-efficient products, services, and programs, this years awardees continue to provide Americans with lower utility bills, new jobs, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Since its inception in 1992, Energy Star and its partners, including the 149 Partners of the Year awardees, have helped prevent a total of more than 2.4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2014 alone, Energy Star and its partners provided more than $11 billion in societal benefits due to reducing damages from climate change. The awards will be presented in Washington, DC, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel on April 13th. Sally Bingham, Interfaith Power & Light president, will give the keynote presentation. How Energy Star Partners of the Year are Taking Action: (Atlanta, Ga.) Beazer Homes USA, Inc. built more than 4,700 Energy Star certified homes in 2015, while saving more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, compared to standard homes. The company also employs innovative techniques to demonstrate the value of their Energy Star homes. Their Houston Division launched a campaign called Show Me the Bunny to show that their well-insulated attics keep homes cool enough to keep a chocolate bunny from melting, even amidst the Texas heat! (Pella, Iowa) Pella Corporation continues to innovate by offering new Energy Star certified products that meet the newest program requirements, including options for Energy Star Most Efficient 2015, and partnering with Lawrence Berkeley National Labs to develop new automated shading technology. The company also earned Energy Star Challenge for Industry recognition for three different manufacturing facilities that improved building energy efficiency in excess of 10 percent. (Folsom, Calif.) Verizon certified 32 Verizon Wireless stores in 2015, for a total of 206 Energy Star certified buildings nationwide. Verizon also promotes energy efficiency awareness among customers and employees as a pledge driver for Change the World with Energy Star, and in 2015 pledges by Verizon employees and customers represented avoided greenhouse gas emissions of more than nine million pounds. (Detroit, Mich.) General Motors Company achieved a nearly six-percent reduction in energy use at its U.S. manufacturing facilities compared to 2014. GM has also implemented a climate protection strategy that drives energy management, low carbon energy procurement, and product design, all while communicating the need for climate management to the public. (Evans, Ga.) Ivey Residential LLC built more than 140 Energy Star certified homes in 2015, saving homeowners more than $72,000 per year. The company also provides extensive training to all staff and homeowners about the value of Energy Star homes, and provides training to all trade allies and realtors about Energy Star requirements. (El Segundo, Calif.) DirecTV is showing young people how they can save energy and protect the climate through live, interactive demonstrations and by engaging 16,000 students in a virtual field trip featuring a one-on-one interview with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. The company also delivered more than 10 million Energy Star certified receivers in 2015, which have the highest level of efficiency among all pay-television boxes, saving customers 420 million kilowatt hours and $55 million each year. (Atlanta, Ga.) The Home Depot developed and implemented a new sales strategy that resulted in a significant increase in Energy Star product sales, and coordinated rebate offerings with local utilities for Energy Star products that resulted in approximately $310 million in incentives for customers. Home Depot also features Energy Star in high profile promotions throughout the year, including Earth Day and Energy Awareness Month, and promoted insulation during EPAs Rule Your Attic campaign. (Ft. Wright, Ky.) The Kenton County School District saved more than $1.4 million in avoided energy costs through the use of Energy Star tools and resources in 2015. The district also expanded their student energy efficiency internship program; the student interns track and report on energy performance for the school district and serve as energy captains at local JCPenney stores. Read more about each award winners achievements: www.energystar.gov/awardwinners Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence: The 93 Sustained Excellence winners continue to demonstrate remarkable leadership each year in the Energy Star program while remaining committed to environmental protection through superior energy efficiency. Partner of the Year: Forty-seven organizations have been awarded the Partner of the Year award for strategically and comprehensively managing their energy use. These organizations promote Energy Star products and practices in their own operations, while providing energy-efficient products and services to their customers. Contractor of the Year: Six of the winners are winning at least in part for their superior efforts in promoting the Home Performance with Energy Star program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy with support from EPA. Climate Communicator: The six Climate Communicator winners, all of whom are also Sustained Excellence awardees, have raised their customers awareness of the impacts of climate change. Through their efforts, these partners illustrate how energy-efficient behaviors have a positive impact on the environment while encouraging customers to save energy and protect the climate. Excellence: Three winners are receiving recognition for demonstrating outstanding promotion of energy-efficient products, homes, or buildings. Energy Star has 16,000 partners working to protect the environment through greater energy efficiency, including manufacturers, retailers, public schools, hospitals, real estate companies and home builders. Energy Star is the simple choice for energy efficiency. For more than 20 years, people across America have looked to EPAs Energy Star program for guidance on how to save energy, save money, and protect the environment. Behind each blue label is a product, building, or home that is independently certified to use less energy and cause fewer of the emissions that contribute to climate change. Today, Energy Star is the most widely recognized symbol for energy efficiency in the world, helping families and businesses save $362 billion on utility bills, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more 2.4 billion metric tons since 1992. Join the millions who are already making a difference at energystar.gov. Obama Administration Announces Additional Actions to Address the Prescription Opioid Abuse and Heroin Epidemic Washington, DC - Today the President joins individuals in recovery, family members, medical professionals, law enforcement officials and other leaders at the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. The annual summit is organized by Operation UNITE, which was launched by Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY). As part of todays event, the President is announcing additional public and private sector actions to escalate the fight against the prescription opioid abuse and heroin epidemic, which is claiming the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year. The President has made clear that addressing this epidemic is a priority for his Administration, and todays actions represent further steps to expand access to treatment, prevent overdose deaths and increase community prevention strategies. These actions build on the Presidents proposal for $1.1 billion in new funding to help every American with an opioid use disorder who wants treatment get the help they need. As part of todays event, the President will announce the following Administration actions: Expanding Access to Treatment: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing a proposed rule to increase the current patient limit for qualified physicians who prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorders from 100 to 200 patients with the goal of expanding access to this evidence-based treatment while preventing diversion. The proposed rule aims to increase access to medication-assisted treatment and behavioral health supports for tens of thousands of people with opioid use disorders. HHS released $94 million in new funding to 271 Community Health Centers across the country earlier this month to increase substance use disorder treatment services, with a specific focus on expanding medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorders in underserved communities. This funding is expected to help health centers treat nearly 124,000 new patients with substance use disorders. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is releasing a new $11 million funding opportunity for up to 11 States to expand their medication-assisted treatment services. SAMHSA also is distributing 10,000 pocket guides for clinicians that include a checklist for prescribing medication for opioid use disorder treatment and integrating non-pharmacologic therapies into treatment. SAMHSA also will coordinate trainings to increase the number of doctors qualified to prescribe buprenorphine, which will be held in targeted States in greatest need. Establishing a Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force: The President is signing a Memorandum today directing the creation of an interagency Task Force, to be chaired by the Domestic Policy Council, to advance access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment; promote compliance with best practices for mental health and substance use disorder parity implementation; and develop additional agency guidance as needed. Federal parity protections are intended to ensure that health plans coverage of mental health and substance use disorder benefits is comparable to their coverage of medical and surgical benefits. The Task Force will work quickly, with an October 31 deadline, across Federal Departments and with diverse stakeholders to ensure implementation of these important parity protections. Implementing Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity in Medicaid: HHS is finalizing a rule to strengthen access to mental health and substance use services for people enrolled in Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plans by requiring that these benefits be offered at parity, meaning that they be comparable to medical and surgical benefits. These protections are expected to benefit more than 23 million people in Medicaid and CHIP. Preventing Opioid Overdose Deaths: SAMHSA is releasing a new $11 million funding opportunity to States to purchase and distribute the opioid overdose reversal drug, naloxone, and to train first responders and others on its use along with other overdose prevention strategies. Expanding Public Health-Public Safety Partnerships to Combat the Spread of Heroin: The Office of National Drug Control Policy is expanding its heroin initiative among regional High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs) by adding Ohio and Michigan to the effort. These States will join the Appalachia, New England, Philadelphia/Camden, New York/New Jersey, and Washington/Baltimore HIDTAs in accelerating local partnerships between law enforcement and their counterparts in public health to combat heroin use and overdose. Investing in Community Policing to Address Heroin: The Department of Justices COPS program is announcing a $7 million funding opportunity called the COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force Program to advance public safety and to investigate the distribution of heroin, unlawful distribution of prescription opioids and unlawful heroin and prescription opioid traffickers. These grants will provide funds directly to law enforcement agencies in States with high rates of primary treatment admissions for heroin and other opioids. Tackling Substance Use Disorders in Rural Communities: On Monday, the Department of Agriculture announced that its $1.4 million Rural Health and Safety Education Grant Program to enhance the quality of life in rural areas through health and safety education projects has been expanded to include a focus on addressing the critical challenges related to substance use disorders in rural communities across the country. Implementing Syringe Services Programs: HHS is issuing guidance for HHS-funded programs regarding the use of Federal funds to implement or expand syringe services programs for people who inject drugs. Syringe services programs are an effective component of a comprehensive approach to preventing HIV and viral hepatitis among people who inject drugs. The bipartisan budget agreement signed by the President last year revised a longstanding ban on these programs and allows communities with a demonstrated need to use Federal funds for the operational components of syringe services programs. New Private Sector Commitments to Address the Epidemic In connection with todays Federal announcements, more than 60 medical schools are announcing that, beginning in fall 2016, they will require their students to take some form of prescriber education, in line with the newly released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, in order to graduate. Schools include: A.T. Still University of Health Sciences, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine A.T. Still University of Health Sciences, School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona Baylor College of Medicine Boston University School of Medicine Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine at New Mexico State University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Auburn Campus Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Carolinas Campus Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Virginia Campus Georgia Campus Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Hebert School of Medicine Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine Mercer University School of Medicine NYU School of Medicine Ohio State University College of Medicine Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Saint Louis University School of Medicine State University of New York Upstate Medical University The Commonwealth Medical College The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine - New York Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine - California Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine Nevada Tufts University School of Medicine Tulane University School of Medicine University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson University of California Davis School of Medicine University of Central Florida College of Medicine University of Colorado School of Medicine University of Kansas Medical Center University of Louisville School of Medicine University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine University of North Carolina School of Medicine University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine University of Oklahoma College of Medicine University of Pikeville - Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry University of Tennessee College of Medicine University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine West Virginia University School of Medicine Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine Rite Aid has trained over 8,400 pharmacists on naloxone and is dispensing naloxone to patients without needing an individual prescription in 10 States with plans to expand to additional States. Kroger currently dispenses naloxone without an individual prescription at its pharmacies in 7 States with plans to expand to at least 12 more by the end of the year. AmerisourceBergen/ Good Neighbor Pharmacy will provide educational materials to encourage their 4,000 independently owned and operated retail pharmacy locations to provide naloxone without an individual prescription. Updates on Federal Actions and Private Sector Commitments In October 2015, as part of his visit to West Virginia to discuss the prescription opioid abuse and heroin epidemic, the President announced a number of new public and private sector actions, including a Presidential Memorandum requiring Federal Departments to provide training on appropriate opioid prescribing to Federal health care professionals and requiring Departments to develop plans to address barriers to opioid use disorder treatment in Federal programs. Departments are ahead of schedule in fulfilling the Presidents directive that Federal agencies ensure that all employees who prescribe these drugs are trained in appropriate opioid prescribing practices by 2017. Approximately 75 percent of federal prescribers have been trained to date. In addition, since the Presidents Memorandum was released, Departments have taken numerous steps to expand access to opioid use disorder treatment, including medication-assisted treatment, such as: TRICARE: The Department of Defense issued a proposed rule to implement parity protections in TRICARE, including expanding mental health and substance use disorder treatment to include coverage of intensive outpatient programs and treatment of opioid use disorders with medication-assisted treatment. TRICARE currently has an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 beneficiaries with opioid use disorder who, under the current benefit, cannot access medication-assisted treatment. FEHBP: The Office of Personnel Management released a 2017 Call Letter to health plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) making opioid use disorder treatment a priority and calling on health plans to review and improve access to medication-assisted treatment. Medicare: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a 2017 Call Letter to plans participating in the Medicare Prescription Drug Program reiterating that reducing the unsafe use of opioids is a priority and making clear that Part D formulary and plan benefit designs that hinder access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder will not be approved. Medicaid: CMS released a guidance document to States identifying Best Practices for Addressing Prescription Opioid Overdoses, Misuse and Addiction including effective Medicaid pharmacy benefit management strategies, steps to increase the use of naloxone to reverse opioid overdose, and options for expanding Medicaid coverage of and access to opioid use disorder treatment. This builds on Medicaids work with States over the past year to increase access to Medicaid substance use disorder treatment services. Health Insurance Marketplace: In the last month, CMS finalized a 2017 Marketplace payment notice that clarified that both essential health benefits requirements and Federal mental health and substance use disorder parity requirements apply to qualified health plan coverage of medications to treat opioid use disorder, and additional guidance is forthcoming. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain the Agencys first-ever recommendations for primary care clinicians on prescribing opioids. The Guideline provides recommendations for clinicians on appropriate prescribing, including determining if and when to start prescription opioids for chronic pain treatment; guidance on medication selection, dose, and duration, including when to discontinue medication, if needed; and guidance to help assess the benefits and risks and address the harms of prescription opioid use. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced safety labeling changes for all immediate-release opioid pain medications, including requiring a new boxed warning about the serious risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death associated with these drugs. The Agency also issued a draft guidance intended to support the development of generic versions of abuse-deterrent opioids. Abuse-deterrent drug formulations are designed to make the drug more difficult to abuse, including making it harder to crush a tablet in order to snort the contents or more difficult to dissolve the product in order to inject it. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently announced it will hold its 11th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 30, providing a safe, convenient, and responsible way of disposing of unneeded prescription drugs. More than 5.5 million pounds of medication have been collected over the last ten Take Back Days. Local communities are also establishing ongoing drug take-back programs. Examples of private sector actions taken to date include the following: In conjunction with the October event, more than 40 health care provider groups announced a commitment to ensure that more than 540,000 health care providers will complete training on appropriate opioid prescribing in the next two years. In the first five months of this initiative, the provider coalition reports that more than 75,000 providers have completed prescriber training. In addition, more than 2,200 additional physicians have committed to completing training to prescribe buprenorphine as part of the coalitions effort to double the number of buprenorphine prescribers in the next three years. As part of their commitment announced at the October 2015 event, the National Association of Counties, National Governors Association, National League of Cities and United States Conference of Mayors, with the U.S. Communities Purchasing Alliance and Premier, Inc., announced in January they had secured discounts on naloxone and medication-assisted treatment drugs through their purchasing program for State and local agencies. In February, Walgreens announced it will install safe medication disposal kiosks in more than 500 drugstores across the country, primarily at locations open 24 hours. The program will make the disposal of medications including opioids and other controlled substances easier and more convenient while helping to reduce the misuse of medications. Walgreens also will make naloxone available without needing an individual prescription at its pharmacies in 35 States and Washington, D.C. throughout this year. CVS Health has worked to increase access to naloxone by establishing standing orders or collaborative practice agreements. By the end of March 2016, CVS Pharmacy locations in 23 States will be able to dispense naloxone to patients without needing an individual prescription, increasing to 35 States by the end of 2016 as part of its program expansion announced at the October 2015 event. CVS Health has also launched a drug abuse prevention program called Pharmacists Teach, which brings CVS Pharmacists into schools across the country to educate students about the dangers of drug abuse. To date, more than 30,000 students have participated in the program. The Department of Health (DoH) has been urged to follow up with action its consideration of the need for a new contract for public health doctors (PHDs) that recognises their consultant status, in order to make it an attractive career choice for doctors. IMO Public Health and Community Health Doctors Chair Dr Ann Hogan said: We have been informed that this matter is receiving consideration within the DoH. It is very important that this consideration now be followed up with action. The IMO is clear in its view that the contractual arrangement for specialists and directors needs to be made to reflect reality. We will keep this matter at the forefront of our efforts; it behoves health service management to work constructively on this matter with the IMO. The union wrote to the HSE and the Department of Health in October 2015 asking for talks on devising a fit for purpose contract for Specialists in Public Health Medicine (and Directors of Public Health). Indeed, the IMO would maintain that health service managements failure to fully comprehend the importance of a specialist-led Public Health Medicine service is one of the most unfortunate consequences of the period of retrenchment in the health service, Dr Hogan commented. Late last year, the union received draft terms of reference from the DoH arising out of recommendations contained in the Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structures (SRMTCS) as they related to increasing the attractiveness of Public Health Medicine as a career option for young doctors, Dr Hogan stated. This is a welcome, if overdue, development, she commented. However, it must be borne in mind that young doctors, in making their career choices, will look at Public Health Medicine services as they are delivered now. It follows that in making it an attractive career choice in the future, the resources must be invested in the now. Indeed, the IMO would contend that a pivotal point in increasing the attractiveness of Public Health Medicine in the future is re-examining and recasting the contractual arrangements that operate in the now. In relation to several engagements with the HSE on the proper resourcing of the Public Health Medicine out-of-hours service, Dr Hogan noted: This issue has dragged on for long enough and if the necessary staffing and support are not forthcoming, the service cannot expect to run on the fumes of doctors goodwill. The IMO and the PHDs subcommittee will continue to monitor this matter but may find itself with little option but to advise members that the service is neither viable nor safe. lloyd.mudiwa@imt.ie The HSE has introduced stiffer English language proficiency requirements for all Interns and NCHDs because the ability to communicate clearly with patients and colleagues is a key requirement for all healthcare professionals. This sees the application of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic test, effective from March 9, for all NCHDs, without exception even for candidates from other EU countries with exemptions limited to only those who qualify in Ireland and five other countries. The new directive, however, lowers the required overall band score for the test by 0.5 at both the higher and lower end. At least two doctors from Romania hired to work in an Irish hospital returned to their home country, having only worked here a couple of weeks because their English language skills were so poor they could not communicate effectively with patients, this publication reported approximately three years ago (see IMT 19/04/2013). While the HSE had in the previous year introduced stiffer English language proficiency requirements for all Interns and NCHDs, the Romanian doctors, as EU citizens, had not been required to meet the requirements. Under the new requirements, which replace obligations last updated in December 2012, the English language requirements for NCHDs are universally applicable. There is no distinction between training, non-training, intern or any other category or grouping. In this context, all NCHDs taking up employment with the HSE who were not registered by the Irish Medical Council in any of the divisions of the Register of Medical Practitioners prior to January 1, 2015, or who did not complete the entirety of their undergraduate medical training in the Republic of Ireland, are required to meet either of two conditions. Firstly, to provide evidence of either having acquired an IELTS certificate with an overall band score of 7.0 and a minimum score of 6.5 in each of the four domains reading, writing, listening and speaking on the academic test, or to have completed their medical degree in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the US. Previously, all NCHDs had to provide confirmation of completion (in its entirety) of a medical degree in a country where English is the primary language spoken by the vast majority of the people of that country, or an IELTS Certificate with an overall band score of 7.5 and a minimum score of 7.0 in each of the four domains on the test. The ability to communicate clearly with patients and colleagues is a key requirement for all healthcare professionals, the HSE Human Resources Directorate said. Proficiency in the English language is therefore a core competency for NCHDs working in the Irish public health service. Should the NCHD at any point not be able to demonstrate the required level of English language competency set out in Section 6 of the NCHD Contract 2010, the Employer may wish to consider remedial action under the NCHD Contract 2010. lloyd.mudiwa@imt.ie The President of the IMO has acknowledged that the union has a vested interest in battling for a well resourced public health system, and that it is unashamed in continuing the fight. We are trained medical professionals, yet we are being asked to deliver care in unresourced environments, with no supports and are constantly having to compromise quality of care, said Dr Ray Walley in the IMOs latest Annual Report. While it was important to highlight the problems in our health services, Dr Walley said it was also the IMOs duty to come up with solutions, making specific reference to its 2020 Vision for Health launched at last years AGM. The document called on policy makers to take bold decisions and develop a vision with a funded implementation plan to develop the health service over the next number of years. Society must acknowledge a fundamental point healthcare costs and it must be funded. We believed a private insurance based model, as initially proposed by Government, was flawed and would only serve to increase the inequalities in our health services, remarked Dr Walley. The IMO consistently campaigned against Universal Health Insurance and we were pleased to see this unworkable policy dropped. However, it appears there is nothing to replace it [and] during the period it took for Government to abandon this plan more time was wasted. In his Presidents report, Dr Walley highlighted the current and growing medical manpower problem, which he said had been largely ignored by Government. Is it really any wonder that the Irish health service is simply not an employer of choice, while other countries like Canada, the US, Australia and the UK are actively recruiting and encouraging Irish doctors to come and work in their healthcare systems? The attitude of the HSE and indeed Government has been that these are just young people simply having an adventure abroad how insulting to our profession, Dr Walley noted, adding that the facts showed that doctors reasons for emigration were because of poor working conditions, general disrespect from the HSE and issues with training and career progression. It is a sad indictment of our public health services that only 22 per cent of trainees are committed to definitely stay in Ireland. It needs to be acknowledged that we have a severe medical manpower problem affecting all craft groups, with our first priority being the retention of existing well trained experienced staff. If we do not address the retention issue first, the tsunami of impending workload will be further exacerbated by the continued loss of staff who refuse to accept the stagnation and the disintegration of our public health service with no leadership vision by voting with their feet. The state apparatus has to address these issues as a matter of urgency, warned the President. Key to addressing the manpower crisis, in his view, was the development of new contracts across all the specialties. Some hospitals have told consultants that they have not been budgeted to pay for the new pay scales and cannot switch consultants to those scales until 2016. Given the length of time taken to reach this point, the IMO has told members that they may take third party cases in pursuit of this money. Most, if not all, newly appointed clinical consultants have transitioned to the new pay scales, the IMO has been told. New pay proposals on academic consultants are also awaited, according to the IMO, with plans pending to establish the roles of Head of Department and Associate Clinical Director. Last years pay proposal for academic consultants was disappointing in terms of the length of the incremental scale, and also in terms of its failure to comprehend the qualifications required to achieve an Academic Consultant position, the IMO said in its 2015 Annual Report. The union has launched protective legal proceedings on behalf of a group of named consultant members in pursuit of monies pledged, but not paid, under the terms of the 2008 consultant contract. Last summer, the union moved to have summonses served on the employer in these cases, seeking full restoration of all monies that would have been paid had the terms of the 2008 consultant contract been honoured. The IMOs legal team has met with several of the named consultants with a view to pursuing High Court proceedings. In October last, the IMO also noted with some surprise comments from the Minister for Health indicating that the Department may be considering commencing negotiations on a new contract. The Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) suspended incremental progression for a period of three years for those on salary scales that started at more than 100,000. In direct talks with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), the IMO received confirmation that it was intended to resume incremental progression for individuals in this category. However, DPER was unclear as to the method by which this would be done and indicated that a graduated restart to incremental progression was being considered, but that this may still push the freeze out to 2019 (June 2016 plus up to three years) for some individuals. However, this was not acceptable to the IMO and following later representations by its team and the ICTU Public Services Committee, DPER confirmed the incremental freeze would come to an end in July, 2017. In practice, this means that individuals who have not reached a three-year freeze can resume incremental progression on their next incremental date after July 1, 2017. There was an unprecedented number of unfilled consultant posts throughout the public hospital system, IMO Consultants Committee Chair Dr Peadar Gilligan wrote the IMO Annual Report 2015. Indeed, one might say that the unavailability for work of so much of the consultant workforce, whether through emigration, retirement or disillusionment, represents the greatest industrial action ever undertaken by senior medical professionals. gary.culliton@imt.ie Pakistan University Issues Notice to Institute After 'Immoral' Dance Video Goes Viral Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} SXSW is teeming with people: musicians, directors, film stars, industry bigwigs, locals and street corner hustlers. The streets turn into seas as tens of thousands of people fill them each year. That said, for all the wide range of folk that flock to the city, encountering a black gentleman who befriends Ku Klux Klan members alongside a reformed member was an unexpected interaction at 2016s festival. Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America received its world premiere at SXSW and it tells the unusual tale of Davis, who as a black musician (having played with many of the greats from Chuck Berry to Jerry Lee Lewis) has spent the last near thirty years meeting and often befriending members of the white supremacy group in order to open a dialogue and put a face and a handshake to the hate that the group direct towards his race. Davis has been successful in aiding numerous KKK members to turn their back on the group and has been collecting their robes and hoods as souvenirs, which he one day hopes to exhibit in a museum. The film is a powerful statement on contemporary race issues in America as much as it is a character portrait of a unique individual. Scott Shepard also features in the film as a reformed KKK member and when the cast and crew took to the stage for a post-screening Q&A, Sheperd was trembling and close to tears, having just watched the film for the first time and witnessed the sorts of behaviours and racism he once fully supported. Catching up with Davis, Sheperd and director Matt Ornstein after the premiere, they discuss the project, which won an award for best documentary at the festival. I saw a story in The Guardian about three years ago. I think seeing the story in an abroad newspaper made it even starker. The headline was 'Black musician walks up to a KKK member in a bar...but this isn't a joke says Ornstein of finding his subject for the film. Davis speaks movingly in the film about being pelted with rocks as a child when he was leading a scout procession in public. The leaders had to encircle him to protect him from the missiles. He was confused about the situation and when his parents told him that it was down to his skin colour he refused to believe them, so preposterous did it seem to him. I had a lot of racist experiences as a child, all the way up into adulthood. Davis says, My curiosity was raised around the subject and why people act that way, so I started buying books on the topic. A further run in with the deputy head of the Nazi Party while still in school propelled me to learn more because I decided how can you learn to resolve something if you don't know anything about it. There were no classes so I had to self-educate. One night when playing music in a country and western bar Davis was approached by a man who was in adoration of his playing and said he played like Jerry Lee Lewis. A conversation about how such music derived from black musicians in the first place ensued and they found themselves sat together in the bar when the man then revealed he had never sat down with a black person before because he was a Klansman. This triggered Davis journey, as captured in the documentary. Shepherd tells of the emotion he felt watching the film with feelings wavering between guilt and happiness, Guilt because I did so much and caused so much pain to other people, I just couldn't believe I had done that. It was like watching another person. But it was also a happy moment seeing the film because I am happy with who I am and where I am today and what Im doing. Sheperd then pulls out his business card to show me Scott Sheperd, Reformed Racist. Anti-Racism Activist. There is only one racethe human race. It reads. I think Scott's level of self-awareness and emotional honesty is pretty rare, says Ornstein of Sheperds contributions to the project. Sheperd wasnt just a regular Joe KKK member however, he was a Grand Dragon and when he didnt have a hood over his head, he was also a candidate for Governor in the state of Tennessee. Transferring personal hatred into an institutional setting is something that Davis has found to be common amongst his travels and research over the years. Things changed for Sheperd after an arrest one night, In 1990 I got in trouble in Nashville. At the time there was a lot of nail bombs going off in the state of Alabama and Georgia and killing and hurting some people and me speaking out so much and being so vocal about my beliefs, I had wound up on the radar of the FBI and they were watching me. I left a restaurant one night and had a few drinks and they stopped me and found a loaded weapon on the front seat of the car. That threw me into the court system. I aimed to use one of the oldest tricks in the book and go to an alcohol and drug treatment centre, then get the paperwork take it to the judge and get the gun charged dropped and then go on with my racist life. What I didn't realise was that I would go into that treatment centre one person and come out another. During his rehabilitation Sheperd encountered and interacted with multiple races and shared similar hardships and circumstances. He slowly began to change his views, I was forced to take a cold, hard look at myself and find out what the true problem was. The true problem wasn't with black people or other races, the problem was me. He says. Its left him in an at-risk situation and threats and abuse have been steady since his departure, a friend of his was even beaten up recently by Klansmen just through association with Sheperd. If Daryl and I were to walk down the street together and encounter a Klansman, Id be the first person they would attack or shoot because Im a traitor. I betrayed the Klan. Davis is carrying on his pursuit of KKK members and is convinced his robe and hood collection of reformed members will grow. Despite the current and heated racial turmoil taking place in the U.S, he feels positive of what the future holds, Things can always move faster but I do have hope for the future because of people like Scott and what he's doing and, believe it or not, I thank Donald Trump for what he's doing. I don't like his policies, I don't like what he stands for and Im not voting for him but I thank him in the regard that he's bringing racial issues to the surface. The conversation is happening and this film that Matt has made is very timely, so Im always grateful for the conversation as race is very taboo in this country and that taboo needs to be lifted before we can move ahead. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} SXSW turned 30 this year and its a festival that continues to grow in both size and scope with every passing year. Its position as a three-headed beast of Music, Film and Interactive runs for 10 days in the city of Austin, Texas. Its film programme takes on narrative features, documentaries, shorts, special events and TV episodes (of which we already picked out a couple of highlights). Many of these screenings are world premieres and whilst the festival doesnt command the same degree of glitz and paparazzi attention that somewhere like Cannes does, theres still plenty of stars to be found treading on red carpets, usually just yards away from passers by snacking on tacos or evading the pummelling Texas heat. This more understated approach the festival has results in a much more audience-facing festival than one aimed at pandering to industry, so the ability to squeeze in numerous films a day without queuing for hours on end is possible. Here is a selection of six films from the various strands of this years festival to keep on eye on throughout the rest of the year. Demolition Wild, Jean-Marc Valees follow up to the acclaimed Dallas Buyers Club, didnt quite hit with the same degree of clout as it predecessor but the aptly titled Demolition is a dynamic film starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a successful investment banker whose mental health and personal life takes a plunge after his wife dies and as he develops a fondness for demolishing and deconstructing all things in his life, both material and psychological. Its a humorous script and one that invites the audience to laugh at the absurdity of some of the situations Gyllenhaals character finds himself in, such as a bizarre semi-relationship with Karen, played by Naomi Watts and her sexually confused son, Chris, which arises from a series of complaint letters he sends to a vending company. The film is not the subtlest in its content but buried underneath the wry humour, nagging satire and personal trauma is a film that speaks as much about mental health and the crumbling state of masculinity in contemporary society as it does the surface level explorations the drama delivers. Gyllenhaals performance recalls the occasionally emotionally void, stoic and brooding ones as delivered in films such as Nightcrawler and Donnie Darko, and its clearly a position he finds himself taking to very comfortably. Demolition Clip - Swinging Through Midnight Special Jeff Nichols latest (Take Shelter, MUD) is a tough one to go into without giving out too many spoilers but if Michael Shannon on the run from both a religious cult and the Federal Government with a child in possession of world-changing information sounds like an enjoyable way to lose two hours then its worth investigating. Its a film that splits across multiple genres and offers as many surprises, both visually and narratively, along the way as a result. Midnight Special Clip - The Deal Hardcore Henry If youre drawn to first person shooter video games, senseless violence, non-stop action and sub-Guy Ritchie levels of script writing then Hardcore Henry is likely to be an absolute blast for you. Its shot entirely in the first person and both cinematically and developmentally it plays out exactly like a computer game, as Henry tears through his world amidst a blaze of gunfire and unrelenting high-octane action. Theres little beyond the novelty of the set-up to find particularly interesting and narrative depth is non-existent but its likely to appeal enormously to those who like big, brash violence and screeching ceaseless action. The SXSW audience certainly took to it and whooped, hollered and clapped throughout its entire bloody duration. Hardcore Henry - Trailer 2 BLACK A sort of Romeo and Juliet tale set in contemporary Belgium amidst rival youth gangs. Black was one of the less anticipated films of the festival but came out shining through its gritty violence, surging pace and gripping authenticity when it comes to capturing the lexicon, issues and desires of teenagers. Acting as a fierce statement on love, lust, youth culture and migration, the result is not dissimilar to the impact and tension that La Haine offered more than twenty years ago. Sausage Party Screened as a work in progress Sausage Party has been compiled by long-time friends and collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. This 3D animation film is set to be something of a spoof of the Disney Pixar films that have become such a dominating force in contemporary film, often both critically and commercially. However, as one might expect from Rogen & co. this is very much an adult version and when released will be the first ever R-rated animated movie. During the Q&A Rogen said that the idea came from nothing other than thinking it would be funny to make a film about a hot dog that could talk and who wanted to have sex with a female bun. Eight years later that realisation has come true, although thankfully the idea has extended beyond that as we look at talking food in a supermarket who view being picked by consumers Gods as being the holy grail of happiness until news reaches them as to what actually happens: they are murdered and eaten. Its got some excellent scenes in it, many of which are well set-up, timed and scripted, including an unexpected intravenous drug use scene and a particularly hilarious, and strangely graphic, orgy scene between various supermarket food products. It has a strong cast and Edward Norton doing his best Woody Allen impression as a character named Sammy Bagel Jr is a real standout. Its a film that relies a little too heavily on stereotypes throughout, including racial ones, but fans of Rogens usual shtick will no doubt fall head over heels for it. Sausage Party - Red Band Trailer Artist & Repertoire A documentary on James Lavelle: record label owner, DJ and one half of 90s sensation UNKLE (along with DJ Shadow). This is an excellent film that looks at the life and work of Lavelle from becoming a millionaire at 21 due to the success of his label Mo Wax to his gradual descent into debt, drugs and a giant creative void. It traverses hip-hop, trip-hop, dance and rock culture and works as an incredibly personal portrait that is as critical and challenging a portrayal of Lavelle as it is a, at times, gushing one. Lavelle even seems to have put his own ego aside for the sake of the film and some of the personal videos he has allowed to be used make for voyeuristic and uncomfortable viewing but ultimately its that balance that makes the film such an engaging watch as it captures the last decade in the music industry in which such excess was possible. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} After dozens complained about Channel 5 airing Watership Down on Easter Sunday, the head of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has said that, if released today, the terrifying U-Rated film would be classified as a PG. Speaking to BBC Radio 5, David Austin said that the animated violence was "too strong for a U-Rating, adding that some of the language would also be deemed unacceptable under 2016 standards. "The film has been a U for 38 years, but if it came in tomorrow it would not be, he said. Standards were different then. Austin noted that the BBFC continues to receive one or two complaints about the film every year, adding that, for it to be reclassified, it would have to be resubmitted to the BBFC - something only required if a new distributor wanted to re-release it. Unintentionally terrifying children's movies Show all 7 1 /7 Unintentionally terrifying children's movies Unintentionally terrifying children's movies Most people know to steer well clear of this one by now. If not, you obviously escaped one of the most scarring childhood memories, that of cute baby Bambis mother being shot dead by hunters, leaving him sad and alone in the woods. Rex Features Unintentionally terrifying children's movies Ursula makes a pact with mermaid Ariel that she will make her human in return for her voice. Her voice! She must then get a man to fall in love with her, without being able to speak. Every feminists nightmare. Unintentionally terrifying children's movies This one is seriously trippy. Its Disneys third ever movie but instead of pretty dresses and Prince Charmings and happily ever afters, all we got was a visit to Satans lair in Night on Bald Mountain. Unintentionally terrifying children's movies That fairground is enough to put you off any old-fashioned fun for life. Its called Pleasure Island but there is absolutely zero pleasure involved whatsoever. Naughty boys are turned into donkeys and the whole wooden puppet coming alive thing doesnt really do it for us either. Unintentionally terrifying children's movies There are plenty of frankly horrifying moments in this supposed childrens film from 1941, but none so harrowing as the scene when Dumbo visits his imprisoned, supposedly mad mummy elephant and she sings him a lullaby while cradling him in her trunk. Unintentionally terrifying children's movies This movie about bunnies may look cute enough but Watership Down is proof that animation does not equal adorable. Its possibly the most traumatic film youll have seen in, well, forever. Its really bloody in parts and should quite clearly never have been rated a U, even in 1978. Unintentionally terrifying children's movies Tiny Thumbelina is kidnapped by toads shortly after birth, nearly drowns in a waterfall, betrothed to a blind old mole who lives underground, forced to dress as a bug and dance at a freaky insect ball, spanked by Mr Beetle with a cane and her lover Prince Cornelius is frozen in an ice block. Oh and her best friend nearly dies. Lovely. BBFC guidelines state that, while a U-rating means a film should be suitable for audiences aged four and over, a PG may be unsuitable for young children. Based on Richard Adams novel, Watership Down follows a group of rabbits as they escape the brutal destruction of their warren and attempt to begin a new life. The story has been described as an allegory of the struggle between the individual and society, tyranny and liberation and reason and emotion. Who the hell thought it a good idea to put Watership Down on Easter Sunday? Hey kids lets watch dead Easter bunnies! wrote one Tweeter when the film was shown on Channel 5. Another added: Watership Down: traumatising children since 1978. Watership Down earned positive reviews from critics upon its release and features the number one song Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Gal Gadot's arrival as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice saw the big screen debut of one of DC comics' most iconic centrepieces; though why it's taken the 75 years since her invention to do so only reveals Hollywood's mortifying lack of faith in female-led properties. Which, hopefully, is all about to change. It was Gadot's character who turned out to be Batman v Superman's biggest draw for audiences, with a Wonder Woman solo film set on the horizon marking the first female-led superhero film of this new age of "cinematic universes". During a Twitter Q&A, Gadot underlined Wonder Woman's own importance in the cinematic sphere and the dire need for a larger range of female superheroes on both Marvel and DC's slates; following a fan's query on what it feels like to be a role model for so many girls. Elsewhere, Gadot elaborated on how Wonder Woman will more fully explore her character's nature; highlighting that she's a hero who stands by her beliefs in "compassion, love, truth, justice, equality"; whilst also showing a richness and vulnerability. It sounds like a refreshing departure from the usual tropes of women in the superhero genre: categorised either as hapless damsels or soulless, kick-ass seductresses. The first image of Wonder Woman alongside her Amazon compatriots was recently released; with Wonder Woman set to hit US cinemas 23 June 2017. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} October Drift are a rising indie four-piece who have been selling out some of the best small venues in Britain thanks to a flourishing reputation for live shows. Comprised of Kiran Roy (vocals, guitar), Chris Holmes (drums), Alex Bipsham (bass) and Daniel Young (guitar), the band are currently on tour in the UK and are scheduled to appear at a few festivals in summer (see dates below). We're premiering a fantastic session video for their song "Losing My Touch" - take a look and let us know what you think. Q&A with October Drift What have you been listening to recently? I've had my bag nicked whilst on this tour, so I have no headphones and the speakers in the van have blown too, so I've literally not been listening to anything apart from live music! We do have a go-to playlist we stick on at venues though, its all At The Drive In, The Kills, Butthole Surfers, Fun Loving Criminals, My Bloody Valentine, Beck, Fugazi and Sigor Ros, to name a few. What are you looking forward to for summer 2016? We're going to record our next EP in May, so I guess that will be the start of summer for us. We're off to Urchin studios in London to track it. Its going to be great. Up until now we've done everything ourselves in our little studio back in Somerset. We're playing Dot 2 Dot, Nozstock, Liverpool Calling and Tramlines festivals too which should be awesome. Other than that, were looking forward to the warmth and sunshine! Winter has dragged this year and I've spent too much time in our freezing cold van (the heaters are very temperamental). Plenty of BBQs to come and hopefully a visit to Paris to see my brother. What was the first gig you ever played, and whats been the best so far? We did our first show at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen in London last year, it was great, but three particular dates on that first tour were the real highlights. We did two back to back sold-out shows at The Rocking Chair in Sheffield, and a sold-out show at The Louisiana in Bristol. Since then the gigs have got better and better - The Old Blue Last in London last Tuesday night has been my favourite to date. It was packed out and the crowd were going absolutely nuts, this probably sounds really cliche but it was one of those moments where you go 'what is happening?!' Normally London crowds just stand there politely. More of this please! October Drift's EP is available to pre-order. They're on tour at the following venues: March 31 Hertford, Dog & Whistle April 1 Scunthorpe, Cafe Indiependent 2 Sheffield, The Leadmill SOLD OUT 7 Cardiff, Undertone 9 Bristol, The Louisiana 19 London, The Social July 9 Liverpool Calling Festival 22 24 Nozstock Festival 23 Tramlines Festival, Sheffield (Crystal Stage Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Since REM disbanded in 2011, live performances from Michael Stipe have been extremely few and far between - but fortunately, he has returned to the stage for a stirring rendition of a David Bowie classic. Paying tribute to the musician who passed away in January, Stipe performed 1970 track "The Man Who Sold the World" on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show. David Bowie: A life in albums Show all 27 1 /27 David Bowie: A life in albums David Bowie: A life in albums David Bowie 1967 David Bowie: A life in albums Space Oddity 1969 David Bowie: A life in albums The Man Who Sold The World 1970 David Bowie: A life in albums Hunky Dory 1971 David Bowie: A life in albums The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars 1972 David Bowie: A life in albums Aladdin Sane 1973 David Bowie: A life in albums Pin Ups 1973 David Bowie: A life in albums Diamond Dogs 1974 David Bowie: A life in albums Young Americans 1975 David Bowie: A life in albums Station To Station 1976 David Bowie: A life in albums Low 1977 David Bowie: A life in albums Heroes 1977 David Bowie: A life in albums Lodger 1979 David Bowie: A life in albums Scary Monsters 1980 David Bowie: A life in albums Let's Dance 1983 David Bowie: A life in albums Tonight 1984 David Bowie: A life in albums Never Let Me Down 1987 David Bowie: A life in albums Tin Machine 1989 David Bowie: A life in albums Tin Machine II 1991 David Bowie: A life in albums Black Tie White Noise 1993 David Bowie: A life in albums Outside 1995 David Bowie: A life in albums Earthling 1997 David Bowie: A life in albums Hours 1999 David Bowie: A life in albums Heathen 2002 David Bowie: A life in albums Reality 2003 David Bowie: A life in albums The Next Day 2013 David Bowie: A life in albums Black Star 2016 The performance comes ahead of his appearance at a Bowie tribute concert at New York's Carnegie Hall due to take place this week. Alongside fellow artists Patti Smith, Mumford & Sons and Debbie Harry, Stipe will read a poem he wrote in Bowie's honour following the pioneering musician's passing. Bowie passed away from cancer on 10 January which led to an outpouring of tributes from across the world. His newly-released studio album Blackstar shot to the top of the charts the following week. His long-time collaborator, producer Tony Visconti, recently revealed he believes there is a new David Bowie in our midst struggling to make it big due to record labels 'not financing' them. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Bake Off spin-off Creme de la Creme has begun, and it is no Great British Bake Off. For some reason, the BBC decided to remove all that was good about the show, changing out judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, as well as hosts Mel and Sue, for industry professionals no-one has heard of. On top of that, the contestants arent amateurs trying to have a good time, theyre also serious professionals, looking to win at all costs. Youre not going to find a heartthrob like Tamal here, thats for sure. Remember last year's bunch? They were fun, weren't they. The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Show all 12 1 /12 The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Nadiya, 30 Full-time mother of three Nadiya lives in Leeds with her husband. Born in Luton to a Bangladeshi family, she grew up wondering why her father only sold ice cream as a desert in his restaurant, as deserts arent a major mealtime in Bangladesh, so she soon got out a whisk to make her own BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Marie, 66 This year's oldest contestant, Marie was entered by her daughter who claims the baker couldnt "even boil an egg" while she was growing up. The turning point was when she moved to Paris and was inspired by the patisseries. Were expecting some amazing croissants BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Alvin, 37 Father of two, Alvin is originally from the Philippines but now works as a nurse in Berkshire. According to the BBC, hes a true perfectionist who once repeatedly baked bread each day for three weeks until he got it just right BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Dorret, 53 Originally from the West Indies, Dorret actually grew up in Preston and now works as an accountant. She enjoys hosting dinner parties with her husband to impress their friends with their skills BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Flora, 19 The youngest baker in this years competition, Flora is an assistant at a contemporary art gallery and is currently waiting to start her history of art degree. Expect some tastefully arranged cakes BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Ian, 41 Travel photographer Ian lives with his wife and two children in Cambridgeshire. Recently, hes become more of a house husband, making his family fresh bread every day, but that doesn't stop him being the Dalai Lama's personal photographer when he's in the UK BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Mat, 37 Fire Fighter Mat began baking three years ago in between work shifts and is a self-confessed competent amateur who learns every time he bakes. His ambition, apparently, is to one day own a dishwasher BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Paul, 49 Prison governor Paul sees being on the show as an opportunity to show that men like me, stereotyped by our jobs do and can love baking and that it is a skill and talent to be proud of. The Welshman also enjoys exploring the countryside with his wife and three sons BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Sandy, 49 Mother of one, Sandy is a child welfare officer who lives near Bradford. Describing her baking style bluntly, she said: it might not be glamorous but its tasty BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Stu, 35 Professional musician Stu has toured the world, and according to these photos, has a hat surgically attached to his head. The lead singer used to watch his parents in their restaurant and was amazed how something liquid could go in and out would come this fluffed up awesomeness BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Tamal, 29 Tamals parents moved from India to Hertfordshire in the 1960s, his older sister soon teaching him to bake. He is now a trainee anaesthetist in Manchester, and once baked a five tier wedding cake BBC The Great British Bake Off 2015: Meet the 12 contestants Ugne, 32 Originally from Lithuania, Ugnes main hobby may be baking but she is primarily a bodybuilder. She lives in Essex with her partner, also a bodybuilder, and two children. She's the one who said cake is a "nutritional sin" BBC So whats left? Baking. Thats about it. They weren't even in a tent. As you may have suspected, Tweeters were not impressed by the show, with one viewer calling the three new judges - Benoit Blin of Le Manoir aux QuatSaisons, Cherish Finden of The Langham Hotel, London, and Claire Clark, Britains best pastry chef - Bond villains. Others concluded that the lack of innuendo was disturbing, while Mary Berrys soggy bottom comments were sorely missed. If anything, the response sends one clear message to the Beeb: we need the next season of Great British Bake Off and we need it now. Stop faffing around with spin-offs. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Since the release of Making a Murderer on Netflix, the curious case of Teresa Halbachs murder has not only been further investigated by millions of armchair detectives at home via the internet, but also Kathleen Zellner, Steven Averys new lawyer. Zellner is currently researching all avenues to get Averys acquitted and has reportedly found a couple of suspects she believes may have murdered Halbach. We have a couple, Zellner told Newsweek (via The Wrap) in an in-depth profile piece. Id say theres one, leading the pack by a lot. But I dont want to scare him off, I dont want him to run. Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions Show all 5 1 /5 Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions 1985: Steven Avery is falsely convicted of raping a Penny Beernsten She was jogging along the shore of Lake Michigan when she was threatened with a knife and attacked. Ms Beernsten identified Avery as her rapist from a line-up that did not include the actual attacker. AFP/Getty Images Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions 2003: Conviction overturned Avery's 32-year prison sentence was overturned after DNA testing by the Wisconsin Innocence Project proved his innocence and found a hair from Gregory Allen. He was convicted of the rape and Avery was released. Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions 2004: Avery files federal lawsuit against Manitowoc County police A Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation found police had committed no criminal offences or ethics violations, sparking a lawsuit from Avery seeking $36 million compensation. Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions 2005: Avery is arrested for Teresa Halbach's murder His Avery Auto Salvage business was the freelance photographer's last appointment of 31 October. She was reported missing four days later and police later found her car, bones, teeth and belongings at the site. Avery pleaded not guilty but was sentenced to life in prison in 2007. Timeline: Steven Avery's convictions 201: Netflix releases Making a Murderer The 10-episode documentary came after Avery's conviction was upheld in a 2011 appeal. She goes on to describe Averys defence team as inadequate in investigating Halbachs past life, noting that women who have bad judgment about men are murdered. She even adds that Dean Strang and Jerry Buting - the two defence attorneys featured heavily in Making a Murderer - managed to botch the original case by not arguing that Halbachs phone records show her leaving Averys property alive. Making A Murderer- Where are they now? Previously, Zellner has stated how she is investigating new forensic evidence in a hope to show her client is not guilty of murder. Avery is currently serving life in prison for the murder of Halbach. Meanwhile, the filmmakers behind Making a Murderer are thought to be discussing the idea of a second season of the show. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A first-time flyer caused a major delay after mistaking an emergency exit for the toilet. The 50-year-old woman, who has not been named, held up the China Southern Airlines flight by two hours after she accidentally deployed the inflatable emergency slide. The incident happened just after all passengers had boarded and the plane was preparing to depart. Staff noticed the slide inflating and all passengers were taken off the A321 aircraft to investigate. Passengers had to wait hours at Chongqing International Airport, while technical airline staff put the slide away. The woman reportedly had her passport and boarding pass taken from her. She was not allowed to board the flight again and was instead interviewed by police. Chinese Aviation Law states passengers can be held criminally liable if they endanger flight safety. Chinese airlines have had a wave of accidental emergency exits over the past few years. One passenger reportedly opened the emergency exit, claiming to want some fresh air before taking off from Chengdu airport. The passenger said he thought the door handle would open the aeroplanes widow. Two passengers were jailed in 2015 after deliberately opening the emergency door in protest at flight delays. In 2014, one passenger opened the emergency door as he was in a hurry to disembark. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Its often said that the world is becoming an increasingly secular place. Just last week David Cameron sparked backlash when he used his Easter message to describe the UK as a Christian country. Critics pointed out that just 30 per cent of people in the UK describe themselves as religious, making Britain one of the least religious countries in the world. 53 per cent of people say they have no faith, while 13 per cent claim they are committed atheists. However, despite the prevalance of atheism and humanism in the UK, many may be surprised to know that having no faith can be a life or death matter around the world. In thirteen countries, you can be sentenced to death for not having a faith: 1. Afghanistan 2. Iran 3. Malaysia 4. Maldives 5. Mauritania 6. Nigeria 7. Pakistan 8. Qatar 9. Saudi Arabia 10. Somalia 11. Sudan 12. United Arab Emirates 13. Yemen Anti-women laws that still exist in 2016 In a number of other countries, the death penalty is not a formal punishment on statute books but atheists and humanists have been murdered by religious extremists on account of their beliefs. In countries including India and Bangladesh, police have been accused of condoning these murders by failing to investigate them properly. At least three atheist bloggers have been hacked to death in Bangladesh after penning posts advocating that scientific proof should inform opinion above religious beliefs. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} India's Tata Steel has put its entire UK business up for sale to stem heavy losses in a move that puts thousands of workers' jobs at risk. Its European arm is looking at "all options for restructuring" including selling part or all of UK operations. The UK and Welsh Government are understood to have been working through the night to secure a deal that could stem losses from Tata plants at Port Talbot and elsewhere. Workers at other plants in Rotherham, Corby and Shotton could also be affected. High manufuacturing costs, competition from China and a global oversupply of steel have made business too expensive in the UK, Tata said. "These factors are likely to continue into the future and have significantly impacted the long-term competitive position of the UK operation," Tata said. In a joint statement, the UK and Welsh governments said: We remain committed to working with Tata and the unions on a long-term sustainable future for British steel-making. 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. "Both the UK and Welsh governments are working tirelessly to look at all viable options to keep a strong British steel industry at the heart of our manufacturing base." In January the company announced more than 1,000 UK job cuts, including 750 in Port Talbot, where it employs 4,000 staff and a further 3,000 contractors and temporary workers. That comes after 1,200 job losses at Tata plants in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire last October, at the same times as steel manufacturer SSI closed another plant at Redcar in what has been a period of decline for UK steel. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Andreja Pejic has insisted she doesn't only want to be defined by her gender - saying, "One day, I would like to be just another girl". In an interview with the Evening Standard, the iconic transgender model says, Other women dont go around saying Wow, Im female. They have room in their lives for other things. Thats my goal, and later adds: One day, I would like to be just another girl. Pejic, who was formally known as Andrej, underwent gender reassignment surgery in January 2014. But the Australian model has been out to her family and friends as transgender since she was a teenager, reportedly taking hormone blockers to delay puberty. It was a time that was really great on so many levels and also really difficult for me, she told the paper. Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures The model made her first catwalk appearance at Giles during London Fashion Week back in February Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures The model appears in American Vogue shot by Patrick Demarchelier Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andrej Pejic poses during the Jean Paul Gaultier Menswear Autumn/Winter 2013/14 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on 17 January 2013 in Paris Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures (L-R) Adam Spoont, Gabriel Schillinger, Andrej Pejic and Zac Nichols attend the Pejic x Snyder Jewellery Line launch party at Gilded Lily on 3 April 2014 in New York Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Pejic attends Moet & Chandon's 270th anniversary party with new global brand ambassador tennis champion Roger Federer at Chelsea Piers Sports Center on 20 August 20 2013 in New York Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Pejic attends Forever 21's Desert Disco at Saguaro Hotel on 12 April 2013 in Palm Springs, California Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Pejic arrives at DSquared2 and Interview magazine's premiere screening of 'Behind The Mirror' in New York Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures (L-R) Host Yvette King, Andrj Pejic, Patricia Field, Guo Pei and young designers attend the inaugural Digital Fashion Week press conference on 17 October 2012 in Singapore Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andrej Pejic walks the runway during the Jean-Paul Gaultier Haute-Couture show as part of Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2012/13 on 4 July 2012 in Paris Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Host Kelly Osbourne and Pejic at the W Hotel's Backstage Lounge at Logo's NewNowNext Awards at Avalon on 5 April 2012 in Hollywood, California Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andrej Pejic walks the runway at the Michalsky Autumn/Winter 2012 fashion show during Michalsky StyleNite at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin at Tempodrom on 20 January 2012 in Berlin, Germany Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Australian model Andrej Pejic presents a creation by French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier during the spring-summer 2012 men's fashion collection show 23 on June 2011 in Paris Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures (L-R) Models Jessica Hart, Andrej Pejic and Jennifer Hawkins pose at the reopening of the Myer Bourke Street Store to celebrate it's 100th birthday on 30 March 2011 in Melbourne Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Model Andrej Pejic displays a creation by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier during the Spring/Summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection show on 5 March 2011 in Paris Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Pejic presents a creation by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier during the Spring-Summer 2011 Haute Couture Collection Show on 26 January 2011 in Paris Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures Andreja Pejic: Career in pictures French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier kisses Australian model Andrej Pejic holding a gun at the end of his Men's fall-winter 2011-2012 ready-to-wear collection show on 20 January 2011 in Paris Pejic's route into modelling began the day she was scouted serving Happy Meals at McDonalds on the cusp of her 17th birthday. Before long, Pejic had become one of the worlds first androgynous male models. Living in between genders, the native Bosnian walked both the mens and womens shows for Jean-Paul Gaultier in 2011. Seven years on from that fateful day in McDonalds and the now 24-year-olds meteoric ascent into modeldum has been punctuated by a series of successes. Just last year, Pejic became the first openly transgender model to be profiled by Vogue in its May 2015 issue. In many ways, it was Pejics male modelling which initially catapulted her to stardom. Working that way made me famous and gave me a career but it wasnt what I would have chosen, she says. At the time, her name was included among lists of male models in top agencies across the world. In 2011, she ranked No. 18 on the Top 50 Male Models list on models.com. The model has frequently spoken forthrightly about her transgender identity. Just months after her surgery, she spoke to People about her history. I want to share my story with the world because I think I have a social responsibility. I hope that by being open about this, it becomes less of an issue. Recalling her childhood, Pejic said, I always dreamt of being a girl. One of my earliest memories is spinning around in my mom's skirt trying to look like a ballerina. Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pejic and her family fled to Serbia in the midst of the Bosnian war while she was a child, finally arriving in Australia when she was eight. Signed to Storm Models in 2010, the model has gone from strength to strength. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The discovery of a 305 million-year-old fossil could lead to a greater understanding of how modern spiders evolved, scientists say. The new (and long-dead) species has been named Idmonarachne brasieri, after figures from Greek mythology, and was found fossilised in rock in Montceau-les-Mines in France. A team of researchers from institutions in Europe and the US travelled to France to scan the fossil, and found that the ancient creature "occupies a key position in the evolution of spiders," according to Russell Garwood from the University of Manchester. While it's not a "true spider," according to Garwood, its anatomy has given researchers an insight into the stages of evolution its ancestors went through to become the spiders we know today. As a Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper puts it, the "remarkable" fossil lacks spinnerets, or silk-spinning organs found on the underside of modern spiders. Instead, it's believed the Idmonarachne laid down its silk in sheets, lacking any of the control over its web that spiders have today. Discoveries that change the way you see the world Show all 30 1 /30 Discoveries that change the way you see the world Discoveries that change the way you see the world Million-year-old human footprints discovered Million-year-old human footprints have been discovered on the beach as Happisburgh, Norfolk Discoveries that change the way you see the world The world's oldest face Scientists discovered the worlds oldest face, which belongs to this 419 million-year-old fish - an ancient sea predator that might also re-write the history of our evolution from the seas Discoveries that change the way you see the world Discovery of the ancient forest Ancient forest revealed by storms. The recent huge storms and gale force winds that have battered the coast of West Wales have stripped away much of the sand from stretches of the beach between Borth and Ynyslas. The disappearing sands have revealed ancients forests, with the remains of oak trees dating back to the Bronze Age, 6,000 years ago. The ancient remains are said by some to be the origins of the legend of Cantrer Gwealod , a mythical kingdom now submerged under the waters pif Cardigan Bay Discoveries that change the way you see the world Bowhead whale genome, linked to cancer resistance, DNA damage repair and increased longevity, mapped by scientists In a UK-based study, scientists working together with scientists in Alaska, Denmark, Ireland, Spain and South Korea successfully mapped the genome of the bowhead whale - the longest-living mammal - identifying a number of genes that are linked to cancer resistance, DNA damage repair and increased longevity PA Discoveries that change the way you see the world Researchers develop 'imaginary meal' pill An 'imaginary meal' pill called fexaramine has been developed by researchers at the Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory Discoveries that change the way you see the world Scientists prolong lifespan of flies Scientists at the Institute of Cell Biology, in Switzerland, have successfully managed to prolong the lifespan of flies, activating a gene that destroys unhealthy cell Discoveries that change the way you see the world Green tea can help cure oral cancer Green tea can help kill off cancerous cells, say researchers Discoveries that change the way you see the world Mars once had a large ocean covering a large portion of its northern hemisphere Almost half of the northern hemisphere of Mars was once covered by a large ocean that held 20 million cubic kilometres of water: more than the Artic Ocean Discoveries that change the way you see the world Offices playing natural sounds can boost worker moods and improve cognitive abilities Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute learned that offices which play natural sounds such as ocean waves, trees and bird calls can boost the moods of workers and improve their cognitive abilities, as well as providing privacy (by masking speech) Discoveries that change the way you see the world Impact glass may exist on Mars Brown University researchers found that spectral signals indicate the existence of impact glass on the surface of Mars, with specific deposits conserved in craters Discoveries that change the way you see the world Fathers experience weight gain Fathers have been found to experience weight gain and a rise in their body mass index (BMI), according to a research conducted by Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine. The study, which followed over 10,000 men throughout a 20 year period, also revealed that the men who didnt become fathers actually lost weight Discoveries that change the way you see the world The world's oldest skull Divers Alberto Nava and Susan Bird discover the world's oldest skull found in an underwater cave in Mexico, believed to be the earliest trace of first Americans Discoveries that change the way you see the world Scientists create intelligent mice that do not experience fear or anxiety Scientists participating in a joint University of Leeds and Mount Sinai Hospital study managed to alter a gene within mice; improving their intelligence and reducing their ability to feel anxious or fear. The discovery could prove instrumental in research into age-related cognitive decline, such as Alzheimers or schizophrenia Discoveries that change the way you see the world Paralysed man walks again The brain-computer interface system will be improved by developing an implantable version, say experts. A 26-year-old male who had suffered a spinal cord injury which had paralysed him from the waist down was given the ability to walk again by scientists, who rerouted brain waves to electrodes on his knees.The doctors responsible said that he was the first person with paraplegia caused by a spinal injury given the ability to walk without relying on manually controlled robotic limbs Discoveries that change the way you see the world Discovery of the medieval royal palaces Archaeologists in southern England have discovered what may be one of the largest medieval royal palaces ever found buried under the ground inside a vast prehistoric fortress at Old Sarum. The probable 12th century palace was discovered by archaeologists, using geophysical ground-penetrating x-ray technology to map a long-vanished medieval city which has lain under grass on the site for more than 700 years Discoveries that change the way you see the world The world's rarest diamond This rare diamond that survived a trip from deep within the Earth's interior confirmed that there is an oceans worth of water beneath the planets crust Discoveries that change the way you see the world Virtual reality can revolutionise healthcare Cardiologists at the Institute of Cardiology in Poland have successfully used virtual reality to restore blood flow to a blocked artery, leading the way for it to revolutionise certain aspects of healthcare, in surgical procedures and during training. Using wearable virtual reality equipment, similar to that of Google Glass, developed specifically for the surgical procedure, doctor completed the difficult procedure Discoveries that change the way you see the world Puppies born by IVF in the US After years of failed attempts, scientists at Cornell University successfully bred the world's first puppies born through IVF, allowing for research into the conservation of endangered breeds and protection of those that are at risk of disease Discoveries that change the way you see the world Cancer is caused by environmental factors Research into the causes of cancer concluded that, on the whole, it is due to environmental factors, not, as was previously thought, bad luck Discoveries that change the way you see the world Fossil fight 'Astounding' fossil find from Montana revealing two dinosaurs locked in mortal combat Discoveries that change the way you see the world Fusion reactors could become economically viable Researchers at Durham University and the Oxfordshire Culham Centre for Fusion Energy have found fusion reactors could become economically viable ways of generating electricity in just a few decades, telling politicians and policy makers to begin the process of planning for their introduction and the replacement of nuclear power stations. Analysis by these researchers has found that the costs associated with fusion power shows its feasibility, when compared with traditional fission reactors, generating electricity at a similar price Discoveries that change the way you see the world Discovery of the whale skeletons Chilean and Smithsonian paleontologists study several fossil whale skeletons at Cerro Ballena, next to the Pan-American Highway in the Atacama Region of Chile Discoveries that change the way you see the world Discovery of The Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls are almost 1,000 biblical manuscripts discovered in the decade after the Second World War in what is now the West Bank. The texts, mostly written on parchment but also on papyrus and bronze, are the earliest surviving copies of biblical and extra-biblical documents known to be in existence, dating over a 700-year period around the birth of Jesus. The ancient Jewish sect the Essenes is supposed to have authored the scrolls, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, although no conclusive proof has been found to this effect Discoveries that change the way you see the world Complete mammoth skeleton discovered The first complete mammoth skeleton to be found in France for more than a century was uncovered in a gravel pit on the banks of the Marne, 30 miles north-east of Paris. Picture shows experts at work making a silicon cast of the mammoth's tusk Discoveries that change the way you see the world Byzantine mosaic discovered Plans for a walkway at the centre of the furious dispute over Jerusalem's holiest site were delayed by the discovery of a Byzantine mosaic Discoveries that change the way you see the world Neolithic 'lost avenue' - prehistoric stone circle discovered The discovery of a Neolithic 'lost avenue' was described as one of the most important finds of the last century. Since the 1700s, archeologists and historians have argued over the existence of the huge sarsen stones, which were unearthed at the site of the world's biggest prehistoric stone circle at Avebury in Wiltshire Discoveries that change the way you see the world Ancient gold found near Stonehenge Gold fitting for a dagger sheath (around 1900 BC.) found near Stonehenge Discoveries that change the way you see the world The Rosetta Stone discovery The Rosetta Stone is a basalt slab inscribed with a decree of pharaoh Ptolemy Epiphanes (205-180 BC) in three languages, Greek, Hieroglyphic and Demotic script. Discovered near Rosetta in Egypt Discoveries that change the way you see the world We are made from stardust In 1957, a paper was published which said we are all made of stardust. Well, not quite that, but almost. Four scientists of the University of Cambridge, Fred Hoyle, William Fowler and Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge, had conducted extensive research into stellar nucleosynthesis, the theory that all elements are created in the oldest chemical factories in the universe - stars. This paper, called Synthesis of the Elements in Stars, but better known as B2FH because of the initials of its authors, was at odds with the theory common at the time that all the elements were synthesised during the Big Bang. B2FH argued that when a star ages and dies it will enrich the interstellar medium with heavier elements, from which new stars - and, presumably, we - are formed Discoveries that change the way you see the world Optical fibres discovery The internet is a truly incredibly thing, but we all hate it when it works too slowly. Thats where optical fibres come in. Made of a high quality extruded glass called silica, they guide light through a process of refraction, and in doing so are able to transmit bandwidths at a remarkably high speed and over remarkably long distances. As such, they are used in telecommunications and computer networking to speed up internet connections, able to do so due to the fact that the total internal refraction of light means very little data is lost. And the best thing about optical fibres is when at Imperial College London they were first demonstrated to be able to bend light by Harold Hopkins and Narinder Kapany, dubbed the founding father of fibre optics In effect, this recent discovery adds another link to the chain of spider evolution, occupying the space between the rudimentary silk production of early insects and the fine web-spinning skills of spiders today. The Idmonarachne lived over 300 million years before modern humans evolved, so it's truly a rare discovery. The fossil currently sits in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Researchers have created a 'living drone' by controlling a beetle's movements using electronics. By mounting a radio reciever on the insect's body and implanting electrodes into its muscles, the scientists were able to control its walking speed, direction and stride length. The team, from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, say this is the first time the detailed walking movements of an insect have been controlled by humans. The beetle's legs were controlled with a series of electrodes implanted in its muscles (Nanyang Technological University) Their achievements follow on from a project they conducted with University of California Berkeley scientists last year, in which they discovered how to control a beetle's flight using an electronic 'backpack'. It may be tempting to feel sorry for the insects used in this project, but the researchers believe they could have an important humanitarian use one day. Professor Hirotaka Sato, who worked on both projects, said last year: "This technology could prove to be an improved alternative to remote-controlled drones as it could go into areas which were not accessible before." "For example, it could be used in search-and-rescue missions as it could go into small nooks and crevices in a collapsed building to locate injured survivors." These live insect drones have a number of major advantages over mechanical versions. Rather than building a robot to do the same job using hundreds of tiny components, the scientists simply used the beetle's natural form as a platform for their technology. Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary Beetles obviously don't need to be recharged or maintained in the same way machines do, and their movement systems have already been perfected over millions of years of evolution, making life easier for the scientists. For example, programming a robot to climb over an obstacle would take years of difficult research and development. With the beetle, a 'pilot' could simply turn off the controller, letting the beetle cross the obstacle by itself. A study detailing the project has been published in the high-profile Journal of the Royal Society Interface publication. The researchers say that their achievements pave the way for future research to improve the precision of the beetle's movements. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An academic who became pregnant with her second child, aged 44, has shown that abnormal cells in the early embryo are not necessarily a sign that a baby will be born with a birth defect such as Downs syndrome. Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, who describes herself as one of the growing number of women having children over the age of 40, was moved to tears following a CVS test, carried out early on in pregnancy to ascertain embryo normality using cells taken from the placenta. It discovered a trisomy, in which there are three instances of a particular chromosome instead of the normal two, in chromosome 2 - the second largest human chromosome. Dozens of diseases and traits are related to genes located in chromosome 2 including autism, deafness and diabetes. Recommended Read more 25 years of charting scientific breakthroughs in Independent on Sunday It was not good news, Professor Zernicka-Goetz told The Independent. Most people have heard of Trisomy-21, which results in Downs syndrome, but chromosome 21 is much smaller than chromosome 2, so not many children with Trisomy-2 will be able to have a normal life. It was an enormous shock, despite the fact Im a scientist and would be seen as a very rational, logical person. I was in turmoil and, indeed, I had tears in my eyes, which doesnt happen that often. She asked geneticists about the potential implications for the baby but, as so little research has been carried out in this area, they were at a loss to provide further information. I quickly realised very little is known about what happens to those abnormal cells within our embryos, but because the CVS test is from the placenta it does not mean that the embryo will also have the same number of abnormal cells. Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goet: 'I couldn't be happier when we found the result' Inspired by her own experience, Professor Zernicka-Goetz and her team at the University of Cambridge spent the next year developing a model using mice to discover the fate of the abnormal cells found in the placenta. They wanted to discover the minimum amount of normal cells needed in an embryo for it to develop into a normal, healthy baby. In embryos where the mix of normal and abnormal cells was half and half, the abnormal cells within the embryo were killed off by apoptosis, or programmed-cell death, even when placental cells retained abnormalities. This allowed the normal cells to take over, resulting in an embryo where all the cells were healthy. When the mix of cells was three abnormal cells to one normal cell some abnormal cells continued to survive, but the ratio of normal cells increased. I couldnt be happier when we found the result, Professor Zernicka-Goetz said of the research, published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. It was absolutely unbelievable and what I hope will be the major message for mothers like me. Fortunately her second child, Simon, was born healthy while her study continued. I know how lucky I was and how happy I felt when Simon was born healthy, she said. Many expectant mothers have to make a difficult choice about their pregnancy based on a test whose results we dont fully understand. Her team will now try to determine the exact proportion of healthy cells needed to completely repair an embryo and the mechanism by which the abnormal cells are eliminated. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Four male students are standing trial for allegedly raping a woman during an annual college ball. This alleged sexual assault took place during the end-of-year ball at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire in May 2014. The jury were told they would be shown graphic video footage of the alleged incident. Thady Duff, 22, James Martin, 20, Leo Mahon, 22, and Patrick Foster, 22, deny all the charges they face, which were allegedly committed against the same woman. A jury made up of six men and six women has been sworn in at Gloucester Crown Court. Judge Jamie Tabor QC told the jury panel of six men and six women, barrister Fiona Elder would begin the prosecution case on Wednesday morning and they were released until then. He told them: "This case concerns sexual activity on a ball night at the Royal Agricultural University. Some of that was filmed. Thady Duff (PA) Patrick Foster (PA) "This is going to be what we call adult pornographic material - very short in length - to be watched. "If any of you feel uncomfortable with that please put your hand up." 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. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA Duff, of Stubbs Hill Farm, Blunsdon, Swindon, Wiltshire, denies three charges of rape. He also denies a charge of sexual assault against the same woman which is alleged to have been carried out the previous year. James Martin (PA) Leo Mahon (PA) Martin, of Hook Norton Road, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire denies a single charge of rape. Mahon, of Lawrence Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire denies three charges of rape and two charges of assault by penetration. Foster, of Maldon Road, Kelvedon, Colchester, Essex denies one charge of rape and two charges of assault by penetration. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A jealous pensioner who decapitated his partner after she admitted seeing other men may have done so "out of pure hatred". Demsey Nibbs is thought to have knocked his partner Judith unconscious before cutting off her head, trying to destroy it and flushing it down the toilet. The 69-year-old admits killing Ms Nibbs but said he was acting in self-defence during a struggle, and was "out of his mind" believing she was a snake, the court has heard. Jury members at the Old Bailey were told by the prosecution to "brace themselves" over details of the murder on 11 April 2014. "Quite why the defendant decapitated Judith and then disposed of her head is not entirely clear but it may well be that he did it out of pure hatred at the sight of his wife's face," prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said. The pair lived on the Charles estate in Hoxton (Google Street View) The pair, who never married but had two children and lived together in north London, began to argue after Nibbs grew angry at finding she was seeing other men, according to their son. Kirk Nibbs told the jury: "I heard my mum say she had sex eight times. That was the first I was aware. My dad was really, really, really shocked. He was really hurt about what she did." Nibbs reportedly said she was "not the housewife she used to be" after she began working at Hackney Council and going out with friends. 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. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA His 60-year-old partner predicted her own death to colleagues on the day of her murder when she said she feared she might be dead the following day. Colleagues described her as "happy and smiley" and "always bubbly, very friendly and open-minded." Nibbs reportedly dialled 999 after attacking his partner to report "a couple of dead bodies" before trying to turn the knife on himself. A nearby paramedic and police officer arrived sooner than he expected, however, and prevented him from doing so - although he was then not well enough to be interviewed by police for a year. Nibbs, who lived on the Charles Estate in Hoxton, denies murder and obstructing the coroner by disposing of her head, saying he was "defending himself" in a struggle. The case continues. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Nick Blake is no stranger to photographing the various creatures along Britain's coastline, but even he was taken aback at this apparently affable young seal. He captured the award-winning image just as the friendly Atlantic Grey seal - which appears to be smiling - grasped his flipper. Entitled "Hello Cheeky", the picture won a gold medal in the underwaterphotography.com competition. Mr Blake said he took the photograph around four to five metres underwater near Lundy Island in Bristol Channel, where there is a colony of around 180 Atlantic Grey seals. On taking photographs of the seals at Lundy, Mr Blake told The Independent the most curious and playful animals were juveniles of around one or two years old. He said mature seals tended to observe divers from a distance and avoid interaction. "The longer you spend in the water, the more curious they [the seals] become," he said. "There's always one that gets really involved and go crazy playing with you and your equipment. "And the seal in this photo was just such character". Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep Show all 7 1 /7 Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep 265607.bin REUTERS Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep 265611.bin Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep 265608.bin AP Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep 265609.bin PA Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep 265610.bin Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep 265606.bin Marine marvels found in the darkness of the deep 265605.bin He added that playful encounters can last up to 30 minutes. For any budding marine photographer looking for such a seal encounter, Mr Blake advised: "The trick is to not go after them but rather ignore them and play around with your camera. "Let them come to you." Photographing seals at Lundy has become an annual trip for Mr Blake which he rates as highly as more exotic dives such as photographing sharks in the waters around South Africa. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The UK was right not to charge any police officers over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an electrician who they thought was a suicide bomber, in 2005. Prosecutors dropped the case after an investigation because it was decided there was insufficient evidence for the realistic prospect of convicting any one officer over the killing. The Brazilian mans family took their fight for justice over the shooting to the European Court of Human Rights, but judges have now ruled against them by 13 votes to four. Mr De Menezes was shot seven times in the head by firearms officers as he boarded a train at Stockwell Tube station in south London on 22 July, 11 years ago. Lawyers for the family had argued the decision not to prosecution anyone over the shooting was in violation of Mr De Menezes right to life, under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. They also challenged the definition of self-defence used by British authorities in the case. In a ruling, judges in Strasbourg concluded there had been a thorough investigation into Mr De Menezes death, which concluded that there was insufficient evidence against any individual officer to prosecute. They found that the Crown Prosecution Service was not obligated to lower the evidence threshold under human rights laws where the state was involved in the killing. The decision not to prosecute any individual officer was not due to any failings in the investigation or the States tolerance of or collusion in unlawful acts, the court said. The decision by Europes highest human rights court brings to an end an 11-year legal saga which saw the polices account of events rejected at an inquest. Mr De Menezes was killed by officers hunting for the perpetrators of a failed suicide bomb attack in London the day before. The incident came two weeks after the deadly 7/7 bombings. 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. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA The CPS announced in 2006 that no individual would be charged over the killing of the 27-year-old. The following year the Metropolitan Police was fined 175,000 under health and safety laws. At an inquest, the coroner ruled out a verdict of unlawful killing but also rejected the police account. An open verdict was eventually returned. In 2009, the family of the electrician agreed an undisclosed settlement with Scotland Yard. The original application to the ECHR was lodged by Mr De Menezes cousin on 21 January 2008, more than eight years ago. A hearing took place in the ECHR's Grand Chamber in June last year. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Boris Johnson is the clear favourite among both the public and Conservative voters to succeed David Cameron, according to a survey for The Independent. ORB found that 38 per cent of people want the Mayor of London to take over as Tory leader from Mr Cameron, who has said he will step down before the 2020 general election. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is favoured by 16 per cent, pushing George Osborne, the Chancellor, into third place on 9 per cent. Among those who voted Tory at last years election, 42 per cent would like to see Mr Johnson succeed Mr Cameron, with 23 per cent backing Mrs May and just 14 per cent Mr Osborne. There is growing concern among Tories who oppose Mr Johnson that he is likely to win the Tory leadership after coming out against Britains membership of the EU. The final decision rests with the partys 150,000 members. The survey of 2,000 people suggests the Chancellor has suffered a backlash from his trouble-hit Budget this month. He was forced to make a swift U-turn over 4.4bn in cuts to disability benefits after the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith as Work and Pensions Secretary. Only 28 per cent of people agree that Mr Osborne is doing a good job in managing the UK economy, while twice as many (57 per cent) disagree with this statement. However, the Chancellor has not lost the confidence of Tory supporters; 56 per cent of them believe he is doing a good job, while 29 per cent do not. There is overwhelming public opposition to further cuts in welfare, according to ORB. The idea is opposed by seven out of 10 people (69 per cent). Only one in five people (20 per cent) disagrees. The finding comes after ministers said they had no plans for a further raid on the welfare budget after dropping controversial proposals to cut Personal Independent Payments (PIPs) for the disabled. Mr Osborne hopes the 4.4bn black hole in his spending plans will be filled by the higher tax receipts that economic growth would generate. But he has not entirely ruled out looking again for welfare savings if that does not materialise. Dave Brown on David Cameron Show all 11 1 /11 Dave Brown on David Cameron Dave Brown on David Cameron 4 March 2016 Boris Johnson campaigns for Brexit Dave Brown on David Cameron 20 January 2016 Cameron's response to Tata Steel job cuts Dave Brown on David Cameron 5 January 2016 Cameron's reaction to Saudi Arabia executions Dave Brown on David Cameron 3 December 2015 Cameron called the opponents of military action in Syria "terrorist sympathisers" Dave Brown on David Cameron 2 December 2015 Cameron and the Syria bombing vote Dave Brown on David Cameron 19 November 2015 Cameron moves toward a second vote on bombing Syria Dave Brown on David Cameron 21 October 2015 Xi Jinping is lauded at a state banquet as British steelworkers lose their jobs, largely as a result of cheap Chinese steel imports Dave Brown on David Cameron 8 October 2015 Tory conference responds to Camerons keynote speech Dave Brown on David Cameron 6 October 2014 Clegg attempts to distance himself from Cameron Dave Brown on David Cameron 27 June 2014 Cameron and EU re-negotiation Dave Brown on David Cameron 1 December 2012 Cameron, Murdoch and the Leveson Report In a sign that the appetite for austerity measures may be waning, 50 per cent of Conservative supporters oppose more welfare cuts while only 36 per cent disagree. Further cuts are opposed by 84 per cent of Labour voters and 71 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters. The figures suggest that the Government may have to look elsewhere for savings if its sums do not add up or abandon Mr Osbornes plan to run a 10bn surplus by the 2020 general election. Public opinion on Europe has shifted in favour of continued membership in the past month, according to ORB. Some 51 per cent of people say that the UK should remain a member of the EU, while 49 per cent want to leave it. Last month ORB found that 52 per cent wanted to withdraw from the EU and 48 per cent to stay. The latest survey found that women (53 per cent) are more likely to support remaining in the EU than men (49 per cent). A majority of men (51 per cent) back leaving. So do a majority of Tory voters (56 per cent). There is a stark generation gap, with EU membership supported by 77 per cent of 18-24 year-olds but only 40 per cent of those aged 65 and over. In campaigners admit they face a huge challenge in persuading young adults to vote in the June referendum. Older voters are much more likely to turn out at general elections and so a differential turnout in June could decide the outcome. The result appears on a knife edge. Despite the narrow lead for the In camp, more people (44 per cent) say they have felt more inclined to vote to leave the EU in the past seven days than those who feel more inclined to vote to remain (40 per cent). Support for membership is highest in Scotland (62 per cent) and London (56 per cent) but lowest in the Eastern region, where 40 per cent want to remain and 60 per cent to leave. Four out of five people (81 per cent) agree that the terrorist attacks in Brussels highlight the need for EU nations to stand together against terrorism, while only 10 per cent disagree. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Negotiations for Britain to leave the European Union could last a whole decade, the former head of the civil service has said. Gus ODonnell argued it would be highly unlikely that a withdrawal would follow the timetable set out in EU rules. I'm in that camp that doesn't think we can do it in two years, the former cabinet secretary told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. We have to negotiate our entry to the single market, we have to negotiate our future relationship with the EU and then we have to negotiate our trade treaties with all other countries. So there's a lot to be done." Asked how long it could take for the UK to put together such a deal, Lord O'Donnell cited a Cabinet Office document which warns of a decade or more of uncertainty. Such a timescale would likely see at least two general elections pass during negotiations and possibly a change of government, where elected parties might take different views on whether to leave the bloc. What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Show all 5 1 /5 What's the European Parliament ever done for us? What's the European Parliament ever done for us? A cap on the amount of hours an employer can make you work The Working Time directive provides legal standards to ensure the health and safety of employees in Europe. Among the many rules are a working week of a maximum 48 hours, including overtime, a daily rest period of 11 hours in every 24, a break if a person works for six hours or more, and one day off in every seven. It also includes provisions for paid annual leave of at least four weeks every year Getty Images What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Helping the people of Britain to avoid smoking In 2014 MEPs passed the Tobacco Products Directive strengthening existing rules on the manufacture, production and presentation of tobacco products. This includes things like reduced branding, restrictions on products containing flavoured tobacco, health warnings on cigarette packets and provisions for e-cigarettes to ensure they are safe What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Helping you to make the right choices with your food Thanks to the European Parliament, UK consumers have access to more information than ever about their food and drink. This includes amount of fat, and how much of it is saturated, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and so on. It also includes portion sizes and guideline daily amount information so people can make informed choices about their diet. All facts must be clear and easy to understand What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Two year guarantees and 14-day returns policy for all products Consumers across the EU have access to a number of rights, from things which are potentially very useful, to things which used to be annoying. For example, shoppers in the UK receive a two-year guarantee on all products, and a 14-day period to change their minds and return a purchase, these things are useful www.PeopleImages.com-licence restrictions apply What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Keeping your air nice and fresh (and safe) Believe it or not, although the situation is improving, some areas of the UK have appalling air quality. A report by the Royal College of Physicians released on 23 February says 40,000 deaths are caused by outdoor air pollution in the UK every year. Air pollution is linked to a number of illnesses and conditions, from Asthma to diabetes and dementia. The report estimates the costs to British business and the health service add up to 20 billion every year The former cabinet secretary also argued that the French and German governments would be incentivised to make EU exit look more difficult because they were both facing anti-EU parties at their respective general elections. Frances National Front advocates EU exit while Germanys Alternative fur Deutschland only wants to pull only the European single currency. Eurosceptic Conservative minister Dominic Raab told the same programme that a new deal could be produced relatively soon, however. David Cameron, who is campaigning to stay in the EU, has previously described Brexit as a "leap in the dark". Lord O'Donnell was previously the cabinet secretary between 2005 and 2011. He now sits as an independent crossbench peer in the House of Lords. Britain is voting in a national referendum on whether to leave the EU on 23 June this year. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Scottish Conservatives were dubbed the party of hidden taxes, as its leader came under fire for her policy of charging university graduates up to 6,000 for their degrees and reintroducing NHS prescription fees. In heated exchanges during the second televised debate ahead of May's Holyrood election, Ruth Davidson was put under pressure by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to justify her plans to end Scotland's longstanding commitments to free higher education and free medicines for NHS patients. The Tory leader, who is hoping to see her party overtake Labour to become the official opposition at the Scottish Parliament, said she was in favour of charging students just over 1,500 a year for their university education. The fee, which would amount to 6,000 for those taking a standard four-year degree, would be paid after they had graduated and started earning. Ms Davidson added that standard NHS prescription charges would gradually increase to about 8, prompting Ms Sturgeon to retort: You're not the party of low taxes, you're the party of hidden taxes. As the exchanges between the leaders became increasingly fraught, Ms Davidson said: Am I allowed to answer or am I just here to be shouted at? Defending her policy on prescription fees, she added: One of the things that GPs have said to us is reintroducing a prescription charge for people that can afford to pay the NHS spends 10 million on paracetamol alone would help reduce demand and allow people to use pharmacists more and GPs less. Tax has become a key issue in the build up to the election, as the Scottish Parliament is due to be handed powers over income tax rates and bands from April next year. During the debate which also featured Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie and Scottish Green Party co-convener Patrick Harvie Ms Sturgeon was accused of letting Scotland down and being frozen to the spot by refusing to increase tax for people earning over 150,000. The First Minister has defended her decision not to raise the top rate of income tax to 50p straight away, claiming it could result in Scotland losing up to 30m a year due to high earners moving their money out of the country. The two-hour live debate, hosted by STV's political editor Bernard Ponsonby and held in front of a studio audience of voters at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, was the second of three scheduled by broadcasters ahead of the Holyrood election on 5 May. The BBC, which hosted the first event in Glasgow last week, is due to stage the final debate on 1 May. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary and rising star of the Tory party, has faced calls to resign after it emerged he planned to take a holiday in Australia while the UKs steel industry faced crisis and the loss of thousands of jobs. Mr Javid took his daughter with him on an official visit to Australia this week, and planned to extend the trip into a holiday, it has emerged. His trip coincided with the crunch Tata board meeting in Mumbai which led to the steel giants decision to sell its UK business. The Business Secretary cut short his trip to Sydney, for which he paid his daughters costs, after Tatas announcement but is only due back in the UK today, and is expected to visit the Welsh steel plant at Port Talbot, which is facing 4,000 job losses. The plants local MP, Labours Stephen Kinnock, said that given the magnitude of the threat to UK steel production, and suggestions his trip was not for entirely work-related reasons, Mr Javid should consider his position. A spokesman for the Business Secretary said: "We can confirm that Mr Javid's daughter accompanied him on his visit to Australia. There was no cost to the taxpayer." Mr Kinnock was in Mumbai earlier in the week with Community union leader Roy Rickhuss to lobby Tata to back a rescue plan for Port Talbot. "We have known for months that March 29 was going to be D-Day for the British steel industry, with up to 40,000 jobs on the line," he said. The Business Secretary was not even in the country, he chose to jet off to Australia. He should have been in Mumbai with me and Roy Rickhuss. "I really wonder whether, if they had steelworks in Oxfordshire, would we have this level of disengagement?" he added. The developments follow David Cameron's insistence that nationalising the industry is not the solution. He said: "The situation at Port Talbot is of deep concern. I know how important those jobs are. "Those jobs are vital to workers' families, vital to those communities and the Government will do everything it can working with the company to try and secure the future of steelmaking in Port Talbot and across our country, it's a vital industry." Mr Cameron said energy costs in the industry had been cut and the Government had helped to make sure there were penalties for steel dumping. "We are not ruling anything out. I don't believe nationalisation is the right answer." Around half of all British steel goes to other EU countries, the Prime Minister said. He added: "We need to be in there making sure the markets are open. If we were on the outside we might well find that it was our steel that was having those tariffs and those taxes put upon it." Amid signs of disarray in Whitehall, Downing Street has also rejected demands made by Jeremy Corbyn for the recall of Parliament. As criticism of the Governments handling of the crisis grew, Unite union boss Len McCluskey said the Prime Minister should take personal responsibility, warning that there was a risk not just to the British steel industry but to the UKs entire manufacturing base. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the Government should follow the example of Scotland, where the government temporarily purchased two steel plants at risk of closure, in order to sell them on to a new operator. He called for a steel taskforce with the Prime Minister at its head. Labours Shadow Chancellor echoed calls for the Government to follow the Scottish approach of temporary nationalisation. He told Today: "In the long-term, it will prove cost-effective. "It isn't just the cost of losing those jobs, as we've seen elsewhere it's the cost of devastation of whole communities and, remember, we will be paying out in unemployment benefits and other benefits to those people who lose their jobs. Tatas main board opted to pull the plug on its Tata Steel plants in Britain, which are losing nearly 1m a day, as soon as possible. It employs 15,000, including 4,000 at Port Talbot in south Wales where steel has been produced for more than a century. The IPPR think-tank calculated that a further 25,000 jobs depend directly on the company, including iron producers, coke and petroleum suppliers and machinery manufacturers. It said its calculations did not take into account the impact on local businesses of steel workers losing their livelihoods. Ministers pressed Tata to delay its plans to mothball the plants in order to identify potential buyers for its British business, but sent out conflicting signals over how best to rescue the steel jobs. Mr Cameron flew back from his family holiday in the Canary Islands to hold talks with ministers and officials on the situation. Recommended Read more Four charts that show why the UK steel industry is in crisis Downing Street is expected to focus on providing short-term state aid to Tata to keep its UK plants operating while one or more buyers are sought, although ministers would have to operate within European Union rules over state aid. The rival camps in the EU referendum campaign clashed over where the blame lies for the crisis. Vote Leave pointed to Britains inability to take unilateral action against cheap Chinese steel and to the blocs restrictions on state aid. But a spokesman for Britain Stronger in Europe said: Over half our steel exports go to the EU and leaving could actually make the situation worse. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Parliament should be recalled from recess so it can address the looming crisis facing British steelmaking, Jeremy Corbyn has said. Indian steelmaking firm Tata has announced it is to sell off the lossmaking parts of its UK steelmaking capacity. The companys Port Talbot site which provides jobs for 5,500 of the companys 15,000-strong UK steelmaking workforce is thought to be losing around 1 million a day. A train carries molten iron at the Tata steel plant in Port Talbot (PA) Despite the looming crisis the House of Commons is however in its customary Easter recess and is not currently sitting. MPs have returned to their constituencies and are not set to come back to Westminster until 11 April, just under two weeks time. The Labour leader said MPs needed to return to Parliament immediately hold ministers decisions to account. The news that Tata is preparing to pull out of steelmaking in Britain puts thousands of jobs across the country and a strategic UK-wide industry at risk, he said. MPs must have the chance now to debate the future of steel and hold ministers to account for their failure to intervene. Recommended Read more Redcar steelworks closure confirmed Steelworkers and their families will be desperately worried about the uncertainty. The Government is in disarray over what action to take. Ministers must act now to protect the steel industry, which is at the heart of manufacturing in Britain and vital to its future. It is essential, for the sake of the industry and the people who work in it, that Government keeps Parliament and the country informed of developments and the action it is taking. The call comes as Business Secretary Sajid Javid cuts short a trip to Australia to return to deal with the crisis. The Welsh Assembly has already been recalled on account of Port Talbots location in Wales. Downing Street said it was looking at Mr Corbyns request to recall parliament but that they were focused on helping steel workers. Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Show all 12 1 /12 Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn's reshuffle Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn and the Syria bombing vote Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn asks questions from the public at PMQs, meanwhile backbenchers plot to oust him Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn is unavailable to attend the Privy Council Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Conference rejects Corbyns call to debate Trident Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn At Labour conference Corbyn and McDonnell press for a Robin Hood tax Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyns hopes for a new politics look optimistic in the face of a media barrage Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn enters Labour leadership race Ministers say they are looking at all options for helping the beleaguered steelmaking industry and have not ruled out temporary nationalisation of steel plants until a long-term buyer is found. The BBC also reports that the Government is looking at providing loan guarantees for potential plant purchasers. Tata says it has been advised to undertake a strategic review of its operations in Europe. It recently shelved a 100 million restructuring programme at Port Talbot to modernise the site due to the perceived risks of the investment. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Temporarily nationalising steel plants could be an option for dealing with a sell-off by steelmakers Tata, a business minister has confirmed. Anna Soubry told the BBC that the Government could not permanently take steelmaking into public ownership because of European Union competition rules. The minister was however pressed on whether the state could hold the assets until a buyer was found and confirmed that the option was being looked at. Business minister Anna Soubry (Rex) We are, and have, and continue to look at, all options and I do mean all options, she said. But what we first want to achieve is from Tata is this period of time to allow a proper sale process. She however warned that Britain would have to be very careful to stay within European Union state aid rules in any rescue of the plant. Indian steelmaking firm Tata has announced it is to sell off the lossmaking parts of its UK steelmaking capacity. The companys Port Talbot site which provides jobs for 5,500 of the companys 15,000-strong UK steelmaking workforce is thought to be losing around 1 million a day. The company says it has been advised to undertake a strategic review of its operations in Europe. It recently shelved a 100 million restructuring progarmme at Port Talbot to modernise the site due to the perceived risks of the investment. The BBC also reports that the Government is looking at providing loan guarantees for potential long-term buyers of the plant. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for the state to take an active role in safeguarding the UKs manufacturing capacity. The Government must intervene immediately to protect UK jobs and British manufacturing, he said. Last year Mr Corbyn called for the Government to step in to save 1,200 steelmaking jobs in Redcar. Tata already announced 1,000 job cuts in January, including 750 at Port Talbot. In October it had previously announced 1,200 losses at other sites around the UK. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The multi-millionaire Tory candidate to be Mayor of London is facing an investigation by Parliaments sleaze watchdog over claims that he delayed revealing thousands of pounds worth of donations from rich society friends and family to the Commons authorities, The Independent can reveal. Kathryn Hudson, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, is looking into allegations the Zac Goldsmith omitted to declare donations totalling over 120,000 from the Register of Members Interests. Thirty of the donations some of which had been given as long ago as 2010 were only registered with Commons authorities in June five days before he announced he would run to be the Conservative mayoral candidate. Under Parliamentary rules MPs are required to register within 28 days any change in their registrable interests. Some of the donations, which were correctly registered with the Electoral Commission, are likely to prove embarrassing to the Goldsmith campaign. Among them was 2,000 from Beatrice Tollman - a businesswoman whose husband was convicted of tax fraud in the United States. Ms Tollman herself was charged with conspiracy to evade millions of dollars worth of tax in the US, charges that were dismissed by a judge in 2008. Mr Goldsmith is accused of only declaring donations - some of which go back to 2010 - until four days before he announced his candidacy for Mayor of London (Getty Images) The charges were dropped on the same day her husband, Stanley Tollman, pleaded guilty by agreement to a single count of tax evasion and agreed to pay more than $105 million to the US authorities in back taxes and penalties. Mr Goldsmiths agent said he was unaware of the donors history but was handing back the money after being made aware of her backstory by The Independent in June last year. Mr Goldsmiths mother Lady Annabel Goldsmith also gave her son nearly 30,000 some of which was also not declared to the Parliamentary authorities for four years. Among the other donation not reported were those from members of the Aspinall family and Robin Birley who used to own the Ivy Restaurant and recently opened high society members club 5 Hertford Street. The investigation follows a complaint by the Labour MP Neil Coyle who claimed there were serious omissions and irregularities in Zac Goldsmiths register of parliamentary interests. 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. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA It appears that Goldsmith has failed to correctly declare well over 120,000 of donations with some not registered with Parliament for over four years. These donations might be considered small change by Goldsmith, but there shouldnt be one rule for the former non-dom and another for everyone else, he said. Goldsmith has been investigated before by the Electoral Commission over exceeding spending limits during election campaigns and I believe a full investigation into these new revelations is required to get to the bottom of what looks like major breaches of Parliamentary rules. A spokeswoman for the Goldsmith campaign said: We will be complying with the Standards Commissioner in due course. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The family of the British tourist who posed for a photo with the EgyptAir hijacker have asked to be left alone when he returns to the UK. Ben Innes, who is originally from Leeds but now lives in Aberdeen, sent an image of himself to friends of him with Seif Eldin Mustafa - accompanied by the message You know your boy doesn't f*** about. Turn on the news lad!!! Mustafa is suspected of hijacking EgyptAir flight and forcing it to fly to Cyprus. Mr Innes mother Pauline told ITV News: "We are relieved beyond explanation that Ben and everyone is safe and well. "We do not know the facts about this as we have not spoken to Ben at any great length. "All we know is he is now safe and looking forward to coming home. "We would appreciate absolute privacy at this time as we are trying to come to terms with what has been a horrendous ordeal." The 26-year-old posed for the image of him with Mustafa wearing what later turned out to be a fake suicide belt made with mobile phone and described it as the best selfie ever. He told the Sun: "I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. I figured if his bomb was real Id nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it. In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Seif Eldin Mustafa, suspected of hijacking EgyptAir plane MS181, flashes the 'V' for victory sign as he leaves the court in Larnaca in a police car AFP/Getty Images In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Seif Eldin Mustafa wears handcuffs as he leaves the court in Larnaca escorted by Cypriot police AFP/Getty Images In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An EgyptAir flight 181 passenger embraces a family member after arriving at Cairo international airport Reuters In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane CCTV footage shows Seif Eldin Mustafa walking through a metal detector before being patted down by security Egypt Ministry of Interior In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Cypriot police guard the hijacked EgyptAir A320 plane at Larnaca Airport after it landed in Cyprus EPA In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Passengers evacuate a hijacked EgyptAir Airbus 320 plane at Larnaca airport, Cyprus Reuters In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An official boards a hijacked Egyptair A320 Airbus at Larnaca Airport in Larnaca, Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An Egypt Air Airbus A-320 sits on the tarmac of Larnaca aiport after it was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane A Cypriot policeman stands guard near a hijacked EgyptAir A320 plane at Larnaca Airport, Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Screen grabbed image taken from Flightradar24 of EgyptAir plane MS181 which has landed in Cyprus after being hijacked while flying from Alexandria to Cairo I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever. Mustafa allegedly forced to plane to land at Larnaca airport on Tuesday morning and made a series of series demands during the six-hour standoff - including the release of female political prisoners in Egypt, to see his ex-wife, to see an EU official and to be taken to another airport. Eventually he let most of the 62 people onboard leave with the exception of several crew members and three foreigners, including Mr Innes, before surrendering. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Human rights activists have called on the Nigerian government to take action as more than a year has passed since 300 children were abducted by Boko Haram. The militant group captured the children during a raid on an elementary school last year in Damasak and the children have not been returned since. A leading human rights group has called on the Nigerian government to speak out against the abduction, claiming that authorities "havent said a word" on the issue so far. Boko Haram conducted the raid in the trading town of Damasak, which is close to Nigers border, on 24 November 2014. Eye witnesses said armed men began sealing off roads and trapping residents, teachers and pupils. They then proceeded to shut school gates and lock doors to the premises. It is claimed that while being held there, the militants have been forcing their captives to learn the Koran. A number have reportedly died after ingesting putrid food, which resulted in severe diarrhea and vomitting. People who attempted to escape were reportedly shot dead. One teacher, who escaped for a short period but was recaptured and returned alive to the school said: I was held captive by Boko Haram for at least six days Corpses were on the street. They forced us to carry the corpses and go dispose of them in the river and there is nothing one could do about it. Another man who escaped after swimming across a river said: Those that were able to swim escaped and those that couldnt held on to the grass, and they were shot. Boko Haram is a terror group dedicated to establishing a state on Islamic fundamentalist lines, which has killed thousands of civilians and abducted thousands more, many of whom are children. One of the groups core aims is opposing what it considers Western education and take its name from the Hausa language for Western education is forbidden. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Human rights activists have said that while other cases have received international attention, such as an abduction at Chibok which sparked the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, the Damasak abduction has been largely ignored or forgotten by the international community. Mausi Segun, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch said: Three hundred children have been missing for a year, and yet there as not been a word from the Nigerian government. The authorities need to wake up and find out where the Damasak children and other captives are and take urgent steps to free them. Whatever its grievances against the Nigerian government, Boko Haram cannot justify the abduction of young children. Boko Haram leaders should immediately release everyone the group has abducted, cease all attacks on civilians, and stop using schools in support of its military efforts. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Kenyan wildlife rangers opened fire and a killed a lion after it strayed from a national park and attacked a man outside the capital of Nairobi. Wildlife officials, who had planned to capture the animal, decided to shoot after a mob gathered around the lion. They feared more people would be injured. Footage of the incident was captured on a mobile phone, showing the lion trying to attack a man and residents perched on the back of trucks. Paul Udoto, from Kenya's wildlife service, said the animal was killed by wildlife officials after it had injured a man in the Kajiado district some 35 miles from the Kenyan capital. Mr Utodo said: It had injured somebodythere was a crowd that had formed around it, so it was practically impossible to capture it the way we planned to." David Kipkemei, a police spokesman, said the size of the crowd was growing and excitement was there, which triggered the animal to be wild. The most controversial animal killings Show all 6 1 /6 The most controversial animal killings The most controversial animal killings Cincinnati Zoo worker shots and kills Harambe, the 17-year-old gorilla Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker after a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosure and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe. The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to kill Harambe. A number of primatologists and conservationists wrote later that the zoo had no other choice under the circumstances, and that it highlighted the danger of zoo animals in close proximity to humans and the need for better standards of care Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden The most controversial animal killings Walt Palmer (left), from Minnesota, who killed Cecil, the Zimbabwean lion (pictured here with another lion shot in Africa) Walter James Palmer has been named by Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force as the shooter of Cecil, a 13-year-old prized lion. He is now wanted by Zimbabwe officials on poaching charges. The lion was protected and the subject of a decade long study by the Wildlife Unit of Oxford University in the UK. He was outfitted with a GPS collar and was killed in Hwange National Park. The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said that two men were charged with poaching in connection to Mr Palmer The most controversial animal killings Kendall Jones hunting images Kendall Jones, a 19-year-old Texas Tech university student, has provoked worldwide fury after posting pictures of herself smiling next to animals she hunted, including a lion, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, elephant, zebra and hippopotamus The most controversial animal killings Rebecca Francis hunting images Rebecca Francis, a huntress who has killed dozens of wild animals has been sent death wishes by furious social media users after a picture showing her lying down next to a dead giraffe was circulated. Rebecca Francis has a website and Facebook page dedicated to the animals she has killed in hunts across Africa and America. Francis, a prolific hunter who has also co-hosted the television show Eye of the Hunter, regularly posts pictures of herself posing next to dead bears, giraffes, buffaloes and zebras, among other animals. She uses a bow and arrow to kill her prey The most controversial animal killings The slaughter of Marius, an 18-month-old healthy giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo Copenhagen Zoo made the controversial decision to euthanise a healthy giraffe named Marius, which was later dissected and fed to lions as visitors watched. The slaughter sparked a furious backlash from social media users and zoo staff have received death threats by phone and email. Soon after the incident, Copenhagen Zoo faced an international outcry once again after four healthy lions were put down The most controversial animal killings Swiss Dahlholzli zoo kills healthy brown bear cub A Switzerland zoo faced heavy criticism from animal rights groups, after keepers put down a healthy brown bear cub to spare it from being bullied by its dominant male father. The 360 kg male bear Misha had already killed one of his 11-week old cubs in public and was bullying the second, staff at the zoo said, because he was jealous of the attention the cubs were receiving from their mother, Masha. Both adult brown bears had been donated to Berns Dahlholzli zoo in 2009. Campaigners condemned staff there for not separating the cubs, who are being referred to as Baby Bear Two and Baby Bear Three, and their mother from Misha after their birth in January Facebook He added: "I expected KWS [Kenyan Wildlife Service] to disable the animal but not to kill the animal." There was no further information about the nature of the injuries inflicted on the man outside Nairobi. It is the second incident in March involving a stray lion. A lion mauled a pedestrian in the capital before being captured on 18 March. "The mob had formed and in the process somebody got injured, and by the time the veterinary and security teams got to the ground it was already beyond salvation," Mr Udoto said. "With that commotion we risked more injuries or even possible deaths." Nairobi National Park lies on the city limits, providing visitors views of lions, rhinos, giraffes, zebras and other wildlife against a backdrop of high-rise buildings. Lions are occasionally spotted in the city close to the park after they find a way through fences that protect the built-up areas near the reserve. Additional reporting by Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Cameroons healthcare system has come under fire after the relative of a dead woman attempted to deliver her twins by cutting open her stomach with razorblades. Only one of the babies was alive but it also died a short while after the procedure took place outside the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala, according to reports. The female relative, who has no medical training, was one of four people to be arrested and placed on bail following the incident. According to a GoFundMe page, launched to raise money to pay for the funeral of Ms Koumate, blame for her death earlier in March has been placed on Cameroon's "inadequate and negligent health care system. An update on the page informs that Ms Koumates corpse and that of her babies are being detained for investigation and will later be released to her husband and family for burial. On 12 March, the 31-year-old, who already has three children, was taken to the hospital by family members when she fell ill. They were directed to the maternity ward of the Laquintinie Hospital, but two employees there said Ms Koumate had already died the time and location of death remains unclear. The hospital staff, one of whom is believed to be the on-duty midwife, told her relatives to take her to the mortuary. Ms Koumates mother, Marie Sen, told the BBC: The mortuary attendant even came and said the babies were still kicking inside the stomach. We went to the maternity ward [again] but they chased us away. According to some reports, the hospital refused to help deliver the twins because Ms Koumates family could not afford to pay for a Caesarean section. Consequently a relative of Ms Koumate, named by the BBC as Takeh Rose, used some razorblades to try and deliver the twins outside the hospital. Ms Rose, the mortuary attendant, the on-duty midwife and the on-duty nurse were all arrested and released on bail as the investigation continues. Mobile phone footage of the incident was shared on social media, and a few days later, residents of Douala protested against the country's healthcare system outside the state-run hospital. One protestor told the KamerVibe website: We cannot continue to let Cameroonians die. It is unacceptable that those who do not have money, die in our hospitals. That ends today, we [mobilised] this protest to express our dissatisfaction. Andre Mama Fouda, Cameroons health minister, said the staff of the hospital were not at fault. In a statement from a press conference after Ms Koumates death, Mr Fouda said: Its a horrible act and Cameroon is very very sad with this. I will inform you that the security forces continue to survey the midwife, the major, the woman and the personnel of the mortuary. I will say that, it is not a problem of negligence in [Laquintinie] hospital in Douala. This problem is terrible and together we continue to survey and we will have all aspects of this problem for the near future," he said, according to CRTV. But in a Facebook post, Justice Ayah Paul Abine, a Supreme Court judge, criticised the health minister for absolving the hospital staff of blame. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Officials at a primary school in Alaska have reportedly uncovered a plot hatched by three pupils to kill one of their classmates by poisoning their lunch. Reports said the three youngsters at the Winterberry Charter School in Anchorage had been disciplined after another pupil overheard their plot and informed a teacher. It transpired the trio believed they could kill their classmate using silica gel - a substance that is not toxic. The incident was first uncovered last week, according to officials from the Anchorage School District (ASD) officials. The pupils apparently thought they could kill their classmate using silica gel (YouTube) Given such a young age, its not clear if they knew what they were doing, if it was just a threat or something more serious, said Heidi Embley told the Alaska Dispatch News. Without revealing any information as to what occurred during the investigation, there are a lot of conversations to get an understanding of what actually happened, how the students were feeling. The youngsters apparently obtained some plastic packets of silica gel from the inside of a sealed food bag. They brought them to school with the intention of putting them inside their classmates food. The students had thought the packets contained poison, said Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Castro. The plot was not actually carried out. Reports said the police became involved when the plot was reported to the elementary schools resource officer. Officials said the officer spoke with all three students and declined to file charges. Ms Embley said that a letter to parents was sent out the same day the plot was discovered. She said safety was the schools top priority and added that the school district took all threats to student safety very seriously. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Womens rights activists have defied and condemned Donald Trumps proposal to ban abortion and to enforce punishment for women who terminate their pregnancies. Hillary Clinton responded to the news: Just when you thought it couldnt get worse. Horrific and telling." NARAL Pro-Choice America reminded its followers on twitter that one in three women will have an abortion by the age of 45. Not only is this an unhinged position far from where the American people are, but it is sure to endanger women were he to become president, the organisation said in a statement. According to figures from NARAL, seven out of 10 Americans support legal abortion. The comments come at a difficult time in the US, where the federal government has reduced restrictions around women taking the abortion pill, yet states like Utah are passing new laws to require women to undergo a general anesthetic if they have an abortion after 20 weeks. Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, told The Independent that Donald Trump's comments "go further" and are "more extreme" than any current or proposed anti-abortion law around the country. "The last thing we need is to send women to jail just because they've made their own healthcare choices," she said. "I don't think there would be support for these kinds of penalties." Meanwhile the US Supreme Court is currently debating on whether to up hurdles on Texas abortion clinics, potentially severely restricting women's access to family planning in the state. EMILYs List, an organization that focuses on getting pro-choice Democratic women to run for office, also spoke out against the proposed ban. Communications director Marcy Stech said the last person women need to police their health care decisions is someone who has also called women fat pigs, bimbos and disgusting animals. Republicans are about to nominate a truly dangerous man to lead their fight to restrict womens access to abortion, she said. Even pro-life organizations have spoken against Mr Trumps proposal. Mr Trumps comment is completely out of touch with the pro-life movement, said Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life Education and Defense Fund. This is against the very nature of what we are about, she added. Texas Senator Ted Cruz has spoken out to say his own focus is on those who perform abortions, not punish women who choose to terminate their pregnancy. Mr Trump said to reporters in 1999 that he was pro-choice and did not want to ban abortion, even if the thought of an abortion made him "cringe". Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The campus of Yale University is famous for its stone architecture and greenery, but not so much for its sandy beaches. Florida Governor Rick Scott would like to change that and has let Yale know that if the Ivy League university is ever looking for a home outside Connecticut, Florida would be waiting with open arms. "We would welcome a world-renowned university like Yale to our state," Gov. Scott said in a statement, before adding, "And I can commit that we will not raise taxes on their endowment." The mention of increased taxes on the university's $25 billion endowment is a reference to a proposal in the Connecticut legislature that would hike taxes to cover increasing deficits in the coming years. But it appears that Yale will be staying put, as a spokesman for Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy said the state has no intention of imposing heavier taxes on Yale's endowment. The top 10 universities in the world Show all 10 1 /10 The top 10 universities in the world The top 10 universities in the world 1. California Institute of Technology The top 10 universities in the world 2. University of Oxford The top 10 universities in the world 3. Stanford University The top 10 universities in the world 4. University of Cambridge The top 10 universities in the world 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology The top 10 universities in the world 6. Harvard University The top 10 universities in the world 7. Princeton University The top 10 universities in the world 8. Imperial College London The top 10 universities in the world 9. ETH Zurich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich The top 10 universities in the world 10. University of Chicago "Many proposals are put forward during the legislative session and many stay as just that -- proposals," Devon Puglia told the Hartford Courant, "We value Yale, the students it educates, the research and innovation it generates, and the neighborhoods it strengthens in New Haven. As the governor made clear, we don't believe that new taxes should be part of our solution as Connecticut adjusts to a new economic reality." Not that Yale ever even considered Gov. Scott's offer, which was always more of a hopeful joke than serious proposal. "It's wonderful to be recognized as an outstanding asset, but Yale, New Haven and Connecticut have been on common group to great mutual benefit for 300 years," Yale spokesman Tom Conroy said to the Associated Press. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A heroin addict whose powerful story inspired Barack Obama to push for drug policy reform has died at the age of 30. Jessica Grubb died of an overdose after she was prescribed powerful opioid pain medication following unrelated surgery. As the Huffington Post reported, she was let down by a treatment system that continues to resist openness and evidence-based practices when it comes to getting addicts the help they need. Hours after the news of her death emerged, the President spoke at a national summit on drug abuse and heroin in Atlanta and declared that addiction should no longer be treated as a criminal problem. Ms Grubbs story came to Mr Obamas attention when her parents spoke to him on her behalf at an event in West Virginia last October. Her father David Grubb, like Mr Obama himself, was a state senator and community organiser, a lawyer and a father to multiple daughters. Ms Grubb first overdosed on heroin, but was revived by paramedics, on 15 August last year. Now, four stints in rehab and a total of seven years battling addiction have finally taken their toll. In a letter to David, published in the Huffington Post, Mr Obama told her father: Your willingness to share your familys story left a powerful impression on me, and has helped accelerate efforts to deal with this national epidemic of addiction. Please know you are in our thoughts and prayers, and that your advocacy will make a difference. Addressing the Rx summit on Tuesday, Mr Obama compared drug addiction to tobacco consumption and road traffic deaths, calling for a similar public health approach. If we take the same approach here we can make a difference, he said. Mr Obama said government policy had been shifting slowly since the start of his administration but in your last year in office you just get a little loose. For too long we have viewed the problem of drug abuse in our society through the lens of the criminal justice system, he said. But what we have to recognise is in this global economy of ours, that the most important thing we can do is to reduce demand for drugs. And the only way to reduce demand is if we provide treatment and think about this as a public health problem and not just a criminal problem. World's 10 deadliest street drugs Show all 10 1 /10 World's 10 deadliest street drugs World's 10 deadliest street drugs Whoonga Whoonga is a combination of antiretroviral drugs, used to treat HIV, and various cutting agents such as detergents and poisons. The drug is widely available in South Africa due to South Africas high rate of HIV sufferers, and is believed to be popular due to how cheap it is when compared to prescribed antiretrovirals. The drug is highly addictive and can cause major health issues such as internal bleeding, stomach ulcers and ultimately death Getty World's 10 deadliest street drugs Scopolamine Scopolamine is a derivative from the nightshade plant found in the Northern Indian region of South America (Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela). It is generally found in a refined powder form, but can also be found as a tea. The drug is more often used by criminals due its high toxicity level (one gram is believed to be able to kill up to 20 people) making it a strong poison. However, it is also believed that the drug is blown into the faces of unexpecting victims, later causing them to lose all sense of self-control and becoming incapable of forming memories during the time they are under the influence of the drug. This tactic has reportedly been used by gangs in Colombia where there have been reports of people using scopolamine as way to convince victims to rob their own homes World's 10 deadliest street drugs Heroin Founded in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, heroin is one of the worlds oldest drugs. Originally it was prescribed as a strong painkiller used to treat chronic pain and physical trauma. However in 1971 it was made illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Since then it has become one of the most destructive substances in the world, tearing apart communities and destroying families. The side effects of heroin include inflammation of the gums, cold sweats, a weak immune system, muscular weakness and insomnia. It can also damage blood vessels which can later cause gangrene if left untreated World's 10 deadliest street drugs Crack cocaine Crack cocaine first came about in the 1980s when cocaine became a widespread commodity within the drug trafficking world. Originally cocaine would have attracted a high price tag due to its rarity and difficulty to produce, but once it became more widespread the price dropped significantly. This resulted in drug dealers forming their cocaine into rock like shapes by using baking soda as a way of distilling the powder down into rock form. People were doing this because it allowed for them to sell cocaine at a lower quantity and to a higher number of people. The side effects of crack cocaine include liver, kidney and lung damage, as well as permanent damage to blood vessels, which can often lead to heart attacks, strokes, and ultimately death World's 10 deadliest street drugs Crystal meth Not just famous because of a certain Walter H White, but also because it is one of the most destructive drugs in the world. First developed in 1887, it became widely used during the Second World War when both sides would give it to their troops to keep them awake. It is also believed that the Japanese gave it to their Kamikaze pilots before their suicide missions. After the war crystal meth was prescribed as a diet aid and remained legal until the 1970s. Since then it has fallen into the hands of Mexican gangs and has become a worldwide phenomenon, spreading throughout Europe and Asia. The effects of crystal meth are devastating. In the short-term users will become sleep depraved and anxious, and in the long-term it will cause their flesh to sink, as well as brain damage and damage of the blood vessels World's 10 deadliest street drugs AH-7921 AH-7921 is a synthetic opioid that was previously available to legally purchase online from vendors until it became a Class A in January 2015. The drug is believed to have 80% of the potency of morphine, and became known as the legal heroin. While there has only been one death related to AH-7921 in the UK, it is believed to be highly dangerous and capable of causing respiratory arrest and gangrene World's 10 deadliest street drugs Flakka Flakka is a stimulant with a similar chemical make-up to the amphetamine-like drug found in bath salts. While the drug was originally marketed as a legal high alternative to ecstasy, the effects are significantly different. The user will feel an elevated heart rate, enhanced emotions, and, if enough is digested, strong hallucinations. The drug can cause permanent psychological damage due to it affecting the mood regulating neurons that keep the minds serotonin and dopamine in check, as well as possibly causing heart failure World's 10 deadliest street drugs Bath salts Bath salts are a synthetic crystalline drug that is prevalent in the US. While they may sound harmless, they certainly arent the sort of salts you drop into a warm bath when having a relaxing night in, they are most similar to mephedrone, and have recently been featured throughout social media due to the zombification of its. The name comes from the fact that the drug was originally sold online, and widely disguised as bath salts. The side effects include unusual psychiatric behaviour, psychosis, panic attacks and violent behaviour, as well as the possibility of a heart attack and an elevated body temperature World's 10 deadliest street drugs Purple Drank One of the more unusual drugs around at the moment, purple drank was popularised in 90s hip hop culture, with the likes of Jay Z and Big Moe all mentioning it in their songs. It is a concoction of soda water, sweets and cold medicine, and is drunk due to cold medicines high codeine content, which gives the user a woozy feeling. However it can also cause respiratory issues and heart failure World's 10 deadliest street drugs Krokodil Krokodil is Russias secret addiction. It is believed that over one million Russians are addicted to the drug. Users of krokodil are attracted to the drug due to its low price; it is sold at 20 a gram while heroin is sold for 60. However, krokodil is considered more dangerous than heroin because it is often homemade, with ingredients including painkillers, iodine, lighter fluid and industrial cleaning agents. This chemical make-up makes the drug highly dangerous and likely to cause gangrene, and eventually rotting of the flesh Mr Obama said he recognised the politics of the issue were difficult, but the White House has committed more than $1 billion to a funding initiative to fight the epidemic. Criticising the enormous resources put into drug interdiction and the jails full of folks who cant function when they get out, the President said the cost incentive was clear for changing the way drug addiction is dealt with on a state level. Part of what has made it difficult to emphasise treatment over the criminal justice system has to do with the fact that the populations affected in the past were stereotypically identified as poor and minority. As a consequence, the thinking was it is often a character flaw in those individuals in those communities and its not a problem because they are just being locked up. One of thing thats has changed in this opioid debate is the recognition that this affects everybody. Mr Obama heard from a year-long recovering addict on the panel in Atlanta named Crystal Oertle, who told of how she would use heroin in her bathroom while her children were out at school. And he may have been thinking of Ms Grubb when he said: I want to make sure that for all the other Crystals out there who are ready to make a change, they dont have to wait three months, six months in order to be able to access treatment. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The prospect for open warfare breaking out within the Republican party has become ever more likely after Donald Trump renounced his promise to support whomever becomes the partys candidate. Last autumn there was much speculation about whether the tycoon would agree to support the eventual nominee, rather than running as a third party candidate. He eventually held a press conference and produced with something of a flourish, a piece of paper he claimed was the pledge of loyalty he had just signed in the presence of Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus. Yet after weeks during which the Republican establishment has done everything it can to halt the billionaires rise, Mr Trump on Tuesday night indicated that he was no longer standing by the loyalty pledge. Ted Cruz has told Donald Trump to leave his wife 'the hell alone' (Getty) Appearing at a so-called town hall meeting organised by CNN, Mr Trump was asked if he stood by the pledge to support the eventual nominee. He replied: No, I dont anymore. No, well see who it is. Mr Trumps closest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, had previously also promised he would support the partys nominee for president. Yet after a series of ugly spats involving the two candidates wives and sensational tabloid allegations - denied by MrCruz - that he was hiding five affairs, the Texas senator has also refused to repeat that promise. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY When the question was put to him, he replied: I am not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family. Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. We are going to beat him. The third Republican candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich, who has positioned himself as a traditional conservative in contrast to Mr Trumps populism and Mr Cruzs conservative purism, has also suggested he would not back Mr Trump as the candidate. Republican presidential candidate John Kasich has positioned himself as a traditional conservative (Reuters) He said that if the nominee was someone who is really hurting the country and dividing the country, then he he was not sure he would support them. Pressed by the CNN moderator as to whether he was saying he thought that was what Mr Trump was doing, Mr Kasich declined to elaborate. The row adds further fuel to an already heated Republican campaign. While Mr Trump remains the frontrunner, it is very possible that he will not secure the number of delegates he needs to secure the nomination outright before the partys convention in July. Such a scenario has not taken place since 1976. A number of senior Republican figures have already made clear their plans to try and stop Mr Trump if, as many political observers believe, the convention becomes contested. It raises the prospect of no little chaos and emotion. On Tuesday night, Mr Trump also stepped up his support for his campaign manager who has been charged with battery, after a female reporter, Michelle Fields, said he manhandled her and left her arms bruised. Shes not a baby, Mr Trump said of the reporter, suggesting that she had overstated what happened. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has served public notice that he has no intention of firing his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, even after police in Florida formally charged him with battery in a case brought by a female news reporter who said he forcibly grabbed her arm at a press event. It would be the easiest thing to say, Corey, youre fired, he said campaigning in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, a week before the state holds a pivotal primary in the presidential nomination race. I cant do that. I cant destroy a man, he has a beautiful wife and I am not going to destroy a man for that. The filing of charges against Mr Lewandowski on Tuesday morning has become the latest in a series of unexpected distractions on the Republican campaign trail. Last week, it was a toxic spat between Mr Trump and his nearest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, over the reputations of their respective wives. Corey Lewandowski had said he 'never touched' Ms Fields (Getty Images) A question and answer session near the end of an event with supporters in a hotel ballroom in Janesville, in southern Wisconsin, suddenly devolved into Mr Trump assailing Mr Lewandowskis accuser, a reporter named Michelle Fields who alleged that the campaign manager grasped and pulled her arm at the end of a Trump press conference in Florida on 8 March, causing it to bruise. Noting that in a video of the alleged attack released by police Ms Fields hardly seemed to flinch at the moment at issue, Mr Trump queried her sincerity. Wouldnt you start screaming or something? Did you see a change in her face? One supporter in the room, a woman, said she hadnt seen Ms Fields show any reaction either. I ran it on wide screen, she yelled to the candidate. There was nothing! Earlier the Trump campaign formally sided with Mr Lewandowski. Mr Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge. He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated, Hope Hicks, a campaign spokesperson, said. But Mr Cruz, who is neck and neck with Mr Trump in Wisconsin, wasted little time before seeking to turn the affair against the former reality TV host. Unfortunately, this abusive behaviour seems to be part of the culture of the Trump campaign, a Cruz spokesperson said. Personal attacks, verbal attacks, and now physical attacks, have no place in politics or anywhere else in our society. Corey Lewandowski is accused of assaulting a journalist at a campaign event (Reuters) Off the campaign trail for the past week, Mr Trump vowed to remain in Wisconsin until the primary next Tuesday. He was greeted by news that the Governor of the State, Scott Walker, who gave up his own bid for the nomination last September, had endorsed Mr Cruz. Several other prominent Republicans in the state, including talk radio personalities, have also joined in calling for a Trump defeat next week. Mr Trump repeatedly challenged the reputation of Mr Walker, reeling off a list of negative economic and jobs statistics for the state. You have a governor who has you convinced that it (the state) doesnt have problems, he mocked. He drew loud boos and evinced surprise when he asked the crowd if they liked House speaker Paul Ryan who lives in Janesville. Send him over the wall, someone in the room called out. The anti-Trump movement also found voice on Tuesday in a blistering editorial in the states biggest newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which called the billionaire an un-American candidate who is utterly unfit to be president, citing his impossible and disruptive immigration proposals and his blustering anti-Muslim rhetoric that is helping to recruit terrorists. People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Show all 8 1 /8 People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Miley Cyrus 'God he thinks he is the f***ing chosen one or some shit! Honestly f*** this sh*t I am moving if this is my president! I dont say things I dont mean!' Jemal Countess/Getty Images People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Whoopi Goldberg 'I dont think thats America. I dont want it to be America. Maybe its time for me to move you know' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Samuel L. Jackson 'If that mother**er becomes president, Im moving my black ass to South Africa' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Raven Symone 'My confession for this election is, if any Republican gets nominated, Im gonna move to Canada with my entire family. Is that bad? I already have my ticket. I literally bought my ticket, I swear' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Cher 'If he were to be elected, I'm moving to Jupiter' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Neve Campbell 'Im terrified. Its really scary. My biggest fear is that Trump will triumph. I cannot believe that he is still in the game ... [I'll] move back to Canada' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Jon Stewart 'I would consider getting in a rocket and going to another planet, because clearly this planets gone bonkers' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Randy Blythe 'He could just be a clown. If he is the president, though, I am leaving America 'till he's gone' A Trump presidency would float a river polluted by hyperbole and misstatement, tacking left to right, right left, claiming up is down, white is black, night is day. A reality TV wonderland, it offered. Wisconsin can be the beginning of the end of all this reality television nonsense. Voters can do the nation a huge service on April 5. An intimate venue by the standards of this campaign, the hotel ballroom in Janesville had been set up with a large pen into which Mr Trump strode to address only a thousand voters. (Thousands remained outside unable to get in.) Inside the enclosure with him stood Secret Service officers, two in Kevlar. Security has become a paramount concern since violence between supporters and protests caused the campaign to cancel an event in Chicago four weeks ago. The events of that night have led critics of Mr Trump to accuse of him deliberately stirring an atmosphere of physical confrontation with his comments including one when he said he felt like punching a protestor who had been interrupting him. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Police are investigating claims that a teenage girl was pepper-sprayed and sexually assaulted while attending a Donald Trump rally. The incident appears to have been caught on camera and posted on social media. Officers in Janesville, Wisconsin, said they were searching for two men, one of them for allegedly sexually assaulting the 15-year-old who was protesting against Mr Trump, and another man who allegedly pepper sprayed both the teenager and a 19-year-old woman. Both women were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Police said the girl was peppered-sprayed in the crowd by a non-law enforcement person. Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters and supporters had gathered outside the Holiday Inn Express in southern Wisconsin, where Mr Trump was holding his maiden rally in the state ahead of Tuesday's primary. The girl, who was among those trying to see the Republican frontrunner, was close to a group of anti-Trump protesters, when she accused a man with greying hair of groping her. You f**king touched me, she is heard exclaiming. She pushed him off and tried to punch him in a scuffle that lasted nearly a minute. People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Show all 8 1 /8 People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Miley Cyrus 'God he thinks he is the f***ing chosen one or some shit! Honestly f*** this sh*t I am moving if this is my president! I dont say things I dont mean!' Jemal Countess/Getty Images People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Whoopi Goldberg 'I dont think thats America. I dont want it to be America. Maybe its time for me to move you know' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Samuel L. Jackson 'If that mother**er becomes president, Im moving my black ass to South Africa' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Raven Symone 'My confession for this election is, if any Republican gets nominated, Im gonna move to Canada with my entire family. Is that bad? I already have my ticket. I literally bought my ticket, I swear' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Cher 'If he were to be elected, I'm moving to Jupiter' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Neve Campbell 'Im terrified. Its really scary. My biggest fear is that Trump will triumph. I cannot believe that he is still in the game ... [I'll] move back to Canada' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Jon Stewart 'I would consider getting in a rocket and going to another planet, because clearly this planets gone bonkers' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Randy Blythe 'He could just be a clown. If he is the president, though, I am leaving America 'till he's gone' A younger man then made his way to the melee and aimed his pepper spray so it hit her between the eyes at point blank range. She reacted by pushing this male back and as she pushed the male back, Janesville Police Chief David Moore confirmed. Another person presented some pepper spray and sprayed her in the face. The girl was later taken to a local hospital for treatment before being released. The older man, named as Dan Crandall, later stepped forward and told reporters he had done nothing to her. I didnt touch her, he told the Wisconsin State Journal. The police said the event was otherwise peaceful in spite of the presence of scores of protestors denouncing Mr Trump. One protestor who made it inside the hotel was led out by security when he tried to brandish anti-Trump signs to the banks of TV cameras. Mr Trump has been accused repeatedly of failing to do more to prevent violence at his rallies. He always claims that For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Burmas first genuinely civilian government in 54 years has been sworn in, with Aung San Suu Kyi taking charge of three ministries and the presidents office. It was a powerfully emotional occasion for the millions of Burmese who have struggled for a generation to bring an end to military rule, and who realised their dreams last November when Suu Kyis party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory in the general election. But Burmas constitution imposes a three-month gap between elections and the transfer of power and only now does the new government take charge. Recommended Read more How Aung San Suu Kyi will govern Burma despite presidency ban The new president, U Htin Kyaw, 69, is a former civil servant who in recent years has had a role in managing a charity named after Suu Kyis late mother. A member of the NLD since the 1990s, and the son of one of the partys founders, he has never played an active role in politics, and is not an MP in the new parliament. But the crucial fact is that he is a close and trusted friend of Suu Kyi, who has known him since they were at the same Rangoon high school together. As she has made clear on numerous occasions over the past three or four years, it was fully her intention to become president herself. And as she is by far the most popular politician in the country, and the undisputed controlling figure in her party, a Suu Kyi presidency would have met with wide popular approval. But clause 59(f) of the constitution bars anyone with a foreign spouse or child from running for the top job. Suu Kyii, whose late husband was an Oxford Tibetologist, has two grown-up sons, one with a British and one with an American passport. Myanmar elects new president In the three-month interregnum which has just ended, Suu Kyi had several meetings with top military brass to try to persuade them to allow her to become president but in the end they were unwilling. So the presidency of U Htin Kyaw is, from her point of view, second best. She has no intention of letting him off the leash: in a press conference before the general election she declared that, if barred from the presidency, she would rule above the president. That is what she will now proceed to do. And now we have a better idea of how, in practical terms, she will attempt to do it: taking three vital ministerial portfolios, foreign, education, and energy, as well as being minister in the Presidents office. Super-minister is how Burmese are now referring to her. As leader of the NLD, Suu Kyi has never been known for her expertise at delegating power even within her own office. How she will juggle these numerous complex tasks remains to be seen. In his brief inaugural speech after being sworn in, President Htin Kyaw said: The new government will try with commitment to fulfil the peoples long-standing political desires. He promised that his government would work towards establishing a constitution that would guarantee a federal democracy and the lifting up of peoples lives, and that it would strive for national reconciliation and achieving peace. But he also urged people not to expect instant results. We need to be patient to reach our goals. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The early priorities for the government are expected to include taking steps towards bringing peace on the borders, where numerous wars between ethnic armies and the state have been under way practically since independence from Britain in 1948, and deciding what to do about Myitsone, a huge dam being built by the Chinese in Kachin state, in the far north. President Thein Sein suspended work on the project more than four years ago under great popular pressure, but the Chinese are eager to get the project back on track. It is controversial because it involves damming the Irrawaddy river, a symbol of Burmese nationhood, and nearly all the electricity generated will be sent back to China, despite Burmas acute energy shortage. This is why Suu Kyis decision to take the energy portfolio is particularly significant. Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw on Wednesday (AP) Another issue on which the outside world will be hoping for early and decisive action will be the ugly situation in Arakan state, in the far west, where tens of thousands of stateless Rohingya Muslims are living in squalid camps after serious outbreaks of communal violence in 2012. Peace has returned to the state and, in one of his last acts, President Thein Sein this week lifted the martial law which has been in place in the state since the violence erupted. But life in the state is very far from normal, and given the domination of the state legislature by Arakanese nationalists who are known to be hostile to the Rohingya, it is unlikely that Suu Kyi will be able to do much to ameliorate the situation in the short term, supposing she even wishes to do so. One potential risk the country faces is that, rather than tackling any of these urgent issues, Suu Kyi may concentrate on trying to change the constitution, which gives three vital ministries, home, defence, and border affairs, to the army, as well as giving them 25 per cent of MPs and control of the National Defence and Security Council, which has the right to declare martial law. But this constitution has been made infernally difficult to change, and the top generals have made it abundantly clear that they dont want it changed, at least in the short term. Concentration on this issue could bog the new government down in fruitless negotiations, frittering away the popular good will it has worked so hard to gain. 'The Lady and the Generals: Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Struggle for Freedom by Peter Popham is published by Rider For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} North Korea is accepting aid from an American NGO despite claiming that the nation is its biggest enemy, it has been claimed. The dictatorship is known for its vocal opposition to the US and regularly threatens to wipe the country out with a nuclear strike. However, an American aid organisation has said that it has delivered its first package to North Korea. The Eugene Bell Foundation is a non-government organisation, or NGO, which specialises in distributing treatment for tuberculosis and has successfully delivered its first batch to the regime. The foundation revealed the news in a special announcement seen by The Daily Telegraph, which says: Despite the ongoing tensions surrounding the Korean peninsula this year, we are happy to announce that our spring shipment of medications and supplies for our multidrug-resistant treatment program have arrived in North Korea. We would like to extend a special thanks to all those who have helped make this possible. Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea A man cuts the hair of a young boy at an apartment building in Pyongyang. High rise apartments are a common form of accommodation for people living in the capital city AP Photo/Dita Alangkara Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea North Koreans pause to give way for passing vehicles as they cross a road in Pyongyang. AP Photo/Dita Alangkara Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea North Koreans wait for public transportation at a bus stop in Pyongyang AP Photo/Dita Alangkara Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea A woman and her daughter walk past a North Korean flag hung on a utility pole as part of celebrations of the Liberation Day in Pyongyang AP Photo/Dita Alangkara Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea People attending the conference for national reunification as they observe their 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation, marking the end of World War II, in Panmunjom AFP PHOTO / KCNA via KNS REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea A man looks at items at a stamp shop in Pyongyang AP Photo/Dita Alangkara Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea North Koreans participate in a closing event for its celebration of the 70th anniversary of Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, at the truce village inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas in Panmunjom, North Korea. The country changed it's timezone on the occasion. North Korea introduced 'Pyongyang time' and pushed back its clocks by half an hour on 15 August, the same as before the Japanese occupation when the standard time used by the Korean empire was eight and a half hours ahead of GMT, instead of nine hours, which is Tokyo time EPA/KCNA SOUTH KOREA OUT Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea People attending the conference for national reunification as they observe their 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation, marking the end of World War II, in Panmunjom AFP PHOTO / KCNA via KNS Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea Youths and students attending an evening gala at the Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation, marking the end of World War II AFP PHOTO / KCNA via KNS REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT Everyday life in North Korea - in pictures 'Ordinary life' in North Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to mark the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation REUTERS/KCNAATTENTION EDITORS North Korea has high levels of poverty and severe illness as the country lacks basic healthcare resources. It is believed that tuberculosis is common in the secretative state. A 2010 report by Amnesty International titled The Crumbling State of Health Care in North Korea, suggested that 5 per cent of the population has the condition, describing it as an epidemic. The report stated: Chronic malnutrition has left many North Koreans with a compromised immune system and heightened their susceptibility to infections and diseases. Malnutrition increases risk of infection and is generally regarded as a major risk factor in the onset of active TB. The situation has reportedly been exaccerbated in recent times as South Korea cut humanitarian aid to the North in January. The North lacks the resources to produce the medicines on its own and instead relies on imports and donations, prompting concerns that dwindling supplies of medication could run out. The decision to accept the aid from an American will be seen by some as opening the dictatorship to allegations of hypocrisy. North Korea is fiercely anti-American and routinely threatens to destroy the nation through nuclear warfare. North Korean toddlers in kindergarten learn to attack pictures of US soldiers with rifles and bayonets. The phrase American b*****ds has also reportedly been pasted inside many classrooms in North Korea. The two countries fought against each other during the 1950- 1953 Korean War. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An Australian university has defended its decision to advise students to use the term "invaded" rather than "settled" to describe the arrival of Europeans in the country. The University of New South Wales's (UNSW) terminology guide on colonial history urges students against saying Captain Cook "discovered" Australia, pointing out Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders had long since lived there. "Australia was not settled peacefully, it was invaded, occupied and colonised," says the guidebook. "Describing the arrival of the Europeans as a 'settlement'' attempts to view Australian history from the shores of England rather than the shores of Australia." Yet commentators have accused UNSW of "whitewashing" history and speaking "rubbish", in a backlash university staff said was further proof the country had not accepted its colonial past. Aboriginal peoples in New South Wales, where the university is now based, around 1880 (Getty) Australia's Daily Telegraph led criticism of the university, with a front page which read "UNSW rewrites the history books to state Cook 'invaded' Australia." Radio hosts joined the paper in ridiculing the move, with presenter Kyle Sandilands calling university staff "w*****s". Another radio DJ, Adam Jones, said such political correctness was "anathema to genuine scholarship and learning," according to the BBC. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Yet experts say the outrage fails to take into account how Aboriginal peoples perceive the past. Jackie Huggins, an indigenous historian, told ABC: "For far too long it's been very unfair on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in terms of denying and having our history not even talked about it all. "[The outrage] showed how far we have to go in educating our country and coming to terms with reconciliation and the debate that needs to happen." Staff at the University of New South Wales have come under fire for issuing a guide on discussing colonialism (Google Street View) The guidebook also said the term "Aboriginals" lumped many different kinds of people together and that "Aboriginal peoples" was more appropriate, while describing these peoples as "nomadic" reinforced the idea that Australia was not already occupied when the British arrived in 1788. The terminology guide was not mandatory reading for students, said university staff. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The news agency Associated Press reportedly cooperated with Adolf Hitlers Nazi regime in the 1930s, supplying American publications with material directly from Joseph Goebbelss infamous propaganda machine. The revelations, published in the Guardian, came to light after German historian Harriet Scharnberg published research claiming to show how AP retained access to the Third Reich by promising not to undermine Hitlers regime. Several agency bureaus were forced to close in Germany when Hitler seized power in 1933 but AP was the only western organisation to continue operating out of the county, until the United States entered world war two in 1941. AP, according to Ms Scharnberg's research, signed up to so-called 'Schriftleitergesetz' (or, editors law), promising not to publish any material calculated to weaken the strength of the Reich abroad or at home. Her article was published in the academic journal, Studies in Contemporary History where she claims the agency entered a mutually beneficial two-way cooperation with Hitlers regime. Ms Scharnberg told the Guardian: Instead of printing pictures of the days-long Lviv pogroms with its thousands of Jewish victims, the American press was only supplied with photographs showing the victims of the Soviet police and brute Red Army war criminals. How the Nazis escaped justice Show all 4 1 /4 How the Nazis escaped justice How the Nazis escaped justice holocaust2-ap.jpg Nazi guards at Belzec death camp in occupied Poland in 1942 AP How the Nazis escaped justice holocaust-south-america.jpg Clockwise from top left: Josep Mengele (Brazil); Klaus Barbie (Bolivia); Walther Rauff (Chile); Adolf Eichmann (Argentina) How the Nazis escaped justice holocaust1.jpg Former concentration camp prisoners attend a ceremony at the memorial site of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland, on Holocaust Day AFP How the Nazis escaped justice holocaust3-epa.jpg Prisoners in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945) EPA She added: To that extent it is fair to say that these pictures played their part in disguising the true character of the war led by the Germans which events were made visible and which remained invisible in APs supply of pictures followed German interests and the German narrative of the war. An AP spokesperson told the newspaper: As we continue to research this matter, AP rejects any notion that it deliberately collaborated with the Nazi regime. "An accurate characterisation is that the AP and other foreign news organisations were subjected to intense pressure from the Nazi regime from the year of Hitlers coming to power in 1932 until the APs expulsion from Germany in 1941. AP management resisted the pressure while working to gather accurate, vital and objective news in a dark and dangerous time. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Photographs taken inside Brussels airport one week after bombings which left dozens dead have revealed the extent of the damage, as officials warned it may not reopen "for months". More than 30 people were killed and about 300 were injured in blasts at both Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek Metro station in Belgium's capital. Images of destroyed check-in areas, waiting rooms and elevators one week after the attacks have now been made available by Reuters to Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad. There were two explosions in the international departure at Brussels Airport in Zaventem at about 07.58 local time (Reuters) Two of the suicide bombers at the airport were named as Brahim el-Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui. Their actions left at least 17 people dead, many more wounded and caused widespread devastation inside the building. A third bomb did not explode and police later detonated it during a controlled explosion (Reuters) At least eight more suspects have been linked to the atrocity and are reportedly still 'on the loose'. The attacks were claimed by Isis and experts are investigating the possibility of a terrorist network stretching across France and Belgium. The Belgian government put the country on its highest terror threat level (Reuters) While airport bombers Najim Laachraoui and Brahim el-Bakraoui both died along with the latter's brother and metro bomber Khalid el-Bakraoui, a fourth man seen in airport CCTV footage called "Faycal C" was released following a lack of evidence. The two airport blasts were reportedly from nail bombs, according to a Brussels hospital official (Reuters) Recent reports put the number of victims at 35, with several yet to be identified. Zaventem Airport has remained closed until further notice, despite hopes that the terminals could reopen this week. Airport CEO Arnaud Feist told the BBC the building will have to be rebuilt "from the air conditioning to the check-in desks". Inbound flights were either cancelled or diverted to nearby airports (Reuters) The police spent five days conducting forensic examinations in the departures hall where the airport blasts took place, before handing back the area on Sunday to allow a phased reintroduction of flights. But the airport management has recently said: The simple fact is that a restart in the short term is not possible in the devastated infrastructure. 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 The Belgian government declared three days of national mourning after the attacks on 22 March 2016. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A man who says he has finally arrived safely in Cairo after the EgyptAir hijacking has revealed how he and other passengers reacted to the terrifying ordeal. From the extraordinary bravery of the flight crew to a man who seemed most worried about a frozen chicken, their stories show a human side to what was a very real threat at the time. The incident has in part become a source of amusement for some, after it emerged the hijacker used a bomb made of iPhone covers and at least one British man saw the incident as a photo opportunity. But AbdAllah El Ashmawy, a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine at Alexandria University, confirmed the apparent suicide bomber, named as suspect Seif Elden Mustafa, was taken seriously at the time. Recommended Read more British man takes photo with alleged Egyptian hijacker during standoff It is funny from your side I know, he said. It was of course a very painful experience to be on a Hijacked plane in the middle of the sea with a guy at the back of the plane who claims he has explosives. Writing on Facebook, Mr El Ashmawy reserved praise for the EgyptAir crew who managed to keep a smile all through the flight. He said: I can see one of them crying in her front seat but once she stands up again she keeps her smile just to calm people. He says it was the actions of his fellow passengers that made my day, however, describing one man who fell asleep, woke up to be told they were heading to Cyprus and remarked: Why Cyprus ??!..I will miss my connection. One man, Mr El Ashmawy said, called his wife to tell her about some money he was hiding in a bank. The funniest part is his wife forgetting about the hijack thing and asking him to repeat the bank name, he wrote. The plane was hijacked by a man claiming to have a bomb shortly after it left Alexandria bound for Cairo at around 7am on Tuesday. Instead of heading south, it proceeded north to Larnaca airport in Cairo where the pilots requested to land, saying they were being forced to do so by a man in possession of explosives. Egyptian officials later said they suspected the hijackers claims to be false, but the decision was made to proceed with caution and act as though he was armed with genuine explosives. In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Seif Eldin Mustafa, suspected of hijacking EgyptAir plane MS181, flashes the 'V' for victory sign as he leaves the court in Larnaca in a police car AFP/Getty Images In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Seif Eldin Mustafa wears handcuffs as he leaves the court in Larnaca escorted by Cypriot police AFP/Getty Images In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An EgyptAir flight 181 passenger embraces a family member after arriving at Cairo international airport Reuters In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane CCTV footage shows Seif Eldin Mustafa walking through a metal detector before being patted down by security Egypt Ministry of Interior In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Cypriot police guard the hijacked EgyptAir A320 plane at Larnaca Airport after it landed in Cyprus EPA In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Passengers evacuate a hijacked EgyptAir Airbus 320 plane at Larnaca airport, Cyprus Reuters In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An official boards a hijacked Egyptair A320 Airbus at Larnaca Airport in Larnaca, Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An Egypt Air Airbus A-320 sits on the tarmac of Larnaca aiport after it was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane A Cypriot policeman stands guard near a hijacked EgyptAir A320 plane at Larnaca Airport, Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Screen grabbed image taken from Flightradar24 of EgyptAir plane MS181 which has landed in Cyprus after being hijacked while flying from Alexandria to Cairo Mr Mustafa, who was arrested after six hours at Larnaca when he left the plane with his hands in the air, appeared in court in Cyprus on Wednesday morning where prosecutors said he admitted hijacking the plane. He has been ordered to remain in prison for eight days while the case against him is considered. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The man suspected of hijacking an EgyptAir flight and redirecting it to Cyprus has appeared in court and said he acted in a bid to see his wife and children. Seif Eldin Mustafa, 59, flashed v signs for victory as he left the court in Larnaca following a short hearing, where he was remanded in custody for eight days on suspicion of hijacking, abduction, threatening violence, terrorism-related offences and two counts related to possession of explosives. Police said the latter charges would relate to Mr Mustafas alleged claim that he had a bomb vest, even though Cypriot officials later said the explosives were in fact iPhone covers bound together with cloth. Mustafa wears handcuffs as he leaves the court in Larnaca escorted by Cypriot police (AFP) (AFP) (AFP/Getty Images) It has previously been reported that the hijacker made a range of demands after the plane from Alexandria landed at Larnaca airport with 72 passengers and crew on board. After a six-hour stand-off, the suspect identified by Egyptian and Cypriot authorities as Mr Mustafa walked off the plane and handed himself in to police. In a statement to Cypriot police, Mr Mustafa said: When someone hasn't seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children, and the Egyptian government doesn't allow it, what should one do? Recommended Read more EgyptAir passenger reveals how fellow hostages reacted to hijacking The suspect allegedly commandeered the aircraft 15 minutes after takeoff from Alexandria. He approached a flight attendant and showed off the belt, attached to a remote control he held in his hand, investigating officer Andreas Lambrianou told the court. The suspect asked all passengers and crew to hand in their passports, then gave two messages to a member of the crew, asking that the pilot be informed that he was a hijacker and wanted to land at an airport in Turkey, Greece or Cyprus, but preferably Cyprus, Lambrianou said. In a note, he stressed that if the airplane landed on Egyptian territory he would immediately blow the plane up. In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Seif Eldin Mustafa, suspected of hijacking EgyptAir plane MS181, flashes the 'V' for victory sign as he leaves the court in Larnaca in a police car AFP/Getty Images In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Seif Eldin Mustafa wears handcuffs as he leaves the court in Larnaca escorted by Cypriot police AFP/Getty Images In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An EgyptAir flight 181 passenger embraces a family member after arriving at Cairo international airport Reuters In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane CCTV footage shows Seif Eldin Mustafa walking through a metal detector before being patted down by security Egypt Ministry of Interior In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Cypriot police guard the hijacked EgyptAir A320 plane at Larnaca Airport after it landed in Cyprus EPA In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Passengers evacuate a hijacked EgyptAir Airbus 320 plane at Larnaca airport, Cyprus Reuters In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An official boards a hijacked Egyptair A320 Airbus at Larnaca Airport in Larnaca, Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane An Egypt Air Airbus A-320 sits on the tarmac of Larnaca aiport after it was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane A Cypriot policeman stands guard near a hijacked EgyptAir A320 plane at Larnaca Airport, Cyprus In pictures: EgyptAir hijacked plane Screen grabbed image taken from Flightradar24 of EgyptAir plane MS181 which has landed in Cyprus after being hijacked while flying from Alexandria to Cairo In Cyprus, Mustafa dropped an envelope on the runway addressed to a Cypriot woman, later ascertained to be his ex-wife. In the letter, the suspect demanded the release of 63 female prisoners held in Egypt. Additional reporting by Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Montenegro has expelled 58 foreigners suspected of being associated with the Japanese doomsday cult that staged a deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyos underground more than a decade ago. Police did not identify the specific religious group, but according to local media and a police source who spoke anonymously to AFP, the group expelled from the country belonged to Aum Shinrikyo. The doomsday sect released nerve gas on the Tokyo subway in March 1995, killing 12 and injuring thousands of commuters. According to AFP new agency, a police statement said they had received information from partner security services showing that a group of foreign national, who were numbers of a closed religious group, were staying in Montenegro. Authorities briefly detained the group at a hotel in town of Danilovgrad on Friday and found they did not hold valid visitor permits, so they were asked to leave the European country. Of the 58 foreign nationals, 43 were Russian, four from Japan, seven from Belarus, three from Ukraine and one from Uzbekistan, the countrys interior minister added in a statement. After their discovery in two hotels in Montenegro, the group members gave statements to police and their laptops and mobile phones were taken for examination. No arrests were made. According to the think-tank Council on Foreign Relations, the religious sect, also known as Aum or Aleph, is a cult that combines tenets from Buddhism, Hinduism, and is obsessed with the apocalypse. At the centre of the group's belief is reverence for Shoko Asahara, Aum's founder, who says that he is the first enlightened one since Buddha, the CFR adds. He, along with thirteen other members of the cult, was sentenced to death in connection with the attack in Japan. They are still awaiting their executions. A United States report also adds that subsequent Japanese government investigations revealed the cult was responsible for other mysterious chemical incidents in Japan the year before the Tokyo assault including a sarin gas attack on a neighbourhood in Matsumoto that killed seven and hospitalised around 500 residents. It adds: Although Aum has not conducted a terrorist attack since 1995, concerns remain regarding its continued adherence to the violent teachings of founder Asahara that led them to perpetrate the 1995 sarin gas attack. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} French president Francois Hollande has abandoned plans to strip convicted terrorists of their citizenship following the pledge he made in the days following the Paris attacks. Although the measure is popular with voters, the constitutional reform did not win the necessary support from both houses of the French parliament. Mr Hollande declared a state of emergency following the string of co-ordinated terror attacks on the capital in November which killed 130 people. Martial law, which has given French police and intelligence services greater powers to arrest and detain people suspected of terrorism, was supposed to last just three months but has been extended by the French parliament. But Mr Hollande was also forced to abandon plans to change the constitutional rules governing the state of emergency and has blamed the opposition despite many people in his own party being opposed to the changes. Mr Hollande announced the plans following the terror attacks on Paris where 130 people were killed (EPA) Constitutional changes require the approval of three-fifths of the combined houses of parliament. He said: A compromise appears out of reach. "Parts of the opposition have been hostile to a revision of the constitution. I deplore this attitude, because we have to do anything we can under these serious circumstances." Victims of the Paris attacks Show all 33 1 /33 Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Nick Alexander Victims of the Paris attacks Mathias Dymarski and Maria Lausch Victims of the Paris attacks Anne Cornet Guyomard and Pierre Yves Guyomard Victims of the Paris attacks Guillaume Decherf Victims of the Paris attacks Ciprian Calciu Victims of the Paris attacks Nohemi Gonzalez Victims of the Paris attacks Elodie Breuil Victims of the Paris attacks Asta Diakite Victims of the Paris attacks Romain Didier Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Halima Saadi Victims of the Paris attacks Ludovic Boumbas Victims of the Paris attacks Thomas Duperron Victims of the Paris attacks Germain Ferey Victims of the Paris attacks Marie Mosser Victims of the Paris attacks Fabrice Dubois Victims of the Paris attacks Thomas Ayad Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Djamila-Houd Victims of the Paris attacks Mathieu Hoche Victims of the Paris attacks Justine Moulin Victims of the Paris attacks Anne Guyomard Victims of the Paris attacks Anna Lieffrig-Petard Victims of the Paris attacks Victims of the Paris attacks Lacramioara Pop Victims of the Paris attacks Alberto Gonzalez Garrido Victims of the Paris attacks Mohamed Amine Ibnolmobarak Victims of the Paris attacks Cedric Mauduit Victims of the Paris attacks Matthieu Giroud Victims of the Paris attacks Michelli Gil Jaimez Victims of the Paris attacks Pierro Innocenti and Stephane Albertini Victims of the Paris attacks Nicolas Classeau The move is likely to further damage his chances of being reelected when the country goes to polls at the 2017 presidential election. A poll by Ipsos-Sopra Steria for French newspaper Le Monde, conducted before the announcement, found that the Socialist politician would win just 16 per cent of the vote in the first round - down four points from last month. This would put him in third place and eliminate him from the second round run off. Marine Le Pen of the far-right Front National came top of the poll on 27 per cent followed by Nicolas Sarkozy of the centre-right on 21 per cent. Additional reporting by AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A right-wing political party has called for mosques to be banned, it has been reported. Alternative fur Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) has drafted the proposals to ban the construction and operation of mosques. The proposals are contained within a 45-page long draft document titled Courage to take responsibility and will be put to the party conference next month for consideration, Deutsche Welle reports. It states that Islam does not belong to Germany and seeks world domination. It claims that the Koran permits lies and deception and that mosques contribute: not only to common prayer, but also to the spread of Islamic teachings directed towards the removal of our legal order. Refugees settle in Germany Show all 12 1 /12 Refugees settle in Germany Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, plays with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, in the one room they and Mohamed's wife Laloosh call home at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany A refugee child Amnat Musayeva points to a star with her photo and name that decorates the door to her classroom as teacher Martina Fischer looks on at the local kindergarten Amnat and her siblings attend on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The children live with their family at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian asylum-applicant Mohamed Ali Hussein (R), 19, and fellow applicant Autur, from Latvia, load benches onto a truckbed while performing community service, for which they receive a small allowance, in Wilhelmsaue village on October 9, 2015 near Letschin, Germany. Mohamed and Autur live at an asylum-applicants' shelter in nearby Vossberg village. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Ali Hussein ((L), 19, and his cousin Sinjar Hussein, 34, sweep leaves at a cemetery in Gieshof village, for which they receive a small allowance, near Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, looks among donated clothing in the basement of the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to Mohamed, his wife Laloosh and their daughter Ranim as residents' laundry dries behind in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asya Sugaipova (L), Mohza Mukayeva and Khadra Zhukova prepare food in the communal kitchen at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Efrah Abdullahi Ahmed looks down from the communal kitchen window at her daughter Sumaya, 10, who had just returned from school, at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asylum-applicants, including Syrians Mohamed Ali Hussein (C-R, in black jacket) and Fadi Almasalmeh (C), return from grocery shopping with other refugees to the asylum-applicants' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat (2nd from L), a refugee from Syria, smokes a cigarette after shopping for groceries with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, and fellow-Syrian refugees Mohamed Ali Hussein (C) and Fadi Almasalmeh (L) at a local supermarket on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. All of them live at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian refugees Leila, 9, carries her sister Avin, 1, in the backyard at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to them and their family in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Somali refugees and husband and wife Said Ahmed Gure (R) and Ayaan Gure pose with their infant son Muzammili, who was born in Germany, in the room they share at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity, and are waiting for authorities to process their application for asylum 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel pauses for a selfie with a refugee after she visited the AWO Refugium Askanierring shelter for refugees in Berlin Getty Images The party has a reputation in Germany for being far-right, anti-Islam and anti-refugees. AfDs leader Frauke Petry caused controversy last month when she argued for shooting refugees at the borders of Germany to stop them from entering. The party has also been fiercely critical of the governments policy to welcome migrants and refugees, citing concerns about integration and social stability. It is estimated that around four million of Germanys 80 million inhabitants are Muslim. It has the second largest Muslim minority population of any European country, second to France which has a population of five million Muslims. This has increased in recent months due to the number of refugees which Germany has accepted, 45 per cent of whom come from Syria. Last year, Germany accepted more than a million refugees. Thus far this year, it has accepted more than 100,000. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The main suspect in a foiled Paris attack plot has been charged, according to reports. Reda Kriket was arrested in a suburb of the French capital last week for allegedly being "in the advanced stages" of plotting an attack with what prosecutors called an "unprecedented" arsenal of explosives. Prosecutor Francois Molins said Kriket is accused of being part of a terrorist group with plans for at least one attack, possessing and transporting arms and explosives, and holding fake documents, among other charges. Kriket will stay in custody while magistrates continue investigating the case and determine whether to send him to trial. Kriket is believed to have travelled to Syria in 2014 and 2015 and made several trips between France and Belgium and the Netherlands, Mr Molins said. Authorities found a large quantity of explosives and weapons in Kriket's apartment in the north west of the city during the raid on 24 March. Two Algerians, believed to be linked to plot are being held in Brussels and another unnamed Frenchman is being detained in the Dutch city of Rotterdam but is fighting his extradition to France to face terror charges. Belgium's federal prosecutors' office said on Wednesday that the Algerian men, identified as Abderrahmane A. and Rabah M., will face a hearing on 7 April. Kriket repeatedly refused to answer questions during six days of interrogation by anti-terror police, according to French newspaper 20 minutes. In pictures: Paris attacks Show all 25 1 /25 In pictures: Paris attacks In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French police with protective shields walk in line near the Bataclan concert hall Reuters In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Rescuers evacuate an injured person on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French Vigipirate troops mobilize next to Place de la Bastille AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French soldiers mobilize near to the Place de la Bastille AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Wounded people are evacuated outside the scene of a hostage situation at the Bataclan theatre EPA In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks People react as they gather to watch the scene near the Bataclan concert hall Reuters In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French police secure the area outside a cafe near the Bataclan concert hall Reuters In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Rescuers workers evacuate victims near the Bataclan concert hall AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and French President Francois Hollande attending an emergency meeting at the Interior Ministry AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Spectators invade the pitch of the Stade de France after explosions were heard outside AP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks A man lies on the ground as French police check his identity near the Bataclan concert hall Reuters In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Police officers man a position close to the Bataclan theatre AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Wounded people are evacuated from the Stade de France in Paris EPA In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Two men evacuate the Place de la Republique square in Paris as a police officer looks on AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Football fans are evacuated from the Stade de France stadium In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks An armed police officer Dan Gabriel In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks The Stade de France is evacuated after reports of an explosion In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks A member of the French fire brigade aids an injured individual near the Bataclan concert hall In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Wounded people are evacuated from the Stade de France in Paris In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Police are seen outside a cafe in 10th arrondissement of the French capital Paris, In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Rescuers assist an injured man on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, close to the Bataclan concert hall AFP In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks The scene at a restaurant in 10th arrondissement In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks The Bataclan theatre - where around 100 people are thought be held hostage In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks The Stade de France as it was evacuated In pictures: Paris attacks Paris attacks Forensic experts inspect the site of an attack outside the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis AFP He was also sentenced in absentina in July 2015 in Belgium alongside the Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud for helping to run a network that recruited jihadis to travel to Syria to fight for Isis. Although he had prior convictions for violence and theft he is believed to have no known connections to terror prior to last year. Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Kriket's arrest came after several weeks of investigation before the terror attacks in Brussels on 22 March which left 35 people dead and over 200 wounded. He congratulated French and Dutch police for "foiling an attack on our soil", CNN reports. Additional reporting by agencies For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The number of refugees arriving in Italy is rising sharply amid fears that a controversial deal struck with Turkey could force asylum seekers to take longer and more dangerous routes to Europe. The Italian interior ministry has documented 16,075 migrants crossing to its shores so far this year, compared to just over 10,000 during the same period in 2015. Most were rescued from smugglers boats off the Libyan coast and brought ashore in Sicily by the coast guard. Refugees stuck in limbo in Greece amid closure of European borders More than 1,500 migrants and refugees were taken to safety on Tuesday alone as Italian and European rescue ships launched 11 operations in the Mediterranean. The dramatic spike in numbers came as hundreds continued to try and reach Greece in inflatable dinghies before Monday, when the agreement between Turkey and the EU will come into effect. Analysts and human rights organisations had raised fears that measures allowing asylum seekers reaching Greece to be deported back to Turkey would increase treacherous journeys on other routes. The Overseas Development Institute, which has conducted research on why refugees choose to migrate, warned that the deal is unlikely to work to stop the crisis. Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily. Marta Foresti, the think-tank's Director of Governance and Security, said: Our research shows refugees and migrants do not make the decision to leave their home lightly, are willing to take significant risks and will not be deterred by the policies and restrictions of EU countries. Those excluded from the deal will continue to try different, more dangerous routes if the border between Turkey and Greece is shut to them. The EU has failed to provide a humane or pragmatic response to the crisis, what is now needed is leadership at the global level. The agreement stipulates that migrants reaching Greek islands who are found not to qualify for asylum will be detained and returned to Turkey, as part of a bid to curb flows to Europe and discourage smugglers. For every Syrian returned, another Syrian in Turkey will be relocated to a European country, but there is no such promise in place for asylum seekers of other nationalities who make up more than half of arrivals. Migrants and refugees arriving on Lesbos this week, despite the deal (AP) Millions of euros are being given to Turkey to improve conditions in refugee camps to incentivise families to stay in the country but smugglers are reportedly planning new ways to transport refugees to Europe. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, gangs are charging up to 5,000 (4,000) for voyages in larger cargo and fishing vessels from southern Turkey, around the bottom of Greece and on to Italy. The newspaper reported that the new trips are due to start in the first week of April, with up to 300 refugees to be crammed on to each ship and ordered to hide below decks until they reach international waters. Similar arrangements used by Libyan smugglers have killed hundreds of refugees, either by causing them to suffocate in locked holds or leaving them trapped in the event of sinkings. A vessel where almost 40 migrants out of the 600 packed on board were found dead below deck in June 2014, at Pozzallo port in Sicily (Lizzie Dearden ) (Lizzie Dearden) But as Turkey clamps down and borders main shut throughout Europe, analysts are concerned refugees will take the risk. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) cautioned that as well as the Central Mediterranean route, crossings between Albania and the Italian region of Apulia could also rise. Warning of a domino effect, a spokesperson said: Each time a border closes, thousands of people are abruptly halted, stranded in no mans lands, with little to no humanitarian assistance, and ultimately, forced onto more dangerous routes or into the hands of smugglers. Figures from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) show that while Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis make up the majority of arrivals in Greece, most of those currently landing in Italy are from African nations including Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal and Mali. Leonard Doyle, from the IOM, said that the rising numbers in Italy could be a result of good weather driving smugglers crossings, rather than a shift from the Aegean route. He said that Middle Eastern families would be unlikely to divert through Libya in order to cross to Italy, as Isis continues gaining territory and gangs roaming unchecked through lawless swathes of the country imprison, extort, torture and rape vulnerable migrants. Migrants wait in the rain after disembarking from the coastguard ship in Sicily in August 2015 (Lizzie Dearden) These numbers that we are seeing going across to Italy are not people moving from Turkey, Mr Doyle added. The people coming through are mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa who are less informed and simply do not know or cannot avoid the dangers in Libya. The smugglers will try to find different routes but there are only so many ways you can do it. The IOM estimates that at least 165 refugees have died attempting to reach Italy so far this year, with another 366 missing in the Aegean pushing the toll over 500. The treacherous crossing from North Africa to Sicily was the dominant route to Europe as the refugee crisis worsened in the early months of 2015, with more than 1,100 people drowning in a single week in April. But the deteriorating security situation in Libya and rise of a new smuggling chain over the Aegean and through the Balkans tipped the balance to Greece by June. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Obama administration ordered the families of US military and diplomatic personnel to leave parts of southern Turkey on Tuesday and warned US citizens against travel to the region amid mounting security concerns. The Pentagon said 670 dependents of US military personnel would be affected by the order to depart areas of southern Turkey, including Incirlik air base, which is used heavily in the fight against Isis militants. The US State Department said a small number of diplomatic families would be affected but did not give numbers. The Pentagon said 100 military dependents in Ankara and Istanbul were not affected by the departure orders because of security measures in place there. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the move had been under consideration for several weeks, and was not the result of any specific threat and had nothing to do with the visit to Washington this week by top Turkish officials. US aircraft have been granted access to Turkish airbases near the Syrian border (AP) Secretary of State John Kerry met Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to attend a Nuclear Security Summit with other world leaders later in the week. Mr Kirby said Mr Kerry had discussed the security announcement with Mr Cavusoglu at their meeting on Monday. "The decision to do this wasn't taken lightly. It was done after careful thought and consideration, and inter-agency coordination," Mr Kirby told a daily briefing at the State Department. "The timing of it was completely considered independently of the Nuclear Security Summit and the visit here to Washington by Turkish officials," he added. The US military's European Command said it had ordered the departure of families of personnel stationed in Adana, home of Incirlik. It said families of US military personnel also had been told to leave Izmir and Mugla provinces in southeastern Turkey. An F-16 fighter at Incirlik in June 2015 (AFP) "We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism," General Philip M. Breedlove, commander of the US European Command, said in the statement. The departures do not indicate a decision to permanently end US families' presence at military facilities in southern Turkey, the statement said. The US State Department said it had ordered the departure of family members of government workers at the U.S. Consulate in Adana. Dependents of US government employees in Izmir and Mugla provinces were also asked to leave. The State Department issued a statement cautioning US citizens more broadly against traveling to southeastern Turkey. It also warned of "increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey." Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A transgender teenager has been jailed for refusing to carry out compulsory military service in Israel. Aiden Katri was sentenced to a week in prison, where campaigners were concerned she would be housed in a male wing and left at risk of stigmitisation and abuse. The 19-year-old said she was taking a stand as a conscientious objector against the atmosphere of fear in her home country and could not enforce oppression in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israeli soldier to face court over West Bank shooting Describing her upbringing in the Israeli city of Holon as conservative, she said she came to reject separatism in society and was striving for equality between religion, race, sex and gender. In a statement the day before she was imprisoned, Ms Katri said she had Israeli Arab friends who were hated and discriminated against and had witnessed military crackdowns on Palestinian protests in the West Bank. "Arabs and Jews live in this country as two different classes, she added. It would be absurd to strive for justice in the context of injustice. "I struggle against my oppression my gender oppression as a trans woman and my ethnic oppression as a Mizrahi Jew, and if I turn a blind eye to an oppression of another people, this would be hypocrisy." Mesarvot, a campaign group supporting conscientious objectors in Israel, said Ms Katri was jailed for a week on Tuesday and sent to Prison Six. The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Show all 10 1 /10 The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem. A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people before he was shot dead AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Israeli ZAKA emergency response members carry the body of an Israeli at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem. A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks that escalated a month long wave of violence AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Getty Images The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians throw molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank. Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have wounded several Israelis AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Women cry during the funeral of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Sharaka, 13, who was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes at a checkpoint near Ramallah, at the family house in the Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, Ramallah AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A wounded Palestinian boy and his father hold hands at a hospital after their house was brought down by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians look on after a protester is shot by Israelis soldiers during clashes at the Howara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus EPA The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A lawyer wearing his official robes kicks a tear gas canister back toward Israeli soldiers during a demonstration by scores of Palestinian lawyers called for by the Palestinian Bar Association in solidarity with protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, near Ramallah, West Bank AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Undercover Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian in Ramallah Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinian youth burn tyres during clashes with Israeli soldiers close to the Jewish settlement of Bet El, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child "She is a transgender woman held in a men's prison, we are worried and in contact with Israeli politicians," a spokesperson said. At the end of her sentence, Ms Katri will again be summoned for service in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and face another prison sentence if she chooses to refuse. Other conscientious objectors have been jailed repeatedly for up to 10 times, reaching combined sentences of around 180 days. On Sunday, another Israeli teenager was imprisoned for the fourth time, this time for 20 days. Tair Kaminer spoke to The Independent in January before returning to a conscription base to start her second sentence. Tair Kaminer, 19, is facing multiple prison sentences for refusing to carry out military conscription in Israel (Supplied) The 19-year-old vowed to continue her objection in protest against the occupation of the Palestinian Territories and settlement construction. Recommended Read more Israeli teenager could return to prison for refusing conscription I'm not going to break, she said. I hope they understand that - I won't break. Military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18, with the exception of groups including Arab Israelis, Orthodox women and anyone unable to serve for medical reasons. Pacifists can legally refuse according to an Israeli High Court of Justice ruling in 2002, but must prove that their stance against war and violence is unilateral and not related specifically to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. An Israeli soldier at the scene of two killings in Hebron (AFP/Getty Images) There have also been high-profile cases of soldiers and intelligence officers refusing to perform certain duties, such as operating in the West Bank, bombing civilian areas of Gaza and removing Israeli settlers from their homes. British MPs from Labour, the Conservatives and several other parties supported an early day motion submitted by Caroline Lucas in January calling for legal exemptions for conscientious objectors and the immediate and unconditional release of Ms Kaminer and other prisoners of conscience. Protesters have also held rallies supporting her and Ms Katri at prisons and military bases and sent letters and emails from around the world. But support for conscientious objectors is not widespread in Israel, where the recent wave of Palestinian attacks has strengthened public and political support for the armed forces. Update: The IDF has responded to The Independent's request for a comment on Ms Katri's case. A spokesperson said: "The individual in question was sentenced to 7 days in military prison for refusing to draft as a conscientious objector. "At no point did the individual alert the relevant IDF officials regarding gender identification during the draft process. The IDF sees the importance of providing a space in which all recruits- of all genders, religions and races- can serve and examines each case on an individual basis." Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A video showing a black female student harrassing a white male student over his dreadlocks - telling him "it's my culture" - has been viewed more than one million times. Posted online, the 47-second clip begins by showing the female San Francisco State University (SFSU) student ask another black male student, who appears to support her views, if he has a pair of scissors, supposedly so that she can cut the dreadlocks. The white student, identified by local news site SF Weekly as Cory Goldstein, defends his hairstyle and asks the female student: Youre saying I cant have a hairstyle because of your culture. Why? She is heard to reply: Because its my culture. Mr Goldstein then insists the hairstyle has its origins in Egypt, asking her if shes Egyptian. She then asks Mr Goldstein if he is Egyptian, going on to repeatedly ask: Where is Egypt? When Mr Goldstein attempts to walk away from the situation to walk up a set of stairs, his path is blocked and he is pushed back and prevented from leaving as the female student continues to accuse him of cultural appropriation. Some online users suggest the video appears staged, although others insist it is clear it is genuine. The top 10 universities in the world Show all 10 1 /10 The top 10 universities in the world The top 10 universities in the world 1. California Institute of Technology The top 10 universities in the world 2. University of Oxford The top 10 universities in the world 3. Stanford University The top 10 universities in the world 4. University of Cambridge The top 10 universities in the world 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology The top 10 universities in the world 6. Harvard University The top 10 universities in the world 7. Princeton University The top 10 universities in the world 8. Imperial College London The top 10 universities in the world 9. ETH Zurich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich The top 10 universities in the world 10. University of Chicago Mr Goldstein took to his Facebook page shortly after the incident to say: I just got physically assaulted because I have dreadlocks woe. Shortly after, he saide would not be filing any criminal charges against the girl who harassed me, adding: I did file a formal campus police report and I decided to let the education system deal with her. SFSU released a statement soon after the clip began to attract attention online, saying it was aware of a video made of an incident that occurred on campus. The statement said: University police were called to the scene of the incident when it occurred. The two individuals involved in the incident are not San Francisco State University employees. Further, no criminal charges have been pressed at this time to the universitys knowledge. San Francisco State University promotes the rights of the campus community to engage in free speech, but does not condone behaviour that impedes the safety or well-being of others. We are taking the matter seriously and will promptly and thoroughly investigate this incident through applicable university channels, including our campus student conduct procedures. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The word safari suggests herds of big game and vast, African plains along with the expectation of a rather expensive holiday. But epic wildlife encounters can be found all around the world; and with a bit of careful planning, they may cost less than you'd think, whether it's by travelling off-season or taking advantage of favourable exchange rates. African adventures With the Namibian dollar (and the South African rand, to which it is pegged) currently trading at 22 to the pound (compared to 11 a decade ago), trips to southern Africa are more affordable than they have been in years. Fly-drive itineraries are the most cost-effective when it comes to seeking lions, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants and more. A Caracal Self-Drive Safari from Expert Africa (020 8232 9777; expertafrica.com) costs from 2,132pp including flights, 14 nights' accommodation, car hire and some meals. Rickshaw Travel (01273 322 399; rickshawtravel.co.uk) has a two-night trip to South Africa's Kruger National park from 115pp, which can be incorporated into a longer itinerary. It includes a guided game drive and accommodation in a traditional rondavel hut. Elephant in Namibia Big cat diary The Brazilian real has also dropped against sterling, and travelling in the shoulder season opens up further savings. Naturetrek (01962 733051; naturetrek.co.uk) has a 12-day Just Jaguars group tour to the Pantanal wetlands, where big cats are the star attraction (if you're lucky), alongside anteaters, capybaras and caimans. The last trip of the year (departing 4 November) coincides with the start of the rainy season, and consequently costs 500 less than the same holiday in dryer months. From 3,595pp with flights, transfers and full board. Exploring Yellowstone National Park in winter Wild west Summer in Yellowstone, the world's first national park, is a time of big crowds and sky-high prices. But as temperatures dip and the crowds wane, it becomes cheaper to visit. All of the American Big Five that's wolves, bears, moose, elk and bison are here; and although the bears may be sleeping in winter, it's the optimal time to find wolves. Windows on the Wild (020 8742 1556; windowsonthewild.com) can package a 10-night Wolves and Wildlife in Winter safari from 2,425pp, including flights, transfers, room-only accommodation and animal-spotting excursions. You Yangs Regional Park, Australia Burn bright India always offers good value, plus your best chance of spotting wild Bengal tigers. Two hotspots for these predators are Bandhavgarh and Ranthambore National Parks, both of which feature in the Eye to Eye with the Indian Tiger itinerary from Gane and Marshall (01822 600 600; ganeandmarshall.com). Hidden among the parks' forests and grasslands are tigers, jackals, sloth bears and sambar deer, any of which can be spotted on game drives or jungle hikes. The 10-day trip costs from 1,695pp and includes flights, transfers, accommodation, most meals and a range of guided activities and tours. Wildlife walkabout An Aussie animal encounter needn't entail a long trip to the outback. The Koalas and Kangaroos in the Wild day tour provides an authentic outdoors experience without straying far from the city. The tour takes in the natural beauty of You Yangs Regional Park, an hour west of Melbourne, where a wander through woodlands and meadows ensures sightings of emus, koalas and grey kangaroos, all in their natural environment. The trip costs from 111pp (including transfers, hotel pick-up and lunch) through Responsible Travel (01273 823 700; responsibletravel.com). Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} There have been four big terrorist attacks in the past fortnight, and they are starting to skew our perception. Istanbul was hit on on 19th March, Brussels on 22nd March, Iskandariyah (Iraq) on 25th March and Lahore on the 27th. Isis have raised the bar so much that when an Egyptian man hijacked a plane yesterday, people laughed it off because it was just a grievance to do with his ex-wife. The President of Cyprus held a press conference after and said: In any case its not something that has to do with terrorism you know what I mean? Ha ha. In any other era, we would have been horrified, and a debate about airport security would have raged. Yet people on the internet this very moment are happily turning the man who forced a plane bound for an Egyptian city to Larnaca in Cyprus into a meme. Websites are collating funny tweets, and Ben Innes the British man who took a photo with the pretend suicide bomber, complete with his fake suicide belt - is a social media star. Recommended Read more Why we really respond differently to Lahore and Ankara versus Brussels In this globalised-media era of terrorism, we are crossing boundaries faster than we realise. Even 9/11 feels like an era ago. Thanks to Isis, other tragedies or serious events now pale into comparison. No one died thanks to a crazed Islamist militant? It was just some lone-wolf with an AK-47? Phew! An event that would be considered extreme in the past is now greeted with relief. The social media glare ensures we assume the worst every time. In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work This means an Egyptian man can hijack a plane simply by pretending to be a suicide bomber. And even if the pilot knows this is unlikely given the heightened security, irrational fears ensure that people will take it seriously. Basically, this man hijacked a plane with the Isis version of using a banana in his pocket. And it worked. That's alarming because others will copy him. Ben Innes sent friends this image of himself with the hijacker on his mobile phone (Ben Innes) Every crazed person with an agenda now knows they can play on fears of terrorism to get instant access to the worlds spotlight. We used to worry that excessive coverage of suicides could spark more copycat suicides. Now we are in a situation a hundred times worse: giving unlimited attention to an entire army of suicidal religious fanatics who cannot get enough of it. Plus theres the army of trolls who now accuse anyone of being an apologist if they dont immediately point the finger at Muslims. We would be better off if we behaved differently: if we didnt just laugh off a failed hijacking or give too much attention to Isis. But those debates are over. The precedents are set and we have bought into the culture of fear that we warned against. Its not clear how we put the genie back in the bottle. Whether we like it or not, we have all become complicit in Isis hunger for attention. The #ISISmediablackout efforts are over and Isis has won. The only question left now is how far we should go in showing gruesome images. Slowly but surely we will all become more desensitised to them too. Could this cycle be broken? Perhaps, but Im not sure how. Just asking people to behave differently is futile because our curiosity always gets the best of us. Recommended Read more Why we really respond differently to Lahore and Ankara versus Brussels All those graphs pointing out that we are far more likely to die from a lightning strike than terrorism? Well, Isis made them obsolete too. The Egyptian hijacking exposed our warped new mindset, and how skewed our world-view has become. But it also exposed the fact that there is no way back. Laughing it off with memes is now quite simply our default coping mechanism. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ministers grumble that Europe dominates the headlines at the expense of their other policies. Yet they can hardly complain: David Camerons energies are inevitably channelled into a referendum that could end his premiership if the public votes to leave the EU. His legacy agenda will have to wait until after 23rd June if he wins the referendum. Other things are happening, as policies in the pipeline come through. A good and popular one takes effect on Friday when the 6.70-an-hour national minimum wage becomes a 7.20-an-hour national living wage, as announced in George Osbornes Budget last summer. It will give 4.5m people aged 25 and over on the minimum wage a 10 per cent pay rise, four times the national average. It is due to rise to 9 an hour by 2020. While the Chancellor enjoyed stealing Labours clothes and colonising the political centre-ground, he can claim there is a big Conservative idea behind the policy: a higher wage, lower welfare society. It will reduce state subsidies for low wages through tax credits (which, despite Osborne's U-turn last November, will still be cut eventually via Universal Credit). Higher wages mean people will spend more, creating a virtuous economic circle. Yet there is a danger that this apparently generous policy could backfire on the Government by exacerbating the problems in our already creaking social care system. Although Osborne has allowed local authorities to find extra money by raising council tax, the Local Government Association (LGA) warns that at least 330m of the extra 372m revenue raised for home and residential care will be soaked up by the living wage. The LGAs call for an immediate extra 700m for social care, rather than by 2020 as planned, is not special pleading. I have already seen with my own eyes the problems the living wage will cause in the sector. The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage Show all 10 1 /10 The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 1. West Somerset 41.9% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 2. Harrow 41.8% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 3. Torridge 41.6% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 4. North East Derbyshire 39.6% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 5. Breckland 39.3% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 6. Waltham Forest 39.0% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 7. West Lancashire 38.2% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 8. North Norfolk 37.8% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 9. Melton 37.0% The 10 worst areas for earning the living wage 10. West Devon 36.7% My mother and my mother-in-law live in a residential and nursing home respectively. The overstretched staff in both are dedicated, but the service they can provide has declined in recent months in anticipation of higher wage bills. At the same time, my mums fees were raised by eight per cent in January, with the private provider blaming the living wage bombshell. Both homes are cutting back on staff cover. There is a growing reliance on agency workers, reducing the quality of care for the residents, who sometimes do not see a face they recognise for days. Jeremy Corbyn was on to something at Prime Minister's Questions this month when he warned we are heading for an era of agency Britain. He cited similar problems in hospitals and schools. It is a theme that will resonate with millions, and could halt the Conservatives march on to the centre-ground if they fail to win people's trust on public services. The living wage will also have a big impact in shops, hotels, restaurants and for administrative jobs. Recommended Read more Isis has skewed our perception so much that we laughed off a hijacker Some employers are already trying to recoup all or part of the cost, for example by cutting bonuses or getting rid of higher payments for weekend working. Unusually, there seems to have been little analysis of the likely impact before the Chancellor announced his policy with a fanfare last July. The blame for a full-scale social care crisis could fall on Osborne. Private providers are already shifting from delivering publicly-funded care to people who can afford to meet their full costs. That is ominous; it will mean more old and sick people remaining in hospital because there will be nowhere else for them to go, in turn compounding the NHS funding squeeze. One day, we will have a national care service. Politicians know it makes sense - but a big bang merger of the NHS and social care is still in the too difficult box. It is time to get on with it. A properly funded, joined-up system would be a Compassionate Conservative legacy of which Cameron and Osborne could be proud. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} White Australia has a black history. That slogan is decades old, and its meaning hints at white Australias long-standing reluctance to meaningfully acknowledge Aboriginal people and perspectives in the telling of our national history. Earlier this year a person wearing a shirt with this slogan on it was forced to turn it inside-out before being allowed to enter Parliament House. Despite a spokespersons insistence that no-one wearing clothing with printed messages is allowed entry, the seemingly obvious concept on the t-shirt may be perceived as threatening to the white Australian ideal of this land being settled in peace and not war. Earlier this week, our most recent former PM Tony Abbott went to great lengths to rewrite his own history in an article for Quadrant, and although he didnt mention the words Aboriginal or Indigenous whatsoever in his article, he did manage to include the line that Unlike France or Britain, we lack a colonial past to complicate the present, this was just the latest in a long line of similar comments from Abbott in apparently ignoring he existence of Aboriginal people (Nothing but bush) and the realities of invasion (A form of foreign investment). Soon after the nothing but bush utterance he did, in a welcome speech to David Cameron, say, "Modern Australia has an Aboriginal heritage, a British foundation and a multicultural character". Recommended Read more Isis has skewed our perception so much that we laughed off a hijacker Today, various mainstream media channels are busily acting like terms like invasion are brand new and are attacking the University of New South Wales for a document which suggests that students should use invasion instead of settlement when talking about white Australian history. A guy from the IPA has said that it is stifling the free flow of ideas. To help correct this, breakfast TV hosts this morning were busily finding commentators like Alan Jones, Keith Windschuttle, and no Aboriginal teachers or historians whatsoever, to help bring balance to the free flow of ideas by talking to people who obviously wouldnt agree that Australia was invaded - or even that the Stolen Generations wasnt awesome. Stories like this are the journalistic equivalent of posting a gif of a Bambi-lookalike deer licking a sleeping kitten. They are designed purely to get clicks by generating an emotional response - although unlike the gif, the emotion they strive to generate is animosity. The journalistic merit is pretty much the same though. I did my teaching degree in the late 90s and early 2000s and terms like invasion were commonplace even then. The History Wars have been going on for a long time now, and as I written many times before are as much to do with justifying the dismantling of Aboriginal services and programmes as they are to do with how we teach history. If invasion never happened, Aboriginal people never had any ownership of land, Terra Nullius was justified, and Aboriginal people were never mistreated (Understatement of the Millennium Award), then the impacts of intergenerational trauma do not exist, colonisation and institutional racism are not ongoing, and there is no rationale for any Aboriginal specific programs from Land Rights to medical services and all issues affecting Aboriginal communities are the sole fault of Aboriginal people themselves. This is the crux of how the History Wars is used to try to impact on government policy. This is what it seems people like Tony Abbott are hinting at when they talk of replacing Us and Them for We. Modern day assimilationist rhetoric masked by claims of wanting to promote equality and create a more inclusive society. Inclusion through erasure and omission. Inclusion of all peoples by privileging the perspectives and attitudes of White Australia as being the official Australian history, and the ideal Australian identity. England created colonies in Australia by invading the lands of Aboriginal groups all around the country over a period of over 100 years. The battles and massacres that took place during this time, the Frontier Wars, are well documented. As are the policies of control, regulation, oppression and exploitation of Aboriginal peoples. The theories that permeated through these times, still felt today, were based on ideas of primitive cultures of dying races, and filled with questions of What do we about the half-caste problem? (Spoilers: the dominant theory was breed them out, but as late as 1984 Lang Hancock also suggested sterilisation as the answer). Recommended Read more Why we really respond differently to Lahore and Ankara versus Brussels White Australia has a black history. A history filled with all sorts of atrocities, not as the exception but as the norm. There were of course people who fought against these atrocities then, just as there are people who oppose the all-too-often brutal treatment of Aboriginal people in custody, the closing of remote communities, and more broadly the racist, punitive and patronising attitudes that permeate policy decisions and media misrepresentation alike. This doesnt change the reality that Australia wasnt settled peacefully then, or that Australia is still a racist country now. Not every white person in the country is racist, but to say that Australia is a racist country is to judge our actions as a nation, and those actions are nothing to be proud of. Expecting Aboriginal people to simultaneously get over the past while also celebrating it on Australia Day, and joining in on the sentiment of Lest We Forget when talking about all Australian Wars except for the Frontier Wars is as futile as were the ideas that we could be bred out, and is based on much the same ideology. Fun Fact: Captain Cook first arrived in Botany Bay on April 29th 1770, and after an encounter with local people in Botany Bay Cook wrote that all they seemd to want was us to be gone Seems he was smarter than we give him credit for. This article originally appeared on IndigenousX and was reposted with permission from the author The Irish Farmers' Association has told staff from the NPWS and Birdwatch Ireland that they are banned from accessing members' working farmland Farmers have warned rangers and conservationists to keep off their land. Staff from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Birdwatch Ireland are being told by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) that they are banned from accessing members' working farmland. Jer Bergin, national chairman, said it was a clear message to the next government over broken promises on compensation for lands designated special areas of conservation for wildlife including hen harriers. The IFA is also angered over restrictions on farming activities and limits on work to alleviate floods. "When designations were first imposed, commitments were given that compensation would be paid where farmers suffered losses. However, in recent years these commitments have not been honoured," he said. The trespass threat was included in a new poster campaign launched by the IFA in Shannon Harbour, Co Offaly. Birdwatch Ireland, which regularly surveys wildlife in hedgerows, farmland, bogs and in environmentally sensitive areas , said it was extremely surprised. "BirdWatch Ireland firmly believes that farmers are the custodians of some of Ireland's most important habitats and iconic wildlife," spokesman Niall Hatch said. "We actively work to advocate financial support for farmers who are in a position to help wildlife, and we firmly believe that much more needs to be done by the State and the Irish Government to benefit and support those farmers whose actions serve to protect and conserve wildlife and biodiversity." BirdWatch Ireland said it is fortunate to enjoy a very good working relationship with farmers and landowners. The IFA claimed the NPWS refused to allow remedial work on many rivers and turloughs which compounded flooding problems this winter. "Dredging and clearing of rivers will have to take place to alleviate the problems associated with flooding. NPWS cannot be allowed to stand in the way of this," said Tom Turley, the group's SAC project team chairman. A Government spokesman said the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht and the Department of Agriculture work closely with the IFA on a range of issues, including land management in designated areas in order to protect heritage. "It is inaccurate to suggest that the NPWS has obstructed flood alleviation works," a department spokesman said. "The department is strongly committed to working with the IFA and other farming organisations to the benefit of those living and working in rural Ireland." Farmers can apply for compensation if land is designated SAC, a Natural Heritage Area or a Special Protection Area to protect plants or wildlife, breeding grounds or globally important sites. Payments are based on how productive the land could be and decisions can be appealed to independent arbitration. President Michael D Higgins has called on people to keep building a Republic which the 1916 leaders would be proud of. At the opening of a new visitor centre in Kilmainham Gaol, the President paid tribute to the volunteers who restored the ruined prison 50 years ago. Mr Higgins said there can be no doubting the prison's importance in Irish history. "In its current life as a museum it fulfils a new and essential role, in enabling all of our citizens to engage with history and commemoration in a way that is inclusive, ethical, and honest," he said. The new visitor centre is on the site of the old courthouse which was handed over to the Office of Public Works in 2013. A building which dates back to 1820, it is now home to a coffee shop, bookshop and interpretative displays. It includes photographs, artefacts and the diaries and autograph books of prisoners jailed during the War of Independence and the civil war. "These personal perspectives of those incarcerated are of such great value," the President said. "They indicate a selflessness, echoing the valiant courage which so defined those who fought with commitment for an Ireland of justice, equality and freedom, as well as allowing a unique access to the emotions and the insights of those detained here." Some of the inscriptions include that by Hannah Moynihan, who was imprisoned here during the War of Independence. In October 1923 she described Kilmainham as a "dark, gloomy place with long, dreary passages". She added: "Sis (Power) and I have been making our 'house' beautiful, and on the door we have chalked 'The Invincible' - rather conceited!" Patrick Gilligan, writing from cell 16 during the Civil War wrote: "Tis not who can inflict most, Tis who can endure most will triumph in the end." While Peter Radcliffe added in the same year: "Why were prisons built, and what was man's intent, in building for his fellow man, such places of torment?" President Higgins laid a wreath in the Stone Breakers' yard in Kilmainham on Sunday where 14 of the rebel leaders were executed by firing squad. He said it was a "most moving ceremony". "The monument to those shot confronts all of the visitors to this place with the final moments of the leaders of the Rising, in a most arresting and affecting manner," he said. President Higgins said upcoming commemorations, in particular the Civil War, will create more "difficult and painful processes of remembering" and Kilmainham will again be central to that. "As we commemorate the centenary of the Easter Rising let us do so in a spirit of determination to honour the deaths of those brave leaders who died in Kilmainham Gaol in 1916, and with respect for a full appreciation of their lives and action, and the context in which these were transacted," he said. "They died imagining a brave new Ireland, and we must continue the work of building a Republic of which our founders would be proud; a nation rooted in courage, vision and a profound spirit of generous humanity. "In the commemorations to follow in the coming decades we will be called to summon up forgiveness and achieve a healing." Kilmainham Gaol opened in 1796 and remains one of the largest unoccupied prisons in Europe. It was decommissioned as a prison in 1924, restored as a museum 50 years ago and has been designated a National Monument. It takes in 330,000 visitors a year and to mark the opening of the visitors' centre the first 5,000 online bookings for April and May will be free. President Higgins said Irish people owe an enormous debt of gratitude to all the volunteers, many of whom had also fought in the Rising and the War of Independence, who led the restoration. Further calls for more information on IFA pay levels before 2009 were aired at the association's recent presidential debate in Meath. The pay packages for the long-serving general secretary Michael Berkery, past presidents and staff being paid more than 50,000 per year were demanded by local farmers who said that the Con Lucey report did not go far enough. During the scandal that rocked the organisation late last year, the IFA admitted that there was a "cost saving" when Pat Smith replaced Mr Berkery as general secretary of the IFA. All three presidential candidates have opened the door to another probe to go further back into the IFA's accounts. "Nothing is off-limits regarding transparency and money - and I mean nothing," said Henry Burns, who insisted that nobody left in the IFA had anything to fear by the truth coming out. Kerry's Flor McCarthy said that "full disclosure" would be required, while Joe Healy said that he wanted "everything out in the open". "The last thing that I want is different revelations coming out in one or two years time," he told the meeting. The candidates promises came in the same week that the IFA revealed that it's 4.7m levy income had fallen by 12pc, or 560,000. But the candidates had mixed opinions about the alternatives for the lobby group. Mr Healy said that IFA levies are a contentious issue and if they are to be retained the collection must be transparent. "I'd love to say that we don't go there anymore, but...if we put it on the tags, suckler farmers won't be happy," he said. He also added that if a flat-rate increase was applied it would be unfair on the smaller farmer. Mr McCarthy said that farmers still needed a well funded organisation, but the levy could be done away with if the IFA could become "fitter and leaner". "Increasing the membership fee will only lose members. Small members are already contributing more because it's their numbers that gives us the strength when we are lobbying," he added. Mr Burns argued the case for keeping the existing levy system on the basis that it was fair and proportionate, and that it fixed "a broke organisation" when it was introduced. In response to a suggestion that the levy could be put on the supply chain that profits from farming, the Laois farmer said that it had to be "farmers' money". "We have to be independent - every other method would be controversial and compromised. No knock-out blows were landed during the Meath hustings, with each of the candidates match fit after three weeks of constant meetings and debates. Issues such as pylons, governance in the IFA, young farmers, and farmers' public image were all raised, but it was the legacy of the revelations last year that dominated proceedings. One of the most telling moments of the evening was when Laois's candidate gave an emotional insight into the close-knit, but sometimes fraught, relationship with his former leader, Mr Downey. "We would've had differences. I drive hard, and Eddie drives hard. "But there is the human side of this. Eddie Downey came to my father's funeral at Christmas, and that was really appreciated. It meant a lot to my family," said Mr Burns. He insisted in front of Downey's home-crowd that "we would be better off if Eddie Downey was still president". "I'm personally sorry that people [the Downey family] have had to go through the pain they have had to go through," he added. Farmers could be paid to dispose of agricultural slurry and organic waste under plans to ramp up production of renewable gas. Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) says as much as 10,000 GWh of gas - around 20pc of annual demand - could be produced from agricultural waste and grass which would help Ireland meet ambitious renewables targets. Large industrial energy users are increasingly demanding 'green' gas to power their facilities, Ian Kilgallon from GNI said. He added there was an abundant source of raw feedstock available, and ramping up production would not require major investment in new infrastructure. Around 50 locations across the network had been identified as suitable 'injection' sites, of which around 12 would be required and cost between 1.5m to 3m each to develop. He also said a network of between 100 and 200 smaller co-operative facilities would be needed, where gas was produced before being compressed and transported by road to an injection point. "The industry is demanding green", Mr Kilgallon said. "Ireland has abundant sustainable sources of renewable gas to meet the demands of industry. The existing natural gas network can facilitate the supply of renewable gas to industry and provide energy security through access to a European-wide green gas market." However, Barry Caslin, bioenergy specialist with Teagasc , said while green gas was a viable option, the feed-in tariff would have to be increased. It currently stands at 15 cent per kilowatt (kWh) produced, which was not sufficient to make investment attractive. "It's viable for Ireland, and the technology is well proven. It hits the targets for heat, transport and electricity. You can generate electricity and heat for a local school or library, and that's the ideal way it should be working. Silage "If you take grass silage, you can get 250 kWh from a tonne. If it was costing 25 per tonne, it would be 0.10 cent per kWh. The operational and maintenance cost is 2c to 3c per kWh. For every kWh it's costing you 13c, but you're only getting 15c. The tariff needs to be higher." He also said that slurry manure from pig and poultry units would be suitable, or for large dairy farmers, if mixed with food waste. He said there were 40 anaerobic digestors in Northern Ireland, because the feed-in tariffs were almost double that in the Republic. GNI has some 13,500kms of pipeline, and more than 675,000 gas customers, including 25,000 businesses which are increasingly focusing on renewables. Renewable gas would also help large energy users meet a target to produce 12pc of their heating needs from renewable sources by 2020, and help meet a transport target of 10pc. The plan would also remove the need to burn so much fossil fuels, which are the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions which drive climate change. "There would also be diversification of family farm incomes," Mr Kilgallon said. However, a feed-in tariff would be required to encourage investment. This would comprise a state payment to producers, and not until that is in place will a fee per tonne of feedstock be decided. Renewable gas is produced by anaerobic digestion, where the waste is fermented in an oxygen-free environment and gas formed. Two other methods are also used, including gasification where the feed stock is broken down and gas forms, which is purified and cooled, and power-to-gas technologies. The feedstock is organic waste and slurries, agricultural slurries and additional grass, not required for livestock. Agricultural food processing residues, waste water treatment residues and animal manures could also be used. Current state supports are exclusively for renewable electricity, and funding would have to be in place for renewable gas and the plants required. State support schemes are in place across EU countries including the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Finland, to incentivise investment. Around 10,000 GWh of renewable gas could be produced every year. We currently use some 53,000 GWh. There is much soul searching taking place in Ireland these days regarding who we are, what we have achieved and how society is to be managed for the coming decade. Various versions are bandied about regarding our history and what it might mean for the future. It really depends on who you are talking to and who the authors were of our differing histories. One thing is certain; Ireland has changed from being an almost destitute third world country in to a place where young people have hope and good prospects. In the years in between, a whole way of life and what was a uniquely Irish culture has disappeared. I use the word "unique" with reservation as in our case it meant being shut off culturally from outside influences. Strict censorship had a lot to do with this as did the stranglehold the church and state had on the media. Little changed economically from the 1920s to the 1950s but from then on, slowly but surely, we shed the more suffocating influences of past tradition. We grew up and began to think for ourselves. In the 1960s, when in my late teens, I had the good fortune to spend some time in Spain and was astonished to find that the form of Catholicism practiced there was utterly foreign to me. It was like opening a door to sunlight and all this in a country that had given the world the infamous Spanish Inquisition. The openness and lighter-hearted attitude to religious practice I found there was refreshing and attractive compared with the dark and gloomy regime I had left in Ireland. It was clear that the rules of the Roman Catholic religion were interpreted differently in other countries and in a far more humane manner. Some readers of this column have accused me in the past of being anti-religious. This is not so - I simply abhor the specifically Irish version of Catholicism that was imposed on us during my childhood and for the following few decades. The huge gap that exists between the generations and their experiences while growing up struck me forcibly while attending a local funeral recently. I knew many of the older people present but their children and grandchildren seemed almost foreign, like new paintings by unknown artists, hanging in a recently opened gallery. Optimistic They looked smart, bright and optimistic and with a mindset that could have come from another planet from the one I grew up in. People like myself who were born in the 1940s and 50s arrived into an Ireland that still endured grinding poverty which was kept out of sight and only barely controlled by encouraging mass emigration, something these youngsters knew little of. My family was fortunate to belong to what has been called the 'Strong Farmer' class and the late Joe Ward wrote a book of the same title which well describes the way of life they enjoyed. Raymond Keogh's Cattleman also gives good insights in to how they lived, yet it is easy to forget how the economic war of the 1930s wiped out many of them. The children of the 60s arrived in a different Ireland, one brimming with fresh ideas and hope and with membership of the EU just around the corner. During the 70s land prices rocketed and like the recent Celtic Tiger era, this led to over borrowing and finally to bankruptcies once reality hit home, but all the while, Irish society was opening up to new and exciting opportunities. Discos had replaced the ceilidhs and "ballrooms of romance" and once Ryanair arrived to challenge the Aer Lingus monopoly, world travel became affordable for almost everyone. They were exciting times but then virtually all aspects of life are exciting when you are young. The opportunities available to teenagers today are almost unbelievable when compared to 100 years ago. Few had access to third level education then and even gaining an apprenticeship for skills like carpentry and plumbing required your family paying a tradesman to take you on. An excellent social history of the 1920s and the following decades is contained in No Laughing Matter, Anthony Cronin's biography of the writer Flann O'Brien (Brian O Nuallain). In the early chapters it describes the strict upbringing that he and the children of most middle class Irish families endured in those days. Trying to relate this to young people today is virtually impossible. It seems the generation gap has never been greater. Seed suppliers believe spring sowings could be back by 10pc due to a combination of increased winter cereal areas and farmers deciding to leave land fallow. Harvest 2016 prices of 115/t for green barley have pushed the breakeven levels for spring barley to over 3t/ac. The calculation includes straw sales of 35/ac. As a result more and more farmers are planning to leave ground unplanted this spring, according to Ferns agri-merchant Peter Bolger. "Any marginal ground will be left unsown or be taken into bird seed areas for GLAS. I see farmers more on top of the sums, and getting more comfortable with the idea of leaving land fallow," he said. However, other merchants believe that most farmers will be reluctant to leave ground fallow. "I can't see farmers leaving ground unsown," said Liffey Mills' Pat Ryan, despite the fact that he estimates that the spring barley area will be down 20pc on last year. "Autumn plantings were up, so we'll probably be down 10pc overall in grain. But I see a lot of land still being converted to grass in the southern half of the country, and probably more fodder beet being grown too," he said. Spring beans are experiencing a surge in popularity, especially in the northeast, as farmers seek out alternatives. "We're seeing a lot of farmers look at beans because they've done well for the last two years, and it provides a good entry for winter wheat back into the rotation," explained Drogheda merchant, Gerry Curran. Mr Bolger said that the wet conditions at harvest had compromised a lot of home-saved seed, which contributed to a 30pc increase in bean seed sales. However, some merchants were cautioning on the potential for beans to turn around tillage farmers' fortunes. "There's probably too much being sown because beans are too expensive compared to brewers grains to include in rations, so it's going to have limited uses," said Mr Ryan. All merchants reported a 10-20pc increase in the area of winter barley being planted. "We've seen a jump of 10-15pc in winter barley because it's basically out-yielding winter wheat in recent years. Most guys are still using six-row varieties but the hybrids are getting more popular all the time," said Mr Curran. Spring planting has only commenced on the driest of land, with less than 25pc of the spring area planted in Wexford. Maize does not appear to be gaining any ground from the drop in spring plantings, due to tighter spending from dairy farmers and the realisation by contract growers that rolled barley needs to be close to 180/t before maize becomes competitive. "We headed to Stephen's Green gardens where a company of Sinn Feiners were entrenched, with Markievicz as officer. They were surrendering, leaving their guns against railings. There were a company of military in a college overlooking the gardens. We came to Butt Bridge but there were Shinners there and they would not let us pass. We went lower down [the Liffey] and we were put across in a boat. There we met a man who was going home to North Circular road and he said he would take us a short way there. When we got to the back of Amiens Street [Connolly] Station the military were pouring out the gates to surround Dublin and would not let us pass. We went along another street, up from the quay, and past some slums on to the [North] Circular road. It was surrounded by military who had arrived from England. We went to Drumcondra Bridge, but an Officer there would not let us pass. I asked for the OC, and he told me I would see him with other officers on the street, and gave me a description of him. I showed him my [RDS] show papers he said he was sorry he could not let us pass. But they were to give permits the following morning at Dublin Castle. We then tried to get into some hotel but could not. They all said they were full up. So we did not know what to do. When I saw a neighbour of mine, who was at business in the city, coming up the street. He said he was going home to Kilkenny. I made the remark that the city was surrounded he said he knew an archway under the road. I told him we could not get into any hotel. He mentioned one hotel and told me to mention his name. We were after calling at this place earlier and they said they were full up. When we called again a girl put her head out and said the landlady was over at the hospital seeing the wounded. We waited. When I gave my friend's name she took us in. There were only three people in the house: an old Sea Captain; a lady teacher; and an electrician from Belfast. The landlady said she had no food in the house and the Captain suggested that we go out in the morning and get some. So the next morning we took four sacks and went down the street. A large shop was looted - even the counter. We saw youngsters without a sack with fur coats dragging after them, and others with bundles of silk stockings and rolls of tweed. They asked us to buy them, one shilling a bundle, and when we refused they pelted the bundle at us. It was a frightful sight. I saw a priest coming out of a chapel and he beseeched them to stop, but they paid no attention to him. We went further on and I saw a man put his head out of a shop door and close it again quick. I ran over and asked him to sell us some food. He claimed if he opened the door that he would be looted. I told him we would keep a look out and tell him when to open door. He opened the door and let us in. We purchased a side of bacon, tea, sugar, butter and eight stones of potatoes. We got back safe to our hotel. She then said she had very little bread. A butcher came in, he had stables at the back of hotel, and said he knew the manager of a large bakery up the street. We went there and he got a sack of bread. So we were well supplied. We saw from hotel windows Clerys large shop in O'Connell Street burned. We saw a number of people running around on the top of houses when underneath was a mass of flames, and also a number of soldiers and others shot on the streets. It was a frightful sight. We got through the military cordon on a permit, which the butcher got to go to the abattoir for meat. He drove us to Gavin Lows yard where our bulls were. He told us he would be a half hour and would pick us up when he was coming back. But there were a row of barrels across this street and the Sergeant would not let us down to the yard without a permit. He said the OC would be around in a short time and we could get permission from him. He did not come for nearly half an hour and it was nearly an hour later by the time we got arrangements made about the bulls. So when we came out the butcher was gone and we were outside the cordon and could not get in. We decided to walk to Naas, where the nearest train was, to continue the 100 mile journey home. We started at 3.30pm to walk 30 miles to Naas. When we came to Lucan it was very dark and we turned onto the wrong road. We walked six miles and came to a cottage, and I rapped at the door. A man put his head out of the window. When I asked him if we were on the right road to Naas, he told me we are six miles wrong. We had to walk back to Lucan, but the man who was with me had bad feet and walked in his socks. We arrived at Naas at 8am. I rapped at the hotel and the owner, who was drunk, came to door. I asked him if we could have breakfast he said he had no food in the hotel as no supplies came since last Saturday. The post office was connected with the hotel. I went in to send a wire home and told the young lady there how we were situated. She said there was flour, bacon and eggs in the hotel and if we could wait she would get us breakfast. Our train was not going till 10.30am, so we had plenty of time. When I arrived in Kilkenny, I found that the train went no further. I was 14 miles from home. I got a bicycle from a friend and rode home but everyone I met I had to take tea and tell them all about Dublin. One man's brother was at the show with his young son. He asked me to go to his brother's house where his wife was in a terrible way about them. So I allayed her fears, and told her they were lying in the stalls with bulls. I got home late that night on Saturday. On Monday I went back to show, sold the bull, and found the city quiet." Irish exporters benefited from strong external tailwinds last year but these are unlikely to be repeated in 2016, specialist bank Investec has said. In its latest economic commentary, Investec said Ireland was the fastest-growing economy in the EU last year and, while growth is set to moderate, it is still poised to retain this crown for the third consecutive year. Much of the current growth is being driven by the domestic economy, but net exports remain important, the bank's chief economist Philip O'Sullivan said. "On the latter, exporters benefited from strong external tailwinds in 2015 but this is unlikely to be replicated (at least to the same extent) in 2016," he said. Investec said the mismatch between supply and demand shows little sign of abating over the short term. "While residential completions increased by 15pc last year, at 12,666 units they are running at only half of the level of new household formation, Mr O'Sullivan said. "While leading indicators such as planning permissions and the residential component of the Ulster Bank Construction PMI suggest that completions will continue to recover, it could be the end of the decade before output rises to match demand. Due to this mismatch, our expectations remain that the path of least resistance for prices and rents is to the upside." Investec also said it doesn't expect any major political policy shifts, because, even though we don't have a government, the mainstream parties are not that different. Gourmet food business Fallon and Byrne, which is co-owned by former journalist Fiona McHugh, enjoyed a record year in 2015 as earnings more than doubled. Group accounts filed by Sarzala show that revenues jumped by 19pc to 12.63m in the 12 months to the end of June 30 last. The business is run by the husband and wife team of Paul Byrne and former Sunday Times Ireland editor Fiona McHugh. The 2015 performance represents a turnaround in the business which exited Examinership in April 2012. The business operates a gourmet food hall, restaurant, wine cellar and function room on Exchequer Street in the centre of Dublin. Numbers employed rose from 151 to 195 last year with staff costs increasing by 22pc to 4.5m. The business's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 528,806 represents a 164pc increase on EBITDA of 200,934 enjoyed in 2014. Frank Murphy sits on the board with Ms McHugh and Mr Byrne and aggregate pay to directors, including pension contributions, last year increased by 158pc, from 101,731 to 261,083. Pre-tax profits last year totalled 119,365 compared to pre-tax losses of 166,431 in fiscal 2014. The directors said that they "are very optimistic as regards the future prospects for the company. "The directors feel the group is now very well positioned to take advantage of further opportunities for growth and to leverage off the business's strong brand recognition and reputation for quality". Without a correct recruitment strategy, you could be setting your firm up for poor hiring decisions and long-term staff inefficiency. The key is a well informed and senior management-led human resources division. While it's easy to focus exclusively on developing new products and winning clients, the talent needed to make these happen is arguably the most important aspect of your business. You must see HR as a key pillar of your organisation, with direct input into the highest levels of planning. Without an informed HR and recruitment team, your company risks making costly mistakes, including the hiring of poor-quality candidates, or candidates that do not share your company's ethos and goals. Leveraging current staff: The best recruits often come from within the company. According to our latest research, 'The State of Resourcing in Ireland', more than 80pc of Irish companies consider themselves "good" or "very good" at enabling their employees to progress within their organisation and recommend new recruits through an internal referral scheme. A well-developed internal recruitment process, and a culture that actively encourages personal development and upskilling, is vital to retain existing talent and hone skills. Identifying your value proposition It is crucial that a HR team both understands and is able to communicate its value proposition. An employer's value proposition explains what benefit your organisation can provide for a candidate and how this is unique to your company. In other words, "what's in it for me?" for the potential hire. This can include the type of work, salary and bonuses on offer, to other non-monetary benefits including opportunities for progression, travel or career breaks, educational grants and study leave, and policies such as flexitime or working from home. By having a comprehensive understanding of your value proposition, you will be better equipped to attract a calibre of candidate consistent with your culture and long-term goals. Creating a diverse workforce Diversity programmes are high on the list of priorities for Irish companies, according to 'The State of Resourcing' report. Despite this, only 27pc of Irish organisations consider themselves good at recruiting a diverse workforce that reflects the changing nature of society. Diversity leads to a stronger, more varied pool of skills and talents, an enriched working environment and a greater resonance with customers. However, for a diversity strategy to work, senior management must be prepared to pay more than just lip-service. Senior management must actively support HR in building recruitment programmes and assist them in the recruitment process. That means taking into account religious and cultural sensitivities, and building a culture that embraces diversity. Talent acquisition is a two-way street. If your company isn't well-known, or doesn't have the same cachet as Google or Facebook, you'll need to fight harder to gain candidates' attention. Building an attractive employer brand online and offline Social media is vital for developing your employer brand online. When looking for new talent, your HR team needs to make use of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Glassdoor and other social networks. Embrace these and tell a compelling story about your brand, its culture and why candidates would want to work for you. This also presents an opportunity to showcase the company's employee diversity and clear career progression. However, social media enables a conversation between a brand and its audience. If people have had negative experiences with your employer brand, websites like Glassdoor will provide them with a perfect platform to tell you and everyone else about it. For HR teams, recruiting in particular sectors, especially sectors that require STEM knowledge, skills shortages are an ongoing problem. For some companies, reaching out to universities and other colleges to establish graduate programmes and work placements is an effective way of building long-term, lucrative relationships. Furthermore, for companies that demand a particular set of skills, like technology or law, these relationships are vital to maintaining a flow of talent. By enabling your HR team to develop and implement an effective talent acquisition strategy, based on your company's long-term vision, your business stands to increase its position as an employer of choice. James Milligan is a director with Hays Ireland. For more information on the Hays 'State of Resourcing in Ireland' Report, visit www.Hays.ie The Hill of Tara, with its Iron Age hilltop enclosure, is Irelands ancient capital. It is a candidate Unesco world heritage site. An Eirgrid architect has insisted that the proposed North-South interconnectors "will not have a significant impact" on views from the important site at the Hill of Tara. But a consultant for Meath County Council claimed there would be a high impact on a view of national significance. The differences emerged at a Bord Pleanala oral hearing in Carrickmacross into one of the biggest ever pieces of infrastructure in the State. Joerg Schulze, consultant landscape architect for EirGrid, said that, from the hill, the transmission line to the east would not dominate the landscape. It would be located in the middle distance, with the closest pylon being 6.29km away, and would not be immediately apparent. The Hill of Tara, with its Iron Age hilltop enclosure, is Ireland's ancient capital. It is a candidate Unesco world heritage site. EirGrid said that, in identifying a potential route for the interconnector, it took into account key constraints such as architectural and archaeological heritage sites. Meath County Council engaged Conor Skehan of planning and environmental consultants CAAS Ltd to assess all designated scenic viewpoints that were included in the County Development Plan. He concluded that seven views including Tara and at Bective Bridge would be affected by the proposed development. Mr Schulze acknowledged that while he agreed with most of the assessments made by Mr Skehan, there was a considerable difference of opinion with Meath County Council regarding the effect on Tara. He showed the photomontages to the planning inspectors along with a picture that superimposed the line of the pylons. Mr Schulze pointed out that an existing 220kV line from Gorman to Maynooth that was only 1.25km away was not immediately apparent and was barely discernible. The proposed 400kV development would be located approximately 4.5 to 5km further away from this 220kV line, according to EirGrid. The hearing resumed at the Nuremore Hotel at 11am yesterday with a module on 'Human Beings: Land Use'. The Department of Finance has shot down Fine Gael's plan to slash VAT on new homes because it would have no impact on housing supply, the Irish Independent can reveal. Finance officials have also warned the proposal would cost 250m and would require additional tax hikes elsewhere in order to be implemented. Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny and other senior Fine Gael figures yesterday argued that VAT should be cut from 13.5pc to 9pc, in a similar move taken in relation to the tourism industry. The measure is one of dozens contained in a five-page housing document, which has been circulated as part of discussions aimed at forming a new government. According to the document, the plan would be "funded through time-related savings on the capital programme and the expiration of the Home Renovation initiative at the end of 2016". But news the department has shot down the VAT proposal will prove deeply embarrassing for Mr Kenny. "A key consideration is that economic analysis by both the Department and the ESRI found that the effect of reduced VAT would not have a major impact on housing supply," a department spokesman said last night. The Irish Independent understands former Housing Minister Paudie Coffey, who lost his seat in the General Election, twice lobbied for the measure to be introduced in the Budget. But Mr Coffey was told the move would result in a "large cost to the Exchequer" and give a tax boost to developers. Meanwhile, Fine Gael also wants to provide 500 "rapid delivery" housing units and introduce a new 'Help to Buy' scheme aimed at first-time buyers. The party also pledges to produce an Action Plan for Housing within eight weeks of a government being formed. And a new Cabinet Minister for Housing will also be appointed under a Fine Gael-led Government. "It is an economic, social, and ethical priority that the new Government do more to address the housing needs of our people," the document states. In relation to homelessness, the document promises to end involuntary long-term homelessness. Ending the need for rough sleeping by providing emergency beds and maintaining a high level of financial support for homeless services is also pledged. The housing document was discussed as new figures revealed that some 790 families, including 1,616 children, were in emergency accommodation in Dublin during the last week of February. Homeless agency Depaul described the figures as worrying and said they illustrate the need for government action. "The figures released by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive show what Depaul is seeing every day in our Dublin services - increasing numbers of families and children becoming homeless due to the housing crisis," said charity CEO Kerry Anthony. "A dynamic and robust national housing plan that delivers on its housing commitments, addresses increasing demand and unaffordability in the private rental sector, and prioritises the prevention of homelessness is long overdue." France is tightening anti-corruption laws to clean up its image after several French companies were slapped with huge fines abroad. Planned reforms including greater protection for whistleblowers and a new anti-corruption agency. Two years ago, France's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, was fined $9bn (8bn) in the US for violations of sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran. French engineering company Alstom and oil groups Total and Technip have been forced to pay millions of dollars to US authorities over bribery allegations. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin will unveil the new bill to the cabinet today, before sending it to parliament for discussion. "We are badly ranked internationally, we're under suspicion," Mr Sapin told France Inter radio. "So we must wash away this suspicion and for that we need strong measures," he said. The bill will include the creation of a government-wide registry of lobbyists and a ban on "large" gifts to government officials, finance ministry officials said. France was ranked 23rd in Transparency International's latest corruption perception index, below Germany, Britain and the United States, and was criticised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2014. "To this day, no French company has yet been convicted for foreign bribery in France, whereas French companies have been convicted abroad for that offence," the OECD said then, adding that it was concerned by France's "lack of proactivity". The government dropped a plan to let companies plead guilty in exchange for a financial settlement, Mr Sapin said. (Reuters) An RTE documentary will air footage of the violent clashes between members of anti-Islam group Pegida and anti-racism protesters which took place on the streets of Dublin in February. The second of RTE's three-part series 'I Am Immigrant' follows Chairman of Pegida and Identity Ireland founder Peter O'Loughlin as he campaigns on an anti-mass migration ticket in the recent general election. Pegida, which stands for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West, began in Germany last year, largely in response to the European refugee crisis. The group launched their Irish arm in Dublin on February 5 outside the GPO, prompting protests from an estimated 1000 anti-racism and Muslim groups, some of which turned violent. RTE cameras followed O'Loughlin as he journeyed to the launch on the LUAS and captured an attack on him and fellow Pegida and Identity Ireland members. There was further violence on the day as an 'anti-racist coalition' held a counter demonstration in protest of Pegida on O'Connell Street in the city centre. Gardai with batons stepped in to deal with violence that erupted when the protesters pursued several men they believed to be Pegida members. The demonstration had initially been peaceful with over 1,000 anti-racist and Muslim groups assembling on O'Connell Street. However, a splinter group wearing masks chased some Pegida supporters down Talbot Street and riot police descended to quell the violence. Speaking to the Sunday Independent at the time, Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri, who is chair of the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council and was present at the counter-demonstration, said: "The vast majority of those in the protest today were peaceful. I think (those involved in violence) were a minority." Video of the Day He added, "As a member of the Muslim community, we would urge everyone to remain peaceful. It is not the right way to respond with violence - you have to respond with dialogue, even if that is a Pegida member. It is absolutely wrong, we do not condone it." I Am Immigrant airs Thursday 31st March 9.30 RTE2 President Michael D Higgins lays a wreath at the commemoration of James Connolly at Liberty Hall in Dublin yesterday. Photo: Tony Gavin President Michael D Higgins and his wife, Sabina, sporting an Irish Citizen Army hat, with Siptu members at the State commemoration of the role played by James Connolly and the Irish Citizens Army in the 1916 Rising at Liberty Hall, Dublin. Photo: Gerry Mooney James Connolly's ideal of an Ireland free of inequality has yet to be achieved, said President Michael D Higgins at a major 1916 Rising event in Liberty Hall. The President and his wife Sabina were applauded when they arrived at the landmark building in Dublin in glorious March sunshine for a State commemoration of James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army for the role they played that Easter 100 years ago. The acting Tanaiste, Labour leader Joan Burton, had arrived earlier, relaxed and smiling. She formally invited the President to lay a wreath at the nearby statue of Connolly on behalf of the Irish people. The President then stood in silence as the flag of the Irish Citizen Army, known as The Starry Plough, was raised to full mast. Traffic was diverted outside the trade union headquarters during the event. The Dublin Fire Brigade band and the Army's No 1 Band played 'The Last Post', while a minute's silence, a stirring reading of the Proclamation and the national anthem were features of the dignified outdoor ceremony. In a wide-ranging speech inside Liberty Hall, the President referred to inequality in 1916 and 2016 and praised Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army for seeking a fairer Ireland as well as a free Ireland. "Let us seize the opportunity of these ongoing commemorations to rekindle the unfulfilled promises bequeathed to us across the century by the women and men of the Irish Citizen Army. "Their vision of a people free from want, free from impoverishment and free from exploitation remains a wellspring of inspiration for us as we seek to respond to the situation of too many workers who, in Ireland today, earn a wage that guarantees neither a life free from poverty, nor access to decent housing, adequate childcare and health services," said the President. The Irish Citizen Army, led by Connolly, was founded to defend workers after the 1913 Lockout. Many members were from the slum tenements where one-third of all Dubliners lived. "Land and private property, a restrictive religiosity and a repressive pursuit of respectability, affecting in particular women, became the defining social and cultural ideals of the newly independent Ireland, at the expense of any fundamental social transformation of an egalitarian kind," said President Higgins. "The republic for which they hoped remains unfulfilled, yet those same aspirations for true equality, or real independence, can still sustain us today in the task of rebuilding our society and our economy," he said. At various places throughout the building and surrounding paths, men and women wore uniforms of the Irish Citizen Army with rifles resting on their shoulders. Orlagh Fawl (42), a section organiser for Siptu, cut a striking figure dressed as Countess Markievicz. The unveiling of a plaque to the fallen members of the Irish Citizen Army underlined the central position of the old Liberty Hall in preparations for the Rising. Military training and bomb-making, as well as the printing of the Proclamation, all took place in the old building. It was replaced with a modern high-rise office in the 1960s. Pupils from St Vincent's National School, North Strand, Dublin, and from St Louis High School, Rathmines, Dublin, as well as musicians and relatives of historical figures from the Rising, participated in providing a rich and moving programme of music, song and readings for President Higgins. Siptu union general president Jack O'Connor welcomed the President to Liberty Hall. The union leader said while there were frequent uses of the phrase "putting the country first" these days, Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army's emphasis was on "putting the people first", an aspiration for an immensely better society, rather than just a different flag. A Latvian woman who worked for more than a decade at Aer Lingus VIP lounge at Dublin Airport claimed she was humiliated into cleaning toilets in the food court after her employer discovered a bottle of vodka in her handbag during a routine search. Claiming her employer made her out to be a drunk and a thief Kristina Malinovska, (40), from Dublin is suing her former employer, One Complete Solution Ltd., trading as Outsourced Client Solutions (OCS), for constructive dismissal. During a hearing at the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) this morning, Ms Malinovska, (40), from Dublin, broke down in tears as she described how she worked without incident as a lounge assistant and waitress at Aer Lingus Gold Circle lounge at the Dublin Airport for 15 years. The lounge, which provides elite Gold Circle Club members with a free bar and snacks while awaiting their flights, is run by OCS which is also contracted by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to manage the DAAs business lounges as well provide cleaning and pest control services. Ms Malinovska told the tribunal that she had an unblemished work record and reported for her 1pm to 9:30pm shift for work as usual on January 27, 2015 when a duty manager asked for permission to check her handbag as part of a routine search of staff belongings. The manager found a 250ml plastic bottle just slightly larger than a naggin - containing a clear liquid which turned out to be vodka. Ms Malinovska said she was told to leave the premises immediately and was summoned to an investigation into the matter the following day in which she denied taking the vodka from the bar or consuming it at work. I didnt think I did anything wrong, she told the tribunal. She explained that she bought the vodka to drink with a friend after work because she wouldnt be able to make it to an off-license before it closed when her shift ended. She said she transferred the vodka into a plastic bottle due to security checks at the airport. She received a letter from OSC on February 19, 2015 stating that the subsequent investigation into the matter found nothing untoward and there was no sanction forthcoming against her, other than a request not to bring large quantities of alcohol to work, the tribunal heard. However, she was subsequently told she would not be working in the lounge again and her new job would be cleaning out toilets and the general food court area in the airport despite claiming that she was promised I would never be moved. Ms Malinovska subsequently quit her job, which pays around 20,000 a year, because she felt humiliated by what she believed was a demotion. However she also made four written requests to Aer Lingus which contracted OSC to reinstate her, the tribunal heard. Do you not accept that these circumstances were extraordinarily humiliating wheres shes being held as a drunk and a thief? Ms Malinovskas solicitor asked Michael Leavy, OSCs former operations manager. Mr Leavy, denied Ms Malinovska was suspected of drinking on the job or stealing liquor and gave the reason for her sudden change in job functions as a demand by operations to cover that position right away. Are you saying it was just a coincidence she was asked to move after 15 years in the same job? asked tribunal member Frank Keoghan. Why do you pick her? Mr Leavy responded that we needed people to cover the position right away and she was available. Earlier, IBEC representative Tiernan Doherty, representing OCS, told the tribunal that Ms Malinovskas official job description was that of a cleaner and not a waitress, noting the Gold Circle lounge is a self-service operation. He also told the tribunal that she agreed to the companys terms and conditions of employment which includes a clause that employees job functions and locations can change. Ms Malinovska is seeking reinstatement in her former job in the lounge as well as compensation for lost wages. The tribunal adjourned to consider its decision. The scene of the Berkeley balcony tragedy which claimed the lives of six young Irish students: Ashley Donohoe, Olivia Burke, Lorcan Miller, Eoghan Culligan, Nick Schuster, and Eimear Walsh. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage The families of victims of the Berkeley balcony collapse insist they will continue their quest to hold those responsible to account after it emerged that no one will face criminal charges. A district attorney in California said there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal manslaughter charges in connection with the tragedy, which claimed the lives of six Irish students and seriously injured seven more. The announcement came after a nine-month investigation into the tragedy, which occurred on June 16 last year. Although the likely cause of the collapse - water being trapped in the balcony deck during construction, leading to dry rot - had been established, prosecutors said the burden of proof for a criminal prosecution was very high. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said she did not believe it would be possible to prove manslaughter as a result of criminal negligence beyond a reasonable doubt. The family of one of the victims, Ashley Donohoe, said they were disappointed by the announcement. They said they felt a failure of the system made "it very difficult to bring charges against a corporation in a situation like this". A statement on behalf of the families of the other five who died - J1 students Lorcan Miller, Eoghan Culligan, Nick Schuster, Eimear Walsh and Olivia Burke - said the announcement was not unexpected, given the high burden of proof required. However, it said the families were determined "to hold those responsible accountable". Multi-million-dollar civil suits are being taken against 35 named defendants, including construction and building management firms, seeking punitive damages. The San Francisco law firm representing five of the families, Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, said evidence gathered by the district attorney would benefit the families in their civil suits. The law firm said those law suits would now be pursued "in earnest". Quest "It remains our clients' quest to uncover the truth, to hold those responsible accountable, and to bring about changes to industry practices to prevent such a needless tragedy from recurring," the law firm said. Each of the families was informed of Ms O'Malley's decision in advance of it being publicly announced yesterday. In a statement, the district attorney said there appeared to be many contributory causes of the balcony collapse, including the types of material that were used and the very wet weather Berkeley experienced during the months of construction. "The responsibility for this failure likely extends to many of the parties involved in the construction or maintenance of the building," she said. However, Ms O'Malley said proving beyond a reasonable doubt that any one party was guilty of manslaughter would not be possible. "In order to file a manslaughter case based on criminal negligence, the district attorney must be satisfied that any defendant or defendants acted with gross or reckless conduct akin to a disregard for human life, and that the deadly consequences of those actions were reasonably foreseeable," she said. "Any such charges would have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt to twelve impartial jurors, all of whom must unanimously agree. "Having carefully considered all the known evidence, and conducting an in-depth legal analysis based on expert opinion, the office has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to bring criminal manslaughter charges against any one individual or company." Ms O'Malley said it was not a decision she had taken lightly. "It is the culmination of months of consultation with my team of attorneys. It follows extensive reviews of reports, both legal and factual, and numerous meetings with investigators and experts." In making the announcement, Ms O'Malley said she was keenly aware of the devastation suffered by the victims and their families. "Not a day has passed since the tragedy of June 16 that I have not thought of the victims and their families," she said. Relations between Ireland and Britain are ready to "kick on further" to their mutual benefit but this could be hindered if a Brexit occurs, the British Ambassador to Ireland has warned. Dominick Chilcott reiterated the British government's position on staying in the EU at an inaugural ambassadorial lecture at Dublin City University yesterday. Mr Chilcott said he hoped Patrick Pearse would "be delighted by the mutual respect that the UK and Ireland show to one another nowadays, and by the friendship and co-operation that characterise our relations". He told attendees: "The stage is set for both countries to kick on further and really make the most of our geographical proximity and our familiarity with each other. But there is a large cloud that may yet pass across the road that leads to these sunlit uplands. And it is called Brexit." He added that most Irish people would "see much more risk than opportunity" if Britain voted to leave the EU and called on the 500,000 Irish nationals living in Britain to vote against a Brexit on June 23. "They include a former President of Ireland, Professor Mary McAleese, who is living in Richmond, who told me that one of the first things she did on moving to south-west London was to register for the referendum - such is the level of her concern to avoid a Brexit," he said. A 29-year-old former RTE fitness guru and model appeared in court this morning charged with assault causing harm to his former girlfriend. Former Today show fitness expert Francis Xavier Usanga of Lanesboro, Finglas, north Dublin appeared before court 46 of Dublin District Court charged with assault causing harm, contrary to section 3 of the Non Fatal Offences Act, on Emma Murphy at FX Fitness in Santry on July 3rd last. Det Sgt Michael Mulligan of Santry Garda Station told the court the DPP has directed summary disposal in the matter meaning it can be dealt with at District Court level. Judge Patricia McNamara asked if the defence wished for jurisdiction to be decided today. Defence solicitor Daniel Hanahoe asked the judge not to decide on jurisdiction as he was seeking a disclosure order. Judge McNamara consented to the disclosure request and adjourned the case to May 5th for jurisdiction to be decided. Expand Close Francis Usanga and Emma Murphy in an older picture on Emma's Facebook account (Pic: Facebook) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Francis Usanga and Emma Murphy in an older picture on Emma's Facebook account (Pic: Facebook) Legal aid was granted after a statement of means was handed in and the judge noted the defendant is currently unemployed. Usanga who was dressed in a grey V-neck t-shirt, grey blazer and blue jeans made no comment during the brief hearing other than to nod at his solicitor to indicate the date suited him. An outline of the facts may be heard on the next date. Mum-of-two Emma - a former model and fitness blogger - sat alone in the public gallery throughout the hearing. Nigerian born Mr Usanga has previously appeared in TV3s Red Rock series and has also appeared as a fitness trainer on RTEs The Today Show presented by Daithi O Se and Maura Derrane on a number of occasions. The former BScene model and socialite also appeared in Jennifer Maguires axed dating series, One Night Stand, in 2010. He formerly was employed at FX Fitness, in Santry, north Dublin. Secondary school teachers backed a vote for industrial action as they warned that different pay scales are destroying their profession. Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) members voted overwhelmingly to seek sanction for industrial action from September, if the Department of Education does not make pay scale concessions. The ASTI has now set an August 31 deadline for a resolution to the crisis over three different pay scales within the teaching profession. The vote in favour of a ballot for industrial action came as ASTI members expressed outrage at the estimated earnings differential of as much as 250,000 between teachers on the lowest and highest pay scales over the course of a 40-year working career. Teachers who entered the profession before 2010 now have a 9,000 pay differential over post-2011 recruits. Motions demanding the restoration of pay scales and sanctioning a ballot on industrial action dominated the opening of the three-day ASTI annual conference in Cork. Four ASTI branches - Bray, Dublin South Central, Wicklow and Fingal - tabled motions demanding the restoration of the pre-2011 basic pay scale. ASTI Bray branch's Michael Browne said it was unacceptable that teachers recruited post-2012 earned 22pc less than pre-2010 recruits. "This is going to have far-reaching consequences for the sector," he said. ASTI Tipperary delegate Siobhan Peters, who is on the post-2011 pay scales, said young teachers desperately needed support. "There is nothing more disheartening than working in a job and earning less than someone else," she said. ASTI general secretary Kieran Christie said it was an intolerable situation. "There are three pay scales in some staff rooms and it is causing increasing problems across the industry," he said. ASTI president Maire Ni Chiarba described it as blatant exploitation. "The discrimination against newly qualified teachers is so blatant... what an appalling situation currently exists where teachers are working on three different pay scales. What a disgrace. What discrimination and what inequity." Incoming ASTI President Ed Byrne warned it was "a wound that now cannot be allowed to fester". One young teacher said the differing pay scales were very unfair on new entrants. "I am one of the lucky ones because I have a permanent job. But if I had entered the profession just two or three years earlier, I would have had a better basic salary as well as several extra allowances," Cork teacher Hugh Coughlan said. The so-called 'baptism barrier' to children getting a place in Catholic primary schools is "a dark stain on the national conscience that needs to be removed", according to Professor Diarmuid Ferriter. The UCD Professor of Modern History told the INTO conference that "unbaptised children and their parents are treated as second class citizens and that has to stop". Prof Ferriter, both of whose parents were long-standing activists in the INTO, traced key developments in Irish education since the 1916 era in the course of an hour-long address to the conference. He spoke of the scale of "enlightenment" of the current system, such as the focus on well-being, learning communities and gender positive action. He said 100 years ago Padraig Pearse was preoccupied with the idea of the "charismatic teacher and a child-centred approach". Prof Ferriter said while there was a shift away from religious control of schools, "nevertheless we have a denominational system". He said parents had a constitutional right about the choice of school to which they sent their children, but then he cited legislation that allowed schools to protect their ethos and asked "in reality do the really have that right, do they really have that choice"? The legislation to which Prof Ferriter referred is the Equal Status Acts, which prohibits discrimination across society on nine grounds, including religion, but religious-controlled schools were given a derogation which allows them to give priority children of their faith. In practice this means that, in Catholic-run schools, which account for nine in 10 of the country's primary schools, children who have been baptised get priority enrolment over children who are not baptised, but live closer to the school. It puts many parents who do not necessarily want their children baptised in the Catholic faith into a situation where they feel forced to do so in order to secure a place in the local school. Prof Ferriter described it as "another dark stain on the national conscience that needs to be removed if we are to have truly republican education system". He said the current system did not protect those of no faith, even though the Irish Republic was to have a toleration of all faiths and none. Eight in 10 teachers consider extra Croke Park Agreement hours to be hugely unproductive, the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland heard. ASTI president Maire Ni Chiarba appealed to the next Government to listen to "common sense" over issues such as young teacher pay, Croke Park Agreement hours and unnecessary reforms. "The introduction of the infamous and insulting Croke Park Agreement (CPA) hours, which I always call 'detention for teachers', attempted to poison our goodwill," she said. She added that this undermined "the extraordinary, unrecognised and undervalued contribution we make to the holistic education of the young people of this country. What an insult to a profession like ours." The ASTI boss said a Millward Brown study found that 80pc of teachers consider Croke Park hours to be "the least productive task undertaken by them". Under CPA, an extra 33 hours per year must be delivered by teachers - and this is being delivered through staff meetings and in-school sessions rather than direct classroom teaching. The study found that teachers considered the extra hours to be hugely unproductive. In terms of job satisfaction, just 11pc of teachers said they were very satisfied with their jobs - 28pc said they were either very dissatisfied or quite dissatisfied. Gardai investigate at the scene beside the Royal Canal at Ashington in Dublin, where a father and son lost their lives yesterday. Photo: Arthur Carron Gardai investigate the deaths of a father and son at the Royal canal at Ashington on the Navan road in Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron Tyler Joyce, pictured, and his father Sean Sweeney (36) were found dead at Ashington Park, near the Royal Canal on Sunday. Picture credit: INM A heartbroken mum whose three-year-old son died along with his father when they drowned while taking a short-cut has pleaded for a bridge to be built over the stream. Tyler Joyce and his father Sean Sweeney (36) were found dead at Ashington Park, near the Royal Canal on Sunday. It is believed they had been taking a short-cut to visit Mr Sweeney's parents when tragedy struck. Last night Tyler's mum Pamela Joyce paid tribute to the little boy who was "always so happy" and "brought joy to everyone". "His favourite song was 'Happy' by Pharrel Williams. He loved that song. He'd ask me to come into bed and he would bounce up and down to the music . . . he loved his dancing," Pamela recalled. "I wouldn't like any mother to go through this. It's cruel because he was so intelligent. He never cried. He could have done anything with his life." Pamela said that a fence had been installed to block the short-cut used by Mr Sweeney with Tyler, but that "young fellas cut it" because they don't want to walk the long way around between two estates. The short-cut is widely used and Pamela believes a bridge should be built. "Why can't they make a little walkway? It's not going to cost them much," she said. "If they do something then we could say that Tyler's life wasn't lost, because somebody else was saved," she added. Grandfather Peter thanked the community for their support following the tragedy. "People in the street have missed him [Tyler] over the last few days. We will miss him very much," he said. Tyler will be laid to rest after a funeral service on Friday. Meet Lucy, Ireland's most modern doctor. The slim medic, who is on call night and day, is now a regular at patients' bedsides in Tallaght Hospital. She acts as the eyes and ears of busy senior specialists who can be miles away. But Dr Lucy is not a real doctor - she is effectively a robot. She stands five-foot tall in her wheels, and has a tablet computer as a head which a hospital doctor can link up to via WiFi. The doctor appears on the screen and is able to conduct a face-to-face consultation with the patient, see them up close, and check for important signs. Dr Lucy can quickly travel to the patient. She is controlled by the real doctor, often via their mobile phone, who may be in another part of the hospital, city or country. She currently works in Tallaght Hospital's acute surgical assessment unit where a patient - who may come in with acute conditions such as a burst appendix or severe infection of the leg - needs the benefit of a senior specialist's diagnosis. Tallaght Hospital surgeon Paul Ridgway, who works with Dr Lucy several times a week, said: "I might be in another part of the hospital, conducting an outpatient's clinic, for instance. Rather than me leaving patients or waiting until I am finished I can dial Lucy, who travels to the bedside of the acute patient." A junior doctor will already have seen the patient but will need the security of a senior medical opinion. Mr Ridgway can stay with his scheduled appointments in the clinic while assessing the acute patient via Lucy in another ward. "It's all about efficiency. We cannot touch the patient and shake their hand, but our patients have got on board and are very satisfied. We can see a patient being examined by another doctor and take our visual cues from that." Normally, those patients who do not need resuscitation, and are not sent to the main emergency department, can wait up to three hours to be seen by a senior doctor after they are triaged and assessed. But Dr Lucy cuts out this delay. "It leads the patient to therapy quicker. In cases of acute appendicitis we can get them up to theatre earlier and discharged within 24 hours. That frees up two bed days." The surgeon - who also lectures in Trinity College - can beam into the hospital as Dr Lucy does her ward round with a senior registrar. Dr Lucy costs around 2,600 and is low maintenance, apart from requiring a full battery to keep up her energy levels. She has already paid for herself within a few weeks, thanks to her work rate. As more hospitals come under pressure to free up beds for patients on trolleys, and also face a shortage of key specialists, the likelihood is that patients will see more robotic medics. Mr Ridgway pointed out that while there was no substitute for a doctor, Lucy was a very useful addition to the team. The BMW 4x4 in which Gary Hutch, Paddy Doyle and Freddie Thompson were travelling before Doyle was shot dead When Gary Hutch fled Dublin for the Costa del Sol in the aftermath of the Derek Duffy murder in 2007, he immediately hooked up with his childhood pal Paddy Doyle, from Dublin's north inner-city. Doyle, who was on the run after becoming the chief suspect for three gangland murders here in 2005, was being "put up" by the Christy Kinahan cartel in southern Spain. Hutch, who was now 26, knew some cartel members from his younger days, in- cluding Kinahan's son Daniel and notorious hood 'Fat' Freddie Thompson, who he would become particularly close to. Hutch almost immediately became involved in the cartel's drug-dealing, and his close childhood connections to a number of north inner-city drug dealers made him a useful addition to the ever-growing organised crime gang. Expand Close Daniel Kinahan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Daniel Kinahan In Spain, Hutch, Thompson and Doyle were mixing and socialising with some of the most serious players in international crime - traffickers from Turkey, Russia and the Balkans. The young Dubliners were now playing in the A League because of their association with the cartel - but clouds were gathering. Reckless While Hutch enjoyed his new life in the sun, Doyle and Thompson were increasingly getting caught up in gangland entanglements, with Thompson's focus being on the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud back home and Doyle getting into a number of disputes with foreign gangsters in Spain. Expand Close Gangster Gary Hutch's childhood friend and partner in crime Paddy Doyle / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gangster Gary Hutch's childhood friend and partner in crime Paddy Doyle It was because of Doyle's reckless behaviour on the so-called Costa del Crime that a decision was taken to have him murdered. It is still not known whether it was Russian gangsters he had clashed with or the Kinahan cartel who made the final call to pull the trigger. Expand Close The BMW 4x4 in which Gary Hutch, Paddy Doyle and Freddie Thompson were travelling before Doyle was shot dead / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The BMW 4x4 in which Gary Hutch, Paddy Doyle and Freddie Thompson were travelling before Doyle was shot dead Doyle's killers pursued him as he went about his business on the afternoon of February 4, 2008. He was shot dead as he tried to escape on the outskirts of Estepona, west of Marbella. He was travelling as usual with Hutch and Thompson. The three were in a BMW 4x4 when the gunmen opened fire from another car. Four shots were pumped into the front windscreen and another into the front passenger door before Hutch, who was driving, lost control of the vehicle. It smashed into a lamp post and Doyle, who was a front seat passenger, tried to run away. The gunman, however, began firing again, and the Irishman was hit twice in the head at point-blank range. The attack took place at the Bel-Air apartment complex shortly after lunchtime, and witnesses said the killers made their escape in another BMW 4x4. Hutch was freaked out by what he had witnessed, and for most of the following year he spent his time hopping between Spain, Amsterdam and Dublin. While remaining close to the cartel and being heavily involved in international drugs trafficking, the busy criminal still found time to be involved in organising the robbery of a record 7.6m from a Bank of Ireland distribution centre at College Green on February 27, 2009. Ironically, the brutal tiger kidnap robbery happened less than a week after Hutch had been arrested by gardai in Finglas investigating his role in the murder of Derek Duffy two years earlier. The heist was carried out after an armed gang targeted a bank worker, his girlfriend, her mother and six-year-old nephew. Around 1.7m of the stolen cash was recovered in a series of raids on homes and cars across Dublin city about 12 hours after the robbery, but the rest has never been found. With unprecedented heat from gardai, Hutch returned to Spain after being briefly detained in relation to the robbery. He split his time between Spain and Amsterdam for most of 2009 and the first six months of 2010. This was a time when the Kinahan cartel's empire was growing by the week, with the mob making tens of millions of euro from flooding Ireland and the UK with drugs. Hutch was an integral part of this massive international crime operation, and Spanish police documents obtained by the Herald show his role in the cartel. The dossier, which was prepared for the successful extradition of Thompson from Ireland to Spain in November 2011, revealed that Hutch was a senior player throughout 2009 and 2010. According to Spanish police, Hutch and Thompson travelled to the south of Portugal from Spain on November 24, 2009 to organise a big drugs ship- ment. The dossier further revealed that Hutch and Thompson travelled to Amsterdam on May 15, 2010 with other members of the cartel for the same reason. Tapping "As a result of investigations carried out in Spain and collaboration between Ireland and the UK, it is known that Freddie has been under investigation for narcotic-related offences in Ireland and Britain,'' the dossier reads. "Thompson, together with Gary Hutch, are the men who are closest to Daniel Joseph Kinahan, as can be inferred from telephone tapping and surveillance operations." The dossier continues by stating that Hutch and Thompson are Kinahan's "trusted right-hand men" and carry out jobs directly related to the organisation's criminal activities. "Freddie and Gary are just one step below Daniel, are very close and share an equal status," it says. "They sometimes give orders to each other without being able to determine who is higher up in the organisation. "They are equals, good friends and share a flat." The documents reveal that Spanish authorities noted that a car normally driven by Hutch was driven by another key Kinahan gang member at Malaga Airport on May 7, 2010, which reveals the level of surveillance that police had Hutch under at that time. The Spanish also suspected that Hutch and Thompson were involved in procuring weapons for the cartel. "One of Freddie's jobs is to obtain weapons for the rest of the organisation, as is evident from the conversation he held with Gary Hutch," the dossier reads. "Like Gary, Freddie's duties also include acting as a bodyguard, chauffeur, etc. "It has been deduced from investigations and surveillance activities that they had lived together in a flat in Nueva Andalucia [opposite Puerto Banus]." The reason for the detailed surveillance on Hutch and other Kinahan cartel members is that an international pol-ice investigation code-named Operation Shovel was in place. It began after gardai made a major cannabis seizure in Kildare in 2008. This resulted in a series of arrests when more than 30 suspects, including Christy Kinahan and his sons Daniel and Christopher Jnr, were rounded up in high-profile raids on May 25, 2010. (Earlier that month, it emerged that Christy Kinahan and his two sons expect to be tried soon on money-laundering charges in Spain.) Only days after the raids, which made headlines across Europe, it emerged that Hutch had been named on a list of people who Spanish judges wanted to question following Kinahan's arrest. In early June 2010, it was reported that an international arrest warrant had been issued for Hutch's arrest. However, he could not be found by gardai or any European police forces. Hundreds will tomorrow pay tribute to a young mother of three who tragically died just minutes after giving birth to her new son. Tracey Campbell Fitzpatrick (36), who died just after childbirth, will be removed to her native Mayo on Thursday. St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny confirmed that a full review is now underway into the circumstances of the tragedy. The mourners will be led at her Requiem Mass on Friday by her heartbroken parents, James and Pauline Campbell, her husband, Bernard, her children, Jamie, Adam and Max, and her siblings, Amanda, Paula, Diane and Alan. Mrs Fitzpatrick, who married her husband, Bernard, in 2014, gave birth to a healthy baby boy in St Luke's Hospital on Easter Monday. The boy, her third son, was named Max but, shortly after the delivery, Mrs Fitzpatrick's condition suddenly began to deteriorate. Medical staff became very concerned about her status and she was rushed to an operating theatre for treatment. Sadly, she died before emergency surgery could begin. A St Luke's spokesperson confirmed that a full review is now underway. "The staff and management of St Luke's Hospital are currently focused on supporting the family at this very sad time," they said. "An internal review process has commenced and with a full investigation to follow." The Kilkenny Coroner's Office has also been notified and the full details of the hospital review will now be compiled for an inquest to be staged by Coroner Tim Kiely. A post-mortem examination was carried out on Tuesday to assist that review. However, it is understood the hospital review could take between two and three months to conclude. Mrs Fitzpatrick had been living with her husband and children in Templepeter outside Nurney, Co Carlow over recent years. Her husband is a native of Carlow and was employed locally. His family live in the extended Templepeter-Nurney area. Mr Fitzpatrick was too heartbroken to comment on the tragedy last night. The extended Fitzpatrick and Campbell families will now travel to Mayo for Mrs Fitzpatrick's Requiem Mass and burial on Friday. Hundreds extended their sympathies last night as Mrs Fitzpatrick lay in repose at her Carlow home. The 36 year old was from Shanvaghera, just outside Knock in Co Mayo. A special Mass for Mrs Fitzpatrick will take place at 11am tomorrow. (Thursday) at St Patrick's Church in Rathoe, Co Carlow. Her remains will then be taken to her parents home in Mayo from where she will be removed to St Ann's Church, Shanvaghera for 11am Requiem Mass on Friday. She will be buried in Knock cemetery. Carlow neighbours said they were still trying to come to terms with the scale of the tragedy. "Everyone is heartbroken by it. It is terrible to think that while the whole country was taken up by the Easter Rising ceremonies on Monday three little children were losing a devoted mother," explained one woman who asked to be unnamed. "They are a lovely family and we are just so devastated for them." Ireland records an average of two maternal deaths each year. These are defined as the death of a mother during pregnancy or within 42 days of her pregnancy ending with the exception of fatalities due to accidents or causes totally unrelated to the pregnancy. Police at the scene of the disturbance on the Ormeau Road A police commander has said he deeply regrets that children came into contact with CS spray used by officers reacting to disturbances at a loyal order parade. The Police Ombudsman complaints watchdog is investigating the circumstances in which the spray was deployed during an altercation at the end of the parade involving junior members of the Orange Order in south Belfast on Tuesday evening. Police said two officers were injured and damage was caused to a police motorcycle when adult participants in the parade attacked them on the Ormeau Road. Parade organisers claim police over-reacted and criticised the use of CS spray in an area where children were present. They have said a number of children developed swollen lips and eyes after coming into contact with the spray. Chief Superintendent Chris Noble insisted the incapacitation spray was only directed at those assaulting his officers. He added: "Any subsequent contact any children or young people had with CS spray particles is deeply regretted." Mr Noble said trouble flared when two neighbourhood officers escorting the parade tried to prevent cars being damaged by passing participants. "Just after 5.10pm, police spoke with parade organisers about some band members who were walking in amongst parked cars and traffic," he said. "A police officer then asked the band members to step back but they simply disregarded his requests. "At that point one of the officers tried to move bandsmen away from brushing against parked cars when he came under attack by a section of the band. "The other officer got off his motorcycle to assist his colleague when he was also attacked and the police motorbike damaged. "Due to the number of people attacking the officers, they defended themselves with their batons. CS incapacitant spray was directed only on the people attacking them and the incident was brought under control. The two officers received minor injuries." A 26-year-old man was arrested and later charged with disorderly behaviour and two counts of assaulting police. Mr Noble said the use of CS spray was "tightly scrutinised" and officers used their "judgment" as to when it was required. "After a busy day of successful and peaceful events across Belfast, unfortunately an incident towards the end of the day, which could have been avoided had some bandsmen followed police directions, has become the news headline," he said. The senior officer added: "Senior colleagues were in communication with community representatives and politicians last night following the incident and I would be happy to meet with any band members, organisers or anyone in the local community who have concerns about this incident in the days ahead." A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman's office appealed for any witnesses to come forward. "We were notified by police about the use of CS spray during an incident on the Ormeau Road yesterday and have since received a number of complaints about what happened," he said. Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster said she had spoken with Chief Constable George Hamilton about the incident. Ulster Unionist representative Rodney McCune said the use of CS gas raised serious questions about the PSNI's judgment. "Deploying CS gas is far from a conventional or proportionate way to respond to suspected criminal damage," he said. The six students who lost their lives in the tragic accident, top left to bottom right: Lorcan Miller, Eoghan Culligan, Nick Schuster, Ashley Donohoe, Eimear Walsh and Olivia Burke The Mayor of Berkeley has said the families of those affected by the balcony tragedy should be paid as much money as possible. Speaking to RTEs Drivetime Tom Bates also claimed authorities had inspected all balconies in the city in a bid to avoid a repeat of the tragedy. The collapse, which occurred in the early hours of June 16 2015, claimed the lives of six Irish students and seriously injured seven more. The five Irish students who died were all from south Dublin - medical students and friends Lorcan Miller and Eimear Walsh; Olivia Burke, who went to school with Eimear; Niccolai Schuster, who was at the same college as Lorcan and Eimear, and his friend from school Eoghan Culligan. Expand Close Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates Irish-American Ashley Donohoe, who lived in California and was a cousin of Olivia's, also died. The students were on J1 working visas for the summer in the California city and were among 40 people attending a birthday party when the balcony collapsed. Yesterday it emerged that nobody will face criminal charges over the case. Describing it as a horrible tragedy Mayor Bates said he feels really, really sorry for the parents and friends of those students. Read More The Mayor admitted that it will take probably a year or two to sort out the civil case. "The parents, the friends of these children, these college students didn't deserve what happened. "If they cant prove the criminal [case], then they should be paid as much money as possible to offset some of that loss that has occurred. Expand Close The scene of the Berkeley balcony tragedy which claimed the lives of six young Irish students: Ashley Donohoe, Olivia Burke, Lorcan Miller, Eoghan Culligan, Nick Schuster, and Eimear Walsh. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The scene of the Berkeley balcony tragedy which claimed the lives of six young Irish students: Ashley Donohoe, Olivia Burke, Lorcan Miller, Eoghan Culligan, Nick Schuster, and Eimear Walsh. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage He said the District Attorney Nancy OMalley had carried out a thorough investigation into the case but there is a very high standard bar for criminal proceedings. Mayor Bates explained that the tragic events have caused the city to change its laws. In addition to that we have gone in and inspected all of our balconies in the entire city of Berkeley over the last few months. This was done in order to ensure that we dont have any other timebombs out there with faulty balconies. We plan on coming back every three to five years and inspecting these balconies again so we can watch them over time. He said they have been advocating for state building codes to change to ensure they are covered by stricter standards. The Police Federation tweeted the pictures of the woman's injuries This shocking photograph shows the extent of the injuries suffered by a police woman attacked with a brick. The incident occurred when the officer was dealing with anti-social behaviour on Sunday night in the Co Antrim village of The Glen. Police attended to a report of anti-social behaviour where a group of youths had gathered in the area. The officer was hit on the head during the incident and was taken to hospital. Her treatment included having five staples inserted into her head. The officer was later released from hospital in the early hours of the morning, according to the Belfast Telegraph. Police have appealed for witnesses to contact investigating officers. The Police Federation of Northern Ireland has released the photographs - the group represent rank and file PSNI officers. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has suggested it is Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny's responsibility to make the first approach on government talks. Mr Martin has come under serious pressure to contact Fine Gael as frustrations grow over the ongoing political impasse. In a meeting with Independent deputies in Leinster House, Mr Martin was told that the continued standoff between the two parties must come to an end. Asked by Independent TD Michael Healy Rae as to why the parties have not spoken, Mr Martin suggested that it is Fine Gael's job to contact him or his colleagues. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have begun separate meetings with Independent TDs as the talks aimed at forming a Government enter a critical stage. An early morning meeting hosted by Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny broke up before midday to allow a number of Independent deputies to meet the Fianna Fail negotiation team. In a blow to Mr Kenny, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan confirmed that he and his party colleague Catherine Martin will not be entering government with Fine Gael. The pair will meet Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin this evening and may decide to support either of the main parties from Opposition. Fine Gael sources say it is crucial to keep as many of the Independents on board as the party bids to agree a substantial policy document that could provide a springboard for devising a Programme for Government. Fianna Fail sources, however, will today attempt to cast doubt in the minds of Independents about returning Fine Gael to power. We will ask them a very simple question: Do you want change, a party source told independent.ie today. However, it now appears inevitable that both parties will have to engage in the coming days, possibly even before the vote for Taoiseach next Wednesday. Speaking on RTEs Morning Ireland, Acting Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said there was a way to go in relation to the talks. The Dublin Bay North TD said he anticipates both parties will speak to each other - but ruled out supporting a minority Fianna Fail government. Separately today, Labour Party leader Joan Burton will address a meeting of the partys election candidates in Dublin. Frank exchanges are expected at the meeting in relation to the partys disastrous election result. Councillor Thomas Gould said it was heartbreaking to see the consequences of Irelands housing crisis. Stock picture/PA Almost a hundred people protested last night in response to spiralling levels of homelessness, and fears that thousands of tenants now face eviction over the coming months. Financial institutions who are now offloading properties acquired at the height of Ireland's financial crisis could leave thousands facing the loss of their homes. Protesters want to kick-start a national campaign aimed at dramatically increasing funds available for Irish councils for social housing needs. The organisers of the protest outside Cork City Hall warned that "people power" now needs to be brought to bear on the next Government to make the housing crisis a priority. Cork's Lord Mayor Councillor Chris O'Leary said: "The situation is going to get a lot worse and it is clear that something needs to be done to help these families." He pointed out that Cork alone is expected to face 200 evictions over the next year - with thousands more likely across Ireland. Councillor Thomas Gould said it was heartbreaking to see the consequences of Ireland's housing crisis. "There isn't an Irish city or town where people aren't facing the threat of being evicted from their homes or bedding down for the night in the doorway of a shop or office," he said. "The housing crisis is a national emergency and a national disgrace." He said Cork alone has 5,941 on its housing waiting list. A former chief scout has been hailed as "inspirational" for his courage in penning a special farewell message after being informed he has terminal cancer. Michael John Shinnick (61)pictured, posted the poignant message on Scouting Ireland's website. He was diagnosed with cancer 18 months ago but, despite extensive treatment in Cork and Dublin, has now been told his illness is terminal. "Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of a wonderful medical team, my own and my family's strength and positive thoughts and, of course, the prayers and well wishes of my thousands of scouting friends across Ireland and further afield, my journey is drawing to a close," he wrote. "I joined scouting in Fermoy, Co Cork in 1967 and have not looked back since . "I have had the privilege of being able to contribute to the development of young people through scouting in various roles over the years, both locally and nationally, and I cannot express how honoured I was to be elected as Scouting Ireland's Chief Scout in 2008." "In all the roles I have held, or projects I was involved with, and indeed in my endeavours outside of scouting, I have tried to let the scout promise and law be my compass... I can say that I did my best," he posted. Veteran Scouting Ireland official David Barry, a lifelong friend of Mr Shinnick, said his courage and dignity was "inspirational" and "an extraordinary act of courage". Mr Shinnick is an executive with Fermoy-based firm MicroBio. Almost 250,000 households face the prospect of being hit with boil-water notices as Irish Water warns that more than half of its drinking water treatment plants are at risk of failure. Stock Image Almost 250,000 households face the prospect of being hit with boil-water notices as Irish Water warns that more than half of its drinking water treatment plants are at risk of failure. The company said that 472 plants posed a risk, with some operating above capacity, while others have no alarms to warn of problems or they draw water from poor quality sources. The Irish Independent has learnt that stringent new quality guidelines mean water is now tested up to six times a year, and that Irish Water intends to shut down plants and issue boil-water notices if a problem emerges. This is unlike the system operated in the past, where boil-water notices were implemented after water was found to have failed to meet quality standards and posed a risk to human health. "It is possible that more boil-water notices will have to be issued, even in places where no problem appears to exist today," a spokeswoman said. "We're now finding problems which existed before, but were never picked up. Boil-water notices were traditionally issued on a reactive basis, but we're looking for problems. "We believe about half of the plants are not capable of dealing with all conditions for the raw water they are treating. If they don't meet the standard, they have to be dealt with." The warning comes after boil-water notices were put in place for Carraroe in Galway and Whitegate in Cork earlier this month, which affected more than 16,000 households. Irish Water also says that some plants built in recent years were not designed to treat 'raw' water. Different water types require different methods of treatment to make them safe for human consumption. A briefing note states that drinking water quality has been "seriously compromised" by a "systematic failure" in funding and delivering water services over several decades. "Irish Water's work in the past two years has indicated serious compliance challenges ahead for hundreds of drinking water supplies as a result of the first ever comprehensive evaluation of the performance of drinking water production plants," it says. It says that new plants were often developed based on "limited compliance monitoring". This means the type of water being treated was not factored into the plant's design. "This explains why many recently upgraded water supply schemes are currently failing on health-related compliance parameters intermittently or in extreme cases regularly," it adds. "Treatment plants and networks were not upgraded or maintained because the money and resources were not available to do so. Many are therefore no longer fit for purpose or are in need of significant investment." Some 35,000 households across the network are currently affected by boil-water notices. Some 472 plants fall into the 'at risk' category, from a total of 856. Most of these plants are smaller and are located in rural areas, and serve around 240,000 of the utility's 1.5 million customers, or 16pc. Sources said some plants were overloaded, and operating at up to 120pc of design capacity. "The water is compliant and safe to drink, but it's like running your car at 7,000 RPM and not changing up a gear," one said. New systems require 'raw' water to be tested at least six times a year, across different seasons, to determine how its properties change. Irish Water has submitted a detailed 3.5bn investment plan to the Commission for Energy Regulation, setting out upgrades of 340 drinking and wastewater plants needed over the next five years. It said around half of the country's drinking water plants will be amalgamated or shut down over the coming years, with some networks joined to larger plants. Upgrades and updates needed across country Galway Loughrea - needs ultra-violet (UV) treatment, which kills bacteria, to remove the risk of cryptosporidium. Kilconnell - needs to protect the source from livestock, and UV treatment. Carraroe - needs specialist treatment for cryptosporidium and address the risk of THMS, a group of organic chemicals often present in drinking water and formed when chlorine reacts with raw water. Wicklow Aughrim - the plant was upgraded but filters designed to remove organic material from raw water proved unviable, resulting in THM issues. The new filters are not in use as they are ineffective. Laois Ballyroan - required a new UV system. Cork Whitegate - the UV treatment was not suitable to deal with the type of raw water, A new filtration and UV unit are required. 10,000 people are on a boil-water notice. Mayo Mask - the newly constructed phase in the last decade was unable to meet its quality standard. It is now undergoing a major upgrade. Meath Drumconrath - A previous plant upgrade is ineffective at removing organic material and consequently legacy THM issues must be addressed. There's been a huge uproar in the past few weeks about Jamie Oliver daring to venture an opinion on the benefits of breastfeeding. No nipples for nursing? Nothing to do you with you - get your oven mitts off our t*ts, seems to be the dominant school of thought. But Shirley Butler, a mum of four and a long-time leader with breastfeeding support group La Leche League, feels it's good for men to be engaged in the subject. "I don't think I would have breastfed if it hadn't been for the support of my husband," says the Portlaoise woman, now 67. When she gave birth to their eldest daughter in 1976, all the advice she'd got was urging her to feed every four hours. "But I wasn't sure what to do if she needed to be fed before that," says Shirley. "David had grown up in Africa and just kept saying to me 'keep plugging her in, keep plugging her in. Women in Africa don't have watches, they watch the baby, not the clock." It's advice she's passed on numerous times to the thousands of women she went on to help breastfeed during her 34 years with La Leche League (LLL). Most recently it's been part of the wisdom and support she's offered Claire Haworth, the youngest of Shirley's four daughters, who is currently feeding her three-month-old baby, Olwyn Maebh. This month the breastfeeding support organisation is preparing to celebrate 50 years in Ireland. Over that time a lot has changed - celebrities now influence opinions on nursing, social media brings both positives and negatives. But many of the challenges remain the same. The organisation began in Ireland when a Dublin biologist, and mum of seven, Nora Leach, read an article in the May 1963 edition of Readers Digest. The piece, written by Karen Pryor, detailed the health benefits of breastfeeding but also the incorrect advice women were getting about the frequency of nursing, content of their milk and the relationship of supply and demand between breast and baby, leading them to wean before they wanted to. Pryor championed the efforts of a newly launched mother-to-mother support group in the States, LLL, which had recently released a manual, the 'Womanly Art Of Breastfeeding' (still a best-seller today) for new mums who wanted to breastfeed. Nora, who had nursed all seven of her own children, wrote to one of the women mentioned in the article, Marian Tompson, one of the founding mothers of La Leche League. The Illinois woman sent her back research literature and letters of encouragement which Nora set about distributing to doctors and maternity hospitals across Ireland. She wrote a letter to a Sunday newspaper, highlighting the need for mum-to-mum support, and received hundreds of replies. In April 1966 the first Irish LLL meeting was held in Dun Laoghaire. Today LLL international has more than 7,000 leaders in 68 countries. There are 36 groups in Ireland and last year over 600 meetings were held, attended by more than 6,000 mothers. Irish leaders received 8,529 phone calls - the 24-hour access that was part of the 1950s founding mothers' vision is still a feature of LLL - but there's now also a busy social media presence with an Irish Facebook page and information for download. The name, La Leche League, was taken from a Spanish shrine in Florida to the Madonna and translates as 'Our Lady of Bountiful Milk and Easy Delivery'. It fitted with the group's ethos but had a more practical reason - the word 'breast' or anything about breasts couldn't be featured on leaflets in 1950s America. A similar prudishness persisted in Ireland several decades on. "I remember we used to go to European conferences and the delegates from Italy and Spain always used to call our posters 'the jumper posters'," laughs Shirley. "They would have images with the breast uncovered, very beautiful and natural, and they'd look at ours and say 'why do you cover everything up?'" Today breastfeeding in public still carries a taboo. And disappointingly the miss-information in Pryor's article still gets bandied around. Jennifer Harrison was just about to leave the hospital with her newborn baby son when a nurse stopped her on her way out. "She told me 'if you don't change your position you'll get mastitis, abscesses and God knows what,' then she walked away," says Jennifer. Expand Close Campaign: Chef and dad of four Jamie Oliver. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Campaign: Chef and dad of four Jamie Oliver. "I know now this information was inaccurate but as a new mum, I panicked. I'd thought I was doing okay, and up until that point the support in the hospital had been great but now I felt like I was a failure." She came home and tried to nurse in a different position to the lying down one she'd found successful in hospital, but struggled. She phoned LLL who reassured her she was fine to feed in the position that worked and invited her along to a meeting. Now a mum of two teenagers, she's also a leader for LLL Dundalk, the longest-running breastfeeding support group in her area. "I was happy to feel I could give back a little of the support to other mothers that I myself had received," says Jennifer. The difficulties she hears from new mums often echo her own experience or common themes. "Most of us have little idea of what normal newborn behaviour is and how intense those early days can be," she says. "I try to recommend that new mums come along to an LLL meeting while pregnant to chat with other mums about what it's like and having realistic expectations of yourself and your baby in the early days. This gives mums confidence when baby arrives." There have been times when LLL has come in for criticism for putting 'bressure' on women who don't breastfeed. An accusation Shirley says couldn't be further from the truth. "We're here to make sure you have the correct information and help if it's something you want to do," she says. The focus is on breastfeeding, but she's also helped women with weaning, pumping and combi-feeding (bottle and breast). All mums are welcome at meetings - and dads too. More than one-in-seven secondhand cars imported from the UK have a 'hidden past' according to startling new data. That means they could have been previously written off, stolen or still have finance outstanding on them. A relatively high percentage have failed their British MOT, the figures claim. While it has long been acknowledged that a certain amount of 'dodgy' vehicles have been dumped on the Irish market over the years, the fact that as many as 7,000 could be involved is likely to prompt renewed concern. The data has been compiled by MyVehicle.ie which is owned and operated by Vehicle Management System (VMS). The latter provides services to the automotive industry, insurance companies, vehicle assessors, financial institutions and motor dealers. They say they have released the findings to "highlight the importance of conducting a thorough background check before purchasing a second-hand car, which has been imported from the UK." We are not, by all accounts, big users of background check facilities. MyVehicle.ie say only 20pc of those buying a used car will have its background checked out. Some observers may see such highlighting of the risk around used UK imports as a means of increasing the number of paid-for checks carried out on cars. However, if it helps someone avoid buying a bad vehicle, there would appear to be a substantial benefit for motorists thinking of bringing in a car from the UK. A total of 47,798 used cars were imported last year, with the vast majority from the UK, judging by the official SIMI figures. Specifically, of the 53,692 imported back in 2014, as many as 49,945 came from the UK, according to the statistics supplied to Motors by MyVehicle.ie. On the basis of one-in-seven having a 'hidden' past, that means around 7,000 could have had something not-quite-right about them. Additionally MyVehicle analysed UK cars imported so far this year and found that 23.71pc had recently failed the Ministry Of Transport road test which is the British equivalent of our NCT. Their survey also found that 19.99pc of vehicle imports had mileage discrepancies. 'Independent Motors' has previously reported extensively on the prevalence and dangers of imports that have been 'clocked'. A MyVehicle statement says: "Although there are services available, it seems that the majority of potential car buyers out there have not incorporated a car-history check as a crucial element of their vehicle purchasing process." Our low rate compares with the near-80pc of car buyers in the UK who use a vehicle history check service before they make a purchase. This leaves those buyers "a lot less likely to end up with a used vehicle that has been clocked, cloned, written off and has outstanding finance owed," according to MyVehicle. The company says: "With only one-in-five potential car buyers in Ireland running a report before they buy, the Irish market can be a hot-bed for potential scammers to sell their dodgy and potentially dangerous cars." It re-emphasises the point that more than 15pc of cars imported to Ireland from the UK have some type of hidden history. Justin Kavanagh, MD of MyVehicle.ie believes Irish consumers need to be careful when purchasing a used vehicle in general and in particular a UK import. He says: "I feel it's time that we stop Ireland from being the UK's dumping ground for vehicles that have been written off or clocked and the only way to do this is for potential buyers to get smart and to stop accepting someone's word or honest face." He advises: "Do your research, check the vehicle's background history yourself, to ensure you are buying a vehicle that is legitimate and safe". The danger with cars that have finance still outstanding is that they can be seized and taken away by the bank or lending institution to whom repayments are still owed. The unsuspecting buyer can, in such circumstances, be left with nothing and at the loss of potentially thousands of euro. Everything about 'the land of honey' glistens and glimmers, says an enchanted Madeleine Keane. Picture this: rolling verdant hills, a slice of terracotta sand and a bay of aquamarine water so clear you can see the stone wall built by the knights to stop ships entering this earthly paradise. This was the vista upon which Ulysses was forced to gaze. We're on the island of Gozo, also known as Homer's isle of Ogygia, where legend has it the nymph Calypso held the wandering Odysseus captive in her cave for seven years. Such is Gozo's alluring beauty that I'd willingly surrender to a lengthy spell here in a lover's arms. We've taken the 25-minute ferry ride from Malta where my companion Declan and I are on a March mini-break. I first set foot here as a teenager and my memories are of a golden place. Some decades later and this is still the case. For everything about this enchanting island glistens and glimmers - from its caramel-coloured buildings and the ornate interiors of its cathedrals to the sunny ambience, the sweet charm of its denizens, and a luminous light which bathes the shimmering sea - truly we are in 'the land of honey'. Expand Close The Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta, an island that has seen many invaders down the centuries, each of whom has left a mark on its history. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta, an island that has seen many invaders down the centuries, each of whom has left a mark on its history. East of Tunisia, north of Libya and a stone's throw from Sicily, Malta's location has made it an obvious place of conquest - Phoenicians, Moors, Romans, Arabs, Spanish, French and British all descended on this small jewel - and thus it is rich in heritage and history. A mere 7,000 years old, the Republic of Malta is home to some of the oldest standing stones in the world. On a balmy morning we visit the temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra where the massive slabs are testament to the potency of faith: with brute strength and driven by belief, the prehistoric settlers chose this idyllic location for their place of worship. Later on Gozo, we'll walk around Gigantija, where as the name suggests, the megalithic tombs are even bigger (and earlier), and the 19th century graffiti is preserved as a salutary reminder to future vandals. Among Malta's many crucial moments, the Great Siege of 1565 is one of the most significant. Driven out of Rhodes, the Knights of St John had been given the archipelago by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, which they then defended against the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks. The Knights' victory in the Siege led to the foundation of Valletta, the island's vital, waterfront capital, where we visit St John's Co-Cathedral. A remarkable edifice, its austere exterior belies the sumptuous interior where there's more gold on display than the Federal Reserve, endless frescoes and statuary, nine treasure-laden chapels, pale pastel marble floors containing the tombs of around 400 Knights, and the Oratory, home to Caravaggio's superb masterpiece The Beheading of St. John (the only work he signed) as well as his St Jerome. Over at the Grand Master's Palace, the state apartments are underwhelming, but there's a wonderful collection of tapestries and the Armoury which houses an exceptional collection of medieval armour and weaponry used by the Knights and their foe - "Thank goodness for Kevlar" quips Declan. Then it's time to view the vast fortifications of the Grand Harbour before a small gondola takes us across the water to Vittoriosa, one of the Three Cities of the Cottonera District, and a much used locale for film settings (Gladiator, Asterisk and Obelisk and more recently Brangelina's By the Sea.) We're both captivated by Mdina: once Malta's Roman capital and known as the Silent City, this exquisite place is protected by deep medieval walls. Though thronged with tourists, its labyrinthine streets which are lined with the fine palaces of noble families (some of whom still live here) remain enigmatic, serene. Tradition has it that St Paul was shipwrecked on Maltese shores, and, in nearby Rabat (where catacombs abound), converted the islanders to Christianity. After all these cultural riches, on the south west coast, where green fields laced with stone walls recall Connemara, another facet of Malta is revealed. The Cliffs at Dingli give a sense of the scale and orientation of the island. It's hard to escape Malta's military history: the Interpretation Centre here was once home to the TACAN - the Tactical Air Navigation system and, following the departure of Britain's Royal Navy in the 1970s, remained derelict until a local family took it on, pioneering an eco/tourism initiative of preserving and educating visitors about the area's extensive indigenous fauna and flora. Our final day is spent on Gozo and quelle finale. If Malta is the handsome, worldly older sister, then Gozo is her wild and beautiful younger sibling. This place is gasp-inducingly lovely: each corner reveals a vista more spectacularly beautiful than the last - the Dwejra Azure Window (famously used in Game of Thrones) and the neighbouring Inland Sea (a popular diving spot) are stunning. Expand Close Madeleine at Gozo's Azure Window. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Madeleine at Gozo's Azure Window. The administrative capital, Victoria, demonstrates Gozo's self-sufficiency: they have their own courthouse, theatre, two opera houses, the Basilica of St George and an imposing Baroque cathedral. The latter with its extraordinary trompe l'oeil painted dome crowns the imperious Citadel, itself the site of a Roman temple dedicated to Juno, and where extensive European Union funds are being deployed in its impeccable restoration. We walk around the ancient battlements, taking in the panoramic view of the islands before lunch in Ta Rikardu, an old stone house where Gozo cheese, which can made from either goat or sheep's milk is silky, fragrant, and served simply with tomatoes, red onions, olives and Maltese bread and followed by spaghetti with rabbit sauce (the bunny being a great favourite of the Maltesers) and accompanied by a delicate local white wine. On the ferry home we pass baby sister. Comino, the third island completing the archipelago is tiny, home to one family who run the only hotel there which opens during the summer. When I fall in love, I always make sure I've an excuse to return. Comino, I'm coming back. Brendan finds a family holiday where adults get to have an adult experience while the kids are kept happy too. I suppose you could say you like a place you're holidaying in when you decide to retire there. And what's more, I'm not even of retirement age. But you couldn't but notice how older people around the Guia de Isora area of Western Tenerife are outside living instead of inside dying by the fire in what is still pretty much winter in Ireland. Every morning they are out walking by the sea. They also hang around, letting it all hang out, at the gorgeous little tidal pools along the seafront that have been walled off from the Atlantic. They hang around there, half-naked, chatting and dipping in and out of the pools, locals and what seemed to be German ex pats. The deep mahogany of the ageing Germans suits the men better than the women I would have said. But I'd rather be outside getting leathery by the sea in my latter years than at home in the cold, stuck indoors, wondering if the flu was going to get me. The tidal pools were necessary at times. You're on the Atlantic here and the sea can be wild. So they've put up these walls that break the waves and allow for a bit of genteel dipping. It does mean too when the waves are high that you can bob around in the pools and face the huge waves coming at you that are then diminished just as they are about to hit you. This is far away from many people's ideas of the Canaries. And it is probably part of the conscious effort to rebrand the Canaries as a place of natural unspoilt beauty, which it is in many parts, I swear. The landscape isn't totally unspoilt but the interference in recent years is done with a sensitivity that wasn't always there. Expand Close Thomson Sensatori Tenerife / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Thomson Sensatori Tenerife Our hotel, which is the Tenerife outpost of Thomson's excellent Sensatori brand, is built in a comparative wilderness near the small village of Alcala. But it looks like in conjunction with building the hotel there, they put a nice tasteful natural promenade, and a couple of little coves have been developed into little black-sand beaches. We have a lot to learn from the Canarians in ways. The beaches are clean and organic-feeling but the facilities are excellent. The small beach we went to out near the front of the hotel had buoys across the entrance of the bay beyond which you didn't go, a very actively vigilant lifeguard watching all who dared get into the Atlantic; and good toilets and showers, as well as a nice wooden decking area for those who didn't want to get involved in black sand. On days when the waves were high, the lifeguard would even personally give you specific guidelines on how far in he would tolerate you going. So essentially you were having a full-on nature experience and coming face to face with the elemental force of the sea, but it was all carefully managed for you without destroying the natural beauty and the natural feel. In the middle of all this was the resort, which had everything on tap without feeling at all like your typical family resort. We liked to think that the crowd there were quite a cool bunch. There was a distinctly Balearic vibe and you suspected that before they had kids these people might have tended more to Ibiza than Tenerife. But now we have kids, so the sunset party with the DJ playing chillout music every evening as the sun set over the neighbouring island of La Gomera, involved maybe just one or two drinks and kids running around. But the balcony out onto the sea was huge and stylish with designer lounging furniture, and if you ignored the kids - which you could because they all tended to entertain each other - you felt you were somewhere trendy and stylish. Indeed, the whole hotel was beautifully done. The Italian restaurant was a glass box-type affair behind the chill-out balcony that also looked out to sea. There was a vast courtyard in the middle with huge trendy sofas everywhere that you could throw yourself down on at any point. Expand Close Siam Park in Tenerife / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Siam Park in Tenerife My day started with a pre-breakfast dip in the huge seawater infinity pool that stretches the whole front of the property. I think it's the largest hotel pool in Europe, at about 200 metres long. Behind you is Mount Teide, the currently long-dormant volcano that gives the whole island the black cragginess, and in front of you the shimmering sea continuing on visually from the edge of the pool. And then it was time for the first buffet of the day. I have a complex relationship with buffets. In one way it's probably not a good idea for a food addict to be confronted by every type of food under the sun and told he can eat as much of it as he wants. The sheer variety of it means that it would feel wrong not to try everything. I marvel at the other holiday makers and how they pick tiny bits of everything, and eat it gingerly and sensibly, having just one plate per course, or perhaps even per meal. My view is that if something is nice and there are unlimited amounts of it on offer you have a duty to eat more of it. Breakfast-wise, it takes me a few days of a scattergun approach of trying everything to settle down into my sensible three-course breakfast buffet, which is the egg-and-bread course, the bun course (a doughnut course in this instance) and a melon-and-kiwi course to ease my conscience. On this holiday, my problem was exacerbated by the fact that we were on full board, so there was another buffet for lunch and another for dinner. The gaps between eating became smaller and smaller each day. And, of course, the buffet paradox applied. The buffet paradox states that the more you eat, the more you are capable of eating and the more you are constantly hungry. You could put it down to the outdoor life and the sea air, but I think it's largely to do with availability. As the week went on, I even found myself starting to eschew the table-service restaurants that were also available. I started to feel resentful about having to commit to one specific thing for my meal, and about having my intake of food controlled and limited by a chef and a waiter. Why should I commit to a set amount of something that I may not like, when I could have unlimited amounts of everything in the buffet? Having said that, there is a certain anxiety about buffet-eating. You tend to horse the food down fast so you can get back on your feet and get something else. And there is always the worry that they may run out of something if you don't hurry up, though this never happened. Still, Buffet Fomo is a real problem for the addict. Expand Close Garachico / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Garachico Mornings were spent at the pirate pool with the slides where the kids would all essentially look after each other in a Lord of the Flies-style scenario while the parents pretended to keep an eye. The main thing was not to get caught too often having to be the parent who ended up playing with the kids. If you started playing with your own ones, the others would all quickly congregate on you and you'd find yourself in a pied piper situation around the pool. The other thing was you had to check with all the parents, who were busy trying to look the other way in case they got caught for duty, if it was OK to do various throwing around of their children, who were begging to be next to be spun around in mid air. We would spend some recovery time in the room from the lunchtime buffet before hitting the family pool, which was a step up from the pirate pool, and where proper swimming could be done. Ours would tire of that pretty quickly and would want a break from the sun so we would obligingly throw them into the kids' club for an hour or two while we hit the beach or the tidal pools. Then, feeling all relaxed and day-at-the-beach-y we'd have a couple of Campari and oranges or Aperol spritzes at the sunset chill-out session before hitting dinner. Apart from the buffet there was a choice of fine dining, Asian, tapas, Italian or a la carte Spanish and seafood. We had been to Sensatori in Turkey before and we loved it. Tenerife reinforced our view that this is a family holiday where the adults get to have an adult experience while the kids are kept happy too, so basically everyone gets to relax without feeling you're in Butlins or some claustrophobic family resort. Indeed, it's probably telling that we didn't really yearn to escape the place at all and we ended up doing none of the various trips we had planned, contenting ourselves with shuffling into the little port village a couple of nights for a beer and some padron peppers, and to let the kids buy some rubbish in the shops and play in the playgrounds. It's rare that you zone out on a trip to a family resort, But that's what happened. And all the people with young families seemed to be having the same experience. One couple even told me they left their rental car sitting in the car park for the week. They didn't want to interrupt the zoning out. Take three: top attractions Mount Tiede Counterpoint to the Canarian sunshine are the snow-capped mountains of Tenerife and the volcano, Mount Teide. Teide gives Tenerife's beaches their black volcanic sand and a day trip to the volcano gets you right up close to the crater. Not for the vertigo-prone, a cable-car ride takes you up 1,200ft and offers spectacular views of Tenerife and even across to the neighbouring island of La Gomera. See tenerifecoteide.com Thrills and Spills If the kids need a break from the beach, a visit to Siam Park is worth a go. Siam Park is a water park, with rides from the lazy-river variety to sheer-drop slides so adrenaline junkies as well as younger families are all catered for. There's even a warm-water wave pool. For when you want to dry off there are bars, restaurants and a Thai-themed floating market. For ticket offers, see siampark.net Garachico The south of Tenerife is the well-trodden destination for most Irish holidaymakers, but the north is worth exploring. Check out the small town of Garachico, once submerged in lava after an eruption of Mount Teide, and unspoilt by high-rise development. Garachico is like a small seaside town in mainland Spain, with squares, small bars, quirky shops and natural swimming pools dug out of the volcanic rock. Read more: Overseas visits to Ireland rose 17pc in the three months from December to February, according to CSO figures published today. The Central Statistics Office figures show that, for the first time ever, over one million overseas visitors entered the country in the first two months of the year. Traditionally, Irish tourism slows down during the the winter months, with the new season picking up steam around St. Patrick's Day. Today's figures show that 247,000 extra visitors came to Ireland when compared with the same period in 2014/15, however. "Todays data shows that the significant growth in overseas visit numbers witnessed in recent years is continuing into 2016," said Tourism Minister, Paschal Donohoe. Ireland saw a record 8.6 million visitors in 2015, with the government's Tourism Action Plan seeking to achieve 10 million annual visitors by 2025. The CSO figures show visits from North America rose 13pc, while Great Britain was up 21.2pc and visits from mainland Europe jumped 14pc. "Our focus now is on surpassing last years success, to ensure that 2016 is another record-breaking year for overseas tourism," said Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland. Failte Ireland recently announced that it will invest 55 million in developing and promoting tourism this year, with the bulk of the spending across its three main propositions - 'Dublin - A Breath of Fresh Air', the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East, which is expected to get its official launch in May. It has identified a shortage in Dublin hotel rooms and the dominance of traditional "honeypots" as potential threats to future tourism, however. Read more: Ryanair has cancelled more than 90 flights ahead of a General Strike scheduled for France on Thursday, March 31. Dozens of Ryanair flights are affected, both to French airports and to routes using French air space - including from Ireland to Spain. The following departures are cancelled to/from Dublin Airport: FR1984; Dublin to Carcassonne FR1982; Dublin to Biarritz FR1985; Carcassonne to Dublin FR1983; Biarritz to Dublin FR3978, Dublin to Madrid FR1986; Dublin to Nantes FR1987; Nantes to Dublin FR3979; Madrid to Dublin No Ryanair flights out of Cork or Shannon are affected. At the time of publication, Aer Lingus and CityJet were not expecting any changes to Thursday schedules. Ryanair has condemned the "unjustified actions" of the French ATC unions, claiming that this is the 43rd such strike since 2007. It follows a similar strike on March 21 and 22, when the airline was forced to cancel hundreds of flights to France and through French airspace. "Repeated and disproportionate industrial action by French ATC unions is seriously impacting the travel plans of thousands of passengers during Easter," said Thomas Reyneart, Managing Director of Airlines for Europe (A4E), an association of airlines including Ryanair, Air France/KLM, Lufthansa and Aer Lingus owner, IAG. Last year, more than 10,000 flights operated by A4E members were affected by 28 days of ATC strikes in Europe, the association says. Separately, Aer Lingus has cancelled all flights to/from Brussels Airport up to and including Friday, April 1, following terrorist attacks in the city last week. Ryanair is operating its Brussels Zaventem schedule from Brussels Charleroi up to and including Friday, April 1, it said this morning. Brussels Airport is preparing for a "partial restart" of activities. Airline passengers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to a full refund, rebooking onto the next available flight, or rebooking onto an alternative route. Read More Ryanair says all affected customers have been contacted by email and SMS text message and advised of their options. A full list of cancelled flights is available here. Diana, Princess of Wales, photographed in front of the Taj Mahal in 1992. A visit to the 17th century monument will be one of the highlights of William and Kate's seven-day tour of India and neighbouring Bhutan which begins next month. Photo: Martin Keene/PA Wire The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hope to create "new memories" when they visit India's Taj Mahal - the backdrop to a famous picture of Diana, Princess of Wales. The visit to the 17th century monument will be one of the highlights of William and Kate's seven-day tour of India and neighbouring Bhutan which begins next month. The Duke's mother was pictured sitting alone (above) in front of the monument to love in February 1992, prompting rumours about the state of her marriage to the Prince of Wales. The photograph became the defining image of the tour and by the end of the year it was announced the couple had agreed to separate. At a press briefing the Cambridges' communications secretary Jason Knauf said: "The Taj Mahal is one of the symbols of India and Their Royal Highnesses cannot wait to see it with their own eyes. "The Duke of Cambridge is of course aware of the huge esteem his mother, the late Princess of Wales is held in India and he appreciates the iconic status of the images that exist of the Princess at the Taj. "He feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mother's memory is kept alive by so many who travel there. "Twenty-four years on from her visit to the Taj, the Duke and the Duchess are looking forward to seeing this beautiful place for themselves and creating some new memories as they say thank you to the people of India at the conclusion of this tour." Expand Close India: a modern-day fairytale. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp India: a modern-day fairytale. The trip will be the first time William and Kate have visited India and Bhutan but they will not be taking their young children Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Highlights of the visit, which begins on April 10, will see the royal couple visit a Bollywood charity event, staged in Mumbai, and pay their respects to India's founding father Mahatma Gandhi at the place where he was assassinated in New Delhi in 1948. The couple will travel to the Kaziranga National Park, a wildlife sanctuary and world heritage site which is home to two thirds of the world's great one-horned rhinoceroses as well as tigers, elephants and wild water buffalo. On April 14, they will visit nearby Bhutan, a small landlocked country in the shadow of the Himalayan peaks which has a rich Buddhist tradition. One of the country's major attractions is Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest monastery, and the royal couple will hike up to the religious centre perched on the side of a cliff. The final day of their trip will see the William and Kate visit the Taj Mahal. Read more: In Mexico, an international panel of experts that picked apart the Mexican government's account of what happened to 43 students who disappeared in 2014 will cease work in the country by late April, a senior government official said on Tuesday. The 43 student teachers went missing from the southwestern Mexican city of Iguala in 2014, and their abduction caused an international uproar over human rights abuses in Mexico. The government originally said the students were detained by corrupt local police working for a drug gang. After they were handed over, the students were incinerated in a local dump, ground up and their remains tossed in a river, it said. However a September 2015 report, commissioned by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and conducted by respected investigators from Chile, Colombia, Guatemala and Spain, strenuously questioned the government's account, rejecting the central claim that the students were burned in the dump. The report was a humiliating blow to the government, which had claimed its account was the "historical truth." After it was published, the government asked the experts to stay on and help with the investigation. In the States, a Mississippi woman pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to trying to join Islamic State in Syria, 2-1/2 weeks after her husband entered the same plea. Jaelyn Delshaun Young, 20, was arrested at a Mississippi airport in August 2015 while attempting to board a flight to Turkey with her husband, Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla, 23. Young acknowledged her role as the "planner of the expedition" in an incriminating farewell letter, according to court documents filed by U.S. prosecutors. Convictions for Islamic State-related activity by Americans have become more frequent in recent months as more than 80 such cases brought by U.S. prosecutors since 2013 work their way through federal courts. Young's Twitter posts about her desire to join the militant group caught the attention of the FBI in May 2015, and an agent posing as an Islamic State recruiter began corresponding with her and Dakhlalla. Meanwhile, the front pages in Ireland: The Irish Independent lead their front page with the headline 'Boil water notices for 450,000 homes'. The newspaper reports that almost 250,000 households face the prospect of being hit with boil-water notices as Irish Water warns that more than half of its drinking water treatment plants are at risk of failure. 'Failed by the system' reads the front page of the Herald. The newspaper reports on yesterday's decision that there was 'insufficient evidence' to support a case against any individuals or company. It reads: 'Family's anger as no on to face charges over Berkeley disaster'. The Irish Times also leads with the latest from last year's tragedy, its front page reading: 'Berkeley families to fight on despite no charges'. The Irish Daily Mail and the Irish Sun also feature the Berkeley decision on their front pages. 'Berkeley families: We will fight on for truth' reads the Mail, while the Sun leads with the simple words, 'No justice'. The Irish Examiner leads with a support group's finding that a 'Loss of homes 'sparks suicide crisis''. The newspaper reads: 'Support group warns families are like 'time ticking bombs''. 'Its not that these are bad ideas, but the fact they are being raised again as measures needed to solve the housing crisis raises the suggestion that there has been little, if any, progress despite the passage of time.' Photo: PA The most striking thing about Fine Gael's action plan for housing is the fact that so many policies are merely being re-stated. Many proposals were already outlined by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition in Construction 2020, the Social Housing Strategy and the Homelessness Policy Statement, which raises the question as to whether there's any new thinking here at all. It's not that these are 'bad' ideas, but the fact they are being raised again as measures needed to solve the housing crisis raises the suggestion that there has been little, if any, progress despite the passage of time. Another unsettling sign is that all of the proposals relate to delivery of new homes. Despite more than one in five of the population renting, there's nothing about developing a national strategy for the private rented sector. In particular, there's no mention of tenant protection, despite the Tyrrelstown debacle of recent weeks, where families were told they faced eviction after the companies which owned their homes announced they were selling-up. The plan is short on detail. While a Cabinet minister for housing will be appointed, there are no powers outlined to help deliver units and reform the sector. There is also a suggestion that local authorities will vie with each other for scarce State funds, with exchequer funding linked to "better performance in estate management". Does this mean a council which returns vacant units to use quickly will benefit from more funding to carry on this work? If so, is it fair to penalise people living under the auspices of local authorities which appear slower to act? A pledge to improve access to tenant purchase schemes seems strange in the extreme. Given the enormous shortage of social housing, why would you sell the existing stock? While the commitment to reduce the VAT rate on new-builds from 13.5pc to 9pc is welcomed, it must be ring-fenced for affordable rental units, and not high-end homes. There is a question mark over the wisdom of removing the Home Renovation Initiative, which allowed homeowners to upgrade their properties, including building extensions and converting attics, providing additional living space for growing families and eliminating the need to purchase a new property. As expected, much of this document is political, aimed at getting support for a Fine Gael-led government. The party says it will promote high-density housing around public transport corridors and tackle land hoarding, clearly a sop to the Green Party which rightly wants sustainable development. For the rural TD, there's a proposed rural settlement scheme, but no mention of post office or garda station closures, nor of the lack of public transport across much of rural Ireland. Funding for a new town and village renewable scheme is promised, but no mention of addressing one-off rural housing. While appreciating this is a discussion document, perhaps the most glaring omission is Nama. A worthwhile pledge might be to examine its function in a post-crash Ireland which clearly has so many societal issues to address. It could be a valuable exercise to re-state Nama's social responsibility, given its access to land and funding, and ask if it should be re-purposed to help solve this crisis. Continuing discussions about the place of religious education in schools raise fundamental questions about the appropriateness of much of what is provided. A central concern of education is the initiation of students into those aspects of our way of life that are too important to be left to chance. A critical grasp of the Christian tradition in Ireland is an essential element in the understanding of our cultural heritage and cries out for inclusion in the curriculum in all schools. Sadly, religious education has suffered more than most subjects through poor teaching and uncritical content. Many abandon religion once they feel free to do so, rejecting beliefs and practices that deserve to be abandoned. The teaching of denominational religious education has tended to create exaggerated differences between our young people. The existence of denominational schools in Northern Ireland, for instance, has been instrumental in underpinning mutual hatred and suspicion. On the other hand, the introduction of integrated schooling has had a profound effect in opening students' hearts and minds to one another. The assumption that religious belief is transmitted from one generation to the next by home or school through some form of osmosis does not make sense. I admit, however, that our knowledge of how different people come to acquire different deep-rooted beliefs eludes convincing explanation. This is particularly evident, for instance, in the case of those who plotted and executed the indiscriminate killing in Paris, Brussels and Lahore. They see their actions as blind obedience to the will of their God. Here we have the definitive and impenetrable corruption of the human mind functioning beyond the reach of reason. The acquisition of humanising beliefs about ourselves and about the world comes from the thoughtful exercise of imagination and reason. The most significant beliefs concern the intelligibility of the universe and of our place in it, seeing ourselves in one another. Philip O'Neill 33 Edith Road, Oxford 1916 relatives defy the hecklers On Moore Street yesterday two young children stepped forward to lay a wreath in honour of the members of the GPO Garrison. They represented the men of the GPO, in the person of Orna Ni Dhalaigh, whose great grandfathers John 'Blimey' O'Connor and Proinsias Mac Ionnraic (Frank Henderson), along with Proinsias's brother Leo Henderson (Leomhan Mac Eanruig) all served honourably in the GPO. The women of the GPO were represented by Dylan Murphy whose great great great grandaunt, Nurse Elizabeth O'Farrell, apart from administering to the wounded of the GPO, is best known for her role in carrying Pearse's message of surrender to the British. They did so in front of the very houses on Moore St where their relatives 100 years ago made their last stand. In scenes reminiscent of the hackling crowds who spat and jeered in 1916 as the British marched Pearse and his followers to prison, these children had to brave a small group of hecklers who attempted to deny these relatives the opportunity to honour them. That this small group did not succeed only serves to give credit to the dignity with which the whole ceremony was carried out. The families of both these children had long hoped and prayed that the entire area of Moore Street be preserved and the recent court judgement was welcomed with much joy and celebration. It is one thing to register a dignified protest at the presence of Minister Heather Humphreys, as indeed a separate group did on the day, but it is quite another to attempt to disrupt and upset a State recognition of our men and women who stood in the Bearna Baol. Deirdre Nic Ionnraic (Nic Eanruig) 84, An Cheapach Mhor, Cluain Dolcain Bit rich for some to fight poverty In the context of the 2016 commemoration, what is more disturbing: the poverty experienced by many currently and since 1916, or the salaries of some who 'rail' about this poverty? Joseph Mackey Glasson, Athlone, Westmeath Diaspora deserve to vote The people voted in a referendum in 1979 to allow all graduates a vote in Seanad university panel elections. This referendum was never enacted. Meanwhile, some NUI and TCD graduates have more than one vote. It's inequality that the vast majority of the electorate get no say in the Seanad when some citizens have multiple votes. We should extend voting rights to all citizens, not just graduates, with one vote only per person. To be eligible for a vote in the upcoming Seanad NUI elections, a person needed to have been registered to vote before February 26th 2015 - more than one year ago. This is completely archaic. Ireland needs to move towards a rolling voter registration system like the UK with an option for online voter registration for all elections. When it comes to citizens abroad, members of the armed forces and the diplomatic services are able to vote in Dail elections, while only NUI and Trinity graduates abroad can vote in the Seanad. Beyond these exceptions, only those who are ordinarily resident may vote. Ireland should join more than 100 countries worldwide by allowing our citizens abroad to vote. Citizens could vote via Irish embassies - this is done in many other countries. Laura Harmon Ballyvourney, Co Cork Bravo to the staff at Dublin Bus I wish to congratulate Dublin Bus and their staff for providing an excellent service for the tax paying public on this very special anniversary weekend. Eamon Hayes Rathfarnham, Dublin 16 All involved should take a bow Say it loud and say it clear - what a weekend. To those who produced and directed the events over the weekend, to all those who gave up their free time to assist in the enjoyment of the family festivities on Easter Monday, take a bow. And to RTE, you done good. Congratulations all round. The template has been set for future commemorations. Damien Carroll Kingswood, Dublin 24 Kendall Jenner, attends the Calvin Klein Collection Fall 2016 fashion show during New York Fashion Week at Spring Studios on February 18, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Kendall Jenner kicks-off the launch of the Estee Edit By Estee Lauder at Sephora on March 22, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) Kendall Jenner has revealed that when it comes to skincare she follows the advice of big sisters Khloe, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian. "My sisters, since they're a little bit older than Kylie and I, they've always wanted to help prevent anything that they've gone through when they were our age," the 20-year-old told Byrdie.com. Kendall shared a strict but simple mantra she's picked up from her older siblings. "Never touch your face, never pick your face, always wash your face and always wear eye cream." Expand Close Kim Kardashian poses for a selfie Patrick Ta: Instagram / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kim Kardashian poses for a selfie Patrick Ta: Instagram The model, who's famous for her flawless complexion, said that not only are her older siblings generous with advice, they're also more than willing to share their beauty products with younger sisters Kendall and Kylie. "They literally give us everything that we should do," she said. "So ever since then, we've started taking skincare really seriously." Expand Close Kendall Jenner kicks-off the launch of the Estee Edit By Estee Lauder at Sephora on March 22, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kendall Jenner kicks-off the launch of the Estee Edit By Estee Lauder at Sephora on March 22, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) However, while she does follow her sisters' advice, Kendall admitted that she can sometimes be "lazy" when it comes to her routine. Im very simple and lazy with my beauty routine. I wouldnt say Im that daring. But Ive always been super OCD about washing my face and thats even before I started modeling. But its definitely enhanced now because I wear so much make-up all the time. I wash my face at least two or three times a day." The striking brunette revealed that she also keeps things simple when it comes to hair. My hair is so stick straight and silky, so when I sleep with it wet and wake up in the morning, it has this nice texture to it. Thats my version of doing my hair. Expand Close Kendall Jenner, attends the Calvin Klein Collection Fall 2016 fashion show during New York Fashion Week at Spring Studios on February 18, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kendall Jenner, attends the Calvin Klein Collection Fall 2016 fashion show during New York Fashion Week at Spring Studios on February 18, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) Video of the Day To maintain her model figure, Kendall admits: I hate cardio. Id rather just stand there and lift some weights than run in place. But Ill do it! While she tries to eat healthy foods like protein-rich chicken and brown rice, the Estee Lauder spokesmodel admits that she struggles to resist the temptation of junk food. I love everything unhealthy. Pizza, fried chicken, everything. The former communications director of a pro-Donald Trump group has disavowed him, saying the Republican front-runner had entered the race to attract publicity rather than gain the presidency and is now headed for disaster. Stephanie Cegielski was not an employee of the official Trump campaign, but was hired last year for a senior role with the Make America Great Again Super Pac, which was formed to raise money in support of Mr Trump before folding in October. She says she was informed Mr Trump hoped to launch a protest campaign that would gain at least 10pc in the polls and finish as high as second place. According to Ms Cegielski, there was never a plan in place for victory. "I don't think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I don't even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all," she writes in an open letter. "He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver's seat, and nothing else matters," she adds. Ms Cegielski writes that she believes she helped "create this monster", and is now dedicating herself to stopping him. "He would stab any one of his supporters in the back if it earned him a cent more in his pocket," she claims. Although he is still his Party's undisputed front-runner, Trump's White House aspirations could yet depend on a messy fight for delegates he is only now scrambling to address. Acknowledging a late start in the nuts-and-bolts business of political wrangling, Mr Trump's campaign yesterday announced plans to open a Washington DC office to run its delegate operation and congressional relations team, said campaign senior adviser Barry Bennett. Mr Trump has also hired a veteran political operative to serve as the campaign's convention manager. Paul Manafort, a seasoned Washington hand, will oversee the campaign's "entire convention presence" including a potential contested convention, said Bennett. The day before, Mr Trump's team vowed to pursue legal action against the Republican National Committee to protect his recent victory in Louisiana, one of many states that features complicated rules allowing campaigns to influence the presidential nominating process weeks or months after their votes have been counted. A similar process plays out nationwide every four years. Yet Trump's outsider candidacy is so far driven largely by media coverage instead of the on-the-ground organisation that rival Ted Cruz boasts. Now, Trump must play catch up - especially in the chase for delegates previously bound to former candidate Marco Rubio. Yesterday's moves mark a major escalation in Trump's willingness to play by party rules and build alliances in a political system he has so far shunned. In states like Louisiana, Iowa, Nevada and many others, delegates are selected at state and congressional district conventions and caucuses. "Honestly, I'm new to the operation. It's obviously not perfect," said Trump aide Ed Brookover, who, like Bennett, is among several former Ben Carson aides tapped in recent weeks to undertake Trump's delegate outreach. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination. Trump, with 739 delegates, is the only candidate with a realistic path to clinching the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7. An abandoned house on the Pikangikum First Nation, in northwestern Ontario, in a 2007 file photo. Nine people are feared to have died in a house fire. Nine people from one family have died in a house fire on a remote aboriginal reserve in Canada's northern Ontario region, according to reports. Three children and six adults died in the fire that started late on Tuesday at Pikangikum First Nation, according to Canadian Press and aboriginal news agency APTN. The reserve has been in the news for a high number of suicides among young people and social problems. "We are in a very devastated mode in the community and we are in real need of prayers," Pikangikum Chief Dean Owen told APTN. "The community right now is in a state of shock and everything is just kind of at a standstill." Owen did not immediately reply to a Reuters call for comment. Ontario Provincial Police Constable Diana Cole told Reuters in a telephone interview that police could only confirm that people had died or were missing, but not the numbers. The cause of the fire has not been determined. Canada's aboriginal people face dire social and economic conditions, including poor housing. Pikangikum is northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and near the Manitoba provincial boundary. Canadian Press reported that homes in the community of 2,100 are overcrowded and in "outrageous disrepair," citing Joseph Magnet, a University of Ottawa law professor who has visited the reserve. Florida police last night charged Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with simple battery in connection with an incident earlier this month involving a female reporter. Police in Jupiter, Florida, issued Lewandowski with a notice yesterday to appear before a judge on May 4 for the misdemeanour charge. A surveillance video released by the police appears to show Mr Lewandowski grabbing a reporter for Breitbart News as she tried to ask Mr Trump a question during a March 8 campaign event. The Trump campaign said Mr Lewandowski "is absolutely innocent of this charge" in a statement released on yesterday. "He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court," said the statement. "He is completely confident that he will be exonerated." A police report obtained by The Associated Press includes an interview with the reporter, Michelle Fields, who worked for Breitbart News at the time. "Lewandowski grabbed Fields' left arm with his right hand causing her to turn and step back," reads the report. Ms Fields showed police her left forearm which "appeared to show a grabbing-type injury", according to the investigating officer. The charge comes one week ahead of a key primary in Wisconsin. Trump, who was set to campaign there late yesterday, has spent recent days feuding with rival Ted Cruz over the treatment of their wives in the race, and Trump made comments on Monday suggesting he is trying to address his vulnerability among women voters. Yesterday, Mr Trump found himself being ridiculed after claiming that he alone can solve the worldwide problem of Islamic extremism in the wake of the devastating Easter Sunday suicide bombing in Pakistan. Mr Trump also claimed that he "knew more about Brussels than Brussels knew" and had predicted last week's terror attack in the Belgian capital. The Republican presidential front-runner's latest comments on foreign policy also included calling President Barack Obama "insane" for wanting to welcome Syrian refugees, and a claim that doing so would lead to the "downfall" of the United States. On Easter Sunday, dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured when a Taliban splinter group targeted a park in Lahore. Hours later, Mr Trump said: "Another radical Islamic attack, this time in Pakistan, targeting Christian women and children. At least 67 dead, 400 injured. I alone can solve." The billionaire later added: "I knew more about Brussels than Brussels knew. I was the one that predicted this was going to happen in Brussels and was criticised for it, and now everyone is saying I was right." Mr Trump was mocked on social media for his "sheer ego". One user said: "You are not Christ." Meanwhile, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, said world leaders he talked to had been "shocked" by the Republican presidential race. The contest has featured a series of foreign policy statements by Mr Trump targeting immigrants and Muslims. He has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US, would bar new Syrian refugees, and "send back" those who have already arrived. Mr Kerry said: "It's clear to me that what's happening is an embarrassment to our country." Responding on Monday, Mr Trump attacked Mr Kerry, America's top diplomat, over his support for accepting Syrian refugees. Mr Trump said: "I'm shocked by him, I'm shocked by his policy of open door, I'm shocked by just about everything he's done. This open door policy is catastrophic, this could lead to the downfall of the greatest nation on Earth." At the weekend, Mr Obama called for "openness to refugees fleeing Isil's violence" and recognition that "our most important partners are American Muslims". But Mr Trump said: "It is disgraceful that he could say this, and especially when he talks about coming in from the Middle East, frankly even more so, where they're undocumented. "It is just insane what this man is saying. I can't even believe that he's saying it, it's inconceivable that he's saying it." In Mexico, effigies of Mr Trump were burned in public squares in several cities in the annual Easter 'Burning of Judas' ritual. Effigies of Mr Obama and drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman were also burned. Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Washington March 22, 2016 Hillary Clinton has taken aim at Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies as well as violent incidents at some of his rallies in a new television ad campaign set to run in New York. Democratic hopeful Mrs Clinton claims in the ad that while some people say America's problems can be solved by "building walls" and "banning people based on their religion", New Yorkers know better. The TV spot shows a clip of a man being punched at a recent Trump rally and briefly flashes a sign from one of the billionaire's new hotels. New York holds its Democratic and Republican primaries on April 19. While Mrs Clinton still faces a strong challenge from Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, it is notable that the ad focuses on Mr Trump, the Republican frontrunner and a native New Yorker. Meanwhile, none of the three Republican presidential candidates have committed to support whoever the party chooses to fight the election later this year. This contradicts the stance that Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich took early in the campaign, when they agreed they would back the party's eventual choice. The three were asked this question again on Tuesday night in town hall appearances in Milwaukee, hosted by CNN. Mr Trump, who is the front-runner, replied: "We'll see who it is." Mr Cruz said: "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and children." Similarly, Mr Kasich said: "I will wait and see what happens." Police have released CCTV footage to the public of a man who was involved in a carjacking - with an 8-year-old girl still inside. The man attempted to steal the car as it lay idle outside a childcare centre, not realising the vehicle had a young occupant sitting in the back. As the thief began to pull away, the distraught mother ran out of the centre in Texas and clung to the bonnet of the moving Nissan Altima. The incident occurred outside Kids Corner Daycare in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas yesterday morning at around 730am. The 24-year-old mother had been dropping her son (4) off at daycare and had left the car running with her daughter inside. According to Dallas Police, the carjacker continued to drive from the scene with the mother still gripping the bonnet. Her young daughter managed to leap from the moving vehicle, sustaining minor injuries to the palms of her hands and her knees. The woman remained on the car until it stopped some distance away, sustaining serious 'road rash' injuries. The suspect then assaulted her and took money from her. He has been decribed as a black male aged between 20 and 25 years and standing at around 5 5 tall. He was wearing a gray hoodie with the hood pulled over his head, and dark jeans at the time of the incident. Dallas Police have released the footage in an attempt to gather some information who remains at large. Unesco may now list the Great Barrier Reef as 'in danger' (Photo: Steve Simpson/University of Bristol/PA Wire) Scientists say an underwater heat wave in Australia's Great Barrier Reef has led to devastating coral bleaching - the worst in history - which has damaged or killed 95pc of the northern reefs. An aerial survey of 520 sites across the 2,400km stretch of delicate coral reefs in north-east Australia found that the most pristine sections had been "fried" and were facing some of the worst bleaching in recorded history. Long stretches of the famously colourful reef, which is world heritage-listed and one of the country's top tourist destinations, have turned "snow-white" following bleaching which began six months ago, according to the researchers. "This will change the Great Barrier Reef forever," Professor Terry Hughes, from James Cook University, told ABC News. "We're seeing huge levels of bleaching in the northern thousand-kilometre stretch of the Great Barrier Reef. It's too early to tell precisely how many of the bleached coral will die, but judging from the extreme level even the most robust corals are snow white, I'd expect to see about half of those corals die in the coming month or so." Scientists believe the bleaching was triggered by a temperature spike due to the El Nino weather pattern, which added to already warmer waters caused by climate change. Warmer temperatures can kill the tiny marine algae which are required to maintain the health of coral and give it colour. It is the third and worst bleaching phenomenon since 1998 but there is no evidence of any other events in history. "The north has fried," said Professor Hughes. "This is an ongoing, slow-motion train wreck." The bleaching has affected virtually all species of the reef's coral. Cloudy weather is believed to have kept temperatures down and prevented heavy damage in the southern parts of the reef. The damage has raised fresh questions about whether Unesco may list the marine park as "in danger". "Little Light Bulb" with her mother and father before she died. Photo: Claire Wang/Facebook The mother of a three-year-old girl who was decapitated in an apparently random attack in Taiwan has penned a tribute to her child. The devastated mother dubbed her little daughter Little Light Bulb and wrote about the horrifying attack on Monday in a metro station in Taipei. "Fortunately, I held you tightly and told you how much I loved you every single day," Claire Wang wrote on Facebook. "There was a thud... and I knew she was gone. I said to her: 'Baby, it's over'. "Those who know me should understand that I always do my best in everything I do; I have a clear conscience, I am rational, I am optimistic and I am strong. "As such, I did fight hard to pull and stop the attacker on my own, I really did my best. "I really miss her," Wang wrote in the heartbreaking letter. "Please help me everyone, to hold your loved ones beside you properly and tightly. Use all your strength, tightly, deeply, hug them and tell them 'I love you'." According to reports, the man, grabbed the girl from behind and decapitated her with a cleaver. Mrs Wang was unable to prevent the attack. Hours later, an angry crowd gathered outside the police station where the man was taken. The government-run Central News Agency said the 33-year-old had an arrest record for drug crimes and had been treated for mental illness. At the police station in Taipei on Monday, Mrs Wang told the media: "I believe the suspects in these kinds of random killings lose their minds at that moment." "This is not a problem that can be solved by passing a law," she said. "I hope we can address the problem from its root, from the perspective of family and education, so that there will no longer be people like him (the perpetrator) in our society." The mother and daughter were on their way to visit Little Light Bulbs grandfather when the tragedy occurred. Police said seven bystanders, as well as the mother, unsuccessfully tried to pull the attacker away, AFP reported. Htin Kyaw, second right, is sworn in as Burma's new president in parliament Naypyitaw (AP) Htin Kyaw, a confidante of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been sworn in as Burma's president. He took the oath of office in a joint session of Burma's newly elected parliament on Wednesday with his two vice presidents. The ceremony ushers the long-time opposition party of Ms Suu Kyi into government after 54 years of direct or indirect military rule. Ms Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory in November elections. She is ineligible to be president herself but has said she will run the government from behind the scenes. The constitutional clause that denied her the presidency excludes anyone from the position who has a foreign spouse or children. Ms Suu Kyi's two sons are British, as was her late husband. The clause is widely seen as having been written by the military with her in mind. Later on Wednesday, outgoing president Thein Sein will formally hand over the presidency to Mr Kyaw, who assumes office on Friday. EgyptAir plane hijacking suspect Seif Eddin Mustafa, second left, is escorted by Cyprus police officers as he leaves court after a remand hearing (AP) Egypt has formally asked Cyprus to extradite a detained Egyptian man who authorities say admitted hijacking a domestic EgyptAir flight and diverting it to Cyprus by threatening to blow it up with a fake explosives belt. The legal developments came as those on board described an unnerving situation in which the hijacker looked for foreigners by sorting through their passports and kept five of them on the plane after freeing the non-Western passengers. "He wanted the foreigners ... only foreigners. He didn't want Egyptians or double nationalities," flight attendant Rouida Ihab told The Associated Press. Italian passenger Andrea Banchetti said passengers were calm through the ordeal but admitted "(I was) going out of my mind" when the hijacker let non-Western passengers off the plane, leaving behind only five European passport-holders including himself. "We looked each other in the eyes and we said, 'Here we are. We're at the end of the line. It's over,'" the 47-year-old mechanic told the Rome daily La Repubblica. The extradition request from Egypt's General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek came shortly after a Cypriot court ordered that the suspect, identified as 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, remain in police custody for eight days to assist the hijacking investigation. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect faces preliminary charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Judge Maria Loizou said she approved the police request for the maximum eight-day detention because of fears that the suspect might flee and because he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police. Tuesday's hijacking, which started when authorities said Mustafa claimed to have explosives in a belt and forced a flight from Alexandria to Cairo to land in Cyprus, ended peacefully about six hours later. Most of the 72 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A320 were released soon after the plane landed, although a handful were held for longer. All were let go before Mustafa was arrested when he tried to flee on foot after leaving the plane, police said. Lambrianou said after Mustafa was arrested, he told police: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" Egypt's interior ministry said Mustafa had a long criminal record but had finished serving a one-year prison term in March 2015. An official at the general prosecutor's office said there was no travel ban on Mustafa. A Cypriot police official told the AP that Mustafa's criminal record on the island stretched back to 1988, when he was convicted on six counts of forging passports and handed a suspended sentence. He was later deported to Egypt following domestic violence charges by his then-Cypriot wife. He re-entered Cyprus on an assumed Qatari identity, but was tracked down and again deported to Egypt in 1990. Mustafa and his Cypriot wife divorced in 1994. The couple had four children but one child has since died, according to a relative. After the hearing, a handcuffed Mustafa flashed the "V'' for victory sign out the window of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca court house. Cypriot officials had described Mustafa as "psychologically unstable" following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Mr Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. Mr Lambrianou said 15 minutes into flight MS181 Mustafa demanded that the aircraft be diverted to an airport in Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. Despite an initial refusal from Cypriot authorities, the plane eventually landed in Larnaca after the pilots warned about low fuel. The police prosecutor said witnesses saw Mustafa wearing a white belt with pockets that had cylindrical objects stuffed inside. Wire protruding from the cylinders led to what appeared to be a detonator in his hand. Among those forced to stay on the plane longer was Ben Innes, a British man pictured in a photo with Mustafa that quickly made the rounds on social media. Innes told The Sun newspaper he wanted to take "the selfie of a lifetime" while the incident was unfolding. The bizarre photo, taken by a member of the cabin crew and shared on social media, shows him smiling next to Mustafa, who has his jacket open to reveal the fake explosive belt. "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway," Mr Innes, 26, told the newspaper. He told The Sun he had been texting his mother throughout the ordeal. Mr Banchetti told La Repubblica he should have "slapped" Mr Innes for taking the photo. "That guy could have had a potato in his belt, but how do you go up to him that way and take a photo of him?" said Mr Banchetti. "'Are you a fool?' I said in English." Mustafa had threatened to detonate the belt if police attempted to "neutralise" him, Mr Lambrianou said, but he eventually gave up after the crew and passengers were released. Brazilians Maria Otoni de Menezes (left), 60, and her husband Matozinho Otoni da Silva, 66, hold up photographs of their son, Jean Charles de Menezes in their home in the village of Gonzaga, Minas Gerais State, Brazil on July 24, 2005. Reuters/Washington File photo 02/08/07: A memorial to Jean Charles de Menezes outside Stockwell Tube station in London, as his family have lost a human rights challenge over the decision not to charge any individual police officer over his death. Photo: Stephen Kelly/PA Wire The family of Jean Charles de Menezes have lost a human rights challenge over the decision not to charge any individual police officer over his death. Relatives of the Brazilian took their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) last year - almost a decade after he was mistaken for a suicide bomber and shot dead by police marksmen on a London Tube train. Lawyers for the family argued the assessment used by prosecutors in deciding that no individual should be charged over the shooting is incompatible with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which covers the right to life. However, in a judgment on Wednesday the Strasbourg court's Grand Chamber found that UK authorities had not failed in their obligations under the article to conduct an effective investigation into the shooting which was capable of identifying and - if appropriate - punishing those responsible. Judges found that Article 2 did not require the evidential test used to be lowered in cases where deaths had occurred at the hands of state agents. Lawyers for the family claimed the evidential test applied by the Crown Prosecution Service - that there should be sufficient evidence for a "realistic prospect" of conviction - is too high a threshold. It means that, in effect, the decision not to bring a prosecution was based on a conclusion that there was less than a 50% chance of conviction, they argued. The judgment said: "The facts of the present case are undoubtedly tragic and the frustration of Mr de Menezes's family at the absence of any individual prosecutions is understandable." It concluded that "having regard to the proceedings as a whole, it cannot be said that the domestic authorities have failed to discharge the procedural obligation under Article 2 of the Convention to conduct an effective investigation into the shooting of Mr de Menezes which was capable of leading to the establishment of the facts, a determination of whether the force used was or was not justified in the circumstances and of identifying and - if appropriate - punishing those responsible". The court did not consider that the evidential test constituted a failing in the prosecutorial system which precluded those responsible for Mr de Menezes's death being held accountable. The decision not to prosecute any individual officer was not due to any failings in the investigation "or the State's tolerance of or collusion in unlawful acts", the judgment said. It added: "Rather, it was due to the fact that, following a thorough investigation, a prosecutor considered all the facts of the case and concluded that there was insufficient evidence against any individual officer to meet the threshold evidential test in respect of any criminal offence." The complaint also challenged the domestic definition of self-defence, arguing that officers only had to show an honest belief that the use of force was absolutely necessary - as opposed to an honest and reasonable belief. However, the court found the test for self-defence was not significantly different from its own standard. Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot dead by Metropolitan Police firearms officers at Stockwell Underground station in south London on July 22 2005 - a fortnight after the July 7 attacks. The following year the CPS announced that no individual should be charged. In 2007 the Met was fined 175,000 after being convicted of breaching health and safety laws. An inquest jury later rejected the police account of the shooting and returned an open verdict. The coroner had already ruled out a verdict of unlawful killing. In 2009, the family of the electrician agreed an undisclosed settlement with Scotland Yard. Mr de Menezes's cousin Patricia da Silva Armani, who lodged the case, said the family are "deeply disappointed". She said: "We had hoped that the ruling would give a glimmer of hope, not only to us, but to all other families who have been denied the right to justice after deaths at the hands of the police. "We find it unbelievable that our innocent cousin could be shot seven times in the head by the Metropolitan police when he had done nothing wrong and yet the police have not had to account for their actions. "As we have always maintained, we feel that decisions about guilt and innocence should be made by juries, not by faceless bureaucrats and we are deeply saddened that we have been denied that opportunity yet again. "We will never give up our fight for justice for our beloved Jean Charles." The Justice4Jean campaign said the ruling "fails not only the family of Jean Charles de Menezes but all families seeking accountability after deaths at the hands of the state". Harriet Wistrich, solicitor for the family, said it was a "very disappointing decision" but noted that four of the 17 judges dissented. A Government spokesman said: "The Government considers the Strasbourg court has handed down the right judgment. "The facts of this case are tragic, but the Government considers that the court has upheld the important principle that individuals are only prosecuted where there is a realistic prospect of conviction." People stop and look at floral tributes at a memorial site at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels Dutch police have carried out another raid in the port city of Rotterdam, days after detaining a 32-year-old French national on suspicion of involvement in a "terrorist plan". The Dutch national prosecutor's office said that the raid on Tuesday night did not uncover any weapons or explosives and no suspects were arrested. The latest raid followed an operation on Sunday night in which the Frenchman and three other suspects were detained by heavily armed police in Rotterdam. The suspect, who was sought by French authorities, has refused a swift transfer to France and will now go through an extradition procedure. Two other men detained on Sunday, both from Algerian backgrounds, are due to appear before an investigating judge on charges of "involvement in a terrorist organisation". The captain of EgyptAir flight 181 escapes from the hijacked airlilner at Larnaca airport through the cockpit window The midair hijacking of an Egyptian passenger plane began in terror but ended in farce yesterday after a hostage-taker wearing a suicide vest turned out to be a delusional ex-husband armed only with empty mobile phone covers. Seif al-Din Mustafa, a 59-year-old Egyptian man, sparked terror alerts across the planet when he told the cabin crew of EgyptAir flight 181 that he had a bomb and forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing at Cyprus's Larnaca airport. But over the course of an increasingly strange six hours, he issued a forlorn demand to see his Cypriot former wife and agreed to pose for a photograph with one of his hostages- a British man - before finally surrendering himself to police. As one Egyptian official summed it up: "He's not a terrorist, he's an idiot." The drama began before 8am as the half-full EgyptAir flight took off for what should have been a 28-minute hop from Alexandria to Cairo. From seat 38K at the back of the Airbus A320, Mustafa informed the cabin crew he was strapped with explosives and threatened to bring down the flight if it did not divert to Cyprus. The seven crew members did their best to calm the 55 passengers, including eight British travellers, as they announced the plane was heading to Larnaca. They started collecting passports but did not identify the hijacker to the other travellers. After the plane touched down, Mustafa stood up and stepped behind the curtain at the aircraft's rear galley while the passengers watched anxiously as police sharpshooters gathered around the airport. Speaking by phone and though a four-page letter written in Arabic, he issued his demand: he wanted to see his former wife, named in the Cypriot press as Marina Paraschou, a 51-year-old with whom he reportedly had four children. As police raced to collect Marina and a young child from the village of Oroklini and bring them to the airport, Mustafa apparently also demanded to see an EU official, and may have raised the issue of political prisoners in Egypt. It is not clear whether Mustafa was allowed to speak to his ex-wife. After an hour on the runway, Mustafa released most of his hostages. Only the crew and five Westerners remained onboard, as the atmosphere turned surreal. Mustafa apparently began to mingle with his captives, his eyes looking glazed behind his spectacles. Ben Innes (26), a health and safety inspector from Leeds, approached the hijacker and posed with him for a photo, with Mustafa's "suicide vest" - a cloth belt that apparently contained mobile phone covers - on display. A friend said: "Ben is a wild man and this is totally in character for him. He was a big rugby guy and very into his banter and didn't have much respect for authority." By now, the authorities in Cyprus and Egypt were clear that they were not dealing with a jihadist. "The hijacking is not terrorism-related," said Nicos Anastasiades, the Cypriot president. Even as the stand-off continued, Mr Anastasiades could not resist a joke: "Always, there is a woman." Egyptian officials said Mustafa had a long record of small crimes, such as theft and impersonation, but found no obvious links to terrorism. He had apparently escaped prison during Egypt's 2011 uprising but gave himself up in exchange for a lighter sentence. As the hours ticked by, the remaining hostages trickled off the plane, including one pilot who lowered himself from the cockpit window and ran. Mr Innes was one of the three last hostages seen running across the tarmac moments before Mustafa disembarked with his hands above his head and surrendered to waiting police marksmen just before 1pm. "It was horrifying to be faced with death, kind of, for an hour and a half," said Farrah el-Dibany, a passenger. Flights resumed in the evening, but too late for some travellers whose plans had been disrupted. "Honestly, this is over a woman?" one passenger said. "I'm going to jab her eyes out." Mustafa is expected to appear in court in Cyprus later in the week and could be extradited back to Egypt, which is sensitive to criticism over its airport security after Isil smuggled a bomb on to an airliner last year. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] French soldiers patrol outside the Paris hall of Justice, Wednesday, March 30, 2016 while Frenchman Reda Kriket is being questioned by a magistrate Paris authorities have filed preliminary terrorism charges against a 34-year-old Frenchman for allegedly plotting an imminent attack and operating an explosives arsenal of what prosecutors called an "unprecedented scale". Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said the suspect, Reda Kriket, is accused of participating in a terrorist group with plans for at least one attack, possessing and transporting arms and explosives, and holding fake documents, among other charges. Kriket will stay in custody while magistrates continue investigating the case and determine whether to send him to trial. Kriket is believed to have travelled to Syria in 2014 and 2015 and made several trips between France and Belgium and the Netherlands, Mr Molins said. At least three other people are in custody in the case in Belgium and the Netherlands. Mr Molins did not say whether Kriket's purported plot was linked to the Islamic State network behind last week's attacks in Brussels and last November's attacks in Paris. The prosecutor said no target for Kriket's thwarted attack has been identified, and Kriket has given limited explanation to investigators in his six days in detention. Two Algerians believed linked to Kriket's alleged plot are being held in Brussels. The Belgian federal prosecutors' office said the men, identified as Abderrahmane A and Rabah M, will face a hearing on April 7. Another Frenchman linked to Kriket, Anis Bari, is being held in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, Mr Molins said. Bari is resisting extradition to France. Among things found when police searched Kriket's apartment in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil were 500 grams of the explosive TATP, 1.3 kilograms of industrial explosives, several bottles of oxygenated water and acetone, material to make detonators, five automatic rifles, seven cell phones, stolen passports and two computers showing links with jihadi groups, Mr Molins said. Before the Paris attacks, Kriket and the suspected Paris attacks ringleader were convicted in absentia in the July 2015 trial of Khaled Zerkani, who Belgium's federal prosecutor described as "the most significant recruiter of jihadi candidates in Belgium". Kriket, like Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was absent for the trial. Also implicated in the network was Najim Laachraoui, the bombmaker who made the explosives for the November 13 attacks and then used his own creations as a suicide attacker in Brussels on March 22. Also on Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande decided to abandon proposed legislation that would have revoked citizenship for convicted terrorists and strengthened the state of emergency, because differences between the two houses of parliament could not be resolved. He had submitted the two proposals days after the November 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. The country's state of emergency, swiftly declared by the government on the night of the attacks, was recently extended to May 26. It extends some police powers of search and arrest and limits public gatherings, among other changes. Ben Innes was flown home today after being held hostage on the flight which was forced to divert to Cyprus A hostage who posed for a photo with the Egyptian plane hijacker has arrived home. Ben Innes, from Leeds, decided to take a picture with the bogus bomber despite the man apparently having explosives strapped to his waist. Arriving at Manchester Airport he was filmed allegedly snatching the phone from the hands of an ITV camerawoman. The 26-year-old health and safety auditor claims he threw "caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity". "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it. "I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever," he told The Sun. Mr Innes's mother had earlier expressed her relief at his safety and said the family was looking forward to having him home. The hijacker, Seif Eddin Mustafa, 59, appeared in court in Cyprus on Wednesday to face a series of charges after sparking a dramatic stand-off on the tarmac at Larnaca airport. After being arrested for threatening to blow up an EgyptAir flight, he asked police: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years?" Read More On Wednesday a picture of another hostage posing with Mustafa emerged. It appeared to show an air stewardess, named in reports as Naira Atef, smiling and standing next to him. Four Britons were on the flight from Alexandria to Cairo on Tuesday when it was forced to divert to Cyprus due to a man wearing a fake suicide belt. The Cypriot court ordered Mustafa to be detained for eight days as he faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Handcuffed Mustafa flashed the "V'' for victory sign out of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca courthouse after the hearing. Police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect told police: "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let him?" Cypriot officials described him as "psychologically unstable" following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Mr Lambrianou said was a letter he wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. Read More The prosecutor said Cypriot authorities will ask for Interpol's help to find out how the suspect managed to get the fake explosives belt through airport security in Egypt. Tuesday's hostage drama ended peacefully when police arrested the suspect after all 72 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A320 aircraft were released. Most of those on board were freed shortly after the plane landed at Larnaca airport on the Mediterranean island on Tuesday morning, but the hijacker held seven people hostage for a number of hours before the stand-off came to a conclusion. The incident comes just five months after 224 people were killed when a Russian aircraft crashed over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft in October, and the extremist Islamic State group said it was responsible. A migrant holds a child as he stands in front of Greek police during a protest at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece (Photo: Reuters/Marko Djurica) The number of migrants pouring into Europe across the Mediterranean dropped by more than half in March, new figures have shown, boosting hopes that Europe's tough new policy towards migrants is having a deterrent effect. The drop in numbers from 57,000 in February to 25,000 this month comes after the closure of the so-called Balkan route into northern Europe and the announcement that Europe would begin mass deportations of migrants who arrived in the Greek islands after March 20 this year. The flow slowed even more sharply following the announcement of the EU-Turkey deportation deal, with a total of 1,331 arriving since March 21, the day after the accord took effect. Although officials cautioned this was partly caused by poor weather. The figures compiled by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) provide the first evidence that Europe's new hardline policy on refugees is succeeding in choking off the flow of migrants which topped 1.1m people last year, plunging the continent in to political crisis. The new figures were released as European planners work with Greek authorities to create the legal and logistical framework to begin deporting migrants back to Turkey from holding camps on the Greek islands, with the first ferries scheduled to leave for Turkey next Monday. Officials in Athens said that preparations were continuing although still faced several hurdles before the scheme could be implemented. "We are preparing, but the ball is in Turkey's court," an official said. Greece now has more than 50,000 migrants who have been trapped in the country since the Balkan route closed, about 12,000 of whom are camped in squalid conditions in a makeshift camp at Idomeni on the Greek-Macedonian border. Efforts by Greek authorities to convince the migrants to move into purpose-built camps where conditions are better have been frustrated by the repeated circulation of false rumours that the border-crossing was about to open. Officials said yesterday they were planning to use loudspeakers in the Idomeni encampment to combat disinformation and encourage migrants to go in to official camps. Conditions have also reportedly deteriorated on the Greek Islands where official figures show some 4,289 migrants are currently being held in detention camps, having arrived after March 20 when the new rules came in to force. Residents in the camps said that conditions had worsened after many leading international NGOs, including Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Save the Children pulled out in protest at the EU's detention and deportation proposal. On Lesbos at Moria, where one detention centre is sited, an Afghan migrant who gave his name only as Tariq, said he was contemplating buying forged papers to show he had arrived before March 20, in order to board a ferry to the mainland. Denied "We sleep outside on the ground, with one blanket between two of us," he said whilst showing pictures of others in the camp also sleeping outside. "The huts and tents are full, full of women and children. Any newcomers, even families, now have to sleep outside." Journalists have been denied access to the camps, although the claims of over-crowding in camps do not tally with official Greek statistics which show a surfeit of 1,400 places on Lesbos itself. With Europe's self-imposed deadline now less than a week away, the pressure is building on Europe and Turkey to live up to expectations and commence deportations. British sources said they remained "guardedly optimistic" that some deportations could be begin on that date, particularly of Moroccans and Syrians whose cases are less legally complex than those of Afghans, Iraqis and Eritreans whose legal status in Turkey is less clear. ( Daily Telegraph London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] The Polish government is turning the clock back to the "worst days of communism", a leading Polish journalist has claimed, after more than a hundred editors and writers were fired or quit in protest at the new government's handling of the country's public media. The claims are part of the latest outcry against Poland's new conservative government, which has riled the European establishment and this month caused an EU human rights watchdog to warn that "democracy, human rights and the rule of law" are under threat in Poland. Liberal forces in Poland have accused the Law and Justice Party government of mounting a targeted assault on the country's judiciary and media, with the state broadcaster TVP - the equivalent of the BBC - a key target. Seweryn Blumsztajn, a legend in Polish journalism who cut his journalistic teeth in the country's underground free press in the 1970s, said the TVP news was packed with propaganda that recalled the days before the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. "TVP is full of the language of propaganda just like the worst days of the communist state," said Mr Blumsztajn. "It's the worst since the 1980s. I haven't seen anything like this since the communist days." Poland's governing party has rebuffed the criticism, accusing the outgoing liberal establishment of political sour grapes. Jacek Kurski, the new head of TVP, said this month that he remained determined to ensure the organisation's objectivity, adding: "You can't make political television that is chosen by politicians." TVP has recently made a point of hiring - or trying to hire - known critics of the government. In late March, it signed up Marcin Celinski, the editor of a left-wing magazine, to present his own programme on TVP's news channel. However, scores of other journalists have apparently voted with their feet, either being sacked or leaving TVP in protest at what they see as heavy-handed government interference. Fears over the decline in independence in Poland's media have mingled with wider concerns over the state of democracy in the Central European country, once the poster-child for the EU eastward expansion. Mr Blumsztajn is now president of a journalists' association monitoring the situation at TVP and the state-controlled Polish Radio. The TVP website now lists 112 journalists or editorial staff who have either been sacked or have quit, and that number is expected to rise as what many journalists call an unprecedented purge of newsrooms continues. Law and Justice argues that public media needs a root-and-branch overhaul to rid it of an entrenched culture of bias and to ensure it maintains objectivity and has ushered in a media law that allows the treasury ministry to appoint senior management. Another bill under preparation will allow for the sacking of all journalists and editorial staff, and give management the right to re-hire those it deems appropriate. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] A Save the Children handout photo of a mother reading to her daughter as she undergoes an EEG looking at brain stimulation (Photo: PA) Toddlers can be set back "decades" if their brains are not stimulated before they start school, experts claim. The team of neuroscientists and charity workers called for more to be done to make the most of the "lightbulb" early years. Toddlers' brains form new connections at double the rate of adults, a report from University College London's Institute of Child Health and the Save the Children charity pointed out. Failure to develop adequate language skills can leave children struggling to learn in the classroom, said the authors of the 'Lighting Up Young Brains' report. Last year, almost 130,000 children in England found themselves disadvantaged by poor language ability, they claimed. Professor Torsten Baldeweg, from the Institute of Child Health, said: "Why is it important to stimulate children before they go to school? It is precisely this period where we have explosive brain growth, where most of the connections in the brain are formed. "We need input to maintain them for the rest of our lives. And we know that if these connections are not formed they, to variable degrees, will suffer longer-term consequences to their physical, cognitive but also emotional development. "That's perhaps one of the most important lessons we've learned from these studies - that these early years are absolutely critical. Much more must be done to boost children's early learning." Evidence showed that play-time can be made "brain-time" with a combination of talking, word games and singing, said the experts. Such an approach stimulated early language and communication skills and provided the "building blocks" for learning. Save the Children called on the British government to ensure that every toddlers' nursery had a qualified early years teacher to support both children and parents. Gareth Jenkins, the charity's director of UK poverty, said: "Toddler's brains are like sponges, absorbing knowledge and making new connections faster than any other time in life. We've got to challenge the misconception that learning can wait for school, as, if a child starts their first day at school behind, they tend to stay behind." Protesters from Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group celebrate the outcome of negotiations with the government (AP) Hundreds of radical Islamists who had rallied for four days in the heart of Pakistan's capital Islamabad have ended their demonstration hours after the government threatened to use force to disperse them. The Islamists were protesting against last month's hanging of a policeman who had shot and killed a secular governor over his opposition to the country's strict blasphemy laws. They had demanded strict Shariah law and the hanging of a Christian woman the governor had defended against blasphemy allegations. Awais Noorani, one of the protest leaders, called on the demonstrators to disperse, saying a deal was reached with the government. Noorul Haq Qadri, who said he had helped negotiate the deal on behalf of the protesters, said the government had given assurances that there would be no attempt to amend the blasphemy laws and that it would release all detained protesters who were not wanted on other charges. However, interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the government had not acceded to any of the protesters' demands, and added that religious leaders had helped convince them to end their rallies. Police have detained more than 1,000 protesters in the last four days, Mr Khan said. He added that those involved in violence would be prosecuted, while the rest would be freed after investigation. The protests paralysed one of the busiest areas of Islamabad. Most of the businesses in the area and schools across the city remained closed. More than 10,000 Islamists from Pakistan's Sunni Tehreek group descended on Islamabad on Sunday to denounce last month's hanging of officer Mumtaz Qadri for the 2011 murder of secular governor Salman Taseer. Their rally turned violent and police fired tear gas on Sunday, but failed to disperse the protesters, who damaged bus stations, traffic lights and CCTV cameras. The sit-in continued, but the number of protesters had dwindled to about 1,200. Thousands of riot police and paramilitary troops had been deployed around the site, police official Nauman Alvi said. The government had warned that 7,000 security forces were ready to move in and disperse the demonstrators. The protest comes against the backdrop of a massive suicide bombing by a breakaway Taliban faction that targeted Christians gathered for Easter Sunday in a park in Lahore, killing 72 people, mostly Muslims. Despite its hard-line views, the Sunni Tehreek group behind the protests in Islamabad does not carry out militant attacks. Texas plans on Wednesday to execute a man who killed his two daughters at his Dallas apartment while the girls' mother listened on the phone, hearing the gunshots and her children's screams. John Battaglia, 60, a former accountant, is set to be put to death by lethal injection at the state's death chamber in Huntsville at 6 p.m. local time. If the execution goes ahead, it would the 537th in Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the most of any state. Lawyers for Battaglia launched a last-minute appeal saying he should be spared because he suffers from severe bipolar disorder, which was not properly considered in sentencing. "Mr. Battaglia has presented evidence that makes a colorable showing that his delusions make him not understand the reasoning behind his execution," they said in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court. Battaglia had a history of beating women and had been divorced from his wife, Mary Jean Pearl, for about a year at the time he fatally shot their two daughters, Mary Faith, 9 years old, and Liberty, 6, in May 2001, prosecutors said. At the time of the shooting, Pearl was seeking to have him arrested for violating a protective order by threatening her. When he had the children, he knew a warrant had been issued for his arrest, with an officer asking him to turn himself in peacefully so police did not have to take him into custody while he was with his daughters, court documents showed. He left a message on his wife's phone. When she called back, he put the phone on speaker and demanded that his wife speak with daughter Mary Faith. The daughter then asked: "Mommy, why do you want Daddy to go to jail?" and could be heard a few seconds later saying: "No, Daddy, please don't, don't do it." Then the mother heard gunshots and screams. Battaglia shouted an obscenity at her on the phone, the documents showed. Pearl then hysterically called 911 and police found the dead girls in Battaglia's apartment. Both had been shot multiple times. After the shooting, Battaglia went to a bar with his girlfriend and was arrested shortly afterward at a tattoo parlor where he was getting rose tattoos to remember his daughters, the documents showed. It took a jury about 20 minutes to convict him. Migrants sit in a rubber boat prior to being rescued by the German navy in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya (AP) French police have evacuated nearly 1,000 migrants from a makeshift camp near a Paris Metro station. The operation was peaceful and authorities offered the migrants temporary lodging and help applying for asylum, the French interior ministry said. The migrants reportedly included people from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan who had been living beneath elevated train tracks for the past few weeks. The Paris transit authority closed the Stalingrad Metro station during the operation. The area has seen multiple migrant camps in recent years which are periodically cleared out. The ministry said "the street should not be a refuge" for people fleeing persecution, and described the evacuation as being necessary for public order, public health and humanitarian reasons. France has not seen nearly as many Syrian refugees or other migrants over the past year as Germany or countries further east, but it has experienced tensions around the northern port of Calais, where migrants converge in the hope of crossing into Britain. Meanwhile, the flow of migrants to the Greek islands seems to be on the rise again as the weather gets warmer. Figures released by the Greek government showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. That number represents a three-fold rise compared to arrivals in previous days. In Turkey, the coast guard said it rescued dozens of mostly Syrian migrants as they tried to reach Greece in an inflatable dinghy. Off the coast of Libya, a German combat ship rescued scores of people who were trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa into Italy's southern islands. A new European Union-Turkey agreement comes into effect next week to curb the flow of migrants. There have been two attacks by lions in Nairobi in the past month (AP) A lion has been shot dead after straying from a Kenyan national park and attacking a man outside Nairobi. The animal was killed by wildlife officials after it injured a man in the Kajiado district, some 35 miles from the Kenyan capital. Paul Udoto, a spokesman for the Kenya Wildlife Service, said he had no information about how seriously the man had been injured. The attack marks the second such incident involving a stray lion this month. On March 18, a lion mauled a pedestrian in Nairobi before being captured. Nairobi National Park, which covers 45 square miles on the outskirts of the city, is home to endangered black rhinos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes and diverse birdlife. SHARE Ken ruinard/independent mail James Stancil Jr. shows his GPS-monitored ankle bracelet at the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services office in Anderson. Gerald Black with the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services speaks about the departments case load. James Stancil Jr. talks at the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services office in Anderson about the six years he has worn a GPS-monitored ankle bracelet. James Stancil Jr. talks at the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services office in Anderson about the six years he has worn a GPS-monitored ankle bracelet. By Mike Ellis of the Independent Mail Shon Clark sleeps with his GPS ankle monitor and showers with it. Once when it was too tight, it cut into his leg. For five years the 41-year-old has worn the ankle device a black, waterproof box about the size of a small lemon around his ankle. It never comes off. Sleeping is uncomfortable, Clark said. But you get used to it. James Stancil Jr., 31, has worn the device for six years. Hes more blunt. This thing sucks, he said. The battery always needs charging. It irritates my leg, and I always have to wear socks. No one wants to wear an ankle bracelet. The bracelets track movements within a few feet. People covered by the program are given zones where they can or cant go, and the bracelets are monitored all day and night. The hassle of ankle monitoring the daily charging, the loud beeps when something goes wrong, the loss of privacy is part of the point, said Peter OBoyle, spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Its a burden; we hope its a disincentive for people to commit sex offenses or to recommit offenses, he said. Pulling on a boot too hard or fast can be enough to trigger the alerts, which are instantly sent to supervisors, said Ben Sheriff, owner of Pickens-based Eagle Eye Monitoring. Sheriff said someone with a cowboy boot once used a razor to cut a hole in it to accommodate the monitor rather than wear shorter footwear. Turning the band around the ankle too fast is enough to trigger the alert, and leaving approved zones will also trigger it. Sheriffs company supervises more than 50 people in Anderson, Pickens, Laurens and Greenwood counties. His clients are out on bond or home incarceration, unlike those under the watch of state probation/parole officials. Its a real good program for protecting a victim, Sheriff said. If someone goes where theyre not allowed to go, or if they try to remove the device, an alert is sent within seconds to either companies such as Eagle Eye Monitoring or to state officials who supervise their own programs. Stancil and Clark are both convicted sex offenders in Anderson County. They are two of the 37 people from Anderson County who are on ankle monitoring as part of the state program. Most of the people with GPS trackers in South Carolina are sex offenders, according to figures from the Probation, Parole and Pardon Services Department. Around 800 people in South Carolina wear the bracelets through the state department. Those are all convicted criminals. The state program does not serve people who wear the bracelets while on bond. About 555 of those are part of the states Jessies Law, which requires mandatory GPS monitoring for sex offenses with a minor. The monitoring could be for life. But offenders under Jessies Law are eligible for an appeal, to get the bracelets removed, after 10 years. The law took effect in 2006, so the first group of appeals is expected next year, officials said. Clark and Stancil are not on probation, but their movements are being monitored because of Jessies Law. Similar to probationers, they are required to go to the Anderson County probation office once a month but their routine is simpler. Officials check their ankle monitors to make sure the devices are functioning. Stancil and Clark, like almost all offenders in South Carolina with ankle monitors, do not pay the $60 per week in fees, or $3,120 a year, for the intensive monitoring program. Statewide, the program collected less than 1 percent of the fees, $5,100, in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Thats less than two people statewide paying for a full year. OBoyle said the program still saves significant money and keeps communities safe. Anyone with a criminal record has a harder time getting a job, he said. Add in a sex crime conviction and its even more difficult. They also have living expenses, child support, victims restitution. GPS fees are at the bottom of the list. Those who dont pay, which includes almost everyone, can be referred to a judge. But judges are reluctant to put people back in prison for failure to pay the fees unless there is proof the person is hiding money, OBoyle said. Even with the state picking up the tab of almost $3.5 million a year, the Jessies Law GPS program saves money, OBoyle said. It costs $17,872 a year to supervise someone in the states prisons. It costs less than $2,500 a year per person to pay for the monitoring programs, and people on GPS units are able to work and, if they can get a job, pay taxes, OBoyle said. It allows individuals to be productive citizens without creating a problem for the victim, he said. Because of the cost, and keeping people from being further hardened in prison, the program is preferable to keeping people behind bars, said state Rep. Mike Pitts, a Laurens County Republican and former police officer. He said the technology for tracking people outside prison walls has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. We dont need nonviolent people behind the wire (in prison), as we call it, but you do need to have close supervision for these offenders, Pitts said. The technology is now within 3 feet or less instead of 100 feet. And its improving. The bracelets have led to convictions, by placing people at the scene of crimes, and have also led to people being cleared of crimes. A former local stock car racing champion, Ralph Carnes, was sentenced last year in Anderson to wear the bracelet when he was convicted of committing a lewd act with a minor. The bracelets are not only for sex offenders. Eddie Graham, a man who had failed probation five times, was put on a GPS monitor this summer until he could move to Georgia after he pleaded guilty to intimidating a witness, his ex-girlfriend. This week, Circuit Court Judge Daniel Hall ruled that Thomas Saxon, who is charged with murder, could be out of custody on bond without being subject to GPS monitoring. Saxons defense attorney said the shooting was an act of self-defense during a robbery. Hall said the delay in arresting Saxon, more than seven months after the shooting, meant state officials did not show great concern about him being a danger to the community. Women are more likely to be killed by men in South Carolina than anywhere else, according a study released this year by the Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center. GPS monitoring is a technology that can be used to give victims peace of mind, Sheriff said. The instant alerts can be used to send officers to the victims home quickly, he said. Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw has been pushing for more bracelets for criminal domestic violence cases, said Jimmy Watt, a spokesman for the sheriffs office. Well be seeing a lot of more of this in the future, he said. The accuracy of the devices is helping, along with records of where people go to establish patterns, OBoyle said. Adoption of the devices is becoming more popular, and improvements should encourage judges and law enforcement officials to rely more on the tracking devices, he said. The effectiveness is going up; the cost is coming down, OBoyle said. The promise of this technology is only getting better. One of the challenges has little to do with the units themselves or the cost. Probation officials are still struggling with the economy and getting convicts employed, said Gerald Black, agent-in-charge of the Anderson County office of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. He said employers who used to accept sex offenders can now be pickier in a tighter job market. Clark and Stancil, two of the sex offenders in Anderson County, dont have jobs. Many of the people on monitors dont have jobs. Being a sex offender, and having the ankle bracelet, has stopped them from getting jobs, Clark and Stancil said. Id rather this than prison, and its better than probation, Clark said. But employers know about this. And lets just say employers dont smile on it. Especially when you have sex crimes in your background. Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM South Carolina football beats Texas A&M 30-24 in first win vs Aggies South Carolina football nearly squandered a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, but held on to beat Texas A&M 30-24 for the first time in program history. SHARE By Nikie Mayo of the Independent Mail Eddie Moore is seeking his old seat on the Anderson County Council. As filing closed Wednesday, Moore headlined a list of challengers seeking one of three contested seats. Moore spent five years in office before current Councilman J. Mitchell Cole defeated him in a June 2014 Republican primary. Moore said Wednesday that he believes the council has overspent in his absence. "The way the county's wasting money we've had 4.5 percent increase in population so that gives you a revenue increase but they're just using it to pad the budget like crazy and pay for their pet projects," Moore said. "In many ways, the county has gone back to the way it was under former administrators. Nobody's calling them out on it. Everybody's just raising their hands and voting for it. So I'm going to call them out. ... I feel like I was the lone conservative voice on the council, because they've lost their way." Over time, Moore has been embroiled in a host of troubles, from revelations that he used to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan to a lawsuit over the death of an elderly pedestrian. The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation also ordered Moore to stop identifying himself as an engineer, and he later admitted that he didn't have the proper degrees and certifications to say that in this state. A judge forced Moore to turn over emails from his old work account at Fluor Daniel, and attorneys used the correspondence to contend that Moore plotted, before he ever took office, to try to get rid of former County Administrator Joey Preston. The revelation in a deposition that Moore used to be in the KKK drew national media attention. Moore ultimately said that it happened years ago, when he was a sheriff's deputy, and that he never participated in KKK ceremonies or "went to a cross burning." He waited until the last day to file for the District 3 seat. Moore will face Cole and Ray Graham, the owner of Cam's Cafe in Iva, in a June 14 Republican primary. Graham is a former law enforcement officer and a fireman. He left the Anderson County Sheriff's Office in late 2014, he said. "Most of my career, I have been in some type of public service," Graham said. "I want to continue to be public servant and be a voice for the people of this district." Gracie Floyd, the council's lone Democrat, faces three challengers for her seat, including some familiar faces. Floyd, 70, has been on the council for more than a decade. She has represented District 2, the area that stretches from S.C. 28 Bypass to Broadway Lake, since 1999, when she assumed her husband William's seat after his death. William Floyd was first elected to the council in 1992, and was its chairman when he died. Challenging her this time are Frank Pressly, who previously mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign against her; Larry Bright, another former opponent; and Maurice Martin, who has not run for council before. Pressly and Martin will face Floyd in the Democratic primary. Bright, a Republican, will face her in the Nov. 8 general election. The County Council will have at least one new member in 2017. Francis Crowder, who represents the city of Anderson in District 1, decided earlier this month not to run for re-election. A Republican and a Democrat are vying for that seat. Craig Wooten, a businessman and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, signed up to run the first day filing opened. Wooten, a Republican, said his campaign will focus "on how we pursue quality of life, economic development, and community safety for the next 20 years." He will face Democrat Liz Carey, a former vice president of the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce and a former Independent Mail reporter. Carey, executive director of Pints for the People, now does public relations, marketing and freelance writing. Four County Council members are unchallenged for their seats. Incumbents Tom Allen, Tommy Dunn, Ken Waters and Cindy Wilson have no opponents. By: Tracie Frost According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, Indias e-commerce industry could experience a compounded annual growth rate of 35 percent and reach US $100 billion in annual sales over the next five years. The sector is estimated to realize a 72 percent jump in annual online purchases per individual in 2016. Additionally, the number of consumers purchasing something online has been increasing by 60 percent or more year over year. The opportunity for continued growth in Indias e-commerce industry is substantial. A young population, rising standards of living, better internet penetration, and improved infrastructure for deliveries make e-commerce a tempting investment. However, anyone contemplating investing in Indias e-commerce sector should carefully consider the many constraints on the industry, the lack of clarity with respect to regulatory guidelines, and Indias political environment. Constraints on Foreign Investment in E-Commerce Government regulation of emerging market segments is inherently reactionary as regulators adjust to new business practices that defy previous norms. Such is the case with the e-commerce sector. For instance, the government is struggling to adapt its complicated foreign direct investment (FDI) retail policy to the e-commerce industry. India divides commercial businesses into four overlapping categories for purposes of foreign direct investment: single-brand retail, multi-brand retail, business-to-business sales, and business-to-consumer sales. Single-brand retail refers to the selling of goods under a single brand name; multi-brand goods are not allowed, even if produced by the same manufacturer, and products must be sold under the same brand internationally. India allows 100 percent FDI in single-brand retail, but only up to 49 percent by the automatic route. Any equity investment greater than 49 percent must be approved by the government. Multi-brand retail refers to the selling of multiple brands by one company. India allows 51 percent equity investment in multi-brand retail; however, government approval is required. Single and multi-brand sales can be set up in two ways under the Indian regulatory framework: business-to-business or business-to-consumer. For e-commerce, India allows 100 percent FDI under the business-to-business framework through the automatic route for single-brand and multi-brand sales. India does not allow FDI in business-to-consumer trading, in any form, by means of e-commerce, for companies engaged in the activity of single or multi-brand retail trading. Therefore, e-commerce enterprises with FDI may only operate under a marketplace model, where they provide a portal for business transactions between buyers and sellers or under a manufacturer-to-wholesaler/wholesaler-to-retailer model. They may not sell directly to consumers. Clarity of Regulations India is the only country in the world that makes a distinction between single and multi-brand retail. To complicate the issue, the government has not clearly defined the terms single-brand retail and multi-brand retail. In the context of brick and mortar stores, it is relatively simple to determine whether a company is selling a single brand or multiple brands. However, for e-commerce companies, the distinction is not as simple. Companies such as Amazon and Flipkart, which operate as marketplaces (not direct sellers), often have large warehouses or fulfillment centers where sellers send their goods to be housed until they are sold and shipped. While e-commerce marketplaces contend that ownership remains with the seller and does not transfer to the e-commerce company, the government has questioned whether the e-commerce company actually owns the goods once they are present in the fulfillment center and is, therefore, functioning as a business-to-consumer enterprise. Further, some have concluded that e-commerce marketplaces are direct sellers because they, and not the individual sellers, advertise the products themselves. Others have pointed to the deep discounts offered online and questioned whether the discounts are offered by the sellers or whether they are subsidized by the e-commerce marketplace, in which case, the marketplace could be said to own the products. Lack of clarity as to what constitutes single- and multi-brand retail in the e-commerce context and regulations regarding marketplace, retail, and wholesale trading make the e-commerce sector a risky place to do business. Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, the penalty for violating FDI rules can be up to three times the sum involved in the violation. A penalty of this sort could easily put a company out of business. RELATED: Business Strategy & Operation Advisory Political Environment In the last several years, many suits have been filed in Indias courts by brick-and-mortar trade associations and companies alleging that e-commerce companies are violating the FDI rules. Their intent seems to be eliminating competition from the e-commerce marketplace. Additionally, the concern that large multi-brand retailers could displace mom and pop stores which are the backbone of many Indian family businesses is a hot political issue. Moreover, Prime Minister Modis government is clearly concerned that opening FDI to multi-brand retail will release the flood gates for imported goods, thus crippling Modis Make in India campaign. Observations: While investment in Indias promising e-commerce industry is tempting, until the government provides greater clarity in e-commerce regulations and opens the sector to business-to-consumer sales, opportunities are limited and risk abounds. 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 india@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. Managing Your Accounting and Bookkeeping in India In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we spotlight three issues that financial management teams for India should monitor. Firstly, we examine the new Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) system, which is expected to be a boon for foreign companies in India. We then highlight common filing dates for most companies with operations in India, and lastly examine procedures and regulations for remitting profits from India. Tax, Accounting, and Audit in India 2014-2015 Tax, Accounting, and Audit in India 2014-2015 offers a comprehensive overview of the major taxes foreign investors are likely to encounter when establishing or operating a business in India. This concise, detailed, yet pragmatic guide is ideal for CFOs, compliance officers and heads of accounting who need to be able to navigate the complex tax and accounting landscape in India in order to effectively manage and strategically plan their India-based operations. An Introduction to Indias Audit Process In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we provide readers with an overview of Indias annual audit process and offer important tips for the smooth navigation of the countrys audit regulations and accounting standards. We begin by first explaining the two most common types of audit in India, statutory and internal audits, and then outline the standard steps and procedures an Indian auditor will follow in each. As per latest United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, the cotton production of Mexico during marketing year (MY) 2016/17 is forecast to decrease approximately 4 percent due to an expected decrease in planted area. Total domestic cotton consumption in MY 2016/17 is forecast to increase slightly from the previous year to 2 million bales (each bale weighs 480 pounds). The Government of Mexico (GOM) continues to support cotton growers and growth of the Mexican textile industry in general. The United States should remain the main supplier of cotton to Mexico which accounts for almost 100 percent of Mexicos total cotton imports. Official sources estimate that MY2015/16 yields will reach an average of 7 bales per hectare (ha), as a result of improved cotton seed use, varieties that permit high density planting, combined with favorable weather conditions. The MY 2015/16 domestic consumption is expected to increase slightly to 1.97 million bales. The Mexican textile industry remains competitive and is expected to grow with the implementation of various supports initiated by the GOM, including favorable custom, tax and financial measures. Powered by Commodity Insights Dismissing the reports that Adanis US$ 16.5 billion mega coal mine project would be pushed for funds by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the FM himself said that Adani coal project is not his agenda for the on-going Australia visit, reported PTI.Asked if he would discuss the issue of Adani's Carmichael coal mine project in Queensland with the Australian leaders he was meeting during his visit, Jaitley said, "not really".This is subject which is internal to Australia and this is not the purpose of my visit, FM was quoted as saying by the news agency.His remarks came as media reports earlier had said that Jaitley was likely to push for easy funding for Adani's controversy-hit project.The reports said that Adani's project would figure in talks when the Finance Minister would meet Peter Costello, the head of Australia's sovereign wealth fund called Future Fund."I have been informed that as far as government of Australia is concerned they are doing their very best to stick to the contract subject to whatever other influences in a democracy are there," Jaitley said, adding that the Adani project was not an issue during his Australia visit. With Essar Oil increasing imports from Tehran by about two-thirds in February, the overall shipments from the capital city of Iran augmented 3.7 percent at about 112,200 barrels per day (bpd), in the first eleven months of the contract year beginning April 1, 2015, as per Thomson Reuters Oil Analytics. Following the lifting of western sanctions against Tehran in January, Indias oil imports from Iran received a push up. In comparison to the oil imported by India from Iran in the previous month, the same raised by over a quarter in February, the Reuters report said. The total crude imports of the top Indian buyer of Iranian crude hiked 11 percent in February from January to about 393,000 bpd, as per available data. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 56.3, up by Rs. 0.4 or 0.72% from its previous closing of Rs. 55.9 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 57 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 57.5 and Rs. 56.2 respectively. So far 1537208(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 5114.31 crore. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 169.55 on 07-Apr-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 48.2 on 12-Feb-2016. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 63.25 and Rs. 55.65 respectively. The promoters holding in the company stood at 61.89 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 22.35 % and 15.76 % respectively. The stock is currently trading below its 200 DMA. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries: Sun Pharma has acquired 14 prescription brands from Novartis AG and Novartis Pharma AG in Japan for $293 million, the company said on Tuesday.Jindal Steel and Power is in talks with Japan's Yamato Kogyo Company Ltd to sell up to 49% stake in its rail mill unit, according to reports.GAIL (India) Ltd: GAIL has started drilling its first exploratory well in its onshore oil and gas block in the Cambay Basin in western India.Bank of India: The bank has informed BSE that the Government of India has conveyed their approval to infuse capital funds to the tune of Rs. 1150 Crore in the Bank by way of preferential allotment of equity shares in favour of Government of India.Majesco: Majesco announced that SPLICE Software, a provider of solutions that connect insurance companies and customers with a real-time, data-driven engagement across all mediums of automated communication, has joined their partner ecosystem.Tata Steel: Tata Steel is expected to announce the sale of its entire UK business,as per media reports.Tata Teleservices: Future groups Kishore Biyani would apply for a mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) licence once the policy is formally announced, reports a business daily.Biyani told the financial newspaper that he would shortly initiate discussions with Tata Teleservices to lease spectrum and infrastructure.Central Bank of India: The bank has informed BSE that the Government of India, Ministry of Finance vide letter dated March 28, 2016 conveyed its decision to infuse capital funds to the tune of Rs. 535.00 crore in Central Bank of India by way of preferential allotment of equity in favour of the Government of India.Cadila Healthcare: The pharma company has received approval from the US health regulator USFDA to market anti-viral generic Acyclovir capsules in the American market.Unity Infraprojects: Unity Infraprojects Ltd has informed BSE that the Lenders of the Company in its Joint Lenders Forum (JLF) held on March 29, 2016 has approved in "In principle" the decision for invocation of Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) pursuant to RBI Circular dated June 08, 2015.Piramal Enterprises: Piramal Enterprises Limited through its Structured Investment Group and Dutch pension fund asset manager APG Asset Management will invest USD 132 million to power the Essel Infrastructures Solar IPP platform across India.CEAT Ltd: The company has commissioned, its greenfield unit, situated at Buti Bori, near Nagpur, Maharashtra, with effect from March 28, 2016, which has resulted in addition of 15MT per day in the installed capacity of Nagpur plant. Full expansion project of 120MT per day is however expected to be commissioned, in phases, by end of FY 2017-18.Reliance Infra: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (R-Infra), through its unit Reliance Defence Ltd, and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd of Israel have decided to set up a joint venture company in India in the highly specialized areas of air-to-air missiles, air defence systems and large aerostats.Ashok Leyland: Ashok Leyland, the largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Army, has won orders valued at Rs.800 crore from the armed forces, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.HCL Technologies: HCL Tech has been recognized as a Leader for Worldwide Application Modernization Services for Oracle Upgrades by IDC in its recently published report, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Application Modernization Services for Oracle Upgrades 2016 Vendor Assessment. Post an unsuccessful business stint in Britain, Tata Steel is mulling over selling its entire UK business, with the hope of compensating the massive losses borne by the company through the same, says an ET report.Following several years frail conditions, Tata Steel Europe had been in poor financial health since the last twelve months. Hope for any improvement fades given the soaring manufacturing costs, dipping demand and raised imports, as per the report.Despite restructuring, job cuts, asset sales and modernisation, the companys UK arm has failed to mint profit since Tatas' takeover of Corus in 2007 for $8.1 billion. Moreover, the last 5 years also witnessed the company taking an impairment charge of 2 billion pounds owing to the poor financial performance of its UK business, the report said.Getting marred by the incessant imports of cheap Chinese steel into India and Europe, Tata Steel reported a loss of Rs 2,127.23 crore on consolidated basis in the third quarter ended December, the report stated.The companys UK arm was operating amid cut-throat competition from labour unions on job cuts, pension cut and asset sales plans, added the report. that Tata Steel Ltd.'s (BB-/Stable/--) plan to restructure its U.K. operations, which could include potential divestment, will be positive for the credit profile of the company."We believe the restructuring will help strengthen the financial ratios of Tata Steel,""However, this improvement may not be enough to raise the rating, given that the ratios are currently very weak. Also, in the absence of a finalized restructuring plan, the impact on Tata Steel's credit ratios is currently uncertain."We believe the U.K. operations have consistently resulted in weak overall operating performance of the European operations, including EBITDA loss in the past six months. This adversely affects the performance of Tata Steel on a consolidated basis, which also includes the much stronger India operations. Tata Steel has consistently provided operational and financial support to its European operations.In case Tata Steel divests its U.K. operations, the impact would depend on the operating performance of the remaining European operations, which mainly consist of the Ijmuiden operations in Netherlands. It would also depend on the cash receipts from the potential disposal, which we believe Tata Steel would use to reduce debt, especially at its European operations.We also believe(TSUKH: B+/Stable/--), the holding company for the European operations, remains highly strategic to Tata Steel. We therefore continue to factor in support in our rating on TSUKH. This is also because of continued interest in the Netherlands operations, name sharing, and desire to maintain good banking relationship with TSUKH lenders, many of which are common to both companies.Only a rating committee may determine a rating action and this report does notconstitute a rating action.(NYSE: MHFI), is the world's leading provider of independent credit risk research and benchmarks. We publish more than a million credit ratings on debt issued by sovereign, municipal, corporate and financial sector entities. With over 1,400 credit analysts in 26 countries, and more than 150 years' experience of assessing credit risk, we offer a unique combination of global coverage and local insight. Our research and opinions about relative credit risk provide market participants with information and independent benchmarks that help to support the growth of transparent, liquid debt markets worldwide. Chief of now defunct Kingfisher airlines, Vijay Mallya, finally showed some sincerity in repaying his debt. In a show of obedience with the law, the liquor baron agreed to pay Rs. 4,000 crore by September 2016. Vijay Mallya had two rounds of video conferencing with banks. He submitted Rs. 4,000 crore repayment plan to SC. Such a move comes as a welcome step for banks that are stressed out by the sheer value of debt they gave to the liquor baron. Lenders have responded in Supreme court asking for time to look into his repayment proposals. The Supreme court has provided a one week's time for the banks to respond over Mallyas offer. Mallyas case will be next tabled in Supreme court on April 7. The ex-chairman of United Breweries holds a 32% stake which are valued at Rs. 6,500 crore. After Vijay Mallya's plea to Enforcement Directorate (ED) to grant him more time for a personal appearance, ED has summoned him on April 2nd, 2016. The new deadline came at a time when Mallya had requested the investigating officer that he needed more time, possibly till April, to appear before the agency against the previous deadline of March 18. Mallya, once termed as a king of good times, has been accused as a wilful defaulter with a huge debt of Rs 9,091 crore to the banks. A consortium of lenders, led by State Bank of India, had moved the apex court to prevent him from leaving the country and impounding his passport even as the loan recovery procedure for Kingfisher Airlines is still on. Vodafone India is planning to acquire YOU Broadband for around Rs. 400 crore, according to reports. The company is seeking approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, as per reports. YOU and Vodafone were in talks for almost half a year. The deal will increase Vodafone's competitiveness in high-data consuming cities, says report. Planned reforms to federal drug and sentencing laws that imprisoned many African-Americans have become locked up by election-year politics. The cost of incarceration and a growing awareness of the problems with mandatory minimum sentences have created a diverse coalition calling for reforms, said Kevin Ring, of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. Reform supporters span civil rights advocates, law enforcement organizations, numerous federal judges, conservative groups and even Republican stalwarts, the Koch Brothers. Eighty percent of American voters support ending mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, according to a February Pew Charitable Trusts poll. President Obama has made this issue a priority. He issued an executive order in January to prohibit solitary confinement of juveniles. He discussed criminal justice reform in his latest State of the Union address, and pardoned 95 federal inmates at Christmas. He also became the first president to visit a federal prison. Several relevant bills enjoy broad bipartisan support in Congress. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 by a 15-5 vote last October. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced this legislation, which enjoys 28 Senate co-sponsors. Our sentencing bill is a compromise that shows that senators from both sides of the aisle can come together to address a serious problem in a reasonable and responsible way, Grassley said. Traditional crime fighters and criminal-justice reformers debate whether drug offenders are violent. Thirty-five percent of drug offenders in federal prison had minimal criminal histories and no previous imprisonment, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. However, BJS also reports that 25 percent of drug offenders also used weapons in their most recent offenses. Senator Ted Cruz (R Texas) voted against the bill. As amended, it provides leniency for violent criminals who use guns and gives lighter sentences to criminals already serving time, he said before the Judiciary Committee. That claim is false and does not factually line up with the reality of who is behind bars in our federal prisons, said Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) in response to critics who say the bill would free violent criminals. Each case must also go before a federal judge, with the prosecutor present for an independent judicial review. Grassleys measure addresses several stringent sentencing provisions that have helped swell the federal prison population over the past 30 years. It would repeal the three strikes law that requires a mandatory life sentence without parole for anyone with a third conviction on drug or violent-felony charges. Instead, the bill creates a mandatory 25-year sentence. This legislation retroactively applies a 2010 sentencing-reform provision that reduced the disparity between crack and powder cocaine penalties. This change alone would let about 6,500 prisoners petition the courts for release or reduced sentences. Grassleys bill also includes juvenile-justice reforms and language to help former prisoners transition back into society. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), facing pressure from tough-on-crime Republicans, has not said whether he will allow a vote on Grassleys proposal. Our system of justice is not broken, former U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft wrote last month in a letter to McConnell, signed by 40 high-ranking former law-enforcement officials. Mandatory minimums have caused a dramatic reduction in crime. Reform advocates do not consider Grassleys legislation the major overhaul of mandatory-minimum sentences for which they long have fought, saying his bill does not go far enough. Its a Goldilocks reform bill. Its not too much. Its not too little. But its better than nothing, said Nkechi Taifa of the Open Society Policy Center. There was a time when this looked like a slam dunkIt was the right issue at the right time. Now it is not so clear. This bill only applies to the federal justice system, where about 200,000 inmates are held. This is just 8 percent of the 2.5 million Americans confined to state prisons and local jails. While the Senates path remains clouded, the measure has a brighter future in the House. Legislators and reform advocates consider Speaker Paul Ryan (R- Wisconsin) an ally in overhauling sentencing and drug laws. Ryan said he supports all the measures that have cleared the House Judiciary Committee. We will schedule floor time for them, Ryan told journalists at a recent Capitol press briefing. Until then, reformers sound as impatient as ever. All there has been is talk, and more talk, said civil rights leader Barbara Arwine. Action is long overdue. Mass incarceration threatens many of the gains we fought for in the Civil Rights Movement. Its time for a vote. The refugee crisis has been in the centre of the news, and literally the talk of the world. It has also inspired the work of many photographers in recent times. But German photographer Kevin McElvaney brings us a different perspective - he shows us the real story, from the eyes of the migrants themselves. In December 2015, McElvaney handed single-use disposable cameras to refugees he met in Turkey and and Greece. He requested them to document their journey across Europe. The photos came, but only three months later. The snaps are now part of a project titled #RefugeeCameras. As for the cameras, 7 of the original 15 were sent back to McElvaney in envelopes - 1 was lost, 2 were confiscated by border authorities. Sadly, 2 of the cameras are still in the possession of refugees who failed to reach their destination. The 3 others are missing along with the refugees who were carrying them. The description of this project says, With this photography project Kevin tries to give one of the best documented historic events of our time a new perspective and last but not least the refugees themselves the opportunity to document their own journey through photography. Lets try to see the individual behind the anonymous concept of a refugee. Here are some pictures from #RefugeeCameras. Take a look. 1. Somewhere in Germany, this tiny boy smiles after finding a temporary sleeping room. kevin-mcelvaney.com 2. Refugees sit on the floor of an overcrowded train in Germany. kevin-mcelvaney.com 3. Holding up in the midst of the Syrian crisis. kevin-mcelvaney.com 4. In Iraq, refugees burn waste and their last set of clothes. kevin-mcelvaney.com 5. Finding little space on a crowded train in Iraq. kevin-mcelvaney.com 6. A father from Syria tries to sleep on a bus, tightly holding his baby . kevin-mcelvaney.com 7. Refugees sit in front of the toilet of a train from Macedonia to Serbia. kevin-mcelvaney.com It is a widely believed notion that Hindus hate Muslims and vice versa. But that's far from true. Things wouldnt be as bad if we could just accommodate each others religious beliefs and treat religion as a binding force, instead of a divisive one. Like Wahid Khan from Karachi, Pakistan, who stepped out to play Holi ignoring the fact that it is a Hindu festival. Facebook After playing the festival of colours, Wahid boarded a public bus in Karachi, despite being advised to take a rickshaw instead. In a Facebook post, he narrated how people around him reacted. Here's what he wrote: I was coming from a Holi celebration and I decided to take a public bus despite the arguments of friends that I should just take a rikshaw cuz people might react to it as I was all in colors. I wanted to see people's reaction and more than that I wanted to use a public space to celebrate diversity and to let people think about it. I came across many people, and everyone perceived that I am a Hindu and told me how they know "people of my community". This was my favorite conversation on a bus. I sit next to an uncle. Uncle: (with a great sympathy) Why are you working in such a young age? Me: Sorry, what do you mean? Uncle: You are a color worker right? Me: (laughed) No uncle, actually I am coming from a Holi celebration. Uncle: Oh, Hindu brotheri? Me: No, I am from a Muslim family. Uncle: what? So you celebrated Holi? And rest of them were Muslims as well? Me: Yes, and some of our friends were Hindus and we celebrated Holi in a church. Uncle: Beta, you are a Muslim, and... (There was another uncle sitting in the seat behind us, he interrupted): Oh bhai, if colors bring these kids together and they can celebrate it together with the minority, why do you have to bring in religion? That's a great thing. Uncle: Well, we were raised by telling us that Hindu and Muslims can not be together. (The other uncle shakes his head) Me: That is where everything went wrong. Happy Holi! Uncle laughs. It was a great day and glad to see Pakistan accepting other cultures and religions! Happy Easter if you have read through. You can read his post here. I was coming from a Holi celebration and I decided to take a public bus despite the arguments of friends that I should... Posted by Wahid Khan on Saturday, March 26, 2016 This incident reinforces that things can change, but only if we make them. Nevertheless, we are glad that Wahid took the first step and shared this post on Facebook. Way to go! The film industry is a swanky place, and definitely addictive too. You come here once, and you just can't seem to enough! Perhaps that's why we've recently seen a lot of celebs make their comebacks on the big screen. From Sunny Deol, to Sridevi, Kajol and Madhuri, a bevy of B-town actors recently made their comebacks on the big screen. And looks like this year is not going to be any different. While Diana Penty will be making her comeback after three years, Vani Kapoor too would be returning with Aditya Chopra's Befikre. But that's not all. Check out these 8 actors who are making their big screen comeback soon. 1. Vani Kapoor midday We all last saw Vani Kapoor in a movie more than two years ago, with Sushant Singh Rajput and Parineeti Chopra in Shuddh Desi Romance. Although her performance was average, she couldn't manage further roles in Bollywood films and perhaps that's why she was on a hiatus. But now she'll soon be seen in Aditya Chopra's directorial venture Befikre opposite Ranveer Singh. And looks like this could sure be her second lease of life in the industry. 2. Diana Penty midday Diana Penty pretty much nailed the part of the sundar-susheel, homely girl in Cocktail. That too in her very first movie, and despite sharing the screen with pretty big names like Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone. But call it luck or whatever, somehow she wasn't seen in any other film, though she did do a few TV commercials every now and then. She's all set to make her comeback now in Happy Bhaag Jayegi alongside Abhay Deol. Let's see if she'll be able to make her presence felt this time as well! 3. Bobby Deol indianexpress Wherever did he vanish, right! I remember last seeing him on the big screen in Priyanka Chopra's Dostana in which he played a sort of cameo. And after that in Yamla Pagla Deewana and it's sequel. But now the buzz is that he too would be coming back to Bollywood with Changez, a period movie based on the life of Genghis Khan. Sounds fancy, right! 4. Honey Singh santabanta Oh yes! After a break for almost one and a half years, Honey Singh is back on the circuit and how! After a dud cameo in Xpose with Himesh Reshammiya, Honey Singh will now be seen in a Punjabi film Zorawar, in which he'll be doing some pretty sleek stunts and action. Let's see if his acting career too will take off like his singing. 5. Preity Zinta itimes Even though Preity recently got married and is now settled in the US, looks like Bollywood is too good for her to resist. And even when her last comeback (yes!) Ishkq In Paris bombed big time, she's all set to return to the big screen once more, and this time alongside Sunny Deol. 6. Pooja Bhatt newsworldindia Now, who doesn't know talented daddy Mahesh Bhatt's talented daughter Pooja Bhatt! Once upon an actress, now she's a filmmaker. But she's all set to return as an actress after a gap of 18 long years! And reportedly her comeback film would be penned by none other than her daddy dear himself. 7. Sanjay Dutt indianexpress Well, now that he's out from the jail, we hear that Sanjay Dutt has signed not one, not two, but three movies as of now. And hopefully a Munnabhai flick too is in the pipeline. I am sure all the Sanjay Dutt fans can't wait to see him on the big screen! 8. Fardeen Khan sulekha Look what we have here! Remember Fardeen Khan? Come on, you must, rack your brains a little. So, while he had maintained that he's 'concentrating' on his family, he seems to be all ready to get back to Bollywood. And his comeback film is most likley going to be his home production. I think its high time that we rename 2016 as a Year of breakups. With most of the Bollywood and TV couples calling it quits or heading for a divorce, this year is surely a jinxed one for love-birds. Another heart-breaking news of the year that was ruling the internet last week was Sushant Singh Rajput and Ankita Lokhandes break-up. Two of them fell in love on the sets of Pavitra Rishta and were going strong for 6 long years but these rumors definitely came as a shocker for a lot of people. U r the best man in this whole world .. Love u to the death A photo posted by Ankita Lokhande (@ankita_lokhande) on Feb 28, 2016 at 5:46pm PST However, claiming all rumors as rubbish, Ankita Lokhande for the first time spoke to media about her relationship, Sushant and yes, marriage too! Admitting the fact that she surely is "thoda possessive", she revealed that Sushants closeness to any of his co-stars was never a problem for her. She said: A photo posted by Ankita Lokhande (@ankita_lokhande) on Jan 11, 2016 at 5:44am PST I don't know why everyone's speculating that our six-year relationship has ended and that we are no longer together. It's unnecessary and uncalled for. I am there with him as always, I love Sushant Singh Rajput unconditionally. These rumours are completely baseless and in bad taste." Be it rumors of Sushants closeness to Shuddh Desi Romance co-star Parineeti Chopra or Kriti Sanon, with whom he will be shooting for 'Raabta' over the next two months, Ankita said that she trusts Sushant blindly. When it comes to fights and arguments, Ankita said that it's completely normal for couples to fight and Sushant has told her that no matter how badly they fight, there will never be a 'split'. She added: A photo posted by Ankita Lokhande (@ankita_lokhande) on Jul 8, 2015 at 3:11am PDT "Such rumours hurt since I have always admired and respected Sushant for his loyalty and commitment. He has never played games with me. He has always been a one-woman man and I love my man." Talking about her long break from work, she admitted she never quit but was only on a break from TV so she could make a comeback with a completely new look in a film. She added: A photo posted by Ankita Lokhande (@ankita_lokhande) on Aug 21, 2015 at 2:48am PDT "I've been in talks for some projects for the last six-seven months and there could be something coming up soon," she promises, adding that this could be one reason she may not take Sushant up on his invitation to visit him on location. "I have never visited him on his sets; I only went with him to Cape Town because I hadn't been to South Africa before. But this time I will be really busy over the next couple of months with my own professional projects to drop in on him." Ankita even spoke about their much-awaited wedding. She said: Kaun tujhe yuh pyaar karega jaise main karti hu gugga .. Luv u so much baby A photo posted by Ankita Lokhande (@ankita_lokhande) on Feb 28, 2016 at 5:50pm PST "You'll definitely get invited to my wedding. As of now, all I can say is that anything that happens between us is our business alone. I can only assert that I love Sushant unconditionally and he, more than anyone else, knows it." *Touch wood* As you probably know, the Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly, which is a birth defect that causes babies to be born with shrunken heads. Over 4,000 women in Brazil have given birth to babies with this birth defect. What you may not know is that abortion is illegal in Brazil, so women who are infected by the Zika virus do not have the option to terminate their pregnancies. qzprod.files.wordpress.com I contracted Zika four days ago. I just found out Im about six weeks pregnant. I have a son I love dearly. I love children. But I dont believe it is a wise decision to keep a baby who will suffer. I need an abortion. I dont know who to turn to. Please help me ASAP. This is just one of 20,000 desperate emails that South American women have sent to Women on Web, an international advocacy group that has been sending them abortion pills free of charge. A Canadian group based in the Netherlands, they operate worldwide and have been sending these pills to women in Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and other Zika-infected countries where abortion is illegal. The packages they send contain pills of misoprostol and mifepristone, which can terminate pregnancies. Misoprostol is banned in Brazil because it facilitates abortions. The pills may have to be routed through Argentina. Unfortunately, authorities in Brazil got wind of Women On Web's activities and managed to confiscate the illegal drugs, which were being sent in the mail. Of all the packages sent, only two were delivered. cmgdigital.com Packages are checked when they arrive at the post office, and if medications are discovered they are forwarded to us, said Carlos Dias Lopes, an agency press officer. We have a duty to send any illegal substances for destruction, he added. The group has been forced to stop sending shipments to Brazil, and is now working to figure out other ways to help the women. Its not fair to tell women they are going to get a package, and it will not arrive to them, Leticia Zenevich, a spokesperson for Women on Web, told the Los Angeles Times. The organisation is telling women to use an address in a different country, like Argentina, but that is not a viable option for many of the women infected by the virus, since most of them dont have the funds to travel and are already struggling to care for multiple children. The women may be forced to resort to unsafe means to terminate their pregnancies. A safe but illegal abortion in Brazil costs around $800. However, most of the women infected by Zika cannot afford it, and so they may resort to unsafe means of abortion that could jeopardise their own lives. Their only other option is black market abortion pills which are inexpensive but ineffective. nbcnewyork.com We have a situation here in Brazil in which women are having clandestine abortions, and in which women are dying, Sonia Coelho, a spokesperson for the National Campaign for the Legalization of Abortion, told the Los Angeles Times. This brings consequences principally for poorer women and black women, who lack the means to have an abortion in a safer place. Apart from the threat to their lives, the women are also faced with imprisonment if they are caught having an abortion. In Brazil, a woman who has an abortion illegally can be imprisoned for a period of one to three years. Having realised that women who are infected by Zika are seeking to terminate their pregnancies, the government has proposed a new bill that will increase the jail term to four and a half years if they find out the woman terminated the pregnancy due to fears of microcephaly. As of now, Brazilian women are only allowed to terminate their pregnancies to save their own lives, in the case of rape, or in the case of another birth defect known as anencephaly. Here in my town theres nothing else to do, wrote a woman whose medication from Women on Web was confiscated twice by the government. Its either your service or nothing. A cancer treatment through Yoga that does away with the need for chemotherapy to arrest and cure the disease is just a year away, union Minister of state for AYUSH Shripad Naik said on Saturday. reuters Speaking on the sidelines of the AYUSH expo organised by the central ministry near Panaji, the minister said his ministry is in the process of vetting documentation submitted by a Bengaluru-based deemed yoga university, which is said to have cured patients suffering from cancer using yoga. reuters "There is an institute in Bengaluru. They have found a yoga technique for prevention and cure of cancer. We have collected all documentation and the process is going on," Naik told reporters. Naik said that prima facie he was confident about the "cancer cure" claimed by the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, a deemed university headed by H. R. Narendra, a mechanical engineer who has worked as a post-doctoral research associate at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1970 and subsequently had a stint at Harvard University. amazonaws Asked how long it would take for the AYUSH ministry to vet the documentation submitted by the Samsthana related to cancer cure, Naik said: "I think it will take about a year. The documentation should be perfect." India hasnt lost a lot of wars which is why 1962 India-China war is essential because it hardened the resolve for India to create an army like no other. Despite the fact that India lost the war, it made us realise how important it was to modernise our army and weaponry. The only thing that stood out though was the bravado of the Indian soldier - who fought to his last breath without weapons or back up often with his bare hands like in the case of Rezang La. Bharatmata mandir One such story was the legend of Jaswant Singh, the man who saved Arunachal Pradesh from the Chinese. Legend says he himself killed 300 Chinese Soldiers. Another, even lesser-known story is that of the Battle of Rezang La. Indian Defence Review The Greatest Last Stand Ever Taken On November 18, 1962, on snow-clad mountains of Chushul in Ladakh, took place the battle that is still considered to be one of the greatest last stands in the history of armed forces across the world. The Charlie company of 120 jawans of 13 Kumaon led by Major Shaitan Singh was protecting Chushul airfield which was vital if India had to hold on to Ladakh. Yogesh Sarkar The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of 5,000-6,000 soldiers equipped with heavy artillery support attacked Chushul early morning. And to make matters worse, a crest of the ridge prevented Indian artillery from lending support, leaving the Jawans to fight for themselves. A lesser army might have retreated, but the company led by commander Major Shaitan Singh fought till last man, last round, and last breath. Legend says that the brave 120 killed close to 1,300 enemy soldiers. Only 6 of the 120 member company survived the war, 114 did not. The remaining six were taken as Prisoners of War (POW) by Chinese, but all miraculously escaped. Out of these six heroes, only four are alive now. topyaps The attack started at 03:30 in morning and soon Chushul got enveloped by heavy firing from Chinese. But the Indian soldier didnt give up and kept retaliating with whatever means they had. Major Shaitan Singh who was later awarded Parma Vir Chakra (PVR) for leading the company and showing valour beyond imagine always knew that they were fighting a lost battle. But he refused to surrender and led his men with unparalleled valour. The company was also awarded five Vir Chakras, and four Sena medals apart from the PVC awarded to the commander. Honorary Captain Ramchander Yadav who was one of the six who battled with death and survived recalls that Chinese were ferocious in beginning. They kept attacking despite being repulsed twice. Soon the ammunition of Indian Soldiers finished and they decided to take the fight with bare hands. Yadav recalls how Naik Ram Singh who was wrestler single-handedly killed many Chinese, he didnt stop till he was shot in the head by the enemy. Yadav reached headquarters on November 19 and on 22 November was taken to an army hospital in Jammu. Later in 1964, Bollywood came out with Haqeeqat which was loosely based on the battle of Rezang La. Although the movie correctly portrayed the valour of these 120 men, but it had many factual errors. The films song Kar Chale Hum Fida still wets our eyes every time we listen to it. The Jawans came from the Ahirwal region of South Haryanas Gurgaon, Rewari, Narnaul and Mahendragarh districts. They fought till the last round and when ammunition forsook them, they fought with bare hands. At least the war memorial in Rewari and Gurgaon claim this, if not the Indian Army, as it bears the names of these 120 heroes of the country. Yadav believes that he survived only to tell the story of 120 brave men who saved Ladakh from the Chinese. He's fulfilled his destiny in doing this, but it remains to be seen if we remember it and tell the future generations about it. Women residents of Tondiarpet had been flummoxed: Many of their undergarments have been missing from the terraces. A high court lawyer who lives in the locality finally solved the mystery on Monday when he handed over CCTV footage showing a self-styled godman in the locality lifting lingerie from clotheslines. Vijayakumar, 57, the saffron-clad man who roamed the streets at night, is now in prison. ireporterstv / Represenatational image An investigation officer said Vijayakumar had a psychological problem. "On questioning, he told us that he got a kick out of stealing the undergarments and wearing them," an investing office said. He confessed to police that he had been stealing from the locality for a year. The XV metropolitan magistrate court in George Town sent him to jail. Vijayakumar, who did puja in a neighbouhood temple and posed himself as a godman, lived with his wife and a son on Murugesan Street in Tondiarpet. After his arrest, police raided his house and found several bundles of inner garments dumped in one of the rooms. His wife said she had no inkling about her husband's fetish. Police inquired in the neighbourhood and out came a flurry of complaints of missing inner garments. Several women said they had lost their lingerie, but never bothered to complain. "Some said they thought it would have been swept away by winds," said a policeman. When it became too regular, however, some decided to find out who was behind it. Sasikumar, a Madras high court lawyer, set up a CCTV camera on his terrace after his family members complained of the same problem. Soon he had the answer to the common problem in the neighbourhood. Some neighbours told police on Monday that they had seen Vijayakumar roaming the streets at odd hours, but did not complain as they were not sure if he was behind the theft. After Sasikumar caught him on camera, however, many came forward with complaints. Sasikumar passed on the footage to police and soon the godman heard policemen knock on his door. "He did not hide anything, maybe because he knew we had the visuals showing him in the act," said a policeman. "He confessed immediately and we recovered a lot of undergarments from his house." For the first time in its 34-year history, the queen of India's heritage trains will skip a trip for want of passengers. Palace on Wheels, which was not even cancelled during the global recession of 2007-09, will not leave on the journey scheduled to start on Wednesday as no bookings were made. greavesindia Palace on Wheels general manager Pradeep Bohra said high haulage charges make it unviable to run the train with a low occupancy. As these luxury trains can accommodate only a small number of people, the per capita haulage charges are very high. Already, inbound tourist bookings have declined, and the train will need to re-in vent itself to remain attractive. Only eight tourists travelled to Jaipur on Palace on Wheels on its previous trip, on Holi. hi-tours The train, which can accommodate 104 passengers, needs 25 to be profitable. A one way ticket can cost upwards of Rs 2,50,000 per person. Kachhabali village in Bhim tehsil of Rajsamand district has become the first in the state to vote to close down its lone liquor shop. The referendum on Tuesday saw 67.11% of voters saying they wanted no alcohol sale in the village. Polling was conducted by the excise department. Of the 2,886 voters in the nine wards of the panchayat, 2,039 voted. While 1,937 voted in favour of the ban on liquor, only 33 voted to keep the local liquor shop open. Sixty-nine votes were rejected. So in a way, around 95% of those who turned up to vote favoured the ban on liquor. Earlier, unmindful of the legal provisions, the villagers had organised a vote in the matter on February 29. That time, 49% of the voters had sought a ban on the sale of liquor. That vote was declared null and void since it did not follow the procedure laid down by law, and was conducted by the villagers themselves. This is the first time the provision of the Rajasthan Excise Act, 1975, that provides for the closure of a country liquor shop, was invoked. Under this provision, 51% of all registered voters - not just those present and voting - should opt to close down the shop. Before the poll is held, at least 20% of the voters of the gram panchayat or municipal ward must seek a referendum on the issue, in a letter to the district collector. liquorsky Rajsamand district collector Archana Singh told TOI that when she came to the district a month-and-a-half ago she received complaints about liquor consumption. "There is rising awareness of the harm liquor does. Women are also more empowered now. The 'Nasha Mukti' campaign has been running for a while in the area, but villagers just needed to be told about the norms to be followed to have this referendum," the collector said. Now that the referendum has thrown up such a clear verdict, the shop is likely to be shut by April 1, the beginning of the new financial year. A report from the tehsildar will be submitted to the collector, who in turn will forward it to the excise department so that the shop could be sealed. Women had been rallying for the closure of the shop for several years. However, political patronage and money power had posed hurdles to the ban on liquor sale. The massive campaign before the polling on Tuesday has yeilded result this time. Three polling booths were set up for the purpose, and people arrived between 8 am and 5 pm to cast their votes. Some elderly people who could not walk were seen being carried to the booths by their kin. There is one licensed liquor stall in the village. The collector admitted that determined villagers might still get their liquor from stalls in other panchayats. Bad news tends to come together, from all corners. After reports of the hottest February ever, reports from across the country show a dangerous drop in water levels in the rivers. Apart from the nine important rivers of India, the several lakes and man-made reservoirs provide drinking water supply for the country. With the water levels in the rivers going down, the levels in reservoirs and lakes has also been affected. Summer is almost here in India and the lack of sufficient water supply could be devastating. According to the latest numbers released by the Central Water Commission, the water available in Indias most important reservoirs now stands at merely 29% of total storage capacity of 45.8 billion cubic metres (BCM). This is less than the average storage in the corresponding period for the past 10 years and just 71% of the holding capacity when compared with the same period a year ago. Wikimedia Commons The national capital region has already faced the first water crisis of the year in the beginning of March. The primary reason behind the crisis was the contaminated water supply from Haryana to the region. The crisis lasted nearly a week and affected nearly five million people. Every summer sees a paucity of water in the city and residents rushing to the limited water tankers that try to meet the demand. Ironically, a large portion of the 3,50,000 migrants who arrive in Delhi each year, are forced to migrate after their crops fail for the lack of water. lankaleadnews In a report earlier this month, Hyderabad's two main sources of water - Nagarjuna Dam and Godavari river - have reported a drastic drop in water levels. Even the water storage facilities to help the city in the rough summer months do not have water to the designated levels. Some of the bore-wells installed in several areas have started to trickle. The remaining sources of water for the city are expected to go dry within the next few weeks! Wikimedia Commons Even more scary are the reports of the Ganga falling severely short of water. The low levels of water in the Ganga led to the closing down of a thermal plant on the Farakka barrage in West Bengal earlier in March. indiatravelphotography.blogspot.in The highest dam in India is located at Tehri which generated an average of 386 million units of energy each year from the water of Bhagirathi river of Uttarakhand in March alone has recorded an all-time low of 205 million units only. The lower water levels in the rivers also means lack of hydroelectricity generation. india-wris.nrsc.gov.in The situation is equally bleak at the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river which has recorded only 95 metres units of energy as opposed to 280 recorded on the same day last year. The full capacity of the reservoir is 1,818 metre units. The efforts to raise the height of the Dam to 138.72 metres is on. Once raised it will enable storage of more water that can be used to generate energy as well as help in irrigation efforts in Gujarat as well as Rajasthan, despite shortage of rainfall. The Weekly Observer The Central Water Commission has already warned that the paucity of water will affect the states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu the most. Water-related tensions have already begun to crop in several parts of the country including Delhi-Haryana as well as the Latur district. Farmers had even blockaded Bengaluru recently demanding water for their crops. The southern part of the country will be worst affected. All eyes will be glued to the skies awaiting the monsoon this year. The reality on the ground, however, demands better implementation of rainwater harvesting methods and an awareness towards consumption of water in urban as well as rural belts. Timely desilting of larger water bodies can also enhance their capacity for storage. Poet Haldhar Nag was bestowed India's third highest civilian honour Padma Shri on Monday by President Pranab Mukherjee. Twitter What is most notable about the achievement of the 65-year-old, who writes in Kosli language, is that he has hardly attended any formal schooling; only upto class III to be precise. If that is not enough Nag can recite all the poems that he had written, all from his memory. "He remembers whatever he writes and has been reciting them. You just need to mention the name or subject. He never misses anything. Now he attends at least three to four programmes every day to recite his poems," said a close associate of the poet. fnbworld Born in a poor family in Odisha, Nag was forced to drop-out from school to support his family after the death of his father. He did odd jobs like washing dishes, and cooking at a school for years until he opened a small stationery shop near a school. It was during this period that Nag started writing. His first poem, 'Dhodo Bargachh' (The Old Banyan Tree) was published in a local magazine in 1990. Nag who is called 'Lok Kabi Ratna' in Odisha has written on nature, society, mythology and religion other than taking up the cause of the oppressed. fnbworld Even though he might not have attended school, his works have gone even beyond them. A collection of his works titled Haldhar Granthabali-2 will be soon published by Sambalpur University and it will be a part of their syllabus. His contribution in the academic sector doesn't end there. Five scholars have done their PhD research based on the works of Nag. Extending the principle of crime and punishment to the animal world, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said Ranthambore tiger T-24 aka 'Ustad' deserved no leniency and had been rightly 'jailed' in a zoo after experts opined it was a man-eater. ichef Tiger conservationist Ajay Dubey, through senior advocate Indira Jaising, had challenged the decision to relocate Ustad from its habitat in the national park to hundreds of kilometers away in Sajjangarh Zoological Park in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Arguing before a bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and UU Lalit, Jaising said the decision to brand 'Ustad' a man-eater was arbitrary as there was no conclusive proof with wildlife officials to link the tiger to the four incidents of human deaths in the last five years. kinja-img "There is a difference between a man-eater tiger which habitually hunts humans, and tigers who may have had a chance encounter with humans primarily due to provocation by humans. Tigers involved in chance encounters are not to be removed from their natural habitat and evidence against T-24 can be at best attribute his involvement in chance encounters," she said. When she said the tiger have been spotted near may have been spotted near human bodies in the forest, but there was no clear evidence to suggest T-24 had killed them, the bench asked: "So, you want eyewitnesses for this? Was the tiger guarding the body? The experts have said it is a man-eater. We are not interfering with the shifting of a man-eating tiger to a zoo. It involves safety of humans." yimg Finding the court not inclined to entertain the petition on the basis of the human-tiger conflict, Jaising decided to revert to the law and rules. She said the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had in January 2013 framed a standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with situations where tigers attack human beings. The guidelines prescribed the manner in which a committee of experts could be formed to identify whether the tiger was guilty of an unprovoked attack on human beings. "In the case of T-24, documents reveal that the committee was not formed as per the SOP and no serious attempt was made to collect evidence to reach a conclusion that Ustad was a man-eater. In the absence of recourse to such safeguards, a rushed determination was made and T-24, one of the largest and most popular tigers of Ranthambore, was held responsible for attacks on human beings and relocated out of sanctuary to a zoo," she said. But the bench refused to entertain the petition and Ustad will continue to be one of the main attractions of the Sajjangarh zoo. The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has received more than two dozen hoax calls recently, costing the airlines and security agencies crores of rupees. reuters Senior security officials said that the current security plan makes the IGI airport an easy target, when it comes to a Brussels-like terror attack. The CISF, too, said that the IGIA was not built in a manner to facilitate security checks before entry into the airport. The officials said that change in the security plan would require complete overhauling of the terminals; otherwise it would make the airport more vulnerable to terror attacks. As per available data, more than a dozen cases were registered pertaining to hoax calls at the IGIA police station under Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation this year, but only two callers have been traced so far. reuters "The International Civil Aviation Organisation, a UN agency, provides for three kinds of security plans to be followed worldwide. At the IGI airport we follow the Security Hold Area plan - wherein a passenger is allowed to walk up to the check-in counters, where he/she undergoes a thorough frisking. The concourse plan - where a passenger is not allowed to enter the terminal without frisking - is followed in India only at the Srinagar airport," said a senior CISF officer. TOI According to them the agency might opt for the concourse plan at IGIA, but it would require a complete overhaul of the terminals. "At IGIA, if a concourse plan is implemented it would cause long queues outside the terminals, causing traffic snarls. This would make the airport even more vulnerable, as it would allow easy access and escape routes to the trouble makers due to the open area. The CISF would then require additional deployment to form another security ring beyond the circulating area. Therefore, at present no such change in plan is on the anvil," the officer said. reuters The hoax calls have caused hefty losses to the airlines, which claim that every time an aircraft is grounded it is a loss of Rs 2 crore approximately. "From arranging for meals and accommodation for the flyers to providing them with alternate flights, an airline goes through all kinds of trouble when a terror threat is reported on one of its flights. Passengers remain our priority and all the efforts to maintain their comfort are made. Every disruption in a flight schedule due to a terror alert costs an airline Rs 1.5 to 2.5 crore at an average," said an airline's spokesperson. 26-year-old Ben Innes was one of the few foreigners on Egypt Air flight MS181 from Alexandria to Cairo. When the plane was diverted to Cyprus and held hostage for a six hours on the tarmac, the panic amongst the passengers was palpable. fameflynet.uk.com Innes, a safety auditor, from the UK seemed calm through out and used the opportunity to click a selfie with the hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa. He later sent it to his flat mate in a string text messages, "You know your boy doesn't f*** about. Turn on the news lad!" Daily Mail His friends described him to Mail Online as the kind of man who's not afraid to shy away from anything. Daily Mail Apparently Innes requested the help of a cabin crew member to translate his request for a picture, which Mustafa nonchalantly agreed to. The British national was one of the last few hostages (including the crew and three other foreign nationals) released by the hijacker during the six hour stand off. Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has presented 100 bags of rice and other relief items to IDPs in Benue State. Mrs Buhari, who was represented by the wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, made the donation on Wednesday at the Agatu Indigenes Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp located at the Wadata area of Makurdi metropolis. She assured the IDPs of high level engagement with the Federal Government to arrest the incessant attack by Fulani Herdsmen, which has claimed hundreds of lives since it began on February 19. The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and his wife, Mrs Eunice Ortom, compared the destruction carried out by the herdsmen to the war crimes in Nigerias northeast. While Governor Ortom urged the Federal Government to restrain the herdsmen from Benue State, Mrs Ortom expressed her appreciation for the visit. President Muhammadu Buhari today traveled to Washington DC to join President Barack Obama and about 60 other world leaders and heads of international organisations at the 4th Nuclear Security Summit which opens on Thursday. At plenary sessions of the summit which is dedicated to reinforcing international commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, President Buhari will insist that while Nigeria will continue to sustain that commitment, world powers must respect the right of other countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy for development purposes. The President will reaffirm Nigerias stance that international efforts to ensure greater security of nuclear materials should maintain a balance between nuclear non-proliferation obligations and the indisputable right of Nigeria and other countries to harness nuclear energy and technology for socio-economic development. It will be recalled that at a meeting in Abuja earlier this month, President Buhari told the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Yukiya Amano that the Federal Government will welcome greater support from the agency for Nigerias aspiration to begin the generation of electricity with nuclear energy. While in Washington DC for the Nuclear Security Summit, the President and his delegation which includes Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.) and the Director-General of Nigerias Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Prof Lawrence Anikwe Dim, will also hold bilateral meetings with other participating Heads of Government and high-ranking United States Government officials. President Buhari is expected to return to Abuja on Sunday. Former Governor of Akwa Ibom State now Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, has begged Nigerians to consider the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Presidency in the 2019 general elections. Since the return to democratic system of governance in the country over 16 years ago, the PDP controlled power at the centre until it was defeated in the 2015 general elections by the All Progressives Congress, APC. However, less than one year after majority of Nigerian voters decided to send the party packing from the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, Akpabio has made a case for a return of the PDP to the seat of power. He made the call in a chat with journalists in Abia State after an inter-denominational thanksgiving service in honour of Senator Mao Ohuabunwa for his victory at the Abia North senatorial rerun election. He said, As a party, we are happy with the arrangement made so far. Last week, we met with the National Working Committee (NWC) of our party and we agreed that the timetable for the party congress remains sacrosanct. So, the convention will take place on May 21 to elect new leaders for the party. I believe it will go in a normal process. We are democrats. I believe strongly there will be no imposition and no impunity. As a party, we show our democratic disposition during the last presidential election. We lost the presidency. We congratulated the winners and we peacefully handed over power. Today, other countries are emulating the PDP. We expect the same thing to happen at the various congresses. Let me also use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians to consider the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2019 presidency. Earlier in his speech at the thanksgiving service, Sen. Ohuabunwa said the rerun election was a war between him and a former governor of the state, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu. Ohuabunwa, who noted that two out of his three challengers had congratulated and agreed to work with him, called on Kalu to put the interest of the senatorial district above personal interest. Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, threw his weight behind President Muhammadu Buharis stand against the devaluation of the naira. Anyaoku spoke at the presentation of Olusola Sanus memoirs: Audacity on the Bound: A Diplomatic Odyssey. He called on Buhari to maintain his stance and assemble a team of economic experts on the issue. Anyaoku, however, stressed the need to take the nation out of its economic crisis. He, however, decried the exploitation of the Nigeria presidential system by new generation politicians, whom he blamed for the nations woes. I have worked with the old political leaders, who during their time were hardworking, brilliant and known for high integrity. The new generation has exploited the presidential system. The president, governors and local government chairmen now parade over 3,000 special advisers. Some state governors that cannot boast of strong revenue also have up to 30 advisers. A local government chairman now operates presidential system at council level, he said. Anyaoku who quoted copiously from the work, described the book as an instructive material for future generations. He said Sanu was one of the brightest administrators in Nigeria, who lived a life of hard work and integrity Similarly, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, ex-Head of State, hailed Sanu for his brilliant performances in the positions he occupied. Gowon said the book would boost the capacity of young career diplomats. I am sure Sanu will never forget his exploits as an ambassador to Ethiopia, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the book has 514 pages, divided into 21 chapters. The cold war between the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu and the Nigerian Postal Service over the collection of stamp duty has resulted in the sacking of the acting Postmaster General of the Federation, Mr. Enoch Ogun. Trouble started for Ogun when on Tuesday he was summoned to the Ministrys headquarters in Abuja along with his Deputy Postmaster General. At the meeting, which was presided over by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. Sonny Echeno, the acting post master general was told that Mr. Shittu had approved his retirement and directed that he should hand over to the most senior officer in the service, Dr. Richard Balami. Although Ogun was due to retire from NIPOST by the end of December 2015, he was directed to remain in office until a substantive Postmaster General was appointed. Subsequently, it was learnt that Balamis appointment was announced as the new acting PMG via a circular. Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has debunked rumors making the rounds that he allegedly slapped his Deputy, Barnabas Bala Bantex, which resulted in a physical confrontation between them. The rumor mill last week was agog with reports that the governor and his deputy, who is from the Southern part of the state, had been having a cold war over alleged plans by Mr. El-Rufai to sack top civil servants in the state. Mr. Bantex had reportedly disagreed with the governor over the move because according to the reports, he would be stoned by his kinsmen because most of those to be affected are from Southern Kaduna. However, speaking at an interactive session with journalists on Tuesday night, El-Rufai dismissed the rumor, saying those behind it are Not quite intelligent enough. He said if the alleged fisticuffs took place in the executive meeting as portrayed by the rumour mongers, there would have been video evidence of the fight by some executive members of the State councils, because nobody is prevented from entering the meeting with his or her phone. He said if there is anybody he so much trusted and respected, it is Bantex, who he said he had known closely for the past 40 years at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The governor further explained that it was based on the trust he has for his deputy that whenever he travelled out of the country, he usually allowed him the rights of an acting governor. This rights of acting governor, El-Rufai noted, was never observed by past governors, adding that as acting governor, Bantex signed documents and chaired security and executive council meetings. We chair executive council meeting together, we operate like partners, and now people want to create enmity between us. I am of age, I cant descend so low. This rumour is completely false, it is created to cause division. We never discussed retrenchment of workers in the State as claimed by the rumour mongers. I have never slapped anyone in my life, I have never argued with Bantex, I dont slap people, I fight people with mouth, El-Rufai stated. The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has made good his threat to drag the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to court for accusing him of illegally trading in foreign exchange. He, however, gave the opposition party 72 hours to withdraw its claim and tender an apology to him. The PDP, through its Twitter handle @PdpNigeria, had on Saturday accused the presidential spokesman of buying USD800, 000 from the Central Bank of Nigeria at the rate of N185 and selling same off at black market rate of N350. In an earlier response, Mr. Shehu denied the allegation saying The day I choose to start trading in FOREX I will resign as a presidential spokesman. He also threatened to launch a defamation suit against the coward and psychopath behind the @PdpNigeria handle and I will claim money in millions as damages. Having verified that the Twitter handle in question (@PdpNigeria) is the official handle of the PDP, the media aide to the president, through his lawyers, Cherish Solicitors, wrote to the partys national chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, asking him to write a letter of apology and a retraction of the publication within 72 hours of the receipt of the letter. We shall be left with no option than to have recourse to our clients rights under the law, Mr. Shehus lawyer said. The letter signed by Aliyu Abdullahi added: We condemn your defamatory and libellous actions in the strongest terms and we state that this is least expected from an organization of your standing which produced past and present crops of leaders, expected to be role model in the country. The embattled Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, has stood up to those calling for his resignation, saying he still had a lot of work to do, hence, he wont heed their call to throw in the towel. He spoke on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) on the lingering scarcity of petroleum products across the country. Following the current fuel scarcity, Mr. Kachikwu had said he is not a magician and urged Nigerians to endure the hardships until May. His comment elicited condemnations from a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who described the comment as a crude joke. Some groups, including the South South APC, National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, and some Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, however, were less charitable as they called for the ministers resignation. In his response to the calls, which formed part of his closing remarks at the Senate briefing, Kachikwu, who earlier apologized for the comment and promised that the long queues at the petrol stations across the country will gradually disappear from 6 or 7 of April, advised All those planning to come to Abuja for a protest should save their fuel, I am not going to resign, I have a lot of work to do. According to the minister, he did not accept to be minister of petroleum in order to create scarcity. He also assured that he would work hard to proffer lasting solutions to the problems in the industry. Mr. Kachikwu said he was pained as much as many Nigerians that the country still suffered petroleum scarcity in spite of being one of the largest producers of crude oil in the world. Punch Global oil benchmark, Brent crude, fell on Tuesday, reflecting growing concerns that a two-month rally might be fading, as supply looked set to keep rising and there appeared to be little immediate prospect of demand keeping pace. Vanguard The acting Chairman of BOT, Walid Jubrin, who gave the advice while addressing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, urged Sheriff to heed the advise and not stay in office beyond three months. Thisday The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, on Tuesday apologised to Nigerians for his comment on the nationwide fuel shortages, adding that enough measures had been put in place to end them by next week. The Sun The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday, released additional five results from the March 19, 2016 legislative rerun elections in Rivers State. Daily Times The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, on Tuesday, inaugurated the construction of a1.2-kilometre-long flyover, worth N5.7 billion, in Ado- Ekiti, and described it as a dream come true. Guardian With the global average air temperature of the earth hitting 1C hotter than at the beginning of the 20th century, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has warned Nigerians to brace for more hot days, warm night and heat waves. Daily Trust The Bauchi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Nigerians to appreciate the efforts of the Muhammadu Buhari administration which lead to improved security in the country in the last one year. National Mirror A group, the Coalition for Women Advancement in Africa (COWAA), has described the new video by Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, where he announced what could best be described as a surrender as a major breakthrough by the military in the war against the Boko Haram insurgency. Leadership The camp of former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan appears to be is disarray as strong indications emerged that a deep distrust has crept into the fold. Tribune KADUNA State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has debunked the insinuation in the social media that he walked out of a meeting where the vice-president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, had sought for his understanding on a particular matter. The Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, said on Wednesday that there is no crisis in the House of Assembly and the state in general. He made the remark while speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Armed policemen earlier today sealed the State House of Assembly complex on the order of the National Assembly following lingering leadership tussle among the lawmakers. Governor Bello, however, insisted that the House of Assembly is sitting and all legislative works are ongoing. Ruling out crisis in the state, he said: My house is sitting and we have absolute peace in Kogi state, I am not aware of that. The National Assembly was supposed to have taken over, the state is absolutely in peace and the legislative activities are ongoing. I am the executive and the executive is functioning and we are doing the best we can, so legislature is their own business and they are on it. I have a speaker that is sitting right now. So I dont know if there is any problem there, he added. On the application for bail-out funds for his state, he said: We applied for it and its under processing right now I have not gotten any bail-out yet. Well I think to the best of my knowledge, the last administration either did not go on with the process properly, we are now to trying to correct whatever was not done properly, so that we can access it for our people. The governor also called on the people of the Confluence state to remain calm, noting that the state has suffered for a long time. This is not the time for political crisis. This is the time to work and I am here to work. I am not here to have any political fuss with anybody; whoever is ready should join me and lets fix Kogi state, he stated. Business / Economy by Thobekile Zhou Zimbabwe government has been accused of accelerating economic collapse by discouraging investments in a "country already hard-hit by a debilitating liquidity squeeze."This comes as Government is soldiering on with closing all foreign firms in April, which are not complying with indigenisation laws.BUY Zimbabwe said the move would trigger continued economic decline and abject poverty.In a statement on Tuesday, Buy Zimbabwe chairperson Oswell Binha said the latest turnaround on indigenisation laws would likely further discourage investment in a country already hard-hit by a debilitating liquidity squeeze, low capacity utilisation of less than 50%, company closures and massive job losses."The proposed Cabinet directive to close companies as a punitive measure is tantamount to condemning Zimbabwe into continued economic decline and adjective poverty."This issue of government trying to decimate the private sector is very unfortunate and uninformed. Threatening to close companies shows a lack of understanding of the economy and forces of economic prosperity."The government needs to take stock of the impact of what is being done by the Indigenisation ministry. The consequences of the confusion that has emanated from the numerous pronouncements on indigenisation are already being keenly felt," Binha said.He added "In the midst of this economic malaise, Zimbabwe's contentious indigenisation programme remains a millstone around the neck of the economy amid lack of a settled and progressive policy informed by a realistic economic agenda beyond the current legal framework,". President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja today for Washington DC, where he will join President Barack Obama and about 60 other world leaders and heads of international organisations at the 4th Nuclear Security Summit which opens there on Thursday, presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, has said. Mr. Adesina said in a statement that at plenary sessions of the summit, which is dedicated to reinforcing international commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, President Buhari will insist that while Nigeria will continue to sustain that commitment, world powers must respect the right of other countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy for development purposes. The president will reaffirm Nigerias stance that international efforts to ensure greater security of nuclear materials should maintain a balance between nuclear non-proliferation obligations and the indisputable right of Nigeria and other countries to harness nuclear energy and technology for socio-economic development. It will be recalled that at a meeting with him in Abuja earlier this month, President Buhari told the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, that the Federal Government will welcome greater support from the agency for Nigerias aspiration to begin the generation of electricity with nuclear energy, the statement said. While in Washington DC for the Nuclear Security Summit, Mr. Buhari and his delegation, which includes Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and the Director-General of Nigerias Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Lawrence Anikwe Dim, will also hold bilateral meetings with other participating Heads of Government and high-ranking United States Government officials. President Buhari is expected back in the country on Sunday. The ever sexy screen goddess, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and her husband, Captain Matthew Ekeinde, are back from their long vacation at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. The couple made the luxurious trip to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. We are back! The actress wrote alongside a loved up picture of the duo. The couple left Nigerian for Hawaii three days to their wedding anniversary. On the much-anticipated day, she wrote him a short message, telling fans how she is the luckiest girl in the world. Happy anniversary to us, the mother of four wrote him. Its a pleasure experiencing life with you. I might just be the luckiest girl in the world. Now, they are back home and want everyone to know that with a playful photo and a caption which reads, We play too much, friends first. The couple have four children, Princess, Meraiah, Micheal and M.J. The Ondo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has accused the state governor, Olusegun Mimiko, of attempting to create division in the party ahead of local government elections in April. The party also reiterated its position on its withdrawal from the forthcoming council polls. Recall that Mr. Mimiko was elected governor for two terms on the platform of the LP before defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, shortly before the 2015 general elections. In a statement on Tuesday in Akure, the state capital, the Secretary of the party, Ronke Akerele, said there was a plan by the governor to keep fifth columnists as fake members of the party to further his selfish interest. We hereby state clearly that anyone who is not known to our party cannot speak or represent our party in any capacity, she said. We also wish to inform the general public that Labour Party shall not participate in the waddle council election. The party appeals to the governor to channel his energy to the task of governing the state at this critical period. The LP scribe further said the party would engage the government in constructive criticism for the benefit of all, rather than petty issues of divisive politics that was fast becoming the trademark of Mr. Mimiko. We passionately appeal to the Governor to pay the salary arrears of the workers of Ondo State as soon as possible to reduce the untold hardship of the people, she added. Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom state has explained that Fulani herdsmen are not the ones responsible for the incessant attacks in Nigeria. According to him, herdsmen from Mali, Ghana, Congo and Niger are responsible for the attacks. He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to tighten security at borders into the state. He explained that the foreign herdsmen have been behind the incessant attacks on his people since 2011. Unless they are chased out, it would be hard to maintain peace in the country. These herdsmen are very destructive and well-armed. They kill women and children on sight. They are completely different from the Fulanis that we have lived and cohabited with over the years. We understand that the herdsmen came from Mali, Ghana, Congo, Niger among others and are killing us every day with impunity. This must stop. As we speak, over eight Local Governments have been affected across the state. The situation is really overwhelming, said the governor. Ortom said that there was no land for grazing in the state, as all lands belong to farmers in the state. He said that 85 percent of the state population were farmers and occupied the little available land, adding that it would be difficult to create a grazing reserve in the state. He suggested that the herdsmen should rather embrace ranches as it was being practiced in developed countries. Pakistan rounded up more than 5,000 suspects, then released most of them, in the two days since a suicide bomber killed at least 72 people celebrating Easter, an official said on Tuesday. Investigators kept 216 suspects in custody pending further investigation, said Rana Sanaullah, a state minister for Punjab province from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs ruling party. Details of the sweeping raids aimed at anyone suspected of armed violence came as the Taliban faction claiming responsibility for the Lahore attack issued a new threat, singling out the media. Sanaullah said 5,221 people were detained and 5,005 released after verifying their identities. Army spokesman General Asim Bajwa said the military and paramilitary Rangers were conducting raids across Punjab, Pakistans richest and most populous province, in rapid response to the Easter bombing. Right now in Rawalpindi, Multan and elsewhere, operations are ongoing, intelligence agencies and Rangers and army troops are carrying out operations, he said. Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, the Taliban faction that claimed responsibility for the blast, warned Pakistani media it could be the next target. Everyone will get their turn in this war, especially the slave Pakistani media, Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for the group, tweeted. We are just waiting for the appropriate time. As authorities pursued those responsible, hundreds of ultra-conservative Muslim protesters remained camped out in front of parliament on Tuesday in the capital, Islamabad, days after clashing with police. Mobile phone networks in the capital were blocked for security purposes for a second day in a row. While not directly connected, the two events both demonstrate intolerance, said Moeed Yusuf, a South Asia analyst at the United States Institute of Peace. The ultimate solution does not lie in fighting guns and bullets. It lies in fighting mindsets, he told Al Jazeera. The number of attacks has gone down but the mindset of intolerance remains. The way the UKs mainstream media covers certain issues relating to Muslims and the British Islamic communitys inability to represent itself are contributing to rising Islamophobia, recent research suggests. Developed across the University of Cambridge, research conducted over 2015 led to a roundtable at the House of Lords in January that discovered an atmosphere of rising hostility towards the countrys 2.7 million Musilms, who comprise less than five percent of the 64 million-strong population. Meanwhile, the two factors meant more Muslims were seeking news from other sources, such as television or radio stations from their countries of origin. British minority group disaffection with local media is encouraging their members to turn to media from their regions of origin, which may be concerning for government, said Roxane Farmanfarmaian, principal at the universitys Centre of the International Studies of the Middle East and North Africa. Farmanfarmaian also heads the University of Cambridge-Al Jazeera Media Project, an initative independent of Al Jazeera Media Network. Many Muslim communities dont have media literacy, Farmanfarmaian told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. The report titled Media, Faith and Security: Protecting freedom of expression in religious context found the Muslim communitys fragmentation and lack of professional training in working with the media means it is ill-equipped to counter negative narratives by promoting more balanced reporting. The outcome is a serious breakdown in the multicultural agenda. Senate President Bukola Saraki has donated N5 million to victims of the recent fire incident at Sabon Gari market in Kano State. The Chairman, Senate committee on Works, Sen. Kabiru Gaya, announced the donation when he paid a sympathy visit to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje in Kano on Wednesday. Gaya, who represents Kano South Senatorial District, said that the magnitude of the inferno would impact negatively on economic lives of the victims. The Senate president was so much worried and concerned about the unfortunate incident; this is the reason why he asked me to represent him to bring the donation. We, the three senators from the state, will also sponsor a motion on the floor of the house for the urgent assistance of the Federal Government to victims of the disaster, he said. Gaya, who commiserated with the affected traders, prayed God to prevent future occurrence and replenish what they lost in the inferno. Ganduje commended the senate president for the gesture and assured him that the money would be used judiciously for the purpose it was donated. The US State Department and Pentagon ordered on Tuesday the families of American diplomats and military staff to leave posts in southern Turkey because of security fears. The move comes amid heightened concerns throughout Turkey and was accompanied by an updated travel warning advising US citizens of an increased threat of attacks, the Associated Press reported. The State Department and Pentagon said dependents of American staffers at the US consulate in Adana and the Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave. Foreign and US tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organisations, a State Department statement said. US citizens are reminded to review personal security plans and remain vigilant at all times. In a statement, the US militarys European Command said the step allows for the deliberate, safe return of family members from these areas due to continued security concerns in the region. The order comes as Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan departed for Washington on Tuesday to attend a nuclear security summit on Thursday and Friday. There has been intense speculation in the Turkish media as to whether Erdogan would meet Obama, amid signs of a poor relationship with the US over Syria and Turkeys domestic policy direction. It is hopefully a once in a lifetime thing, most Nigerians make sure they spend a fortune on it. A wedding is often the most important celebration in ones life. So people can be very concerned with some of the smallest details of the wedding. And it is an extremely emotional event that often has a lot of opinions going into the planning. So a lot of Nigerian men would totally disappear when the word wedding is mentioned because of how much it could gulp. If you are one of those who have wondered for so long why this is so, this piece by INFORMATION NIGERIA would definitely answer all your questions Outdo others: If you are one of those who are out to impress and outdo your predecessors in the wedding business, then your wedding is definitely going to be expensive. Even when something cheaper is suggested by the planner they turn it down and choose something more elaborate and expensive. Vendors: As soon as you mention the W word to any restaurant, photographer, tailor, makeup artist, caterer etc. the price immediately doubles. Nigerians as we know like to take advantage of every and any situation, so weddings are no exception. Also all weddings are more work for the vendor than a normal business event because details must be perfectly attended to. For instance caterers will need more staff to serve your party, photographer will need a lot more equipment than for a random event and so on. Letting others take control: When you allow the people planning do everything using their discretion without cautioning them, then youre most likely going to be exploited and would end up spending too much. Uninvited guests: If it were actually possible to get the exact number of guests you invited, then it wouldnt be so hard to make a wedding less expensive but that isnt the case as uninvited guests sometimes exceed the number of invited guests so planners try to cover for those people and this adds to the total cost of the event. Prices: Prices of goods in Nigeria never come down. They are always skyrocketing. Bride: The bride wants or believes she must have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The bride can also want to be sure that her friends are envious. F-O-B: The father of the bride doesnt want his associates to think that hes having financial difficulties, therefore wants to spend all his savings and even pension to ensure he gives his child a talk-of-town wedding. Groom: The groom-to-be is afraid to object to outrageous charges because he doesnt want his bride-to-be to think that he doesnt believe shes worth it, therefore he bleeds himself dry just to please her. Venue: Most people want to use halls located at strategic places and this costs a awful lot of money. The fact that youre renting the hall for so much money is one part but we all know that the bigger the hall, the more expensive the decorators will charge. The charges for the hall and that of the decor are independent. Only a few brides/grooms/attendants/parents give any thought to the fact that a wedding is one day, a marriage is (supposed to be) for life, therefore do everything they can to reinforce the notion that nothing is too good (or too expensive) for such a special occasion, what do you think??? By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, March 30 , more here -- The US through Secretary of State J ohn Kerry welcomed the the Libyan Presidency Councils arrival in Tripoli. But to paraphrase the Talking Heads song, How did they get there? They could not arrive by plane, and so it was by ship -- some or many say, Italian warship, with an assist from France (which previously airdropped automatic weapons into the Nafus Mountains, like speechifying about the control of small arms). Here's what Kerry said: "The United States welcomes the Libyan Presidency Councils arrival in Tripoli on March 30. The Libyan people, supported by the United States and our partners in the international community, have worked toward this moment for nearly two years. The Government of National Accord can now begin the crucial work of addressing the full range of Libyas political, security, economic, and humanitarian challenges. "We reiterate calls by the Libyan Political Dialogue and the international community for all Libyan public institutions to facilitate and support a peaceful and orderly transition in the capital, and we urge all Libyans to support the Government of National Accord. "Now is not the time for obstructionists to hold back progress, but rather for all Libyans throughout the country to embrace this historic opportunity for a peaceful and more prosperous Libya." Similar to France's hypocrisy talking about the control of small arms and light weapons while airdropped crates of automatic weapons into the Nafusa Mountains, the UN speechifies about free press while this year in its headquarters: (1) UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric on January 29 ordered Inner City Press out of the UN Press Briefing Room, while it sought to cover an event related to the UN corruption scandal - the UN Correspondents Association under Giampaolo Pioli, who previously rented one of him Manhattan apartments to Sri Lankan diplomat for whom Pioli then unilaterally granted a UN screening of his war crimes denial film, took money from Ng Lap Seng's South South News and gave Ng a photo op with Ban Ki-moon; (2) USG Cristina Gallach on February 19 for that coverage ordered Inner City Press out of the UN on two hours notice, enforced by eight UN DSS guards who threw Inner City Press out onto First Avenue, its laptop on the sidewalk; (Gallach pals around with Pioli - and has done NOTHING even as Pioli came to the UNSC stakeout on March 24 and four times loudly called Inner City Press an a*hole - a teacher's pet dandy, corrupt system) (3) USG Miguael de Serpa Soares on March 28 issued a threat of imminent eviction while ignoring a simple argument sent to him a month before (on March 30, when ICP asked Dujarric about this omission, Dujarric said to write to de Serpa Soares.) (4) on March 30, as ICP worked on this and the Security Council. Gallach had an underling say despite or because of all this she is setting a deadline - more on this to follow... Back on February 5, after UNCA's ouster but before Gallach 's, w hile othe r member states in the UN have dodged the bullet of losing their right to vote in the General Assembly for non-payment of dues, it seem ed Libya has not. And Inner City Press keep hearing challenges have been raised to Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi's accreditation as the country's Ambassador. So on February 5 Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: you often read out the honour roll. I guess I want to ask you about a either a dishonour roll or just factual question. Its widely reported that, while others got exemptions, Libya has lost its vote in the GA (General Assembly). And given that given what an oil-rich country it is and given that the UN has a Mission there, one, can you confirm that thats taken place? And, two, I wanted to ask you, has the Secretariat received any correspondence concerning the the, I guess, credentials of Ambassador [Ibrahim] Dabashi? Deputy Spokesman: I dont have anything to report on Ambassador Dabashi. Regarding Libya, we had provided and youll have seen the list of countries that fall under Article 19 for losing their vote. I believe, in recent days, several of them have paid sufficient dues so that they are no longer on that list. But you might need to check with our colleague Dan [Thomas] in the Office of the General Assembly Spokesperson whether Libya is in that category or not . On November 16, Inner City Pr ess asked the UN's lead spok esman Stephane Du jarric , video here, transcript here Leon's predecessor as UN envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri , however, got a formal "N ote" from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, signed by Ban's chief of staff Susan a Malcorra and cc-ed to Under Secretaries General Jeffrey Feltman (Political Affairs), Yu kio Takasu (Management) and Joan Dubinksy (Et hics Office) approving outside activi ty for Mitri, which Inner City Press is putting online here , and embedded below. Among the continuing out side engagements approv ed by Ban Ki-moon were for Mitri to be on the Board of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, in Beirut and Doha. Did Leon g et, or even seek, such a Note from Ban? The leaked emails show that Feltman knew of Leon's job search with the UAE by August 27, at latest. Now after more leaked emails, of the UAE about embargo / san ctions violations and that the UN's Jeff Feltman knew of Leon's UAE job search as of August 27 at l atest, Leon on the evening of November 12 issued this: "I am aware of the report today in the New York Times about Libya and alleged activities in contravention of United Nations Security Council resolutions. In light of this report, I have decided to request a full clarification of the issue, including from the United Arab Emirate (UAE) authorities, as I take time to reflect on the next steps in my professional career." While Leon said that "I " have decided to requ est clarification from the UAE, Reuters reported that the UN is seeking an explanation. But Leon did not say he will share the UAE's explanation with t he UN, mu ch less with the public. And shouldn't the UN Security Council's Libya sanctions committee be seeking the explanation, or asking for action against the UAE? So is Leon no longer taking the UAE job? W hat about Feltman and what he knew? We'll have more on this. UN Gave Ethics Waiver to Libya Envoy Tarek Mitri, ICP's Ethics Q to Leon UNanswered by Matthew Russell Lee News / Africa by Staff Reporter Zambian police on the northern shores of Lake Kariba have arrested and detained 21 Zimbabwean fishermen for trespassing onto the Zambian side of the lake.Financial Gazette reported that the Zimbabweans are all from Kariba town. They were arrested while fishing near Sampakaruma group of islands, and are likely to appear in court soon.Zambian police also impounded seven fishing rigs, five of which belong to one company, while one of the other two boats is said to be owned by a Zimbabwean government official.Earlier this month, eight Zambian citizens were arrested by Zimbabwean police for illegally fishing on the Zimbabwean side of the lake.Zimbabwean authorities confiscated the fishermen's kapenta and two fishing rigs.The arrested Zambians were later convicted of poaching and are serving two years imprisonment for their crimes. The issue seems to have stoked tensions between Zimbabwean and Zambian communities living in and around the lake.Kapenta Workers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general, Gerald Chimurewo, appealed for better relations between Zambia and Zimbabwe, imploring fishing companies to understand that fishing on the lake has been made difficult by receding water levels."As kapenta workers, we remain victims of the inhuman attitude by our employers who want catches, whether we face these arrests or not. Those fishermen were trying to get better catches due to the low waters affecting kapenta fishing since last year and they ended up in a Zambian prison," said Chimurewo. Cattle bulls are back in force Sidwell Strategies - Sat Oct 22, 7:12PM CDT Cattle-on-Feed; Rebound in Equities & Energy 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%) In 1998, SMART Modular Technologies, a computer components manufacturer, was acquired for $2 billion by Solectron. Ajay Shah and his wife, Lata Krishnan-Shah, two-thirds of the co-founding team behind Smart Modular, were only in their late 30s at the time. The couple founded Shah Capital Partners, and these days, Ajay works Silver Lake Capital's middle market strategy, Silver Lake Sumeru. The Shahs spent their formative years in India and East Africa. Ajay received a B.S. in engineering from University of Baroda in India before earning a master's degree from Stanford. Lata, after time in India as well as Kenya, studied at London School of Economics and then moved to San Francisco to begin a career in finance. Ajay and Lata first crossed paths in London and then later in the United States. They were married soon after and have been kicking around business ideas ever since. This entrepreneurial couple does philanthropic giving in the states, but a piece of their philanthropy also reflects their ties to India and Africa. In 1997, the pair started moving charitable contributions through the Krishnan-Shah Family Foundation, which gave a little over $700,000 in a recent fiscal year. The foundation has three focus areas: education, at-risk youth, and economic empowerment for women and the underprivileged. The couple is based in the Bay Area and much of their philanthropy is focused in the region. On the education end, they've recently supported schools like Eastside School in East Palo Alto and Downtown College Prep, a charter school. They created a scholarship fund via the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and have supported alma maters Stanford and London School of Economics, too. They also recently awarded a grant to Stanford Womens Cancer Center. Lata is, herself, a cancer survivor, which may explain the couple's motivation. In terms of youth, the couple supports Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), a local Bay Area organization that works with incarcerated young people. FLY aims to improve life outcomes through legal education, leadership training, and mentoring. The couple's final focus is on economic empowerment for women and the underprivileged. In addition to serving as CFO of Shah Capital Partners, Lata also co-founded and co-chairs American India Foundation(AIF), a New York-headquartered outfit that aims to build an India where all people can access affordable education, healthcare, and livelihood opportunities, and where "marginalized Indians can realize their full potential." Another important grantee, here, is Nuru International, a social venture that helps the poor in East Africa. Other recent grantees include Global Fund for Women, Talking Cranes, a "collaborative platform that inspires women to achieve their fullest potential, Invest in Muslim Women, and Narika, whose mission is to "promote womens independence and economic empowerment by helping domestic violence survivors with advocacy, support, information, referrals, and education." A recent foundation 990 indicated that the charity only accepts unsolicited proposals, so networking appears key for this funder. Both Ajay and Lata are accessible via Linkedin. For a complete look at the Shah family's grantmaking, read our profiles of Ajay and Lata linked below. Related: Another day, another policy gift on campus. There's been a bunch of them lately, coming at a time when U.S. political parties are being upended, wars are raging on multiple continents, and the world is still recovering from a financial crisis. No wonder donors want tomorrow's leaders to know a thing or two about policy, both domestic and global. Related: UPenn's Wharton School of Business is one place where philanthropic dollars have played a key role in growing policy work. In 2012, Wall Streeters Marc Spilker and Marc Rowan, along with Spilker's wife Diane gave $11 million to establish the Wharton Public Policy Initiative (PPI) whose goal is to "leverage the Universitys resources to foster better-informed policymaking on issues related to business and the economy." The Spilkers and Rowan are all UPenn alums. PPI's efforts include summer internship programming for students in D.C., a new honors certificate program for students interested in domestic public policy and the economy, and lectures featuring senators, members of Congress and other policy leaders. Now comes news of a recent $5 million gift from David J. Trone and his wife June M. Trone to Wharton to continue fueling the work of PPI. The Trone couple's gift will establish the Trone Family Public Policy Initiative Fund, providing funding for research and other critical support promoting "clear, fact-driven, accessible knowledge to stimulate policies that benefit the American public." The Trones graduated from Wharton in 1985 with MBAs. Trone, with his brother Robert (a Wharton guy, too, as well as a UPenn Law graduate), own Total Wine & More, a Maryland-headquartered national wine, beer, and spirits retailer that employs more than 5,000 individuals and operates over 150 superstores in 21 states. Besides alumni loyalty, what exactly is behind the Trones' support of Wharton, especially in the realm of public policy? First, via their David and June Trone Family Foundation, they've shown a preference for supporting their alma maters. The Trones have directed millions to Trone's undergraduate alma mater Furman University in South Carolina. One recent grant supported the Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership at the school. Another part of this story involves the ACLU and Trone's formative experiences as he was setting up his business. The Trones have been among ACLU's strongest supporters for some two decades. Their recent $15 million donation was the second largest in the criminal justice reform organization's history. (The largest, by the way, is a $50 million gift by Soros' Open Society Foundations). Late last year, in recognition of the couple's robust stewardship, the ACLU announced the creation of the Trone Center for Criminal Justice Reform. As Trone launched his liquor business, he received a crash course in policy and politicsa reminder of how these worlds can impinge on plenty of careers that aren't directly focused in that area. Long story short, Trone had to navigate the world of established retailers, courts, and state liquor boards. Competitors lobbied legislature to pass a law to prohibit advertising beer prices, making it more difficult for consumers to know that Trones prices were lower. An AG even pursued charges against the Trone family, before the case was thrown out. Oh, the politics of liquor. It's clear that these experiences have impacted Trone and have influenced his giving toward the ACLU and beyond. Currently, Trone, in addition to running his business, is also running for Congress in Maryland's 8th Districtyet another reason why policy and politics are on this couple's mind. Say what you will about Donald Trump's presidential campaign (or his philanthropy), he's tapped into Americans' suspicion of global trade deals. Agreements like NAFTA, the argument goes, hurt American workers by creating a "race to the bottom" in which increased global competition drives down wages and sends manufacturing jobs overseas. Competition isn't always a good thing. Could a similar phenomenon affect American arts philanthropy? According to the New York Times, that just might be possible. We here in the states keep hearing that, unlike our counterparts in enlightened places like Europe, the U.S. government fails to effectively fund our museums. But that doesn't tell the whole story. We all know that private philanthropy does much to fill this void, thanks in part to favorable tax laws that encourage giving. Conversely, since governments do far more to provide public goods in Europe, the Old World lacks a comparably extensive culture of private philanthropy. Now, though, the situation is changing. Faced with exploding deficits and anemic growth, European countries are cutting support for their museums. Take the Prado in Spain, for example. In 2006, the museum received 64.9 percent of its funding from the government. Last year, the government provided just 32.4 percent of the museums 38.5 million euro budget. Meanwhile, the Louvre received 57 percent of its budget from the French government in 2002, while in 2014, the government provided 50 percent of the overall budget. And so, lacking a robust private philanthropic infrastructure, European museums are increasingly looking across the Atlantic to American expertise, corporations, and individual donors to fill the funding gap. "They are becoming more hip to what Americans are doing as they shift from public to private funding," said Ellena E. Fotinatos, deputy director of donor and nonprofit services at the King Baudouin Foundation United States, whose mandate is to help European and African nonprofits raise money in this country. "With increased austerity in Europe, professional fundraising is growing more focused around this area." On the surface, a structural shift shouldn't worry American arts organizations too much. Their European counterparts are simply trying to replicate the American private philanthropic model and all the administrative, operational, and strategic bells and whistles that go along with it. For example, representatives of 38 organizations are expected for the King Baudouin Foundation United States annual spring seminar in New York on "The Art and Science of the American Fundraising Model." Some museums are ahead of the curve. Take the U.K.'s Tate, for instance. It created the Tate Americas Foundation with a $6 million gift in 1989. To date, it has raised about $300 million, according to Richard Hamilton, director of the Tate Americas Foundation. "The Tate has benefited from the American model." It's actually pretty cool, right? The leading lights of Europe are taking a page from the American philanthropic playbook. We should be flattered. But U.S. arts organizations may worry when European museums, faced with increasingly severe public funding cuts, more aggressively vie for finite American private donations. It's stark math. More museums appealing to deep-pocketed American donors means less money to go around. Competition isn't always a good thing. (What global-minded U.S. donor will refuse a sophisticated, Americanized fundraising pitch from the Prado?) All that being said, it's still too early to panic. This process will play out, like most things in the philanthropic world, according to the rules set in place by public and private governing bodies. In countries like France, it's more beneficial from a tax perspective for a corporation to donate than an individual. Meanwhile, gifts to European museums, like those in the states, come with strings attached that may deter U.S.-based donors. And lastly, assuming this cross-Atlantic fundraising phenomenon grows in scope, U.S.-based arts organizations will want to keep their politicians' feet to the fire, lobbying for tax laws that incentivize donors to keep their dollars within U.S. borders. We can see the billboards now: "Donate American!" Its difficult to believe that the Syrian refugee crisis is in its fifth year. As we are all aware by now, the countrys mass exodus of over 11 million people due to the ongoing conflict is widely considered one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history. That crisis has been compounded by multi-billion dollar shortfalls faced by top NGOs and government agencies working the front lines, doing their best to bring even a tiny bit of relief to human suffering on such a massive scale. Related: More Bad News for Syrian Refugees, With Many Funders Still MIA While were still disappointed by the general lack of response by major foundations in the U.S. and abroad, some funders are responding in a major way. These include Save the Children and the Ikea Foundation, which recently donated a total of 9.4 million to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders. The money provides access to basic but essential services like healthcare and education for vulnerable children and families. Ikea has always been a nimble and substantial supporter of various refugee projects around the world, as have corporate funders like the UPS and Western Union foundations. Even the JP Morgan Chase Foundation has jumped in to helpdespite the fact that supporting global humanitarian relief efforts isn't really in its funding wheelhouse. Gates and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation are paying attention, here, too. As are individual donors like Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya and the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and his wife, actress Isla Fisher. Related: These big outfits and big gifts win applause and accolades from the international humanitarian community, as well they should. Many of the most substantial gifts support large organizations and U.N. Agencies providing basic necessities like food, water, and shelter. Yet even as the big donations trickle in for those basic necessities, there are a few under-the-radar funders that are approaching the refugee crisis a bit differently. Education: Speed School Fund, Western Union Its currently estimated that around 700,000 Syrian refugee children are out of school. In the MENA region overall, conflict is preventing an estimated 13 million children from attending school. Enter the Speed School Fund, which describes itself as "a private donor philanthropic fund designed to develop and scale initiatives which help out-of-school children get back to and learn in school." Speed School Fund has committed to mobilizing $20 million to get Syrian refugee children back in class. The funds first CEO, Caitlin Baron, explains to us that Speed Schools catalytic partner, the Legatum Foundation, has already funded back-to-school programs in Mali and Ethiopia. Those programs returned more than 80,000 kids back to class. Baron states that those programs, and their successes serve as a jumping-off point for the new fund. She added that Speed School is currently vetting expansion opportunities in Lebanon and Liberia. Its estimated that there could be as many as 400,000 out-of-school Syrian refugee children located in Lebanon. Meanwhile, as we've reported, the Western Union Foundation has made education in the MENA region the next big priority for its international education grantmaking. This funder brings two strengths to such work: It often helps refugees and disaster victims, and it backs education for children in poor countries. Connectivity: Cisco, Vodafone Foundation, Google.org One way that today's refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe is different from past crises is that a huge number of people on the move have connectivity needs. They want to keep their mobile phones charged and access the Internet in order to stay in touch with loved ones and navigate their way to new lives. Several funders, as we've reported, have zeroed in on these urgent digital needs. While the philanthropic arm of tech titan Cisco is attacking the refugee crisis on multiple fronts, including providing safe housing and warm clothes for those arriving in Europe by sea, there's also a big connectivity element to its efforts. Ciscos Tactical Operations Team, or TacOps, has deployed to the heavily traveled refugee migration route in Southern and Central Europe. The team installed and set up Wi-Fi networks and device charging stations at nearly 20 sites along the route. Cisco also provided an additional $200,000 in grant funding to Mercy Corps and NetHope to support their programs providing information services to refugees at local camps. Finally, Cisco is implementing its Refugee First Response Center (RFRC). A 20-foot shipping container has been repurposed to serve as an emergency medical clinic and comes equipped with advanced communication technology, such as free Wi-Fi for doctors and refugees and systems allowing remote language interpretation during consultations through high-definition video. The Vodaphone Foundation is also in the connectivity space. Its Instant Charge program addresses the ongoing infrastructure problems at refugee camps in Europe. While these camps are located in areas with sufficient mobile coverage, they lack the infrastructure needed for refugees to charge their phones. Vodaphone solves that problem with Instant Charge, a portable charging station that uses a generator as well as an additional power sources like solar power to charge up to 66 cell phones simultaneously. Then there is Google.org, which made a $5.3 million grant to launch NetHopes Project Reconnect, which provides 25,000 centrally administered Chromebooks to NGOs supporting refugees in Germany. The goal of this project is to help refugees rebuild their lives by facilitating access to education and other important information resources. Rescue At Sea: Christopher Catrambone and Migrant Offshore Aid Station Established by Regina and Christopher Catrambone, the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) operates according to a simple guiding principle: No one deserves to die at sea. Christopher Catrambone, a Lake Charles, Louisiana native, made his fortune as the founder of Tangiers Group, a leading global business specializing in insurance, emergency assistance, on-the-ground claims handling, and intelligence services. Catrambone eventually found his way to his ancestral home of Reggio di Calabria Italy, where he met his wife. The couple felt compelled to establish MOAS after seeing the lack of response to hundreds of drownings in October 2013 off the Italian island of Lampedusa. And they would do so with $8 million of their own money. MOAS later became a publicly funded charity. By August 2014, MOAS launched its first 60-day operation off the coast of Libya. 10 rescues later, it helped over 3,000 refugees migrating across dangerous seas in search of freedom from violence. In August 2015, MOAS partnered with Global Impact, which became the organizations fiscal sponsor. In September 2015, shortly after the heart-wrenching photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdis lifeless body washed up on the shores of Greece socked the world in the collective gut, MOAS received nearly $1 million in donations within 48 hours. In March 2016, MOAS surpassed $1.5 million in funding. Since that first launch in 2014, MOAS has rescued 12,000 people. *** The global refugee population will always need food, water and shelter. But other needs come into play as the years drag onsuch as the need for education, adapting to a new community, learning to speak a new language, and how to find a job. This range of needs suggests there is lots of room for different funders to make a contribution, doing what they do best. The biggies, like the Ikea Foundation, will remain central players in alleviating a sprawling catastrophe. But there are opportunities for funders of any size to get in here and lend a hand. @MicraCup @nissancanada MISSISSAUGA, ON With three of eight Nissan Micra Cup race weekends taking place in Ontario for 2016, Nissan is offering some Ontario dealers the opportunity to display a Nissan Micra Cup race car in their showrooms. To date, over 20 dealers have jumped at the chance to display one Micra Cup race car in their dealerships, and this past week, the dealer tour got off to a great start at Myers Nissan and Myers Orleans Nissan, both located in the Ottawa area. Launched exclusively in the province of Quebec last year, the Nissan Micra Cup will expand to Ontario in 2016 with one race weekend at Calabogie Motorsports Park in May, and two race weekends at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in July and September respectively. The first season of the Nissan Micra Cup surpassed expectations on all levels, and most importantly, enthusiasm from the Quebec dealer network has been fantastic, says Joni Paiva, president of Nissan Canada Inc. We are thrilled to keep that momentum going and bring the same level of excitement to Ontario showroom floors with the expansion of the Nissan Micra Cup for the 2016 season. The dealer tour is running from March 14-April 14, 2016 and brings showroom guests one step closer to the Canadas newest spec series. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to see up-close, the Micra Cup race car, which is still the stock Micra 1.6 S M/T model with minor modifications, including NISMO suspension to render it race-ready. The full roster is below. Date Dealership March 14th-16th Myers Nissan March 14th-16th Myers Orleans Nissan March 17th-20th Belleville Nissan March 21st-23rd Scarborough Nissan March 21st-23rd Ajax Nissan March 24th-27th Newmarket Nissan March 24th-27th Stouffville Nissan March 28th-30th Hunt Club Nissan March 28th-30th 417 Nissan March 31st-April 3rd Sherway Nissan March 31st-April 3rd Woodchester Nissan April 4th-6th Alta Nissan Woodbridge April 4th-6th Alta Nissan Richmond Hill April 7th-10th Brampton North Nissan April 7th-10th Parkway Nissan April 11th-13th Brantford Nissan April 11th-13th London Nissan April 14th-18th Guelph Nissan April 14th-18th Waterloo Nissan For more information on the Nissan Micra Cup and the 2016 race weekend calendar, please go to the website http://www.micracup.com/main. About the Nissan Micra Cup: Sanctioned by Auto Sport Quebec (ASQ) and presented by JD Promotion & Competition with the support of Nissan Canada, the 2015 Nissan Micra Cup exclusively featured the stock Micra 1.6 S M/T model with minor modifications, including NISMO suspension to render it race-ready. Unlike most motorsport events, each competing Nissan Micra race vehicle had the exact same specifications, resulting in a competition that truly revealed the most skilled drivers. The 2015 Nissan Micra Cup race vehicles were equipped with the Nissan Micras stock 1.6-litre DOHC 4-cylinder engine with dual fuel injection and Twin CVTC (Continuously Variable Timing Control) and stock 5-speed manual transmission. More than 25 Nissan Micras competed on each race weekend which included two hours of track time consisting of: a 30-minute trial, a 30-minute qualifying session and two 30-minute races. Young karting drivers, the average Canadian looking for an entry point into motorsport competition, or anyone who wants to experience the rush of adrenaline inherent with racing cars are all well-suited to this series. In summary, the Nissan Micra Cup is for people who are passionate about motorsports, want to experience all the fun and thrills of racing, but without spending staggering amounts of money. About Nissan North America: In North America, Nissans operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program and has been recognized annually by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year since 2010. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.InfinitiUSA.com, or visit the U.S. media sites NissanNews.com and InfinitiNews.com. About Nissan Motor Co.: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japans second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 247,500 employees globally, Nissan sold 5.32 million vehicles and generated revenue of 11.38 trillion yen (USD 103.6 billion) in fiscal year 2014. Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of more than 60 models under the Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun brands. Nissan leads the world in zero-emission mobility, dominated by sales of the LEAF, the first mass-market, pure-electric vehicle. It is the best-selling EV in history with almost 50% share of the zero-emission vehicle segment. For more information on our products, services and commitment to sustainable mobility, visit our website at http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/. About Nissan Canada Inc.: Nissan Canada Inc. (NCI) is the Canadian sales, marketing and distribution subsidiary of Nissan Motor Limited and Nissan North America, Inc. NCI directly employs 306 full-time staff across offices in Vancouver (BC), Mississauga (ON), and Kirkland (QC). There are 190 independent Nissan dealerships, 39 Infiniti retailers and 45 Nissan Commercial Vehicle dealers across Canada. A pioneer in zero emission mobility, Nissan made history with the introduction of the Nissan LEAF, the first affordable, mass-market, pure-electric vehicle and winner of numerous international accolades including the prestigious 2011 European Car of the Year and World Car of the Year awards. More information about Nissan in Canada and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.nissan.ca and www.infiniti.ca. Media contacts: Didier Marsaud/ Senior Manager, Corporate Communications- Nissan Canada / Tel: 905-629-6400 / Email: didier.marsaud@nissancanada.com Stephanie Ronson/ Cohn & Wolfe / Tel: 647-259-3278 / Email: stephanie.ronson@cohnwolfe.ca News / Africa by Staff Reporter Botswana authorities have complained about the continuous influx of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe through the North East District (NED) of that country amid complainnts by villagers situated along the border.Botswana Mmegi said the illegal immigrants influx has irked authorities in the district, a development that they say has resulted in the increase of cross-border crime.Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officer in charge, detective assistant superintendent, Motlapele Maropamabe told that country's media that the influx of illegal immigrants in his policing area has been rising for many years and contributes to cross-border crime.Botswana shares a long border line with Zimbabwe that stretches from Maitengwe to Bobonong villages, which Maropamabe said defeats their best patrol efforts.Maropamabe said despite the para-military Special Support Group (SSG) patrols along the borderline, they still find it difficult to curb the problem."We do not know how they manage to cross into Botswana, but when we do patrols within villages in my policing district, we always arrest them in high numbers," Maropamabe was qouted as saying.He said although they ensure that illegal immigrants are deported, desperate Zimbabweans continue to find their way back into the country.Reports say in the past around 15 to 20 illegal immigrants were arrested on a daily basis on their way to Francistown in this policing area.He said some of the illegal immigrants enter Botswana by cutting the fence, causing the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) to use substantial amount of money to maintain it.Maropamabe said after arresting the illegal immigrants they fine them amounts ranging from P100 and P5,000 or send them to customary courts to be flogged before they are deported.Authorities blamed that as long as Zimbabwe's economy does not improve, there is a possibility that Botswana will continue to experience the influx of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe.Maropamabe said for years, villages located along the border have been living in terror of cross-border criminals who steal their property and take them to Zimbabwe.He said incidents of house breaking, burglary and stock theft are high, adding that criminals target electronic gadgets like expensive mobile phones, television sets and more.He pleaded with Batswana to stop harbouring illegal immigrants in their homes and illegally hiring them at cattle posts."Some Batswana hire them and fail to pay them, which sometimes forces the illegal immigrants to pay themselves by selling the properties of their employers and in some dire situations causing harm to their employers," Maropamabe was quoted as saying.In the past, President Ian Khama admitted that the problem of illegal immigrants remains a challenge and over the years, the government has deported over 36,000 illegal immigrants.Khama said efforts by government to fine those who overstay in the country do not bear much fruit and forces government to spend over P2 million every year to repatriate illegal immigrants.Tshesebe Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson, Daniel Moipolai said efforts have been made to sensitise the community on harbouring illegal immigrants, especially that they are related to the people of Zimbabwe. For Ray Dalio the key to making money in the markets is independent thinking. Since he famously founded Bridgewater Associates 41 years ago out of his Manhattan apartment, Dalio has sought to foster that belief at the now1,500-person, Westport, Connecticutbased firm by creating a culture of radical truth and radical transparency, where employees are encouraged to speak their minds and admit their mistakes and weaknesses. The process can be painful as evidenced by the Pain Button app on the company-issued iPads that Bridgewater staffers use to record when they are angry, frustrated or sad. Dalio says pain leads to learning. If thats the case, February was a period of great enlightenment at the worlds largest hedge fund firm, whose flagship Pure Alpha Strategy was down 3.96 percent, its second-worst month since the financial crisis. February also was a rough news month for Bridgewater thanks to a Wall Street Journal article that chronicled a schism between Dalio and Greg Jensen, one of the firms two co-CEOs. Reportedly, Jensen had questioned whether the Bridgewater founder was honoring the ten-year succession plan he had put in place in 2011, and Dalio had challenged his longtime partners integrity, which the firm defines in its 106-page Principles as saying the same things as one believes. Dalio insists the WSJ article was exaggerated, and he makes a fair point: The 66-year-old had already handed over day-to-day management of the firm to Jensen, co-CEO Eileen Murray and president David McCormick before the reported incident, and thoughtful disagreement is an integral part of Bridgewaters culture. In March the firm announced that Jensen would be stepping down as co-CEO to focus on his job as co-CIO, a role he shares with Dalio and Bob Prince, and that it had hired former Apple executive Jon Rubinstein to fill the vacancy. Known as the Podfather because he led the team that developed the iPod music player, Rubinstein is a serious technologist. He worked with Steve Jobs for 16 years (running hardware engineering at computer maker NeXT and then at Apple) before joining handheld-device company Palm, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard. Were getting a man who has the capacity to manage thousands of people, who is a world-class technology leader and who could work well with Steve Jobs, Dalio says. Ive always admired Steve Jobs as an independent, original thinker who changed the world. That description of the Apple co-founder sounds a lot like the guy who started Bridgewater. Follow Michael Peltz on Twitter at @mppeltz. Susan L. Donegan, who has been serving as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) for past three years, will step down from her position. Donegans last day in office will be June 30, according to a department spokesperson. Donegan has met with Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin and then informed the DFR staff of her plan to step down, said DFR Information Management Officer Dale Schaft. Donegan is an attorney with broad subject-matter knowledge of financial services regulation. She worked at DFR from 1985 to 1990 and was the departments first director of securities regulation. She was later counsel to the commissioner and hearing officer at the Massachusetts Division of Insurance from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, she returned to Vermont to become deputy commissioner of the Insurance Division at DFR. She was appointed commissioner in January 2013, when then-Commissioner Stephen Kimbell retired. She was reappointed as commissioner in January 2015. In Vermont, the governor is elected every two years and all department and agency heads are reappointed after each election cycle even if the governor is re-elected. As commissioner of DFR, Donegan has served as the chief regulator of Vermonts financial services industry. The department supervises traditional and captive insurance companies and their representatives, state-chartered banks and credit unions, licensed lenders and brokers and all other non-depository financial institutions, as well as securities broker dealers and investment advisors. Donegan is also vice-chair of the International Insurance (G) Committee, a member of the Market Regulation and Consumer Services (D) Committee, chair of the Northeast Zone and a member of the Executive Committee at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Topics Vermont Compre, the London-based insurance and reinsurance legacy specialist, announced the signing of an agreement to acquire QBEs share of the Ridgwell Fox & Partners (RFP) pool legacy reinsurance business. The transaction is structured as a loss portfolio transfer, to be followed by an insurance business transfer in accordance with Part VII of the U.K. Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, subject to all relevant approvals. RFP is a reinsurance pool containing certain run-off liabilities of QBE and five other carriers. The deal is intended to provide QBE with finality for its direct and indirect involvement with RFP. In addition, Compre will undertake the administration of the entire RFP pool. In a separate transaction, Compre has signed agreements to acquire the international reinsurance business of an undisclosed German mutual insurer, providing full economic, administrative and legal finality for its discontinued non-core international reinsurance business. The acquisition, Compres second in Germany, following that of Hamburger Internationale Ruckversicherung (HIR) in 2014, supports its strategic ambition of pursuing acquisitions in German-speaking markets. The latest transactions further Compres aim of acquiring legacy insurance portfolios and managing them to create value, the company said in a statement. We are extremely pleased to announce the signing of the QBE deal and the acquisition in Germany, both of which demonstrate our ability to provide a range of carriers with finality for their legacy businesses, said Nick Steer, CEO of Compre. Compre is an existing RFP pool member through its ownership of Moorgate and HIR, and this acquisition offers us potential synergies, Steer added. (He was referring to Moorgate Insurance Co. Ltd., a U.K.-based insurer.) Demand for portfolio transfer deals in continental Europe is increasing and 2016 is likely to be a significant year as insurance CEOs look to focus on their core businesses and release capital tied up in supporting legacy liabilities, he said. Source: Compre Related: Topics Reinsurance Artex Risk Solutions announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the cores of Guernsey-domiciled Hexagon Insurance PCC Ltd. and its subsidiaries. All regulatory approvals have been received and the deal is expected to close on March 31, 2016. Established in August 2011, Hexagon is part of Robus Group, founded by the late Chris Le Conte, exclusively providing protected cell company (PCC) facilities to the insurance linked securities industry. The deal includes the companys three subsidiaries: Axe Insurance PCC Ltd., Septagon Insurance PCC Ltd. and Hexagon ICC Ltd. Hexagons expertise and legacy of innovation is well-known in the alternative capital segment of our industry, said Nick Heys, CEO of Artexs international operations. This merger, in addition to the recently announced acquisition of Kanes ILS and structured transaction administration services, positions us as a leading player in this field, Heys added. We are excited to welcome Justin Wallen and Ben Dunning to the Artex family. (Wallen is the managing director of Hexagon Insurance PCC while Dunning is Hexagons group accountant and director.) Hexagons widely recognized European ILS expertise combined with Kanes stature in the Bermuda and Cayman markets, instantly establishes Artex as a leading global ILS services provider with scale, depth and diversity that few, if any, can match, said David McManus, president of Artex Risk Solutions. As we continue to expand, Artex is committed to lead innovation across the full range of alternative risk management solutions in order to better match our clients and business referral partners developing needs, he went on to say. About Artex Bermuda-based Artex Risk Solutions Inc. specializes in captive management and alternative risk programs. It is a wholly owned, autonomous subsidiary of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Source: Artex Risk Solutions Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Iowa, and Des Moines in particular, in the 1980s fostered a business climate that enabled insurance and financial institutions to prosper there. Today, the focus is on creating an environment that supports innovation and entrepreneurism in businesses that serve the insurance industry. Des Moines and Iowa has a fantastic startup scene. We have a lot of startup maturity. We have a lot of city and state government programs that support entrepreneurs in Iowa, said Brian Hemesath, managing director of the Des Moines-based Global Insurance Accelerator. GIA describes itself as the worlds first startup accelerator focused on the global insurance industry. A mentor-driven program, its focus is to develop innovative companies with products geared toward the insurance industry. Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, said Iowa has one of the lowest premium taxes in the nation, a fair and consistent regulatory environment, and theres an incredible startup movement thats going on in both biotech industries and advanced manufacturing. And as Durham sees it, companies that develop out of the insurance accelerator will be an additional platform for growth under the states economic strategy. Backed financially by insurance carriers, the accelerator was created in 2014 as an initiative of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, which operates like a regional chamber of commerce. GIA was introduced at the inaugural Global Insurance Symposium that year and held its first start up class in 2015. Hemesath credited the partnership with doing much of the work to establish the region as not only an insurance center but a place where startups can thrive. There was an incubator called Startup City that was the first of its kind in Des Moines, Hemesath said. Though now defunct, the partnership was interested taking the lessons learned from that incubator and focusing on a niche market. With Iowa being so strong in insurance, it was natural for that to take shape, he said. Seven insurance companies located in central Iowa made the core investment in the Global Insurance Accelerator. Each committed to contributing $100,000 per year to support the initiative and it began its first year with $700,000 in the GIA 2015 fund. Half of the funding goes to operations including Hemesaths full time salary, office space, and events and marketing. The other half goes towards funding the program itself, Hemesath said. Each of the six startups accepted into the class last year received $40,000 in the form of seed money in exchange for 6 percent equity. The program lasts for 100 days and teams selected to participate must commit to relocating to Des Moines for the entire time. Outside of the 40 grand, the biggest benefit they get is access to our mentor network. In 2015, we had 80 mentors signed on to our program, 40 of which were from the insurance industry. This year, in 2016, we have 110 mentors on our roster, 60 of which are from the insurance industries. So, weve grown that base. We now reach over 20 carriers through either our mentor network or my personal networks that weve made over the past year, Hemesath said. Thats the biggest reason the startups want to be here. Its all about access. There were twice the number of applicants to the program this year than in 2015, he said. Like last year, applicants and those selected to participate in the program came from both inside and outside the United States. Of the six program participants in 2015, one came from Germany and one from Brazil. One was a Silicon Valley-based company, one was from Nebraska and two were located in Iowa. This years roster includes participants from Canada and Ireland, along with teams from California, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin. The main criteria for acceptance into the class is that the proposed business model has to serve the insurance industry. We want to make sure were supporting startups that are building things for the industry, Hemesath said. What I mean by that is were not looking to create new insurance companies or insurance products, but rather support systems to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of insurance. The selection committee, which includes representatives from the seven investing companies, also seeks innovation. We look at the solution that is being proposed to the problem, and we just assess as best as possible how innovative it is. Thats obviously a very subjective matter. But the innovation side is important to us, Hemesath said. The application process captures startups through an online form, followed by basic analysis. Once applicants get through that process, the selection committee members rank the startups on what they like. From there, Skype or remote video interviews are conducted. Obviously, you can tell a lot interacting with somebody, even over video. Just how well they can present themselves, if they can answer the hard questions, things like that. From there, we make our final selections, he said. The volunteer mentors are the backbone of the program, according to Hemesath. Its awesome to watch these mentors who have been in a corporate America setting for five, 10, 20 years come into our office, and their minds are just blown at the energy and the excitement. A quote I love is, Startups dont know what theyre trying to do cant be done. Right? Its that attitude that startups have, that Im going to get this done.' So far the class of 2015 appears to be doing well. Statistically they should all be out of business. But the reality is, four of the six have either raised money or acquired customers. So, we are doing what we were built to do, which is to help the startups really get a leg up in the industry, he said. Drive Spotter One of last years accelerator participants, Drive Spotter, recently completed a $750,000 financing round with Grinnell Mutual Insurance a GIA investor leading the funding. Voss Distributing, a multi-state Red Bull distributor, and other investors also pitched in. Omaha, Neb.-based Drive Spotters video analytics platform analyzes and aims to improve commercial fleet vehicle and driver performance. Drive Spotter President Chris Augeri said this initial funding will enable the company to grow its team in the Midwest, including in the fleet operations office in Des Moines. Augeri said the connections he made through the Global Insurance Accelerator, such as with Grinnell Mutual, were invaluable. We got a lot of very excellent mentorship on what was feasible, what wasnt feasible, what were the real problems, what would be something that the fleets could use, but also that the insurance companies would appreciate, Augeri said. Frankly that sort of Petri dish of mentorship in my mind was the number one benefit, he added. Augeri has an advanced degree in computer science and has been working for about 10 years in the video analysis space, particularly as it pertains to drone operations. He said he learned about the GIA through an acquaintance. But the idea to apply his video analysis background for use in the commercial trucking and insurance industries came from personal experience. I nearly fell asleep once or twice myself, once as a driver and once as a passenger. It was very first hand, no accident or anything. It was certainly enough to get me thinking about what could be done to reduce or combat driver fatigue, Augeri said. Shortly after that, the limousine in which the comedian Tracy Morgan was riding was rear-ended by a commercial truck driver suffering from driver fatigue. We started looking at that problem, and what could be done leveraging video analytics, basically leveraging our technology expertise, he said. Augeri said as an entrepreneur its easy to think that because you have an idea and this idea is your baby and everybody should love it. In the accelerator his team had the exact opposite experience, however. We had an idea. That idea lasted precisely seven days. The initial concept that we walked in with was so very hardware focused. It was going to take tens of millions of dollars to probably bring to market. We very quickly tabled that, he said. In addition to the range of relationships he was able to develop with the programs mentors, many of these mentors have led to other relationships that have been perhaps even significantly more valuable, Augeri said. Brian [Hemesath] himself is a testament to that. Brian provided me a lot of direct mentorship. He also introduced us to a lot of key people. Global Insurance Symposium and GIA Following its introduction at the inaugural Global Insurance Symposium in Des Moines in 2014, the GIA had its own showcase at the Symposium in 2015. We were a small segment of the 2015 Global Insurance Symposium. We had 75 minutes on stage to show our six startups, to let them present. They had their five, six, seven minutes on stage, Hemesath said. Symposium exit interviews showed that the GIA segment was the top rated presentation by participants so Hemesath decided to build on that. Im happy to share that in the 2016 Symposium, we have created an innovation track that has a number of topics that are very relevant to innovation in the industry, he added. In fact, the overall theme for this years Global Insurance Symposium, which will be held April 26-28, is Inspiring Innovation in the Insurance Industry. In its third year, the symposium is jointly sponsored by the Iowa Insurance Institute, the Federation of Iowa Insurers, the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the Greater Des Moines Partnership and the Iowa Insurance Division. Hemesath said the GIA has also established a partnership with ACORD, the insurance industry global standards and services association, to present the ACORD Innovation Challenge, which takes place during the symposium. GIA is helping to host and facilitate the challenge, which gives startups a platform to present and pitch their ideas. Des Moines is one of four cities worldwide to host an ACORD Insurance Innovation Challenge event. Related: Topics InsurTech Market Iowa Cincinnati, Ohio-based Great American Insurance Group promoted Sue A. Erhart to general counsel and Eve Cutler Rosen was named executive counsel within the companys property and casualty legal group. Erhart will continue to have direct responsibility for the staff and operations of the P/C Groups legal department. She joined Great American in June 2010. Prior to joining the Company, she was a partner at the Cincinnati law firm of Keating, Muething & Klekamp PLL. As executive counsel, Rosen will continue to work with the Companys international operations and serve as senior counsel for the P/C Group. She has served as general counsel of Great American since August 1999 and has been with the Company for 29 years. She joined Great American from Aetna and prior to this, was in private practice in Philadelphia. Source: Great American Insurance Group Topics Property Casualty The biggest wildfire in Kansas history has been largely contained, but authorities said more homes were damaged than originally thought. The Kansas Adjutant Generals Office said that nine Barber County homes were destroyed in the fire, which started in Oklahoma last week before moving north into Kansas. No one has been seriously injured. Earlier estimates showed anywhere from two to six homes were destroyed in the county, which suffered the most damage in Kansas. Oklahoma Forestry Services estimated the total burn area between the two states at 574 square miles. The agency earlier estimated the size of the fire at 620 square miles. The Kansas Forest Service says the fire was 90 percent contained Sunday, and 81 percent contained in Barber County by Monday. Kansas crews are continuing to patrol the wildfire. Oklahoma Forestry Services spokeswoman Hannah Anderson said crews also will continue to patrol and monitor the fire line there and work on putting out any hot spots. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The Hutchinson News reports that ranchers in Barber County, which has more cattle than people, have begun recovery efforts. The aftermath of fire is visible on David Johnsons Deerhead Ranch. About 50 cows and countless calves didnt make it out of the fires way, and many of those that did have scorched hair. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Homeowners Oklahoma Kansas The U.S. Supreme Court called for additional briefing in a divisive clash over contraceptives and Obamacare, issuing an unusual order that suggests at least one justice may be eyeing a possible compromise. The order comes less than a week after an argument session hinted at a potential split in the case, which involves the Obama administrations effort to ensure that employees have insurance coverage for birth control even if they work for a religious group that objects. In a five-paragraph order Tuesday, the court asked the two sides to consider an alternative approach that might let the administration accomplish its goals without violating the rights of the religious groups. The court directed the lawyers to file their briefs by April, signaling the justices want to decide the issue during the term that ends in June. The court has been operating with only eight members after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, and the contraceptive case could produce a 4-4 deadlock. The dispute stems from Obamacares requirement that contraceptive coverage be included in employee and student health plans. The courts four liberal justices suggested last week that the administration had adequately accommodated faith-based employers and universities by letting them opt out and have their insurer provide the required birth-control coverage. Justice Anthony Kennedy, the potential fifth vote for the administration, appeared skeptical, and the new order may reflect his effort to navigate a middle path. Courts Order The order asks the two sides to address whether and how contraceptive coverage may be obtained through the groups insurance plans but in a way that does not involve any involvement of petitioners beyond their own decision to provide health insurance without contraceptive coverage to their employees. Religious groups, including the Little Sisters of the Poor, say the administration is trying to hijack their health plans to provide something they consider to be the equivalent of abortion. One of the groups lawyers, Mark Rienzi of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, called the high court order an excellent development. Clearly the Supreme Court understood the Sisters concern that the governments current scheme forces them to violate their religion, Rienzi said in a statement. Another lawyer representing the groups, David Cortman of the Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement he would need to confer with his clients before responding. He suggested the government should go further. The government can offer these services to women who want them without forcing Christian schools, nuns and priests to abandon their belief that life is sacred, he said. Two Options The administration currently gives objecting nonprofits two options: They can shift responsibility onto their insurer by providing it with a self-certification form, or they can notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of their objection and provide contact information for their insurer. Either way, the federal government reimburses the insurer for the cost of the coverage. The religious groups contend that they shouldnt have to play any role, even by filing a form indicating that they are opting out of providing coverage. The five-paragraph high court order suggests a third possibility. It tells the lawyers to consider a situation in which objecting employers, in arranging for health insurance, merely tell their insurer that they object to contraceptive coverage and dont want to include it. They wouldnt have to submit any separate notice to the insurer or the government. Under the courts proposal, the insurer then would notify the employees that it would provide birth control coverage separately. Allison Steinberg, a spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the order shows that the court is concerned about the consequences to women if they are unable to get seamless contraception from their insurance company. The group backs the Obama administration in the case. Hobby Lobby The religious groups have been at a disadvantage since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last month. Scalia was in the majority in a 5-4 ruling in a 2014 case involving the craft-store chain Hobby Lobby, when the court said closely held corporations can refuse to provide birth control coverage to employees. The current case involves religious nonprofits, rather than for-profit companies. Although Kennedy backed Hobby Lobby, he suggested at the time that the administration could fix the problem by adopting the type of approach it is using with religious groups. He wrote that those rules provide an existing, recognized, workable and already-implemented framework to provide coverage. Kennedy adopted a different tone during arguments last week, at one point saying the administrations approach would hijack the plans. At another, he suggested women could get birth control coverage elsewhere. If its so easy to provide, if its so free, why cant they just get it through another plan? Kennedy asked. The lead case is Zubik v. Burwell, 14-1418. Supreme Courts Special Order re: Zubik v. Burwell, March 29, 2016: Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Carriers MetLife Inc. beat back a U.S. attempt to label it too big to fail, which wouldve put Americas biggest life insurer under tougher government scrutiny and forced it to put more money in reserves. A federal judge in Washington struck down the designation on Wednesday, rejecting the Financial Stability Oversight Councils rationale for classifying the company as a systemically important financial institution. The reasons for the ruling were sealed by the judge. The ruling undercuts the foundation of the Obama administrations plan to more heavily regulate four non-bank businesses it determined had the potential to destabilize the American financial system. MetLife had called the designation arbitrary and unjustified. Chief Executive Officer Steve Kandarian said earlier this year that his New York-based company will shed much of its domestic retail business because SIFI put it at a significant competitive disadvantage. MetLife jumped 6 percent to $45.01 at 10:41 a.m. in New York trading. Prudential Financial Inc., which is the second-largest U.S. life insurer and was also named a non-bank SIFI, advanced 4.3 percent to $74.59. Randy Clerihue, a spokesman for New York-based MetLife, didnt immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Filed last year, the MetLife suit is the biggest challenge yet to the council that includes Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. Other non-banks bearing its SIFI designation are American International Group Inc. and Prudential, neither of which have brought challenges. General Electric Co. has said it will divest its U.S. financial operations and then ask FSOC to rescind the classification. At a February hearing, Collyer sharply questioned Justice Department attorney Eric Beckenhauer, asking why the council said it would conduct a vulnerability analysis of MetLife before making its determination, then failed to do so. She also asked the governments lawyer why FSOC assumed that MetLife would be at the brink of collapse in the event of a fiscal crisis. Thats not risk analysis, she said. Thats assuming the worst of the worst of the worst. The case is MetLife Inc. v. Financial Stability Oversight Council, 15-cv-00045, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington). Related: Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics USA Trends New York An Arkansas man has been sentenced for 15 years in prison for two counts of insurance fraud, the state insurance department announced. Cody Martin, 29, pleaded guilty in Pulaski County Circuit Court in January to two counts of insurance fraud involving making a false claim in 2011 involving an all-terrain vehicle, and providing a judge with an altered insurance card in 2012. Both counts were Class D felonies. Insurance fraud hurts all Arkansans with higher rates passed on to our neighbors and friends. I commend the work of our Criminal Investigation Division which led to this guilty plea and sentencing, said Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr. Source: Arkansas Insurance Department Topics Fraud Arkansas News / International by ZimVigil The Vigil has written to two prominent British MPs to seek their support for the expulsion from the UK of a Nottingham GP Dr Sylvester Nyatsuro and his wife Veronica who have seized a farm in Zimbabwe.The MPs are the former long-time cabinet minister Ken Clarke who represents the Conservative Party in Rushcliffe constituency, Nottingham, in which the Nyatsuros have a large and luxurious home and Vernon Coaker, a minister in the last Labour government who represents the neighbouring constituency of Gedling, in which the Nyatsuros run an NHS clinic. Below is the letter we have sent them:Zimbabwean exiles in the UK ask for your help as we continue our protest against Nottingham GP Dr Sylvester Nyatsuro and his wife Veronica who run a NHS clinic in Carlton, Nottingham.They have violently seized a farm in Zimbabwe from a white Zimbabwean couple who bought it some 30 years ago with the approval of the Mugabe regime. Dr Nyatsuro claims he has been allocated the farm although he has lived in the UK for the past 15 years and is a British citizen.You will be aware of the desperate situation in Zimbabwe, in particular the real prospect of starvation. The UN recently warned up to a third of the population are facing hunger.The Zimbabwe Vigil which campaigns in the UK for human rights in Zimbabwe, along with our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe, has submitted a petition to the government calling for the revocation of the Nyatsuros' British citizenship.The petition is currently being considered by the Home Office. We feel that the support of a former Conservative Lord Chancellor and a former Labour Home Office minister such as yourselves would add weight to our request.On a broader front we are campaigning for the situation in Zimbabwe to be discussed in Parliament andhave enlisted the support of Kate Hoey MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe and, on the Conservative side, Alok Sharma MP for ReadingWest and others.We have staged a number of demonstrations outside the Nyatsuros' clinic which have received widespread publicity and plan to stage another demonstration there on 29th April to keep up the pressure on them to make up their minds between farming in Zimbabwe and doctoring in the UK. A battle over background checks for Uber drivers at the worlds busiest airport comes as cities like Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, consider more thorough screenings to prevent criminals from getting behind the wheel. Uber has objected to the Atlanta airports plan to use fingerprints to check criminal records of its drivers, saying its own record checks are sufficient. But the district attorney in Ubers hometown of San Francisco has called the ridesharing firms process completely worthless since drivers arent fingerprinted. In Houston, city officials say they found that background checks without fingerprints allow criminals who have been charged with murder, sexual assault and other crimes to evade detection in a variety of ways. Atlantas city council on Wednesday is set to consider the airports plan for screening drivers for Uber, Lyft and other ridesharing firms when proposed new rules go before the councils transportation committee. Uber has agreements with more than 50 U.S. airports, none of which require the fingerprint-based background checks being proposed by Atlanta s airport, the company said in a statement. Those airports include major air hubs in Denver; Los Angeles; Memphis, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Salt Lake City, Utah. But New York City does fingerprint drivers, and the mayor of Los Angeles this month asked state regulators to allow his city to do so as well. Houston, the nations fourth-largest city, was among the first in the nation to require drivers for Uber and other ridesharing firms to undergo fingerprint-based background checks using the FBIs database. Houstons program began in November 2014, and city officials there say theyre far more thorough than any other way of checking someones criminal past. Public safety is our No. 1 priority thats something the city of Houston does not compromise on, said Lara Cottingham, Houstons deputy assistant director of administration and regulatory affairs. Thats the reason we license any vehicle for hire. Since Houstons ordinance went into effect, the citys fingerprint-based FBI background checks have found driver applicants who have been charged with murder, sexual assault, robbery and indecent exposure, among other crimes. Those drivers had already cleared the commercial background checks used by ride-for-hire companies, according to a city report released this month. Potential drivers can pass background checks that dont rely on fingerprints simply by using an alias, the report found. For instance, one driver cleared by a company that does background checks for Uber underwent Houstons fingerprint check, which turned up 24 alias names, 10 listed social security numbers and an active arrest warrant, the report states. Companies that perform background checks for ride-hailing firms typically seek to identify counties where theyve lived in the past, then search public records from those places, the report states. But the checks dont search every county, creating a huge potential gap where crimes go undetected, the report states. The FBI provides the only true nationwide check, the report states. Uber has now been operating in Houston for more than a year, and everything weve seen is that the number of drivers getting licenses continues to grow and their business continues to thrive, Cottingham said. However, Uber maintains that Atlantas plan would add substantial, additional bureaucratic barriers for drivers, company spokesman Bill Gibbons said. Atlanta would use the Georgia Department of Driver Services to help check the backgrounds of potential drivers, though specific details of how drivers would be screened havent been released. The ridesharing firm Lyft also says Atlantas proposal would prove difficult. While the Hartsfield-Jackson staff has recognized the benefits Lyft provides, the current plan as proposed will make it extremely difficult for Lyft to operate, Lyft said in a statement to The Associated Press. The conflict in Atlanta is the latest in a series of disputes Uber has had over its background checks of drivers. In December 2014, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced a lawsuit against Uber, partly over its background checks. In Los Angeles, registered sex offenders, a kidnapper, identity thieves, burglars, and a convicted murderer had passed Ubers `industry leading background check, the lawsuit states. Ubers process cannot ensure that the information in the background check report is actually associated with the applicant since it does not use a unique biometric identifier such as a fingerprint, the lawsuit adds. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Aviation Personal Auto South Carolinas One SC relief fund is awarding $760,000 to 18 charities that are helping people recover from last Octobers historic flooding. The awards announced Monday represent the second round of grants from the fund Gov. Nikki Haley launched in November. About 10 percent pays for mold remediation, 8 percent buys furnishings and the rest goes toward materials and labor. The smallest award of $11,300 goes to the United Way to furnish homes in Sumter County. AmeriCorps is receiving the largest, $240,000, to rebuild homes in several of the disaster-declared counties. The charities are providing volunteer labor and an additional $4.2 million from other sources for the projects. The fund awarded $500,000 in its initial round of grants announced Dec. 21. Charities have until Friday to apply for a third-round grant. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Flood South Carolina Real estate specialist Mark Dobbs has joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within the companys real estate group. Los Angeles, Calif.-based Dobbs will focus on organizations with portfolios spanning various product types. Dobbs background includes investment banking, real estate investment, insurance, risk management, and international business. Dobbs was vice president within the construction and real estate group of a global insurance brokerage firm prior to joining Alliant. He also worked within the real estate industry as a senior investment consultant specializing in the multifamily market and within the investment banking sector in London. Newport Beach, Calif.-based Alliant provides property/casualty, workers compensation, employee benefits, surety, and financial products and services. Topics California Alliant A drone has delivered a package to a residential location in a small western Nevada town in what its maker says is the first fully autonomous, federally approved urban drone delivery in the United States. Flirtey CEO Matt Sweeney announced Friday the six-rotor drone flew itself about one-half mile and lowered the package outside a vacant residence in Hawthorne, about 140 miles southeast of Reno. The route was preprogrammed using GPS. Sweeney says a pilot was on standby as a backup to the autonomous system, but wasnt needed during the March 10 delivery. Flirtey conducted the first FAA-approved drone delivery last July, a series of medical deliveries to a rural health care clinic in Virginia. Sweeney says the Nevada delivery shows drones can safely navigate around buildings and deliver packages within a populated area. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Atlanta, GA, March 30, 2016 Blue River Underwriters, a Breckenridge Insurance Group company, has acquired California-based wholesale commercial auto insurance provider Platinum Program Managers and Insurance Services. Platinum founder and chief executive officer Daniel Rieden will serve as the president of the Blue River Underwriters Auto Dealer Program. The acquisition of Platinum complements our existing auto dealer platform and capabilities with the expertise of Dan and his team. Were now positioned to drive greater growth and support our valued existing and new agents and their insureds, shared Stephen Kelley, president of Blue River Underwriters. Rieden has thirty years of experience in commercial lines insurance with a focus on workers compensation. In 2007, he founded Platinum to become a program administrator focused on franchised auto dealer coverages. As president, Rieden will continue to build upon his success in this space to expand the Blue River Underwriters Auto Dealer Program nationally. Rieden commented: The culture and drive of both organizations is similar and having the opportunity to combine forces was a natural step in realizing the shared growth potential for this auto dealer program. We have an experienced and talented staff that will continue to focus on the unique insurance needs of franchised auto dealers across the country. The synergy between the companies makes it an exciting time for all of us. The Blue River Underwriters Auto Dealer Program is for franchised auto dealers with single or multiple locations and is backed by an Admitted, A.M. Best A Rated carrier. The program offers competitive workers compensation and package coverage options including property, general liability, garage and garagekeepers, inland marine, crime, umbrella, dealers open lot and employment practices liability insurance. The auto dealer program office is headquartered in Newport Beach, California and further information can be found online at www.blueriveruw.com/auto-dealer/. The team can be reached at 949.209.0233 or autodealers@blueriveruw.com . About Blue River Underwriters Blue River Underwriters is a national program administrator with managing general underwriting and managing general agent authority for ten programs with top-rated international carriers. The team partners with select retail and wholesale insurance agents to deliver industry and risk insights and solutions for diverse insureds from Auto Dealers to Contractors to Outdoors entities. Blue River continues to build its reputation for quality coverage, competitive rates, and unparalleled service with ten offices nationwide and is a part of the Breckenridge Insurance Group. About Breckenridge Insurance Group Breckenridge Insurance Group, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is an international specialty wholesale insurance broker, program manager, managing general agent (MGA) and insurance services provider. The company offers access to diverse range of commercial insurance and financial services products to businesses and professional services firms in a variety of industries. The company serves independent insurance agents, brokers and legal and financial institutions throughout North America by way of Blue River Underwriters, OSC, Breckenridge Insurance Services, Breckenridge Elevation Authorities contract binding group and InSpecialty. For more information, please visit www.breckgrp.com or call 630.945.3878. CA Insurance License #0G13592 Media Contact Caren Henry chenry@breckgrp.com 267.961.8252 Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Auto Agencies Underwriting Insurance Wholesale Human Resources (Bloomberg) -- MetLife Inc. beat back a U.S. attempt to label it too big to fail, which wouldve put Americas biggest life insurer under tougher government scrutiny and could have forced it to put more money in reserves. A federal judge in Washington struck down the designation on Wednesday in a decision that could shake up the financial regulatory reform implemented following the 2008 recession. The ruling might give ammunition to Republican lawmakers whove argued that regulators have abused their authority under the Dodd-Frank Act. One of the centerpieces of the Dodd-Frank Act has been called into question, Isaac Boltansky, an analyst with Compass Point Research & Trading in Washington, said in a phone interview. Depending on what the courts reasoning was, I think its fair to believe that there could be a more aggressive push to curtail the FSOCs authority in the next Congress depending on the election outcome in November. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer rejected the Financial Stability Oversight Councils rationale for classifying MetLife as a systemically important financial institution. The reasons for the ruling were sealed by the judge, although she did offer a glimpse of her rationale, siding with MetLife that the designation didnt take into account the economic effect on the insurer. Plan Undercut The ruling undercuts the foundation of the Obama administrations plan to more heavily regulate four non-bank businesses that were determined to have the potential to destabilize the American financial system. MetLife had called the designation arbitrary and unjustified. Chief Executive Officer Steve Kandarian said earlier this year that his New York-based company will shed much of its domestic retail business because SIFI put it at a significant competitive disadvantage. Most in the market would have had MET not prevailing in this case. This should probably send the stock ripping, David Havens, a debt analyst at Imperial Capital, wrote in a note. As for the bonds, the story is more neutral, to actually marginally negative. An extra layer of capital blubber and oversight has appeal to credit investors. Shares Jump MetLife jumped 5 percent to $44.58 at 1:38 p.m. in New York trading. Prudential Financial Inc., which is the second-largest U.S. life insurer and was also named a non-bank SIFI, advanced 1.6 percent to $72.61. The ruling validates MetLifes decision to fight the SIFI designation, Kandarian said in a statement Wednesday. From the beginning, MetLife has said that its business model does not pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States, Kandarian said. This decision is a win for MetLifes customers, employees and shareholders. The government disagreed. After a rigorous analysis, the FSOC determined that material financial distress at MetLife could pose a threat to the financial system, U.S. Treasury spokesman Adam Hodge, said in an e-mailed statement. We firmly believe that FSOC acted well within its legal authority to protect the entire global economy. Prudential spokesman Scot Hoffman declined to comment. American International Group Inc. spokesman Jon Diat also declined to comment. Public Version A public version of the judges reasons should be available after April 6. That was the deadline Collyer gave lawyers to submit any proposals on keeping parts of the opinion sealed or any redactions they wanted. Collyers two-page order rescinded the FSOCs determination and said a judgment was to be entered in favor of MetLife. The insurers lawyers argued that the council failed to assess MetLifes vulnerabilities to financial distress and that it failed to consider the economic effects of the designation on the company. The judge ruled in MetLifes favor on those points. Filed last year, the MetLife suit was the biggest challenge yet to the council that includes Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. Other non-banks bearing its SIFI designation are AIG and Prudential, neither of which have brought challenges. General Electric Co. has agreed to sell more than $160 billion of assets since April under a plan to shed the bulk of its GE Capital finance operations. GE has said it intends to submit an application to regulators this quarter to drop the label. Wider Impact The details in the judges opinion will be important to determine the wider impact of the ruling, said Deepak Gupta, a lawyer for a group of insurance regulation scholars who backed the FSOC. "I understand the market has already responded" but "it could be a very narrow decision," Gupta said. "This could be a minor setback or a really serious blow to the Dodd-Frank Acts systemic reform and we just dont know." At a February hearing, Collyer sharply questioned Justice Department attorney Eric Beckenhauer, asking why the council said it would conduct a vulnerability analysis of MetLife before making its determination, then failed to do so. FSOC Questioned She also asked the governments lawyer why FSOC assumed that MetLife would be at the brink of collapse. in the event of a fiscal crisis. Thats not risk analysis, she said. Thats assuming the worst of the worst of the worst. Beckenhauer said its the nature of such crises to be unanticipated. MetLife is asking her to override the considered judgment of the heads of nine major financial regulators, he said. The government lawyer also said the council was acting upon its congressionally granted authority to assess which nonbank financial companies pose a possible risk to the broader economy. He focused on MetLifes ties to other firms around the world -- its interconnectedness -- a factor that was crucial in the 2008 financial crisis. MetLifes lawyer Eugene Scalia, son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, has filed several lawsuits seeking to overturn Dodd-Frank regulations. He said the designation process was clouded in mystery. In January, Kandarian announced MetLife plans to pursue a spinoff, sale or public offering of much of its U.S. retail business, which sells variable annuities and life insurance policies and could be subjected to higher capital rules although theyve not yet been finalized. While the insurer hasnt outlined a precise plan, it struck a deal in February to sell a distribution network with 4,000 financial advisers to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. The case is MetLife Inc. v. Financial Stability Oversight Council, 15-cv-00045, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington). Join ITR and TMF Groups tax experts at 2pm CET (1pm GMT) on November 15 as they discuss how finance leaders are increasingly faced with doing more with less, and how CFOs should adapt. E arrivata lufficialita, dopo una giornata di voci rincorrenti: per il triennio 2018-2021 sara lemittente Sky a godere dei diritti televisivi per trasmettere, in esclusiva assoluta, le partite non solo delle prossime edizioni dellEuropa League ma anche quelle della massima competizione continentale, la Champions. Un pacchetto da favola per il quale la tv satellitare di Rupert Murdoch avrebbe messo sul piatto unofferta giudicata piu congrua di quella presentata dalla concorrente Mediaset. A dare lannuncio dellaffare concluso e stata la stessa Sky che, in un comunicato, ha spiegato che il nuovo format sviluppato dalla UEFA ci consentira di portare ai nostri abbonati un prodotto rivoluzionario per il calcio europeo in Italia. Per la prima volta la UEFA Champions League e la UEFA Europa League saranno insieme in unesclusiva offerta integrata, che permettera agli appassionati di seguire fino a 7 squadre italiane, mai cosi tante prima dora, impegnate nelle sfide con i migliori club europei. Sky: Rafforzata leadership Anche il livello tecnico dellofferta sara altissimo ed e ancora lemittente a rivelare i dettagli: Continueremo a fare innovazione, trasmettendo le partite piu importanti anche in 4K HDR. Questofferta senza precedenti rafforza la posizione di Sky come leader della programmazione sportiva in Italia ed e anche un altro passo importante di sostegno al calcio italiano. Insomma, per i prossimi tre anni, sara unegemonia totale quella della satellitare sul calcio europeo, avendo mantenuto il pacchetto Europa League (gia sua esclusiva) e affiancandola a quello ancor piu appetibile della Champions League ad appannaggio Mediaset dal 2015 al 2018. Sfida Serie A Ora la sfida fra i due colossi delle trasmissioni sportive si spostera sui diritti televisivi della prossima Serie A, per la quale si e ancora in attesa di un nuovo bando che, come annunciato dal commissario della Lega, Carlo Tavecchio, avra le stesse caratteristiche del precedente, andato pero a vuoto: solo una delle offerte presentate per i cinque pacchetti, infatti, superava la soglia minima richiesta dalla base dasta. Niente di fatto, quindi, anche in virtu della stessa Mediaset che, in sostanza, ha disertato il bando (giudicato inaccettabile) non presentando alcuna offerta. La battaglia, anche in questo caso, sara sulle esclusive: del resto, dopo essersi vista scivolare via una componente importante come la Champions, sulla Serie A Mediaset dara sicuramente battaglia. La tragedia della guerra si carica di ulteriore dramma quando ci si ricorda che riguarda anche i minori. I bambini sono le piu piccole, piu vulnerabili, piu indifese vittime di un conflitto armato. Vittime non solo perche, purtroppo, perdono la vita se raggiunti da un colpo di unarma, ma perche la perdita della loro casa o di una loro figura di riferimento puo rappresentare una ferita che ne segna lo sviluppo psicofisico. Nella sola Kharkiv, nel nord dellUcraina, si sono contati 100 bambini tra le duemila vittime civili, secondo quanto riferito dal presidente del consiglio regionale Serhiy Chernov. Il solo pensiero che, in sole 24 ore, 100 bambini abbiano perso la vita a Kharkiv in Ucraina, a causa di questa violenza insensata, ci riempie di dolore e fa indignare profondamente. Erano bambini che andavano a scuola, amavano giocare, leggere, avere dei sogni, immaginare cosa avrebbero fatto da grandi. Ma le loro vite sono state spezzate, ha detto a commento Daniela Fatarella, direttrice generale di Save the Children Italia. Proprio i bambini, che a livello internazionale sono tutelati e protetti dalla Convenzione dei Diritti del Fanciullo, che impone ai i paesi che lhanno ratificata, compresi la Russia e lUcraina, di salvaguardare la salute e lincolumita dei minori. Dalle Risoluzioni 1261 e 1314 del Consiglio di Sicurezza delle Nazioni Unite, adottate nel 1999 e 2000, che impongono alle parti in conflitto di rispettare le norme di diritto internazionale relative alla protezione dei bambini e delle bambine coinvolti nei conflitti armati, e anche dalla Risoluzione 1612 del Consiglio di Sicurezza dellOnu che, il 22 aprile 2005, ha deciso la creazione di un meccanismo di monitoraggio e di informazione su sei tipologie di violazioni di diritti dellinfanzia. Nel Paese dellest Europa sono attualmente a rischio 7,5 milioni di bambini, avvisa Save the Children, lorganizzazione non governativa umanitaria che da quasi 103 anni e impegnata nel cercare di garantire il rispetto dei diritti e un futuro alle bambine e ai bambini di tutto il mondo, presente nella regione orientale dellUcraina gia da otto anni. Piccoli che si trovano a scappare di casa allimprovviso, al rumore delle sirene antiaeree che annunciano i bombardamenti, e riparare, impauriti, in rifugi spesso bui e poco riscaldati. Bambini che non possono andare a scuola ne giocare con i loro coetanei. Giovanissimi che devono essere curati per qualche ferita o che devono interrompere un trattamento medico a causa della guerra. Una normalita mandata in pezzi, che forse un domani anche con il giusto aiuto e supporto sapranno ricostruire, ma che ora non e piu la loro vita quotidiana. Nel mentre, la crisi umanitaria colpisce duramente alle porte dellEuropa, con oltre un milione e duecentomila persone giu fuggite dalla guerra. LUnione europea ha varato, allunanimita, la direttiva per le protezione temporanea dei profughi dallUcraina. Save the Children e al lavoro in Romania con migranti e richiedenti asilo in cinque centri di accoglienza e inoltre sta conducendo una valutazione dei bisogni in quattro campi profughi nel nord-est del paese della penisola balcanica, preparandosi a distribuire beni essenziali e ad allestire spazi sicuri dove i minori possano giocare, imparare e elaborare il trauma vissuto, affrontando il dolore per la perdita della loro quotidianita e spesso di persone care. Per capire meglio quale sia il dramma di trovarsi, per i bambini, in un contesto di conflitto armato, Interris.it ha intervistato Filippo Ungaro, direttore della Comunicazione di Save the Children Italia. Lintervista Cosa significa per un bambino trovarsi in un teatro di guerra, strappato alla sua normalita, ancora piu preziosa da proteggere e delicata? In queste ore in Ucraina i bombardamenti si intensificano e i bambini sono costretti a rifugiarsi negli scantinati, con la paura di vedersi in trappola insieme alla paura delle bombe. La guerra e probabilmente il peggiore degli scenari per un bambino, perche corre il rischio di essere colpito e ferito dai proiettili, di riportare traumi psicologici, o ancora di perdere la vita. Cosi come rischia di assistere alla morte di un conoscente, magari di un suo coetaneo, di un proprio caro come un genitore. La guerra stravolge completamente la normalita di un bambino: labitazione non e piu un luogo sicuro e puo anche dover lasciare la sua casa, cosi come i genitori non possono piu, in una situazione simile, garantire interamente la sua incolumita. Cosa prevedono le norme internazionali riguardo la tutela dei piu piccoli durante una guerra? Pochi ricordano che anche in una situazione di conflitto, il diritto internazionale mira a proteggere i minori. I luoghi neutrali, come le case, le scuole e gli ospedali non dovrebbero essere mai colpiti, mentre sappiamo che in Ucraina delle scuole lo sono state. Inoltre i minori dovrebbero ricevere assistenza umanitaria anche in situazioni di conflitto, ma molto spesso le parti restringono laccesso umanitario e la fame e utilizzata come arma di guerra. Il diritto umanitario da una piena tutela a tutti, ma purtroppo si assiste a ripetute violazioni, come larruolamento, lo sfruttamento, gli attacchi a scuole e ospedali. Le Nazioni unite le documentano e negli ultimi anni si e registrata una crescita esponenziale di tali violazioni. Nel nostro ultimo nostro rapporto abbiamo rilevato che 452 milioni di bambini vivono in aree interessate da conflitti e guerre, con un aumento del 5% nel 2020 sul 2019. Questa in Ucraina non e una guerra nuova, perche nel Donbass si combatte da otto anni. Sono gia state distrutte centinaia di scuole e tantissimi bambini sono nati in una situazione di conflitto. Qual e la casistica di ferite piu ricorrenti tra i bambini e i minori, in un teatro di guerra? In tutte le zone di guerra, sono molto comuni le ferite alla testa. I bambini sotto i 7 anni hanno il doppio della probabilita, rispetto agli adulti, di riportare traumi cranici. Le mine antiuomo sono una delle principali cause uccisione e/o ferimento di bambini in un conflitto e in questi giorni abbiamo sentito parlare di bombe a grappolo proprio nelle aree civili. I piu piccoli hanno esigenze mediche specifiche diverse dagli adulti, sono infatti particolarmente vulnerabili, sotto profilo medico-scientifico, hanno infatti il collo e il torace piu delicati. Ci vuole una conoscenza medica specifica, ma nei contesti di guerra spesso mancano i macchinari, le risorse, magari anche i medici perche sono andati altrove o sono stati uccisi. Ce possibilita per gli ucraini di accedere ad assistenza umanitaria e ricovero? Ce da fare una distinzione tra quanto sta succedendo allinterno del Paese, ad esempio a Kharkiv lassistenza umanitaria e stata sospesa per questioni di sicurezza, e ai confini. Noi siamo in Ucraina dal 2014, soprattutto nel Donbass, ma siamo andati anche dove ci era consentito operare in sicurezza. La popolazione ucraina, al momento, sta cercando di aiutarsi da sola, in una situazione estremamente critica. Chi si e riparato nei rifugi di fortuna sta vivendo una grande sofferenza, perche le risorse e i medicinali cominciano a scarseggiare. Gli sfollati interni si trovano ad affrontare un inverno duro e molti cercano di fuggire oltreconfine. Chi arriva in Polonia e Romania, e in misura minore anche in Moldavia, Slovacchia, Lituania, riceve assistenza e noi stessi ci siamo attrezzati per accogliere i profughi. I minori in questo momento stanno fuggendo insieme alle madri, non abbiamo stime certe ma la percentuale di minori non accompagnati attualmente sembra esigua. La cosa ideale sarebbe una cercare tregua per far evacuare i civili. Negli otto anni di operativita di Save the Children, come cambiato il vostro intervento nel Paese? Abbiamo diverse sedi operative lungo i 427 chilometri di linea di contatto nellest dellUcraina e cerchiamo di portare e distribuire nel Paese i beni di prima necessita, al netto della sicurezza. Fino a poco fa si parlava di una guerra definitiva di bassa intensita, ma un conflitto resta un conflitto e i traumi non sono di bassa entita, basti pensare che in otto anni sono state distrutte 750 scuole. Adesso ce stato un cambiamento di situazione che non consente una grande attivita, ma stiamo intensificando i nostri sforzi ai confini di Polonia e Romania. Li facciamo accoglienza e oltre ai beni diamo anche informazioni legali, come per la richiesta dasilo. News / Local by Stephen Jakes The internal strife within Zanu-PF intensified in Mashonaland East as the ZimPF party established its structures.Zimbabwe Peace Project reported that reports from Mashonaland East highlight numerous cases of defections from both Zanu-PF and MDC-T to ZimPF. This situation has resulted in more threats being directed against ZimPF supporters."Threats have also been directed against alleged supporters of Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa. In Maramba Pfungwe, a youth leader and a women's league leader were expelled from local Zanu-PF structures for alleged sympathies for Mnangagwa," ZPP reported. "On 20 February 2016 in Goromonzi West the Zanu PF Mashonaland East Coordinating Committee booted out local Member of Parliament, Beatrice Beater Nyamupinga in a meeting held in Marondera. She was accused of being a sell-out who supports the ousted Vice President Joyce Mujuru."ZPP said during the Zanu-PF annual conference in December last year some people in Goromonzi West constituency reported that Nyamupinga was the one who brought flyers for the coming of Mujuru in the district. This information circulated in the district in December."On 20 February 2016 in Maramba Pfungwe, Fungai Muhammed, a Zanu-PF youth chairperson was sacked from Zanu-PF on allegations he was aligned to theMnangagwa faction. He was dismissed together with Petronella Kagonye a member of the provincial women's league," reported ZPP."On 20 February 2016 in Mudzi West village heads called for a Ward 8 development meeting at Masarakufa Business Centre. Villagers from the age of 20 to 70 attended the meeting and they were grouped according to their ages at the meeting. The village head who is the ward chairperson of Zanu-PF allegedly started chanting party slogans."He reportedly accused the villagers of not turning up at a meeting he had called for the previous week. He also intimidated villagers arguing that the 2018 elections are going to be worse than the ones in 2008 if they don't join cell groups "kumberi kwakaipa kupfuura 2008" he is reported to have said. Brazil exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provide exposure to the largest economy in Latin America and one of the 12 largest economies in the world by gross domestic product (GDP). Brazil is an emerging market economy striving to become a modern industrial nation with a high standard of living. The country is rich in natural resources, with more than 40% of the worlds tropical forests and about 20% of its supply of fresh water. But it also faces major challenges, including massive economic inequality, government corruption, and most recently, the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazils economy is still far from a full recovery even after shrugging off the worst of the pandemic and rebounding strongly in 2021. Inflation and political turmoil ahead of the October 2022 presidential vote have hampered growth. But a strong labor market and rebounding services sector have accelerated growth, with economists now anticipating GDP growth of between 2% and 2.5% in 2022. For investors able to handle the risks of an emerging market economy, there are significant potential gains to be made. A Brazil ETF provides investors a way to benefit from potential future growth in the Brazilian economy while limiting some of the risks by diversifying across a basket of stocks operating in different economic sectors. Key Takeaways Brazilian equities outperformed the U.S. stock market over the past year. The Brazil exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with the best one-year trailing total returns are EWZ, FLBR, and EWZS. The top holding of the first and second funds is Vale S.A., and the top holding of the third fund is Eneva S.A. Three Brazil ETFs trade in the United States, excluding inverse and leveraged ETFs as well as those with under $50 million in assets under management (AUM). Brazilian equities, as measured by the MSCI Brazil Index, have outperformed the U.S. stock market over the past 12 months, with a total return of 0.1% compared with the S&P 500s total return of -2.5%, as of Aug. 17, 2022. The best-performing Brazil ETF, based on performance over the past year, is the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ). We examine the top three Brazil ETFs below. All numbers below are as of Aug. 18, 2022. In order to focus on the funds' investment strategy, the top holdings listed for each ETF exclude cash holdings and holdings purchased with securities lending proceeds except under unusual cases, such as when the cash portion is exceptionally large. Performance Over One Year: 2.9% Expense Ratio: 0.57% Annual Dividend Yield: 2.87% Three-Month Average Daily Volume: 24,600,244 Assets Under Management: $5.6 billion Inception Date: July 10, 2000 Issuer: BlackRock Financial Management EWZ tracks the MSCI Brazil 25/50 Index, which provides a broad-based measure of the performance of the Brazilian equity market. The ETF provides exposure to midcap and large-cap companies based in Brazil. Its largest allocations are in the financial, materials, and energy sectors of the Brazilian economy. EWZ follows a blended strategy, investing in both growth and value stocks, and is one of the best options for providing broad exposure to the large-cap segment of Brazils equity market. The top three holdings of EWZ are Vale S.A. (VALE3:BSP), a metals and mining company; preferred shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETR4:BSP), an integrated oil and gas company; and ordinary shares of Petroleo Brasileiro (PETR3:BSP). Together, these three stocks make up more than 30% of the EWZ portfolio. Performance Over One Year: 2.5% Expense Ratio: 0.19% Annual Dividend Yield: 3.45% Three-Month Average Daily Volume: 139,667 Assets Under Management: $257.3 million Inception Date: Nov. 3, 2017 Issuer: Franklin Templeton FLBR tracks the FTSE Brazil Capped Index, which gauges the performance of midcap and large-cap Brazilian equities. The ETF provides exposure to midsized and large-sized companies primarily based in Brazil. The financial, materials, and energy sectors receive the largest representation within the fund. FLBR follows a blended strategy, investing in a mix of growth and value stocks, and is a relatively cheap option for investors looking for broad-based exposure to the Brazilian equity market. The funds top three holdings are Vale, preferred shares of Petroleo Brasileiro, and ordinary shares of Petroleo Brasileiro, all described above. Performance Over One Year: -10.2% Expense Ratio: 0.57% Annual Dividend Yield: 2.28% Three-Month Average Daily Volume: 35,330 Assets Under Management: $95.6 million Inception Date: Sept. 28, 2010 Issuer: BlackRock Financial Management EWZS targets the MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index, comprised of small public Brazilian companies across a range of sectors. Small-cap companies may offer better exposure to developing economies as compared with large-caps that tend to localized in a few sectors like industry. Utilities, consumer discretionary, and industrials stocks make up the largest portions of the EWZS portfolio. The top holdings of EWZS include Eneva S.A. (ENEV3:BSP), an electric power generation and distribution company; Sendas Distribuidora S.A. (ASAI3:BSP), a supermarket chain; and Embraer S.A. (EMBR3:BSP), an aerospace and aeronautical services company. The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed herein are for informational purposes only and should not be considered individual investment advice or recommendations to invest in any security or adopt any investment strategy. While we believe the information provided herein is reliable, we do not warrant its accuracy or completeness. The views and strategies described in our content may not be suitable for all investors. Because market and economic conditions are subject to rapid change, all comments, opinions, and analyses contained within our content are rendered as of the date of the posting and may change without notice. The material is not intended as a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any country, region, market, industry, investment, or strategy. REITs vs. REIT ETFs: An Overview Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are companies that own and operate real estate to produce and generate income. Investors can purchase shares in REITs, which represent ownership of an individual real estate company, just like regular stocks. The individual performance of REITs can vary widely. Many REITs are traded on major stock exchanges, but there are also a number of private and non-publicly traded REITs. REIT exchange traded funds (ETFs), on the other hand, invest their assets primarily in equity REIT securities and other derivatives. They often have low expense ratios and passively track indexes for the larger real estate market. These REIT indexes include a number of different types of REITs as components. By tracking an index, an investor can gain exposure to the larger real estate sector without having to risk capital on one individual company. More sophisticated real estate investors may wish to invest in a single REIT. The investor may want to focus on a REIT with good management, a strong business plan, or a focus on a certain portion of the real estate sector. But for any investor who does not want to perform due diligence on a number of different REITs, REIT ETFs may provide an easy way to gain diversified exposure to real estate in one trade. Key Takeaways Real estate investment trusts are companies that own and operate real estate to produce and generate income. REIT exchange-traded funds invest their assets primarily in equity REIT securities and other derivatives. There are three different kinds of REITs: Equity REITs, mortgage REITs, and hybrid REITs. REITs don't have to pay income taxes as long as they comply with certain federal regulations. REIT ETFs are passively managed around indexes of publicly-traded owners of real estate. REITs As noted above, REITs own and operate real estate properties to produce and generate income, and offer shares on the public and private market to investors. There are three main types of REITs: Equity REITs, mortgage REITs, and hybrid REITs. Each brings a different scope to the tablefrom investment base to risk. Investors need to weigh out their investment goals before they decide to put their money into any one of these REITs. Equity REITs Nearly 90% of all REITs are equity REITs. Real estate investment trusts in this category own or invest directly in real estate properties that are income-producing. This means the revenue they generate comes directly in the form of rental income earned from those properties. Properties range from shopping centers, apartment and condominium buildings, corporate office spaces, health care homes, and even storage spaces. According to reit.com, more than $2 trillion in real estate assets are owned by equity REITs. These REITs are required to pay out a minimum of 90% of their income to shareholders in the form of dividends. Equity REITs must pay shareholders a minimum of 90% of their income in the form of dividends. Mortgage REITs Mortgage REITs invest in property mortgages. Some mREITs, as they are commonly called, may buy mortgage-backed securities (MBS)both residential or commercial MBSs. Others buy or originate mortgage offerings to borrowers and property owners. These REITs make money from the interest from price appreciation in the value of the MBS or from the interest collected from mortgage loans. These REITs provide investors with access to the mortgage market while giving them the liquidity and transparency of the public equities. Hybrid REITs These types of REITs comprise the smallest percentage of the REIT sector. They are a combination of equity and mortgage REITs. They invest directly in both properties and mortgage loans. By investing in hybrid REITs, investors get the benefit of both equity and mortgage REITs in one asset. Although they may invest in both physical real estate and mortgages/MBSs, they are usually weighted more heavily in one over the other. Investing in hybrid REITs comes with very low volatility and regular income that comes from property appreciation and dividend payouts. Tax Advantages of REITS REITs do not have to pay income taxes if they comply with certain federal regulations. REITs must distribute at least 90% of their taxable income annually to shareholders as dividends and distributions. At least 75% of the REITs assets must be in real estate, cash, or U.S. Treasuries, with at least 75% of the income coming from rents, mortgages, or other real estate investments. REIT shares must be held by a minimum of 100 stockholders. REIT ETFs REIT ETFs invest the majority of their funds in equity REITs and other related securities. As noted above, these investments are passively managed around indexes of publicly-traded owners of real estate. They are generally known for and favored by investors because of their high dividend yields. REIT ETFs resemble both equities and fixed income securities, providing very consistent income for investors. These kinds of assets must pay out the majority of their income and profits to shareholders on an annual basis. Examples of REITs and REIT ETFs REITs American Tower REIT (AMT) is one of the largest REITs in the world by market capitalization, which was $111.97 billion as of May 2021. Launched in 2012, it manages infrastructure properties, including more than 183,000 pieces of multitenant communications real estate. Put simply, the company owns and operates broadcast and wireless communications equipment and infrastructure around the world. The REIT reported a 8.3% increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2021 to $2.159 million, as well as an increase in net income by 55.8% from the same period in 2020 to $652 million. As of May 16, 2021, the REIT was trading at about $244 per share, and offered a dividend yield of 2.01%. Simon Property Group (SPG) is one of the largest REITs in the United States. It owns and operates retail properties across North America, Europe, and Asia including shopping centers and premium outlets. Simon was trading at about $122.18 as of May 16, 2021, with a market cap of $40.14 billion. Simon offered a dividend yield of 4.26%. For the first quarter of 2021, SPG reported total revenue of $1.24 billion, a decline of $113.40 million from the same period in 2020. Consolidated net income increased from $505.40 million in the first quarter of 2020 to $510.46 million in its 2021 counterpart. REIT ETFs The Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ) is the one of the largest REITs in the sector and began trading in 2004. It invests in stocks issued by REITs and seeks to track the MSCI U.S. REIT index, the most prominent REIT index. VNQ had $72.8 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of May 16, 2021, with a very low expense ratio of 0.12%. It pays an attractive dividend of over 4.24%. The fund has 174 stocks in its holdings. The top 10 largest comprised 44.9% of the funds net assets. Specialized REITs had the largest allocation of holdings at 37.7%, with 13.8% of the fund's holdings in residential REITs and 10.0% in retail REITs. VNQ returned 13.52% for the three years prior to April 30, 2021, and was up 9.02% since its inception in September 2004. The iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF (IYR) is another large REIT ETF. IYR tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index. It began trading in 2000 and had $4.98 billion in management as of May 16, 2021. IYR has an expense ratio of 0.42%, which is higher than that of VNQ. The fund had 86 components and paid a dividend yield of 2.08% as of May 16, 2021. Shares of IYR returned 12.82% over the three years prior to April 30, 2021, and returned 9.81% since inception. IYR's shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Top News - Investor Idea Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) Continues Acquisition Path With Purchase of ELMS Assets Including Factory in Mishawaka, IN., Enabling EV Production for Retail and Commercial Vehicle Lines BREA, Calif. - October 19, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle ("EV") manufacturer, announces the US Bankruptcy Court approval on Oct. 13th, 2022 of its acquisition of electric vehicle company ELMS's (Electric Last Mile Solutions) assets in an all cash purchase. Top EV Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking EV Stock News: Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ: $MULN) Taps Former GM Executive John Schwegman as Chief Commercial Officer for Next Phase of EV Growth BREA, Calif. - October 21, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle ("EV") manufacturer, announces today the hiring of John Schwegman as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for Mullen's line of commercial vehicles. Top EV Stock News - Investor Idea EV Stocks Driving Higher: (NASDAQ: $MULN) (NASDAQ: $TSLA) (NYSE: $NIO) (NYSE: $F) Vancouver, Delta, BC - October 20, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering EV and automotive stocks releases a special report featuring Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), covering the continued growth of the EV market as government policy and infrastructure plans sync up with consumer and investor interest in the EV space. Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: FatBrain (OTCQB: LZGI) Acquires Confidential Computing Platform ZeroTrust to Protect Data Privacy and Accelerate Innovation for Millions of Growth Businesses NEW YORK, NY - October 19, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, has acquired the confidential computing and privacy intellectual property (IP) plus software assets of Zero2A PTE LTD ("ZeroTrust Platform"), a software company based in Singapore. Check out our Podcasts for great investor ideas: Get new posts by email: Subscribe Powered by Investorideas.com Newswire: Subscribe to Investor Ideas Newswire In her latest cookery book "Coast," celebrated Irish writer and chef Rachel Allen has written the book she'll be remembered for. A journey through the regions and dishes of Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way, it's a career high point that's the result of decades of experience as an internationally celebrated cook. Cahir O'Doherty talks to the woman who is as important to Irish culture in her own way as our poets and writers. Culture isn't just books, music and films. Culture is in how we live, the way we express ourselves and it's even in what we cook, drink and eat. For generations the simplicity of Irish cooking was often sniffed at by other European nations, until our actual skill and artistry was revealed by a series of evangelizing Irish cookbook authors like the legendary Allen family of Ballymaloe House and Cooking School in West Cork. With "Coast," her latest and frankly greatest cook book ever, Rachel Allen, 44, has written a deeply personal love letter to Ireland. Taking a leisurely trip along Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way from her family home in West Cork along the western coastline through the epic landscape of the Burren in Co. Clare to the lyrical beauty of Co. Donegal, each stop is filled with inspired recipes featuring local produce. Over the years of writing cookery books you just get to know your own style don't you? Allen told the Irish Voice during a recent interview. I've definitely seen a certain amount of growing up, maturing and evolving in my cookery books. I think this cookbook is very me. I haven't felt the need to overcomplicate recipes. Many of them are really very simple, and I was really hoping that the photographs would also be simple and rustic and earthy and Irish. Known as Ireland's cooking queen, Allen, like everyone in the family, is clearly a bit posh but at the same time completely approachable. Allen interrupts our phone conversation to coax a new kitten off the top of curtain polls. Oh, Sugar, get down! Now you got stuck at the top again, didn't you? she laughs as she describes the kittens manic energy. She's realized her mistake! What cooks like Allen know and that the rest of us need to, is that Ireland's produce is world class, from our organic vegetables, artisan breads, local honey and cheese, to our famous gins and whiskeys. We can stand shoulder to shoulder with the world's great cuisines and this book aims to prove it, packed as it is with the kind of comforting recipes that you associate with a temperate climate. Time and again Allen focuses on what makes Ireland unique. The focus on organic farming, the quality of the soil and the traditional dishes that can be found in each region makes the book sing. It's not just about cooking. Its about regional attitudes to cooking and life. The produce in Ireland is second to none, I believe. Whenever I'm in another country and people don't know much about Irish food and they ask me about it, I do tend to say that it's incredibly produce led, Allen says. We never had a very spicy cuisine. It wasn't an eclectic melting pot like many of the Asian cuisines are. In Ireland it's a really simple kind of food because the produce itself is so good. We have great fertile green grass, so the dairy is terrific, the meat is great, and we have all that wonderful seafood. So it really is based on the great produce. Allen admits she really enjoyed writing "Coast" and the television series that accompanied it, "Coastal Cooking," which will be broadcast in the U.S. soon. I'm always terrified before the book comes into print if it will look the way I want it to, and I think this one really does, she says. Allen adds that she has seen Irish cooking revolutionized over the last 10 years (and though she's too modest to say so, her family's efforts have been at the forefront of it for over four decades). There's so much more of a confidence in what we have here. We're not trying to be something else other than ourselves, she offers. Years ago we were always trying to be international, but when you strip it all back and bring the focus back to our great natural produce, we have learned not to over-embellish it. "Coast" unlocks Ireland, taking you though the landscape as well as the cooking, a process Allen says she loved. Ah, it was brilliant. I have done many parts of the Wild Atlantic Way in little bits over the years. But in writing the book and the series I did it all in one big go over the course of a month, she reveals. We started in Cork and traveled a little bit east to Waterford because they're still on the Atlantic, and then I traveled all the way up as far as Donegal. The sun was shining and we were cooking on the beaches. Because Ireland doesn't have a tropical climate a lot of our food is very comforting: the stews, the soups, the chowders, Allen says. And just the aroma of something cooking can transport you back to a place or time in a second, one mouthful or just the smell of it bubbling on the stove. Irish stew does that for me, Allen says. Before the whole tourism initiative for the Wild Atlantic Way happened Allen had decided to write "Coast," she says. Then it was kind of lucky timing. I started thinking about a journey with food, taking in the local food. Starting from home up the west coast was the obvious choice. I meant for it to be a kind of a ring binder book, that you can take along on a journey along the whole coast. It could be something that people plan a trip by. For Rachel Allen's pork with cream and watercress recipe, click here, and for Rachel Allen's lamb broth with haricot beans recipe recipe, click here. News / Local by Staff Reporter BEITBRIDGE- Rayson Tsvangirai Rushwaya a teacher at Vhembe Secondary School in Beitbridge has been released from custody after being arrested for allegedly engaging in sex with school girls because the recent Constitutional Court ruling that outlaws child marriage has not been gazzetted.Masvingo Mirror reported that citing the ruling, some women whose children fall in the age group under spotlight that Rushwaya allegedly slept with, impregnating some of them, last week made a report to Beitbridge Police seeking to have him charged under the new law."We have no choice but to refer the matter back to the Police because the new law has not been gazetted and we have no statutory instrument provisions for that," said a prosecutor.He had been in custody for two days.It is alleged that Rushwaya, using as a conduit his niece from the same school and identified only as Rumbi, lured schoolgirls to a hotel room where he allegedly gave them either some intoxicating stuff or drugs before sexually ravaging them.Some reports said Rushwaya was restless and exhibited ruthless and unusual sex power throughout the night when he was with his victims.Matabeleland South Police Spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nkosilathi Sibanda said he has not received the report. Further to publication of your recent comment piece with regard to my New York Times article, I would be grateful if you might allow me the right to reply. My authorship of four books, several peer reviewed history articles and five years of doctoral research on Irish political matters notwithstanding (The IrishCentral piece refers to my authorship of just one book), I would like your readers to know the following: My article has generated a lot of debate which is of course its whole purpose. Many of those who have posted comments thus far have missed the whole point by conflating two wholly separate concepts: British culture and Empire, which are by no means synonymous ideas. Many English people during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were just as aghast at colonial policies as were the Irish. Young English soldiers returning to coal-mining districts after the Boer War had their weapons taken away for fear that they would rise in arms against the pit bosses. Likewise, the Treason Felony Act, so often touted as a singularly anti-Irish piece of legislation, saw scores of working class English Chartists exiled to Australia. The spirit of this piece is to recapture a lost moment of solidarity - a time when Irish nationalists were able to reach out to men like Charles Bradlaugh. We declare, in the face of our brethren, that we intend no war against the people of England, ran the first proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1866. Our war is against the aristocratic locusts, whether English or Irish, who have eaten the verdure of our fields. Rather than set us free, the idea of 'us' against 'them' only serves to enslave. As the article states - the true enemy is processes, not people; the Forces of Empire, not the British people themselves, and lastly, but most importantly, the Free State parish pump carpet baggers, who suckered the Irish people into buying into the idea of a great Celtic Nation while they prostrated themselves at the feet of the Pope and got rich at the expense of the working man. The idea that we share a common culture of the British Isles predates the Union Jack. Ours is a culture that can, and should, celebrate pride in regional cultures, be they English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh, yet recognize a common bond of brotherhood. Britain espoused an older Republicanism - one that is now being rediscovered in questions about the role of the monarchy, the relevance of the flag and whether or not the statue of African colonizer Cecil Rhodes ought to be pulled down in Oxford. Another aspect of this article is that some elements of the Gaelic Revival were necessarily kitsch (which indeed they were) while Ireland attempted to assert its otherness (a term borrowed from Edward Said) but that does not mean to suggest that there was not also an authentic Irish identity. The tragedy is that 'Irish Ireland' ultimately served to exclude, rather than bring together, our fellow toilers in Britain and to separate the united cause of labor. Prior to independence, our respective peoples had intermingled for centuries; the idea that there was somehow a mystic, purebred Celtic race to be reinstated after independence was a myth. Dublin is often cited as having the worst slums in Europe, but consider the desperate poverty in the tenements of London, Edinburgh and other major cities - slums from which many British participants of the Rising came, including James Connolly himself. Injustice against the Irish was by no means unique, but on the other hand, denigration of the poor was a better distributed commodity. Of the British aristocracy, a Sheffield native wrote the following during the 1890s: Do you know what a charter is? Why it is a license to rob anyone weaker than yourself. I have spent years poring over papers of the British establishment. Time after time, these show who the real threat was - the dangerous working classes. Ultimately then, when it comes to Easter Week 1916, I respect the vision of many of the rebel leaders, none of whom would recognize today's Ireland with its homeless crisis , political corruption and gangland vice. Surely this is not the republic they died to create. Likewise, I cannot readily accept that somehow, ordinary British men and women were the enemy of the Irish people or that our culture was radically different to theirs. However when it comes to the fight against Empire, against oppression, against injustice of all kinds, that is something I can agree on. - Barry Kennerk A sensational eye witness account of the Easter Rising, written by a Belfast Unionist, has been brought to light after spending over half a century locked within a bank deposit box in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. The almost 50-page account was only discovered when the bank closed 20 years ago. It was political historian Dr. Eamon Phoenix who realized the importance of the account and for the last number of years has told the story of James Mitchell, a 38-year old elementary school teacher from Belfast, who found himself in Dublin as the Rising broke out on Easter Monday, 1916. Later this year, he will publish a book based on Mitchells account of rebellion. Hailing from a Presbyterian family, and a signatory of the Ulster Covenant in September 1912 a petition signed by just under half a million people as a protest against the Third Home Rule Bill that was to be introduced by the British government that year Mitchell shows no sympathy for the rebels in his account, but nonetheless gives us a vital insight into the action as it unfolded. As it happened, Mitchell and his friends found themselves in Dublin that Easter as they traveled to enlist in the British army. Listed in the 1911 census as a teacher from The Mount in east Belfast, Mitchell and his brother Joe traveled to Dublin on Good Friday to visit Portobello barracks. They stayed in the famous Gresham Hotel on the capitals Sackville St (now OConnell St) just across the road from what would be rebel headquarters in the General Post Office (GPO). After taking in some of what the city had to offer, visiting the Theatre Royal and spending an evening in the Officers mess in Portobello, on Easter Sunday Mitchell became a British soldier. "Result I became soldier of the King on Easter Sunday," he wrote. The following day, the Mitchell brothers joined many of the soldiers stationed in Dublin as they traveled to Fairyhouse racecourse to enjoy the annual Irish Grand National. The exodus of soldiers to enjoy the race was just one of the reasons why the British Army were caught unawares when 1,250 rebels descended on Dublin that very morning. While enjoying the festivities, the newly-recruited British soldier heard the rumors of "trouble with the Sinn Feiners in the city." Although Sinn Fein had no part in the planning of the Easter Rising, it was wrongly publicized that the group of rebels were from the political party. The inaccuracy was to spell success for Sinn Fein in the aftermath of the rebellion, however. As a sense of nationalism rose among the Irish public due the actions of the British Army in quelling the rebels military action and the execution of its leaders, they turned to Sinn Fein in the 1918 general election instead of the moderate nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP). The more radical Sinn Fein had never before achieved significant electoral success in this manner. The party is still considered the inheritor of the ideals of the Rising and its leaders to this day. Returning to Dublin after the race, Mitchell found himself marooned in his lodgings at the Gresham and it was from here that he wrote his 49-page eyewitness account on hotel notepaper. Meeting with an acquaintance who told him of his vehicle being commandeered by rebel forces digging trenches at Stephens Green (these forces would have been led by Michael Mallin with Countess Markievicz second in command), Mitchell realized how serious the impact the rebels were having on the city. Read more: A guide to the historical figures and moments of the 1916 Easter Rising Eager to see for himself, he ventured from the safety of the Gresham, where residents were nervously awaiting the end of the rebellion from the hotels bar and restaurant, and wrote an entry about "some ghastly sights" he witnessed. "Two horses lay dead opposite the Hamman Hotel, their soldier riders having been shot dead... Human blood covered the footway," he wrote. He also noted that "all police and military were confined to barracks and the mob had complete possession of the principal thoroughfares," referencing the looting that was rampant on Sackville Street. On the first day of the Rising three unarmed members of the Dublin Metropolitan Police were shot dead causing their Commissioner to pull the police off the streets. The lack of police presence is blamed for the level of looting that took place throughout the city. In total, 425 people were arrested for looting after the Rising That evening, he wrote, "every building was barricaded and loop-holed by the Sinn Feiners, but all was peaceful within". Mitchell was in a prime position to witness the events unfolding on Sackville St and at 8am on Wednesday morning, the third day of the Rising, he was awoken by the British bombardment of Liberty Hall, where socialist leader and founder of the Irish Citizen Army James Connolly was stationed. Read more: Day-by-day account of the 1916 Easter Rising. In Mitchells opinion, it was Liberty Hall that was "the headquarters of all the disaffection". He was also in a position to see the British gunboat the Helga as she was brought up the River Liffey to OConnell Bridge to fire at the GPO. "Sackville Street enveloped in bluish smoke and guns rattling away... A boat of some kind is at OConnell Bridge and is evidently the cause of the loud reverberations," he said. "The GPO was still solidly square and flying on top of the portico was the flag of the Irish Republic." As the fighting continued, Mitchells pro-British sentiment began to shine through in his account, especially as the rebels chances of success, already low, sank even further: "I felt relief and secretly exulted at the inglorious end of the creatures with such mean and selfish minds." On Saturday April 29, 1916, Jim Mitchell was present when 500 insurgents decommissioned their rifles outside of the Gresham Hotel following the surrender of Padraig Pearse on nearby Moore St. His diary ends on his return to Belfast: All of our experiences seem now to be those of a dream. Everything that has past within the last 12 days has the impression of unreality. And now to bed, and sweet repose. Mitchell would go on to serve as a Lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps in a non-fighting unit. He was sent to Mesopotamia and received three medals, surviving the war and returning to live in The Mount. You can hear Dr. Eamon Phoenix, author of An Ulster Unionist at the 1916 Rising, a book based on Mitchells Rising diary, speak on the subject here: His book is due for publication later this year. You can find more of IrishCentral's coverage on the centenary of the Easter Rising, along with a day-by-day account of the rebellion, here. H/T: Irish News The history books record it as perhaps the key moment in modern Irish history. Here are some of the strange misconceptions and facts that have emerged. 1. Many articles repeatedly refer to Pearse reading the Irish Proclamation on the steps of the GPO. There were no steps to the GPO. 2. Sean Mac Diarmada, one of the seven signatories of the Proclamation, almost escaped because he was using his English name John McDermott. The British only linked his name to its Irish form at the last moment. 3. Roger Casement should not be referred to as Sir Roger Casement. He renounced all his British titles before he was taken prisoner and executed. 4.There is a real doubt about the "Countess" title of Countess Markievicz. While training as an artist she met Casimir Markievicz, an artist from a wealthy Polish family that owned land in what is now Ukraine. 5. Markievicz was known in Paris as "Count Markievicz." When Constance's family enquired as to the validity of the title, they were informed through Pyotr Rachkovsky of the Russian Secret Police that he had taken the title "without right" and that there had never been a "Count Markievicz" in Poland. Other sources disagreed. 6. The English-born fighters for the Irish, mostly from Irish families in Britain, were the last to agree to surrender. They feared because they were British by birth they would be singled out and mistreated. There is no evidence they were. 7. The two worst atrocities against civilians were carried out by British troops. On Saturday, the South Staffordshire Regiment were pinned down and losing men near the GPO. The enraged troops broke into the houses along the street and shot or bayoneted 15 unarmed male civilians whom they accused of being rebel fighters. Elsewhere, at Portobello Barracks, a deranged officer named John Bowen-Colthurst summarily executed six civilians, including the pacifist nationalist activist, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington.These instances of British troops killing Irish civilians would later be highly controversial in Ireland. 8. The GPO was located on Sackville Street, now O'Connell Street. During the 17th century Dublins main thoroughfare was a narrow street known as Drogheda Street (named after Henry Moore, Earl of Drogheda). It was widened, and renamed 'Sackville Street' (named after Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset) in the late 1700s until 1924, when it was renamed in honor of Daniel O'Connell, nationalist leader of the early 19th century, whose statue stands at the lower end of the street, facing O'Connell Bridge. 9. The Irish Volunteers actually used side streets to reach the GPO and Sackville Street from Liberty Hall where they had gathered. Connolly, Plunkett and Pearse led the way but wanted to avoid detection as much as possible. 10. There was a 25 minute time difference between Ireland and Britain at the time, which has led to confusion in historical records as to when the war actually started. Dublin Mean Time and Greenwich Mean Time were based on the time of sunrise and sunset at a specific location in each country. For more stories and information on Irelands 1916 Easter Rising, click here. Dublin City Council has said homeless families will move into the 22 modular homes in Poppintree in Ballymun in Dublin next month. The project was originally meant to be completed by December but the Council say the units are now "substantially completed" with works to finish the entire estate expected to conclude in April. The Transport Minister has said that Independents would not be wasting their time with long talks if they did not think a deal could be reached. Independents and the Green Party are meeting with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail for Government formation talks this morning. Fianna Fail has started fresh talks with Independents as it attempts to form a Government. Fine Gael is also continuing negotiations ahead of another attempt to elect a Taoiseach in the Dail next week, with climate change understood to be the main topic. But last night the Taoiseach effectively told the group that he would not talk to Fianna Fail until he had a Programme for Government to show them. Fine Gael negotiator and acting Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald agreed. "What we're trying to do is get the most stable situation that we can," she said. "And then it will be up to other parties so see if they're in a position to support that or not." Independent TD for Kerry, Michael Healy Rae has warned there could be a snap election held on May 20. "I don't know, all I hope is that there will be a Government," he said. Fine Gael has said that it will not support a Fianna Fail minority Government, the 'grand coalition' is not an option. Update (12.56pm): Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane said that the continued refusal by both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to talk to each other is a farce and is impeding TDs from doing their jobs. It is now over a month since the election and we are continuing to witness the farce of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail refusing to talk to each, while both know any government will depend on their mutual support," he said. The work in the Dail that we were elected to do is being held to ransom by both parties that continue with the fiction that they can form a government without the support of the other. "It has got to the ludicrous position where parties and independents spend days in backrooms talking about broadband for rural pubs rather than address in the Dail the issue of 1600 homeless children in Dublin that continue to live in emergency accommodation. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail need to end this farce and come to the Dail with a proposal for government that allows us all to get on with the work of addressing the crisis in health and housing and representing the constituents who put us there in the first place. Update 2.00pm: Prosecutors in Egypt have reportedly asked Cyprus to extradite a man arrested after passenger jet was hijacked. The 59-year-old forced an EgyptAir flight to be diverted to Larnaca - it later emerged he was wearing a fake suicide belt. He has appeared in court this morning and been told he will remain in custody in Cyprus. The court heard he carried out the hijacking so he could see his estranged wife and children. Update 10.16am: The Egyptian man accused of hijacking a plane and forcing it to land in Cyprus yesterday has been remanded in custody. 58-year-old, Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa appeared in court this morning, however he has not faced any formal charges yet. He could potentially be prosecuted for hijacking and kidnapping or reckless and threatening behaviour. But Cyprus authorities have said Mr Mostafa is "psychologically unstable" and the case was not "terrorism-related". The accused is believed to have asked for a letter to be delivered to his ex-wife during the hijacking. Update 7.04am: An Egyptian man who hijacked a plane is due to appear in court in Cyprus later today. The hijacker forced the EgyptAir flight to land in Cyprus, but later surrendered to police following a six-hour stand-off. All passengers and crew were released from the plane unharmed. One thing we have learnt from the Cyprus hijack is that most news sites don't know what a selfie means pic.twitter.com/tHOBjaXeCj St_Hill (@St_Hill) March 30, 2016 Cypriot Police have confirmed that the explosive belt the hijacker claimed to be wearing was fake. But it's raised more questions about Egypt's aeroplane safety record - after a jet was blown up there in October. Aviation security expert Philip Baum thinks current checks are too broad: We treat everybody exactly the same. We put everybody through the same metal detector, we put everybody through the same bag search. We need to focus on negative intent not on what people have in their bags or carrying on their person. News / National by Stephen Jakes Violence reported erupted at a flopped meeting of the MDC-T in St Mary's as party members confronted each other.Zimbabwe Peace Project reported that on 27 February 2016, MDC-T held a meeting in Ward 4, St Mary's to take care of some party business."The meeting failed to commence as the chairperson Jateni "Master" Mangira did not show up. Some of the youths who support Adam Puzo (who is campaigning for the post of MP in 2018) started shouting at current MP Tarusenga (who is also party district chairperson) blaming him for hiding Mangira to sabotage the holding of the meeting,"ZPP reported."The issue got out of hand resulting in vice district chairperson, Biggie Chitengu, grabbing Tarusenga by the neck forcing the MP to shrug himself free. Tarusenga confirmed the scuffle adding however that he considered it a very minor incident. He said the meeting could not be held because in addition to Mangira, who is the ward chairperson, not being around, the meeting could not be held because there was no quorum." Children of all ages had the chance to meet and pet a host of newborn animals including lambs, calves, goats and chicks as well as a Dexter cow and pigs. The Mobile Farm is an outdoor classroom that is used to educate children and adults about different farm animals and their role in producing quality food that is safe and affordable for consumers. One factor which has been largely ignored in the debates and analysis about Ireland forging an independent future has been the role of business. Sometimes it feels like advocates of industry as a critical piece of the Republics tapestry are unwelcome on a stage where other factors are deemed of greater value. Personally, my Republicanism and Nationalism has always surfaced most vigorously around the development of Irish enterprise. It may not carry the pageantry of others who claim ownership of our national identity but it burns with the same passion as those who choose alternative ways to advance the cause of Ireland. Building Irish managed enterprises that can go out and compete on global markets adds more value to Irish society than many other forms of activism. Companies or co-operatives headquartered and led from Ireland can generate jobs, create real economic value and promote the country, while improving the broader eco-system that provides mutual benefits from connecting private and public institutions in the common goal of advancing Irelands capabilities on the world stage. Of course, these businesses must prove themselves in the ferociously competitive world of free enterprise, and that takes all forms of business models that may or may not sit comfortably with the founding fathers of the state. On one side Dairygold, as a co-operative in the food industry, remains faithful to the vision advanced by George AE Russell and Horace Plunkett when they fought all kinds of opposition to bring farmers together in a co-operative structure. On the other side lie companies like Ryanair and many multinationals that have succeeded in viciously competitive markets by adopting business models where labour does not have the same position as in the public sector or in some traditional industries. Yet, all of these businesses play key roles in advancing the interests of Ireland and they should be thoroughly encouraged to do so. Successful Irish businesses build valuable bridges into third level institutions that help propel the future generations forward. By linking private sector companies with progressive universities and other third level organisations Ireland can forge the next generation of innovators and entrepeneurs who can take up the mantle of further advancing the Irish economy. You can already see that in the food and IT sectors where graduates are seamlessly interacting with private corporations and many of those have already become leaders in globally significant companies. Growing Irish-led private companies internationally is a tough and bruising challenge. I noted recently the chief executive of Enterprise Ireland mentioned a key issue for her was to help companies retain their independence while expanding rather that selling out to large global corporations. In the IT sector, particularly, it can be very appealing to de-risk a business and collect a handsome sum if an international company knocks on the door with cash. It is a phenomenon in other sectors too. Finding ways to encourage and support companies to maintain their Irish independence is an important task. Im often asked for examples of the latter. The list is long, and impressive. Kerry Group, Kingspan, Glanbia, Applegreen, Origin, Ryanair, Irish Ferries, CRH, Dairymaster, Total Produce are just some of the names that spring to mind. If you scratch the surface of the management in each of these businesses you will find a ferocious pride in being Irish, progressive and ambitious. Are those not the attributes we need to celebrate, too, in a year when the need to look forward is at least as important as an examination of history? The pic, taken by a flight attendant, shows Ben Innes, who is originally from Leeds but lives in Aberdeen, standing next to Seif Eldin Mustafa who is wearing what turned out to be a fake explosive belt. Innes was one of three passengers and four crew members held hostage by Mustafa after he hijacked the flight bound for Cairo from Alexandria, forcing it to land at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. He was later arrested and is due in court later today. Innes appears to have posted the photo that shows him standing next to a Whatsapp group with the caption: "You know your boy doesnt fuck about!! Turn on the news lad!!!" The health and safety auditor, 26, explained to the Sun that he doesnt know why decided to get a photo but that "it has to be the best selfie ever": "Im not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. I figured if his bomb was real Id nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it. "I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever." "After about half an hour at Larnaca I asked for a photo with him as we were sitting around waiting. I thought, why not? If he blows us all up it wont matter anyway." And it seems, aside from peoples obvious bemusement as to why he would take that risk, most are annoyed that its being referred to in the media as a selfie. That was not a selfie, it was a photograph. Selfie involve the use of your own arms (and the occasional stick). Sarah McCartney (@SarahMcCartney) March 30, 2016 Not a selfie, but this might be the greatest picture of a Brit in living memory pic.twitter.com/dupCkuvYIU Amol Rajan (@amolrajan) March 29, 2016 Even Bens mother agrees. As she told the Telegraph: "All we can say is that the picture is clearly not a selfie as everyone has been describing it. You can clearly see that it is not Ben who is taking the picture. Hes in it but hes not taking it." So there you go. Late last year, the Irish Examiner website published a story about Yvonne Cahalane and her two year old son Tristan, who was born with Dravet syndrome, a severe, incurable form of epilepsy. Tristans first seizure occurred when he was five months old and had escalated over time until he was experiencing epileptic seizures up to twenty times a day. The combination of his condition and the side-effects from his prescribed pharmaceutical medications resulted in numerous neurological and cognitive problems that affected his speech, movement, appetite and behavior. In December 2015, Yvonne and Tristan moved to Colorado to begin cannabis treatment with the hope of easing his debilitating symptoms. Since relocating to the US, the positive changes in Tristans condition and well-being have convinced Yvonne that her desperate decision to leave their home in Ireland was the right one. Tristan has not had a seizure in three months. He has not needed rescue medication or oxygen since beginning his cannabis oil. Within days of his first treatment there was a noticeable improvement. He has been weaned off three pharmaceutical drugs and is about to begin removing a fourth. Any previous attempts to wean off medications in Ireland had always resulted in Tristan being hospitalized, but now every aspect of his medical assessments show huge advancements in his progress. Administrated orally, Tristans whole-plant medicine oil utilizes the full spectrum of therapeutic compounds that cannabis has to offer. Yvonne describes some of the differences in her son. Tristan was suddenly able to make eye contact and became more alert. He began to babble, repeat sounds and say new words. All of which had vanished since his spate of violent seizures last May when he stopped talking altogether. During the second week he began to get steadier on his feet, he wasnt falling after a few steps, he was bending with stability. He would sit down without help and he began to kick a ball. His seizure activity lessened with every few days and once he had been increased to his optimum dose with the introduction of tiny amounts of THC, he was 99% seizure free and has been ever since. Tristan Cahalane Tristans personality is beginning to shine through now that the fog of seizures and medications is lifting and Yvonne is enjoying a new side to her son. Happy, roguish and affectionate, he is quickly becoming more communicative and independent. His appetite and sleep have improved significantly and for the first time he can take part in normal everyday activities like walks in the fresh air without the danger of multiple drop seizures. Tristan attends the Children's Hospital Colorado, which recently made the top five on the U.S. News & World Report Best Children's Hospital's 2015-16 Honor Roll. It has ranked nationally every year since the inception of their pediatric hospital rankings edition in 1993. Yvonne says, The hospital and doctors we have caring for Tristan are wonderful, they hold cannabis in high regard as a medicine. Colorado in general is a very open-minded and beautiful state. There are educational events all the time to spread awareness of peoples options in using cannabis as their medicine. But cannabis oil is illegal in Ireland and will not be available to Tristan when he returns home. With a visa set to expire, returning home is inevitable. Yvonne has left her husband John, and their other son Oscar behind as she concentrates on Tristans recuperation. While the progress Tristan is making is giving their family the strength to carry on, it is not always easy in Colorado. Ive missed so much of Oscar, I miss taking him to school and hearing about his day. While Daddy is missing Tristans development and progression, which he can only see through Skype. It has definitely been heartbreaking to say goodbye to them both for this time. Yvonne is confident her campaign to change Irish legislation in relation to medicinal marijuana will be successful. Yvonne Cahalane During her appearance on The Claire Byrne Live Show, a national poll revealed that 79% of people support the legalization of cannabis for medicinal use. Yvonne has launched an online petition on change.org that has acquired almost 3000 signatures, and is asking everybody who agrees with the cause to sign it. She is in regular correspondence with political members of both the Irish and American government, as well as various doctors and whole-plant medicine producers. She is also raising awareness of the benefits of the oil through national and international media. Speaking on The Neil Prendeville Show in February she said. I think the prospects are good. Its illogical to not have it in Ireland. In Colorado, cannabis is also used to treat many other conditions and diseases including cancer, cachexia, chronic pain, glaucoma, HIV and AIDS. As well as easing peoples suffering, marijuana dispensaries have also served to significantly boost the states economy. In 2014 Colorado retailors sold $386 million of medicinal marijuana generating over $30 million in tax revenue alone. The event, launch yesterday, was attended by some of Irelands brightest young innovators, including Lexi Schoene, 8, who has entered the blog/website category with her site lexililybelle.com, where she blogs on her life and interests across a range of platforms. I used the HTML and coding skills I learned at CoderDojo Dun Laoghaire to design my website using Wordpress, she said. Dhruv Bhamidipati, 11, created his website Dino-Know-It-All to educate people about dinosaurs, using HTML and CSS coding learned at The Docklands Dojo. Harvey Brezina Conniffe, 14, from The Warehouse Dojo in Dublin has created an online editor that helps children design their own website. He also designed an app that enables homeowners to check in on their personal security cameras by tweeting them a project that was featured at SXSW and TechCrunch Disrupt NY. Animator Grainne Meghan, 12, from CoderDojo Dun Laoghaire created Mob Show: the race for the last cookie, a quirky Minecraft-inspired animation using Swift. The awards offer children the opportunity to showcase the skills they have learned at CoderDojo and other coding clubs. Coolest Projects provides the bridge from learning coding skills at CoderDojos to innovating and creating future employment. We are the piece in the middle which makes the connection, said Coolest Projects co-founder Noel King. These digital skills are vital if Europe is to address the coding skills shortage which has led to 500,000 open job postings across the region in 2015, he said. There are Coolest Projects Awards across a range of age groups in the disciplines of websites, apps, animation and games, scratch, advanced languages, enterprise and hardware. This year also sees the addition of Launchd, a one-day event aimed at supporting the next generation of technology entrepreneurs. Running in parallel with Coolest Projects, it will feature Irelands 100 top tech starts-ups and international speakers, in what organisers claim will be the biggest technology event held in Ireland this year. The motion also called for no further pay deals unless pay equalisation for all teachers has been achieved. A number of newly qualified teachers spoke passionately on the motion, explaining how they were unable to save for a house or qualify for a mortgage. Orla Ni Fhoghlu, a 28-year-old primary schoolteacher in Harolds Cross, Dublin, told the congress about how one bank offered her a 65,000 mortgage. Since the Croke Park agreement was ratified in 2011, an additional 33 hours a year are required to be delivered by teachers, usually for in-school meetings relating to subject teaching or whole-school policy issues. Ms Ni Chiarba said teachers gave freely of their time when they started in, the interest of their students, and never sought recognition for those extra hours. But then the introduction of the infamous and insulting Croke Park hours, which I always call detention for teachers attempted to poison our goodwill and undermined the extraordinary, unrecognised, and undervalued contribution we make to the holistic education of the young people of this country, she said. In a recent survey of ASTI members by Millward Brown, at least 80% said they see the fulfilling of Croke Park hours to be the least productive task undertaken by them in schools. Well, the Government and in particular the Department of Education should be put on notice if you continue to count minutes the education system in this country will continue to suffer and you will be responsible as teachers have no more to give, said Ms Ni Chiarba. At the convention this morning, delegates will be asked to back the possibility of refusing to fulfil those extra 33 hours, equivalent to one hour for each week in the second-level school year, once the successor deal to Croke Park the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) expires. The ASTI rejected the Lansdowne Road public service pay deal that was ratified by most unions last autumn, and it will also be proposed from the floor that, as well as ceasing co-operation with the Croke Park hours, teachers would no longer undertake supervision and substitution duties. This work was paid for in the case of the majority of teachers who signed up voluntarily to the work since 2004. However, the related extra pay of around 1,500 a year was withdrawn under the HRA and became a requirement for all teachers instead, or those who did not do it had the figure reduced from their pay. Both the withdrawal of those duties which could force closures of schools unless other personnel were drafted in for the work and the Croke Park hours would require ballots of the ASTIs almost 18,000 members. While officers do not know if those targeted in the search operation will object to the seizure applications, gardai say the individuals are furious and expect them to fight CAB. In a dramatic swoop on 18 properties on March 9, CAB, assisted by gardai and backed up by heavily armed units, seized 35 expensive vehicles. They included 29 luxury cars and six high-powered motorbikes, along with 70,000 in cash and nine Rolex and Breitling watches, worth up to 100,000. The assets have been estimated to be roughly valued up to 1m, but CAB officers are still finalising a dossier on estimated valuations for the court. The cars included a Mercedez AMG, initially valued at about 75,000, a BMW X5 jeep worth around 70,000, and two BMW M series cars valued around 65,000. One of the motorbikes, a Kawasaki Ninja H2, was worth around 38,000. The search operation focused on a powerful gang in the Crumlin area of south Dublin, suspected of forming the higher echelons of the Kinahan cartel in Dublin. David Byrne, who was murdered at the Regency Hotel on February 4 last, was one of the leaders of the Crumlin gang. CAB is expected to make its application for an interim seizure order under Section 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act to the High Court either this week or next week. It will argue that certain assets are the proceeds of crime and it will provide estimates as to their values. It is understood that much of the work of CAB since the operation has been on researching and establishing accurate valuations for all assets seized, particularly the vehicles. CAB must notify solicitors acting for the owners of the assets regarding the date for the Section 2 application. Sources said it may become clear at the hearing if the owners intend to object to the seizure, although that may not be known until the next stage. Once the High Court grants an interim order, CAB will have 21 days to apply for an interlocutory order under Section 3 of the act. It is at this hearing that the owners will make any case objecting to the seizures, including any evidence that some or all of the assets derived from legal sources of income. The 18 premises searched on March 9 comprised 11 homes and seven businesses, including a car dealership, which the bulk of the vehicles came from, as well as a pub and accountancy and solicitors firms. News / National by Stephen Jakes The ruling Zanu PF official in Mashonaland Centyral are reportedly distributing food aide to party members at night in an effort to sideline the MDC-T members.Zimbabwe Peace Project reported that the province saw the First Lady Grace Mugabe addressing a rally in Mazowe and distributing food and clothing. Although at this particular event there were no marked reports of political bias in the distribution, partisan distribution of food and agricultural inputs still continues in some areas with reports that some of the food and aid is being distributed at night so at to ensure that MDC-T supporters do not benefit (see more in our Food and Other Violations section).ZPP said on 12 February 2016, Peter Muswaka, Zanu-PF district party chairperson, Chinyoka, Ward 15 councillor and a group of about 20 Zanu-PF youth members forced all stall owners and shop owners at Dandamera Shopping Centre to go to Kanyemba rally which was addressed by the First Lady Grace Mugabe."They had a register which they used to make sure all the targeted people boarded the lorry. On the same day, 12 February 2016, in Mazowe Central at Kanyemba Primary School after First Lady Grace Mugabe's rally there was distribution of food and clothing," ZPP reported. "At the time of going to print, ZPP was still investigating a case of a woman who is reported to have been killed in the stampede for the food and clothing distribution after the First Lady's rally."ZPP said in Guruve North on 13 February 2016, Stewart Kunatsa the Zanu-PF party chairperson for Ward 19, Mupfuya Village gave people updates from the Zanu-PF conference that was held in December."He threatened to deal with all those who did not support the ruling party," ZPP reported. "On 14 February 2016, Norman Ngoza of Zanu-PF met a John Tizo (not real name) who was wearing an MDC-T T-shirt. They exchanged harsh words over the T-shirtuntil Ngoza ordered Tizo to leave the Kairezi Village, Ward 21 in Muzarabani North. They went to their headman to resolve the issue but Ngoza and other Zanu-PF supporters still insist that Tizo leaves the area. The case was not reported to the police for fear of further victimisation." The decision to engage the commission was made yesterday as councillors claimed rural areas of the county were being seriously deprived of support. Previously, there had been a massive cut to the EU-backed funding but the government also delayed its distribution. The call in County Hall also prompted council chief executive Tim Lucey to say he would ask the councils corporate policy group (CPG) to examine ways in which the local authority may be able do assist in funding rural development. Councillors from North-West Cork in particular said their area was one of the most deprived rural areas in the country, and claimed the lack of Leader funding was driving people away from their communities. Councillor Bernard Moynihan (FF) said areas like Rockchapel, Kiskeam, Kanturk, and others were suffering as clubs and organisations, the backbones of local communities, could not get money from Leader to do even simple projects such as extending footpaths. Along with other members of the Kanturk/Mallow municipal district, he asked Mr Lucey if the council could provide more funding to the area through the general municipal grants which could help some low-cost projects. Councillor Frank OFlynn (FF) described the withholding of Leader monies as an attack on rural Ireland by the government. Im vice chairman of Blackwater Leader and were losing staff because of this. We should write to the EU Commission and ask them whats happening, he said. Councillor Gerard Murphy (FG) said it was unfortunate that Leader funding isnt available at this time but maintained it should be available in the mid to late summer. He asked Mr Lucey to see if the executive could earmark more money at council budget time for rural projects. Councillor Tim Collins (Ind) said: Im on four committees of IRD Duhallow and before the cuts to Leader we had 13m on our own. Now the whole county has 14m [almost a third of a cut]. And now we cant see any funding coming. Councillor Bob Ryan (FF) said there was an amount of very worthwhile projects on hold while Councillor Michael Hegarty claimed: Im not happy with the delay in funding, but the departments stalling because we havent a government in place. Councillor Joe Carroll (FF) said a lot of genuine projects were postponed and pointed out the council had itself guaranteed to come to the aid of Leader projects with 3.5m from its own resources. Mr Lucey said the council was the only local authority in the country to make provision as it recognised the vital work of many community groups. We have no control over the national [Leader] funding, he said, but stated the council would love to be in a position to have more money to put into communities. We should discuss this at CPG and look at possible mechanisms to do that. Mr Moynihan said all parties were now discussing the possibility of creating a minister for rural affairs, yet the current government was depriving rural people of vital funding. The possibility arises from a motion overwhelmingly passed by delegates at the annual convention of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), whose members work at more than half the countrys 730 second-level schools. Since 2011, cuts to salary scales and withdrawal of allowances for qualifications have placed some newly qualified teachers on annual earnings of 9,000 a year less than counterparts despite both working full time. The unions leaders are now mandated to ballot their almost 18,000 members if the common basic scale that applied to all teachers before 2011 is not restored by the end of August. It will seek the authority to call industrial action, up to and including strikes. While the issue has been the subject of debate at each ASTI convention since 2011, all those backing each of three motions on the topic said it was time now to make it the unions main priority. Richard Terry of ASTIs Fermoy branch said the convention had asserted the right of new teachers to equal pay for equal work six times in the last six years, with motions vehemently opposing cuts, urgently demanding reversal, and other such phrases. They lacked the threat of industrial action but without such threat, other than out of the goodness of their collective hearts, would the Department of Education change their position? he asked. No. It clearly shows how little priority we have placed on this issue. Siobhan Peters of the Tipperary branch was undertaking her teaching qualification in 2010 when the government announced a 10% pay cut for those qualifying and starting in the job from September 2011. But, she said, it felt like newly qualified teachers were being left out on their own by other teachers. I cant believe Im here asking for something to be reversed, five years after it was introduced, she said. We know its hard to take unpaid strike days, but something needs to be done. An added difficulty, she said, is that many more newly qualified teachers would like to have attended the convention in Cork, but union rules prevent anyone who is a member for less than a year from doing so. ASTI president Maire G Ni Chiarba said the message from the Government has been that the work of newly qualified teachers is not as important or as valued as that of their colleagues. She said that whoever becomes education minister will have to respect and treat all the unions members as equals, despite the blatant discrimination against newly qualified teachers. Anyone who thinks that this situation will be allowed to continue is mistaken, she said. The ASTI will do everything possible to right the wrong and to have this shameful situation rectified. She stressed that the ASTI was not involved in any way in the cuts to new entrants pay, as there were no negotiations or consultation. The cuts in 2010 and the withdrawal of qualification allowances in 2012 were nothing short of a betrayal of newly qualified teachers, said Ms Ni Chiarba. Bray delegate Yvonne Rossiter said that, four years after her first convention in 2012, the union is still talking about equal pay, and action needs to be taken, up to and including industrial action. I dont want to be here next year and hear the same motions again, she said. I said it in 2012 and Ill say it again, equal pay for equal work, lets stop this now. Mark Walshe, a member of ASTIs standing committee and the Dublin North East branch, said the next government needs to see clearly that they mean business by being prepared for several days strike. But, he said earlier, when the union had tried to vote against the first Croke Park agreement in 2010, they were forced to ballot again. In doing so, we endorsed an agreement that protected public servants but did not protect incoming public servants, he said. We didnt do anything at the time the cut in allowances was introduced either. His fellow standing committee member, Noelle Moran, said the big difference from the circumstances at past conventions was that the ASTI, having rejected the Lansdowne Road Agreement last autumn, will not be party to a pay agreement after next June. Editorial: 12 Sources in both the outgoing coalition parties have confirmed to the Irish Examiner that the talks were aimed at winning support from either side for candidates running in different panels. Labour want Fine Gael votes to support the election of former ministers Aodhan O Riordain in the Industrial and Commercial panel and Kevin Humphreys in the Administrative panel. Fine Gael are hunting for votes to help elect Senator Jim DArcy, Jim Finucane, Mary Howard, Seosamh O Laoi, and Linda OShea Farren, candidates nominated by outside bodies in the Cultural and Education panel. A senior Fine Gael source said: Some talks were held with Labour just before Easter, but its too early to tell. They need us for two panels, while we need them for one. Both Irish Water and the HSE had been invited to a meeting after a boil water notice had been put in place for up to eight months for thousands of people being served by the Whitegate/Dower regional supply system. The HSE did send two senior officials. Councillor Michael Hegarty (FG) said he was very annoyed that Irish Water did not see fit to send anybody while Councillor Mary Linehan Foley (Ind) said she was appalled by the snub. Councillor Des OGrady (SF) described it as very poor form. The HSEs Dr Anne Sheehan said around late December she had been notified by Irish Water about problems with the Whitegate supply and advised a boil water notice should be put in place. She told Mr Hegarty the addition of chlorine to a supply kills E.coli and treating it with ultraviolet light also kills cryptosporidium. However, she said storms around that time had made the water thicker and more coloured which would reduce the effectiveness of ultraviolet treatment. As a result, conditions prompted the boil water notice to be issued. Councillor Danielle Twomey (SF), who lives close to the affected area, said she was disappointed with lack of information Irish Water was giving to the public while Councillor Noel Collins (Ind) said the problem was causing much inconvenience to residents and the commercial sector. Dr Sheehan said the HSE was continually monitoring the problem. Ms Linehan Foley suggested councillors write to Irish Water saying the snub was unacceptable. Irish Water did, however, send an email to councillors about what it intends to do with the scheme which supplies 10,392 people with 7m litres of water a day. It is prioritising the installation of a new filtration system at the Kilvagh water treatment plant. Once installed, Irish Water said it would request permission from the HSE to lift the boil water notice, but did not give a timeframe. The company said it understands the inconvenience caused and its staff have met with customers in recent weeks, who outlined the impact on homes, schools, and businesses. The utility said its long- term plan was to hook up to the Inniscarra water treatment plant which could take approximately three years to complete. Members of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors (IGC) are urging teacher colleagues to support motions at this weeks conferences aimed at strengthening guidance counselling and restoring ring-fenced hours for counsellors. President of the IGC, Betty McLaughlin, said yesterday that guidance counsellors are struggling on a daily basis to cope since the 2012 budget, which reduced the hours provided to students in secondary schools. The guidance counselling service is in its worst state today in the history of education in this country, as decades of excellent work building up, developing, and enhancing the service, both by government policy and by professional qualified guidance counsellors, had been eroded, she told colleagues in a letter. Changes wrought by the government in 2012 have decimated the service, she said. Five years on, guidance counselling is on its knees. She said the IGC is equally relentless in its campaign and unwavering in its position the next government must fully restore the dedicated guidance counselling service for Irish students, describing the policy as non-negotiable. Guidance counselling is an entitlement of all and not a luxury, she said. It is the role of government to support all children to achieve their potential by providing a universal entitlement to a fit-for-purpose guidance counselling support to all students who wish to avail of it, no matter what their circumstances, said Ms McLaughlin. Until September 2012, every guidance counsellor had ringfenced hours for the delivery of the service in schools, based on the number of students. One guidance counsellor responsible for 500 students had 22 hours per week. This changed in Budget 2012, when the ringfenced hours were removed with one drop of the axe, and the impact was catastrophic, said Ms McLaughlin. There is now a very uneven and disjointed service. She cited figures published this year by the Higher Education Authority which showed that drop-out figures in many popular third-level courses are soaring, for example one-third of computer science students across all of the countrys institutes of technology failed to complete first year. The children of professionals were highly likely to progress, she said, while the children of skilled manual workers were least likely, a factor that could be caused by this socio-economic class being on the margins of qualifying for grant aid. These students come from communities which have very little parental experience of progressing in the education system beyond second level education, said Ms McLaughlin. These are the very schools which have suffered most in terms of the loss of guidance resources since 2012. It makes no sense either educationally or from a broader economic perspective to be denying guidance counselling services to these students, as the results of this loss will only lead to escalating drop-out rates in the future. A major row has erupted after legal advice emerged which states there is no possibility under European law to remove or suspend the charges. Irish Waters parent firm confirmed it sought the legal advice. In light of recent queries regarding water charges, independent legal advice was sought by Ervia, which confirms that, under European law, Ireland is now obliged to charge for water services, a spokeswoman said. However, the Opposition parties have rejected those claims. Fianna Fail spokesman on public expenditure and reform, Sean Fleming, insisted the directive does not bind Ireland to the imposition of domestic water charges. Speaking yesterday, Mr Fleming said Fianna Fail absolutely contests the advice being put forward. Its important to recognise that this legal advice was commissioned by Irish Water, and it should be examined with caution in light of this, he said. Its extraordinary to see Irish Water quoting EU rules as sacrosanct considering they failed to meet the key Eurostat market test last year. Mr Fleming said the position on water charges has not changed and the party does not support the imposition of the levies. Sinn Fein claims legal advice for Irish Water was leaked to suit the political agenda of certain parties. The party criticised the publishing of the legal opinion commissioned by the utility company which said State water charges are required under EU law. Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan called on the company to publish the advice given by senior counsel Garrett Simons and Michael M Collins. It is very suspicious the timing of this leaked legal opinion because it falls nicely into the hands in terms of forming a government for Fianna Fail to get them off the hook and say it is nothing to do with us, it is the legal opinion, she said. Ms Boylan said this legal opinion is leaked at a time when Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are being forced to speak to one another. These were two main themes running through the presidential address of Maire G Ni Chiarba to almost 400 delegates at the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland. Ahead of discussion this afternoon of the junior cycle reforms over which a series of one-day strikes are looming next autumn unless the dispute is resolved, she said teachers would rather be in their classrooms instead. Nobody takes lightly a decision to strike, least of all teachers. Our voice, the voice of the practising teacher is powerful and must be listened to for its expertise, she said. Earlier, ASTI president-elect Ed Byrne said it was misleading for Education Minister Jan OSullivan to say they were available for talks. He said talks to which the ASTI was invited last autumn after rejecting the latest deal ended up being implementation talks on something the Department of Education knew the unions members had opposed. Ms Ni Chiarba said the incoming minister has been put on notice by the ASTI decision to strike in the next school year that their educationally worthwhile concerns on junior cycle reforms are taken seriously. She highlighted some of the issues raised by members after last Septembers vote against the package, included timetabling, the educational value of classroom-based assessment, and the assessment task proposed, common level exams in all subjects other than English, Irish, and maths. As a teacher of French, German, and Spanish, all through Irish, she said she speaks with authority on the opposition to having State-certified oral exams in Irish and modern languages not being externally assessed, unlike what happens for Leaving Certificate. It is for educationally sound reasons that teachers raise such issues, she said, and in the interests of their students. The unions recent research among members found that they need time and flexibility to interact with their students. Education is based on relationships and time is needed to develop such relationships, said Ms Ni Chiarba. We are pro-reform but reform that is educationally sound. We are tired of listening to the same old rhetoric that we are against reform. Anyone who understands the classroom knows that teachers are in the front line as far as reform and change are concerned. While teachers are constantly involved in reform, she said, the uninformed, or perhaps disingenuous, voice tries to portray them as anti-reform if they do not move at its direction. Well, we wont be moving at the direction of such a voice, said Ms Ni Chiarba. We will move at the direction of our members and embrace educationally sound reform as is our tradition. And this will continue to be done in the interests of standards, fairness and equity in education, and above all in the interests of our students. They deserve no less. Ms Ni Chiarba said students will suffer if teachers are demoralised, with the profession in grave danger of becoming more so than it is if they are not accorded the respect they have earned. If we are demoralised, the natural enthusiasm that we have as professional educators will be further damaged, she said. The system will suffer but most of all the students will not have the exciting educational experience they currently have which encourages them, open their minds to all types of possibility and facilitates learning. The first day of the annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, heard new teachers are struggling to cope after being hit with lower pay rates introduced in 2011 and the abolition of allowances for qualifications in 2012. General secretary John MacGabhann said newly employed teachers were being treated like galley slaves who are forced, by poverty, to give up part-time jobs, to emigrate, and to moonlight. They cannot plan, have no creditworthiness, have their personal independence compromised, he said. Why? Because government marked them out for especially punitive treatment and because employers who have selected them at interview treat them as galley slaves. Mr MacGabhann said new teachers not only had to deal with pay cuts but also with the loss of certain allowances. The TUI general secretary acknowledged that it would cost money to fix this matter but said there would be an incalculable cost to society if teachers had to endure further delays to pay restoration. He also hit out at a minority of employers that keep young teachers marooned on low hours which they can not survive on financially. That cost will not simply be monetary, said Mr MacGabhann. It will also be the incalculable cost that will be incurred for society if government action creates a disaffected, angry, impoverished teaching force, if service to students lacks the continuity provided by invested, full-time teachers. The TUI rejected the Lansdowne Road Agreement on public service pay, while the Haddington Road Agreement expires in June. As a result, the Government has put in place emergency legislation allowing it to impose a series of financial penalties on any union that refuses to agree to a collective agreement. Mr MacGabhann warned delegates that if ongoing discussions with the Department of Education and Skills did not end with concrete proposals, a ballot for industrial action will be required. If proposals emerge they will be brought back to you, the members, for decision by way of ballot, he said. The logic of the situation is that were there to be such proposals, and were they to be acceptable to members, the quid pro quo for the department would be that the Tui would become party to the Lansdowne Road Agreement. The almost 500 delegates also heard that the higher education sector is in a state of crisis. Mr MacGabhann said staff and budget cuts over the past number of years had left the sector reeling. Let us be clear: Higher education is in a state of crisis, he said. Budgets cuts of 35%, staffing cuts of 10%, at a time when students number have risen by 32%, tend to have this effect. He accused the Higher Education Authority of being away with the pixies if it believed that these cuts were sustainable and called on the incoming government to deal with the crisis as a priority. Kate Tobin, a 50-year-old former nun who now lives in Wexford, says she lives in constant pain, suffers numerous falls, and has been given little time to live by her doctors. Having grown up in Lismore, Co Waterford, Ms Tobin moved to London after leaving school to become a nun. She then joined a nursing order. However, she said that her superiors decided she was having too much of a good time as a student and requested her to leave her studies and return to her order. Forced to choose between nursing and the sisterhood, Ms Tobin picked the former, and nursed in England until she returned to Ireland to care for her ill mother. It was during a stint covering maternity leave at a nursing home in West Cork four years ago that Ms Tobin received the diagnosis that would change her life. I was getting clumsy, losing my balance and dropping things, she said. I was constantly working, and so I blamed it on being tired and clumsy. But I developed a chest infection and went to the doctor about that. He thought I looked like someone who had suffered a stroke, and noticed that I was leaning on my left side. I went to hospital in Waterford, and there they told me I had MS, she said. Ms Tobin said that in September 2014 her consultant estimated that she had two years to live. He told me to enjoy my 50th birthday because I wont have many more after it. Im coming near the end, she said. Inspired by the Supreme Court challenge by the late Marie Fleming, Ms Tobin wants the State to introduce euthanasia for those suffering debilitating conditions. I saw the Marie Fleming case and thought I never want to get like that, said Ms Tobin. I am constantly in pain and my speech is going. I used to be able to walk with a stick, but now I need a frame and for any long distances I use a wheelchair. I need that if Im travelling more than 100m. She made contact with Tom Curran, Ms Flemings widower, who is now assisting Ms Tobin in raising funds to meet the significant financial costs associated with living in accommodation that meets her needs. Mr Curran is hopeful that a bill he has written on assisted suicide will be presented to the next Dail, and said that the Supreme Court ruling shows there is nothing to prevent the Oireachtas from legislating for assisted dying. Kate has no intention of bringing another court case, said Mr Curran. We are trying to get it through by legislation, the Supreme Court said that there is no constitutional impediment to it. In April 2013 the Supreme Court said that nothing in its judgment should be taken as necessarily implying that it would not be open to the State, in the event that the Oireachtas were satisfied that measures with appropriate safeguards could be introduced, to legislate to deal with a case such as that of the appellant. Ms Tobin said she remains a Catholic, but is no longer practicing as she is unable to get to a church. She was visited by a priest regularly when she lived in Waterford, prior to her move to Wexford. Asked on what grounds she believes assisted suicide should be allowed, and where the line would be drawn, Ms Tobin acknowledges that there is opposition to euthanasia. She believes that if introduced it should be tightly regulated. I think each case should be judged individually by two doctors and a psychiatrist, who should judge whether or not the person is of sound mind, she said. However, what of the wider ideological opposition to euthanasia? What would she say to those who believe that assisted suicide is wrong because all life is sacred regardless of the conditions people may suffer? To the religious fanatics I would say that if I die before God is expecting me to, I dont think he will greet me in heaven and say sorry Kate, you werent due here yet. I believe he will say welcome my child, you have suffered enough. I am doing my time in purgatory here on Earth. I am in constant pain, incontinent, and I fall five or six times a day. Attending a State ceremony at Liberty Hall to honour James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army, President Higgins highlighted current issues such as housing, adequate childcare, and health services which the leaders of the Rising had hoped to eradicate. Speaking at one of the final events to mark the centenary of the rising, President Higgins said the country should seize the opportunity of these ongoing commemorations to rekindle the unfulfilled promises bequeathed to us across the century by the women and men of the Irish Citizen Army. Remembering the leaders of the Rising, he said: Their vision of a people free from want, free from impoverishment, and free from exploitation remains a wellspring of inspiration for us as we seek to respond to the situation of too many workers who, in Ireland today, earn a wage that guarantees neither a life free from poverty, nor access to decent housing, adequate childcare, and health services. Relatives of those involved in the Rising attended the event at Liberty Hall where the proclamation was printed on Easter Sunday ahead of the Rising. Dublin in the sunshine today as we attended a #1916 commemoration with @PresidentIRL at #LibertyHall #Ireland2016 pic.twitter.com/G50i9vp2r4 Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) March 29, 2016 Labour Party leader Joan Burton and Dublins lord mayor, Criona Ni Dhalaigh, also attended the event during which a minutes silence was held. President Higgins said the aspirations for true equality, for real independence, can still sustain us today in the task of rebuilding our society and our economy. The women and men of the Irish Citizen Army were committed to achieving much more than just a national political independence, he said. The Republic of which they dreamt, the Republic which is yet to be realised, was one that would enable a more equal redistribution of the fruits of prosperity among all of its children. Let us seize the opportunity of these ongoing commemorations to rekindle the unfulfilled promises bequeathed to us across the century by the women and men of the Irish Citizen Army. Citing Kathleen Lynn, who was second in command at City Hall, and Constance Markievicz and Margaret Skinnider, who played important combatant roles at St Stephens Green, he said one of the most remarkable legacies of the Irish Citizen Army for us today is the place it carved out for women, both among its ranks and in its vision for the Ireland of the future. He said that the leaders saw womens emancipation as being essential to any genuine social progress. News / National by Felex Share President Robert Mugabe yesterday said anyone unhappy with his constitutional stay in power should condemn the people of Zimbabwe as they are the ones who gave him the mandate to govern the country since 1980.He said that his successor should be people-oriented and someone ready to defend the country from latter-day neo-colonialism being propelled by the West.Speaking in a wide ranging interview with Japanese journalists here yesterday, President Mugabe (pictured) said health permitting; he would stand as the Zanu-PF presidential candidate in 2018 if the people decided so."He (successor) must be a good leader all the time, a leader who is people oriented," said President Mugabe,"A leader who listens to the voices of the people, who takes care of the people, who thinks of the people before he thinks of himself. He should be a leader who is really directed and governed by the wishes of the people. This is what I've tried to be. This is what our government has tried to be. When we waged the struggle it was a people struggle for the freedom of our people and that should remain the objective of the leaders in the future. (He needs) to be people oriented to push that the people remain as free as possible and defend and protect them against any outsider."To lead the country for the past 36 years, President Mugabe said, was because of Zimbabweans who successively elected him to drive their empowerment agenda.He said anyone with a problem with the decision of the majority was free to criticise them "if they don't like my long stay in power they should criticise my people, I don't vote myself into power," he said."You just go to Zimbabwe now and ask the people whether I should stand down. They'll be angry with you."Asked if he was fit for the Presidency at the moment and in 2018, President Mugabe said: "At the moment I'm the President that's why (I'm here). Do you see me as not fit? Why not contest two years later?"Two years later is no time but only God knows what will happen in two years time, 2018, I don't know, it'll depend. If I'm fit enough yes but if I'm not fit enough I'll not. My people will want me to be a candidate and they've already nominated me as a candidate for 2018."President Mugabe said Zimbabwe abounded with ivory and the government would ensure it benefits everyone."We've got elephants and they carry ivory and I want that ivory to benefit Zimbabwe. So I'll comply with the rules set for us to trade in ivory," he said.He said the forthcoming sixth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) VI to be held in Kenya in August should unite Africa and Japan as they pushed for their development."With TICAD, you don't just get socio-economic friends; you build also social business as indeed you build allies in development, in humanitarian endeavour and the creation of the world of peace and harmony. If we can begin with Africa as a peaceful continent that'll be a stepping stone to possible world peace in the future although world peace, as we see now, will take us a long time to establish with so much terrorism taking place especially on the European continent."He said the strained relationship between China and Japan would not affect Zimbabwe's relationship with the two countries."We're friends of China," he said. "During the liberation struggle they supported us and we owe them that support but that doesn't mean our friendship with China excludes friendship with Japan. No! I know you're not good friends because of the past history of fighting but that's your row. As far as we're concerned we want to be a good friend with you as far as we're with everyone else."Asked on relations with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, President Mugabe said: "We've lost connection with North Korea. If North Korea would want to re-establish connections, I suppose we reciprocate. We don't hate any country or distaste any people. We make friends with those who want to be friends with us but it doesn't mean that we should follow all their ways. Friendship is friendship on terms that are reciprocal."Asked about his perception of Donald Trump, Republican candidate for the United States elections this year, President Mugabe said many thought he would be the joke of the year but he was pulling surprises.Some of his utterances though, the President said, were a "bit off guard.""I notice he's winning in some cases," he said."He had a difficult time in Chicago but elsewhere he should guard his speeches more but I'm not the one to teach Americans how to behave." And they vowed to stage more protests until the issue is tackled seriously at government and local level. Sinn Fein also called on the Government to release funding to the city council to allow it build up to 1,300 social homes on six major landbanks owned by the council. A young mother who was on the councils housing waiting list for seven years and who is now raising two children, aged six and three, in one room in an emergency shelter on the western outskirts of the city, said she and others being housed in similar settings, feel invisible. We are living in emergency accommodation. Its meant to be a bed and breakfast, but its more like a homeless shelter, she said. And there are four empty bedrooms there when there are people sleeping on the streets. She said she accepted the offer of a council house, but was devastated when the offer was withdrawn just before Christmas. We have no security, and I dont know what the future holds, she said. We are completely invisible. The group display their banners outside the City Hall yesterday. Picture: Eddie OHare Sinead Casey said she has had to move into her parents home after her landlord sold the house she was renting. She is now living in one room with her children, aged 11 to two, with the older children sharing a mattress on the floor at night. Ive been waiting for a council house for 10 years and eight months, she said. Ive pretty much given up hope of ever getting a council house. Christina Chalmers, who leads the Helping Corks Homeless movement, said people need to continue protesting until the authorities respond to the housing crisis. Meanwhile, residents of the Eden development in Blackrock have called on receivers Grant Thornton to withdraw Notices of Termination hanging over the heads of around 15 tenants. The receivers had served these notices on some 35 tenants in the development, requesting them to vacate their rented dwellings by March 18. It is understood that 20 units have been vacated. Several affected tenants have now established a group to represent them, to protect their rights as tenants, and to advocate for tenants in similar situations around the country. The Tenants Together - Eden group plan to reach out to residents in places such as Tyrellstown to create solidarity and raise awareness about the plight of tenants in such situations. This group will support any tenant that wishes to challenge a notice of termination, and will support other tenants facing evictions, an Eden residents spokesperson said. When footage emerged on social media of Brian belting out the Killers hit in honour of his deceased friend Ger Farmer Foley, it rapidly went viral around the globe. Even The Killers themselves tweeted a link to the recording with the message: Brian OSullivan, if Brandon ever needs a fill-in, were calling you! May we all have friends like this. But as Brian pointed out himself yesterday, his performance at Falveys Bar in Killorglin just hours after his friend was laid to rest wasnt for people in America or Australia or different parts of the world. I was on a stage for Farmer. He told the Anton Savage Show on Today FM: Obviously I did not think this was going to happen. There is the fun side but obviously there is also the serious side, a serious amount of people grieving down here, not just family but a fierce amount of friends including myself still. Its a very emotional ride. He described Ger as a beautiful man who, while he grew up and lived with cystic fibrosis, never let it deter any bit of his life. Every wall that was put up in front of him, he just blew it away and kept going, he said. Obviously his time ran out but his life was totally full of love and life in the 45 years that he was here. Everyone told him he was going to be celebrated in music and song when he did eventually go. Thats the way we do things down here. Brian O'Sullivan, if Brandon ever needs a fill-in, we're calling you! May we all have friends like this #farmersrule https://t.co/mENU0pGfHr The Killers (@thekillers) March 27, 2016 Brian said he hoped Gers children Isobel and Peter would be able to grow up and, in 10 years time, look back and say that was a great way to send dad off. Legacy is everything for everybody and people have different legacies. He died of CF. I would like everybody to get into their heads about getting a donor card because without Ger getting a transplant back in 2003 a double lung transplant there would be no Isobel and Peter. That is his legacy. People save peoples lives all the time running into a building or whatever. People can save peoples lives by just carrying a donor card, and that is so important. Gers legacy lives on because of a donor card. Cupcake was in a box with an order of DVDs that was sent from Cornwall to West Sussex. The recipient found a badly dehydrated Cupcake in the box along with the DVDs and contacted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for help. The RSPCA traced the owners through the cats microchip. We looked everywhere for her, owner Julie Baggott said on Sunday, adding that she felt terrible about Cupcakes ordeal. Lion on the loose SOUTH AFRICA: A lion called Sylvester, who was on the loose for three weeks last year, has escaped from his game reserve again and is wandering a sparsely populated mountain region, South African National Parks (SANParks) said. The big cat probably broke out by crawling under an electric fence after heavy rains dislodged earth over the weekend, SANParks spokeswoman Fayroush Ludick told Reuters. We realised early yesterday morning when they check all the satellite tracking collars that he had escaped. We are awaiting a helicopter to begin an aerial search, she said. The likelihood of him encountering a human being is slim, Ludick said, but urged people not to approach Sylvester should they come across him. Its the very same lion that escaped last year. I think we should change his name to Houdini. Last June, the animal went on a sheep-killing spree, wandering 300km before he was found taking a nap by rangers and airlifted from the Nuweveld Mountains, 1,750m above sea level. We anticipate this operation will be a lot quicker because he is wearing a tracking collar, said Ludick. Donut wars USA: Two Indiana bakeries share a love for four-sided doughnuts but one of them believes there is room for only one square doughnut-maker. Family Express asked a court to declare that it can continue to call its products Square Donuts. But Square Donuts, which has been making its doughnuts since the 1960s and has nine locations, wants Family Express to cut it out. Family Express started making its version in 2005, and a year later, Square Donuts sent Family Express a cease-and-desist letter. The low-level disagreement fermented quietly for several years until Square Donuts in 2013 trademarked its name. Family Express contacted Square Donuts to try to reach an agreement over the name, but those talks went nowhere. Climb crime USA: A man who refused for 25 hours to climb down from the canopy of a giant sequoia in downtown Seattle was charged with malicious mischief and assault over his treetop standoff, which drew national headlines and created a sensation on social media. Prosecutors also requested a court order to keep Cody Lee Miller, 28, from going near the 80-foot-tall tree again, according to charging documents filed in King County. Miller was arrested after a day-long confrontation with authorities who tried to cajole him down from the tree, located on public property in downtown Seattle, police said. As the encounter played out on live television, police closed an area at the base of the tree to protect the public from the possibility of falling objects, including the man himself, who became a top trending topic on Twitter as #ManInTree. Holding authorities at bay, Miller threw pine cones and branches at firefighters, police, and pedestrians, according to prosecutors, and drew a crowd of onlookers whose reactions ranged from awe to annoyance. This caused an incalculable waste of time and services, King County prosecutor Stephen Herschkowitz wrote in the charging documents. Miller was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer and malicious mischief for allegedly causing roughly $7,800 in damage to the tree, which the city planted more than 40 years ago, the documents said. Giant sequoias, which rank as the worlds largest trees, normally can be expected to survive 200 to 300 years in an urban setting. His motivation in scaling the tree has not been explained. Miller is due to be arraigned on April 11, prosecutors said. Teens school ruse USA: A teenager who toured an Ohio high school while posing as a state senator has pleaded guilty to impersonating a peace officer. Prosecutors say theyll recommend probation for Marion resident Izaha Akins. The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to the felony charge. Authorities say Akins spoke to a government class at Mohawk High School in Sycamore for an hour last December. Officials didnt realise theyd been duped until Republican Senator David Burke showed up weeks later for a scheduled appearance. Furthermore, CJ Walsh argues that the drive to build green homes can lead to designs that are at odds with best practice for fire-safe houses. Mr Walsh of FireOx International cited the cases of Longboat Quay and Priory Hall as examples of where the quality of construction was so inadequate it gave rise to serious fire risk. Over the last three years, Philip Grehans case against the board of management of St Josephs School for Deaf Boys has been heard first by the Rights Commissioner, then the Labour Court, then the High Court, and finally by the Labour Court again. Mr Grehan first took the case to the Rights Commissioner in 2013 arguing that the school had contravened the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act by employing him on five successive fixed-term contracts covering a period of five years starting in 2007 but was refusing to provide him with a contract of indefinite duration. When the Rights Commissioner found against Mr Grehan, he appealed the decision to the Labour Court. His union representative, Deirdre OConnor of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, told the court that in January and December 2011, the complainant queried the principal as to whether he was entitled to a contract of indefinite duration by virtue of his service in the school. He was told he had no entitlement because he had subbed for different teachers in the school. The school argued that Mr Grehan had been employed subbing on fixed-term contracts with some intervening gaps. It said all of the contracts were temporary to replace permanent staff who were on special leave, adoptive leave, career break, or secondment. While it said Mr Grehan was a very talented and valued teacher, there were no permanent vacancies in the period to which to appoint him. After considering the submissions of both sides the Labour Court said it was satisfied that a contract dated September 1, 2010, gave rise to an entitlement to a contract of indefinite duration since it sought to extend the period of his fixed-term employment beyond four years and became one of indefinite duration. It said he should be reinstated with effect from that date and be paid any arrears of remuneration since the date of his dismissal up to the date on which the reinstatement took effect. In ordering this form of redress the Court is influenced by the Respondents comments that it had the highest regard for the Complainant who served the school and pupils diligently with a high standard of teaching and that his teaching record, expertise and insight into deaf culture was a great loss, the court said. However, that decision was appealed by the school to the High Court on a point of law and, in a judgment delivered in October 2015 the High Court allowed the appeal and sent the matter back to the Labour Court for re-hearing. The courts ruling in favour of Mr Grehan, signed off on March 1, said he should be reinstated from September 2010, should have seniority in his employment given the length of time the contract of indefinite duration would now be in place, and found that he had accrued 88,397 in owed remuneration. The family of James OBeirne, who was a prominent IRA leader in Cork during the War of Independence, and who died in 1979, said they were deeply moved and honoured that Cork City Council had consented to the ceremony as part of the citys Easter Rising commemorations. The ceremony was attended by family members, including his daughter, Elizabeth OBeirne Ranelagh, and son, John OBeirne Ranelagh, and by Lord Mayor Chris OLeary and other councillors. Ms Ranelagh, an artist based in Los Angeles, described it as a fitting homecoming given that her father devoted his life to Ireland and loved Cork. Mr Ranelagh said they were very honoured that the Lord Mayor had attended. Mr OBeirne was attached to the No 1 Cork Brigade of the IRA under Sean OHegarty during the War of Independence. His 1902 date of birth means he would have been just 14 when he was in Dublin for the Easter Rising, even though he looks much older in arrest photographs taken at the time. However, he moved to the US after taking the republican side during the Civil War, during which he was shot and wounded by Free State troops, and left to die in a ditch. He was found and nursed back to health by Travellers over a 14-month period. Reference is also made in James Gleasons book Bloody Sunday to OBeirnes decision to spare two Auxiliaries who had been captured. Having spent several days watching over them, he defied orders to execute them, and allowed them to walk free. The book recalls how OBeirne was later stopped at an Auxiliaries checkpoint in Dublin while carrying a pistol, which meant almost certain death. However, in a remarkable twist of fate, he was recognised by one of the Auxiliaries whose life he had spared, and that British soldier returned the favour subjecting OBeirne to a beating only, before telling him they were even. It is believed that OBeirne assumed his younger brothers identity afterwards and fled to the US the date of birth on the plaque at St Finbarrs is his brothers, given that his family believe that he was actually born in 1898. OBeirne also fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War, was captured and faced death, but was rescued by the Blue Shirts. He married American folklorist Elaine Lambert Lewis in 1946 and they moved to Ireland in 1954 with their four children. He died in Cambridge on May 2, 1979, and his remains were cremated. His ashes were interred in the Republican Plot on Saturday alongside the remains of his former comrades, including former Lords Mayor Tomas MacCurtain and Terence MacSwiney. Memory is not to be relied upon. It is both imaginative and insidiously self-serving. History, as institutionalised memory invested with academic rigour, is especially questionable. The rigour it employs as its credential insists as much. At best, it relies on sources which, however accurate, are incomplete. Many sources are self-serving by dint of their partial accounting or partiality. Nonetheless, imperfect but never-to-be-fully-trusted memory and history are frequently all we have. And we must have a past, a context, a reason why. This week is a great gathering of memory and source material. It is an impressive accretion of knowledge that pushes out our sense of context for the Easter Rising. When the rubble was cleared away, so too was a lot of inconvenient fact. Working-class Protestant Dublin, the world of Bessie Burgess in OCaseys plays, and the role of women of every political stripe, were shunted aside. The Rising was the culmination of decades of cultural revival and frustrated political effort for Home Rule, irrigated by the hot springs of militant nationalism. It was also the capstone, via the State founded in 1922, of decades of land reform which saw a landless post-Famine peasantry become proprietors and small holders. The social conservativism of the new State was not the Catholic frenzy of a messianic Padraig Pearse; it was a long-settled, materialistic consideration, by a newly arrived class of small property holders determined on their own status and respectability. That conservative political settlement had been arrived at in the Parnell split and mandated by the series of by-elections which sealed his fate. The Rising came a generation after those events. It, and the cultural revival, challenged that settlement in critical respects but it did not overturn it. What if Pearse and Connolly had survived? We will never know. Perhaps the first item on the agenda would have been a split. The greatest loss in the aftermath of the Rising was not only the loss of life, it was also the loss of radicalism. I say that now of course as sepia-tinted hindsight. Across Europe in the 1920s and 30s radicalism took horribly divergent paths. Would ours have been different? History, with journalism as its first draft, is mainly written by the professionally but not always authentically sceptical. The history of 1916, overwritten again for this weeks commemoration, was revised over the past 50 years from a largely anti-establishment, as well as scholarly, standpoint. The establishment, seen as an antithesis of modernity, was embodied by the State on parade at the 50th anniversary commemoration in 1966. De Valera was attended metaphorically by John Charles McQuaid figureheads and bogeymen. This view, entrenched over recent decades, was formed in the culture wars of the 1960s onward. It was as much the white heat of current affairs as a cold look back over history. The lack of understanding of how before the foundation of the State and the social structures of nationalist Ireland had been arrived at ironically did those old men on parade in 1966 too much credit. The State they presided over in 1966 was as much the continuum of they inherited as anything which socially or economically they innovated. But continue it they did. In the revisionist history of the past 50 years, the innovative reach of the founding generation who led the State after 1922 was overplayed, the better to portray them as forces of darkness compared to the light, the prerogative of their critics. That fight was never really about the past, but about ownership of modernity. In contrast, their achievements became largely underappreciated, even deprecated. For regular updates on news and features (as well as twitter action action as it may have happened 100 years ago) to mark the revolutionary period follow @theirishrev HERE Continuing reinterpretation is a function of scholarship and underlying societal assumptions at any given time, or at least that part of society that does the history writing. Now, unlike 50 years ago, new technological platforms allow a wider swathe of interested people to join the conversation. Perhaps, in hindsight, historians 100 years hence will see the seminal expansion of the public conversation as the revolutionary event of our era. Unlike the political veterans of the Rising on parade in 1966, or their prominent critics thereafter, disruptive technology has, for the first time ever, effectively enabled a post-authority generation. Neither politicians, bishops, nor editors command the stature they formerly did. Of bishops, I would make one aside. The reconsideration of 1916 has largely been a pushing out to examine the role of those other than men, particularly famous men. Women of every class are one example. So, too, are children and Livelines Joe Duffys examination of the lives and sometimes tragedy of children in the Rising was poignant. Perhaps reflecting historys role as current affairs and the struggle for who owns modernity, the role of religion in the Rising is seldom touched upon now, in an otherwise self-conscious attempt to be comprehensive. Yet themes of sacrifice and blood were self-consciously enacted during Easter week, by people not only literate but inured in belief. Mainly, we can no longer claim even to passing literacy in religious belief, let alone deeper understanding. So revisionism is constantly evolving. Commemoration is always more about the present than the past. This week is really all about how we see ourselves, now. Clearly, the Rising created a chasm. The 1922 State was implicitly a Catholic state for a Catholic people, and the North was avowedly its opposite. The sundering of the hinterland of plurality from both, was an awful price to pay. But the state which did emerge, if conservative, was also constitutional. Emigration, however, was the sinkhole through which difference and dissent disappeared and social institutions, including industrial schools and Magdalen laundries, mopped up the rest. There is an authentic, bleak history to be written. Yet there were towering achievements that cannot be lost sight of. First WT Cosgrave and then de Valera created and sustained a constitutional democracy which, almost uniquely in Europe, has remained intact and at peace since. The 1937 constitution, written within 20 years of the Rising, is the oldest written constitution extant across the continent. If still tenuous, the Good Friday Agreement, a work in progress under successive government since the late 1980s, is another seminal achievement. The 1937 constitution, in its time, was a foundational document of political moderation and personal liberty. Times change and so naturally does perspective. Gore Vidal defined a narcissist as anybody better looking than yourself. Its a little like that with Irish history. Vidal fancied himself as Americas great biographer, via his historical novels. Fiction is both a gateway and the ultimate end of all history. Truth can never be captured nor understanding ever complete. In a sense, the most insightful historians are our creative writers. Has any professional historian ever bested Sean OCasey? I do not think so. The best historians are scholars who master the craft of creative writing. Enjoyed this? Then check out our dedicated micro-site, developed in collaboration with UCC, to mark the revolutionary period HERE News / National by Staff reporter The National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board says foreign firms will get time to work on outstanding areas relating to compliance with indigenisation requirements provided they submit their plans within the stipulated time.NIEEB also said that there had been a notable increase in enquiries from companies seeking to beat the March 31 deadline to submit their indigenisation plans.Foreign owned companies operating in Zimbabwe are required by law to ensure that at least 51 percent of their shares are held by indigenous Zimbabweans or State owned entities.This law is informed by Government policy designed to empower the previously marginalised black majority and bring them into the mainstream economy.NIEEB chief executive Wilson Gwatiringa said once a foreign owned company has submitted its proposal detailing its plans to comply or showing compliance, such a company would not need to worry."Once they do that they are okay because their plan will be under processing." Crane driver Dempsey Nibbs, 69, then said he beheaded the mother of his two children, Judith Nibbs, 60, because he thought she was a snake. However, the Old Bailey murder trial heard Nibbs had shown no signs of mental illness in the wake of the horrifying killing at the couples home in Hoxton, east London, in April 2014. Prosecutor Crispin Aylett, QC told jurors to brace themselves as he outlined the gruesome case. He told how the couples relationship had soured in the spring of 2014 as Nibbs suspected his wife of having affairs. The victim had confided in her sister and a colleague at Meals on Wheels that the defendant had threatened to kill her and grabbed her by the throat. During a row on April 7, Ms Nibbs, who is originally from Kirkham, near Preston, Lancashire, had admitted seeing other men, taunting Nibbs by saying: I have had sex eight times. The next day, the mother of five predicted her own killing as she left work, with the words: If Im not in Friday, I might be dead. On the night of Thursday, April 10, Nibbs attacked her in their Hoxton flat and knocked her out, Mr Aylett said. He told jurors: What might otherwise have been family tragedy now becomes terrible. "You will, I am afraid, have to brace yourselves. "Having attacked his wife, the defendant then took up a kitchen knife and cut off her head. Nor does the horror end there: having decapitated his wife, the defendant began to break her head into pieces with a mallet and a metal bar. "He then flushed the pieces down the lavatory. The prosecutor went on: Quite why the defendant decapitated Judith and then disposed of her head is not entirely clear but it may well be that he did it out of pure hatred at the sight of his wifes face. After the killing, Nibbs wrote a suicide note addressed to his son Kirk, 30, and rang police to say they would find a couple of dead bodies at his home. A paramedic was first on the scene but he was fobbed off by the defendant. A police officer then arrived and, seeing the headless corpse through the letter box, kicked the door in. He found Nibbs in the bathroom with a shotgun and a kitchen knife which he used to stab himself. The officer grabbed the gun and the knife and Nibbs was taken to hospital with stab wounds. The defendant, who was also diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, was not well enough to be interviewed by police for a year. Mr Aylett told jurors that the defendant admitted killing his partner but that he had been defending himself. The defendant also said that he cut her head off because he thought she was a snake and disposed of it in the toilet, jurors were told. Questions remain about how privacy will be affected in the future, and what will happen the next time the US government is frustrated by digital security lockout features. Government prosecutors have asked a federal judge to vacate a disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary. The FBI used an unspecified technique to access data on an iPhone belonging to gunman Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun battle with police in San Bernardino, California, in December. The Farooks had earlier killed 14 people. The US justice department said agents are now reviewing the information on the phone. The governments brief filing, in the US district court for the Central District of California, provided no details on how the FBI got into the phone. Nor did it identify the non-government outside party who showed agents them how to do so. Authorities had previously said that only Apple could help them unlock the phone. Apple said it will continue to increase the security of its products. We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, a spokesperson the company said, while reiterating its argument that the governments demand for Apples help was wrong. This case should never have been brought. FBI assistant director David Bowdich said that examining the contents of the iPhone was part of the authorities effort to learn if the San Bernardino shooters had worked with others, or had targeted any other victims. I am satisfied that we have access to more answers than we did before, he said. The dispute ignited a fierce debate about digital privacy rights and national security concerns and the impact of encryption on law enforcements ability to serve the public. Californian representative Darrell Issa said that while it is preferable that the government has gained access to the iPhone without Apples help, the question of the extent to which the government should be able to access personal information remains unanswered. Mr Issa, a Republican critic of the administrations domestic surveillance practices, said the governments legal action against Apple raises constitutional and privacy questions and that those worried about our privacy should stay wary, because this does not mean their quest for a secret key into our devices is over. The surprise development punctured the temporary perception that Apples security might have been good enough to keep consumers personal information safe even from the US government. It even prompted Egypts foreign ministry to declare, before the mans capture, that the hijacker is not a terrorist, hes an idiot. A senior Cypriot official said he was psychologically unstable and the incident did not appear related to terrorism. President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus said the hijacking was not something that has to do with terrorism and a Cyprus government official said the man, who was arrested hours later after giving himself up, seems [to be] in love. Mr Anastasiades, appearing alongside European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Nicosia, was asked by reporters whether he could confirm that the incident was about a woman. Always, there is a woman involved, he replied, drawing laughter. The passengers and crew were unharmed. Eighty-one people, including 21 foreigners and 15 crew, had been on board the Airbus 320 when it took off from Alexandria en route to Cairo, Egypts civil aviation ministry said in a statement. Handout CCTV footage posted on the official Facebook page of Egypts Ministry of Interior showing alleged hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa passing through security at Alexandria before boarding EgyptAir MS181. Picture: Ministry of Interior/PA In the midst of the crisis, witnesses said the hijacker had thrown a letter on the apron at Cypruss Larnaca airport, written in Arabic, and asked that it be delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife. After the aircraft landed at Larnaca, negotiations began and everyone on board was freed, except three passengers and four crew, Egypts civil aviation minister Sherif Fethy said. Soon afterwards, Cypriot television footage showed several people leaving the plane via the stairs and another man climbing out of the cockpit window and running off. The hijacker then surrendered to authorities. Its over, said the Cypriot foreign ministry in a tweet. Egyptian prime minister Sherif Ismail said the hijacker was being questioned to ascertain his motives. At some moments, he asked to meet with a representative of the European Union and at other points he asked to go to another airport, but there was nothing specific, he said. Egypts civil aviation ministry said the pilot, Omar al-Gammal, had told authorities that he was threatened by a passenger who claimed to be wearing a suicide explosive belt and forced him to divert the plane to Larnaca. Gammal told Reuters that the hijacker seemed abnormal. I am not in a state to speak, said the exhausted-sounding pilot, adding that he had been obliged to treat the suicide belt as a serious security threat. Photographs on Egyptian state television showed a middle-aged man on a plane wearing glasses and displaying a white belt with bulging pockets and protruding wires. Another photo showed him allow a passenger take a selfie with him. Television channels showed video footage of the hijacker, identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa, 59, being searched by security men at a metal detector at Borg al-Arab airport in Alexandria. Interior ministry officials said he was expelled from law school and had a long criminal record, including robberies. Fethy, the Egyptian minister, said authorities suspected the suicide belt was not genuine but treated the incident as serious to ensure the safety of all those on board. Egyptian Minister of Civil Aviation Sharif Fathy speaks during a press conference at the Ministry headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. Picture: AP/Amr Nabil EgyptAir delayed a New York-bound flight from Cairo onto which some passengers of the hijacked plane had been due to connect. Fethy said it was delayed partly due to a technical issue but partly as a precaution. The incident will deal another blow to Egypts tourism industry and hurt efforts to revive an economy hammered by political unrest following the 2011 uprising that ousted veteran ruler Hosni Mubarak. The sector, a main source of hard currency for the import-dependent country, was already reeling from the crash of a Russian passenger plane in the Sinai peninsula in late October. The latest incident raised renewed questions over airport security in Egypt, though it was not clear if the hijacker was even armed. Ismail said stringent measures were in place. Passengers on the plane included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, an Italian, a Syrian, and a French national, the civil aviation ministry said. Cyprus has seen little militant activity for decades, despite its proximity to the Middle East. In 1988, a Kuwaiti airliner, which had been hijacked from Bangkok to Kuwait in a 16-day siege, had a stopover in Larnaca, where two hostages were killed. Matt Botten, 32, thought he had found super-cheap flights to Reykjavik, Iceland, from Gatwick Airport before being told his hand-luggage was too large. So, he put on a weeks worth of winter clothes all at once. Matt, from Cardiff, said that despite the one-hour embarrassment of looking like the Michelin man, it was worth it. He had six layers on his top, four layers on his legs, three pairs of socks and two pairs of shoes one pair sticking out of his trouser pockets. The two pairs of shoes proved the trickiest items to explain to security, who questioned him for a half-an-hour. Botten, a producer, and his girlfriend, Abigail White, 31, a primary school teacher from Surrey, flew on Saturday for their one-week holiday. Speaking in Iceland, once safely arrived, Matt said: We got cheap flights, and that was cracking. "But when it came to adding on extra baggage, they tried stinging us for 46 quid a bag. When most stuff you own is from Primark and collectively worth half that, it seemed ludicrous. So, I sensibly decided the one-hour embarrassment of looking like the Michelin man, and subsequent odour, was worth the expenditure. Investigators were keeping 216 suspects in custody pending further investigation, said Rana Sanaullah, a state minister for Punjab province from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs ruling party. After further investigation we will know more about them, he said. If someone is found to be guilty they will be charged. Details of the sweeping raids aimed at anyone suspected of Islamist extremism came as the Taliban faction claiming responsibility for the attack issued a new threat, singling out the media. Everyone will get their turn in this war, especially the slave Pakistani media, Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, tweeted. We are just waiting for the appropriate time. The Easter bombing was Pakistans deadliest attack since a 2014 school massacre claimed by the Taliban killed 134 students. Sundays attack, which included 29 children among the dead, showed the militants can still cause carnage despite military raids on their northwestern strongholds. Lahore is the capital of Punjab, Pakistans richest and most populous province and Sharifs political heartland. Sanaullah said at least 160 raids were carried out by a mixture of police, counter-terrorism and intelligence agents and confirmed that army and paramilitary forces would be used in future operations. Military and government officials said that the military was preparing to launch a new paramilitary counter-terrorism crackdown in Punjab. The move represents the government once again granting special powers to the military to fight Islamist militants. Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, which also previously declared loyalty to Islamic State, has carried out five attacks in Pakistan since December. In a TV address to the nation on Monday night, Sharif vowed to continue pursuing militants. I am here to renew a pledge that we are keeping count of every drop of blood of our martyrs. This account is being settled, and we will not rest till it is paid, Sharif said. In Granite Shoals, Texas, one such post, labelled a Breaking News Alert, was shared thousands of times. It even netted an arrest. Police say threats about ebola meth are a fun, harmless sting they set up to catch criminals in the act, even if the joke alludes to what was once an actual global public health crisis. But some advocates said the posts run the risk of degrading trust in law enforcement and public health authorities. Susan Brown told maritime police that after a quarrel she and her husband had decided on Saturday to fly home early from their cruise aboard the Marco Polo which had stopped over that day in Madeira, Felix Marques, harbour captain at Madeiras Funchal port, said. However, Marques said Brown told police she later lost sight of her husband at Funchal airport after they argued and was feeling desperate. A Unicef report said all sides had exponentially increased the use of child soldiers in the conflict between Houthi forces, allied to Iran, and a Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemens president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. It knew of 848 documented cases, including boys as young as 10. On average, at least six children have been killed or injured every day, said the report Childhood on the Brink. Unicef has confirmed 934 children directly killed and 1,356 injured, but says they are only a tip of the iceberg. 61% of those [children] killed and injured were in [Saudi-led] air strikes across the country, Julien Harneis, Unicefs Representative in Yemen, told a briefing by telephone from the capital Sanaa. All sides have violated international law by using indiscriminate and disproportionate force that means children die unnecessarily and wrongly, he said, citing multiple coalition strikes on outdoor markets. Basic services and infrastructure are on the verge of total collapse, the report said, noting attacks on schools, hospitals, and the water and sanitation system. The UN said last week the warring parties had agreed to a cessation of hostilities from April 10 and peace talks from April 18, after a year of war that has killed more than 6,200 people. Were hoping that the truce kicks in on the 10th and will allow parents and families to come and access health services and other services, Harneis told Reuters earlier. In Saada in the last week, there has definitely been a reduction of fighting in the border area. In Sanaa, we have seen fewer [Saudi-led] air strikes, he said. Nearly half of Yemens 22 provinces are on the verge of famine, the UNs World Food Programme said last week. Unicef delivers nutritional supplies and vaccines against measles, polio, and other childhood diseases in the country of 24m, but it is not enough, Harneis said. Unicef estimates that nearly 10,000 children under 5 years may have died in the past year from preventable diseases, it said, citing lower vaccination rates and declines in treatment. Capitol Police identified the man as 66-year-old Larry R Dawson of Tennessee. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer while armed. Dawson was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery. Police said he was in stable but critical condition late on Monday. Dawson disrupted a House of Representatives session last October by shouting that he was a Prophet of God. He was issued a stay away order by the District of Columbia Superior Court that same month that required him to avoid the Capitol grounds, court documents show. The incident, in which a bystander was slightly injured, occurred at the tourists entry point to a building that had heightened security even before the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, and has had periodic scares ever since. Capitol Police chief Matthew R Verderosa held a brief news conference at which he preliminarily ruled out terrorism. We do believe this is an act of a single person who has frequented the Capitol grounds before and there is no reason to believe that this is anything more than a criminal act, he said. There appeared to be more police officers than usual at some posts outside the buildings as the Capitol and its surrounding buildings resumed business. Even so, the reopening was marred as police investigated a pair of suspicious packages. By mid-morning, the Capitol Police had cleared one package at the Capitols East Front and were investigating another at the Library of Congress Jefferson Building. That resulted in some road closures, and police were not letting additional people into the Capitol Visitor Centre. Burma Advocacy Groups Engage Men to End Sexual Harassment Advocacy groups are creating training programs that engage men, in an effort to understand and confront sexual harassment and violence against women in Burma RANGOON With an increase in gender equality movements in recent years in Burma, advocacy groups are beginning to prioritize engaging men in an effort to end sexual harassment and violence against women. Gender experts say including men in gender awareness programs is one strategy to solve the countrys gender-based violence. Htar Htar, founder of Akhaya Women, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the organization has tried to promote change in traditional Burmese gender norms, which incorrectly tell men that they are the more powerful gender, potentially leading them to commit sexual violence against women. Men are taught by their families and society to be tough and to react in violent ways to solve problems, she said. Women are taught to be soft, dependent, and to stay silent, which results in victim-blaming in rape cases. Akhaya Women educates men about sexuality and gender identity in order to help [men] understand more about womens bodies, she said. When we say sexuality, it is not about how to have sex, she said. We teach [men] to understand themselves and the nature of male and female bodies, so they can learn how to respect women. Male-dominated and socially conservative, Burma ranked 85th of 187 countries in a 2014 gender inequality index, according to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). Although the UNFPA and civil society organizations helped draft an anti-violence law in July 2015, it was never enacted. Nilar Tun, national gender advisor of Care International Myanmar, said the organization began engaging men last July by providing trainings of trainers (TOT) workshops for male NGO employees, and hopes to do more community-level training. During the trainings, male participants were asked to reflect on their daily lives, and whether they had taken part in or witnessed any sort of sexual offense, she told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. She explained different patterns of gender-based violence to the men and encouraged them to speak out against sexual assault. While reflecting, some of the men told me they realized they might have somehow committed sexual assault on women in their daily lives, either intentionally or unintentionally, she said. She said the majority of men who took part in the training programs had changed their attitude toward women. They started to learn how to respect their partners, wives or girlfriends, she said. Dr. Sithu Htun, a member of the Gender Equality Networks Engaging Men Working Group initiative, echoed Nilar Tun. He told The Irrawaddy that he learned the effectiveness of mens involvement in stopping sexual harassment after receiving training from Care International. I was afraid when I realized I might have committed sexual harassment, knowingly or unknowingly, he said, adding that before receiving the training, he wasnt aware of what actions could be defined as sexual harassment. I learned that even catcalling counts as sexual harassment, he said. The trainers asked the men what might lead perpetrators to commit sexual assault. Society expects men to be dominant, aggressive, heads of household who can feed their family members, he said. When men cannot meet the social expectations of men, they feel pressured, and failing these expectations may lead them to have sexual aggression. Ethnic Chin activist Cheery Zahau told The Irrawaddy that men usually think that discussions about violence against women are not relevant to them. This idea is so wrong, she said. It impacts their family membersmothers, sisters, wives and female partners. Sithu Htun said engaging men in gender discussions was one of the most sustainable ways to end sexual violence against women, and that another way was to include gender identity lessons in Burmas school curriculums. Htar Htar also said including sex education lessons in school could reduce gender-based violence and discrimination against homosexuality. However, she raised concerns over the misunderstanding of sex education in traditional Burmese society. Sex education means teaching children about the functions of human sex organs, like other body parts, she said. I hope our society becomes less conservative, and allows people to understand what sex education really is. Cheery Zahau said including men in gender equality discussions remained a challenge. Most Burmese men still dont seem ready to take part in gender discussions, she said. News / National by Staff reporter The main opposition MDC-T rallied churches, civic groups and other opposition parties to join its campaign to force government to lift the ban on the award winning documentary, The Democrats, which chronicles the 2013 constitution making process.MDC-T secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora yesterday said Zimbabweans deserved to be given the chance to view the documentary as there was nothing criminal about its contents.Mwonzora also featured in the documentary alongside Zanu-PF representative Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana.Meanwhile, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was yesterday dragged to court over allegations that he accused a senior military officer of having been a key player behind the political violence that rocked the country during the 2008 elections.In the High Court defamation lawsuit, army colonel Christopher Mayoyo is demanding $500 000 from the allegations that the discredited presidential run-offs of the holy disputed 2008 elections. Interview Arakan Chief Minister: We Havent Discussed the States IDP Camps Arakan State Chief Minister and NLD MP Nyi Pu spoke to The Irrawaddy about his appointment to the post in light of local opposition. After his appointment to the role of Arakan State Chief Minister by the National League for Democracy (NLD), party member and Lower House MP Nyi Pu spoke to The Irrawaddys Moe Myint on Tuesday about the local opposition to his selection for the post, the state level cabinet and terminology regarding the states Muslim minority. Locals have been protesting against you and the NLD. What do you think about this? I have heard there are several protests. All those matters are concerning the development of Arakan State and maybe they are expressing their personal wishes. I have nothing special to say about that [to protestors]. I would like to say that people should do what benefits their state. If these rallies continue happening, what will you do? I cant say precisely what is going to happen next, its really difficult to say. As I said, if we have difficulties, we have to solve them together. Many Arakanese have strong ideas regarding partisanship. What challenges could you face as the chief minister of Arakan State? There may be some difficulties in Arakan State, but no matter whether we call them challenges or difficulties, we will try our best and collaborate with others to solve the problemspeople who can help us. I will cooperate with them, but I havent specified who that might be. The NLD government has decreased the number of Union ministries and ministers. What will the state-level cabinet look like? Will the number of state level ministers also decrease? It is possible. I dont know exactly right now. It is uncomfortable to say because it hasnt officially been announced yet. I have selected some people. The central authorities [of the NLD] are choosing. NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi met with the 14 appointed Union ministers in Naypyidaw last week and they reportedly discussed their conceptual plan for the first 100 days in power. Do you have a strategy for your first 100 days as chief minister? We had a plan, but later, when we start to serve our duties, I will discuss and negotiate these matters with the state level ministers who are involved in the cabinet. We have many things to do. After the discussion, we will decide which matters should be targeted as the first priorities. Would you give some examples of that? They will concern Arakan State development. After Arakan States riots in 2012, many people became displaced and were forced to seek shelter in refugee, or IDP, camps within the region. Community tensions have not eased yet and security has been heightened in several quarters and villages. How will you proceedwill you maintain these camps in the same manner as the previous administration? I cant say exactly at this time and havent discussed this. Many locals refer to the people in these camps as Bengali and allege that they migrated from Bangladesh, but many in the international community know them as Rohingya. As you are an ethnic Arakanese minister, how do you regard themwhich term will you use? Before us, the previous government already specified which to use the word for them and Suu Kyi has considered it too, recently. That is all I can say. So, you are going to follow the previous governments usage? At the moment, that still exists. When the Arakan State state speaker read your name as the chief minister appointee to the regional legislature, all of the Arakan National Party (ANP) MPs walked out on Monday. Can you comment on that? I realize they had [their own] feelings about how to develop their state and they showed their dissatisfaction. Thats all. On the ground, are there any bad relationships between NLD and ANP MPs? Not bad, but we have some difficultiesthey vary but they are difficult to unveil. Suu Kyi meet with Naypyidaw-based ANP MPs and asked about collaboration. You are the one who has to talk everyday with Sittwe-based ANP MPs. Have you asked also them for collaboration on the ground? Collaboration is the designated policy of our party and I will do as much as I can, based on the partys policies. According to state media, the state of emergency that had been placed on Arakan State in June 2012 following communal riots was lifted on Monday, on the second to last day of the outgoing administrations term. It also coincided with the protests mentioned earlier. What do you think about the governments decision to do this? Was it intentional or coincidental? When it is retracted, people are independent and they can protest freely. People also protested due to the military regime. In a democratic country, it is [their right to do this]. I have no feeling about this. Burma Chaw Sandi Tun, Famed Facebook Antagonizer, Released From Prison An Irrawaddy Division prison frees Chaw Sandi Tun, who was jailed last year for a photo collage shared on Facebook deemed defamatory to the military. RANGOON The Maupin Prison in Irrawaddy Division on Wednesday set free Chaw Sandi Tun, the 25-year-old National League for Democracy (NLD) supporter who was jailed last year for an online posting of a photo collage deemed defamatory to the military. She had been serving a six-month prison sentence after she was found guilty of defamation under Article 66(d) of Burmas Telecommunications Law for the Facebook post, which compared redesigned Burma Amy uniforms to a similarly colored traditional green htamein, a female longyi, worn by NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Detained on Oct. 12 and sentenced in late December, her discharge comes about a week earlier than expected. Upon her release, Chaw Sandi Tun told The Irrawaddy that prison authorities simply told her she was due to walk free. I was put in solitary confinement for two months in a room of Insein Prison, as they considered me a politician. Thus I did not get a chance to speak to other prisoners in jail. I therefore had to speak out about it with the officials, she said. Prison authorities eventually transferred her to Maupin Prison and moved her into a shared cell, where she said conditions were crowded, sanitation lacking and prisoners were forced to sleep without protective mosquito netting, prompting fears of mosquito-borne illnesses. Something that I would like to say is that they should have basic health care provision, with mosquito nets so that people can be prevented from [mosquito-borne illnesses like] Zika virus, which is reportedly dangerous and threatening people around the world, Chaw Sandi Tun told The Irrawaddy. She said Maupin Prison officials had arranged her travel from the prison to her home, despite her telling them that family and friends were willing to pick her up. I think, they do not want many people to know about my release, she said. Chaw Sandi Tuns mother Ei San said police had detained her daughter in October while she was making merit at a meditation center in Rangoon, a move she found particularly galling. In this case, it is totally unfair to my daughter, that they sentenced her to six months, Ei San said. As for her future, Chaw Sandi Tun said she had no immediate plans and had not yet decided what would follow her imprisonment, which became a cause celebre among freedom of speech advocates. Chaw Sandi Tun is one of a handful of social media users in Burma that have run afoul of the law for their online activity over the last year. Most recently, on Monday, a local official from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was sentenced to six months for sharing a fake, altered image of Suu Kyi transposed onto the body of a naked woman. Burma Ex-President Thein Sein a No-Show at NLD State Dinner Burmas former President Thein Sein is reportedly absent from a state dinner hosted by the newly sworn-in National League for Democracy government. RANGOON Burmas ex-President Thein Sein and all of his former cabinet members were reportedly absent from a state dinner hosted by the newly sworn-in National League for Democracy government on Wednesday evening, while the Burma Army commander-in-chief and his wife did attend. The dinner, to celebrate the handover earlier in the day of presidential responsibilities to the NLD government steered by party chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi, was held at the Presidential Palace in Naypyidaw. The hosts, victorious in a November election that swept the party to power, invited senior figures from the defeated Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government, including Thein Sein, as well as military officials including Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief. The ceremonial handover of presidential responsibilities was held at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday morning, when the outgoing Thein Sein handed over responsibilities to the newly sworn-in President Htin Kyaw, Suu Kyis pick to nominally head the executive. The Thein Sein administration came to power in 2011 and his five-year term officially concluded on Wednesday. Htin Kyaw was selected for the presidency earlier this month, after an unsuccessful campaign by Suu Kyi to amend Burmas controversial Constitution, which bars her from the office because her children are foreigners. Though the retired general Thein Sein reached out to Suu Kyi early in his term, inviting her to his home in 2011, relations between the two appeared to sour in recent years as the NLD leader pushed vocally for changes to the Constitution. Burma New National Defense and Security Council Formed Following the Wednesday morning transfer of power, the Presidents Office announces the newly reconfigured membership of Burmas National Defense and Security Council. RANGOON Following a long-awaited power transfer on Wednesday, Burmas new civilian-led National League for Democracy government formed a reconfigured 11-member National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) as one of its first acts in office. The Presidents Office released an announcement of the new membership, signed by President Htin Kyaw, soon after he was sworn into office, with the Burma Army commander-in-chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, his deputy Lt-Gen Soe Win, and Defense Minister Lt-Gen Sein Win retaining their seats from the preceding administration. The powerful executive body also includes Htin Kyaw; two vice presidents, retired Lt-Gen Myint Swe and ethnic Chin former lawmaker Henry Van Thio; speakers of the Upper and Lower houses, Mahn Win Khaing Than and Win Myint; Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi; Home Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe; and Border Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Ye Aung. The NDSC is empowered by the Constitution to formulate policy regarding certain military and security issues, including the right to petition the president to declare a nationwide state of emergency. The military commands a 6-5 majority in the council. Suu Kyi, chairwoman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), assumed the role of Foreign Minister, and therefore a position on the NDSC, following her partys landslide victory in the 2015 general election. She took the role because she is constitutionally barred from becoming president under the 2008 military-drafted Constitution. The Union Parliament officially announced that the NLD leader will take four ministerial positions, heading up the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, and Electric Power and Energy, as well the lone Presidents Office ministerial post. Burma Shan Community Groups Denounce European-Backed Dam Projects Citing environmental damage, ethnic Shan organizations and villagers call for an end to four planned hydropower projects on the Namtu River. RANGOON Ethnic Shan communities in northern Shan State have called for an end to four planned hydropower dams on the Namtu River, an Irrawaddy tributary, citing irreparable damage to the environment. More than 100 people gathered in Hsipaw Township to hold a prayer service on the bank of Namtu River on Wednesday morning, which was followed by a press conference in the afternoon. The action coincided with the launch of a report by Shan community-based groups called Save the Namtu River. The work exposes a lack of transparency around plans to construct dams which will block half the length of one of Shan States most well-known rivers, irreversibly impacting its ecology and the lives of tens of thousands of people relying on it. If completed, the four dams would be located in Hsipaw, Kyaukme and Nawngkhio townshipswhich contain locations where fighting has recently broken out between government forces and ethnic Palaung (Taang) armed groups. They would produce a combined capacity of around 1200 megawatts, according to Sai Kham Myat, a spokesperson from the Shan State Farmers Network (SSFN), and include the Deedok (66 MW capacity), Middle Yeywar (700 MW), Upper Yeywar or Ta Long (280-308 MW), and Namtu (100 MW), respectively. In a joint statement also released on Wednesday, Shan local residents, the Shan Human Rights Foundation, the Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization and SSFN alleged that foreign firms from China, Japan, Norway, and Switzerland are exploiting resources in ethnic conflict areas. The hypocrisy of Norway and Switzerland in particular was highlighted in the statement because of the countries demonstrated support for Burmas peace process in exchange for profit from the Naypyidaw government before the peace has been reached. Sai Kham Myat added that Australian and German firms are also involved in all four dam projects. Nang Lao Kham, a resident of Hsipaws Ta Long village, where a 308-megawatt dam is slated to be completed in 2018, told The Irrawaddy we are worried about our village, which is in the downriver area, so we want to be consulted if the new dams are to be built. These can not be done without the proper public consultation, she continued. We also want the current government [newly sworn-in today] to consider carefully before implementing any dam projects. Sai Kham Myat also told The Irrawaddy that in addition to their environmental concerns, the villagers in Ta Long have not yet received the compensation for farmland which was seized in order to build road infrastructure for the new dam projects. Community environmental groups first informed locals about the Namtu dams in 2014. Nang Lao Kham explained that they then sought solutions and input from local authorities at the township and district levels of their respective towns, but after two years, they still have not received a response. In February, locals enlisted help from the Shan lawmaker Sai Kham Aung from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD). He represents Hsipaws constituents in Parliament, and shared their appeal, speaking on their behalf regarding forced relocation as a result of the planned Namtu dam projects. In Wednesdays statement, Sai Khur Hseng of Shan Sapawa is quoted as saying For Naypyidaw, to push ahead with large dams in conflict zones against the wishes of local ethnic communities, is thumbing their nose at the peace process. If the new NLD-led government wants to build peace, they must immediately stop dams on Namtu River as well as other rivers in the conflict-affected ethnic areas, he added. Burma Super Minister Suu Kyi to Remain NLDs Leader Chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi will continue to lead the NLD, despite holding ministerial positions that constitutionally ban her from party activities. RANGOON Chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi will continue to lead the National League for Democracy (NLD), despite holding ministerial positions that constitutionally ban her from party activities, according to the NLD spokesperson. Burmas 2008 Constitution states that if a government minister is a member of any political party, [they] shall not take part in its party activities during the term of office, from the day [they are] appointed as a Union minister. After her nomination by President-elect Htin Kyaw, Suu Kyi was approved as a Cabinet member on March 24; her portfolio of multiple ministerial positions in foreign affairs, education, the Presidents office and electric power and energy was approved on Wednesday by the Union Parliament, designating her the new governments super minister. The NLD spokesperson Zaw Myint Maung told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the Noble Peace Laureate will remain the leader of the party she has presided over since its formation in 1988. She will no longer be involved in the partys activities, but she will be still the party leader, he explained. The constitution doesnt say you have to leave the party if you take a Union minister position. An NLD-government will take power on April 1, after being sworn in at Parliament on Wednesday and winning a sweeping victory in the general election of 2015. During this time, Zaw Myint Maung explained that the partys leadership will be supplemented by a newly formed five-member secretariat and the partys existing central executive committee (CEC). The group is made up of NLD senior members, including Win Htein, Nyan Win, Lower House Speaker Win Myint, Han Tha Myint as well as spokesperson Zaw Myint Maung. Asked whether Suu Kyi would be involved in serious party decisions, the spokesperson said that the NLDs CEC team has the experience and ability to handle any situations which arise. The NLD survived the difficult period when she was under house arrest, Zaw Myint Maung said of Suu Kyis 15 years in detainment. The situation now is not as serious as it was. We can collectively make it, if needed, he said. Even in Burmas previous military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) administration, it was ambiguous whether those with an executive position in the government could retain the top position in a political party. In 2015, former president Thein Sein resumed a leadership role within the USDP after he purged party chairman Shwe Mann from the position. Shwe Mann was originally selected for the role in 2013 as a replacement for Thein Sein, who, as President could no longer be involved in party activities. Burma Swearing In, Speech and Handover Mark Day of Shifting Power President Htin Kyaw is sworn in and delivers a brief speech to Parliament, emphasizing familiar themes of his party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). RANGOON President Htin Kyaw was sworn in and delivered a brief speech to Parliament on Wednesday, emphasizing familiar themes of his party, the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD), and noting the significance of his history-making presidency. National reconciliation; peace-building; democratic constitutional reform based on principles of federalism; and improving livelihoods were listed by the president as priorities for his administration. The second Parliament and cabinets, which are the result of the 2015 November general election, are formed in accordance with the policies of the NLD, which is led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, he said, alluding to the most famous non-president in the parliamentary chamber on Wednesday. Htin Kyaw, who was sworn in earlier in the morning, indicated that his partys push to amend the countrys 2008 Constitution would continue as it takes the reins of government. I have an obligation to work toward having a Constitution that is of a democratic standard and which is suitable for the country, he said. I understand that we have to work patiently to achieve the political ambitions that our public has sought for many years. At less than three minutes, the speech was as notable for what wasnt said as what was, in a country beset by problems andas evidenced by the NLDs November election triumpheager for the leadership of its chairwoman Suu Kyi. For now, anyway, the face of that leadership will be Htin Kyaw. Burmas first civilian president in more than five decades will also be the countrys first proxy president, described by Suu Kyi as an obedient executor of her will. The unusual arrangement was deemed necessary by the NLD chairwoman after her campaign to amend a constitutional provision barring her from the post came up short. Article 59(f) bars anyone with foreign spouses or offspring from the presidency, rendering Suu Kyi ineligible because her two sons are British, as was her late husband. Htin Kyaw was put forward by the NLD on March 10 and won the most votes among three vice presidential nominees five days later. The two runners up, military appointee Myint Swe and NLD lawmaker Henry Van Thio, will serve in Htin Kyaws administration as vice president Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. Suu Kyi will take four ministerial portfolios in Htin Kyaws cabinet, ensuring she will remain close to the action in the executive branch at the head of the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Electric Power & Energy, and Education, as well as acting as Presidents Office minister. Like Htin Kyaw, she was sworn in on Wednesday in Parliament, along with 17 other ministers. Htin Kyaw succeeds former President Thein Sein, the retired general who presided over a quasi-civilian Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government lauded for undertaking a series of dramatic political and economic reforms over the last five years, but also criticized for failing to push changes further. While Thein Sein opened the political space to a greater degree of freedom compared with the repressive junta that preceded his government, peaceful protestors continued to be imprisoned under his watch, and efforts to amend Burmas controversial Constitution faltered last year, with Thein Sein indicating little appetite for changes to the charter. That mixed legacy will no doubt be the subject of much debate in the years to come. His successor, in closing remarks, promised a government responsive to its citizens. In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that the Union government will work with full attention to fulfill the publics expectations and desires, Htin Kyaw told lawmakers on Wednesday. A ceremonial transfer of power took place at the Presidential Palace less than an hour later, with Thein Sein handing over a golden presidential sash and dossier of responsibilities to Htin Kyaw. The five-minute ceremony was attended by Suu Kyi and other members of Htin Kyaws cabinet, as well as ministers of the outgoing, military-backed USDP executive. Burma The Faces of the Next Five Years: Burmas Sworn-In Leadership A look at the profiles of the new President, vice presidents and Cabinet sworn in during an official ceremony at Parliament in Naypyidaw. After 54 years, Burma now has a civilian president. Htin Kyaw, the ninth president of Burma, along with two vice presidents and 18 cabinet members, was sworn in at the Union Parliament in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, ushering Burma into a new chapter in the countrys democratization process. Those who have spent their entire lives under a military regime will likely celebrate this shift, which marks a milestone on, rather than an end to, the countrys political journey. Yet a number of acute problemsarmed clashes, rampant corruption, natural resource exploitation, strong centralization and bureaucratic red-tapelie ahead for both the Burmese public and the National League for Democracys (NLD) government to tackle. There were 36 ministries under the previous administration, but the NLD has reduced this number to 21 in order to streamline the Cabinet; below are the menand womanwho will lead Burmas government through the next five years. Htin Kyaw (President) Born in 1946, the 69-year-old is the oldest president in Burmas history. He is the second son of Min Thuwun, one of Burmas respected national poets. The Mon-Burmese University of London graduate was a senior executive with the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a non-profit health and education charity named for Suu Kyis mother. He is believed to one of The Ladys right-hand men. His wife, Su Su Lwin, is a Lower House NLD lawmaker and the chairperson for the chambers international relations committee. Myint Swe (Vice President 1) Brig-Gen Myint Swe was born in 1951 and is a graduate of the 15th intake of the Defense Services Academy (DSA) in 1971. In the late 1990s, Myint Swe took over outgoing president Thein Seins role as general staff officer, a powerful position in the War Office, where he worked directly under Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye. He became commander of Light Infantry Division 11 in 1997. Later, he was appointed Commander of the armys Southeastern Command and Rangoon Command. A member of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) since 2001, Myint Swe also acted as the chairman of the SPDC in Rangoon Division. Myint Swe became the Chief of Military Security Affairs after Khin Nyunt was purged in 2004. Two years later, he was appointed the head of the Bureau of Special Operations (5), a department that oversees security affairs in Rangoon. In 2009, he became quartermaster-general of the armed forces and rumors circulated that he was Than Shwes choice for the next commander-in-chief. Instead he became the chief minister for Rangoon Division after the 2012 by-elections. In this role, he was involved in the 2002 arrest of family members of the former dictator Ne Win, the arrest of Khin Nyunt and his associates in 2004, and the crushing of the Saffron Revolution in 2007. Henry Van Thio (Vice President 2) Henry Van Thio was born in Thee Khi village in Htantalan Township in Chin State on August 9, 1958. The Chin Christian holds a BA (Dip in Law). He served as a Major in the Burma Army, as well as in different positions in Ministry of Industry (1), before retiring in 2009. He is married and has two sons and a daughter. He joined the National League for Democracy (NLD) in 2015 and in the national election of that same year, he contested and won in Chin State Constituency (3), earning a seat in Burmas Upper House. Aung San Suu Kyi (Foreign Affairs, Education, Electric Power and Energy, Presidents Office Minister) NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyis presidential aspirations were dashed by the militarys refusal to amend Article 59(f) of Burmas 2008 Constitution. The provision bars her from holding the executive post because her two sons are British citizens, as was her late husband. As the holder of four cabinet positions, some are referring to Suu Kyis role in the new government as that of a super minister. She has been representing Rangoons Kawhmu Township in Parliaments Lower House since 2012 and has been a leader in Burmas pro-democracy movement since she entered politics in 1988. Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe (Home Affairs Minister) Born on Nov. 27, 1959 in Kyauk Padaung, Mandalay Division, Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe is a graduate of the 22nd intake of the Defense Services Academy and holds a masters degree in defense. He served as principal of the Defense Services Academy, the commander of South West Command, the Military Security Affairs chief and Border Affairs Minister in the previous government. Lt-Gen Sein Win (Defense Minister) Born on July 24, 1956 in Sagaing Division, Lt-Gen Sein Win is a graduate of the 54th intake of the Officer Training School of the Burma Army and holds a masters degree in defense. He served as chief of the Bureau of Air Defense and was the Defense Minister in the previous government. Lt-Gen Ye Aung (Border Affairs Minister) Born on June 8, 1960 in Chauk, Magwe Division, Lt-Gen Ye Aung is a graduate of the 23rd intake of the Defense Services Academy and holds a masters degree in defense. He served as the commander of the armys Central Command and is Judge Advocate General in the service. He is also a military representative in the peace talks between the government, ethnic armed groups and the Burma Army. Pe Myint (Information Minister) Born in 1949 in Thandwe, Arakan State, the ethnic Arakanese earned his medical degree from the Rangoon University of Medicine in 1975. He worked as a general physician until entering the literary sphere in 1988. He is a renowned writer and is particularly known for his translated works on motivation and personal development. He won Burmas national literature award in 1995. Thura Aung Ko (Religious Affairs and Culture Minister) Born on April 1, 1948, the long-time Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) central executive committee member was a Lower House MP and chairperson of the Judicial and Legal Affairs Committee during Thein Seins administration. He lost his Chin State legislative seat in the 2015 election to a candidate from the NLD. Thura Aung Ko graduated from Burmas Defense Services Academy and served in the military from 1969 to 1997. He had reached the level of brigadier-general when he then joined the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) government and served as deputy minister in the Ministry of Science and Technology and later held the same position in the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Aung Thu (Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Minister) Born on July 8, 1955, the NLD lawmaker currently represents Rangoon Constituency (6) in Parliaments Upper House. He is known for his past role as the rector of Rangoon University, and has advocated for a more decentralized education system in Burma. Thant Zin Maung (Transportation and Telecommunications Minister) Born on Nov. 15, 1953, Thant Zin Maung has a masters degree in mathematics and was once the general manager of the government-owned Myanmar Railways. He is a Lower House lawmaker representing Monywa in Sagaing Division. Ohn Win (Resource and Environmental Conservation Minister) Born on June 15, 1951, Ohn Win earned a masters degree in watershed management from Colorado State University in the United States. He is a former pro-rector and professor from the University of Forestry in Yezin, near Naypyidaw, Burmas capital. Thein Swe (Minister for Labor and Immigration) Born on Aug. 4, 1949 in Yenangyaung, Magwe Division, Thein Swe is a graduate of the 13th intake of the Defense Services Academy. He holds a diploma certificate in defense studies (National Defense College), an honorary academic doctorate (Japan International Marine Science and Technology Federation) and a post-graduate diploma in law. He was in the service from 1967 to 2003 and rose through the ranks to major general. He served as the Minister for Transport from 2005 to 2010. He is from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), served in the previous Parliament and is a lawmaker in the Lower House for Arakan States Ann Township. Khin Maung Cho (Minister for Industry) Born on Nov. 3, 1950 in Meikhtila, Mandalay Division, Khin Maung Cho has a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from Rangoon Institute of Technology and is an executive engineer at Super Seven Stars Motor Industry Company Ltd. Than Myint (Commerce Minister) Born on Jan. 17, 1943, the 72-year-old joined the NLD in 2012. Than Myint is currently the chairman of the Hlaing Tharyar Township NLD chapter and a lawmaker in the Lower House representing the same area. He has a bachelors degree in economics from Rangoon University and also earned masters and doctoral degrees in the US. In the past, he served in a number of positions within the Ministry of Finance. Dr. Myint Htwe (Health Minister) Myint Htwe worked in Burmas Health Ministry from 1976 to 1994 before joining the World Health Organization. He studied at Rangoon University of Medicine, then the Institute of Public Health of the University of Philippines and finally, Johns Hopkins University in the United States, where he earned a doctoral degree in international health and epidemiology. At present, Myint Htwe is a central executive committee (CEC) member of the Myanmar Academy of Medical Science and the vice chairman of the Myanmar Liver Foundation. He is also a member of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission. Kyaw Win (Planning and Finance Minister) Born on Feb. 23, 1948, Kyaw Win holds a bachelors degree in economics. He spent 20 years working within the National Planning Ministry before joining the Internal Revenue Department and then shifting to business consulting. Currently, Kyaw Win is an NLD lawmaker in the Lower House representing Rangoons Dagon Seikkan Township. Win Khaing (Construction Minister) Win Khaing graduated from Rangoon Institute of Technology (now Yangon Technological University) and worked for Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise under the Construction Ministry. In 1990, he established United Engineering Co., which still operates today. He is the current chairman of the Myanmar Engineering Society and a member of the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC). He is also a member of the National Energy Management Committee (NEMC), Myanmar Industrial Development Committee (MIDC), Myanmar Board of Engineers (MBE), Committee for Quality Control of High-rise Buildings Projects (CQHP), Asean Federation of Engineering Organizations (AFEO) and Asean Academy of Engineering and Technology (AAET). Win Myat Aye (Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Minister) Born on June 1, 1954, Win Myat Aye is an Upper House lawmaker from Pegu Divisions Constituency (4). He is also a pediatrician and once served as the rector of Magwe University of Medicine. Ohn Maung (Hotels and Tourism Minister) Sixty-eight-year-old Ohn Maung has 40 years of experience in the tourism industry and is the former CEO of Inle Princess Resort, a hotel recognized for practices of corporate social responsibility. From southern Shan State, Ohn Maung was elected as an NLD parliamentarian in his native Nyaungshwe (Yawnghwe) in Burmas 1990 election, but like others from the era, he was not allowed to take office. Nai Thet Lwin (Ethnic Affairs Minister) The 76-year-old ethnic Mon minister is the vice chairman of the Mon National Party (MNP), and is highly respected within the Mon political sphere. Nai Thet Lwin was born in Karen States Kawkareik Township and later went to Moulmein University, from which he holds a bachelors degree in philosophy. Although he did not run for election in 1990, he served as the vice chairman of the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), which won five seats before later evolving into todays MNP. Nai Thet Lwin reportedly has close ties with the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), a coalition of ethnic political parties and an NLD ally. He also reportedly has good relations with leaders of the New Mon State Party (NMSP). News / National by Staff reporter FORMER Vice-President Joice Mujuru's newly-launched opposition party, Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF), yesterday claimed the ruling Zanu-PF party and State security agents had deployed agents within its ranks to destabilise it.ZimPF founding spokesperson Rugare Gumbo told NewsDay that their party was aware Zanu-PF had infiltrated the party's structures, but vowed to soldier on and mount a strong challenge to President Robert Mugabe ahead of the 2018 elections."We know that they have deployed spies within our organisation to peddle falsehoods and cause confusion even to take information and understand our activities, but that will not deter us in anyway," he said.Gumbo's remarks came amid claims by insiders that the party was reluctant to open its head office in Harare, preferring to have its headquarters in South Africa as a strategy to minimise infiltration by ruling party spies."It's not true that we have offices in South Africa," Gumbo said."That is why I was saying there could be some people deployed to peddle falsehoods and cause divisions within the party. We are yet to have an office here because of funds. Once we get the funds rolling, we will have a fully-fledged office, which will co-ordinate our affairs, but we are there on the ground."He said even if they had been infiltrated, solving the economic problems besetting Zimbabwe was an issue beyond Zanu-PF."What should be noted and understood is that even if they infiltrate us, Zanu-PF has no capacity to solve the country's problems because they are the authors of the same problems," he said."So infiltrating us will not help this country at all. People are ready to build a working Zimbabwe and Zanu-PF must know this."But Zanu-PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo yesterday denied Gumbo's infiltration claims, describing ZimPF as a "dead project"."I can't be talking about dead projects without any significance to the way we run our party or government. We are very busy. What is People First anyway?" he quipped, before switching off his mobile phone.This is not the first time that opposition parties have accused Zanu-PF of deploying spies to gain sensitive information and plot the collapse of most democratic movements since the 1990s.MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has previously accused Zanu-PF of infiltrating his party's structures and fuelling the many divisions that have rocked the opposition since its formation in 1999.Political analyst Alexander Rusero said ZimPF's allegations of infiltration could be far-fetched and exaggerated."It's one thing for the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) to infiltrate a political party and another for employees of CIO to be members of the People First. So the danger is, we may mistake membership for infiltration," he said.Another analyst, Ibbo Mandaza, said it was possible that ZimPF might have been infiltrated by State agents, just like any other movement opposing the ruling party."Infiltration is not new and is possible, but any organisation can survive depending on the character and strength of its leaders and content. With a clear leadership and a strong message, infiltration will not help much," he said.Mujuru was kicked out of Zanu-PF on allegations of plotting to unseat President Robert Mugabe.She was bundled out of the ruling party in 2014 alongside several former top government officials, who were deemed sympathetic to her, among them Gumbo and former State Security minister Didymus Mutasa. Major: Communication Hometown: Brazil, IN Student Media Involvement: Syc Creations Favorite Food: Burgers with everything but mustard Fun Fact: He really loves superhero movies, and wants to make his own someday News / National by Thobekile Zhou President Robert Mugabe has suggested that he is not to be blamed for his 36 year old un-interrupted rule saying anyone unhappy with his constitutional stay in power should condemn the people of Zimbabwe as they are the ones who gave him the mandate.Said Mugabe in Japan yesterday "if they don't like my long stay in power they should criticise my people, I do not vote for myself into power," he said."You just go to Zimbabwe now and ask the people whether I should stand down. They will be angry with you."According to the Herald, Mugabe (92) said if he is physically fit in 2018, he will not hesitate to seek another presidential term."At the moment I am the President that's why (I am here). Do you see me as not fit? Why not contest two years later?"Two years later is no time but only God knows what will happen in two years' time, 2018, I don't know, it will depend. If I am fit enough, yes, but If I am not fit enough I will not. My people will want me to be a candidate and they have already nominated me as a candidate for 2018." Its Enterprise Grade Subscription Billing, Commerce and Finance Solutions have been certified to AS 27001 and SC Magazine named it Best Security Team of 2016 for Exceptionally Executed and Managed Security Program. Zuora, the worlds leading provider of subscription billing, commerce and finance solutions, has announced it has obtained ISO 27001 certification for its platform. ISO 27001 is the only internationally recognised and most reputable standard for the establishment and certification of an information security management system (ISMS). Zuora also won Best Security Team in the March 2016 SC Magazine Awards for an exceptionally executed and managed security program. This recognition demonstrates its ongoing commitment to protecting customer data and supporting the most rigorous security standards for large enterprise customers. Zuoras other security certifications and attestations are validated by third-party audits and include PCI DSS Level 1, SSAE 16 SOC1 Type II , and SOC2 Type II. Zuora helps organisations meet the operational demands of a subscription business model and supports a number of mission-critical processes. ISO 27001 ensures Zuora has an end-to-end security framework and a risk-based approach to manage information security. Since day one, customer trust in Zuora has been a mission-critical focus, and we take the protection of our customers data very seriously, said Pritesh Parekh, Vice President and Chief Security Officer at Zuora. The addition of the ISO 27001 certification supports our goal of continuously strengthening Zuoras security program while providing transparency to our customers, and we will continue to invest in the security of our services to exceed industry standards." The globally recognised ISO 27000 family of standards helps organisations keep information assets secure. ISO 27001 provides a set of requirements for an information security management system (ISMS), establishing a systematic, risk-management-based approach to people, processes and IT systems in order to protect sensitive company information. "Secure systems and data are of utmost importance to Zendesk, said Rick Rigoli, Executive Vice President at Zendesk. We are pleased Zuora has achieved ISO 27001 certification in their efforts to maintain security and data protection in the cloud." You can learn more from Zuora and businesses like Zendesk that are leading the Subscription Economy at the worlds only conference dedicated to the subscription experience, Subscribed 2016, held from April 12-13 in San Francisco. According to the Unisys commissioned research report, the 65% of Aussies who dont like to deal with government online think their questions and queries can be better answered during the interaction if its by phone or in person. But thats not the case for younger Australians who indicated a greater willingness to engage with government online. The study also found the majority of Australians support government agencies and departments sharing citizen data between them. Release of the Unisys study follows research just released by professional services firm Accenture as reported by iTWire which reveals that we Aussies want our customer service enquiries to be delivered by humans and not automated digital channels.And, according to Unisys experts, its study results have major implications for successful digital transformation for the Australian public sector.The Unisys Joined Up Government Survey is a national study that provides insights into the attitudes of consumers toward digital government services and was conducted in Australia for Unisys by OmniPoll, and surveyed 1,222 adults during February.The study also found that almost 7 in 10 Australians (68%) say they are somewhat or very confident they can easily find the right government agency to deal with when they experience significant life events such as having a baby, losing a job, getting married, buying a house, or a death in the family.Older Australians are revealed as the most confident, with 73% of respondents aged over 50 expressing confidence compared to 60% of those aged 18-34. Eighty percent (80%) of Tasmanians are confident the highest result of any State.Overall, 40% of Australians surveyed say they prefer to engage with government in person and 25% by phone (65% combined), compared to 29% who favour online contact. Younger people aged 18-34 years, however, have a greater preference (38%) for contacting the government online than those aged 50+ years (21%).Unisys says while in-person interaction is the most popular method in Australia, it was the least preferred method when a similar survey was conducted in New Zealand.And, the main reason given for preferring to deal with the government by phone or in person is that questions can be answered as they talk (70%) and they feel more comfortable talking to a real person (69%).Such low support of online government channels is surprising given that 86% of Australian households are connected to the Internet, said Lysandra Schmutter, Vice President Public Sector, Unisys Asia Pacific.Digital transformation is high on the agenda for government agencies as they seek to operate more efficiently and offer services to citizens in new and more effective ways. But it requires a cultural change to focus on the customer experience not just the transaction.This survey highlights that digital government initiatives must not only improve the ability of government employees to service citizens, but also change governments approach to online engagement if they are to provide a compelling reason for citizens to shift to using digital channels. Digital technologies such as interactive online help, online chat, analytics and social platforms, available across a range of devices, will help enable two-way conversations in a self-service digital environment.Unisys also found that the top two benefits cited for preferring online channels are 24x7 availability and no queues, and of those who prefer online channels, the vast majority (85%) prefer to use websites rather than mobile apps (6%). However, there is higher use of mobile apps in Tasmania (15% of those who prefer online channels), South Australia/Northern Territory (14%) and Queensland (9%).Interestingly, almost half (48%) of those who prefer dealing with government by phone or in person say they believe it will be quicker than doing it online, while only 9% of those who prefer online interactions say it is because transactions are faster. Clearly, online channels are not yet seen as a faster way of dealing with Australian government agencies and departments, Schmutter says.The survey also reveals the Australian public has strong support (54% of respondents) for government agencies and departments sharing with each other common information about citizens such as address, birthdate and tax number.Public support for sharing data between government agencies signals permission to transform business processes in a more efficient joined up government approach to improve internal operations efficiencies and enhance the customer experience, Schmutter concludes. Based in Sydney, Jones joins Oracle in a newly created role as an accomplished veteran in the storage industry having spent 13 out of her 18-year career working with EMC. During her time at EMC, she worked in Australia and the United States in both local and global consulting, technical expert and management roles. Jones remit spanned across storage architecture, subject matter expertise, implementation consulting, professional services, practice management and a strong focus on customer pre-sales engagement. At Oracle, Jones is responsible for building awareness and growing the market share for Oracles storage portfolio with an emphasis on its cloud solutions. Other key responsibilities include channel sales management, overseeing new revenue opportunities, managing local customer and partner relationships. Prior to Oracle, Jones was a Global Engagement Manager for EMC where she was responsible for managing presales and delivering the engagement model for EMCs Cloud Services globally. Jones was responsible for alliance partnerships where she was primarily focused on delivering a seamless customer experience through the Cisco, VMware and VCE Coalition. Craig Williams, Vice President Systems at Oracle Australia and New Zealand said, We are delighted to welcome Therese to our team. Her experience in leading a global cloud storage business is a tremendous asset to Oracle as we embark on our next stage of growth. Oracles industry-leading cloud-based and on-premises solutions give customers complete deployment flexibility and unmatched benefits including application integration, advanced security, high availability, scalability, energy efficiency, powerful performance, and low total cost of ownership. iTWire's Stephen Withers has more on Oracle here. Microsoft's Build 2016 developer conference kicks off in the U.S. on March 30th and some session details are beginning to leak out. One which piques interest is the session titled "Running Bash on Ubuntu on Windows!" This session has caught the imagination of journalists who fancied a bash as a party (cough *WinBeta*) but as this esteemed audience knows, Bash is a Linux shell, specifically the "Bourne-again shell" which replaced Steve Bourne's original Unix 7 shell, sh (ironically, itself replacing the Thompson shell.) Until the existence of Powershell in Windows, Windows users lacked a great command-line and scripting experience though it was always possible to implement Bash using Cygwin or various other utilities or tools. Even so, this was not mainstream and required a strong desire to make it happen rather than being anything "out of the box". So what will Microsoft announce? Given the session title is "Bash on Ubuntu on Windows" it can't be a native Windows version of Bash. It's possible Microsoft will show Ubuntu in a Hyper-V virtual machine running on Windows but that's passe; we know you can run different operating systems in a virtual machine. This is not news. This facility ran Windows XP in a virtual machine but integrated its windows with that of, well, Windows, the host operating system. This isn't unique to Windows XP mode, and in many ways it is surprising Hyper-V doesn't make it more readily available already. VMWare Fusion, Parallels and other VM products already provide this integration. Citrix and Microsoft's Remote Desktop have been providing a similar capacity for many years also. Might we see a "Ubuntu mode" for Windows announced tomorrow? The project will commence in April and Orion Health CEO Ian McCrae says the Amadeus platform will give the insurers provider partners access to longitudinal patient records that include information from across all venues of care the member has been seen at. It will be deployed via the SaaS (Software as a Service) model and will incorporate the unnamed insurers entire membership, which is over 3 million members. This is an extremely progressive health insurer that understands the need to work closely with its provider partners to build a comprehensive, longitudinal patient record that will improve the quality of care to its members, as well as lower costs, McCrae said. Hospitals and other healthcare providers that partner with the insurer will have all the patient data they require at their fingertips to enable superior, co-ordinated care for its members.Over time this information may include not only the medical record, but data about an individuals genetic makeup, as well as lifestyle and environmental factors. This information is increasingly viewed as important in enabling the practice of highly targeted healthcare, otherwise known as precision medicine.McCrae says the Orion Health Amadeus platform was chosen because of its proven ability to capture and store comprehensive patient health information - including clinical and claims data and deliver it to healthcare professionals in real time.McCrae said the Amadeus is an open platform, allowing accredited third-party applications to leverage the rich data for new and existing applications uniquely tailored for the insurers membership base. These applications will be designed to increase the members engagement in improving their own health outcomes.According to McCrae, the contract will further boost the number of patient health care records managed by Orion Health software, with the company software currently managing over 90 million patient health records in more than 25 countries worldwide. Milk was launched in February 2015 as a premium service for Galaxy owners. It was touted as the next big thing in music, and offered more than 200 streaming radio stations curated by song genres and subgenres. It has stopped taking new subscriptions, cancelled automatic renewals and will not process any more monthly subscriptions for the exclusively Galaxy smartphone and tablet based service. It simply could not compete with the plethora something like 15 music services available in Australia. The Australian market is huge Spotify and Pandora lead the pack - and the shutdown was not unexpected. Milk Music was intended to be part of a new generation of media services that would add value to its Galaxy devices and add advertising and subscription revenue. A source at Samsung said that it was simply not generating the revenue expected as hardly anyone paid for the premium tier. Milk was not mentioned either at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and its premium TVs touted that they were compatible with almost any music streaming service. When the S7 and S7 Edge were launched recently there was no mention of Milk. There is no mention of any other Samsung service as an alternative in the future. otos is a fantastic app, but until now its been lacking one key feature: non-destructive edits. thout this, otos would keep the original a new version of the picture every time you saved an edit. This would create a scattered collection of edited images that you probably didnt want to hold onto. Now when you make an edit, otos will only show the most updated image. However, youre able to revert to the previous photo at anytime. The otos team describes the process as, fully reversible non-destructive. otos will now save all your edits so you can revert to a previous version of an image. But as usually happens, upcoming features can be uncovered by digging into the code. Android lice found a tool to help you rotate images more easily, the possibility of a storage promotion for Motorola owners. This didnt trigger anything for me when I loaded it up on a Droid Turbo 2, but it may be a few versions away. The new features are found in otos version 1.17, which is rolling out to the ay Store available now in A Mirror. The impact on you: otos isnt a full-blown editing service like Adobe ghtroom or s own Snapseed, but it can make minor edits if you just want to tweak the lighting, color, or other details of an image. There have been a lot of updates lately to otos, which shows that the company has a pretty high priority on making this a first-rate service. This Week in Review A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. News / National by Thobekile Zhou Zimbabwe might consider establishing diplomatic ties with North Korea, President Robert Mugabe has said.He however said the country has lost connection with North Korea which is under a firm rule of Kim Jong-un.Mugabe said to reporters in Japan on Tuesday: "We have lost connection with North Korea. If North Korea would want to re-establish connections, I suppose we reciprocate."We do not hate any country or distaste any people. We make friends with those who want to be friends with us but it doesn't mean that we should follow all their ways. Friendship is friendship on terms that are reciprocal."North Korea relations with Zimbabwe bring to fore the Gukurahundi genocide in Matabeland province.Mugabe ordered the Fifth Brigade, which had been trained by the North Korean army and had a number of North Korean officers serving with it, to root them out.The Fifth Brigade, like Mugabe's government and administration, was mostly Shona-speaking; Matabeleland is populated mostly by Ndebeles, the descendants of Zulus who came to the area in the 1830s.The Fifth Brigade set up a concentration camp in Antelope, where they systematically killed their prisoners What is a Jew? Israeli museum attempts an answer JERUSALEMI was on a short visit to Israel and spent time with a friend with whom I have been engaged in a 30-year argument. Elli... When anti-Semitism rears its head, we must be ready to fight it Anti-Semitism is a force that is persistent as well as pernicious. When it occurs, it must be fought both by being confronted in real time... News / National by Tinashe Makichi Government has vowed to go for the assets of directors of foreign owned companies that face imminent closure for failing to submit their indigenisation plans by Friday.The move is aimed at assisting employees of those companies in the event that they lose their jobs due to non-compliance of the companies.Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwawo today said he had so far sought legal help from three legal practioners as he looks at building a strong case for the seizure of such assets."I have sought legal help from three lawyers so far and I am seeking two others to make sure that I build a very strong case and I am going to support any employee rendered jobless by the irresponsibility of directors or managers who fail to comply with the law," said Zhuwawo.Minister Zhuwawo addressing the mediaThe Indigenisation and Empowerment Act - enacted in 2008 and operationalised on March 1, 2010 - requires foreign-owned companies valued at more than $500 000 to be at least 51 percent owned by indigenous Zimbabweans.Last year, Government directed all foreign-owned firms to submit their indigenisation proposals by December 31, 2015, before the deadline was extended to March 31, 2016.Details to follow.... Kendall Jenner's recent comment about Instagram says a lot: "Don't fix something that isn't broken." The social media's desire to change the organization of its content has earned sharp criticisms, not only from Kendall but her sister Kylie and many others as well. With its new algorithm, the California-based company will no longer have its list posted in chronological order. Instead, the social network will prioritize posts it assumes users will want to see first. But those who disagree look at this change as an attempt by the social media giant to intrude with users' feeds and classify their content. Among those adversely affected by the change are celebrities such as Kendall and Kylie who are now spearheading the cry to return to the former system. Kendall, with her 52.6 million followers, has a right to speak her mind. Her sister Kylie tweeted: "This whole Instagram update is just so down the line you'll have to pay Instagram to be at the top of the feed." Other users were thrown into a state of panic because of the change thinking that Instagram has switched to an algorithmic timeline this week. They were asked by the social media company to turn on their notifications to be sure that they don't miss any posts from the people they were following. A report from Vanity Fair said that a user launched a change.org petition against the modification as a reaction to Instagram's move. But the sharp backlash may be unwarranted since the change will not be implemented by the company in the near future. To allay the fears of its users, the social media giant used its rival, Twitter to say that the modification in the timeline is not arriving yet. "We're listening and we assure you nothing is changing with your feed right now," said Instagram on its official Twitter page. "We promise to let you know when changes roll out broadly," the tweet added. HONG KONG & BERLIN - Asian food import markets are no different from other markets, at least in one sense: consumers are becoming more demanding. Food quality is paramount and must be supported by quality logistics, food safety and convenience. Renowned for his first class supply chain expertise from production to in-store replenishment, Simon Pearson, founder and Managing Director of supply chain consultancy Simon Pearson and Associates, is well qualified to join the speaker platform at the 2nd Cool Logistics Asia Conference, taking place September 7 at Asia World Expo. Cool Logistics Asia Conference runs alongside Asia Fruit Logistica, the only trade fair dedicated to the fresh produce trade across Asia, returning to Hong Kong this 7-9 September. Shanghai-based Pearson will discuss whether modern demand chain concepts including multichannel retail and e-commerce strategies can be reconciled with the more traditional trade lane approach developed by international transport companies such as ocean carriers and airlines. Years of experience in senior logistics and supply chain leadership roles with Asda Walmart will stand Pearson in good stead to cover issues such as network optimisation flow planning, DC operations, transportation, and global inbound logistics, as well as overall supply chain strategies best suited for different markets. Connecting perishable food logistics by rail will be the focus of a presentation by Jan Koolen, Managing Director of Unit 45. The Dutch-based company will provide insights into how perishable commodities such as fruit and vegetables, as well as pharmaceuticals, can be transported by rail between different continents. The rationale behind this is that with no end in sight for slow steaming, coupled with massive overcapacity in shipping sector, time-to-market between countries such as Spain and China could make rail an attractive logistical alternative to container shipping. The biggest challenge in countries such as China, but also large swathes of South East Asia, is the lack of cold chain and reliable temperature-controlled distribution along the last mile, commented Alex von Stempel, Managing Director, Cool Logistics Resources Ltd. By bringing experts in logistics and perishables together under one roof, Cool Logistics Asia offers a unique chance for fresh produce exporters and importers attending Asia Fruit Logistica to add value to their experience, he added. The focused one-day conference will provide ocean, air and intermodal carriers, food manufacturers, transport and equipment providers, ports and freight forwarders with unique insights into the latest trends in Asian perishable supply chain operations, including specific commodity and logistics market analyses. 2nd Cool Logistics Asia 7 September 2016 AsiaWorld-Expo Hong Kong www.coollogisticsasia.com News / National by Staff reporter President Robert Mugabe says the current crop of African leaders has not done much to further the interests of the continent as some of them have even regressed.Addressing 38 African diplomats accredited to Tokyo, President Mugabe said much of the achievements made by Africa's founding fathers are being eroded by a leadership that is being dictated to by outside forces.He chronicled the history of African solidarity in its quest to assert itself on the global stage."Poor African states contributed immensely to the independence of the continent. Some leaders accuse me of belonging to the old, the old generation meaning people like Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Toure. Yes I accept, and we had one goal that is to see the total independence of the continent," said Cde MugabeHe said the Look East Policy began in the 1960s as Africa was assisted heavily by China, North Korea, the non-aligned countries and the Soviet Union to remove the yoke of colonialism.At that time, he said, Japan was on a reconstruction exercise after the atomic bombing by the west.President Mugabe added that it was a difficult road to independence and the roadmap to economic takeoff has been made with clear road markings in the African Union Vision 2063.He said when Africans meet for the 6th Tokyo International Conference of African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi, Kenya in August, they should be united so as to partner Japan in order to develop.President Mugabe is in Japan on a five day official visit at the invitation of the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Shinzo Abe. News / Press Release by Kurauone Chihwayi - MDC National Spokesperson It has been almost one month since MDC Secretary for Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Senator David Coltart, launched his book entitled "The Struggle Continues: 50 Years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe". Senator Coltart is a human rights defender, politician, lawyer and community activist.In terms of our national constitution, as citizens we are free to express our thoughts in action or writing and Senator Coltart is not an exception. There are numerous articles, documentaries, books, films and plays that have been published in Zimbabwe whose contents we might not agree with but we will always defend the freedom of the authors to express themselves in factual narratives and in opinion. Since 1980, the ruling party, ZANU PF, has portrayed the liberation struggle as a one-man one party band, totally disregarding and denigrating the role of other nationalists like the late Dr. Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo.Senator David Coltart has stepped forward to package his experiences, narratives and opinions into this very important book. The longstanding debate on the causes of the massacre of over twenty thousand citizens at the cruel sword of the ZANU PF controlled Fifth Brigade draws controversy because the State has deliberately downplayed its gravity. Senator Coltart participated in the CCJP Report on the Gukurahundi atrocities, incidentally that the ZANU PF leader is known to have referred to as a 'moment of madness'. Thus in pursuit of truth and justice, Senator Coltart has attempted to review some aspects of this unfortunate episode in our lives, and those that were involved directly or indirectly are the first to cry "Foul!".Recent threats on Senator Coltart by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Virginia Mabhiza show a brazen determination to intimidate and harass citizens for their right to express themselves freely, which is against the constitution the country's leaders swore to protect and defend. This continued abrogation of the rights enshrined in the constitution is something that should worry all Zimbabweans.Those that have facts to argue about the Gukurahundi atrocities are free to publish numerous results of several commissions of enquiries but whose reports remain embargoed by the ZANU PF government.Noting as well that Senator Coltart was a founder member of the united MDC; and that he was involved in that party at the highest level. He wrote many articles both in the conventional media and social networks, expressing his thoughts on the causes of the 2005 split. Senator Coltart has been consistent that one of the most damning causes of the MDC split was the perpetration of violence on innocent members of the party. There are many reports, especially by Zimbabwe Peace Project, that point fingers to members of the opposition as perpetrators of violence albeit not in as much intensity as the ruling party.What we know is the MDC in its current state is a highly principled institution that upholds freedom of expression at the same time keen to promote factual writing and free expressions of opinion. We abhor violence in whatever form, and believe that our national constitution has enough provisions to change the government legally. Our fear is that the ruling party is dragging its feet in creating conditions suitable for free political completion. All efforts to empower institutions that promote reconciliation, truth and forgiveness have been fruitless, this is why citizens like Senator Coltart should be commended for taking the yoke to recite history through the prism of their personal experience. So why vilify them and denigrate such great efforts?We therefore urge Zimbabweans to read the book "The Struggle Continues: 50 Years of tyranny in Zimbabwe" so that commentaries are made from informed position, not inflammatory, racist, emotionally charged conjecture.Kurauone ChihwayiMDC National Spokesperson News / Regional by Thobekile Zhou An un-identified man who is brandishing a knife has this morning taken hostage workers at Lake Harvest in Kariba.He is reportedly accusing the firm of not remitting his NSSA contributions therefore squandered his money."A man armed with a knife is holding workers hostage at Lake Harvest in Kariba. It's a dangerous situation."He man is a former worker here. He says Lake Harvest was not remitting his NSSA contributions.." said journalist Brezhnev Malaba who is at the scene.Police stormed Lake Harvest and inflicted " minimum force" on the hostage taker. MINNEAPOLIS Two Minneapolis police officers involved in the November fatal shooting of a black man will not be charged, a Minnesota prosecutor said Wednesday. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said his decision to not charge Officer Mark Ringgenberg and Officer Dustin Schwarze for their roles in the death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark was based on evidence that showed Clark was not handcuffed at the time, attempted to gain control of an officer's weapon and the officers believed they were in danger of being shot. Ringgenberg is white, and Schwarze's race has not been released. On Nov. 15, police said they responded to a reported assault in which Clark was a suspect, and he was interfering with paramedics trying to treat the victim. Clark was shot during what authorities called a struggle. Some who said they saw the shooting have said Clark wasn't struggling at the time and was handcuffed, but Freeman said forensic evidence shows that he was not handcuffed. Clark died a day later. The shooting prompted protests in Minneapolis, including an 18-day encampment outside a north side police precinct. Freeman decided earlier this month against taking the case to a grand jury. Investigators had video of Clark's shooting from several sources, but said early on that it didn't provide a full picture of what happened that night. Protesters have demanded that authorities release the video. They also demanded that the case not go to a grand jury for consideration of charges. Public skepticism over grand juries, who do their work in secret, grew after police officers weren't indicted in the high-profile deaths of blacks in other cities, including the fatal 2014 shootings of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland and 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the 2014 chokehold death of 43-year-old Eric Garner in New York. But grand juries reached indictments in other cases, including in Chicago, where an officer faces murder charges in the 2014 death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, whose shooting was captured on video. The state of Minnesota investigated whether Ringgenberg and Schwarze violated state laws, and the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division were conducting a federal criminal investigation to determine whether police intentionally violated Clark's civil rights through excessive force. That's a high legal standard because an accident, bad judgment or simple negligence on the officer's part isn't enough to bring federal charges. The Department of Justice is also reviewing how the city responded to protests after Clark's death. The protesters, which included organizers of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, the Minneapolis NAACP and other community groups and citizens, raised the issue of difficult relations between black residents and Minneapolis police. The unrest over Clark's death also included demands that city and state leaders do more about persistent poverty seen as the root of racial tensions. The state is considering funneling millions of dollars toward job training, loans and other initiatives to help black residents get ahead. The protests were largely peaceful. Four men were charged with felonies in a Nov. 23 attack on protesters that prosecutors say was racially motivated. One of the men allegedly fired shots at protesters, leaving five with injuries that were not life-threatening. Opinion / Columnist Zimbabwe should consider effecting fiscal and internal devaluation of the US dollar to promote competiveness of exports in the absence of its ability to effect nominal exchange rate adjustments.The inception of the multicurrency regime since 2009 created some economic challenges which continue to bedevil the economy as monetary authorities are grappling over the loss of their ability to manage the exchange rate for export competitiveness purposes.Recently, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Dr John Mangudya sounded that fiscal and internal devaluation were viable options after the loss of monetary autonomy and lack of exchange rate flexibility to enhance export competitiveness in the region and beyond.Devaluation has numerous benefits which can be enjoyed in the local economy. A devaluation of the exchange rate will make Zimbabwean exports more competitive and cheaper to foreigners.This will increase demand for local exports. Meanwhile, local products are more expensive as compared to imports due to the skewed cost of production owing to the current value of the US dollar on the local market. In principle, the local consumers would automatically go for substitute products which are affordable and cheaper.In the same vein, devaluation means imports will become more expensive and this has a direct effect of reducing the demand for imports which at the moment are flooding the local market enjoying a monopoly.Devalued currency makes an economy's exports more favourable. This is because their currency has become cheaper than other countries, increasing the demand from exporters. As well as reducing the purchasing power of citizens abroad, for instance, it would be more expensive to go on holiday abroad and/or purchase goods in neighbouring countries like South Africa and Zambia.Reduced imports leads to an increase in the demand for domestic goods. This increases the domestic supply of goods in an economy, and which in turn increases economic activities that require manpower; leading to increased employment rate and reducing unemployment rates.In reality, devaluation could cause higher economic growth as higher exports and lower imports should lead to higher rates of economic growth. Therefore, this provides a boost for domestic demand, and could lead to job creation in the export sector and the down-stream industries.Higher level of exports should lead to an improvement in the current account deficit. This is important if the country has a large current account deficit due to a lack of competitiveness.Devalued currency makes an economy's exports more favourable. This is because their currency has becomes cheaper than other countries, increasing the demand from exporters.Zimbabwe should take a leaf from the recent Chinese devaluation of the Yuan against the US dollar. The move made Chinese goods cheaper after 8, 3% fall in exports in July 2015.RBZ Governor, Dr Mangudya says a country which cannot devalue its nominal exchange rate, can gain competitiveness and promote export performance through streamlining domestic costs of production. He further asserts that measures to enhance competitiveness through reduction in production costs amounted to depreciation in the real exchange rate in a manner that was promotive of exports.This is particularly important as Zimbabwe's implied real effective exchange rate is currently over-valued by an estimated 45%. This largely reflects the progressive appreciation in the US$ underpinned by strong economic recovery in the US and accommodative monetary policy measures adopted in most Euro zone countries.Dr Mangudya claims that the nominal appreciation of the US$ against major currencies has had concomitant effects on the real effective exchange rate, a development that has continued to undermine the country's export competitiveness. He said under the fiscal devaluation, value added tax could be imposed on selected imports that had close local substitutes. As well as application of other than fiscal devaluation, complementary "internal devaluation" measures targeted at reducing the cost of doing business, boosting competitiveness, increasing productivity and fostering confidence in the economy could also be pursued.At the moment the major cost drivers identified in Zimbabwe include labour, power, water, finance, transport and logistics, tariffs and trade taxes, taxation and information technology costs. In tandem with the prime aim to increase competitiveness of local goods, it is imperative to have the working combination of lower unit labour costs and higher consumption tax decreases the price of exported goods and increases the after-tax relative price of the imported good. SHARE By of the A growing bakery chain specializing in late-night delivery of warm cookies is poised to open a location on Milwaukee's east side. Insomnia Cookies, started in 2003 by a University of Pennsylvania student, has applied to the city for a license to operate one of its bakeries at 1800 E. North Ave. The business, expected to open next month, will bring Insomnia's store count to more than 85. The chain opened a shop on State Street in Madison in December, and also has a location in Oshkosh. A year ago, Insomnia had about 50 bakeries, said Rachel Weiss, a marketing manager with the firm. Many of Insomnia's stores are near college campuses. The location here is close to the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and the population of young adults on the east side. "Obviously we're catering to a specific crowd," Weiss said. "Late-night cookies, when you're in college and you need a study break, or you're having a party, or anything like that." Insomnia typically delivers until 3 a.m., and the store here also will be open until that hour for take-out if the application is approved. A package of six cookies at the Madison store costs $8. Somewhat lower prices are available on larger orders. Individual cookies cost $1.45. The delivery charge at most locations is $1.99, with a $6 minimum purchase, Weiss said. Now run from offices in New York and Philadelphia, Insomnia was started by Seth Berkowitz in his dorm room at Penn in 2003. The company operates its own locations, and doesn't franchise. 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. As attorney Steven Kohn looks on, former West Allis police officer Steven Zelich (right) speaks at his sentencing Wednesday in Kenosha County Circuit Court. Credit: Rick Wood By of the Kenosha Former West Allis police officer Steven Zelich was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday for killing an Oregon woman during a sexual encounter and hiding her body first in his apartment and then in a suitcase that he tossed on the side of a Walworth County highway. "It's a crime that is almost beyond comprehension, that this great indignity would be visited upon this person," Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder said. Zelich, 54, faced a maximum prison sentence of 50 years after he pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide and hiding a corpse in the 2012 death of Jenny Gamez, 19, of Cottage Grove, Ore. Zelich also is charged in the killing of 37-year-old Laura Simonson, who died under similar circumstances in Minnesota in 2013. Charges are pending there, as well as in Walworth County, where both bodies were discovered in suitcases. Prosecutors painted Zelich as a man who preyed upon vulnerable women, while Zelich's attorneys said the deaths were accidental. Zelich told investigators the women died during "breath play," consensual sex involving asphyxiation, that went too far. Defense attorney Jonathan Smith urged Schroeder not to factor in Simonson's death because it came after Gamez's death, noting that Zelich faces charges in Minnesota and would be held accountable in that case. The judge disagreed and said he would consider both Simonson's death and Zelich's continuing contact with a woman on a BDSM (bondage, dominance, submission, masochism) website. Investigators had found online records of Zelich recruiting the woman as a "permanent slave to live with him" around the same time he ditched the suitcases containing the bodies of Gamez and Simonson in June 2014. "...Where the monstrous nature of this crime becomes most evident is the willingness to take the same risk with another human being," the judge said. In court Wednesday, Zelich apologized and said he was "100% responsible" for Jenny Gamez's death. "It was not an intentional act," Zelich said. "I'm very sorry Jenny was the victim and I wasn't able to protect her the way I was supposed to." After the sentencing, the prosecutor said he was not surprised by Zelich's statement. "He repeated the same mantra 'this is an accident,'" Deputy District Attorney Michael Graveley said. "This is a person who has refused to take real responsibility for being the predator that he is." As part of his sentence, Zelich would remain under extended supervision after serving his 35-year sentence. He received credit for 644 days already served in jail while the case was pending. He was also sentenced to three years in prison on the charge of hiding a corpse, to be served concurrent to the homicide charge. Zelich's attorney, Smith, said Wednesday he did not know if Zelich would appeal. SHARE By of the A group home resident killed when the specially equipped van he was riding in was struck by a stolen SUV has been identified by the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office as Henry Bailey, 66, of Brookfield. Bailey, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, three other residents of Staples Adult Family Home LLC and the van driver were returning from an outing to Lake Michigan shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday when their vehicle was struck at N. 10th St. and W. Abert Place, according to a medical examiner's report and Milwaukee police. The van was southbound on 10th St. and was struck by the SUV, which was headed east on Abert, when the SUV driver ran a stop sign, according to the medical examiner's report. Bailey, who was not likely wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the van. He was taken to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa where he died later Saturday, according to the report. The three other residents were seriously injured, according to the report. A 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy were arrested, according to Milwaukee police. As of Tuesday no charges have been filed in connection with the crash. SHARE By of the The death of a man pulled from the Milwaukee River near the downtown Riverwalk early Wednesday has been ruled a suicide, according to the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office. Milwaukee firefighters responded to a call just before 1 a.m. and divers were quickly able to locate and rescue the man in the river off Plankinton Ave. between W. Wisconsin Ave. and W. Michigan St., Deputy Chief Aaron Lipski said. The man was revived and taken to Froedtert Hospital, but he died about an hour later, according to the medical examiner's office. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to a full house in Janesville on Tuesday. Credit: Rick Wood SHARE By How can Donald Trump be stopped? For months, conservatives have debated what Trump represents and whether they can or should support him. While millions of voters still have time to make their choice (and still need to be informed about his baleful record), among those pundits, politicians, activists, donors and strategists who've been hashing this out for a seeming eternity, that argument is over. Trump is either someone you can live with or celebrate as the standard-bearer of your cause and your party, or he isn't. As I wrote last week, this is an insurmountable divide within the party and the conservative movement. That means it's a zero-sum contest. There will be winners and losers. Either Trump wins or #NeverTrump wins (that's the umbrella Twitter hashtag for a diverse coalition of conservatives who will never vote for the man). There's no compromise. So if you're a #NeverTrumper, the debate now is all about the how. The most desirable, but least plausible, way to stop Trump would be for Ted Cruz or John Kasich simply to beat him before the Republican convention in Cleveland. Unfortunately, Cruz would need to secure more than 80% of the remaining delegates to win the nomination outright. Kasich, the longtime candidate of math deniers, would need to capture a lot more than 100%. The second-best, but more likely, scenario is to deny Trump the 1,237 delegates required to automatically win on the first ballot. Right now, that seems quite doable. Recently, University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato projected the most likely scenario for Trump to get to 1,237. It required Trump to carry both Wisconsin and Indiana handily, and even then he only landed at 1,239. Right now, that looks unlikely. And if Trump loses just a couple congressional districts in Sabato's scenario, he'll fall short. Most observers believe that if Trump can't reach the magic number, he'd hemorrhage support after each ballot at the convention, because delegates tend to be party regulars (and more and more delegates are released to vote their conscience after each round of voting). That's why the margin of Trump's shortfall matters so much. If he comes just a few shy of 1,237, he could probably cut deals with a handful of delegates. Or he could horse-trade with Kasich, making the Ohio governor his running mate. What's more important, however, is delegate psychology. Some argue, in defiance of the rules, that Trump should be the nominee even if he fails to reach 1,237. My Fox News colleague Sean Hannity says he "will support whoever gets the most delegates," which, given the math, means he will support Trump, no matter what. That sentiment might be compelling with a narrow shortfall. But if Trump misses the mark by, say, 150 delegates, that would be significantly more than the delegate totals of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina combined. It's one thing to deny the trophy to the guy who finished a few yards shy of the finish line. It's another if he misses it by a mile. The bigger the shortfall, the easier it is to convince delegates that they are not defying the popular will by denying Trump, particularly given the widespread conviction that Trump would be crushed in a general election (with the GOP being torn apart in the process). Cruz would be the most likely victor in a floor fight, but that isn't assured. The longer the balloting goes, the more likely it is that the bitter and bleary-eyed delegates will opt to order off-menu. That's what Kasich is allegedly counting on. But Kasich is widely disliked, and it might be a good deal easier to find a unifying candidacy in, say, Rick Perry, Scott Walker, Nikki Haley or Mike Pence. The third option is what Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol calls "Plan B." If the #NeverTrumpers fail to stop Trump at the convention, they could rally around an independent candidate. Who might that be? That's the billion-dollar question. Some want a true outsider such as retired Marine Gen. James Mattis. Others think Mitt Romney could leap into the breach. The path to an independent candidacy is perilous. But if you're of the opinion that Trump and Hillary Clinton aren't acceptable options, the perilous path is the only one available. Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. Email goldbergcolumn@gmail.com Twitter: @JonahNRO Opinion / Columnist "Now we need a second chapter, a second revolution driven by the big idea of total freedom characterised by a prosperous and free society unhindered by any man or woman but we must all own that vision, personalise it and do what we must as others did in the past," wrote Vince Musewe in his latest epistle from sugar-candy mountain utopia.In this epistle he has downgraded his prosperous new Zimbabwe from $ 1 000 billion economy in 30 years he has projected in all the previous articles to a $100 billion one! Or was it a typing error; he meant $ 100 trillion and not $ 100 billion!The reality in Zimbabwe, Mr Musewe as contrast to your sugar-candy mountain utopia, is the nation is facing serious economic meltdown that has seen unemployment soar to nauseating heights of 90% plus and it is getting worse not better. The challenge or "second revolution" must address this reality in a practical and tangible way than the wishy-washy let us all embrace "the big idea" and all will be well!Even if every Zimbabwean signed up to your sugar-candy-mountain vision and spent a whole week pledging their unwavering faith in it as a way out that would have done nothing to remove one sentence from the obnoxious Indigenisation Law, for example. Minister Patrick Zhuwao would have still gone ahead and demand it implementation, as he has done!Our problem is not that people have lacked a vision or belief in a peaceful, free and prosperous Zimbabwe; they have had that dream all along and it was that dream that fired them to fight to end white colonial oppression and exploitation. When the nation attained her independence the people's hopes and dreams were promptly pushed aside and forgotten by Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies who had imposed their own selfish demand for absolute political power to gratify their insatiable greed for power, influence and material wealth.We have an incompetent, corrupt and murderous regime that has denying the people their freedoms and basic human rights including the right to reject the regime in free, fair and credible elections. The nation has been hurtling down this path of economic ruin and political chaos for the last 36 years not because people did not see the danger. They saw it but they were helpless to stop it because they are stuck with this Zanu PF dictatorship.There is no lack of economic ideas to revive the Zimbabwe economy, there problem has always been that none of these ideas were ever tried. Mugabe saw anyone offering fresh ideas as a threat to his hold on power and so he has ruthlessly stopped this ever happening.Indeed, if Mugabe had allowed meaningful democratic debate and competition then the country's economy will certainly never sunk to the depths it has. But then any meaningful democratic change would have led to demand for more democratic change and ultimately regime change any anathema to Mugabe!In many of Musewe's previous wittering, he has made it clear that his vision will not seek any democratic reforms ending with free, fair and credible elections. Mugabe will never win free and fair elections and hence will never accept such reforms, he has maintained. As long as Mugabe remains in power he would want Zanu PF policies implemented to the letter! Only the king of sugar-candy mountain would see a booming Zimbabwe economy founded on such obnoxious economic policies and laws as Mugabe's indigenisation laws!Musewe, like Tsvangirai and his MDC friends during the GNU, is trying to achieve economic recovery without implementing any political reforms so the dictatorship remains untouched. The economic recovery throughout the GNU was stifled by the lack of meaningful political change. Zanu PF hooligans continued with their violent njambanja farm invasion, for example, underlining the reality that there was still no rule of law in the country. No one would want to invest in a country where there is no rule of lawThe solution to our problem is to demand the implementation of democratic reforms so that any-one with an idea what is good for the nation will be free to present his/her proposals to the peo-ple. It is for the people of Zimbabwe and them alone to decide who will rule the nation in free, fair and credible elections. Mugabe's no-regime-change mantra is an undemocratic imposition and a violation of common sense and all the people have been fighting for in an independent Zimbabwe."ZANU (PF) and especially President Mugabe are just doing what they know best - struggling against detractors because it has been a life of struggle politics. We must not expect them to have the same vision that some of us have of what Zimbabwe can become. They are naturally limited in what they can imagine by their time and space, especially by their historical experiences which have shaped their mind-set of who they are today and what they think Zimbabwe is," you tell us.Music to the tyrant's ears but a down right insult to every thinking Zimbabwean out there! What "struggle" and against what "detractors"? Mugabe and his cronies have looted $15 billion from Marange diamonds in 7 years (and the looting continues - saques continua) was that the epic struggle! The regime was murdered over 20 000 innocent Zimbabweans during the Gukurahundi years alone to lay the foundation of this oppressive de facto one-party dictatorship, the mile-stone weighing the nation down, who were the detractors then?Musewe you can witter all you want about your sugar-candy mountain utopia; it is an annoying distraction the nation can do without but I can live with that. What is totally unacceptable is for you, or anyone to insult the intelligence of the living and tarnish the memory of the dead by gloss-ing over Mugabe's tyrannical betrayal of the nation and time honour struggle for freedom and justice. Zimbabwe is in this political chaos and economic mess because of Mugabe's insatiable greed for power and wealth, it was nothing to do with his "historical experiences".Zimbabwe is in this political and economic mess became Mugabe and his cronies have placed themselves above the law. In free and progressive society; no one is above the law. We will not accomplish anything of value until this political oddity is uprooted and destroyed; removing one tyrant is not good enough because another one will emerge to replace him as long as the dictatorial system is still there. SHARE Open Domes for Mother's Day County Executive Chris Abele dubiously closed the Mitchell Park Domes over a small chunk of clay or concrete on the ground of the Domes this winter. Abele described the Domes, as "McDonald's-y" in a statement of his cultural aesthetic in a recent interview. Abele also has said he is open to tearing down the Domes, if that's what taxpayers decide they want. Recently, about 400 taxpayers spoke at a standing-room-only town hall meeting at the Domes and unanimously declared they want to keep the Milwaukee County Domes open. Abele would know this if he had bothered to attend that meeting. There is no public debate. Milwaukeeans want the Domes open. On Easter Sunday, my family missed our annual spring visit to our much-loved Milwaukee Domes. This was after missing our long-planned winter sojourn to our wonderful Domes. Now, Mother's Day is about a month away. Here's what taxpayers want. We, grandmothers, hobbling great-grandmothers, new moms with toddlers, and mothers with lively teens, we all want our glorious maternal Domes open for Mother's Day. We want to see our great Domes majestically bursting with tulips, hyacinths and azaleas in the earthy spring light of the happy Show Dome. We want to breathe the fresh redolent air of the Tropical Dome and then sigh in peace in the crisp cool luminous Cactus Dome. We want Abele to stop ruining our wonderful Milwaukee landmarks. There are four weeks to May. We want our county executive to get to work, study the issue and repair the problem. Fortunately, we can vote Abele out of office this April and get our parks back. We want the Mitchell Park Domes open for Mother's Day this May. Jeanie Dean Milwaukee Invest in nuclear energy The March 27 Journal Sentinel editorial "A new spring for energy" missed several points important to your readers (Crossroads). The three wind energy projects mentioned for construction in Wisconsin have a total cost of approaching $700 million. These facilities will not be accompanied by a surge in employment, resulting in only 45 to 60 jobs when in operation. They will not reduce carbon emissions in Wisconsin, producing only 750,000 and 800,000 megawatt hours (MWHRS) of energy annually the equivalent of one small fossil-generating unit. Wisconsin has invested in the renewable energy facilities required to meet the state's renewable portfolio standard. This investment and other improvements to our generating fleet required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cost more than $2 billion. One need look no farther than Two Creeks for a solution to carbon emission control and steady, long-run job expansion. The two nuclear units at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant have operated for more than 40 years. These units produce 8.5 million MWHRS annually with no carbon emissions. Investing in the development of the next generation of nuclear, with units of standard 1000 MW design, will produce some 17 million MWHRS annually. Such a facility will be free of carbon emissions, and provide 500 to 750 long-term high-skilled, high-pay positions in the state. It also will retain a generation portfolio that remains diverse and stabilizes rates in the long run for citizens and industries in our state. Scott Patulski Rhinelander Billboards needed I live outside of Milwaukee but I am deeply saddened and concerned when reading in the papers or watching on the news all the young people in the inner city who lose their lives to gun violence. A suggestion I have that just may make a positive difference is for our local universities' art and psychology departments to collaborate with our local government to design large billboards to be displayed in Milwaukee's inner city. Some subject matters that would be depicted are the destructive impact of gun violence and the positive impact of education My hope is that our local government can see the importance of young people's lives. I feel that to invest time and money toward these problems would have a positive impact on young lives as well as having an overall positive impact on our entire culture. Joann Leair Rubicon State Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradleys first written decision was a dissent that affirmed a Court of Appeals ruling written by her opponent in the April 5 election JoAnne Kloppenburg. Here, the two debate at Marquette University earlier this month. Credit: Michael McLoone SHARE By of the In her first written opinion on the court, Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley on Wednesday came out squarely on the side of her opponent in Tuesday's election. The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday said a hot-air balloon business is not immune from a lawsuit filed by a woman injured when its balloon came loose and knocked her to the ground at a windy charity event. Bradley dissented, saying a lower court properly dismissed the lawsuit against the business, a decision the Court of Appeals affirmed in an opinion written by Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg, who is running to unseat Bradley in Tuesday's election. Wednesday's dissent is Bradley's first authored opinion since Gov. Scott Walker appointed her to the high court in October. At a Beaver Dam charity event in July 2011, Sundog Ballooning was offering free tethered rides. Patti Roberts signed up for one and was waiting in line for her turn when a wind gust caused one of the balloon's three lines to break and sent the basket crashing into the waiting line. Roberts was hit and suffered a broken arm. She sued, claiming Sundog was negligent. A Jefferson County judge granted summary judgment to Sundog, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, before the high court reversed those rulings in a 5-2 decision. The majority found that, unlike cases in which organizations hosting fairs or events were granted recreational immunity, Sundog was only a vendor at a charity event hosted by Green Valley Enterprises, on land owned by Beaver Dam Conservationists. The immunity law, it said, is meant to encourage landowners to open their property to recreational use; here, Sundog was not a landowner, and granting it immunity would not further the objective of the law. "If Sundog who has no connection to the land is granted immunity, there will be no stopping point to recreational immunity," Justice Ann Walsh Bradley wrote for the majority. The opinion also found that a waiver Roberts had signed, in anticipation of riding in the balloon, did not save Sundog from liability, calling the waiver "against public policy," because it was unclear and overbroad. Justice Annette Ziegler, in a concurring opinion, agreed that Sundog was not covered by the recreational immunity statute. Justice Rebecca Bradley's 13-page dissent lays out why she believes Sundog clearly meets the definition of an occupier and that the activity was recreational. She said neither the statute's language nor its intent supports treating Sundog differently from the landowner, or the main event organizer, on the question of immunity. "Declining to recognize Sundog's statutory immunity will discourage organizations such as Sundog from donating recreational activities at charity events for fear of incurring liability, which, in turn, will reduce sponsorship of such events by organizations because they will have less recreational options if any at all to draw attendance," Rebecca Bradley wrote. Justice David Prosser agreed with the dissent, but wrote his own opinion. "I do not hesitate now to recommend that the Legislature promptly review the recreational immunity statute," Prosser wrote. "I respectfully dissent, however, from any notion that the court itself should rewrite the statute to reach a desirable objective." He joined Rebecca Bradley's dissenting opinion except for a single footnote, but concurred with the majority that Sundog's "waiver of liability" form was no protection from Roberts' negligence claim. Opinion / Columnist Symbolization Polarization rounded up exterminated: "Hatte der Hund nicht geschien, hatte auch der Haufen nicht gegeben!" It was a mad moment; ironically the former Prime Minister Robert Mugabe admits how the Gugurahundi atrocities could be seen as the mad moment. The present Vice President Mnangagwa denies having likened the people of Matabeleland and Midlands with cockroaches who should be gamatoxed with DDT. VP Mnangagwa was quoted in the Chronicle edition of April 5 telling a rally in Victoria Falls verbatim:"The campaign against dissidents can only succeed if the infrastructure which nurtures them is destroyed." Said the whole VP, denies this evidence in black and white and he has the hide to threaten to sue the Senator Coltart for telling the painful truth, the truth. In truth: icala kaliboli, mhosva hayiwori. VP Mnangagwa was one of the perpetrators of genocide in Matabeleland and Midlands, the atrocities he perpetuated together with his criminal cabals: a fulfilment of Grand Plan of 1979. Genocide is mass murder committed by elites, was committed by elites in Zanu PF including Enos Nkala of Ndebele origin, was part of the grand plan of 1979.The Vice President of Zimbabwe, Mr. Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and his clumsy utterances regarding Gugurahundi and its victims, the advanced age President Robert Gabriel Mugabe give most of the victims of genocide in Matabeleland and Midlands a chill in their spines. There are all early signs of the coming genocide that will be worse than the one of the 1980s. In the 1980s the mechanism of accountability to seek to punish and deter perpetrators of genocide was not in place. Zimbabwe's genocide against the people of Matabeleland and Midlands was not acknowledged as genocide because of the cold war of the 1980s, a dangerous oversight on the part of the international community.As a result Mugabe and his henchmen went scot free from the most heinous acts of crimes: genocide an aggravated form of crimes against humanity. It targeted the people of Matabeleland and Midlands, of Ndebele speaking and Zapu members even of Shona (only those of Zapu political party) ethnic group in equal measure.One of the most commonly used false assumptions of genocide is that it is the result of conflict. There were dissidents in Matabeleland, they said. In retrospect genocide was planed long back. There were dissident activities in Matabeleland, their presence minimal in regards to the response to decimate the entire ethnic group. It was a trigger to carry out genocide. Gregory Stanton devised a development model of the stages of genocide: symbolization, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, expropriation, rounding up, transportation of victims, extermination and DENIAL. Before the cock craws three decades, VP Emerson Mnangagwa is in total denial.was in the form of code name: Gugurahundi. To be able to eliminate their victims, Zanu PF dehumanized them by calling them cockroaches. They organized the "Fifth Brigade" that was trained to carry the atrocities targeting a tribe Ndebele and those Shona that were Zapu members.: the people were demarcated mentally, economically, socially and psychologically in ethnic groups: Shona; Ndebele: and the White population. Preparations were the actual training of the "Fifth Brigade" by the North Korean Army. The people wereand got killed, the bodies were collected to be thrown in mine shafts and shallow graves in unknown places. More than 20,000 people of Matabeleland and Midlands wereIt was genocide in 1983 until 1987. In year 1999 to 2000 crimes against humanist were committed by Zanu PF again under false pretext of farm invasions. Again in 2005 atrocities were committed by the same government of Zanu PF under the false pretext that they were refusing dirt, code named: Murambatsvina. In the general elections of 2008 supporters of MDC were prosecuted some of them killed in most brutal circumstances. With all these crimes committed on its peoples, none was put before the court of law to account for the crimes against humanity they committed. These two terms: genocide and crimes against humanity terms is used in war crimes tribunals: ICC to hold those people or group of elite who perpetrated those crimes to be made accountable before the international court of justice.It is not enough to recount the events leading to genocide but it is also important to know the motives and deeds, why they could be capable of committing such barbaric crimes. In all crimes committed by Zanu PF, be it genocide of the 1980s or the farm invasions of the Murambatsvina or the violent general elections of 2008, systematic attacks were used to firstly dehumanize them, humiliate them by forcing them to dance songs of praise of their callous horrendous deeds, deception, telling the people that Joshua Nkomo is a traitor, everyone should hold a Zanu PF party card. Richard Morgan Tsvangirai is a western stooge, Ndebeles are cry babies, land reform is a corrective; we want our land back taken from the colonialists!Genocide and crimes against humanity are crimes committed on the most vulnerable people, racial or ethnics or opposition parties.Because of the lack of means to bring the perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity, perpetrators and victims of genocide and crimes against humanity have lived side by side with long periods of social coexistence. The oppressors in the corridors of power manage to introduce discriminatory measure to further oppress the marginalised: denied social development in their areas, send Shona speaking teachers in primary schools to impede whatever educational development, most schools and clinics in Matabeleland's and Midlands are those left by the Smith's UDI.Developmental genocide whereby there is a systematic destruction of culture of the oppressed, creating massive dislocation in the lives of the people of Matabeleland and Midlands. There is massive closure of factories in Bulawayo leading to millions unemployment in the regions. The water from the Zambezi River remains a pipe dream to this date. The honourable Dabengwa is constrained right left and centre, cannot finish the water project with scarce resources, the very project that can bring hope to the people Matabeleland and the Metropolitan Town of Kings and Queens: Bulawayo.The Senator Coltart's book is of vast importance to the people of Zimbabwe because it will be used s one of the diaries that will inform us about our history of violence and how we should use it to heal the nation. The declassified report of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe in 1997 (CCJP) estimate that it could be more than 30,000 people who perished during 1982 and 1987.There is evidence on the ground that Zanu and its leader Robert Mugabe were on the urgency to make Zimbabwe a country for only Shona speaking people; it was planned to rid of any other language speaking ethnics groupings in the area. Also it is not surprising that Robert Mugabe and his henchmen since independence have been aggressively implementing in practice the philosophy underpinned in its special publication of 1979 and that this has in fact gone beyond anything experienced anywhere in this world: genocide.The late Nkala was once reported as having said he wished there was a river that he would use to wash off his being Ndebele and wake up as a Shona speaking person.The Catholic Report of 1997 and the Senator David Coltart's book: "The struggle continues: 50 years of tyranny in Zimbabwe will be diaries of inestimable value as they constitute authentic and reliable sources of information of the history of Zimbabwe. Diaries focus on those experiences, issues, concerns, anxieties, fears, hardships the victims personally witnessed and experienced. The newspaper Chronicle too was a very rare on-the-spot contemporaneous account of VP Mnangagwa utterances that he scandalously denies.A lot of records regarding genocide in Zimbabwe are not documented because some of the population in rural areas where these atrocities took place were peasant citizens with very little or no literacy skills. A lot will depend on their oral narratives. The surviving victims of genocide and crime against humanity from all corners of Zimbabwe should be allowed to come forward and put together repositories of the past dark history of violence Zimbabwe.If they were warning signs on the ground, the genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia would not have taken place, millions of lives would have been saved. It is always this if, if, if, if, in German one would sayIt was the failure of the international community that lacked foresight, or had no warning signs at place in the events that led to today's genocide. The Holocaust and the genocide of the Ottoman Empire are text book cases that should have told the UN to put together warning signs genocide.A resolution has been passed in the UN to put institutions in place that will be whistle blowers of genocide before it takes place. According to Gregory Stanton, those eight stages of genocide and crimes against humanity such as: symbolization, dehumanization, organisation, polarization, preparation, expropriation, rounding up, transportation and exterminations should be seen as guidelines that will warn people especially those who have been victims of genocide before, warn them about what is to come and people can take measure to avoid loss of life.Genocide in Zimbabwe may have been perpetrated on one ethnic group Ndebeles and Zapu members of Shona ethnic, the crimes against humanity has been perpetrated on almost all ethnic groups in Zimbabwe. There is not one single ethnic group in Zimbabwe that does not nurse scars of absolute brutality of barbaric nature. It is the opinion of this author to think that Zimbabwe problem becomes easier to solve as we all know our common enemy that is Zanu PF.How will VP Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa become a President in Zimbabwe with the history of violence and impunity in his history book? It is not only Ndebele people who fear the day VP Mnangagwa will take over and be the President of Zimbabwe but the majority of the citizens fear this man nicknamed "crocodile" for a very good reason. SHARE By of the Attorney General Brad Schimel was out of line when, after asking a court to issue a gag order, he publicly questioned the ethics of a lawyer defending one of the brothers his office charged with felony securities fraud, defense attorney Stephen Kravit said in a motion filed Wednesday and an interview. Kravit represents David Eliason, who with his brother Brian Eliason was charged with 10 felony counts of securities fraud earlier this month in a scheme that cost Northwoods investors about $3 million. The complaint by Schimel's offices says the brothers failed in 2009 to disclose information about the dire shape of their business that sold the investments in commercial and residential properties. Shortly after the well-known brothers were charged, Kravit issued a four-page news release arguing both brothers were innocent. Schimel responded by asking Vilas County Circuit Judge Leon Stenz to issue a gag order that would prevent lawyers and defendants from speaking publicly about the case. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and media in northern Wisconsin expect to seek court permission to intervene in the case this week so they could also oppose the gag order, said Steve Mandell, an attorney for the Journal Sentinel. Kravit, known for his aggressive tactics, took particular aim at Schimel. "Attorney General Schimel himself directly commented on this case in a prejudicial way while his motion for a gag order was pending," Kravit wrote. "Schimel's comment attacked ... (David) Eliason's defense attorney personally and questioned his ethics, without any basis." On March 17, Journal Sentinel columnist Ernst-Ulrich Franzen wrote that Schimel told him he was seeking the gag order because of actions by Kravit. "His concern, he said, was an aggressive defense attorney who Schimel says is attempting to try the case in the media. From his perspective, it's an ethical issue," Franzen wrote. "It is outrageous that the attorney general of the State of Wisconsin decided to tell a newspaper that I am unethical," Kravit said in an interview Wednesday. "I will be seeking a retraction directly from Mr. Schimel." In an email statement Anne E. Schwartz, Schimel's spokeswoman, said: "The state is simply asking the court to... ensure that the case is not tried in the media." The statement did not address Kravit's comments. Kravit's motion opposed the gag order, arguing that defendants have the right to defend themselves when they feel they are wrongly accused by authorities. "They are innocent, and no rule prevents them or their counsel from declaring so," Kravit wrote. The Eliason family is one of the most prominent families in Vilas County the brothers were once hailed in Inc. Magazine for their investment prowess and the charges received extensive publicity from the Northwoods media. That publicity could make jury selection difficult if the case goes to trial, Schimel's office argued in its motion seeking the gag order. "...Without an order limiting statements made to the public, publicity in this case could have a substantial effect on the ability to impanel a fair and impartial jury," the state's motion argued. An affidavit by David Eliason that was filed with the motion claims the publicity about the charges is affecting the brothers' businesses, including a Wausau-based insurance agency they own. "The public charges have forced people to question if they should trust my brother and me for insurance consultations and sales," David Eliason wrote. "We must be allowed to explain to people, both in business and personal lives, that we are not guilty of these allegations and why." The charges against the brothers involve sales of securities in the now-defunct Eliason Combination Fund. Prosecutors contend the brothers did not tell investors about the dire financial condition of their company, Eliason Inc., which "did not have the funds to continue covering operational expenses beyond 2009," the complaint states. Reddit Email 0 Shares Maan News Agency | BETHLEHEM US Senator Patrick Leahy along with 10 other Democratic congressmen have called on the US to investigate the possibility of gross violations of human rights by Israels and Egypts security forces, including extrajudicial killings. US Senator Patrick Leahy together with US Secretary of State John Kerry in March, 2014. (Photo credit: leahy.senate.gov) Leahy, who has in the past sought a greater role for human rights in US foreign policy, made the request in a joint letter sent to US Secretary of State John Kerry on Feb. 17, suggesting that if the reports of rights violations should be proven, US military assistance should be cut off. There have been a disturbing number of reports of possible gross violations of human rights by security forces in Israel and Egypt incidents that may have involved recipients, or potential recipients, of US military assistance, the congressmen said in the letter published on Tuesday by Politico. The letter cited findings by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli military and police of Fadi Alloun, Saad al-Atrash, Hadeel Hashlamoun, and Mutaz Ewisa, as well as several cases of torture. We urge you to determine if these reports are credible and to inform us of your findings, the congressmen said. The letter went on to say they had received information that the usual mechanisms in determining the provision of US military assistance and monitoring its use had been hindered by a unique situation created since the Camp David Accords. It suggested the US State Department and Department of Defense may be in breach of the Leahy Law a law named after the Vermont senator that prohibits the provision of military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity. If the reports were proven true, the congressmen said, the US should take appropriate action called for under the law. The letter also cited human rights violations carried out by the Egyptian army, including the 2013 massacre in Rabaa Square and a number of recently documented Egyptian extrajudicial killings. Every year, the US provides $3 billion worth of military assistance to Israel, and is currently negotiating a package for the next 10 years that is expected to see that amount increase. Hundreds of millions of dollars have also been provided to the Egyptian army since it toppled the nations first democratically elected president in 2013. The letter was sent before a soldiers gruesome killing of a wounded Palestinian in Hebron caused international outcry last week, an incident one senior UN official branded an extrajudicial execution and a gruesome, immoral, and unjust act. Israeli forces have faced repeated criticism for their excessive use of force against Palestinians since a wave of unrest swept Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory last October. More than 200 Palestinians have now been shot dead by Israeli forces, some in clashes, the majority after they had been accused of attacking or attempting to attack Israelis, with nearly 30 Israelis killed in the same period. However, human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Israeli forces for opening fire on Palestinians who posed no imminent danger, in killings they say amount to extrajudicial executions. Via Maan News Agency Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | Anderson Coopers interview with Donald Trump on Tuesday evening had the advantage of allowing come-backs and close questioning. At one point Cooper pointed out to Trump that he sometimes behaved like a 5-year-old, as with his attacks on Heidi Cruz. At another, he wondered why Trump did not take responsibility when he retweeted or repeated something an audience member said. It was painful to have such an intense exposure to the cobwebs in Trumps flighty mind. But if we tried to analyze his roller-coaster stream of consciousness, what general principles could we find that drives his discourse? First, he is uninterested in civil rights. He does not even understand what a constitutionally protected right is. He never, ever, brings up rights. His world is an instrumental one. If you have some purpose in mind and achieving it requires riding roughshod over people, then you ride roughshod over people. It doesnt matter that they putatively have rights. The rights must be set aside. This abrogation of the Bill of Rights in Trumps mind is clear in this exchange: COOPER: All right, lets go to the audience. I want you to meet retired Lieutenant Brian Murphy. He as first the officer to report to the Sikh temple massacre in Oak Creek, and was shot 15 times. His fellow officer, who is standing next to him, Sam Lenda (APPLAUSE) COOPER: Sam Lenda took out TRUMP: Great. COOPER: His fellow officer standing next to him, Sam Lenda, took out the shooter that day, is also with us. We wanted to just first of all take a moment to thank both of them for their service and their actions. (APPLAUSE) COOPER: Brian has a question for you tonight. He says hes he likes Governor Kasich but hes still undecided so Brian. QUESTION: Good evening, Mr. Trump. I have a question. In light of the Brussels and Paris attacks one of the quickest knee-jerk reactions is a backlash against specific minority religious groups. This, in turn, brings about things that cause damage all over. In Milwaukee, you heard about the Sikh temple shooting. Six people were killed. 99 percent of the men in the United States who wear turbans are actually Sikh and not Muslim. How would you suggest we help educate the public and not alienate these groups and, at the same time, how do we protect the constitutional rights of minority groups like the Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Jews, while still addressing radical Islamization? TRUMP: Well, Brian, thank you for the question. We have a tremendous problem with radical Islam whether we like it or we dont. We have a president who wont talk about it. Trump went on to complain that Parisians are not all walking around like Wyatt Earp with six-shooters hanging off their hips. Then he alleged that the Muslim community of San Bernardino knew very well that two of their members were stockpiling weapons and bombs for an attack (a lie on Trumps part). Then he blamed Obama for getting out of Iraq. Then he again called for a Muslim exclusion act. Then he alleged that Syrian refugees were coming into the United States with no paperwork (this is not true they are vetted for 18 months, there arent very many of them, and they havent been nearly as much trouble for the country as Trump himself). Trump never got around to saying how he would guarantee rights for Jews, Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus in an atmosphere that he is creating of ethnic hate and scapegoating toward one minority group, the Muslim-Americans. That is because he cannot conceive of people other than himself having rights. As a narcissist, only he matters to himself. He must get what he wants at all costs. Anderson pressed him on his agreement with Ted Cruz that law enforcement should be patrolling Muslim neighborhoods (that isnt really a thing). COOPER: In your home city. Chief of Police under Giuliani, as well as now de Blasio, again out in L.A. He said about Ted Cruzs proposal, we do not patrol and secure neighborhoods based on selective enforcement because of race or religion. Is he wrong? TRUMP: I think we have to be extremely vigilant in those areas, we have to look very seriously at the Mosques. Lots of things happening in the Mosques, thats been proven. You look at whats going on in Paris where Mosques are being closed, OK? And, we have to look very, very seriously. COOPER: Theres a lot of Muslims in America who hear that, saying we got to look seriously at the Mosques TRUMP: Let me just tell you something, in San Bernadino people know what was going on. These two people probably became radicalized through her. Who knows? Frankly, right now, it doesnt matter. But, these two people want to kill their co-workers, et cetera, et cetera, in their apartment, or their house. In their place where they lived, they had bombs all over the apartment COOPER: Do you trust TRUMP: Excuse me they had bombs on the floor. Many people saw this. Many, many people. Muslims living with them in the same area. They saw that house, they saw that. One didnt want to turn them in. He said I dont know turn them in because I dont want to be accused of racial profiling. He saw bombs all over the apartment, OK? Its just an excuse COOPER: Do you trust Muslims in America? TRUMP: Do I what? COOPER: Trust Muslims in America? TRUMP: Many of them I do. Many of them I do, and some, I guess, we dont. Some, I guess, we dont. We have a problem, and we can try and be very politically correct and pretend we dont have a problem, but, Anderson, we have a major, major problem. This is, in a sense, this is a war COOPER: So, special patrols in Muslim neighborhoods TRUMP: You know, nobody wants to call it a war excuse me. Nobody wants to call it a war. Its a war. Theres a war. So Trump makes up stuff about what Muslim communities know about say two radicals in their midst who were so good at hiding things that law enforcement and the NSA etc. didnt know about them. And he wants mosques surveilled and neighborhoods patrolled (which is a violation of the fourth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution) because he said so. Then he created a frame of war to justify this abolition of the US Constitution. The US isnt in fact at war. No war has been declared. It is involved in some police actions against a terrorist group, for which there is a Congressional authorization of the use of force. And the AUMF has nothing whatsoever to do with Americans civil rights unless you believe Glenn Beck that the US government wants to drone uppity white people under its cover. So Trump does not have a concept of civil rights, which he dismisses as politically correct (i.e. inconvenient). He can do anything he wants to anybody he wants any time he wants. The law, the Constitution then become irrelevant. He can frame his actions as a war and justify them. This position, that rights dont even exist, is why Trump is correctly called a fascist. Part of what fascism is, is a subjugation of individuals to reasons of the State at the whim of state officers, with no pretense of law or legality. Fascist states even just stripped millions of citizenship. If you arent a citizen then you dont have rights. You dont even have a right to have rights. Trump in his own mind has stripped Muslim-Americans of their citizenship. But he could easily do it to other groups in society if they got in his way. In some ways he has already demoted Latino Americans to being second class citizens, alleging that they are disproportionately a criminal element (which is the opposite of the reality). Aside from the abolition of civil rights, a second plank of the Trump doctrine is that US security interests are supreme and must be achieved at all costs. The main purpose of the state in his view is the provision of what he calls security. Again, this conception of the government is a fascist one. Some of his calculation of US interests is economic. He maintains, for instance, that NATO is costly and that the US bears the brunt of the costs, and therefore it should be mothballed. Moreover, since he identifies the interest of the state with security and his main conception of security is counter-terrorism, he sniffs at NATO for not being about counter-terrorism. This position is breathtaking. Donald Trump does not know about the Afghanistan War. He does not know that NATO troops fought and died along US ones for long years in Afghanistan. France, Canada, the others lost men there fighting the Taliban. They were there as part of NATO. Donald Trump does not know this. NATO contributions are based on the gross domestic product of members. The US pays 22% of th The US supports NATO economically. But it also spends ten times more annually on its military than the most militaristic of the other NATO countries (Britain) and many times that more than most other European countries. Trump thinks the US spends too little on its military and that the US military is a shadow of its former self. Part of the reason for abolishing NATO is an insistence on allies self-reliance. Thus, he wants Europe to deal with the Ukraine and Crimea crises with Russia. Not the US. That is, in the end, Trump does not have the concept of an ally. It is part of his narcissism. There are no civil rights at home, we have no allies or responsibilities abroad. Thus, his stated desire for Japan and South Korea to acquire nuclear weapons. Insofar as they are not really US allies (given that in his mind the US never has any responsibilities to other countries and so has no allies), then they should provide their own security. Since North Korea has a nuclear weapon, the only way they can do so is to nuclearize themselves. Cooper pointed out to him that this is nuclear proliferation on a massive scale, which Trump says he is against. But Trump deflected the criticism on the grounds that it has to be done. The instrumental always takes precedent in Trumps self-regarding mind over principle. Trump does not think in terms of principles but of interests. He is the ultimate Realist. If an interest requires that something should be done, it should be done. No framework of treaties or constitutional law or first principles or logic must be allowed to get in its way. And that is the Trump doctrine. And that is American fascism. - Video: DONALD TRUMP FULL TOWN HALL INTERVIEW WITH ANDERSON COOPER (MARCH 29, 2016) VIRGINIA CITY, NV--(Marketwired - March 29, 2016) - Comstock Mining Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE MKT: LODE), today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 10,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $0.35 per share. The gross proceeds to the Company from this offering are expected to be approximately $3,500,000 before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,500,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on March 31, 2016, subject to customary closing conditions. Aegis Capital Corp. is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering. Northland Capital Markets and Tectonic Advisory Partners (acting through Ecoban Securities Corporation) are acting as financial advisors to the Company. This offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement (No. 333-208824) previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus describing the terms of the proposed offering have been filed with the SEC and are available on the SEC's website located at http://www.sec.gov, and a final prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus will be filed with the SEC. Before investing in this offering, interested parties should read in their entirety the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus and the other documents that Company has filed with the SEC that are incorporated by reference in such prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, which provide more information about Company and such offering. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and final prospectus supplement relating to this offering may be obtained, when available, from Aegis Capital Corp., Prospectus Department, 810 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY, 10019, telephone: 212-813-1010 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any shares of the Company's common stock, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus and a related prospectus supplement, which have been filed with the SEC. About Comstock Mining Inc. Comstock Mining Inc. is a producing, Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible mining, cultural asset protection and historical restorations. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and commenced production in 2012. The Company continues acquiring additional properties in the district, expanding its footprint and creating opportunities for further exploration, development and mining. The near-term goal of the Company's business plan is to maximize intrinsic stockholder value realized, per share, by validating qualified resources and reserves (proven and probable) from the Company's first two resource areas, Lucerne and Dayton, and significantly grow the commercial development of the Company's operations through extended, long-lived mine plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible. Forward-Looking Statements This press release and any related calls or discussions may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Comstock. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements about matters such as: future industry market conditions; future changes in the Company's exploration activities, production capacity and operations; future exploration, production, operating and overhead costs; offerings, sales and other actions regarding debt or equity securities; and future working capital, costs, revenues, business opportunities, debt levels, cash flows, margins, earnings and growth. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "should," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "potential" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of doing so. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by the Company's management in light of their experience and their perception of historical and current trends, current conditions, possible future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, representations or warranties and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Some of those risks and uncertainties include the risk factors discussed in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of the Company's annual report on Form 10-K. Occurrence of such events or circumstances could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows or the market price of the Company's securities. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or attributable to the Company or persons acting on the Company's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - GoviEx Uranium Inc. (CSE:GXU) ("GoviEx") and Denison Mines Corp. (TSX:DML)(NYSE MKT:DNN) ("Denison") are pleased to announce the execution of a Definitive Share Purchase Agreement (the "Agreement") to combine their respective African uranium mineral interests (the "Transaction") to create the leading Africa-focused uranium development company. Under the terms of the Transaction, GoviEx will acquire Denison's wholly owned subsidiary, Rockgate Capital Corp., which holds all of Denison's Africa-based uranium interests (collectively "DML Africa"), in exchange for approximately 56.1 million shares of GoviEx (the "Consideration Shares") plus approximately 22.4 million common share purchase warrants of GoviEx (the "Consideration Warrants"). Upon completion of the Transaction, Denison will hold 25% of GoviEx shares outstanding and 28% of GoviEx shares on a fully diluted basis. The asset portfolio of the combined company will include two permitted uranium development projects - including GoviEx's Madaouela project in Niger and Denison's Mutanga project in Zambia. It will also include Denison's Falea project, an advanced exploration-stage asset project in Mali, and the exploration-stage Dome project in Namibia. Following completion of the Transaction, GoviEx will control one of the largest uranium resource bases among publicly listed companies, with combined National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Measured & Indicated resources of 124.29 Mlbs U 3 O 8 , plus Inferred resources of 73.11 Mlbs U 3 O 8 . Govind Friedland, Founder and Executive Chairman of GoviEx, commented: "We welcome the opportunity to join forces with mining industry leader Lukas Lundin, and his team at Denison, to combine Africa's leading uranium assets into one consolidated vehicle. This Transaction is a win-win as it provides GoviEx with geographical diversification and allows Denison to focus on its core assets in Canada while enhancing its upside exposure to our combined Africa assets." David Cates, President and Chief Executive Officer of Denison, commented: "This transaction will provide Denison shareholders with significant exposure to the Madaouela project, one of the world's most advanced uranium development assets, while finding an excellent home for our own uranium projects in Africa. This transaction completes Denison's transition to fully focus on becoming an Athabasca Basin uranium producer." Benefits to GoviEx shareholders Creation of a growth Africa-focused uranium company with a robust project development pipeline and increased jurisdictional diversification, with assets in Niger, Zambia, Mali and Namibia. One of the largest combined uranium resource bases, estimated in accordance with NI 43-101, amongst its peer group with combined Measured resources of 28.59 Mlbs U 3 O 8 , Indicated resources of 95.70 Mlbs U 3 O 8 , and Inferred resources of 73.11 Mlbs U 3 O 8 . O , Indicated resources of 95.70 Mlbs U O , and Inferred resources of 73.11 Mlbs U O . Considerable exploration potential to further increase mineral resources, with several drill-ready targets defined at each property. Mining permits approved or granted in Niger and Zambia, both recognized mining countries with good infrastructure and mining history. Significant metallurgical testwork and engineering studies already completed on its three principal development assets, providing GoviEx with an opportunity to continue with optimization work. Strong shareholder base, including Denison, Ivanhoe Industries, Toshiba Corporation and Cameco Corporation. Benefits to Denison shareholders Ownership in GoviEx's Madaouela project, one of the few permitted, near-term uranium development projects in the world. Ability to maintain exposure to the assets of DML Africa through its ownership stake in GoviEx. Enhanced optionality to the uranium price through the significant ownership of share purchase warrants in GoviEx. Renewed focus for Denison on its principal assets in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan. Board representation within GoviEx. Transaction details Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, GoviEx will acquire DML Africa from Denison in exchange for 56,050,450 Consideration Shares and 22,420,180 Consideration Warrants, being four-tenths of a Consideration Warrant for each Consideration Share to be issued. Each such Consideration Warrant will be convertible into one common share of GoviEx at a price of US$0.15 per share for a period of three (3) years. The Consideration Warrants will include an acceleration clause, which will provide that, in the event that the closing price of GoviEx's common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") is equal to or greater than C$0.24 per share for a period of 15 consecutive trading days, GoviEx may provide holders of the Consideration Warrants with written notice that holders have 30 days within which to exercise the Consideration Warrants on the original terms, failing which the exercise price of the Consideration Warrants will be increased to US$18 per share and the term of the Consideration Warrants will be reduced by six months. At the time of closing the Transaction, Denison will ensure that DML Africa is capitalized with a minimum working capital of US$700,000, which is equivalent to the forecasted annual budget for the assets of DML Africa. For so long as Denison holds at least 5% of the issued and outstanding common shares of GoviEx, Denison will have the right to appoint one director to the GoviEx board of directors and will have the right to participate in future GoviEx equity financings in order to maintain its pro-rata ownership. Concurrent financing As part of the Transaction, GoviEx will undertake a concurrent equity financing by means of a non-brokered private placement (the "Placement") to raise gross proceeds of not less than US$2,000,000, of which Denison will provide the lead order for 25% up to a maximum of US$500,000. The Placement is expected to be completed prior to, or concurrently with, the closing of the Transaction ("Closing") and is a condition of Closing. Expected closing The Transaction is expected to close on or about May 17, 2016, subject to the receipt of required consents and approvals, as well as the satisfaction of other conditions customary for a transaction of this nature. Raymond James Ltd. is acting as GoviEx's financial advisor. Haywood Securities Inc. is acting as Denison's financial advisor. Further information on Mineral Resources Following completion of the Transaction, GoviEx will control one of the largest undeveloped uranium resource bases among publicly listed companies, as summarized below: Measured Mineral Resource Estimates (1)(2) Project/Deposit Tonnes (Mt) Grade (kg/t eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 ) Contained Metal (Mlb eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 ) Madaouela(3) - Marianne/Marilyn 2.14 1.79 8.45 Madaouela(3) - Miriam 7.26 1.13 18.14 Mutanga - Mutanga(4) 1.88 0.48 2.00 Total Measured 11.28 1.15 28.59 Indicated Mineral Resource Estimates (1)(2) Project/Deposit Tonnes (Mt) Grade (kg/t eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 ) Contained Metal (Mlb eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 ) Madaouela(3) - Marianne/Marilyn 14.72 1.43 46.30 Madaouela(3) - Miriam 1.95 0.80 3.48 Madaouela(3) - MSNE 5.05 1.61 17.88 Madaouela(3) - Maryvonne 1.23 1.79 4.84 Mutanga - Mutanga(4) 8.40 0.31 5.80 Falea(5)(6) 6.88 1.15 17.40 Total Indicated 38.23 1.14 95.70 Inferred Mineral Resource Estimates (1)(2) Project/Deposit Tonnes (Mt) Grade (kg/t eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 ) Contained Metal (Mlb eU 3 O 8 or U 3 O 8 ) Madaouela(3) - Marianne/Marilyn 5.04 1.17 13.02 Madaouela(3) - Miriam 0.21 1.26 0.57 Madaouela(3) - MSNE 0.10 1.34 0.29 Madaouela(3) - Maryvonne 0.42 1.66 1.55 Madaouela(3) - MSCE 0.72 1.81 2.88 Mutanga - Mutanga(4) 7.20 0.21 3.30 Mutanga - Dibwe(4) 17.00 0.23 9.00 Mutanga - Dibwe East(4) 39.80 0.32 28.20 Mutanga - Mutanga Ext(4) 0.50 0.34 0.40 Mutanga - Mutanga East(4) 0.20 0.32 0.10 Mutanga - Mutanga West(4) 0.50 0.34 0.40 Falea(5)(6) 8.78 0.69 13.40 Total Inferred 80.47 0.41 73.11 Notes: (1) Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. CIM definitions were followed for classification of mineral resources. (2) The mineral resources were estimated at various cut-off grades, as follows: i. Madaouela: 0.4 kg/t eU ii. Mutanga: 0.1 kg/t U 3 O 8 , Dibwe: 0.1 kg/t U 3 O 8 , Dibwe East: 0.1 kg/t U 3 O 8 , Mutanga Ext: 0.2 kg/t U 3 O 8 , Mutanga East: 0.2 kg/t U 3 O 8 , Mutanga West: 0.2 kg/t U 3 O 8 iii. Falea: 0.3 kg/t U 3 O 8 (3) Mineral resources estimated in radiometric equivalent uranium from a total gamma downhole probe ("eU 3 O 8 "). Source: An Updated Integrated Development Plan for the Madaouela Project, Niger, dated September 20, 2013 and amended and restated August 20, 2015, authored by Eur.Geol. Robert John Bowell PhD C.Chem. C.Geol, Daniel Guibal, Min Eng, FAusIMM (CP), MMICA, MGAA, Timothy John McGurk B.Eng (Hons), C.Eng, FIMMM, Neal Rigby, CEng, PhD, MIMMM, Richard Ingram Skelton MSc, BSc (Hons), C.Eng, MIMMM, MSAIMM, ARSM, John Arthur, PhD, MSc, BSc, MIMMM. The reported mineral resources have been adjusted to account for the absence of the Agaliouk license. (4) Mineral resources estimated in U 3 O 8 . Source: Mineral Resource Estimates for the Mutanga Uranium Project (the "Combined Mutanga Report"), dated September 12, 2013, authored by Malcolm Titley, B.Sc., MAusIMM, MAIG. (5) Source: Technical Report on the Felea Uranium, Silver and Copper Deposit, Mali, West Afica dated October 26, 2015 authored by Mark B. Mathisen, C.P.G. The results of the estimates are included in the tables above. CIM definitions were followed for classification of Mineral Resources. A copy of the report is available on Denison's website (http://www.denisonmines.com/). (6) The mineral resource also contains 0.161% copper (24.4 million pounds) and 72.8 g/t Ag (16.11 million ounces) in the Indicated mineral resource, and 0.2% copper (38.7 million pounds) and 17.3 g/t Ag (4.9 million ounces) in the Inferred mineral resource. Further information on the material mineral resources noted above is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Denison's and GoviEx's respective profiles. Qualified persons For GoviEx, the scientific and technical information disclosed in this release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Dr. Rob Bowell, a chartered chemist of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a chartered geologist of the Geological Society of London and Fellow of the Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Materials, who is an independent Qualified Person under the terms of National Instrument 43-101 for uranium deposits. For Denison, the disclosure of a scientific or technical nature contained in this news release was prepared by Dale Verran, MSc, Pr.Sci.Nat., Denison's Vice President, Exploration, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101. About GoviEx Uranium GoviEx is a mineral resource company focused on the exploration and development of uranium properties. GoviEx's principal objective is to become a significant uranium producer through the continued exploration and development of its Mine Permitted Madaouela Project and its other uranium properties in Niger. About Denison Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. Including its 60% owned Wheeler River project, which hosts the high grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits, Denison's exploration portfolio consists of numerous projects covering over 390,000 hectares in the eastern Athabasca Basin. Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest deposit and a 61.55% interest in the J Zone deposit on the Waterbury Lake property. Both the Midwest and J Zone deposits are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill. Internationally, Denison owns 100% of the Mutanga project in Zambia, 100% of the uranium/copper/silver Falea project in Mali, and a 90% interest in the Dome project in Namibia. Denison is also engaged in mine decommissioning and environmental services through its Denison Environmental Services division and is the manager of Uranium Participation Corp., a publicly traded company which invests in uranium oxide and uranium hexafluoride. Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All information and statements other than statements of current or historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in both GoviEx's and Denison's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding completion and expected benefits of the Transaction and other statements that are not facts. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which GoviEx and Denison operate, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Assumptions upon which forward looking statements relating to the transaction have been made include that GoviEx and Denison will be able to satisfy the conditions in the Agreement; that all required third party, regulatory, stock exchange, and government approvals will be obtained; and that the Transaction will be successfully concluded. In addition, the factors described or referred to in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the MD&A of both companies and which are available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, should be reviewed in conjunction with the information found in this news release. Although GoviEx and Denison have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the Transaction could be modified, restricted or not completed, and the results or events predicted in these forward looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and GoviEx and Denison disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and neither GoviEx nor Denison assume any liability for disclosure relating to the other company herein. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) - Golden Arrow Resources Corporation (TSX VENTURE:GRG)(FRANKFURT:GAC)(WKN:A0B6XQ), ("Golden Arrow") is pleased to announce the results of assaying of the final 17 drill holes in the Phase V drilling program at the Chinchillas Silver Project in Jujuy Province, Argentina. The drilling program was part of the Chinchillas Project pre-development activities, funded by Silver Standard, which are being undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of creating a combined mining business with Silver Standard's Pirquitas mine, as announced October 1st, 2015. "With the successful completion of the Phase V program we now look forward to completing the resource estimate update as we continue to advance the project towards the pre-feasibility level along with the engineering, permitting and environmental studies that are underway," commented Brian McEwen, Golden Arrow's VP Exploration and Development. "Our team is also initiating the next phase of the exploration program that will continue to advance new targets, including the Chinchillas South zone located in the contiguous property, where positive drill results have extended the project's potential by up to 1,500 metres south of the Chinchillas deposit." Selected highlights from these drill holes include: 219 g/t silver and 2.2% lead over 42 metres in CGA-287, including 442 g/t silver and 4.8% lead over 17 metres 169 g/t silver and 2.7% lead over 20 metres in CGA-293, including 1,393 g/t silver and 7.7% lead over 1 metre 182 g/t silver, 1.3% lead and 0.6% zinc over 35 metres in CGA-295, including 456 g/t silver, 3.3% lead and 1.4% zinc over 4 metres The Phase V drill program started on October 19th 2015 and approximately 15,000 metres of drilling has been completed. Previous results from the program were reported in news releases dated December 2nd 2015, December 16th 2015, January 11th 2016, January 20th 2016, February 4th 2016 and March 3rd, 2016. The Phase V program successfully accomplished several goals including: infill drilling in the Silver Mantos and Mantos Basement zones to upgrade the Mineral Resource categories; the completion of five geotechnical holes to support slope angle recommendations for the potential future pits; the completion of six shallow holes water well holes to characterize ground waters in the project area; and condemnation drilling around the deposit. Table 1 below includes the assay results from 17 diamond drill holes totaling 2,785 metres in length. A map of the drill hole locations is available on the Chinchillas map page on the Golden Arrow website at: http://www.goldenarrowresources.com/i/maps/2016-03-30_NRM_GRG_GnKc2P.pdf. Chinchillas Deposit Geology The Chinchillas deposit is a volcanic vent system in which explosive volcanic activity produced diatreme breccias and tuffs in the upper part of the vent and brecciated the underlying Ordovician basement meta-sediments. Silver-lead-zinc mineralization in the tuff and tuff breccia units is disseminated within thick mantos (layers), and in the basement is mainly within the fractures of the breccias. Mineralization occurs in four main zones: to the west is situated the Silver Mantos tuff-hosted zone and the Mantos Basement zone; to the east is situated the Socavon del Diablo ("Socavon") tuff-hosted zone and the Socavon Basement zone. The zones are described in detail in the most recent NI 43-101 Technical Report, filed under Golden Arrow's SEDAR profile dated November 2nd 2015. Drill Hole Details Mineralized intercepts greater than 20g/t silver, or 0.5% lead or 0.5% zinc are reported in Table 1. Five holes (CGA-282 to CGA-286) were drilled in the northern part of the Silver Mantos area as part of the on-going infill program. All had a depth less than 83 metres and intercepted near-surface high-grade mineralization as expected. Holes CGA-287, CGA-288 and CGA-292 to CGA-295 were deeper holes targeting mineralization in proximity to the tuff-basement contact. Mineralization was encountered at the upper Silver Mantos tuffs and in the Mantos Basement unit below the contact. Hole CGA-297 was drilled along the western edge of the Mantos Basement zone, and returned minimal intercepts, indicating this is the limit of mineralization in this area. At the northwest part of the Silver Mantos, hole CGA-290 confirmed the continuation of mineralization to the east, at depth in the tuffs, as reported in hole CGA-132 (see news release dated January 6th, 2015). Hole CGA-296 was collared at the south part of the Silver Mantos area, and intercepted several mineralized layers in the tuffs with high grade in zinc. Hole CGA-243, as reported in the News Release dated January 20th 2016, originally ended at 54 metres all in the tuffs of the Silver Mantos. In order to complete an infilling in the Mantos Basement in this location, this hole was deepened to 243 metres intercepting additional mineralization in the Silver Mantos and at the lower Mantos Basement. Holes CGA-289 and CGA-291 were drilled in the South Chinchillas zone, approximately one kilometre south of the main Chinchillas deposit, and approximately 60 and 100 metres northeast of water well hole CGA-272W, respectively. These holes were drilled to test the depth extension of mineralization identified in CGA-272W, as reported in the news release dated March 3rd, 2016. Both holes confirmed high-grade silver intervals within a mineralized envelope of zinc. As with CGA-272W, mineralization in the high-grade areas can be described as five to ten centimetre veinlets with banded black silver sulphidessphaleritepyrite. Additional fine stockworking of sphalerite and pyrite form a zinc halo. This mineralization style has similarities with the high-grade veins and breccias seen at the Pirquitas mine. Table 1. Drill Intercepts >20g/t for Ag or >0.5% for Pb or Zn TARGET HOLE Note From (metres) To (metres) Length (metres) Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) Silver CGA-243 * 8 17 9.0 65 Mantos * 24 52 28.0 89 0.5 * including 45 47 2.0 335 2.3 1.1 94 105 11.0 71 including 102 103 1.0 301 117 118 1.0 1.0 126 127 1.0 178 0.8 127 128 1.0 1.2 Mantos CGA-243 129 146 17.0 90 0.9 Basement including 132 134 2.0 302 1.7 147 148 1.0 1.2 148 149 1.0 33 0.8 154 156 2.0 29 163 165 2.0 21 168 226 58.0 64 including 217 221 4.0 204 0.8 235 236 1.0 39 1.5 Silver CGA-282 6 9 3 1.0 Mantos 9 10 1 24 1.0 48 49 1 106 2.0 50 62 12 73 1.3 66 68 2 26 0.7 0.8 Silver CGA-283 47 48 1 41 Mantos 50 52 2 135 2.1 56 61 5 89 66 68 2 52 Silver CGA-284 4 8 4 28 Mantos 18 28 10 47 31 36 5 83 36 41 5 0.7 58 60 2 3.2 Silver CGA-285 3 9 6 108 Mantos 12 14 2 226 18 19 1 21 20 21 1 164 27 29 2 299 1.5 30 33 3 37 1.4 Silver CGA-286 28 31 3 44 0.5 Mantos 43 44 1 34 1.0 0.9 66 67 1 20 0.5 1.6 Silver Mantos CGA-287 42 51 9 54 0.9 Mantos CGA-287 113 155 42 219 2.2 Basement including 115 132 17 442 4.8 159 169 10 83 0.6 173 176 3 46 183 184 1 31 190 191 1 40 1.2 Mantos CGA-288 102 107 5 36 Basement 109 119 10 162 1.6 including 111 115 4 320 2.7 122 144 22 287 1.8 including 125 129 4 731 2.4 146 150 4 41 0.7 153 154 1 35 0.8 159 160 1 86 2.0 163 164 1 62 1.2 1.1 175 179 4 54 0.9 South CGA-289 48 95 47 51 0.7 1.2 Chinchilla including 50 51 1 399 2.5 0.8 including 84 86 2 104 1.6 2.0 95 102 7 0.5 102 109 7 42 1.6 111 113 2 0.6 114 118 4 47 0.7 1.0 121 122 1 41 0.7 127 135 8 87 0.9 1.4 including 131 132 1 459 3.5 2.6 147 150 3 0.5 160 161 1 22 0.5 192 193 1 21 193 194 1 0.9 196 198 2 22 Silver CGA-290 108 117 9 118 Mantos 121 123 2 48 133 145 12 51 1.1 153 155 2 26 South CGA-291 45 53 8 0.9 Chinchilla 53 59 6 39 0.6 64 78 14 51 0.5 80 122 42 44 0.8 including 112 113 1 129 1.5 1.9 including 117 122 5 47 0.7 1.7 131 132 1 30 0.6 1.1 133 134 1 204 3.1 0.9 137 138 1 60 1.2 1.1 143 144 1 21 0.6 148 150 2 0.6 150 151 1 30 0.6 157 168 11 28 0.6 1.5 174 182 8 30 0.5 2.3 183 184 1 21 186 187 1 29 0.6 Silver CGA-292 76 80 4 30 Mantos 92 94 2 27 120 121 1 94 1.8 Mantos CGA-292 127 128 1 40 Basement 130 138 8 383 2.4 0.9 144 155 11 192 1.1 including 148 149 1 787 2.1 0.9 156.85 162 5.15 70 0.8 165 188 23 108 0.7 including 175 176 1 771 4.8 0.9 192 193 1 27 Silver CGA-293 72 74 2 27 Mantos 114 116 2 2.5 119 124 5 79 1.8 Mantos CGA-293 131 133 2 82 1.6 Basement 135 155 20 169 2.7 including 138 139 1 1393 7.7 158 161 3 86 1.3 165 173 8 39 175 186 11 107 0.5 189 190 1 39 190 191 1 1538 1.5 193 196 3 91 0.7 207 209 2 73 1.6 Silver Mantos CGA-294 81 96 15 168 1.5 Mantos CGA-294 98 103 5 25 Basement 105 107 2 49 110 111 1 22 113 139 26 125 1.4 156 172 16 132 1.5 183 188 5 24 198 203 5 25 Silver CGA-295 9 15 6 45 Mantos 21 23 2 28 0.6 1.2 41 43 2 0.6 1.3 45 50 5 59 1.2 1.8 51 86 35 182 1.3 0.6 including 71 73 2 363 2.1 1.7 including 76 80 4 456 3.3 1.4 Mantos CGA-295 115 128 13 115 0.6 Basement 131 149 18 376 1.5 including 141 144 3 987 4.5 159 160 1 26 Silver CGA-296 13 15 2 26 Mantos 25 29 4 51 33 35 2 85 53 55 2 0.8 70 72 2 0.8 75 76 1 29 0.5 1.5 78 84 6 27 1.2 3.6 85 86 1 0.9 87 95 8 47 1.6 3.4 Silver Mantos CGA-297 34 40 6 30 Notes to Table 1: The reported intervals are downhole lengths and are believed to approximate true width; this will be confirmed with geologic modeling. All grades are uncut. Intervals marked with "*" were originally reported in the news release dated January 20th, 2016. Table 2. Drill hole location and orientation data Hole Easting Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth (deg) Inclination (deg) Final depth (m) CGA-243 3472629 7512375 4131 0 90 243 CGA-282 3472826 7512522 4112 0 -90 71 CGA-283 3472888 7512511 4109 0 -90 80 CGA-284 3472853 7512516 4111 0 -90 74.5 CGA-285 3472773 7512559 4113 0 -90 71 CGA-286 3472820 7512605 4097 0 -90 83.5 CGA-287 3472599 7512579 4108 0 -90 209 CGA-288 3472536 7512575 4113 0 -90 211.6 CGA-289 3473398 7510913 4209 210 -60 200 CGA-290 3472645 7512655 4105 304 -70 200.5 CGA-291 3473419 7510950 4205 210 -60 193.6 CGA-292 3472600 7512525 4111 0 -90 206 CGA-293 3472620 7512501 4119 270 -70 212 CGA-294 3472581 7512425 4127 270 -71 221 CGA-295 3472571 7512377 4131 270 -60 167 CGA-296 3472650 7512200 4143 0 -90 150 CGA-297 3472487 7512503 4126 270 -75 191 Methodology and QA/QC Analyses of the drill core were performed by Alex Stewart Assayers, in Mendoza, Argentina, an internationally recognized assay service provider. All samples were analyzed by method ICP-MA-39 that consists of a four acid digestion followed by ICP-OES detection. Silver results >200 Ag g/t were re-analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on 50-gram samples. Lead and zinc results >10,000 ppm were re-analyzed by a three acid digestion and ICP-OES detection. The Company follows industry standard procedures for the work carried out on the Chinchillas Project, with a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program. Blank, duplicate and standard samples were inserted into the drill core sample sequence sent to the laboratory for analysis. Golden Arrow detected no significant QA/QC issues during review of the data. Qualified Persons The results of the Company's drilling program have been reviewed, verified (including sampling, analytical and test data) and compiled by the Company's geological staff under the supervision of Brian McEwen, P.Geol., VP Exploration and Development to the Company. Mr. McEwen is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the contents of the news release. 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. Hertz Schram PC [website], a southeastern Michigan firm, filed a class action lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Tuesday on behalf of the children in Flint, Michigan, who were injured by exposure to the high levels of lead in the citys drinking water [NYT timeline]. The class represents children under the age of 17, who sustained brain damage as a result of the exposure. The firm has said that any child who consumed the water could have suffered permanent brain damage. Elizabeth Thomson [professional profile], the lead attorney in the case, said in a press release, [t]he damage caused by the Flint Water crisis will have a life long impact on these kids and their families. The suit states that there is no safe level of lead exposure and that children are more susceptible to lead poisoning than adults. The firm maintains that any child who consumed the water could have suffered permanent brain damage. The claim alleges gross negligence on the part of officials who made misleading statements regarding the waters safety. Thompson has condemned Flint officials for failing to consider the needs of the citys children when addressing the water crisis. This lawsuit is the latest development in the Flint water crisis. Public officials have come under fire [Atlantic report] for their response to the crisis, as it took 20 months after the initial switch in water supply for an emergency to be declared by the state. Earlier this month seven families living in Flint, Michigan, filed a class action lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against Governor Rick Snyder alleging gross negligence [JURIST report] in connection to the lead-contaminated water. This same month a group of UN human rights experts called on [JURIST report] the US to increase its efforts to address the issue of lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan. In January the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, seeking the replacement of lead water pipes in the city of Flint. The lawsuit, filed in conjunction with Concerned Pastors for Social Action, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Flint resident Melissa Mays, seeks to force city and state officials to mediate alleged violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Also in January Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette appointed a former prosecutor [JURIST report] to act as Special Counsel in his investigation into the water contamination crisis in the city of Flint, and a retired Detroit FBI chief will also participate in the investigation. The Tianjin No 1 Intermediate Peoples Court on Wednesday sentenced Ji Wenlin, the former vice governor of south Chinas Hainan Province, to 12 years in prison on corruption charges. The former government official was found [Xinhua report] to have used his office to collect millions in bribes and assetss to benefit himself and others. His case is one of many [Reuters report] brought by Chinas communist party [official website] to end corruption. Ji was the Mayor of Haikou and the vice-Governor of Hainan before he was removed [Reuters report] in 2014. The Chinese government has increased the prosecution of domestic corruption increased following the appointment of President Xi Jinping [BBC profile] in 2013. In February the Hangzhou Christian Council announced [JURIST report] that a prominent Chinese Pastor is under investigation for corruption involving the embezzlement of state funds. In November a Chinese court jailed a top aide to the countrys former security chief [JURIST report] Zhou Yongkang on corruption charges. In October Chinese state media reported that the former head of the countrys biggest oil firm was sentenced to 16 years in prison [JURIST report] for corruption. In September prosecutors in China announced that they will be investigating former China Supreme Court justice Xi Xiaoming on corruption charges [JURIST report]. In August a former general in Chinas Peoples Liberation Army, Gu Junshan, was sentenced [JURIST report] by a Chinese military court to death with a two year reprieve for corruption charges. French President Francois Hollande [official website] on Wednesday said [video, in French] that he will no longer move forward with his plan to reform the countrys constitution. The reform would have included an amendment that would deprive French citizenship or rights attached to it from dual nationals convicted of terrorism. In a short speech, he announced [Reuters report] that he intended to end debate on the matter, citing the National Assemblys and Senates failure to agree on an amendment. The senate adopted a different version of the amendment earlier this month, essentially blocking the measure [JURIST report]. Earlier this month, JURIST Guest Columnist Dr. Sandra Mantu of Radboud University, discussed [JURIST op-ed] the proposed Constitutional law to Protect the Nation in which a person could be deprived of French nationality or of the rights attached to it if he or she has been condemned for a crime or offense that constitutes a serious violation of the nations life. The proposed amendments [JURIST report] were a response to the terrorist attacks on Paris in November, which left nearly 130 dead. Organized in three teams, terrorists reportedly connected to the Islamic State (IS) [JURIST backgrounder] perpetrated attacks on six different targets in and around Paris. A UN rights expert commented that the attacks may amount to crimes against humanity [JURIST report]. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) [official website] filed suit Tuesday against Volkswagen AG (VW) [corporate website] for false advertising. VWs sales have taken a major hit in the US since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] revealed in September that VW had been cheating on diesel-emissions tests [WSJ report], contradicting the companys claims that its diesel vehicles were green. More than 500 civil lawsuits from around the country have been consolidated in the San Francisco court against VW, and VWs brand image has suffered forcing its CEO and top US manager out of the company since the scandal surfaced. The FTC filed suit [complaint, PDF] in the US District Court in San Fransisco stating [Fortune report] that US consumers suffered billions of dollars in injury as a result of the deception. The filing cites slogans from past campaigns showing that VW intentionally misled consumers, such as Diesel. Its no longer a dirty word. VW is facing legal difficulty around the world over the emissions scandal. A law firm in Germany filed a class action lawsuit [JURIST report] earlier this month against VW on behalf of investors alleging a breach of duty to the capital market. The 3.255 (USD $3.61 billion) lawsuit was brought in a Germanys multi-regional court in Brunswick. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed suit [JURIST report] against VW in early January for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act [EPA review]. The DOJ is also seeking billions of dollars in damages in a civil lawsuit. Last year the Braunschweig public prosecutors office opened a criminal investigation [JURIST report] of former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, following accusations that the company cheated on government emissions tests by manipulating exhaust valves. The investigation followed several criminal complaints, including one filed by VW, and came less than a week after Winterkorn stepped down as CEO of the company. In his statement he accepted responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and said that he was clearing the way for this fresh start with [his] resignation. Breyer is currently overseeing hundreds of lawsuits, and 47 state attorneys general are also investigating. A Missouri court struck down [opinion, PDF] part of a law on Monday that was passed in the wake of the unrest in Ferguson last yea. Senate Bill 5 [text] was passed as a response to widespread concern regarding the revenue being made in Ferguson courts after a US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] report following the shooting of Michael Brown. The bill placed caps on revenue that can be collected from traffic fines, with St. Louis County receiving its own separate limit, the lowest limit in the bill. Judge Jon Beetem found that the law unconstitutionally targeted St. Louis Countys police departments based on the individualized revenue limit as well as mandates involving other procedures of these departments. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster [official website] subsequently announced plans to appeal [AP report]. Ferguson was not one of the municipalities involved in the suit but did provide the spark for the bill in question. Earlier this month the DOJ and the city of Ferguson filed [JURIST report] a settlement agreement [text, PDF] to conclude a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] brought by the federal government last month. In September a Ferguson reform panel released a report [text, PDF] calling for the consolidation of police departments and municipal courts [JURIST report]. In August a new Municipal Court judge in Ferguson ordered sweeping reforms of courtroom practices following a damning federal report of racial bias [JURIST report]. The DOJ report released last March cleared [JURIST report] the former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson from federal prosecution for Browns death. Former attorney general Eric Holder additionally stated that the report showed [press release] that racial disparities in police practices could not be alternatively explained other than through racial bias, which he says is proven through statistics and an examination of records and emails. In October 2014 Amnesty International [advocacy website] reported that police in Ferguson committed human rights abuses [JURIST report] against peaceful protesters in August 2014. Also in October 2014 a federal judge ruled [JURIST report] that a tactic employed by the Ferguson police to control protesters, in which protesters had to constantly keep moving, is unconstitutional because it prevented protesters from peacefully assembling on public sidewalks. [JURIST] North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper [official profile] on Tuesday stated during a press conference that he will not defend House Bill 2 [materials], which he considers to be discriminatory against the LGBT community. The bill, which was signed into law [JURIST report] last week, prevents local governments from enacting their own nondiscrimination ordinances. Under the new law, cities and counties will be unable to pass laws allowing transgender people to use the public restroom or locker room that corresponds with their gender identity. Cooper stated [ABC 11/AFP report, video], Were talking about discrimination here. Not only is this new law a national embarrassment, it will set North Carolinas economy back. Senator Phil Berger and others are calling on Cooper to resign for not fulfilling the duties of the attorney generals office. Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity has been a controversial issue in the US. Two weeks ago the Georgia state legislature approved a bill to allow faith-based establishments, including churches, schools and other organizations, to refuse service or employment [JURIST report] to same-sex couples based on their religious beliefs, but the governor has vetoed the bill.. Earlier this month the Kentucky Senate approved a bill allowing businesses to refuse service [JURIST report] to gays and lesbians based upon their religious beliefs. Also this month South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed a bill [JURIST report] that would have required public school students to use the bathroom or locker room corresponding to their sex at birth. In December a judge for the US District Court for the Central District of California ruled [JURIST report] that sexual discrimination is prohibited under a law that protects gender-based discrimination. In November President Barack Obama expressed support [JURIST report] for legislation that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity through an amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In July 2014 Obama signed an executive order [JURIST report] barring federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity but, despite pressure, did not include any exemptions for religious organizations. The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday declined to hear [order list, PDF] an appeal from former Illinois governor Rob Blagojevich. In 2013 Blagojevich was found guilty on 18 charges of corruption in his second trial and ultimately sentenced to a 14-year prison term [JURIST report]. A federal appeals court threw out five of his 18 convictions in 2015. Blagojevichs attorneys argued [NPR report] that the line between legal and illegal trading of political favors has become blurred, potentially leaving politicians everywhere subject to prosecution. The court left in place [Reuters report] last Julys ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuitupholding the majority of Blagojevichs convictions, for which he began serving the 14-year prison sentence in 2012. The Seventh Circuit refused to rehear Governor Rod Blagojevichs corruption case. In 2013 Blagojevich filed an appeal [text, PDF] with the Seventh Circuit challenging his conviction and sentencing. Lawyers first filed notice of appeal [JURIST report] in June 2011. Blagojevich was initially found guilty [JURIST report] in 2010 of making false statements to the FBI, but the jury remained deadlocked on 23 additional charges. The prosecutors dropped some of the charges [JURIST report] to simplify the case for retrial, including charges for racketeering. In January 2009 the Illinois State Senate voted unanimously [JURIST report] to convict Blagojevich of abuse of power and remove him from office. Blagojevich and his former chief of staff John Harris were initially arrested [JURIST report] in December 2008 on corruption charges, including allegations that they conspired to sell the Senate seat left vacant by US President Barack Obama. Thailands Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha [BBC profile] on Wednesday granted the military police powers to arrest and detain suspected criminals. The junta leader issued a decree [materials, in Thai] called Suppression of wrongdoings that could threaten Thai economy and society, which grants soldiers of a certain rank, in the army, navy and air force, the power to summon and detain suspects for up to seven days. Human rights advocates fear the order will only increase the control [Reuters report] of the military state and threaten human rights. The junta justified the decree by asserting that Thailand lacks the number of police necessary [WSJ report] to combat criminal threats to national security. Human rights groups worldwide have expressed growing concern over Thailands governmental impunity since it became a military junta in May 2014. In January the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein called on the Thai government to fully investigate [JURIST report] the whereabouts of at least 82 people listed as disappeared and criminalize forced disappearance through legislation. That same month, Thailand unveiled a new draft constitution [JURIST report], which human rights groups stated was aimed at increasing the power of the military under the guise of clauses intended to promote national security, permitting the government to commit human rights abuses without fear of punishment in violation of international treaties. In December Amnesty International called for [JURIST report] a thorough investigation into torture allegations levied against the police responsible for the arrests of two men in relation to the Koh Tao murders. The men, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun, were found guilty of the murder of two British tourists in the vacation island of Koh Tao. The defense team for the Myanmar nationals claims that their confessions were coerced, and that DNA evidence linking the men to the crime was severely mishandled and unreliable. In November the UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia urged Thailand to immediately close [JURIST report] a military detention center in Bangkok where two high-profile inmates died in October. The spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website], Rupert Colville, said [statement] Wednesday that his office is concerned about the apparent extra-judicial execution of a Palestinian man in the West Bank last week. The execution occurred after an attack by two Palestinians on an Israeli solider. One of the attackers was killed on the scene and the other, later identified as Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif, was later videotaped being shot in the head by an Israeli soldier. Although Israeli authorities detained the suspected shooter and the matter is currently under investigation, Colville is concerned that this is not an isolated event. In the statement Colville urged the Israeli forces to practice the use of force only when necessary. Recent conflicts between Israel and Palestine [HRW backgrounder] over settlements in the occupied West Bank have raised concerns over possible human rights violations. In January Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] businesses to cease operations in Israel settlements. In August UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged both sides of the conflict [JURIST report] to reconcile and move towards peace after an attack occurred in the West Bank village of Duma, where Jewish extremists allegedly set fire to a Palestinian home while the family slept. In April HRW alleged [HRW report] that Israeli settlement farmers in the occupied West Bank are using Palestinian child laborers in dangerous conditions in violation of international laws. Last January, Germanys top human rights official urged Israel to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] probe into possible war crimes in Palestinian territories. After a prosecutor for the ICC announced the investigation [JURIST report], Israels government said that it would not work with the ICC and called for its funding to be cut. [JURIST] UNICEF [official website] reported [text, PDF] Tuesday that on average at least six children have been killed or maimed everyday since March 15, 2015 as the crisis in Yemen escalates. The report also discussed how recruitment of children as young as 10 years old has increased exponentially and there have been continued attacks on educational facilities and hospitals while humanitarian aid has been denied. Several hospitals had been taken over by combatants and used for military purposes. Infrastructure, water and food needs have also been disrupted by the fighting causing malnutrition and mortality rates to rise. UNICEF urged involved parties to cease the fighting and reach an agreement while calling on partners to secure funding to help affected areas. As of the date of the report, UNICEF had only reached 18 percent of its funding requirements for the year. The rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen has sparked significant international concern. Earlier this month UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein criticized [JURIST report] the Saudi Arabian coalition forces in Yemen for the more than 3,000 civilian casualties resulting from the conflict in just the past year. Also earlier this month, 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. Also this month 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. 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 in Yemen. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe [official website] on Wednesday vetoed [press release] Senate Bill 41 [text], otherwise known as the Religious Freedom; Marriage Solemnization, Participation, and Beliefs Act. The law had passed through Virginias Senate [official website] and had been presented to McAuliffe for further action in January. The stated purpose of the bill was to allow individuals and business owners who objected to same-sex marriage for religious reasons to be exempt from participating in such wedding ceremonies without penalty. McAuliffe concluded that the bill would shield from civil liability those who actively discriminate against same-sex couples. The intersection of religious liberty and sexual orientation and gender identity has been a controversial issue in the US. Earlier this week Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said that he will also veto a religious freedom bill [HB 757, text]. The bill was given final legislative approval [JURIST report] earlier this month and awaited the governors signature. The governor expressed concern [JURIST report] that the bill contained language that could give rise to state-sanctioned discrimination. Last week North Carolinas governor signed a bill [JURIST report] that prevents local governments from enacting their own nondiscrimination ordinances. The law also requires public school students to use the school bathroom or locker room that corresponds to their sex at birth. Also this month the Kentucky Senate approved a bill [JURIST report] allowing businesses to refuse service to homosexuals based upon their religious beliefs. Earlier in March South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed a bill [JURIST report] that would have required public school students to use the bathroom or locker room corresponding to their sex at birth. The non-Scotch whisky sector is set to post ongoing healthy figures, according to a new report from just-drinks and The IWSR. The segment will increase its sales between 2015 and 2020 to 363.4m cases, the research claims. The performance would represent a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7% in the six-year period. The Global Non-Scotch Whiskies Insights Report, which is published this week, forecasts compound annual growth in a number of European markets, including the UK (5.3%), France (3%) and Germany (1.6%). Outside Europe, the most promising markets are expected to be Nigeria, Japan and Russia. Spain and Brazil, however, are expected to decline, while Canada will remain flat. While adding the caveat that almost three quarters of non-Scotch growth will come from India, where 98% of the segments market is for domestic whisky, the report has also predicted growth for the US and Irish whiskey categories. Having grown by a CAGR of 5.6% between 2009 and 2014 to reach 39m cases, the US whiskey sector is forecast to continue growing at a CAGR of 4.4% to 2020, with double-digit rate growth expected in many large markets, including the Travel Retail channel, France, Poland, Russia, Brazil, Turkey and Mexico. A new wave of product innovation is fuelling growth for US whiskey, according to the report. US whiskey, traditionally a staid category with little creativity, has embarked on a new age of experimentation and innovation, embracing flavoured variants, diverse mash bills and premiumisation, the report states. Irish whiskey, meanwhile, was the fastest-growing spirits category globally between 2009 and 2014, recording a CAGR of 10.5%. While the report notes that the strong growth rate for Irish whiskey is off a small base, the rates are so impressive that industry insiders speak of a renaissance for the category. Such is the growth potential for US and Irish whiskey that the principal challenge will be keeping up with rising demand. Supply challenges will, to some extent, prove a frustration to both US and Irish distillers in the short term as they look to satisfy demand and expand their market footprint, the report states. However, this situation should ease within a few years. How To Deal With Ingrown Hairs Dermatologists Reveal How To Deal With Ingrown Hairs - The Right Way To smite thine enemy, first you must know thine enemy: ingrown hairs are ugly beasts that can ruin your day. But theyre not mythical monster; theyre medical ones. Specifically, they are defined as curled hairs that grow sideways under the skin rather than outward, causing irritation and producing a raised red bump or painful sore. Ouch. Ingrowns usually come from some method of hair removal, whether its shaving, plucking, waxing or threading. They can be itchy and uncomfortable, house a small amount of pus, and even display the offending hair through a small area of translucent skin. This all sounds pretty gross, no? Well, it doesnt have to. By the end of this guide youll be ready, willing, and (perhaps?!) even excited to take back control. (But at the risk of leaving your curiosity woefully unquenched and for the sake of your very sanity, dont ever Google Image Search ingrown hair. Just dont... ever. Ditto "acne extraction videos" you've been warned.) Lets get started. The Stigma Prevention and treatment are critical (and we will get to them!), but first, lets talk about the stigma behind ingrowns. Dr. Julia Avalon of Avalon Medispa weighs in: After being in the business for over 10 years I realized just how many men are affected by little ingrowns and are sometimes too shy ask about them. Most of them do not even have a clue on how they could get treated or exactly what they are! Fear not, shy guys, we can help. Skin Conditions That Mimic Ingrown Hairs From straight up teenager-style pimples to gnarly bacterial infections, many skin problems can be mistaken for ingrown hair. It may sound obvious, but knowing whats an ingrown and whats just a doppelganger is an important part of treatment. We spoke to the experts about the skin conditions that can mimic ingrown hairs. There are some pretty unsavory look-alikes to watch out for. NCEA-certified aesthetician Kimberly Parent tells us about some of them: genital herpes (STD-formed blisters or painful itching sores); impetigo (a contagious bacterial infection starting with red bumps and developing into honey-colored pustules with crusty yellow sores); and abscesses (inflamed, swollen, pus-filled pockets that are also known as and were not lying - furuncles). But thats not all on the look-alike front. They can be anything from totally innocuous to practically deforming. According to Tsippora Shainhouse, other possible look-alikes include acne (you may remember this from middle school as simply some pimples); perioral dermatitis (a pink bumpy rash); contact dermatitis (flaky, scaly, pink or bumpy skin from coming into contact with caustic chemicals); seborrheic dermatitis (pinkish, irritated, flaky or bumpy rash triggered in greasy areas); folliculitis (pink bumpy inflammation of the hair follicles that sometimes leads to pustules); pseudofolliculitis barbae (hard, purplish bumps that develop from inflammation of hair follicles); sebaceous hyperplasia (enlarged oil glands that look like fleshy bumps); and keratosis pilaris (a buildup of skin that leads to bumps). Here are a few more skin conditions for you to watch out for: eczema (thick, blistery, crusty skin also known as skin asthma), heat rash (also known as miliaria, which is not to be confused with malaria!), dry skin, and whiteheads (you may also remember these bad boys from your greasy teenage days). As you can see, there are lots of nasty skin conditions out there. So let us be clear: this is by no means a complete list of what to watch out for, so go see a specialist for the proper diagnosis! RELATED: Top 10 Common Shaving Problems The Most Affected Skin Types The human race is filled with beautiful people of all shapes, sizes and colors. What could set ones sensitive skin ablaze with irritation could be a soothing scrub for anothers hardier epidermis. Tsippora Shainhouse of Rapaport Dermatology of Beverly Hills provides an idea of the skin types and parts of the body that are the most affected by ingrowns. In men, ingrown hairs usually show up on the face, neck and groin. Yep, all the most visible and/or most sensitive areas of the body we specifically don't want them showing up on. And bad news, black-skinned and Hispanic guys: you tend to have coarser hair and this tightly curled hair is more likely to become ingrown. Prevention When Youre Showering Aside from cleanliness (which weve heard is right up there next to something important from the Bible), showering is a good ingrown prevention tactic. Jennie Ann Freiman, MD, founder of wellness blog OObroo Tips, offers up a simple fix: the loofah. No need for fancy products; when men shave, wax or use whatever their preferred method to control the fuzz, skin grows over the treated area and traps the newly growing hair below it, leading to ingrowns. So the best thing to do is loofah daily, disrupting the newly growing skin and preventing it from trapping newly growing hair. When it comes to preventing ingrown hairs, your two main categories of prevention, according to Freiman, are mechanical and chemical. Those interested in wellness often choose mechanical over chemical, and the best example of that is a plant-based based loofah (as opposed to synthetic options such as plastic). There are other natural choices such as the (generally coarser) sea sponge, but the texture of the loofah is ideal for gentle exfoliation. More on Proper Loofahing Its not rocket science: wet the loofah to soften it, then exfoliate, then focus on actually washing your body using a circular motion to remove dead skin and loosen embedded hair. That means no scrubbing like youre furiously buffing a dent out of the hood of your Ferrari. With regular use, loofahing works as a prevention, not as a treatment. So on average, says Freiman, you should loofah twice a week. But treat it with care, as if it were a towel: let it dry out thoroughly between each use, launder it regularly in hot water (the dishwasher works too), and dont share it with anyone. Why? Bacteria can cause folliculitis (the medical term for ingrowns is pseudofolliculitis), so not caring for your loofah can easily turn it into a bacteria and mold breeding ground, defeating the purpose of using it in the first place! One day (maybe after about a month) your loofah will start to fall apart. When it does, dont go on using it until it disintegrates replace it! If youre feeling extra adventurous, an alternative to the loofah is dry brushing, which achieves a similar effect without the water and the concern of mold and bacteria festering in the dampness. (Jennie recommends the Yerba Prima Tampico skin brush made from the unbleached stem of the agave plant.) $9.24 at Amazon.com When Youre Shaving Its not just straight razors and little cuts you have to dab with a tiny piece of toilet paper: shaving is a hazardous activity for those prone to ingrown hair. The founder of Eastside Dermatology and Derm Warehouse, Dr. Alan J. Parks, says that to prevent ingrown hairs, simply make sure you're shaving with a sharp razor or just avoid shaving certain areas that are prone to those pesky hairs. Close shaves are what were fed by commercials and the media, but its actually a very close shave that causes you to get ingrowns. Dr. Schultz recommends shaving only at the end of the shower, shaving with the grain, using a shaving gel, and (for goodness sake) dont push too hard on the razor. The best way to keep your razor as sharp as, well, a razor? According to Jeffen Mok of Cutman Skincare fame, the best way to keep your razor blade sharp is to keep it dry because a wet blade speeds up oxidization, which creates rusting and dullness. So use a towel or blow dryer after shaving. Another good way to keep your razor bone dry is to coat it with mineral oil, baby oil, or grapeseed oil, which wicks the water off while adding the benefit of extra lubrication for shaving. A final tip from the writer: you can also blow furiously on your razor (think of trying to inflate a huge balloon) after youve washed it off to ensure every last droplet of water is gone. Theres an effective prevention idea that goes beyond blade shaving: brush shaving. Instead of the ol palm-on-face method, Dhaval G. Bhanusali, dermatologist at Sadick Dermatology, recommends you lather up with a shaving brush (which helps hairs stand straight up). This leads to a cleaner cut and fewer ingrown hairs, according to the doc. Bhanusali cites companies like Art of Shaving and Bevel for good shave brush options. Most of my patients have significant reductions [of ingrown hairs] once they start doing this. He also recommends switching to single blade razors, since the fresh edge for each minimizes dullness and prevents uneven cuts. Putting cold water on your face after shaving also helps to decrease inflammation, says the doctor. Pre-shave oil softens the hairs, leading to a cleaner cut and less chance of ingrowns. Bhanusali personally uses (and suggests trying) the Art of Shavings sandalwood Pre-Shave Oil. The oil is a bit thicker than others, so its ideal for those who tend to get razor burn or razor bumps (folliculitis) after shaving. (The more viscous the oil, the more of a barrier there will be for the blades to glide over.) It also has olive oil in it, which is great for softening the skin (they used it in ancient times too, if you wanna rack up some retro points) as well as castor oil, which is an excellent exfoliator to keep pores clear. $25.00 at TheArtOfShaving.com Youve heard it before, but it cant be overstated enough: dont shave against the grain. Founder of Cutman Skincare, Jeffen Mok, warns not to do this because it cuts the hair beneath the skin, and may pivot the direction of the hair, making it grow right back into the skin which, as weve seen, is not ideal! Pulling the skin taut while shaving can cause the remaining hair shaft to retract into the skin and have difficulty making its way back to the skin surface. Tsippora Shainhouse, board certified dermatologist at Rapderm in Beverly Hills and clinical instructor at the University of Southern California, goes more in depth to educate us. She says that waxing and plucking out hairs by the root can cause inflammation and even scarring in the hair follicle, which can make it difficult for new hairs to find the skin surface and grow out. Oy. As is the case with just about any other medical condition, prevention is the best medicine. The takeaway is simple: only shave in the direction of hair growth; try your best to shave over each area only once; and try a less close shave (think the two-blade razors of the days of yore rather than the five-bladed monstrosities of today). She also recommends using a face wash with salicylic acid (a safe acid variant that is also found in acne cream) if your skin can tolerate it, since they can be slightly harsh to sensitive skin. Shainhouse also says to consider applying an acne treatment or mild cortisone cream after shaving to minimize or eliminate normal inflammation. Want to keep ingrown hairs from plaguing your poor face, underarms, groin and other ultra-sensitive areas? NYC-based dermatologist Dr. Janet Prystowsky wants you to avoid pulling your skin tight for that extra-close shave. She also recommends simple abstinence: The best way to prevent ingrown hairs is to simply not shave or wax. If you can leave some stubble, do it. Also, use warm shaving lather to soften hair, and make sure to rinse your blade after every stroke. Try not to over-dry your skin during shaving. Dr. Julius of The Few Institute in Chicago and New York City says that alcohol based toners and astringents can be very harmful, so use moisturizing shaving cream, toners, lotions and other products that have either aloe in them, zero or little alcohol in them (which minimizes dryness and irritation), or both. And to remedy dryness after shaving, apply non-alcohol based lotions, making sure the bearded area does not feel dry. According to the doc, This will dramatically help not only health and wellness for the skin but it will appear much [healthier] and less irritated. There are some experts that recommend a more natural way to shave. OObroo Tips Jennie Ann Freiman likes organic, extra-virgin coconut oil instead of chemically-laden shaving creams lotions. And since coconut oil is naturally antibacterial, it helps prevent acne and ingrowns with its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to soften the hair before the razor hits. DIY Methods Store-bought products arent the only way to get things done. Julia from Avalon Medispa recommends DIY prevention with a mild glycolic chemical peel, such as Caudali Glycolic Peel, which can also help you leave your skin smooth and help prevent and reduce ingrown hairs. She offers some insight on best practices if you decide to use a peel. First, make sure you are starting out gradually to see your bodys response. Do a little test spot on a hidden area thats close enough to the treatment site. If you see no adverse reactions or mild redness (stinging can occur) then apply the product normally. Increase the frequency of use based on your bodys tolerance of it. Start with every two weeks for the first month or so, and then up to once a week. Also make sure to wear sunblock containing titanium dioxide and zinc oxide to help prevent any pigmentation issues if you are in the sun. When Youre Getting Your Beauty Rest We love getting a good nights rest and knowing your skin is healing while you rest makes it even better. Dr. Julius of The Few Institute offers up a good idea for prevention: the use of retinol-based topical applicants at night for while-you-sleep skincare to help exfoliate dead layers, keep pores clear, and prevent clogging that can result in ingrown hairs. More On Exfoliation Exfoliation might bring to mind images of a caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly. And really, its not all that different for us. Dr. Alain Michon, MD, CCFP-EM, and Medical Director of Originis Clinic, says that when it comes to ingrown hair prevention, exfoliation is absolutely key. Ingrown hairs are more likely to occur if you have dead skin cells. The solution? Exfoliate the day before and the day after shaving or any waxing treatment. To do this, you can use a chemical exfoliant (with alpha-hydroxy acid or salicylic acid), an exfoliating glove, or get a professional exfoliation at your local skin-focused clinic. But to avoid all of this, Dr. Alain says, just consider laser hair removal. After all, the occurrence of ingrown hair is a risk with any shaving or waxing procedure. When Youre Seeing A Professional From last therapy to dangerous needle-based activities there are plenty of reasons to go see a professional. Instead of shaving or waxing, Dr. Michael Swann, board certified dermatologist in Springfield, MO, has an effective (but costly!) option that seems to be popular with a lot of dermatologists: laser hair removal. It heats the hair shaft inside the skin so the hair bulb can't produce hair, which is safe for all but the darkest skin types. Beverly Hills dermatologist Tsippora Shainhouse agrees that for stubborn-to-treat areas like the neck, we should consider laser hair removal. Want shaving, waxing and embarrassing bumps to go a heck of a lot lower on your stuff-to-worry-about list? Julia Avalon strongly recommends a package treatment of laser hair removal if you are prone to ingrown hairs and the suffering is just too much. On average, her clients need about six to nine treatments to achieve their desired results. If done correctly, clients report that not only does their hair grow at a much slower rate, but it also becomes thinner and lighter after just a couple of treatments. This greatly helps with ingrowns and achieves nice, smooth skin. Theres no surefire way of preventing ingrown follicles, but there some pretty surefire treatments. Alina Baciu, general surgery resident and editor for Tryhealthier.com, offers up further facts on laser treatment. IPL (intense pulsed light) is one example of a laser technique that concentrates on destroying cells at the base of the hair follicle to prevent hair growth. Its important to note that while its very effective, hair will begin to grow at a normal rate around six to seven months after treatment. And if the ingrown hairs are really severe, antibiotic gels might be the answer. Dermatologist Dhaval G. Bhanusali at Sadick Dermatology suggests adding a prescription gel (like clindamycin). Treatment Exfoliating Out with the old, in with the new. Julia Avalon, owner/manager of Avalon Medispa, has a lot of clients that worry about ingrown hairs and understands that concern since we know they can cause discomfort, inflammation, scarring and sometimes an infection. Julia recommends St. Ives scrubs to exfoliate the built-up top layers of dead skin, which will allow the hair to break through. Just be advised that picking out the ingrown hair can cause scarring and should probably be an activity reserved for a professional to avoid any complications. From Your Drugstore Finally, a reason to hunker down and organize the cabinet under the sink! Bhanusali wants you to keep a simple, inexpensive, over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream (1%) in mind to help tame inflammation, especially if its painful. Easy! But if its severe or the patient has a history of scarring, he has them come to the office for a steroid injection for the larger bumps. He also has patients use an exfoliating cleanser two to three times a week to remove any debris clogging the pores. The drugstore isnt just for cough drops and condoms. DermTV.com and BeautyRxs Dr. Neal Schultz has a few over-the-counter topicals and simple home remedies for tempering the painful onslaught of an ingrown hair breakout: glycolic-exfoliation serum or pads (such as these BeautyRx ingrown treatment ones). Ingredients like sulfur or resorcinol (which is typically used externally as an antiseptic or disinfectant) could also help. To ease the pain that comes with ingrown hairs, try warm compresses or oral pain medication (e.g.. Tylenol, ibuprofen, Aleve) until you can see a dermatologist to have it drained and/or removed. (Vermen M. Verallo-Rowell, M.D., also recommends a topical benzoyl application of peroxide as an anti-inflammatory.) $30.00 at TendSkin.com How can a hand towel be a medical treatment, you ask? Tsippora Shainhouse offers the simple warm compress as a means to help soften the skin and bring out the hair. But since moisture and heat alone arent always effective, a salicylic acid spot-treatment (she prefers Tend Skin or Neutragenas On-The-Spot) can help peel the skin so the hair can pop out. And if its an angry red and tender to the touch, she recommends applying some cortisone cream twice a day for a few days to reduce inflammation. $6.99 at Neutrogena.com DIY From Your Own Living Space Sometimes frugality is the right way to go. Jeffen Mok of Cutman Skincare has a tip for those dealing with ingrowns: On the cheap, guys can use sugar, salt, or baking soda to create a quick scrub. Aloe vera and green tree oil also help. I dont know if many of us have tree oil hanging around our pantry, but sugar, salt, and baking soda sounds like a super easy scrub to formulate in your home laboratory (read: kitchen). In the event you find yourself with a painful ingrown hair and decide to pass on seeing a dermatologist or aesthetician, there is another option. Avalon Medispas Julia Avalon recommends cleaning the area with alcohol prior to touching it. Just gently apply pressure to the ingrown to help it break through the skin. Or if youre feeling particularly daring, use a sterile (clean it thoroughly with alcohol!) needle or fine tweezers to help facilitate the process. Apply a thin layer of Neosporin immediately after to avoid scarring and infection. Using Vitamin C serums (or even lemon juice) will greatly help to reduce any pigmentation issue that may result. From us to you: please be careful if you decide to brandish a needle for your own home treatment instead of seeing a knowledgeable, practiced professional. Luxury Beauty Products Sometimes treating yourself isnt just a luxury its a necessity. Luxury home beauty and wellness shop The Art of Shaving offers a Shave Cream, which features an ingredient that sounds disturbingly close to the birth name of a hippie flower child: Grass Lily. But unlike hipsterin types, Grass Lily promotes rapid healing of the skin, hydrates, moisturises, relieves skin irritations and is even used to heal burns, cuts, and abrasions. $25.00 at TheArtOfShaving.com From The Dermatologist Not every action should be taken at home. Dr. Janet Prystowsky, board certified, New York City-based dermatologist, has a totally novel suggestion: go see a dermatologist! Sounds reasonable! Lets expand on the value of a dermatologist. Vermen M. Verallo-Rowell, M.D., says to see an American Academy of Dermatology certified dermatologist who, based on your sensitivity, will prescribe anti-bacterial washes and creams with active ingredients such as topical retinoids or other exfoliants for barrier repair that may possibly prevent future ingrown hairs or treat an infected hair especially recurring beard area infections. Speed and efficacy are the name of the game for patients who just want to get it all over with and return home healthy and confident. The fastest and most efficient treatment, according to Dr. Schultz, involves taking the tip of a sterile needle, popping open the ingrown and then applying pressure at the bottom around it to force the ingrown out the way you push out a blackhead. This is something Dr. Schultz does in his office and does not recommended as a home treatment. Dont worry, Dr. Schultz: while some recommend giving it a shot (no pun intended) at home, there arent many of us brave enough to wield a needle as sterile as it might be against ourselves. Chemical depilatories are another option. Alina Baciu of TryHealthier.com goes over this treatment (according to Wikipedia, chemical depilatories are a cosmetic application used to remove hair on the body.) They break bonds within the hair, resulting in the hair breaking off and leaving behind a blunt tip that wont be able to pierce back through the skin. This treatment can also be used by men suffering from pseudofolliculitis (razor-bumps). But dont be overzealous: chemical depilatories will cause skin irritation if used too often. According to Baciu, every second or third day is an acceptable regimen. Alina also recommends a topical application of tretinoin or Retin-A, a compound that works by reducing hyperkeratosis (thickening of the skin), removing the thin layer of the skin in which the hair became lodged when trying its darndest to emerge from the follicle. Also, a solution of eflornithine HCL (hydrogen chloride) 13.9% cream has been used on its own and in combination with laser hair removal therapy to treat excessive hair. From Your Own Sense Of Self Control Dont attack yourself in a fit of ingrown-induced madness. Board certified MD, NYC dermatologist, and founder of DermTV.com and creator of BeautyRx Neal Schultz has just one last suggestion: resist the urge to pick at ingrowns, lest you tear your skin up worse than it was before. Thank you, Dr. Schultz, we will certainly take that under consideration for the sake of our skin. What If They Come Back? The worst thing about ingrowns is that they cant be cured they can always reappear. Dr. Schultz lays down some more knowledge, saying that if you have a recurring ingrown in the same place (think months or a year) that hair follicle will die and it will cease ingrowing. But if it doesnt, your best bet against situations of ingrown injustice is to see a dermatologist for laser hair removal. Like body odor and bad breath, visible ingrown hairs are unwelcome by every single person youll ever meet. And even more importantly, theyre unwelcome by the poor souls who have to deal with the pain, discomfort and gross-out factor they bestow upon us. But hey, thats totally cool, because now youre armed with knowledge on what they are, who gets them, why they occur, how to prevent them and how to get them treated properly if they do appear. Hopefully with these tips youve found a decidedly more diplomatic approach to dealing with them, rather than all-out war (which never ends well). And when all your efforts fail, just go see a well-regarded dermatologist who stays up to date on the latest treatments. Itll be worth it. We promise. Containing terror with security measures only goes so far. An article with the same title as this one was published in the Jerusalem Post, Israels English-language daily a day after the terrorist attacks in Brussels. The author, Yossi Melman, describes the attacks as the result of years of negligence and a colossal security and intelligence failure. According to Melman, Europe missed the opportunity to profit from Israels security-related know-how. The author is both right and wrong. The price of security Before I became a European, I had been an Israeli citizen and my closest relatives still live in Israel. I do not have the slightest doubt that containing terror with the help of security measures is effective only up to a certain point. Multiple levels of security have been introduced at Ben-Gurion International Airport and in several airports around the world, where El-Al, Israels flag carrier, is operating. It could indeed prevent attacks on Israeli planes similar to several dramatic hijackings by Palestinian terrorists in the 1970s. Yet, securing air traffic comes at a price. Passengers are now expected to be at the terminal some three hours before departure and many foreigners report humiliating searches and interrogations. The so-called Separation Fence in the West Bank is claimed to have reduced suicide bombings that targeted Israeli buses and shops during the Second Intifada (2000-2005). But the 8-meter-high Wall has become both the symbol of occupation and, together with the accompanying system of check-points, has further aggravated human rights violations against the Palestinian population. The Gaza Strip has de facto become the largest ghetto in the world. Pounding it with bombs from the air, land and sea in the summer of 2014 has stopped the barrage of home-built rockets, at least for now. And while Hamas extremists are improving their missiles range, my parents and other Israelis tidy up their panic rooms, keeping them ready for the next round of confrontations. Unorganised terrorism? Moreover, Melmans article passes in silence over the new wave of terror that has been plaguing Israel since September 2015. A series of stabbing assaults that occur almost on a daily basis have been labelled the Intifada of Individuals. Israels leadership has so far failed to address the roots of Palestinian terrorism. Instead of working towards a lasting political solution, it sticks to old habits, treating the symptoms (security challenges) and not the disease (the occupation). As a result, terrorist threats, time and again, mutate and reappear in ever scarier forms. The lack of political prospects has dramatically increased the share of the Palestinian population willing to engage in violent resistance. Solidarity rooted in blinding rage is replacing terrorist networks. Scissor-wielding teenage girls and old men armed with screwdrivers attack settlers as well as random bystanders. The systemic violence of occupation, which deprives the Palestinian people of a future, transforms itself into spontaneous outbursts of reckless brutality. Treatment vs. cure In recent months, Europe has experienced a drastic increase in terror attacks by Islamists. For now, the response of the European governments has been impulsive and short-sighted. They turn a blind eye on the suffering of refugees on Europes borders, further discriminate against already underprivileged parts of Europes own population, and increasingly limit the freedoms for the rest in terms of cross-border movement, their right of privacy and the rest. Instead of addressing the roots of radicalisation, these security measures can only exacerbate it. By all means, they do not deserve the attribute security. Neither can they qualify as a cure. Rather, they seem to be part and parcel of the very syndrome that have been afflicting Israel and now increasingly spreads into Europe as well securitarian myopia . Of course, Europe must take care of acute symptoms. Evidently, the authorities (especially the Belgian ones) will have to admit serious failures. Also, each European country, and Europe as a whole, should crack down on existing networks of radicalised youth at home. Abroad, we should join moderate forces on the ground in their fight against the cutthroats of the self-declared Islamic State. However, despite its shortcomings, or rather because of them, Israels holistic security doctrine provides strong evidence that security measures and military operations alone, however sophisticated they might be, ultimately fail to ensure long-lasting security. The Israeli case offers Europe the following lesson: a symptoms-centred treatment only lets the disease progress. Hopelessness as weapon Secure the airport and the terrorists will switch over to buses and cafes. Erect ever tighter barriers around entire populations, terrorise them with frequent night-raid arrests, populate its sky with surveillance drones, turn daily commuting into an enfilade of checkpoints and you will see more ordinary people turning into terrorists. Try to prevent the hopeless from accessing weapons and they will use their hopelessness itself against you. In 2011, Anders Breiviks lone-wolf attacks resulted in 76 deaths. The then Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, reacted as follows: The Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness and greater political participation. Europe should learn from that, too. OMAHA -- Prosecutors are trying to have Anthony Garcias defense team removed after one of its members claimed that a DNA test exonerates Garcia in the 2008 killings of a 57-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy in Dundee. The DNA test doesnt exonerate Garcia, according to attorneys who deal with DNA. But that didnt stop the defense attorney, Alison Motta, from proclaiming as much to The World-Herald on Friday and two TV stations Monday, just a week before Garcias murder trial begins in the deaths of four people. The evidence conclusively exonerates Anthony Garcia, Motta said on KMTV on Monday. After that, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine told a judge Tuesday that he will file a motion to strip the Chicago attorneys Motta, husband Robert Motta Jr. and father-in-law Robert Motta Sr. of their guest pass to practice law in Nebraska, The World-Herald has learned. Outside court, Kleine declined to comment. Prosecutors are expected to file the motion Wednesday, essentially asking to strip the Mottas of whats known as their "pro hac vice" rights, or temporary permission to practice law in Nebraska. Alison Motta declined to comment Tuesday night. Garcia is scheduled to go on trial Monday on charges that he killed Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman in March 2008, then killed Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary, in May 2013. Mottas statements led several courthouse attorneys, including Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, to question whether she was trying to poison the jury pool on the eve of Garcias trial. In talking with The World-Herald on Friday about the Hunter and Sherman slayings, Motta said the defense team hoped that well maybe get a call from the county attorneys office that theyre dismissing those charges. Her statements followed the Friday arrest of Charles Simmer in the 2007 death of Joy Blanchard. Omaha police said new DNA testing led them to arrest Simmer. Blanchard was stabbed to death in November 2007, as were Hunter and Sherman the following March. After Simmer was arrested, Alison Motta tweeted that her investigators work had led police to the suspect. On the other hand, prosecutors said police and Blanchards family had long considered Simmer a possible suspect and said the departments cold-case squad had long investigated the case. Our (private investigator) ... lead the investigation that uncovered connection btwn Charlie Simmer & 2008 & 2007 murders, Motta tweeted. She went a step farther this week, claiming that DNA on Shermans bandanna linked Simmer to the Dundee scene. According to attorneys who deal in DNA odds, the test in question did not come close to making such a link. The defense teams own report put the bandanna odds at 1 in 300. That means 1 out of every 300 people could have contributed the DNA. In other words, more than 23 million people worldwide not just Simmer could have contributed the DNA. The DNA on Shermans bandanna was a mixture of genetic material from several individuals. Further clouding the test, Sherman and Simmer shared several of the same markers. Another issue: The sample contained only about one-third of the genetic locations that scientists look for to match it to a suspects DNA. Such a partial sample is far from enough for the DNA experts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center to issue a scientific conclusion. Those UNMC experts typically require markers on at least half of the locations, prosecutors say. Riley, who represents Simmer, said he has concerns that the out-of-court comments could influence peoples view of his clients innocence or guilt. He said linking Simmer to the Dundee scene is an extreme statement and said he knows of no evidence to support it. The public defender of four decades estimated that such out-of-court commentary could extend the jury selection process in Garcias case from three days to more than a week. Especially in a high-profile case like this, he said. With pending cases, youre not supposed to be making comments like that. Period. End of story. KEARNEY Erika E. Anderson, 17, of Kearney died Friday, March 25, 2016. A celebration of life will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at First Lutheran Church with the Rev. John Gosswein officiating. Burial will be at Kearney Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. today at OBrien Straatmann Redinger Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to the family for future designation. Visit www.osrfh.com to share condolences online. Erika Elizabeth Anderson was born Aug. 17, 1998, in Kearney to Ron and Elaine (Schmeits) Anderson. Erika was baptized Oct. 10, 1998, and confirmed in Christ Oct. 28, 2012, at Family of Christ Lutheran Church. Erika was a senior at Kearney High School where she developed herself as a talented artist and found a love for art history. She was a proud member of the National Honor Society and Family of Christ Lutheran Church. She had recently been selected as a junior curator of the Museum of Nebraska Art. Together, she and her sister participated in the PhotoVoice Program, a program for self-expression through photography. Not only was she a true artist with many mediums, Erika also had a love for cosmetics. She loved her palette of colors and many brushes that she used to sculpt her perfect eyebrows. She was a literary enthusiast passing on her love of books to her sister, Brooke. Erika loved talking to her brother, Brent, and enjoyed the bantering among his friends. Erika worked at Fort Kearny and Best Western Motel where she enjoyed her co-workers and supervisor. While employed at Central Hydraulics, she developed a privileged and treasured friendship with her boss, whom she also viewed as her mentor. Erika was a gracious, selfless friend, sister and daughter. Erika would always point out the good and beauty in others. Erika spent her free time with her many girl and guy friends cruising Kearney, jamming to music, hanging in the high school commons, going to movies and taking endless selfies. She was known to be the first to reach out to new students. Her friends remember her taking a strong position in classes, defending her beliefs. Her family cherishes many memories of her childhood blonde hair, her little lazy eye, and her first pair of glasses. Her parents will miss the conversations they had with Erika about issues that were important to her. They enjoyed many family trips to both grandfathers farms, camping in the back of the minivan and colorful sibling debates. She brought so much pride to her family through her excellent grades, her many awards, work ethic and strong beliefs. Those left to cherish her memory include her parents, Ron and Elaine Anderson, brother, Brent Anderson and sister, Brooke Anderson, all of Kearney; grandmothers, Irene Schmeits of Spalding and Evelyn Anderson of Minden; uncles and aunts, Dan Anderson of Minden, Ken and Susan Schmeits of Spalding, Barb and Tom Logan of Lincoln, Roger and Luci Schmeits of Omaha, Linda and Denny Bauer of Spalding and Jeanette and Grant Snyder of Odebolt, Iowa; as well as many cousins and friends. Erika was preceded in death by her maternal grandfather, Joseph Schmeits; paternal grandfather, Robert Anderson; and uncle, Daniel Schmeits. Memorials are suggested to the family for future designation. Visit www.osrfh.com to share condolences online. James Madison declared way back in 1792 that in America, Government is instituted to protect property of every sort (and) to secure to every man whatever is his own. That was then. Today, according to a new Institute for Justice (IJ) report, Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture, 2nd Edition, Civil forfeiture threatens the constitutional rights of all Americans. Using civil forfeiture, the government can take your home, business, cash, car and other property on the mere suspicion that it is somehow connected to criminal activity and without ever convicting, or even charging, you with a crime. The report goes on to say, Nebraskas civil forfeiture laws have both good and bad components. Here is how laws in Nebraska work for property owners. Standards of Proof: In most states, to forfeit property suspected of involvement in a crime, law enforcement officials need only show that the property was used in a crime based on a preponderance of evidence meaning the governments case need only be slightly better than the property owners. This low level of proof favors the government, not the property owner. In Nebraska, however, the government must tie property to a crime beyond a reasonable doubt before the property can be forfeited the best possible standard of proof for the protection of the property owner. Innocent Owner Burden: What if someone other than yourself, a friend perhaps, allegedly uses your property to commit a crime and the police have seized your property? Because property owners are presumed to be somehow connected to a crime involving their property, in Nebraska it is your legal responsibility not the governments to prove that you had nothing to do with the crime and that your property should be returned to you. Police Profit Incentives: Converting private assets to public use is a big business in Nebraska. Teaming up with property forfeiture programs run by the federal Departments of Justice and Treasuryin effect loopholes that allow state law enforcement agencies to sidestep strict state laws Nebraska law enforcement agencies raked in more than $50 million from the sale of forfeited property between 2000 and 2013. Under Nebraskas statutes, law enforcement agencies are allowed to keep, for their own use, up to 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of forfeited property. Because law enforcement agencies are not required to report their proceeds from forfeited property, it is not known how much additional income Nebraska law enforcement agencies earn from the property they seize on their own. Still, these are powerful incentives for agencies to aggressively seize private property in anticipation of padding their bottom lines. Looking to the future, the IJ report lists a number of steps needed to end property abuse in Nebraska and in other states. Federal Loopholes: In many states police agencies rely on these federal loopholes to both side step stiffer state forfeiture laws such as the requirement that forfeiture proceeds must go to the states education budget and to increase their cut of the seized properties. One national survey found that 40 percent of state and local police agencies consider civil forfeiture proceeds a necessary part of their budgets. To protect Nebraska property owners, the IJ recommends permanently shutting down this law enforcement gravy train. Not so good news. Ronald Fraser, Ph.D., writes on public policy issues for the DKT Liberty Project, a Washington-based civil liberties organization. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Pump prices likely on the rise in coming months Gas prices are likely to go back up following the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day, starting in November.... Spindle Items .. ETERNAL HAPPINESS All of us are chasing happiness. None of us wants to be miserable, angry, frightened , depressed or the like. If... Out of the Past 25 Years AgoOct. 22, 1997 Zoning laws in the Town of Tonawanda received much needed updating Monday as Councilman Raymond Sinclair presented amendments in underground... Family fun for everyone Halloween is every kids dream holiday, with costumes and candy, tricks and treats. Some of my favorite memories with my family have centered around Halloween,... 2K Shares Share Hi Pamela, Im a medical student in the UK. Though Ive only been in med school since September, it has already taken its toll on me. Before I started, I was so in touch with my emotions, spirituality, and nature. Now I feel so empty and desensitized. I hate that when faced with the horrible circumstances of another person, I just dont feel anything anymore. How can I overcome this? I so badly want to tap into the vibrant me from 6 months ago! Before starting medical school, I was a curious and loving young man. My life hadnt been plain sailing: I had been through my parents divorce as a young teenager; I had suffered bullying in a hostile school environment, and I had come out of the closet as gay. All of these things sound quite monumental for a young person to go through, but nothing prepared me for the agony of medical school. You see, when my parents divorced, I was sad; I cried, I grieved for the family life I would no longer have, and I recovered. When I was bullied at school, I was hurt and upset, but knew they were wrong which gave me strength. And when I came out of the closet, I was bursting with emotion: of anticipation, excitement, terror. All of these experiences were by no means pleasurable, but I felt them, and thats what made me feel alive. They were painful, but they illuminated the happy times in my life and made me a stronger and more empathetic person as a result. I looked into peoples eyes and could sense their pain a little more because of my own personal experiences, and enjoyed feeling connected to their lives. I was spiritual. I would pray and meditate and marvel at the beauty of nature and humanity around me. I was genuinely excited for my life, the people I might help. I wanted to be intimate with people, rejoice in their success, and feel the pain of their sorrow. Then I entered medicine. From the first few days, I could tell something wasnt right. I entered this profession with the intention of becoming a healer, yet, when I looked at my lecturers, I mainly saw didactic scientists, not healers. I looked around me and saw egotistical, power-hungry students. Many were concerned with status, competitive to the extent that they all wanted to outdrink each other on boozy nights out and have the most sex out of our whole group. They wanted to be the best at everything: in their exams, and in their personal lives. No student has ever spoken with genuine concern and feeling for patients. When I organized a talk by two individuals suffering from HIV, hardly any of our class turned up Im talking about 2 to 3 percent of the students. When I asked some why they did not attend, many just didnt care. We dont need to know it for our exams, one said. I dont think Id get anything from it, smirked another. I was aghast by how little they cared. At this point, I really questioned the establishment of which I was becoming part. Even with the brightest soul and the best will in the world, it is hard to survive in an environment at complete odds with our own intentions. This soon took its toll on me. I felt like I was in a constant battle to retain my care, my love, my empathy. But I feel like I am losing. While the challenges in my life were at times very painful, medicine has caused me to feel something I never imagined could be so bleak nothingness. It is quite astounding actually how little I feel nowadays. I have lost my libido. (In fact, I have been convinced I was asexual for a time.) And I feel numb on a daily basis, like a nurse has injected some local anesthetic into my heart which hasnt worn off. Nothing seems to bother me anymore. After cadaveric dissection, nothing is gruesome, the boundaries by which I could operate on someone without feeling any hesitation are endless. Theres something about hammering a ribcage open with a chisel on a deceased old lady that breaks down those barriers for you, and they can never be built back up. In addition, disease and death are talked and laughed about in such matter-of-fact ways that theyve become boringly dull to me. No longer am I heartbroken for the cancer patient, or devastated for the young mother who died in a car accident, because I feel nothingness. We are only ever taught about the scientific basis of afflictions, never the emotional or spiritual impact on both the patient and ourselves. My spiritual life has suffered too. No longer do I appreciate the world around me with the overflowing gratitude I used to hold. Instead, I just wallow. I am strongly considering dropping out of medical school to pursue another path, not because I detest the vocation, but because I am scared I am losing pieces of me that I will never get back. I am scared that after only six months, I am just a vessel with no life and that I will never feel what it feels like to feel ever again. I am scared I will never have another tear fall from my eye. Is really worth sacrificing my soul to this profession? I feel ripped apart. Please let me know if there are any ways to cope with this torturous predicament. With much love, even though it is so hard to gather from a numbed heart, Luke *** Luke, You are not alone. Med students all across the world experience the dehumanizing effects of medical training. The basis of our education is a flawed reductionist medical model that views the human body as a machine a bag of parts to be conquered. Reductionism (the opposite of holistic medicine) leads to mind-body-spirit disintegration. Consequently, you are losing connection with your heart and soulthe reason you went into medicinethe purpose of your very life. Loss of meaning, loss of self, leads to pain. Pain leads to self-medication with alcohol, drugs, sex anything to numb oneself and distract from the loss of soul. Sustained numbing leads to permanent numbing and an inability to connect with oneself or others. What can you do to overcome your loss of self? My best advice: 1. Keep a clear and unwavering focus on your dream the original vision that led you to medicine. Read your personal statement daily. Hang it all around your house. Never allow anyone to steal your dream. 2. Surround yourself with inspiring mentors other physicians who are living their dreams in medicine. They will guide you in the right direction. Avoid advice from cynics and naysayers for they are wounded too. 3. Maintain your physical health. Exercise, eat well, sleep. Balance your intellectual pursuits with time to relax and be inside your body. I highly recommend weekly massage to help you remain present with yourself. The benefits are not just physical. To care for others, you must first care for yourself. Massage is a great way to learn how to receive care and to form a therapeutic relationship with a trusted healer who can help you through medical school. 4. Maintain your emotional health. I believe all medical students should receive weekly counseling with a professional (not a friend, not a spouse). If you feel sad, cry. Tears are cleansing. When humans bottle up their trauma with no outlet, they become numb, detached, sick. 5. Maintain your spiritual health. Whether you meet with your church pastor or meditate at an altar in your home, devote time at regular daily or weekly intervals to spiritual self-care or you will lose connection with your soul. 6. You must be well to guide others to health. By caring for yourself, you will not only help patients; youll help your classmates and teachers heal. They are wounded too. Be a beacon of hope for them. Even if triggered by your joy, theyll be less likely to injure you with their pain. They need you. 7. When you are resourced and well, you will once again be able to look into peoples eyes and be a sacred witness to their suffering. You will experience true intimacy which means in to me see. For patients to see inside you, and for you to see inside them, you must be inside your body. Blessings to you on your journey Love, Pamela Pamela Wible pioneered the community-designed ideal medical clinic and blogs at Ideal Medical Care. She is the author of Physician Suicide Letters Answered and Pet Goats and Pap Smears. Watch her TEDx talk, How to Get Naked with Your Doctor. She hosts the physician retreat, Live Your Dream, to help her colleagues heal from grief and reclaim their lives and careers. Image credit:Pamela Wible, Shutterstock.com A community has been left devastated by the shock death of a kind, young mother-of-two, who died suddenly on Monday. A community has been left devastated by the shock death of a kind, young mother-of-two, who died suddenly on Monday. Traci Saunders (30), a staff nurse in St Lukes Hospital, Kilkenny was six months pregnant with her third child when she suffered a fatal embolism on Monday morning. She died that evening surrounded by close family members and friends in St Lukes Hospital. Her husband Michael, a popular local electrician, has been left numb with grief following the tragedy. The couple had recently built their own house in Coolagh, in which to raise their new young family. As well as coping with his own anguish, Michael is now attempting to help his two young children come to terms with the loss of their mother. Jenny (5) and Michael (3) were both extremely attached to Traci who in turn was very close to her own parents Michael and Catherine, and brother Darren, who remain inconsolable. In Callan and the surrounding community, there is a sense of absolute disbelief. The tragedy unfolded in less than 24 hours, but by yesterday afternoon, word quickly spread that the popular mother-of-two had suddenly become critically ill. Traci had awoken on Monday morning, and put on her uniform for work when she became unwell. Within hours, she was in a coma and on a life-support machine at St Lukes Hospital her place of work. Tended to by her own tearful colleagues, she was in the best of care. However, medical opinion gave her and her unborn child no real chance of recovery. At 8pm on Monday evening, the decision was made to switch off her life-support machine. Tracis death has left her relatives and friends asking questions to which there are no real answers. The tragedy, a shock medical aberration, has taken the life of a much-loved young woman, and leaves a family and a community beset by grief. A past pupil of St Brigids in Callan, Traci Saunders (nee O Sullivan) graduated in 1999. She then studied at Thames Valley University in London, before working as a nurse at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. On her return home to Kilkenny, she became a staff nurse at St Lukes Hospital, where she was a diligent carer and popular team member. She will be lovingly remembered by her family, colleagues and many friends. Removal takes place tomorrow (Thursday) morning to Church of Our Lady Coolagh for requiem mass at 12pm, with burial immediately afterwards in Kilbride Cemetery. The house is strictly private on Thursday morning. There will be a rosary this evening (Wednesday) at 9pm at her residence. Gold Weaker. Fed Chair Yellen Speech Awaited (Kitco News) - Gold prices are weaker in early trading, as little risk aversion recently has pressured the safe-haven metal. The marketplace is quieter early this week, as most markets have not exhibited much price movement and volatility is low. An Egyptian airliner was hijacked overnight and forced to land in Cyprus. However, reports said the hijacker is not a terrorist but a distraught passenger who wants to talk to his girlfriend. The event has had no impact on the markets. By Jim Wyckoff, contributing to Kitco News; jwyckoff@kitco.com Follow Jim Wyckoff @jimwyckoff Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. kitco news

Ferry Wenatchee en route to Bainbridge Island.

SHARE By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun SEATTLE As Washington State Ferries prepares to convert six boats to cheaper, cleaner liquefied natural gas fuel, one of its engineers worries about their safety. Chief engineer Alex Zecha sent 26 pages of concerns to the Coast Guard during the current public comment period. He expressed them earlier to ferry brass and Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson. Zecha, 49, asserts a risk assessment developed by contractor Det Norsk Veritas of Norway on behalf of WSF contains errors and is biased toward gaining Coast Guard approval. The project entails installing new LNG-burning engines on the Issaquah-class ferries Issaquah, Kitsap, Chelan, Cathlamet, Kittitas and Sealth. LNG is the same as natural gas used for heating homes and cooking, except its cooled to minus-260 degrees until it condenses into liquid. In that state, it takes up 600 times less space and can be stored and transported. WSF estimated it would cost $103 million to retrofit the boats, which will have an average of 23 years left in their 60-year life spans. By the time theyre retired, WSF figures it would save $195 million in fuel costs, for an $82 million return on investment. LNG also produces significantly fewer emissions than the ultra-low sulfur diesel that ferries now use. After the Coast Guard approved the retrofit concept in December 2011, WSF selected Det Norske Veritas to complete a risk assessment, safety and security plan, and operating manual. In November 2013, WSF submitted a Waterways Suitability Assessment to the Coast Guard that concluded the proposal is inherently safe with risks as low as reasonably practicable. The Coast Guard completed its initial review in October and opened a 60-day public comment period that ends Jan. 12. About 20 ferries operate on LNG in Holland, but none in the United States, which has no regulations for them. Without rules, Det Norske Veritas had to conduct a risk assessment. Zecha, chief engineer on the ferry Klahowya, said the contractor has a conflict of interest to support the project. The firm should be chosen by the Coast Guard to ensure objectivity, he said. The contractor performing the risk analysis demonstrates a rather surprising degree of bias, subordinating objectivity and the public interest in favor of facilitating their clients stated objectives, Zecha wrote. The safety record of bulk carriers of LNG has been good, but the Issaquah conversions, in which the LNG tanks would be placed on the top deck, is a bold move into a new arena involving passengers, Zecha said. The Issaquah-class boats are 32 to 35 years old and dont meet todays safety standards as it is. Hallways and doors are too small. Theres no refuge area to take passengers to escape fire. LNG is odorless and colorless, yet WSF doesnt plan to install detectors in the passenger cabins. The risk assessment states that placing LNG tanks on the top deck removes them from most danger in a collision, but Zecha claims with the way ships are designed today, theyd be the first things hit. Its all theoretical, Zecha, of Bellingham, said of the retrofit. Nobody has done anything like this in this country. The Coast Guard is taking the role of being cheerleaders for this process rather than objective overseers. The Coast Guard now is in the role of reviewing the Waterways Suitability Assessment and soliciting public comments, as required by law, said Lt. Cmdr. John Fu, chief of domestic vessel inspections at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound in Seattle. Its looking at vessel design safety standards and waterway safety. Once complete, it will forward a Letter of Recommendation to the state Department of Transportation. Lynne Griffith, who took over as WSF director in October, supports using cleaner LNG instead of diesel in ferries. With the system burning nearly 18 million gallons of fuel a year, theres an opportunity for huge savings. But theres no price for safety. Our priority remains the overall safety of our customers, crew, fellow marine operators and the public, she said in a statement. As the Coast Guards public comment period ends on Jan. 12, we will work closely with them as they review and validate our safety and security assessment to determine if any adjustments are necessary. Once we receive a Letter of Recommendation from the Coast Guard and funding authorization, we will move forward to determine how to best use LNG in our fleet. Griffith said shed support using LNG in new boats, too, but needs funding to design them. After the current batch of three new 144-car ferries (it has requested a fourth), WSF wont likely be in the boat market for a while. The four Super-class boats were built in 1967 and wont have to be replaced until 2027, based on WSFs 60-year life spans. Several WSF employees, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said most captains, mates and engineers believe LNG is the future of marine power and that WSF should embrace it, but that the $100 million for the retrofit could be better spent designing a new class of ferry specifically to run on LNG. Zecha could draw the ire of the Coast Guard and WSF headquarters but says its worth the risk. He said he should be OK as long as hes speaking as a member of the public on public safety issues. This project is egregious enough that its worth that to shine some light on it, he said. Background information about the conversion and supporting documents can be found at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/Environment/LNG.htm. Officials from Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound will join with Pacific Maritime Magazine to host a public forum about the regulatory and operational considerations for the implementation of LNG as fuel Jan. 27 at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. More information can be found at www.seattlelngconf.com/. SHARE Richard Zehrung, of Bremerton, sits with his beer Tuesday at the Sound Brewery tasting room in Poulsbo. He is a regular at the brewery, which in June will move to the Campana's building on Viking Way. Matthew St. Carrell, cellerman at Sound Brewery in Poulsbo, drinks a beer Tuesday in the tasting room. The brewery will move in June to the site of Campana's on Viking Avenue. Campana's Italian Restaurant on Viking Avenue. Sound Brewery's tasting room, which is on Bovela Lane off Viking Way, will be the new home of Rainy Daze Brewing after Sound replaces Campana's Italian Restaurant.. Related Coverage Poulsbo brewery making Mortal Kombat beer By Tad Sooter of the Kitsap Sun POULSBO One of Poulsbo's oldest restaurants will close this spring, making way for one brewery to expand and another to open in the city. Campana's Italian Restaurant plans to serve its last dinner April 30, ending a 40-year run on Viking Avenue. Sound Brewery will move its tasting room from Bovela Lane into the Campana's building. Rainy Daze Brewing, a popular but low-profile Silverdale beer maker, will slide into Sound Brewery's space on Bovela and ramp up production. Campana's owner Chris Campana said the decision to close the family business was difficult, but he was weary of the restaurant industry, which he said has become increasingly complex and challenging. Campana said he was grateful to the restaurant's loyal diners for supporting the business through the decades. The Italian restaurant first opened in Bremerton in 1970 and moved to Poulsbo in 1976. The Campana family operated a second location in Silverdale for a number of years. The Poulsbo Campana's will hold a customer appreciation event April 30 and make a large donation to North Kitsap Fishline before shutting its doors for good. "It's bittersweet," Chris Campana said. "It's been a long run, it's just time." The closing of Campana's creates expansion opportunities for two Kitsap craft breweries. Campana will lease the 5,700-square-foot restaurant building to Sound Brewery, which expects to open a tasting room there as early as June 1. The new tasting room will mark a second phase of expansion on Viking Avenue for Sound, which shifted its brewing operation from Bovela Lane to an old truck repair shop on Viking a year ago. The move enabled the brewery to exponentially increase beer production and keep pace with growing sales. Sound Brewery founder and manager Mark Hood said he wanted to find a bigger home for the busy tasting room as well. "We've been talking about it for a long time and trying to find another location," he said. Sound is obtaining a restaurant-type liquor license that will allow it to sell beer and wine and offer more guest taps. Hood said the new Sound Brewery also will serve food, though it won't boast an extravagant menu. "We're going to keep it pretty simple," Hood said. Sound sold its original brewing equipment to Rainy Daze and will transfer its lease on Bovela Lane to the Silverdale brewery. "It's nice to work with someone we know and trust, who also brews," Hood said. Rainy Daze Brewing opened on Olympic View Loop near Bangor in 2012. The brewery's beers earned a following at area bars and festivals, but Rainy Daze wasn't able to obtain regulatory approval for a full-time tasting room in Silverdale. Owner Mike Montoney said opening in Poulsbo will transform his business. The tasting room will allow him to sell beer directly to customers, supplementing his wholesale business. "It's going to be awesome, I can't wait," Montoney said. "It's going to be great to finally make money off my beer. I'm peddling beer from Burien to Port Townsend right now." Rainy Daze also will be able to brew far more beer in Poulsbo. Montoney currently brews with a 1.5-barrel system tiny even by micro brewery standards. In Poulsbo he will take over Sound Brewery's seven-barrel system. "What I can do in a week here, I will be able to do in two days there," Montoney said Tuesday, wrapping up a day of brewing in Silverdale. Montoney hopes to have the Poulsbo location open by late summer. Rainy Daze will become Poulsbo's fourth brewery, joining Slippery Pig Brewery, Sound Brewery and Valholl Brewing. SHARE By Chris Henry, chenry@kitsapsun.com BREMERTON Funding for counselors at Bremerton High School is included in the supplemental state budget, which passed Tuesday. Rep. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island and chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, in January asked College Success Foundation to come up with a proposal to partner with Bremerton School District. The foundation, based in Issaquah, provides counselors and support to help raise scholarships in districts with high numbers of disadvantaged students. The $580,000 in funding will pay for two counselor positions within the high school one to serve 70 ninth- and 10th-grade students, the other for 50 juniors and 50 seniors. The counselors will be employees of the foundation "embedded" in the high school, said Michael Cheever, chief advancement officer for the foundation. Bremerton will be a regional hub for the foundation's work. Two more counselors will be placed at Port Angeles High School, paid for from the same $580,000. The money also covers the foundation's administrative costs and incidental expenses, like college tours and materials. The hope is that the program in Bremerton will be permanently funded in future legislative sessions. The foundation serves the state and has branches in Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima and Spokane, as well as a Washington, D.C., office. Hansen said establishing a presence in Bremerton was a high priority for him this session. "We want every kid in Bremerton to go to college, whether that's a short-term welding certificate program at a community college or the computer science department at the University of Washington," Hansen said. "This funding will help more of our Bremerton kids start thinking about college at an early age and making concrete plans for how to get there." Bremerton High School has been working on college and career readiness, and over the past 10 years has increased its on-time graduation rate from 57 percent to roughly 80 percent, according to Principal John Polm. But the high school still lags behind state averages in college-going statistics. The high school takes part in the AVID mentor program, which targets low-income and first-generation college students, who typically face barriers to completing high school and pursuing a higher education. But not all students can fit AVID classes into their schedule. "This is really an enhancement," Polm said. "We just feel really fortunate that Bremerton got the support. I think this is going to be very beneficial for our students." The number of low-income students in the state is increasing, according to Mary Theisen, a spokeswoman for the foundation. Statewide, 46 percent of Washington students are low income, based on their eligibility for free and reduced lunch at school; at Bremerton High School, that number is nearly 58 percent. The foundation is hoping to replicate in Bremerton the success it has had in Tacoma, where public schools, the foundation and the community have worked together to turn a 55 percent dropout rate into a 98 percent graduation rate among program participants. Bremerton was selected as the foundation's next target area because there already was considerable collaboration between schools and the community, said Juliette Schindler Kelly, the foundation's director of government relations and advocacy. "I think there's a lot of potential there for Bremerton," she said. "So we're really excited." The Spectator reports: After terrorist outrages like the one in Brussels, our leaders always say the same thing: We must defend European values against these evil killers. It seems the Metropolitan Police didnt get the memo. For they have just arrested someone actually arrested someone for tweeting something unpleasant about the Brussels attack, in the process trampling their coppers boots all over what is surely, or at least ought to be, the most important European value of all: freedom of speech. The arrested man is one Matthew Doyle. He went viral after tweeting about a run-in he had on the day of the Brussels attacks: I confronted a Muslim woman yesterday in Croydon. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said Nothing to do with me. A mealy mouthed reply. Now, if this encounter really did happen and many have their doubts it was a rude and ugly thing for him to have done. But to bearrested for tweeting about the incident, on suspicion of inciting racial hatred? To be locked up for hours, as Doyle has been, for saying something silly to a woman in the street and then tweeting about it? That is outrageous. The awfulness of his tweet pales into insignificance in comparison with the awfulness of his having been arrested for it. If youre still shocked by his tweet rather than by the fact that 21st-century Britain arrests people for what they say, then your moral priorities need urgent rearranging. Mr Doyle is a pillock for going up to a Muslim woman and demanding she explains Croydon. Its like going up to a random Catholic and demanding they explain what a paedophile priest has done. Hes a bigger pillock for tweeting about it. His stupidity is near legendary. But the response to his stupidity should be to mock him, to point out how stupid he is, to even reason with him. The response should not be to arrest him. That is appalling. He has now been released as the Police broke the law in arresting him. The section he was arrested under, needs the permission of the Crown Prosecution Service. But regardless it was shameful judgment on their part that they arrested someone for being a pillock on Twitter. Sure if he had made actual threats against people, that would be different. But what he said was nowhere near that. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr Douglas Murray writes at The Telegraph: How many more excuses are we going to make before we face the facts? How many more fifth-rate, sixth-form debates will we have to sit through? Why, whenever any act of Islamist terror is carried out on Western society do we race to ask all the wrong questions, all based on the central fallacy that this is somehow our own fault? We wring our hands and make excuses. And then we blame ourselves. What did we do to make this happen? we ask, time after time. Unfortunately, there are always people on hand eager to feed our self-absorption and ignorance. It is your foreign policy, they say. Perhaps after Brussels people might question this response a little more searchingly. Aside from Bhutan, Belgium probably has the least interventionist foreign policy of any country in the world. True. Other apologists answer that terrorists are moved to blow up trains and gun down people in cafes because they feel disenfranchised and ostracised, with few employment opportunities. This is particularly strange when you consider that there is record unemployment in Southern Europe right now and none of our cities has yet been visited by a jobless Catholic Italian modelling a suicide vest. It is about poverty, excuse-seekers say. Yet nobody from the most deprived estates of Glasgow has yet carried this idea to its illogical conclusion. Its silly that some try to ignore the religious motivation of Islamic terrorism. The problem of Islamic extremism is caused astonishingly enough by Islamic extremism. As France, Belgium and many other societies can now attest, the larger your Muslim population, the larger your Islamic extremism problem. Not because most Muslims are terrorists. Obviously not. But because that small minority we always hear about grows proportionally bigger the larger the community is. What matters is the numbers, the density (thus their ability to hide and be hidden) and the type of Islam that is followed. Given Europes current demographic trajectory this poses a pretty terrifying problem which well have to face up to one day. But in the meantime it remains so much more comfortable to blame the only people were kidding. Ourselves. The type of Islam followed is key. We should reject discrimination against Muslims, but when deciding who is allowed to immigrate to NZ, we should strongly test whether their beliefs are compatible with NZ values. One easy test is whether they support the death penalty for apostasy. Anyone who does should not be allowed to migrate here. 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. SHARE LISTEN, THEN EAT Weekend specials and extended hours will be offered March 31-April 2 at the downtown Tomato Head, 12 Market Square, in celebration of the Big Ears Festival. On Thursday, March 31, the Tomato Head will offer its diverse menu from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, a tap takeover by Calfkiller Brewing Company will begin at 5 p.m. offering popular brews such as Brown Recluse, Deadhorse and Scorched Hooker. A special brunch will be available from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. FALAFEL HOW-TO The Vegetarian Society of East Tennessee will meet on Sunday, April 3, 6 p.m. at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike. Jim Harb will demonstrate falafel making. Cost is $4 per person plus a vegetarian potluck item. For information, email bobgrimac@gmail.com, or call 865-546-5643. WEAR A BABY Babywearing International of Knoxville is hosting its 3rd annual Open House from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, April 2, at New Harvest Park, 4775 New Harvest Lane. The event will feature family-friendly games, food, giveaways and prizes. $5 wristbands will be available for purchase to play unlimited games, and individual $1 tickets will be available for food and games as well. All proceeds from the event will benefit Babywearing International of Knoxville, a non-profit organization. Volunteer educators will be on hand to help the public learn more about babywearing. There will also be a babywearing yoga class at 10:15, and a babywearing dance class at 11:30 a.m. POKEMON TURNS 20 Toys "R" Us is celebrating the Pokemon 20th anniversary between noon-2 p.m. Saturday, April 2. Participants at this "Stack your deck" event will receive free exclusive Clefairy and Meowth promo cards and an activity book while supplies last. Suitable for ages six years and up. Info: 8009 Kingston Pike, 865-690-1632, www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=4311963 BUTTERFLY HOUSE Children will get to build a butterfly house at the Home Depot Kids Workshop between 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 2. Once they have built their project they can decorate it with paint before they take it home to welcome butterflies into their yard. Pre-register and find your local store here: http://workshops.homedepot.com/workshops/kids-workshops SHARE By News Sentinel Staff KNOXVILLE An argument between two acquaintances led to an exchange of gunfire Tuesday night in North Knoxville, leaving both wounded, police say. Knoxville Police Department officers responded around 11:20 p.m. to a shooting call at 519 E. Churchwell Ave., according to a news release from KPD Sgt. David Sanders. Officers found a male with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his ankle, Sanders said. The victim, whose identity was not disclosed, was taken to a Tennova hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the release. The release doesn't specify which Tennova hospital. Shortly after the first shooting call was reported, a second male gunshot victim, also not identified, arrived at the same Tennova hospital with a non-life-threatening injury to his hand, according to the release. "It appears at this time that (the) males were acquaintances and an argument had led to the exchange of gunfire between the two at 519 E. Churchwell," Sanders says in the release. The release does not specify what the argument was over. Sanders says in the release that charges are pending upon completion of the investigation. More details as they develop online and in Thursday's News Sentinel. President Barack Obama meets with people who were formerly incarcerated and have previously received commutations, Wednesday, March 30, 2016, at Busboys and Poets restaurant in northwest Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) SHARE By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel WASHINGTON President Barack Obama has commuted the prison sentences of 61 drug offenders, including three from Tennessee. Nathan Carter of Memphis, Lamont Durville Glass of Knoxville and Eric Smith of Memphis will see their prison sentences expire July 28 as a result of Obama's decision. "The power to grant pardons and commutations embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance after having made a mistake in their lives that led to a conviction under our laws," Obama wrote in a letter to each of the 61 receiving clemency. Carter was serving two sentences one for life in prison with 10 years of supervised release, and another for 30 months in prison with 18 months' supervised release. Both sentences were handed down in 1999 in U.S. District Court in West Tennessee. He had been charged with possession of 121 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of 65.8 grams of cocaine base with intent to distribute. He also had been charged with violating his supervised release. Under Obama's order, both of his sentences will commuted and will expire July 28. Glass was sentenced in 1998 to 262 months in prison and eight years of supervised release. He had been charged in U.S. District Court in East Tennessee with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Smith was sentenced in 1995 to 360 months in prison and five years' supervised release. He had been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and unlawfully maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing and using cocaine base. Since he has been in office, Obama has commuted the sentences of 248 people more than the previous six presidents combined. SHARE By News Sentinel Staff KNOXVILLE Rich Fulford will be the new middle school principal for Christian Academy of Knoxville, the school announced Wednesday. Fulford is assistant principal at West Valley Middle School and will finish the academic year there before moving to his new role, according to a news release. Current Christian Academy principal Debbie Moye is retiring at the end of the year and school officials conducted a national search to find her replacement. "I am humbled, honored and excited to be selected for this position," Fulford said in the release. "I feel strongly that God is leading me into a position where I can be used to expand His kingdom through education, vision and the spirit of achievement He has placed in my heart." Fulford is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and George Washington University. He was also previously assistant principal at Farragut Middle School. More details as they develop online and in Thursday's News Sentinel. Fifth-grade teacher Sherrie Dudley, right, leads students in decorating and filling lunch bags with snacks at Corryton Elementary School on Wednesday. The bags will be distributed to veterans during the upcoming 20th Honor Air Knoxville flight, which flies World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans free of charge to Washington to visit historic memorials. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE Students decorate and fill lunch bags with snacks at Corryton Elementary School on Wednesday. The bags will be distributed to veterans during the upcoming 20th Honor Air Knoxville flight, which flies World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans free of charge to Washington to visit historic memorials. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) Dylan Ford, 12, and Addison Graves, 11, from left, write letters to veterans at Corryton Elementary School on Wednesday. Students decorated lunch bags filled with snacks, which will be distributed during the upcoming 20th Honor Air Knoxville flight, which flies World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans free of charge to Washington to visit historic memorials. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) Dawn Ford of Honor Air Knoxville thanks students who decorated and filled lunch bags with snacks for veterans at Corryton Elementary School on Wednesday. The bags will be distributed during the upcoming 20th Honor Air Knoxville flight, which flies World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans free of charge to Washington to visit historic memorials. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) Bryson Walker, 10, right, packs lunch bags, decorated and filled with snacks, at Corryton Elementary School on Wednesday. The bags will be distributed to veterans during the upcoming 20th Honor Air Knoxville flight, which flies World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans free of charge to Washington to visit historic memorials. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) By Mike Blackerby of the Knoxville News Sentinel HonorAir Knoxville has become a community cause and rallying point over the past decade, and the students at Corryton Elementary School continue to do their part. Students in Sherrie Dudley's fifth-grade class decorated paper lunch bags with patriotic themes and filled them with snacks Wednesday for veterans who'll tour Washington on April 13, thanks to HonorAir. The Knoxville nonprofit was started in 2007 by Eddie Mannis, president of Prestige Cleaners and Prestige Tuxedo. The April 13 trip will be the 20th such tour. HonorAir Knoxville flies World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans to the nation's capital to tour the memorials built to honor their sacrifices. Over the past 10 years, HonorAir Knoxville has taken more than 2,500 veterans on the trip, which is free of charge and includes all meals and snacks. Dudley's class has pitched in to do its part with HonorAir from the inception of the program. "Years ago we had a principal, Brandon Pratt, who knew somebody involved in the (HonorAir) organization," Dudley said. "They decided, as a student council project, to do snack bags for HonorAir. They supply the materials, and we put them together and decorate the bags," Students at Corryton, Powell, Sterchi and Fountain City elementary schools also write notes of thanks that are distributed to veterans on the flights home. "I like that you know, after you're done, that you've helped out some veterans," said Chloe Shelbaugh, the student council president at Corryton. "We say, 'Thank you for your service.' " Conner Larmer said he likes decorating the bags. "I'm putting American flags on them and drawing guys jumping out of planes with parachutes," he said. "It's just fun, and I like thanking veterans because my dad was in the Army." Brisia Haynes was one of the students who wrote a letter to a veteran. She and others got to watch a DVD of veterans reading the letters on their flight home from Washington. "I put stars and the American flag on it, and said 'Thank you' in red and blue," she said. "It was really cool when we got to see the veterans reading some of the letters." Dudley said her students look forward each year to the involvement with HonorAir. "(It's great) for my kids to be able to help outside of the building and have a connection to the community," she said. Mannis said the students' enthusiasm illustrates the support his program has received since its inception. "When we started this program, we kind of had to scramble for the veterans," Mannis said. "Now, the support is everywhere. Schools, kids, adults they all want to participate. I never dreamed it would be such a community event." President Barack Obama answers questions during a news conference following the conclusion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders summit at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) SHARE By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel WASHINGTON President Barack Obama has commuted the prison sentences of 61 drug offenders, including three from Tennessee. Nathan Carter of Memphis, Lamont Durville Glass of Knoxville and Eric Smith of Memphis will see their prison sentences expire July 28 as a result of Obamas decision. Carter was serving two sentences one for life in prison with 10 years of supervised release, and another for 30 months in prison, with 18 months supervised release. Both sentences were handed down in 1999 in U.S. District Court in Western Tennessee. He had been charged with possession of 121 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of 65.8 grams of cocaine base with intent to distribute. He also had been charged with violating his supervised release. Under Obamas order, both of his sentences will be commuted and will expire on July 28. Glass was sentenced in 1998 to 262 months in prison and eight years of supervised release. He had been charged in U.S. District Court in East Tennessee with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Smith was sentenced in 1995 to 360 months in prison and five years supervised release. He had been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and unlawfully maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing and using cocaine base. More details as they develop online and in Thursdays News Sentinel. SHARE By Hugh G. Willett, Special to the News Sentinel The problem of overcrowding at the Loudon county jail is bad and is likely to get worse. The Loudon County Corrections Partnership, also known as the jail study committee, on Wednesday heard a report on current conditions at the jail, which is facing decertification for crowding and other problems. Head jailer Lt. Jake Keener told the committee the jail, certified for 95 prisoners, is currently housing a total of 152 prisoners including 113 men and 39 women. He said five female prisoners are currently being housed in a hallway. "We are officially overcrowded in all cell blocks." Keener said. He said a Tennessee Corrections Institute inspection March 8 found a number of violations including overcrowding per square foot, not enough sinks or toilets and many in need of repair. The inspectors said they cannot recommend the jail for recertification. Another inspection will be performed in May, he said. "We're going to paint and fix a few things but I can't do anything about the overcrowding," Keener said. This isn't necessarily the busiest time of the year, Keener said. As the summer approaches, the prison population typically increases, he said. Sheriff Tim Guider said it was hard to maintain the facility under such conditions. He said he will travel to Nashville with County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw in June to ask for a continued extension on the decertification. Several plans for an expansion to 278 beds are under consideration at a cost of $16 million to $19 million. Mayor Bradshaw has said previously any figure approaching the $20 million range would require a tax increase and will be a hard sell to county commission. General Sessions Judge Rex Dale, a member of the committee, said he was trying to help the overcrowding through being lenient on certain offenders such as 'no-shows." Mayor Bradshaw said he would prefer the county does not get a reputation for being lenient on offenders. TCI detention facilities manager Bob Bass was at the meeting. He said the women being housed in the hallway were not authorized. He also said the county needs to deal with the problem sooner rather than later. "Procrastination comes with a price tag," he said. Bass also said that it was necessary to take a long-term approach to solving the problems. "Do it right the first time or when you come back in 10 years you will pay the price," he said. Jay Henderline, with Michael Brady Architects, is working on design proposals for the new jail. He said the project could be completed in stages but the designs are looking at capacity needs about 20 years out. Committee members, which include several county commissioners, questioned whether the project could be done in stages to reduce the possibility of a tax increase. It's all about timing Bradshaw said. If the jail improvements can wait until other county debt can be retired in two years it might be possible to fund the projects without a tax increase. Tellico Village resident Richard Anklin attends most meetings of the jail study committee. He told those present that the county can fund the project without a tax increase by timing the stages of construction including site, preparation, expansion of the men's facility and then the women's facility, to coincide with the retirement of the debt. The county can also make use of an extra four cents, added on the property tax rate a few years ago to fund the school building program but never used, Anklin said. County commissioner Van Shaver was not at the meeting but he said getting commission to agree to transfer the extra four cents from the school building fund to the jail fund will be a lot easier said than done. John W. "Jack" Lacey, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of University of Tennessee Medical Center, says a few words to the crowd after being presented the new "Wall of Distinction" built in his name on March 30, 2016 at UT Medical Center. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE The crowd claps as John W. "Jack" Lacey, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of University of Tennessee Medical Center, is presented with the new "Wall of Distinction" built in his name at UT Medical Center, on March 30, 2016 at UT Medical Center. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL) Joe Landsman, President and CEO of University of Tennessee Medical Center, speaks at a press conference held at UT Medical Center to unveil the John W. "Jack" Lacey Wall of Distinction, on March 30, 2016. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL) Sam Venable, KNS columnist. By Kristi L. Nelson of the Knoxville News Sentinel They packed into the lobby of University of Tennessee Medical Center, some in suits but most in white coats or scrubs. Current and former hospital employees, along with board members and family members, were on hand Wednesday afternoon to honor a retiring colleague at the unveiling of the "John W. 'Jack' Lacey III, M.D. Wall of Distinction," across from Patient Services, just down from the hospital's information desk. The wall itself, which also features a timeline of important dates in the hospital's history, has been in the works for about a year and a half, said Teresa Levy, senior vice president and chief administrative officer. Levy said hospital employees, in a routine survey, had asked for a way to recognize employees whose work had permanently changed the hospital for the better. The decision to name it after Lacey, a primary-care physician who most recently has been senior vice president and chief medical officer of UT Medical Center, coincided with Lacey's retirement. Thursday is his last day. "Nobody better exemplifies" the qualities of honorees who will be featured on the wall in the years to come than Lacey, said UT Medical Center President and CEO Joseph Landsman. Lacey "left a profound and lasting legacy," he said. But Lacey, who professed surprise at the honor, noted, "So many more worthy people could have their names on this wall. I'm grateful to all those individuals who made me look good. This is really you, and that's how I will always think of this." Levy said the hospital will immediately begin accepting nominations for the first honorees, who need to have been with UT Medical Center at least 10 years and be retired or separated from the hospital for at least two years. They do not have to be physicians, Landsman said the wall could feature nurses, clerical workers or those in food service, maintenance, information technology or finance, for example. Lacey has been with UT Medical Center 40 of the hospital's 60 years. In addition to his work there, he helped create Knoxville Area Project Access, a partnership with the Knoxville Academy of Medicine and providers to give primary and specialty health services to the uninsured and medically underserved, and was the inaugural chair of the Governor's Health and Wellness Task Force, which helped raise Tennessee's national health ranking. George Korda: 'Dont know much about history' is, sadly, true for many Americans Show Caption Hide Caption How to submit a letter to the editor Want to submit your letter to the editor? Here is how. Wochit The first line of the familiar song, "Wonderful World," illustrates a sad, but true, fact: Americans "dont know much about history." You cant help but laugh and wince at the same time at those TV "person on the street" interviews in which college students and adults are asked questions about American history and current events. Its fair to have two reactions: to wonder if producers are editing interviews to show only the people who display the grossest ignorance and to be concerned that those individuals may plan to vote. Jay Leno regularly did such a segment when he hosted "The Tonight Show." Probably the best-known current practitioner is Fox Newss Jesse Watters of "Watters World." They really are funny segments. And depressing. Theres a problem when American citizens are asked such questions as who was the first president of the United States, who won the Civil War, or are asked to describe ISIS; and the answers come back along the lines of Abraham Roosevelt, the French, and a British rock group. Americans obliviousness of their governmental institutions and their countrys past runs deep, as illustrated by a survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. It was unveiled in Sept. 2014 with a news release titled "Americans know surprisingly little about their government, survey finds." "The survey of 1,416 adults, released for Constitution Day (Sept. 17) in conjunction with the launch of the Civics Renewal Network, found that: *"While little more than a third of respondents (36 percent) could name all three branches of the U.S. government, just as many (35 percent) could not name a single one. *"Just over a quarter of Americans (27 percent) know it takes a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to override a presidential veto. *"One in five Americans (21 percent) incorrectly thinks that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision is sent back to Congress for reconsideration." In 2000, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni found that seniors from Americas colleges and universities were graduating with, "alarming ignorance of their heritage and a profound historical illiteracyfour out of five81%of seniors recently surveyed from the top 55 colleges and universities in the United States received a grade of D or F on history questions drawn from a basic high school curriculumSeniors could not identify Valley Forge, words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution." The 2014 National Association of Educational Assessment also revealed unhappy results. Only 18 percent of eighth grade students scored "proficient" in U.S. history, as reported in April 29, 2015s U.S. News & World Report. Its not necessary to go just by statistics and articles. Ask a middle or high school student you know a series of basic U.S. history questions. Do they know what the three branches of government? Can they name the vice president? Can they identify the countries the U.S. fought in World War II; what the Emancipation Proclamation accomplished; what was the Cold War, or much of anything else about U.S. history? Tennessee U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has for years pushed for more emphasis on teaching U.S. history and civics. The Every Student Succeeds Act, championed by Alexander this year passed Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The most publicized provision of the bill placed decisions about Common Core with the states and out of the federal governments hands. The legislation also dealt with history and civics education. One item: the Presidential Academy for American History and Civics Education Program, originally introduced by Alexander, was reauthorized. The Presidential Academys program includes giving students and teachers an opportunity to visit Washington, D.C. and learn about American history and civics Alexanders legislation also authorized a civics competitive grant program to provide grants to states, nonprofits, institutes of higher education, and others to conduct activities related to teaching, professional development, and other aspects of civics classes. These things help. Nevertheless, an appalling history knowledge gap exists for a staggering number of Americans. So, what does this matter, anyway? When an American knows little or nothing about how, when, or why the United States was founded, its governing principles and institutions, and what has been sacrificed to preserve them, the chances are slim of that person having a deep concern about the continuation of those institutions. Why would the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights matter to someone who doesnt know what they are? Furthermore, people with political agendas and motives can, perhaps for better, but likely for worse, take advantage of such ignorance. Thats why it matters. And, unfortunately, unlike a comedy show segment, its not funny. George Korda is political analyst for WATE-TV, appearing Sundays on "Tennessee This Week." He hosts "State Your Case" from noon 3 p.m. Sundays on WOKI-FM Newstalk 98.7. Korda is a frequent speaker and writer on political and news media subjects. He is president of Korda Communications, a SHARE Knoxville is celebrating its 225th birthday this year, and this month in 1796 played an important role in establishing the city as well as the state. There will be official celebrations, history-related events and other activities to mark the beginnings of the city and the state of Tennessee, since often the two entities go hand in hand. Take part in the historical lessons and get to know Knoxville then and now. Take the time to celebrate and observe, of course but also to learn and study the city's significant part in the state and in the nation. To help mark this important milestone, the News Sentinel will publish a series of stories based on events that happened each month in Knoxville that became a part of the city's legacy. In January 1796, when the city was about five years old, 55 leaders from 11 counties in what was known as the Territory Southwest of the River Ohio met to write a state constitution. (Coincidentally, fifty-five was the same number of delegates who met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1787 to draft a federal constitution, although only 39 remained for the signing.) The constitution received unanimous approval in February. It was signed in Knoxville in the office of Col. David Henley at the corner of Church Avenue and Gay Street, and a copy went to the U.S. Congress for approval. Next came the meeting on March 28 of the first state legislature. John Sevier, Indian fighter, land speculator and a hero of the American Revolution's Battle of King's Mountain, became the first governor of Tennessee. Admission to the Union was not a foregone conclusion. The problem was the ongoing political conflict between the emerging Jeffersonian faction that approved expansion with a nation of small farmers and the Federalists who believed new states in the West would siphon good workers and talent from the East. Nevertheless, neither party was averse to compromise, so Tennessee took its place with the other 15 states on June 1, 1796. And that story is but one feature of the state and the city's rich history that goes back to the time before European settlement when Native Americans lived, hunted and farmed in the valley. That history includes the beginning of Blount College (later the University of Tennessee) shortly after Knoxville's founding; the famous "volunteers" who served under Andrew Jackson in Indian wars and the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812; the tragedy of the Trail of Tears during the Indian Removal Era of the 1830s; and the conflict over slavery and disunion that split the state asunder in the 1860s. Modern times for Knoxville and the area touched by the city include the Great Depression and New Deal of the 1930s and harnessing the Tennessee River through the Tennessee Valley Authority; the building of the secret city of Oak Ridge 20 miles away; and the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville. There is a lot to know and a lot to anticipate. We believe the period of celebration will show the fabulous diversity of the state and its people, and we hope it inspires both appreciation and understanding for those who made it happen. SHARE This divisive election season, I experienced a ray of hope the infamous common ground we so often hear about but rarely see in action. My first trip to the Tennessee General Assembly was very fulfilling. I went with a group called Moms Demand Action, a non-partisan, grassroots, anti-gun violence group founded three years ago by a mom in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. There are now 3 million members nationwide, 50,000 just in Tennessee. Moms Demand Action supports the Second Amendment but believes in common-sense solutions to fight the gun violence epidemic. We went to the General Assembly to talk to lawmakers about the guns on campus bill (Senate Bill 2376, House Bill 1736). This bill would allow employees, including faculty and staff, to carry a loaded handgun on public college and university property. This bill is close to my heart because both my husband and daughter are at the University of Tennessee Knoxville full time. I got to speak with Rep. Dale Carr, who represents Sevier County, and Rep. Martin Daniel, who represents Knox County. While both Republican lawmakers are very strong supporters of the Second Amendment, they agreed that the bill would not make campuses safer. They both committed to vote against this bill. Our agreement on this issue surprised and encouraged me, but there is much work to be done. We must all make our voices heard on this issue. The National Rifle Association is strongly supporting this bill and there is a danger that its voice will be the loudest and therefore assumed to be the majority. In fact, more than 90 percent of police chiefs and 94 percent of college faculty members oppose such legislation. Call your representatives and make your voice heard. Kendra Straub, Sevierville Two of South Korea's three largest shipbuilders failed to clinch any new orders in the first quarter of the year, underscoring the protracted slump in the global shipbuilding segment, industry sources said Wednesday. According to the sources, the country's big three shipyards -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. -- received few orders during the January-March period. Only Hyundai Heavy clinched a 150 billion won ($129 million) deal to build two petrochemicals-carrying ships this month. Lower oil prices have been leading to a drop in demand for new ships or offshore facilities, and Chinese rivals have scooped up a large slice of orders for smaller ships, in particular. Major South Korean shipbuilders have been pushing for restructuring since last year to get over the unfavorable business conditions caused by falling demand and ship prices in line with the slowing world economy. In line with a protracted industrywide slump, the shipyards have trimmed their order targets for the year by 20 percent. Hanwha Techwin Corp., a defense unit of major South Korean business group Hanwha, is set to take over a defense affiliate under power and construction equipment conglomerate Doosan, for 700 billion won ($600 million), industry sources said Wednesday. Hanwha Techwin was picked as the preferred bidder for Doosan DST, beating out another defense company LIG Nex 1. The two are in talks to narrow the differences on the price tag, the sources said. The planned acquisition of Doosan DST, a manufacturer of armored vehicles and guided missile launchers, is expected to create huge synergies for Hanwha Techwin, which produces the K9 Thunder, a self-propelled 155 mm howitzer, said the sources. Doosan DST is 51 percent owned by Doosan's affiliates while the remaining is held by strategic investors. The company posted an operating income of 41 billion won on sales of 693 billion won last year. The Doosan Group, a South Korean machinery and power equipment conglomerate, is seeking to speed up the sale of core assets in a bid to improve its financial footing. Doosan Infracore Co., the group's construction equipment maker, has reached an agreement to sell its machine tool business unit to local private equity fund MBK Partners for 1.13 trillion won. The company also plans to list its unit Doosan Bobcat Co. on the local bourse in a bid to improve its financial health. Doosan Infracore took over Doosan Bobcat in 2007 from Caterpillar for $4.9 billion won. Last month, the Doosan Group also sold its stake in Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. for some 300 billion won, the proceeds of which will be used to beef up its financial status. (Yonhap) Yuhan-Kimberly, Korea's leading household goods maker, sells "Depend Style Underwear" for those suffering from urinary incontinence. The company said its sales jumped 37.5 percent in 2015 from a year earlier. It also exports the product to Australia, Israel and Japan. / Courtesy of Yuhan-Kimberly By Lee Hyo-sik Travel agencies, healthcare providers, household goods makers and retailers are rushing to capitalize on the growing number of "active seniors," who are quickly becoming a mainstream consumer group in Korea. Businesses are paying more attention to these wealthy retirees, who are willing to spend their money to improve their quality of life. Active seniors accumulated their wealth during the country's rapid economic development in the 1970s and 80s through investment in real estate and stocks. The number of active seniors will continue to increase as baby boomers (those born between 1955 and 1963) begin to retire. According to Statistics Korea, consumers ranging in age from 50 to 64 spent a total of 12.8 trillion won ($11 billion) on various goods and services in 2002. That amount surged to 44 trillion won in 2010. It is projected to reach 148 trillion won in 2020 as more seniors retire. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, 1.8 million Koreans aged over 61 traveled abroad in 2015, up 200 percent from 960,000 in 2006. Accordingly, travel agencies have introduced a wide range of tour packages targeting those in their 50s and 60s. The growing active senior population has also provided a boom for household goods makers. Among others, the demand for adult underpants for those suffering from urinary incontinence has surged in recent years as more seniors choose to engage in a variety of cultural and leisure activities. Yuhan-Kimberly, Korea's largest manufacturer of diapers and other baby-related products, has successfully capitalized on this rapidly expanding market. In 2012, the company introduced "Depend Style Underwear," which has been a big hit among active seniors. "The concept behind the garment is to help seniors remain physically active. The product has been a huge hit. The demand will continue to rise," Yuhan-Kimberly spokesman Kim Young-il said. "The market will reach 240 billion won in 2020, up sharply from 16 billion won in 2013." Sales of Depend Style Underwear jumped 37.5 percent in 2015 from a year earlier. The company also exports the product to Australia, Israel and Japan, and expects to sell it in other foreign countries in the near future. Kim said Yuhan-Kimberly plans to launch household products that make daily life easier for senior citizens. "Besides underpants, we will offer more products for affluent and health-conscious seniors. We think the senior consumer sector will expand robustly and we will take advantage of it." In addition, food producers are introducing an array of health-boosting items for seniors, while fashion firms sell clothes specifically for the age group. Electronics firms are manufacturing cameras, smartphones and other products that are easy for seniors to use. Department stores and other retailers are rearranging product lines and offering personalized services to attract more elderly shoppers. E-mart has been developing an array of products tailored to active seniors. The retailer currently has a sales zone exclusively for senior shoppers at 52 of its stores but plans to set it up at an additional 100 stores. Shoppers aged over 60 accounted for 9.9 percent of E-mart sales in 2015, up from 7.8 percent in 2013. Among others, the discount store has showcased ready-to-eat food items containing protein, calcium and other essential nutrients for the elderly. By Choi Sung-jin Koreans often call state enterprises, or public corporations, "workplaces for gods." The top administrative watchdog's recent report on their practices and operations shows why. Most noticeable is their financial support for retired workers, or their groups, under various camouflages, according to the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) report released Tuesday. Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), for instance, had consigned regular testing of electricity metering equipment to a company run by its retired workers. At the behest of the Fair Trade Commission, the state utility turned it into open bidding in June last year. The final winner remained unchanged, however. That was because KEPCO put 85 percent of the work, worth 8.4 billion won ($7.2 million), to one bid, instead of dividing it into several orders. No other bidders were big enough to provide the large-scale services, except for the company of retirees. KEPCO Engineering and Construction, a subsidiary of the power monopoly, also signed service-providing contracts worth 9.7 billion won with a company comprised of its retirees. The retirees' company had few technicians or work experience but KEPCO E&C pushed ahead with the contract by registering the unqualified company as its affiliated firm, the audit report said. KOGAS, the state gas company, entered 223 private contracts amounting to 5.9 billion won over five years with a company invested by its retired workers, violating the rule that calls for competitive bidding. The Korea Tourism Organization gave 277 million won on 24 occasions over five years to a fraternity group of retirees under the pretext of financing its New Year gatherings, and also provided an office that it leased at 280 million won to the organization free of charge. At least a dozen other state companies provided similar support, ranging from 22 million won to 178 million, to their respective retiree organizations. Some even refused to follow directives from the state watchdog and their supervisor, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, citing "uncooperative unions" and other reasons. For example, the ministry told KOGAS to exclude optional welfare expenses from calculating average wages in July 2014. The state gas supplier, however, made a dual contract with its labor union to set up a new service allowance based on the welfare expense, kept it secret and reported to the ministry as if it had rectified the violation. Incheon International Airport Corp. paid for overtime meals for employees who did not do overtime, receiving a warning from the BAI. But airport authorities continued to pay for overtime meals of 544 million won to workers who did not do overtime, from October 2014 to June 2015. KORAIL was told to correct its practice of reducing or exempting ticket charges for its workers and their families but still is dragging its feet to rectify it citing the union's opposition. Some researchers at KOGAS were found to have given outside lectures without prior reporting in the previous audit but committed the same violation in the recent audit. Seven of them applied for and received 1.29 million won as travel expenses for their unreported lecturing, the report said. "Unless the government roots out these tax thieves,' President Park Geun-hye's anticorruption drive can't help but ring hollow," a civic activist said. Jason Statham from teaser videos of LG's G5 / Screen capture from YouTube By Ko Dong-hwan Hollywood action star Jason Statham is promoting LG's new G5 smartphone. The English actor, 48, features in teaser videos of the device's ads that show him playing with the phone, which has detachable hardware modules. The teasers feature the actor as 10 characters, including a waiter, a security guard and even a fashionable female diner in a restaurant coyly taking a picture with the phone. The diversity of his roles signifies that the smartphone can be different gadgets like a digital camera or audio amplifier depending on the module the user attaches. The phone's battery has an inscription that reads: "Life's better when you play more." "Statham, whose acting breadth ranges from hardcore action to comedy, seemed to fit with the G5," Chosun Ilbo quoted an LG Electronics insider as saying. LG will release the G5 worldwide, starting with Korea on Thursday. Statham's ads will air in 20 countries at the same time, as well as online, including YouTube and Facebook. By Jhoo Dong-chan Hanwha Techwin, a weapons technology affiliate of Hanwha Group, is expected to take over Doosan Defense Systems & Technology (DST), a high-tech weaponry manufacturing unit of Doosan Group. According to an official at the Switzerland-based multinational financial service provider Credit Suisse that is managing the takeover of Doosan DST, Wednesday, Hanwha Techwin has been chosen as a preferred negotiator to buy the company. Hanwha Techwin's bid was reportedly 695 billion won ($600 million). "The takeover is part of Hanwha Techwin's efforts to become one of the top 10 global powerhouses in the defense industry," said CEO Shin Hyun-woo. The nation's leading weapons manufacturer is currently ranked 44th in the world in defense product output, but is expected to enter the top 30 through the takeover. Having focused mainly on ammunition and precision guided weaponry, Hanwha Techwin is believed to be diversifying its defense product lineup to include anti-aircraft missiles, missile launch pads and navigation systems. The CEO of Ra Beauty Core Kim Hyun-tae, center, styles the hair of Bill Miner, Country Chairman of Chevron, at the residence of Kuwaiti Ambassador Jasem Albudaiwi in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Kim Jae-heun By Kim Jae-heun The CEO of Ra Beauty Core said the secret behind the Korean beauty industry's recent success comes from well understanding people's laziness and finding a niche market. "Laziness has become a key factor in developing the Korean beauty industry," said CEO Kim Hyun-tae during the Corea Quotient (CQ) program at the residence of Kuwaiti Ambassador Jasem Albudaiwi in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. "People are lazy but they want to look beautiful at the same time. Korean beauty products like blemish balm (BB) cream, color control (CC) cream and cushion foundation have been invented to shorten the process of applying makeup." "World popular cosmetic brands like Lancome, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent have later started producing their own cushion products, which is why their factories are based in Gyeonggi Province in Korea," Kim said. Kim introduced himself as a hairstylist-turned-beauty promoter who has been in the field for over 26 years. He became a hairdresser at 19 and it took only five years for him to become a star designer who would travel the world demonstrating hairstyling. Riding on the popularity of Korean drama series and K-pop, he realized the potential of hallyu, or the Korean wave, and decided to let the public know more about Korean fashion secrets by holding seminars on Korean beauty products. In 2014, he was the first Asian to hold a hair show at Beauty Master Class in the L'Oreal Business Forum. "Hallyu started with TV drama series and that was the first level. Second level, we watched the success of K-pop in Asia and Korean food and language have gained popularity along with it. Fourth stage is Korean lifestyle and cosmetics and fashion items that are the biggest spending parts for foreigners," he said. "Especially Hong Kong and Taiwanese markets turned black as Korean cosmetic products have become must-have items among young women there. It is also happening in Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand." The CEO said that hallyu has made a number of people rich in the beauty market recently and disagrees with rumors that hallyu will disappear in five years, as he is witnessing plus growth in the international market. "The reason why women love Korean cosmetics is because it makes them look young, sexy and intelligent. That is all you need for a woman," Kim said. Some 30 diplomats, CEOs and cultural leaders attended the CQ event, organized by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) headed by Choi Jung-hwa, to attend Kim's hour-long lecture on the growing popularity of Korean style across the world. The CQ forum is designed to share cultural experiences and promote Korea's image abroad. The "C" refers to culture, concentration, communication, creativity and cooperation. The participants included Kuwaiti Ambassador to Korea Jasem Albudaiwi, Jordanian Ambassador to Korea Omar Al-Nahar, vice chairman of Renault China Francois Provost and vice chairman of Doosan Corporation James Bemowski. / Korea Times file Seven out of 10 domestic and sexual violence offenders were drunk when they committed their crimes, Uijeongbu police in Gyeonggi Province disclosed Sunday. The findings were in a report by Lee Won-jeong, a director of a criminal division at Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, who studied 3,747 cases of violence-related crimes in Uijeongbu last year. It showed a total of 4,851 people were arrested for violent crimes in the area and 61.5 percent, or 2,983, of them were drunk. For sexual and domestic violence offenders, seven out of 10 were drunk at the time of their crimes. And for those who obstructed police, the figure was nine out of 10. The government said Wednesday it will take stern measures against all election law violations that can adversely affect the April 13 parliamentary elections. In a statement released by Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong and Interior Minister Hong Yun-sik at the government complex in Seoul, the government stressed it will mobilize all possible forces to crack down on bribe-giving, the use of unauthorized methods to sway votes and the spreading of false rumors. "Election law violators will be punished accordingly, regardless of their parties, status or vote results," the government said. Government officials who fail to fulfill their duties to stay neutral on the elections will also be punished, it said. Under the country's election law, government officials, policymakers and elected officials are forbidden from supporting or opposing particular candidates or parties and from leaking information beneficial to particular candidates. The number of election-related offenders has increased in the lead-up to the April 13 elections compared with the previous ones four years ago. According to data by the Ministry of Justice, a total of 434 people have been booked on charges related to irregular election campaign activities this year, up 29.6 percent from 2012. The government also encouraged voters to take part in the elections, which will be the first since the electoral district map was redrawn after months of wrangling between the parties. (Yonhap) By Kim Hyo-jin Lee Jung-hyun Kim Boo-kyum The southern part of the country remains divided by decades of regionalism between the eastern and western provinces, so candidates who say they want to challenge this problem are attracting attention in the run-up to the April 13 general election. Rep. Lee Jung-hyun of the ruling Saenuri Party and Kim Boo-kyum, a former lawmaker and candidate of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK), are vying to secure seats in their respective districts of Suncheon, South Jeolla Province and Daegu to challenge the deep-rooted regionalism. Jeolla Province and Daegu are political strongholds for the MPK and the Saenuri Party, respectively, and both regions never had lawmakers from the opposition parties after single-member constituencies were introduced in 1988. This was until Lee secured a parliamentary seat in the Suncheon and Gokseong district in a 2014 by-election. A former spokesman for President Park Geun-hye, Lee is hoping to continue, what he refers to, as an "election revolution" in the April 13 election. However, his pursuit of a third parliamentary term will be an uphill struggle because he is trailing MPK candidate and former Suncheon Mayor, Roh Kwan-kyu, in the polls. Meanwhile, Kim has been ahead of former Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo of the Saenuri Party, heralding the possibility of the first opposition party lawmaker gaining a seat in the stronghold of the ruling party. Their battle, depending on the results, could even lead them to winning leadership of their respective parties and pursuing presidential bids in coming years, say political observers. Lee canvasses for votes in the district on a bicycle, meeting voters one by one, as he did during his previous election campaign. To challenge the opposition party's strong footing in the region, he is appealing to voters by promoting the image of being a "humble and hard-working politician." However, it remains to be seen what the results of this approach will be. In a poll conducted by Research and Research of 507 respondents, Monday, Lee's approval rating stood at 22 percent, showing a 15 percentage-point gap with the front-runner Roh at 37 percent. The survey conducted by Korea Research on 500 eligible voters on March 24, also showed that Roh is in the lead with 38.1 percent against Lee's 31.4 percent. In addition, the competition was expected to be a tough battle for Lee because the Gokseong district, where his support runs high, was severed after the constituency boundaries map was redrawn earlier this month. However, Lee is still confident of a second victory. "I believe it's just the result of a momentary attention drawn following the recent MPK's primary contest. We will make inroads into Roh's lead soon," he said. In Daegu, Kim's campaign is gaining momentum, with favorable numbers in the opinion polls. In a Realmeter survey conducted between March 25 and 26, Kim garnered a 52.7 percent approval rating, a 14.5 percentage point lead over his rival Kim. Observers say that he has moved voters' sentiment while running persistently in the district despite a series of defeats. Kim ran in the previous parliamentary race in 2012, losing to Rep. Lee Hahn-koo of the Saenuri Party, and again, when he competed against a ruling party candidate in the Daegu mayoral election in 2014. After the Saenuri Party had a row over candidate nominations, exposing factional conflicts between loyalists of President Park Geun-hye and her opponents, support for its candidate in Daegu appears to have eroded, said Kim's aide. "Voters in Daegu have changed somewhat through the recent nomination row within the Saenuri Party. They started thinking of voting for the person who has genuinely worked for the region, instead of a candidate parachuted in by the central party," said a Daegu citizen. By Jun Ji-hye The Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the military will develop tactical, ground-to-ground GPS-guided weapons as part of a five-year defense plan to counter growing threats from North Korea's long-range artillery. The plan for 2017 through 2021 has a budget of 226.5 trillion won ($196.2 billion), and the ministry plans to finish development of the hardware by 2018 for deployment from 2019. Among the stated objectives, the ministry has earmarked 24.1 trillion won to strengthen the nation's capabilities for regional war as well as all-out war. The core of the plan is to develop tactical, ground-to-ground GPS-guided munitions designed to destroy the North's multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and self-propelled artillery. The envisioned counter-artillery guided munitions will have a range of 120 kilometers, said a high-ranking ministry official on condition of anonymity, noting that the military has already successfully test-fired a new weapon several times. Some 4,500 Chinese employees of Aurance are enjoying chickens and beer in Incheon, Monday. / Yonhap By Ko Dong-hwan Koreans will see a lot of workers from Chinese-speaking countries this year on holiday or here for conferences. A health supplements producer based in Beijing is sending about 8,000 employees to Seoul in May for a 12-day visit. Some 10,000 employees from multinational nutrition supplements producer Herbalife's offices in Singapore and southeastern countries are coming to the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in June for corporate meetings. They will then tour Seoul and areas in the province. A Guangzhou-based life insurance company sent 3,760 workers earlier this month and will send another 1,000 next month as a vacation reward. McDonald's China and Beijing Hyundai Motors sent 2,700 and 1,100 employees to Korea in January and February, respectively, for vacations. Last weekend, 6,000 employees of Chinese health and beauty products maker Aurance arrived in Incheon for meetings and leisure. Incheon city government paid for their food and got a promise from Aurance they will visit Incheon for company events over the next three years. "Rising numbers of employees from Chinese companies are visiting Korea because it is close, and their familiarity with the nation based on hallyu the Korean wave culture," sources told Chosun Ilbo. The number of pediatric hospitals that operate until midnight with state support has been decreasing despite good responses from parents, due to an outcry from pediatricians who claim that such hospitals are taking patients from small-sized clinics that are open during the day. The ministry designated 16 hospitals as "Moonlight Pediatric Hospitals" in September 2014 which accept patients until midnight on weekdays and 6 p.m. on weekends, to help children get treatment late at night and on holidays. The hospitals are open 362 days a year and close on only three national holidays, with at least three pediatricians on duty. The government is offering a 180 million won ($156,000) subsidy to each pediatrician to cover the night shift allowances for the doctors. But the number of hospitals dropped to 11, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which scrapped its plan to increase the number to 30 by the end of the year. While parents welcome the hospitals as they can seek immediate medical attention for their sick children after the usual hours, most pediatricians have opposed it saying they will suffer losses due to the decreasing number of daytime patients. The Korea Association of Pediatric Practitioners (KAPP) said that the government is unfairly allowing only a certain number of hospitals to make a profit. "An increasing number of patients, or their parents, will visit hospitals that stay open during late hours, thus causing a decrease in revenue at hospitals that are open only during the daytime," an official from the KAPP said. However, parents criticized the doctors for putting their interests over those of sick children. "One time, my child was sick late at night. I had to rush to the emergency room, but there was no doctor immediately available. My child had to wait for another half hour before finally getting to see a doctor," a mother of a seven-year-old said. "I would like to see more hospitals open not only late at night during weekdays but also on weekends. Doctors should know that children do not choose when to get sick." Currently, the ministry is considering offering subsidies if several pediatric hospitals will take turns at providing extended hours of treatment. But it remains to be seen if many hospitals will accept this idea; two associations of pediatricians boycotted a ministry-organized discussion on Wednesday, afte refusing to participate. South Korea and Iran will hold working-level talks in Tehran next week to discuss their economic ties and the implementation of international sanctions against North Korea, a government official said Wednesday. The fourth round of director-general level talks between the two countries will take place next Wednesday as South Korea pushes to capitalize on new business opportunities that have arisen after the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran. The meeting will also touch on issues related to North Korea amid reports that officials from a blacklisted North Korean company visited Iran following the U.N. Security Council's adoption of toughened sanctions against Pyongyang, according to the official. "That issue is expected to be on the agenda," the official told Yonhap News Agency, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. Senior officials of the Korea Mining Development Trading Corp. reportedly visited Iran earlier this month after the U.N. Security Council slapped sanctions on Pyongyang to punish the regime for its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in February. Although the purpose of the officials' trip remains unclear, experts have suggested efforts to minimize the sanctions' impact on North Korea's missile exports to Iran. Iran and North Korea have long been suspected of trade in missiles and nuclear weapons. Next week's talks will also cover a wide range of bilateral and global issues, such as cooperation on development and planning for high-level visits. Talks have been under way to arrange a visit to Iran by President Park Geun-hye this year. The meeting will be led by Kwon Hee-seog, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's African and Middle Eastern Affairs Bureau, and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Farazandeh. (Yonhap) South Korea and the United States have strengthened policy cooperation in the science and technology sector for the past few decades, a U.S. senior official said Wednesday, as the two allies are in closer talks over toughened international sanctions against North Korea. "(South Korea and the U.S.) cooperate in areas in which we have much to learn (from) each other and much leverage to gain by working together," John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a special lecture at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology located in Daejeon. He has been on a South Korean visit to attend the ninth meeting of the Korea-U.S. Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation in Seoul slated for Thursday. At the meeting, the two countries will discuss ways to enhance bilateral policy collaboration in many areas including robotics, cybersecurity, nanotechnology and cross-ministerial research and development investments. They will expand their discussions to issues like oceans and polar affairs, space exploration, nuclear energy and climate change. Since they reached an agreement on bilateral science and technology cooperation in 1976, the two countries renewed the agreement to upgrade the pact every five years. "Cooperation depends on supportive leaders, and we've got them. They strongly support cooperation between the two countries in this space," said the U.S. official who also serves as assistant to President Obama for science and technology, referring to the summit talks in Washington last year. Meanwhile, the two countries along with other global powers have been getting closer to deal with the implementation of the sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. South Korean President Park Geun-hye is scheduled to hold talks with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit set for Thursday and Friday. The meeting comes after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) slapped North Korea with the toughest sanctions in decades earlier this month over the North's January nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in February. (Yonhap) China on Wednesday snubbed an offer by the United States to hold talks about technical issues related to the possible deployment of an advanced missile defense system to South Korea, arguing that the move is not a technical issue. In the aftermath of North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January and launch of a long-range rocket in February, South Korea has launched formal talks with the U.S. to adopt a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in the country. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Tuesday in Washington that he hopes China accepts the offer to hold talks on technical issues on the THAAD battery in an effort to appease Beijing's anxiety that it could also target mainland China. "The deployment of a THAAD system in South Korea pursued by the United States is not a simple technical issue, but it is a strategic one related to peace and stability in Northeast Asia," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters. The deployment of a THAAD battery in South Korea would "go far beyond the actual defense requirement of the Korean Peninsula and will cause a direct impact on China's strategic and security interests," Hong said. 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. 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. Blinken said the deployment of a THAAD battery in South Korea is a necessary move at a time when North Korea continues to make advances in its nuclear and missile programs. "We've also been very clear with Beijing that... as long as North Korea continues to take these actions and to advance its nuclear and missile programs, and as long as that's not stopped and reversed, we will have to take steps to assure our own security and that of our partners and allies," Blinken told a forum hosted by the Brookings Institution. "None of these steps are directed against China, but it's also no secret that many of these steps are not ones that China is enthusiastic about. But we've been very, very clear that we will have to do it. The best example of that recently is the conversation that's begun with the South Koreans about the deployment of the THAAD missile system," Blinken said. (Yonhap) Researchers of the Protein Research Center for Bio-Industry conduct an experiment in its building on the Global Campus of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. / Courtesy of HUFS HUFS trying to find new momentum for development By Chung Hyun-chae Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) President Kim In-chul has committed the university to increasing focus on biomedical engineering as part of its long-term development. For this, HUFS set up the Biomedical Engineering Department early this year and recruited 35 freshmen for the spring semester. This move is seen as innovative for the university which has long specialized in teaching foreign languages and regional studies since it was founded in 1954. "I feel that HUFS should expand into biomedical engineering so that we can find new momentum for development and compete with top universities both at home and abroad," Kim told The Korea Times in a recent interview on the university's campus in Seoul. He believes that biomedical engineering has great potential not only for his university but also for the nation as it encompasses biology, life and medical sciences, engineering and information technology (IT). Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) President Kim In-chul speaks during an interview with The Korea Times on the university's campus in Seoul, March 10. / Courtesy of HUFS He noted that it is necessary to cultivate biomedical engineers who can develop advanced healthcare-related technologies, especially for the ubiquitous-healthcare and surgical robots. "For example, biomedical engineering can contribute to developing technology to help patients who cannot walk due to car accidents, regenerate their knee cartilage," Kim said. He also revealed an ambitious plan to establish a medical college. "I know it will take a long time to realize HUFS having a medical college as we have to get approval from both the health and education ministries. It's not easy because the government usually only allows a university or two to create a medical college once every five or 10 years," Kim said. He thinks that the operation of the Biomedical Engineering Department will pave the way for HUFS to eventually open a medical college. Kim said his university is considering operating a general hospital in cooperation with some medical institutions or pharmaceutical firms before the creation of a medical college. He said that HUFS is ready to invite a hospital operator to build a hospital on the university's Global Campus at Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, adding that the campus on the 2.6 square kilometers of land can accommodate a general hospital. He has not ruled out the possibility that the university may acquire a local medical college. "I am also willing to offer our land to pharmaceutical or food companies which want to build research centers," Kim said, adding that the Biomedical Engineering Department will conduct research on drugs and food. HUFS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Handok, a local pharmaceutical company, for biomedical engineering research and cultivating manpower last June. It formed a partnership with the Medical Device R&D Center of the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital last June to conduct joint research and develop medical devices together. The university is also seeking cooperation with more businesses located near the Global Campus in Yongin and the venture company complex in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province. "We also expect the Biomedical Engineering Department to make inroads into medical tourism that combines treatment and convalescence in partnership with general hospitals or medical schools," Kim said. "This would target rich people living in China, and Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries." He also said that the university will strengthen its College of Business and the HUFS Law School in order to improve their competitiveness. Cultivating global citizens He stressed the importance of promoting Korea-Arab relations not only to draw medical tourists from Arabic countries but also to attract more students from the region. Kim served as the president of the Korea-Arab Society from October 2014 to December 2015. The university launched the International Diplomatic Scholarship program, which could be dubbed the Korean version of the Fulbright Program, last year to invite qualified students from other countries. Fifty-two students who were recommended by 26 foreign embassies in Korea are now students at HUFS. "If 24 Arab nations send two students each, it would be a lot," Kim said. "We are thinking of offering a prayer room as well as providing halal food to attract more Muslim students." The university plans to invite 1,200 foreign students recommended by 100 embassies for four years and educate them to be talented graduates and to have a better understanding of Korea. Currently HUFS has 547 foreign students from 61 countries. "We will keep accepting smart students from different countries, not blindly accepting all applicants without considering their qualifications and potential," Kim said. The university is also trying to send more Korean students to universities abroad to help them become global citizens. Last January, the National Assembly passed a government-initiated bill to provide financial support for students who go to small European or African countries such as Bulgaria and Poland, to learn their languages which are not widely used around the world. The legislation is aimed at fostering experts in such countries. "While expanding into new areas to take a big leap toward becoming one of the world's top universities, we will beef up our efforts to strengthen foreign language majors that are our inherent value," Kim added. Cooperation with Asian universities HUFS and 10 other foreign language universities in Asia formed a consultative body earlier this month to step up cooperation and exchanges. "The launch of the body reflects a sense of crisis facing foreign language universities at home and abroad," said Kim. "It is particularly important for the universities to act as good hosts when they receive foreign students in order to keep boosting student exchanges," he said, adding that promoting exchanges contributes to cultivating talented global citizens. He revealed a plan for joint online educational programs with the 10 foreign language universities, including Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University and Shanghai International Studies University. He pointed out that HUFS is the only foreign language university among the 11 Asian higher education institutions that runs a cyber university. "I hope we will produce high-quality online content not only for students attending HUFS and its partner universities but also for students around the world," Kim added. Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Wednesday urged the military to maintain a state of heightened readiness against possible North Korean provocations during President Park Geun-hye's overseas trip this week. Park left for a two-nation visit earlier in the day, which will take her to Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit as well as Mexico where bilateral talks are planned. Park is scheduled to return home next week. Han "called for thorough military preparedness during the president's state visit," ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said. "While maintaining a heightened alert posture, all military units should be mentally and physically ready to complete their missions," the defense chief was quoted as saying. North Korea's recent test of a solid-fuel rocket engine suggests that the communist nation may be trying to develop a new two-stage missile similar to its Rodong medium-range ballistic missile, a U.S. expert said Tuesday. The North claimed last week that the country successfully conducted a ground test of a solid-fuel rocket engine, with leader Kim Jong-un saying that the test "helped boost the power of ballistic rockets capable of mercilessly striking hostile forces." The North also released photos of the test, showing the engine spewing flames. A solid-fuel missile would pose a greater threat as it would take less preparation time and would be harder to detect before a launch. South Korea said the North appears to be in the early stages of developing solid-fuel rockets. John Schilling, a U.S. aerospace engineer with expertise on North Korean rockets, said in an article contributed to 38 North, a website specializing in North Korean issues, that analysis of the photos shows that the test was successful. "Based on the evidence of these pictures, North Korea appears to have conducted a successful test of a large solid-fuel motor of 15-20 tonnes thrust and about one minute of burn duration," Schilling said, adding that it's about three times more powerful than the biggest solid motor North Korea has previously demonstrated. The expert said the new engine, which is believed to be 1.25 meters in diameter and 3 meters long, appears to be too heavy to be used for any existing North Korean missile systems, including its Unha space launch vehicle and the KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missile. "Since there are clear disadvantages to using this motor in any existing North Korean missile systems, could a new missile be under development? One possibility is a two-stage solid fuel replacement for the Nodong," Schilling said, using another name for the Rodong. Both Iran and Pakistan, once major customers of the Rodong, have developed two-stage solid-fuel missiles of similar size and performance but much greater robustness and operational flexibility, the expert said. Overall, last week's engine test is certainly a step forward in building solid-fuel motors, but it is only likely to result in an improvement of the regional range ballistic missiles already in the North's inventory, rather than moving the country closer to building an advanced ICBM, the expert said. (Yonhap) By Tom Plate They say some things have to be seen to be believed, which is probably why the sight of a jaunty Mark Zuckerberg jogging through Tiananmen Square was almost unbelievable unless you were there. Am I saying that the chairman, chief executive, and co-founder of Facebook rather made a fool of himself? Well, yes, I am. But in one way or the other, at one time or another whether peddling a bicycle or bloviating on a mainland lecture tour (me) we all have made fools of ourselves about China. In this sense, the multi-billionaire Harvard dropout loses no more face than any of us, myself surely included. China is hard to get right. Once the anti-social network of violence associated with Islamist extremism is contained and it will be (in part because of the emerging dynamics of the larger peaceful Muslim world) China will stand alone as the West's prime number. One reason for this can be illuminated by philosophy's hypothesis of the Twin Earth. Use your imagination, the late Harvard professor Hilary Putnam would urge his students, and envision two planets existing at the same time which appear virtually identical person by person, tree by tree, barking dog by dog, annoying child by annoying child except for one thing: their water. Now this is key: On Planet Earth, water is exactly as we earthlings know it: H2O. But on Planet Twin, while its water would look to Planet Earth-ers just like H2O, its chemistry is different let's dub it "Shui Too Oh". So if a Planet Earth person were to visit Planet Twin, people on both sides might understand each other well enough indeed, until they came to the subject of water: then they would be talking about two different things. Such confusion now roils the politics of the South China Sea. This simple metaphor helps fathom the intensity of the current political storm over the slender islands, rocky islets, and semi-manufactured sand-landing strips from Planet Twin, which sees the world one way; whereas Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, on Planet Earth, see the water in another. The reality divide has become fearsome. Chinese fishing vessels swarm the waters as if they own it; smaller nations push back in anger. Boats are bumping, crew are jumping, politicians' fists are pumping, and US warships are intruding and over-flying so who's losing or has lost their mind? China sent more than 100 ships and a dozen planes for live-ammunition drills in the South China Sea last July in a move that has been criticised by the US and other countries in Asia. To the West, it's the People's Republic of China that's lost its bearings. It would seem that in the span of a handful of years, the China policy "brand" has gone from "peaceful rising" (acclaimed as sensible) to "in your face" (viewed as confrontational). But the Chinese view is that the waters of the South China Sea are not just H20, as the West would have it, but Shui Too Oh: "The South China Sea islands and their surrounding waters were first discovered, named, and used by the early Chinese, as well as administered by successive governments, and have been considered inherent national territory and waters since ancient times, as is attested in numerous historical records, local gazetteers, and maps." There's more: "The Nansha (Spratly) Islands, Shisha (Paracel) Islands, Chungsha (Macclesfield Bank) Islands, and Tungsha (Pratas) Islands (together known as the South China Sea Islands) were first discovered, named, and used by the ancient Chinese, and incorporated into national territory and administered by imperial Chinese governments. Any claim to sovereignty over, or occupation of, these areas by other countries is illegal." That seems rather in-your-face coming from the communist People's Republic of China, don't you think? But hold on a minute: This alternative definition comes not from Beijing but from Taipei. In fact, it is the official position of the government of Taiwan, known as the Republic of China; and it is virtually the same as the mainland's. Thus the fierce South China Sea bifurcation turns out not as Communist China versus The West, but more as the Chinese Civilization versus The Rest. What we have then is not a new cold war (Beijing replacing Moscow), but a history-based resurrection of claims and counterclaims pressing onto the present. Planet Shui Too Oh views its chemistry as critically different from that of the West because it bubbles up from a different place. For the hundred years prior to the ending of the war against Japan, the Chinese felt oppressed, their huge wartime contribution against fascism under-appreciated, and their post-war status as a major country patronised. Here is the consensus Chinese view: "From 1842, when the Treaty of Nanjing was forced on China by the British imperialists, to the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Western Powers imposed upon China up to 1,000 unequal treaties by means of force and fraud ... China had become a semi-colonial country." This comes from a volume China in the World Anti-Fascist War that is little known in the West, but skillfully put together by Peng Xunhou, a professor at the Academy of Military Science of the People's Liberation Army. The gap won't be smoothed over by billionaire jog sessions or by legalistic decisions of a UN court. Again (to lean on our metaphor), where the West sees seawater, the Chinese see ever-present currents of their tortured past. This is the lesson of the Twin Earth metaphor: However you look at it, the South China Sea ain't just bubbling up H2O. Professor Tom Plate is the Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and the author of In the Middle of China's Future, among other books on Asia. Scenes of lawlessness and violence spread throughout streets of downtown Seoul Saturday, as police clashed with anti-government demonstrators in the largest street protest held in the capital in more than seven years. Police fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters, estimated to number 70,000, as some attempted to push through barricades of police buses to move toward Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office. The demonstration, organized by labor, civic and farmers' groups, stretched into the night, and police detained 51 people, including two high school students. Protesters chanted slogans demanding that the incumbent government's drive for labor reforms and state-issued history textbooks be dropped. More than 20,000 riot police were mobilized, but some participants tried to move some of the buses by pulling ropes tied to the vehicles. Others smashed the windows of the buses with sticks. Dozens of people were reportedly injured as the protests turned violent. An elderly farmer, who traveled by bus from Boseong, South Jeolla Province, to attend the rally, remained unconscious at a hospital after being allegedly hit by water cannons near City Hall. Some police officers were also injured as protesters threw bricks at officers camped out on the top of the buses and threatened them with flagpoles. Nine police buses were badly damaged. China is gearing up to create a world-class semiconductor industry. On Monday, XMC, China's state-owned contract chipmaker, broke ground in Wuhan, Hubei Province, for the first Chinese-owned 3-D NAND flash chips factory at a cost of $24 billion. Earlier, Tsinghua Unigroup announced a plan to invest $30 billion to build memory chip plants. China's aggressive moves to boost the semiconductor industry seem aimed at mounting an offensive against Korean chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which are dominating the memory chip market. The investment in semiconductors, which is being made with the strong support of the government, is jaw-dropping. The combined investment by XMC and Tsinghua Unigroup $54 billion accounts for more than half of that by Korea's top 30 conglomerates, which is estimated at $107 billion this year. Of course, there is still a wide technology gap between Korean and Chinese chipmakers, but it's evident that China's strong emergence will pose a grave threat to Korean companies in the years to come. What unnerves them most is a drain of technical professionals. China has been eager to lure Korean technicians by offering annual salaries three to five times bigger than what they receive in Korea. This must not be taken lightly, considering that the success of the semiconductor business depends in large part on manpower. China's mass production of computer chips could trigger a huge oversupply, which in turn would inevitably prompt another game of chicken in the semiconductor industry. In that case, sluggish chip exports will be unavoidable. China is the largest consumer of semiconductors, taking up nearly 60 percent of globally produced chips, and 90 percent of its chip demand is met by imports, largely from Korea. As things stand now, China's homegrown electronics giants such as Huawei and Haier will continue to have a great demand for semiconductors. And if they change their chip suppliers in step with the rapid growth of Chinese companies, Samsung and SK hynix could take a huge hit. Given the weight of semiconductors in our manufacturing industry, elaborate counterstrategies must be mapped out as soon as possible so that our supremacy in chip-making won't be turned over to China. What matters most is to maintain the technology gap with China by developing sophisticated technologies that can't be replicated by Chinese firms. It's also important for our chipmakers to shy away from excessive dependence on memory chips toward system semiconductors that account for more than 70 percent of all computer chips. Abe out to kill Pacifist constitution Few appear to be listening to the echoes of "Tenno Heika Banzai" (Long live the emperor!), the battle cry of the imperial Japanese soldiers charging with bayonets fixed on their rifles during their expansion period, starting with their invasion of the Korean Peninsula and the conquest of Manchuria, before the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the stroke of midnight on March 29, Tokyo's Security Law went into effect restoring the right of the vanquished nation of World War II to wage war the result of a long-held dream by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose grandfather served in the imperial war cabinet led by Gen. Hideki Tojo. The law allows Japan to engage in military operations for other than self-defense and militarily assist other nations. Abe has made no secret of his wish to repeal Clause 9 of the post-war pacifist Constitution, which bars Japan from military actions for purposes other than self-defense. With the Upper House elections in July, Abe wants to strengthen the majority held by his Liberation Democratic Party-led ruling coalition to push for the revision, ending another chapter in his effort to make his nation "normal" again. Now, about 59 countries have extended their welcome to Japan but, of course, Korea and Japan, two of the victim countries of WWII, know better. Korea expresses caution and has asked Tokyo to bear its past misdeeds. Abe tried to suppress the domestic opposition by telling the nation that backtracking from getting rid of Clause 9 would harm the U.S.-Japan alliance. Despite popular protests, the polls showed that the Japanese are becoming more inclined to accept Abe's remilitarization efforts. Historically, a militarily strong Japan has always been a problem, threatening to throw the region into flux and posing more challenges to Korea. On a broad scale, there is an increasing possibility for a China-Japan standoff. Already, the two often go toe-to-toe over the group of islands called Senkaku in Japanese and Daioyu in Chinese. This territorial dispute can only spread to a potentially major flashpoint of the South China Sea, the sea lane that China is trying to dominate against the United States' objections. Bear in mind that these regions were very much under imperial Japan's control in the pre-war era. Making the equation more complicated is the tendency of the U.S. to take an isolationist policy, as is well illustrated by Donald Trump, the current leading Republican presidential candidate, who claims that Korea does not pay its fair share for its defense, indicating his willingness to withdraw U.S. troops. No doubt, if the U.S. role of stabilizing the regional balance of power is weakened, it is certain that Japan will fill the void left behind, opening the way for it to resurrect itself as a military power. The rest of the story is too familiar and scary to think about. Already, Japan has outspent Korea in defense by one third, much of the budget focused on modernization, unlike Korea's maintenance-driven expenditures. Considering Japan's overall budget is three times that of Korea's, Japan could put itself on a fast track to remilitarize. The new law catches Korea off guard in unexpected quarters. For instance, Seoul went mum when Japan argued that it had no obligation to ask for Korea's permission should its forces enter North Korea's territory in the event of war. Also, Korea now faces a greater chance of getting relegated to a third junior partner in an emerging three-way alliance likely to be anchored by Washington and Tokyo. The result is that Korea will have a reduced say in dealing with the North's nuclear challenge and determining the course of action after its resolution. Considering Abe's effort to throw the entire nation of Japan into a collective case of amnesia about the atrocities their ancestors committed, the worst-case scenario should not be taken lightly. Army Cpl. Kim Dong-uk By Jun Ji-hye Army Cpl. Kim Dong-uk saved a woman in her 20s who was being assaulted by a drunken man, according to the Army, Wednesday. On March 25, Kim, 22, who was on vacation, saw the man in his 50s being violent and abusive to the woman on a bus. The man grasped her by the wrist, preventing her from getting off the vehicle. The woman barely managed to get off the bus, but the man still followed her. Kim also got off the bus and pursued the man. Then, Kim saw the man pull the woman's hair and swing at her with his fist on a pedestrian overpass. Kim rushed to the scene and called the police, restraining the man from beating the woman. The drunk took the bit between his teeth and tussled with Kim, trying to push Kim over the railings of the pedestrian overpass. But it was not that difficult for the trained Army corporal to suppress the drunken man. Kim tripped the man over and held him down until the police came. The man was then transferred to the police station and booked on a charge of assault. A prosecutor who was in charge of the case later called the Korea Army Training Center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, where Kim is serving as a squad leader of the 23rd regiment, to express his gratitude to Kim for his bravery. The Army said that Kim was a model squad leader who had earned an award for hitting all 20 targets at a shooting match earlier this month. The Army added that Kim received a letter of commendation from his regimental commander who praised the corporal for his brave deed. "I have always thought that a soldier should be a model regardless of where he is," Kim said. "I believe any soldier would act as I did to save a woman in danger." Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye SK Telecom's network operations division president Lee Hyung-hee, right, poses with Korea University President Yeom Jae-ho after signing a memorandum of understanding at the university in Anam-dong, northeastern Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of SK Telecom By Yoon Sung-won SK Telecom said Wednesday it will establish an Internet of Things (IoT) network system at Korea University. "We will rebuilt the campus of Korea University into a smart life place tapping into IoT technologies," SK Telecom's network operations division president Lee Hyung-hee said in a statement. "We will present an exemplary business-academic cooperation model that can exceed existing limitations of smart campus projects." On Wednesday, the telecom company signed a memorandum of understanding with the university on cooperating for what they call the "PI Campus" project. Under the agreement, the two will apply the latest network technologies including IoT, cloud storage, big data and mobility for innovation on campus. SK Telecom will build a network dedicated to IoT services at Korea University's Anam campus in northeastern Seoul and the neighboring Korea University Hospital, and connect its IoT platform ThingPlug to integrate sensor systems throughout the campus. It will also establish a precise positioning system using beacon technology and install a building energy management system, aiming at allowing more efficient energy management. SK Telecom and Korea University has also agreed upon joint R&D for diverse IoT services needed by the academic institution. The university plans to offer a course teaching global IoT platform standards and organize IoT-related seminars and competitions. The university said the business-academic collaboration will provide people on campus with the environment and opportunities to develop IoT services on their own, unlike other smart campus projects that unilaterally provided services for students. "Under our slogan, Pioneering Intellectuals, we will establish a space that combines the latest information and communication technologies with the creative university culture," Korea University President Yeom Jae-ho said. "We expect the project will help us become one of the world's top 50 universities in the near future." The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more Rosendahl in Mar Vista in 2013. LA Observed file photo. Former Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl died this morning after a four-year battle with cancer. He was 70 years old. Rosendahl had talked toward the end of his political career about being sick and stepping away to undergo treatment. You might remember, Rosendahl's successor and former chief deputy, Mike Bonin, revealed in February that Rosendahl had entered hospice care. "Our city & world lost a great friend & giant of social justice, Bill Rosendahl," Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted a few minutes ago. "He had the biggest heart I know & I will miss him deeply." Today's announcement came from Bonin's office. Widely known for his beaming smile and a booming voice, Rosendahl befriended both the powerful and the downtrodden throughout his lifetime and during his eight year stint representing the Westside on the City Council. Often called the Conscience of the City Council, Rosendahl focused on seeking solutions to the problem of homelessness, promoting mass transit, curbing overdevelopment, and giving neighborhoods a greater voice in city decision-making. He was the first openly gay man elected to the Los Angeles City Council, and served from 2005 to 2013, when he retired to battle a stage four cancer that was diagnosed in the summer of 2012. Toward the end of his tenure in office, he became an outspoken advocate for medical marijuana, which he used to combat the side effects of cancer treatments. Rosendahl was an atypical politician. He embraced his fiercest critics, championed the hot-button issues that many avoided, and almost always spoke extemporaneously, giving long speeches that routinely skewered sacred cows and even his fellow politicians. He rewarded constituents and cajoled fellow elected officials with fresh eggs from the dozens of chickens he raised at his Mar Vista home. Gifted with a boundless sense of optimism, Rosendahl imagined a politics of endless possibility, and was known by his signature exclamation: Great! Great! Great! Great! Great! While Rosendahl represented some of the citys most affluent neighborhoods, his proudest accomplishments involved helping the marginalized, the outsider, and the underdog. He boasted of: approving permanent supportive housing; creating a program that housed more than 100 people living in their vehicles in Venice; opening Fisher House, a home for families of veterans receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration campus in West LA; halting expansion of Los Angeles International Airport into nearby neighborhoods; and approving a citywide Bicycle Master Plan. He was perhaps most proud of securing the reburial of the remains of more than 1300 Gabrielino Tongva Native Americans discovered during the construction of Playa Vista. Prior to his election, Rosendahl was the award-winning producer and moderator of critically acclaimed public affairs television shows. As host of Local Talk, Week in Review and Beyond the Beltway, Rosendahl created a needed forum for the discussion of public affairs. An advocate of empowering people through information, Rosendahl produced more than 3,000 programs during his 16 years working in journalism, opening the airwaves to all viewpoints and steering thoughtful dialogue on the most complex and controversial issues affecting peoples lives. He was well-known for his cheerful sign-off to each of his programs - God Bless and bye-bye! Rosendahl's public service journalism won him the Cable Ace Award, The Diamond Award, the Freedom of Information Award, the Los Angeles League of Women Voters Public Service Award and the Beacon Award for Cable's Free Air Time Project. While producing and hosting the programs, he also served as a cable television executive, serving in senior positions with Adelphia Cable, Century Cablevision, Group W, and TelePrompter. The sixth of eight children born to German immigrant parents in Englewood, New Jersey, Rosendahl yearned to travel the planet. He led a life that took him around the world, shaping events through the force of his will, the size of his heart, and the warmth of his hugs. Rosendahl was immensely proud of his international travel, and regaled friends and acquaintances with tales of traveling around the planet, including through Africa, where he walked the length of the continent, often sleeping under the stars. He also cherished his frequent visits to gay resorts in Acapulco, Mexico and on the Russian River in Northern California. He made new friends wherever he went, regularly handing out cash or opening his home without second thought to anyone in need. Rosendahl had a giant heart and tremendous spirit. Raised Catholic, he became fiercely ecumenical, embracing and incorporating elements of multiple faiths into a personal belief system that celebrated all people and saw God in all things. Each morning, he would soak in his view of the Pacific Ocean, touch a fragment of redwood tree, and pray to a pantheon of friends and family members who had passed but whose memories and spirits gave him strength. In 1968, Rosendahl worked for the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy. In 1972, he worked as a fundraiser for George McGovern, traveling around the country with the Democratic Party nominee. In between presidential campaigns, Rosendahl served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971, spending a year as a psychiatric social worker, counseling troops returning from combat. As special assistant to the commanding general at Ft. Carson, Colorado, he won national recognition for reorganizing the base and boosting morale of the service people. He later served as a White House appointee to the State Department as Chief of Operations for the U.S. Trade and Development Program, and worked as an associate in philanthropic work for John D. Rockefeller, III. Rosendahl came out publicly as gay in 1995, when his longtime partner, Christopher Lee Blauman, died as a result of AIDS complications. Decades later, he would mourn lost friends and would angrily rail about the ways the Reagan and Clinton administrations betrayed the gay community. In his later years, he relished his role as a gay role model. In 2008, he received the Man of the Year Award from Christopher Street West. In 2013, he received the Morris Kite [Kight - ed.] Lifetime Achievement Award from Christopher Street West, and in 2015 he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement from the Stonewall Young Democrats. Rosendahl held many positions of civic leadership. He chaired the California Commission on Tax Policy in the New Economy under Governor Gray Davis, served as president of the Los Angeles Press Club, as chairman of the Cable and Telecommunication Association and was a member of the education fund of the Los Angeles League of Women Voters. After his retirement from the Los Angeles City Council, he served as president of the City of Los Angeles Health Commission. Rosendahl earned a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Economics from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his longtime partner, Hedi El-Kholti; his brother Thomas Rosendahl and sister-in-law Sheila Rosendahl, and their sons, Robbie-Paul, Ricky-Luke and Arthur of Westchester; his brother Steven Rosendahl of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; his sister Mary LeMothe of Apex, North Carolina; his sister Helen Davoren of Westfield, New Jersey; and his nephew and caregiver, Christopher Rosendahl of Mar Vista. Funeral and memorial arrangements are pending, but will include a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Monica's Church in Santa Monica, and a lovely and colorful memorial service and celebration of life at Mar Vista Park. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to any of his favorite organizations helping the homeless; Safe Place for Youth; New Directions for Veterans; and the Jeff Griffith Youth Center at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center. PRESS RELEASE Ryabkov: Russia Want To Reconvene NATO-Russia Council But Only on Fair Terms March 28, 2016 (EIRNS)Moscow wants a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council but wont agree to one if the agenda is one-sided. "We are working on the agenda for a possible meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at an ambassadorial level," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Izvestia in an interview, reports TASS. PRESS RELEASE Battle for Brazil Escalates as Brazilian VPs Party Leaves Government Coalition; Russia Weighs In March 29, 2016 (EIRNS)The British Empires operation (Wall Street included) to bring down the Dilma Rousseff government and unleash chaos in Brazil, took another step forward today, with the vote this afternoon by the national directorate of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) to pull out of the ruling coalition and order its six ministers to leave the cabinet. Manic reporting by the Empires media that the government is now finished, is part of the operation. Brazil does not have a parliamentary system but a presidential system, so the move does not bring down the government automatically. The PMDBs cabinet ministers have several weeks before they have to quitor take a leave of absence from the party, as two or more may do, so as to stay in the government. The vote was taken by acclamation only, to not expose the well-known split inside the party over whether to leave or not. It does increase the number of Congressional forces on the side of impeachment, adding to the enemys aura of "juggernaut," in the run-up to what currently appears to be an April 17th vote in the Chamber of Deputies on whether to impeach or not. If impeachment is voted up, the Senate then holds the trial of the President. Jaques Wagner, Rousseffs current Chief of Staff, stated calmly after the vote that the President will meet tonight with the inner core of her government to discuss how to restructure the government, its alliances, and the governments focus for the next two years and nine months left in her term. He indicated that former Lula da Silva could participate in the meeting (even though his appointment to Wagners post is still blocked at the moment by the Supreme Court). "Impeachment without cause is a coup," he reiterated. Russia made clear its view of this operation, with a statement from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to Izvestia warning against "destructive external meddling" in Brazil. "Russia stands for solving Brazils political problems within the framework of the national constitution and without external interference," Ryabov said, the BRICS Post reported from Izvestia on March 28. PRESS RELEASE Presidents Xi and Zeman Sign Strategic AccordCzech Republic Seen as Gateway for One Belt, One Road into Europe March 29, 2016 (EIRNS)Today Chinese President Xi Jinping and Czech President Milos Zeman signed a strategic accord for economic cooperation, oversaw the signing of many specific China-Czech Republic deals, and gave presentations at the ceremony, stressing the role of the Czech Republic as the "gateway" for the One Belt, One Road into the CEEC (Central and Eastern Europe Countries), and beyond to all-Europe. The events marked Day 2 of a three-day visit by President Xi, who was received in Prague with full military honors, including a 21-gun salute. The economic agreements include aviation, agriculture, health care, and other areas. Day 3 of the Xi state visit will feature a business forum. President Zeman, in his remarks, said that he wanted his nation of 10.5 million people, to be a "safe haven" for Chinese investment in the European Union. Many specifics have been announced. Czech car manufacturer Skoda Auto (a unit of Germanys VW) will invest $2.5 billion in China over the next five years. Chinese investors are expected to put $3.95 billion into the Czech Republic in 2016 alone. Zeman opened his speech in an affable, vivid way, saying that he had no "golden chariot," nor a "White House" to offer his guest, President Xi. However, Zeman went on, Prague has been known for centuries as a "Golden City." And the Prague Cathedral is 400 years older than the White House! President Xi recounted that he and Zeman have met five times over two years, but this is President Xis first state visit to the Czech Republic or any of the 16 Central and Eastern European Countries. He spoke of their intent to "promote mutual development"; and he identified specific areas, including nuclear energy, and "Silk Road" infrastructure. President Zeman was the only European head of state to attend the military parade in Beijing last September, commemorating Japans surrender at the end of World War II. Zeman hosted Xi on Monday at his official residence, where the two leaders planted a ginkgo tree. PRESS RELEASE Chatham House Pushes Permanent Confrontation Against Russia March 29, 2016 (EIRNS)The Royal "We" are most unhappy with the reality that Russia has asserted itself against the permanent war/permanent chaos policy of the British Empire. The latest expression of this is a new report from Chatham Houseofficially known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA)by scribbler Keir Giles, released on March 21. According to the summary posted on the Chatham House website, Giles asserts that since Russias interests are incompatible with those of the West, we should look forward to permanent confrontation with Russia. Giles argues that the "basic conflict of interest between Russia and the West means that the West must either invest heavily, and for the long term, in deterring Russia, or abandon the front-line states together with the defence of Western values." He claims that, as during the Cold War, "Western planners and policy-makers must consider and plan not only for the potential threat of military attack by Russia, but also for the actual threat of Moscows ongoing subversion, destabilization and active measures." This report follows by two weeks, one that Giles wrote on the truce in Syriamade possible only by the Russian intervention, which he didnt say, in which he asserted that Russias success in Syria, "in particular the confirmation that Western policy can be changed through military action, will embolden Russia to be firmer in pursuit of its objectives in future." Giles focuses on "two specific tools" that Russia supposedly employs for expanding its state power, the armed forces, and "the states capacity for information warfare." In the military realm, "Russia has now demonstrated both the capacity of its conventional military capabilities and willingness to use them." Therefore, he claims, "this readiness to use military force will only have been heightened by the experience of campaigning in Syria from October 2015 onwards." He also claims that Russias practice of information warfare has also developed rapidly, though still based on Soviet-era practices. "Russia continues to present itself as being under approaching threat from the West, and is mobilizing to address that threat," he writes. "In short, Russian military interventions and associated information warfare campaigns in the past two years have not been an anomaly," Giles concludes. PRESS RELEASE Syrian Christian Leaders: Western Geopolitics Have Killed Thousands with Endless Wars, While Backing Saudi Terrorists March 29, 2016 (EIRNS)In a March 23 interview with the Catholic Agenzia Fides, Syrian Archbishop Jacques Hindo of Hassake-Nisibis said that in terrorist attacks like last weeks bombing in Brussels, "unfortunately, innocent people reap what European powers have sown in Syria and Iraq in the last few years." Archbishop Hindo charged that "European leaders, and the entire West ... have maintained for decades the preferential axis with Saudi Arabia and the emirates of the Arabian Peninsula. In recent decades, they have ensured these countries the possibility of financing in the whole of Europe, and also in Belgium, the birth of a network of mosques where Wahhabism was preached, the ideology that poisons Islam...." Western leaders, he charged, "until recently had the fall of the government of Assad as the main geopolitical goal, they also aimed at accrediting the jihadist militia of al-Nusra Front as moderate Muslims and attacked Russia for hitting strongholds of those militias...." When it comes to Europes deal with Turkey over the refugees, he told Agenzia Fides: "Europe on the issue of refugees chose to become hostage to Turkey. I understand the European difficulties, but I highlight that the IDPs [migrants] welcomed in Europe in 2015 do not exceed 0.2% of the population, while in a small country like Lebanon their share now corresponds to half of the local population. I understand the tears of the European Commissioner for Foreign Policy [Mogherini]. But I want to point out that for five years thousands of Syrian Muslims and Christians, men, women, and children have been killed. And there are no tears for them." Back in November last year, Syrian Catholic Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Joseph III Younan told the Egyptian Catholic publication Le Messager that Western democracies were destroying Syrias infrastructure and statehood owing to "foolish politics and a conspiracy under the pretext of bringing democracy." "The politicians of the Westand in particular those of the United States, Britain and Franceare in favor of an endless conflict in Iraq and Syria," Younan said. Meet the new Critics-at-Large for our books pages. These 10 writers have beautiful voices, brilliant minds, critical insights and strong opinions. We are delighted that they will share them with us. We see books as being more than something that sits on a shelf (although they are that, enduringly). Books are the keystone in how we define and understand our contemporary moment, our world. With these 10 writers, we will investigate our culture through the conversations that books anchor, in deep dives and in real time. We will explore the mysteries of reading and writing; consider the achievements, acknowledged and under-acknowledged, of the writers who have come before; question the roles of race, heritage, class and gender in what we read; take on the vagaries of the publishing industry, and more. These writers have won dozens of prizes, from a lifetime achievement award to a prize for an unpublished first book. They hail from four different nations and have lived all over the world. Many have deep connections to Southern California, and their writing will help us to understand how Los Angeles fits into the literary landscape and the larger world. Please welcome our Critics-at-Large. Marlon James (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) (Test) Marlon James James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, a fictionalized account of the 1976 assassination attempt on Bob Marley. He received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for his prior novel, The Book of Night Women, a story of 19th century Jamaican slaves. Born in Jamaica in 1970, James now teaches at Macalester College and lives in Minneapolis. Laila Lalami (Test) Laila Lalami Lalamis 2014 novel The Moors Account won the American Book Award, the Arab American Book Award, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and was on the Man Booker Prize longlist. She is a columnist for The Nation and has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and a Lannan Foundation Residency fellowship. Born in Morocco, Lalami has a PhD in linguistics from USC and teaches at UC Riverside. Susan Straight (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) (Test) Susan Straight Straight is a recipient of the L.A. Times Book Prizes Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement. Born and raised in Riverside, Straight has made the region the subject of her fiction and nonfiction, and is a teacher in UC Riversides creative writing program. Her 2001 novel Highwire Moon was a finalist for the National Book Award; her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship and Lannan Literary Prize. Viet Thanh Nguyen (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times) (Test) Viet Thanh Nguyen Nguyen is the author of the 2015 novel The Sympathizer, winner of the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the American Library Association, and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize. A writer and academic, Vietnamese-born Nguyen is also the author of the 2016 critical work, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, and 2002s Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. Nguyen is an associate professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at USC. David Kipen (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) (Test) David Kipen Kipen is the former literature director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kipen opened the Boyle Heights bookstore and lending library Libros Schmibros in 2010. The former book editor/critic of the San Francisco Chronicle and contributor to multiple volumes of California cultural history, Kipen holds a degree in literature from Yale University. He teaches in the UCLA writing program. Alexander Chee (M. Sharkey / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ) (Test) Alexander Chee Chee is author of the 2016 novel The Queen of the Night, which spent three weeks on the L.A. Times bestseller list, and the novel Edinburgh. Chee was a winner of the Whiting Award in 2003 and has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. He has taught writing at Wesleyan University, the University of Iowa Writers Workshop and Columbia University, and currently lives in New York City, where he curates the Dear Reader series at Ace Hotel New York. John Scalzi (Test) John Scalzi Scalzi, author of the bestselling Old Mans War series, is the former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. His novel Redshirts won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel. In addition to publishing more than a dozen books, Scalzi served as creative consultant on the television series Stargate: Universe and was writer for the video game Midnight Star. Raised in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, Scalzi now lives in Ohio. Rigoberto Gonzalez (Carolyn Cole / LA Times) (Test) Rigoberto Gonzalez Gonzalezs four collections of poetry include Unpeopled Eden, which won the Lambda Literary Award and the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets. He has penned 10 works of prose, including novels, memoir, and bilingual childrens books. He has been awarded Guggenheim and NEA fellowships. Born in Bakersfield and raised by farmworkers who migrated between Mexico and the US, he now lives in New York and is a professor of English at Rutgers-Newark. Rebecca Carroll (Carolyn Cole / LA Times) (Test) Rebecca Carroll Carroll is the author of five books, including Saving the Race: Conversations on Du Bois from a Collective Memoir of Souls and Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America. The former editor of the Huffington Posts Black Voices and managing editor of Paper Magazine, she is now a producer at WNYC Radio, producing a series of in-depth projects about race in New York City. Adriana E. Ramirez (Heather Kresge Photography) (Test) Adriana E. Ramirez Ramirez was the recipient, in 2015, of the first PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize for the manuscript of Dead Boys, a nonfiction work-in-progress that examines how geopolitics manifests in the lives and deaths of young men from the three countries Ramirez calls her own: Mexico, Colombia, and the United States. Once an internationally-ranked slam poet, Ramirez has an MFA in nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh, where she now teaches in its English department. ALSO Spring 2016 books preview: Literary events happening around L.A. J.K. Rowling reveals two rejection letters she got for 'The Cuckoo's Calling' Coming to the L.A. Times Festival of Books: Buzz Aldrin, Padma Lakshmi, Kwame Alexander and more Charles Gaba is an independent web designer in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. For several years now he has been making life easier for every journalist who follows the Affordable Care Act by heroically compiling health insurance enrollments under the law, explaining developments, debunking myths, and hectoring the nearly infinite sources of mis- and disinformation (not excepting, on occasion, the Department of Health and Human Services) into getting things right. His handiwork can be found at ACASignups.net, and he tweets at @charles_gaba. Gaba, who describes himself as "a technophile and all-purpose cybergeek," does all this as a labor of love. He's an indispensable resource. His latest effort, displayed here, tells you why. It's a pie chart showing all the different ways in which Americans get their health insurance. Estimates of total U.S. healthcare coverage Insurance type Enrollees (in millions) Percent of population Employer Large group, private 100 30.9 Small group, private 17 5.3 Fed/state/local government 22 6.8 Military, TriCare/VA 14 4.3 Medicare Traditional (seniors) 29.4 9.1 Medicare Advantage 17.2 5.3 Medicare (under 65) 8.9 2.8 Medicaid Traditional (adults) 11 3.4 Traditional (children) 29.9 9.3 Pre-ACA CHIP (children) 8.1 2.5 Medicaid/CHIP ACA Expansion 11 3.4 Woodworkers 3 0.9 Exchange based (subsidized) 9.1 2.8 Basic health program 0.5 0.2 Affordable Care Act Exchange-Based (unsubsidized) 1.9 0.6 OFF-Exchange (ACA compliant) 6 1.9 OFF-Exchange (GF/transitional) 1.2 0.4 Other HIS, student, CH+, etc. 4 1.2 Uninsured Medicaid eligible 5 1.5 CHIP eligible 3 0.9 Medicaid Gap 2.8 0.9 Undocumented immigrants 4.7 1.5 Eligible for tax credits 6.5 2 Ineligible for tax credits 7 2.2 Gaba explains his sources and methodology here. A few notes: 1. Most Americans still get their coverage from traditional sources: from their employers (153 million, or 47.3%) and government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid--the pre-ACA variety, covering mostly children and their parents in low-income households. They account for 79.7% of the population and are represented by the green and orange wedges. their numbers haven't changed much since the ACA--in fact, the stability of the employer-covered wedge has surprised healthcare planners at HHS and the Congressional Budget Office, who expected lots of migration from employer-covered plans to Obamacare exchanges. In this pie chart, Charles Gaba shows where Americans get their health insurance coverage (ACASignups.net) (Test) Gaba acknowledges that his employer number is a bit lower than estimates by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the CBO, but attributes that to rounding and overlap. 2. More than 20 million Americans have gained coverage directly as a result of the ACA, but that's not the whole story. This is the blue wedge, and it includes Medicaid expansion (11 million enrollees) and subsidized enrollments on the ACA exchanges. Gaba adds 3 million Medicaid "woodworkers," who are people previously eligible for Medicaid who finally signed up as a result of ACA-prompted outreach and publicity. Another 10 million are enrolled in exchange plans but are unsubsidized, or off-exchange but ACA-compliant individual plans, or grandfathered plans that may not comply with the ACA but are still serving previously-enrolled customers. 3. Some 29 million Americans (9%) still don't have insurance. They're in the red wedge. They include 2.9 million in the "Medicaid gap," which is created by state legislatures and governors, invariably Republican, who have refused to expand Medicaid in their states despite almost all its funding coming from the federal government. These people are victims of political stupidity. 4. The ACA has impacts on health coverage far beyond direct enrollments in exchange plans and Medicaid. As Gaba notes, many of the law's provisions apply to other health plans. These provisions include the ban on exclusions for pre-existing conditions, preventive care without co-pays or deductibles, the outlawing of lifetime benefit limits, and other consumer-friendly standards. And that's not even to mention incentives built into the law aimed at moderating the growth of healthcare costs, bringing costs down, and improving physician and hospital practices. 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. Attorneys general from Massachusetts and the Virgin Islands announced Tuesday that they will follow the lead of California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman and launch their own independent investigations into whether Exxon Mobil Corp. misled investors and the public about climate change risks. Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Maura Healey said at a news conference in New York that her office had a moral obligation to act. Part of the problem has been one of public perception, Healey said. Certain companies, certain industries, may not have told the whole story. Advertisement Seventeen states and territories including Vermont, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut and the District of Columbia are working together to explore legal avenues for fighting climate change, said Schneiderman, who led the event. A spokeswoman for Exxon said in a statement that the investigations were baseless. The allegations leveled against Exxon Mobil again today are politically motivated and based on discredited reporting funded by activist organizations, Suzanne McCarron said. We are actively assessing all legal options. McCarron said suggestions that the company had reached conclusions about human-caused climate change decades ago and then withheld them from the public are preposterous. Instead, she said the companys scientists were fully engaged in climate change research, adding that Exxon recognizes the risks posed by a warming atmosphere. Last November, Schneidermans office subpoenaed Exxon for documents related to its climate change research dating to the 1970s. Schneidermans office also demanded files concerning business decisions the company made that were influenced by its knowledge of climate change. Schneidermans subpoena was announced in the aftermath of published reports in the Los Angeles Times and Inside Climate News, which showed that Exxon incorporated climate change research into its business operations while making public statements disputing the very same science. Phillis is a reporter with Columbia Universitys Energy & Environmental Reporting project. environment@latimes.com The people who stand to benefit most from minimum wage hikes across California are low-income adults, most of them household breadwinners, according to an analysis by UC Berkeleys Center for Labor Research and Education. A law proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown would gradually lift the statewide minimum wage from its current $10 to $15 an hour by 2023. About 800,000 workers were already promised raises to $15 in several cities that passed their own minimum wage hikes, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Santa Monica. More than a third of the states workers would benefit from those moves, UC Berkeley estimates. Advertisement Californias proposal would be the highest minimum wage we have seen in the United States, and because of Californias sheer size, it would cover the largest number of workers, said Ken Jacobs, chairman of the UC Berkeley center. This is a very big deal for low-wage workers in California, for their families and for their children. Nearly half, or 48%, of workers who stand to get a raise have a household income that is twice the federal poverty threshold or below, UC Berkeley estimates. An individual at that level takes home $24,662 a year or less, while a family of four makes $48,894 or less. The median household in California earns $61,489. Ninety-six percent of employees who would be affected are at least 20 years old, and more than a third have children. Seventy-two percent are Latino, black or Asian. The average worker who would get a pay bump under Browns proposal provides slightly more than half of his or her familys income. The UC Berkeley estimate also includes some who earn slightly more than the lowest wage and stand to benefit from a ripple effect as businesses dole out raises to try to maintain a pay scale based on experience, Jacobs said. If Browns plan passes, 5.6 million low-wage workers would earn $20 billion more in wages by 2023, according to the UC Berkeley analysis. It assumed no net jobs would be lost as businesses look to trim costs. For Roberto Aparicio, 25, the raise would come at an opportune moment. Aparicio, a forklift worker who lives in Highland Park, already has one child and is expecting another baby. He makes $10 an hour, and said hed invest the extra income in his family. Ill be able to pay my bills on time, maybe look for a better house that I could live in, Aparicio said. If they bring it up a little bit, you give people more opportunities to rise up, invest. We have more opportunity. natalie.kitroeff@latimes.com Times staff writer Sam Masunaga contributed to this report. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> MORE ON MINIMUM WAGE Gov. Brown hails deal to raise minimum wage to $15 as matter of economic justice Timeline of minimum wage increases in California Your voices: What do you think about the minimum wage proposal? Apple Inc. refused to give the FBI software the agency desperately wanted. Now Apple is the one that needs the FBIs assistance. The FBI announced Monday that it managed to unlock an iPhone 5c belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters without the help of Apple. And the agency has shown no interest in telling Apple how it skirted the phones security features, leaving the tech giant guessing about a vulnerability that could compromise millions of devices. One way or another, Apple needs to figure out the details, said Justin Olsson, product counsel at security software maker AVG Technologies. The responsible thing for the government to do is privately disclose the vulnerability to Apple so they can continue hardening security on their devices. Advertisement But thats not how its playing out so far. The situation illuminates a process that usually takes place in secret: Governments regularly develop or purchase hacking techniques for law enforcement and counterterrorism efforts, and put them to use without telling affected companies. Whats different in this case is that the world has been watching from the start. After Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife killed 14 people in December, the government publicly sought a court order to compel Apple to unlock Farooks work phone. Apple opposed that order, heightening long-standing tensions between Silicon Valley and law enforcement. Now that the FBI has dropped its case against Apple, theres a new ethical dilemma: Should tech companies be made aware of flaws in their products, or should law enforcement be able to deploy those bugs as crime-fighting tools? Its unclear whether the FBIs hacking technique will work on other versions of the iPhone, though a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said its applications were limited. Some news outlets citing anonymous sources have identified Israeli police technology maker Cellebrite as the undisclosed third party helping the government, but neither the company nor the FBI has confirmed those reports. A source who is unauthorized to discuss the case told The Times the FBI was provided with the ability to incorrectly guess more than 10 passwords without permanently rendering the phones data inaccessible. That allowed the agency to use software to run through potential pass codes until it landed on the correct one. It is not clear what info, if any, was gleaned from the phone. Attorneys for Apple are researching legal tactics to compel the government to turn over the specifics, but the company had no update on its progress Tuesday. The FBI could argue that the most crucial information is part of a nondisclosure agreement, solely in the hands of the outside party that assisted the agency, or cannot be released until the investigation is complete. Many experts agree that the government faces no obvious legal obligation to provide information to Apple. But authorities, like professional security researchers, have recognized that a world in which computers are crucial in commerce and communications shouldnt be riddled with technical security flaws. SIGN UP for the free California Inc. business newsletter >> Even the White Houses cybersecurity coordinator has acknowledged there are times when more people could be harmed by an unfixed security issue than helped by the government covertly using the loophole as part of an investigation. A secretive White House-led procedure governs whether companies get notified of potential flaws. Officials involved in the multi-agency deliberations called the Vulnerabilities Equities Process consider the risks and rewards of keeping flaws secret, according to federal records. They weigh whether the government could get the information in some other way and how likely it is someone else will discover the same vulnerability. Federal officials have maintained that they lean toward private disclosure of a newly discovered vulnerability in the majority of cases. But in some cases, federal agents have apparently benefited from previously unknown technical slip-ups by software developers. The National Security Agency, though it denies the claim, reportedly took advantage of a flaw in the way websites transmit sensitive data for two years before private researchers uncovered the issue in 2014. Attorneys in two other cases have accused the FBI of using bugs in the Tor Internet browser to identify suspected criminals. Apples anxiety is understandable. No tech company wants a major security gap in its products and most are given months of warning to fix issues before they are made public by the researchers who discover them. Thats why Apple sees the government holding a moral obligation to disclose details of its hacking technique. Apples best chance is to make a compelling case that the disclosure of this exploit is in the interest of national security, as in, if it remains undisclosed and undiscovered, it potentially puts innocent users at risk of data breach, AVGs Olsson said. Apple stated in court filings that part of the reason its executives feared developing software to circumvent iPhone security features was that once created, it could end up in the wrong hands. That same argument could come into play with the disclosure issue if Apple makes a public plea that the government and the outside group cant properly safeguard the technique. Last year, an Italian company that bought and sold bugs saw its entire database leaked onto the Internet. The security issue could explain why the FBI and the outside party are being so secretive about the process. Theres also the concern that now that an iPhone can be hacked, others will try. The iPhone has been seen as a tiny little Fort Knox that from the outside has shown very hard to get into, said Kevin Bocek, vice president of security strategy and threat intelligence at Venafi. The San Bernardino situation changes the dynamics, providing a reason for cybercriminals and amateur hackers to come out of the woodwork, said Peter Tran, a general manager at RSAs advanced cyber defense group. Although someone helped the FBI crack the iPhone, probably in exchange for money, other people who stumble upon the same hacking technique could choose to sell to cyberthieves or other governments. An extensive underground online network, concentrated in Eastern Europe, does just that everyday, Bocek said. Apple generally doesnt reward bug-finders with cash. But given the publicity in this instance, experts said Apple could turn to the black market too. It proves once again that what you dont know, you can buy, said Nikias Bassen, principal mobile security researcher at Zimperium. paresh.dave@latimes.com Twitter: @peard33 Times staff writers James Queally and Richard Winton contributed to this report. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> MORE ON APPLE VS. FBI FBI vs. Apple: How both sides were winners and losers FBI unlocks San Bernardino shooters iPhone and ends legal battle with Apple, for now Will the FBI share its iPhone-cracking method with police? Probably not Transparent, the critically acclaimed Amazon series about a transgender woman and her extended family, has built a loyal following of viewers on its message of tolerance and acceptance. But musicians in Los Angeles are saying that the shows inclusive spirit stops short when it comes to their right to unionize. The American Federation of Musicians Local 47 is arguing that while Transparents actors, writers, directors and crew members receive union wages and other benefits, musicians who work on the hit series are being shut out of a labor contract. Musicians are the only workers being treated differently, and we dont think thats right, said Local 47 President John Acosta in a release Wednesday. We arent asking for huge wage increases, or extravagant bonuses. All we want is to be offered a fair contract in line with the industry standard. Advertisement Speaking by phone, Acosta said that the union tried repeatedly to reach the series. At first they were very open, he said. But as weeks passed, the less responsive they became. He said a lawyer representing Transparent eventually said that the show wouldnt recognize the union. A spokesman for Amazon Studios didnt immediately provide a statement when reached for comment. Transparent is scored by two composers who create much of the series soundtrack electronically, according to the AFM. The union said the composers sometimes hire musicians to supplement the score, and that the series has featured a number of scenes of bands playing in the background. They should also be covered, said Acosta. The musicians union said its members recently leafleted outside a desert location shoot in Pearblossom, Calif., calling upon the shows production company, Picrow, to recognize musicians right to a labor contract. Picrow also works with Amazon on the comedy series Mozart in the Jungle, which is set in the classical music world. The AFM said it does have a musicians contract for Mozart in the Jungle. Transparent began its second season in December and has been renewed for a third season. The series, which was created by Jill Soloway, focuses on Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor), a well-to-do family man who has recently come out to her family as transgender. The plot follows Mauras interactions with her grown children and her ex-wife, Shelly. Tambor has won several awards for his performance, including a Screen Actors Guild award in January. It is unfortunate that a show that portrays the transgender community in such a welcoming and positive light would simultaneously treat a portion of its professional staff so unfairly, said Jerame Davis, executive director of Pride at Work, a labor group affiliated with the AFL-CIO that focuses on gay and transgender issues, in a statement. The L.A. chapter of the AFM has frequently voiced its objection to nonunion scoring sessions, including protesting outside Warner Bros. in December. In the past, the union has also protested the scoring of movies overseas by studios and production companies who accept tax breaks in the U.S. MORE: Jeffrey Tambor finds more change in second season of Transparent Transparent producer Zackary Drucker on late transgender icon Holly Woodlawns impact Screen Actors Guild quietly adjusted actors union dues in 2011; drama ensued Charlize Theron is putting several of the rumors that swirled around her 18-month relationship with actor Sean Penn to rest. In an interview with WSJ. magazine, the Oscar winner touches upon their romance, the reasons they broke off their rumored engagement and what Penn really was to her two children. Hint: He would not be their adoptive father. The Huntsman: Winters War star, 40, told the mag that she always wanted more kids and the 55-year-old actor, who has two kids of his own, knew that. The A-lister actors had already broken up when news that Theron adopted her second child, her newborn daughter August, broke last summer. Advertisement See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >> When youre with somebody and it comes to kids, you cant [B.S.], she said. And so I was always very honest with Sean that I wanted to have more kids. And he was very supportive. While they were dating, rumors ran rampant that her fellow Oscar winner and social activist, whom shed been friends with for years, was planning to adopt her son Jackson, now 4. Their camps declined to comment on the stories at the time, but it didnt stop them from being published. We were very, very new in a relationship, Theron said. The stories saying that Sean was going to adopt Jackson and all of that were not true. Its not something that happens in 18 months. You cant do that to a child. So there was an understanding that I was a single mom with a very young boy who I had to put in a situation where he understood that Mommy dates but that he does not have a father, you know what I mean? You have to be very careful and very honest about that stuff. And Sean was great with all of that. She added that she was honest about wanting to have more kids. We had a very clear understanding. He knew that I was thinking about filing for another adoption but that we werent filing together, she said. See more of Entertainments top stories on Facebook >> News that the Mad Max: Fury Road star split with Penn hit the Internet in June with plenty of speculation about what went awry. One story stood out above others: That Theron ghosted, or abruptly cut off off all contact with, the actor. There is this need to sensationalize things, she said of the reports. When you leave a relationship there has to be some ... crazy story or some crazy drama. And the ... ghosting thing, like literally I still dont even know what it is. Its just its own beast. We were in a relationship and then it didnt work anymore. And we both decided to separate. Thats it. And there you have it, straight from the Therons mouth. Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad. Its tough for a gun owner to get a break in California. And frankly, I feel pretty good about that. Tuesday in Sacramento, an Assembly committee rejected a proposal that would have allowed victims of domestic violence to carry concealed weapons onto school campuses to protect themselves from their abusers. The bill would have carved out an exception to an important law, signed last year by Gov. Jerry Brown, that forbids gun owners from carrying legally concealed weapons or ammunition onto campuses unless they have express permission from school officials. Join the conversation on Facebook >> The proposed law would have allowed anyone with a restraining order against an accused stalker or abuser and a concealed weapon permit, to pack their pistols to school. Advertisement Such a law might make some domestic violence survivors feel empowered, but it is hard to see how public safety would be enhanced. In rural counties of California, where local law enforcement authorities are far more likely to approve applications for concealed weapons permits, thousands of people have the right to carry guns under their clothes. The last thing we need is more guns on school grounds and college campuses. This place is pretty anti-gun for sure. But I was kind of hopeful to get some folks on the other side to come around to it. California GOP Assemblyman James Gallagher, author of a bill that would have allowed domestic violence victims to carry guns to school The main pro-gun witness at Tuesdays committee hearing, Brandi Shurtz-Huffmaster, a 43-year-old dog breeder from Yuba City, told a compelling story about being followed out to her car in the parking lot of a Target store by a man who brandished a stun gun at her. She pretended she had a hand gun in her pocket and charged at him, yelling, I will kill you! The man ran away. Things could have ended very differently for me, she told members of the Assemblys Public Safety Committee. After her parking lot encounter, she learned to fire a gun, obtained a permit to carry a concealed weapon from the local sheriff, and frankly, sounds like a model gun owner. A mother of four children, she told me that her gun is kept in her home safe, and is never accessible to her kids. She was very sympathetic, but I thought her story was off point. Instead of making a persuasive argument for bringing guns to school, I told her, she made a great case for self-defense training. She thinks both are important. I carry my gun all the time now, she said. As a woman, it really does give you a sense of security. If you have a domestic violence situation and a man knows a woman is somewhere where she cant carry her gun, shes a sitting duck. (This is not an issue for her; she is happily married.) I thought maybe the law was being pushed by the eternally energetic National Rifle Assn. to chip away at SB 707, the gun-limiting law Brown signed last year. But Assemblyman James Gallagher, the Yuba City Republican who proposed the exception, told me he was acting at no ones elses behest. Gallagher said he simply thought there ought to be some sort of exemption for gun-carrying people whose safety is truly threatened. We have domestic violence victims who are students on college campuses, parents taking their kids to school, teachers, he said. It would seem to me that in those very limited circumstances, they should be able to carry if thats what they want to do, and it should not be left up to school administrators. But as John Lovell of the California College and University Police Chiefs Assn. pointed out, active shooter incidents take place disproportionately on school campuses. Why encourage more weapons in places already besieged by gun violence? His group sponsored last years law keeping people with concealed weapons away from campuses and schoolyards. This bill will undermine the achievement of last year, Lovell said. In California, he noted, many restraining orders -- especially in domestic violence cases -- are mutual. Not surprisingly, no domestic violence prevention groups came out in support. Their policies are that people are at greater risk when they arm themselves for protection, said Amanda Wilcox of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and a former school board member in rural Nevada County. The bill went down on a 4-2 vote. This place is pretty anti-gun for sure, Gallagher said, but I was kind of hopeful to get some folks on the other side to come around to it. He actually did. One Democrat, Assemblywoman Patty Lopez of Sun Valley, joined a lone Republican on the panel to vote in favor. I was a little surprised by that, Shurtz-Huffmaster said. But I was looking at her while I was speaking, and I could tell she was taking it to heart. Thankfully, everyone else was using their heads. Twitter: @AbcarianLAT robin.abcarian@latimes.com A psychiatrist testified Tuesday that a city employee who is suing former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner for sexual harassment did not show any signs of trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder after her interaction with the politician. Dr. Dominick Addario said he reviewed more than a decades worth of medical records related to the plaintiff, Stacy McKenzie, and met with her in October 2015, more than two years after the alleged incident with Filner at a city park. Addario, who was hired as an expert witness by the defense, said McKenzie had a preexisting diagnosis of anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder for which she had been receiving treatment. Advertisement I didnt see any change in her mental state, from the records, the doctor testified in San Diego County Superior Court during the second week of Filners trial. Addario said he also administered tests intended to assess whether she suffered from PTSD, depression and other mental-health conditions. He said McKenzie showed signs of ongoing anxiety, but that had been present in her records 10 years earlier. McKenzie, a district manager in the citys Park and Recreation Department, filed her lawsuit against Filner and the city in December 2013, nearly eight months after the incident at a Mission Bay park during which, she says, Filner behaved inappropriately. She testified that after she introduced herself to the mayor at the event, he grabbed her by her wrists and asked her on a date. Moments later, he approached her from behind as she spoke with two park rangers, pressed his body against hers and wrapped his right arm around her neck. During that latter move, she said, he let his arm drop and brush against her breast. Filner testified last week that he does not remember meeting McKenzie nor does he recall the incident she described. He denied the allegations of sexual harassment, saying, There are some things I would never do. Filner resigned from the mayors office in August 2013 after more than a dozen women came forward, saying they were harassed. In October of that year, he pleaded guilty to felony false imprisonment and two counts of misdemeanor battery, charges stemming from incidents with three other women at public events. McKenzie was not one of the women identified as victims in those charges. Addario, the psychiatrist, said Tuesday that he believed McKenzie was shocked by the April 21, 2013, incident with Filner, and that it among other things, including the lawsuit caused stress in her life. She felt he was odd, the doctor testified, recalling his conversation with the plaintiff. Not only that this was peculiar behavior, but that there was something wrong with him. But the doctor said the incident McKenzie described, as well as reactions from her co-workers, did not fit the typical profile of sexual harassment in the workplace. He noted, for example, that many fellow city workers, including Kathryn Ruiz, a parks and recreation human resources representative, were supportive and kindly toward her. He said there was no evidence that any co-workers who supported her were punished for it in any way. Thats not typical of what you see in sexual harassment cases, the doctor said. Addario also said that McKenzie did not seek treatment after the incident with Filner. According to the testimony, she didnt complain about it to her primary care physician until sometime in 2014. After presenting testimony from other witnesses, including the citys human resources director, equal employment opportunity manager and chief operating officer, attorneys for Filner and the city rested their case. Lawyers on both sides of the case are expected to give their closing arguments Wednesday. dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @danalittlefield Littlefield writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> ALSO Report details the Chargers plans for $1 billion stadium in San Diego DNA belonging to an unknown man found on another Grim Sleeper victim, defense says Former USC President Steven B. Sample, credited with transforming the university, dies at 75 For nearly a year, Los Angeles has wrestled with how to curtail a sharp spike in street encampments while respecting homeless peoples rights to hang on to personal property. Faced with the most unsheltered people in the country, and ratty shantytowns from the Cahuenga Pass to the harbor, the city in June rewrote a municipal ordinance 56.11 authorizing aggressive encampment sweeps. It later approved an ambitious, $2-billion plan to end homelessness in the next 10 years. But as concerns surfaced about potential lawsuits and federal condemnation of criminalization, officials suspended enforcement while they debated softening some provisions. On Wednesday, the City Council plans to take up the proposed changes. Advertisement Join the conversation on Facebook >> The councils homelessness and poverty committee in August called for dropping misdemeanor penalties and fines for people who refuse to take down their tents or relinquish their possessions. The panel also tied property confiscation to expanding municipal storage bins for homeless people, which currently exist only on skid row. Yielding to opposition from City Councilman Joe Buscaino and others, the new law retains criminal penalties from the original measure, but follows the recommendation to link storage to enforcement. Homeless people can keep only what can they fit in a 60-gallon container, unless the city provides storage within a two-mile radius. In that case, homeless people must confine their belongings to what they can carry in a backpack. Seized belongings can be reclaimed from city storage for 90 days. At a homelessness and poverty committee hearing March 17, downtown business representatives applauded the revisions as a necessary counterpunch to a crisis of disorder in public streets. A spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, who called for revisions to the original law, said he is likely to sign the ordinance if the council approves it. The mayor believes that this ordinance reflects the changes he asked for, spokeswoman Connie Llanos said in an email. It balances the needs of those living on the streets with public health concerns. Westside Councilman Mike Bonin, however, told the committee he was voting for the new law reluctantly because it puts enforcement before storage. Its only common sense, providing sufficient storage, and as a body we have failed at that, Bonin said. We keep saying were going for a balanced approach and were not. Bonin and Eastside City Councilmen Gil Cedillo raised alarms about possible new lawsuits from homeless advocates. The city has suffered a string of courtroom defeats over its enforcement policies, including other forays into confiscating homeless peoples possessions. Earlier this month, homeless advocates filed suit, accusing the city of launching a new campaign to illegally seize and destroy property and remove homeless people from skid row sidewalks. Bonin warned the city could end up paying more fees to civil rights attorneys, including Carol Sobel, one of the lawyers who filed the new suit. She and other attorneys have earned at least $1.7 million in recent years for representing homeless people against the city. We may as well open up the keys to reserve funds to Carol Sobel, Bonin said. Cedillo also raised the prospect of federal funding cuts if the measure is seen as criminalizing homeless people. In a report last August, homelessness officials in Washington said that forced dispersal of people from encampment settings is not an appropriate solution or strategy. Federal authorities also signaled possible funding sanctions for jurisdictions that push criminalization policies. Were certainly under scrutiny, Cedillo told the committee. Its very important we dont have criminal sanctions that appear to be engaged with the mere fact of being homeless, said Peter Lynn, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The authority is awaiting word this spring on its application for $28 million in federal funds to build permanent supportive housing. Lynn did not answer when asked during the committee hearing whether he believed the new ordinance could jeopardize the citys chances for the competitive award. Senior Asst. City Atty. Valerie Flores said her office had inserted amendments to make the law more compassionate by excluding bikes, wheelchairs, walkers and carts from the list of items to impound. This is uncharted territory, Flores said. Were also under an obligation to keep areas clean and healthy. An unanswered question is where the people will go when their tents are gone. The city this year spent $30 million expanding emergency shelter capacity, outreach and other services to homeless people, but fell short of a pledge by some officials and the mayor to allocate $100 million. The city is also short of housing or shelter for 12,000 homeless people, City Administrative Officer Miguel A. Santana said in a report last October, and it is struggling to find the money to roll out its homelessness abolition plan. Outreach without [housing] placement is no use, Orlando Ward, executive director of external affairs at Volunteers of America-Greater Los Angeles, said in an interview last week. Meanwhile, violent crime in the downtown L.A. Police Department district that includes skid row rose more than 57% last year from January through August compared with the same period a year earlier, and property offenses climbed nearly 25%, according to police data. A transgender woman named Kourtney Yochum was gunned down last week during the day outside her apartment on the corner of San Pedro and 5th streets, in skid rows teeming center. Police called the killing a possible act of domestic violence. Leaving these tents up puts the homeless in danger and turns the area completely over to the criminal element, LAPD Officer Deon Joseph, an 18-year veteran of skid row patrols, said in a Facebook posting this month. It robs the homeless of any incentive to seek housing or shelter. Downtown landlords are beginning to report higher turnover because of the squalor in the streets, Patricia Berman told the homelessness committee. The new ordinance strikes the right balance between competing interests, she said. We d like to find a way to make the city wonderful for everyone, said Berman, chairwoman of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils board of directors. gale.holland@latimes.com Twitter: @geholland ALSO Who wins with a $15 minimum wage? Businessman charged in diabolic slaying of Santa Barbara herbalist and family L.A. County to consider overhaul of defense system for juveniles accused of crimes All were welcome at Bill Rosendahls Mar Vista home, from elected leaders he befriended while serving on the Los Angeles City Council to sidewalk performers he met on Venice Beach. It was there, at his Spanish-style bungalow that friends called a commune because of its many visitors, that Rosendahl retired to hospice in January after a four-year battle with cancer. And it was there that he died Wednesday at age 70, surrounded by friends and family. The onetime television talk show host who became the first openly gay man to serve on the Los Angeles City Council is survived by his partner of many years, book publisher Hedi el Kholti. Advertisement A gregarious force at City Hall who advocated for the homeless, gays and lesbians and other liberal causes, Rosendahl in his later years became a vocal proponent of medical marijuana -- which he grew and used to help treat pain. In the buttoned-up world of politics, he was an opinionated eccentric, once donning an Army hat in City Council chambers to denounce the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was known around town for sharing cartons of eggs produced by his flock of backyard hens and for befriending people from all walks of life. He saw the absolute dignity in everybody, whether it was a billionaire that he represented in Brentwood or someone who was living on the streets, said Mike Bonin, a city councilman who served eight years as Rosendahls chief of staff and who succeeded him after Rosendahl stepped down in 2013. Elected in 2005 in a wealthy Westside district that stretches from Westchester to Pacific Palisades, Rosendahl was a lifelong Democrat who held his inauguration ceremony on the Venice Boardwalk -- with a rabbi, a priest and a shaman present. Guests were serenaded by the Venice Drum Circle. Firmly anti-materialistic, Rosendahl often opened his home to down-on-their-luck strangers who needed a place to sleep. I believe were just passing through, he said in an interview in 2013. By the time you die you should have nothing left. Rosendahl was diagnosed in 2012 with cancer of the ureter, the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder. The disease went into remission in 2013 but reappeared in 2014. His death elicited outpourings from people of many stripes. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who served with Rosendahl on the City Council, called him a friend, mentor and co-conspirator. I loved talking to him about culture, travel and world affairs, Garcetti said. He knew everyone, had them on speed-dial, and used his network to help those who needed it most. Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an advocacy group where Rosendahl served as an advisor, praised him as a prince of a man who gave voice to the voiceless. Long before it was fashionable, Bill used the platform of his cable television news show to educate and inform the public about important, often unheralded causes that were near to his heart: the fight against HIV/AIDS, LGBT issues, the homeless and other disenfranchised communities, Weinstein said. Rosendahl became an AIDS advocate after his then-partner, Christopher Lee Blauman, died of complications from AIDS in 1995. Rosendahl planted a tree for Blauman in the frontyard of his house. It has since blossomed into a towering fir. Born May 15, 1945, to German Catholic immigrants who fled Europe during Adolf Hitlers rise to power, Rosendahl and his seven siblings grew up in Englewood, N.J. As a teen, he became involved in the civil rights movement; he said he was on the Washington Mall in 1963 to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his I Have a Dream speech. It was not the only time that Rosendahl would have a front-row seat to history. An organizer on Robert F. Kennedys presidential campaign, he would later describe being at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in 1968 the night the candidate was assassinated. As a councilman, Rosendahl helped turn the hotel site into a public school complex named after Kennedy. After a stint in the Army counseling soldiers returning from the Vietnam War and a job on George McGoverns presidential campaign, Rosendahl took off for 18 months, traveling through Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Reflecting on that time, he said that he had been searching for something. For years, Rosendahl quietly visited gay bars and introduced himself with a fake name. He said he was conflicted about his sexuality because of attitudes toward gays and lesbians in the Roman Catholic Church. After his mothers death in the 1970s, he came out to the rest of his family and moved to San Francisco, where the gay rights movement was gaining momentum. A few years later he moved to Los Angeles, settling in Venice Beach. Rosendahl worked as an executive at several cable TV companies. Along with his managerial duties, he hosted a public affairs show that featured interviews with local and national politicians. In 2005, he decided to make his own run. On the City Council, he opposed the large-scale expansion of Los Angeles International Airport and pushed for more public transit to ease traffic on congested Westside streets. He also spoke out on issues beyond the city, criticizing former President Clinton for not doing enough for gays and faulting President Obama for not ending all wars overseas. Rosendahl opted not to run for a third term after his 2012 cancer diagnosis. Even as he dealt with his own health, Rosendahl spent part of his final years providing hospice care for Swami X, an aging Venice Beach street performer he took into his home. In recent months, after Rosendahl returned from the hospital and doctors said he could pass away any day, friends had been visiting his home regularly, holding something of a living wake, Bonin said. Bill loved that house. He loved the chirping of the finches and the ocean breeze, Bonin said. People would come and hold his hand, sing him a little song. It was a kind of loving farewell that most people dont get to experience. Twitter: @katelinthicum ALSO Feminist, poet and a good neighbor: Spielberg, others, remember former USC President Steven Sample L.A. City Council celebrates the earthquake lady on Dr. Lucy Jones Day Treading a fine line, L.A. council considers ordinance to boost homeless sweeps Plans to improve the Oxnard rail crossing where an abandoned vehicle caused a fatal Metrolink derailment last year got a boost Tuesday when the Federal Railroad Administration announced a $1.5 million grant to fund the engineering and design of a traffic bridge. The future of the project to separate passenger and freight vehicles from the busy rail line is still in doubt because local agencies, including the city of Oxnard and the Ventura County Transportation Commission, would have to come up with about 20% of the estimated $45 million cost to qualify for state and federal funds. Darren Kettle, executive director of the commission, said transportation officials are weighing a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot to fund the crossing and other projects. A decision will be made in the next month or two, Kettle said. Advertisement Kettle said the project was part of the commissions Comprehensive Transportation Plan approved in 2013. But the need for it was highlighted by the February 2015, crash. It had been something we talked about and planned for, but its profile grew with that particular accident, he said. The accident occurred when a truck driver made a wrong turn at the crossing and abandoned his vehicle on the tracks. A Metrolink train struck the truck, causing it to derail. The engineer was killed and 33 passengers were injured. The Federal Railroad Administration said the crossing has seen 13 accidents with two fatalities since 1976. We know what we need to do, Kettle said. The state and federal funds that come to Ventura County arent enough to do it all. Rice Avenue is the primary route for freight to and from Port Hueneme. About 35,000 vehicles cross daily. Annually, 1,820 Metrolink trains, 3,129 Amtrak intercity trains and 4,368 freight trains cross, the railroad administration said. The grant announced Tuesday at a news conference will go to the California Department of Transportation to fund local agencies to design a six-lane bridge with sidewalks and bike lanes. The 800-foot bridge will cross the Union Pacific tracks and State Route 34. Last year, railroad administration launched a campaign to reverse the recent uptick in railroad crossing fatalities. Collisions between trains and vehicles at the crossings are the second-leading cause of all railroad-related fatalities, according to a statement released by the railroad administration. In 2015, 244 individuals died in these collisions, down from 264 in 2014. doug.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @LATDoug Steven B. Sample, the former president of USC who died Tuesday, was praised as a gifted inventor, a tireless administrator and a savvy fundraiser. To the Rev. Cecil Chip Murray, the former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Los Angeles, the Midwest-born Sample was, above all, a good neighbor. Sample spearheaded efforts to make the student body more diverse, Murray said Tuesday, and he made sure that as USC expanded and transformed into a global research institution, low-income black and Latino residents wouldnt be stripped of their property. Advertisement He was a leader and he led by example of inclusion, Murray told The Times. As a person who came along at a time of racial discrimination and the struggle for equity on the part of minorities, he was a we person and not we who are in the majority. Sample, a resident of Pasadena, died Tuesday at age 75. The cause of his death was not released. In 2001, he informed USCs faculty that he had been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. During 19 years as president, starting in 1991, Sample catapulted USC to being a fundraising and academic powerhouse. The schools endowment grew by billions and admissions became selective as USC sought to shed its derisive nickname: the University of Spoiled Children. Steve accomplished a rare miracle in higher education, transforming a complex institution from average to superb in almost 20 years, said Barry Munitz, the former chancellor of the Cal State University system who later served as the president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust. As news of Samples death spread, colleagues and friends recounted his legacy. Murray recalled how Sample would reach out to community groups and schools, ensuring that students in underserved communities could access transportation and tour the university. Under Samples tenure, Murray said, USC also established the office of Religious Life. Steven Spielberg, a longtime benefactor to USC who also serves as one of the universitys trustees, said in a statement that Sample brought a can do spirit to the job. I always felt safe and supported in the warmth of his company and each time we worked to build and evolve the greatest cinema school in the world, Steve knew about and cheered every gift, Spielberg said. He praised Sample for giving the longtime dean of USCs School of Cinematic Arts, Elizabeth Daley, the autonomy she needed to lead fearlessly. Ill miss Steve, but just walking around campus, you can feel him everywhere, Spielberg said. Californias former poet laureate and USC professor Carol Muske-Dukes recalled how she met Sample: through an exchange of correspondence. Muske-Dukes had read a story about a cheer squad at USC, and she wrote a note to Sample telling him that she thought the way the group was presented did not provide a positive image of women. Sample disagreed -- his wife, Kathryn Brunkow Sample, had participated in cheer squads when she was younger. Their conversation, in a series of handwritten letters, quickly expanded into a discussion of feminism. Sample, the father of two daughters, considered himself a feminist, she said. We got to know each other through my big mouth basically, Muske-Dukes said. He was a friend. I really liked him as not only a man who spoke his mind very directly, but also he was a closet poet. Muske-Dukes said they often talked about poetry. Robert Frosts Birches was among his favorites. She recalled how happy Sample was when she was named poet laureate for the state. He even had a copy of one of her poems in his office. When her husband died more than 15 years ago, Sample drove from his home in San Marino to Hancock Park to be with her and her daughter. They all held hands as he said a prayer, then a poem. It was so touching and so typical at the same time, Muske-Dukes said, adding: Its an indescribable loss of a secret poet as well as a great president of a university. zahira.torres@latimes.com jason.song@latimes.com matt.hamilton@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno. ALSO Former USC President Steven B. Sample, credited with transforming the university, dies at 75 L.A. City Council celebrates the earthquake lady on Dr. Lucy Jones Day UC schools harm local students by admitting so many from out of state, audit finds A Northern California officer shot and injured a 32-year-old felon who was trying to pull up his pants while running away from police outside a home improvement store, authorities said Tuesday. Officer Zachery Sandoval has been placed on paid administrative leave, a standard practice following police shootings, according to the Fairfield Police Department. Sandoval is a nine-year Fairfield police veteran. Sandoval feared James Jarrard was reaching for his waistband for a weapon, so he fired shots at him and struck him once in the neck, police said. Advertisement NEWSLETTER: Get essential California headlines delivered daily >> With no time to retreat or items of cover to protect him, the officer fired two shots from his duty pistol, striking Jarrard once in the right side of his neck, the police department said. No weapons were found, and Jarrard later told investigators he was reaching down to pull up his pants. The police departments Major Crimes Unit and investigators with the FBIs Safe Streets Task Force have been interviewing witnesses and reviewing evidence to determine what led to the police shooting. Authorities said it all started Monday with a witness who recognized Jarrard from media reports regarding the shooting of an 8-year-old boy who was shot in the neck in Concord, Calif. Concord police identified Jarrard as the suspect and warned that he was armed and dangerous. An arrest warrant was issued for Jarrard for attempted murder. The witness followed Jarrard to the parking lot of a Lowes store in the 3400 block of North Texas Street and provided police with a description of a vehicle. The vehicle was reported stolen from Walnut Creek. Officers arrived at the parking lot to find Jarrard standing outside the vehicle, and they started to approach him. Jarrard then ran away as officers ordered him to the stop. While one officer chased him, two other officers drove through an alley to corner him. But when Jarrard saw the police vehicles in the alley, he turned around and ran toward the two officers. Jarrard began reaching and grabbing at his waistband area as he ran directly toward the officers, the police department said. Thats when Sandoval shot Jarrard. Police said Sandoval was faced with a reported armed and dangerous felon now running toward him who was reaching into his waistband. Jarrard was taken to an area hospital, where he is in stable condition. Once he is released from the hospital, Jarrard will be transported to the Solano County jail on suspicion of attempted murder, resisting arrest, violating parole and possession of a stolen car, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, police said. MORE: Get our best stories in your Facebook feed >> For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO Man on Tulare County sheriffs most wanted list is wounded by deputy during capture Head of L.A. County Fair Assn. quits after Times investigation 2 men killed, 3 others injured in horrific crash in Pasadena The successful hack of a phone linked to the San Bernardino terror attacks is unlikely to help police win greater access to encrypted data in thousands of smartphones sitting in evidence lockers nationwide, legal experts and law enforcement officials say. The process used to gain access to Syed Rizwan Farooks iPhone 5c might not work on other devices, according to an FBI official with knowledge of the investigation. Though the FBI might want to use the new tool to help solve other criminal cases, doing so would also make the process subject to discovery during criminal trials and place the information in the public domain, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Advertisement Any application of the method used to access Farooks phone would probably be limited to investigations that are unlikely to result in criminal cases, the official said. A technical option developed for a particular computing device may not work on other devices, the FBI official said. The effectiveness of these lawful methods may be limited by time and resources, and may lack the scalability to be a viable option for most investigations. On Wednesday, an Arkansas prosecutor said the FBI has agreed to help his office gain access to an iPhone 6 and an iPod that might hold evidence in a murder trial. It was not clear if the FBI would employ the method it used to access Farooks phone. News that the FBI found a way into Farooks phone Monday thrilled police, who have long complained that encrypted data represents a major roadblock to routine police investigations. Thousands of smartphones sit in police evidence lockers across the country. At least 400 locked devices are in the possession of the Los Angeles Police Department and the L.A. County Sheriffs Department. But as it became clear that the FBIs success in the San Bernardino case wouldnt translate to broader access for law enforcement, officials once again called on Congress to settle the issue. We cannot ask crime victims across 3,000 local jurisdictions to stake their hope for justice on an unending technological arms race between the government and Apple, Manhattan Dist. Atty. Cyrus Vance Jr., one of the leading national voices decrying encryption, said in a statement issued Tuesday. The ongoing public safety challenge posed by warrant-proof encryption demands a comprehensive, legislative solution. Terrence Cunningham, the police chief in Wellesley, Mass., and president of the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police, said he respects the FBIs position but warned that criminals will continue to use encryption to deflect police investigations until a legislative solution is presented. The concern is that todays technology provides criminals with powerful new tools that keep police from protecting the public, he said. Data that rests in emails, text messages, photos and videos stored on mobile devices can help to locate a suspect or a victim, and in some cases, save lives. Law enforcements mission is to keep the public safe and to protect communities, and collecting digital evidence from criminals and terrorists will help us do that. Federal investigators have offered few details about how they gained access to Farooks phone. The iPhone 5c was at the center of a court battle between the FBI and Apple, which led to a court order that Apple create software that would allow the FBI to access encrypted data on the device. Farook disabled the phones iCloud backup feature six weeks before the Dec. 2 attack, according to court filings. He had also enabled an auto-erase feature that would permanently destroy all data on the phone after 10 consecutive failed attempts to enter the devices password. A third party provided the FBI with a way to disable the password entry limit, according to another law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Internal government policy might limit what, if anything, the FBI could share about the method used to hack Farooks phone, said Andrew Crocker, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group. If the government exploited a flaw in Apples security measures, it could be required to disclose that information to Apple under the Vulnerabilities Equities Process, Crocker said. The policy is weighted toward disclosure, but the government has successfully fought to keep such details secret before. Government agencies are allowed to share information about digital security flaws with one another, he said. But if the government chose not to share that information with Apple, it could also conceivably be barred from telling police agencies about the process used to unlock Farooks phone. They certainly can share it within the federal government without disclosing it to Apple, Crocker said. The way I read the policy, sharing it with local police would be a dissemination outside the government. In the Arkansas case, Cody Hiland, prosecuting attorney for the states 20th Judicial District, said the FBIs Little Rock field office had agreed to help prosecutors gain access to a pair of locked devices linked to suspects in the slayings of Robert and Patricia Cogdell. Calls to the FBIs Little Rock field office were not immediately returned. An FBI spokesman in Washington, D.C., declined to comment. Attorneys for Apple are researching legal tactics to compel the government to tell the company what, if any, flaws it exploited in gaining access to Farooks phone. But most experts believe the FBI has no obligation to comply. The FBI could also argue that the most crucial information is part of a nondisclosure agreement, solely in the hands of the outside party that assisted the agency, or cannot be released until the investigation is complete. Though the debate over Farooks phone did not land in criminal court, the fight between law enforcement and Silicon Valley over access to encrypted data is far from over. The FBI may have claimed a victory this week, but some police leaders fear it wont take long for Apple or another company to build tougher encryption methods. If the FBI did in fact find some type of a flaw that they were able to exploit, clearly the industry is going to say, Weve got to find a way to plug that hole, Cunningham said. Follow @lacrimes and @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in Southern California. ALSO Judge says Janice Dickinsons lawsuit against Bill Cosby can proceed L.A. County to consider overhaul of defense system for juveniles accused of crimes UC schools harm local students by admitting so many from out of state, audit finds Soon after Steven B. Sample became president of USC, the L.A. riots erupted. Administrators and staff were told to leave as smoke billowed on the horizon during those tense days in 1992. But Sample stayed, sleeping on his office floor and keeping company with fearful students in the dining hall. The South Los Angeles campus escaped damage, but the nearby violence generated cries to move USC to a less-troubled neighborhood perhaps somewhere in Orange County. Instead Sample doubled-down on his university as an anchor institution in the city, launching a massive civic engagement effort and proving himself a master salesman who boosted the schools prestige and coffers. During 19 years as president, Sample catapulted USC from being a school often mocked as the University of Second Choice or the University of Spoiled Children into a top educational institution and fundraising powerhouse. Advertisement He died Tuesday at the age of 75. No cause of death was released. So many of USCs successes, so much of our universitys current stature, can be traced back to Dr. Samples dynamic leadership, keen foresight and extraordinary prudence, current President C.L. Max Nikias said. After holding several professorships, Sample became president of the State University of New York at Buffalo when he was just 41. In 1991, he was named USCs 10th president. Under Samples stewardship, USC rose from 51st to 26th in U.S. News & World Reports rankings of American universities and the number of its freshman applicants tripled. The university also became more selective, with acceptance rates dropping from 70% to 24%. Sample also led efforts to give USC a global presence. Record numbers of foreign students, particularly from Asia, flocked to the university a trend that has continued under Nikias. While Sample was in charge, a USC chemist won a Nobel Prize, the schools first. Sample instituted a ban on alcohol sales at the Coliseum during home football games, and cracked down on fraternity partying. When he announced his retirement in 2009, Sample told The Times that he was proudest of boosting the academic quality of the students, achieved partly by trimming the size of the freshman class 25% and enhancing undergraduate course offerings. That focus on education, however, was matched by a fundraising prowess. USC received five gifts of at least $100 million during Samples tenure, and the universitys endowment grew from $450 million to a pre-recession height of nearly $4 billion. The endowment was battered by the recession, dipping to about $3 billion when he announced he was stepping down. Recognizing the schools transformation, Time magazine named USC its college of the year for 2000. Sample told the Chronicle of Higher Education that he had 600,000 copies of the article made. Every living Trojan got at least two copies, he joked. Every dead Trojan got at least one. But the depth of his zeal for the school found striking expression during the tumultuous days of 1992. Joe Hellige, a psychology professor at the time of the riots who later served as vice provost of academic affairs, recalled that Sample kept a visible presence on campus during the frightening days of the riots. Most of us found that to be the mark of a genuine leader, said Hellige, now executive vice president and provost at Loyola Marymount University. He understood the importance of the university to the city of Los Angeles, but also the importance of Los Angeles as a place. In a letter to the USC community after the city had calmed, Sample wrote: It was not a miracle that USC came through unscathed. Our neighbors understand that USC is an anchor institution in this city, and they do what they can to help it flourish. Still, the pressure rose on USC to relocate, much as Pepperdine had decamped from what was then South-Central for Malibu after the Watts riots in 1965. I was advised by many people to do a Pepperdine and get the hell out of Los Angeles, Sample would say. But he emphasized his commitment to L.A., and the campus stayed put. At the time, Sample understood the need to improve USCs relationship with the neighborhood. Campus security officers soon were dispatched to patrol not just USC grounds but the community around the school, and thousands of undergraduates began volunteering around South L.A. The Rev. Cecil Chip Murray, former pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church and a noted civic leader, told The Times in 2000: Steve Sample is what a university president should be. He brightens the corner that he is in, rather than looking for bright lights. In an address to USC faculty in 2004, Sample again stressed his commitment: When I arrived from Buffalo many people believed that Los Angeles was a dead city with no future, Sample said. The trustees and I, however, took a different view. USC grew up with this city, and we plan to continue to be in the heart of this most dynamic and exciting city for centuries to come. In 2001, about a decade into his tenure, Sample was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. In a letter informing the universitys faculty, he said the condition had given him a tremor in his left hand, but he did not expect it to spell the end of his career. I have no intention of letting Parkinsons stand in the way, he said. He kept true to his word, serving nine more years. Only Rufus B. von KleinSmid, USCs president from 1921 to 1947, had a longer tenure. Along with his administrative duties, Sample co-taught a class each year with Warren Bennis, a professor of business administration. It was called The Art and Adventure of Leadership, and undergraduates had to apply for the course They were personally involved with all of the students, said Erin Gielow Matzkin, who took the course the fall semester of her senior year in 1999. She said Sample advised her about her postgraduate aspirations, and she heeded his advice to attend USC Gould School of Law. He told me I should go wherever I wanted, but that he thought USC would be a good fit, she said.It was so refreshing to get that level of interest and perspective from a professor.... That class changed my life. When he announced his retirement in 2009, Sample said the university needed fresh leadership. I think Im still pretty high-energy compared to most university presidents, he told The Times. But I think a new president might bring a lot more energy, and that would be great. He retired from USC in 2010 at age 69 but remained active at the university, serving on the board of trustees. Sample was born in St. Louis on Nov. 29, 1940, and married his college sweetheart, Kathryn Brunkow, while both were undergraduates at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he later earned a doctorate in electrical engineering. A specialist in electromagnetic theories, he invented the controls and touch pads used in millions of microwave ovens. He is survived by his wife, daughters Michelle Sample Smith and Elizabeth Sample and two grandchildren. For news in California, follow @LATChrisGoffard and @MattHjourno. Staff writers Jason Song, Zahira Torres and Carla Rivera contributed to this report. ALSO USCs tuition will top $50,000 for the first time Report recommends that Cal State faculty receive 5% pay increase UC schools harm local students by admitting so many from out of state, audit finds The Times has assembled a panel of distinguished and diverse writers who will regularly contribute to the Books section. The 10 authors who make up the Los Angeles Times Cultural Critics At Large have published works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. They have won dozens of prizes. A majority have deep connections to Southern California, even though they hail from four different nations. They will help expand the literary conversation, challenging ideas and broadening readers understanding of literature and culture within the contemporary moment. They will write essays, cultivate a conversation with readers and, occasionally, contribute book reviews. Advertisement Their work will begin appearing over the next couple of Sundays, in time for the annual Festival of Books. Marlon James James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, a fictionalized account of the 1976 assassination attempt on Bob Marley. He received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for his prior novel, The Book of Night Women, a story of 19th century Jamaican slaves. Born in Jamaica in 1970, James now teaches at Macalester College and lives in Minneapolis. Laila Lalami Lalamis 2014 novel The Moors Account won the American Book Award, the Arab American Book Award, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and was on the Man Booker Prize longlist. She is a columnist for The Nation and has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and a Lannan Foundation Residency fellowship. Born in Morocco, Lalami has a PhD in linguistics from USC and teaches at UC Riverside. Susan Straight (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Susan Straight Straight is a recipient of the L.A. Times Book Prizes Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement. Born and raised in Riverside, Straight has made the region the subject of her fiction and nonfiction, and is a teacher in UC Riversides creative writing program. Her 2001 novel Highwire Moon was a finalist for the National Book Award; her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship and Lannan Literary Prize. Viet Thanh Nguyen (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times) Viet Thanh Nguyen Nguyen is the author of the 2015 novel The Sympathizer, winner of the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the American Library Association, among other honors. A writer and academic, Vietnamese-born Nguyen is also the author of the 2016 critical work, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War, and 2002s Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America. Nguyen is an associate professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at USC. David Kipen (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) David Kipen Kipen is the former literature director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kipen opened the Boyle Heights bookstore and lending library Libros Schmibros in 2010. The former book editor/critic of the San Francisco Chronicle and contributor to multiple volumes of California cultural history, Kipen holds a degree in literature from Yale University. He teaches in the UCLA writing program. Alexander Chee Chee is author of the novel 2016 The Queen of the Night, which spent three weeks on the L.A. Times bestseller list, and the novel Edinburgh. Chee was a winner of the Whiting Award in 2003 and has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. He has taught writing at Wesleyan University, the University of Iowa Writers Workshop, and Columbia University, and currently lives in New York City, where he curates the Dear Reader series at Ace Hotel New York. John Scalzi Scalzi, author of the bestselling Old Mans War series, is the former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. His novel Redshirts won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel. In addition to publishing more than a dozen books, Scalzi served as creative consultant on the television series Stargate: Universe and was writer for the video game Midnight Star. Raised in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, Scalzi now lives in Ohio. Rigoberto Gonzalez Gonzalezs four collections of poetry include Unpeopled Eden, which won the Lambda Literary Award and the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets. He has penned 10 works of prose, including novels, memoir, and bilingual childrens books. He has been awarded Guggenheim and NEA fellowships. Born in Bakersfield and raised by farmworkers who migrated between Mexico and the U.S., he now lives in New York and is a professor of English at Rutgers-Newark. Rebecca Carroll Carroll is the author of five books, including Saving the Race: Conversations on Du Bois from a Collective Memoir of Souls and Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America. The former editor of the Huffington Posts Black Voices and managing editor of Paper Magazine, she is now a producer at WNYC Radio, producing a series of in-depth projects about race in New York City. Adriana Ramirez Ramirez was the recipient, in 2105, of the first PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize for her manuscript Dead Boys, a nonfiction work-in-progress that examines how geopolitics manifests in the lives and deaths of young men from the three countries Ramirez calls her own: Mexico, Colombia, and the United States. Once an internationally ranked slam poet, Ramirez has an MFA in nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh, where she now teaches in its English department. For more staff and newsroom news, follow @LATreadersrep. People charged with fraud have a right to spend their own untainted money to hire a lawyer, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The 5-3 decision strengthens the Constitutions protection for the right to counsel when someone is fighting the government in court. How are defendants whose innocent assets are frozen in cases like these supposed to pay for a lawyer? asked Justice Stephen G. Breyer. Advertisement The decision set aside an order from a federal judge in Miami who froze all the assets of Sila Luis, a woman who was charged with a $45 million Medicare fraud. Prosecutors alleged her healthcare companies had overbilled Medicare for services that were not needed or not provided. And they said she was transferring money to relatives and to shell corporations so that nothing would be left if she were convicted. But Breyer said the defendant had $2 million in separate assets, and she has a right to use her innocent and untainted funds for her legal defense. This money belongs to the defendant, pure and simple. In this respect, it differs from a robbers loot, a drug sellers cocaine, a burglars tools or other property associated with the planning, implementing or concealing of a crime, he said. In the past, the court has ruled that the government may seize all of a drug dealers assets prior to a trial even if that leaves no money to pay for a lawyer. But Wednesdays ruling in Luis vs. United States puts a limit on such seizures. It is a difference between what is yours and what is mine, Breyer explained, and as long as the defendant can show she has funds that were not tainted by the alleged crime, she has a right to use them in her own defense. The case led to an unusual split. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor agreed with Breyer. Justice Clarence Thomas agreed but in a separate opinion. In dissent, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy called the ruling a victory for sophisticated criminals who know how to make criminal proceeds look untainted. They can move money around to disguise the origins of their funds, he said. And if convicted, none of the ill-gotten gains will be left, he said. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. joined with Kennedy. Justice Elena Kagan filed a separate dissent agreeing with Kennedy. Because the decision is based on the U.S. Constitution, it extends broadly to state and federal courts. On Twitter: @DavidGSavage A woman who served as a top political aide to Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley resigned Wednesday, a week after he publicly admitted making inappropriate remarks to her but denied the two ever had an affair. Soon after, a GOP lawmaker said he planned to introduce a resolution to begin impeachment proceedings against the Republican governor. Rebekah Caldwell Mason announced her resignation in a statement sent by the governors office, saying she would no longer be his senior political advisor and would no longer be paid by his campaign fund. Advertisement My only plans are to focus my full attention on my precious children and my husband who I love dearly, she said. As Bentleys confidante, sounding board, advisor and message molder, Mason has been there for the biggest moments of his political career, from his improbable 2010 election to the development of his major policy initiatives. More recently, she has been at the center of the lowest moment of his political career. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Last week, Mason was thrust into the spotlight when an official who had just been fired accused the 73-year-old governor of having an inappropriate relationship with Mason. Law Enforcement Secretary Spencer Collier made the allegations a day after he was fired. The scandal has engulfed Bentley, a mild-mannered dermatologist and former Baptist deacon whose political ascendency was based partly on his morally upright, honest reputation. Dianne Bentley, the governors ex-wife, filed for divorce in 2015 saying their 50-year marriage had suffered an irreparable breakdown. Recordings obtained by the Associated Press purportedly show the governor before his divorce professing love to someone named Rebecca or Rebekah and telling her how much he enjoyed kissing and touching her. The recordings were provided by a former administration member who did so on condition of anonymity to avoid angering politically powerful former associates. In a furtive phone call, Bentley says his family is vacationing at the beach and tells the person on the other end: I love you so much; I worry about loving you so much. While the governor is clearly heard, the person on the other end is not. Later, he talks about getting physical. Bentley says he meant to text the person, but accidentally sent the message to a male aide. It didnt say, Hey baby I love you so much and Id like to spend the rest of my life with you. ... You kiss me. ... I love that. You know I do love that. You know what, when I stand behind you and I put my arms around you and I put my hands on your breasts and I put my hands on you and just pull you in really close. I love that, too. The fallout from the scandal does not appear to be over. Rep. Ed Henry said Wednesday that he plans to introduce the impeachment resolution when the Alabama Legislature returns from spring break next week because the governor has lost the confidence of lawmakers and voters. Henry and Bentley are both Republicans who have frequently clashed over the past two years, including over the governors proposal last year to raise taxes. However, Henry acknowledged the resolution faces an uphill climb. A majority of House members would have to vote to begin proceedings. Mason, a former television news anchor in Bentleys hometown of Tuscaloosa, signed on as spokeswoman for the little-known legislators 2010 long-shot bid for governor. She worked as the governors communications adviser before leaving to work on his 2014 reelection. Observers said Mason helped the governor talk through options as he weighed decisions ranging from taking down Confederate flags to his proposed $800 million prison construction project before lawmakers. Her detractors within the administration said her opinion increasingly became the only one Bentley would trust. At the end of 2014, Governor Bentley made it clear to me in no uncertain terms that from that point forward anyone who questioned Rebekahs influence would be fired, Collier said. As his senior political advisor, she was not paid by the state. Instead, she was paid with campaign funds something the governors office said Bentley had done with previous political advisers in his administration. Campaign records show Bentleys campaign paid Masons company, RCM Communications, $76,500 in 2015 for consulting and travel reimbursement. Mason disclosed last week that the Alabama Council for Government Excellence, a nonprofit formed to promote Bentleys agenda, also paid her company $15,000 for consulting work. Masons husband also works for Bentley as the director of Serve Alabama, the Governors Office of Faith-Based and Volunteer Service. In a statement issued last week, she said Bentley apologized to me and to my family, we accepted his apology and have put all of this behind us. ALSO North Carolinas attorney general says he wont defend transgender law in court Some call it religious freedom, others call it anti-gay. Heres a look at the battle in some states Activists from Minneapolis black community spent four months demanding the release of videos and other evidence after a black man was fatally shot in a confrontation with two white police officers. When it finally was made public and a prosecutor announced the officers wouldnt be charged, they were enraged. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on Wednesday cleared the officers, saying forensic evidence backed their account that 24-year-old Jamar Clark was not handcuffed and was struggling for an officers gun when he was shot. Clark ignored warnings to take his hand off Officer Mark Ringgenbergs gun, leading Officer Mark Schwarze to shoot Clark as the officers feared for their lives, Freeman said. Ringgenberg communicated to Schwarze that Clark had his firearm and that Schwarze should shoot Clark. Schwarze did. His actions were reasonable given both his observations and Ringgenbergs plea, the prosecutor said. Advertisement James Clark, right, the father of Jamar Clark, at a news conference March 17 in Minneapolis. (Jim Mone / Associated Press) But Freemans detailed version of the events early on Nov. 15, and his release of the investigative documents, drew derision even at the news conference from activists who accused him of favoring police over the accounts of bystanders who said Clark was handcuffed when he was shot. Several of the critics were among those who maintained a protest encampment outside a police station for 18 days and led marches and largely peaceful protests across the Twin Cities area after the shooting. If we cannot find justice here, we will find it in the streets, Mica Grimm, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, told reporters after Freemans announcement. Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, vowed to keep pressure on police. Were going to take to the streets. And were going to fight until we get what we came for, Levy-Pounds said. Protesters gathered Wednesday evening at the site where Clark was shot in north Minneapolis while others met at a park on the southern edge of downtown. The two groups met at the Hennepin County Government Center, where Freeman made his announcement earlier in the day, and the mixed-race crowd swelled into the hundreds. Several speakers addressed the group, which chanted and carried signs that said Justice for Jamar and Black Lives Matter. The crowd remained peaceful and its numbers dwindled as the night went on. The question of whether Clark was handcuffed by the officers, who were responding to a report that he had assaulted his girlfriend and was interfering with paramedics, was central in the case. Freeman said 20 civilian witnesses gave different versions of whether Clark was handcuffed. Two said he wasnt, six werent sure and 12 said he was, but they disagreed on whether both his hands were cuffed and whether his hands were in front of him or behind his back. Freeman said none of the 10 paramedics and police witnesses who saw Clark right after the shooting saw him in handcuffs. With conflicting accounts, Freeman said he relied on forensic evidence, including physical examinations that found no injuries or markings on Clarks wrists that would have been consistent with handcuffs. In an interview later with KSTP-TV, Freeman said activists who criticized his decision were speaking out of frustration. He again cited what he called hardcore forensic evidence, noting Clarks DNA was found on the butt of Ringgenbergs gun and all over his utility belt, supporting their account of a struggle. The release of videos investigators had gathered was a key demand of the protesters last fall. However, only videos taken from the back of the ambulance showed much of the incident. Clark can be seen standing outside the ambulance. In the key segment, Ringgenberg can be seen in the top left corner taking Clark down to the ground. The shooting itself happened just off camera, but the officer can be seen getting up afterward and straightening his belt. That was murder, Levy-Pounds exclaimed as she watched the video for the first time. Mayor Betsy Hodges, Police Chief Janee Harteau, and Lt. Bob Kroll, head of the police officers union, all praised the thoroughness and transparency of the investigation. Freeman made the charging decision himself after initially planning to rely on a nonpublic grand jury process, and he posted more than 1,000 pages of investigative materials, videos and other evidence on his website. We now expect all members of the public to peacefully accept the process and outcome that exonerated officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, Kroll said. I would ask the residents of Minneapolis to pause and reflect how we can move forward in a peaceful manner. A federal investigation is still pending into whether police violated Clarks civil rights through excessive force. The Justice Department is also reviewing how the city responded to protests after Clarks death. ALSO Plaschke: This is a big rookie mistake for DAngelo Russell Pregnant womans death spurs a safety debate about Chinas street fences Apple wants the FBI to reveal how it hacked the San Bernardino killers iPhone When political reformers of the early 20th century pushed through a new system of direct democracy in California, their intent was to take the reins of power out of the hands of a few wealthy men and powerful corporations and put it into the hands of the people. They did this in part by creating a citizen initiative process that allowed motivated Californians to bypass their elected officials and pass laws themselves. As a result, 123 state ballot initiatives have been approved (out of more than 1,800 proposed), including the abolition of a poll tax in 1914, the historic anti-tax Proposition 13 in 1978, and the creation of an independent redistricting commission in 2008. Increasingly, however, this system has been co-opted by money, leading to ballots stacked with proposals sponsored by (and often benefiting) specific industries, public employee unions and, sometimes, just one wealthy guy with an idea. Advertisement This year, an historically low threshold for signatures required to qualify an initiative for the ballot and an open presidential election have led to a glut of ballot proposals. (Presidential years bring out nontraditional voters who are believed to be less savvy and easier to manipulate.) Companies that pay people to go out and collect signatures are enjoying the bonanza, as initiative backers bid up the per-signature price to get their measures top priority with petition circulators. Gov. Jerry Browns sentencing reform measure, for example, is paying an eye-popping $5 per signature gathered, according to the Sacramento Bee; the proponents of a tobacco tax are paying $4. Multiply those figures by the required 365,880 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot to get a sense of whats at stake. There are a limited number of professional signature-gathering companies, so its understandable how worrisome was a tobacco lobbyists recent threat to pay $10 a signature for a referendum which would have imperiled other measures now gathering signatures and push the tobacco referendum to the front of the line. The threatened referendum would have nullified a package of tobacco restriction bills that had been headed to the governors office. This is a perversion of the citizen initiative process. Reformers from the turn of the last century would be dismayed to see how money has hijacked the process but perhaps not surprised. Even then they surely knew how difficult it would be to keep big money out of politics. The answer is not to dismantle the system, but to strengthen it and make it work. One idea is to develop a ballot qualifying process that doesnt require boatloads of money, such as some type of electronic signature gathering. This could help level the playing field for citizens with good ideas but not much money. And though it might endanger the small industry of paid signature gathering, it would have a broader benefit if it advanced good ideas. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook That T.S. Eliot bit about April as the cruelest month? Forget it. Even though its one rare line of poetry that millions recognize, for American poets, at least, its their lucky spin on the calendar --National Poetry Month. Leading Los Angeles celebrations: Luis J. Rodriguez. Hes the citys second poet laureate, and his was hardly a cushy artists life of tea and sonnets. But this up-from-the-streets guy has made the medium and his voice one and the same. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW ON THE PATT MORRISON ASKS PODCAST>> Now, December is a very busy month for Santa, but April is a busy month for poets. Its National Poetry Month, which keeps us pretty busy, because this is where we get to go out to schools, libraries, festivals -- anywhere where we can get poetry out there. In moments of stress, people who dont write anything more than a grocery list still try to write poetry. Whats that impulse about? Advertisement I think its very deep. Its kind of like a bone memory thing. Its like something that weve always done as human beings. Even when we didnt have language, we were always trying to be creative, expressive. As you know, the first poets were the Griots of Africa and other places where people just spoke stories and gave lessons through story. And then poetry got mixed in because people realized language is musical, and then pretty soon you had this great tradition that continues to today. I dont feel we really honor poetry like we should in this country. Its kind of a marginalized art form that I think needs to be brought to the center of the culture again. If Mayor Garcetti had run a want ad for the position of poet laureate in Los Angeles, how would it read? I think it has to be for my opinion someone who is also community-minded, who has a vested interest in the betterment of our community and also has language, images to help carry the voices and stories of this great city. And for you, your personal story is also a very compelling one to reach young people, people who have had troubled pasts themselves. I grew up in a situation where I w as a troubled young man. I was a dropout, I was in and out of jails and juvenile hall, I was on drugs, I was in a gang, but people helped me. And so ever since then, Ive been crime-free, gang-free, drug-free for more than 40 years. But ever since then Ive tried to help others. What is the appeal of poetry for you? A lot of people say, poetry, it sounds so sissy. I love to read books and thats what my saving grace was. I didnt know English very well growing up, but books were like the one place where I could hide. And even when I was homeless and in the worst straits of drug abuse, I would go to the downtown library. That was beautiful, just to read books, book after book, so when I wanted to think about what I wanted to do, I was sitting in jail actually, and I started writing. Somehow, those words came into me in such a way that I felt maybe I could write. It took me a while, but I learned how to write and Ive been doing it ever since. Were you writing first in Spanish? I actually started writing in English because all the books I was reading were in English, even though Spanish is my first language. I really wanted to speak to America. I was born in this country, raised in this country, this is my country. I love Mexico of course, and I love all my family, but I thought that I needed to impact this country, my country, I thought, I could if I get the right words and stories out. Why the Central Library? What got you in the doors of the library? What happened was, I was downtown homeless, and in those days, it was a different time, but still there were a lot of places to sleep. There used to be abandoned cars everywhere, now theyre all gone -- abandoned warehouses, the concrete river, the LA River, there were all-night movie theaters. There was all these places I would sleep but during the day, I really loved that library. It was my refuge. Books never beat me up and never told me I wouldnt amount to anything. Books were always open to me. And it really helped me, I think, get through all the troubles. Do you remember some of the first books you pulled off the shelves? Actually, I do. I loved Ray Bradbury. Who also loved the Central Library. Yeah! I didnt really know that [then]. The Martian Chronicles, I think, was one of the first books I picked up. I loved African-American experience books at the time Im talking about Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Claude Browns Manchild in the Promised Land, Perry Thomas I ate em up. Because they were the only books I really could relate to. They might have been from Harlem or Chicago or other places, and they might have been African-American, but to me, they were telling my story from their viewpoint. They were outsider stories. They were outsider stories but also because they were troubled men who somehow found a way, and that was important for me. When you talk to kids who feel like outsiders themselves, what do you tell them to maybe pull them into the fold, to let them know theres a medium, an art form that might work for them? You know, one of the things thats been most effective is the idea of owning your life. Because one thing that happens when youre on the streets, you think you own your life, you think youre not dependent on anybody, but when youre in a gang, you end up doing what the gang wants to do. When youre on heroin or any drug, you do what the heroin wants you to do. I keep telling them, we keep turning our lives over to others or other things. At a certain point, you gotta say, I want to own this life. I dont want to have to answer to anybody other than myself. Actually kids are very smart. And one thing you cant do is BS them, as you know. So they look at me, I dont look like a gangster, I look like a regular schmo to them. I look like somebodys uncle, or I look like the janitor in the school. I look like a regular guy now. Once they see me talking, telling my story, then they get it, you know, and they see my tattoos, they know that Ive been somewhere and then they open up. Is Shakespeare a hard sell when you go to talk to kids? It is in the beginning, but when they see me tell them, its cool, it changes things. Because I tell them my poetry has a tradition, has a thread, and Im just bringing it back to the present. One of my favorite poems he ever did was Venus and Adonis. This is an amazing poem about Venus and Adonis and the beauty of their love and love, what it is, and Eros and everything. And he has one line that just knocks it all out. And that line is, She murders with a kiss. So to me, thats the power of a great poem. And yet hes mocked as a dead white European male. Well, hes all that! But theres no way you can take away what hes done to the English language. Im also very clear that theres not enough voices of color and other voices, so all of it needs to be mixed in. But weve got to support and love Shakespeare, just like weve got to support and love Sonia Sanchez and any of these other writers who dont get known but theyre out there doing this great work. Ever since President Kennedy had Robert Frost reading at his inauguration, there have been off and on poems and poets at inaugurations. Has that been a significant influence? I think its helpful a lot. And I know Elizabeth Alexander, who read for President Obama is actually an old friend of mine. We published her when nobody knew her, and now shes big and well-known and I mean big in the sense that shes a big celebrity. Because us poets we are not celebrities. Nobody really knows us. But when they do know us, they love us. Ive had people meet me in airports youre Luis Rodriguez! and they want to take pictures of me. Its a better situation than being kind of famous because youre on TV or in movies or something. Youve been writing Shakespearean sonnets -- give us an example. Praise to shoes on a homeless winter night Praise to mothers who nurture without men Praise to the bottom in a drug-mad flight Praise to the poet who shatters with a pen Praise to vibrant children in a static world Praise to dreamers in cash-only exchanges Praise to the tattered flag of justice, unfurled Praise to our nations depth, breadth, and ranges Praise to a restoring earth with global warming Praise to large spirits even in cages Praise to the new alignments now forming Praise to anger with eyes, not blind rages There is much to praise, if we are to last The big within the small, the small in the vast. Theres a discipline to poetry, from a haiku to a sonnet to an ode, that prose doesnt have, and some people think, well why should I have to write in a format? Why do you enjoy some of the formats the demanding formats of poetry? Because its an art form, thats one thing; theres got to be a love for the art, and how language can be part of that. But the other side of it is that it allows you to really get into what I call soul talk, a little deeper. Prose can do that too, but a lot of it is information, a lot of it is trying to sell you something, a lot of it is not very revealing. To me, when you get into poetry, you have to reveal something. You cant be just hiding it. You have to put it out there and youve got to find the right word with the right image with the right sounds to make it clear. All these forms force you to think about sound and language as something you can put in a bottle that can say so much more. So the idea is to put like hard, profound things in simpler, succinct forms, and thats what I think is the art of it. In school, I used to memorize poems maybe you did, too and thats disappearing. Its disappearing, and I hate to say this, because I think its one of those things that should keep happening. But there is a resurgence. Theres groups in high schools like Get Lit Players that has young people learn the classics by memory and write their own works. Theres Say Word LA. Theres street poets. Theres a number of groups now in LA. Do you have poems about Los Angeles? Maybe you could read one for us. Its actually the end of a long poem, but its my Love Poem to Los Angeles. Los Angeles, youd better be listening! Ill just read you the end of it, my love-hate poem. And it goes like this: I love L.A., I cant forget its smells, I love to make love in L.A., its a great city, a city without a handle, the worlds most mixed metropolis, of intolerance and divisions, how I love it, how I hate it, Zootsuit riots, cant stay away, city of hungers, angers, Ruben Salazar, Rodney King, Id like to kick its face in, a bone city, dried blood on walls, wildfires, taunting dove wails, car fumes and oil derricks, water thievery, with every industry possible and still a one-industry town, lined by those majestic palm trees and like its people with solid roots, supple trunks, resilient. Its not the tourist LA. No. I think if you know a city, you know all of it, you know the bad and the good and you still love it. Your early book, Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in LA, was on the list of the nations 100 most censored books, the list kept by the American Library Assn. Is it still on that list? It still is. Its also one of the most checked-out books in the libraries, and one of the most stolen. Thats a compliment. It is! Its a book that happened with great timing. My book happened to come out and its very popular. It told the story from the viewpoint of a Chicano gang kid, which really wasnt being done previous to that. I mean, there were books about Chicano gangs, but usually by social scientists, not from a former participant. Its still used today, more than 20 years later; its still in the schools and in the libraries. Do you have two or three favorites of other peoples poems? One of the reasons Im here is because we have this great anthology, The Coiled Serpent, the largest anthology of LA poets ever done. Its 160 poets, we had close to 400 submissions, we picked 160 poems. It shows that LA is an amazing poetry town, if not the most important poetry town in the country. I like being able to say that. Take that, New York! I think so. I think in many ways we have a variety that other cities dont have. Some of them have sensitivities from Iran or from Mexico or El Salvador or Japan, other countries or even just the South or even just what it is to be here in this country. I think LA has all of that, and when you get this anthology, people will see how powerful LA poetry is. This country is probably one of the best poetic expressive countries in the world, and yet like I say its not at the center of the culture. Its pushed to the side. And yet we have some of the best, from Walt Whitman to Emily Dickinson all the way to the present. We have a great variety of verse in this country. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook One week before the Brussels terrorist attacks, a Saudi-led coalition bombed a market in Mastaba, Yemen. Although more people died in Mastaba than in Brussels 106 versus 34 the media and the international community in general ignored that earlier atrocity, as theyve ignored most of the 150 indiscriminate aerial attacks reported by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch in the last year. The problem, however, is worse than inattention; the West is actually supporting by way of arms and military assistance this all-but-invisible war. Join the conversation on Facebook>> Advertisement Saudi Arabia has stated that its goal in Yemen is to restore to power President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who fled the capital, Sana, in the wake of a coup by Houthi militia forces, and to preempt Iranian designs to control the country. Whatever one makes of those ambitions, its undeniable that the Saudis are violating international law as they carry out attacks with no apparent military target and use banned weapons, such as cluster bombs. Aerial strikes have hit schools, hospitals, markets and homes. According to the U.N., they account for 60% of the 3,200 civilians killed in the conflict. [While] the US leads the charge for ... justice against the Assad government in Syria, it turns a blind eye to or actually stymies ... inquiries into abuses by Saudi Arabia. Its relatively well known that the U.S. and Britain are contributing to the war effort as the lead providers of the Saudi coalitions arsenal. Saudi Arabia has been on a global arms shopping spree and is now the worlds largest purchaser of weapons. It contracted for at least $20 billion in weapons from the U.S. and almost $4.3 billion in weapons from Britain in 2015. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabias main partner in the Yemen war, is not far behind, as the worlds fourth-largest purchaser of weapons, acquiring $1.07 billion from the US and $65.5 million from Britain last year. The brutal reality is that some of these bombs have landed on innocent Yemeni men, women and children. This is why many human rights and humanitarian organizations, as well as the European Parliament, have called for an embargo on arms sales to Saudi Arabia. What remains unknown is the exact nature of the U.S. and British military role in the Saudi campaign. The U.S. Defense Department has vaguely stated that it is providing targeting assistance, which as a matter of law means it is liable for unlawful strikes in which it takes part. So what, exactly, does this targeting assistance looks like? Did it assist with the strike on the market? Did it help target the Doctors Without Borders medical clinic that the coalition struck repeatedly last October? What about the cluster bomb attack on Sana University in January? Britain, for its part, has said it is providing military training on compliance with the laws of war operating out of the Riyadh Command Center with estimates ranging widely from six to 150 trainers. But what exactly are these people doing? If they are assisting with the targeting, this could make them a party to the conflict. If they are merely offering advice, it is patently clear that the Saudis are disregarding it. One appropriate way for the Saudis and the U.S. and Britain to address the streams of evidence about unlawful airstrikes in Yemen would be to support an independent, international investigation into the conduct of both the coalition and the Houthi armed group, Ansar Allah, which is currently in power in much of the country. Member states of the U.N. Human Rights Council attempted to pursue just such an investigation, but the Saudi-U.S.-Britain trifecta effectively quashed it. Instead, they backed a domestic investigation in Yemen led by the quasi-exiled, Saudi-supported President Hadi. It is no surprise that the body he announced last September has made no progress The coalition also hastily announced the creation of a committee to promote compliance with the law but made clear that it would not investigate any alleged violations. So even as the U.S. leads the charge for international justice against the Assad government in Syria, it turns a blind eye to or actually stymies international inquiries into abuses by Saudi Arabia. President Obama has repeatedly connected the dots between the proliferation of violent extremism and abuses by the authoritarian, unaccountable governments of the Arab world. He has had less to say about the risks created to American citizens by U.S. alliances with and military support for these governments. But in this day and age, when it takes little training or equipment to wreak terrorist havoc in Western capitals, Obama should be very worried about the boomerang effect of such alliances. Unlawful strikes and large-scale civilian casualties are certain to foster further instability and extremism, whose effects may be felt not just in the region but closer to home too. The age of secret wars is not entirely over, but the shield of national boundaries has certainly expired. Sarah Leah Whitson is the executive director of the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Division. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook MORE FROM OPINION Hillary Clinton didnt break the law Donald Trump is a macho fantasy of a president How millennials should deal with baby boomers at work The late Antonin Scalia famously argued in a 1989 Harvard Law School lecture that the rule of law required a law of rules. By this he meant that judges should issue clear, specific commands rules to those bound by their decisions. As Justice Scalia knew, not all laws are in fact rules. Some laws are standards. In contrast to rules, which dictate with exactitude how the law works, standards give discretion to a decision-maker to exercise his or her best judgment in the moment. Do not consider race in college admissions is a rule. Treat all applicants equally is a standard. The president cannot be younger than 35 (a rule) and, once elected, he or she must take care that the law is faithfully executed (a standard). Rules are designed to ensure that the law is transparent and predictable, even if it means some unjust outcomes will result. Standards are designed to ensure fairness and respect for the values the law means to promote, even if it means that what the law requires at any given moment may be unclear. The rule-standard distinction matters in constitutional law not least because the framers included both in that document: Constitutionality requires that both be observed. Advertisement The distinction can help us think through the legality of Senate Republicans refusal to fill the vacancy left by Scalias death. Democrats have argued that the Constitution clearly compels senators to give their advice and consent whenever the president nominates a Supreme Court justice. Republicans have argued that the Constitution gives senators full discretion to refuse to assess or vote on a Supreme Court nominee. In reality, the Constitution does neither. Both sides are acting as if advice and consent is a rule, but it is instead a standard. The constitutional text issues no straightforward command that specifies how advice and consent works, only that the Senate must play a role in appointing Supreme Court justices. Both sides are acting as if advice and consent is a rule, but it is instead a standard. So how can we judge if the advice and consent standard is being followed? In general, we figure out how to apply standards by looking to past practice, exercising practical wisdom and observing the judgment of history. In this case, neither past practices nor practical wisdom is on the Republicans side. The Senate has never refused to consider the Supreme Court nominee of a popularly elected president. It has never refused consideration of a Supreme Court nominee of any president since the 19th century. Nearly every time it has refused, the president was a former vice president John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson who had succeeded a deceased president. In both of the other cases, those of John Quincy Adams and Rutherford B. Hayes, the president won election through the House of Representatives after failing to achieve either an Electoral College or a popular majority. Additionally, both Adams and Hayes made their nominations in the true lame duck period, after the election but before the inauguration of a new president. By contrast, President Obama isnt filling in for a popularly elected president; he was put into office twice by significant margins. And his nomination of Merrick Garland came more than 10 months before the end of his term. As far as practical wisdom goes, the line the Republicans are threatening to cross will surely prompt recrimination. Its a good bet that the next Republican president facing a Democratic Senate will get an even longer stonewall than Garland seems destined to receive. Political parties do not disarm unilaterally. We are hurtling toward a future in which the president no longer gets to appoint Supreme Court justices when the opposition controls the Senate. And what about the judgment of history? No judge will decide whether the Republicans conduct is unconstitutional. A federal court would almost certainly regard this controversy as raising what is called a political question, one that is beyond the judicial power to decide. But the law does not require a judicial remedy for every legal wrong any more than it requires a rule to declare a legal wrong in the first place. We the people must be the judges in this case, and it will take time. In part, our actions will determine the outcome. Will political pressure force a hearing and a vote? Will Republicans lose their Senate majority in November? Will the confirmation process descend into pure dysfunction? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, we will know that what past practice and practical wisdom indicate is correct: the Republicans actions were unconstitutional. Jamal Greene is vice dean and a professor of law at Columbia Law School. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook When a group of thugs terrorizes a Los Angeles neighborhood intimidating outsiders, vandalizing property, assaulting innocent people authorities have been quick to respond with gang injunctions that target the individual members and criminalize the very act of hanging out together. Well, quick in some communities. Think Northeast Los Angeles and South L.A., Boyle Heights, Inglewood, Long Beach. In other words, working-class neighborhoods with majority black or Latino residents. What happens when those gangsters are middle-class, middle-aged men from an overwhelmingly white, affluent community? Apparently nothing. Advertisement For decades, a group of territorial surfers in Palos Verdes the so-called Bay Boys of Lunada Bay has been operating very much like a street gang, authorities and locals say. They are accused of staking out turf on a public beach and in the waves, and intimidating and assaulting people who dare to try to access that turf. Tires have been reported slashed, rocks hurled at visitors, death threats leveled. Pretty nasty stuff. The Bay Boys even have a sort-of clubhouse, an unpermitted structure built on the beach where gang members can hang out and survey the domain they maintain though fear and force. Localism is nothing new to Californias coast, particularly as it has become heavily developed and locals feel an entitlement to the choicest surf spots. I can recall tales of violent clashes among surfers in my hometown of San Diego going back for decades. There are only so many waves at each break, but the Lunada Bay Boys have taken the localism to an apparently criminal extreme. Maybe thats because it has been allowed to go on for so long, with only perfunctory attempts by local law enforcement to crack down on reported crimes. It might still be ignored were not for videos posted by the Guardian last year of the Bay Boys intimidating a visitor and a police dispatcher essentially dismissing the thugs and the situation as it is what it is. What it is is criminal behavior that probably would not be tolerated in many other places. Since the videos raised the issue again, the police chief of Palos Verdes Estates vowed to crack down on the Bay Boys, and the Coastal Commission jumped in, saying the obstructions constituted development on the coast making it subject to commission regulation. This is good, but perhaps a bit late. Now, a class-action suit has been filed by El Segundo police officer and surfer Cory Spencer and others tired of the lack of enforcement seeking a restriction on the Bay Boys from congregating with each other. In other words, a gang injunction. And why not? These may not be the Echo Park Locos, but they sure sound like a bunch of gangsters as other law enforcement agencies define them. Heres how LAPD explains gang injunctions: A gang injunction is a restraining order against a group. It is a civil suit that seeks a court order declaring the gangs public behavior a nuisance and asking for special rules directed toward its activity. Injunctions can address the neighborhoods gang problem before it reaches the level of felony crime activity. That sounds about right. Authors note: An earlier version of this post inadvertently referred, unironically, to the Bay Boys as the Bad Boys. mariel.garza@latimes.com Follow me @marielgarzaLAT California voters have grown more optimistic about the economy, but persistent concerns about the future and about the impact of international trade deals have strengthened the statewide campaigns of Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Donald Trump, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll has found. Although they represent strikingly different political philosophies, Sanders and Trump both have seized on trade as a key cause of job losses in manufacturing and other sectors across the nation. The poll shows that voters who back them strongly agreed with those criticisms. Moreover, Democrats and Republicans overall, in a rare burst of agreement, believe that trade deals have sent American jobs overseas and have not resulted in higher wages here although voters from both parties believe that prices have come down because of such agreements. Advertisement But by contrast to states elsewhere, particularly in the Midwest, there is a limit to the candidates persuasion so far. In states that voted early in the campaign cycle, both men have vehemently criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, a pending dozen-nation deal, as threatening American jobs. Their view has yet to win broad voter support here. Only 3 in 10 Californians were aware enough of the Pacific trade deals outlines to have an opinion on it. When the agreement was described, however, opposition rose dramatically. The way the numbers move when both sides of the argument are presented suggests its an issue ripe for candidates who want to run on it, said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. The same populist sentiments that have fueled Trumps and Sanders campaigns nationally have turned trade into an issue that can certainly move votes in California. Californians cast ballots June 7, the last major day of voting in the 2016 primary race. Among those eligible to vote in the Democratic primary which includes party members and nonpartisan voters Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist from Vermont, trailed fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton by 8 percentage points. Among registered Republicans, the only voters eligible in the Republican primary, Trump held a 7-point lead over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the poll found. Economic anxiety is one of the defining issues in the primary campaign. Californians are more optimistic than they were in the recent past; theyre now split on whether the state is headed in the right direction or on the wrong track. How voters feel about that direction was a prime indicator of who they back as president. In the Democratic race, those who feel the state is headed in the right direction backed Clinton over Sanders, 52% to 34%. Those who feel its on the wrong track backed Sanders over Clinton, 40% to 35%. Among Republicans, those who felt the state is going in the right direction are split, with Trump winning 25%, Cruz getting 24% and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 18%. Among the larger pool of Republicans who saw the economy foundering, Trump extended his lead, with 40% versus 33% for Cruz. Kasich fell to 10% among those voters. Dividing lines also surfaced when voters were asked their opinion on governments role in boosting incomes, their view of economic fairness and whether they saw the American dream as alive or kaput. But the typical partisan splits were often muted. By a more than 2-1 margin, Californians felt that government should do more to narrow the gap between rich and poor. The proportion held across many demographic lines, including those of gender and education. Predictably, Democrats and supporters of the Democratic candidates the young and those making less money were more likely to want government to play a larger role. For example, 78% of Democrats wanted a bigger government role, as did 72% of those under age 50. Still, 32% of Republicans and 38% of those who described themselves as non-tea party Republicans also wanted more government involvement. There was a more distinct divide among those who have sided with a specific candidate: 78% of Clinton voters and 86% of Sanders voters wanted a bigger government role, but only about a quarter of Trump or Cruz supporters felt that way. Californians overall, by a narrow margin, said that everyone in the state not just those at the top had a fair chance to make it through hard work. Sanders supporters had a far different view, with 69% believing that those at the top are favored a position that echoes the senators regular assertion that the economy is rigged for the few. The majority of Clinton voters felt everyone had a fair chance and at least 6 in 10 of all Republican candidates supporters shared that opinion. America is the land of opportunity, Jeffrey Kozlowski, a 31-year-old Republican from San Diego, said in a follow-up interview. Hard work goes a long way. The people that have the work ethic and the desire are the ones who achieve. As Kozlowski suggested, a sheen of optimism covered Californians views on the future. Although only 44% felt the state was heading in the right direction, 50% said that the best years for American workers were ahead, not in the past. The latter position was more pronounced among Clinton voters, 61% of whom said workers best days were ahead. Just under half of Sanders voters felt the same way, and only 40% of Trump voters shared that view. That relative pessimism about the economy has undergirded the appeals of both Sanders and Trump on the issue of trade. In the industrial Midwest, which has suffered grievous manufacturing losses partly because of competition from overseas, the issue has been powerful, helping Sanders to a surprise win in Michigan and boosting Trumps standing there and elsewhere. But in California, which is both a border state and one with significant employment linked to trade, the sentiments were more mixed than in manufacturing states. Only 31% said that trade with other countries had negatively affected their familys finances, and by a more than 2-1 margin, Californians felt trade had resulted in lower prices. But being personally affected did not seem to limit the worry about the effect of trade deals. Almost 3 in 5 voters said that trade had pushed jobs overseas, and nearly the same proportion disagreed with the notion that trade primarily created American jobs. They also disagreed, 58% to 28%, with the idea that trade had led to higher wages for Americans. Again, views split along political alliances. Among Trumps supporters, 46% said their family had been negatively affected by trade, 15 points higher than for Californians overall. Far fewer supporters of the other candidates made the same claim. Trumps and Sanders supporters were less likely to credit trade for raising wages here and more likely to blame it for forcing jobs overseas. But Sanders supporters broke with Trumps when it came to tariffs that the New York businessman has proposed for Mexico and China. Overall, only 34% of Californians supported a tariff against Mexico and 44% backed a China tariff. In the case of the Mexican tariff, 48% of Trump supporters backed it, but only 31% of Sanders supporters did so. When it came to a Chinese tariff, 57% of Trump backers favored it, but only 46% of Sanders supporters did. Sanders supporters were slightly more in favor of a Mexico tariff and decidedly more in favor of a China tariff than Clintons supporters. Trumps supporters were emphatically more supportive of tariffs on both countries than those siding with Cruz or Kasich. On both the tariffs and the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, there was more unanimity between opposing political parties than is typical. Forty-one percent of Democrats, 49% of Republicans and 44% of nonpartisan voters backed the idea of a China tariff; their support for a Mexico tariff was 10 points lower in each case. The Pacific trade agreement was backed by 27% of Democrats, 21% of Republicans and 29% of nonpartisan voters; opposition from all three groups was in the 40s. That was when the deal was explained, however. When initially asked their views, only 10% of Californians said they supported it and 18% opposed the deal, with the remainder either unaware of it or undecided. When the deal was explained, 25% backed it and 46% opposed it, in relatively bipartisan fashion. This is a much better defined issue in the upper Midwest than it is in California, said pollster Anna Greenberg of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, the Democratic half of the team of polling firms that conducted the poll for the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles Times. American Viewpoint was the Republican half of the team. Trade is less meaningful in the California race. It doesnt mean it is inevitable that its going to be less, but it hasnt been discussed. The poll contacted 1,503 registered voters in California from March 16 to March 23. The margin of error for all voters is 2.8 percentage points in either direction; the margin of error for Republican voters is 5.5 points in either direction. Other subgroups have varying margins of error. Follow me on Twitter: @cathleendecker. For more on politics, go to latimes.com/decker and sign up for the Essential Politics newsletter ALSO: Clinton leads Sanders in California Trump leads Republican primary field Californias June primary just became crucial in the race for the White House Full coverage of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll Detailed poll crosstabs Updates on California politics Live coverage from the campaign trail Im Christina Bellantoni, the Essential Politics host today. Lets get started. We begin the day with fresh numbers from the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll showing how economic issues are factoring into how Californians view the presidential race. The states voters are more optimistic than they were in the recent past; theyre now split on whether the state is headed in the right direction or on the wrong track. How voters feel about that direction was a prime indicator of whom they back as president. Advertisement In the Democratic race, those who feel the state is headed in the right direction backed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, 52% to 34%. Those who feel its on the wrong track backed Sanders over Clinton, 40% to 35%. Among Republicans, those who felt the state is going in the right direction are split, with Donald Trump winning 25%, Sen. Ted Cruz getting 24% and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 18%. Among the larger pool of Republicans who saw the economy foundering, Trump extended his lead, with 40% versus 33% for Cruz. Kasich fell to 10% among those voters. Cathleen Decker has the story, which also looks at how Californians feel about trade deals. As for another economic data point, were still closely tracking the Legislatures debate on a plan to raise the minimum wage to $15. The Times Business desk took a look at who will get a raise from the minimum wage deal and came up with a nifty chart. Liam Dillon talked with business-aligned Democrats Tuesday who said they still arent sure about the deal after a closed-door meeting with their colleagues in the Assembly. (He also did some research, and stumbled upon this tidbit: Californias sheepherders have a special minimum wage carve-out to earn $1 more an hour than regular workers.) We asked our Twitter followers their thoughts on the wage hike proposal. What do you think about California's plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 over the next 6 years? Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 28, 2016 Lawmakers are evaluating the bill language, and the first formal committee hearing on the bill is scheduled for 9 a.m. Well be covering it live on our Essential Politics news feed. THE DAILY TRUMP After CNNs town hall forum, it sounds like the Republican candidates pledges to support the eventual GOP nominee are all but squashed. Trump stood by his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and continued to suggest that journalist Michelle Fields was lying even after police pressed battery charges and released a video that shows Lewandowski reaching toward her as she tried to talk to Trump as he left an event. Look at tapes nothing there, Trump tweeted, calling Lewandowski a very decent man. He also claimed that Fields had grabbed him first Can I press charges? and said she was changing her story. Our engagement team is asking for readers to share their thoughts about Trump. Were asking two simple questions, and wed love to hear from you. Watch Trail Guide for news from the campaign and follow @latimespolitics. REPUBLICAN BALLOT GETTING SLIMMER BY THE DAY New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wrote letters asking Californias Secretary of State to strike their names from the June 7 ballot, following Sen. Marco Rubios lead. A few stragglers still remain. SANCHEZ SUPER PAC Orange County supporters of Rep. Loretta Sanchez have launched a super PAC to help her bid for the U.S. Senate. Political consultant Stu Mollrich said the political action committee, called Californias New Frontier, will help her take on Democratic rival Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, the current front-runner. The goal is simple: get Sanchez to finish in the top two in the June 7 primary, which would nab her a spot on the November ballot. CALIFORNIAS EXCLUSIVE ELECTORATE With an election right around the corner, theres a new report out this morning that shows California has a persistent, perhaps even growing, gap between its voters and its population. Put simply: Voters are nowhere near as diverse as is the states population. Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers takes a look at the evidence of whats dubbed the states exclusive electorate, and how big policy issues might turn out differently if voting werent dominated by older, white, affluent Californians. Myers is moderating a panel discussion on the issue later today in Sacramento. You can catch the live webcast from the Public Policy Institute of Californias event at 12:15 p.m. TODAYS ESSENTIALS A top Cruz staffer visited with GOP legislators at their weekly caucus meeting in Sacramento on Tuesday. The powerful California Chamber of Commerce released its 2016 list of job killer bills on Tuesday. And, as usual, the list is composed of legislation championed by legislative Democrats. A new poll of Asian American voters finds 65% support providing a pathway to legalization for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. Evoking the threat of court-ordered prison releases, Gov. Jerry Brown appealed to his political supporters for help in collecting signatures to get his parole initiative on the November ballot. Mike Memoli examines President Obamas strategy to fill the Supreme Court vacancy and confirm Merrick Garland and finds White House aides taking countless small steps to push them to victory. Case in point: Tuesdays meeting between Garland and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, the first Republican to agree to see him. An expected 4-4 Supreme Court vote came as a relief to unions Tuesday and keeps in place a 1970s-era rule that authorizes unions to require municipal employees, teachers, college instructors and transit workers to pay a fair share fee to help cover the cost of collective bargaining. Despite a glitzy launch several years ago, StudentsFirst, the Sacramento-based education group started by former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, is merging with another education advocacy organization, 50Can. The mayor of West Hollywood says Trump is not welcome in her city. The Festival of Books is coming up. Here are details on the program, which will include panels featuring Team Politics. LOGISTICS Miss yesterdays newsletter? Here you go. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox daily. And keep an eye on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com. Widespread complaints that state commissions operate in the dark and are cozy with businesses had California lawmakers on Wednesday wrestling with a flurry of bills aimed at shedding light on the panels to regain public trust. More than a dozen pieces of legislation are pending that would change transparency procedures at the California Coastal Commission, the state Public Utilities Commission and the Board of Equalization. People naturally distrust government agencies and bureaucracies, said Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), author of six bills. The Legislature has a responsibility to keep those agencies in check and responsible to the citizens. I think we are seeing the Legislature doing its job. Advertisement An Assembly panel approved a measure on Wednesday that would prohibit private conversations between members of the Coastal Commission and those seeking to lobby them on an issue during the 24 -hour period before the matter will be discussed at a commission hearing. The bill, which was authored by Assemblyman Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley) and supported by 24 of his colleagues, would also require those who advocate for issues to a commission member to register as lobbyists and disclose who is paying them. The measure was introduced after the commission removed former Executive Director Charles Lester during a recent closed-door session. Little public explanation was offered after more than 200 environmental activists and others testified against the ouster. The bill was supported by Amy Trainer, deputy director of the California Coastal Protection Network, who said there is concern that coastal commissioners have been seen having drinks with lobbyists for businesses the night before a vote. I think its fair to say that the public trust in this agency is at an all-time low, and thats unfortunate, Trainer told the panel. There is such a lack of transparency right now. Stone, a former coastal commissioner, said it appears lobbyists have their hooks in some commissioners. My intent is to open up and provide transparency in the conversations that are happening between the paid lobbyists and the commissioners themselves, Stone told the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee before it voted, 6-1, to advance the bill. Later Wednesday, a Senate panel advanced a bill authored by Hill that would prohibit any member of the state Board of Equalization from acting on a tax matter involving someone who has donated money to that member in the previous 12 months. The donations would also have to be disclosed. The bill was introduced after the Los Angeles Times reported that companies were circumventing a $250 limit on contributions by funneling them through political action committees or by having employees give dozens of checks for $249 each to board members. All contributions should be subject to the disclosure and recusal requirement since the Board of Equalization is the only elected tax commission in the nation, Hill told the state Senate Governance and Finance Committee before it OKd the bill. The measure is opposed by Board of Equalization member Jerome Horton, according to his staff attorney, Joss Tillard-Gates. It is our belief that restricting even small contributions of $1 to board members, although seemingly innocuous, is unnecessary and most notably a violation of the 1st Amendment right of freedom of expression without a legitimate public interest. But Emily Rusch, executive director of California Public Interest Research Group, said a ban is justified. We think it will improve public trust in the Board of Equalization, Rusch said. Hill also won committee approval of a measure requiring the Public Utilities Commission to provide more disclosure of public records, which the senator said have often been shielded from release by a rule allowing utilities broad discretion in declaring documents confidential. The current rules forced the city of San Bruno to sue to get public records on pipeline maintenance after a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. natural gas pipeline explosion killed eight people in that city in 2010. The PUC managements indifference to the publics interest has at times bordered on disdain, Hill told the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee before it approved the measure. All of the proposed bills must still pass floor votes in both houses. patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com Follow @mcgreevy99 on Twitter ALSO Brown approval strong in new poll Clinton leads Sanders in California Trump leads Republican primary field Updates from Sacramento Join the horsy set for the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby in May on a five-day Tauck trip that includes horse farm tours, distillery visits and bourbon tastings. The tour is based in Lexington, Ky., an 80-mile drive from Louisville, where the race is held annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs racetrack. Lexington is in the heart of bluegrass country, where grazing thoroughbreds can be seen on rolling hills. The itinerary gives travelers the choice of viewing the Derby from reserved seating in an enclosed, air-conditioned starting-gate unit or from first-turn open-air grandstand seating. Dates: May 4-8; five days, four nights. Price: From $5,390, double occupancy. Includes four nights accommodations, a welcome reception and two dinners, transportation, horse farm tour as well as cocktails and dinner at the Keeneland racetrack in Lexington. Round-trip airfare from Los Angeles to Lexington is not included. Advertisement Info: Tauck, (800) 788-7885 ALSO Americas hottest 100 restaurants? 25 are in California, 3 in Las Vegas Now you can use Alaska Airlines loyalty miles to pay for TSA Precheck How to use crazy good trip-planning tools from Google and Lonely Planet Follow us on Twitter @latimestravel, like us on Facebook @Los Angeles Times Travel. This country teeters on the edge of an economic cliff. At the bottom is the debt rating known as junk, which economists say is a distinct possibility in coming months. South Africa would have to pay much higher interest rates to borrow money. Spending on health and education, already squeezed by falling revenue, would have to be cut, heightening widespread unrest. What happened to Nelson Mandelas plucky and inspiring African nation? Advertisement The answers include many things beyond its control: a worldwide decline in commodities prices; waning demand from China, its biggest trading partner; and the worst drought in 50 years. But there is a consensus among analysts that one of the biggest problems is President Jacob Zuma. After apartheid ended in 1994, the ruling African National Congress and business adhered to an unwritten agreement: No matter how much socialist rhetoric the government used publicly, it would always maintain fiscal rectitude and a strong central bank. Zuma seems to have blown up that understanding. His critics point to a litany of misdeeds, starting with expanding the civil service and stacking state enterprises with his allies to the point that nearly 40% of the budget goes to paying government workers. His sprawling Cabinet includes 35 ministers and 37 deputy ministers, whose perks include first-class international air travel, two cars each, free housing and domestic workers. His government has guaranteed state-owned companies $14 billion in loans, even though many of those enterprises are in distress and may not be able to pay it back. It has also introduced a raft of bills some of which have been approved by the Parliament that raise doubts about the ownership rights and safeguards that had long helped draw foreign investors. Some analysts point to one political move that seemed to sum up Zumas economic mismanagement: his firing late last year of Nhlanhla Nene, the finance minister, who was widely respected by investors. Nene was replaced with a former mayor of a small municipality with little experience in finance. Four days later after the currency and the stock market tumbled and bankers warned of a financial meltdown Zuma backed down and removed the official, replacing him with a former finance minister. This month, evidence emerged suggesting that a powerful business family close to Zuma may have had a hand in the firing. Several ANC members have come forward to say that the Gupta family which has joint ventures with one of Zumas sons had offered them top government jobs on the condition that they act to advance the familys commercial interests, which include mining, media and aviation. One was the deputy finance minister, who alleged that the family had offered him Nenes job days before the firing. The allegations, which Zuma and the Gupta family deny, have ignited a bitter struggle within the party between Zuma supporters and opponents. The clash is likely to paralyze the government, leaving it incapable of much-needed economic reforms, said Justice Malala,a political analyst and author of a book on South Africa, We Have Now Begun Our Descent. Theres no real governance in South Africa, he said. And you have a country thats just not working. Foreign direct investment plummeted to $5.8 billion in 2014, a 29% drop from a year earlier. Barclays Bank recently announced it was selling most of Barclays Africa, the vast majority of which is in South Africa. The mining giant Anglo American is also reducing its South African holdings. About 950 millionaires moved out of the country last year, according to one survey. The International Monetary Fund is predicting growth of 0.7% this year, with some analysts forecasting a recession. In December, business confidence fell to its lowest level since the end of apartheid, according to the South African Chamber for Commerce and Industry. That in large part is Zumas fault, analysts say. Zumas rise to the presidency of Africas most industrialized nation is an unlikely story. The son of a domestic worker, he didnt learn to read until he served time in prison with Mandela, who admired the way he sang and joked to keep spirits up. Charisma and street smarts carried him up the ranks of the ANC. He was acquitted of rape charges and escaped corruption charges prosecutors dropped them before his election in 2009. He was reelected to a five-year term in 2014. The 73-year-old has some unorthodox economic views. He has said, for example, that he would prefer a system in which the price of goods is determined by how long they took to make rather than the free market. Business leaders are afraid to talk about him publicly, but off the record they say that new leadership is needed. Zuma is also an embarrassment to the black middle class and a disappointment to the poor, Malala said. There has been little improvement in education or healthcare, and in terms of wealth distribution, South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies. More than two decades after the end of institutionalized racism, unemployment is 40% among young blacks. Violent demonstrations are a daily occurrence, as protesters set up roadblocks, burn tires and government buildings, flip cars or throw stones at police to register their frustration with interruptions in basic services such as electricity. Arguing for Zumas removal, Allister Sparks, a longtime political analyst, recently wrote that Zumas continuation in office carries the risk of triggering a populist political uprising leading to chaos and violence. But Zuma keeps a tight hold on the ANC national executive committee, the only body that could dismiss him. A network of patronage also keeps him in power, experts said. Without structural changes that renew business confidence and spur growth, the countrys debt rating is unlikely to avoid junk status, they said. The traders are already expecting that its a fait accompli, said business analyst Alec Hogg, director of the website BizNews. Standard & Poors rates South Africas credit as BBB-minus, or one notch above junk, and in December changed its economic outlook from stable to negative, a move that often precedes a rating downgrade. Fitch Ratings also ranks South Africa BBB-minus. Peter Attard Montalto, a London-based emerging markets analyst with Japanese investment bank Nomura, said a downgrade was likely late this year or the middle of next year. Although the budget that was introduced in February cut spending, he said, it did not cut deeply enough or include policies to sufficiently increase growth. Jakkie Cilliers, an executive director at the Institute for Security Studies, an African think tank, said in a briefing note last week that the necessary reforms were not possible with a president prepared to see the entire governance edifice collapse in order to protect himself. Today, only the early departure of Zuma has the potential to stave a downgrade, he wrote. Pravin Gordhan, the new finance minister, said this month that South Africa had just three months to persuade ratings firms it was serious about solving fundamental problems. Once you get downgraded, on average it takes you five years or more to work your way up again, so you dont want to end up there as a country, he told reporters. Gordhan has won respect from the business world by condemning the governments failings, saying that some people believe state-owned entities are toys for personal profit and warned of the dangers of corruption. But it remains unclear whether Gordhan has the political clout to take on his boss. When Kim Jong Un made his first public speech as North Koreas leader in 2012, he stood in front of a massive military rally in the capitals main square and told the crowd that they would never have to tighten their belts again. Kim was referring to his countrys history of poverty and food shortages, particularly a famine in the 1990s in which hundreds of thousands of people if not more starved to death. And just three months ago, Kim struck a similarly sunny note in his new years address, speaking of 2016 as a golden age during which North Korea would build a thriving nation. But in wake of new economic sanctions imposed after its recent nuclear test, Kims regime seems to be changing its tune. This week, an official mouthpiece of the North Korean state made what appears to be the countrys first acknowledgment that it is preparing for worsening economic conditions. Advertisement We may have to go on an arduous march, a time when we will again have to eat the roots of grass, said an editorial in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers Party of Korea. The sanctions, which on paper are the most severe in 20 years, were approved by the U.N. Security Council after Pyongyangs February nuclear weapons test and more recent long-range missile launch, actions banned by Security Council resolutions. The sanctions are aimed at further restricting North Koreas international trade and making it harder for the already cash-strapped country to make the money it needs to fund weapons programs. They go as far as to prohibit U.N. members from importing coal and iron from North Korea, two key exports for the reclusive state. For decades, North Koreans have lived in poor conditions while their government has poured huge sums into weapons development, and the state has used the language of collective sacrifice when selling tough times to the populace. Its an old pattern of telling the population to endure short-term hardship for the promise of larger benefits over the long term, Daniel Pinkston, a lecturer at Troy University in Seoul, said of the Rodong Sinmun editorial. Theyre betting that the harm of the sanctions wont last and ultimately their nuclear weapons will make the country stronger, Pinkston added. The phrase arduous march is an allusion to the North Korean states claim that its founding leader, Kim Il Sung, led a guerrilla campaign against the Japanese Imperial Army, which occupied the Korean peninsula early in the 20th century. It is now used as a euphemism for the famine that ravaged North Korea in the 1990s, after the country was hit by the loss of economic aid after the Soviet Unions collapse. Things got worse in subsequent years when torrential rains wiped out crops, causing widespread starvation. North Koreans were told to struggle on, calling on the example of the fight Kim Il Sung led for Korean independence in the 1930s against the more numerous and better equipped Japanese. The regime could be invoking this history to prime the populace for the Party Congress, which will be held in May for the first time in 35 years. At the Congress, Kim could announce changes in the ranks of the countrys leadership, and new policy directives. Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a think tank near Seoul, said the editorial was meant to mobilize people both materially and ideologically ahead of the Party Congress, which comes at a time when North Korea is facing both economic difficulties and tensions with South Korea and the U.S. Tensions have been high between the Koreas lately, with the U.S. and South Korea carrying out annual joint military exercises. This years are the biggest ever, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Pyongyang. North Korea launched short-range projectiles off its east coast on Tuesday, the South Korean military reported, one of several such launches in recent weeks apparently aimed at signaling Pyongyangs objection to the drills. South Korea recently cut off economic cooperation with North Korea, shuttering a joint industrial park along the border. ------------ FOR THE RECORD March 31, 6:11 a.m.: An earlier version of this article stated that North Korea shuttered an industrial park jointly run with South Korea. South Korean officials closed the facility. ------------ The North Korean economy is in far better shape today than when famine hit in the 1990s, but Kim Jong Un hasnt ushered in an era of prosperity as he pledged, analysts say. For the economy, Kim Jong Uns tenure has been a mixed bag, said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, a nonresident Kelly Fellow at the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic & International Studies. On the one hand, he has shown a sense of pragmatism in acknowledging North Koreas problems. On the other hand, no fundamental systemic changes have occurred. Kim took small steps toward addressing the problem of North Koreas mostly state-planned economy by introducing agricultural reforms that allow some farmers to sell their surplus products, but such measures have not been widely implemented. Silberstein also pointed out that Kim has been well aware of the need to keep North Koreas elite content, by focusing on improving conditions in the capital Pyongyang and splurging on prestige projects like a luxury ski resort and water park. But with these projects concentrated in Pyongyang, they do little to improve the lives of the majority, the people who are being called on to tighten their belts. Borowiec is a special correspondent. ALSO Police round up at least 5,221 suspects and kill 5 in a shootout after Lahore bombing Family asks human rights panel for help in San Diego border death In a first, liver and kidney from HIV-infected donor are transplanted into HIV-positive patients As text crawls across the screen telling viewers about the last breath of the hideous American monsters, an image of the White House explodes in a profusion of low-tech graphics that seem straight from a 1980s video game. The three-minute video, posted on a propaganda website last week, also depicts a destructive attack on South Koreas presidential office and appears to show the countrys president, Park Geun-hye, being blown up. Pyongyang kept up the onslaught with a statement pledging a retaliatory war to eliminate the United States and President Parks followers in the name of justice, along with reported Scud missile launches, threats to annihilate New York City and claims to have miniaturized nuclear warheads, a dubious declaration but one that, if true, would make it technically possible for North Korea to carry out a nuclear strike on the mainland U.S. Advertisement Menacing words and images from North Koreas state propaganda machine are nothing new, but observers of the reclusive state say theyve noticed a recent uptick in the frequency and provocative nature of the threats. The volley of threats also comes ahead of Parks scheduled meeting this week with President Obama to discuss, among other things, North Korea. The testiness comes in apparent response to the United Nations and U.S. enacting sanctions aimed at cutting North Korea off from the global economy and squeezing off the foreign currency that funds its weapons programs. Also, the U.S. and South Korea are currently carrying out military training exercises in South Korea. Every spring North Korea voices objections to the exercises, which it calls dress rehearsals for invading its territory. The U.S and South Korea describe them as practice runs for the possibility of a North Korean attack. The drills started in early March and will run until late April, with about 17,000 U.S. troops participating in cooperation with 300,000 of their South Korean counterparts. The exercises are held every year, though they are larger this year. In recent months the South Korean government has appeared to lose patience with Pyongyang and has adopted a firmer posture, taking measures such as shutting down a jointly operated industrial complex, which had been the final remaining economic cooperation project between the two countries. Last month Park had unusually harsh words for the North when she said Pyongyangs stubborn pursuit of nuclear weapons would only lead to the governments collapse. North Korea often mocks Park, calling her a hateful witch and prostitute, among other insults. Still, Tuesdays video represented an escalation of the vitriol and marked the first time it released imagery appearing to show Parks death. The tough talk is for the most part a show for the people at home, designed to create an image of strength and autonomy, analysts suggest. The brinkmanship rhetoric should play very well, creating the impression that the regime is standing up against the U.S., said Timothy S. Rich, an assistant professor at Western Kentucky University who has written on North Korean propaganda. North Korea also has an eye on the U.S., and it is no accident that Pyongyang is making noise during a U.S. presidential election cycle, said Michael Madden, a contributing analyst to 38 North, a North Korean affairs website run by the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Madden called the latest round of threats a preview of coming attractions for the next American president. Under Obamas watch, Washington has negotiated landmark deals toward cooperation with previously unfriendly governments, such as Cuba and Iran. But no such progress has been made with North Korea. In 2009, early in Obamas first term, North Korea carried out a multistage rocket launch and nuclear test, which pushed Washington to condemn Pyongyangs flouting of international norms on nuclear nonproliferation and made it nearly impossible to work toward bilateral peace talks. The two sides held direct talks in 2011 and 2012, culminating in an agreement under which North Korea pledged to refrain from nuclear and long-range missile tests. But the agreement dissolved a few weeks later when North Korea violated its terms by using ballistic missile technology to launch a satellite. The Obama administration refers to its North Korea policy as strategic patience, code for waiting for North Korea to take credible steps toward denuclearization. But North Korea appears to have a different strategy. North Korea is done trying to work with the Obama administration, Madden said. They want to make it clear to whoever the next president is that part of the job is dealing with North Korea. Borowiec is a special correspondent. Pakistani counter-terrorism police killed at least five people Wednesday and arrested scores more in what it described as an intensified crackdown following a deadly suicide bombing at a public park in the eastern city of Lahore. Police in Punjab province raided a house in Raiwind, outside Lahore, and killed five suspected militants in a shootout, Pakistani media reported. Nearly 80 people were arrested in total from two other districts in Punjab, Pakistani news channel Geo News reported. Yet the early days of Pakistans probe into Sundays bombing at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in Lahore, which left 72 people dead including at least 25 children, have renewed criticism of the governments counter-terrorism policies. Advertisement Police and intelligence agencies in Punjab rounded up at least 5,221 suspects in the 24 hours after the attack and had released 5,005 by late Tuesday, the provincial law minister, Rana Sanaullah, told reporters in Lahore. At least 1,000 of those arrested were part of a list of people believed to be involved in anti-state activities or hate speech. The arrests and subsequent releases gave the appearance of a government groping in the dark to demonstrate its resolve following the latest militant attack against civilians, according to a report Wednesday in Pakistans Dawn newspaper. This is an exercise these security agencies carry out after every attack of this nature, said Saifullah Mehsud, executive director of the FATA Research Center, which studies militant activity in Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas. This is more for the consumption of the public, Mehsud said in an interview. They just round up these guys, and after a few days, when the furor dies down, they release them for lack of evidence. I dont see it as any meaningful action. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Pakistani Taliban splinter group that claimed responsibility for the bombing, has carried out several high-profile attacks in recent years. Investigators in Punjab said they found evidence at the blast site that matched evidence collected from three other attacks over the past year and a half, including two suicide attacks on churches in Youhanabad last year that killed at least 15 people. The group said it carried out the park bombing to target Christians celebrating Easter Sunday. Pakistan, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation of 182 million people, has a small Christian minority. At least 14 of the victims at the park were Christians, officials have said. One of several splinter groups that have broken with the Pakistani Taliban in recent years, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has quickly established itself as one of the most dangerous, experts said. Pakistan has long struggled to rein in militants, in part because elements of the Pakistani security establishment have in the past nurtured extremist groups that have carried out attacks in neighboring India and Afghanistan. Militant groups that target the Pakistani state have taken advantage of the havens, experts say. A nearly two-year-long Pakistani army offensive against militant hideouts in the tribal areas saw a sharp reduction in terrorist attacks inside Pakistan in 2015. Since 2003, more than 21,000 Pakistani civilians have been killed in terrorist violence, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, which tracks attacks. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar fighters crossed the border from the tribal belt into Afghanistans Kunar province, where they appear to be unhindered by an Afghan government that is struggling to contain its own Taliban insurgency, Mehsud said. Its pretty obvious that they are being funded very well, whoever is funding them, Mehsud said. Its quite obvious that in Kunar they have a safe haven and that Afghan forces are not doing anything about it. And their network within Pakistan remains intact the Pakistani security apparatus has failed to break that network. shashank.bengali@latimes.com Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once were the darlings of Washington, the cherished ally and a strategic barrier between Europe and the turmoil in the Middle East. But diplomats say Erdogans increasingly aggressive and undemocratic behavior in Turkey, plus what they describe as his mercurial role in the conflict in neighboring Syria, have diminished his standing in the Obama administration. Unlike several other global leaders arriving in Washington on Thursday for the two-day Nuclear Security Summit, Erdogan has not been invited for a private sit-down with President Obama, something many here view as a major diplomatic snub. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> The White House sought to downplay the appearance of a cold shoulder, with spokesman Josh Earnest saying it was possible Erdogan and Obama would have an informal chat at some point during his visit. U.S. officials cannot write Turkeys leader off entirely because of Turkeys strategic importance, its willingness to house U.S. military bases and the challenge it poses to Russian air power. But there has been little doubt about Washingtons displeasure with Erdogan. Erdogan is a toxic asset, former Turkish opposition lawmaker Aykan Erdemir said in an interview Wednesday. Heads of state dont want to be in the same photo with him but people have to deal with him, said Erdemir, now a fellow at the nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. Turkey for a century was a Muslim but secular country and became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance. Under Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party that supports him, Turkey has been pushed into a more religious sphere, and one where political criticism is barely tolerated. Yet Erdogan has also positioned himself, thanks to geography, as a crucial ally. As the gateway to Europe from the Middle East, Turkey has taken in millions of refugees, mostly from Syria and Iraq, has agreed to prevent them from trying to enter Europe, and is not hesitant to use that in negotiations as a trump card. The Turkish government this month raided the offices of the largest-circulation opposition newspaper, Zaman. It imposed a new, pro-government editorial line; banned coverage of recent terrorist bombings in Ankara, Istanbul and elsewhere; and insisted on secret trials for two journalists who reported on government shipments to Syrian rebels. When Turkeys Supreme Court ruled that the journalists could not be tried in secret, Erdogan announced he no longer recognized the courts authority. Under Erdogan, Turkey was slow to join the Wests fight against Islamic State, in part because it saw its greater enemy as Kurdish forces who are bitterly opposed to the government in Ankara but are among the strongest combatants against the Sunni militants. Turkey long wanted the Obama administration to back a no-fly zone in northern Syria that would protect refugees from Syrian government attacks while keeping them on the Syrian side of the border. The White House has said no. It doesnt want to be drawn into a potential air war with Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, and doesnt want to commit U.S. ground troops to protect such a haven. Citing unspecified security concerns, the U.S. government this week ordered the departure of hundreds of dependents of U.S. service members stationed at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, about 100 miles from Syria and home to the U.S. 39th Air Base Wing. Incirlik is a crucial staging ground for U.S. air raids against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. However the Obama administration treats Erdogan this week, it will continue to deal with him. Its the real estate factor, said Amberin Zaman, a Turkish journalist who is now a public policy fellow at the nonpartisan Wilson Center in Washington. No matter how many forward-operating bases you set up [in Syria], it wont match up against Incirlik. ALSO How this U.S. attorney became a social media celebrity in Turkey Irans supreme leader pushes talks and missiles, not one or the other Egyptians are hopping mad that soccer star Lionel Messi donated his shoes to charity A court on Wednesday ordered an Egyptian man detained for eight days after authorities said he admitted hijacking a domestic EgyptAir flight and diverting it to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus by threatening to blow it up with a fake explosives belt. Cyprus police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou said the suspect, whom authorities had earlier identified as 59-year-old Seif Eddin Mustafa, faces charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence. Judge Maria Loizou said she found the police request for the maximum eight-day detention necessary because of fears the suspect might flee and the fact that he admitted to the hijacking in a voluntary statement to police. Advertisement Tuesdays drama, which started when authorities said Mustafa claimed to have explosives and forced the flight from Alexandria to Cairo to land in Cyprus, ended peacefully about six hours later. Most of the 72 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus A320 were released soon after the plane landed, though a handful were held for longer. All were let go before Mustafa surrendered. Lambrianou said that after Mustafa was arrested, he told police: Whats someone supposed to do when he hasnt seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government wont let him? An official at the general prosecutors office in Egypt, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said there was no travel ban on Mustafa. Egypts interior ministry said he had a long criminal record but had finished serving a one-year prison term in March 2015. After the hearing Wednesday, a handcuffed Mustafa flashed the V for victory sign out the window of a police vehicle as he was driven away from the Larnaca courthouse. MORE: Get our best stories in your Facebook feed >> Cypriot officials had described Mustafa as psychologically unstable following a bizarre set of demands he made to police negotiators, including what Lambrianou said was a letter Mustafa wanted delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife in which he demanded the release of 63 dissident women imprisoned in Egypt. Lambrianou said that 15 minutes into flight MS181, which should have taken just 30 minutes, Mustafa demanded that the aircraft be diverted to an airport in Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. Despite an initial refusal from Cypriot authorities, the plane eventually landed in Larnaca after the pilots warned of low fuel. The police prosecutor said witnesses saw Mustafa wearing a white belt with pockets that had cylindrical objects stuffed inside. Wire protruding from the cylinders led to what appeared to be a push button detonator he held in his hand. Among those held was Ben Innes, a British man pictured in a photo with Mustafa that quickly made the rounds on social media. Innes told the Sun newspaper he wanted to take the selfie of a lifetime while the incident was unfolding. The photo, taken by a member of the cabin crew and shared on social media by people who know Innes, shows him posing next to Mustafa, who has his jacket open to reveal the belt. I figured if his bomb was real Id nothing to lose anyway, Innes, 26, told the newspaper in a story published Wednesday. He told the Sun he had been texting his mother throughout the ordeal. Mustafa had threatened to detonate the belt if police attempted to neutralize him, Lambrianou said, but he eventually gave up after the crew and passengers were released. Lambrianou said no explosives were found in the belt, except for a container filled with an unidentified liquid. Police also found an unidentified liquid in the suspects bag, as well as numerous documents written in Arabic. The prosecutor said Cypriot authorities will ask for help from Interpol to determine how the suspect managed to get the fake explosives belt through airport security in Egypt. U.S. officials say the Pentagon will be deploying an armored brigade combat team to Eastern Europe next February as part of an ongoing effort to rotate troops in and out of the region to reassure allies worried about threats from an increasingly aggressive Russia. The officials said the Army will announce Wednesday that it will be sending a full set of equipment with the brigade to Europe. Earlier plans had called for the Pentagon to rotate troops into Eastern Europe, where they would have used a set of training equipment pre-positioned there. The new proposal would remove the pre-positioned equipment, send it to be refurbished, and allow the U.S. forces to bring more robust, modern equipment in with them when they deploy. There are about 4,500 soldiers in an armored brigade, along with dozens of heavy vehicles, tanks and other equipment. Advertisement Wednesdays announcement is aimed at easing worries in Europe, where allies had heard rumblings about the pre-positioned equipment being removed and had feared that the U.S. was scaling back support. Officials said the Army would also send additional communications equipment to Europe so that headquarters units could have the radios, computers and other equipment needed to work with the brigades. The officials were not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity. The changes underscore promises made by defense leaders to protect Europe and send a message to Moscow that any aggression against allies would be unacceptable. They also provide more details to budget proposals rolled out earlier this year that quadrupled military aid to Europe and called for a more constant rotational presence. Over the last nine months, during trips to Eastern Europe and in NATO meetings, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has pledged additional military support for the region. Last June, while visiting Estonia, Carter announced that the U.S. would spread about 250 tanks, armored vehicles and other pieces of military equipment across six former Soviet bloc nations to help reassure NATO allies facing threats from Russia and terrorist groups. Each set of equipment would be enough to outfit a military unit, and would go on at least a temporary basis to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania. The equipment could also be moved around the region for training and military exercises, and would include Bradley fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzer artillery guns. In February, the Pentagon announced that it would seek $3.4 billion in the 2017 budget to increase troop rotations and military exercises in Europe. The plan essentially calls for the constant presence of a third brigade in Europe. Two are already permanently stationed in Europe -- a Stryker brigade and an airborne brigade. And now a brigade will rotate in and out, likely every nine months or so, on a continual basis. The 2016 budget included about $780 million for the so-called European reassurance initiative, which covered the costs of sending hundreds of U.S. troops in and out of Europe for short deployments, military exercises and other training missions. Carters proposal to quadruple that amount would allow the U.S. to send more troops to Europe for short-term deployments and also provide additional equipment and improve facilities so that more forces could be accommodated. The increased U.S. military support comes a year after the Defense Department unveiled sweeping plans to consolidate its forces in Europe, taking thousands of U.S. military and civilian personnel out of bases mostly in Britain and Portugal, in an effort that was expected to save about $500 million each year. But Russias military intervention in Ukraine and its annexation of the Crimea region has worried Eastern European nations, which fear they may be next. The latest Pentagon moves are seen as an effort to deter Russia from taking any further aggressive action against any other European nations. Irans supreme leader on Wednesday pushed back against politicians and activists who favor talks with Western countries without displays of military might, saying the nation needs negotiations and missiles. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the countrys most powerful figure, said those who oppose the countrys recent ballistic missile tests after last years agreement with the U.S. and five other world powers to roll back Irans controversial nuclear program are wrong, either out of ignorance or out of treachery. I am not against negotiation, but not with everyone, Khamenei said in a speech posted on his website. Those who say the day of tomorrow is not the time of missile are wrong either out of ignorance or out of treachery. Today is the time of negotiation and missile at the same time. Advertisement Khamenei, who has supported President Hassan Rouhanis efforts to improve relations with the West, appeared to be addressing comments such as those made by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who recently tweeted, The day of tomorrow is not the day of missiles but negotiations. The supreme leader has tried to ensure that the nuclear deal and other efforts to end the Islamic Republics isolation and improve an economy long weakened by sanctions do not go too far in influencing Iranian society. Rouhani, who has said the nuclear deal is a new chapter for dealing with international community, is under pressure to limit the rapprochement within what is dubbed by Khamenei as a resistance economy, which calls for reducing the nations vulnerability to sanctions. The moderate Rouhani is expected to try to work to pass at least some new policies with more cooperative lawmakers after a setback for hard-liners in Februarys parliamentary elections, and with many seats held by independents or still available in runoff elections to be held in late April. Mostaghim is a special correspondent. A new Quinnipiac University national poll finds both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton nursing comfortable margins in their quests to secure the Republican and Democratic nominations. The poll finds Trump leading Texas Sen. Ted Cruz by 14 points at 43 percent to 29 percent, and Ohio Governor John Kasich by an even more staggering 27 points. Meanwhile, Clinton leads liberal-minded Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 50 percent to 38 percent. Sanders, Kasich Still Hopeful Still, hope springs eternal for both Sanders and Kasich, both of whom top all other candidates by safe margins in hypothetical general election match-ups while being locked in a dead heat against one another. Specifically speaking, Clinton leads Trump (46 to 40 percent) and Cruz (45 to 42 percent) by an average of 5 points, but trails Kasich 47 percent to 39 percent. Meanwhile, Sanders tops Trump (52 to 38 percent) and Cruz (50 to 39 percent) by an average of 13 points and runs just a point behind Kasich at 45 percent to 44 percent. In addition, Trump and Clinton top the "no way" list of more voters than any other candidates, with 54 percent of voters insisting they would never vote for Trump and 43 percent responding likewise about Clinton. "Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton may have the overall leads among primary voters, but there is not a lot of love in the room as a big percentage of Americans say of the front-runners they could take'em or 'leave em," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll. "Sacred" was the single most used word by 117 voters when faced with an open-ended question about the prospects of a Trump presidency. Another 46 voters responded with the word "disaster" and 45 each used the word "frightened" and "terrified" to describe their feelings. The first positive word used to describe the idea of the bombastic, New York City real estate mogul rising to the role of ruler of the free word was "good," which was used by just 36 voters. When it comes to the former first lady, 68 voters used the word "disaster" to describe how they feel about the thought of her again occupying the White House. From there, responses bounced back and forth, with 51 voters responding "good," and 43 answering "sacred." Trump, Clinton, Kasich all Have Negative Ratings Overall, Trump, Clinton and Cruz all have negative favorability ratings, with Trump at 33-61, Clinton 39-56 and Cruz 32-47. As for all the violence that has marred his campaign, 37 percent of voters are convinced Trump is "very responsible" and another 27 percent say he is "somewhat responsible." By comparison, 39 percent of voters insist protesters are "very responsible and another 39 percent think they are "somewhat responsible." In the April 5, slated Wisconsin primary, Trump leads Cruz 36 percent to 31 percent, with Kasich at 21 percent, according to a Washington Free Beacon poll. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations said in a statement that his emissaries are prepared to spare no effort to revive the peacekeeping mission in the disputed Western Sahara. The UN will resume full operation and ultimately end the controversy. According to the Daily Mail, Morocco expelled 73 international civilian staff members with the peacekeeping mission and have shut down a military liaison facility to protest Ban Ki-moon's usage of the word "occupation" in describing the condition of the mineral-rich territory during a recent visit to camps in Western Sahara refugees in Algeria. Reports say that eleven other civilians ordered out had already left the mission, which is also known as MINURSO. The Security Council authorized MINURSO to monitor the cease-fire and bring assistance in organizing the referendum. However, it has never taken place due to the disputes over the insistence of Morocco that autonomy is the only solution. Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman, said that part of the UN's next move to achieve such effort is to reiterate that Ban Ki-moon's visit to the region in early March was not meant to offend or express hostility toward Morocco, says Fox News. Dujarric's statement did not sound like an apology, but it did express regret. He said the UN regrets the "misunderstandings and the consequences" that the personal expression of solicitude provoked. ABC News reported that Dujarric also reminded Morocco that it is required under the UN Charter to carry out Security Council decisions. He said that the most important thing to do at the moment is to overcome the current difficulties and enable the peacekeeping mission to resume in a constructive, cooperative, and comprehensive manner. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar of Morocco said the decision to remove the 73 civilian staff members is irreversible. Ahmed Boukhari, Polisario Front's UN Representative, issued a warning again that the shortest way towards war is the removal of MINURSO. Exxon Mobil is now being investigated by both attorney generals of the U.S Virgin Islands and Massachusetts. The investigation is based on the allegations that the company deceived the public and its shareholders about the effect of climate change. During a New York conference, about two dozens of state attorney generals have come together to create a coalition that will look into the legal aspects of fighting global warming. They will be doing a series of lawsuits and financial and consumer probes as per Salon. Joining the attorney generals is former Vice President Al Gore who compared the movement with the battle against the tobacco Industry decades ago. New York's attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said he has already heard what the scientists said and he already knows what's happening to the planet making the issue a no dispute. As reported by Fortune, the Massachusetts and Virgin Island attorney generals didn't go into details on how they will legally approach the investigation. They said, however, that consumer protection laws and blue sky securities will be some of their options. Documents from the company during the late 1970's have shown its awareness about global warming and its effect on the existence of the company itself. The documents also showed that the company's scientist knew that burning fossil fuel would warm the planet and would create devastating consequences. However, according to the Denver Post, Exxon's vice president for public and government affairs, Suzanne McCarron, said the allegations against them are baseless and are politically motivated. The company reiterated that they already recognize the risk of climate change and any withheld information about the issue is just preposterous and based on a false premise. On the other hand, investors are also targeting Exxon now over this particular issue. Its annual shareholders report must now include its resolution regarding climate change as requested by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Pakistani armed forces chief of staff Raheel Sharif maintained that he brought up the topic of Indian spy network Research Analysis Wing (RAW) to Iran president Hassan Rouhani during the head of state's landmark visit to his country. RAW's alleged operations on Iranian soil had caused no small concern in Pakistan. Rouhani, however, said that the sensitive topic did not come up during his meeting with Sharif. According to The Diplomat, the public relations arm of Pakistan's military first broke the news. Shareef apparently urged the Iranian president to prohibit members of the Indian espionage network, some of whom had set up shop in Balochistan, to stop using Iran soil as a base. Balochistan is the bordernline between Pakistan and India which had seem skirmishes and conflicts between the two countries almost escalate into a major conflict. Shareef's request was made to make safe Pakistan's stability. Interestingly, Rouhani disagreed with the very public statement, issuing his own that, "Whenever Iran comes closer to Pakistan such rumours [of a discussion about espionage activities] are spread." Geo News adds that Rouhani maintains that Iran has always maintained brotherly ties with both Pakistan and Iran, perhaps hinting that he did not want his country to side with one against the other. He also reiterated that he was looking forward to discussing more positive topics such as cooperation in the fields of education, health, and technology. While Rouhani praised the Pakistani military's bravery and dedication, he also debunked news reports that he had discussed the arrest of RAW agent Kul Bhushan Yadav. The News Tribe says that Yadav himself claims that his operatives infilitrate Pakistan through India and Iran. Prior to the state visit of Rouhani, and following Yadav's disclosure, the Pakistani government had issued a statement saying it will send a legal notice to Iran asking them to disallow Indian and other foreign spies from using their cities as an entry point to Pakistan. Mar 30, 2016, 1:40pm ET Tesla prepares for federal battle over direct sales Tesla might take its case to federal court. Tesla is preparing to file a federal suit if it's unable to secure the right to sell its electric vehicles directly to customers in six states, a new report finds. For years Tesla has been fighting decades-old franchise laws throughout the United States that bar manufacturers from selling directly to consumers. Six states in particular Arizona, Michigan, Texas, Connecticut, Utah and West Virginia have proven difficult for Tesla to crack. The electric automaker is currently waiting on new legislation and dealer applications in those states to begin direct sales, but if those measures fail, Tesla could take its fight to federal courts. Somewhat strangely, Tesla's legal hopes could be pinned on a 2013 suit that was filed by St. Joseph Abbey in New Orleans to sell monk-made caskets directly to consumers. The abbey discovered after Hurricane Katrina that state laws restricted coffin sales to those licensed by the Louisiana Board of Funeral Directors. The abbey argued that there was no reason for the casket law other than to protect existing businesses from new competition, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately agreed. "It is widely accepted that laws that have a protectionist motivation or effect are not proper, Todd Maron, the auto maker's chief counsel, told The Wall Street Journal. "Tesla is committed to not being foreclosed from operating in the states it desires to operate in, and all options are on the table. Tesla is hoping its direct sales battle won't come to a federal suit, but it's prepared to dig its heels in on the matter. That fight would likely come next year, around the time the company plans to start sales of its $35,000 Model 3 sedan. The clerk ordered by a gunman to the ground during a 2012 gas station robbery in Bethlehem Township helped set up the crime, township police said Tuesday. Marianne Padilla Diaz (Courtesy photos | For lehighvalleylive.com) Marianne Padilla Diaz, 22, was in a sexual relationship at the time of the robbery with David Bermudez, one of two gunmen accused of robbing the Rudy's Gulf during Padilla Diaz's shift, according to court records. Bermudez is in Northampton County Prison, charged in an unrelated home-invasion robbery in July 2012 in Lower Saucon Township. The other alleged gunman, Juan Fernandez, committed suicide in 2015. Police said two more people had roles in the Rudy's Gulf robbery. Bermudez's wife, 36-year-old Jessica Lis Ruiz, was charged Monday. The driver of the vehicle involved in the holdup, who has not been publicly identified. A Northampton County grand jury investigated the Rudy's holdup, in which cash, lottery tickets and cigarettes worth a total of $767 were taken, according to court records. Padilla Diaz, believed to be from Bethlehem, was not in custody as of Tuesday, Bethlehem Township police Sgt. Rick Blake said. She is described as Hispanic, 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 125 pounds with black hair and green eyes. Investigators reviewed surveillance video from the gas station the night of the Sept. 5, 2012, robbery, showing "Padilla Diaz failed to make the last couple of required cash drops into the safe, resulting in excess cash in the register drawer," court records say. Neither of the robbers pointed a handgun at Padilla Diaz during the holdup, police said. One of the men was seen "slapping Padilla Diaz across the buttocks." In addition to learning of Bermudez's extramarital affair with Padilla Diaz, investigators learned she had "provided details as to the best time to rob the station since she would be working alone and that she would fail to make several required cash drops into the safe." Bermudez, Fernandez and Ruiz were driven the night of 10:44 p.m. robbery to the shopping center directly behind the 2900 Easton Ave. gas station, court records say. David Bermudez (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com) Carrying guns and wearing masks, Bermudez and Fernandez got out and made their way to Rudy's while the driver with Ruiz pulled around to Nottingham Road across Easton Avenue from the gas station to wait for the robbers, police said. The driver wanted to leave, but Ruiz, sitting directly behind in the back seat, held a knife to the driver's abdomen, police said. Ruiz threatened to stab the driver if the driver tried to get out. Ruiz was arraigned Monday and released on $5,000 unsecured bail, in part because she had just given birth to twins. Padilla Diaz faces felony counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, and misdemeanor theft and conspiracy to commit theft. Though named in court records as being involved, Bermudez has not been charged in the Rudy's robbery. He was arrested last month and he remains in prison in lieu of $75,000 bail. Bermudez is charged in the July 11, 2012, home-invasion robbery at the home of Dominic Albanese and his family in the 2500 block of Woodlawn Road in Lower Saucon. In that case, the Albaneses' four children were upstairs asleep when Bermudez and three others barged into the home, wearing partial masks and carrying guns, authorities said. Dominic Albanese was beaten and multiple shots were fired before the assailants fled in the family's minivan with electronics, diamond earrings, $5,000 and various legal documents, according to court records. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A 14-year-old member of the Bloods gang who was allegedly shot eight times by a member of the rival Crips gang testified Wednesday the shooter initially was searching for his older brother. Elias Zachariah Ariza, 19, of Bethlehem, left, and Omar "Kush" Quinones, 19, of Bethlehem, right, are accused of gunning down two teens Saturday on Bethlehem's South Side. (Photos courtesy Bethlehem Police Department | For lehighvalleylive.com) Taron Walker of South Side Bethlehem testified during a preliminary hearing before Senior District Judge Joseph Barner that he was walking on East Sixth Street with a childhood friend, Kyre Williams, 16, at about 6 p.m. on Jan. 30 when the shooting occurred. Walker said he was headed toward his home on Argus Street when a Ford Ranger pickup truck pulled up alongside the men. Omar "Kush" Quinones, 19, of the 1200 block of Woodbine Street in Bethlehem emerged from the front passenger seat and asked Walker where is older brother was, Walker said. "If you have a problem with my brother, you can handle it with me," Walker testified that he replied. At that point, Walker said Elias Zachariah Ariza, 19, of the 1600 block of Major Street in Bethlehem, got out from the driver's side of the truck carrying a firearm. Walker said he didn't know Ariza prior to the shooting, but was familiar with "Kush." Ariza began firing at Williams and was struck in the knee, authorities have said. Walker ran and Quinones allegedly opened fire, shooting him eight times in the back, head and shoulder. The shooting continued after he fell to the ground, Walker testified. "When I see Kyre shot, I started running," Walker told the court. "Then, I got shot by Kush." Walker said he barely recalls what happened next as police and EMS arrived at the scene and he was taken to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill, where he was initially listed in critical condition. Bethlehem police in a February news conference said Walker and Williams were members of the Bloods gang, and that Quinones, a member of the Crips, was in a dispute with Walker over a girl. Walker pointed to Quinones, wearing a red prison jumpsuit, handcuffs and shackles at the defense table, saying that was the man who shot at him. He then pointed at Ariza, wearing a navy prison jumpsuit at the defense table, as the driver who shot Williams. Both are facing charges of two counts each attempted homicide, one count each aggravated assault and one count each conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. Quinones is being held at Northampton County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail and Ariza is being held at Lehigh County Jail in lieu of $700,000 bail. Defense attorney Matthew Deschler, representing Quinones, asked Walker under cross-examination if he knew why his client was asking for his brother. Walker said he didn't know. However, Walker told the court he did know about the problem Quinones had. The pair didn't exchange any other words before the shooting, Walker testified. After repeated objections by prosecutors that were overruled by the judge, Deschler showed Walker a map of South Side Bethlehem. He then asked Walker to initial with a pen where he was standing and where Williams was standing in relation to the pickup truck. Deschler later asked the judge to drop all charges against his client including attempted homicide. He argued Walker can't prove it was Quinones who shot him if he was running away and there are no eyewitness accounts of who shot who. Deschler also argued against the conspiracy aggravated assault charge, saying Ariza's actions were separate that day from Quinones' actions. "Mr. Ariza fires first. My client fires later. We have no evidence these two acted in concert," Deschler said. "There's no evidence there's been an agreement -- what we need in conspiracy." "You look a little deeper here, Mr. Walker did not actually see the bullet from the gun," he added. Steve Mills, the defense attorney representing Ariza, made similar arguments about the charges, saying his client never conspired with Walker. "I don't know how you can be an accomplice to that," Mills said. Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Lewis Fallenstein said Ariza just being the driver of the pickup truck when his friend, who was armed, fired eight times at Walker is enough to be an accessory to the crime. Fallenstein called Deschler's argument about Walker not seeing a "very quick bullet" coming out of a gun "absurd." "By the grace of God, this boy is alive," she said. Barner then determined there was enough evidence to send all the charges over to Northampton County Court. He set a formal arraignment date of June 9. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A 19-year-old woman charged with DUI told officers she had been drinking during a gathering in Stroudsburg, but believed she was "doing the right thing" by waiting awhile before getting behind the wheel, Bushkill Township police said. (file photo) Samantha Juchem, now 20, of the 200 block of Ann Street in Easton, was arrest Monday on an outstanding warrant from the DUI charge. Juchem was stopped by police at 2:24 a.m. on Nov. 9, 2014 in the 100 block of East Moorestown Road after she was observed going 65 mph in a 45-mph zone, police said. The officer smelled alcohol on Juchem's breath, but she repeatedly denied drinking at the gathering. She then acknowledged she had punch and it may have been spiked with alcohol, police said. Juchem agreed to submit to a breath test and then admitted drinking before driving, police said. "How long should I have waited before I drove? I waited though, isn't that what I was supposed to?" Juchem told the officer, according to police. "I thought I was doing the right thing." Officers then administered field sobriety tests, which Juchem failed. She was then arrested and taken to the Easton DUI Center for a legal blood draw that showed her blood alcohol level was .04 within two hours of driving. Penalties start at .02 for drivers under age 21 in Pennsylvania. Juchem is charged with of DUI, DUI as a minor, possession of alcohol as a minor and driving over a maximum speed limit. She has had an outstanding warrant on the charges since 2014 and was arrested by police Monday. Juchem was arraigned Monday before District Judge Daniel Corpora, who set bail at $1,000 unsecured. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Three local school districts are among 476 nationwide honored as Best Communities for Music Education. The National Association of Music Merchants Foundation "recognizes outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders who work together to ensure access to music learning for all students as part of the school curriculum." The Bangor Area, Southern Lehigh and Parkland districts are on the list released Wednesday. The designation is created by the foundation with the assistance from researchers at the University of Kansas by focusing on "funding, staffing of highly qualified teachers, commitment to standards, community support, participation and access to music instruction," the organization said in a news release. "Music and the arts makes a very positive contribution to the general success of the school and connection to the community," Kansas researcher and professor Christopher Johnson said in the release. Pennsylvania state Rep. Joe Emrick, who represents the Bangor district, said in a news release, "With more than 13,000 school district in the country, this distinction places Bangor in the top 3 percent in the nation. That's quite an achievement and something the teachers and students in the school's music programs should be very proud of." The benefits of music education are many in the Parkland district, the superintendent said. "Music is part of the visual and performing arts and is one of our three pillars, the other two being academics and athletics, which together form the foundation of our comprehensive educational program where our primary purpose is to educate the whole child," Richard Sniscak said in remarks he delivered Wednesday in the state Capitol in Harrisburg. "Music education is extremely important and a vital component of our K-12 programming and a nonnegotiable aspect of our curriculum." "A vast array of education research" outlines the benefits of music as a key part of learning, he said. "Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music," he said, adding that the statistics are not thrown off by socio-economic status. "Children who study music are more likely to excel in all their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school and pursue further education." And it's not just the individual that benefits, he said. "Schools with music programs have higher graduation rates and attendance rates in comparison to schools without music education," he said. Southern Lehigh Superintendent Leah Christman echoes Sniscak in setting up an essential triumvirate of academics, arts and athletics. "Since schools are often a reflection of their community, we believe music is a very public part of our school district and something our community sees actively throughout the school year," Christman said in an email. "We offer a lot of performance opportunities for both the student performer and the audience member." She points to research that says music supports brain development in children and can promote higher academics. But beyond research, there are some basic givens, Christman added. "We also recognize that music -- and the arts in general -- should be justified as important for many other reasons; to name a few, self awareness, social and cultural impacts, and maybe most importantly pure enjoyment," she said. The economic downturn caused the district to cut $4 million in spending in recent years, but "cutting programs to our students has not been a necessity," she said. "And cutting any of the arts has not been a consideration." Then it comes down to the people, she added. "I must give credit to our amazing teachers in the music department for all they do to continually improve and advance their programs, along with a supportive board of directors and community for the success of the program," she said. "It is truly an honor to receive this recognition." The music organization said the list is particularly pertinent this year because the federal education bill passed in December "designates music as a recommended subject and as part of 'a well-rounded education.'" The law "encourages policy makers to give non-tested subjects such as music a more important role in the development of school curricula," the group said. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Two separate road accidents in the past week have claimed two lives. Kinlough and the surrounding area are in mourning after the tragic death of 30-year-old Christina Ward, while a 69-year-old man was killed in a crash last Monday. Ms Ward, a sales and marketing business graduate, died just 24 hours after a road traffic accident on the N13 at Castleforward, Newtowncunningham, Letterkenny last Wednesday morning, March 23 at 8.30am, Christina has been described as a beautiful and kind person. She was buried after Funeral Mass in St Aidan's Church, Kinlough on Monday, March 28. Ms Ward had been living in Letterkenny and working in Derry. Christina's organs were donated and have now saved the lives of three people. Parish Priest of Kinlough, Father Thomas Keogan offered up prayers for Christina at the Good Friday Easter Service in St Aidans Church. Father Keogan paid an eloquent tribute to Christina, She was a wonderfully kind girl who was also very intelligent. Christina had a business degree and then got a Masters in marketing and was very popular in Glenswilly. Christina was a perfectionist in everything she did but was also very kind to all she met and her family are just devastated. And she was also a great team player and very easy to get on with. It is understood that the deceased was on her way to work as a customer sales manager in Derry, when the car in which she was traveling was in collision with another vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle, a man in his 40s was taken to hospital and is believed to have suffered minor injuries. Christina was rushed to Letterkenny University Hospital, but tragically, she died on Thursday afternoon. She is survived by her grieving parents PJ and Mary and her sister Sharon. The family has asked for donations in lieu of flowers to the ICU Department at Letterkenny University Hospital, care of Gilmartin Funeral Directors. Gardai in Letterkenny are appealing for witnesses following the fatal traffic collision in Newtowncunningham on Wednesday morning, March 23. A technical examination of the scene was carried out. Anyone with information should contact Letterkenny Garda Station on 074-9167100 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111. Meanwhile, Gardai in Sligo are investigating a single vehicle fatal road traffic collision which occurred at Castlegal, Cliffoney, Co Sligo at approximately 3pm last Monday afternoon, 28th March. A car collided with a ditch at the above location resulting in the death of the 69- year-old male driver who was the only occupant of the car. The body was removed to Sligo University Hospital where a post mortem examination took place yesterday, Tuesday. A technical and forensic examination of the scene has been completed by Garda forensic collision investigators and the road has since been reopened to traffic. Investigating Gardai are appealing to witnesses to contact Sligo Garda Station on 071-9157000, the Garda Confidential Line 1 800 666 111 or any Garda Station. In the more residential areas of Prague, we find shops filled with shelves bursting with other hand-made objects most notably Russian dolls. Every week, sheltered away from the tourist-filled city centre, a huge market takes place in the outlying area of Kolbenova, which is the biggest flea market in Europe, according to the markets website . When we questioned Nader about culinary traditions, he replies without hesitation: The beer, of course!, before elaborating on a city dotted with traditional restaurants offering delicacies such as Goulasch (pieces of meat in a special broth served with a kind of half-cooked dough), Veprove koleno (pigs knee), or Pikantni hermelin (baked camembert with garlic and peppers). These are unmissable. In the bistros there is always a soup of the day. It costs very little and you have it with a beer and a slice of cumin bread, explains Clemence. Tim Farron and Kirsty Williams have said that the UK Government must intervene to be the lender of last resort for Tata Steel. The Liberal Democrat leader said that the Westminster Government should be prepared to step in and act as a temporary buyer for the plant if required, and also offer financial support to ensure key staff are retained during any sales process. Tim Farron said: The Conservative Government in Westminster has let down Port Talbot, not least because of Sajid Javids disgraceful veto of measures at an EU level to stop the dumping of cheap Chinese steel that is destroying the UK steel industry. Their actions have helped escalate this crisis while the Labour Government in Cardiff bay has failed to stand up for steelworkers in their own backyard. Its now time that both Governments started acting in the best interests of workers at the plant and our steel industry. The Port Talbot plant is the crucible of the British steel industry. It is a proud beacon of our industrial heritage and part of the reason we are a world leader in manufacturing. Generations of families have worked at the South Wales steelworks which still employs thousands of people and provides work for thousands more in supply industries. That is why the Government should be prepared to step in as an investor of last resort, to bridge any gap between Tatas ownership of the plant and a future buyer. Our steel industry is of strategic interest to Wales and the whole of the UK and if temporary nationalisation is needed to protect it then the Government should be prepared to act. Kirsty WIlliams highlighted the importance of Wales steel industry: Peter Black, Welsh Liberal Democrat Finance Minister, has e-mailed First Minister Carwyn Jones calling on him to ask the Presiding Officer to reconvene the Assembly over the announcement that Tata Steel is to sell its UK interests including the plant at Port Talbot. 5,500 jobs are at risk in Wales. The Assemblys Standing Order 12.3 states: If no plenary meeting is timetabled for a particular date or time, the Presiding Officer may, at the request of the First Minister, summon the Assembly to consider a matter of urgent public importance. Peter Black AM said late last night before Tata confirmed their plans: If true, these reports are truly devastating and our thoughts go out to Tata employees and their families. This is clearly a matter of urgent public importance and therefore it is inconceivable that the Assembly doesnt reconvene. Ministers in both governments need to act fast. Simply holding up their hands and saying they are out of ideas is simply not good enough. For years the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for business rates to be reduced to support the steel industry, yet the Labour Government has sat on its hands offering nothing. Likewise, inaction from the Tory Government has been utterly unforgivable. Too much time has already been wasted and we need to see positive action now from both governments as well as further action to attract new investment to Port Talbot such as the creation of an urban development company. In a tweet, Welsh leader Kirsty Williams echoed Peter Blacks call: On Monday night, Tim Farron went to Manchester to launch former MP John Leechs campaign to win the Didsbury West Council ward in Manchester. The Lib Dems missed out by just 162 votes last May. The Labour Council is desperately in need of opposition. At the moment, Labour holds all the seats which is not a healthy situation in any democracy. John was MP for Manchester Withington from 2005-15. He told the packed meeting: Fear has won where liberalism, hope and hard work has been trampled on by politics wreaked by division, complacency and the attitude of thatll do. Well it doesnt. Its not good enough for me. And its not good enough for Manchester. Nothing keeps me and the Liberal Democrats fighting more than an unjust system. And as long as residents in Manchester arent getting the best deal Ill be here fighting and challenging that every step of the way. I promised not to give up on the residents of Manchester Withington, and Im not going to. I will continue to fight for south Manchester as I always have done. Im not going anywhere. We will rebuild. We will start making a difference again. We offer a fresh and strong voice on an often complacent council. Tim Farron said in support of his friend: Nowhere did last years result feel more unjust, more unfair or more undeserved than right here in Manchester Withington. People talk about pavement politics, community activists and campaigners, well they dont come any bigger or better than John Leech. His dedication to Manchester is genuinely inspiring and he is absolutely the right man for the job. His voice is needed more than ever on Manchester council now that it has plummeted into a one party state. Local resident Rebecca Blinkhorn told how John had helped her in her battle to secure the best treatment for her son: Councillors had turned their backs and doctors had washed their hands of him, too worried about committing to an opinion and getting it wrong. It was then, that John Leech stood out to me. He took the reigns, he navigated the systems I was lost in, he listened to me when I was shouting at brick walls and he fought my corner. John wore his heart on winning our battle, he fought our corner every single step of the way, he really was there for us in our darkest hours. And tonight I am so immensely proud that I can now stand here and publicly show our support, tell you this story and say thank you to John for listening to me, supporting us and getting Mike what he needed. He really is one of a kind. If it wasnt for John, my son would still be severely ill, in a wheelchair and living a really unpleasant life. Good luck to John. If you can help him in his fight against an unchallenged, complacent Labour council, sign up here. A REPLICA of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which was recently blessed by Pope Francis in Rome, will make its way through the streets of Limerick during a special procession next week. On Monday, April 4, the treasured icon will commence its tour in Limerick, and will visit 26 cathedrals across the country. Fr Seamus Enright, of the Redemptorist order, South Circular Road met with the 79-year-old Pope from Argentina last Wednesday in Rome, before a replica of the icon returned to Limerick for the six-week festival in honour of Our Lady. This year, the Redemptorists, worldwide, celebrate 150 years of devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and the Redemptorists in Limerick have erected a new shrine on the grounds of Mount St Alphonsus, as part of these celebrations. The pilgrim icon was brought to Mount St Alphonsus during the 7.15pm Mass on Easter Sunday, and is being brought to various centres in Limerick this week. On Monday, the icon was brought to Our Lady of Lourdes, followed by a visit to Corpus Christi community in Moyross, and is being brought to Milford Care Centre, Adapt House and the Polish community at St Michaels Church, on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Augustinian Church will be blessed with the presence of the icon, followed by a visit to Monaleen on Friday. Before the official festive celebration on Monday April 4 at 6pm, the pilgrim icon will be brought to the Bedford Row Project. It will be carried in a procession from the Redemptorists to St Johns Cathedral on April 4 and from there will be taken on pilgrimage to the 26 Catholic Cathedrals in Ireland, until it reaches its final resting place in Maynooth. Fr Enright and the Metropolitan Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Jerry ODea, have also unveiled a billboard campaign in the city, which will also be used nationwide, under the banner Follow the Icon to raise awareness of the importance of this event. Pope Pius IX presented the ancient Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to the Redemptorists for veneration on their church in Rome in 1865. The Pope gave the Redemptorists a mandate: they were to promote devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help throughout the world. The first copy of the Icon to arrive in Ireland has been venerated in Limerick since December 1867. The arrival of the Icon was greeted with great festivities. The people of Limerick took Our Lady of Perpetual Help into their hearts and homes from the very beginning. A beautiful shrine was built in 1868 and 1869, mostly with donations from the men of the Holy Family Confraternity, said Fr Enright. A notable development happened in 1959 when the women of Limerick donated their jewellery, mostly wedding and engagement rings, to make crowns for the images of Jesus and Mary. Fr Enright said that while he couldnt put a monetary value on these items, they are priceless because of the generosity of the people at the time and the history that is now associated with them. WHILE more than 2,000 IDA jobs were created in Limerick between 2011 and 2015, 879 jobs were lost in the same timeframe, according to figures recently released by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. According to the statistics, there were 6,651 IDA jobs in Limerick, which gradually increased to 8,849 by the end of 2015 a jump of 2,198 jobs. The largest jobs increase was last year, when 1,089 jobs were created. At the end of 2015, there were 6,777 Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs, which was an increase of 245 jobs in comparison to 2011. While there were 3,335 jobs created during this five-year timeframe, there were also 3,149 job losses. While 485 Enterprise Ireland jobs were created in Limerick in 2015, there was also a loss of 573 jobs. Statistics announced by Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton in Leinster House also show that there were 155 site visits by IDA between 2011 and 2015. Though Fianna Fail Deputy Willie ODea welcomed the job gains in Limerick, he said that small and medium enterprises have not been helped over the past five years. They have suffered the effects of the recession. People have been trying to start new businesses, but there is so much bureaucracy and there are so much impediments in their way. And some of the schemes that the Government announced, such as Microfinance schemes, to make up for the fact that banks virtually stopped lending. Those schemes seem to be laden with bureaucracy, as well. You have to jump through all sorts of hoops to qualify for them. Before the general election, the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said that several Ubers are required in the city centre, which he said would assist spin-off companies in the region. We need lots of different plants, both with local money and foreign direct investment, and units of 300 and 500, so that if one goes, there are dozens of others right through the region, and particularly through the city, he said. CALLOUS thieves broke into two Limerick churches and stole hundreds of euro on Holy Saturday night. Burglars ransacked the sacristies at St Pauls Church in Dooradoyle and St Oliver Plunkett Church in Mungret and stole the cash overnight. Gardai at Roxboro are investigating the thefts, described by St Pauls-based priest Rev Noel Murphy as sickening and maddening. The intruders were understood to be targeting Easter dues for the priests from parishioners, some of which would have been collected at ceremonies earlier in the day. A garda spokesperson said the culprits smashed rear windows to gain access to the sacristy areas of each church and that a sum of cash was taken during each break-in. It is understood the money was removed from a date at one of the churches. Both scenes were forensically examined by members of the divisional Scenes of Crime unit on Easter Sunday and inquiries have been conducted in the locality. Local Fianna Fail councillor James Collins said: No premises is sacred from thieves any more, it seems. It is a despicable act, especially during Easter. Rev Murphy arrived at St Pauls Church on Easter Sunday to find the door of the sacristy burst open, a window smashed, and the safe removed from its regular spot, and damaged. He said he believes an angle-grinder was used in the other theft at St Oliver Plunkett Church in Mungret. You wouldnt expect to wake up on Easter Sunday morning to find money stolen from a church. Especially during this time of year, and on the day of the Easter Rising centenary commemoration. People were saying to me after the Mass: This isnt what Padraig Pearse and his colleagues died for in the 1916 Rising, Rev Murphy said. Two men in their 20s were arrested following the incident, but were released without charge pending directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. Anyone with information is asked to contact Roxboro Garda station at 061-214340. BELL X1 are to return to Limerick for a show at the Big Top on the October Bank Holiday weekend. The top Irish band, who are due to release new studio album Arms later this year, will play the Big Top venue at the Milk Market on Friday, October 28. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am. The trio Paul Noonan, Dave Geraghty and Dominic Phillips played a superb acoustic show in the Lime Tree in October last year and promised to return for a full live outdoor show. They last played the Big Top in September 2013. Bell X1 are also due to play Mitchelstowns Indiependence on the August Bank Holiday weekend. The trio recently released new single The Upswing. Speaking to the Limerick Leader recently about the new album, multi-instrumentalist Geraghty said Arms, the follow up to 2013s much acclaimed Chop Chop, which was their third Number 1 and fourth consecutive album to be nominated for a Choice prize, would break the mould or the formula (we) have used before. Rather than making another Chop Chop, which was very well received, we kind of naturally say, well, we have been over here now, lets purposefully go here, rather than doing the same thing again, he explained. I think every time it is about - we kind of instinctively have broken the mould and moved away from what we have done before, he said. A computed tomography image reveals the 305-million-year-old arachnid that is almost, but not quite, a spider. A new fossil found in France is almost a spider, but not quite. The arachnid, locked in iron carbonate for 305 million years, reveals the stepwise evolution of arachnids into spiders. Dubbed Idmonarachne brasieri after the Greek mythological figure Idmon, father of Arachne, a weaver turned into a spider by a jealous goddess, the "almost spider" lacks only the spinnerets that spiders use to turn silk into webs. "It's not quite a spider, but it's very close to being one," said study researcher Russell Garwood, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. [See Images of the Fossilized 'Almost Spider'] Locked in rock Arachnids are an ancient group with murky origins, Garwood told Live Science. The creatures were among the first land-dwellers, adopting a terrestrial life at least 420 million years ago. There are very few rocks laid down on land from that time, so little of arachnids' early history is preserved, Garwood said. And figuring out arachnid evolutionary relationships from DNA is likewise difficult because arachnids diversified so early, leaving few traceable evolutionary changes in their genes. The oldest known spider fossil comes from the Montceau-les-Mines, a coal seam in eastern France. That spider was 305 million years old. The newfound fossil from the same time period reveals that these ancient spiders lived alongside not-quite-spider cousins. The 0.4-inch-long (10 millimeters) arachnid was discovered decades ago, but no one could make much of it, because the front half of the fossil is buried in rock. Computed tomography unlocked the mystery by allowing Garwood and his colleagues to peer inside the rock at the arachnid's walking legs and mouthparts, which are important for identifying the genus and species of this kind of creature. Long-lost cousin The arachnid turned out to have had spiderlike mouthparts and legs. But unlike true spiders, it lacked spinnerets. It also had a segmented abdomen, rather than a fused abdomen, which modern spiders have. "We're looking at a line of spiderlike arachnids that haven't survived but must have split off before 305 million years ago," Garwood said. Members of an earlier arachnid branch, called the Uraraneida, known from 385-million-year-old fossils, were also spiderlike in appearance, Garwood said, but had a long, tail-like structure called the flagellum that disappeared before I. brasieri branched off the family tree. Uraraneida did not have spinnerets, but did have structures called spigots that could have excreted silk. As a result, the researchers said they suspect that I. brasieri might have produced silk, too, just without the spectacular weaving abilities that spinnerets allow. The researchers said they plan to examine other fossils to get a better understanding of the rise of spiders. Very little is known about how spiders and other arachnids, such as scorpions and harvestmen, fit together in a family tree, Garwood said. "Arachnids as a whole are an incredibly successful group," he said. "They're the most diverse group of living organisms after insects. They're really, really successful but we have a very limited understanding of how they are related to each other." Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. Researchers use ground-penetrating radar to examine the graves of Shakespeare and his family. William Shakespeare arguably the greatest playwright of all time is missing his head, scientists have discovered. Archaeologists recently scanned the famed writer's grave with ground-penetrating radar. They found that the bard's skull was missing and that he isn't buried in a coffin. Instead, Shakespeare's body is wrapped in cloth and buried inside a shallow grave less than 3 feet (1 meter) deep, the researchers said. "Now, we all have a much greater understanding of what lies beneath his gravestone," said Kevin Colls, an archaeological project manager at Staffordshire University in the United Kingdom. [8 Grisly Archaeological Discoveries] A close-up of the ground-penetrating-radar results. (Image credit: Channel 4, Arrow Media) Shakespeare died in 1616, and his grave in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, continues to draw crowds. It also attracts researchers one anthropologist, for instance, wants to study Shakespeare's bones to determine whether the poet smoked pot but no one has officially been allowed to open up the grave. But these rules didn't stop grave robbers. According to one tale, grave robbers, led by a certain Dr. Frank Chambers, broke into Shakespeare's grave in 1794. The account was later published in an 1879 story, which noted that Chambers sold the famous skull for 300 British pounds, or 39,000 British pounds (about $56,000) in today's money, Colls said. But until now, there was little evidence to determine whether the tale was true, he said. One day in 2010, Colls found himself talking with the former vicar of Holy Trinity Church. Colls was doing an archaeological project at Shakespeare's last home, and they got to "chatting about the fact that no one had ever been allowed to investigate his grave using archaeology," Colls told Live Science in an email. Intrigued, Colls asked whether he could use radar a nonintrusive technique to study the grave's contents. The church agreed. "There are so many myths and legends associated with [Shakespeare's] burial," Colls said. "Some suggest he was buried 17 feet [5.2 m] down. Others say he was buried in a family crypt with the rest of his relatives. [The] truth is that no one knew which, if any, were right." Shakespeare's grave Colls and his colleagues used ground-penetrating radar to scan the famed grave. This technique works by pulsing radio waves through the ground. These waves are reflected back to a receiver as they bounce off buried material and objects, he said. A view of the bard's grave (in the middle). (Image credit: Channel 4, Arrow Media) "Each different material in the ground reflects these waves back differently, which means we can map these changes to visualize what is under the ground," Colls said. They scanned the bard's grave and the graves of four family members buried next to him, including his wife, Anne Hathaway. Despite rumors that Shakespeare's grave was empty, they found a body hopefully, Shakespeare's buried under his gravestone. [Top 10 Weird Ways We Deal with the Dead] Interestingly, the western side of the grave, where Shakespeare's head would have rested, was disturbed, and a "boxlike structure was present, cutting through his grave to possibly repair the floor in that area," Colls said. In addition, the story about Dr. Chambers mentions that the grave robbers dug to a depth that matches the newfound measurements of Shakespeare's grave, Colls said. "The area of disturbance was a surprise, as all of the tales of grave robbing of his tomb had always been dismissed as fiction," Colls said. "Secret History: Shakespeare's Tomb," a TV documentary featuring the findings, aired this past Saturday (March 26) on British TV station Channel 4. The research team plans to publish the results in the journal Archaeological Prospection later this year and to write a book about it thereafter. In the meantime, they'll be searching for Shakespeare's skull. "We believe that his skull is probably located somewhere else, and further research is required to figure out where that might be," Colls said. Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. A team of researchers prepares for more recent archaeological excavations in the limestone cave called Liang Bua, on the Indonesian island of Flores. The extinct human lineage nicknamed "the hobbit" for its miniature body may have vanished soon before or soon after modern humans arrived on the hobbits' island home, rather than living alongside modern humans for thousands of years as was previously thought, researchers say. By using new techniques to date hobbit skeletons and the sediment where they were buried, researchers determined that the "hobbit" species, Homo floresiensis, likely vanished earlier than prior estimates had suggested. Even so, the scientists aren't sure whether modern humans had anything to do with the extinction of the hobbits. "Homo floresiensis reminds us that human diversity was far greater in the past than it is today," said study co-lead author Matthew Tocheri, a paleoanthropologist at Lakehead University in Ontario. "There were lots of different kinds of hominin species, and some of them shared this planet at the same time as us. But all of these other hominins have gone extinct, and we modern humans are the only ones left. We need to better understand why they went extinct and we survived in order to make better decisions as a species for how we take care of our planet and each other for the future." [See Images of Hobbit Skeleton and the New Excavations] Dating hobbit fossils The first hobbit fossils were found in 2003 in Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. Scientists weren't sure what species the fossils belonged to, but they found that the individuals were equipped with grapefruit-size brains and would have stood just 3 feet (1 meter) tall hence the "hobbit" moniker. Examination of the fossils suggested that Homo floresiensis belonged to a unique branch of the human lineage. But a question remained: Did these hobbits live with their bigger-bodied relatives? Prior work suggested that the sediments in which the hobbit fossils were found were about 12,000 to 95,000 years old. The unexpectedly young ages of the fossils suggested that the hobbits may have survived until long after modern humans reached Australia and likely other nearby Indonesian islands about 50,000 years ago. "This long period of potential overlap was always a puzzle to us, as extinctions seem to follow hot on the heels of modern humans when they arrive somewhere new," said study co-author Richard "Bert" Roberts, a geochronologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia. Mixing sediment layers From 2007 to 2014, Tocheri, Roberts and their colleagues conducted new excavations in Liang Bua cave. They found that hobbits used this cave between 190,000 and 50,000 years ago not until as recently as about 12,000 years ago, which had been suggested previously. Archaeological excavations at Liang Bua can reach depths of more than 26 feet (8 meters). (Image credit: Liang Bua Team) "There was no lengthy period of overlap between the two species, as far as we can determine," Roberts told Live Science. "In fact, we don't even know if they overlapped at all." The researchers exposed parts of Liang Bua cave not seen in the original excavations, revealing that layers of sediment in the cave are not deposited evenly. "Liang Bua is an amazing site, and incredibly complex, too," study co-lead author Thomas Sutikna, an archaeologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia, told Live Science. "Every year we return to excavate, we learn something we didn't know or realize before." [Top 10 Mysteries of the First Humans] The researchers discovered that the sediment deposits in which the hobbits were found were actually similar in age to ones near the center of Liang Bua cave that the researchers dated as about 74,000 years old. The hobbit deposits were later covered by much younger deposits during the past 20,000 years, making them appear younger than they were. "Our new excavations and analyses show that the skeletal remains of Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua are between approximately 100,000 and 60,000 years old, while stone artifacts reasonably attributable to this species range from about 190,000 to 50,000 years old," Tocheri said. Giant storks, pygmy elephants and dragons The hobbit was not the only species that suddenly disappeared from the Liang Bua deposits about 50,000 years ago. Vultures, giant marabou storks, Komodo dragons and pygmy Stegodon an extinct relative of elephants vanished from the area at about the same time as the hobbit. Possible reasons for this mass extinction include not only the arrival of modern humans, but also volcanic eruptions and climatic shifts, Tocheri said. "More research is clearly needed to document what exactly happened," Tocheri said. Archaeologists excavate sediment deposits dating to the Holocene (the last 11,700 years of Earth's history) in the Liang Bua cave. (Image credit: Liang Bua Team) Tocheri noted that the pygmy Stegodon was the only large-bodied herbivore known to live on Flores when the hobbit was alive, "and it was clearly a primary food source for Homo floresiensis, vultures, giant marabou storks and Komodo dragons. If something happened to cause the pygmy Stegodon population to crash," he said, "then it more than likely would have had an adverse effect on these other species." (Previous research suggested that these giant carnivorous storks snacked on hobbits.) It remains an open question whether hobbits and modern humans ever lived alongside each other. "The earliest known evidence of modern humans on Flores is from about 11,000 years ago and after, but we do know that modern humans were on other islands in the region around this time and had reached Australia by about 50,000 years ago," Roberts said. "At least for Australia, the weight of evidence points to humans playing a decisive role in the extinction of the giant endemic animals the 'megafauna' that once roamed the continent." Roberts added, "So was Homo floresiensis another casualty of the spread of our species? This is certainly a possibility that we take seriously, but solid evidence is needed in order to demonstrate it. One thing we can be certain of it will definitely be a major focus of further research." The scientists detailed their findings online March 30 in the journal Nature (opens in new tab). Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. The skull and crown of Saint Erik. On April 23, 2014, the medieval reliquary containing the saint's bones was opened at a ceremony in Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden. To open a medieval reliquary containing a saint's bones, you have to have a good reason, said Sabine Sten. Sten is an osteoarchaeologist (a type of scientist who studiesskeletal remains from archaeological sites) at Uppsala University in Sweden. Two years ago, she got permission to open a reliquary (a container used to hold objects deemed holy) at the Uppsala Cathedral, to study the bones of Erik Jedvardsson, a medieval Swedish king turned saint. "We have analyzed thousands of individuals from the medieval period in Sweden, but the people we lack resources from [are] the people like Erik, who have high status," Sten told Live Science. The bones hadn't been examined since 1946before the rise of radiocarbon dating and DNA tests. After a new analysis, Sten and her team announced that Erik's remains may be authentic, and could reveal more information about his healthy life and gruesome death. [Religious Mysteries: 8 Alleged Relics of Jesus] A mural painting, displayed in Uppsala Cathedral, of King Erik during mass. (Image credit: Anders Damberg) For almost as long as Christianity has been around, Christian relics have been objects of worship, but they became increasingly popular in Europe in the Middle Ages. Churches across the continent claimed to have venerable artifacts like the foreskin of Jesus, as well as the nails and cross used in his crucifixion, and the tooth of Mary Magdalene. Perhaps unsurprisingly, not all holy relics hold up to scientific scrutiny. For instance, a 2010 study in the journal Forensic Science International concluded that the charred relics of Joan of Arc kept in a glass bottle in France were fake (and even included some cat bone fragments). And radiocarbon dating tests showed that the two skulls in a relic shrine in Sweden thought to belong to the 14th century St. Birgitta and her daughter, Katarina, were actually separated by about 200 years one was much older, and the other much younger, than they should have been. No historical sources from Erik's lifetime mention him. But according to texts written more than a century later, Erik led the First Swedish Crusade, spreading Christianity to the Finns, until the king was beheaded in 1160 by rebels aligned with a Danish claimant to the throne. Erik became a saint after his death, and his remains have supposedly been kept in a reliquary in Uppsala Cathedral since 1257. They were even left in place after the 16th century Reformation, in which Sweden transformed from a Catholic country into a Protestant one. [Holy Dream Team? The Most Notorious Catholic Saints] A shin bone thought to belong to the Swedish medieval king Saint Erik shows cuts, possibly from battle wounds. (Image credit: Anna Kjellstrom) From the reliquary, Sten and her colleagues studied 23 bones, seemingly from the same person. (DNA test results are still pending, which would definitively confirm whether all of these bones belonged to one individual.) The radiocarbon tests, which measure the age of organic materials, were consistent with a death in 1160, the researchers said. The analysis showed that the bones belonged to a man who died at age 35 to 40. Standing at about 5 feet 6 inches (1.7 meters) tall, he was well fed and well built, with no discernible diseases, the researchers found. "His body is very healthy," Sten said. Compared with men in their 30s in Sweden today, Erik's bones were much stronger actually, 25 percent stronger, according to a measurement of his bone density hinting that he had a very active life. "We can also see that he was consuming freshwater fish," Sten added, which makes sense considering that, in the 12th century, Christians had to observe more fast[ing] days in which they were not allowed to eat meat from sheep, cattle or pigs. According to legend, Erik was attacked, tormented and beheaded by his enemies after leaving a church. The bone analysis showed that he suffered seven severe cuts on his legs, and one of his neck vertebra was cut through. For now, Sten said she and her colleagues are still waiting on the DNA results in order to learn more about Erik's genealogy and whether he was harboring diseases that are invisible to the naked eye. Their initial findings will be published in an upcoming issue of the Swedish journal Fornvannen. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. Editor's note: As of August 4, 2022, the constitutional right to abortion has been eliminated in the U.S, following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. The following article was published on March 30, 2016, and therefore any legal information regarding abortion laws in Ohio, Texas and North Dakota is no longer accurate. The Food and Drug Administration has approved changes to the label for mifepristone, also known as "the abortion pill," the agency said this week. The new label says that the drug (sold under the brand name Mifeprex) can be taken later in pregnancy and at a lower dose than what was recommended on the old label. Many doctors already follow the new regimen in what's known as "off-label" use, because recent studies have shown that this regimen is safer and more effective than the protocol on the old label. But a few states, including Ohio, Texas and North Dakota, had laws that required doctors to follow the regimen on the label exactly. "These laws compelled health care providers to use an outdated, inferior and less effective regimen," Planned Parenthood said in a statement, weighing in on the FDA's new rule. "The FDA's approval of the new Mifeprex label means that medication abortion [using drugs to end a pregnancy] can once again be provided everywhere in the U.S. in accordance with what research shows is safest and most effective," the statement said. [11 Big Fat Pregnancy Myths] Here are the facts about mifepristone: What is mifepristone? Mifepristone is a medication used to induce abortion. It's taken in combination with another drug, called misoprostol, to end a pregnancy early on. The drug combination is an alternative to the surgical abortion procedure performed in a clinic, called an aspiration abortion.. ABORTION GUIDANCE AND ADVICE Abortion laws by state: https://reproductiverights.org/maps/abortion-laws-by-state/ (opens in new tab) For questions about legal rights and self-managed abortion: www.reprolegalhelpline.org (opens in new tab) To find an abortion clinic in the US: www.ineedanA.com (opens in new tab) Miscarriage & Abortion Hotline operated by doctors who can offer expert medical advice: Available online (opens in new tab) or at 833-246-2632 To find practical support accessing abortion: www.apiarycollective.org (opens in new tab) How does it work? Mifepristone blocks the action of the hormone progesterone, which is important to maintain a pregnancy. Blocking progesterone causes the lining of the uterus to break down, and ends the pregnancy, according to Planned Parenthood. What changes did the FDA make to the mifepristone label? The old label said that mifepristone could be taken up to 49 days after a woman's last menstrual period, but the new label says that the drug can also be taken later in pregnancy: up to 70 days after a woman's last period. The new label also lowers the dose of the medication, from 600 milligrams to 200 mg. This regimen reduces the side effects, and also the cost, of a medication abortion, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Finally, the new label reduces the number of appointments that a woman needs for a medication abortion from three to two. The old label said that in addition to the initial appointment needed to get a prescription for the medication, women needed to return to the doctor three days after taking mifepristone, and again 14 days after taking the drug. But the new label eliminates the appointment after three days, and says that a woman should return for follow-up with her health care provider seven to 14 days after taking the medication. Is mifepristone the same as the morning-after pill? No, the morning-after pill, also called emergency contraception, is taken to prevent pregnancy from occurring a short time after unprotected sex; it does not affect an established pregnancy. What are the risks? Common side effects of a medication abortion include nausea, weakness, fever/chills, vomiting, headache, diarrhea and dizziness, according to the FDA. Serious side effects are rare, but can include infection and hemorrhage; these occur in less than 0.5 percent of people who take the medication, the FDA said. Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. FollowLive Science @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science. This article was updated on August 4, 2022 by Live Science contributor Alice Ball following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. This decision eliminated the constitutional right to abortion that was established by the 1973 court case and later affirmed by a 1992 case called Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. Tomorrow night, the Casa Blanca Ballroom will play host to The Complete Beatles Experience. Liverpool Legends, are four incredibly talented musicians and actors hand-picked by Louise Harrison sister of the late George Harrison of the The Beatles. Louises involvement in Liverpool Legends makes them the only Beatles Tribute Band with a direct family link to the original Fab Four. Each member of the group is so close to the original that I often feel like Im transported back in time with the lads. These are exactly the kind of fun loving quality musicians that my brother George would have loved to hang out with, says Harrison. Liverpool Legends along with Louise Harrison were nominated for a Grammy Award for their work on Fab Fan Memories - a Beatles Bond, released in 2011. 2015 had been a very exciting year for the group as they toured The U.S. and internationally, culminating with a sold out performance for over 16,000 people at Arena Ciudad de Mexico, as well as sold out performances in Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador. Grammy Nominated Liverpool Legends headlined at the prestigious Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, in front of 68,000 people (an audience larger than The Beatles performed for at Shea Stadium). Liverpool Legends also received national attention when they re-created The Beatles famed 1966 concert at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Along with these venues, this past month, Liverpool Legends played the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City where The Beatles performed in 1964 right after the Ed Sullivan Show. Recently Liverpool Legends were chosen over every other Beatles Tribute band in the world by top television and film producer Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI, Pirates of The Caribbean, National Treasure) to portray the band that changed the course of music and the world forever. Celebrating their 10th season headlining their own show in Branson Missouri, Liverpool Legends have been awarded Best New Show, Best Band, Best Show, and received the prestigious Visitors Choice Award for Entertainer of The Year for two consecutive years. Members of Liverpool Legends have toured the world, playing in historic venues such as The Cavern Club in Liverpool and recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London. They have performed with Denny Laine (co-founder of Wings with Paul McCartney), Pete Best (the original Beatles drummer) and the Boston Pops. Liverpool Legends have appeared on The Travel Channels Beatlemania Britain and headlined International Beatles Week in Liverpool where 100,000 Beatles fans jammed Victoria Street to hear them in concert. Liverpool Legends perform songs spanning the entire career of The Beatles and on through the solo years. With precise attention to every musical detail, along with costume changes, vintage instruments and special effects, Liverpool Legends will make you feel like you are watching the real thing. Together, these four lads will bring you The Complete Beatles Experience. The show is scheduled for tomorrow night at the Casa Blanca Ballroom from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at Guerra Communications, San Ramon Record Shop, Casa Raul Western Wear North & South and at the door the night of the show. If you prefer to buy them online, they may be purchased at ticketfly.com. Live Music Liverpool Legends Saturday, March 26 @ 8 p.m. Casa Blanca Ballroom, 5302 E. Saunders Street Check out our latest E-Edition Accessible anytime and anywhere on your desktop, tablet and smart phone devices. The Lodi News e-Edition is enhanced with the latest digital tools, including RSS feeds, social networking and much more. Check out our latest E-edition! Longford County Council's decision to grant planning permission for the construction of a 233 million holiday village near Ballymahon has been appealed to An Bord Pleanala. Appeals were submitted to the statutory planning authority last week by two parties: Mr Robbie Hannifin of Corboy, Edgeworthstown, and B Power of Dun Darragh, Dublin Road, Longford. Both question the sustainability of Center Parcs Ireland Ltd's planned development at Newcastle Wood. In a submission made to the local authority prior to permission being granted, Mr Hannifin said, I submit that the proposed development is unsustainable and would, if commenced, become Carrigglas No. 2. Meanwhile, a submission made by B Power to Longford County Council at the same time contended that the applicant company did not purchase the land it intends to build upon. The submission also alleged the planning application bears a striking resemblance to the English holiday park planning applications and in particular to that rejected by Bedfordshire Council before adding that, there's not the remotest prospect of any sustainable numbers travelling to Ballymahon. Longford County Council approved planning permission for the proposed holiday village last month, having received more than 80 submissions in relation to it. An Bord Pleanala is expected to rule on the current appeals before July 25. This week the final installment in the Leaders 1916 supplement examines the commemorations locally. Last week schools across the county celebrated Proclamation Day and next week Longford GAA will host St Kiernans GAA club from London and Pearse Park in Longford will be redicated. A plaque to remember Patrick Belton from Lanesboro who participated in the 1916 Rising and held strong links to the GAA in London, will also be unveiled during the commemorations, and the supplement will also examine the relationship between Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan, the famous Granard woman whose family was dogged by tragedy. There are also photos from Longford past and present and as usual we profile some of the 14 men and women from Co Longford who participated in the 1916 Rising. In reflection the period 1916-1919 changed the course of history on this island of ours and led to the birth of the Republic of Ireland within a few short years. Did it achieve all its aims, probably not when we see the inequality and poverty that exists all around us and the cruelty that was perpetrated by the church and State towards mothers and children in the years thereafter, However, it did change the course of history, and as a nation we continue the good fight for justice and equality for a nation and its people. Check out this weeks Longford Leader and the 1916 Supplement for more! A County Mayo civil servant is expected to be confirmed as Longford County Council's new chief executive officer in two weeks time. Paddy Mahon, a director of services with the Connacht based local authority, is being hotly tipped to take over from predecessor, Tim Caffrey who retired earlier this month. Six members from Longford County Council's Corporate Policy Grouping (CPG) held talks on Tuesday over the role. In the wake of those discussions, it's anticipated Mr Mahon's candidacy will formally come before the Council for discussion at its next monthly meeting on April 13. It's at that meeting that all 18 of Longford's county councillors are likely to formally ratify Mr Mahon's name for adoption. It's believed the Galway born public official beat off stiff opposition for the post. At least four candidates were shortlisted for consideration which was advertised earlier this year by the Public Appointments Service. A native of Tuam, Mr Mahon's departure has been greeted with mixed emotions from his present day employers. His departure will be felt in Mayo, admitted Mayo County Council Cathaoirleach, Michael Holmes. I have said it before and I will say it again-Mayo's loss is certainly Longford's gain. The Independent county councillor said Longford were getting an experienced public official who was renowned for his level-headed approach to day-to-day affairs. He was very popular and a guy that was very well got by elected members, staff and the general public, said Cllr Holmes. He has very good negotiating skills and would be known for using a common sense approach when problems arose. A civil engineer by professsion, it was that prudent approach which saw Mr Mahon rise through the ranks of Mayo County Council before eventually becoming Director of Services. Cllr Holmes said Mr Mahon's ability as a public official was perhaps best illustrated by his role in one of Ireland's most divisive issues. He was also director of service s in the Belmullet area at the time of the Corrib Gas (controversy) which was a very sensitive issue, he said. But again, he (Mr Mahon) used a lot of common sense in negotiating with all sides. Travel & Local Attractions, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: March 30 2016 LIRR Will Also Renew Crossing at New Highway & Conduct Sperry Rail Testing. Ronkonkoma, NY - March 30th, 2016 - Ronkonkoma Branch customers planning to ride the Long Island Rail Road over the weekend of Saturday, April 9 and Sunday, April 10, are advised to plan ahead and allow for extra travel time as bus service replaces trains service in both directions between Ronkonkoma and Hicksville. The busing program will begin at 12:45 a.m. Saturday and continue all day Sunday through 12:45 a.m. on Monday, April 11 as the LIRR carries out Double Track construction work, a crossing renewal project and Sperry Rail testing during a 48-hour track outage. Customers should expect up to 44 minutes of additional travel time in both directions. To avoid the busing program, customers may want to consider driving to nearby stations on the Port Jefferson, Babylon or Montauk branches where trains will run on regular weekend schedules. Westbound Customers beginning their trip at stations Ronkonkoma, Central Islip, Brentwood, Wyandanch and Pinelawn will board buses up to 44 minutes earlier than the usual train departure time for travel to Hicksville where they train service resumes. Eastbound Customers will travel by train as far as Hicksville where they will board buses to stations Pinelawn through Ronkonkoma. Bethpage & Farmingdale Service to Bethpage and Farmingdale are unaffected by the outage. Trains to those stations will operate on a regular weekend schedule. Crossing Renewal & Sperry Rail Testing The LIRR is taking advantage of the Double Track outage to renew the crossing at New Highway in Farmingdale and to carry out Sperry Rail Testing between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma. The Sperry Rail Car, a bright yellow vehicle fitted with ultrasonic and induction test equipment, is designed to detect internal rail defects not readily visible to the eye. Defects that are found will be corrected immediately by a crew of LIRR track maintenance workers. The Sperry Rail Car is used twice a year to inspect approximately 500 miles of LIRR track. For More Information Customers can pick up a copy of the Special Timetable for Ronkonkoma Branch travel over the weekend of April 9 and April 10 at terminals and stations or find it online at www.mta.info. For up-to-the-minute service info, customers can download the LIRRs Train Time app or sign up for LIRR service alerts at www.mymtaalerts.com. They can also contact the LIRRs Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and saying: Long Island Rail Road. If you are deaf or hearing impaired, use your preferred relay service provider for the free 711 relay to reach the LIRR at 511. Local News, Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: March 30 2016 SCPD Third Squad detectives arrested three suspects and confiscated 3 guns, cash and drugs after a man reported that he was the victim of a robbery in Bay Shore yesterday. Bay Shore, NY - March 30th, 2016 - Suffolk County Police Third Squad detectives arrested three suspects and confiscated three guns, cash and drugs after a man reported that he was the victim of a robbery at an apartment in Bay Shore yesterday. Suffolk County Police responded to a 911 call from a 17-year-old male who claimed that three men forcibly robbed a gold necklace and cash from him when he went to purchase marijuana at an apartment located at Hemlock Drive, Bay Shore. As a result of the investigation of the robbery, detectives were able to secure a warrant from First District Court to search the premises. During the execution of the search warrant, three loaded handguns and a quantity of heroin, cocaine and marijuana were discovered. In addition, digital scales and other paraphernalia typically used for the packaging and sale of illegal drugs were confiscated. Third Squad detectives arrested three suspects: Johnathan Sostre, 21, was charged with Robbery 2nd Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2nd Degree and Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia, 2nd Degree. Lydell Barham, 31, was charged with Robbery 2nd Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2nd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, and Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia 2nd Degree. Nikeva Mills, 33, was charged with three counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 4th Degree, three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2nd Degree, three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 4th Degree, two counts of Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia 2nd Degree and Unlawful Possession of Marijuana. Sostre and Barham are being held at the Third Precinct and Mills is being held at the Fourth Precinct. They are scheduled to be arraigned this morning at First District Court in Central Islip. This investigation is continuing. Detectives ask anyone with information about this criminal activity to contact the Third Squad at 631-854-8352. A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 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 Hispanicize, the nations premier gathering of Latino digital content creators, marketers, journalists, musicians, filmmakers and tech entrepreneurs, announced this years honorees for the Positive Impact Awards, including McCallie staff member and "culture philanthropist" Veronica Herrera. Ms. Herrera, a resident of East Brainerd who is active in the Ridgedale Neighborhood Association, won in the Professional Empowerment division. The national program is sponsored by Prudential Financial, Inc. The Positive Impact Awards celebrate individuals who volunteer their time and resources to make a difference in the lives of Hispanic Americans across the country. Hispanicize 2016 Week is taking place April 4-8 in downtown Miami. Officials said, "This years awards, hosted by CNN en Espanol host Ismael Cala and NBC UNIVERSO host Yarel Ramos, will honor four exemplary leaders who are making incredible strides in championing initiatives that promote community revitalization, STEM initiatives, professional development and financial literacy." It has never been more important to recognize the good deeds of Latinos in our nation, said Manny Ruiz, founder and creative director of the Hispanicize event. We received many heart-warming nominations for the Positive Impact Awards this year and cannot express how moving it is to learn about the compassion and determination of people in our community. Together with Prudential, we take great pride in creating a program that celebrates every-day heroes and disseminates their message of unity and accomplishment. We are proud to help shine a light on all of these outstanding individuals, whose efforts are so closely aligned with our work to promote financial education, and building assets for economic and social mobility. Each of this years winners are leaders making a difference in the lives of others in their own unique way, said Mammen Verghis, vice president of Multicultural Consumer Marketing at Prudential. The Positive Impact Awards were created in 2013 in honor of the late Louis Pagan, co-founder of Hispanicize and a well-known social media entrepreneur, who passed away suddenly in February 2013. Louis was widely known for his kindness and commitment to giving the community a voice through his vast social media networks. In the same way, the Positive Impact Awards recognize those who contribute selflessly for the betterment of their community. Ms. Herrera is a candidate for the Person of the Year, a higher award that will be given at the event in Miami. Officials said of Ms. Herrera, "For many, the most challenging part of uprooting their family and life to another location is having to start from zero. "Recognizing the many difficulties that families face during this time in their lives, Veronica Herrera has worked tirelessly to create initiatives that help the immigrant and multicultural community overcome obstacles and grow professionally. "Since 1992, through her job as an educator, and through her own volunteer work in the community, she has created and grown a variety of programs that have provided job training and promoted diversity and inclusion throughout Tennessee and the northern Georgia region. "Included among her initiatives, Veronica assists community members in building resumes, writing professional recommendations, mentoring, and job readiness, in addition to other workforce related initiatives. Additionally, she works to encourage community members to take on leadership roles such as serving on executive boards while motivating them to promote diversity through a variety of different programs. To date, through the support of her many programs, Veronica has helped thousands of people become job ready and secure employment. "But her work doesnt stop there. Veronica also plans numerous large, cultural and fundraising events in Chattanooga and plans activities for residents in underserved neighborhoods. Through this effort, she gives young people the chance to share their culture and talent, motivating what she calls culture philanthropy, connecting Chattanooga Hispanic-owned small businesses with the local workforce to identify opportunities for employment. "Currently, she is conducting research around the use of social media to attain leadership skills, recognizing these as powerful tools that can help immigrants and refugees have job readiness. "At her core, Ms. Herrera believes that small acts can make a world of a difference in the economic and social growth of a community. She plans to develop a motivation model that urges others in other cities to do the same. Her long-term goal is to demonstrate how the effects of local leadership can have a national impact as well." Cleveland Grimes, the longtime executive director of the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment authority, died unexpectedly on Tuesday night. He was 58. Mr. Grimes collapsed in his yard earlier Tuesday and was taken to Northpark Hospital, where he later died, it was stated. Phone calls for the WWTA on Wednesday were being taken by a county employee from another office. The WWTA had been under fire recently with some local legislators considering abolishing it. County Commissioner Tim Boyd had been holding a series of community meetings getting public comment about the WWTA. Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said, "I am deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Cleveland Grimes. Cleveland was an outstanding public servant who worked in one of the most difficult jobs in Hamilton County. A large part of the growth and development of Hamilton County is due to Clevelands unwavering dedication to this community and his commitment to always doing the right thing at the WWTA. "We have lost an important member of the community. I have lost a good friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this extremely difficult time." At the start of Wednesday morning's County Commission meeting, Chairman Chester Bankston asked for a moment of silence relating to the Grimes passing. Chairman Bankston said, "I'm totally shocked. I'm really going to miss him." Several commissioners agreed with the county mayor that Mr. Grimes had "the toughest job in the county." Commissioner Boyd said he was canceling a planned community meeting on the WWTA "out of respect" for the departed official. It had been set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Red Bank City Hall. He said, "Our prayers go out to the Grimes family." County Commissioner Joe Graham said Mr. Grimes would always take his calls courteously, including on Tuesday, which was a day off for him. He said Mr. Grimes "died far too young." Commissioner Greg Beck said he had worked many years with his brother, and Commissioner Warren Mackey said he had worked with his wife at Chattanooga State. Commissioner Beck said, "He had a tough job, but he handled it with grace and kindness. He did one hell of a job out there." County Mayor Coppinger said, "I was totally shocked to get the phone call last night. He was more than just a friend and a colleague to me." He called Mr. Grimes "a man of integrity. If he told you something, he would do it. There were a lot of things he couldn't do. But he did an outstanding and unbelievable job with the limited resources he had." County Mayor Coppinger said during the Grimes tenure at WWTA "the regulations kept shifting. The goal post kept moving." He said, "People just had to keep being critical of Cleveland Grimes. Though he was the most knowledgeable person, he was criticized constantly. "The only thing I regret is that I didn't speak out more in his behalf." County Mayor Coppinger said he told Mr. Grimes he did not have to go to community meetings about the WWTA. He said he told him, "Send your lawyer. The defamation of your character is going on here." Mike Moon, WWTA chairman, said, "On behalf of the employees and board of directors of the WWTA, I am shocked and saddened to announce the sudden passing of Cleveland T. Grimes. Cleveland was the Waste Water Treatment Authoritys Executive Director, and more importantly, he was a friend to the board and to the entire 28-member staff of the WWTA who he considered his family. "We will miss Cleveland in so many ways, most significantly, his laugh that echoed throughout the hallways of our offices assuring everyone no matter what the crisis of the day was, everything was going to be all right. This is such a professional and personal loss. Cleveland was an inspiring leader, who was always positive, always optimistic, unfailingly polite and always committed to doing the right thing in a very, difficult job. He was truly the consummate professional. "Clevelands knowledge of the WWTA was encyclopedic, dating back to the Authoritys inception in 1991. Clevelands institutional knowledge is irreplaceable, as is his ability to work with homeowners, businesses and politicians on state and federal levels. He was also widely respected by his peers and the regulatory community. It seems incomprehensible that Cleveland will not be here tomorrow to lead us forward helping Hamilton Countys growth and development as he has for so many years. "Clevelands passing is a devastating loss and we share the grief that his wife Mary Knaff Grimes and his children Ryan Grimes and Julian Cleveland Grimes are now dealing with. Cleveland and his family are in our thoughts and prayers and Cleveland will remain forever in our hearts." At the recent annual meeting and luncheon of the Chattanooga Area Historical Association, Dr. R. Smith Murray was presented the 2015-2016 James W. Livingood Historian of the Year Award. The James W. Livingood Historian of the Year Award is presented to the individual that exhibits a lifetime of historical contribution in promoting, preserving, maintaining, or educating the public about the vast historic resources of the Chattanooga region. Dr. R. Smith Murray attended The McCallie School, Princeton University, and the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis. He completed his specialty training in Urology at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and recently retired from his practice in Chattanooga after 41 years. Smith enjoys history and writing. He has written three novels and one play along with numerous articles that have appeared in the Chattanooga Regional Historical Journal. Smith freely shares his love of local history with groups and had the opportunity of interviewing Shelby Foote several years ago. He is also past President of the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. The award was established in 2011 in honor of historian, author, and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Professor Dr. James Weston Livingood. Dr. Livingood influenced thousands of students during his career and wrote a number of articles and books on the history of the Chattanooga area. Luton is a large town, borough and unitary authority area of Bedfordshire. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 258,000. Luton is home to Championship team Luton Town Football Club, London Luton Airport and The University of Bedfordshire. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. For all the latest news from Luton sign up to our newsletter here. Backroads Names Top 5 Trending US National Parks Trips Yellowstone & Tetons, Bryce & Zion, Glacier & Waterton Lakes, Maine and Alaska are the most popular based on Backroads summer bookings.The Canadian Rockies national park is also a popular travel destination this summer. Outside of the United States, Europe continues to trend up as a popular summer spot especially to the waterside locations of Croatia, Iceland, Italy's Tuscan Coast, Spain's Costa Brava and the canals of Holland.National Parks are a unique part of the United States, allowing visitors to see protected land and ecosystems as well as geology and wildlife. With many national park celebrations planned, and hotel rooms in very high demand this summer, the timing is perfect for an active getaway organized by Backroads. The company has secured hard-to-get hotel reservations and handles all planning and logistics, enabling guests of all ages to unplug, relax and actively enjoy the parks and their natural splendor. Backroads currently offers the most trips to the US National Parks of any active travel company and has done so since the company's inception more than 37 years ago. Backroads' itineraries are created to encompass the best the parks have to offer while giving guests a great sense of journey.Backroads top trips to the national parks this summer include:Discover the Wonders of Wyoming's Wild PreservesUtah's Phenomenal National ParksIn Acadia National Park & Along Penobscot BayEpic Grandeur in Montana's & Alberta's National ParksAn Adventure from Seward to HomerFrom Icebergs & Marvelous Marine Life to the "Great One"In addition to the national parks, other destinations that are popular this summer with Backroads guests are locations along the water, and on the water, in Europe. Backroads Active River Cruises continue to be a guest favorite, with summer departures along the Danube, Rhine, Seine and Portugal's Douro rivers. Backroads is also seeing strong guest bookings for Croatia's Dalmatian Coast, Italy's Tuscan Coast Bike Tour, Pyrenees to Costa Brava Bike Tour and Walking & Hiking Tour, Holland & Belgium Bike Tour, and Iceland Multisport Adventure Tours.For those wishing to avoid the summer crowds and wanting to see a national park in a different season, Backroads offers a very special Yellowstone Winter Snow Adventure Tour with dogsledding, ice-skating, animal safaris and the chance to see Yellowstone's splendors in their winter environment.Backroads' National Park family trips offer a range of activities for both parents and kids separately and together such as hiking, biking, rafting and kayaking. Backroads runs National Parks trips in the following regions:Eastern U.S. National Park TripsMaineEverglades to Key WestRockies U.S. and Canada National Park TripsCanadian RockiesGlacier & Waterton LakesYellowstone & TetonsWestern & Pacific U.S. National Park TripsAlaska Kenai Peninsula; Prince William Sound to DenaliBryce & ZionBryce, Zion & Grand CanyonCrater LakeDeath ValleyHawaiiPalm Springs & Joshua TreeRedwood EmpireSan Juan Islands, Victoria & Olympic National ParkYosemiteInformation on all Backroads National Park trips can be found here: New Alaskan Wilderness Adventure Offered by Cox & Kings Each leg of this new journey captures the striking landscapes, abundant wildlife and tranquil environment of this untamed region.The Alaskan Wilderness Adventure escorts guests from Anchorage, the state's largest and richly cultured city, to the secluded Winterlake Lodge located in the Alaska Range, along the Iditarod Trail. Owned by a local Alaskan family and accessible only by floatplane, Winterlake Lodge provides guests the opportunity to take in the majestic scenery with a glacier hike, an exhilarating fly-fishing excursion via helicopter, and a canoe ride to explore the regions stunning lakes. Evening activity options include a relaxing massage, a wine and cheese tasting, and a gourmet dinner.Next, guests will depart on a scenic boat ride across Kachemak Bay for Tutka Bay Lodge, located in the small city of Homer, and nestled snugly alongside Alaska's rugged southern coastline. Here they can indulge their adventurous side by sea kayaking on pristine waters and guided deep-sea salmon fishing, or pamper their peaceful inner-warrior by attending a yoga class and soaking in a soothing hot tub. From there, it is off to Alaska's Cook Inlet, known as one of the most plentiful halibut fisheries in the world, and where guests will spend the day fishing. Afterwards, they learn how to prepare their catch during one of the lodge's cooking classes.The nearby Katmai Peninsula is home to one of the largest concentrations of brown bears in the world. Guests of Cox & Kings join local guides and pilots to observe these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat. On this unforgettable adventure, guests walk along the same trails and riverbanks where the bears forage for sedge grass, dig for clams, play and salmon fish. On the final leg of the Alaskan Wilderness Adventure, guests return to Anchorage and embark on a sightseeing tour of the city, including a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Storytellers captivate visitors with historic tales, and native dancers perform traditional indigenous dances. This wild Alaskan journey ends with a festive, cultural farewell dinner, before departing the next day for their flight home. The price for this 8 day, 7 night journey is $12,970 per person based on two people traveling together and double occupancy. There is an additional charge of $995 per person for internal air.For the 2016-2017 travel year, Cox & Kings is meeting the demands of today's traveler with a larger selection of short trips or Spotlight Journeys' around the globe. New this year within the U.S. are Miami, Florida Charleston, South Carolina , and New Orleans, Louisiana . During each of these 4 day, 3 night itineraries, guests can eat, tour and shop the French Quarter of New Orleans, soak-up the rays while relaxing on the beautiful beaches of Miami, visit the UNESCO World Heritage site in Taos, and sample the traditional southern cuisine of Charleston. Pilsen Church Vandalized With Hate Speech, Swastika After Anti-Deportation Speech By Rachel Cromidas in News on Mar 30, 2016 1:46PM Photo of some of the vandalism, via Emma Lozano A Pilsen church was vandalized with disturbing graffiti sometime overnight Tuesday, including the words "rape Mexico" and the image of a Nazi swastika. The graffiti was made on the front door of the church, located at 2242 S. Damen Ave., according to Pastor Emma Lozano, who wrote about the vandalism on Facebook Tuesday night. Lozano said the vandalism may have been in response to coverage of Rev. Jesse Jackson's Easter sermon at the Lincoln United Methodist Church, during which he told its mostly Latino congregation that they should embrace immigrant families and those facing deportation. She also blamed racism at Donald Trump and Ted Cruz rallies for emboldening racist people to hurt communities of color. "I know we think that these 'white power' advocates are only in other communities, but we should be aware that the wave of racism across the nation, evident in large crowds at Trump and Cruz rallies, is emboldening those who would carry out acts of terror to sneak int our communities under the cover of darkness," Lozano said in a statement. "Some group has determined to send us a message. Of course, we will in no way be intimidatedbut we will inform our community and we will remain alert." In a separate Facebook post Tuesday night written in Spanish, Lozano questioned the motives of the vandals. "For those who call themselves Christians and evangelicals and are voting for Trump and Cruz, remember that Jesus was a refugee and migrant and a Christian can not praise Jesus on Sunday morning and build a wall and call for deportation on Monday," she wrote. "We will fight [for the vandalism] to not divide our families. We will March on May 1st."" Speakers from Meta, Finnegan, Equifax and the LOT Network said it was important to use data, get involved and reach out more to improve diversity and inclusion The case of Dynawell Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd v Dynasty Landmark Sdn Bhd; Pendaftar Cap Dagangan Malaysia [2015] 1 LNS 1195, concerned an appeal against the Registrar's decision which disallowed the registration of the plaintiff's Dynasty mark. The plaintiff operates and manages its hotel business, the Dynasty Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, and filed an application for its Dynasty trade mark in 2000. The defendant opposed the plaintiff's application in 2007. The Registrar subsequently disallowed the plaintiff's application for its Dynasty trade mark. The defendant is the registered proprietor of the trade mark Dynasty Hotel and operates its hotel business in Sarawak, east Malaysia since 1992. The plaintiff's and the defendant's marks are illustrated. The plaintiff challenged the Registrar's decision in this appeal on the ground that the Registrar has erred in law and in fact. Confusion and deception The High Court endorsed the test adopted in the decision in Tohtonku Sdn Bhd v Superace (M) Sdn Bhd [1992] 2 MLJ 63 and in applying this test, the High Court considered the visual differences of the marks, the goods/services to which they are applied and the channels through which the goods/services are bought or sold. Based on this test, the High Court held that both the plaintiff's and the defendant's marks are similar and the plaintiff's mark cannot be allowed in the market as it will result in confusion and deception. It is also of interest that the High Court held that where parties' services are in direct competition, namely the hotel services industry, only a small degree of similarity is required to establish the likelihood of confusion. Plaintiffs trade mark(Application number 00012622) Defendants trade mark(Registration number 98002352) Providing hotel accommodation; food and drink catering; cafes; cafeterias; canteens; rental of temporary accommodation; boarding houses; tourist homes; hotels; restaurants; boarding house bookings; hotel reservation; self-service restaurants; snack-bars; cocktail lounge services; holiday camp services; temporary accommodation reservations; motel; rental of meeting rooms; all being services included class 43. Services for providing food and drink, temporary accommodation; all included in class 43 Honest concurrent user The defence of "honest concurrent use" was raised by the plaintiff. However, the High Court held that this defence is not available to the plaintiff as it had only used the mark for about three years after the defendant has used its mark in the same hotel service industry. It is also worth noting that the High Court disallowed the submission of the plaintiff on honest concurrent use as it was not raised before the Registrar and was therefore precluded from being raised in the appeal. The plaintiff's appeal was accordingly dismissed. The High Court decision will be welcomed by trade mark owners as the decision endorsed the test of comparison of two similar marks and the decision also gave some clarification that three years' usage may not be sufficient for a party to raise a defence of honest concurrent use. Chew Kherk Ying Jaesy Yap Wong & PartnersLevel 21, The Gardens South Tower, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra59200 Kuala LumpurMalaysiaTel: +603 2298 7888Fax: +603 2282 2669www.wongpartners.com LGBT Caucus Asks Rahm To Take A Stand Against North Carolina's Bathroom Bill By Mae Rice in News on Mar 30, 2016 5:17PM (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The Chicago City Councils LGBT Caucus has written a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, asking him to ban non-essential travel to North Carolina on city business in light of that states transphobic new bathroom law, the Windy City Times reports. The caucus's letter, as quoted in the Windy City Times, reads: As you are aware, the state of North Carolina has enacted legislation which bars transgender persons from using bathrooms and changing facilities corresponding to such person's gender identities, excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from its anti-discrimination protections, and prohibits units of local government from extending such protections to LGBT citizens. Chicago is on record supporting efforts to promote mutual understanding and respect among all people who live and work in our great City. You have been a tireless leader on LGBT issues in Chicago and we are hopeful that you will lead us again in standing in solidarity with New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle, which have taken similar actions to condemn North Carolina's discriminatory law. The letter was signed by the five members of the LGBT Caucus: Tom Tunney (44th), James Cappleman (46th), Deb Mell (33rd), Raymond Lopez (15th) and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th). (All caucus members are out gay aldermen, RedEye reported in 2015, when the caucus was first organized.) The LGBT Caucus letter was also signed by Ald. Ed Burke (14th), the Windy City Times reports, though he is not a member of the caucus. Burke recently helped contest Chicagos tampon tax (and got it struck down, according to the Tribune). North Carolina travel bans similar to the one the caucus proposes have already been implemented in New York City, New York State, Seattle, Washington State and Vermont in light of the new bathroom law. The offending North Carolina lawsigned late last Wednesday night by North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, according to the New York Timesprohibits local governments throughout North Carolina from allowing transgender people to use the bathrooms and locker rooms allotted to the gender they identify as. Instead, transgender people in North Carolina must use facilities labeled for the gender on their birth certificates. In Illinois, a similar bathroom bill has been proposed, though it has not passed. As activists in the Chicago Restroom Access Project previously explained to Chicagoist, laws like the North Carolina one can cause health and safety problems for transgender people and other gender non-conforming people. After the product patent had expired, the brand name pharmaceutical company sued generic drug manufacturers based on a manufacturing process patent. The Tokyo District Court affirmed infringement under the doctrine of equivalents (DOE) for the medicinal compound's manufacturing process patent. Summary of the case The plaintiff, Chugai Pharmaceutical, jointly owns a patent for a manufacturing process of compounds including maxacalcitol. Chugai manufactures and sells Oxarol ointment, a therapeutic agent of keratosis, whose active ingredient is maxacalcitol. Chugai had owned a product patent regarding maxacalcitol. This patent expired on December 26 2010 after the patent term was extended. The defendants Iwaki Seiyaku etc sold generic Oxarol ointments and the defendant DKSH Japan had imported the active ingredients of the generic product from Cerbios Pharma and sold it. Chugai sought an injunction against the defendants' importation and assignment claiming that the defendants' manufacturing process of maxacalcitol preparations and their API was equivalent to the patented process. The defendants' process does not literally satisfy the claim elements because the structure of a starting material and an intermediate of the patented process is cis-isomer whereas that of defendants' process is trans-isomer. The main issue was DOE. Judgment of December 24 2014, Tokyo District Court The Tokyo District Court (Presiding Judge Shimasue) affirmed satisfaction of five requirements of the ball spline case (judgment of February 24 1998, Supreme Court) and held that the defendants' process is equivalent to the Chugai invention. In February 2015, the Court granted a preliminary injunction. (1) First requirement of DOE The "essential element of the patented invention" refers to a characteristic part among the structures stated in the scope of claims in the description. The characteristic part should constitute the core of the technical idea that establishes the means to solve the problem specific to the patented invention. The invention obtains an effect that can reduce the number of manufacturing processes of maxacalcitol compared with the prior art. To obtain this effect, the invention adopts using a two-step reaction and introducing a side chain of maxacalcitol which is the important part that establishes the means to solve the problem. The defendants' process shares the important part of the means to solve the problem with the invention using the two-step reaction. It is not significant in the means to solve the problem whether a starting material and an intermediate is a cis-isomer or a trans-isomer. Thus, in the case where the objective material has vitamin D structure, whether a starting material and an intermediate is a cis-isomer or a trans-isomer is not the "essential element of the patented invention". Therefore, the defendants' process satisfies the first requirement of DOE. (2) Second requirement of DOE The defendants' process can achieve the purpose of the invention which can reduce a number of manufacturing processes of maxacalcitol by replacing a cis-isomer with a trans-isomer in a starting material and an intermediate and the same effect as the invention can be obtained because the defendants' process uses the two-step reaction. Therefore, the defendants' process satisfies the second requirement of DOE. (3) Third requirement of DOE The process to manufacture a cis-isomer vitamin D derivative by using a trans-isomer compound as a starting material and introducing a side chain properly was already known to a person skilled in the art at the time of the priority date. Thus, a person skilled in the art could easily come up with the idea of the defendants' process which replaces a cis-isomer in a starting material of vitamin D structure with a trans-isomer and which finally converts a trans-isomer into a cis-isomer at the time of the practicing of the defendants' process. Therefore, the defendants' process satisfies the third requirement of DOE. (4) Fourth requirement of DOE The defendants allege that the defendants' process could have been easily conceived by a person skilled in the art on the basis of the technology in the public domain such as an invention in D4 at the time of the priority date. There are two differences between the defendants' process and D4 invention. One is that D4 invention does not disclose a part of the defendants' process (difference 1). Another is that an objective material of D4 invention is not maxacalcitol (difference 2). Regarding difference 2, it is reasonable to find that a person skilled in the art could have easily conceived to use a starting material of D4 invention as a starting material and to set maxacalcitol as an objective material instead of an objective material of D4 invention. However, regarding difference 1, part of the defendants' process was not disclosed or suggested at all in D4. Thus, difference 1 could not have been easily conceived by a person skilled in the art. Therefore, the defendants' process satisfies the fourth requirement of DOE. (5) Fifth requirement of DOE In the description, the words which clearly express the distinction between a cis-isomer and a trans-isomer are not used. Further, the circumstance where the patent was registered because of the differences from prior art which uses a trans-isomer is not found. Thus, in the case where a starting material or an intermediate has a vitamin D structure, it is not found that the invention had been intentionally limited to a cis-isomer or a trans-isomer had been intentionally excluded. Therefore, the defendants' process satisfies the fifth requirement of DOE. Practical tips This judgment attracts attention as it affirmed infringement under DOE for a medicinal compound's manufacturing process patent although manufacturing process patent infringement is rarely found and only few judgments granted DOE after the ball spline Supreme Court judgment. This case could be evaluated that LCM strategy using manufacturing process patent after the product patent had expired went successful. The IP High Court designated the appeal case as en banc and the judgment is due on March 25 2016. The IP High Court judgment should be watched closely. Takanori Abe Michiko Kinoshita ABE & PartnersMatsushita IMP Building1-3-7, Shiromi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 540-0001, JapanTel: +81 6 6949 1496Fax: +81 6 6949 1487abe@abe-law.comwww.abe-law.com Indonesian IP laws have always required IP rights licences in Indonesia to be recorded at the Intellectual Property Office. This requirement is set out on the Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trade Mark Law, Industrial Design Law, Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits Law and Trade Secrets Law. However, such recordal mechanism has not been carried out due to the lack of implementing regulation, even though the legal consequence is that, if an IP licence is not recorded, it would not be binding on any third parties. To implement that requirement, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (MoLHR) recently enacted MoLHR Regulation No 8 of 2016 on Requirements and Procedures for Recordal of IP Licence Agreements, which stipulates the procedural steps to record an IP licence. According to Regulation 8/2016, requests for recordation of an IP licence can be submitted to the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) manually or online. However, the website of the DGIP does not yet provide a facility to implement this. Therefore, for now requests for recordation need to be submitted to the DGIP by hand. To support a request for recordation of an IP licence, an application would need to submit (1) a copy of the licence agreement, (2) a copy of the certificate of registration of the IP rights, (3) an original power of attorney, and (4) an original payment receipt. The applicant is also required to submit a statement confirming that the licensed IP rights are valid, and that the licence would not jeopardise the national economy, hinder technological development or contravene the prevailing laws. The DGIP will then examine the request for recordation of the IP licence and record the IP licence within 10 days after it receives the request. The DGIP will publish the recorded IP licence on the website of DGIP. A recordation of an IP licence is valid for five years and is renewable. With the issuance of the implementing regulation, it is now necessary for the licensor or licensee to record their IP licence at the DGIP, to ensure that the use of the IP rights in Indonesia based on the licence agreement is protected. Daru Lukiantono Gayatri Putri Utami Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & PartnersThe Indonesia Stock Exchange Building, Tower II, 21st FloorSudirman Central Business DistrictJl. Jendral Sudirman Kav 52-53Jakarta 12190, IndonesiaTel: +62 21 2960 8888Fax: +62 21 2960 8999www.hhp.co.id In the court decision X ZR 111/13 Telekommunikationsverbindung, the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) discussed the flexibility that the parties have to amend the issues of dispute in second instance nullity proceedings. The case being considered relates to appeal proceedings before the German Federal Court of Justice reviewing the first instance decision in terms of the revocation of a patent by the German Federal Patent Court (BPatG). In its decision, the Federal Court of Justice confirmed the revocation of the patent at first instance by the Federal Patent Court in respect of obviousness. The Federal Court of Justice considered new requests filed by the patentee at the stage of the second instance appeal proceedings to be inadmissible, since these new requests did not take account of a legal opinion expressed by the Federal Court of Justice which deviated from the first-instance assessment and the late-filing was due to the negligence of the party. The decision at issue in the Federal Court of Justice takes into consideration previous rulings, such as the decision X ZR 2/13 Analog-Digital-Wandler of the Federal Court of Justice of May 27 2014, in which it was considered that new requests may not be rejected if they represent an appropriate reaction to a notification given by the court during the appeal hearing. In the decision at issue, the Federal Court of Justice went even further by stating that the patentee did not substantially react during first instance proceedings to the notification of the first instance court drawing the parties' attention to an attack made by the claimant. Therefore, the late-filing is considered to be due to the negligence of the party and, consequently, the new requests of the respective party are inadmissible in second instance proceedings, a ruling comparable to the European practice, as established in G 9/91 and G 10/91 for inter partes appeal procedures. As a result, amendments and auxiliary requests filed in second instance nullity proceedings are to be rejected unless a deficiency occurred in the first instance proceedings, or late-filing is not due to the negligence of the party. Simon Quartus Lud Maiwald Patentanwalts GmbHElisenhof, Elisenstr 3D-80335, Munich, GermanyTel: +49 89 74 72 660 Fax: +49 89 77 64 24info@maiwald.euwww.maiwald.eu The court of appeal of The Hague recently ruled that the lifelike stuffed animal reproduction of a dog is protected by copyright. This decision once again proves that the threshold for claimants to invoke copyright is quite low. Enesco, a toy company, manufactures and distributes a stuffed dog called "Boo The World's Cutest Dog". The stuffed animal is based on the actual dog Boo, which is a specially groomed dog that is quite famous. It even has its own FaceBook page, which has 17 million "likes". Enesco, acting as licensee in respect of toys related to the dog Boo, objected to the sale of a more or less identical stuffed dog bearing the name Pom by Dino Trading, claiming that the Pom toy was infringing Enesco's (licensed) copyright in the stuffed Boo dog. In the Netherlands, copyright is vested in a work that is based on the creative act of the author, and that reflects the author's signature. Banal or trite designs fall outside of the scope of what is protected by copyright. In first instance, the court ruled that the stuffed Boo is nothing more than a realistic reproduction of a real life dog, and therefore, no copyright can be claimed. The Court of Appeal however, is of the opinion that the stuffed Boo is in fact protected by copyright, and that the sale of the Pom dog constitutes an infringement. Given that the definition of what constitutes a work enjoying copyright is harmonised, the Court of Appeal granted the injunction in respect of the EU territory. This goes to show that little creativity is required to invoke copyright as an author. In any case, manufacturers of lifelike reproduction toys (such as stuffed animals or toy cars) are thrown a bone by this ruling, as it will strengthen their position as copyright owners. Jurriaan Cleuver V.O.Johan de Wittlaan 72517 JR The HagueThe NetherlandsTel: +31 70 416 67 11Fax: +31 70 416 67 99info@vo.euwww.vo.eu New CTA Data Shows Big Ridership Jump On The Blue Line By Sarah Gouda in News on Mar 30, 2016 5:35PM Photo by Alan Amati Not since 1930 have things looked so good for the Chicago Transit Authoritys rail lines. According to new data from the CTA, per capita ridership is higher than its been in over 85 years, with the biggest increases occurring along the Blue Line. How has Chicago CTA ridership changed 1998>2015? Growth downtown/North Side. Evanston/Skokie/South Side decline pic.twitter.com/dKwpC2l9gO Yonah Freemark (@yfreemark) March 29, 2016 On Tuesday, Yonah Freemark,a project manager at the Metropolitan Planning Council, released a map detailing the ridership changes from November 1998 to November 2015. The map shows largest increases have occurred along the Blue Line, with steady growth along the North Side Brown Line and Red Line stops as well. Given the business booms in Wicker Park, Logan Square, and Lakeview over the past 15 years, the popularity of these stations is unsurprising. As far as stand-out stations go, the Paulina Brown Line stop has seen a 66 percent increase in ridership since 1998 and the Green and Pink Lines Morgan stop, which re-opened in 2013, steadily serves the burgeoning West Loop area. Chicago Streets Blog reports that, while 145 CTA stations increased ridership since 1998, 12 stops saw a decrease in ridership. Those are mostly comprised of Purple and Yellow lines in Evanston and Red and Green Line stations along Chicagos South Side. Freemark explained how the net population loss over the past decade contributes to those drops: From 2000-2010, the City of Chicago lost almost 200,000 residents. Thats a huge number, and, unfortunately, a significant share of that loss occurred on the South Side of Chicago. The existence of a transit system by itself cannot prevent population itself. Chicagos ongoing population decrease makes the overall growth numbers all the more impressive. In terms of total number of rides, the CTAs recorded ridership is the highest its been since 1948when the population of Chicago was much larger according to Freemark. Per capita, Chicagoans hop on the train about 73 times per year (the highest since 1930) and Freemark expects that to increase to 90 times per year by 2026. Based on current trends, we should add about 50 million additional annual boardings by 2026, bringing the total number to 250 million, he says. Thats huge. As time goes on, the CTA will only continue to play a major part in the lives of Chicagoans. Freemark gave the Chicagoist a brief overview of how the Metropolitan Planning Council plan to accommodate the CTAs growing importance. There are a number of transit-oriented development initiatives. We launched the program Grow Chicago as a way to increase the number of people living near transit lines, especially on the South Side. People who live near transit are much more likely to take it. To facilitate this, Metropolitan Planning Council is pushing for additional investment in the transit system as a whole. On Monday, they will release a proposal for a state-wide transportation need figures at the City Club of Chicago. Marie Claire newsletter Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Thank you for signing up to . You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions (opens in new tab) and Privacy Policy (opens in new tab) and are aged 16 or over. Oh, and JLo was there. A young couple in their twenties got married at the weekend, which is all very lovely. The twist? Their big day reportedly cost A BILLION DOLLARS to pull off. Oh, and JLo was there. Lets run the numbers The Couple So who on earth are they? Well, brace yourselves, the happy couple are billionaires son Said Gutseriev, 28, and his new wife Khadija Uzhakhovs, a 20 year-old student. As in a uni student, learning to be a dentist, and a young man whose profession isnt actually very clear. Life can be unfair cant it? The grooms father, Mikhael Gutseriev, is oil and media tycoon worth $6.2 billion and has funded the whole shebang. All images: @_wedding_world, Instagram The Venue Held at luxury Moscow restaurant and banqueting venue Safisa, the wedding set up was, shall we say, bolder than your average. Think walls upon walls of fresh flowers. Think fairytale furniture sourced from Paris. Think posh fairy lights dripping from the ceiling like willow leaves. This, folks, was no-holds barred wedding theatre. The Gifts Every guest was given a jewel box, as below. Is that an actual diamond?! We don't even know, but it certainly looks fancy. Also a fleet of Rolls Royces ferried everyone around all day. Casual, right? The Dress The brides Elie Saab custom gown weighed in at 2 stone thanks to all of those embellishments. Imported from Paris, and a one-of-a-kind design, it is rumoured to have cost in the region of $25,000, which we imaging is small change to these folks. The Food The cake was taller than the couple, and all nine tiers of icing were decorated with fresh floral garlands. The 600 guests dined on sushi, plus a feast of European cuisine. The Star Guest Performers Jennifer Lopez performed for the couple. As in Jennifer Lopez! Yes, she put on a full whack show just for the couple and their guests, with Sting and Enrique Iglesias singing as her warm up act. With previous personal appearances from JLo reportedly costing over $1million for an hour, we cant even imagine how much the budget for this mini festival was. http://storify.com/carolineleaper/the-billion-dollar-wedding With all that money spent, we really hope the couple last forever. Austal celebrated the keel-laying milestone for the Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel Yuma (EPF 8) here today with a ceremony marking a significant milestone in the ships construction. This ship is the eighth EPF built at Austal under the 10-ship, $1.6 billion block-buy contract awarded to Austal in 2008. Laying the keel is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. The keel runs lengthwise down the middle of the ship serving as the basic foundation or spine of the structure, providing the major source of the hulls strength. The Honorable Douglas Nicholls, Mayor of the City of Yuma, Ariz., authenticated the keel at the ceremony by welding his initials onto an aluminum keel plate that will eventually be placed in ships hull. Mayor Nicholls was assisted by Austal USA A-Class welder, Courtney Cagle. Ms. Cagle began her employment with Austal in 2012 as an apprentice. I am excited to reach this significant milestone today in such a short period of time, considering we just launched EPF 7 from this bay in late January. Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said. The momentum were experiencing on the construction of this amazing ship is evidence of the strength of Austals EPF program, and the continued success displayed by Austals talented shipbuilding team. The EPF program at Austal is progressing rapidly. USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) was delivered in mid-January and there are three other EPFs under construction at Austal USAs headquarters and ship manufacturing facility in Mobile, Ala. Of the ships already delivered to the Navy, USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1) is in Africa on its third deployment and recently took part in a successful anti-piracy operation. USNS Choctaw County (T-EPF 2) and USNS Millinocket (T-EPF 3) are also currently deployed supporting U.S. Navy fleet operations, including many international exercises. Austal is also under a 10-ship block-buy contract worth over $3.5 billion for the U.S. Navys Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. The company has delivered three LCS with another seven currently under construction. The future USS Montgomery (LCS 8) is scheduled for delivery later this year. A male clerk of a Chinese middle school in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region who jumped at a female student, all naked, on campus yesterday afternoon was in the middle of an outbreak of his intermittent mental disorders at that time and has been sent to hospital for treatment, the local government said in a statement released the same day. The man, aged 30, jumped at a female student Monday afternoon when he was wearing nothing at all and harassed the girl, the local government confirmed. Some witnesses said the naked man was intending to sexually attacking the victim, according to accounts posted online. Some teachers intervened and stopped the man in time. The girl said she did not receive any physical injury during the incident, the statement said. The school said the man, surnamed Huo, was currently a lab administrator. He was diagnosed of periodic mental disorders in 2011 and during his treatment, doctors said he could be considered mentally stable if the symptoms did not reappear in the following two years. The school had rearranged him to work at the school lab room to avoid him from direct contacts with the students for safety concern after his treatment in 2011, the school said. The school said Huo had shown no abnormal condition in the following five years until yesterday's incident. Police have launched a probe. The man was sent to hospital by his relatives after the attack. It is predicted that biofuels will make up 5-10% of the global marine fuel mix by 2030 meaning that biofuels will represent a crucial role in creating a low-emission future for shipping. In the wake of COP 21 and in advance of any subsequent IMO ruling on the environment, it may seem to many that the shipping industry is in limbo when it comes to improving its emissions footprint. On the contrary, ship owners and operators are increasingly looking for ways to ensure that both existing fleets and new builds maximize their business potential, while at the same time keeping up with industry regulation and initiatives to combat climate change. First, there is a tightening range of environmentally conscious legislation coming in to force including the impending roll out of Emissions Control Areas in China. This adds to existing control areas in North America and the Baltic Sea, meaning that the global scope of this kind of legislation will only continue to expand in the next five years and beyond. In addition, new IMO NOx Tier III requirements will take effect in North American and U.S. Caribbean ECAs from January 1, 2016 for vessels with a keel-laying date on or after January 1, 2016 and an engine output of 130kW. And then there is also the European Commissions Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) rules to consider: in force from July 1, 2015, this legislation dictates that operators of ships exceeding 5000 GT must monitor and report their carbon emissions on all voyages to, from and between EU ports from 2018. Given these legislative developments, there has never been a better time for ship owners and operators to stand back and re-examine business decisions so as to not fall foul of the new laws. In the case of reducing emissions, there are already a few potential solutions on the market installing scrubbers, which requires significant investment, for example, or transitioning a vessel to use LNG as a fuel, which not only requires investment, but also has a long way to go before the global infrastructure is capable of effectively supporting vessels worldwide. There is a viable alternative, however, steadily emerging onto the market, with every indication that it is about to shake up the marine fuel mix in a big way. It is predicted that biofuels will make up 5-10% of the global marine fuel mix by 2030 meaning that biofuels will represent a crucial role in creating a low-emission future for shipping. Sustainable marine biofuels replace fossil fuels and significantly reduce both local emissions such as SOx and particulate matter (PM), but most significantly, they can enable significant reductions in levels of CO2 of 80-90%. It is this emissions reduction that is one of the main draws for ship owners and operators not only because of the environmental benefits but because growing numbers of ports across the world are incentivising greener shipping. Some major global ports are now offering incentives for vessels that exceed environmental targets. For example the Environmental Ship Index (ESI), adopted by nearly 40 ports worldwide, evaluates NOx and SOx emissions and rewards vessels by offering a reduction in port dues. In certain ports this has also been extended to include particulates, a group of pollutants that includes carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide and black carbon solids (soot). Shipping is the last of the major transport modes to turn its eye to biofuels as way of becoming less emission-intensive. As was the case in the jet biofuel market, the first volumes are likely to geographically concentrate on where the incentives are. The same usage hotspots are therefore anticipated for shipping, in, for example, Western Europe, the Nordics, west coast North America, followed by Australia, Asia and so on. The benefits of biofuels dont stop there, however; their ability to be used as a drop in fuel (put simply, to blend with traditional fossil fuels) is critical, as it ensures that current logistical and operational systems can remain in place and every party can stay in a business-as-usual mode. This in turn ensures that sustainable biofuel requires no investment in infrastructure; all that is required is a standard fuel tank and ex-pipe facility at berth or a standard bunker barge. The lack of initial outlay to make a vessel ready to use biofuels is compelling. Installing scrubbers or making a vessel LNG-ready costs both time and money costs that operators can scarcely afford to incur given the current market conditions, especially when low oil prices have now elongated payback projections. Any time spent in port is time not spent at sea and this is notwithstanding any losses in capacity that may come from refitting a new system, permanently diminishing the profit margin of operating the vessel on every future journey. Furthermore, biofuels are a clean, high performance fuel that produces less sludge waste than fossil fuels, which ultimately means that their usage requires less engine maintenance than ship operators will be accustomed to. Given all of these reasons, the adoption of biofuels is now an emerging strategy one that is particularly reinforced by their drop-in nature and instant, quantifiable benefits in terms of a reduced emissions profile. Every indication is that, over the next few years, the sustainable marine biofuels market will quickly evolve to cement them as a core component in achieving a more sustainable, low-emission future for shipping. About the Author CEO Dirk Kronemeijer founded the GoodNRG Group after pioneering the market of bio aviation fuels with SkyNRG - the global market leader in sustainable aviation fuel. GoodFuels Marine is part of the GoodNRG Group. It is the first company focused on creating the market for sustainable marine fuels and supports the prediction that biofuels will form 5-10% of the total global marine fuel mix by 2030. Dirk Kronemeijer (1974) achieved his MSc in Business Economics from the University of Groningen and he completed executive programs at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and INSEAD. Seaspan Shipyards, announced today the start of construction on Seaspans second National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) ship, the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG)s second Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel (OFSV). Seaspan is now full-steam ahead on the production and delivery of its first two National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) vessels, and we are re-writing shipbuilding history in Canada in the process for generations to come, said Brian Carter. Today not only marks a proud moment for the progress and success of the NSS, it also serves as a testament to the hard work and tireless commitment of our world-class team of experts at Vancouver Shipyards (VSY) in readying us for this milestone. With production of the second OFSV now underway, significant progress continues on the first OFSV with 35 of 37 blocks currently under construction. The two CCG ships are part of VSYs three vessel, incentive-based build contract for the construction of three OFSVs, which will be delivered under a ceiling price contract before the end of 2017. Work on the third OFSV is scheduled to begin later this year. Seaspans cutting of steel on the second OFSV also follows the recent announcement (March 14, 2016) of two new NSS contracts valued at more than $65.4 million, which will help pave the way for future construction of the CCGs Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV) and the Royal Canadian Navys Joint Support Ships (JSS) at VSY. To date, Seaspans Vancouver Shipyards has awarded over $400 million in contracts to suppliers in Canada, with more than 160 Canadian companies having already benefited from these investments. It is estimated that Seaspans NSS work will create more than 2300 direct, indirect and induced jobs annually, produce almost $290 million per year in GDP for Canadas economy, and mean thousands of people will get the opportunity for an exciting new career in shipbuilding. HMAS Canberra has returned to Australia following its successful maiden deployment to Fiji in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston. Following a request from the Fijian Government, HMAS Canberra was deployed to Fiji on 1 March to deliver much needed humanitarian aid and assistance. HMAS Canberra was loaded with 60 tonnes of emergency relief supplies, three MRH-90 helicopters and around 760 Australian Defence Force personnel including engineers, carpenters, electricians and plumbers. Australian forces worked closely with Fijian authorities to conduct recovery efforts and engineering assessments. At the request of the Fijian Government, around 200 Defence personnel will remain as a Suva-based humanitarian assistance and disaster relief force. Four MRH-90 helicopters from Townsvilles 5th Aviation Regiment will also remain to support Fijis National Disaster Management Office. HMAS Canberra will unload Queensland-based personnel and equipment in Brisbane today before arriving in Sydney later this week. 1944 - Task Force 58 begins bombing of Japanese airfields, shipping, fleet servicing facilities, and other installations at Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai in the Carolines. 1944 - USS Darter (SS 227) sinks a Japanese army cargo ship near New Guinea, despite the presence of an escort vessel. Also on this date, USS Picuda (SS 382) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks a transport ship near Guam while USS Stingray (SS 186) sinks a transport ship near Saipan. 1953 - During the Korean War, five enemy guns in the Wonsan area fire about 20 rounds at USS Prichett (DD 561), falling about 150 yards short. Prichett silences the enemy guns with counterbattery fire. 1973 - USS Forrestal (CVA 59) and Sixth Fleet ships provided aid to Tunisia following a disastrous flood, relocating 729 persons, 27 tons of cargo and an entire herd of 227 sheep. 1991 - USS Princeton (CG-59) and crew are awarded the Combat Action Ribbon in recognition of the superior and arduous work the crew put in to keep the ship in war-fighting status following the Feb. 18 mining of the ship where three crew members were injured and the ships propeller was damaged during Operation Desert Storm. 1994 - USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) is commissioned at Long Beach, Calif., where then-Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton was the keynote speaker. The Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer is currently homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. 2007 - USS Hawes (FFG 53) provides medical assistance to Liberian cargo vessel MV Harmony while conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the southern Persian Gulf. (Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division) Marines with Company B, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion participated in a Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation Exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California March 21-25, 2016. The MCCREE is a tool utilized by commanders to evaluate their units combat readiness through either a single exercise or series of events. During their MCCREE, the battalion put B Co. to the test with a live-fire movement and an assault on Range 210. The first part of the MCCREE began with a force-on-force scenario, said Capt. Charles H. Richardson, company commander, Company B, 3rd LAR. We went up against a thinking enemy, composed of conventional and unconventional forces, tasked with defending an area. The Marines of Company C acted as the opposition during B Co.s assault on Gays Pass training area. Over the first few days of the exercise, they challenged B Co. with a variety of scenarios ranging from notional improvised explosive devices to armed adversaries. The assault on Gays Pass gave us great insight on how to take on a thinking enemy and to adapt our plan to a changing battlefield, Richardson said. Within the company, we have 18 different military occupational specialties that allow us to conduct a wide array of operations. We can load everything up on our [light armored] vehicles and operate three to five days without much support due to our versatility. Upon completion of the first portion of MCCREE, the company moved on to a live-fire and maneuver exercise. Instead of living, breathing enemies, the Marines set their sights on targets and conducted an assault over open terrain. "The second stage transitioned to live fire with movement to contact while fighting mechanized infantry before moving on to an assault on Range 210, Richardson said. Were not always going to have the luxury of fighting in open terrain or be able to fight where the enemy is. Often times, the enemy is going to be in urban terrain so we have to prepare for that environment. The location of MCCREEs culminating event, Range 210s Military Operations in Urban Terrain facility, provided B Co.s riflemen the opportunity to dismount from the vehicles and conduct building clearing operations. Targets, designed to fall when fired upon, gave the Marines the feeling of fighting a tangible enemy. At first, there were internal issues the Marines had to work through, Sgt. Maj. Marcus A. Chestnut, battalion sergeant major, 3rd LAR. Its always interesting to see them come out here and overcome those issues. At the end of it, it all worked out and I think they did very well. Richardson also expressed satisfaction with the results throughout the evaluation exercise as well as confidence in the Marines combat readiness. Weve gone through a lot to get where we are now, Richardson said. The Marines have come a long way and were a more cohesive fighting force because of it. As we are now, Im fully confident that we can step down range and take on any enemy that we may encounter. More Media Marines with 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, in conjunction with the United States Army, French Army, British Army and Dutch Marines, conducted joint terminal attack control training at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, March 25. The training enhanced interoperability between U.S. forces and their NATO allies, demonstrating ANGLICOs ability to bring fire and aviation support to coalition and joint partners. This training exercise for us is about integrating with the joint fire side of it, making sure we can complete accurate and successful missions in order to support ground troops, said Ian Maxwell, a British soldier with 148 Battery, 29 Commando Royal Artillery. The mission of 2nd ANGLICO is to provide Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanders a liaison capability with foreign area expertise to plan, coordinate, employ and conduct close air support and direct fire from ground positions in support of joint, allied and coalition forces. The training gives our junior Marines, who have never worked with foreign forces before, the opportunity to work with our NATO allies in order to learn from them just as they are learning from us, said Staff Sgt. Sean Lassiter, a fire support Marine with 2nd ANGLICO. JTAC's direct fires during close air support in conjunction with allied forces maneuvers. This capability provides service members the ability to fire on targets in conjunction with aviation assets. Familiarization with foreign forces allows personnel to learn different ways to operate in a deployed environment. U.S. Marines are often working with various allied forces and flexibility is required to operate alongside partner nations, said Cpl. Mason Newbury, a fire support Marine with 2nd ANGLICO. While this was the first time for some Marines with 2nd ANGLICO to work with allied forces, it will not be the last. The training was a huge opportunity to increase interoperability with allied partners and get [everyone accustomed] on a small scale in order to build up to bigger exercises, said Capt. Chad Ernst, a field artillery officer with 2nd ANGLICO. More Media U.S. Marines and sailors with Black Sea Rotational Force and NATO Allies worked together cohesively during Platinum Lynx 16-3 aboard BTA, Romania, March 21-27, 2016. Marines and sailors with BSRF trained with service members from Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia in order to develop proficiency in fire and maneuver. The purpose of this training exercise is to improve collective readiness between the NATO countries, said Capt. Mark Paige, a company commander with BSRF. Combined training allows everybody to come out here and demonstrate commitment to NATO collective peace and readiness throughout this part of the world; I think thats the most important thing. Platinum Lynx 16-3 was a 7-day exercise aimed to demonstrate the collective security of allied forces by building NATO allies capabilities, reinforcing relationships in a combined-training environment, and increasing operation proficiencies. The Marines began Platinum Lynx with a building block approach said Paige. The exercise started with basic classes including grenade and rocket battle drills, the use U.S. Marine Corps weapon systems, and occupational support by fire systems and machine gun employment. We learned a lot of things out here and made some close friends along the way as well, said Staff Sgt. Anton Todorov, a connections specialist with the 61st Mechanized Brigade, 4th Mechanized Battalion, Bulgarian Army. The Marines taught us how to move better on a battle field, conduct a quick and tactical reload, and handle the Marines assault rifles. Classroom instruction focused on the cycle of infantrymen and moving combined arms at the fire-team level. As the week progressed, Marines, Allied forces and partner nations practiced squad movements and combined-arms integration. When we attached to the U.S. Marines platoon, we worked together as one team to accomplish our missions, said Todorov. Working together in a training exercise allowed us to share experiences, tactics, and knowledge with our partners in arms. Throughout the week, Marines reinforced allied attacks through trenches, obstacles, and wired barriers used for security which simulated enemy fortified bunkers and positions. The Marines were great teachers and Im appreciative for what I learned, said Todorov. I liked the exercise very much, and I look forward to working with our allies again in forthcoming training events. Each countrys platoon-sized element ran though the live-fire course while the Marines provided supporting fires for every country. Its critical that we experience what other countries have to offer and gain an understanding of their techniques, tactics and procedures in the event that we do go to war together, ultimately making us better prepared, said Paige. The opportunity to work with other countries is just something we couldnt do anywhere else. More Media Believe it or Not, its happening to Gold Tonight as I was going over my charts and running my end of analysis the charts jumped out at me with a trade setup and wanted to share my cycle chart for gold with you. The price chart of gold below is exactly what my cycle analysis told us to look for last week WELL ahead of the todays news and its things play out I as I feel they will then we stand to make some pretty good money as gold falls in value during the month of April. If you have been following my work for any length of time then you know big price movements in the market like today (Tuesday, March 29th) based around the FED news ARE NOT and SHOULD NOT be of any surprise. In fact, this charts told use about todays pop 2 weeks ago and we have been waiting for it ever since. The news is simply the best way to get the masses on board with market moves and gets them on the wrong side of the market before it makes a big move in the other direction, most times not always, though. Take a look at this chart below. Youll see two cycle indicators, one pink and one blue. The pink cycle line is a cluster of various cycles blended together which allows us to view the overall market trend of biased looking forward 5 30 days. The blue cycle line is a cluster of much shorter time frame cycles in this tells us when we should expect strong moves in the same direction of the pink cycles or countertrend pullbacks within the trend. One quick point to note with cycle trading is that the height and depth of the cycle does not mean the price will rise or fall to those levels, it simply tells us if the market has an upward or downward bias. The current cycle analysis for gold along with the current price is telling us that today the short term cycle topped which is the blue line and our main trend cycle is already heading lower. The odds favor gold should roll over and make new multi-month Lows in August. Gold Trading Conclusion: In short, we have been waiting for gold to have a technical breakdown and to retrace back up into a short-term overbought condition. Today Tuesday, March 29 it looks as though we finally have the setup. Over the next 5 to 15 days I expect gold to drop along with silver and gold stocks. There are many ways to play this through inverse exchange traded funds or short selling gold, silver or gold stocks. This year and 2017 I believe are going to be incredible years for both traders and investors. If treated correctly, it can be a life-changing experience financially for some individuals. Join my pre-market video newsletter and start your day with a hot cup of coffee and my market forecast video: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com Chris Vermeulen Join my email list FREE and get my next article which I will show you about a major opportunity in bonds and a rate spike www.GoldAndOilGuy.com Chris Vermeulen is Founder of the popular trading site TheGoldAndOilGuy.com. There he shares his highly successful, low-risk trading method. For 7 years Chris has been a leader in teaching others to skillfully trade in gold, oil, and silver in both bull and bear markets. Subscribers to his service depend on Chris' uniquely consistent investment opportunities that carry exceptionally low risk and high return. Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. A girl sleeps in her mom's arms painted on the ground in Nanguan Village of Chiping County, east China's Shandong Province, July 25, 2015. [File photo/Xinhua] Loneliness, as a result of constant separation from their parents, has destroyed the confidence and happiness of left-behind children dwelling in far-flung villages throughout China. Totaling more than 61 million, the left-behind children in rural China have imposed a grim challenge in view of their fragile psychological conditions resulting from a lack of parental love. A string of data reflecting the accidents of the left-behind children can help verify the case. In 2014, about 49.2 percent of left-behind children suffered accidental injuries. From 2014 to 2015, 55.2 percent of the 192 cases of the sexual harassment of girls exposed by media outlets were related to the left-behind children. In July of 2015, the first issuance of a white paper revealing the hearts and minds of left-behind children in China disclosed that roughly 10 million children cannot see their parents year round. These stagnant conditions of rural children in China have lasted for two generations. Invisible walls preventing the free-flow of rural and urban human resources collapsed in 1984 when a circular issued by the central government lifted up the restriction of rural residents to join in urban life. As a result, the country has seen a massive migration of the young labor force moving from the villages to big cities. In 1989, the outsourced labor force grew from less than 2 million to 30 million, an immense increase causing the loss of the young labor force in most desolate villages and leaving behind a younger generation living without love and care from their parents. Huang Xiangjie has grown up in a rural village called Laosiyan in Hunan Province. With the successful conservation of its original looks, featuring a long precipitous slate alley, an old tree whose roots extend deeply to the rocky mountain at the entrance of the village and the dilapidated houses passed down from several generations earlier, the village has fallen into silence during the past few years as half of its labor resources, mostly composed of young people, have moved to cities for temporary or permanent jobs. Huang was born to the village and left behind with her elder sister and younger brother by her parents who headed to cities for job opportunities when she was barely two years old. "Family conditions in the village at that time were indicative of poverty," said Duan Chengrong, a professor focusing on the research of rural villages from Renmin University. He recalled an investigation regarding rural villages headed by his mentor when he was still a postgraduate in 1984, a year which witnessed a great impulse of young people to find jobs in cities. Huang Yunsheng, father of Huang, still remembers that the family was extremely poor at the time -- two years from the adoption of the Household Responsibility System [an agriculture production system launched in the early 1980s, which allowed households to contract land, machinery and other facilities from collective organizations] -- when they hardly had anything to cook, had they taken a break from farming. However, upon her father's leave, a miserable memory of the loss of this parental presence tortured the heart of Huang, who led a lonely childhood when she met her father only once a year during the Spring Festival and her mother at intervals lasting several years. After Huang grew up, she became a volunteer teacher at a kindergarten in her hometown after she obtained a bachelor's diploma from her university. She resolved to leave the post eventually, as the villagers in her hometown laughed at her return, saying she must have not been able to secure a job in one of China's big cities. After a year, she hardly had the spirit to leave as she found the trauma left by the absence of the children's parents has forged a close tie between her and her students who are undergoing a life similar to that of her childhood. "I don't want to let those children be neglected again," Huang said. According to an evaluation report on rural education from 2000 to 2010, 63 primary schools, 30 educational branches and three secondary schools disappeared each day on average in rural China which aborted the plan to spread primary education in each village. As a result, the average distance between home and school for students in desolated villages has become roughly 1.6 to four kilometers on average, which has caused a huge tide of dropouts. Many children left behind by their parents have to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of their senile grandparents instead of being cared for and educated by their elders, recalled Zhang from a program led by one of his undergraduate students in the student's hometown. In February of 2016, the State Council issued an opinion which has for the first time sketched out a top-design framework for left-behind children. For the first time, the opinion also regulates which department should be held accountable for the left-behind children. The Ministry of Civil Affairs will conduct an investigation, together with the ministries of public security and education, concerning China's left-behind children until the end of this July. By 2020, according to the opinion, the number of left-behind children should be greatly reduced under the lead of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Rockwell said, one of the switches that carries electricity from the dams generators to the power grid exploded, causing a fire in the control room. No one was in the control room at the time. The blast took place in the basement of the powerhouse along Spillway Road and was under control within an hour, Bassett Fire Chief Junior Lynch said, although crews remained at the dam for several hours. One firefighter was treated for an injury to his hand, Lynch said. The explosion did not cause any structural damage to the dam, Rockwell added. At this point, he said, the investigation into what caused the explosion is continuing. However, the switchgear system that was destroyed currently is in the process of being replaced with a more modern system, a project that the Corps has been working on for several months. Were building (a structure) right now that is going to house the new switchgear system, Rockwell said. The old system had approached its end of life anyway and was being replaced. If youre going to have a system go bad, right when youre in the process of replacing it is not a bad time for it. The system that was destroyed was about 65 years old, Rockwell said. The new system will have more modern safety features and be housed in a separate building to further minimize the chance of injuries in the event of a system failure. It is difficult to put a dollar value on the damage, Rockwell said, considering that the switchgear that was destroyed was scheduled to be junked within weeks. Were going through a multi-million dollar upgrade, he said. Did it really cost us any more for the system were replacing to go down two to three weeks earlier? If you were going to demolish a building and some kid came in and broke all the windows out of it before they demolished it, could you really say that the kid did any damage? As of now, there will be no power generation at the dam until the new switchgear building is completed and the new equipment brought online. Prior to the Tuesday incident, Rockwell said, that switch-over was expected to be completed around mid-June, although Tuesdays fire could change that timeline. If anything, this might force us to speed up, he said. Maybe the fact that we dont have to deal with the old system will make it a little quicker to deal with the new, but I really dont know. Were going to be assessing all that through the next day or two. Dominion Power customers will not notice any changes in the meantime, Rockwell said, because Dominion will simply draw power from their other sources, which is a fairly common occurrence. Because the dam will not be generating power for the next several weeks, he said, the Corps will work with its water management team to determine a set level of flow that will maintain a steady water level in both Philpott Lake and the Smith River. While the investigation into what happened will continue, Rockwell said, so far, it appears that the fire will have minimal impact. The majority of the damage is to the stuff that were replacing, and thats a good thing, he said. And nobody got hurt, and thats a great thing. Two local men recently indicted in Rockingham County, North Carolina, on charges of first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and felony kidnapping are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. Zachary Wray Haley and Daquarius Rashawn Martin, both 18, were charged in the first-degree murder of Benjamin Alexander Baker of 830 Beck Road, Eden, as well as related charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon (RWDW) and kidnapping in connection with offenses on Jan. 14-15, 2016, according to court records. Haley resides on Irisburg Road, Axton, with his grandmother, but also is known to stay at 1009 Oak Street, Martinsville, with his mother, according to court records. Martin resides at 755 Stultz Road Apartment 604, Martinsville, but also is known to reside at 344 Wingfield Orchard Road, Bassett. Both were being held in the Rockingham County Jail as of Tuesday morning. The RWDW indictments allege Haley and Martin stole a Wii with two controllers and a nonchuck controller with a value of $50 from Baker while the defendants had a handgun in their possession and threatened to use it. The kidnapping warrants allege the defendants confined or restrained Baker without his permission for the purpose of facilitating the commission of a felony (robbery), doing serious bodily injury to Baker and terrorizing him. Court records also allege the following: A woman, Alba Henriquez Barillas, called Rockingham County 911 Center at 10:49 a.m. on Jan. 15 and said she had found her boyfriend, Benjamin Alexander Barker, dead inside his residence. She had gone there to check on him. When officers from the Rockingham County Sheriffs Office (RCSO) arrived, they found the residence appeared to have been forcibly entered (through the back door), ransacked and personal property that included firearms appeared to be missing from the residence. Baker was found to have been shot numerous times. Baker was found in a dining room seated in a bar chair with his head against a wall and his back partially against the same wall. He was bound at the feet with a green nylon belt. His hands were not tied when he was found, but they had been bound at one point. Baker still had a ligature (something that is used to bind) on his wrists. Baker was fully clothed and had blood on his shirt and pants. There was a black gun safe to the right of Baker. There was a black colored screwdriver in the floor to Bakers left side. The safe appeared to have been broken into. The combination dial had been knocked off and was hanging from the safe door by a wire. The safe was still secure and the combination was not known. Items seized from Bakers home by officers as a result of execution of search warrants included: weapons, ammunition, coins, personal papers, a flash memory card and other items. When interviewed by RCSO officers Jan. 16, Haley said he previously had lived in the residence with Baker for about three months. Haley admitted to having knowledge of a prior break-in at Bakers residence in which firearms had been taken. During the crime scene processing, firearm cases were found that were empty and did not contain any firearms. Haley also admitted to selling marijuana to Baker on at least one occasion. Haley provided written consent for officers to retrieve information from his personal cell phone. During a search of Haleys residence at 1009 Oak Street, Martinsville, officers seized items including a face mask (black in color), Maxiflex gloves (black/gray in color), a Vizio TV, and a utility bill. RCSO investigators contacted Alaina Kiskadden of Bassett, who was Bakers ex-fiance and was a teacher at Martinsville High School. Kiskadden said Haley was a former student of hers and that he lived at the residence at 830 Beck Road, Eden, when Kiskadden and Baker were still together. Investigators went to 1118 Pine Hall Road, Martinsville, and spoke with Haley. Haley said he knew Kiskadden and that she was a former teacher of his. Haley said he formed a friendship with Kiskadden and she had taken him out to dinner before. Haley stated if he needed any money for anything, Baker would allow him to do work around the farm on Beck Road. Haley stated the last time he saw Baker was approximately Dec. 15, 2015. On Jan. 20, 2016, Haley came to RCSO and gave a recorded statement. He said Rashawn told him first-hand that Rashawn and three males from Danville went and hit what they called a lick, referring to a burglary at Bakers house at 830 Beck Road, Eden. Haley stated they could not get into the safe and that Rashawn and the other males wanted to go back and make Baker open the safe. Rashawn was identified as Daquarius Rashawn Martin. Investigators interviewed Martin, but he denied any knowledge of the crimes and requested to speak with his lawyer, ending the interview. Investigators searched Haleys phone and located a text message he had sent on Jan. 14. In the text message, Haley asks someone if he/she wanted to buy a Wii for $50, and that it came with two controllers and nunchucks. The party in the text message responded no, he/she did not want to buy it. The message was determined to have been sent to Christen Taylor, a teacher at Drewry Mason Elementary School. Investigators spoke with Kiskadden, who said the Wii was missing from Bakers residence but the base to the gaming system was still there. Investigators spoke with Christen Taylor on Jan. 29 and she said her son and Haley have been friends since kindergarten. Taylor stated that on Jan. 26 Haley contacted her and said he needed a ride. Taylor picked Haley up at 3743 Irisburg Road in Axton and drove him to a house off Fayette Street (at 1411 Cardinal Lane) in Martinsville. During the drive from Irisburg to Cardinal, Haley admitted to Taylor he got paid $50 to drive some guys to a house to hit a lick. Haley stated that while there, he sat in the car for a time, then exited the car and went into the house to check on things. Haley stated he saw a victim tied up and they were just beating on him. Haley then stated they shot him. Haley stated to Taylor the guys shot the victim maybe two or three times. Haley stated that was not how it was supposed to go down and that they were just supposed to get some things from the victim. Haley stated the incident happened in Eden and the other two boys were from Danville. When they arrived at Cardinal Lane, two females came outside and Haley spoke with them. The females ended up getting into Taylors vehicle. Taylor then took Haley and the two females to an apartment in Bassett. While riding to Bassett, Haley continued to talk about the incident, Taylor said. On Jan. 31, Taylor contacted Haley and asked him if he needed a ride anywhere. Taylor went to 3743 Irisburg Road and picked up Haley. Taylor drove Haley to a Valero store in Martinsville and then to Burger King. While riding with Taylor, Haley stated he, Martin and some guys from Danville went to Bakers house. Haley stated Martin and the guys from Danville came running out of the house with guns. Haley stated he stayed in the car with it running and the door open. Martin told Haley, "Lets get out of here." Martin jumped in the car with the guys from Danville. Haley told Taylor that Martin and the other guys ran into the house with guns. Haley stated they tied the guy up and tried to make him give them the combination to the safe. Haley stated they ripped the front of the safe off trying to get into it. Haley stated they were fixing to rob the guy and he didnt want to be part of it. This conversation was captured on audio recording. Destiny Niblett was identified as one of the females who rode with Taylor and Haley to Bassett. Haley told Niblett that he and Martin went with three guys from Danville to a mans house. The man had been in the Army and was Kiskaddens ex. "Haley stated to Niblett when they went into the house they tied the dude up next to a safe and (were) trying to make the man open the safe. Haley stated he and Rashawn had a gun. Haley stated they had shaken the man up so much that he could not open the safe. Niblett stated the dudes told Haley and Martin to leave and when they started out of the room, they heard one gunshot. Haley and Martin went back into the room and saw that the male had been shot. The Danville guys stated they wanted to shoot him too and they did. Niblett stated Haley told her the man was begging for his life," a court document alleges. As other Southern states grapple with controversies over pending LGBT legislation, Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have created new legal protections for religious opposition to gay marriage. The Democratic governor vetoed the Republican-backed legislation during a radio appearance on Washingtons WTOP, saying religious views are already constitutionally protected and he would not allow measures he sees as condoning discrimination. Its unconstitutional. It is discriminatory. It demonizes folks. It brings fear and persecution. We cant tolerate that, McAuliffe said. Senate Bill 41, which passed along party-line votes during the legislative session earlier this year and would protect ministers and religious entities from facing government-imposed penalties or civil liability over opposition to same-sex marriage clearly is aimed at discriminatory practices. Republicans in the General Assembly argued the legislation is intended to prevent traditional religious beliefs from being swept out of the public square. The bills chief patron was Sen. Bill Carrico, R-Grayson, and one of the co-patrons was Sen. Ben Chaffin, R-Russell, who represents part of the New River Valley in Radford, Pulaski County and a small corner of Montgomery County. The bill passed the House of Delegates 59-38 and the Senate 21-19, both short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. McAuliffes veto comes as other states have faced possible economic repercussions over pending laws dealing with LGBT issues. Republican Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia vetoed similar legislation earlier this week after strong opposition from companies that do business in his state. North Carolina is also facing a business backlash after Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law preventing localities from passing their own anti-discrimination ordinances and directing transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding with their birth sex rather than their gender identity. Thanks to Governor McAuliffes leadership, Virginia will not become the next North Carolina, said Lt. Gov Ralph Northam, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor in 2017. Carrico said the legislation would have prevented religious people from being forced to perform gay marriages against their beliefs. For him to veto this, it just flies in the face of the millions of Virginians who turned out in 2006 to support overwhelmingly the constitutional amendment that marriage is between one man and one woman, Carrico said in a phone interview. State voters approved a constitutional prohibition on gay marriage in 2006, but the ban was overruled by the U.S. Supreme Courts 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Victoria Cobb of the conservative Family Foundation of Virginia said the legislation would have protected the right of religious dissent. When [the] Supreme Court redefined marriage throughout America it did not say that private schools, charities, businesses or individuals must abandon their beliefs if they disagree, Cobb said. Critics said the proposal would create a license to discriminate. Todays action starkly illustrates how important it is to have a staunch advocate for equality in the governors mansion, said Anna Scholl, executive director of liberal advocacy group Progress Virginia. McAuliffe said he wants a vibrant, welcoming economy, and businesses shouldnt have to deal with headaches coming from the state. Many of our employers hire gay employees, McAuliffe said. They want their employees to be left alone. Carrico dismissed the pro-business argument as liberal talking points and said Christian businesses would have relocated to Virginia had the bill become law. He also noted that LGBT people are not a protected class under Virginias anti-discrimination laws. Its not discriminatory, Carrico said. I dont care what any of them say. The legislature is scheduled to reconvene April 20 to take up the governors vetoes. Republicans are not expected to have enough support to override the veto of Carricos bill. The Roanoke Timescontributed to this report. The head statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, carved during Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577 AD), originally belonging to Youju Temple in Hebei province was stolen in 1996. The body and head of the statue on display in the Hebei Museum, Shijiaguang, Hebei province, March 29, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Abbot Hsing Yun, one of Taiwan's most influential monks, received the statue as a gift from his follower in 2014, which was later confirmed to be the lost statue from Youju Temple. After the signing of an agreement between Fo Guang Shan Foundation for Buddhist Culture & Education and China Cultural Relic Exchange Center, the statue head was donated to Chinese mainland. The donating ceremony was held in Fo Guang Shan of Taiwan in May of 2015. The Buddha head was previously exhibited in the National Museum of China together with its body. The Hebei Museum will spend 15-20 days to restore the Buddha statue by combining the body with the head, and will be unveiled to the public at the end of April. You are here: Home A police officer removes seized tortoises from a truck in southern Kandal province, Cambodia, on March 29, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Cambodia's Forest Administration has confiscated 102 endangered tortoises and 17 pythons in a raid on a cargo truck in southern Kandal province, an official said on Tuesday. Y Sophy, chief of the Forest Administration in the province's Kean Svay district, said officials from the administration stopped the truck on National Road 1 late Monday afternoon after a tip-off that wild animals would be illegally transported to Vietnam. "The elongated tortoises and pythons had been transported from northwestern Battambang province and destined for Vietnam," he told Xinhua, adding that the tortoises totally weighed 443 kg and the pythons weighed 127 kg in total. He added that a suspected wildlife smuggler, who drove the truck, had escaped the scene while the officials were busy searching for the wild animals in the truck. Elongated tortoises that live in mountains or forest are listed as "endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. According to Sophy, the Forest Administration handed over the seized wildlife to the WildAid in order to release them back into a wildlife sanctuary. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. carl palmer.jpg Carl Palmer (Lou Bilotti) Drummer Carl Palmer will honor his late bandmate Keith Emerson on his summer tour. Palmer, whose work includes bands such Emerson, Lake, and Palmer along with Asia, has renamed his summer stint the "Remembering Keith and The Music Of Emerson, Lake & Palmer Tour." Palmer will play the Regent Theater in Arlington, MA on June 7 and the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT on June 15. "I will deeply miss Keith and I want you all to know I will carry on flying the ELP banner and playing the great music with my band for many years to come," Palmer said in a release. Ticket information for both shows is available through carlpalmer.com. SPRINGFIELD Maryszka Muffin, a calico with white markings that belongs to Zaza Ziemba, of Springfield, has diabetes and requires treatment once or twice a month. Because she is on a fixed income, Ziemba was afraid she would have to give up her beloved pet for adoption or euthanize her. "That would have broken my heart," she said. But Maryszka Muffin now receives care from Second Chance Animal Shelter, which helps the underserved community of pet owners, offering subsidized pricing for those that qualify. The non-profit organization has an adoption center, spay-neuter clinic and two Wellness Center Vet Clinics; its main hospital is in North Brookfield but it has a Community Veterinary Clinic - its first satellite location - at 501 Belmont Ave. in Springfield to serve dogs and cats. "I'm on a fixed income, so this is a godsend," Ziemba said. "Every penny counts, especially when you have a chronically ill cat." She has two other cats, Beulah Bunny, a grey tabby, and Peter Gabriel, a buff and white cat. Both have had examinations at Second Chance Animal Shelter. Before she found Second Chance, Ziemba was taking her animals to a regular animal hospital and spending more money than she could afford. "That was going to have to end, so thank God for Second Chance," she said. Second Chance Animal Shelter seeks to enable pet owners to be able to afford basic vet care (although it is a full-service clinic) in order for them to keep their pets healthy and in their homes. It also helps the general public with vet care at a non- subsidized rate. Subsidies come from grants and donations. "Anyone can use our high quality veterinary services even if they are not subsidized," said Sheryl A. Blancato, executive director of Second Chance Animal Shelter. "Those that are not subsidized pay full price. That money is also used to help us operate these clinics and offset costs for the subsidized pricing." Second Chance Animal Shelter is a nationally recognized organization that provides innovative programs and services to help animals. It has been helping animals since 1999 and is a no-kill, non-profit organization that helps more than 20,000 pets through adoption, spay-neuter, subsidized veterinary care, behavioral assistance and other services. Its mission is to provide temporary shelter to stray, abandoned and surrendered animals for the purpose of finding permanent suitable homes; to provide assistance and financial aid to prevent overpopulation through spaying and neutering programs; and to support a healthy pet community and responsible animal husbandry by providing reasonable-cost general veterinary services, as well as low or no-cost general veterinary services to those unable to afford care for their pets. The shelter also seeks to provide low and no-cost general veterinary services to animal control agencies, animal shelters and rescues; to establish cross-referral networks with local for profit veterinary doctors and clinics; and to provide assistance and information to others whose purposes are consistent with the purpose of Second Chance Animal Shelter Inc. Programs include the Food for Pets Pantry, which was established to help people in need feed their pets so that they don't have to surrender them; and an on-site service at elderly housing complexes to help residents keep their pets healthy and up to date on vaccines. Second Chance also offers rabies vaccinations and microchip clinics to help ensure that all pets get home safely and are protected from rabies. Blancato noted that a number of people who were struggling to find transportation to the veterinary clinic in North Brookfield. "We did a great deal of research on where the highest needs were by looking at the poverty levels," she said. "Springfield had a huge need, and we were regularly getting calls to help. We were using our transport vehicle to help as many as we could." According to the Pets for Life program, there are 23 million pets living in poverty in the United States. "Their owners love them dearly but have limited financial means when their pets get sick," Blancato said. "The comment used to be that if people couldn't afford a pet they shouldn't have one, but that is not a fair statement. Having the love and companionship of a pet should be able to be for everyone." This is especially important for the elderly and disabled. "These pets are often their sole daily companions and mean the world to them," she said. These pets also provide health benefits to people such as helping to reduce blood pressure, helping with depression and getting people active socially and physically, she added. "Seventy-seven percent of pets in under-served communities do not have access to regular veterinary care because it is something out of reach financially," she said. "Therefore we are filling this gap." For more information, visit the website, secondchanceanimals.org. Boston University Boston University's campus and Marsh Chapel. (Henry Zbyszynski, Creative Commons) A Boston University student was found dead on campus Wednesday morning, according to The Boston Globe. The school's news website says a male student was found dead on the roof of the first floor at Kilachand Honors College, a major dorm near Kenmore Square, around 8:50 a.m. Reports says that the student did not live in the dorm. The identity of the student is being withheld until the family is notified. The Boston Police Department is investigating the death. climate conference schneiderman.jpg Attorneys general led by New York's Eric Schneiderman announced a coordinated effort to investigate the fossil fuel industry and whether it misled investors and the public on climate change. (YouTube-Eric Schneiderman) Massachusetts will investigate ExxonMobil and whether it misled the public and its shareholders about the financial and market risks posed by climate change, joining New York and California to probe whether such actions could constitute consumer or securities fraud, or violation of environmental laws. Attorney General Maura Healey spoke at a press conference Tuesday alongside New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, former Vice President Al Gore and others to announce that attorneys general from 16 states and the Virgin Islands are joining forces to investigate Exxon and other corporations. "Fossil fuel companies that deceived investors and consumers about the dangers of climate change must be held accountable," Healey said, adding that there is a "troubling disconnect between what Exxon knew, what industry folks knew, and the company and industry chose to share with investors and the American public." The announcement follows reports from InsideClimate News and the Los Angeles Times that ExxonMobil knew about the connection between fossil fuels and climate change as far back as 1977, and even planned internally for its impacts, while at the same time working publicly to discredit climate science. The coalition is led by Schneiderman, who in November announced a state investigation into Exxon and issued a subpoena seeking four decades of documents. California has also launched a probe into Exxon. Healey said her office would formally join those investigations. Schneiderman said the conference was convened "to come up with creative ways to enforce laws that are being flouted by the fossil fuel industry, and their allies, in their short-sighted efforts to put profits above the interests of the American people, and the integrity of our financial markets." Claude Walker, the Attorney General for the U.S. Virgin Islands, said his office is investigating another, unnamed company over similar allegations. Gore said the announcement marks "a real turning point in the effort to hold to account those commercial interests that have been, according to the best available evidence, deceiving the American people, communicating in a fraudulent way." Exxon issued a statement Tuesday calling the effort "politically motivated and based on discredited reporting funded by activist organizations" and that the corporation is "actively assessing all legal options." Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen were also at Tuesday's press conference. The group 350.org on Tuesday launched the website ExxonKnew.org to share information about the investigations and petition the U.S. Department of Justice and state Attorneys General to "hold Exxon accountable." Print Amherst Together, Amherst schools are hosting a six film series in April. (Submitted) AMHERST - Amherst Together, along with the schools and Human Rights Commission is offering a series of six films in April to explore "global perspectives on humanity," according to a press release. "The festival is designed to create an opportunity for the community to contemplate and discuss important social issues that exist within our society," according to the release and marks the second phase of the Amherst Together initiative focused on advancing social literacy. All films begin at 6:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6:15 p.m. Viewers can participate in a talk-back program with a facilitator following the screenings. "Our community thrives on discourse and people consistently ask for more opportunities to talk," said Carol Ross, Media & Climate Communications Specialist in a press release. "Film is such a wonderful tool to inspire new perspectives and encourage meaningful dialog." The series begins Tuesday in the Amherst Regional High School Auditorium with the screening of "Ivory Tower," which looks at the $1 trillion dollar student loan debt, while examining the business of higher education at the expense of students. On Wednesday night in the Amherst Regional Middle School library "If You Build It," which follows designer Emily Pilloton and architect Matt Miller into one of the poorest counties in North Carolina to teach students the art of problem solving within their community, will be shown. "The Human Family Tree" screens April 11 also in the middle school. The film "sets out to trace the ancestral footsteps of all humanity, traveling to one of the most diverse corners of the world, Queens, NY, to demonstrate how we all share common ancestors who embarked on very different journeys," according to the release. On April 12, the series continues with "More than A Month," which follows one man's quest to end Black History Month. It will also be shown in the middle school library. "The True Cost" about the clothing people wear and those who make it will screen April 13 in the high school auditorium. The series ends April 27 with a screening of "The House I Live In," which looks into the true cost of America's losing war on drugs. e.jpg Amherst voters said yes to the charter commission creation. The first meeting is April 5. (Diane Lederman/The Repubilcan) AMHERST - Voters approved the creation of a nine member Charter Commission in Tuesday's town election giving the commission 18 months to meet, hold public hearings and draft its final report. The unofficial tally was 2,039 in favor and 1,340 no. The first scheduled Charter Commission meeting is April 5 where the commission will elect a chair, vice chair and clerk and set future meeting dates. The town last considered a charter change in 2005, but voters rejected the proposal to replace the Select Board with a nine-member town council and a mayor by 253 votes - 2,950 against to 2,697 in favor of the change. In 2003, there was a 14-vote margin of defeat. In 1996, voters rejected a charter commission proposal that would have reduced town meeting members from 240 to 150 and created a seven-member town council and a mayor, who would have served on a seven-member School Committee. Jerry Guidera, who helped organize the drive to bring the ballot question to voters, thinks the vote means town meeting is done. He said they started out to just create a commission to look at town government but he thinks it got turned into a referendum. And said the vote was a lopsided win. Six of the nine who the Amherst for Change endorsed won seats. EAST LONGMEADOW -- During the last scheduled Board of Selectmen meeting before next month's election, townspeople called for resignations and questioned the validity of decisions selectmen made at their last meeting, as the interim town administrator insisted that he cannot be publicly criticized. About 150 people attended the two-hour meeting at East Longmeadow's Council on Aging on Wednesday, waiting for a public comment period that Chairman Angela Thorpe said the board would hold at the end of the meeting. Many who attended the March 16 Board of Selectmen meeting complained that the board refused to hear any public comment from people wanting to address the board about their appointments of East Longmeadow Police Sgt. Jeffrey Dalessio as police chief, interim town administrator Gregory Neffinger as permanent town administrator, and the removal of Paul Federici from the chairman's seat. Before public comment began Wednesday night, Interim Town Administrator Gregory Neffinger used a portion of the meeting dedicated to interim town administrator updates to claim that any criticism of him must be made in a private session. "I have rights as an employee of the town- there's due process, no one can say things publicly about me," Neffinger told the crowd. "You have to do it in executive session, and I have the right to be there, and I have the right to have an attorney there also." Neffinger also took the opportunity to deny any involvement with corruption alleged in the police chief search process. Earlier this month, Federici publicly said that he was approached by former Springfield city councilor and convicted felon Francis Keough III, who offered him a yet-to-be-determined finance job if he went along with a plan to appoint former West Springfield Police Capt. Daniel O'Brien as police chief, and extend Interim Town Administrator Greg Neffinger's position to a permanent role. "I just found out a few days ago that there was a third person in that meeting, that person is willing to testify that during that meeting was about real estate and my name never came up," Neffinger said. "I never asked anybody to lobby for me." Federici did not immediately respond to a voicemail requesting comment on Wednesday. During a public comment period at the meeting Tuesday, residents called out Neffinger and the board for what they said amounted to acting against the will of the people for personal agendas. "I left your last meeting just about in tears, because I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said Marilyn Richards, a former selectman. "It's the elected officials that set the standard and I hope to see change." When Mark Sullivan asked Selectman William Gorman, who has insisted the importance of a requirement that East Longmeadow's new police chief live in town, if he would make a motion for a residency requirement for the town administrator, Gorman said he would, and made the motion. But shortly after Thorpe seconded the motion for discussion, Town Attorney James Donahue stood up and told selectmen they could not move forward, because action related to a residency requirement for the town administrator had not been placed on the agenda. When later asked why selectmen could appoint a new chairman without including it on the agenda on March 16, Donahue said that residents have legitimate reason to complain to the Attorney General's office about that matter. In a meeting where a resident called for his resignation, Gorman pointed out that only Federici was allegedly approached by Keough with an alleged bribe, and suggested that this is because Federici is a "weak link" on the board. Gorman declined a request that he resign. "If anyone thinks they can do a better job, then step up," Gorman said. WEARE, New Hampshire - Volunteer firefighter Derek Lankowski was killed in a freak accident caused by high winds Tuesday. Derek Lankowski A tree fell on his truck at 2:40 p.m. while he was driving on Route 114 near the entrance of John Stark Regional School, Weare police said in statement. Kevin Berkebile, deputy chief of the Lyndeborough Fire Department, wrote about the loss on social media: "Tragic day for the Lyndeborugh Fire Department, today we lost a firefighter, friend, and a family member due to a freak accident. He was a 32 year old, with 8 years of service. He was the type of guy that would do anything for anyone; he would always have stories to tell and got along with everyone he met. Our hearts and prayers go out to his wife, family and friends." Lankowski was pronounced dead at the scene after the tree crushed the cab of his truck. Police said he was actually 31 years old. "Lyndeborough Firefighters were at the scene and stood vigil while Mr. Lankowski's body was removed by French and Rising Funeral home," police said in a statement. Car being towed from scene in #Weare. 1 person killed after wind toppled tree on truck pic.twitter.com/xAlPFLepuX via @MikeCroninWMUR WMUR TV (@WMUR9) March 29, 2016 A witness, Lisa Phipps, told the television station she tried to keep him awake while waiting for emergency responders. She said the tree was rotten. At the time of the accident, winds in the area were measured at up to 36 mph, according to the National Weather Service. MSP hats.jpg Members of the 82nd recruit training troop at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree prepare their dress hats in anticipation of Friday's graduation. In the right photo, Senior Drill Instructor, Trooper David Pinkham gives instruction on proper assembly of their hats. (Massachusetts State Police photo) WORCESTER - Gov. Charlie Baker and State Police Col. Richard D. McKeon will be present Friday as 158 recruits will complete their training with the state police academy and be sworn in as state troopers. The graduation ceremony is planned for 1 p.m. at the DCU Center. In addition to Baker and McKeon, other officials scheduled to attend are Lt. Gov. Karen Polito, and Public Safety and Security Secretary Daniel Bennett. The ceremony marks the end of a 24 weeks of training at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree. The class originally had 212 members. The members of the 82nd recruit training troop received intensive and rigorous training that included academic work, physical fitness, defensive tactics, patrol and traffic safety procedures, the use of firearms and less-lethal weapons, and basic first aid, according to state police officials. Recruits lived at the academy during the week, returning to their families only for the weekend, officials said. One half of the graduating class are military veterans, and many others have prior police experience in local departments. The class also has several members with no prior police or law enforcement experience. "The graduation will be a ceremonial event to reflect the tremendous sacrifice made by these young men and women to fulfill their wish to serve and protect the citizens of our state," police said. This is the third batch of new state troopers to complete the state police training academy since 2008. In 2014, it graduated 174 troopers, and in 2012 there were 208. [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn] In light of the off-track global economy, the recently concluded 2016 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in China's Hainan Province has introduced China, Asia and the world's high-level sharing of intelligence as well as strategies regarding global economic recovery and governance reform. According to the information delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, despite the slowdown of economic growth rate, the Chinese economy is still the engine of global economic growth with positive changes in its structure and spacious momentum. China, a country that is committed to the economic restructuring, will be an important participant in global economic governance reform along with Asian countries and emerging economies. At present, China is actively participating in the reform of the International Monetary Fund and pursuing a discourse power matched with its economic strength through the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , the New Development Bank of BRICS, the Silk Road Fund and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. China's efforts in guiding the building of multi-leveled financial systems will help to establish a new pattern of global governance in the 21th Century. As an important bridge connecting China, Asia and the world, the BFA's influence has been rising yearly with the continuous growth of China's economic strength. Meanwhile, the China Development Forum held in Beijing on March 19-21 was a window for the world to look at the trend of Chinese policies. China has been working on narrowing the communication gap on its economic policies by holding such high-level forums. China now faces three challenges in the economic field. First is how to change the growth model. Second is how to steadily control the unavoidable economic slowdown. Third is how to interface the Chinese economy with the global economy. They can be summarized into one question, how to ensure the orderly expansion of Chinese economic activity in the world during economic transition and growth among global financial competition and the changes of international patterns. China's economic transition is unique in world economic history. China's economic factors, resources, population quality and structure, development concept, decision mechanism and technological development stage are all hugely different with those of developed countries. Therefore, China cannot find a ready-made path for its economic transition. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman sign a joint statement on lifting the two countries' ties to a strategic partnership after their talks in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 29, 2016. [Xinhua/Ju Peng] Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited the Czech Republic, the highest official Chinese visit to the most developed country in Eastern Europe in the history of the People's Republic of China. During his visit, he met repeatedly with Czech President Milos Zeman and other key Czech politicians. The main topic of discussion was economic cooperation between the two countries. The geographic distance between China and the Czech Republic is huge, and there are almost no conflicts of interest that might hinder future cooperation. After 20 years of formal and distant relations, the Czech Republic is finally opening up to closer ties with China. China has turned out to be very responsive to Czech calls for partnership and has demonstrated willingness to increase the two countries' economic ties through cooperation in many fields, including small aircraft and car manufacturing and high tech industries. Xi honored the Czech Republic on a level that is unprecedented since the establishment of relations between the two countries. He is the first Chinese head of state to visit the Czech Republic since the foundation of the People's Republic of China. President Zeman was the only European Union leader to visit China last year to celebrate the Chinese victory over fascist forces during World War II, sending a clear signal that the Czech Republic is ready to establish closer ties with China. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. Flash China's Hainan Airline launched the first nonstop flight service from China to Czech Republic last September as a key part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The airline has attracted a large number of passengers from China and other countries after just several months of operations. The direct Beijing to Prague route shortened the travelling time between the two cities from at least 14 hours to 10 hours, and has also provided convenient transfers for tourists heading to and from central Europe. "When the route was first launched, passengers were mainly Chinese tourist groups. But the number of foreign passengers has kept growing in the past half year. Only 10 percent of the passengers on our inaugural flight were foreigners and now the number is 30 percent at the least," Guo Kaihua, general manager of Prague Office of Hainan Airline, said. There are more opportunities for cooperation between the two countries as additional Chinese tourists and investors visit the Czech Republic. Hainan Airline is planning to adjust the frequency of its flights according to passengers numbers and change from flying a Boeing 767 to a larger Airbus 330 to meet demand. Often referred to as the "Whitest City in America," Portland, Oregon, has made concerted efforts in recent years to support its burgeoning minority entrepreneurial class. Last August, the Portland Development Commission set out to raise $3 million for its new Inclusive Startup Fund aimed at fostering minority business growth in the city positioning Portland as a leader in shaping an ecosystem earmarked for demonstrable inclusive innovation. By Sherrell Dorsey Full Story: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/portland-inclusive-startup-fund-fuels-minority-women-entrepreneurs The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce is leading a trade and cultural tour to China, April 9-18, for 200 Flathead Valley residents, 95 of which will participate in a briefing at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing with former Montana Senator and now U.S. Ambassador to China, Max Baucus. "Its exciting to have so many friends from the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce visiting China. Were thrilled to host such a great group here at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to discuss how we manage the complex trade and economic relationship the United States has with China and how we work to promote opportunities for business and investment in Montana and across the United States," said Ambassador Baucus. On April 13th members of the trip participating in the Embassy briefing will spend two hours with Baucus before joining a group of approximately 250 members of the American Chambers China and Chinese government officials for a joint business social and trade show. "We lead these international trips to encourage trade opportunities for business and a fun travel experience for our members, their family and friends, and residents of our community. Our time with Ambassador Baucus at the Embassy will be a truly special experience," said Chamber President, Joe Unterreiner. The Chamber has also arranged meetings with several Chinese travel companies to promote Kalispell and the Flathead Valley. Keeping pace with the economic development and business focused portions of the trip, several travelers will also have the opportunity to participate in business match-making sessions to establish trade relationships and grow their export business. Additionally, all 200 travelers will have the opportunity to tour various factories and the Pudong Economic Development Zone in Shanghai, known to be Chinas financial hub and center of the countrys urban development strategy. The trip also includes tours of the Great Wall, Tian An Men Square, the Forbidden City, and a two-day stop in XiAn to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, widely considered the eighth wonder of the world. Follow along with the Chambers trip through their travel blog: kalispelltravels.blogspot.com. Photos and tour recaps will be posted daily. Due to community interest, the Chamber is offering a similar trip next spring, April 8-17, 2017. Anyone interested can contact that Chamber at (406)758-2806 for more information or to reserve a space. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Equality NC just released a letter addressed to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, urging him to repeal the provisions of House Bill 2. H.B. 2 eliminates non-discrimination ordinances and effectively writes into the state law of North Carolina discrimination against LGBT people. More specifically, it forces transgender students in public schools to use bathrooms and other facilities that are inconsistent with their gender identity. The legislation passed last Wednesday, with McCrory signing it into law that night. The letter (pasted below) includes signatures from more than 80 CEOs, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Chad Griffin, president of the HRC and Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality NC, will deliver the letter to McCrorys office on Thursday morning. Theyve also requested a meeting with Governor McCrory on Thursday. by Megan Rose Dickey (@meganrosedickey) Full Story: http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/29/facebook-apple-google-other-tech-ceos-demand-north-carolina-repeal-anti-lgbt-law/ *** Backlash grows against North Carolinas discrimination law Eighty businesses have joined a growing backlash against a new North Carolina law ending anti-discrimination protections across the state. Bank of America, based in Charlotte, has joined dozens of major firms publicly objecting to the law. It also means transgender people must use bathrooms according to the gender on their birth certificates. Republican Governor Pat McCrory said the law was protecting privacy and based on common sense. New York, Vermont, Washington, San Francisco and Seattle have banned travel by public employees to the state as a form of protest. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35928098 The Industry Pioneers Fast Tracking Africas Energy Sector Growth will be honored at African Energy Week 2022 , which is seeking submissions for candidate recipients for its 2022 African Energy Awards. The deadline for submissions is the 31st of June 2022. The African Energy Chamber (AEC) is proud to announce that the African Energy Awards will return to Africas premier event energy event, African Energy Week (AEW) on 18 21 October, 2022 in Cape Town, to celebrate excellence, innovation and pioneering work being done by professionals and organizations within the continents energy industry. Now, the AEC is calling out to industry leaders, professionals, and common citizens from across the continent, to submit proposals for candidate recipients for the several different categories honored at the African Energy Awards, bestowed to extraordinary individuals during AEW, the continents leading energy event and the biggest celebration of the AECs relentless campaign to Make Energy Poverty History by 2030. The AEC is asking the wider audience to submit their proposals through the email awards@aecweek.com for the following categories: National Oil Company of the Year Award As the continent addresses the energy transition, National Oil Companies (NOCs) are playing a fundamental role in empowering African nations to take more value from their energy resources. This award recognized the achievements of the NOC that has most proven capable to not only be a reliable partner, but to be the leading entity in the road to its nations energy ambitions. African Gas Monetization of the year This award recognizes companies and projects that are upheaving gas monetization in Africa to close the energy poverty gap. Operational Excellence Award This award goes to the company that has excelled in operating in the continent in a novel, sustainable and locally impactful way. CEO of the Year Award This award recognizes the achievement of high-level executives that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their organizations. ESG Leader Award As ESG (environmental, social and governance) becomes a central element in the development of Africas natural resources, the continent needs champions that will protect and promote local populations while ensuring fair and safe operations. Gamechanger Award This award is given to the company or organization that has revolutionized its field, changing the rules of what is common ground and what has become the new rule. African Independent of the Year Award A new breed of explorers is taking up the challenge of sustainably developing the continents hydrocarbon resources. This award goes to the independent who has succeeded in making a footprint in the continent and opening up the upstream game for new explorers to come. Lifetime achievement award (This category is not open to public nominations) This award is granted to the person/persons who have taken courageous steps in promoting the wellbeing of African citizens, the socioeconomic stability of its nation, and towards improving the functioning and profitability of the energy and hydrocarbon markets. Under the theme, Exploring and Investing in Africas Energy Future while Driving an Enabling Environment, AEW 2022 will celebrate industry achievements, and discuss challenges and opportunities within Africas oil, gas and energy sector. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires You are here: Home Flash All the victims of the Brussels terror attacks have now been identified, the Belgian public prosecutor confirmed on Tuesday. Belgian broadcaster RTBF said magistrate Ine Van Wymeersch had confirmed that 17 Belgians and 15 foreigners were killed in the bombings on March 22. Among the killed foreigners there were four Americans, three Dutch, two Swedish, one Chinese, one Briton, one Peruvian, as well as one from France and one from Italy. The nationality of one of the deceased has not been made public. RTBF added that 94 people remained in hospital undergoing treatment. About half of them were in intensive care and another 30 in a specialist burns unit. About half of the injured were foreigners with 20 different nationalities. Flash The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), led by Vice President Michel Temer, announced Tuesday its decision to leave President Dilma Rousseff's government, depriving her of major coalition ally, Brazilian press reported. Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff (C) raises the hand of Brazilian Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (R) during her visit to Lula da Silva's home in Sao Bernardo do Campo, outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 5, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] This leaves Rousseff in deep trouble with a number of ministers leaving her Workers' Party (PT) government and increases the chances of her impeachment moving forward in the Chamber of Deputies. The decision, which was announced by Senator Romero Juca, the PMDB's vice president, was met with applauses in a meeting in Brasilia, according to daily O Globo. Standing beside Juca was Chamber of Deputies President Eduardo Cunha, who authorized the opening of impeachment proceedings in December while he himself was facing corruption charges at the Supreme Court. This decision will see the PMDB ministers overseeing the areas of tourism, civil aviation, mines and energy, ports, science and technology, and agriculture, leave the government. Temer did not attend the meeting and has said he will not leave his position as Vice President. Temer's decision is being interpreted by government loyalists as self-interested since he would be next in the line of succession, should Rousseff be impeached. After the decision was announced, PMDB leader chanted "PT out" and "Temer for President". On Monday, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had said he would be speaking with certain PMDB leaders to try and tempt some of the party to stay in the government. The government would need at least 172 votes in the Chamber of Deputies to sink any impeachment attempt. With the support of the PMDB, it could reach this total. Should the PMDB decides to back impeachment, the government's coalition would only seem to have 123 guaranteed votes left. Political analysts have also stated that the PMDB's decision could cause a domino effect, leading other smaller parties to jump ship. On the heels of this decision, Senator Aecio Neves, leader of the opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), stated that his party would be willing to form a government and cooperate with the PMDB, should Rousseff falls. Speaking to the press, Neves said the PMDB's exit had "shut the lid" on the PT's time in government. "Dilma's government is over. The PMDB's exit has shut the lid on a moribund government which does not offer the most basic conditions...to return to growth and create jobs," said Neves, who lost to Rousseff in the 2014 general election. Flash The Pentagon on Tuesday ordered families of U.S. troops to evacuate southern Turkey amid deteriorating security situation. The order issued Tuesday would impact primarily U.S. military family members from Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey, which in recent months had become a major hub for launching U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) the terror group targets in Iraq and Syria. Family members of U.S. military from facilities in Turkish cities of Ismir and Mugla would also be affected by the order. "The decision to move our families and civilians was made in consultation with the Government of Turkey, our State Department, and our Secretary of Defense," said a statement by the U.S. European Command. However, the order did not "signify a permanent decision to end accompanied tours at these facilities," said the statement. "It is intended to mitigate the risk to DoD (Department of Defense) elements and personnel, including family members, while ensuring the combat effectiveness of U.S. forces and our mission support to operations in Turkey," it said. The order came after the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning, urging U.S. citizens to avoid southeastern Turkey due to "increased threats from terrorist groups." Turkey has experienced a string of deadly attacks over the past few months, with the latest one hitting central Istanbul, a Turkish city that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosporus Strait, on March 19, killing five people. It came only one week after a car laden with explosives hit central Ankara, Turkey's capital, claiming 37 lives. Flash China has appointed its first special envoy for the Syrian crisis. Xie Xiaoyan is a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to Iran, ambassador to Ethiopia, and as China's representative at African Union. Spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry, Hong Lei, made the announcement on Tuesday. "The purpose of China's appointment of a special envoy for the Syria issue is to further increase the efforts to promote peaceful talks, to better put forward China's wisdom, to better come up with its proposals, to better strengthen negotiation with all sides to push forward the appropriate resolution of the Syria issue." Hong Lei reiterated China has always actively dedicated itself to the appropriate resolution of the Syria issue. He stressed that a political solution is the only way out for the Syrian issue, and that the U.N. should play a dominant role in the process. He noted that China supported the mediation efforts of U.N. Syria special envoy Staffan de Mistura and has provided humanitarian assistance to the region. The latest round of Syrian peace talks wrapped up several days ago. A paper of 12 points of commonalities was delivered to both the Syrian government and the opposition for further consideration. 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. Flash A man who hijacked an EgyptAir plane during a domestic flight to Cairo yesterday, forcing it to land on the island of Cyprus, is in custody after releasing passengers and crew and surrendering. Earlier, before the end of an hours-long standoff, the hijacker had freed most passengers but kept on board seven people four crew members and three passengers. The mans motivations were unclear, but officials said the hijacking was not terrorism-related, and that the hijacker, an Egyptian, had tried to communicate with his Cypriot ex-wife, who lives on the island. Just minutes before the arrest, local TV footage from the airport showed several people disembarking from the aircraft and a man who appeared to be a crew member climbing out of the cockpit window and sliding down the side of the plane. Alexandros Zenon, permanent secretary of the foreign ministry in Cyprus, confirmed the hijackers surrender and subsequent arrest, saying the situation was over. Egypts Civil Aviation Minister Sharif Fathi told state television all passengers and crew are safe. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was not something that has to do with terrorism, and a Cyprus government official said the man seems in love. Anastasiades, appearing alongside European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Nicosia, was asked by reporters whether he could confirm that the incident was about a woman. Always, there is a woman, he replied, drawing laughter. The hijacker had asked to speak to his ex-wife, with whom he has four children, a Cypriot police official said. The hijacker also complained about the Egyptian government and demanded the release of female prisoners from Egyptian jails. A Cypriot civil aviation official said the man gave negotiators the name of a woman who lives in Cyprus and asked them to give her an envelope. It was not clear if she was his former wife. The police official said the hijacker walked off the plane and was taken into custody by special anti-terrorism police. He said the man wore a belt but there were no explosives in it. Flight MS181 took off yesterday morning from Bourg el-Arab airport just outside the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria en route to Cairo with at least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners, and a seven-member crew. An official with flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 said the plane showed no immediate signs of distress. The flight between Alexandria and Cairo normally takes about 30 minutes. Egyptian officials gave conflicting accounts as the drama unfolded. The aviation ministry said in a statement that the hijacker was wearing an explosives belt, which turned out to be untrue. Egyptian government spokesman Hossam al-Queish identified the hijacker as Ibrahim Samaha, but an Egyptian woman who identified herself as Samahas wife said her husband is not the hijacker and was on his way to Cairo so he could fly to the U.S. to attend a conference. The woman, who identified herself only as Nahla, told the Egyptian private TV network ONTV by phone that her husband had never been to Cyprus and that a photo on Egyptian and regional TV channels that purportedly showed the hijacker was not him. Later, the official Middle East News Agency identified the hijacker as Seifedeen Mustafa, without providing further details. A senior Cypriot official confirmed the name of the hijacker, but also provided no further details. Police in Cairo were questioning the hijackers relatives, Sharif Faisal, the police chief for the industrial suburb of Helwan, told reporters. The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said the foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian. Three other foreigners could not be identified. The initial group of passengers released by the hijacker were seen calmly walking off the plane down a set of stairs, carrying their hand luggage and boarding a bus. Security was tight at the airport, with police repeatedly pushing back reporters and TV crews working just outside the fence, near where the aircraft stopped. Police also evacuated a nearby beach popular with tourists. Egyptian passenger Farah el-Dabani told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiyah TV network that the hijacker was seated in the back of the aircraft and that it was the crew who told passengers that the plane was being hijacked. There was panic at the beginning, but the crew told us to be quiet. They did a good job to keep us all quiet so the hijacker does not do anything rash. The incident raises more questions about security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft crashed over the Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off from Egypts Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft, and the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russia suspended air links to Egypt after the bombing, dealing a major blow to Egypts vital tourism industry. Yesterdays hijack could further postpone the resumption of such flights. by Gordon Plutsky , Columnist, March 29, 2016 The 2016 CrossFit Games Open competition just wrapped up another successful year. It is on to the regionals and then the finals for the elite competitors. However, that is not the whole story of the The Open. The real action is what happens at the affiliate level the grassroots and how it embodies a new type of branding. Douglas Holts Branding in the Age of Social Media (Harvard Business Review, March 2016) is a thought-provoking look at how social media has changed traditional branding. He writes about the rise of crowd culture and the fact people gravitate to authentic content created by everyday people rather than by brands. Ten years into the social era, he surmises that the classic notion that people want to be friends or follow brands on social media may be ineffective. Traditional models of branding are lagging since the advent of social platforms. He talks about a new paradigm of cultural branding, and CrossFit has followed this model for growth and success. Forbes estimates the CrossFit ecosystem (CrossFit HQ, affiliates, equipment makers, service providers, etc.) to be a $4-billion business with more than 11,000 affiliates worldwide. A look at some of Holts rules for cultural branding applied to CrossFit can give marketers a road map for their own brands. 1. Map to the cultural orthodoxy CrossFit founder Greg Glassman broke with conventional wisdom on fitness and had The Big Idea. Corporate gyms packed with machines and people working out with headphones doesnt work. Glassman surmised there had to be a better way. He recognized these globo-gyms were missing a key element community. There was a crowd culture waiting to be tapped that wanted to do constantly varied and challenging body weight/weightlifting workouts as part of a tightly knit community. 2. Locate the cultural opportunity The internet and social media became the vehicle to spread the word. Glassman came up with the concept of an open source system of exercise in tune with the wide open culture of the viral web. Workouts and instructions are posted for free, anyone can follow from anywhere. Affiliates are charged a fee for the name, but it is not a franchise system with regimented rules. CrossFit is a classic digital platform company; they own no gyms and dont sell equipment, DVDs, supplements or shakes. They bring together affiliate owners and customers and leverage the network effect to great success. 3. Target the crowd culture CrossFit first took hold among the military and public safety officials who still embrace it. Then it spread to early adaptors who were looking for a new way to exercise that embraced a back-to-basics ethos and was quantifiable. 4. Diffuse the new ideology CrossFit is essentially a media and training company publishing a journal, educational videos and offering training certifications. They have done an excellent job with the CrossFit Games site, turning it into a mini ESPN. The lesson for companies is to turn their focus away the social platforms and reliance on advertising and towards the real center of digital power crowd cultures. To that end, CrossFit hit upon a brilliant idea last year; they added a scaled version workout to The Open. That gave the vast majority of members who have not mastered the high skill movements a chance to get involved and build on the grassroots culture. Many gyms (including mine, CrossFit 5 Plus) started inter mural competitions that centered on building community. It ended last Friday with a brutal workout. A few dozen people gathered to challenge themselves, and see if they could find a place within their psyche they didnt know they had. Its a microcosm of entire experience. The members who finished quickly were congratulated for their efforts, but the greatest support came for those who struggled to complete the workout. The community cheered to push them beyond the mental and physical limits they thought they had. It took a while for them to finish, but their score really doesnt matter. It is about the satisfaction and inner peace they achieved and the sense of accomplishment. It gives them confidence that carries over to their personal and professional lives. That inspiring scene is the crowd culture CrossFit has tapped into, and its how they reinvented the concept of fitness. by Larissa Faw , March 29, 2016 Publicis Groupe's CEO Maurice Levy ignited social media after his comments that JWT's sexual harassment lawsuit was a "one-off" during the 4As Transformation Conference in Miami last week. Now, Levy is clarifying those remarks through an internal memo sent to all Publicis employees. In his statement, Levy says his 4As response was related solely to "the JWT problem, a WPP agency, and the allegedly racist, anti-Semitic, and sexist comments made by its CEO, such as they were reported in the complaint filed by Erin Johnson." He goes on to say that these allegations, "if true, are jaw dropping. To such an extent, that in my opinion, they can only represent the unforgivable fault of one man, as opposed to an industry-wide evil. On this point, I maintain my position, and I dare hope that I am right. I can't for one second imagine that it is common in our industry (or in any other) to make jokes at every turn about women, blacks and Jews, and to speak of a subject as sensitive as rape, as it was depicted in Erin Johnson's complaint. "Should a case of this nature be brought to our attention in our own Groupe, we would react strongly and without delay." He also encourages everyone to read the complaint, saying "it is appalling." Levy believes that for Publicis Groupe, "gender equality and diversity across the industry have mattered for decades and we will continue to pursue them restlessly. Our values are strong and generous -- leaving no room for such behaviors that tarnish our industry." While Levy attempted to tone down one controversy, he fanned the flames on his ongoing rivalry with WPP CEO Martin Sorrell, who last week at the 4As said he disagreed "violently" with Levy's take then on the JWT lawsuit, saying: "Maurice has the habit of ignoring the facts in getting to his opinions." Levy countered in his memo that Sorrell "once again showed his extraordinary level of hypocrisy," adding that "facts are truly stubborn things." "This situation began in his company, in one of his largest agencies," Levy continued in his memo, "with a CEO, therefore someone who is meant to lead by example." Erin Johnson, Levy said, "did everything possible to have her story be heard, without it being so, even from the very person who should listen -- the Chief Talent Officer. A situation that has been going on for over a year, and his response as CEO of the largest advertising company globally was nothing but a dilatory tactic, attacking ad hominem one of his colleagues during a flagship industry event, while my name was neither mentioned nor implied in the question." He goes on to say that he originally took the high road. "We could have expected more dignity from him, especially as during my interview, I refrained from damning WPP, whose reaction in this affair is all but glorious. I know that we don't have the same values, no matter the light we shed on our behaviors. Our actions are living witnesses to our values, whether in business, family and moral matters, or in regard to compensation. Rarely will Martin Sorrell have so well deserved the description given to him by David Ogilvy." That last reference -- according to a Campaign magazine article written awhile back -- had Ogilvy, commenting on the WPP takeover of his namesake agency: "The idea of being taken over by that odious little jerk gives me the creeps." But Campaign was clear that the comment was hearsay and could not be confirmed. WPP issued this statement in response to Levy's latest comments on the issue: "From what we've seen and heard, his comments, which were publicly reprimanded immediately by Nancy Hill, head of the 4As, stirred up a hornets nest, which Levy is now attempting to deal with. Levy is clearly attempting damage limitation for ill-judged remarks at the 4As Conference. We are glad to hear he is attempting to reverse his original position. After all, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." This story has been updated with a response from WPP. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, March 30, 2016 Google made available a new mobile ad format Wednesday to all original equipment manufacturer (OEM) automotive advertisers in the U.S. The ads recreate a showroom-like experience by featuring images of advertised cars along with additional information about each such as MPG or features in mobile search results. The ad format, Model Automotive Ads, first announced in beta May 2015, aims to reach consumers at each critical moment during the car-shopping journey by serving the most useful information on mobile devices in a carousel of images. Toyota and Ford are running the new ad formats for some models. Google estimates engagement rates on Model Automotive ads are about 30% higher on average compared with standard text ads. Toyota has seen roughly a 45% increase in conversion rates and a 30% decrease in cost per acquisition (CPA) compared with standard search text ads across its core line of car model, Dionne Colvin-Lovely, director of traditional and new media for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, in a statement. One in every two automotive-related searches on Google -- such as those for car make and model -- are conducted on smartphones, up 51% year-over-year, according to Google Trends data. Images are a powerful tool in purchase consideration, as auto shoppers who are on the fence about a make or a model can narrow down their choices by having a detailed view of the car. Searches for pictures of automotive brands in the U.S. rose 37% in September 2015, compared with the same month in the prior year, according to Google Trends data. Google also built Automotive ads to work with the new ad format. Auto shoppers who start their search with a car model can tap on the "Dealers" button in the Model Automotive ad to get directions to or call local dealerships. When someone taps on the Model Automotive ad unit Dealers button after searching for a specific car, Google will show Dealer Automotive ads for a nearby dealerships location. by Felicia Greiff , March 30, 2016 A Munich court ruled in favor of Adblock Plus Tuesday after one of Germanys biggest newspapers, Suddeutsche Zeitung, challenged the ad-blocking company's software and Acceptable Ads initiative. The Guardian reported that the court rejected Suddeutsche Zeitung's argument that Adblock Plus was interfering in a contract readers entered into with the newspaper that included accepting ads. The ruling this week is Adblock Plus's fifth legal win in Germany, with the other victories against RTL Interactive, ProSieben, Axel Springer, Handelsblatt and Sat1 and Zeit. Ad-blocking penetration in Germany was 25%, according to a 2015 report from Dublin-based analytics firm PageFair and Adobe. In a blog post after the ruling, Adblock Plus spokesperson Ben Williams said, "Look, we dont want to pile on publishers here. We know that the transition from print to online is still a huge challenge. But we view ad blocking much like the court: as an opportunity, or a challenge, to innovate." Williams' post went on to say "its important that youre informed of the lengths to which some of the powers that be will go to restrict, curtail or outright ban your right to your screen." Adblock Plus, a software developer, is not in violation of U.S. net neutrality rules, which apply to broadband carriers who block or degrade content. The company has been called extortionists by Interactive Advertising Bureau president Randall Rothenberg, but so far, the IAB hasn't taken legal action. Last September, Scott Cunningham, SVP and general manager of the trade organization's Technology Lab, told Ad Age that the IAB is "far away" from a conclusion on whether legal action is a legit option. by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, March 30, 2016 WPP and J. Walter Thompson argued in new court filings in the JWT sex harassment case that comments made by former agency CEO Gustavo Martinez at a company meeting in Miami last year were taken out of context and that Martinez was trying to alleviate an uncomfortable situation at the hotel. They claim he was not creating a hostile work environment as purported by the plaintive JWT chief communications officer Erin Johnson. The agency and holding company filed a slew of declarations from top JWT executives who were at the meeting. They contended there was nothing untoward, sexist or racist about Martinezs comments including a quip that he was worried about being raped in a hotel elevator and not in a good way given their context. They cite events that had occurred at the hotel meeting site the night before the agency meeting. There had been a wild and raucous pool party [that Johnson claimed in her complaint was attended by a mostly African American crowd] that JWT staffers were not involved with and that the police were called in to investigate. Johnson has filed a video of Martinez making the comments at Miamis Viceroy hotel with the judge hearing the case, J. Paul Oetken of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The judge is currently considering whether to allow it to be admitted as an official document in the proceeding. WPP has asked the judge to seal the video if he does allow its submission, out of privacy and other concerns regarding JWT executives who are seen in the video but not named in the lawsuit. Some of the declarations noted that executives had been contacted by a reporter about the Miami video and meeting and asked for comment. WPP argued that information about who was seen in the video was leaked to the press. The video and the declarations, WPP argued, show that Johnsons amended complaint (asking to admit the video) has wrenched an innocent incident entirely out of context and exaggerated its significance. When the video is viewed in the context of the highly unusual and disturbing events that occurred at the hotel, and given Martinezs lack of command of the English language and the fact that he was making a [rape] joke about himself, it is clear that Martinez was trying to alleviate the significant tension that JWT employees were feeling, the company argued. Sworn declarations were filed by a number of JWT executives at the Miami meeting, including Lynn Power, president of J Walter Thompson NY. She filed both a joint declaration, with more than a dozen other high-level JWT executives from around the globe that came to Miami for the meeting, and separate declaration stating shed been contacted by the press for comment. In addition to Power, the joint declaration was also signed by Sefano Zunino CEO of JWTs North America region, Amy Avery, global head of analytics for the agency, Matt Eastwood, Chief Creative Officer and a number of others. The executives said they supported the companys request to have the video sealed and swore that they did not find Martinezs comments offensive, given the surrounding circumstances. Given the highly unusual events occurring at the hotel in the night before the meetings, combined with Gustavos lack of command of the English language and the fact that he was making a joke about himself [in the case of the rape comment], we did not find the comments he made offensive, the declaration stated. And while we would not have chosen the same words he did, the joint declaration added: It was clear that Gustavo was trying to ease the tension that we were all feeling and the people in the room seem to appreciate his attempt to do so. According to WPPs court document, on the night before the JWT meeting where Martinez made the comments, the JWT team had gone to a dinner away from the hotel where they were staying. Upon their return by bus at around 10:30 p.m., the raucous party was in full swing (with partiers in various states of undress). Police were on the scene and a number of the JWT people found themselves stepping over puddles of vomit to get back into the hotel lobby area. There was also a mix up with the luggage of one JWT executivePortugal CEO Susana Carvalho. After returning from dinner to her hotel room, she discovered that her luggage was gone. She reported it stolen and sent an email to Martinez in the middle of the night reporting what had occurred. It turned out that the hotel staff had mistakenly removed the luggage, although Martinez did not know that when he commented at the meeting the following morning that Carvalhos room had been very visited tonight, and that JWT attendees should check their luggage and their stuff. Charlotte Ibarra, manager of events and special projects at JWT, acknowledged in a separate declaration hearing an earful from colleagues about the goings on at the hotel. Ibarra was more than a bit concerned herself, given that the morning meeting at the hotel was set to be staged in the same area that the party was going on. In her declaration, she noted that she went to check on the area at 4:30 a.m. and found a complete mess outside the intended meeting room. The pool deck was trashed, and there were condoms floating in the pool, which was oddly murky. Also, Ibarra stated, The windows between the pool deck and the meeting room had butt cheek imprints, which had to be washed away. A nearby elevator had also been broken by the party attendees, she said. The meeting room and surrounding area were cleaned up by the time the JWT meeting began, Ibarra said. And while she heard lots of complaints about the hotel throughout the two day meeting, she declared that nobody complained to me, nor did I hear that anyone complained to someone else about any comment Gustavo made at the meeting. She was not offended herself, she added, noting that JWT was reimbursed from the hotel for the unpleasantness caused by the party and other issues. Men currently have few options for reproductive control, including condoms and vasectomy. While condoms are widely available and useful in preventing disease when used correctly, they have an 18% yearly pregnancy rate in typical use. Vasectomy is effective, but must generally considered permanent. There are no long-acting, reversible contraceptives currently available for men. With over 85 million unintended pregnancies occurring annually world-wide, demand for new contraceptive methods is strong and growing. International surveys indicate that the majority of men would be willing to use new male contraceptive methods, with variation depending on demographic and cultural attributes. Scientists have discovered a number of possible methods to control fertility in men over the last decades, but no new option has yet made it to market, due mainly to financial and regulatory hurdles. Additionally, much of the research has been on hormonal approaches, even though many men favor a non-hormonal option because of hormonal side effects and safety risks. The study results published yesterday confirm that Vasalgel has the potential to fill the gap in male contraception availability. It consists of styrene-alt-maleic acid (SMA) dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide and could be the first long-acting, non-hormonal, potentially reversible male contraceptive to reach market. Vasalgel results promising The initial rabbit study provided evidence for Vasalgel's value as an effective male contraceptive. The study tested two different formulations of the test article having either 100% SMA acid or 80% SMA acid/20% SMA anhydride. After the gel was injected into the vas deferens of 12 rabbits, semen analysis revealed that 11 rabbits were azoospermic in all samples, having no quantifiable sperm in their semen at all. One rabbit had a few samples with very small numbers of sperm before also becoming azoospermic. Both test articles were equally effective. The study also confirmed that the contraceptive effect was durable over the 12 month study period. The response of the vasa deferentia tissue was minimal with characteristics of a normal foreign body response. "Results from our study in rabbits were even better than expected. Vasalgel produces a very rapid contraceptive effect which lasted throughout the study due to its unique hydrogel properties. These features are important considerations for a contraceptive product to be used in humans," said Dr. Donald Waller, of Prelabs, LLC, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and lead author on the publication. Dr. Waller has worked in the contraceptive development field for much of his career. The characteristics of the Vasalgel contraceptive are likely the reason for its success where other implants have failed. Once injected into the vas deferens, the material forms a hydrogel. The implant remains in a soft gel-like state, with the ability to flex and adhere to the walls of the vasa deferentia. Hydrogels allow transit of many water-soluble molecules but not larger structures such as spermatozoa, which may reduce hydrostatic pressure in the epididymis and rete testis (back-pressure in sperm storage and production areas). Next steps The ability to remove the gel to return the flow of sperm - or reverse the contraceptive effect - was successfully accomplished in the rabbit model, with results currently being prepared for publication. Seven rabbits had the test article flushed from their vas deferens, and semen samples showed a rapid return of sperm flow. The success of the studies has supported planning for the first clinical trial in men, which is scheduled to launch in late 2016. Parsemus Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Berkeley, California, has brought on a team of experts in manufacturing, testing, regulatory compliance and clinical trial implementation to initiate the next phase of the project. The ultimate goal is for Vasalgel to be available world-wide, at a cost low enough to be affordable to all men. Parsemus Foundation Executive Director Elaine Lissner, who has championed the cause of male contraception and the development of Vasalgel, said "Contraceptive development is a hugely expensive project. But this is not just another early-stage lead; we're so close on this one. It's time to finish the job we've started." Cannabis dependence is a serious problem worldwide and it is of growing importance in the United States as marijuana becomes increasingly legal. A new study published online by JAMA Psychiatry examined what specific genetic variants might contribute to cannabis dependence. Joel Gelernter, M.D., of the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., and coauthors conducted a genome-wide association study for DSM-IV cannabis dependence criterion in three independent substance dependence study groups among African American and European American participants. The authors report cannabis dependence has a genetic risk component that may overlap with other psychiatric disorders. Study: Genome-wide Association Study of Cannabis Dependence Severity, Novel Risk Variants, and Shared Genetic Risks , Richard Sherva PhD, Qian Wang MS, Henry Kranzler MD, Hongyu Zhao PhD, Ryan Koesterer MS, Aryeh Herman PsyD, Lindsay A. Farrer PhD, Joel Gelernter MD, JAMA Psychiatry, doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.0036, published online 30 March 2016. The article contains conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc. Advertisement Pregnant mothers - particular older mothers, whose offspring are at greatest risk of developing such disorders - are offered tests to predict the likelihood of genetic abnormalities. Between the 11th and 14th weeks of pregnancy, mothers may be offered chorionic villus sampling (CVS), a test that involves removing and analysing cells from the placenta. A later test, known as amniocentesis, involves analysing cells shed by the foetus into the surrounding amniotic fluid - this test is more accurate, but is usually carried out during weeks 15-20 of the pregnancy, when the foetus is further developed.Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, the study's senior author, was inspired to carry out the research following her own experience when pregnant with her second child. "I am one of the growing number of women having children over the age of 40 - I was pregnant with my second child when I was 44," says Professor Zernicka-Goetz.At the time, a CVS test found that as many as a quarter of the cells in the placenta that joined her and her developing baby were abnormal: could the developing baby also have abnormal cells? When Professor Zernicka-Goetz spoke to geneticists about the potential implications, she found that very little was understood about the fate of embryos containing abnormal cells and about the fate of these abnormal cells within the developing embryos. Fortunately for Professor Zernicka-Goetz, her son, Simon, was born healthy. "I know how lucky I was and how happy I felt when Simon was born healthy," she says."Many expectant mothers have to make a difficult choice about their pregnancy based on a test whose results we don't fully understand," says Professor Zernicka-Goetz. "What does it mean if a quarter of the cells from the placenta carry a genetic abnormality - how likely is it that the child will have cells with this abnormality, too? This is the question we wanted to answer. Given that the average age at which women have their children is rising, this is a question that will become increasingly important.""In fact, abnormal cells with numerical and/or structural anomalies of chromosomes have been observed in as many as 80-90% of human early stage embryos following in vitro fertilization," says Professor Thierry Voet from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK, and the University of Leuven, Belgium, another senior author of this paper, "and CSV tests may expose some degree of these abnormalities."In research funded by the Wellcome Trust, Professor Zernicka-Goetz and colleagues developed a mouse model of aneuploidy by mixing 8-cell stage mouse embryos in which the cells were normal with embryos in which the cells were abnormal. Abnormal mouse embryos are relatively unusual, so the team used a molecule known as reversine to induce aneuploidy.In embryos where the mix of normal and abnormal cells was half and half, the researchers observed that the abnormal cells within the embryo were killed off by 'apoptosis', or programmed-cell death, even when placental cells retained abnormalities. This allowed the normal cells to take over, resulting in an embryo where all the cells were healthy. When the mix of cells was three abnormal cells to one normal cell, some of abnormal cells continued to survive, but the ratio of normal cells increased."The embryo has an amazing ability to correct itself," explains Professor Zernicka-Goetz. "We found that even when half of the cells in the early stage embryo are abnormal, the embryo can fully repair itself. If this is the case in humans, too, it will mean that even when early indications suggest a child might have a birth defect because there are some, but importantly not all abnormal cells in its embryonic body, this isn't necessarily the case." The researchers will now try to determine the exact proportion of healthy cells needed to completely repair an embryo and the mechanism by which the abnormal cells are eliminated.Source: Eurekalert Advertisement The teams reported a variety of clinical successes from their initiatives: Decreased catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) at two hospitals, with results ranging from a 64 percent to 92 percent decline over the project period. Decreased medication errors related to communication 80 percent. Increased progressive mobility of patients in the neuroscience intensive care unit 11 percent. Improved the Rapid Response Team (RRT) process, resulting in decreased average length of RRT calls and fewer patients requiring transfer to the intensive care unit. Eliminated patient falls related to communication issues during the project periodThree of the teams focused on improving communication between patients and care providers because of its far-reaching impact on clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction scores, which have become increasingly important for hospital reimbursement rates. The CSI team at Regional Hospital for Respiratory and Complex Care, Burien, focused on bedside shift reports, and how to best integrate the long-term acute care hospital's (LTACH's) new computerized charting system into patient care."Our nurses developed a process to quickly and efficiently review a patient's electronic health record together with the patient and their family. These conversations between family, patient and nursing staff led to a more collaborative approach to care," said Christi Sifri, RN, MN, Regional Hospital's chief nurse executive.Through the nurses' CSI initiative, the patient's electronic health record became a tool to enhance communication at the bedside, not replace it. The team also found their efforts led to far fewer communication-related falls and medication errors, and greater patient, family and nurse satisfaction. The participating nurses at Island Hospital, Anacortes, also selected bedside shift reports as the focus of their CSI project. Denise Jones, RN, MN, the hospital's chief patient care executive, noted how using the program's structured process helped solidify acceptance of bedside shift reports as a best practice for patients at the 43-bed hospital."Handoff reports at the bedside allow our patients to see their nurses working as a team to provide around-the-clock high-quality care. The increased communication has led to greater continuity of care for our patients and improved how satisfied they are with the nursing care," Jones said. "Through CSI Academy, our nurses recognized that they can lead significant change at the point of care."In addition to improving patient outcomes and raising patient satisfaction scores, the CSI Academy teams documented their initiatives' fiscal impact, with an anticipated combined savings of nearly $570,000.Other Washington hospitals participating in the program: Harborview Medical Center, Seattle. Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma. Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill Campus, Seattle. Swedish Medical Center, First Hill Campus, Seattle. VA Puget Sound Healthcare System, Seattle.The Washington nursing teams represent the seventh regional group to complete AACN CSI Academy, following cohorts in Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas. Other groups are currently in progress in Arizona and California. Nationwide, more than 259 nurses at 68 hospitals have completed or are now participating in the program."Through CSI Academy, frontline nurses amplify their role as advocates for evidence-based clinical practice, frequently serving as resources for colleagues developing additional change initiatives," said Dana Woods, AACN CEO. "Their projects often take on a life of their own, expanding to other units and becoming the foundation for system-wide implementation efforts."As part of its broader goal to inspire and empower all acute and critical care nurses to lead change that benefits their patients and improves the effectiveness of their organizations, AACN shares the CSI Academy team learnings, results and documentation by offering online access to CSI Academy innovation projects. These real-world project plans, clinical interventions, data collection tools, outcomes and references will continue to grow as more CSI teams complete the program.With more than 25,000 unique downloads of project materials, the CSI innovation project library has quickly become a resource for hospitals throughout the United States and abroad, as healthcare administrators and clinical leaders seek solutions to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. AACN CSI Academy represents a substantial investment by AACN in the future of nursing, funding more than $2.25 million over the last four years to support national implementation of the program at partner hospitals across the country. This investment reflects AACN's strategic response to the Institute of Medicine's landmark "Future of Nursing" report and represents the national expansion of a pilot program developed by Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.Source: Newswise Advertisement The rise in the rates of skin cancer in New Zealand is due to lack of commitment from the government to tackle the problem for more than a decade, said melanoma experts. Now they have asked the government to take swift action.The University of Otago Associate Professor Tony Reeder said, "An example of political failure had been a lack of action on banning sunbeds. In stark contrast, Australia acted decisively to protect its population by implementing a comprehensive ban."Professor David Whiteman, one of the study's authors, said while New Zealanders had become more sun smart more could be done to prevent skin cancer.The government was urged to invest more into funding melanoma prevention over the coming years in limiting increasing treatment costs, said Whiteman in a report published in theThe findings predicted New Zealand would soon see a decline in rates. "We think the main reason why rates in Australia and we hope New Zealand, will decline before the other populations are that both countries have put a huge effort into primary prevention campaigns," said Prof Whiteman.Although the rates of melanoma would be declining soon, the number of total cases would be on the rise because of an aging population."Unfortunately for older New Zealanders alive today, most will have already sustained significant amounts of sun damage before the prevention campaigns were introduced," he said.Source: Medindia Flash The Egyptian man, who hijacked an EgyptAir flight this week, forcing it to land in Cyprus, is due to appear in court later on this Wednesday. It's expected that Cypriot authorities are going to ask to keep the suspect in custody until at least Monday. Cypriot Police spokesperson Andreas Angelidis says they still need to sort out a number of questions before making any decisions about charges. "There is no evidence up until now that this person is related to terrorism, so regarding the other situation; I mean the motive is something that we want to investigate what happened. And this is the reason that this person is staying in custody, and we prosecute him before the court tomorrow, in order to ask for, just to stay in custody (until) Monday, just to investigate the whole incident." The suspect, identified as 58-year-old Seif Mustafa, has a long criminal record, including convictions for forgery, theft and drug possession. Cypriot officials are suggesting the suspect may have mental issues. He wore a fake explosive belt and forced the pilots to change their course to Cyprus while on a short-haul flight from Alexandria to Cairo. The flight, with 56 people aboard, landed safely, with no one hurt. On March 25, 2016, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to the Syrian regime and to Hizbullah, posted statements made by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad at the Arab and Islamic Assembly for Supporting the Resistance Option, held in Damascus on March 19-20. According to the daily, Assad rejected any possibility of reaching a political solution with the opposition delegation of the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC) to the Geneva talks, saying that the real way to resolve the crisis is by defeating "terrorism" on the battlefield. It should be noted that Assad has clarified in the past that a terrorist is anyone bearing arms against the regime and that the HNC delegation, which includes representatives of armed opposition groups, is a delegation of "traitors and terrorists."[1] These statements - made while indirect talks were taking place in Geneva between the Syrian regime and opposition delegation, mediated by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and sponsored by the U.S. and Russia - show that Assad is sticking to the hardline position he took before the start of the recent round of indirect negotiations, which commenced in Geneva on March 14. This raises doubts regarding the seriousness of the regime and the effectiveness of the talks. The same hardline position has also been evident in statements by Syrian regime officials before and during the talks. For example, on March 12, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mu'allem said that the issues of the presidential elections and of President Assad's status in the interim stage would not be discussed in the talks at all, and that the interim stage would involve no change in Assad's status.[2] It should be mentioned that, several hours after the publication of the Al-Akhbar report about Assad's speech, his office denied the statements that had been attributed to him.[3] The denial may stem from concerns about possible international criticism of his statements, in particular from Russia, who is a sponsor of the Geneva talks. The following are translated excerpts from Assad's speech as reported by Al-Akhbar.[4] Bashar Al-Assad (image: Sana.sy) The Syrian Opposition Is Managed From Turkey, Saudi Arabia And Qatar; Negotiating With It Is Pointless "There is no chance of [reaching] political solution with this opposition. With terrorism there is no solution other than confrontation and victory. The real chance [for a solution] lies in defeating the forces of terrorism militarily and in promoting the rationale of [internal] ceasefires in Syria. As for shaping the regime, its apparatuses, its structure and its future - these are issues that only the Syrians will decide. Defeating terrorism will prepare the ground for a political solution that will be put to a referendum by the Syrian people. "We believe in a political solution, but such a solution requires dialogue with elements capable of taking a decision. This opposition is managed from Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It has no political plan and its components are divided on every issue. Hence, dialogue with them is pointless and there is little chance of reaching a solution with them. Today we are conducting a dialogue with (UN Envoy Staffan) de Mistura, who coordinates with the masters of [the Syrian opposition]. In practice, the dialogue is with de Mistura. The real solution lies in uniting efforts against the terrorist groups and promoting the rationale of [local] ceasefires [in Syria]. We will not dialogue with terrorism. The only solution is to defeat it militarily, and the war against it indeed continues. 62,000 people who, before the outbreak of the events [in Syria], were fugitives from justice have found shelter within terrorist groups, and we are trying to bring them back [into the fold] by means of a general amnesty. Our uncompromising campaign continues, and nothing will delay it. The goal at the moment is [recapturing] Palmyra due to its strategic importance as a key region. [Liberating] it will be a prelude to liberating other areas." The Russian Withdrawal Is Better Described As A Downsizing Of The Russian Forces In Syria "Our relations with Russia are excellent. Russian President Vladimir Putin is a historic leader and a true ally whom we deeply trust. He will not hesitate to take any action that serves [the cause of] Syria's unity. He handled the military and political issues with skill: he extended military aid to our army and [then], with a ceasefire, put everyone to the test [to see] who supported terror and who was against it. We have no differences with Moscow, and we had understandings with Putin from the start regarding all the possibilities. The Russian withdrawal was coordinated [with us] well in advance, and is better described as a downsizing of the Russian military forces [in Syria]. It was a downsizing of the extra strategic force that was brought in when a military confrontation with Turkey and NATO seemed likely. Once this [scenario] became less likely, the forces not necessary for our ongoing war against terror were withdrawn. The downsizing of the Russian force helped the U.S. get a better picture of Russia's role [in Syria]." Our Situation Is Much Better Than It Was "The military aid to our army is extensive, and the coordinated air [campaign] continues. In contrast to what the biased media constantly reiterates, our situation today is far better than it was, thanks to the help of our Russian allies, our Iranian friends and our brothers in the resistance [i.e., Hizbullah]. Our situation is better, our people are showing perseverance, and our army has an excellent national doctrine for defending Syria against terror." The Kurdish Federation In Northern Syria Is Illusory; Partition Of Syria Is Out Of The Question "We will defend every grain of Syrian soil, for it is the property of the Syrian people. Partitioning Syria is not an option and is not subject to discussion. This is imaginary and pointless talk. As for the aspirations of some Kurdish leaders, they are harboring illusions, or else are unfamiliar with the facts regarding the history of the Kurdish presence in Syria. After the historic defeat of the external conspiracy that targeted Syria, the U.S. and its allies are now trying to exploit the Kurdish issue to their advantage, but they will never succeed. In the region where the federation has been declared, the number of Kurdish Syrians does not exceed 23%, and that is what makes this federation an illusion." The Arab League Does Not Serve he Arab Interest, Certainly Not The Palestinian Interest "[The fact that] we have distanced ourselves from the Arab league does not sadden us. It always aggravated us to participate in [Arab League] summits that took decisions against our [Arab] peoples. The first time I took part in Arab League summit I discovered that it is a tool operated from the outside, aimed at thwarting any action that serves the Arab interest. In 2000, for example, instead of supporting the Palestinian intifada they supported [Saudi] King 'Abdallah's peace initiative. At every summit they left the issue of the political solution [in Palestine] on the agenda, at the expense of the Arab rights, and today they have begun declaring explicitly that they have enlisted in the service of the Zionist plan and are explicitly speaking of maintaining ties with it." Hamas Serves Partisan And Sectarian Interests, Not Palestinian Ones; We Were Wrong To Support It "Initially, under the influence of Turkey and the media, we made the mistake of giving first priority, in supporting the Palestinians, only to Hamas and to [its leader] Khaled Mash'al. We learned a lot from that experience, [and today we realize] that the Palestinian people and their cause are not confined to one faction - especially now that the developments since the outbreak of the so-called Arab Spring have pushed the Palestinian issue to the bottom of the Arab peoples' consciousness. We honor every Hamas resistance [fighter] who is acting against the Israeli enemy, and we will always extend our hand to them and to any new political leadership. [But] as for the current leadership, it is managed by external forces. We never imagined that any Palestinian faction would prefer partisan or sectarian interests over the interest of Palestine. Sadly, Hamas' leadership has relinquished [the interests that] help Palestine in favor of partisan or sectarian interests. Our great hope is the Palestinian intifada, its free fighters and its brave youths." Our Relations With Egypt Are Excellent And With Many Arab States Good; There Is Secret Dialogue With Gulf States "Our relations with Egypt are excellent and we maintain steady contact with it, for purposes of coordination. Even during the time of (previous Egyptian president Muhammad) Mursi our security coordination [with Egypt] was excellent. We understand the position of our Egyptian brethren, considering to their economic situation, and we understand the pressures they are under. Since the moment the Muslim Brotherhood took power [in Egypt] we understood the magnitude of its conspiracy against us. The ousting of Mursi by means of an impressive popular intifada reassured [both] ourselves and Egypt. Our relations with many Arab countries are good. There are countries with whom we cooperate in the fight against terror, such as Egypt and Tunisia, and there are countries with whom we are holding secret dialogue, some of them Gulf countries that suffer more [than other countries] from the Muslim Brotherhood." Endnotes: Flash A total of 41 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Tuesday in clashes with security forces and air strikes by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft in Iraq, while 14 civilian were killed in suicide bombing and gunfire attack in the day, security sources said. A fighter from the pro-government Popular Mobilisation units covers his ears as he sets off a rocket launcher in the village of Taz Khurmatu, on the southern outskirts of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, as they try to recpature the nearby village of al-Bashir from Islamic State (IS) group jihadists on February 16, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Iraqi security forces killed five IS suicide bombers who attacked the army positions at the village of Khirbirdan in south of the IS-held city of Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the Iraqi defense ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile, 12 IS militants also tried to approach he same army positions in Khirbirdan village, but were all killed by international warplanes before reaching their target, according to the statement. The IS attacks came at the fifth day of an offensive launched by the security forces covered by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft aimed at flushing out IS militants from Iraq's northern province of Nineveh and its capital Mosul. In Iraq's western province of Anbar, the security forces retook control of Albu Diyab area in north of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, after the IS group was forced to pull out its militants from the area by heavy airstrikes, which left some 24 extremist militants killed and six of their vehicles destroyed, a provincial security source told Xinhua. Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni paramilitary tribal units have been battling IS militants to repossess control of large territories in northern and western Iraq, seized by the IS since June 2014. The troops have so far recovered Ramadi, the provincial capital of the country's largest province of Anbar last December. Separately, a security source in Salahudin province told Xinhua that 11 members of a policeman family were shot dead when a group of gunmen broke into their house at dawn and opened fire on them. Women and children were among the killed, the source said, adding that the policeman himself was among the killed. In Baghdad, earlier police report in the day said a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest at a crowded place in Bab al-Sharji area, where many construction workers were waiting to be hired for temporary jobs, leaving three people killed and up to 28 wounded. Iraq is witnessing a wave of violence since the IS took control of parts of the country in June 2014. A UN report estimated that more than 22,300 people were killed or injured in armed conflicts in Iraq in 2015. Pentagon claims Russia continues to violate sovereignty of Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova The United States (US) Department of Defence (DoD) says despite the progress jointly achieved in terms of peace after the end of the Cold War in recent years Russia appeared intent to erode the principled international order.The report released on the DoDs official webpage and prepared by US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter highlighted Russias aggression in Eastern Europe and revealed Americas position in relation of Russias unlawful activities.Despite the progress weve made together since the end of the Cold War, Russia has in recent years appeared intent on eroding the principled international order that has served us, our friends and allies, the international community, and also Russia itself so well for so long, the report read.In Europe, Russia continues to violate the sovereignty of Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, and actively seeks to intimidate its Baltic neighbors, the report added.The report stressed that US did not seek a cold, let alone hot, war with Russia.We do not seek to make Russia an enemy, even as it may view us that way. But make no mistake we will defend our interests, our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords us all, the report stressed.The report said peacemaking was the main reason why the US was taking a strong and balanced strategic approach in response to Russias aggression, which entailed the strengthening both allied armies and US capabilities in various directions.Carter also listed Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and terrorism as the five evolving strategic challenges that were driving the DoDs planning and budgeting for 2017.However, it is obvious that the world powers will not become involved in a direct war with Russia for the sake of Georgia, Ukraine or Moldova.Consequently, the only thing the international community can do is to help Georgia upgrade its military and self-defences, despite the fact that these will not be enough to resist Russia.Meanwhile, Russia again started making anti-Georgian statements, claiming that anti-Russian rhetoric has increased in Georgia and this year parliamentary elections might be a threat to Georgian-Russian relations.Russia generally makes this type of statements before taking some negative steps against a country.Georgia has to live under constant threat of attack from Russia and in this situation boosting self-defence capabilities will not be enough to guarantee national security. Georgia needs an umbrella that will somehow ensure stability in the country. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday concluded a historic three-day state visit to the Czech Republic and left for Washington to attend a Nuclear Security Summit. During his first state visit to the European country, Xi held talks with his Czech counterpart, Milos Zeman, and met respectively with parliament leaders Milan Stech and Jan Hamacek, and with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. The two sides had in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties, China-EU relations, cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, and international and regional issues of common concern, and reached broad consensus. The two countries issued a joint statement to forge a strategic partnership and inked a host of intergovernmental agreements in such fields as e-commerce, investment, science and technology, tourism, culture, and aviation to further promote comprehensive cooperation. Xi and Zeman attended the China-Czech Economic Roundtable and then visited the Strahov Library on Wednesday. Xi arrived in the Czech Republic on Monday for a state visit, the first by a Chinese president in 67 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. It is also Xi's first trip to the CEE region since he assumed presidency in 2013 and his first trip to Europe this year. The Chinese president is on route to Washington for the fourth Nuclear Security Summit to be held from Thursday to Friday. Prosecutors say they'll recommend probation for Marion resident Izaha Akins. The 18-year-old pleaded guilty Monday to the felony charge. Authorities say Akins spoke to a government class at Mohawk High School in Sycamore for an hour last December. Officials didn't realize they'd been duped until Republican Sen. David Burke showed up weeks later for a scheduled appearance. Burke calls what Akins did an extremely elaborate scheme. The impersonating a peace officer charge includes anyone who poses as a state employee. His attorney said Monday that Akins is sorry for the negative attention he brought to the school, but he's glad it pushed schools to improve their security procedures. Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III submitted a letter of resignation to county officials, effective July 2. He is taking a medical leave of absence until then and said he will not run for re-election this year. He did not give details in the letter about medical issues but previously asked judges for permission to leave the state for treatment. The 63-year-old Dunnings who has been the elected Democratic prosecutor in Michigan's capital area for nearly 20 years has been charged with using the services of prostitutes, enticing a woman to become a prostitute and willful neglect of duty. A message seeking comment was left for Michael Hocking, one of Dunnings' lawyers. The case developed from tips during a federal human-trafficking investigation. Dunnings is accused of meeting prostitutes through websites and allegedly told some of the women he was the county prosecutor. He paid one woman for sex as many as three or four times a week over five years, while another prostitute had sex with him more than 200 times, according to the state attorney general. According to an affidavit filed by an Ingham County detective, one woman emailed Stuart Dunnings, telling him she had been the victim of domestic violence and asking for help in a custody fight. He invited her to lunch, said he was aware she was struggling financially and proposed paying her for a sexual relationship. The woman, identified as W-6, told investigators she ultimately felt she had no choice but to accept. The Innocence Project's report coincides with the fifth anniversary of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned a $14 million judgment to a former death row inmate who was convicted of murder after New Orleans prosecutors withheld evidence from his defense lawyers. In response to the ruling, researchers examined 660 criminal cases in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas where courts ruled there had been prosecutorial misconduct. Their report found only one prosecutor had been disciplined in any of those cases between 2004 and 2008. Convictions were reversed in 133 of those 660 cases, the report said. "There are almost no adequate systems in place to keep prosecutorial error and misconduct in check and, in fact, prosecutors are rarely held accountable even for intentional misconduct," the report says. John Thompson was convicted in 1985 of killing hotel executive Raymond Liuzza Jr. but exonerated after 14 years on death row. He successfully sued the New Orleans district attorney's office, which had withheld blood test results that excluded Thompson as the perpetrator in an attempted robbery. Prosecutors used Thompson's conviction in the robbery case to help secure the death penalty in the murder case. Thompson's attorneys argued there was ample evidence that former Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick's office was deliberately indifferent to the need for properly training, monitoring and supervising prosecutors. But a divided Supreme Court overturned Thompson's $14 million award in 2011, ruling that the New Orleans district attorney's office shouldn't be punished for not specifically training prosecutors on their obligations to share evidence that could prove a defendant's innocence. The Innocence Project's report says the court's decision means prosecutors "enjoy almost complete immunity from civil liability." "Given their broad powers, it is critical that effective systems of accountability are implemented to incentivize prosecutors to act within their ethical and legal bound," the report adds. The Kalamazoo Gazette and WLKM-FM report Leon Watson of Vandalia was convicted by a jury in Cass County on Tuesday of charges including first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Sentencing is May 13 and he faces at least 25 years in prison. Watson denied any wrongdoing. Authorities say the girl was 7 years old when the assaults began in 2007 and about 14 when they ended after she confided to friends and a school counselor. She testified during the trial about the assaults, which authorities say took place at his farm. Prosecutor Victor Fitz said that the verdict "brings true comfort to a brave young girl." BAD AXE A Caseville man, who was set to go to trial next month, accepted a plea agreement in court this week and now faces up to life behind bars for his drug-related crime. Etroy E. Williams appeared in Huron County Circuit Court for a scheduled motion hearing Tuesday morning. Huron County Circuit Judge Gerald M. Prill ordered the hearing at Williams pretrial in February. A number of motions were filed with the court before the case went to trial including factors that Williams believed were a reasonable basis for entrapment, his Bad Axe attorney Dallas Rooney previously said. Williams trial was scheduled to begin April 26. However, at the motion hearing the 46-year-old accepted a plea agreement. Williams was re-arraigned on all charges because they stemmed from two seperate incidents. In the first case, per the agreement, Williams pleaded guilty to delivery of a controlled substance-heroin and habitual offender-fourth. In the second case, Williams pleaded guilty to possession of heroin, maintaining a drug house and habitual offender-fourth. Two counts of possession of cocaine were dismissed and prosecution will not seek further charges, according to court documents. Williams was ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined. There were two controlled buys in this case, Huron County Prosecutor Timothy J. Rutkowski told the Tribune. The (confidential) informant bought $80 worth of heroin and Mr. Williams will need to pay that amount back. Williams is set to appear for sentencing at 9 a.m. May 16. His bond was surrendered and he will be housed in the Huron County Jail until he is sentenced. Williams has been incarcerated since his arrest. The possession charges combined with the amount of drugs seized 50 grams at the home Williams was located carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, but because he is a habitual offender, the penalty is increased to up to life in prison. Williams was arrested Sept. 25, 2015, at a Caseville residence where investigators found packets of heroin, crack cocaine, loaded syringes, cash and other drug paraphernalia inside the home. At the time of his arrest, Williams was on parole for a federal firearm violation and previously served 28 years in the state prison system after being convicted of second-degree murder, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. He was discharged from prison last March. 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... HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. For the second year in a row, and the third time in four years, members of the 66th Security Forces Squadron at Hanscom Air Force Base are celebrating their selection as the Air Force Outstanding Small Size Security Forces Unit award. Hanscom's defenders beat out 24 other small security forces squadrons throughout the Air Force to earn the best in the service for 2015. "Throughout this squadron there are military and civilian Airmen dedicated to accomplishing the security force mission at home and abroad," said Maj. Joseph Bincarousky, the 66th SFS commander. "That commitment resonates at all levels throughout the squadron to make it literally the best security forces squadron in the Air Force." In an email sent to the workforce, Col. David R. Dunklee, the installation commander, recognized the accomplishment. "Our defenders are the first to greet Team Hanscom to the base; first to respond to emergencies; and will always rush into danger to protect us," he stated. Among the many notable achievements highlighted in the award citation was the high number of deployments the squadron was responsible for in 2015. "Last year, more than 50 percent of the Airmen assigned to the squadron deployed around the globe to protect, defend and fight," Bincarousky said. "Each Airman was charged with tasks such as defending air bases at home and abroad, law enforcement on those bases, combat arms and handling military working dogs." Also included in the citation is the somber reminder of the sacrifice made by fallen defenders Senior Airmen Kcey Ruiz and Nathan Sartain, who were killed when the C-130J Super Hercules they were on crashed shortly after takeoff in Afghanistan. "We continue to honor their legacy each and every day," Bincarousky said. Locally, the 66th SFS remained busy by preparing for a unit effectiveness inspection last spring. During the UEI, Air Force Materiel Command inspectors recognized 11 defenders as outstanding performers. In addition, the squadron's logistics flight was selected as the 66th Air Base Group's and Hanscom AFBs team of the year. The military working dog section was lauded for their support to numerous senior government leader visits to the six-state New England region. Also highlighted in the citation was the participation by many junior and senior enlisted members in force development programs such as first term Airman course and Airman leadership school, as well as active involvement in private organizations such as the Patriot Enlisted Association, top three and many others. Bincarousky added that the squadron's success is indicative of the high-caliber of individuals and teams that make up the squadron. "Excellence is not a goal in this squadron, excellence is the standard for each and every Airman assigned here," he said. "We had another banner year in 2015, and that success resonates throughout and makes us all better. I doubt this is the last time the 66th Security Forces Squadron captures this award." As the White House mulls sending more troops into Iraq to support the fight against Islamic State fighters, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said existing efforts to counter the extremists, including airstrikes, were increasing in effectiveness. Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford said better intelligence enabled U.S. forces to hit targets affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, with more accuracy than they had just a year and a half ago. His remarks came days after he told reporters that more U.S. troops were likely headed to Iraq to support an effort to take back the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. "As our intelligence has developed over time, we've been more effective in conducting strikes against [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant] leadership as well as going after their resources, particularly in the north," he said, using another term for the extremist group. "Moving forward, we're going to look for ways to reinforce success as the Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga prepare for operations in Mosul, which we think is a strategically significant operation." In the fight against ISIS forces in Iraq, Dunford noted that victory was dependent on successfully developing Iraqi security forces and Kurdish fighters and advising and assisting them as they prosecuted the fight. The dynamics on the ground, he acknowledged, were complex, complicated by sectarianism and the political landscape. Some reports suggest a continued struggle to keep Iraqi troops committed to retaking ISIS-held regions. The Daily Beast reported that Iraqi security forces had recently fled Fire Base Bell, a small artillery base in northern Iraq where Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin was killed by indirect fire earlier this month. The Iraqis retreated, according to the report, despite the arrival of the Marines -- a move intended to give them courage to remain. Despite challenges, Dunford said he was encouraged by Iraqi and Kurdish victories against ISIS in population hubs including Baiji, Sinjar, Ramadi and Anbar province, all of which had fallen to extremists and were retaken. "To me, those operations actually indicate what's in the art of the possible," the general said. U.S. leaders continue to look for ways to increase the tempo and effectiveness of Iraqi security force operations, Dunford said. In Syria, coalition forces have also seen gains against ISIS through partners on the ground, Dunford said. The Kurdish and Sunni-dominated coalition known at the Syrian Democratic Forces in February recaptured the ISIS-held town of Shadadi, cutting off a supply artery between the city of Raqqa and Mosul. Now, he said, the focus was on improving the capacity of the Syrian Democratic Forces and see more gains. "I believe, on balance, the pressure we've put on ISIL in Syria has degraded their capabilities and freedom of movement and reduced their resources," he said. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@monster.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. Juan Nicasio has made the Pirates rotation, according to various reporters, including MLB.coms Adam Berry (on Twitter). That means Nicasio will join Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Jon Niese and Jeff Locke, and veteran Ryan Vogelsong who had been competing with Nicasio for the last rotation spot will head to the bullpen. Its been an interesting spring for Nicasio, who struggled with control while pitching for the Rockies and Dodgers in recent years but whiffed 24 batters against just five walks in 15 innings of Spring Training action. The Pirates will see if he can join a long line of hurlers who have rejuvenated their careers in Pittsburgh. Heres more on the Bucs. It was previously reported that lefty Cory Luebke s opt-out was yesterday, but its actually today, SB Nations Chris Cotillo tweets. That means the Bucs will have to decide today whether Luebke has made their bullpen. It appears likely he will after a spring in which the previously injury-ravaged Luebke earned praise for his stuff, including a 94-MPH fastball and hard breaking ball. s opt-out was yesterday, but its actually today, SB Nations Chris Cotillo tweets. That means the Bucs will have to decide today whether Luebke has made their bullpen. It appears likely he will after a spring in which the previously injury-ravaged Luebke earned praise for his stuff, including a 94-MPH fastball and hard breaking ball. The Pirates appear to be pursuing a new model for their starting pitching reclamation projects, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Previously, they looked for pitchers with good fastballs and the ability to get strikeouts, and tried to help them with their command. But Vogelsong and Niese dont fit that model, Sawchik notes (although it certainly looks like Nicasio does). Jonathan might be of a different style than pitchers we acquired in the past, says GM Neal Huntington. But if you only stick to (one model) especially at the major league level, especially given how the market has evolved, you are really going to limit your options. Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chronicles the baseball career of Bucs manager Clint Hurdle, which he began as a phenom with the Royals. Hurdle was mostly a bust as a player, and he fought a long battle with alcoholism, but he reemerged on the other side as a manager and is now one of the games most respected. John Kasich likely will not win Wisconsin's Republican primary next week, but the trailing Ohio governor still hopes to pick up a few delegates ahead of his party's convention. "Our goal here in Wisconsin is to win some delegates, he said Tuesday at an event in Waukesha, a Ted Cruz stronghold. Despite no endorsements from any major sitting Wisconsin Republican politician, and criticisms from conservative strategists who say a vote for Kasich only boosts Trump, Kasich continues to push ahead in the state, particularly in the southeast, ahead of the contested primary on April 5. "Im still here and you didnt think I would be," he said. About 100 people gathered to hear Kasich speak at a manufacturing and fabrication plant, the same company Sen. Ron Johnson campaigned at last week. The policy-heavy talk and Q&A session focused on combating ISIS, cutting the national debt, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and reforming federal social welfare programs and the immigration system. Kasich also said he would move numerous federal programs, including education, infrastructure and Medicaid from federal to state control. He also said he would freeze the budgets of non-entitlement programs in Washington, D.C., but boost funding to the National Institutes of Health for disease research. Kasich brushed off Gov. Scott Walker's endorsement of Ted Cruz, announced hours before the event. "Endorsements, you like to have them, but do they really determine anything?" he said. "It's no surprise here. I wish he'd been for me, but I'm not losing any sleep over it." Kasich is casting himself as a persevering party pragmatist; the only viable candidate who can beat a Democrat in the general election, and increasingly, a party outsider, despite nearly 30 years in Republican politics as a governor, Congressman and state official. "Here I find myself in the strange position in some ways of being the stalwart of the Republican party to make sure that we dont lose the Senate and major losses in the House," he said. "So, to the establishment: Im still here, maybe youll warm up to me." The Ohio governor has a lead in two contested Wisconsin Congressional Districts and among undecided independents statewide, according to a national poll released Monday. The Wisconsin Optimus poll put Kasich ahead of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in the 2nd and 6th Congressional Districts, which include counties in the Fox Valley and Dane County. He narrowly leads in the 6th District with a two percentage point margin ahead of Cruz, who is second. In the 2nd District, he leads Trump by a seven point margin. He emphasized the Wisconsin polls and cited several national polls that he said shows he's the only one that can beat Hillary Clinton and ensure that Wisconsin's Republican representatives in Washington keep their jobs. "Your Senator here is at risk. Ron Johnsons at risk," he said. "There are many people who are at risk if we dont have somebody who can unite the country." Some people who came to see Kasich Tuesday described themselves as undecided independents who "lean right." Many said they are drawn to his tone of civility in an election that increasingly turns on anger and petty petulance, and were curious to see how Kasich delivered in person. "I believe class is a principle we're supposed to have in a president," said Collin Cummings, 20, a Marquette University sophomore. "We need somebody who can bring the party together." But several Wisconsin conservative strategists who were not at the event liken Kasich to a spoiler candidate. Votes for him hinder the effort to defeat Trump in Wisconsin, said Kevin Binversie, who worked on Sen. Ron Johnson's campaign in 2010 and now works for RightWisconsin.com, based in Milwaukee. "You have to vote strategically, he said. "It's smarter to vote for Ted Cruz." "A vote for Kasich is a vote for Trump in this state," said Brian Fraley, a Republican political consultant based in Madison. But former Gov. Tommy Thompson, Kasich's chief political proponent in Wisconsin, disagrees. Thompson introduced Kasich on Tuesday and said he is the only candidate with governing experience needed to lead the country, and the only one who can win in November. "If you vote for Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, youre voting for individuals who are going to lose to Hillary Clinton and I cant think of anything worse than to have the Clintons back in the White House for four more years, said Thompson. Several voters who came to see Kasich Tuesday said political strategy is not a consideration when they go to the polls. "I don't think that way at all," said James Sweitzer, 90, of Delafield, who first voted for Harry Truman in 1948 and used to run his own painting business. "It's the candidates on their own merits." "I want the best candidate," said Mary Inden, of Elm Grove, who runs a home staging business and cited terrorism and paying down the national debt as her chief political concerns. "I do feel the best candidate is not Donald Trump ... (but) I'm not going to vote for somebody to stop him." Kasich supporters are hoping gains he might make in Wisconsin will propel him to more in New York and Pennsylvania. Hes still got chips to play," said Jack Voight, former State Treasurer under Thompson, from 1995-2007, who flipped to Kasich after Marco Rubio dropped out earlier this month. Brian Nemoir, a Republican strategist and former Thompson aide, who is advising the Kasich campaign, said the Republican convention in Cleveland is "not a clear path for anyone." "The tactics are pretty simple," he said. "I dont think the voters in Wisconsin from the polling I've seen are as enamored with Donald Trump. Therein creates the opportunity." Alabama governor remains a member of a Southern Baptist church 30 March, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , | MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Christian Examiner) Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has been charged with state ethics violations after an audio recording was released last week featuring the governor making sexually-charged comments to his senior political advisor, Rebekah Caldwell-Mason. Both Bentley and Mason were reportedly attendees of First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa two years ago when the two were engaged in an inappropriate relationship and the audio recording was made. Neither attends the church now. The Christian News Network originally reported that Bentley and Mason had been put out of the church, but the circumstances of their departure and when that departure occurred both remain unclear. The report from the Christian site featured comments from the church's senior pastor, Gil McKee, which seemed to indicate the departure was recent. "While church discipline is a church family matter, both Gov. Robert Bentley and Mrs. Rebekah Mason are no longer members of First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa," McKee said in the report. "I continue to pray for each of them." Bentley, however, has been a member of First Baptist Church Prattville since sometime last year. A call to the church from an editor with Christian Examiner confirmed the governor is a member of the church. Christian Examiner also reached out to McKee to clarify the circumstances of the governor's departure from the Tuscaloosa church's fellowship. McKee has yet to respond and confirm if the extra-marital affair was the reason for the church's action or if Bentley and Mason left voluntarily. In the recording released last week, Bentley describes a physical encounter between him and Mason. He then laughs and tells Mason he loves her. "I love you. I love to talk to you," Bentley says to Mason. "Baby, let me tell you what we're going to have to start doing, we're going to have to start locking the door. If we are going to do what we did the other day, we are going to have to start locking the door." The remainder of the recording is too graphic for Christian Examiner to print. While church discipline is a church family matter, both Gov. Robert Bentley and Mrs. Rebekah Mason are no longer members of First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa. ... I continue to pray for each of them. Questions about the relationship between Bentley and Mason had been percolating since the governor's 50-year marriage ended in divorce last year. No reason for the divorce was given in the filing by Bentley or his ex-wife, Dianne Jones-Bentley, leaving many to wonder if an extra-marital affair was reason. That cause now seems to be confirmed, as Jones-Bentley provided the audio recording made with her cell phone after she suspected the affair between her husband and Mason. On March 23, Bentley claimed in a press conference that, in spite of the sexually explicit language in the phone call, he and Mason had not been physically intimate. "Two years ago, I made a mistake. I have rectified that. I have dealt with that, and I have moved on," Bentley said, before claiming he had not yet heard the audio recording. However, he insisted, "That is not a physical relationship, making those statements." But Alabama's former secretary of law enforcement, Spencer Collier, who was fired March 22 the day before the governor's admission to the audio recording for "acting erratically" on the job, has claimed he was aware of the relationship. He also said Mason wielded undue influence over Bentley and she was the "de facto" governor of the state. Mason refuted Collier's allegations in a written statement issued just before the governor's press conference. In it, she claimed Collier was attacking her on the basis of "gender bias." "There is no way that man [Collier] would have said what he did ... about another man. He only said what he said about my professional abilities because I am a woman. His comments were clear, demonstrated gender bias," Mason said. "Since 2010, I have proudly served as Gov. Robert Bentley's campaign press secretary, communications director, advisor, campaign communications director and now senior policy advisor. It is an honor to serve our governor and the people of our state." On March 25, State Auditor Jim Zeigler filed a complaint with the Alabama Ethics Commission over the governor's alleged affair. In the complaint, he claimed that the governor had used state resources and property "in furtherance of their personal relationship." He detailed the contents of the audio recording and said that the incident described on the recording occurred on state property, as evidenced by the reference to "Wanda's desk." The complaint also alleges state employees were instructed to lie to protect the governor and that Mason, who is paid by the governor as a senior adviser with public funds, is also paid by her own firm. That payment makes her a lobbyist, placing the relationship between her and the governor into the category of influencing government improperly. Bentley said during his press conference that he believes in a God of grace "who loves me, and He loves me even through my mistakes." "He uses difficult times in our lives and I've been going through those to make me better and make other people around me better," he said. Those difficult times very clearly of his making are not over. The seriousness of the allegations have led many legislators to call for the governor's resignation. This Account has been suspended. The Myanmar Investment Commission has approved an unusually large number of projects in its final meeting before the new government takes office, including luxury resorts, office towers, port developments, factories and roads. The commission, which answers directly to the Presidents Office, meets several times a month to approve foreign, joint-venture and local investments. According to MIC information dating back to January 2015, the average number of investments approved at each meeting is just under 10. No more than 20 projects have been approved at any previous meeting. Bucking the trend, MIC approved 48 new investments on March 25, according to a document published on the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration website. Asked about the unusually high number of approvals, a spokesperson directed requests to secretary U Aung Naing Oo, who was not available for comment yesterday. Notably, the MIC has approved a number of major projects at Yangons ports. Kaung Myanmar Aung Shipping Company, owned by well-known tycoon U Khin Maung Aye, received consent to build a wharf and supporting facilities in Seikkan township after winning a government tender just over a week ago. New Downtown Development Public has approval to build a shopping mall and office complex in the Myanma Port Authority-owned Nanthida compound and New Strand Development Company has permission to build commercial, office and retail space, hotels and serviced apartments at No.1 Ahlone International Port in Ahlone township. Yangon Heritage Trust founder U Thant Myint-U said yesterday that his organisation hopes to see a gradual move of all port and industrial facilities from Yangon to Thilawa located to the citys southeast and the remaking of the waterfront of public and recreational use. This would do so much toward making Yangon a healthier and happier city and a real international destination, adding potentially billions of dollars a year in revenue, he said. Several port-related investments have also been approved at Thilawa. Khaing Oo Company has been given the green light to build a jetty and buildings, and Myanmar Edible Oil Industrial Public Company is allowed to build and operate a multi-purpose international wharf in the Thilawa Port Area. MIC also approved a number of hotels and resorts in its most recent meeting, including H&Co Platinum Pathein Companys 15-acre project in Ayeyarwady Region comprising a hotel, shopping mall and villas. Pongpipat Development, known for operating the Heinda tin mine in Tanintharyi Region, has been given permission to build a resort in Htee Khee village in Myitta, Dawei township, while a company called K Future secured approval to build a hotel on Bo Net Kyaw Island in Kawthoung district. In Yangon, KT Development Company has approval to build a hotel, office space, retail, serviced apartments and other commercial businesses and long-term leasehold units on an 11.753-acre site in Yankin township. New City Development Public, which also has links to tycoon U Khin Maung Aye, has approval to build a light industrial park in Yangon Regions East Dagon township. Another of his companies, Kaytumadi Development Public, has approval to build two further industrial parks in Bago Regions Taungoo. Also in Bago, Hantharwady Development Public has approval to build an improbably large eco-resort and high-end housing project on 2455.77 acres, and Thiri Multi Agricultural Company has permission to build a hotel in Taungoo. A number of roads were also approved, and more than a dozen manufacturing ventures. Three companies Mya Kan Engineering, Htoo Naing Lin and Linn Shwe Sin Company received a green light to produce and distribute crushed stones. Sembcorp Myingyan Power Company has received the go-ahead to build a 225-megawatt gas-fired plant near Mandalay, which will eventually transmit more power to the national grid than any other independent gas-fired plant in the country. Malaysian firm OCK Yangon has been approved to build telecoms infrastructure and Asian Blue Aviation to run an international air transport service. The company is a tie-up between Japans ANA Holdings and Shwe Than Lwin-owned Golden Sky World, and plans to offer services between Yangon and Tokyo. MIC approval does not necessarily guarantee a project will go ahead, as Hong Kong-based developer Marga Landmark and a number of local companies discovered when their real estate projects beside Shwedagon Pagoda were cancelled by the Presidents Office early last year. Many of these projects will also require approvals from other government departments. Nevertheless, once approval has been granted it is difficult to undo. U Han Thar Myint, who chaired the National League for Democracys economic committee until it was dissolved last week, said the incoming government had not been warned that such a large number of investments would be approved. Since respective ministerial offices do not have to inform us of their decisions, we had no knowledge of this. We cannot criticise or object to [the outgoing government] permitting a lot of new investments, or whatever the case is, he said. Only after the new ministers have taken office can these things possibly be done. Last month the National League for Democracy called for an investigation into a wave of lucrative business deals that had seemingly been fast-tracked by officials in the outgoing government during the period between the election and the power transfer. Military MPs reacted to the motion with disapproval, standing up in unison to demonstrate their objection. The debate infuriated the outgoing government and prompted presidential spokesperson U Ye Htut to suggest that it does not need to be accountable to parliament. Whether the incumbent Union government should be accountable to the second parliament or not is an issue to be reviewed according to the constitution, he said, adding that the government had decided to suspend its cooperation with parliament on responding to questions and proposals. Additional reporting by Htin Lynn Aung DriButts Diaper Inventor Launches '#StopTheCrap Movement' Couple's Ingenious Solution Tackles Deadly but Overlooked Hygiene Danger; Tour Starts April 2 Contact: Darin Campbell, 512-785-8350; dributts.com/pressroom DOUGLASVILLE, Ga., March 30, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- Michael Wahl and his wife, Starla, are launching the "#StopTheCrap Movement" to highlight a deadly, but often ignored global danger to daily health and hygiene the indiscriminate spread of untreated fecal matter from naked babies who simply crawl around. Their tour of 10 states starts April 2. Photo: Baby tests DriButts diaper designed by Michael Wahl, founder of the '#StoptheCrap Movement.' For more information on tour locations and dates, go to www.dributts.com/stopthecrap. Wahl said his realization came as he installed water filtration systems during a church mission trip in Haiti. "A mama was holding on to a baby that was naked, and she bent down and picked up the fecal matter with her hand and threw it out of the house," Wahl said. "I realized that without diapers, babies were creating the conditions for a host of deadly diseases simply by moving around in their own homes." Wahl designed a high-tech diaper, which he named DriButts (www.dributts.com), specially suited for use in impoverished areas. His "#StoptheCrap Movement" is attempting as a nonprofit to raise $60,000 in 60 days to manufacture 30,000 DriButts diapers for distribution to 15,000 families. The first stop on the tour is Kingsport, Tenn. Wahl knows how deadly untreated fecal matter can be. Through research, he found that more than 80 percent of diseases in the world are due to poor sanitation, and that more than two million children die each year from fecal-related diseases. The variety of maladies includes cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever, Hepatitis A and E, norovirus, tapeworms and waterborne illnesses. "I knew I had to do something," Wahl said, adding that he needed to have a diaper to distribute, but also one that was easy to use in impoverished areas. Cloth diapers are inexpensive and easy to find, but they have to be washed in high temperatures to remove bacteria, and they can take hours to dry. Disposable diapers are expensive, bulky and require an established delivery system to be effective. In areas with no history of diaper use, adding significantly to the household workload would be unlikely to win many converts. What Wahl and his wife did was create a diaper that is durable, easy to use, easy to clean and quick drying. "Last year, we distributed 3,000 diapers, primarily in Haiti," Wahl said. "This year, our target is 10,000 diapers, and we are looking to expand into Africa." Wahl's patent-pending design uses a dri-wick outer shell with a pocket that holds an absorbent insert made from bamboo and other fabrics that are soft and bacteria-resistant. The outer shell has adjustable snaps to fit most children under 2, and the insert is specially designed to retain liquid and be breathable at the same time. "The diaper inserts are a game changer," said Wahl. "We teach mothers how to use them and why they're a good idea. The diapers can be washed in a bucket and dry in less than an hour in a hot climate, ready for its next use." Wahl started DriButts to manufacture and distribute his signature product, DriButts diapers. His ministry raises money through church events, sales to other groups and donations. He sends photos of families receiving diaper donations back to donors. Wahl is hoping that his "#StopTheCrap Movement" will help his simple solution to a complex hygiene and public service problem catch on. "We are praying that our ministry grows, there are literally millions of families around the world that could benefit." DriButts (www.dributts.com) is a nonprofit that manufacturers and distributes DriButts diapers, an innovative approach to improving hygiene and public health in impoverished areas around the world. For a video demonstrating the DriButts diapers, go to https://vimeo.com/160859502. #StopTheCrap Movement Dates (Go to www.dributts.com/stopthecrap for latest information. Some locations/times TBD.) South April 2-3 Nutty Java www.thenuttyjava.com Kingsport, TN 7p.m. April 4 Cafe 4 www.4marketsquare.com/cafe4 Knoxville, TN 7p.m. April 6 Birmingham, AL 7p.m. April 7 Pike Road, AL 7p.m. April 9 Villages, FL 7p.m. April 10 New Life Presbyterian Church www.newlifefp.org Fruitland Park, FL 11a.m. Atlanta April 12 Irish Bred Pub www.irishbreddouglasville.com Douglasville, GA 7p.m. May 2 Octane Coffee www.octanecoffee.com Grant Park, GA 7p.m. May 3 Hope Church www.placeofhope.org Dallas, GA 7p.m. May 5 Daily Grind www.dailygrindnews.com Marietta, GA 7p.m. May 11 Audio Intersection www.audiointersection.com Canton, GA 7p.m. May 19 Mountain View Church www.mountainviewmarietta.com Marietta, GA 7p.m. North/East May 24 Kentucky May 25 Hope Missionary Church www.hope4thefamily.com Bluffton, IN 7p.m. May 26-27 NY/NJ May 29 CT June 2 Oakdale UMC www.oakdale.church/olney Olney, MD Time TBD Mawdaung border trading post, which opened three years ago to help stimulate trade with Thailand, is having the opposite effect according to frustrated orchid dealers, who say the thriving trade in rare flowers that they used to enjoy is on its last legs. Five hours drive from Tanintharyi Regions Myeik, the Mawdaung gate was intended to spur trade and tourism between Myanmar and Thailand. But the commerce in rare orchids, which Myanmar florists sell to a Saturday market on the Thai side of the border, is grinding to a halt, putting the future of more than 60 specialist florists at risk. Ma Win, 43, who opened the Win orchid shop five years ago in Thailands Prachuap Khiri Khan province beside Mawdaung, said the Thai authorities were arresting orchid traders for smuggling. As a result, trade volume has fallen every year since 2013, when the gate was opened. Our sales have been declining for nearly two years, with a fall in income of nearly 80 percent since the gate was opened, she said. In the past we could import orchids from Myanmar very easily and sell them without having to pay tax to the Thai government. But now we have to bring in the orchids illegally. If we get caught were fined 7000 baht [US$198] and they seize all the flowers. Shop owners say Myanmar orchids are widely favoured in international markets because they are natural, while most Thai plants are genetically modified. Thai officials are seemingly worried about the competition. Ma Thae Phyu, who opened Sandar Myint florist eight years ago, said her business used to be highly profitable, but Thai shoppers no longer buy from her or from other Myanmar sellers because of the restrictions and arrests at the border. Our flowers have become contraband. We still have regular customers, but it seems Thai officials have the authority to shut down all our shops if they find us selling Myanmar orchids. Increased restrictions and arrests have almost stemmed the flow of Myanmar orchids to Thailand via the Mawdaung gate, so that the Prachuap Khiri Khan florists no longer sell them. Were thinking of changing careers, though it would be hard to make as much profit as we used to in the orchid trade. Orchids from Myanmar are going to be extinct here, said Ma Thae Phyu. Online comments range from Oh, its scary and disgusting to Could it have been made by a Myanmar artist? to Where can I learn to do this?. The Linkadipa special effects make-up group, established this month by artist Aung Kyaw Htun, is turning heads while fitting bald caps on others. Special effects already a main-stay in Hollywood blockbusters make all the difference in creating movie magic. They can take a model or actress from fashion feature to gruesome creature in a matter of hours. It is also a heavily respected art form, with the Academy Awards honouring bests in make-up and hairstyling since 1981. In Myanmar, however, the art has yet to take root. In other countries, this technique is exceedingly popular, Aung Kyaw Htun said. But it is not in our tradition. Until now, there were no schools or classes to teach the techniques and there is little interest from local directors to use the effects in their films. Without these special effects, Aung Kyaw Htun believes the Myanmar film industry will be stunted. There are no adventure or science fiction films in Myanmar just yet, he said. Without modern techniques they can never become reality. His school, which he hopes will fill the industrys gap, is opening for the first time this month and already has 20 students enrolled. It will be three months long, two days per week with a cost of K300,000 (US$270), excluding supplies. The course will specialise on applying make-up for theatrical effects, colouring, chemical terms and conditions, lab techniques and silicon sculpturing for bald caps, prosthetic noses, scars and wounds, and fantasy creations. The 47-year-old artist-turned-teacher has experience in sculpture, painting and a degree in film-making while his special effects skills are all self-taught and under-appreciated. One time I received an order for fake wounds to be used in a movie, he said. The director called me and asked me to make them, but wouldnt allow me to come to the set to fit them on the actors. He said he would do it himself to save money. I got the feeling that they didnt respect this art or me as an artist. Aung Kyaw Htun has also created countless bald caps, wounds and creatures for local advertisements and films. He is perhaps best known for his silicone sculpture commemorating Bogyoke Aung Sans 100th birthday, which is just one of over 100 such silicone creations he has made. Despite his past experiences, his hopes for the future of special effects in Myanmar remain high. We need these techniques in our country, he said. If special effects undergo a boom, then the limits of film-making are only restricted by the extent of the film-makers imaginations. Its exactly what we need to modernise our film industry. Major ethnic armed groups that did not join last years nationwide ceasefire agreement have called for early talks with Myanmars new government, while the European Union has stepped in with more money to keep the peace process moving. We all are eager to cooperate with the new government. We agree that political dialogue with the new government should be held as soon as possible. We would like to create the groundwork for the internal peace process, seven armed groups said in a joint statement after two days of talks hosted by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in its Pangkham border stronghold. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said the ceasefire pact signed by U Thein Seins government last October with eight mostly minor ethnic armed groups must be broadened to include those that remain outside. The UWSA, which has close ties to China and is the most powerful of Myanmars armed groups, has sought to play a leading role among the factions that either refused to sign last Octobers ceasefire pact or were excluded by the government. Despite the sense of urgency, the NLD is signalling that the peace process first on its list of policy priorities will not get off to a quick start. U Tun Tun Hein, a party spokesperson, told The Myanmar Times that the new government would first focus on getting through a 30-day transition period. It had not yet selected someone to be in charge of the peace process, he added, although Daw Aung San Suu Kyis personal physician, Dr Tin Myo Win, who still carries out volunteer surgery every Friday, is widely tipped for the post. We understand that we have to call a [peace] convention not later than May or June, U Tun Tun Hein said. But he added that he had no further details and that the partys central executive committee had not yet tackled the issue. He was apparently referring to the second scheduled convention of the Union Peace Conference which held its first meeting, with some 700 delegates, in January. The conference is part of a roadmap of peace talks laid out in the nationwide ceasefire agreement. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in January that her government would hold a more effective peace conference that would include all ethnic armed groups. Adding to the uncertainty, the NLD does not have a structure in place to facilitate the peace process. The foreign-funded Myanmar Peace Center, set up by President U Thein Sein, formally ended its mandate yesterday. Its assets have been transferred to two NGOs set up by its former officials, although the EU is trying to ensure that internationally committed assets remain at the disposal of the new government. The EU confirmed yesterday that it was ready to extend its financing of the MPC, which expires on March 31, to help the government keep the peace process going. The EU stands ready to make a short no-cost extension to allow for the incoming administration to decide about the future peace process architecture without having to halt all peace activities in the meantime for a lack of funding, the EU said. Naing Han Thar, chair of the New Mon State Party, a non-signatory to the ceasefire which did not attend the UWSA-hosted talks, said the peace process would depend on cooperation between the new government and the Tatmadaw, which has recently stepped up its offensives in northern Shan State. We are preparing to talk with the new government and will try to have contact with them as much as we can he said. The non-signatories and the armed groups that signed the nationwide ceasefire will hold talks to make the process all-inclusive, he said. Representatives of the signatory groups and the United Nationalities Federal Council, which represents nine non-signatories, said they held informal talks in Chiang Mai on March 27 in a sign that attempts are being made to bridge the divide. The eight signatories said they had formed a new group in Chiang Mai last week to coordinate the peace process with the NLD government. The Ethnic Armed Organisations Peace Process Steering Team will be headed by General Saw Mutu Say Poe of the Karen National Union, with Lieutenant General Yawd Serk, head of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), as deputy leader. The seven groups meeting in Pangkham also called on the Tatmadaw to halt offensives in northern Shan State that have displaced several thousand people in recent months, and urged the RCSS and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) to stop their fighting. The RCSS, one of the eight signatories, denies that it has used its ceasefire status to expand its territorial control by fighting the TNLA, which was one of three groups shut out of the peace process by the military-backed U Thein Sein government. The Pangkham statement, dated March 28, warned that if the RCSS intensified the conflict, the ethnic armed groups would have to intervene in what is already a complicated situation. Ethnic armed revolutionary groups will try to prevent the other side from attempting to continue the fighting, the seven groups said, without specifying how they would do so. Joining the UWSA in Pangkham were the allied National Democratic Alliance Army (Mong La), the Kachin Independence Army and the Shan State Progress Party, as well as the three groups the government excluded from its peace talks the TNLA, the Kokang-based Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army. Tar Pan La, TNLA foreign relations officer, called on the new government to hold serious talks on extending the ceasefire to include all the non-signatories. But, he added, this would depend on whether the NLD would be able to secure a deal with the Tatmadaw. In one of his last acts in office, President U Thein Sein has instructed the Ministry of Immigration to give new identity cards to Chinese residents of northern Shan State identifying them as a Bamar group, a ministry official has confirmed. However, the president has not ordered the group, known as the Mone Wun, be added to Myanmars list of 135 official national races, as has been reported. The Mone Wun live in the Tarmonye region of Kutkai township and are descended from immigrants from Yunnan province. They speak Chinese and maintain many Chinese customs. Prior to the presidents March 11 order, they were officially identified as Mone Wun (Chinese). The new cards will now bear the ethnicity Mone Wun (Bamar), said the senior Ministry of Immigration and Population official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. The ministry is asking the Mone Wun Literature and Culture Association for help to identify Mone Wun eligible for the new Citizenship Scrutiny Cards, but no further steps have been taken and no new cards issued. People are misunderstanding on the instruction. We cannot add them [Mone Wun] to the list of ethnic groups. It can only be done by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. This issue is like the Bengali issue. Please dont worry that the ministry will add them without the permission of parliament, he said on March 28, on the sidelines of a press conference in Nay Pyi Taw. The ministry official said that in 2014 some residents in Tarmonye had asked the then-minister for immigration, U Khin Yi, to help amend their race on official identity documents. The minister submitted the issue to the president, who then issued the order to amend their race for the sake of the country according to chapter 2 of the 1982 Citizenship Act. The Ministry of Immigration and Population estimates there are about 60,000 Mone Wun people in the Tarmonye region. It is unclear why they are being labelled Bamar when even members of the group say that they are ethnically Chinese, and many cannot speak the Myanmar language. The Presidents Office declined to comment yesterday. Incoming Shan State Chief Minister U Lin Htut from the National League for Democracy told The Myanmar Times that he was aware most people opposed the presidents instruction and he planned to review it once in office. I have heard that people do not agree to amend their name to Mone Wun (Bamar) because they are not Myanmar We promised that it can change during the next governments term, he said. The groups influence with the government stems from its links to former senior general U Than Shwe. While U Than Shwe was a soldier in Shan State, a Mone Wun militia led by U Myint Lwin helped the Tatmadaw fend off communist attacks. U Lin Htut said it was U Myint Lwin, who now serves as an MP in the Shan State Hluttaw, who requested U Than Shwe change the groups classification to Mone Wun (Bamar). During a visit to northern Shan State in 1998, U Than Shwe reportedly said he would classify the Mone Wun as a Bamar race from Tarmonye region, the Ministry of Immigration and Population said in its instruction letter released on March 11. That year, two public opinion surveys were conducted that approved the change in ethnicity. Aside from being a sitting member of parliament, U Myint Lwin also heads Tarmonye Chan Thar company, which is engaged in manufacturing, construction and timber, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration. In his final hours in office, outgoing President U Thein Sein announced a surprise end to the state of emergency imposed in Rakhine after deadly sectarian riots erupted between Buddhist and Muslim communities in 2012. The decision to lift the provision, announced yesterday in state-run media, came just a day before power was to be handed to the National League for Democracys new administration, with a ceremony due to take place in Nay Pyi Taw today. Daw Aung San Suu Kyis party which does not hold a majority in Rakhine has been engaged in a heated spat with the Arakan National Party over the formation of the state cabinet. The departing president said he decided to lift the emergency order as the state government had determined that no threats to the lives and property of the people were found, according to state media. Ethnic, religious and economic tensions have long simmered in Rakhine State, which by some metrics is the poorest in the country. Deadly communal violence wracked the state in 2012, and led to the segregation of Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya who are officially referred to as Bengalis, and regarded as immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh rather than one of the nations ethnic minorities. The outgoing government has repeatedly denied fostering discrimination or enflaming tensions, while international organisations have slammed the highly restrictive conditions and limited healthcare and educational opportunities in the states Muslim IDP camps. In the run-up to the election, the Rohingya were stripped of their temporary citizenship documents, and of the right to vote. Sitting Rohingya lawmakers were not allowed to contest the election, and not a single Muslim won a seat in the new parliament. The tinderbox situation poses tremendous challenges for the incoming NLD-led administration, especially after the nationalist ANPs strong grip on the Rakhine State Hluttaw. The NLD has largely sought to sidestep sensitive issues in the state, and has referred only to the need to develop the whole country equally. U Nyi Pu, the incoming chief minister and Rakhine State NLD chair, yesterday spoke in favour of lifting the emergency order, saying it could alleviate political anxieties. In order to develop the state, it needs to function without a state of emergency and people need to be permitted to travel around freely, he said. Ko Kyaw Lin Oo, a political analyst, said President U Thein Seins last-minute removal of the emergency order did not mean that the NLD or the military bloc would not try to re-impose it. We will have to wait and see how the new government implements political order. The military and civilian relationship is important there, he said. Exactly how removing the state of emergency will impact Rakhine on a practical level remains unclear. The government has not clarified whether a separate curfew order, put in place under Code of Criminal Procedure, remains in place. According to the 2008 constitution, the president has the authority to install or remove a state of emergency. Imposing a military administration along with the state of emergency is also at the discretion of the president. The emergency provision grants the president the right to restrict residents rights as deemed necessary. However, the curfew order is tied to the local administration office, and the administrator has the authority to withdraw it or keep it in place. After the 2012 conflict, most of northern Rakhine State, including the state capital Sittwe, instituted a dusk-to-dawn curfew that was lifted two years ago. But the night-time clampdown is still in force in Buthidaung and Maungdaw, where there appears to be little impetus to remove it from local residents both Buddhist and Muslim who say they fear a resurgence of unrest. Lawyer U Ko Ni said that if the local authorities want to keep curfew in place, they can continue to do so regardless of the emergency order. U Than Shwe, a township administrator of Buthidaung, said there is no plan to immediately withdraw the curfew, and confirmed that it is not linked to the state of emergency. U Hla Myint, an ethnic Rakhine leader from Maungdaw township, said he has not heard of any changes to the local curfew, and thinks it should not be withdrawn yet. Nobody can say whether the problems between both communities will occur again or not after the curfew is lifted, he said. We are worried about thieves in the night even right now with the curfew. So the worries would only increase should it be lifted. U Kyaw Min, head of the Democracy and Human Rights Party, whose members identify as Rohingya, said lifting the state of emergency was a positive move, but questioned what it would mean for the IDPs and Muslim communities. We want better conditions with the state of emergency lifted because, as the statement says, there is no longer a threat to peoples lives, he said. Earlier this month, the UN-appointed special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar advised that within 100 days of taking office the new government should remove severe restrictions confining over 100,000 Muslim Rohingya to deteriorating IDP camps. The NLD has not publicly responded to this recommendation. Interfaith activists say they hope a book they have recently published on the concept of loving kindness metta in the Myanmar language could become a religious textbook. The dual language book, Metta, contains teachings from the faiths Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Bahai about showing loving kindness toward others. U Aung Min, a retired navy officer who runs the Building Love Among Religions Network, said it was the first such book published in Myanmar, and could help promote peace in Myanmar. We intend for the book to serve as a teaching guide for religious leaders and also hopefully a textbook for school and even university students, he said. More than 1000 copies have so far been printed and distributed, while a soft copy has also been made widely available. We dont have enough time to distribute to all departments in the current government, but we will distribute Metta to the new government, he said, referring to the National League for Democracy administration that will take office on April 1. The network was founded in 2010. U Htin Kyaw took the oath of office in parliament this morning, becoming Myanmars first elected president from a non-military background for 54 years. In his first address, televised across the country, he asked for patience. The 69-year-old former academic, a trusted confidant of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was sworn in before the Union parliament, taking his oath in unison with his two vice presidents former general U Myint Swe and ethnic Chin Christian Henry Van Thio. His ministers, including the National League for Democracy leader who is barred by the constitution from the presidency, then took their oaths of office, completing a 144-day transition period since the NLD swept to victory in general elections last November. In a surprisingly perfunctory inaugural address, President U Htin Kyaw pledged his government would work towards establishing a constitution that would guarantee a federal democracy and the lifting up of peoples lives. The government would also strive for national reconciliation and achieving peace, he said. Transcript: U Htin Kyaw's first presidential address "The new government will try with commitment to fulfill the peoples long waited political desires, he said referring to changes to the constitution. "We need to be patient to reach our goals," he added. U Htin Kyaw and his cabinet then moved to the presidential palace for a formal handover ceremony with outgoing president U Thein Sein. The president and vice presidents pledged to be "faithful to the people of the republic of the union of Myanmar". Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was seated to U Htin Kyaws left as he rose from the front file in parliament to take the stage for the brief swearing-in. It was confirmed to parliament that she would hold four ministerial posts, including that of foreign minister. Spectators reflected that it was the 70-year-old NLD leader who should be the new president, if it were not for the refusal of the military to amend the constitution that bars her from the top post on the grounds that her sons are foreign nationals. Asked for his opinion on whether Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could yet become president after amending section 59(f) of the charter over the five-year term of the new government, U Min Thein, an NLD lower house MP, paused and then commented: This will depend on the negotiations between Daw Suu and the military. U Ba Shein, a lower house MP for the Arakan National Party, said people were enjoying the oath-taking ceremony because the military-backed USDP government had been so unpopular. But he said he had his doubts over the new government. The new government needs to withstand criticism. People are not satisfied with what the outgoing president U Thein Sein had done for them. I dont think the new government will tolerate criticism of its performance, he said. Read more: Outsourcing the presidency: the proxy problem Htin Kyaw: from computer science grad to NLD loyalist This story is developing, and will be updated as more information becomes available. Finally, Myanmar has a new president. The wait was long and his first speech short, but for loyal National League for Democracy MPs it was worth it. I am very excited. This is a great day. Weve struggled for democracy and freedom since 1988, said Susanna Hla Soe, an NLD upper house member for Yangon, ahead of the incoming presidents arrival at parliament yesterday morning. And if the U Htin Kyaw was nervous as he took his position as the countrys first elected, non-military president for 56 years, the steely presence of the person really in charge of the new administration Daw Aung San Suu Kyi emanated from beside him as they walked in together. While the NLD members could barely contain their joy, excitedly declaring them themselves to be very proud and satisfied by the new top man, less enraptured MPs from other parties would later note U Htin Kyaws lack of confidence in public speaking, suggesting he has some work ahead of him if he is to achieve the stature of Myanmars de-facto leader. Its an exciting day, and the president gave a speech which was short but to the point. He looked a little tense though, not particularly easygoing. I think people are going to want him to look as smart as The Lady, said Sai Wan Leng Kham, an upper house member for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy. He didnt seem particularly confident in public speaking, was how Pu Gin Kam Lian, general secretary of the Zomi Congress for Democracy, summed it up, though he added that the day marked the coming of a good government. Despite these concerns, U Htin Kyaws first foray onto Myanmars parliamentary stage as president was greeted mostly with applause though notably not from Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who seemed unimpressed by the new presidents first vow: to amend the 2008 consitution, which enshrines the militarys political powers and bars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from the position U Htin Kyaw had just vowed to fulfil. In a rare nod to the media, journalists were informed which parliamentary entrance the man about to take the presidential oath and the woman steering his political role would arrive, in the process averting the usual press scrums and allowing for a more dignified entrance. Neither Daw Suu as elegant as ever nor U Htin Kyaw showed much in the way of emotion as they made their way through the marble halls, though one military representative who entered shortly before them appeared to enjoy his moment in the limelight, temporarily shunning the usual grim-faced countenance to offer smiles and even small celebrity-style waves to the gathered media. Curiously he, like other military representative present, were dressed in the old-style uniforms believed to have been relegated to the back of military closets in favour of a new, lighter design last year. The significance of this prompted considerable speculation among observers. As befitting the peculiar political arrangement brought about by Myanmars restrictive constitution, with Daw Suu blocked from the top job but considering herself above the president, U Htin Kyaw walked into parliament to the right of the Lady and sat down beside her her right-hand man. But as U Htin Kyaw and his vice presidents the military-nominated U Myint Swe and Henry Van Thio, chosen by upper house lawmakers and resplendent in an intricately woven traditional Chin outfit stepped up to take their presidential vows, Daw Suu was left sitting alone, constitutionally relegated to a back-seat position. It didnt last long, of course. The president and vice presidents exited the hall, and parliament recessed for 20 minutes. They remained absent when it resumed so that the 18 members of cabinet could take their oaths. Daw Suu was first to take her place in the row, as her new cabinet lined up on either side of her. The military members, initially reluctant to stand directly beside her, were ushered back into place by parliamentary staff. Eventually, she stood in the middle of the row of people who will run the new government military members to her immediate right, her own supporters to the left. Daw Suu had returned to centre stage. But eyes soon reverted to U Htin Kyaw as he returned to make his inaugural speech. Already, the dance in and out of public attention between Daw Suu and her president looked set to be a complicated one. As has become the norm since the NLD won its landslide victory in November last year, the session was short. The MPs pouring out of parliament afterwards joined ambassadors and other dignitaries who had been present along with stars of stage and screen to witness the moment. More than 300 observers attended. Transcript: President U Htin Kyaws inaugural address As the visitors mingled in the humid entrance halls to discuss the mornings events, Daw Suu, U Htin Kyaw and the new cabinet ministers headed off to the presidential palace where outgoing president U Thein Sein and his compatriots waited to make the ceremonial handover to his successor: a symbolic event, one that lasted less than 15 minutes. British ambassador Andrew Patrick said he knew U Htin Kyaw very well and thought the new president was an excellent choice for the job. Asked whether he believed U Htin Kyaws lack of diplomatic experience could prove problematic, Mr Patrick said he thought it was somewhat overestimated as a quality for leaders. Norwegian ambassador Ann Ollestad said the event was not the occasion to focus on challenges ahead. Its just fantastic to be here, such an important occasion, she added, noting how long people had waited for the moment. MPs from different parties expressed their shared priorities for the new government: constitutional change and federalism that leads to peace. Sai Wan Leng Kham, of the SNLD, expressed his concerns at the increase of centralism he already sees taking place under the NLD dominated-parliament, and questioned how that would equate with the promised move toward a federal union. Other non-NLD MPs said they would have to wait and see how well the new president and Daw Suu would be able to manage the government and the peace process. But among the NLD faithful, who dominated the floor in Nay Pyi Taw, yesterday marked the arrival of an era many of them had waited decades for. On the steps outside the parliament, a group of NLD supporters gathered holding up a large banner featuring a photograph of U Htin Kyaw. Our president! Our president! they chanted with intermittent cheers. This is a very, very happy day, said U Than Aung Soe, the NLD representative for Minhla in Bago. Our hope has come true. Largely unknown to the public just a few weeks ago, U Htin Kyaw will take centre-stage today when he delivers his first speech to the nation as its first elected, non-military president for more than 50 years. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is scheduled to convene at 10am when the president and his two vice presidents former general U Myint Swe and ethnic Chin Christian Henry Van Thio finally take their oaths of office at the end of the long transition period following last Novembers elections. The presidents 18 ministers, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who is barred by the constitution from serving as head of government, will then take their oaths of office, joined by the new members of the Union Election Commission and the Constitutional Tribunal. The contents of U Htin Kyaws subsequent speech to parliament are a closely guarded secret within the National League for Democracy. Its authorship is also uncertain, given that the 69-year-old former academic is widely acknowledged as the NLD leaders proxy. But the speech will be closely watched for indications of the NLDs reform agenda, which has still not yet been clearly enunciated by party leaders beyond a number of broad themes. Who is President U Htin Kyaw? In his 2011 inaugural presidential address, former general U Thein Sein gave a wide-ranging and at times striking policy speech about his governments plans for a democratic transition over the next five years. He spoke of the hell of untold miseries caused by decades of civil war and elaborated his administrations policies for a more market-driven economy, as well as health, education and other sectors. Few believed him at the time after nearly five decades of military rule. But having completed his five-year term and his pledge to hand over to a democratically elected government even if it must still share power with the military U Thein Sein is scheduled to preside over a formal transfer-of-power ceremony at the presidential palace at 1pm. U Htin Kyaw is to hold a gala dinner for selected guests, including foreign ambassadors, in the evening. Journalists from around 20 media organisations have been invited to the power-transfer ceremony and dinner. It's time for a crackdown on unruly behaviour at Yangons gateway bus terminal at Aung Mingalar, the authorities say. Describing an often chaotic situation at the busy, 86-acre compound, they also revealed a list of arrests they had made. One public order problem is caused by the so-called passenger brokers, who take advantage of travellers unfamiliarity with the sprawling compound to guide them, for a tip, to their bus gate. Some, Yangon City Development Committee says, can cross the line from helpful to threatening. Some brokers help passengers, carrying their luggage to the gates for a tip. We have no problem with them. Others prey on passengers and bother them, and we tell the police to arrest them, said U Nyan Htun Aung, deputy staff officer in the city revenue department. The Aung Mingalar experience can be daunting and confusing for many passengers, whether arriving in Yangon or leaving for other cities and small towns throughout the country. Gate allocation is haphazard and badly signposted, leaving passengers and their luggage prey to canny entrepreneurs, who pretend to help passengers while helping themselves, officials say. The compound is huge, and the bus gates are all over the place. Many passengers dont know where theyre supposed to go. Thats where the brokers come in, said U Nyan Htun Aung. Last year, police at Aung Mingalar seized 140 vendors, 74 unruly brokers, 30 fake monks, 13 beggars, seven desperate drunks, four thieves, three illegal alcohol sellers, two glue sniffers and one narcotics user. They also closed a massage parlour doing business in the bus station. Between January and December 20015, police also took action against 507 taxi drivers, 1786 highway buses, 690 overloaded vehicles, 144 motorbikes, 16 push carts and one trishaw found to have broken traffic laws. YCDC has long-term plans to clean up the site by creating a departure terminal, which would reduce passenger confusion and congestion. The proposal is being developed and will be submitted to the incoming regional government, headed by U Phyo Min Thein, according to YCDC. Committee member U Khin Mg Tint said some other steps had been taken to make Aung Mingalar a safer and more convenient transport hub, but there is much more to be done. I often go to observe the bus station, as its in my district. I would invite dissatisfied passengers to complain to the authorities if they are inconvenienced. That would help us deal with the brokers, he said. Complaints about brokers, taxis and buses can be made on 01-636915, or in person at the station offices. Yangon is also served by the Dagon Ayeyar bus station for destinations in Ayeyarwady Region, and more long-distance bus stations will be built in north and east of the city once negotiations with landowners and squatters are complete. Translation by Emoon home Tech 'PlayStation 5' release date, specs news 2016: PlayStation 4K is coming? PlayStation 5 is probably one of the most talked about items in the gaming world today. With talks about Sony's intention to release a new console pretty soon, fans are confident that it is going to be the much awaited next line of the PlayStation series. However, there are also rumors suggesting that the console may not be released in another 4 to 5 years because the company is planning to develop another device that will be called PlayStation 4.5. With all the rumors and speculations, only one thing is certain as of the moment: according to reports Sony will eventually make a new console but it would neither be PlayStation 4.5 or PlayStation 5. Sources are saying that the company will release a PlayStation 4K; however, fans shouldn't be fooled with the model name because the console is not going to be what most players think it is. According to EuroGamer, the upcoming console will not be able to play games in 4K resolution. However, its features and specs will be more advanced compared to the current ones in the market. Although players would not be able to experience the 4K resolution, it has been reported that gamers will experience gaming capabilities that they have not experienced before. The new console will have an advanced graphic system and sport a powerful processor and an impressive GPU unit. Nevertheless, details about the upcoming console have not yet been revealed by Sony. However, fans can expect that it will be a subject for more rumors and speculations until an official announcement from the manufacturer is provided. Meanwhile, the report also suggests that Sony believes manufacturing a console with 4K imaging is quite expensive and the gaming world is not ready of for it as of the moment. The information mentioned in the report has not been confirmed by Sony, fans must take it with a grain of salt until the company releases an official statement. Labour rights investigators have accused South Korean factory owners in Myanmar of a raft of abuses, including forced overtime, poor safety conditions, the use of child labour and sexual harassment of female workers. The investigating organisation, Myanmar Action Labour Rights, said the South Korean-owned factories flagrantly violate labour laws, such as mandatory weekly caps on overtime and providing contracts in Myanmar language. ALR conducted its research in 2014 and 2015, interviewing administrators and 1200 workers from 39 garment factories in Yangon and Bago regions. ALR director Ko Thurein Aung told The Myanmar Times on March 26 that the investigation focused primarily on South Korean-owned garment factories. It was undertaken at the suggestion of the Korean Human Rights Commission, which visited Myanmar in 2014 to study the issue. The worst rights violations involve forced overtime and breaches of health and safety standards. In There may be more sexual harassment than we found. We have only three female investigators, and in our culture many women would not want to discuss something like this with a man, said Ko Thurein Aung. Investigators were unable to follow up allegations of the use of child labour because, they said, both supervisors and the children themselves refused to provide information for fear of dismissal. U Ye Naing Win, a workers representative on the dispute settlement arbitration council, said yesterday that improving working conditions in factories was a key issue. The government and the garment factory owners should be made aware of this report, as the incoming government promotes further industrial development. These problems should be solved now, or they will just get bigger. South Korean investment is vital to Myanmars booming garment sector. According to industry sources, 20pc of Myanmars garment factories are officially South Korean-owned, with another 20pc likely run by South Koreans through locally registered companies. South Korea is the sixth-largest foreign investor in Myanmar, according to 2015 to 2016 government figures. Last year, South Korean factories were hit with a series of strikes focused on wages. As The Myanmar Times reported, the South Korean embassy in Yangon intervened and asked the government to take action to clear picket lines. Rights groups have repeatedly alleged that South Korean-owned factories are particularly hostile to strikes and unions, and are known to employ corporal punishment. Korean companies are notorious for taking advantages at the expense of desperate garment workers, the Korean Transnational Corporations Watch, a network of human rights and legal organisations, has said. The South Korean embassy declined to comment on the ALR report. Ko Thurein Aung, from ALR, said however that the protests last year have forced a modicum of change in the industry, including the introduction in September 2015 of the countrys first minimum wage. Korean factories conditions are getting better compared to how they were before. But, the improvement is very slow, he said. UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee said on social media yesterday that South Korean factories must abide by international labour standards and pay acceptable wages for overtime. Asked about the report, U Aung Win, vice chair of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, said no factory was perfect, and workers and employers had to reach a good understanding and develop good working conditions. We are looking forward to working with the incoming government and advising them on any complaints that could arise between workers and employers. But our association by itself cannot resolve such matters, he said. ALR said it will send its report to the Korean Human Rights Commission for follow-up. 30.03.2016 LISTEN Popular Ghanaian highlife artiste, Nana Quame has endorsed the NPP flagbearer, saying he would vote for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo if he were a registered voter in Ghana. Speaking on 'The Zone', Tuesday, the 'Odo Shock' hitmaker said the truth of the matter is, I haven't got a vote because I wasn't around when the registration was done but if I got a voteI will vote for the NPP for one or two reasons. He added that I was touched when Nana Addo said he left everything in the hands of God after the 2012 election petition and not everyone will do that. Imagine what would have happened if Nana didn't accept the outcome because there were people who were ready to do crazy things. Nana Quame added that he sees nothing wrong with celebrities endorsing presidential candidates. I think it's good to endorse presidential candidates because it's a practice that is common in the US and U.K and I don't see anything wrong with it so if I have to endorse NPP why not, but in the meantime it's a team work and I don't take decisions alone. Nana Quame who was involved in a near-fatal accident on the Kwahu-Accra road on Easter Monday said it was only by the hands of God he survived. I will seek eye care or fly to the UK as soon as possible to get my eyes checked because particles of the broken windscreen may have entered them, he added. -Starrfmonline Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. Its no secret how many people have been recently impressed with Shatta Wales music and on-stage abilities, but now one of the most important highlife acts of all time is talking about Shatta Wale. Nana Quame known in real life as Henry De-Mensah has opened up about his admiration for dancehall artiste ,Shatta Wale and went as far as to crown him the new king of Ghana music. The highlife music icon, who was in an exclusive interview with Nii Boye on Radio G.I.J over the weekend said the king of Ghana music i can say with no shy is Shatta Wale,lets be honest, lets not jealous him, lets support him , when shatta stands on any stage, he represents Ghana. Nana Quame sharing his opinion on why Shatta Wale is the King of music in Ghana said Shatta wale is commanding Ghana music, to me,every Ghanaian musician should support Shatta Wale,one thing about him i like most is , he is not fighting for himself,he is fighting for the industry and every musican in the country. The former best male vocalist who recently released Akye with Samini is out with a new track titled Me Do. He is one of the longest serving contemporary highlife musicians who one can hardly have his songs faded out from memories. A romantic encounter William Shatner allegedly had in 1956 could cost him big in 2016. Peter Sloan claims the "Star Trek" actor is his father and has filed a $170 million lawsuit accusing Shatner of libel, defamation and slander. He's also demanding Shatner consent to a paternity test and is asking for a jury trial, according to the New York Post. Sloan, a 59-year-old radio show host in Florida, alleges the actor got his mother, actress Kathy McNeil, pregnant during a tryst in Toronto. He says McNeil put him up for adoption days after his birth and never told Shatner they'd conceived a child. Sloan's claim apparently isn't news to Shatner. In the lawsuit, Sloan claims he met his would-be dad on the set of "T.J. Hooker" in 1984, at which time Shatner purportedly "admitted he was the plaintiff's father" before doing an about-face on the admission a week later when he says Shatner's rep contacted him to let him know the actor had "totally" denied "paternity." "Don't go public," the rep allegedly told Sloan, "... [as it] could be horrendous for [Shatner]." The lawsuit also claims the actor, now 85, refused to take a paternity test. The plot thickens from there. The Post reports Sloan subsequently showed up at a meet-and-greet to see Shatner and registered petershatner.com -- a nod to the name he was using for his 2011 CBS radio show. It wasn't long before Sloan was contacted by another rep for the actor. "Bill ... confirmed to me once again that he is not your father," Shatner's lawyer, Eric Hyman, reportedly wrote to Sloan in a letter. "There have been many people over the years who have claimed to be his children or other relatives. He is an incredibly busy, 80-year-old man, and is not interested in spending time discussing this issue with you." Sloan -- whose website promotes a book he wrote called "The Search," a narrative about Sloan's supposed discovery that Shatner is his biological father -- claims Shatner's people had his Twitter account closed and got imdb Pro to axe a page about the film he was working on. "I am William Shatner's son, and I just wish he would acknowledge me," Sloan tells the Post. A rep for Shatner told the tab the actor "has three lovely daughters but no sons Mr. Shatner is aware of the lawsuit, but there's nothing there because he isn't his father." Last May, Shatner's publicist Cherry Hepburn gave the Tampa Tribune a virtually verbatim statement about her client's daughters -- and his lack of male children. "This person has fraudulently portrayed himself as Mr. Shatner's son for years," she added. 30.03.2016 LISTEN After spending a while with Skillions records, he got signed to record label, Cryme records for some years and released a mixtape dubbed ALL RAP EVERYTHING which had songs like 3 headed beats and riddle riddle. Well, i am very sure the songs three headed beast and Riddle Riddle are remembered fondly by each and everyone of us.Yes! Bra Kevin Beats is back; this time with a bang! Bra Kevin won 2 awards at the 4syte music video awards in 2011 with his single; 3 headed beasts and also got 2 nominations at the VGMAs in 2012 with the same song. Fast forward to 2016, he recently signed a record deal with recording label, 3rd world kings. His album which was originally named 16in1 now 15in1 has been released. This mixtape has 17 tracks and features many talented artists in Ghana; both males and female like Jayso, Hama (The Preseident of Ghana's Son). Lil Shaker, Medikal, Biqo of MTN Project Fame West Africa Fame, Vanessa Gyan, the daughter of Late Kiki Gyan, Okuntakinte, Kidi (Winner of MTN Hitmaker 2015), Ankwanda, Xorse and Ansah Live. Being a recognized artist in the industry, bra Kevin says he is mentally and physically ready to blow the mind of his fans and people who love good music.he is ready to raise the standard of music in Ghana and even breakthrough the international market.This mixtape is one of the most anticipated albums of our time. It trended on social media for a number of days and still trending on the list right now. #15in1 Delay isn't denial! The king has returned! Please download the tape and publish it on your website. Thank you very much for your usual support....https://soundcloud.com/brakevinmusic 30.03.2016 LISTEN Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) has presented a new Toyota Corolla car and motorbike to its office located at the Kumasi Cultural Centre in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. The car and motorbike were given to the office to help ease the task of collecting royalties for musicians. Chairman of GHAMRO, Kojo Antwi, presenting the items to the regional office management, advised that the car should be used for its purpose, cautioning that the fact that it is for GHAMRO means there are some rules that are going to guide it but the rules are going to deal with the nature of our work. We are presenting this car to the office to see changes in the in the organisation. First Vice Chairman of GHAMRO, Ahmed Banda, aka Bandex, also added that the fact that the car is in Ashanti Region does not mean it's only for this region, it belongs to every GHAMRO member in the country. He mentioned that the car would be monitored to ensure that it is used for its purpose. Augustina Addison, GHAMRO board member and a member of the welfare committee, who received the Toyota Corolla and motorbike on behalf of the Ashanti regional office, thanked the national executives for their donation. Augustina Addision, who is also a gospel musician, promised the national executives that the car and motorbike presented would be used in the right way to help in the collection of royalties. Veteran actor William Addo has a deadline of Thursday March 31 to raise GHc5000 to undergo a surgery to fix his eyesight. The 66-year-old actor is suffering from glaucoma and cataract and is on the brink of losing his vision if he does not undergo the surgery. Speaking in an interview with Joy News' MzGee, the actor said he realised he had problems with his eyes three years ago but did not know what exactly the problem was. According to him, he never paid attention to it and did not seek medical attention until December 2015 when he was given prescription by doctors for eye drops that cost him GHc300 monthly. The veteran actor says its been very difficult raising funds for the eye drops when his pension benefit is GHc200 every month. William Addo is therefore pleading with the general public to come to aid to raise GHc5000 for the surgery at the Inter-Star Eye Clinic And Laser Center in Accra. 30.03.2016 LISTEN Just when we thought the hullabaloo surrounding the controversial Fire Bon Dem son by Flowking Stone which featured Sarkodie was put to sleep, A Kumasi based rapper by name Kwame Baah humps on the beat to send a message to Flowking Stone. The Rapper in the course of his delivering his verse on the "Fire Bon Dem Remix" which featured BIg Boi said; Kumasi must rise noaa y3y33 hoo dede no na modwene s3 y33y3 ama no abenefiti hwan/ Bra Stone wadi kan a,hw3 wakyiri ma, s3 sekan na b3ka wonsa a, d)mu nafa bue kwan. m3ka In English, It means, Who do you think we did that KumasiMustRise campaign to benefit? Bra stone, if you have the batton don't run with it alone, use it to pave way for the upcoming artistes as well" This verse which was part of the full verse has sparked controversy that the young chap is throwing jabs at Flowking Stone to turn back and help up and coming Kumasi rappers. In a post on facebook, when Kwame Baah was asked If it was a diss to Flowking Stone, The rapper denied and explained He was just prompting that Flowking should remember the motive behing #KumasiMustRise campaign which is helping Kumasi artiste to get on the rise. My Take: Although it is not clear as to what the verse actually is impying, I think Kwame Baah should own the balls to come up and explain the verse to put things in order. Listen To Big Boii X Kwame Baah - Fire Bon Dem Remake and tell us what you think [DOWNLOAD] Tripoli (AFP) - Gunmen stormed the headquarters of a Libyan television station late Wednesday, as the authorities in control of Tripoli demanded the departure of the newly-arrived prime minister designate in a blow to hopes for a peaceful power handover. Armed men burst into the headquarters of satellite TV station Al-Nabaa in central Tripoli, cut its transmissions and forced out its staff, according to two journalists from the channel. The channel is close to the unrecognised authorities in control of Tripoli. One Al-Nabaa journalist said the gunmen appeared to be supporters of the UN-backed unity government, whose head Fayez al-Sarraj arrived in the capital Wednesday to the fury of the rival authorities. "A group of armed men, some of them in fatigues and some in civilian clothing, stormed our offices and gathered the employees in one room," an Al-Nabaa staff member told AFP. A colleague said broadcasting had been suspended, adding that no one had been hurt. Sarraj, a businessman named prime minister-designate under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal in December, had arrived by sea earlier Wednesday with a naval escort along with several members of his cabinet. But in a sign of the formidable challenge facing his government, Tripoli's unrecognised authorities demanded that he leave the capital or "hand himself in". "Those who entered illegally and secretly must surrender or turn back," the head of the Tripoli authorities Khalifa Ghweil said in a televised address. "We won't leave Tripoli as long as we are not sure of the fate of our homeland." Tripoli's government had declared a state of emergency ahead of Sarraj's anticipated arrival, and several main highways were blocked late Wednesday by armed groups -- some uniformed and others in civilian clothes -- who arrived aboard military vehicles, an AFP reporter said. Afriqiyah Airlines and Libyan Airlines announced on their Facebook pages that they had cancelled flights to Tripoli over "security concerns". Residents hurried home as cracks of gunfire could be heard around the capital. Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran the capital, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognised parliament to flee to the country's remote east. International leaders, increasingly alarmed by the rise of jihadists and people-smugglers in the impoverished North African state, have urged Libya's political rivals to support the unity government. But so far the two administrations have refused to cede power. Sarraj said he would make "reconciliation and the settlement of security and economic crises" his top priority. The United States led a chorus of Western welcome for Sarraj's arrival, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying the unity government "can now begin the crucial work of addressing the full range of Libya's political, security, economic, and humanitarian challenges". - 'Unique opportunity' - The European Union's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said Sarraj's arrival was "a unique opportunity for Libyans of all factions to reunite". She added that the 28-nation bloc stood ready to support Libya and had already prepared an aid package worth 100 million euros ($110 million). Sarraj and his cabinet had previously been blocked from entering Tripoli by the authorities there, who even closed the airspace several times to prevent them flying in. Tripoli residents reacted on social media to Farraj's arrival with a mixture of hope and sarcasm. Twitter user @alladdinno said Sarraj's appearance "felt like when the things you ordered online finally arrive". The unity government announced this month that it would start work on the back of a petition signed by a narrow majority of Libya's elected lawmakers. The United States and its European allies have threatened sanctions against those who undermine the political process. Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, raising fears the Islamic State group is establishing a new stronghold just across the Mediterranean. IS has seized control of Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and launched a wave of attacks, both against rival Libyan forces and across the border in Tunisia. Western countries are considering military action against the jihadists in Libya but want a unity government to request help first. Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, which lies just 300 kilometres (185 miles) away, and in recent years traffickers have exploited the country's instability. Libyan coastguards rescued 152 Europe-bound migrants from two vessels in trouble early on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the Tripoli navy. Around 330,000 migrants have landed in Italy from Libya since the start of 2014. Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Boko Haram seized hundreds of children from a remote town in northeast Nigeria in late 2014 but initial calls to report the kidnapping were ignored with locals fearful of the government's response, residents told AFP on Wednesday. A local government administrator, a local chief, another elder and a resident all said some 300 children were among the 500 girls, boys and women taken from Damasak on Monday November 24, 2014. The numbers involved surpass even the 276 schoolgirls who were taken from Chibok in April the same year, which drew worldwide condemnation and calls for action. But the government of former president Goodluck Jonathan in March last year denied reports of the Damasak kidnapping while a local senator and a senior intelligence source also doubted the claim. The administrator, whose seven-year-old child was among those abducted, said: "We kept quiet on the kidnap out of fear of drawing the wrath of the government, which was already grappling with the embarrassment of the kidnap of the Chibok schoolgirls. "Every parent was afraid to speak out," he said on condition of anonymity. Locals who managed to flee alerted their political representatives in the Nigerian Senate and House of Representatives but "they kept mute and ignored us", he added. "The government didn't want the news out," he said, explaining that the decision to speak out publicly came after Human Rights Watch highlighted the case on Tuesday. - Held in a primary school - "They went to the private school and Islamic seminaries and carted away children as young as five," added the local chief, who also asked not to be identified. "They also went into town and forcibly seized children from their mothers, children too old to be breastfed. My 16 nephews were among the children kidnapped. They were aged between five and 16." Hundreds fled across the river that separates Damasak from Diffa in neighbouring Niger but many drowned, he said, adding that he returned to bury "over 200 dead bodies in mass graves". The Damasak elder said the insurgents killed more than 200 in the initial attack, which happened on market day. HRW's report interviewed multiple witnesses to the abduction, who said the hostages were initially kept at a primary school, which was then turned into a military base. The schoolchildren were aged seven to 17 but one witness told HRW she had not seen her two-year-old daughter and four-year-old son since they were seized on the day of the attack. Men were detained separately and forced to dispose of bodies from the streets and the river in makeshift graves, the witnesses said, with one claiming to have seen hundreds of bodies. - 'Government must wake up' - Troops from Chad and Niger liberated Damasak on March 9 last year and discovered about 100 bodies in a mass grave under a bridge on the edge of the town. Some had been decapitated and others shot. Hundreds more bodies, including of women and children, were found the following month on the streets, in houses and in the dried-up river, local residents said at the time. They were covered by sand from the encroaching desert and the authorities ordered their reburial in 20 mass graves. Both the HRW testimony and that gathered by AFP underlines the brutality of a conflict that has claimed an estimated 20,000 lives and made more than 2.6 million people homeless since 2009. Boko Haram has long used kidnapping as a weapon of war, forcibly conscripting young boys and men into their ranks and using women and young girls as sex slaves and suicide bombers. But the findings will also raise fresh questions about the previous government's handling of the insurgency, after its response to the Chibok abduction was condemned as slow and lacklustre. Nearly two years on, 219 schoolgirls are still being held. HRW's senior Nigeria researcher Mausi Segun, however, said while Boko Haram's abductions could not be justified, President Muhammadu Buhari's government, in power since May last year, also had to act. "Three hundred children have been missing for a year and yet there has been not a word from the Nigerian government," she said in a statement. "The authorities need to wake up and find out where the Damasak children and other captives are and take urgent steps to free them." The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has vowed to continue with the training of the security operatives of the partys flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo and his running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. The training of the partys security operatives was interrupted following the arrest of the three South African ex-cops who were contracted to conduct the training. The three South African security consultants were hurriedly deported Tueday morning while criminal charges hanged over their heads. But speaking on Joy FMs Top Story, NPP Communications Director Nana Akomea said the security directorate will work out the details for the training of the security operatives. "The departure of the South Africans will not affect the party's plans in bringing up to speed, the training requirements for security people. That would go ahead", he indicated. The Ghana Immigration Service has explained it revoked the visas of the South Africans because they concealed the motive of their visit breaching Section 52 (1e) of the Immigration Act. In a statement, the GIS says Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (Rtd.), WO/Denver Dwayhe Naidu (Rtd.) and Captain Mlungiseleli Jokani (Rtd.) were granted B1 Business visas which prohibits any form of employment. According to the Ghana Immigrations Service, the hosts of the South Africans, the pro-NPP Danquah Institute and a shipping company had also indicated that the three were in the country to attend meetings. But the men were picked up by the BNI for engaging in activities which government claims threatens the peace of the country.They were arrested at the El Capitano Hotel at Agona Duakwa in the Central Region on Sunday, March 20. According to a BNI document sent to JOYNEWS, 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. The men were charged for unlawful training, conspiracy to commit crime and engaging in unauthorised military activity - charges they have pleaded not guilty to and were granted a bail of 20,000 each. But in a moved condemned by several lawyers, the BNI refused to release them with the explanation that officials of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) had requested they keep the men for questioning. The deportation has however raised questions about proper procedure of their deportation while a court was hearing criminal charges against them. Private legal practitioner Bright Akwetey explained that government needed to file a 'no case' in court to end the matter in court before repatriating the foreign nationals. He said pursuing the case would amount to "reaping the whirlwind". Listen to audio Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | Email: [email protected] The Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing, Dr. Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, has refuted claims by a Ho High Court that he has consistently failed to turn up in court over a contempt motion against him. He is wanted by the court over a contempt motion filed against him in connection with properties destroyed during the execution of the Ada Sea Defence project. The court, presided over by Justice Patrick Baayeh said the Minister and two other directors at the Ministry had failed to appear before the court to answer the charge of contempt leveled against him, and accordingly instructed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to apprehend him to appear at the court on April, 15, 2016. But the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Abraham Otabil, has denied the claims, saying the Minister and the two other directors have never refused to appear in court to answer questions on the case as suggested. The Minister is being represented by the Chief Administrator or in other words the Chief Director of the Ministry and the Director in charge of the project. In-fact, there has never been in a case where they have not appeared in court. For almost all the five times that the court did mention, this gentleman had appeared in court on behalf of the Ministry. Mr. Otabil further clarified that it is not the intention of the Minister to disrespect the court in anyway. At the time the project began, throughout about 70 or 80 % of the project lifespan, the current Minister was not present at the Ministry but that notwithstanding the Minister has always respected the decision of the court and has asked the two gentlemen to be in court and there has never been a situation where they have failed to be in court. It is not the intention of the Minister to disrespect the court in any case. DEPORTATION OF 3 SA EX-POLICE OFFICERS: WELL PURSUE CASE TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE COURT - LAWYER Nana Asante Bediatuo, one of the lawyers for the three South African ex police officers who were arrested by the BNI for allegedly engaging in acts that threatened national security and later deported, says he would continue to pursue the case to protect the integrity of the court. 18-YEAR-OLD ARBITER MEETS UNTIMELY DEATH A genuine attempt of an 18-year-old senior high school student to separate two men who were fighting over a lady has resulted in this untimely death. FATE OF NEW NHIS SUBSCRIBERS HANGS AS SCHEME FACES GH337M FUNDING GAP The National Health Insurance Scheme is facing a GH337 million funding gap, which could hamper the Schemes operations and leave close to 700, 000 people without medicare. GHANAS ROADS WORTH $6 BILLION The countrys road infrastructure is valued at over $6 billion though there remains a deficit in the sector that requires huge financial outlay to address, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport has noted in a report. 3 SA EX-COPS DEPORTED; BNI TO FACE CONTEMPT CHARGE The three retired South African police officers who were arrested in the Central Region for allegedly engaging in activities with national security implications for Ghana has been deported. PPP WILL HALT ROAMING CATTLE PRACTICE Presidential hopeful of the Progressive Peoples Party, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has indicated his willingness to halt the practice where cattle and livestock roam on the streets of Ghana freely, should he be given the opportunity to govern this country. NUGS WARNS GOVT OVER DELAY OF TEACHER TRAINEESFEEDING FEES National Union of Ghana Students has called on government to without further delay, release all the outstanding feeding grants for Teacher Trainees across the country. NPP CAPOSDEPORTED; FAMILY CRIES FOUL IN SOUTH AFRICA The three South African ex-police officers who made the headlines last week following their arrest by the Bureau of National Investigations were deported to their home country yesterday in a manner that is seen as contemptuous of the court of law. CHIEF CITED IN CHINESE GALAMSEY It has emerged that the four Chinese nationals where were recently arrested by the Asankragwa Divisional Police in the Western Region for illegal mining were working for the paramount chief of the Wassa Amanfi Traditional Area, Nana Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II. The deportation of the three South African ex police officers who were arrested on terror grounds has caused an uproar among many Ghanaians. Former Local Government Minister under the Kuffuor Regime Captain(rtd) Nkrabea Effah Dartey has shared his thoughts on this development saying the Government cant be blamed for the deportation of these three men. Speaking to Ghanapoliticsonline.com, Mr Dartey said there are two different sides to this whole South African ex police saga When the three were arrested by the BNI, they were immediately charged with unlawful training. Its difficult to support the BNI with this charge hence the easy bailing of these three men he said He continued that, the other side to this issue has to do with immigration which the Government was right to deport them. You cant blame the Government he added. As we all know, there are different type of visas that is required for a foreigner to set foot into the country and each type of visa has its purpose, So therefore the Government per the immigration law can stress on the fact that their visa was not for working and if they are earning revenue they can be deported. he said. The (rtd) Captain ended by saying that apart from this two explanation, the whole issue has been politicized and its difficult to speak much on it. 30.03.2016 LISTEN The New Patriotic Party branch of Spain expresses with utmost sadness and distraught at the sudden passing of our one time Chairman and election strategist, Hon. Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey. The former chairman Jake, was so influential in the NPP Victory 2000, that saw President John Agyekum Kufuor as the President of Ghana With his father being one of the Big Six in Ghanas political history during the fight for independence, it is indeed sad to note that a big tree has fallen. Mr. Jake Obetsebi Lamptey will be fondly remembered for his political strategies and ministerial influences that brought success to the entire Elephant Family and Ghana at large. Chairman Jake exhibited his true patriotic side when he indeed contributed immensely to the development of Ghana and the NPP. Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey served as Chief of Staff in the Kufuor administration and later as Minister of Tourism. He is credited with the rebranding of Valentines Day as Chocolate Day in Ghana. He is also credited for the introduction of Friday wears in Ghana, as part of measures to promote made-in-Ghana goods. NPP Spain, on this note would like to extend heartfelt condolences to Chairman Jake's family and the entire Elephant team. We would also like to urge Ghanaians to vote massively for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as a befitting honour for Chairman Jake, since Jake had always believed in the cause of the NPP and development of mother Ghana. May His Soul Rest In Absolute Perfect Peace!!! Long Live Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo! Long Live Our Economic Prophet Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia!!!!!! Long Live The NPP!!! Victory 2016, Change We Must!!! Kukruduuuu!!! Eeessshhi! Kukuruduuu!!! Power! Kukuruduuu!!! Power Power! Lamptey J.N General Secretary NPP Spain Branch 30.03.2016 LISTEN Is becoming a scourge in this country where some intellectual chicanery people are hiding under online satire to infamy and besmirch respected persons in our society. First of all we must understand that our society do not understand satire but take it to be a true story. A case for cogitation is a satire online portal 'screwlife' which recently published a story with caption " Florence Obinim Declares: My Husband Turns into a Horse During s*x So I Am Over Fulfilled" You will all agree with me that this is ludicrous but you have people including intellectuals who will give undeserving credence to this.. This website continuous to write misleading stories about Bishop Daniel Obinim and the wife unabated. To add more pain to injury; they don't even indicate in the story that is a satire and some bollixed radio stations review them. These stories are taken by the public as true stories. Recently I had it tough explaining to people is a satire. A Lecturer at KNUST, who is learned use to pick such stories for his program on Ultimate 106.9 Fm in Kumasi. I will like to state clearly that actions will soon be taken if such stories about Bishop Daniel Obinim and his family are not ceased. You use the name of such a great man of God to sell your work in absurd way, that is evil and Machiavellian. Today is Bishop Obinim so you are all quite, tomorrow it will be you, your Father or somebody you apotheosize so much. Many Thanks JOSEPH OSEI OPPONG BRENYA, Strong Supporter of Bishop Daniel Obinim Israel beyond doubt is the most powerful and influential country in the whole Middle East. Global influence of Israel is no less either. Israel is the only Jewish State in the whole world and as the Jewish people have high influence over large financial institutions and most of the Top media and as Jewish people around the world truly care for Israel, for the same reason Israel enjoys supremacy in our region. All Israeli and Jewish people in general hold Israel in their hearts AND consider loving Israel as kind of "RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION". My writing today is not about anything SCHOLARLY nor am I able to do so, but mentioning about a Muslim journalist who supported Israel unethically. Bangladesh is a country with Muslim majority where more than 90% people belong to the faith ISLAM. Bangladesh is a country who never recognized Israel. Bangladeshi have abhorrence for ISRAEL and the JEWS. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a journalist, editor of Weekly Blitz ever since inception of his news paper blindly supported and advocated in recognising Israel by his government. I understand, supporting Israel is NO BAD THING. But, sitting there in a country where there is Muslim majority, supporting Israel is going against the sentiment of maximum people and definitely audacious. Not only Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury was vocal for Israel but was against countries like Iran and Palestine absolutely BLINDLY. I am saying "BLINDLY" is because, is Iran that bad as newspaper like BLITZ and it's editor portray the country as; Or even Palestine? If we take into perspective the PRESENT GLOBAL SCENARIO we know newspaper like Blitz wrongly projected Iran to the world. Iran by no means is a terrorist country which the "WEST" realized and recognised until very recently. Blitz editor Choudhury for his anti Iran / Palestine stand was personally benefited. He was awarded with PEN USA, American Jewish committee and Monaco media award and recognized as an ally in so called "WAR ON TERROR". He got branded himself and his newspaper as so called "ANTI - JIHADIST". In 2003 he was detained at Dhaka International Airport for his alleged travel attempt to Israel for attending a conference organized by Hebrew Writers Association. He was imprisoned for seventeen months. During his imprisonment his government brought sedition and blasphemy charge against him. Choudhury not only got BIG awards but US congress passed a bill (HR 64) asking the Bangladesh government not to intimidate Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury or his family. Choudhury is now in jail. The present government sentenced him to seven years in prison on charge of SEDITION and BLASPHEMY. I know Choudhury's family through social media LinkedIn. Although I find his family a nice one but I never hesitate telling his family why Choudhury is in prison. I strongly believe he is in prison for wrongly and unethically standing for Israel only because they are MIGHTY while the ones he stood against that is, Iran and Palestine is because they were comparatively "MIGHT - LESS'. Choudhury is already in jail for more than 5 years. According to information available from his family sources, he is kept in a prison cell which is meant for the ones who are to be executed; facing death sentence. His next cell neighbors are the ones who are facing charge for collaborating with Pakistan army during the 1971 war. Ultimately this is what Choudhury got as reward. He is languishing in jail just like the ones who are there facing charge as WAR CRIMINALS. In Choudhury's story I find one moral and that is just don't support someone or some country only because they are mighty also do not stand against any country who are might - less or defamed by vested quarters. Iran's face to the world is already cleared. Maybe that day is not far when Palestine enjoys same status as Iran. I wonder what will be the image of people like Choudhury who did their best to tarnish the image of Iran / Palestine and tried to expose Israel as angel which is not true at all. My suggestion to Choudhury is PLEASE STAND FOR TRUTH, APPLY YOUR OWN JUDGMENT BE NOT MISLEAD BY POPULAR PROPAGANDA. 30.03.2016 LISTEN When the winds blow, one can be assured that the stench of rot and filth will take over everywhere. Figuratively, in effect it busts the filthy and disgusts the clean. In the wake of the massive election fraud, vote theft, coercion, and sheer state terrorism perpetrated by the NDC government of John Mahama, pre and post-elections 2012, Honourable Nana Addo DankwahAkufo-Addo peacefully resorted to the rule of law. He sought redress via the Supreme Court, an act that confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that he does not condone violence or terrorism. As the election petition raged on in court, adjudicated by a nine member panel four of whom were of the highest integrity, a dissenting judge, Justice Atuguba, seemed to carry himself in the most callous and haughty manner ever, making foolishmost of the cogent evidence adduced by lawyers of the petitioners, as was seen by majority of Ghanaians. That notwithstanding, the affront to civility and breach of the sacrosanctity of our constitution was flagrantly exhibited insouciantly, which is really not surprising given the dishonest nature of the ruling party. The false testimony by an unstable minded secretary of the NDC, Asiedu Ntetia, and a lying elder of society heading the Electoral Commission at the time, Dr AfariGyan, were really vexatious and in bad taste. Their attitudes were reminiscent of the glaring hypocrisy of a bunch of numskulls who refused to wean from their massive debauchery as they drunkenly engaged inthe most unprecedented corruption Ghana has ever had to suffer. Yesterday, four years on, the Ministry of the Interior produced a statement, unprofessionally written, inconsistently told, and flagrantly insulting of the Ghanaians faculties. It however indirectly vindicated the petitioners and clarified the notion that elections 2012 were rigged and so was the judgment of the subsequent petition. The Minister of the Interior stated unequivocally(and he confirmed same to be true) that STL was a company contracted by the electoral commission of Ghana to do electronic collation of the election results. However, both Asiedu Nketia and AfariGyan testified in denial of the incontrovertible fact, as believed by majority of Ghanaians at the time, that STL was really contracted by the EC to collate election results electronically, that they, the lying duo, were said to have presided over. When under oath a witness tells palpable lies in court in an attempt to sway a ruling in a certain direction, then that person has committed perjury; and perjury is punishable by law. In fact, under the circumstances of the election petition of 2012, perjury would necessarily amount to TREASON that is punishable in Ghana by death at the gallows or firing squad. We call on the BNI, Bureau of National Investigation, to uphold its dignity and correct the new term given it by the good people of this country, Bureau of National Intimidation. The BNI must as a matter of urgency arrest Dr. AfariGyan and Asiedu Nketia for the possible treason of perjury with the intent to cause a civil war in this country in order to maintain the NDCs hold on power by all means. If found culpable, they must be made to face the gallows or experience the barrage of bullets that their former Boss, JJ Rawlings, hailed on innocent Ghanaians in the NDCs fury of terrorism, 1979 and 1981. Perjury must not go unpunished, and even though the situation prevailing in our country is cosmetically inconsistent with the reality on the ground, the peace that we enjoy today is the result of one law abiding citizens acceptance of the rule of law that he holds in high esteem, Honourable Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo. Unlike many lawless African leaders the likes of whom we find manning the various arms of government in Ghana today, and the BNI too, Nana Akufo-Addo took his fight to the court and not the streets, contrary to the violent terrorism that the NDC would have unleashed on the nation had the shoes switched feet. For the sake of patriotism and loyalty to mother Ghana, for the respect for our constitution and the blood that our ancestors spilled to bring us to where we are today, we beseech the authorities to arrest Asiedu Nketia and Dr AfariGyan for committing perjury that would have slipped our nation into the abyss of death and destruction. ARREST DR AFARI GYAN AND ASIEDU NKETIA NOW!!! Enough is Enough!!! Martha Osei 30.03.2016 LISTEN THE DRUG Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU) of the Ashanti Regional Police Command on Sunday arrested a middle-aged woman for possessing 499 foil wraps of powdered substance believed to be narcotic drug. The police, acting on intelligence, arrested Martha Osei at the Bekwai roundabout, whilst on board a Benz bus from Kumasi to Manso Aframso, near Datano in the Amansie East District of Ashanti Region. The suspect quickly admitted ownership of the illegal substance during interrogation. She has therefore been provisionally charged for possessing narcotic drugs without licence. The powdered substances found with Martha Osei . Martha Osei, who is due for court, possibly on Wednesday, has however, refused to mention to the police the supplier of the illegal substance, the DLEU Commander, ASP Jeremiah Alale, told DAILY GUIDE. He said the police had information that Martha Osei was in possession of a substance suspected to be narcotics, on board a vehicle, registered AW 250-10, from Kumasi to Manso Aframso, near Datano. The police quickly rushed to the Bekwai roundabout and upon conducting a thorough search on the woman, found 499 foil wraps of powdered substance, strongly believed to be narcotics, on her. During interrogation, Martha Osei claimed that she bought the illegal substance from an unknown person in Kumasi, adding that she was on her way to Manso Aframso to sell the drug to illegal gold miners. ASP Alale described Martha Osei's arrest as a positive development in the fight against narcotics peddling and usage. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi The Government of Japan has granted US $ 1.33 million to UNICEF Burundi for the survival and health of children in Burundi. The fund will enable UNICEF Burundi and its partners to accelerate their assistance to the most vulnerable children. It will notably support nearly 10,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the provinces of Cankuzo, Kirundo, Makamba, Rutana and Ruyigi and improve access to water and sanitation for 100,000 people living in the commune of Nyanza-Lac, Makamba province. "This significant donation comes at a critical time for children in Burundi," says Bo Viktor Nylund, UNICEF Representative in Burundi. "We are witnessing a sharp increase in needs among the most vulnerable children in Burundi and uninterrupted investments are required to support them. "As a friend of Burundi, and as in the past, Japan places great importance on the survival and health of Burundian children," says Tomio Sakamoto, Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of Japan for Burundi, based in Rwanda. "In these current difficult times, this support is even more important. In Burundi, the main causes of death among children under five are: newborn deaths, acute respiratory infections, diarrhea and malaria. These diseases are compounded by chronic malnutrition, which affects more than half of under-5 children in Burundi. Malnutrition and diseases related to poor hygiene are preventable, and UNICEF has the expertise to implement interventions in this field. UNICEF estimates that in 2016, 50,000 under-5 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition in Burundi and need adequate treatment. In this context, the substantial donation from the Government of Japan will contribute to the critical interventions by UNICEF and its partners for improving the child health in Burundi. 30.03.2016 LISTEN THE Nkawkaw Divisional Police Command in the Eastern Region grabbed 14 suspects on different charges over the weekend during the Easter celebration at Kwahu. Some of the suspectsFrederick Oppong, 23, Bright Asirifi, 21, Kwaku Antwi, 21 and Adamu Yakubu, 24were arrested for pickpocketing, assault, and snatching of mobile phones. One Samuel Adjei was busted for unlawful entry into someone's room while another suspect, Victor Asante, 22, was also apprehended for possession of 11 wraps of Indian hemp. Two others were grabbed for snatching cars. Chief Supt James Sarfo Peprah, the Nkawkaw Divisional Police Commander, briefing DAILY GUIDE, said 23 drivers were also arrested with DVLA cars but were released after they were schooled on DV plates. Chief Supt Sarfo Peprah indicated that the suspects, currently in police custody assisting in investigations, were arrested in a swoop across the Kwahu Ridge during the Easter festivities. The Nkawkaw Divisional Police Commander further stated that the suspects would be put before court this weekend. FROM Daniel Bampoe, Nkawkaw A DredgeMaster at work 30.03.2016 LISTEN Dredge Masters Limited, a local company with expertise in dredging, has started dredging the Alajo-Korle lagoon waterway in Accra. Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the Operations Manager of Dredge Masters, Sena Adiepena, said the exercise which started in the last quarter of 2015 was to help direct water into the drains so that it flowed freely into the sea without causing any casualties to life and property. The Operations Manager explained that the project was running concurrently in three sections: Alajo-Caprice, Odaw canal and Korle lagoon. He indicated that the company had taken delivery of heavy duty dredgers such as Water Master which could perform a triple duty of suction dredging, back and front dredging while in the water, a fleet of trucks and other earthmoving devices. The Operations Manager did not say when the project would be completed but mentioned that the company would be at the job for some time to ensure that flood water flowed freely along the waterway into the sea. . Mr Adiepena was happy that a lot of public sensitisation was taking place to encourage members of the public to manage their waste properly and not dump waste in drains. He explained that the practice had the effect of delaying the dredging process, which according to him was about 30% done. Some of the fishermen at the Korle lagoon in James town, Accra, who spoke to DAILY GUIDE, said they were happy about the progress of work, stating that the dredging that had taken place had made it possible for their fishing boats to set sail freely. The Communications Manager for Dredge Masters, Roland Walker, bemoaned the conduct of Ghanaians in waste management, saying that it was wrong to pour indiscriminate waste into drains. He added that the recent rains in Accra had revealed a number of weaknesses with regard to waste deposits. Mr Roland Walker expressed hope that with the high level of expertise of the Dredge Masters staff, a lot would be achieved to end floods in Accra. By Solomon Ofori 30.03.2016 LISTEN The adjudication to determine the rightful owner of a Takoradi Shopping Mall project which has been dragging for some time now at the court could soon be over. This is because the case has been taken over by a new judge, Justice Amoako Asante, who, according to a deep throat source, has promised to work speedily to determine the case. This follows the interdiction of Justice Paul Dery who was in charge of the case. Justice Dery was among the 14 justices of the High Court whose names were mentioned in the famous Anas Aremeyaw Anas investigative piece on Judicial Corruption. The shopping mall project started a couple of years ago but has come to a standstill. This follows a suit filed by one Peter Obosu, Managing Director of Peekob Limited, at a Sekondi High Court (Commercial Division) to prevent the investor from paying an amount of 1.6 million dollars to a different party. The defendant, Western Development Consortium, is claiming ownership of the project but Mr Obosu is contesting this. According to him, Peekob, his company, was the rightful owner which envisioned, drafted and financed the preparatory works including the evacuation of artisans. . The court therefore placed an injunction on the project till the final determination of the case. As a result, West Port RMB Ltd, the South African investor who is financing the project, has been asked to deposit any money it wants to give to the true owner of the project with the court pending the final ruling. Many residents in Sekondi-Takoradi are agitated about the undue delay in the project, especially after the painful evacuation of hundreds of artisans from the 28-acre land earmarked for the project. The Takoradi Mall should have been the second in Ghana after the Accra Shopping Mall. Unfortunately, the project which was planned about seven years ago has come to a standstill. The next hearing of the case, which has now been transferred from the Commercial Court to the High Court A in Sekondi, will be on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi 30.03.2016 LISTEN Islam is a respectable religion which is practiced freely by millions if not billions of people throughout the world. Its teachings are peaceful and good. Islam means peace but sadly some sick brains have turned this noble religion to war. They refer to people who do not practice Islam, like Christians and Jews as infidels forgetting that all these religions including Islam belong to the same Abrahamaic faith which has stood the test of time. All of these Abrahamaic faiths, Christianity, Islam and Judaism believe that faith is like a stone amidst shifting sand. Before sending away Hagar and Ishmael, God had told Abraham that in Isaac He will build his covenant but he will bless Ishmael. Whereas Christianity takes it root from Isaac, Islam also takes its root from Ishmael. Names like Abraham, Isaac, Jesus, Moses, David, Solomon, etc that we find in the Holy Bible are also found in the Holy Quran. The only difference is that pronunciation of these names change. In the Quran you find these names as Ibrahim, Isaaka, Issah, Musa, Dauda, Sulemana etc. It therefore stands to reason that the Islamic state followers do not know what they are doing when they attack Christians Terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying in effect to hijack Islam itself. The enemies of the civilized world are not Islam. The enemies of the civilized world are a radical network of terrorists and of course, every government that supports them. These sick brains have tested our patience to a breaking point and we will have to collectively fight them and possibly wipe them out of the face of the earth. I had cause to write in this column when Al Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center in the US that the war on terror had begun with Al-Qaeda but it must not end there until every terrorist of global reach has been found, stopped in their tracks and defeated entirely. That was more than a decade ago. One may ask: Why do these terrorists hate the civilized world? They hate democracy and freedom. Their leaders are self appointed and religion can be practiced according to the dictates of such self-appointed leaders. They hate our freedom of religion. They hate our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other. These terrorists want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa. They want to drive Israel from the Middle East and possibly wipe out all Israelis living in the world. These terrorists kill not merely to end lives but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every atrocity, they hope the civilized world will grow fearful. They stand against the civilized world because the civilized world stands on their way. We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of Fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies. Theirs is theology of terror. How is the world going to win the war against terrorists? We can win this war by driving them from place to place, turn them against one another, ruthlessly pursue them wherever they go until there is no refuge or no rest. We must also pursue nations that provide safe haven to terrorists. Nations all over the world have a decision to make as far as the fight against terrorism is concerned: either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. Any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorists should be regarded as a hostile regime and such a nation will have to face tough sanctions. Following the terrorist attacks in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, who are our close neighbors, Ghana has been put on the alert. We are not immune to terrorist attack. Ghana has to take measures against terrorism to protect Ghanaians. When Al-Qaida attacked the World Trade Centre and America went to war in Afghanistan, I wrote in this column that the fight was not America's fight, I said that the fight was the world's fight, it was civilization's fight and a fight for all who believe in progress, pluralism, tolerance and above all, freedom. The NATO charter perhaps reflects what is happening today: An attack on one is an attack on all. The world understands that if terror goes unpunished the world will be unsafe. It can threaten the stability of legitimate governments. What the terrorists did in neighboring Burkina Faso has put fear in every Ghanaian. So, as it stands now, freedom which Ghanaians cherish so much is now at war against these scatterbrains. The truth is that freedom and fear, justice and cruelty have always been at war and we know God is not neutral between them. When I heard our National Security outfit telling Ghanaians that people should keep close watch at our border posts, I laughed my heart out. You see, people sit in Accra and think Accra is synonymous to Ghana. Ghana shares borders with Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and Ivory Coast in the west. The southern part of Ghana is the wide blue sea. If you go to Gonokrom, a border town in the Dormaa district of the Brong Ahafo Region for example, you can get as many as six illegal routes to enter Ivory Coast. Some of the farmers in Gonokrom have their farms located in Ivory Coast whiles some Ivorians too have their farms located in Gonokrom. How do you control the borders in Gonokrom? Terrorists do not need to pass through the official boarder post to enter Ghana since all these illegal routes are at their disposal. . What we need to do is to strengthen what the Americans call Homeland Security. Citizens must be part of the National Security by informing officials of the outfit any suspicious character so that action could be taken before any harm is done. The sages say, prevention is better than cure. But we must remember that not only persons spotting long beards are terrorists. Responding to such enemies after they have attacked first is not self-defense. It is suicide. Instead of drifting along through tragedy we have to trek towards safety. That is how every wise man acts. IMAGINE I.S IN POSSESSION OF WDM!!!. Osama Bin Laden tried to get Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) but luckily he did not lay his hands on any. If Osama had laid hands on such weapons, what happened on 9/11 in New York City could have been a different thing. Now that the world is in a meltdown mode and terrorists are on the prowl, I sincerely think the world should come together to fight this menace. There is the need to build coalition force to confront these terrorists wherever they are hiding. Undoubtedly, the so-called Islamic State is very rich. An organization that earns more than two million dollars a day through the illegal sale of oil should not be taken for granted. In the run-up to the Gulf War II against Saddam Hussein, it was alleged that the man shipped his developed WDM like Anthrax, Sarin and Mustard to Syria and other Gulf States whom he counted as friends. Territories that have been captured by the Islamic State are in some of these Gulf States. The fear is that the Islamic State may lay hands or might have even laid their hands on these dangerous weapons and are waiting to acquire the needed warheads to deliver them. Just imagine these mad men unleashing nuclear, chemical, radiological or biological weapons on the street of Accra or New York City. I can hear you saying God forbid but remember God was there when President Assad of Syria ordered his soldiers to release chemical weapons on innocent men, women and children. We all watch the gruesome picture on TV when this criminal act happened. And yet the world and the UN kept mute. For now the Islamic State mad dogs are beheading, shooting, amputating and crucifying innocent persons in the territories they control while the world sits indifferently. In a situation like this, I miss George Walter Bush a lot. If Bush were in control of America now, he would have gone to full scale war against these terrorists like he did in Afghanistan and Iraq. We all seem to agree on one way or the other that America is a supper power and the world police. The US can easily hit and destroy the Islamic State but under a fearful and weak leader like Barrack Obama, this will not come to pass. Instead of going all out there to confront the Islamic State, Obama prefers to distribute known Al Qaeda terrorists who were detained at Guantanamo Bay to poor countries like Ghana, knowing very well that our security outfits do not have the means to monitor them. And President Mahama too looked into our lean faces and told us that he received the criminals out of compassion. Compassion indeed!!! 30.03.2016 LISTEN A MEMBER of an armed robbery gang that was reportedly robbing merrymakers at the Titanic Beach at Community 3, Tema on Easter Monday was shot dead in a gun battle between the armed robbers and the police. The incident happened at about 8:40pm when a police patrol team deployed to ensure security at the beach was engaged by the robbers who were carrying out an operation at the beach. The robbers reportedly opened fire after they spotted police officers on three motorbikes approaching. The police returned fire and killed one of the five criminals while the remaining fled. A search conducted on the deceased revealed a ladys purse with two Samsung phones and a locally manufactured pistol with an empty AS cartridge. The lifeless body of the unidentified robber has been deposited at the police morgue for autopsy and preservation as efforts are underway to find his relatives. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Tema Regional Police Command, who confirmed the incident which occurred on March 28, 2016 to DAILY GUIDE, disclosed that the robbers were being tracked and that everything was being done to arrest them. According to her, operational measures put in place by her outfit to ensure law and order before, during and after the Easter festivities led to the foiling of the operation of the gang at the beach. Police personnel in the region worked day and night to carry out these measures to near perfection and the security situation in the region remained calm and predictable, she noted. However, on Monday, 28th March, 2016, which was a holiday, there was an exchange of gunfire between a police motorbike patrol team and a group of five suspected robbers, which resulted in the death of one of the robbers. From Vincent Kubi, Tema The suspects 30.03.2016 LISTEN IT HAS emerged that the four Chinese nationals who were recently arrested by the Asankragua Divisional Police Command in the Western Region for illegal mining were working for the Paramount Chief of Wassa Amanfi Traditional Area, Nana Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II. The Chinese illegal miners, popularly known as galamsey operators, until their arrest, had been mining at large portions of the alluvial mining site located at Wassa Akropong for the past ten months. They were said to have been sent there to work on the land by Nana Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II, after the original owners of the concessions, Perseus Mining Company, relinquished their stakes on the land and ceded it to Bongo and Kobby Mining Group. While the Bongo and Kobby Mining Group, two Ghanaian small-scale mining companies, were working on their documentations with the Minerals Commission, the chief sent the foreigners to the Wassa Akropong area to mine for gold ore on his behalf, culminating in their arrest last week. Chief's Intervention But in a sharp response, the chief who is considered untouchable and the power broker of the area allegedly ordered for the release of the four Chinese from custody and they still remain free men. The Asankragua Divisional Police Commander, Michael Awummey, confirmed the arrest of the four Chinese nationals to DAILY GUIDE but denied having been ordered by the chief to grant them bail. . Though the police chief told the paper that the Chinese nationals were caterpillar engineers and were sent to the mining site for repair works, he was heard on tape pleading with the Chief Executive Officer of Bongo and Kobby Mining Group, Robert Dzamesi, to have the case settled amicably out of court. Mr Awummey admitted on tape that the Paramount Chief of Wassa Amanfi Traditional Area prevailed on him for the release of the Chinese since they were working for him, and therefore wanted Mr Dzamesi to drop the case against them for negotiation and settlement. Nana Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II would not talk to DAILY GUIDE on the matter despite a text message informing him about the scope of the interview. He failed to answer phone calls from the paper. Background In July 2015, Bongo and Kobby Mining Group secured the concession from Perseus Mining Company, which originally owned the land at Wassa Akropong for rock mining. Mr Robert Dzamesi said the Minerals Commission gave his company the first option to acquire the concession after Perseus Mining Company ceded its interest because the site was alluvial. According to him, the Chinese men were found at four out of the nine sites for which his company had paid all legal fees while documentations were underway at the Minerals Commission. The Minerals Commission Officer in charge of Small-Scale Mining, Mr Kofi Tetteh, confirmed the Bongo and Kobby Mining Group CEO's assertion and added that what was left for the company to commence business was the release of final certification. From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi Last week a four-person delegation of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation Secretariat at the Office Of the President in Ghana visited a number of councils in and out of London. They were here to find out best practices in United Kingdom's Decentralisation and Local Governance Sector, especially in the areas of administrative processes, political and fiscal operations, as well as involvement of citizens in decision-making processes in the operations of local councils. Brent-based voluntary organisation BTWSC, run by Ghanaian-born barrister Awula Serwah, facilitated the delegations meeting with Brent Council. The delegation, consisting of Peter Missounou (National Commission on Civic Education), Kwesi Owusu (Controller and Accountant-Generals Department), Victor Kuvodu (Public Services Commission), and Rebecca Ekpe (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation), had a brief meeting with leader of Council Cllr Muhammed Butt, an audience with the Mayor Cllr Lesley Jones MBE, and heard presentations by chief executive Carolyn Downs and Scrutiny Committee chair Cllr Matt Kelcher. Downs Developing A 2020 Vision For Brent presentation explained the rationale for prioritising funds and services in light of changing demographics and dwindling financial support from central government. Indeed, by 2021 Councils will have to generate all their income through taxes on local businesses and citizens. Kelcher explained the work of the Scrutiny Committee, which includes the process of call in, where the Committee can independently review decisions made by the Council. The delegation was fascinated by the fact that a youthful early thirty-something man had such a responsible position. They were surprised when informed that one of the Councillors had been elected aged 18. I was delighted to meet with colleagues from Ghana and to share ideas, added Downs after the meeting. The purpose of the visit said Missounou was to look at how the various local councils perform and how effective they are on the ground in delivering their services. How they generate income and how they use those incomes to better the lot of people. How politically neutral they are at the local level. Weve looked at how they are accountable to the people, especially with the Scrutiny Committee, which is chaired by a very young man looking at accountability both at the decision level at the Council and the decision level of the executive. Added Ekpe: Were here to learn best praticise about local government and how we can bring local governance to the grassroots and how we can get peoples participation and to hold the government more accountable. Weve learnt some best practices - weve heard how independent the Councilors and other local government officials are of central government thats a problem we have. Theres a lot of bureaucracy because we have the central government infiltrating into local government issues. 30.03.2016 LISTEN MD of ABL presenting the citation and cash to Kwadwo Kudom as his wife looks on As part of efforts to build an excellent talent pool, Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) honoured 27 employees at a recent awards ceremony in Accra. The employees were awarded for their contribution to the growth of the most admired beverage company in Ghana. The rewards, which included citations and cash, were presented to employees, who have served the company between 10 and 35 years in the finance, technical, operations and sales departments. Anthony Grendon, Managing Director of ABL, in his remarks at the ceremony, commended the awardees for their admirable service, which has ensured the growth of the business over the last 85 years in Ghana. He encouraged employees to support the brewery's sustainable development drive, stating that in our bid to bring refreshment and sociability, improve livelihoods and help build communities, let us as employees be mindful of such little things such as energy and water conservation, as well as littering which inevitably affects the top line growth of our business. Director of Human Resource, Ania Akature, said that employees must build the brand and image of a viable entity such as Accra Brewery Limited. He said, We work and win in teams across the business in ABL which is why we look forward to the long-service awards as another opportunity to demonstrate the value the company places on employees who are the company's enduring advantage. We will continue to harness and develop the talents of our workforce through periodic training and personal development as exemplified in the last three years when ABL invested GH2,756,000 in the development and training of its talents to meet the brewery's expansion project. The state has dropped charges against British fugitive David McDermott suspected of involvement in narcotics business. State prosecutor announced this when the case was called Wednesday. The state says it wants to concentrate on a case for his extradition which is pending at the High Court. The 42-year-old David McDermott who is a son-in-law of outgoing Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, was arrested in Ghana on March 11. He was brought before an Accra Circuit court on March 14 and c harged with illegal possession and dealing in narcotics. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was remanded. He is on the list of UK's most wanted following his alleged role in a conspiracy to import 71 million worth of cocaine into the UK in 2013. More soon... Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com The African Union Commission and the European Commission will hold their annual College-to-College meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This is the biggest EU-Africa event of the year. Discussions will focus on the current shared challenges facing both continents, along with the 5 priority areas of the 2014-2017 Roadmap: (i) peace and security; (ii) democracy, good governance and human rights; (iii) human development; (iv) sustainable and inclusive development and growth and continental integration; (v) global and emerging issues. The meeting aims in particular to further address stability challenges and the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa. It will also identify opportunities for mutual benefits towards sustainable and inclusive development. In addition, the meeting will look ahead to the next Africa-EU Summit, which is to take place in 2017 in Africa. The background: College-to-College meetings between the European Commission and the African Union Commission (AUC) are held annually since 2008 to provide momentum to the Africa-EU Partnership. They bring together the two Commissions for political and policy dialogue to provide oversight and strategic guidance for the partnership going forward. The meetings are held on an alternating basis in Brussels and Addis Ababa. The 4thAfrica-EU Summit of April 2014 reaffirmed a commitment of the 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy and the ambition to deepen political dialogue and cooperation. The principle of EU-AU Summits every three years, annual College-to-College meetings, and Peace and Security Council-to-Political and Security Committee meetings was confirmed, to be complemented by regular high level contacts between European and African Leaders on common challenges and crisis situations (e.g. Valletta). The event: The 8thCollege-to-College meeting between the European Commission and the African Union Commission will be held on 7 April 2016 in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. 30.03.2016 LISTEN The Southern Zonal Manager of Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Nana Amma Oforiwaa Sam, has urged queen mothers to use their influence to intensify family planning education towards reducing unwanted pregnancies and abortions in their communities. She explained this would help reduce the fertility rate in their communities and the risk of women dying from complicated pregnancies and unsafe abortions. Mrs Sam was speaking at a meeting with some selected queen mothers engaged in the efforts at reducing the maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the Eastern Region. The project is being implemented by PPAG, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, with funding from Ipas Ghana. The project which started in 2012 involves the use of the queen mothers to promote safe abortions and family planning in their communities, while referring those who needed services to the health institutions in their communities. The queen mothers appealed to the project coordinators to motivate more midwives in public health institutions to give the needed support to those they referred to them. Ipas, founded in 1973, is a global non-governmental organisation dedicated to ending preventable deaths and disabilities from unsafe abortion. Through local, national and global partnerships, Ipas works to ensure that women can obtain safe, respectful and comprehensive abortion care. GNA 30.03.2016 LISTEN The Second Lady Matilda Amissah-Arthur has expressed worry about the inability of many school-going kids to read, a situation which according to her, has led to some of them dropping out. Those who drop out, she said, do so because they do not enjoy school due to the handicap; she said so when she delivered a keynote address during the launching of an EPP's library stocking programme at the British Council last week. The programme commemorated the 25th anniversary of EPP Books under the theme Addressing Reading Challenge Through Private Participation. Her presentation was tailored towards the comprehension of the kids, some of who had been brought down from Tamale for the programme. Even in the best of schools, she pointed out, the problem persists adding that it is about the majority of kids who cannot read and therefore don't enjoy school and drop out. Many children who fail their examinations according to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), she recalled, do so because they do not understand the questions posed. She added that it is beneficial to encourage kids to learn how to read in their formative years which she put thus catch them young. Reading, she went on, enhances the livelihood of people especially since it enables them to participate in democracy. . Her teaching skills were in full flight when she explained the various stages of reading which according to her is the identification of characters, the formation of words, phonic reading and reading to understand. These progressions prepare the kids, she said, towards understanding lessons in the various subjects such as home economics, geography and so on. She asked teachers to understand how to assist children with reading skills adding that these professionals should also know how to manage the books at their disposal. The second lady asked EPP Books to enter into partnership with others since according to her you cannot go it alone. Prof. Perpetual Dadzie, President of the Ghana Library Association commended EPP Books for collaborating with the association towards the development of reading culture. The chairman of the function Kinna Likimani, daughter of the late Ama Atta Aidoo, said the low literacy rate in the country poses a national security challenge and needs addressing. The inability of many to express themselves in the English Language, she indicated, creates a worrying barrier pointing out that some people do not even know that the places of convenience in hotels can be used by members of the public, such facilities being public places. She called for literacy revolution in the country to address the challenges aforementioned charging religious leaders to play a pivotal role in this direction. In a speech read on his behalf, Jibrin Adam, Chief Executive Officer of EPP Books said he is committed to stocking school libraries to encourage teaching and learning as a means of improving quality of life. By A.R. Gomda Some of the traders selling on the footbridge in Kumasi 30.03.2016 LISTEN THE ULTRA modern-looking pedestrian footbridge, constructed at the Railway Area in Kumasi, to ensure easy passage of people seems to have failed to achieve its purpose. This depressing development follows the invasion of the footbridge by scores of hawkers who have boldly mounted wooden structures in which they openly display their wares. Items such as second hand clothes, footwear, beads, soaps, meat, soft drinks, biscuits and cooked rice, just to mention a few, were being sold on the footbridge. The presence of these traders on the footbridge has created huge challenges for people who use the place as they struggle to walk freely. When DAILY GUIDE visited the place recently, the space for pedestrians has become very narrow as the wares of the traders had taken a larger part of the walkway. . Some of the people complained that pickpockets were having a field day on the bridge as they had taken advantage of the narrow path to steal from people's pockets and bags. They disclosed pathetically that several people that used the footbridge in recent times lost their wallets and other valuable items including mobile phones to these thieves. Surprisingly, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA,) which is supposed to manage the city, has kept mute as the traders continue to trade on the footbridge, with its accompanied problems. Some of the traders that spoke to the paper on condition of anonymity stated that they had not flouted any law by trading on the footbridge to get their daily bread. They alleged that the KMA, on a daily basis, sells ticket to them (traders) for a fee, which indicates that the KMA had approved their stay and trading on the footbridge. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi Scores of settler farmers in the Shama district of the Western region have lost over 190 acres of farmland to the chief of Atwereboanda. The chief of Atwereboanda, Nana Kwesi Nterful II, has destroyed several coconut and palm plantation as well as other cash crops belonging to the farmers to pave the way for his rubber plantation. More than 5,500 farmers in the Bokor Awukukope, Kejetowome, Hosukope, Botorkope and Atwereboanda communities in the district have been affected. But the chief told Joy News Nana Adjoa Entsuah his action is as a result of non-payment of royalties to him as part of an agreement with the farmers adding that all the affected farmers have been duly compensated. Nana Nterful II said the rubber plantation will help create more jobs for the indigenes of the communities. I have just realized we need employment and development in this town so I am personally planting the rubber plant to help create jobs, Nana Nterful II explained. This notwithstanding, the farmers have rejected claims by the chief that they have been duly compensated. They have destroyed over five acres of my coconut farm. Now I am unable to sleep in the night because I catered for my family with the money I made from selling the coconut, a resident of Atwereboanda, Frank Zul lamented. Spokesperson of the farmers, Frank Zo said some of the farmers had gone for loans to cultivate the coconut and palm plantations. As we speak they are jobless, they cannot farm. Their children are at home because they are unable to pay school feesAs we speak marriages are being destroyed because husbands are unable to cater for their wives, he claimed. Their plea is for government to intervene and help them reclaim their over 190 acres of land. The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Shama, Eric Cobbina told Joy News that he has invited the parties involved for a meeting where it was established that the acres of land were legally acquired by the farmers. The DCE said it was agreed that the district will invite the National Evaluation Board to evaluate the value of the farms that have been destroyed. I will make sure the farmers are duly compensated and their farmlands returned to them, Mr. Cobbina assured. Ghanaian companies will be in position to offer jobs to fresh graduates if government pursues a policy of establishing an employment tax credit scheme for businesses. That is according to economist and presidential running mate of NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. He says whilst providing incentives to companies, the burden of high taxation on businesses should also be revised. Ghana should focus on providing tax incentives for increasing production and generating employment, he said. In the process, revenue can be raised from corporate taxeswhat we should not allow to happen is the desire to generate revenue to kill businesses and cause unemployment. Dr. Bawumia was delivering a public lecture in Kumasi on the theme: High Graduate Unemployment and Employment Embargo, What is the Solution? It was organized by the KNUST Economic Students Association. He has proposed that companies willing to employ fresh graduates should be given tax incentives and rebates. To demonstrate our focus on productivity and jobs for the youth in Ghana, particularly graduates, we should introduce employment tax credit scheme to provide incentive for companies that employ fresh graduates, he said. Dr. Bawumia believes the value chain of Ghanas housing market holds a great potential to solving the high graduate unemployment by specifically tackling the mortgage market. He however said one of the biggest threats to battling the countrys unemployment is high borrowing and debt non-sustainability, which he says leads to a slum in the economy. He observed an operational national identification and good addressing system will help drive growth and build new businesses that will employ graduates. Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 30.03.2016 LISTEN Ankobra (W/R), March 29, GNA - Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has outlined a number of developmental projects to improve the standard of living of the Ankobra community. He intimated that as part of the Better Ghana Agenda, government was in constant touch with communities at the grassroots to solicit their views on problems confronting them and to adopt pragmatic measures to tackle them. Mr. Buah who doubles as the Minister for Petroleum, was speaking at a meeting with the Odikro, elders, opinion leaders and the Ankobra community as part of his town hall meetings. The MP said an ultra modern six-classroom block valued at GH 300,000 was to be built for the Ankobra community as part of his commitment towards good quality education delivery in the Constituency. Mr. Buah said government will construct a defence wall as a barricade between the community and the River Ankobra which forms a confluence with the sea at the outskirts of the town. Government will also assist fisher folks to get access to pre-mix fuel to boost their fishing expeditions and improve the economic life of people in the community, he added. The MP also gave the assurance that he would ensure that the fishing community was secured with street lights to enhance their activities during the night, as well as liaise with the District Assembly to offer the enabling environment for children of school going age to pursue education. Mr. Buah said the elder care center project, popularly called the AYA Community Center, was on course to take care of the vulnerable in the District, especially the aged who have nobody to cater for them. He asked them to be peaceful and law-abiding especially as the November 7 general election drew near. The Odikro of Ankobra, Mr. Ngonloma lauded the MP for his developmental drive in the constituency and asked the Ankobra community to rally behind him to do more. GNA Accra, March 29, GNA - The Ministry of the Interior has assured Ghanaians, including all political stakeholders of government's commitment to provide the required and utmost security for them. Mr Prosper Bani, the Sector Minister, in a statement to the Ghana News Agency, called on Ghanaians to exhaust the required mandatory legal processes should the need arise for private security, as witnessed in the case of the three South African nationals. The statement said the three: Ahmed Shaik Hazis, Denver Dwayne Naidu and Mlungiseleli Jokani, were arrested on March 20, 2016 at El Capitano Hotel at Agona Duakwa in the Central Region by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) while training 15 men in various security drills. It said two of the suspects; Jokani and Naidu, arrived in Ghana on March 14, 2016 on South-African passport numbers A05213410 and M00096231 respectively while Hazis arrived on March 5, 2016 with Passport Number M00052092. The statement said Hazis has visited Ghana several times between 2012 and 2016, adding that the three came into the country on B1 visas (temporary visas) for business. It said the three were retired officers of the South-African Police Force. According to the statement Mr Hazis is employed by iMvula Quality Protection as Director of Operations while Naidu and Jokani works with GLAEXEC Protection Services (GPS PTY Limited) of South-Africa as Directors. A comprehensive report on the operations of Superlock Technologies Limited (STL), the company contracted by the Electoral Commission to transmit tallied election results, and an assessment of some key staff's vulnerability for possible compromise were retrieved from Hazis's room, the statement added. It said Hazis denied authoring the document saying it was given to him by Dani Isaaca; an Israeli based in South-Africa and although he claimed he had not read the document which had been in his possession for about three weeks, it was evident during interrogation that he was conversant with the contents. The suspects also denied being invited by Captain Kwesi Acquah, owner of Delta Force Security, who was released from the Ghana Army in 1980. However, all items for the training were shipped in the name of Delta Force Security and his hotel, El Capitano was used for the training. Hazis, the leader of the team, revealed that Captain Edmund Kojo Koda, Head of Nana Akufo Addo's Personal Security, who was in the Ghana Army at the same time as Captain Acquah, contracted him to train the Flagbearer's security detail and he in turn engaged the other two. 'He also disclosed that he was in the country in 2012 and worked closely with Captain Koda during the 2012 elections. The statement said Captain Koda on his part confirmed that he invited the suspects to train his personnel and conceded that with hindsight he should have sought permission from the authorities before engaging in that exercise. 'A review of the visa applications submitted by the three South Africans revealed that two of them (Jokani and Naidu) were invited by Dr Daniel Mckorley, Chairman, McDan Group of Companies while Hazis was invited by Nana Attobrah Quaicoe, Director of the Danquah Institute (DI). Efforts to reach the two gentlemen for questioning have so far not been successful,' the statement said. Both Captains Koda and Acquah have been granted police inquiry bail pending further investigation. On March 23, 2016, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) started an investigation into the immigration status of the three accused persons and requested the BNI to hand them over for further action. They were therefore released on March 24, 2016 as requested by the GIS, which in line with regular practice, requested that the BNI provide custody of the suspects. Places that were searched during the investigation included the residences of Captain Koda and Captain Acquah as well as the Hotel El Capitano. The statement said 'the peace, security and stability of our dear nation and its people shall always remain paramount to government'. GNA Accra, March 29, GNA - The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital registered 124 newborns during the Easter period with a greater percentage of the mothers going through normal and safe delivery, hospital sources told the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday. The two labour wards, one and two, of the Hospital registered 77 male babies and 47 newborn females from Friday 25 to Monday 28. Hospital officials say 77 of the babies came through 'normal' deliveries while operations were performed on the remaining 47. Four sets of twins were born during the period while three sets came in the course of normal delivery but health officials said they performed caesarian section on one set. Mrs Veronica Mensah, Principal Nursing Officer at the Labour Ward, said the facility did not record any death involving a mother but noted that some babies gave up during the period. Ghana recorded a decline in its Maternal Mortality Rate by 49 percent between 1990 and 2013 but was still far behind the Millennium Development Goal 5 by the end of 214, according to United Nations report. More than half of infant deaths in Ghana happen within the first month of life, and the newborn death rate has not improved in recent years, says UNICEF. Malnutrition is a significant indirect cause of child mortality, contributing to one-third of all childhood deaths, it added. Although levels of malnutrition in Ghana have dropped, 23 percent of children are stunted while 57 percent are anaemic. Nutrition is particularly poor in Northern Ghana, where almost two in every five children are stunted and more than 80 percent of children suffer from anaemia. GNA Accra, March 29, GNA - Some major hospitals in Accra recorded over 237 deliveries during the Easter festivities according to official sources. The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital registered 124 newborns during the period with a greater percentage of the mothers going through normal and safe delivery, hospital sources told the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday. The two labour wards, one and two, of the Hospital registered 77 male babies and 47 newborn females from Friday 25 to Monday 28. Hospital officials say 77 of the babies came through 'normal' deliveries while operations were performed on the remaining 47. Four sets of twins were born during the period while three sets came in the course of normal delivery but health officials said they performed caesarian section on one set. Mrs Veronica Mensah, Principal Nursing Officer at the Labour Ward, said the facility did not record any death involving a mother but noted that some babies gave up during the period, though she could not immediately give out any figures. The Mamprobi Polyclinic recorded 37 deliveries, Madam Ruth Lartey, the Midwife in charge, told the Ghana News Agency said on Monday. She said out of the 34 deliveries, 19 were males and 16 were females and they were all normal deliveries. She said Easter Friday saw the highest deliveries with 15 births with Easter Monday following with seven as at 1030hrs, adding: "The day is still young and there are more clients likely to deliver before the close of work." The ward had only 14 beds and sometime mothers had to deliver on the floor when the cases outnumbered the beds, she said, and called for expansion of the ward. "This clinic since its establishment in 1975 has not seen any expansion and the population around it is growing". Madam Lartey said the Polyclinic transferred emergency cases and pregnant women who needed an operation to the Ridge Hospital and the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for attention. At the Ridge Hospital, Ms Susanna Asamoah, Principal Nursing Officer in charge of Labour ward said 76 births were recorded between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This included 21 males and 23 females while a total of 32 babies made up of 15 males and 17 females were also born through caesarean sections. Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News agency, she said the hospital did not record any death during the period adding that ''there were however some of the mothers who underwent caesarean sections who were still on admission for more monitoring''. At the La Polyclinic, Mrs Vivian Ogun, Principal Nursing Officer in charge of maternity, noted that the hospital recorded a total of 30 births between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This, she said, included 16 males, 14 females and three others who were born through caesarean sections. She noted that although most of the mothers had been discharged, some were still on admission for monitoring due to some complications encountered during the delivery. She added that most of the mothers, especially those who gave birth on Easter Sunday were very happy because they felt they had given birth to ''special'' children who had something in common with Jesus Christ who resurrected on Easter Sunday. Ghana recorded a decline in its Maternal Mortality Rate by 49 percent between 1990 and 2013 but was still far behind the Millennium Development Goal 5 by the end of 214, according to United Nations report. More than half of infant deaths in Ghana happen within the first month of life, and the newborn death rate has not improved in recent years, says UNICEF. Malnutrition is a significant indirect cause of child mortality, contributing to one-third of all childhood deaths, it added. Although levels of malnutrition in Ghana have dropped, 23 percent of children are stunted while 57 percent are anaemic. Nutrition is particularly poor in Northern Ghana, where almost two in every five children are stunted and more than 80 percent of children suffer from anaemia. GNA 30.03.2016 LISTEN Tepa (Ash), March 30, GNA - The Chief Fire Officer, Dr. Albert Brown Gaisie, has signaled a new direction as the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) makes fire prevention a major thrust of its operation. He said focusing more effort on how to substantially roll back the rising incident of fire outbreaks across the country was an urgent priority. Dr. Gaisie was addressing personnel of the service at Tepa in the Ahafo-Ano North District as part of his four-day working visit to the Ashanti Region. He had earlier paid separate courtesy calls on the Regional Minister, Mr. Alexander Ackon, and the Chief Executive of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Mr. Kojo Bonsu. He is in the region to assess the operational challenges facing the service and devise appropriate strategies to efficiently deal with these. Dr. Gaisie counseled the firefighters to up safety education to help people to do the right things to prevent fires, telling them to reach out to everybody - in the homes, work places and schools. He said this was important to protect lives and stop the destruction of property through fires. The Chief Fire Officer called for the people to heed safety education - to be extra careful in their handling of naked fire and the use of electrical appliances. He applauded the Omanhene of Tepa, Nana Adusei Atwenewa Ampem, for releasing a 20-acre stretch of land for the establishment of a fire training institute to train fire volunteers. He appealed for increased public support to ensure significant reduction in fire disasters. GNA 30.03.2016 LISTEN Tafo, (E/R), March 30, GNA - Mr Yaw Frimpong, the father of a 20- year old student, Samuel Asimeng Frimpong, who was stabbed to death, at Kukurantumi, has expressed his disappointment with the pace of the court proceedings, saying it is too slow. According to him, two years after the death of his son, the suspect, Joseph Cudjoe, who was granted bail, was allegedly walking free, while he and the rest of his family, were still grappling with the pain from their loss. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Frimpong, a farmer, therefore, appealed to the prosecution to speed up the process for justice to be done on behalf of his son. According him, since the death of his son no relative of the suspect, whose father is alleged to be a police officer, had visited him to console him, while they did not attend the burial and funeral of the deceased. It would be recalled that on February 1, 2014, Frimpong, aged 20, then a final year student of the Christian Heritage Secondary Technical School, Kukurantumi, engaged in a quarrel with the suspect Cudjoe, 22 , a second-year student of the Christian Institute of Professional Studies, also at Kukurantumi. According to report, after the two had been separated, the suspect who lived in a rented room in the town, rushed home and returned with a bayonet, with which he allegedly stabbed the Frimpong several times in the neck and finally slit his throat. The victim, who bled profusely, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Tafo Government Hospital. The suspect later presented himself to the Tafo District Police and he was arrested and arraigned at the Court. He was, however, granted bail later. Meanwhile, the Koforidua Circuit Court B, presided over by Abdul-Razak Musah, has ordered the Police Forensic Laboratory to furnish the Court with the DNA analysis to enable the court to proceed with the case. The case has been adjourned to April 27, 2016, for hearing. GNA 30.03.2016 LISTEN Sampa, (B/A) March 30, GNA - Mrs Lordina Mahama, the First Lady, has urged farmers to cultivate more export crops to help increase their incomes and enhance national forex earnings. Addressing a durbar, at Sampa, a border town, in the Brong Ahafo Region, Mrs Mahama told the chiefs and people that earning more money from export crops would help to improve their living conditions. Describing Sampa as 'a major agricultural centre,' and the people as 'being known for their great contribution to food and cash crop production ', Mrs Mahama commended them for their hard work and sacrifices towards building the national economy. The First Lady, who is the Sompahemaa of the Nkoranza Traditional Area, with the stool name, Nana Akosua Frema Sika I, led a team from her Lordina Foundation, to present assorted medical equipment to the Sampa Hospital, as part of a nationwide distribution programme of items to support the various health facilities. The Lordina Foundation, together with its donor partner, MedShare of the United States of America, made the presentation. Mr Mahama said she was passionate about health because it was akin to wealth, therefore, she would strive to ensure that the health needs of Ghanaians, especially, women and children, were duly met. ' The health equipment I am donating is, therefore, aimed at supplementing the efforts of the Government to realise its vision of quality and accessible healthcare for all citizens,' she explained. Mrs Mahama, thereby, urged all the relevant stakeholders to empower heath personnel to deliver quality health care while, motivating the professionals to work harder. The First Lady reiterated her call on traditional and religious leaders, parents and other stakeholders to support the Government to end child marriage. 'As a mother, the practice breaks my heart, but more importantly, it negatively affects the future of the thousands of young girls, across Ghana and beyond'. She said data released by UNICEF reveals a worrying reality of 41,000 girls getting married each day; while 28 girls get married every minute; and in every two seconds, a girl gets married. 'These girls are compelled to abandon their dreams of sound education, and also a future profession as a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer,' she said. 'They are married off before they turn 18 '. She said record also indicated that due to population growth, the devastating results of child marriage were likely to affect an even larger number of girls in Africa in the coming years, adding that, the factors, which influenced the practice in Ghana included poverty, deeply rooted cultural norms and traditions, gender inequality, and safety considerations. Mrs Mahama, therefore, tasked the Ghanaian society to ensure that girls were allowed to stay in school and realise their full potentials and not to be forced into child marriages. Mr Samuel Opoku, the District Director of Health at the Sampa Hospital, thanked Mrs Mahama for the gesture, which he said, would go a long way to help the Hospital to provide quality health care for the people in area. He appealed for assistance in helping to construct a dormitory for the Nursing Training College, in Sampa. Nana Kwadwo Masa, the Chief of Sampa, who is also the Acting President of Sampa Traditional Area, commended the Government for the various projects being carried out in the area. He, however, appealed for the establishment of a Cashew Nut Management Board that would properly manage cashew nut production and marketing in the communities, most of which were engaged in the production of the crop. The First Lady, was accompanied by Mr Eric Opoku, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and some regional and district officers of the National Democratic Congress. GNA Larnaca (Cyprus) (AFP) - The man accused of hijacking an Egyptian plane and diverting it to Cyprus has said he acted out of desperation to see his ex-wife and children, as he was remanded into custody Wednesday. A judge in Larnaca on the island's southern coast ordered Egyptian Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa held for eight days during his first court appearance after Tuesday's hijacking. The Egyptian state prosecutor's office said it had asked for Mostafa, 58, to be remanded into its custody under a 1996 bilateral extradition treaty. Mostafa is accused of forcing the Alexandria-to-Cairo flight to divert to Larnaca, where he demanded to see his Cypriot ex-wife, with whom he has children. "What's someone supposed to do when he hasn't seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won't let you?" Mostafa told authorities, police prosecutor Andreas Lambrianou told the court. Police told the court that Mostafa -- described by officials as "psychologically unstable" -- faces possible charges of hijacking, kidnapping, reckless and threatening behaviour, and breaches of the anti-terror law. Mostafa will not face any formal charges until a later hearing and only at that point will he be expected to enter a plea. He flashed journalists the victory sign as he was driven away by police from the courthouse, which is less than a kilometre (half a mile) from Larnaca airport where a six-hour standoff unfolded after the hijacking. Most of the 55 passengers on the EgyptAir flight were quickly released after it landed in Larnaca but it took hours of negotiations, including a conversation with his ex-wife, before Mostafa surrendered to police. Local daily Phileleftheros quoted members of the wife's Cypriot family as saying the estranged couple had four children but that Mostafa had shown no interest in them in years. - 'Best selfie ever' - Some passengers and crew escaped only minutes before the standoff ended, including one uniformed man who was seen clambering out of a cockpit window and dropping to the ground. Among them was a 26-year-old British man, Ben Innes, who asked crew to snap a photograph of him standing beside Mostafa that has been widely shared on social media. The image features a grinning Innes standing next to Mostafa, with what appears to be a rudimentary suicide vest strapped to his chest. "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it," Innes, a health and safety auditor from Leeds in northern England, told Britain's The Sun newspaper. "So I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever," he said. As it became clear on Tuesday that the hijacker was trying to contact his ex-wife and was likely not a real danger, Egyptians also took to social media to poke fun at the incident, many using the Twitter hashtag #loveisintheair. "This is what happens when you block your ex," one person wrote on Twitter, while another opined: "Some may wonder why the hijacker didn't just email his wife. They don't realise how terrible Egypt's Internet is." - 'Non-prohibited' items - H.A. Hellyer, an Arab affairs specialist at the Royal United Services Institute in London, tweeted: "My wife just told me: 'You don't love me enough. You haven't hijacked a plane to talk to me. Sort it out'" After several hours in Larnaca, passengers on the flight were flown to Cairo late on Tuesday. "Fifteen minutes after departure we saw on the screens that the plane was not going to Cairo and it was crossing the sea," passenger Noha Saleh said on arrival in the Egyptian capital. "They said it was a technical problem and they needed to go to Cyprus or Greece to fix it... they were professional and their attitude was normal," she said. Egypt's military said on its Facebook page that a team of special forces and negotiators dispatched to Cyprus after the hijacking had returned, posting a video showing the troops boarding a plane. Concerns were raised about security at Egyptian airports after a Russian airliner was downed on October 31 over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. The Islamic State group claimed to have smuggled a bomb on board. But Egypt's interior ministry said in a statement that all security measures had been applied. The accused hijacker and his luggage were scanned, it said, and he had used "non-prohibited belongings" in his handbag "to imply that he was wearing an explosive belt and to threaten the crew and passengers." Kofi Adams 30.03.2016 LISTEN A Deputy General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress is accusing the opposition New Patriotic Party of clutching to straw over the role played by Superlock Technologies Limited (STL) in the 2012 general elections. Kofi Adams says the Israeli company was never contracted to file results to the strong room of the Electoral Commission and any attempt by the NPP to make such claims will be nothing more than falsehood. The role played by STL in 2012 has become a subject matter for a debate in 2016 because of a statement issued by Interior Minister, Prosper Bani. The Minister in an attempt to clear the air on the issues relating to the arrest of three South Africans and Captain Edmund Koda, head of private security of the New Patriotic Party flagbearer revived what was an old unsettled debate. He said in his statement that one of the arrested South Africans had a comprehensive report on the operations of Superlock Technologies Limited (STL) In defining the role played by STL in the 2012 elections, Prosper Bani said: STL is the company contracted by the Electoral Commission to transmit tallied election results. That comment has sent the NPP probing for answers from the Electoral Commission as well as government. Director of Communications of the NPP Nana Akomea said the Electoral Commission as well as government in 2012 denied ever contracting STL to transmit tallied election results. He cited the near violence that erupted at Dzorwulu in 2012 triggered by allegations by some NPP youths that officials of STL were illegally transmitting election results. . He found it surprising that four years on, government through the Interior Ministry will issue a statement admitting that STL transmitted tallied results. Nana Akomea told Joy News Editor Dzifa Bampoh the Electoral Commission and government have some explanation to do. Attempts by Joy News to seek further explanation from the Electoral Commission have proven futile. But the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC insists the NPP is creating something out of nothing. Kofi Adams told Joy News every political party in Ghana knows how election results are filed and transmitted and STL plays no role in that. It is not in doubt the role [played] by STL in the 2012 elections. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the work they did, he stated, adding STL was only contracted to manage the biometric data base. We know how results are filed during elections in this country, he said. When he was confronted with the comment by the Interior Minister which contradicted what he said, Kofi Adams said he was not the Interior Minister and could not speak for him. I know how election results are transmitted in Ghana, ask the Interior Minister, he said when his attention was drawn to the comment made by the Interior Minister. -Myjoyonline 30.03.2016 LISTEN Police in Atebubu have arrested two people in connection with yesterdays vandalism at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) office in the Brong Ahafo region. Several people have reportedly been injured following a scuffle between supporters of the Member of Parliament for the area Sanja Nanja and the DCE, Sampson Owusu Boateng. Rumours persist that Owusu Boateng has been replaced as DCE by one Eric Osei. The subsequent tension has created unease in the district, especially for members of the Atebubu Traditional Council, some members of the NDC, as well as members of the Atebubu Youth Association. Some supporters of the NDC are reported to have burnt down the constituency office. Police Commander for Atebubu Amantin, Chief Superintendent Joseph Dzinaku told Adom News there is calm in the town adding that the police are on a manhunt for the rest of the suspects. -Adomonline 30.03.2016 LISTEN Mrs. Gifty Azekor, Head of Guidance and Counseling Unit at the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Tema Metropolitan area, has counseled students sitting this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSSCE) to shun any form of examination malpractice to avoid prosecution. She explained that any form of short cut by candidates to aid them pass their examinations is a punishable offence should they be caught, either during the act, or after they had been found to have engaged in it. In addition to the candidate possibly facing a ban by the GES, Mrs. Azekor quoted between GH900 and GH30,000 as a fine a candidate would be slapped with for engaging in any form of examination malpractice. Most candidates who cheat in an examination, she said, explains how unprepared the candidates were before the examination, and once the law finds you guilty of the crime in the examination hall, you have no defense. Your irresponsible action will affect you, the reputation of your school, and your juniors. That is why your teachers and parents always encourage you to spend your time with your books and listen to your teachers' wise counsels on examination regulations, Mrs. Azekor advised. Counseling the students at this year's ICGC JHS/SHS Conference at Community '12', Mrs. Gifty Azekor explained that training students included their career aspirations, upbringing and psychology. She said the academic ability of the JHS candidates should guide them to select their senior high schools (SHSs), and further encouraged them to choose SHSs that are within 30 percent radius. The Tema GES Head of the Guidance and Counseling Unit encouraged the students who want to go into entrepreneurship to select technical and vocational schools, explaining that technical and vocational schools are not for the 'low class' or students who performed abysmally in their BECE. She explained that their set goals can be achieved, irrespective of the second-cycle school they gain admission into, saying, all that you need to be mindful of is how focused you are to your set goals. Concluding, she mentioned 170 public and private schools as duly registered to sit this year's BECE in the metro. Wisdom Agbeviade, a teacher and facilitator, on his part, entreated teachers to condition candidates to the foretaste of examination questions structure, for that is one way students can pass their examination without cheating. Turning to the candidates, Mr. Agbeviade advised them to prioritise their studies, and in the examination hall, observe examination regulations and instructions to avoid silly errors that could cause them to fail their exams. This is sixth year the Tema Community '12' ICGC is hosting candidates before their final examinations, and in his welcome address, Reverend Edward Kissi, District Minister of the Tema ICGC, told the students that examinations are not designed to make them fail, but rather it is just a transition from one stage to the other. The theme for this year's conference was Attitude for Altitude, and Reverend Kissi admonished all the candidates to prepare well, because the extent of your height in life would be determined by your attitude. 30.03.2016 LISTEN An Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Aboagye Tandoh, has adjourned a case involving six suspected persons, including one sprayer, for robbery contrary to 149 of Article 29/60. The accused person, Emmanuel Kwesi, who is a fashion designer at Old Boy, was charged with multiple offences, namely, conspiracy to commit crime, to wit, robbery contrary to section 23(1) and 149 of criminal offences article 1960(ACT29) He was again charged for acting together with a common purpose to commit crime, to wit, robbery, and also during the period of 2014 to 2015, at Kwabenya in the Greater Accra Region, was armed with a pistol and cutlass for robbery, contrary to 149 of Article 29/60. The accused person, during the month of December 2015 at Kwabenya, allegedly robbed one Paul Kwame Asamoah of his Nissan Almera car with registration number GE 5574-13 .The gang was believed to be masters in snatching vehicles from their owners within Accra and beyond. The suspects, whose names were given as Kofi Danso, Alex the sprayer, Aziggy, Douglas and Broni, after snatching the vehicles from their owners, drove them straight to one Alex, a sprayer at Kwabenya a suburb of Accra who always changed the vehicle's colour, and also with the help of some officials at the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) at Tema and 37, Accra branches respectively, changed the documents of the vehicles. Chief Inspector told the court that the accused was later arrested after being on the wanted list all this while. However, intelligence further led the police to retrieve nine of the snatched vehicles from Accra and Cape Coast, which they had sold to unsuspecting buyers. Meanwhile, the accused, when he appeared before the honourable court, pleaded not guilty, and the case adjourned to 31st March 2016. Facts Chief Inspector K. Edu, the prosecuting officer, narrating the facts, stated that the Accra Regional Police Command, during the year 2015, received a series of car snatching complainants within the metropolis. According to him, intelligence gathered led to the arrest of the accused person on February 8, 2016 at Haatso, as being a member of the syndicate. He further stated that the accused admitted knowing members of car snatching syndicate upon interrogation, and mentioned the name of one Kofi Danso as the ring leader, and other members as group as Yaw Broni, Aziggy and Douglas. Again, intelligence gathering revealed that the gang was able to get forged documents in the name of Loretta Danso, wife of A2, as owner of the vehicle, to enable them sell same to the unsuspecting public. Within the month of August and December 2015, the gang snatched two vehicles from their respective owners in Accra. Police further action led to the DVLA office which formally reported on four of the vehicles with the particulars of the owners. He concluded that the police were able to trace Dorothy Denteh, who is the legitimate owner of a Toyota Corolla vehicle with registration number GE 1762-09 through the DVLA report, and on March 11 2016, the Toyota Corolla was released to her, after she produced the original documents. He reiterated that the police are working hard to look for actual owners for the remaining vehicles, and a report from the DVLA on the remaining five vehicles is also being awaited. Meanwhile, the three suspects are being looked for by the police. By Ethel Mensah ([email protected]) Omane Boamah 30.03.2016 LISTEN Following the press conference organised by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) last week Thursday and addressed by its Acting National Chairman, Mr. Freddie Blay, over the arrest of the now deported three South Africans, the government issued a press statement to state its side of the story. It is the right of the government to issue a statement as the Communications Minister, Dr. Omane Boamah, did to state its side of the story. The Chronicle is, however, disturbed over the tone of the statement issued. These are excerpts: This is the most puerile defence ever attempted in a serious matter as this one. We note that since news broke of the arrest of the individuals, the NPP has rendered rumbling and incoherent responses, in a bid to escape the widespread condemnation and public opprobrium they have suffered. This wicked lie, however, is the most ridiculous yet, and only reflects the desperation arising out of lack of leadership that has beset the NPP. The NPP has demonstrated over the years that it prefers violence and chaos as a means of addressing disputes, even within their party. This has been on display over the past few years. 'The sterile attempt, therefore, by the NPP to extricate itself from this potentially nation-wrecking manouvre through wicked-dark lies has failed. Government is not, and will, never be afflicted by the intractable disease of 'hankering-after-violence'. Clearly, Dr. Omane Boamah's carefully selected vocabularies, just to exhibit his jargonistic and militaristic prowess, is unfortunate, as the statement he issued. If these words had been used in statements issued by Mr. Asiedu Nketiah or Koku Anyidoho, on behalf of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a party, The Chronicle would not have bothered about it, because it is politics as usual. But in the case of Dr. Omane Boamah, he was not speaking on behalf of the NDC, but Ghanaians as a whole, and that is why he should have been careful with the words he selected. The Chronicle agrees that judging from the position he occupies, there is a thin line between government communication and political communication. But that is where he must display his dexterity in communication, by knowing what to say and at what time. Combining government communication with that of partisan politics is a dangerous precedence that must not be nurtured. Even though the NPP is an opposition party, it is under the government when it comes to the management of the country. The difference would only come in when it comes to partisan politics. When the party, therefore, does something that is even considered as wrong, the government of the day must state the facts available to it, instead of using words that can exacerbate the very situation she seeks to clarify. It is high time government officials, especially those in charge of communications, separated public statements from those issued by the political parties. President Mahama came under public criticism when he attacked Dr. Mahamudu Bawumiah for comments he previously made against his government. Even though the President used a political platform to harshly react to Dr. Bawumiah's comments, he was still reprimanded, because as President he is the father of the nation and ought to have behaved as such. The Ministry of Communication is a wing of the government that is ruling this country, it must, therefore, not view issues with partisan lenses and issue statements full of diatribes instead of words that would unite the country. Dr. Omane Boamah must concentrate on government communication and leave out the dirty politics in the hands of his party (NDC) officials. As George Bernard Shaw puts it, Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. We can't claim to be moving forward as a country, when we cannot stay away from bad old things, and using government communication channels to attack political opponents is one of the old things we should stay away from. Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama has called on African countries to work together to combat terrorism in all forms. This, he said could only be achieved through intelligence sharing. He made this call during a Presidential Panel discussion at the African CEOs forum held in Abidjan. Days before the forum, militants killed at least 16 people in a gun attack on a beach resort in southern Ivory Coast. The attackers fired on beach-goers in Grand Bassam, about 40km from the commercial capital Abidjan. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attacks which Mahama described as an act of cowardice. He said attacks such as this have become rampant in the West African sub region. As a result, he called for extreme vigilance and a concerted efforts among the nations within the region to nib the danger posed by those attacks. We must share our views, said Mahama to fight this worrying situation. He added that correct systems must be in place so that movement from one country to another can be effectively regulated thus stymieing any possible security threat. This however, cannot be achieved without integration and intelligence sharing, he pointed out. Also, Mahama used the platform to touch on the world's economic challenges and the impact it is having on the continent. He said due to the uncertainties in the global economy Ghana had to adjust its spending structure to avoid meltdown. He said although Ghana's economy is still import dependent his government was doing everything to cut down on importations of commodities that can be produced in the country. He said Ghana every year imports rice worth over $400 million. Also, he used the forum to call on more collaboration with Ivory Coast. This he said will bring about sustainable growth between the two countries. Also, he appealed to Nigeria and Gambia to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Ivorian President, Alassane Quattara, on his part commended Ghana for the resilience it showed amidst the current global economy crisis. We have to allow energy to be available for industrialization, said Quattara. By Maame Agyeiwaa Agyei ( [email protected] ) The Western Union Company today announced the launch of a video series called Stories of Better in which ordinary African men and women tell of how remittances have impacted their lives. These short films demonstrate how remittances have improved day-to-day living for African communities in education, health care and small Businesses. The World Bank* estimates that the African diaspora residing in countries around the world are over 30 million people. Entire households and extended families often depend on remittances from loved ones abroad to meet their daily needs, says Aida Diarra, Regional Vice President Africa. Remittances help to fund education, provide for improved healthcare, help set up small businesses, thus enabling sustained growth and development of communities around Africa. 30.03.2016 LISTEN Quality education churns out knowledge, skills and attitude that allow for effective functioning of the individual in society and in life. Learners performances in Ghana are usually assessed using models, such as the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) and WAECs tests for students at the basic and senior high schools. EGRA Report (2013) revealed that only 2% of pupils at the primary level can read with comprehension. It is a sad expose and it also confirms why Northern Region scored 39 per cent and 20 per cent (from A1 to C6) at WAECs basic and senior high school examinations in 2015 respectively.We should not just be worried but also work out effective remedial plans together. Meanwhile, Government, through the GET fund, provided 20,000 studentsmattresses, 10,000 bunk beds, 500 office tables and chairs, 5,000 tables and chairs for students, and 10,000 mono and dual desks to schools in 2015. This and other facilities are needed to boost education; North calls on Government, corporate agencies and individuals to continue to come to its aid. Stakeholders, at the recent annual Northern Region Education Review meeting in Tamale, commended our governments for having made moves to sustain the welfare of the Ghanaian child. They mentioned social interventionschemes like school feeding, free distribution of school uniforms and exercise books as powerful packages for increasing school enrollments and for retaining pupils in school.The Northern Regional Director of Education, Alhaji Mohammed Haroon Cambodia, who chaired the function, implored parents, teachers and stakeholders to endeavour to support child education at all times. How do we talk of quality education minus the teacher? Society sees and expects the teacher to be the leader in efforts at providing quality education to the child. This write-up seeks to discuss teacher presence, teacher preparedness and teacher delivery as essentials of good education. It is good news for a school to have teachers. Teacher presence looks at the availability of the teacher to teach. The Ghana Education Service values highly this component of the education delivery chain. It is for this reason that the Service tries to ensure that qualified personnel are dispatched to all schools to teach. But the fact also is that most teachers in the North still commute from long distances to schoolresulting in lateness, irregularity and absenteeism, most often than not . The regional directorate needs everybody on board to help these suffering teachers of ours. Our circuit supervisors also need same support to effectively reach out to the schools. The policy of staff rationalisationis being pursued vigorously. Teachers are being posted and redistributed to all districts and schools of need. We urge teachers and staff to support the system for things to work well. Let us respect the needs of our pupils and be willing to honourthem with the best of service as teachers. There is a world of difference between teacher presence and teacher preparedness. As teacher presence connotesjust the physical presence of the teacher in school at the right time, teacher preparedness combines the presence with the preparation of vital instructional instruments,including schemes of work and lesson notes. The monitoring reports of districtsin the region record low scores for teacher preparedness. Lessons are generally scanty in nature or not being delivered by some teachers at all. The least said about the use of teaching and learning materials (TLMs) in lessons, the better. We agree that schools need textbooks and syllabuses but teachers should also learn to improvise. The incessant excuses of no TLMs must stop! I also hold the view that a teacher, who is present in school but not prepared to teach, is as bad as the absentee teacher. We must always be at school and be prepared to teach and teach it well. The teacher delivery component sums up the factors of teacher presence and teacher preparedness. Delivery is an important part of the teachers duty, where knowledge, skills and attitudes are supposed to be churned out to the child at the right time. The impact of any lesson delivery reflects in the performance of the learner. If the axiom of garbage-in, garbage-out is anything to go by then your guess is as good as mine talking about the performance of pupils and students at the various exit points of formal school education in the country, and North to be precise. Who says education is only for the teacher to give? Parents also give it and they must be prepared to do it always. The child spends just eighthours out of 24 hours in school. Parents and relatives indulge in educational activities with their wards and learners at home. Proper supervision and monitoring within the remaining 16 hours or so of childrens stay at home is needed for enhanced performance. Society should join hands with the school to tackle matters of child delinquency, child marriage and teenage parenthood, which are rife here at North. We must develop just like our brothers and sisters down South. The writer is the Northern Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Education Service. Reviewed by Anthony KwakuAmoah, an educationist and public relations officer at the Headquarters of the Ghana Education Service. E-mail: [email protected] Four new Ambassadors to the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and Permanent Representatives to the African Union have presented their letters of Credence to the African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson, H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. The new Permanent Representatives included three AU Member States (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritania) and one non-AU Member State; Chile. They submitted their letters to Dr. Dlamini Zuma on Wednesday, 30 March 2016, at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The new Burundian Permanent Representative to the African Union is Amb. Dieudonne Ndabarushima. He takes up the new assignment after representing his country in France. After presenting his credentials, Amb. Ndabarushima took the opportunity to express the gratitude of President Pierre Nkurunziza and the people of Burundi for the sustained support of the AU in resolving the Burundian crisis. He said that the Burundian government is doing everything possible to ensure the resuming of dialogue, for peace to reign and for Burundi to contribute to Africa's Agenda 2063. They also discussed the situation of the Burundian peacekeeping contingent in Somalia, among other things. H.E. Claude Naymugambo followed to present his Credentials as the newly appointed Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU. He expressed the gratitude of President Joseph Kabila and the people of the DRC to the AU's support with the Dialogue process aimed at contributing to sustainable peace in the country. The new Permanent Representative pledged to strengthen the presence of his country at the AU. The new Ambassador of Mauritania to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Permanent Representative of the AU, H.E. Bass Abal Abasse was the third AU Member State to present his credentials. He equally pledged his support to the activities of the AU, as well as strengthening the relationship between Mauritania and the African Union. The Chilean Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU, H.E. Jaime Chomali, was the only representative of a non-AU Member State to present his Credentials to the AU Commission Chairperson. He delivered greetings from the Chilean President, H.E. Michelle Bachelet, stating the importance of Chile's relationship with Africa. He said Chile is re-opening its diplomatic presence in Ethiopia after forty-six years of absence. Ambassador Jaime Chomali also announced the imminent visit of President Michelle Bachelet to Africa sometime this year. The AU Commission Chairperson exchanged brief courtesies with each of the new Permanent Representatives, availing her office to work with them and wishing each one of them a successful tour of duty. 30.03.2016 LISTEN 1. He did ensure that the banking industry was fairly expanded but evidently he allowed himself to be caught up in the storm of armstrong politics. He made it easy for his predecessor and current Vice-President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur to be missed. Paa Kwesi was one who could tell the Finance Minister literally to go to hell over the payment of arrears when the latter wanted to unduly delay payment. Paa Kwesi was a good listener. I recall when IMANI conducted series of expose in the banking industry and within hours, he had called IMANI and our professional allies to meet and explain the challenges we identified and crucially what to do about them. 2. Wampah was too subservient. He should not have allowed the sloppy management of the Merchant Bank sale. That was one big miscalculation and sent signals of supporting underhand dealings in a divestiture arrangement involving hidden players. 3. The question about when the dirigiste forex rules will end simply exacted a response along the lines of waiting for the finance ministry to be fiscally responsible first. Perhaps a brilliant answer and one that struck at the core of incoherence in policy making IMANI identified, is one major bane of economic policy making in Ghana. Given how long and painful it has taken to end the crazy forex rules, the efforts should have been louder. 4. Wampah should have been bolder in reigning in the voracious appetite for borrowing by the government to fund mostly poorly costed projects with dire consequences for the moribund private sector. 5. Wampah should have been bolder to tell it to the face of the Finance Minister that he cannot be borrowing hefty sums from the NHIL and render it penniless all the time. If readers will remember, I warned that by June this year, the NHIS will be cash strapped as the finance ministry has improperly borrowed almost 300m cedis from the fund for yet to be disclosed expenditure. Now news reports of cash strapped NHIS vindicate my position and it is NOT because we didn't pay our 2.5% levy. It was paid and the fund is a consolidated one and Wampah should have been admonishing the finance ministry of such economic autarky! 6. Wampah should have opposed the setting up of the Ghana Infrastructure Fund whose mandate is clearly not economic but simply a political slush fund for petty projects. Wampah should have been telling government to sell off non - performing state assets and use the proceeds to fund critical infrastructure instead of setting a political bank to play with our money. 7. There is more but I will stop here and hope that the next Central Bank Governor ensures at least a more pragmatic monetary policy that truly asserts the independence and effectiveness of the Central Bank. Perhaps the next Governor can be bolder and aspire to copy the habits of highly effective countries such as what I experienced last November in the UK after an insightful meeting at the Bank of England with its Director for International Development my notes were: Three roles for the central bank, ensuring micro prudential, macro prudential and monetary Policy. The Bank is independent in ensuing the fiscal targets set by any UK government is met. However, if the government deviates from what the bank proposes to be done, then it loses credibility and will be punished by the voting public. Curiously, the Monetary Policy Committees decisions are published but will in the interest of transparency and market confidence, publish minutes of its meetings including what each of the nine -member committee said in its meetings. So, prudent monetary policy management must resonate with prudent fiscal foresight. Our finance minister in Ghana should not have a fiscal target whilst the central bank can have a mind of its own, and the electorate can simply applaud. Respectfully yours, Franklin Cudjoe Founding President & CEO, IMANI www.imanighana.com Wikipedia info Franklin Cudjoe's bio data Franklin Cudjoe Declared World Economic Forums Young Global Leader What the World Bank says of IMANI 30.03.2016 LISTEN PROPHET AMEHE ATSU For God to listen to our prayers, Bishop Agyin-Asare must bury a bowl of local salt and a bible in the center of Accra to avert the mysterious deaths in the countryGod has revealed to me that we are going to loose (sic) a very big man in Ghana if we dont pray. There are so many evil spirits operating in Ghana. The title under which this laughably mischievous quote was culled is Agyin-Asare Holds Key To Ghanas FreedomProphet. What is wrong with our country and its leaders, religious and otherwise? What will Christians call it if Kweku Bonsam or Okomfo Yaw Appiah, Bishop Obinims spiritual father, buries a bowl of local salt and a bible in the center of Accra? Perhaps fetishistic ritualism! How do we exactly determine the center of Accra? Why Accra and its center? And what is it with this bowl of local salt? BISHOP DUNCAN-WILLIAMS One of the problems of this country is envy; its one of the killers of Ghanaians. We have a problem of envy. We are not like the Nigerians. When a Ghanaian sees you doing well, instead of them to celebrate you, theyll find ways to kill you, so they will take your glory. Everybody has tried to kill me. There are men of God who are waiting for the day of my demise, so they will take my glory. You dont know what I know. I know a lot. There are people who are scheming to take my members from me and give me a church empty, so their churches will be bigger than meoutshine me. They me call me Papa, Papa but their heart is not with me. They want to overtake me and outshine me and make me a failure and a disappointment and a reproach, to prove a point, but that will never happen because they did not call me, I said they did not call me, they did not anoint me, the opposite will occur, it will be overturned If you know the fight and the battles I go through to stand in the gap for this nation, there are people, if it wasnt for my ministry and my prayer ministry, they wont even be in ministry and yet they wish that something went wrong with me, and its because of envy As a matter of fact, what Bishop Duncan-Williams is emotionally describing or lamenting about here is nothing more the generational curse that duopolistic politics has imposed on Ghana. Just replace him with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and what do we have? That is, which of these two political parties replaces Bishop Duncan-Williams automatically puts the other in the stead of his perceived and real enemies. What is more while Sade sings Soldier of Love, none of these Christian clerics can bring himself to sing Soldier of Christ because almost all of them are theological entrepreneurs in for the acquisition of material wealth and self-aggrandizing moments of unending glorification, much the same reasons our political entrepreneurs are in for kleptomaniacal investment in material wealth. This may be why, perhaps, here in Ghana we also need a serious re-enactment of the One Love Peace Concert and Smile Jamaica Concert featuring the great Bob Marley and his band, the Wailer, and others, with Bob Marley using the power of music, namely his Steve-Wonder-loving track Jamming, to bring Edward Seaga (Jamaica Labor Party) and Michael Manley (Peoples National Party), two political rivals, together in the interest of national peace and development. Regardless, Bob Marley performed at these shows in spite of the fact that he had been a target of political assassination at one point, an event he emotionally recalled on the tracks Ambush in the Night and Running Away. Having said all that, we could have only wished if the masses, following the solemn political message of Bob Marleys track Babylon System, had looked deeply at both the NPP and the NDC and the Ghanaian public and, without mincing words, read the following to their corps of unpatriotic, clueless, lying, and wicked leaders: We refuse to be; what you wanted us to be; we are what we are: That's the way (way) it's going to be. You don't know! You can't educate I! Talking about my freedom, people freedom (freedom) and liberty!..Rebel, rebel!...Look out now: they sucking the blood of the sufferersCome on and tell the children the truthAnd we've been taken for granted much too long: Rebel, rebel now!...We've been trampled on (rebel), Oh now! Weve been oppressed, yeah!... FINAL THOUGHTS ON POLITICS AND RELIGION The likes of Agyampremu Kofi, which appeared and still does as Kankan Nyame in the deranged psychology of Nkrumah Nkrumahs dying enemies and detractors, and the secular political theology of carefully concocted lies which accompanied the immanent creation of the non-existent Kankan Nyame in Ghana, we should add, Nkrumahs enemies and detractors frustratingly, diligently, and tirelessly foisted on Ghanaians, facts Prof. Agyemang Badu Akosa aptly describes and eloquently lays bare here: Ghanas day of shame February 24, 1966 was followed by an avalanche of well orchestrated falsehoods to attempt to justify the dastardly deed and demean the independence of the nation. The struggle was pivoted on the declaration of positive action which gave Ghanaians the opportunity to show their abhorrence for the system of colonialism. That was the point of separation between those who were prepared to stand up to be counted and those whose brief was incremental participation in the governance by the Governor and his cohort of collaborators and compradors. The falsehoods included taking gold bars to Egypt for Madam Fathia, looting the nations coffers, consulting Kankan Nyame and the practice of occultism, killing Ghanaians and throwing them to the lions in the flagstaff zoo and so many others. The reality of the situation was that there were no gold bars in Egypt and poor Madam Fathia struggled beyond recognition in her life thereafter. It is public knowledge now that Nkrumah died with not event a plot of land to his name and yet subsequent. It is worth mentioning that the land on which the Peduase Lodge is built was a gift to him and members of the Convention Peoples Party contributed to the start of the building for him but he characteristically was to give the building to the state as Ghanas Camp David. The fertile figment of his detractors imagination conjured many images of Nkrumah that was to make many Ghanaians form a damaging impression of the man who liberated them. The Ghanatta cartoon series were to cast a very critical and psychologically damaging picture of Nkrumah and yet he was a disciple of theology and a practicing human-centered individual who cared for Ghanaians beyond measure. His governments chief pride was the welfare of the people and at every turn he told Ghanaians he would work hard to abolish poverty, ignorance and disease. Kankan Nyame existed as a fetish shrine in Guinea but Nkrumah did not consult it. It is however, a shame that Ghanatta has died not apologizing to the country for misleading Ghanaians. MILTON ALLIMADI Foreign powers [the US and some Western European countries] allow bandits financed by Rwanda and Uganda to wreak havoc in Congos eastern region, which contains most of its resources. Under this planned chaos, private corporations enjoy absolute rent; they siphon off Congos resources through Rwanda and Uganda without paying fees or taxes to the central government (our emphasis). WHAT IS MILTON ALLIMADI FUNDAMENTALLY SAYING? This is what we see across Africa including Ghana. Not only this, and that we also religion, primarily Islam and Christianity, being used by some to enslave and materially and intellectually impoverish the masses. It is as if the masses are hemmed in from every conceivable angle. There is also what Fela Kuti appropriately called colo-mentality, a debilitating political symptomatology, on the track Colonial Mentality that is gnawing at the conscience and intellect of the educated and ruling classes across Africa. In fact, and perhaps more generally, we may have to add for emphasis that this debilitating political symptomatology is an entrenched facet of the African psychology, meaning that it cuts across the political geography of the continent. On what basis can an African who is a member of the Muslim clergy within Africa itself claim Arabic will be the language of choice in heaven? On what basis can an African who is a member of the Christian clergy within Africa itself claim English will be the language of choice in heaven? On what basis can an African who is a member of the Jewish clergy within Africa itself claim Hebrew will be the language of choice in heaven? American-based Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongo says Jesus never spoke English (see his book Something Torn And New: An African Renaissance. It is generally believed among biblical scholars and bibiologists that Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic). What will then happen to African languages, which the same God reportedly created? Perhaps they will be discarded in the dustbins of heaven, or those of hell. Then, ironically, we have Fuhrer Akufo-Adoo seeking the face of God in Israels so-called Holy Land, the Wailing Wall, when this face of God is supposed to be omniscient and omnipresent. Fuhrer Akufo-Adoo, Sammy Awuku and the leadership of the NPP run toward the International Democrat Union (IDU), a right-wing bankrolled by the UK-based Westminster Foundation for Democracywhat, in other words, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante calls one of his books Rooming in the Masters House And then the shocking news of Rev. Pat Robertson reportedly using his private plane to secretly cart part of Zaires natural wealth to the United States, natural wealth in the form of diamond concessions in secret arrangement with Mobuto Sese Seko, with the same shady clerical character also reportedly lobbying for Mobuto Sese Seko and Charles Taylor in the U.S. CongressWhat more need we add? If African leaders do not make us permanent slaves and prisoners of the IMF/World Bank, they will surely make us one of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB)On the religious front however, infamous therianthrope Bishop Obinim, an ophidian messenger of God who, the former has already told us, can also liberally transmigrate into lions and tigers when he undertakes his [Bishop Obinims] sting-biting nocturnal missions with him, is reportedly taking umbrage at a movie Angel Obinim: Just One Word whose script questions his self-proclaimed supernatural powers and other controversial claims. A Christian like Bishop Obinim cannot pray for his enemies and detractors who offend him. Our duopoly is also unforgiving when opponents run afoul of the law. We do however agree that one appeals to a higher transcendental power for redress and for moral guidance on mortalized lived and living experiences, while the other takes advantage of conventional secularism and mortal limitations in intellection. But both processes are however largely subjective. It is a practical given that the secular and the spiritual sometimes overlap in time and space. We may even hazard that this is a serious philosophical question not open to the rigorous process of mathematical and scientific verification. It is beyond the likes of Bishop Obinim and his cabal of theological gangsters, including Bishop J.Y. Adu, Rev. Owusu Bempah. Yet rather than put the Christological Beatitudes into practice and appeal to divine mercy and forgiveness on behalf of his cinematographic biographers, this therianthropic fraud is threatening to use his supernatural powers to bankrupt his cinematographic biographers. They call themselves Christians when it suits them but when it comes down to putting Christianity in practice, they suddenly become anti-Christianity and un-Christlike. Even Mahatma Gandhi, a devoted Hindu, made good use of the set of Christological Beatitudes all his life. No wonder Joseph Hill of Culture sings Jah Alone A Christian. And no wonder Rawlings looks at the mushrooming of churches across Ghana and corruption in the church and remarks: If we can behave in such an ignorant manner, should it surprise you that the country is being consumed by so much filth? What is wrong with African leaders that the masses cannot simply see? Perhaps Walter Rodneys influential book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa has some of the answers! FUHRER AKUFO-ADDO AND THE EMOTIONAL SUBLTETY OF HIS DANGEROUS POLITICS Fuhrer Akufo-Addos I love Ghana more than myself is hypocritically sickening, a deceptive and insincere statement only coming in the wake of his finally being caught pants down after having successfully sneaked in South African mercenaries to train some members of his political party, all in contravention of Ghanaian security laws. This statement also belies the mans unbridled push for political power. But we hope Ghanaians are discerning enough to see through his gimmicks and on this basis reject him and others who do not have the people and country at heart. Only the Great Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah truly loved Ghana more than himself. Thus, Fuhrer Akufo-Addos uncle J.B. Danquah, Obetsebi-Lamptey, etc., were all terrorists, anarchists, political nihilists, and anti-democratic. These men never understood democracy and died defending their beliefs in political terrorism and anti-democratic philosophies. Again, we hope Ghanaians will see through Fuhrer Akufo-Addos gimmicky revisionist canard that these men truly fought and died for their beliefs in democracy. We make these bold statements of fact because Fuhrer Akufo-Addo and some of his influential relatives including Aaron Eugene Kofi Asante Ofori-Atta, who later became a Minister for Justice and a Minister for Local Government in the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), made a pact with Nkrumah and his CPP in spite of threats to their persons. Fuhrer Akufo-Addos revisionist propaganda is thus a convenient one meant to distort the true political history of Ghana just so he could conveniently sneak in his unbridled push for political power and his royal entitlement to the presidential throne, just like his uncle. In the final analysis, Fuhrer Akufo-Addo and those of his relatives who rejected their relatives anti-democratic, nihilistic, and terroristic tactics did so because they strongly believed in the pacifistic and inclusive politics of the great Nkrumah. Otherwise how do we sufficiently explain their total rejection of Danquah and his divisive politics? Ghanaian political animals are just funny! WHAT WE SHOULD DEMAND OF POLITICAL AND CLERICAL LEADERS Politics and religion, we dare say, are respectfully making citizens hopeless and helpless prisoners of material occultism and transcendental mysteries. For this reason, and this reason alone, we should ask our politicians to go back to the blueprint of patriotic Nkrumahism, the same way we should ask our clerics to go back to the authentic blueprint of soteriology. The eras of duopolistic kleptomania and prosperity theology should be things of the past. Resisting against the systemFor we no want no devil philosophy, Bob Marley sang on the track One Drop. We also do believe the people must be tired by now with both politicians and clerics preaching devil philosophy to them. On Babylon System Bob Marley sang: Yeah, weve been trodding on the winepress for so long; Rebel, rebel!...Building church and universitydeceiving the people continuallyme say them graduating thieves and murderers I, Im a going to take a just-a one step more; because I feel like bombing a church, Bob Marley sang on Talking Blues. Now, now that you know that the preacher is lying. And here we go again as we have done many times before: Here comes the conman, coming with his con-plan; we wont take no bribe; weve got to stay alive; we gonna chase those crazy, chase those crazy baldheads, chase those crazy baldheads out of town CONCLUSION Let us also make it clear by adding that the non-existent Kankam Nyame, who incidentally exists only in the immanent construction of misguided and dangerous men who are only known for their Machiavellian trademark of spiritual wickedness, as Bob Marley correctly puts it, has now assumed a sacred abode otherwise called The Ark or the Holy of Holies, of the God of Bishop Obinim and his alleged spiritual Okomfo Yaw Appiah, Jesus Christ of Dzorwulu, Rev. Owusu Bempah, Prophet Kumchacha, Bishop Adu, Jesus Christ of Mantukwaand that of the crazy baldhead politician of GhanaBishop Adu should come back again and tell us what he has in store that can help the BNI finally unravel the mystery behind Danquahs sad and unfortunate murder! Finally, and this is immensely important, the concocted political theology of lies by some unconscionable grotesque caricatures in the clergy and that of their supportive political brothers and sisters need to be quashed and neutralized for good before they turn into some uncontrollable strains of monstrous Frankenstein romantic chocolate bars in the leprotic hands of these dangerous ahistorical men without consciousThat means and means only speaking truth to power as Bob Marley, Harriet Tubman, Kwame Nkrumah, Lucky Dube, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Nelson Mandela, W.E.B. Du Bois, Peter Tosh, Martin Luther King, Jr., Paul Bogle, Amilcar Cabralsurely and tactically did. We need to hold our religious and political leaders feet to the fire. In other words, we should not allow religious leaders such as Bishop Adu to make public statements with dire or serious national security implications to go free, with their public statements remaining unexplored. This is why we are entreating Bishop Adu to come again! Neither should we allow those politicians who consistently take advantage of the masses through grandiose electioneering promises that are not even fulfilled for whatever reason (s) to come clean. Last, but certainly, not least, it is painfully unfortunate for a dinosaurian pneumatologist in the person of pre-exilic prophet Kwabena Tawiah to declare the following: I can tell you on authority that Nana Addo will win the 2016 election and he will become the president of Ghana. If in fact Nana Addo will win the 2016 election as this dodo-prophet claims, why add he will become the president of Ghana? By authority, was he referring to his theological the ballot box, the Electoral Commission (EC), the Chair of the EC (Madam Charlotte Osei), or the God of Bishop Obinim and Rev. Kumchacha and Bishop Adu? Why are other clerics also claiming President Mahama is going to retain the presidency? If both claims are prophetically correct and sustainable, why is this God of our competing clerics an author of confusion and contradictions? Finally, and importantly, if it is the God of Bishop Obinim and Rev. Kumchacha and Bishop Adu, how exactly is this God going to vote on behalf of the masses for Nana Addo? Through electoral rigging? Killing President Mahama? Killing all the other presidential candidates? Changing the results in the strong room of the EC? Or What? Exactly how is this God going to do it? References For All Three Parts Ghanaweb. Nana Addo Will Win 2016 ElectionProphet Tawiah Asserts. March 27, 2016. Ghanaweb. I Will Expose People Who Hired J.B.s KillerBishop J.Y. Adu. March 22, 2016. Ghanaweb. Ashanti Town Snakes Are GodsKweku Bonsam. March 17, 2016. Ghanaweb. NPP Will Lose Another Great Leader IfOwusu Bempah. March 21, 2016. Ghanaweb. Too Many Churches In Ghana? March 25, 2016. Prof. Ayemang Badu Akosa. Rehabilitation of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Is Incomplete. National Commission Culture website. September 21, 2010. Ghanaweb. Video: Obinim's 'Spiritual Father' SpeaksHis End Is Near. March 11, 2016. Ghanaweb. Some pastors wish me deadDuncan-Williams. March 28, 2016. Kim Sengupta. .An African Adventure: Inside Story Of The Wonga Coup. Independent. March 11, 2008. Milton Allimadi. The Choice Is Clear: Africa Must Embrace Nkrumahs Vision And Unite. Black Star News. Ghanaweb. Agyin-Asare Holds Key To Ghanas FreedomProphet. March 28, 2016. Ghanaweb. If I were violent, Ghana wouldve burnt in 2012Nana Addo. March 27, 2016. Ghanaweb. Obinim Angry Over New Kumawood's Movie Poster. March 28, 2016. Ghanas parliament would have to review the criteria for disbursement of the District Assemblies Common Fund, according to a professor with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Government is mandated to allocate a proportion of collected national revenue to the local assemblies to drive development. But land economist, Prof. Seth Opuni Asiamah, says conditions for selection and sharing of the common fund must be tied to the property rate collection potentials of each assembly. I dont see, for example, why AMA, KMA and STMA should be paid huge sums of money from the district assemblies common fund when there are poor assemblies who cannot afford because the kind of revenue that they are collecting from property rate are so low; yet we give all the money to the big assemblies, he stated. Prof. Asiamah has observed the Accra, Kumasi and Secondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assemblies have huge opportunities to generate revenue from property rate collection. He spoke in an interview at a symposium in Kumasi on the value of commercial properties and the effect on doing business in Ghana, organized by at Good Governance Africa (GGA) West African Centre, an independent research and advocacy organization. The event was on the theme: Towards Improved Revenue Generation in Ghana: The Role of the Development and Use of Commercial Properties in Ghana. According to Prof. Asiama, cities and towns are not development to a faster pace because assemblies receive cheap money from the Common Fund, hence fail to be proactive in property rate collection. He is also advocating taxation on idle lands to compel people to develop their lands rather than leaving them idle and creaming off profits when the value has increased and just have to sell them. Head of Land Economy Department at the KNUST, Jonathan Ayitey, says the real estate industry has huge capital potentials yet to be tapped. He identified and categorized commercial properties in Ghana and the key drivers of rents and rates for commercial properties in urban settlements in Ghana. Participants commended GGA for providing the platform to enlighten the public on the opportunities and challenges in the sector, especially in rent charges. Chief Executive of GGA-West Africa, Tina Asante-Apeatu, says outcomes of the engagement will be put into policy papers to drive national planning. Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Henry Wampah has disclosed he will be vacating his position by Friday, April 1 as against August 5 when he is due for retirement. According to him, his decision was necessitated partly by the November general elections and not his recent family issue. He has been publicly criticized by some people who suffered from the microfinance scam in the Brong Ahafo and Western regions. Some of the people accused him of failing to use his position to forestall what they have described as mass stealing of their money by DKM Diamond and God Is Love microfinance companies. In President Mahama's State of the Nation Address, he said negligence on the part of the Central Bank has contributed to microfinance companies exploiting depositors adding that, he could not sack the Governor as some were calling on him to do. On March 11, Wampah's son-in-law, Philip David McDermott, a British fugitive was arrested in Burma Hills in Accra in a joint operation between the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom. However, the business community has received the news of the sudden exit of the Governor with mixed feelings. While some business owners are excited about the news, others have expressed their misgivings alleging the Governor's exit is due to the recent bad press he has had. According to an economist and Member of Parliament for New Juabeng South, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah the Governor would be remembered for being weak and for failing to stick to decisions he takes. He said the decision of the Governor to present all his fiscal policies aimed at stabilizing the cedi from depreciation is one of the greatest mistakes he has ever made. There are lingering questions on his early retirement, however, JOYNEWS sources at the Central Bank have pointed to issues such as the recent arrest of his step daughters husband, as well as the microfinance crisis as some of the reasons behind the Governors early exit. JOYNEWS Manasseh Azure looks back at some of the events preceding the Governors retirement. Listen to Full Audio report: Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | Email: [email protected] 30.03.2016 LISTEN Nigeria never ceases to amaze us. Apparantly in Nigeria, not all coffins carries corpse. This particular coffin carry instruments of death. Pictures circulating on social media suggests that a man, disguised as a pastor was leading a group of people also under the disguise of burial, to transport ammunition. They were intercepted on their way from Lagos to Ondo. -nsromamedia.com 30.03.2016 LISTEN QUESTIONS OVER the real faces bankrolling the founder of the United Peoples Party (UPP), Mr. Akwasi Addae Odike, has finally been put to rest after the Kumasi-based Business tycoon confessed that he receives his source of funding from the President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). The founder of the UPP has been heard on tape loudly bragging about the support he enjoys from the President and the ruling NDC, as he seeks to do their bidding, ahead of the 2016 general elections. In a 10 minute conversation with a defector of his party, Gideon, Mr. Odike openly declared that he has received assurances from the President and the NDC that he would receive massive funding and that other lesser political parties with similar agenda cannot compare themselves to him. There had been allegations in the past that Mr. Odike was being bankrolled by the NDC and President Mahama, but the Kumasi-based businessman had always been quick to douse the allegations, claiming he was a man of his own. However, a conversation captured on a tape between him and one Gideon, who was said to be a member of the UPP but also defected, appears to have given him and his conspirators. The UPP founder, on the tape, also issued word of caution to his former General Secretary, Razak Kojo Opoku, who defected to the newly formed APC, founded by Mr. Hassan Ayariga, former presidential candidate of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), threatening to deal drastically with him for spreading false rumours about the UPP. There were recent reports of moves by some leading members of the UPP to remove Mr. Odike as the flagbearer for the party, a situation which Mr. Odike is fiercely resisting. Mr. Odike complained bitterly that he has been receiving calls from the General Secretary of the ruling NDC, Mr. Johnson AsieduNketiah, who is worried about the turn of events as far as the UPP. The Kumasi-based business magnates conversation also appeared to complicit the Electoral Commission(EC), asserting that the electoral body has been updating him on all the machinations by some individuals to sabotage him and the NDC agenda to use him as a decoy in the run up to the elections. GENESIS The conversation took off when Gideon, who is the Central Regional Chairman of the UPP, called the UPP founder to complain about unsolicited calls he had been receiving from some anonymous members of the UPP threatening him over his exit from the party. Gideon, who is said to be working closely with RazakOpoku, the former General Secretary, told Mr. Odike that he did not like the way the UPP members had been calling him and threatening him and therefore wanted Mr. Odike to talk to his boys to stop calling him(Gideon). But charged Odike, in his response, appears to have watered down the calls and said he(Gideon) was not the object of his attack and that it is RazakOpoku that he was going to deal with. Mr. Odike warned during the conversation that he would drastically deal with his former General Secretary and that when it happens, nobody should blame him. The UPP founder, was bitter about the fact that his former General Secretary, who has since joined Mr. Hassan Ayarigas APC, has been going round spreading false rumours about UPP and trying to discredit the party in the eyes of the electoral body. Sounding persuasive however, the UPP founder convinced Gideon to rescind his decision and come back to the fold of the UPP since he was billed to receive cash from his sponsors (herein the NDC). According to the UPP, he was very solid on the ground and that he has the backing of the President and the Electoral Commission, bragging that no amount of conspiracy and machination can undo him. MONEY COMING The UPP founder on the tape, stated emphatically that he has the support of the President John Dramani Mahama and that there is no way the NDC will deal with any group or individual other than him. You think John Mahama is a fool to be throwing money around; all these things Razak and his guys have been doing there is no way the President will mind them, it is me the President knows and he will deal directly with me and no one else, so the earlier you (Gideon) realise this and come back, the better it will be for you, he stated. The UPP leader further bragged: I am telling you that Razak and his people are engaged in illegality by trying to forge documents at the EC to change the ownership of the UPP,, but trust me the EC people are not fools, they have been giving me updates about everything that is going on I have the ownership of this party for 10 years and there is no way anybody can take it away from me,. The Kumasi-based businessman indicated that all was set for him to rain cash getting to the heat of the campaign, stressing that the NDC will not bring money to the UPP without him in charge. It is me that the NDC and President Mahama know; the people I asked to accompany me to the Flagstaff House were a camouflage, I did so because I wanted to convince them to bring the money. I heard Razak and co went to Asiedu Nketiah and other places but it didnt work., Mr. Odike revealed that during the 2012 elections he did not get enough money from the NDC but was however optimistic that the 2016 presents the best opportunity to recoup his long time investments. I am urging you once again not to pay attention to Razak; lets finish celebrating the Easter festivities so that we can sit down and talk. I didnt get anything in the previous elections but this time around we are going to chop. Very soon the NDC will be sending money to us to start work, just be patient because I have no problem with you it is Razak that is the problem I didnt chase him he left himself but thank God we have all seen the truth, He stated. ASIEDU NKETIAH WORRIED Mr. Odike said the General Secretary of the ruling party, as well as the President, were very worried about the unfortunate developments and that they have been calling him to find out the way things were going. Recently, Mr. Asiedu Nketiah has been calling me, expressing worry as a result of what Razak and his people have been doing. They want to take care of me so that I can do the work properly for them. This year we will chop but we need to gain their trust so I want you to tell Razak that enough is enough Mr. Odike lamented. ODIKES RESPONSE But when Mr. Odike was contacted on the phone for his response to the content of the tape, he simply parried off the information and told this reporter to go ahead and publish whatever he wants. I havent said anything; I am in the middle of a meeting so you can publish whatever you want. My voice has been doctored, the UPP founder stated and then dropped the line. 30.03.2016 LISTEN Oba Otudeko, CEO of Honeywell Group, is awarded CEO of the year at the 2016 AFRICA CEO FORUM AWARDS. Sebastien Kadio-Morokro, CEO of Petro-Ivoire, received the award for YOUNG CEO OF THE YEAR, a new prize introduced at the 2016 ceremony, recognizing a promising young African CEO The 6 winners of the 2016 AFRIA CEO FORUM AWARDS The trophy for CEO of the Year is awarded to Oba Otudeko, CEO of HONEYWELL GROUP. In his speech, Oba Otudeko dedicated his award to all his staff: This prize is a reward for our commitment. Our future is bright and belongs to all of us! . He received this much-awaited and prestigious prize from Jay Ireland, CEO of General Electric Africa. Sebastien Kadio-Morokro, CEO of Petro-Ivoire, was awarded YOUNG CEO OF THE YEAR. This new category was created this year and recognizes the African CEO under 40 who leads an emblematic African company with high potential. Sebastien Kadio-Morokro welcomed this encouraging signal for the youth in Cote dIvoire. He was given the trophy by Mr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, President of the African Development Bank. Dangote Group received the AFRICAN COMPANY OF THE YEAR award, which was given by Mr. Amir Ben Yahmed, founder and president of the AFRICA CEO FORUM. This award recognizes the company that achieved the most remarkable expansion in the continent in 2015. BGFI Bank was awarded AFRICAN BANK OF THE YEAR. The prize was presented by the Ivorian Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Adama Kone, and recognizes the groups growth strategy and commitment to financing African companies. The PRIVATE EQUITY INVESTOR OF THE YEAR award was given to Emerging Capital Partners. The award presented by Cheikh Oumar Seydi, Regional Director of the International Finance Corporation, recognizes the African private equity firm which recorded the largest number of significant transactions in the last two years. Heineken is awarded the prize for INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION OF THE YEAR. The group achieved a strong growth in the continent over the last few years and maintains its leading position in 13 African countries About the AFRICA CEO FORUM Developed in partnership with the African Development Bank, the AFRICA CEO FORUM is an event organized by the Jeune Afrique Group, publisher of Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, and Rainbow Unlimited, a Swiss company specializing in the planning of investment promotion events. Over 800 African and international figures attended the 3rd edition in 2015, including 500 CEOs from 43 African countries and 100 high-level speakers. The AFRICA CEO FORUM is now established as the major event addressing issues of private sector development in Africa. Several key reports to be launched during the ADW and the Conference of Ministers, taking place between the 31st March and 5th April at the UN Conference Centre The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union will once again convene Ministers of Finance and Economy for their annual Conference of Ministers meetings. The meetings have become an important platform to discuss the most critical African Developmental issues. This years theme is centered on Agenda 2063, the masterplan for African Development and the newly agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). African leaders, along with other world leaders, recommitted themselves to implementing a more sustainable development pathway through Agenda 2030. African Union Member States also demonstrated their commitment to the continental Agenda 2063. Critical issues to be discussed at the African Development Week will explore how best to formulate a more integrated and coherent approach to implementing, monitoring and evaluating these important development agendas which will chart the direction for Africas future. Twenty-three (23) side events will be taking place on the sidelines of the ministerial meetings, which will also see the launch of some of the ECAs flagship reports. These include the ECA country profiles, providing a detailed analysis of a countrys macroeconomic and investment profile and the launch of the African Regional Integration Index. The Index, a collaboration between ECA, the African Union and the African Development Bank, will rank countries in terms of how economically integrated they are within a region. Regional integration is a key development priority for Africa and the report is the first systematic, continent-wide instrument for measuring the progress made by the 54 African countries in implementing the continents regional integration frameworks. The report says Africas integration journey towards a more connected, competitive and business-friendly continent is underway and its roadmap is, in some areas, under construction. Africas Regional Integration Index is an action tool measuring the progress of an Africa on the move. Among the other thematic issues to be discussed will be the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and implementation of the SDGs. In addition, a number of sectoral issues will be covered, including industrialization, regional integration, migration, energy and banking, as well as better collection and use of data and statistics. There will also be an interesting and important discussion around corruption and governance. The Africa Governance Report on Measuring Corruption in Africa to be presented during the ADW argues that current approaches for measuring corruption are predominantly perception-based and completely ignore the international dimension of corruption in Africa. The report urges African countries to engage in improving their own governance agenda, rather than undertaking the futile exercise of naming and shaming one another because of the given perception levels of corruption. The ADW also includes the Annual Adedeji Lecture. Dr Adebayo Adedeji was head of the ECA between 1975 to 1978 and was instrumental in raising the institutions profile and work on Africa. This years lecture will be delivered by Ha-Joon Chang, renowned Development Economist and author of Kicking Away the Ladder and 23 Things They Dont Tell You About Capitalism, and Economics. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank during the 2015 Conference of Ministers in Addis Ababa Source-African Media Agency (AMA) 30.03.2016 LISTEN By Mohammed Awal ([email protected]) The visas of three South African Nationals picked up by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) for allegedly engaging in acts that threatened Ghana's security have been revoked, a statement from the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) said. As a result, the three, Major Shaik Hazis (Rtd), 55; Denver Dwayhe, 39 and Captain Mlungiseli Jokani, 45 were deported Tuesday aboard South African Airways Flight number 210 which departed around 9:26am to Johannesburg. the Director of Immigration, acting in accordance with Section 20 of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573) has revoked the visas issued to the three South Africans. The Director has further ordered their repatriation to South Africa, in line with Section 21 of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573), the statement said. Major Sheik Hazis Rtd and his colleagues were in the country at the request of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to train its security personnel in various security drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response manoeuvers. These, according to the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI), threatened the nation's security, thus their arrest. They were arrested in the Central Region. 'Entry by deceit' After the arrest of the three suspects by the BNI, the GIS requested their release to the latter to determine their immigration status in the country stated the statement. In the process to ascertain these facts, the forms they submitted to our Mission in Pretoria, South Africa and the disembarkation cards filled by them upon their arrival at KIA were vetted, the statement noted. As a result, the GIS found that the three SA nationals were issued B1 (Business) visas which prohibits any form of employment, the statement explained and that their individual hosts had indicated in their respective invitation letters that they were to travel to Accra for a series of business meetings with them. But the (suspects) indicated in their written statements that they were invited by the NPP to train its security personnel, which contradicts the express purpose for their coming to Ghana, which was to attend meetings, noted the statement. It is the view of the GIS that the training exercise conducted by the three at the El Capitano Hotel in the Central Region to a group that did not invite them, is clearly a confirmation of the attempt to conceal the motive for their visit and was, therefore, a breach of Section 52(1) (e) and (i) of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573). Their act is also a breach of the conditions precedent for the issuance of visas as contained in the instructions on Form B (Reg.3 (4) of the Immigration Regulation 2001 (LI 1691), it read. Family pleased with deportation of 3 Nimala Abboy, sister of one of the deported said she welcomes the news of the extradition saying: I'm happy my family has been released. We are excited as a family. They are not criminals. We are excited to know they are coming back home and they were not involved in any criminal act, she told Citifm an Accra-based private radio Tuesday. 30.03.2016 LISTEN TENSION CONTINUES to mount between the Abudu and Andani royal families of the Dagbon Chieftaincy dispute, as the latter (Andani Royal family members) have repeated their avowed stance against the performance of the funeral of the late Yaa-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai at the Gbewaa palace in Yendi. At the celebration of the 14th Anniversary of the murder of Yaa-NaaYakubu Andani II at the Gbewaa Palace in Yendi, the Andani family strongly emphasized that under no circumstance would they allow for the funeral of Mahamadu Abdulai to be performed at the Gbewaa palace. According to them such a decision would amount to nothing but condoning crime. The family insisted that the late Mahamadu Abdulai was wrongly 'enskinned' (named as a chief) as a Yaa-Naa in 1969 and was appropriately 'deskinned' in 1974, and eventually died out of office as a private person at a private location and that his funeral could not, therefore, be performed at the Gbewaa palace. A statement signed by the Regent of Dagbon, Kampakuyana Abdulai Yakubu Andani, and read by a member of the Andani family, Alhassan Basharu Dabali accused the then government of facilitating the attack on the Gbewaa palace in 2002 with the aim of forcibly removing Yaa-Naa Yakubu Andani II from the palace to pave way for the funeral of Mahamadu Abdulai to be performed. Even though they recognize governments role in facilitating the process by ensuring that there was law and order, the Andani family also asked government to stay away from the customs and traditions of Dagbon because it was neither the Asantehene's palace nor presidency that chooses the Yaa-Naa. That role, they said, was the exclusive preserve of the custodians of Dagbon headed by the Kuga Naa. The 14th Anniversary saw the recitation of the Holy Quran at the forecourt of the Gbewaa palace in Yendi for the departed soul of the late Overlord Yaa-Naa Yakubu AndaniII who was murdered together with forty of his retinue on 27 March, 2002. A solemn moment was also observed for that dark day. The Chief Imam of Yendi, Alhaji Yussif Yakubu, led the recitation and prayer for good rain this year so that farmers could start the farming season on a positive note. He also prayed for peace to reign in Dagbon and to prevent the Dagbon Kingdom from the destructive rainstorms which have already started in some districts in the northern region including Yendi. In a related development, the northern Regional Muslim Council comprising the leadership of the Central Mosque and the Ambariya Suna Community has identified the unresolved protracted chieftaincy disputes in Dagbon, Nanumba (Bimbilla) and Bunkpurugu (Bimoba) traditional areas as potential threats to the peace and stability in the region especially going into election 2016. The leadership of the Muslim communities in the region therefore announced their readiness to work closely with government, the Committee of Eminent Chiefs and other stakeholders in ensuring the total resolution of all the conflicts to foster peace, unity and development. We wish to state that we the Imams and Ulamau as leaders of the Muslim communities have incessantly prayed for the resolution of these conflicts but now we reckon that we need to do more than prayers and get involved in working with government and other religious groups to support peace initiatives that are geared towards the resolution of all these conflicts. According to them, the raging chieftaincy conflicts in the region had and continued to have incalculable negative consequences on the lives of the people and the development of the region. At a well-attended Press Conference organized by the Council and jointly addressed by the leadership of the Tamale Central Mosque and the Ambariya Suna Community in Tamale, the Spokesperson for the Council, Sheikh Amin Bamba lamented that the conflicts had affected the people economically, psychologically, socially, culturally, religiously and politically especially in the last 14 years. They therefore appealed to the parties involved in the conflicts to soften their stance and allowed for the smooth resolution of the disputes, and to also close their ranks to prevent other selfish and unscrupulous individuals exploiting the conflict and the emotional attachment of the people for their parochial interests. The people of Dagbon, Bimbilla and Bunkpurugu traditional areas can resolve the conflicts themselves if they are supported and encouraged by the religious and political leaders of this country. The Council also appealed to the leaders of Abudu and Andani royal gates to re-commit to the peace roadmap they agreed upon with the Otumfour's Committee of Eminent Chiefs for amicable resolution. They passionately called on the Committee of Eminent Chiefs to resume the mediation process and show firmness and resoluteness in order to avoid the loss of confidence of the people in the mediation process. We wish to call on government to take steps to enforce or implement all relevant decisions that are arrived at during the negotiation in line with Quranic directives as contained in Quran 49:9 which states that [If two parties among the believers fall into a quarrel, make peace between them; but if one of them transgresses beyond bounds against the other, then you should all fight the party that transgresses until they comply with the command of Allah, but if they comply then make peace between them with justice, and be fair; for Allah loves those who are fair and just]. The Muslim Council reminded the feuding parties in all the conflicts areas to know that none of them can ever win and that, they cannot afford to and should not bequeath the conflict to the next generation. Meanwhile, these conflicts have resulted in several loss of human lives, burning of houses, shops and other individual properties. The little available resources meant for development projects are therefore usually used to provide heavy security. Interestingly, almost all these conflicts were led by the youth of the affected areas who are supposed to be the future leaders. The Muslim Council therefore appealed to youth to desist from allowing themselves to be used by some selfish individuals to foment troubles especially elections. On Election 2016, the Muslim Council appealed to the political parties to regard the election as competition for opportunity to serve the nation so that they could see their sister parties as competitors and not adversaries. They charged the security agencies to also be more professional and resolute in the discharge of their duties before, during and after the elections. From Edmond Gyebi, Tamale 30.03.2016 LISTEN THE OPPOSITION New Patriotic Party (NPP) is set to renew hostilities with the Electoral Commission over what the opposition party believes is failure on the part of the electoral body to implement recommendations made by the court and its own panel set up few months ago. The opposition party claims that the EC has deliberately refused to carry out an order of the court, as well as the recommendations made by the V.C.R.A.C Crabbe-led Panel, set up by the EC itself to engage in public discourse over the call for a new voters register. The NPP further pointed out that though three weeks ago all seven justices of the Supreme Court, in hearing the second petition presented by Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako, ordered the EC to meet with the plaintiffs to discuss how best the validation option can be pursued, the EC in its usual lackadaisical move, told the plaintiffs it needed two weeks to study the proposal before the details can be discussed. According to the opposition party, the EC, in presenting its roadmap for the elections, refused to include plans for the validation, though it has been recorded that it should be done before the Limited Voters Registration exercise can be conducted. The party further alleges that the Electoral Commission is also planning to deliberately delete as many as two hundred thousand names from the voters register in the various constituencies of the Ashanti Region alone, to pave way for an NDC electoral victory in November, the Ashanti Regional branch of the opposition NPP, has claimed. Such devilish move by the EC, according to the NPP, was even piloted last year during the District Assembly Elections, where in many districts in the region, voters showed up only to find out that their names were not in the register, same register which was used for the 2012 national elections. The party further alleged that, there are some people going around in the region, as officials of the Electoral Commission, and collecting ID cards of voters with the excuse that they are to be replaced with new ones. To the party, that diabolic move by such persons will not be taken lightly because there are also growing cases of people going to the bank with their ID cards only to be told that their particulars in the system do not match their voter ID. And this, we strongly believe is part of the EC/Mahama grand scheme to swindle the will of the people of Ashanti region. In the view of the party, the EC is not only compromising on their already-soiled reputations, rather their stands are creating total mistrust among majority of political parties as well as Ghanaians, and a step to breeding avoidable conflicts as the elections draw closer. Speaking at a press conference, Tuesday, in Kumasi, organized by the opposition parties in the region, NPP Parliamentary Candidate for the Asawase Constituency, Alhaji Alidu Seidu noted that, as part of the Electoral Commission and the NDC grand plot to steal the elections, the commission is deliberately refusing to implement recommendations by its own panel of experts for voter validation. According to Alhaji Seidu, since the EC is bent on rigging the November polls for the NDC, anytime questions on validation is posed to them, whether from the Supreme Court or from journalists, the answers from them does not give clue that they are ready to carry out the process to benefit the entire nation. The NPP Asawase PC, added that all these posturing by the commission, chaired by Charlotte Osei, is a calculated attempt to give Mahama an undue upper hand, warning that the NPP will not sit down and allow the EC to jeopardize with the peace and will of the people. The regional chairman Bernard AnwiBoasiako, hinted of a massive demonstration by the party on the streets of the capital, on April 6, 2016, to register their displeasure on how the governments rampant intimidation on party leaders, as well as the unbearable hardship, corruption and blatant disrespect of rule of law by the Mahama administration. Dubbed Baamuyadda, to wit -we will not agree the chairman said they are staging the demo to tell the government that: We will not agree to another four years of corruption, dum-so, unemployment, incompetence, insecurity and four gears of this Mahama police state. From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi The leaderships of the two major Islamic communities in the northern region; the Tamale Central Mosque and the Ambaria Muslim community have called on the leadership of the two royal families the Abudu and Andani gates to commit themselves to the peace processes to bring lasting solution to the outstanding chieftaincy conflict that existed between the two gates for a very long time. According to the religious leaders, the continual existence of conflicts in the region has negative effects in the lives of the people . The religious leaders made the call at a press conference held today at the office of the regional chief Imam Sheikh Alhaji Abdul-salaam in Tamale. They also appealed to the youth of the region to concentrate their efforts in acquiring knowledge and skills rather than wasting their energies on conflicts that will only jeopardize their future. They again appealed to the youth of the various political parties not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to foment trouble before,during and after the 2016 general elections. A press release read by Sheikh Mohammed Aminu Bamba noted the growing trend of SAKAWA and the vigilante groups as a treat to national peace and security. Accra: March 29th, 2016: Members of the Ghana Securities Industries Association (GSIA), the umbrella body for brokerage firms in the country, have indicated their aspiration to see the full enforcement of a robust regulatory and legal framework that will stimulate trading and participation of all market actors on the National Commodity Exchange (GCX) when it becomes operational. This was made known when the GCX Project team met with members of the Ghana Securities Industry Association (GSIA) in a one day awareness and sensitisation programme held at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Accra to update stakeholders in the commodity value chain of the status of the operations of the Project. The sensitisation programme was to share information on the Membership Structure and Recruitment Design and opportunities open to market actors when GCX becomes operational. Leading discussions at the sensitisation programme, the Acting Project Director, Mr. Robert Dowuona Owoo thanked the brokers for their participation explaining that the objective of the GCX was to transform the lives of Ghanaians in general and those who participated in the agriculture value chain in particular. He disclosed that a concept of partial mandating was being explored to ensure that the Exchange had the needed volumes so as to make trading attractive to members of the Exchange. According to Mr. Owoo, the partial mandating concept would encourage sustained active participation of market actors on the Exchange. The partial mandating concept would allow the Regulator from time to time to require that certain commodities or volumes of commodities be traded on an Exchange. This policy, if adopted, would also compel institutions that made purchases of huge volumes of all commodities of the quality that GCX will trade in the future, to be executed on the Exchange through Brokers. Delivering a presentation on the Membership Structure and Requirements design for the GCX, the Membership Manager of the GCX, Mr. Richard Ankrah explained that there were five (5) categories of membership namely: Institutional, Trading, Brokering, Clearing and Associate. He clarified that the categorisation of the membership structure had been done to enable all market actors to participate in GCX activities through any category as part of the all-inclusiveness policy of the Exchange. Mr. Ankrah elucidated that participation by Brokerage firms on the Exchange would afford them the opportunity to increase their clientele in terms of access to aggregators, farmers, traders, processors while ensuring trade facilitation which would enable them to execute orders to buy or sell commodity contracts on behalf of clients and charging a commission. He also hinted that becoming members also afforded opportunity to own propriety rights to membership seats in the trading pit, which could increase in value over time thereby making it possible for broking members to also trade on own their accounts to make profits. Mr. Ankrah also urged representatives of the Brokerage firms to consider investment opportunities in other areas of the GCX eco-system. The sensitisation exercise also afforded the stockbrokers the platform to know more about the regulatory and policy environment to ensure successful operations of the Exchange, the opportunities for auxiliary services in the transportation, logistics, haulage and warehousing continuum of the eco-system, technological infrastructure to be deployed and protocols or policy on standards and grading of commodities to be traded in among other concerns. They indicated their willingness to participate in a similar sensitisation engagement on the Central Depository and Clearing and Settlement models of the GCX. 30.03.2016 LISTEN Afro-Arab Youth Council (AAYC) has opened its doors in the SADC Region. The opening was attended by the President of the Council Yousef Alkazim from Qatar, Secretary General Awad Hassan Ibrahim from Sudan, and Vice President of the council Mr. Philip Ajok from South Sudan among other delegates from member countries, diplomats, youth organizations and government officials. The council is expected to boost several empowerment programs in the SADC region and also facilitate meaningful exchange programs that are posited to empower young people. President of the council Mr. Yousef noted that they have chosen to locate the Afro-Arab Youth Council SADC headquarters in Zimbabwe after considering the prevailing peaceful environment and the countrys strategic position in the region. SADC representative Mr. Misheck Gondo noted that the office will institute favorable programs in the Southern African region and allow exchange of ideas meant to develop the aspirations of young people in Africa. The Vice President of the Council Mr. Philip Ajok noted that the establishment of the office in Harare will strategically position development as it will boost youth empowerment activities in the region and Africa. The Afro-Arab Youth Council brings together youths from the Africa and Arab nations to exchange notes on various empowerment and education programmes as well as issues related volunteerism, peace ,and education. 30.03.2016 LISTEN Accra, March 30, GNA - Torgbui Akamu Adri , Dufia of Atiavi, has appealed to the Local Government Ministry to provide the town waste management logistics for them to maintain a healthy environment. He said such logistics could include waste management trucks and dustbins. Torgbui Dufia said this at a durbar over the weekend to mark the Easter festivities in Atiavi in the Volta Region. The event was held under the theme: a Decade of Sustainable Growth and Development. Torgbui Dufia also called on the Ministry of Energy to replace the over fifty electrical poles in the community. He said the damaged electrical poles pose serious threats to the people and needed to be replaced to enable the extension of electricity from Atiavi -Agblego to Akumey village and its surrounding areas. Torgbui Dufia said the people of Atiavi do appreciate Government's efforts in implementing various development projects in the country. He said as a result of this, a health center and pipe borne water has been provided to the Atiavi community and called for more of such development projects to create employment for the youth. Torgbui Dufia also appealed to Government to make travelling from Atiavi to Abor comfortable by reconstructing the only access road which is in a bad shape. Dr Hannah Bissiw, Deputy Minister of Agriculture in charge of Livestock, urged the people of Atiavi to be patient and have faith in the Government as it seeks to implement more projects and create more opportunities for the youth. She called on parents to send their children to school saying Government would continue to support the education of the child. Dr Bissiw also praised Mr Dan Abodakpui, former Ambassador to Malaysia, for various development projects he initiated in the town. Mr Elvis Afriyie -Ankrah, Minister of State, congratulated the people of Atiavi for their hard work and promised to assist in the development of the town. Mr Dan Abodakpui called on the people to continue to have faith in the NDC Government for more projects in the coming years. He said Government intends to establish an ICT Center at Atiavi and called on the the chiefs to release land for the project. Mr Dan Abodakpui and Mr Elvis Ankrah were honoured by Mr Gershon Eklu Yakawonya, Chairman of Atiavi Development Association, for their various contributions towards the development of Atiavi. GNA 30.03.2016 LISTEN Complex network of armed groups makes Africa's quest to end all wars by 2020 even more difficult, says Bernard Otabil Accra, March 30, GNA - There is this ambitious, if you like, audacious attempt by the African Union (AU) to 'silence the guns' by 2020. By definition, and borrowing extensively from the AU 'plan', the aim of this laudable, and yet extremely confusing initiative is to 'end all wars in Africa' by the year 2020. And how? Well, at the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which later became the AU (OAU/AU) in July 2001, Heads of State and Government of the Assembly boldly declared, among other solemn declarations, 'not to bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation of Africans' and 'to end all wars in Africa by 2020'. Truth be told, after this declaration, attempts have been made by Governments to address some of the factors that really account for or serve as motivation for gunrunning on the continent. Border security, as well as internal security in some countries, has improved in addition to efforts being made by Governments to ensure that state security is improved in most areas also. But to silence the guns by 2020, the sea change must be felt more at the top, as strong political will works better than just moral persuasion. And, it appears also that this view is strongly shared by the former President of Nigeria, General (rtd) Olusegun Obasanjo. At a recent press conference on the upcoming Tana High-Level forum on Security in Africa in Ethiopia, Gen Obasanjo told the gathering that it was apt when African leaders are blamed for the conflicts in the continent. According to the former president, some African leaders have failed to manage diversity in their societies, hence the attendant instability, on one part, and then the failure of some leaders to also prevent marginalisation in their societies; prevent injustice; reduce unemployment and reduce poverty. 'The repercussions are now being felt in Mali, Nigeria and the Sahel,' General Obasanjo said. Clearly, for conflict to end in Africa, and by extension ending all wars by 2020, there is the need for a proper diagnosis of the contributing factors to the problem, and more so, the need for the strengthening of institutions to promote democracy and good governance. The conflict situation in Africa cannot be underestimated and as it has been witnessed in some parts of the continent, introducing an all-inclusive government in the form of participatory democracy alone cannot solve the problem. Better institutions, however, can bring about the desired results in the end, as some say. The crises in the Central African Republic and South Sudan, as well as in the wider Sahel region, are examples of how diverse the conflict situation on the continent is. And, recent developments in connection with activities of small armed groups have not brought comfort. Not too long ago, gunmen killed at least 15 civilians and three soldiers in Grand Bassam, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, bringing to the fore once again, the realisation that silencing the guns by 2020 might appear to be wishful thinking. Militants linked to al-Qaeda were blamed for the attack on the beach resort deemed popular with foreigners in Grand Bassam. The commentary and analysis following the attack suggested that there were still problems within the country that made it possible for the attackers to succeed. 'It may be true that this could be the work of militants linked to al-Qaeda. Equally, it could also be due to the fact that some disgruntled members of society aided whoever had planned such heinous attacks on the good people of this country. We have been through political upheavals in the past but we have moved on', Ameen Diop, an Ivorian living in Accra said in an interview. 'However, it appears that the Government is only preaching democracy and not doing enough to manage the cultural diversity of this country; more so when the civil war of the past period virtually destroyed the social fabric. That cultural hegemony that made [us] one people, and [therefore] proud Ivorians for a long time is now destroyed, and believe me, today there is suspicion among common friends. This must be countered by the Government, by promoting strong social ties', Diop maintained. Broadly, it appears that Diop shares in the sentiments expressed by General Obasanjo when he [Obasanjo] claimed that managing diversity was as important as developing good governance and democracy if Africa was to witness an end to conflicts and, by extension, also situate it in the context of the African 'gun plan', to end all wars by 2020. One other necessary requirement for African states, if the problems of gunrunning were to be stopped, is money - adequate funding. African states need money to, not only beef up internal security and introduce counter-intelligence programmes to forestall the work of militants as they become more complex, but also to provide the necessary social amenities, including good education and better healthcare facilities, as well as micro economic activities in the form of employment. But the cash is either never there or never enough. At the press conference by General Obasanjo, he gave a peep-in into how the financial situation of the AU itself could be troubled. The former president described how his efforts, even at the highest level, as head of state seeking funding for a high-level panel of AU came to nought. And then, recounting other experiences, described how looking for funds by the AU to counter the threat by the Ebola virus, for example, almost yielded nothing, until the private sector was approached. 'The AU eventually had to turn to the private sector and it was able to raise $40 million,' said General Obasanjo. It is only four more years to the end of the 2020 target date and yet there appear to be no significant progress thus far. What is rather clear is that what in Africa appeared to be disgruntled people taking up arms to fight injustices of some sort - social exclusion, corruption, nepotism, poverty, hunger - is now changing into a complex web of human organisation using all means that fit the definition of terrorism. So, as the source of worry globally now is terrorism- local and foreign threats- how will Africa respond, vis a vis the plan to end all wars by 2020? "Every country in the world needs to be prepared to deal with terrorism and security', says the US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, on March 30 when he visited the Ashanti region of the country, advising Ghana to be equally prepared. 'Ghana is not unique in that," he added. "I think that we are becoming better prepared but we always need to be vigilant. If I have one message it is that we need to work together. It is an international problem and requires an international solution", the ambassador added. Yes, international co-operation is what is needed and that must be supported by a strong political will for the 'fight' to be successful. When the guns become sophisticated weapons, the strategy to counter must equally change. Dr. Otabil, a financial journalist, is the CEO of the Ghana News Agency and a Regional Fellow of the Tana Forum, with research interests in economics, peace and security. GNA Nana Yaa Kwabea, Abontendom Hemea of Mamfe, has called for coherent policies and the implementation of laws that seek to protect vulnerable children within the society. According to her, under aged children in their millions, continue to suffer dehumanizing conditions that impacts adversely on their fundamental rights in Ghana and in Africa. Every child born must be a blessing to the nation and we all have a duty in ensuring that their right to quality education and health care are guaranteed at all times she said. The queen mother was speaking at the Great Mission International Childrens Home at Teshie, home to more than 60 vulnerable children drawn from different areas of the country. John Nyavor founder of the institution said since its inception in 2006 the home functions to provide decent accommodation, training, care and love to marginalised members of the society towards the national development effort and the creation of a society devoid of poverty, pain and misery and one based on the principles social justice and equality for all. Ebenezer Mensah, a 13 year old student of the home, in a conversation with this reporter made a moving statement. He said my ambition is to become multi-lingual. I want to speak over six international languages, especially Chinese, Spanish, French, Kiswahili and Arabic. Asked why he wanted to study and speak so many languages he explained that some foreigners come to visit us here and I meet some of them on my way to school and I wish I could speak to every one of them. I also think that you are respected and revered when you speak divers languages and you can easily get a job. About 5 children from the home are currently taking courses in different fields of study, including medicine at the University of Ghana and in other tertiary institutions. Nana Yaa Kwabea also made a donation of food items and other teaching materials running into thousands of Ghana cedis to the facility. In attendance at the event were some queen mothers from some traditional areas of the country, including Nana Dokua Adobea II, Mmabaawahemaa of Akropong, Nana Tenewaa Sarfoah II, Mpraeso-Kwahu-Asuboni No 3 Hemaa, Nana Nyantakyiwa Akuapemhene Ankobea Hemaa of Akropong and Nana Akua Konyo, Aseseeso Mmabaahemaa. In a recent speech to the General Assembly, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, revealed that the greatest threat faced by many poor children and households in the world is the quality of potable water available to them. 30.03.2016 LISTEN Transparency International defines corruption as "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. The anti-corruption agency goes a step further to classify corruption into three types namely, grand corruption, petty corruption and political corruption, "depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs". "Grand corruption consists of acts committed at a high level of government that distort policies or the central functioning of the state, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good. It further defines "Petty corruption as everyday abuse of entrusted power by low - and mid-level public officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens, who often are trying to access basic goods or services in places like hospitals, schools, police departments and other agencies. Political corruption, it says, is a manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth." For the purposes of this article, corruption refers to all the types referred to above. The canker of corruption in Ghana perceived and real have bothered many a person since independence, more so due to its cost to the nation pegged at US$1 billion annually. Its ramifications go beyond the vulnerable in the society to the general public. Ghana's first democratically elected leader, Kwame Nkrumah and his government were accused by western governments and local political opponents of corruption in many of their dealings. In his book, Political Corruption: The Ghana Case, Victor T. Le Vine wrote that bribery, theft and embezzlement arose from reversion to a traditional winner-takes-all attitude in which power and family relationships prevailed over the rule of law. President Nkrumah was accused of, among other things, diverting US$ 5 million of state funds into his private account. Also, some of his ministers, particularly Krobo Edusei, who was a high profile member of the Convention People's Party (CPP) and minister without a portfolio, allegedly used state funds to build mansions his earnings could not have supported. Krobo Eduseis wife, noted for her ostentation at the expense of the state was also reported to have purchased and imported a US$ 5000 gold plated bed from Europe. Corruption also allegedly manifested its way through the now-all-too-familiar extortion, embezzlement and diversion of public funds into party coffers. Even though President Nkrumah used his famous dawn broadcasts to denounce corruption and condemn errant government officials, that initiative could not achieve much due to the fact that the canker had long gained ground and was therefore extremely difficult to control. Arguably, unbridled corruption was one of the main reasons that led to the overthrow of the Nkrumah government. Other regimes after President Nkrumah have all been labeled corrupt at various times and cited in glaring acts of corruption with many unable to acquit themselves both in the courts of public opinion and of competent jurisdiction. The National Liberation Council (NLC), formed after the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1966, had its leader General J.A. Ankrahs hands cited in the infamous Nzeribe Case in which he accepted bribe. That, undoubtedly, eventually led to his overthrow. His successor Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia of the Progress Party (PP) was overthrown for the very ills he was elected to uproot. Colonel Kutu Acheampong succinctly said this about his government in an interview with the Africasia Magazine in 1972: The Ghana Armed Forces took over government on January 13, 1972, because the same evils which compelled the Army and the Police to topple the Nkrumah regime on February 24, 1966, persisted. These were bribery and corruption, tribalism, dissipation of funds, economic mismanagement Fast-forward to the Fourth Republic, President Rawlings was accused of deliberately running down key state corporations and selling them to his cronies and fronts at giveaway prices. Additionally, his children allegedly had their education in prestigious institutions abroad on the benevolence of some beneficiaries of his corrupt deals. This is against the background that Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings in his first coup detat executed Colonel I. K. Acheampong, Lieutenant General Frederick William Kwasi Akuffo, Brigadier Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa and Rear Admiral Amedume for alleged acts of corruption. His successor President Kufuor also battled allegations of corruption such as the sale of prime state landed property and uncompleted affordable housing projects to party members and government officials. Under his government he also allegedly played a role in the payment of US$ 5000 to each member of the NPP Majority in Parliament to approve the infamous Ghana Telecom sale to Vodafone Plc. This was after he confessed having to pinch himself to resist temptations of corruption. Of course there were still many more cases of corruption in contract kickbacks to government officials, the most infamous being the one alleged by one-time NPP chairman Haruna Esseku against President Kufuor. Then under Presidents Mills, judgement debt payments allegedly became the commonest means through which state funds were diverted into party and private coffers. The payments to Alfred Woyome, Isofoton, et al readily come to mind. Under the current government of President Mahama, further allegations of arranged judgement payments emerged alongside the uncovering of massive judicial corruption by Anas Aremeyaw Anas Tiger Eye PI. The sixteen companies that benefitted from the payment of over GHS 400 million under the cover of GYEEDA models cannot go unmentioned. In their attempts to prove a point to the general public that they were committed to the fight against corruption, all governments, like the Nkrumah government, announced measures towards tackling the canker. However, almost all failed in bringing those lofty ideas to fruition. President Kufuor, for example, created an anti-corruption office in the Castle so that he could have direct oversight of its operations. Shockingly, it was just around that time that corruption suddenly became as old as Adam. The rest is history. Little is known of John Mills' fight against corruption beyond his famous declarations against corruption in press encounters and unannounced visits to public institutions like the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority. So much for the incorruptible President. Having said the foregoing, Ghana is making modest gains in the fight against corruption, at least according to anti-graft agency Transparency International's recent Corruption Perception Index (CPI) reports. The CPI 2015 scored Ghana 47 out of a clean score of 100, standing 56 out of 168 countries. So what is the way forward to fighting corruption? The World Bank published the following on its website which I will bullet for brevity sake. * Paying civil servants well * Creating transparency and openness in government spending * Cutting red tape * Replacing regressive and distorting subsidies with targeted cash transfers * Establishing international conventions and * Deploying smart technology But given that governments since independence have failed to successfully stem the tide of corruption in spite of tremendous support from the World Bank and associate agencies, it is high time the "ordinary citizen" took centre stage. What then can we do as citizens to improve on this score and possibly, ameliorate or nip the malaise in the bud? I propose the following: * Obey the law and encourage others to do same Conventional wisdom admonishes us to first learn to do right so that we can have the moral right to encourage or compel others, if we are in positions of authority and influence, to take a cue. As citizens, we have to make spirited personal efforts to learn about and obey the anti-graft laws of our land and influence others to do likewise. We should be the last to give or take bribes no matter the temptation or urge. If we stay true to this, we will be amazed at the positive changes we can cause in the fight against corruption. * Be vigilant and report corruption Having succeeded in not engaging in acts of corruption ourselves, the next step to take is to report acts of corruption whenever and wherever we witness them without fear of or favour for whoever is involved. No victory is won in a state of apathy. We have to eschew that usual Ghanaian way of "minding our own business" by turning a blind eye to acts of wrongdoing that eventually affect all of us. As such, we have to avail ourselves of the avenue provided by the Whistleblowers Law and the yet-to-be-passed Right to Information Bill. From our private offices, roadside, government offices and so forth, whenever we have suspicions of corruption, hopefully with the protection of the law, let's waste no time in reporting to the state law enforcement agencies, NGOs, anti-graft organisations such as the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) and Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAG) and chiefs and opinion leaders in our communities. These institutions are there for our feedback to improve our lot. Let us get them work to do so they don't idle at our expense. Many more of us can be the next Martin Amidu (aka Citizen Vigilante) and Anas Aremeyaw Anas who respectively uncovered and pursued corruption in the infamous Alfred Woyome and Judicial corruption cases. * Take direct and strong interest in governance and issues of corruption Democracy, unlike its alternatives, offers citizens vast opportunities to directly participate in governance issues. Even though we participate in governance through elected representatives, we will not be hindered in our intentions to directly engage these people and questioning them on their stewardship if we make the effort. It is not beneficial if we continue to limit our opportunities to elections as the only means to express our disapproval of our leaders' abysmal delivery. If we do this as frequently as doable, leadership will watch over their shoulders while they serve us. They will no longer take decisions that serve their parochial interests while we bear the brunt. * Manage our expectations of public officers and benefactors Many acts of corruption are fuelled by unrealistic expectations by the ruled on their rulers. In their quest to satisfy their dependents and therefore keep their juicy posts, leaders go all lengths to stay in their good books. They bend the rules to accommodate expectations. For example, MPs who are pestered to pay school fees for children of their relatives and the needy in their constituency will most likely fall for grafts since their legitimate earnings cannot support them. Such an abhorrent behaviour will affect society in general as bills without merit introduced by both the executive government and private persons, will be passed without the interest of the citizens placed first. * Elect leaders with proven anti-graft record Citizens should not expect corrupt elected officials to transform into angels overnight when they are given public offices to run. Anybody who has a history of corruption, even in their small corner, will exploit bigger opportunities in higher offices. This becomes easier because they would have mastered the art already and be more able to exploit, or create if there exists none, the systems. * Question sources of overnight success or wealth: Our society has degenerated into a wealth-worshipping one with little care for the source of wealth. The people who live lavishly are those whose opinions hold sway in our communities; the voices of the have-nots have been dwarfed. Unsurprisingly, this condemnable behaviour has found its way into our religious communities the so-called moral society where one becomes an elder, deacon/deaconess, chairperson of fundraising committees, etc. only because one is a moneybag. And since most human beings by nature want recognition and acknowledgement, they use unapproved means to access public power and funds in order to establish their relevance. However, if we elect leaders and use legitimate and legal means to question their acquisitions that are not supported by their earnings, we will invariably make marked strides in ameliorating the canker. In Italy of all countries, for example, one must be earning six figures to justifiably drive sleek cars. This is ensured by randomly inviting such persons to support their high standards of living through their tax returns. I must admit that it will not take overnight to ameliorate or uproot corruption if citizens do the aforementioned to complement government's effort. That notwithstanding, with a modest beginning, focus and consistency, we can get to the Promised Land. "Little drops of water makes a mighty ocean," the sages say. The fight against corruption is not an easy one. However, it can be won with concerted efforts. All it takes is dedication, love for self and neighbor and nation. By: Stephen Agbai 30.03.2016 LISTEN If any African government has any illusions about the effects of deliberate weakening of state institutions for temporary political gain, they should look at Belgium today. Ironically, Belgium itself was part of the European project to create weak and unsustainable countries in Africa; countries that would never be able to stand on their own feet, but would be quintessentially dependent on their colonial masters. Part of the result is the chaos that is playing out in North Africa and Europe at the present time. We might wish to call it poetic justice, but for the fact that the tentacles of the Islamic terrorist octopus is now beginning to extend even to normally calm West Africa. In many ways, Belgium resembles the countries of Africa that were artificially created on maps with no thought whatsoever for the cultural and linguistic sensibilities of the people that inhabited them. For all the European originators cared, the people of those countries could be rocks or sand dunes in the desert! Again it was ubiquitous Britain that banded together the Flemish speaking south with cultural connections to the Netherlands and the French speaking north with deep cultural ties to France, into a politically unworkable Belgium. The result, like the motley collection of ill-fitting ethnic groups and cultures of most African countries, is the suspicions and rivalries within Belgian institutions. Depending on where they are located and who its predominant prime movers are, the security agencies of Belgium do not share intelligence with one another. How else could the main architect of the Paris outrage of November last year receive succour and protection in Brussels for so long, and actually have the freedom to plan and execute such devastating terrorists attacks in the very heart of the national capital? As in Paris, the prime suspect has slipped through the porous security net. The East Africans, particularly Kenya and Tanzania, with relatively large Muslim populations have had their fair share of Islamic terrorist atrocities in the past ten years or so. Recently, Nigeria with a much larger Muslim population has been terrorised by the ragtag Boko Haram, mostly supported by powerful Muslim politicians of the northern part of the country. Essentially, it is a question of my enemys enemy is my friend. Boko Haram operated with such impunity, some will say with active assistance of local politicians because the main victim of their terrorism, apart from the mainly Christian towns and villages, was a political foe of Northern Nigerian politicians. From the predominantly Muslim eastern part of the West African sub-region, Islamic terrorism is now spreading westward, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, and now Cote dIvoire. And the reason for its success is that for the parochial interests of corrupt and thieving politicians who do not give a toss about the people they are supposed to be ruling, vital state institutions have been destroyed so mostly incompetent politicians can perpetuate their rule. The safety and welfare of the citizens they are supposed to be protecting can go hang, as far as they are concerned. For the same parochial reasons, the people do not give a hoot themselves. My tribesman/religious brother right or wrong! I have been so cross since the recent hotel bombings in Grand Bassam, Cote dIvoire, I have not been able to sit down to write one word for days. I have been asking myself over and over in my reveries, daydreams and nightmares: Do we really hate ourselves that much? Why do we allow everyone, including people who are no better than ourselves, to kick us around and make complete asses of us? The more I think about the Ivorian incident, in particular, the angrier and the more paralysed I seem to get. Cote dIvoire was once a bastion of peace and tranquillity and a rising star, but due to systematic marginalisation of a large proportion of its citizenry, the country has been so polarised that for some citizens, it could well go up in flames or be taken over by evil foreigners. Europeans took advantage of us because we could not bring ourselves to think of ourselves as people of the same stock before language or religion. As a result, more than half a century after what should have been political independence, we still cannot even trade with one another without others serving as intermediaries. And now we are helping others to jeopardise the future of generations unborn, by encouraging the merchants of doom to plant the seeds of chaos in our countries In recent years, China has been gradually becoming the overlord of much of the continent. They are not only destroying arable farmlands and life-dependent water bodies, they are actually taking over petty trading in our cities and towns, selling everything from live chickens to roasted local staples like plantains and yams. And now Islamist terrorists are threatening the very foundations of what makes us Africans, the safety of our homes, streets and alleyways where we sit under the bright moonlight to tell and listen to stories about our past and be ourselves. What have we really done to deserve such gross disrespect from people who by most world standards and statistics are no better than ourselves? And they are largely succeeding because state institutions that should be protecting the people have been high-jacked by partisan political institutions and no longer serve the interests of our nation states. Ordinary party hacks drive through towns and villages mowing down innocent citizens and go scot free, because those who cause such acts of impunity carry the right party colours. Misplaced priorities The Islamic terrorists who seem to be gradually but steadily gaining traction even in the predominantly Christian countries of West Africa are succeeding because state institutions like the courts, civil service, the police and even the traditionally professional armed services have been intentionally weakened through politically-motivated appointments and recruitments, favouritism in appointments and crude party political interference. Our economies are so weak that unless we stir ourselves from the current comatose, we shall wake up one day to find the ISIS flag flying over every state building of every African capital. That is why I advocate that every sitting president/head of state must be made a one-timer until the politicians begin to take notice of the people they are supposed to be leading. I shall return with my beaded gourd, God willing. Naana Ekua Eyaaba has an overarching interest in the development of the African continent and Black issues in general. Having travelled extensively through Africa, the Black communities of the East Coast of the United States as well as London and Leeds (United Kingdom), she enjoys reading, and writes when she is irritated, and edits when she is calm. You can email her at [email protected] , or read her blog at https://naanaekuaeyaaba.wordpress.com/. "There was a dim grandeur about it all , and also these seemed to a fate. Here was this head center of iniqiuty, spared by us from its suitable end of burning for the sake of holding the new seat of justice where barbarism had held away, given into our hands with the brand of Blood soaked into every corner and ........ fire only could purge it, and here on our lassa day we were to see its legitimate fate overtake it.".. (1) R. H. Bacon, the Punitive Expedition's Intelligence Officer wrote on the burning of the Benin Royal Palace. After several articles in which we have answered practically all the usual arguments against the restitution of looted Benin Bronzes or looted artefacts, we are constantly surprised by statements of supporters of retention of looted artefacts which repeat arguments they must know are hardly tenable and have already been answered. (2) An example of this tendency is the recent article by Tiffany Jenkins, in the Daily Mail Online, 10 March 201, entitled 'Bloody Truth about the 'colonialist' cockerel Cambridge students want to send back to Africa. It's made from melted-down money AFRICANS earned by selling slaves'. (3) The tendentious title of the article is revealing of the intentions of the writer. Even before we read the article we are informed that Africans earned money selling slaves and with this money which was melted down, they made sculptures such as the Benin cockerel now in dispute. The designation is 'Africans' and not the' Edo' who made the famous Benin sculptures. The generalization in the title is not accidental. We are also informed, without any evidence that Benin society was, 'a brutal but sophisticated culture'. When we are then informed that a trade delegation which was going to see the Oba was attacked and killed, then the picture of the people Benin as perfidious and blood-thirsty is complete. We know from experience going to most recent times that once the British decide to attack a foreign State head of State, they paint him in the most lurid colours. We remember the attack on Irak where Saddam Hussein was said to be in a position to produce a nuclear device in thirty minutes. The demonization of foreign enemies does not date from yesterday. The British Museum has published material where it is unambiguously admitted that the initial problems in Benin were due to the British deputy- Consul in the area. (Annex l) The cockerel was one of the artefacts looted by the British Army in their notorious 'Benin Punitive Expedition' of 1897. The British sold many of the artefacts to Germans and other Europeans and kept a large portion themselves. One of the participants in the infamous invasion bequeathed the cockerel to Jesus College, Cambridge which has now decided, after protests by students' to remove the artefact from the front of Jesus College and will probably return it to Nigeria as the students demanded. Tiffany Jenkins who is obviously against the removal and probable return of the artefact to Nigeria has tried to put up an argument for retaining looted artefacts in Britain. She argues primarily that the Benin bronzes were made from manillas that were'brought to Benin by Europeans traders, which were traded for slaves and then melted down' and used in making the sculptures such as the cockerel. According to Jenkins,' 'The sculpture that these noisy Cambridge students want to see returned to Nigeria was created from proceeds of slavery. Arguments for the return of cultural treasures are today made through the prism of a modern nations' ''identity''. The argument Jenkins is making here is a bold but a patently false one. One does not have to be an economic historian to realize that the Kingdom of Benin did not make its wealth solely from the slave trade which benefited mainly Britain and other European powers. The conflict or trade conflict, as some prefer, between Benin and Britain was due to the unwillingness of the Kingdom of Benin to submit to British rule and allow Britain to control trade in the area. But trade in the area covered more that slave trade. (5) Members of the nefarious Punitive Expedition of 1897 posing proudly with their looted Benin artefacts Even assuming that all Benin's wealth derived from slavery, can one argue that every object manufactured or produced in Benin came from slavery? But even if slavery were accepted as the only source of wealth in Benin, could one argue that the manilas which Jenkins herself stated were bought by the Edo, be considered as illegitimate as some sort of 'blood money' and thereby justifying the looting/stealing of whatever was produced in Benin? The argument based on derivation of metal from manillas clearly fails when we remember that many of the Benin artefacts looted by the British were not made of metal but of ivory or some other non-metal material such as wood. Unless Jenkins turns to the ban on the trade in ivory tasks but this would be a present- day perspective that would be inconvenient from the author's basic argument. Incidentally, the argument for keeping looted African and other non-European artefacts in Western museums is itself a very modern argument. Until fairly recent years most Africans were not aware of where their looted artefacts were and the question of their return or not did not seem to have been given much serious attention. Jenkins should be careful. If we apply her argument to Britain we could argue that Britain derived all her wealth from slavery and colonization and therefore all objects made in Britain, ignoring British industry, agriculture and manufacture, may be looted/stolen because they derived from slavery and colonization. Surely, this would be going too far. She should abandon this way of thinking which stretches ideas as far as possible to cover whatever view she shares even if the result is patently absurd. Jenkins states that 'arguments for return of cultural treasures are today made through the prism of a modern nation's 'identity'. But what about arguments for retention of cultural artefacts of others? Are they not also made through the prism of the identity of the retention States? How does she come to the conclusion that 'The artworks were a force for good, however they were acquired. That's why the Benin Bronzes-and all other marvellous treasures we can study and appreciate at close quarters-belong here, in Britain.' This racist and ultra-nationalistic conclusion surely can only be acceptable to those who view Britain through a certain prism of Britain's identity. Jenkins, like many supporters of retention of artefacts of others, is very quick to argue that repatriating artefacts 'would be allowing modern-day sensibilities to rewrite history ' Seriously, does anybody believe that returning one Benin bronze to Benin is to rewrite history? Sure, after years of the museums refusing to return any object, an individual like Dr. Mark Walker, who returned two Benin Bronzes, may be said to be making history as the first person to do so after a long period of refusal. But is he really re-writing history? Is history so simple? The history between Benin and Britain is surely more complicated than one return and it is Jenkins and her supporters who should be told that 'it is always more complicated than that.' As regards 'allowing modern day sensibilities' to affect our thoughts, Jenkins does not seem to be aware that even condemning slavery involves modern-day sensibilities. As persons of the 21st Century, we have no other sensibilities than those of our times. We cannot use standards of bygone days to judge matters that affect us today, such as the Western museums holding on to African and Asian cultural artefacts that we all know have been looted or stolen. Jenkins and others will want us to use colonialist, imperialist and racist standards that accepted that looting and keeping African artefacts and other resources was acceptable. This explains why anytime the issue of restitution comes up, Westerners argue that we are referring to past events or trying to rewrite history. We are not. We are complaining about the present imbalance where Western States and their museums have more African artefacts that African museums and States. We are not concerned with apportioning blame and accusing the colonialists and imperialist of wrong-doing even if this is incidental. We are asking their present-day successors to return some of the looted artefacts so that we can continue our own cultural development without interruption or interference. It is the retentionists who look to the past whilst we look at the present. We can only deal with them with our present-day sensibilities and not the standards of the past. We say clearly and loudly, return Nefertiti, Queen-mother Idia and all the African kings, queens and servants in exile in your museums, palaces, institutes and other places. We are not interested in apportioning blame among your predecessors. We just want our things back. Pair of leopard figures, now in the Royal Collection Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, London, UK. The commanders of the British Punitive Expedition force to Benin in 1897 sent a pair of leopards to the British Queen soon after the looting and burning of Benin City. See Nigel Barley, The Art of Benin, p.112. It is in this connection, noteworthy that Jenkins and the supporters of retention do not refer to the United Nations, UNESCO and ICOM. They act and write as if these international bodies did not exist: they ignore the almost yearly resolutions of these bodies calling on holders of looted artefacts to return them to their countries of origin. It is frightening to see educated persons openly defy laws and regulations they themselves have contributed in passing. The position of the 'noisy Cambridge students' is that of the international organizations set up mainly by Western States and in which they still remain members. There is a large movement in Africa for the restitution of African artefacts. Our Eurocentric writer is obviously not interested in African views It is not only Nigeria that has been asking now for some decades for the return of these artefacts. The Oba of Benin has been asking for the return of the looted artefacts but such requests have falling on deaf ears with sensibilities of the past. (6) Countries such Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya have been asking for the return of their artefacts looted/stolen by the British. No African writers on the question are mentioned thus leaving the reader the impression that only Westerners care for the artefacts. For Jenkins, many of the African writers who have dealt with restitution of the Benin Bronzes, such as Prof Ekpo Eyo, Prof. Folarin Syhllon, Prof. Peju Layiwola and Dr. Kwame Opoku may as well never have existed. Probably, in her Eurocentric perspective, she cannot imagine how African intellectuals could also be possibly interested in the looted Benin artefacts safely kept in the museums in London for Western scholars to study. Leaving out African writers and international institutions is not by accident. The author of the article appears to be following the usual Western tendency to confine discussions to Western sources and leave out all others whose writings do not support the imperialistic epistemology or might suggest there are others ways of looking at these problems other than the affirmation of the dominant Western view and its devastating consequences and implications for Africa. Prof.Yash Tandon dealt with this problem in his recent article entitled The Rhodes controversy: a storm in a tea cup? 'http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/ He shows clearly that such omissions are not due to simple ignorance but to institutional and structural backwardness as well as to epistemical shortcomings. He concludes, inter alia that Racism is structurally embedded in the system of education in the social sciences at Oxford. It is part of the imperial ideology that is deeply rooted in the system and psyche of the British ruling classes. This imperial/racial ideology has taken institutional manifestation at the university, especially in the social sciences. The dominant mainstream academics working on Africa have no real understanding of the African reality. They have very serious epistemic limitations that do not allow them to look beyond their noses. This extends, consciously and unconsciously, to a blanket disrespect and disregard for African writers on Africa'. The limitations we have been pointing out are therefore not personal or accidental but part of a whole system Some of the statements of Tiffany Jenkins are simply astonishing and are likely to mislead the uninformed: 'Equally, the Benin Bronzes were created as far back as the 13th century, long before the modern state of Nigeria existed. So the idea that they 'belong' to the people of Nigeria is deeply flawed. No matter where we are from - no matter what ethnicity we are - we can see and admire the Benin Bronzes. We do not have to be from Nigeria to do so. The truth is that objects of art are a misguided target for those truly concerned about social justice. The fact that there is a sculpture of a cockerel in a university dining room is hardly the most pressing problem facing us today.' Plaque of Oba Ozolua with warrior attendants, Benin, Nigeria, World Museum, Vienna To argue, as Jenkins does, that because the Benin Bronzes were created in the 13th century, long before the birth of the State of Nigeria and therefore could not belong to Nigeria, is a favourite way of thinking of some Europeans. Jenkins even writes that the idea that 'they belong to the people of Nigeria is deeply flawed'. This is a way of thinking which at first sight may appear convincing but on a short reflection we realize how wrong it is. The essence of the argument is that-these things were made before you were born and therefore cannot possibly belong to you. Does this make sense? Most of the valuable things that States and individuals inherit have, by the nature of things, been made before they were born. Think of the enormous wealthy artistic resources of many Western State and their institutions that have been accumulating since early periods, mostly before the modern concept of State was born. Has anyone ever suggested that Western States and museums have no right to hold or own objects that were made before they were created? Jenkins like some Western writers uses a different logic when it comes to discussing non- Western people. The world was not created yesterday and the achievements of our predecessors would be in danger if the thought displayed by Jenkins governed the world. Anyone could collect Stonehenge which was made before the modern State of Britain was born. Jenkins declares that 'No matter what ethnicity we are-we can see and admire the Benin bronze. We do not have to be from Nigeria to do so'. Nobody ever suggested that we have to come from Nigeria or be of a specific ethnicity to be able to admire the Benin Bronzes. Jenkins attributes directly or indirectly to those demanding restitution arguments that they have never made. Another favourite delaying tactic of those with no convincing argument. Again Jenkins states that 'The truth is that objects of art are a misguided target for those truly concerned about social justice. The fact that there is a cockerel in a university dining room is hardly the most pressing problem facing us today.' Jenkins is suggesting that the students are wasting time and should be busy with more urgent issues. This is very interesting. Who is wasting time? The students who, with youthful exuberance, have agitated successfully for the return of a looted African artefact or the writer who devotes a whole article to the students 'time wasting' activity? Jenkins reveals here her Eurocentric view point and contempt for Africans and their problems. If one applied her logic to other cultural activities, nothing would be achieved in the cultural area. The world would always have more urgent matters than a single cultural artefact. Jenkins' statement that 'these students want to return the cockerel as a kind of therapy for the 'sins' of British imperialism' This is definite proof that Jenkins, like many of our Western contemporaries, has no idea about the horrors and demoralizing effects of the oppressive system of imperialism or is deliberately playing the ignorant one, and mocking the victims of British imperialism in Africa and elsewhere. It becomes obvious from most of her irrelevant declarations that Jenkins does not seem to understand or appreciate that the Oba of Benin and his people want back their artefacts that were looted by Europeans. She does seem to be aware that the people of Benin, the Edo, still exist. She thinks the looted artefacts are at their right places in London museums and cannot understand that Nigerians want to have them back in Benin City, Lagos or Abuja. She cannot understand that those requesting the return of their artefacts are doing so because they want the objects per se back; they are not fighting for any social justice or trying to correct colonialism or rewrite history. They just want their things back. Jenkins has some very strange conceptions: 'The problem with these campaigns is that in becoming obsessed with colonialism, campaigners lose sight of the original meanings and purposes of the artworks, viewing them only as objects of apology. But instead of repatriating artefacts, we need to appreciate them in the institutions which care for them - our great museums. For it is here that their true value can be understood.' Students campaigning for the removal of Cecil Rhodes statute in Oxford are advised by Jenkins that 'Repatriating artefacts, or pulling down statues such as that of Cecil Rhodes in Oxford - the subject of another vocal campaign - to make amends for colonisation is a poor substitute for reshaping the modern world. These students want to censor and rewrite history rather than do what young idealists should try to do - change the future'. Jenkins does not seem to realize that if the students can achieve repatriation of many artefacts or the removal of offensive colonialist and imperialist symbols they would have changed the world a little and that the campaign for repatriation is not aimed at rewriting history but to change the present imbalance and thereby prepare a better future. But how does one change the future? Jenkins cannot understand that the campaign for repatriation is aimed at returning artefacts that have been looted or stolen and not mainly about colonialism though this is incidental: 'The problem with these campaigns is that in becoming obsessed with colonialism, campaigners lose sight of the original meanings and purposes of the artworks, viewing them only as objects of apology'. Jenkins must explain to us why a student who thinks the Benin artefacts that were looted in the invasion of Benin in 1897 should be returned should be concerned with the 'original meanings and purposes of the artworks'. Is an understanding of artworks a primary condition for supporting their repatriation? Some of us have supported the restitution of many looted artefacts without ever being a position to explain fully the artworks themselves. It seems sufficient for most of us to know the circumstances of the looting/removal of cultural objects in order to be for their repatriation. The students need not understand Greek history and mythology in order to decide whether to be in favour of the restitution of the Parthenon Marbles or not. The majority of British people have always been in favour of returning these artefacts to Athens but I doubt whether they are all well versed in Ancient Greek mythology or archaeology. It is enough that they have a strong sense of what is just. The irrelevancies of Jenkins may irritate many readers. For example her statement that 'It has now emerged that one of the key figures in the campaign is an old boy of an exclusive GP17, 000-a year school.' What has this to do with the justice or injustice of returning looted artefacts? What will she make out of the fact that many of the supporters of restitution went to very expensive universities in the world? We are of course, not interested in the school or university where the author studied. Queen-Mother Idia, Benin, Nigeria, looted in 1897 and now in transferred captivity in Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin, Germany. The Eurocentric statements found in the article are astonishing for our age and time: 'It is here in Bloomsbury, that millions of visitors every year come to understand what these magnificent marble sculptures have meant to humans across time and around the world' This selfish, arrogant, racist and self-serving statement is again reinforced: 'The artworks were a force for good, however they were acquired.(Our emphasis) That's why the Benin bronzes and all the other marvelous treasures we can study and appreciate at close quarters belong here in Britain.' It would be difficult to find a more egocentric, Eurocentric and contemptuous statement in recent discussions on restitution and looting. Only those unaware of the criminal experiments on humans in Namibia under the cruel German colonial, the Nazi experiments by Dr. Eugen Fischer and similar attacks could praise acquisition of knowledge no matter the method used. Jenkins does not realize that many lives were lost in the Western acquisition of artefacts in Ethiopia, China, Benin and elsewhere during imperialistic wars. Consciously or not, by stating that the artworks were a force for good, however they were acquired, the writer has touched also upon the great divide in the discussions on restitution. There is on the one hand, a large group of scholars, especially archaeologists and restitutionists, who take the view that we should not deal at all with artefacts that have been acquired illegally, with violence and force or in a manner, morally objectionable. There are on the other hand, another group of persons, usually antiquities' dealers and museum directors who take the view that no matter how an artefact was obtained, so long as it yields knowledge and information, we should accept it. James Cuno, a well-known retentionist and high-priest of the universal museum supporters, previously Director of the Art Institute of Chicago and now President of the J. Paul Getty Foundation, has opposed any restrictions on the illegal exportation of artefacts. Indeed, until fairly recently, most major Western museums freely acquired artefacts without any proper documentation. James Cuno raised in his book, Whose Culture? the question 'Can it then be said that the Laocoon is in any way meaningless without our knowing the archaeological circumstances of its finding? Of course not. And yet many archaeological critics of museums would argue precisely this with regard to unexcavated and undocumented antiquities todayAnd they would discourage museums from acquiring it and other 'orphaned 'objects similarly found alienated from their points of origin. (7) The major museums stated in their notorious self-serving Declaration on the Value and Importance of Universal Museums (1982) that artefacts that were in their museums, however acquired, had become part of their acquisitions which they hold on behalf of mankind. (8). Shortly thereafter many leading American museums and universities were obliged to return looted artefacts to Italy. Most of these institutions have opposed UNESCO and United Nations attempts to control illegal trading in antiquities, especially, the UNESCO Convention on the Illicit Trafficking in the Exportation and importation of Cultural Property. (1970) These museums do not generally accept ICOM bans on the importation of such items as NOK sculptures from Nigeria. Among this group are still persons who do not really accept recent UN Security ban on importation of artefacts from Syria and Iraq following massive destruction of cultural objects in the area. Some believe that by accepting illegal objects from those areas, they are saving them from destruction. (9) Through their illegal acquisitions, the Western museums had acquired such a bad reputation that James Cuno wrote: ''It is the purpose of this book to challenge the perception of museums as rapacious acquisitors of ill-gotten goods and to argue instead that our public museums build their antiquities collections responsibly and for the public's benefit''. (10) On the other hand, Lord Renfrew, a leading Cambridge archaeologist and prominent member of the group that opposes acquisition of unprovenanced artefacts by museums wrote in his book, Loot, Legitimacy, and Ownership, that' 'All the major and ancient museums of the world have in earlier centuries obtained large parts of their collections by means that would today be considered dubiousIt is the aim of this book to invite museum curators to concede that they betray their trust as serious students of the past when they acquire unprovenanced antiquities or permit them to be displayed in their galleries'. (11) . Renfrew states on the same page: ''I find it strange also that the collection of unprovenanced antiquities by wealthy private individuals is still widely considered a socially acceptable undertaking, and that reputable scholars are willing to contribute to the published catalogues when such assemblages, replete with looted antiquities, are given public exhibition by public institutions, although I myself must plead guilty to having done so in the past. These institutions should know better than to allow such dubious artefacts to darken their doors'. (12) Discussions on the acquisition of knowledge from looted artefacts or artefacts generally, do not pose the question, knowledge for whom? It is surely useful for colonialists and others to acquire more knowledge about natives and their societies that would enable more efficient exploitation of resources. But what about the victims of unmitigated European aggression such as the people of Benin? Are they impressed by the argument based on knowledge acquired through the destruction of their rich and flourishing Kingdom by the British in 1897? Since 1897 no compensation has been paid for the massive destruction of Benin City, the properties of the inhabitants, the loss of lives of the children, women and men that lived in that city. Instead, successors of the looters mock us with baseless arguments when we demand the return of some of the looted artefacts, with or without compensation, for illegal and illegitimate detention for over a century. In many ways, the successors appear to be worse than the original looters. This impression is reinforced by reading the article on the 'noisy Cambridge students.' Head of an Oba, Benin, Nigeria, now in Weltmuseumwien Vienna, Austria The African Section of the Worldmuseum has been closed since 2000 but may open in 2017. The comments of Tiffany Jenkins on the unforgettable Melina Mercouri are perhaps better left uncommented but since many persons who should know better have made similar statements, it may not be amiss if we comment briefly on this point. Jenkins states as follows: 'Arguments for the return of cultural treasures are today made through the prism of a modern nation's 'identity'. 'For example, Melina Mercouri, Greek minister of culture in the Eighties, and a prominent advocate for the return of the Elgin Marbles, argued that the Parthenon and its sculptures belong exclusively to the Greek people: 'We are asking only for something unique, something matchless, and something specific to our identity.' But the idea of a continued and unique 'Greekness', which ties together the ancient past and the people of the present, ignores centuries of invasions, changing borders, and the mixing of peoples. Ancient Greece was a series of city states. Athenians - not Greeks - built the Parthenon'. What Melina Mercouri, the former Culture Minister of Greece said at the Oxford Union, was that the Parthenon Marbles represented for the Greeks a symbol of excellence, their aspirations and the essence of Greekness: 'You must understand what the Parthenon Marbles mean to us. They are our pride. They are our sacrifices. They are our noblest symbol of excellence. They are a tribute to the democratic philosophy. They are our aspirations and our name. They are the essence of Greekness. The Greek Minister did not in any way try to present a view that there was a Greekness that was not influenced by any other culture nor that the Greek peoples were in anyway devoid of any mixing with others. The racist notions of unique blood or the insinuations thereof have been introduced by those opposing restitution. References to 'uniqueness' was in reference to the beauty of the Parthenon Marbles. This baseless argument can be found in the writings of James Cuno who tried to deny that present-day Egyptians were in anyway related to ancient Egyptians by asking whether they eat the same food, have the same religion or dress the same way. Could we reasonably ask whether present-day Britons drink the same beer as Anglo-Saxons and conclude from the answer a right or lack of right to control Stonhenge or artefacts found in Britain? That such irrelevancies have no bearing on the right of present-day Governments to control artefacts in their territories may be difficult for some to understand but this right of States is enshrined in the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970 The denial of some blood connections between present-day governments and ancient cultures has been used to deny the right of the Government of Nigeria to control Nok artefacts, to demand the return of Benin Bronzes, some even forgetting that the Oba of Benin and his people. Edo, still exist. Strangely enough, these writers do not realize that their arguments could be easily applied to Britain, France and other European States to deny their rights to artefacts under their control. All States have undergone a mixture of peoples, religions and cultures. None of those demanding the restitution of looted, stolen or removed artefacts has ever made an argument based on blood continuity or purity. The argument is usually insinuated by those opposed to restitution without providing any evidence that a restitution demand has been based on this factor. The dishonesty here is simply amazing. As for the statement that the Parthenon Marbles were built by Athenians and not Greeks we can see what mentality is behind the thinking of the writer. It is similar to the thought of a former director of the British Museum who declared that the Parthenon Marbles were not even Greek. Such persons will deny that the Benin Bronzes are African when it suits them even though they themselves have in the same text castigated Africans who sold slaves and used the manillas obtained in making the Benin Bronzes. They will have it both ways. The criticism of Melina Mercouri's definition of 'Greekness' is based on a much deeper thought and determination, admittedly not stated. It is the deep-seated desire of the imperialist mind to control the narrative of the history of others and to prevent any attempts of self-definition, self-determination, which will escape his or her the control and oversight. We have had a former director of the British Museum telling us that Greek culture can only be understood in the British Museum and that the Parthenon Marbles in London have a different history from those in Athens. This same specialist has arrogated to himself the duty to inform other peoples, such as the Russians, about Greek culture and even determined which Greek sculpture can best explain that culture and appointed them 'Ambassadors of Greek culture' whilst refusing vehemently to return the sculptures to Athens. He has also mentioned a duty to make it possible for Chinese and Africans to view the Parthenon Marbles. (13) It is the same imperialist spirit that animates the officials of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts who, when accused of receiving stolen/looted Benin Bronzes, insisted they had a duty to tell the history of Benin. They did not seem to envisage the possibility that the people of Benin might want to tell their own history with the objects that have been stolen and donated to the American museum. (14) The imperialist museology based on the so-called universal museums, seems to be still the main background ideology of many Western museums and scholars and those influenced by them. They join us in criticising, where necessary, the unlawful and brutal methods used to acquire cultural artefacts from Africa and Asia. But once we request them to return some of these looted artefacts, there ends all communality. They castigate colonialism and imperialism but are unwilling to part with any of the objects brought to Europe by killing thousands of Africans and Asians. They regard the notorious invasion of Benin in 1897 as regrettable and unfortunate but return a Benin Bronze to Benin? That appears to be too much to ask. Jenkins, like many Westerners, does not seem to understand or appreciate what it means to live in a country or continent where all the important cultural icons are abroad in another country or continent. Readers will be aware that the best of African art masterpieces are already abroad in the Western countries where we are not really wanted and where we have to go through unbelievable procedures to procure a visit. As many as 80 questions have to be answered on the internet followed by a personal interview before a leading European State would grant an African scholar a visa for two weeks. Many African personalities, including intellectuals, jurists, international civil servants and international judges have to undergo embarrassing procedures, including submitting statement of bank-account, to determine whether they can cover their expenses in the two weeks stay in a world metropolis. Recent terror acts have provided convenient covers for purely racists demands directed only to Africans and Asians. How would European intellectuals feel if any time they wanted to see a Rembrandt painting they had to go to Kumasi? How would Europeans feel if they could only write a doctoral thesis on European art by travelling to Enugu? How would they react if the best of the Dutch masters were all in Saltpond or in Lagos? Jenkins should speak to some of the African and Asian scholars and intellectuals who manage to secure visa for the Western world to change her dangerous Eurocentric views. Since the Independence of Nigeria and many other African countries in 1960 there has not been a single noticeable restitution of cultural artefacts from Western States and museums to any African States with the possible exception of Egypt when Zahi Hawass was in charge of Egyptian artefacts. We have suggested that there is no shame in admitting that an aggressive State with superior might and violence that travelled thousands of kilometres from Europe to Africa and stole your cultural artefacts has refused to return any. What appears strange though is the effort to create an illusion that there has been successful restitution when you cannot name even one artefact that has been restituted. (15) Whole nations should not be treated this way. Normally when a method or an approach has not yielded any success, a reasonable person with self-respect would try another approach. African cultural institutions and authorities do not seem to accept the need for change under such circumstances and allow themselves to be easily deceived with promises of digitalization and other assistance instead of the return of the precious national physical objects. Would African authorities learn from the successful Cambridge students? Or will they continue with their unsuccessful policy of quiet diplomacy? There will be a need for many explanations and so long as there is no serious effort to recover our looted artefacts, we may have to put up with statements such as those we have beenexamining. If African intellectuals and officials do not challenge such obvious self-serving approaches, they would have to tell their peoples what they discuss with their Western counterparts. Is it all dining and dancing? Is it possible that every new generation of Western scholars feels obliged to deny undeniable facts of violence and treachery in the Afro-Western relationship? It is difficult to challenge the view expressed by Rupert Richard Arrowsmith in his book, Modernism and the Museum 'After the missionaries, Ethnographers appeared, relying on scientific necessity as a justification for what was, even as late as the 1930s, very often little more than barefaced theft. Michel Leiris who took part in the anthropologist Marcel Griaule's Dakar-Djibouti expedition in 1931, has left a frank account of the acquisition techniques employed The methods used in collecting the majority of the so-called ethnographical exhibits at institutions such as the British Museum meant that almost no information about their function, context or even culture of origin was available to curators; for this reason exhibits were usually tagged with faulty information or just displayed unlabelled. Not many people would have noticed this, for the galleries were so infrequently visited that it was 1910 before the museum even published a guidebook to them.'(16) In the end, many of the arguments presented against restitution of looted/stolen artefacts are based on Western racism, a form of racism that after centuries of practice, becomes most natural to many Westerners, like the air they breathe that they do not recognize it. I can only thus explain the nonsense written or said by people who have received excellent university education. Could any person turn to those who lost their property and offer any of the arguments we have examined? But behind the economic advantages of holding stolen property, is the sheer determination not to let power over others go. A British academic, Jonathan Harris has written in his book The New Art History A critical Introduction:' The question of the meaning of the 'Benin bronzes' or 'Elgin Marbles' in London 1900 or 2000 is inseparable from the issue of British attitudes towards Africa and the Orient as sites, once for direct military and political colonisation, and now for their post-imperial economic exploitation and indirect manipulation. To return them would imply the belief, on the part of the British authorities, that the peoples of those parts of the world were now capable of competently looking after artefacts that were removed ostensibly on the grounds that the local inhabitants were unfit, because of the 'degeneration' of their societies, to act as their curators. Their return would also imply admission of their illegal possession by the British. Both implications remain largely unthinkable because post-imperial racism continues to be a highly significant aspect of British foreign policy. Though British society may be relatively 'multicultural now, its ruling elite, like that of the US, is still predominantly white, middle-class and male.' (17) Kwame Tua Opoku. Head of Oba, Benin, Nigeria, now in Bristol Museum, Bristol, United Kingdom. NOTES 1. R. H. Bacon, Benin: City of Blood (pp. 107-108) cited by the great Ekpo Eyo, Benin; The Sack that was, http://www.edo-nation.net/eyo.htm 2. See modernghana.com museums security. org Afrikanet.info 3. Benin Bronze cockerel is made from melted-down money AFRICANS earned by selling slaves http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3485000/Bloody-truth-colonialist-cockerel-Cambridge-students-want-sent-Africa-s-melted-money-AFRICANS-earned-selling-slaves.html#ixzz42oUZ3ONg 4. K. Opoku,'The Man who returned his Grandfathers Looted Benin Bronzes' , http://www.museum-security.org/2015/03/the-man-of-conscience-who-returned-his-grandfathers-looted-benin-bronzes/ ' The history of this unwelcome visit which proved fatal should be clarified. Captain Philips had requested a visit to the Oba who replied he could not receive him because he would be involved in sacred ceremonies during which time no foreigners were permitted to see the Oba. Philips and his group were equally warned by chiefs who were well disposed to the British to refrain from the journey. Despite all warnings, Philip and his group proceeded with the visit as planned. Philips and his group with some 120-200 personnel disguised as carriers but having arms in their boxes, had as undeclared objective: to depose Oba Ovonramvem who was considered by the Acting Consul- General Philips as the main obstacle to Britain gaining control over trade in that part of Nigeria. Instead of the surprise attack the British group intended to launch, they were themselves surprised by an ambush on their way. Readers must ask themselves since when can one visit another person who says clearly that the tine proposed is inconvenient? Since when does one visit a monarch who states he is not prepared to receive such a visit? The attack on Philips and his group provided a welcome pretext for invasion which the British had been weighing for a long time, including discussing the possible sale of Benin artworks to defray the costs of the intended campaign. British troops were sent to Benin on what they called Punitive Expedition. Benin City was captured and burnt. The Oba sent into exile in Calabar, in Nigeria. The destruction in Benin must have been awful'. 5. Barbara Plankensteiner (ed) Benin-Kings and Rituals-Court Arts from Nigeria, 2007, Snoeck, Ghent. 6. K. Opoku, 'Formal Demand for the Return of Benin Bronzes: Will Western Museums now Return some of the Looted/Stolen '' http://www.modernghana.com In response to a declaration by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Field Museum of their willingness to consider demands for the return of the Benin objects, the Benin Royal Family sent out a formal request dated 9 September, 2008, for the return of the cultural artefacts. In that letter Edun Agharese Akenzua, brother of the present Oba, Erediauwa, both great-grandsons of the famous king, Oba Ovonramwen, whose resistance to British hegemonial interferences led to conflict and eventual invasion, looting and burning of Benin City by the British army, recounted the history of the invasion of 1897 and explained the significance of the artefacts as records of Benin history. Thus looting those artefacts is also a deprivation of the records of Benin history. Up to today, neither the Field Museum nor the Art Institute of Chicago has had the decency to acknowledge receipt of the letter. This is presumably in order to be able to continue arguing that there has been no request for restitution, a favourable argument of Western museums. http//www.modernghana.com 7 James Cuno, Whose Culture? Princeton University Press, 2009, Princeton, p.13 8. K. Opoku, 'Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums: Singular Failure of an Arrogant Imperialist Project'. www.modernghana.com/news/441891/1/declaration-on-the-importance... 9. Elginism, Looting Matters 10. Colin Renfrew, Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership, Duckworth, 2000, London p.10. 11. Renfrew, Loot p.10 12. Melina Mercouri's speech to the Oxford Union, June 1986, Invgr.com/melina-mercouri-speech.htm www.greece.org/parthenon/marbles/speech.htm 13. K. Opoku,' British Museum Director Defends Once More Retention of Parthenon Marbles', http:www.modernghana.com/news/580881/1/ A History of the World with 100 Looted Objects of Others: Global Intoxication? ts -of-looted-objects-html 14.Will Boston Museum of Fine Arts Return Looted Benin Bronzes? 15. K. Opoku, 'What we understand by 'restitution,' mondernghana.com 16. Rupert Richard Arrowsmith, Modernism and the Museum-Asian, African and Pacific Art of the London Avant-Garde, Oxford University Press, 2011, p183 Those seriously interested in the relations between Africa and Europe, should read L'Afrique Fantome, by Michel Leiris, Editions Gallimard, Paris, 1934. 17. Jonathan Harris, The New Art Histor A critical Introduction, Routledge, London, 2001, p.275. ANNEX I PUNITIVE EXPEDITION OF 1897 Under the heading Brititsh Punitive Expedition 1897,we read as follows: This episode has to be seen in the context of the spread of British control over the whole of what is now Nigeria at the start of the colonial period the kingdom of Benin was just one the teragets.The initial problem arose out of the decision by a British consulPhillips to visit the Oba with a small armed group,against the advice of the British Governor,otherNigerian chiefs,and repeated warnings,threats and pleas by the Oba himself. Phillips persisted and he and his group were killed. A punitive expedition was then sent,which arrested and deposed the Oba and put an end to five centuries of the kingdom's,with the British Army looting and destroying the capital city'-p.8 The Wealth of Africa-Thekingdom of Benin p. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 08/2010 Kingdom Of Benin_TeachersNotes https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/KingdomOfBenin_TeachersNotes.pdf Once it is accepted that the initial disaster at Benin was caused by the 'trade delegation', it becomes difficult to justify the subsequent reaction of the punitive expedition, the refusal to pay compensation for the massive destruction of a flourishing civilization or to return the looted artefacts. The basic justification for 'punitive action' disappears and subsequent actions based on the premise appear to be without any justification at all. However several writers have operated on the initial line of perfidious Benin attack on an innocent trade delegation visiting the Oba to talk about trade: See Kwame Opoku, 'Compromise on the Restitution of Benin Bronzes? Comments', www.modernghana.com/news/315254/1/compromise-on-the-restitution-of... Nigel Barley writes in, The Art of Benin, (British Museum Press, 2010, p. 15,) An unarmed diplomatic mission went to urge the Oba to comply and was attacked by chiefs acting without royal authority. It is remarkable that the writer mentions that they were unarmed. Is a diplomatic mission supposed to be armed? There is no mention that the Oba had told this diplomatic mission that he could not receive them at the time proposed for the visit and that they should postpone the visit. Is this how diplomacy is conducted by entering the territory of a monarch who says he cannot receive the mission? Paula Girshick Ben-Amos writes in, The Art of Benin, (British Museum Press, 1995, p. 58): The British viewed Benin as the main obstacle to their expansion into the agricultural interior and when in 1897, an envoy to Oba Ovonramwen was ambushed and killed, the British sent out a Punitive Expedition against the kingdom. Here the military force of some 250 is reduced to an envoy. Neil MacGregor, in The whole world in our hands' makes this statement in dealing with the British invasion of Benin: www.theguardian.com/profile/neilmacgregor A British delegation, travelling to Benin at a sacred season of the year when such visits were forbidden, was killed, though not on the orders of the Oba himself. In retaliation, the British mounted a punitive expedition against Benin.http://arts.guardian.co.uk/; Ekpo Eyo describes the Pre-emptive Strike Force and its back ground as follows: CONSUL PHILLIP ILL - FATED EXPEDITION. The event that was to lead to the overthrow of the Oba began when an acting consul-General was appointed for the area in 1896. He was a young naval Officer, called Captain Phillips. With this appointment events moved rather quickly. Soon after his arrival, Consul Phillips began to advise the "Benin River Chiefs" not to comply with Oba Overanwen's demand for additional tribute to the Oba of Benin for partially opening up the hinterland markets. Phillips followed up his advice to the Benin River chiefs with a letter dated November 1846 to Oba Overanwen proposing a visit to Benin City. The stated purpose of the visit was "to try and persuade the king to let white men come up to the City whenever they wanted to" (Boisrangon p. 58) Such a letter could have done nothing less than increase the fear of the Bini. The king was "to allow whitemen to come up to the City whenever they wanted to". The visit was planned for early January 1897. In reply, the Oba requested that the visit be delayed for two months, to enable him to get through the IGUE ritual during which time his body is scared and not allowed to come in contact with foreign elements. Igue ritual is the highest ritual among the Edo and is performed not only for the well- being of the king but of his entire subjects and the land. But Phillips showed no sympathy. He replied the king that he was in a hurry and could not wait because he has so much work to do elsewhere in the Protectorate. Defiantly, the expedition set out as it proposed in January, 1897 and when it arrived at UGHOTON, three royal Emmissaries met it with a request that it should tarry for two days so that they could "send up and let the King know in time for him to make his preparation for receiving us" (Boisrangon, p.84). Again Phillips regretted that he could not wait because he has so much work to do and that he would start early the next morning. And, on the next morning, he set out for Benin City. By the afternoon of that day, January 4, 1897 the inevitable happened: Seven out of nine white members of the Expedition including Phillips himself were ambushed and killed. The only white survivors were Boisragon and Locke. The story of this ill-fated Expedition is set out in Boisragon's book: The Benin Massacre http://www.dawodu.net See Alain Boisragon, The Benin Massacre, Methuen &Co, 36 Essex Street, W. C, London 1897. See also, Richard Gott, The Looting of Benin, http://www.arm.arc.co.uk ANNEX II APPENDIX 21 The Case of Benin Memorandum submitted by Prince Edun Akenzua I am Edun Akenzua Enogie (Duke) of Obazuwa-Iko, brother of His Majesty, Omo, n'Oba n'Edo, Oba (King) Erediauwa of Benin, great grandson of His Majesty Omo n'Oba n'Edo, Oba Ovonramwen, in whose reign the cultural property was removed in 1897. I am also the Chairman of the Benin Centenary Committee established in 1996 to commemorate 100 years of Britain's invasion of Benin, the action which led to the removal of the cultural property. HISTORY On 26 March 1892 the Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul, Benin District of the Oil River Protectorate, Captain H L Gallwey, manoeuvred Oba Ovonramwen and his chiefs into agreeing to terms of a treaty with the British Government. That treaty, in all its implications, marked the beginning of the end of the independence of Benin not only on account of its theoretical claims, which bordered on the fictitious, but also in providing the British with the pretext, if not the legal basis, for subsequently holding the Oba accountable for his future actions. The text quoted above was taken from the paper presented at the Benin Centenary Lectures by Professor P A Igbafe of the Department of History, University of Benin on 17 February 1997. Four years later in 1896 the British Acting Consul in the Niger-Delta, Captain James R Philip wrote a letter to the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Salisbury, requesting approval for his proposal to invade Benin and depose its King. As a post-script to the letter, Captain Philip wrote: I would add that I have reason to hope that sufficient ivory would be found in the King's house to pay the expenses incurred in removing the King from his stool. These two extracts sum up succinctly the intention of the British, or, at least, of Captain Philip, to take over Benin and its natural and cultural wealth for the British. British troops invaded Benin on 10 February1897. After a fierce battle, they captured the city, on February 18. Three days later, on 21 February precisely, they torched the city and burnt down practically every house. Pitching their tent on the Palace grounds, the soldiers gathered all the bronzes, ivory-works, carved tusks and oak chests that escaped the fire. Thus, some 3,000 pieces of cultural artwork were taken away from Benin. The bulk of it was taken from the burnt down Palace. NUMBER OF ITEMS REMOVED It is not possible for us to say exactly how many items were removed. They were not catalogued at inception. We are informed that the soldiers who looted the palace did the cataloguing. It is from their accounts and those of some European and American sources that we have come to know that the British carried away more than 3,000 pieces of Benin cultural property. They are now scattered in museums and galleries all over the world, especially in London, Scotland, Europe and the United States. A good number of them are in private hands. WHAT THE WORKS MEAN TO THE PEOPLE OF BENIN The works have been referred to as primitive art, or simply, artifacts of African origin. But Benin did not produce their works only for aesthetics or for galleries and museums. At the time Europeans were keeping their records in long-hand and in hieroglyphics, the people of Benin cast theirs in bronze, carved on ivory or wood. The Obas commissioned them when an important event took place which they wished to record. Some of them of course, were ornamental to adorn altars and places of worship. But many of them were actually reference points, the library or the archive. To illustrate this, one may cite an event which took place during the coronation of Oba Erediauwa in 1979. There was an argument as to where to place an item of the coronation paraphernalia. Fortunately a bronze-cast of a past Oba wearing the same regalia had escaped the eyes of the soldiers and so it is still with us. Reference was made to it and the matter was resolved. Taking away those items is taking away our records, or our Soul. RELIEF SOUGHT In view of the fore-going, the following reliefs are sought on behalf of the Oba and people of Benin who have been impoverished, materially and psychologically, by the wanton looting of their historically and cultural property. (i) The official record of the property removed from the Palace of Benin in 1897 be made available to the owner, the Oba of Benin. (ii) All the cultural property belonging to the Oba of Benin illegally taken away by the British in 1897, should be returned to the rightful owner, the Oba of Benin. (iii) As an alternative, to (ii) above, the British should pay monetary compensation, based on the current market value, to the rightful owner, the Oba of Benin. (iv) Britain, being the principal looters of the Benin Palace, should take full responsibility for retrieving the cultural property or the monetary compensation from all those to whom the British sold them. March 2000 Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence ANNEX III LIST OF HOLDERS OF BENIN ARTEFACTS Almost every Western museum has some Benin objects. Here is a short list of some of the places where the Benin Bronzes are to be found and their numbers. Various catalogues of exhibitions on Benin art or African art also list the private collections of the Benin Bronzes. Many museums refuse to inform the public about the number of Benin artefacts they have and do not display permanently the Benin artefacts in their possession since they do not have enough space. A museum such as World Museum, Vienna, formerly Volkerkundemuseum, has closed since 16 years the African section where the Benin artefacts were, apparently due to renovation works which are not likely to be finished before 2017. Berlin - Ethnologisches Museum 580. Boston, - Museum of Fine Arts 28. Chicago - Art Institute of Chicago 20, Field Museum 400 Cologne - Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum 73. Glasgow _ Kelvingrove and St, Mungo's Museum of Religious Life 22 Hamburg - Museum fur Volkerkunde, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe 196. Dresden - Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde 182. Leipzig - Museum fur Volkerkunde 87. Leiden - Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde 98. London - British Museum 900. New York - Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art 163. Oxford - Pitt-Rivers Museum/ Pitt-Rivers country residence, Rushmore in Farnham/Dorset 327. Paris-Musee du Quai Branly, unknown number. Stuttgart - Linden Museum-Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde 80. Vienna World Museum, formerly Museum fur Volkerkunde 167. ANNEX IV EXTRACTS FROM AFRIQUE FANTOME, MICHEL LEIRIS Editions Gallimard, 1934. Translations from French are by K. Opoku. We reproduce below texts from the diary of Michel Leiris, the Secretary to the notorious French Dakar-Djibouti Expedition,1931-33, that travelled from Dakar to Djibouti, armed with authorization from the Government to take whatever objects it thought might be useful in understanding the colonies, its and customs. The mission was under the leadership of the well-known French ethnologist, Marcel Griaule. The incredible methods of intimidation, extortion and direct theft could find equivalents under French, German and Portuguese colonial rule. It is interesting to note that Afrique Fantome has so far not been translated into English even though it is one of the few records where participants in ethnological expeditions provide us with direct information about their methods of acquisition of cultural artefacts 28 August 1931 After the journey. Dinner at Sido (128km). Raid, as in the other village, of all that we can find by way of dance costumes, utensils, children's toys, etc. (Ibid. p.96) 6 September On the left, hanging from the ceiling in the midst of a crowd of calabashes, an indefinable packet covered with feathers of different birds and in which Griaule feels that there is a mask. Irritated by the equivocations of the people our decision is quickly made: Griaule takes two flutes and slips them into his boots, we place the other things in place and we leave. (Ibid. p.103) Griaule decrees then and through Mamadou Vad, informs the chief that since they are obviously mocking us, they must, as reprisals deliver to us a Kono (an initiation altart) in exchange for 10 francs, on pain of the police, said to be hiding in our vehicle, coming to take the chief and the important persons of the village to San where they will have to explain themselves to the Administration. What a terrible blackmail! With a theatral gesture, I gave the chicken to the chief and as Makan has arrived with the canvas sheet, Griaule and I ordered the men to bring us the Kono). With everybody refusing, we went there ourselves, enveloped the holy object in the canvas sheet and went out like thieves whilst the panic-stricken chief fled and at some distance, drove his wife and children to their home with a baton. We crossed the village, which had become completely deserted, in a deadly silence, we reached our vehicles The ten francs are given to the chief and we leave in a hurry, in the midst of general astonishment and crowned with the aura of particularly powerful and daring demons or rascals.(Ibid. pp.103-104) 7 September Before leaving Dyabougou, visit to the village and the taking of the second Kono, which Griaule had spotted by entering into the reserved hut surreptitiously. This time it is Lutten and myself who have the responsibility for the operation. My heart beats very strongly for since the scandal of yesterday, I realize with more clarity the enormity of what we are committing. (Ibid. p.105) In the next village, I recognised a hut for a Kono with a door in ruins, I point it out to Griaule and the action is decided. As in the previous case, Mamadou Vad announces suddenly to the village chief whom we have brought before the hut in question, that the commander of the mission has given us the order to seize the Kono and that we are ready to pay an indemnity of 20 francs. This time, I alone take care of the operation and penetrate into the sacred small place, with the hunting knife of Lutten in my hand in order to cut the links to the mask. When I realise that two men - in no way at all menacing, have entered behind me, I realise with an astonishment which after a very short time turns into disgust, that one feels all the same very sure of one's self when one is a white man and has a knife in his hand. (Ibid. p.105) Towards the evening, the French teacher informed us that the mosque was the work of a European, the former administrator. In order to implement his plans, he destroyed the old mosque. The natives were so disgusted by the new building that they had to be punished with imprisonment before they would agree to sweep the building. (Ibid. p.115) Departure to the Habes. From the first village visited problems. The Habes are nice peoples who stand firm on their feet and do not seem to be ready to let others disturb them. Attempts to buy a few locks, even a purchase, they will protest and denounce a completed bargain; in a gesture of anger, Griaule breaks a waamba (a music instrument for the circumcised) which he had paid for and let it be said that he curses the village. (Ibid. p.120) 12 November Yesterday, we were refused with shock several statuettes which were used to cause rainfall, as well as a statuette with raised arms, found in a sanctuary. Taking away these objects would have been like taking away the life of the country, said a young man who, even though had been in the army, had remained faithful to his customs, almost crying at the thought of the disasters that our impious gesture would have provoked, and opposing our evil design with all his strength, had alerted the old men. Feeling like pirates: saying good-bye this morning to these affectionate old men, happy that we had spared them a disaster, we kept an eye on the huge green umbrella which was normally used to protect us but was today carefully bound. There was a strange bulge looking like the beak of a pelican: it contained the famous statuette with raised arms which I had myself stolen at the foot of the earth mound which served as its altar. I first hid it in my shirt and then I put it in the umbrella pretending to urinate in order to divert attention. This evening, at Touyogou, where we are camping at a public place, my chest is full of earth: my shirt served again as a hiding place for a kind of double edged blade, as we left the cave of masks of this village. (Ibid. p.156) 14 November In addition, the abductions continue and the information. Sanctuaries and holes in which one throws old masks are systematically explored. (Ibid. p.157) 15 November Our friends, Apama and Ambara brought us secretly costumes of fibres for masques which we had asked them. They requested us, above all, to hide them well. Today, I am preparing with them cards on these objects. Apama and Ambara are very attentive to the slightest noise. A child who wanted to enter was scolded. No doubt; our methods have set an example and the two nice boys went to take the costumes of fibres in the cave of masks where they were hidden. The influence of the European... (Ibid. pp.157-158) 18 November In another cave, we were authorised to take one of these objects (objects destined for causing lightning to fall on the heads of thieves). But when we put our hands on it, the people turned away from us, for fear of seeing us terribly punished for our sacrilege To the right of the cave, in a small sanctuary, a beautiful wooden sculpture. We did not look at it too much in order not to draw too much attention; but it was agreed that this night, Schaeffner and I, we were going to seize it. (Ibid. p159) Queen-Mother Idia, Benin,Nigeria, now in captivity in British Museum ,London ,United Kingdom. The symbol of Pan-African culture the British Museum refuses to return to Nigeria,even on a'loan'. 30.03.2016 LISTEN What a man! Indeed he is a man! Even Nature cannot but admire this man of high principles and ideas, this man brimming full of energy and offering genuine national services in all its ramifications. Indeed he is such a man! Who can beat him? Who can wrestle him to the ground? And who is this icon of a man? He needs no introduction at all, as his name has become a household name throughout the country. Yes, his name is Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo. Yes, Nana, you are our man and the Champion of Champions. You are our beacon of hope, a darling of the people and God's own elect. Yes, you are unstoppable. Your moment of glory is not far for you will be elected President of this country, no matter the obstacles that come your way. You will make Ghana and the entire black race proud because of the laudable policies you will introduce in the country. And just as the Queen of Sheba did, great people including Presidents and Kings from far and near will flock to the country to see the great victories you will be chalking under your presidency. Who will surpass you? Who will come so close to comparing his/her achievements with you? None! No Challenger!! Your charming and charismatic personality will make all good people gravitate towards you. Under your administration, darkness and failure will have no place in the dictionary of the country because you will look squarely at the faces of these drawbacks and ask them to evaporate and make way for your laudable and people's friendly policies. You are the very embodiment of Light and Greatness. Who can match you? You are a man of high principles, unequaled in the history of this country. It is only evil minded persons who, on a daily basis continue to cast aspersions on your character. In all these, you have remained undaunted and continue to press on with greater determination than ever before. Who can beat you? Who will understand you? Press on for the Golden Fleece is not far. Who can beat you and who can match your impeccable credentials? None! As you clock 72 years, my greatest prayer is that God should continue to endow you with the Wisdom of Solomon and make you great before the children of this world. May the Great dreams you have for Ghanaians and the rest of the world be realized under your government. May Ghanaians never lack peace and the blessings of the Lord during your regime? I see a cloud of uncertainty being lifted off the entity called Ghana. I see President Mahama making desperate calls to you to come and take over the leadership of this country. He says he never knew the burden would be so great for him. But just before you emerged, I heard the looming darkness emitting discordant tunes. At the point when everything appears to go bleak, a ray of hope surrounds your physical presence. Mahama takes off the crown and waits anxiously to hand it over to you. His hands are shaking as he holds the crown. You walk briskly to him. He lifts the crown and puts it on your head. He intones: Nana, you are the man, God's own elect. You are favoured of the Lord and a rare gem. You lead and I follow. You are our decisive President in waiting. You are indeed the great man our forefathers foretold. Seventy Two solid Years is not an easy journey. You have seen the ugliest, bitter and the most beautiful things in life. But nothing disturbs your mien as you continue to wax stronger in all that you do. It is indeed God's own purpose of making you great. May the Good Lord keep and bless you. May the Lord keep you and make his countenance shine upon you and your family. May the Lord give you peace and above all may He keep you from all evil. This is the vision the Lord showed me about your upcoming elevation and the better things Ghanaians will enjoy under your Presidency. And which better time to reveal such a proclamation than during your 72nd birthday? The time is coming when all patriotic men and women will stand up and shout in unison: Nana, Ghanaians are indeed grateful to you. We have never had things so smooth until you assumed the presidency of this country. Your regime has been the best thing that ever happened to this enclave we all call Ghana. Indeed it has been christened the 'Golden Age of Ghana'. You are indeed the true son of your father. A belated happy birthday to you! We thank the Good Lord for your life. Remain blessed for you are highly favoured of the Lord. Daniel Danquah Damptey ([email protected]) 0243715297 (Self- Appointed Special Aide to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo) IVA Struggling with debt? Compare your debt options and write off up to 80% of your unsecured debts from 80 per month Get Started for free What is an IVA? With an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) you can make affordable monthly payments towards a percentage of your debt for 5 years. 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You will not have to surrender your pension or withdraw money from it to pay into your IVA Risks of an IVA Here is a list of the cost common disadvantages of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA): Equity Release If you own your property and it has value, you may be asked to release the equity in the property Credit Rating If you have a perfect credit rating, this will be damaged and you will not be allowed to take out more debt whilst in an arrangement You must keep up with repayments If you do not keep up with your monthly repayments, there is a risk you will be made bankrupt Who qualifies for an IVA? There is no office guidelines to who qualifies for an IVA. It is a legally binding, Government legislation designed to help all people. Generally speaking, insolvency practitioners (IP) will look at your situation if they think the IVA proposal they submit is beneficial to both yourself (the debtor) and your creditors. This often restricts people to a certain criteria which you will have to meet: Over 5000 worth of unsecured debt You must have 2 or more creditors of 2 or more lines of credit Must live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland Must be insolvent Must be willing to pay at least 70 per month into their IVA Must have some type or types of regular income What debts can I include in an IVA? You can include a wide range of unsecured debts within your IVA. These include: Credit card debt/credit cards Loans/loan debt Payday loans Council tax arrears HMRC debt Overpaid benefits Catalogues Gas and electricity arrears Overdrafts/overdraft debt Water arrears Income tax arrears Debts to friends and family Other unsecured debts Note: If you are a resident of Scotland, you will need to apply for a Scottish Trust Deed (legally binding). Speak to our advisors for Scottish Debt Advice. What debts cant be included in an IVA? Secured loans Your mortgage (if you still live in the house) Car finance (if you still have the car) Rent arrears for your current property Court fines/Police fines Hire purchase arrears (if you still have the product) Log book loans (if you still have the vehicle that the debts are secured on) Student loans Other secured debts What does I.V.A stand for? IVA stands for Individual Voluntary Arrangement. It is a formal way to consolidate your debts into one affordable monthly repayment, resulting in the debtor becoming debt free at the end of their payments. Can I apply for an IVA online? Use the IVA Calculator to check your eligibility Prepare your IVA proposal and apply for your IVA. When your IVA is accepted, your creditors can no longer contact you. Pay 60 low monthly payments. After 5 years, you are out of your IVA and completely debt free. Will an IVA affect my employment? In most occupations, your credit rating or credit scoring is not a factor and it may never have been checked in the past, it may also be likely that it is not checked in the future either. There is no law to tell you that you must advise your employer that you have entered an IVA or that you owe money. They will not be notified by your insolvency practitioner. If you wanted to keep it a private matter, in most cases this would be absolutely fine. With some roles such as financial advisors, solicitors or bank workers it may make up part of your contract to advise them of changes like this. In these situations we would advise to inform your employers of your intentions before you enter into any arrangements. This way there will be no nasty surprises for you later down the line. More often than not, we find that your employer would not be concerned by your IVA and that it would not affect your employment status. An IVA is a formal solution and could affect some employments, such as if you were a solicitor or accountant for example. We would always recommend that you receive approval from your employers that your job isnt affected before you sign up for anything. Will an IVA impact my partner? There are certain situations where you may not want to involve your partner at all in your IVA proposal due to personal reasons. Insolvency Practitioners are very aware of these circumstances and can operate solely via telephone and email and at your convenience, so rest assured that your matters can be kept completely private. If the debts which you are looking to place into your IVA are in joint names, then this would be different. Your IP would look to place all of your debts into an IVA, including joint debts therefore you would have to inform your partner of your plans. If your debts are solely yours, then there would be no negative impact on your partner, their credit score would remain unaffected and they would not be entered onto any registers or be tainted in any way. Will an IVA affect my credit score/credit file? Whilst you are in your arrangement, you will not be able to get any credit. An IVA will stay on your credit file for 6 years, so 12 months after a typical IVA. When this time has passed and your monthly payments have ended, you will be able to rebuild your credit rating. What proof will I need to apply for an IVA? Proof of ID Passport/driving license/birth certificate/utility bills/national insurance identification/credit agreement Bank statements 3 months bank statements with all transactions displayed Proof of income 3 months payslips/P60/proof of benefits How long does it take to set up an IVA? Your initial call will only last around 5-10 minutes. The IVA process will be explained to you and you will be told what further information you will need to provide to proceed with your IVA proposal. Once you have returned the required information, an IVA will usually take between 7-14 days to get into place. You will be protected from creditors within this time, your advisor will provide you with documentation via email. How long does an IVA last? Most IVAs will last for a length of five years. The i v a will remain on your credit file for a period of six years and is placed on the Insolvency Register for that period. You can work out what date it will be removed from your credit file, it will be six years from the start date of the IVA term. So if the IVA started on 1 January 2000, it should be removed from your credit file six years from that date, which would be 1 January 2006. When you apply for an individual voluntary arrangement your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) will tell you if you qualify for an IVA, how long it lasts, how much it costs and provide you with any other debt advice which you may need. How much will debt advice cost for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement? The advice cost for individual voluntary arrangements is free of charge. Your I.V.A company will tell you if you qualify for an IVA. They will talk to you about your different debts, provide you with free debt advice and check if your creditors are likely to approve your proposal for your IVA for debt. How does an IVA affect your life? By taking out an IVA you may affect your overall financial position. You will not be allowed to take out credit for 6 years. You will struggle to get a mortgage or remortgage your existing property. It also may affect any future increase in earnings or windfalls you may receive, as these will need to be paid to your insolvency practitioner. Your insolvency practitioner will take control of your debts for this period, they will deal with all of your creditors and this is legally binding. That means you will not be allowed to take out any more debts whilst in the IVA. Once the plan is completed, any debts which you accrue will be managed by yourself. Your ability to take out further debts in the future will not be impacted once the IVA has completed. What is the IVA protocol? The I.V.A protocol is a voluntary set of guidelines which your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) can sign up for which improves the efficiency of Individual Voluntary Arrangements. When you apply for debt advice, it is important that you understand the steps of the debt solution, so you can decide whether or not the solution is the best one for your circumstances. How do I know if creditors will accept my IVA? Generally speaking, most creditors will approve voluntary arrangements for unsecured debt. But some debts can not be included within one formal debt solution. Your Insolvency Practitioner will tell you how likely it is that your creditors will be willing to accept your proposal, based on the voting creditors. Can I pay in one lump sum? There are occasions when you may be eligible for a debt solution which is payable in a one off lump sum as a final settlement to your creditors. This is usually when the money is being gifted from some one else, or you have received inheritance or a windfall for example. With a one-off lump sum payment, the advice is usually the same as when you normally apply for an IVA. You wouldnt have to make regular payments into the solution, your IP can provide you with more advice on one off lump sum solutions for your debts. Your IP will provide you with more advice on the debt IVA and explain what is IVA to you. Who regulates the debt industry? At present the debt industry is not regulated. Some Insolvency Practitioners offices choose to sign up to the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) or register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). You can contact the IPA using the contact details or email address on their website. Your creditors do not regulate the debt industry and your creditors will not be able to impact any decisions which the IPA or FCA make. In our experience, the regulators will take assertive action on any advisers or businesses which do not comply with their strict codes of practice. To check if a person is regulated by the FCA, enter their name into the search box in the FCA website. Should I use a debt charity? There are thousands of companies which provide debt help in the UK. You may be looking for an alternative to a private company. You should know that charities usually pass their fee charging products to sister companies which charge fees and disbursements, just like private companies. So what you initially thought was a good option, on further analysis could be different to what you originally thought. Charities do have their part to play though. They can help you if you have a problem with your bank accounts, maintenance arrears, living costs, credit reference agencies, child support arrears, bankruptcy, assets, accountancy issues, mortgages, creditor issues, insurance providers, mobiles, your bank account, rates arrears, PAYE contributions or if you want to work out your expenditure. They can make sure that you speak to an adviser or supervisor and look at proposals to offer your lender. A petition has started with the possibility of a debate in parliament about how charities represent themselves and their services. Which charities help with debt? You can contact Money Advice Service, National Debtline, Step Change, Shelter or a combination of the three. Charities are particular useful for a low debt level under 1,000. If the debt is high (such as a debt value of 10,000 or more) you would usually seek an assessment from a professional adviser. If you do decide to use a charity to guide you, make sure you check their charity number and the registration number on their website to make sure you are content that their team can answer your questions in the right ways. A lot of clients of charities have a minimum debt level which does not meet the basis for an IVA, so you could always chat to a charity that is happy to act on your behalf for low debt levels. Although an I.V.A could be the answer to your debt problem, its important to understand the monthly payment so call us on our free phone number. Anyone customers can receive expert feedback on their rights from debt charities, if they cant help they will usually point you in the director of firms which help with IVAs. We are homeowners, will lenders see my proposal differently? In some cases yes. In the majority of cases, if you are a homeowner you will not need to remortgage or take out any additional finances that will effect your property. You will need to sign a additional restrictions which remove your ability to take out additional credit tied to your property, which is something that is restricted once you are in an i.v.a. There are exceptions to this, such as when you have a lot of equity in your property/properties. If you own half of a property and another party owns the other half, only your equity will be affected. If you are landlord and you are in a position of equity, your IP may review your trading position or business to make sure the figures in question are in order. This is usually the case if you have two or more properties, as sometimes the equity can be used to form a repayment to your creditors. But this usually depends on the amount of value built up in your properties. Banks and building societies will not change the terms of your mortgage as long as a contribution is still being made for the duration of your arrangement. Your mortgage payments will be added to your expenses and accounted for within your budget, as long as you can provide evidence that you can afford to continue to make payments into your mortgage for duration of the plan. LOOKING FOR HELP? 100% Confidential. Thousands Helped. No upfront fees you are here: business Can export to Brazil and Taiwan after anti dumping duty: Kajaria Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Ashok Kajaria said that Indian manufacturers can win back market share on the back of this reform and Kajarias volume growth will be 2 percent higher due to this duty. business JMC Projects in talks to sell 4 road projects: sources JMC Projects is in talks with Isolux CorsAn and I Squared Capital to sell a cluster of four road projects, reports CNBC-TV18, quoting sources. business Excl: Gas price may fall from $4.24/unit to $3.15 In 2014, the government had introduced a formula that is used to calculate the price of gas produced in India. business Buy Reliance Industries on dips, says Pankaj Jain According to Pankaj Jain of SW Capital, one may buy Reliance Industries on dips. Scentre Group [ASX:SCG] was doing very well today, rebounding with the commodity sector over the course of the trading day. As a property developer, Scentres long term outlook is positive. What happened to the SCG share price? Scentre Group [ASX:SCG] was doing very well today, rebounding with the commodity sector over the course of the trading day. The Aussie market was flat for the day; the market was generally confused with a dovish Yellen on one side, and improving commodity prices on the other. The overall market condition remains relatively stable. Why did SCG shares do this? A property developer, Scentres long term outlook is positive. In 2016 and 2017, it is expected that the company will report both revenue and profit growth. However, market analysts have an overall rating of Hold on the stock, meaning that the stock is generally fairly-priced at the current market price. Make no mistake; the company is extremely cheap on a P/E basis. The company also pays a handsome dividend. Growth rates for sales have been positive and margin is very high. Scentre has a manageable level of debt but could use more current asset to boost its liquidity position. What now for SCG? When it becomes active trading, it is possible for SCG traders to outperform a long-only investor by adopting a long/short strategy at an inter-day frequency. However, the particular model used for SCG can be quite complex, requiring a lot of agility from the trader. In addition to last week, this week should have seen a long signal on the stock. Next week should see another long position (given current price). Fundamentally, the stock is healthy in its financial results. However, the question remains as to whether the stock is overvalued. It is possible to argue that the stock is cheap for any long term investor, particularly with P/E being at such a low level. However, it also needs to be noted that growth could slow down over the long term. Ken Wangdong+ Emerging Market Analyst, New Frontier Investor March 30, 2016 How The U.S. Continues To Arm al-Qaeda Exhibit 1 According to rebels in the Turkish border zone, weapons have flowed steadily into Syria since the ceasefire began. Even those who hope for a political settlement arent betting on one any time soon. Instead theyre stockpiling for the next round, which they expect will be as desperate as the last. ... We ask the Friends of Syria and they give us, [Colonel Hassan Rajoub, commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Division 16], said with a smile. They have just now given us new supplies of everything. But we want some special weapons to give us a little bit of leverage. ... [S]everal FSA commanders said the United States had been forthcoming during the ceasefire period, replenishing arms stocks and leaving open the possibility that some anti-aircraft missiles might be released into northern Syria. We expect a surprise, said one satisfied commander. ... The U.S. military commanders are always with us, Rajoub said. We ask. They are very cooperative. They understand our needs. --- Around Aleppo, Its Not PeaceJust a Break, Thanassis Cambanis, Century Foundation, March 28 2016 Exhibit 2 Hard-core Islamists in the Nusra Front have long outgunned the more secular, nationalist, Western-supported rebels. According to FSA officers, Nusra routinely harvests up to half the weapons supplied by the Friends of Syria, a collection of countries opposed to Assad, and has regularly smashed FSA factions that were corrupt and inefficient or that Nusra thought were getting too strong or too popular. --- The Syrian Revolution Against al Qaeda, Thanassis Cambanis, Foreign Policy, March 29 2016 Posted by b on March 30, 2016 at 16:19 UTC | Permalink Comments Morningstar's "Perspectives" series features investment insights from third-party contributors. Looking for some last minute ISA stock ideas? Three top-performing UK and European equity fund managers pick a company for you to consider and explain why they chose that stock. Picked by Hugh Yarrow, Evenlode Income A long-held stock within the portfolio, Diageo is a leader in the alcoholic drinks market with a portfolio of strong brands such as Johnnie Walker, Guinness and Baileys. It also has a well-balanced portfolio in terms of exposure to developed and emerging markets. The last few years have been tough in terms of operational performance as emerging market growth has slowed. As a result, shares have under-performed and the stock offers a dividend yield of 3.4% well supported by free cash flow. In our view, the long-term potential for dividend growth is strong, the most recent dividend increase was more than 5%. In the near-term, there are also some positive dynamics at play. Diageos US sales performance is improving and the recent fall in oil should provide a tailwind for US consumption growth. The US market represents more than 40% of its profit. Pandora (PNDORA) Picked by Nicolas Walewski, Alken European Opportunities We are bullish on Danish international jewellery maker Pandora. We visited Pandoras operations in Thailand last month and its outlook is extremely strong, with growth fuelled by online and expansion into new categories. Pandora has been successfully focussing its energy on Europe and the US, while continued expansion in Asia will accelerate its growth even further. Pandora has 19 stores in Singapore and 40 in China, which puts into context the huge growth opportunity for the company. In fact, Hong Kong is one of its most profitable franchises. Pandora has one of the cheapest price/earnings to growth ratios in European equity markets. This stock trades on about 15x earnings, with a growth rate above 30% which is incredibly impressive. It is one of our top holdings in our funds. Picked by Stuart Mitchell, SWMC European For years we have been intrigued by the strength of Oranges franchise. The outlook for the group appears to be improving in a number of important ways. Management is working hard to reduce costs, but perhaps more importantly, European regulators have begun to acknowledge the industry has been weakened by fragmentation that long-term investment has been undermined. Notably, 4G investment is said to be three years behind the US. The regulatory burden is consequently easing somewhat, while at the same time the process of consolidation has begun to accelerate. 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 The Midland-Odessa combined statistical area was the fastest-growing region in the United States from 2010-15, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the data, the Midland-Odessa CSA saw a 17 percent population increase after growing by 47,347 people. July 2015 estimates put the total population for this area at 326,115. The Midland metropolitan area was estimated to have 166,718 people as of July 1, 2015, up 25,047 (18 percent) from the April 1, 2010, census. According to data from the Texas Workforce Commission, the Midland metropolitan statistical areas unemployment rate for February was 4.0. The Midland MSA had a labor force of 89,933. Compared to February 2015, the labor force fell 3,274 (3.5 percent). The Odessa metro population was estimated at 159,436 on July 1, 2015, up 22,306 (16 percent) from the April census. According to a Census Bureau press release, Midland and Odessa were two of five Texas metros that were among the top 20 fastest growing between 2014 and 2015. The other Texas metros were Austin, College Station-Bryan and Houston. Four Texas metros combined for an additional 412,000 people. The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro areas added about 159,000 and 145,000 residents, respectively the largest gains of any metro areas in the nation, the press release said. Two additional Texas metro areas adjacent to each other Austin-Round Rock and San Antonio-New Braunfels were each also among the 16 nationwide to gain 50,000 or more people (from July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015). Also from the press release: Among very small counties, Loving, Texas, was the fastest growing of those with a population of fewer than 5,000 people in 2015 (28.7 percent growth). Loving Countys population as of July 1, 2015, was 112, an increase of 25 residents since 2014. Loving has the lowest population in Texas. Like Trevor on Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @HowdyHawes The Austin American-Statesman recently brought to light that state Comptroller Glenn Hegar in February removed the Texas Habitat Conservation Foundation from monitoring the protection preservation of the dunes sagebrush lizard in West Texas. The Comptrollers Office made the move because the foundation, set up by lobby group the Texas Oil and Gas Association, failed to perform its duties, such as habitat restoration work and monitoring drillers and other landowners to ensure they were performing conservation measures to protect the dunes sagebrush lizard, the Statesman reported. Permian Basin Petroleum Association President Ben Shepperd spoke Monday with the Reporter-Telegram and applauded Hegar for continuing to try to improve the (Texas Conservation Plan) and oversight of the plan. The PBPA was closely involved with New Mexico on its own conservation plan concerning of the dunes sagebrush lizard years before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed on Dec. 14, 2010, to have the lizard, whose habitat is in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, listed as a threatened species. The listing would have inhibited oil and gas drilling, among other activities such as the construction of wind turbines. The PBPA worked with operators in New Mexico, the Fish and Wildlife Service in New Mexico, New Mexico Game and Fish (and) all of the other stakeholders that were involved in these issues, Shepperd said. We had worked on a conservation plan for the lizard that just impacted New Mexico. Shepperd noted that 80 percent of the lizards habitat, which is among shinnery oak areas, is in New Mexico. The New Mexico conservation plan is in two parts: the Candidate Conservation Agreement, which covers land administered by the federal government, and the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances, which applies to state and privately owned lands, according to the Center of Excellence for Hazardous Materials Management, a nonprofit that is involved in oversight of endangered-species matters in New Mexico. Shepperd said that when the Fish and Wildlife proposed the lizards listing, it already had approved New Mexicos plan and that the plan to this day has been successful. Its been very strongly supported by oil and gas throughout the range, Shepperd said. No one, including the Wild Earth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity, in their recent lawsuit ... have made any derogatory comments, at least that Im aware of, about the plan. In other words, they believe that its doing all of the things that it should be doing, and, in the lawsuit that they had filed in Washington, they did not mention the New Mexico plan. Texas has its own plan. Called the Texas Conservation Plan, it is administered by the Texas Habitat Conservation Foundation. The Comptrollers Office, which was established by the Texas provisional government in 1935 to oversee the states finances, has also overseen the states endangered-species matters since the 2011 legislative session after then-state Rep. Warren Chisum added an amendment to a must-pass fiscal matters bill that would complete this action, according to a 2013 Texas Tribune article looking back at the change. New Mexicos and Texas plans are different. What New Mexico implements is essentially a fee-for-disturbance plan. If your drilling or operations plan includes disturbing some part of the habitat, you will be assessed a fee, and the fees can get pretty high depending how they rank the habitat in terms of priority, Shepperd said. Is this a known area where (the lizards) are or is it a quarter-mile away that kind of thing. There is an economic incentive not to disturb the habitat. Texas has a credit-mitigation matrix. Its kind of like buying an offset, Shepperd said. You can disturb (the habitat) so long as you put other acreage aside. Despite the oversight change, The Texas Conservation Plan is also working very, very well. The USFWS has not raised any objections, that Im aware of, to it, Shepperd said. Indeed, the Statesman article notes that Lauren Willis, a spokesman for Hegar, said there was no evidence the foundations poor work had harmed the lizard. Going forward, Shepperd said he hopes the comptrollers action will strengthen oversight of the plan. The industry is committed to conservation and to coexisting with all flora and fauna out here in the Permian, he said. I think (the comptrollers action is) not altogether a bad thing. The comptroller has chosen to put a different set of eyes overseeing the plan. Nobodys complained about the plan, and Im not aware that the plan has any criticisms other than management issues. So, I applaud the comptroller for taking strong leadership and ensuring the plans implementation continues to be strong. The PBPA is the largest regional oil and gas association in the U.S. It often fights additions and amendments to the Endangered Species Act that will impact oil and gas operations in Texas and New Mexico. Shepperd says, though, that its lawsuits and legislative actions arent because of corporate greed or mean-spiritedness. (The) oil and gas industry is perfectly willing and eager to be good stewards of the land, he said. When we push back on these endangered species listings, its because that, generally speaking, weve been able to prove that (concerns) are not scientifically based. The remedies that USFWS would impose would not match the need (of industry). He noted that the oil industry is proactive in protecting threatened species. Millions and millions of dollars have been put into the lizard plans and the (lesser prairie) chicken plans, he said. The oil and gas industry is absolutely stepping up to take action, to preserve habitats and species. Follow Trevor on Facebook and like him on Twitter at @HowdyHawes. The layoffs keep coming for oil workers, and companies are cutting to the bone. The oil and natural gas extraction sector has contracted 18 percent since January 2015 as companies have shed 15,700 jobs across the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Add in supporting businesses, and the layoffs total more than 100,000. Those numbers will only worsen as the Baker Hughes North American rig count sets record lows. In Texas, the number of rigs operating fell by eight to 207 last week, which is 77 percent below its 2014 peak. Companies are figuring out how to produce more oil and natural gas with fewer rigs, but the link between rigs and jobs remains strong. Every time a rig shuts down, 28 people lose their jobs immediately, and 171 more jobs are eliminated in the long run as a consequence, according to one Rice University study. Industrywide hiring is bottoming at levels needed to offset regular attrition, Joseph Triepke, managing director of Oil Pro, said in his analysis of the data. While initial layoffs focused on rig workers, layoffs in 2016 will focus more on middle and senior managers as the industry adjusts to less ambitious drilling plans, he added. In Texas, the economy is more diverse than ever, so the job losses are only flattening growth, not sending the state into recession. That doesnt help the men and women who have spent the last four years preparing for careers in an industry that looked unstoppable when they started college, particularly petroleum engineers. Job listings for these specialists who design drilling strategies and supervise rigs are down 84 percent since January 2013 on the worlds top job search site, Indeed.com? . When things are booming, enrollment goes up and we have a bust right when those folks are graduating, Anthony Bahr, one of the co-founders of the Wild-Horse Resources family of Houston-based oil and gas exploration and production companies. Newly minted engineers need to set themselves apart as the oil bust bottoms out. Learning a little about how the business side of the house is one way to stand out. Bahr and his business partner Jay Graham studied petroleum engineering at Texas A&M, with Bahr graduating in 1991 and Graham in 1992. This month they gave $12 million to create the Petroleum Ventures Program that will give undergraduates a chance to earn a certificate showing they also understand the business side of the industry. Knowing how to judge a projects economic potential by considering commodity prices and financial markets is a growing part of a young petroleum engineers duties, Graham said. Cost structures, efficiencies all of that stuff youre not just tasked with being an engineer understanding fluid flow and thermodynamics, you are tasked with being a businessperson, he said. If they arent familiar with the markets, youre going to be getting bad recommendations and bad projects. Bahr said when he graduated, young engineers went to work for major corporations where all they worried about was getting the most from the reservoir. But with hydraulic fracturing and more nimble wells, a new graduate is likely to find himself or herself at a smaller company having to learn additional skills fast, including how to pitch to private equity groups. The goal is not to turn engineers into business people, but to give them the vocabulary and basic knowledge to fit into the changing oil and gas landscape, Bahr explained. Graham said he also wanted to repay the debt they owe to Professor Billy Pete Huddleston, who taught them business skills when the started their company in 2007. They hope to pass on those lessons through the new certificate program at A&M that will require engineering and business students to take courses and work together on projects at a new Petroleum Business Impact Lab beginning this fall. Graham said recent graduates are learning that the industrys cyclical nature can and will take a toll. If you got into it for quick money, he recommends you find work in another field. It has to be an industry you love, and it has to be an industry where you set yourself up for cyclical changes, he said. Prices will rise again, but how many jobs the next cycle will create is unknown. New rigs are more automated than ever, with operators pushing joysticks instead of iron. Engineers who know a little business can differentiate themselves during the down cycles. Midcareer workers should keep up with technology to stay relevant. The job market is going to stay tough, but those who make it through will be stronger and smarter when the boom comes again. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday defended offering Dallas help from state police as the nation's ninth-largest city grapples with a dramatic spike in homicides and local officers balk at reassigned shifts to get violent crimes under control. Dallas police this week reported a 75 percent jump in homicides over the same period last year. The rise in killings includes at least 17 so far this month, compared with five in March a year ago. Exactly what role the Texas Department of Public Safety would play remains unclear. The agency has grown into a robust and militarized force of about 3,000 state troopers over the past decade as Republican leaders prioritized defense along the Texas-Mexico border. But it is unusual that DPS, whose troopers mostly patrol highways, would help a big city get a handle on homicides at the request of a governor. DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said discussions are ongoing but in an email listed "patrol support in hot-spot locations for criminal activity" or investigative and aerial support as possible ways of assistance. "We want to provide an intensified focus to make sure we corral this challenge immediately," Abbott, a Republican, told reporters at the governor's mansion. Dallas Police Chief David Brown has welcomed the offer, and Abbott said the state's role will be purely collaborative. "I wanted to make sure we were not stepping into the turf of the Dallas police department, that we were very respectful of their jurisdiction," Abbott said. "So I wanted to do this on a volunteer basis and assistive basis." Brown told a City Council committee Monday hundreds of Dallas officers would be reassigned to target high-crime neighborhoods and bulk up staffing on a 4 p.m. to midnight shift a time when police commanders say a majority of violent crime occurs. Others would be placed on task forces concentrating on areas such as serving domestic violence warrants, Brown said, and more officers, including top commanders, would be assigned to foot patrols. But the plan has provoked intense backlash among rank-and-file Dallas police officers, who complained the change would disrupt their personal lives. At least one police union has called for Brown to resign and others criticized the sweeping changes. Brown has since backed away from some aspects of the overhaul, saying further review is needed. Violent crime also is up in other major U.S. cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston, where killings rose from 241 in 2014 to 303 last year. Abbott said he would not hesitate to offer state police help to otherTexas cities as needed. Vinger, the DPS spokesman, said it was not unusual for DPS to provide help outside its usual mission. But examples he cited big events such as Super Bowls and music festivals were more about providing a heightened security presence than helping a city combat an ongoing problem. There is a right way and a wrong way to increase public awareness. Saturday at Midland Park Mall, we saw the right way. Several dozen woman conducted a nurse-in to highlight the importance of breastfeeding. The women gathered in response to an incident that allegedly occurred a couple of weeks earlier -- an unidentified mother was shamed for breastfeeding her child at the mall, as Cassie Burton wrote in Sundays edition. The group Midland-Odessa Breastfeeding Mommies used social media to recruit mothers interested in participating in the nurse-in and to remind the public that breastfeeding is, as one person said, something thats normal and beautiful. What made this event beneficial wasnt the protest as much as it was the public awareness aspect. Midland Park Mall also joined in solidarity by organizing a Mothers Health Event, as Burton wrote in Sundays edition. Lactation and nursing consultants and specialists from Midland Memorial Hospital, Lactation Services of the Permian Basin and The Breast Connection were on hand to answer questions. Mothers had the opportunity to ask questions about fertility concerns, the effects of breastfeeding while pregnant and what to expect. Midland Park Mall manager Kevin Church told Burton that breastfeeding is legal. A state law passed in 1995 entitles a mother to breastfeed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Educating the uninformed, in our view, is the best way to limit or shut down opposition to an issue. There always will be some who frown on the idea of public breastfeeding. They arent going to listen to justifications that seeing a woman breastfeed her baby in public is no different than seeing a scantily clad woman in that same public place. And the reality is, the best way to prevent second glances, stares and disturbing remarks is reminding people that breastfeeding is a normal process. Theres a fine line concerning privacy, decency and practicality even in regards to breastfeeding. Saturdays nurse-in wasnt about a mothers rights as much as it was about increasing awareness, which made the event that much more worthwhile. It's been nearly three years since Haim took over with their debut album Days Are Gone, but this summer the "The Wire" band is looking to release new music and debut it live. On Tuesday (March 29), the trio revealed they have been hard at work in the studio working on their sophomore album, and now they have followed it up with news of a short summer 2016 tour. "At this point, we just want to go out there and play these songs live," the Haim sisters said in a short teaser video, and boy will they ever. According to Pitchfork, beginning May 17 Haim will take off on an 18-date North American tour. The abbreviated trek, which will run through the end of July when the pop-rockers play Lollapalooza, will include shows in Memphis, Columbus, Indianapolis and more. Haim will then complete their run with a string of festival dates. In addition to major fests such as Governors Ball, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo, the sister trio is also set to appear at Bunbury Music Festival, Mo Pop Festival, Boston Calling and more as well as a selection of international fests in Sweden, Denmark and England. Haim North American Tour Dates, 2016: 05/17: Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory 05/18: Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theater 05/20-22: Hangout Music Festival 05/21: Baton Rouge, LA @ Varsity Theatre 05/24: Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall 05/25: St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant 05/27: Columbus, OH @ Express Live! Indoor Pavilion 05/28: Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE - Indoor 05/27-29: Boston, MA @ Boston Calling 06/03-05: Cincinnati, OH @ Bunbury Music Festival 06/04: New York, NY @ Governors Ball 06/06: Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room 06/07: Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom 06/08: Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel 06/09-12: Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo 07/23-24: Detroit, MI @ Mo Pop Festival 07/22-24: Oro-Medonte, ON @ Way Home Music and Arts Festival 07/28-31: Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Good Charlotte first planned a comeback for 2016, than announced a new album and now that record has a release date. Six years after dropping their last album Cardiology on Wednesday (March 30), the pop-punk band announced that its comeback album is due for a summer release. In a two-minute video posted to Apple Music, Good Charlotte revealed that its new album will be released on July 15. The band linked out to the big announcement on its Twitter, with a short teaser for a slightly longer teaser announcement. Further information surrounding Good Charlotte's first album in over half a decade remain a mystery, with no official album title, artwork or tracklisting out in the world. What fans do have, however, is a new single. Leading up the new album news, Good Charlotte released its new song "Makeshift Love" in November and dropped an official music video for the single. There's also an upcoming Good Charlotte tour set for next month. As Music Times previously reported, Good Charlotte are set for a four show East Coast tour from April 18 to 22. The band will play in Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York and Boston. Good Charlotte 2016 Tour Dates: 04/18: Philadelphia, PA @ TLA 04/20: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club 04/21: New York, NY @ Webster Hall 04/22: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club The new Good Charlotte album will be the pop-punk band's sixth studio effort and first release since November 2010. Good Charlotte is best known for its early 2000s output, which included singles such as "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," "The Anthem" and "I Just Wanna Live." 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Not all heroes where capes. Yesterday news broke that the parent company for beloved Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles had filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection and fear started to spread that regulars wouldn't be able to get their delicious meal of chicken and waffles all in one spot. However one man appears poised to pick up the pieces and save the legions of those who could be affected by this - the Doggfather, Snoop Dogg. Last night TMZ caught up with Snoop and members of his team in the way they only know how, aggressively and with a camera right in their face to asked them about the bankruptcy. The members of his team who were asked first didn't know what had happened and failed to give much of a response. Snoop appears after 30 second and also has the befuddled and scared look that one of his favorite eateries may be going under. After the initial shock wears off, the quick-thinking MC offers a solution that many would be happy to hear and potentially see happen - buy up the company. "I'm guess I'm gonna have to name it Snoop Dogg's Chicken N' Waffles," the Doggfather says before the scene cuts to black. A marriage of Snoop and Roscoe's wouldn't be the most outrageous thing in the world. He took Larry King there on an interview in 2008 for CNN, while the eatery has a strong place in hip-hop lore, finding its way into the tracks of Biggie and others. The news that Roscoe's parent company is filing for bankruptcy has taken many by surprise, but the warning signs have been there. The waffle house was ordered to pay an ex-employee 1.6 million from a jury verdict and $1.5 million in attorney fees after they were found guilty of discrimination in a wrongful termination lawsuit acording to KTLA. 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Please enable JavaScript to experience the functionality of this website. - MWEB Someone should sue the President for ... Columbia candymakers Janice Nelson, of Nelson's Columbia Candy Kitchen, flanked by daughters Sarah and Jennifer outside Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors Chambers, March 29, 2016 View Photos Sonora, CA A family of candy makers with roots that reach past those of their state park landlord continues to mount support from lawmakers hoping to work through a proposed bills sticky issues. As previously reported here, the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors called a special meeting Tuesday afternoon to discuss sending a letter supporting AB 2249 which seeks to protect historic names in state parks with the caveat request that a special exemption be added that protects interests of Nelsons Columbia Candy Kitchen, which predate those established by the state at the founding of Columbia State Park in 1945. The bill was introduced to avoid trademark lawsuits with concessionaires such as what is currently being fought between Yosemite National Park and Delaware North Parks & Resorts at Yosemite (DNCY), as reported here. Proprietor Janice Nelson appeared to speak on her own behalf. Sharing she had spoken with bill author State Assemblymember Ken Cooley, she said he provided assurance that keeping Nelsons from being able to rebid on the park concession during contract renewal time was not in any way the intent of the proposed law. Appreciating What Is In A Name Nelson commented, I can really sympathize with [Cooley] because, I too, signed a petition wanting the names the Ahwahnee, Wawona and Camp Curry back again, because that is what we have lived with forever, too. Echoing his support and sentiments, fellow concessionaire George Segarini spoke. Noting that family operates Christopher at the City Hotel Restaurant and What Cheer Saloon, names that incorporate historic park monikers, he stated, I understand what the state is trying to do with regard to protecting its names in the state parksbut there are some unintended consequencesand this is one of them. Following a brief board discussion, the supervisors unsurprisingly voted 5-0 to send a letter to the state legislators. During the course of the boards discussion, District 1 Supervisor Sherri Brennan stated her preference for a stipulation that would categorically protect the interests of all state park vendors in similar positions as the Nelsons, instead of just requesting an exclusive protection for Nelsons. District 5 Supervisor and Board Chair Karl Rodefer, whose area includes Columbia, stated while they could suggest that, it would ultimately be up to the state to decide how best to word the language. Theres plenty of opportunities to nail this down but they are trying to do the amendment while it is still in committee, he remarked. Districts 2 and 3 Supervisors, Randy Hanvelt and Evan Royce both called backing Nelsons a no-brainer. District 4 Supervisor John Gray, in his supportive comments, alluded to personal fond memories since childhood partaking of the famous Columbia sweets and a preference for the Pine Nut Rolls that extends down to his children. Anything we can do to keep you in business is certainly going to make me happy, he confided. In his comments to Clarke Broadcasting following the board action, Chair Rodefer stated, I think most people in the county fully support AB 2249 in its intent. We are also very aware of the unique situation with Nelsons Candy Kitchen and the fact that its business and intellectual property predates the park and deserves some exceptional consideration under the bill and I am very confident working with the legislators that I have been working with that they agree and that the right thing will get done. He added, Passing this letter to be released to them just adds our support for an effort that they are already working onthat will take care of the special situationand still protect our parks from unwanted invasion of their property rights, as well. A Vested Interests Stumbling Block? Nelson also spoke with Clarke Broadcasting afterwards. Even though her familys most recent contract with Columbia State Park is up for renewal after expiring last August, she said that, in itself, was not cause for alarm. As she explained, This is kind of a process with state contractsonce I was eight years on a month-to-month contract! I was just concerned when I read the the language in AB 2249 that it forbid people who had any vested interest in a name, a trademark, intellectual propertyyou would not be able to bid upon concessionsBut, as I do have a trademarka name andthose entities, so I thought I better contact assemblymen and see what is going on here. Although Nelsons Candy Kitchen predates the establishment of Columbia State Park by five years, Nelson shares that her familys business connection reaches almost two decades further back. While candy maker Julius Naeagle and wife Pauline established the confectionery in 1922, not long after the Nelsons fell into the recipe, so to speak. As she explains, Our grandfather Rex Nelson was a minerworking in the Carson Hill Mine. He broke his arm and was renting a room from the Naeaglesprobably could not pay the rent, so they gave him a broomor a candy paddle and said here, help us out!' In 1940, after four or five years of working for the Naeagles, Rex and his wife Dorothy bought the business and renamed it after their family. Since then, four generations have continued to steward the Columbia mainstay. Since her grandchildren, still growing up, are already lending their hands parttime, hopes for the Nelson candy dynasty to endure look good, according to Nelson. She also reports that the Naeagle connection remains strong. Their relatives still come by, buy candy, say hello and we still have contact, she laughs. Too, there are the original recipes, initially developed by Julius, all still in full use. TCSD K-9 Hans with drugs View Photos Jamestown, CA A K-9s keen nose nets narcotics after a routine traffic stop on Highway 108. The drug bust happened around 10:30 p.m. Monday on the highway near Chabroullian Lane in Jamestown. A Tuolumne County Sheriffs Deputy pulled over a vehicle for a lighting equipment violation. During the stop, K-9 Hans, uncovered hidden drugs in the vehicle including a quarter ounce of methamphetamine, 1.5 grams of marijuana, prescription pills without a prescription, plastic bag packaging for narcotics sales, hypodermic needles, methamphetamine smoking pipes and $216 in cash. (Pictures of Hans find are in the upper left-hand image box) Arrested at the scene were 30-year-old Todd Horan of Sonora, and his passenger 40-year-old Elizabeth Cutting. Both are facing several felony drug charges. Horan remains behind bars on a $20,000 bail. Sheriffs officials report Cutting was released from the Tuolumne County Jail after posting her $20,000 bail this morning. San Andreas, CA Sheriffs officials today report that a woman involved in a single-vehicle accident now faces charges of deadly assault against a peace officer among other offenses. According to the Calaveras County Sheriffs Office, deputies responded to an assistance call Sunday around 11:40 a.m. by the California Highway Patrol (CHP). Arriving on-scene in Mountain Ranch off Wharregard Road, they found a pickup truck on its side and blood but no driver. Their investigation led to a residence in the 2600 block of Railroad Flat Road, where deputies and a CHP officer attempted a welfare check on the female driver, identified as 31-year-old Satshabad Khalsa, of Railroad Flat. Incident report details indicate that, after hearing yells coming from a one-room cabin onsite they approached and were informed by two adult female witnesses on the property that they had just been involved in an altercation with Khalsa, during which she attempted to forcibly remove a two-year-old child from one of them, and that she had a knife. After watching the women approach and struggle with Khlasa while attempting to get her to give them the weapon, a deputy deployed a Taser on Khalsa with little effect. Reportedly, she subsequently rushed at the deputies, knife in hand; each immediately fired off a single shot after which Khalsa fell to the ground inside the cabin, uninjured by the bullets. The responding deputies and CHP officer, unhurt, took her into custody and she was taken for medical clearance to Mark Twain Medical Center before being booked into the Calaveras County Jail. Currently, Khalsa is charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, not a firearm, including one on a peace officer; false imprisonment; child cruelty; and obstructing a peace officer. According to the Sheriffs Office, as per policy when an officer-involved shooting has occurred, the two deputies were placed on a three-day administrative leave. The case remains under investigation. Assemblyman Jim Patterson View Photos Sacramento, CA A bill designed to fix aspects of Proposition 47 failed to garner support in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. We first reported on the legislation, authored by Republican Jim Patterson, last week. It would have allowed judges to charge offenders with a felony, instead of a misdemeanor, if certain crimes are committed three times in a three year span. For example, under voter approved Proposition 47 crimes like theft and burglary, when the amount stolen is valued less than $950, is considered a misdemeanor. Many criminals know this and are stealing accordingly, according to Patterson. The Assemblyman has released a statement, expressing disappointment, reading, This bill (AB 2369)would have given the power back to law enforcement, the courts and the countless crime victims who are sick and tired of being stolen from time and again. Had enough support for the bill been garnered in the state legislature, the bill would have been placed before voters during the November election. Belle Terre is one of the busiest roads in Palm Coast. Drivers John and Joyce Armour use it daily to get where they need to go. "That's where we saw 20 cars trying to make a turn the other day," said Joyce Armour. Drivers said it's no secret that the city of Palm Coast is growing. "There are a lot more cars, a lot more traffic," said Armour. But a new study on Belle Terre Parkway and Belle Terre Boulevard shows a major need for improvement. On Tuesday, city council members got a harsh look at the crash numbers. "Pretty gruesome, but I didn't realize there were that many of them, said Councilman Bill McGuire. There should be a lot of attention on Belle Terre. You've got schools there, you've got churches, you've got entrances to shopping areas." The study found that the intersection at Belle Terre Parkway and State Road 100 had 50 crashes within the last three years, which was the highest number in the city. But most drivers in the city use that area. The study found at least six fatalities occurred along the stretch within 2012-2015 out of nearly 300 crashes. Of those, 41 percent were rear-end collisions and more than 55 percent of people involved had serious or minor injuries. The city plans to fix the issue with new improvements, including signs, additional turning lanes, signals and more marked crosswalks. "It changes too fast. You can't get across there in time. There are a lot of older people in Palm Coast that need a little bit more time. Any improvement is great," said Armour. The city will be working with the Florida Department of Transportation to address the current problems. According to the study, the improvements to entire corridor would cost nearly $2 million. One week after the deadly terrorist attacks in Belgium, the Brussels airport remains closed. But on Tuesday, Belgian air travelers resumed traveling in and out of Central Florida from another airport in Belgium. Veronique Denhaerinck was on a flight out of Brussels last Tuesday that took off just minutes before the airport was blasted by terrorist bombs. She didnt even know her country was attacked until she landed in Sanford. My baby started panicking a little bit because he didnt know what was going on, said Denhaerinck. Sanford Airport Police say they noticed Denhaerinck was also upset. Thats when officers gave Denhaerincks little boy, Max, an honorary police badge. They were really nice and gave him a sticker. Maybe it was only a small thing, but for him it meant a lot because its like okay, Im safe, I can have a badge, and it made him feel better, said Denhaerinck. Denhaerinck and her son came to the U.S. to get medical treatment for Max. He suffers from a rare digestive disorder. She says the only doctor who has been able to really help her son is in Gainesville. Max poses with an Alachua County deputy and his K9 partner. (Veronique Denhaerinck) We had to come here because we cant get the same kind of help that we can get over here, said Denhaerinck. After getting his honorary badge from the Sanford Airport Police, Denhaerinck says her son asked her to stop whenever they saw a fire truck or police car while traveling in Central Florida. And she says during the week they were in Florida, they ended up talking with several firefighters, police officers and first responders. She says Max got several more honorary badges. Denhaerinck and her son are heading back to Belgium with a sense of safety and security, thanks to the generosity of local law enforcement. Every time hed say oh there are police theyll protect us. And thats a good thing, said Denhaerinck. We spoke with people arriving at the Orlando Sanford International Airport Tuesday from Belgium. After spending a week in the country following the terrorist attacks, some of those travelers said they are looking forward to their time in Florida. It was good timing for us. We had planned it before and well stay almost two weeks, said Annigja Clras, a Belgium resident. Plainview is no stranger to the national spotlight. However, in a recent article published by the Washington Times, perceptions of the West Texas city may have been skewed when the national publication featured Plainview in a spotlight focusing on farm migrant housing. "A single bed takes up almost the entire room. A hanging blanket acts both as a wall between the room and a small kitchen area and a barrier to the stench of sewage wafting through a bathroom window. Bottles of bug spray are littered around the room - a necessary weapon, the family says, against a cockroach infestation," said Jeremy Schwartz, a reporter for the Austin American Statesman, describing the living conditions of a particular Plainview hotel. The quote was from Schwartz's recent article, "Oversight often absent for facilities for migrant laborers," which was picked up by the Washington Times last week. The article attempts to shine a spotlight on sub-standard living conditions for Texas agricultural laborers and calls out a deficiency in government inspections. Schwartz's four-month investigation also features interviews with families and politicians from across Texas, including the cities of O'Donnell and Plainview. Though the article does seem to have some sincerity in trying to tackle a real problem in migrant living conditions, their view of Plainview was a little short-sighted as they interviewed a family living at the Airport Motel and Apartments, located on the outskirts of Plainview on Business Interstate 27. Schwartz interviews a family living at the Airport Motel. The husband, who chose his name not be published, his wife and two small children arrived at the Airport Motel last fall after the husband lost his job in the oil patch. "The man, who said he fears state child protection workers will remove his children if they learn about the state of the rooms inside, opened his door on the condition that his name not be published," wrote Schwartz. "A small window air-conditioning unit groans against the September afternoon heat. The family sleeps with the front door open because it gets too hot at night. Rent is $480 a month." The man told Schwartz he and his family had no other choice but to live at the motel. However, there may have been another choice just a few miles north of the Airport Motel, an option that Schwartz failed to note in the article. "Our goal at the Plainview Housing Authority is to provide a safe and clean environment for families," said Authority board president Brandon Brownlee. The board, made up of volunteers, oversees the operations of Plainview's Date Street Housing and the Courtyard Apartments. Brownlee said those two facilities are designed to cater to low-income and migrant workers. In fact, the Date Street Housing complex is considered a Texas Migrant Labor Facility and is required to hold a certain number of apartments open for migrant workers. Currently, there are 15 empty apartments awaiting migrant tenants. Brownlee said the entire complex is at about 80 percent occupancy, and in his 21 years associated with the Date Street Housing facility, he has never seen the complex at full capacity. Leases at the complex are on a month to month basis, but migrants can lease weekly. Rent is about $275-$450 and includes security, paid utilities and cable, a laundromat, among other amenities. Migrant laborers can even receive an apartment already furnished. Brownlee said he is proud of the staff and board of the Plainview Housing Authority who go above and beyond to ensure residents live in a safe and clean environment. This includes constant pest control and firm rules and inspections. Plainview's Housing Authority does not receive any money from the city, state or federal governments, but relies only on rent money from the residents. For several years, the Housing Authority has operated with financial stability and has no long-term debt. The board even has future plans to build an activity center and new playground at the Date Street facility. "All because it's a migrant facility, doesn't mean it has to be sub-standard," said Brownlee. Over the past years, agriculture advances chemically and mechanically have cut the need of migrant labor in the area. Though there is no debate that some facilities in Texas do need major improvement, a shining example on how this type of facility should be run was overlooked in Plainview. In terms of condition of the Airport Motel, owner James Odem had no comment on the article, but commended the motel's management. Odem felt the man interviewed may have been associated with a string of evictions, possibly harboring anger toward the motel. Are you a high school girl interested in going to college? Do you want guidance on how to set and achieve your career goals? Would you like access to professional role models and mentors? Get the resources you need to plan your future through the Soroptimist Dream It, Be It: Career Support for Girls program, which aims to help girls grow to be strong, successful and happy adults. Soroptimist International of Plainview will host a day-long conference for secondary school-age girls, where they will learn about career opportunities, setting and achieving goals, and overcoming obstacles to success. The Dream It, Be It event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at Waylands Trinity Building, 820 Utica. Girls and their parents/guardians can learn more and sign up for the program by contacting Teresa Young at Teresa.young@wbu.edu or Brenda Rowan at brenda@jpcpas.com. Throughout the day, the girls will attend sessions based on the following topics: --Discovering your dreams --Exploring careers --Creating achievable goals --Rising above obstacles --Turning failure into success --Balancing your stress --Putting dreams into action Because we dont expect that all girls will know what they want to do for the rest of their lives and we also know that plans change, the skills developed through the day can be applied to any goals the girls identify throughout their education and careers, said Teresa Young, club president. The girls will also have the opportunity to speak with working women and perhaps arrange a mentorship with a woman whose career interests them. In addition to learning important life skills, the girls will also leave with a variety of other resources. Dream It, Be It joins with the long-running Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women to create the Soroptimist Dream Programs, which provide sustainable, measurable change for women and girls, and ensure they have access to the education and training needed to reach their full potential and live their dreams. The Live Your Dream Awards assist women by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills and job prospects. Soroptimist International of Plainview is part of Soroptimist International of the Americas, a cause-related philanthropic federation of clubs improving the lives of women and girls through social and economic empowerment. The Plainview Soroptimists join 1,300 Soroptimist clubs in 20 countries and territories that empower women and girls through volunteer projects, such as cash grants for education, hands-on efforts to end domestic violence, career mentoring for girls, womens health initiatives and many other community-based projects. Other local club projects include Happy Feet, Live Your Dream Awards and 5th Grade Mentoring. For more information on Soroptimist, visit Soroptimist.org. HART -- Christine Scroggs with the Region 16 Educational Service Center in Amarillo explained a "Campus Turnaround" process to the Hart ISD School Board on March 7 in the Board Room. She explained to board members Elodia Rodriguez, Erasmo Mata, Martha Gonzales, Raul Gonzalez, Angelica Ramirez and Steven Reyna (Vickie Chavez was absent) that since 2010, one or both Hart ISD campuses have not meet state accountability requirements, and that for two consecutive years, one of the campuses has been identified as unacceptable. The Texas Commissioner of Education has ordered them to prepare and submit a Campus Turnaround plan. Hart Superintendent Ken Rosser and Interim Superintendent Les Miller were also present. Rosser had encouraged the board last year to combine the elementary and secondary campuses into one, saying such a move would help on accountability ratings. Board member Mata asked Miller if he thought this was a good idea. Miller replied, "It's six of one or half a dozen of the other." Miller said the unification will have grades preK-12 identified as being on one campus instead of separated as elementary and secondary campuses. Last year, the two campuses were rated separately, with the elementary campus Meeting Standard and the junior/senior high designated as Improvement Required. When test scores are returned, they are designated as coming from one campus; therefore, all student scores in the district count toward the rating of a single campus. The campus ratings come out in August, and the 2015 rating for the JH/SH campus was Improvement Required or Unacceptable. One campus or both has been unacceptable for more than two years, but with the new system and the combining of the two campuses, HISD is now designated as Year 2 IR. Miller said that a turnaround plan must be prepared this spring. If the campus receives an acceptable rating in August 2016, Hart ISD trustees may: Implement the campus turnaround plan; Implement a modified version of the campus turnaround plan; or Withdraw the campus turnaround plan. If the campus receives an unacceptable rating in August 2016, Hart ISD and its school board must implement the required two-year campus turnaround plan. The Campus Turnaround Plan must include details on the method for restructuring, reforming or reconstituting the campus. In other words, the plan must detail what will be done to improve student test scores. "We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect scores to improve," said Miller. Scroggs said that the Campus Turnaround Plan is a result of State House Bill 1842, which requires interventions and a timeline for developing and implementing a Turnaround Plan. This must be done to avoid further sanctions by the Texas commissioner of education, which could be closure of the school or the appointment of a Board of Managers to take it over. Scroggs said that the school's administrative team has been in training to get the Turnaround Plan off the ground, and that she will meet with them as the process takes place. She said the plan must be submitted to the school board by April 15, and the board has until June 1 to approve it. It is then sent to the commissioner for state approval. She said HB1842 requires parental and community engagement. In a chart prepared by the Texas Education Agency, this engagement includes seeking "stakeholder" input on developing the plan, solicitation of written feedback from the stakeholders, a public hearing and board approval. A successful turnaround, Scroggs explained, is one that recognizes the challenge, has a sense of urgency, has fundamental systemic change and supportive operating conditions, collaboration and a thoughtful approach. Also, a vision must be stated. The vision for HISD is, "To prepare students to make positive choices to meet the challenges before them." The district's mission is to have students view education as a lifelong endeavor." Common mistakes in developing a plan include too much complacency, failure to create a guiding coalition, underestimating the power of vision, under-communicating the vision, permitting obstacles to block the new vision, failure to create short-term wins, declaring victory too soon and neglecting to anchor the changes in the new culture. Miller said that if the Campus Turnaround Plan does not improve the unacceptable academic ratings by the beginning of the 2018-19 school year, the Commissioner of Education shall order: Appointment of a board of managers to govern the district; Alternative management of the campus; or Closure of the campus In a statement for Hart ISD residents, Miller said all should be aware of the urgency of the situation and the severity of the consequences of not Meeting Standard. He said, "In addition, Hart ISD requests your input into the development of the turnaround plan. We invite you to stop by any school office and complete an input form. After the plan is prepared, we invite you to stop by and review the plan before it is submitted for approval to the Board of Trustees in June." Miller noted the perennial problem of staff retention. He said 60 percent of the staff has five years or less teaching experience, which contributes to the current problem. Miller told the board at the March 7 meeting that he thinks Rosser and Elementary Principal Lonnie Powell have the school going in the right direction, but there isnt enough communication at the school. We need to make sure the parents buy into the Turnaround," Miller said. Both Rosser and Powell have resigned. March 31, 1946: Five candidates have filed for three positions on the Plainview school board, with the election set for April 6, reports Guy Bounds, school board secretary. They include C.E. McSwain, Mrs. E.M. Osborne, Dave Everett, Bob Wayland and Dr. Everett Dye Jr. The three incumbents with expiring terms are J.L. Hunter, board president, Mrs. Ben Smith and Sam Curry. None are seeking re-election. --Bud Mason is spending the weekend with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Mason, in Petersburg. He is a student at Lipperts Business College. --Owens Pinkerton, who was injured when he fell from a combine at Halfway on Thursday, is reported to be doing well. March 31, 1956: The Plainview First Christian Church worshiped for the first time Sunday in their new colonial-style building at 10th at Kokomo. The sermon was given by Rev. Lewis R. Eloe, pastor, and the choir was under the direction of Mrs. Bill Gunter. The congregation moved from their old building at Ninth and Austin. --A new $3,000 spring-fed swimming pool will soon be construct at the Haynes Boy Scout Camp near Silverton. Other planned improvements include outdoor toilet facilities, covered eating places and partially enclosed camping areas. The 80-acre site was given to the South Plains Council 12 years ago. --Members of the Ray Blakemore Post of the American Legion will discuss the possibility of enclosing the Legion swimming pool in order to provide a longer swimming season. Clarence Rogers, post commander, said having an indoor pool could make it available for use year around. March 31, 1966: Pam Brandes and Gary Stennett have been named winners in the Lockney Junior High School declamation tryouts. They will represent the school in the District Interscholastic League contest at Abernathy on April 16. --Karnal Kersh, 11, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joy Kersh, was featured in the Meet Your Carrier column. He has been delivering the Herald for more than eight months. He attends Parkview Baptist Church and is in the sixth grade at Hillcrest Elementary. --The Plainview school board has adopted a progressive desegregation plan outlined by the U.S. Office of Education. Under its 1966 guidelines, high school students may attend the school of their choice while students in junior high and elementary will attend the school in their zone. Under the guidelines, the percentage of black children enrolling in formerly all-white schools are expected to increase progressively until schools for all practical purposes are desegregated. March 31, 1986: Vicki Baldridge, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carrol Baldridge, has been selected Girl of the Month by the Plainview Business and Professional Womens Club. She is a senior at Plainview High School and plans to attend Texas Tech, majoring in speech therapy. --Joy B. Washburn, 17, PHS senior, has been named a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program. She is the daughter of James and Betty Washburn. --The Sesquicentennial Trail Drive pulled into Plainview on Sunday for an overnight stay. The wagon train is on a 3,200-mile trek across the state in celebration of the 150th birthday of the Republic of Texas. It reached the 1,375-mile mark upon its arrival in Plainview. Compiled by Doug McDonough HARTFORD, Conn. A flood of poor defendants representing themselves often ineffectively in dire cases involving eviction, foreclosure, child custody and involuntary commitment has led to a push in legislatures to expand rights to free lawyers in certain civil proceedings. Everyone has a right to a free lawyer in criminal cases if they cant afford one. But the same right isnt guaranteed in civil cases. More than two dozen bills being considered in 18 states this year would provide either public defenders or private lawyers at state expense for low-income people in certain civil cases, according to the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, which is run by the Public Justice Center nonprofit group in Baltimore. When your basic human needs are at stake, you should have a lawyer to protect those needs, said John Pollock, a lawyer with the Public Justice Center who coordinates the national coalition. The consequences are too great. The spike in self-represented defendants stems from the Great Recession, which not only created new waves of foreclosure, eviction, debt collection and bankruptcy cases, but also hindered peoples ability to pay for lawyers, judges and lawyers say. Such cases have overwhelmed and slowed court dockets, judges say. Adelaida Torres, of Hartford, couldnt afford a lawyer in 2011 as she tried to regain custody of her two daughters from her now-ex-husband. She lost custody of Gloria and Elizabeth, then ages 8 and 4, while she was in jail for several weeks, unable to afford bail after being arrested for what she called a bogus misdemeanor assault allegation lodged by her ex. Torres had to represent herself in court trying to win back custody and said she felt overwhelmed. She managed to get supervised visitation with her daughters, but little else after nearly a year of effort. I didnt know anything about the court system, she said. I was crying. I was very lost. She believes she never would have regained custody if she hadnt learned about Greater Hartford Legal Aid, which provides free legal help to the indigent. It took nearly 1 1/2 years, but legal aid lawyer Linda Allard was able to win back sole custody of the children to Torres in late 2013. Connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a task force to look into expanding the right to free lawyers for the poor in civil cases. State Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, proposed the bill and cited the case of a Connecticut woman, Adrianne Oyola, who represented herself in court while trying to get a permanent restraining order against the father of her 7-month-old son. A judge denied the order last year, and days later authorities said the father, Tony Moreno, threw the infant off a bridge and then himself jumped off. The baby died, but Moreno survived and has pleaded not guilty to murder. Looney said the judge might have been more inclined to issue the restraining order if Oyola had had an attorney. The push to increase access to free lawyers has been led by a group of state Supreme Court chief justices and the American Bar Association. At the end of the day, were trying to make sure people are treated fairly and the outcome is just, said Connecticut Chief Justice Chase Rogers. Every year, more than 80 percent of low-income people with civil legal troubles do not obtain the legal representation they need, and legal aid organizations have to turn away nearly a million people a year nationwide because of a lack of resources, according to the Legal Services Corp., a group funded by the federal government that is the largest provider of legal aid funding in the country. Legal aid lawyers say scores of poor people who couldnt afford lawyers have been evicted, lost child custody or had trouble obtaining restraining orders. Some proposals passed or being considered in other states: Measures in Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to allow free lawyers in cases of involuntary commitment for substance abuse. Proposals to require free legal counsel to poor people in certain eviction cases in Massachusetts and to provide the right to a lawyer to the poor facing eviction or foreclosure in New York. Measures regarding free lawyers for indigent people in parental-rights cases in Kentucky and Mississippi. Georgia lawmakers this year voted to give mentally ill people the right to a free lawyer if they cant afford one when an order for involuntary inpatient treatment is about to expire and medical experts request continued involuntary treatment. Oregon lawmakers voted to allow free lawyers for eligible juveniles facing the possibility of having to register as sex offenders. Jep Livingston, a 69-year-old Vietnam veteran from Philadelphia, faced homelessness last year as the city moved to sell his longtime home after he defaulted on a plan to repay back property taxes. He defaulted, he said, because someone stole his wallet and drained his bank account, and he missed payments. He had gone to the city and several organizations for help, but to no avail. His daughter and 5-year-old grandson live with him and faced homelessness, too. When I thought about him being homeless at 5 years old, it broke my heart, Livingston said. I was really close to losing my home. I was desperate. He, too, learned about the legal aid group SeniorLaw Center, which was able to prevent a tax sale of his home, arrange a new payment plan for his property taxes and knock his future taxes to zero under a city tax abatement program for the elderly. It felt to me like I was in the middle of the ocean and they threw me a life raft, Livingston said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonio-based refiners Tesoro Corp. and Valero Energy Corp. rewarded their top executives with tens of millions in compensation in 2015. Tesoro CEO and President Gregory Goff earned total pay of more than $23 million in 2015, according to a recent regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Goff also received $17.8 million in restricted shares and other stock that was awarded in previous years and vested in 2015, according to the filing. Restricted stock is generally tied to a companys long-term performance and vests in equal increments over three to five before it can be sold. Valero Energy Corp.s Joe Gorder, the CEO, president and board chairman, earned more than $17.5 million in total compensation for 2015, according to a separate filing with the SEC. Gorder also recieved another $7.1 million in stock option and restricted stock that vested in 2015, according to corporate filings. Tesoro, which operates six refineries in the western U.S., generated $1.5 billion in profits for 2015, up from $872 million the year before. In regulatory filings, Tesoro said that executive compensation reflected record net earnings and strong financial and operating performance in 2015. At Valero, Gorders 2015 pay included more than $212,000 in other compensation for things such as $8,800 in club membership dues and $4,200 in income tax preparation fees. Gorders pay was $17.37 million in 2014. He took over as Valero CEO in May 2014. Valero profits for all of 2015 were up by more than 31 percent to $4.6 billion, up from $3.5 billion for 2014. Bradley Baron, president and CEO of San Antonios NuStar Energy LP, earned $2.4 million in 2015, according to company calculations of his compensation package in corporate filings. Baron also had more than $772,000 in stock options and exercises, according to the filings. NuStar is a master limited partnership, which owns pipelines, terminals and storage facilities. It reported net income of $257.4 million last year, or $3.30 per share, up from $163.3 million, or $2.10 per unit, in 2014. jhiller@express-news.net Twitter: @Jennifer_Hiller Even though the Apple iPhone 7/7 Plus have yet to be unveiled, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reportedly released a research note over the weekend (via MacRumors) shedding some light on what the iDevice maker has planned for its 2017 flagship iPhone. The flagship phone will reportedly pack a 5.8-inch AMOLED display -- a shift away from the liquid crystal displays that Apple has used in all of its iPhones to date. The display is also expected to be curved, which Kuo says will allow the smartphone to fit in a footprint that might be even smaller than that of the current generation 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus. But that's not all. In addition to a curved display, Apple is reportedly looking to eschew the aluminum casings the hallmark of iPhone's look and feel since the 2012 release of the iPhone 5. Instead, Apple is said to be evaluating plastic, ceramic, and glass for the back of the phone; Kuo is confident that Apple will ultimately go with glass. After reading a summary of Kuo's note, it's hard to shake off the feeling that the iDevice maker has now assumed the role of a follower rather than a leader -- at least when it comes to smartphone industrial design and, in some cases, technology. Curved AMOLED display? Samsung has been doing it for a while In late 2014, Apple arch-rival Samsung released the Galaxy Note 4 Edge, a variant of its Galaxy Note 4 "phablet" with one side of the display curved into the body. It was essentially a gimmick, but Samsung refined it with the Galaxy S6 Edge, with the display curving into both sides of the phone. Samsung also ran with this concept with the recently released Galaxy S7 Edge. If Apple implements this in a flagship iPhone in (presumably late) 2017, it will "catch up" to what Samsung has been fielding into the marketplace since early 2015. Curved glass? Ceramic? Also been done The Galaxy S7 also features a metal frame with a glass back. Xiaomi, a China-based smartphone vendor, recently announced a new family of flagship devices as well -- the Mi5 series. The two lower-tier models feature metal frames and glass backs similar to the Galaxy S7, while the top tier Mi5 (known as the Mi5 Pro) actually comes with a ceramic back. In other words, the big "materials change" that Apple is apparently looking to implement has, once again, already been done by another, much smaller competitor to the iDevice maker. Apple must lead, not follow Apple is obviously the largest and most profitable smartphone maker out there. It has high customer loyalty rates and easily the highest blended average selling prices in the smartphone industry. From a business perspective, the company is still solidly in the lead. However, during the iPhone 6s/6s Plus cycle, a number of "cracks" in the armor have really begun to show in the company's competitive positioning. It no longer fields phones with best in class displays, its cameras are good, but no longer the "gold standard" that they once were. "Friend of Apple" Walt Mossberg recent penned a column in which he points out the myriad ways in which Apple needs to catch up to the competition. To make matters worse, Apple releases flagship phones on merely a yearly cadence, while the competition puts out flagship devices at a much more rapid clip. I can't shake the feeling that Apple is getting complacent. Perhaps the fact that the company is set to experience its very first year-over-year decline in iPhone sales will serve as the rude wake-up call that it really seems to need. 3 companies poised to explode when cable dies Cable is dying. And there are 3 stocks that are poised to explode when this faltering $2.2 trillion industry finally bites the dust. Just like newspaper publishers, telephone utilities, stockbrokers, record companies, bookstores, travel agencies, and big box retailers did when the Internet swept away their business models. And when cable falters, you don't want to miss out on these 3 companies that are positioned to benefit. Click here for their names. Hint: They're not the ones you'd think! The article Apple Inc.s 2017 Flagship iPhone Looks to Borrow from Samsung and Xiaomi originally appeared on Fool.com. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image credit: Apple. A recent report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple is gearing up for a significant overhaul with the 2017 iPhone, which could either be called the iPhone 7s or the iPhone 8. The device will apparently move away from a metal casing and toward a fusion of metal and glass, include wireless charging, additional biometric functions, and more. It sounds exactly like the kind of major overhaul that one may have expected with the iPhone that's expected to come out later this year. Interestingly, the fact that Apple is apparently planning to bring a major overhaul to the 2017 iPhone has many investors and Apple watchers wondering whether the iPhone 7 will wind up being a minor update to the iPhone 6s. I believe that even if the iPhone 7 winds up looking like a slimmer iPhone 6s with less annoying antenna band as rumored, it can still represent a substantial upgrade from the 6s. Here's how. Massive display improvement The displays on both the 6s/6s Plus are in very dire need of upgrades. Although the premium variant of the 2017 iPhone that Kuo described is expected to see a shift to an OLED display (which would be a huge jump), I still believe a big display upgrade is in the cards this year even if Apple sticks to traditional LCD technology. There are five vectors that I would like to see improved upon in the new displays: Higher display resolution for greater sharpness (1704-by-960 for the iPhone 7; 2208-by-1242 for the iPhone 7 Plus/Pro) Wider color gamut for richer, more vivid colors True Tone technology so that images look more natural in many different lighting situations Improved contrast ratio Low screen light reflectance Apple has already introduced four of the five improvements listed above with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. Since the iPad is generally a less important device to Apple than the iPhone is, it's usually not long before "iPad exclusive" technologies make it into the iPhone. With the iPhone 7, I think that if Apple is able to implement the enhancements that I outlined above, the display improvement alone should be worth the price of admission, especially for users coming from the older iPhone 6/6 Plus. Third gen Touch ID, second gen 3D Touch, significant camera improvements, internal updates In addition to better screens, Apple is likely going to make significant improvements to a number of key technologies. For one thing, I expect Apple to roll out a third generation Touch ID that will be even quicker than the already lightning-fast one found in the iPhone 6s/6s Plus. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a second generation 3D Touch implemented as well. Next, and perhaps more significantly, I believe that Apple is planning a substantial camera upgrade for the iPhone 7-series of phones. Early leaks/renders show that the camera holes in the iPhone 7's chassis will be larger than the one found in the iPhone 6/6s, which suggests that Apple will be employing a larger sensor. I also expect a move from a five element lens to a six element lens, in addition to many other improvements to the optics to go along with the improved sensor. The larger-screen iPhone is said to come in both a single and dual camera lens configurations, too. Finally, Apple is likely to bring significant internal improvements to the iPhone 7 in the form of a faster A10 processor, faster (and in the case of the larger iPhone 7, more) memory, and perhaps other improvements here and there. All told, Apple has solid room for improvement The current iPhones are nice, but there's still plenty for Apple to do. The company has a golden opportunity to deliver a knockout of a phone with the iPhone 7 by implementing the improvements enumerated above. If it does, then the iPhone may very well return to growth in the coming fiscal year. 3 companies poised to explode when cable dies Cable is dying. And there are 3 stocks that are poised to explode when this faltering $2.2 trillion industry finally bites the dust. Just like newspaper publishers, telephone utilities, stockbrokers, record companies, bookstores, travel agencies, and big box retailers did when the Internet swept away their business models. And when cable falters, you don't want to miss out on these 3 companies that are positioned to benefit. Click here for their names. Hint: They're not the ones you'd think! The article Can the Apple Inc. iPhone 7 Still Be a Killer Upgrade? originally appeared on Fool.com. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Google. There are a lot perspectives swirling around about self-driving cars these days. Much of them revolve around the timing of when self-driving autos will become ubiquitous, and some deal with how the vehicles themselves will impact the automotive industry. At the 2016 J.D. Power Automotive Forum this week, Alphabet's Google shed a little more light on the latter. John Krafcik, the CEO of Google's self-driving car project, said autonomous car owners will likely drive more than ever before, and that they'll need dealers even more than they do now. Krafcik said, "Self driving cars are going to be more expensive physical assets, so we're going to find a way to use them more." He added that the cars will probably drive 100,000 to 150,000 miles each year (compared to the average 13,500 miles now) because people will use them for car sharing services. And this, Krafcik thinks, will be a very good thing for car dealers. "I think there are going to be positive implications for a lot of dealers. And for the OEMs, thinking about that duty cycle is going to be very different," he said. Essentially, cars will need much more servicing because they'll be driven a lot more, and they'll be much more technologically complicated than they are right now. Of course, carmakers are pursuing their own self-driving autos, just like Google. General Motors, Volvo, Audi, Ford, and just about every other automaker are in in the process of building their own autonomous vehicles. But as Krafcik noted, Google's self-driving cars could change the automakers' position in the industry, and how they make some of their money. He made a comparison to the airline industry and how it doesn't build its own planes, potentially hinting that car dealers may not make their own cars. "Airlines don't build airplanes. Airbus and Boeing do that. Who knows how this is going to work out in autos?" he said. It's doubtful automakers would be pushed that far to the outside of the industry as to just be servicing vehicles -- at least not for a long time. Automakers still have more than a fighting chance to stay relevant in the self-driving space considering we're still decades away from autonomous car prevalence. Foolish thoughts Google is already a clear leader in the self-driving vehicle world, and it's easy to see how the company could truly disrupt the automotive industry. While carmakers are slowly evolving their current vehicles with increasing amounts of semi-autonomous technologies, Google is going for all-out changes (think removing steering wheels and pedals) and is even pushing the U.S. government to speed up autonomous car testing. The industry estimates 12 million yearly autonomous cars sales by 2035 in the U.S., which means automakers and tech companies are working hard to ensure they don't fall behind the pack. However, the stakes are higher for carmakers. If tech companies fall behind, they'll just move onto the next big thing, but if automakers fail to adapt, they could be left simply servicing the vehicles they used to create. A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early, in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here. The article Google to Drivers: Self-Driving Cars Won't Eliminate Dealers originally appeared on Fool.com. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Chris Neiger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A and C shares), and 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. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate From Tex-Mex and barbecue to kolaches and peach pie, alternatives to fast food fare dot the Texas stretch of Interstate 35. A key north-south interstate highway, I-35 is a fast-growing corridor passing through a number of major Texas cities, including Laredo, San Antonio, Austin and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. RELATED: New TxDOT billboard promises 'one day' San Antonio commuters will love I-35 Anyone who has driven this highway knows all too well the mind-numbing, butt-numbing tedium of sprawling, bland landscapes mixed with the choke of traffic dominated by caravans of 18-wheelers. "One day you're going to love I-35," promises the Texas Department of Transportation via billboards that caution frustrated commuters, "Until then, be careful." You can also take a long break at one of the many unique and comforting small-town greasy spoons, Tex-Mex joints and bakeries along the route. If you're just passing through from one town to the next, skip the drive-thru and liven up your trip with little-known homegrown gems like Abear's Swamp Shack in Dilley or the Czech Stop And Little Czech Bakery in West. Click through the slideshow to see some favorite food stops along I-35 from Laredo to Dallas. Sound off on your favorite I-35 eats in the comments, and we'll add them to the list. jmscott@mysa.com Courtesy of the City of Seguin. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man was struck once in the back during a shooting that left 50 shell casings littering the street Tuesday night on the East Side. San Antonio police said the 44-year-old man was sitting in a car visiting with friends and relatives at about 8:45 p.m. in the 200 block of Fargo Avenue when a white sedan drove up and someone inside began firing. Some witnesses told investigators the shooters stayed in the car while others said they got out before firing shots. The man in the passenger seat was hit once in the back, police said, noting that they were working to determine if he fired back. Police said the man was taken to University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Asked if he returned fire, the man told police he and his relatives, who ran inside the home, did not. Investigators counted at least 50 shells in the street, police said. No suspect information was available, and police did not know how many shooters were involved. Moments later, police said they saw a white sedan driving down the street matching the description of the vehicle leaving the shooting. When officers attempted to pull him over, the driver led police on a brief chase down Honey Street toward Commerce Street. As the man evaded police, officials said he threw a handgun out the window before losing control of the vehicle and driving onto a dirt mound in a construction zone at the intersection. Police surrounded his vehicle and arrested him when he stepped out. That's when they found a 6-year-old boy in the back seat. Officers on scene said they have not yet confirmed if the man arrested was involved in the shooting on Fargo. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Texas public school students who took mandatory, computer-based tests on Tuesday faced problems saving their answers, adding stress and confusion to the first day of the high-stakes testing season. At least three San Antonio-area school districts reported problems with online versions of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. STAAR testing began Tuesday and will continue through Friday. In some districts, students online responses were not saved after they logged out, were timed out after 30 minutes of inactivity or lost connection to the Internet, according to the Texas Education Agency. In the Bexar County area, Southwest Independent School District, North East ISD and Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD reported similar glitches. None of those districts was able to say Tuesday afternoon how many students were affected. The TEA has not determined whether students will have to retake the exams, which are used to determine academic ratings for schools and in some cases factor into grade-level promotion decisions. The testing vendor, Educational Testing Services, said in a memo to districts that a preliminary review showed that students answers may be retrieved, but more investigation is needed. The New Jersey-based company is in its first year administering the Texas exams, having won a multimillion-dollar contract over the states longtime testing firm, Pearson. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath called the online testing problems, affecting an undetermined number of students and districts, simply unacceptable. Kids in the classroom should never suffer from mistakes made by adults, Morath said in a statement. Educational Testing Service is not new to administering assessments on a large-scale basis, so I cannot accept the transition to a new testing vendor as an excuse for what occurred. Students in the fourth and seventh grades took writing exams Tuesday, while fifth- and eighth-graders took math exams. The high school English I end-of-course exam also was administered Tuesday. High-schoolers can choose to take their end-of-course exams online. Some students with special needs also are given online exams with specific accommodations. Some students in Southwest and North East ISDs lost their work as a result of the glitch, district spokespeople confirmed. Ed Suarez, spokesman for Shertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, said it was not clear what happened, but some online test-takers experienced problems after a period of inactivity. Letters were being sent home to parents, Suarez said. We did experience a glitch, Suarez said. We dont know what the magnitude of it was and whether the answers were actually lost. The testing service issued a statement Tuesday saying they were working to resolve the problem. ETS understands the severity of this issue and apologizes for the frustration and inconvenience districts, campuses, and regional service centers have experienced throughout the day, the company said in its memo. This is a critical issue and we have several teams investigating it. Ericka Mellon is a reporter with the Houston Chronicle. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Texas scientists have found the oldest confirmed site of human habitation in the Americas just north of Austin, where the Edwards Plateau meets the coastal plains. The unprecedented haul of artifacts from as far back as 15,500 years ago brings archaeologists much closer to answering the mysteries of who the first Americans were, where they came from and how they got here. The new work, published Thursday in the journal Science, may definitively prove humans lived in the Americas prior to the Clovis people, who spread widely across the western hemisphere beginning about 13,000 years ago. These people, identifiable by their characteristic fluted spear points, long were thought to be the first Americans. The discovery of such an old settlement also suggests the first Americans must have come from Asia, not through an ice-free corridor over land, but along the Alaskan and Canadian coasts in boats as long as 16,000 years ago. I think were getting closer and closer to understanding how and when the first people came into the Americas, said Michael Waters, a Texas A&M University archaeologist who led the study. Waters and his colleagues found the trove of some 15,000 stone artifacts about 50 miles north-northwest of Austin at the Debra L. Friedkin site along Buttermilk Creek. Fed by permanent springs, this area between the Edwards Plateau and lower coastal plains would have offered ample game from both ecosystems, and its limestone held an abundant supply of flint-like rock, or chert, ideal for making Stone Age tools. Since the 1930s, archaeologists have believed the ancestors of the Clovis people so named for a small number of stone points found near Clovis, N.M. walked into North America from Asia across the Bering Sea landmass as the last Ice Age waned about 13,500 years ago. They feasted on large game unaccustomed to human predators and possibly contributed to the extinction of animals such as the mammoth. They followed this game and quickly spread throughout the continent. Eventually the Clovis technology gave way to varied, ancient Indian peoples. This is the story long told in textbooks and museums. In recent years, however, this Clovis first theory has come under mounting attack by some archaeologists, linguists and geneticists who suggest people may have been in this hemisphere for far longer, predating the Clovis by thousands of years. Some sites in Virginia and Pennsylvania have produced artifacts that archaeologists claim show evidence of habitation 15,000 to 17,000 years ago. But this evidence, generally measured in dozens of artifacts rather than thousands, hasnt convinced some Clovis-first archaeologists. The new evidence, however, is difficult to dismiss. Waters team found the thousands of older artifacts in sediments beneath a layer of Clovis artifacts. The design of the older points is cruder than Clovis technology, but there are enough similarities to suggest Clovis points were derived from the older points. Some people will say this is the final nail in the coffin for the Clovis-first theory, said Gary Haynes, a professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada at Reno, who long has been skeptical of pre-Clovis peoples in the Americas. I dont think this is the last nail, but I do think theyve done some pretty good work here. Haynes said he still has questions about the accuracy of the dating of sediments without carbon-based material its difficult to get precise estimates of dates and he has concerns that artifacts from later eras could have slipped down into older sediments. But Lee Nordt, a co-author of the Science paper and a geologist at Baylor University, dismissed that concern. He said theres no evidence of such post-burial redistribution in the sediments. They demonstrated to us unequivocally that the peopling of the Americas occurred prior to Clovis times and more than 13,000 years ago, Nordt said. If Waters conclusions are correct, the first Americans evidently were handy with boats. Prior to about 13,500 years ago, sheets of ice two miles thick covered nearly all of Canada, making a land route impassable. The most plausible solution is that the first Americans traveled a coastal route, using boats to come down the Alaskan and Canadian coasts, parts of which probably would have been free of ice. There is little archaeological evidence of this trek, however. LONDON How much sugar a drink contains will matterat least in Britain, when its new soda tax goes into effect. The New York Times reports that the British tax on beverages differentiates between drinks with a lot of sugar and those that are sugar-free, a much different approach from the soda taxes in Mexico and Berkeley, California, which levy a surcharge per volume of drinks with any amount of sugar. The British soda tax would levy around nine cents per 12-ounce cans of drinks with between three and five teaspoons of sugar; 12 cents per can of regular colas with more than nine teaspoons of sugar; and no tax for sugar-free or beverages with less than three teaspoons of sugar per can. Some view the tiered tax as an incentive for soda makers to develop more low-sugar or sugar-free options. If there are small changes they can make to get under the threshold without really affecting mouth-feel and taste, they may well do that, said Donald Marron, who studies tax policy as a fellow at the Urban Institute. Pepsi Co and Coca-Cola already sell low-calorie versions of their premiere brands, such as Coca-Cola Life and Pepsi True. Other low-sugar beverages are in their portfolios as well, spurred by consumer demand for healthier drinks and the companies own commitment to reducing calories by 20% in drinks sold in the United States before the end of the decade. Full-calorie soda consumption is on the wan in the United States, with Americans guzzling 25% fewer sodas than in the late 1990s. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is an ultra-thin, lightweight hybrid that is designed for professionals and other users who often need to work on their laptop while on the go. The convertible laptop, which is equipped with up to sixth-generation Intel Core i7 CPUs, offers a stunning 2K OLED screen, making it the first 2-in-1 to use this display technology. Where to Buy Lenovo Laptops Jumia.com.ng50,500.00 View Offers Konga.com50,500.00 View Offers Design and Build Quality This 2-in-1 laptop parades the sort of impressive construction to be expected in Lenovos famous Yoga series of convertibles. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is very slim and lightweight at only 0.66 inches and 2.8 pounds respectively, making Lenovo to describe it as the worlds thinnest and lightest 14 2-in-1 business laptop. You might want to assume this is a fragile one; not so. It has supposedly been tested to military standards. Like other products in this series, the hybrid can be used in multiple modes as it can be flipped all the way around. You will able to use it in laptop, tent, stand and tablet modes. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga comes with a full-size, backlit keyboard that is spill-resistant. The Display Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is fitted with a 14-inch diagonal display based on either LCD or OLED technology, depending on the size of your pocket. This is the first time OLED technology, which is revered from producing richer, truer colours, will be used on a 2-in-1 laptop. The touchscreen will have up to 2K (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution for jaw-dropping clarity, especially on the OLED model. It supports a dock-able stylus pen, which Lenovo says will give about 100 minutes of use after charging for only 15 seconds. Performance With a sixth-generation Intel Core processor (up to Core i7) under the hood, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is ready to deliver powerful performance. The heavy-duty CPU is supported by up to 16 GB of RAM for smooth operation. The use of PCIe NVMe solid-state drives of up to 1TB capacity for storage means users are in for faster boot times, quicker application launching and speedier file opening. The ultra-slim laptop will run on Windows 10 Pro operating system. In spite of its thin profile, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga still manages to offer a nice array of ports and interfaces, including three USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, a mini DisplayPort and a microSD card slot. Pricing and availability Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga 2-in-1 is not yet available in Nigeria. When available, you can buy the laptops at leading online stores in the country. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Price in Nigeria is expected to range from N280,000 to N450,000 depending on your location in Nigeria and the configuration of the laptop. Educating and inspiring students through nanotechnology (Nanowerk News) The U.S. Administrations updated Strategy for American Innovation, released in October 2015, identifies nanotechnology as one of the emerging general-purpose technologiesa technology that, like the steam engine, electricity, and the Internet, will have a pervasive impact on our economy and our society, with the ability to create entirely new industries, create jobs, and increase productivity. To reap these benefits, we must train our Nations students for these high-tech jobs of the future. Fortunately, the multidisciplinary nature of nanotechnology and the unique and fascinating phenomena that occur at the nanoscale mean that nanotechnology is a perfect topic to inspire students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A new video series being released today shows how it is possible to both educate and inspire students through nanotechnology. Nanotechnology: Super Small Science is a collection of videos, produced by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in partnership with NBC Learn, which describes six areas where nanotechnology has a significant impact, including advanced electronics, renewable energy, and human health. The content, intended for middle and high school students, was developed for classroom use in consultation with the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO). The videos will reach a potential audience of 9 million students across the country and highlights will be shared with the more than 200 NBC affiliate stations for use in news segments. The videos are now available on the NBC Learn website, as well as through NSFs Science360 and Nano.gov. The Nanotechnology: Super Small Science series is just the latest example of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)s efforts to educate and inspire our Nations students. Other examples include: The Generation Nano: Small Science, Superheroes contest, hosted by the NSF and the NNI, challenges high school students to design nanotechnology-enabled gear for an original superhero. This contest has garnered the support of none other than Stan Lee, the co-creator of such legendary Marvel comic book characters as Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men! Submissions were due February 2, 2016; consult the contest web site for details NNCO and the National Institute of Standards and Technology collaborated with Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia to develop the middle school video series "Innovation Workshop: Nanotechnology", which was recently distributed nationwide. Students at Western Carolina University, with guidance from the NNCO, have created educational animations about nanotechnology that are featured on Science Matters, Community Idea Stations. These videos and animations are also available through Nano.gov. NNCO is expanding the teacher resources on Nano.gov and working with nanoHUB to develop a searchable database for nanoeducation. This portal addresses a critical challenge identified at the NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education (NSEE) Workshop: the difficulty educators face in finding appropriate lesson plans, laboratories, and other resources for teaching nanoscience and engineering in their classrooms. NNCO is coordinating a growing, national Nano & Emerging Technologies Student Network. The network consists of student-run clubs at colleges and universities across the country that are focused on raising awareness of current and potential applications of emerging technologies, as well as promoting opportunities for student research and internships. The network will convene for the first time this summer at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference & Expo at the National Harbor in Maryland. SHARE Thomas Moran and Bob Edwards, managing directors-investments senior PIM portfolio managers of Moran Edwards Asset Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, have been named to Barron's annual list of America's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors. In addition, Moran was ranked the No. 1 Advisor in Southwest Florida for the sixth consecutive year. Southwest Florida SCORE held its 45th annual luncheon to hand out honors. Sylvia Dorisme of Southwestern Vocational Training received the Client of the Year award; Ali Frantz of Emmeline Textiles received the Businesswoman of the Year award; and Pedro de Armas of Naples Mural received the Minority Owned Business Person of the Year award. Information: southwestflorida.score.org; score219@ embarqmail.com; 239-489-2935 Appointments David L. Fry, a founding partner in Vantage Construction Services LLC, has acquired majority ownership and is now the managing partner. Formed in 2014, Vantage Construction Services is a general contracting and construction services company focused on building retail space, professional offices, medical and educational facilities. Events A networking event will be held at several Block Advisors offices in Fort Myers and Naples to give small business owners and individuals with complex tax situations the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate tax issues. The events will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at 13401 Summerlin Road, Suite 40, Fort Myers, and 1000 Immokalee Road, Suite 61, Naples. Deals Summit Broadband reached an agreement to exclusively provide service to the country club community of Heritage Palms in Fort Myers. To submit your business news directly online, go to naplesnews.com/BIZwire or email news@naplesnews.com. SHARE Quarles & Brady LLP announced that Kimberly Leach Johnson, firm chair and partner in the firm's Naples office, participated in a panel discussion at the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance 2016 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Events Bob Edwards, managing directorinvestments, senior PIM portfolio manager of Moran Edwards Asset Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, will host a seminar titled "Meet the Portfolio Manager" at 10 a.m. April 8 at the Wells Fargo building, 5801 Pelican Bay Blvd. in Naples. Information: 239-513-2511 Honors The Quarles & Brady Naples office has received the 2016 "Family-Friendly Business" designation from the Naples Alliance for Children. Linda Mulch, general manager of the La Quinta Inn & Suites, Bonita Springs-Naples North, was named the company's 2015 GM of the Year for Region 83. Good deeds Members of the Slot Team at Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee delivered 81 Easter baskets to The Shelter for Abused Women & Children and Immokalee Friendship House for local families in need. The Slot Team purchased all materials and assembled the baskets themselves. To submit your business news directly online, go to naplesnews.com/BIZwire or email news@naplesnews.com. Jack Price, center, and his son Troy move a couch into their FlipAssist/Price Moving truck at a clients home in Naples on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The Prices recently started a home staging business called FlipAssist where a designer works with clients to make stage their home with furniture selections available with FlipAssist. (Scott McIntyre/Staff) SHARE FlipAssist is comprised of Jack Price, top left, his sons Troy, right, and Austin, bottom left, and designer Sara Palermo. Here, they stand for a portrait at their warehouse on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. (Scott McIntyre/Staff) Troy Price finishes a moving job at a Naples home on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The Prices recently started a home staging business called FlipAssist where a designer works with clients to make stage their home with furniture selections available with FlipAssist. (Scott McIntyre/Staff) Jack Price and his son Troy head out to for a moving job in their FlipAssist/Price Moving truck in Naples on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The Prices recently started a home staging business called FlipAssist where a designer works with clients to make stage their home with furniture selections available with FlipAssist. (Scott McIntyre/Staff) FlipAssist is comprised of Jack Price, left, his sons Troy, top right, and Austin, below, and designer Sara Palermo. Here, they stand for a portrait at their warehouse on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. (Scott McIntyre/Staff) By John Osborne, Daily News Correspondent A new furniture staging company in Naples believes it has carved out a Southwest Florida-sized niche for itself by offering a wide variety of services that go beyond the simple setup and removal of couches, beds, lamps and rugs. For starters, FlipAssist owner Jack Price said the company's pricing model sets it apart from competitors. "What we offer with pricing is unique because it's streamlined, with no upfront money from the home seller," said Price, 46, a recent New Jersey transplant who launched operations at the beginning of the year. "Instead, the cost for our services is 1 percent of the sale price. So if a home sells for $500,000, the cost for the furniture staging would be $5,000. That's the same if it takes one month, two months, three months or a week to sell the home." And to help sell a home quicker than homes with no staging, Price said clients can choose from eight furniture packages stored in FlipAssist's warehouse at 4527 Arnold Ave. "We call the furniture packages 'lots,' and we have eight full homes' worth," said Price, who started his own freight company up north at age 18. "So the other cool part about our business is that while it might take other companies two or three weeks to stage a home since they might need to go to 10 to 15 different places to get everything, we can have it done within a few days. Usually we're done within three days of the contract being signed." Client Ron Baldwin, of Naples, said that was the case for him, with speed marking his experience with FlipAssist. "We gave them the green light to do whatever they wanted with the staging, and they came in and checked out the colors and layout of all the rooms and moved everything in within a couple days," said Baldwin, who engaged the company to stage a home he's selling on Morningside Drive. "From the interior designer to Jack and his two sons, the experience was absolutely wonderful, and I'd recommend them to anybody. As a matter of fact, I have recommended them to quite a few people already." Baldwin said that while his home on Morningside Drive hasn't sold yet, it's only a matter of time. "We've had a ton of activity, and the compliments we've been getting because of the staging is leaps and bounds more than we've ever had before," he said. Price said coordinating the business with his two sons helped him streamline it even further. While son Austin, 21, oversees warehouse operations, son Troy, 18, a Gulf Coast High School senior, started his own delivery company and partners with FlipAssist for all furniture deliveries and removal. "We're a family-owned company, so I really enjoy the chance to be involved with my boys and to teach them about entrepreneurship in this world," Jack Price said of working so closely with his sons. For his part, Austin Price said any challenges the family business has faced so far have come from the clients' end of things problems FlipAssist is designed to eradicate. "Honestly, not too many things have been tough up to this point with the business, but one tough thing for customers has been not being able to furnish a home properly to engage a buyer," he said. "But that's not a problem for them with us because we have a system that works to attract homebuyers. So in that way I really don't see too many challenges for us to overcome." Jack Price said his company's greatest strength the family connection also poses the greatest difficulty. "My hardest challenge is keeping the business separate from my love of the family as we're all working together," he said. Price's youngest son, Troy, also said strong family ties serve as the business's bedrock. "We all bring so much to the table in our individual entrepreneurship ways," said the youthful founder and owner of Price Moving. "We're all a special hand in the deck of cards, and my dad taught my brother and I everything we know, so from my standpoint it's natural to me to work so closely with him." Austin Price agreed. "Jack is a very talented man, so to work alongside him, regardless if he's my father or my boss, that's a privilege," he said. Charles Camille Heidsieck was born to a Champagne merchant named Charles-Henri Heidsieck who had the gall to ride a horse into Moscow ahead of Napoleon's advancing army in 1811. He took with him a case of Champagne and an order book, prepared to celebrate and sell to whichever side emerged victorious. He died in 1824 when his son was only 2 years old, but the paternal business bravado was somehow passed down; for by age 29, young Charles Camille decided to create his own Champagne house apart from his family's Piper-Heidsieck and his cousin's Heidsieck & Co. Monopole. He decided to call his simply Charles Heidsieck. But seeing the European market saturated by the older Champagne houses, he set his sights on a new sales territory: the U.S. As the first Champagne man to actively promote his bubbles in America in 1852, Charles Heidsieck quickly became a phenomenon, going by "Champagne Charlie." Huge galas were held in his honor with Champagne flowing freely not only in aristocratic New England, but also in the food-and-wine-loving city of New Orleans. By the time the Civil War broke out in 1861, he had sold more than 300,000 bottles of Champagne in the U.S. However, the war proved challenging for the collection of debts, and upon his 1861 return to New York, he was told by his sales agent he couldn't collect debts from the South because of a wartime Act of Congress. In a desperate situation, Charles took a circuitous route around the active war areas through Kansas and down to New Orleans to collect the debt himself. He found himself in the midst of a fierce battle for control of New Orleans, which itself was broke. But finally he was able to find one merchant able to pay him in cotton which was in short supply in Europe thanks to the war so Charles took it. He loaded it on two ships to try to get around the Union's naval blockade, but both were sunk with all the cargo on them. Being in the heart of a warring territory and utterly devoid of capital, Charles went to the French Consul in Mobile, Alabama, where he was able to send a letter to his wife back in France, and to arrange for a boat to take him home. The Consul asked the naive and desperate Champagne Charlie to take some diplomatic papers back with him to the French Consulate in New Orleans, which he did, and it landed him in a Union jail. The North had taken New Orleans, and those "diplomatic papers" were revealed to contain requisitions for uniforms for the Confederate Army. General Benjamin Butler jailed him as a Confederate spy. The famous and ebullient ambassador of Champagne was held in infamous Fort Jackson next to the Mississippi River where few prisoners made it out alive. According to the Champagne company's archivist, they have letters from him during his incarceration in which he says he had to use bricks loosed from the building to fight back alligators that would enter the prison when floodwaters rose. Lucky for him, he was a high-profile prisoner who, while maintaining his ignorance over the contents of the papers, had people on the outside fighting for his freedom. Even French emperor Napoleon III wrote to President Lincoln on Charles Heidsieck's behalf. And after seven months, he was released, frail and penniless. In November 1862, Charles Heidsieck returned home, and by July of the following year, set about the slow tedious process of rebuilding his business. Lucky for him, the brother of the New York merchant who stiffed him only a few years ago had a guilty conscience and sent him the deeds to some land in the Colorado territory as repayment of the old wartime debts. Unimpressed, Heidsieck set aside the deeds and focused his energy on the European market. But things change quickly, and Colorado exploded in growth after a silver boom and the expansion of the transcontinental railroad. Denver City became the hub and it also happened to be where Heidsieck now owned almost a third of the future state capital's land. He quickly sold and invested in his Champagne house, choosing to buy an underground maze of Roman-built chalk cellars 60 feet below the surface. These "crayers" were dug out of the earth in the 2nd century and hold a constant temperature of 50 degrees. Heidsieck chose to invest in storage rather than in vineyard land, because leaving the vineyards in the hands of growers and their expertise allowed him to focus on what he felt was the most important part of making good Champagne: aging. It's a tradition that continues today. Charles Heidsieck ages its Champagne longer than most; at least 36 months for its non-vintage when only 15 months are required by law. Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a wine dinner at Paradise Wine in North Naples where Brian Roland's Crave Culinaire expertly paired several courses with the different wines offered by Charles Heidsieck. It was a joy to see the how the Champagne evolved as it got older, and how that investment in the ancient Roman cellars paid off in the wines' freshness. Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve, non-vintage: Bright and vibrant with light citrus notes. ($65-68) Charles Heidsieck Rose Reserve, non-vintage: Pale pink color and tart strawberry flavors. ($87-91) Charles Heidsieck Vintage 2005: Lemon curd on the nose and fresh citrus acidity on the palate balanced with only a hint of yeasty brioche.($118-125) Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millenaires 1995: This wine is 21 years old but retains all the freshness as if it were a baby. The aging has led to a full, round explosion of flavor on the mid-palate of lemony brioche. Finish is lingering yet clean, and absolutely delicious. ($224- 229) I welcome comments and questions at juliewriteswine@gmail.com. You can see more of my writing at julieglenn.com, and can connect with me on Facebook and on Twitter @juliewriteswine. SHARE Neither political party can lay claim to purity when it comes to hypocrisy, but Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, as well as others in her party, has taken hypocrisy to new depths. While campaigning in Wisconsin before next week's presidential primary, Clinton said that as president she would have a litmus test for any Supreme Court nominee. "I would not appoint someone who didn't think Roe v. Wade is settled law," she declared. Her nominee(s) would also have to show that they support overturning the Citizens United decision that established free speech rights for interest groups. She added that while she believes the Senate should hold hearings and a vote on Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, she would have selected someone more like Justice Sonya Sotomayor because Clinton thinks her Hispanic heritage and underprivileged upbringing has brought a needed perspective to the high court. What about the Constitution? It seems that for the left, the Constitution is only a temporary impediment until they can appoint judges who believe the founding document is more elastic than a waistband and can be stretched to fit their agenda. About Clinton's claim that Roe is settled law, was Plessy v. Ferguson "settled law"? That 7-1 decision in 1896 established "the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of 'separate but equal.'" It remained in force for nearly 60 years until the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling overturned it. Roe is 43 years old. By the Plessy standard, should Roe really be considered settled law? As for Clinton's attacks on Republican senators who refuse to schedule hearings and a vote on Garland's nomination, as a senator from New York, she took a contrary position. In 2005, Sen. Clinton said the Senate had a right to reject a president's nominee: "I believe this is one of the most important roles the Senate plays. This, after all, is in the Constitution. We are asked to give advice and consent, or to deny advice and consent." Denial is implied, but not written in the Constitution. What the Constitution does not require is for the Senate to hold hearings, or vote, on a court nominee. At a Democrat town hall last month, Chuck Todd of MSNBC asked Clinton about Obama's statement that he regrets as a senator filibustering Justice Samuel Alito's nomination when George W. Bush was president. Todd noted that Clinton joined 24 other Senate Democrats in a filibuster against Alito's nomination and ultimately voted against Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. Her response? "You get to use the rules." Well, yes, and while not holding hearings on Garland is not a rule, it might be considered on a par with a filibuster designed to delay and, on some occasions, prevent a vote. Add to this the policy of the Democratic Party leadership, which has, according to then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Biden, a lengthy and established "tradition against acting on Supreme Court nominations in a presidential year." Let's also recall the words of the likely next Senate majority leader, Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who said in a July 2007 speech that the "presumption of confirmation" for any more nominees to the Supreme Court during the remainder of Bush's term should be reversed, because the court, according to Schumer, "is dangerously out of balance." In short, not liberal enough. The fabled goose and gander analogy seems to apply here, but many voters have proven to have short attention spans and an ignorance of history, which might explain why a recent Pew Research Center poll found that 46 percent of Americans surveyed want Garland confirmed, while 30 percent oppose him. If Pew surveyed those same people today and read them what Clinton, Biden and Schumer said then and now, how many would call them hypocrites? How many would possibly change their minds about Garland? I guess we'll never know. SHARE Our global nuclear nightmare is back in the news, Page 1 and prime time. And here's what is most frightening: America's leading experts, former Sens. Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, the bipartisan partners who led the world's quarter-century battle to keep loose nukes and nuclear fuel out of terrorist hands and repeatedly warned us to do more or we'd someday regret it! have never looked more prophetic. This week, as the world's leaders convened in Washington for the final Nuclear Security Summit of Barack Obama's presidency, they spent days pouring over a literally terrifying choice of news articles and expert reports: Newsbreak: The New York Times reported that "tons of materials that terrorists could use to make small nuclear devices or dirty bombs remain deeply vulnerable to theft" despite U.S.-led efforts to safeguard them. Expert report: "Preventing Dirty Bombs, Fighting Weapons of Mass Disruption." A report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a group founded by Nunn and philanthropist Ted Turner in early 2001 to monitor security of the world's weapons of mass destruction, warned that the probability of terrorists exploding a dirty bomb with those materials was "much higher than that of an improvised nuclear device." (A dirty bomb is an ordinary explosive, packed with radioactive material that scatters when detonated and contaminates large areas.) Newsbreak: Many news organizations reported Belgian officials' fears their nuclear plants are vulnerable after terrorists attacked their airport and subway. Worse yet: For years, Belgians knew they had security lapses, yet they guarded their nuclear plants only with private rent-a-cops until this year. In 2014, a saboteur turned a valve in Belgium's Doel nuclear plant, draining 65,000 liters of oil; the turbines overheated and shut down for five months. It gets worse: Two years earlier, two workers at the same plant quit, went to Syria and fought in an Islamic State brigade alongside dozens from Belgium, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who led the Paris attacks. There were a number of other nuclear facility security lapses: This year, the computer system of the Belgian nuclear agency was hacked and had to briefly shut down. In 2015, Belgians raided the apartment of a suspect tied to the Paris terrorists and discovered videos of a senior official of a Belgian nuclear facility. In 2013, at the Belgian research reactor in the city of Mol, two people climbed over the facility's fence, broke into a lab and stole equipment. It was back in 1991 when Nunn, a Georgia Democrat, discovered the Soviet breakup meant Russia's nuclear arsenal could be poorly secured, and teamed up with Lugar, the Indiana Republican. Their Comprehensive Threat Reduction Act (best known as the Nunn-Lugar program) funded efforts to secure Soviet nukes and other arsenals around the world so terrorists could not get them. When Nunn and Turner formed their Nuclear Threat Initiative, I called Nunn and said I wanted to write a book and work on a TV documentary about the danger of terrorists getting some of the world's loose nukes. We figured our big problem would be convincing Americans it can happen here but after 9/11, that was no longer our problem. "Avoiding Armageddon," the book and PBS documentary series (I was managing editor; someone named Walter Cronkite was the narrator) recounted global security tales, beginning with a Russian nuclear thief who got away with stealing nuclear material until he tried to sell it. It also detailed nuclear facility security problems and how to fix them. I never expected I'd be writing about identical security failures in 2016. A decade ago, Lugar became a de facto protege to a young freshman senator from Illinois. That was how Obama became a big believer in the Nunn-Lugar program that's still safeguarding the world's most vulnerable nukes. His belief in that program was one factor that seduced the Nobel folks (in a moment of embarrassingly prematurely adulation) to award its Peace Prize to Obama in the first year of his presidency. And that brings up one final point: Oslo, we have a problem: Nunn and Lugar have never been properly thanked by the world they helped rescue from potential nuclear catastrophe. But this October, at award time, the Nobel Peace Prize committee can finally make things right. SHARE Jill Bolte Taylor, author of My Stroke of Insight, is scheduled to give the keynote speech at the third annual SpelLIFE Women's Wellness Summit on April 2 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Naples. Taylor, A Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, TED Talk speaker and best-selling author who was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World, will share her personal story about recovering from a stroke and deliver her speech, titled How to Get Your Brain to Do What You Want it to Do. By Ryan Kasley, Staff A Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, TED Talk speaker and best-selling author will give the keynote address at an annual women's health conference in Naples. Jill Bolte Taylor, author of "My Stroke of Insight," along with seven other Southwest Florida educators and physicians, will discuss long-term brain health at the third annual SpelLIFE Women's Wellness Summit. The event will take place 9 a.m. April 2 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Naples. In keeping with this year's theme of "brain health," Taylor, who was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World, will share her personal story about recovering from a stroke and deliver her keynote, "How to Get Your Brain to Do What You Want it to Do." "We have more power over what is going on inside our heads than anyone ever taught us," said Taylor. "I believe the better we understand what is going on the inside, the more power we have to pick and choose who and how we want to be in the world." Taylor will explore the relationship between the left and right sides of the brain and how it impacts our lives. "Our most important relationship is the one between the character in our left brain and the character of our right brain," Taylor said. "These two characters either like and respect one another or they are in discourse. How we live in the external world is a reflection of that internal relationship." Taylor will also explain how our behavior correlates to neurological brain functions. "Every ability we have, we have because we have brain cells that perform that function" said Taylor. "If you like what is going on inside your head then keep doing what you are doing. If you want to change the things you are thinking about then you have that ability too." Additional breakout session topics will include: Dr. Pamela Gerali "The Brain: A Blueprint for the Human Spirit"; Blue Zones Project "Everyone Has a Purpose: What's Yours?"; Pamela Hughes Hormones and Your Brain: What's Your Connection?"; William A. Justiz "Diagnosing Alzheimer's"; Marla Ottenstein "Simplification + Organization = Peace of Mind." The event will also feature more than 30 wellness booths and light healthy bites. SpelLIFE was founded on eight dimensions of wellness: Spiritual, Physical, Environment, Leisure, Local, Intellectual, Financial and Emotional, each word making up the acronym. Its annual wellness summit aims to empower women to live proactive healthier lives. A portion of the event proceeds will benefit the stroke recovery initiatives at the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging & Rehabilitation in Naples. Tickets are $50 per person and includes the keynote speech and one breakout session. Seating is limited. St. John the Evangelist is located at 625 111th Ave. N., Naples. Registration is available at slwws2016.eventbrite.com. For more information, call 239-598-2296. Rick Wobbe became the fifth painter in the show this year. Local artists held the annual "Five Painters & a Potter" art show on Sunday, March 20 at the Clay Place on Shadowlawn Drive. Lance Shearer/Citizen Correspondent SHARE Local artists held the annual "Five Painters & a Potter" art show on Sunday, March 20 at the Clay Place on Shadowlawn Drive. Lance Shearer/Citizen Correspondent Sharon Morrison, Pat Morrison, and Joe McNichols bring the bluegrass. Local artists held the annual "Five Painters & a Potter" art show on Sunday, March 20 at the Clay Place on Shadowlawn Drive. Lance Shearer/Citizen Correspondent Painter Phil Fisher, left, talks to visitors about his work. Local artists held the annual "Five Painters & a Potter" art show on Sunday, March 20 at the Clay Place on Shadowlawn Drive. Lance Shearer/Citizen Correspondent A Paul Arsenault print shows the old home at Gordon Pass. Local artists held the annual "Five Painters & a Potter" art show on Sunday, March 20 at the Clay Place on Shadowlawn Drive. Lance Shearer/Citizen Correspondent By Lance Shearer, Citizen Correspondent It started out as a rebellion, and has become something of a local institution. "Five Painters and a Potter," a group showing by a collection of longtime Naples artists, returned for its 14th annual outing on Sunday at The Clay Place, Jim Rice's studio in East Naples. "We were rebelling against the Fifth Avenue galleries, and the giant shows downtown," said Rice. "But this thing has really grown." With a continuous lineup of live music, complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres, and a shaded, open courtyard that looks just how an artist's compound in the tropics would appear if imagined by Hollywood, all the elements have fallen into place for the show to become a date circled in red on the local arts calendar. And then there's the work. Jim Rice's fish platters have become synonymous with Naples for many, and a reminder of their southern home for many snowbirds. After 37 years at his location, Rice has turned out thousands of pieces, and the plantings have had time to grow to impressive size. Mature bamboo, cabbage palm surrounded by a massive strangler fig, podocarpus, hanging orchids and bromeliads create shade, along with a chickee hut with benches covered in ceramic fish. Chinese foo dogs, ceramic pieces not created by Rice, lend an Eastern air, along with the bamboo. While Rice's ceramics were housed in the small building given over to a showroom, with steady sales all afternoon, the visiting painters took up residence at locations all around the grounds. Phil Fisher and Natalie Guess, a husband wife who are both members of the group, had distinct but adjoining displays. Both paint many local scenes, but Guess works in batik, while Fisher paints in, well, paint, often watercolors in bright tropical colors. Paul Arsenault, the dean of local painters, was set up next to the bandstand, with his own oils in a riot of colors, depicting many Naples locations as well as the results of painting trips throughout the world. Marco Island artist Tara O'Neill's impressionistic oils have focused on scenes near her home and the beach. O'Neill, the president of the Goodland Arts Alliance, hardly had a chance to take a breath, after coordinating a 25-artist show the previous Sunday in Goodland. She came aboard as one of the five in 2013 after original member Jerry Vallez died. This year, there was a new "new kid," as stained glass artist Rick Wobbe joined the artists, taking the place of Jeff Fessenden. Wobbe's work also featured Southwest Florida, many of the panels showing aquatic scenes. One, "Dancing Snook," came complete with an actual fishing lure and the end of a rod, while "Snook Island" also included mangroves and blue crab, and a price tag of $6,800. Joe McNichols, fishing guide and front man of Capt. Joe and the Bottom Feeders organized the music, which featured a rotating cast of pickers, with all-acoustic (although amplified) instruments including guitars, mandolin, fiddle, banjo and not one but two standup basses. Players included Linda Kallinger, Larry Wicker, Pat and Sharon Morrison, Don Jarrett, Bo Brewton, and Eric Strachan. A steady stream of art lovers, friends and wellwishers came by to look over the work, buy a print or a commemorative goblet, and talk to those on hand, who represented a who's who of longtime Naples stalwarts. County Commissioner Donna Fiala stopped in and spoke with Eileen Arsenault, who "manned" Paul's booth after the artist had to leave. "I have never missed one of these shows," said Fiala. If you missed the show, Fisher and Guess have a gallery in Crayton Cove, the Arsenault Gallery is on Third Street South, O'Neill is available at TaraOGallery.com, and Jim Rice will be there at the Clay Place at 1555 Shadowlawn Drive, or online at NaplesClayPlace.com. SHARE By Carla Grieve, Citizen Contributor It is my firm belief that those who are reading this article are library fans. And you are library fans because you like to read. Some of you read mostly fiction, with perhaps a favorite sub-category like sci-fi or thrillers. Others, however, might have a favorite author, like Adriana Trigiani, the only author invited to make a second appearance in the 13-year history of our Friends of the Library Nick Linn Lecture Series. Then there are the biography specialists who devour the life stories of present and past-day leaders. I tend to read mostly non-fiction on a wide range of subjects. We love books, both those on paper and the electronic ones which more and more library card holders are downloading via OverDrive from our library website, www.collierlibrary.org. We have been readers for years, from childhood, when someone (a parent, sibling, favorite aunt or neighbor or teacher) got the message across that books and reading were important and fun. It would widen our world. But because of the structure of most schooling, all of the focus on reading and learning can be sabotaged by that eight or so week hiatus in the summer without reading practice, especially for those students who struggle with reading. The Florida Education Association calls it the summer slide/brain drain and has lots of good information. Go to www.FEAWeb.org/Stop-the-summer-slide. To address this issue locally, the Collier County Public Library has formed a partnership with Collier County Schools to enhance literacy. It will work with teachers to create age-appropriate summer reading lists. They will make it convenient for children and parents to get their hands on fun reading materials. As part of the library's annual summer reading program, there will be incentives and prizes. Another goal of the collaboration is kindergarten readiness. For this, they will create programming to prepare youngsters for school and give parents and grandparents the skills they need to teach their kids the alphabet and garner a love of books. Library staff will attend workshops alongside educators to learn current best practices in building literacy confidence as well as letter and sound recognition. Once the initiatives for 2- through 5-year-olds are launched, both the public school and the library systems will explore creating programs to enhance reading comprehension and vocabulary building. We already have "Story Times" at all locations except the very small Everglades City branch. And steps will be taken to make the Story Times more meaningful. The final news I got from Library Director Val Kocin, is that the library system will be promoting Collier County's Transit PAW Pass to encourage young folks to visit the libraries and participate in the Summer Reading Program. This is a three-month pass for $30 where kids, aged 17 and under, can ride as many times as they want over the summer; children under 5 years ride free. "We want to encourage them to use the bus as an alternative means for getting to the library," she said. The pass will be usable from June 1 to August 31. How great is that. - - - Carla Grieve is the District Two representative on the county's Library Advisory Board. By Melhor Leonor of the Naples Daily News When a golden apple was placed in McKenzie Morton's hand, the event was the obvious culmination of things that to everyone else had seemed happenstance. The Golden Apple award, an honor reserved for the county's top teachers and the practices they use, debuted in Collier County 26 years ago under the lead of Morton's mother, Lisa Morton. "It's the 26th [year] of Golden Apple and I'm 26 years old," said McKenzie Morton, an English teacher at Naples High. The coincidence was a surprise to the Champions for Learning committee that picked this year's Golden Apple teachers. "I have a video of my mom in 80s hair and clothes, presenting the Golden Apple awards," Morton said. "She always says she's been planning my Golden Apple speech since I was a kid." As a student, Morton also attended the annual ceremony where Golden Apple teachers are recognized. On two occasions, it was to present former teachers with the awards. Morton has only been teaching for four years, and says that it's hard to believe she was chosen for an award that suggests she is of "same caliber as some of these teachers." As fate would also have it, Morton was presented with the award at Naples High, the school that welcomed her as a freshman and prepared her for college at the University of Florida. Some of her former teachers are co-workers today. Morton had envisioned herself as a teacher since she was a child, but it was at Naples High where Morton decided she wanted to teach English. While in college, Morton quickly realized that many students arrive without a firm grasp of how to clearly convey their ideas through writing. "It's essential in every major," Morton said. "I want to empower my students to have that writing ability." Her approach, she says, is "chunking the writing into digestible pieces." Recently, Morton showed students an essay written by a fellow student during a timed, standardized test. Colored highlighters went around the room and covered copies of the essay. Every color was used to denote a different component of the essay transitions or key sentences, for example. Her students said breaking down text helps them better organize their own essays, and better understand the devices available to them as they are writing. One student, Alyson Baumgardner, a junior, said that as she analyzed a text in class recently, she highlighted information the author used to support his argument and topic sentences introducing an original idea. She said Morton breaks the writing down into "simple steps." "She's always very explicit," Baumgardner said. Even with classrooms full of Naples High's top students, Morton's biggest struggle is getting her students to read. "It's like pulling teeth to get them to read novels." One student she had a few years ago, "had not read a real book, cover to cover, since the third grade," Morton said. So instead of pushing a literature on the struggling reader, fearing his reading habits would continue, Morton got the student a copy of "Divergent," the first book in a popular series of novels by American author Veronica Roth. Within weeks, the student had read all three books in the series, and asked for more."I try to walk up to students and hand them a book I think they would like," Morton said. For some students, that means encouraging them at first to read books that are below their grade level. "I'd rather you read 'Divergent' than not read at all." With her advanced classes, she has opted for selecting books they'll find interesting. Sometimes that means trading out classics her students simply won't finish for modern literature that will captivate their attention. Books that have been turned into movies draw students in, which is good for a classic title like "The Great Gatsby." "Luckily there's a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in it." At 26, Morton isn't much older than some of the students she teaches. Encouraging mutual respect and relating to them is one way to succeed in the classroom. "Even when it's hard, I try to see where my students are coming from." Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of stories profiling Collier County's five Golden Apple teachers, and the best practices that earned them Collier's top teacher distinction. The other teachers will be featured in stories that will run through Friday, when all five will be honored at the 26th Annual Golden Apple Celebration of Teachers Dinner. The event, sponsored by the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation, will be broadcast live on NBC-2 starting at 8 p.m. Related stories: By Melhor Leonor of the Naples Daily News Deep-seated enthusiasm for science took Jenny Godley from laboratories in Southern California to Central America. In exploring molecular biology, Godley had found something she had a knack for. But when unexpected circumstances brought Godley and her husband, Andy, to Naples, the California-native found herself searching for a new career. "I'd been doing research my whole life to that point," said Jenny Godley, who now teaches chemistry at Naples High School. "We didn't have jobs, and in Naples, as you know, there's not a lot of research." With no background in education but driven by a love for science, Godley wound up in front of a classroom full of high school students and the task of teaching chemistry. Last month close to 13 years later Godley was recognized with a Golden Apple award, a recognition given to the county's top teachers. "I get excited when I see a kid who wants to go into science," Godley said. "When I see students say something that I would never have thought of, I'm incredibly impressed and inspired. "This is the most entertaining job I've ever had." For Godley, taking over a classroom with little training meant spending extra hours catching up on classroom management models and working with rambunctious teenagers instead of exacting researchers. But, she said, her Golden Apple award is a reassurance that a classroom is where she belongs. "It's about how everything in my life has lead to this." The expertise she came with, she said, have proved an asset. In some ways, they are what make her classroom distinct. "I know what it's really like in the lab," Godley said, "how it's really done, why this is important." Godley's students are well aware of her background in research. Mostly, it comes out in the excitement with which she talks about things like chemical bonding and acidity. "She actually likes this," said sophomore Hannah Justus, while completing a lab involving reactions between acids and bases. "She's not telling you something just to teach. It's like, 'I really like this so I'm going to share it with you.'" Most of what Godley has learned about teaching, she has acquired much like a scientist would through observation and experimentation. One conclusion she has arrived at is this: Tests cannot wholly or solely measure a student's grasp on the concepts she works to convey. So in Godley's classroom, students get credit for demonstrating that they understand by speaking out loud. "I'll ask them questions while I'm teaching," Godley said, and for every asserted question, their name and a tally mark goes on the board. The marks translate into points IQ or, "Interactive Question" points that can boost their final grade. "They don't think they test well, because that's usually a weakness. I don't want to base all of their achievements on tests." Her students say it makes for a class that is more interactive, a quality they highly value while learning chemistry an otherwise dull subject. "Her teaching style is very involved. She makes the class contribute," said Gabrielle Strange, a junior. "And she welcomes mistakes." That last part has been a key priority for Godley. "A lot of them don't have a background in chemistry," Godley said of the 10th and 11th graders she teaches, who often arrive at the subject with so little background that the task to teach them is like working on a blank slate. "They don't want to participate because they feel like they don't know anything. "It teaches them to be wrong and be OK with it ... to speak and verbally communicate." Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of stories profiling Collier County's five Golden Apple teachers, and the best practices that earned them Collier's top teacher distinction. The other teachers will be featured in stories that will run through Friday, when all five will be honored at the 26th Annual Golden Apple Celebration of Teachers Dinner. The event, sponsored by the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation, will be broadcast live on NBC-2 starting at 8 p.m. Related stories: SHARE Beatrice Gaynor, 5, takes a quick photo of Betsy, a female loggerhead sea turtle, before being released back into her natural environment Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Betsy served as an ambassador for the loggerhead species within the Dalton Discovery Center for two years, providing visitors a unique opportunity to learn about marine wildlife and conservation. (Luke Franke/Staff) Spectators and members of the media record as biologists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida release Betsy, a female loggerhead sea turtle, near the Ten Thousand Islands just off Goodland Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Betsy served as an ambassador for the loggerhead species within the Dalton Discovery Center for two years, providing visitors a unique opportunity to learn about marine wildlife and conservation. Spectators and members of the media record as biologists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida release Betsy, a female loggerhead sea turtle, near the Ten Thousand Islands just off Goodland Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Betsy served as an ambassador for the loggerhead species within the Dalton Discovery Center for two years, providing visitors a unique opportunity to learn about marine wildlife and conservation. (Luke Franke/Staff) Spectators and members of the media record as biologists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida release Betsy, a female loggerhead sea turtle, near the Ten Thousand Islands just off Goodland Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Betsy served as an ambassador for the loggerhead species within the Dalton Discovery Center for two years, providing visitors a unique opportunity to learn about marine wildlife and conservation. (Luke Franke/Staff) By Greg Stanley of the Naples Daily News With a final splash a few hundred yards south of Goodland among the Ten Thousand Islands, a young loggerhead sea turtle left a group of conservationists behind. They waited, scanning the surface, as the turtle named Betsy dived under their boat. "There she is," they shouted as she surfaced moments later, taking bearing of her new endless habitat. The loggerhead had been kept on display at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for the past two years, from the time it was just a few inches long and weighed less than a pound. It was released Tuesday weighing about 40 pounds with an 18-inch shell. The turtle will work its way from the calm shallow waters proven to be a great feeding ground near Rookery Bay out through the Gulf and into the Atlantic, only to return some 20 years from now to lay her eggs somewhere along the southern Gulf Coast, said Nicki Dardinger, director of education at the Conservancy. "She's been tagged so hopefully years from now they'll be able to scan her when she comes up on some beach," Dardinger said. The loggerhead was used by the Conservancy to both study and to teach. Betsy was taken in as part of a program to learn more about how sex is determined among loggerheads, about why in sea turtle nests the colder eggs, buried deeper in the sand, tend to become males while the warmer eggs closer to the surface become females. It was raised in a 10-foot-deep saltwater tank and served as a popular ambassador for visitors at the Conservancy. So as to not be dependent, biologists fed the turtle through a long pipe that pumped small fish deep down to the bottom of the tank. "She has had to work for it so she won't associate food with people," said Katie Ferron, Conservancy aquarist. "She isn't that attached to us, but I'm attached to her." As Betsy grew, biologists started to feed her live spider crabs and blue crabs. "When she went to town on those we knew she was ready," Ferron said. The loggerhead was named after the late Betsy Sandstrom, a longtime sea turtle advocate and volunteer. The turtle was the perfect namesake, said Martha Gill, Sandstrom's sister. "It's everyone's dream to leave a legacy, especially such a fitting one," Gill said. "She is being set free now, and think of her coming back to lay eggs and her offspring. It's beautiful." By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News Four lawsuits have been filed in Southwest Florida against 21st Century Oncology for a privacy breach that hit 2.2 million patients nationwide. The lawsuits have all been filed in federal court in Fort Myers as class action complaints by patients of 21st Century. The company is headquartered in Fort Myers and is one of the nations' largest oncology firms with 200 radiation centers around the country. Officials with 21st Century declined to comment because the litigation is pending. Company officials notified patients March 4 that the company database was breached and the company learned of it Nov. 13 from the FBI. The breached data includes Social Security numbers, insurance information and medical conditions. In 2013, 21st Century was notified by federal authorities of an employee who accessed patient data that was subsequently used by to file false tax returns, according to one of the recent complaints filed by Coral Gables attorney Robert Gilbert. The class action lawsuits are not a surprise because a judge in an unrelated data breach case allowed for damages on future harm to the plaintiff and that changed the landscape, said Carrie Kerskie, a Naples resident and identity theft expert. She is director of the Identity Fraud Institute at Hodges University. "That was a turning point," she said. Whether the four cases filed in federal court in Fort Myers and elsewhere will be consolidated is unclear, she said. The time lapse from November when the FBI notified 21st Century and the company sending letters to patients in March may be due to the FBI telling 21st Century to delay notification because there was an active investigation, she said. Federal law says patients must be notified within 60 days of a breach detected, and state law says 30 days, but law enforcement officers can tell a company to hold off while they investigate, she said. Kerskie is not surprised 21st Century learned of the breach from the FBI. "It is not uncommon at all for a breach to be found by an outside source," she said. "The FBI could have been working on something and saw a pattern," she said. Even though companies typically offer one year of monitoring after a breach, it is only for credit monitoring, Kerskie said. She advises people to file an affidavit with the IRS to guard against false tax returns. The company hired a forensics team which determined the breach occurred Oct. 3, according to 21st Century. The four lawsuits say 21st Century failed to take the necessary steps to protect patients' data even though it is required by law. "Now that their sensitive personal information has been exposed, affected individuals must worry about being victimized throughout the rest of their lives and spend countless hours to combat identity theft," Bonita Springs attorney Kenneth Gilman stated in his complaint filed on behalf of plaintiff Stuart Kaplan, a Florida resident. Gilman and attorneys who filed the three complaints could not be reached for comment. "With access to an individual's personal information, a hacker can cause a multitude of harms to the affected individuals, including depleting bank accounts, obtaining a driver's license or official identification card in a victim's name, using a victim's name and Social Security number to obtain government benefits, filing a fraudulent tax return using a victim's information, or even receive medical services and benefits," Gilman, the Bonita Springs attorney, said in the complaint. "Personal information is such a valuable commodity that once the information has been compromised, criminals can trade it on the 'cyber black market' for years." A 2015 study by the Ponemon Institute on identity theft found medical identify theft has increased 22 percent from the prior year, according to the lawsuit. Ms. Ana Barros, left, plays with a group of pre-K students as they unwind during recess time at the NCEF Early Childhood Development Center on Florida SouthWestern's campus Wednesday, March 23, 2016 in Naples. (Luke Franke/Staff) SHARE By John Osborne, Daily News Correspondent Sharing is caring, and the Community Foundation of Collier County does plenty of both. Most recently, the foundation granted $15,000 to Collier Child Care Resources from the Alfred and Vera Goodman Fund. CCCR Executive Director Niccole Howard said the funds would provide partial tuition assistance for lower-income families whose children are enrolled at the NCEF Early Childhood Education Center, operated by CCCR. "We are extremely grateful for this donation that will enable the children to continue on their path to success," said Howard, whose nonprofit serves about 275 children annually. "At least 75 percent of the families receive partial tuition assistance, and 60 percent live at or below poverty level Howard said the money was especially important because early childhood education often proves the most critical. "The future success of every child is in many ways determined before he or she enters kindergarten," she said. "During these early years between birth and age 5 a child's brain develops more rapidly than any other subsequent period. Children who are at risk of not doing well in school gain significant benefits from quality child care. All children need to enter school ready and able to succeed." Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Collier County, said awarding the grant represented another step toward furthering her own nonprofit's mission. "Our mission is to connect donors to nonprofit organizations and community programs in Collier County," she said. "We are pleased to help fulfill Collier Child Care Resources' mission of providing high-quality early education. It is satisfying to know that the money will have an immediate impact upon the children and ultimately benefit our entire community." Collier Child Care Resources was one of four agencies awarded grants totaling $50,000. The Community Foundation of Collier County also awarded grants to Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Champions for Learning and New Horizons of Southwest Florida. Located on the Collier campus of Florida SouthWestern State College, Howard said tuition costs at the NCEF Early Childhood Education Center could run more than $10,000 a year. In 2015, The center's early childhood development program achieved reaccreditation from the National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education. It also earned a five-star rating from the Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida through the Southwest Florida Stars Program and saw 100 percent of the 5-year-olds score "Ready to Learn" when they entered kindergarten. CCCR also operates child development centers at Golden Gate High School and Immokalee High School. Those centers focus on the children of teen mothers by offering free child care and parenting classes while their moms continue their high school educations. "This allows for a better future for them and their children, without the worry of needing to pay for child care," said Dianne Reed, CCCR's director of communications. Additionally, CCCR conducts an early childhood education conference once a year to go along with training workshops for early learning professionals throughout the year. In 2014, the nonprofit served more than 1,750 people with training and educational resources. For more information, call 239-643-3908 or see www.collierchildcare.org. Ritz-Carlton joins South Seas as resorts announce mass layoffs due to Ian Two large resorts in Southwest Florida have announced mass layoffs due to Ian. There could be more to come. SHARE Ronald D. Russo, Naples Historic zoning This is a head's-up notice to Naples property owners, especially those south of the downtown area. There is a concerted effort afoot to try to convince the Naples City Council or Collier County officials to adopt an Historic District zoning ordinance, which would create a governmental aesthetic zoning commission. The zoning commission could have the regulatory enforcement authority over any new construction, demolition, addition, improvements, modifications, or changes to the exterior of your home or property. Once the ordinance is enacted, any exterior change would require a "Certificate of Appropriateness" from the Historic District Commission before any building permit will be issued to you. In essence, the government will have final control over your property. No "certificate" means no building permit. Don't be fooled by the sweet sounding words about "historic preservation" because in the end it's a power grab to gain control of your property. This effort is being led by the Naples Historical Society under the term "Naples Historic District Initiative." This initiative is nothing more than a slick repackaged marketing plan, which in the past has been soundly rejected by Naples property owners. Of course, at the moment, the pitch is that they only want control over a limited area. However, like any other tumor, once in place it will spread. It is nothing more than the subjective, heavy hand of government. I urge you to take notice. Ask officials to reject and not consider any ordinance which would lead to establishment of Historic District zoning and the detrimental effect it will have on property owners unfortunate enough to fall under such regulation. SHARE Rejai Goodridge, Fort Myers Support tenants I am writing in response to the article published in the Naples Daily News on March 23 ("Former Gulf Coast Town Center owner accused in lawsuit of overcharging tenants for electricity"). I am writing to generate support for the tenants and customers of Gulf Coast Town Center. I am a current student of Florida Gulf Cost University (FGCU). As a student of a university neighboring the center, I believe such a costly accusation has a direct effect to the people who rely on shopping here for their necessities. According to the article, the charges became apparent in late 2015 during the foreclosure against CBL & Associates Properties on an unpaid loan of $190.9 million. After McKinley Inc. took over and an energy audit was completed, tenant Adrian Church's energy bill would be reduced from $615 to $270. According to Church, she received a markup of $345 a month. CBL & Associates Properties billed tenants directly for electricity, pledging to charge no more than the tenants would have paid if they bought power directly from the utility company. In the contracts, tenants waived their right to an energy audit. I think that CBL & Associates Properties acted in a way that causes suspicion of their practices. Not allowing tenants to obtain energy audits as a consumer causes me to raise an eyebrow. If there was indeed illegal markups on the electricity cost for tenants, those costs would be passed on to consumers. As a college student who shops here on a weekly basis, the possibility of an owner not only taking advantage of his/her tenants but also the consumers of Southwest Florida is very disheartening. SHARE Lydia Galton, Naples Collier Citizens Council Tallahassee kickoff Two newcomers will represent Collier County in the Florida House next year, and we will be electing a new state senator as well. Those who fill these elected offices will impact your life for good or ill. So come and meet the candidates for these seats at a candidate forum on April 7 at Hodges University in the John White Community Room at 2655 Northbrooke Drive in Naples. Joe Davidow and Byron Donalds will square off for House Seat 80, and Lavigne Kirkpatrick and Bob Rommel will joust for House Seat 106 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Then, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., former state representatives Kathleen Passidomo and Matt Hudson, both running for Garrett Richter's vacated Senate seat, will debate and take questions. There are many issues, including tax cuts, education funding, fracking legislation, growth incentives, medical marijuana and spending to protect the environment and protect the Everglades all priority matters for Southwest Florida. The forum will be open to the public, with first-come seating and free snacks. Eleven local groups are sponsoring the event, which will be moderated by Jeff Lytle, retired editorial page editor of the Naples Daily News. So join us at Hodges, bring questions, size up the candidates and decide how to vote. It should be a lively and informative session. Mandating the collection of newborn's blood DNA by heel prick Race to the Top grant application reveals how states plan to track newborns' DNA for life What do you think? (NaturalNews) The mass collection of people's DNA is becoming more popular in today's society and is being used for monitoring, tracking, studying and micromanaging people throughout their lives. Some people are noticing this controlling trend of DNA collection and are rejecting these genetic breaches of privacy.DNA collection has been used on military men and women since the first Gulf War and has been proposed in immigration reform bills and National ID cards. The tactic can be found at the local level, at Independence Day events or even at church-sponsored gatherings. Some churches like this one [PDF] collect children's fingerprints and store them in a database called Fellowship One, which is a subsidiary of the Active Network, which services corporations and government bodies.Police may even participate in the DNA collection brigade by setting up roadblocks that coerce law-abiding citizens to give up blood samples Now state and federal governments admit that blood taken from newborns is used to track those children throughout their school years and possibly for life. Of course, officials and those in charge say that DNA collection is about security and safety.That's exactly what the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007 implies -- that by giving up a child's DNA, lives are saved and people are protected. Recently, on June 26, 2014, this law was reauthorized by the US House of Representatives by a voice vote, mandating the collection of blood from every hospital newborn by heel prick.Since 2007, newborns' blood was collected and screened for disease. Most hospitals discarded the DNA after the disease screening, but the new re-authorization of the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act now mandates that the DNA be kept in a federal database for ongoing medical research.In one state, Rhode Island, the DNA sample can now be used for tracking children's education progress for life, and that may only be the beginning, as genetic privacy is torn away from parents and children who do not know what's going on.The state and federal government are now coming clean about using DNA of children for life. This can be found in Race to the Top grant applications filled out by states that accepted millions of dollars in federal bribe money. In Rhode Island's grant application, the Rhode Island Department of Education confessed that their state's newborn DNA database called KIDSNET is to be linked to the state's K-12 database, connecting DNA and education data of children for years.The 2011 grant application reads, "Another key asset is that Rhode Island provides universal newborn screening to all infants and enters the data into KIDSNET, a public health data system that is used by primary care providers to identify the need for follow-up on areas of concern. This database will be linked to Rhode Island's PK-20 database as we develop the Rhode Island Early Learning Data System using a unique child identifier so that there is the ability to track progress and child outcomes over time."Even more disturbing --Medical professionals just do their jobs, handing over the DNA to the state databases. No parental consent is required. Parents are given no choice to opt out.Under the 2007 law, both Nebraska and West Virginia mandated the blood screening, not allowing parents to opt out whatsoever, not even for religious reasons."It's not appropriate for the government to know that much about any human being, much less a young innocent citizen whose parents don't know it's being collected," said Jane Robbins, a senior fellow of the American Principles Project."There is no reason for them to have [DNA] information, certainly when parents are not required to consent," she said. Massive government waste illustrates why government has no business in healthcare (NaturalNews) America's for-profit prison systems aren't the only corrupt institutions that receive progressively more tax dollars for every person they incarcerate -- or in this case, for each person they hire to run Obama's government healthcare system. New reports indicate that Obamacare processing centers all across the country are now paying people to literally sit at their computers all day and do nothing, with one such company having been awarded $1.2 billion to fund this outrageous travesty.The British-owned company, known as Serco, reportedly hired 1,500 workers at facilities in Missouri, Kentucky and Oklahoma, to sit around all day and process paper applications for Obamacare, which are largely non-existent. A whistleblower from the firm says each employee is given a goal of processing just two paper applications per month, but many of them aren't even able to accomplish this due to a lack of applications. Instead, employees just sit at their computers all day long and hit the refresh button."They're told to sit at their computers and hit the refresh button every 10 minutes, no more than every 10 minutes," stated the employee to KMOV-TV, requesting that his identity be withheld. "They're monitored to hopefully look for an application. Their goals are set to process two applications per month and some people are not even able to do that."Serco was awarded a 12-year federal government contract worth $1.2 billion to process the paper applications, which declined significantly after thewebsite became at least somewhat functional. But the company, rather than report its lack of work to federal officials, is trying to conceal this fact in order to keep raking in the cash. And it continues to hire new employees, says the whistleblower , as each new employee means more federal funding."Based just outside of Washington in Reston, Va., Serco is a 25-year-old firm that pretty much owes its existence to government contracting," wrote Sarah Kliff for. "The company's annual revenue from the federal government is $1.2 billion. This would bring in another $1.2 billion over the course of five years, a big boost to the firm."In other words, Serco has an incentive to lie about the amount of work that it receives in order to continue receiving tax dollars for its own existence. Even if there is no work to be done -- which there apparently isn't -- Serco can continue to hire employees to twiddle their thumbs and watch YouTube videos all day on the taxpayers' dime, all the while boasting insane profits."[If this] type of fraud, waste ,and [] abuse was practiced by a private company[,] it would have them out of business in no time flat," wrote onecommenter. "BUT, because the government is not beholden to efficiency or a bottom line, this happens....and we're paying for it."Last year, the British government reportedly launched an investigation into Serco's parent company, Serco Group, for allegedly over-billing the government by "tens of millions of dollars." In this instance, Serco had been awarded a government contract not for healthcare but for monitoring offenders on parole, as well as individuals released on bail."This is totally absurd and the exact reason our government should not be involved in the Health care industry," wrote another commenter at, including a quote by Thomas Jefferson that touches at the heart of the issue:"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them," stated Jefferson. GoodGopher.com: The search engine for the truth seeker GoodGopher feeds FETCH.news sites (NaturalNews) With so many health conscious people around, the demand for information about nutrition and natural cures has never been as high as today. The internet is a great place to seek answers to your questions. However, the internet is a very big world, and not all pages are there to provide you with the best and most honest information.Over the years, the internet has grown into a massive beast, and finding your way through all the conflicting information can be overwhelming and difficult. Many websites are backed up by the government, mainstream media and big corporations. They are there to brainwash the people and lead us to their way of thinking.As a truth seeker, you may have found it hard to find the right information, and if you are using search engines like Search.com, then the truth may be far away.Search.com will block all your searches on nutrition and natural cures. Do the test. Type in any natural cure and I'm sure you will leave the page without finding an answer to your question. Search.com is nothing more than a part of the CBS Digital Media Group.All searches will redirect you to either the CBS news website, Chowhound, or other websites related to the CBS Digital Media Group which is not the kind of information you want to rely on when it comes to your health and happiness.GoodGopher was developed by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger , and founder and editor of NaturalNews.com. As the former CEO of a successful software company, he has now used his skills to create a privacy protected search engine that benefits the people and independent media, rather than the government or big corporations.GoodGopher.com filters out corporate propaganda and government disinformation. It is the best, and only, search engine out there for those who seek information and news on liberty , natural healing, central banks, food freedom, advanced science and a multitude of other topics no longer allowed in NSA-controlled search engines.All information comes from independent sources which have not been corrupted by corporate influence, the mainstream media, or governments. Unlike Google, it bans or penalizes all sources of propaganda and misinformation. GoodGopher gives high rankings to individual journalists, scientists, bloggers and publishers with no interests in big corporations or government, and without prioritizing NaturalNews.com.Unlike any other search engine , it shows fair, high-integrity results, based on a relevancy algorithm that's applied equally to all sites. This means that small websites will have as much chance of being number one in the rankings for any given search term.And the best part: GoodGopher is a privacy-protected search engine, meaning that it doesn't record search history or track browsing habits. So no spying there.Why not give it a try now, at GoodGopher.com To stay on top of what's new, GoodGopher.com scans all indexed websites every hour for news that will appear on FETCH.news , which features over 100 topic-focused news sub-sites. FETCH.news is the ideal tool to monitor the latest news and headlines.Thousands of independent news sites and blogs are already indexed by GoodGopher, and appear in the news feed of FETCH.com, and you can be part of it, too. If you have an independent news site or blog, you can submit it here 'Tortured' History of bad practices Some dentists do defend use of the restraint device in certain carefully-monitored situations. But as Nevaeh's family prepares a lawsuit for what Moriarty alleges was gross negligence, they are speaking out now to send a warning. (NaturalNews) A Houston family is preparing to file a lawsuit against a local dentist, after their four-year-old daughter suffered brain damage following multiple seizures during a visit,reported recently.Attorneys for the family say the child's seizures were brought on by the use of a number of sedatives and a controversial restraint."In essence what happened is this child was chemically and physically suffocated," Jim Moriarty, the attorney for the family of 4-year-old Nevaeh Hall, said in an interview with the station. "This child suffered massive brain damage during that time period and that didn't have to happen."Nevaeh was a repeat patient at the Diamond Dental clinic; her mother, Courissa Clark, told the station that it was the child's third visit, and that she had expected that some of the girl's teeth would be capped or even removed because of decay.She said she and her husband were told to remain in the waiting room during the procedures.Records that were examined by an independent dentist show that Navaeh was given multiple sedatives."Sedated in the office for over seven hours, given five sedatives for a routine dental procedure that should have been done and over by mid morning," the review said.In addition, the child had been placed in a common restraint device called a papoose, which confines a child's arms and legs so they don't interfere with a clinician's medical procedures."And I can tell you that this chart shows you that this child was essentially tortured," said Moriarty, while holding a printout of the oxygen, blood pressure and pulse measurements recorded during the visit.The independent review said that the child's vital signs were "off the charts," and that "her body tried to compensate for her inability to breathe by increasing her heart rate to has high as 195 beats per minute." Also, it said that her blood pressure rose to "a dangerous 168/77," which can be considered very elevated for a child her age, and that her oxygen saturation fell to as low as 49 percent (mid-to-upper 90s is considered normal)."Severe hypoxia is often classified as any saturation lower than 86 percent. And is known to cause brain damage ," the analysis said."They never did call it a seizure. They just said shaking, she's shaking," Nevaeh's mom said at a recent news conference. "Just the whole time they assured us that everything was okay. And the next time we were allowed to come in is when the paramedics were actually coming back. And that was about four hours later."Records show that the dentist, Bethaniel Jefferson, has been disciplined and fined by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners at least twice in the past,reported. Following the incident with Nevaeh, her license has been suspended temporarily, to be followed by a license revocation hearing.Jefferson did not return phone calls seeking comment, the station reported.Asnoted further:"If parents are being told to authorize or grant permission to papoose their child, they probably ought to run," said Craig Jacobs with Children First Dental."Clinics across America, across Houston, across Texas use the same business model every day to over treat these children and use these restraints. And the standard is exactly what happened here, separate mom and dad from their child, assuage their fears, take the child back, over treat them and get away with it," said Moriarty."We've got to get the American public to understand you cannot allow your child to be held in a restraint device without you personally being present," he added.The family has established a GoFundMe account here to help pay for Nevaeh's care. 'Leave personal safety and self-defense to us' Don't heal thyself (NaturalNews) For decades, governments in the West supposed democracies, all have been working to steadily deprive citizens of some basic rights, including self-defense and the ability to choose their own kind of medical treatment. As we move further into the 21st century, this trend does not appear to be reversing anytime soon.In recent days, the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a ruling by a Massachusetts court which stated that so-called stun guns are not considered firearms under the Second Amendment , thereby upholding a statewide ban for private citizens. Seems that in Massachusetts, even non-lethal self-defense is not allowed.The nation's highest court, however, sided with a woman who said that she carried a stun gun to protect herself from an abusive ex-boyfriend.reported further:"The court, in an unsigned ruling with no dissents, ruled in favor of Jaime Caetano, who in 2011 was arrested for possession of a stun gun in violation of a state law banning such weapons. The ruling provided a victory, at least temporarily, for gun rights advocates."The case now goes back to the Massachusetts Supreme Court for further review, but asnoted, the U.S. Supreme Court, in referencing its 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller decision affirming that the Second Amendment confers an individual's right to keep and bear arms, rejected the proposition "that only those weapons useful in warfare are protected."Self-defense is a basic human right, but apparently not in Massachusetts. Or Britain.Asreported in June 2015, self-defense itself has essentially been banned there British subjects who sought advice about what are and are not permissible self-defense instruments, found some on a police website sponsored by the British government's Police National Legal Database. In response to a question about where legal self-defense products can be bought, the site says, "The only fully legal self defence product at the moment. These are not expensive and can be bought from most local police stations or supermarkets."The site goes on to say that there may be other products, but those have yet to be fully tested, and that, "If you purchase one you must be aware ... there is always a possibility that you will be arrested and detained until the product, it's [sic] contents and legality can be verified." Translation:By the way, since these "be a victim" rules were put in place, violent crime has jumped in Britain by nearly one-third It's the same trend for natural health and homeopathic treatments Big Government trying to squeeze it out and make alternative healthcare options illegal. As noted further at, an affiliate of our main site, "new FDA head Robert Califf is set to invoke the Food Safety and Modernization Act to conduct sweeping shut downs of natural product manufacturers across America.""This means your access to medicinal herbs, nutritional supplements and natural products is now at extreme risk," the site reported, urging readers "to get up to speed on natural medicine and why it's safer, more affordable and works better than pharmaceutical medicine." (You can also listen to NaturalNews editor Mike Adams , the Health Ranger, discuss this health freedom warning in more detail by listening to his broadcast here .)Why the powers that be want to keep us vulnerable and sick with traditional medicine is a mystery. Strong nations are those which recognize certain inalienable rights like our founding fathers did when they were debating and writing our Constitution and empower their citizens to be independent, enterprising and entrepreneurial.Maybe that's why the West is slowly dying; we keep electing people who don't appreciate these qualities, and who would rather ruleus, than grow strongerus. Decision ends all legal wrangling The 130,000-acre Badger-Two Medicine region, part of the Lewis and Clark National Forest, is wedged between Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The area is historically, culturally and spiritually significant to the Blackfeet Tribe and is part of a recognized Traditional Cultural District, characteristics that caused Congress to legislatively withdraw the area from mineral development in 2006. Refreshing change (NaturalNews) It's one of the few victories for the people against an out-of-control federal agency that is growing more lawless and arrogant by the year.As reported by, the Bureau of Land Management, which falls under the Department of the Interior (as does the Bureau of Indian Affairs), was forced to cancel an oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine region in northwestern Montana earlier this month, thereby keeping land that is culturally and traditionally sacred to members of the Blackfoot Nation pristine."It's a very historic day for the Blackfeet," said John Murray, the Blackfeet Nation's Historic Preservation Officer,reported.Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, in a statement announcing the decision, said that it was the correct action to take on behalf of the tribe and its future members."Today's action honors Badger-Two Medicine's rich cultural and natural resources and recognizes the irreparable impacts that oil and gas development would have on them," Jewell said.reported further:"It's not a wilderness," said Murray. "It is a living Blackfeet landscape."The BLM had issued a 6,200-acre oil and gas lease to Solenex, of Louisiana, under then-Interior Secretary James Watt in 1982, but operations have been in limbo since 1985. BLM since determined that the lease was not properly issued because it violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historical Preservation Act, the department said. Jewell's decision came after carefully examining the record and following consultations with the U.S. Forest Service, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Blackfeet tribe, the lease-holding company and other concerned parties.A number of ethnographic studies and one archeological study have been done on the tract of land The BLM decision ends legal attempts by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which was litigating on behalf of Solenex in challenging the Interior Department's Nov. 23 decision to cancel the lease.Every single one of the originally issued leases to the region have undergone a plethora of administrative, legal and legislative actions since they were handed down more than three decades ago due to the significance of the Badger-Two Medicine region and over concerns about circumstances that led to the lease issuance.reported that some two-thirds of original leaseholders took advantage of tax incentives that Congress established in exchange for voluntarily relinquishing leases to the region."There was only one lease that was subject to the court, but overall there are 18 leases," Murray said. "We are hopeful that the rest of them are going to be canceled also."The BLM has been at the center of various controversies in recent years, more so than in the past. As NewsTarget.com reported earlier this month, the agency that most Americans never heard of made the news when about 200 armed agents in SWAT gear surrounded a Nevada rancher named Cliven Bundy in April 2014 with automatic weapons, helicopters and government snipers.Then in January, a group of armed men led by Ammon Bundy, Cliven Bundy's son, took over a small building on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to protest terroristic actions taken by the BLM against Western ranchers.As further reported by The Daily Sheeple , BLM agents were caught on video setting fires that became uncontrolled and were left to burn unmonitored around Prince Glenn, Oregon, (not very different from what another ranch family, the Hammonds, were jailed for burning government land).So, to see people actually win a legal battle against BLM and the Interior Department is a refreshing change. Japan's whaling history Japan is still whaling today (NaturalNews) Despite mounting pressure from many activist groups, Japan continues to slaughter hundreds of whales every year some of which are endangered in the name of "science." The nation hides behind the claim that the slaughter is legal according to the 1946 whaling convention, which allows whales to be killed for scientific purposes, as reported by the. This same excuse is also used in Iceland and Norway.However, in today's era of modern science, there is absolutely no need to kill a whale to study it. DNA samples can be taken from the skin, blubber and fecal matter while the animal is still alive, and then be used to determine vital information about its health. Meanwhile, population estimates can be done using sighting surveys and other completely harmless research methods."Scientific whaling" is simply just commercial whaling being carried out under a false pretense the lie that the killing of these magnificent creatures is for scientific purposes. Unfortunately, a scientific permit requires whale meat to be "used" which can be interpreted as sold or given away meaning that this is pretty much a license to hunt whales and sell their meat.Japan has been whaling since the 12th century, but it wasn't until the 1890s that Japan really started to undertake what we know as modern whaling, according to. During the 20th century, Japan was heavily involved in commercial whaling, without much being done to limit the damage to whale populations. This only changed when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling became effective in 1986.Since then, Japan has continued to hunt whales under the guise of scientific research a provision that was contained in the agreement and the meat from scientific whale hunts is then sold in shops and restaurants. This practice involves spearing a living whale and dragging it while it struggles for freedom onto or behind the whaling vessel, where it dies a slow and agonizing death.In 2014,reported that the International Court of Justice had ruled that a Japanese whaling program being undertaken in the Atlantic was not actually for scientific purposes , and an order was therefore passed to temporarily halt the whaling. This came after the Australian government filed a suit against Japan in the UN's highest court, in an attempt to end whaling in the Southern Ocean. This was celebrated by activists around the world, and was supposed to mark the end of "scientific whaling" in Japan, as reported byDespite the ruling by the International Court of Justice in 2014 that the Japanese whale hunt did not count as scientific, Japan's whaling fleet recently returned from the Antarctic with 333 minke whales including pregnant females a figure that has been confirmed by the Japanese government.The Japanese fleet of four ships sailed to the Antarctic on the 1st December 2015, and arrived back on the 24th pf March 2016, according to. Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research reported that the capture included around 200 pregnant females, and Tokyo defended the capture, again under the guise of scientific research even though most of the whales will end up being eaten for dinner.While minke whale are not yet classified as endangered, according to the, there has been an "appreciable decline in their estimated abundance." To bring back 200 pregnant females in one whale hunt will have a large impact on their numbers, and is not a sustainable way to hunt the species.As reported by, many countries, scientists and environmental organizations such as Sea Shepard, have condemned the killings and yet again questioned the "scientific research" excuse that Japan continues to use. According to Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt, whaling "is in my view abhorrent and a throwback to an earlier age. ... There is no scientific justification for lethal research."Japan's whale research program has virtually nothing to do with science, and is entirely to do with exploitation of a legal loophole that allows them to profit from the unnecessary killing of hundreds of whales every year. We need to apply sustainable farming practices both on land and in the sea, whereby species can continue to thrive without being at risk of extinction due to human intervention. Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more. Receive Our Free Email Newsletter Take Action: Support Natural News by linking to this article from your website Permalink to this article: https://www.naturalnews.com/053484_censored_books_Dr_Kelly_Brogan_SSRI_drugs.html Embed article link: (copy HTML code below): ROFL! Pharma-controlled press desperately tried to censor this book, but failed... Dr. Kelly Brogan's takedown of Big Pharma's SSRI drug lies hits bestseller lists! Download first chapter here... Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. Follow Natural News on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest The "suppression of medical data by a governmental agency" (NaturalNews) Cinema Libre Studio will be distributing Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, the explosive documentary directed by Andrew Wakefield which was "de-selected" from the Tribeca Film Festival this past weekend.The film investigates the claims of a Senior Scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. William Thompson, who revealed that the CDC hadCinema Libre Studio has been working with the Vaxxed team since fall of 2015, and has acquired worldwide rights from Autism Media Channel. The documentary will premiere Friday, April 1 in an Exclusive Engagement at the Angelika FiIm Center in New York City before being widely released in other cities with future distribution plans to be unveiled.The film was an Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival with the world premiere scheduled for April 24th. However, after the film was announced in the lineup last Monday, online protests erupted. Then festival co-founder Robert De Niro had a one-hour conversation with Representative Bill Posey, who appears in the film and who has vetted all communication related to the CDC whistleblower and asked that he be brought before Congress to testify. After the call, a statement was posted on the Tribeca Facebook page from De Niro:"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."The pressure mounted when the story went viral and the festival made an about-face, when TFF executives called Cinema Libre Studio executives over the holiday weekend to tell them the film was being pulled from the line-up. De Niro then posted a second statement saying:"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."The media frenzy continued including a Change.org petition to bring back the film to the festival which now has over 28,000 signatures.Cinema Libre Chairman Philippe Diaz says, "We chose to distribute this film to correct a major issue, which is the suppression of medical data by a governmental agency that may very well be contributing to a significant health crisis. The media storm of last week also revealed another issue; the hyper mediatization by some members of the media and the documentary community who had not even seen the film, as well as Tribeca executives, which condemned it as anti-vaccine. This film is not anti-vaccine and either is Dr. Wakefield. Wakefield's concern for the last twenty years has been about making sure that vaccines are safe for children. This is why we decided to release the film now rather than as originally planned later in the year."Richard Castro, Head of Distribution, explains, "It's disturbing that an American film festival can succumb so easily to pressure to censor a film that it has already selected an announced. On Friday I received a call from Tribeca executives expressing concerns about showing the film, but no opportunity was afforded our filmmakers to even address those concerns. When I questioned the rationale, it was indicated that sponsors interest was a factor. By Saturday night, the film was simply pulled off the festival's programming schedule."Produced by Del Bigtree, who left his job as producer on the Emmy award-winning television show The Doctors to make the film, the documentary features Dr. Brian Hooker, to whom Thompson leaked documents as well as autism experts (Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh, Mark Blaxill, Polly Tommey), practicing family physicians (Dr. James M. Sears, Dr. Rachel Ross), former Pharmaceutical drug representative Brandy Vaughn, research scientists (Dr. Luc Montagnier, Stephanie Seneff) and Congressman Bill Posey.Says Bigtree, "While making the film, we spoken to so many medical professionals who are afraid to speak out publicly against the pharmaceutical companies, and their influence on the medical industry. When the CDC Whistleblower story broke last year, not one mainstream news outlet ran the story. Either they were asleep at the wheel or were in a coma induced by their pharmaceutical advertisers. "Wakefield says, "Our aim with this movie was to take this complex, high-level fraud and to give it context, and weave through it the tragic street-level narratives of ordinary families affected by autism. We hope that the film will help, at a minimum, push Congress to subpoena Dr. William Thompson and investigate this fraud at the CDC."The film was produced by Del Bigtree, edited by Brian Burrowes with original music by Franceso Lupica (Knights of Cups, Tree of Life) who has contributed his "Visual Music Design" to several Terrance Malick films. The film was financed through donations of individual families and philanthropists, and was acquired from Autism Media Channel in a deal negotiated by Wakefield for Autism Media Channel and Bigtree with Richard Castro.Website: www.vaxxedthemovie.com Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/vaxxedthemovie Twitter: @vaxxedthemovieABOUT CINEMA LIBRE: Cinema Libre Studio is a full-service mini-studio known for producing and distributing high concept feature films and social impact documentaries. Headquartered in the Los Angeles area, the team has released over 200 films.twitter.com/cinemalibrestudioLINKS:Direct link to De Niro's Tribeca Facebook posts: https:// www.facebook.com/Tribeca/posts/1015415395448... On Tuesday, charges were dropped against Chicago Blackhawks prospect Garret Ross in connection with an alleged revenge porn case, and the organization has decided to reinstate him immediately. Here is the statement the Blackhawks issued on Tuesday night: On March 23, 2016, the Chicago Blackhawks suspended Garret Ross after learning of a legal proceeding against him, and stated at that time that the suspension was indefinite pending the outcome of the legal process. We learned today, March 29, that the legal process concluded in Illinois with the dismissal of all charges against Garret. As a result, Garret Ross is reinstated with the IceHogs, effective immediately. We will have no further comment on the matter. Earlier on Tuesday, the states attorneys office in DeKalb County said cell phone records indicated Ross was in Michigan at the time the alleged incident took place, meaning they no longer had jurisdiction to charge him. Ross, a 23-year-old Rockford IceHogs player who was drafted by the Blackhawks in 2012, was earlier charged with one count of non-consensual dissemination of a sexual image, a Class 4 felony, according to DeKalb County case records. A woman is dead, a man critically hurt and seven others are without a home after a Humboldt Park apartment building went up in flames early Wednesday morning. It was just before 1 a.m. that firefighters were called to the 1000 block of North Hamlin on reports of still-and-box alarm fire in the apartments near a small storefront, police said. Fire crews entered the building on the corner of North Hamlin and Augusta to find two people inside: a man in his 70s who was overcome with smoke and a woman in her 40s who was not breathing, police said. CPR was administered before both victims rushed to Norwegian American Hospital, where the woman was pronounced dead and the man remains listed in critical condition. Firefighters soon found that not all smoke detectors in the building were working, and many were out of order. Some residents told NBC 5 they were awoken by not the sound of a smoke alarm but instead the screams of their neighbors. In the light of day, the damage left on the building is severe. Neighbors not only heard the glass blow out, but a woman calling for help. When I went to call 911, the fire department was already coming, said Jose Cedendo, who witnessed the blaze. When I opened my window to stick my head out, I [saw] somebody trapped in the window." Smoke detectors were found in the hallways, and in the rear apartment, according fire officials. "Some were working, some were not, fire officials said. "The smoke was horrible, said Alicia Gates, who lives nearby. No matter if you opened the windows or closed the windows, rhe smell just kept coming in. It was so strong, it was as if we was in the fire." Authorities say seven people who lived in the corner building are now homeless, and the Red Cross has stepped in to help them. A mini-mart destroyed on the first floor had recently re-opened under new ownership. I could take my kids there, my kids loved the owner, and the owner would always give them snacks and candy, said neighborhood resident Manuel Cedeno. The cause of the deadly blaze is still under investigation. A man described as "psychologically unstable" hijacked a flight Tuesday from Egypt to Cyprus and threatened to blow it up. His explosives turned out to be fake, and he surrendered with all passengers released unharmed after a bizarre six-hour standoff. As more became known about the motive of the 59-year-old Egyptian who was taken into custody, authorities characterized the commandeering of the EgyptAir jetliner not as an act of terrorism but more like a "family feud" with his former wife. The aviation drama ended peacefully on the tarmac of Larnaca airport on the island nation's southern coast with the surrender of a man identified by Cypriot and Egyptian authorities as Seif Eddin Mustafa. The incident was likely to renew concerns about Egyptian airport security months after a Russian passenger plane was blown out of the sky over the Sinai Peninsula in a bombing claimed by the Islamic State group. But Egyptian officials stressed that their security measures were not to blame, and there was praise for the EgyptAir flight crew. Pilot Amr Gamal told The Associated Press: "We rescued all the people and the man got arrested." EgyptAir Flight 181 took off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria for a 30-minute hop to Cairo with at least 72 people aboard, Cyprus police said, including about two dozen foreigners. At some point, the hijacker claimed to have explosives in his belt and forced the pilot to fly the Airbus 320 to Cyprus, Egyptian authorities said. Egyptian passenger Farah el-Dabani told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiyah TV network that the hijacker was seated in the back of the aircraft and that it was the crew who told passengers that the plane was being hijacked. "There was panic at the beginning, but the crew told us to be quiet. They did a good job to keep us all quiet so the hijacker does not do anything rash," she said in a telephone interview. After the jet landed in Larnaca about 9 a.m., the hijacker asked to speak to his Cypriot ex-wife, who was brought to the airport, and he sent out a letter from the aircraft to give to her, said Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides. The foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said. The nationalities of three other foreigners could not be determined immediately. Most of the passengers were freed, and they calmly walked down a set of stairs from the plane, carrying their hand luggage and boarding a bus. But he kept on board seven people: four members of the flight crew and three passengers. Mustafa later asked to speak to European Union representatives, and among his demands were the release of female inmates held in Egyptian prisons. "It was one demand he made, then dropped it and made another," Kasoulides said. "His demands made no sense or were too incoherent to be taken seriously." From the start, "it was clear that this wasn't an act of terrorism," he added. "Despite the fact that the individual appeared to be dangerous in terms of his behavior, we understood that this was a psychologically unstable person," he said. Hussein Abdelkarim Tantaway Mubarak, Egypt's ambassador to Cyprus, said the whole affair "looks like it was a family feud." "As far as I know, I think he has a family problem, probably with members of his family, probably his ex-wife or something," Mubarak added. A Cypriot police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give out details of the investigation said the hijacker and his wife were divorced in 1994, and the couple had four children. The hijacker eventually realized there was "no chance" any of his demands would be met, Kasoulides said, and he left the plane, where he was immediately arrested by anti-terrorism police. The belt of explosives turned out to be "telephone cases" made to look like they were explosives. Just minutes before the arrest, several people were seen also getting off the aircraft, and a crew member later identified as Ahmed el-Qaddah climbed out of the cockpit window and slid down the side of the plane in accordance with his training for such emergencies. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was "not something that has to do with terrorism." Anastasiades, appearing alongside European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Nicosia, was asked by reporters whether he could confirm that the incident was about a woman. "Always, there is a woman," he replied, drawing laughter. But the mood aboard the hijacked aircraft was anything but light-hearted. A veiled female passenger told Egyptian TV upon arrival back in Cairo: "We were terrified but cooperating." The woman, who was not identified, said she thought the explosives had been real. "I felt like the man can just press the button, and we will be gone," she said. A middle-aged male passenger who also didn't identify himself told the broadcaster, "The situation was very hard, more than anyone can imagine." He also praised the flight crew, saying they "were like a psychiatrists to the hijacker." The flight crew and passengers who returned to Cairo on Tuesday night broke into tears while hugging and kissing their waiting families. Mustafa is to appear in court Wednesday, where authorities will ask that he be held on a number of unspecified charges, said police spokesman Andreas Angelides. Mubarak said "it's amazing" how the hijacker managed to convince passengers and crew that he had a belt of explosives strapped to him when he actually had no weapons. Police in Cairo questioned Mustafa's relatives, said Sharif Faisal, the police chief for the industrial suburb of Helwan. Islam Magdy, a taxi driver who lives in the same five-story house as Mustafa's sister, described him as "a mysterious person," with police inquiring about him. Egypt's Interior Ministry released surveillance video that it said showed Mustafa being thoroughly searched at the Alexandria airport. It said his hand luggage held items that he later used to "give the impression that he is wearing an explosive belt." Aviation expert Philip Baum said the EgyptAir crew "seems to have responded to this incident in an exemplary fashion." "The idea that the air crew should have taken steps to overpower the hijacker is, I believe, wrong," said Baum, author of "Violence in the Skies: A History of Aircraft Hijacking and Bombing." Flight attendant Nihal el-Barqouqi played a role in convincing the hijacker to free the passengers once the plane landed in Cyprus, Egyptian TV reported. "We managed with diplomacy ... to get the passengers out," co-pilot Ahmed el-Qaddah told the broadcaster. Security at Egyptian airports has been under scrutiny since the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian jetliner in the Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for St. Petersburg, Russia. All 224 people on board were killed. Russia later said a bomb brought down the aircraft, and the Islamic State group took responsibility. Russia suspended all air links to Egypt after the revelations about the bombing, dealing a major blow to the Egyptian tourism industry. The rapidly expanding Bob's Discount Furniture chain of retail stores will have a fresh corporate home in Connecticut. Bob's brass, along with Gov. Dannel Malloy, and Manchester town officials announced the deal to keep Bob's in Connecticut Tuesday morning. The chain will receive a $7 million low interest to help build a new headquarters off of the Tolland Turnpike. The company will also be eligible for more than a million in funds for workforce training, and $11 million in tax credits. They really are quite remarkable and a company we were going to keep in Connecticut" said Gov. Malloy at the event. The headquarters will employ 326 people, and 125 new positions will be created. "Were keeping one of the best known brands in the northeast based here in CT. I think thats a pretty good day. Bob Kaufman, one of the founders of the company, and the current spokesman who's well known for his beard and yellow shirt, said the commitment is an exciting one for the Newington-founded brand. I was born in Hartford. I went to UConn. Im just thrilled that were all staying in Connecticut. Bob's Discount Furniture was founded 25 years ago and has expanded to 12 states with 69 stores and over the President's Day weekend opened several locations in the Chicago-area. The retailer is the 14th largest furniture store in the country and growing, opening an average of 10-12 stores annually in recent years. Kaufman said the company, which Bain Capital of Boston owns a majority stake of, had considered the neighbor to the North until Connecticut stepped up with an offer. There was a real jeopardy of leaving the state and the fact that the governors office and the economic development team, and the town of Manchester just stepped up to the plate. The lease on the new building is expected to be 30 years and construction could begin soon. Kaufman says that shows how Bob's really wants to be a part of Connecticut's economic future. "This makes it permanent." A New Haven man who was trying to help his friend at a bank in Chester was briefly put in handcuffs when police thought that he was trying to rob the place. Luis Valentin said he and a friend had stopped at the First Niagara Bank in Chester. He said his friend, who is disabled, needed help to withdraw money. "Get the deposit slip, fill out the paperwork. We go back out to go through the drive-through because they need to see him, picture ID--whatever. Next thing I know I have two troopers, one at gunpoint, and they throw me on the ground," said Valentin. "I was freaking out. My heart dropped. I thought I was going to get shot." Valentin explained what was going on to police who were concerned a possible attempted robbery had been reported here. Valentin thinks an overly cautious clerk was spooked by him wearing a hoodie at one point and was worried he might have been writing a demand note. Police explained staff at the bank might have reason to be nervous. Just about three weeks ago, police said Dylan Moore robbed the First Niagara Bank in Chester. A couple of days later police said the First Niagara Bank not far away in Essex was robbed by Travis Gahran. As for Valentin, he was quickly let go, though a little sore. While he might not be coming back to this branch, he was able to laugh off the brief mistaken identity. "Small price to pay for protection, I guess," said Valentin. In a statement to NBC Connecticut, First Niagara wrote that the staff, in abundance of caution, contacted police after someone came in, did not make contact with anyone, and then quickly left. The bank said the staff is more cautious because at the same branch on a Monday a man wearing a hoodie tried to get in after hours. The bank said that man is believed by state police to have been involved in a robbery at another bank that day and is still on the loose. It applauded the bank manager who it said was following protocol and made sure that customer and employee safety is top priority. Police closed Route 85 in Waterford after finding what looked like a pipe bomb, but say its a cylinder that appears to be filled with marijuana. A driver who was passing by found a metal cylinder that was capped on both ends near Interstate 395 and Industrial Drive, so police closed the road in the area of the Waterford Speedbowl/Harvey Industries as a precaution. Members of the State Police Emergency Services Unit arrived and determined it was not an explosive. Inside they found a green leafy substance inside and said it might be marijuana. Police reopened the road just before 3 p.m. and ask anyone with information about the package to call 860-442-9451. The budget problems in Connecticut remain despite a deal reached yesterday to end the current fiscal year in balance and the governor and top lawmakers conceded on Wednesday that layoff notices to potentially thousands of state employees will go out in the next two weeks. The state faces a current estimated shortfall between $550 million and $900 million and Gov. Dannel Malloy told reporters following a closed door meeting with top lawmakers that the layoffs will be "substantial." Sen. Martin Looney, (D - New Haven), the President Pro Tem of the Senate, said on broad terms, they expect to save "hundreds of millions" as a result of layoffs. The deficit mitigation plan approved by the House and Senate yesterday, and signed by the governor today, closed a $220 million shortfall projected to end the 2016 fiscal year. The plan included about $100 million in across-the-board spending cuts from dozens of programs, big and small, with minimal changes to social and disability services. Democrats and Republicans remarked that they wanted to protect the most vulnerable in the state. The issues with the 2017 fiscal year budget are far more serious. "It's four times as difficult to balance," Rep. Brendan Sharkey, (D-Hamden), the Speaker of the House of Representatives, said. The Appropriations Committee is about two weeks away from a formal plan being sent to the House or Senate for consideration. The committee has been working to fill the hole described by the governor last month of $500 million. A new poll from Quinnipiac University in Hamden finds that the Trump name has a measurable impact on American voter attitudes. It also shows that voters are divided on many of Donald Trump's statements, such as his call to "take out" the families of terrorists, and the polarization increases when Trump's name is attached to these statements. A news release says the Quinnipiac University Poll asked half of the voters surveyed whether they agree or disagree with a statement or policy, with no name attached. The other half of the voters surveyed were asked the same question, with the Trump name attached. One example Quinnipiac cited is when voters are asked if they agree with the statement, "The American dream is dead," with no name attached, results are: 45 percent of voters supporting Trump against Hillary Clinton in the November election agree strongly or somewhat, while 54 percent disagree strongly or somewhat; 31 percent of non-Trump voters agree, while 68 percent disagree. When Trump's name is attached to the statement, 68 percent of Trump voters agree while 30 percent disagree; 18 percent of non-Trump voters agree; while 81 percent disagree. The polarization increases as pro-Trump support grows by 23 percentage points while non-Trump disagreement grows by 13 percentage points when the Trump name is added, according to the poll. "In politics, as in business, the Trump name has an impact," Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said in a statement. "Even on Donald Trump's most infamous quotes, attaching him to the statement affects voters' opinions. Simply reminding voters that these are Trump's policies and statements increases positive effects among his supporters and negative effects among non-supporters." Quinnipiac said it doesn't move non-supporters of Trump when his name is added to his Mexican rapists quote, but agreement among his supporters increases by 8 points. "Even attaching Trump's name to the infamous Mexican rapists quote has a significant positive effect on agreement among Trump supporters, despite the fact that 83 percent know the quote is his," Schwartz said. There were similar shifts when the Trump name is added to statements such as: "With the terrorists, you have to take out their families," and "Islam hates us." The Trump name effect on American voters also can be seen in policies proposed by him, the poll found. While there is a difference between pro-Trump and non-Trump voters, all American voters are almost evenly divided on his proposal to replace free trade agreements with taxes of up to 35 percent on goods imported from countries such as Mexico and China. Without the Trump name, 48 percent of all voters agree with the trade proposal while 45 percent disagree. With the Trump name, the results are identical. A man accused of targeting a teen online before arranging a meetup in Moorpark was arrested Monday after allegedly trying to sexually assault the 16-year-old, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday. The 16-year-old agreed to meetup with a friend she had been chatting with online at Peach Hill Park. Because it was the first time she was meeting her online friend named Reggie Glass, she made sure the park was a public place. As she waited, a 22-year-old man wearing a beanie pulled down near his eyes and something over his face walked up to the girl. The man forced the girl back into her car, and told her he was going to sexually assault her, deputies said. "As soon as the victim encountered the suspect, the suspect attacked the victim by pushing her into the vehicle and telling her that he was going to sexually assault her," Garo Kuredjian, Ventura County Sheriff's Department, said. The girl yelled for help and tried to get out of her car, catching the attention of a person nearby. The concerned citizen began walking up to the car, which deputies say made Glass retreat. The girl flagged down volunteers with the Moorpark Police Department who happened to be patrolling. The volunteers watched Glass and when deputies showed up, Glass allegedly fled the area. Deputies caught and arrested him a few blocks away, deputies said. Glass was arrested on suspicion of kidnap with intent to rape, attempted rape, false imprisonment and resisting arrest. He was being held on $250,000 bail. Deputies said the teen told them she had been involved in online relationships in the past, and used social media to find a meeting place. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office and the Moorpark Police Department were warning parents that their children's social media accounts should be monitored in order to avoid internet predators. They reference the process of online grooming and how predators will deceive children to earn their trust. A proposed class-action lawsuit filed this week claims local surfers have used violence and intimidation to protect their Southern California surf spot from intrusion by outsiders. The suit asks a federal judge to prevent the group of surfers known as the Lunada Bay Boys from congregating at beaches in wealthy Palos Verdes Estates south of Los Angeles. Among the three plaintiffs named in the case are a 45-year-old El Segundo police officer and experienced surfer, Diana Milena Reed, 29, of Malibu, who's an aspiring big wave surfer and the Coastal Protection Rangers who work to protect beach access. Reed claims on two occasions this year she was scared off by local surfers who threatened her and poured beer on her. "I've never had a 40-to-50-year-old man screaming profanities at me and yelling at me," she said. "It's a way I 've never been treated before in my life." Reed's attorney Vic Otten, said he hopes to get a gang injunction against the Lunada Bay Boys. "We're going to ask a federal judge to step in and stop them from surfing their own beach," Otten said. "And when we're done we're going to restore access to the public." Amanda Calhoun, a Palos Verdes Estates resident, believes the lawsuit is much ado about nothing. "Everybody I know has been nice," she said. "When you get men in certain situations they act like guys. And I think maybe there is some of that, not to the extent they need a federal lawsuit. It's silly." Authorities have been accused of looking the other way as the gang threatened outsiders, tossed rocks at them and vandalized their cars. The plaintiffs also allege the Bay Boys illegally claim as turf the break there and have erected an illegal "Rock Fort" made of masonry, rock and wood that overlooks the waves from the beach. The suit filed Tuesday also targets the city of Palos Verdes Estates, asking the judge to require the municipality to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by the Bay Boys. The suit names seven Bay Boys and Police Chief Jeff Kepley and City Manager Tony Dahlerbruch, who did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Kepley said in an earlier article that this year that the department has stepped up patrols to try and prevent problems at lunada bay. The Bay Boys named in the lawsuit did not return calls seeking comment. Surfline, the popular surf forecasting website, says Lunada Bay is LA's little-known, premier big-wave spot on a scale with Sunset Beach on Hawaii's famous north shore of Oahu. It takes north and west winter swells up to 20 feet and pitches a "beautiful walled right that takes you through a boiling boulder-riddled lineup," Surfline says. The site says it is also home to some of the most notorious localism. "There have been threats, slashed tires, rocks thrown, fist fights and even drive-by noogies," the site says. Clashes with outsiders during the 1990s were brought to national attention when a TV news crew and others were harassed and assaulted. "The place really doesn't wake up till 6 feet and over, and at that size, the alpha males are out in force," according to Surfline. "To their credit, the local crew has kept alive the old surfing tradition of cute nicknames, such as 'Knothead,' 'T-Bone' and 'Goober.'" The Associated Press contributed to this report. Jodi Barber's son died of a prescription drug overdose when he was 19 years old. She found Vicodin and anti-depressants that belonged to Jarrod. She later learned he was also addicted to heroin; a cheaper high than pain pills. This all too common story emerged Tuesday as President Barack Obama said the nation has a growing opioid abuse problem, and more people are being killed from opioid overdoses than from traffic accidents. "He became addicted so quickly. These opioids are so strong and powerful," Barber said. Dr. Padma Gulur of UC Irvine Medical Center said Orange County in particular has a huge prescription drug problem. "One person every other day dies of an accidental overdose from a prescription...in this county," Gulur said. A new bill introduced Monday would force physicians to check a database any time they are prescribing drugs like Oxycontin to a patient for the first time. SB 482 would require they also have to check the database, called California's Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES), annually if treatment continues. More than 20 other states already require the use of a prescription tracking database. A 2014 study found that the overall rate of drug and alcohol overdose deathes in Orange County increased by 51 percent between 2000 and 2012. Prescription medications were used most frequently in those overdoses, and the bulk of those drugs were opioid pain medications. Gulur heads a coalition hoping to hold doctors accountable, yet still serve patients who need pain relief. "We prescribe these medications but don't have adequate safe guards in place to ensure that excess meds don't flood our community," Gulur said. The Laguna Niguel mother gets a text message or a phone call every day asking for guidance. She said she was paying close attention to what President Obama was saying at Tuesday's drug abuse summit. She believes federal funding should be used to extend and create more recovery programs. "If I was able to get Jarrod into a good rehab," Barber said. "It has to be long term [treatment] and that's really important 30 days is not enough." Obama also said the one of the issues to tackle is looking at the prescription drug abuse as a "public health problem and not just a criminal problem." Five South Florida drug offenders were among the dozens across the country who had their prison sentences commuted by President Obama Wednesday. Obama commuted the sentences of 61 drug offenders, including more than a third serving life sentences. Most are nonviolent offenders, although a few were also charged with firearms violations. Obama's commutation shortens their sentences, with most of the inmates set to be released on July 28. Miamians Henry Claude Agnew and Wayne Parker, who had both been convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, both had their sentences commuted. Agnew had been sentenced to 262 months of imprisonment with five years of supervised release in November 2003. Parker had been sentenced to 420 months of imprisonment with 10 years of supervised release in November 1999. Marvin Bailey, of Hollywood, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, aiding the travel in interstate commerce to promote the distribution of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He had been sentenced to life in prison in June 1997 but will now be released in March 2017. Jeffrey Sapp, of Fort Lauderdale, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and was sentenced to 240 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release in January 2003. Andrew Lee Holzendorf, of South Bay, was sentenced to life in prison in November 1996 for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, but will be released in July. A woman is speaking out after filing a lawsuit related to a 2014 carjacking outside a posh Miami hotel. Shaun Sinclair-Stept claims the JW Marriott Marquis Miami and the Park One of Florida valet company are liable for gross negligence in the September 2014 incident. "You never expect something like this to happen. You expect to be safe," Sinclair-Stept said. Surveillance video from the incident shows Sinclair-Stept pulling into the JW Marriott, then moments later valet attendants unload items from her SUV's trunk. Suddenly a man jumps in the front seat, puts the car in reverse, and slams into the two valet attendants. The carjacker, later identified as Alberto Ruiz, continued to move back and forth hitting several cars until he made his way out. Ruiz was arrested and plead guilty to several felonies. He was later sentenced to 20 years in prison. Sinclair-Stept said she's relieved Ruiz is behind bars, but upset the hotel and valet company are challenging her account of the events. She also says the hotel failed to change its procedure after at least one other alleged car theft on their property by the same man. "When clients or customers come to their hotel there is an expectation and they should keep them safe. They should know that as soon as they set foot on the brick of their valet ramp, as soon as they are greeted by valet or parking attendants that they are safe," she said. "They knew he was out there. As a matter of fact, Mr. Ruiz stole a car from the very same Marquis in April 2014," attorney Mitchel Chusid said. "He waited just like he did in this case for the right opportunity to strike." The attorneys for Marriott filed a motion challenging the woman's injury claim, arguing she was holding balloons on the arm she says was injured. The valet company also filed a motion saying she had not yet received a valet ticket at the time of theft. Chusid plans to file another motion in June. Sen. Mark Kirk became the first Republican senator to meet with President Obamas Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland Tuesday afternoon in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Details remain scarce about the meeting between Kirk and Garland, which lasted just under a half hour. Prior to the meeting, Kirk addressed the press in his D.C. office. The senator said he was leading by example by meeting with Garland, but also noted he hadnt lobbied for other Republican senators to meet with the nominee. Kirk also said he would consider voting for Garland if the opportunity presented itself, NBC News' Alex Moe reports. We need open-minded, rational, responsible people to make sure the process works, Kirk told reporters in his Senate office prior to Tuesdays meeting. A group of senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is looking to stifle Obamas appointment by not holding confirmation hearings for the Chicago native. Kirk tweeted a photo with Garland Tuesday captioned with a message to fellow Republican lawmakers. As the first #GOP Senator to meet with #MerrickGarland, I urge my colleagues in the #Senate to do the same, Kirk wrote. Earlier this month, Kirk called on fellow Republican legislators to man up and cast a vote on Garland. Two other Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Jerry Moran of Kansas, have also called for a hearing for Garland in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We should go through the process the Constitution has already laid out, Kirk said. The president has already laid out a nominee who is from Chicagoland and for me, Im open to see him, to talk to him, and ask him his views on the Constitution. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, the Democratic nominee in the race for Kirks Senate seat, addressed the meeting in a statement provided to Ward Room. "Senator Kirk seems to expect extra credit for doing the bare minimum- in this case his job, Duckworth spokesman Matt McGrath said in a statement. While its nice that hes meeting with Judge Garland, Kirks cynicism was revealed when he told a conservative talk radio host that he didnt expect Mitch McConnell to allow the nomination to proceed, and hes done absolutely nothing in the meantime that would make McConnell feel the least bit inconvenienced for his obstruction. "Instead of going through the motions, Senator Kirk should show leadership by putting pressure on McConnell and urge him to give an eminently qualified Illinois native a fair hearing followed by an up-or-down vote, McGrath added. In that release, McGrath alluded to statements Kirk made earlier this month on the Big john Howell Show. I think that given Mitchs view, I dont see his view changing too much, Kirk said. You know, eventually, well have an election and we will have a new President. The new President will obviously come forward with a nomination. And thats all for the politics of a new time. A vacancy on the country's highest court was left after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died in February. Gov. Cuomo's administration has quietly signed off on giving $850 million to be split among more than 600 nursing homes around New York state -- even though federal regulators have found quality of care at more than two-thirds of the facilities to be below average or much below average. The money is part of whats being called the universal settlement, a payout intended to boost the bottom lines of nearly all New York nursing homes in exchange for those facilities dropping thousands of challenges to New York's Medicaid reimbursements. While it sounds like a lot of money, I think the state made a calculation that this was in their best interest, said James Clyne, president of LeadingAge, an industry group representing nonprofit nursing homes. According to an I-Team analysis, more than 230 of the 601 nursing homes in line to get a cut of the settlement have inspections resulting in one-star or two-star ratings. The federal government measures a nursing homes quality of care on a scale of five stars. "If you're a one-star facility, you're one of the worst facilities in the country," said Richard Mollot, an advocate for nursing home residents. "Why would we be giving them more money? We should be taking away money, but we never do that." Mollot, who runs the Long Term Care Community Coalition, isn't the only one calling the $850 million nursing home settlement a sweetheart deal. Andrew Cempa, whose wife Carolyn Evans recently suffered severe dehydration after staying at The Riverside Premier Rehabilitation & Healing Center on the Upper West Side, said the state should withhold settlement money from the facility until it makes improvements to quality of care. "You have money going out from tax dollars," Cempa said. Where is their ability to penalize? Where is their ability to hold these people accountable? Citing patient privacy, administrators at The Riverside declined to answer questions about the treatment of Carolyn Evans. Medical notes from The Riverside staff show employees were aware dementia and seizures were interfering with the patients ability to swallow food and drink water. The notes say medical staff even talked to Cempa about the possibility his wife might need a feeding tube. But Cempa said no one explained how grave her condition was, until he demanded an ambulance take his wife to the hospital, where emergency room doctors said she was malnourished and nearing kidney failure. They were incredulous. They couldnt understand how someone in a facility could come in in that condition, Cempa said. Thats why we went to the nursing home, to take care of our loved ones, said Kip Evans, the patients son. Where is the humanity? The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has given The Riverside two stars, the second lowest federal rating for overall patient care. Inspection records show The Riverside has the lowest possible rating for staffing levels. On average, registered nurses at the Riverside spend just 25 minutes a day with each resident. That is less than half the national average for RN hours per resident per day. Representatives of The Riverside also declined to discuss their federal inspection records. However, the nursing home industry has long criticized federal surveys as being backward-looking. I might have been a two-star facility because I had a bad survey, but Ive changed my practice and retrained my staff, said Clyne. I still get listed as a two-star until my next survey comes along but the quality of care I have is really good. Cuomo did not respond to the I-Teams request for comment about the $850 million nursing home settlement. Instead, Cuomos office referred questions to James Plastiras, a spokesman for the New York State Health Department. Plastiras defended the settlement as a win for nursing home residents and taxpayers alike. Nothing in the settlement would limit the states ability to enforce rigorous state and federal standards to ensure that residents are protected, Plastiras said. He added that the additional cash will provide nursing homes with greater financial stability, thus allowing them to make strategic investments that maintain and enhance resident care. Cempa and his stepson have now filed a complaint with the state health department against The Riverside nursing home. Theyve also hired a private company called Medicaid Advisory Group to manage medical and financial decisions for their wife and mother. Ginalisa Monterroso, president of Medicaid Advisory Group, questioned whether New York should be handing a cash payout to a nursing home that failed to make sure her client was well nourished and hydrated. I dont think there would be any taxpayer that would agree that they paid for someone to go into a facility and not even get the bare minimum of water, Monterosso said. Definitely the taxpayers did not get their moneys worth. A suburban Detroit girl will spend 10 to 20 years in prison for hatching a plot to kill her family at the age of 15 with the help of her older boyfriend. Roksana Sikorski, now 17, apologized to her parents in Wayne County Circuit Court before being handed her sentence Monday. She was tried as an adult on charges that included assault with intent to murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Sikorski was convicted of scheming with her then-boyfriend Michael Rivera, eight years her senior, to murder her family members by stabbing them to death. It was the night of Oct. 17, 2014, when the 15-year-old surveyed her parents kitchen inside the familys upscale Plymouth Township home before carefully selecting a 6-8-inch filet knife and heading to her little brother's bedroom, according to police. Police reports show Sikorski was texting with Rivera throughout the planned attack, with one referring to the weapon of choice that asked, Is this sharp enough? When Sikorski made it to her first target, she slashed her 12-year-old brother's neck, according to prosecutors. The boy managed to survive, but Sikorski wasnt done yet. In other texts uncovered by WDIV-TV, the teenager and her boyfriend had debated the best methods to slit an artery in the throat, a conversation complete with emoticons. "I feel like dad is waking. He's moving but snoring. Babe..?" Sikorski wrote in one message to Rivera, according to WDIV-TV, to which he responded, "Baby im here just cut the throat quickly on both of them." Sikorski at one point showed doubts, the texts showed, writing, "Babe I can't f----ing do it. I'm too scared. I want u to do it.... :( Plzz baby plzz. He kept waking up." After stabbing her younger brother, the high school student moved on to her 11-year-old sister, according to police, but was spooked when both of the children started screaming. She then ran out of the house before she was able to carry out the planned attack on the rest of her family, police said. "She still can't believe that she did it," her lawyer, Leslie Posner, told NBC News. "She's vivacious and outgoing. She gets A's in every class. She's tutoring other students. It was just a bad event." Posner claimed the "sweet, little, diminutive 15-year-old" was "petrified" of Rivera. The two had met on Facebook the previous spring. Roksana Sikorski and her two siblings were adopted by Laurene and Jeff Sikorski from an abusive family in Poland. Prior to the attack, her parents had filed a statutory rape complaint against her older boyfriend after learning of their relationship. The defense argued that is when Rivera convinced her into the murders. After further investigation, the rape charge was dismissed. "I think she just thought this guy loved her and she wanted to do whatever he told her, and she was very vulnerable and she has a mental disorder and she needs help," Laurene Sikorski told WDIV-TV. Rivera is now serving a lifetime prison sentence for attempted murder and conspiracy. Sikorski's parents still stand behind their daughter, believing she should not have been tried as an adult. "Nothing will benefit this child by sending her to jail, Laurene Sikorski said Monday in their final plea before the judge, WDIV-TV reports. She made some poor choices that led her to this conviction How will sentencing her as an adult help her? Is this justice?" Judge James Callahan told the family he would try to request Sikorski be housed in a juvenile facility until she turns 18. I would like to apologize to my family for not being the daughter they wished I could be, Sikorski said at her sentencing. I promise I will get better, no matter what happens. President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentences of 61 drug offenders on Wednesday including more than a third serving life sentences, working to give new energy to calls for overhauling the U.S. criminal justice system. All of the inmates are serving time for drug possession, intent to sell or related crimes. Most are nonviolent offenders, although a few were also charged with firearms violations. Obama's commutation shortens their sentences, with most of the inmates set to be released on July 28. Obama, in a letter to the inmates receiving commutations, said the presidential power to grant commutations and pardons "embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance after having made a mistake in their lives that led to a conviction under our laws." In a bid to call further attention to the issue, Obama planned to meet Wednesday with people whose sentences were previously commuted under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The White House said the former inmates would share their experiences about the challenges of re-entering society after incarceration. The latest tranche of commutations brings to 248 the total number of inmates whose sentences Obama has commuted more than the past six presidents combined, the White House said. The pace of commutations and the rarer use of pardons are expected to increase as the end of Obama's presidency nears. "Throughout the remainder of his time in office, the president is committed to continuing to issue more grants of clemency as well as to strengthening rehabilitation programs," said Neil Eggleston, the White House counsel, in a blog post. He added that clemency is a tool of last resort that can help specific people, but doesn't address the broader need for a justice system that's "more fair and just." Though there's wide bipartisan support in Congress for overhauling the criminal justice system, momentum has slowed as the chaotic presidential campaign has made cooperation between Republicans and Democrats this year increasingly difficult. Obama has long called for getting rid of strict sentences for drug offenses that critics say lead to excessive punishment and sky-high incarceration rates. With Obama's support, the Justice Department in recent years has directed prosecutors to rein in the use of harsh mandatory minimums and expanded the criteria for inmates applying for clemency. The Taiwanese company that assembles Apple's iPhones agreed Wednesday to buy control of financially struggling Sharp Corp. for $3.5 billion in the first foreign takeover of a major Japanese electronics producer. The acquisition by Foxconn unites Sharp, a pioneering electronics brand founded in 1912, with a company six decades younger that is little known to consumers but has grown rapidly as a contract manufacturer for global brands. The commitment by Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., to buy 66 percent of Osaka-based Sharp followed weeks of uncertainty over what the Japanese company said was a deal at a higher price. "I am thrilled by the prospects for this strategic alliance and I look forward to working with everyone at Sharp," said Foxconn founder Terry Gou in a statement. "We have much that we want to achieve and I am confident that we will unlock Sharp's true potential and together reach great heights." The price of 389 billion yen was a reduction of 100 billion yen, or about 20 percent, from the 489 billion yen ($4.4 billion) that Sharp said Feb. 25 that Foxconn had agreed to pay. The Taiwanese company said at that time it wasn't ready to sign a deal. The companies gave no reason for the change but news reports suggested Foxconn was concerned about taking on additional liabilities it learned about late in negotiations. Speaking to reporters at the Taipei stock exchange, a Foxconn board member, Tai Jeng-wu, was asked what the company's strategy was for reversing Sharp's losses. He said plans called for the Japanese company to "upgrade its technology" but gave no details. Foxconn said a final agreement is due to be signed Saturday. Foxconn, founded by Gou in 1974, is the biggest competitor in the global manufacturing outsourcing industry. It assembles smartphones and other devices for Apple, Sony, Blackberry and other brands. Most of its operations are in mainland China, where its vast factories employ more than 1 million people. Foxconn earned $4.2 billion in profit for 2014, the last year for which it has reported results. Sharp, which started out making mechanical pencils, is a pioneer in hand-held and flat-screen electronic devices. It was known for its Aquos flat-panel TVs and Internet-connecting cellphones long before the arrival of iPhones in Japan. But its finances deteriorated as competition from Asian rivals drove down prices of LCD panels. Sharp suffered a 108 billion yen ($964 million) loss over the nine months through December. Analysts say its future is uncertain even with the takeover because of challenges in restructuring its consumer electronics operations. Smaller Japanese electronics brands including Sansui, Nakamichi and Akai also have been purchased by foreign buyers. The U.S. government levied a $10 million fine on Terminix companies Tuesday over its workers spraying a toxic pesticide at a U.S. Virgin Islands resort that nearly killed a Delaware family on vacation last year. The pest control company was charged with illegally using methyl bromide at a St. John resort and 13 residential locations across the U.S. Virgin Islands in recent years. The U.S. Justice Department said Terminix agreed to pay the fine and has stopped using the pesticide on the U.S. mainland and in its territories. Virgin Islands U.S. Attorney Ronald Sharpe said the case highlights the need to comply with environmental laws. "Tragically, the defendants' failure to do so resulted in catastrophic injuries to the victims and exposed many others to similar harm," he said. A Terminix spokesman said the company would issue a statement soon. The Environmental Protection Agency banned methyl bromide for residential applications in 1984, but an investigation by U.S. authorities in the Virgin Islands found the chemical was used at 12 residential units in St Croix and another one in St. Thomas between September 2012 and February 2015. It also was used at the Sirenusa Condominium Resort in St. John last year. The investigation began after the Esmond family from Delaware were poisoned in March 2015 while vacationing in St. John. Authorities determined that Terminix used methyl bromide at a vacation unit below the one the family had rented. Brothers Sean and Ryan, both teens, were hospitalized in critical condition and have permanent neurological damage while their parents, Stephen Esmond and Theresa Devine, had to undergo therapy. Stephen Esmond served as headmaster of Tatnall's Middle School in Wilmington. Theresa Devine is a dentist. Justice Department officials said Terminix will make a good faith effort to resolve the family's medical expenses through a separate civil process as part of a three-year probation. They added that the criminal investigation was continuing. Federal authorities also are investigating the use of methyl bromide in Puerto Rico. Earlier this month, the EPA filed complaints against a pest control company and two businessmen in that U.S. territory. There may be a reason why people have trouble seeing while driving at night, and it's not their eyesight. A new rating of the headlights of more than 30 midsized car models gave only one model a grade of "good." Of the rest, about a third were rated "acceptable," a third "marginal" and a third "poor." The difference between the top- and bottom-rated models for a driver's ability to see down a dark road was substantial, according to the study released Wednesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an industry-funded organization that evaluates automotive safety. The LED headlights in the top trim level Toyota Prius V the only one of 31 models tested to get the "good" rating - were able to illuminate a straight roadway sufficiently to see a pedestrian, bicyclist or obstacle up to 387 feet ahead. At that distance, the vehicle could be traveling up to 70 mph and still have time to stop. But halogen headlights in the BMW 3 series, the worst-rated ones, were able to illuminate only 128 feet ahead. At that distance, the vehicle couldn't be traveling at more than 35 mph and still have time to stop, according to the study. That's important because of the more than 32,000 traffic deaths last year, about half happened at night or during dawn and dusk when visibility is lower. You can find the full results of the study here. Two parrots were found dead on Easter Sunday outside a Point Loma church and authorities are continuing their investigation into the string of bird shootings plaguing the Ocean Beach and Point Loma areas. The parrots will be evaluated Wednesday to confirm the cause of death, said Dan DeSousa, deputy director of San Diego County Department of Animal Services. Meanwhile, animal control officers canvassed the neighborhood where the birds were found, but have so far not tracked down any leads. The parrots were found outside All Souls Episcopal Church on Catalina Boulevard on Sunday, The San Diego Reader reported. In the last month, seven parrots, identified as endangered Lilac Crowned Amazons and Red Masked Conures, have been found dead in neighborhoods in OB and Point Loma. Five of those were killed by BB's and pellets fired from air guns. A reward of $6,500 has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects. San Diego police are investigating the string of parrot shootings as an animal cruelty case and anyone with information should contact them. Killing an endangered bird is a federal crime and could be punishable with jail time and $20,000 fine. Two Northern California sheriff's deputies seen beating a suspect on surveillance video last year have been slapped with a civil lawsuit, along with a third deputy accused of bribing homeless witnesses with the man's belongings in exchange for their silence. The man's lawyer, Michael Haddad, said an Alameda County sheriff's deputy approached a homeless couple in a Mission District alley after the November beating of Stanislav Petrov and gave them Petrov's large gold chain with a medallion, cash and cigarettes so they would not speak out about what they saw. One deputy also is accused of taking a so-called trophy picture with Petrov after he was beaten. "I think it was implied that he wanted them to be quiet,'' Haddad said of the exchange, adding that he had spoken with the homeless onlookers. Haddad, who said the beating meted out to 29-year-old Petrov is indefensible, on Tuesday filed a claim against the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, alleging the deputies' use of force was excessive and unjustified. "This is probably the worst law enforcement beating on video we've seen since Rodney King," he said. "[Stanislav Petrov] would like justice. This is outrageous and he wishes it had never happened." King was a taxi driver who was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers following a high-speed car chase in 1991. Sgt. J.D. Nelson, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, told reporters the agency is investigating the incident. "They are no better than the criminals they arrested, if these allegations are true,'' Nelson said about the deputies. "We get a little ticked off when things like this happen because it tarnishes my badge and it tarnishes everybody's badge and we don't like it." Two Alameda County sheriffs deputies, who were seen beating a suspect on surveillance video last year, and a third deputy, accused of bribing homeless witnesses with the mans belongings, have been slapped with a civil lawsuit. Bob Redell reports. The deputies have been on paid administrative leave since the San Francisco public defender's office released video showing the deputies repeatedly hitting a man with their batons as he screamed. He had broken bones in both hands and severe bruising to the head and body, his attorney said. "If that allegation is true it's one of the most horrific things I've ever heard," at a news conference Tuesday, Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern said. Ahern also promised a thorough investigation, saying that the department is taking steps to ensure such an incident never reoccurs. He says every deputy on the scene will have to justify his conduct. "Theyre responsible for every word and every action that took place at the scene," he stressed. "If I find they violated policy, they will be disciplined." The incident began when authorities spotted Petrov in a stolen car in Castro Valley. Petrov rammed two deputies' vehicles and then led law enforcement on a chase across the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge before deputies on foot caught up to him in the Mission District of San Francisco, according to the sheriff's office. Petrov was resisting arrest and reaching for his waistband, which made the deputies fear he was armed, according to their statements. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon says he has not decided whether he will charge the deputies. In an email to NBC Bay Area, Assistant District Attorney Alex Bastian said, "As with every case that comes into this office, we must be sure that a thorough investigation has been conducted so that justice is done." He also declined to comment further on the incident. Haddad, however, questioned the deputies' statements, which were taken four days after the video was released. "I'm suspicious that these are false reports that probably replaced earlier reports that were thrown away,'' Haddad said. After months of saying that the deputies' body-worn cameras were not switched on during the incident, the sheriff's office said Monday that one of the deputies may have accidentally captured the beating. Alameda County Sheriff's deputies must now activate their body-worn cameras while on duty or face termination, Ahern added. Paris authorities filed preliminary terrorism charges Wednesday against a 34-year-old Frenchman for allegedly plotting an imminent attack and operating an explosives arsenal of what prosecutors called "unprecedented scale." Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said Wednesday that the suspect, Reda Kriket, is accused of participating in a terrorist group with plans for at least one attack, possessing and transporting arms and explosives, and holding fake documents, among other charges. Kriket will stay in custody while magistrates continue investigating the case and determine whether to send him to trial. Kriket is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2014 and 2015 and made several trips between France and Belgium and the Netherlands, Molins said. At least three other people are in custody in the case in Belgium and the Netherlands. Molins did not say whether Kriket's purported plot was linked to the Islamic State network behind last week's attacks in Brussels and last November's attacks in Paris. The prosecutor said no target for Kriket's thwarted attack has been identified, and Kriket has given limited explanation to investigators in his six days in detention. Two Algerians believed linked to Kriket's alleged plot are being held in Brussels. The Belgian federal prosecutors' office said Wednesday that the men, identified as Abderrahmane A. and Rabah M., will face a hearing April 7. Another Frenchman linked to Kriket, Anis Bari, is being held in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, Molins said. Bari is resisting extradition to France. Among things found when police searched Kriket's apartment in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil on Thursday were 500 grams of the explosive TATP, 1.3 kilograms of industrial explosives, several bottles of oxygenated water and acetone, material to make detonators, five automatic rifles, seven cell phones, stolen passports and two computers showing links with jihadi groups, Molins said. Before the Paris attacks, Kriket and the suspected Paris attacks ringleader were convicted in absentia in the July 2015 trial of Khaled Zerkani, who Belgium's federal prosecutor described as "the most significant recruiter of jihadi candidates in Belgium." Kriket, like Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was absent for the trial. Also implicated in the network was Najim Laachraoui, the bombmaker who made the explosives for the Nov. 13 attacks and then used his own creations as a suicide attacker in Brussels on March 22. Also Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande decided to abandon proposed legislation that would have revoked citizenship for convicted terrorists and strengthened the state of emergency, because differences between the two houses of parliament could not be resolved. He had submitted the two proposals days after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. The country's state of emergency, swiftly declared by the government on the night of the attacks, was recently extended to May 26. It extends some police powers of search and arrest and limits public gatherings, among other changes. Surgeons in Baltimore for the first time have transplanted organs between an HIV-positive donor and HIV-positive recipients, a long-awaited new option for patients with the AIDS virus whose kidneys or livers also are failing. Johns Hopkins University announced Wednesday that both recipients are recovering well after one received a kidney and the other a liver from a deceased donor organs that ordinarily would have been thrown away because of the HIV infection. Doctors in South Africa have reported successfully transplanting HIV-positive kidneys but Hopkins said the HIV-positive liver transplant is the first worldwide. Hopkins didn't identify its patients, but said the kidney recipient is recuperating at home and the liver recipient is expected to be discharged soon. "This could mean a new chance at life," said Dr. Dorry Segev, a Hopkins transplant specialist who pushed for legislation lifting a 25-year U.S. ban on the approach and estimates that hundreds of HIV-positive patients may benefit. For patients who don't already have the AIDS virus, nothing changes they wouldn't be offered HIV-positive organs. Instead, the surgeries, performed earlier this month, are part of research to determine if HIV-to-HIV transplants really help. The reason: Modern anti-AIDS medications have turned HIV from a quick killer into a chronic disease meaning patients may live long enough to suffer organ failure, either because of the HIV or for some other reason. In the U.S., HIV-positive patients already are eligible to receive transplants from HIV-negative donors just like anyone else on the waiting list. That list is long for kidneys, more than 100,000 people are in line and thousands die waiting each year. There's no count of how many of those waiting have HIV, but Segev said it increases the risk of death while waiting. If the new approach works, one hope is that it could free up space on the waiting list as HIV-positive patients take advantage of organs available only to them. Segev estimated that 300 to 500 would-be donors who are HIV-positive die each year, potentially enough kidneys and livers for 1,000 additional transplants. "It increases the pool of potential organ donors and allows more people to be transplanted. That's the advantage of this whole thing, but it is a research project so we are going to monitor it very carefully," said Dr. David Klassen of the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation's transplant system. Hopkins is the first hospital given permission for HIV-to-HIV transplant research. Two others Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia and Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York also are approved for studies, according to the UNOS. Segev helped spur a 2013 law the HIV Organ Policy Equity, or HOPE, Act that lifted a federal ban on any use of HIV-infected organs and paved the way for that research. UNOS says at least 1,376 people with HIV have undergone transplants using HIV-negative organs since 2005. Special expertise is required to coordinate both the anti-HIV medications and anti-rejection drugs those patients require, but large studies have shown that HIV patients fare well after transplant. Using an HIV-positive organ adds an extra concern: Transplant recipients are exposed to a second strain of the virus from the donor, explained Dr. Christine Durand, a Hopkins infectious disease specialist. Doctors have to consider what anti-AIDS medications the donor took to avoid introducing HIV drug resistance. Hopkins' first HIV-to-HIV transplants were possible thanks to a deceased donor. The New England Organ Bank, which arranged for that donation, issued a statement from the unidentified woman's family expressing gratitude that someone who fought HIV's stigma was able to donate and help others. But Segev said his team also is exploring how to safely attempt kidney transplants using living donors who have HIV. And advocates said it's time for more people to ask about becoming organ donors. "If you have considered donation but think that no one would want your organs, let the doctors decide that," said Morris Murray, an HIV-positive Maryland man who waited years before receiving an HIV-negative liver transplant in 2013. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed legislation he said would legalize discrimination against LGBT people. The Democratic governor signed his veto of Senate Bill 41 Wednesday morning while on WTOP. "We're not going to tolerate discrimination. Virginia will be open and welcoming," he said. The measure would prohibit the state from punishing religious groups that refuse services related to gay marriages. It has been nicknamed the "Kim Davis bill," after the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationally. Republican supporters said the bill would protect people expressing their sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions. Social conservatives condemned McAuliffe's veto, saying the legislation provided a "modest protection" of religious liberties. "It is unfortunate that Gov. McAuliffe is so willing to discriminate against people of faith who simply disagree with the secular left's sexual dogma,'' said Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia. Opponents of the legislation introduced in December by State Sen. Charles Carrico (R-Galax) assailed it as an attack on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Virginians. McAuliffe said businesses and job-creators do not want to do business in states that "appear more concerned with demonizing people than with creating a strong business climate." Republican-backed measures related to LGBT rights recently have attracted fierce national pushback from large corporations in Georgia and North Carolina. Apple, Dow Chemical and PayPal are among the companies that issued statements critical of the law in North Carolina, The New York Times reported. Georgia GOP Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a bill similar to Virginia's earlier this week. The fight in Virginia has received less attention, due in part to McAuliffe's repeated promises to veto the bill. Supporters of the measure still will have an opportunity to try to overturn the veto in April, but are unlikely to have enough votes to do so. A Laurel, Maryland, man is facing an attempted first-degree murder charge after police say he offered an undercover detective posing as a hit man $15,000 to kill his wife. Howard County police say they received a tip that 36-year-old Aafaq Manejwala was looking for someone who was willing to kill his wife. Manejwala and the detective met three times in March to discuss the murder. "We were fortunate in this case because we received a tip. We got information from that this man from Laurel had been looking for someone who would be willing to kill his wife for money," said Sherry Llewellyn, a spokeswoman for Howard County police. Police said Manejwala wanted it to look like a botched home invasion robbery. He showed the fake hit man a picture of his wife and took him to their townhome in a gated community on Polished Pebble Way, police said. "As soon as he began to offer money and information that made it very evident that he was serious about this homicide we began pursuing it that way. So, now there'll be additional investigation, but we don't know the motive at this point," Llewellyn said. Manejwala paid a portion of the $15,000 Tuesday, and told the detective he would make another payment Friday. Police say he was taken into custody and charged at that time. Manejwala has been charged with solicitation of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. He is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center. A girl gave birth and then falsely told police she found a newborn baby on the back porch of her home in Hagerstown, Maryland, police said. Police said the girl gave birth to a baby girl inside her home on Frederick Street. She called police and told them she found the infant outside in near-freezing weather -- wrapped in only a plastic bag. When officers arrived, they found the baby on a couch inside the home. The infant was flown to Children's National Medical Center in D.C., where she is in stable condition. The young mom also was taken to the hospital for treatment and was in good condition. Police said no charges will be filed against the girl. Information on her age was not released immediately. The Notebook knows many of you work, shop and play in the Maryland suburbs, as well as visit its rural western and Eastern Shore areas. Our neighboring state has more than one interesting contest in its upcoming April 26 Democratic primary. Two of those contests will test whether this really is the year of the outsider. First up, the race in suburban Montgomery County to fill the 8th Congressional District seat. Incumbent Chris Van Hollen is giving up the seat to run for the U.S. Senate. Nine Democrats signed up to run in the 8th, a congressional district thats centered in Montgomery County but snakes to the Pennsylvania line. The race has taken on a runaway spending aura that has focused the contest on three candidates. One in particular is multimillionaire David Trone, who is a principal owner of Total Wines & More. Trone simply and unabashedly is trying to buy the race. He says he already has spent $5 million, after joining in January. Reporters covering the campaign say Trone could approach $10 million. Still, Trone said on last Fridays WAMU Politics Hour: I am a huge, huge underdog. He told host Kojo Nnamdi that hes an underdog because hes less known to the general public. Trone largely disparaged candidate Kathleen Matthews as a former longtime TV anchor, running more on name recognition and less on her experience as a Marriott executive. And Trone simply dismissed law professor and veteran activist Jamie Raskin, a respected state senator since 2007. Raskins community activism dates back to 1990 when he served on a Montgomery County Hate Crimes Commission. Trone says hed bring his business skills to Congress. But hes not a political neophyte. He may be a first-time candidate, but he has been a major donor to national Democrats. And for his business interests, he acknowledges that hes given freely to Republicans and Democrats to help his businesses in 21 different states. Trone says such contributions show he can work across partisan aisles. He said on the radio show that donations buy you a seat at the table. But on air, he accused Washington Post reporter Bill Turque of misquoting him in a January article that had Trone saying, I sign my checks to buy access. Your Notebook is not sure of the difference between buying access and a seat at the table. (Turque, via email, said he stands by his story.) The Maryland Democratic Senate campaign. The race to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski has a different aura of money over experience. Veteran state legislator and Congressman Van Hollen clearly is the establishment candidate. He has a long and varied list of supporters and endorsers across the state. He has a healthy campaign account and a progressive record in the House clearly in sync with Maryland Democrats. But also running is Rep. Donna Edwards. She is giving up her 4th Congressional District seat to make the leap to the Senate. Edwards and Van Hollen are closely similar in political outlook. In a recent debate with Van Hollen on the Kojo show, Edwards bluntly said it is time for an African-American woman to win and to add diversity to the Senate. Edwards has cast herself as an outsider. She said shes qualified to be in the Senate and the Senate wont change without electing people like herself over Van Hollen. There are currently 20 female senators but no African-American woman, according to the Congressional Research Service. Edwards badly trails Van Hollen in traditional fundraising and organizing and endorsements. But Edwards has one key player on her side, the national political fundraising group Emilys List. Its Women Vote organization supports pro-choice female candidates. Emilys List has committed to spending $2.4 million on independent campaign advertising for Edwards. Without that money, Edwards would barely be heard in the crush of all the campaign ads in all the races now on radio and TV. Van Hollen, of course, is pro-choice, too, but he is saddled with being a man. As Washington Post reporter Rachel Weiner put it in an article about the race: Emilys List argues that its mission is to elect pro-choice Democratic women, regardless of who gets toppled along the way. The Post story also quoted Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp, who has endorsed Van Hollen. Im disappointed, like many other people, that Emilys List has chosen to try to use its muscle to oppose a candidate who I think has represented Maryland really well, Kopp says. Interestingly, Van Hollens campaign manager is a former executive director of Emilys List. As for Sen. Mikulski, first elected to the Senate in 1987 with Emilys List support, she is retiring after five terms. She so far has stayed out of the contest to succeed her. Marylands 4th District. So what about the congressional seat Edwards is vacating? Its something of a donnybrook, too. Former Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown lost a humiliating race for governor to Republican Larry Hogan in 2014. He is trying to restart his political career in this Prince Georges County-centered election. But even with his name recognition, Brown faces stiff competition from former prosecutor Glenn Ivey and Del. Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk, who is relatively unknown outside her district but has been endorsed by The Post. Tom Sherwood, a Southwest resident, is a political reporter for News 4. An after-school program in Boston is igniting children's imaginations with ocean science. C2O, Communities Connecting to the Ocean, is a partnership between six Boston-based groups -- including the Franklin Park Tenants Association in Dorchester -- and the New England Aquarium. "I definitely love seeing the excited faces, just seeing them really get engaged," said Erik Michel, Program Educator with the aquarium. Once a week, Michel works with students on their vocabulary while familiarizing them with the natural environment at their fingertips. "Boston is a big city, and unfortunately, a lot of the kids don't get to get right to the ocean, even though they're right next to it," said Cara Mahoney, New England Aquarium Student Program Supervisor. C2O incorporates reading, writing, and science lessons to get kids enthusiastic about learning at a young age. "I want to see cool animals, how they eat, discovering new body parts of them, and discovering new animals I haven't seen before," said 10-year-old Wilkens Georges. Those animals range from jellyfish to horseshoe crabs. "They have a very high energy when they come here," said Juanita Pitts, Vice President and Programming Director of the Franklin Park Tenants Association. "It's a special part of the day for them that they know this happens every week at the same time each week." The program offers a chance to hook kids on science and reading in a fun, interactive setting. "I'm from the City of Boston, I grew up here, graduated whole public school system. So being able to see kids who come from the same walks of life that I have and then have the same type of interest in that and excitement is pretty cool," Michel said. C2O lasts for six weeks and is made possible thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This spring and summer, the students will have a chance to leave the classroom and head to the ocean for field trips that include the beach, Boston Harbor Islands and the aquarium. Massachusetts State Police say a New Hampshire resident is dead after crashing a truck into a bridge in Newbury, Massachusetts, overnight Tuesday. The crash happened on I-95 north at Exit 55 around 12:18 Wednesday morning. Police say a responding trooper found the truck had crashed into the bridge abutment and caught fire. The driver was determined dead at the scene. His name is not being released, but police say he was a 54-year-old New Hampshire resident. The crash is still under investigation. A Norwich educational charity, set up in memory of a Norwich Anglican priest, to support students from a Palestinian refugee camp, is inviting people to support its Christmas appeal to be launched on November 29. A Norwich educational charity, set up in memory of a Norwich Anglican priest, to support students from a Palestinian refugee camp, is inviting people to support its Christmas appeal to be launched on November 29. Norfolk drug and alcohol charity pays tribute to its founder Andy Sexton, CEO of the Matthew Project, introduces a series of tributes from the charity to its founder, Peter Farley. Read more Cliff look alike at Cromer Church breakfast Cliff Richard tribute performer Will Chandler will be the speaker at a special Mens Breakfast at Cromer Parish Hall next month, and all men are welcome to come along. Read more Heartsease Lane Methodist church to close As part of a reorganisation of the Norwich Methodist Circuit, Heartsease Lane Methodist Church will be closing towards the end of the year. Read more Free Julian of Norwich reflection and prayer day The Friends of Julian of Norwich present a free Quiet Half-Day with Robert Fruehwirth, author and former Priest Director of the Julian Centre, on Saturday November 12, 10.30am-2pm. Read more What it means for us to repent Nigel Fox believes that now is the time for a tide of repentance, and shares his thoughts about what that actually means for our society. Read more Christmas card shop opens in Norwich church Thousands of Christmas cards from around 30 local Norfolk charities have gone on sale today (October 19) at the Original Norwich Charity Christmas Card Shop inside St Peter Mancroft church in Norwich city centre. Read more Revelation Christian Resource Centre and Cafe Revelation in Norwich is a Christian resource centre, offering a bookshop, a meeting place and a welcoming refuge for refreshment open to visitors of any faith or none. Read more Farewell as Yarmouth church leader moves on Captain Marie Burr, the Salvation Army leader in Great Yarmouth, has paid tribute to everyone at the church and charity after she left her post at the end of last month to move to a new role. Read more Norwich Cathedral chorister in BBC final Norwich Cathedral chorister Alice Platten has her sights set on being crowned BBC Young Chorister of the Year after reaching the final stages of the prestigious nationwide competition. Read more Norwich to hear pastor, Policeman and tramp tale Essex Baptist Pastor Dave McDowell has been a Policeman, fed orphans in India and lived under a boat as a tramp. He will tell his remarkable story at the October dinner of Norwich FGB on Wednesday October 26. Read more Pioneer UK leader speaks at Sheringham church Ness Wilson, national leader of the Pioneer network of churches, was the main speaker at a day of teaching and worship held at Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham on 12 October, to be followed up by Word and Worship sessions at October half term. Read more Norwich event to give tips on bouncing forwards St Stephens in Norwich will be hosting an evening in October with Patrick Regan OBE, as he explores themes from his book Bouncing Forwards. Read more Youth for Christ lights a fire in north Breckland North Breckland Youth for Christ will be putting on a mini residential camp this year to coincide with Bonfire Night. Read more Delia Smith interviewed at Norwich church Top TV cook and well-known writer Delia Smith spoke about her faith at SOUL Churchs weekly Chapel gathering on October 11. Read more Children's Christian holiday club in Briston A half term childrens holiday bible club is taking place in Briston next week, and there is no charge to take part in the fun. Read more Ashill church puts on music to touch the soul The Fountain of Life Church in Ashill is hosting an afternoon concert in early November with classical, jazz, opera, ballads and pop classics. Read more Fakenhams new rector is officially installed Rev Tracy Jessop has been officially installed as Rector for Fakenham during a service at Fakenham Parish Church on Tuesday September 27, fourteen months after their last reverend retired. Read more Doctor Gibbs is in and I want to discuss what the press claims is a wave of anxiety in the IT community. The cause? The FBI deciding to vacate their court case that, should they have prevailed, would have compelled Apple crack the San Bernardino shooters iPhone. They dropped the case because they were able to crack the iPhone in question with the help of a so far unknown third party. Since that was announced Ive seen a number of articles that ponder the question of users perception of iPhone security and suggest that folks are getting seriously anxious. The central concern seems to be that now we know that an iPhone 5c can be hacked, some iPhone users and enterprises using iPhones are worried about whether their phones are really secure. Im here to tell all of you Nervous Nigels something you should already know: Your iPhone is definitely, unquestionably, and unequivocally not guaranteed to be completely secure. I hope this isnt news to you but it is a fact that nothing can be kept 100% secure. Even if you keep your secrets locked up in your brain, you might talk in your sleep or get tortured and spill the beans or, in the future, an evil genius might scan your brain. This is not a philosophical issue, its reality. Anything youre hiding, even if its completely in your brain, is potentially available to someone who cares enough to go after you and your secrets and has the right tools. If perfect security isnt possible then what does that imply about keeping stuff secret in the real world? In the real world we use the security tools we can afford and rely on a simple trade-off: Cost versus degree of security. And cost isnt just about how much we spend on security tools, its also the cost of the time and operational overhead required to use those tools. The closer you try to get get to perfect security, the harder it becomes and the costs rise asymptotically. Talking of practical security, you know why the majority of CPAs and lawyers and other non-IT professionals dont use tools like PGP to secure their email and documents even though PGP is free? Its a cost issue: Tools like PGP take too long to setup and when you use them in the real world, they interfere with workflow. We have to strike a balance so that our secrets are as safe as we can afford them to be. But I digress Now, when it comes to secure storage on devices, we rely on companies like Apple to do the right thing; the right thing being to make the products we buy from them as bulletproof as possible. We expect products that are physically tough enough for everyday use, fast enough to do useful things quickly, reliable enough to not fail from hardware or software issues when working, and secure enough that should someone unauthorized attempt to get access they find it really, really, really difficult. In the case of the shooters iPhone, as I have said ad nauseum whenever the subject has come up, the idea that the device was uncrackable is simply naive. In fact, even when this whole fracas started, if it was the case that some government operation hadnt already cracked the iPhone, they certainly had the capability to do so. Do you really think with the billions of dollars weve poured into the NSA, they havent been working on cracking iPhones? Given their resources, if they havent succeeded, they should be fired. From a cannon. But if the iPhone could be hacked, why go through all of the theater? One aspect has to be political; if the FBI won a court order requiring Apple to cooperate then it would set a precedent requiring not only Apple but any and all tech companies offering products with encryption to do as the FBI required at any time the bureau pleased. If the FBI really hadnt been able to crack the iPhone then the only reason that they werent helped out by another agency was likely to be a jurisdictional and or legal issue. But I digress. Again. So, we agree, theres no product that is perfectly secure. We knew that before the FBI cracked the shooters iPhone and it didnt worry us then, so why should it worry us now? If youre one of the Nervous Nigels who feel that, with the revelation that iPhones can be hacked, the end is nigh and your systems are next, drop me a note at gearhead[at]gibbs.com and Ill deliver some therapeutic treatment. Next patient, please. Comments? Thoughts? Suggestions? Lay some feedback via email on me or comment below then follow me on Twitter and Facebook. In the first segment of an interview with Chris Inglis, former deputy director of NSA, the Irari Report talks with him about his perceptions of Edward Snowdens motivations and intentions in committing his acts of espionage. In the video segment, Inglis discusses his impressions of Snowden, and theorizes as to why Snowden left for China, and to where he intended to defect. Edward Snowden's defection occurred during Inglis' tenure as Deputy Director of NSA, and as such, Inglis was extremely involved in overseeing the investigation incident and mitigation of the resulting damage. Inglis states that Snowden was indiscriminate in his release of information, and is full of rage. When asked to comment on why Snowden has not released any documents about Russian or Chinese domestic surveillance efforts, which are plentiful throughout NSA, and would have been readily available to Snowden while he was at NSA, Inglis stated that Snowden lacks any courage to speak up about any concerns while he might be held accountable. Inglis stated that Snowden never expressed any concerns that he supposedly had while working at NSA, and that it is consistent that he would not express any concerns about Chinese or Russian domestic or international surveillance while he was beholden to those countries. Snowden and journalist Glenn Greenwald have been contacted for comment, however there has been no response. See the video of Inglis' interview below. Ira Winkler and Araceli Treu Gomes can be reached through their websites at www.securementem.com and www.irarireport.com This story, "Former NSA deputy director says Edward Snowden lacks courage " was originally published by CSO . Rules, smules...they don't seem to apply to Hillary Clinton. The Washington Post has an excellent piece about the Clinton email scandal. For personal comfort reasons, she wanted to use her personal unencrypted BlackBerry for all her email, despite warnings that it could be vulnerable. She even took it overseas, although she supposedly said she gets it being a security risk. Dont be silly and expect her to use a PC; oh no, she was seemingly a CrackBerry fanboy. She also didnt bother to tell officials that her BlackBerry was tied to her infamous private email server. That server was supposedly also for her comfort for her convenience. Dozens of FBI agents are investigating if a crime the mishandling of classified material was committed. But even that is plagued with political intrigue as the investigation picked up steam to avoid the possibility of announcing any action too close to the election. At first, she flat-out denied that her server ever held anything classified. There is no classified material, she said on March 10, 2015. Then that morphed to there was nothing marked classified. Sure, theres a serious overclassification problem, a tendency for way too many things to be considered classified when the reality is there doesnt seem to be anything classified about it. Yet The Post pointed out: Twenty-two emails discovered later were deemed so highly classified that they were withheld in their entirety from public release. They are on their face sensitive and obviously classified, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told The Post. This information should have been maintained in the most secure, classified, top-secret servers. Despite her own previous promises about government transparency and President Obamas pledge for the same The Post noted how Clinton was immediately taking steps to help circumvent that transparency and get around FOIA. Emails related to secretary of state work are supposed to be preserved permanently. Classified, smashifiedthat applies to other people. At one point, after being told a statement was classified, she told Deputy Chief of Staff Jacob Sullivan, Its a public statement! Just email it. Another time, she suggested Sullivan should take a shortcut to get her the information which should only be sent over a secure line. But hey, that didnt stop Clinton from issuing a double-standard note to department employees to avoid conducting official Department business from your person email accounts. In regards to Clinton, The Post mentioned two potential misdemeanors related to removing classified information; tell that to NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake who the government wanted to roast toasty for daring to have classified info. One document was even marked unclassified/for official use only but he was supposed to have ESP and just know it should have been classified. In total, Drake had five documents; Clinton had 2,093 emails determined as involving classified info. Then the whole personal email server scandal. The rules as well as smart security standards, seem to only apply to other people and not presidential hopeful Clinton. I dont even like politics, but I highly recommend reading The Washington Post write-up. Warning, theres nothing new about the ongoing scandal, per say, but if you care about security then good luck not getting riled up as you read how Clinton seems to believe the rules apply only to other peons like us. Download Now The News-Gazette mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the News-Gazette on your mobile device just as it appears in print. Columnist Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich). Champaign, IL (61820) Today Windy with a few clouds from time to time. High 79F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy skies. Low 63F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Reporter Tim Mitchell is a reporter at The News-Gazette. His email is tmitchel@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@mitchell6). Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia. contains levonorgestrel and ethinylestradiol CONSUMER MEDICINE INFORMATION What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about LENEST 30 ED. 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 LENEST 30 ED against the benefits they expect it will have for you. If you have any concerns, or are unsure about taking this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist for more advice. Keep this leaflet with the medicine. You may need to read it again. What LENEST 30 ED is used for LENEST 30 ED is a combined oral contraceptive, commonly known as a 'birth control pill' or 'the Pill'. LENEST 30 ED is used to prevent pregnancy. You may also experience the following benefits: more regular, shorter and lighter periods a decrease in anaemia (iron deficiency) a decrease in period pain. Some conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease, ovarian cysts, ectopic pregnancy (where the foetus is carried outside of your womb), lumpy breasts, acne and cancer of the uterus (womb) and ovaries may be less common in women taking the Pill. When taken correctly, LENEST 30 ED prevents you from becoming pregnant in several ways, including: inhibiting ovulation (egg release) changing the cervical mucus consistency, making it more difficult for the sperm to reach the egg changing the lining of the uterus, making it less suitable for implantation. When the Pill is taken by women under close observation in clinical trials, it is more than 99% effective in preventing pregnancy. However, in real life the Pill is around 92% effective. This is because pills might be missed, may have been taken with medicines that interfere with their effectiveness, or may not be absorbed due to vomiting or diarrhoea. Like all oral contraceptives, LENEST 30 ED is intended to prevent pregnancy. It does not protect against HIV infection (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted infections. 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. Before you take LENEST 30 ED When you must not take it Do not take LENEST 30 ED if you have an allergy to: ethinylestradiol and/or levonorgestrel, the active ingredients in LENEST 30 ED 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 in breathing swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body rash, itching or hives on the skin. Do not take LENEST 30 ED if you have or have had a blood clot in: the blood vessels of the legs (deep vein thrombosis - DVT) the lungs (pulmonary embolism - PE) the heart (heart attack) the brain (stroke) other parts of the body. Do not take LENEST 30 ED if you are concerned about an increased risk of blood clots. Blood clots are rare. Very occasionally blood clots may cause serious permanent disability and may even be fatal. You are more at risk of having a blood clot when you take the Pill. However, the risk of having a blood clot when taking the Pill is less than the risk of having a blood clot during pregnancy. Do not take LENEST 30 ED if you are concerned about an increased risk of blood clots because of age or smoking. The risk of having a heart attack or stroke increases as you get older. It also increases if you smoke. You should stop smoking when taking the Pill, especially if you are older than 35 years of age. Do not take Lenest 30 ED if you are taking any antiviral medicines which contain ombitasvir, paritaprevir and/or dasabuvir. These antiviral medicines are used to treat chronic (long-term) hepatitis C (an infectious disease that affects the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV)). Do not take LENEST 30 ED if you have, or have had: any blood clotting disorders such as Protein C deficiency, Protein S deficiency, Leiden Factor V mutation, Antithrombin III deficiency or other inherited blood clotting conditions a confirmed blood test showing: increased levels of homocysteine antiphospholipid antibodies (APLAs) e.g. anticardiolipinantibodies and lupus anticoagulant. These may increase your risk for blood clots or pregnancy losses (miscarriage) major surgery after which you have not been able to move around for a period of time angina (chest pain) a mini-stroke (also known as TIA or transient ischaemic attack) migraine, accompanied by visual symptoms, speech disability, or weakness or numbness in any part of your body high risk of blood clots due to conditions such as diabetes mellitus with blood vessel damage, severe high blood pressure or severe high or low level of fats in your blood pancreatitis (an inflammation of the pancreas) associated with high levels of fatty substances in your blood severe liver disease and your liver function has not returned to normal cancer that may grow under the influence of sex hormones (e.g. of the breast or the genital organs) a benign or malignant liver tumour unexplained vaginal bleeding. If any of these conditions appear for the first time while using the Pill, stop taking it at once and tell your doctor. In the meantime, use non-hormonal (barrier) methods of contraception (such as condoms or a diaphragm). Do not take this medicine if you are pregnant or think you might be pregnant. Do not give this medicine to a child. LENEST 30 ED is not intended for use in females whose periods have not yet started. Do not take this medicine after the expiry date printed on the pack and blister. The expiry date is printed on the carton and on each blister after "EXP" (e.g. 11 18 refers to November 2018). The expiry date refers to the last day of that month. If it has expired return it to your pharmacist for disposal. Do not take this medicine if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering. If the packaging 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 smoke you or anyone in your immediate family has had blood clots in the legs (DVT), or lungs (PE), a heart attack, a stroke, breast cancer or high cholesterol. Tell your doctor if you have, or have had any of the following medical conditions: diabetes high blood pressure heart valve disorders or certain heart rhythm disorders migraine cancer hyperhomocysteinaemia, a condition characterised by high levels of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood high or low level of fats in your blood. Ask your doctor to check if you: are overweight have any hereditary or acquired conditions that may make it more likely for you to get blood clots have high cholesterol or triglycerides have liver disease have gall bladder disease have jaundice (yellowing of the skin) and/or pruritus (itching of the skin) related to cholestasis (condition in which the flow of bile from the liver stops or slows) have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis (chronic inflammatory bowel disease) have systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE - a disease affecting the skin all over the body) have haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS - a disorder of blood coagulation causing failure of the kidneys) have sickle cell disease have a condition that occurred for the first time, or worsened during pregnancy or previous use of sex hormones (e.g. hearing loss, a metabolic disease called porphyria, a skin disease called herpes gestationis, a neurological disease called Sydenham's chorea) have chloasma (yellowish-brown pigmentation patches on the skin, particularly of the face) - if so, avoid exposure to the sun or ultraviolet radiation have hereditary angioedema - you should see your doctor immediately if you experience symptoms of angioedema, such as swollen face, tongue and/or pharynx and/or difficulty swallowing or hives together with difficulty in breathing. If any of the above conditions appear for the first time, recur or worsen while taking LENEST 30 ED, you should contact your doctor. Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding. LENEST 30 ED is generally not recommended if you are breastfeeding. LENEST 30 ED contains lactose monohydrate. If you have an intolerance to some sugars, contact your doctor before you start taking LENEST 30 ED. If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell him/her before you start taking LENEST 30 ED. Taking other medicines Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you get without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Some medicines and LENEST 30 ED may interfere with each other. These include: medicines used to treat tuberculosis such as rifampicin, rifabutin a class of antibiotics known as macrolides, such as clarithromycin, erythromycin medicines used to treat fungal infections, such as ketoconazole, griseofulvin medicines used to treat HIV, such as ritonavir or nevirapine some medicines used to treat Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) such as boceprevir, telaprevir, ombitasvir, paritaprevir, dasabuvir medicines used to treat epilepsy such as phenytoin, primidone, barbiturates (e.g. phenobarbital (phenobarbitone)), carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, topiramate, felbamate, lamotrigine ciclosporin, an immunosuppressant medicine etoricoxib, a medicine used to treat painful joint disease melatonin, a hormone used as a sleep aid midazolam, a medicine used as a sedative theophylline, a medicine used to treat respiratory disease tizanidine, a medicine used as a muscle relaxant some medicines used to treat high blood pressure, chest pain or irregular heartbeats such as diltiazem, verapamil herbal medicines containing St John's Wort grapefruit juice. These medicines may be affected by LENEST 30 ED or may affect how well it works. Your doctor may need to alter the dose of your medicine or prescribe a different medicine. You may need to use additional barrier methods of contraception (such as condoms or a diaphragm) while you are taking any of these medicines with LENEST 30 ED and for some time after stopping them. Your doctor will be able to advise you on how long you will need to use additional contraceptive methods. Your doctor and pharmacist have more information on medicines that you need to be careful with or avoid while taking this medicine. How to take LENEST 30 ED Follow all directions given to you by your doctor or pharmacist carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet. If you do not understand the instructions on the label or in this leaflet, ask your doctor or pharmacist for help. How to take it Take one tablet daily at about the same time every day. You must take LENEST 30 ED every day regardless of how often you have sex. This will also help you remember when to take it. Swallow the tablet whole with water. It does not matter if you take it before or after food. Each blister pack is marked with the day of the week. Take your first tablet from the red area on the blister pack corresponding to the day of the week. Follow the direction of the arrows on the blister pack until all the tablets have been taken. A period should begin 2 to 3 days after starting to take the green inactive tablets (last row) and may not have finished before the next pack is started. Always start a new blister pack on the same day of the week as your previous pack. Taking LENEST 30 ED for the first time If you are starting LENEST 30 ED after a natural cycle, and you have not used a hormonal contraceptive in the past month, start on the first day of your period, i.e. the first day of menstrual bleeding. You must also use additional barrier contraceptive precautions (e.g. condoms or a cap or diaphragm with spermicide) for the first 14 days of tablet-taking when having intercourse. Your doctor will advise you when to start if you: are taking LENEST 30 ED after having a baby have had a miscarriage or an abortion. Changing from another contraceptive Changing from a combined oral contraceptive: Start taking LENEST 30 ED on the day after taking the last active tablet in your previous Pill pack. Bleeding may not occur until the end of the first pack of LENEST 30 ED. If you are not sure which were the active/inactive tablets in your previous Pill pack, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Your previous Pill pack may have different colour tablets to those of LENEST 30 ED. Changing from a vaginal ring: Start taking LENEST 30 ED on the day of removal of the ring but at the latest when the next application would have been due. Changing from a progestogen-only pill ('minipill'): Stop taking the minipill on any day and start taking LENEST 30 ED at the same time the next day. You must also use additional barrier contraceptive precautions (e.g. condoms or a diaphragm) for the first 14 days of tablet-taking when having intercourse. Changing from a progestogen-only injection, implant or intrauterine system (IUS): Start taking LENEST 30 ED when your next injection is due, or on the day that your implant or IUS is removed. You must also use additional barrier contraceptive precautions (e.g. condoms or a diaphragm) for the first 14 days of tablet-taking when having intercourse. Stopping LENEST 30 ED You can stop taking LENEST 30 ED at any time. If you are considering becoming pregnant, it is recommended that you begin taking a vitamin supplement containing folic acid. It is best that you start taking folic acid tablets before you stop taking LENEST 30 ED and not stop until your doctor advises this. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about suitable supplements. It is both safe and recommended that you take folic acid during pregnancy. Additional contraceptive precautions When additional contraceptive precautions are required you should either abstain from sex, or use a barrier method of contraception, a cap (or diaphragm) plus spermicide, or a condom. Rhythm methods are not advised as the Pill disrupts the cyclical changes associated with the natural menstrual cycle e.g. changes in temperature and cervical mucus. If you forget to take LENEST 30 ED If you miss a tablet and take the missed tablet within 12 hours of missing it, you should still be protected against pregnancy. If you are more than 12 hours late follow these detailed instructions: For LENEST 30 ED to be most effective, white active tablets need to be taken uninterrupted for 7 days. If you have been taking the white active tablets for 7 uninterrupted days and miss a white active tablet, take the missed tablet as soon as you remember, then go back to taking your Pill as you would normally, even if this means taking two tablets in one day, at the same time. You should still be protected against pregnancy. The chance of pregnancy after missing a white active tablet depends on when you missed the tablet. There is a higher risk of becoming pregnant if you miss a tablet at the beginning or end of a pack. If after taking your missed tablet you have less than 7 days of white active tablets left in a row, you should finish the active tablets in your pack but skip the green inactive tablets. Start taking the white active tablets in your next pack corresponding to the correct day of the week. This is the best way to maintain contraceptive protection. However, you may not have a period until the end of the white active tablets of the second pack. You may have spotting or breakthrough bleeding on tablet-taking days. If you have been taking the white active tablets for less than 7 days and miss a white active tablet, take the missed tablet as soon as you remember, then go back to taking your Pill as you would normally, even if this means taking two tablets in one day, at the same time. In addition, you must also use additional barrier contraceptive precautions (e.g. condoms or a diaphragm) for the next 7 days. If you have had sexual intercourse in the preceding 7 days, there is a possibility of pregnancy and you may need emergency contraception. You should discuss this with your doctor or pharmacist. If you forget to take more than one white active tablet, seek advice from your doctor or pharmacist about what to do. If you have had sexual intercourse in the week before missing your tablets, there is a possibility of becoming pregnant. If you forget to take a green inactive tablet, take it as soon as you remember and take the next tablet at the usual time. You should still be protected against pregnancy because the green tablets do not contain any active ingredients. Summary of advice if you missed a white active tablet more than 12 hours ago: Before missing your tablet, did you take white active tablets for the previous 7 days? NO - Did you have sex in the 7 days before missing the tablet? NO - Take the tablet missed AND use extra barrier precaution for 7 days. If there are fewer than 7 white active tablets left in the pack, finish the white active tablets and go straight to the white active tablets of the next pack. This means you skip the green inactive tablets. YES - See your doctor or pharmacist for advice YES - Does your pack still have 7 active white tablets in a row to follow? NO - Take the tablet you missed AND complete taking the white active tablets. Skip the green inactive tablets. Start your next pack with white active tablets. YES - Take the tablet you missed AND complete the pack as normal Ask your doctor or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. If you take too much (overdose) Immediately telephone your doctor or the Poisons Information Centre (Australia: 13 11 26) for advice, or go to Accident and Emergency at the nearest hospital, if you think that you or anyone else may have taken too much LENEST 30 ED. Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention. While you are taking LENEST 30 ED Things you must do Tell any doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are taking this medicine. If you are about to have any blood tests, tell your doctor that you are taking this medicine. It may interfere with the results of some tests. Have regular check-ups with your doctor. When you are taking the Pill, your doctor will tell you to return for regular check-ups, including getting a Cervical Screening Test. Your doctor will advise how often you need a Cervical Screening Test. A Cervical Screening Test can detect abnormal cells lining the cervix. Sometimes abnormal cells can progress to cancer. If you are about to start on any new medicine, remind your doctor and pharmacist that you are taking LENEST 30 ED. Stop taking LENEST 30 ED and see your doctor immediately if you notice possible signs of thrombosis. These include: one-sided swelling of the leg and/or foot or along a vein in the leg pain or tenderness in the leg which may be felt only when standing or walking increased warmth in the affected leg; red or discoloured skin on the leg sudden onset of unexplained shortness of breath or rapid breathing sudden coughing or coughing up of blood sharp chest pain or sudden severe pain in the chest which may increase with deep breathing severe light headedness or dizziness rapid or irregular heartbeat sudden pain, swelling and slight blue discoloration of an extremity sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination sudden confusion, slurred speech or aphasia; sudden partial or complete loss of vision, double vision, painless blurring of vision which can progress to loss of vision sudden, severe, or prolonged headache with no known cause loss of consciousness or fainting with or without seizure pain, discomfort, pressure, heaviness, sensation of squeezing or fullness in the chest, arm, or below the breastbone discomfort radiating to the back, jaw, throat, arm, stomach feeling of being full, having indigestion or choking sweating, nausea, vomiting extreme weakness and anxiety. If you are going to have surgery, tell the surgeon or anaesthetist beforehand that you are taking LENEST 30 ED. The risk of having blood clots is temporarily increased as a result of major surgery, any surgery to the legs or pelvis, neurosurgery or major trauma. In women who take LENEST 30 ED, the risk may be higher. In women at risk of prolonged immobilisation (including major surgery, any surgery to the legs or pelvis, neurosurgery, or major trauma), your doctor may tell you to stop taking the Pill (in the case of elective surgery at least four weeks in advance) and not resume until two weeks after complete remobilisation. Another method of contraception should be used to avoid unintentional pregnancy. Your doctor may prescribe other treatment (e.g. treatment for blood clots) if LENEST 30 ED has not been discontinued in advance. Other risk factors for blood clotting include temporary immobilisation including air travel of greater than 4 hours, particularly in women with other risk factors. Consult your doctor if you plan to air travel for greater than 4 hours. Consult your doctor if you develop high blood pressure while taking LENEST 30 ED - you may be told to stop taking it. If you become pregnant while taking this medicine, tell your doctor immediately. If you vomit within 3 to 4 hours or have severe diarrhoea after taking a white active tablet, the active ingredients may not have been completely absorbed. This is like missing a tablet. Follow the advice for missed tablets. If you have unexpected bleeding and it continues, becomes heavy, or occurs again, tell your doctor. When taking this Pill for the first few months, you can have irregular vaginal bleeding (spotting or breakthrough bleeding) between your periods. You may need to use sanitary protection but continue to take your tablets as normal. Irregular vaginal bleeding usually stops once your body has adjusted to the Pill, usually after about 3 months. If you have missed a period, but you have taken all your tablets, it is unlikely that you are pregnant, as long as: you have taken the white active tablets at the right time you have not been taking a medicine(s) that may interfere with your Pill you have not vomited or had severe diarrhoea during this cycle. If this is so, continue to take LENEST 30 ED as usual. If you have any concerns consult your doctor or pharmacist. If you miss your period twice in a row, you may be pregnant, even if you have taken the Pill correctly. Stop taking LENEST 30 ED and seek advice from your doctor. You must use a non-hormonal method of contraception, (such as condoms or a diaphragm) until your doctor rules out pregnancy. LENEST 30 ED will not protect you from HIV-AIDS or any other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as chlamydia, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhoea, hepatitis B, human papillomavirus and syphilis. To protect yourself from STIs, you will need to use additional barrier contraceptives (e.g. condoms). Things you must not do Do not take LENEST 30 ED to treat any other conditions, unless your doctor tells you to. Do not give your medicine to anyone else. Do not stop taking your medicine or change the dosage without checking with your doctor. You may become pregnant if you are not using any other contraceptive and you stop taking LENEST 30 ED, or do not take a tablet every day. Side effects Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking LENEST 30 ED. This Pill helps most women, but it may have unwanted side effects in some women. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical attention if you get some of the side effects. Do not be alarmed by the following lists of side effects. You may not experience any of them. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. The following list includes the more common side effects of your Pill. These are usually mild and lessen with time. If you notice any of the following side effects and they worry you, tell your doctor or pharmacist: acne nausea stomach pain changes in weight headache, including migraines mood changes, including depression breast tenderness or pain hair loss or hair growth. The following list includes very serious but rare side effects. You may need urgent medical attention or hospitalisation. If you experience any of the following, tell your doctor immediately, or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital: pain in the chest, arm or below the breastbone pain or discomfort that goes to your back breathlessness and/or difficulty breathing swelling, pain or tenderness of one leg sudden weakness, numbness or bad 'pins and needles' of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination severe, sudden stomach pains a fainting attack or you collapse unusual headaches or migraines that are worse than usual sudden problems with speaking, seeing or understanding what people are saying to you The side effects listed above are possible signs of a blood clot (thrombosis). jaundice (yellowing skin or yellowing eyes) you cough up blood breast lumps unexplained vaginal bleeding. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything else that is making you feel unwell. Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some people. Blood clots and the Pill Blood clots may block blood vessels in your body. This type of blood clot is also called thrombosis. Blood clots sometimes occur in the deep veins of the legs (DVT). If a blood clot breaks away from the veins where it has formed, it may reach and block the blood vessels of the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism (PE). Blood clots can also occur in the blood vessels of the heart (causing a heart attack) or the brain (causing a stroke). Blood clots are a rare occurrence and can develop whether or not you are taking the Pill. They can also happen during pregnancy. The risk of having blood clots is higher in Pill users than in non-users, but not as high as during pregnancy. The risk of a blood clot is highest during the first year of taking the Pill for the first time, or after having a break from the Pill for 4 weeks or more. If you notice possible signs of a blood clot, stop taking LENEST 30 ED and consult your doctor immediately. To prevent pregnancy, you must also use additional barrier contraceptive precautions (e.g. condoms or a diaphragm). If you are concerned about an increased risk of blood clots while on LENEST 30 ED, speak to your doctor. Cancer and the Pill Breast cancer has been diagnosed slightly more often in women who take the Pill than in women of the same age who do not take the Pill. This slight increase in the numbers of breast cancer diagnoses gradually disappears during the course of the 10 years after women stop taking the Pill. It is not known whether the difference is caused by the Pill. It may be that these women were examined more often, so that the breast cancer was noticed earlier. It is important that you check your breasts regularly and contact your doctor if you feel any lumps. In rare cases benign liver tumours and, even more rarely, malignant liver tumours have been reported in users of the Pill. These tumours may lead to internal bleeding. Contact your doctor immediately if you have severe pain in your abdomen. Cervical cancer has been reported to occur more often in women who have been taking the Pill for a long time. This finding may not be caused by the Pill but may be related to sexual behaviour and other factors. After taking LENEST 30 ED Storage Keep your tablets in the pack until it is time to take them. If you take the tablets out of the pack they may not keep well. Keep your tablets in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25C. Do not store LENEST 30 ED or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it on a window sill or in the car. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. Keep LENEST 30 ED 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. Return any unused medicine to your pharmacist. Product description What LENEST 30 ED looks like LENEST 30 ED active tablets are round, white to off white, uncoated, biconvex tablets debossed with 711 on one side and the other side plain. LENEST 30 ED inactive tablets are round, green coloured, uncoated, biconvex tablets debossed with 274 on one side and the other side plain. Lenest 30 ED comes in a box containing 1 or 4 blister packs. Not all pack sizes may be marketed. Ingredients Each blister pack of LENEST 30 ED contains 21 white to off white active tablets and 7 green inactive tablets. Each white to off white active tablet contains: Active ingredients: 150 micrograms of levonorgestrel 30 micrograms of ethinylestradiol. Inactive ingredients: povidone lactose monohydrate maize starch magnesium stearate. Each green inactive tablet contains: lactose monohydrate iron oxide yellow brilliant blue FCF aluminium lake polacrilin potassium magnesium stearate. This medicine does not contain sucrose, gluten, tartrazine or any other azo dyes. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a type of MRI, may be able to predict functional post-deployment outcomes for veterans who sustained mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), or concussion, during combat, according to a new study published in the journal Radiology. MTBI is a public health problem of increasingly-recognized importance, particularly among military veterans. Recently, there has been a dramatic rise in the incidence of combat-related MTBI. More than 300,000 U.S. service members were diagnosed with MTBI between 2000 and 2015, according to the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center. Current assessment of MTBI remains challenging due to the difficulties in establishing the diagnosis, predicting outcomes and separating the effects of MTBI from other conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). DTI uses measurements of water movement in the brain to detect abnormalities, particularly in white matter. Previous studies have linked DTI metrics to neurocognitive function and short-term functional outcomes in groups of patients. The desire to uncover possible long-term effects spurred Jeffrey B. Ware, M.D., from the Philadelphia VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pa., to evaluate combat veterans using this technique. Dr. Ware and colleagues used brain MRI and DTI to study 57 military veterans who had a clinical diagnosis of MTBI upon return from deployment. The average length of time between injury and post-deployment evaluation was 3.8 years with an average follow-up duration of 1.4 years. "All conventional MR images were interpreted as normal," Dr. Ware said. "We retrospectively analyzed the data from the DTI sequence to derive measures of white matter integrity, which we compared to clinical measures and subsequent outcome measures 6 months to 2.5 years after the initial evaluation." The results showed significant associations between initial post-deployment DTI measurements and neurobehavioral symptoms, timing of injury, and subsequent functional outcomes. The measurements also correlated with greater healthcare utilization among veterans with MTBI. Following initial post-deployment evaluation, 34 of the study participants returned to work. Veterans who did not return to work displayed significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher diffusivity in a specific brain region, the left internal capsule. These measures imply less structural integrity in that area of the brain. As this region is known to contain important fibers providing motor stimulation to the typically dominant right side of the body, the results may provide a correlation between impairments in fine motor functioning and inability to return to work. "Our findings suggest that differences in white matter microstructure may partially account for the variance in functional outcomes among this population. In particular, loss of white matter integrity has a direct, measurable effect," Dr. Ware said. "It was illuminating to see the association between measures of white matter integrity and important outcomes occurring months to years down the road in our study population." The couple in the black and white photograph snuggles inside a convertible parked behind several rows of cars at a drive-in theater. An airplane flies across the movie screen while, in real life, a steam train chugs by, plumes of steam pouring from it. The image, part of the Lynchburg Museums latest exhibit, is one of O. Winston Links most famous photographs, one he took at West Virginias Iaeger Drive-In on the hot night of August 2, 1956. The theater was located on the Norfolk and Western Railways main line, and the movie that night was Battle Taxi, a film about the Korean War. Link posed the couple in his own 1952 Buick convertible so he could capture the moment the train sped by; it was part of a project he worked on from 1955 through 1960 in collaboration with the N&W. He saw the end of the steam [train] era was coming, says Doug Harvey, director of the Lynchburg Museum System. Link reached out to the railroad company about photographing the trains, Harvey says, and they worked with him to create these wonderful [images]. Twenty of them are on loan from Roanokes O. Winston Link Museum for the exhibit, A Great Change in the Situation of Man: Lynchburgs Railroads, which opened earlier this month and runs through the end of 2016. Lynchburg [was] a big railroad town, Harvey says. By 1860, there were three railroads at the bottom of Ninth Street. The effect was like Lynchburg having an interstate highway system. The three were the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad (VTR), the Southside (SSR) from Petersburg and the Orange & Alexandria (O&A) to points north. Each one ended on the riverfront downtown. Changes came after the Civil War; tracks were destroyed and bridges had burned. Several railroads changed names and ownership. But, Harvey says, Lynchburg was able to recover more quickly than other areas of the South because of the railroad system. A series of panels tell the history of the railroads and how they contributed to industries here. The exhibition also includes a slideshow of historic photographs, old conductor uniforms, tools, two model train sets, and luxury items that would have been found in dining and sleeping cars a Pullman Co. blanket, playing cards and fine china, some from Harveys own family collection. There are images of Percivals Island when it was a train yard, and a 1982 photograph, taken by Garland Harper, of the last train to pass through the Hollins Mill Tunnel, now part of the Blackwater Creek Trail. And theres an interactive piece that plays the 1924 song Wreck of the Old 97 on a loop; the song is about the 1903 crash of a freight train outside of Danville that became a sensation, with thousands of spectators at the scene, newspaper stories, and even a series of musical ballads, according to Encyclopedia Virginia. The train was on its way to North Carolina from Monroe, where the engineer was informed he was behind schedule. To make up time, he increased the speed, causing it to jump the tracks. Harvey remembers learning the song which begins with the line Well they gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia as a child. Its funny the things that stick in your head, he says. I could still probably do five verses. Eight men jogged slowly up 9th street toward the steps of Monument Terrace on Tuesday, followed closely by two police cars with lights flashing. The runners, who began their trip in Gettysburg, breathed a sigh of relief as they began their ascent to the top of Monument Terraces 139 steps the end of their 250-mile journey, for the day, anyway. Tomorrow, the process starts over again as they head towards Knoxville, Tennessee. The group calls themselves Shepherds Men and they have a simple mission: to run 1,500 miles between Boston and Atlanta to raise money for the SHARE Military Initiative, a donor-funded 12-week-program that treats the physical and psychological effects of traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder. Their stop at Monument Terrace is symbolic as well as it is the citys memorial to Lynchburg residents lost to war. The runners, 15 total, range from Army, Navy, Marine Corps and one civilian from across the country who come together to bring awareness to those who may be struggling. Each runner wears that reminder physically a flak jacket strapped across their chest that adds 22 pounds, representing the average number of veterans who commit suicide in the United States each day. Each runner commits to running 22 kilometers per day or about 14 miles for the nine day period. U.S. Marine and Madison Heights native Troy Campbell, one of the founders of Shepherds Men, said the goal is to raise $1 million for the initiative based out of Atlanta. Too many of them end in suicide, Campbell said. They dont get to be fathers and grow into grandfathers and great grandfathers one day. Campbell previously said he decided to get involved after meeting a veteran and his wife and three children. The man was about to commit suicide but received life saving treatment for his post traumatic stress disorder. His wife had told Campbell without that intervention, her children would have grown up without their father. The group has five more days of running ahead of them Its very motivating, he said of the crowd gathered Monument Terrace to greet them. I wish it was the last day. That would be great. Were kind of on a high right now. Lynchburg Police Chief Raul Diaz, Mayor Michael Gillette and a few members of City Council came out to meet with runners. The group was escorted to the American Legion by Rolling Thunder, a motorcycle group that works to bring awareness to the prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, to enjoy a cook out before they head out in the morning. Its an honor, said Larry Fink, vice president of Rolling Thunder Chapter 4 Virginia. Its an important job theyre doing. David Stokes, of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Lynchburg Chapter 196, said at the cook out, many of the local veterans chapters will present the group with a check for the SHARE Military Initiative for more than $1,000. Asked if other cities come out to support them like Lynchburg does, Campbell said many dont. We go through cities like Boston and New York City, he said. Maybe well get three or four people, which is great. Campbell said each of the guys fight over who gets to run the Lynchburg leg of the journey because of the welcome they get. The veterans groups in Lynchburg and surrounding counties do [the best] by far, he said. As a child, multidisciplinary artist Aggie Zed would often watch her late father repair televisions at the dining room table. He worked at a television station. He was like an assistant engineer, she says. He was an inventor type. He was always bringing junk home from the television station and trying to figure out how to put it to use. Those moments have constantly influenced Zeds work. Both of her parents encouraged her artistic nature, but her father, especially, fostered that creativity by buying her books of cartoons and art supplies. That bond was so strong that she legally took her fathers first name, Zed, as her surname when she began to show her art more widely. A lot of how I work is exactly that way [he worked], says Zed, who now lives in Gordonsville. Im sitting at my little work table with my soldering iron and my bits of metal and junk. Just sitting there trying to figure out how to use it, how to make it work, how to build it into something, where Im saying something about people and humanity and the environment. Zed who has exhibited from New York to California, with plenty of stops in Virginia is most known for her ceramic figurines, though she also sketches and paints with pastels and ink. The truth is, I use so many mediums and combine them, it would be hard for me to say whats primary, she says. Increasingly, all of those mediums are growing together in my work. When Im working in ceramic, Im often thinking in the other mediums. A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Zed grew up on Sullivans Island in a little brick rancher surrounded by animals. We had so many animals, our neighbors wished we had grown up on a farm somewhere else, probably, she jokes. Our house was furnished with a lot of those inventions. All these little kids running around and these falling-down contraptions that my dad had made with all of these animals running around outside. Does it sound like my work? It really does. Oranges and teals mix with greens and browns on acrylic paper in her paintings of stiff, toy cowboys stuck in posed positions. Horses with metal bodies, frayed, copper wire tails and gentle eyes stare outward, searching. A man with a simple, placid face plays with a colored puppet on each hand sometimes its a bunny or a horse, other times its a cat or an even smaller version of himself. I think there's kind of a mystery about her work, says John Morgan, who runs Rivermont Studio. Its not just cute. It has an edge to it and thats one of the reasons it holds the mystery for me. Morgan first met Zed when he bought a piece from her while the two of them were living in Richmond. Theyve been friends ever since and over the years, have exhibited together five times, two of which were in Lynchburg. Now, Zeds work will make a third appearance at Rivermont Studio, this time with book artist Ginna Cullen, opening Friday. The way [Zed] uses material is fantastic, he says. She draws with wire. You can be talking to her and shell just be fiddling with her finger and hand you something shes made while shes not even looking at it. Shes one of those people that thinks three-dimensionally. Zed never limits her creative work to a moment in her past or a sketch in her notebook, nor does she shape it with a set idea of what the finished piece should look like in her mind. Instead, she pulls from anything and everything that pops into her head and allows those ideas to transform as she works. Whatever medium I'm in, Im always poking around in it and exploring, and trying to solve something at the moment, she says. It makes a lot of my work clumsy and goofy, but it also gives my work a lot of the energy and wonder that's in it. It doesnt look like Im executing something I already know how to do, it looks like Im trying to find something and discover something in each piece, I think." While she may not envision each work from a drawing in her notebook, Zed has a ritual of sketching almost every morning in bed, after fetching her cup of coffee. "If I get my cup of coffee and go back to bed and just sit there, it's almost like the dream part of myself is still hanging out with me and this kind of mysterious aspect comes into the sketches." Both Zeds paintings and her sculptural work have a surreal quality, like youve stepped into a madcap hallucination. Examining each piece offers the feeling of walking through a series of tableaux within an intense dream without knowing how it begins or ends. The meaning seems just on the edge of understanding but once the vision has passed and wakefulness has returned, it still cannot be explained as the memory begins to fade. All that remains is an intense guttural feeling. You see her work and you've never seen anything like it, Morgan says. Every one has its own character about it, its own kind of mystery about it. After graduating from The University of South Carolina with a fine arts degree, Zed moved to Richmond and supported herself by designing ceramic chess sets, something that led right into developing the human-animal hybrid figurines that have intrigued audiences up and down the East Coast. One of the first ones I remember doing was putting a horses head on a human figure, she says of the figurine, which developed from repeatedly molding knight pieces for her chess sets. Once I saw those two things together and the magic of that, I started trying to get good enough at doing other animal heads. These man-animal hybrids illustrate one of the foundations of Zeds points of view: Her search to discover what defines a person. It was a figure that wasn't going to be kind of capable of anything except trying to understand itself, she says. And that can probably be said about all my figures. Each figure is about that person having one event or one thing that it's about that thats its struggling, or existing with or celebrating. It's like stripping a person down to an essential idea of thought about him or herself. This search for the central essence of a person also fits into Zeds view of humanity and the world in which we live, a concept best illustrated through what she calls her scrap floats. Theyre parade floats from a future where were slabbing together the remnants of a technology we didnt use properly or weve let go too far, she says. On Sullivans Island, Zed and the other kids would ride their bikes through the concrete foundations of decommissioned army barracks and vacant, crumbling structures that looked like they could have sprung from the pages of a post-apocalyptic young adult novel. There were all these old concrete foundations with [pieces] of metal sticking up out of them and rings, where it looked like things had hung from these rings, she says. It was a playground and a mystery. As little kids, we would have wondered if maybe aliens didnt sometimes come down there and hang out on that end of the island. The shapes that transfixed her as a child reappear time and time again in Zeds complicated mixed media sculptures. She likes people to look at it and have their own reaction to it, Morgan says. I think shes really interested in people bringing their own baggage to her work and interpreting it that way. Armless men operate peculiar machinery made of arcing wire and painted, metal slabs on wheels. A dog head on a winged human torso drives a scooter-like contraption, his tiny booted feet standing tiptoe on the edge of it. What I have to say is something about people finding out about how we exist, what were doing to ourselves, with ourselves, to the planet, she says. Its the stuff I think about when Im building things. In some cases, they start looking like people that are still part flesh and blood, muscle and sinew, and part machines and levers. Zed describes herself as a tinkerer, adventuring into art for her own amusement and then sharing her discoveries with the world. And it all ties back to sitting at the table with her father and that moment of trying to achieve something seemingly impossible. A lot of my work is about longing longing or yearning or trying to understand or reach or touch something that you just can't quite get to, Zed says. Its what people are most interested in, probably. Its the stuff they cant have yet, or they dont understand or isnt complete to them yet. For Zed, its the mysteries of living and the desire to solve them that continues to drive her artistic pursuits. Getting really close to something, really close to understanding it, but not quite able to solve the puzzle is kind of the most interesting time, she says. As an artist, Ive tried to constantly put myself in that position. State police are investigating a failed Appomattox factory project that received $1.4 million in taxpayer money partly based on phony credentials posted on a company website. Virginia State Police in recent weeks expanded an initial inquiry into Lindenburg Industry LLC to a criminal investigation, spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. The probe is assigned to one case agent in the Appomattox field office, Geller said. Lindenburg missed a deadline earlier this month to repay a seven-figure grant from the Governors Opportunity Fund, and the state has sued the site consultant in the deal. Those developments followed an investigation by The Roanoke Times that revealed the bogus company website and the lack of vetting by the states economic development arm. In late 2014, Virginia announced it would invest $1.4 million in plans by Lindenburg to manufacture industrial clean-air products in Appomattox, 20 miles east of Lynchburg. Lindenburg, whose Chinese principals said they would export the goods to China, pledged to invest $113 million in equipment and improvements at a former furniture plant and hire 349 employees at an average annual salary of $32,000. Months passed without visible activity at the site. Lindenburg never retrofitted the factory or hired any workers. Bills piled up. Finally, in December, Lindenburg lost the plant in a foreclosure auction arranged by the site consultant to collect fees it claims the company owed. The Roanoke Times investigation published in mid-January exposed lapses in the vetting of Lindenburg by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the agencys heavy reliance on Development Advisors, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based site consultant, for information about the company. Virginias legislature ordered a two-year review of the partnership by a state auditor. The partnership said it would enhance internal procedures to better vet companies seeking state money to locate or expand in Virginia. In addition, the partnership contacted state police for help in learning whether there was any fraud involved in the transaction, agency general counsel Sandi McNinch has said. In a civil filing, the partnership petitioned a judge in Appomattox Circuit Court to freeze $859,000 raised by the foreclosure sale. The partnership said it should receive the money instead of Development Advisors. The site consultant opposed the action; Lindenburg did not. The case is marked active by court officials and awaits further review. Martin Briley, the partnerships president and CEO for the past four years, left the agency March 10. Chris Lumsden, the agencys board chairman, said last week that Briley wasnt fired. We just exercised our option within the agreement to terminate the relationship, he said, referring to Brileys employment contract, which permitted VEDP to discharge Briley at its option in exchange for a years base pay, most recently $299,250, and health benefits. After a discussion of the skill set that was going to be needed to maybe move the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in a different direction, which really involves collaboration, partnering, team building, building alliances, communicating, telling the story well, we just felt as we reset the VEDP going forward, that Martin was not the right leader for VEDP going forward, Lumsden said. It was nothing that he did wrong. Our feeling was that we needed new leadership as we reset VEDP going forward. Lumsden said he hopes the board can name a successor before the end of the year. GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Baptist is Baptist Her grounding in the faith began after meeting Dr George Elton Griffith on an airplane back to TT. His push for the faiths acceptance resulted in it being seen as a legitimate religion. At that time, Johns son was ill. I was amazed because I sat there and this man started telling me that I had a son who was ill, she said in her interview. She recalled Griffith along with other members of his group coming to her house every day to pray for her son. Before that I did not have that relationship with God...I had spent too much money taking him to doctors...Shortly after he prayed for him...it was exactly one month after, he [Griffith] died. He asked me to stay with Mother Elaine. I became her chaplain and her secretary. In the beginning I remember they would say, where they get this wet duck from, she said with a chuckle. But 20 years on, he has never been sick again. What attracted me was Eltons and Elaines meekness. That is what they presented to me. That is what I like about the faith. There is a pureness of heart about it. That meekness and that gentle faith, she said. Today, John is the general secretary of the National Evangelical Spiritual Baptists Faith Inc (NESBF). The group will hold its annual event in observance of the Spiritual Baptist Holiday at City Hall from 9 am to 11.30 am will be a Thanksgiving Service, then from 12.30 pm to 4 pm there will be a cultural programme. Minister of Works and Transport, Fitzgerald Hinds, will address the event on behalf of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. Port-of- Spain Mayor, Keron Valentine, is scheduled to speak at the event and also Toronto Archbishop Dr Deloris Devan Seiveright. The year marks 65 years since the repeal of the Shouter Baptist Ordinance which was passed in 1917 was repealed in 1951. It is now 28 years since former prime minister Basdeo Panday declared March 30 as Spiritual/Shouter Baptist Day. On its website, The West Indian United Spiritual Baptist Sacred Order Inc wrote, There is no official documentation of the early beginnings of the Spiritual Baptist faith. Nevertheless, the available histories of Trinidad and Tobago, the works written about religion in the nation, writings about the Spiri tual/Shouter Baptists, and the oral tradition provide sufficient proof that the people among whom the faith emerged were the Africans of the slave and ex-slave community residing in Trinidad. In 1843, George Cowen attempted to offer respectability to the already existing Baptist community under the cover of the Baptist Missionary Society of London, under the condition that they give up shouting and the manifestation of spirit possession. Those who accepted the offer came to be known as London Baptists. Those Baptists who rejected British domination divided themselves into two: one group like the London Baptists who gave up shouting and the manifestation of spirit possession, the Independent Baptists; the other group who continued to walk the byways and highways preaching the gospel, calling man to repentance, prophesying of impending danger called Wayside, Candle, Barefoot, Shouter, Spiritual Baptists. This latter group maintained their shouting and manifestation of spirit possession as integral to their worship. For John, while the indigenous faith has developed tremendously, there are aspects of it which need to be addressed, both internally and externally. I love the faith but I dont like everything about it. I dont like the mediocrity, she said. One of the first things, she said, is some form of a monument for Griffith. While, she admitted, Griffith has been honoured through national medals, the Chaconia Gold and the Hummingbird, he has not yet received his just due. For John, some took what should have rightly gone to Griffith and gave it to others, who made it their claim to fame. A cathedral for the faith is something that is also long overdue. Griffith, John noted, died waiting on the cathedral. While it is no longer prohibited to worship as a Spiritual/ Shouter Baptist, there is still a stigma attached to the religion. Many members of the faith, she said, were PhD holders, were prominent members of society, held top jobs within the society but, yet, kept their faith hidden for fear of victimisation. John also said that of 20 invitations issued to members of Parliament, only one responded. This, too, pointed to the level of societal regard held for the faith. She praised Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowleys wife, Sharon Rowley, for personally responding to the organisation to inform that she was unable to attend. While she has seen shifts in the faith, the move away from some traditional aspects of the faith- like some churches no longer using the bell in services-she believes that the religion will continue to grow and develop. She admitted that the faith lost some people to other religions but she also seen a growth of youth membership. There is a church in Arouca with more than 100 young people- St Johns Spiritual Baptist church...A lot of young people believe in the faith. While she has also seen a major paradigm shift in gender dimension of the faithwhere more young men and women work collaboratively for the faiths growth and expansion- she believes that the faith is still largely chauvinistic. Many women, John said, were still left out of the decision- making processes of the faith. I dont like the male dominance, she said. But for John what is needed most for the faiths continued development and presence in TT , is its unity. The faith, she said, clearly, looking off into the distance from her Frederick Street store ...., Less politics and more church would help tremendously. A spiritual plea to parents The authentic religious leader is few and far between. It is widely believed in the Caribbean diaspora of Brooklyn that Abbess Jennifer Rowe is one such leader. Her road to the coveted title of abbess has been arduous, challenging, seemingly crafted to test the best of wills. This explains her emphasis on the mind in attaining success, be it secular or spiritual. Our religious community is too reliant on form and rituals without a clear understanding of their inner meaning, she says. Without will and mental discipline, enlightenment is illusory. A native of Trinidad, and a state-licensed cleric at Mount Tabor Spiritual Baptist Church on East New York Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, Rowe has earned the respect of many. For years she has been committed to charitable work at Brooklyn homeless shelters. She is also involved in pastoral counselling, and manages an annual Toys for Tots Christmas event. Now, she has turned her attention to minors whom she says have lost their moral bearing. Our society and the world depend on the poise and responsibility of our young people. If they are swerving from the straight path, our family structure is threatened. I am afraid we are at this critical juncture. Abbess Rowe views authentic, mind-based spirituality as essential for social restoration. The mind is our tool and the greatest aspect of our will. She oftentimes invokes the philosophical injunction: Know Thyself! Through Gods power, we are able to realise our dreams. We have everything available to us to become His emissaries; to be creative, healthy, and successful. She speaks of inspiration and flashes of genius, in the vein of a Zen master. She believes that timeless spiritual practices to nurture the mind should be understood and embraced by young people. I see baptism in a contractual sense...At that moment a commitment to be obedient is made. You become recipient to greater awareness, guidance and wisdom. It is a sacrament not to be taken lightly. It carries profound mystical properties. She is also a proponent of fasting and cites its practice in every religion known to man. We cannot temper our emotions, desires, and temptations without self-control. Falling victim to peer pressure and the myriad forms of addiction is the most regrettable shortcoming of young people. The most effective way of combating this scourge is by fasting. When asked at what age one should undergo this sometimes Herculean challenge, she refers to the fast of Ninevah (Jonah 1:1-2) From the highest to the lowest fasted to prevent an imminent catastrophe, Rowe offers, recalling this instructive lesson with passion. They covered themselves with bristling sackcloth; even the king sat in ashes yes, from the king to the infant, even the livestock. Although written with some hyperbole, the message of mental strength, spiritual reflection, and resilience is applicable for all generations, many argue. During fasting, prayer and meditation are ones sustenance, ones food, Rowe continues, noting that the practise varies in duration depending on intent and circumstances. She concedes, though, that fasting should be undertaken with counsel and supervision, especially when involving minors. She also emphasises that individuals using medications should seek advice from their physicians. One characteristic that defines the Spiritual Baptist movement is that of mourning. It goes hand in hand with fasting, Rowe states. Devotees are secluded in prayer for multiple days. Here, silence is golden. Inner prayer, meditation and internal chanting ignite a transformation in consciousness from the carnal to the sacred; and the mundane to the sublime. It is an esoteric practice shrouded in secrecy and at times, controversy. The practise that can last for up to 30 days has biblical support, according to teachers of the faith. Daniel 10:1-10 is cited as evidence. The benefits of this undertaking are said to be monumental. The perceptive abilities are heightened and the healing, curative prowess is awakened. Rowe acknowledges the culpability of adults and parents in the mire and hopelessness besetting many youths. They are learning from us, but the wrong things. She is critical of parents who resort to corporal punishment and verbal abuse to discipline recalcitrant children. If you speak blessings on your children they will be blessed. If you speak angrily to them, its a form of cursing, and they will be cursed. The word and sentiments must spell love and must be spoken even at the embryonic stage of development, she asserts, noting the physiological damages done to the foetus by alcohol and drug abuse. Similarly parents unsuspectingly transfer negative energies to the womb when they drown in destructive thoughts. Unfortunately, if parents are not loved or feel the power of love they cannot bestow it. It becomes a vicious cycle. Rowe presents a philosophy that fuses spirit and matter. She uses spiritual tools to accomplish the unimaginable and advises parents to establish a spiritual foundation, a building block for posterity - a positive legacy. Our growth as a people hinges on self-examination and transmittance of ideals and principles to those most precious to us. Its admirable to leave material things to our children but it is greater to engender ethics, to leave them with a moral compass. This is indestructible and immutable. Our heritage must be based on these standards. Its all well and good to speak about culture, but a culture that promotes selfishness, materialism arrogance, and zealotry is not worth having. Feedback: glenvilleashby@ gmail.com or follow him on Twitter@ glenvilleashby Dr Glenville Ashby is the author of Anam Cara: Your Soul Friend and Bridge to Enlightenment and Creativity Israel Khan: Charge person who lit fire Campbell was one of a team of first-responders to the fire from the Ministry of Agriculture. He was trapped in the blaze and died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital on Friday night after sustaining burns to 80 per cent of his body. He is to be laid to rest on Friday at 3 pm at the St Charles RC Church, Tunapuna. One resident, Barbara Jardine, later disclosed that the fire actually began in the backyard of a Hutton Road resident who was fully cognisant of the illegality and dangers of burning in the dry season. Khan, an eminent criminal prosecutor, said there could well be adequate legal basis for a charge of manslaughter based on gross negligence. I think the person should be charged because too many people are deliberately lighting fires every dry season, Khan told Newsday. It is gross negligence or an unlawful act if you light a fire deliberately. You have to contemplate the fact that there might be people in the forest, or nearby houses, or that fire officers are likely to respond and there might be people who could die or suffer injury as a result. It is almost like dangerous driving. A person charged with manslaughter faces a term of imprisonment ranging from ten to 15 years to life. Section 8 of the Forests Act makes it an offence if any person kindles, keeps or carries any fire except at such seasons and in such manner as the minister may from time to time notify. Further, under the Agricultural Fires Act, the period December to June has been designated the fire season, meaning during this period a fire permit is required for the use of any outdoor fire. Asked yesterday if any permit was granted for any fire at Lady Chancellor Road last Friday, Minister of Agriculture Clarence Rambharath said, I would not have that information now. He referred queries to Conservator of Forests John Radgman. Radgman was unable to state whether any permit had been issued. He stated, You have to speak with the Fire Service about that. Chief Fire Officer Kenny Gopaul was not immediately available. 'He Had the Chance to Go in and Save the Children' (Newser) Donald Trump has encountered protesters as well as hostile radio hosts in Wisconsin, and one of those demonstrators told police that things turned very ugly outside a rally in Janesville on Tuesday. Police say a 15-year-old girl was groped and pepper-sprayed in the face outside the rally in Paul Ryan's hometown, USA Today reports. They say that after a man in the crowd groped the girl, she pushed him during a confrontation, only to be sprayed by another man. The girl, who had been carrying a sign denouncing Trump as a white supremacist, required hospital treatment, as did a 19-year-old woman who was also sprayed. "We are currently looking for two suspects, one for the sexual assault and one for the pepper spray," police said in a statement. One suspect can be seen clearly in video of the clash. Janesville Police Chief David Moore tells WKOW that the rally, Trump's first in the state ahead of its April 5 primary, was otherwise largely peaceful. Inside the Holiday Inn Express, Trump addressed campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's alleged assault of a journalist. "I mean, maybe he touched her a little bit, but I didn't, it was almost like he was trying to keep her off me, right?" he said. That caused the crowd to "erupt in hatred" toward reporter Michelle Fields, according to MSNBC, which notes that Trump seemed surprised when the crowd also booed when Ryan's name was mentioned. Turning his attention to Ted Cruz, Trump denounced him as "not a natural-born citizen," but he made no mention of Cruz's wife, Heidi. (At a town hall that evening, Trump backed away from his GOP loyalty pledge.) (Newser) Mark Kirk on Tuesday became the first Republican senator to meet with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, criticizing GOP leaders' refusal to hold confirmation hearings or a vote on the longtime federal judge and praising him as "one of the most eminent jurists in the country," the AP reports. There was no sign the session would erode Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's insistence on leaving the vacancy unfilled until President Obama's successor names a selection next year. Even so, Kirk's 20-minute session with Garland provided Democrats with a visual imageand wordsthat they hope will pressure other Republican senators to end their blockade. Kirk, who represents Democratic-leaning Illinois, is perhaps the most imperiled Senate Republican facing re-election in November. He's one of just three Senate Republicans to say the Senate Judiciary Committee should hold hearings on Garland. And he's one of three GOP senatorsalong with Susan Collins of Maine and Jerry Moran of Kansasto at least be open to a Senate vote on the nominee, saying Tuesday he would "obviously" consider voting for him. "By leading by example, I'm showing what a rational, responsible guy would do [who] really wants the constitutional process to go forward," Kirk said. (Read more US Supreme Court stories.) (Newser) "I have sobriety, good books, Netflix, and a wonderful family," Jessica Grubb wrote from a Michigan hospital on Feb. 23, ahead of hip surgery. On March 1, the 30-year-old recovering heroin addict left the hospital with an IV port in her arm and 50 prescribed pills of oxycodone. She was found dead of "oxycodone toxicity" the next day, reports the Huffington Post. Though she'd been sober for six months, she "still had that addict's brain," says father David Grubb, a former West Virginia state senator. Among those to mourn is President Obama, whom David Grubb had told of his daughter's addiction at a Charleston town hall in October, per the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The story "left a powerful impression on me and has helped accelerate efforts to deal with this national epidemic of addiction," Obama says in a condolence letter. (This week, the president rolled out new initiatives on that front, notes CNN.) David Grubb says his daughter was "an incredible achiever" and "smart as a whip." But then she was introduced to heroin, and "all her problems went away and she didn't feel any pain." Four stints in rehab over seven years ultimately failed. In August 2015, her mom found her turning blue from a heroin overdose. That "literally scared her to death," David Grubb says of his daughter. She got a job and apartment in Ann Arbor, Mich., where she attended meetings. But when she was handed 50 oxycodone pills, "I think it was just too much temptation for her to resist," her dad says. He adds the prescribing doctor later said "he had no idea" that Grubb was a recovering addict, even though her parents had informed doctors. The Grubbs plan to advocate for "Jessie's Law" to block doctors from accidentally offering opioids to addicts. (The drug that Americans worry about the most is perfectly legal.) (Newser) A pest control company that turned a Delaware family's Caribbean vacation into a living nightmare without end has been ordered to cough up $10 millionnot including medical expenses. Steve Esmond, Theresa Devine, and their two teenage sons almost died a year ago after staying in a US Virgin Islands vacation villa above one that Terminix workers had sprayed with methyl bromide. The Environment al Protection Agency banned the chemical for indoor use more than 30 years ago, but investigators found that Terminix used it to fumigate more than a dozen US Virgin Islands locations over the last few years, CBS News reports. The settlement includes $8 million in fines, $1 million to repay the government for cleanup efforts, and $1 million for National Fish and Wildlife Foundation community service projects in the US territory, Philly.com reports. The company also agreed to cover medical expenses for the family, which suffered what prosecutors described as "profoundly debilitating injuries." Esmond and his sons were the most seriously injured. In September, a family lawyer told CNN that Esmond was slowly recovering, though he suffered severe tremors, while the boys, former star athletes at their school, were "100% cognizant" but almost completely unable to move. "Neurologically, it's like being in a torture chamber," the lawyer said. (Pesticides have caused some huge marijuana recalls in Colorado.) (Newser) A woman is suing a nail salon in Santa Clarita, Calif., alleging a pedicure gone wrong caused her to lose a toe. Sonia Algara, who filed a negligence suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, says she warned workers at Dynasty Nails that she was diabetic and at a high risk of infection before her pedicure on March 15, 2015, reports CBS Los Angeles. Yet during the treatment, Algara says an employee cut between the fourth and fifth toes on her left foot with a pair of scissors. "They stopped right there," says her attorney, adding Algara visited a hospital that same day. But "the incision caused severe pain and infection and eventually led to the pinky toe needing to be amputated" within a week, according to the suit. Algara says her balance has been affected and she can't climb stairs or wear certain shoes. She's seeking unspecified damages for medical expenses, mental anguish, and emotional distress, reports My News LA. (A woman claimed a pedicure killed her husband.) (Newser) What to do when you're being held hostage on an aircraft by somebody who appears to be wearing a suicide vest? For Ben Innes of Leeds, England, it was time for a selfiewith the hijacker. The 26-year-old, who was one of the last hostages left on the plane after hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa forced the EgyptAir Alexandria-to-Cairo flight to land in Cyprus, tells the Sun that "I figured if his bomb was real I'd nothing to lose anyway, so [I] took a chance to get a closer look at it. I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever." Innes' relieved mother tells the Telegraph that she takes issue with the description of the photo as a "selfie," since Ben didn't take it himself. Mustafa, whose explosives belt turned out to be a fake made from phone cases, appeared in court in Cyprus on Wednesday and was remanded in custody for eight days, the BBC reports. Authorities describe the 59-year-old as a "psychologically unstable person" who made assorted incoherent demands, the AP reports. Egypt's ambassador to Cyprus says the incident stemmed from a "family feud," probably involving Mustafa's ex-wife, who lives in Cyprus and was brought to the airport at his request. "He's not a terrorist, he's an idiot," another foreign ministry official says. "Terrorists are crazy, but they aren't stupid. This guy is." (Read more plane hijacking stories.) (Newser) Authorities in Anchorage, Alaska, say they've uncovered a surprising murder plotdreamed up by three first-graders. In a letter sent to parents on March 22, Principal Shanna Mall of Winterberry Charter School explains three students planned to use silica gel packets "to poison and kill another student," per KTUU. Silica gel, used in packaging to prevent moisture, is non-toxic, but students believed the packets were dangerous because they were marked "do not consume," per the Alaska Dispatch News. A rep for the Anchorage Police Department tells KTVA that the students brought the packets to school "with the intent of putting them in another student's lunch," but one or two students overheard the plot and came forward before it could be carried out. A school resource officer spoke with both the students and their guardians, the rep adds. No charges were filed, but "all three students received significant consequences," says Mall. Each has been suspended and could still be expelled, says a rep for the Anchorage School District. She adds the children's ages are among the "most surprising" details of the incident. "Given such a young age, it's not clear if they knew what they were doing, if it was just a threat or something more serious," she says, noting "there are a lot of conversations to get an understanding of what actually happened, how the students were feeling." School psychologists are involved. (Fourth-graders allegedly wanted to kill their teacher with hand sanitizer.) (Newser) Donald Trump told Anderson Cooper on Tuesday he may not support the GOP nominee if it's not him. Former rival Marco Rubio, meanwhile, is doing everything he can to make sure Trump will eventually have to make that choice, trying to hold onto the 172 delegates he won to keep Trump from scooping up the 1,237 delegates he needs to avoid a contested convention, NBC News reports. Rubio aide Alex Burgos told MSNBC that his boss "wants to give voters a chance to stop Trump," and right now that effort involves working behind the scenes to get state parties in at least 21 states and territories to not release any of his delegatesbucking the usual trend of simply letting delegates support a different candidate. In at least one case so far, it appears Rubio's strategy is working. In a letter to Peter Goldberg, chair of the Alaska GOP, and cc'd to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, Rubio made his case for the five delegates he nabbed March 1 in Alaska, noting those delegates "remain bound to vote for me"and after conferring with RNC officials in DC, Goldberg agreed, at least for the first ballot at the GOP convention, CNN notes. "Senator Rubio will have his five delegates at the national convention," he said, per KTVA. A Rubio source tells MSNBC that the same missive was sent to 20 other states and territories. Goldberg says he's heard other states' parties are also huddling over the rules (each state determines what happens to delegates, not the RNC), with "most" leaning toward Rubio. As for Trump reaching that magic 1,237, John Kasich spoke to that on Monday's The Kelly File, per the Washington Times. "He's not going to get to 1,237," Kasich said. "That's like saying what if a spaceman lands tonight?" (Gawker points out Rubio's reference to the "Untied States.") (Newser) Two California eel fishermen who stumbled across a US Geological Survey buoy in January are holding the piece of scientific equipment for ransom, citing the tried-and-true rule of finders-keepers, the Daily Beast reports. According to Ars Technica, the buoy was moored nearly 1,000 feet underwater off the coast of Northern California before a storm knocked it loose, which is when Daniel Sherer and Patrick Anderson of A&S Fisheries found it. "If you lose something in the ocean, it doesn't stay yours forever, it becomes salvaged," argues attorney David Sherer, who may bein his own wordsan "old trial dog" with "very little" experience in maritime law, but who is Daniel Sherer's father. Its his rollerskate, and he can sell it to whoever or keep it all he wants, the 79-year-old attorney tells the Daily Beast. The fishermen were originally seeking $45,000 for the buoy, which they value at $400,000, but have lowered their asking price to $13,000. Regardless, the government isn't playing ball. In fact, federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit last Friday not only demanding the return of the buoy but also $115,000 in damages. The government is accusing the fishermen of holding the buoy "hostage" and ruining a federal research project meant to collect data on ocean conditions during El Nino, reports Courthouse News Service. It claims the fishermen's handling of the buoy may have wrecked the buoy's data. Meanwhile, an actual maritime lawyer tells Ars Technica that maritime law doesn't operate on the principle of finders-keepers. The lawsuit is scheduled to be heard in June. (Canada is trying to use maritime law to claim the Titanic.) (Newser) More women are expected to gain access to a common abortion drug after the FDA announced a major shift on Wednesday. The agency approved a new label for the drug Mifeprex, a move that has bigger implications than it might sound. Also known as mifepristone, Mifeprex is used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, to end a pregnancy, reports AP. But several states were able to effectively restrict its use by requiring doctors to strictly abide by its label, which the New York Times notes was based on clinical trials from the 1990s. Over the years, doctors have found that the drug is safer and more effective than originally thought, and the new label relaxes restrictions over its use. Among other things, women will likely have make just two trips to the doctor now, instead of three. This is a huge step in increasing access to medication abortion and it comports with the scientific evidence, says Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute. The new label also calls for a smaller dose of Mifeprex, from 600mg to 200mg, which should reduce cost and side effects. While many doctors around the country already had been prescribing the drug under these new guidelines, some states had forbidden doctors from doing so. Abortion rights groups say the change will affect laws in Ohio, North Dakota, and Texas that prohibit "off-label" uses of the drug. Similar laws are on hold in Arizona, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. (Read more mifepristone stories.) Even though the first humans may not land on Mars before the 2030s, scientists are targeting to send the first "lander" on the Red Planet in 2018, so that they get a better idea of its atmosphere and physical characteristics. "There are lot of things about Mars we do not know," said Larry James, deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We seek to know the interior of the plant, penetrate the ground for up to 10 meters or more, do a follow-up on the next rover in 2020 and check the samples on the surface." Mars lures scientists as "it has more to offer, it is closer, more earth-like than the moon, has atmosphere to make oxygen and lots of potential," according to James. "The current experiments are to check whether there was ever any life on Mars," he added. "After putting the man on Mars, humanity has to decide what to do next. It is going to be an international collaborative effort as individually we can't do it. We have about 10 projects." Hence, you can expect a launch of the Interior Exploration using the Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander on May 5, 2018. Another landing on Mars will follow on Nov. 26, 2018. The initial 2016 launch was spoilt by a vacuum leak in the main science instrument. It got repaired when the seismometer's vacuum container worked. But in spite of this drawback, NASA is planning to go ahead with its 2018 launch. "The science goals of InSight are compelling, and the NASA and CNES plans to overcome the technical challenges are sound," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "The quest to understand the interior of Mars has been a longstanding goal of planetary scientists for decades. We're excited to be back on the path for a launch, now in 2018." At present, NASA is undertaking joint projects with companies in Spain, Israel and India, so that it can create propulsion systems, spacecraft and radars, apart from other technologies. The "Siberian unicorn," with the interesting name of the Elasmotherium sibiricum, is actually closer to us in history than we thought. Though it was felt that it lived till 350,000 years ago, a study by researchers from Tomsk State University (TSU) shows that this "unicorn" actually became extinct 29,000 years ago in Kazakhstan. "Most likely, the south of Western Siberia was a refugium, where this rhino persevered the longest in comparison with the rest of its range," said Andrey Shpanski, a paleontologist at TSU and first author of the study. "There is another possibility that it could migrate and dwell for a while in the more southern areas." The team arrived at its results after it studied a rhinoceros skull found near Kazakhstan's Kozhamzhar village with radiocarbon AMS-method analysis. That made the team discover that it died only 29,000 years ago. "Most likely, it was a very large male of very large individual age (teeth not preserved)," Shpanski said. "The dimensions of this rhino are the biggest of those described in the literature, and the proportions are typical." It lived in the area from the Don River right up to the east of modern Kazakhstan. The residue findings show a "long" habituation of the rhinos in the southeast of the West Siberian Plain. Shpanski's team is next targeting to find the particulars of its environmental areas, and also the reason the animal survived for such a long time. "Our research makes adjustments in the understanding of the environmental conditions in the geologic time in general," Shpanski said. "Understanding of the past allows us to make more accurate predictions about natural processes in the near future----it also concerns climate change." The findings were published in the February 2016 issue of the American Journal of Applied Sciences. Jaelyn Young was 20 when she decided to join the Islamic State group (ISIS). She wrote a letter to her family, confessing her guilt. "I found the contacts, made arrangements, planned the departure," prosecutors say she wrote last August. "I am guilty of what you soon will find out," according to foxnews. On Tuesday, she swore before a federal judge in Aberdeen, Mississippi, that she was guilty of offering material support to a terrorist organization. The Mississippi State University student is now faced with almost 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and lifetime probation. She will be sentenced later by the U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock. A similar charge was slapped on her fiance, Muhammad Dakhlalla, who was also drawn to join the terrorists. He too pleaded guilty and will be sentenced along with her. Both are jailed in Oxford. Young is the daughter of a school administrator as well as a police officer in the Navy reserve. Being a former honor student, cheerleader and homecoming maid at Vicksburg's Warren Central High School, she converted to Islam last Aug 8, while she was studying chemistry at Mississippi State University. She got lured to join ISIS partly by online videos.She started wearing burqas. "After her conversion, Young distanced herself from family and friends and felt spending time with non-Muslims would be a bad influence," prosecutors wrote earlier this month. Court statements cited her repeated complaints of the treatment of Muslims in the United States and the United Kingdom. Watching pro-ISIS group videos made her think of them as liberators. "Young continually asked Dakhlalla when they were going to join (ISIS) and began to express hatred for the U.S. government and to express support for the implementation of Sharia law in the United States," prosecutors wrote. Finally, after Young had made up her mind, she just decided to leave after saying goodbye to her family. "Do not alert the authorities," Young wrote in the farewell letter to her family, little knowing the FBI knew about her plan. "I will contact you soon. I am safe. Don't look for me because you won't be able to retrieve me if you tried. I am leaving to become a medic." Rumors of delay notwithstanding, a price cut in Surface Pro 4 line-up continues to fuel speculation about Surface Pro 5. However, the confirmation of Redstone 1 update for Windows 10 on Wednesday has ruled out more updates this year, indicating that a new Surface Pro hybrid release will only happen in 2017. Inquisitr reported that Amazon dropped price up to $ 200 on Microsoft's hybrid tab across all models, with bigger discounts being offered on the expensive Core i7 models. This fuelled talk that Surface Pro 5 is in the coming, notwithstanding the 16-month gap between Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 release. Rumors of launch of Surface Pro 5 also gained some steam on Wednesday when Microsoft reportedly announced it would release the first update to Windows 10, codenamed Redstone 1, this summer. The update is also being referred as Windows 10 anniversary update. That said, the rumored update to Windows 2, colloquially being referred as Redstone 2, was confirmed deferred to 2017; it is expected to land on a new range of Windows devices including the much-speculated Surface Pro 5 and other Surface devices. With the confirmation of the release of Redstone 1, it is highly unlikely that a new update will be released before the year end. "Microsoft officials decided to release only one update to Windows 10 that includes a bunch of features in calendar 2016," Mary Jo Foley wrote in ZDNet citing company sources. That has not stopped specification speculation. Rumored Surface Pro 5 speculations include new variants of Intel Skylake processors, bigger and improved display. Surface Pro 5 may also feature USB-C ports, which have gained popularity thanks to Apple. Microsoft loyalists also hope the next Surface Pro tab comes with satisfactory battery life out of the box; Surface Pro 4 needed a fix to improve battery performance. Princess Diana, famous for her beauty and charity, visited India in the year 1992 and was also photographed in front of the Taj Mahal. The photo has since turned into an embodiment of her everlasting charm and grace. 24 years after this famous photo was captured, Princess Diana's eldest son, Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge will visit the monument of love in a beautiful instance of history repeating itself. Unlike Princess Diana's doomed marriage, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are famous for being a happy, well-matched couple. The official spokesperson of the family, Jason Knauf, is reported to have said that the Prince feels extremely lucky to be able to visit a place where his mother's memory remains alive through the eyes of countless travelers. He added that the couple is excited at this opportunity to experience India and Bhutan and to pay homage to the 166 people who died in the 2008 Mumbai hotel attacks. The royal couple will be travelling without their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who will remain in England according to the statement released by Kensington Palace. The tour, which begins on April 10, 2016 and continues till April 16, 2016 will also include a trip to Kaziranga National Park in Assam and the Pao Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest monastery in Bhutan. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are committed to the cause of stopping illegal poaching and their visit to Kaziranga is reported to be an attempt to study the dwindling population of the Indian one-horned rhinos and swamp deer. The tour is also reported to be the result of the recent furor caused due to the low number of social appearances made by Prince William over the last year. On the contrary, Prince Albert, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince William's grandfather was reported to have appeared at social events 250 times last year alone. The current trip to India and Bhutan is allegedly an effort to improve his reputation as a responsible member of the Royal family. Hyderabad: Twenty-five students and two faculty members of Hyderabad Central University (HCU), who were granted bail in connection with the March 22 violence on the campus during which the Vice Chancellors official residence was ransacked, were released from the Cherlapally Central Prison in Hyderabad. Bail order copies were submitted to prison authorities...all of them have been released, Cherlapally Prison Superintendent K Venkateshwar Reddy told PTI. The XXV Metropolitan Magistrate court here had yesterday enlarged the students and the two faculty members on bail on submission of sureties of Rs 5,000 each. The court also directed them to appear before Station House Officer Gachibowli once in a week (every Saturday). The prosecution did not oppose the bail applications of the 27 accused and had informed the court that the situation (law and order) is under control on HCU campus. The defence counsel urged the court to grant bail contending that the allegations, which were levelled against the accused are absolutely vague and there is no material to keep them in detention. A group of students, who were opposing Prof Appa Rao Podiles return as the VC after a two-month leave following the row over research scholar Rohith Vemulas suicide in a university hostel room, had allegedly vandalised his residence and pelted police with stones on March 22. Later, police resorted to lathicharge and arrested 25 of them, beside two faculty members. All of them were lodged in Cherlapally Central Prison. Cases were booked on charges of damage to public property, trespass, preventing government officials from performing their duties, and other relevant sections of IPC in connection with the violence. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Irom Sharmila, the Manipur based activist, who is on a hunger strike for last 16 years, has been acquitted by Patiala House Court for the 2006 case of her attempt to suicide. Irom Sharmila was booked in the year 2006 case for attempt to suicide when she was undertaking a fast until death at the Jantar Mantar. Irom Sharmila has been on a hunger strike for 16 years demanding that the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) be repealed. The activist has said that she will end her fast if the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was repealed and expressed her desire to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue. (Also read. Irom Sharmila released by Manipur court after arrest) She had yesterday told the court that she was ready to end her fast if the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was repealed and expressed her desire to meet PM Narendra Modi to discuss the issue. Sharmila, who is fed through a nasal tube, was put on trial after she refused to plead guilty to the charge of attempting to commit suicide (section 309 of IPC). During final arguments yesterday, the prosecutor had contended that Sharmila had the intention to kill herself and the offence of trying to commit suicide was clearly made out against her. During the hearing, the activist had said she loved her life and was using her fast as a weapon to achieve her goal of repealing AFSPA as it would have more impact and added that this was not a crime. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, had resorted to fasts while making certain demands, she said yesterday while justifying her fast. Sharmila also said, Since there is no meaning of true democracy in the country, human rights activists should join hands. The matter should be brought to the attention of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations. (Also read. New hopes for release of Irom Sharmila after 14 years) She had earlier told the court that she was very much eager to eat if she got the assurance that the draconian law will be revoked. Widespread discrimination was being done with the people from Northeast, she had alleged, adding she never intended to commit suicide and it was just a protest against AFSPA. Known as the Iron Lady, Sharmila had earlier told the court that her protest was non-violent. (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a one-day visit to Brussels reached Maalbek metro station where he layed wreath for those died in the terror attacks. PM Modi will attend the 13th India-EU Summit in Belgium's capital Brussels on Wednesday. He will also hold bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel. From Brussels, PM Narendra Modi will leave for Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit on March 31 and April 1 and from there he will travel to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Brussels: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid tribute to the victims of the Brussels terror attacks in which over 30 people, including an Indian, lost their lives. Modi, who arrived here on a day-long visit to attend the India-EU Summit, laid a wreath at the Maalbeek Metro station in the Belgian capital where a suicide blew himself up killing scores of passengers, including Raghavendran Ganeshan, who was an Infosys employee from Bengaluru. At a time of grief, India stands in solidarity. Before official engagements, PM lays wreath at Maalbeek metro station, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. At the Maalbeek Metro Station, the Prime Minister remembered Ganeshan and other victims of tragic attack, Swarup said. Modis visit comes just days after the March 22 terror attack here in which at least 32 people were killed. Here are the LIVE updates: For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Tehran: Irans supreme leader said today that missile power was key to the countrys future security, slapping down moderates who say the focus should be on diplomacy. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran, praised the powerful Revolutionary Guards for their show of advanced and precise missiles in recent tests that drew Western criticism. In this jungle-like world, if the Islamic republic seeks negotiations, trade and even technology and science, but has no defence power, wont even small countries dare threaten Iran? Khamenei said in remarks published on his official website. Our enemies are constantly enhancing their military and missile capabilities and given this how can we say the age of missiles has passed? His comments appeared aimed at ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a senior leader of the reformist and moderate camp, who last week tweeted: Tomorrows world is the world of dialogue not missiles. They also came a day after the United States, France, Britain and Germany said Irans recent ballistic missile tests violate UN Security Council resolutions. The same four countries, along with Russia and China, reached the historic agreement with Iran last year that saw Tehran scale down its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Iran has twice tested ballistic missiles since the July 14 deal, prompting Western condemnation and new US sanctions. The enemies of the revolution... use dialogue, economic trade, sanctions, military threats and any other means to further their goals, Khamenei said. We should be able to confront and defend in all of these fields. He said those who believe only diplomacy is the key to Irans future are acting out of ignorance or treason. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: US President Barack Obama is expected to press his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to reign in North Koreas leadership during a meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit here, the White House said today. Obama and Xi are scheduled to meet here tomorrow.This will present an opportunity to address the threat posed by North Korea and also to advance US and China cooperation on a range of issues, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters during a conference call to preview the National Security Summit. It in their interest. The destabilisation in their neighbourhood, these provocations out of North Korea, that is only counterproductive for China, he said. They do not benefit at all from seeing that type of behavior emanating from North Korea. So we do believe that we have a shared interest in preventing destabilisation on the Korean Peninsula and in promoting denuclearisation. And thats the basis on which were able to pursue cooperation, he said. China, he noted, has stepped up in many ways in terms of applying pressure on North Korea. The fact is, it has to over time affect the calculus of the North Korean leadership. And thus far, they have not shifted course and upheld their own commitments to denuclearisation and thats why we will of course have a continued dialogue with both China and South Korea and Japan, he said. Dan Kritenbrink, National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs said the two leaders will have a candid exchange on areas where they continue to have significant differences, including things such as human rights, cyber, maritime issues, as well. The Obama-Xi meeting, he said, is part of a continuum of senior-level engagements between the two countries. President Xi was here for a state visit last September. The two presidents then met in Paris on November 30 on the margins of the Paris climate summit. And the two have had three phone calls since then. We also anticipate that they will meet again on the margins of the G20 in China in September, he said. Kritenbrink said the high tempo of senior-level engagement with China is a recognition of the fact that this is where problems get solved and decisions get made. Obamas direct engagement with Xi during the Paris climate negotiations helped to move forward the joint efforts and secure an ambitious climate agreement, he noted. Also, Obamas phone call to Xi in February supported reaching an agreement on impactful UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea, he said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: US President Barack Obama today described as historic milestone the swearing-in of Myanmars first civilian president in decades that marks a significant power-shift ending military rule. Congratulating U Htin Kyaw, Obama said he looks forward to working with him and the new government. U Htin Kyaws inauguration represents a historic milestone in the countrys transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government, he said in a statement. This extraordinary moment in Myanmars history is a testament to its people, institutions, and leaders who have worked together to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and it speaks to the significance of the reforms the country has undertaken since 2011, he said. Obama said the county will face significant challenges going forward, including achieving broad-based economic development, advancing national reconciliation, and promoting the rights and freedoms of all its people. The United States looks forward to being a friend and partner of the new government and the people of Burma as they make progress toward building a more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous future, he said. The 69-year-old president, a close aide of Aung San Suu Kyi, was today sworn in as president of Myanmar, that entered a new era with the Nobel Laureates democracy movement assuming power after 50 years of military domination. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Ahmedabad: A sessions court today rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a man whose name came to the fore as an accomplice of the alleged henchman-cum-sharp shooter of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu during investigation by police. The sharpshooter Kartik Haldar, arrested earlier this month for allegedly shooting dead three witnesses in rape cases against Asaram, had conveyed K D Patels name to police. The court of Additional Sessions Judge N G Dave rejected the bail plea on the ground that the crime under consideration was of serious nature. Patels counsel said they would move the High Court for pre-arrest bail. Haldar had told police that Patel was one of his aides who was involved in the murder of at least three witnesses and assaulting four others who had testified against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai in rape cases. Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhattisgarh in a joint operation by ATS and Crime Branch unit of city police. Patel had allegedly attacked one Raju Chandak, a devotee-turned-baiter of of Asaram, in December 2009 for making a statement against the self-styled spiritual leader in connection with the death of two boys in Asarams ashram in 2008. Haldar had told police that Patel and another accused, Arjun Sindhi, were involved in the attack. Chandak, however, survived the bid on his life. Asaram has been lodged at Jodhpur jail since August 2014 in connection with a rape case filed against him by police. A Gandhinagar court on Tuesday framed charges against him for raping two Surat-based sisters. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A 21-year-old Brazilian model who lost her left leg has become an Instagram sensation thanks to support from hundreds of thousands of fans and an air of inspiration surrounding her. Paola Antonini lost her leg in 2014 after being hit by a drunken driver in a car accident, according to Yahoo!. RELATED: Beautiful Dallas model back to work 4 years after accident that took arm, eye Her leg was crushed, and despite four attempts to save the leg, it was decided that her leg needed to be amputated at the knee. While Antonini started learning to walk again, she was advised by medical professionals that she should have a second amputation, cutting off her leg to above the knee, according to the Daily Mail. RELATED: A puppy without a paw and a girl without legs become best friends Fazendo arte na fisioterapia enquanto o novo encaixe da protese fica pronto! @shopping_ortopedico A photo posted by Paola Antonini (@paola_antonini) on Mar 18, 2016 at 11:42am PDT Since losing her leg, the model has decided to flaunt what shes working with on Instagram, and shes gained more than 620,000 followers on the popular social media app. Antonini told Brazilian website VejaBJ that she chose to look at the situation from a glass-half-full perspective, instead of wallowing over what she lost in the accident. RELATED: Police: Corpus Christi man left behind prosthetic arm at scene of alleged DWI crash Between being unhappy forever and thankful for being alive, I chose the second option, she told the publication. The model shares photos of herself engaging in everyday activities, including going to stores, flying on airplanes, taking a dip in the ocean, and rocking a bikini. Click through the slideshow to see beautiful photos of this Brazilian model. twhite@mysa.com Twitter: @tylerlwhite Tim Burton's 2003 film Big Fish follows the fantastical life of Edward Bloom, played by Ewan McGregor as a young man. With stories of giants, witches, and werewolves, the line between reality and embellishment is always blurry in Bloom's tall tales, but we've always been especially smitten with young Edward's discovery of the curiousbut enchantingtown of Spectre, tucked away behind a haunted forest. Years after his first visit, Edward returns to Spectre to find that the once quaint and beautiful little town has fallen into decay and disrepair. The town of Spectre was actually custom built for the Tim Burton-directed movie on Jackson Lake Island, a small private island situated on the Alabama River outside of Millbrook, Alabamaand it still exists! The now-crumbling set is covered in Spanish moss, but shoes still dangle between the poles marking the town's entrance (in the movie, the town's residents all walked around barefoot). Connecticut may seem like a quaint place, but some unusual things go on here. Take a look at some of Connecticut oddities, legends and creepy places. DANBURY - U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty will answer questions from residents of greater Danbury about the economy, national security and perhaps the presidential primaries during a town hall-style meeting next week. The informational meeting with residents is planned from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 7 at the Rogers Park School, 21 Memorial Drive. MILFORD The actress and singer who is best known for creating the Disney characters Ren Even Stevens and Kim Possible is back in her hometown directing her first movie. Christy Carlson Romano filmed scenes for her Christmas-themed movie Wednesday at the gazebo on the Green. Mayor Ben Blake was there, and handed his cell phone to an aide for a photo with the actress. But Blake says dont look for him in the movie when its released later this year. DANBURY ErgoTech, a business that was founded in the city more than thirty years ago, recently announced that the company will be moving its headquarters to Florida. In a statement on their website, the company said they would be moving their corporate headquarters and manufacturing operations out of Commerce Park by April 1 and moving into an existing production facility in Florida. ErgoTech, which was founded locally by Earl Hagman around 1992, produces ergonomic equipment for factory workers including motorized positioners that can lift, rotate and manipulate loads of up to 16,000. ErgoTech, which abandoned plans two years ago to build a new facility in Ridgefield after residents objected to the move, purchased a new factory in Sarasota, Florida in June. Hagman, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, said last summer that they purchased the Florida facility because of the growth the company has experienced in that region. Our business has continued to grow in the Southeast, and by being closer to our southern customers, we can better meet their needs, while reducing transportation time and costs, Hagman said in a statement at the time. After the move, the company will be renamed Ergotronix as part of the transition. Hagman founded the company in 1992 when he first starting "tinkering" in his garage with the ergonomic technology while working as an engineer in the electronics industry. "Being a tall man, I destroyed my back by not having the means to work at the right height," he told The News-Times last summer. "I thought about how I can do things a little different, and developed our first product." In 2012, Ergotech Inc. was awarded a $ 2.1 million contract by the U.S. Army Depot in Corpus Christi, Texas. Ergotech work positioners help Army technicians to overhaul and rebuild military helicopter transmissions and gearboxes. About two year later, in 2014, Hagman and his wife, Irene Hagman gave Western Connecticut State University a gift of $1.25 million in honor of his daughters Veronica and Melissa, who attended the university. It will grow to $1.65 million if the university reaches certain financial goals within the next five years. When Veronica died tragically a few months before graduation in 2005, Hagman said he experienced the university's warmth and kindness, which his daughter had told him about. We want to show our appreciation for Western for the opportunities our daughters had here. And we want to thank you for what the university did for our family nine years ago," Hagman said. "I will never forget, I will never forget how the school reached out and supported me and my family at that time. I saw first-hand what my daughter experienced in its warmth and sense of family. dperrefort@newstimes.com DANBURY When the areas town beaches were closed last year because of blue-green algae blooms, officials often had to wait up to five days for results of ongoing water sampling to come back from a lab in Berlin, Conn. Officials should have an easier time this summer deciding when it is safe to reopen, thanks to a partnership with Western Connecticut State University. Under the partnership, two Western student interns would collect samples weekly at town and state beaches on Candlewood Lake, Squantz Pond and Lake Zoar for 10 weeks beginning in July and have them analyzed in the universitys lab. The results should be ready in less than two days. We believe that we have the expertise at Western to conduct the testing, said Ed Wong, associate professor of microbiology. And we should be able to do it for a lot less money. Towns are required to close beaches if levels of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, get too high. The organisms produce a toxin that can irritate the skin, eyes, nose and respiratory tract in human and animals. If swallowed, it can cause diarrhea and vomiting, and in large amounts, it can affect the liver or nervous system. Beach closures are based on visual observations of water clarity, but beaches are reopened based on tests that require lab work on toxin levels and cell counts. Candlewood Lake Authority Executive Director Larry Marsicano said the interested parties are considering testing more than once a week if resources permit. Marsciano suggested a partnership after attending a training session about toxin testing. He knew that Wong had begun researching cyanobacteria genetics, and the two agreed that a collaborating was a natural fit. Wong estimates the program will cost $8,000 to $10,000 a season, which includes testing materials and equipment as well as stipends for the interns. Marsicano said the authority spent that much last year to send the samples to the Berlin lab. Marsicano already has applied for a $5,000 grant and will ask the university and the towns that border the participating lakes Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Sherman, Newtown, Oxford, Southbury and Monroe to cover the rest. Wong said the partnership will help with his research about the genetics of toxin-producing cyanobacteria. He already has discovered that not all cyanobacteria contain the genes that produce the toxin and that even those that do dont always produce the toxin. I know the cyanobacteria have the toxin genes, and I know the genes have been activated because I see the RNA made from those genes, Wong said. But I still need to confirm that this series of events leads to actual toxin production. For that, I would need to test the water directly for toxins. Marsicano said the data will also help the state Department of Public Health, which creates the guidelines for dealing with blue-green algae. Wong said there is potential for the program to grow and the university could become a regional testing center, which would increase the number of interns and generate more research projects. I am very excited about the partnership, he said. kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345; @kkoerting Name: Nick Ulrich Franchise owned: Persona Pizza in Santa Rosa, Calif. Q: How long have you owned a franchise? Since December of 2014 Q: Why franchising? Franchising is a pretty wonderful concept. I love the idea of franchising, because we get to use someone else's track record of success and leverage it for our own success. There is a significant amount of risk when you open a new business, especially with a concept of your own. Franchising minimizes the risk, because the franchisor already has the infrastructure to support you with training programs, marketing support, purchasing power and ongoing operational support. Related: Despite a Major Move, From Mortgages to Steaks, This Franchisee Never Bit Off More Than He Could Chew Q: What were you doing before you became a franchise owner? I have been in restaurants for 20 years, my very first job was at a take-and-bake pizzeria in Northern California. I have worked every position in restaurants, bars and night clubs, from busser to director of operations. My next logical step was ownership, and having a franchise was the best route I found after extensive research. Currently, I am the Santa Rosa franchise owner, general manager for Santa Barbara and the corporate franchisee trainer. Q: Why did you choose this particular franchise? I have been a family friend of the CEO, Chef Glenn Cybulski, for over 20 years. I was brought into the corporate store to help with operations, and I fell absolutely in love with the product and the company. The research began, and a terrific location opened up in the downtown area of my hometown in Santa Rosa. And, I get to work with my brothers, Kyle (Kitchen Manager) and Jordan (General Manager). Q: How much would you estimate you spent before you were officially open for business? The average price of a build-out for a unit is $250,000 to $400,000. Q: Where did you get most of your advice / do most of your research? I did a lot of research by going to other similar pizza establishments and trying their product and getting a feel for the service. I was relatively unimpressed with the "chain" feel of most franchises, and it further pushed my interest to go with a franchise that didn't feel like a franchise. Persona Pizza felt like a streamlined mom-and-pop restaurant with quality and love put into every pizza. Q: What were the most unexpected challenges of opening your franchise? Dealing with the city permitting. We used a non-local contractor who was a bit unfamiliar with the intricacies of the local permitting process, which were extensive. The franchisor was monumentally helpful with permitting support. Q: What advice do you have for individuals who want to own their own franchise? Do your research. There are a lot of potential franchises out there -- some very good and some not-so-good. Overall, go with a product you believe in and love, the rest will fall into place. Related: Meet the Franchisee Who's Bringing New York-Style Pizza to Texas Q: Whats next for you and your business? Expansion! Prime Minister's statement prior to his departure to Belgium, USA and Saudi Arabia New Delhi, Wed, 30 Mar 2016 NI Wire Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi's departure statement prior to his visit to Belgium, USA and Saudi Arabia yesterday: On 30th March, I will be in Brussels to meet with the Belgian Prime Minister Mr. Charles Michel. I would also be holding the 13th India-EU Summit with the E.U. leadership. No words are enough to salute the resilience and spirit of the people of Belgium. We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the wake of the horrific attacks in Brussels and share the grief of those who lost their loved ones. Our relations with Belgium are deep rooted and have stood the test of time. Within the E.U., Belgium is Indias 2nd largest trading partner. My meeting with the Prime Minister aims to expand trade, investment and high technology partnership with this important E.U. member. Along with Prime Minister Charles Michel, I would remote activate the India-Belgium ARIES (Aryabhatta Research Institute for Observational Sciences) Telescope. The European Union is a vital trading partner and the biggest export destination for India. This Summit will advance our multifaceted engagement across a whole range of domains. In Brussels, I would also be meeting with the Members of European Parliament (MEPs), Indologists, Belgian CEOs as well as a wide cross section of the Indian diaspora in Belgium. I would also interact with the Board Members of the Association of Diamond Traders in Belgium. The same evening, I will address a Community Programme and interact with the Indian community. After Belgium, I will be in Washington DC on 31st March to participate in the 4th Nuclear Security Summit, where several nations and global organisations would be represented. The Summit would deliberate on the crucial issue of threat to nuclear security caused by nuclear terrorism. Leaders would discuss ways and measure through which to strengthen the global nuclear security architecture, especially to ensure that non-state actors do not get access to nuclear material. On the sidelines of the Summit, I would meet with several world leaders to carry forward the agenda of bilateral cooperation with those nations. I also look forward to my interaction with the scientists associated with LIGO project. On 2nd and 3rd April, at the invitation of H.M. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, I will be visiting Saudi Arabia. Indias ties with Saudi Arabia are special. Robust people-to-people ties constitute a key component of our engagement. I plan to work with the Saudi leadership to expand and deepen our bilateral relations. Discussions on the regional situation would also be on the agenda. Our economic ties are also expanding. Saudi Arabia is India's 4th largest trading partner, and is also Indias largest crude oil supplier. In addition to meeting with H.M. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, I also look forward to my discussions with other important members of the Royal family. We want the prominent Saudi businesses to partner with Indias development priorities. That would be one of the key objectives of the business event planned in Riyadh. I will visit the Masmak Fortress, 'L&T Workers Residential Complex and TCS All Women IT & ITES Center in Riyadh. Source: PIB North East will become destination for Young Start-Ups: Dr. Jitendra Singh New Delhi, Wed, 30 Mar 2016 NI Wire The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the North eastern region along the international borders should be developed for the overall development of the region. There are regional and cultural similarities on both sides of the international borders, the Minister said. He was addressing at the seminar on Sub Regional Cooperation between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh here today. During the inaugural session, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the business, all over, is evolving and it has to be carried forward professionally. He said that India is on the threshold of becoming a super power and for that, he emphasized on the youth power and the equitable growth of all the regions within India. He said that North East India needs little push in the developmental aspect and the Ministry of DoNER takes care of this aspect in coordination with other ministries. Dr Singh said that a number of initiatives have been taken in the recent past for the overall development of North East region, such as Destination North-East festival and designating Sikkim as the first organic state in the country. Stressing upon trade and business, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that without creating stakeholders, we cannot proceed and the stakeholders need to be facilitated. He said that, in food industries for example, the food items produced should be of cost effective and authentic. Dr. Jitendra Singh said the North East India has a huge potential for start ups and for this purpose, venture funds and other initiatives can be provided for the start ups in North East India. He said that, in years to come, North East India will become the destination for young start ups. Dr. Jitendra Singh said that there are some challenges in Indias march towards global economy such as optimum utilization of resources, optimum channelization of youth energy and best use of technology. On Indias Act East policy, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it is his considered view that to Act East effectively, we first need to act for the development of North Eastern region along the international borders. He said that connectivity is an issue in the North East India and in this regard, he suggested that new airports and chopper service can be an option. The daylong event consisted of four sessions to discuss the subjects like Economic Cooperation in the Sub Region, Trends and patterns of trade between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, Economic Cooperation through connectivity and FDI. The seminar was attended by senior officers of Ministry of DoNER. Source: PIB [March 29, 2016] Ultrasonic Sensors Market By Types, By Application, By Industry - Global Industry Analysis, Trend, Size, Share and Forecast 2015 - 2023 NEW YORK, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The ultrasonic sensors are used for liquid level measurement, object detection, distance measurement, anti collision detection and pallet detection among others. Ultrasonic sensors are used to improve the operational efficiency and provide additional safety in manufacturing facilities. This is one of the major factors fueling the demand for ultrasonic sensors globally. The need for demand of automation and focus on improvement of production efficiency has increased across industries such as automotive, chemical, construction, and food and beverages among others. Moreover, increasing demand for advanced features such as automatic steering controls, park assist system, blind spot detection and adaptive cruise control is also expected to have a positive impact on the demand for ultrasonic sensors globally. The rising concern for driver safety has ensured the integration of antilock braking systems (ABS) in most of the vehicles. Moreover, the ultrasonic sensors are used to control steering, acceleration and braking while parking the vehicle. In addition, the ultrasonic sensors also gather location information of the vehicle. In addition, the emerging concept of wearable medical devices is also aiding to the growth of the market. The wearable medical devices are embedded with various types of sensors such as ultrasonic, temperature, heart rate sensors and pressure sensors among others. The ultrasonic sensors can be used to visualize the internal parts of the human body without causing any negative impact. These factors are driving the growth for the market during the forecast period. By types, the market is divided into ultrasonic proximity sensors, ultrasonic retro-reflective sensor, ultrasonic through beam sensor, ultrasonic 2 point proximity switches. On the basis of application the ultrasonic sensors market segmented into liquid level measurement, object detection, distance measurement, anti collision detection, pallet detection and others. By industry the market is categorized into automotive, power and gas & oil, chemical, agriculture, construction, pulp and paper, material handling, food and beverage, medical and healthcare and aerospace and defense among others. Moreover, the report also provides cross sectional analysis of all the above segments across different countries within different regions such as North merica, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the World. In 2014, among the different types of ultrasonic sensor, the ultrasonic proximity sensors occupied the largest market share. However, the ultrasonic through beam sensors segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth rate. The rapid growth of this segment is attributed to the increasing demand for microprocessor controllers and ability to detect fast moving objects in short range. Among the different applications of ultrasonic sensors, the liquid level measurement sensor held the largest market share in 2014. Increasing use of liquid level measurement sensors for level surface detection, non contact level measurement and monitoring liquid level changes in tank among others is aiding to the growth of this segment. Geographically, the Asia Pacific ultrasonic sensors market is predicted to experience the fastest growth from 2015 to 2023.The rapid expansion of production facility and the falling prices of the sensor components is fuelling the growth in this region. In order to get a better understanding of the ultrasonic sensors market, a key trends analysis has been included for all the segments. Furthermore, the market share of the major players in the optical position sensors in semiconductor modules and chips market has also been discussed in terms of market share revenue held globally. In addition, the key players in the market have also been profiled in terms of their product segments, financial overview, recent developments and business strategies adopted by them. The leading players in the market include Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH, Siemens AG, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Rockwell Automation Inc., Microsonic GmbH, Baumer Group, MaxBotix Inc., OMRON Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., Branson Ultrasonics Corporation, Gems Sensors & Controls, Senix Corporation and Crest Ultrasonics Corp. among others. The global ultrasonic sensors market can be segmented as follows;- Global Ultrasonic Sensors Market, By Type Ultrasonic Proximity Sensors Ultrasonic Retro-Reflective Sensors Ultrasonic Through Beam Sensors Ultrasonic 2 Point Proximity Switches Global Ultrasonic Sensors Market, By Application Liquid Level Measurement Object Detection Distance Measurement Anti Collision Detection Pallet Detection Others Global Ultrasonic Sensors Market, By Industry Automotive Power and Oil & Gas Chemical Agriculture Construction Pulp & paper Material Handling Food and Beverage Medical and Healthcare Aerospace and Defense Others (Metal working, Printing, Textile) Global Ultrasonic Sensors Market, By Geography North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe U.K. Germany France Italy Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China South Korea Japan Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the World (RoW) Middle East Africa South America Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03711173-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ultrasonic-sensors-market-by-types-by-application-by-industry---global-industry-analysis-trend-size-share-and-forecast-2015---2023-300243056.html SOURCE Reportlinker [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 29, 2016] Aegis Energised: Lockheed Martin Begins Testing and Integration on the Royal Australian Navy's First Aegis-equipped Hobart Class Destroyer ADELAIDE, Australia, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) Integrated Test Team (ITT) begins Aegis combat system integration and testing aboard the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) first Aegis-equipped Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD), HOBART. The Aegis Combat System testing will be facilitated by Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians who are responsible for testing the Aegis Combat System to ensure the equipment is properly installed and functional. "The Lockheed Martin team has successfully brought Aegis to life," said Rob Milligan, Lockheed Martin Australia, surface ships program lead. "Our team is dedicated to ensuring the successful delivery of HOBART's Aegis capability to the Royal Australian Navy." Lockheed Martin anticipated the need for the future Australian domestic sustainment of Aegis on AWD several years prior to this event. Lockheed Martin used internal funds to develop specialist skills in the Aegis Combat System for our Australian AWD Program workforce. "We strengthened the AWD test team which now includes experienced Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians from both Australia and the U.S. to conduct the Aegis combat systems integration," Milligan added. The Hobart-class destroyers are being built under Australia's SEA 4000 program, which will ultimately deliver three advanced multirole ships. These ships will be Australia's first ships to be equipped with Lockheed Martin's Aegis Weapon System including the SPY-1D(V) radar. When paired with the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, Aegis is capable of delivering missiles for every mission and threat environment in naval warfare. The RAN has received the Lockheed Martin Aegis Baseline 8 configuration, which integrates commercial-off-the-shelf technology and open architecture into the combat system. "This milestone is a significant step towards an increase in the Royal Australian Navy's maritime security capabilities through the seamless integration of the Aegis combat system to defend against advanced air, surface and subsurface threats," said Commodore Craig Bourke, CSC, RAN Program Manager Air Warfare Destroyer "With more than 100 Aegis-equipped ships deployed worldwide, Australia is joining a family of allied nations that continues to push the boundaries of innovation with adaptable and affordable capabilities that meet the warfighter's multi-mission needs." Lockheed Martin is the Aegis Combat Systems Integrator and engineering agent for the U.S. Navy Aegis destroyers and cruisers, Australian Air Warfare Destroyers, as well as a range of other international customers for both new construction and modernisations. Lockheed Martin also provides the combat system engineering, integration and test for the U.S. Navy's future frigate and Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship programs. With more than 40 years of significant investment by the U.S. Navy and its allies, the Aegis Combat System is used globally by five navies, across seven ship classes. Lockheed Martin is the trusted Aegis Combat Systems Integration partner to governments around the world, enabling mission ready, combat capable ships affordably and timely to the fleet. For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com.au/ssi About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Canberra, Lockheed Martin Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. The company employs more than 1,000 people in Australia and New Zealand working on a wide range of major programs spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349225 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141118/159313LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aegis-energised-lockheed-martin-begins-testing-and-integration-on-the-royal-australian-navys-first-aegis-equipped-hobart-class-destroyer-300243073.html SOURCE Lockheed Martin [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 29, 2016] PlanGrid Launches Native App For Microsoft Windows SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PlanGrid, the leading provider of construction field productivity software, announced today the beta release of their native app for Microsoft Windows. PlanGrid for Windows is the first construction field app available natively on the Windows Surface. PlanGrid's release follows in the footsteps of Facebook, Box, and Netflix (as well as other Windows app partners), who have recently announced the development of Windows 10 apps. "PlanGrid is an essential part of our businessenabling us to reduce blueprinting costs and to create better efficiencies in the field," said Michael Donaghy, Project Manager of Operations Business Systems at Structure Tone. "We're deploying the new PlanGrid Windows app to all current users to better facilitate access to construction documents, bothin the field and the office. The introduction of the PlanGrid Windows App will allow our user community more flexibility around their choice of device to run PlanGrid." With today's launch, construction professionals around the globe can access their project documents using iOS, Android, Windows, and on the web. With a large percentage of construction firms already on Windows and with Surface continuing to gain market share, PlanGrid is excited to invest in this budding platform. PlanGrid's Windows beta app can be downloaded at www.plangrid.com. About PlanGrid PlanGrid is the world's most popular mobile construction app, with five times the number of downloads as its next largest competitor. Its cloud-based construction document collaboration platform has been used by major firms on more than 450,000 projects, including the new 49ers Stadium, and the Hudson Yards project in New York. Contractors, architects, and owners use PlanGrid to collaborate from their desktop or any mobile devices across project plans, specs, photos, RFIs, and punchlists. PlanGrid is funded by leading investors including Sequoia Capital, Tenaya Capital, Founders Fund, and Google Ventures. About Structure Tone The Structure Tone Organization is a global leader in construction management, services, and general contracting, comprised of the independent companies Structure Tone, Inc.; Structure Tone Southwest, Inc.; Structure Tone (UK), Inc.; Pavarini Construction Co., Inc.; Pavarini McGovern, LLC; and L.F. Driscoll Company, LLC. The Structure Tone Organization employs more than 1,400 professionals in the U.S., UK, and Ireland, responsible for more than $3.5B in annual construction volume. Photo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/349044 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/plangrid-launches-native-app-for-microsoft-windows-300243161.html SOURCE PlanGrid [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 30, 2016] Public Notice: Sunrise Light Co. Ltd. Warns of Unauthorized Lighting Strings DONGGUAN, China, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunrise Light Co., Ltd. is notifying consumers that the below lighting string has not been approved by the UL. Product: Model: HXLIL150C5/5F Units: 18,635 Manufacturer: Sunrise Light Co, Ltd, DongGuan GuangDong China Date of Manufacture: July 2015 Identification: The connector does not comply with UL's Standard. Consumers are warned that there is a potential risk of hazard if consumers connect other lighting strings to this lighting string. Sold at: Known to be used on pre-lit Christmas trees sold at Walmart. Consumers and retailers with questions please contact: Tyson Yang Sunrise light co., Ltd +86-0769-81021177 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349318 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/public-notice-sunrise-light-co-ltd-warns-of-unauthorized-lighting-strings-300243249.html SOURCE Sunrise Light Co., Ltd [March 30, 2016] Air Force Association Renames Premier Annual Conference ARLINGTON, Va., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Force Association (AFA) today announced a renaming of its keystone conference, now the "Air, Space & Cyber Conference." The event, previously known as the "Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition," is held annually in September, drawing thousands of Airmen as well as industry and airpower advocates to hear from Air Force leadership and industry experts. "Our annual conferences and professional development events are designed to provide attendees the latest news and technology advancements. Cyber is a critical aspect of everything that we do, not only in the Armed Forces, but across every enterprise of our nation as well. We see a strong need to provide focus and visibility to this mission area in our flagship annual event," said Scott Van Cleef "The Air Force Association's guiding purpose is to promote and ensure a dominant United States Air Force," said Larry Spencer, AFA President. "As the Air Force continues to dominate and succeed in every domain, including cyber, we want our largest annual conference to provide a venue that reflects that." The 2016 Air, Space & Cyber Conference will be held September 19-21 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. The event is open to the public. Uniformed military and Department of Defense civilians may attend at no cost. Registration opens May 1, 2016. To learn more about the conference, please click here. The Air Force Association is a non-profit, independent, professional military and aerospace education association. Our mission is to promote a dominant United States Air Force and a strong national defense, and to honor Airmen and our Air Force Heritage. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, LinkedIn, and YouTube! To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-force-association-renames-premier-annual-conference-300242948.html SOURCE Air Force Association [March 30, 2016] iQ Academy California Invites Los Angeles Students To Enroll for 2016-17 School Year SIMI VALLEY, Calif., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Students in grades K-12 who reside in Los Angeles, Kern, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura counties are now invited to complete their enrollment for the iQ Academy California Los Angeles. iQ Academy California Los Angeles is a full-time, tuition-free, online charter school. Experienced, California-credentialed teachers guide students through individualized learning plans and work with families to accommodate and foster different learning styles. Operating since 2010, students enrolled in iQ Academy California Los Angeles are able to learn at their own pace, explore their interests, and achieve their academic potential. For all enrolled students, learning becomes a wonderful community and family experience. Outings to museums, roller- and ice-skating parks, local zoos, and other interesting sites help create real connections within the school community. "Our families and teachers ofen say that iQ Academy is a public school that feels like a private school," said Mike Thatcher, Director of iQ Academy CaliforniaLos Angeles. "Learning truly is a community and family experience for students enrolled at our school, through in-person outings, weekly online live help sessions with teachers, and rewarding personal connections." iQ Academy California Los Angeles students are offered a laptop to use while enrolled, which provides extra mobility in learning. Understanding that students need support in many ways to be successful, iQ Academy California Los Angeles provides a weekly social-emotional educational program called "Why Try" that teaches value based learning. Families are invited to attend in-person sessions being held throughout spring and summer to hear more about the school, ask questions and meet teachers, parents and students currently enrolled at a iQ Academy CaliforniaLos Angeles. To find upcoming in-person and online events for iQ Academy CaliforniaLos Angeles visit http://losangeles.iqacademy.com or call 888-997-4722. More About iQ AcademyLos Angeles iQ AcademyLos Angeles is a full-time, online public school, for grades K12 authorized by the Rowland Unified School District. California-credentialed teachers deliver lessons in an online classroom platform provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN) with a combination of engaging online and offline courseworkincluding a wide variety of books, CDs, videos, and hands-on materials that make learning come alive. Available to students who reside in Los Angeles, Kern, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, iQ Academy offers the individualized support students need to succeed. Learn more at http://losangeles.iqacademy.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150331/195878LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iq-academy-california-invites-los-angeles-students-to-enroll-for-2016-17-school-year-300243014.html SOURCE iQ Academy California - Los Angeles [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 30, 2016] Research and Markets: SoundCloud Enters Subscription Music Market with SoundCloud Go DUBLLIN, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SoundCloud has launched a new $9.99-a-month subscription service this week, as it looks to take advantage of the growing number of people subscribing to music streaming services. The company has signed licensing deals with Sony, Warner Music and Universal, which will give its customers access to those label's extensive catalogs. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130307/600769 ) According to reports, the new service will offer customers more music, less ads and the ability to save tracks offline. The music industry has undergone a digital revolution driven by cloud-based online music, with an increasing number of people subscribing to digital music and streaming services. The market for these cloud music services has been projected to grow 10.21% by 2019 , with the penetration of mobile devices, the cloud, and social media among consumers and service providers rising rapidly each year. A surge in subscription-based services has led to massiv growth in the mobile music market. Advances in connectivity were expected to drive growth a further 28.07% by 2019, and this should increase if SoundCloud's latest venture is a success. The global market is also benefiting from increased integration between streaming applications and social media platforms. For example, the collaboration between Spotify and Facebook resulted in increased subscriptions for the streaming service. The music industry has recognized this trend, and is keen to promote paid-streaming services that offer more royalties than the free versions. SoundCloud Go is only available in the United States to begin with, but is expected to expand around the world by the end of 2016. A recent report had forecast the global music streaming service market to grow 12.57% by 2019, but if SoundCloud is able to convert some of its free users over to the new subscription service, this growth will likely be greater than expected. For further information on this topic, and a full list of all related documentation, please visit the Mobile Content section at http://www.researchandmarkets.com/rm/NKPR. 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.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/business/media/soundcloud-starts-subscription-plan-taking-on-spotify-and-apple.html?ref=technology&_r=0 Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] 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: +1-646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 30, 2016] Aeroflot Customer Personalization Reaches New Heights with IBM Analytics MOSCOW, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Russia's largest airline Aeroflot, has turned to IBM (NYSE:IBM) analytics technologies to transform the customer experience of 40 million passengers who fly with Aeroflot annually, helping to increase passenger numbers and brand loyalty. Through the deal, Aeroflot will use IBM's advanced analytics technologies to draw insight from vast amounts of structured and unstructured data from across the company's various properties including travel booking website, social networks, IT and accounting systems amongst others. Utilizing this data to better understand customer preferences and buying behaviors will allow Aeroflot to improve customer service and conduct more targeted marketing campaigns. For example, when promoting special offers to new destinations, Aeroflot's business teams will be able to target travelers with the most relevant profiles and highest levels of potential interest. "The deployment of analytics technologies will be of great benefit to our customers while searching for and selecting the best offers. Personalization and targeted marketing tools will allow us to proactively attract new customers while successfully developing relationships with our existing base," said Mikhail Fandeyev, Marketing Director, Aeroflot. The new system will use data mining, machine learning and predictive modelling technologies to analyze the buying behavior of Aeroflot's customers. Leveraging over 300 data points including last purchase, purchase history, the number of purchased tickets, destination types and price sensitivity, Aeroflot will be able to create unique customer profiles and more accurately calculate customer lifetime value. "As Russia's leading airline, Aeroflot recognized the need to personalize the entire customer experience from ticket to flight," said Eugene Ostrovsky, Head of Transport Industry Solutions, IBM Eastern Europe / Asia. "It turned to IBM's analytics technologies to draw meaningful insight from the floods of data produced by its business systems and online channels. As a long-term partner to Aeroflot and a world leader in analytics, we are providing some of the most advanced technologies available to help turn data into valuable insight ad support Aeroflot's continued transformation and growth." IBM's analytics technologies including BigInsights and SPSS were selected by Aeroflot as a result of a thorough market analysis through which IBM's business partner Technoserv Consulting was chosen as the system integrator for the deal "Big data has great potential for solving large-scale problems, but not all large enterprises are able to turn this data into business value. Aeroflot was the first among Russian airlines to clearly understand the value of data within its organization and to deliver on its potential with this innovative project. We are delighted to expand our cooperation with Russia's largest carrier, and bring to bear our deep industry expertise and IBM's world-leading analytics technologies," said Dmitry Bulenko, Director of Business Development, Transportation Sector, Technoserv Consulting. For more about IBM Analytics, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/analytics About Aeroflot Aeroflot is Russia's flagship carrier and one of the largest airline groups in Europe. In 2015, Aeroflot carried 26.1 million passengers (39.4 million passengers as Aeroflot Group including subsidiaries), a record for any Russian airline. A proud member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance, Aeroflot and its partners serve 1,057 destinations in 179 countries worldwide. In 2015 Aeroflot was named by SKYTRAX as the Best Airline in Eastern Europe for the fourth time and for the first time was ranked among TOP-10 airlines with Best Airline Cuisine according to Global Traveler. Aeroflot operates one of the youngest fleets in the world, numbering 170 airliners. Aeroflot is based in Moscow, Sheremetyevo international airport. Aeroflot is among the global leaders in aviation safety. The company's European Community Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) Index, which is the main globally recognized safety parameter, is comparable to global peers. The first Russian carrier to enter the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) register, renewing its registration for the sixth time in 2015, Aeroflot has successfully passed the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) and is fully ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 compliant. For more information on Aeroflot, please visit: www.aeroflot.ru About IBM Eastern Europe / Asia IBM has been present in Russia/CIS for over 40 years. It is a leading provider of high-value solutions and services to clients in a variety of industries including government, telecommunications, healthcare, finance, retail and oil and gas. IBM has offices in a number of major cities across the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan as well as important facilities and resources to support its clients and partners. Moscow is home to the IBM Innovation Centre, the IBM Client Centre and the IBM Science and Technology Centre which hires some of the most talented technical specialists who work side-by-side work with IBM's global teams on the development of next generation technologies. About Technoserv Consulting Technoserv Consulting was founded in 2009 through the unification of Sputnik Labs and the consulting practices of Technoserv and Reksoft. It drives consulting projects focused on the optimization of the largest financial, telecommunication, transport, industrial, retail and state organisations. Technoserv Consulting has expertise in administrative consulting and in the implementation of business applications covering all functions and management levels of the modern enterprise. For more information on Technoserv Consulting, please visit: http://www.tsconsulting.ru/ Contacts: Jonathan Batty IBM [email protected] +44 7880 086571 Anastasia Denisova Technoserv [email protected] +7 (495) 981-92-92 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aeroflot-customer-personalization-reaches-new-heights-with-ibm-analytics-300243350.html SOURCE IBM [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 30, 2016] Dodge Brand Continues to Rank First in Mass-Market Automotive Brands on Social Media According to Analytics Company AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- New Shareablee Inc. blog ranks Dodge first from Jan. to March 2016 after holding the same position throughout 2015 The Dodge brand was named the number one mass-market auto brand on social media by Shareablee Inc, a social media analytics company. Shareablee announced in its recent blog that it determined the top 10 ranking brands by measuring the total social actions captured on the automaker's posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Dodge brand held this lead position throughout 2015 and continues the trend into 2016. From Jan. 1 to March 15, 2016, Dodge generated the most social actions, 5.2 million, of all mass-market automakers, nearly double the actions received by the second-ranked automaker. "It is great to see Dodge recognized as a fast riser on social media," said Olivier Francois, Chief Marketing Officer, FCA Global. "Having a strong social presence is an important part of our marketing strategy for all our brands. We strive to deliver content that is true to each individual brand persona, is relevant and evokes a reaction from our followers." "Dodge and SRT vehicles have passionate fans who are not just customers, but real brand advocates," said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Car Brands Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA North America. "The fact that Dodge generated 5.2 million social interactions so far this year, nearly double that of the second-ranked automaker in the study, really reinforces our belief that when the information you share is authentic and organic, people engage and share the content." The Dodge brand's success in the social space is in part due to a strong fostered community and a strategy that leverages culturally relevant moments in time. Frequent calls to action to submit user-generated content via the hashtag #ThatsMyDodge and integrating holidays and current events into social content provides fans authentic opportunities to engage with the brand. Of the achievement, Founder and CEO of Shareablee Tania Yuki said, "Dodge has seen nearly five times the growth (373 percent) in social engagement compared to the mass-market automotive industry (78 percent) so far this year. Particularly on Instagram, Dodge's creative use of user-generated content has given a platform for its most loyal enthusiasts to contribute and engage with the brand." Mediabrands Publishing is the social media agency-of-record for Dodge and FCA US LLC. Follow the Dodge brand on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. About Shareablee Inc. Launched in 2013, Shareablee Inc. is the leading authority on audience intelligence, competitive benchmarking and actionable insights for social media. The official social media analytics partner of comScore, Shareablee measures a census of global properties and collects brand audience and engagement data across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr and YouTube. About Dodge Brand The Dodge brand is America's mainstream performance brand. With the purification of the brand and consolidation with SRT, Dodge is getting back to its performance roots with every single model it offers. The Dodge and SRT brands offer a complete lineup of performance vehicles that stand out within their own segments. Dodge is the "mainstream performance" brand and SRT is positioned as the "ultimate performance" halo of the Dodge brand, together creating a complete and balanced performance brand with one vision and one voice. From muscle cars to compact cars, minivans, crossovers and full-size SUVs, the Dodge brand's full lineup of 2016 models deliver best-in-class horsepower, class-exclusive technology, unmatched capability and a slew of cool features, such as LED headlamps, Dodge signature racetrack tail lamps, dual exhaust, 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment centers and 7-inch thin-film transistor (TFT) customizable gauge clusters, to name a few. For the 2016 model year, customers will be able to drive the new 2016 Dodge Charger and Challenger, as well as the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and Charger SRT Hellcat. The Dodge brand lineup also includes the Dodge Dart, Durango, Grand Caravan and Journey, including the Crossroad model, and its flagship, the Dodge Viper. Follow Dodge, SRT and FCA US news and video on: FCA Content On Demand (COD): www.fcacod.com Company blog: http://blog.fcanorthamerica.com Company website: www.fcanorthamerica.com Media website: http://media.fcanorthamerica.com FCA360: www.fca360.com Dodge brand: www.dodge.com Dodge blog: blog.dodge.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge or www.facebook.com/ChryslerGroup Flickr: www.flickr.com/dodgeautos or www.flickr.com/chryslergroup Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/dodgeofficial or www.pinterest.com/FCAcorporate Instagram: www.instagram.com/dodgeofficial or www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA Streetfire: www.streetfire.net/uploaded/chryslervideo.htm Twitter: www.twitter.com/dodge or www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA YouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge or www.youtube.com/pentastarvideo To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dodge-brand-continues-to-rank-first-in-mass-market-automotive-brands-on-social-media-according-to-analytics-company-300243367.html SOURCE FCA US LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [March 30, 2016] Real Estate Owner/Developer Turnberry Associates Selects Textura-Construction Payment Management CHICAGO, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Textura Corporation (NYSE: TXTR), a leading provider of collaboration solutions for the construction industry, announced that leading real estate developer and property manager Turnberry Associates is using Textura-Construction Payment Management to enhance project collaboration and to standardize payment management activities across its development portfolio. Aventura, Fla.-based Turnberry Associates has developed more than $8 billion in commercial and residential property across a growing geographic footprint, with a focus on high-end retail, hospitality, office and condominium projects. The company is currently using CPM to improve the efficiency and transparency of payment management processes across multiple large-scale projects, including a $4 billion, 183-acre master planned community that recently broke ground in North Miami. "As the scope and complexity of our developments continued to increase, we saw a need to standardize our business processes, both to improve efficiency and to mitigate risk arising from payment activities," said Lenny O'Neill, Senior Vice President of Construction for Turnberry Associates. "Textura's CPM solution has enabled us to achieve all of those objectives by facilitating centralized, standardized and collaborative interactions between our general contractors and subcontractors, as well as increasing our visibility and control across all payment process steps," O'Neill said. A web-based Software-as-a-Servic (SaaS), Textura-CPM integrates key construction payment management processes - including billing, lien waiver collection, progress claims, statutory declarations, sub-tier waivers, compliance management and payments - into a seamless, online workflow that enables collaboration across project participants. "With CPM, we can be confident that payment applications are being completed efficiently and correctly, that compliance materials on projects stay up to date, and that lien waivers are handled properly," O'Neill said. "Turnberry Associates' experience with CPM underscores the benefits Textura provides to owner/developers by standardizing, optimizing and de-risking payment and compliance management activities," said Mike Antis, Executive Vice President of Client Services for Textura. "We're thrilled that they have joined the ranks of owner/developers using Textura and look forward to being a lasting partner in their growth and success," Antis said. About Turnberry Associates Turnberry Associates is one of America's premier real estate development and property management companies. Founded more than 50 years ago, the company's diverse projects have revolutionized the living, working, leisure and shopping habits of millions of people across the country. Turnberry Associates has to its credit the development of more than $8 billion in commercial and residential property, including more than 3,000 hotel and resort rooms, 20 million square feet of retail space, in excess of 7,000 apartments and condominium units and 1.5 million square feet of class "A" office space. Today Turnberry Associates' family leadership is moving the company into the future. www.turnberry.com About Textura Textura is a leading provider of collaboration and productivity tools for the construction industry. Our solutions serve construction industry professionals across the project lifecycle from takeoff, estimating, design, pre-qualification and bid management to submittals, field management, LEED management, performance management and payment. With award-winning technology, world-class customer support and consistent growth, Textura is leading the construction industry's technology transformation. www.texturacorp.com Contact: Emily Ries, CPM Marketing [email protected] 847-457-6536 Investor contact: Annie Leschin, StreetSmart IR 415-775-1788 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110602/CG12932LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/real-estate-ownerdeveloper-turnberry-associates-selects-textura-construction-payment-management-300243447.html SOURCE Textura Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] An estimated 10,000 local hunters from the North-East of Nigeria gathered recently in Adamawa State for their annual oath-taking festiva... An estimated 10,000 local hunters from the North-East of Nigeria gathered recently in Adamawa State for their annual oath-taking festival, known as Salala in the local parlance.4isa-forestThe hunters, dressed in their warfare attires, and with their dane guns dangling over their shoulders, vowed to rid the society of criminals.They appealed to the government to make use of their members in the fight against terrorism and other social vices. The leader of the hunters in Adamawa, Muhammad Tola, who claimed the hunters had so far played significant roles in the fight against Boko Haram, said hunters were familiar with the terrain in dreaded forests, like the Sambisa Forest.We are ready to pursue the terrorists because we know the terrain very well. We are appealing to the military authorities to allow us join the fight against Boko Haram at the Sambisa Forest, Tola said.Mr. Tola said the hunters needed the government to assist them with ammunition, transportation and logistics. He said the government could also enlist young hunters who were willing to join the army, police, and other security agencies.We remain one big family devoid of religious or tribal sentiments, that is why you can see over 10,000 hunters from Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi, Borno, Yoba and Adamawa converged for this epoch-making event, Mr. Tola said. Female hunters also participated in the Salala festival.The leader of the female hunters, Aisha Bakari Gombi, said securing the society was a fight for everyone, irrespective of gender. The West African Examinations Council has announced the 2015 International Excellence Award, with Ghana again leading Nigeria, among other... The West African Examinations Council has announced the 2015 International Excellence Award, with Ghana again leading Nigeria, among other West African countries, in the academic honours roll.It was gathered that three Ghanaians from the same school, Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast, emerged winners in the award for their outstanding performances in the May/June 2015 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination.They scored A1 in all their subjects.Interestingly also, the three award winners are females. They are Jessica Quaye (first prize), Ruth Ewura-Ama Awadzi (second prize) and Danielle Amo-Mensah (third prize).The management of WAEC honoured the trio during its 64th annual meeting held in Accra, Ghana, between March 15 and 18.Quaye also won the Augustus Bandele Oyediran Award for the best candidate in West Africa.With her performance, Ghanaians have emerged winners of the award between 2012 and 2015.In the 2014 May/June WASSCE also, the three best scholars were all Ghanaians, with 18-year-old Mickail Hasan, who attended Ghana Secondary Technical School, emerging the overall winner.The member countries of WAEC are The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.No fewer than 1,883,775 candidates sat for the 2015 May/June WASSCE.Meanwhile, WAEC, on Tuesday, urged researches in the member countries to focus more on critical national issues, including examination malpractice, with a view to seeking solutions to the emerging trends.In a statement signed by its Head, Public Affairs, Mr. Abiodun Aduloju, the council also appealed to the researchers and research institutions to endeavour to make their reports available to guide the member state governments in policy formulation and implementation.The council, which advised Nigeria to continue to motivate the teachers in order to attract the best brains to the profession, also called for more training for them.According to the council, the appeal has become imperative in order to sustain the newly-introduced trade subjects in the countrys school system, as well as improve candidates performance in them. President Muhammadu Buharis senior aide on National Assembly, Ita Enang, on Monday painted a gloomy picture of Akwa Ibom states economy... President Muhammadu Buharis senior aide on National Assembly, Ita Enang, on Monday painted a gloomy picture of Akwa Ibom states economy, saying the state and its people were used as collateral for loans by former Governor Godswill Akpabio.Mr. Enang, a former senator, told journalists in Uyo, the state capital, that Akwa Ibom received more money from the federation account than all the states in the South-East put together, yet did little with the huge income.He said the allocation to the state was also more than that of all the states in the North-East put together.Mr. Enang said given such revenue, something must be seriously wrong for the state to go broke today.If Akwa Ibom workers complain (that their salaries have not been paid), then something is wrong with governance. Something is wrong with the application of the funds. Something is wrong with the way you treat the people, he said.Mr. Enang said he was worried that Governor Udom Emmanuel was taking out billions of naira from the state funds to settle loans obtained by Mr. Akpabio.The former senator said Mr. Emmanuels administration was coming to the state as a receiver because Akwa Ibom was almost broke and owing one particular bank too much.The bank had to post a governor to Akwa Ibom, and that process of posting a governor as a receiver as been completed by the fact that the governor is from that particular bank, he said, apparently referring to Zenith Bank, where Mr. Udom worked before his election as governor.And that bank has now seconded (its staffer) as the accountant-general to the state, so that when the governor authorises payment to the bank, the accountant-general will execute it.Mr. Enang, who challenged journalists to use the Freedom of Information Act to find out the state of Akwa Ibom finances, said the governor should be open enough to tell the people the debt profile of the state and how much money the government was paying out monthly to service loans.The people deserved the right to know how much their state is worth, he said.He said it was time Nigerians began holding governors accountable for what was happening in their states, adding that it was erroneous for people to think that it was the sole responsibility of the federal government to manage the nations economy.Mr. Enang said it was becoming fashionable for government at the states, particularly the ones controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party, to blame the All Progressives Congress-led government at the centre, for whatever was happening in their states.The federal government does not owe salary to any of its parastatals or to any of its staffers. The federal government doesnt pay local government or state government workers.The federal government uses its own money to pay its own workers, so if you get your own money and decide to spend it on okporoko (stockfish) and groundnuts, and then you deceive the people by saying it is the federal government.I think it is insulting for you to think that people do not think, and that they do not know that you have collected your money, Mr. Enang said.Mr. Enang, a former ally of Mr. Akpabios, fell out with the former governor after he lost his bid to return to the senate during the 2015 election. The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, has urged the British Government to intervene in his case ... The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, has urged the British Government to intervene in his case by asking President Muhammadu Buhari to release him from prison.Kanu who is facing treason charge alongside two other pro-Biafra agitators, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi, approached the British government through his lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor.Kanu, in a letter dated March 24 and addressed to the British High Commissioner in Abuja, described himself as a victim of travesty of justice and gross human rights violation.He insisted that the President Buhari-led administration has violently abused his fundamental human rights through his prolonged detention in prison custody.Even though Kanu said he was ready to answer to the charge against him, he however expressed doubt in the ability of the Nigerian government to accord him fair trial, saying he has so far been subjected to immense persecution. Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai said on Tuesday night that he has never quarrelled with, nor slapped his Deputy, Barnabas Bala... The governor said Bala has been his friend since they both attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in Kaduna State several years ago.While the governor had First class honours, studying Quantity Survey, his Deputy, graduated with First Class honours in Architecture from the same Ahmadu Bello Unversity, Zaria.Reacting to the rumoured fight between him and his deputy, El-Rufai said he had known his deputy since 1976 at ABU and that nothing has ever led them to fight.The root of alleged fisticuffs between El-rufai and Bala was that the Governor and the deputy have been having a cold war over alleged plans by the governor to sack top civil servants in the state.But El-Rufai, in an interactive session with select journalists simply laughed over the allegation, saying that the rumour mongers were not intelligent enough.The governor explained that if the alleged fisticuffs took place in the executive meeting as portrayed by the rumour mongers, there would have been video or photo evidence of the fight by some executive members of the State councils, because nobody is prevented from entering the meeting with his or her phoneEl-Rufai said, I have known Bala Bantex since 1976, I never had an argument with him, I respect his opinions, and each time I travelled out of the country, I make him an Acting governor, he signs documents on my behalf.We chair executive council meetings together, we operate like partners, and now people want to create enmity between us. I am of age, I cant descend so low. This rumour is completely false, it is created to cause division.We never discussed retrenchment of workers in the state as claimed by the rumour mongers.I have never slapped anyone in my life. I have never argued with Bala, I dont slap people, I fight people with mouth, El-Rufai said. The Naira on Wednesday, maintained its exchange rate at N322 to a dollar. It also remained firm against the two other major currencies, ... The Naira on Wednesday, maintained its exchange rate at N322 to a dollar. It also remained firm against the two other major currencies, the pounds sterling which exchanged at N448 and the\euro which sold for N355.However, at the official interbank rate, N197, was exchange for a dollar. Some traders at the parallel market told NAN in Lagos that the high exchange rate was discouraging to customers. They complained that the market had remained dull due to low patronage.Meanwhile, the apex bank, in its last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, said that excess liquidity in the banking system was contributing to the current pressure in the foreign exchange market. The bank said that the pressure was impacting negatively on consumer prices. There was panic in Eruwa, headquarters of Ibarapa East Local Government as Police and students of Eruwa Polytechnic, Eruwa, Oyo state cl... There was panic in Eruwa, headquarters of Ibarapa East Local Government as Police and students of Eruwa Polytechnic, Eruwa, Oyo state clashed , following their protest against the management of the school, on Tuesday.It was learnt that the students were protesting the dismissal of students of Higher National Diploma (HND) Business Administration and hike in fees charged for late registration by the management.The source within the campus who confirmed the development said the students are protesting the introduction of late registration fees and dismissal of HND one students of Business Administration.The protest, it was gathered did not go down with the management which called in members of the state police force in the town.This, according to sources led to alleged gun shot on a student and another, a female student, also alleged to be asthmatic was tear gassed.The two students were said to be undergoing treatment in an undisclosed hospital.Explaining further, the source said the affected HND one students of Business Administration were told to go home after being admitted, paid their school fees and had even been receiving lectures. The school now said they cannot admit them again, telling them to go home and come back next session.The source hinted that the school management hinged their excuse on the fact that the affected students studied Public Administration for their National Diploma (ND) courses.It added that the students insisted that the management gave them go ahead to apply for Business Administration for their HND programme which they complied.On this premise, according to our source, the students were admitted but were surprised when the management made a U-turn and sent them packing through a notice on the board.As if that was not enough, while the students were making appeal against the decision, the source noted that the students requested that the management return all monies, especially school fees paid into the coffers of the management.But they were shocked as the management told them that when they return for their course next session, it will be sorted out.The second reason for their protest centred on payment of late registration fees for both the Daily Part Time (DPP) and full time students.It was gathered that the students were appealing to the management on the basis that most of their parents who work as civil servants under the state government are being owed several months of salary.The two sections of students affected under this category are DPP students who pay N37,500 and their full time counterparts who are currently paying N28,250 as their school fees were billed additional N2,500 as late registration fees and N300 as bank charges.It was also gathered that students were forced to remain indoor till around 5.00pm on Tuesday for fear of arrest while some others were at the time being detained at Sango police station, Eruwa.All efforts to reach the management for their reaction on the development proved abortive.One of the principal officers who spoke with newsmen under condition of anonymity confirmed the protest but declined to comment on the reason for the protest . According to recent metro reports, Mr. Stephen Akams, a Lagos-based interior designer, is currently in University of Benin Teaching Hosp... According to recent metro reports, Mr. Stephen Akams, a Lagos-based interior designer, is currently in University of Benin Teaching Hospital with a damaged eye.The 41-year-old man said a medical result he would get on Thursday (tomorrow) would determine whether he would see clearly again with his left eye or not.It was gathered that Akams was battered last Thursday, March 24, along the Benin bypass, Edo State, by some policemen numbering about seven while he was returning from an assignment in Enugu State.It was learnt that four of the policemen were in a vehicle ahead of a commercial car conveying the artisan.The police van was allegedly in the middle of the road, moving at a slow speed when the driver of the car signalled to overtake it by blowing the horn. It was, however, said that the policemen refused to give way for the driver.Akams, who spoke with news reporters on, said he also signalled at the policemen when the blockade persisted, but they took offence and flagged down the car.He said, Our driver was driving at a speed limit of about 70 kilometres per hour, but the police vehicle was going slower in the middle of the road.In an effort to go past the vehicle, our driver sounded the horn, but the driver, who eventually turns to be a policeman, started abusing us.When we managed to go past them, I signalled at the driver of the vehicle to caution him. That was when they started chasing us and overtook us. One of the guys at the back seat pulled a gun and threatened to shoot if we didnt stop.We were not sure who they were, so we decided to reverse and that was when we discovered that another white vehicle was following us. They trapped us between them. They came down with their guns about six or seven of them and dragged me out of the vehicle. They accused me of insulting police officers and beat me up.He said the policemen turned down his entreaties, bundled him inside the boot of their car, and whisked him away into a bush.They asked me to bring N100,000 for them to release me. I told them I didnt have the money. After they had driven for about two miles with me in the boot, they parked and brought me out and started beating me again. When one of them saw the hand band my friends daughter made for me and another one I bought in Ghana in 2012, they said I was a cultist.I refutted the claim and the beating continued. They brought handcuffs and threatened to take me to the Department of Criminal Investigation. One of them brought a fan belt and repeatedly hit me in the head.The Delta State indigene explained that the policemen fled the area after the belt hit him in the eye and he became unconscious. He added that it was the driver of the car he boarded that trailed him to the scene and took him to the hospital.It was the fan belt that hit my left eye and caused serious damage. I am still on admission at UBTH with blurred vision and in serious pain. I cannot see much with the eye and I am not sure when I am leaving the hospital because of the injury. The doctor said I would know my fate on Thursday (tomorrow), he saidAkams disclosed that policemen at the Ugbowo division near UBTH directed him to the state police command when he reported the incident.The Edo State Police Command spokesperson, Abiodun Osifo, said he was not aware of the case and promised to get back to our correspondent.He said, I am not aware of the incident, but it cannot be true. The policemen cannot whisk him away to the bush. I will make enquiries and get back to you.Osifo had, however, yet to do so as of press time. John Emili 3/30 John Emili stands trial in Superior Court in Bergen County, March 30, 2016. (Myles Ma | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) ( ) HACKENSACK -- An accident reconstruction expert said one of the two men charged in a road-rage accident that killed a woman in 2012 was likely going faster than 75 mph. John Emili, of New City, N.Y., is charged with vehicular homicide in the death of Anetta Billingy of Teaneck. Emili was driving Billingy, 63, to church on July 1, 2012. Emili, who was driving a Honda Pilot, and Thomas Vanderweit, a Saddle Brook man who was driving a Chevy Tahoe, were weaving through traffic in close proximity before Emili crashed, police have said. Billingy was thrown from Emili's vehicle and later died. New Jersey State Police Sgt. Derek DiStaso, an accident reconstruction expert who worked on the case, said in court Wednesday that Emili swerved to avoid Vanderweit's Chevy after he suddenly braked in the area of Washington Township. He calculated that Emili was going at least 75 mph beforehand, and was likely going much faster. Emili swerved into the right lane and lost control as he tried to veer back left, DiStaso said. The Honda began to spin before crashing into the left guard rail, launching Billingy out of the car and across the highway. The Honda overturned as it bounced off the guard rail, and collided with Vanderweit's Chevy, which was slowing down in the right shoulder, DiStaso said. The crash knocked the Chevy into the right guard rail, while the Honda righted itself and slowly wheeled into the guard rail as well, a few feet ahead. A jury found Vanderweit guilty of vehicular homicide in November. He's been sentenced to six years in prison. Raymond Flood, the attorney for Emili, blamed Vanderweit for causing the accident in his opening argument Tuesday. Flood asked DiStaso, a witness for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, if the crash would have happened without Vanderweit's sudden braking. "It contributed to the crash," DiStaso said. "It's not the sole cause of the crash." Kevin Roy, a West Nyack man heading home from the shore at the time of the crash, testified that he saw both cars weaving in and out of traffic after one of the vehicles cut the other off. The prosecution rested after DiStaso's testimony. The case is expected to resume Tuesday morning. Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. WAKE FOREST, N.C. - Family and friends of a mother, father and grandmother shot to death by a neighbor last week continue to grapple with their loss as they say answers about the slayings are slow to come. "We keep saying to ourselves, 'What could be so bad to motivate someone to do this?'" said Cindy Frommelt in an interview this week with NJ Advance Media. Frommelt was a lifelong friend of Stephenie Mazzella, 43, who was killed last Friday along with her husband, Sandy, 47, and his mother, Elaine, 76, in the family's home in Wake Forest, N.C. Jonathan Frederick Sander, 52, a next-door neighbor and business partner of Sandy Mazzella is being held without bond, charged with three counts of first-degree murder. The crimes appear to have been the result of a feud between the families, according to Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison. Friends and family, however, question the sheriff's theory. "Stephenie does not have a harassing bone in her body," Frommelt said. "She was a wonderful, sweet soul. She was a nurse. She always put people first, before herself." Another friend, Mary Masino Musa of Cedar Grove, said she believes the dispute was between the men rather than the families. "I think there's a lot more of a missing piece to this puzzle for somebody to act so violently and snap like that," Musa said. The two men appear to have been on good terms as recently as last August, when Sander posted of picture of the two of them that appears to have been taken in a restaurant. Sandy's brother, Rich Sussman of Elmwood Park, said the family in recent weeks apparently became so terrified of Sander that they were planning to move away on Friday, April 1. "I just don't know exactly, fully, clearly the details of what soured between them," Sussman said on Tuesday. "It's lingering in my mind and it's eating at me." Sussman said his brother told him of the issues with Sander, including the fact that they took out a restraining order after the suspect allegedly made threatening remarks. Now Sussman wishes he would have urged his brother to move sooner. "I regret not talking to my brother more, my father more, my mother more," he said. "Maybe I should have told him, 'Flee your stupid home for your own protection before (April 1)." Sandy Mazzella grew up in New Milford. Stephenie, who grew up in Jefferson Township, attended Felician College in Bergen County and later lived in Belleville and worked as a registered nurse in Clara Maas Hospital. In North Carolina, she worked as a nurse in the intensive care unit of WakeMed hospital in Raleigh. The Mazzellas married about 18 years ago in a ceremony at the Newark Airport Marriott. They had two children - a boy, 10, and a girl, 14. Services are planned for all three victims from 4-8 p.m. Thursday in Wake Forest. A funeral and interment at a Wake Forest cemetery are planned for Friday morning. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. TRENTON -- The state Division of Consumer Affairs announced Wednesday that it sued a Lodi used car dealership, alleging deceptive business practices. European Auto Expo failed to honor the advertised prices for vehicles, "omitted important explanatory disclaimers from advertisements and obscured pricing details with misleading fine print," consumer affairs officials said in a statement. The eight-count complaint, filed in Bergen County Superior Court, alleged violations of the Consumer Fraud Act, the Motor Vehicle Advertising Regulations, the Automotive Sales Regulations, the Used Car Lemon Law and other regulations. "This action reflects our continued commitment to enforcing the laws in place to protect consumers as they navigate the often-stressful process of purchasing a used motor vehicle," Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy said in the statement. "Unscrupulous dealers who use bait and switch advertising tactics or otherwise defraud consumers will be held accountable." European Auto Expo sold a vehicle that had the odometer rolled back more than 60,000 miles, did not disclose accident damage and other problems to customers, and other violations, the state's complaint alleged. "Deceptive advertising and sales practices will not be tolerated," Acting Director of Consumer Affairs Steve Lee said. "Consumers shopping for a used car or truck are entitled to honest advertising, and appropriate disclosures as to warranty, price, and prior vehicle use and damage." The court action seeks restitution for consumers, attorneys' fees and civil penalties for each alleged violation of state regulations. Seth L. Dobbs, an attorney for European Auto Expo, said the dealership would "vigorously defend itself against these baseless allegations." "This case is an example of the Attorney General's campaign to strong arm auto dealers into paying exorbitant fines that seek not to benefit consumers, but to act merely as a revenue source for the State," Dobbs said in a statement. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Police Shooting Officials remove the body of a suspect shot by police from a soybean field as members of variouslaw enforcement agencies investigate a police involved shooting in the village of Campbelltown in South Londonderry Township, Pa., on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015. Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold says police have shot and killed a man who opened fire on officers after he stole guns from a Pennsylvania gun shop. (Jeremy Long/Lebanon Daily News via AP) (AP photo) CINNAMINSON TWP. -- Seven months after 18-year-old Joshua Malave was killed by police in rural Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, the Lebanon County district attorney on Wednesday cleared the officer who fired the fatal shot of any charges. Pennlive.com reports Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold said no criminal charges will be filed following the August 2015 shooting of Malave, whom officers encountered following an early-morning botched burglary of a gun store there. "The officer did not provoke the actions of the suspect and could not avoid using deadly force with complete safety for himself and/or other officers and residents of the community," Arnold said during Wednesday's press conference. According to the report, Arnold felt the incident ended in a sort of "suicide by police" situation -- although he didn't think Malave set out with that as his intention. Social media posts made by Malave indicated the man had "suicidal ideations," Arnold said, although he was not diagnosed with any such conditions. Malave acted alone when he burglarized the Horseshoe Pike Gun Shop on the morning of Aug. 3, 2015. He walked to the business from the nearby Thousand Trails campground where he was staying with his family on vacation, according to the report, which adds he visited the store two years earlier when his father purchased a long gun there. In the wake of the shooting, a family member declined comment after being reached by NJ Advance Media. Malave -- wearing camouflage clothing and a mask -- exchanged gunfire with police after exiting the store. He was shot and killed in a field near the store. Investigators said he had more than 80 guns with him at the time of his death. In the wake of the shooting, Arnold described the scene as "a real quiet somewhat rural area. Across the street is a soybean field and corn fields about as far as you can see."' Malave, a recent Cinnaminson High School graduate, worked at a grocery store as a delivery driver. He was also facing weapons possession charges out of nearby Delran Township and Cinnaminson police said following the fatal shooting that they had arrested him in December 2014. Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook. A former New Jersey man who claims to be William Shatner's son has filed a nine-figure lawsuit against the octogenarian actor. Peter Sloan, 59, of Tampa, Fla., filed the $170 million lawsuit there last week, according to the New York Post's website. Sloan alleges that he was conceived when the Star Trek and T.J. Hooker star had an affair with now-deceased Canadian actress Kathy McNeil. McNeil gave up her son for adoption less than a week after he was born, the suit says. Sloan said Shatner admitted to being his father when he met the now 85-year-old on the T.J. Hooker set more than 30 years ago. Shatner invited him to visit again, but when Sloan called Shatner upon returning to New Jersey, the performer hung up on him, according to the lawsuit A representative for Shatner called Sloan after that and said the two-time Emmy Award winner would not take a paternity test. Sloan met Shatner again at a public meet-and-greet in 2009 and in 2011 began referring to himself as Peter Shatner, People.com reported. The $170 million lawsuit asks for $90 million in punitive damages, $50 million for pain and suffering and $30 million in compensatory damages. William Shatner has an approximate net worth of $100 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com. He has three daughters. Sloan didn't immediately return messages from NJ Advance Media asking about his New Jersey background. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Today is the "Day of Giving" at Jersey Mike's Subs. All sales from subs to chips to catering orders go straight to several charities. All day, the Manasquan-based chain will donate 100 percent of sales to 180 charities which includes schools, hospitals, youth organizations and food banks. Local charities include New Hope Foundation, Sean's Pals, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, Hugs for Brady and several local high school districts. The charitable event is the culmination of their 6th Annual March "Month of Giving" fundraising campaign. How does Month of Giving work? Each Jersey Mike's location has a designated charity partner in which customers can opt to donate after getting their sandwich. The endeavor is often a success. The 2015 Month of Giving raised $3 million for 150 charities. "This year, with the help of our generous customers and franchise owners, we hope to raise more than $3.5 million to support important causes throughout the country and help make a difference in people's lives," said Jersey Mike's founder and CEO Peter Cancro in a statement. Since 2010, Jersey's Mike's has raised over $14 million for charities and have distributed more than 1.5 million free subs. Jersey Mike's sells made-to-order subs and currently has more than 1,500 locations open and under development nationwide. The chain started in 1956 at the Jersey Shore when Cancro started his sandwich empire at only 17 years-old. In 2014, Jersey Mike's Subs was named the No. 1 fastest-growing chain in the Nation's Restaurant News and continues to expand. Last July, the chain opened a location in the Galloping Hill Center in Union. Visit their web site to find a Jersey Mike's location near you. Anthony Venutolo may be reached at avenutolo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyVenutolo and Google+. Find NJ.com on Facebook. At least there would be no birther rebuttals -- Bruce is certainly born in the U.S.A. In a recent interview with Billboard, Vice President Joe Biden was asked which musician he thought would make the best president. "The middle class would have the best chance with Bruce Springsteen," Biden told the magazine. "He understands issues facing working Americans." Of course Biden would name-drop The Boss -- Springsteen supported Obama's run in 2008 and 2012. And his chest-thumper "We Take Care Of Our Own" was used in the 2012 National Democratic Convention. An endorsement of another Clinton -- P-Funk legend and Jersey's own George Clinton -- would've been juicier. And remember when there was a clamor for Springsteen to actually run for office? A group in 2002 pushed him to run as a third-party candidate for U.S. Senate. Though Bruce answered with a Pennsylvania Avenue Freeze-Out: "If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve," he told The Asbury Park Press. And let's be clear. Neither Springsteen nor Biden will run for president this year. Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Lauren Anderson is a staff attorney at the Orleans Parish Public Defenders Office. Due to staff cuts, attrition and low funding she is overwhelmed with clients and has little time to prepare for cases. 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. 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. Things are about to get "Reel" April 20 for National Canadian Film Day. Things are about to get "Reel" April 20 for National Canadian Film Day.That Ryan Reynolds fever that had the city buzzing will return when the Sudbury Indie Cinema Co-op in partnership with Reel Canada and the Sudbury Theatre Centre presents "The Captive" directed by Atom Egoyan and starring Ryan Reynolds as part of a double bill promoting Canadian films.The Captive, filmed in Sudbury, features many local landmarks, and was released in 2014. It tells the story of a teenage girl named Cassandra who is locked up against her will, unable to contact her family to let them know she's still alive.The cinema co-op will also present Incendies with English subtitles. This film is directed by another Canadian, Denis Villeneuve, and was filmed in Montreal and Amman, Jordan. Incendies is a mother's last wish that sends twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to the Middle East in search of their tangled roots."The Indie Cinema Co-op is once again excited to bring National Canadian Film Day to Sudbury," said Derek Young, the Co-op's chairperson."Each year, we try and feature a film that showcases Sudbury and we have expanded our program to include a double bill with French programming well.These film screenings, being held at Sudbury Theatre Centre, are a fundraising event for the Sudbury Indie Cinema Co-op.Tickets are on sale now at the Sudbury Theatre Centre. Tickets start at $16 plus HST. Visit www.sudburytheatre.ca Brady Public School District was one of only two school districts in the state recognized by the Nebraska Rural Community Schools Associations for closing the achievement gap between children who are eligible for free and reduced lunch and those who are not. Researchers from RMC Research, a subcontractor of the Central Regional Educational Laboratory at Marzano Research, in Centennial, Colorado, used analysis comparing the achievement of students who were eligible for free or reduced price lunch compared to those who were not eligible, allowing them to measure the gap between students who are economically disadvantaged and those who are more economically advantaged. In general, research has shown that those who are better off economically often perform better than students who arent as well-off. Theres a lot of correlation between socioeconomics and performance on standardized testing, said James McGown, superintendent of Brady Public Schools. Any time a school can bridge that gap, it shows an effort is being made to fit the needs to all students. For the last five years, McGown said, staff at Brady Public Schools has been working to help all of their students improve in the areas of math, reading and science. During the 2016 NRCSA Spring Conference in Kearney earlier this month, Brady Public Schools and Neligh-Oakdale Schools were presented with the NRCSA Closing the Gap award for their efforts. The awards, presented at the 2016 NRCSA Spring Conference in Kearney, are a reflection of a core principle of education, namely, there should not be a gap relative to poverty in teaching and learning outcomes, said Dr. Jon Habben, executive director of the NRCSA. The recognized schools are finding a way to narrow such gaps. McGown said their efforts to close the gap prove that all students can learn. McGown said that education is constantly evolving, and Brady Public Schools plan to continue to improve in an effort to help students be as successful as possible. Its a nice accomplishment for our staff and students, McGown said. It goes to show the importance of school improvement. Its been a lot of work from a lot of individuals. A police precinct that traditionally is one of the city's safest is tied for having the most number of homicides in the city this year. Borough reporter Bree Driscoll has that story. Rob Kushner walks his dog Buddy 4 to 5 times a day through the 121st Precinct on Staten Island. The Graniteville resident has lived here for 20 years and has always felt safe. "I don't have a problem walking outside," Kushner said. "I am 230 pounds, six feet, I don't have a problem." So Kushner was surprised to find out there have been seven homicides in 121st precinct so far this year, tied for the most in the city with the 75th precinct in East New York, Brooklyn. During the same period last year, there were no murders in this Staten Island precinct. "We believe it is aberrational," said NYPD Chief of Detectives. "I want to put to rest any fears people living in the 121 precinct may have." The killings here began February 10 when Rebecca Cutler and her two daughters were stabbed to death at the Ramada Inn. Her boyfriend was charged with murder. On February 29, 54-year-old Joshua Morisson died from injuries he suffered in a fight with another man, Adam Rueben. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. But so far, Rueben's only been charged with assault. On March 5, a transgender woman, Antonio Bohanna, allegedly stabbed her 26-year-old boyfriend to death. And last Thursday, police say Anthony Moreles shot dead 47-year-old Idelle Rivera and her 21-year-old son. The surge in homicides is even more jarring because the number of such crimes citywide is down 20 percent so far this year. But police officials say residents here should not be alarmed, as arrests have been made in each case. "All of these cases are closed out," Boyce said. "So while there is a lot of violence in one precinct, that is certainly unusual for the 121 it is aberrational at this point." "I am surprised because we don't have this crime around here for a long, long time," said one resident. "Staten Island was the safest borough in New York City," said another. "And now I am having a second thought. " Officials say they understand the concerns, but because they believe the killings are an aberration, no extra patrols are planned. Police Commissioner William Bratton says he is "very concerned" with the performance of officers involved in the arrest of a postal worker who was out driving a mail truck in Brooklyn. Bratton says the NYPD's internal affairs bureau is investigating the arrest of 27-year-old Glen Grays on March 17 in Crown Heights. Grays says he was delivering mail in his mail truck when he was almost struck by an unmarked police car. He says he yelled at the plainclothes officers and a lieutenant before they got out and asked for identification. Cellphone video appears to show the officers shouting, 'Stop resisting,' and Grays saying he is not. Grays was handcuffed and taken to a local precinct, where he was issued a summons for disorderly conduct. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Bratton said he has "strong concerns about the charge against the individual" based on the videos he reviewed. He also said the lieutenant and three officers were assigned to a conditions unit and that conditions units are "not to work in plainclothes." "So in sum and in substance, I'm very concerned about the performance of the officers, about the leadership of the lieutenant involved and about the processing of the arrest at the precinct stationhouse," Bratton said. Bratton added that he was concerned that the worker's postal truck was left unsecured and double-parked on "a major thoroughfare in the city of New York." Last week, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said Grays' federal employee civil rights were violated. Hillary Clinton kicked off her campaign for next month's New York presidential primary with a fiery speech in Harlem, where she took aim at both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Josh Robin filed the following report. Like many before her, Hillary Clinton had the audience at the Apollo cheering, an audience she praised as a hometown crowd. "You have always had my back, and I've always tried to have yours," Clinton said. It was a message made clear before the speech at a Harlem coffee shop, flanked by Rep. Charles Rangel. Clinton is facing a challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders that may be closer than poll numbers suggest. He is tapping into disgust over her ties to the financial sector. Also appealing to Empire State voters is that he's Brooklyn-born. Another Brooklyn-born senator, Charles Schumer, is vouching for the Chicago-born Clinton. "She may not always tawk like we Brooklynites tawk, but when she speaks out, she changes minds, she changes hearts, she moves to action, and she changes outcomes," Schumer said. Outcomes are what Clinton stresses, calling Sanders all, well, talk. "My opponent says, 'Well, we're not thinking big enough.' Well, this is New York. Nobody dreams bigger than we do," Clinton said. "But this is a city that likes to get things done." What Clinton wants, it would appear, is not just a win, but a margin that denies any Sanders bounce in other upcoming northeastern states. It would narrow the delegate gap and pressure so-called superdelegates to defect from Clinton. "He did have some wins the other day," said Basil Smikle, executive director of the New York State Democratic Party. "He needs to start winning states by that same margin, 60, 70 percent of the vote or more." In her 27-minute speech, Clinton delivered a greatest hits as U.S. senator, across the state, not just New York City. She also name-checked Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose role in her campaign is uncertain. "Republican side what we are hearing is truly scary" Clinton also didn't let the meaty softball that is Donald Trump pass her by. Both in person and in a new ad, Clinton says the Republican represents everything New York isn't. As for Sanders, he stumped in Wisconsin. That primary is next Tuesday. New York's is two weeks later. Expect to see the candidates, and their surrogates, plenty before then. With the government officially observing the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War this week, NY1's Jeanine Ramirez takes a look at a Brooklyn group created to advocate for returning veterans of that war, Black Veterans for Social Justice. Wendy McClinton points to a painting of women veterans. It's a group she's connected to not only because her job is to help those who served, but also because she's a veteran. "I transitioned out of the military with three children under the age of 5, and when I got to New York, I was homeless. The only service I was able to access was unemployment," McClinton said. With the help of the nonprofit group Black Veterans for Social Justice, McClinton found a job, a home and a mission: to help veterans like herself. Now, she's the president of the organization that assisted 10,000 people last year with a variety of social services. "It can't be one fit for all because everybody doesn't fit. So we have to tailor the needs of each veteran," McClinton said. The group was created 37 years ago by an Army veteran from Brooklyn, Job Mashariki. "At that particular time, the VA didn't recognize Agent Orange. They didn't recognize the substance abuse that veterans were exposed to in Vietnam," Mashariki said. Black Veterans for Social Justice set out to advocate for them. Masharik's initial focus was fellow black veterans in central Brooklyn, but the group helps any veteran in need. "We understood the homeless problem before the city even recognized the homeless problem because people would come in and spend the night with us in our storefront location," Mashariki said. The organization grew out of its Fort Greene storefront and moved its headquarters to Bedford-Stuyvesant in 2001. The building serves as a food pantry and as an office for more than 100 staffers. The group manages several apartment complexes for veterans. Even with all its programs, the workers here say there's still a lot of outreach to be done. "A lot of times, we have to go out and hit the streets because a lot of veterans are in the streets, in the parks and different things like that," said Tyrone Williams, the COO for Black Veterans for Social Justice. And there's the constant advocacy work on the government level. The push to help military members transition seamlessly to civilian life is a recurring battle. Elizabeth Glaser, who waged a tireless campaign to draw attention to pediatric AIDS after she unknowingly passed the disease on to her daughter and son, died yesterday at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 47. The cause was complications from AIDS, said Josh Baran, a spokesman for the family. Mrs. Glaser, the wife of Paul Michael Glaser, a director and actor who starred in the "Starsky and Hutch" television series, was one of several public figures to bring AIDS to the forefront of the 1992 Presidential campaign. She had contracted H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, through a blood transfusion in 1981. Thousands of delegates, dignitaries and guests stood frozen in place at the Democratic National Convention in New York City as she told of the death of her 7-year-old daughter, Ariel, in 1988 from AIDS. "She taught me to love when all I wanted to do was hate," Mrs. Glaser said. "She taught me to help others when all I wanted to do was help myself." LOS ANGELES Known for funding other museums as well as running one, the J. Paul Getty Trust has just awarded $8.45 million in grants to 43 cultural institutions participating in the second edition of Pacific Standard Time, a regionwide set of exhibitions from San Diego to Santa Barbara, scheduled to open in the fall of 2017. Five years ago, the first edition of Pacific Standard Time focused on Southern California art from 1945-80. The Getty-chosen theme for 2017 is L.A./L.A., or Los Angeles/Latin America, which means that some museums are focusing on Latin American artists, some on Latino artists; and a few brave curators are cutting across both fields. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for instance, is bridging the divide by hosting an exhibition on the underbelly of the American dream called Home So Different, So Appealing, while the Hammer Museum is featuring radical female artists from Mexico to Argentina, with Latina and Chicana artists included. Several museums are pursuing single-artist shows, which tend to be more manageable in terms of research and loans. The Museum of Contemporary Art will present what its billing as the first major American survey of the Italian-born, Brazilian-based Anna Maria Maiolino. Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and Pitzer College Art Galleries are revisiting the large energetic art installations of the New York-based Chilean artist Juan Downey, who died in 1993. And the nomadic nonprofit LAND will have a midcareer survey of the Guadalajaran artist Jose Davila that includes a sculpture in West Hollywood Park designed to be dismantled and reconfigured at other sites across Los Angeles during the span of the exhibition. For Dario Loperfido, the Teatro Colons general director, the program is a source of great pride given that two of Ginasteras three operas had their premiere not in Buenos Aires but in Washington. His second opera, Bomarzo, was initially banned at home for obsessive reference to sex, violence and hallucination. His Beatrix Cenci did not receive its Argentine premiere until 1992, nine years after Ginasteras death. Ginastera is our most international composer, Mr. Loperfido said by phone from Buenos Aires. Argentina is a country with a lot of discussion and fights. But not in this case. It is a moment to show to the world the best of our culture. Musical life across the country is indebted to Ginastera, from the tango music of Astor Piazzolla, his first and most famous student, to the Gilardo Gilardi Conservatory of Music in La Plata. The Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales, or CLAEM, which he founded to expose Latin American composers to international trends in musical modernism, bred influential figures such as the recently deceased Gerardo Gandini, who also played piano in Piazzollas Nuevo Tango sextet. But political conditions during Ginasteras lifetime forced him to turn abroad. In 1945, with the help of Copland, he used a Guggenheim Fellowship he had won three years earlier to travel to the United States. It was around this time that his music shifted from less explicitly nationalist material such as the competitive dances of gauchos, or mestizo cowboys, to more abstract, spiritual sources in a period which he himself called subjective nationalism. LONDON The creature of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, as the author Mary Shelley subtitled her 1818 masterpiece, is perhaps literatures most misunderstood and misrepresented character: more an infantile outcast longing for love than a vengeful monster chased by pitchfork-wielding mobs. It is that misbegotten aspect that drew the choreographer Liam Scarlett to bring Shelleys story to life in a full-length work for the Royal Ballet, running May 4-27. While the thought of a dancing monster may strike some as funny think Peter Boyle in a white-tie-and-tails routine with Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein for Mr. Scarlett it was a chance to reinterpret a story that has long enthralled, and often baffled, readers and audiences. I first read Frankenstein when I was 11, and at every age that you read it you come up against something different. Its more graphic when youre young, but now its more about love, said Mr. Scarlett, who is 29 and trained and danced for years with the Royal Ballet before choreographing several pieces, starting in 2012. House Republicans released a draft of a rescue plan for Puerto Rico on Tuesday that they hoped could quickly garner bipartisan support and win over skeptics on the island, on Wall Street and in Congress. The plan, being drafted by Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee, in consultation with Democrats in Congress and the Treasury Department, calls for putting Puerto Ricos finances under a presidentially appointed oversight board a bitter pill to many on the island. This discussion draft will change, said Representative Rob Bishop, Republican of Utah, who has been leading the drafting process. We are releasing it now to encourage feedback. The plan would also establish guidelines for restructuring some portion of Puerto Ricos $72 billion of debt, where necessary. While Puerto Rico would not be granted standing to seek relief in bankruptcy something its leaders wanted it could get some of the legal tools found in bankruptcy as long as it first jumps through a number of hoops. WASHINGTON The United States is in the midst of one of the longest economic expansions in its history. Even American factories have lately added hundreds of thousands of jobs. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is stumbling. Even China. Yet at perhaps the least likely moment in the last several decades, misgivings about globalization are playing a starring role in the presidential election. Why now? Anger about unbalanced trade has helped to fuel the rise of Donald J. Trump, the Republican front-runner, and the success of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in his bid for the Democratic nomination. The manifest anger also has pushed their principal rivals, Republican Senator Ted Cruz and the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, to toughen their own trade rhetoric. It is a situation that has surprised many experts because polls show voters concern about the overall health of the American economy has declined significantly in recent years. I am a former Brussels correspondent; I lived there for six years and covered the Paris attacks last November, the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015 and the European aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. So, I had an inkling that a trip to Brussels was very likely in my near future. I wondered what my role might be. I knew that Alissa J. Rubin, the Timess Paris bureau chief, and Aurelien Breeden, a Times reporter from the Paris bureau, were already in Brussels; they had been reporting on the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, one of the Paris attackers, who had been detained only days before. I went to the desk of Sewell Chan, the international news editor, and volunteered to travel to Brussels. Before I had finished a sentence, hed already begun to email Dick Stevenson, The Timess Europe editor, to suggest that I deploy along with Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, another London-based reporter. We soon had our marching orders. The Eurostar trains to Brussels were not running, so we scrambled to find a way to get there. We decided to take a train to Paris, then drive from there. I biked home to pack my bags. Johanna Atlegrims illustrations were full of color, bold lines and playful figures. A Swedish illustrator living in Brussels, Ms. Atlegrim, who also used the first name My, recently created the artwork for the cover of the seventh issue of Cuistax, a childrens magazine. A cat, a white bird and two mysterious creatures appear amid a sea of blue, green and yellow. The issue, Illustre, is featured in an exhibition at the Centre de Gravure et de lImage Imprimee, a museum in La Louviere, Belgium, that is devoted to works on paper, and Ms. Atlegrim, 30, worked on the show. A party to celebrate the issue was scheduled for March 23, but it has been canceled. Along with Cuistax, Ms. Atlegrim also did illustrations for the Belgian publications Alphabeta Magazine and 24h01. After the attacks in Brussels on March 22, Ms. Atlegrims friends circulated fliers reporting her as missing. On Saturday evening, the authorities confirmed that she had died in the attack on the Maelbeek subway station, according to her mother, Marika. New York Citys police commissioner expressed strong concerns on Tuesday about the arrest of an African-American mail carrier who was at work in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn when he was taken into custody amid an altercation with four police officers. The arrest of the mail carrier, Glen Grays, attracted national attention after a cellphone recording taken by one of several witnesses at the scene of the March 17 episode was released by the office of Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, last week. The commissioner, William J. Bratton, said on Tuesday that the officers involved in the altercation belonged to the Police Departments Conditions Unit, a neighborhood-based troubleshooting division that Mr. Bratton described as a preferred assignment. Members of the unit are expected to work in uniform, Mr. Bratton said, and the officers who arrested Mr. Grays were wearing street clothes. After the arrest, which resulted in Mr. Grays being issued a summons for disorderly conduct, the officers were removed from their assignments and put on patrol pending an investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau, the commmissioner said. The death of a 4-month-old Bronx boy from a head injury over the summer is being investigated as a homicide after a ruling by the New York City medical examiner, the authorities said. The boy, Christopher Rhodes, died on Aug. 7 from blunt force trauma to the head sustained while his father was caring for him at their home in Westchester Square, the police said. Robert K. Boyce, the Police Departments chief of detectives, said the police were conferring with the Bronx district attorneys office on whether to file criminal charges against the father. Officials did not release the fathers name, but said he turned 30 later in August. The father told investigators that he had stepped away after feeding Christopher when the boy fell from a child seat and hit his head, police officials said. Christopher was taken to Jack D. Weiler Hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Division and transferred to Jacobi Medical Center, where he died. Hospital officials called the police after finding the boy had head trauma and injuries to his torso. Mr. Heastie added that he and other Democrats, many of whom hail from the city and dominate the Assembly, were upset with the notion of the city, in a punitive way, having to cover $250 million. Its a big, big concern in the conference, he said. Mr. de Blasios office, for its part, said it would work with the state to find efficiencies in Medicaid spending but a spokeswoman seemed uncertain about what Mr. Cuomos plan would ultimately mean for the city. We asked for guidance on how to do that and got none, but at the end of the day, we are holding the governor to his word that it will not cost the city a penny, Karen Hinton, the spokeswoman, said. So if what hes proposing ends up costing us additional budget dollars, it is not as we discussed. In a separate interview on Tuesday, Mr. Cuomo said his effort would not harm the city or Medicaid, a $25 billion statewide program that the governor has worked to overhaul during his five-plus years in office. I needed the districts to acknowledge that we needed to work together to find the savings, he said. That has happened. New York City is approximately 70 percent of the program, so obviously well find the lions share of the savings in New York City. As for his minimum wage plan, Mr. Cuomo still faces resistance from the Republican-controlled State Senate. On Monday, the Senates deputy majority leader, John DeFrancisco, described the Republican caucus as sharply divided. Were all over the place, said Mr. DeFrancisco, who has opposed the $15 wage as a political number that would have a deleterious effect on the upstate economy. All over the park. The proposal proffered by Mr. Cuomo would phase in the $15 hourly wage in New York City by Dec. 31, 2018, with a $15 rate reached statewide in July 2021. Negotiations have also touched on the possibility of different wages, at different times in different parts of the state. The governor said talks were focusing on how much and by when and where. Mr. Peters recommended disciplinary action against 10 employees, starting with the director of the housing authoritys elevator services and repair department. Shola Olatoye, the chairwoman and chief executive of Nycha, said in a statement: We are aggressively investigating several workers to bring disciplinary action as soon as possible. There must be consequences. Olegario Pabon died on Dec. 24 after he, while walking with a cane, tried to step into the elevator at Boston Road Plaza, a residential building for older adults in the Bronx. The elevator drifted upwards by several feet and then tried to close, the report said, with Mr. Pabons leg and hand caught inside the cab. He fell out of the raised elevator and died three days later from the injuries. A resident reported the malfunctioning elevator to Nychas customer center about an hour and a half before the accident, the report said, but workers did not put the elevator out of service until the next day. The agencys senior management did not learn of the episode or investigate it until four days later. The elevator was equipped with a brake monitor designed to shut down or reset elevators when it detects that the brakes are malfunctioning, but the monitor was not operational, investigators said. They said the monitor had been disconnected, possibly by one of the elevator mechanics, who in interviews with investigators said the monitors were very sensitive and could cause issues that shut down elevators. A review by Nycha of 1,080 elevators after the accident found that 80 of the monitors, or about 7.5 percent, were not working either for various reasons, showing that housing officials had not taken basic steps to inspect and monitor them, Mr. Peters said. He said that the agency reacted quickly to fix the problem and that those 80 elevators do not pose a danger to residents. TEANECK, N.J. The authorities are investigating whether powerful wind gusts played a role in the death of a man who fell off the roof of a seven-story office building in New Jersey on Tuesday. The police said Clifford LeMay, 57, the building manager at the Glenpointe office complex in Teaneck, was found on the ground around 7 a.m. Mr. LeMay had gone up to the roof to check for damage from the strong winds overnight, the authorities said. But it was unclear if he was blown off the roof and hit a tree in the fall. The police said the death appeared to be an accident. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The National Weather Service recorded a peak wind gust of 32 miles per hour in the area around the time of the episode. Sheldon Silver, the former New York State Assembly speaker, has lost his license to practice law after his conviction for fraud and extortion. Mr. Silver, 72, was disbarred on Tuesday by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He was convicted on Nov. 30 in a $5 million corruption case. Prosecutors said he traded favors to enrich himself. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 13. Mr. Silvers lawyers argued that the disbarment should be delayed until a federal judge decides on their motion for a new trial. But the appeals court denied the request and said that Mr. Silvers name should be stricken from the roll of attorneys in New York. A Democrat, Mr. Silver served as leader of the State Assembly from 1994 through early 2015. The used hatchback up for auction comes with low mileage, a premium sound system and a glass roof. But because it once carried Pope Francis around New York City, bidders are willing to pay several times its Kelley Blue Book value. On the bidding site CharityBuzz.com this week, a Fiat 500 Lounge (list price: $24,695) is one of the biggest attractions, alongside items such as tickets to Beyonces Formation tour or a chance to meet Paul McCartney. The car was one of six that Francis used on his three-city United States tour in September. Officials with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York decided, like their counterparts in Philadelphia, to auction the car for charity. Weve never had a papal Fiat before, Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said. Theyve always taken the Popemobiles home with them. With the military campaign against the Islamic State making some progress, American officials have begun to sharpen plans to expel the terrorist organization from two major cities it still controls. Recapturing Raqqa, in northern Syria, and Mosul, in northern Iraq, from the Islamic State is critical. But President Obama has not made the case for expanding Americas role in the fighting, nor has he given a forthright assessment of the resources that would be required. Since Mr. Obama authorized the first airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in 2014 to curb the rise of the Islamic State, administration officials have been vague and at times disingenuous about the evolution of a military campaign that has escalated sharply. White House officials initially pledged not to commit ground troops to the effort. They later deployed small teams on the ground, which have been conducting raids in Iraq and Syria. After a Marine was killed in a rocket attack in northern Iraq, Pentagon officials last week said American troops were deployed in a previously undisclosed remote base and conducting artillery strikes. Conservatives who once derided upscale liberals as latte-sipping losers now burst with contempt for the lower-income followers of Donald J. Trump. These blue-collar white Republicans, a mainstay of the conservative coalition for decades, are now vilified by their former right-wing allies as a non-Christian force in thrall to a vicious, selfish culture, corrupted by the same sense of entitlement that Democratic minorities were formerly accused of. Kevin Williamson, a columnist for National Review, initiated the most recent escalation of this particular Republican-against-Republican power struggle. In a March 13 essay, The Father-Fuhrer, Williamson portrays Trumps struggling white supporters as relying on their imaginary victimhood when, in fact, he contends: They failed themselves. If you spend time in hardscrabble, white upstate New York, or eastern Kentucky, or my own native West Texas, and you take an honest look at the welfare dependency, the drug and alcohol addiction, the family anarchy which is to say, the whelping of human children with all the respect and wisdom of a stray dog you will come to an awful realization. It wasnt Beijing. It wasnt even Washington, as bad as Washington can be. Less well-off white voters have only themselves to blame, Williamson continues: It wasnt immigrants from Mexico, excessive and problematic as our current immigration levels are. It wasnt any of that. Nothing happened to them. There wasnt some awful disaster. There wasnt a war or a famine or a plague or a foreign occupation. Even the economic changes of the past few decades do very little to explain the dysfunction and negligence and the incomprehensible malice of poor white America. Not satisfied to stop there, Williamson adds: The truth about these dysfunctional, downscale communities is that they deserve to die. Economically, they are negative assets. Morally, they are indefensible. Forget all your cheap theatrical Bruce Springsteen crap. Forget your sanctimony about struggling Rust Belt factory towns and your conspiracy theories about the wily Orientals stealing our jobs. Finally, determined to blow a hole in the Trump hot air balloon, the columnist hits hard: The white American underclass is in thrall to a vicious, selfish culture whose main products are misery and used heroin needles. Donald Trumps speeches make them feel good. So does OxyContin. What they need isnt analgesics, literal or political. They need real opportunity, which means that they need real change, which means that they need U-Haul. Williamsons bitterness over the refusal of Trumps supporters to get in line behind a more acceptable candidate is echoed across the right. David French, also of National Review, writes: I grew up in Kentucky, live in a rural county in Tennessee, and have seen the challenges of the white working-class first-hand. Simply put, Americans are killing themselves and destroying their families at an alarming rate. No one is making them do it. The economy isnt putting a bottle in their hand. Immigrants arent making them cheat on their wives or snort OxyContin. Obama isnt walking them into the lawyers office to force them to file a bogus disability claim. In a March 25 post on RedState, Caleb Howe, another frequent conservative commentator, welcomes the prospect of the departure of Trump supporters from the Republican Party: GOOD NEWS! Buchanan Says If Ted Cruz Wins, An Awful Lot of Trump Supporters Will Just Go Home The new Trump voters, Howe writes, arent motivated by what makes the Republican Party the Republican Party. They arent in this to limit the size and scope of government. They arent coming out to Trump rallies because hes talking about reducing the debt. If Trump is not nominated and his supporters stay home on Election Day, Howe believes that theres really only one response: Bye. PALO ALTO, California Cementing its standing as the most selective institution of higher education in the country, Stanford University announced this week that it had once again received a record-setting number of applications and that its acceptance rate which had dropped to a previously uncharted low of 5 percent last year plummeted all the way to its inevitable conclusion of 0 percent. With no one admitted to the class of 2020, Stanford is assured that no other school can match its desirability in the near future. We had exceptional applicants, yes, but not a single student we couldnt live without, said a Stanford administrator who requested anonymity. In the stack of applications that I reviewed, I didnt see any gold medalists from the last Olympics Summer or Winter Games and while there was a 17-year-old whod performed surgery, it wasnt open-heart or a transplant or anything like that. Shell thrive at Yale. News of Stanfords unprecedented selectiveness sent shock waves through the Ivy League, along with Amherst, Northwestern and at least a dozen other elite schools where, as a consequence, there could be substantial turnover among underperforming deans of admission. The more things change in Albany, the more they stay insane. Corruption remains the great, crippling defect of New York State government, tainting all that it does and fails to do. Two of the three most powerful leaders in New York State government were convicted of multiple felonies last year and are facing sentencing next month. The third, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is mostly talking about the minimum wage and paid family leave, which are important policies worth pursuing. But fixing the voters shattered trust should be the first and overriding goal of New Yorks tarnished government, and the time to make wholesale repairs is now, when the budget is being negotiated and Mr. Cuomo has maximum leverage over a Legislature wedded to the squalid status quo. But the moment is being lost. Mr. Cuomo; the Assembly speaker, Carl Heastie; and the Senate majority leader, John Flanagan, have been wrapping up closed-door negotiations in the rush to meet an April 1 budget deadline, but comprehensive ethics reform has not been part of those discussions. The leaders are promising to deal with it later. If they deal with it at all. SOMETHING is very wrong with the way we fund our elections. This has become especially clear since Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that struck down campaign spending limits on corporations, ruling they were intrusions on free speech. The majority opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was clear: The First Amendment rights of corporations may not be abridged simply because they are corporations. But while corporations may be deemed to have some of the legal rights of people, the court has never held that corporations have any of the political rights of citizens. This key distinction, read in harmony with existing law, provides ways to blunt the impact of the decision that gave corporations the right to spend unlimited sums of money on federal elections. The effect of that decision has been pronounced: The Washington Post reported this month that through the end of January, 680 corporations had given nearly $68 million to super PACs in this election cycle 12 percent of the $549 million raised by such groups. This figure does not include the untold amounts of dark money contributions to other groups that are not disclosed by the donor or the recipient. Lahore, Pakistan A POLICE officer standing guard in front of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park on Tuesday morning glared when I asked him to recount Sundays events. Ushering me into the park, he said to see for myself. On Sunday, hundreds of people mostly families with children had gathered at Gulshan-e-Iqbal, one of the citys largest parks, to enjoy the Easter day and the temperate weather. Griffin Iqbal, his wife, Samia, and their sons, 6-year-old Max and 4-year-old Adan, headed over after their church service. The boys spent their pocket money on popcorn and ice cream from a stall near the blue fountain and a ride called Hilly Gilly. Around 6:15 p.m., Mr. Iqbal told the children it was time to leave. Adan dropped to the ground and kicked his legs in protest. His father scooped him up, took Maxs hand and walked to the gate. They had barely stepped out of the park when their ears rang with a deafening explosion and the ground shook. Fearing a stampede, Mr. Iqbal told people running toward the park that the machinery of one of the rides must have malfunctioned. But my words were drowned by screams that issued from the park, he said. In January, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a major labor case whose outcome could affect the lives of millions of Americans. On Tuesday, six weeks after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the courts eight members announced that they were deadlocked in a 4-to-4 vote. The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, was an effort by conservative anti-union activists to cripple public-sector unions by prohibiting them from charging non-members fees that support collective-bargaining activities. The plaintiffs had claimed that imposing such fees violated their First Amendment rights. Tuesdays outcome was a temporary victory for unions, because the teachers union had won in the federal appeals court and the 4-to-4 vote means the appellate decision stands. But the issue will most likely come before the justices again; the anti-union forces already have several similar lawsuits moving through lower courts. Since 1977, the Supreme Court has upheld union fair share fees as constitutional. The court has, in fact, reaffirmed that ruling many times in the past four decades. But the evenly divided ruling leaves the issue open to reconsideration, without the affirmation of a longstanding precedent a nine-member court can and should give. After Justice Scalias death, top Senate Republicans announced they would not consider any nominee from President Obama. The blockage, they say, is about letting the peoples voice be heard in the presidential election. In the meantime, they claim, an eight-member court can get along just fine. Obama has my sympathies. If you think there is a simple answer to this problem, you ought to come out here for a week. Just trying to figure out the differences among the Kurdish parties and militias in Syria and Iraq the Y.P.G., P.Y.D., P.U.K., K.D.P. and P.K.K. took me a day. Lets go back to the future of Iraq. The problem in Iraq is not ISIS, Najmaldin Karim, the wise governor of Kirkuk Province, which is partly occupied by ISIS, remarked to me. ISIS is the symptom of mismanagement and sectarianism. So even if ISIS is evicted from its stronghold in Mosul, he noted, if the infighting and mismanagement in Baghdad and sectarian tensions between Shiites and Sunnis are not diffused, the situation in Iraq could be even worse after ISIS is toppled. Why? Because there will just be another huge scramble among Iraqi Sunnis, Kurds, Turkmens, Shiite militias, Turkey and Iran over who controls these territories now held by ISIS. There is simply no consensus here on how power will be shared in the Sunni areas that ISIS has seized. So if one day you hear that weve eliminated the ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and lowered the ISIS flag over Mosul, hold your applause. And here is another not so fun fact from Northern Iraq: Despite all that you have read about foreign fighters who have joined ISIS, a vast majority of the people in Kirkuk Province who have come to fight with ISIS were local Sunnis, who saw ISIS as a force protecting them from the pro-Iranian Shiite government in Baghdad. Or, they were more impoverished Sunnis who saw joining ISIS as a way of gaining power over wealthier, upper-class Sunnis. Also, many Sunni tribes in the Mosul area split, with some members joining ISIS and others not. Kurdish intelligence officials tell me there will be a lot of revenge against those Sunnis who joined ISIS, exacted by those who didnt if and when ISIS is defeated. Women from Iraqs Yazidi sect who were captured and raped by ISIS fighters and eventually escaped to refugee camps in Kurdistan have told Kurdish relief workers that in more than a few cases they were raped, not by some foreign fighters from Chechnya or Libya, but by Iraqi Sunnis from their own hometowns. They will never trust their neighbors again, an aid worker told me. The nuclear initiative has been a signature issue for Mr. Obama: It is among the goals he campaigned on in 2008 and part of the reason he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize barely a year into his presidency. Benjamin J. Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Tuesday that the administrations overall efforts had made it harder than ever before for terrorists and bad actors to acquire nuclear material. But the administrations budget for aiding global nuclear cleanups has been cut by half; some officials argue that less funding is needed with fewer nations willing to give up nuclear materials. A report Mr. Bunn helped write noted, The administration is now projecting lower spending year after year for years to come, postponing or canceling a wide range of nuclear security activities that had been included in previous plans. In a recent report, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a private advocacy group in Washington that tracks nuclear weapons and materials, warned that many radioactive sources were poorly secured and vulnerable to theft. The report called the probability of a terrorists detonating a dirty bomb much higher than that of an improvised nuclear device. Ingredients for so-called dirty bombs, which use conventional explosives to spew radioactive material, are still scattered around the globe at thousands of hospitals and other sites that use the highly radioactive substances for industrial imaging and medical treatments. Less than half of the countries that attended the last nuclear summit in 2014 pledged to secure such materials, and they in turn represent less than 15 percent of the 168 nations belonging to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Image Mr. Obama with Japans leader, Shinzo Abe, in 2014. Credit... Pool photo by Yves Herman And while the administration succeeded in getting more than a dozen countries to give up their civilian stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, a main fuel of atomic bombs, the Nuclear Threat Initiative said in another report that some 25 nations still had such materials enough for thousands of nuclear weapons. Slotted between the wholesalers, flower peddlers and midrange hotels, a new crop of galleries have sprung up in New Yorks flower district. Theyre in the area for various reasons, but they share one thing in common a love for their neighborhood. We decided to move into the flower district and Tin Pan Alley because it has history and personality, like our gallery. Its a part of a New York that exemplifies what this city used to be like, says Galeria Nara Roeslers artistic director, Alexandra Garcia Waldman. Waldman oversees the Brazilian gallerys recently opened outpost on Tin Pan Alley the stretch of 28th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway but this is not the curators first time in the city; she went to school here and has been back and forth ever since. This April, Waldman promotes the films of Cao Guimaraes, one of Brazils most prolific artists of the 1980s. As Guimaraess first solo show in New York, the exhibition exemplifies the gap Nara Roesler hopes to fill in the cultural landscape. Turn right out of Galeria Nara Roesler and youll see the neon of Planthouse, an independent gallery that takes its name from its first home, a wholesale florist on 27th street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. When their previous landlord told Planthouses owners, Katie Michel and Brad Ewing, that their gallery would be demolished, they scored a second-story space across the avenue. Both printers by day, Michel and Ewing rely on outsiders for curatorial direction. Their upcoming show, Dark Star: Abstraction and Cosmos, curated by Raymond Foye, looks at the universe through the eyes of eightartists including Jordan Belson, Tamara Gonzales and Sally Webster. While Ewing and Michel love the industrial feel of the area, they really chose it because of its proximity to their day jobs at Grenfell Press. It was really convenience for us, says co-owner Ewing. Ive been commuting here for 11 years. When we found the flower shop, it just felt right. A block away, the veteran dealer Casey Kaplan just celebrated his one-year anniversary on 27th Street. The gallerist moved to the neighborhood in 2015 after finding an ideal space for a white cube among the mostly commercial offerings. I had been looking in Manhattan for about a year, Kaplan says. When I saw this space, I believed it was a place the gallery could inhabit for the next 10 years. The current show, Haris Epaminonda: Vol. XVII, makes use of the spaces refurbished architecture with references to display and structure. Epaminondas sculpture vignettes, made of pedestals, vases and models, bring to mind the eclectic amalgamation of purveyors and manufacturers right outside the gallery doors. Familiarizing themselves with the area, Kaplan and his team are continually discovering new hole-in-the-wall shops. I didnt set out to be here, but I like the neighborhood, Kaplan admits. Its very much real New York. The photographer Nick Waplington famously captured Alexander McQueen as he prepared his final winter collection, which became the basis for Working Process, a show held last year at the Tate. But Waplingtons latest exhibition, A Display of Panic in a Moment of Absolute Certainty, opening Saturday at the Los Angeles gallery These Days, contains no snapshots whatsoever rather, it is comprised solely of paintings and drawings. Much like the McQueen series, which the designer wanted to be dirty and messy, Waplingtons new work reveals a constant concern of his 30-year career: an affinity for barely contained chaos, whether in garbage dumps, the hills above the West Bank city of Ramallah or the maelstrom of fashion shows. None of the paintings in the show, Waplingtons first stateside exhibition sans photography, have a single vantage point, a conscious choice to make it deliberately difficult to perceive order, he explains. My paintings deal with this inner world, whereas my photographic work deals with the world around me, says Waplington, who will appear Thursday in New York at the Rizzoli bookstore alongside Isaac Mizrahi, whose backstage scene he documented every season from 1989 to 1993. I guess the basic difference is with photography the canvas is full and with painting its empty. Both give me problems. Indeed, at These Days, a gallery known for championing punk history, Waplingtons exhibition, curated by the art adviser Thomas Solomon, takes its title from a sense of volatility. The visual scrambling within the works is a metaphysical representation of mass hysteria, that moment within a society when the constructed order breaks down and collectively society starts to implode and there is a release of pressure, the kettle blows and a state of chaos envelopes the multitude, as Waplington says. This mental state, the teetering before the fall, always turns out to be a false alarm but it is an interesting thing to make art about, for sure. In the meantime, he creates a more personal year zero approach whenever he starts to feel the encroachment of technique. I think it is important to keep things in flux, says Waplington, who began keeping sketchbooks while living in Santa Monica in the 1990s and moved back to Southern California from London last year. Many of the works in the show have been made since then, as Waplington has focused almost exclusively on painting in his outside studio near Los Angeless Elysian Park during the long hours of sunlight, taking a run in the hills before the heat comes. The citys inchoateness is a conducive environment for tackling a particular problem of painting, the photographer says especially the sometimes agonizing ability to, start from nothing over and over, especially for an artist who seems to resist calm. A TUSCAN TOUR OF WINE AND OLIVE OIL Two Eataly employees, the oleologist Nicholas Coleman and the wine expert Dan Amatuzzi, are leading an olive oil and wine trip to Tuscany as part of their new venture, an olive oil brand called Grove and Vine. Guests on the weeklong getaway stay at Villa Montecastello, an 11th-century restored hillside fortress situated an hour south of Florence. Activities include a workshop on Tuscan grape and olive varieties; visits to boutique wineries in San Gimignano, Chianti and Montalcino; tours and tastings at several well-regarded olive oil estates; a class on pizza making where the pies are baked in a 1,000-year-old outdoor pizza oven; a walking tour of the city of Arezzo; and an all-day trip to Florence. Prices from $3,900 a person, which includes accommodations, activities and most meals. The trip is Aug. 13 to 20 and can be booked by calling 973-327-2336. The trip is also available for year-round booking for a group of eight to 12 travelers. HIGH-TECH LUGGAGE (WITH A BUILT-IN CHARGER) Standard luggage goes high-tech with this weeks launch of Raden, a luggage company that is trying to make getting to destinations a little bit easier. Radens suitcases, available in both carry-on and check-in sizes, are equipped with an integrated scale, built-in-charger and location-awareness technology. When travelers pair the bags with the companys app, theyre able to weigh their luggage at home and access information relevant to their trip, like the best routes to reach the airport, Transportation Security Administration line wait times and the weather at their destination. The bags are scratch-proof and available in seven colors. The 22-inch carry-on case is $295, the 28-inch check-in case is $395, and the two cases are sold together for $595. A NEW LOOK FOR A GREEK BOUTIQUE HOTEL Grace Santorini, a luxury boutique property perched on a hill overlooking the Aegean Sea on the island of Santorini in Greece, is reopening for the summer season on May 2 after undergoing a renovation over the winter. The 21 rooms and two-bedroom villa have been refurbished with an elegant, simple aesthetic that includes contemporary furniture mixed with handcrafted Greek pieces; the hotel will also have a new Champagne and cocktail lounge more than 1,000 feet above sea level thats an ideal spot for watching the sunset, a Mediterranean restaurant called Vassalti, complimentary twice-daily yoga sessions and areas for fitness and Pilates. Prices from 600 euros (about $670) a night including breakfast. A PACKAGE AT A MALAYSIAN GETAWAY The island of Pangkor Laut, located off the coast of Perak, Malaysia, is a little-known destination with pristine private beaches and lush rain forest. A new package from the Estates at Pangkor Laut, a collection of eight villas ranging from two to four bedrooms, gives travelers the opportunity to book a getaway; it includes luxury yacht transfers to and from the island, all meals, a personal butler and a sunset cruise. Prices from $1,875 a night for two people. Californias auditor said Tuesday that the University of California had undermined residents by admitting a growing number of nonresident students, some of whom were less qualified than in-state students. Out-of-state students pay significantly more, providing much-needed money to the university. But Elaine Howle, the state auditor, said in a report that over the past several years, the university has failed to put the needs of residents first. Janet Napolitano, the University of California president, criticized the audit as deficient, unhelpful and unfair, saying nonresident admissions have helped keep doors open for residents as state assistance has dropped considerably. WASHINGTON People newly insured under the Affordable Care Act were sicker, used more medical care and had higher medical costs than those who already had coverage, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association said Tuesday in a new study of its policyholders. Because insurers premiums have to cover their medical expenses, the new report helps explain why Blue Cross plans have sought, and insurance commissioners have approved, substantial rate increases in many states. Another round of rate review is about to begin, with insurers generally required to file rate requests for 2017 in the next two months. The findings are noteworthy because Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans operate across the country and have the largest share of the individual market in many states, giving them an unrivaled source of claims data. In its report, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association examined the use of medical services by people who enrolled in its plans before and after major provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014. JANESVILLE, Wis. Donald J. Trump, who has risen to front-runner status by giving voice to anti-establishment rage against the Republican Party, kicked off his quest for the support of Wisconsin voters at a rally on Tuesday afternoon in Janesville, the hometown of Speaker Paul D. Ryan the button-down, clean-cut steward of the party. Wisconsin, whose middle class has been hard hit by a decline in manufacturing jobs, could prove fertile ground for Mr. Trump when it holds its presidential primary next Tuesday. He has defied Republican orthodoxy by opposing many trade deals, calling for high tariffs against China and railing against countries like Mexico and Japan that he says are taking away American jobs. Mr. Ryan generally supports free trade. The issue could be particularly resonant in Janesville, where a General Motors plant once employed roughly 7,000 workers at its peak but ceased production in 2009, when it employed just 1,200 workers. Mr. Trump did not mention the closed factory on Tuesday, but criticized the trade positions of his Republican rivals, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who has also been portraying himself in Wisconsin as an advocate for working-class voters, and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. Former members of the military like Mr. Bunn are being refused benefits at the highest rate since the system was created at the end of World War II, the report said. More than 125,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have what are known as bad paper discharges that preclude them from receiving care, said the report, released Wednesday by the veterans advocacy group Swords to Plowshares. The report for the first time compared 70 years of data from the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. It found that veterans who served after 2001 were nearly twice as likely as those who served during Vietnam to be barred from benefits, and four times as likely as men and women who served during World War II. We separate people for misconduct that is actually a symptom of the very reason they need health care, said Coco Culhane, a lawyer who works with veterans at the Urban Justice Center in New York. About 6.5 percent of all Iraq and Afghanistan troops have bad paper discharges, the report said. The highest rate is found in the Marine Corps, where one in 10 is now ineligible for benefits. It has gotten worse with every generation, and it appears to hit the veterans Congress intended to protect, said Bradford Adams, a lawyer and an author of the report. They knew these folks had been through combat, and wanted to make sure they had help. The V.A. doesnt seem to be doing that. Myanmars departing government has lifted a nearly four-year curfew in the western state of Rakhine, where clashes between the minority Rohingya Muslims and majority Buddhists left more than 200 people dead, mostly Muslims. State media reported that President Thein Sein lifted the nighttime curfew on Monday on the recommendation of the state government, which felt it was no longer necessary. The curfew was imposed in June 2012 after clashes that also displaced more than 100,000 people, mostly Rohingya. The Greek police clashed with about 300 migrants and refugees on Tuesday at the Greek border with Macedonia, as protests intensified and thousands ignored government instructions to move to organized shelters. Youths threw rocks at riot police, who withdrew from the area without making any arrests, the authorities said. The protesters have blocked freight rail tracks for the past eight days, demanding that the border reopen. Macedonia says the border will remain closed to all migrants at least until the end of the year. About 12,000 people remain camped out in harsh conditions near the village of Idomeni. PARIS The United Nations war crimes tribunal for Yugoslavia released a French journalist from its prison in The Hague on Tuesday amid a growing clamor for her freedom by Western news media and human rights activists from the Balkans. The journalist, Florence Hartmann, a former correspondent for Le Monde who had also worked for the tribunal prosecutor, had spent five days in the prison, which is normally reserved for war crimes suspects and convicts. Ms. Hartmann was unexpectedly arrested by United Nations security guards on Thursday outside the court gates while talking with victims from the Bosnian war. The groups had gathered to hear the verdict against Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader. Ms. Hartmann, 53, tried to resist arrest and was surrounded by Bosnian women trying to protect her. She was told that she had to serve a seven-day sentence because she had not paid a fine in a court judgment against her. She was convicted of contempt of court in 2009 for writing about how tribunal judges had issued confidential decisions ruling that parts of the records provided by Serbia could be used in closed sessions of the court but had to be kept out of the public eye. Harriet Mills, a Fulbright scholar from New York who was imprisoned as an American spy in Communist China for more than four years and was widely believed to have been a victim of brainwashing, died on March 5 in Mitchelville, Md. She was 95. The cause was complications of dementia, said her sister, Angie, her only immediate survivor. When she was released in 1955, Ms. Mills described herself as an unpaid espionage agent for the United States and Britain, called Americans warmongers and said she believed that the United States had engaged in germ warfare during the Korean War. The Communists had a perfect right to arrest me, she said. I confessed from the very day I was arrested. She never publicly recanted, her sister said, but made clear that she been indoctrinated by the Chinese. All dance companies are, inevitably, in perpetual transition, but thats unusually pronounced just now at Pennsylvania Ballet, which opened a program of 21st-century choreography on Tuesday night at the Joyce Theater. Since Angel Corella became the companys artistic director in 2014, large numbers of dancers have come and gone. Some of those dancing in New York this week have arrived since Mr. Corella joined the company, while others are in their final season. As this program shows, Pennsylvania Ballet draws strength from its base in Philadelphia, which in recent years has become one of Americas liveliest ballet cities. Its two resident troupes this one (founded in 1963) and BalletX (founded in 2005) usually perform in theaters across from each other on South Broad Street. They are also good examples of choreographic cross-fertilization, each commissioning premieres from at least three choreographers of note: Matthew Neenan (co-founder of BalletX and the resident choreographer of Pennsylvania Ballet), Trey McIntyre and Nicolo Fonte. Those men, who have all created new works for BalletX this season, are the authors of the three ballets on the Joyce program. All three employ taped music: This works best for Mr. McIntyres The Accidental (2014), the programs centerpiece, which is danced to appealing songs by Patrick Watson. Having seen The Accidental when it was new in Philadelphia, I love again the wonderful self-contradictions of human behavior that Mr. McIntyre strings together into single dance phrases. A male-female duet begins with the man (James Ihde) standing in a formal fifth position (with turned-out feet, one tightly in front of the other), the woman (Oksana Maslova) hidden behind him; within moments, hes partnering her. A man (Ian Hussey) advances to the audience in a funny cross-kneed sequence only to open out with elegantly stretched limbs. A final male solo abounds in singular incidents: In one fast step, Craig Wasserman arches sideways like a bow while extending one leg like its arrow. He ends both solo and ballet with a slow, marvelous and extraordinary gesture: Standing upright, he first holds his hands together high above his head, but then very slowly peels one hand down down in a vertical line, down the other arm, down across his chest, down past his hip. As that hand and arm descend, they pull his upper body off-center, so that he seems to be hanging like a puppet from that one, still-raised hand; he seems also to have opened his heart to us. The choreographers Larry Keigwin, Stephen Petronio and Reggie Wilson will take their companies on tour to nine countries around the world for the sixth season of DanceMotion USA, a cultural exchange program presented by the State Department and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Each of the dance troupes will spend a month in 2017 visiting three countries, with an eye toward connecting with marginalized people through performance and education. Companies will take part in workshops and outreach events that promote, for example, the empowerment of women and groups like at-risk youth and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The program uses the universal language of movement as a means of communication, Joseph V. Melillo, the Brooklyn Academy of Musics executive producer, said in a statement. It has had enormous impact on the global communities it has touched, and has inspired and enriched our dance-ambassadors. Mr. Keigwin, whose Rush Hour recently had its premiere as part of the Paul Taylor American Modern Dance season at the David H. Koch Theater, will travel to the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Tunisia with Keigwin & Company. The Stephen Petronio Company, which ended its season at the Joyce Theater on March 13, will perform in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. And Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group will head to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Panama. A loudmouthed real estate magnate complains of illegal immigrants sneaking into the country and showing no respect for the people who built it, talking endlessly of being a winner. Was this a rally for the front-runner in the Republican primary race? No, it was a turning-point moment for Paul Conti, the rich businessman at the center of Figaro! (90210), an audacious and entertaining adaptation of Mozarts The Marriage of Figaro, with a libretto in English and Spanglish by Vid Guerrerio. This trimmed-down, multicultural, present-day version of Figaro, currently playing at the Duke on 42nd Street, an intimate 200-seat theater, zaps the opera to Contis Beverly Hills estate, where he lives with his wife, Roxanne, a former starlet who sees time slipping by and maintains herself through cosmetic surgery. Figaro here becomes a Mexican handyman on the Conti estate who adores Susana, the sweet, perky housekeeper. (Both are undocumented, and Conti wants her, too, and is holding the threat of deportation over her head as leverage.) And, in the most inspired tweak, Mozarts randy pageboy Cherubino becomes Lil B-Man, a blinged-out hip-hop artist, hot in pursuit of Barbara Conti (Mozarts Barberina), the Contis cynical emo daughter. The performance on Tuesday night won laughs galore and a big ovation from an audience that included Placido Domingo, who presented Figaro! (90210) at the Los Angeles Opera, where he is the general director, early last year. The piece was performed in New York in a semi-staged version by Morningside Opera in 2013, but this run is the true New York stage premiere. The National Jazz Museum in Harlem has always been, like the music it honors, a study in adaptability. For the last 15 years, it has operated out of a modest fourth-floor space in East Harlem, while developing big plans for a permanent home. Now, after weathering a few disappointments, the museum has relocated to a new storefront on West 129th Street, in a move that signals not only an improvement to its public facilities but also a renewal of its mission. Being in a new space has shifted our approach to what is possible, Ryan Maloney, the museums director of education and programming, said during an opening reception on Tuesday night, as a quartet led by the pianist Marc Cary played a hard-swinging Hank Mobley tune. The museum now sits off Malcolm X Boulevard, a couple of blocks north of Sylvias and Red Rooster, the emblematic culinary institutions of old and new Harlem. It occupies the ground floor of a new condominium building, and while its not a large footprint just under 2,400 square feet, of which 1,900 is devoted to public space the design and layout were carefully considered. In some ways, the embrace of that small scale reflects well on the institution. Founded in 1997 by Leonard Garment, former counsel to President Richard M. Nixon, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem began with noble intentions but limited resources. We flailed around for several years, and while we did, the money ran out, Mr. Garment wrote in a 2002 article for The New York Times. (He died in 2013.) Ponder the paradox: Televisions most acclaimed scripted series are praised for their ever-deepening characters, yet some of its longest-running shows feature characters who, by many measures, evolve barely, if at all. They are animated series, The Simpsons and South Park foremost, and they seem as if they could run forever. Knocking at the door to join their club is FXs outrageously entertaining Archer, which begins its seventh season on Thursday night. Yet its not quite in the same mold. Its characters have core attributes that never change lasciviousness, self-absorption, unfashionable biases of all sorts but there is evolution as well. And that has never been more evident than in the new season, when the whole crew undergoes a career change. For six seasons, the title character, Sterling Archer, and his co-workers were in the espionage business. Henceforth, apparently, they will be in the private-investigation business. Archer is at heart a workplace comedy. Its about an agency full of misfits who undertake James Bond-like missions but spend an inordinate amount of time drinking, having sex with one another and assorted others, and disparaging this or that minority group. In addition to Archer (the voice of H. Jon Benjamin, who also stars as Bob on Bobs Burgers), there are his rather ruthless mother, Malory (Jessica Walter); his sexy fellow agent Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler); the geeky Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell); the creepy Dr. Krieger (Lucky Yates); the lusty Pam Poovey (Amber Nash); the fetish-loving Cheryl Tunt (Judy Greer); and a few others. In the age of correctness, everything about these characters is incorrect, a caustic brand of humor that isnt for everybody but that has brought the show a dedicated fan base. The hit musical Hamilton has drawn widespread praise for its use of a diverse cast to explore American history. But a casting call seeking nonwhite men and women to audition for the show drew criticism from the union representing theater actors, prompting Hamilton to say Wednesday that it will amend its language to make clear that anyone is welcome to try out for the show. The dispute is in some ways semantic audition descriptions of many of the characters in Hamilton, as for other Broadway shows, often specify the race, gender and age range of the characters, and that is standard practice in the theater industry. But Actors Equity said that auditions should be open to anyone. At the end of the day, the producers of Hamilton said that they would change the posting that had drawn criticism, to make it clear that people of all ethnicities are welcome to audition, but would not back away from the shows commitment to hire a diverse cast. In a written statement, the producers said that they regret the confusion thats arisen from the recent posting of an open call casting notice for the show but also that it is essential to the storytelling of Hamilton that the principal roles, which were written for nonwhite characters (excepting King George), be performed by nonwhite actors. Hamilton depicts the birth of our nation in a singular way, the shows lead producer, Jeffrey Seller, said in a statement. We will continue to cast the show with the same multicultural diversity that we have employed thus far. Cities Ive Never Lived In By Sara Majka 160 pages. Graywolf Press. $16. The stories in Sara Majkas arresting collection, her first book, mostly feature (seemingly) the same narrator, a searching, lovelorn woman in the Northeast. Life hadnt been quite what I wanted, she says in one story. I didnt have the things I would say I wanted most. One story starts: During the trip, the lover I had left behind in New York had stopped calling. Another: Maybe 10 or 11 years ago, when I was in the middle of a divorce from a man I still loved, I took the train into the city. The stories are peppered with broad, effective declarations of emotional philosophy: We fall out of love only to fall in love with a duplicate of what weve left, never understanding that we love what we love and that it doesnt change. They are also anchored in keenly observed specific details and pivot around deceptively imaginative plots. These are modest-seeming stories that hold deep truths, by a writer of great promise. Proxies Essays Near Knowing By Brian Blanchfield 183 pages. Nightboat Books. $15.95. Brian Blanchfields brief, multivalent essays are titled to echo the master of the form, Montaigne. They include On Withdrawal, On Tumbleweed and On House Sitting. In the beginning, some sentences might send you scurrying. To wit: Ordained confinement wherein embrace is organized as a situational necessity is recognizably the ground floor of my erotic imagination. But stick with it. Mr. Blanchfields more high-flown reflections not only become more palatable over time, theyre also slyly used in juxtaposition with the plain-spoken memories of this working class white boy from North Carolina, who grew up with an abusive stepfather and a mother who, when he was 17, told him, Youd better not be gay. (He was, and is.) He calls the essays inroads to disinhibited autobiography. One becomes acclimated to, and impressed by, the way he transitions from, say, an etymological investigation of billiards terminology to the way his father shot pool. Hold Still By Lynn Steger Strong 266 pages. Liveright. $26.95. This debut novel revolves around the relationship between Maya and Stephen, professors at Columbia University living the bourgeois life in Park Slope, and their troubled daughter, Ellie, who has dropped out of college, hangs around with a troubled crowd and has a penchant for escaping into drugs. Ellie wants to convince her parents that there are whole gradations of just trying to have a little fun that dont end in tragedy and homelessness, but we learn early on that Ellies story does end in tragedy, after she is sent to Florida to stay with Annie, a longtime friend of her mothers. We even know, more or less, how. Ms. Strong has a highly sensitive awareness of the special kind of disappointment and the painfully undying connection that comes with family. Theres mercifully little armchair psychology about Ellie and no blatantly obvious reason that she should be so damaged or careless. She just is, and in that way feels authentic. On the map, its about 25 miles of shoreline sealed off by a chain of mountains. But a map cant convey the wildly divergent terrain of saw-toothed peaks and plunging canyons, of peaceable beaches and fast-encroaching tides, of sun and clear skies and floods and wildfires and mudslides. And for all that harshness and perhaps because of it it is a place of extraordinary beauty. The kind of raw, seemingly ownerless beauty that, on the evidence of David K. Randalls tart, snappy history, The King and Queen of Malibu, everybody wants to lay claim to. Mr. Randalls book is a true story of the battle for paradise, but you could also call it a tragedy of the uncommon men and women fighting for a slice of earth like no other. And that uncommonness extends all the way up the chain of antagonists to the 19th-century figure who set the battle in motion. Born to wealth in Cambridge, Mass., Frederick Rindge was the only one of his parents six children to survive to adulthood. (He barely survived, and rheumatic fever stalked him for the rest of his days.) His reward was an estate worth about $140 million in todays dollars and a mystical sense of economic and spiritual mission that sent him back to the West, where he had originally gone as a child for the fresh air. The recovery of the diary, now held by the Holocaust Museum, was announced three years ago. But the story of the hunt for it, of the tip that finally panned out, of the undercover work to track it and the crucial role played by Homeland Security investigators and a federal subpoena, is now being discussed in a new book, The Devils Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich (Harper), by the former F.B.I. agent, Robert K. Wittman, and the journalist David Kinney. Image Pages of Alfred Rosenbergs diary, which went missing after he was hanged for war crimes in 1946. Credit... Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency It really was like catching a tiger by the tail, a big one, Mr. Wittman said in an interview. The diary starts in 1934 and spans a 10-year period in the life of Rosenberg, who had a sizable influence on Hitler but was less well known than other aides like Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels, whose diary has also been found. Rosenberg also wrote The Myth of the Twentieth Century, a book that espoused Aryan supremacy and anti-Semitic beliefs and was second in sales only to Hitlers book, Mein Kampf, during the Nazi period. Rosenberg, who was close in age to Hitler, also edited a Nazi newspaper and oversaw the widespread theft of art by the Nazis and the brutal occupation of the Soviet Union. The diary has been published, in German, by the Holocaust Museum and a typed transcript, also in German, has been posted online by the museum, which said it hoped that it would be analyzed further by historians and other scholars. In the diary, Rosenberg recalls his conversations with Hitler. He recounts how he convinced Hitler that the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia was connected to a global conspiracy by Jews. For that reason, and others, Rosenberg wrote, Jews were a threat to Germany. The diary also reveals Rosenbergs role in the deportation of German, Austrian and Czech Jews, and it shines a light on the infighting and struggles within the upper echelons of the Third Reich to secure Hitlers favor. Federal authorities have warned for years that big law firms are ripe targets for computer hackers because they are information-rich repositories of corporate deals and other sensitive client information. But big law firms, as a general rule, are loath to confirm whether they have been victims of data breaches, largely out of fear of alarming clients. Breaches and potential intrusions at large law firms often go unreported and generally come to light only anecdotally often in news reports or discussions at legal conferences. One big firm that has confirmed it was the victim of a limited breach of its computer network is Cravath Swaine & Moore, based in New York, which may be best known for its corporate merger advisory work. In a statement on Wednesday, Cravath said that the breach happened last summer and that it was not aware that any of the information that may have been accessed has been used improperly. The firm has been working with federal authorities, who are investigating the matter, and an outside security consulting firm. HONG KONG The Apple iPhone transformed the technology industry by popularizing the smartphone and blazing a path to a mobile future. But to do it, the company needed an important ally: a penny-pinching Taiwan-based factory operator named Foxconn. Employing hundreds of thousands of workers at vast facilities in mainland China, Foxconn figured out a way to assemble the iPhone at a cost low enough that middle-class Americans could afford it. The business offered low profit margins, but the work buffed Foxconns financial results and cemented its status as the worlds largest maker of hardware for companies like Apple and Sony. Those relationships are now shifting and Foxconn is betting heavily to keep up. On Wednesday, Foxconn said it had struck a deal to acquire control of the Japanese screen maker Sharp for $3.5 billion, after weeks of negotiations and high-profile setbacks. The deal, for a 66 percent stake in Sharp, is intended to make Foxconn a more attractive partner for Apple. The American technology company uses Sharp screens, which could give Foxconn added leverage in dealings between the two. This is painful for Sharps backers and that is the point. It might have been possible to find an all-Japanese solution for Sharp by cutting a deal with the state-supported Innovation Network Corporation of Japan. But that might have just swept Sharps problems under a rug. Instead, Sharp is going to the bidder with the most capabilities, and incentives, to make it a profitable and productive enterprise. It will not be an easy ride for Foxconn. The limited overlap between the two businesses will make it hard to cut costs at the Japanese group, which has forecast an operating loss of some 170 billion yen, or $1.5 billion, for the year through Thursday. Mr. Gous bet is that by increasing his companys position in the supply chain of Apple, which uses Sharp screens on its devices, Foxconn can more effectively revive the ailing groups fortunes. Either way, the signal sent by that Foxconns takeover of a century-old stalwart of Japan Inc. is immediate. Revitalizing Japans economy after decades of stagnation, and in the face of a shrinking population, will require firms to become more productive and less protected from competition. In this respect, Sharp is the first major test of Japans ability, and willingness, to meet that challenge. Among the many issues Starwood Hotels & Resorts faces in negotiating a deal with Anbang Insurance Group, the secretive Chinese insurance giant, is a stark one: Any deal Starwood negotiates may not be worth the paper it is printed on. The enforcement problem may arise because Anbang is based in China. If the Anbang-led consortium wins its bidding contest against Marriott International and enters into an agreement to acquire Starwood, that agreement will become the main way Starwood would force Anbang to complete the transaction if financing issues or any others come up. As with any agreement, if one party fails to honor the terms, Starwood would have to sue Anbang to enforce the deal. This is where the problem arises. If Starwood won a lawsuit in the United States, it would have to enforce the judgment in China, where Anbang and its assets are. Good luck with that. China is notorious for its weak rule of law, and whether or not a Chinese court would actually enforce a United States judgment against Anbang is unknown. LONDON General Electric said on Wednesday that it had agreed to sell its asset management business to the State Street Corporation in a transaction worth up to $485 million. The deal for GE Asset Management is expected to increase the assets under management at the State Street Global Advisors investment management unit by about $100 billion at closing and strengthening its equity and fixed-income teams, State Street said in a news release. It is the latest sale as General Electric retreats from finance and refocuses on its industrial roots. The conglomerate said in April of last year that it planned to sell the bulk of GE Capital within two years. Since announcing its plans to sell the bulk of the business, GE Capital has entered into agreements for sales worth about $161 billion. LONDON Swedbank said on Wednesday that it would reverse course and replace its chairman, Anders Sundstrom, after he lost the support of institutional investors, making him the latest official to leave the bank, which has been grappling with a corporate governance scandal. The move follows the ouster last month of Michael Wolf, the Swedish lenders chief executive, who has been referred to financial prosecutors on suspicion of violating market abuse laws. The nominating committee of the banks board of directors said last month that it intended to nominate Mr. Sundstrom, chairman since 2013, for re-election to that post at its annual meeting in April. But on Wednesday, Swedbank, based in Stockholm, said that further discussions with institutional shareholders showed that Mr. Sundstrom did not have the backing required to be nominated for another term. General Motors won a second consecutive case in litigation over its defective ignition switches, when a New York jury on Wednesday found that a faulty switch was not responsible for a 2014 accident that injured two people. The jury in the United States District Court in Manhattan returned the verdict after G.M. had argued during a two-week trial that the crash in New Orleans was caused by icy road conditions. While the jury found that the vehicle in the case, a Saturn Sky, was dangerous to drive because of its defective switch, it found no evidence that the accident was caused by ignition failure. The case is one of six so-called bellwether trials being conducted to resolve a variety of legal claims against G.M., which two years ago recalled about 2.6 million vehicles equipped with ignition switches that could suddenly cut engine power and disable airbags. A German historian said in new research that The Associated Press, the international news organization based in New York, formally cooperated with Nazi Germany in the 1930s, including the employment of a photographer who worked for a Nazi propaganda division. The research by Harriet Scharnberg, of Martin Luther University, argued that The A.P. was complicit in allowing the Nazis to portray a war of extermination as a conventional war. Her research was reported Wednesday in The Guardian. The Nazi regime cracked down on local and international press with a restrictive law in 1933, but The A.P. was able to report in Germany until 1941, when the United States joined the war. In a statement, The A.P. said that until Ms. Scharnbergs research, it had no knowledge of any accusation that material may have been directly produced and selected by Nazi propaganda ministries. A.P. rejects the suggestion that it collaborated with the Nazi regime at any time, the company said. Rather, The A.P. was subjected to pressure from the Nazi regime from the period of Hitlers coming to power in 1932 until the A.P.s expulsion from Germany in 1941. A.P. staff resisted the pressure while doing its best to gather accurate, vital and objective news for the world in a dark and dangerous time. WASHINGTON Opponents of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul won an important battle on Wednesday as a federal judge here stripped the too big to fail label from the insurance company MetLife. With memories still fresh on how the American International Groups 2008 near-collapse rattled the global financial system, the Dodd-Frank Act empowered regulators to classify certain large nonbank institutions as deserving as the big banks of increased capital requirements and greater scrutiny. But Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia overturned MetLifes designation, raising questions about how regulators determine who is too big to fail. The judges full opinion is currently under seal, but her order on Wednesday said that she had upheld arguments that regulators failed to adequately assess the insurance companys vulnerability to extreme financial distress and the potential economic impact of the designation. Without a way to screen potential donors, blood banks in areas experiencing outbreaks would have been forced to shut down local collections of whole blood and red blood cells. Many had already begun planning to import as much as they could from states farther north that were free of the Zika virus. It is logistically difficult, but it can be done, said Dr. Jeffrey McCullough, professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. But unexpected surges in demand in these areas would have been tough to accommodate. Blood Systems, which has banks in 24 states, had hoped to import blood from Rocky Mountain states, or those in the Northern Plains, if donations had to be suspended in Texas or Louisiana because of local Zika transmission, said Dr. Ralph R. Vassallo, chief medical and scientific officer. OneBlood, which collects more than one million blood products annually, including in Florida, had planned to shift collections from affected areas to ones that were not to maintain the safety of the blood supply with no interruption of their services, said Dr. Rita Reik, the chief medical officer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks the yellow-fever mosquito, works with the F.D.A. to determine which areas have active transmission of the Zika virus. If public health officials can pinpoint where local transmission is occurring and its in a tiny area, were likely to temporarily suspend collections there, Dr. Vassallo said. If a larger area is affected, well be able to continue collections by using this test. A documentary about the widely discredited link between autism and vaccines, which was pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival, will now be released in a New York City theater on Friday, its distributors have said. The film, Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, was removed from the Tribeca program last week after the festivals co-founder Robert De Niro who at first supported its screening reversed course, saying the documentary would not contribute to a positive discussion about medical and public health issues. The films distributor, Cinema Libre Studio, a small Burbank, Calif., company, said the films message had been misconstrued. Cinema Libre said that after the films premiere at the Angelika Film Center on Friday, the company was planning a wider release in other cities. Philippe Diaz, chairman of Cinema Libre, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that his company had decided to rush the film to theaters to counter the impression that it or its filmmaker was anti-vaccine. Nobody in their normal mind today could be anti-vaccine. Thats absurd, he said. Instead, Mr. Diaz said, the films backers hope to provide an outlet to discuss its claims that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covered up information about autism research, accusations they say have been brought by a former center employee, William Thompson. A rapidly spreading fire tore through a half-dozen wooden rowhouses in Bushwick, Brooklyn, on Tuesday night, devastating a block in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood and leaving dozens of people without a home. While no one was critically injured, fire officials said, the blaze destroyed three of the rowhouses, leaving only smoldering shells, and caused serious damage to three others. Eleven people suffered mostly minor injuries, officials said. While most of the residents were unscathed, hundreds of pigeons that were housed in coops on the roof of 1427 DeKalb Avenue were killed, according to Gil Arecilares, who said he owned two coops. It broke my heart, he said. Luke Moffitt, 32, who lives on the street, said he watched the coops burn. Here at this final hour, in this quiet place Harlem has come to bid farewell to one of its brightest hopes extinguished now, and gone from us forever, the actor Ossie Davis said on Feb. 27, 1965, over the coffin of Malcolm X, a transcendent lightning rod among African-American leaders who had been assassinated by gunmen six days earlier. Now the hour has come to bid farewell to the place itself: the Childs Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ, originally the Bluebird Theater, on Amsterdam Avenue near West 147th Street. It is, indeed, quiet. The congregation has moved its services to a storefront space at 500 West 148th Street. There are no longer any pews in the 600-seat auditorium. The chandeliers under which Mr. Davis spoke have been removed for safekeeping. Darnelle Watts, who identified himself as a minister of the church when we met last week, said the future held demolition and then construction of a 10-story apartment building at the north end of the 125-foot-long site. A new two-story church is planned for the south end, with a sanctuary, a dining hall, classrooms and a chapel that would incorporate the architectural artifacts of the current church. 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey: The officers I know understand that they are better cops, they are more effective, they are safer, and that they can do their jobs better if they are more comprehensively trained, if their supervisors provide clear guidance, if standards are transparent and fair, and if they have the tools they need to do their jobs. But, we all also understand that all of that works only if it provides a basis to regenerate the trust between the police and the community they serve. All of that will take time and hard work, but Im convinced that this consent decree, together with our collective commitment, will provide the structure and the opportunity to nurture that growth. // 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mayor Ras Baraka, (D) Newark: We look forward to the work that we are going to do cooperatively with the division and with the U.S. Attorneys office, with the courts to make sure that our police department is policing in a constitutional manner, is respecting the rights and the liberties of the civilians and the residents of our town and our city and enforcing the laws of this state, of the municipality, of the country, in a way that is both effective and makes us all proud of being in a democracy that were in to be able to have a police department that not only catches criminals and effects justice, but also maintains the order and the rights of all the residents of the city at the same time. Supporters of the increase, including leaders in the Democratically controlled Assembly and labor unions, say that it would benefit workers and local economies. Opponents, including many in the Republican-controlled Senate, counter that it would harm many businesses, particularly in struggling communities in upstate New York, and could force them to lay off workers, reduce hours and benefits, raise the prices of their goods and services, and even relocate to another state, or close altogether. Theres a big difference between being able to do it because the revenues are there and having it mandated by the state, said Heather Briccetti, president and chief executive of the Business Council of New York State, a trade association that represents 2,600 employers, including many small businesses with fewer than 100 workers. She said many employers around the state already paid their employees significantly more than the minimum wage, because market forces dictated higher compensation. Ms. Briccetti, citing economic studies, said that raising the minimum wage could result in more than 200,000 lost jobs statewide. Instead of an across-the-board wage increase, her group has called on state leaders to focus their efforts on developing a trained work force for fields that involve science, technology, engineering and math, where the demand for better-paying jobs is strong. In response to such criticisms, the governors aides counter that almost every time the state has raised the minimum wage in recent years, there has been a net gain in jobs. For instance, they said, when the minimum wage was raised to $8.75 from $8 an hour in December 2014, there was an overall gain of 115,900 private sector jobs in the state from December 2014 to December 2015. The Broadduses are seeking the nullification of their contract, punitive damages and a refund of the purchase price, with interest. A lawyer for the Woodses declined to comment, but the couple has filed a lawsuit of its own against the Broadduses, accusing the new owners of frivolus litigation and defamation. They have also requested that the case go to trial. The danger-in-suburbia story was picked up by local broadcasters and soon grew into a media circus for the Broadduses. The identity of The Watcher became a subject of intense curiosity on Internet forums dedicated to unsolved mysteries. Theories abound, but none have panned out: Was The Watcher a disgruntled potential buyer who balked at the $1.3 million price tag? (There was no bidding war, according to the couples lawyer.) Was it masterminded by the Broadduses themselves, to get more money out of the previous owners? (These are the nicest people. They wanted to buy their dream home and move into it, Mr. Levitt said.) The Hollywood theory has had perhaps the most subscribers. (I wouldnt be surprised if we found out the new owners are screenwriters/authors, one Reddit theorist wrote.) Indeed, The Watcher is now being developed by the executive producer of Homeland and was bought preemptively by NBC, Deadline Hollywood reported. For some armchair investigators, the Watcher case has evoked memories of a brush with suburban horror in Westfield back in 1971, when John E. List shot and killed his wife, three children and 85-year-old mother. He left the lights on in the house and organ music on an intercom system before he left town. The bodies werent discovered for weeks, and Mr. List was not caught until 1989. The district attorney with jurisdiction over the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., said on Wednesday that his office was reviewing the case of an inmate who died there in 2010 after a violent encounter with prison guards. The death of the inmate, Leonard Strickland, did not result in prosecution or disciplinary action at the time, despite surveillance video showing him near death, being dragged along the floor by guards in the prison infirmary while a nurse stood idly by. The circumstances surrounding Mr. Stricklands death were described in an investigation published in December by The New York Times, which posted the entire 45-minute security video online. Andrew J. Wylie, the Clinton County district attorney, said in an interview that his office was reviewing the case. He provided no further information. In the aftermath of Mr. Stricklands death on Oct. 3, 2010, Mr. Wylies office looked into the case and declined to present it to a grand jury. The State Police concluded that no criminal conduct of others contributed to the death of Mr. Strickland, who was 44 at the time. To the Editor: Re Dangerous Babble on Foreign Policy (editorial, March 29): Concerns regarding Donald Trumps babble on foreign policy are right on. But the editorial made one point with which thoughtful leaders I know strongly disagree that the threat of a nuclear war between Russia and the United States has greatly receded. This assessment perpetuates a myth that is widespread and fosters a dangerous complacency, when todays world demands the exact opposite. Russia and the United States each still maintain roughly 5,000 nuclear weapons actively deployed or in reserve, hundreds of which are ready to be launched within minutes. As William J. Perry, the former secretary of defense, succinctly put it: Today the danger of some sort of nuclear catastrophe is greater than it was during the Cold War and most people are blissfully unaware of this danger. In short, the nuclear danger is very much alive. Take notice. JERRY BROWN Sacramento The writer is governor of California. To the Editor: Your editorial is unfair to Donald Trump. His ramblings about the use of nuclear weapons in the Middle East Im never going to rule anything out are merely his expression of the ageless we will keep all options open, which when used by one of your favorites, perhaps President Obama, is usually described as wise. Yet the evidence suggests that the concept is flawed and that such anti-jihadist measures are ineffective, even counterproductive. A secret British government memorandum leaked in 2010 dismissed the idea that there was a linear conveyor belt moving from grievance, through radicalization, to violence. A 2010 American study sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security similarly noted that radicalization cannot be understood as an invariable set of steps or stages from sympathy to radicalism. Many studies show, perhaps counterintuitively, that people are not usually led to jihadist groups by religious faith. In 2008, a leaked briefing from Britains domestic security service, MI5, found that far from being religious zealots, many involved in terrorism were not particularly observant. This view is confirmed by Marc Sageman, a former officer with the Central Intelligence Agency who is now a counterterrorism consultant. At the time they joined, jihad terrorists were not very religious, he observed. They only became religious once they joined the jihad. The paradox is that the concept has become central to domestic counterterrorism policy even as government agencies discover its wrong. There is a gap between the reality of jihadism and a political desire for a simple narrative of radicalization. In recent years, the official view of the process has become more nuanced. An F.B.I. website aimed at teenagers acknowledges that no single reason explains why people become violent extremists. Updated British strategy also accepts that there is no single cause of radicalization. Yet the idea of a conveyor belt and telltale signatures of radicalization continue to be influential. For many, though, the first steps toward terror are rarely taken for political or religious reasons. As the French sociologist Olivier Roy, the pre-eminent scholar of European jihadism, puts it, few terrorists had a previous story of militancy, either political or religious. Rather, theyre searching for something less definable: identity, meaning, respect. For half a century, climate scientists have seen the West Antarctic ice sheet, a remnant of the last ice age, as a sword of Damocles hanging over human civilization. The great ice sheet, larger than Mexico, is thought to be potentially vulnerable to disintegration from a relatively small amount of global warming, and capable of raising the sea level by 12 feet or more should it break up. But researchers long assumed the worst effects would take hundreds if not thousands of years to occur. Now, new research suggests the disaster scenario could play out much sooner. Continued high emissions of heat-trapping gases could launch a disintegration of the ice sheet within decades, according to a study published Wednesday, heaving enough water into the ocean to raise the sea level as much as three feet by the end of this century. The trip Abby started would last nearly an hour and meander over 10 miles across San Francisco, stopping nine times to pick up and drop off passengers. After Abby got in, the driver collected his second passenger lets call him Ben a few blocks away. Ben got out after about a mile. A couple of blocks later, Carrie got in. By this time Abby might have been getting annoyed; fortunately, about six minutes later, the car reached Noe Valley. Abby got out, but Carrie was still in the car, so the trip went on. Danny got in after about a mile, then Carrie got out, then Edward got in, then Danny got out. Finally, after about 55 minutes of driving, the car reached Edwards destination, and the trip was done. In total, Uber collected about $48 for the ride, of which the driver kept $35. The company had collapsed five separate rides into a single trip, saving about six miles of travel and removing several cars from the road. For riders, the discounts amounted to savings of at least half of a standard Uber trip. For the driver, an hourlong trip with no idle time resulted in steady earnings (Uber drivers make money only when riders are in the car). And though Uber made less from the single ride than it would have from multiple rides, the company benefited by installing itself as a fixture in peoples lives. When rides get cheaper, it means that for more people in more cities, Uber is cheaper than owning a car, Mr. Kalanick said in a recent interview. And when Uber is cheaper than owning a car, we can become a mainstay of transportation in that city. Heres another way to put it: UberPool may push us to re-evaluate how we think about Uber and its impact on the world. The car service has long been polarizing. Though Uber is beloved by many riders, the way it has muscled into cities and the public consciousness, and the manner in which it has altered labor relations and urban planning, have rattled lawmakers, activists and even its drivers. SEATTLE Microsoft continues to bank on its Windows operating system. But the software giant is also increasingly staking out new technology areas, including software that can have natural conversations with people. Those were the twin messages from the company at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday for developers. At the event, Microsoft said Windows 10, the latest version of its operating system, is now running on 270 million active devices, eight months after it was released to the public. That represented the fastest adoption ever for a new version of Windows, outpacing the rate at which Windows 7 was adopted by 145 percent, the company said. Microsoft also revealed new tools for developers to create bots, pieces of software that can be used to produce new methods of interacting with computers, such as a chat interface for ordering pizzas online. We want to build intelligence that augments human abilities and experiences, Satya Nadella, Microsofts chief executive, said at the event. When Corey Patterson heard about the terrorist attacks in Brussels last week, he had a clear-cut response to people who asked if he was going to cancel a coming trip to Belgium. Thats exactly what the terrorists want, so absolutely not, Mr. Patterson, 45, said on Twitter. Hes in the Netherlands now, visiting a former roommate and his family, and will head to Belgium in a few days. Anything can happen anywhere at any time, Mr. Patterson, a Texas resident, said through messages on Twitter. You cant stop living life, and this world is worth seeing, so I chose to do it. Hes not alone. Americans especially seem to be fairly resilient and do not panic and cancel trips, unless perhaps they are traveling in the next few days, Jennifer Michels Jones, vice president of communications for the American Society of Travel Agents, said in an email. After an Upshot article about strategic voting You Say You Loathe Ted Cruz? You Still Might Want to Vote for Him one reader had a question: How about the idea of being honest with your vote? Isnt this strategy another form of telling a lie? Perhaps Canada can offer neighborly advice, after recently living through a national debate over the ethics of voting for someone other than your first choice, as a means to an end. An article in The National Post set the scene last October. As a Canada obsessed with strategic voting prepared to go to the polls, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May appeared on television to plead with voters to stop: Thats slaughtering us; its disastrous. In a democracy, you should cast your ballot for what you want. The Green Party did in fact do poorly, and Justin Trudeau seemed to benefit. There was less of the vote-splitting from left-leaning parties (like the Green Party) that had helped the Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, in the 2011 election. The family of an unarmed teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer last year in Seneca, S.C., has agreed to a $2.15 million settlement to drop their lawsuit against the police, a lawyer for the family said Wednesday. The teenager, Zachary Hammond, pulled up to a drive-through window at a Hardees restaurant last July in Seneca, where officers were conducting a sting operation for a suspected drug deal. A patrol car then moved in to block the car, and an officer who was part of the operation, Lt. Mark Tiller, felt threatened as Mr. Hammond drove toward him, according to the coroners report on the shooting. The officer fired two shots through the open window on the drivers side, striking Mr. Hammond, 19, once in the shoulder and once fatally in the chest. The Seneca police chief, John Covington, said after the shooting that the officer fired in self-defense and was a victim of an attempted murder. A woman in Mr. Hammonds car was later found to have a small quantity of marijuana. A Powerful Tool Genome mapping, which first captured the public imagination in 2000 with the release of a draft of the human DNA sequence, has become a fundamental tool of modern molecular biology, used to help study how living things evolve, develop, get sick and behave. An Aedes genome map of sorts, too, has existed since 2007, but researchers say it is staggeringly imperfect: fragmented into 36,204 pieces, some of which are themselves misassembled, with hundreds of genes known to be missing and others mistakenly duplicated. For a long time, cost and sheer difficulty made filling in every detail prohibitive for all but a few genome sequences, including our own and those of a handful of laboratory favorites like mice and fruit flies. Even as new techniques have made it easier and more affordable to create better maps, the task has been seen more as a technical feat than a scientific one, which is one reason the Aedes map has remained in its state of disrepair. Theres not a lot of glory in it, Dr. Powell conceded. Zika, however, has helped galvanize the small community of researchers who already spend most of their time thinking about the insect. The normally mild viruss apparent link to brain damage in babies whose mothers were infected while pregnant has stirred fears worldwide and led health officials to declare the current pandemic a public health emergency. An Aedes mosquito in the United States could become a carrier for the virus if the insect bit a traveler who had acquired Zika abroad. Though the use of air-conditioning and screens is likely to limit outbreaks in the United States as the mosquito population swells in the South this summer, stanching Zikas spread means controlling a mosquito that has grown resistant to previously effective insecticides and requires only minute amounts of standing water to breed. A few experiments with the mass release of biologically altered mosquitoes, carried out by a biotechnology company and by researchers funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have reportedly had some success. But researchers say other strategies are virtually certain to be needed. With the Obama administration asking for $1.8 billion to combat Zika, it seemed likely to Dr. Vosshall that the budget for a new map a few hundred thousand dollars, with enough support and volunteer labor from other researchers could somehow be secured. And on their first videoconference call in late January, nine far-flung teams of scientists found common cause in their discontent with trying to track down which genes control which traits on a map that often leads them astray. Some of the countrys best-known corporations are nervously grappling with what role they should play at the Republican National Convention, given the likely nomination of Donald J. Trump, whose divisive candidacy has alienated many women, blacks and Hispanics. An array of activist groups is organizing a campaign to pressure the companies to refuse to sponsor the gathering, which many of the corporations have done for the Republican and the Democratic Parties for decades. The pressure is emerging as some businesses and trade groups are privately debating whether to scale back their participation, according to interviews with more than a dozen lobbyists, consultants and fund-raisers directly involved in the conversations. Apple, Google and Walmart are among the companies assessing their plans for the convention, which will be held July 18 to 21 in Cleveland. WASHINGTON A special House committee empaneled to investigate fetal tissue research issued subpoenas on Wednesday to eight medical organizations as part of an investigation that has led to charges of intimidation. The Select Investigative Panel is working in a thoughtful and thorough manner to find the facts about what exactly is going on at these abortion businesses and procurement organizations, said Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee who leads the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives. Unfortunately, some of these organizations have so redacted documents even after being subpoenaed that it is impossible for us to get the complete picture of what is actually going on. Biomed IRB, an independent ethics review board based in San Diego, was among the entities subpoenaed. The boards operations were severely restricted in 2012 by the Food and Drug Administration after inspections found serious problems, including a lack of expertise to analyze studies it was supposed to review. Fred Fox, Biomed IRBs executive director, said in an interview that the first he had heard about the House investigation was a phone call last week in which he was asked whether he wanted to receive the subpoena from a United States marshal or some other way. The Justice Department has appointed Kenneth R. Feinberg, the lawyer who administered compensation for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, as special master to oversee a new fund to compensate victims of state-sponsored terrorism. The fund, created by Congress late last year, will provide compensation to victims of attacks like the bombings of American embassies in East Africa in 1998 and the bombings of the American Embassy and Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon in the early 1980s. It is also intended to compensate the Americans taken hostage at the United States Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The Justice Department on Tuesday informed lawyers representing some victims of these attacks that Mr. Feinberg, who also handled claims related to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, had been selected as special master. And it noted the importance of the post, which carries unreviewable authority to issue awards from the fund. The fund presents some unusual complications because it covers victims who in some cases have already been designated to receive compensation in various federal court rulings, as well as the Tehran Embassy hostages, who were long barred from seeking court-ordered damages from Iran because of the terms of the treaty that freed them in 1981. We are seeing, hopefully, some withdrawal from our own justice systems addiction to incarceration, Ms. Cody said. Some of this will happen with clemency, but some of it needs to happen with true legislative sentencing reform. For years, Mr. Obama has been pressing for just that, hoping to reverse steep penalties put in place in recent decades that sent many African-American and Hispanic men to prison for mostly nonviolent offenses. The president has said he is hopeful that he can reach rare agreement with Republicans on broad changes to sentencing laws. How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. Learn more about our process. Mr. Obama has said he is encouraged by expressions of support for a criminal justice overhaul by conservative lawmakers and groups. Several Republicans who ran for president this election cycle have said sentencing laws need to be revamped. Liberal groups like the Center for American Progress have teamed up with Koch Industries, the conglomerate owned by the conservative brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, to try to shrink prison populations. In brief comments on Wednesday, Mr. Obama singled out House Speaker Paul D. Ryan for his support on the issue and said he was still hopeful that criminal justice reform can get done. But even as Mr. Obama seeks to work with Congress, he has tried to use the power of his office to address the thousands of mostly young men who were imprisoned under the stricter laws established during the war on drugs of the 1990s. White House officials said the new grants of clemency underscored Mr. Obamas commitment to redress. In a blog post, Neil Eggleston, the presidents chief lawyer, said Mr. Obama would remain committed to continuing to issue more grants of clemency as well as to strengthening rehabilitation programs throughout the rest of his presidency. WASHINGTON The government may not freeze assets needed to pay criminal defense lawyers if the assets are not linked to a crime, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a 5-to-3 decision that scrambled the usual alliances. The case arose from the prosecution of Sila Luis, a Florida woman, on charges of Medicare fraud that, according to the government, involved $45 million in charges for unneeded or nonexistent services. Almost all of Ms. Luiss profits from the fraud, prosecutors said, had been spent by the time charges were filed. Prosecutors instead asked a judge to freeze $2 million of Ms. Luiss funds that were not connected to the suspected fraud, saying the money would be used to pay fines and provide restitution should she be convicted. Ms. Luis said she needed the money to pay her lawyers. The judge issued an order freezing her assets. That order, the Supreme Court ruled, violated her Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel. The South African government will appeal a judges decision to grant parole to the killer of Chris Hani, a leading anti-apartheid activist who was assassinated in 1993, a spokesman for Justice Minister Michael Masutha announced on Wednesday. Janusz Walus, a Polish immigrant, has been serving a life sentence for the murder of Mr. Hani, a Communist often regarded as the most popular figure in the African National Congress after Nelson Mandela. Mr. Waluss co-conspirator, Clive Derby-Lewis, who provided the murder weapon, was paroled on medical grounds last year. A High Court judge in Pretoria granted Mr. Walus parole on March 10, but he will remain in prison pending the outcome of the appeal. Critics have warned that the parole decision could reopen wounds dating to the apartheid era. Much like the FARC, the E.L.N. was founded in the 1960s and financed itself through kidnappings and taxes on the lucrative cocaine trade. Yet recent years of clashes with the government have reduced the ranks of both groups: The E.L.N. could have as few as 1,500 fighters, while the FARC is estimated to be down to 7,000. On Wednesday, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, who has staked his presidency on signing a peace deal with the rebels, asked the public to join him in supporting the talks. He said that while the government had spent years trying to defeat the E.L.N., the time had come to negotiate directly with them, much as with the FARC. Just as we have fought the E.L.N. in the battlefield, we believe that they can and must play a role in the peace process, Mr. Santos said. Opponents of the negotiations countered with skepticism on Wednesday. Federico Hoyos, a conservative Colombian legislator who has criticized the talks with the FARC, said he believed that members of the E.L.N. would drag out negotiations for years in an effort to escape prosecution. Fighters who had committed war crimes, he said, might eventually try to enter the political realm without facing justice. The challenge is not to repeat the errors we had with the FARC, Mr. Hoyos said, adding that the government had not pursued a hard enough bargain. Pervasive corruption has also had an effect, with many of the schools that are listed on government budgets not actually functioning at all ghost schools set up to allow officials to gobble up development aid without delivering any services. The problem is that so much of the effort has focused on the cities, Mr. Wesa said during a visit to Panjwai last month. We have to start from the village. If this library was in the city, we would have 100 visitors a day. But to me, the five visitors in the village are more important than the 100 in the city. Mr. Wesas organization began a national book drive last year, collecting about 20,000 books in a campaign that focused on social media. The competition for social status runs deep in this country, and Mr. Wesa banked on that to encourage contributions. Even the smallest donation of just a couple of books was celebrated online, with a picture of the donor and a word of gratitude. The books have helped establish seven modest libraries in provinces with a reputation for some of the worst violence of the war: Helmand, Kandahar, Khost, Kunar and Wardak. To Westerners, Panjwai, about an hours drive from the city of Kandahar, is most closely associated with a gruesome atrocity: the massacre of 16 civilians by an American Army sergeant who walked off his base before dawn one morning in March 2012. But for the residents, the place turned to hell years before that. Panjwai was like a bakery oven: You burned if you entered, Mr. Haidary said. If you said you were from Panjwai, people would get scared of you. Recently, though, the district has been relatively quiet. Even as the Taliban exert pressure in neighboring provinces, gobbling territory, the reach of government has been maintained in Kandahar, though it has often been disappointing or abusive. BEIJING Youre moving to China with your family, and youre excited but also concerned: What might the countrys notorious smog do to your and your childrens lungs? Heres how you can feel the fear and move to China anyway, while minimizing your health risks: Relocate to Guangzhou, the capital of the southern province of Guangdong, near Hong Kong. Second best: move to Shanghai. Dont move to Beijing, Chengdu or Shenyang, if you can help it. Those are some conclusions to be drawn from a new study of air quality in five major cities by a team of researchers at Peking University led by Chen Songxi, a statistician at the universitys Guanghua School of Management. In an interview, Mr. Chen said the study was prompted by a sense of disgust at air pollution. I felt that as scientists we should do something about the situation facing a billion Chinese people, he said. Before his detention, Mr. Tashi had written on his microblog that Tibetans needed to protect their culture and that Chinese officials should aid them in doing so. He has argued for greater Tibetan autonomy within China, but none of his known writings have called for Tibetan independence, which he has said he opposes. The family said it had not been able to find a local lawyer to represent Mr. Tashi. Officials have not yet announced a trial date. Mr. Tashis case has attracted international attention. Officials at the State Department are aware of his detention, and a representative of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression said the group was starting a petition to call for his release. President Obama may raise human rights issues with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, when Mr. Xi visits Washington this week for a summit meeting on nuclear issues. As an advocate for Tibetan culture, Mr. Tashi has been most vocal about language education, saying that schools should adopt a true system of bilingual education so that Tibetan children can become fluent in their mother language. NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar Myanmars new president called for patience in the pursuit of full democracy after his inauguration on Wednesday ended more than half a century of rule by the military and its allies. We have to work for a Constitution that is in harmony with democratic values, the new chief of state, U Htin Kyaw, said in a speech. This is a political ambition that people have wanted for a long, long time. We have to be patient. Mr. Htin Kyaw is a close ally of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who led their party, the National League for Democracy, to a landmark victory in elections in November. She is barred from serving as president by the military-drafted Constitution, but the party has pushed to allow her to take the top post. Image President Htin Kyaw of Myanmar, left, receiving the presidential sash from his predecessor, U Thein Sein, on Wednesday in Naypyidaw. Credit... Pool photo by Ye Aung Thu Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was also sworn in on Wednesday as a minister in the new government. She will lead four ministries: education, energy, foreign affairs and the presidential office. LONDON The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Wednesday that British prosecutors were within their authority not to prosecute police officers who shot to death a Brazilian man in a subway station in 2005 after mistaking him for a suicide bomber. The case is likely to end the long fight by relatives of the man, Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, to have the British police charged with his killing. The court, which sits in Strasbourg but is independent of the European Union, rules on cases involving the European Convention on Human Rights. It decided by 13 to 4 that British prosecutors had carried out an appropriate investigation and had legitimately found insufficient evidence to charge individual officers. Mr. de Menezes was on his way to work on July 22, 2005, when police officers searching for those responsible for bombing attacks that month in London and for failed efforts the day before to bomb the subway, mistook him for Hussain Osman, one of the attackers on the run, who lived in the same apartment block. They shot Mr. de Menezes seven times as he entered a subway car at Stockwell station. The police force was convicted of minor safety violations, but no individual was charged. The family had argued to the court that the British level of proof was too high and violated the human rights convention. PARIS President Francois Hollande of France announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing a proposal to strip French citizenship from dual nationals convicted of terrorism, ending a monthslong debate that convulsed his governing Socialist Party, dominated political discussion after the November terrorist attacks, and led to the resignation of the justice minister. The idea, originally endorsed by right-wing parties and adopted by Mr. Hollande three days after the deadly attacks on Nov. 13, drew furious opposition on the left in France, even though all sides agreed it was largely symbolic and would have little practical effect in combating terrorism. But the proposal highlighted a growing split within the Socialist Party, between those who favored a tough law-and-order approach in the wake of the attacks that killed 130 people, and those worried that the government would be impinging on civil liberties. LONDON Prime Minister David Cameron faced a new economic and political challenge on Wednesday after the Indian owner of much of Britains steel industry said it could no longer swallow the large losses being generated by its plants and would try to sell them. The owner of the plants, Tata Steel, has been squeezed by cheap imports of Chinese steel into Europe, and its announcement suggested that if no buyer could be found it would consider closing them, endangering at least 15,000 jobs. The British steel industrys woes have been caused in part by the European Unions inability to agree on higher tariffs on Chinese steel, making the fate of the Tata plants another flash point in Mr. Camerons campaign to persuade his country to vote to remain in the bloc in a referendum on June 23. The news struck particularly hard at Britains largest steel plant, the Port Talbot works in Wales, which has been the heart of that community since 1901. The Tata board acted to cut its losses despite entreaties from the British government and the local member of Parliament, Stephen Kinnock, who had flown to India to plead the case. LARNACA, Cyprus Seif Eldin Mustafa, the Egyptian man who grabbed the worlds attention by hijacking an EgyptA ir flight and diverting it to Cyprus, has admitted his crimes to Cypriot investigators but insisted that he acted out of desperation, prosecutors said on Wednesday during his first court appearance. Mr. Mustafa, 59, boarded EgyptAir Flight 181 on Tuesday morning, wore a fake explosives belt and demanded that the pilot take him to Cyprus, Turkey or Greece, prosecutors said. When the plane landed in Larnaca, on the southern coast of Cyprus, Mr. Mustafa made various demands, including that a letter be delivered to his former wife, a Cypriot citizen, they said. When someone hasnt seen his family for 24 years and wants to see his wife and children, and the Egyptian government wont let him, what is he supposed to do? Mr. Mustafa told the authorities, according to a statement by prosecutors. Prosecutors requested that Mr. Mustafa remain in detention, arguing that if freed he might try to influence the testimony of his passengers and relatives or he might try to flee. The judge, Maria K. Loizou of Larnaca District Court, ordered that Mr. Mustafa remain in custody for eight more days. The Egyptian authorities have formally requested the extradition of Mr. Mustafa, the countrys chief prosecutor said on Wednesday. CAIRO The Libyans who lead a United Nations-backed unity government traveled by sea early Wednesday to Libyas capital, Tripoli, as part of a bold if risky effort to break the countrys two-year political stalemate. Prime Minister Fayez Serraj and six other members of the presidency council, which is supposed to pave the way for a new government, arrived from Tunisia by boat at a naval base in central Tripoli. The landing defied an air blockade led by rival groups that had restricted the citys airspace over the weekend. The blockade also drew strong criticism from the United States. Eager to establish his authority, Mr. Serraj told a hastily convened news conference that he would broker a cease-fire among Libyas myriad factions and confront the Islamic State, which has expanded aggressively along a coastal stretch of the country in the past year. But hours later, an eruption of heavy gunfire in central Tripoli signaled that some groups opposed his arrival, and raised the prospect of a fresh wave of violence in the capital. GENEVA The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, on Wednesday exhorted countries around the world to step up to their responsibilities and take in half a million Syrian refugees, rebuking political leaders who he said had instead resorted to demonizing asylum seekers. Opening a one-day ministerial conference in Geneva convened by the United Nations refugee agency, Mr. Ban called for an exponential increase in global solidarity in urging countries to accept about 480,000 Syrians over the next three years. Neighboring countries have done far more than their share, Mr. Ban said, alluding to the nearly five million refugees received by Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. Others must now step up. Demonizing refugees and migrants was not only demeaning, offensive and counterproductive but factually wrong, Mr. Ban said, emphasizing the skills and other resources they brought to host countries. I call on leaders to counter fearmongering with reassurance, and to fight inaccurate information with the truth. LONDON The back room on the ground floor of Lock & Co. Hatters is something of a tiny museum of the companys 340-year history. In a glass case is a large ledger listing orders from customers like Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill, who wore a Lock silk top hat for his wedding in 1908. There is a reproduction of the bicorne worn by Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805; the company still has the bill of sale. And there is a thank-you note from Charlie Chaplin, who helped make famous the Lock-designed Coke hat (pronounced cook) known colloquially as the bowler, after Thomas Bowler, the shops chief hatter at its creation in 1849. Framed and hanging on a wall are a number of autographed patterns, one-sixth scale patterns of customers heads, including Laurence Olivier, Jacqueline Kennedy and Emperor Akihito of Japan. The heritage is incredibly important, said Sue Simpson, Locks director. But what is really important as well is the quality of product and the service. Achieving all three has been the businesss cornerstone, along with satisfying customers. If tourism boards made dances instead of posters, Club Havana, by the Cuban-American choreographer Pedro Ruiz, would be a winning campaign. When Mr. Ruiz created this cheerful work in 2000 for Ballet Hispanico, his alma mater, few Americans had the opportunity to experience the city firsthand. A dance party with splashes of conga, rumba, mambo and cha-cha, Club Havana is the Technicolor version of Cuba flouncy skirts in rainbow hues, swiveling hips and sly smiles that beckon audiences to visit, which might be possible soon. And now Club Havana returns to the Joyce for Ballet Hispanicos spring season (Tuesday, April 5, through April 10). Filling out the program are Gustavo Ramirez Sansanos boisterous Flabbergast and Ramon Ollers Bury Me Standing, a meditation on Gypsy life and culture set to traditional Eastern European and Spanish popular music. Saturdays family matinee program offers a sampling of additional repertory from this charismatic company, now marking its 45th anniversary. (joyce.org.) The Unesco Atlas of the Worlds Languages in Danger is a melancholy document, charting the 3,000 or so languages that experts predict will vanish by the end of this century. For the most part, ethnographers and linguists are helpless in the face of the gradual erasure of collective memory that goes along with this loss of linguistic diversity. Time to call in the composers? A growing number of them are turning their attention to languages that are extinct, endangered or particular to tiny groups of speakers in far-flung places with the aim of weaving these enigmatic utterances into musical works that celebrate, memorialize or mourn the languages and the cultures that gave birth to them. On Saturday, April 9, at the Cologne Opera in Germany, the Australian composer Liza Lim unveils her opera Tree of Codes, which includes snippets of a Turkish whistling language from a small mountain village. On her most recent album, The Stone People, the pianist Lisa Moore sings and plays Martin Bresnicks hypnotic Ishis Song, a setting of a chant by the last member of the Yahi, who died in 1916. In February the New York Philharmonic performed Tan Duns multimedia symphony Nu Shu, the result of the composers research into a language and writing system that was passed down among the female inhabitants of a small village in Hunan Province in China for 700 years. Other composers who have done their own fieldwork include Vivian Fung, who investigated minority cultures in the Chinese province of Yunnan, and Kevin James, who sought out some of the last native speakers of minority languages in the Pacific Northwest, Australia and Japan. The aesthetic uses to which the composers put these rare languages vary. Still, Mr. James, the founder of the Vanishing Languages Project, seemed to speak for most when, in a recent interview, he said that the goal was not to set them to music, but set them as music. DONT LET MY BABY DO RODEO By Boris Fishman 321 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $26.99. Dont Let My Baby Do Rodeo, the second novel by the tender, dolorous, sharp and funny writer Boris Fishman, is the story of an adopted child and an adopted country; it is a tale of what it means to be foreign. Like A Replacement Life, Fishmans first novel, the book is peopled by characters so eccentric they feel like family. He has the rare gift of startling us with a foreign culture and simultaneously making it feel like home. The Russian-speaking Jewish refugees in his novels, the generation that came to the United States just before and just after the fall of the Soviet Union, have lost the Old Country twice, yet they are never quite free of it. The novel begins with the disappearance of 8-year-old Max Rubin. He is discovered miles from his New Jersey home sitting calmly with his face in a river, counting pebbles. His frantic parents, Maya and Alex, have noticed inexplicable behavior before the boy insists on sleeping on the floor; deer and hornets gather peacefully around him; he eats grass. This is not the behavior of a nice ex-Soviet Jewish boy, and the novel follows the Rubins attempts to discover why their adopted son resembles a woodland creature. His Belarussian grandparents shake their heads. They have come to love the little blond boy they once considered a sign of failure (back home everyone was fertile), but they worry still about his foreign, which is to say gentile American, ancestry. Alex and his parents, Eugene and Raisa, had wanted children and grandchildren with the same mindless hunger with which they sat down to meals. Insular and interested only in family, the Rubins initially greet the idea of an adoption as taking on a used human being. But exactly because they are insular and interested only in family, they soon come around: The boy was unique because the Rubins were unique, because they had crossed an ocean and set themselves up from zero on a new shore. What they wont do is tell Max he is adopted. When Alex was 8, the elder Rubins left Minsk for New Jersey, where he was lovingly fed and petted, growing soft and stocky as if life had padded him against misfortune. Alexs anxious, cynical, doting parents are a great pleasure for the reader; less so for their daughter-in-law. Maya came to the United States for college, and she misses the sociability of her gossipy, sociable, thousand-unit apartment building where the low ceiling of the Soviet economy always left time for visiting. Her new family, in contrast, is a self-sufficient island, Eugene and Raisa living just a few houses away. The Rubins flourish importing jam and honey from the Old Country, obsessed with work like proper Americans, locked in the embrace of Profit, the eternally undersexed mistress. What a relief it is to move from Steve McCurrys work to that of someone like Raghubir Singh. Singh worked from the late 60s until his untimely death in 1999, traveling all over India to create a series of powerful books about his homeland. His work shares formal content with McCurrys: the subcontinental terrain, the eye-popping color, the human presence. Within these shared parameters, however, Singh gives us photographs charged with life: not only beautiful experiences or painful scenes but also those in-between moments of drift that make up most of our days. Singh had a democratic eye, and he took pictures of everything: cities, towns, villages, shops, rivers, worshipers, workers, construction sites, motorbikes, statues, modern furniture, balconies, suits, dresses and, sure, turbans and saris. The power of Singhs pictures lies in part in their capacious content. But it also lies in their composition, which rises well beyond mere competence, as he demonstrated in books like River of Colour, The Ganges and Bombay: Gateway of India. Singh has cited Edgar Degas and the American photographer Helen Levitt as influences, and you can see what he has learned from their highly sophisticated approaches (Degass casual grace, Levitts sympathetic view of urban oddity and the way both of them let in messiness at the edges of their images a messiness that reminds us of the life happening outside the frame as well as within it). A photograph like the one Singh made of a crowded intersection in Kolkata in 1987 draws a breathtaking coherence out of the chaos of the everyday. The image, of which the key elements are a green door, a distant statue, an arm and a bus, is slightly surreal. But everything is in its right place. It reads as a moment of truth snipped from the flow of life. I love even more a photograph Singh made in Mumbai a couple of years later. Taken in a busy shopping district called Kemps Corner, this photograph has less-obvious charms. The picture is divided into four vertical parts by the glass frontage of a leather-goods shop and its open glass door, and within this grid is a scatter of incident. The main figure, if we can call her that, is a woman past middle age who wears a red blouse and a dark floral skirt and carries a cloth bag on a string. She is seen in profile and looks tired. Beyond her and behind are various other walkers in the city, going about their serious business. An overpass cuts across the picture horizontally. The foreground, red with dust, is curiously open, a potential space for people not yet in the picture. The glass on the left is a display of handbags for sale, and the peculiar lighting of the bags indicates that Singh used flash in taking the shot. The image, unforgettable because it stretches compositional coherence nearly to its snapping point, reminds me of Degass painting Place de la Concorde, another picture in which easy, classically balanced composition is jettisoned for something more exciting and discomfiting and grounded. Rachel writes: My fiance, Ryan, works night shifts. When he wakes up at 3 p.m. and eats a turkey sandwich, he calls that breakfast; I think its lunch. When he gets home from work at 7 a.m., hell often have a beer with his dinner, which I insist is breakfast. Who is right? This all sounds miserable, so I do not wish to rob Ryan of the pleasure of calling meals whatever he wants. However, it is difficult to call a turkey sandwich breakfast, just as it is difficult not to call a 7 a.m. beer a cry for help. (Though that may be simple daywalker prejudice.) I do hope Ryan finds his job fulfilling. That said, I urge him to eat real breakfast foods in the afternoon, and if hes going to have a morning drink, follow it with a full candlelit dinner with his fiancee. Dont just get drunk listening to Morning Edition as I used to do in college. When Ian Fuller, 37, a managing director of WestFuller Advisors, a wealth management firm, first saw the 20-story midcentury Seward Park Cooperative on Grand Street, on the Lower East Side, the complex reminded him of very expensive public housing, he said. Then he and his wife, Ellen Wang, 43, a scientist at Pfizer, realized it was one of the better deals in the city. Maintenance on the two-bedroom co-op they bought there last year for $1.2 million was low a bit over $700 a month and the 17th-floor balcony afforded skyline views. They were ready to leave their two-family house in Ozone Park, Queens, for a shorter commute to their Midtown Manhattan jobs and to their 6-year-old daughter Nilayas school on the Upper West Side. But it was the Lower East Side neighborhood the couple were particularly sold on. It feels like authentic New York without the whitewashing, still a little gritty, Mr. Fuller said. Now that construction is underway at Essex Crossing, a $1 billion development mostly around Essex and Delancey Streets, the neighborhood is likely to be less gritty in years to come. The nine-building complex will include 1,000 residential units, half of which are reserved for low- and middle-income residents, according to Charles R. Bendit, a chief executive of Taconic Investment Partners, one of the three developers. The entire project, scheduled for completion by 2024, will feature a 15,000-square-foot public park, a medical facility operated by NYU Langone Medical Center, a cineplex, a bowling alley, retail and offices. There are excellent sit-down places, as well: Eleanor recommended Poi by the Pound, a simple restaurant in a slightly industrial area of Kahului, the heart of the island and the main retail center for Maui residents. One evening I enjoyed a hearty meal of kalua pork, rice, and macaroni salad ($11.40); the pork was light, tender and smoky. They also, of course, sell poi taro stem thats been cooked and pummeled into a viscous fluid. The poi I sampled (a side is $3.45) had been slightly fermented, giving it a yogurt-like tang. Its potent, and definitely an acquired taste. But Sam Satos was perhaps my favorite meal experience a fantastically unpretentious Japanese hole-in-the-wall in Wailuku that took me completely by surprise. When I arrived at the address, I was sure I was at the wrong place. The environs said office park more than cozy neighborhood restaurant, but the food was otherworldly. Their popular dry noodles ($6.25 for a small bowl) were the standout. The slightly wavy wheat-flour noodles are lightly coated in oil and have a satisfying bite; theyre mixed with bean sprouts and green onion, and served with tender, reddish char siu (barbecued pork). If the noodles are too dry, a small bowl of hot, savory broth comes on the side, which can be drizzled on. A barbecue beef stick ($1.95) is a perfect accompaniment: tender, well-seasoned beef with a hint of sweetness, grilled on a small wooden skewer. (Sam Satos closes at 2 p.m. Monday to Saturday and is closed Sundays, so keep an eye on the time and be prepared to wait awhile.) Image The restaurant Sam Satos popular dry noodles. Credit... Marco Garcia for The New York Times I dont want to give the impression that all I did was eat. Natural grandeur is, of course, why many come to Maui, and I was going to experience my fair share. My first moment of true appreciation for Mauis beauty came several miles into my drive along Route 360, a.k.a. the Hana Highway. Hana, the primary town on the eastern coast, is about 25 miles from the Kahului airport as the crow flies. Not too bad. Well, the Hana Highway roughly 50 miles of twists, turns and one-lane bridges can easily turn that into a three- or four-hour trip. It snakes through the jungle, passing a few small towns, waterfalls and bamboo forests. Just dont be in a hurry: You are at the mercy of the slowest car on the highway and will move as quickly (or slowly) as it does. Relax, drive defensively, and go with the flow. It was Saturday night, and Flash Factory, a new discotheque in Chelsea, conjured images of New Yorks clubland of yore. A D.J. in a glittery headdress spun groovy electronic music as amethyst lasers zinged over a jumble of muscle bros, women in miniskirts and club kids in leather gimp hoods and drag ensembles. To clubgoers grizzled enough to recall the Giuliani years, the clubs stained-glass accents, cathedralesque archways and diverse congregation evoked the Limelight, the notorious Ecstasy-fueled club from the 1990s. But to younger guests, it felt closer to home. They brought Brooklyn to Manhattan, said Flavia Meloni, a 20-something landscape designer from Brazil who was cloistered with friends near an illuminated arboreal structure. Its not a snobby place. With Brooklyn rising as clubland loci (especially the industrial parts of Williamsburg, Gowanus and Sunset Park), Manhattan has mostly countered with dinky bars and lounges. But the momentum may be shifting back this spring as luster returns to Manhattan night life. Flash Factory is leading the resurgence with an ambitious play for crowds now accustomed to crossing the East River. In Brooklyn, you could create this venue with half the investment, said Michael Satsky, an owner of the club. But Manhattan is the economic and cultural capital of the world. Its more of a risk, but in my mind its worth it. Other spots include 11 Howard in SoHo, Vandal on the Bowery and the Lively in the meatpacking district. More clubs are on their way, including a music hall in NoHo from the team behind Babys All Right in Williamsburg. I think this Brooklyn thing was a blip in the system, said Noah Tepperberg, an owner of Vandal. A bunch of places opened in a couple years very few have done great. Im hearing its not too good out there. Local officials in a meeting with the governor on Thursday continued to push for Opelika's Southern Union campus to serve as the main headquarters for the new regional college expected to be created by a merger among three east Alabama community colleges. The group of elected leaders -- which included Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller, Auburn Mayor Bill Ham, Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, Sen. Tom Whatley and Rep. Bob Fincher -- also expressed concerns to Gov. Robert Bentley over the rapid pace of the consolidation process, which encompasses Southern Union State Community College, Central Alabama Community College and Chattahoochee Valley Community College. Central Alabama President Susan Burrow was selected by Chancellor Mark Heinrich to serve as president of the regional college. She is tasked with making a recommendation to Heinrich for the name and main campus site of the new college, which she previously said would be decided upon by April 1. Fuller and Hubbard have previously asked the chancellor to consider choosing the name Southern Union to represent the new institution. Heinrich will make a final recommendation for the name and main campus to the Alabama Community College System board of trustees, which will ultimately make the decision. Fuller said Bentley was interested in officials' opinions Thursday. "He (Bentley) was very receptive," said Fuller. "I had Mayor Ham with me. You know, Auburn certainly has a great interest in Southern Union and workforce development, as well as the number of students from Southern Union that end up going to Auburn. We just made the governor aware of what was going on with this merger. We expressed our concerns about the speed of the merger -- that something of this magnitude seems to be going awfully fast -- and we expressed our concern about that. We certainly talked about the Opelika campus being the lead campus because of all the new jobs and capital investment in Opelika and Auburn." Opelika should serve as the main campus of the merged college due to its large student base and its location in relation to industrial partners, he said. "The central location is a little misleading when they talk about Alex City as the central location for the 11-county region. That's really incorrect because you're showing Millbrook, and that's not a campus there. They've got a classroom," Fuller said. "When you look at number of students, there are more students on the Opelika Southern Union campus than all the other campuses put together by far. I think Central Alabama in Alex City has about 1,500 or 1,600; Phenix City has about 1,300 or 1,400; we've probably got 4,400 in Opelika. We know there are 500 or 600 in Wadley, and there's some in Valley. The mayor of Valley, Leonard Riley, wrote a letter supporting Opelika. "We made the governor aware and, of course, he's already aware. He told me and Bill Ham, he said, 'Look, I'm in Opelika and Auburn about as often as I'm in Huntsville.' As we told him, we said, 'Governor, we've got more on the way.' Baxter is going to hire 200 more. Golden State Foods is going to hire 240. We're working on other projects." The group also informed Bentley about the Opelika campus' new $32 million addition. "I think the governor gets it," Fuller said. "He was going to meet with the chancellor to discuss these questions. When that will be, I'm not sure. I'm guessing it will be early this week." Earlier this month, Fuller wrote a letter detailing concerns about the process of the proposed merger to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and each individual member of the college system's board of trustees. He received a response from Belle S. Wheelan, president of SACSCOC, last week, in which she said that the accrediting body will work to ensure the new college is built on the same quality standards each the three individual colleges have exemplified. "We will also look to make sure that the institutions have followed appropriate board policies related to the consolidation, which would include the naming of the president," Wheelan said. "I do believe your questions are valid and strongly suggest that you set up a meeting with the chancellor of the system so that you can get them answered." Fuller said he has not received a response from ACHE or the board of trustees. "I just want to do what's best for those students and I want to do what's best for our industry and these high-paying jobs that we've got," he said. Attempts to obtain comment from Burrow regarding when a name and main campus will be announced were unsuccessful Tuesday. "At this point, the process is still ongoing," said Burrow's executive assistant, Mark McGhee. Local officials in a meeting with the governor on Thursday continued to push for Opelika's Southern Union campus to serve as the main headquarters for the new regional college expected to be created by a merger among three east Alabama community colleges. The group of elected leaders -- which included Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller, Auburn Mayor Bill Ham, Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, Sen. Tom Whatley and Rep. Bob Fincher -- also expressed concerns to Gov. Robert Bentley over the rapid pace of the consolidation process, which encompasses Southern Union State Community College, Central Alabama Community College and Chattahoochee Valley Community College. Central Alabama President Susan Burrow was selected by Chancellor Mark Heinrich to serve as president of the regional college. She is tasked with making a recommendation to Heinrich for the name and main campus site of the new college, which she previously said would be decided upon by April 1. Fuller and Hubbard have previously asked the chancellor to consider choosing the name Southern Union to represent the new institution. Heinrich will make a final recommendation for the name and main campus to the Alabama Community College System board of trustees, which will ultimately make the decision. Fuller said Bentley was interested in officials' opinions Thursday. "He (Bentley) was very receptive," said Fuller. "I had Mayor Ham with me. You know, Auburn certainly has a great interest in Southern Union and workforce development, as well as the number of students from Southern Union that end up going to Auburn. We just made the governor aware of what was going on with this merger. We expressed our concerns about the speed of the merger -- that something of this magnitude seems to be going awfully fast -- and we expressed our concern about that. We certainly talked about the Opelika campus being the lead campus because of all the new jobs and capital investment in Opelika and Auburn." Opelika should serve as the main campus of the merged college due to its large student base and its location in relation to industrial partners, he said. "The central location is a little misleading when they talk about Alex City as the central location for the 11-county region. That's really incorrect because you're showing Millbrook, and that's not a campus there. They've got a classroom," Fuller said. "When you look at number of students, there are more students on the Opelika Southern Union campus than all the other campuses put together by far. I think Central Alabama in Alex City has about 1,500 or 1,600; Phenix City has about 1,300 or 1,400; we've probably got 4,400 in Opelika. We know there are 500 or 600 in Wadley, and there's some in Valley. The mayor of Valley, Leonard Riley, wrote a letter supporting Opelika. "We made the governor aware and, of course, he's already aware. He told me and Bill Ham, he said, 'Look, I'm in Opelika and Auburn about as often as I'm in Huntsville.' As we told him, we said, 'Governor, we've got more on the way.' Baxter is going to hire 200 more. Golden State Foods is going to hire 240. We're working on other projects." The group also informed Bentley about the Opelika campus' new $32 million addition. "I think the governor gets it," Fuller said. "He was going to meet with the chancellor to discuss these questions. When that will be, I'm not sure. I'm guessing it will be early this week." Earlier this month, Fuller wrote a letter detailing concerns about the process of the proposed merger to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and each individual member of the college system's board of trustees. He received a response from Belle S. Wheelan, president of SACSCOC, last week, in which she said that the accrediting body will work to ensure the new college is built on the same quality standards each the three individual colleges have exemplified. "We will also look to make sure that the institutions have followed appropriate board policies related to the consolidation, which would include the naming of the president," Wheelan said. "I do believe your questions are valid and strongly suggest that you set up a meeting with the chancellor of the system so that you can get them answered." Fuller said he has not received a response from ACHE or the board of trustees. "I just want to do what's best for those students and I want to do what's best for our industry and these high-paying jobs that we've got," he said. Attempts to obtain comment from Burrow regarding when a name and main campus will be announced were unsuccessful Tuesday. "At this point, the process is still ongoing," said Burrow's executive assistant, Mark McGhee. A finalist of Out of the Box: A Juried Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition returns to campus to present a lecture at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University. Heath Matysek-Snyder of Mechanicsville, Virginia, is one of 11 artists selected by contemporary artist Willie Cole to exhibit his work Kominy-NBS Explore on the museum grounds through Oct. 2. Through a multi-faceted studio practice incorporating woodworking, furniture, design and sculpture, Matysek-Snyders work investigates the bundling, stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. He earned his master of fine arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth Universitys School of the Arts where he teaches woodcraft and material studies. I, like many others, have a very specific and real history with the cutting, splitting and stacking of firewood, said Matysek-Snyder. Growing up, my family heated with wood and collecting it was a year-round family task. His recent Kominy series, Czech for stacks, explores themes of place and identity by embedding meaningful objects and artifacts within stacks of firewood. The artifacts range from books to chairs to tractors, to signify different places, cultures and histories, depending on the chosen objects and locations. Kominy-NBS Explore was designed and first installed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of North Branch School, a small alternative school nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Nelson County, Virginia. He credits his time as a student at NBS and his parents as the largest influences on his life thus far. The peaks in the steel framework reference the architecture of the school, as well as its location within the Blue Ridge Mountains. Each of the three objects in the stack represents one decade, as well as integral aspects of education at North Branch, he said. Theres a picnic bench for community, theres a desk for learning and knowledge, and theres a tricycle for the lessons learned through play. Following the lecture, there will be cafe service and live music with Cullars Improvisational Rotation. "Out of the Box" is made possible in part with funds provided by Julian Robert Haynes, in memory of Dr. Lucile McGehee Haynes, Grace and David E. Johnson and the Susan Phillips Educational Gift Fund. Grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts support a portion of the artist awards. The exhibition is co-curated by Andy Tennant, assistant director and Jessica Hughes, curatorial assistant. Program and gallery admission are free, but a $5 donation is suggested. Online registration for tickets is encouraged as the auditorium seating is limited. For more information, go to jcsm.auburn.edu or call 334-844-1484. I spent the most pleasant two hours Wednesday evening in the little house where Carson McCullers grew up. Id followed my GPS along the Southern Literary Trail to the Carsen McCullers Center, in a well-protected old neighborhood, kept safe from developers. The white bungalow with hunter-green steps and close-cropped shrubs is operated by Columbus State University as a museum and as a place to celebrate the writer. I was there for a novel reading event, but it was impossible not to think about Carson McCullers as I sat in the room where, as a young child, she staged the plays she wrote and performed for family and neighborhood audiences. Writing about her home on Stark Avenue in Columbus, Carson McCullers said, In our old Georgia home, we used to have two sitting-rooms a back one and a front one with folding doors between. These were the family living rooms and the theater of my shows. The front sitting-room was the auditorium, the back sitting-room the stage. The sliding doors the curtain. McCullers dropped the final curtain on her sitting-room shows as a teenager, when I first discovered Eugene ONeill at the Columbus Library. She left the South for New York City when she was 17 and spent most of the rest of her life there. But she returned home often until her house was sold in 1944. McCullers worked steadily on the novels The Member of the Wedding and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe while she was visiting her family in the early 1940s. Her literary works were set in fictional towns in Georgia, closely resembling her hometown. McCullers novels were known for her Southern settings and remarkable characters. She never forgot the suffering shed witnessed while growing up during the Depression, and she understood the human condition. Richard Wright, a friend and admirer, said she had the ability to embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of appreciation and tenderness. Later that night, as I drove back to Auburn, I thought about other acclaimed Southern writers. If you spread out a map on the kitchen table, and put the sharp point of a grammar school compass on Auburn, stretch it out and draw a circle, youll find the homes of six more of those esteemed writers. Our legacy of Georgia and Alabama writers includes Georgias Flannery OConner and Celestine Sibley, along with Carson McCullers. Alabama is proud to claim Monroevilles Truman Capote and Harper Lee and Kathryn Tucker Windham from Selma. Zora Neale Hurston whose most notable work, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was born just down the road in Notasulga. And, of course, there was Booker T. Washington. His base was Tuskegee Institute where he was the energetic leader. Washingtons autobiography, Up From Slavery, became a bestseller. So if anybody says Deep South folks are backward and ignorant, we can remind them that we have a long, rich heritage of the brightest and the best. Mary Belk lives in Auburn and writes a column for the Opelika-Auburn News. BEIRUT The recapture of Palmyra in central Syria from Islamic State militants puts government forces at the heart of the fight against the jihadist group and not just geographically speaking. For President Bashar Assad, recapturing the historic town represents a strategic political coup through which he hopes to convince the West that the Syrian army is a credible partner in combatting terrorism as it ramps up the fight against Islamic State. It is an awkward argument that the U.S. has repeatedly rebuffed. Officials in Washington are quick to point out that it was Assads brutal crackdown on his own people that created the kind of vacuum that allowed extremists like IS to flourish in the first place. An alliance between the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS similar to the assistance and training provided to the Iraqi military on the other front in the war seems out of the question. But with the international focus now on fighting the Islamic State group and a partial cease-fire in place to facilitate that there appears to be tacit U.S. approval for at least this part of Assads offensive in Syria to continue. If that is seen to develop, it could help the authoritarian ruler survive a ruinous 5-year-old conflict that has seen half the countrys population displaced. The desert town of Palmyra, with its 2,000-year-old ruins, is an archaeological gem and a cherished landmark known endearingly to Syrians as the Bride of the Desert. It is also a strategic crossroads linking the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the countrys east and the border with Iraq. Its a fantastic public relations coup, said Thomas Pierret, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, describing Palmyras recapture. The Syrian government recognizes the Western obsession with the towns ancient ruins, and theyre exploiting it and it works very well, he said. Government forces recaptured Palmyra on Sunday, scoring an important victory over Islamic State fighters who had overseen a 10-month reign of terror in the town. It dealt the extremist group its first major defeat at the hands of government forces in years. During their stay, the extremists destroyed some of Palmyras best-known monuments, including two large temples dating back more than 1,800 years and a Roman triumphal arch. The militants also used the ancient Roman amphitheater for public killings, including a video they released showing 25 boys with pistols shooting captured Syrian soldiers, with the colonnades in the background. The government troops, joined by Iranian-backed militiamen, were supported by massive Russian airpower throughout their three-week offensive. When they swept victoriously into Palmyra, they emphasized the care taken by the army not to harm the archaeological sites. Syrian officials said Palmyra would become a launching pad for operations against IS strongholds in Raqqa to the north and Deir el-Zour farther east efforts that are expected to be much more difficult. On Tuesday, Syrian troops battled IS militants around the nearby town of Qaryatain, trying to extend their gains. Assad said the victory was new evidence of the effectiveness of the strategy followed by the Syrian army and its allies in the war against terrorism. Syrias U.N. ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, offered in an interview with the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen to work with the U.S., and said it was time for powers including Washington to join Moscow in working with Damascus. Unlike in Iraq, the U.S. has long suffered from the lack of reliable or credible partner in Syria. Apart from the Kurds, the Obama administrations attempts to train and partner with Syrian rebels have all ended in failure. U.S. officials recall that Assad has largely ignored IS gains in Syria in recent years, focusing instead on moderate Syrian rebels he deems a bigger threat. Critics point out that Assads forces all but handed Palmyra over to the militants in May, as officers hurriedly fled the town in the face of IS advances. While there can be no doubting that ISIS loss of Palmyra represents a substantial strategic blow to their operations in Syria, this is the Assad regimes first major victory against the group-after its presence on its territory for three years, wrote Charles Lister, a resident fellow with the Middle East Institute, in an article published by the think tank. Still, the recapture won Assad rare praise from international officials, including the UNESCO chief who welcomed the liberation of Palmyra and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said he was encouraged that Syrian government forces were now in control. In the last year, the United States has softened demands for Assads to quickly leave power. But the U.S. doesnt believe that Syrias civil war can truly end with Assad still running the country and has been pushing Russia and Iran to support a transition process with a timeline for Assads departure. Assads latest Russian-backed offensive hasnt changed that thinking. On Monday, State Department spokesman John Kirby described the reconquering of Palmyra as a good thing. He quickly balanced that assessment by adding that the best hope for the Syrian people is not an expansion of Bashar Assads ability to tyrannize the Syrian people. We all know that over the long term, the Syrian army under his command cannot bring peace to Syria. Kirby declined to congratulate Assads government for the military success, and said he didnt think it would prove able to retake other parts of Syria. Assad is responsible for the civil war that has, in fact, helped grow a group like Daesh, he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. U.S. cooperation with the Syrian army is unrealistic in the current context of the Syrian civil war. But Syrian observers say there appears to be a U.S.-Russian understanding that the combined forces of Syrian troops backed by Russia and Syrias Kurds backed by the U.S. is emerging as the best and most realistic fighting force against IS in the next weeks and months. The victory in Palmyra also puts Assad in a more comfortable position ahead of negotiations that are scheduled to resume in Geneva in mid-April, making it less likely he will accept to engage in meaningful talks on a political transition. Now that Assad is this hero, savior of the heritage of humanity, how could you impose upon him a transition that sidelines him eventually? Pierret said sarcastically. Lister said having recaptured Palmyra in a widely reported military operation conducted with Russian support, there is now no reason at all for Bashar Assad to even get close to considering a political transition. The Hatch, a key restaurant anchor at Union Market Tustin, is opening in mid-April at the food and retail center. The tiki bar by well-regarded Orange County restaurateur Leonard Chan features creative sliders, craft beer and Tiki-style cocktails. The sliders are offered in trios with protein choices of beef, fried chicken, and pork on a brioche bun. A few plate dishes include a classic Hawaiianinspired Loco Moco a rice bowl with choice of protein and topped with a fried egg and bacon gravy. The full-service restaurant features mod design and wall decals by famed commercial artist Shag. The Hatch was among three restaurants Chan was developing for Union Market Tustin. The restaurant and retail hub at The District shopping center opened in late 2014. But around the same time, Chan halted construction after a leasing dispute with the landlord. Last June, he said he would open only The Hatch. After dealing with the construction problems, Chan said hes finally ready to open the restaurant. Another restaurant opening soon at Union Market Tustin is Cubed, a poke and musubi eatery. The operators of the Kroft, at Union Market and Anaheim Packing House, are consulting partners at Cubed. Chan is the proprietor of several hipster Orange County eateries including The Iron Press in Costa Mesa and Anaheim, California Shabu-Shabu in Costa Mesa and Rolling Boil and The Blind Rabbit, both at the Anaheim Packing House. Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com GENEVA A yearlong conflict is threatening to cause a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, one of the worlds poorest countries, the United Nations reported Tuesday, saying that children are paying the highest price. The effects of the conflict and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions have brought Yemen to the point of collapse, UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens Fund, said in a report, adding that the country was at risk of becoming a failed state. At least six children have been killed or maimed in the fighting every day for the past year, UNICEF said, calling that the tip of the iceberg because that number represented only the cases that had been verified. The toll is almost certainly much higher, the organization said. For the past year, a Saudi-led coalition has sought to re-establish the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, which was driven into exile by Houthi rebels and their allies. Hadi was able to reach the southern port city of Aden in September, but the front lines have hardly shifted since, despite a costly campaign marked by intensive Saudi-led airstrikes. The UNICEF report was released as the Saudi-backed government and the Houthi rebels prepared for a halt to hostilities scheduled to come into effect at midnight April 10 and for a round of peace talks, the second this year, to start in Kuwait eight days later. As a confidence-building measure in the preparations for the cease-fire, Saudi Arabia announced Monday that it had released 109 Yemeni prisoners in return for nine Saudis. Saudi military officials reported this month a drop in fighting along the border with Yemen, but UNICEFs representative in Yemen, Julien Harneis, said that fighting around the fiercely contested city of Taiz had intensified in recent days and that heavy airstrikes had continued in the north of the country. The World Health Organization said last week that more than 6,200 people had been killed and over 30,000 others wounded in the past year. UNICEF reported that at least 934 children had been killed in the conflict, 61 percent of them in airstrikes, and that an additional 1,356 had been wounded. Children are paying the highest price for a conflict not of their making, Harneis said in a statement. Children are not safe anywhere in Yemen. UNICEF said it had verified 51 attacks on schools in the past year, and in comments by telephone from Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, Harneis said the organization had also seen a massive spike in the recruitment of children, some as young as 10, by armed groups, particularly the Houthis. In addition to airstrikes, civilians must contend with hazards posed by unexploded bombs and cluster munitions dropped by the Saudi coalition, and with land mines laid by Houthi forces as they pull back, Harneis said. He added that the indirect consequences of the fighting were taking an even bigger toll, most notably on children, citing the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, health centers and electricity and water supplies. Before the conflict, about 40,000 children under 5 died from preventable diseases each year, UNICEF said. But it has estimated that 10,000 more had succumbed to disease in the past year because of a lack of access to clean water or health care. Thats the catastrophe for me, Harneis said. These children would never have died if it were not for this war. About 600 health centers have closed and 63 have come under attack, UNICEF reported, adding that childrens vulnerability to disease had increased as a result of a sharp rise in the number suffering from acute malnutrition. Despite the conflict, U.N. agencies have been able to deliver aid to most parts of the country, vaccinating more than 4 million children against polio and 1.8 million against measles, but they have been able to address only the most urgent needs. The United Nations has reported that more than 80 percent of Yemens population of 24 million needs some form of humanitarian aid, with 19 million lacking access to clean water and 14 million in urgent need of health care. UNICEF has appealed for $180 million to finance its programs in Yemen in 2016, but so far it has received just 18 percent of that amount, Harneis said. MINNEAPOLIS Two white police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a black man last fall will not face criminal charges, a prosecutor announced Wednesday in a decision that drew outrage from community members who said the move showed the legal system is rigged against African Americans. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said his decision not to charge the officers in the death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark was based on forensic evidence that showed Clark was not handcuffed, as claimed by some people who said they saw the shooting, and had attempted to grab an officers weapon, which made them fear for their lives and justified use of deadly force. Clark ignored warnings to take his hands off Mark Ringgenbergs gun before he was shot and told Ringgenberg and Officer Dustin Schwarze: Im ready to die, the prosecutor said. Freeman painstakingly described his decision, starting with police reports and witnesses. Community members who attended the presentation said the prosecutor relied too heavily on police accounts and disregarded what others said they saw. This is a fairy tale. None of this happened, said Mel Reeves, an organizer for a group called Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar Clark. Its not justice. It sends us a clear message that the police are above the law. Police union head Bob Kroll said the public should accept the results of the investigation. He appealed for calm. Hostility is going to get all of us nowhere, Kroll said. Protesters, who demonstrated peacefully across the city after the announcement, had demanded that the case not go to a grand jury, which operates in secret. Freeman decided the issue on his own. The shooting happened 61 seconds after police approached, Freeman said. Clarks blood-alcohol level was .09 percent, just above the legal limit to drive in Minnesota. His blood also contained THC, the active compound in marijuana. Freeman called the handcuff question a key issue in the case and went into particular detail. Twenty civilian witnesses gave different versions of whether Clark was handcuffed. Of the 12 who said he was handcuffed, their stories differed and did not match the forensic evidence, Freeman said. The prosecutor said he does not believe those witnesses were lying, explaining that its not uncommon for people to have contradictory statements when observing chaotic situations from different vantage points. WASHINGTON Marco Rubio is working to play a role at the Republican National Convention even as his rivals scramble to pick off convention delegates claimed by the Florida senator before he suspended his campaign. Rubio has sent letters to Republican officials in states where he has won delegates, charging he wants to keep his delegates, even though hes no longer an active candidate. Representatives from Rubios network said the former candidate wants to retain his delegates in order to keep his options open in the coming months. Campaigns are preparing for the possibility of a contested national convention in July that could feature an intense fight for every available delegate. The Rubio representatives spoke on the condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly about Rubios intentions. The Florida senator suspended his campaign in mid-March, but not before accumulating 171 delegates, a trove that could help Republican front-runner Donald Trump secure the nomination or help stop him. Rubio, an aggressive Trump critic, could play a significant role at the national convention should he retain influence over a significant number of delegates. Officials from the Oklahoma and Alaska GOP say they have received letters from Rubios campaign. His campaign staff is no longer being paid, but many remain loyal and willing to help Rubio in the coming months. Alaska had already divvied up Rubios five delegates to Trump and Ted Cruz. However, since the actual people have not been selected yet, the state party said the delegates will go back to Rubio. In Oklahoma, state party Chairwoman Pam Pollard said she received a letter from Rubio saying he has not released his 12 delegates from that state. Selecting the people who will be delegates at the national convention is a tedious process governed by rules that vary from state to state. The system favors political insiders who understand the arcane rules. In Minnesota, for example, Rubio won the state but his 17 delegates will go to the convention as free agents, free to support the candidate of their choice, said Chris Fields, deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP. Fields said he expects Rubios rivals to have supporters at the partys state convention in May to influence who gets chosen as a Rubio delegate. They should if they want to win, right? Fields said. The three remaining Republican candidates are ramping up efforts to win over Rubios delegates, in addition to claiming dozens more unbound delegates, in the contentious battle for the 1,237 delegate majority required to win the GOP presidential nomination. Trump, with 736 delegates, is the only candidate with a realistic path to clinching the nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7. But its a narrow path. And his Republican rivals are fighting to deny him the majority and force a contested convention. Acknowledging a late start in the nuts-and-bolts business of political wrangling, Trumps campaign will open a Washington, D.C. office in the coming days to run its delegate operation and congressional relations team, said campaign senior adviser Barry Bennett. In addition to the new space, Trump has hired a veteran political operative to serve as the campaigns convention manager. Paul Manafort, a seasoned Washington hand, will oversee the campaigns entire convention presence including a potential contested convention, said Bennett. We started ramping up a couple of weeks ago, but were rolling now, Bennett said of Trumps delegate outreach efforts. Tuesdays moves mark a major escalation in Trumps willingness to play by party rules and build alliances in a political system he has so far shunned. A dispute in Louisiana highlights the potential impact of even a handful of Rubio delegates and Trumps need to court them. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was campaigning in Wisconsin ahead of the April 5 primary, where a loss for Trump could narrow his path to the nomination. However, Cruz campaign officials acknowledged they have been charting out a convention strategy for weeks, but declined to share details. We are prepared to take it to a convention if it comes to that, Cruzs national press secretary Catherine Frazier said. There is a system in place to secure delegates and we have an aggressive well organized effort to do so. Rubio won five delegates in Louisianas March 5 primary, who became free agents after he suspended his campaign. At Louisianas subsequent GOP convention, Cruzs campaign secured all of Rubios delegates, as well as five others who were uncommitted. As a result, Cruz could end up with more delegates from Louisiana, even though Trump narrowly won the states popular vote. Trump adviser Ed Brookover promised Trump would have an active presence at every one of the upcoming lower-profile conventions and caucuses where delegates are selected. That includes this weekends state convention in North Dakota, where 25 delegates will be selected. All of them in addition to the states three national committee members will be free to support the candidate of their choosing at the GOPs national convention. Ben Carson will appear in North Dakota on Trumps behalf, Brookover said, as part of outreach efforts that include hospitality suites for delegates, campaign surrogates, parliamentarians and support staff for all upcoming contests. Representatives from Rubios political operation declined to comment publicly on his delegate outreach. A 25-year-old man listed as a most wanted man in Mariposa County was arrested in Santa Ana on Sunday after a car and foot chase, police said. David Santiago Garcia of Santa Ana was arrested on suspicion of DUI, evading and driving on a suspended or revoked license. A Santa Ana motorcycle officer saw a 2004 Lexus run a red light around 11:30 p.m. at Flower Street and McFadden Avenue. Garcia, the driver, did not pull over for a traffic stop, and a chase ensued, police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. The pursuit ended in the 1200 block of South Towner Street, when Garcia fled on foot, Bertagna said. Officers conducted a house-to-house search, and Garcia was found less than a half-mile away in the yard of a home in the 900 block of West Wilshire Avenue. It was revealed that Garcia was listed as one of Mariposa Countys most wanted during a records check. In that county, he faces felony charges of oral copulation, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual intercourse, dissuading a witness from testifying, obstructing a peace officer and making criminal threats. The crimes occurred in January 2015 with a female teen Garcia knew, said Kristie Mitchell, spokeswoman for the Mariposa County Sheriffs Office. Garcia was featured on the departments March 23 Wanted Wednesday social media campaign, which highlights a fugitive every week, Mitchell said. He was booked into the Santa Ana jail and will mostly likely be sent to Mariposa County to face charges there. They want him when were done with him, Bertagna said. Contact the writer: 714-796-2478 or lcasiano@ocregister.com PARIS Police evacuated nearly 1,000 migrants Wednesday from a makeshift camp near a Paris subway station, and hundreds of people sought to cross from Turkey to Greece despite European efforts to slow down the arrivals. The Paris operation was peaceful and authorities offered the migrants temporary lodging and help applying for asylum, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. They reportedly included people from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Afghanistan who had been living beneath elevated train tracks for the past several weeks. The Paris transit authority closed the Stalingrad metro station during the operation. The area has seen multiple migrant camps in recent years that are periodically cleared out. The street should not be a refuge for people fleeing persecution, the ministry said, calling the evacuation necessary for public order, public health and humanitarian reasons. France has not seen nearly as many Syrian refugees or other migrants over the past year as Germany or countries farther east, but has experienced tensions around the northern port of Calais, where migrants converge in hopes of crossing into Britain. The flow of migrants to the Greek islands, meanwhile, seems to be on the rise again as weather warms. Figures released by the Greek government Wednesday showed 766 people reached the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios and Kos in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning. The number is a roughly a three-fold jump compared with arrivals in previous days. In Turkey, the coast guard said it rescued dozens of mostly Syrian migrants as they tried to reach Greece in an inflatable dinghy. Off the coast of Libya, a German combat ship rescued scores of people on Tuesday who were trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa into Italys southern islands. A new European Union-Turkey agreement comes into effect next week to curb the flow of migrants. To paraphrase Mark Twain, The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. And so it goes with the Orange County Fire Authority in regard to the Register editorial Burning through the budget [Opinion, March 20]. OCFA is alive and well. Were on solid financial ground, operating well within our budget, and are, as the Register correctly notes, One of the most proactive in trying to close the gap in long-term pension liability. On behalf of the more than 1,000 firefighters, and 300 staff, who serve to protect our 23 cities, the countys unincorporated areas, and the lives of 1.8 million people, I write to provide balance and accuracy on our fiscal health where the Registers editorial fell flat. We take no issue with the responsible management of our pension liability. As the Registers Teri Sforza correctly pointed out in her story [OCFA faces financial deficit, News, March 13], new governmental accounting rules implemented by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board are not a sign of problems that jeopardize operations. They are required of all public sector agencies. Sforza quoted OCFAs Assistant Chief for Business Services Lori Zeller, Nothing has changed in our true financial position; were in solid financial shape. Yet, the Registers editors write as if these rules cast new light on OCFAs previously undisclosed pension obligations, drawing comparisons to financial mismanagement in San Bernardino, Puerto Rico and Greece. At best, this is journalistic irresponsibility; at worst, it is factually untrue. Our fiscal resolve and financial health is much better and more transparent than what the editors would have you believe. When a cardiac arrest happens in your home or your neighbors house is on fire, I can assure you that OCFA will be there as quickly as possible. We have been radically improving our emergency medical and fire response capabilities, so that when you call, we will arrive in a timely fashion, with fewer apparatus, and highly trained and skilled personnel. Jeff Bowman Irvine OCFA fire chief The proverbial Trump in a china shop Donald Trump is like that proverbial bull in a china shop. He would make a shambles of our country. Dont let him do it. Please! Joseph Weeks Anaheim A toxic algae bloom tied to El Nino conditions has killed millions of farmed salmon off the coast of Chile, triggering a surge in salmon prices as wholesalers scramble for restaurant and grocery supplies. Salmon prices are going through the roof, said Paddy Glennon, a veteran fishmonger for Superior Seafood in Los Angeles. The seafood purveyor supplies upscale restaurants throughout Orange County. Santa Ana-based Ingardia Bros. said the shortage in Chile, a major worldwide salmon exporter, has caused suppliers to scramble to find other sources for the popular fish. The produce company also supplies Atlantic-farmed salmon to restaurants, including Cedar Creek Inn in Brea, Newport Landing in Newport Beach and Sundried Tomato restaurants. Ingardia said its supply of Atlantic-farmed salmon, sold to clients, has gone from $5.75 per pound to more than $8 per pound over the last few weeks. Sam King, founder and chief executive of Costa Mesa-based Kings Seafood Co., said his restaurants are paying $4.15 per pound for salmon, up from $3.30 last year. We do not buy Chilean salmon, but because it is not available, it has put great pressure on other resources, King said. His companys brands include Kings Fish House restaurants in Southern California, Fish Camp in Huntington Beach and Water Grill in Los Angeles. He wont raise menu prices, as he expects the dust to settle in a few weeks. Joe Manzella, owner of Taps Fish House & Brewery in Brea and Irvine and the Catch in Anaheim, said hell also absorb the added costs. He expects prices to relax when production increases in the coming weeks. We dont use Chilean salmon, but (the shortage) is pushing the market higher. Its only a couple of bucks. Well eat it, he said. In early March, the Chilean national fisheries service reported a loss of 18,000 tons of salmon due to algal blooming, which asphyxiates fish by decreasing oxygen in the water. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com Broadcom has filed a lawsuit against Space Exploration Technologies Corporation SpaceX accusing it of recruiting its employees to gain proprietary information. SpaceX has raided Broadcom and hired away key Broadcom engineers, states the suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court. The engineers bring to SpaceX not only their specialized skills and experience, but also deep knowledge of relevant and proprietary Broadcom technology and knowledge of the critical design work performed by Broadcom for SpaceX in 2015 pursuant to a Joint Nondisclosure Agreement. In a nondisclosure agreement, employees or companies agree not to share confidential information. SpaceX denied the claims in a statement sent to a reporter on Wednesday. In 2014, SpaceX approached Broadcom about designing and constructing computer chips for a project the company was working on. In its suit, Broadcom claimed it established a team of high-performing engineers to work on the project and sent SpaceX a cost proposal. SpaceX said it was too high, according to the suit. SpaceX then poached Broadcom engineers, Broadcom alleges. In denying the accusations, SpaceX stated: Last year, SpaceX spoke with a number of suppliers regarding potential opportunities to support SpaceX operations. SpaceX reviewed Broadcoms proposal, but ultimately found it lacking and rejected it. SpaceX has no intention of executing to the content presented in the Broadcom proposal. SpaceX did not pursue or lure engineers from Broadcom. On the contrary, these engineers reached out to SpaceX anticipating significant layoffs at the Broadcom Irvine location. Last month Broadcom announced plans to lay off 700 employees in Irvine. Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans Public employees who dont want to pay agency fees to unions will have to wait longer for justice. The Supreme Court handed down a decision Tuesday affirming, for now, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that employees must pay the fees, even if they object to union activities. The 4-4 decision read in a single sentence, The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court. The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, concerned Orange County public school teacher Rebecca Friedrichs and nine other teachers who sued the CTA, a statewide teachers union. Oral arguments this year indicated a 5-4 ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. Then, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died in February, leaving the eight justices evenly split. The CTA and other unions contended that all employees in a unionized entity, such as teachers in a public school district, should pay fees because everyone benefits from collective bargaining. Those seeking to opt out of fees were branded free riders. Union negotiations, however, cover not just salaries, but such provisions as a last hired, first fired policy for layoffs, something that clearly makes new teachers potential victims, not free riders. Tuesdays decision highlights the tension over President Obamas nominee to replace Justice Scalia, Merrick Garland, chief judge of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Many observers believe a Justice Garland would pivot the court to the left by siding with the four liberal justices who voted to uphold the 9th Circuits decision against Ms. Friedrichs and the other teachers. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said there will be no confirmation hearings for Mr. Garland, and the Senate will not take up a Scalia replacement until after the November presidential election. But NBC News reported Tuesday that 16 Republican senators now say they will meet with Garland over 25 percent of the GOP caucus. The controversy adds even more importance to the presidential plebescite. As for public workers seeking to stop financially supporting unions they disagree with, they will have to wait for another case in another court. In California, the CTA and other public-sector unions for now will maintain their dominance over public policy. Unions representing teachers and other public employees can continue requiring non-members to pay fees that help fund collective bargaining after the U.S. Supreme Court announced Tuesday a 4-4 deadlock in a major case pitting several Orange County educators against the California Teachers Association. But the Center for Individual Rights, a nonprofit law firm representing the plaintiffs who dont want to pay those fees, said it will ask the court to rehear Friedrichs v. CTA once a new justice is appointed to replace Antonin Scalia, who died in February. This is the kind of case that deserves the authority of the full court, said Terry Pell, the centers president. We are prepared to fight for every justice. Lead plaintiff Rebecca Friedrichs, who teaches third grade at Holder Elementary School in Buena Park, said she was not surprised by the outcome but still believes her fight against the unions will succeed. This doesnt mean this is the end, said Friedrichs, 50. I am actually feeling hopeful today. On the other side, Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Association, said he knows his opponents may seek another hearing but the Supreme Courts ruling was a win. Its good for the community and students we serve, he said. The 11 plaintiffs also include Santa Ana Unifieds Peggy Searcy, Orange Unifieds Jelena Figueroa, and Saddleback Valley Unifieds Scott Wilford. The sudden death of the conservative Scalia could have hurt the teachers case, which if successful would hamper public-sector unions nationwide collecting fees. Besides the California Teachers Association, 11 other unions were named in the lawsuit, including Friedrichs. Teachers unions argue that preventing them from collecting dues would effectively cripple their ability to negotiate with school districts for higher pay, better working conditions and smaller classrooms. They would (still) get all the benefits and protections, Heins said about teachers who dont want to pay dues. All they have to do is pay their fair share. You dont get to freeload. The tie allows lower court rulings favoring the California Teachers Associations position to stand. The Supreme Court did not disclose which side the individual justices fell and offered no opinion. No precedent was created or overturned. For a rehearing on the case, five justices must request it, a scenario that might not occur until at least a ninth is appointed. President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland, a moderate chief justice on the Washington, D.C., appellate court. This is one of many instances where the justices will split this term, said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of UC Irvines law school and an expert on the U.S. Constitution. It shows how important it is to have a ninth justice to help decide these important cases. Chemerinsky added that a potential ninth justices ideology conservative or liberal could ultimately decide this case if it makes it back to the Supreme Court. Thats why this seat is seen by those on both sides of the aisle as so very important, he said. Attorneys for Friedrichs and her fellow plaintiffs, who are not members of their respective unions, argued before the court in January that because collective bargaining is inherently political, requiring nonmembers to pay those dues violates free-speech rights. Friedrichs said on Tuesday that her local union doesnt represent her views and those of many other teachers on critical issues, and she shouldnt have to pay dues to a group she doesnt support. They call people like myself free-riders, she said. But they are totally unaccountable (union leaders). We are forced riders, and I think the union is free-riding on me. Non-union members do not have to pay dues that go toward political activities such as lobbying or influencing education policy because of a 1977 Supreme Court ruling. But in that case, the court also said states may require teachers to help fund collective bargaining, because unions must negotiate on behalf of all teachers, not just those who are union members. Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia have laws requiring non-members to pay fees for collective bargaining. Friedrichs, for example, pays just for contract negotiations. Many of her peers, meanwhile, are union members and also cover political lobbying. Contact the writer: 714-796-6979 or chaire@ocregister.com If anybody is wondering why so many California residents outside the big cities talk about breaking away and forming their own states, take note of the news that California legislators have made a deal with powerful unions to raise the minimum wage for everyone across the state. The plan calls for gradually raising states $10 hourly minimum to $15 per hour in 2022. Businesses with fewer than 25 employees would get a little more time for them, the increases would start in 2018 and hit $15 an hour in 2023. Its a matter of economic justice. It makes sense, Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday at a news conference announcing the minimum wage deal. Brown has opposed some previous attempts to raise the minimum wage, but said, This plan raises the minimum wage in a careful and responsible way and provides some flexibility if economic and budgetary conditions change. One of the primary concerns is what happens to businesses and employees who depend on minimum wage workers and cannot afford the dramatic wage increases. In February, the unemployment rate in Orange County was 4 percent and 5.8 percent in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario region. However, while unemployment has been decreasing in urban areas, 13 counties in California still had double-digit unemployment in February. None of Californias highest-unemployment counties is connected to its biggest cities. Theyre mostly poorer, inland counties like Merced (12.6 percent unemployment) and Imperial (18.6 percent). These regions typically have smaller populations and very little influence over state government or the outcomes of statewide ballot initiatives. It is doubtful that anybody in Sacramento is even thinking about what will happen to those communities when the minimum wage is increased. Yet, these areas, plus workers earning minimum wage, as well as entire industries ranging from farming to manufacturing to fast food, could all be hit hard. Consumers will also pay a price. While Los Angeles County was considering its own plan to raise the minimum wage, it commissioned a study of 1,000 area businesses. Sixty-two percent of them reported it was somewhat likely or very likely theyd raise prices if the minimum wage were increased. More importantly, 96 percent of businesses with minimum-wage employees said they would have to increase prices. And 19 percent of employers with minimum-wage workers said it was likely theyd have to reduce staff. Raising the minimum wage will cost some of the states poorest, least-skilled workers their jobs. And those jobless people will then find the prices of food, clothing and other necessities rising as companies pass their increased wage costs on to consumers. The Los Angeles Economic Development Council concluded that, if the minimum wage is raised, Many prices will increase, including those that lower-income households commonly face; wages will rise for those in minimum wage jobs that remain employed; employment opportunities for those at the bottom of the skills ladder will be diminished and employment growth will slow. David Neumark, a UC Irvine economics professor, predicted that the climb to a $15 minimum wage could reduce employment of minimum wage workers by at least 5 percent to 10 percent. I would go so far as to call this [minimum wage proposal] reckless, he told the Associated Press on Monday. Some of the wealthier communities in Orange and Riverside counties may be able to better absorb the costs of an increased minimum wage, but what about the many small towns, municipalities and counties that dont have this luxury? It is absolutely irresponsible to propose that this minimum wage plan be forced upon all the states counties and communities. Scott Shackford is associate editor at Reason magazine and Reason.com. DANA POINT A desalination plant proposed near San Juan Creek could produce as much as 15 million gallons of drinking water daily and create a reliable source for South County-area reserves in the wake of an earthquake or drought, officials said. South Coast Water District officials said plans for the $90 million plant studied for more than a decade are moving forward despite the fact the district would be the sole agency building it. The plant with a 2019 opening date would likely provide 75 percent of the districts water needs, district general manager Andrew Brunhart said. The water district serves South Laguna, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and a small part of San Clemente. Initially, the Laguna County Water District, Moulton Niguel Water District and the cities of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano expressed interest, but have since opted out, Brunhardt said. The desalination plant would be built on 30 acres of district-owned property near San Juan Creek, about 2,500 feet from the beach north of Pacific Coast Highway. As planned, three wells at Doheny State Beach would draw water from beneath the ocean floor, with about 90 percent of the water coming from the ocean and 10 percent from water that drains to the ocean from San Juan Creek. On Thursday, district officials will hold a community meeting to discuss the project and its environmental report. The report will look at long-term effects on plants and animals near the mouth of the creek and at impacts to geology, land use and planning, and noise and traffic. We live in a coastal community, Brunhart said. Residents dont ask our board of directors, Why desalination? They ask, Why is it taking so long? The Surfrider Foundation, which has opposed the larger Poseidon desalination project in Huntington Beach, has given a thumbs-up to the Doheny project the only time the group has supported a desalination project in California. Not all desalination projects are equal, said Denise Erkeneff, administrator for Surfriders South Orange County chapter. The Doheny project does not take water from the open ocean and has plans for brine disposal, unlike the Poseidon project, she said. South Coast Water District will turn to the Municipal Water District of Orange County, a regional wholesaler, for technical assistance. MWDOC in 2003 began looking for reliable water supplies in south Orange County which imports most of its water from the Colorado River and other areas. A 2004 study by the group determined that the Dana Point location was best due to the areas geology, availability of land with an existing outfall for brine disposal and proximity to existing water pipelines. Officials at Moulton Niguel Water District which covers Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills and Laguna Niguel said successful water conservation efforts prompted them to back out of the project. Laguna Beach County Water District in February signed an agreement with the Orange County Water District that means it will no longer rely 100 percent on imported water. The South Coast Water District will explore options to finance the project at its board meeting Monday. If the district designs and builds the plant, the board will apply for state loans and grants to help with the project. That also means ratepayers could see an increase in their bills. Another alternative is a private partnership like what is being done with the Poseidon project, Brunhart said. The Doheny plant would be much smaller than Poseidon Waters proposed $1 billion facility, which could produce 50 million gallons of drinking water per day. The California Coastal Commission must still approve the project. South Coast Water District has expanded its water supply portfolio over the past decade. Still, it is 80 percent dependent on imported water. But some, like Michael Beanan, a South Laguna resident and member of Laguna Beachs Environmental and Sustainability Committee, questions going to the ocean for water. Every day we discharge 10 million gallons of secondary sewage just 1.2 miles off of Laguna Beach, he said. A wiser water plan will harvest and clean this wasted wastewater for irrigation, flushing toilets and other water demands. Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com or Twitter:@lagunaini Despite having had her legs amputated at a very young age, Li Juhong somehow managed to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor. The 37-year-old has been treating patients for the past 15 years in her hometown of Wadian village, in southwest Chinas Chongqing province. Li was only four years old when she was involved in a tragic accident a truck ran over her and her legs were crushed under its tires. The only way to save her life was to amputate them. But Li, an incredibly resilient child, didnt lose hope. She was determined to stay mobile and by age eight, she taught herself to move using her hands and two wooden benches for support. It was undoubtedly difficult, but Li never let her condition dampen her dreams of studying medicine. She left the village to earn a medical degree from a special vocational school, returning in the year 2000 to work at the village clinic. Since then, shes treated nearly all the 1,000 residents of the village, even managing to make house calls on her unique set of crutches her trusty old benches. Li eventually married a local man, Liu Xingyan, who has been extremely supportive of her career. He quit his job to take care of housework, and sometimes also carries her on his back to visit patients in neighboring villages. It is estimated that with Xings help Li has so far handled a total of 6,000 medical cases from various villages in the mountainous regions of Hechuan district. She has worn out 24 benches in the process. I just did what I felt I had to do, she told the local media. Even if Im not honored for my work, I would still continue to do my job as a rural doctor. Compared with most others, Ive come against more difficulties. But, I always whisper to myself that God helps those who help themselves in order to keep moving. Lis 12-year-old son looks up to her as a role model, and wants to become a doctor just like her. Photos: China News Sources: Peoples Daily, Shanghaiist Smell undoubtedly contributes to a persons attractiveness, but could it be the sole deciding factor in choosing a partner? Well, the creators of this New York matchmaking service decided to find out. At Smell Dating, the worlds first mail odor dating service, single people are paired up based on their reaction to each others body odor. Created by Tega Brain, artist and teacher at New Yorks School for Poetic Computation, and Sam Lavigne, an editor and researcher at New York University, Smell Dating is described more as an art project than a business. They based the project on the science behind pheromones, which are chemical signals that different species send out to attract mates. Unlike sight and sound, smell is interpreted first in terms of memory and emotion before being mapped to language, the project website reads. When it comes to long-term romantic partnership, it may actually be riskier to ignore the powerful signal of scent than to rely on it. The duo started with 100 clients, collecting a one time fee of $25. Then they sent each of them a T-shirt to wear for three days without bathing or wearing deodorant. The smelly garments were then sent back to the companys sweat shop at NYU. Once the used T-shirts were sent back to them, Brain and Lavigne proceeded to cut each shirt into small pieces, creating packages of 10 mixed swatches. These were shipped back to the clients, and this time, they were asked to sniff the contents and identify the odor they naturally leaned towards. If someone whose smell you like likes the smell of you too, well facilitate an exchange of contact information, the website explains. The rest is up to you. While the website states that the first round of Smell Dating is closed, its not clear if the exercise resulted in any matches. But Reuters reports that many of the participants were quite excited about the service. Like 25-year-old NYU graduate student Jesse Donaldson, who hoped that it would succeed where other popular matchmaking services had failed. Im like so many other people in New York City, using Tinder, using OK Cupid, he told the news agency. And my main issue with these things is you feel like youre shopping for somebody as opposed to making a genuine connection with another human being. Most normal dating services, you rely on profile pictures, assumptions that come from visual information, Brain explained. You either really like the smell of someone or you dont. Its much more innate. We wanted to see if people would be interested in meeting other people just based on this one bit of information rather than this avalanche of information that you usually get, Lavigne added. But Brain and Lavigne arent the first to come up with the idea of olfactory dating. Pheromone Parties were all the rage a couple of years ago, with young men and women sniffing random bags stuffed with T-shirts, previously worn by participants three nights in a row. Some scientists did downplay the trend back then, calling it a surefire way to get you sex, but not real relationships. Photos: Smell.Dating Sources: Reuters, The Creators Project Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Loading... OilVoice will be with you shortly... LINCOLN Kevin Maurice knew it was possible that Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine might head off to the NFL, and the Nebraska defensive tackle even had a couple of months to digest what it meant after hearing the announcements that they were leaving. Really, though, it might not have sunk in that they were gone until the Huskers first spring practice on March 5, when he looked around and realized that he, Greg McMullen and Ross Dzuris were the veterans left to lead the NU defensive line. Its kind of like, Yeah, Im a senior now, Maurice said. And thats when the 6-foot-3, 300-pounder also understood that everything would be different for his final season. Those were talented players, and theres a reason they left early, Maurice said. But them not being here just leaves a bigger opportunity, a bigger role, for us. Everybody just has to step up. To be sure, plenty falls on the shoulders of Maurice, who previously always stood in the shadows of Collins, Valentine and others as he tried to carve his niche. Now he not only is trying to secure a full-time No. 1 spot for the first time in his career, but he becomes somebody who needs to help some underclassmen like some seniors did for him back in 2013. That realization also hit during the first practice, with some eager but raw defensive tackles such as Carlos and Khalil Davis among the backups needing guidance. Its when I first found out that, OK, now more of the expectations are going to be on me, Maurice said. I have high expectations for myself, but it was not just for me but for helping the other guys out. Maurice became a valuable part of the rotation last season at defensive tackle. He made his first career start at Illinois. Even though he missed three games because of a foot injury, he finished with 21 total tackles and two forced fumbles. NU linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey said Maurice has looked like somebody ready to make another jump during spring practices. Ill tell you what, K-Mo Kevin Maurice watch out, Rose-Ivey said. I think K-Mos going to have one hell of a year. Hes definitely put in the work this offseason. And it shows. K-Mos in the backfield probably about every other play. He plays with a good motor. Rose-Ivey said it shows that Maurice took away plenty from being around Collins and Valentine the last three seasons. Now Maurice has been all ears with first-year NU assistant John Parrella, his third position coach in as many seasons. I feel good, especially with Coach Parrella now, Maurice said. I feel like were in a good place with him. NU defensive coordinator Mark Banker said Tuesday that his evaluation last year was that Maurice was an athletic player but needed to become more physical. At times he may have even looked a little soft, here and there. Maurice then surprised the coach when given the chance at Illinois, making a career-high eight tackles. Once he got in the game, it was just different, Banker said. I dont believe in gamers, guys that dont do it in practice and it wasnt that he wasnt doing it in practice. It was just that it didnt look exactly like you wanted it to. And then all of a sudden, he gets a big opportunity in the Illinois game and it was like, Whoa, this guys pretty good. Banker called Maurice slippery and said the work goes on with his technique, fundamentals, hands and the rest. In the process, Maurice knows that players like the Davis twins are watching and listening, and he wants to be the example that Jason Ankrah and Thad Randle were for him a few years back. Now its very important, because we need those guys more this year, Maurice said. Just trying to get them on track, and theyre making huge strides. Maurice will get some veteran help when senior Kevin Williams returns in August. McMullen also has been working at tackle after playing only defensive end until about midway through last season. But the Collins and Valentine departures no doubt leave Maurice with an incredible chance to show what he can do. The upside is tremendous for K-Mo, Rose-Ivey said. WASHINGTON (AP) The FBIs announcement that it mysteriously hacked into an iPhone is a public setback for Apple Inc., as consumers suddenly discover that the company cant keep their most personal information safe. Apple remains in the dark about how to restore the security of its flagship product. The government said it was able to break into an iPhone used by a gunman in a mass shooting in California, but it didnt say how. That left Apple software engineers and outside experts wondering how the FBI broke the digital locks on the phone without Apples help. It also complicated Apples job repairing flaws that jeopardize its software. The Justice Departments announcement that it was dropping a legal fight to compel Apple to help it access the phone also took away any obvious legal avenues that Apple might have used to learn how the FBI did it. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Tuesday. It is a closely held secret how the FBI hacked the iPhone, but a few clues have emerged. A senior law enforcement official said the FBI managed to defeat an Apple security feature that threatened to delete the phones contents if the FBI failed to enter the correct passcode combination after 10 tries. That allowed the government to guess the correct passcode by trying random combinations until the software accepted the right one. It wasnt clear how the FBI also bypassed a related Apple security feature that deliberately introduces increasing time delays in how frequently guesses can be entered. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. The FBI hacked into the iPhone used by gunman Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gunbattle with police after they killed 14 people in December in San Bernardino, California. The iPhone, issued to Farook by his employer, the county health department, was found in a vehicle the day after the shooting; two personal phones were found but had been damaged to the point that the FBI couldnt recover information from them. The FBI was reviewing information from the iPhone, and it was unclear whether anything useful would be found. Apple said in a statement late Monday that the legal case to force its cooperation should never have been brought, and it promised to increase the security of its products. CEO Tim Cook has said the company is constantly fending off security threats and trying to improve security. The FBIs announcement even without revealing precise details that it had hacked the iPhone was directly at odds with the U.S. governments firm recommendations for nearly two decades that security researchers always work cooperatively and confidentially with software manufacturers before revealing that a product might be susceptible to hackers. Those guidelines lay out a specific process about how and when to announce that commercial software might be vulnerable. The aim was to ensure that U.S. consumers stay as safe online as possible and prevent premature disclosures that might damage a U.S. company or the economy. Even now, the Commerce Department has been trying to fine-tune those rules to protect the digital economy. The next meeting of a working group on the subject is April 8 in Chicago, but it is unclear how the FBIs behavior in this case might influence the governments fragile relationship with tech companies or researchers. The chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, Joseph Lorenzo Hall, said keeping details secret about a flaw affecting millions of iPhone users is exactly opposite the disclosure practices of the security research community. The FBI and Apple have a common goal here: to keep people safe and secure. This is the FBI prioritizing an investigation over the interests of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Bill Mackintosh sold his successful business, retired and enjoyed making investments in other companies and watching his two children begin their families. Then his son, Mike, was working for American Title Co. and told his father that its owners were looking to sell. What followed was nearly a dozen years of owning the Omaha business as a family, with Bill, Mike and daughter Ashley Horgan acting as an office of the president for the real estate information and appraisal company. They became known as BAM for Bill, Ashley and Michael among the companys 350 employees, including 250 in Omaha and about 100 in Palm Bay, Florida. He wanted to come back and play, Mike said Tuesday. It was the best thing that ever happened. He was always reading and trying to educate himself and had plenty of good ideas of how to make it successful. The past three years, the familys attention also turned to prostate cancer. William L. Bill Mackintosh, 61, died Saturday of the disease. Well continue to operate the business, Ashley said. We have a great team to help us continue. It wont be the same, but well do it. We have great support, and its really cool and comforting, knowing that we work with people who knew how special our dad was. Customers have been sending condolences. He wanted to keep that small-business feel, she said. We kept growing, but he said we cant compromise that piece of it. American Title provides nationwide real estate information, such as titles and appraisals, to seven of the top 10 home equity lenders in the country, supplying about 15,000 appraisals and about 60,000 other reports per month. In 2002 the Mackintosh family was recognized for its community service when Ashley was named Aksarben queen. Macintosh helped social service agencies with budget and technology questions and volunteered for the Childrens Hospital Foundation, Creighton University, Junior Achievement and the Nebraska Special Olympics. His work enabled Jodie, his wife of 39 years, to be a full-time community volunteer as well. A native of Manhattan, Kansas, Mackintosh graduated from Northwest Missouri State University and earned a masters degree in business administration from Regis University in Denver. He worked for the Burroughs Corp. until he and two partners founded a computer services company, Financial Products Corp., which he sold in 1994. He formed Mackintosh Capital that year and P&L Capital, a technology equipment leasing company, in 1996. Ashley was living in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2004 when her father called and offered a job with American Title. Family businesses can be risky, Ashley said. He was very diligent about how he organized it. Mike handled sales, customer relations, industry matters anything outside the company while Ashley handled human resources and other internal matters. Bill set the strategy and direction, held town hall meetings with employees and generally presided. Mike and I kind of had our own sandboxes, Ashley said. He trusted us. He didnt try to control us. He might know the answer to something, but he liked watching us come to the answer in our own way and our own time. He was a great boss, a great mentor. In 2013 the company opened the Florida office and acquired a real estate appraisal business in Natick, Massachusetts. In Omaha, the three families live within three blocks of one another, often sharing breakfasts and suppers. It feels like it was just one big family, Mike said. We werent just family. We were best friends. Bill had started stepping back from running the business to spend more time with his five grandchildren and traveling with Jodie. He was really a down-to-earth guy, Ashley said. If the phone rang, he picked it up. If he had a Miller Light in his hand and a cigar in his mouth, he was happy. Mike said the family had thought there would be a way to beat the cancer or at least have more time, but it was an aggressive case. He had more laughs and yucks than most people will in 100 years, Mike said. He said you cant be only positive when things are going your way. You have to stay positive all the time. Besides his wife, children and their families, other survivors include his mother, Darlene; brother, Robert Bruce; and sister, Kathryn Ann. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, and a memorial service at 11 a.m. Friday will be at St. Andrew United Methodist Church. WASHINGTON (AP) In the clearest sign yet of the effect of Justice Antonin Scalias death, labor unions on Tuesday won a high-profile Supreme Court dispute they once seemed all but certain to lose. The justices announced they were divided 4-4 in a case that considered whether unions representing government employees may collect fees from workers who choose not to join. The split vote leaves in place an appeals court ruling that upheld the practice. The result: an unlikely victory for organized labor after it seemed almost certain the high court would rule 5-4 to overturn a system thats been in place nearly 40 years. The court is operating with only eight justices after the death of Scalia, who had been expected to rule against the unions. The one-sentence opinion does not identify how each justice voted. It simply upholds a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But its a major blow to conservative groups that have spent years pushing the court to overrule a 1977 precedent, which allows unions to collect fair share fees from members and nonmembers alike to cover the costs of collective bargaining. The decision came as Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland met with Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, his first meeting with a GOP senator. President Barack Obama nominated Garland to fill Scalias vacant seat, but Republican leaders in the Senate say they wont hold confirmation hearings or vote until after a new president is elected. The union case is among a handful of key disputes in which Scalias vote was expected to tip the balance toward a result that favored conservatives. During arguments in January, Scalia and the courts four other conservatives made it clear that they were ready to deal a blow to the unions. Because Supreme Court decisions are not final until they are handed down, nothing Scalia did or said in connection with the case before his death mattered in the outcome. In the case, California teachers backed by a conservative group said that being forced to pay union fees violated the free speech rights of nonmembers who disagree with the unions positions. The high court had raised doubts about the viability of the 1977 precedent, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, but it stopped short of overturning it in two previous cases. In Abood, the court ruled that public workers who choose not to join a union can be required to pay for bargaining costs if the fees dont go toward political purposes. The lead plaintiff in the California case was Rebecca Friedrichs, a public school teacher from Orange County who said she resigned from the California Teachers Association over differences but still was required to pay about $650 a year to cover bargaining costs. The case affects 5 million workers in 23 states and Washington, D.C., who are represented at the bargaining table by public sector unions. Labor officials worried that the potential loss of tens of millions of dollars in fees would reduce their power to bargain for higher wages and benefits. They say the fees are necessary because the union has a legal duty to represent all teachers, even those who arent members. WASHINGTON (AP) A federal consumer watchdog sued Volkswagen on Tuesday, charging the company made false claims in commercials promoting its Clean Diesel vehicles as environmentally friendly. The German automaker hastily pulled the ads following last years admission that it had installed illegal software on its diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests. U.S. regulators say Volkswagens engines spewed up to 40 times the allowed levels of air pollutants in real-world driving conditions. The Federal Trade Commission alleges that Volkswagen deceived customers during a seven-year period by selling its diesel cars based on fraudulent claims made through its marketing campaigns. That campaign included Super Bowl ads, online social media campaigns and print advertising targeted to environmentally conscious consumers. Hybrids? Theyre so last year, Volkswagen proclaimed in a mailer to customers promoting its 2009 Jetta TDI. Now going green doesnt have to feel like youre going green. The FTCs action is the latest blow to Volkswagen, which also faces more than $20 billion in potential fines for violating U.S. clean air regulations. The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency are also weighing criminal charges against the company and senior executives. The company also faces hundreds of class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of angry customers. A federal judge in California overseeing the raft of civil litigation has given the company until April 21 to come up with a recall and compensation plan covering the nearly 600,000 diesel cars sold in the U.S. containing the so-called defeat devices designed to game government emissions tests. Omaha Police Detective Candace Phillips was honored Wednesday with the 2015 Omaha Crime Stoppers Officer of the Year award for her dedication to her job and persistence in solving crimes. She and the eight other nominees were lauded for their efforts in a video at the annual luncheon, held at the Embassy Suites in La Vista. Phillips, 34, solved two five-year-old homicide cases in 2015. I dont work homicides to get noticed and be recognized, she said. I do it for the victims families. Phillips said that if shed had a vote, the honor would have gone to all the officers who handled the Kerrie Orozco case. Orozco, a 29-year-old Omaha police officer, was fatally shot last May by a felon whom she and fellow officers were trying to arrest. The death affected all of us, Phillips said. Phillips thanked her family for supporting blue, day and night, especially her parents, wife Andrea Phillips and their elementary school-age daughter. One of the nominated officers was Sgt. Jeff Kopietz, who was with Orozco when she was shot. Kopietz returned fire, killing the gunman, Marcus Wheeler. Other nominees: Officers Heath Brunow and Austin Taylor and Detectives Patrick Dempsey, Jeffrey Gassaway, Nicholas Herfordt, James Paul and Kimberly Woolery. At the luncheon, attended by about 250 people, Mayor Jean Stothert thanked Omaha police collectively, saying every police officer shares this award. You set an example we can all be proud of, she said. We are all very grateful for your commitment to service. The mayor and Police Chief Todd Schmaderer recalled how the city united after Orozcos death. Schmaderer said 2015 will be remembered for the loss of Officer Orozco, and 2016 will be remembered for turning that into a positive. The chief also complimented Crime Stoppers, which offers donated money for anonymous crime tips. He said Crime Stoppers rewards have helped the Police Department solve 70 percent of homicides in the city over the last three years. In the last year, he said, 2,800 anonymous tips came in, leading to the solving of 200 crimes. The amount of reward money for citizens tips has increased from $19,000 in 2012 to $176,000 last year. As the payouts go up, Schmaderer said, we see crimes go down. The officer of the year is selected by the four directors of the Crime Stoppers board and the 23 board members, including two officers and Schmaderer. Contact the writer: 402-444-1259, jay.withrow@owh.com LINCOLN An urban-rural fight surfaced Tuesday in the Nebraska Legislature over a bill that would have provided a modest tax break to agricultural landowners. The sponsor of a bill that would have reduced the valuation of farmsteads pulled the legislation when it became clear that the measure lacked the supermajority support needed to get past a filibuster. Under Legislative Bill 1037, land associated with farmsteads would have been valued at 75 percent of market value for tax purposes, the same reduced valuation currently provided to crop land. The measure drew support from some rural senators, but many urban senators raised objections, saying the bill would have ignored residential and commercial real estate owners. Several lawmakers predicted that Tuesdays heated discussion likely foreshadowed whats to come this week when debate turns to legislation intended to provide more significant property tax relief. Its going to be brutal, said State Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion, who had made LB 1037 his personal priority for the session. Under the current system, land associated with farm home sites or outbuildings are taxed at 100 percent of assessed valuation, while crop land qualifies for the reduced valuation of 75 percent. Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft said she introduced the bill to help ag landowners who have been clamoring for property tax reductions. She generated a map that shows that the tax value of farmstead land ranges from a high of $56,000 per acre in Sarpy County to a low of $320 per acre in Hooker County. Counties with more non-agriculture development see the higher valuations. If Braschs bill were adopted, it would result in average tax reductions of $1,200 per rural landowner in Sarpy County and $4 for those in Hooker County. This is looking at one simple piece, one simple segment that we could correct, Brasch said. Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion argued that it wasnt fair to provide a special break for farmers and ranchers without taking action to reduce income taxes for small business owners. Sen. Burke Harr of Omaha said he questioned whether the bill was constitutional. If we pass this, I will consider this property tax relief for our brothers and sisters in rural Nebraska, and we wont have to pass anything else, Harr said. Later this week, lawmakers are expected to debate a pair of bills intended to reduce property taxes, both of which have the support of Gov. Pete Ricketts. Legislative Bill 958 would boost property tax credits for owners of farm and ranch land by $30 million per year. It also would tighten a budget limit on community colleges. Legislative Bill 959 would seek to tighten public school budget limits and make a modest increase in state support for schools. Contact the writer: 402-444-6613, joe.duggan@owh.com *** Additional information on the Legislature Gov. Pete Ricketts encouraged Nebraskans this week to oppose a bill that would require the state to issue professional and commercial licenses to young immigrants who have legal presence and are authorized to work in Nebraska. Legislative Bill 947, sponsored by State Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha, is intended to allow young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children to work in professions theyre currently barred from such as teachers, nurses and cosmetologists because those professions are among 170 occupations that require a license. Ricketts said in his weekly column that the bill would reward illegal immigration. Giving benefits to individuals who came here illegally is not a solution for the schools, communities and churches in our state that are on the front lines of dealing with the fallout of the federal governments failure to enforce immigration laws, Ricketts said. The bill would affect those who qualify for the federal program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which gives them a legal right to work and a promise they wont be deported. Ricketts said the DACA program came from a temporary executive order by the Obama administration, and he opposes extending benefits to anyone here illegally because it undermines the rule of law. The bill gained first-round approval last week on a 27-7 vote. If the bill is advanced by state lawmakers through two more rounds, it would need 30 votes to override a potential veto by Ricketts. * * * Additional information on the Legislature A group of food truck owners is getting together with Omaha officials to clarify city rules for the eateries on wheels. And the newly formed Omaha Food Truck Association is planning a series of rallies this summer at the downtown Gene Leahy Mall. The events are designed to enhance the lunchtime offerings for downtown, said the associations president, Kelly Keegan, of Chicago Dawg House. They are scheduled for every Thursday from July 7 through September, he said. Keegan said the groups goals include getting the city to agree to let trucks park in some places downtown. Now, he said, trucks downtown are getting parking tickets and eating the cost. The group has 12 members, Keegan said, but hopes to grow to include more of the citys roughly 60 food trucks. Were lucky that the administration down at City Hall is interested in working with us to make this something thats accessible to the citizens, he said. The citys growing food truck population has raised the ire of some brick-and-mortar restaurants. City officials have been discussing how the mobile eateries should be regulated. Last fall, operators of Michaels at the Market downtown said they were concerned about food trucks effects on downtown restaurants. They and other restaurants said it was unfair that food trucks are not subject to the citys restaurant tax. Contact the writer: 402-444-1084, roseann.moring@owh.com Nebraska cattle producers are donating hay and fencing supplies to farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma and Kansas who suffered financial losses during the historic wildfire that has occurred along the two states border. The Anderson Creek fire, which started in Oklahoma and spread north into Kansas, has ravaged nearly 400,000 acres of land, destroying fences, property and livestock. It has been the largest wildfire recorded in Kansas history. The Nebraska Cattlemen group says it will send the hay and supplies to Kansas and Oklahoma operations that need it. Nebraska ranchers know the sting: During 2012, their own states worst fire year on record, 521,000 acres burned. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire was mostly contained, but conditions were expected to be ripe for fires again today. Officials estimated the total burn area at 574 square miles. The Kansas Forest Service said about 420 square miles of that fire was in Barber County, Kansas. The Oklahoma Forestry Services said the fire destroyed at least 16 residential buildings in the two states. No serious injuries have been reported. Oklahoma authorities say they are continuing to investigate the cause. There is no cost estimate yet of the damage, officials said. Others who want to help may donate money to the Kansas Livestock Foundation and the Oklahoma Cattlemen Foundation. Funds will be used for fencing supplies, animal health and other needs. Donations may be made online or by mail to: Kansas Livestock Foundation, 6031 S.W. 37th, Topeka, KS, 66614 (www.kla.org) and Oklahoma Cattlemens Foundation, P.O. Box 82395, Oklahoma City, OK, 73148 (okcattlemen.org). Checks should be made out to the respective foundation with Fire Relief Fund in the memo line. This article contains material from the Associated Press. Contact the writer: 402-444-1259, jay.withrow@owh.com Bengal Assembly elections 2016: Know your leader - Mamata Banerjee Feature oi-Shubham By Shubham Mamata Banerjee is by far the biggest leader in West Bengal politics even though she has just completed her first five-year term in office. She made a history in 2011 by ending the 34-year-run of the Left Front, prompting even voices from abroad to congratulate her. Know your state: West Bengal Top contest of Bengal poll 2016 Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been performing well in elections even before it came to power in 2011 and continued to dominate the state's political scene even after issues like Saradha broke. Her party won 34 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from Bengal in 2014. But in terms of governance, she has faced a serious flak. The Opposition, media and the common people have accused her of failing as an administrator---be it ensuring safety of the citizens including women or bringing investment in the state which is economically struggling. She has been accused of being insensitive towards people, intolerant towards any question and going soft on motormouths and tainted leaders in her party. In the upcoming elections, the Left Front and Congress have reached an electoral understanding to dethrone Mamata Banerjee and a number of opinion polls have suggested that the two sides could finish with almost 50-50 vote-share though the TMC migh win more seats to form the government again. A single firebrand politician who is known for leading an austere life in a humble dwelling in South Kolkata, Banerjee's trademark cotton sari, a pair of rubber sandals and often a cotton bag hanging from her shoulders made her an iconic figure of humbleness in an otherwise dazzling world of Indian politics. West Bengal will go to a seven-phase election between April 4 and May 5 with the results to be announced on May 19. Here is a look at brief profile of Mamata Banerjee. Date and place of birth: Mamata Banerjee was born on January 5, 1955, in Kolkata, West Bengal. Family history: Banerjee was born in a lower middle-class family to Promileshwar Banerjee and Gayatri Devi. Her father died due to lack of medical treatment when she was just 17. She completed her higher secondary education in 1970 and graduated in history from Jogamaya Devi College in southern Kolkata. She also earned a few other degrees later in her life. She is known to be a poet and painting and also has a number of books to her credit. Political career: Banerjee got involved in politics during her student days. She made the headlines for allegedly dancing on the bonnet of the late socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan during his days of struggle against the poweful regime of Indira Gandhi. As a member of the Congress, Mamata Banerjee continued to grow through the ranks. She served as the general-secretary of the state Mahila Congress between 1976-80 and made a big entry at the national stage in 1984 by defeating heavyweight Left leader Somnath Chatterjee from Jadavpur constituency in South Kolkata. At 29, she became one of India's youngest MPs and later became the general secretary of the All India Youth Congress. She was also known to be close to late Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi. During her entire career in which she followed the single-point agenda of defeating the communists in Bengal, Banerjee faced brutality of the state a number of times but never gave up. She lost the 1989 parliamentary election, the year the Congress faced an anti-wave, but was back in Parliament in 1991. She settled for the Kolkata South seat and got elected from there in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009. In the 2004 general election, Banerjee was the only leader to have got elected to Parliament from the TMC. She had also served as minister under both Congress- and BJP-ruled governments at the Centre. In 2011, she became an MLA for the first time after her party came to power. She contested from Bhabanipur constituency in South Kolkata to become the chief minister of Bengal. Forming the Trinamool Congress: Banerjee formed her ownTMC on January 1, 1998, after pulling out of the Congress. She accused the Congress of having an understanding with the Left in West Bengal and not being honest in the fight against the communists. Her party tasted victory for the first time in 2000 when it wrested the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. However, in the Assembly elections, the TMC lost heavily in 2001 and 2006 polls despite having alliances with the Congress and BJP, respectively, and succeeded in 2011 when it fought jointly with the Congress. The alliance, however, lasted till late 2012 after she pulled out of the UPA at the Centre and she has contested elections alone since then. This year, the Left and Congress have reached an electoral understanding to topple Mamata Banerjee. In 2001, she came out of the NDA after a corruption charge was brought against it. The twist in the TMC's fortune for the better came in 2006-07 in the wake of the Singur and Nandigram movements as these played a big role in Banerjee's rise over the next few years, culminating in her biggest victory in 2011. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 13:14 [IST] Induction of Congress MLAs into BJP is death of Parrikar's legacy, says outgoing Goa deputy CM 7th Pay Commission: Report not final, recommendations likely to be revised India oi-Jagriti New Delhi, Mar 30: The proposed recommendations of 7th Pay Commission is likely to be revised, said Defence minister Manohar Parrikar. While replying to a question on recommendations for armed forces in seventh pay commission, Parrikar said, "The Seventh Pay Commission are in the form of recommendations. I do not think they (recommendations) will remain. I do not consider them as finalities. I have flagged them and will flag them properly at the right level." "The concerns raised by the armed forces would be taken up by the commission, said Parrikar in an interview with India Today. The commission would take up concerns raised by the armed forces at the right level and the pay panel report for armed forces may be overruled. 7th Pay Commission: Govt employees not happy? Officers meet Jitendra Singh The Defence Ministry earlier sought a fresh analysis of the concerns raised by the Army, Navy and the Air force- over the recommendations of the seventh pay commission. The commission is likely to revise the pay structure for the central government employees before submitting it to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The report is to be submitted in June. The Centre, in January this year, had set up a high-powered panel headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have bearing on the remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 12:28 [IST] Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav Assault by MLA: Mantralaya staff continue protest India oi-PTI Mumbai, March 30: The state government employees working in Mantralaya, the secretariat,on Wednesday, March 30 continued their 'stop work' protest for the second day against the alleged assault on a deputy secretary by an Independent MLA and demanded action against the legislator. Yesterday, Mantralaya employees went on a flash strike to protest against the incident. The protest continued today, with the staff assembling in Mantralaya, seeking action against Achalapur MLA Bachchu Kadu, against whom an FIR has been lodged. Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse has announced an enquiry by the Chief Secretary. "The chief secretary has been asked to submit the report and we shall take action based on the recommendations," he said. Kadu, along with a clerk Ashok Jadhav, went to meet B R Gavit, Deputy secretary, General Administration Department. He was insisting that Jadhav be allowed to continue to stay in the government quarters, and be alloted additional accommodation, in violation of norms, a Mantralaya official said. The officer apparently refused to entertain his demand. An infuriated Kadu allegedly abused and hit him hard on the head, the Mantralaya official said. Reacting to the episode, Kadu said the government is supporting an officer who harassed people. "Instead of taking action against me, the government should act against such officers. What I did is for the common people," he said. A three-term MLA from Achchalpul in Amravati district, Kadu, back in 2009 had also assaulted a clerk in Mantralaya after he had refused to release an order. PTI Javadekar echoes Goyal's 'Jaya inaccessible' remarks India oi-PTI New Delhi, March 29: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday,March 30 supported his cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal's remarks that he could not reach out to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa or the state ministers during the last 22 months of his tenure. "What Piyush Goyal has said is true. That is the experience of people (of the state)," Javadekar, who is also the BJP's poll-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, said here. Goyal in his reported remarks at a meeting in Delhi had said he was unable to meet the Chief Minister or state ministers during the last 22 months of his tenure. The MoS for Power had reportedly during a speech on 'Making India a Global Economic Superpower' at a conference in New Delhi on March 25, said, "It (Tamil Nadu) is a state within a state and is part of the country where I can't even reach out to the Chief Minister." The ruling AIADMK had yesterday hit back at Goyal over his remarks, terming it as "baseless allegations" and charged him with trying to seek "political mileage" in poll-bound Tamil Nadu. In a rebuttal, Party Treasurer and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam said, "There is no iota of truth in Goyal's remarks that he was neither able to meet the Chief Minister nor state Ministers during the last 22 months." Deserted by former allies, BJP is cobbling together a new alliance with smaller parties in Tamil Nadu for the May 16 Assembly election. Javadekar had recently announced, "BJP along with our friends, Indiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK), New Justice Party (NJP) and some other parties who are willing to come with us, is contesting the upcoming Assembly (polls)." PTI JD(U) MLA makes derogatory remarks against PM Modi in Assembly India oi-PTI Patna, March 29: A ruling JD(U) legislator's alleged derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi created ruckus in Bihar Assembly on Wednesday, March 30 during a debate on the Appropriation Bill 2016 which was later passed by voice vote amid boycott by NDA members. JD(U) member Ratnesh Sada, while participating in the debate during post-lunch session, made the remarks against Modi, prompting BJP members to rush to the Well of the House in protest. NDA members shouted slogans against Sada for around 10 minutes, and Leader of Opposition, BJP's Prem Kumar, demanded that the member tender apology for his comment. Amid pandemonium, Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary adjourned the House for 10 minutes. During the brief interval, a meeting of Business Advisory Committee was convened to resolve the issue but BJP was not ready to agree on anything less than 'apology' from the member but the government did not agree to it saying the remarks have been expunged. "The ruling party was not ready for 'apology', instead they said the derogatory remarks have been expunged from the proceedings. We did not agree to the government's proposal and decided to boycott government's reply on Appropriation Bill," Kumar said. It has become the habit of ruling alliance to make derogatory remarks and the ruling party should control their MLAs from making such remarks, Kumar said adding that whether or not to continue the 'boycott' of the House will be decided at a late evening meeting by the party. Earlier on March 3, JD(U) legislator Manish Kumar had allegedly made derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister that created ruckus in the Assembly. On that occasion, Manish Kumar had tendered an apology in the House for his remarks against PM. PTI Kejriwal asks Prez to help jewellers on excise duty issue India oi-PTI New Delhi, March 30: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, March 29 met President Pranab Mukherjee and asked him to intervene on the NDA government's budget proposal to impose one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. During the meeting, Kejriwal had drawn the President's attention towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "opposition" to a similar move by UPA-II Government in 2012 and reminded how Mukherjee, as the Union Finance Minister, "rolled back" the decision "understanding pain" of the jewellers then. Lauding the jewellers' community as "peaceful", Kejriwal also urged Centre to frame its policies in a way that will encourage them than "strangulate their throats". "We told the President that our Prime Minister had (as Chief Minister of Gujarat then) opposed similar move to levy excise duty in 2012 . The President was (Union) Finance Minister then. "The President had, understanding pain of jewellers, rolled back the decision after 21-day protests of jewellers then. So, we have requested him to intervene in the matter and co-operate with jewellers," Kejriwal, accompanied by representatives of jewellers' association, said. Speaking to press persons after the meeting, Kejriwal said the jewellers were "unhappy" because the decision to levy one percent tax will lead to inspector raj, "harassing" the traders. "We told President that jewellers are not averse to paying tax. But the new one per cent tax, will lead to inspector raj, inspectors will come and harass and jewellers will have to leave aside their works and face raids. Jewellers are unhappy over this," he said. Kejriwal lauded the jewellers' community as "peaceful" and urged the Government to frame policies in a way that will encourage them than "strangulating their throats". "The community of jewellers is such that they work peacefully, they never come on streets. So, we can understand their pain if they are on streets for past 28 days. Our jewellers are famous internationally. So, we should frame policies in way it will encourage them than strangulate their throats," he added. PTI Local body elections fought on local issues: Anurag Thakur India oi-PTI Hamirpur(HP), March 30: BJP MP and BJYM president, Anurag Thakur on Tuesday, March 29 downplayed the humiliating defeat of BJP in Dharamsala Municipal Corporation polls and said that it was not a referendum against the BJP as local bodies elections are fought on local issues. "If the Congress leaders feel that it was a referendum against the BJP and party had lost base in Kangra district, the chief minister should hold snap polls to Vidhan Sabha to prove the popularity of the party," he said. Thakur claimed that Congress party was a divided house and it was evident from the fact that Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh had to meet Congress party Supremo, Sonia Gandhi to clarify his position time and again. He said something surprising was on cards in the state and it would come to surface in coming days. Talking about the attachment of property of Chief Minister by the enforcement directorate, he said that it was strange thing that while in most of parts of India farmers and orchardists committed suicide due to bad weather, there was only one man in India whose horticulture income rose steadily and that was none that Virbhadra Singh. PTI Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav Diwali 2022: Major sites to be illuminated in Mumbai between Oct 22-29 Mumbai: Gathering of 5 or more, loud speakers, illegal processions banned for a fortnight from Nov 1 Beware! Touching bar dancers is now a punishable offence in Maharashtra India oi-Avinash Mumbai, Mar 30: In a move to ensure safety of dance bar girls, Maharashtra Government in its new draft dance bar regulation bill has proposed some stringent measures. The draft has proposed that making indecent behaviour, touching, showering money or coins on dancers will be a punishable offence. As per reports, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, decided in a meeting at Vidhan Bhavan that such an act would be considered a cognisable and non-bailable offence. A provision for six-months imprisonment and/or a penalty of Rs 50,000 would be imposed on offenders. (Maha govt to bring in legislation against dance bars: Fadnavis) According to the Government's draft, all dance bars will be allowed to stay open only till 11:30 pm and violators will be liable to imprisonment up to 5 years and a fine of up to Rs 25 lakh. The dance bars are bound to install CCTV cameras both inside and outside the bar. Earlier on March 16, in the wake of Supreme Court order on resumption of dance bars in Maharashtra, the state government granted licences to owners of four such bars. The licences were granted the other day in view of the recent apex court order directing the state government to issue licences to dance bars, complying with the modified conditions. The Supreme Court had on March 2 rejected certain suggestions like providing live CCTV footage to police of performances in the dance bars and asked the state government to grant licences to owners within 10 days after they comply with the modified guidelines. The state government had in 2005 banned dance bars in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra. Nearly 1500 bars across the state had employed more than 75,000 women dancers. OneIndia News Fact Check: Snake coiling itself around Army sniper is from Indonesia, not India Massive blow to Make In India: Army rejects home-grown Akash missile, wants Israeli missiles India oi-Avinash New Delhi, Mar 30: In a massive setback to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make In India policy, the Indian Army has decided to reject induction of indegenously developed Akash missiles and opted for Israeli quick-reaction surface-to-air missiles. As per an Economic Times report, Defence ministry sources said the Army has made it clear that it does not want any more Akash regiments after it gets the first two ordered earlier for Rs 14,180 crore, with six firing batteries and hundreds of missiles each. This marks a major blow to the 'Make in India' policy, especially since the Navy is turning to France for similar requirements after dumping the home-grown surface-to-air missile system Akash for its warships due to "stabilisation problems", added the report. (Arun Jaitley launches 'Make in India' conference in Sydney) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday launched 'Make in India' conference in Sydney and asked Australian businesses to be the part of India's growth story. India becomes the key focus of the world today and 'Make in India' is one of the key focuses of the government, Jaitley, who is in Sydney for two days, said. The indigenous content in this state-of the art weapon system is 96 per cent. The token handing over ceremony was held at the Manekshaw Centre in Dehli. The Akash Weapon System will add teeth to Indian Army's Air Defence Corps. (Indian Army inducts home-grown Akash Weapon System) The Army version of Akash has been developed by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), while the already-inducted Indian Air Force (IAF) version has been developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The Indian Army had placed orders for two Akash regiments with BDL, estimated at around Rs 19,000 crore. The first regiment was likely to be deployed in Punjab. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 13:14 [IST] Motorcycle-borne criminals open fire outside Dwarka court, 2 injured India oi-PTI New Delhi, Mar 30: Two persons received bullet injuries after two motorcycle-borne men allegedly opened fire outside the premises of Dwarka court in southwest Delhi today in what police suspected the assailants had planned to kill one of the victims. One of the victims, identified as Ankit Dagar, is accused in a molestation case and had come to the court for hearing today, a police officer said. The other, identified as Arif, turned out to be an attendant at a juice stall outside the court, police said. The police have identified the accused and teams have been formed to nab them at the earliest, a senior official said. Dagar, a property dealer in Najafgarh area, was booked in a molestation case around two years ago on a complaint by a woman known to him. In the afternoon, Dagar had a heated argument with the complainant's family, following which he went to a juice stall outside gate number 3 of the court, police said. Suddenly, two motorcycle-borne men, who were wearing helmets, stopped nearby and allegedly opened fire. While the first bullet missed Dagar and hit Arif, the second hit Dagar in the abdomen. The assailants fled the scene by the time security personnel could arrive there, police said. After being shot at, Dagar managed to enter the court premises again in order to save his life. However, on his way to the entrance, he also ended up being hit by a car. Arif, started screaming for help and ran towards the metro station, where he collapsed. Both were rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and later referred to another, where Dagar's condition is stated to be critical, while Arif is out of danger. The police have registered a case of murder and identified the accused with the help of CCTV footage and what Dagar told police officials while being taken to hospital. He told police that the woman complainant's brother was behind the attack, police said. PTI Situation in J&K has improved after Modi became PM: Amit Shah in Jammu X, Y, Z, Z+ and SPG: The whys and hows of security categories in India My husband was treated like a dog: CRPF trooper's widow India oi-IANS By Ians English Alappuzha (Kerala), Mar 30: The wife of a CRPF trooper from Kerala who drowned in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday hit out at CRPF officials, accusing them of showing disrespect to her husband's body. "My husband was treated like a dog. They could have at least used a cloth to cover his body," said Lini, wife of the 33-year-old Anil Achenkunju. "Would they have done this if the person who died was an officer? Since my husband was only a jawan, he was treated like this," she told the media here. Lini blamed both Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials and the home ministry for the manner in which the body was brought to Kerala in a mere plastic cover. Achenkunju, who hailed from Chingoly in this district, drowned in a water tank in Chhattisgarh on March 24. His body was brought here on Saturday in a decomposed state. Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told the media in New Delhi that he had taken up the issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and said it was "very unfortunate this happened". 2 CRPF personnel injured in IED blast by Naxals in Chhattisgarh "The deceased is from my constituency and I know them. The state government will do its duty as the deceased was the only breadwinner in the family," said Chennithala. The union home ministry has said that due action would be taken once the inquiry into this incident takes place, he said. IANS They stay among you to kill you: Ansarul Bangla Team could be Indias biggest threat Delhi: Madrasa students assaulted for not saying 'Jai Mata Di' India oi-Pallavi New Delhi, March 30: In a shocking incident in the city's Begumpur area, three madrasa students were brutally assaulted for not saying 'Jai mata Di'. According to a report by a renowned Daily, Dilkash, Ajmal and Naeem were strolling in a park near their school when the incident happened. My friends and I had gone to Bans Wala park, some 300 metres from the madrasa, when we were attacked by a group of young men. They spotted us because we were wearing caps and asked us to say Jai Mata Ki," Dikash said. It is also being alleged that the police registered an FIR three days after the incident on charges of assault and wrongful restraint. However, no arrests have been made so far. Deputy Commissioner of Police Vikramjit Singh said,"We were waiting for the medico-legal report. The case was registered on the basis of Dilkash's complaint as he had suffered a fracture. In their complaint, he mentioned that he and his friends were forced to say Jai Mata Ki." The three victims hail from Bihar's Purnia district and had come to Delhi in 2015 to study at the Faiz-ul-uloom Ghausia madrasa in Ramesh Enclave's Mohammadi Masjid. OneIndia News Operation botched up as ISIS Indian recruit chickened out India oi-Vicky New Delhi, March 30: The NIA which busted an Indian module of the ISIS has learnt that the operatives were planning on carrying serial train blasts in Mumbai and Delhi with a view of commencing operations. While they had sourced all material possible for the blast, the plan fizzled out as some of the operatives had panicked. What has also been learnt is that it was the old command of the Indian Mujahideen which was running this module in India. The operatives were first in touch with Sultan Armar and after his death they kept in contact with his brother, Shafi, the NIA has learnt. Same route, same plan, different outfit What the NIA has learnt is that these operatives were revamping the same route that was taken by the Indian Mujahideen to procure explosives. While they had managed to source the explosives, they were not able to carry out the attacks since some of them had chickened out. Investigations had revealed that some of the operatives such as Mohammad Khan who was arrested recently had sourced the explosives from a contact of the Indian Mujahideen in Delhi. He was meant to park some explosives in the national capital and ensure that the rest reached Mumbai. However he is said to have panicked and dumped the explosives before fleeing. NIA officials say that there is a stamp of the Indian Mujahideen in this operation as well. The route and source of the explosives are the same. The only difference is that these operatives changed the name of the outfit. First they operated under the banner of the Ansar-ul-Tawhid and later they changed the name of the outfit to Janood-e-Khilafa Hind. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 9:44 [IST] BJP gives recognition to honesty, determination towards work: Tripura CM In Tripura, liquor shops and bars to remain closed during Durga Puja, Diwali EVMs, VVPATs arrive in Tripura in run-up to Assembly polls President Murmu flags off two trains in Tripura today Passenger train service from Agartala likely from April India oi-IANS By Ians English Agartala, Mar 30: The much awaited passenger train service between Tripura and the rest of India is likely to start in April, a railway official said on Wednesday. "After completion of all technical, logistical and administrative formalities by mid-April, the train will start running via Guwahati," said spokesman Pranav Jyoti Sharma of the Northeast Frontier Railway. He said the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Shailesh Kumar Pathak, was now examining the technical aspects of the newly laid Agartala-Badarpur (Assam) broad gauge railway line. Pathak, who met Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Tuesday, told reporters that the broad gauge line laid up to Agartala was "excellent and unique". Read More: MEMU passenger train between Kanpur-Allahabad flagged off The first commercial freight train arrived in Tripura on February 22 from Assam's Badarpur town. Assam's Barak Valley was brought on the broad gauge rail map last year. A regular passenger train service between Silchar and Guwahati started on November 21 last year. Pune gripped by mysterious breast disease India oi-Pallavi Pune, March 30: Puneites! If you find a lump on your breast, oozing discharge, show a doctor immideately; not for Cancer, but for a different kind of a mysterious disease that is yet to be identified by a medical fraternity here. Such multiple cases have come to the notice of the doctors in Pune, who have been left bewildered and clueless about it. Showing classical symptoms of a cancerous tumor, the indications include hardening of the breast, pus formation, and changing shape of the breast. In fact, it is being said that there is an alarming trend in the number of women complaining about the disease. The symptoms can be mostly found in lactating mothers, TB patients and diabetics. However, these are being observed among younger women too who have little or no history of ailments. Every month, at least 6 new cases are detected, compared to five years ago, when only one or two showed up every two month. Dr Anupama Mane, consultant breast surgeon at Ruby Hall Clinic, said, "The shift in age and the increase in numbers are worrisome. The troublesome part is that no cause has been detected so far. There are several theories, but nothing has been fixed yet. This means we lack a standard protocol for treating such cases and the infection takes a long time to heal - sometimes several months." Dr CB Koppiker, a senior breast cancer surgeon reiterated saying,"It is an immunological phenomenon, but nobody knows the reason behind the sudden spurt in breast infection. The cases were reported in the past, too, but not with such severity and large numbers. Every month, we see around six new cases and 15 to 30 coming back from before. It resembles breast TB but it isn't that and we cannot come up with a concrete reason. Many a time, due to a misdiagnosis, patients go straight for surgery. But, if this is picked up on early, this isn't required." Expressing his concern over the growing number of such cases was Dr Rajiv Sarin, genetics head at the Tata Memorial Hospital who said, "Such cases are rare and have become alarmingly common now. We are discussing the matter with oncologists across the state. We are guessing that the rise in numbers is due to the increase in hormonal imbalance, which can cause lumps in the breasts. These may be further aggravated due to infections and low immunity. However, extensive study is required for a proper diagnosis." OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 12:31 [IST] Tamil Nadu: Light to moderate rain in the next few days Tamil Nadu: Check the list of special trains operating from Chennai this Diwali Vaiko-led PWF continues to woo Vasan's TMC India oi-PTI Chennai, Mar 30: Vaiko-led People's Welfare Front today continued to woo Tamil Maanila Congress leader G K Vasan for an alliance, saying the invitation issued to the former Union Minister for a poll-pact "stays." "The invitation (issued earlier) stays. But they have to decide," CPI(M) state Secretary G Ramakrishnan told reporters here in response to a question in this regard. CPI(M), besides CPI and VCK, is part of the four-party PWF, led by MDMK founder Vaiko. Earlier, all PWF leaders--Vaiko, Ramakrishnan, CPI state Secretary R Mutharasan and VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan, had called on Vasan in January, inviting him to join the coalition. Vasan, who quit Congress to resurrect his father G K Moopanar founded Tamil Maanila Congress in 2014, has, however, been weighing his options about an alliance. PWF had recently clinched a pact with actor-politician Vijayakant's DMDK to face the May 16 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, allotting 124 seats to it. PTI Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav Mumbai: Gathering of 5 or more, loud speakers, illegal processions banned for a fortnight from Nov 1 Rallis India stock jumps over 5% on IKEA deal India oi-PTI Mumbai, Mar 30: Shares of agro-chemical firm Rallis India rose by over 5 per cent today after the Tata group's agri-input arm entered into an agreement with IKEA India to transfer its leasehold right over a land parcel here for nearly Rs 214 crore. The stock jumped 4.82 per cent to Rs 178 on BSE. On NSE, it rose by 5.29 per cent to Rs 178.90. Rallis India yesterday said it has entered into an agreement with Swedish furniture retailing giant IKEA to monetise its surplus assets. "The company signed an agreement for assignment of its leasehold rights in respect of the leasehold land at MIDC Industrial area, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai to IKEA India Pvt Ltd," Rallis India had said in a BSE filing. On the size of the agreement, Rallis said "consideration of Rs 213.93 crore is payable by IKEA to the company for assignment of its leasehold rights." Rallis India is a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals with business presence in the farm essentials vertical. It is into seeds, agro-chemicals, plant growth nutrients and agri- services. PTI SC asks Punjab, Haryana to transparently appoint law officers India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, March 30: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Punjab and Haryana to constitute their respective search committees to be headed by their law secretaries to select government law officers in a fair and transparent manner. The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur in its order said the names selected by the search committee would be sent to the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court who, in turn, would get it examined by a committee of the high court judges. The court said two State governments would take into consideration the comments of the Punjab and Haryana High Court chief justice before making appointments. Without disturbing the existing appointments of the government law officers, the court said the entire process of selection and appointment of government law officers would be fair and transparent based on merit, performance and the standing of the lawyers. The court said the search committee would make an assessment of the performance and standing of the lawyers while considering them for appointment as law officers. However, the court allowed Advocate Generals of Punjab and Haryana to appoint law officers of merits. Having laid down the procedure for the appointment of the government law officers, the apex court said that other states "will well reform their system (for the appointment of law officers) by amending their rules and regulations". The court verdict came on the plea by the Punjab government which had challenged the high court order putting on hold the removal of Brijeshwar Singh Chahal, who was appointed law officer by the earlier government. In the course of the hearing, the issue of the appointment of law officers in Haryana too was raised by Pradeep Kumar Rajria. IANS Plunging new depths to promote chess as scuba divers play chess undersea in Chennai Tamil Nadu to unveil new Startup and Innovation policy soon: CM Stalin Tamil Nadu assembly poll: DMK offers 33 seats to Congress India oi-Preeti Chennai, March 30: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday, March 30, offered 33 seats to its ally Congress. According to reports, on Tuesday, March 29, TNCC president E V K S Elangovan alongwith Former TNCC president K V Thangkabalu, visited Delhi to discuss and to convey the seat-sharing details to the senior members of the Congress party. The deal will be reportedly finalised once it is discussed with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi. [Congress-DMK combine an 'alliance of Corruption': Tamilisai] Last week, Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mukul Wasnik had met DMK Chief M Karunanidhi. Congress had demanded 63 seats to contest, the same number on which they contested in 2011, after a hard bargain. Earlier, DMK was willing to offer only 15 seats to Congress, but has now agreed to offer 33 seats to Congress. But Congress is still negotiating with DMK for more seats, as DMDK did not form alliance with DMK-Congress. DMK is expecting a couple of more parties to join its front to fight the next month's Tamil Nadu assembly polls. The DMK came out of the Congress-led central government in 2013, accusing New Delhi of not handling the Sri Lanka crisis well. The two parties fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections separately in Tamil Nadu but drew a blank. OneIndia News As per constitutional norms: Goa Speaker on merger of Cong MLAs with BJP Time ideal to make F-16Vs in India: Lockheed Martin India oi-Oneindia By OneIndia Defence Bureau Goa, March 30: American plane-maker Lockheed Martin (LM) says they are ready to bring in all the expertise and set up a production line to roll out advanced F-16s from Indian shores. In an interview to OneIndia DefExpo-2016, senior officials said the new thought process perfectly sinks in with the Make in India initiative. Randall L Howard, Director, Integrated Fighter Group, Aeronautics Strategy & Business Development, says that the opportunity is ideal for LM. "There is an urgent need for a single engine fighter aircraft in India now. If we have to set up a shop here, it has to be a government-to-government decision. We are in talks with the government," says Randall. With around 4600 F16s flying around in 26 countries, LM says no other plane-maker could come in close of their expertise. F-16V is a tech beast "We are offering latest F-16Vs to India, which is a tech beast by itself. It has a new AESA radar, new mission computer, additional weapons, upgraded cockpit and a host of new features. We have had LM plants in five countries and hence setting up one in India wouldn't be a problem," says Randall. When told that setting up a new plant would require testing facilities as well, which currently only HAL has, Abhay Paranjape, Director, Business Development, LM, said they would go by what the government wants. "We were to work with HAL for MMRCA. We already have a successful JV running with the Tatas on the C-130Js in Hyderabad. There are other private players as well with whom we could work with," he said. According to him the suitable factors that are favouring LM are, a market potential, a confident industry, a user in need (read as IAF) and the renewed thrust on Make in India. He said the LM plant in India would help companies in the region to be part of a global supply chain, which would be the biggest advantage they would drive under the Make in India scheme. LM officials say that the F16s in the world over are flying over 8000 hours with further upgrade options available. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 11:53 [IST] Time now for Russia to de-classify files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose India oi-Vicky New Delhi, March 30: Going by the files that have been de-classified in India relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, it becomes increasingly clear that if the complete truth has to come out then one would have to visit the files in Russia. There has been a major debate and many have claimed that Netaji had not died in an air crash, but had gone to Russia where he could have possibly died. The West Bengal government first de-classified the files and the centre followed suit. While there are many ifs and buts about Netaji possibly not passing away in an air crash, there is no concrete evidence to back up that principle. Need to go beyond: Among the de-classified files is a letter by J N Dixit who was a secretary at the Indian Embassy in Tokyo. He says in the letter that the Japanese foreign office and academic circles had given a tentative confirmation that Netaji was not declared as a prisoner of war. Further there are also files which show that the government of India had not considered, Bose as a war criminal. A letter by the Ministry for External Affairs states that Netaji was killed in an air crash on August 18 1945. While most of the files do suggest that Netaji was killed in an air crash, researchers do not buy this argument. For instance, a leading researcher on Bose, Anuj Dhar firmly believes that Netaji was not killed in an air crash. He feels that there is more to it and the files in Russia have to be de-classified in order for the truth to come out. In the various conversations that he has had with this correspondent, he has said that for the real picture to emerge each and every file in every corner of the world needs to be de-classified. OneIndia News Fact Check: Images falsely shared with claim that it is chopper that crashed in Uttarakhand Uttarakhand crisis - No floor test tomorrow, says HC India oi-Vicky By Vicky Bengaluru, March 30: The Uttarakhand High Court has stayed the floor test in the assembly scheduled for tomorrow. The Union Government had challenged the verdict of the High Court which had ordered the floor test to be held on March 31. The Division Bench of the High Court directed the Centre and the Congress to file affidavits during the next date of hearing. Earlier during the day, the Union Government represented by the Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohtagi had sought a stay for three days on the verdict which had ordered the floor test. Also Read: U'khand: Centre moves HC challenging its order for floor test During the course of the hearing, Rohtagi argued that Uttarakhand was under President's rule and there was no government. How can a trust vote be held in an empty building, Rohtagi had also argued. The assembly building is empty and hence the question of a trust vote does not arise, the AG also argued. When a state is under President's rule no trust vote can be held, it was further contended. Also Read: Uttarakhand crisis: BJP has strangulated democracy, says ally Shiv Sena After President's Rule was imposed the Congress challenged the decision before the High Court. While ordering the floor test, the court had said that the floor of the house is the right arena to prove the strength of the government. We cannot wait longer now: SC to hear Vijay Mallyas contempt case in January for final disposal Mallya offers to pay Rs 4,000 crore by Septemeber 2016 India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Mar 30: Former chairman of the UB group Vijay Mallya today offered to pay Rs 4,000 crore to the banks which have moved the Supreme Court to recover their dues. Mallya made the offer to pay the Rs 4,000 crore via video conferencing. Mally's advocate making the submissions before the Bench today said that his client would oay Rs 4,000 crore by September 2016. The banks have been given one weeks time to respond to the offer. The bench told the banks to consider the offer made by Mallya and respond within a week. A consortium of the banks had moved the Supreme Court seeking a directive to prevent Mallya from leaving the country. They said that he owed them money and hence should be barred from leaving the country. However by the time the petition had come up during an earlier date the Supreme Court was informed that he had already left the country. Today Mallya submitted that he was not in the country. The atmosphere is surcharged and hence he did not want to come to India at this moment he also said. Further he also came down heavily on the media for vitiating the atmosphere and said that he was being subject to a media trial. The Bench however observed that the media was acting in public interest. They only want you to repay the banks the bench observed. Mallys however said that he would make arrangements to repay Rs 4,000 crore by September 2016. Mallya after leaving India had said in a series of tweets that he was not an absconder. I am a parliamentarian and have not fled the country. He however added that the time was not right for his return as there was a trial by media and the atmosphere had been vitiated. He further took a dig at an editor of a television channel and said this person would wear prison clothes and eat prison food. OneIndia News New India is proud of its culture, heritage, and tradition, says UP CM Yogi In UP 166 criminals killed in encounters in past five years: Yogi Yogi Adityanath lambasts those who refuse to chant Bharat Mata ki Jai: Here is what he said India oi-Jagriti New Delhi, Mar 30: BJP MP Yogi Adityanath has created controversy again when he criticised those who refuse to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. "Those who are against chanting of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogan, they doubt their own mothers. A person who is proud of his mother will in any circumstance hail her," Adityanath was quoted as saying during a 'bhandara' event held in Jaisalmer, reported Zee News. "It's a conspiracy to defame India by those who are foreign stooge. Now when this government is working to uplift this country, these people can't tolerate it. This is the reason why these kinds of people are doing such propaganda," he said Commenting on atrocities against Hindus in both Pakistan and Bangladesh, he asked Human Rights agencies to take cognizance of the issue. Yogi Adityanath hits out at Anupam Kher, calls him a 'villain' in real life Yogi Adityanath has earlier sparked controversies with his remarks. Adityanath had recently compared Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan to the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks Hafiz Saeed. He had said there is no difference between the language of Shah Rukh Khan and Hafiz Saeed. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 9:25 [IST] Same town, same time: Idol for Durga Puja celebrations vandalised in Bangladesh again Thief calls cops for help after being caught by mob Bangla court orders arrest of ex-premier Zia International oi-PTI Dhaka, Mar 30: Embattled Bangladeshi ex-prime minister and main opposition leader Khaleda Zia today faced another setback when a court here issued an arrest warrant against her over a deadly arson attack on a passenger bus during an anti-government protest campaign last year. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order against the 70-year-old chairperson of the main opposition outside parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and 27 others from her party after accepting police's chargesheet in the case. Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah, after accepting the charges against 38 people including the 28, passed the order in connection with the arson attack in Jatrabari area here in January last year when Zia's party spearheaded a violent nationwide campaign to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League government. "The court issued the arrest warrant against begum Zia in connection with an arson attack on a passenger bus in January last year," an official of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's court told reporters. He said Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order and asked police to execute the warrant and submit the compliance report by April 27. Lawyers and legal experts, however, said Zia was likely to get a chance to secure bail appearing in the court ahead of the deadline. Last year, Zia was charged by police with masterminding the arson attack on a bus that left 29 people injured, nine of them critically, days after Hasina said the former premier could be put on trial for recent violence. Today's arrest order is yet another blow to the beleaguered two-times former premier, who has described previous cases, including corruption-related, against her as politically motivated and aimed at keeping her out of politics. The development came hours after another court in the capital sent BNP's just-elected secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, accused of several identical charges of sabotage, to jail but soon after, ordered his release as his lawyers said he fell sick after his imprisonment. Alamgir's imprisonment order came hours after BNP announced him as the secretary general of party, six years after he served as the acting secretary general of the party. Soon after the announcement, Alamgir appeared before the court with a prayer for bail on expiry of his existing bail, granted earlier High Court. "The magistrate denied his prayer and ordered him to be sent to jail... hours later the same court granted him bail as his lawyers filed a fresh petition saying their client became sick in the prison," an official of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court told PTI. PTI Fake: NSA Doval has written no such letter on the Indo-China standoff Talks with China will not help says USA NSA on situation on Ladakh As Deputy NSA, what Vikram Misri will bring to the table Mind being controlled by Chinese technology, says man who tried to enter NSAs residence Doval, Rice discuss regional, bilateral issues in US International oi-PTI Washington, Mar 30: National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has called on his US counterpart Susan Rice at the White House during which the two officials discussed bilateral and regional issues in addition to reviewing the counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. Doval is in the US to attend the Nuclear Security Summit this week which is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would lead the Indian delegation, is scheduled to arrive here tomorrow. The two National Security Advisers are understood to have reviewed the progress made on the decisions taken by Obama and Modi during their meetings last year in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and in Paris on the sidelines of the summit on climate change. Doval is scheduled to meet Secretary of State John Kerry at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department today. PTI IAF chief visits Israel to enhance defence cooperation International oi-PTI Jerusalem, Mar 29: Israel has said it attaches immense importance to its defence cooperation with India as Indian Air Force chief Arup Raha held a wide-ranging talks with Israeli defence officials to explore possibilities of mutual cooperation. Air Chief Marshal Raha, who is here on a four day "goodwill visit" to Israel, yesterday had half an hour discussion with Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who had served as Israel's Chief of Staff before joining politics. Raha was extended a warm welcome at Israel Defence Forces (IDF) headquarters in Tel Aviv yesterday. "This visit is a step towards strengthening cooperation between the countries," the IDF Spokesman's Unit said. "The visit will help boost robust bilateral military ties between the two countries. Israel attaches immense importance to its defence cooperation with India and we are working together to enhance ongoing collaboration in various areas," a media adviser to the defence ministry told PTI. Raha today also visited the Israeli Air Force Flight School at Hatzerim air base among other operating Israeli Air force installations. Meanwhile, in efforts to deepen its engagement with India in the defence sector and express an intent to participate in "a big way" in the Make in India campaign, 28 Israeli defence companies will be presenting an extensive collection of advanced tools and technologies in Goa at Defexpo 2016. Some of Israel's technologies on display at Defexpo include active defence systems, tactical medical equipment, a wide range of sensors, command control and communications (C3) solutions, electro-optical systems, various robotics, fire control solutions, unmanned systems nd navigation devices. "India is a country with tremendous capabilities. Israel's large presence at Defexpo reflects our desire to strengthen ties with Indian companies and increase local production of military technologies," Brigadiar General (Ret) Mishel Ben Baruch, Head of SIBAT (Israel's defence ministry department regulating international cooperation) was quoted in a press release as saying. "Many of the Israeli companies at the exhibit are already working closely with Indian companies, creating local job growth through domestic production. We are confident that this relationship will result in the advancement of large projects for the Indian defence forces," he added. PTI 108-foot statue of Kempegowda to be unveiled by PM in Karnataka: Basavaraj Bommai Watch: PM Modi receives warm welcome from locals in Badrinath India making every effort to deal with global economic challenges: PM Modi at 'Rozgar mela' Deepotsav 2022: In PM Modi's presence, 18 lakh diyas to create new world record in Ayodhya | Top points Modi lays wreath at Brussels metro station International oi-IANS By Ians English Brussels, March 30: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday laid a wreath at the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, one of the sites of the March 22 terror attacks in the Belgian capital. Indian Infosys techie Raghavendran Ganesan was among the many who were killed when a bomb ripped through a train carriage at the station, located in the heart of Brussels and close to the EU headquarters. Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders briefed Modi about the terror attack. The prime minister "remembers Raghavendran Ganeshan and other victims of the tragic attack," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. From Maalbeek, Modi headed for Egmont Palace to meet Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Later, Modi will participate in the 13th India-EU summit. He will end his visit to Belgium by addressing the Indian Diaspora. In his pre-departure statement, Modi paid tribute to the Brussels bombing victims. "No words are enough to salute the resilience and spirit of the people of Belgium," Modi said. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in the wake of the horrific attacks in Brussels and share the grief of those who lost their loved ones." More than 30 people were killed in twin explosions at the Zaventem airport and one at the metro station in the Belgian capital on March 22. IANS Myanmar has a new President-Htin Kyaw International oi-Pallavi Naypyidaw, Mar 30: A confidante of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Htin Kyaw, has been sworn in as Myanmar's President. At the dawn of ushering in the first democratically elected government, Kyaw took oath in a joint session of Myanmar's newly elected parliament with his two vice presidents at his side. Suu Kyi was seen sitting in the front row, watching the entire event. Reading out from a written pledge, he said,"I, Htin Kyaw, will be loyal to the union and the people of the union. I will respect this constitution and the laws of the nation." The same pledge was read by First Vice President Myint Swe and Second Vice President Henry Van Tio. Later in the day. Outgoing President Thein Sein will formerly hand over the office to him later in the day. Suu Kyi endured years of house arrest and atrocities at the hand of military rulers to bring about democracy in the country. While she was the first presidential choice, she was barred from becoming the president due to a constitutional provision. However, Suu Kyi said that whoever takes over the office will be her proxy. She also said that she will run the government from behind the scenes. Htin Kyaw marks a significant place in the history of Myanmar as he would be the first civilian president here. The National League for Democracy, headed by Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in elections last November, implying Suu Kyi's widespread public support. OneIndia News 108-foot statue of Kempegowda to be unveiled by PM in Karnataka: Basavaraj Bommai Watch: PM Modi receives warm welcome from locals in Badrinath India making every effort to deal with global economic challenges: PM Modi at 'Rozgar mela' Deepotsav 2022: In PM Modi's presence, 18 lakh diyas to create new world record in Ayodhya | Top points PM Modi arrives to red carpet welcome at Brussels International oi-IANS By Ians English Brussels, March 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brussels on Wednesday, March 30 morning to a red carpet welcome and enthusiastic greetings from Indian nationals at the airport. "A red carpet at dawn. PM @narendramodi receives a warm welcome as he arrives in Brussels," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. Members of the Indian diaspora also greeted Modi upon his arrival and crowded around him as he patiently signed autographs. Modi arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation tour of Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia. The Prime Minister's Office tweeted: "Early morning arrival for PM @narendramodi in Brussels. A series of meetings & interactions lined up for the day." On his daylong visit to Brussels on Wednesday, Modi will hold a bilateral summit with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and then attend the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit. He will also address around 5,000 Indian diaspora at an event later in the day. On March 31, the prime minister will leave for Washington D.C. to attend the two-day Fourth Nuclear Security Summit being hosted by US President Barack Obama. On his way back, he will visit Riyadh for a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia on April 2-3. IANS Pollution season: Delhi govt launches campaign, vehicles to shut at traffic lights IRCTC: 109 trains cancelled on Oct 22 including some in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu; check complete list Delhi: Man murders second wife on Holi; was in jail for 1st wife's suicide too New Delhi oi-Preeti New Delhi, March 30: A 32-year-old man was on Saturday, March 26 arrested for killing his wife, and then calling it a suicide case. The accused Kapil Sharma smothered her 27-year-old wife, Parvati, to death on the festival of Holi, after having a heated argument with her. The incident took place in Taimoor Nagar in southeast Delhi. But to save himself from being caught, he took his wife's dead body to a hospital and told doctors that she had committed suicide. However the doctors grew suspicious when they found several injury marks on Parvati's body and alerted police. The post-mortem report concluded that she did not commit suicide, but it was a case of murder. After police investigation zeroed in on Sharma, he was arrested on Saturday. New Friends Colony police also found that Sharma was jailed for seven years in 2004 for abetting the suicide of his first wife. She reportedly killed herself by setting herself on fire, after Sharma's repeated dowry demands. After Sharma's role in the death of his second wife was proved, police have also started probing how his first wife died. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 13:04 [IST] 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. by Graham Pierrepoint It is a sad fact that many species of animal, no matter how many thousands there may be, continue to go extinct each year for a number of different reasons however, many species continue to die out for reasons related to man-made by-products and, in some cases, hunting with a number of animals such as the tiger and the rhinoceros slowly thinning out in number due to being hunted for their bones or their fur. It is sadly also the case that we are unable to bring back such animals from extinction, which has resulted in many organisations such as the WWF supporting particularly threatened breeds in order to prevent further hunting or extinction. One species which has received a thankful reprieve from extinction this week, however, is the Sumatran Rhino of which one of its kind has been found alive and well in Borneo. According to The Express, WWF conservationists found traces of evidence that suggested the animal which was last seen by human eyes around forty years ago could possibly still be alive. This week, following an amazing discovery, these suspicions have been confirmed, as a Sumatran Rhino has been led back to protected forest in Borneo. The Sumatran Rhino supposedly died out during the past forty years, and the recent discovery was only detected after it was caught in order for it to be transported to a safe region. The animal proves that there may still be hope for many long-thought extinct animals deep in the wilds of areas that we have yet to explore in further detail, and this find in particular leads conservationists to hope that there may be up to a hundred more of its kind living in the Indonesian wild. It has been stated that the supposed extinction of the Sumatran Rhino occurred due to man-inflicted actions such as hunting, poaching and forest devastation, which has sadly also contributed to many other animals disappearing the world over. The young female rhinoceros that has been found this week allows many of us to gain new hope in finding some of the long-lost creatures that many have since given up on rediscovering and while we may not find traces of the dodo among current wildlife, many will certainly be re-energized in finding and saving some of the worlds most beautiful and rarest creatures. This news has brought joy to animal lovers the world over, and we can but hope that it means a safe future for the species as a whole. The Prime Minister, Hon. Peter ONeill has warned PNG Power management and Unions that constant power outages in Port Moresby and Lae should not be happening as there is more than enough power available to meet the demands in these cities.PM ONeill said the constant bickering between unions and management has resulted in some union members deliberately cutting the power supply, and these actions have now been declared a criminal offence.He further highlighted that lack of maintenance over the long term has further compounded the problem of constant blackouts in recent days.More than enough power is generated in the cities of Port Moresby and Lae to meet the current demands of our people and businesses, the Prime Minister said.The reason we are having blackouts over the last few days is because of human misconduct.Political infighting within PNG Power is seeing some power workers take matters into their own hands disrupting power supplies.I am taking action to bring people to justice who are causing great harm to people in affected cities.The Chairman of PNG Power will now invoke the Essential Services Act that will enable people who deliberately disrupt our power supply to face criminal charges."I have further directed the Chief Secretary to convene the National Security Advisory Committee."We are treating this as a security issue and will take further measures.The Prime Minister said there are further concerns with claims of criminal vandalism of power lines, just as there has been similar acts against communications lines, and this will be fully investigated by police.He also made the point that the interruptions are being further exacerbated by an ongoing lack of maintenance on the power networks in both cities.We know that there is not enough maintenance, and despite the money being spent over the years, the required work has not been carried out.That is a big problem because our power network continues to deteriorate.The people of Port Moresby and Lae can expect the Government to take a much stronger interest in the manner in which PNG Power is being managed.We have enough power to meet demand today.In Port Moresby we have an additional 25MW coming from the PNG-LNG power plant, and we will be connecting a further 50MW in the near future. This will give us enough power supply to meet demand for the next ten to fifteen years.The cause of power blackouts right now is people who do not have enough regard for their fellow Papua New Guineans." Tonight: The US Powerball Draws for a $116 Million Jackpot Published March 30, 2016 by Arthur M The next US Powerball Lottery draw takes place on Wednesday 30th March, with a jackpot estimated to be around $116 million up for grabs. The current estimated jackpot in the US Powerball lottery is $116 million which could be won at the next draw on Wednesday 30th March. This prize has come about from the fact that no ticket matched all the required numbers at the last draw on Saturday night, and thanks to some changes to the way that this lottery is run, rollovers to massive jackpots are now quite common. About The US Powerball Lottery The Multi-State Lottery Association that runs this draw was first set up way back in 1987, initially with just six states which were soon joined by many others. Today, 47 states and territories are a part of it, with residents of each one contributing to the jackpots. To win that jackpot, a player needs to match 5 main numbers from 69 and a single Powerball number from a separate pool of 26. This has only been in force since October 2016, when the main numbers were increased form 59, and this has directly led to some huge rollovers including the record breaking $1.5 billion prize that was won by 3 tickets in January 2016. Secondary prizes include $1 million for matching the 5 main numbers, and just 3 main number matches is enough to win the lowest consolation prizes. The $116 million US Powerball draw will take place in Tallahassee Florida at 23.00 local time on Wednesday. The same prize levels are in force no matter whether the ticket is purchased at a local retailer on online through services such as The Lotter, Play USA Lotteries and LottoBooking. About Buying Online Lottery Tickets There are no longer any restrictions on who can buy tickets to this and the other big lotteries worldwide, as anyone buying tickets through an online service will have just as much chance of hitting the jackpot as someone who lives in the countries where the draw is officially run. Players are automatically informed of any winnings, which are then sent directly to them.